1777. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 257 



veral of the natives swam off, bringing cocoa-nuts ; and 

 Omai, with their countrymen, whom we had with us 

 in the boats, made them sensible of our wish to land. 

 But their attention was taken up for a little time by 

 the dog which had been carried from the ship, and 

 was just brought on shore, round whom they flocked 

 with great eagerness. Soon after, two canoes came 

 off; and, to create a greater confidence in the 

 islanders, we determined to go unarmed, and run the 

 hazard of being treated well or ill. 



" Mr. Burney, the first lieutenant of the Dis- 

 covery, and I went in one canoe a little time before 

 the other ; and our conductors, watching attentively 

 the motions of the surf, landed us safely upon the 

 reef. An islander took hold of each of us, obviously 

 with an intention to support us in walking over the 

 rugged rocks to the beach, where several of the 

 others met us, holding the green boughs of a species 

 of Mimosa in their hands, and saluted us by applying 

 their noses to ours. 



" We were conducted from the beach byourguides, 

 amidst a great crow T d of people, who flocked with 

 very eager curiosity to look at us, and would have 

 prevented our proceeding, had not some men, who 

 seemed to have authority, dealt blows with little dis- 

 tinction amongst them to keep them off. We were 

 then led up an avenue of cocoa-palms, and soon 

 came to a number of men arranged in two rows, 

 armed with clubs, which they held on their shoulders 

 much in the manner we rest a musket. After 

 walking a little way amongst these, we found a person 

 who seemed a chiefj sitting on the ground cross- 

 legged, cooling himself with a sort of triangular fan, 

 made from a leaf of the cocoa-palm, with a polished 

 handle of black wood fixed to one corner. In his 

 ears were large bunches of beautiful red feathers 

 which pointed forward. But he had no other mark 

 or ornament to distinguish him from the rest of the 



vol. v. s 



