,ol&oL. fev®ral other fmall pieces and tufts o f red feathers were pre-
— .— j fented. Each article was laid before one o f the company,
who, I underftood, was a prieft, and was delivered with a
let fpeech or prayer, fpoken by one o f Omai’s friends, who
fat b y him, but moftly diftated by himfe lf. In thefe. prayers,
he did not forget his friends in England, nor thofe who had
brou ght him fafe back. T he Earee rahie no Pretane, Lord
Sandwich, Poote, Tatee*, were mentioned in every one o f
them. When Omai’s offerings and prayers were finifhed,
the prieft took each article, in the fame order in w h ich it
had been laid before him, and after repeating a prayer, fent
it to the morai; which, as Omai told us, was at a great
• diftance, otherwife the offerings would have been made
¡there.
The fe religious ceremonies h a vin g been performed, Omai
fat down b y me, and we entered upon bufinefs, by g iv in g
■the y ou n g C h ie f my prefent, and receiving his in return,;
and, all things conlidered, they were liberal enough, on
both lides. Some arrangements were next agreed upon, as
to the manner o f carryin g on the intercourfe betwixt u s ;
an d I pointed out the mifchievous confequences that would
attend their robbing us, as they had done d uring m y former
-vifits. Omai’s eftabliihment was then propofed to the af-
fembled Chiefs.
He acquainted them, “ T ha t he had been carried by us
into our country, where he was well received by the great
K in g and his Earees, and treated with every mark o f regard
and affeftion, while he ftaid amongft us ; that he had been
brought back again, enriched, by our liberality, with a variety
o f articles, w hich would prove very u fe fu l to his
* Cook and Clerke.
countrycountrymen
; and that,, befides the two horfes which were '777-
v t O fto b e r
to remain w ith him, leveral other new and valuable ani- ^
mais had been le ft at Otaheite, w hich wou ld foon multip ly,
and fu rn iih a fufficient number for the ufe o f all the iflands
in the neighbourhood. He then fignified to them; that it:
was m y earneft requeft, in return for all m y friendly offices,
that they would g iv e him a piece o f land, to build a houfe
upon, and to raife provifions fo r h im fe lf and fervants ; addin
g , that, i f this could not,be obtained for him in Huaheine,.
either by- g ift or by purchafe, I was determined to' carry him.
to Ulietea, and fix him there.” "
Perhaps I have here made a better fpeech for m y friend^,
than he actually delivered ; but thefe were the topics I dictated
to him. I obferved, that what he concluded with,
about carrying him to Ulietea, feemed to meet with the a p -
probation o f all the Chiefs ; and I inftantly faw the reafon.
©mai had, as I have- already mentioned, va in ly flattered
himfelf, that I meant to ufe forcé in reftoring him to his-
father’s lands in Ulietea, and he had talked idly, and w ith out
any authority from me, on this fubjetft, to fome o f the-
prefent a flembly; who dreamed o f nothing lefs than a hof-
tile invafion o f Ulietea, .an d o f being affifted by me to drive 1
the Bolabola men out o f that ifiand. It was o f confequence,
therefore, that I fhould undeceive them.; and, in order to
this, I fignified, in the moft peremptory manner, that I neither
would affift them in fu ch an enterprize, nor fuffèr it to
be put in execution, w h ile I was in their feas ; and that, i f
Omai fixed- h im fe lf in Ulietea, he muff bo introduced as a<
friend, and not forced upon the Bolabola men as their
conqueror.
This declaration gave a new turn to the fentiments o f the-
council. One o f the Chiefs immediately exprefied h im fe lf
COM