126 OTAHITE TO OHETEROA CHAP, vi 



themselves against such weapons as their own by mats 

 folded and laid upon their breasts under their clothes. 



Of the few things we saw among the people, every one 

 was ornamented in a manner infinitely superior to anything 

 we had hitherto seen. Their cloth was of a better colour, 

 as well as nicely painted ; their clubs were better cut and 

 polished ; the canoe which we saw, though very small and 

 narrow, was nevertheless very highly carved and ornamented. 

 One thing particularly in her seemed to be calculated rather 

 as an ornament for something that was never intended to 

 go into the water, and that was two lines of small white 

 feathers placed on the outside of the cajioe, and which were, 

 when we saw them, thoroughly wet with the water. 



We have now seen seventeen islands in these seas, 

 and have landed on five of the most important; of these 

 the language, manners, and customs agreed most exactly. 

 I should therefore be tempted to conclude that those 

 islands which we have not seen do not differ materially at 

 least from the others. The account I shall give of them is 

 taken chiefly from Otahite, where I was well acquainted with 

 their policy, as I found them to be a people so free from 

 deceit that I trusted myself among them almost as freely 

 as I could do in my own country, sleeping continually in 

 their houses in the woods without so much as a single 

 companion. Whether or not I am right in judging their 

 manners and customs to be general among these seas, any 

 one who gives himself the trouble of reading this journal 

 through can judge as well as I myself. 



