1769.

June.

the Nineveh, of which there were two befides himself, and the natives having all difappearSaturd. 10. ed, they came to the chief mourner, and faid imatata, there are no people, after which the company was difmiffed to wash themselves in the river, and put on their customary apparel.

Monday 12.

On the 12th, complaint being made to me, by fome of the natives, that two of the seamen had taken from them feveral bows and arrows, and some strings of plaited hair, I examined the matter, and finding the charge well fupported, I punished each of the criminals with two dozen lafhes.

Their bows and arrows have not been mentioned before, nor were they often brought down to the fort: this day, however, Tubourai Tamaide brought down his, in confequence of a challenge which he had received from Mr. Gore. The Chief fuppofed it was to try who could fend the arrow fartheft, Mr. Gore, who best could hit a mark; and as Mr. Gore did not value himself upon fhooting to a great distance, nor the Chief upon hitting a mark, there was no trial of skill between them. Tubourai Tamaide, however, to fhew us what he could do, drew his bow, and fent an arrow, none of which are feathered, two hundred and feventy-four yards, which is fomething more than a seventh, and fomething less than a fixth part of a mile.

Their manner of fhooting is somewhat fingular, they kneel down, and the moment the arrow is discharged, drop the bow.

Mr. Banks, in his morning walk this day, met a number of the natives, whom, upon inquiry, he found to be travelling musicians; and having learnt where they were to be at night, we all repaired to the place. The band confifted of two flutes and three drums, and we found a great number of people assembled upon the occafion. The drummers accompanied the mufic with their voices, and, to our great surprise, we discovered that we were generally the fubject of the fong. We did not expect to have found. among the uncivilized inhabitants of this fequeftered spot, a character, which has been the fubject of such praise and veneration where genius and knowledge have been most confpicuous; yet these were the bards or minstrels of Otaheite. Their fong was unpremeditated, and accompanied with mufic; they were continually going about from place to place, and they were rewarded by the mafter of the house, and the audience, with fuch things as one wanted and the other could fpare.

1769.

June.

Monday 12.

On the 14th, we were brought into new dif- Wednes.14. ficulties and inconvenience by another robbery

at the fort. In the middle of the night, one of the natives contrived to fteal an iron coal-rake, that was made ufe of for the oven. It happened

to

1769. June.

Wednef. 14.

to be fet up against the infide of the wall, for
that the top of the handle was vifible from with.
out; and we were informed that the thief, who
had been feen lurking there in the evening,
came fecretly about three o'clock in the morn-
ing, and, watching his opportunity when the
centinel's back was turned, very dexterously
laid hold of it with a long crooked stick, and
drew it over the wall. I thought it of fome con-
fequence, if poffible, to put an end to thefe
practices at once, by doing fomething that
fhould make it the common intereft of the na-
tives themselves, to prevent them.
I had given
ftrict orders that they fhould not be fired upon,
even when detected in these attempts, for which
I had many reasons: the common centinels were
by no means fit to be intrufted with a power of
life and death, to be exerted whenever they
fhould think fit, and I had already experienced
that they were ready to take away the lives that
were in their power, upon the flightest occafion;
neither indeed did I think that the thefts which
these people committed against us, were, in
them, crimes worthy of death: that thieves are
hanged in England, I thought no reason why
they should be fhot in Otaheite; becaufe, with
respect to the natives, it would have been an
execution by a law ex poft facto: they had no fuch
law among themselves, and it did not appear
to me that we had any right to make fuch a

law

1769.

June.

law for them. That they should abstain from theft, or be punished with death, was not one of the conditions under which they claimed the Wednef. 14. advantages of civil fociety, as it is among us; and as I was not willing to expose them to firearms, loaded with fhot, neither could I perfect-, ly approve of firing only with powder: at first, indeed, the noife and the fmoke would alarm them, but when they found that no mischief followed, they would be led to despise the weapons themselves, and proceed to infults, which would make it neceffary to put them to the teft, and from which they would be deterred by the very fight of a gun, if it was never used but with effect. At this time, an accident furnished me with what I thought a happy expedient. It happened that above twenty of their failing canoes were just come in with a supply of fish: upon thefe 1 immediately feized, and bringing them into the river behind the fort, gave public notice, that except the rake, and all the rest of the things which from time to time had been ftolen, were returned, the canoes fhould be burnt. This menace I ventured to publish, though I had no defign to put it into execution, making no doubt but that it was well known in whofe poffeffion the ftolen goods were, and that as reftitution was thus made a common cause, they would all of them in a fhort time be brought back. A lift of the VOL. II. things

E e

Ju e.

1769. things was made out, confifting principally of the rake, the mufquet which had been taken Wednef. 14. from the marine when the Indian was fhot; the piftols which Mr. Banks loft with his clothes at Atahourou; a fword belonging to one of the petty officers, and the water cafk. About noon, the rake was restored, and great solicitation was made for the release of the canoes; but I ftill infifted upon my original condition. The Thurfd. 15. next day came, and nothing farther was reftored, at which I was much furprised, for the people were in the utmost distress for the fish, which in a fhort time would be spoilt; I was, therefore, reduced to a disagreeable fituation, either of releafing the canoes, contrary to what I had folemnly and publicly declared, or to detain them, to the great injury of those who were innocent, without answering any good purpose to ourselves as a temporary expedient, I permitted them to take the fish; but still detained the canoes. This very licence, however, was productive of new confufion and injury; for, it not being easy at once to diftinguish to what particular persons the several lots of fish belonged, the canoes were plundered, under favour of this circumftance, by those who had no right to any part of their cargo. Moft preffing instances were still made that the canoes might be restored, and I having now the greatest reafon to believe, either that the things for which I detained

5