Oedidee, who generally slept on shore, came off with a message from Oree, desiring I would land with twenty-two men, to go with him to chastise the robbers.  The messenger brought with him, by way of assisting his memory, twenty-two pieces of leaves, a method customary amongst them.  On my receiving this extraordinary message, I went to the chief for better information; and all I could learn of him was, that these fellows were a sort of banditti, who had formed themselves into a body, with a resolution of seizing and robbing our people wherever they found them, and were now armed for that purpose:  For which reason he wanted me to go along with him, to chastise them.  I told him, if I went they would fly to the mountains; but he said, they were resolved to fight us, and therefore desired I would destroy both them and their house; but begged I would spare those in the neighbourhood, as also the canoes and the Whenooa.  By way of securing these, he presented me with a pig as a peace-offering for the Whenooa.  It was too small to be meant for any thing but a ceremony of this kind.  This sensible old chief could see (what perhaps none of the others ever thought of) that every thing in the neighbourhood was at our mercy, and therefore took care to secure them by this method, which I suppose to be of weight with them.  When I returned on board, I considered of the chiefs request, which upon the whole appeared an extraordinary one.  I however resolved to go, lest these fellows should be (by our refusal) encouraged to commit greater acts of violence; and, as their proceeding would soon reach Ulietea, where I intended to go next, the people there might be induced to treat us in the same manner, or worse, they being more numerous.  Accordingly I landed with forty-eight men, including officers, Mr Forster, and some other of the gentlemen.  The chief joined us with a few people, and we began to march, in search of the banditti, in good order.  As we proceeded, the chief’s party increased like a snow-ball.  Oedidee, who was with us, began to be alarmed, observing that many of the people in our company were of the very party we were going against, and at last telling us, that they were only leading us to some place where they could attack us to advantage.  Whether there was any truth in this, or it was only Oedidee’s fears, I will not pretend to say.  He, however, was the only person we could confide in.  And we regulated our motions according to the information he had given us.  After marching some miles, we got intelligence that the men we were going after had fled to the mountains; but I think this was not till I had declared to the chief I would proceed no farther.  For we were then about crossing a deep valley, bounded on each side by steep rocks, where a few men with stones only might have made our retreat difficult, if their intentions were what Oedidee had suggested, and which he still persisted in.  Having come to a resolution to return, we marched back