James Cook - A Journal of the proceedings of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour on a voyage round the world, by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander, commencing the 25th of May 1768 - 23 Oct. 1770 - Page 115

[page 115]

GEORGES ISLAND

do the Office of Physicians & their prescriptions consists in performing some religious ceremony before the sick person, they likewise Crown the Ease de hi or King, in the performing of which we are told on each form & Ceremony is used after which every one is at liberty to heat & play, as many Tricks with the new King so he pleaseth during the remainder of the day -
There is a ceremony which they perform at or after the Funerals of the Dead which I had forgot to mention at the time we hapned to see it some time before we left the Island, an old woman a relation of Toobouratomita's hapned to die & was interr'd in the Usual manner, for several successive evenings after one of her relations dressed himself in a very odd dress which I cannot tell how to describe or to convey a better idea of it than to suppose a man dress'd with plumes of feather something in the same manner as those worn by Coaches, Hearses, Horses &tc. at the Funerals in London, it was very neatly made up of black or brown & white cloth, black & white feathers & Pearl Oyster Shells it cover'd the head face & body as low as the Calf of the Legs or lower & not only look'd grand but awful likewise, The man thus equip'd & attended by 2 or 3 more men & Women with their faces & bodys besmear'd with soot. & a Club in their hands would about sun set take a Compass of near a mile running here & there & where ever they came the People would fly from them as tho' they had been so many Hobgoblins not one daring to come in their way. I know not the reason for Performing this ceremony which they call Heiva a name they give to most of their divertisements-
They compute time by the Moon which they call Malama reck'ning 30 days to each moon 2 of which they say the moon is Mattee that is dead & this is at the time of new moon when she cannot be seen, the day they divide into smaller portions of less than 2 Hours. Their computations is by units, tens & [..] up to ten Score or 200 &tc. in counting they generally take hold on their fingers one by one Shifting from one hand to the other until they come to the number they want to express, but if it be a high number instead of their fingers they use pieces of Leaves &tc.
In conversation one with another they frequently join signs to their words in which they are so expressive that a stranger will very soon comprehend their meaning by their actions-
Having now done with the People I must once more return to the Island before I quit it altogether, which notwithstanding nature hath been so very bountiful to it yet it doth not produce any one thing of intrinsick [sic] value or that can