234 GENERAL ACCOUNT OF NEW ZEALAND CHAP, x 



stitches, something like carpeting or girls' samplers in vari- 

 ous patterns, with an ingenuity truly surprising to any one 

 who will reflect that they are without needles. They have 

 also mats with which they sometimes cover themselves ; but 

 the great pride of their dress seems to consist in dogs' fur, 

 which they use so sparingly that to avoid waste they cut 

 it into long strips, and sew them at a distance from each 

 other upon their cloth, often varying the colours prettily 

 enough. When first we saw these dresses we took them for 

 the skins of bears or some animal of that kind, but we 

 were soon undeceived, and found upon inquiry that they 

 were acquainted with no animal that had fur or long hair 

 but their own dogs. Some there were who had their 

 dresses ornamented with feathers, and one who had an 

 entire dress of the red feathers of parrots ; but these were 

 not common. 



The first man we saw when we went ashore at Poverty 

 Bay, and who was killed by one of our people, had his dress 

 tied exactly in the same manner as is represented in Mr. 

 Dalrymple's account of Tasman's voyage, in a plate which 

 I believe is copied from Valentijn's History of the East 

 Indies ; it was tied over his shoulders, across his breast, 

 under his armpits, again across his breast, and round his 

 loins. Of this dress we saw, however, but one more instance 

 during our whole stay on the coast, though it seems con- 

 venient, as it leaves the arms quite at liberty, while the 

 body is covered. In general, indeed, when they choose to 

 set their arms at liberty, they at the same time free all 

 their limbs by casting off their clothes entirely. 



The men always wear short beards, and tie their hair 

 in a small knot on the top of their heads, sticking into it 

 a kind of comb, and at the top two or three white feathers. 

 The women, contrary to the custom of the sex in general, 

 seem to affect rather less dress than the men. Their hair, 

 which they wear short, is seldom tied, and when it is, it 

 is behind their heads, and never ornamented with feathers. 

 Their cloths are of the same stuff, and in the same form, as 

 those of the men. 



