A party of officers from both ships went off to an island without leave, and returned two days after without their muskets, ammunition, and other articles which had been stolen. They persuaded Omai to make a private complaint to the king, which resulted in the chiefs leaving the neighbourhood. Their disappearance annoyed Cook, and when the affair was explained to him he severely reprimanded Omai for speaking on the matter without orders. This put Omai on his mettle, and he managed to persuade Feenough to return, and informed the king that no serious consequences should ensue. Matters were then easily smoothed over; most of the stolen goods, including the missing turkey, were returned, and the king said he ought not to have been held responsible, for, if he had known that any one wished to see the island, he would have sent a chief who would have ensured their safety. An eclipse of the sun was to occur on 5th July, and Cook decided to remain so as to secure observations, and meanwhile employed himself in exploring the neighbourhood and studying the customs of the natives. On one occasion, thinking to see an interesting ceremony, he accompanied Polaho, who was going to do state mourning for a son who had been dead some time. The result was disappointing, and the chief impression left with Cook seems to have been that over their clothing of native cloth, those present wore old and ragged mats; those of the king being the raggedest, and "might have served his great-grandfather on some such like occasion." July 5th proved dark and cloudy, with heavy showers of rain, and the observations were unsatisfactory, especially as the clouds came up thickly in the middle of the eclipse, and the sun was seen no more for the rest of the day. This failure was not of great importance, for the longitude had already been satisfactorily ascertained by several very good lunar observations, so as soon as the eclipse was over everything was sent on board the ships, including the sheep which had been presented to Mariwaggee. No one had taken any notice of them since they were landed, and Cook felt sure they would be killed by the dogs as soon as the ships left. A NATIVE CEREMONY.