1777 THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 87 



some present for the chief himself and another for 

 his Eatooa. Indeed, after he had got clear of the 

 gang that surrounded him at Otaheite, he behaved 

 with such prudence as to gain respect. Our landing 

 drew most of our visitors from the ships ; and they, 

 as well as those that were on shore, assembled in a 

 large house. The concourse of people, on this oc- 

 casion, was very great ; and amongst them, there 

 appeared to be a greater proportion of personal men 

 and women than we had ever seen in one assembly 

 at any of these new islands. Not only the bulk of 

 the people seemed in general much stouter and 

 fairer than those of Otaheite, but there was also a 

 much greater number of men who appeared to be 

 of consequence, in proportion to the extent of the 

 island ; most of whom had exactly the corpulent ap- 

 pearance of the chiefs of Wateeo. We waited some 

 some time for Taireetareea, as I would do nothing 

 till \\\e Earee rahie came; but when he appeared, I 

 found that his presence might have been dispensed 

 with, as he was not above eight or ten years of age. 

 Omai, who stood at a little distance from this circle 

 of great men, began with making his offering to the 

 gods, consisting of red feathers, cloth, &c. Then 

 followed another ottering, which was to be given to 

 the gods by the chief; and, after that, several other 

 small pieces and tufts of red feathers were presented. 

 Each article was laid before one of the company, who, 

 I understood, was a priest, and was delivered with a 

 set speech or prayer, spoken by one of Omai's friends, 

 who sat by him, but mostly dictated by himself. In 

 these prayers, he did not forget his friends in Eng- 

 land, nor those who had brought him safe back. The 

 Earee rahie no Fretane, Lord Sandwich, Toote, 

 Tatee *, were mentioned in every one of them. When 

 Oinai's offerings and prayers were finished, the priest 

 took each article, in the same order in which it had 



* Cook and Clcrke. 

 G 4 



