330 A DINNER PARTY. 
the reason of old Langediu’s playing the part 
of the lover might be, to give more probability 
to the young bride’s objections and _ resolu- 
tion. 
The young females assembled here, among 
whom the deceased bride of Langediu soon re- 
appeared, fresh and lively as ever, reminded me 
of Kadu’s assertion, that the women of Ormed 
were the handsomest in Radack. Some of them 
were really very attractive, and their flowery 
adornments extremely becoming. These people 
have more taste than any other of the South 
Sea islanders; and the manner in which the 
women dress their hair, and decorate it with 
flowers, would have a beautiful effect even in 
an European ball-room. When the actors had 
recovered from the fatigue of their perfor- 
mance, dinner, which some of the females had 
been long preparing in the hut, was served to 
us. Only a few of the persons assembled 
enjoyed the honour of partaking our meal. 
Some of these were females. The ground of 
Langediu’s hut was covered with matting, on 
which we sat, and the provisions were placed 
