1769. faces different ways, take their repaft without interchanging
a fingle word.
The women not only abftain from eating with the men,
and of the fame victuals, but even havé their victuals fepa-
rately prepared by boys kept for that purpofe, who depofit it
in a feparate fhed, and attend them with it at their meals.
But though they would not eat with us or with each other,
they have often afked us to eat with them, when we havé'
vifited thofe with whom we were particularly acquainted at
their houfes; and we have often upon fuch occalions eaten
out of the fame bafket, and drunk out of the fame cup. The
elder women, however, always appeared to he offended at
this liberty ; and i f we happened to touch their victuals, or
even the balket that contained it, would throw it away.
Domeiticiife, After meals, and in the heat of the day, the middle-aged
and amufe- _ _ , . r , y . 0 • ments.. people of the better fort generally fleep-; they are indeed extremely
indolent, and deeping and eating is almoft all that
they do. Thofe that are older are lefs drowzy, and the boys
and girls are kept awake by the natural activity and fpright-
linefs of their age.
Their amufements have occafionally been mentioned in
my account of the incidents that happened during our refi-,
dence in this ifland, particularly mufic, dancing, wreftling,
and fhooting with the bow; they alfo fometimes vie with
each other in throwing a lance. As fhooting is not at a mark,
but for diftance; throwing the lance is not for diftance, but
at a mark : the weapon is about nine feet long, the mark is
the bole o f a plantain, and the diftance about twenty yards.
Their only mufical inftruments are flutes and drums ; the
flutes are made of a hollow bamboo about a foot long, and,
as has been obferved before, have only two flops, and con*
fequently but four notes, out of which they feem hitherto to
® have
have formed but one tune; to thefe flops they apply the
fore finger of the left hand and the middle finger of the
right.
1769.
The drum is made of a hollow block of wood, of a cylindrical
form, folid at one end, and covered at the other with
fhark’s fkin • thefe they heat not with flicks, but their hands;
and they know how to tune two drums of different notes
into concord. They have alfo an expedient to bring the
flutes that play together into unifon, which is to roll up a
leaf fo as to flip over the end of the fhorteft, like our Aiding
tubes for telefcopes, which they move up or down till the
purpofe is anfwered, of which they feem to judge by their
ear with great nicety.
To thefe inftruments they fing; and, as I have obferved
before, their fongs are often extempore: they call every two
verfes or couplet a fong, Pehay; they are generally, though
not always in rhime; and when pronounced by the natives,
we could difcover that they were metre. Mr. Banks took
great pains to write down fome of them which were made
Upon our arrival, as nearly as he could exprefs their founds
by combinations of our letters ; but when we read them, not
having their accent, we could fcarcely make them either
metre or rhime. The reader will eafily perceiye that they
are o f very different ftru&ure.
Tede pahai de parow-a
Ha maru no mina.
E pahah Tayo malama tai ya
No Tabane tonatou whannomi ya.
E Turai eattu terara patee whennua toai
Ino o maio Pretane to whennuaia no Tute.
D d 2 GiJÇk