Joseph Banks - Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 - No. 0403
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[Page 403]
Manners & Customs of S. Sea Islands
Thus much of their common dresses their dancing dresses I have describd in the Island of Ulhietea & that of the Heiva I shall when I come to their mourning ceremonies They have also several more suited to particular ceremonies which I had not an opportunity of seeing tho I was very desirous as the singular taste of those promise much novelty at least if not something worth imitation in whatever they take pains with
I had almost forgot the Oil with which the[y] anoint their heads monoe as it is calld in their language a custom more disagreable to Europeans than any other among them. This is made of Cocoa nut oil in which some sweet woods or flowers are infusd the oil is most commonly very rancid & consequently the wearers of it smell most disagreably at first we found it so but very little use reconcild me at least very compleatly to it These people are free from all smells of mortality & surely rancid as their oil is it must be preferrd to the odoriferous perfume of toes & armpits so frequent in Europe.
The houses or rather dwellings of these people are admirably calculated for the continual warmth of their climate They do not build them in villages or towns but seperate each from the other according to the size of the estate the owner of the house possesses they are always in the woods & no