1777- I had feen at Tongataboo, during my laft voyage ; and who
«— ' was then fuppofed by us to be the King of that ifland. He
fat in the canoe, with all that gravity, by which, as I have
■ mentioned in my Journal *, he was fo remarkably diftin-
guilhed at that time; nor could I, by any intreaties, prevail
■upon him now to come into the ihip. Many of the iflanders
were prefent; and they all called him Areekee, which fignifies
King. I had never heard any one of them give this title to
Feenou, however extenfive his authority over them, both
here, and at Annamooka, had appeared to be; which had,
all along, inclined me to fufpeft, that he was not the King;
though his friend Taipa had taken pains to make me believe
he was, Latooliboula remained under the Hern till
the evening, when he retired in his canoe to one of the
iflands. Feenou was on board my lhip at the fame time
but neither of thefe great men took the leaft notice o f the-
other.
Tiurfday22. Nothing material happened the next day, except that fome
of the natives Hole a tarpaulin, and other things, from off
the deck. They were foon milled, and the thieves purfued
* Sec Captain G'ooF's '‘Fojage; Vol. i. p. 206, 207, The name o f this extraordinary
peribnage is there faid to be Kobagee-too Falldngou.; which cannot, by the mod ikil-
ful ctymologifl, be tortured into the leaft moft diftant refembla-nee of Latooliboula.,, It
ib remarkable, that Captain Cook iho.uld not take any notice of his having .called the.
fame perfon by two names fo very different. Perhaps we may account for this by
fuppofmg one to be the name of the perfon;. and the other the defcription of his title-
or rank. This fuppoiition feems well founded, when we confider, that:Latoo, in the
languageof thefe people, is fometimes ufed to fignify a Great Chief; and Dr. Fofter,.
in his Observations^ p. 3.78, 379. and elfewhere,, fpeaks of the fovereign of Tonga-
taboo, under the title of their Latoo. This very perfon is called,, by Dr.- Fdfter,
p. 370. Latoo-Nipooroo; which furnilhes a very Unking inftance of the' variations
. of our people in writing down the fame word as pronounced by the natives. However,
we' can eafily trace the affinity between Nipooroo and Liboula, as the changes of
the conforiants are fuch as are perpetually made, upon hearing a word pronounced," to
which our ears have hot been accuftomed. Mr. Anderfon here agrees with Captain
- Cook in writing Latooliboula.
but a little too late. I applied, therefore, to Feenou, who, iT7-
i f he was not king, was at leaft veiled with the higheft ■ M?y' .-
authority here, to exert it,, in order to have my things re-
ftored. He referred me to Earoupa ; who put me off, from
time to time; and, at laft, nothing was done.
In the morning of the 23d, as we were going to unmoor, in Friday 23.
order to leave the ifland, Feenou, and his prime-minifter
Taipa, came along-fide in a failing canoe, and informed me,
that they were fetting out for Vavaoo, an ifland, which, they
faid, lids about two days fail to the Northward of Hapaee.
The objeft of their voyage, they would have me believe,
was to get for me ah additional fupply of hogs, and fome
Ted-feathered caps for Omai, to carry to Otaheitc, where
they are in high efteem. Feenou affured me, that he ihould
be back in four or five days ; and defired me not to fail till
his return, when, he promifed, he Would accompany me
to Tongataboo. I thought this a good opportunity to get
fome knowledge of Vavaoo, and propofed to him to go
thither with the fliips. But he feemed not to approve of
the plan; and, by way of diverting me from it, told me,
that there was neither harbour, nor anchorage about it.
I, therefore, confented to wait, in my prefent ftation, for
his return ; and he immediately fet out.
The next day, our attention was, for fome time, taken saturJayz^
up with a report, induftrioully fpread about by fome of
the natives, that a ihip, like ours, had arrived at Annamooka
fince we left i t ; and was now at anchor there. The
propagators of the report were pleafed to add, that Toobou,
the Chief of that ifland, was baftening thither to receive
thefe new-comers; and as we knew that he had actually
left us, we Were the more ready to believe there might be <
L 1 2 fome