242 
A VOYAGE TO 
1778. tain Wallis’s arrival, that a Chief of Otaheite, who had got 
two nails into his poffeflion, received no fmall emolument, 
by letting out the ufe of thefe to his neighbours, for the 
purpofe of boring holes, when their own methods failed, 
or were thought too tedious *. The men of the Society 
Illands whom we found at Wateeoo, had been driven 
thither, long after the knowledge and ufe of iron had 
thus been introduced amongft their countrymen; and 
though, probably, they had no fpecimen of it with them, 
they would naturally, and with eafe, communicate at that 
ill and their knowledge of this valuable material, by de- 
fcription. From the people of Wateeoo again, thofe of 
Hervey’s Iiland might derive that delire to poffefs fome of 
it, of which we had proofs during our Ihort intercourfe 
with them. 
* 
The conlideration of thefe fadts fulhciently explains how 
the knowledge of iron has been conveyed throughout this 
ocean, to illands which never have had an immediate in¬ 
tercourfe with Europeans; and it may ealily be conceived, 
that wherever the hiftory of it only has been reported, or 
a very fmall quantity of it has been left, the greater eager- 
nefs will be fhewn by the natives to get copious fupplies 
of it. The application of thefe particulars, to the inftance 
now under conlideration, is obvious. The people of Atooi 
and Oneeheow, without having ever been vilited by Euro¬ 
peans before us, might have received it from intermediate 
* A fimilar inftance of profitable revenue, drawn from the ufe of nails by the Chiefs 
of the Caroline Iflands, is mentioned by father Cantova: “Si, par hazard, un vaifleau 
“ etranger laifle dans leurs ifles quelques vieux morceaux de fer, ils appartiennent de 
“ droit aux Tamoles, qui en font faire des outils, le mieux qu’il eft poflible. Ces outils 
w font un fond dont le Tamole tire un revenu confiderable, car il les donne a louage, et 
“ ce louage fe paye aflez chere.” p. 314. 
illands 
