hands with all the strangers, after which he
squatted himself down upon the deck, seeming
very much to enjoy the triumph of being
the first on board. But others very soon
coming up with us, our decks were crowded
with them, some boarding us at the gangway,
others climbing up the chains and bows, and
finding entrances where they could. All
were in perfect good humour, and pleasure
beamed in all their countenances.
I had heard a great deal respecting the
splendid race of men I was going to visit,
and the few specimens I had occasionally met
with at Sydney so much pleased me, that I
was extremely anxious to see a number of
them together, to judge whether (as a nation)
they were finer in their proportions than the
English, or whether it was mere accident
that brought some of their tallest and finest
proportioned men before me.
I examined these savages, as they crowded
round our decks, with the critical eye of an
artist; they were generally taller and larger
men than ourselves; those of middle height
were broad-chested and muscular, and their
limbs as sinewy as though they had been
occupied all their lives in laborious employments.
Their colour is lighter than that of
the American Indian, their features small
and regular, their hair is in a profusion of
beautiful curls: whereas that of the Indian
is strait and lank. The disposition of the
New Zealander appears to be full of fun and
gaiety, while the Indian is dull, shy, and
suspicious.
I have known Indians in America from thé
north to the south, — the miserable idiotic
Botecooda of Brazil, the fierce warrior of
Canada, and the gentle and civilised Peruvian,
yet in their features and complexions
they are all much alike. I observed their
statures altered with their different latitudes.
The Chilians and the Canadians being nearly
the same, in figure tall, thin, and active, their
climate being nearly the same, although at
the two extremes of America ; while those
living between the equinoxes are short, fat,
and lazy. I am persuaded that these South
Sea islanders, though so nearly of the same
complexion, still are not of the same race;