along with
us, may be fairly traced to less culpable motives. They seemed to arise
solely from an intense curiosity or desire to possess something which
they had not been accustomed to before, and belonging to a sort of
people so different from themselves. And, perhaps, if it were possible,
that a set of beings, seemingly as superior in our judgment, as we are
in theirs, should appear amongst us, it might be doubted, whether our
natural regard to justice would be able to restrain many from falling
into the same error. That I have assigned the true motive for their
propensity to this practice, appears from their stealing every thing
indiscriminately at first sight, before they could have the least
conception of converting their prize to any one useful purpose. But I
believe with us, no person would forfeit his reputation, or expose
himself to punishment, without knowing, before-hand, how to employ the
stolen goods. Upon the whole, the pilfering disposition of these
islanders, though certainly disagreeable and troublesome to strangers,
was the means of affording us some information as to the quickness of
their intellects. For their small thefts were committed with much
dexterity; and those of greater consequence with a plan or scheme suited
to the importance of the objects. An extraordinary instance of the last
sort, their attempts to carry away one of the Discovery's anchors at
mid-day, has been already related.

Their hair is, in general, straight, thick, and strong, though a few
have it bushy and frizzled. The natural colour, I believe, almost
without exception, is black; but the greatest part of the men, and some
of the women, have it stained of a brown or purple colour, and a few of
an orange cast. The first colour is produced by applying a sort of
plaster of burnt coral, mixed with water; the second, by the raspings of
a reddish wood, which is made up with water into a poultice, and laid
over the hair; and the third is, I believe, the effect of _turmeric_
root.

When I first visited these islands, I thought it had been an universal
custom for both men and women to wear the hair short; but, during our
present longer stay, we saw a great many exceptions. Indeed, they are so
whimsical in their fashions of wearing it, that it is hard to tell which
is most in vogue. Some have it cut off from one side of the head, while
that on the other remains long; some have only a portion of it cut
short, or perhaps shaved; others