1770 INHABITANTS 231 
not let them think in the least. Whenever they met with 
us and thought themselves superior they always attacked us, 
though seldom seeming to intend more than to provoke us 
to show them what we were able to do in this case. By 
many trials we found that good usage and fair words would 
not avail the least with them, nor would they be convinced 
by the noise of our firearms alone that we were superior 
to them; but as soon as they had felt the smart of even a 
load of small shot, and had time to recollect themselves 
from the effects of their artificial courage, which commonly 
took a day, they were sensible of our superiority and be- 
came at once our good friends, upon all occasions placing 
the most unbounded confidence in us. They are not, like 
the islanders,! addicted to stealing ; but (if they could) would 
sometimes, before peace was concluded, by offering anything 
they had to sell, entice us to trust something of ours into 
their hands, and refuse to return it with all the coolness in 
the world, seeming to look upon it as the plunder of an 
enemy. 
Neither of the sexes are quite so cleanly in their persons 
as the islanders; not having the advantage of so warm a 
climate, they do not wash so often. But the disgustful thing 
about them is the oil with which they daub their hair, 
smelling something like a Greenland dock when they are 
“trying” whale blubber. This is melted from the fat either 
of fish or birds. The better sort’ indeed have it fresh, and 
then it is entirely void of smell. 
Both sexes stain themselves in the same manner with 
the colour of black, and somewhat in the same way as the 
South Sea Islanders, introducing it under the skin by a 
sharp instrument furnished with many teeth. The men 
carry this custom to much greater lengths; the women are 
generally content with having their lips blacked, but some- 
times have little patches of black on different parts of the 
body. The man on the contrary seems to add to the 
1 Throughout the remainder of the Journal Banks constantly speaks of the 
South Sea Islands simply as ‘‘the islands,” and their inhabitants as ‘‘the 
islanders.” 
