6 A VOYAGE TO JAN. 



behaved with great fairness and honesty in their deal- 

 ings, and had not shown the slightest propensity to 

 theft; which appeared to us the more extraordinary, 

 because those with whom we had hitherto held any 

 intercourse, were of the lowest rank, either servants 

 or fishermen. We now found the case exceedingly 

 altered. The immense crowd of islanders, which 

 blocked up every part of the ships, not only afforded 

 frequent opportunity of pilfering without risk of dis- 

 covery, but our inferiority in number held forth a 

 prospect of escaping with impunity in case of detec- 

 tion. Another circumstance, to which we attributed 

 this alteration in their behaviour, was the presence 

 and encouragement of their chiefs; for generally 

 tracing the booty into the possession of some men of 

 consequence, we had the strongest reason to suspect 

 that these depredations were committed at their in- 

 stigation. 



Soon after the Resolution had got into her station, 

 our two friends, Pareea and Kaneena, brought on 

 board a third chief, named Koah, who, we were told, 

 was a priest, and had been, in his youth, a distinguish- 

 ed warrior. He was a little old man, of an emaciated 

 figure; his eyes exceedingly sore and red, and his 

 body covered with a white leprous scurf, the effects 

 of an immoderate use of the av a. Being led into the 

 cabin, he approached Captain Cook with great ve- 

 neration, and threw over his shoulders a piece of red 

 cloth, which he had brought along with him. Then 

 stepping a few paces back, he made an offering of a 

 small pig, which he held in his hand, whilst he pro- 

 nounced a discourse that lasted for a considerable 

 time. This ceremony was frequently repeated dur- 

 ing our stay at Owhyhee, and appeared to us, from 

 many circumstances, to be a sort of religious ador- 

 ation. Their idols we found always arrayed with red 

 cloth, in the same manner as was done to Captain 

 Cook ; and a small pig was their usual offering to the 

 Eatooas. Their speeches, or prayers, were uttered 



