ed with the fea-ficknefs, oeeafioned by the motion of the
{hip, to which he was not accuflomed. He told us, however,
as we were looking at the high peak of Borabora,
that he was bom in that ifland, and was nearly related to
O - P o o n e e , the great king who had conquered Taba and
Raietea. He acquainted us, at the fame time, that his own
name was properly Mahine, he having exchanged it for
that of Hedeedee with a chief in Eimeo ; a cuftom which,
as I have already obferved in another place, is common in
all thefe iflands. His relation, king O-Poonee, was at
prefent, according to his account, at Mowrua, an ifland
which we paffed in the afternoon. It confifted of a Angle
mountain, of a conic form, riling into a lharp point; and
from the reports of the inhabitants of Raietea, feme of
whom had frequently vilited it, we had reafon to conclude
that its produftions are perfedly fimilar to thofe of all the
other iHes in this group.
Our poor friend did not recover his appetite till the next
afternoon, when he feafted on part of a dolphin of twenty-
eight pounds weight, which had been caught by one of our
feamen. We offered to have it drefled for him immediately,
but he allured us it tailed much better raw ;■ and accordingly
we provided him with a bowl of fea-water, in
which he dipped the morfels as in a fauce, and eat them,
with great relilh, alternately biting into a ball of mahei, or
four bread-fruit pafte, inllead of bread. Before he. fat
down
A V O Y A G E ROUND THE WORLD.
down to his meal, however, he feparated a little morfel of
the filh and a bit of the mallei’, as an offering to the Eatua
or Divinity, pronouncing a few words at the fame time,
which we underftood to be a Ihort prayer. He performed
the fame ceremony two days after, when he dined on a raw Monday,»,
piece of lliark. Thefe inftances ferved to convince us,
that his countrymen have certain fixed principles of religion,
and that a kind of ceremonial worfhip takes place
among them, which they have perhaps preferved ever fince
their firft feparation from their anceftors on the continent.
We continued our eourfe without any event worthy of Thm-fday
of notice till the 23 d, in the morning, when a low ifland
appeared on our larboard bow. We fleered towards it,
and about noon found it was divided into two parts; the
latitude which we obferved at that time was 1 90 8 fouth.
We foon diftinguilhed a quantity of flirubs and tufted trees
upon it, over which rofe a prodigious number of coco-
palms. By the help of our glaffes we obferved that the
fhore was fandy, but here and there over-run with verdure,
which probably was oeeafioned by the common bindweed
of thefe climates (convolvulus Brajilienjis}. A reef as we apprehended,
connected the two parts of the ifland together,
which notwithftanding its agreeable appearance, feemed to'
be entirely uninhabited. Captain Cook gave it the name
of Hervey’s lfle, in honour of the prefent earl of Briftol.
A bird which refembled a fand-piper in its flight, and
note,