1777* that deferves tb be mentioned. Not that I believe their m o
September.^ ^ jg refpedt, to be much mended; but am. rather.of
opinion^ tha t their re gu lar ity o f conduit was ow in g to the.
fear, the Chiefs were under, o f interrupting a traffic which;
the y migh t confider as the means o f fecuring. to themfelves
a more confiderable ffiare o f our commodities, than could
have been got by plunder or pilfering. Indeed, this pointer
fettled at the firil interview w ith their Chiefs, after my arrival.
For, obferving the great plenty that was in the iiland,
and the eagernefs o f the natives to poffefs our various articles
o f trade, I refolved to make the mod o f thefe two
favourable circumftances, and explained m y felf, in the moft
decifive terms, that; I would not fuffer them to rob us, as
the y had done upon many former occafions. In this, Omai
w a s o f great ufe, as I inftr.udled him to point out to them
the good confequences o f their honeit c o n d u it ; and the
fata l mifchiefs they muft expeit to fuffer by devia tin g
from it.
It is not always in the power o f the Chiefs to prevent robbe
ries; the y are frequ en tly robbed th emfelve s; and complain
o f it as a great e v il- Otoo le ft the moil valuable
thin gs he had from me, in my poffeffion, till the day be fore
we failed ; and the reafon he gave for it was, that they were
no where fo fafc Since- the b rin g in g in- o ff new riches, the
inducements to pilfering m u d have increafed. T h e Chiefs,
fenfible o f this, are now extremely defirous o f cheffs. T h e y
feemed to fet much value upon a few that the Spaniards had
le ft amongil them ; an d they were continually afk ing us
fo r fome. I had one- made for Otoo, the dimeniions o f
w h ich , according to his own direftions, were eight feet in
length, five in breadth, and about three in depth. Locks
and bolts were not a fufficient fe c u r ity ; but it muft be large
r ■ enough
•enough fo r two people to deep upon, b y w a y o f gu arding
it in the night. 1— «— ->
It w ill appear a little extraordinary, that we, w ho had a
fmattering o f their lan g u a g e , and Omai, befides, fo r a n '
interpreter, could never ge t any d e a r account o f the time
w hen the Spaniards arrived, how lo n g they flayed, and
when they departed. T h e more we in qu ired "into this matter,
the more w e were convinced o f the inability o f moft
o f thefe people to remember, or note the time, when paft
events hap pened ; efpecially if it exceeded ten or twenty
months. It, however, appeared, b y the date o f the infcrip-
tion upon the crofs, and by tlie information we received
from the moft in te lligent o f the,natives, that two fhips arrived
at Oheitepeha in 1774, foen after I le ft Matavai, w h ich
was in May, the fame year. T h e y brou ght w ith them the
houfe. and live flock, before mentioned. Some faid, that,
a fte r landing thefe things, a n d fome men, they failed in
-queft o f me, and returned in about ten days. But I have
fom e doubt o f the truth o f this, as the y were never feen,
either at Huaheine, or at Ulietea. T h e live flock they le ft
.here, confifted o f one bu ll, fome goats, hogs, and dogs,
and the male o f fome other a n im a l; w hich we afterward
fo u n d to be a ram, and, a t this time, was at Bolabola, whither
the b u ll was alfo to have been tranfported.
The hogs are .o f a large k in d ; have already greatly im proved
the breed o rig ina lly found b y us upon the ifland;
and, at the time ,o f our late arrival, were ve ry numerous.
Goats are, alfo, in tolerable plenty, there being h a rd ly a
C h ie f o f any note who has not got fome. As to the dogs
that the Spaniards put affiore, w hich are o f two or three
forts, I think they would have done the iiland a great deal
more ferviee, i f they had hanged them all, inftead o f leav-
L 2 i o g