The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. V. Being the First of the Third VoyageCook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. V. Being the First of the Third Voyage
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
I was fortunate enough to see a different operation going on in the same
house, of which I can give a tolerable account. I found there another
woman shaving a child’s head with a shark’s tooth stuck into the end of
a piece of stick. I observed, that she first wet the hair with a rag
dipped in water, applying her instrument to that part which she had
previously soaked. The operation seemed to give no pain to the child,
although the hair was taken off as close as if one of our razors had
been employed. Encouraged by what I now saw, I soon after tried one of
these singular instruments upon myself, and found it to be an excellent
_succedaneum_. However, the men of these islands have recourse to
another contrivance when they shave their beards. The operation is
performed with two shells, one of which they place under a small part of
the beard, and with the other applied above, they scrape that part off.
In this manner they are able to shave very close. The process is,
indeed, rather tedious, but not painful; and there are men amongst them
who seem to profess this trade. It was as common, while we were here, to
see our sailors go ashore to have their beards scraped off, after the
fashion of Hapaee, as it was to see their chiefs come on board to be
shaved by our barbers.
Finding that little or nothing of the produce of the island was now
brought to the ships, I resolved to change our station, and to wait
Feenou’s return from Vavaoo, in some other convenient anchoring-place,
where refreshments might still be met with. Accordingly, in the forenoon
of the 26th, we got under sail, and stood to the southward along the
reef of the island; having fourteen and thirteen fathoms’ water, with a
sandy bottom. However, we met with several detached shoals. Some of them
were discovered by breakers; some by the water upon them appearing
discoloured; and others by the lead. At half past two in the afternoon,
having already passed several of these shoals, and seeing more of them
before us, I hauled into a bay that lies between the south end of
Lefooga, and the north end of Hoolaiva, and there anchored in seventeen
fathoms’ water, the bottom a coral sand; the point of Lefooga bearing
south-east by east, a mile and a half distant. The Discovery did not get
to an anchor till sunset. She had touched upon one of the shoals, but
backed off again without receiving any damage.
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