3 ° 8
VJ73« .
A ugust.
A VO Y AGE ROUND THE WORLD.
fhip, of which Tuahow had given us the firft intimation.
According to the king’s account it feemed clear, that the
fhip had been at Wha'i Urua five months before us, and had
lain there ten days. He added, that the captain had hanged
four of his people, and that the fifth had efcaped the fame
punifhment by running away. This European, whom
they named O-Pahootu, we enquired after to no purpofe,
for a long while ; till his majefty’s attendants feeing us
very eager to become acquainted with him, allured us he
■ was dead. We have fince heard that about the time mentioned
by the natives, Don Juan de Langara y Huarte, fent
out from the port of Callao in Peru, had vifited O-Taheitee,
but what the particulars of that voyage are, has never tranf-
pired. While we remained in the houfe E-Tee, the fat
chief, who feemed to be the principal eounfellor of the king,,
very ferioufly alked us, whether we had a God (Eatud) in
our country, and whether we prayed to him (epoore?)
When we told him, that we acknowledged a Divinity, who
had made every thing, and was invifible, and that we alfo
were accuftomed to addrefs our petitions to him, he feemed
to be highly pleafed, and repeated our words with
notes of his own to feveral perfons who fat round him.
To us he feemed to fignify, that the ideas of his countrymen
correfponded with ours in this refpeft. Every thing
concurs indeed to convince us, that this fimple and only
juft conception of the Deity, has been familiar to mankind
in
A V O Y A G E ROUND T H E WORLD . 3 ° 9
in all ages and in all countries, and that only by the ex- AJoU'T,
ceflive cunning of a few individuals, thofe complex fyftems
of abfurd idolatry have been invented, which difgrace the
hiftory of almoft every people. The love of empire, or the
purfuit after voluptuoufnefs and indolence, feem to have
infpired the numerous branches of heathen priefts with the
idea of keeping the minds of the people in awe, by
awakening their fuperftition. The natural love of the miraculous
has made it eafy for them not only to put their
projects in execution, but likewife to weave their prejudices
fo firmly into the web of human knowledge, that to this
moment the greater part of mankind pay them homage,
and blindly fuffer themfelves to be cheated in the grofleft
manner.
■ While E-Tee was converting on religious matters, king
Aheatua was playing with Captain Cook’s watch. After
curioufly examining the motion of fo many wheels, that
feemed to move as it were fpontaneoufly, and fhewing
his aftoniftiment at the noife it made, which he could not
exprefs otherwife than by faying it “ fpoke,” (farouj he returned
it, and alked what it was good for. With a great
deal of difficulty we made him conceive that it meafured
the day, fimilar to the fun, by whofe altitude in the heavens
he and his people are ufed to divide their time. After
this explanation, he called it a little fun, to fhew us that
he perfectly underftood our meaning. We were juft getting
MS»#®
iltjji