190 cook's second voyage SEPT. 



chap. xiv. 



AN ACCOUNT OF A SPANISH SHIP VISITING OTAHEITE ; THE 

 PRESENT STATE OF THE ISLANDS; WITH SOME OBSERV- 

 ATIONS ON THE DISEASES AND CUSTOMS OF THE INHA- 

 BITANTS, AND SOME MISTAKES CONCERNING THE .WOMEN 

 CORRECTED. 



1 shall now give some farther account of these 

 islands ; for, although I have been pretty minute in 

 relating the daily transactions, some things, which 

 are rather interesting, have been omitted. 



Soon after our arrival at Otaheite, we were in- 

 formed that a ship, about the size of the Resolution, 

 had been in at Owhaiurua harbour near the S. E. end 

 of the island, where she remained about three weeks; 

 and had been gone about three months before we 

 arrived. We were told that four of the natives were 

 gone away in her, whose names were Debedebea, 

 Paoodou, Tanadooee, and Opahiah. At this time 

 we conjectured this was a French ship ; but on our 

 arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, we learnt she 

 was a Spaniard, which had been sent out from Ame- 

 rica. The Otaheiteans complained of a disease 

 communicated to them by the people in this ship, 

 which they said affected the head, throat, and stomach, 

 and at length killed them. They seemed to dread 

 it much, and were continually enquiring if we had it. 

 This ship they distinguished by the name of Pahai 

 no Pep-pe (ship of Peppe), and called the disease 

 Apa no Pep-pe 9 just as they call the venereal disease 

 Apa no Prelane (English disease), though they, 

 to a man, say it was brought to the isle by M. de 

 Bougainville ; but I have already observed that they 



