i779- Kaneena took h im u p in his armSj and threw h im into the
January.
.— -v— ‘ fea.
Both thefe chiefs were men o f ftrong and w e ll-p ro portioned
bodies, and o f countenances rema rkably pleafing.
Kaneena efpecially, whofe portrait Mr. Webber has drawn,
was one o f the fineft men I ever faw . He was about fix fee t
h ig h , had re gu la r and exprellive features, w ith live ly , dark
eyes ; his carriage was eafy, firm, and g ra c e fu l.
It has been already mentioned, that d uring our lo n g
cru ize o ff this iiland, the inhabitants had a lwa y s behaved
w ith great fairnefs and honefty in their dealings, and had
not ih ew n the flighteft propenfity to th e f t ; w h ich appeared
to us the more extraordinary, becaufe thofe w ith whom w e
h ad hitherto held any intercourfe, were o f the Ioweft rank,
either fervants or fiihermen. We n ow found the cafe exceedingly
altered. T h e immenfe crowd o f iflanders, w h ich
blocked up every part o f the fhips, not o n ly afforded frequent
opportunity o f p ilfe rin g with ou t r iik o f difcovery,
bu t our inferiority in number held forth a profpeft o f
efcap ing w ith impun ity in cafe o f detection. A no the r cir-
cumftance, to which we attributed this alteration in their
behaviour, was the prefence and encouragement o f their
chiefs ; fo r gen e ra lly tracing the booty into the poffeffion
o f fome men o f confequence, w e had the ftrongeft reafon
to fu fp e ft that thefe depredations were committed at their
inftigation.
Soon after the Refolution had got into her fiat ion, our
two friends, Pareea and Kaneena, brought on board a third
chief, named Koah, who, w e were told, was a prieft, and
had been, in h is youth, a diftinguifhed warrior. He was
a little
a little old man, o f an emaciated f ig u r e ; his eyes exceed- *779-
in g ly fore and red, and his body covered with a white le - 1
prous fcu r f, the effects o f an immoderate ufe o f the ava.
Being led into the cabin, he approached Captain Cook with
greatweneration, and threw over h is ih o u ld e r s a piece o f
red cloth, w h ich he had brought a lon g with him. Then
ftepping a few paces back, he made an o ffering o f a fmatl
p ig , w hich he held in his hand, w hilft he pronounced a
difcourfe that lafted fo r a confiderable time. This ceremony
was frequently repeated d u r in g our flay at Owhyhee, and
appeared to us, from many circumftances, to be a fort o f
religious adoration. T h e ir Idols w e found a lwa y s arrayed
with red cloth, in the fame manner as was done to.Captain
Cook; and a fm a ll.p ig was their Ufual offering to the Eatooas,
T h e ir fpeeches, or prayers, were uttered too with a readinefs
and volu bility that indicated them to be according to fome
formulary.
When this ceremony was over, Koah dined with Captain
Cook, eating p len tifu lly o f w hat was fet before h im ; but,
lik e the reft o f the inhabitants o f the iflands in thefe
Seas, could fcarcely be prevailed on to tafte a fecond time
our wine or fpirits. | In the evening, Captain Cook, attended
b y Mr. Bayly and m y felf, accompanied him on fhore. W e
landed at the beach, and were received b y fo u r men, who
carried wands tipt with do g’s hair, and marched before us,
pronouncing with a loud voice a ihort fentence, in w hich
we could only diftinguiih the word Orono*. T he crowd,
* Captain Cook generally went by this name amongft the natives o f Owhyhee;
but we could never learn nsprecife meaning. Sometimes they applied it to an invifible
ta n g , who, they fa.d, lived in the heavens. W e alio found that it was a tWe be-
f m 1 * perfonage o f great rank and power in the iiland, who refembles nrettv
much the Delai Lama of the Tartars, and the ecclefiafticai em^erm of jlpan j g g
w hich