SANGUINARY BATTLE OF HOOROTO. 283 
Cook, from the use of which they expected an easy 
victory. This was one of the most sanguinary 
conflicts that had occurred for many years. Te- 
nana, the king of Huahine, went down to avenge 
the cause of Ohunehaapaa, whose son is still living 
in Raiatea. Ohunehaapaa had been banished by 
the Raiatean chiefs, and the chiefs and people of 
Huahine undertook to reinstate him. The Wind¬ 
ward fleet anchored at Tipaemau, when the Raia- 
teans fled to Tahaa. The Huahinean chief sent 
to demand from Tapoa the surrender of the land. 
This was refused, and both parties prepared for 
battle. Next day the hostile fleets met near Hoo- 
roto, and a most bloody and obstinate engagement 
ensued ; both parties lost so many, that when piled 
up, on the day after the battle, the dead bodies 
are said to have formed a heap as high as the 
young cocoa-nut trees. They still determined to 
persevere till one party should be destroyed; but 
Mauai, a native of Borabora, inspired by Oro, in¬ 
timated the will of the god that they should desist. 
An armistice was concluded; the warriors of two 
districts of Huahine, Faretou, and Fareihi, being 
comparatively uninjured, sailed over to Tahaa, for 
the purpose of plunder. They, however, met 
with a more determined resistance than they had 
expected, and were not only repulsed, but almost 
cut off. Mato, the father of the present king of 
Huahine, and general of the army, was slain. The 
survivors were glad to return to their own island 
and the Raiateans were too much enfeebled to 
endeavour to prevent them. 
In this war, the greater part of the chiefs and 
warriors of the Leeward or Society Islands were 
destroyed. The island of Huahine never recovered 
from the shock of this murderous conflict. 
