THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
379 
fuch particulars concerning the inhabitants, their manners, 1777. 
and arts, as I had obferved then, and about which I faw no y_ 
reafon to change my judgment. At prefent, I fhall confine 
myfelf to fuch interefting particulars, as either were not 
mentioned in that narrative, or were imperfectly and incor¬ 
rectly reprefented there; and to fuch as may ferve to ex¬ 
plain fome pafiages in the foregoing account of our tranf- 
aCtions with the natives. 
It may, indeed, be expeCted, that, after fpending between 
two and three months amongft them, I fhould be enabled 
to clear up every difficulty, and to give a tolerably fatisfac- 
tory account of their cuftoms, opinions, and inftitutions, 
both civil and religious; efpecially as we had a perfon on 
board, who might be fuppofed qualified to a6t the part of 
an interpreter, by underftanding their language and ours. 
But poor Omai was very deficient. For unlefs the objeCt or 
thing we wanted to inquire about, was actually before us, 
we found it difficult to gain a tolerable knowledge of it, 
from information only, without falling into a hundred 
miftakes ; and to fuch miftakes Omai was more liable than 
we were. For, having no curiofity, he never gave himfelf 
the trouble to make remarks for himfelf; and, when he 
was difpofed to explain matters to us, his ideas appeared to 
be fo limited, and, perhaps, fo different from ours, that his 
accounts were often fo confufed, as to perplex, inftead of 
inftruCting us. Add to this, that it was very rare that we 
found, amongft the natives, a perfon, who united the abi¬ 
lity and the inclination to give us the information we 
wanted; and, we found, that moft of them hated to be 
troubled with what they, probably, thought idle queftions. 
Our fttuation at Tongataboo, where we remained the long- 
eft, was, likewife, unfavourable. It was in a part of the 
3 C 2 country. 
