346 THE CRUISE OF THE 'CUEMJOA.' 



he tells us that the teeth of old women are sown in yam 

 patches as a charm to procure good crops, and their skulls 

 set on poles for the same purpose, and this is probably the 

 explanation of the practice. The women at first Avere much 

 alarmed at the appearance of the white men, but on re- 

 ceiving a present or two lost all their fears, and chatted 

 away as freely as the men, to whom it was manifest they 

 were in great subjection. In fact all accounts agree that 

 women are at a great discount here. Mr. Hood speaks of 

 them as ' the most degraded of all the South Sea Islanders,' 

 and as ' leading a life of drudgery.' He tells us a story 

 Avhich, whether it be true or not, illustrates the utter 

 disrespect in which woman is held, and that is, that a well- 

 known chief in the North used to set up a row of women 

 as targets, and to shoot them down one by one. This 

 depreciation of the sex explains a fact which Cook reports. 

 It appears that when he landed, a native who had accom- 

 panied him to shore, indicated to him die persons to whom 

 the presents he had with him should be given, and who, 

 when he was about to offer something to the women, held 

 back his hand. Either, therefore, a gift to the Avomen 

 would have been indecorous as putting them on the same 

 level with the men, or a lowering of the value of the gift as 

 beino- mean enouoh for them. 



The men do not in general suffer their beards to grow, 

 but cultivate whiskers, which are so essential that a man 

 without them is said to be cursed by the gods. War is 

 reported to be constant, and the priests are alleged to 



