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PREFACE.
formerly received from Mr. Mariner. When they spoke the Tonga language together, I noticed the similarity of their pronunciation and accent: when Higgins sang and exhibited some Tonga dances in presence of several of my friends, whilst Mr. Mariner also sang and beat time according to the native method[1], we were struck with the accuracy of the description of these amusements in the "voyages of Captain Cook." But to be brief, however satisfied I have hitherto been with Mr. Mariner's details, I issue this second
- ↑ To give greater effect to the scene, Mr. Mariner was dressed as represented in the frontispiece, and Higgins's only apparel was a sort of circular apron, made of loose strips of matting very thickly set, and at the top plaited so as to form a band round the lower waist, (the pelvis) from which the strips hung down nearly to the knees: this was to represent the apron of the leaves of the chi tree, used by the natives on such occasions. He had also a wreath of artificial flowers round the head, and another round the neck. He is beautifully tattowed from the hips nearly to the knees, agreeably to the custom of the Tonga people. Upon them it appears of a black colour, but upon a white man it causes the skin to resemble soft blue satin. The neatness, and I might almost say, the mathematical precision with which the pattern is executed, far surpasses the expectation of all who see it for the first time.
