THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 
13 
felves with the inhabitants; who, upon every occafion, 1777. 
mentioned them with the hrongeh expreffions of eheem , AugufL a 
and veneration. 
I met with no Chief of any conliderahle note on this 00 
cafion, excepting the extraordinary perfonage above de- 
fcribed. Waheiadooa, the fovereign of Tiaraboo (as this 
part of the ifland is called), was now abfent; and, I after¬ 
ward found, that he was not the fame perfon, though of 
the fame name with the Chief whom I had feen here dur¬ 
ing my lah voyage; but his brother, a boy of about ten 
years of age, who had fucceeded upon the death of the 
elder Waheiadooa, about twenty months before our arrival. 
We alfo learned, that the celebrated Oberea was dead; but 
that Otoo, and all our other friends, were living. 
When I returned from viewing the houfe and crofs erect¬ 
ed by the Spaniards, I found Omai holding forth to a large 
company; and it was with fome difficulty that he could be 
got away to accompany me on board; where I had an im¬ 
portant affair to fettle. 
As I knew that Otaheite, and the neighbouring iflands? 
could furnifh us with a plentiful fupply of cocoa-nuts, the 
liquor of which is an excellent juccedaneum for any artificial 
beverage, I was defirous of prevailing upon my people to 
confent to be abridged, during our flay here, of their hated 
allowance of fpirits to mix with water. But as this hop- 
page of a favourite article, without affigning fome reafon, 
might have occahoned a general murmur, I thought it 
moh prudent to affemble the hi ip’s company, and to make 
known to them the intent of the voyage, and the extent of 
our future operations. To induce them to undertake 
which, with cheerfulnefs and perfeverance, I took notice 
of the rewards offered, by Parliament, to fnch of his Ma- 
