A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty for the purpose of conveying the bread-fruit tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's ship the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East IndiesBligh, William
History
A voyage to the South Sea : $b Undertaken by command of His Majesty for the purpose of conveying the bread-fruit tree to the West Indies in His Majesty's ship the Bounty commanded by Lieutenant William Bligh; including an account of the mutiny on board the said ship and the subsequent voyage of part of the crew in the ship's boat from Tofoa, one of the Friendly Islands, to Timor, a Dutch settlement in the East Indies
Bligh, William
Bounty (Ship); Bounty Mutiny, 1789; Oceania -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800; Voyages and travels
On landing at Oparre an immense crowd of natives as usual immediately
thronged about us. I enquired for Oreepyah, whom I expected to have met
me here, but he was not yet returned from his search after the thieves;
we therefore went under a shed of his to wait for him, and in about a
quarter of an hour he joined us, bringing with him an iron scraper and
one of the hoops of the buoy. I thanked him for the trouble which he had
taken, and assured him that I was perfectly satisfied, for he still
seemed apprehensive of my displeasure.
We took leave for a short time of Oreepyah and I proceeded with Tinah to
make my visit to the young Otoo, the Earee Rahie. When we had walked
about five minutes Tinah stopped and informed me that no person could be
permitted to see his son, who was covered above the shoulders. He then
took off his upper garments and requested I would do the same. I replied
that I had no objection to go as I would to my own king, who was the
greatest in all the world and, pulling off my hat, he threw a piece of
cloth round my shoulders and we went on. About a quarter of a mile
farther towards the hills, through a delightful shade of breadfruit
trees, we stopped at the side of a small serpentine river: here I was in
view of a house on the other side at about fifty yards distance. From
this house the young king was brought out on a man's shoulders, clothed
in a piece of fine white cloth, and I was desired by Tinah to salute him
by the name of Too Earee Rahie. The present which I had prepared was
divided into three parts, and two other children made their appearance in
the same manner. The first present I gave to a messenger who attended for
that purpose; and I was instructed by Tinah to say that it was for the
Earee Rahie; that I was his friend; that I hated thieves; and that I came
from Britannia. The second present was sent in the same manner, with a
similar message, to one of the other children and likewise the third.
As I could not see the Earee Rahie distinctly I desired to be permitted
to go over the river to him; but this, it seems, could not be complied
with: therefore after seeing the presents delivered I returned with Tinah
towards Oreepyah's house. I was informed that Tinah had four children by
his wife Iddeah. Otoo, or Too, the Earee Rahie, appeared to be about six
years old: the second is a girl named Terrenah Oroah: the third a boy,
Terreetappanooai; and a fourth, an infant girl, whom I did not see, named
Tahamydooah.
When we came to the place where we had first stopped Tinah took the cloth
from my shoulders and desired me to put my hat on; I expressed a desire
to see more of the place and he took me back by a different way. On
passing a trunk of a tree, rudely carved, I was desired again to pull my
hat off, and all uncovered their shoulders. This I discovered to be
nothing more than the boundary of the king's land; on which whoever set
their feet uncovered themselves out of respect.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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