528 DRESS — CHIEFS— ELOQUENCE. NoV. 



of the woodwork is painted, neither is there any decoration. 

 Entering the chapel with my companions, I turned towards 

 the principal pews, expecting to see Pomare there ; but no, 

 she was sitting almost alone, at the other end of the building, 

 looking very disconsolate. Natives sitting promiscuously on 

 the benches saluted us as we entered.: — order, or any kind of 

 fcH*m, there was none. 



The only visible difference between Pomare and her subjects 

 was her wearing a gay silk gown, tied however round the 

 throat, though entirely loose elsewhere ; being made and worn 

 like a loose smock-frock, its uncouth appearance excited more 

 notice from our eyes than the rich material. In her figure, her 

 countenance, or her manner, there was nothing prepossessing, 

 or at all calculated to command the respect of foreigners. I 

 thought of Oberea,* and wished that it had been possible to 

 retain a modified dress of the former kind. A light under- 

 garment added to the dress of Oberea might have suited the 

 climate, satisfied decency, and pleased the eye, even of a painter. 



Disposed at first to criticise rather ill-naturedly — how soon 

 our feelings altered, as we remarked the superior appearance 

 and indications of intellectual ability shown by the chieftains, 

 and by veiy many of the natives of a lower class. Their man- 

 ner, and animated though quiet tone of speaking, assisted the 

 good sense and apparent honesty of the principal men in eleva- 

 ting our ideas of their talents, and of their wish to act correctly. 



Every reader of voyages knows that the chiefs of Otaheite 

 are large, fine-looking men. Their manner is easy, respectful, 

 and to a certain degree dignified; indeed on the whole surpris- 

 ingly good. They speak with apparent ease, very much to the 



* Queen of Otaheite in 1767. " Both men and women aj-e not only 

 decently, but gracefully clothed, in a kind of white cloth, that is made 

 of the bark of a slirub, and very much resembles coarse China paper. 

 Their dress consists of two pieces of this cloth : one of them, a hole 

 having been made in the middle to put the head through, hangs down 

 from the shoulders to the mid- leg before and behind; another piece, 

 wliieh is between four and five yards long, and about one yard broad, 

 they wrap round the body in a very easy manner." — Wallis's Voyage 

 Round the World, I767. 



