1769. We proceeded on foot till we came to the diftrict which
--V-— 1 was immediately under the government of the principal
/ ' Chief, or King of the peninfula, Waheatua. Waheatua
had a fon, but whether, according to the cuftom of Opou-
reonu, he adminiftered the government as regent, or in his
own right is uncertain. This diftriCt confifts of a large and
fertile plain, watered by a river fo wide, that we were
obliged to ferry over it in a canoe; our Indian train, however,
chofe to fwim, and took to the water with the fame
facility as a pack of hounds. In this place we faw no houfe
that appeared to be inhabited, but the ruins of many, that
had been very large. We proceeded along the fhore, which
forms a bay, called Oaitipeha, and at laft we found the
Chief fitting near fome pretty canoe awnings, under which,
we fuppofed, he and his attendants llept. He was a thin
old man, with a very white head and beard, and had with
him a comely woman, about five and twenty years old,
whofe name was Toudidde'. We had often heard the name
of this woman, and, from report and obfervation, we had
reafon to think that flie was the Oberea of this peninfula.
From this place, between which and the ifthmus there' are
other harbours, formed by the reefs that lie along the fhore,
where fhipping may lie in perfect fecurity, and from whence
the land trends S. S. E. and S. to theS.E. part of the ifland,
we were accompanied by T earee, the fon of Waheatua, of
whom we had purchafed a hog, and the country we palled
through appeared to be more cultivated than any we had feen
in other parts of the illand 1 the brooks were every where
v banked into narrow channels with flone, and the fhore had
alfo a facing of Hone, where it was waflied by the fea. The
houfes were neither large nor numerous, but the canoes that
were hauled up along the fhore were almoft innumerable,
and fuperior to any that we had feen before, both in fizeand
make;
make; they were longer, the fterns were higher, and the ySpawnings
were fupported by pillars. At almoft every point >——-----
th, ere 6w as a fepulchral building, and there were many orc Tuefday 2?-
them alfo in land. They were of the fame figure as thofe in
Opoureonu, but they were cleaner and better kept, and decorated
with many carved boards, which were fet upright,
and on the top of which were various figures of birds and
men: on one in particular, there was.the reprefentation of’ •
a cock, which was painted red and yellow, to imitate the feathers
of that animal, and rude images of men were, in fome
of them, placed one upon the head of another. But in this
part o f the country, however fertile and cultivated, we did
not fee a Angle bread-fruit; the trees were entirely bare, and
the inhabitants feemed to fubfift principally upon nuts which
are not unlike a chefnut, and which they call Ahee-.
When we had walked till we were weary, we called up
the boat, but both our Indians, Tituboalo andTuahow, were
miffing: they had, it feems, flayed behind at Waheatua’s, expecting
us to return thither, in confequence of a promife
which had been extorted from us, and which we had it not
in our power to fulfil.
Tearee, however, and another, embarked with us, and we-
proceeded till we came a-breaft of a fmall ifland called
Otooareite ,- it being then dark, we determined to- land,
and our Indians conducted us to a place where they faid we
might fleep: it was a deferted houfe, and near it was a little
cove, in which the boat might lie with great fafety and convenience.
We were, however, in want of provifions, having
been very fparingly fupplied fince we fet out; and Mr.
Banks immediately went into the woods-to-fee whether any
could be procured. As it was dark, he met with net people,,
and could find but one houfe that was inhabited : a bread7
fruit