from thè beach. T h e wooden materials, o f which it was
compofed, feemed to have been brou ght hither, ready prepared,
to be fet up occafionally ; fo r all the planks were
numbered. It was divided into two fmall rooms ; and iiv
the inner one were, a bedftead, a table, a bench, fonte old
hats, and other trifles, o f w h ich the natives feemed to be
v e ry careful, as alfo o f the houfe itfelf, w hich had fuffered
no hu rt from the weather, a ihed ha vin g been built over it.
The re w ere fcuttles a ll around, w hich ferved as air holes; and,
perhaps, they were alfo meant to fire from, w ith mufquets,
i f ever this ihould have been found neceflary. At a little
diftance from the front, flood a wooden crofs, on the tranf-
verfe part o f w h ich was Cut the fo llow in g infcription:
Chrijui vincit.
And, on the perpendicular part (w hich confirmed our con-
je& u re , that the two fhips were Spaniih),
Carolus III. imperat. 1774.
Òn the other fide o f the poll, I preferred the memory o f the
prior vifits o f the Englifh, by infcribing,
Georgius tertius Rex%
Annis 1767,
1769» *773» *77 4> & >7 7 7 -
The natives pointed out to us, near the foot o f the crofs,
the grave o f the Commodore o f the two Ihips, who had
died here, while they la y in the bay, the firft time. His
name, as they pronounced it, was Oreede. Whatever the
intentions o f the Spaniards, in vifiting this ifland, m igh t be,
they feemed to have taken great pains to ingratiate them-
felves with the inhabitants ; who, upon every occafion,
mentioned them with the ftrongeft exprefliojis o f efteem
and veneration.
I met with no C h ie f o f any confiderable note on this occafion,
excepting the extraordinary perfonage above de-
fcribed. Waheiadooa, the fovereign o f Tiaraboo (as this
part o f the ifland is called), was now abfent; and, I afterward
found, that he was not the fame perfon, though o f
the fame name with the C h ie f whom I had feen here durin
g m y laft v o y a g e ; but his brother, a boy o f about ten
years o f age, w ho had fucceeded upon the death o f the
elder Waheiadooa, about twenty months before our arrival.
We alfo learned, that the celebrated Oberea was dead; but
that Otoo, and alLour other friends, were liv in g .
When I returned from view in g the houfe and crofs ereft-
cd b y the Spaniards, I found Omai holding forth to a large
company; and it was w ith fome d ifficu lty that he could be
got awa y to accompany me on board ; where I had an im portant
affair to fettle.
As I kn ew that Otaheite, and the neigh b ourin g iflands,
could fu rn iih us with a p len tifu l fupply o f cocoa-nuts, the
liquor o f w hich is an excellent fuccedaneum for any artificial
beverage, 1 was defirous o f prevailing upon m y people to
confent to be abridged, during our flay here, o f their ftated
allowance o f fpirits to mix w ith water. But as this ftop-
page o f a favourite article, without a fligning fome reafon,
m igh t have occafioned a general murmur, I thought it moil
prudent to afiemble the ihip’s company, and to make known
to them the intent o f the voyage, and the extent o f our fu ture
operations. T o induce them to undertake which, with
cheerfulnefs and perfeverance, I took notice o f the rewards
offered, by Parliament, to fuch o f his Majefty’s fubjefts as
{hall firft difcover a communication between the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, in any direftion whatever, in the Northern