herefore, resolved to avail myself
of the presence of the chief men of the island, and to make this
proposal to them.

After the hurry of the morning was over, we got ready to pay a formal
visit to Taireetareea, meaning then to introduce this business. Omai
dressed himself very properly on the occasion, and prepared a handsome
present for the chief himself, and another for his _eatooa_. Indeed,
after he had got clear of the gang that surrounded him at Otaheite, he
behaved with such prudence as to gain respect. Our landing drew most
of our visitors from the ships; and they, as well as those that were
on shore, assembled in a large house. The concourse of people, on this
occasion, was very great; and, amongst them, there appeared to be a
greater proportion of personable men and women than we had ever seen
in one assembly, at any of these new islands. Not only the bulk of
the people seemed, in general, much stouter and fairer than those of
Otaheite, but there was also a much greater number of men who appeared
to be of consequence, in proportion to the extent of the island, most
of whom had exactly the corpulent appearance of the chiefs of Wateeoo.
We waited some time for Taireetareea, as I would do nothing till the
_earee rahie_ came; but, when he appeared, I found that his presence
might have been dispensed with, as he was not above eight or ten years
of age. Omai, who stood at a little distance from this circle of great
men, began with making his offering to the gods, consisting of red
feathers, cloth, &c. Then followed another offering, which was to be
given to the gods by the chief; and after that, several other small
pieces and tufts of red feathers were presented. Each article was laid
before one of the company, who, I understood, was a priest, and
was delivered with a set speech or prayer, spoken by one of Omai's
friends, who sat by him, but mostly dictated by himself. In these
prayers, he did not forget his friends in England, nor those who had
brought him safe back. The _earee rahie no Pretane_, Lord Sandwich,
_Toote_, _Tatee_,[1] were mentioned in every one of them. When Omai's
offerings and prayers were finished, the priest took each article,
in the same order in which it had been laid before him, and after
repeating a prayer, sent it to the _morai_, which, as Omai told us,
was at a great distance, otherwise the offerings would have been made
there.

[Footnote 1: Cook and Clerke.]

These religious ceremonies