72 
A VOYAGE TO 
1779. the next day, they fhould then he left at liberty to chaftife 
February* .1 J 
a ^ p them. 
It is fomewhat remarkable, that, before we could bring 
our guns to bear, the iflanders had fufpe&ed our inten¬ 
tions, from the ftir they faw in the Ihip, and had retired 
behind their houfes and walls. We were therefore obliged 
to fire, in fome meafure, at random; notwithftanding 
which, our fhot produced all the effects that could have 
been deflred. For, foon after, we faw Koah paddling to¬ 
ward us, with extreme hafte, and, on his arrival, we learn¬ 
ed, that fome people had been killed, and amongft the reft, 
Maiha-maiha, a principal Chief, and a near relation of the 
king % 
Soon after the arrival of Koah, two boys fwam off from 
the Moral toward the fhips, having each a long fpear in his 
hand; and after they had approached pretty near, they be¬ 
gan to chant a fong in a very folemn manner; the fubjedt 
of which, from their often mentioning the word Orono , and 
pointing to the village where Captain Cook was killed, we 
concluded to be the late calamitous difafter. Having fung 
in a plaintive ftrain for about twelve or fifteen minutes, 
during the whole of which time they remained in the wa¬ 
ter, they went on board the Difcovery, and delivered their 
fpears; and, after making a fhort flay, returned on fhore. 
Who fent them, or what was the objedl of this ceremony, 
we were never able to learn. 
At night, the ufual precautions were taken for the fecu- 
rity of the lhips; and as foon as it w T as dark, our two 
* The word hatee, is commonly ufed, in the language of thefe iflands, to exprefs either 
killing or wounding; and we were afterward told, that this Chief had only received a 
jlight blow on the face from a Hone, which had been ftruck by one of the balls. 
friends, 
