FIRST VOYAGE 69 



known in England. There is only one shrub or tree in this 

 country which produces fruit, a kind of berry almost taste- 

 less ; but they have a plant which answers all the uses of 

 hemp and flax. There are two kinds of this plant, the leaves 

 of one of which are yellow, and the other a deep red. Of 

 these leaves they make lines and cordage, much stronger 

 than anything of the kind in Europe. 



The men are as large as the largest Europeans. Their 

 complexion is brown, but little more so than that of a 

 Spaniard. They are full of flesh, but not lazy and luxurious, 

 and are stout and well shaped. The women do not possess 

 that delicacy which distinguishes European ladies ; but 

 their voice is singularly soft, which, as the dress of both 

 sexes is similar, chiefly distinguishes them from the men. 



The inhabitants of New Zealand are as modest and 

 reserved in their behaviour and conversation as the most 

 polite nations of Europe. 



These Indians anoint their hair with oil, melted from the 

 fat of fish or birds. Both sexes, but the men more than the 

 women, mark their bodies with black stains, called Amoco. 

 Exclusive of the Amoco, they mark themselves with 

 furrows. These furrows make a hideous appearance, the 

 edges being indented, and the whole quite black. The 

 paintings on their bodies resemble filigree work, and the 

 foliage in old chased ornaments ; but no two are painted 

 exactly after the same model. 



Their dress is formed of leaves split into slips, which are 

 interwoven, and made into a kind of matting. One piece of 

 this matting being tied over the shoulders, reaches to the 

 knees ; the other piece being wrapped round the waist, falls 

 almost to the ground. 



The women never tie their hair on the top of their head, 

 nor adorn it with feathers ; and are less anxious about dress 

 than the men. Their lower garment is bound tight round 

 them, except when they go fishing, and then they are careful 

 that the men shall not see them. 



The ears of both sexes are bored, and the holes stretched 

 so as to admit, a man's finger. The ornaments of their ears 

 are feathers, cloth, bones, and sometimes bits of wood. The 

 men wear a piece of green talc, or whalebone, with the -re- 

 semblance of a man carved on it, hanging to a string round 

 the neck. One man had the gristle of his nose perforated, 

 and a feather being passed through it, projected over each 

 cheek. 



These people show less ingenuity in the structure of their 

 houses, than in anything else belonging to them ; they are 

 from sixteen to twenty-four feet long, ten or twelve wide, 

 and six or eight in height. The frame is of slight sticks of 



