1779- th e body w ou ld certainly be reftored to me. When they
^February., ^oun{j .tjjey cou]d not prevail on me to land, they attempted,
under a pretence o f w ifh in g tq converfe with more eafe,
to decoy our boat among fome rocks, wliere they wou ld
have had it in their power to cu t us o ff from the reft. It
was no difficult matter to fee throu gh thefe artifices ; and I
was, therefore," ftrongly inclined to bre a k o ff a ll furth er
communication w ith them, when a C h ie f came to us, w ho
was the particular friend o f Captain Clerke, and o f the officers
o f the Difcovery, on board w h ich ih ip he had failed, when
w e laft left the bay, intending to take his paffage- to Mowee.
He told us, he came from Terreeoboo to acquaint us, that
the body was carried u p the co u n try ; but that it fhould
be b rou ght to us the next morning. The re appeared a great
deal o f fincerity in his manner ; and be in g aiked, i f he told
a falfehood, he hooked his two fore-fingers together, w h ich
is underftood amongft thefe iilanders as the fign o f truth ;
in the ufe o f w hich they are very fcrupulous.
As I was now at a lofs in w hat manner to proceed, I fent
Mr. Vancouver to acquaint Captain Clerke with all that had
paffed ; that my opinion was, they meant not to keep their
word w ith us, and were fo far from be in g forry at what had
happened, that, on the contrary, they were fu ll o f fpirits
and confidence on account o f their late fuccefs, and fought
only to gain time, till they could contrive fome fcheme for
ge ttin g us into their power. Mr. Vancouver came back
w ith orders for me to return on board; having firft given
the natives to underftand, that, if the body was not brought
the next morning, the tow n 'fh ou ld be deftroyed.
When they faw that w e were g o in g off, they endeavoured
to provoke us by the moft infu lting and contemptuous gef-
tures. Some o f our people faid, they could diftinguiih feve-
7 ■
ral o f the natives parading about in the clothes o f our u n fortunate
comrades; and, am on g them, a C h ie f brandiihing
Captain Cook’s han ger, and a woman ho ldin g the fcabbard.
Indeed, there can be no doubt, but that ou r behaviour had
given them a mean opinion o f our courage ; fo r they could
have but little notion o f the motives o f h um an ity that directed
it.
In confequence o f the report I made to Captain Clerke, o f
yvhat I conceived to be the prefent temper and difpofhion o f
the iilanders, the moft effectual meafures were taken to
gu ard againft any attack they m igh t m ake in the n ight. T h e
boats Were moored w ith top-chains ; additional fentinels
were polled on both ihips ; and guard-boats were ftationed
to row round them, in order to prevent the natives from cuttin
g the cables. D u rin g the n igh t w e obferved a prodigiou
s number o f ligh ts on the hills, w h ich made fome o f
us imagine, they were rem o vin g their effects back into the
country, in confequence o f our threats. But I rather believe
them to have been the facrifices that were p er forming
on account o f the war, in w h ich they imagined themfelves
about to be engaged ; and moft probably the bodies, o f our
ftain countrymen were, at that time, burning. We afterward
faw fires o f the fame kind, as w e paffed the illand o f
Morotoi; and which, w e were told b y fome natives then on
board, were made on account o f the war they had declared
againft a n eigh bou rin g illand. And this, agrees with what
w e learned amongft the Friendly and Society liles, that,
previous to any expedition againft an enemy, the Chiefs always
endeavoured to animate and inflame the courage o f
the people b y feafts and rejoicings in the night.
We remained the whole night und’ifturbed, except b y the
h ow lin g s 'an d lamentations which were heard on fh o re :
V o l . I I I. K. a n d