Captain Cook: His Life, Voyages, and Discoveries

by William Henry Giles Kingston

The trading expeditions sent out were so successful that three hundred hogs, besides fowls and vegetables of all sorts, were obtained. It was from this island that Captain Furneaux received on board a young man, named Omai, a native of Ulietea, where he had some property, of which he had been dispossessed by the people of Bolabola. Omai was not a chief, and he was so inferior in figure, complexion, and manners to the chiefs, that Captain Cook was surprised that Captain Furneaux should have selected him. He was not, indeed, a favourable sample of the natives of the Pacific Isles as far as appearance went. Ultimately, however, Omai, by his intelligence and good conduct, won the regard of Captain Cook, who afterwards, in his journal, speaks of him in warm terms of commendation.

Here, as elsewhere, there were thieves and rogues. Mr Sparrman was attacked while wandering in the woods, beaten, and robbed of his clothes and hanger. Oree, on hearing of it, shed tears, and set off in person to recover the clothes, most of which he got back. Altogether, however, the chief and his subjects were among the best disposed of all the people visited during the voyage. He came on board the Resolution as she was leaving the harbour, and did not quit her till he had taken an affectionate farewell of Captain Cook, when nearly half a league out at sea. He then went away in a small canoe, paddled by himself and another man, all the other natives having long before left the ship.

The following morning the ships entered the harbour of Ohamaneno, in the island of Ulietea, where they lay safely moored. The ships were at once surrounded with canoes, and hogs and vegetables were offered in abundance. At first, none of the former would be taken, as the ships were already crowded; but as killing and salting went on, room was made for them; and, in all, four hundred and fifty hogs were collected at this island. Most of them were brought in canoes from different directions to the ship, so that there was very little trading on shore. It was in consequence of the exertions made by Captain Cook in collecting provisions, and the judicious means he employed, that he was able to remain away from home so many years, and to make so many important discoveries.

The chief of that part of the island was Oreo. Captain Cook paid him a visit at his own house, and was cordially received. He, as others had done, inquired after Tupia and the captain’s companions on his former voyage, by name. A play was soon got up—the chiefs daughter and seven men being the actors. The plot was as follows:—A theft was committed in a masterly manner, but discovered before the thief had time to carry off his plunder. He and his accomplice were attacked by those who had charge of it; but the latter were beaten off, and the rogues escaped in triumph. This incident gives a notion of the moral character of the people in that respect. On another occasion Oreo entertained the strangers with a feast, in the native fashion. The floor was strewed thick with leaves, on which hot bread, fruit, and plantains were placed, with two pigs roasted whole—one of about sixty, the other thirty pounds. They were admirably dressed, having been baked in the native underground ovens, all parts being equally cooked. Cocoanuts supplied the beverage, but the visitors had brought some bottles of wine, which the chief seemed to like, as he both then and always filled his glass whenever the bottle came to him, but seemed not to be affected by it. Plays were got up every day for the amusement of the strangers; indeed, the natives seemed anxious in every way to please them. The people of this island appeared to be of a mild, amiable, and timid disposition.

A native lad about eighteen years of age, called Oedidee, joined the Resolution at this island, in the place of Boreo, who, falling in love with a damsel he met with, remained that he might marry her. Oedidee was a native of Bolabola, and a near relation of the great Opoony, chief of that island.

On this his second visit to these islands, Captain Cook, knowing more of the language of the people, was able to gain a better insight into their habits and customs. Among other points, he discovered, without doubt, that human sacrifices were frequently offered up at their morais. At first the natives would only acknowledge that criminals were killed, but afterwards they confessed that any whom the priest chose to denounce were offered up. Thus, a priest who had a dislike to a man might at any moment doom him to death by pronouncing him a bad man. He then sent out his executioners, who, with a couple of blows from their heavy clubs, struck the unsuspecting victim dead at their feet. The corpse was forthwith carried to the morais, when the chief, who was compelled to attend such sacrifices, had the eye offered to him to eat! At some of the islands, the inhabitants of which Captain Cook describes as the most happy on earth, the priests held this terrific power to a fearful extent. At the time of his thus writing he was not aware of the fact which is so strikingly illustrative of the declaration of holy writ, that “the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty.”

On September 17, 1773, the ships were again at sea. It was the intention of Captain Cook to get into the latitude of Middleburg and Amsterdam, in order to touch there before hauling up for New Zealand. At night they generally lay to, lest any land might be passed in the dark. Some small islets clothed with cocoanut trees were passed on the 23rd, and named Hervey’s Islands, but no inhabitants were seen on shore.

Middleburg was reached on October 1, and the following day, as the ships were beating up to an anchorage, two canoes came boldly off to them. Directly the anchors were dropped, the ships were surrounded by canoes, bringing cloth and other curiosities. Among the people who came on board was a chief, whose good services were secured by the present of a hatchet, spike-nails, and other articles. His name was Tioony. He piloted the boats to a place where the landing was very easy, and where a large concourse of people were assembled to receive them with commodities, which they pressed on their visitors, scarcely expecting to receive anything in return. At last, the chief, making the people open right and left, conducted his visitors to his house, which was delightfully situated about three hundred yards from the sea, at the head of a fine lawn under the shade of some shaddock trees. The floor was covered with mats, on which the guests were invited to be seated, the people arranging themselves on the ground in a circle outside. The piper having landed, Captain Cook ordered the bagpipes to be played, and, in return, three young women sang with a very good grace. A present being made to each of these, all the other women commenced singing. Their songs were musical and harmonious, and in no way harsh or disagreeable. The chief had another house in an adjoining plantation, to which his guests were conducted, and where they were entertained with bananas and cocoanuts, and bowls of cava; though, on witnessing the mode of preparing that beverage, the thirst of the visitors was sufficiently quenched. They were seated in an open space in front of the house, which was surrounded with fruit and other trees, whose fragrance filled the air.

The chief, Tioony, went on board and dined, and then, at their request, conducted the strangers through part of the island. There were numerous plantations of fir trees and edible roots, laid out with great judgment, and enclosed with neat fences made of reeds. The ships were crowded the whole day with people trafficking, and perfect good order prevailed. In the evening, on the return of the officers on board, they expressed themselves highly delighted with the country and the very obliging behaviour of the inhabitants, who seemed to vie with each other in doing what they thought would please their visitors.

The group of islands, at one of which the ships now were, was called the Tonga Islands; but Cook, from the treatment he received, named them the Friendly Islands, by which name they are now generally known. Tasman, who discovered them in 1642-3, named the two principal islands Amsterdam and Middleburg. The former is called by the natives Tongatabu, or the Great Tonga; the latter Ea-oo-we. There are other volcanic islands to the north, belonging to the group, not then known.