e mode of preparing that beverage, the thirst of the
visitors was sufficiently quenched. They were seated in an open space
in front of the house, which was surrounded with fruit and other trees,
whose fragrance filled the air.

The chief, Tioony, went on board and dined, and then, at their request,
conducted the strangers through part of the island. There were numerous
plantations of fir trees and edible roots, laid out with great judgment,
and enclosed with neat fences made of reeds. The ships were crowded the
whole day with people trafficking, and perfect good order prevailed. In
the evening, on the return of the officers on board, they expressed
themselves highly delighted with the country and the very obliging
behaviour of the inhabitants, who seemed to vie with each other in doing
what they thought would please their visitors.

The group of islands, at one of which the ships now were, was called the
Tonga Islands; but Cook, from the treatment he received, named them the
Friendly Islands, by which name they are now generally known. Tasman,
who discovered them in 1642-3, named the two principal islands Amsterdam
and Middleburg. The former is called by the natives Tongatabu, or the
Great Tonga; the latter Ea-oo-we. There are other volcanic islands to
the north, belonging to the group, not then known.

Leaving Ea-oo-we, or Middleburg, the ships ran down to Tongatabu,
keeping about half a mile from the shore, on which the sea broke with a
heavy surf. With the aid of glasses it was seen that every part of the
shore was laid out in plantations, while the natives were observed
running along the shore waving small white flags, which were, of course,
looked on as an emblem of peace. They were answered by hoisting a Saint
George's ensign. Several canoes paddled alongside, and the people in
them, after presenting the cava root, came boldly on board. The ships
anchored in Van Diemen's Road, just outside the breakers, with a
casting-anchor and cable to seaward in forty-seven-fathom water, to
prevent them from tailing on the rocks. Their decks were quickly
crowded with natives, who brought off only native cloths, for which the
seamen too readily gave them clothes. To put a stop to this proceeding,
Captain Cook ordered that no sort of curiosities should be purchased by
any person whatever. The good effect of this order was visible next
morning, when, instead of comparatively useless articles, the natives
brought of