66 
PORTER’S JOURNAL. 
bles at a distance the dried red peppers; the smell of this latter ig. 
agreeable, and is probably what they most esteem it for. They 
also are fond of tying round their necks large bunches of sweet 
scented flowers, and when not restrained by tabbooes they orna¬ 
ment their hefads with rich plumage formed of the breast and tail 
feathers of the cock, and anoint themselves with cocoa-nut oil mix¬ 
ed with a red paint made from turmeric-root, which is here high¬ 
ly esteemed and cultivated with much care; this, in a short time, 
removes the yellowness of the skin, and displays a fair and clear, 
complexion, which might vie in beauty with our handsomest 
dames. The roses are then blooming on their cheeks, and the 
transparency of their skin enables you to trace their fine blue veins, 
I had an opportunity of visiting a tribe that had not for a long time 
been tabbooed: the beauty and gayety of the women astonished 
me, and my attention was rivetted to some of the young girls, w r ho«, 
as respected the form of their persons, beauty of their faces, and 
fairness of their skins, might have served as the most perfect 
models. 
Agreeable to the request of the chiefs I laid down the plan of 
the village about to be built; the line on which the houses were to 
be placed was already traced by our barrier of water casks; they 
were to take the form of a crescent, were to be built on the outside 
of the enclosure, and to be connected with each other by a wall 
twelve feet in length and four feet in height; the houses were to 
be fifty feet in length, built in the usual fashion of the country, and 
of a proportioned width and height. 
On the 3rd. November, upwards of four thousand natives? 
from the different tribes assembled at the camp with materials for 
building, and before night they had completed a dwelling house 
for myself and another for the officers, a sail loft, a coopers’ shop, 
and a place for our sick, a bake house, a guard house, and a shed 
for the centinel to walk under; the whole were connected by the 
walls as above described. We removed our barrier of water casks, 
and took possession of our delightful village, which had been 
built as if by enchantment. 
Nothing can exceed the regularity with which these people 
carried on their work, without any chief to guide them, without 
canfusion, and without much noise; they performed their labour 
