overed.

The Discovery having found again her small bower anchor, shifted her
birth on the 7th; but not before her best bower cable had shared the
fate of the other. This day I had the company of Feenou at dinner; and
also the next day, when he was attended by Taipa, Toubou, and some other
chiefs. It was remarkable, that none but Taipa was allowed to sit at
table with him, or even to eat in his presence. I own that I considered
Feenou as a very convenient guest, on account of this etiquette. For,
before his arrival, I had, generally, a larger company than I could well
find room for, and my table overflowed with crowds of both sexes. For it
is not the custom at the Friendly Islands, as it is at Otaheite, to deny
to their females the privilege of eating in company with the men.

The first day of our arrival at Annamooka, one of the natives had
stolen, out of the ship, a large junk axe. I now applied to Feenou to
exert his authority to get it restored to me; and so implicitly was he
obeyed, that it was brought on board while we were at dinner. These
people gave us very frequent opportunities of remarking what expert
thieves they were. Even some of their chiefs did not think this
profession beneath them. On the 9th, one of them was detected carrying
out of the ship, concealed under his clothes, the bolt belonging to the
spun-yarn winch; for which I sentenced him to receive a dozen lashes,
and kept him confined till he paid a hog for his liberty. After this, we
were not troubled with thieves of rank. Their servants, or slaves,
however, were still employed in this dirty work; and upon them a
flogging seemed to make no greater impression, than it would have done
upon the main-mast. When any of them happened to be caught in the act,
their masters, far from interceding for them, would often advise us to
kill them. As this was a punishment we did not choose to inflict, they
generally escaped without any punishment at all; for they appeared to us
to be equally insensible of the shame and of the pain of corporal
chastisement. Captain Clerke, at last, hit upon a mode of treatment,
which, we thought, had some effect. He put them under the hands of the
barber, and completely shaved their heads; thus pointing them out as
objects of ridicule to their countrymen, and enabling our people to
deprive them of future opportunities for a repetition of their
rogueries, by keeping them at a distance.

Feenou was so fond of associating with us,