« fire feveral times, took his opportunity, when the marine
had laid down his bundle, to fnatch it up, and ran off with
it. The day after the gentlemen went to fee a heiva or
public dance, and luckily found the thief among the fpec-
tators. He confefled his mifdemeanour, but promifed, if.
they would pardon him, to bring them fome targets in return,
which were always reckoned equivalent to our hatchets.
They were contented with his fubmiffion, and the man
punctually kept his word the next day; which fhews that
he was by no means to be compared to our hardened fin-
ners, but was fully fenfible of the generous treatment which
he had met with. Another attempted to Real a powder-
horn, but he was detedted, and requited by blows. Even
the poor girl, who came on board at Taheitee, tempted
them by wearing an European drefs. A number of natives
fet upon her in a houfe, when the was leaft aware of
it, and began to (trip off her cloaths ; when fome of our
people Fortunately came by, who put the thieves to flight.
This accident frightened her fo much, that fee never ventured
out of the feip alone for the future.
Ttuifday i9. On the i 9 th we took a walk towards the long inlet,
where Dr. Sparrman had been robbed about eight months
before. The weather was rainy at firft, and the feowers
became fo fevere, that we retreated into a fmall hut, to prevent
our being wetted to the (kin. We found here a
friendly family, who immediately offered us fome frefli
breadbread
fruit and fome fifees to eat, that being always the
firft mark of hofpitality, among the inhabitants of the
South Sea. An elderly woman, of fome note, had likewife
taken feelter under the fame roof, with one of her attendants,
who led a hog to her home. As we fet out together,
when the Ihower was over, the good woman prefented the
hog to us, and invited us to her houfe, which lay at a confi-
derable diftance. We croffed the hill, and defeended to the
fea feore on the oppofite fide of the ifland. Our way was
extremely flippery; but we collected a number of plants
which had< novelty to recommend them. The weather
changed before we reached the plain below, and became
delightfully fair. We found a bay, with an extenfive feoal
of coral, and a fmall iflet, where great flocks of wild-
ducks, curlews, and fnipes refided. We received feveral
refrefements from the natives, which our friendly old lady
endeavoured to procure. After we had amufed ourfelves
for fome time with (hooting, we croffed the hills in another
direction, and paffmg through a fine valley, well inhabited,
and rich in all forts of plantations, we came to the woman’s
dwelling on the fea feore. Here we found an old man,
her hufeand, and a large family, fome of whom were
grown up. She treated us with dewed fowls, bread-fruit,
and coco-nuts, and then fent us in her own canoe to the
feip, which lay about five miles off by fea, but at leaft twice
as far by land. There was a kind of afliduity to ferve us
V ol.II. R , in '