340 
PAUMOTU GROUP. 
presents we were distributing, and seemed much gratified and asto- 
nished when I selected him out to bestow a present on, similar to the 
one I had given the chief. 
All the males' heads were shaven, somewhat after the fashion of a 
Dominican friar. This practice is said to have been adopted by the 
missionaries at Tahiti, for the sake of cleanliness, and also to dis- 
tinguish the Christian from the heathen party. The women have 
theirs cut close, and some are clothed in a pareu, consisting of three 
or four yards of cotton, others in a loose gown. They were any thing 
but good-looking; but the men were tall and well made. Their 
variety of apparel was droll enough. As for the children, I have 
seldom seen any finer; all were well formed, and as cheerful as they 
could be. They were for the most part naked. About two hundred 
inhabitants were counted on the island, most of whom belonged to 
Tahiti and Anaa, or Chain Island, and were here on a shelling 
voyage. They had arrived in two double canoes, such as have been 
used in navigating from island to island ; they were now drawn up on 
the beach. These vessels were apparently well taken care of, and in 
this situation we had a good opportunity of examining them. The 
annexed is a faithful representation of one. 
DOUBLE CANOE OF THE TAUMOTU GROUP. 
They are thirty-five feet long and four and a half feet wide, 
connected together by a strong framework, on which is placed a 
deck, and a mat hut erected on it. Every part is neatly put together, 
and well secured with twine and sennit made of cocoa-nut fibres ; no 
iron or metal of any kind is used about them ; they have two masts, 
supported by vines in place of ropes, and are enabled to spread large 
mat sails ; they steer with a large oar. After examining them, one is 
not at a loss to account for the long voyages which the natives have 
