124 CAPTAIN COOK 



was Tootahah's mother, who took the Captain's 

 two hands in hers and cried, bursting into tears, 

 "Tootahah your friend is dead." The genuine 

 grief of the old lady touched even the heart of 

 the stern sailor. 



The two Forsters, father and son, explored the 

 interior of the island of enchantment which had 

 made their tempers serene. One day, when he 

 had journeyed far from the shore and was as- 

 sailed by great weariness, George Forster was 

 received by a Tahitian family, whose daughter, 

 he said, "from the beauty of her figure, the clear- 

 ness of her complexion, and the regularity of her 

 features, equalled and perhaps even surpassed 

 all the beauties whom we had seen in Tahiti 

 hitherto." This beautiful girl, in order to revive 

 the naturalist, rubbed his arms and legs with her 

 hands and pinched his muscles gently with her 

 fingers. Forster declared the effect of this mas- 

 sage was extremely stimulating. 



The Englishmen's stay passed without out- 

 standing incident. Now and then there were 

 slight quarrels, soon made up, between the 

 sailors and the natives, but on the whole the re- 

 lations between the Tahitians and the English 

 were unclouded, and it was therefore with mu- 

 tual regret that they parted. When the ships 

 left harbour on September ist, the natives 



