in the Pacific Ocean, 



lot 



They denied positively having refused him a passage, and 

 strengthened their assertions with fresh suppUes. ~ ^ 



Some time after this I sent a messenger to the Typees to in- 

 quire if they wished to be at peace with us, and to say that we 

 were strongly disposed to be at peace with all the tribes on the 

 / island ; but that this disposition did not proceed from fear, as I 

 had strength enough to drive their united forces into the sea; 

 but if they were disposed to be at peace, I was willing to meet 

 them on the same terms as the other tribes, and only required an 

 exchange of presents as a proof of their friendly disposition. In 

 reply, they required to know why they should desire a friendship 

 with us, or why they should bring us hogs and fruit ? If I was 

 strong enough, they knew I would come and take them ; that my 

 not doing so was an acknowledgment of my weakness ; and that 

 it was time enough to think of parting with them when they 

 could no longer keep their valley. 



I now inquired of Gattanewa the number of war canoes which 

 he could equip and man; he informed me ten, and that each 

 would carry about thirty men, and that the Happahs could equip 

 an equal number of equal size ; he told me it would be six days 

 before they could be put together and got in readiness ; but if I 

 wished it, his people should set about it immediately. I directed 

 them to do so, and dispatched a messenger to the Happahs di- 

 recting them to prepare their war canoes to be in readiness to go 

 to war with the Typees, and await my further orders. I gave 

 them as well as the Taeehs to understand, that it was my inten- 

 tion to attack them both by sea and by land, and that I should 

 send a large body of men in boats, and a ship to protect the land- 

 ing of them and the war canoes, and that the remainder of the 

 warriors of both tribes must proceed by land to attack them in 

 the part where they were most assailable. I had hoped now to 

 terrify the Typees by the formidable armament which was com- 

 ing against them, and was glad to fix on some distant period for 

 the commencement of hostilities^, anxious to put them off as long 

 as possible. 



The war canoes' of this island differ not much from those al- • 

 ready described as belonging to the natives of the island of Ooa^ 

 hooga, or Jefferson's island. They are larger, more spendid, and 

 highly ornamented, but the construction is the same, and like 

 them they are furnished with outriggers. They are about fifty 

 feet in length, two in width, and of a proportionate depth ; they 

 are formed of many pieces, and each piece, and indeed each pad- 

 dle, has its separate proprietor. To one belongs the piece pro- 

 jecting froni the stern, to another the part forming the bow. The 

 pieces forming the sides belong to different persons, and when a 

 eanoe is taken to pieces, the whole is scattered throughout the 



