1779. THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 35 



which had taken place in their department during 

 the late gales. They were lodged in a house adjoin- 

 ing to the Moral, that was lent us by the priests. 

 Such were our arrangements on shore. I shall now 

 proceed to the account of those other transactions 

 with the natives, which led, by degrees, to the fatal 

 catastrophe of the 14th. 



Upon coming to anchor, we were surprised to find 

 our reception very different from what it had been on 

 our first arrival ; no shouts, no bustle, no confusion ; 

 but a solitary bay, with only here and there a canoe 

 stealing close along the shore. The impulse of cu- 

 riosity, which had before operated to so great a de- 

 gree, might now indeed be supposed to have ceased ; 

 but the hospitable treatment we had invariably met 

 with, and the friendly footing on which we parted, 

 gave us some reason to expect, that they would again 

 have flocked about us with great joy, on our return, 



We were forming various conjectures upon the 

 occasion of this extraordinary appearance, when our 

 anxiety was at length relieved by the return of a boat, 

 which had been sent on shore, and brought us word, 

 that Terreeoboo was absent, and had left the bay 

 under the taboo. Though this account appeared very 

 satisfactory to most of us; yet others were of opinion, 

 or rather, perhaps, have been led, by subsequent 

 events, to imagine, that there was something at this 

 time very suspicious in the behaviour of the natives; 

 and that the interdiction of all intercourse with us, on 

 pretence of the king's absence, was only to give him 

 time to consult with his chiefs in what manner it 

 might be proper to treat us. Whether these suspi- 

 cions were well founded, or the account given by the 

 natives was the truth, we were never able to ascertain. 

 For though it is not improbable that our sudden re- 

 turn, for which they could see no apparent cause, and 

 the necessity of which we afterward found it very dif- 

 ficult to make them comprehend, might occasion 

 some alarm ; yet the unsuspicious conduct of Terree- 



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