148 
POLYNESIAN RESEARCHES. 
the evening I waited on the chiefs, and took my 
leave; the native chieftains did the same; and 
their final instructions were, to induce, if possible, 
Teriitaria to come and reside at Huahine ; but that, 
if she preferred remaining at Tahiti, she should 
give up all interference with the government of the 
island, and delegate it to them, independently of 
all foreign control. 
The wind continuing to blow from the westward 
through the night, early on the morning of the 
sixteenth we prepared for embarkation. The boat 
was rather rude in appearance, being one I had 
from necessity built, with the assistance of the 
natives, while residing in the island of Raiatea, in 
the early part of 1820. It was about thirty-six 
feet in length, and capable of carrying forty per¬ 
sons. The breeze increased in strength as the 
morning began to dawn, and about day-break we 
sailed from Fare harbour. Auna, Matatore, and 
Matapuupuu were my companions, and our boat 
was manned by about ten strong and active natives. 
As we were bounding over the waves of the har¬ 
bour, and entering upon the wide-spread bosom of 
the Pacific, we lost the sprit of one of our matting- 
sails in the sea, and cou)d only carry one sail. This 
circumstance, although it prevented our proceeding 
so rapidly as we should otherwise have done, con¬ 
tributed perhaps to our safety, for the wind was 
high and the sea rough. By noon we had entirely 
lost sight of Huahine, and about sunset we ob¬ 
tained our first distant glance of the lofty peaks 
of Eimeo. The wind now blew what the natives 
called a strong toerau , or westerly gale, and the 
agitation of the sea was proportionably increased. 
The inside of our open boat was, however, perfectly 
dry, and it appeared to shoot along, as the natives 
