A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

[2] Some of our readers might be profited, perhaps, by considering the moral of the followingincident, which occurred at this play.--"Among the spectators we observed several of the prettiestwomen of this country; and one of them was remarkable for the whitest complexion we had everseen on all these islands. Her colour resembled that of white wax a little sullied, without having theleast appearance of sickness, which that hue commonly conveys; and her fine black eyes and haircontrasted so well with it, that she was admired by us all. She received at first a number of littlepresents, which were so many marks of homage paid at the shrine of beauty; but her success, insteadof gratifying, only sharpened her love of trinkets, and she incessantly importuned every one of us, aslong as she suspected we had a single bead left. One of the gentlemen fortunately happened to havea little padlock in his hand, which she begged for as soon as she had perceived it. After denying itfor some time, he consented to give it her, and locked it in her ear, assuring her that was its properplace. She was pleased for some time; but finding it too heavy, desired him to unlock it. He flungaway the key, giving her to understand, at the same time, that he had made her the present at herown desire, and that if she found it encumbered her, she should bear it as a punishment forimportuning us with her petitions. She was disconsolate upon this refusal, and weeping bitterly,applied to us all to open the padlock; but if we had been willing, we were not able to comply withher request, for want of the key. She applied to the chief, and he as well as his wife, son, anddaughter, joined in praying for the release of her ear: They offered cloth, perfume-wood, and hogs,but all in vain. At last a small key was found to open the padlock, which put an end to the poor girl'slamentation, and restored peace and tranquillity among all her friends. Her adventure had, however,this good effect, that it cured her, and some of her forward country-women, of this idle habit ofbegging."--G.F.Next morning produced some circumstances which fully prove the timorous disposition of these people.We were surprised to find that none of them came off to the ships as usual. Two men belonging to theAdventure having staid on shore all night, contrary to orders, my first conjectures were, that the nativeshad stripped them, and were now afraid to come near us, lest we should take some step to revenge theinsult; but in order to be better satisfied, Captain Furneaux and I went ashore to Oreo's house, which wefound quite empty; he and all his family gone, and the whole neighbourhood, in a manner, quite deserted.The two men belonging to the Adventure made their appearance, and informed us that they had been verycivilly treated by the natives, but could give no account of the cause of their precipitate flight. All that wecould learn from the very few that durst come near us, was, that severals were killed, others wounded byour guns, pointing out to us where the balls went in and out of the body, &c. This relation gave me a gooddeal of uneasiness for the safety of our people gone to Otaha, fearing that some disturbance had happenedat that island. However, in order to be better informed, I determined, if possible, to see the chief himself.Accordingly we embarked in our boat, having one of the natives with us, and rowed along shore to thenorthward, the way we were told he was gone. We soon came in sight of the canoe in which he was; butbefore we could come up with her he had got on shore. We landed presently after, and found he was gonestill farther. An immense crowd, however, waited our landing, who entreated me to follow him. One manoffered to carry me on his back; but the whole story appearing rather more mysterious than ever, and beingall unarmed, I did not choose to separate myself from the boat, but embarked again, and rowed after him.We soon came before the place where our guide told us he was, and put in the boat accordingly. Itgrounded at some distance from the shore, where we were met by a venerable old lady, wife to the chief.She threw herself into my arms, and wept bitterly, insomuch that it was not possible to get one plain wordfrom her. With this old lady in my hand I went ashore, contrary to the advice of my young man fromOtaheite, who was more afraid than any of us, probably believing every word the people had told us. Ifound the chief seated under the shade of a house, before which was a large area, and surrounded by a vastnumber of people. As soon as I came to him, he threw his arms about me, and burst into tears, in which hewas accompanied by all the women, and some of the men, so that the lamentation became general;astonishment alone kept me from joining with them. It was some time before I could get a word from any