Malays. When these events happened, it is not so easy to ascertain; it was probably not very lately, as they are extremely populous, and have no tradition of their own origin, but what is perfectly fabulous; whilft on the other hand, the unadulterated ftate of their general language, and the fimplicity which still prevails in their customs and manners, feems to indicate that it could not have been at any very distant period.

The natives of these islands are in general above the middle fize, and well made; they walk very gracefully, run nimbly, and are capable of bearing great fatigue; though, upon the whole, the men are fomewhat inferior, in point of strength and activity, to the Friendly iflanders, and the women lefs delicately limbed than thofe of Otaheite. Their complexion is rather darker than that of the Otaheiteans, and they are not altogether fo handsome a people. However, many of both fexes had fine open countenances; and the women in particular had good eyes and teeth, and a sweetness and fenfibility of look, which rendered them very engaging. Their hair is a brownish black, and neither uniformly ftraight, like that of the Indians of America, nor uniformly curling, as amongst the African negroes, but varying in this refpect, like the hair of Europeans. One ftriking peculiarity, in the features of every part of this great nation, I do not remember to have feen any where mentioned; which is that, even in the handsomest faces, there is always a fulness of the noftril, without any flatness or spreading of the nofe, that distinguishes them from Europeans. It is not improbable that this may be the effect of their ufual mode of falutation, which is performed by preffing the ends of their nofes together.

The fame fuperiority that is obfervable in the perfons of the Erees, through all the other islands, is found alfo here. Those whom we faw were, without exception, perfectly well formed; whereas the lower fort, befides their general inferiority, are fubject to all the variety of make and figure that is seen in the populace of other countries. Inftances of deformity are more frequent here than in any of the other islands. Whilst we were cruising off Owhyhee, two dwarfs came on board, one an old man, four feet two inches high, but exactly proportioned, and the other a woman, nearly of the fame height. We afterwards faw three natives, who were hump-backed, and a young man, born without hands or feet. Squinting is alfo very common amongst them; and a man who they faid had been born blind, was brought to us to be cured. Befides thefe particular imperfections, they are in general very fubject to boils and ulcers, which we attributed to the great quantity of falt they eat with their flesh and fish. The Erees are very free from these complaints; but many of them fuffer ftill more dreadful effects from the immoderate ufe of the ava. Those who were the most affected by it, had their bodies covered with a white fcurf, their eyes red and inflamed, their limbs emaciated, the whole frame trembling and paralytic, accompanied with a difability to raife the head. Though this drug does not appear univerfally to fhorten life, as was evident from the cafes of Terrecoboo, Kaoo, and fome other chiefs, who were very old men, yet it invariably brings on an early and decrepid old age. It is fortunate that the ufe of it is made one of the peculiar privileges of the chiefs. The young fon of Terreeoboo, who was about twelve years old, used to boast of his being admitted to drink ava, and fhewed us, with great triumph, a small spot in his fide that was growing fcaly.

There is fomething very fingular in the hiftory of this pernicious drug. When Captain Cook firft vifited the Society Iflands, it was very little known among them. On his fecond voyage, he found the use of it very prevalent at Ulietea; but it had 5A 2 ftill

ftill gained very little ground at Otaheite. When we were laft there, the dreadful havock it had made was beyond belief, infomuch that the captain fcarce knew many of his old acquaintances. At the Friendly Iflands, it is alfo conftantly drunk by the chiefs, but fo much diluted with water, that it does not appear to produce any bad effects. At Atooi alfo it is used with great moderation, and the chiefs are in confequence a much finer fet of men there than in any of the neighbouring iflands. Our good friends, Kaireekeea and old Kaoo, were perfuaded by us to refrain from it; and they recovered amazingly during the fhort time we afterward remained in the ifland.

Notwithstanding the irreparable lofs we fuffered from the fudden refentment and violence of thefe people, yet, in justice to their general conduct, it must be acknowledged that they are of the moft mild and affectionate difpofition; equally remote from the extreme levity and ficklenefs of the Otaheiteans, and the diftant gravity and reserve of the inhabitants of the Friendly Iflands. They appear to live in the utmost harmony and friendfhip with one another. The women who had children, were remarkable for their tender and conftant attention to them; and the men would often lend their affiftance in those domestic offices, with a willingness that does credit to their feelings.

It must however be obferved, that they fall very fhort of the other islanders, in that beft teft of civilization, the refpect paid to the women. Here they are not only deprived of the privilege of eating with the men, but the best forts of food are tabooed, or forbidden them. They are not allowed to eat pork, turtle, feveral kinds of fish, and fome species of the plantains; and we were told that a poor girl got a terrible beating for having eaten, on board our fhip, one of these interdicted articles. In their domeftic life, they appear to live almost by themselves, and though we did not observe any inftances of perfonal ill-treatment, yet it was evident they had little regard or attention paid them.

The great hofpitality and kindness with which we were received by them, have been already frequently remarked. The old people never failed of receiving us with tears of joy; feemed highly gratified with being allowed to touch us, and were conftantly making comparifons between themfelves and us, with the ftrongest marks of humility. The young women were not lefs kind and engaging; and till they found, notwithstanding our utmost endeavours to prevent it, that they had reafon to repent of our acquaintance, attached themselves to us without the leaft referve.

In juftice however to the fex, it must be obferved that thefe ladies were probably all of the lower clafs of the people; for I am ftrongly inclined to believe, that excepting the few whofe names are mentioned in the courfe of our narrative, we did not fee any women of rank during our ftay amongst them.

Their natural capacity feems in no refpect below the common ftandard of mankind. The eager curiofity with which they attended the armourer's forge, and the many expedients they had invented, even before we left the iflands, for working the iron they had procured from us, into fuch forms as were beft adapted to their purposes, were ftrong proofs of docility and ingenuity.

We met with two inftances of perfons difordered in their minds; the one a man at Owhyhee, the other a woman at Oneeheow. It appeared, from the particular attention and respect paid to them, that the opinion of their being infpired by the divinity, which obtains among most of the nations of the Eaft, is alfo received here.

The inhabitants of these iflands differ from those of the Friendly Ifles, in fuffering, almost universally, their beards to grow. There were indeed a few, amongst whom

was the old King, that cut it off entirely, and others that wore it only upon the upper lip. The fame variety, in the manner of wearing the hair, is alfo obfervable here, as among the other iflanders of the South Sea; befides which, they have a fashion, as far as we know, peculiar to themselves. They cut it clofe on each fide of the head down to the ears.

Both fexes wear necklaces made of ftrings of fmall variegated fhells; and an ornament, in the form of the handle of a cup, about two inches long, and half an inch broad, made of wood, ftone, or ivory finely polished, which is hung about the neck by fine threads of twisted hair, doubled fometimes an hundred fold. Instead of this ornament, fome of them wear on their breast a small human figure, made of bone, fufpended in the same manner.

The custom of tattowing the body, they have in common with the rest of the natives of the South Sea iflands; but it is only at New Zealand, and the Sandwich islands, that they tattow the face. They have a fingular custom amongst them, the meaning of which we could never learn that of tattowing the tip of the tongues of the females. The dress of the men generally confifts only of a piece of thick cloth called the maro, about ten or twelve inches broad, which they pass between the legs, and tie round the waist. This is the common drefs of all ranks of people. Their mats, fome of which are beautifully manufactured, are of various fizes, but mostly about five feet long and four broad. These they throw over their fhoulders, and bring forward before; but they are feldom ufed, except in time of war, for which purpose they seem better adapted than for ordinary ufe, being of a thick and cumbersome texture, and capable of breaking the blow of a stone, or any blunt weapon. Their feet are generally bare, except when they have occafion to travel over the burnt ftones, when they fecure them with a fort of fandal, made of cords, twisted from the fibres of the cocoa-nut. Such is the ordinary drefs of these islanders; but they have another, appropriated to their chiefs, and used on ceremonious occafions, confifting of a feathered cloak and helmet, which, in point of beauty and magnificence, is perhaps nearly equal to that of any nation in the world. These cloaks are made of different lengths in proportion to the rank of the wearer, fome of them reaching no lower than the middle, others trailing on the ground. The inferior chiefs have also a fhort cloak, refembling the former, made of the long-tail feathers of the cock, the tropic and man-of-war birds, with a broad border of the fmall red and yellow feathers, and a collar of the fame.

Thefe feathered dreffes feemed to be exceedingly fcarce, being appropriated to perfons of the highest rank, and worn by the men only.

The exact refemblance between this habit, and the cloak and helmet formerly worn by the Spaniards, was too ftriking not to excite our curiofity to inquire, whether there were any probable grounds for fuppofing it to have been borrowed from them. After exerting every means in our power of obtaining information on this fubject, we found that they had no immediate knowledge of any other nation whatever, nor any tradition remaining among them of these islands having been ever vifited before by fuch fhips

as ours.

The common drefs of the women bears a clofe refemblance to that of the men. They wrap round the waift a piece of cloth that reaches half way down the thighs, and fometimes in the cool of the evening they appeared with loofe pieces of fine cloth thrown over their fhoulders, like the women of Otaheite. The pau is another drefs very frequently worn by the younger part of the fex. It is made of the thinnest and fineft fort of cloth, wrapt feveral times round the waift, and defcending to the leg, fo as to have the appearance of a full short petticoat.

Their necklaces are made of fhells, or of a hard, fhining, red berry. Befides which, they wear wreaths of dried flowers of the Indian mallow; and another beautiful ornament, called eraie, which is generally put about the neck, but is fometimes tied like a garland round the hair, and fometimes worn in both these ways at once. It is a ruff, of the thickness of a finger, made in a curious manner of exceedingly fmall feathers, woven fo clofe together, as to form a furface as fmooth as that of the richest velvet. The ground was generally of a red colour, with alternate circles of green, yellow, and black.

At Atooi fome of the women wore little figures of the turtle, neatly formed of wood or ivory, tied on their fingers in the manner we wear rings. Why this animal is thus particularly diftinguifhed, I leave to the conjectures of the curious.

There remains to be mentioned another ornament (if fuch it may be called). It is a kind of mask, made of a large gourd, with holes cut in it for the eyes and nofe. The top was stuck full of fmall green twigs, which, at a distance, had the appearance of an elegant waving plume; and from the lower part hung narrow ftripes of cloth, refembling a beard. We never faw these masks worn but twice, and both times by a number of people together in a canoe, who came to the fide of the fhip, laughing and drolling, with an air of masquerading.

The food of the lower clafs of people confifts principally of fish and vegetables; fuch as yams, fweet potatoes, tarrow, plantains, fugar-canes, and bread-fruit. To thefe the people of a higher rank add the flefh of hogs and dogs, dreffed in the fame manner as at the Society Islands. They also eat fowls of the fame domestic kind with ours; but they are neither plentiful nor much esteemed by them. Their fifh they falt, and preferve in gourd-fhells; not as we at firft imagined for the purpose of providing against any temporary scarcity, but from the preference they give to falted meats. For we alfo found that the erees ufed to pickle pieces of pork in the fame manner, and esteemed it a great delicacy.

They are exceedingly cleanly at their meals; and their mode of dreffing both their animal and vegetable food, was univerfally allowed to be greatly fuperior to ours. The chiefs conftantly begin their meal with a dofe of the extract of pepper. root, brewed after the ufual manner. The women eat apart from the men, and are tabooed, or forbidden, as has been already mentioned, the use of pork, turtle, and particular kinds of plantains.

The way of spending their time appears to be very fimple, and to admit of little variety. They rife with the fun, and, after enjoying the cool of the evening, retire to reft a few hours after funfet. The making of canoes and mats forms the occupation of the Erees; the women are employed in manufacturing cloth, and the Towtows are principally engaged in the plantations and fishing.

Their mufic is of a rude kind, having neither flutes nor reeds, nor inftruments of any other fort that we faw, except drums of various fizes. But their fongs, which they fung in parts, and accompany with a gentle motion of the arms, in the fame manner as the Friendly iflanders, had a very pleasing effect.

It is very remarkable that the people of these islands are great gamblers. They have a game very much like our draughts; but, if one may judge from the number of fquares, it is much more intricate. The board is about two feet long, and is divided into two hundred and thirty-eight fquares; of which there are fourteen in a row, and they make use of black and white pebbles, which they move from fquare to square. There is another game, which confists in hiding a ftone under a piece of cloth, which one of the parties spreads out and rumples in fuch a manner that the place where the

ftone