TAHITI 53 



the cloth as reparation for the wrong which had 

 been done him. This was the Tahitians' first 

 theft. It was not to be the last. 



One of the first matters which Cook took in 

 hand was to choose a spot, protected by the guns 

 of the Endeavour, where he could establish a 

 sort of fort in which the instruments necessary 

 for the astronomical observations could be kept 

 in safety. He soon found a suitable place, far 

 enough from the native huts, and the construc- 

 tion of the fort began. Tents were pitched, and 

 were immediately guarded by thirteen marines 

 under an officer. However, one of the natives, 

 displaying an amazing cunning, stole the musket 

 of one of the sentries. The officer gave the 

 word to fire, and his men fired into the crowd 

 without hitting anybody. Seeing that the robber 

 did not fall, the officer pursued him and laid him 

 out dead. Cook severely reprimanded him for 

 the lack of humanity of which he had been 

 guilty, and did his utmost to dissipate the cloud 

 which this incident had raised between the Eng- 

 lish and the natives. He succeeded, as it hap- 

 pened, without much difficulty. 



Four days after the arrival of the Endeavour, 

 the painter Buchan, who had had an epileptic 

 fit at Tierra del Fuego, had a second seizure, 

 which proved fatal. His body was committed 



