It is not always in the power of the chiefs to prevent robberies; they are frequently robbed themselves, and complain of it as a great evil.  Otoo left the most valuable things he had from me in my possession, till the day before we sailed; and the reason he gave for it was, that they were no where so safe.  Since the bringing in of new riches, the inducements to pilfering must have increased.  The chiefs, sensible of this, are now extremely desirous of chests.  They seemed to set much value upon a few that the Spaniards had left amongst them; and they were continually asking us for some.  I had one made for Otoo, the dimensions of which, according to his own directions, were eight feet in length, five in breadth, and about three in depth.  Locks and bolts were not a sufficient security; but it must be large enough for two people to sleep upon, by way of guarding it in the night.

It will appear a little extraordinary that we, who had a smattering of their language, and Omai, besides, for an interpreter, could never get any clear account of the time when the Spaniards arrived, how long they stayed, and when they departed.  The more we enquired into this matter, the more we were convinced of the inability of most of these people to remember, or note the time, when past events happened; especially if it exceeded ten or twenty months.  It however appeared, by the date of the inscription upon the cross, and by the information we received from the most intelligent of the natives, that two ships arrived at Oheitepeha in 1774, soon after I left Matavai, which was in May, the same year.  They brought with them the house and live-stock before mentioned.  Some said that, after landing these things, and some men, they sailed in quest of me, and returned in about ten days.  But I have some doubt of the truth of this, as they were never seen either at Huaheine, or at Ulietea.  The live-stock they left here consisted of one bull, some goats, hogs, and dogs, and the male of some other animal, which we afterward found to be a ram, and, at this time, was at Bolabola, whither the bull was also to have been transported.

The hogs are of a large kind; have already greatly improved the breed originally found by us upon the island; and, at the time of our late arrival, were very numerous.  Goats are also in tolerable plenty, there being hardly a chief of any note who has not got some.  As to the dogs that the Spaniards put ashore, which are of two or three sorts, I think they would have done the island a great deal more service if they had hanged them all, instead of leaving them upon it.  It was to one of them that my young ram fell a victim.