1777- THE PACIFIC OCEAN. <2Q 



myself, and told them, as well as I could, that as I 

 was not thoroughly acquainted with the dispute, and 

 as the people of Eimeo had never offended me, I 

 could not think myself at liberty to engage in hosti- 

 lities against them. With this declaration they either 

 were, or seemed, satisfied. The assembly then 

 broke up ; but, before I left them, Otoo desired me 

 to come to him in the afternoon, and to bring Omai 

 with me. 



Accordingly, a party of us waited upon him at the 

 appointed time ; and we were conducted by him to 

 his father, in whose presence the dispute with Eimeo 

 was again talked over. Being very desirous of de- 

 vising some method to bring about an accommoda- 

 tion, I sounded the old chief on that head, but we 

 found him deaf to any such proposal, and fully de- 

 termined to prosecute the war. He repeated the so- 

 licitations which I had already resisted, about giving 

 them my assistance. On our inquiring into the cause 

 of the war, we were told, that, some years ago, a 

 brother of Waheadooa, of Tieraboo, was sent to 

 Eimeo, at the request of Maheine, a popular chief 

 of that island, to be their king ; but that he had not 

 been there a week before Maheine, having caused 

 him to be killed, set up for himself, in opposition to 

 Tierataboonooe, his sister's son, who became the 

 lawful heir \ or else had been pitched upon, by the 

 people of Ctaheite, to succeed to the government on 

 the death of the other. 



Towha, who is a relation of Otoo, and chief of 

 the district of Tettaha, a man of much weight in the 

 island, and who had been commander-in-chief of the 

 armament fitted out against Eimeo in 1774, happened 

 not to be at Matavai at this time ; and, consequently, 

 was not present at any of these consultations. It, 

 however, appeared that he was no stranger to what 

 was transacted ; and that he entered with more spirit 

 into the affair than any other chief; for, early in the 

 morning of the 1st of September, a messenger ar- 



