CHAP. V.

An Account of the Difcovery of King George the Third's Island, or Otaheite, and of feveral Incidents which hap-. pened both on board the Ship, and on Shore..

Α About the, antcovered very high land in the

1767. June.

Ja

T two o'clock, the fame day, we bore away, and in about half an hour, discovered very high land in the W. S. W. At seven in the evening, Ofnaburgh Island bore, Thursday 18. E. N. E. and the new discovered land, from W. N. W. to W. by S. As the weather was thick and fqually, we brought to for the night, or at least till the fog should break away. At two in the morning, it being very clear, we made fail again; Friday-19、 at day-break we faw the land, at about five leagues distance, and fteered directly for it; but at eight o'clock, when we were close under it, the fog obliged us again to lie to, and when it cleared away, we were much surprised to find ourfelves furrounded by fome hundreds of canoes. They were of different fizes, and had on board different numbers, from one to ten, fo that in all of them together, there could not be less than eight hundred people. When they came within pistol shot of the ship, they lay by, gazing at us with great astonishment, and by turns conferring with each other. In the mean time we fhewed them trinkets of various kinds, and invited them on board. Soon after, they drew together, and held a kind of council, to determine what should be done: then they all paddled round the fhip, making figns of friendship, and one of them holding up a branch of the plantain tree, made a speech that lafted near a quarter of an 6 hour,,

1767. June.

Friday 19.

hour, and then threw it into the fea. Soon after, as we
continued to make figns of invitation, a fine, stout, lively
young man ventured on board: he came up by the mizen
chains, and jumped out of the fhrouds upon the top of the
awning. We made figns to him to come down upon the
quarter-deck, and handed up fome trinkets to him: he
looked pleased, but would accept of nothing till fome of the
Indians came along-fide, and after much talk, threw a few
branches of plantain tree on board the fhip. He then ac-
cepted our prefents, and feveral others very foon came on
board, at different parts of the fhip, not knowing the proper
entrance. As one of thefe Indians was flanding near the
gang-way, on the larboard fide of the quarter-deck, one of
our goats butted him upon the haunches: being furprised at
the blow, he turned haftily about, and faw the goat raised
upon
his hind-legs, ready to repeat the blow. The appear-
ance of this animal, fo different from any he had ever feen,
ftruck him with fuch terror, that he inflantly leaped over
board; and all the reft, upon feeing what had happened,
followed his example with the utmost precipitation: they
recovered however, in a fhort time, from their fright, and
returned on board. After having a little reconciled them to
our goats and sheep, I fhewed them our hogs and poultry,
and they immediately made figns that they had fuch ani-
mals as these. I then diftributed trinkets and nails among
them, and made figns that they fhould go on fhore and
bring us fome of their hogs, fowls and fruit, but they did
not seem to understand my meaning: they were, in the
mean time, watching an opportunity to fteal fome of the
things that happened to lie in their way, but we generally
deteted them in the attempt. At last, however, one of the
midshipmen happened to come where they were flanding,
with a new laced hat upon his head, and began to talk to

one

one of them by figns: while he was thus engaged, another of them came behind him, and fuddenly fnatching off the hat, leaped over the taffarel into the fea, and fwam away with it.

As we had no anchorage here, we flood along the fhore, fending the boats at the fame time to found at a less diftance. As none of thefe canoes had fails, they could not keep up with us, and therefore foon paddled back towards the fhore. The country has the most delightful and romantic appearance that can be imagined: towards the fea it is level, and is covered with fruit trees of various kinds, particularly the cocoa-nut., Among these are the houses of the inhabitants, confifting only of a roof, and at a distance having greatly the appearance of a long barn. The country within, at about the distance of three miles, rifes into lofty hills, that are crowned with wood, and terminate in peaks, from which large rivers are precipitated into the fea. We faw no fhoals, but found the ifland fkirted by a reef of rocks, through which there are feveral openings into deep

About three o'clock in the afternoon, we brought to, a-breaft of a large bay, where there was an appearance of anchorage. The boats were immediately fent to found it, and while they were thus employed, I obferved a great number of canoes gather round them. I fufpected that the Indians had a defign' to attack them, and as I was very defirous to prevent mifchief, I made the fignal for the boats to come on board, and at the fame time, to intimidate the Indians, I fired a nine pounder over their heads. As foon as the cutter began to fland towards the fhip, the Indians in their canoes, though they had been startled by the thunder of our nine pounder, endeavoured to cut her off. The boat, however, failing fafter than the canoes could paddle, foon got clear of thofe that were about her; but fome others, that

5

were:

1767. June.

were full of men, way-laid her in her courfe, and threw several stones into her, which wounded fome of the people. Friday 19. Upon this, the officer on board fired a mufquet, loaded with buck-fhot, at the man who threw the first stone, and wounded him in the fhoulder. The reft of the people in the canoes, as foon as they perceived their companion wounded, leapt into the fea, and the other canoes paddled away, in great terror and confufion. As foon as the boats reached the ship, they were hoisted on board, and just as she was about to stand on, we observed a large canoe, under fail, making after us. As I thought he might have fome Chief on board, or might have been dispatched to bring me a message from fome Chief, I determined to wait for her. She failed very fast, and was soon along-side of the ship, but we did not obferve among those on board, any one that feemed to have an authority over the reft. One of them, however, ftood up, and having made a speech, which continued about five minutes, threw on board a branch of the

plantain tree. We understood this to be a token of peace, and we returned it, by handing over one of the branches of plantain that had been left on board by our first visitors: with this and fome toys, that were afterwards prefented to him, he appeared to be much gratified, and after a short time, went away.

The officers who had been fent out with the boats, informed me that they had founded close to the reef, and found as great a depth of water as at the other islands: however, as I was now on the weather fide of the island, I had reason to expect anchorage in running to leeward. I therefore took this course, but finding breakers that ran off to a great distance from the fouth-end of the island, I hauled the wind, and continued turning to windward all night, in order to run down on the east side of the island.

At

1767.

June.

Saturday 20.

At five o'clock in the morning, we made fail, the land bearing N. W. by W. distant 10 leagues; and there seemed to be land five leagues beyond it, to the N. E.; a remarkable peak, like a fugar loaf, bore N. N. E. when we were about two leagues from the fhore, which afforded a most delightful profpect, and was full of houses and inhabitants. We faw feveral large canoes near the fhore, under fail, but they did not ftcer towards the fhip. At noon, we were within two or three miles of the island, and it then bore from S. W. to N. W. by W. We continued our courfe along the fhore, fometimes at the distance of half a mile, and fometimes at the distance of four or five miles, but hitherto had got no foundings. At fix o'clock in the evening, we were a-breast of a fine river, and the coaft having a better appearance here than in any other part that we had seen, I determined to stand off and on all night, and try for anchorage in the morning. As foon as it was dark, we saw a great number of lights all along the fhore. At day-break, Sunday 21. we sent out the boats to found, and foon after, they made the fignal for 20 fathom. This produced an universal joy, which it is not eafy to defcribe, and we immediately ran in, and came to an anchor in 17 fathom, with a clear fandy bottom. We lay about a mile distant from the fhore, oppofite to a fine run of water; the extreams of the land bearing from E. S. E. to N. W. by W. As foon as we had fecured the ship, I fent the boats to found along the coast, and look at the place where we faw the water. At this time, a confiderable number of canoes came off to the fhip, and brought with them hogs, fowls, and fruit in great plenty, which we purchafed for trinkets and nails. But when the boats made towards the fhore, the canoes, most of which were double, and very large, failed after them. At first they kept at a diftance, but as the boats approached the VOL. I Ff. fhore,