June. 1769. under that title, till his child is of age; but, at this time, the choice had fallen upon Tootahah, the uncle, in confequence of his having diftinguished himself in a War. Oamo asked many questions concerning England and its inhabitants, by which he appeared to have great fhrewdness and understanding. Monday 26. CHA P. II. An Account of the Circumnavigation of the Island, and various Incidents that happened during the Expedition; with a Defcription of a Burying-place and place of Worship, called Morai. N Monday the 26th, about three o'clock in the morning, I fet out in the pinnace, accompanied by Mr. Banks, to make the circuit of the island, with a view to sketch out the coaft and harbours. We took our rout to the eastward, and about eight in the forenoon we went on fhore, in a diftrict called OAHOUNUF, which is governed by АнIO, a young Chief, whom we had often seen at the tents, and who favoured us with his company to breakfast. Here also we found two other natives of our old acquaintance, TITUBOALO and HOONA, who carried us to their houses, near which we faw the body of the old woman, at whofe funeral rites Mr. Banks had affifted, and which had been removed hither from the fpot where it was first depofited, this place having defcended from her by inheritance to Hoona, and it being neceffary on that account that it fhould lie here. We then proceed. ed on foot, the boat attending within call, to the harbour in which Mr. Bougainville lay, called OHIDEA, where the natives fhewed us the ground upon which his people pitched their tent, and the brook at which they water, though no trace of them remained, except the holes where the poles of the tent had been fixed, and a small piece of potfheard, which Mr. Banks found in looking narrowly about the fpot. We met, however, with ORETTE, a Chief who was their principal friend, and whofe brother OUTORROU went away with them. June. This harbour lies on the weft fide of a great bay, 1769. under shelter of a fmall island called BooUROU, near which is another called TAAWIRRII; the breach in the reefs is here very large, but the shelter for fhips is not the best. Soon after we had examined this place, we took boat, and asked Tituboalo to go with us to the other side of the bay; but he refused, and advised us not to go, for he faid the country there was inhabited by people who were not fubject to Tootahah, and who would kill both him and us. Upon receiving this intelligence, we did not, as may be imagined, relinquish our enterprize; but we immediately loaded our pieces with ball: this was fo well underftood by Tituboalo as a precaution. which rendered us formidable, that he now confented to be of our party. Having rowed till it was dark, we reached a low neck of land, or ifthmus, at the bottom of the bay, that divides the island into two peninfulas, each of which is a district or government wholly independent of the other. From Port-Royal, where the Ship was at anchor, the coaft trends E. by S. and E. S. E. ten miles, then S. by E. and S. eleven miles to the isthmus. In the first direction, the fhore is in general open to the fea; but in the last it is covered by reefs of rocks, which form several good harbours, with fafe anchorage, in 16, 18, 20, and 24 fathom of water, with other conveniencies. As we had not yet got into our enemy's country, we determined to fleep on fhore: we landed, and though we found but few houfes, we faw several double canoes whofe owners were well known to us, and who provided us with fupper and lodging; of which Mr. Banks was indebted for his share to Ooratooa, the lady who had paid him her compliments in fo fingular a manner at the fort. In the morning, we looked about the country, and Tuef. 27. found it to be a marshy flat, about two miles over, acrofs which the natives haul their canoes to the correfponding bay on the other fide. We then prepared to continue our route for what Tituboalo called the other Kingdom; he faid that the name of it was TIARRABOU, or OTAHEITE ETE; and that of the Chief who governed it, WAHEATUA: upon this oc 1769. June. cafion alfo, we learnt that the name of the peninfula where we had taken our station was OPOUREONU, or OTAHEITE NUE. Our new affociate feemed to be now in better spirits than he had been the day before; the people in Tiarabou would not kill us, he faid, but he affured us that we should be able to procure no victuals among them and indeed we had feen no breadfruit fince we set out. After rowing a few miles, we landed in a district, which was the dominion of a Chief, called MARAITATA, the burying-place of men; whose father's name was PAHAIREDO, the stealer of boats. Though these names feemed to favour the account that had been given by Tituboalo, we foon found that it was not true. Both the father and the fon received us with the greatest civility, gave us provifions, and, after fome delay, fold us a very large hog for a hatchet. A croud foon gathered round us, but we faw only two people that we knew; neither did we observe a fingle bead or ornament among them, that had come from our fhip, though we faw feveral things which had been brought from Europe. In one of the houses lay two twelve-pound fhot, one of which was marked with the broad arrow of England, though the people faid they had them from the ships that lay in Bougainville's harbour. We proceeded on foot till we came to the distric which was immediately under the government of the principal, Chief, or King of the peninfula, Waheatua. Waheatua had a fon, but whether, according to the cuftom of Opoureonu, he administered the government as regent, or in his own right, is uncertain. This district confifts of a large and fertile plain, watered by a river so wide, that we were obliged to ferry over it in a canoe; our Indian train, however, chofe to fwim, and took to the water with the fame facility as a pack of hounds. In this place we faw no houfe that appeared to be inhabited, but the ruins of many, that had been very large. We proceeded along the shore, which forms a bay, called OAITIPEHA, and at last we found the Chief fitting near fome pretty canoe awnings, under which, we fuppofed, he and his attendants flept. He was a thin old man, with a very white head and beard, and had with him a comely woman, about five and twenty years old, whofe name was TOU DIDDE. 1769. We had often heard the name of this woman, and, June. from report and obfervation, we had reafon to think that he was the OBEREA of this peninfula. From this place, between which and the ifthmus there are other harbours, formed by the reefs that lie along the fhore, where shipping may lie in perfect fecurity, and from whence the land trends S. S. E. and S. to the S. E. part of the island, we were accompanied by TEAREE, the fon of Waheatua, of whom we had purchased a hog, and the country we paffed through appeared to be more cultivated than any we had feen in other parts of the island: the brooks were every where banked into narrow channels with stone, and the shore had also a facing of stone, where it was washed by the sea. The houses were neither large nor numerous, but the canoes that were hauled up along the shore were almost innumerable, and fuperior to any that we had feen before, both in fize and make; they were longer, the fterns were higher, and the awnings were fupported by pillars. At almost every point there was a fepulchral building, and there were many of them alfo inland. They were of the fame figure as those in Opoureonu, but they were cleaner and better kept, and decorated with many carved boards, which were fet upright, and on the top of which were various figures of birds and men: on one in particular, there was the reprefentation of a cock, which was painted red and yellow, to imitate the feathers of that animal, and rude images of men were, in fome of them, placed one upon the head of another. But in this part of the country, however fertile and cultivated, we did not see a single bread-fruit; the trees were entirely bare, and the inhabitants feemed to fubfiit principally upon nuts which are not unlike a chefnut, and which they call АHEE. When we had walked till we were weary, we called up the boat, but both our Indians, Tituboalo and Tuahow, were miffing: they had, it feems, ftayed behind at Waheatua's, expecting us to return thither, in confequence of a promise which had been extorted from us, and which we had it not in our power to fulfil. Tearee, 1769. June. Wed, 28. Tearee, however, and another, embarked with us, and we proceeded till we came a-breast of a small island called OTOOAREITE; it being then dark, we determined to land, and our Indians conducted us to a place where they faid we might fleep: it was a deferted house, and near it was a little cove, in which the boat might lie with great fafety and convenience. We were, however, in want of provisions, having been very sparingly fupplied fince we set out; and Mr. Banks immediately went into the woods to fee whether any could be procured. As it was dark, he met with no people, and could find but one house that was inhabited: bread-fruit and a half, a few ahees, and fome fire, were all that it afforded; upon which, with a duck or two, and a few curlieus, we made our fupper, which, if not fcanty, was disagreeable, by the want of bread, with which we had neglected to furnish ourselves, as we depended upon meeting with bread-fruit, and took up our lodging under the awning of a canoe belonging to Tearee, which followed us. a The next morning, after having spent some time in another fruitless attempt to procure a fupply of provifions, we proceeded round the fouth-east point, part of which is not covered by any reef, but lies open to the fea; and here the hill rifes directly from the fhore. At the fouthermoft part of the island, the shore is again covered by a reef, which forms a good harbour; and the land about it is very fertile. We made this route partly on foot and partly in the boat; when we had walked about three miles, we arrived at a place where we saw several large canoes, and a number of people with them, whom we were agreeably furprised to find were of our intimate acquaintance. Here, with much difficulty, we procured fome cocoa-nuts, and then embarked, taking with us Tuahow, one of the Indians who had waited for us at Waheatua's, and had returned the night before, long after it was dark. When we came a-breaft of the fouth-east end of the ifland, we went afhore, by the advice of our Indian guide, who told us that the country was rich and good. The Chief, whose name was MATHIABO, foon came down to us, but feemed to be a total ftranger both to us and to our trade: his fubjects, however, brought us |