was the eafe and graeefulnefs with performed. which they were-
At night, we were entertained with the bomat, or nights
dTahnecye sla, ftoend aa bfopuatc eth rbeeef ohroeu Frse;e nino uw’sh itcehm tpiomraer wy eh haabdit aatbioonu.t
tthwoeflev ea to Hf athpeamee .p erBfuort,m iend ,t wmo,u cthh aat fwteerr teh ep efrafmorem meda nbnye wr oas
men, a number of men came and formed a circle within their’s. And, in another, confiding of twenty-four men,
there were a number of motions with the hands, that we had not feen before, and were highly applauded. The mufic was, alfo,. once changed, in the courfe of the night and in one of the dances, Eeenou appeared at the head of fifty men who had performed at Hapaee, and he was well drefied with linen, a large piece of gauze, and fome little
pictures hung round his neck. But it was evident, after
the diverfions were clofed, that we had put thefe poor people, or rather that they had put themfelves, to much m2
convenience. For being drawn together on this uninhabited
part of their ifland, numbers of them were obliged, to lie down and lleep under, the buihes, by the fide of a tree,, or of a canoe ; nay many either lay down in the open air, which they are not fond of, or walked about all the night.
betTthere owrdheorl,e tohfa nt hciso uelndt ehratavien mbeeennt wexaps ecitoendd uinct efdo lwairtghe faanr. aflembly. Amongft fuch a multitude, there muft be a
number of ill-difpofed people ; and we, hourly, experienced it. All our care and attention did not prevent their plundering
us, in every quarter; and that, in the mol daring and
infolent manner. There was hardly any thing that they did
not attempt to fteal ; and yet, as the crowd was always fo
great*
great, I would not allow the fentries to fire, left the inno- eg?
cent ihould fuffer for the guilty. They once, at noon day, _
ventured to aim at taking an anchor from off the Difcovery’s bows ; and they would certainly have fucceeded, if the flook
had not hooked one of the chain plates in lowering down the
ihip’s fide, from which they could not difengage it by hand;
and tackles were things they were unacquainted with.
The only a& of violence they were guilty of, was the breaking
the ihoulder bone of one of our goats, fo that fhe died foon after. This lofs fell upon themfelves, as ihe was one of thofe that I intended to leave upon the ifland ; but of
this, the perfon who did it, was ignorant.
Early in the morning of the 18th, an incident happened, WedneC is.
that ftrongly marked one of their cuftoms. A man got out
of a canoe into the quarter gallery of the Refolution, and Hole from thence a pewter bafon. He was difcovered, pursued,
and brought along-lide the ihip. On this occafion, three old women, who were in the canoe, made loud lamentations
over the prifoner, beating their breafts and faces
in a moil violent manner, with the infide of their fifts ; and
all this was done without fliedding a tear. This mode of expreffing grief is what ©ccafions the mark which almoft all this people bear on the face, over the cheek bones. The ■repeated blows which they inflid: upon this part, abrade the fkin, and make even the blood flow out in a confiderable quantity ; and when the wounds are recent, they look as if a hollow circle had been burnt in. On many occafions,
•they actually cut this part of the face with an inftrument;
hine adthse. fame manner as the people of Qtaheite cut their
retTuhrnis fodra yt,h oIf eb ewlleo wheadd orenc eMivaerde efrwoamge hei mfo mthee dpraeyf ebnetfso, rein;
Q_q a and