Cook's Descriptions of Places, King Georges Island, page 26

Page 26

Cook's Descriptions of Places

King Georges Island

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King Georges Island (continued)

Sun by day but serves them to sleep in in the night and this way of traveling is extreamly commodious about such Islands as are inclosed by a reef as this is for as these canoes draw but little water they can always keep within the reefs and by that means are never in danger The[y] have some few other Canoes, Pahee's as they call them which differ from those above discribed, but of these I saw but six upon the whole Island and was told that they were not built here. the two largest was each 76 feet long and when they had been in use had been fasten'd together, these are built sharp and narrow at both ends and broad in the middle, the bottom is likewise sharp inclining to a wedge, yet bildges out very much and rounds in again very quick just below the gunwale. They are built of several peices of thick Plank and put together as the others are only these have timbers in the inside which the others have not. they have high curved sterns the head also curves a little and both are ornmented with the image of a Man carved in wood very little inferior work of the like kind done by common ship carvers in England - When one considers the tools these ~~have~~ ^people have to work with one cannot help but admire their workmanship, these are Adzes and small hatchets made of a hard stone, Chisels or gouges made of human bones generaly the bone of the fore arm, but spike nails have pretty well supplied the place of these, with these ordinary tools that a European workman would expect to break the first stroke I have seen them work surprisingly fast; to plane or polish their work they rub upon it with a smooth stone Coral beat small and mixt with water, this is sometimes done by scraping it with shells with which alone they perform most of their small woodwork —

Their Proes or Canoes large and small are rowed and steer'd with paddles and notwithstanding the large ones appear to be very unwieldy they manage them very dextrusly and I beleive perform long and distant Voyages in them otherwise they could not have the knowlidge of the Islands

Voyaging Accounts

© Transcribed from National Library of Australia Manuscript 1 page 87, 2004
Published by South Seas
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook_remarks-026