OTA HEITE. 
etter neat; and the making of them is an art that every 
one practifes, both men and w men make little 
bonnets of the cocoa-nut leaf, to fhade their faces, at fo 
{mall an expence of time and trouble, that when the fun is 
again low -in the evening, they throw them awa Thefe 
bonnets, however, do not cover the head, but contitt only 
of a band that goes dee it, and a fhade that proje@s from 
the forehead. Of the bark of atree, called ‘* poerou,’’ the 
«¢ Hibifcus tiliacus’’ e Linnzus, they make ropes and lines, 
from the thicknefs ae an inch to the fize of a fall pack- 
with thefe they make nets for fifhin of the 
fibres of the oon uae they make thread, for elcaue to- 
a kind of nettle, which grows in the mountains, 
and is, therefore, rather fcarce, they make the beft fifhing- 
lines in the world: with thefe they hold the ftrongeft and 
moft ative ih, {uch as bonetas and albicores, which would 
they are , exceedingly ingenious ; they m 
cane, and point them with hard wood, which i in their hands 
ftrike fifh more effeCually than thofe which are headed with 
iron can do in our’s, fetting afide the advantage of our’s 
being faftened toa line, fo that the fith is fecured if the hook 
takes place, though it does not mortally wound him. Of 
fifh hooks they have twa kinds, admirably adapted in their 
Esaieae ai as well to the purpofe for which they are de- 
figned, as to the materials of which they are made. Thefe 
are made of mo yee or fome other hard fhell. 
; ftone e 
er. This i 
tools, and with thefe they build houfes, rapes — 
and fell, cleave, carve, and polifh tim The 
canoes, or boats, which are ufed by the vient ‘Gk this 
and the ee iflands, may be raided into two general 
claffes ; one o they call ivahahs, the other pahies 
(See Boat. ih conte ion with their navigation we may 
mention their wonderful anes in foretelling the weather, 
at leaft a quarter from whic ow at any 
future time. In their sia oe they flteer by the fun 
in the da - and in the night by the ftars; all which they 
diftinguifh feparately by names, and know in what part of 
the heavens they will appear in any of the months during 
which they are vifible in their horizon ; they alfo know = 
time of their annual appearing a and difappearing with m 
never ufed any term but *M 
thefe moons they count 13, and then begin again, fo that 
dey have a notion of the folar year: each month, they fay, 
has 29 days, including one in which the moon is not vifible. 
They diftinguifh them by feparate lpia Every day is fub- 
divided into twelve parts, each of two lrours, of which fix 
belong to the day and fix to the eaie In numeration they 
proceed from 1 to 10, the number of ral on both hands ; 
and though they have for each number a different name, 
they generally take hold of their fingers one by one, fhifting 
from one hand to the other till they come to the number 
’ appearance. 
they want to exprefs. In epi from ro, le repeat 
the name of that number, and add the word more; 
one more, is eleven, &c. When they come to 10 and EO more, 
they have a new denomination, as we fay a fcore; and by 
thefe {cores they count till ae get ten of ee: when they 
have a denomination for two hundred ; but the 
prefs it, like the Afiatics, by the time that is required to pafs 
it. Their language is foft and melodious; it abounds with 
vowels, and captain Cook D 
e than one cafe, and few of the verbs 
more than one i A They have, however, certain affixes, 
which, though but few in number, are very ufeful to them. 
At Otaheite they have few difeafes ; the natives, however, 
are afflifted with the eryfipelas, and “cutaneous eruptions of 
the {caly kind, very nearly approaching to a leprofy. Some 
ew had ulcers on different parts of their bodies, of a virulent 
The method of cure that is chiefly praCtifed 
by the priefts of this ifland confifts chiefly of prayers and 
ceremonies. Their commerce with the inhabitants of Europe 
has already entailed upon them that dreadful curfe which 
avenged the inhumanities committed by the Spaniards in 
America, the venereal difeafe. There are two places in 
which their dead are depofited; one a kind of fh 
e deities, or § 
; the male are worlkippe y the men, and the female 
have morais to which the other fex is 
ro) 
fituation they call “ tavirua ]’erai,”’ - sare ¢¢ tiahoboo 
hey do not, however, confider them places of ae 
and punifhment, but as receptacles for different claffes ; the 
firft, for their chiefs and principal people ; the other for 
thofe of inferior rank ; for they do rot fuppofe that their 
ations here in the leaft influence their future ftate, or indeed 
: is ceneclly the 
r 
traGted, it appears to be pretty ear kept, though fometimes 
the parties feparate by mutual confent, and in that 
divorce takes place with as little trouble as the carne. 
Their morai, or place of worfhip, they approach with hu- 
mility and reverence; and when the worfhipper brin sa Sars 8 his 
4R ring 
