a celebrated island of the South Sea, situated in W. Long. 149. 13. S. Lat. 17. 46. It was discovered by Captain Wallis in 1767; afterwards Mr Bougainville touched here; and it was visited by Captain Cook in 1773 and 1774, who had in 1769 sailed round the island in a boat to observe the transit of Venus.

The island consists of two distinct kingdoms, which are united by a narrow neck of land; the larger being called by the natives Tiarrabou, or O-Tabeitee-Nue; the smaller one Opouremon, or O-Tabeitee-Ete. The circumference of both islands is about 40 leagues; the larger kingdom being divided into 43 districts. The country has a delightful romantic appearance. The coast, viewed from the sea, presents a most beautiful prospect, being elevated like an amphitheatre. The island is skirted with a reef of rocks, and towards the sea is level, being covered with fruit-trees of various kinds, particularly the cocoa-nut. At the distance of about three miles from the shore, the country rises into lofty hills that are covered with wood, and terminate in peaks, from which large rivers are precipitated into the sea. The stones everywhere appear to have been burnt, not one being found which did not give manifest signs of fire; so that there is great reason for supposing that this and the neighbouring islands are either the shattered remains of a continent, or were torn from rocks, which from the creation of the world have been the bed of the sea, and thrown up in heaps to a height which the waters never reach. What is further extraordinary, the water does not gradually grow shallow as we approach the shore, but is of immense depth close by the land; and the islands in this neighbourhood are almost everywhere surrounded by reefs, which appear to be rude and broken in the manner that some violent concussion would naturally leave the solid substance of the earth; and Mr Forster saw a rock with projecting longitudinal angles of black compact basaltes. The exterior ranges of hills are sometimes entirely barren, and contain a great quantity of yellowish clay, mixed with iron ochre; but others are covered with mould and wood like the mountains in the internal parts of the country. Pieces of quartz are sometimes met with here; but no indications of precious minerals or metals of any kind have been observed, iron only excepted.

The air is extremely healthy and pleasant; the heat is not troublesome; and fresh meat will keep very well for two days, and fish one day. The winds do not blow constantly from the east, but generally a little breeze from east to south-south-east. The tide rises very little; and, being governed by the winds, is very uncertain. "The climate," says M. Bougainville, "is so healthy, that notwithstanding the hard labour of the ships companies while on shore, though the men were continually in the water, and exposed to the meridian sun, though they slept upon the bare soil, and in the open air, none of them fell sick; those who were afflicted with the fever, and were sent on shore, regained their strength; although they were obliged to assist in the erection of a fort, and had scarce one uninterrupted night, yet they were so far recovered in the short space of time they continued there, that they were afterwards perfectly cured on board."

Notwithstanding the great height of the inland mountains of Otaheitee, none of their rocks have the appearance of barrens, every one of them being covered with woods. "We hardly believed our eyes," says M. de Bougainville, "when we saw a peak covered with woods up to its highest summit, which rises above the level of the mountains in the interior parts of the southern quarter of this island. Its apparent size seemed to be more than 30 toises in diameter, and grew less in breadth as it rose higher. At a distance it might have been taken for a pyramid of immense height, which the hand of an able sculptor had adorned with garlands and foliage." One of the mates of the Dolphin, with a party of marines and seamen, penetrated into the interior parts of the island; and having ascended, with great difficulty, a mountain which they supposed to be a mile high, they discovered mountains before them so much higher, that with respect to them they seemed to be in a valley; towards the sea the view was enchanting, the sides of the hills were beautifully clothed with wood, villages were everywhere interperfed, and the valleys between them afforded a still richer prospect; the houles stood thicker, and the verdure was more luxuriant; and Mr Forster, with other gentlemen, ascended to the summit of one of the highest mountains in the island, from whence they had a prospect of the island of Huahine, and some others lying at the distance of 40 leagues; from which we may form some judgment of the prodigious height of that mountain. The view of the fertile plain below them, and of a river making innumerable meanders, was delightful in the highest degree. The vegetation on the upper part of the mountains was luxuriant, and the woods consisted of many unknown sorts of trees and plants.

The soil of this island is a rich fat earth, of a black-soil and produce. Otaheitee. fish colour. It produces spontaneously, or with the slightest culture imaginable, a great variety of the most excellent fruits; such as bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, bananas of 13 sorts, plantains, potatoes, yams, a fruit known here by the name of jambu, and reckoned most delicious; sugar-canes, which the inhabitants eat raw; ginger; turmeric; a root of the false kind, called by the inhabitants pea; a plant called elaeo, of which the root only is eaten; a fruit that grows in a pod like that of a large kidney-bean, by the natives called abee; a tree called nabarra, which produces fruit something like the pine-apple, and which is known in the East Indies by the name of pandanus; a shrub called nono; the morinda, which also produces fruit; a species of fern; a plant called thoe; and the Chinese paper-mulberry, of the bark of which they make their cloth; an herb which the inhabitants eat raw, its flavour somewhat resembling that of the West India spinach called calletoon, but its leaf very different; a plant which the natives call ava or awa, from the root of which they express a liquor, which, if drank to excess, intoxicates like wine or distilled spirits. Here are a sort of shady trees covered with a dark-green foliage, bearing golden-coloured apples, which, in juiciness and flavour, resemble the ananas or pine-apple. One of the most beautiful trees in the world received here the name of Barringtonia; it had a great abundance of flowers larger than lilies, and perfectly white, excepting the tips of their numerous chives, which were of a deep crimson. Such a quantity of these flowers were seen dropped off, that the ground underneath the tree was entirely covered with them. The natives called the tree buldoo; and said, that the fruit, which is a large nut, when bruised and mixed up with some shell-fish, and thrown into the sea, intoxicates the fish for some time, so that they come to the surface of the water, and suffer themselves to be taken with people's hands. Several other maritime plants in tropical climates are found to have the same quality. Mr Dalrymple describes the method of catching fish with these plants as follows: The plant is thrust under the coral rocks or hollows where the fish haunt; the effect is most sensible in still water, though it is effectual in the open sea; for the same gentleman says, he has seen fish soon after float on the surface of the water half dead, and some totally without life; and where the effect is less violent, the fish will be seen under the water to have lost their poise, without coming up to the surface. Fish caught in this manner are not in the least noxious or ill tasted.

In this island they have domestic poultry exactly resembling those of Europe; besides which there are wild ducks; also beautiful green turtle-doves; large pigeons of a deep blue plumage and excellent taste; a small sort of paroquets, very singular on account of the various mixture of red and blue in their feathers; also another sort of a greenish colour, with a few red spots; the latter are frequently tamed, and are valued on account of their red feathers. Here is a kingfisher of a dark green, with a collar of the same hue round his white throat; a large cuckoo, and a blue heron. Small birds of various kinds dwell in the shady trees; and, contrary to the generally received opinion that birds in warm climates are not remarkable for their song, have a very agreeable note. There were no quadrupeds but dogs, hogs, and rats; and for these last the natives were said to have a scrupulous regard, inasmuch that they would by no means kill them; however, Captain Cook, in 1773, turned about 14 cats on the island, which have probably reduced the number of these vermin. No frogs, toads, scorpions, centipedes, or any kind of serpent, have been found here; the ants, however, are troublesome, but not very numerous. When the Endeavour first arrived here in 1769, the flies were found excessively troublesome; but musquito nets and fly-flaps in some measure removed the inconvenience. Sydney Parkinson, in his journal, says, that notwithstanding these flies are so great a nuisance, the natives, from a religious principle, will not kill them. But there is a strange disagreement in the accounts of different voyagers concerning this matter. For M. Bougainville says, "this island is not infested by those myriads of troublesome insects that are the plague of other tropical countries." And Mr Forster says, "not a gnat or musquito hummed unpleasantly about us, or made us apprehensive of its bite." This inconvenience must therefore be felt at certain seasons of the year, and in certain districts of the country, more sensibly than at other times and places. There is great variety of excellent fish; and, according to Aitcurou, a native who embarked with M. de Bougainville, there are sea-snakes on the shore of Otaheitee, whose bite is mortal.

The inhabitants of Otaheitee are a stout, well-made, active, and comely people. The stature of the men, of the inhabitants in general, is from five feet seven to five feet ten inches tall; and Captain Cook, in his second voyage, describes O'Too, the king of Otaheitee, to be of that height. "In order to paint an Hercules or a Mars," says M. de Bougainville, "one could nowhere find such beautiful models." They are of a pale brown complexion; in general their hair is black, and finely frizzled; they have black eyes, flat noses, large mouths, and fine white teeth; the men wear their beards in many fashions, all of them plucking out a great part, and have prominent bellies. Most of them smell strong of the cocoa-nut oil. The women in general are much smaller, especially those of the lower rank or tawtows, which is attributed to their early and promiscuous intercourse with the men; whilst the better sort, who do not gratify their passions in the same unbridled manner, are above the middle stature of Europeans. Their skin is most delicately smooth and soft; they have no colour in their cheeks; their nose is generally somewhat flat, but their eyes are full of expression, and their teeth beautifully even and white. "The women," says M. de Bougainville, "have features not less agreeable than the generality of Europeans, and a symmetry of body and beautiful proportion of limbs which might vie with any of them. The complexion of the men is tawny; but those who go upon the water are much more red than those who live on shore. Some have their hair brown, red, or flaxen, in which they are exceptions to all the natives of Asia, Africa, and America, who have their hair black universally; here, in the children of both sexes, it is generally flaxen. The strongest expression is painted in the countenances of these people; their walk is graceful, and all their motions are performed... performed with great vigour and ease." "I never beheld statelier men," says Sidney Parkinson. The men of consequence on the island wear the nails of their fingers long, which they consider as a very honourable badge of distinction, since only such people as have no occasion to work can suffer them to grow to that length. This custom they have in common with the Chinese; but the nail of the middle finger on the right hand is always kept short, the meaning for which peculiarity could not be learned. Only one single cripple was met with among them, and he appeared to have been maimed by a fall. Both sexes have a custom of staining their bodies, which they call tatt-wings; both men and women have the hinder part of their thighs and loins marked very thick with black lines in various forms; these marks are made by striking the teeth of an instrument somewhat like a comb just through the skin, and rubbing into the punctures a kind of paste made of foot and oil, which leaves an indelible stain. The boys and girls under twelve years of age are not marked; a few of the men, whose legs were marked in chequers by the same method, appeared to be persons of superior rank and authority.

Mr Banks saw the operation of tattooing performed upon the backside of a girl about thirteen years old. The instrument used upon this occasion had thirty teeth; and every stroke, of which at least a hundred were made in a minute, drew an ichor or serum a little tinged with blood. The girl bore it with most stoical resolution for about a quarter of an hour; but the pain of so many hundred punctures as she had received in that time, then became intolerable. She first complained in murmurs, then wept, and at last burst into loud lamentations, earnestly imploring the operator to desist. He was, however, inexorable; and when she began to struggle, she was held down by two women, who sometimes footed and sometimes chid her; and now and then, when she was most unruly, gave her a smart blow. Mr Banks stood in a neighbouring house an hour, and the operation was not over when he went away; yet it was performed but upon one side, the other having been done some time before; and the arches upon the loins, in which they most pride themselves, and which give more pain than all the rest, were still to be done. Both men and women are not only decently but gracefully clothed, in a kind of white cloth that is made of the bark of a shrub, and very much resembles coarse China paper. Their dress consists of two pieces of this cloth; one of them, having a hole made in the middle to put the head through, hangs from the shoulders to the mid leg before and behind; another piece, which is between four and five yards long, and about one yard broad, they wrap round the body in a very easy manner: This cloth is not woven; but is made like paper, of the macerated fibres of the inner bark spread out and beaten together. Their ornaments are feathers, flowers, pieces of shell, and pearls; the pearls are worn chiefly by the women. In wet weather they wear matting of different kinds, as their cloth will not bear wetting. The dress of the better sort of women consists of three or four pieces: one piece, about two yards wide and eleven long, they wrap several times round their waist, so as to hang down like a petticoat, as low as the middle of the leg; and this they call pareu. This Oracheliee simple drapery affords the sex an opportunity of displaying an elegant figure to the greatest advantage, according to the talents and taste of the wearer: no general fashions force them to disguise instead of adorning themselves, but an innate gracefulness is the companion of simplicity. To this cloth they give a very strong perfume.

The chief use which they make of their houses is to sleep in them; for unless it rains, they eat in the open air under the shade of a tree. These houses are no other than sheds, all built in the wood between the sea and the mountains; they are erected on a oblong square; their width is nearly half of their length; they are nothing more than a roof, not quite four feet from the ground, raised on three rows of pillars, one row on each side, and one in the middle. The roof resembles our thatched houses in England, and consists of two flat sides inclining to each other. Their thatch consists of palm-leaves. The floor of their dwelling is covered with hay, over which they spread mats. Some of these erections are furnished with a stool, which is appropriated solely to the use of the master of the family: they consist of no other furniture except a few blocks of wood, which being square, one side is hollowed into a curve; and these they use as pillows, and with their apparel they cover themselves. In these open dwellings the whole family repose themselves at night. The size of the house is proportioned to the number that constitutes the family. The established order in these dormitories is, for the master and his wife to sleep in the middle; round them the married people; in the next circle the unmarried women; and in the next, at the same distance, the unmarried men; and the servants at the extremity of the shed; but in fair weather the latter sleep in the open air. Some few dwellings, however, constructed for greater privacy, are entirely inclosed with walls of reeds, connected together with transverse pieces of wood, so as to appear somewhat like large bird-cages closely lined; in these houses there is commonly a hole left for the entrance, which can be closed up with a board.

Their candles are made of the kernels of a kind of oily nut, which they stick one above another on a skewer that is thrust through the middle of them; the upper one being lighted burnt to the second, at the same time consuming that part of the skewer that goes through it; the second taking fire owns in the same manner down to the third, and so to the last; they burn a considerable time, and afford a pretty good light. The natives generally retire to rest about an hour after it is dark.

The food of the common people entirely consists of food, vegetables. There are, th. bread-fruit, with bananas, thod of plantains, yams, apples, and a four fruit, which, though &c., not pleasant by itself, gives an agreeable relish to roasted bread-fruit, with which it is frequently beaten up: (See the article Bread Tree). The flesh, which is reserved for the tables of the great, is either poultry, hogs, or dogs; the flesh of their fowls is not well-tailed, but that of dogs is esteemed by the natives beyond pork. The smaller fish are generally eaten raw, as we eat oysters: everything that can be procured from the sea is made an article of their food; for they will eat not only sea-insects, but what the seamen call blubber. blubbers, though some of them are so tough that they are obliged to suffer them to become putrid before they can be chewed. A very large shark being caught by the Dolphin's people was given to the natives; who soon cut it to pieces, and carried it away with great satisfaction.

They kill the animals they intend for food by suffocating them, which is done by stopping the mouth and nose with their hands; they then singe off the hair, by holding the animal over a fire, and scraping him with a shell; with this instrument they cut him up, and take out the entrails; which are washed, and put into cocoa-nut shells, together with the blood. Dogs are eaten that are fed wholly upon bread-fruit, cocoanuts, yams, and other vegetables, and are never suffered to taste any animal food; and those who have tasted the flesh of a dog thus fed, have declared it to be little inferior to English lamb. In order to dress their food, they kindle a fire, by rubbing the end of one piece of dry wood upon the side of another, in the manner as a carpenter with us whets a chisel. They then dig a pit about half a foot deep, and two or three yards in circumference; they pave the bottom with large pebble stones, which they lay down very smooth and even, and then kindle a fire in it with dry wood, leaves, and the husks of cocoa-nuts. When the stones are sufficiently heated, they take out the embers, and rake up the ashes on every side; they then cover the stones with a layer of green cocoa-nut leaves, and wrap up the animal that is to be dressed in the leaves of the plantain. If it is a small hog, they wrap it up whole; if a large one, they split it. When it is placed in the pit, they cover it with the hot embers, and lay upon them bread-fruit and yams, which are also wrapped up in the leaves of plantain. Over these they spread the remainder of the embers, mixing among them some of the hot stones, with more cocoa-nut-tree leaves upon them, and then close up all with earth, so that the heat is kept in; the oven is kept thus closed a longer or shorter time according to the size of the meat that is dressed. The meat, when taken out, is said to be better dressed than any other way. They use shells for knives; and carve very dexterously with them, always cutting from themselves. One of the principal attendants on Oberea, attempting the use of the knife and fork, could not feed himself therewith; but, by the mere force of habit, his hand came to his mouth, and the victuals at the end of his fork went away to his ear.

They are quite unacquainted with the method of boiling water, as they have no vessels among them that will bear the fire. Whilst the noble Oberea was one morning at breakfast with Captain Wallis on board the Dolphin, the surgeon filled the tea-pot by turning the cock of a vase that stood upon the table. One of the lady's attendants observed this practice very attentively, and soon after turning the cock himself, received the water upon his hand; he no sooner felt himself scalded, than he roared and danced about in an extravagant manner. The other Indians, unapprised of the cause of these emotions, stood gazing at him in amazement, and not without some mixture of terror; but the gentlemen in company, who soon perceived the cause of the outcry, dispelled the apprehensions of their visitants; and some ointment being applied to the scald, good humour and confidence were again restored. The gunner of the ship, who was appointed comptroller of the market which was established on shore with the natives, used to dine on the spot; the astonishment of these people was very great to see him dress his pork and poultry in a pot; at length an old man, who was extremely servile in bringing down provisions to be exchanged, was put into possession of an iron pot, and from that time he and his friends ate boiled meat every day. Several iron pots were likewise given to Oberea and some of the chiefs; which were in constant use, and drew everybody to see them; but although the particulars of two successive voyages of Captain Cook to this island are substantially related, we hear no more of this improvement in the culinary art, or of the further assistance which has been rendered these people in supplying them with pots for boiling; but however delicious the natives' might be to eat boiled meat, it was not advisable to have such an article of barter as iron kettles, when a few spike nails, or a common hatchet, would procure one of their largest hogs.

Salt water is the usual sauce to their food; those who live near the sea have it furnished as it is wanted, others at a distance keep it in large bamboos. The kernels of the cocoa nuts furnish them with another sauce: these, made into a paste something of the consistence of butter, are beat up with salt water, which has a very strong flavour; but though at first it seemed very nauseous, yet when the taste became familiar, it was much relished.

Their general drink is water, or the milk of the cocoa-nut. They showed in general an aversion to strong liquors; and whenever any one of them happened to drink so freely with any of the ship's company as to be intoxicated, he resolutely refused to taste anything that was likely to produce the same effect again; but they have a plant which they call ava ava, from the root of which they procure a liquor which has an inebriating quality. Their manner of preparing this strong drink is as simple as it is disgusting to an European. Several of the people take some of the root, and chew it till it is soft and pulpy; they then spit it out into a platter or other vessel, every one into the same: into this general receptacle water is poured according to the quantity prepared. The juice thus diluted, is strained through some fibrous stuff like fine shavings, after which it is fit for drinking, and it is always prepared for present use: it has a peppery taste; drinks flat, and rather infipid; and though it intoxicates, yet Captain Cook saw but one instance where it had that effect, as the natives generally drink it with great moderation, and but little at a time. Sometimes they chew this root as Europeans do tobacco, and sometimes they will eat it wholly.

They eat alone, or at least only in company with a guest that happens to call in; and the men and women never sit down together to a meal: the shade of a spreading tree serves them for a parlour; broad leaves spread in great abundance serve for a table cloth; and if a person of rank, he is attended by a number of servants who seat themselves round him: before he begins his meal, he washes his mouth and hands very clean, and repeats this several times while he is eating. The quantity quantity of food which these people eat at a meal is prodigious. Captain Cook says, he has seen one man devour two or three fishes as big as a peach; three bread-fruits, each bigger than two fists; 14 or 15 plantains, or bananas, each six or seven inches long and four or five round, and near a quart of the pounded bread-fruit. Men of rank are constantly fed by their women; and one of the chiefs who dined on board the ships in 1769, showed such reluctance to feed himself, that one of the servants was obliged to feed him to prevent his returning without his meal. In one of the excursions which the gentlemen of the ships made into the country in 1773, they arrived at a neat house, where a very fat man, who seemed to be a chief of the district, was lying on his wooden pillow; before him two servants were preparing his dinner, by beating up with water some bread-fruit and bananas in a large wooden bowl, and mixing with it a quantity of fermented sour paste called malie. While this was doing, a woman, who sat down near him, crammed down his throat by handfuls the remains of a large baked fish, and several bread-fruits, which he swallowed with voracious appetite; his countenance was the picture of phlegmatic insensibility, and seemed to testify that all his thoughts centered in the gratification of his appetite. He scarce deigned to look at the strangers; and a few monosyllables which he uttered, were extorted from him to remind his feeders of their duty, when by gazing at them they grew less attentive to him.

That these people, who are remarkably fond of society, and particularly that of their women, should exclude its pleasures from the table, where, among all other nations, whether civil or savage, they have been principally enjoyed, is truly inexplicable. How a meal, which everywhere else brings families and friends together, comes to separate them here, was a singularity much inquired about, but never accounted for. "They ate alone (they said), because it was right;" but why it was right to eat alone, they never attempted to explain. Such, however, was the force of habit in this instance, as it is in every other, that they expressed the strongest dislike, and even disgust, at their visitants eating in society, especially with women, and of the same victuals. "At first (says Captain Cook) we thought this strange singularity arose from some superstitious opinion; but they constantly affirmed the contrary. We observed also some caprices in the custom, for which we could as little account as the custom itself. We could never prevail with any of the women to partake of the victuals at our table, when we were dining in company; yet they would go five or six together into the servants' apartments, and there eat very heartily of whatever they could find; nor were they in the least disconcerted if we came in while they were doing it. When any of us have been alone with a woman, she has sometimes eaten in our company; but then she has expressed the great unwillingness that it should be known, and always extorted the strongest promises of secrecy. Among themselves, even two brothers and two sisters have each their separate baskets of provisions, and the apparatus of their meal. When they first visited us at our tents, each brought his basket with him; and when we sat down to table, they would go out, sit down upon the ground, at two or three yards distance from each other, and turning their faces different ways take their repast without exchanging a single word. The women not only abstain from eating with the men, and of the same victuals, but even have their victuals separately prepared by boys kept for that purpose, who deposit it in a separate shed, and attend them with it at their meals. But though they would not eat with us, or with each other, they have often asked us to eat with them, when we have visited those with whom we were particularly acquainted at their houses; and we have often upon such occasions eaten out of the same basket, and drank out of the same cup. The elder women, however, always appeared offended at this liberty; and if we happened to touch their victuals, or even the basket that contained it, they would throw it away."

After meals, and in the heat of the day, the middle-aged people of the better sort generally sleep. They are indeed extremely indolent; and sleeping and eating are almost all that they do. Those that are older are less drowsy, and the boys and girls are kept awake by the natural activity and sprightliness of their age.

These islanders, who inhabit huts exposed to all the Difaces winds, and hardly cover the earth, which serves them for a bed, with a layer of leaves, are remarkably healthy and vigorous, and live to an old age without enduring any of its infirmities; their senses are acute, and they retain their beautiful teeth to the last. M. de Bougainville describes an old man, whom they saw on their landing, who had no other character of old age, than that respectable one which is imprinted on a fine figure. His head was adorned with white hair, and a long white beard; all his body was nervous and fleshy; he had neither wrinkles, nor showed any other tokens of decrepitude. This venerable man seemed displeased at the arrival of these strangers; he even retired without making any returns to the courtesies they paid to him; but he gave no signs either of fear, astonishment, or curiosity: very far from taking any part in the raptures which the multitude expressed, his thoughtful and suspicious air seemed to indicate, that he feared the arrival of a new race of men would interrupt the happiness he had so long enjoyed. From whence it may be inferred, that his mind was not a whit more impaired than his body. There are, however, several sorts of leprous complaints on this island, which appear in cutaneous eruptions of the scaly kind; some were seen that had ulcers upon different parts of their bodies; yet they seemed little regarded by those who were afflicted with them, and no application whatever was used to them, not so much as to keep off the flies. But instances of them are rare, as the excellency of their climate, and the simplicity of their vegetable food, prevent almost all dangerous and deadly disorders. They are sometimes afflicted with the cholick, and coughs are not unknown among them; and the chiefs, who fare more sumptuously, as a punishment for their voluptuousnesses are sometimes attacked with a disorder similar to the gout, in which the legs are swelled and excessively painful. M. de Bougainville's surgeon assured him, that he had seen many with marks of the small-pox.

The usual method employed here to restore the sick to health, is by pronouncing a set form of words; after which the exorcist applies the leaves of the cocoa-tree plaited to the fingers and toes of the sick; so that nature is left to conflict with the disease, without being afflicted with any salutary application of art. But tho' they seem utterly destitute of medical knowledge, they appear to be no inconsiderable proficient in surgery, which they had an opportunity of proving while the Dolphin lay here. One of the seamen, when on shore, ran a large splinter into his foot; and the surgeon not being at hand, one of his comrades endeavoured to take it out with a pen-knife; but after putting the poor fellow to a great deal of pain, he was obliged to give it over: an old native, who had been very active and successful in establishing a good understanding between the ship's company and his countrymen, happening to be present, called a man from the other side of the river, who having examined the lacerated foot, fetched a shell from the beach, which he broke to a point with his teeth; with which instrument he laid open the wound, and extracted the splinter. Whilst this operation was performing, the old man went a little way into the wood, and returned with some gum, which he applied to the wound upon a piece of the cloth that was wrapped round him, and in two days time it was perfectly healed. This gum was produced by the apple-tree; the surgeon of the ship procured some of it, and used it as a vulnerary balsam with great success. Captain Cook, in 1769, saw many of the natives with dreadful scars; one man, in particular, whose face was almost entirely destroyed: his nose, including bone, was perfectly flat; and one cheek and one eye were so beaten in, that the hollow would almost receive a man's fist; yet no ulcer remained.

The venereal disease is said to have been entailed upon these people by the crew of M. de Bougainville's ships, who visited this island a short time after Captain Wallis had left it. In 1769, more than one-half of the crew in Captain Cook's ship had contracted it, during a month's stay here. The natives distinguished it by a name of the same import with rottenness, but of a more extensive signification. They described, in the most pathetic terms, the sufferings which the first victims to its rage endured; and told him that it caused the hair and the nails to fall off, and the flesh to rot from the bones; that it spread an universal terror and consternation among the inhabitants, so that the sick were abandoned by their nearest relations, lest the calamity should spread by contagion, and were left to perish alone in such misery as till then had never been known among them. But there seems to be some reason to hope that they had found out a specific cure for it, as none were seen on whom it had made a great progress; and one who went from the ship infected, returned, after a short time, in perfect health. Both Captain Cook and Mr Forster, in their relations of their voyage in the Resolution, endeavour to establish the opinion, that this scourge of licentiousness was felt in the South Sea islands, previous to any of the modern voyages that have been made thither, and that it was an indigenous disease there. But if that conclusion is well-founded, how comes it, that at all the places where the Resolution touched in 1773, which had been before visited by the Endeavour in 1769, such as New Zealand for instance, the crew, more or less, became infected by their commerce with the women, and not at all so at places which they visited, for the first time, in the Resolution?

The principal manufacture among the Otaheiteans is their cloth. This is made of the bark of trees, which are of three kinds, viz. the Chinese mulberry-tree, or oautoa; the bread-fruit tree, or ooroo; and one that is described by Dr Hawkesworth as resembling the wild fig tree of the West Indies. Of all these the paper mulberry affords the best cloth; what is made from that being both finer, softer, whiter, and better suited to take a colour; the ooroo produces cloth much inferior in contexture; and the last is very coarse, in colour resembling the darkest brown paper; but this last is the only kind that withstands water: (See the article BARK.)—They likewise prepare a red dye; which is made by mixing the yellow juice of a small species of fig, which the natives call matte, with the greenish juice of a sort of fern or bindweed, or of several other plants, which produce a bright crimson: and this the women rub with their hands, if the piece is to be uniformly of a colour; or they make use of a bamboo reed if the piece is to be marked or sprinkled into different patterns. The colour fades very soon, and becomes of a dirty red; but notwithstanding this defect, and its being liable to be spoiled by rain, the cloth thus stained is highly valued, and is worn only by the principal inhabitants of the country. The inhabitants perfume their clothes with certain plants; concerning which, Mr Forster made all possible inquiry. Tabea, a friendly native, showed him several plants which are sometimes used as substitutes; but the most precious sort he either could not, or would not, point out: and from the account of Omai it appears, that there are no less than 14 different sorts of plants employed for this purpose.

Matting is another Otaheitean manufacture: and in this they are so dexterous, that they produce finer mats than any made in Europe. Rushes, grass, the bark of trees, and the leaves of a plant called tabarron, are the materials which they work up for this purpose. Their matting is applied to various uses: the coarser kind is employed for sleeping on in the night, or sitting on through the day; the finer sort is converted into garments in rainy weather, their cloth being soon penetrated by wet. They are very dexterous in making basket and wicker-work: their baskets are of a vast number of different patterns, many of them exceedingly neat; and the making them is an art practised by every one, both men and women.

Instead of hemp, they make ropes and lines of the bark of a tree; and thus they are provided with fishing nets; the fibres of the cocoanut furnish them with thread, with which they fasten the different parts of their canoes, &c. The bark of a nettle which grows in the mountains, and is called oawa, supplies them with excellent fishing-lines, capable of holding any kind of fish; and their hooks are made of mother-of-pearl, to which they fix a tuft of hair, made to resemble the tail of a fish. Instead of making them bearded, the point is turned inwards. They make also a kind of seine of a coarse broad grass, the blades of which are like flags. These they twill and tie together in a loose manner, till the net, which is about as wide as a large tack, is from 60 to 80 fathoms long. This they haul in smooth shoal water; and its own weight keeps it so close to the ground, that scarcely a single fish can escape. They make harpoons of cane, and point them with hard wood; with which they can strike fish more effectually than an European can with one headed with iron.

The tools used by the Otaheiteans for all their purposes are, an adze made of bone; a chisel or gouge made of bone, generally the bone of a man's arm between the wrist and elbow; a rattle of coral, and the skin of a sting-ray; also coral and sand, as a file or polish; and with these they fell timber, cleave and polish it, and hew stone. The stone which makes the blade of their adzes is a kind of basaltic, of a grey or blackish colour, not very hard, but of considerable toughness; they are formed of different sizes; some that are intended for felling, weigh from six to eight pounds; others that are used for carving, not more than as many ounces; but it is necessary to sharpen these rude tools almost every minute; for which purpose a cocoa-nut shell full of water and a stone are always at hand. With such tools they generally take up several days in felling a tree; but after it is down, and split into planks, they smooth them very dexterously and expeditiously with their adzes, and can take off a thin coat from a whole plank without missing a stroke.

Their weapons are slings, which they use with great dexterity; pikes headed with the skins of sting-rays; and clubs of about six or seven feet long, made of a very hard wood. Thus armed, they are said to fight with great obstinacy; and to give no quarter to man, woman, or child, who happens to fall into their hands during the battle, nor for some time afterwards, till their passion subsides. They have likewise bows and arrows; but the arrows are good for nothing except to bring down a bird, being headed only with stone, and none of them pointed. They have targets of a semicircular form, made of wicker-work, and plaited strings of the cocoa-nut fibres, covered with glossy, bluish-green feathers belonging to a kind of pigeon, and ornamented with many thorn's-teeth, arranged in three concentric circles.

Their boats or canoes are of three different sorts. Some are made out of a single tree, and hold from two to six men. These are principally employed in fishing; the others are constructed of planks very dexterously sewed together; they are of different sizes, and will hold from ten to forty men; they generally lash two of these together, and set up two masts between them; or if they are single, they have an on-trigger on one side, and only one mast in the middle; and in these vessels they will sail far beyond the sight of land. The third sort seems to be principally designed for pleasure or show. These are very large, but have no sail; and in shape resemble the gondolas of Venice. The middle is covered with a large awning; and some of the people sit upon it, and some under it. The plank of which these vessels are constructed, is made by splitting a tree, with the grain, into as many thin pieces as possible. The boards are brought to the thickness of about an inch, and are afterwards fitted to the boat with the same exactness that might be expected from an expert joiner. To fasten these planks together, holes are bored with a piece of bone, fixed into a stick for that purpose. Through these holes a Otaheitean kind of plaited cordage is passed, so as to hold the planks strongly together. The seams are caulked with dry rushes; and the whole outside of the vessel is painted over with a kind of gummy juice, which supplies the place of pitch.

The Otaheiteans are a very industrious people, and character, friendly in their dispositions; but like all other nations manners, not fully civilized, their passions are extremely violent, and they are very fickle. The manner of flinging out a man here for a chosen friend is by taking off a part of your clothing and putting it upon him. Their usual manner of expressing their respect to strangers, or to their superiors, at a first meeting, is by uncovering themselves to the middle. They have a custom of saluting those who sneeze, by saying evaroeia-tetona, "May the good tetona awaken you," or "May not the evil tetona lull you asleep?"

Their propensity to theft is very great, insomuch, that M. Bougainville says, "even in Europe itself one cannot see more expert thieves than the people of this country;" and indeed, in all the voyages made by Captain Cook and others, they had abundant experience of this disposition of the natives, which often produced quarrels, and sometimes even fatal effects. In their behaviour they are extremely lascivious, almost beyond credibility. A woman of distinction who visited Mr Banks used the following ceremony on her first approach to the stranger. After laying down several young plantain-leaves, a man brought a large bundle of cloth; which having opened, he spread it piece by piece on the ground, in the space between Mr Banks and his visitants. There were in all nine pieces; having spread three pieces one upon another, the lady came forward, and, stepping upon them, took up her garments all around her to her waist; she then turned three times round, after which she dropped the veil; when other three pieces were spread, she practised the same ceremony; and so the third time, when the last three pieces were laid out; after which the cloth was again rolled up, and delivered to Mr Banks as a present from the lady, who with her attending friend came up and saluted him. From the unbridled licentiousness of these people, the French gave this island the name of the New Cythera. Nay, to such a degree do they carry their libidinous excesses, that a number of the principal people, it is related, have formed themselves into a society, in which every woman is common to every man. This society is distinguished by the name of Arrrey, the members of which have meetings from which all others are excluded. At these meetings the passions are excited by a studied course of sensuality, and the coarsest and most brutal pleasures are enjoyed by the whole company. If, however, notwithstanding these excesses, any of the female members of this community should prove with child, unless she can procure some man to adopt the child as his own, not all the strong affections of a mother, if such are not entirely eradicated by a course of life subversive of the feelings as well as the modesty of nature, can save the life of the preconceived innocent; but the child as soon as born is smothered, and the mother is left at liberty to renew her former course of execrable prostitution. Should any man be found to cooperate with a woman in saving the life of a child, they are are both excluded forever from the arreys, and are considered as man and wife. The woman from that time is distinguished by the term whanow-haw, "the bearer of children;" which in this part of the world only is considered as a term of reproach; and so depraved are those people, that being a member of such a society is boasted of as being a privilege, instead of being stigmatized as the foulest crime. The arreys enjoy several privileges, and are greatly respected throughout the Society Islands, as well as at Otaheite; nay, they claim a great share of honour from the circumstance of being childeffs. Tupia, one of the most intelligent natives, when he heard that the king of England had a numerous offspring, declared, that he thought himself much greater, because he belonged to the arreys. That this society indulge themselves in promiscuous embraces, and that every woman is common to every man, is contradicted by Mr Forster. He says, that these arreys choose their wives and mistresses from among the prostitutes; and from this circumstance, as well as their extreme voluptuousness, they have seldom any reason to dread the intrusion of children. He had the following circumstances related to him by Omai or Omiah, one of the natives, who was brought to England. He said, that the pre-eminence and advantages which a man enjoyed as arrey were so valuable as to urge him against his own feelings to destroy his child; that the mother was never willing to consent to the murder; but that her husband and other arreys persuaded her to yield up the child; and that where entreaties were not sufficient, force was sometimes made use of. But, above all, he added, that this action was always perpetrated in secret; inasmuch, that not even the tovovou or attendants of the house were present; be sure, if it were seen, the murderers would be put to death.

Both men and women constantly wash their whole bodies three times a-day in running water, and are remarkably cleanly in their clothes. They are most expert swimmers, being accustomed to the water from their infancy. Captain Cook relates the following remarkable instance of their expertise. On a part of the shore where a tremendously high surf broke, in such a manner that no European boat could live in it, and the best European swimmer, he was persuaded, would have been drowned, as the shore was covered with pebbles and large stones, yet here were 15 or 20 Indians swimming for their amusement. Whenever a surf broke near them, they dived under it, and rose again on the other side. The stern of an old canoe added much to their sport. This they took out before them, and swam with it as far as the outermost break; when two or three getting into it, and turning the square end to the breaking wave, were driven in towards the shore with incredible rapidity, sometimes almost to the beach; but generally the wave broke over them before they got half way; in which case they dived, and rose to the other side with the canoe in their hands, and swimming out with it again, were again driven back. This amazing expertise drew the Captain's attention for more than half an hour; during which time none of the swimmers attempted to come ashore, but seemed to enjoy the sport in the highest degree. At another time, one of the officers of the quarter-deck intending to drop a head into a canoe for a little boy of six years of age, it accidentally missed the boat, and fell into Otaheitee, the sea; but the child immediately leaped overboard, dived after it, and recovered it. To reward him for this feat, some more beads were dropped to him; which excited a number of men and women to amuse the officers with their amazing feats of agility in the water, and not only fetched up several heads scattered at once, but likewise large nails, which, from their weight, descended quickly to a considerable depth. Some of these people continued a considerable time underwater; and the velocity with which they were seen to go down, the water being extremely clear, was very surprising. Here a green branch of a tree is used as an emblem of peace, in exact conformity to the custom of the ancient nations. We shall add an extract here from Captain Cook's last voyage to the Pacific Ocean.

"Nothing could make a stronger impression at first sight, on our arrival here, than the remarkable contrast between the robust make and dark colour of the people of Tongataboo*, and a sort of delicacy and * One of whitenefs which distinguish the inhabitants of Ota-the-Friendheitee. It was even some time before that difference could preponderate in favour of the Otaheiteans; and then only, perhaps, because we became accustomed to them, the marks which had recommended the others began to be forgotten. Their women, however, struck us as superior in every respect; and as possessing all those delicate characteristics which distinguish them from the other sex in many countries. The beard which the men here wear long, and the hair, which is not cut so short as is the fashion at Tongataboo, made also a great difference; and we could not help thinking that on every occasion they showed a greater degree of timidity and sickness. The muscular appearance, so common amongst the Friendly Islanders, and which seems a consequence of their being accustomed to much action, is lost here, where the superior fertility of their country enables the inhabitants to lead a more indolent life; and its place is supplied by a plumpness and smoothness of the skin; which though perhaps more consonant with our ideas of beauty, is no real advantage, as it seems attended with a kind of languor in all their motions, not observable in the others. This observation is fully verified in their boxing and wrestling, which may be called little better than the feeble efforts of children, if compared to the vigour with which these exercises are performed at the Friendly Islands.

"Personal endowments being in great esteem amongst them, they have recourse to several methods of improving them, according to their notions of beauty. In particular, it is a practice, especially amongst the Arreys, or unmarried men of some consequence, to undergo a kind of physical operation to render them fair. This is done by remaining a month or two in the house; during which time they wear a great quantity of clothes, eat nothing but bread fruit, to which they ascribe a remarkable property in whitening them. They also speak, as if their corpulence and colour, at other times, depended upon their food; as they are obliged, from the change of seasons, to use different foods at different times.

"The graceful air and firm step with which these people walk are not the least obvious proof of their personal accomplishments. They consider this as a thing..." thing so natural, or so necessary to be acquired, that nothing used to excite their laughter sooner, than to see us frequently stumbling upon the roots of trees, or other inequalities of the ground.

Their countenances very remarkably express the abundant mildness or good nature which they possess, and are entirely free from that savage keenness which marks nations in a barbarous state. One would, indeed, be apt to fancy that they had been bred up under the severest restrictions to acquire an aspect so settled, and such a command of their passions, as well as steadiness in conduct. But they are at the same time frank, cheerful, and good-humoured, though sometimes, in the presence of their chiefs, they put on a degree of gravity, and such a serious air, as becomes stiff and awkward, and has an appearance of reserve.

Their peaceable disposition is sufficiently evinced from the friendly reception all strangers have met with who have visited them. Instead of offering to attack them openly or clandestinely, as has been the case with most of the inhabitants of these seas, they have never appeared in the smallest degree hostile, but on the contrary, like the most civilized people, have courted an intercourse with their visitors by bartering, which is the only medium that unites all nations in a sort of friendship. They understand barter (which they call fukkatou) so perfectly, that at first we imagined they might have acquired this knowledge of it by commercial intercourse with the neighbouring islands; but we were afterwards assured, that they had little or no traffic except with Feejee, from which they get the red feathers, and some few other articles which they esteem. Perhaps no nation in the world traffic with more honesty, and less distrust. We could always safely permit them to examine our goods, and to hand them about one to another; and they put the same confidence in us. If either party repented of the bargain, the goods were re-exchanged with mutual consent and good humour. Upon the whole, they seem possessed of many of the most excellent qualities that adorn the human mind, such as industry, ingenuity, perseverance, affability, and perhaps other virtues which our short stay with them might prevent our observing.

The only defect fullying their character that we know of is their propensity to thieving, to which we found those of all ages and both sexes addicted, and to an uncommon degree. It should, however, be considered, that this exceptionable part of their conduct seemed to exist merely with respect to us; for in their general intercourse with one another, I had reason to be of opinion, that thefts do not happen more frequently (perhaps less so) than in other countries, the dishonest practices of whose worthless individuals are not supposed to authorize any indiscriminate censure on the whole body of the people. Great allowances should be made for the foibles of these poor natives of the Pacific Ocean, whose minds we overpowered with the glare of objects, equally new to them as they were captivating. Stealing, amongst the civilized and enlightened nations of the world, may well be considered as denoting a character deeply tainted with moral turpitude, with avarice unrestrained by the known rules of right, and with profligacy producing extreme indigence, and neglecting the means of relieving it.

But at the Friendly and other islands which we visited, Oraeitee, the thefts so frequently committed by the natives, of what we had brought along with us, may be fairly traced to less culpable motives. They seemed to arise solely from an intense curiosity or desire to possess something which they had not been accustomed to before, and belonging to a sort of people so different from themselves. And perhaps, if it were possible that a set of beings seemingly as superior in our judgment as we are in theirs should appear amongst us, it might be doubted, whether our natural regard to justice would be able to restrain many from falling into the same error. That I have assigned the true motive for their propensity to this practice, appears from their stealing every thing indiscriminately at first sight, before they could have the least conception of converting their prize to any use useful purpose. But I believe, with us, no person would forfeit his reputation, or expose himself to punishment, without knowing beforehand how to employ the stolen goods. Upon the whole, the pilfering disposition of these islanders, though certainly disagreeable and troublesome to strangers, was the means of affording us some information as to the quickness of their intellects. For their small thefts were committed with much dexterity; and those of greater consequence with a plan or scheme suited to the importance of the objects. An extraordinary instance of the last sort was, in their attempts to carry away one of the Discovery's anchors at midday.

Their common diet is made up of at least nine tenths of vegetable food; and I believe more particularly the mace, or fermented bread-fruit, which makes part almost of every meal, has a remarkable effect upon them, preventing a coltive habit, and producing a very sensible coolness about them, which could not be perceived in us who fed on animal food. And it is, perhaps, owing to this temperate course of life that they have so few diseases among them. See n°8.

They only reckon five or six which might be called chronic, or national disorders; amongst which are the droopy, and the jefai, or indolent swellings before mentioned, as frequent at Tongata'oo. But this was before the arrival of the Europeans; for we have added to this short catalogue a disease which abundantly supplies the place of all the others, and is now almost universal. For this they seem to have no effectual remedy. The priests, indeed, sometimes give them a medley of simples, but they own that it never cures them. And yet they allow that in a few cases nature, without the assistance of a physician, exterminates the poison of this fatal disease, and a perfect recovery is produced. They say, that if a man is infected with it, he will often communicate it to others in the same house, by feeding out of the same utensils, or handling them, and that, in this case, they frequently die, while he recovers; though we see no reason why this should happen. See n°9.

Their behaviour on all occasions seems to indicate a great openness and generosity of disposition. Omai, indeed, who, as their countryman, should be supposed rather willing to conceal any of their defects, has often said that they are sometimes cruel in punishing their enemies. According to his representation, they torment them very deliberately; at one time tearing out... small pieces of flesh from different parts; at another taking out the eyes; then cutting off the nose; and lastly, killing them by opening the belly. But this only happens on particular occasions. If cheerfulness argues a conscious innocence, one would suppose that their life is seldom filled with crimes. This, however, I rather impute to their feelings, which, though lively, seem in no case permanent; for I never saw them in any misfortune labour under the appearance of anxiety after the critical moment was past. Neither does care ever seem to wrinkle their brow. On the contrary, even the approach of death does not appear to alter their usual vivacity. I have seen them when brought to the brink of the grave by disease, and when preparing to go to battle; but in neither case ever observed their countenances overclouded with melancholy or serious reflection. Such a disposition leads them to direct all their aims only to what can give them pleasure and ease. Their amusements all tend to excite and continue their amorous passions; and their songs, of which they are immoderately fond, answer the same purpose. But as a constant succession of sensual enjoyments must cloy, we found that they frequently varied them to more refined subjects, and had much pleasure in chanting their triumphs in war, and their occupations in peace; their travels to other islands and adventures there; and the peculiar beauties, and superior advantages of their own island over the rest, or of different parts of it over other less favourite districts. This marks that they receive great delight from music; and though they rather expressed a dislike to our complicated compositions, yet were they always delighted with the more melodious sounds produced singly on our instruments, as approaching nearer to the simplicity of their own. Neither are they strangers to the soothing effects produced by particular sorts of motion, which in some cases seem to allay any perturbation of mind with as much success as music. Of this I met with a remarkable instance. For, on walking one day about Matavai Point, where our tents were erected, I saw a man paddling in a small canoe so quickly, and looking about with such eagerness on each side, as to command all my attention. At first I imagined that he had stolen something from one of the ships, and was pursued; but on waiting patiently saw him repeat his amusement. He went out from the shore till he was near the place where the swell begins to take its rise; and, watching its first motion very attentively, paddled before it with great quickness till he found that it overtook him, and had acquired sufficient force to carry his canoe before it, without passing underneath. He then sat motionless, and was carried along at the same swift rate as the wave, till it landed him upon the beach. Then he started out, emptied his canoe, and went in search of another swell. I could not help concluding, that this man felt the most supreme pleasure, while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea; especially as, though the tents and ships were so near, he did not seem in the least to envy, or even to take any notice of, the crowds of his countrymen collected to view them as objects which were rare and curious. During my stay, two or three of the natives came up, who seemed to share his felicity, and always called out when there was an appearance of a favourable swell, as he sometimes missed it, by his back being turned, and looking about for it. By them I understood that this exercise, which is called chororo, was frequent amongst them; and they have probably more amusements of this sort, which afford them at least as much pleasure as skating, which is the only one of ours with whose effects I could compare it.

The language of these islanders is soft and melodious; it abounds with vowels, and the pronunciation of &c. it is easily acquired; but it was found excessively difficult to teach the natives to pronounce a single English word; probably not only from its abounding with consonants, but from some peculiarity in its structure; for Spanish and Italian words, if ending in a vowel, they pronounced with the greatest ease. A sufficient acquaintance has not been formed with it to determine whether it is copious or not; but it is certainly very imperfect, being totally without inflexion either of nouns or verbs. Few of the nouns have more than one case, and few of the verbs more than one tense. It was impossible to teach the islanders to pronounce the names of their guests. They called Captain Cook Tooto; Mr Hicks, the first lieutenant, Hete, &c. and in this manner they formed names for almost every man in the ship. In some, however, it was not easy to find any traces of the original; and they were perhaps not mere arbitrary forms formed upon the occasion, but signified words in their own language; and it seems that they could perfectly remember these appellations at the distance of four years, by their inquiries after such gentlemen as were absent on the second voyage by name. Mr Monkhouse, a midshipman, they called Mute, which in their language signifies dead; because he commanded a party that killed a man for stealing a musket. The nearest imitation they could reach of king George, was by calling him Kibiaro. We have the following observations on this subject, in vol. ii. of Cook's last voyage to the Pacific Ocean: "The language of Otahite, though doubtless radically the same with that of New Zealand and the Friendly Islands, is destitute of that guttural pronunciation, and of some consonants, with which those latter dialects abound. The specimens we have already given are sufficient to mark wherein the variation chiefly consists, and to show, that, like the manners of the inhabitants, it has become soft and soothing. During the former voyage, I had collected a copious vocabulary, which enabled me the better to compare this dialect with that of the other islands; and during this voyage I took every opportunity of improving my acquaintance with it, by conversing with Omai before we arrived, and by my daily intercourse with the natives while we now remained there (a). It

(a) See this vocabulary at the end of the second volume of Captain Cook's second voyage. Many corrections and additions to it were now made by this indefatigable inquirer; but the specimens of the language of Otahite, already in the hands of the public, seem sufficient for every useful purpose. Otaheitee abounds with beautiful and figurative expressions, which, were it perfectly known, would I have no doubt put it upon a level with many of the languages that are most in esteem for their warm and bold images. For instance, the Otaheiteans express their notions of death very emphatically, by saying, "that the soul goes into darkness; or rather into night." And, if you seem to entertain any doubt, in asking the question, "if such a person is their mother?" they immediately reply with surprise, "Yes, the mother that bore me." They have one expression that corresponds exactly with the phraseology of the scriptures, where we read of the "yearning of the bowels."—They use it on all occasions, when the passions give them uneasiness, as they constantly refer pain from grief, anxious desire, and other affections, to the bowels, as its seat; where they likewise suppose all operations of the mind are performed. Their language admits of that inverted arrangement of words which so much distinguishes the Latin and Greek from most of our modern European tongues, whose imperfections require a more orderly construction, to prevent ambiguities. It is so copious, that for the bread-fruit alone, in its different states, they have above 20 names; as many for the taro root; and about 10 for the coconut. Add to this, that, besides the common dialect, they often expound in a kind of stanza or recitative, which is answered in the same manner."

A map of Otaheitee, engraved for Captain Cook's first voyage, was taken out, and laid before Tushow the high admiral, without informing him of what it was; however, he immediately found it out, and was overjoyed to see a representation of his own country. He pointed out all the districts of it, naming every one of them in their order.

These people have a remarkable sagacity in foretelling the weather, particularly the quarter from whence the wind will blow. In their long voyages they steer by the sun in the day, and in the night by the stars; all of which they distinguish by separate names, and know in what part of the heavens they will appear in any of the months during which they are visible in their horizon. They also know the times of their annual appearing and disappearing, with more precision than would easily be believed by an European astronomer. Their time they reckon by moons, 13 of which make a year. The day they divide into six parts, and the night into an equal number. They judge of the time of the day by the height of the sun, but they cannot ascertain the time of the night by the stars. In numeration, the greatest length they can go is 200; that is, when they have counted each of their fingers and toes ten times over. When they take the distance from one place to another, they express it by the time which is required to pass it.

The government of the Otaheiteans seems greatly to resemble the early state of the European nations under the feudal system. Their orders of dignity are earce rochie, which answers to king; earce, baron; manaboumi, vassal; and towotow, villein. There are two kings in the island, one being the sovereign of each of the peninsulas of which it consists. Each of them is treated with great respect by all ranks, but does not appear to be invested with so much power as is exercised by the earces in their own districts. When the king, whom they called O-Too, made a visit to Otaheitee, Captain Cook, the chiefs, who happened to be there before him, immediately stripped themselves in great haste. Captain Cook took notice of it; upon which they said earce, earce, signifying, that it was on account of O-Too being present; but this was the only outward token of respect they paid him, for they never rose from their seats, or made any other obeisance.

The earces are lords of one or more of the districts into which each of the peninsulas is divided, and of which there are 43 in the larger one. These parcel out their territories to the manaboumis, who superintend the cultivation of the ground. The lowest class, called towotows, seem to be nearly under the same circumstances with the villeins in feudal governments. They do all the laborious work, cultivate the land, catch fish, fetch wood and water, &c. Each of the earces keeps a kind of court, and has a great number of attendants, chiefly the younger brothers of their own tribe; and among these some hold particular offices, but of which little more is known than some of their names.

In this country a child succeeds to his father's titles and authority as soon as he is born; and thus the king no sooner has a son born, than his sovereignty ceases. A regent is then chosen; and the father generally retains his power under that title, until his child becomes of age. The child of the baron succeeds to the titles and honours of its father as soon as it is born, as well as the son of the king; so that a baron who was yesterday called earce, and was approached with the ceremony of lowering their garments, so as to uncover the upper part of the body, is today, if his wife happens to be delivered of a child, reduced to the rank of a private man; all marks of respect being transferred to the child, if it is suffered to live, though the father still continues possessor and administrator of his estate. But the acquiescence which the lower class of people, or towotows, yield to the command of their chiefs, is very remarkable. They are not suffered to taste any animal food, although they are employed in feeding it for their lords. They endure patiently very severe blows, if, when collected into a large body, they in any manner press upon or annoy the king or a chief in his progress; and all this passive spirit is preserved without any power being lodged in the hands of the king to exact it; for he uses no military force, nor is even attended with body-guards.

There are but few actions which are reckoned crimes among the Otaheiteans. Adultery, however, is sometimes punished with death; but in general, the woman escapes with a severe beating, and the gallant passes unnoticed. The regulation of public justice is not confined to the magistrate; for the injured party redresses his own wrong by inflicting whatever punishment he can upon the offender; but in matters of notorious wrong, the chiefs sometimes interpose. The nobility have livery for their servants; and in proportion as the master's rank is more or less elevated, these fashions are worn higher or lower, being fastened close under the arms of the servants belonging to the chiefs, and going round the loins of those belonging to the lowest class of nobility. Several parts of the island seem to be private property, which descend to the heir of of the possessor on his death, and the descent seems to fall indifferently on man or woman. Captain Cook was of opinion, that the number of inhabitants on the whole island amounted to 234,000, including women and children.

The religious language of the Otaheiteans, like that of the Gentoo Bramins, is different from what is used in common discourse; but, according to the accounts we have of their notions concerning the origin of the world, nothing can be more ridiculous. They imagine that the Supreme Deity, besides a great many female descendants, has one son named Tane; and to him they direct their worship, though they do not believe that the good or bad conduct of mankind here on earth makes them more or less acceptable to this divinity. They believe the existence of the soul after death, and of a greater or lesser degree of happiness to be then enjoyed; but they seem to have no conception of a state of punishment or of suffering hereafter. The share of happiness which they imagine every individual will enjoy in this future state, will be assigned to him according to the rank he holds on earth. We are not, however, told wherein they suppose the happiness of this future state to consist; but it is most probably a pretty exact imitation of a Mohammedan paradise, for these voluptuaries can hardly be supposed capable of imagining any pleasure independent of the intercourse of the sexes.

The priesthood seems to be hereditary in one family or tribe; and as it is said to be numerous, probably those of that order are restrained from becoming members of the Arroyo; but whether or not any peculiar decorum is necessary to be observed, hath not yet appeared. These priests are professedly the men of science; but their knowledge is altogether frivolous and useless, for it consists in being conversant with the names of their different deities, and such absurd traditions as have been handed down among them from one generation to another. Their religious notions being deposited in an unknown tongue, they are respected because they are not understood; and as the cure of the soul is no object of regard, the most important concern to these people, the cure of their bodies, is committed to the priests, and much parade is used in their attempts to recover the sick, though their remedies consist of ridiculous ceremonies and enchantments rather than anything else.

The marriages of these people are merely secular contracts; but no one has a right to perform the operation of tattooing except the priests; and this being a custom universally adopted by the natives, it may be supposed that the performing it is a very lucrative employment. The males in general undergo a kind of circumcision, which it is disgraceful not to comply with, and which is likewise the exclusive privilege of the priests to perform. But what most establishes the credit of this order of men is their skill in astronomy and navigation.

Captain Cook, who had some reason to believe that, among the religious customs of this people, human sacrifices were sometimes offered up to their deities, went to a marae, or place of worship, accompanied by Captain Furneaux, having with them a sailor who spoke the language tolerably well, and several of the natives. In the marae was a tupapau, a kind of bier, with a shed erected over it, on which lay a corpse and some provisions. Captain Cook then asked if the plantain were for the Eutua? If they sacrificed to the Eutua hogs, dogs, fowls, &c.? To all of which an intelligent native answered in the affirmative. He then asked if they sacrificed men to the Eutua? He was answered, "no, no," "not men they did; first taparau, beating them till they were dead." He then asked if good men were put to death in this manner? His answer was no, only tapau eno. The Captain then asked if any Eutues were? The native replied, they had hogs to give the Eutua, and again repeated tapau eno. He was then asked if two vs., who had no hogs, dogs, or fowls, but yet were good men, were ever sacrificed to the Eutua? The answer still was no, only bad men. Many other questions were put to him; all his answers to which seemed to confirm the idea that men for certain crimes were condemned to be sacrificed to the gods, provided they did not possess any property which they might give for their redemption. However, in pursuing such inquiries as these, no certain information could be obtained, on account of the slight knowledge which had been acquired of the language of the country; but according to further accounts which Captain Cook received from Omai, it seems to rest with the high-priest to single out the victims for sacrifice; who, when the people are assembled on any solemn occasion, retires alone into the house of God, and stays there for some time; when he comes out, he informs the assembly that he has seen and conversed with the great god (the high-priest alone having that privilege), and that he has asked for a human sacrifice; and tells them he has desired such a person, naming a man present, who has most probably, on some account or other, rendered himself obnoxious to this ghastly father. The words are no sooner gone out of his mouth, than the devoted wretch is put to death; for his guilt cannot be doubted, after the oracle has pronounced its doom.

On this island was seen the figure of a man constructed of basket work, rudely made, but not ill designed: it was something more than seven feet high, and rather too bulky in proportion to its height. This wicker skeleton was completely covered with feathers, which were white where the skin was to appear, and black in the parts which it is their custom to paint or stain, as well as upon the head, which was designed to represent hair. Upon the head also were four protuberances; three in front, and one behind, which the Indians called tate te, little men. The image was called Manioe; it was a representation of Mauve, one of their Eutuas, or gods of the second class, and was said to be the only one of the kind on Otaheitee.

These people pray at fun-rife and fun-set. They have also a number of superstitious practices, in order to conciliate the influence of evil genii. E-Tee, a chief, who seemed to be the king's prime minister in 1774, very seriously asked Mr Forster whether they had a god (Eutua) in their country, and whether they prayed to him (epoore?) When he told them that they acknowledged a Divinity who had made everything, and was invisible, and that they were accustomed to address their petitions to him, he seemed to be highly pleased, and repeated his words with comments of his own, to several persons who sat round round him; seeming thereby to intimate, that the ideas of his countrymen corresponded with theirs in this respect.

Their morals are used both as burying-grounds and places of worship; they are approached with the most wonderful expressions of reverence and humility; and this, it should seem, not because any thing there is esteemed sacred, but because they there worship an invisible being, for whom they entertain the most reverential respect, although not excited by the hope of reward or the dread of punishment. Though they do not appear to have any visible object of worship, yet, says Captain Cook, this island, and indeed the rest that lie near it, have a particular bird, some a heron, and others a kingfisher, to which they pay a particular regard, and concerning which they have some superstitious notions, respecting good or bad fortune, as we have of the swallow and robin redbreast, and will on no account molest or kill them. One of these cemeteries, or places of worship, was known to Captain Cook, on his first voyage, by the name of Tootahah's morai; then the regent; but when, on his second voyage, after the death of that chief, he called it by that name, Maratata, a chief that accompanied the party, interrupted him, intimating, that it was no longer Tootahah's after his death, but was then known as O'Too's morai, the then reigning prince. A fine moral for princes! daily reminding them of mortality whilst they live, and teaching them, that after death they cannot call even that ground their own which their dead corpse occupies! The chief and his wife, on passing by it, took their upper garments from their shoulders. From hence it should seem, that the royal family have a particular morai, and that it always bears the name of the reigning prince.

An Indian, who had snatched away a musket from a sentry whilst on duty, was, by the inhumanity of a midshipman who commanded the guard, pursued and shot. The unhappy fate of this poor fellow gave an opportunity for seeing the manner in which these people treat their dead. They placed the corpse in the open air till the bones became quite dry: a shed was erected close by the house where the deceased had resided; it was about 15 feet long, and eleven broad; one end was left quite open; the other end, and the two sides, were partly inclosed with a fort of wickerwork. The bier was a frame of wood, like that on which the tea-beds, called otsi, are placed, with a matted bottom, and supported by four posts, at the height of about four feet from the ground. The body was covered first with a mat, and then with white cloth; by the side of it lay a wooden mace, one of their weapons of war; and near the head of it, which lay next to the close end of the shed, lay two cocoanut shells; at the other end a bunch of green leaves, with some dried twigs, all tied together, were stuck in the ground, by which lay a stone about as big as a cocoanut. Near these lay one of the young plantain-leaves that are used for emblems of peace, and close by it a stone ax. At the open end of the shed also hung, in several strings, a great number of palm-nuts; and without the shed was stuck up in the ground a stem of a plantain-tree, about six feet high, upon the top of which was placed a cocoanut shell full of fresh water; against the side of one of the pots hung a small bag containing a few pieces of bread-fruit ready roasted, which had not been put in all at one time, some being fresh, and others stale. This minute examination of their manner of treating their dead, seemed to be very unwelcome to the natives. The food so placed by the corpse is designed as an offering to their gods. They call in, near the body, small pieces of cloth, on which the tears and blood of the mourners have been shed; for in their paroxysms of grief it is an universal custom to wound themselves with a shark's tooth. The mourner is always a man; and he is dressed in a very singular habit. When the bones are stripped of their flesh, and become dry, they are buried. This regard to their dead is very remarkable: one of the ship's company happening to pull a flower from a tree which grew on one of their sepulchral inclosures, an Indian came suddenly behind him and struck him; and a party of sailors, who were sent to get some stones for ballast for the ship, had like to have been embroiled with the natives, by pulling down some part of an inclosure of this kind. This shade under which their dead are laid is called tapapou; the inclosure in which their bones are deposited is called morai; these latter, as has been already related, are also places of worship. As soon as a native of Otaheitee is known to be dead, the house is filled with relations, who deplore their loss; some by loud lamentations, and some by less clamorous, but more genuine expressions of grief. Those who are in the nearest degree of kindred, and are really affected by the event, are silent; the rest are one moment uttering passionate exclamations in a chorus, and the next laughing and talking without the least appearance of concern. In this manner the remainder of the day on which they assemble is spent, and all the succeeding night. On the next morning the body is shrouded in their cloth, and conveyed to the sea-side on a bier, which the bearers support upon their shoulders, attended by the priest, who having prayed over the body repeats his sentences during the procession. When it arrives at the water's edge, it is set down upon the beach; the priest renewes his prayers, and taking up some of the water in his hands, sprinkles it towards the body, but not upon it. It is then carried back 40 or 50 yards; and soon after brought again to the beach, where the prayers and sprinkling are repeated. It is thus removed backwards and forwards several times; and while these ceremonies have been performing, a house has been built, and a small space of ground railed in. In the centre of this house, or tapapou, as they term it, posts are set up to support the bier, which is at length conveyed thither, and placed upon it; and here the body remains to putrefy, till the flesh is wholly wasted from the bones. These houses of corruption are of a size proportioned to the rank of the person whose body they are to contain. Those allotted to the lower clasps are just sufficient to cover the bier, and have no railing round them. The largest that was seen was 11 yards long; and such are ornamented according to the abilities and inclination of the surviving kindred, who never fail to lay a profusion of good cloth about the body, and sometimes almost cover the outside of the house. Garlands of the fruit of the palm-nut, or pandanus, and cocoa-leaves, twisted by the priests in mysterious knots, with a plant called by them eithe no morai, which is particularly consecrated to funeral solemnities, are deposited about the place; provision and water are also left at a little distance. As soon as the body is deposited in the tupapow, the mourning is renewed. The women assemble, and are led to the door by the nearest relation, who strikes a shark's tooth several times into the crown of her head; the blood copiously follows, and is carefully received upon pieces of linen, which are thrown under the bier. The rest of the women follow this example; and the ceremony is repeated at the interval of two or three days, as long as the zeal and sorrow of the parties hold out. The tears also which are shed upon these occasions, are received upon pieces of cloth, and offered as oblations to the dead. Some of the younger people cut off their hair, and that is thrown under the bier with the other offerings. This custom is founded on a notion, that the soul of the deceased, which they believe to exist in a separate state, is hovering about the place where the body is deposited; that it observes the actions of the survivors, and is gratified by such testimonies of their affectionate grief. Whilst these ceremonies are carrying on by the women, the men seem to be wholly insensible of their loss; but two or three days after, they also begin to perform a part. The nearest relations take it in turn to assume the dress, and perform the offices.

The chief mourner carries in his hand a long flat stick, the edge of which is set with shark's teeth; and in a frenzy, which his grief is supposed to have inspired, he runs at all he sees, and if any of them happen to be overtaken, he strikes them most unmercifully with his indented cudgel, which cannot fail to wound them in a dangerous manner. The processions continue at certain intervals for five moons; but are less and less frequent, by a gradual diminution, as the end of that time approaches. When it is expired, what remains of the body is taken down from the bier; and the bones, having been scraped and washed very clean, are buried, according to the rank of the person, either within or without a morai. If the deceased was an earce, or chief, his skull is not buried with the rest of his bones, but is wrapped up in fine cloth, and put in a kind of box made for that purpose, which is also placed in the morai. This coffin is called ewharre no te oremetua, "the house of a teacher, or master." After this the mourning ceases, except some of the women continue to be really afflicted at the loss, and in that case they will suddenly wound themselves with the shark's tooth wherever they happen to be. The ceremonies, however, do not cease with the mourning; for prayers are still said by the priest, and offerings made at the morai. Some of the things, which from time to time are deposited there, are emblematical—a young plantain is said to represent the deceased, and a bunch of feathers the Deity who is invoked. The priest places himself over against the symbol of the god, accompanied by some of the relations, who are furnished with a small offering; he repeats his orison in a set form, consisting of separate sentences; at the same time weaving the leaves of the cocoa-nut into different forms, which he afterwards deposits upon the ground where the bones have been interred: the Deity is then addressed by a shrill scream, which is used only upon that occasion. When the priest retires, the tuft of feathers is removed, and the provisions are left to putrefy, or be devoured by the rats.

This ceremony of mourning, as described above, was performed by Tirope, one of the wives of Tubourai Tamaide; who, when the bleeding from the wounds which she had thus given herself ceased, looked up with a smile on the company round her, and who had before inquired of her, very carefully, the cause of her behaviour, without receiving any answer, or having been at all noticed by her. She then began to pick up some small pieces of cloth which she had spread to catch the blood; and having got them all together, she went to the shore, and threw them into the sea. She then plunged into the river; and having washed her whole body, returned to the company as cheerful as ever. To add to the singularity of this conduct, the Indians who stood round her all the time that this frantic distemper was performing, conversed with great indifference and jocularity.

There is not a more ancient custom handed down to us than that of cutting the body to express grief and distemper of mind. In the code of laws delivered by Moses to the Israelites, 1400 years before the Christian era, this practice is expressly forbidden to that people: "Ye shall not cut yourselves, or make any baldness between the eyes for the dead," Deut. xiv. 1. Hence it may be supposed that this rite prevailed in Egypt, from whence the Jews derived most of those propensities which were inhibited by their great legislator. We are told likewise in the book of Kings, of the priests of Baal wounding themselves, after they had long waited in vain for the supernatural intervention of their idol. D'Arvieux informs us, that the modern Arabs retain the same custom, and that the part they chiefly wound is their arms. The difference in the practice as now prevailing in O-Taheitee and Arabia seems to be, that in the first none but the women make use of it, and in the latter it is confined to the men, and generally used to express their desperate passion for some favourite mistress.

The mourning which is worn here is an head-dress of feathers, the colour of which is consecrated to death, and a veil over the face. This dress is called eeva. The whole nation is said to appear thus on the death of their king. The mourning for fathers is very long. The women mourn for their husbands, but not the husbands for their wives.

We shall conclude this account of Otahitee with the history of Omai, or, as he is improperly called Omiaib, who was brought over to England. He was a native of Ulietea, or Raietea; and embarked at Hua-hine with Captain Furneaux, on board the Adventure, in September 1773; and the two ships separating in a storm on the coast of New Zealand a few months afterwards, the voyage of the Adventure was brought to a much earlier conclusion than that of the Resolution, for she arrived at Spithead the 14th of July following. This youth is said to have had some property in his native soil, of which he was dispossessed by the people of Boialola; but he was not one of the earces, or gentry of that country, but of the middling class of people. He was eminent neither for figure, shape, nor complexion; his colour being of a deep hue, resembling a tow-tow, or one of the common people; people; and both Captain Cook and Mr Forster agree in thinking him no proper sample of the inhabitants of those islands, in respect of personal beauty. However, they are both of opinion, that the qualities of his heart and head resembled those of his countrymen in general, and that no one of the natives would have given more general satisfaction by his behaviour whilst he remained in England. He is described as possessing a good understanding, quick parts, and honest principles: not an extraordinary genius like Tupia; yet not at all deficient in intelligence, which appears from his knowledge of the game of chess, in which he made an amazing proficiency. His principal patrons, whilst in England, were, the Earl of Sandwich, Mr Banks, and Doctor Solander. His noble patron introduced him to his Majesty at Kew; and, during his stay in England, he was cared for by many of the principal nobility. He naturally imitated that easy and elegant politeness which is prevalent among the great, and which is one of the ornaments of civilized society. Indeed he adopted the manners, the occupation, and amusements of his companions in general, and gave many proofs of a quick perception and a lively fancy. He appears, however, to have been treated, whilst he resided here, rather as a fashionable exhibition, than as a rational being. No attention seems to have been paid to the enriching his mind with useful knowledge, such as might have rendered him a valuable acquisition to his country on his return thither; no means were used to instruct him in agriculture, or any mechanical art or useful manufacture; and, above all, to polish him with a moral sense; to teach him the exalted ideas of virtue, and the sublime principles of revealed religion. After a stay of two years in England, and having been inoculated for the smallpox, he embarked with Captain Cook, on board the Resolution, on his return home, loaded with a profusion of presents. At parting with his friends here, his tears flowed plentifully, and his whole behaviour bespoke him to be sincerely affected at the separation: but though he lived in the midst of amusements during his residence in England, his return to his native country was always in his thoughts; and tho' he was not impatient to go, he expressed a satisfaction as the time of his return approached.

Such is the account of this people which our limits permit us to give. In the history of mankind it is not without importance; and in the hands of the philosopher, the moralist, or the divine, it may be useful. The subject, because but new, has been much agitated, and is pretty generally known. Such of our readers as make men and manners their peculiar study, will be anxious for further information; we must refer them, however, to those authors who have written particularly and copiously on the subject. Cook and other voyagers of eminence will at least command attention. We may just remark, that there must surely be something extremely fascinating in the persons, manners, or customs of the inhabitants, or in the soil and appearance of the country, that could tempt the greater part of a ship's crew to resist authority, and forcibly to return to Otaheite; yet such we know was the case: and the sufferings of the commander, and those who refused to join in this vile conspiracy, and who were therefore exposed in an open boat, were indeed shocking. An account of it has been lately published.