1773*
S e p tem f
Frid-iy 10.
for beads or other trinkets. As it did not agree with our
occupations, to flay in the houfe, we took a walk into the
groves, where we fhot a few birds, and collected fome
plants. We found here, to our great fatisfadlion, that confidence
and familarity amongft the common people, which
we had not experienced at Huahine, and we were happy
at the fame time not to be importuned by them, in the begging
ftrain of the Taheitians. In the afternoon we made
another excurfion, and fhot feveral king-fifhers. As foon
as we had fhot the laft, we met Orea, and his family Walking
through the plain with captain Cook; the chief took
no notice of the bird which we had in our hands, but his;
fair daughter lamented the death of her eatua, and ran
from us, when we attempted to touch her with it. Her
mother, and mod of the women, feemed likewife to be
grieved at this accident, and at flepping into the boat, the
chief defired us with a very ferious air, not to kill; the king-
fifhers and herons on his ifland, allowing at the fame
time the liberty of fhooting any other forts of birds. We
tried again to difeover the nature of their veneration for
thefe two fpecies, but all our enquiries were as fruitlefs
as they had been before.
We walked to the top of one of the neighbouring hills
the next day, and found feveral new plants in the vallies,
between them. The foil at the top was a kind of flone
marie; on the fides we found fome fcattered flints, and a
few
few fmall pieces of a cavernous of fpungy ftone-lava, of
a whitilh colour, which feemed to contain fome remains of
iron. This metal, which is of general and extenfive utility,
is difperfed through almoft all parts of the world, by the
benevolent hand of nature, and may perhaps even here be
contained in the mountains, in great quantity. The lava
indicated the exiftence of former volcanoes in this ifland,
which we had indeed fufpedted, becaufe all the adjacent
ifles, we had hitherto feen, ftrongly, and fometimes evidently
bore the marks of changes by fubterraneous fire. One
of the natives who had attended us, and carried fome re-
frefhments, pointed out the direction of feveral iflands in
the neighbourhood, but which lay out of fight. About
due weft, he faid, the ifle of Mopeehah was fituated, and
about S. by W. another, named Whennua owrah. Both
thefe, according to his accounts, were not inhabited, and
confided only of circular ledges of coral, with palms on
them, but were occafionally vifited from this and the adjacent
ifles." They fe'em to be Lord Howe’s Ifland, and the
Scilly Ifles, difeovered by captain Wallis. We defeended
about noon, and found that captains Cook and Furneaux
had juft left the fnore, after feeing a great dramatic dance,
or heeva, performed by fome of the principal women in
the ifland. We haftened on board, as the day proved very
hot, and found both our veflels furrounded by a great number
of canoes, in which were feveral perfons of diftindhon
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1PTEMBE».