THIRD VOYAGE 239 



*' After their departure, another canoe arrived, conducted 

 by a man who brought a bunch of plantains as a present to 

 me, asking for me by name, having learnt it from Omai, 

 who was sent before us in a boat with Mr. Gore. In return 

 for this civility, I gave him an axe and a piece of red cloth, 

 and he paddled back to the shore well satisfied. I after- 

 ward understood from Omai, that this present had been 

 sent from the king, or principal chief of the island. 



" Not long after a double canoe, in which were twelve 

 men, came towards us. As they drew near the ship, they 

 recited some words in concert, by way of chorus, one of their 

 number first standing up, and giving the word before each 

 repetition. When they had finished their solemn chant, 

 they came alongside, and asked for the chief. As soon as I 

 shewed myself, a pig and a few cocoa-nuts were conveyed up 

 into the ship, and the principal person in the canoe made 

 me an additional present of a piece of matting. 



" Our visitors were conducted into the cabin, and to other 

 parts of the ship. Some objects seemed to strike them with 

 a degree of surprise ; but nothing fixed their attention for a 

 moment. They were afraid to come near the cows and 

 horses ; nor did they form the least conception of their 

 nature. But the sheep and goats did not surpass the limits 

 of their ideas ; for they gave us to understand, that they 

 knew them to be birds. I made a present to my new friend, 

 of what I thought might be most acceptable to him ; but, on 

 his going away, he seemed rather disappointed than pleased. 

 I afterwards understood that he was very desirous of 

 obtaining a dog, of which animal this island could not boast. 



" The people in these canoes were in general of a middling 

 size, and not unlike those of Mangeea ; though several were 

 of a blacker cast than any we saw there. Their features 

 were various, and some of the young men rather handsome. 

 Like those of Mangeea, they had girdles of glazed cloth, or 

 fine matting, the ends of which, being brought betwixt their 

 thighs, covered the adjoining par.ts. Ornaments, composed 

 of a sort of broad brass stained with red, and strung with 

 berries of the nightshade, were worn about their necks. 

 Their ears were bored, but not slit ; and they were punc- 

 tured upon their legs, from the knee to the heel, which 

 made them appear as if they wore a kind of boots. Their 

 behaviour was frank and cheerful, with a great deal of 

 good-nature. 



" Soon after daybreak, we observed some canoes 

 coming off to the ships, and one of them directed its course 

 to the Resolution. In it was a hog with some plantains 

 and cocoanuts, for which the people who brought them 

 demanded a dog from us, and refused every other thing 



