board or plank projected horizontally, in a line parallel with the surface of the water. This front piece, usually five or six feet long, and twelve or eighteen inches wide, was called the ihu vaa, nose of the canoe, and, without any joining, comprised the stem, bows, and bowsprit of the vessel.

The sides of the canoe were composed of two lines of short plank, an inch and a half or two inches thick. The lowest line was convex on the outside, and nine or twelve inches broad; the upper one straight. The stern was considerably elevated, the keel was inclined upward, and the lower part of the stern was pointed, while the upper part was flat, and nine or ten feet above the level of the sides. The whole was fastened together with cinet, not continued along the seams, but by two or, at most, three holes made in each board, within an inch of each other, and corresponding holes made in the opposite piece, and the lacing passed through from one to the other. A space of nine inches or a foot was left, and then a similar set of holes made,

The joints or seams were not grooved together, but the edge of one simply laid on that of the other, and fitted with remarkable exactness by the adze of the workman, guided only by his eye: they never used line or rule. The edges of their planks were usually covered with a kind of pitch or gum from the bread-fruit tree, and a thin layer of cocoanut-husk spread between them. The husk of the cocoanut, swelling when in contact with water, fills any apertures that may exist, and, considering the manner in which they are put together, the canoes are often remarkably dry. The two canoes were

fastened together by strong curved pieces of wood placed horizontally across the upper edges of the canoes, to which they were fixed by strong lashings of thick coiar cordage.

The space between the two bowsprits, or broad planks projecting from the front of our canoe, was covered with boards, and furnished a platform of considerable extent; over this a kind of temporary awning of plaited cocoanut-leaves was spread, and under it the passengers sat during the voyage. The upper part of each of the canoes was not above twelve or fifteen inches wide; little projections were formed on the inner part of the ́sides, on which small moveable thwarts or seats were fixed, whereon the men sat who wrought with the paddle, while the luggage was placed in the bottom, piled up against the stern, or laid on the elevated stage between the two canoes. The heat of the sun was extreme, and the awning afforded a grateful shade.

The rowers appeared to labour hard. Their paddles, being made of the tough wood of the hibiscus, were not heavy; yet, having no pins in the sides of the canoe, against which the handles of the paddles could bear, but leaning the whole body over the canoe, first on one side and then on the other, and working the paddle with one hand near the blade, and the other at the upper end of the handle, and shovelling, as it were, the water, appeared a great waste of strength. They often, however, paddle for a time with remarkable swiftness, keeping time with the greatest regularity. The steersman stands or sits in the stern, with a large paddle; the rowers sit in each canoe two or three feet apart; the leader sits next; the steersman gives the signal to start by striking his paddle violently against the side of the canoe; every paddle is then put in and taken out of the water with every stroke at the same moment; and after they have thus continued on one side for five or six minutes, the leader strikes his paddle, and the rowers instantly and simultaneously turn to the other side, and thus alternately working on each side of the canoe, they advance at a considerable rate. There is generally a good deal of striking the paddle when a chief leaves or approaches the shore, and the effect resembles that of the smacking of the whip, or sounding of the horn, at the starting or arrival of a coach.

They have also a remarkably neat double canoe,

SINGLE, OR ISLAND CANOE.

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called maihi, or twins, each of which is made out of a single tree, and are both exactly alike. The stem and stern are usually sharp; although, occasionally, there is a small board projecting from each stem. These are light, safe, and swift, easily managed, and seldom used but by the chiefs. The late King Pomare was fond of this kind of conveyance.

The single canoes are built in the same manner and with the same materials as the double ones. Their usual name is tipaihoe, and they are more various in their kind than the others. The small buhoe, the literal name of which is single shell, is generally a trunk of a tree, seldom more than twenty feet in length, rounded on the outside, and hollow within; sometimes sharp at both ends, though generally only at the stem. It is used by fishermen among the reefs, and also along the shore, and in shallow water, seldom carrying more than two persons. The single maihi is only a neater kind of buhoe.

CHAPTER VII.

Description of the 'vaa motu, or island canoe-Methods of navigating native vessels-Danger from sharks-Affecting wreck-Accident in a single canoe -Tahitian architecture-Materials employed in building-Description of the various kinds of native houses-Dress of the Tahitians -Manufacture of native cloth-Variety of kinds -Durability and appearance-Methods of dying-Matting of Society and Paumotu islanders-Native pillow, seat, dishes, and other articles of household furniture.

THE vaa motu, island canoe, is generally a large, strong, single vessel, built for sailing, and principally used in distant voyages. In addition to the ordinary edge, or gunwale, of the canoe, planks twelve or fifteen inches wide are fastened along their sides, after the manner of washboards in a European boat. The same are also added to double canoes, when employed on long voyages. A single vaa is never used without an outrigger, varying in size with the vessel; it is usually formed with a light spar of the hibiscus or of the erythrina, which was highly prized as an ama, or outrigger, on account of its being both light and strong. This is always placed on the left side, and fastened to the canoe by

two horizontal poles, from five to eight feet long; the front one is straight and firm, the other curved and elastic; it is so fixed that the canoe, when empty, does not float upright, being rather inclined to the left; but when sunk into the water, on being laden, it is generally erect, while the outrigger, which is firmly and ingeniously fastened to the sides by repeated bands of cinet, floats on the surface. In addition to this, the island canoes have a strong plank, twelve or fourteen feet long, fastened horizontally across the centre, in an inclined position, one end attached to the outrigger, and the other extending five or six feet over the opposite side, and perhaps elevated four or five feet above the sea. A small railing of rods is fastened along the sides of this plank, and it is designed to assist the navigators in balancing the keel, as a native takes his station on the one side or the other, to counteract the inclination which the wind or sea might give to the vessel. Sometimes they approach the shore with a native standing or sitting on the extremity of the plank, and presenting a singular appearance, which it is impossible to behold without expecting every undulation of the sea to detach him from his apparently insecure situation, and precipitate him into the water.

MASTS, SAILS, PADDLES, ETC.

133

This kind of canoe is principally employed in the voyages which the natives make to Tetuaroa, a cluster of islands, five in number, to the north of Tahiti.

In navigating their double canoes, the natives frequently use two sails; but in their single vessels only one. The masts are moveable, and are only raised when the sails are used. They are slightly fixed upon a step placed across the canoe, and fastened by strong ropes, or braces, extending to both sides, and to the stem and stern. The sails were made with the leaves of the pandanus, split into thin strips, neatly woven into a kind of matting. The shape of the sails of the islandcanoes is singular; the side attached to the mast is straight, the outer part resembling the section of an oval, cut in the longest direction. The other sails are commonly used in the same manner as sprit or lugger sails are used in European boats. The ropes from the corners of the sails are not usually fastened, but held in the hands of the natives. The rigging is neither varied nor complex: the cordage is made with the twisted bark of the hibiscus, or the fibres of the cocoanut-husk, of which a very good coiar rope is manufactured.

The paddles of the Tahitians are plain, having a smooth round handle, and an oblong-shaped blade. Their canoes, having no rudder, are steered by a man in the stern, with a paddle generally longer than the rest. In long voyages they have two or three steering paddles, including a very large one, which they employ in stormy weather, to prevent the vessel from drifting to leeward. Temariotuu, the god of mariners and pilots, was stated to have made his rudder, or steering-paddle, from the sacred aito of Ruaroroirai. The tataa, or scoop, with which they bale out the leakage, is generally a neat and convenient article, cut out of a solid piece of wood. Their canoes were formerly ornamented with streamers of various-coloured cloths; and tufts of fringe, and tassels of feathers, were attached to the masts and sails, though they are now seldom used. A small kind of house or awning was erected in the centre, or attached to the stern, to screen the passengers from the sun by day, and the damp by night. The latter is still used, though the former is but seldom seen. They do not appear ever to have ornamented the body or hull of their vessels with carving or painting: but, notwithstanding this seeming deficiency, they had by no means an unfinished appearance.