26 A N A C C O U N T OT
I 11 Ih
A u a u s t.
S i !
thumberland Ihould, at -Macao, have, recommended to
Captain W ilson, T om Rose as a fervant, who fpoke the
Malay language perfectly well. ;f
It was a ftill more lingular circumftance, that a . temped
fhould have throwii a Malay on this 'fpot> who had.as a r ra n ge
r been noticed.and favoured by the King, and having been
near a year on the ifland previous ±0 the lofs o f the A n t e lope,
was become acquainted- with the languageibf the.
country; by this extraordinary event both the E nglish
and the inhabitants o f Pelew had each an interpreter who
could converfe freely together in the Malay tongue, 'and
T om Rose fpeaklng; Fjigli/by an eafy intercourfe was
diately opened on Ixith .fides, and all thofe impediments removed
at cmce, which would havearifen aniohg;peol>le Who
had no means o f conveying their thoughts to one another by
language, but muft have trailed to figns and geftures, which,
to thofe born in climates fo remotely feparated,. might have'
given rife to a thoufan'd mifconceptions.— T he natives perceiving
the boats preparing to be launched, imagined it was
for departure; but being told that our men were only going
off to the wreck to fetch more ftores and necelfai'ies on
fhore, they laid they, would fend one o f their people with
them, to prevent any canoes from molefting them.
T h e natives were o f a deep copper colour, perfectly
naked, having no kind o f covering whatfoever; their fkins
very foft and gloffy, owing,, as was known afterwards,,
4 to
T H>E -P E LjE W I S L A N D S. 27
to ,'the •■ ■ 'external j ufe-; cpffnocoaj-nut - nil. had .1783.
A U f i V i 5
in-rhiSi hapd a bafket o f B e -**.#,T, and a bamboo
.finely pohfhjsd- -and inlaid "at each erld, in’ which they carried
th e ir . Chinam; this is coral burnt to a lime, which they
drake out through one' end o f the bamboo where they
carry it, on the leaf o f the Be e t l e -n u t , before they chew
it, to render’ it more ufeful, or palatable. It was obferved'
that all their teeth. Were black, and that the BeUk-nut ’ and
Bhinantj o f which they had always a quid in their mouths,
rendered | the faliva red, which, together with their black
teeth, gave their mouths a very difgufting appearance.—
T h e y were o f a middliagfftature, very ftraight, and mufou-
lar, their -'lirnfes -Well formed, and had»;?. f^ThbulanThajeftie
manner in walkings but their le-gsj f tom a little above their
ancles to the middle o f their thighs, were. tatooed fo very
thickgas to appear .dyed o f a: far deeper colopr than their
Ifciay their dfair was o f a finefMackylopg, and rblled- tip be5*
hind in a dm pie manner d o le to the back o f theinhfeads> and
becoming*-T-Nonqij»f’ them, except
the younger o f the* King’s two brothers, - had a' beard and lit
.was afterwards obferved, in the coUpfebf a acquaint-:
ance with them, that they in general plucked out their
beards by the ro ot; a very few, only, who had |f e f g g .
thick beards, cherilhed them and let - them; grow.— As
they now feemed to feel no longeF any reftraint, they were
condu&ed round If the cove; the ground was as ye t but
E 2 flightly