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The oars or paddles that are used with these boats, have a long handle and a flat blade, not unlike a baker's peel. Of thefe every person in the boat has one, except those that fit under the awning; and they push her forward with them at a good rate. These boats, however, admit fo much water at the feams, that one perfon at leaft is continually employed in throwing it out. The only thing in which they excel is landing, and putting off from the fhore in a furf: by their great length and high fterns they land dry, when our boats could scarcely land at all; and have the fame advantages in putting off by the height of the head.

The Ivahahs are the only boats that are used by the inhabitants of Otaheite; but we saw feveral Pahies that came from other islands. Of one of these I fhall give the exact dimenfions from a careful admeasurement, and then particularly defcribe the manner in which they are built.

Extreme length from ftem to ftern, not reckoning

the bending up of either

Breadth in the clear of the top forward

Breadth in the midships

Breadth aft

In the bilge forward

In the midships

Aft

Depth in the midships

Height from the ground on which she stood

Height of her head from the ground, without the
figure

Height of the figure

Height of the ftern from the ground

Height of the figure

To illuftrate my defcription of the manner in which these veffels are built, it will be neceffary

to refer to the figure; in which a a is the first seam, bb the second, and cc the third.

C

C

a

The first stage or keel, under a a, is made of a tree hollowed out like a trough; for which the longest trees are chosen that can be got, fo that there are never more than three in the whole length: the next stage, under bb, is formed of ftrait plank, about four feet long, fifteen inches broad, and two inches thick: the third stage, under cc, is, like the bottom made of trunks, hollowed into its bilging form; the laft is also cut out of trunks, fo that the moulding is of one piece with the upright. To form these parts separately, without faw, plane, chiffel, or any other iron tool, may well be thought no easy task; but the great difficulty is to join them together.

When all the parts are prepared, the keel is laid upon blocks, and the planks being fupported by ftanchions, are fewed or clamped together with ftrong thongs of plaiting, which are passed several times through holes that are bored with a gouge or auger of bone, that has been described already; and the nicety with which this is done, may be inferred from their being fufficiently water-tight for use without caulking. As the plaiting foon rots in the water, it is renewed at least once a-year; in order to which, the veffel is taken entirely to pieces. The head and ftern are rude with refpect to the defign; but very neatly finished, and polished to the highest degree.

These Pahies are kept with great care, in a kind of house built on purpose for their reception; the houses are formed of poles fet upright in the ground, the tops of which VOL. II

"

G g

are

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are drawn towards each other, and fastened together with their strongest cord, fo as to form a kind of Gothic arch, which is completely thatched quite to the ground, being open only at the ends; they are fometimes fifty or fixty paces long

As connected with the navigation of these people, I fhall mention their wonderful fagacity in foretelling the weather, at least the quarter from which the wind shall blow at a future time; they have several ways of doing this, of which however I know but one. They fay, that the Milky-way is always curved laterally; but fometimes in one direction, and fometimes in another: and that this curvature is the ef→ fect of its being already acted upon by the wind, and its hollow part therefore towards it; fo that, if the fame curvature continues a night, a correfponding wind certainly blows the next day. Of their rules, I fhall not pretend to judge; but I know that, by whatever means, they can predict the weather, at least the wind, with much greater certainty than

we can.

In their longer voyages, they fteer by the fun in the day, and in the night by the stars; all of which they distinguish feparately by 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 time of their annual appearing and disappearing with more precision than will easily be believed by an European aftronomer.

CHAP

С НА Р. XIX.

Of the Divifion of Time in Otaheite; Numeration, Computation of Distance, Language, Difeafes, Difpofal of the Dead, Religion, War, Weapons, and Government ; with fome general Obfervations for the Ufe of future Navigators.

W

E were not able to acquire a perfect idea of their method of dividing time; but obferved, that in fpeaking of it, either past or to come, they never used any term but Malama, which fignifies Moon. Of these moons they count thirteen, and then begin again; which is a demonstration that they have a notion of the folar year: but how they compute their months fo that thirteen of them shall be commenfurate with the year, we could not discover; for they say that each month has twenty-nine days, including one in which the moon is not visible. They have names for them separately, and have frequently told us the fruits that would be in feafon, and the weather that would prevail, in each of them; and they have indeed a name for them collectively, though they use it only when they speak of the mysteries of their religion.

Every day is fubdivided into twelve parts, each of two hours, of which fix belong to the day, and fix to the night. At thefe divifions they guefs pretty nearly by the height of the fun while he is above the horizon; but there are few of them that can guefs at them, when he is below it, by the ftars.

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Time..

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Numbers..

Language.

In numeration they proceed from one to ten, the number of fingers on both hands; and though they have for each number a different name, they generally take hold of their fingers one by one, fhifting from one hand to the other till they come to the number they want to exprefs. And in other inftances, we obferved that, when they were converfing with each other, they joined figns to their words,. which were fo expreffive that a stranger might easily apprehend their meaning.

In counting from ten they repeat the name of that num-ber, and add the word more; ten, and one more, is eleven ; ten, and two more; twelve; and fo of the reft, as we fay oneand twenty, two and twenty. When they come to ten and ten more, they have a new denomination, as we fay a score; and by these fcores they count till they get ten of them, when they have a denomination for two hundred; and we never could discover that they had any denomination to express a greater number: neither, indeed, do they feem to want any; for ten of these amount to two thousand; a greater number than they can ever apply.

In measuring distance they are much more deficient than in computing numbers, having but one term which anfwersto fathom; when they speak of distances from place to place, they exprefs it, like the Afiatics, by the time that is required to pass it.

Their language is foft and melodious; it abounds with vowels, and we eafily learnt to pronounce it: but found it exceedingly difficult to teach them to pronounce a single word of ours; probably not only from its abounding in confonants, but from fome peculiarity in its structure; for Spanish and Italian words, if ending in a vowel, they pronounced with great facility.

Whether