*J77* ftrain many from falling into the fame error. That I have
v— , i affigned the true motive for their propenfity to this praitice,
appears from their Healing every thing indifcriminately at
firft fight, before they could have the leaft conception of
converting their prize to any one ufeful purpofe. But, I
believe, with us, no perfon would forfeit his reputation, or
expofe himfelf to punifhment, without knowing, before
hand, how to employ the ftolen goods. Upon the whole,
the pilfering difpofition of thefe iflanders, though certainly
difagreeable and troublefome to flrangers, was the means
of affording us fome information as to the quicknefs of
their intellects. For their fmall thefts were committed with
much dexterity; and thofe qf greater confequence with a
plan or fcheme fuited to the importance of the objedls. An
extraordinary inftance of the laft fort, their attempts to
carry away one of the Difcovery’s anchors, at mid-day,
has been already related.
Their hair is, in general, ftraight, thick, and flrong ;
though a few have it bufhy or frizzled. The natural colour,
1 believe, almoft without exception, is black; but the
greateft part of the men, and fome of the women, have it
ftained of a brown, or purple colour; and a few of an
orange caff. The firft colour is produced by applying a
fort of plafter of burnt coral, mixed with water; the fe-
cond, by the rafpings of a reddifh wood, which is made
up with water into a poultice, and laid over the hair; and
the third is, I believe, the effect of turmeric root.
When I firft vifited thefe iflands, I thought it had been an
univerfal cuftom for both men and women to wear the hair
fhort; but, during our prelent longer ftay, we faw a great
many exceptions. Indeed, they are fo whimfical in their fafhions
fhions of wearing it, that it is hard to tell which is moil in '777■
vogue. Some have it cut off one fide of the head, while <— ~— ■>
that on the other fide remains long ; fome have only a portion
of it cut fhort, or, perhaps, ihaved ; others have it entirely
cut off, except a fingle lock, which is left commonly
on one fide ; or, it is fuffered to grow to its full length,
without any of thefe mutilations. The women, in general,
wear it fhort. The men have their beards cut fhort;
and both men and women ftrip the hair from their armpits.
The operation by which this is performed has been
already defcribed, The men are flained from about the
middle of the belly, to about half way down the thighs,
with a deep blue colour. This is done with a flat bone infiniment,
cut full of fine teeth, which, being dipped in the
ffaining mixture, prepared from the juice of the dooe Hooe, is
ftruck into the fkin with a bit of flick -, and, by that means,
indelible marks are made. In this manner they trace lines
and figures, which, in fome, are very elegant, both from
the variety, and.from the arrangement. The women have
only a few.fmall lines or fpots, thus imprinted, on the infide
of their hands. Their kings, as a mark of diftindtion, are
exempted from this cuftom, as alfo from inflidling on them-
felves any of thofe bloody marks of mourning, which fhall
be mentioned in another place.
The men are all circumcifed, or rather fupercifed; as thé
operation confifts in cutting off only a fmall piece of the
forefkin, at the upper part ; which, by that means, is rendered
incapable, ever after, of covering the glans. This is
all they aim at ; as they fay, the operation is practifed from
a notion of cleanlinefs.
The drefs of both men and women, is the fame ; and
confifts of a piece of cloth or matting (but moftly the
3 D 2 former), ■