first voyage, and the deep impression produced by his discoveries, were still vivid and universal, and anticipation was raised to the highest pitch, in reference to the developments expected from his second visit to that distant part of the world. Mai being the first native of the islands of the South Sea, brought to England, produced an excitement as unprecedented, in connexion with an untutored islander, as it was powerful and extensive, even in the most polished circles of society. Mai, on his arrival in London, was considered a sort of prodigy; he was introduced to the most fashionable parties, conducted to the splendid entertainments of the highest classes, and presented at the British court amidst a brilliant assemblage of all that was illustrious in rank, and dignified in station. The Tahitians in general are good imitators of others; this talent he possessed in an eminent degree, and adopted that polite, elegant, and unembarrassed address, whereby the class with which he associated has ever been distinguished. Naturally quick in his perceptions, and lively in his conversation, although the structure and idiom of his own language effectually prevented his speaking English with ease or fluency, he was soon able to make himself understood; and the embarrassment he occasionally felt, in giving utterance to his thoughts, perhaps added to the interest of those who were watching the effect which every object in a world so new to him must naturally occasion.

Every place of public amusement, and every exhibition adapted to administer pleasure, was repeatedly visited; and the multiplicity of spectacles thus presented in rapid succession, kept his mind in a state of perpetual excitement and surprise. The impression

made by one object, was obliterated by the exhibition of some new wonder, which prevented his paying particular regard to any. This constant variety deprived him of all useful knowledge, and excluded his attention to the important subjects that demanded his notice while residing in the metropolis of Britain. A most favourable opportunity was afforded for his acquiring that knowledge of our agriculture, arts, and manufactures, our civil and religious institutions, which would have enabled him to introduce the most salutary improvements among his countrymen. Thus he might have become a father to his nation; and his visit to England might have been rendered a blessing to its latest generations. But, as Forster, who accompanied him on his return, laments, "no friendly Mentor ever attempted to cherish and to gratify this wish, much less to improve his moral character, to teach him our exalted ideas of virtue, and the sublime principles of revealed religion." To the censure thus passed upon those, under whose care he spent the period of his residence in England, one exception at least must be made, and that in favour of a name that will ever be dear to every friend of humanity. Granville Sharp became acquainted with Mai, taught him the first principles of writing, and, so far as his knowledge of our language allowed, endeavoured to pour the light of divine truth into his ignorant and untutored mind. He made such progress in the use of letters, that on his voyage to the South Seas, while staying at the Cape of Good Hope, he wrote a letter to his friend Dr. Solander.

During the two years he spent in this country, he was inoculated for the small-pox, from which he happily recovered; and, loaded with presents profusely furnished

by his friends, he embarked for his native island at Plymouth, in the summer of 1776. He accompanied Captain Cook in the visits he made to New Zealand, the Friendly Islands, and Tahiti, and, after an absence of rather more than four years, returned to Huahine on the twelfth of October, 1777.

In this island Captain Cook judged it most prudent to establish his fellow-voyager, and consequently solicited for him a grant of land from the chiefs. It was readily furnished, and a spot marked out, measuring about two hundred yards, along the sea-shore, and extending from the beach to the mountain. Here a garden was enclosed, and many valuable seeds and roots, which had been brought from England or the Cape of Good Hope, were planted. The carpenters of the vessels erected for him a house in the European style, and on the 26th of October, the presents with which he had been so liberally supplied, were landed, and he took possession of his dwelling. In addition to the seeds and plants, a breed of horses, goats, and other useful animals, were landed; but the greater part of the presents was comparatively useless, and many were bartered to the sailors for hatchets or iron tools. It does not appear that there was any implement of husbandry, or useful tool, included in the catalogue of his presents, though he landed with a coat of mail, a suit of armour, musket, pistols, cartouch-box, cutlasses, powder, and ball! Besides these, however, he was furnished with a portable organ, an electrical machine, fire-works, and numerous trinkets.

The estimate Captain Cook formed of his character was correct: he appeared to have derived no permanent advantage from the voyage he had made, the attention

he had received, or the civilized society with which he had been associated. He soon threw off his European dress, and adopted the costume, uncivilized manners, and indolent life, of his countrymen. Weakness and vanity, together with savage pride, appear to have been the most conspicuous traits of character he developed in subsequent life.

The horses, included among his presents, appear to have been regarded by Mai as mere objects of curiosity, and were occasionally ridden, in order to inspire terror or excite admiration in the minds of the inhabitants. His implements of war, and especially the fire-arms, rendered his aid and co-operation a desideratum with the king of the island, who, in order more effectually to secure the advantage of his influence and arms, gave him one of his daughters in marriage, and honoured him with the name of Paari, (wise or instructed,) by which name he is now always spoken of among the natives; several of whom still remember him. He appears to have passed the remainder of his life in inglorious indolence or wanton crime, to have become the mere instrument of the caprice or cruelty of the king of the island, who not only availed himself of the effects of his fire-arms in periods of war, but frequently ordered him to shoot at a man at a certain distance, to see how far the musket would do execution; or to despatch with his pistol, in the presence of the king, the ill-fated objects of his deadly

anger.

The majority of those whom I have heard speak of him, have mentioned his name with execration rather than respect; and though some of the chiefs speak of him as a man who had seen much of the world, and

possessed, according to their ideas, an amazing mass of information, his memory is certainly but lightly esteemed by any of his countrymen. He does not, however, seem to have evinced, either on board the vessels in which he sailed, or among the company with which he mingled while in England, any latent malignity of character or cruelty of disposition, and might perhaps have returned with very different sentiments and principles, had he fallen into other hands during his visit here.

The spot where Mai's house stood is still called Beritani,* or Britain, by the inhabitants of Huahine. A shaddock tree, which the natives say was planted by Captain Cook himself while the vessels lay at anchor, is still growing on a spot which was once part of his garden. The animals, with the exception of the dogs and pigs, have all died; and in this instance, the benevolent intentions of the British government, in sending out horses, cattle, &c. proved abortive. The helmet, and some other parts of his armour, with several cutlasses, are still preserved, and displayed on the sides of the house now standing on the spot where Mai's dwelling was erected by Captain Cook. A few of the trinkets, such as a jack-in-a-box, a kind of serpent that darts out of a cylindrical case when the lid is removed, are preserved with care by one of the principal chiefs, who at the time of our arrival considered them great curiosities, and exhibited them, as a mark of his condescension, to particular favourites. What became of the organ and electrical machine, I never knew. Among the curiosities preserved by the young chief of Tahaa,

See No. 1, in the Engraving, vol. 1, p. 414.