cle
painted round the left eye, and that others were painted on their arms,
and on different parts of the face; the eye-lids of all the young women
were painted black. They talked much, and some of them called out
Ca-pi-ta-ne; but when they were spoken to in Spanish, Portuguese,
French, and Dutch, they made no reply. Of their own language we could
distinguish only one word, which was _chevow_: We supposed it to be a
salutation, as they always pronounced it when they shook hands with us,
and when, by signs, they asked us to give them any thing. When they were
spoken to in English, they repeated the words after us as plainly as we
could do; and they soon got by heart the words, "Englishmen come on
shore." Every one had a missile weapon of a singular kind, tucked into
the girdle. It consisted of two round stones, covered with leather, each
weighing about a pound, which were fastened to the two ends of a string
about eight feet long. This is used as a sling, one stone being kept in
the hand, and the other whirled round the head till it is supposed to
have acquired sufficient force, and then discharged at the object. They
are so expert in the management of this double-headed shot, that they
will hit a mark, not bigger than a shilling, with both the stones, at
the distance of fifteen yards; it is not their custom, however, to
strike either the guanico or the ostrich with them in the chase, but
they discharge them so that the cord comes against the legs of the
ostrich, or two of the legs of the guanico, and is twisted round them by
the force of the swing of the balls, so that the animal being unable to
run, becomes an easy prey to the hunter.

[Illustration: CHART of the SANDWICH ISLANDS]

While we stayed on shore, we saw them eat some of their flesh-meat raw,
particularly the paunch of an ostrich, without any other preparation or
cleaning than just turning it inside out, and shaking it. We observed
among them several beads, such as I gave them, and two pieces of red
baize, which we supposed had been left there, or in the neighbouring
country, by Commodore Byron.

After I had spent about four hours with these people, I made signs to
them that I was going on board, and that I would take some of them with
me if they were desirous to go. As soon as I had made myself understood,
above an hundred eagerly offered to visit the ship; but I did not chuse
to indulge more than eight of the number. They jumped into the boats
with the j