A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

not want tongue in any part of the world. We presented them with fish and fowl which we had in ourboat; but these they threw into the boat again, giving us to understand that such things they wantednot. Night approaching, obliged us to take leave of them; when the youngest of the two women,whose volubility of tongue exceeded every thing I ever met with, gave us a dance; but the manviewed us with great attention. Some hours after we got on board, the other party returned, havinghad but indifferent sport.Next morning, I made the natives another visit, accompanied by Mr Forster and Mr Hodges,carrying with me various articles which I presented them with, and which they received with a greatdeal of indifference, except hatchets and spike-nails; these they most esteemed. This interview wasat the same place as last night; and now we saw the whole family, it consisted of the man, his twowives (as we supposed), the young woman before mentioned, a boy about fourteen years old, andthree small children, the youngest of which was at the breast. They were all well-looking, except onewoman, who had a large wen on her upper-lip, which made her disagreeable; and she seemed, onthat account, to be in a great measure neglected by the man. They conducted us to their habitation,which was but a little way within the skirts of the wood, and consisted of two mean huts made of thebark of trees. Their canoe, which was a small double one, just large enough to transport the wholefamily from place to place, lay in a small creek near the huts. During our stay, Mr Hodges madedrawings of most of them; this occasioned them to give him the name of Toe-toe, which word, wesuppose signifies marking or painting. When we took leave, the chief presented me with a piece ofcloth or garment of their own manufacturing, and some other trifles. I at first thought it was meant asa return for the presents I had made him; but he soon undeceived me, by expressing a desire for oneof our boat cloaks. I took the hint, and ordered one to be made for him of red baise, as soon as I gotaboard; where rainy weather detained me the following day.The 9th, being fair weather, we paid the natives another visit, and made known our approach byhallooing to them; but they neither answered us, nor met us at the shore as usual. The reason of thiswe soon saw; for we found them at their habitations, all dressed and dressing, in their very best, withtheir hair combed and oiled, tied up upon the crowns of their heads, and stuck with white feathers.Some wore a fillet of feathers round their heads; and all of them had bunches of white feathers stuckin their ears: Thus dressed, and all standing, they received us with great courtesy. I presented thechief with the cloak I had got made for him, with which he seemed so well pleased, that he took hispattapattou from his girdle and gave it me. After a short stay, we took leave; and having spent theremainder of the day in continuing my survey of the bay, with the night returned on board.Very heavy rains falling on the two following days, no work was done; but the 12th proved clear andserene, and afforded us an opportunity to dry our sails and linen; two things very much wanted; nothaving had fair weather enough for this purpose since we put into this bay. Mr Forster and his partyalso profited by the day in botanizing.About ten o'clock, the family of the natives paid us a visit. Seeing that they approached the ship withgreat caution, I met them in a boat, which I quitted when I got to them, and went into their canoe.Yet, after all, I could not prevail on them to put along-side the ship, and at last was obliged to leavethem to follow their own inclination. At length they put ashore in a little creek hard by us; andafterwards came and sat down on the shore a-breast of the ship, near enough to speak with us. I nowcaused the bagpipes and fife to play, and the drum to beat. The two first they did not regard; but thelatter caused some little attention in them; nothing however could induce them to come on board.But they entered, with great familiarity, into conversation (little understood) with such of the officersand seamen as went to them, paying much greater regard to some than to others; and these, we hadreason to believe, they took for women. To one man in particular, the young woman shewed anextraordinary fondness until she discovered his sex, after which she would not suffer him to comenear her. Whether it was that she before took him for one of her own sex, or that the man, in order to