26th. Two large canoes came from a distance; the people in them were numerous and appeared rich; the canoes were well carved and ornamented, and they had with them many patoo-patoos of stone and whale-bone which they value very much. They had also ribs of whales, of which we had often seen imitations in wood carved and ornamented with tufts of dog's hair. The people themselves were browner than those to the southward, as indeed they have been ever since we came to Opoorage, as this part is called, and they had a much larger quantity of amoca or black stains upon their bodies and faces. They had almost universally a broad spiral on each buttock, and many had their thighs almost entirely black, small lines only being left untouched, so that they looked like striped breeches. In this particular, I mean the use of amoca, almost every tribe seems to have a different custom; we have on some days seen canoes where every man was almost covered with it, and at the same time others where scarcely a man had a spot, except on his lips, which seems to be always essential.

These people would not part with any of their arms, etc., for any price we could offer. At last, however, one produced an axe of talc and offered it for cloth; it was given, and the canoe immediately put off with it; a musket ball was fired over their heads, on which they immediately came back and returned the cloth, but soon after put off and went ashore.