It Grounded At Some Distance From The Shore, Where We Were Met
By A Venerable Old Lady, Wife To The Chief.
She threw herself into my arms,
and wept bitterly, insomuch that it was not possible to get one plain word
from her.
With this old lady in my hand I went ashore, contrary to the
advice of my young man from Otaheite, who was more afraid than any of us,
probably believing every word the people had told us. I found the chief
seated under the shade of a house, before which was a large area, and
surrounded by a vast number of people. As soon as I came to him, he threw
his arms about me, and burst into tears, in which he was accompanied by all
the women, and some of the men, so that the lamentation became general;
astonishment alone kept me from joining with them. It was some time before
I could get a word from any one; at last, all my enquiries gave me no other
information, than that they were alarmed on account of our boats being
absent, thinking that the people in them had deserted from us, and that I
should take some violent means to recover them. For when we assured them
that the boats would return back, they seemed cheerful and satisfied, and
to a man, denied that any one was hurt, either of their own or our people,
and so it afterwards proved. Nor did it appear that there was the least
foundation for these alarms, nor could we ever find out by what means this
general consternation first took its rise.
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