e had
been in. In an excursion which Captain Furneaux and I made along the coast,
we met with a chief who entertained us with excellent fish, fruit, &c. In
return for his hospitality, I made him a present of an axe and other
things; and he afterwards accompanied us back to the ships, where he made
but a short stay.

Nothing worthy of note happened on the 20th, till the dusk of the evening,
when one of the natives made off with a musquet belonging to the guard on
shore. I was present when this happened, and sent some of our people after
him, which would have been to little purpose, had not some of the natives,
of their own accord, pursued the thief. They knocked him down, took from
him the musquet, and brought it to us. Fear, on this occasion, certainly
operated more with them than principle. They deserve, however, to be
applauded for this act of justice, for, if they had not given their
immediate assistance, it would hardly have been in my power to have
recovered the musquet, by any gentle means whatever, and by making use of
any other, I was sure to lose more than ten times its value.

The 21st, the wind was at north, a fresh breeze. This morning a chief made
me a visit, and presented me with a quantity of fruit, among which, were a
number of cocoanuts we had drawn the water from, and afterwards thrown,
over board; these he had picked up, and tied in bundles so artfully, that
we did not at first perceive the cheat; when he was told of it, without
betraying the least emotion, and, as if he knew nothing of the matter, he
opened two or three of them himself, signified to us, that he was satisfied
it was so, and then went ashore and sent off a quantity of plantains and
bananoes. Having got on board a supply of water, fruit, and roots, I
determined to sail in the morning to Matavai, as I found it was not likely
that I should get an interview with Waheatoua, without which, it was very
improbable we should get any hogs. Two of the natives, who knew my
intention, slept on board, with a view of going with us to Matavai, but, in
the morning, the wind blew fresh at N.W., and as we could not sail, I sent
the trading party on shore as usual.

In the evening, I was informed that Waheatoua was come into the
neighourhood, and wanted to see me. In consequence of this information, I
determined to wait one day longer, in order to have an interview with this
prince. Accordingly, early the next morning, I set out in company with
Captain