»774-
M arch.
Monday 14.
'(heeva). -It was with fome difficulty that we underflood him
at firft; but having enquired for the names by which he
diftinguifhed the parts of the body, we foon found them to
be nearly the fame with thofe which are ufed in the Society
files. If we mentioned a word which he did not comprehend,
he repeated it feveral times with a look which
fti-ongly expreffed his ignorance of it. As night approached,
lie faid he wanted to go to deep, and complained- of cold. My
father gave him a large Taheitee cloth of the thickeft fort, in
which he wrapped himfelf, faying he found it comfortably
warm. He was afterwards conducted into the mailer’s
cabin, where he lay down on a table, and flept very quietly
the whole night. Mahine, who, had already exprefied his-
impatience to go on fhore, was much pleafed to find that
the inhabitants fpoke a language fo fimilar to his own, and-,
attempted to converfe with our new vifitor feveral times,,
but was interrupted by the queflions which many other,
perfons in the fhip put to him.. :
We dragged our anchor during night, and drove off the
bank, fo that we were obliged to fet fail again, in order to-
recover our fituation. Immediately after breakfaft, captain-
Cook went afhore with the native, whofe name was Maroo-
wahai, together with Mahine, my father, Dr. Sparrman, and1
myfelf, though my feet and’ legs were ftill fwelled excef-
fively, and I was hardly able to walk. We found a- fnug
cove for boats, among a number of rocks which fheltered
the
the landing place from the mountainous fwell that tumbled
in upon the fhore. About a hundred, or a hundred and
fifty natives were aflembled on the fpot where we landed,
almoft all of them naked, fome having only a belt round
the middle, from whence a fmall bit of cloth, fix or eight
inches long, or a little net, hung down before. A very
few of them had a cloak which reached to the knees, made
of cloth, refembling that of Taheitee in the texture, and
Hitched or quilted with thread to make it the more Iafting.
Moft of thefe cloaks were painted yellow with the turmeric-
root. The people did not make the leaf! unfriendly motion
at our landing, but exprefied a prodigious dread of our
fire-arms, of which they feemed to know the deadly effedts.
We faw but few arms among them ; fome however had
lances orfpears, made of thin ill-fhapen flicks, and pointed
with a fharp triangular piece of a black glafiy lava (pumex
nit reus, Linn J commonly called Iceland agate. One of them
had a fighting club, made of a thick piece of wood about
three feet long, carved at one extremity-; and a few others
had fhort wooden clubs, exadtly refembling fome of the
New Zeeland patoo-patoos, which are made of bone. We
obferved fome who had European hats and caps, chequered
cotton handkerchiefs, and ragged jackets of blue woollen-
.cloth, which were fo many indubitable teftimonies of the
■ vifit which the Spaniards had made to this ifland in 17 70.
The general appearance of the natives feemed to argue a
4 C 2 great