This Island is called by the Natives Otaheite, and was first discovered by Captain Wallis, in His Majesty's ship Dolphin, on June 19th, 1767, and to the Credit of him and his Officers, the Longitude of Royal Bay was by them settled to within half a degree of the Truth, and the whole figure of the Island not ill described. It is situated between the Latitude of 17 degrees 29 minutes and 17 degrees 53 minutes South, and between the Longitude of 149 degrees 10 minutes and 149 degrees 39 minutes West from the Meridian of Greenwich.* (* These latitudes are exact. The modern limits of longitude are 149 degrees 7 minutes to 149 degrees 36 minutes 30 seconds.) Point Venus, so called from the Observation being made there, is the Northern extremity of the Island, and lies in the Longitude of 149 degrees 30 minutes,* (* Now considered to be 149 degrees 29 minutes.) being the mean result of a Great number of Observations made upon the Spot. The Shores of this Island are mostly guarded from the Sea by reefs of coral rocks, and these form several excellent Bays and Harbours, wherein are room and depth of Water sufficient for the largest Ships.
Royal Bay, called by the Natives Matavie,* (* Matavai.) in which we lay, and the Dolphin before us, is not inferior to any on the Island, both in Point of conveniency and Situation. It may easily be known by a Prodigious high Mountain in the middle of the Island, which bears due south from Point Venus, which is the Eastern point of the Bay. To sail into it either keep the West point of the Reefs which lies before Point Venus close on board, or give it a berth of near half a Mile in order to avoid a small Shoal of Coral Rocks, whereon is but 2 1/2 fathoms of water. The best Anchoring is on the Eastern side of the Bay in 16 or 14 fathoms of water, owsey bottom. The Shore of the bay is all a fine sandy beach, behind which runs a river of Fresh Water, so that any Number of Ships might Water here without discommoding one another. The only wood for fuel upon the whole Island is fruit Trees, and these must be purchased of the Natives, if you mean to keep on good Terms with them. There are some Harbours to the Westward of this bay that have not been mentioned, but as they lay Contiguous to it, and are to be found in the plan, the description of them is unnecessary.
The land of this Island, except what is immediately bordering upon the Sea coast, is of a very uneven Surface, and rises in ridges which run up into the middle of the Island, and there form mountains, that are of a height Sufficient to be seen at the distance of 20 leagues. Between the foot of the ridges and the Sea is a border of low Land surrounding the whole Island, except in a few places where the ridge rises directly from the Sea. This low land is of Various Breadths, but nowhere exceeds a Mile and a half. The Soil is rich and fertile, being for the most part well stock'd with fruit Trees and small Plantations. and well water'd by a number of small Rivulets of Excellent Water which come from the adjacent hills. It is upon this low Land that the greatest part of the inhabitants live, not in Towns or Vilages, but dispersed everywhere round the whole Island; the Tops of most of the ridges and mountains are Barren and, as it were, burnt up with the sun, yet many parts of some of them are not without their produce, and many of the Valleys are fertile and inhabited.
[Produce of Tahiti.]
OF THE PRODUCE.
The produce of this Island is Bread Fruit, Cocoa Nuts, Bonanoes, Plantains, a fruit like an Apple, sweet Potatoes, Yams, a Fruit known by the name of Eag Melloa, and reck'ned most delicious; Sugar Cane which the inhabitants eat raw; a root of the Salop kind, called by the inhabitants Pea; the root also of a plant called Ether; and a fruit in a pod like a Kidney bean, which when roasted eats like a Chestnut, and is called Ahee; the fruit of a Tree which they call Wharra, something like a Pine Apple; the fruit of a Tree called by them Nano; the roots of a Fern and the roots of a plant called Thive. All these Articles the Earth almost Spontaniously produces, or, at least, they are raised with very little Labour. In the Article of food these people may almost be said to be exempt from the Curse of our Forefathers, scarcely can it be said that they Earn their bread with the sweat of their brow; benevolent Nature hath not only Supply'd them with necessarys, but with abundance of Superfluities. The Sea coast supplies them with vast Variety of most Excellent fish, but these they get not without some Trouble and Perseverance. Fish seems to be one of their greatest Luxuries, and they Eat it either raw or Dressed and seem to relish it one way as well as the other. Not only fish but almost everything that comes out of the Sea is Eat and Esteem'd by these People; Shell Fish, Lobsters, Crabs, and even sea insects, and what is commonly called blubbers of many kinds, conduce to their support.
For tame Animals they have Hogs, Fowls, and Dogs, the latter of which we learned to Eat from them, and few were there of us but what allow'd that a South Sea dog was next to an English Lamb. One thing in their favour is that they live intirely upon Vegetables; probably our Dogs would not Eat half so well. Little can be said in favour of their Fowles, but their pork is most Excellent, they have no beasts of Prey of any Sort, and Wild Fowls are scarce and confin'd to a few Species. When any of the Chiefs kill a Hog it seems to be almost equally divided among all his Dependents, and as these are generally very numerous, it is but a little that come to each person's share, so that their chief food is Vegetables, and of these they eat a large quantity.
Cookery seems to have been but little studied here; they have only 2 Methods of applying Fire--broiling and Baking, as we called it; the method this is done I have before described, and I am of Opinion that Victuals dressed this way are more juicy and more equally done than by any of our Methods, large Fish in particular, Bread Fruit, Bananoes. Plantains Cooked this way eat like boil'd Potatoes, and was much used by us by way of bread whenever we could get them. Of bread Fruit they make 2 or 3 dishes by beating it with a Stone Pestle till it makes a Paste, mixing Water or Cocoa Nut Liquor, or both, with it, and adding ripe Plantains, Bananoes, Sour Paste, etc.
This last is made from bread Fruit in the following manner. This fruit, from what I can find, remains in Season only 8 or 9 months in the year, and as it is the Chief support of the inhabitants a reserve of food must be made for those months when they are without it. To do this the Fruit is gathered when upon the point of ripening; after the rinde is scraped off it is laid in heaps and coverd close with leaves, where it undergoes a fermentation, and becomes soft and disagreeably sweet. The Core is then taken out, and the rest of the fruit thrown into a Hole dug for that purpose, the sides and bottom of which are neatly laid with grass. The whole is covered with leaves and heavy stones laid upon them; here it undergoes a second Fermentation and becomes sourish, in which condition they say it will keep good 10 or 12 months. As they want to use it they make it into balls, which they wrap up in leaves and bake in the same manner as they do the Fruit from the Tree; it is then ready for eating either hot or cold, and hath a sour and disagreeable taste. In this last State it will keep good a Month or 6 Weeks; it is called by them Mahai, and they seldom make a Meal without some of it, one way or another. To this plain diet Salt Water is the universal sauce, hardly any one sets down to a meal without a Cocoa Nut shell full of it standing by them, into which they dip most of what they Eat, especially Fish, drinking at Intervals large sops of it out of their Hands, so that a man may use half a Pint at a Meal.
It is not common for any 2 to eat together, the better sort hardly ever; and the women never upon any account eat with the Men, but always by themselves. What can be the reason of so unusual a custom it is hard to say; especially as they are a people, in every other instance, fond of Society and much so of their Women. They were often Asked the reason, but they never gave no other Answer, but that they did it because it was right, and Express'd much dislike at the Custom of Men and Women Eating together of the same Victuals. We have often used all the intreatys we were Masters of to invite the Women to partake of our Victuals at our Tables, but there never was an instance of one of them doing it publick, but they would Often goe 5 or 6 together into the Servants apartments, and there eat very heartily of whatever they could find, nor were they the least disturbed if any of us came in while they were dining; and it hath sometimes hapned that when a woman was alone in our company she would eat with us, but always took care that her own people should not know what she had don, so that whatever may be the reasons for this custom, it certainly affects their outward manners more than their Principle.