THIRD VOYAGE 281 



ceremony being closed, he and his friends accompanied 

 me on board to dinner. 



" Having taken in a fresh supply of water, and finished 

 all our other necessary operations, on the 22nd I brought 

 off the cattle and sheep, and made ready for sea. 



" On the 23rd, we got under sail, and steered for Matavai 

 Bay. where the Resolution anchored the same evening. 

 But the Discovery did not get in till the next morning. 



" About nine o'clock in the morning, Otoo, the king of 

 the whole island, attended by a great number of canoes full 

 of people, came from Oparre, his place of residence, and 

 sent a message on board, expressing a desire to see me. 

 Accordingly I landed, accompanied by Omai and some of 

 the officers. We found a prodigious number of people 

 assembled on this occasion, and in the midst of them was 

 the king, attended by his father, his two brothers, and three 

 sisters. I went up first and saluted him, followed by Omai, 

 who kneeled and embraced his legs. He had prepared 

 himself for this ceremony, by dressing in his very best suit 

 of clothes, and behaved with a great deal of respect and 

 modesty. Nevertheless, very little notice was taken of him. 

 Perhaps envy had some share in producing this cold recep- 

 tion. He made the chief a present of a large piece of red 

 feathers, and about two or three yards of gold cloth ; and I 

 gave him a suit of fine linen, a gold-laced hat, some tools, 

 and, what was of more value than all the other articles, a 

 quantity of red feathers, and one of the bonnets in use at 

 the Friendly Islands. 



" After the hurry of this visit was over, the king and the 

 whole royal family accompanied me on board, followed by 

 several canoes laden with all kinds of provisions, in quantity 

 sufficient to have served the companies of both ships for a 

 week. Soon after the king's mother, who had not been 

 present at the first interview, came on board, bringing with 

 her a quantity of provisions and cloth, which she divided 

 between me and Omai. For although he was but little 

 noticed at first by his countrymen, they no sooner gained 

 the knowledge of his riches, than they began to court his 

 friendship. I encouraged this as much as I could ; for it 

 was my wish to fix him with Otoo. As I intended to leave 

 all my European animals at this island, I thought he would 

 be able to give some instruction about the management of 

 them, and their use. Besides, I knew and saw that the 

 farther he was from his native island, he would be the better 

 respected. But unfortunately, poor Omai rejected my 

 advice, and conducted himself in so imprudent a manner, 

 that he soon lost the friendship of Otoo, and of every other 

 person of note in Otaheite. 



