Page:Voyage in search of La Perouse, volume 2 (Stockdale).djvu/321

] colour, and the expression of their countenances indicates an intimate connection between them and the generality of the inhabitants of the Moluccas; though we remarked some who had a very black skin, thick lips, and large flat noses, and appeared to be of a very different race; but all these had woolly hair and very large foreheads. They are in general of a good stature, but their legs and thighs are rather small, probably owing, in a great measure, to their inactivity, and the length of time which they are confined in their canoes.

Most of them had their noses and ears bored, and wore in them rings made of tortoise-shell.

Almost all were tatooed, particularly on the back.

I remarked with surprise that the fashion of wearing their hair white was very general among these savages, and formed a striking contrast with the colour of their skin. Without doubt, those petits maîtres used lime for that purpose; in the same manner as I had observed amongst the inhabitants of the Friendly Islands. They are in the habit of pulling up their hair by the roots. Their notions of modesty have not taught these people the use of clothes. They generally have their bellies tied with a cord, which goes two or three times round them. Their bracelets are