'779- fhould meet w ith any moleftation at the watering-place, the
next day, they ihould then be le ft at liberty to chaftife
them.
It is fomewhat remarkable, that, bef&re w e could b rin g
ou r guns to bear, the iflanders had fufpeftcd our intentions,
from the ftir they faw in the fhip, and had retired behind
their houfes and walls. We were the re fo re obliged to fire,
in fome meafure; at random ■ notwithftanding w h ich , pur
' fhot produced a ll the effeits that could have been defired.
For, foon after, w e faw Koah paddling toward us, w ith e x treme
ha'fte, and, on his arrival, w e learned, that fome
people had been killed, and amongft the reft, Maiha-maiha,
a principal Chief, and a near relation o f the k in g * .
Soon after the arrival o f Koah, two boys fwam o ff from
the Moral toward the' {hips, h a v in g each a lo n g fpear in his
hand ; and after they had approached pretty near, they began
to.chan t a fong, in a ve ry foTem.n manner; the fubjedl
o f w hich, from their often mentioning, the word Oroh'o, and
pointing to the v illa g e where Captain Cook was killed, we
concluded to be the late calamitous difafter. H a vin g fu n g
in a plaintive ftrain for about twe lve or fifteen minutes,
d u r in g the whole o f w h ich j im e th e y remained in the w a ter,
they'Went on board’ the Difcovery, and delivered their
fpears ; and, after m a k in g a ihort'ftay, returned on fhore.
Who fent them, or what was the objetff o f this ceremony,
w e were never ab le to learn.
At n igh t, th e u fu a l précautions were taken for the fecu-
rity o f the fhips; and as foon as it was dark, our two
* The, word mata, is commonly ufeii, in the language of thefe iflands-, to exprefs
either killing or wounding ; and we were afterward told, that this. C(def had only
received a flight blow on the face from a (tone, which had been (truck by one o f the
balls. .
friends,
friends, w ho had vifited us the n ight before, came o f f again. ¿jfjW.*
T h e y affured us, that though the e ffefts o f our great gu ns, '---- *— >
this afternoon, had terrified the Chiefs exceedingly, they had
b y no means laid afide their hoftile intentions, and advifed
us to be on our guard.
T h e next morning, the boats o f both fhips were fent Wednef. 17.
afhore for w a te r ; and the Difcovery was warped chafe to the
beach, in order to cover that fervice. We foon found, that
the in telligence w h ich the priefts had fent us, was not w ith out
fou n d a tion ; and that the natives w ere refolved to take
eve ry opportunity o f annoying u s , w h en it could be done
without much riik.
Throu gh ou t a ll this group o f iilands, the villa g e s , fo r the
moil part, are fituated near the fea ; and the adjacent groun d
is inclofed w ith ilone walls, about three fee t h igh . The fe ,
w e at firft.imagined, were intended fo r the div-ifion o f prop
e r ty ; but we n ow difcovered, that they ferved, and prob
ably were prin cipa lly defigned, fo r a defence againft in-
vafion. T h e y confift o f loofe ilones, and the inhabitants are
v e ry dexterous in flu ffin g them, w ith great quickne fs, to fu ch
fituations, as the direction o f the attack m a y require. In *
the fides o f the mountain, w h ich han gs over the bay, the y
have alfo little, holes, or caves, o f confiderable depth, the
entrance o f w h ich is fecured b y a fence o f the fame kind.
From behind both thefe defences the natives kept perpetu- •
a lly harafling our waterers w ith ftones; nor cou ld the
fmall force w e had on fhore, with the advantage o f mufquets,
compel them to retreat.
In this expofed fituation, our people were fo taken up in
attending to their own fafety, that the y employed the w h o le
forenoon in filling on ly one ton o f water. A s it was there-
Voi. m, - L fore