POMARE AND TAMATOA. 147 
aries, but to reserve them for the vessel. We 
represented to the chiefs the injustice of not allow¬ 
ing every man, provided he paid their just demands, 
to dispose of the fruits of his own industry; and 
they stated their intention that it should be so at 
Huahine, whatever restrictions might be imposed 
upon the people of Tahiti. The queen’s sister, 
the nominal ruler of the island, residing at Tahiti, 
was influenced, they observed, by the advice and 
measures of Pomare, and often perplexed them by 
her directions. 
On the fourteenth of April, 1821, Pomare’s 
messenger returned from Raiatea. Tamatoa, the 
king of that island, and the chiefs of those adja¬ 
cent, had refused to receive the niaus, or to join 
Pomare in his commercial speculations. They 
had at the same time agreed to unite, and procure 
a vessel for themselves, in which to trade from the 
islands to the colony of New South Wales, and 
had sent up a special messenger, with a letter to 
the chiefs of Huahine, requesting them to unite in 
the enterprise. A public meeting was convened, 
in which the propositions from Pomare on the one 
hand, and of Tamatoa on the other, were freely 
discussed. The result was, that although all were 
more disposed to join the Raiatean than the 
Tahitian chiefs, they declined both for the present, 
and despatched the respective messengers to their 
superiors, with declarations to that effect. 
The wind, which had set in from the westward 
on the fourteenth, continued during the whole of 
the fifteenth, and, as it seemed tolerably steady, 
it was proposed that our boat should be prepared 
for the voyage to Tahiti. It was also thought best 
that I should accompany Auna and Matapuupuu 
on their embassy to the queen’s sister. During: 
l 2 
