A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 14
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
The fruits we got here greatly contributed towards the recovery of the
Adventure's sick people; many of them, who had been so ill as not to be
able to move without assistance, were, in this short time so far recovered,
that they could walk about of themselves. When we put in here, the
Resolution had but one scorbutic man on board, and a marine, who had been
long sick, and who died the second day after our arrival, of a complication
of disorders, without the least mixture of the scurvy. I left Lieutenant
Pickersgill, with the cutter, behind the bay, to purchase hogs, as several
had promised to bring some down to-day, and I was not willing to lose them.
On the 25th; about noon, Mr Pickersgill returned with eight hogs, which he
got at Oaiti-piha. He spent the night at Ohedea, and was well entertained
by Ereti, the chief of that district. It was remarkable, that this chief
never once asked after Aotouroo, nor did he take the least notice when Mr
Pickersgill mentioned his name. And yet M. de Bougainville tells us, this
is the very chief who presented Aotourou to him; which makes it the more
extraordinary, that he should neither enquire after him now, nor when he
was with us at Matavai, especially as they believed that we and M. de
Bougainville came from the same country, that is, from _Pretane_, for
so they called our country. They had not the least knowledge of any other
European nation, nor probably will they, unless some of those men should
return who had lately gone from the isle, of which mention shall be made
bye and bye. We told several of them, that M. de Bougainville came from
France, a name they could by no means pronounce; nor could they pronounce
that of Paris much better; so that it is not likely that they will remember
either the one or the other long; whereas _Pretane_ is in every
child's mouth, and will hardly ever be forgotten. It was not till the
evening of this day that we arrived in Matavai bay.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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