THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
199 
matter as well as he could. He happened luckily to have a 1777< 
few cartridges in his pocket. Thefe he produced; the A P riL 
balls, and the gunpowder which was to fet them in motion, 
were fubmitted to infpeftion; and, to fupply the defeats of 
his defcription, an appeal was made to the fenfes of the 
fpe 61 ators. It has been mentioned above, that one of the 
Chiefs had ordered the multitude to form themfelves into 
a circle. This furnilhed Omai with a convenient ftage for 
his exhibition. In the centre of this amphitheatre, the in- 
confiderable quantity of gunpowder, collected from his 
cartridges, was properly difpofed upon the ground, and, 
by means of a bit of burning wood from the oven, where 
dinner was dreffing, fet on fire. The fudden blah, and 
loud report, the mingled flame and fmoke, that inftantly 
fucceeded, now filled the whole affembly with aftonifh- 
ment; they no longer doubted the tremendous power of our 
weapons, and gave full credit to all that Omai had faid. 
If it had not been for the terrible ideas they conceived 
of the guns of our fhips, from this fpecimen of their mode 
of operation, it was thought that they would have detained 
the gentlemen all night. For Omai affured them, that, if 
he and his companions did not return on board the fame 
day, they might expeft that I would fire upon the ifland. 
And as w r e flood in nearer the land in the evening, than 
we had done any time before, of which pofition of the 
fhips they were obferved to take great notice, they, proba¬ 
bly, thought we v r ere meditating this formidable attack; 
and, therefore, buffered their guefts to depart; under the 
expectation, however, of feeing them again on fhore next 
morning. But I tvas too fenfible of the rifk they had al¬ 
ready run, to think of a repetition of the experiment. 
This day, it feems, was defined to give Omai more oc- 
cafions 
