214 CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF NEW ZEALAND CH. ix 



been ashore at a spot where were many deserted Indian 

 houses : here he had seen several things tied up to the 

 branches of trees, particularly human hair, which he brought 

 away with him, enough to have made a sizable wig. This 

 induced him to think that the place was consecrated to 

 religious purposes ; possibly it was, as they certainly have 

 such places among them, though I have not yet been lucky 

 enough to meet with them. 



24dh. Went to-day to the heppah or town, to see our 

 friends the Indians, who received us with much confidence 

 and civility, and showed us every part of their habitations, 

 which were neat enough. The town was situated upon a 

 small island or rock separated from the main by a breach in 

 the rock, so small that a man might almost jump over it ; 

 the sides were everywhere so steep as to render fortifications, 

 even in their fashion, almost totally unnecessary ; accordingly 

 there was nothing but a slight palisade, and one small fight- 

 ing stage at one end where the rock was most accessible. 

 The people brought us several bones of men, the flesh of 

 which they had eaten. These are now become a kind of 

 article of trade among our people, who constantly ask for 

 and purchase them for whatever trifles they have. In one 

 part we observed a kind of wooden cross ornamented with 

 feathers, made exactly in the form of a crucifix. This 

 engaged our attention, and we were told that it was a 

 monument to a dead man ; maybe a cenotaph, as the body 

 was not there. This much they told us, but would not let 

 us know where the body was. 



25th. Dr. Solander and I (who have now nearly ex- 

 hausted all the plants in our neighbourhood) went to-day 

 to search for mosses and small things, in which we had 

 great success, gathering several very remarkable ones. In 

 the evening we went out in the pinnace, and fell in with a 

 large family of Indians, who have now begun to disperse 

 themselves, as is, I believe, their custom, into the different 

 creeks and coves where fish are most plentiful. A few only 

 remain in the heppah, to which they all fly in times of 

 danger. These people came a good way to meet us at a 



