James Cook - A Journal of the proceedings of His Majesty's Bark Endeavour on a voyage round the world, by Lieutenant James Cook, Commander, commencing the 25th of May 1768 - 23 Oct. 1770: No. 232

[Page 232]

 else either to the Westwd or Southwd or any other Single person for at any ever place we put in at or whatever people we spoke with upon the Coast they generally told us that those that were at a little distance from them were their Enemies, from which it appear'd to me that they were very much divided into Parties which make war one with another & all their Actions & behaviour towards us tended to prove that they are a brave open warlike People & void of Treachery, [written in margin: Their manner of Introducing themselves] whenever we were Visited by any number of them that had never heard or seen anything of us before they generally came off in the largest Canoe they had some of which will carry 60: 80: or 100 people, they always brought their best Cloaths along with them which they put on as soon as they came near the Ship in each Canoe were generally an old Man in some 2 or 3, these used always to direct, the others were better Cloathed & generally carried a Halbard or Battle Axe in their hands or some such like thing that distinguished them from the others, as soon as they came within about a Stones throw of the Ship they would there lay & call out Haromoi harenta a patoo ago that is come here come ashore with us & we will kill you with our patoo patoo's & at the same time would shake them at us. at times they would dance the War dance & other times they would trade with & talk to us & Answer such Questions as were put to them with all the Calmness imaginable & then again begin the War Dance shaking their Paddles Patoo patoo's etc. & make strange contortions at the same time, & as soon as they had worked themselves up to a proper Pitch they would begin to attack us with Stones & darts & oblige us wether we wou'd or no to fire upon them, Musquetry they never regarded unless they felt the Effect, but great Guns they did because they threw stones farther than they could Comprehend,after they found that our Arms were so much superior to theirs & that we took no advantage of that superiority & a little time given them to reflect upon it, they ever after were our very good friends & we never had an instance of their attempting to surprize or cut off any of our people when they were ashore, opportunitys for so doing they must have had at one time or another. [Written in margin: They are Cannibals] It is hard to account for what we have every where been told of their Eating their Enemies killed in Battle which they most Certainly do Circumstances enough we have seen to Convince us of the Truth of this, Tupia who holds this Custom in great aversion hath very often Argued with them against it but they have always as streniously