naked, and their chief ornament consisted in the dark and fanciful lines formed by tattooing, which covered them. On their leaving us I bore away for several other canoes which were lanched from the different coves with which the coast was indented, but nothing could induce them to come near the ship. I was anxious to procure some refreshments, but more so to obtain a knowledge of a people with whom the world is so little acquainted. One of the canoes displayed a white flag: I caused a similar emblem of peace to be exhibited, and after waiting some time, perceiving that they were fearful of coming alongside, I caused two boats to be manned and armed, and proceeded toward them. I soon approached them, and directed the Otaheitan to inform them that we were friendly disposed, and were willing to purchase of them the articles they had to sell, which consisted of hogs, plantains, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, etc., and through the same medium informed them that I should proceed to the shore, and there remain as a hostage for their safety. Some of them went off to the ship, but the greater number followed me to the shore, where they were collected in groups, armed with their spears and war-clubs, to receive me, and collecting in considerable numbers from every quarter. I went close in with my boat, where I made an exchange of pieces of iron hoops and other articles for their ornaments and fruits. In a few minutes the spears and war-clubs were laid aside, and swarms of natives swam off to me loaded with the produce of the island: all seemed greatly to rejoice that we had so precious an article to offer them as pieces of old iron hoops, which were held in such high cstimation that good sized pigs were purchased for a few inches. Some, to express their joy, were seen dancing on the beach with the most extravagant gestures, while others expressed the pleasure they felt by shouting and clapping their hands. But notwithstanding this friendly intercourse, it was very evident that they had strong suspicions of us. They always approached the boat with the greatest awe and agitation, and in every instance, where articles were presented to them, they shrunk back with terror, and retreated to the shore with the utmost precipitation. One among them, however, ventured to raise himself by the side of the boat, and perceiving a pistol lying in the stern sheets, showed an evident desire to possess it. It was with some difficulty I could make him let go his hold of the boat; and to intimidate him I presented the pistol at him; but it produced no other effect than joy, as he immediately held out both his hands to receive it, from which I concluded that they were unacquainted with the use of fire-arms.

After leaving these friendly people I proceeded for the frigate, where I found the traffic with the canoes that had gone off, had been conducted with much harmony. Some of them I passed very close to on their return, and the natives on board them expressed their extreme, satisfaction by expressions of the most extravagant joy. One of them in the fullness of heart, said he was so glad he longed to get on shore to dance. On rejoining the ship, I was informed by the officers that the natives who had been on board, had expressed much surprise at the sight of the goats, sheep, dogs, and other animals, but what seemed most to astonish them, was one of the large Galapagos tortoises it seemed as though they could not sufficiently feast their eyes on it; and to view it more at their ease they stretched themselves at full length on the deck around it; and this appeared to be their general

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practice when they wished to view leisurely any object that excited their attention, a practice which seems to bespeak the natural indolence of this people.

The men of this island are remarkably handsome; of large stature and well proportioned: they possess every variety of countenance and feature, and a great difference is observable in the color of the skin, which for the most part is that of a copper color: but some are as fair as the generality of working people much exposed to the sun of a warm climate. The old men (but particularly the chiefs) are entirely black; but this is owing entirely to the practice of tattooing with which they are covered all over, and it requires a close inspection to perceive that the blackness of their skin is owing to this cause; and when the eye is once familiarized with men ornamented after this manner, we perceive a richness in the skin of an old man highly tattooed comparable to that which we perceive in a highly wrought piece of old mahogany: for, on a minute examination, may be discovered innumerable lines curved, straight, and irregular, drawn with the utmost correctness, taste and symmetry, and yet apparently without order or any determined plan. The young men, the fairness of whose skin is contrasted by the ornaments of tattooing, certainly have, at first sight, a more handsome appearance than those entirely covered with it; and in a short time we are induced to think that tattooing is as necessary an ornament for a native of those islands as clothing is for a European. The neatuess and beauty with which this species of ornament is finished, served greatly to surprize us, and we could not help believing that they had among them tattooers by profession, some of them no doubt, equal in celebrity to M'Alpin and other renowned tailors of America, for we afterward discovered that the most wealthy and high class was more fully and handsomely tattooed than those of an inferior station, which is a sufficient evidence that tattooing has its price.

The young girls, which we had an opportunity of seeing, were as I before observed, handsome and well formed; their skins were remarkably soft and smooth, and their complexions no darker than many brunettes in America celebrated for their beauty. Their modesty was more evident than that of the women of any place we have visited since leaving our own country. Nakedness they cannot consider offensive to modesty; they are accustomed to it from their infancy. I find no difficulty in believing, that an American lady, who exposes to view her face, her bosom, and her arms, is as modest and virtuous as the wife of a Turk, who is seen only by her husband; or that a female of Washington's Group, who is seen in a state of nature, may be as modest and virtuous as either. That they have a high sense of shame and pride, I had afterward many opportunities of observing."

At daylight next morning they bore up for Noaheevah or Madison's Island, where they put into a beautiful bay' and came to an anchor. This harbor was named by Captain Porter, Massachusetts Bay. Here he was soon joined by the Essex Junior, which vessel had parted company to cruise, when he believed himself sufficiently secure to commence a regular overhauling of the ships.

Cooper, in his Naval History, says, "the situation of the Essex was sufficiently remarkable, at this moment, to merit a brief notice. She had been the first American to carry the pennant of a man-of-war round the Cape of

Good Hope, and now she had been the first to bring it into this distant ocean. More than ten thousand miles from home, without colonies, stations, or even a really friendly port to repair to, short of stores, without a consort, and otherwise in possession of none of the required means of subsistence and efficiency, she had boldly steered into this distant region, where she had found all that she required, through her own activity and having swept the seas of her enemies, she had now retired to those little-frequented islands to refit, with the security of a ship at home. It is due to the officer, who so promptly adopted, and so successfully executed this plan, to add, that his enterprize, self-reliance and skill, indicated a man of bold and masculine conception, of great resources, and of a high degree of moral courage; qualities that are indispensable in forming a naval captain.”

When the Essex stood into the land a boat come off from the shore with three white men in her, one of whom to Captain Porter's great astonishment proved to be John M. Maury an American midshipman, who had left the United States on furlough in a merchant ship. He had been left here by the master of the vessel to gather sandal wood while the ship was gone to China. As it was supposed the war would prevent the return of the ship, Mr. Maury and his party were received on board the frigate. Wilson, one of them, was an Englishman by birth. He had been many years in these islands and with the exception of a cloth around his loins was completely naked. His body was all over tattooed and in every respect except color he bad become an Indian. He assisted Captain Porter as interpreter, and without his aid he would have succeeded badly on the island.

Captain Porter landed with a party of marines and sailors. "The drum appeared to give them much pleasure; and the regular movements of the marines occasioned much astonishment. They said they were spirits or beings of a class different from other men. I directed them to be put through their exercise; and the firing of the muskets occasioned but little terror, except among the women, who generally turned away their faces and covered their ears with their hands. The men and boys were all attention to the skipping of the balls in the water; but at every fire all habitually inclined their bodies, as if to avoid the shot, although behind the men who were firing. After remaining a short time with them, I distributed among them some knives, fish-hooks, etc., which they received with much apparent pleasure; but no one offered, like the natives of the other island, anything in return.

Observing the mountains surrounding the valleys to be covered with numerous groups of natives, I inquired the cause, and was informed that a warlike tribe residing beyond the mountains had been for several weeks at war with the natives of the valley, into which they had made several incursions, and had destroyed many houses and plantations, and had killed, by cutting around the bark, a great number of bread-fruit trees.

I inquired if it were possible to get a message to them; and was informed that notwithstanding they were at war and showed no quarter to each other, there were certain persons of both tribes, who were permitted to pass and repass freely and uninterrupted from one tribe to another: such for example as a man belonging to one tribe who had married a woman belonging to the other. I inquired if any such were present; and one being pointed out to

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me, I directed him to proceed to the Happahs and to tell them that I had come with a force sufficiently strong to drive them from the island and if they presumed to enter into the valley while I remained there, I should send a body of men to chastise them; to tell them to cease all hostilities so long as I remained among them; that if they had hogs or fruit to dispose of, they might come and trade freely with us, as I should not permit the natives of the valley to injure or molest them. To the natives of the valley-who listened attentively and with apparent pleasure to the message sent to the Happahs--I then addressed myself, and assured them that I had come with the most friendly disposition; that I wanted nothing from them but what I paid for that they must look on us as brethren: and that I should protect them against the Happahs should they again venture to descend from the mountains. I directed them to leave at home their spears, slings, and clubs-their only weapons of war-in order that we might know them from the Happahs; and told them that I should consider all as my enemies who should appear armed in my presence. All listened with much attention their spears and clubs were thrown on one side. My attention was soon drawn to an object, which at the moment had presented itself. A handsome young woman, of about eighteen years of age, her complexion fairer than common, her carriage majestic, and her dress better and somewhat different from the other females, approached. Her glossy black hair, and her skin were highly anointed with the cocoa-nut oil, and her whole person and appearance neat, sleek, and comely; on inquiry who this dignified personage might be, I was informed that her name was Piteenee, a granddaughter to the chief, or greatest man in the valley, whose name was Gattanewa. This lady, on whose countenance was not to be perceived any of those playful smiles which enliven the countenances of the others, I was informed was held in great estimation, on account of her rank and beauty, and I felt that it would be necessary, from motives of policy, to pay some attentions to a personage so exalted. She received my advances with a coldness and hauteur which would have suited a princess, and repelled everything like familiarity with a sternness that astonished me.

Gattanewa, the chief of the Tayehs, the tribe who inhabited this valley, I was informed at the time of my landing, was at a fortified village, which was pointed out to me, on the top of one of the highest mountains. The manner of fortifying those places, is to plant closely on end, the bodies of large trees, of forty feet in length, and securing them together by pieces of timber strongly lashed across, presenting on the brow of a hill, difficult of access, a breast-work of considerable extent, which would require European artillery to destroy. At the back of this a scaffolding is raised, on which is placed a platform for the warriors, who ascend by the means of ladders, and thence shower down on their assailants spears and stones.

When the ship was moored, the shore was lined with the natives of both sexes; but the females were most numerous, waving their white cloaks or cahoes for us to come on shore. The boats were got out, and proceeded to the shore, where on landing, they were taken complete possession of by the women, who insisted on going to the ship, and in a short time she was completely filled by them, of all ages and descriptions, from the age of sixty years to that of ten; some as remarkable for their beauty, as others for their

ugliness. The ship was a perfect Bedlam from the time of their arrival until their departure, which was not until morning, when they were put on shore, not only with whatever was given them, but with whatever they could lay their hands on.

The object of the greatest value at this as well as all the other islands of this group, is whales' teeth. No jewel, however valuable, is half so much esteemed in Europe or America, as is a whale's tooth here: I have seen them by fits laugh and cry for joy, at the possession of one of these darling treasures. Some idea may be formed of the value in which they are held by the natives, when it is known that a ship of three hundred tuns burden, may be loaded with sandal-wood at this island, and the only object of trade necessary to procure it, is ten whales' teeth of a large size; and for these the natives will cut it, bring it from the distant mountains, and take it on board the ship; and this cargo in China, would be worth near a million of dollars. I have seen this sandal-wood, that is so highly esteemed by the Chinese ;— indeed their infatuation for it, falls little short of that of the natives for whales' teeth-it does not appear capable of receiving a high polish, nor is its color agreeable; the odor arising from it is pleasant, and the principal uses to which the Chinese are said to apply it, is to burn it in their temples, and to extract from it an oil, which is said to be of great value.”

In a short time Gattanewa, the chief, came on board of the Essex. Most of the warriors they had seen were highly ornamented with plumes and were attired in all the gew-gaws of savage splendor. They generally carried a black and highly polished spear or a club richly carved and their bodies were elegantly tattooed. "What was my astonishment then," says Porter, "when Gattanewa presented himself; an infirm old man of seventy years of age, destitute of every covering or ornament except a clout about his loins, and a piece of palm leaf tied about his head: a long stick seemed to assist him in walking; his face and body were as black as a negro's, from the quantity of tattooing, which entirely covered them, and his skin was rough, and appeared to be peeling off in scales, from the quantity of kava (an intoxicating root) with which he had indulged himself. Such was the figure that Gattanewa presented; and as he had drank freely of the kava before he made his visit, he appeared to be perfectly stupid. After he had been a short time on deck, I endeavored to impress him with a high opinion of our force; and for this purpose assembled all my crew it scarcely seemed to excite his attention. I then caused a gun to be fired, which seemed to produce no other effect on him, than that of pain; he complained that it hurt his ears; I then invited him below, where nothing whatever excited his attentions, until I showed him some whales' teeth this roused the old man from his lethargy, and he would not be satisfied, until I had permitted him to handle, to measure and count them over and over, which seemed to afford him infinite pleasure. After he had done this repeatedly, I put them away; and shortly afterward asked him if he had seen anything in the ship that pleased him; if he did to name it and it should be his he told me he had seen nothing which had pleased him so much as one of the small whales' teeth; which on his describing, I took out and gave to him: this he carefully wrapped up in one of the turns of his clout; begging me not to inform any person that he had about him an article of so much value: I