November ^o n '; anc^ formed fuch improper connections there; that
>— a— -» Otoo, who was, at firft, much difpofed to countenance him,
. afterward openly expreffed his diflike o f him, on account o f
his conduit. It was not, however, too late to recover his
fa v o u r ; and he m igh t have fettled, to great advantage, in
Otaheite, as he had forme rly lived feveral years there, and
was n ow a good deal noticed by Towha, whofe valuable
prefent, o f a ve ry la rge double canoe, we have feen above.
T h e objection to admitting h im to fome rank would have
alfo been m u ch leffened, i f he had fixed at Otaheite; as a
native w ill always find it more difficult to accomplifh fuch
a change o f ftate amongft his countrymen, than a ftranger,
Who naturally claims refpeCt. But Omai remained undetermined
to the lafi\ and would not, I believe, have adopted
m y plan o f fettlement in Huaheine, i f I had not fo explicitly
refufed to employ force in refioring him to his father’s
poffeffions. Whether the remains o f his European wea lth ,
w hich, after all his improvident wafte, was ftill confider-
able, w ill be more prudently adminiitered by him, or whe ther
the fteps I took, as already explained, to infure him
protection in Huaheine, iha ll have proved effectual, muft be
left to the decifion o f future navigators o f this Ocean ; with
whom it cannot but be a principal objeCt o f curiofity to trace
the future fortunes o f our traveller. At prefent, I can only
conjecture, that his greateft danger w ill arife from the very
impolitic declarations o f his antipathy to the inhabitants o f
B o lab o la .' For thefe people, from a principle o f jea lo u fy ,
w ill, no doubt, endeavour to render him obnoxious to thofe
o f H u ahe in e ; as they are at peace with that ifland at prefent,
and may eafily effeCt their defigns, many o f them
liv in g there. T h is is a circumflahce, w hich, o f all'others,
he might, the moil eafily, have avoided. For they were not
S " only
only free from any averfion to him, but the perfon, men- j f f f -
tioned before, whom w e found at Tiaraboo as an ambaf- N0V-.mber?
fador, prieft, or God, abfolutely offered to reinftate him in
the property that was formerly his father’s. But he refufed
this peremptorily; and, to the very lafl, continued deter- °
mined to take the firft opportunity that offered o f fatisfying
his revenge in battle. T o this, I guefs, he is not a little fpur-
red by the coat o f mail he brought from England ; clothed
in which, and in pofleffion o f fome fire-arms, he fancies
that he ihall be invincible.
Whatever faults belonged to Omai’s character, they were
more than overbalanced by his great good nature and do,-
cile difpofition. D u rin g the whole time he was with me, I
ve ry feldom had reafon to be ferioufly difpleafed with his
general conduCl., His g rate fu l heart always retained the
higheft fenfe o f the favours he had received in En g lan d ;
nor w ill he ever forget thofe who honoured him with their
protection and friendfhip, d uring his flay there. He had a
tolerable fhare o f underftanding, but wanted application
and perfeverance to exert it; fo that his kn owledge o f things
was very general, and, in many inftances, imperfeCt. H e
was not a man o f much obfervation. The re were many
u fe fu l arts, as w e ll as elegant amufements, amongft the
people o f the Friendly Iflands, w h ich he m igh t have conveyed
to his own ; where the y probably would have been
readily adopted, as being fo much in their own way. But
I never found that he ufed the leaft endeavour to make
h im fe lf mafter o f any one. This kind o f indifference is,
indeed, the charaCteriftic foible o f his nation. Europeans
have vifited them, at times, for thefe. ten years paft; y e t
we could not difcover the flighteft trace o f any attempt to
profit b y this intercourfe; nor have they hitherto copied
a fte r