State Library of NSW
[Page 341]
Otahite
June 1769
a flat on which we went ashore by the recomendation of our Indian guide who told us that the countrey was rich & good The name of this district or whennua was Ahowe the cheif Mathíabo soon came down to us he seemd a total stranger both to us & our trade his subjects brought down plenty of Cocoa nuts & about 20 breadfruits which latter we bought at a very dear rate while his majesty sold us a pig for a glass bottle preferring that to any thing we could give him We saw here an English goose & a turkey cock which they told us had been left by the Dolphin both of them immensely fat & as tame as possible following the Indians every where who seemd immensely fond of them - in a long house in this neighbourhood I saw a sight quite new to me 15 underjaw bones of men were fastned to a semicircular peice of board & hung up at one end of it they appeard quite fresh not one at all damagd even by the Loss of a tooth I askd many questions about them but the people would not attend at all to me & either did not or would not understand either words or signs upon that subject - on our departure from hence Mathiabo desird leave to acompany us which was granted he provd a good pilot but persuaded us to land often 5 or 6 times in as many miles in all these districts we saw nothing remarkable the general face of the countrey was greener than on our side of the Island & the hills were coverd with wood almost down to the waters edge the flats in general small but fertile enough at last we
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