C H A P . v i r .
General Account of the Sándwich IJlands continued.— O f the
Inhabitants.— Their Origin.— Perfons,— Pernicious E ffects
of the Ava.— Numbers.— -Difpcftion and Manners.
— Reafons fo r fuppofng them not Cannibals.— Drefs and
Ornaments.— -Villages and Houfes.— Food.— Occupations
and Amufements.— AddiSled to Gaming.-— Their extraordinary
Dexterity in Swimming.— Arts and Manufactures.—
Curious Specimens o f their Sculpture,— Kipparee,
or Method o f painting Cloth.— Mats.— Fifhing Hooks.
— Cordage.— Salt Pans.— Warlike Injlruments.
>77?- r "F~' H E inhabitants o f the Sandwich Iilands are undoubt-
March’ . JL edly of the fame race with thofe o f New Zealand, the
Society and Friendly Iilands, Eafter Iiland, and the Marque-
fas j a race that pofielles, without any intermixture, all the
known lands between the latitudes o f 47° South, and 20°
North, and between the longitudes o f 184° and 260o Eall.
This fait, which, extraordinary as it is, might be thought
fufficiently proved by the ftriking fimilarity o f their manners
and cuftoms, and the general refemblance o f their perfons,
is eftablifhed, beyond all controverfy, by the abfolute identity
o f their language,
From what continent they originally emigrated, and by
what fteps they have fpread through fo vaft a fpace, thofe
yvho are curious in difquifitions o f this nature, may per-,
3 haPs
haps not find it very difficult to conjecture. It has been al- jCW
ready obferved, that they bear ftrong marks of affinity to '——*—
fome o f the Indian tribes, that inhabit the Ladrones and Caroline
Iflands; and the fame affinity may again be traced
amongft the Battas and the Malays. When thefe events
happened, is not fo eafy to afcertain; it was probably not
very lately, as they are extremely populous, and have no
tradition o f their own origin, but what is perfedtly-fabulous ;
whilft, on the other hand, the unadulterated ftate of their
general language, and the fimplicity which Hill prevails in
their cuftoms and manners, feem to indicate, that it could
not have been at any very diftant period.
The natives o f thefe iflands are, in general, above the
middle lize, and well made ; they walk very gracefully,
run nimbly, and are capable o f bearing great fa tig u e ;
though, upon the whole, the men are fomewhat inferior,
in point o f ftrength and activity, to the Friendly iflanders,
and the women lefs delicately limbed than thofe o f Otaheite. -
Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otaheite-
ans, and they are not altogether fo handfome a people *.
However, many o f bodi fexes had fine open countenances;
and the women, in particular, had good eyes and teeth, and
a fweetnefs and feniibility o f look, which rendered them
very engaging. Their hair is o f a brownifh black, and
neither uniformly ftraight, like that o f the Indians o f America,
nor uniformly curling, as amongft the African negroes,
but varying, in this refpedt, like the hair o f Europeans.
One ftriking peculiarity, in the features o f every part
o f this great nation, I do not remember to have feen any
* The .annexed print of a man o f Sandwich Ifaridsy was taken from a portrait of
our friend Kancena.
where