Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/260

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chiefs, such as we believed this Teiratu to be, are strong, active, young men, in the prime and flower of their age. These are perhaps elected, as among the North American savages; being men of avowed courage, strength, and military sagacity; from a consciousness that a body of men, in case of war, necessarily requires a leader to animate them as a soul, and upon whose superior talents they may confidently place all their hopes. The more we consider the warlike disposition of the New Zeelanders, and the numerous small parties into which they are divided, this form of government will appear indispensible; for it must be evident to them that the qualifications of a chief are not to be inherited, or propagated from father to son; and it is likewise probable, that this free people may have had opportunities of making the obvious reflection, that hereditary government has a natural tendency towards despotism.

Captain Cook, apprehensive lest the natives should find our garden and destroy it, not knowing for what purpose it was intended, conducted Teiratu thither, and shewed him every plant in it, especially the potatoes. He expressed a great liking to the last, and seemed to know them very well, evidently because a similar root, the Virginian or sweet potatoe, (convolvulus batatas,) is planted in some parts of the Northern Island, from whence he came. The captain parted from him, after obtaining the promise