Part 141

+zerstreut liegend.+

+gewähren.+

+freundlich+, but here +wohlwollend+, in order to avoid a repetition of the same term, since ‘hospitable’ must be turned by +gastfreundlich+; reception, +Aufnahme+, f.

Say ‘Nothing gave (+machen+) me greater joy than just (+gerade+) the inhabitants’.

Say ‘The expression of their faces (+Ihr Gesichtsausdruck+) bears a mildness (+Sanftmut+, f.), which’, etc.

= of savages.

+Intelligenz+, f.

are advancing = make progress.

= they have. It is a matter of course that the conj. ‘when’ must commence the period.

= and just then one sees the Tahitians (+die Tahitianer+) to advantage (= in the best light).

= that after a short time a dark skin appears to the eye of a European more pleasing and more natural than his own.

Section 171.

TAHITI.

III.

A white man bathing (S. 16, N. 4) by the side of a Tahitian was like a plant bleached (S. 7, N. 3, attrib.) by the gardener’s art compared with a fine dark-green one growing vigorously in the field. Most of the men are tatooed, and the ornaments follow the curvature of the body so gracefully, that they have a very elegant effect. The most common pattern, varying in its details, is somewhat like the crown of a palm-tree. It springs from the central line of the back, and gracefully curls round both sides. The simile may be a fanciful one, but I thought the body of a man thus ornamented was (App. §§ 29 and 30) like the trunk of a noble tree embraced by a delicate creeper.

Many of the elder people had their feet covered with small figures, so placed as to resemble a sock. This fashion, however, is partly gone by, and has been succeeded by others. Here, although fashion is far from immutable, every one must abide by that prevailing at his youth. An old man has thus his age for ever stamped on his body, and he cannot assume the airs of a young dandy. The women are tatooed in the same manner as the men, and very commonly on their fingers.

In returning to the boat, we witnessed a very pretty scene. Numbers of children were playing on the beach, and had lighted bonfires, which illuminated the placid sea and surrounding trees; others, in circles, were singing Tahitian verses. We seated ourselves on the sand, and joined their party. The songs were impromptu, and I believe related to our arrival. One little girl sang a line, which the rest took up in parts, forming a very pretty chorus. The whole scene made us unequivocally aware that we were seated on the shore of an island in the far-famed South Sea.—CHARLES DARWIN.

= appeared.

= in (contracted with the Dat. of the def. art.) comparison.

= in full vigour (+Kraft+, f.).

+Kurvatur+, f.

+auf eine so anmutige Weise.+

they have a = they are of.

varying — details = the single parts of which often differ (+ab´weichen+) from each other.

springs from, +geht ... aus+; from — back, +vom Rückgrat+ (spine).

to curl round, +sich um ... herum´winden+.

may — one = is perhaps fanciful (+phantastisch+).

+ich dachte bei mir selbst.+