w ere confiderably increafed, from his h a v in g entirely mif-
taken the drift o f the converfation h e had held with fome
natives w ho had been on board, t h e frequent mention o f
the name o f Captain Cook, w ith other ilron g and circum-
ftantial defcriptions o f death and deftrudtion, made him
conclude, that the kn ow led g e o f the unfortunate events at
Owhyhee had reached them, and that thefe were what they
alluded t o ; whereas- all they had in v iew was, to make
kn ow n to h im the wars that had arifen, in confequence o f
the goats that Captain Cook had le ft at Oneeheow, and the
daugh te r o f the poor goats themfelves, d u r in g the ftru g gle
fo r the property o f them. Captain Clerke, ap p ly in g this
earneftnefs o f converfation, and thefe terrible reprefenta-
lions, to our calamitous t ran fadt ions at O wh yh ee , and to an
indication o f revenge, kept his telefcope fixed upon us, and
the moment he faw the fmoke o f the mufquets, ordered the
boats to be manned and armed, and to put o ff to our
alfiftance.
T h e next morning, I was again ordered on fhore, w ith the
w ater in g party. T h e r iik w e had run the preceding day
determined Captain Clerke to fend a confiderable force from
both iliips fo r our guard, amounting in all to fo rty men
under arms. T his precaution, however, was n ow unnecef-
fa r y ; for we found the beach left entirely to ourfelves, and
the ground between the landin g place and the lake, tabooed
w ith fm a ll white flags. We concluded, from this appearance,
that fome o f the Chiefs had certainly vifited this quarter
; and that, not b e in g able to ftay, they had k in d ly and
confiderately taken this ftep, fo r our greater fecurity and
convenience. We faw feveral men armed w ith lo n g fpears
and daggers, on the other fide o f the river, on our r ig h t ;
b u t they did not offer to g ive us the leaft moleftation. T h e ir
women
women came over; and fat down on the banks clofe b y us, jJjJjjL
and at noon we prevailed on fome o f the men to b rin g hogs u.— .— j
and roots fo r our people, and to drefs them for us. As foon
as w e had left the beach, they came down to the fea-fide,
and one o f them threw a ftone at us ; but h ij con d u it feem-
in g to be h ig h ly difapproved o f b y all the reft, w e did not
th in k it proper to fh ew any refentment.
T h e next day, w e completed our w ater ing , w ithou t meet- Wedotf. j .
in g with aiiy material difficulty. On our return to the fhips,
we found that feveral Chiefs had been on board, and had
made excufes fo r the behaviour o f their countrymen, attributin
g their riotous con d u it to the quarrels w h ich fo b -
lifted at that time amongft the principal people o f the illand,
and w hich had occafioned a gen era l want o f order and fiib-
ordination amongft them. T h e government o f Atooi was
in difpute between Toneoneo, w ho had the fupreme power
w hen w e were here laft year, and a boy named Teavee* .
T h e y are both, b y different fathers, the grandfons o f Per-
reeorannee, k in g o f Woahoo, w ho had giv en the go v ern ment
o f Atooi to the former, and that o f Oneeheow to the
latter. T h e quarrel had arifen about the goats we had le ft
at Oneeheow the laft y e a r ; the righ t o f property in w h ic h
was claimed by Toneoneo, on the_ pretence o f that ifiand’s
be in g a dependency o f his. T h e friends o f Teavee in liftin
g on the right o f poffeffion, both parties prepared to maintain
their pretenfions b y f o r c e a n d , , a few days before o u r
arrival, a battle had been fought, in w h ich Toneoneo had
been worfted. T h e confequence o f this vidtory was lik e ly
to affedt Toneoneo in a m u ch deeper manner than b y the
mere lofs o f the objects in d ifp u te ; for the mother o f
Teavee, h a vin g married a fecond huiband, who was a C h ie f
o f Atooi, and at the h e ad o f a powe rfu l faction there, h e
x ' th o u g h t