THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
303 
very coarfe and ftrong; and, without a fingle exception, 
black, ftraight, and lank, or hanging down over the fhoul- 
ders. The neck is fbiort; the arms and body have no parti¬ 
cular mark of beauty or elegance in their formation, but 
are rather clumfy; and the limbs, in all, are very fmall in 
proportion to the other parts, and crooked, or ill-made, 
with large feet badly fhaped, and projecting ankles. This 
lad: defeCt feems, in a great meafure, to arife from their 
fitting fo much on their hams or knees, both in their ca¬ 
noes and houfes. 
Their colour we could never pofitively determine, as their 
bodies were incrufted with paint and dirt; though, in par¬ 
ticular cafes, when thefe were well rubbed off, the white- 
nefs of the Ikin appeared almoft to equal that of Europeans; 
though rather of that pale effete caff which diffinguifhes 
thofe of our Southern nations. Their children, whofe fidns 
had never been ftained with paint, alfo equalled ours in 
whitenefs. During their youth, fome of them have no dif- 
agreeable look, if compared to the generality of the people; 
but this feems to be entirely owing to the particular anima¬ 
tion attending that period of life; for, after attaining a cer¬ 
tain age, there is hardly any diftinCtion. Upon the whole, 
a very remarkable famenefs feems to characterize the 
countenances of the whole nation; a dull phlegmatic want 
of expreflion, with very little variation, being ftrongly 
marked in all of them. 
The women are nearly of the fame fize, colour, and 
form, with the men; from whom it is not eafy to diftin- 
guifh them, as they poffefs no natural delicacies fufficient 
to render their perfons agreeable ; and hardly any one was 
feen, even amongft thofe who were in the prime of life, 
who had the leaft pretentions to be called handfome. 
1 Their 
