Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1889-06-08

tute and miserable condition ws
not our choice, we could do no les
than be thankful that it was n
worse; and, making the best Of i
we suffered ourselves to be ushere
into the presence of the dignitarie
Of the island, in the way the,
thought most proper. We were con
Quoted to platform, on rise o
land at little distance from tn
harbor, on which were seated thos
who had power to dispose of us a
they pleased. These, as we after
wards learned, were used by th'
chiefs as places of carousal, and as I
sort of harem for their women
They were constructed i'm a rude
manner, of bamboo sticks, and GOV.
cred with leaves. That something
like a correct conception of this scene
may be formed by the reader, itmay
be well to give, in this place, briei
account of the appearance, manner,
and customs of the natives Of this
island. This was The island known
to navigators as BanbeltlIouap, the
largest of the group of the Pelew
islands. 1t lies not far from the
eighth degree Of north latitude, is
about one hundred and twenty miles
in length, and contains probably
not far from two thousand lnhabi-
tants. The men were entirely naked.
They always go armed, in the way
before described, and carry with
them a small basket, containing
generally the whole amount of their
movable property. The women
wear no other clothing than a sort
of apron, Fastened to the waist by a
curiOusly wrought girdle) extending
nearly to the knees, and left open at
the sides. The HAIR of both males
and females is worn long; it is coarse
and stiff, and of color resembling
that of the natives of North Amer
ica. They make free use of the oil
extracted from the cocoanut; with
this they annoint their bodies, con-
sidering it the extreme of gentility |
to have the skin entirely saturated
with it. Their arms, and sometimes
the lower parts of the body and
legs are ingenlously tattooed.
Their complexion is light copper.
Their eyes have very singular ap-
pearance, being of reddish color.
Their noses were somewhat fiat, but
not so flat as those of the African;
lor are their lips so thick. They are
fond of trinkets. 1t
would cause a fashionable lady of
america to smile. to observe the
)ains taken by those simple daugh-
ers of nature to set of their persons.
In their ears they wear sort of or
lament made of II peculiar kind of
,rass, which they work into a tas-
ell; this Is painted and richly per-
umed. In their hoses they wear n
tenn of the kabooa leaf, which an
wers the double purpose of an orna-
nent and smelling bottle; and :
heir arms, in addition to being tat /
ooed, are adorned with n profusion
( shells. Our fair readers NAV
ldge how much we were amused,
II finding that the copper-colored
of the island cut up our old {
hoes into substitutes for jewelry, !
nd seemed highly delighted with
earring the shreds suspended from =
heir ears. I
Our further acquaintance with
lis extraordinary people con- @
rmed us in the opinion that the
'iemony of marriage is unpracticed :;
nj unknown among them. The \
liefs appropriate TO themselves rs $
lany females rs they please, and in o
ie selection they exercise this des-
Dtism over the affections without
gard to any other laws than those
caprice. From the rudely con- k
ructed wharf near the spot where y
e left our boat, we We're conducted ~
TO the presence of Il number of n
lcfS, who were seated upon the plat n
rm above mentioned. The natives "
gerly pressed forward to obtain ;,
sight otus. That curiosity peculiar c,
the better portion of our race was. n
this occasion, manifested hv the =,
males of the island. They clus- NJ
red around us and placing their -
'nds on our flesh, seemed greatly NJ
wonder that 1t should differ 50 =,
nch from their own. The fashion
wearing "A skin So white as ours,
'mcd to them, no doubt Ia hc an a' s'
enrc against the taste and refine m
,nt of their portion Of the world. &,
80 at large without being td. pr
'el, WAS 10 carry with us the pal. e
hlc proofs of our vulgarlty; and to
sorrow, we were afterwards COM so
Ilcd Ia conform 10 the custom az