76 OTAHITE CHAP. V 
we accordingly dined heartily on fish and bread-fruit with 
plantains, etc., dressed after their method. Raw fish was 
offered to us, which it seems they themselves eat. The ad- 
ventures of this entertainment I much wish to record parti- 
cularly, but am so much hurried by attending the Indians 
ashore almost all day long, that I fear I shall scarcely under- 
stand my own language when I read it again. 
Our chief’s own wife (ugly enough in conscience) did me 
the honour with very little invitation to squat down on the 
mats close by me; no sooner had she done so than I espied 
among the common crowd a very pretty girl with a fire in 
her eyes that I had not before seen in the country. Un- 
conscious of the dignity of my companion I beckoned to the 
other, who, after some entreaties, came and sat on the other 
side of me. I was then desirous of getting rid of my 
former companion, so I ceased to attend to her, and loaded 
my pretty girl with beads and every present I could think 
pleasing to her: the other showed much disgust, but did not 
quit her place, and continued to supply me with fish and 
cocoanut milk. 
How this would have ended is hard to say; it was 
interrupted by an accident which gave us an opportunity 
of seeing much of the people’s manners. Dr. Solander 
and another gentleman who had not been in as good 
company as myself found their pockets had been picked: 
one had lost a snuff-box, the other an opera-glass. Com- 
plaint was made to the chief, and to give it weight I started 
up from the ground, and striking the butt end of my gun, 
made a rattling noise which I had before used in our 
walk to frighten the people and keep them at a distance. 
Upon this every one of the common sort (among whom 
was my pretty girl) ran like sheep from the house, leaving 
us with only the chief, his three wives, and two or three 
better dressed than the rest, whose quality I do not guess 
at. The chief then took me by the hand to the other end 
of the house where lay a large quantity of their cloth; this 
he offered to me piece by piece, making signs that if it 
would make amends, I might take any part or all. I put 
