au”«st. ar>d tKe inhabitants in his neighbourhood fecmed perfectly
fatisfied; Paw-yangom,-no doubt, was a man of fome
weight among the people who dwelt on the flat hill, and it
is not unlikely that his age alone had entitled him to feme
deference. The government of the people of Tanna feems
to be in its infant date, and every family is guided by the;
advice of the oldeft men, their patriarchs, who never exercife
their authority in a fevere or tyrannical manner.
We returned into the woods again after dinner* but made
an unfuccefsful excurfion, having now fearched the fame
fpots almoft every day fince our arrival on the ifland. The '
wedoefl, .7. next morning we renewed our rambles, in hopes of meeting;
by accident with the nutmeg-tree. We palled fome time in a e
fine plantation of bananas clofe to the weftern corner of the'
beach, where a number of parrots deftroyed the fruit; but
they were fo extremely Ihy, that we attempted in vain to
come at them. Having.taken a long walk into the country,
during which we frequently feparated from each other to a
confiderable diftance, as we had now nothing to apprehend
from the inhabitants, we came back to the beach. We found
the laft boat ready to put off* and returned to the Ihip, where
we found the old chief Yogai, his fonYatta, and a well-made
boy, about fourteen years old, named Narrep, who appeared
to be nearly related to them. They were all feated on the
floor of the cabin when we came in, and captain Cook had
given them a variety of prefents of all kinds. The old
man
man had received them with the indifference natural at his A
age ; but his fon, and above all the boy Nvrep, were extremely
well pleafed with the civilities which had been
fhewn them. We invited them to dinner, and they ate o f
fome yams, but would not touch any other fopd, behavings
nearly as Fanokko, our former vilitor, had done (See p.
288.) As foon as we had dined, we embarked with them,
and brought them to the beach, where the other natives -
eonverfed with them, and feemed to be highly pleafed with :
the deference which we had paid to their chiefs. The number
of natives on the beach now rarely ever amounted to
one hundred, including women and children, who commonly
fat down in feveral groups under the lhade of the
bulhesv From time to time they brought us a yam or a
bunch of bananas, for which they took Taheitee cloth in
exchange. The women fometimes had bafkets full of
yamboo apples,. (•eugenia,) which they fold for trifles, fuch
as fmall bits of green nephritic Hone, black beads, and the
like, and, as it feemed, more to fhew their good will, than
from any value which they fet upon thofe articles. The
civility of the natives was, upon the whole, very confpicuous
towards us. If they met us in a narrow path, they always
flepped afide into the buflies and grades in order to make way
for us. If they happened to know our names,they pronounced <
them with a fmile, which could be extremely well underflood