242 



A VOYAGE TO 



February. 



'778- eftimation, before Captain Wallis's arrival, that a Chief of 

 Otaheite, who had got two nails into his pofTclTion, re- 

 ceived no fmall emolument, by letting out the ufe of thefe 

 to his neighbours, for tUe purpofe of boring holes, when 

 their own methods failed, or were thought too tedious*. 

 The men of the Society Iflands, whom we found at Wareeoo, 

 had been driven thither, long after the knowledge and 

 ufe of iron had thus been introduced amongft their coun- 

 trymen ; and though, probably, they had no fpecimen of it 

 with them, they would naturally, and with eafe, communi- 

 cate at that ifland their knowledge of this valuable mate- 

 rial, by defcription. From the people of Wateeoo again, 

 thofe of Hervey's Ifland might derive that defue to pofTefs 

 fome of it, of which we had proofs during our Ihort inter- 

 courfe with them. 



The confideration of thefe facTis fufficiently explains how 

 the knowledge of iron has been conveyed throughout this 

 ocean, to iflands which never have had an immediate inter- 

 courfe with Europeans ; and it may eafily be conceived, that 

 wherever the hillory of it only has been reported, or a very 

 fmall quantity of it has been left, the greater eagernefs will 

 be fliewn by the natives to get copious fupplies of it. The 

 application of thefe particulars, to the inftance now under 

 confideration, is obvious. The people of Atooi and Onee- 

 heow, without having ever been vifited by Europeans be- 

 fore us, might have received it from intermediate iflands, 



• A fimilaf inftance of profitable revenue, drav.-n from the ufe of nails by the 

 Chiefs, of the Caroline Idr.nds, is mentioned by father Cantova : " Si, par hazard, un 

 " vaiflcau ctranger laiflc dans leurs ifles quelques vieux morceaux de fer, ils appar- 

 " tiennent de droit aux Taniolcs, qui en font faire dcs outils, Ic micux qu'il eft pof- 

 *' f)ble. Cts outils (ont un for.d dont le Tamole tire un rcvcnu confidcrable, car il 

 ** les donnc a louage, & ce louagc fe paye aflcz chcrc." p. 314. 



9 lying 



