.'■I773- by beating them unmercifully, breaking feveral flick's OTX
A ugust. 1 0
their heads, and no doubt breaking their heads too*
tE come quel ch’ ancor de la pazzi-a
Isfon era ben guarito interamehte ;
•per allargare innanzi al Re la via,
Menava quella mazza fra la.gente,
C h ’ un imbriaco fvizzero paria
t ) i quei, che con v illa s modo infolentey
- Sogliono in n an zi’1 Papa il di di fefta,
Rompere a chi le braccia, a chi la tefta, *1 assohi.
Notwithftanding this fevere treatment, they returned as
obftinately to the charge as an Engliffi mob, but bore the
infolence of the king’s officers with more patience. The
king of O-Taheitee had never feen our people during captain
Cook’s firft voyage, probably in confequence of the po-
- litical views of his uncle Tootabah, who at that time had
the whole management of affairs in his hands, and who
might be apprehenfive oMofing his confequence among the
Europeans, if they fliould once know that he> was not the
greafeft man on the iiland. Whether- Tootahah’s power
was to be confidered as an ufurpation, or not, is not eafily
to be determined; fo much however may be alledged-
againft him, that the king himfelf feemed to us to be a
man of twenty-four or twenty-five years of age. O-Too
was the tailed man whom we faw on the whole-ifland which
he governs, meafuring fix feet and three inches in he-ight.
Hie whole body was proportionately ftrong and well-made,
without
without any tendency to corpulence.- His head, notwith- mmjjgr..
Handing a certain gloominefs which feemed to exprefs a
fearful difpofition, had a, majeftic and intelligent air, and
there was great- expreffion in his full black eyes. He wore
ftrong whifkers, which with his beard, and a prodigious
growth of curled hair, were all of a-jetty black. His
portrait-is engraved from Mr. Hodges’s drawing, for captain
Cook’s account of this - voyage. The fame habit of
body, and the fame lingular quantity, of hair, which flood
puffed up all about the head intricately entwined .and curled,
charaflerifed his brothers, one a.youth of about fixteen,
another ten years of age, and likewife bis fillers, of which
the eldeft now prefent feemed about twenty-fix* .The, women
of- O-Taheitee in general; cut their hair rather fhort}
it was therefore a very uncommon appearance on the heads
of thefe ladies, and may, for ought we know, be a privilege
referved only to thofe of the royal family. Their rank
however did not exclude them from the general etiquette of
uncovering the fhoulders in the king’s prefence, a ceremony
which afforded the whole fex numberlefs opportunities of
d-ifplaying an elegant figure to the greateft advantage.
The fimple drapery of. a long white piece o f cloth, like a
muflin, was to .be turned an hundred different ways, according
to the convenience, _or the talents and fine tafle of
the wearer ;, no general faffiions force them to disfigure, in-
ftead of adorning themfelves, but an innate gracefulnefs
was