Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/224

184 that he had received this wound during Cook's last visit to Tongataboo.

The natives of the Friendly Islands are in general tall and well made; for which they are principally indebted, no doubt, to the abundance and good quality of their food. The fine shape of these people is not degraded by excessive toil. The muscles being strongly marked, we presumed they must have great strength; but the idle life they lead renders them very little capable of great exertion: accordingly, when they tried their strength against our sailors, they were almost always worsted.

The men, as well as the women, are accustomed to cut off one or two joints of the little finger, and sometimes of the finger next to it, in the hope of obtaining a cure from severe diseases.

Most of them are tatooed on all parts of the body. We saw a great number, whose skin was covered with a scurfy eruption; which perhaps is owing to their not being accustomed to wipe themselves, or wash themselves with fresh water, after having been into the sea.

We observed no symptoms of the venereal disease among the natives; one of our seamen,