177^ HOUND THE WORLD. S&5 



hard for him ; Towlia said not one word, but was 

 very attentive to every thing going forward. I ex- 

 postulated with Otoo on the conduct of this man, 

 and of his people in general ; telling him, that 

 neither I, nor any of my people, took any thing from 

 them, without first paying for it ; enumerating the 

 articles we gave in exchange for such and such 

 things, and urging that it was wrong in them to steal 

 from us who were their friends. I, moreover, told 

 him, that the punishing this man would be the means 

 of saving the lives of others of his people, by de- 

 terring them from committing crimes of this nature, 

 in which some would certainly be shot dead, one 

 time or another. With these and other arguments, 

 which I believe he pretty well understood, he seemed 

 satisfied, and only desired the man might not be 

 Matterou (or killed). I then ordered the crowd, 

 which was very great, to be kept at a proper distance, 

 and, in the presence of them all, ordered the fellow 

 two dozen of lashes with a cat-of-nine-tails, which 

 he bore with great firmness, and was then set at 

 liberty. After this, the natives were going away ; 

 but Towha stepped forth, called them back, and 

 harangued them for near half an hour. His speech 

 consisted of short sentences, very little of which I 

 understood ; but, from what we could gather, he 

 recapitulated part of what I had said to Otoo ; 

 named several advantages they had received from 

 us ; condemned their present conduct, and recom- 

 mended a different one for the future. The grace- 

 fulness of his action, and the attention with which he 

 was heard, bespoke him a great orator. 



Otoo said not one word. As soon as Towha had 

 ended his speech, I ordered the marines to go 

 through their exercise, and to load and fire in volleys 

 with ball ; and as they were very quick in their 

 manoeuvres, it is easier to conceive than to describe 

 the amazement the natives were under the whole 

 time, especially those who had not seen any thing of 

 the kind before. 



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