to arrive at Hepaee, is either by the course I held, or round by the
north, according to the situation of the ship bound thither. Lefooga,
off which we anchored, is the most fertile isle of those that are called
Hepaee, and consequently is the best inhabited. There is anchorage along
the north-west side of this island; but it will be necessary to examine
the ground well before you moor. For, although the lead may bring up
fine sand, there are nevertheless some sharp coral rocks, that would
soon destroy the cables.

What has been here omitted concerning the geography of these islands,
will be found in the narrative of my last voyage. To that narrative I
must also refer, for such particulars concerning the inhabitants, their
manners, and arts, as I had observed then, and about which I saw no
reason to change my judgment. At present, I shall confine myself to such
interesting particulars, as either were not mentioned in that narrative,
or were imperfectly or incorrectly represented there, and to such as may
serve to explain some passages in the foregoing account of our
transactions with the natives.

It may, indeed, be expected, that after spending between two and three
months amongst them, I should be enabled to clear up every difficulty,
and to give a tolerably satisfactory account of their customs, opinions,
and institutions, both civil and religious, especially as we had a
person on board, who might be supposed qualified to act the part of an
interpreter, by understanding their language and ours. But poor Omai was
very deficient. For unless the object or thing we wanted to enquire
about, was actually before us, we found it difficult to gain a tolerable
knowledge of it from information only, without falling into a hundred
mistakes; and to such mistakes Omai was more liable than we were. For,
having no curiosity, he never gave himself the trouble to make remarks
for himself; and, when he was disposed to explain matters to us, his
ideas appeared to be so limited, and perhaps so different from ours,
that his accounts were often so confused, as to perplex instead of
instructing us. Add to this, that it was very rare that we found amongst
the natives, a person who united the ability and the inclination to give
us the information we wanted; and we found, that most of them hated to
be troubled with what they probably thought idle questions. Our
situation at Tongataboo, where we remained the longest, was like-wise
unfavourable