day; and in the evening, a number of fires were lighted as near
the place as the wind would permit.
In the morning of the 17th, we were in the fame quiet fituation ;
not a canoe to be feen, but the hill feemed pretty well cleared of
its vifitants. About ten o’clock in the forenoon, a man who was
a ftranger to us, came on board, bringing with him a very fmall
pig, as a prefent, and a branch of the cocoa-palm to fix at the malt
head. This made us hope that the taboo was taken off, and the
more, as all our hogs and vegetables were confirmed. Soon afterwards
our old acquaintance the prieft paid us a vifit, bringing a
few trifles, as ufual, by way of prefent, and for which he always
got five times the value. We had flrongly fufpected this old man
to be the caufe of the taboo, as he left the fhip on the 15th, feem-
ingly much diffatisfied with fomething or other, and had not been
near us till now; but we were convinced, that our conjectures were
ill-founded, though he gave no fatisfa&ory account of the recent
tranfa&ions on lhore; but kept repeating with great vociferation,
and for a confiderable length of time, “ Teereteere poonepooney
Teereteere arreoura" or, that the King was a liar, fcoundrel, and
deceitful perfon j Poonepoone and arreoura, being terms o f reproach.
From this it was evident, that fbmething had been tran-
faeting contrary to eftablifhed cuftom, or the rules of the country.
About noon, Teereteere. came on board, bringing his ufual prefent
of a hog, fome fiih, and a few cocoa-nuts. A number of canoes
now came along-llde, from whom we bought a few hogs and vegetables,
but could obtain no fatisfaftory account from any of them
why the taboo was laid on. Some of them gave us to underftand,
that there had been a folemn feftival at the top of the mountain ;
and, if we underflood right, a human facrifice offered, but whether
a man
a man or woman, we could not learn. The women, however, *7 , . ■ . December.
were ftill tabooed, and none fuffered to come near the fhips. j
About midnight, our fmall bower-cable parted in a fudden guft
of wind, on which we let go the bell bower. On heaving in the
cable, we found it very much hurt, which we fufpected to be done
by the foulnefs of the bottom.
The former part of the 18th was fpent in fearching for our
anchor, which we did not find till noon, the buoy being funk.
No time was loft in attempting to get it on board; and about fix
in the afternoon, we had nearly effected our purpofe, when a hidden
fquall coming on, fnapt the haufer which we had bent to that
part of the cable remaining to the anchor, when it was almoft at
the bows. This was a vexatious circumftance, and we were afraid
that the recovering our anchor would be attended with difficulty,
as the evening was lowering, and feemed to forebode tempeftuous:
weather; but as night came on, the fky cleared up, and the next
morning proved fine, with little or no wind, fo that we got the
anchor on board by eleven o’clock.
We now were fupplied with hogs and vegetables in tolerable
plenty, but no women were fuffered to come on board the fhips :
the reafon for this we underftood was, a woman had been detected
eating pork on board one of the veffels. It feems the women
are always tabooed from eating pork on fhore, and breaking
through reftrictions of this fort, is reckoned a crime of the firft
magnitude ; nay, we were aflured, that the poor wretch had fallen
a victim to the laws of her country, and had actually been offered
as a facrifice, to appeafe, I fuppofe, the wrath of their gods, for fo
heinous a crime. But befides this affair of the facrifice, there was
O another