442 HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



however, contenting themselves with petty thefts. Wallis sent 

 his boats to sound for an anchorage, and, observing the canoes 

 gather around them, fired a nine-pounder over their heads. A 

 skirmish followed, which resulted in the wounding of several 

 on both sides. But, on Wallis' attempting to enter the Bay of 

 Matavai, the islanders offered a determined resistance : three 

 hundred canoes, manned by two thousand warriors, surrounded 

 him and attacked him with a hail of stones. Repulsed for a 

 time, they twice rallied, and hurled stones weighing two pounds 

 on board, by means of slings. At last a cannon-ball cut the 

 canoe bearing the chief in halves, whereupon canoes and war- 

 riors disappeared with the utmost precipitation. The ship was 

 now warped up to the shore, and the boats landed without oppo- 

 sition. Mr. Furneaux, the lieutenant, took possession of the 

 island for his majesty, in honor of whom he called it King 

 George the Third's Island. The water proving to be excellent, 

 rum was mixed with it, and every man drank his majesty's 

 health. The natives choosing to make a demonstration at mid- 

 night, Wallis cleared the coast with his guns, and sent the 

 carpenters ashore with their axes, to destroy all the canoes 

 which in their precipitation they had left. Fifty canoes, some 

 of them sixty feet long, were thus broken up. These measures 

 brought the savages to terms, and boughs of plantains were soon 

 exchanged and vows of friendship pantomimically expressed. 

 Trade was established, and a tent erected at the watering place. 

 The crew now lived sumptuously upon fruits and poultry, and 

 in a fortnight the commander hardly knew them for the same 

 people. This, as we have said, was the island which Cook was 

 to render famous under the name of Tahiti. 



It was not long before it was discovered that nails, the prin- 

 cipal medium of exchange, seemed to have lost their value with 

 the islanders. Bringing forth large spikes from their pockets, 

 they intimated that they desired nails of a similar size and 

 strength. It was now ascertained that the sailors, having no 



