Chapter VIII
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we thought that this Oamo must be some extraordinary person, and wondered to see so little notice taken of him after the ceremony was over. The Young woman that came along with him could not be prevailed upon to come into the Fort and the Boy was carried upon a Man’s back, altho’ he was as able to walk as the Man who carried him. This Lead us to inquire who they were; and we was informed that the Boy was heir apparent to the Sovereignty of the Island, and the Young Woman was his Sister, and as such the respect was paid them which was due to no one else except the Arreedehi, which was not Tutaha, from what we could learn, but some other person who we had not seen, or like to do, for they say that he is no Friend of ours, and therefore will not come near us. The Young Boy above mentioned is son to Oamo by Obariea, but Oamo and Obariea do not at this time live together as Man and Wife, he not being able to endure with her troublesome disposition. I mention this because it shows that seperation in the Marriage state is not unknown to these people."
Thus Cook first made the acquaintance of Amo and Teriirere. Banks took no notice, in his Journal, of the incident; but when Hawkesworth came to compile the "Voyage", he added to the account, given in Cook’s Journal, some details and made some changes which may have been derived from Banks or Cook, but which were not improvements, and tended to confuse the whole story. Especially he reduced the young woman’s age to sixteen, and though continuing to represent her as Teriirere’s sister, he said she was intended for his wife. The passage in Hawkesworth runs as follows:
"On the 21st [June] we were visited at the fort by a chief, called Oamo, whom we had never seen before, and who was treated by the natives with uncommon respect; he brought with him a boy about seven years old, and a young woman about sixteen: the boy was carried upon a man’s back, which we considered as a piece of state, for he was as well able to walk as any present. As soon as they were in sight, Oberea and several other natives who were in the fort went out
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© Derived from the revised Paris edition of 1901 page 66, 2004
Published by kind permission of the Library
To cite this page use: https://paulturnbull.org/project/southseas/journals/-marua-066.html