CHAPTER 18. 1779 TO 1780. THIRD VOYAGE CONCLUDED.

On 4th February the ships unmoored and sailed from the bay, steering to the north in hopes of finding a better anchorage. The wind was very light, and the progress was so slow that it gave Terreeoboo an opportunity of sending off a further present of food. Soon after a gale sprang up, and the canoes which had accompanied them beat a hasty retreat, leaving a good many, mostly women, on board the ships. About midnight the fore and main topsails were split, but towards morning the wind died away and they were able to bend fresh sails. A second gale came on again at night, putting them under double-reefed topsails, with topgallant yards sent down, and at daybreak the fore-mast was found to be so badly sprung that it was absolutely necessary it should be unstepped for immediate repairs. After considerable hesitation, for he fully recognised that the place must be almost denuded of surplus provisions, Cook decided to return to Karakakoa Bay as no other convenient place was known, and the ships again anchored there on the 11th, starting immediately to unstep and get the mast ashore, when it was found to be rotten at the heel as well as sprung. Wood that had been cut at Eimeo for anchor stocks was used for fishing the head, and the work proceeded rapidly: the priests making the camp tabu, so that there should be no interference with the workmen.

When the ships arrived in the bay, hardly a canoe was to be seen, and none came out to the ships. This, contrasted with their first reception, was the cause of some surprise, and, in view of what happened afterwards, of some suspicion; but Mr. King, who had more intercourse with the natives than any of the other officers, was thoroughly satisfied that "they neither meant nor apprehended any change of conduct." Burney says that Terreeoboo and some of the chiefs visited them on the 12th, and asked many questions about their return, and did not seem well satisfied with the answers received.