[Footnote 42: Huaheine or Aheine (a word which signifies woman) is the eastermost of the Society Isles. It bears some resemblance to Otaheite, being divided into two peninsulas by an isthmus of low land, having a stripe of fertile soil next the shore, from which hills of a volcanic origin arise towards the centre. Since Capt. Cook's time, this island has been visited by Lieut. Watts, Capt. Bligh, and Capt. Edwards, but none of these officers has afforded any satisfactory information respecting its government and history. In the year 1791, it is said to have acknowledged the sovereignty of Otaheite.--E.]
We now made sail for the island of Ulietea, which lies S.W. by W. distant seven or eight leagues from Huaheine, and at half an hour after six in the evening we were within three leagues of the shore, on the eastern side. We stood off and on all night, and when the day broke the next morning, we stood in for the shore: We soon after discovered an opening in the reef which lies before the island, within which Tupia told us there was a good harbour. I did not, however, implicitly take his word; but sent the master out in the pinnace to examine it: He soon made the signal for the ship to follow; we accordingly stood in, and anchored in two-and-twenty fathom, with soft ground.
The natives soon came off to us in two canoes, each of which brought a woman and a pig. The woman we supposed was a mark of confidence, and the pig was a present; we received both with proper acknowledgments, and complimented each of the ladies with a spike-nail and some beads, much to their satisfaction. We were told by Tupia, who had always expressed much fear of the men of Bolabola, that they had made a conquest of this island; and that, if we remained here, they would certainly come down to-morrow, and fight us. We determined, therefore, to go on shore without delay, while the day was our own.
I landed in company with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and the other gentleman, Tupia being also of the party. He introduced us by repeating the ceremonies which he had performed at Huaheine, after which I hoisted an English jack, and took possession of this and the three neighbouring islands, Huaheine, Otaha, and Bolabola, which were all in sight, in the name of his Britannic majesty. After this, we took a walk to a great morai, called Tapodeboatea. We found it very different from those of Otaheite; for it consisted only of four walls, about eight feet high, of coral stones, some of which were of an immense size, inclosing an area of about five-and-twenty yards square, which was filled up with smaller stones: Upon the top of it many planks were set up an end, which were carved in their whole length: At a little distance we found an altar, or Ewhatta, upon which lay the last oblation or sacrifice, a hog of about eighty pounds weight, which had been offered whole, and very nicely roasted. Here were also four or five Ewharre no-Eatua, or houses of God, to which carriage-poles were fitted, like that which we had seen at Huaheine. One of these Mr Banks examined by putting his hand into it, and found a parcel about five feet long and one thick, wrapped up in matts: He broke a way through several of these matts with his fingers, but at length came to one which was made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut, so firmly plaited together that he found it impossible to tear it, and therefore was forced to desist; especially as he perceived, that what he had done already gave great offence to our new friends. From hence we went to a long house, not far distant, where among rolls of cloth, and several other things, we saw the model of a canoe, about three feet long, to which were tied eight human jaw-bones: We had already learnt that these, like scalps among the Indians of North America, were trophies of war. Tupia affirmed that they were the jaw-bones of the natives of this island; if so, they might have been hung up, with the model of a canoe, as a symbol of invasion, by the warriors of Bolabola, as a memorial of their conquest.
Night now came on apace, but Mr Banks and Dr Solander continued their walk along the shore, and at a little distance saw another Ewharre-no-Eatua, and a tree of the fig kind, the same as that which Mr Green had seen at Otaheite, in great perfection, the trunk, or rather congeries of the roots of which, was forty-two paces in circumference.
On the 21st, having dispatched the master in the long-boat to examine the coast of the south part of the island, and one of the mates in the yawl, to sound the harbour where the ship lay, I went myself in the pinnace, to survey that part of the island which lies to the north. Mr Banks and the gentlemen were again on shore, trading with the natives, and examining the products and curiosities of the country; they saw nothing, however, worthy notice, but some more jaw-bones, of which they made no doubt but that the account they had heard was true.
On the 22d and 23d, having strong gales and hazy weather, I did not think it safe to put to sea; but on the 24th, though the wind was still variable, I got under sail, and plied to the northward within the reef, with a view to go out at a wider opening than that by which I had entered; in doing this, however, I was unexpectedly in the most imminent danger of striking on the rock: The master, whom I had ordered to keep continually sounding in the chains, suddenly called out, "Two fathom." This alarmed me, for though I knew the ship drew at least fourteen feet, and that therefore it was impossible such a shoal should be under her keel, yet the master was either mistaken, or she went along the edge of a coral rock, many of which, in the neighbourhood of these islands, are as steep as a wall.
This harbour, or bay, is called by the natives Oopoa, and taken in its greatest extent, it is capable of holding any number of shipping. It extends almost the whole length of the east side of the island, and is defended from the sea by a reef of coral rocks: The southermost opening in this reef, or channel, into the harbour, by which we entered, is little more than a cable's length wide; it lies off the eastermost point of the island, and may be known by another small woody island, which lies a little to the south-east of it, called by the people here Oatara. Between three and four miles north-west from this island lie two other islets, in the same direction as the reef, of which they are a part, called Opururu and Tamou; between these lies the other channel into the harbour, through which I went out, and which is a full quarter of a mile wide. Still farther to the north-west are some other small islands, near which I am told there is another small channel into the harbour; but this I know only by report.
The principal refreshments that are to be procured at this part of the island are, plantains, cocoa-nuts, yams, hogs, and fowls; the hogs and fowls, however, are scarce; and the country, where we saw it, is neither so populous, nor so rich in produce, as Otaheite, or even Huaheine. Wood and water may also be procured here; but the water cannot conveniently be got at.[43]
[Footnote 43: Ulietea, or Reiadea, is nearly twice the size of Huaheine, and bears a still more striking resemblance to Otaheite. Its importance was once very great among these islands, but this and its population have much declined, in consequence of an unsuccessful war it carried on with the people of Bolabola, aided by those of Otaha. The distressed inhabitants fled in great numbers to Otaheite, and having obtained some reinforcement, ventured to attack their conquerors in Huaheine, where they had also carried their victorious arms. They succeeded in this attack, which was conducted with much caution and prudence; but they were never able to recover possession of their own island. The people of Otaha were soon afterwards subdued by their own allies of Bolabola, by much the most formidable and warlike of all these people, and said to be descended from persons who had been banished for their crimes from the neighbouring islands. Bolabola we shall find was not landed on by Capt. Cook, in consequence of his being on that side of it, where there is no harbour. It was touched at by him in a boat when he last visited this cluster, and Capt. Edwards went ashore there in 1791. It is of a rude, barren appearance, especially on the eastern side, and is easily known by its lofty double-peaked mountain. The warriors of Bolabola are differently punctured from all the other people in these islands, and are the terror of the whole neighbourhood. Otaha, which is about four leagues to the south-west of Bolabola, and is subject to it, though superior in size, scarcely merits any notice additional to the text. It is neither fertile nor populous, and being but about two miles from Ulietea, presents no inducements to Europeans. Capt. Edwards examined it in 1791. A material advantage it has in two very good harbours, as will soon be mentioned.--E.]