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Omai arrived at Portsmouth on 14 July 1774 as a crew-member on board HMS Adventure, captained by Tobias Furneaux. Taken immediately to meet Lord Sandwich, the First Lord of the Admiralty, he was then placed in the care of Joseph Banks and Dr Solander, both of whom he claimed to remember from their visit to Tahiti five years earlier. Three days later, on 17 July, he was presented to King George III and Queen Charlotte at Kew. It was at this introduction that Omai would reveal the grace and ‘natural’ good manners that first astounded and then delighted his audience. Once approved by the highest in the land, Omai’s career as a ‘social lion’ was assured. |
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