42 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



the lower rank are rather below it, and some of them are 

 remarkably little. 



Their natural complexion is a fine clear olive, or what 

 we call brunette ; their skin delicately smooth, and agree- 

 ably soft. The shape of their faces is in general handsome, 

 and their eyes are full of sensibility and expression : their 

 teeth are likewise remarkably white and regular, and their 

 breath entirely free from any disagreeable smell ; their hair 

 is, for the most part, black. Their motions are easy and 

 graceful, but not vigorous ; their deportment is generous 

 and open, and their behaviour affable and courteous. 



Both sexes frequently wear a piece of cloth, of the manu- 

 facture of the island, tied round their heads in the form of 

 a turban ; and the women take no little pains in plaiting hair 

 into long strings, which being folded into branches, are tied 

 on their foreheads by way of ornament. 



They stain their bodies by indenting or pricking the flesh 

 with a small instrument made of bone, cut into short teeth ; 

 which indentures they fill with a dark blue or blackish 

 mixture, prepared from the smoke of an oily nut, used by 

 them instead of candles, and water ; this operation of 

 tattooing, as it is called by them, is exceedingly painful, 

 and leaves an indelible mark on the skin. It is usually 

 performed when they are about ten or twelve years of age, 

 and on different parts of the body. 



They clothe themselves in cloth and matting of various 

 kinds ; the first they wear in fair, the latter in wet weather. 

 They are in different forms, no shape being preserved, nor 

 are the pieces sewed together. The women of a superior 

 class wear three or four pieces ; one, which is of considerable 

 length, they wrap several times round their waist, which 

 falls down to the middle of the leg. Two or three other 

 short pieces, with a hole cut in the middle of each, are 

 placed on one another, and their heads coming through 

 the holes, the long end hangs before and behind, both 

 sides being open, by which means they have the free use 

 of their arms. 



The men's dress is very similar, differing only in one 

 instance, which is that part of the garment, instead of falling 

 below the knees, is brought between the legs. The dress 

 is worn by all ranks of people, the only distinction being 

 quantity in the superior class. At noon both sexes appear 

 almost naked, wearing only the piece of cloth that is tied 

 round the waist. 



The boys and girls go naked the first till they are seven 

 or eight years old, the latter till they are about five. Their 

 houses they seldom use but to sleep in, or to avoid the 

 rain, as they eat in the open air, under the shade of a 



