1777-' to him, he did not fa il to rife up and accofl hinij as w e ll as
he could.
We alfo found here, the y o u n g man w hom w e called
Oedidee, but wbofe real name is Heete-heete. I had carried
h im from Ulietea in 1773, and brou ght h im ba ck in 17747
a fter he had vifited the Friendly Illands, New Zealand,
Eafter Wand, and the Marquefes, and' been on board m y
fhip, in that extenfive navigation, about feven months. H e
•was, at leaft, as tenacious o f his good breeding, as the man
w h o had been at Lima 7 and yes, Sir, or i f you pleafi, Sir,.
were as frequen tly repeated b y him, as ft Sennor, was by
the other; Heete-heete, w ho is a native o f Bolabola, had
arrived in Otaheire, about three months before, w ith no
e th er intention, that we could learn, th an to g ra tify his cu-
riofity,- or, perhaps, fome other favourite p'affion; w h ich
are, ve ry often, the only objects o f the purfuit o f other
trave lling gentlemen. It was evident, however, that he:
preferred the modes, and even garb, o f his couiitrymen, to
©urS. Eor, though I gave him fome clothes, w h ich our
Admiralty Board had been pleafed to fend for his ufe (to
w hich I added a cheft o f tools, and a few other articles, as-
a prefent from m y fe lf), he de clined w ea rin g them, a fte r a:
few days. This inftance, and that o f the perfon who had
been at Lima, may be urged as a proof o f the ilrong pio»
penfity. n atu ral to man, o f returning to habits acquired at
an early age, and only interrupted by accident. And, perhaps,
it ma y be eoncluded, that even Omai, w ho had imbibed
almoft the whole Englifh manners, w ill, in a ve ry
fhort time after our leaving him, lik e Oedidee, and the vL-
fiter o f Lima, return to his own native garments.
Wednef, 27. Iti the morning o f the 27th, a man came from Oheite-
oeha, and told us, that two Spaniih ihips had anchored in
v that
that bay tire night before 5 and, in confirmation o f this intelligence,
he produced a piece o f coarfe blue cloth, which,
he faid, he got out o f one o f the ihips ; and which, indeed,
to appearance, was almoft quite new. He added, that Ma-
teema was in one o f the {hips *, and that they were to Come
down to Matavai in a day or two. Some other circum-
flances w h ich he mentioned, with the fo regoing ones, gave
the ftory fo much the air o f truth, that I difpatched Lieutenant
Williamfon in a boat, to look into Oheitepeha b a y ; and,
in the mean time, I put the ihips into a proper pofture o f
defence. For, though England and Spain were in peace
w h en I le ft Europe, for au gh t I kn ew , a different Jcene
might, b y this time, have opened. However, on farther in q
u iry, w e had reafon to think that the fe llow , w ho brought
the inte lligence , had impofed upon u s ; and this was put
beyond all doubt, when Mr. Williamfon returned next day ; Thurfdaj•*.
w h o made bis report to me, that he had been at Oheitepeha,
and found that no ihips were there now, and that none had
been there iince we le ft it. T h e people o f this part o f the
iiland, where we now were, indeed, told us, from the beg
in n ing , that it was a fiilion invented by thofe o f Tiaraboo.
But what view they could have, w e were at a lofs to conceive,
unlefs they Bippofed, that the report would have fome effeft
in m a k in g u s quit the iiland, and, by that means, deprive the
people o f Otaheite-nooe o f the advantages they migh t reap
from our ihips continuing th e r e ; the inhabitants o f the
two parts o f the iiland b e in g inveterate enemies to each
other.
From the time o f our arrival at Matavai, the weather had Friday
been very unfettled, w ith more or leTs rain every day, till
the 29th; before which we were not able to ge t equal altitudes
o f the fun fo r afcertaining the g o in g o f the time-
E 2 keeper.