THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
175 
their carrying off every thing they could lay their hands 
upon. At length, when they perceived that we were re¬ 
turning to the fhips, they all left us, except our original 
vifiter Mourooa. He, though not without evident ligns of 
fear, kept his place in my boat, and accompanied me on 
board the fhip. 
The cattle and other new objects, that prefented them- 
felves to him there, did not ftrike him with fo much fur- 
prife as one might have expe6ted. Perhaps his mind was 
too much taken up about his own fafety, to allow him to 
attend to other things. It is certain, that he feemed very 
uneafy; and the fhip, on our getting on board, happening 
to be handing off fhore, this circumftance made him the 
more fo. I could get but little new information from him ; 
and therefore, after he had made a fhort ftay, I ordered 
a boat to carry him in toward the land. As foon as he got 
out of the cabin, he happened to Humble over one of the 
goats. His curiofity now overcoming his fear, he flopped, 
looked at it, and afked Omai, what bird this was ? and not 
receiving an immediate anfwer from him, he repeated the 
queflion to fome of the people upon deck. The boat hav¬ 
ing conveyed him pretty near to the furf, he leaped into 
the fea, and fwam afhore. He had no fooner landed, than 
the multitude of his countrymen gathered round him, as if 
with an eager curiofity to learn from him what he had 
feen; and in this fituation they remained, when we loft 
fight of them. As foon as the boat returned, we hoifled 
her in, and made fail from the land to the Northward. 
Thus were we obliged to leave, unvifited, this fine illand, 
which feemed capable of fupplying all our wants. It lies 
in the latitude of 21 0 57' South; and in the longitude of 
201 53 ' Eafl. Such parts of the coafl, as fell under our 
obfervation, 
