As I wished to bury the surgeon on shore I mentioned it to Tinah, who said there would be no objection but that it would be necessary to ask his father’s consent first; which he undertook to do and immediately left me for that purpose.  By this circumstance it appears that, though the eldest son of an Earee succeeds to the title and honours of the father as soon as he is born, yet a considerable portion of authority remains with the father even after the son is of age.  When Tinah returned I went with him to the spot intended for the burial place, taking with us two men to dig the grave; but on our arrival I found the natives had already begun it.  Tinah asked me if they were doing right?  “There,” says he, “the sun rises and there it sets.”  The idea that the grave should be east and west I imagine they learnt from the Spaniards, as the captain of one of their ships was buried at Oeitepeha in 1774.  Certain it is they had not the information from anybody belonging to our ship; for I believe we should not have thought of it.  The grave however was marked out very exactly.  At four in the afternoon the body was interred:  the chiefs and many of the natives came to see the ceremony and showed great attention during the service.  Some of the chiefs were very inquisitive about what was to be done with the surgeon’s cabin on account of apparitions.  They said when a man died in Otaheite and was carried to the Tupapow that as soon as night came he was surrounded by spirits, and if any person went there by himself they would devour him:  therefore they said that not less than two people together should go into the surgeon’s cabin for some time.  I did not endeavour to dissuade them from this belief otherwise than by laughing and letting them know that we had no such apprehensions.

In the afternoon the effects of the deceased were disposed of and I appointed Mr. Thomas Denman Ledward the surgeon’s mate to do duty as surgeon.

Friday 12.

I went in a boat to examine the harbours about Oparre and found two formed by the reefs.  The westernmost is the most convenient for sailing in or out but is not well sheltered from a north-west wind or sea.  This harbour is called by the natives Taowne:  it is about a league and a half distant from Point Venus and may be known by a remarkable mountain, called by the natives Wawry, which bears south-south-east from the entrance.

The easternmost harbour is called Toahroah.  It is small but as secure as a reef harbour can well be.  It is about three miles distant from Point Venus.  The chief objection to this harbour is the difficulty of getting out with the common tradewind, the entrance being on the east side, not more than one hundred yards wide and the depth without inconvenient for warping.  On the south side of the entrance is a Morai:  the reef side is to be kept on board and a lookout to be kept from aloft, whence the shoal water is better discerned than from the deck.