CHAPTER IX.

A Description of the Country and its Inhabitants; their Manners, Customs, and Arts.

1774 September

I shall conclude our transactions at this place with some account of the country and its inhabitants.  They are a strong, robust, active, well-made people, courteous and friendly, and not in the least addicted to pilfering, which is more than can be said of any other nation in this sea.  They are nearly of the same colour as the natives of Tanna, but have better features, more agreeable countenances, and are a much stouter race; a few being seen who measured six feet four inches.  I observed some who had thick lips, flat noses, and full cheeks, and, in some degree, the features and look of a negro.  Two things contributed to the forming of such an idea; first, their rough mop heads, and, secondly, their besmearing their faces with black pigment.  Their hair and beards are, in general, black.  The former is very much frizzled, so that, at first sight, it appears like that of a negro.  It is, nevertheless, very different, though both coarser and stronger than ours.  Some, who wear it long, tie it up on the crown of the head; others suffer only a large lock to grow on each side, which they tie up in clubs; many others, as well as all the women, wear it cropped short.  These rough heads, most probably, want frequent scratching; for which purpose they have a most excellent instrument.  This is a kind of comb made of sticks of hard wood, from seven to nine or ten inches long, and about the thickness of knitting-needles.  A number of these, seldom exceeding twenty, but generally fewer, is fastened together at one end, parallel to, and near one-tenth of an inch from each other.  The other ends, which are a little pointed, will spread out or open like the sticks of a fan, by which means they can beat up the quarters of an hundred lice at a time.  These combs or scratchers, for I believe they serve both purposes, they always wear in their hair, on one side their head.  The people of Tanna have an instrument of this kind for the same use; but theirs is forked, I think, never exceeding three or four prongs; and sometimes only a small pointed stick.  Their beards, which are of the same crisp nature as their hair, are, for the most part, worn short.  Swelled and ulcerated legs and feet are common among the men; as also a swelling of the scrotum.  I know not whether this is occasioned by disease, or by the mode of applying the wrapper before-mentioned, and which they use as at Tanna and Mallicollo.  This is their only covering, and is made generally of the bark of a tree, but sometimes of leaves.  The small pieces of cloth, paper, etc. which they got from us, were commonly applied to this use.  We saw coarse garments amongst them, made of a sort of matting, but they seemed never to wear them, except when out in their canoes and unemployed.  Some had a kind of concave, cylindrical, stiff black cap, which appeared to be a great ornament among them, and, we thought, was only worn by men of note or warriors.  A large sheet of strong paper, when they got one from us, was generally applied to this use.