January. Bounty, fliould have become fo infatuated as to facrifice their country,
— —1 their honor, and their lives, to any female attachments at Otaheite,
The objefts o f their particular regard, by whom they have children, we
frequently faw. Whatever fuperiority they may be entitled to from their
mental accomplilhments, we had no opportunity o f afcertaining; but
with refpeft to their perfonal attractions, they were certainly not fuch
as we Ihould have imagined could poflibly have tempted Englifhmen to
lo unpardonable a breach of their duty; nor were any o f the women
they (elected, perfons o f the lealt power or confequence in the illand.
The European animals and plants depolited here by Captain Cook,
'and other navigators, with the hope of their future increale, I have al-.
ready had occalion to regret, had been almoll intirbly deltroyed in the
late conflifis o f the contending parties. My concern at this circum-
ftance was greatly augmented, not only by my having little in my power
with which I could replace them, but in the confidence of their
now fucceeding could I have furniflied a fupp ly; as the recent alteration
which has taken place in the government, afforded reafonable
grounds to believe that, whatever I might have bellowed on the prefent
occafion, would have been carefully protected. T o the race o f animals,
I could add but two Cape geefe and a gander. We planted fome vine
cuttings that had flourilhed extremely well on board; with fome orange
and lemon trees ; and an affortment of garden feeds; but as nature has
been fo very bountiful in the variety of vegetables fhe has bellowed on
this country, the natives feem to poffefs little defire for any addition;
and, i f a judgment is to be formed, by the deplorable Hate in which we
found the feveral fpots where foreign plants and feeds had been deposited,
we had little reafon to be fanguine in the fuccefs o f our gardening.
Nor do I believe fuch attempts will ever fucceed until fome Europeans
lhall remain on the illand, and, by the force o f their example»
excite in the inhabitants a defire o f cultivating the foil by their manual
labour, to which at prefent they are almoll llrangers.
The ava, and the cloth plant in a fmall proportion, are the only vegetables
which the Otaheiteans take the leall trouble to cultivate. Some
few indifferent lhaddocks, a little tolerably good maize, a few pods o f the
capficon,
capficon, and fome very coarfe radifhes, were the only productions I
faw from the various and numerous vegetable exotics, that, from time 1
to time, have been introduced into this illand.
The milk o f goats not having been appropriated to any ule, and the
animal not being fufficiently fat for the talle o f thele people, they have
fallen into difrepute, and become fcarce. I colleCled, however, a fuffi-
cient number to ellablilh a breed o f thofe animals on the Sandwich
illands, in cafe I Ihould there find them acceptable to the inhabitants.
The few allronomical and nautical obfervations, here.made, tending
only to our own ufeful and neceffary purpofes, will conclude our tranf-
aClions at Otaheite, and are as under, viz.
Eighteen lets o f meridian obfervations of the zenith
dillances of the fun and liars, gave the latitude o f the obfervatory
by their mean refult - 17° 30' 20"
Its longitude, by the chronometer, allowing the Dufky
bay rate, to the 19th of January at noon - - 209° 58'
Its longitude to the fame time, allowing the Portfmouth
rate - - - - - ' - '211° 18'
Its longitude by eighteen fets of dillances, by my fex-
tants, of C 4 0 , e a llo f her - 210° 31' 53"
Its true longitude, as determined by Captain Cook 210° 24' 15"
By our obfervations made at the obfervatory the full day, viz. the
7th of january, on allowing the Dulky bay rate, the chronometer gave
the longitude 209° 55' 45", from which day to the lgth inllant mclufive,
being twelve days obfervations o f equal altitudes, it was found gaining
at the rate of 4" 2"' per day, and fall of mean time at Greenwich, on
the 20th at noon, 31'42" 46"'. Allowing the chronometer this error,
and the above rate of going fince we difeovered the illand of Oparo,
the difference of the longitude between it and point Venus, will by fuch
means be 50 14'45" well, and confequently its longitude, by that mode
of calculating, would be 215“ 39'; my obfervations however place it in
215°58'2o" ; the mean between the two 215“ 48'40", I Ihould fuppofe
can be liable to little, if any error; and as fuch I lhall adopt it for the
true longitude o f that illand. This is further authorifed on finding, that by
nearly
179s.
January.
_ - y — - t
(