shop, in which the most elegant productions of China and Europe are collected; besides some original patterns of their own.  Their colours, indeed, except the red, are not very bright; but the regularity of the figures and stripes is truly surprising; for, as far as we know, they have nothing like stamps or prints, to make the impressions.  In what manner they produce their colours, we had not opportunities of learning; but, besides the party coloured sorts, they have some pieces of plain white cloth, and others of a single colour, particularly dark-brown and light-blue.  In general, the pieces which they brought to us were about two feet broad, and four or five yards long, being the form and quantity that they use for their common dress or maro; and even these we sometimes found were composed of pieces sewed together; an art which we did not find to the southward, but is strongly, though not very neatly, performed here.  There is also a particular sort that is thin, much resembling oil-cloth; and which is actually either oiled or soaked in some kind of varnish, and seems to resist the action of water pretty well.

They fabricate a great many white mats, which are strong, with many red stripes, rhombuses, and other figures, interwoven on one side; and often pretty large.  These probably make a part of their dress occasionally; for they put them on their backs when they offered them to sale.  But they make others coarser, plain and strong, which they spread over their floors to sleep upon.

They stain their gourd-shells prettily with undulated lines, triangles, and other figures of a black colour; instances of which we saw practised at New Zealand.  And they seem to possess the art of varnishing; for some of these stained gourd-shells are covered with a kind of lacker; and, on other occasions, they use a strong size, or gluey substance, to fasten their things together.  Their wooden dishes and, bowls, out of which they drink their ova, are of the etooa-tree, or cordia, as neat as if made in our turning-lathe, and perhaps better polished.  And amongst their articles of handicraft, may be reckoned small square fans of mat or wicker-work, with handles tapering from them of the same, or of wood; which are neatly wrought with small cords of hair, and fibres of the cocoa-nut coir intermixed.  The great variety of fishing-hooks are ingeniously made; some of bone, others of wood pointed with bone, and many of pearl shell.  Of the last, some are like a sort that we saw at Tongataboo; and others simply curved, as the common sort at Otaheite, as well as the wooden ones.  The bones are mostly small, and composed of two pieces; and all the different sorts have a barb, either on the inside, like ours, or on the outside, opposite the same part; but others have both, the outer one being farthest from the point.  Of this last sort, one was procured nine inches long, of a single piece of bone, which doubtless belonged to