It may, indeed, be expected, that after spending between two and three months amongst them, I should be enabled to clear up every difficulty, and to give a tolerably satisfactory account of their customs, opinions, and institutions, both civil and religious, especially as we had a person on board, who might be supposed qualified to act the part of an interpreter, by understanding their language and ours.  But poor Omai was very deficient.  For unless the object or thing we wanted to enquire about, was actually before us, we found it difficult to gain a tolerable knowledge of it from information only, without falling into a hundred mistakes; and to such mistakes Omai was more liable than we were.  For, having no curiosity, he never gave himself the trouble to make remarks for himself; and, when he was disposed to explain matters to us, his ideas appeared to be so limited, and perhaps so different from ours, that his accounts were often so confused, as to perplex instead of instructing us.  Add to this, that it was very rare that we found amongst the natives, a person who united the ability and the inclination to give us the information we wanted; and we found, that most of them hated to be troubled with what they probably thought idle questions.  Our situation at Tongataboo, where we remained the longest, was like-wise unfavourable.  It was in a part of the country where there were few inhabitants, except fishers.  It was always holiday with our visitors, as well as with those we visited; so that we had but few opportunities of observing what was really the domestic way of living of the natives.  Under these disadvantages, it is not surprising that we should not be able to bring away with us satisfactory accounts of many things; but some of us endeavoured to remedy those disadvantages by diligent observation, and I am indebted to Mr Anderson for a considerable share of what follows in this and in the following section.  In other matters, I have only expressed, nearly in his own words, remarks that coincided with mine; but what relates to the religion and language of these people is entirely his own.

The natives of the Friendly Islands seldom exceed the common stature (though we have measured some who were above six feet), but are very strong and well-made, especially as to their limbs.  They are generally broad about the shoulders, and though the muscular disposition of the men, which seems a consequence of much action, rather conveys the appearance of strength than of beauty, there are several to be seen who are really handsome.  Their features are very various, insomuch, that it is scarcely possible to fix on any general likeness by which to characterize them, unless it be a fullness at the point of the nose, which is very common.  But, on the other hand, we met with hundreds of truly European faces, and many genuine Roman noses amongst them.  Their eyes and teeth are good; but the last neither so remarkably white nor so well set, as is often found amongst Indian nations; though to balance that, few of them have any uncommon thickness about the lips, a defect as frequent as the other perfection.