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the Effects of their artificial courage, which commonly took up a day, they were sensible of our generosity in not taking the advantage of Our superiority and became at once our good freinds and upon all occasions placd the most unbounded confidence in us. They are not like the Islanders addicted to stealing, but would sometimes before peace was concluded, if they could be offering any thing they had to sale entice us to trust something of ours into their hands, refuse to return it with all the coolness in the world, seeming to look upon it as the plunder of an enemy.
Both sexes were much more modest in their carriage and decent in their Conversation than the Islanders, which such of our people who had a mind to form any connexions with the Women soon found, but they were not impregnable: if the consent of their relations was askd and the Question accompanied with a proper present it was seldom refusd, but then the strictest decency must be kept up towards the young lady or she might baulk the lover after all. Upon one of our gentlemen making his adresses to a family of the better sort the following answer was made him by the mistress of the family: ’Any of these young ladies will think themselves honourd by your adresses but you must first make me a proper present and must come and sleep with us ashore, for daylight
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Voyaging Accounts |  |
© Derived from State Library of NSW Transcription of Banks's Journal page (vol. 2) 177, February 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-banks_remarks-207.html