PREJFACE. 



li 



Capt* Cook, on another occasion, saw a commo- 

 tion among the natives on shore ; and upon inquir- 

 ing the cause, received from his second Lieutenant 

 the following account. A party of officers had 

 gdne ashore upon a shooting expedition. " One of 

 them," says Mr. Forster, " having shot a couple of 

 ducks in a lagoon, desired a native, who attended 

 him, to fetch them out of the water. The man, who 

 had repeatedly done him this good office before, re- 

 fused to be his spaniel any longer. Our officer beat 

 him, however, till he went in, and worked himself 

 through the mud with great agility, in a motion 

 between swimming and walking. When he had 

 reached the ducks, which lay a considerable distance 

 from shore, he swam off with them to the oppo- 

 site side of the lagoon, perhaps conscious that he 

 deserved them for the trouble he had taken. As 

 this did not agree with the seaman's intentions, he 

 loaded his musket with ball, and fired ; but, fortu- 

 nately, missed him."* On this occasion the party 

 was severely beaten by the natives ; upon which 

 Capt. Cook marched into the country, received their 

 submission, and was pacified with a number of pre- 

 sents ! Had they made any resistance, Mr. Forster 

 does not make any secret, that it was the intention 

 of Capt. Cook to take a severe vengeance. Not a 

 word is said about any reprimand or punishment 

 for the outrage of firing upon the native. 



A musket, belonging to Mr. Clerke, and an adze, 

 are stolen. " The Captain," (Cook) observes Mr. 

 Forster, " in order to recover this valuable instru- 

 ment, of which, however, there were no less than a 

 dozen in the ship, ordered his people to seize several 

 large double canoes, which had probably arrived 

 from different adjacent islands. They performed 



^ Forster, vol. 2. p. 123, &lc 



