42 
ELLICE’S AND KINGSMILL GROUP. 
Only one woman was seen in the canoes, and every endeavour was 
made to induce her to come on board, that her likeness might be pro¬ 
cured, but without effect; she could not be prevailed upon. She was 
prepossessing in her appearance, with a pleasing expression of coun¬ 
tenance, and had a modest demeanour. She wore a cincture around 
her waist, and a mat over her bosom. The cincture was made of 
pandanus-leaves ; this was fastened to a cord as a thick fringe, two 
feet in length, and extended to her knees. Her arms were beautifully 
tattooed, of the same figure as the men, but the tattooing was con¬ 
tinued down the leg in horizontal stripes, an inch and a half wide. 
This constitutes a great difference from the Polynesians, for with them 
we have never before met with any females who were tattooed, except¬ 
ing a few marks on the fingers and feet. 
Twenty or thirty of these natives came on board, while the rest 
remained in the canoes, of which there were about fifteen, having an 
average of five natives to each. Their desire was to exchange their 
articles for hatchets and plane irons: iron-articles of all kinds were in 
great demand, together with beads and rings. 
After they had exhausted their desire for trade, some few of them 
went below, and entertained the officers with a dance and song, both 
of which resembled those of Polynesia, which have been heretofore 
described. 
In the afternoon the chief paid the ship a visit. He was styled both 
the god and chief of the island, and was a very fine-looking man, about 
forty years of age, and grave in his deportment. He reckoned six 
towns on the island, five of them on the northeast side, and one on the 
southwest. The population was estimated at one thousand. 
The natives said that they had pigs and taro, and brought off some 
of the latter; but it was small, both in size and quantity. The only 
articles of food that the natives had with them in their canoes were 
the young cocoa-nut and the fruit of the pandanus. The former were, 
for the most part, quite young, and fit only for drinking; but there 
were some that were old and filled with pulp, to which they gave the 
name of utanu, and of which they seemed very fond. Besides taro, 
they said that they had a much larger root, called “ pulaka.” Yams 
and bananas they knew by name, but had none of them. 
An opening being discovered as the ship passed along the reef, Lieu¬ 
tenant De Haven was sent to examine it, and he found a good ship- 
channel into the lagoon. The passage was one-third of a mile wide, 
and the least depth of water in it was five fathoms. It leads to an 
anchorage in from seventeen to twenty fathoms, on a sandy bottom, 
where a vessel may lie well protected by the reef. The current was 
