i 82 
A VOYAGE TO 
* 777 * of red cloth.; and he paddled back to the ihore well fatif- 
fied - 1 afterward underftood from Omai, that this pre- 
fent had been fent from the king, or principal Chief of the 
|fland. 
Not long after, a double canoe, in which were twelve 
men, came toward us. As they drew near the fhip, they 
recited fome words in concert, by way of chorus *, one of 
their number firft handing up, and giving the word before 
each repetition. When they had finilhed their fclemn 
chant, they came along-fide, and afked for the Chief. As 
foon as I lhewed my fell, a pig and a few cocoa-nuts were 
conveyed up into the fhip; and the principal perfon in the 
canoe made me an additional prefent of a piece of matting, 
as foon as he and his companions got on board. 
Our vifiters were conducted into the cabin, and to other 
parts of the ftiip. Some objects feemed to ftrike them 
with a degree of furprize; but nothing fixed their atten¬ 
tion for a moment. They were afraid to come near the 
cows and horfes ; nor did they form the leafi: conception 
of their nature. But the fheep and goats did not furpals 
the limits of their ideas ; for they gave us to underhand, 
that they knew them to be birds. It will appear rather 
incredible, that human ignorance could ever make fo 
ftrange a miftake; there not being the moft diftant fimili- 
* Something like this ceremony was performed by the inhabitants of the Marquefas, 
when Captain Cook vifited them in 1774. See Ms Voyage , Vol. i. p. 301. It is curious 
to obferve, at what immenfe diftances this mode of receiving (hungers prevails. Padillo, 
who failed from Manilla in 1710, on a voyage to difcover the Palaos Illands, was thus re¬ 
ceived there. The writer of the relation of his voyage fays, “ Auffitot qu’ils appro- 
a cherent de notre bord, ils fe mirent a chanter. Ils regloient la cadence, en frappant 
“ des mains fur leurs cuifTes.” 
Lettres Edifantes & Curieujes y Tom. xv. p. 323. 
trude 
