C H A P . H
Conference with Towha.— Heevas defcribed.-— Ornai and
Oedidee give Dinners.— Fireworks exhibited.— A remarkable
Prefent o f Cloth.— Manner o f preferving the
, Body o f a dead Chief.-— Another human Sacrifice.—
Riding on Horfeback.— Qtoo s Attention to fitpply Pro-
vifions, and prevent Thefts.— Animals given to him.——
Etary, and the Deputies o f a Chief have Audiences.—
A Mock-fight o f Two IVar Canoes.— N aval Strength
o f thefe Ifiands.— Manner of conducing a W ar.
*777. H P H E clofe o f the very Angular fcene, exhibited at the
September^ mora\i which I have fa ith fu lly defcribed in the laft
Chapter, lea vin g us no other bufinefs in Attahooroo, we
Tuefday 2. embarked about noon, in order to return to Matavai ; and,
in our way, vifited T owh a, who had remained on the little
ifland, where we met him the day before. Some converfa-
tion palled between Otoo and him, on the prefent pofture o f
public affairs ; and then the latter folicited me, once more,
to jo in them in their war againft Eimeo. By my poiitive re-
fu fa l I entirely loft the good graces o f this Chief.
Before we parted, he afked us, i f thè folemniry, at which,
we had been prefent, anfwered our expectations ; what opinion
we had o f its efficacy ; and whether we performed fuch
acts o f worfhip in our own country? During the celebration
o f the horrid ceremony, we had prèferved a profound
filence ;
lilence ; but as foon as it was clofed, had made no fcruple g
in exprefling our fentiments v e ry fre e ly about it, to Otoo, <— „— i
and thofe who attended him ; o f courfe, therefore, I did not
conceal m y deteftation o f it, in this converfation w ith
Towha. Beiides the cruelty o f the bloody cuftom, I llron gly
urged the unreafonablenefs o f i t ; telling the Chief, that
fuch a facrifice, far from m a k in g the Eat.ooa propitious to
their nation, as they ignorantly believed, would be the
m e an s ,o f drawing down his v en gean ce; and that, from
this very circumftance, I took upon me to ju d g e, that their
intended expedition againft Maheine wou ld be un fucce fsful.
T h is \yas ventu ring pretty fa r upon conjedture; but ftill,
I thought, that there was little danger o f being miftaken.
For I found, that there were three parties in the ifland, w ith
regard to this war-; one extremely violent .for i t ; another
perfectly indifferent about the matter; and the third openly
declaring themfelves friends' to Maheine, and his caufe.
Under thefe circumftances, o f difunion diftrafting their
councils, it was not lik e ly that fuch a plan o f military operations
would be fettled, as could infure even a probability
o f fuccefs. In conveying our fentiments to Towha,
on the fubjedt o f the late facrifice, Omai was made ufe o f
as our inte rpre ter; and he entered into our arguments
w ith fo much fpirit, that the C h ie f feemed to be in grea t
wrath ; ' efpecially w hen he was told, that i f he had put a
man to death in England, as he had done here, his rank
would not have protected him from b e in g hanged for
it. Upon this, he exclaimed, maeno! maeno! [vile ! vile!.]
and would not hear another word. Du rin g this debate,
many o f the natives were prefent, chiefly the attendants
and fervants o f T ow h a h im fe lf; and when Omai began
to explain the puniihment that would be inflidted in
3 England,