1769. May. were fuffered to follow him, and the fcene was extremely affecting. Tubourai Tamaide preffing forward, ran up to Tootahah, and catching him in his arms, they both burst into tears, and wept over each other, without being able to fpeak: the other Indians were alfo in tears for their Chief, both he and they being ftrongly poffeffed with the notion that he was to be put to death. In this fituation they continued till I entered the fort, which was about a quarter of an hour afterwards. I was equally furprized and concerned at what had happened, the confining Tootahah being contrary to my orders, and therefore inftantly fet him at liberty. Upon enquiring into the affair, I was told, that my going into the woods with a party of men under arms, at á time when a robbery had been committed, which it was fuppofed I fhould refent, in proportion to our apparent injury by the lofs, had so alarmed the natives, that in the evening they began to leave the neighbourhood of the fort with their effects: that a double canoe having been seen to put off from the bottom of the bay by Mr. Gore, the Second Lieutenant, who was left in command on board the ship, and who had received orders not to fuffer any canoe to go out, he fent the Boatfwain with a boat after her to bring her back: that as foon as the boat came up, the Indians being alarmed, leaped into the fea; and that Tootahah, being unfortunately one of the number, the Boatfwain took him up, and brought him to the ship, fuffering the rest of the people to swim on fhore: that Mr. Gore, not fufficiently attending to the order that none of the people fhould be confined, had fent him to the fort, and Mr. Hicks, the First Lieutenant, who commanded there, receiving him in charge from Gore, did not think himfelf at liberty to difmifs him. The notion that we intended to put him to death had poffeffed him so strongly, that he could not be perfuaded to the contrary till by my orders he was led out of the fort. The people received him as they would have done a father in the fame circumftances, and every one preffed forward to embrace him. Sudden joy is commonly liberal, without a fcrupulous regard to merit; and Tootahah, in the first expanfion of his heart, upon being unexpectedly reftored to liberty and life, infifted upon upon our receiving a prefent of two hogs; though, being conscious that upon this occafion we had no claim to favours, we refused them many times. Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander attended the next morn- Wedn. 3. ing in their usual capacity of market-men, but very few Indians appeared, and those who came brought no provifions. Tootahah, however, fent fome of his people for the canoe that had been detained, which they took away. A canoe having also been detained, that belonged to Oberea,TUPIA, the person who managed her affairs when the Dolphin was here, was fent to examine whether any thing on board had been taken away; and he was fo well fatisfied of the contrary, that he left the canoe where he found it, and joined us at the fort, where he spent the day, and flept on board the canoe at night. About noon, some fishing boats came a-breaft of the tents, but would part with very little of what they had on board; and we felt the want of cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit very severely. In the course of the day, Mr. Banks walked out into the woods, that by converfing with the people he might recover their confidence and good-will; he found them civil, but they all complained of the ill treatment of their Chief; who, they faid, had been beaten and pulled by the hair. Mr. Banks endeavoured to convince them, that he had fuffered no perfonal violence,which to the best of our knowledge was true; yet perhaps the boatfwain had behaved with a brutality which he was afraid or ashamed to acknowledge. The Chief himself being probably, upon recollection, of opinion that we had ill deferved the hogs, which he had left with us as a prefent, fent a meffenger down in the afternoon to demand an axe, and a fhirt in return; but as I was told that he did not intend to come down to the fort for ten days, I excufed myself from giving them till I should see him, hoping that his impatience might induce him to fetch them,and knowing that abfence would probably continue the coolnefs between us, to which the first interview might put an end. The next day we were ftill more fenfible of the in- Thurfd. 4. convenience we had incurred by giving offence to the people in perfon of their Chief, for the market was fo ill fupplied, that we were in want of neceffaries. Mr. Banks 1769 Banks therefore went into the woods to Tubourai May. Tamaide, and with fome difficulty perfuaded him to let us have five baskets of bread fruit; a very seasonable fupply,as they contained above one hundred and twenty. In the afternoon another messenger arrived from Tootahah for the axe and shirt; as it was now become absolutely neceffary to recover the friendship of this man, without which it would be scarcely poffible to procure provifions, I fent word that Mr. Banks and myself would vifit him on the morrow, and bring what he wanted with us. Friday 5. Early the next morning he fent again to remind me of my promife, and his people feemed to wait till we fhould fet out with great impatience: I therefore ordered the pinnace, in which I embarked with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander about ten o'clock: we took one of Tootahah's people in the boat with us, and in about an hour we arrived at his place of refidence, which is celled EPARRE, and is about four miles to the westward of the tents. We found the people waiting for us in great numbers upon the fhore, fo that it would have been impoffible for us to have proceeded, if way had not been made for us by a tall well-looking man, who had fome thing like a turban about his head, and a long white ftick in his hand, with which he laid about him at an unmerciful rate. This man conducted us to the Chief, while the people fhouted round us, Taio Tootabah ; "Tootahab,is your friend."We found him,like an ancient Patriarch fitting under a tree, with a number of venerable old men standing round him; he made a fign to us to fit down, and immediately asked for his axe: this I prefented to him, with an upper garment of broadcloth, made after the country fashion, and trimmed with tape, to which I alfo added a fhirt: he received them with great fatisfaction, and immediately put on the garment; but the fhirt he gave to the perfon who had cleared the way for us upon our landing, who was now feated by us, and of whom he feemed defirous that we should take particular notice. In a fhort time Oberea, and feveral other women whom we knew, came and fat down among us: Tootahah left us feveral times, but after a fhort abfence returned: we thought it had been to fhew himself in his new finery to the people, but we wronged him, for it was to give directions for our refreshment and entertainment. While we were waiting for his return' the last time he left us, very impatient to be difmiffed, as we were almost fuffocated in the crowd, word was brought us, that he expected us elsewhere: we found him fitting under the awning of our own boat, and making figns that we fhould come to him: as many of us, therefore, went on board as the boat would hold,and he then ordered breadfruit and cocoa-nuts to be brought, of both which we tafted, rather to gratify him than because we had a defire to eat. A meffage foon after was brought him, upon which he went out of the boat, and we were in a fhort time defired to follow. We were conducted to a large area or court-yard, which was railed round with bamboos about three feet high, on one fide of his house, where an entertainment was provided for us, entirely new this was a wrestling match. At the upper end of the area fat the Chief, and feveral of his principal men were ranged on each side of him, fo as to form a femicircle: these were the judges, by whom the victor was to be applauded; feats were alfo left for us at each end of the line, but we chofe rather to be at liberty among the rest of the fpectators. When all was ready, ten or twelve perfons, whom we understood to be the combatants, and who were naked, except a cloth that was fastened about the waist, entered the area, and walked flowly round it, in a ftooping pofture, with their left hands on their right breafts, and their right hands open, with which they frequently ftruck the left fore-arm fo as to produce a quick fmart found: this was a general challenge to the combatants whom they were to engage, or any other perfon prefent; after thefe followed others in the fame manner, and then a particular challenge was given, by which each man fingled out his antagonist this was done by joining the finger ends of both hands, and bringing them to the breast, at the fame time moving the elbows up and down with a quick motion: if the perfon to whom this was addreffed accepted the challenge, he repeated the figns, and immediately each put himself in an attitude to engage: the next minute : they 1769. May. 1769. May. they closed; but after, in first seizing each other, it was a mere contest of strength: each endeavoured to lay hold of the other, first by the thigh, and if that failed by the hand, the hair, the cloth, or elsewhere as he could when this was done, they grappled, without the least dexterity or skill, till one of them, by having a more advantageous hold, or greater mufcular force, threw the other on his back. When the conteft was over, the old men gave their plaudit to the victor in a few words, which they repeated together in a kind of tune; his conqueft was generally celebrated by three huzzas. The entertainment was then fufpended for a few minutes, after which another couple of wrestlers came forward and engaged in the fame manner if it happened that neither of them was thrown, after the contest had continued about a minute, they parted, either by confent or the intervention of their friends, and in this cafe each flapped his arm, as a challenge to a new engagement, either with the fame antagonist or fome other. While the wrestlers were engaged, another party of men performed a dance, which lafted alfo about a minute; but neither of these parties took the least notice of each other, their attention being wholly fixed on what they were doing. We obferved, with pleasure, that the conqueror never exulted over the vanquished, and that the vanquifhed never repined at the fuccefs of the conqueror; the whole conteft was carried on with perfect good. will and goodhumour, though in the prefence of at leaft five hundred fpectators, of whom fome were women. number of women indeed was comparatively fmall; none but those of rank were prefent, and we had reafon to believe that they would not have been fpectators of this exercife but in compliment to us. The This lafted about two hours; during all which time the man who made way for us when we landed kept the people at a proper distance, by ftriking those who preffed forward very feverely with his stick; upon enquiry we learned, that he was an officer belonging to Too ahah, acting as a mafter of the ceremonies. It is fcarcely poffible for those who are acquainted with the athletic fports of very remote antiquity, not to remark a rude resemblance of them in this wrestlingmatch |