1769. ROUND THE WORLD. 26l 



equal to what they would fetch among us, except 

 they could be procured before they are drilled. 



Between the dances of the women, the men per- 

 formed a kind of dramatic interlude, in which there 

 was dialogue as well as dancing ; but we were not 

 sufficiently acquainted with their language to under- 

 stand the subject. 



On the 4th, some of our gentlemen saw a much 

 more regular entertainment of the dramatic kind, which 

 was divided into four acts. 



Tupia had often told us that he had large posses- 

 sions in this island, which had been taken away from 

 him by the inhabitants of Bolabola, and he now 

 pointed them out in the very bay where the ship was 

 at anchor. Upon our going on shore, this was con- 

 firmed by the inhabitants, who showed us several dis- 

 tricts or Whennuas, which they acknowledged to be 

 his right. 



On the 5th, I received a present of three hogs, 

 some fowls, several pieces of cloth, the largest we 

 had seen, being fifty yards long, which they unfolded 

 and displayed so as to make the greatest show possi- 

 ble ; and a considerable quantity of plantains, cocoa- 

 nuts, and other refreshments, from Opoony, the for- 

 midable king, or, in the language of the country, 

 Earee rahie, of Bolabola, with a message that he was 

 at this time upon the island, and that the next day 

 he intended to pay me a visit. 



In the mean time Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander 

 went upon the hills, accompanied by several of the 

 Indians, who conducted them by excellent paths, to 

 such a height, that they plainly saw the other side of 

 the island, and the passage through which the ship 

 had passed the reef between the little islands of Opu- 

 ruru and Tamou, when we landed upon it the first 

 time. As they were returning, they saw the Indians 

 exercising themselves at what they call Erowhaw, 

 which is nothing more than pitching a kind of light 

 lance, headed with hard wood, at a mark : in this 



s 3 



