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: No. 108

                                          Georges Island Manners

platted with thicker than common thread of this I can safely Affirm that I have seen peices near a mile length worked upon one end with a Knott, these are made & worn only by the women 5 or 6 such peices of which they will sometimes wind round their Heads, the effect of which if done with taste is very becoming. They have Earings by way of Ornament, but wear them only at one Ear, these are made of Shells, Stone & Berries, red [pease?] & some small pearls which they wear 3 Tied together, but our Beads Buttons etc supply'd their places --
Manners & Customs ----
After their meals in the Heat of the day they often Sleep middle Aged people [espec?] the better sort of whom seem to spend most of their time in eating & Sleeping, diversions they have but few, shooting with the Bow & Wrestling are the Chief the first of which is confin'd almost wholy to the Chiefs, they shoot for distance only kneeling upon a [indecipherable] & dropping the Bow the instant of the Arrows parting from it   I have seen one of them shoot an Arrow 274 Yards yet he looked upon it as [indecipherable] Great Shott.
   Musick is little known to them & yet they are very fond of it  they have only 2 Instruments the flute & the Drum the former is made of hollow Bamboo about 15 Inches long in which are 3 Holes into one of them they blow with one Nostril stoping the other with the thumb of the left hand, the other 2 Holes thy stop & unstop with their fingers & by this means produce 4 Notes of which they have made one Tune w.ch serves them upon all Occasions to which they sing a Number of songs generally consisting of 2 Lines & generally in Rhime & at any time of the day when they are [Lazy?] they amuse themselves by singing these Couplets, but especially after dark when their candles are lighted which are made of the Kernels of a Nutt [indecipherable] much in Oil these are stuck upon a Skewer of Wood one upon another & are a very Tolerable light which they often keep burning as hour after dark & if they have strangers in the House much longer. Their drums are made of a hollow [black?] wood cover'd with Sharks Skin & instead of Drum sticks they use their Hands, of these they make out 5 or 6 Tunes, & accompany the flutes, the drums are Chieflyused at their Heiva's which are a set of Musicians 2 or 3 Drums for instance, as many flutes & singers which go about from House to House & play & are always received & rewarded by the Master of the family who gives them a peice of Cloth or what ever he can spare, for which they will stay 3 or 4 Hours during wch time his house will be crowded full for the people are Extravagantly fond of this diversion.           The Young Girls when ever they can collect 8 or 10 Together dance a very indecent Dance, which they call Timorodee singing most indecent songs & using most indecent actions in the practice of which they are brought up from their earliest childhood in doing this they keep time to a great nicety   this exercise is however generally left off as soon as they arrive at Years of Maturity for as soon as they have form'd  a connection with man they are expected to leave off dancing ----
Timordees are amusement or custom more I must mention tho' I must confess I do not expect to be believed as it is founded upon a Custom so inhuman & contrary to the first Principals of human nature, it is this that more than one half of the better sort of the inhabitants have enter'd into a resolution of injoying free liberty in Love without being Troubled or disturbed by its consequences, these mix & Cohabit together with the utmost freedom & [they?]