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 
gat 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 684 feet, breadth 
5 feet, depth 34 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 
R 
