TRADE IN COCOA-OIL. P15 
We have already mentioned the trade in 
cocoa-oil carried on by the Tahaitians, and the 
ship possessed by the Queen. This is com- 
manded by an Englishman, and a part of the 
crew is also English. It was just returned 
from a voyage among the Society Islands, 
where it had been to collect tribute, and was 
preparing to carry a cargo of cocoa-oil, stowed 
in thick bamboo-canes, to Port Jackson. From 
the Captain, who visited me, I gained much in- 
formation concerning the present state of affairs 
in these seas. He had learnt from ships re- 
turned from the Friendly Islands, that their 
King had recently conquered the Navigator 
Islands, which now paid tribute to him. 
The map of Matarai, and of the bay which 
bounds it on the north-east, completed by us 
with the utmost care from trigonometrical sur- 
veys, is attached to this volume, and renders 
any further description of the coast it embraces 
unnecessary. In December and January, the 
Talhaitian summer months, the trade-wind is 
often interrupted by violent north-westers. 
Rain and storms are then frequent, and often 
last till April; in the other months the trade- 
