176 DRINKING VESSELS. 



great number of pieces, seems to require much 

 attention. In another game, a stone was hid 

 den under a large piece of stuff, and the player 

 was to point out the precise spot in which it 

 lay. Running races, in which the girls took 

 part, and apparently dangerous exercises in 

 swimming amidst the surf, were also among 

 their amusements. In wrestling and boxing, 

 they did not display so much strength and skill 

 as the Friendly Islanders. The children often 

 handled their balls with great dexterity, throw 

 ing several at once into the air and catching 

 them again. 



Their vessels were very well built ; the 

 largest, a double one, seventy feet long, twelve 

 broad, and three and a half deep, belonged to 

 Teraiopu. The most remarkable of their uten 

 sils were the vessels appropriated to drinking 

 Ava ; they were usually eight or ten inches in 

 diameter, perfectly round and very well polish 

 ed, and were supported by three or four little 

 images of men in various attitudes, sometimes 

 bearing the vessel on their heads, sometimes on 

 their shoulders, or on their hands raised above 

 their heads. These figures were very well 



