Towha, Their Admiral, Wore
Five Of Them, To The Ends Of Which Several Strings Of Cocoa-Nut Tree
Were Added, With A Few Red Feathers Affixed To Them.
He had no helmet
on, but wore a fine turban, which sat very gracefully on his head.
He
was a man seemingly near sixty years of age, but extremely vigorous,
tall, and of a very engaging noble countenance. In each canoe we took
notice of vast bundles of spears, and long clubs or battle-axes placed
upright against the platform; and every warrior had either a club or
spear in his hand. Vast heaps of large stones were likewise piled up
in every canoe, being their only missile weapons. Besides the vessels
of war, there were many smaller canoes without the ranks, most of
which were likewise double, with a roof on the stern, intended for the
reception of the chiefs at night, and as victuallers to the fleet. A
few of them were seen, on which banana-leaves were very conspicuous;
and these the natives told us were to receive the killed, and they
called them e-vaa no t'Eatua, "the canoes of the Divinity." "The
immense number of people assembled together was, in fact, more
surprising than the splendour of the whole shew; and we learnt to our
greater surprise, that this fleet was only the naval force of the
single district of Atapooroo, and that all the other districts could
furnish their quota of vessels in proportion to their size. This
account opened our eyes, in regard to the population of the island,
and convinced us in a few moments, that it was much more considerable
than we had hitherto supposed. The result of a most moderate
computation gave us one hundred and twenty thousand persons in the two
peninsulas of Otabeite, and this calculation was afterwards confirmed
to be very low, when we saw the fleet of the smallest district, which
amounted to forty-four war-canoes, besides twenty or thirty of a
smaller size." - G.F.
SECTION XII.
Some Account of a Visit from Otoo, Towha, and several other Chiefs; also
of a Robbery committed by one of the Natives, and its Consequences, with
general Observations on the Subject.
In the morning of the 27th, I received a present from Towha, consisting of
two large hogs and some fruit, sent by two of his servants, who had orders
not to receive any thing in return; nor would they when offered them. Soon
after I went down to Oparree in my boat, where, having found both this
chief and the king, after a short stay, I brought them on board to dinner,
together with Tarevatoo, the king's younger brother, and Tee. As soon as we
drew near the ship, the admiral, who had never seen one before, began to
express much surprise at so new a sight. He was conducted all over the
ship, every part of which he viewed with great attention. On this occasion
Otoo was the principal show-man; for, by this time, he was well acquainted
with the different parts of the ship.
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