1777- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 41,5 



the daily expectation of seeing some of our friends 

 from Tongataboo, induced me to defer my de- 

 parture. 



Accordingly, the next day, I received the chief's 

 present ; consisting of two small heaps of yams, and 

 some fruit, which seemed to be collected by a kind of 

 contribution, as at the other isles'. On this occasion, 

 most of the people of the island had assembled at the 

 place ; and, as we had experienced on such nume- 

 rous meetings amongst their neighbours, gave us not 

 a little trouble to prevent them from pilfering what- 

 ever they could lay their hands upon. We were en- 

 tertained with cudgelling, wrestling, and boxing- 

 matches ; and in the latter, both male and female 

 combatants exhibited. It was intended to have 

 finished the show with the homai, or night-dance ; 

 but an accident either put a total stop to it, or, at 

 least, prevented any of us from staying ashore to see 

 it. One of my people, walking a very little way, 

 was surrounded by twenty or thirty of the natives, 

 who knocked him down, and stripped him of every 

 thing he had on his back. On hearing of this, I 

 immediately seized two canoes and a large hog; 

 and insisted on Taoofa's causing the clothes to be 

 restored, and on the offenders being delivered up to 

 me. The chief seemed much concerned at what had 

 happened ; and forthwith took the necessary steps to 

 satisfy me. This affair so alarmed the assembled people, 

 that most of them fled. However, when they found 

 that I took no other measures to revenge the insult, 

 they returned. It was not long before one of the 

 offenders was delivered up to me, and a shirt and a 

 pair of trowsers restored. The remainder of the 

 stolen goods not coming in before night, I was under 

 the necessity of leaving them to go aboard ; for the 

 sea run so high, that it was with the greatest diffi- 

 culty the boats could get out of the creek with day- 

 light, much less in the dark. 



The next morning I landed again, having pro* 



