168 CHRONOLOGY OF O WAHI. 



During this period, but long before Cook's 

 time, two vessels are said to have been wrecked 

 on the north-east side of O Wahi. Tradition is 

 not unanimous in the account of what became 

 of the crews. According to some, they were 

 lost in the wreck, but others say they were 

 murdered by the natives. My informant, Ka- 

 remaku, mentioned only one ship, which was 

 seen at a distance ; and although the iron an- 

 chors found at O Wahi and at Muwe prove that 

 they must have been there, he could give no 

 account of them. It is very probable that the 

 Spaniards, who often made a mystery of their 

 discoveries in the South Seas, already knew of 

 the existence of these islands before their dis- 

 covery by Cook. 



Their authentic history begins with this 

 event, in 1778, when, as has already been men- 

 tioned, Cook bestowed on them the name of 

 the First Lord of the Admiralty at that period. 

 They were not then, as now, united under one 

 King ; but each island had its particular so- 

 vereign, called Yeri-Rahi, who possessed full 

 power over the lives of his subjects, and to 

 whom the proprietors of land paid tribute. 



