".779. take up feveral days, Mr. B a yly and m y fe lf, got the aftro-
F e b ru a r y .^ apparatus on fliore, and pitched our tents on. the
Morai; ha vin g w ith us a guard o f a corporal and fix marines.
We renewed our frien d ly correfpondence w ith th e
priefts, who, fo r the greater fecurity o f the workmen, and
their tools, tabooed the place where the mail lay, {licking
their wands round it, as before. T h e failmakers were alfo
fent on ihore, to repair the damages w h ich had taken place
in their department, d uring the late gales. T h e y w e r e
lodged in a houfe adjoining to the Morai, that was lent us
b y the priefts. Such were our arrangements on ihore. I
fh a ll now proceed to the account o f thofe other tranfadlions.
w ith the natives, which led, by degrees,, to the fata l ca ta -
flrophe o f the 14th.
Upon comin g to anchor, we were furprized' to find our
reception ve ry different from w hat it had been on our firil
arrival;, no ihouts, no buille, no con fu fion ; but a folitary
b a y , w ith only here and there a canoe ile a lin g clofe a long
the ihore. T h e impulfe o f curiofity, w hich had before operated
to fo- great a degree,, m igh t now indeed be fuppofedto>
have ceafed-s but the hofpitable treatment we had invariably
met with , and the friend ly footing on w hich we parted,
g a v e us fome reafon to expeit, that they wou ld again h a v e
flocked about us with great jo y , on our return.
W e were fo rm in g various conjectures, upon the oecafion
o f this extraordinary appearance, when ou r ' anxiety was at
len g th relieved by the return o f a boat, w h ich had be en
fent on ihore, and brought us word, that Terreeoboo was ab-
fent, and had left the bay under the taboo. T h o u g h this account
appeared ve ry fatisfadlory to moil o f u s ; y e t others-
were o f opinion, or rather, perhaps, have been led, by fubfequenc
11
fequent events, to imagine, that there was fomethin g, at Wjk-
• • • i . ■, F e b r u a r y -
this time, ve ry fufpicious in the behaviour o f the n ative s ; *— ~v-—-j
and that the interdiction o f all intercourfe with us, on pretence
o f the k in g ’s abfence, was on ly to g iv e him time to
confult with his Chiefs, in w hat manner it m igh t be proper
to treat us. Whether thefe fufpicions were w e ll founded,
or the account giv en b y the natives was the truth, w e were
never able to afcertain. For though it is not improbable,
that our fudden return, for w h ich they could fee no apparent
caufe, and the neceflity o f w h ich w e afterward found
it Very difficult to make them comprehend, m igh t occafioii
fome alarm , yet the unfufpicious con d u it o f T erreeoboo,
w ho , on his fuppofed arrival, the next morning, came im mediately
to viiit Captain Cook, and the confequent return
o f the natives to their former frien d ly intercourfe w ith us,
are ilron g proofs, that the y neither meant, nor apprehended,
any chan ge o f conduit.
In fupport o f th isopin ion , I.m a y add the account o f another
accident, precifely o f the fame kind, w h ich happened
to us, on our firil viiit, the day before the arrival o f the
k in g . A native had fold a h o g on board the Refolution,
and taken the price agreed on, w h en Pareea, palling b y ,
advifed the man not to part with the hog, with ou t an advanced
price. For this, he was ilia rp ly fpoken to, and
pufhed away ; and the taboo b e in g foon after laid on the
bay, w e had at firil no doubt, but that it was in confequence
o f the offence g iv en to the C h ie f. Both thefe accidents
fe-rve to fhew, how ve ry difficult it is to draw any certain'
conclufion from the adlions o f people, w ith whofe cuftoms,
as w e ll as lan gu a g e , w e are fo im p er fectly a cquainted; at
the fame time, fome idea may be formed from them, o f
the difficulties, at the firil v iew , perhaps, not ve ry apparent,
which)