"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."
"About a third part of the men were armed with clubs and spears; and probably these were only the persons who had come from a distance, as many of them had small baskets, mats, and other things, fastened to the ends of their weapons. The clubs were generally about six feet long, made of a hard black wood, lance-shaped at the end, but much broader, with the edge nicely scolloped, and the whole neatly polished. Others of them were narrower at the point, much shorter, and plain; and some were even so small as to be used with one hand. The spears were made of the same wood, simply pointed, and, in general, above twelve feet long; though some were so short that they seemed intended to be thrown as darts."
"The place where we were all the day was under the shade of various trees, in which they preserved their canoes from the sun. About eight or ten of them were here, all double ones, that is, two single ones fastened together (as is usual throughout the whole extent of the Pacific Ocean) by rafters lashed across. They were about twenty feet long, about four feet deep, and the sides rounded with a plank raised upon them, which was fastened strongly by means of withes. Two of these canoes were most curiously stained, or painted, all over with black, in numberless small figures, as squares, triangles, etc. and excelled by far any thing of that kind I had ever seen at any other island in this ocean. Our friends here, indeed, seemed to have exerted more skill in doing this than in puncturing their own bodies. The paddles were about four feet long, nearly elliptical, but broader at the upper end than the middle. Near the same place was a hut or shed, about thirty feet long, and nine or ten high, in which, perhaps, these boats are built; but at this time it was empty."
"The greatest number of the trees around us were cocoa-palms, some sorts of hibiscus, a species of euphorbia, and, toward the sea, abundance of the same kind of trees we had seen at Mangeea Nooe Nainaiwa, and which seemed to surround the shores of the island in the same manner. They are tall and slender, not much unlike a cypress, but with bunches of long, round, articulated leaves. The natives call them etoa. On the ground we saw some grass, a species of convolvulus, and a good deal of treacle-mustard. There are also, doubtless, other fruit-trees and useful plants which we did not see; for, besides several sorts of plantains, they brought, at different times, roots which they call taro, (the coccos of other countries,) a bread-fruit, and a basket of roasted nuts, of a kidney shape, in taste like a chesnut, but coarser."
"What the soil of the island may be farther inland we could not tell, but toward the sea it is nothing more than a bank of coral, ten or twelve feet high, steep and rugged, except where there are small sandy beaches at some clefts, where the ascent is gradual. The coral, though it has probably been exposed to the weather for many centuries, has undergone no farther change than becoming black on the surface, which, from its irregularity, is not much unlike large masses of a burnt substance. But, on breaking some pieces off, we found that, at the depth of two or three inches, it was just as fresh as the pieces that had been lately thrown upon the beach by the waves. The reef, or rock, that lines the shore entirely, runs to different breadths into the sea, where it ends all at once, and becomes like a high, steep wall. It is nearly even with the surface of the water, and of a brown or brick colour; but the texture is rather porous, yet sufficient to withstand the washing of the surf which continually breaks upon it."
Though the landing of our gentlemen proved the means of enriching my journal with the foregoing particulars, the principal object I had in view was, in a great measure, unattained; for the day was spent without getting any one thing from the island worth mentioning. The natives, however, were gratified with a sight they never before had, and probably will never have again. And mere curiosity seems to have been their chief motive for keeping the gentlemen under such restraint, and for using every art to prolong their continuance amongst them.
It has been mentioned that Omai was sent upon this expedition; and perhaps his being Mr Gore's interpreter was not the only service he performed this day. He was asked by the natives a great many questions concerning us, our ships, our country, and the sort of arms we used; and, according to the account he gave me, his answers were not a little upon the marvellous. As, for instance, he told them that our country had ships as large as their island, on board which were instruments of war (describing our guns) of such dimensions that several people might sit within them, and that one of them was sufficient to crush the whole island at one shot. This led them to enquire of him what sort of guns we actually had in our two ships. He said, that though they were but small in comparison with those he had just described, yet, with such as they were, we could, with the greatest ease, and at the distance the ships were from the shore, destroy the island, and kill every soul in it. They persevered in their enquiries, to know by what means this could be done; and Omai explained the matter as well as he could. He happened luckily to have a few cartridges in his pocket. These he produced; the balls, and the gunpowder which was to set them in motion, were submitted to inspection; and, to supply the defects of his description, an appeal was made to the senses of the spectators. It has been mentioned above, that one of the chiefs had ordered the multitude to form themselves into a circle. This furnished Omai with a convenient stage for his exhibition. In the centre of this amphitheatre, the inconsiderable quantity of gunpowder collected from his cartridges was properly disposed upon the ground, and, by means of a bit of burning wood from the oven, where dinner was dressing, set on fire. The sudden blast and loud report, the mingled flame and smoke, that instantly succeeded, now filled the whole assembly with astonishment. They no longer doubted the tremendous power of our weapons, and gave full credit to all that Omai had said.
If it had not been for the terrible ideas they conceived of the guns of our ships, from this specimen of their mode of operation, it was thought that they would have detained the gentlemen all night. For Omai assured them, that if he and his companions did not return on board the same day, they might expect that I would fire upon the island. And as we stood in nearer the land in the evening, than we had done any time before, of which position of the ships they were observed to take great notice, they probably thought we were meditating this formidable attack, and, therefore, suffered their guests to depart; under the expectation, however, of seeing them again on shore next morning. But I was too sensible of the risk they had already run, to think of a repetition of the experiment.
This day, it seems, was destined to give Omai more occasions than one of being brought forward to bear a principal part in its transactions. The island, though never before visited by Europeans, actually happened to have other strangers residing in it; and it was entirely owing to Omai's being one of Mr Gore's attendants, that this curious circumstance came to our knowledge.