CHAP. VIII.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE ENDEAVOUR AT OTAHEITE, CALLED BY CAPTAIN WALLIS KING GEORGE THE THIRD’S ISLAND.—RULES ESTABLISHED FOR TRAFFIC WITH THE NATIVES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL INCIDENTS WHICH HAPPENED IN A VISIT TO TOOTAHAH AND TOUBOURAI TAMAIDA, TWO CHIEFS.

About one o’clock, on Monday the 10th of April, some of the people who were looking out for the island to which we were bound, said they saw land a-head, in that part of the horizon where it was expected to appear; but it was so faint that whether there was land in sight or not, remained a matter of dispute till sunset. The next morning, however, at six o’clock, we were convinced that those who said they had discovered land were not mistaken; it appeared to be very high and mountainous, extending from W. by S. ½ S. to W. by N. ½ N., and we knew it to be the same that Captain Wallis had called King George the Third’s Island. We were delayed in our approach to it by light airs and calms, so that in the morning of the 12th we were but little nearer than we had been the night before; but about seven a breeze sprung up, and before eleven several canoes were seen making towards the ship: there were but few of them, however, that would come near; and the people in those that did could not be persuaded to come on board. In every canoe there were young plantains, and branches of a tree which the Indians call E’ Midho: these, as we afterwards learnt, were brought as tokens of peace and amity; and the people in one of the canoes handed them up the ship’s side, making signals at the same time with great earnestness, which we did not immediately understand; at length we guessed that they wished these symbols should be placed in some conspicuous part of the ship; we, therefore, immediately stuck them among the rigging, at which they expressed the greatest satisfaction. We then purchased their cargoes, consisting of cocoa-nuts, and various kinds of fruit, which, after our long voyage, were very acceptable.

The Island of Otaheite.

We stood on with an easy sail all night, with soundings from twenty-two fathom to twelve, and about seven o’clock in the morning we came to an anchor in thirteen fathom, in Port-royal Bay, called by the natives Matavai. We were immediately surrounded by the natives in their canoes, who gave us cocoa-nuts, fruit resembling apples, bread-fruit, and some small fishes, in exchange for beads and other trifles. They had with them a pig, which they would not part with for any thing but a hatchet, and therefore we refused to purchase it; because if we gave them a hatchet for a pig now, we knew they would never afterwards sell one for less, and we could not afford to buy as many as it was probable we should want at that price. The bread-fruit grows on a tree that is about the size of a middling oak: its leaves are frequently a foot and a half long, of an oblong shape, deeply sinuated like those of the fig-tree, which they resemble in consistence and colour, and in the exuding of a white milky juice upon being broken. The fruit is about the size and shape of a child’s head, and the surface is reticulated, not much unlike a truffle: it is covered with a thin skin, and has a core about as big as the handle of a small knife: the eatable part lies between the skin and the core: it is as white as snow, and somewhat of the consistence of new bread: it must be roasted before it is eaten, being first divided into three or four parts: its taste is insipid, with a slight sweetness, somewhat resembling that of the crumb of wheaten-bread mixed with a Jerusalem artichoke.

Among others who came off to the ship was an elderly man, whose name, as we learnt afterwards, was Owhaw and who was immediately known to Mr. Gore, and several others who had been here with Captain Wallis. As I was informed that he had been very useful to them, I took him on board the ship with some others, and was particularly attentive to gratify him, as I hoped he might also be useful to us.

As our stay here was not likely to be very short, and as it was necessary that the merchandize which we had brought for traffic with the natives should not diminish in its value, which it would certainly have done if every person had been left at liberty to give what he pleased for such things as he should purchase; at the same time, that confusion and quarrels must necessarily have arisen from there being no standard at market, I drew up the following rules, and ordered that they should be punctually observed:—

Rules to be observed by every Person in or belonging to His Majesty’s Bark the Endeavour, for the better establishing a regular and uniform Trade for Provision, &c. with the Inhabitants of George’s Island.

“I. To endeavour, by every fair means, to cultivate a friendship with the natives; and to treat them with all imaginable humanity.

“II. A proper person or persons will be appointed to trade with the natives for all manner of provisions, fruit, and other productions of the earth; and no officer or seaman, or other person belonging to the ship, excepting such as are so appointed, shall trade or offer to trade for any sort of provision, fruit, or other productions of the earth, unless they have leave so to do.

“III. Every person employed on shore, on any duty whatsoever, is strictly to attend to the same; and if by any neglect he loseth any of his arms, or working tools, or suffers them to be stolen, the full value thereof will be charged against his pay, according to the custom of the navy in such cases; and he shall receive such farther punishment as the nature of the offence may deserve.

“IV. The same penalty will be inflicted on every person who is found to embezzle, trade, or offer to trade, with any part of the ship’s stores of what nature soever.

“V. No sort of iron, or any thing that is made of iron, or any sort of cloth, or other useful or necessary articles, are to be given in exchange for any thing but provision.

“J. Cook.”

As soon as the ship was properly secured, I went on shore with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, a party of men under arms, and our friend Owhaw. We were received from the boat by some hundreds of the inhabitants, whose looks at least gave us welcome, though they were struck with such awe, that the first who approached us crouched so low that he almost crept upon his hands and knees. It is remarkable that he, like the people in the canoes, presented to us the same symbol of peace that is known to have been in use among the ancient and mighty nations of the northern hemisphere, the green branch of a tree. We received it with looks and gestures of kindness and satisfaction; and observing that each of them held one in his hand, we immediately gathered every one a bough, and carried it in our hands in the same manner.

They marched with us about half a mile towards the place where the Dolphin had watered, conducted by Owhaw; they then made a full stop, and having laid the ground bare, by clearing away all the plants that grew upon it, the principal persons among them threw their green branches upon the naked spot, and made signs that we should do the same; we immediately showed our readiness to comply, and to give a greater solemnity to the rite, the marines were drawn up, and marching in order, each dropped his bough upon those of the Indians, and we followed their example. We then proceeded, and when we came to the watering-place it was intimated to us by signs, that we might occupy that ground, but it happened not to be fit for our purpose. During our walk, they had shaken off their first timid sense of our superiority, and were become familiar: they went with us from the watering-place and took a circuit through the woods; as we went along, we distributed beads and other small presents among them, and had the satisfaction to see that they were much gratified. Our circuit was not less than four or five miles, through groves of trees, which were loaded with cocoa-nuts and bread-fruit, and afforded the most grateful shade. Under these trees were the habitations of the people, most of them being only a roof without walls, and the whole scene realised the poetical fables of Arcadia. We remarked, however, not without some regret, that in all our walk we had seen only two hogs, and not a single fowl. Those of our company who had been here with the Dolphin told us, that none of the people whom we had yet seen were of the first class: they suspected that the chiefs had removed; and upon carrying us to the place where what they called the Queen’s palace had stood, we found that no traces of it were left. We determined therefore to return in the morning, and endeavour to find out the noblesse in their retreats.

In the morning, however, before we could leave the ship, several canoes came about us, most of them from the westward, and two of them were filled with people, who, by their dress and deportment, appeared to be of a superior rank: two of these came on board, and each singled out his friend; one of them, whose name we found to be Matahah, fixed upon Mr. Banks, and the other upon me: this ceremony consisted in taking off great part of their clothes and putting them upon us. In return for this, we presented each of them with a hatchet and some beads. Soon after they made signs for us to go with them to the places where they lived, pointing to the S. W.; and as I was desirous of finding a more commodious harbour, and making farther trial of the disposition of the people, I consented.

I ordered out two boats, and with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, the other gentlemen, and our two Indian friends, we embarked for our expedition. After rowing about a league, they made signs that we should go on shore, and gave us to understand that this was the place of their residence. We accordingly landed, among several hundreds of the natives, who conducted us into a house of much greater length than any we had seen. When we entered, we saw a middle-aged man, whose name was afterwards discovered to be Tootahah: mats were immediately spread, and we were desired to sit down over against him. Soon after we were seated, he ordered a cock and hen to be brought out, which he presented to Mr. Banks and me: we accepted the present; and in a short time each of us received a piece of cloth, perfumed after their manner, by no means disagreeably, which they took great pains to make us remark. The piece presented to Mr. Banks was eleven yards long and two wide; in return for which, he gave a laced silk neckcloth, which he happened to have on, and a linen pocket handkerchief: Tootahah immediately dressed himself in this new finery, with an air of perfect complacency and satisfaction. But it is now time that I should take some notice of the ladies.

Soon after the interchanging of our presents with Tootahah, they attended us to several large houses, in which we walked about with great freedom: they showed us all the civility of which, in our situation, we could accept; and, on their part, seemed to have no scruple that would have prevented its being carried farther. The houses, which, as I have observed before, are all open, except a roof, afforded no place of retirement; but the ladies, by frequently pointing to the mats upon the ground, and sometimes seating themselves and drawing us down upon them, left us no room to doubt of their being much less jealous of observation than we were.

We now took leave of our friendly chief, and directed our course along the shore. When we had walked about a mile, we met, at the head of a great number of people, another chief, whose name was Toubourai Tamaide, with whom we were also to ratify a treaty of peace, with the ceremony of which we were now become better acquainted. Having received the branch which he presented to us, and given another in return, we laid our hands upon our left breasts, and pronounced the word Taio, which we supposed to signify friend; the chief then gave us to understand, that if we chose to eat, he had victuals ready for us. We accepted his offer, and dined very heartily upon fish, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and plantains, dressed after their manner: they eat some of their fish raw; and raw fish was offered to us, but we declined that part of the entertainment.

During this visit a wife of our noble host, whose name was Tomio, did Mr. Banks the honour to place herself upon the same mat, close by him. Tomio was not in the first bloom of her youth, nor did she appear to have been ever remarkable for her beauty; he did not, therefore, I believe, pay her the most flattering attention: it happened, too, as a farther mortification to this lady, that seeing a very pretty girl among the crowd, he, not adverting to the dignity of his companion, beckoned her to come to him: the girl, after some entreaty, complied, and sat down on the other side of him: he loaded her with beads, and every showy trifle that would please her: his princess, though she was somewhat mortified at the preference that was given to her rival, did not discontinue her civilities, but still assiduously supplied him with the milk of the cocoa-nut, and such other dainties as were in her reach. This scene might possibly have become more curious and interesting, if it had not been suddenly interrupted by an interlude of a more serious kind. Just at this time, Dr. Solander and Mr. Monkhouse complained that their pockets had been picked. Dr. Solander had lost an opera-glass in a shagreen case, and Mr. Monkhouse his snuff-box. This incident unfortunately put an end to the good humour of the company. Complaint of the injury was made to the chief; and, to give it weight, Mr. Banks started up, and hastily struck the but-end of his firelock upon the ground: this action, and the noise that accompanied it, struck the whole assembly with a panic; and every one of the natives ran out of the house with the utmost precipitation, except the chief, three women, and two or three others, who appeared by their dress to be of a superior rank.

The chief, with a mixture of confusion and concern, took Mr. Banks by the hand, and led him to a large quantity of cloth, which lay at the other end of the house: this he offered to him piece by piece, intimating by signs, that if that would atone for the wrong which had been done, he might take any part of it, or, if he pleased, the whole. Mr. Banks put it by, and gave him to understand, that he wanted nothing but what had been dishonestly taken away. Toubourai Tamaide then went hastily out, leaving Mr. Banks with his wife Tomio, who, during the whole scene of terror and confusion, had kept constantly at his side, and intimating his desire that he should wait there till his return. Mr. Banks accordingly sat down, and conversed with her, as well as he could by signs, about half an hour. The chief then came back with the snuff-box and the case of the opera-glass in his hand, and, with a joy in his countenance that was painted with a strength of expression which distinguishes these people from all others, delivered them to the owners. The case of the opera-glass, however, upon being opened, was found to be empty; upon this discovery, his countenance changed in a moment; and catching Mr. Banks again by the hand, he rushed out of the house, without uttering any sound, and led him along the shore, walking with great rapidity: when they had got about a mile from the house, a woman met him and gave him a piece of cloth, which he hastily took from her, and continued to press forward with it in his hand. Dr. Solander and Mr. Monkhouse had followed them, and they came at length to a house where they were received by a woman, to whom he gave the cloth, and intimated to the gentlemen that they should give her some beads. They immediately complied; and the beads and cloth being deposited upon the floor, the woman went out, and in about half an hour returned with the opera-glass, expressing the same joy upon the occasion that had before been expressed by the chief. The beads were now returned, with an inflexible resolution not to accept them; and the cloth was, with the same pertinacity, forced upon Dr. Solander, as a recompence for the injury that had been done him. He could not avoid accepting the cloth, but insisted in his turn upon giving a new present of beads to the woman. It will not, perhaps, be easy to account for all the steps that were taken in the recovery of this glass and snuff-box; but this cannot be thought strange, considering that the scene of action was among a people whose language, policy, and connections, are even now but imperfectly known; upon the whole, however, they show an intelligence and influence which would do honour to any system of government, however regular and improved. In the evening, about six o’clock, we returned to the ship.