164 ETHNOGRAPHY. 



" At one time it was announced that a white man was in a canoe 

 coming towards the ship. On going aft, we saw him, dressed in the 

 native style, but better covered than the rest, sitting in the stern of 

 his canoe, and gazing quietly at the ship, with no appearance of 

 excitement. When we called to him, he answered in the native 

 tongue, and finally came near, and climbed up the side of the ship. 

 We then saw that he was an albino, but that our mistake was by no 

 means surprising. His color was a ruddy blonde, his hair of a flaxen 

 white, his eyes light blue, and evidently very weak, since, besides 

 being screened by a large shade, they were constantly half-closed. 

 His skin was also quite tender, which obliged him to wear the 

 additional mat over his shoulders, and, in spite of this precaution, it 

 was spotted with large brown speckles. We learned that he had 

 children who were dark, like the other natives, and that his parents 

 were the same. 



" In the tattooing of the natives there was considerable variety, at 

 least in the parts of the body to which it was applied. All had the 

 arms tattooed more or less. The sides, from the arm-pits to the 

 waist, were also marked. Some had lines across the back, and on 

 the abdomen, and, in many, the loins and thighs were tattooed nearly 

 down to the knee. The markings were either in straight lines, or in 

 zigzag, or in curved figures about an inch or two long, which the 

 natives told us were intended to represent pigeons (lupe). 



" For dress, the men wore three kinds of mats, all braided from slips 

 of the pandanus-leaf. The first was the maro (or malo) which has 

 been already described. The second was a girdle of thick fringe, 

 from six inches to a foot in breadth, tied about the loins, so as 

 partially to conceal the maro. This they called takai. The third 

 kind were mats three or four feet wide, and five or six long, which 

 were wrapped about the body, so as to cover it from the waist to the 

 ancle. The mats were dyed, on the outside, in red, yellow, and black 

 colors, disposed in sq\iares, diamonds, and other figures, so as to have 

 a very pretty effect. They appeared to be reserved for state occasions, 

 as the only person who wore one was the old chief, but many were 

 brought off for sale. 



" Their ornaments were not very numerous. They all had the lower 

 rim of the ear pierced, and the aperture distended to the size of an 

 inch in diameter. Around the rim thus separated, they had half a 

 dozen little rings of tortoise-shell, so neatly made that it was difficult 

 to discern the point of juncture where the ring was opened when 



