He Was Grave, But Not Sullen; Would Crack A Joke, Talk On
Indifferent Subjects, And Endeavour To Understand Us And Be Understood
Himself.
During this visit, the old priest repeated a short prayer or
speech, the purport of which we did not understand.
Indeed he would
frequently, at other times, break out in prayer; but I never saw any
attention paid to him by any one present.[7] After a stay of near two
hours, we took leave, and returned on board, with Attago and two or three
more friends, who staid and breakfasted with us; after which they were
dismissed, loaded with presents.
Attago was very importunate with me to return again to this isle, and to
bring with me cloth, axes, nails, &c. &c. telling me that I should have
hogs, fowls, fruit, and roots, in abundance. He particularly desired me,
more than once, to bring him such a suit of clothes as I had on, which was
my uniform. This good-natured islander was very serviceable to me, on many
occasions, during our short stay. He constantly came on board every morning
soon after it was light, and never quitted us till the evening. He was
always ready, either on board or on shore, to do me all the service in his
power: His fidelity was rewarded at a small expence, and I found my account
in having such a friend.[8]
In heaving in the coasting cable, it parted in the middle of its length,
being chafed by the rocks. By this accident we lost the other half,
together with the anchor, which lay in forty fathoms water, without any
buoy to it. The best bower-cable suffered also by the rocks; by which a
judgment may be formed of this anchorage. At ten o'clock we got under sail;
but as our decks were much encumbered with fruit, &c. we kept plying under
the land till they were cleared.[9] The supplies we got at this isle, were
about one hundred and fifty pigs, twice that number of fowls, as many
bananoes and cocoa-nuts as we could find room for, with a few yams; and had
our stay been longer, we no doubt might have got a great deal more. This in
some degree shews the fertility of the island, of which, together with the
neighbouring one of Middleburg, I shall now give a more particular account.
[1] "A party of the marines were posted on the beach in case of
danger, to protect the captain's clerk, who traded for provisions. The
natives did not express either surprise or dislike at this proceeding,
perhaps, because they were unacquainted with its meaning. They
received us with acclamations of joy as at Ea-oonhe, and desired us to
sit down with them on the rocks along shore, which consisted of coral,
and were covered with shell sand. We purchased several beautiful
parroquets, pigeons, and doves, which they brought to us perfectly
tame; and our young Borabora man, Mahine (or Odeedee), traded with
great eagerness for ornaments made of bright red feathers, which he
assured us had an extraordinary value at Otaheite and the Society
Islands. Here they were commonly pasted to aprons used in their
dances, and made of the fibres of cocoa-nuts, or fixed upon bananoe
leaves, forming rhomboidal frontlets or diadems; and with a degree of
extacy, which gave the greatest weight to his assertion, he shewed us
that a little piece of feather-work, as broad as two or three fingers,
would purchase the largest hog in his island." - G.F.
[2] "We left the beach after the first acquaintance with the natives,
and ascended a few feet into a wild forest consisting of tall trees,
intermixed with shrubberies. This wood, though narrow, being in many
places not above one hundred yards wide, was continued along the shore
of Van Diemen's road, being more or less open in various parts. Beyond
it the whole island was perfectly level. We walked across a piece of
uncultivated land, about five hundred yards wide, which adjoined to
the wood. Part of it appeared to have been planted with yams, but the
rest was full of grass, and had a little swamp in the middle, where
the purple water-hen, or poula sultane, resided in great numbers. As
soon as we left this, we entered into a lane about six feet wide,
between two fences of reed, which inclosed extensive plantations on
each side. Here we met many of the natives, who were travelling to the
beach with loads of provisions, and courteously bowed their heads as
they passed by us, in sign of friendship, generally pronouncing some
monosyllable or other, which seemed to correspond to the Otaheitean
tays. The inclosures, plantations, and houses, were exactly in the
same style as at Ea-oonhe, and the people had never failed to plant
odoriferous shrubs round their dwellings. The mulberry, of which the
bark is manufactured into cloth, and the bread-tree, were more scarce
than at the Society Isles, and the apple of those islands was entirely
unknown; but the shaddock well supplied its place. The season of
spring, which revived the face of all nature, adorning every plant
with blossoms, and inspiring with joyful songs the feathered tribe,
doubtless contributed in a great measure to make every object pleasing
in our eyes. But the industry and elegance of the natives, which they
displayed in planting every piece of ground to the greatest advantage,
as well as in the neatness and regularity of all their works, demanded
our admiration, whilst it gave us room to suppose, that they enjoyed a
considerable degree of happiness. One of the lanes between the
inclosures, led us to a little grove, which we admired for its
irregularity. An immense casuarina tree far out-topped the rest, and
its branches were loaded with a vast number of blackish creatures,
which we took for crows at a distance, but which proved to be bats
when we came nearer.
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