•?77- ment, arrived. T h is turned the fortune o f the davi an d December. . " . • / >
> ; their enemies were defeated w ith great d au gh te r.’ T h e
men o f Bolabola, profecuting th e i r . v ictory, invaded Hu a-
• • heine two days after, w h ich the y k n ew mutt be w e a k ly
_ defended, as moil o f its warriors were abfent. Accordin
g ly , they made themfelves mailers o f that iiland. But
many o f its fu gitiv es having got to Otaheite, there told
their lamentable- ftory; w h ich fo grieved, thofe o f th e ir
countrymen, and o f Ulietea, whom the y met w i th in that
illand, that they obtained fome affiflance from them. T h e y
were equipped w ith only ten fightin g canoes;, but, though-
their force was fo inconfiderable, they condufted the expedition
with fo much prudence, that they landed at Hu a-
heine at night, when dark, and fa llin g upon the Bolabola
men b y fu rpr ize , k illed many o f them, forcing the reft to-
fly. So that;, by this means, they got poffeffion o f their
illand again, w h ich now remains independent, under the
government o f its own Chiefs. Immediately after the defeat
o f the united fleets o f Ulietea and Huaheine, a propofal
was made to the Bolabola men by their allies o f Otaha, to
be admitted to an equal ihare o f the conquefts. The refufal
o f this broke the a l l ia n c e a n d in the courfe o f the war,.
Otaha itfelf, as w e ll as Ulietea, was conquered; and both now
remain fubjedl to Bolabola; the Chiefs who govern them,,
be in g only deputies o f Opoony, the fovereign o f that iiland.
In the reduction o f the two illands, five battles were fo u gh t,
at different places, in w hich great numbers were ftain on
both fides.
Such was the account we received. I have more than
once remarked, how very imperfeCtly thefe people recoiled:
the exaCt dates o f paft events. And w ith regard to this war,
though it happened not many years ago, we could only
guefs
guefs at the time o f its commencement and its conclufion, ’ «777-
from collateral circumftànces, furnifhed by our own obfer- ■ e- ° - er,V
vation, as the natives could not fatisfy our inquiries with any
precifion. T h e final conqueft o f Ulietea, w hich clofed the
war, we know, had been made before I was there in the
Endeavour, in 1769 ; but we may infer, that peace had not
been .very long reftored, as w e could then fee marks o f recent
hoftilities* ha vin g been committed upon that iiland.
Some additional ligh t may be thrown upon this inquiry, by
attending to the age o f Teereetareea, the prefenf C h ief o f
Huaheine. His looks fhewed, that he was not above ten or
twelve years old ; and we were informed, that his father
had been killed in one o f the battles. As to the time whem
the war began, we had no better rule for ju d g in g , than
this, that the y o u n g people o f about twenty years o f age,
o f whom we made inquiries, could fcarcely rèmember the
firft battles ; and I have already mentioned, that Omai’s-
eountrymen, whom we found at Wateeoo, kn ew nothing o f
this war ; fo that its commencement was fubfequent to their
voyage.
Ever fince the conqueft o f Ulietea and'Otaha, thé Bolabola
men have been confidered, b y their neighbours; as inv
in c ib le ; and fuch is the extent o f their fame ,, that even at
Otaheite, which is almoft out o f their reach, i f they are not
dreaded, they are, at leaft, refpeCted for their valour. It is •
faid, that they never fly in battle, and that they: always beat
an equal number o f the other iflanders. But, befides. thefe
advantages, their neighbours feem to afcribe a great deal-
to the fuperiority o f their god, who, they believed, detained ;
us at Ulietea by contrary winds, as being u nw illin g that we-
fhould vifit an illand under his fpecial protection.
* Thefe are taken notice o f in Hawkefwartb's Caîîe&icn^ V o l. ii. p. 25& .& c .
4 How