they had only been
absent an hour. Nine stand of arms, Cook's double-barreled gun and his
hanger fell into the hands of the natives. As soon as this was reported,
the boats were recalled from the bay, and a strong reinforcement was sent
to Mr. King with orders to strike his camp and get the Resolution's
foremast off to the ship. The Indians were seen to be assembling to the
right of the tents, so the guns were turned on them, and a party was
posted on the Morai to cover the place where the mast lay. About one
o'clock everything was got away from the shore, only a few stones being
thrown by natives who thought their mats were proof against bullets, and
only found out their mistake too late.

Notwithstanding what had occurred, one of the priests, whom Burney calls
Kerriakair, remained with the English till everything had been removed,
and supplied the men with food and water. King, about four o'clock, was
sent to try to recover the bodies of the Captain and marines. He was at
first received with a volley of stones, which fortunately fell short; he
displayed a white flag and pulled inshore, whilst the remaining boats lay
off to cover him with their fire if needed, but the stone-throwing was
stopped, and the natives also showed the white flag. In answer to King's
demand some of the chiefs promised that the bodies should be delivered
the next day, and Koah, swimming off to one of the boats, explained that
they could not be given up at once as they had already been taken some
distance up country. Burney, however, says that they gathered, from signs
made by some other Indians, that the bodies had already been cut to
pieces, and one man came down into the water flourishing Cook's hanger
"with many tokens of exultation and defiance."

KOAH FRIENDLY.

On the 15th Captain Clerke formally took over the command of the
Resolution, and appointed Lieutenant Gore to the Discovery. During the
day Koah visited the ship several times, and in vain tried to persuade
Clerke or King to go ashore, but it was thought inadvisable to run any
further risks. In the evening Kerriakair and a friend came off in a small
canoe bringing a bundle containing the flesh of Cook's thighs, saying
that the body had been burned and the limbs distributed amongst the
chiefs. They had brought all they could get unknown to the others, and
Kerriakair strongly advised Clerke not to trust too much to Koah; he said
that the inhabitants of the island were not inclined f