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 wiih 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 



