The intercourse of trade and friendly offices was carried on between us and the natives, without being disturbed by any one accident, till the evening of the 22d, when a man found means to get into Mr Bayly’s observatory, and to carry off a sextant unobserved.  As soon as I was made acquainted with the theft, I went ashore, and got Omai to apply to the chiefs to procure restitution.  He did so; but they took no steps toward it, being more attentive to a heeva that was then acting, till I ordered the performers of the exhibition to desist.  They were now convinced that I was in earnest, and began to make some enquiry after the thief, who was sitting in the midst of them, quite unconcerned, insomuch that I was in great doubt of his being the guilty person, especially as he denied it.  Omai, however, assuring me that he was the man, I sent him on board the ship, and there confined him.  This raised a general ferment amongst the assembled natives; and the whole body fled in spite of all my endeavours to stop them.  Having employed Omai to examine the prisoner, with some difficulty he was brought to confess where he had hid the sextant; but, as it was now dark, we could not find it till day-light the next morning, when it was brought back unhurt.  After this, the natives recovered from their fright, and began to gather about us as usual.  And, as to the thief, he appearing to be a hardened scoundrel, I punished him more severely than I had ever done any one culprit before.  Besides having his head and beard shaved, I ordered both his ears to be cut off and then dismissed him.[2]

[Footnote 2:  We cannot suffer this action to be passed over, without expressing indignation at the cruelty and injustice that marked it.  Not even the fair reputation of Cook for meekness and humanity ought to deter any one from affixing the proper term to such conduct.  He had no right to award so severe a treatment, even though he had authority to take cognizance of the man’s former and general character, which, however, it is impossible, on any satisfactory principle, to demonstrate.  It was both the duty and the interest of Captain Cook to conform to the established maxims and decisions of the people whom he visited, which, whatever their own practice had been, would have proved amply severe, as we have already had occasion to observe; but no superiority of power on his part, could warrant the introduction of unrecognized, and to these islanders it is probable, quite unheard-of modes of punishment.  A suspicion, some persons may think a very unfair one, lurks in the mind of the writer, that the captain had rather forgotten himself during this voyage, and that presuming, in some degree, on his established fame and consequence, be exercised a greater latitude of power than his original caution and sense of responsibility would have permitted him to hazard, at an earlier period of his career.  Such undoubtedly is human nature, and it can by no means be interpreted as an