122
1/69- Green returned from this expedition, he faid he had feen a
»---- -— i tree of a fize which he was afraid to relate, it being no lefs
' than fixty yards in circumference; but Mr. Banks and Dr.
Solander foon explained to him, that it was a fpecies. of the
fig, the branches of which, bending down-, take- frefh. root
in the earth, and thus form a congeries of trunks, which
being very clofe to each other, and all joined by a common
vegetation, might eafily be miftaken for One.
Though the market at the fort was' now tolerably fup-
plied, provifions were brought more flowly: a fufficient
quantity ufed to be purchafed' between furl-rife and eight
o’clock, but it was now become nëceffary to attend the great-
eft part of the day. Mr. Banks, therefore, fixed his little
boat up before the door of- the fort, which was o f great ufe
as a place to trade in-; hitherto we had purchafed cocoa-nuts
and bread-fruit for beads; but the market becoming rather
flack in thefe articles, we were now, for the firft. time, forced
to bring out our nails: one of our fmalleft fize,. which was
about four inches long, procured us twenty cocoa-nuts, and
bread-fruit in proportion, fo that in a fhort time our firft
plenty was reftored.
Tuefdayg. On the gth, footi'affir breakfaft, we'received a vifit from
Oberea, being the firff that fhe had made us after the lofs of
our quadrant,- and the unfortunate confinement of Toota-*
hah ; with her came her prefent favourite, Obadée, and Tu--
pia.: they brought m a. hogend fome bread-fruit,'in return
for which We give her a hatchet, ■ We had now afforded our
Indian friends' a new- and intereftifig objeét of curiofity,. our
forge, which having been fet up fome time, was almoft con-
ftantly at1 work. It was now-common for them to bring
pieces of'iron, Which^WeTuppOfed they-iiiuft have got from
the Dolphin, to be nikefe in'to- toolsfof various kinds >• and as
■ ' I was
R O U N D T H E WORLD.
I was very defirous to gratify them, they were indulged, ex- 1769.
cept when the fmith’s time was too precious to be fpared. ■ May' .
Oberea having received her hatchet, produced as much old ’FW®*y 9‘
iron as would have made another, with a requeft that another
might be made of it: in this, however, I could not gratify
her, upon which fhe brought out a broken ax, and de-
fired it might be mended; I was glad of an opportunity to
compromife the difference between us : her ax was mended,
and fhe appeared to be content. They went away at night,
and took with them the canoe, which had been a confide-
rable time at the point, but promifed to return in three
days.
On the 10th, I put fome feeds of melons and other plants Wedncf. IC.
into a fpot of ground which had been turned up for the
purpofe; they had all been fealed up by the perfon o f whom
they were bought, in fmall bottles with rofin ; but none of
them came up except muftard ; even the cucumbers and melons
failed, and Mr. Banks is of opinion that they were fpoiled
by the total exclufion o f frefh air.
This day we learnt the Indian name-of the ifland, which is
O tah e ite , and by that name I fhall hereafter diftinguifh it:
but after great pains taken we found it utterly impoffible to
teach the Indians to pronounce our namesp we had, therefore,
new names, confiding of fuch founds as they produced
in the attempt. They called me Tooter, Mr. Hicks, Hetc-,
Molineux they renounced in abfolute defpair, and called the
Matter Roba, from his Chriftian name Robert; Mr. Gore was
Toarroj Dr.. Solander, Tora.no-, and Mr. Banks, Tapane-, Mr..
Green, Eteree-, Mr. Parkinfon, Pathn; Mr. Sporing, Politii ;-
Peterfgill, Petrodero; and in this manner they had now
formed names for almoft every man in the fhip: in fome,
however, it was not eafy to find any traces of the-original,.
Vov. ii. R | . and