The Columbia Democrat. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1837-1850, 1846-03-28

|
I, roof OF the mouth. They, in constar
intercourse with the crews of lhe yesss
DUNG two years, did ne. make muc
g progress in acquiring English. On
rather intelligent fellow who went b
= the English Cognomen Of Psassou
f, was most easily understood by word
, sign, and expression, bu, they are Gel
'sInly as much behind the south sea |,
auders in msntal as in physical qusliGc,
ions. The Pess.soup was Tho musici,
lot The party having an instrument com
4 posed OF piece oil wood about fee
o"g; piece Of sinow string goins from
l'ne end 10 The other, having near ore
end apiece of nicely sc,sped sinew a.
ooui quarter el su iuch broad. Th;,
string being tighIeaed 10 the prope,
tension, he applied his lips 10 the piscs
ni slhew and apparently with considers.
ole exerlons produced few notes sim.
liar 10 the low notes 10 theFreoch horn
Then listening 10 the music on board
he seemed much dsligted, and one Of lh.
sailors commencing to dance a horepipe
he Immediately joined and kept mos
excellent time,
Their clothing consists simply of 81
'kIn mantle composed Of The skins q,
various wild animals, it is tad round the
neck and hangs loosely over lhs shoul
ders. They have invariably piacs od
skin abou, foot square suspended bv al
''rlns !ied round the loins. They cen
orally had sort Of skulcsp of skin oni
their beads which have only li,,leI
wooly hair. At times when prsp,rsdI
lor journey they have a serl OF mecca.
ineir weapons are bows and arrows
nd spears. The bow is made of wood
BAN boo feslhsrsd at the inner end. A,
the outer end q piece Of sharpened bone
fits iulo The bamboo, one end OF the
bone being clear, the other pOisened
with q black 'pltchy looking substance.
Their lquiver generally conlapsd sbou
10 or ftly srrows. Their spear 10 ab1u
I feet long, the e.handls made Of woed,
he hsad invariably Of steel, Of native
workmanship. Thsy possess cousidsr-
.ble dsxterIty 10 the use Of these wsa,
oons. When asked where they 60
hem they invariably replisd q IOng wa,
If whore there wero plenty OF peop!e,
rney carry their supply Of water in o.,
rich eggs, having small hols iu on,
,nd. They had also supply OF red
,chre looking ouSsisDce, with which
.ud grease they occasionally Smsared
heir bodies. They are extremely filthy
N thsir persons never washing lheir
bodies Thsy seem 10 trust on the
coast entirely tc supplies derived from
1, young seals, birds and shell a,h be.
US The only food they seemed TO use.
they are no doubt induced 10 live on
he coast from the chance Of meeting
vessels. However often they were
,Ioihed from tho vessels, they always
appeared the following day in The ksros,
and must have hid the clothes away per.
naps for the purposs Of carrying wi III
hem, they rejeinea their lube: Three
If four OF them went away 10 the interi-
'r travelling TO the south eastward and
e'urned after an absences of months
they had then with them few roots
he remains Of what they had appeared
o have subsIsted on tnolr journey, some
hing similar IN appearances TO The ma
lloca root.
Thc HOtIeniols do not appear TO have
ny religion, al least no observance OF
my was noticed among them. Their
IDEAS upon that suhjsc could net be as
,ertained from a want of The requisite
lnowe!dge oil their language.
They are extremely quiet andres2ect
uI in their demeanor, never sltem pting
0 touch or take anything not given TO
hem. No instance of dishonesty wssl
Known on The part Of sny Of them, and
when hungry and thirsty they have
lever made !he least attempt 10 sssis
themselves; unlil asked, although the
able was covered with food before them.
ia showing Peas soup over the srea
Ihd"deroo''' he seemed highly delight
ID with every ,hlOg particularly
he Plclures' looking glasses, and varl
rus naive weapons 10 Captain Rcoke's
'sbIn' On being taken into ihe engineI
oom, however, the sight seemed com
,letely TO asionsh INN. he gave lon 3
PECULIAR whistle, gazing on the machine
y sometime without speaking.