In the morning of the 2d, Maheine, the chief of the island, paid me a visit.  He approached the ship with great caution, and it required some persuasion to get him on board.  Probably, he was under some apprehensions of mischief from us, as friends of the Otaheitans; these people not being able to comprehend how we can be friends with any one, without adopting, at the same time, his cause against his enemies.  Maheine was accompanied by his wife, who, as I was informed, is sister to Oamo, of Otaheite, of whose death we had an account while we were at this island.  I made presents to both of them of such things as they seemed to set the highest value upon; and, after a stay of about half-an-hour, they went away.  Not long after, they returned with a large hog, which they meant as a return to my present; but I made them another present to the full value of it.  After this they paid a visit to Captain Clerke.

This chief who, with a few followers, has made himself, in a manner, independent of Otaheite, is between forty and fifty years old.  He is bald-headed, which is rather an uncommon appearance in these islands at that age.  He wore a kind of turban, and seemed ashamed to shew his head.  But whether they themselves considered this deficiency of hair as a mark of disgrace, or whether they entertained a notion of our considering it as such, I cannot say.  We judged that the latter supposition was the truth, from this circumstance, that they had seen us shave the head of one of their people whom we had caught stealing.  They therefore concluded, that this was the punishment usually inflicted by us upon all thieves; and one or two of our gentlemen, whose heads were not overburthened with hair, we could observe, lay under violent suspicions of being tetos.

In the evening, Omai and I mounted on horseback, and took a ride along the shore to the eastward.  Our train was not very numerous, as Omai had forbid the natives to follow us; and many complied; the fear of giving offence getting the better of their curiosity.  Towha had stationed his fleet in this harbour; and though the war lasted but a few days, the marks of its devastation were every where to be seen.  The trees were stripped of their fruit; and all the houses in the neighbourhood had been pulled down or burnt.

Having employed two or three days in getting up all our spirit casks to tar their heads, which we found necessary, to save them from the efforts of a small insect to destroy them, we hauled the ship off into the stream, on the 6th, n the morning, intending to put to sea the next day; but an accident happened that prevented it, and gave me a good deal of trouble.  We had sent our goats ashore, in the day-time, to graze, with two men to look after them; notwithstanding which precaution, the natives had contrived to steal one of them this evening.  The loss of this goat would have been of little consequence, if it had not interfered with my views of stocking other islands