246 VOYAGE IK SBARCH 



fiae. Some of them had white and red firipea 

 traced on their body : I remarked one whofe hair 

 and nolo were powdered with a reddifh earth, 

 which appeared to me to be ochre j fome wore 

 bracelets woven of the fibres of the hulk of the 

 cocoa-nut. 



Their frizz 1 )' and very thick hair formed a 

 great bulk, like that of feveral Papuus, whom 

 we rur~ with in the fequcl. 



They are in the habit of plucking out the 

 hair from every part of the body, and one only 

 was fecn on board the Efperance, who fuffered 

 his beard to grow. 



They all had the abdomen tightened by a 

 cord, which paiTed round it feveral times, and 

 which fcemed to be intended only to increafe the 

 mufcular ltrcngth of that part of the body. One 

 of the natives had, probably alfo with the fame 

 view, his left arm bound up in three different 

 parts of the body of the biceps mufcle; fome 

 pieces of flat wood were placed on the external 

 part of the fame arm, for the purpofe of fupport- 

 ing the effect of the cord. 



It appears that thefe favages are very dexterous 

 in the ufe of the bow. One of them had brought 

 on board the Efperance a booby which he had 

 juil killed with an arrow ; in the belly of this 

 bird was obferved the hole of the arrow by 

 which it had been pierced. 



Thefe 



