It blew hard this morning, so that there was little intercourse with the shore; but towards sunset it moderated, and Ookooma, Jeema, and four other Chiefs, came on board, bringing with them a present of a bullock, two hogs, goats, and vegetables. The Chief whose name is Shayoon is the most clever of them all; he is next in rank to Ookooma, but he generally takes the lead in discussion; he has a quick intelligent look, with more determination in his manner than any of the others. They were very particular on all these state occasions to observe the order of precedence, and no one sat down till his superior was seated. When any subject was discussed, one at a time rose to speak, but not in order of rank, and they never attempted to interrupt one another. The weather at this moment looked so stormy, that I went on board the Lyra to prepare for a gale; by which I lost a very interesting conference with the chiefs. I learnt from Captain Maxwell afterwards, that he had remonstrated with them on their inconsistency and the pretended difficulty of getting answers from court; he gave them to understand, that he did not conceive it was treating the King of England with due respect to deny his officers permission to walk on shore. Again, that they had promised to send pilots, but that none had come; and that many other promises had not been performed. He desired the interpreter to say, that he was not pleased with their telling him so many different stories, all of which could not be true; first they said that the bullocks, hogs, &c. were gifts from themselves; then, that they were sent by the Great Man; then, that there was no Great Man here: in fine, he urged them strongly to tell him the truth on all points. They made the interpreter repeat six times over what Captain Maxwell had desired him to say; they then consulted amongst themselves a long time, and at last assured Captain Maxwell, that a reply to the communications made by them to government would reach this place next day. As the stock and vegetables received by the ships had, by this time, amounted to a considerable quantity, a bag of dollars was offered to them, and they were urged to take payment for what had been sent on board; this offer, which had been made more than once before, was still declined; upon which they were informed, that we considered it improper, as servants of government, to receive presents to such an extent from individuals. Upon this they gave their assurance, that the stock had been sent on board by order of the Loo-choo government, on their being informed that the King of another country's ships had arrived. No payment they said could therefore be taken. With this Captain Maxwell was satisfied. Their wish seems to be, to prevent our opening any communication with their government, and they appear so decided upon these matters, that they will probably succeed, notwithstanding all our efforts.