“In this manner we were detained the greatest part of the day, being sometimes together, and sometimes separated; but always in a crowd; who, not satisfied with gazing at us, frequently desired us to uncover parts of our skin, the sight of which commonly produced a general murmur of admiration. At the same time, they did not omit these opportunities of rifling our pockets; and at last, one of them snatched a small bayonet from Mr. Gore, which hung in its sheath by his side. This was represented to the chief, who pretended to send some person in search of it. But in all probability, he countenanced the theft; for soon after, Omai had a dagger stolen from his side in the same manner, though he did not miss it immediately.
“Whether they observed any signs of uneasiness in us, or that they voluntarily repeated their emblems of friendship when we expressed a desire to go, I cannot tell; but, at this time, they brought some green boughs, and sticking their ends in the ground, desired we might hold them as we sat. Upon our urging again the business we came upon, they gave us to understand that we must stay and eat with them; and a pig which we saw soon after lying near the oven, which they had prepared and heated, removed Omai’s apprehensions of being put into it himself, and made us think it might be intended for our repast. The chief also promised to send some people to procure food for the cattle, but it was not till pretty late in the afternoon, that we saw them return with a few plantain-trees, which they carried to our boats.
“In the mean time Mr. Burney and I attempted again to go to the beach, but when we arrived, found ourselves watched by people, who, to appearance, had been placed there for this purpose. For when I tried to wade in upon the reef, one of them took hold of my clothes and dragged me back. I picked up some small pieces of coral, which they required me throw down again; and on my refusal, they made no scruple to take them forcibly from me. I had gathered some small plants, but these also I could not be permitted to retain; and they took a fan from Mr. Burney, which he had received as a present on coming ashore. Omai said we had done wrong in taking up any thing, for it was not the custom here to permit freedoms of that kind to strangers, till they had in some measure naturalized them to the country, by entertaining them with festivity for two or three days.
“Finding that the only method of procuring better treatment was to yield implicit obedience to their will, we went up again to the place we had left, and they now promised, that we should have a canoe to carry us off to our boats, after we had eaten of a repast which had been prepared for us.
“Accordingly the second chief, to whom we had been introduced in the morning, having seated himself upon a low broad stool of blackish hard wood, tolerably polished, and directing the multitude to make a pretty large ring, made us sit down by him. A considerable number of cocoa-nuts were now brought; and shortly after, a long green basket with a sufficient quantity of baked plantains to have served a dozen persons. A piece of the young hog that had been dressed, was then set before each of us, of which we were desired to eat. Our appetites, however, had failed from the fatigue of the day; and though we did eat a little to please them, it was without satisfaction to ourselves.
“It being now near sun-set, we told them it was time to go on board. This they allowed; and sent down to the beach the remainder of the victuals that had been dressed, to be carried with us to the ships. But before we set out, Omai was treated with a drink he had been used to in his own country; which, we observed, was made here as at other islands in the South Sea, by chewing the root of a sort of pepper. We found a canoe ready to put us off to our boats; which the natives did with the same caution as when we landed. But even here their thievish disposition did not leave them; for a person of some consequence among them, who came with us, took an opportunity, just as they were pushing the canoe into the surf, to snatch a bag out of her which I had, with the greatest difficulty, preserved all the day, there being in it a small pocket-pistol which I was unwilling to part with. Perceiving him, I called out, expressing as much displeasure as I could; on which he thought proper to return, and swim with the bag to the canoe, but denied he had stolen it, though detected in the very act. They put us on board our boats, with the cocoa-nuts, plantains, and other provisions which they had brought; and we rowed to the ships very well pleased that we had at last got out of the hands of our troublesome masters.
“We regretted much, that our restrained situation gave us so little opportunity of making observations on the country. For, during the whole day, we were seldom a hundred yards from the place where we were introduced to the chiefs on landing; and, consequently, were confined to the surrounding objects. The first thing that presented itself worthy of our notice was the number of people, which must have been at least two thousand. For those who welcomed us on the shore bore no proportion to the multitude we found amongst the trees, on proceeding a little way up.
“We could also observe that, except a few, those we had hitherto seen on board were of the lower class; for a great number of those we now met with, had a superior dignity in their air, and were of a much whiter cast. In general they had the hair tied on the crown of the head, long, black, and of a most luxuriant growth. Many of the young men were perfect models in shape, of a complexion as delicate as that of the women, and, to appearance, of a disposition as amiable. Others who were more advanced in years, were corpulent; and all had a remarkable smoothness of the skin. Their general dress was a piece of cloth or mat wrapped about the waist, and covering the parts which modesty conceals. But some had pieces of mats most curiously varied with black and white, made into a sort of jacket without sleeves; and others wore conical caps of cocoa-nut core, neatly interwoven with small beads made of a shelly substance. Their ears were pierced; and in them they hung bits of the membraneous part of some plant, or stuck there an odoriferous flower, which seemed to be a species of gardenia. Some who were of a superior class, and also the chiefs, had two little balls with a common base, made from the bone of some animal which was hung round the neck, with a great many folds of small cord. And after the ceremony of introduction to the chiefs was over, they then appeared without their red feathers; which are certainly considered here as a particular mark of distinction, for none but themselves and the young women who danced assumed them.
“Some of the men were punctured all over the sides and back in an uncommon manner; and some of the women had the same ornament on their legs. But this method was confined to those who seemed to be of a superior rank; and the men, in that case, were also generally distinguished by their size and corpulence, unless very young. The women of an advanced age had their hair cropped short; and many were cut in oblique lines all over the fore part of the body; and some of the wounds, which formed rhomboidal figures, had been so lately inflicted, that the coagulated blood still remained in them.
“The wife of one of the chiefs appeared with her child laid in a piece of red cloth which had been presented to her husband, and seemed to carry it with great tenderness, suckling it much after the manner of our women. Another chief introduced his daughter, who was young and beautiful, but appeared with all the timidity natural to the sex, though she gazed on us with a kind of anxious concern, that seemed to struggle with her fear, and to express her astonishment at so unusual a sight. Others advanced with more firmness, and, indeed, were less reserved than we expected, but behaved with a becoming modesty. We did not observe any personal deformities amongst either sex, except in a few who had scars of broad superficial ulcers remaining on the face and other parts. In proportion to the number of people assembled, there appeared not many old men or women; which may easily be accounted for, by supposing that such as were in an advanced period of life might neither have the inclination nor the ability to come from the more distant parts of the island. On the other hand, the children were numerous; and both these and the men climbed the trees to look at us when we were hid by the surrounding crowd.