But, besides this, there is a twinkling in the eye
which cannot indicate anything but cunning and ferocity. Their
figures are tall and bulky; but not comparable in elegance with
those of the working-classes in Tahiti.
Both their persons and houses are filthily dirty and offensive: the
idea of washing either their bodies or their clothes never seems to
enter their heads. I saw a chief, who was wearing a shirt black and
matted with filth, and when asked how it came to be so dirty, he
replied, with surprise, "Do not you see it is an old one?" Some of
the men have shirts; but the common dress is one or two large
blankets, generally black with dirt, which are thrown over their
shoulders in a very inconvenient and awkward fashion. A few of the
principal chiefs have decent suits of English clothes; but these
are only worn on great occasions.
DECEMBER 23, 1835.
At a place called Waimate, about fifteen miles from the Bay of
Islands, and midway between the eastern and western coasts, the
missionaries have purchased some land for agricultural purposes. I
had been introduced to the Reverend W. Williams, who, upon my
expressing a wish, invited me to pay him a visit there.
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