"When I asked him Pomare I] his reasons for not going to Matavai, he answered, that at present he could not possibly go, it being a very busy time with him, having to collect canoes, cloth, hogs, &c. to give away among the different chiefs and arreoies, who would attend him to the great feast at Papparā, which was to take place in a few days, and for which all the island was looking up to him. This excuse I had reason to believe, for public care seemed engraven on his countenance."