190 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



soon after turned it to his own advantage ; for happening 

 to have a few cocoa-nuts, which one of the sailors wanted 

 to buy, and he was unwilling to part with, he walked off, 

 and was followed by the man who wanted them. On 

 seeing this he sat down on the sand, made a circle round 

 him as he had seen them do, and signified that the other 

 was not to come within it, which was accordingly observed. 



In the afternoon of the 12th, Captain Cook went on shore, 

 and on a large tree, which stood close to the shore, near the 

 watering-place, had an inscription cut, setting forth the 

 ship's name, date, etc., as a testimony of their being the 

 first discoverers of this country. This being done, they 

 took leave of the natives, and returned on board ; when 

 he ordered all the boats to be hoisted in, in order to be 

 ready to put to sea in the morning. 



The people of this island are strong, robust, active, and 

 well-made ; they are also courteous and friendly, and not in 

 the least addicted to pilfering, which is more than can be 

 said of any other nation in this sea. They are nearly of 

 the same colour as the natives of Tanna, but have better 

 features, more agreeable countenances, and are a much 

 stouter race ; a few being seen who measured six feet four 

 inches. Their hair and beards are in general black. The 

 former is very much frizzled ; so that at first sight, it 

 appears like that of a negro. These rough heads most 

 probably want frequent scratching ; for which purpose 

 they have a kind of comb made of sticks of hard wood, 

 from seven to nine or ten inches long, and about the thick- 

 ness of knitting needles. A number of these, seldom 

 exceeding twenty, but generally fewer, are fastened together 

 at one end, parallel to, and near one-tenth of an inch from 

 each other. The other ends, which are a little pointed, 

 will spread out or open like the sticks of a fan. These combs 

 or scratchers, for they serve both purposes, they always wear 

 in their hair on one side of their head. Swelled and 

 ulcerated legs and feet are common among the men, as 

 also a swelling of the scrotum. It is not known whether 

 this is occasioned by disease, or by the mode of applying 

 the wrapper, which they use as at Tanna and Mallicollo. 

 This is their only covering, and is made generally of the 

 bark of a tree, but sometimes of leaves. The small pieces 

 of cloth, paper, etc., which they got from them, were 

 commonly applied to this use. Some had a kind of con- 

 cave, cylindrical, stiff black cap, which appeared to be 

 a great ornament among them, and they supposed was only 

 worn by men of note, or warriors. A large sheet of strong 

 paper, when they got one in exchange for anything, was 

 generally applied -to this use. 



