We had seen neither stream nor well upon the island, and besides, it is probable that the great abundance of coconuts enables them to subsist with very little water.

We distributed among them some iron-hoop, knives, fish-hooks, and calico, to which I added a quantity of useful seeds,* which last were eagerly sought after when their use had been explained and understood.
(*Footnote.

Part of a large supply procured at Hobart Town by Captain Stanley from the Government garden there.

They were placed under my charge, and were sown wherever circumstances appeared favourable for their growth, chiefly on uninhabited islands, there seldom having been an opportunity of distributing them among the natives of the shores we visited.) PATTERNS OF TATOOING.
The women showed an unusual amount of curiosity, and were much pleased at the notice taken of them, for, on examining the curious tattooing of one, others immediately pressed forwards to show me theirs, directing particular attention to the difference of patterns.

This practice of tattooing the body--or marking it with colouring matter introduced into the skin by means of punctures or incisions--is rarely exhibited by the men, and in them is usually confined to a few blue lines or stars upon the right breast; in some instances, however, the markings consisted of a double series of large stars and dots stretching from the shoulder toward the pit of the stomach.