>777- carry o ff a fextant, unobferved. As fooh as I was made ac-
OSober. .
» I— -> quainted with the theft, I wen t athore, and got Omai to apply
to the Chiefs, to procure reftitution. He did f o ; but
they took no fteps toward it, being more attentive to a heeva,
that was then a ilin g , till 1 ordered the performers o f the
exhibition to defift. T h e y were now convinced, that I was
in earned, and began to make fome enquiry after the thief,
who was fitting in the midft o f them, quite unconcerned,
infomuch that I was in great doubt o f his being the g u ilty
p e r fo n ; efpecially as he denied it. Omai, however, aft'ur-
in g me that he was the man, I fent him on board the flaip,
and there confined him. T his raifed a general ferment
amongft the afiembled natives ; and the whole body fled, in
fpite o f all my endeavours to flop them. Having employed
Omai to examine the prifoner, w ith fome difficulty he was
brou ght to confefs where he had hid the fex tan t; bur, as it
Tiuirfd>y23, was now dark, we could not find it till da y-light the next
morning, when it was brought back unhurt. After this,
the natives recovered from their fright, and began to gathe r
about us as ufual. And, as to the thief, he appearing to:
be a hardened fcoundrel, I punifhed him more feverely than.
I had ever done any one culprit before. Befides having his-
head and beanl fhaved, I ordered both his ears to be cut
off, and then difmiffed him.
This, however, did not deter him from g iv in g us farther
Saturday25.. trouble; fo r , in the night between-the-24th a n d 2 5 $ , a .ge neral
alarm was fpread, occafioned, as was faid, by one o f
our goats b e in g ftolen by. this very man. On examination,
we found, that all was fafe in that quarter. Probably, the:
goats were fo well guarded, that he could not put his de-
fign in execution. But his hoftilities had fucceeded againft
another objeft;. and it appeared, that he had deftroyed and
carried.
carried o ff feveral vines and cabbage-plants in Omai’s '777-
grounds ; and he publicly threatened to k ill him, and to 1— ^-1!
burn his houfe, as foon as we ihould leave the ifland. To
prevent the fe llow ’s doing me and Omai any more mifchief,
I had him feized, and confined again on board the fliip,
with a view o f carrying him o f f the ifland ; and it feemed
to give general fatisfaclion to the Chiefs, that I meant thus
to difpofe o f him. He was from Bolabola; but there were
too many o f the natives here ready to alfift him in any o f
his defigns, whenever he ihould think o f executing them.
I had a lways met with .more troublefome people in Huaheine,
than in any other o f the n eighbouring iflands ; dnd it was
only fear, and the want o f opportunitied, that induced them to
behave better now. Anarchy feemed to prevail amongft them.
Th e ir nominal fovereign tire Ear'ee rahie, as I have before ob-
ferved, was but a c h i ld ; and I did not find, that there was-
any orte man, or fet o f men, who managed the government
fo r h im ; fb that, whenever any mifunderftanding
happened between us, I never kn ew, with fufficient preci-
fioh; w h e r e tb make application, in order to bring about an
accommodation, or to procure redrefs. T h e youn g C h ie f’s
mother would, indeed, fometimes exert h e rfe lf; but I did
not perceive that ihe had greater authority than many
others.
OmaPs houfe b e in g nearly finifhed, many o f h is moveables
were carried afhord on* the 2fith. Amongft a variety o f Sunday 26,
other ufelefs articles was a bbi' Of toys, which, when ex-
pofed to public view, feemed greatly to pleafe the g a z ing !
multitude. But, as to his pots, kettles, difhes, plates, drink-
ing-mugs, glafles, and the whole train o f our domeftic accomodations,
hardly any one o f his countrymen would fo
much as lo o k at them. Omai him fe lf now began to think:
3 . than