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. 128

Ulietea, Otaha & Bolabola

except what borders upon the Sea Coast, & high withall, yet the Hills look green & pleasant & are in many places clothed with woods.
[Margin note] Produce
The produce of these Islands & manner & Customs of the Natives are much the same as at King Georges Island only as the Breadfruit Tree is here in not such plenty the natives to supply at deficiency, plant & cultivate a greater Quantity of Plantains & yams of several sorts & these they have in the greatest perfection.
The inhabitants are rather of a fairer colour than the Generality of the Natives of Georges Island but more especially the Women who are much fairer & handsomer & the Men are not so much Addicted to thieving & are more Open & free in their behaviour. [Margin note] Religion and Customs
The only difference we could see in their Religion was in the Houses of their Gods which were very different to those we saw on Georges Island those here were made about the Size and shape of a Coffin open at one End. they are laid upon a Number of small Wooden Arches which are fram'd & fastned together like the Roof of a House and then are generally supported about 3 or 4 feet above the ground by Posts over the box is a small roof or shade made of Palm thatch in this Box are deposited the Obliations of the Gods such as Peices of Cloth Human bones [?& I], & these places they hold sacred, & some are placed in their Maries [Maraes], & some not. They have a Custom of preserving the Sculls & under Jaw bones of the Dead, but wether of their Friends or Enemys I cannot pretend to say, several of the Sculls we observed were broke & its very probable that the owners of them had been Kill'd in battle as some of their Weapons are well Calculated for breaking of Heads & from what we could learn it is a Custom with them to cut out the Lower jaw of their Enemies, but I believe not before they are kill'd & these they keep as Trophys & are sometimes hung up in their Houses. 
[Margin note] Government
The Chief or King of Bolabola hath of late Years Usurped the Sovereignty of the other two & the Bolabola men at this time pofsefs [possess] great part of the Lands on Ulieatea & Otaha that they have taken from the Natives. The Lands adjoining to the Harbour of Oraetanui belong'd to Tupia the Person we have onboard who is a native of Ulietea. These people are very ingenious in building their Proes or Canoes & seem to take as much Care of them having large Shades or Houses to put them [deletion] in built for the Purppose & in these houses they likewise build & repair them & in this they shew a great deal of ingenuity. far more than one could expect they are built full Bellied & after the very same Model as those Six we saw on Georges Island which I have already described & some of them are full as large as it is more than probable that these 6 Proes were built at some of these Islands. In these Proes or Pahies as they call them from all the accounts we