All this conversation was afterwards explained to me by Bill, who understood the language pretty well.
Romata accompanied us on board, and explained that a great chief from another island was then on a visit to him, and that he was to be ceremoniously entertained on the following day.

After begging to be allowed to introduce him to us, and receiving permission, he sent his canoe ashore to bring him off.

At the same time he gave orders to bring on board his two favourites, a cock and a paroquet.

While the canoe was gone on this errand, I had time to regard the savage chief attentively.
He was a man of immense size, with massive but beautifully moulded limbs and figure, only parts of which, the broad chest and muscular arms, were uncovered; for, although the lower orders generally wore no other clothing than a strip of cloth called _maro_ round their loins, the chief, on particular occasions, wrapped his person in voluminous folds of a species of native cloth made from the bark of the Chinese paper-mulberry.

Romata wore a magnificent black beard and moustache, and his hair was frizzed out to such an extent that it resembled a large turban, in which was stuck a long wooden pin! I afterwards found that this pin served for scratching the head, for which purpose the fingers were too short without disarranging the hair.