le hats on their heads
made of straw or reeds, and had no other covering than the quilts or
mantles formerly mentioned.[6] The women were by no means extremely
modest, for they invited the Dutchmen into their houses by signs,
and when they sat by them would throw off their mantles, as inviting
familiarity. It is very singular of these islanders, that the Dutch
saw no appearance whatever of arms among them; but, when attacked,
they fled for refuge to their idols, numbers of which were erected
all along the coast. These idols were all of stone, representing
the figures of men with great ears, their heads covered by the
representations of crowns; and all so nicely proportioned, and
so highly finished, that the Dutch were much amazed. Many of the
inhabitants seemed to be more frequent and more zealous worshippers
of these images than the rest, which induced the Dutch to believe that
these were priests; and that the more especially, as their heads were
close shaven, on which they wore caps of black and white feathers,[7]
and they had large white balls hanging at their ears.

[Footnote 5: _Tatooed_ in all probability, a practice so common
through the inhabitants of Polynesia, which will be minutely described
in an after division of this collection. It may suffice to say at
present, that this decoration is formed by pricking the skin with
sharp instruments till it just bleeds, and afterwards rubbing
some coloured powders into the punctures, which leave indelible
stains.--E.]

[Footnote 6: It is left ambiguous whether these straw hats and mantles
were worn by both sexes, or confined exclusively to the women.--E.]

[Footnote 7: A dissertation is here omitted on a fancied migration
of storks annually from Europe to this island and others in the
South-sea, as high as lat. 40 deg. and 50 deg. S. merely because the Dutch
thought the feathers in these caps resembled those of storks.--E.]

No appearance of government or subordination was observed among these
islanders, and consequently no prince or chief having dominion over
the rest. The old people wore bonnets made of feathers resembling
the down of ostriches, and had sticks in their hands. In some of the
houses, the father of the family was observed to have rule over all
its inhabitants, and was obeyed with the greatest readiness. In the
opinion of the Dutch author of this voyage, this island might be
settled to great advantage, as the air is very wholesome and the soil
rich;