almost dark, most of the inmates had gone, and the chief was lighting a
torch at one of the braziers. This torch he placed in my hand,
indicating, as I understood, that I was to put myself under the guidance
of two of the young women who had been spinning. At this I was somewhat
perplexed, but followed where they went before me, each of them holding a
burning torch. The light flared and the smoke drifted among the
corridors, till we came within sound of running water. In a lofty green
chamber was a large bath of polished marble, carved with shapes of men
armed with pitchforks, and employed in spearing fish. The bath was full
of clear water, of somewhat higher than tepid heat, and the stream,
welling up in one part, flowed out in another, not splashing or spilling.
The young women now brought flasks of oil, large sponges, such as are
common in these seas, and such articles of dress as are worn by the men
among the natives. But, to my astonishment, the girls showed no
intention of going away, and it soon became evident _that they meant to
assist me in my toilet_! I had some difficulty in getting them to
understand the indecorum of their conduct, or rather (for I doubt if they
understood it after all) in prevailing on them to leave me. I afterwards
learned that this custom, shocking as it appears to Europeans, is
regarded as entirely right and usual even by the better class of
islanders; nor, to do them justice, have I ever heard any imputations on
the morality of their women. Except among the shepherds and
shepherdesses in the rural districts, whose conduct was very regardless,
a high standard of modesty prevailed among the female natives. In this,
I need not say, they were a notable exception among Polynesian races.

Left to my own devices by the retreat of the young women, I revelled in
the pleasures of the bath, and then the question arose, How was I to be
clothed?