A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas
[The utensils of the inhabitants of the island of Otaheite]
The Utensils of the inhabitants of the island of Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands, being similar, we have here annexed a plate of some of them, to which we have occasionally referred; but, as we have not mentioned the sizes of them, we shall here recapitulate those drawn in the plate, and shall give a particular account of each. The number of the plate is XIII. of which,
No. 1. | Is a Sling, about four feet long, made of plaited twine, formed from the fibres of the bark of a tree; the part, which holds the stone, is woven very close, and looks like cloth, from which the string gradually tapers to a point. |
2. | The Paddle, made of wood neatly shaped, and worked very smooth, used to strike the instruments No. 3 and 4, wherewith they indent or mark their skins, which they call Tataowing. It is about eighteen inches long. |
3. and 4. | Are their Tataowing Instruments, the handles of which are wood; towards the end of which is a hollow made to lay the fore-finger of the hand in which holds it: the head is made of one or two flat pieces of bone, of various breadths, tapering to a point towards the handle, to which it is fastened very tight with fibres of the bark of a tree: the broad part, or bottom, is cut into many small sharp teeth. When they mark any person, they dip the instrument, a small one or large one, according to the figure intended, into a black liquid, or juice, expressed from some plant, and, placing it on the part intended to be page 76marked, give it a small blow with the paddle, which causes a great deal of pain. These instruments are about five inches in length. |
5. | The Cloth-beater, about fourteen inches long. |
6. | One of their Baskets; round the mouth is a kind of netting made of plaited twine, through which a string is put, which draws the plaiting together, and closes up the mouth. It is eleven inches high, and three feet in circumference. |
7. | An Ebupa, or Stool, used as a pillow; they generally put a piece of their cloth on it before they lay their head on it. There are many sizes of them; the very large ones they use also as stools to sit on. This, expressed in the figure, was twelve inches and a half long; but some are of the length of two feet. |
8. | Is one of their Flutes, made of Bamboo, and ornamented with the plaited twine, which also strengthens it; they are about one foot and a half long. |
9. | One of their Hatchets, the handle of this was fourteen inches and a half long; the head about four inches and a half in length, and the edge about two inches broad. |
10. | Is a figure of the Stone Paste-beater: this was seven inches and a quarter high. |
11. | A Fly-flap, the handle made of a hard brown wood, is thirteen inches long. |
12. | The Feather-Ornament for the Head, six inches long. |
13. 14. | Mother-of-pearl Ornaments for the Ears, about half an inch long. |
15. | The Decoy used in fishing, made of shells; the length, from the head to the extremity of the tail, seven inches and a half. |
16. | A Bone Plummet for their fishing lines, carved, two inches and a quarter long. |
17. | Another Plummet, made of Spar, about one inch long.page 77 |
18. | A Mother-of-pearl Fish-hook, two inches long. |
19. | A Fish-hook made of wood, and pointed with a piece of shell, three inches and three quarters long. |
20. | A Fish-hook made of a large Pinna-marina shell, three inches and three quarters long. |
21. | Another Fish-hook, made of a large Pinna-marina shell, three inches and three quarters long. |
22. | Another ditto, made of Mother-of-pearl, two inches long. |
23. | Another ditto, three quarters of an inch in length. |
24. | Another ditto, made of Pinna-marina shell, one inch and half long. |
25. | Another ditto, made of two pieces of Mother-of-pearl, one for the shank, the other for the point. The line is fastened both at the top and bottom. The points of these hooks are sometimes barbed like ours; at the bottom they tie some hair. |
26. | Three Pearls tied together by plaited hair, worn as an ornament for the ears: each pearl was about the size of a small pea. |
27. | Sting of a Sting-Ray, used to point their lances and arrows, four inches and a half long. |