In the afternoon we were entertained with a play. Plays, indeed, had been acted almost every day since we had been here, either to entertain us, or for their own amusement, or perhaps both.
Next morning produced some circumstances which fully prove the timorous disposition of these people. We were surprised to find that none of them came off to the ships as usual. Two men belonging to the Adventure having stayed on shore all night, contrary to orders, my first conjectures were, that the natives had stripped them, and were now afraid to come near us, lest we should take some step to revenge the insult; but in order to be better satisfied, Captain Furneaux and I went ashore to Oreo’s house, which we found quite empty; he and all his family gone, and the whole neighbourhood, in a manner, quite deserted. The two men belonging to the Adventure made their appearance, and informed us that they had been very civilly treated by the natives, but could give no account of the cause of their precipitate flight. All that we could learn, from the very few who durst come near us, was, that several were killed, others wounded by our guns, pointing out to us where the balls went in and out of the body, &c. This relation gave me a good deal of uneasiness for the safety of our people gone to Otaha, fearing that some disturbance had happened at that island: however, in order to be better informed, I determined, if possible, to see the chief himself. Accordingly we embarked in our boat, having one of the natives with us, and rowed along-shore to the northward, the way we were told he was gone. We soon came in sight of the canoe in which he was; but before we could come up with her he had got on shore. We landed presently after, and found he was gone still farther. An immense crowd, however, waited our landing, who entreated me to follow him. One man offered to carry me on his back; but the whole story appearing rather more mysterious than ever, and being all unarmed, I did not choose to separate myself from the boat, but embarked again, and rowed after him. We soon came before the place where our guide told us he was, and put in the boat accordingly. It grounded at some distance from the shore, where we were met by a venerable old lady, wife to the chief. She threw herself into my arms and wept bitterly, insomuch that it was not possible to get one plain word from her. With this old lady in my hand I went ashore, contrary to the advice of my young man from Otaheite, who seemed more afraid than any of us, probably believing every word the people had told us. I found the chief seated under the shade of a house, before which was a large area, and surrounded by a vast number of people. As soon as I came to him, he threw his arms about me, and burst into tears; in which he was accompanied by all the women and some of the men, so that the lamentation became general. Astonishment alone kept me from joining with them. It was some time before I could get a word from any one; at last all my enquiries gave me no other information than that they were alarmed on account of our boats being absent; thinking that the people in them had deserted from us, and that I should take some violent means to recover them; for when we assured them that the boats would return back, they seemed cheerful and satisfied, and, to a man, denied that any one was hurt, either of their own or our people; and so it afterwards proved. Nor did it appear that there was the least foundation for these alarms; nor could we ever find out by what means this general consternation first took its rise. After a stay of about an hour, I returned on board; three of the natives coming along with us, who proclaimed the peace as we rowed along-shore to all they saw.
Thus matters were again restored to their former footing; and the next morning they came off to the ships as usual. After breakfast Captain Furneaux and I paid the chief a visit. We found him at his own house perfectly easy; insomuch that he, and some of his friends, came on board, and dined with us. I was now told that my Otaheitean young man, Poreo, had taken a resolution to leave me. I have just mentioned before, his being with us when I followed Oreo, and his advising me not to go on shore. He was so much afraid at that time, that he remained in the boat till he heard all matters were reconciled; then he came out, and presently after met with a young woman for whom he had contracted a friendship. Having my powder-horn in keeping, he came and gave it to one of my people who was by me, and then went away with her, and I saw him no more.
In the afternoon our boats returned from Otaha, pretty well laden with plantains; an article we were most in want of. They made the circuit of the island, conducted by one of the earees, whose name was Boba, and were hospitably entertained by the people, who provided them with victuals and lodging. The first night they were entertained with a play; the second night their repose was disturbed by the natives stealing their military chest: this put them on making reprisals, by which means they recovered the most of what they had lost.
Having now got on board a large supply of refreshments, I determined to put to sea the next morning, and made the same known to the chief, who promised to see me again before we departed. At four o’clock we began to unmoor; and, as soon as it was light, Oreo, his son, and some of his friends, came on board. Many canoes also came off with fruit and hogs; the latter they even begged of us to take from them, calling out Tiyo boa atoi, I am your friend, take my hog, and give me an axe; but our decks were already so full of them that we could hardly move, having on board both ships between three and four hundred. By the increase of our stock, together with what we had salted and consumed, I judge that we got at this island four hundred or upwards: many, indeed, were only roasters; others again weighed one hundred pounds, or upwards; but the general run was from forty to sixty. It is not easy to say how many we might have got, could we have found room for all that were offered us.
The chief and his friends did not leave me till we were under sail; and, before he went away, pressed me much to know if I would not return, and when? Questions which were daily put to me by many of these islanders. My Otaheitean youth’s leaving me proved of no consequence, as many young men of this island voluntarily offered to come away with us. I thought proper to take on board one, who was about seventeen or eighteen years of age, named Oedidee, a native of Bolabola, and a near relation of the great Opoony, chief of that island. Soon after we were out of the harbour, and had made sail, we observed a canoe following us, conducted by two men. Whereupon I brought to, and they presently came along-side, having brought me a present of roasted fruit, and roots, from Oreo. I made them a proper return before I dismissed them, and then set sail to the west, with the Adventure in company.
CHAP. XIV.
AN ACCOUNT OF A SPANISH SHIP VISITING OTAHEITE; THE PRESENT STATE OF THE ISLANDS; WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE DISEASES AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHABITANTS, AND SOME MISTAKES CONCERNING THE WOMEN CORRECTED.
I shall now give some farther account of these islands; for, although I have been pretty minute in relating the daily transactions, some things, which are rather interesting, have been omitted.
Soon after our arrival at Otaheite, we were informed that a ship, about the size of the Resolution, had been in at Owhaiurua harbour near the S. E. end of the island, where she remained about three weeks; and had been gone about three months before we arrived. We were told that four of the natives were gone away in her, whose names were Debedebea, Paoodou, Tanadooee, and Opahiah. At this time we conjectured this was a French ship; but on our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, we learnt she was a Spaniard, which had been sent out from America. The Otaheiteans complained of a disease communicated to them by the people in this ship, which they said affected the head, throat, and stomach, and at length killed them. They seemed to dread it much, and were continually enquiring if we had it. This ship they distinguished by the name of Pahai no Pep-pe (ship of Peppe), and called the disease Apa no Pep-pe, just as they call the venereal disease Apa no Pretane (English disease), though they, to a man, say it was brought to the isle by M. de Bougainville; but I have already observed that they thought M. Bougainville came from Pretane, as well as every other ship which has touched at the isle.
Were it not for this assertion of the natives, and none of Captain Wallis’s people being affected with the venereal disease, either while they were at Otaheite, or after they left it, I should have concluded that, long before these islanders were visited by Europeans, this, or some disease which is near akin to it, had existed amongst them; for I have heard them speak of people dying of a disorder which we interpreted to be the pox, before that period; but be this as it will, it is now far less common amongst them than it was in the year 1769, when I first visited these isles. They say they can cure it, and so it fully appears; for, notwithstanding most of my people made pretty free with the women, very few of them were afterwards affected with the disorder; and those who were had it in so slight a manner that it was easily removed; but amongst the natives, whenever it turns to a pox, they tell us it is incurable. Some of our people pretend to have seen some of them who had this last disorder in a high degree; but the surgeon, who made it his business to enquire, could never satisfy himself in this point. These people are, and were before the Europeans visited them, very subject to scrophulous diseases; so that a seaman might easily mistake one disorder for another.