The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. I. Being the First of the First Voyage.Cook, James
History
The Three Voyages of Captain Cook Round the World. Vol. I. Being the First of the First Voyage.
Cook, James
Cook, James, 1728-1779 -- Travel; Explorers -- Great Britain -- Biography; Voyages around the world -- History -- 18th century
moment to improve their advantage, when, to our unspeakable
satisfaction, we saw the boat return, which had been driven from her
grappling by the tide; a circumstance to which, in our confusion and
surprise, we did not advert.
As soon as the boat returned, we got our breakfast, and were impatient
to leave the place, lest some other vexatious accident should befall us.
It is situated on the north side of Tiarrabou, the south-east peninsula,
or division, of the island, and at the distance of about five miles
south-east from the isthmus, having a large and commodious harbour,
inferior to none in the island, about which the land is very rich in
produce.
Notwithstanding we had had little communication with this division, the
inhabitants every where received us in a friendly manner: we found the
whole of it fertile and populous, and, to all appearance, in a more
flourishing state than Opoureonu, though it is not above one-fourth part
as large.
The next district in which we landed was the last in Tiarrabou, and
governed by a chief, whose name we understood to be OMOE. Omoe was
building a house, and being therefore very desirous of procuring a
hatchet, he would have been glad to have purchased one with any thing
that he had in his possession; it happened, however, rather
unfortunately for him and us, that we had not one hatchet left in the
boat. We offered to trade with nails, but he would not part with any
thing in exchange for them; we therefore reimbarked, and put off our
boat, but the chief being unwilling to relinquish all hope of obtaining
something from us that would be of use to him, embarked in a canoe, with
his wife WHANNOOUDA, and followed us. After some time, we took them into
the boat, and when we had rowed about a league, they desired we would
put ashore: we immediately complied with his request, and found some of
his people, who had brought down a very large hog. We were as unwilling
to lose the hog, as the chief was to part with us, and it was indeed
worth the best axe we had in the ship; we therefore hit upon an
expedient, and told him, that if he would bring his hog to the fort at
MATAVAI, the Indian name for Port Royal bay, he should have a large axe,
and a nail into the bargain for his trouble. To this proposal, after
having consulted with his wife, he agreed, and gave us a large piece of
his country cloth as a pledge that he would perform his agreement,
which, however, he never did.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account