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New Zealand (continued)
all most as soft as flax but much stronger of this they make peices of cloth about 5 feet long and 4 broad, these are wove some peices close and others very open the former are as stout as the strongest sail cloth and not unlike it ^and yet it is all work'd or made by hand with no other Instrument than a needle or Bodkin. to one end of every peice is generaly work'd a very neat border of different colours of four or Six inches broad and they very often trim them with peices of dog skin or birds feathers these peices of cloth they wear as they do the others tying one end round their necks by means of ^with a peice of string to the one end of which is fix'd a needle or bodkin made of bone by means of which they can easily fasten or put the String through any part of the cloth; they sometimes wear peices of this kind of Cloth round their middles as well as over their Shoulders but this is not common especialy with the men who hardly ever wear any thing about their middles observing no sort of decency in that respect neither is it att all uncommon for them to go quite naked with^out any ^one thing about them besides a belt round their waste to which is generaly fasten'd a small string which they tye round the Prepuce. in this manner I have seen hundreds of them come off to and on board the Ship but they generaly had their proper cloathing in the boat along with them to put on if it rain'd &Ca The women on the other hand are very careful always wear something round their Middle generaly a short thrum'd Matt which reaches as low as their knees, sometimes indeed I have seen them with only a bunch of grass or Plants before ty'd on with a peice of fine plating made ^of sweet sented grass, they likewise wear a peice of cloth over their shoulders as the Men do this is generaly of the thrum'd kind, I hardly ever saw
© Transcribed from National Library of Australia Manuscript 1 page 210, 2004
Published by South Seas
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/cook_remarks-056
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