504 



HISTORY OF THE SEA. 



the priests, and grandfather of Kaireekeea : this Kaoo was now 

 absent, attending Tereoboo, the king of the island. 



The king, upon his return, set out from the village in a large 

 canoe, followed by two others, and paddled toward the ships in 

 great state. Tereoboo gave Cook a fan, in return for which 

 Cook gave Tereoboo a clean shirt. Heaps of sugarcane and 

 bread-fruit were then given to the ship's crew, and the cere- 

 monies were concluded by an exchange of names between the 

 captain and the king, — the strongest pledge of friendship among 

 the inhabitants of the Pacific islands. 



It was not long before Tereoboo and his chiefs became very 

 anxious that the English should bid them adieu. They ima- 

 gined the strangers to have come from some country where 

 provisions had failed, and that their visit to their island was 

 merely for the purpose of filling their stomachs. " It was 

 ridiculous enough to see them stroke the sides and pat the 

 bellies of our sailors," says King, the continuator of Cook's 

 journal, " and telling them that it was time for them to go, 

 but that if they would come again the next bread-fruit season 

 they should be better able to supply their wants. We had 

 now been sixteen days in the bay ; and, considering our enor- 

 mous consumption of hogs and vegetables, it need not be 

 wondered that they should wish to see us take our leave." 

 When Tereoboo learned that the ships were to sail on the next 

 day but one, he ordered a proclamation to be made through the 

 villages, requiring the people to bring in presents to Orono, who 

 was soon to take his departure. 



On the 4th of February, 1779, the vessels unmoored and 

 sailed out of the harbor, after having received on board a 

 present of vegetables and live stock which far exceeded any 

 that had been made them either at the Friendly or Society 

 Islands. The weather being, however, extremely unfavorable, 

 they were compelled to return for shelter, and on the 11th 

 dropped anchor in nearly the same spot as before. The fore- 



