OF LA PEROUSE. 3O3 



the Chinefe. Almoft all the chiefs of thcfe 

 favages had been to the Moluccas, and fpoke 

 the Malay language. Some wore a hat made 

 of leaves of the pandannsy of a conical fliape, 

 fomewhat fimilar to thofe of the Chinefe ; 

 others had their head wrapped up in a fort of 

 turban. They all have very thick and pretty 

 long curly hair. The colour of their fl<in is 

 not very black. Some let their whifkers grow; 

 they have their ears piercedj as well as the {t^~ 

 turn of their nofe. Several of them fnewed a 

 great deal of dexterity in fnooting with a bow, 

 aiming feveral times fucccfilvely at a mark, at 

 the dillance of upv/ards of forty yards, to 

 which their arrows always came extremely 

 near. Others were armed with very long fpears, 

 ripped witli iron or bone. Tiiefe illanders un- 

 drubtedly know how to manufaclure iron, for 

 they fet a great value on the bars of that metal 

 which we gave them ; they alfo inquired for fome 

 tin, b-'.: they gave a very decided preference to 

 our cloths, efpccially thofe of a red colour. 



The ifland of Waygiou, which the inhabi- 

 tants call (Jziaridoy is covered with very large 

 trees, and nppears thro j_v hout a mouiitainous 

 country ; the land is pretty high, even at a 

 f' all d rtance from wc fliore. The bamboo 

 I.uis of the natives are raifed on flakes to about 

 3 three 



