AUG. 1769 PEARLS 121 



with as much dexterity as our opera dancers could have 

 done ; these plaits were brown and white alternately, but 

 the petticoats were all white. In this dress they advanced 

 sideways, keeping excellent time to the drums, which beat 

 briskly and loud : they soon began to shake their hips, giving 

 the folds of cloth that lay upon them a very quick motion, 

 continued during the whole dance. They sometimes stood, 

 sometimes sat, and sometimes rested on their knees and 

 elbows, generally moving their fingers with a quickness 

 scarcely to be imagined. 



One of these girls had in. her ear three pearls, one very 

 large but so foul that it was worth scarce anything ; the 

 other two were as large as a middling pea, and of a clear 

 water as well as a good shape. For these I offered at different 

 times any price the owner would have, but she would not 

 hear of parting with them ; I offered once the price of four 

 hogs down and anything she would ask beside. They have 

 always set a value upon their pearls, if tolerably good, almost 

 equal to our valuation, supposing them (as they always are, 

 however) not spoiled by the drilling. 



Between the dances of the women (for they sometimes 

 rested) the men acted a kind of interlude, in which they 

 spoke as well as danced ; we were not, however, sufficiently 

 versed in their language to be able to give an account of 

 the drama. 



4th. We had often heard Tupia speak of lands belonging 

 to him which had been taken away by the Bola-Bola men. 

 These, he tells us now, are situated in the very bay where 

 the ship lies. On going ashore this morning, the inhabitants 

 confirmed what he had told us, and showed us several 

 different whennuas, which, they all acknowledged, belonged 

 of right to him. The greater number of the people here 

 are, it seems, the so-much-feared Bola-Bola men, and we 

 were told that to-morrow Opoony, the king of that island, 

 will come to visit us. We are much inclined to receive 

 him civilly, as we have met with so civil a reception from 

 his subjects. 



We saw the game which the Indians call erowhaw. It 



