As soon as we had dined, a party of us accompanied Otoo to Oparre, taking with us the poultry, with which we were to stock the island. They consisted of a peacock and hen (which Lord Besborough was so kind as to send me, for this purpose, a few days before I left London); a turkey cock and hen; one gander, and three geese; a drake, and four ducks. All these I left at Oparre, in the possession of Otoo; and the geese and ducks began to breed, before we sailed. We found there, a gander, which the natives told us, was the same that Captain Wallis had given to Oberea ten years before; several goats; and the Spanish bull, whom they kept tied to a tree, near Otoo's house. I never saw a finer animal of his kind. He v was now the property of Etary, and had been brought from Oheitepeha to this place, in order to be shipped for Bolabola. But it passes my comprehension, how they can contrive to carry him in one of their canoes. If we had not arrived, it would have been of little consequence who had the property of him, as, without a cow, he could be of no use; and none had been left with him. Though the natives told us, that there were cows on board the Spanish ships, and that they took them away with thsm, I cannot believe this; and should rather suppose, that they had died in the passage from Lima. The next day, I sent the three cows, that I had on board, to this bull; and the bull, which I had brought, the horse and mare, and sheep, I put ashore at Matavai.

The

Having thus disposed of these passengers, I found myself lightened of a very heavy burthen. trouble and vexation that attended the bringing this living cargo thus far, is hardly to be conceived. But the satisfaction that I felt, in having been so fortunate as to fulfil his majesty's humane design, in sending such valuable animals, to supply the wants of two worthy nations, sufficiently recompensed me for the many anxious hours I had passed, before

this subordinate object of my voyage could be car ried into execution.

As I intended to make some stay here, we set up the two observatories on Matavai Point. Adjoining to them, two tents were pitched, for the reception of a guard, and of such people as it might be necessary to leave on shore, in different departments. At this station, I intrusted the command to Mr. King; who, at the same time, attended the observations, for ascertaining the going of the timekeeper, and other purposes. During our stay, various necessary operations employed the crews of both ships. The Discovery's main-mast was carried ashore, and made as good as ever. Our sails and water-casks were repaired; the ships were caulked; and the rigging all overhauled. We also inspected all the bread that we had on board in casks; and had the satisfaction to find that but little of it was damaged.

On the 26th, I had a piece of ground cleared, for a garden, and planted it with several articles; very few of which, I believe, the natives will ever look after. Some melons, potatoes, and two pineappleplants, were in a fair way of succeeding, before we left the place. I had brought, from the Friendly Islands, several shaddock trees. These I also planted here; and they can hardly fail of success, unless their growth should be checked by the same premature curiosity, which destroyed a vine planted by the Spaniards at Oheitepeha. A number of the natives got together, to taste the first fruit it bore; but, as the grapes were still sour, they considered it as little better than poison, and it was unanimously determined to tread it under foot, In that state, Omai found it by chance, and was overjoyed at the discovery. For he had a full confidence, that, if he had but grapes, he could easily make wine. Accordingly, he had several slips cut off from the tree, to carry away with him; and we pruned and

put in order the remains of it. Probably, grown wise by Omai's instructions, they may now suffer the fruit to grow to perfection, and not pass so hasty a sentence upon it again.

We had not been eight and forty hours at anchor in Matavai Bay, before we were visited by all our old friends, whose names are recorded in the account of my last voyage. Not one of them came empty handed; so that we had more provisions than we knew what to do with. What was still more, we were under no apprehensions of exhausting the island, which presented to our eyes every mark of the most exuberant plenty, in every article of refreshment.

Soon after our arrival here, one of the natives, whom the Spaniards had carried with them to Lima, paid us a visit; but, in his external appearance, he was not distinguishable from the rest of his countrymen. However, he had not forgot some Spanish words which he had acquired, though he pronounced them badly. Amongst them, the most frequent were, si Sennor; and, when a stranger was introduced to him, he did not fail to rise up and accost him, as well as he could.

We also found here the young man whom we called Oedidee, but whose real name is Heete-heete. I had carried him from Ulietea in 1773, and brought him back in 1774; after he had visited the Friendly Islands, New Zealand, Easter Island, and the Marqueses, and been on board my ship, in that extensive navigation, about seven months. He was, at least, as tenacious of his good breeding, as the man who had been at Lima; and yes, Sir, or if you please, Sir, were as frequently repeated by him, as si Sennor was by the other. Heete-heete, who is a native of Bolabola, had arrived in Otaheite about three months before, with no other intention, that we could learn, than to gratify his curiosity, or, perhaps, some other favourite passion; which are

very often the only objects of the pursuit of other travelling gentlemen. It was evident, however, that he preferred the modes, and even garb, of his countrymen, to ours. For, though I gave him some clothes, which our Admiralty Board had been pleased to send for his use (to which I added a chest of tools, and a few other articles, as a present from myself), he declined wearing them, after a few days. This instance, and that of the person who had been at Lima, may be urged as a proof of the strong propensity natural to man, of returning to habits acquired at an early age, and only interrupted by accident. And, perhaps, it may be concluded, that even Omai, who had imbibed almost the whole English manners, will, in a very short time after our leaving him, like Oedidee, and the visiter of Lima, return to his own native garments.

In the morning of the 27th, a man came from Oheitepeha, and told us, that two Spanish ships had anchored in that bay the night before; and, in confirmation of this intelligence, he produced a piece of coarse blue cloth, which, he said, he got out of one of the ships; and which, indeed, to appearance, was almost quite new. He added, that Mateema

was in one of the ships; and that they were to come down to Matavai in a day or two. Some other circumstances which he mentioned, with the foregoing ones, gave the story so much the air of truth, that I despatched Lieutenant Williamson in a boat, to look into Oheitèpeha bay; and, in the mean time, I put the ships into a proper posture of defence. For, though England and Spain were in peace when I left Europe, for aught I knew, a different scene might, by this time, have opened. However, on farther inquiry, we had reason to think that the fellow who brought the intelligence had imposed upon us; and this was put beyond all doubt, when Mr. Williamson returned next day; who made his report to me, that he had been at

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Oheitepeha, and found that no ships were there now, and that none had been there since we left it. The people of this part of the island where we now were, indeed, told us, from the beginning, that it was a fiction invented by those of Tiaraboo. But what view they could have, we were at a loss to conceive, unless they supposed that the report would have some effect in making us quit the island, and, by that means, deprive the people of Otaheitenooe of the advantages they might reap from our ships continuing there; the inhabitants of the two parts of the island being inveterate enemies to each other.

From the time of our arrival at Matavai, the weather had been very unsettled, with more or less rain every day, till the 29th; before which we were not able to get equal altitudes of the sun for ascertaining the going of the time-keeper. The same cause also retarded the caulking and other necessary repairs of the ships.

In the evening of this day, the natives made a precipitate retreat, both from on board the ships, and from our station on shore. For what reason, we could not, at first, learn; though, in general, we guessed it arose from their knowing that some theft had been committed, and apprehending punishment on that account. At length, I understood what had happened. One of the surgeon's mates had been in the country to purchase curiosities, and had taken with him four hatchets for that purpose. Having employed one of the natives to carry them for him, the fellow took an opportunity to run off with so valuable a prize. This was the cause of the sudden flight, in which Otoo himself, and his whole family, had joined; and it was with difficulty that I stopped them, after following them two or three miles. As I had resolved to take no measures for the recovery of the hatchets, in order to put my people upon their guard against such negligence for

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