ght fit to conduct him."--G.F.
[4] "The cordial reception which we met with, was such as might have
been expected from a people well acquainted with our good intentions,
and accustomed to the transitory visits of European ships. But these
kind islanders had never seen Europeans among them, and could only
have heard of Tasman, who visited the adjacent island, by imperfect
tradition. Nothing was therefore more conspicuous in their whole
behaviour than an open, generous disposition, free from any mean
distrust. This was confirmed by the appearance of a great number of
women in the crowd, covered from the waist downwards, whose smiles and
looks welcomed us to the shore."--G.F.
[5] "They beat time to the music by snapping the second finger and
thumb, and holding the three remaining fingers upright. Their voices
were very sweet and mellow, and they sung in parts. When they had
gone, they were relieved by others, who sung the same tune, and at
last they joined together in chorus."--G.F.
[6] "The inhabitants seemed to be of a more active and industrious
disposition than those of Otaheite and instead of following us in
great crowds wherever we went, left us entirely by ourselves, unless
we entreated them to accompany us. In that case we could venture to go
with our pockets open, unless we had nails in them, upon which they
set so great a value, that they could not always resist the
temptation. We passed through more than ten adjacent plantations or
gardens, separated by inclosures, communicating with each other by
means of doors. In each of them we commonly met with a house, of which
the inhabitants were absent. Their attention to separate their
property seemed to argue a higher degree of civilization than we had
expected. Their arts, manufactures, and music, were all more
cultivated, complicated, and elegant, than at the Society Isles. But,
in return, the opulence, or rather luxury, of the Otaheiteans seemed
to be much greater. We saw but few hogs and fowls here; and that great
support of life, the bread-tree, appeared to be very scarce. Yams,
therefore, and other roots, together with bananoes, are their
principal article of diet. Their clothing, too, compared to that of
Otaheite, was less plentiful, or at least not converted into such an
article of luxury as at that island. Lastly, t
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