is said upon it in the narrative of my
former voyage.

Oedidee, who generally slept on shore, came off with a message from Oree,
desiring I would land with twenty-two men, to go with him to chastise the
robbers. The messenger brought with him, by way of assisting his memory,
twenty-two pieces of leaves, a method customary amongst them. On my
receiving this extraordinary message, I went to the chief for better
information; and all I could learn of him was, that these fellows were a
sort of banditti, who had formed themselves into a body, with a resolution
of seizing and robbing our people wherever they found them, and were now
armed for that purpose: For which reason he wanted me to go along with him,
to chastise them. I told him, if I went they would fly to the mountains;
but he said, they were resolved to fight us, and therefore desired I would
destroy both them and their house; but begged I would spare those in the
neighbourhood, as also the canoes and the _Whenooa_. By way of
securing these, he presented me with a pig as a peace-offering for the
_Whenooa_. It was too small to be meant for any thing but a ceremony
of this kind. This sensible old chief could see (what perhaps none of the
others ever thought of) that every thing in the neighbourhood was at our
mercy, and therefore took care to secure them by this method, which I
suppose to be of weight with them. When I returned on board, I considered
of the chiefs request, which upon the whole appeared an extraordinary one.
I however resolved to go, lest these fellows should be (by our refusal)
encouraged to commit greater acts of violence; and, as their proceeding
would soon reach Ulietea, where I intended to go next, the people there
might be induced to treat us in the same manner, or worse, they being more
numerous. Accordingly I landed with forty-eight men, including officers, Mr
Forster, and some other of the gentlemen. The chief joined us with a few
people, and we began to march, in search of the banditti, in good order. As
we proceeded, the chief's party increased like a snow-ball. Oedidee, who
was with us, began to be alarmed, observing that many of the people in our
company were of the very party we were going against, and at last telling
us, that they were only leading us to some place where they could attack us
to advantage. Whether there was any truth in this, or it was only Oedidee's
fears, I will not pretend to say. He, however, was the only person we could