1777* T he confequenee, however, o f the prifoners was fo great,.
, _ _ that the natives did not thin k proper to truft to the return
o f our people for their releafe ; or, at leaft, their impatience
was fo great, that it hurried th em to. meditate an attempt
w h ich migh t have involved them in ftill greater diftrefs, had
it not been fortunately prevented. Between five and fix
o’clock in th e evening, I obferved that a ll their canoes, in
and about the harbour, began to move off, as i f fome fudden;
panic had feized them. I was afhore, abreaft o f the Ihip, at
the time, and enquired, in vain, to find out the c a u fe ; t i l l
our people called to us from the Bifcovery, and told us, thac
a party o f the natives had feized Captain Clerke and Mr..
Gore, who had walked out a little w a y from the ihips.
Struck w ith the boldnefs o f this plan o f retaliation, w h ich
feemed to counteract me fo effectually in my own w a y ,
there was no time to deliberate. I inftantly ordered the
people to a rm ; and, in lefs than five minutes, a ftrong
party, under the command o f Mr: King, was tent to refcue
our two gentlemen. A t the fame time, two armed boats,,
and a party under Mr. Williamfon, went after the fly in g
canoes,1 to c u t , o ff their retreat to the Ihore. T he fe feveral
detachments were hardly out o f fight, before an account
arrived rhat we had been mifinformed; upon which L fent,.
and called them all in.
It was evident, however, from feveral corroborating, c ir -
cumftances, that the defign. o f fe iz in g Captain Clerke had
really been in agitation amongft the natives. Nay, they
' made no fecret in fpeaking o f it the next day. But their firft
and great plan o f operations was to have laid hold o f me.
It was my cuftom, every evening, to bathe in the frefih water.
V e ry often I went alone j and aUvays without arms. Ex-
7 ’ p e ilin g
p ee ling me to go, as ufual, this evening, th e y had deter- J a mmed
to feize me, and Captain Clerke too, i f he had ac- .-----
companied me. But I had, after confining Oreo’s family,
thought it prudent to avoid putting m y fe lf in their power j
and had cautioned Captain Clerke, and the officers, not to
.go far from the ihips. In the courfe o f the afternoon, the
C h ie f aiked me, three feveral times, i f I would not go to the
batliin g-pla ce ; and when he found, at laft, that I could
not be prevailed upon, he went off, with the reft o f his
people, in fpite o f all that I could do or fay to flop him.
But as I had no fufpicion, at this time, o f their defign, I
imagined that fome fudden fright had feized them, w hich •
would, as ufual, foon be over. Finding themfelves difap-
pointed as to me, they fixed on thofe who were more in
their power. It was fortunate, for a ll parties, that they did
not fu c c e ed ; and not lefs fortunate, that no m ifch ie f was
done on the occafion. For not a mufquet was fired, except
tw o or three, to flop the canoes. To that firing, perhaps,
Meffrs. Clerke and Gore owed their fafe ty * ; for, at that ve ry
inftant, a party o f the natives, armed with clubs, were advan
cing toward th em ; and on hearing the report o f the
mufquets, they difperfed.
This confpiracy, as it may be called, was firft difcovered
b y a girl, w h om one o f the officers had brought from
Huaheine. She, overhearing fome o f the Ulieteans fay,
that they wou ld feize Captain Clerke and Mr. Gore, ran to
acquaint the firft o f our people that ihe met with. Thofe
who were charged with the execution o f the defign threat-
* Perhaps they owed their fafety, principally,, to Captain Clerlce’s walking with a
piftol in his hand, which he once fired. T h is circumftance is omitted both in Captain
C ook ’s and in M r. Anderfon’ s jou rnal; but it is here mentioned on the authority
o f Captain King.
R 2 ened