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SOUTH SEA 
imagination, let him look to the eastward and he will 
find satisfaction. 
If the quiet shade of cocoa, banana, or tamana, have 
their enjoyments for him, with a gentle air and smooth 
unruffled sea, let him repair to Karakakoa’s bay, which 
lies to leeward of the gigantic Owhyhee : there, in some 
wild cavern, rocky glen, or shady grove, screened from 
the ardent sun, he can rest, and contemplate those 
scenes visited but by few ; he can recline upon the 
beach, under the small tree where Cook breathed his 
last, slain by the hands of the ignorant barbarians who 
in the blind fury of the moment destroyed their best of 
friends. He brought them light, and illuminated the 
dark recesses of their minds with European knowledge, 
and was rewarded with a grave ! But now that reason 
* 
is assuming in their dark intellects the progressive form, 
the name of that hero is heard only with* regret, and even 
anguish for the deadly act which stains their history. 
The following day was Sunday, and as we had only 
had light airs of wind in the night, we had made but 
little progress. Finding ourselves only a few miles 
from the land, the captain sent a boat on shore to 
inquire if any yams could be obtained at this part of 
Owhyhee ; and after a long passage in the boat under a 
broiling sun, we at length landed on the beach, but we 
were astonished to find everything totally different with 
regard to our reception ; scarcely a soul came out to 
meet us— I believe only one little boy; in fact, from 
its being Sunday, everything had been “tabooed” by 
the missionaries ; even the very tongues of the natives 
