1770 CANOES 241 



the face of a man with a monstrous tongue, whose eyes were 

 generally inlaid with a kind of shell like mother-of-pearl ; 

 but the larger sort, which seemed to be intended for war, 

 were really magnificently adorned. The head was formed by 

 a plank projecting about three feet before the canoe, and on 

 the stern stood another, proportioned to the size of the 

 canoe, from ten to eighteen feet high. Both these were 

 richly carved with open work, and covered with loose 

 fringes of black feathers that had a most graceful effect. 

 The gunnel boards were often also carved in grotesque 

 taste, and ornamented with white feathers in bunches 

 placed upon a black ground at certain intervals. They 

 sometimes joined two small canoes together, and now and 

 then made use of an outrigger, as is practised in the islands, 

 but this was more common to the southward. 



In managing these canoes, at least in paddling them, 

 they are very expert. In one I counted sixteen paddlers 

 on a side, and never did men, I believe, keep better time 

 with their strokes, driving on the boat with immense 

 velocity. Their paddles are often ornamented with carving, 

 the blade is of an oval shape pointed towards the bottom, 

 broadest in the middle, and again sloping towards the 

 handle, which is about four feet long, the whole being 

 generally about six feet in length, more or less. In sailing they 

 are not so expert ; we very seldom saw them make use of 

 sails, and indeed never, unless they were to go right before 

 the wind. They were made of mat, and instead of a mast 

 were hoisted upon two sticks, which were fastened one to 

 each side, so that they required two ropes which answered 

 the purpose of sheets, and were fastened to the tops of 

 these sticks. In this clumsy manner they sailed with a 

 good deal of swiftness, and were steered by two men who 

 sat in the stern, each with a paddle in his hand. I shall 

 set down the dimensions of one which we measured, that 

 was of the largest size. It was in length 68^- feet, breadth 

 5 feet, depth 3-^ feet. This was the only one we measured, 

 or indeed had an opportunity of measuring. 



Of the beauty of their carving in general I would fain 



