THIRD VOYAGE 283 



grapes, he could easily make wine. Accordingly he had 

 several slips cut off from the tree to carry with him, and we 

 pruned and put in order the remains of it. Probably, 

 grown wise by Omai's instructions, they may now suffer the 

 fruit to grow to perfection, and not pass so hasty a sentence 

 upon it again. 



" We found here the young man whom we called Oedidee, 

 but whose real name is Heete-heete. I had carried him 

 from Ulietea in 1773, and brought him back in 1774 ; after 

 he had visited the Friendly Islands, New Zealand, Easter 

 Island, and the Marquesas, and been on board my ship in 

 that extensive navigation, about seven months. He was 

 tenacious of his good-breeding, and ' yes, Sir/ or, ' if you 

 please, Sir/ were frequently repeated by him. Heete- 

 heete, who is a native of Bolabola, had arrived in Otaheite 

 about three months before, with no other intention that we 

 could learn, than to gratify his curiosity, or perhaps some 

 other favourite passion. It was evident, however, that he 

 preferred the modes, and even garb of his countrymen, to 

 ours. For though I gave him some clothes, which our 

 Admiralty Board had been pleased to send for his use 

 to which I added a chest of tools, and a few other articles 

 as a present from myself), he declined wearing them after 

 a few days. This instance may be urged as a proof of 

 the strong propensity natural to man, of returning to 

 habits acquired at an early age, and only interrupted by 

 accident.* 



" In the morning of the 27th, a man came from Oheite- 

 peha, and told us that two Spanish ships had anchored in 

 that bay the night before, and, in confirmation of this in- 

 telligence, he produced a piece of coarse blue cloth, which 

 he said he got out of one of the ships, and which, indeed, to 

 appearance was almost quite new. I despatched Lieutenant 

 Williamson in a boat to look into Oheitepeha Bay, and, in 

 the meantime, I put the ships into a proper posture of 

 defence. For though England and Spain were in peace 

 when I left Europe, for aught I knew, a different scene 

 might by this time have opened. However, the fellow had 

 imposed upon us, as was found by Williamson's report. 



" Hitherto the attention of Otoo and his people had been 

 confined to us ; but next morning a new scene of business 

 opened, by the arrival of some messengers from Eimeo,with 

 intelligence that the people in that island were in arms, and 



* A more recent instance confirms Captain Cook's remark, that 

 of " Jemmy Button," the proteg6 of Admiral Fitzroy ; " there he 

 was, a wild, naked, and shaggy looking savage ; " " once smartly 

 dressed, the recipient of favour from the very hand of Royalty 

 itself." Parker Snow's Voyage to South Seas. 



