# The Life and Voyages of Captain James Cook/Chapter 5

Visit to Huaheine. Friendly behaviour of the King and his people. Visit to Ulietea. Great Morai, and sacred chests. Visit to Otaha, and approach to Bolabola. Return to Ulietea. Native dances. Interview with Opoony, King of Bolabola. Trade for provisions. Departure from the Society Islands. Oheteroa discovered. Hostile conduct of the natives. Death of the Boatswain's Mate. The Comet seen.
Having quitted the shores of Otaheite, the attention of the Commander was directed towards some neighbouring islands, lying to the N.W., well known to Tupia; who mentioned by name Huaheine, Ulietea, Otaha, and Bolabola, as places where hogs, fowls, and other refreshments, might be procured in abundance; and it was the more desirable to visit them, as the supplies at Otaheite had been scanty, for some time before the Endeavour sailed. On the voyage thither, when the ship was sometimes becalmed, Tupia prayed to his god Tane for a wind; but it was remarked, that he never began to pray, till he saw tokens of an approaching breeze.
On the 16th, the Endeavour reached Huaheine, some canoes came off from the shore, in one of which were the King and Queen of the island, who seeing Tupia, and receiving assurances of ​friendship, were encouraged to come on board, with several of their people; before the vessel came to an anchor in a fine harbour named Owharre, now written Fare. The King, who was called Oree, proposed as a mark of friendship, to exchange names with the Commander; and during the rest of their intercourse, the former was King Cookee, and the latter Lieut. Oree. They went on shore together, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Mr. Monkhouse, and Tupia. The latter having stripped himself as low as the waist, according to the Tahitian fashion of doing obeisance, delivered a long speech or prayer, and performed various ceremonies, in presence of the King and a crowd of natives, this being understood as the ratification of a treaty of peace. The English were received very kindly, and remained here three days; during which they visited several houses of the natives, examined the productions of their island, which were the same as those of Otaheite j and purchased a quantity of hogs, bread-fruit, cocoa nuts, &c., for nails and hatchets. The Commander gave the King, at parting, some British medals or counters, struck in 1761, and a small pewter plate, on which was stamped "His Britannic Majesty's Ship, Endeavour, Lieutenant Cook, Commander, 16th July, 1769, Huaheine;" leaving behind him this testimony of his having first discovered the island.
The next island visited was Ulietea, now written Raiatea, seven or eight leagues S.W. of Huaheine. Here the Commander and several of his friends landed on the 20th; and hoisting a flag, took possession of this and, the neighbouring islands in the name of His Britannic Majesty. The natives shewed tokens of friendship; and Tupia repeated ​the ceremonies used at Huaheine; but he expressed his fears of the men of Bolabola, who had conquered this island, and stripped him of large possessions which he once had there. In more than one part of the island, jaw bones, fixed to boards, and hung up as trophies, to commemorate this conquest, were observed. A similar trophy had been seen in the southern part of Otaheite, the memorial of a victory gained over Oberea and Oamo.
Near the harbour where the Endeavour anchored, which was called Oopoa, was a great Moral, built with walls of coral stone; and beside it an altar, on which lay a large roasted hog, which had been offered to the god. Some arks, or sacred chests, containing something wrapped up in mats, were also observed. Mr. Banks examined one of them, but perceiving that he was giving offence, he desisted. Here, as Mr. Ellis states, in his Polynesian Researches, the great national idol, Oro, was worshipped, and human victims were occasionally offered. On the 21st, while Mr. Banks and other gentlemen were trading with the natives, and examining the curiosities of the island, the Commander, and some of his officers, were surveying the coast. In coming out of the harbour on the 24th, the ship was in imminent danger of striking on a coral rock.
The island Otaha, now written Tahaa, was next visited. The ship did not come to an anchor here; but Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander landed in a boat, with Tupia and others; and while they examined the island, procured a few hogs and fowls, and a large supply of yams and plantains. The natives, instructed by Tupia, treated them with great re​spect, uncovering the upper part of their bodies before them, as in the presence of their Kings.
Lieut. Cook, on the 29th, reached Bolabola, now written Borabora, with an intention to land; but the wind being unfavourable, and the island inaccessible in that point, he returned to another harbour of Ulietea, to stop a leak in the ship, and take in more ballast. Owing to contrary winds, the vessel was not safely moored here until Wednesday morning, Aug. 2nd. The trade for hogs, fowls, and plantains, was now resumed; and the scientific gentlemen enjoyed some delightful excursions into the country, where they were treated with great respect and kindness, and the presents of beads which they made to some interesting young females were highly esteemed. In one house they were entertained with a dance, performed by a man with a singular head-dress. Next day, the Commander and others witnessed another dance, in which two women, and six men, with three drums, were engaged. Similar dances, with dramatic interludes, were seen on other days. In these pastimes, the attitudes and gestures of the female dancers were shockingly wanton.
On the 5th, a handsome present of hogs, fowls, and cloth, came from Opoony, the formidable King of Bolabola, now at Ulietea, with several of his people. Next day, our navigators paid him a visit; but instead of seeing a vigorous, spirited, and intelligent chief, they were surprised to find this great conqueror, the terror of the islands, an old, infirm, sluggish creature, almost blind, and singularly stupid. Next day they made an excursion in their boats to Otaha, and Opoony accompanied them in his canoe. They hoped by his influence to pro​cure a larger supply of hogs, plantains, and other provisions, but were disappointed. They procured some, however, towards the north part of the island. It is not surprising, that they were eager in making such purchases, when their beef had been so long kept, and their bread was so full of vermin, that notwithstanding all possible care, they sometimes got twenty of them in one mouthful of bread, every one of them tasting as hot as mustard. People on land will often complain, when their provisions are not of the best quality; but their complaints might be silenced, did they consider on what loathsome food their seafaring brethren are sometimes forced to subsist for months together.
As some time had been lost at Ulietea, while the carpenters were stopping the leak, Lieut. Cook sailed from thence to the southward, instead of returning, as lie had proposed, to land on Bolabola. Towards that island, then seven leagues distant, a shot was fired, at Tupia's request, as a mark of his resentment, or to shew the power of his new allies.
The group of islands, now visited, the Commander named Society Islands. From the 9th, on which he set sail, nothing worth notice occurred till the 13th, when an island was discovered which Tupia named Oheteroa. It is now called Rurutu, being one of the Austral Islands. Lieut. Gore, with Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, and others, approached the shore in the pinnace, with an intention to land; but the natives, instead of welcoming them ashore, appeared on the beach in hostile array, armed with long lances, and some of them singularly attired. While the pinnace moved along the shore, several natives came off in a canoe, and ​after accepting some nails, began to board the pinnace, in order to seize it; but the firing of two muskets over them, made them instantly desist, and hasten to the shore. The ship and boat made the circuit of the island; and as there was neither harbour nor anchorage found, while the natives persisted in their hostility, their champions standing on the shore brandishing their lances in defiance; the Commander perceiving that a landing could scarcely be effected without bloodshed, and would be of small benefit where there was no harbour, humanely relinquished the attempt. These islanders, though more fierce than the Tahitians, seemed to have made greater progress in the arts, their canoes and weapons being more handsomely carved, and their dresses more tastefully coloured.
The Endeavour sailed from Oheteroa, on tuesday, Aug. 15th. Tupia mentioned other islands lying in various directions; but Lieut. Cook, instead of going out of his course to discover them, determined to proceed on his voyage in search of a southern continent.
On friday, Aug. 25th, our navigators celebrated the anniversary of their departure from England; when a good Cheshire cheese was brought forth from the locker, and a cask of excellent porter was broached. Four days after, the boatswain's mate died of intoxication; the boatswain having unfortunately, from mere good nature, given him part of a bottle of rum. It is melancholy to think, how many brave men lose their lives by the immoderate use of ardent spirits. Temperance was one of the virtues that adorned the character of our illustrious navigator; and greatly would it conduce to the ​comfort and safety of all our seamen, did they follow his example.
On the 30th, the great comet of that year was observed: its tail subtended an angle of 42°. When Tupia saw it, he instantly cried out, that the people of Bolabola would kill the inhabitants of Ulietea: the sight of a comet, among the South Sea islanders, as among many other nations, being regarded as portending war and bloodshed.