OCEANIC MIGRATIONS. 165 



taken from the ear. Some had mother-of-pearl and other shells 

 suspended from the neck, and every one had a cocoa-nut leaflet also 

 tied around the neck, which we supposed might be a sign of amity ; 

 for in approaching the ship, they seemed anxious to keep it in view. 



" Among our visiters in the canoes was one woman, who refused to 

 come on board. She was of the medium size, with a rather pretty 

 face, and a pleasing expression of countenance. She wore a very 

 long and thick cincture, made of slips of pandanus-leaf fastened to a 

 cord. It might be called a girdle of fringe two feet in width ; and its 

 appearance was that of a dense mass of straw tied about the body, 

 covering it from the breast to the knees. The native name for this 

 dress was fou. What chiefly surprised us was, to observe that she 

 was tattooed, like the men, on her arms and sides. In this respect, 

 also, these people differ from the other Polynesian tribes, among 

 whom the women are tattooed very slightly, if at all. 



" Our first question to the natives was about the name of their island, 

 which we found to be Nukufetau. They were well acquainted with 

 Ellice's Cluster (Funafuti); indeed, one of them declared himself to 

 be the son of a chief on that island. The island to the northeast was 

 also known to them, and called Vaitupu.* We asked them if these 

 were all the lands with which they were acquainted, when, to our 

 surprise, they pointed to the east, and said that beyond Vaitupu there 

 were three islands, Oatafu, Nuhunono, and FaJcaafo. I inquired if 

 this was all, and they added, with some hesitation, the name of 

 Orosenga, the smallest of the Navigators ; but they knew of no other 

 island of this group, nor even of the general term Samoa.f They 

 appeared to recognise the words Tongatabu and Hapai, and their 

 acquaintance with Rotuma was shown in an accidental manner. 

 Some bananas were hanging at the stern of the ship, which one of 

 them begged for, calling them futi o Rotuma, bananas of Rotuma. 



* This name was originally spelled by us Oaitupu, which was probably a mistake for 

 'O (or ko) Waitupu; the v and w being interchangeable in this, as in all the other Poly- 

 nesian dialects. We heard the name pronounced only once, and that in the midst of 

 much noise and confusion. Dillon, who heard of this island at Rotuma, writes the name 

 Vythoobo, and Cook gives, in the list of islands received from the natives of Tonga, one 

 called Vytooboo, which is undoubtedly the same. The name means " growing water," 

 and has, perhaps, reference to the wells or pits of fresh water, which are so important on 

 these coral islets. 



f It did not occur to us to use the name Savaiki (for Savaii), which they would 

 perhaps have recognised. 



42 



