274 



A VOYAGE TO 



1777. proof of his fuperiorky ; for he placed himfelf amongft the 

 w-J^^)^l-j lefl; that fat before Poulaho, as attendants on his majefty. 

 He feemed, at firft, rather abaflicd ; as fome of us were 

 prefent who had been ufed to fee him acl a different part ^ 

 but he foon recovered himfelf. Some Httle converfation 

 paffed between thefe two Chiefs, which none of us under- 

 Ilood ; nor were we fatisfied with Omai's incerpretation of 

 it. We were, however, by tjiis time, fufficiently unde- 

 ceived as to Feenou^s rank. Both he and Pouiaho went on 

 board with me to dinner; but only the latter fat at table. 

 Feenou, having made his obeifance, in the ufual way, fa- 

 luting his fovereign's foot with his head and hands, re- 

 tired out of the cabin *. The king had before told us, that 

 this would happen ; and it now appeared, that Feenou could 

 not even eat nor drink in his royal pre fence. 



Sunday s. At eight o'clock, ncst morning, v/e weighed and fleered 



for Tongataboo, having a gentle breeze at North Eaft. About 

 fourteen or fifteen failing veilels, belonging to the natives^ 

 fet out with us ; but every one of them outrun the fhips 

 ■ confiderably. Feenou was to have taken his pafTage in tlie 

 Refolution ; but preferred his ov^rn canoe; and put two men on 



* Marks of profound refpeft, very fimihr to thofe paid by natives of the Friendly 

 Iflands to their fovereign, are alib paid to the principal Chiefs, or Tamoles of the Ca^ 

 roline Iflands, as appears from father Cantova's account here tranfcribed. " Lorf- 

 '^ qu'un Tamole donne audience, il paroit affis fur une table eleve'e : les peuples s'in- 

 " clinent devantlui jufqu'a terre ; h du plus loin qu'ils arrivent, ils marchent le 

 " corps tout courbe, & la tete prefqu'entre les genoux, jufqu'a ce qu'ils foient au-v 

 ^ . « pres de fa perfonne ; alors ils s'affeyent a plate terre ; &, les yeux baifies, ils re- 



« f oivent fes ordres avec le plus profond refpe£l. Qiiand le Tamole les congedie, ils. 

 *' fe retirent, en fe courbant de la meme maniere que quand ils font venus, & ne fe 

 <• relevent que lorfqu'ils font hors de fa prefence. Ses pnroles font autant d'on'.cles 

 " qu'on revere; on rend a fes ordres une obcifTance aveugle ; enfin, on baife les 

 " mains & Ics piedoj quand on lui demande quelque grace." 



Lcttres Mifianiis ^ Curieufes, Tom. xv. p. 312, 313. 



board, 



