1774- from motives of cleanlihefs, like the people of Tonga-Tab“'
M arch.
boo, but fortunately feemed to be lefs fubjeft to leprous
complaints. It is eafy to conclude that the king of
fuch a people cannot have great and confpicuous advan-
tages over the commonalty, nor did our party obferve any
' thing of that kind. The religion of the Eafter Illanders is
-ftill wholly unknown to us, becaufe abftraft ideas are not
• to be acquired'in fo Ihort a time as our flay. The ftatues,
which are erected in honour of their kings, have a great affinity
to the wooden figures, called Tee, on the chief’s manats
or burying-places at Taheitee ; but we could not pof-
fibly confider them as idols, though Roggewein’s people
would pafs them for fuch upon us. The fires which the
Dutch interpret as facrifices, were only made ufe of by the
natives to drefs their meals; and though the Spaniards fuf-
peflted them to be a kind of fuperllition, they were, perhaps,
equally miftaken, becaufe the fcarcity of fuel obliged the
inhabitants to be careful of it, and to prevent their provisions
being uncovered after they had once been put under
ground with heated ftones.
We are unacquainted with the amufements of the people
of Eafter Ifland, having never feen them engaged in any
kind of diverfion, nor taken notice of a fingle mufical in-
. ftrument among them. They cannot, however, be entire
ftrangers to amufements, fince Maroo-wahai, who flept on
board,
A V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD. 6 oi
board, talked a great deal of dancing, as foon as we had
quieted his fears with refpedt to the fafety of his perfon.
The difpofition of thefe people is far from being warlike;
their numbers are too inconfiderable, and their poverty too
general, to create civil difturbances amongft them. It is
equally improbable that they have foreign wars, fince hitherto
we know of no ifland near enough to admit of an
intercourfe between the inhabitants ; neither could we obtain
any intelligence from thofe of Eafter Ifland upon the fub-
jetSt. This being premifed, it is extraordinary that they
fhould have different kinds of offenfive weapons, and efpe-
cially fuch as refemble thofe of the New Zeelanders; and
we muft add this circumftance to feveral others, which are
inexplicable to us in their kind.
Upon the whole, fuppofing Eafter Ifland to have undergone
a late misfortune from volcanic fires, its inhabitants
are more to be pitied than any lefts civilized fociety, being I
acquainted with a number of conveniencies, comforts, and
luxuries of life, which they formerly poflefTed, and of which
the remembrance muft embitter the lofts. Mahine frequently
lamented their unhappy lituation, and feemed to feel for
them more than he had done for the New Zeelanders, becaufe
he found them much more deftitute. He added' another
flick to the bundle which compofed his journal, and
remembered Eafter Ifland with this obfervation, tata maitai,
m o l i e n n u a e e n o , that the people were good, but the ifland very ■
V ol. I. 4 H • bad»-
I