first much disposed to countenance him, afterward openly expressed his dislike of him, on account of his conduct. It was not, however, too late to recover his favour; and he might have settled, to great advantage, in Otaheite, as he had formerly lived several years there, and was now a good deal noticed by Towha, whose valuable present, of a very large double canoe, we have seen above. The objection to admitting him to some rank would have also been much lessened, if he had fixed at Otaheite; as a native will always find it more difficult to accomplish such a change of state amongst his countrymen, than a stranger who naturally claims respect. But Omai remained undetermined to the last, and would not, I believe, have adopted my plan of settlement in Huaheine, if I had not so explicitly refused to employ force in restoring him to his father's possessions. Whether the remains of his European wealth, which, after all his improvident waste, was still considerable, will be more prudently administered by him, or whether the steps I took, as already explained, to insure him protection in Huaheine, shall have proved effectual, must be left to the decision of future navigators of this ocean, with whom it cannot but be a principal object of curiosity to trace the future fortunes of our traveller. At present, I can only conjecture that his greatest danger will arise from the very impolitic declarations of his antipathy to the inhabitants of Bolabola. For these people, from a principle of jealousy, will, no doubt, endeavour to render him obnoxious to those of Huaheine; as they are at peace with that island at present, and may easily effect their designs, many of them living there. This is a circumstance, which, of all others, he might the most easily have avoided. For they were not only free from any aversion to him, but the person men ; tioned before, whom we found at Tiaraboo as an ambassa dor, priest, or god, absolutely offered to reinstate him in the property that was formerly his father's. But he refused this peremptorily; and, to the very last, continued determined to take the first opportunity that offered of satisfying his revenge in battle. To this, I guess, he was not a little spurred by the coat of mail he brought from England; clothed in which, and in possession of some fire-arms, he fancied that he should be invincible,

Whatever faults belonged to Omai's character, they were more than overbalanced by his great good-nature and do

cile disposition. During the whole time he was with me, I very seldom had reason to be seriously displeased with his general conduct. His grateful heart always retained the highest sense of the favours he had received in England, nor will he ever forget those who honoured him with their protection and friendship, during his stay there. He had a tolerable share of understanding, but wanted application and perseverance to exert it; so that his knowledge of things was very general, and, in many instances, imperfect, He was not a man of much observation, There were many useful arts, as well as elegant amusements, amongst the people of the Friendly Islands, which he might have conveyed to his own, where they probably would have been readily adopted, as being so much in their own way.

But I never found that he used the least endeavour to make himself master of any one. This kind of indifference is indeed the characteristic foible of his nation. Europeans have visited them at times for these ten years past, yet we could not discover the slightest trace of any attempt to profit by this intercourse, nor have they hitherto copied af ter us in any one thing. We are not, therefore, to expect that Omai will be able to introduce many of our arts and customs amongst them, or much improve those to which they have been long habituated. I am confident, however, that he will endeavour to bring to perfection the various fruits and vegetables we planted, which will be no small acquisition. But the greatest benefit these islands are likely to receive from Omai's travels, will be in the animals that have been left upon them, which, probably, they never would have got, had he not come to England. When these multiply, of which I think there is little doubt, Otaheite and the Society Islands will equal, if not exceed, any place in the known word, for provisions,

Omai's return, and the substantial proofs he brought back with him of our liberality, encouraged many to offer themselves as volunteers to attend me to Pretane. I took every opportunity of expressing my determination to reject all such applications. But, notwithstanding this, Omai, who was very ambitious of remaining the only great traveller, being afraid lest I might be prevailed upon to put others in a situation of rivalling him, frequently put me in mind that Lord Sandwich had told him no others of his countrymen were to come to England.

If there had been the most distant probability of any ship being again sent to New Zealand, I would have brought the two youths of that country home with me, as both of them were very desirous of continuing with us. Tiarooa, the eldest, was an exceedingly well-diposed young man, with strong natural sense, and capable of receiving any instruction. He seemed to be fully sensible of the inferiority of his own country to these islands, and resigned himself, though perhaps with reluctance, to end his days in ease and plenty in Huabeine. But the other was so strongly attached to us, that he was taken out of the ship, and carried ashore by force. He was a witty, smart boy; and, on that account, much noticed on board.

SECTION VII.

Arrival at Ulietea.-Astronomical Observations.- A Marine. deserts, and is delivered up.-Intelligence from Omai.—Instructions to Captain Clerke.-Another Desertion of a Midshipman and a Seaman.-Three of the chief Persons of the Island confined on that Account.-A Design to seize Captains Cook and Clerke, discovered. The two Deserters brought back, and the Prisoners released.-The Ships sail.Refreshments received at Ulietea.-Present and former State of that Island.-Account of its dethroned King, and of the late Regent of Huaheine.

THE boat which carried Omai ashore, never to join us again, having returned to the ship, with the remainder of

the

* Some particulars respecting the subsequent history of Omai and the two New Zealanders, are related in the account of Captain Bligh's voyage in 1788. We ought not to anticipate matter which properly belongs to another period and subject. It seems right, however, in the present instance, to set the reader's expectations at rest, though the doing so be somewhat afflictive to his feelings. Omai died a natural death about thirty months after Captain Cook's departure, but not till he had the satisfaction of experiencing the importance of the arms and ammunition he was master of, in a successful engagement which his countrymen had with the people of Ulietea and Bolabola. Peace soon followed, but it does not seem that his exertions on this occasion procured him any additional possessions or elevation of rank. From the good character, however, which his countrymen gave of him, it appeared that he had conducted himself with such general propriety as gained their applause. The New Zealanders did not long survive him, but scarcely any satisfactory information of their history could be obtained.—E,

the hawser, we hoisted her in, and immediately stood over for Ulietea, where I intended to touch next. At ten o'clock at night, we brought-to, till four the next morning, when we made sail round the south end of the island, for the harbour of Ohamaneno. We met with calms and light airs of wind, from different directions, by turns; so that, at noon, we were still a league from the entrance of the harbour. While we were thus detained, my old friend Oreo, chief of the island, with his son and Pootoe, his son-in-law, came off to visit us.

Being resolved to push for the harbour, I ordered all the boats to be hoisted out, and sent them a-head to tow, being assisted by a slight breeze from the southward. This breeze failed too soon, and being succeeded by one from the E., which blew right out of the harbour, we were obliged to come to an anchor at its entrance at two o'clock, and to warp in, which employed us till night set in. As soon as we were within the harbour, the ships were surrounded with canoes filled with people, who brought hogs and fruit to barter with us for our commodities, so that wherever we went we found plenty.

Next morning, being the 4th, I moored the ship head and stern close to the north shore, at the head of the harbour; hauled up the cables on deck, and opened one of the ballast-ports. From this a slight stage was made to the land, being at the distance of about twenty feet, with a view to get clear of some of the rats that continued to infest us. The Discovery moored alongside the south shore for the same purpose. While this work was going forward, I returned Oreo's visit. The present I made him on the occasion, consisted of a linen gown, a shirt, a red-feathered cap from Tongataboo, and other things of less value. I then brought him and some of his friends on board to din

ner.

On the 6th, we set up the observatories, and got the necessary instruments on shore. The two following days we observed the sun's azimuths, both on board and ashore, with all the compasses, in order to find the variation; and in the night of the latter, observed an occultation of Capricorni, by the moon's dark limb. Mr Bayly and I agreed in fixing the time of its happening, at six minutes and fiftyfour seconds and a half past ten o'clock. Mr King made it half a second sooner. Mr Bayly observed with the achro

matic telescope belonging to the board of longitude; Mr King, with the reflector belonging also to the board; and I made use of my own reflector of eighteen inches. There was also an immersion of Capricorni behind the moon's dark limb, some time before, but it was observed by Mr Bayly alone. I attempted to trace it with a small achromatic, but found its magnifying power not sufficient.

Nothing worthy of note happened till the night between the 12th and 13th, when John Harrison, a marine, who was sentinel at the observatory, deserted, carrying with him his musket and accoutrements. Having in the morning got intelligence which way he had moved off, a party was sent after him; but they returned in the evening, after an ineffectual enquiry and search. The next day I applied to the chief to interest himself in this matter. He promised to send a party of his men after him, and gave me hopes that he should be brought back the same day. But this did not happen; and I had reason to suspect that no steps had been taken by him. We had at this time a great number of the natives about the ships, and some thefts were committed; the consequence of which being dreaded by them, very few visitors came near us the next morning. The chief himself joined in the alarm, and he and his whole family fled. I thought this a. good opportunity to oblige them to deliver up the deserter; and having got intelligence that he was at a place called Hamoa, on the other side of the island, I went thither with two armed boats, accompanied by one of the natives; and, in our way, we found the chief, who also embarked with me. I landed about a mile and a half from the place, with a few people, and marched briskly up to it, lest the sight of the boat should give the alarm, and allow the man time to escape to the mountains. But this precaution was unnecessary, for the natives there had got information of my coming, and were prepared to deliver him up.

I found Harrison, with the musket lying before him, sitting between two women, who, the moment that I entered the house, rose up to plead in his behalf. As it was highly proper to discourage such proceedings, I frowned upon them, and bid them begone. Upon this they burst into tears, and walked off. Paha, the chief of the district, now came with a plantain tree, and a sucking pig, which he would have presented to me as a peace-offering. I reject

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