72 



PHYSICAL HISTORY OF MAN. 



chase of eels (Anguilla), which in these dripping mountains become 

 almost amphibious, offered another instance of their ingenuity. They 

 also tore off with their teeth the fibrous bark of the ' purau' (Hibis- 

 cus tiliaceus), and a moment after, applied it to noosing small fish. If 

 one was sent for fruit, he would usually make a basket on the way, by 

 plaiting the segments of a cocoa-nut leaf A mat was manufactured 

 with almost equal ease. Clothing was always at hand ; and a banana 

 leaf served for an umbrella ; or in fine weather they would weave gar- 

 lands of flowers. Tumblers and bottles were supplied by single joints 

 of the bamboo; and casks or buckets, by the long stems; and whe- 

 ther we asked for a hatchet, knife, spoon, toothbrush, or wash-basin, 

 we never found our guides at fault. 

 • The women, on meeting a near relation after a long absence, ex- 



press their emotion by protracted weeping ; and we witnessed the 

 commencement of such an exhibition, on the occasion of one of our 

 guides falling in with his mother. Among the Taheitians, conversa- 

 tion, it appears, is too open and ingenuous for European taste ; but, in 

 the absence of guile and false refinement, it may well be supposed, 

 there is less to corrupt the heart, than in our self-styled ' civilized' 

 society. The Taheitians measure long periods of time by 'moons,' or 

 lunations; and they have a calendar, which will be hereafter noticed. 

 We often witnessed the universal familiarity with the plants and other 

 productions of the island ; and also, their more minute subdivision of 

 the external parts of the human frame, than is known to our sculptors 

 and anatomists. It appears from Forster, that they aboriginally held 

 some commerce " with Taha, Borabora, and the Low coral islands; 

 and they procured red feathers from Whennuarora, ten days' sail to 

 the westward." This last-named place, is one of the Feejee Islands. 



In their personal appearance, I could find no difference from that of 

 the Paumotuans. I saw little resemblance to the Mongolians ; but 

 some individuals might, in the United States, have been mistaken for 

 mulattoes. The hair was not universally black ; but, in some in- 

 stances, had a russet tinge, as was subsequently observed at Samoa 

 and Tonga. Albinoes were spoken of, but I did not see any. Spec- 

 tacles were occasionally worn by old people. Q^dematous legs were 

 quite common, perhaps attributable in some measure, to constant wad- 

 ing on the reefs. The skin was seldom entirely free from scars, like 

 the vestiges of imposthumes. Several instances were observed of the 

 loss of the nose by ulceration ; and in one mixed family, the disease 

 in the European father was transmitted to the children. 



