our fucceflive vifits to this part o f the Pacific Ocean. By the
frequency o f this intercourfe, we have had/better opportunities
o f k n ow in g fomething about it and its inhabitants, than
about the other fimilar, but lefs confiderable, iflands in its
vicinity. O f thefe, however, w e have feen enough to fa-
tis fy us, that all that w e obferved and have related o f Otaheite,
ma y , with trifling variations, be applied to them;
Too much feems to have been already known, and pub-
lifhed in our former relations, about fome o f the modes o f
life , that made Otaheite fo agreeable an abode to many on
board our fh ip s ; and i f I could now add any finiihing
ftrokes to a pidture, the outlines o f which have been already
drawn w ith fufficient accuracy, I lhould ilill have he-
fitated to make this jou rn a l the place for exhibiting a view
o f licentious manners, w hich could only ferve to difguft
thofe fo r whofe information I write. There are, however,
m an y parts o f the domeftic, political, and religious inftitu-
tions o f thefe people, which, after all our vifits to them, are
but imperfedtly underftood. T h e fo regoing narrative o f the
incidents that happened d uring our ftay, will, probably, be
thought to throw fome additional lig h t ; and, for farther fa-
tisfadion, I refer to Mr. Anderfon’s remarks.
Amidft our various fubordinate employments, w h ile at
thefe iflands, the great objects o f our duty were always attended
to. No opportunity was loll o f m akin g aftronom'ical
and nautical obfervations ; from w h ich the fo llow in g table
was drawn u p :
Place.
Latitude.- Longitude. Variation of Dip o f the
South. Eaft. the Compafs. Needle.
Matavai Point, Otaheite S® | j j 210° 22 ' 28" 5° 34' 29° 12'
Owharre Harbour, Huaheine 1 6° 42 208° 52' 2 4 " 5° 13 1'E aft 28° 28>
Ohamaneno Harbour, Ulietea i6 ° 45 208° 2 5 ' 2Z" 6° ig ' Eaft 290 5'
T h e
The longitude o f the three feveral places is 0 deduced from „ *777- - December.
the mean o f 145 fets o f obfervations made on fir ore ; fome /__ — 1
at one place, and fome at anothe r; and carried on to each
o f the flations, by the time-keeper. As the fituation o f thefe
places was very accurately fettled, d uring m y former vo y ages,
the abbve obfervations were now made chiefly w ith
a view o f determining how fa r a number o f lunar ob- .
fervations m igh t be depended upon, and how near they
would agree with thofe made upon the fame fpot in 1769,
w hich fixed Matavai Point to be in 210* 27' 30". T he difference,
it appears, is only o f 5' 2 " ; and, perhaps, no other
method could have produced a more perfedt agreement.
Without pretending to fay w hich o f the two computations
is the neareft the truth, the longitude o f 210° 22' 28", or,
w hich is the fame thing, 208° 25' 22", w ill be the longitude
w e fhall reckon from with the time-keeper, allowing it to be
lofing, on mean time, i,"6g each day, as found by the mean
o f all the obfervations made at thefe iflands, for that purpofe.
On our arrival at Otaheite, the error o f the time-keeper
in longitude was,
C Greenwich rate, 1° 18' 58"
I Tongataboo rate o° 16' 40"
Some obfervations were alfo made on the tid e ; particularly
at Otaheite and Ulietea ; with a view o f afcertaining
its greateft rife at the firfl: place. When we were there, in
my fecond voyage, Mr. Wales thought he had difcovered,
that it rofe higher than I had obferved it to do, when I
firfl; vifited Otaheite in 1769. But the obfervations we now
made, proved that it did n o t ; that is, that it never rofe
higher than twelve or fourteen inches at moft. And it was
obferved to be high-water nearly at noon, as w e ll at the
quadratures, as at the fu ll, and change o f the moon.
T 2 T o