\nv no doubt, however, that, i f we had flayed till the next day,
■ we fl10Uid have been p len tifu lly fupplied with provilions;
and, I thin k, the natives wou ld fee l themfelves difap-
pointed, when they found that w e were gone. But, as we
had already a very good flock both o f hogs and o f fru it on
board, and ve ry little o f any thin g le ft to purchafe more, I
could have no inducement to defer, any longer, the profe-
cution o f our voyage.
T h e harbour o f Bolabola, called Oteavanooa, lituated on
the Weft fide o f the ifland, is one o f the moil capacious that
I ever met w ith ; and though w e did not enter it, it was a
fatisfadlion to me, that I had an opportunity o f employing
m y people to afcertain its being a ve ry proper place fo r the
reception o f fhips *.
T h e h ig h double-peaked mountain, which is in the
middle o f the ifland, appeared to be barren on the Eaft
f id e ; but, on the Weft fide, has trees or bufhes on its moil
c ra g g y parts. T he lower grounds, all round, toward the
fea, are covered with cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees, like
the other iflands o f this o c e a n ; and the many little illots
that furround it on the infide o f the reef, add both to the
amount o f its vegetable productions, and to the number o f
its inhabitants.
But, ftill, when we confider its very fmall extent, being
not more than e ight leagues in compafs, it is rather remarkable,
that its people fhould have attempted, or have
been able to atchieve the eonqueft o f Ulietea and Otaha, the
former o f which iflands is, o f itfelf, at lead double its fize;
In each o f my three voyages, we had heard much o f the
* See a chart o f the ifland'of Bolabola, in HawkefwortWs Colieftion, V o l. ii. p. 2494
Though we have no particular drawing o f the. harbour, its iituation is there diftindHy
reprefented.
war
war that produced this grçat revolution. T he refult o f our *777-
• % . . . . . „ December.
inquiries, as to the circumltances attending it, may amufe — *
the reader; and I giv e it as a fpecimen o f the hiflory o f
our friends, in this part o f the world, as related to u s * b y ’
themfelves. .
Ulietea and Otaha, w hich adjoins it, lived long in friend-
ihip, or, as the natives exprefs it, were confidered as two
brothers, infeparable by any interefted views. -They alfo
admitted the ifland o f Huaheine as their friend, though not
fo intimate. Otaha, however, lik e a traitor, leagu ed with
Bolabola, and they refolved jointly to attack Ulietea ; whofe
people called in their friends o f Huaheine, to affift them
againfl thefe two powers. T h e men o f Bolabola were encouraged
by a prieftefs, or rather prophetefs, w ho foretold,
that they fhould be fuccefsful ; and, as a proof o f the certainty
o f her predidtion, flie defired, that a man might be fent
to the Tea, at a particular place, where, from a great depth, a
ftone would afcend. He went, accordingly, in a canoe to the
place mentioned ; and was g o in g to dive to fee where this
flone lay, when, behold, irftarted up to the furface fponiane-
oufly into his hand! T he people were aftonifhed at the
fight ; the ftone was depofited as facred in the houfe o f the
Eatooa ; and is ftill preferved at Bolabola, as a proof o f this
woman’s influence with the divinity. T h e ir fpirits being
thus elevated with the hopes o f vidtory, the canoes o f Bolabola
fet out to engage thofe o f Ulietea and Huaheine, which
being ftrongly Fattened together with ropes, the encountdr
lafted long, and would probably, notwithftanding the prediction
and the miracle, have ended in the overthrow o f the
Bolabola fleet, i f that o f Otaha had not, in the critical mo-
* For thisj as for many other particulars about thefe people, we are indebted to
M r. Anderfon.
S 2 ment,