The Whole Was Planted Round With Fruit
And Other Trees, Whose Spreading Branches Afforded An Agreeable Shade, And
Whose Fragrance Diffused A Pleasing Odour Through The Air.
Before we had well viewed the plantation it was noon, and we returned on
board to dinner, with the chief in our company.
He sat at table but eat
nothing, which, as we had fresh pork roasted, was a little extraordinary.
After dinner we landed again, and were received by the crowd as before; Mr
Forster with his botanical party, and some of the officers and gentlemen,
walked into the country.[6] Captain Furneaux and myself were conducted to
the chief's house, where fruit and some greens, which had been stewed, were
set before us to eat. As we had but just dined, it cannot be supposed we
eat much; but Oedidee, and Omai, the man on board the Adventure, did honour
to the feast. After this we signified our desire of seeing the country.
Tioony very readily assented, and conducted us through several plantations,
which were laid out with great judgment, and inclosed with very neat fences
made of reeds. They were all in very good order, and well planted with
various fruit-trees, roots, &c. The chief took some pains to let us know
the most of them belonged to himself. Near some of the houses, and in the
lanes that divided the plantations, were running about some hogs and very
large fowls, which were the only domestic animals we saw; and these they
did not seem willing to part with. Nor did any one, during the whole day,
offer in exchange any fruit, or roots, worth mentioning, which determined
me to leave this island, and to visit that of Amsterdam.
The evening brought every one on board, highly delighted with the country,
and the very obliging behaviour of the inhabitants, who seemed to vie with
each other in doing what they thought would give us pleasure.[7] The ships
were crowded with people the whole day, trafficking with those on board, in
which the greatest good order was observed; and I was sorry that the season
of the year would not admit of my making a longer stay with them. Early the
nest morning, while the ships were getting under sail, I went on shore with
Captain Furneaux and Mr Forster, to take leave of the chief. He met us at
the landing-place, and would have conducted us to his house, had we not
excused ourselves. We therefore were seated on the grass, where we spent
about half an hour in the midst of a vast crowd of people. After making the
chief a present, consisting of various articles, and an assortment of
garden-seeds, I gave him to understand that we were going away, at which he
seemed not at all moved. He, and two or three more, came into our boat, in
order to accompany us on board; but seeing the Resolution under sail, he
called to a canoe to put alongside, into which he and his friends went, and
returned on shore. While he remained in our boat, he continued to exchange
fish-hooks for nails, and engrossed the trade in a manner wholly to
himself; but, when on shore, I never saw him make the least exchange.
[1] "There appeared to be some low land at the bottom of the hills,
which contained plantations of fine young bananas, whose vivid green
leaves contrasted admirably with the different tints of various
shrubberies, and with the brown colour of the cocoa-palms, which
seemed to be the effect of winter. The light was still so faint, that
we distinguished several fires glimmering in the bushes, but by
degrees we likewise discerned people running along the shore. The
hills which were low, and not so high above the level of the sea as
the Isle of Wight, were agreeably adorned with small clumps of trees
scattered at some distance, and the intermediate ground appeared
covered with herbage, like many parts of England."-G.F.
[2] "We threw a rope into one of these canoes which ran up close to
us, and one of the three people in her came on board, and presented a
root of the intoxicating pepper-tree of the South Sea Islands, touched
our noses with his like the New Zealanders, in sign of friendship, and
then sat down on the deck without speaking a word. The captain
presented him with a nail, upon which he immediately held it over his
own head, and pronounced fagafetei, which was probably an expression
of thanksgiving. He was naked to the waist, but from thence to the
knees he had a piece of cloth wrapped about him, which seemed to be
manufactured much like that of Otaheite, but was covered with a brown
colour, and a strong glue, which made it stiff, and fit to resist the
wet. His stature was middle-sized, and his lineaments were mild and
tolerably regular. His colour was much like that of the common
Otaheiteans, that is, of a clear mahogany or chesnut brown; his beard
was cut short or shaven, and his hair was black, in short, frizzled
curls, burnt as it were at the tops. He had three circular spots on
each arm, about the size of a crown-piece, consisting of several
concentric circles of elevated points, which answered to the punctures
of the Otaheiteans, but were blacker; besides these, he had other
black punctures on his body. A small cylinder was fixed through two
holes in the loop of his ear, and his left hand wanted the little
finger. He continued his silence for a considerable while, but some
others, who ventured on board soon after him, were of a more
communicative turn, and after having performed the ceremony of
touching noses, spoke a language which was unintelligible to us at
that time." - G.F.
[3] "They made a great deal of noise about us, every one shewing what
he had to sell, and calling to some one of us, who happened to look
towards them.
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