Day-light no sooner broke upon us on the 21st, than we saw upwards of sixty canoes under sail going out of the harbour, and steering over for Ulietea. On our enquiring the reason, we were told that the people in them were
Eareeois, and were going to visit their brethren in the neighbouring isles. One may almost compare these men to free-masons; they tell us they assist each other when need requires; they seem to have customs among them which they either will not, or cannot explain. Oedidee told us he was one; Tupia was one; and yet I have not been able to get any tolerable idea of this set of men, from either of them. Oedidee denies that the children they have by their mistresses are put to death, as we understood from Tupia and others. I have had some conversation with Omai on this subject, and find that he confirms every thing that is said upon it in the narrative of my former voyage.[2]
[2] Mr G.F. has entered upon a pretty minute account of this strange society, and does his best to palliate the enormities of which, there seems no reason to doubt, its really profligate members are almost habitually guilty. That gentleman is certainly liberal in his views of the natives in general, and on the whole appears disposed to give more credit to human nature than, perhaps, it will be found on the closest inspection to deserve. Though it may be conceded to him, that criminal individuals are not more numerous in the Society Islands, than among other people, yet it is obvious, that the discovery of the universal prevelancy of vice does not warrant any person to extenuate its malignity in any particular instances where it occurs.--E.
Oedidee, who generally slept on shore, came off with a message from Oree, desiring I would land with twenty-two men, to go with him to chastise the robbers. The messenger brought with him, by way of assisting his memory, twenty-two pieces of leaves, a method customary amongst them. On my receiving this extraordinary message, I went to the chief for better information; and all I could learn of him was, that these fellows were a sort of banditti, who had formed themselves into a body, with a resolution of seizing and robbing our people wherever they found them, and were now armed for that purpose: For which reason he wanted me to go along with him, to chastise them. I told him, if I went they would fly to the mountains; but he said, they were resolved to fight us, and therefore desired I would destroy both them and their house; but begged I would spare those in the neighbourhood, as also the canoes and the Whenooa. By way of securing these, he presented me with a pig as a peace-offering for the
Whenooa. It was too small to be meant for any thing but a ceremony of this kind. This sensible old chief could see (what perhaps none of the others ever thought of) that every thing in the neighbourhood was at our mercy, and therefore took care to secure them by this method, which I suppose to be of weight with them. When I returned on board, I considered of the chiefs request, which upon the whole appeared an extraordinary one. I however resolved to go, lest these fellows should be (by our refusal) encouraged to commit greater acts of violence; and, as their proceeding would soon reach Ulietea, where I intended to go next, the people there might be induced to treat us in the same manner, or worse, they being more numerous. Accordingly I landed with forty-eight men, including officers, Mr Forster, and some other of the gentlemen. The chief joined us with a few people, and we began to march, in search of the banditti, in good order. As we proceeded, the chief's party increased like a snow-ball. Oedidee, who was with us, began to be alarmed, observing that many of the people in our company were of the very party we were going against, and at last telling us, that they were only leading us to some place where they could attack us to advantage. Whether there was any truth in this, or it was only Oedidee's fears, I will not pretend to say. He, however, was the only person we could confide in. And we regulated our motions according to the information he had given us. After marching some miles, we got intelligence that the men we were going after had fled to the mountains; but I think this was not till I had declared to the chief I would proceed no farther. For we were then about crossing a deep valley, bounded on each side by steep rocks, where a few men with stones only might have made our retreat difficult, if their intentions were what Oedidee had suggested, and which he still persisted in. Having come to a resolution to return, we marched back in the same order as we went, and saw, in several places, people, who had been following us, coming down from the sides of the hills with their arms in their hands, which they instantly quitted, and hid in the bushes, when they saw they were discovered by us. This seemed to prove that there must have been some foundation for what Oedidee had said; but I cannot believe that the chief had any such design, whatever the people might have. In our return we halted at a convenient place to refresh ourselves. I ordered the people to bring us some cocoa-nuts, which they did immediately. Indeed, by this time, I believe many of them wished us on board out of the way; for although no one step was taken that could give them the least alarm, they certainly were in terror. Two chiefs brought each of them a pig, a dog, and some young plantain trees, the usual peace-offerings, and with due ceremony presented them singly to me. Another brought a very large hog, with which he followed us to the ship. After this we continued our course to the landing-place, where I caused several vollies to be fired, to convince the natives that we could support a continual fire. This being done, we all embarked and went on board; and soon after the chief following, brought with him a quantity of fruit, and sat down with us to dinner. We had scarce dined before more fruit was brought us by others, and two hogs; so that we were likely to make more by this little excursion than by all the presents we had made them. It certainly gave them some alarm to see so strong a party of men march into their country; and probably gave them a better opinion of fire-arms than they had before. For I believe they had but an indifferent, or rather contemptible, idea of muskets in general, having never seen any fired but at birds, &c. by such of our people as used to straggle about the country, the most of them but indifferent marksmen, losing generally two shots out of three, their pieces often, missing fire, and being slow in charging. Of all this they had taken great notice, and concluded, as well they might, that fire-arms were not so terrible things as they had been taught to believe.
When the chiefs took leave in the evening, they promised to bring us next day a very large supply of provisions. In the article of fruit they were as good as their word, but of hogs, which we most wanted, they brought far less than we expected. Going ashore in the afternoon, I found the chief just sitting down to dinner. I cannot say what was the occasion of his dining so late. As soon as he was seated, several people began chewing the pepper-root; about a pint of the juice of which, without any mixture, was the first dish, and was dispatched in a moment. A cup of it was presented to me; but the manner of brewing it was at this time sufficient. Oedidee was not so nice, but took what I refused. After this the chief washed his mouth with cocoa-nut water; then he eat of repe, plantain, and mahee, of each not a little; and, lastly, finished his repast by eating, or rather drinking, about three pints of popoie, which is made of bread-fruit, plantains, mahee, &c. beat together and diluted with water till it is of the consistence of a custard. This was at the outside of his house, in the open air; for at this time a play was acting within, as was done almost every day in the neighbourhood; but they were such poor performances that I never attended. I observed that, after the juice had been squeezed out of the chewed pepper-root for the chief, the fibres were carefully picked up and taken away by one of his servants. On my asking what he intended to do with it, I was told he would put water to it, and strain it again. Thus he would make what I will call small beer.
The 23d, wind easterly, as it had been ever since we left Otaheite. Early in the morning, we unmoored, and at eight weighed and put to sea. The good old chief was the last man who went out of the ship. At parting I told him we should see each other no more; at which he wept, and said, "Let your sons come, we will treat them well." Oree is a good man, in the utmost sense of the word; but many of the people are far from being of that disposition, and seem to take advantage of his old age; Teraderre, his grandson and heir, being yet but a youth. The gentle treatment the people of this isle ever met with from me, and the careless and imprudent manner in which many of our people had rambled about in the country, from a vain opinion that firearms rendered them invincible, encouraged many at Huaheine to commit acts of violence, which no man at Otaheite ever durst attempt.
During our stay here we got bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, &c. more than we could well-consume, but not hogs enough by far to supply our daily expence; and yet it did not appear that they were scarce in the isle. It must be allowed, however, that the number we took away, when last here, must have thinned them greatly, and at the same time stocked the isle with our articles. Besides, we now wanted a proper assortment of trade; what we had being nearly exhausted, and the few remaining red feathers being here but of little value, when compared to the estimation they stand in at Otaheite. This obliged me to set the smiths to work to make different sorts of iron tools, nails, &c. in order to enable me to procure refreshments at the other isles, and to support my credit and influence among the natives.
SECTION XV.
Arrival at Ulietea; with an Account of the Reception we met with there, and the several Incidents which happened during our Stay. A Report of two ships being at Huaheine. Preparations to leave the Island; and the Regret the Inhabitants shewed on the Occasion. The Character of Oedidee; with some general Observations on the Islands.