40 
OTAHEITE. 
their feathers; alfo another fort of a greenifh colour, with 
a few red fpots ; the latter are frequently tamed, and are 
valued on account of their red feathers. Here is a king- 
fifber of a dark green, with a collar of the fame hue round 
his white throat; a large cuckoo, and a blue heron. 
Small birds of various kinds dwell in the fhady trees; and, 
contrary to the generally-received opinion that birds in 
warm climates are not remarkable for their fong, have a 
very agreeable note. There were-no quadrupeds but dogs, 
hogs, and rats: and for thefe tall the natives were laid to 
have a ferupulous regard, infomuch that they would by 
no means kill them; however, Capt. Cook, in 1773, 
turned about fourteen cats on theilland, which have pro¬ 
bably reduced the number of thefe vermin. No frogs, 
toads, fcorpions, centipedes, or any kind of ferpent, have 
been found here; the ants, however, are troublefome, 
but.not very numerous. When the Endeavour firft ar¬ 
rived here, in 1769, the flies were found exceflively trou¬ 
blefome ; but mufqueto-nets and fly-flaps in fome mea- 
fure removed the inconvenience. Sydney Parkinfon, in 
his journal, fays that, notwithftanding thefe flies are fo 
great a nuifance, the natives, from a religious principle, 
will not kill them. But there is a ftrange difagreement 
in the accounts of different voyagers concerning this 
matter: for M. Bougainville fays, “this illand is not 
infefted with thofe myriads of troublefome infedts that are 
the plague of other tropical countries.” And Mr. Forffer 
fays, “ not a gnat or mufqueto hummed unpleafantly 
about us, or made us apprehenfive of its bite.” This in¬ 
convenience muff therefore be felt at certain feafons of 
the year, and in certain diffrifts of the country, more 
fenflbly than at other times and places. There is great 
variety of excellent filh ; and, according to Aitourou, a 
native who embarked with M. Bougainville, there are 
fea-fnakes on the Ihore of Otaheite, whole bite is mortal. 
The inhabitants of Otaheite are a ftout, well-made, 
adlive, and comely, people. The ffature of the men, in 
general, is from five feet feven to five feet ten inches ; the 
tailed man fee.n by Capt. Wallis meqfured fix feet three 
inches and a half; and Capt. Cook, in hisfecond voyage, 
defcribes Otoo, the king of Otaheite, to be of that height. 
“ In order to paint Hercules or a Mars,” fays M. de Bou¬ 
gainville, “ one could no-where find fuch beautiful mo¬ 
dels.” They are of a pale-brown complexion ; in general 
their hair is black, and finely frizzled; they have black 
eyes, flat nofes, large mouths, and fine white teeth ; the 
men v/ear their beards in many falhions,all of them pluck¬ 
ing out a great part. Moll of them fmcll ftrong of the 
cocoa-nut oil. The women in general are much finaller, 
efpecialiy thofe of the lower rank, or tawtows, which is 
attributed to their early and promil'cuous intercourfe with 
the men ; whillf the better fort, who do not gratify their 
paflions in the fame unbridled manner, are above the 
middle ffature of Europeans. Their flcin is molt deli¬ 
cately fmooth and foft; they have no colour in their 
cheeks; their nofe is generally fomewhat flat, but their 
eyes are full of expreflion, and their teeth beautifully 
'even and white. “ The women,” fays M. de Bougain¬ 
ville, “ have features not lefs agreeable than the gene¬ 
rality of Europeans, and a fymmetry of body and beau¬ 
tiful proportion of limbs which might vie with any of 
them. The complexion of the men is tawny; but thofe 
who go upon the water are much more red than thofe who 
live on-fhore. Some have their hair brown, red, or flaxen, 
in which they are exceptions to all the natives of Afia, 
Africa, and America, who have their hair black univer- 
fally; here, in the children of both fexes, it is generally 
flaxen. The ftrongeft expreflion is painted in the coun¬ 
tenances of thefe people; their walk is graceful, and all 
their motions are performed with great vigour and eafe.” 
“ I never beheld ftatelier men, (fays Sydney Parkinfon.) 
The men of confequence on the ifland wear the nails of 
their fingers long, which they confider as a very honour- 
- able badge of diftindlion, fince only fuch people as have 
no occafion to work can fufter them to grow to that length. 
This cuftom they have in common with the Chinefe ; but 
the nail of the middle finger on the right hand is al¬ 
ways kept fliort, the meaning for which peculiarity could 
not be learned. Only one iingle cripple was met with 
among them, and he appeared to have been maimed by a 
fall.” 
Both fexes have a cuftom of fcaining their bodies, nearly 
in the fame manner as is pradlifed in many other parts of 
the world, which they call tattooing; They prick the Ikin, 
fo as juft not to fetch blood, with a fmall inftrument, 
fomething in the form of a hoe; that part which anfwers 
to the blade is made of a bone or fhel 1 , fcraped very thin, 
and is from a quarter of an inch to an inch and a half 
wide; the edge is cut into fharp teeth or points, from the 
number of three to twenty, according to its fize; when 
this is to be ufed, they dip the teeth into a mixture of a 
kind of lamp-black, formed of the fmoke that rifes from 
an oily nut, which they burn inftead of candles, and 
water: the teeth, thus prepared, are placed upon the flcin, 
and the handle to which they are faftened being ftruck, 
by quick fmart blows, with a flick fitted to the purpofe, 
they pierce it, and at the fame time carry into the punc¬ 
ture the black compofition, which leaves an indelible ftain. 
The operation is painful, and it is fome days.before the 
wounds are healed. It is performed upon the youth of 
both fexes when they are about twelve or fourteen years 
of age, on feveral parts of the body, and in various figures, 
according to the fancy of the parent, or perhaps the rank 
of the party. The women are generally marked with this 
ftain, in the form of a Z, on every joint of their fingers 
and toes, and frequently round the outfide of their feet: 
the men are alfo marked with the fame figure ; and both 
men and women have fquares, circles, and crefcents, and 
ill-defigned reprefentations of men, birds, or dogs, and 
various other devices, imprefled upon their legs and arms, 
fome of which, we were told, had fignifications, though 
we never could learn what they were. But the part on 
which thefe ornaments are lavilhed with the greateft pro- 
fufion, is the breech: this, in both fexes, is covered with 
a deep black; above which arches are drawn one over 
another as high as the fliort ribs. Thefe arches are their 
pride, and are ftiown both by men and women with a 
mixture of oftentation and pleafure. The face, in general, 
is left unmarked. 
Both men and women are not only decently but grace¬ 
fully clothed, in a kind of white cloth that is made of the 
bark of a ihrub, and very much refembles coarfe China 
paper. Their drefs confifts of two pieces of this cloth ; 
one of them, having a hole made in the middle to put the 
head through, hangs from the fhoulders to the mid-leg 
before and behind; another piece, which is between four 
and five yards long, and about one yard broad, they wrap 
round the body in a very eafy manner: this cloth is not 
woven ; but is made like paper, of the macerated fibres of 
the inner bark fpread out and beaten together. Their 
ornaments are feathers, flowers, pieces of fliell, and pearls; 
the pearls are worn chiefly by the women. In wet wea¬ 
ther they wear matting of different kinds, as their cloth 
will not bear wetting. The drefs of the better fort of 
women confifts of three.or four pieces: one piece, about 
two yards wide and eleven long, they wrap feveral times 
round their waift, fo as to hang down like a petticoat as 
low as the middle of the leg; and this they call parou. 
This Ample drapery affords the fex an opportunity of dis¬ 
playing an elegant figure to the greateft advantage. Two 
or three other pieces, about two yards and a half long 
and one wide, each having a hole cut in the middle, they 
place one upon another; and then, putting the head 
through the holes, they bring the long ends down before 
and behind; the others remain open at the Aides, and 
give liberty to the arms : this, which they call the tebuta, 
is gathered round the waift, and confined with a girdle or 
faftr, of thinner cloth, which is long enough to go many 
times round them, and exadlly refembles the garment 
worn by the inhabitants of Peru and Chili, which the 
4 Spaniards 
