d?o!*t gave her the cloth, and a number of little ornaments. But
I was overpaid by the pleafure of the father, the joy, the
fondnef's which fparkled in his eyes, and lighted up his
whole countenance.
We ft aid among thefe people till funfet, and were entertained
with longs, and with a difplay of their fkill. At
our requeft they (hot their arrows into- the air, and at a
mark. They did not force the arrow to any' extraordinary
height, but were very accurate markfmen at a Ihort dif-
tance, as has been already observed. With their dubs
they parried the darts of their anta-gomft, nearly in the
fame manner as I have defcribed at Taheitee (See pi 104.)
They told us that alt the clubs which have a lateral blade,
■ like a fleam (See p, 280. j are brought from; the low ifland,
which they call Immèr -, but we could not learn whether
■ they are manufactured there by the inhabitants, or whether
the iSand is uninhabited, and; they early1 vifitit occafionallyr,
10 gather fhells and to cut wood. Before we left; the huts,
the women had lighted lèverai fires in and about them;, and
■ began to’ drefs their fuppers. The natives all huddled
about thefe fires, and feemed. to feel the evening air rather
too coot for their naked bodies; Several ofr them had. a
dwelling in the upper eye-lid, which we attributed in fome
meafure to this practice of fitting in the fmoak. It. impeded,
their fight fo much, that they were obliged to lean
thejr heads backwards, till the .eye was.in a horizontal line
with
with the objedl which "they wifhed to behold. This complaint
was the more remarkable, as it extended to feveral
little boys five and fix years ©Id # -from whence we Cuf-
peCted that it was perhaps propagated from one generation
to another.
When we arrived on the beach, almoft all the natives had
left it, and in a Ihort time we were left entirely to .our-
felves. To us, who were provided with cloatbs, the cool
o f the evening was delightful, and we rambled about the
deferred woods till the twilight had entirely disappeared. A
prodigious number of bats .of a fmall fize fettered about
us, coming out of every bulk ; but our endeavours to fhoot
at them were entirely unfuccefsfttl, for we could not fee
them till they were clofe to <ms, and they .were inftantly out
of fight again. Our people having replaced their nets in
the boats, after toiling a long time with no other fuccefs
than a dozen or two of fifh, which all together might weigh,
thirty pounds, we embarked like wife, and returned on
board to reft from our excurfion.
The next morning captain Cook, Mr. Wales, Mr. Eatton,
and feveral other gentlemen, who were defirous to examine
the volcano, fet out with Dr. Sparrman, my father, myfelf,.
and two men, and walked up the hill on the weft fide of
the bay. The weather was foggy, heavy, and fultry, but:
the volcano was quiet. We foon reached the folfatara,
where the hot fleam rofe plentifully. The experiment to>
meafure.:
*774-
Auc os.