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1769, any fyftem of government, however regular and imApril. proved. In the evening, about fix o'clock, we returned to the fhip.

Saturd. 15.

CHA P. IX.

A Place fixed upon for an Obfervatory and Fort: an Excurfion into the Woods, and its Confequences. The Fort erected a Vifit from feveral Chiefs on board and at the Fort, with fame Account of the Music of the Natives, and the Manner in which they difpofe of their dead.

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N the next morning, Saturday the 15th, several of the Chiefs whom we had seen the day before, came on board, and brought with them hogs, bread.. fruit, and other refreshments, for which we gave them hatchets and linen, and fuch things as feemed to be most acceptable.

As in my excurfion to the weftward, I had not found any more convenient harbour than that in which we lay, I determined to go on fhore and fix upon fome fpot, commanded by the hip's guns, where I might throw up a fmall fort for our defence, and prepare for making our aftronomical obfervation.

I therefore took a party of men, and landed, without delay, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and the aftronomer, Mr. Green. We foon fixed upon a part of the fandy beach, on the N. E. point of the bay, which was in every refpect convenient for our purpofe, and not near any habitation of the natives. Having marked out the ground that we intended to occupy, a fmall tent belonging to Mr. Banks was set up, which had been brought on fhore for that purpose: by this time a great number of the people had gathered about us; but, as it appeared, only to look on, there not being a fingle weapon of any kind among them. I intimated, however, that none of them were to come within the line I had drawn, except one who appeared to be a Chief, and Owhaw. To thefe two perfons I addreffed myfelf by figns, and endeavoured to make them understand that we wanted the ground which we had marked out to fleep upon for a certain number of nights,

and

Whether I was

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and that then we should go away.
understood I cannot certainly determine; but the peo-
ple behaved with a deference and refpect that at once
pleased and surprised us: they fat down peaceably with-
out the circle, and looked on, without giving us any
interruption, till we had done, which was upwards of
two hours. As we had seen no poultry, and but two
hogs, in our walk when we were laft on fhore at this
place, we fufpected that upon our arrival they had
been driven farther up the country; and the rather, as
Owhaw was very importunate with us, by figns, not
to go into the woods, which, however, and partly for
these reasons, we were determined to do. Having
therefore appointed the thirteen marines and a petty
officer to guard the tent, we set out, and a great num-
ber of the natives joined our party. As we were crof-
fing a little river that lay in our way we faw fome ducks,
and Mr. Banks, as foon as he had got over, fired at them,
and happened to kill three at one shot: this ftruck them
with the utmost terror, so that most of them fell fudden-
ly to the ground, as if they also had been shot at the
fame discharge: it was not long, however, before they
recovered from their fright,and we continued our route;
but we had not gone far before we were alarmed by the
report of two pieces, which were fired by the guard at
the tent. We had then straggled a little distance from
each other, but Owhaw immediately called us together,
and by waving his hand, fent away every Indian that
followed us except three, each of whom, as a pledge of
peace on their part, and an intreaty that there might
be peace on ours, hastily broke a branch from the trees,
and came to us with it in their hands. As we had too
much reason to fear that fome mischief had happened,
we hafted back to the tent, which was not distant above
half a mile, and when we came up, we found it entirely
deferted, except by our own people.

It appeared, that one of the Indians who remained about the tent after we left it, had watched his opportunity, and taking the centinel unawares, had fnatched away his mufquet. Upon this, the petty officer, a midshipman, who commanded the party, perhaps from a fudden fear of farther violence, perhaps from the natural petulance of power newly acquired, and perhaps

from

1769.

April.

:

from a brutality in his nature, ordered the marines to fire the men, with as little confideration or humanity as the officer, immediately discharged their pieces among the thickest of the flying crowd, confifting of more than a hundred; and obferving that the thief did not fall, pursued him, and fhot him dead. We afterwards learned, that none of the others were either killed or wounded.

Owhaw, who had never left us, obferving that we were now totally deferted, got together a few of thofe who had fled, though not without fome difficulty, and ranged them about us: we endeavoured to justify our people as well as we could, and to convince the Indians, that if they did no wrong to us, we should do no wrong to them: they went away without any appearance of diftruft or refentment; and having ftruck our tent, we returned to the ship, but by no means fatisfied with the tranfactions of the day.

Upon queftioning our people more particularly, whose conduct they foon perceived we could not approve, they alledged that the centinel whofe mufquet was taken away, was violently affaulted and thrown down, and that a push was afterwards made at him by the man who took the mufquet, before any command was given to fire. It was alfo fuggested, that Owhaw had fufpicions, at least, if not certain knowledge, that fomething would be attempted against our people at the tent, which made him so very earnest in his endeavours to prevent our leaving it; others imputed his importunity to his defire that we should confine ourselves to the beach : and it was remarked that neither Owhaw, nor the Chiefs who remained with us after he had fent the reft of the people away, would have inferred the breach of peace from the firing at the tent, if they had had no reafon to fufpe&t that fome injury had been offered by their countrymen; efpecially as Mr. Banks had just fired at the ducks and yet that they did infer a breach of peace from that incident, as was manifeft from their waving their hands for the people to difperfe, and inftantly pulling green branches from the trees. But what were the real circumstances of this unhappy affair, and whether either, and which of thefe conjectures were rue, can never certainly be known.

The

The next morning but few of the natives were seen 1769. upon the beach, and not one of them came off to the April. fhip. This convinced us that our endeavours to quiet Sunday 16. their apprehenfions had not been effectual; and we remarked with particular regret, that we were deferted even by Owhaw, who had hitherto been fo constant in his attachment, and fo active in renewing the peace that had been broken.

Appearances being thus unfavourable, I warped the ship nearer to the shore, and moored her in fuch a manner as to command all the N. E. part of the bay, particularly the place which I had marked out for the building a fort. In the evening, however, I went on shore with only a boat's crew, and fome of the Gentlemen: the natives gathered about us, but not in the same number as before; there were I believe between thirty and forty, and they trafficked with us for cocoa-nuts and other fruit, to all appearance as friendly as ever.

On the 17th, early in the morning, we had the misfortune to lofe Mr. Buchan, the person whom Mr. Monday 17. Banks had brought out as a painter of landscapes and figures. He was a fober, diligent, and ingenious young man, and greatly regretted by Mr. Banks; who hoped, by his means, to have gratified his friends in England with reprefentations of this country and its inhabitants, which no other perfon on board could delineate with the fame accuracy and elegance. He had always been fubject to epileptic fits, one of which feized him on the mountains of Terra del Fuego, and this diforder being aggravated by a bilious complaint which he contracted on board the fhip, at length put an end to his life. It was at first proposed to bury him on shore; but Mr. Banks thinking that it might perhaps give offence to the natives, with whofe customs we were then wholly unacquainted, we committed his body to the fea, with as much decency. and folemnity as our circumstances and fituation would admit.

In the forenoon of this day we received a visit from Tubourai Tamaide and Tootahah, our Chiefs from the Weft they brought with them, as emblems of peace, not branches of plantain, but two young trees, and would not venture on board till these had been received,

April.

Tuef, 18.

Wedn. 19

having probably been alarmed by the mifchief which had been done at the tent. Each of them alfo brought, as propitiatory gifts, some bread-fruit, and a hog ready dreffed: this was a moft acceptable prefent, as we perceived that hogs were not always to be got; and in return we gave to each of our noble benefactors a hatchet and a nail. In the evening we went on shore and set up a tent, in which Mr. Green and myself spent the night, in order to obferve an eclipse of the first fatellite of Jupiter; but the weather becoming cloudy, we were difappointed.

On the 18th, at day-break, I went on fhore, with as many people as could poffibly be fpared from the ship, and began to erect our fort. While fome were employed in throwing up intrenchments, others were busy in cutting pickets and fafcines, which the natives, who foon gathered round us as they had been used to do, were fo far from hindering, that many of them voluntarily assisted us, bringing the pickets and fafcines from the wood where they had been cut, with great alacrity: we had indeed been fo fcrupulous of invading their property, that we purchased every ftake which was used upon this occafion, and cut down no tree till we had firft obtained their confent. The foil where we conftructed our fort was fandy, and this made it necessary to strengthen the intrenchments with wood; three fides were to be fortified in this manner; the fourth was bounded by a river, upon the banks of which I propofed to place a proper number of water-cafks. This day we ferved pork to the ship's company for the first time, and the Indians brought down fo much bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts, that we found it necessary to send away part of them unbought, and to acquaint them, by figns, that we should want no more for two days to come. Every thing was purchased this day with beads: a fingle bead, as big as a pea, being the purchase of five or fix cocoa-nuts, and as many of the bread-fruit. Mr. Banks's tent was got up before night within the works, and he flept on fhore for the first time. Proper centries were placed round it, but no Indian attempted to approach it the whole night.

The next morning, our friend Tubourai Tamaide made Mr. Banks a vifit at the tent, and brought with

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