S andwich
I s l e s .
Name tm- ,
po led?; -- ‘
Inhabitants.
Manners and
Cuftoms, ;
Form o f
government.
miles in circumference, called Owhyhee, where^ Captain Cook was moft
unfortunately flam by the natives, February 1779. . The beft eulogy of
this great man will he found difperfed through this and Other fyftems
of modern geography,-’which from him derive a great acceffion of
^knowledge. , ■
Thefe iflands were fo named by Cook, in gratitude to the earl of
Sandwich, a. mimftet who had warmly promoted his labours. The
natives are rather of a darker complexion than thofe of Otaheite, but
the features are pleafmg ; and the death of Cook was not owing to fe-
TOcity, but a hidden impulfe of undefended refentmcnt. The hair is
fometimes long; fometimes-curled, as'among Europeans: but the nofe
is always fpread at the point, perhaps owing to the mode of falutation,
in which they prefs their, nofes together. Captain Kdng' reprefeKts^them
as a mild and affeaionate' people; free from th e Otaheitan lenity', ^nd
th e proud gravity o f thofe o f the Friendly Ifles. T h i s u ^ n f e f e s people
has even made feme progrefs in agriculture and manufadtures; yet they
ftillfacrifice human vidtims, b ut do not eat them like the people o f New
Zealand, at leaffTo f a r a s foformation could be obtainedr. 'Tfretbeard is
generally w o rn ; and among .the ornaments o f both. Texes* is--a kind-of
fan to drive away flies, made o f the-fibres o f the codoa-nuf^pr d f.fe ig
feathers. Like the o th e r' nations o f Polynefia, fee^;4satdbtthdr bodies ;
and among females even the tip of the tongue, becaufe they can thus
fhew an ornament without elocution. The drefs confifts of a narrow
piece of coarfe cloth called the maro, prepared in the fame manner as at
Otaheite, which pafles-between the legs and is faftened round the loins.
In battle the men throw a.kind of mats over their fhoulders, and this
armour is neatly manufactured. On folemn occafions the chiefs wear
drefles, artfully and beautifully formed of feathers. The women have
only a flight wrapper, and the hair is cut fhort behind, bud turned up
from"1 their forehead. The food confifts chiefly of filh, to which are
•added yams, plantains, and fugar canes; while people o f rank feaft on
the wild boar, and fometimes the flefh of dogs. The government is. in
a fupreme chief called Eree Taboo, whole ' funeral is. accompanied by
the facrifice of two or more fervants. The inferior chiefs are ftyled
Frees; and there is" a fecund ciafs of proprietors^ and a third of labourers.
bourers, all thefe ra-nks feeming to be hereditary. Though human fa- Sandwich
orifices be here inore.frequcnt, the Other rites appear to correfpond with rsL23’ •
t}iofeTd^the Society Iflandsj fhalj. be, defcribed in the account of
Otaheite:
The climate appears to be more temperate than that of the'Weft In- climate,
dies;; and in Owhyhee the mountains arreft the cloudsj and produce / 1
rain inland, while there is funlhine bri the ftiore. The winds feem generally
eafterly', and there is a regular land and d<^brj§eze'i*
T E ' quadrupeds,„as^ufual in Polynefi^, are few^ianly hogsidogs^and1 Zoology,
rats, being difcovercd. The kinds of birds are not numerous, beings
amdh^bthers,1 Targe white' pi'g^n^,plovers,‘ oj|lTahdfo!kfocf1 of raven!
Thefe iflands produce" abundanbe. of the bread fruit, andTugafecanes' of
aihalrbg «ze. 7 FJpcfo wnolej'tms idnGpykery|'-^^j^m^mnt!j arid
OWfi^laee is'the largeft'' iflarld yet found in 'thq^wideVfextlfrht; of’ Pol'yi
nefia.
After leaViiag’ Eafter Ifland the Unfortunate ‘La' Pbroufe vifited the
Sandwich Iflands; which he feems to fuppofe are the fame with the
H MefabfrSpanifh charts ; though, from- afi 'errdfV in nqE’‘eBfei:vfng the
currents, they.be placed Sixteen'or feventbendegreeslfn’er'eio-the eaft,
an, ufuaL fault in the-Spanilh charts,-which thus bring many Tcl'y-pehani
iflag^ far too pear the American ftior,es,; but the-Trep.chqiavjigatqr Xyb-
joins an honourable-teftimony.sm; favour of».Cook*- Full of.refppdt
and admiration for the memory of that great man, he .will'always appear
to me' the greateft of navigators.” §till Nevy Caledonia,. and w.hat is
cafle&Sandyrieh Land in the aptanftic^ocgan,. feem acknowledged mew
difcqyerj.es of our great navigator.1
La Petoufe vifited., th e iffe - o f Owhyhee,-"and,-
obferyed the mountains, the v^oods,-th§t’§afqad§§ ; apd th e habitations,-,
of thq .natives, fo numerous, that a fpace o f thre&*q4fou |^ ag .Ue ^ 'm ig h t
be fuppofed a Angle village. Th ey brought hogs arid fru its ^ arid their1
canoes had outriggers. La Peroufe confirms the at2c<font of their mild
and beneficent man n e rs; and fo general re fe rs,to the Englifh narratives,
the exadtneH of'which fie greatly applauds. k :
Y , T u k