September. two ^vinS hogs, and a quantity o f bread-fruit, and cocoa-
>— - v— < nuts, were put into a canoe, and fent on board my ihip,
followed by m y felf, and all the royal family.
Friday 5. T h e fo llow in g evening, a youn g ram, o f the Cape breed,
that had been lambed, andy w ith great care, brought up
on board the Ihip, was killed by a dog. Incidents are o f
more or lefs confequence, as conneited w'ith fituation. In
ourprefent fituation, defirous as I was to propagate this ufe-
fu l race, amongft thefe iflands, the lofs o f the ram was a
ferious m is fo rtun e ; as it was the only one I had o f that
breed ; and I had Only one o f the En gliih breed left.
Su n d a y 7. In the evening o f the 7th, w e played o ff fome fireworks
before a great concourfe o f people. Some were h ig h ly entertained
with the e xh ib ition ; but b y fa r the greater n umber
o f fpe&ators were terribly fr ig h ten ed ; infomuch, that
it was with difficulty we could prevail upon them to keep
together, to fee the end o f the ihew. A table-rocket was
the laft. It flew o ff the table, and difperfed the whole
crowd in a m om en t; even the moft refolute among them
fled with precipitation.
Monday 8. T h e next day, a party o f us dined with- our former ihip-
mate, Oedidee, on fifh and pork. T h e hog w eighed about
thirty pounds ; and it may be worth mentioning, that it was
alive, dreffed, and brought upon the table, within the hour.
W e had but juft dined, when Otoo came, and aiked me, i f
m y belly was fu ll? On my anfwering in the affirmative, he
faid, " Then, come along with me.” I, accordingly, went
with him to his father’s, where I found fome people-
employed in dreffing two girls with a prodigious quantity o f
fine cloth, after a very Angular faffiion. T h e one end o f each
piece o f cloth, o f which there were a good many, was held
tip.
up over the heads o f the girls, while the remainder was *777■
wrapped round their bodies, un de i the arm-pits. Then the ,SepKmbef;
upper ends were let fall, and h u n g down in folds to the
ground, oyer the other, fo as to bear fome refemblance, to
a circular hoop-petticoat. Afterward, round the outfide o f
all, were wrapped feveral pieces o f differently coloured
cloth, w h ich confiderably increafed the fize ; fo that it was
not lefs than five or fix yards in circuit, and the w e igh t o f
this. lingular attire was as much as the poor girls could fup -
port. To, each were h u n g two taames, or breaft-plates, by
w ay of. enriching the whole, and g iv in g it a pifturefque
appearance. T h u s equipped, they were conducted on board
the Ihip, together with feveral hogs, and a quantity o f
fru it, which, with the cloth, was a prefent to me from
Otoo’s father. Perfons, o f either fex, dreffed in this manner,
are called atee ■, but, I believe, it is never praftifed, except
when large prefents o f cloth are to be made. At leaft,
I never faw it praiSfifed upon any other occafion; nor, intieed,
had I ever fuch a prefent before; but both Captain Clerke and
I had cloth given to us afterward, thus wrapped round the
bearers. The next day, I had a prefent o f five h o g s , and Tuefday.j.
fome fruit, from Otoo; and one hog, and fome fru it, from
each q f his lifters. Nor were other provifions wanting. For
twq or three days, great quantities o f mackerel had been
caught by the natives, within the reef, in feines ; fome o f
which they brought to the ihips and tents, and fold.
Otoo was not more attentive to fupply our wants, by a
fucceffion o f prefents, than he was to contribute to our
amufement, b y a fucceffion o f diverfions. A party o f us
having gone down to Oparrc, on the 10th, he treated us wed„ef. I0.
with what may be called a play. His three filters were the
a ftreffes; and the dreffes, that they appeared in, were new
H z and