Next day we had much thunder, lightning, and rain. This did not hinder the king from making me another visit, and a present of a large quantity of refreshments. It hath been already mentioned, that when we were at the island of Amsterdam we had collected, amongst other curiosities, some red parrot feathers. When this was known here, all the principal people of both sexes endeavoured to ingratiate themselves into our favour by bringing us hogs, fruit, and every other thing the island afforded, in order to obtain these valuable jewels. Our having these feathers was a fortunate circumstance; for as they were valuable to the natives, they became so to us; but more especially as my stock of trade was, by this time, greatly exhausted; so that, if it had not been for the feathers, I should have found it difficult to have supplied the ship with the necessary refreshments. When I put in at this island, I intended to stay no longer than till Mr. Wales had made the necessary observations for the purposes already mentioned; thinking we should meet with no better success than we did the last time we were here. But the reception we had already met with, and the few excursions we had made, which did not exceed the plains of Matavai and Oparree, convinced us of our error. We found at these two places, built and building a great number of large canoes, and houses of every kind; people living in spacious habitations, who had not a place to shelter themselves in eight months before; several large hogs about every house; and every other sign of a rising state. Judging from these favourable circumstances that we should not mend ourselves by removing to another island, I resolved to make a longer stay, and to begin with the repairs of the ship and stores, &c. Accordingly I ordered the empty casks and sails to be got ashore to be repaired; the ship to be calked; and the rigging to be overhauled; all of which the high southern latitudes had made indispensably necessary. [Illustration: _The Fleet of Otaheite assembled at Opárre_]