Accordingly, a party of us waited upon him at the appointed time; and we were conducted by him to his father, in whose presence the dispute with Eimeo was again talked over.  Being very desirous of devising some method to bring about an accommodation, I sounded the old chief on that head.  But we found him deaf to any such proposal, and fully determined to prosecute the war.  He repeated the solicitations which I had already resisted, about giving them my assistance.  On our enquiring into the cause of the war, we were told, that, some years ago, a brother of Waheiadooa, of Tiaraboo, was sent to Eimeo, at the request of Maheine, a popular chief of that island, to be their king; but that he had not been there a week before Maheine, having caused him to be killed, set up for himself, in opposition to Tierataboonooe, his sister’s son, who became the lawful heir; or else had been pitched upon, by the people of Otaheite, to succeed to the government on the death of the other.

Towha, who was a relation of Otoo, and chief of the district of Tettaha, a man of much weight in the island, and who had been commander-in-chief of the armament fitted out against Eimeo in 1774, happened not to be at Matavai at this time; and, consequently, was not present at any of these consultations.  It, however, appeared that he was no stranger to what was transacted; and that he entered with more spirit into the affair than any other chief.  For, early in the morning of the 1st of September, a messenger arrived from him to acquaint Otoo that he had killed a man to be sacrificed to the Eatooa, to implore the assistance of the god against Eimeo.  This act of worship was to be performed at the great Morai at Attahooroo; and Otoo’s presence, it seems, was absolutely necessary on that solemn occasion.

That the offering of human sacrifices is part of the religious institutions of this island, had been mentioned by Mons. de Bougainville, on the authority of the native whom he carried with him to France.  During my last visit to Otaheite, and while I had opportunities of conversing with Omai on the subject, I had satisfied myself that there was too much reason to admit that such a practice, however inconsistent with the general humanity of the people, was here adopted.  But as this was one of those extraordinary facts, about which many are apt to retain doubts, unless the relater himself has had ocular proof to confirm what he had heard from others, I thought this a good opportunity of obtaining the highest evidence of its certainty, by being present myself at the solemnity; and, accordingly, proposed to Otoo that I might be allowed to accompany him.  To this he readily consented; and we immediately set out in my boat, with my old friend Potatou, Mr Anderson, and Mr Webber; Omai following in a canoe.