Aogl i t^’°^e little houfes, or awnings, be lon gin g to their la rge
t— ,— j canoes. Perhaps, it had orig ina lly been employed for that
purpofe. It was covered, and h u n g round, w ith cloth and
mats o f different colours, fo as to have a pretty effeéh
The re was one piece o f fcarlet broad-cloth, fo u r or five
yards in len gth, confpicuous amongft the other ornaments 3
w h ich , no doubt, had been a prefent from the Spaniards,
T h is cloth, and a few taffels o f feathers, w h ich our Gen*
tlemen fuppofed to be filk, fuggefted to them the idea o f a
chap el; fo r whatever elfe was w an tin g to create a refem-
blance, their imagination fupplied ; and i f they had not.
previoufly known, that there had been Spaniards lately
here, they could not poffibly have made the mifiake. Small
offerings o f fru it and roots feemed to be daily made at this
ihrine, as fome pieces were quite frefli. The fe were depo-
fited upon a whatta, or altar, which flood without the p a lli-
fades ; and within thefe w e were not permitted to enter. T w o
men conftantly attended, night and day, not only to watch,
over the place, but alfo to drefs and undrefs the toopapaoo.
For when I firft went to furvey it, the cloth and its appendages
were all rolled u p ; bur, at m y requeft, the two attendants
h u n g it out in order, firft drelfing themfelves in
clean white robes. T h e y told me, that the C h ie f had been
dead twenty months.
Having taken in a freih fupply o f water, and finiihed a ll
Friday 22. our other neceffary operations, on the 22d, I brought o ff the
cattle and fheep, w hich had been put on fliore here to graze ;
and made ready for fea.
Saturday 23. In the morning o f the 23d, while the fhips were unmoorin
g, Omai and I landed, to take leave o f the yo u n g C h ie f,
While we were w ith him, one o f thofe. enthufiaftic perfons,
3 w h om
whom they call Eatooas, from a perfuafion that th e y are *777.’
poffeffed w ith the fpirit o f the divinity, came and flood be- ■ All£u‘t'.r
fore us. He had a ll the appearance o f a man not in his
r ig h t fen fe s ; and his on ly drefs was a large quantity o f
plantain leaves, wrapped round his waift. He fpoke in a
low , fq u e a k io g voice, fo as hardly to be underftood; at
leafl, not b y me. But Omai faid, that he comprehended
h im perfectly, and that he was advifing Waheiadooa hot to
g o with me to M a ta v a i; an expedition w hich I had never
heard that he intended, nor had I ever made fuch a propofal
to him. T h e Eatooa alfo foretold, that the fhips would not
g e t to Matavai that day. But in this he was m ifta k en ;
though appearances n ow rather favoured his prediction,
there not being a breath o f wind in any direction. While
he was prophefying, there fe ll a ve ry heavy ihower o f rain,
w h ich made every one run fo r fhelter, but himfelf, who
feemed not to regard it. He remained fqueaking, by us,
about h a lf an hour, and then retired. No one paid any attention
to what he uttered ; though fome laughed at him.
I afked the Chief, what he was, whether an Earee, or a Toiv-
tow ? and the anfwer I received was, that he was taata eno;
that is, a bad man. And yet, notwithftanding this, and the
little notice any o f the natives feemed to take o f the mad
prophet, fuperftition has fo far got the better o f their reafon,
that they firmly believe fuch perfons to be poffeffed with the
fpirit o f the Eatooa. Omai feemed to be very w e ll inftruifed
about them. He faid, that, during the fits that come upon
them, they kn ow nobody, not even their moft intimate acquaintances
; and that, i f any one o f them happens to be a
man o f property, he w ill very often g iv e aw a y every move-
able he is poffeffed of, i f his friends do not put them out o f
his r e a c h ; and, when he recovers, w ill inquire what had
D 2 become