The natural colour, I believe, almost without exception, is black; but the greatest part of the men, and some of the women, have it stained of a brown or purple colour; and a few of an orange cast. The first colour is produced by applying a sort of plaster of burnt coral, mixed with water; the second by the raspings of a reddish wood, which is made up with water into a poultice, and laid over the hair ; and the third is, I believe, the effect of turmeric root.

When I first visited these islands, I thought it had been an universal custom for both men and women to wear the hair short; but, during our present longer stay, we saw a great many exceptions. Indeed they are so whimsical in their fashions of wearing it, that it is hard to tell which is most in vogue. Some have it cut off one side of the head, while that on the other side remains long; some have only a portion of it cut short, or perhaps shaved; others have it entirely cut off, except a single lock, which is left commonly on one side, or it is suffered to grow to its full length without any of these mutilations. The women in general wear it short. The men have their beards cut short, and both men and women strip the hair from their arm-pits. The operation by which this is performed has been already described. The men are stained from about the middle of the belly, to about half way down the thighs, with a deep blue colour. This is done with a flat bone instrument cut full of fine teeth, which being dipped in the staining mixture, prepared from the juice of the dooe dooe, is struck into the skin with a bit of stick, and by that means indelible marks are made. In this manner they trace lines and figures, which, in some are very elegant, both from the variety, and from the arrangement. The women have only a few small lines or spots, thus imprinted on the inside of their hands. Their kings, as a mark of distinction, are exempted from

this custom, as also from inflicting on themselves any of those bloody marks of mourning, which shall be mentioned in another place.

The men are all circumcised, or rather supercised; as the operation consists in cutting off only a small piece of the foreskin at the upper part; which by that means, is rendered incapable, ever after, of covering the glans. This is all they aim at; as they say the operation is practised from a notion of cleanliness.

The dress of both men and women is the same; and consists of a piece of cloth or matting (but mostly the former), about two yards wide, and two and a half long; at least so long as to go once and a half round the waist, to which it is confined by a girdle or cord. It is double before, and hangs down like a petticoat, as low as the middle of the leg. The upper part of the garment above the girdle, is plaited into several folds; so that when unfolded, there is cloth sufficient to draw up and wrap round the shoulders, which is very seldom done. This, as to form, is the general dress; but large pieces of cloth and fine matting, are worn only by the superior people. The inferior sort are satisfied with small pieces; and very often wear nothing but a covering made of leaves of plants, or the maro, which is a narrow piece of cloth or matting, like a sash. This they pass between the thighs and wrap round the waist; but the use of it is chiefly confined to the men. In their great haivas, or entertainments, they have various dresses made for the purpose; but the form is always the same; and the richest dresses are covered, more or less, with red feathers. On what particular occasion their chiefs wear their large red feather-caps, I could not learn. Both men and women sometimes shade their faces from the sun with little bonnets, made of various materials.

As the clothing, so are the ornaments, worn by those of both sexes, the same. The most common of these are necklaces made of the fruit of the pandanus, and various sweet-smelling flowers, which go under the general name of kahulla. Others are composed of small shells, the wing and leg-bones of birds, shark's teeth, and other things; all which hang loose upon the breast. In the same manner, they often wear a mother-of-pearl shell neatly polished, or a ring of the same substance carved on the upper part of the arm; rings of tortoiseshell on the fingers; and a number of these joined together as bracelets on the wrists.

The lobes of the ears (though, most frequently, only one,) are perforated with two holes, in which they wear cylindrical bits of ivory, about three inches long, introduced at one hole, and brought out of the other; or bits of reed of the same size, filled with a yellow pigment. This seems to be a fine powder of turmeric, with which the women rub themselves all over, in the same manner as our ladies use their dry rouge upon the cheeks.

Nothing appears to give them greater pleasure than personal cleanliness; to produce which, they frequently bathe in the ponds, which seem to serve no other * purpose. Though the water in most of them stinks intolerably, they prefer them to the sea; and they are so sensible that salt water hurts their skin, that when necessity obliges them to bathe in the sea, they commonly have some cocoa-nut shells filled with fresh water, poured over them to wash it off. They are immoderately fond of cocoanut oil for the same reason; a great quantity of which they not only pour upon their head and

So at the Caroline Islands. "Ils sont accoutumés à se baigner trois fois le jour, le matin, à midi, et sur le soir."

shoulders, but rub the body all over, briskly, with a smaller quantity. And none but those who have seen this practice, can easily conceive how the appearance of the skin is improved by it. This oil, however, is not to be procured by every one; and the inferior sort of people, doubtless, appear less smooth for want of it.

CHAP. XI.

EMPLOYMENTS OE THE WOMEN AT THE FRIENDLY ISLANDS.

AGRICULTURE.

CONSTRUCTION OF

OF THE MEN. THEIR HOUSES. THEIR WORKING TOOLS. - CORDAGE, AND FISHING IMPLEMENTS. MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. WEAPONS. -FOOD AND COOKERY. AMUSEMENTS. MARRIAGE. -MOURNING CEREMONIES FOR THE DEAD. THEIR DINOTIONS ABOUT THE SOUL AND A FUTURE THEIR PLACES OF WORSHIP. GOVERNMENT.

VINITIES.
STATE.

MANNER OF PAYING OBEISANCE TO THE KING. - ACCOUNT

THEIR domestic life is of that middle kind, neither so laborious as to be disagreeable, nor so vacant as to suffer them to degenerate into indolence. Nature has done so much for their country, that the first can hardly occur, and their disposition seems to be a pretty good bar to the last. By this happy combination of circumstances, their necessary labour seems to yield in its turn to their recreations, in such a manner, that the latter are never interrupted by the thoughts of being obliged to recur to the former, till satiety makes them wish for such a transition.

The employment of the women is of the easy kind, and, for the most part, such as may be executed in the house. The manufacturing their cloth, is wholly consigned to their care. Having already described the process, I shall only add, that they have this cloth of different degrees of fineness. The coarser sort, of which they make very large pieces, does not receive the impression of any pattern. Of the finer sort they have some that is striped and chequered,