THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
149 
cane, in the manner pra£lifed by our painters. Their co- 1779- 
lours are extracted from the fame berries, and other vege- . Ma ^ ch ‘ . 
table fubftances, as at Otaheite, which have been already 
defcribed by former voyagers. 
The bufinefs of painting belongs entirely to the women, 
and is called kipparee ; and it is remarkable, that they always 
gave the fame name to our writing. The young women 
would often take the pen out of our hands,, and fhew us, 
that they knew the ufe of it as well as we did; at the fame 
time telling us, that our pens were not fo good as theirs. 
They looked upon a fheet of written paper, as a piece of 
cloth flriped after the fafhion of our country; and it was 
not without the utmoft difficulty, that we could make them 
underhand,. that our figures had a meaning in them which 
theirs had not. 
Their mats are made of the leaves of th epandanus; and, 
as well as their cloths, are beautifully worked in a variety 
of patterns, and flamed of different colours. Some have a 
ground of pale green, fpotted with, fquares, or romboids, of 
red ; others are of a flraw colour, fpotted with green; and 
others are worked with beautiful ftripes, either in ftraight 
or waving lines of red and brown. In this article of manu- 
fa6ture, whether we regard the ftrength, finenefs, or beauty, 
they certainly excel the whole world. 
Their fifhing-hooks are made of mother-of-pearl, bone, 
or wood, pointed and barbed with fmall bones, or tortoife- 
ffiell. They are of various fizes and forms ; but the moffc 
common are about two or three inches long, and made in 
the ffiape of a fmall filh, which ferves as a bait, having a 
bunch of feathers tied to the head or tail. Thofe with which 
they fifh for fharks, are of a very large fize, being gene¬ 
rally fix or eight inches long. Confidering the materials of 
which 
