244 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



to set them in motion, were submitted to inspection ; 

 and, to supply the defects of his description, an appeal 

 was made to the senses of the spectators. In the centre 

 of a circle formed by the natives, the inconsiderable 

 quantity of gunpowder, collected from his cartridges, was 

 properly disposed upon the ground, and, by means of a 

 bit of burning wood from the oven, where dinner was 

 dressing, set on fire. The sudden blast and loud report, 

 the mingled flame and smoke, that instantly succeeded, 

 now filled the whole assembly with astonishment ; they 

 no longer doubted the tremendous power of our weapons, 

 and gave full credit to all that Omai had said. This 

 probably induced them to liberate the gentlemen. 



" Omai found three of his countrymen here ; their 

 story is an affecting one, as related by him. About twenty 

 persons had embarked on board a canoe at Otaheite, 

 to cross over to the neighbouring island, Ulietea. A 

 violent contrary wind arising, they could neither reach 

 the latter, nor get back to the former. Their intended 

 passage being a very short one, their stock of provisions 

 was scanty, and soon exhausted. The hardships they 

 suffered, while driven along by the storm, are not to be 

 conceived. They passed many days without sustenance. 

 Their numbers gradually diminished, worn out by famine 

 and fatigue. Four only survived, when the canoe overset. 

 However, they kept hanging by the side of the vessel, 

 till Providence brought them in sight of the people of 

 this island who immediately sent out canoes and brought 

 them ashore. Of the four, one was since dead. The other 

 three, still living, spoke highly of the kind treatment they 

 here met with. And so well satisfied were they with their 

 situation that they refused the offer made to them by our 

 gentlemen, at Omai's request, of giving them a passage on 

 board our ships, to restore them to their native islands. 



" The landing of our gentlemen on this island, though 

 they failed in the object of it, cannot but be considered 

 as a very fortunate circumstance. It has proved, as we 

 have seen, the means of bringing to our knowledge a 

 matter of fact, not only very curious, but very instructive. 

 The application of the above narrative is obvious. It 

 will serve to explain, better than a thousand conjectures 

 of speculative reasoners, how the detached parts of the 

 earth, and in particular, how the islands of the South 

 Seas may have been first peopled ; especially those that 

 lie remote from any inhabited continent, or from each 

 other. 



" With a gentle breeze at east, we got up with Wateeoo 

 on the 3rd of April, and I immediately despatched Mr. 



