7 S A V O Y A G E T O
1779- this morning, ly in g at the entrance o f the c a v e ; and fome
!, February e £ Qur pe0 pje an(j ch rew a mat over it. Soon after
w h ich they faw fome men ca rryin g him o ff on their fhoul-
ders, and could hear them fing ing , as they marched, a
m o u rn fu l fong.
T h e natives, being at laft convinced that it was not the
want o f ability to pun iih them, w h ich had hitherto made
us tolerate their provocations, defifted from g iv in g us any
fa r th e r moleftation, and, in the evening, a C h ie f called
.Eappo, w ho had feldom vifited us, but whom w e k n ew to
be a man o f the ve ry firil confequence, came w ith prefents
from Terreeoboo to fue for peace. T h e fe prefents were re ceived,
and lje was difmiffed w ith th e fame anfwer w h ich
had before been given, that, until the remains o f Captain
Cook ihould be reilored, no peace wou ld be granted. We
learned from this perfon, that the flefli o f all the bodies o f
ou r people, together w ith the bones o f the trunks, had been
b u r n t ; that the limb bones o f the marines had been divided
amongft the in ferior Chiefs ; and that thofe o f Captain Cook
h a d been difpofed o f in the fo llow in g manner : the head, to
a great Chief, called Kahoo-opeon ; the hair to Maia-maia ;
and the legs, thighs, and arms to Terreeoboo. A fte r it
was dark, m a n y o f the in h ab itan ts cam e o f f with roots and
other v e g e tab le s ; and we alfo received two large prefents o f
the fame articles from Jiaireekeea.
, t T h e 19th was chiefly taken up in fending and receiving
the meffages w hich pafled between Captain Clerke and T erreeoboo.
Eappo was ve ry prefling', that one o f our officers
fhould go on ihore ; and, in the mean time, offered to re main
as an hoftage on board. T h is requeft, however, it
was not thou ght proper to comply w i th ; and he left us
w ith a promife o f b rin g in g the bones the next day. At
2 the
the beach, the waterers did not meet w ith the leaft oppofi- ' 779-
r . t ‘ i n • February.
non from the natives j w ho, notwithftanding our cautious v-— .— <
behaviour, came amongft us again, with ou t the fmalleft
appearance o f diffidence or apprehenfion.
Early in the mo rning o f the apth, w e had the fatisfadtion Saturday20.
o f g e ttin g the fore-maft ftepped. It was an operation at- •
tended w ith great difficulty, and fome d an g e r ; our ropes
b e in g fo exceedingly rotten, that the purchafe ga ve w a y fe-
veral times.;
Between ten and eleven o’clock, w e faw a great number
o f people defcending the hill, w h ich is over the beach, in
a kind o f procefiion, each man ca rryin g a fugar-cane or
two on his fhoulders, and bread-fruit, taro, and plantains in
his hand. T h e y were preceded b y two drummers; who,
when they came to the water-fide, fat down by a white flag, •
and began to beat their drums, w h ile thofe w ho had fo llowed
them, advanced, one by o n e ; and, having.depofited
the prefents they had b rou ght, retired in the fame order,
Soon after, Eappo came in fight, in his lon g feathered cloak,
b earing fomethin g w ith grea t folemnity in his h an d s; and
h a v in g placed h im fe lf on a rock, he made figns for a boat
to be fent him;
Captain Clerke, conje&u ring that he had brought the
bones o f Captain Cook, w h ich proved to be the f a i l ,
went h im fe lf in the pinnace to receive th em ; and ordered
me to attend him in the cutter. When we arrived
at the beach, Eappo came into the pinnace, and delivered
to the Captain the bones wrapped up in a large quantity
o f fine new cloth, and covered with a fpotted cloak
o f black and w hite feathers. He afterward attended us to
the R e fo lu tion ; bu t could not be prevailed upon to go on
b o a rd ;