One Unbecoming Fashion Is Now Almost Universal:
Namely, Shaving The Hair From The Upper Part Of The Head,
In A Circular Form, So As To Leave Only An Outer Ring.
The
missionaries have tried to persuade the people to change this
habit; but it is the fashion, and that is a sufficient answer
at Tahiti, as well as at Paris.
I was much disappointed in
the personal appearance of the women: they are far inferior
in every respect to the men. The custom of wearing a white
or scarlet flower in the back of the head, or through a small
hole in each ear, is pretty. A crown of woven cocoa-nut
leaves is also worn as a shade for the eyes. The women
appear to be in greater want of some becoming costume even
than the men.
Nearly all the natives understand a little English - that is,
they know the names of common things; and by the aid of
this, together with signs, a lame sort of conversation could
be carried on. In returning in the evening to the boat, we
stopped to witness a very pretty scene. Numbers of children
were playing on the beach, and had lighted bonfires
which illumined the placid sea and surrounding trees;
others, in circles, were singing Tahitian verses. We seated
ourselves on the sand, and joined their party. The songs
were impromptu, and I believe related to our arrival: one
little girl sang a line, which the rest took up in parts,
forming a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made us
unequivocally aware that we were seated on the shores of an
island in the far-famed South Sea.
17th. - This day is reckoned in the log-book as Tuesday
the 17th, instead of Monday the 16th, owing to our, so far,
successful chase of the sun. Before breakfast the ship was
hemmed in by a flotilla of canoes; and when the natives
were allowed to come on board, I suppose there could not
have been less than two hundred. It was the opinion of
every one that it would have been difficult to have picked out
an equal number from any other nation, who would have
given so little trouble. Everybody brought something for
sale: shells were the main articles of trade. The Tahitians
now fully understand the value of money, and prefer it to
old clothes or other articles. The various coins, however, of
English and Spanish denomination puzzle them, and they
never seemed to think the small silver quite secure until
changed into dollars. Some of the chiefs have accumulated
considerable sums of money. One chief, not long since,
offered 800 dollars (about 160 pounds sterling) for a small
vessel; and frequently they purchase whale-boats and horses at
the rate of from 50 to 100 dollars.
After breakfast I went on shore, and ascended the nearest
slope to a height of between two and three thousand feet.
The outer mountains are smooth and conical, but steep; and
the old volcanic rocks, of which they are formed, have been
cut through by many profound ravines, diverging from the
central broken parts of the island to the coast.
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