was another paved area or court, in which were several small stages raised on wooden pillars, about seven feet high, which are called by the Indians Ewattas, and seem to be a kind of altars, as upon these are placed provisions of all kinds as offerings to their gods; we have since seen whole hogs placed upon them, and we found here the skulls of above fifty, besides the skulls of a great number of dogs.

The principal object of ambition among these people is to have a magnificent Morai, and this was a striking memorial of the rank and power of Oberea. It has been remarked, that we did not find her invested with the same authority that she exercised when the Dolphin was at this place, and we now learnt the reason of it. Our way from her house to the Morai lay along the sea-side, and we observed every-where under our feet a great number of human bones, chiefly ribs and vertebræ. Upon enquiring into the cause of so singular an appearance, we were told, that in the then last month of Owarahew, which answered to our December, 1768, about four or five months before our arrival, the people of Tiarrabou, the S.E. peninsula which we had just visited, made a descent at this place, and killed a great number of people, whose bones were those that we saw upon the shore: That, upon this occasion, Oberea, and Oamo, who then administered the government for his son, had fled to the mountains; and that the conquerors burnt all the houses, which were very large, and carried away the hogs, and what other animals they found. We learnt also, that the turkey and goose, which we had seen when we were with Mathiabo, the stealer of cloaks, were among the spoils; this accounted for their 'being found among people with whom the Dolphin had little or no communication; and upon mentioning the jawbones, which we had seen hanging from a board in a long house, we were told, that they also had been carried away as trophies, the people here carrying away the jaw-bones of their enemies, as the Indians of North America do the scalps.

After

8 The liberality of these people to their gods is particularly noticed in the missionary account. "They offer to them all the products of their island, hogs, fowls, fish, and vegetables; and at every feast a portion is presented to the Eatooa, before they presume to take their own repast."

E.

After having thus gratified our curiosity, we returned to our quarters, where we passed the night in perfect security and quiet. By the next evening we arrived at Atahourou, the residence of our friend Tootahah, where, the last time we passed the night under his protection, we had been obliged to leave the best part of our clothes behind us. This adventure, however, seemed now to be forgotten on both sides. Our friends received us with great pleasure, and gave us a good supper and a good lodging, where we suffered neither loss nor disturbance.

The next day, Saturday, July the 1st, we got back to our fort at Matavai, having found the circuit of the island, including both peninsulas, to be about thirty leagues. Upon our complaining of the want of bread-fruit, we were told, that the produce of the last season was nearly exhausted; and that what was seen sprouting upon the trees, would not be fit to use in less than three months: This accounted for our having been able to procure so little of it in our route.

While the bread-fruit is ripening upon the flats, the inhabitants are supplied in some measure from the trees which they have planted upon the hills to preserve a succession; but the quantity is not sufficient to prevent scarcity: They live therefore upon the sour paste, which they call Mahie, upon wild plantains, and ahee-nuts, which at this time are in perfection. How it happened that the Dolphin, which was here at this season, found such plenty of bread-fruit upon the trees, I cannot tell, except the season in which they ripen varies.

At our return, our Indian friends crowded about us, and none of them came empty-handed. Though I had determined to restore the canoes which had been detained to their owners, it had not yet been done; but I now released them as they were applied for. Upon this occasion I could not but remark with concern, that these people were capable of practising petty frauds against each other, with a deliberate dishonesty, which gave me a much worse opinion of them than I had ever entertained from the robberies they committed, under the strong temptation to which a sudden opportunity of enriching themselves with the inestimable metal and manufactures of Europe exposed them.

Among others who applied to me for the release of a

canoe,

canoe, was one Potattow, a man of some consequence, well known to us all. I consented, supposing the vessel to be his own, or that he applied on the behalf of a friend: He went immediately to the beach, and took possession of one of the boats, which, with the assistance of his people, he began to carry off. Upon this, however, it was eagerly claimed by the right owners, who, supported by the other Indians, clamorously reproached him for invading their property, and prepared to take the canoe from him by force. Upon tits, he desired to be heard, and told them, that the canoe did, indeed, once belong to those who claimed it; but that 1, having seized it as a forfeit, had sold it to him for a pig. This silenced the clamour, the owners, knowing that from my power there was no appeal, acquiesced; and Potattow would have carried off his prize, if the dispute had not fortunately been overheard by some of our people, who reported it to me. I gave orders immediately that the Indians should be undeceived; upon which the right owners took possession of their canoe, and Potattow was so conscious of his guilt, that neither he nor his wife, who was privy to his knavery, could look us in the face for some time afterwards.

SECTION XV.

An Expedition of Mr Banks to trace the River: Marks of Subterraneous Fire: Preparations for leaving the Island: An Account of Tupia.

On the 3d, Mr Banks set out early in the morning with some Indian guides, to trace our river up the valley from which it issues, and examine how far its banks were inhabited. For about six miles they met with houses, not far distant from each other, on each side of the river, and the valley was every where about four hundred yards wide from the foot of the hill on one side, to the foot of that on the other; but they were now shewn a house which they were told was the last that they would see. When they came up to it, the master of it offered them refreshments of cocoa-nuts and other fruits, of which they accepted; after a short stay, they walked forward for a considerable time; in bad way it is not easy to compute distances, but they imagined that

they

they had walked about six miles farther, following the course of the river, when they frequently passed under vaults, formed by fragments of the rock, in which they were told people who were benighted frequently passed the night. Soon after they found the river banked by steep rocks, from which a cascade, falling with great violence, formed a pool, so steep, that the Indians said they could not pass it. They seemed, indeed, not much to be acquainted with the valley beyond this place, their business lying chiefly upon the declivity of the rocks on each side, and the plains which extended on their summits, where they found plenty of wild plantain, which they called Vae. The way up these rocks from the banks of the river, was in every respect dreadful; the sides were nearly perpendicular, and in some places one hundred feet high; they were also rendered exceeding slippery by the water of innumerable springs which issued from the fissures on the surface: Yet up these precipices a way was to be traced by a succession of long pieces of the bark of the hibiscus tiliaceus, which served as a rope for the climber to take hold of, and assisted him in scrambling from one ledge to another, though upon these ledges there was footing only for an Indian or a goat. One of these ropes was nearly thirty feet in length, and their guides offered to assist them in mounting this pass, but recommended another at a little distance lower down, as less difficult and dangerous. They took a view of this "better way," but found it so bad that they did not chuse to attempt it, as there was nothing at the top to reward their toil and hazard, but a grove of the wild plantain or vae tree, which they had often seen before.

During this excursion, Mr Banks had an excellent opportunity to examine the rocks, which were almost every where naked, for minerals; but he found not the least appearance of any. The stones every where, like those of Madeira, shewed manifest tokens of having been burnt; nor is there a single specimen of any stone, among all those that were collected in the island, upon which there are not manifest and indubitable marks of fire; except perhaps some small pieces of the hatchet-stone, and even of that, other fragments were collected which were burned almost to a pumice. Traces of fire are also manifest in the very clay upon the hills; and it may, therefore, not unreasonably be supposed, that this, and the neighbouring islands, are either shattered remains of a continent, which some

have supposed to be necessary in this part of the globe, to preserve an equilibrium of its parts, which were left behind when the rest sunk by the mining of a subterraneous fire, so as to give a passage to the sea over it; or were torn from rocks, which, from the creation of the world, had been the bed of the sea, and thrown up in heaps, to a height which the waters never reach. One or other of these suppositions will perhaps be thought the more probable, as the water does not gradually grow shallow as the shore is approached, and the islands are almost every where surrounded by reefs, which appear to be rude and broken, as some violent concussion would naturally leave the solid substance of the earth.

On the 4th, Mr Banks employed himself in planting a great quantity of the seeds of water-melons, oranges, lemons, Times, and other plants and trees which he had collected at Rio de Janeiro. For these he prepared ground on each side of the fort, with as many varieties of soil as he could chuse; and there is little doubt but that they will succeed. He also gave liberally of these seeds to the Indians, and planted many of them in the woods: Some of the melon seeds having been planted soon after our arrival, the natives shewed him several of the plants, which appeared to be in the most flourishing condition, and were continually asking him for more.

We now began to prepare for our departure by bending the sails, and performing other necessary operations on board the ship, our water being already on board, and the provisions examined. In the mean time we had another visit from Oamo, Oberea, and their son and daughter; the Indians expressing their respect by uncovering the upper parts of their body as they had done before. The daugh ter, whose name we understand to be Toimata, was very desirous to see the fort, but her father would by no means suffer her to come in. Tearee, the son of Waheatua, the sovereign of Tiarrabou, the south-east peninsula, was also with us at this time; and we received intelligence of the landing of another guest, whose company was neither expected nor desired: This was no other than the ingenious gentleman who contrived to steal our quadrant. We were told, that he intended to try his fortune again in the night; but the Indians all offered zealously to assist us against him, desiring that, for this purpose, they might be permitted to lie