298 CAPTAIN COOK'S VOYAGES 



on between us and the natives, without being vlisturbed by 

 any one accident, till the evening of the 22nd, ivhen a man 

 found means to get into Mr. Bayly's observatory, and to 

 carry off a sextant unobserved. As soon as I was made 

 acquainted with the theft, I went ashore, and got Omai to 

 apply to the chiefs to procure restitution. He did so ; but 

 they took no steps towards it, being more attentive to a 

 heeva that was then acting, till I ordered the performers 

 of the exhibition to desist. They were now convinced that 

 I was in earnest, and began to make some inquiry after 

 the thief who was sitting in the midst of them quite un- 

 concerned, insomuch, that I was in great doubt of his being 

 the guilty person, especially as he denied it. Omai, however, 

 assuring me that he was the man, I sent him on board the 

 ship, and there confined him. This raised a general ferment 

 amongst the assembled natives ; and the whole body fled, 

 in spite of my endeavours to stop them. Having employed 

 Omai to examine the prisoner, with some difficulty he was 

 brought to confess where he had hid the sextant ; but, as 

 it was now dark, we could not find it till day light the 

 next morning, when it was brought back unhurt. After 

 this, the natives recovered from their fright, and began 

 to gather about us as usual. As the thief seemed to be a 

 very hardened fellow, I punished him with some severity. 



" This, however, did not deter him, for in the night 

 between the 24th and 25th a general alarm was spread, 

 occasioned, as was said, by one of our goats being stolen 

 by this very same man. On examination, we found that 

 all was safe in that quarter. Probably the goats were so 

 well guarded that he could not put his design in execution. 

 But his hostilities had succeeded against another object ; 

 and it appeared that he had destroyed and carried off several 

 vines and cabbage plants in Omai's grounds; and he 

 publicly threatened to kill him and to burn his house, as 

 soon as we should leave the island. To prevent the fellow's 

 doing me and Omai any more mischief, I had him seized 

 and confined again on board the ship, with a view of carrying 

 him off the island ; and it seemed to give general satisfac- 

 tion to the chiefs that I meant thus to dispose of him. 



" Omai's house being nearly finished, many of his move- 

 ables were carried ashore on the 26th. Amongst a variety 

 of other useless articles was a box of toys, which, when 

 exposed to public view, seemed greatly to please the gazing 

 multitude. But as to his pots, kettles, dishes, plates, 

 drinking-mugs, glasses, and the whole train of our domestic 

 accommodations, hardly any one of his countrymen would 

 so much as look at them. Omai himself now began to 

 think that they were of no manner of use to him ; that a 



