12*2 COOK S VOYAGE TO DEC. 



tioned ; and was going to dive to see where this stone 

 lay, when, behold, it started up to the surface spon 

 taneously into his hand ! The people were astonished 

 at the sight ; the stone was deposited as sacred in the 

 house of the Eatooa ; and is still preserved at Bola- 

 bola, as a proof of this woman's influence with the 

 divinity. Their spirits being thus elevated with the 

 hopes of victory, the canoes of Bolabola set out to 

 engage those of Ulietea and Huaheine, which being 

 strongly fastened together with ropes, the encounter 

 lasted long, and would probably, notwithstanding 

 the prediction and the miracle, have ended in the 

 overthrow of the Bolabola fleet, if that of Otaha had 

 not, in the critical moment, arrived. This turned 

 the fortune of the day, and their enemies were de- 

 feated with great slaughter. The men of Bolabola, 

 prosecuting their victory, invaded Huaheine two days 

 after, which they knew must be weakly defended, 

 as most of its warriors were absent. Accordingly, 

 they made themselves masters of that island. But 

 many of its fugitives having got to Otaheite, there 

 told their lamentable story ; which so grieved those 

 of their countrymen, and of Ulietea, whom they met 

 with in that island, that they obtained some assistance 

 from them. They were equipped with only ten fight- 

 ing canoes ; but, though their force was so inconsider- 

 able, they conducted the expedition with so much 

 prudence, that they landed at Huaheine at night, 

 when dark, and falling upon the Bolabola men by 

 surprise killed many of them, forcing the rest to fly. 

 So that, by this means, they got possession of their 

 island again, which now remains independent, under 

 the government of its own chiefs. Immediately after 

 the defeat of the united fleets of Ulietea and Hua- 

 heine, a proposal was made to the Bolabola men by 

 their allies of Otaha, to be admitted to an equal share 

 of the conquests. The refusal of this broke the alli- 

 ance ; and in the course of the war, Otaha itself j as 

 well as Ulietea, was conquered \ and both now re- 



