« 1788. Tinah had juft began to build a houfe for himfelf, and I
December. that our carpenters Ihould aflift him. Whydooah,
the youngeft brother of Tinah, had lately been pne
o f my conftant vifitors, and feemed tp have’ left off his
former cuftom of getting jdrunk with the Ava. He was
efteemed one of their beft. warriors.; and I was told that in
the quarrel \yith the people of EimOo, he killed Maheine
the chief of that ifland.
Fridays- The weather for fome time paft had been very unfet;-
tled. This'aftemoon, the windhlew freih from- the. N* W,
which occafioned the fea to break very high actofs^ the
Dolphin bank; and in the night filch a he,avy broken fea
came into the bay, that we were-Obliged to batten all the
hatchway^- down, and to>ikeqp eyery body upon deck all
night, though the rain came'down in torrents.. Thefhip
Saturday 6. rolled in a molt violent manner. In the morning .the.wiryl
increafingy,and there being .no ppffibility of putting'to fea,
we-ftruck yards and topmafts,- and trufted to ourunchor?.
The river fwelled fo much with the .rain, that the point of
land on which the tents-flood became _ an ifland ^tipd, to
preferve thebreadyfruit plants from, being, endangered, the
people were obliged to cut a paffage for the river through
a part of the beach, at a diftance from the tents. . The fea
broke very high on the beach; nevertheleis, a;cahqe-put
off, and, to my furprife, Tinah, his wife, and Moannab,
made their way good through the furf, and-came on hoard
to fee me. There-was no othey perfon in the .canoe,'fpr
the weather did not admit of ufelefs p^ffengers ;,ea,ch of
them had a paddle, which they managed with great a£li-
vity and lkill. Thefe kind people embraced me with many
• tears, and expreffed their apprehenfions for the fafety of
,m the Ihip. Towards noon, however, the fea abated confide-
‘ 6 f R X - P rably,.
rably, but the wind continued, to blow ftrong from the ,
I>LW. At fun-fet, Iddeah went on ihore,' but Tinah would t_ — ;
remain withpae th}e wliole night. ^ ' r
^Tsunday. theA 7th. h! ^ e w in d ’'continued between the Sunday y. '
North,,apd N Wi,^bufhad fo much moderated, that I no
‘longer cqnfldered our Situation to be alarming. At noon
Iddeah returned to .the ihip, with adarge hog, and a fup-
ply of/s breadfruit,'j and coqoa-nuts; and foon after, Ihe
apdflipah left thl[jihip, hayiqg exacted a promife from
me, that if |he, weather . was moderate, ,1 -syouldgo on ihore
.in? the morning, and vijEit thpir parents and lifter, who, they
told me,, had been much, alarmed on our account. I received
a 'vifxt likewife/rom -Poeeno and his wife. This wo-
pian jhad alway Sj fhewn; great ^regard for us; and now, on
qur^meeting, before I-cquld be aware . of ,it^lhe began, beat-
in s j e p head jyiplently with a ftiark’s Jpoth, fo that her
.facq^gjis,j£,gyer eJj with,,blpod in an iraftant. I put a flop to
th 4 i% fo ?p itA the UP of the
-Islqqdj 1 %er agitatipn (fubfided. This ceremony is fre-
rqp&ntiy performed, upon .ocqaiions [either of joy or grief.
Her huiband J d d ,: tth a t ,if apy ^accident happened to the
ihip, IfljQuldhvp ^ith him, and that they would cut down
/tfqesV andhupd me1another ihip.
i;^rqm this faipple ,of the weather, and the information of
the natiyes,,, I was convinced it would not be fafe to continue
in Matavaf Bay much longer; and I determined to get
eyery .thing'ready for failing as fpeedily as i could.
The night proved moderate; and in the morning, I went Mondays,
on ihore, where l w^s" received by Oberree-roah, and feve-
ral other friends, with great affe&ion.
The plants received no injury from the bad weather,,
having been carefully covered from the fpray of the fea:
fbme we,re in a dormant ftate,. and others were ftriking
out