TAHITIANS. DRESS. 179 



admiration. The little winding paths, cool from 

 the surrounding shade, led to the scattered houses, 

 the owners of which everywhere gave us a cheer- 

 ful and most hospitable reception. 



I was pleased with nothing so much as with the 

 inhabitants. There is a mildness in the expression 

 of their countenances which at once banishes the 

 idea of a savage, and an intelligence which shows 

 that they are advancing in civilization. The com- 

 mon people, when working, keep the upper part 

 of their bodies quite naked ; and it is then that the 

 Tahitians are seen to advantage. They are very 

 tall, broad shouldered, athletic, and well proportion- 

 ed. It has been remarked, that it requires little 

 habit to make a dark skin more pleasing and natu- 

 ral to the eye of a European than his own colour. 

 A white man bathing by the side of a Tahitian was 

 like a plant bleached, by the gardener's art compa- 

 red with a fine, dark green one gi-owing vigorously 

 in the open fields. Most of the men are tattooed, 

 and the ornaments follow the curvature of the body 

 so gracefully, that they have a very elegant effect. 

 One common pattern, vai-ying in its details, is some- 

 what like the crown of a palm-tree. It springs 

 from the central line of the back, and gracefully 

 curls round both sides. The simile may be a fanci- 

 ful one, but I thought the body of a man thus or- 

 namented was like the trunk of a noble tree em- 

 braced by a delicate creeper. 



Many of the elder people had their feet covered 

 with small figures, so placed as to resemble a sock. 

 This fashion, however, is partly gone by, and has 

 been succeeded by others. Here, although fashion 

 is far from immutable, every one must abide by 

 that prevailing in his youth. An old man has thus 

 his age forever stamped on his body, and he can- 

 not assume the airs of a young dandy. The women 



