1777* THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 341 



king's brother ; and one remained undisposed of, 

 which, I judged, was for the king himself, as it was 

 a choice bit. The liquor was next served out ; but 

 Poulaho seemed to give no directions about it. The 

 first cup was brought to him, which he ordered 

 to be given to one who sat near him. The second 

 was also brought to him, and this he kept. The 

 third was given to me ; but their manner of brewing- 

 having quenched my thirst, it became Omai's pro- 

 perty. The rest of the liquor was distributed to 

 different people, by direction of the man who had 

 the management of it. One of the cups being car- 

 ried to the king's brother, he retired with this, and 

 with his mess of victuals. Some others also quitted 

 the circle with their portions ; and the reason was, 

 they could neither eat nor drink in the royal pre- 

 sence ; but there were others present, of a much in- 

 ferior rank, of both sexes, who did both. Soon after, 

 most of them withdrew, carrying with them what 

 they had not ate of their share of the feast. 



I observed, that not a fourth part of the company 

 had tasted either the victuals or the drink ; those 

 who partook of the former, I supposed to be of the 

 king's household. The servants who distributed 

 the baked meat, and the kava 9 , always delivered it 

 out of their hand sitting, not only to the king, but 

 to every other person. It is worthy of remark, 

 though this was the first time of our landing, and a 

 great many people were present who had never seen 

 us before, yet no one was troublesome ; but the 

 greatest good order was preserved throughout the 

 whole assembly. 



Before I returned on board, I went in search of a 

 watering place, and was conducted to some ponds, 

 or rather holes, containing fresh water, as they were 

 pleased to call it. The contents of one of these, 

 indeed, were tolerable ; but it was at some distance 

 inland, and the supply to be got from it was very 

 inconsiderable. Being informed that the little island 



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