154 CAPTAIN COOK 



upon the incident, and wrote in the Journal the 

 following lines, which are stamped with pro- 

 found humanity. "When I considered this 

 man's situation in life, I did not think him so 

 culpable, nor the resolution he had taken of 

 staying here so extraordinary, as it may, at first, 

 appear. He was an Irishman by birth, and had 

 sailed in the Dutch Service. I picked him up 

 at Batavia on my return from my former voyage, 

 and he had been with me ever since. I never 

 learnt that he had either friends or connexions 

 to confine him to any particular part of the 

 world. All nations were alike to him. Where, 

 then, could such a man be more happy than at 

 one of these isles? Where, in one of the finest 

 climates in the world, he could enjoy not only the 

 necessaries, but the luxuries of life, in ease and 

 plenty. I know not if he might not have ob- 

 tained my consent, if he had applied for it in 

 proper time." 



On May 15th the Resolution anchored in the 

 harbour of Owharre in the island of Huaheine. 

 Cook was immediately received by his friend, 

 the aged Orea, who heaped a thousand tokens of 

 his affection upon him. 



The traditional thefts diversified the stay of 

 the Englishmen. At the request of Orea, Cook 

 made an expedition into the interior at the head 

 of twenty-five men. This expedition was di- 



