Series 03: Joseph Banks - Endeavour journal, 25 August 1768 - 12 July 1771 (vol. 2) - No. 0201
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[Page 201]
197.
Some account of New Zealand
of Sails & indeed never unless when they were to go right before the wind they were made of mat & instead of a mast were hoisted upon two sticks which were fastned one to each side so that they requird two ropes which answerd the purpose of sheets & were fastned to the tops of these sticks in this clumsey manner they saild with a good deal of swiftness & were steerd by two men who sat in the stern with each a paddle in his hand I shall set down the dimensions of one that we measurd that was of the largest size it was in lengh 68 1/2 feet breadth 5 depth 3 1/2 this was the only one that we measurd or indeed had an opportunity of measuring
For the beauty of their carving in general I fain would say something more about it but find myself much inferior to the task I shall therefore content myself with saying that their taste varied into two materialy different Stiles I will call them one was intirely formd of a number of Spirals diffently connected the other was in a much more wild taste & I may truly say was like nothing but itself of the former the truth with which the lines were drawn was surprizing but above all their method of connecting several spirals into one peice which they did inimitably well intermingling