T H E P A C I F I C O C C A N. 13 



I met with no Chief of anv confidcrable note on tliis oc- '"7- 



eafion, excepting the extraordinary pcrfonage above de- '^ — v > 



fcribed. Waheiadooa, the fovereign of Tiaraboo (as this 

 part of the ifland is called), was now abfent; and, I after- 

 ward found, that he was not the fame pcrfon, though of 

 the fame name with the Chief whom I had feen here dur- 

 ing my laft voyage; but his brother, a boy of about ten 

 years of age, who had fuccecdcd upon the death of the 

 elder Waheiadooa, about twenty months before our arrival. 

 We alfo learned, that the celebrated Oberea was dead ; but 

 that Otoo, and all our other friends, were living. 



When I returned from viewing the houfe and crofs crccT:- 

 cd by the Spaniards, I found Omai holding forth to a large 

 company ; and it was with fome difliculty that he could be 

 got away ^o accompany me on board, where 1 had an im- 

 portant alfair to fettle. 



As I knew that Otaheite, and the neighbouring iflands, 

 could furnifli us with a plentiful fupply of cocoa-nuts, the 

 liquor of which is an excellent fuccedamiim for any artificial 

 beverage, I was dcfirous of prevailing upon my people to 

 confent to be abridged, during our ftay here, of their ftated 

 allowance of fpirits to mix with water. But as this flop- 

 page of a favourite article, without aiTigning fome reafon, 

 might have occafioned a general murmur, I thought it moll 

 prudent to afTemble the fhip's company, and to make known 

 to them the intent of the voyage, and the extent of our fu- 

 ture operations. To induce them to undertake which, with 

 cheerfulnefs and perfeverance, I took notice of the rewards 

 offered, by Parliament, to fuch of his Majefty's fubje<n:s'as 

 fliall firll difcover a communication between the Atlantic 

 and Pacific Oceans, in any direction whatever, in the North- 

 ern 



