220 Voyage of the Novara. 



(])elm\ and beat time as well with their feet. Suddenly, a 

 dancer of either sex springs into the inclosure, goes through a 

 number of extraordinary animated movements, which are 

 the louder laughed at and applauded in proportion to their 

 indecency, after which he or she mingles once more with 

 the crowd, exhausted and breathless. 



The Tahiti women have almost invariably beautiful black 

 hair, and singularly small hands and feet. Theii' figm-e is 

 on the average that of the middle stature of European women. 

 Their dress is simple, but very clean and neat. They wear 

 a long white gown with plaits, which gives them somewhat 

 the appearance of vestals, and wear a coronal of flowers on 

 their head, or entwine the flaming blossoms of the Hibiscus 

 rosasinensis in their thick black tresses. The more coquettish 

 also affect an exceedingly elegant head-dress {reivareiua), 

 which they make of the young tender leaves of the cocoa- 

 palm, the satin-paper-like epidermis being converted by the 

 manipulation of their skilful hands into an exquisitely fine- 

 wove, rustling tissue, which they arrange among their luxuri- 

 ant locks with genuine idealistic grace. 



The men, like the women, are tall, slim, and well-propor- 

 tioned. The face usually is far from ugly, and betokens no 

 little intelligence ; the lips are full, the complexion a yellow- 

 ish-brown, but on the whole fairer than that of the New 

 Zealanders. The occipital region of the head seems to be 

 artificially flattened, the forehead well-formed, the chin and 

 lower maxillary bones are broad. Some wear European 



