General Voyages and Travels of Discovery, &c.
An Account of the Voyages undertaken by order of his Majesty, George III, for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere; and successively performed, by Commodore Byron, Captains Wallis and Carteret, and Lieutenant Cook.
SECT. XVII.
A particular Description of the Island of Otaheite; its Produce and Inhabitants; their Dress, Habitation, Food, Domestic Life and Amusements.
SECTION XVIII.
Of the Manufactures, Boats, and Navigation of Otaheite.
SECTION XIX.
Of the Division of Time at Otaheite; Numeration, Computation of Distance, Language, Diseases, Disposal of the Dead, Religion, War, Weapons, and Government; with some general Observations for the Use of future Navigators.
SECTION XX.
Description of the several Islands in the Neighbourhood of Otaheite, with various Incidents; a Dramatic Entertainment; and many Particulars relative to the Customs and Manners of the Inhabitants.
SECTION XXI.
The Passage from Oteroah to New Zealand; Incidents which happened in going ashore there, and while the Ship lay in Poverty Bay.
SECTION XXII.
A Description of Poverty Bay, and the Face of the adjacent Country. The Range from thence to Cape Turnagain, and back to Tolaga, with some Account of the People and the Country and several Incidents that happened on that Part of the Coast.
SECTION XXIII.
The Range from Tolaga to Mercury Bay, with an Account of many Incidents that happened both on board and ashore: A Description of several Views exhibited by the Country, and of the Hippahs, or fortified Villages of the Inhabitants.
SECTION XXIV.
The Range from Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands: An Expedition up the River Thames: Some Account of the Indians who inhabit its Banks, and the fine Timber that grows there: Several Interviews with the Natives on different Parts of the Coast, and a Skirmish with them upon an Island.
SECTION XXV.
Range from the Bay of Islands round North Cape to Queen Charlotte's Island; and a Description of that Part of the Coast.
SECTION XXVI.
Transactions in Queen Charlotte's Sound; Passage through the Streight which divides the two Islands, and back to Cape Turnagain: Horrid Custom of the Inhabitants: Remarkable Melody of Birds: A Visit to a Hippah, and many other Particulars.
SECTION XXVII.
Range from Cape Turnagain along the eastern Coast of Poenammoo, round Cape South, and back to the Entrance of Cook's Streight, which completed the Circumnavigation of the Country; with a Description of the Coast, and of Admiralty Bay: The Departure from New Zealand, and various Particulars.
SECTION XXVIII.
The Run from New Zealand to Botany Bay, on the East Coast of New Holland, now called New South Wales; various Incidents that happened there; with some Account of the Country end its Inhabitants.
SECTION XXIX.
The Range from Botany Bay; with a farther Account of the Country, and its Inhabitants and Productions.
SECTION XXX.
Dangerous Situation of the Ship in her Course from Trinity Bay to Endeavour River.
SECTION XXXI.
Transactions while the Ship was refitting in Endeavour River: A Description of the adjacent Country, its Inhabitants and Productions.
SECTION XXXII.
Departure from Endeavour River; a particular Description of the Harbour there, in which the Ship was refitted, the adjacent Country, and several Islands near the Coast; the Range from Endeavour River to the Northern Extremity of the Country, and the Dangers of that Navigation.
SECTION XXXIII.
Departure from New South Wales; a particular Description of the Country, its Products, and People: A Specimen of the Language, and some Observations on the Currents and Tides.
SECTION XXXIV.
The Passage from New South Wales to New Guinea, with an Account of what happened upon landing there.
SECTION XXXV.
The Passage from New Guinea to the Island of Semau, and the Transactions there.
SECTION XXXVI.
A particular Description of the Island of Savu, its Produce, and Inhabitants, with a Specimen of their Language.
SECTION XXXVII.
The Run from the Island of Savu to Batavia, and an Account of the Transactions there while the Ship was refitting.
SECTION XXVIII.
Some Account of Batavia, and the adjacent Country; with the Fruits, flowers, and other Productions.
SECTION XXXIX.
Some Account of the Inhabitants of Batavia, and the adjacent Country, their Manners, Customs, and Manner of Life.
SECTION XL.
The Passage from Batavia to the Cape of Good Hope, Some Account of Prince's Island and its Inhabitants. Our Arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. Some Remarks on the Run from Java Head to that Place, and to Saint Helena. The Return of the Ship to England.
An Abstract of the Voyage round the World, performed by Lewis de Bougainville, Colonel of Foot, and Commander of the Expedition, in the Frigate La Boudeuse, and the Storeship L'Etoile, in the Years 1766-7-8, and 9, drawn up expressly for this Work.
SECTION XVII.
A particular Description of the Island of Otaheite; its Produce and Inhabitants; their Dress, Habitations, Food, Domestic Life and Amusements.
We found the longitude of Port Royal bay, in this island, as settled by Captain Wallis, who discovered it on the 9th of June, 1767, to be within half a degree of the truth. We found Point Venus, the northern extremity of the island, and the eastern point of the bay, to lie in the longitude of 149°13', this being the mean result of a great number of observations made upon the spot. The island is surrounded by a reef of coral rock, which forms several excellent bays and harbours, some of which have been particularly described, where there is room and depth of water far any number of the largest ships. Port Royal bay, called by the natives Matavai which is not inferior to any in Otaheite, may easily be known, by a very high mountain in the middle of the island, which bears due south from Point Venus. To sail into it; either keep the west point of the reef that lies before Point Venus, close on board, or give it a birth of near half a mile, in order to avoid a small shoal of coral rocks, on which there is but two fathoms and a half of water. The best anchoring is on the eastern side of the bay, where there is sixteen and fourteen fathom upon an oosy bottom. The shore of the bay is a fine sandy beach, behind which runs a river of fresh water, so that any number of ships may water here without incommoding each other; but the only wood for firing, upon the whole island, is that of fruit-trees, which must be purchased of the natives, or all hope of living upon good terms with them given up.
The face of the country, except that part of it which borders upon the sea, is very uneven; it rises in ridges that run up into the middle of the island, and there form mountains, which may be seen at the distance of sixty miles: Between the foot of these ridges and the sea, is a border of low land, surrounding the whole island, except in a few places where the ridges rise directly from the sea: The border of low land is in different parts of different breadths, but no where more than a mile and a half. The soil, except upon the very tops of the ridges, is extremely rich and fertile, watered by a great number of rivulets of excellent water, and covered with fruit-trees of various kinds, some of which are of a stately growth and thick foliage, so as to form, one continued wood; and even the tops of the ridges, though in general they are bare, and burnt up by the sun, are, in some parts, not without their produce.
The low land that lies between the foot of the ridges and the sea, and some of the vallies, are the only parts of the island that are inhabited, and here it is populous; the houses do not form villages or towns, but are ranged along the whole border at the distance of about fifty yards from each other, with little plantations of plantains, the tree which furnishes them with cloth. The whole island, according to Tupia's account, who certainly knew, could furnish six thousand seven hundred and eighty fighting men, from which the number of inhabitants may easily, be computed.[1]
[Footnote 1: It is questionable if the whole existing population of the island amount to the number now mentioned. Such has been the decrease of its interesting but licentious inhabitants since the time of Cook, to which, it is melancholy to be obliged to say, their intercourse with Europeans has most rapidly contributed. The reader is referred, for some information on this point, to the account of Turnbull's voyage, published in 1805. A few particulars as to the appearance of Otaheite, on the authority of subsequent accounts, may be given with satisfaction to the reader. The island, which consists of two peninsulas connected by a low neck or isthmus covered with trees and shrubs but quite uninhabited, presents a mountainous aspect, rising high in the centre, with narrow valleys of romantic but luxuriantly pleasing scenery, and well watered, studding its verdant surface. The lofty and clustering hills of which the greater part of the island is formed, and which, however steep of ascent, or abrupt in termination, are clothed to the very summit with trees of very various colours and sizes, are encircled with a rich border of low land, the proper seat of the inhabitants, who seem to realize, in its fertility and beauty, all that human imagination can conceive requisite for animal enjoyment. The soil of this border, and of the valleys, is a blackish mould; that of the hills is different, changing as you ascend them into variously coloured earth and marl. The beds of the streams and rivers, which swell into torrents during the rainy season, consist of stones and gravel, often of a flinty nature, and often also containing particles of iron. Some basaltic appearances in one of the districts into which the island is divided, and several precipices among the mountains, evidently produced by sudden violence, indicate the volcanic origin of this highly favoured country. There is plenty of good water to be had over all the island. The weather from March till August is usually mild and pleasant. During the rough season, which lasts from December till March, the wind often blows very hard from the west, and is attended with rain.--E.]
The produce of this island is bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, bananas of thirteen sorts, the best we had ever eaten; plantains; a fruit not unlike an apple, which, when ripe, is very pleasant; sweet potatoes, yams, cocoas, a kind of Arum fruit known here by the name of Jambu, and reckoned most delicious; sugar-cane, which the inhabitants eat raw; a root of the salop kind, called by the inhabitants Pea; a plant called Ethee, of which the root only is eaten; a fruit that grows in a pod, like that of a large kidney-bean, which, when it is roasted, eats very much like a chesnut, by the natives called Ahee; a tree called Wharra, called in the East Indies Pandanes, which produces fruit, something like the pine-apple; a shrub called Nono; the Morinda, which also produces fruit; a species of fern, of which the root is eaten, and sometimes the leaves; and a plant called Theve, of which the root also is eaten: But the fruits of the Nono, the fern, and the Theve, are eaten only by the inferior people, and in times of scarcity. All these, which serve the inhabitants for food, the earth produces spontaneously, or with so little culture, that they seem to be exempted from the first general curse, that "man should eat his bread in the sweat of his brow." They have also the Chinese paper mulberry, morus papyrifera, which they call Aouto; a tree resembling the wild fig-tree of the West Indies; another species of fig, which they call Mattè; the cordia sebestina orientalis, which they call Etou; a kind of Cyprus grass, which they call Moo; a species of tournefortia, which they call Taheinoo; another of the convolvulus poluce, which they call Eurhe; the solanum centifolium, which they call Ebooa; the calophyllum mophylum, which they call Tamannu; the hibiscus tiliaceus, called Poerou, a frutescent nettle; the urtica argentea, called Erowa; with many other plants which cannot here be particularly mentioned: Those that have been named already will be referred to in the subsequent part of this work.
They have no European fruit, garden stuff, pulse, or legumes, nor grain of any kind.
Of tame animals they have only hogs, dogs, and poultry; neither is there a wild animal in the island, except ducks, pigeons, paroquets, with a few other birds, and rats, there being no other quadruped, nor any serpent. But the sea supplies them with great variety of most excellent fish, to eat which is their chief luxury, and to catch it their principal labour.[2]
[Footnote 2: It was no doubt a work of supererogation in the missionaries, to attempt to augment the stock of animal provision in this island, to which nature had been so bountiful in dispensing her favours. This however they did, but with little success. The natives were too amply furnished with pleasant and wholesome aliment, to undertake the care of cattle, which accordingly either perished from neglect, or were suffered to turn wild in their mountains. The imperfection too of their cookery operations not a little tended to bring beef and mutton into contempt. Instead of dressing them in some of the European methods, they treated them, as they did their dogs and hogs, by the process of burning. The consequence was, the skin became as tough as leather, and the taste very offensive. These were formidable difficulties, to people of such nice sense as the Otaheitans, who were therefore readily induced to revert to their own stock. See account of the missionary voyage, for a good deal of information on the subjects alluded to in this note.--E.]
As to the people, they are of the largest size of Europeans. The men are tall, strong, well-limbed, and finely shaped. The tallest that we saw was a man upon a neighbouring island, called Huaheine, who measured six feet three inches and a half. The women of the superior rank are also in general above our middle stature, but those of the inferior class are rather below it, and some of them are very small. This defect in size probably proceeds from their early commerce with men, the only thing in which they differ from their superiors, that could possibly affect their growth.
Their natural complexion is that kind of clear olive, or brunette, which many people in Europe prefer to the finest white and red. In those that are exposed to the wind and sun, it is considerably deepened, but in others that live under shelter, especially the superior class of women, it continues of its native hue, and the skin is most delicately smooth and soft; they have no tint in their cheeks, which we distinguish by the name of colour. The shape of the face is comely, the cheek-bones are not high, neither are the eyes hollow, nor the brow prominent; The only feature that does not correspond with our ideas of beauty is the nose, which, in general, is somewhat flat; but their eyes, especially those of the women, are full of expression, sometimes sparkling with fire, and sometimes melting with softness; their teeth also are, almost without exception, most beautifully even and white, and their breath perfectly without taint.[3]
[Footnote 3: The missionary account speaks less favourably of the comeliness of these islanders. But this being a matter of taste, will of course be very variously considered. The reader may amuse himself by comparing the following quotation with the text, and forming his own opinion. He will at all events readily admit, that nature has done more for these people than art, and that the predominance of fashion is amongst them, as it is sometimes elsewhere, accomplished at the expence of beauty. "The natural colour of the inhabitants is olive, inclining to copper. Some are very dark, as the fishermen, who are most exposed to the sun and sea; but the women, who carefully clothe themselves, and avoid the sun-beams, are but a shade or two darker than a European brunette. Their eyes are black and sparkling; their teeth white and even; their skin soft and delicate; their limbs finely turned; their hair jetty, perfumed and ornamented with flowers; but we did not think their features beautiful, as by continual pressure from infancy, which they call tourooma, they widen the face with their hands, distend their mouth, and flatten the nose and forehead, which gives them a too masculine look; and they are in general large, and wide over the shoulders; we were therefore disappointed in the judgment, we had formed from the report of preceding visitors; and though here and there was to be seen a living person who might be esteemed comely, we saw few who in fact could be called beauties; yet they possess eminent feminine graces: Their faces are never darkened with a scowl, or covered with a cloud of sullenness or suspicion." This account fully concurs in what follows as to the manners and behaviour of the Otaheitans.--E.]
The hair is almost universally black, and rather coarse; the men have beards, which they wear in many fashions, always, however, plucking out great part of them, and keeping the rest perfectly clean and neat. Both sexes also eradicate every hair from under their arms, and accused us of great uncleanness for not doing the same. In their motions there is at once vigour and ease; their walk is graceful, their deportment liberal, and their behaviour to strangers and to each other affable and courteous. In their dispositions also, they seemed to be brave, open, and candid, without either suspicion or treachery, cruelty, or revenge; so that we placed the same confidence in them as in our best friends, many of us, particularly Mr Banks, sleeping frequently in their houses in the woods, without a companion, and consequently wholly in their power. They were, however, all thieves; and when that is allowed, they need not much fear a competition with the people of any other nation upon earth. During our stay in this island we saw about five or six persons like one that was met by Mr Banks and Dr Solander on the 24th of April, in their walk to the eastward, whose skins were of a dead white, like the nose of a white horse; with white hair, beard, brows, and eyelashes; red, tender eyes; a short sight, and scurfy skins, covered with a kind of white down; but we found that no two of these belonged to the same family, and therefore concluded, that they were not a species, but unhappy individuals, rendered anomalous by disease.[4]
[Footnote 4: In the opinion here expressed the Editor has already acquiesced. He would remark by the bye, that although two or more persons had been of the same family, no sufficient argument could have been adduced, as to the peculiar affection depending on circumstances adequate to constitute a species; for it is very clear that hereditary diseases do not necessarily imply essential distinctions, and there seems no reason to alter the laws of logic in favour of the Albinos.--E.]
It is a custom in most countries where the inhabitants have long hair, for the men to cut it short, and the women to pride themselves in its length. Here, however, the contrary custom prevails; the women always cut it short round their ears, and the men, except the fishers, who are almost continually in the water, suffer it to flow in large waves over their shoulders, or tie it up in a bunch on the top of their heads.
They have a custom also of anointing their heads with what they call monoe, an oil expressed from the cocoa-nut, in which some sweet herbs or flowers have been infused: As the oil is generally rancid, the smell is at first very disagreeable to a European; and as they live in a hot country, and have no such thing as a comb, they are not able to keep their heads free from lice, which the children and common people sometimes pick out and eat; a hateful custom, wholly different from their manners in every other particular; for they are delicate and cleanly almost without example, and those to whom we distributed combs, soon delivered themselves from vermin, with a diligence which showed that they were not more odious to us than to them.[5]
[Footnote 5: This remark is scarcely consistent with what is related in the missionary account, by which it appears that these vermin are considered by the Otaheitans much in the same light as certain animals were once in our own land, viz. royal property. The passage is too curious to be omitted. It displays a very remarkable instance of that ease and elegance, with which crowned heads can occasionally employ themselves for the good of their subjects. "The mode of carrying the king and queen is with their legs hanging down before, seated on the shoulders and leaning on the head of their carriers, and very frequently amusing themselves with picking out the vermin which there abound. It is the singular privilege of the queen, that of all women, she alone may eat them; which privilege she never fails to make use of." Such hunting excursions are surely much more commendable, because much more innocent in their own nature and more beneficial in their results, than those practised amongst ourselves, at the risque of neck and limbs, and to the still more important detriment of the farmer's gates and fences. The point of privilege, perhaps, is less capable of defence--admitting, however, for a moment, that pre-eminence of station and office entitles the holder to singularity of inclination and conduct, as it is certainly allowed to do in the case of some other sovereigns, the question then becomes a mere matter of taste, and it is ungenerous to deny the Otaheitan queen the benefit of the old maxim, de gustibus non est disputandum.--E.]
They have a custom of staining their bodies, nearly in the same manner as is practised in many other parts of the world, which they call tattowing. They prick the skin, so as just not to fetch blood, with a small instrument, something in the form of a hoe; that part which answers to the blade is made of a bone or shell, scraped very thin, and is from a quarter of an inch to an inch and a half wide; the edge is cut into sharp teeth or points, from the number of three to twenty, according to its size: When this is to be used, they dip the teeth into a mixture of a kind of lamp-black, formed of the smoke that rises from an oily nut which they burn instead of candles, and water; the teeth, thus prepared, are placed upon the skin, and the handle to which they are fastened being struck, by quick smart blows, with a stick fitted to the purpose, they pierce it, and at the same time carry into the puncture the black composition, which leaves an indelible stain. The operation is painful, and it is some days before the wounds are healed. It is performed upon the youth of both sexes when they are about twelve or fourteen years of age, on several parts of the body, and in various figures, according to the fancy of the parent, or perhaps the rank of the party. The women are generally marked with this stain, in the form of a Z, on every joint of their fingers and toes, and frequently round the outside of their feet: The men are also marked with the same figure, and both men and women have squares, circles, crescents, and ill-designed representations of men, birds, or dogs, and various other devices impressed upon their legs and arms, some of which we were told had significations, though we could never learn what they were. But the part on which these ornaments are lavished with the greatest profusion, is the breech: This, in both sexes, is covered with a deep black; above which, arches are drawn one over another as high as the short ribs. They are often a quarter of an inch broad, and the edges are not straight lines, but indented. These arches are their pride, and are shewn both by men and women with a mixture of ostentation and pleasure; whether as an ornament, or a proof of their fortitude and resolution in bearing pain, we could not determine. The face in general is left unmarked; for we saw but one instance to the contrary. Some old men had the greatest part of their bodies covered with large patches of black, deeply indented at the edges, like a rude imitation of flame; but we were told, that they came from a low island, called Noouoora, and were not natives of Otaheite.
Mr Banks saw the operation of tattowing performed upon the backside of a girl about thirteen years old. The instrument used upon this occasion had thirty teeth, and every stroke, of which at least a hundred were made in a minute, drew an ichor or serum a little tinged with blood. The girl bore it with most Stoical resolution for about a quarter of an hour; but the pain of so many hundred punctures as she had received in that time then became intolerable: She first complained in murmurs, then wept, and at last burst into loud lamentations, earnestly imploring the operator to desist. He was, however, inexorable; and when she began to struggle, she was held down by two women, who sometimes soothed and sometimes chid her, and now and then, when she was most unruly, gave her a smart blow. Mr Banks staid in a neighbouring house an hour, and the operation was not over when he went away; yet it was performed but upon one side, the other having been done some time before; and the arches upon the loins, in which they most pride themselves, and which give more pain than all the rest, were still to be done.
It is strange that these people should value themselves upon what is no distinction; for I never saw a native of this island, either man or woman, in a state of maturity, in whom these marks were wanting: Possibly they may have their rise in superstition, especially as they produce no visible advantage, and are not made without great pain; but though we enquired of many hundreds, we could never get any account of the matter.[6]
[Footnote 6: It is very remarkable that something like this tattowing was practised among the Thracians of old, and was actually considered as an indication of nobility. So says Herodotus in Terps. 6. The notion is no way irrational, that early and semi-civilized people had no other way of distinguishing ranks, than by making visible differences on the skin. The original inhabitants of Britain, it is probable, meant the same thing by their use of colouring substances. Though it is probable enough too, that another purpose was also accomplished thereby, viz. preservation in some degree from the inclemency of the climate. By some authors, it has been imagined, that such painting rendered them more terrible to their enemies, which was the reason for the practice. The Indians of North Carolina, according to the curious account of them by Surveyor-General Lawson, Lond. 1714, had still another reason for something similar. Speaking of their use of varnish, pipe-clay, lamp-black, &c. &c. for colouring their bodies before going out to war, he says, "when these creatures are thus painted, they make the most frightful figures that can be imitated by man, and seem more like devils than human creatures. You may be sure that they are about some mischief when you see them thus painted; for in all the hostilities which have ever been acted against the English at any time, in several of the plantations of America, the savages always appeared in this disguise, whereby they might never after be discovered, or known by any of the Christians that should happen to see them after they had made their escape; for it is impossible even to know an Indian under these colours, although he has been at your house a thousand times, and you know him at other times as well as you do any person living."--Mr Bryan Edwards mentions something of the Charaibes like this. "Not satisfied with the workmanship of nature, they called in the assistance of art, to make themselves more formidable. They painted their faces and bodies with arnotto so extravagantly, that their natural complexion, which was really that of a Spanish olive, was not easily to be distinguished under the surface of crimson. However, as this mode of painting themselves was practised by both sexes, perhaps it was at first introduced as a defence against the venomous insects, so common in tropical climates, or possibly they considered the brilliancy of the colour as highly ornamental." These Charaibes had other ways of deforming themselves, some of which resembled what we shall find described in the course of this work. They made deep cuts on their cheeks, and stained them black; and painted white and black circles round their eyes. The tatooing which Mr Barrow speaks of, as practised in part of Africa where he travelled, one should incline to imagine very different from what is in fashion at Otaheite, which, according to our text, affords any other than pleasurable sensations to the person undergoing this operation. The reader may judge for himself, at least so far as idea goes. "A greater degree of amusement (than what their music and dancing yield) seems to be derived by the women from the practice of tatooing, or, marking the body, by raising the epidermis from the cuticle; a custom that has been found to exist among most of the uncivilized nations inhibiting warm countries, and which probably owes its origin to a total want of mental resources, and of the employment of time. By slightly irritating, it conveys to the body pleasurable sensations. In Kafferland it has passed into a general fashion. No woman is without a tatooed skin; and their ingenuity is chiefly exercised between the breast and on the arms." Such a description corresponds with the notion of some frequently renewed beautfyings of the toilet, rather than that of the infliction of deep and indelible marks, as are prescribed in the Otaheitan ritual. Thus we may see here, as in other instances, that different motives give rise to similar practices.--E.]
Their clothing consists of cloth or matting of different kinds, which will be described among their other manufactures. The cloth, which will not bear wetting, they wear in dry weather, and the matting when it rains; they are put on in many different ways, just as their fancy leads them; for in their garments nothing is cut into shape, nor are any two pieces sewed together. The dress of the better sort of women consists of three or four pieces: One piece, about two yards wide, and eleven yards long, they wrap several times round their waist, so as 'to hang down like a petticoat as low as the middle of the leg, and this they call Parou: Two or three other pieces, about two yards and a half long, and one wide, each having a hole cut in the middle, they place one upon another, and then putting the head through the holes, they bring the long ends down before and behind; the others remain open at the sides, and give liberty to the arms: This, which they call the Tebuta, is gathered round the waist, and confined with a girdle or sash of thinner cloth, which is long enough, to go many times round them, and exactly resembles the garment worn by the inhabitants of Peru and Chili, which the Spaniards call Poncho. The dress of the men is the same, except that, instead of suffering the cloth that is wound about the hips to hang down like a petticoat, they bring it between their legs so as to have some resemblance to breeches, and it is then called Maro. This is the dress of all ranks of people, and being universally the same as to form, the gentlemen and ladies distinguish themselves from the lower people by the quantity; some of them will wrap round them several pieces of cloth, eight or ten yards long, and two or three broad; and some throw a large piece loosely over their shoulders, in the manner of a cloke, or perhaps two pieces, if they are very great personages, and are desirous to appear in state. The inferior sort, who have only a small allowance of cloth from the tribes or families to which they belong, are obliged to be more thinly clad. In the heat of the day they appear almost naked, the women having only a scanty petticoat, and the men nothing but the sash that is passed between their legs and fastened round the waist. As finery is always troublesome, and particularly in a hot country, where it consists in putting one covering upon another, the women of rank always uncover themselves as low as the waist in the evening, throwing off all that they wear on the upper part of the body, with the same negligence and ease as our ladies would lay by a cardinal or double handkerchief. And the chiefs, even when they visited us, though they had as much cloth round their middle as would clothe a dozen people, had frequently the rest of the body quite naked.
Upon their legs and feet they wear no covering; but they shade their faces from the sun with little bonnets, either of matting or of cocoa-nut leaves, which they make occasionally in a few minutes. This, however, is not all their head-dress; the women sometimes wear little turbans, and sometimes a dress which they value much more, and which, indeed, is much more becoming, called Tomou; the Tomou consists of human hair, plaited in threads, scarcely thicker than sewing silk. Mr Banks got pieces of it above a mile in length, without a knot. These they wind round the head in such a manner as produces a very pretty effect, and in a very great quantity; for I have seen five or six such pieces wound about the head of one woman: Among these threads they stick flowers of various kinds, particularly the cape-jessamine, of which they have great plenty, as it is always planted near their houses. The men sometimes stick the tail-feather of the Tropic-bird upright in their hair, which, as I have observed before, is often tied in a bunch upon the top of their heads: Sometimes they wear a kind of whimsical garland, made of flowers of various kinds, stuck into a piece of the rind of a plantain; or of scarlet peas, stuck with gum upon a piece of wood: And sometimes they wear a kind of wig, made of the hair of men or dogs, or perhaps of cocoa-nut strings, woven upon one thread, which is tied under their hair, so that these artificial honours of their head may hang down behind. Their personal ornaments, besides flowers, are few; both sexes wear ear-rings, but they are placed only on one side: When we came they consisted of small pieces of shell, stone, berries, red peas, or some small pearls, three in a string; but our beads very soon supplanted them all.
The children go quite naked; the girls till they are three or four years old, and the boys till they are six or seven.
The houses, or rather dwellings of these people, have been occasionally mentioned before: They are all built in the wood, between the sea and the mountains, and no more ground is cleared for each house, than just sufficient to prevent the dropping of the branches from rotting the thatch with which they are covered; from the house, therefore, the inhabitant steps immediately under the shade, which is the most delightful that can be imagined. It consists of groves of bread-fruit and cocoa-nuts, without underwood, which are intersected, in all directions, by the paths that lead from one house to the other. Nothing can be more grateful than this shade in so warm a climate, nor any thing more beautiful than these walks. As there is no underwood, the shade cools without impeding the air; and the houses, having no walls, receive the gale from whatever point it blows. I shall now give a particular description of a house of a middling size, from which, as the structure is universally the same, a perfect idea may be formed both of those that are bigger, and those that are less.
The ground winch it covers is an oblong square, four and twenty feet long, and eleven wide; over this a roof is raised, upon three rows of pillars or posts, parallel to each other, one on each side, and the other in the middle. This roof consists of two flat sides inclining to each other, and terminating in a ridge, exactly like the roofs of our thatched houses in England. The utmost height within is about nine feet, and the eaves on each side reach to within about three feet and a half of the ground: Below this, and through the whole height at each end, it is open, no part of it being enclosed with a wall. The roof is thatched with palm-leaves, and the floor is covered, some inches deep, with soft hay; over this are laid mats, so that the whole is one cushion, upon which they sit in the day, and sleep in the night. In some houses, however, there is one stool, which is wholly appropriated to the master of the family; besides this, they have no furniture, except a few little blocks of wood, the upper side of which is hollowed into a curve, and which serve them for pillows.
The house is indeed principally used as a dormitory; for, except it rains, they eat in the open air, under the shade of the next tree. The clothes that they wear in the day serve them for covering in the night; the floor is the common bed of the whole household, and is not divided by any partition. The master of the house and his wife sleep in the middle, next to them the married people, next to them the unmarried women, and next to them, at a little distance, the unmarried men; the servants, or toutous, as they are called, sleep in the open air, except it rains, and in that case they come just within the shed.[7]
[Footnote 7: If the Otaheitans were little benefited by the attempts of Europeans to rear cattle among them, as we have seen, they were certainly indebted for the introduction of another race of animals, not at all likely to degenerate or die out in a climate so much more congenial to their nature, than the comparatively inclement regions of our hemisphere, where, notwithstanding the activity of hostile hands, they are known to propagate with most vexatious activity. "Their houses," says the missionary account, "are full of fleas, which harbour in the floor, and are very troublesome, though the natives are much less affected by them than we are; they say they were brought to them by the Europeans. One of our missionaries writes, he has been obliged to get up at midnight, and to run into the sea to cool himself, and to get rid of the swarm of disagreeable companions." The poor missionary was worse off among the fleas, than even Mr Barrow in the midst of the musquitoes, from which, it does not seem, that he ever had occasion to seek refuge, in any such untimely ablution.--E.]
There are, however, houses of another kind, belonging to the chiefs, in which there is some degree of privacy. These are much smaller, and so constructed as to be carried about in their canoes from place to place, and set up occasionally, like a tent; they are enclosed on the sides with cocoa-nut leaves, but not so close as to exclude the air, and the chief and his wife sleep in them alone.
There are houses also of a much larger size, not built either for the accommodation of a single chief, or a single family; but as common receptacles for all the people of a district. Some of them are two hundred feet long, thirty broad, and, under the ridge, twenty feet high; these are built and maintained at the common expence of the district, for the accommodation of which they are intended; and have on one side of them a large area, inclosed with low pallisadoes.
These houses, like those of separate families, have no walls. Privacy, indeed, is little wanted among people who have not the idea of indecency, and who gratify every appetite and passion before witnesses, with no more sense of impropriety than we feel when we satisfy our hunger at a social board with our family or friends. Those who have no idea of indecency with respect to actions, can have none with respect to words; it is, therefore, scarcely necessary to observe, that, in the conversation of these people, that which is the principal source of their pleasure, is always the principal topic; and that every thing is mentioned without any restraint or emotion, and in the most direct terms, by both sexes.[8]
[Footnote 8: Let us for once hear the missionary account, in palliation at least, of such clamant enormities. "They have no partitions in their houses; but it may be affirmed, they have in many instances more refined ideas of decency than ourselves; and one long a resident, scruples not to declare, that he never saw any appetite, hunger and thirst excepted, gratified in public. It is too true, that for the sake of gaining our extraordinary curiosities, and to please our brutes, they have appeared immodest in the extreme. Yet they lay the charge wholly at our door, and say, that Englishmen are ashamed of nothing, and that we have led them to public acts of indecency never before practised among themselves. Iron here, more precious than gold, bears down every barrier of restraint. Honesty and modesty yield to the force of temptation." A remark may be made here of some consequence. In estimating the momentum of temptations, we ought to consider not only their direct strength, but also what is known or believed of the extent of their influence on the society to which people belong. A man, it is certain, will much more readily acquiesce in those which he has reason to think common to his fellow creatures, than in others exclusively directed to himself. In the one case he anticipates sympathy, should he transgress; in the other, he is deterred by the apprehension of being singular in guilt. The Otaheitans were in the former predicament, and accordingly were perhaps universally accessible to the charms of nails and hatchets and beads. Whereas, it is probable, that had even similar solicitations been attempted in any instances unknown to each other, they would perhaps have been resisted. But vice once known to be established in society, becomes daily more prolific of its kind, and, like the Fama of Virgil, vires acquirit eundo. It is but fair to give these islanders the full benefit of this principle, when we sit in assize on them. Pray who can tell what would be the consequence of a visit from some of the inhabitants of Saturn, or the Georgium Sidus, should they open up their ultramundane treasures in sight of the British court? Is it conceivable, that the lovers of embroidery, and lace and diamonds would resist the witcheries of the strangers?--or that the marvellous effects of their liberality in distribution, should be confined within the walls of St James's? He that can wisely answer these questions, is at liberty to return a verdict in the trial of the Otaheitans.--E.]
Of the food eaten here the greater part is vegetable. Here are no tame animals except hogs, dogs, and poultry, as I have observed before, and these are by no means plenty. When a chief kills a hog, if is almost equally divided among his dependants; and as they are very numerous, the share of each individual at these feasts, which are not frequent, must necessarily be small. Dogs and fowls fall somewhat more frequently to the share of the common people. I cannot much commend the flavour of their fowls; but we all agreed, that a South Sea dog was little inferior to an English lamb; their excellence is probably owing to their being kept up, and fed wholly upon vegetables. The sea affords them a great variety of fish. The smaller fish, when they catch any, are generally eaten raw, as we eat oysters; and nothing that the sea produces comes amiss to them: They are fond of lobsters, crabs, and other shell-fish, which are found upon the coast; and they will eat not only sea-insects, but what the seamen call blubbers, though some of them are so tough, that they are obliged, to suffer them to become putrid before they can be chewed. Of the many vegetables that have been mentioned already as serving them for food, the principal is the bread-fruit, to procure which costs them no trouble or labour but climbing a tree: The tree which produces it, does not indeed shoot up spontaneously; but if a man plants ten of them in his lifetime, which he may do in about an hour, he will as completely fulfil his duty to his own and future generations, as the natives of our less temperate climate can do by ploughing in the cold of winter, and reaping in the summer's heat, as often as these seasons return; even if, after he has procured bread for his present household, he should convert a surplus into money, and lay it up for his children.
It is true, indeed, that the bread-fruit is not always in season; but cocoa-nuts, bananas, plantains, and a great variety of other fruits, supply the deficiency.
It may well be supposed, that cookery is but little studied by these people as an art; and, indeed, they have but two ways of applying fire to dress their food, broiling and baking; the operation of broiling is so simple that it requires no description, and their baking has been described already, in the account of an entertainment prepared for us by Tupia. Hogs and large fish are extremely well dressed in the same manner; and, in our opinion, were more juicy, and more equally done, than by any art of cookery now practised in Europe. Bread-fruit is also cooked in an oven of the same kind, which renders it soft, and something like a boiled potatoe; not quite so farinaceous as a good one, but more so than those of the middling sort.
Of the-bread-fruit they also make three dishes, by putting either water or the milk of the cocoa-nut to it, then beating it to a paste with a stone pestle, and afterwards mixing it with ripe plantains, bananas, or the sour paste which they call mahie.
The mahie, which has been mentioned as a succedaneum for ripe bread-fruit, before the season for gathering a fresh crop comes on, is thus made:
The fruit is gathered just before it is perfectly ripe, and being laid in heaps, is closely covered with leaves; in this state it undergoes a fermentation, and becomes disagreeably sweet: The core is then taken out entire, which is done by gently pulling the stalk, and the rest of the fruit is thrown into a hole which is dug for that purpose, generally in the houses, and neatly lined in the bottom and sides with grass; the whole is then covered with leaves, and heavy stones laid upon them: In this state it undergoes a second fermentation, and becomes sour, after which it will suffer no change for many months: It is taken out of the hole as it is wanted for use, and being made into balls, it is wrapped up in leaves and baked; after it is dressed, it will keep five or six-weeks. It is eaten both cold and hot, and the natives seldom make a meal without it, though to us the taste was as disagreeable as that of a pickled olive generally is the first time it is eaten.
As the making of this mahie depends, like brewing, upon fermentation, so, like brewing, it sometimes fails, without their being able to ascertain the cause; it is very natural, therefore, that the making it should be connected with superstitious notions and ceremonies: It generally falls to the lot of the old women, who will suffer no creature to touch any thing belonging to it, but those whom they employ as assistants, nor even to go into that part of the house where the operation is carrying on. Mr Banks happened to spoil a large quantity of it only by inadvertently touching a leaf which lay upon it. The old woman, who then presided over these mysteries, told him, that the process would fail; and immediately uncovered the hole in a fit of vexation and despair. Mr Banks regretted the mischief he had done, but was somewhat consoled by the opportunity which it gave him of examining the preparation, which perhaps, but for such an accident, would never have offered.[9]
[Footnote 9: "This paste," we are told in the missionary account, "makes a most nutritious and sweet pudding, and all the children of the family and their relations feast on it eagerly. During this festive season they seldom quit the house, and continue wrapped up in cloth: And it is surprising to see them in a month become so fair and fat, that they can scarcely breathe. The children afterwards grow amazingly. The baked bread-fruit in this state very much in taste resembles gingerbread." This delicate and wholesome provision, it is said, is not confined to the chiefs and wealthier people, as all who will be at the pains to provide an oven, may readily be supplied with bread-fruit from their neighbours. Such is the generosity of these interesting people, that all of a man's own rank are at all times ready to contribute largely to his support, on his making known his need. In how many respects are these islanders worthy of being held up as examples for us!--E.]
Such is their food, to which salt-water is the universal sauce, no meal being eaten without it: Those who live near the sea have it fetched as it is wanted; those who live at some distance keep it in large bamboos, which are set up in their houses for use. Salt-water, however, is not their only sauce; they make another of the kernels of cocoa-nuts, which being fermented till they dissolve into a paste somewhat resembling butter, are beaten up with salt-water. The flavour of this is very strong, and was, when we first tasted it, exceedingly nauseous; a little use, however, reconciled some of our people to it so much, that they preferred it to our own sauces, especially with fish. The natives seemed to consider it as a dainty, and do not use it at their common meals; possibly because they think it ill management to use cocoa-nuts so lavishly, or perhaps when we were at the island, they were scarcely ripe enough for the purpose.
For drink, they have in general nothing but water, or the juice of the cocoa-nut; the art of producing liquors that intoxicate, by fermentation, being happily unknown among them; neither have they any narcotic which they chew, as the natives of some other countries do opium, beetle-root, and tobacco. Some of them drank freely of our liquors, and in a few instances became very drunk; but the persons to whom this happened were so far from desiring to repeat the debauch, that they would never touch any of our liquors afterwards. We were, however, informed, that they became drunk by drinking a juice that is expressed from the leaves of a plant which they call ava ava. This plant was not in season when we were there, so that we saw no instances of its effects; and as they considered drunkenness as a disgrace, they probably would have concealed from us any instances which might have happened during our stay. This vice is almost peculiar to the chiefs, and considerable persons, who vie with each other in drinking the greatest number of draughts, each draught being about a pint. They keep this intoxicating juice with great care from their women.[10]
[Footnote 10: Turnbull speaks of intoxication being quite common and excessive at the feasts of the Otaheitans. And the reader will often hear of the intemperate use and had effects of the ava or yava. The love of this liquor, or its effects rather, must indeed be strong, to reconcile them to the disgusting manner in which it is prepared. "Several women," says the missionary account, "have each a portion given them to chew of the stem and root (of the yava shrub) together, which, when masticated, they spit into a bowl into which some of the leaves of the plant are finely broken; they add water, or cocoa-nut liquor: The whole is then well stirred, and begins quickly to ferment; when it is strained or wrung out in the moo gross, or cocoa-nut fibres, and drank in cups of folded leaves. It is highly intoxicating, and seems for a while to deprive them of the use of their limbs: They lie down and sleep till the effects are passed, and during the time have their limbs chafed with their women's hands. A gill of the yava is a sufficient dose for a man. When they drink it, they always eat something afterwards; and frequently fall asleep with the provisions in their mouths: When drank after a hearty meal, it produces but little effect." The writer forgets his authority, but he remembers to have read of a practice somewhat more economical, though not more delicate, than what is adopted at Otaheite. The people are all passionately fond of the intoxicating beverage prepared from mushrooms; as the common sort cannot procure it at first hand, owing to its price, they are in the habit of attending at the houses of the grandees, where entertainments are going on, provided with vessels for the purpose of collecting the urine of the favoured few who have drunk of it, which they eagerly swallow. The peculiar smell and flavour, it seems, are preserved notwithstanding this percolation, and are considered amply remunerative of the pains and importunity used to obtain it. Such things are strikingly expressive of that worse than brutish perversity which actuates man, when once his lusts have acquired the dominion. It is lamentable to think, that after that conquest over his reason and interest, his degradation in sensuality is in proportion to his ingenuity of invention; and that no dignity of situation, or splendour of office, or brilliancy of talent, can possibly redeem him from the contempt and detestation of those whose good opinion it ought to be his ambition to covet.--E.]
Table they have none; but their apparatus for eating is set out with great neatness, though the articles are too simple and too few to allow any thing for show: And they commonly eat alone; but when a stranger happens to visit them, he sometimes makes a second in their mess. Of the meal of one of their principal people I shall give a particular description.
He sits down under the shade of the next tree, or on the shady side of his house, and a large quantity of leaves, either of the bread-fruit or banana, is neatly spread before him upon the ground as a table-cloth; a basket is then set by him that contains his provision, which, if fish or flesh, is ready dressed, and wrapped up in leaves, and two cocoa-nut shells, one full of salt water, and the other of fresh: His attendants, which are not few, seat themselves round him, and when all is ready, he begins by washing his hands and his mouth thoroughly with the fresh water, and this he repeats almost continually throughout the whole meal; he then takes part of his provision out of the basket, which generally consists of a small fish or two, two or three breadfruits, fourteen or fifteen ripe bananas, or six or seven apples: He first takes half a bread-fruit, peels off the rind, and takes out the core with his nails; of this he puts as much into his mouth as it can hold, and while he chews it, takes the fish out of the leaves, and breaks one of them into the salt water, placing the other, and what remains of the bread-fruit, upon the leaves that have been spread before him. When this is done, he takes up a small piece of the fish that has been broken into the salt water, with all the fingers of one hand, and sucks it into his mouth, so as to get with it as much of the salt water as possible: In the same manner he takes the rest by different morsels, and between each, at least very frequently, takes a small sup of the salt water, either out of the cocoa-nut shell or the palm of his hand: In the mean time one of his attendants has prepared a young cocoa-nut, by peeling off the outer rind with his teeth, an operation which to an European appears very surprising; but it depends so much upon sleight, that many or us were able to do it before we left the island, and some that could scarcely crack a filbert: The master, when he chuses to drink, takes the cocoa-nut thus prepared, and boring a hole through the shell with his finger, or breaking it with a stone, he sucks out the liquor. When he has eaten his bread-fruit and fish, he begins with his plantains, one of which makes but a mouthful, though it be as big as a black-pudding; if instead of plantains he has apples, he never tastes them till they have been pared; to do this a shell is picked up from the ground, where they are always in plenty, and tossed to him by an attendant: He immediately begins to cut or scrape off the rind, but so awkwardly that great part of the fruit is wasted. If, instead of fish, he has flesh, he must have some succedaneum for a knife to divide it; and for this purpose a piece of bamboo is tossed to him, of which he makes the necessary implement by splitting it transversely with his nail. While all this has been doing, some of his attendants have been employed in beating bread-fruit with a stone-pestle upon a block of wood; by being beaten in this manner, and sprinkled from time to time with water, it is reduced to the consistence of a soft paste, and is then put into a vessel somewhat like a butcher's tray, and either made up alone, or mixed with banana or mahie, according to the taste of the master, by pouring water upon it by degrees and squeezing it often through the hand: Under this operation it acquires the consistence of a thick custard, and a large cocoa-nut shell full of it being set before him, he sips it as we should do a jelly if we had no spoon to take it from the glass: The meal is then finished by again washing his hands and his mouth. After which the cocoa-nut shells are cleaned, and every thing that is left is replaced in the basket.
The quantity of food which these people eat at a meal is prodigious: I have seen one man devour two or three fishes as big as a perch; three bread-fruits, each bigger than two fists; fourteen or fifteen plantains or bananas, each of them six or seven inches long, and four or five round; and near a quart of the pounded bread-fruit, which is as substantial as the thickest unbaked custard. This is so extraordinary that I scarcely expect to be believed; and I would not have related it upon my own single testimony, but Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and most of the other gentlemen, have had ocular demonstration of its truth, and know that I mention them upon the occasion.
It is very wonderful, that these people, who are remarkably fond of society, and particularly that of their women, should exclude its pleasures from the table, where among all other nations, whether civil or savage, they have been principally enjoyed.[11] How a meal, which every where else brings families and friends together, came to separate them here, we often enquired, but could never learn. They eat alone, they said, because it was right; but why it was right to eat alone, they never attempted to tell us: Such, however, was the force of habit, that they expressed the strongest dislike, and even disgust, at our eating in society, especially with our women, and of the same victuals. At first, we thought this strange singularity arose from some superstitious opinion; but they constantly affirmed the contrary. We observed also some caprices in the custom, for which we could as little account as for the custom itself. We could never prevail with any of the women to partake of the victuals at our table when we were dining, in company; yet they would go, five or six together, into the servants' apartments, and there eat very heartily of whatever they could find, of which I have before given a particular instance; nor were they in the least disconcerted if we came in while they were doing it. When any of us have been alone with a woman, she has sometimes eaten in our company; but then she has expressed the greatest unwillingness that it should be known, and always extorted the strongest promises of secrecy.
[Footnote 11: This is not true, as the reader will find, if he knows it not already, when he comes to the next note. Dr H. does not seem to have read extensively on the customs of different nations. It is indeed wonderful, that he did not advert to what had long been known of the practices of the East. A single quotation from one author, may be sufficient to prepare the reader for any additional information, on the subject of the public separation of the sexes. "The regulations of the haram," says Dr Russel, speaking of the Moosulmauns, "oppose a strong barrier to curiosity; inveterate custom excludes females from mingling in assemblies of the other sex, and even with their nearest male-relations they appear to be under a restraint from which, perhaps, they are never emancipated, except in familiar society among themselves."--E.]
Among themselves, even two brothers and two sisters have each their separate baskets, with provision and the apparatus of their meal. When they first visited us at our tents, each brought his basket with him; and when we sat down to table, they would go out, sit down upon the ground, at two or three yards distance from each other, and turning their faces different ways, take their repast without interchanging a single word.
The women not only abstain from eating with the men, and of the same victuals, but even have their victuals separately prepared by boys kept for that purpose, who deposit it in a separate shed, and attend them with it at their meals.
But though they would not eat with us or with each other, they have often asked us to eat with them, when we have visited those with whom we were particularly acquainted at their houses; and we have often upon such occasions eaten out of the same basket, and drunk out of the same cup. The elder women, however, always appeared to be offended at this liberty; and if we happened to touch their victuals, or even the basket that contained it, would throw it away.[12]
[Footnote 12: Nothing can be more difficult in the way of philosophical investigation, than to ascertain the origin and reasons of the customs, opinions, and prejudices established among different people. Their variety is quite destructive of any theory which might be built on the well-known general principles of human nature; and their insignificance often derides every process of formal enquiry, which attempts by any thing more recondite than the supposition of whim or caprice, to account for them. The peculiarities of all nations are, perhaps, on a par in this respect, and only escape scrutiny and wonder, because unnoticed by those to whom they are not familiar. But certainly, to the inhabitants of Otaheite, our eating parties, where the sexes at times vie with each other in the management of knife and fork, and where it usually happens that a woman presides, would seem as unaccountable and as indelicate, as a certain social exhibition, already mentioned as occurring amongst them, appeared to be to those who witnessed it. And perhaps it is less easy, than at first sight may be imagined, to justify one more than the other. Of actions equally natural, necessary, and proper, and at the same time equally inoffensive to others, it is exceedingly perplexing to discover good reasons for saying, that some are fitted for public notice more than others. In the cases alluded to, a skilful controversialist might be able to argue, why the Otaheitan practice ought to be esteemed the more rational one. The writer has heard of a person, whose refinement of taste and feeling was such, as made him quite disgusted with any woman who eat in his presence; and perhaps the ladies in general are somewhat apprehensive of their running the risk of being depreciated by the appearance of a good appetite in public, and hence their common practice of taking what is called a luncheon before going to a feast, or social eating-party, and their being pleased with the compliment given in the form of complaint, that they have very poor stomachs! The Otaheitans, however, are by no means singular in dividing the sexes during their repasts. On the contrary, there is ground to think, that in Persia, and indeed throughout almost all the East, it is usual for the women to eat apart from the men. See Harmer's Observations on Scripture, 4th ed. vol. ii. p. 109. Capt. Carver, speaking of the Naudowesses, a tribe of Americans, says, "The men and women feast apart; and each sex invites by turns their companions to partake with them of the food they happen to have." He tells us, however, that in their domestic way of living, the sexes usually associate. Of the female Charaibes, Mr Edwards, quoting Labat, says, that they were not allowed the privilege of eating in presence of their husbands. And Rochon, in his account of Madagascar, tells us something to the same purport of the women of that island. It would be easy to multiply instances of the custom which Hawkesworth thinks to be peculiar to the Otaheitans.--E.]
After meals, and in the heat of the day, the middle-aged people of the better sort generally sleep; they are indeed extremely indolent, and sleeping and eating is almost all that they do. Those that are older are less drowsy, and the boys and girls are kept awake by the natural activity and sprightliness of their age.
Their amusements have occasionally been mentioned in my account of the incidents that happened during our residence in this island, particularly music, dancing, wrestling, and shooting with the bow; they also sometimes vie with each other in throwing a lance. As shooting is not at a mark, but for distance; throwing the lance is not for distance, but at a mark: The weapon is about nine feet long, the mark is the hole of a plantain, and the distance about twenty yards.
Their only musical instruments are flutes and drums; the flutes are made of a hollow bamboo about a foot long, and, as has been observed before, have only two stops, and consequently but four notes, out of which they seem hitherto to have formed but one tune; to these stops they apply the fore-finger of the left hand and the middle-finger of the right.
The drum is made of a hollow block of wood, of a Cylindrical form, solid at one end, and covered at the other with shark's skin: These they beat not with sticks, but their hands; and they know how to tune two drums of different notes into concord. They have also an expedient to bring the flutes that play together into unison, which is to roll up a leaf so as to slip over the end of the shortest, like our sliding tubes for telescopes, which they move up or down till the purpose is answered, of which they seem to judge by their ear with great nicety.
To these instruments they sing; and, as I have observed before, their songs are often extempore: They call every two verses or couplet a song, Pehay; they are generally, though not always, in rhyme; and when pronounced by the natives, we could discover that they were metre. Mr Banks took great pains to write down some of them which were made upon our arrival, as nearly as he could express their sounds by combinations of our letters; but when we read them, not having their accent, we could scarcely make them either metre or rhyme. The reader will easily perceive that they are of very different structure.
Tede pahai de parow-a Ha maru no mina. E pahah Tayo malama tai ya No Tabane tonatou whannomi ya. E Turai eattu terara patee whannua toai Ino o maio Pretane to whennuaia no Tute.
Of these verses our knowledge of the language is too imperfect to attempt a translation. They frequently amuse themselves by singing such couplets as these when they are alone, or with their families, especially after it is dark; for though they need no fires, they are not without the comfort of artificial light between sunset and bed-time. Their candles are made of the kernels of a kind of oily nut, which they stick one over another upon a skewer that is thrust through the middle of them; the upper one being lighted, burns down to the second, at the same time consuming that part of the skewer which goes through it; the second taking fire burns in the same manner down to the third, and so of the rest: Some of these candles will burn a considerable time, and they give a very tolerable light. They do not often sit up above an hour after it is dark; but when they have strangers who sleep in the house, they generally keep a light burning all night, possibly as a check upon such of the women as they wish not to honour them with their favours.[13]
[Footnote 13: The reader, in perusing the above account of the Otaheitan evening-recreation, will readily recollect what Mr Park has so affectingly told of the song of the African woman, of which he was made the subject. Harmony, that "sovereign of the willing mind," as Mr Gray denominates it, was both known and worshipped at this island, and that too, by the very same rites which are so generally practised throughout the world--regularity of measures, and the frequent recurrence of similar sounds--She deigns to hear the savage youth repeat, In loose numbers wildly sweet, Their feather-cinctured chiefs and dusky loves. Her track, where'er the Goddess roves, Glory pursue, and generous shame, The unconquerable mind, and freedom's holy flame.--E.]
Of their itinerary concerts I need add nothing to what has been said already; especially as I shall have occasion, more particularly, to mention them when I relate our adventures upon another island.
In other countries, the girls and unmarried women are supposed to be wholly ignorant of what others upon some occasions may appear to know; and their conduct and conversation are consequently restrained within narrower bounds, and kept at a more remote distance from whatever relates to a connection with the other sex: But here, it is just contrary. Among other diversions, there is a dance, called Timorodee, which is performed by young girls, whenever eight or ten of them can be collected together, consisting of motions and gestures beyond imagination wanton, in the practice of which they are brought up from their earliest childhood, accompanied by words, which, if it were possible, would more explicitly convey the same ideas. In these dances they keep time with an exactness which is scarcely excelled by the best performers upon the stages of Europe. But the practice which is allowed to the virgin, is prohibited to the woman from the moment that she has put these hopeful lessons in practice, and realized the symbols of the dance.[14]
[Footnote 14: If it be considered that in Otaheite women are very early marriageable, and that families are easily reared, one will not find cause for censuring the impolicy, whatever is thought of the immodesty, according to our notions, of the kind of dances here mentioned. It seems reasonable enough, that the girls should be instructed in the only arts requisite to obtain the affections of the other sex. Can it be said, that the system of female education established in our own country, is half so judicious, which prescribes a series of instructions in drawing and music, velvet-painting, &c. to girls who, it is morally certain, will never have the least occasion for them, and who, whatever excellence they attain, totally abandon them on the day they happen to change their names? Or shall we say, these things are like the gestures of the Otaheitan damsels, merely symbols used as snares for the careless beaux, who pretend to taste and fashion, and indicative of the indolence and extravagance which are to succeed the marriage ceremony? The fact is, and it is foolish to attempt concealing it, that women in general have a nature so ductile as to be quite readily fashioned to any model which is conceived agreeable to the other sex, and that they all have sufficient sagacity to practise the arts in demand, till they have accomplished the destiny of their constitution. On the supposition that these arts are equally commensurate to their object, it may well be asked, why some should be condemned and not others--or what authority any people have to reproach the current allurements of another? In the eyes of an impartial spectator, if we can suppose there really is one, all of them must appear alike as to nature and origin, and to differ only in respect of adaptation to the ends in view. He would consider them all as signs, merely more or less expressive, and might be induced to censure most strongly, if he censured at all, the people who, in using them, affected the closest concealment of the purposes intended by them. A philosopher ought never to lose sight of this maxim, that human nature is essentially the same throughout the world, and that all the desires and passions belonging to it have the same origin, and are equally good or bad as to morality; from which it follows, that customs and manners are to be judged of not so much by what is known or imagined of the sources of them, as by what is evident or may be discovered of their effects on society. On this principle, it is strictly demonstrable, that in such a state of things as exists in our own country at present, certain appearances and modes of dress adopted by our women, are actually more injurious, and of course more criminal, than the dancing gestures mentioned in the text. Any lady that can expose her breasts to the gaze of one and all of our public companies, has an undoubted right to be considered as possessing the same feelings and propensities as the lewd girls of Otaheite; but then she is not entitled to censure, however she may envy, their happier exertions and success. She ought to know, that unless our taxes are removed, and the bread-fruit is naturalized among us, it is impossible for her to have so speedy a redemption from the estate of "solitary blessedness;" and that as many of her elder sisters still feel the necessity of practising patience in the same condition, it is very incumbent on her to learn by times a little self-controul. Besides, she ought, in charity to the other sex, to remember, that even the "concealed magic" of her manner, as Mr Hume expresses it, and which he says is easily explained, is abundantly efficacious without further disclosure than common necessity requires.--E.]It cannot be supposed that, among these people, chastity is held in much estimation. It might be expected that sisters and daughters would be offered to strangers, either as a courtesy, or for reward; and that breaches of conjugal fidelity, even in the wife, should not be otherwise punished than by a few hard words, or perhaps a slight beating, as indeed is the case: But there is a scale in dissolute sensuality, which these people have ascended, wholly unknown to every other nation whose manners have been recorded from the beginning of the world to the present hour, and which no imagination could possibly conceive.
A very considerable number of the principal people of Otaheite, of both sexes, have formed themselves into a society, in which every woman is common to every man; thus securing a perpetual variety as often as their inclination prompts them to seek it, which is so frequent, that the same man and woman seldom cohabit together more than two or three days.
These societies are distinguished by the name of Arreoy; and the members have meetings, at which no other is present, where the men amuse themselves by wrestling, and the women, notwithstanding their occasional connection with different men, dance the Timorodee in all its latitude, as an incitement to desires, which, it is said, are frequently gratified upon the spot. This, however, is comparatively nothing. If any of the women happen to be with child, which in this manner of life happens less frequently than if they were to cohabit only with one man, the poor infant is smothered the moment it is born, that it may be no incumbrance to the father, nor interrupt the mother in the pleasures of her diabolical prostitution. It sometimes indeed happens, that the passion which prompts a woman to enter into this society, is surmounted when she becomes a mother, by that instinctive affection which Nature has given to all creatures for the preservation of their offspring; but even in this case, she is not permitted to spare the life of her infant, except she can find a man who will patronise it as his child: If this can be done, the murder is prevented; but both the man and woman, being deemed by this act to have appropriated each other, are ejected from the community, and forfeit all claim to the privileges and pleasures of the Arreoy for the future; the woman from that time being distinguished by the term Whannownow, "bearer of children," which is here a term of reproach; though none can be more honourable in the estimation of wisdom and humanity, of right reason, and every passion that distinguishes the man from the brute.
It is not fit that a practice so horrid and so strange should be imputed to human beings upon slight evidence, but I have such as abundantly justifies me in the account I have given. The people themselves are so far from concealing their connection with such a society as a disgrace, that they boast of it as a privilege; and both myself and Mr Banks, when particular persons have been pointed out to us as members of the Arreoy, have questioned them about it, and received the account that has been here given from their own lips. They have acknowledged, that they had long been of this accursed society, that they belonged to it at that time, and that several of their children had been put to death.[15]
[Footnote 15: It seems, from Mr Turnbull's account, that these accursed arreoys were rather on the increase,--a circumstance, which, considering that infanticide formed a part, an essential part indeed, of their policy, may well explain the rapidity in the diminution of the people before noticed.--E.]
But I must not conclude my account of the domestic life of these people without mentioning their personal cleanliness. If that which lessens the good of life and increases the evil is vice, surely cleanliness is a virtue: The want of it tends to destroy both beauty and health, and mingles disgust, with our best pleasures. The natives of Otaheite, both men and women, constantly wash their whole bodies in running water three times every day; once as soon as they rise in the morning, once at noon, and again before they sleep at night, whether the sea or river is near them or at a distance. I have already observed, that they wash not only the mouth, but the hands at their meals, almost between every morsel; and their clothes, as well as their persons, are kept without spot or stain; so that in a large company of these people, nothing is suffered but heat, which, perhaps, is more than can be said of the politest assembly in Europe.[16]
[Footnote 16: Here Dr H. seems to have forgotten altogether the substitutes which modern Europeans employ for cleanliness, to render polite assemblies tolerable--musk, bergamot, lavender, &c. &c. articles, which, besides their value in saving the precious time of our fine ladies, who could not easily spare a quarter of an hour a day from their important occupations, for the Otaheitan practice of bathing, are of vast utility to the state, by affording suitable exercise to the talents of the vast tribe of perfumers and beautifiers of every description, who, it is probable, would otherwise become mere drones in the community. But what would these Otaheitans conceive of the health and comfort and appearance and odour of the great mass of British ladies, who, unless banished to a watering place, no more think of being generally washed, than of being curried with a currying-comb, or undergoing the operation of tattowing? The powers of nature are marvellous indeed, which can support their lives for years, under all the fifth and exuviæ, accumulated with such idolatrous fondness.--E.]
SECTION XVIII.
Of the Manufactures, Boats, and Navigations of Otaheite.
If necessity is the mother of invention, it cannot be supposed to have been much exerted where the liberality of Nature has rendered the diligence of Art almost superfluous; yet there are many instances both of ingenuity and labour among these people, which, considering the want of metal for tools, do honour to both.
Their principal manufacture is their cloth, in the making and dyeing of which I think there are some particulars which may instruct even the artificers of Great Britain, and for that reason my description will be more minute.
Their cloth is of three kinds; and it is made of the bark of three different trees, the Chinese paper mulberry, the bread-fruit tree, and the tree which resembles the wild fig-tree of the West Indies.
The finest and whitest is made of the paper mulberry, Aouta; this is worn chiefly by the principal people, and when it is dyed red takes a better colour. A second sort, inferior in whiteness and softness, is made of the bread-fruit tree, Ooroo, and worn chiefly by the interior people; and a third of the tree that resembles the fig, which is coarse and harsh, and of the colour of the darkest brown paper: This, though it is less pleasing both to the eye and to the touch, is the most valuable, because it resists water, which the other two sorts will not. Of this, which is the most rare as well as the most useful, the greater part is perfumed, and worn by the chiefs as a morning dress.
All these trees are propagated with great care, particularly the mulberry, which covers the largest part of the cultivated land, and is not fit for use after two or three years growth, when it is about six or eight feet high, and somewhat thicker than a man's thumb; its excellence is to be thin, straight, tall, and without branches: The lower leaves, therefore, are carefully plucked off, with their germs, as often as there is any appearance of their producing a branch.
But though the cloth made of these three trees is different, it is all manufactured in the same manner; I shall, therefore, describe the process only in the fine sort, that is made of the mulberry.[17] When the trees are of a proper size, they are drawn up, and stripped of their branches, after which the roots and tops are cut off; the bark of these rods being then slit up longitudinally is easily drawn off, and, when a proper quantity has been procured, it is carried down to some running water, in which it is deposited to soak, and secured from floating away by heavy stones: When it is supposed to be sufficiently softened, the women servants go down to the brook, and stripping themselves, sit down in the water, to separate the inner bark from the green bark on the outside; to do this they place the under side upon a flat smooth board, and with the shell which our dealers call Tyger's tongue, Tellina gargadia, scrape it very carefully, dipping it continually in the water till nothing remains but the fine fibres of the inner coat. Being thus prepared in the afternoon, they are spread out upon plantain leaves in the evening; and in this part of the work there appears to be some difficulty, as the mistress of the family always superintends the doing of it: They are placed in lengths of about eleven or twelve yards, one by the side of another, till they are about a foot broad, and two or three layers are also laid one upon the other: Care is taken that the cloth shall be in all parts of an equal thickness, so that if the bark happens to be thinner in any particular part of one layer than the rest, a piece that is somewhat thicker is picked out to be laid over it in the next. In this state it remains till the morning, when great part of the water which it contained when it was laid out, is either drained off or evaporated, and the several fibres adhere together, so as that the whole may be raised from the ground in one piece.
[Footnote 17: The reader will find additional information on this subject, and on several others here treated, in some of the subsequent accounts; from which, however, it seemed unadvisable to make quotations at present. It is scarcely necessary to add, that the curious art of dyeing, which the Otaheitans seem to practise with no small ingenuity, has been much vestigated on philosophical principles since the date of this publication. Modern chemistry has a right to boast of her acquisitions in so very important a point of domestic science; but it would be invidious and improper to specify them in this place.--E.]
It is then taken away, and laid upon the smooth side of a long piece of wood, prepared for the purpose, and beaten, by the women servants, with instruments about a foot long and three inches thick, made of a hard wood which they call Etoa. The shape of this instrument is not unlike a square razor strop, only that the handle is longer, and each of its four sides or faces is marked, lengthways, with small grooves, or furrows, of different degrees of fineness; those on one side being of a width and depth sufficient to receive a small packthread, and the others finer in a regular gradation, so that the last are not more than equal to sewing silk.
They beat it first with the coarsest side of this mallet, keeping time like our smiths; it spreads very fast under the strokes, chiefly however in the breadth, and the grooves in the mallet mark it with the appearance of threads; it is successively beaten with the other sides, last with the finest, and is then fit for use. Sometimes, however, it is made still thinner, by beating it with the finest side of the mallet, after it has been several times doubled: It is then called Hoboo, and is almost as thin as a muslin; It becomes very white by being bleached in the air, but is made still whiter and softer by being washed and beaten again after it has been worn.
Of this cloth there are several sorts, of different degrees of fineness, in proportion as it is more or less beaten without being doubled: The other cloth also differs in proportion as it is beaten; but they differ from each other in consequence of the different materials of which they are made. The bark of the bread-fruit is not taken till the trees are considerably longer and thicker than those of the fig; the process afterwards is the same.
When cloth is to be washed after it has been worn, it is taken down to the brook, and left to soak, being kept fast to the bottom, as at first, by a stone; it is then gently wrung or squeezed; and sometimes several pieces of it are laid one upon another, and beaten together with the coarsest side of the mallet, and they are then equal in thickness to broad-cloth, and much more soft and agreeable to the touch, after they have been a little while in use, though when they come immediately from the mallet, they feel as if they had been starched. This cloth sometimes breaks in the beating, but is easily repaired by pasting on a patch with a gluten that is prepared from the root of the Pea, which is done so nicely that it cannot be discovered. The women also employ themselves in removing blemishes of every kind, as our ladies do in needle-work or knotting; sometimes when their work is intended to be very fine, they will paste an entire covering of hoboo over the whole. The principal excellencies of this cloth are its coolness and softness; and its imperfections, its being pervious to water like paper, and almost as easily torn.[18]
[Footnote 18: The missionary account tells us, that the noble Women are the principal cloth-makers. Among these people, it seems, that it is far from being thought disgraceful, for the higher orders to engage in domestic concerns and useful manufactures, "nor is it the least disparagement for a chief to be found in the midst of his workmen labouring with his own hands; but it would be reckoned a great disgrace not to shew superior skill." Like the patriarchs of old, and the heroes of Homer, these chiefs assist in the preparation of victuals for the entertainment of their guests.--E.]
The colours with which they dye this cloth are principally red and yellow. The red is exceedingly beautiful, and I may venture to say a brighter and more delicate colour than any we have in Europe; that which approaches nearest is our full scarlet, and the best imitation which Mr Banks's natural history painter could produce, was by a mixture of vermilion and carmine. The yellow is also a bright colour, but we have many as good.
The red colour is produced by the mixture of the juices of two vegetables, neither of which separately has the least tendency to that hue. One is a species of fig called here Matte, and the other the Cordia Sebestina, or Etou; of the fig the fruit is used, and of the Cordia the leaves.
The fruit of the fig is about as big as a rounceval pea, or very small gooseberry; and each of them, upon breaking off the stalk very close, produces one drop of a milky liquor, resembling the juice of our figs, of which the tree is indeed a species. This liquor the women collect into a small quantity of cocoa-nut water: To prepare a gill of cocoa-nut water will require between three and four quarts of these little figs. When a sufficient quantity is prepared, the leaves of the Etou are well wetted in it, and then laid upon a plantain leaf, where they are turned about till they become more and more flaccid, and then they are gently squeezed, gradually increasing the pressure, but so as not to break them; as the flaccidity increases, and they become spungy, they are supplied with more of the liquor; in about five minutes the colour begins to appear upon the veins of the leaves, and in about ten or a little more, they are perfectly saturated with it: They are then squeezed, with as much force as can be applied, and the liquor strained at the same time that it is expressed.
For this purpose, the boys prepare a large quantity of the Moo, by drawing it between their teeth, or two little sticks, till it is freed from the green bark and the branny substance that lies under it, and a thin web of the fibres only remains; in this the leaves of the Etou are enveloped, and through these the juice which they contain is strained as it is forced out. As the leaves are not succulent, little more juice is pressed out of them than they have imbibed: When they have been once emptied, they are filled again, and again pressed, till the quality which tinctures the liquor as it passes through them is exhausted; they are then thrown away; but the moo, being deeply stained with the colour, is preserved, as a brush to lay the dye upon the cloth.
The expressed liquor is always received into small cups made of the plantain leaf, whether from a notion that it has any quality favourable to the colour, or from the facility with which it is procured, and the convenience of small vessels to distribute it among the artificers, I do not know.
Of the thin cloth they seldom dye more than the edges, but the thick cloth is coloured through the whole surface; the liquor is indeed used rather as a pigment than a dye, for a coat of it is laid upon one side only, with the fibres of the moo; and though I have seen of the thin cloth that has appeared to have been soaked in the liquor, the colour has not had the same richness and lustre, as when it has been applied in the other manner.
Though the leaf of the etou is generally used in this process, and probably produces the finest colour, yet the juice of the figs will produce a red by a mixture with the species of tournefortia, which they call taheinno, the pohuc, the eurhe, or convolvulus brasiliensis, and a species of solanum, called ebooa; from the use of these different plants, or from different proportions of the materials, many varieties are observable in the colours of their cloth, some of which are conspicuously superior to others.
The beauty, however, of the best, is not permanent; but it is probable that some method might be found to fix it, if proper experiments were made, and perhaps to search for latent qualities, which may be brought out by the mixture of one vegetable juice with another, would not be an unprofitable employment: Our present most valuable dyes afford sufficient encouragement to the attempt; for, by the mere inspection of indigo, woad, dyer's weed, and most of the leaves which are used for the like purposes, the colours which they yield could never be discovered. Of this Indian red I shall only add, that the women who have been employed in preparing or using it, carefully preserve the colour upon their fingers and nails, where it appears in its utmost beauty, as a great ornament.
The yellow is made of the bark of the root of the morinda citrifolia, called nono, by scraping and infusing it in water; after standing some time, the water is strained and used as a dye, the cloth being dipped into it. The morinda, of which this is a species, seems to be a good subject for examination with a view to dyeing. Brown, in his History of Jamaica, mentions three species of it, which he says are used to dye brown; and Rumphius says of the bancuda angustifolia, which is nearly allied to our nono, that it is used by the inhabitants of the East Indian islands as a fixing drug for red colours, with which it particularly agrees.
The inhabitants of this island also dye yellow with the fruit of the tamanu; but how the colour is extracted, we had no opportunity to discover. They have also a preparation with which they dye brown and black; but these colours are so indifferent, that the method of preparing them did not excite our curiosity.
Another considerable manufacture is matting of various kinds; some of which is finer, and better, in every respect, than any we have in Europe; the coarser sort serves them to sleep upon, and the finer to wear in wet weather. With the fine, of which there are also two sorts, much pains is taken, especially with that made of the bark of the poerou, the hibiscus tiliaceus of Linnæus, some of which is as fine as a coarse cloth: The other sort, which is still more beautiful, they call vanne; it is white, glossy, and shining, and is made of the leaves of their wharrou, a species of the pandanus, of which we had no opportunity to see either the flowers or fruit: They have other matts, or, as they call them, moeas, to sit or to sleep upon, which are formed of a great variety of rushes and grass, and which they make, as they do every thing else that is plaited, with amazing facility and dispatch.
They are also very dexterous in making basket and wicker-work; their baskets are of a thousand different patterns, many of them exceedingly neat; and the making them is an art that every one practises, both men and women; they make occasional baskets and panniers of the cocoa-nut leaf in a few minutes, and the women who visited us early in a morning used to send, as soon as the sun was high, for a few of the leaves, of which they made little bonnets to shade their faces, at so small an expence of time and trouble, that, when the sun was again low in the evening, they used to throw them away. These bonnets, however, did not cover the head, but consisted only of a band that went round it, and a shade that projected from the forehead.
Of the bark of the poerou they make ropes and lines, from the thickness of an inch to the size of a small packthread: With these they make nets for fishing. Of the fibres of the cocoa-nut they make thread for fastening together the several parts of their canoes and belts, either round or flat, twisted or plaited; and of the bark of the erowa, a kind of nettle which grows in the mountains, and is therefore rather scarce, they make the best fishing lines in the world; with these they hold the strongest and most active fish, such as bonetas and albicores, which would snap our strongest silk lines in a minute, though they are twice as thick.
They make also a kind of seine, of a coarse broad grass, the blades of which are like flags; these they twist and tie together in a loose manner, till the net, which is about as wide as a large sack, is from sixty to eighty fathoms long; this they haul in shoal smooth water, and its own weight keeps it so close to the ground, that scarcely a single fish can escape.
In every expedient, indeed, for taking fish, they are exceedingly ingenious; they make harpoons of cane, and point them with hard wood, which, in their hands, strike fish more effectually than those which are headed with iron can do in ours, setting aside the advantage of ours being fastened to a line, so that the fish is secured if the hook takes place, though it does not mortally wound him.
Of fish-hooks they have two sorts, admirably adapted in their construction as well to the purpose they are to answer, as to the materials of which they are made. One of these, which they call witlee witlee, is used for towing. The shank is made of mother-of-pearl, the most glossy that can be got; the inside, which is naturally the brightest, is put behind. To these hooks a tuft of white dog's or hog's hair is fixed, so as somewhat to resemble the tail of a fish; these implements, therefore, are both hook and bait, and are used with a rod of bamboo, and line of erowa. The fisher, to secure his success, watches the flight of the birds which constantly attend the bonetas when they swim in shoals, by which he directs his canoe, and when he has the advantage of these guides, he seldom returns without a prize.
The other kind of hook is also made of mother-of-pearl, or some other hard shell: They cannot make them bearded like our hooks; but, to effect the same purpose, they make the point turn inwards. These are made of all sizes, and used to catch various kinds of fish with great success. The manner of making them is very simple, and every fisherman is his own artificer: The shell is first cut into square pieces by the edge of another shell, and wrought into a form corresponding with the outline of the hook, by pieces of coral, which are sufficiently rough to perform the office of a file; a hole is then bored in the middle; the drill being no other than the first stone they pick up that has a sharp corner; this they fix into the end of a piece of bamboo, and turn it between the hands like a chocolate-mill; when the shell is perforated, and the hole sufficiently wide, a small file of coral is introduced, by the application of which the hook is in a short time completed, few costing the artificer more time than a quarter of an hour.
Of their masonry, carving, and architecture, the reader has already formed some idea from the account that has been given of the morais, or repositories of the dead: The other most important article of building and carving is their boats; and, perhaps, to fabricate one of their principal vessels with their tools, is as great a work as to build a British man-of-war with ours.
They have an adze of stone; a chissel, or gouge, of bone, generally that of a man's arm between the wrist and elbow; a rasp of coral; and the skin of a sting-ray, with coral sand, as a file or polisher.
This is a complete catalogue of their tools, and with these they build houses, construct canoes, hew stone, and fell, cleave, carve, and polish timber.
The stone which makes the blade of their adzes is a kind of basaltes, of a blackish or grey colour, not very hard, but of considerable toughness: They are formed of different sizes; some, that are intended for felling, weigh from six to eight pounds; others, that are used for carving, not more than so many ounces; but it is necessary to sharpen both almost every minute; for which purpose, a stone and a cocoa-nut shell full of water are always at hand.
Their greatest exploit, to which these tools are less equal than to any other, is felling a tree: This requires many hands, and the constant labour of several days. When it is down, they split it, with the grain, into planks from three to four inches thick, the whole length and breadth of the tree, many of which are eight feet in the girt, and forty to the branches, and nearly of the same thickness throughout. The tree generally used, is, in their language, called avie, the stem of which is tall and straight; though some of the smaller boats are made of the bread-fruit tree, which is a light spongy wood, and easily wrought. They smooth the plank very expeditiously and dexterously with their adzes, and can take off a thin coat from a whole plank without missing a stroke. As they have not the art of warping a plank, every part of the canoe, whether hollow or flat, is shaped by hand.[19]
[Footnote 19: One likes to see the exercise of human ingenuity even on trifles. It flatters the consciousness of one's own powers, and affords, too, the ground-work of a comparison nowise disadvantageous to what one believes of his own capabilities. Man has been defined by a certain writer, an animal that uses instruments for the accomplishment of his purposes. But the definition is faulty in one important point; it does not exclude some beings which are not of the species. It is perhaps impossible to furnish an adequate definition of his nature within the compass of a single logical proposition. And what matter? Every man in his senses knows what man is, and can hardly ever be necessitated to clothe his conception of him, in language metaphysically unexceptionable. But if any trait be more characteristic than another, that of invention may safely be asserted to have the pre-eminence. Man, in effect, evinces the superiority of his nature over all other animals, by a faculty which he seems exclusively to enjoy, in common with his Maker, of creating systems, plans, and objects, by the exercise of an understanding and will adapted to certain ends fore-seen and predetermined. No tribes of mankind are totally destitute of this intellectual agency, which is proof, that none are without the merciful visitations of that great beneficent Being from whom the universe has its existence. A canoe, a house, a basket, indicates mind. Mind, by the very constitution of our nature, indicates power and authority. Reason, indeed, may dispute the necessity or the propriety of such connections in our thoughts and feelings, but reason cannot possibly set them aside, or eradicate them from the human breast, though aided by all that dislike and fear of the solemn truth which the conviction of guilt or demerit never fails to produce. These Otaheitans, then, are evidences to themselves of the existence of a power and wisdom superior to their own, to which they are consciously accountable; and they are without excuse, if, knowing this, they do not worship God as they ought. It may amuse, and perhaps instruct the reader, which is the reason for introducing this note, to enquire how far the inventions of the Otaheitans, as of all other people, made any way necessary or desirable by the circumstance of their climate and situation, influence them in their notions on the subject of their national religions. He will find that amongst them, as amongst others, the popular religion is founded, not on the exercise of reason contemplating the works of nature and the dispensations of Providence, but on principles intimately connected with man's physical wants, and modified by the peculiarities of ingenuity, which the artificial supply of those wants occasions; and perhaps he will make out one remarkable conclusion from the survey of them compared with others--that where these arts of ingenuity are frequent, and at the same time applied to very perishable subjects, there the objects of worship and the kind of religious service, are of a refined nature, allowing little or nothing of the grossness of material idolatry; and that, on the contrary, when they are few, but at the same time exercised on very durable substances, then the greatest tendency exists to the worship of the mere works of man's hands. Sagacious and clever people, in other words, have cunningly devised fables for their creeds; the clumsy-headed and the idle fall down before stocks and stones, as if there were no such things as memory or imagination or understanding in the world. It follows, that to extirpate gross idolatry, you must multiply inventions, and encourage ingenuity--the first operation, it may be confidently said, to which missionaries among the heathens should direct their exertions. It is no less certain, that to destroy spiritual idolatry, nothing short of the mighty power of God himself, implanting a new principle allied to his own nature, is available. When missionaries obtain the management and dispensation of this new principle, then, and only then, they will succeed in making men worshippers in spirit and in truth. But the propriety of their labours is to be evinced on other grounds, than the success attending them.--E.]
The canoes, or boats, which are used by the inhabitants of this and the neighbouring islands, may be divided into two general classes; one of which they call Ivahahs, the other Pahies.
The Ivahah is used for short excursions to sea, and is wall-sided and flat-bottomed; the Pahie for longer voyages, and is bow-sided and sharp-bottomed. The Ivahahs are all of the same figure, but of different sizes, and used for different purposes: Their length is from seventy-two feet to ten, but the breadth is by no means in proportion; for those of ten feet are about a foot wide, and those of more than seventy are scarcely two. There is the fighting Ivahah; the fishing Ivahah, and the travelling Ivahah; for some of these go from one island to another. The fighting Ivahah is by far the longest, and the head and stern are considerably raised above the body, in a semicircular form; particularly the stern, which is sometimes seventeen or eighteen feet high, though the boat itself is scarcely three. These never go to sea single; but are fastened together, side by side, at the distance of about three feet, by strong poles of wood, which are laid across them and lashed to the gunwales. Upon these, in the fore-part, a stage or platform is raised, about ten or twelve feet long, and somewhat wider than the boats, which is supported by pillars about six feet high: Upon this stage stand the fighting men, whose missile weapons are slings and spears; for, among other singularities in the manners of these people, their bows and arrows are used only for diversion, as we throw quoits: Below these stages sit the rowers, who receive from them those that are wounded, and furnish fresh men to ascend in their room. Some of these have a platform of bamboos or other light wood, through their whole length, and considerably broader, by means of which they will carry a great number of men; but we saw only one fitted in this manner.
The fishing Ivahahs vary in length from about forty feet to the smallest size, which is about ten; all that are of the length of twenty-five feet and upwards, of whatever sort, occasionally carry sail. The travelling Ivahah is always double, and furnished with a small neat house about five or six feet broad, and six or seven feet long, which is fastened upon the fore-part for the convenience of the principal people, who sit in them by day, and sleep in them at night. The fishing Ivahahs are sometimes joined together, and have a house on board; but this is not common.
Those which are shorter than five-and-twenty feet, seldom or never carry sail; and, though the stern rises about four or five feet, have a flat head, and a board that projects forward about four feet.
The Pahie is also of different sizes, from sixty to thirty feet long; but, like the Ivahah, is very narrow. One that I measured was fifty-one feet long, and only one foot and a half wide at the top. In the widest part, it was about three feet; and this is the general proportion. It does not, however, widen by a gradual swell; but the sides being straight, and parallel, for a little way below the gunwale, it swells abruptly, and draws to a ridge at the bottom; so that a transverse section of it has somewhat the appearance of the mark upon cards called a Spade, the whole being much wider in proportion to its length. These, like the largest Ivahahs, are used for fighting; but principally for long voyages. The fighting Pahie, which is the largest, is fitted with the stage or platform, which is proportionably larger than those of the Ivahah, as their form enables them to sustain a much greater weight. Those that are used for sailing are generally double; and the middle size are said to be the best sea-boats. They are sometimes out a month together, going from island to island; and sometimes, as we were credibly informed, they are a fortnight or twenty days at sea, and could keep it longer if they had more stowage for provisions, and conveniences to hold fresh water.
When any of these boats carry sail single, they make use of a log of wood which is fastened to the end of two poles that lie cross the vessel, and project from six to ten feet, according to the size of the vessel, beyond its side, somewhat like what is used by the flying proa of the Ladrone Islands, and called in the account of Lord Anson's Voyage, an Outrigger. To this outrigger the shrouds are fastened, and it is essentially necessary in trimming the boat when it blows fresh.[20]
[Footnote 20: For a short but sufficient notice of what is called an Outrigger, see our account of Anson's Voyage, in vol. xi. p. 464. The reader will find a drawing representing it in the translation of the Account of Bougainville's Voyage.--E.]
Some of them have one mast, and some two; they are made of a single stick, and when the length of the canoe is thirty feet, that of the mast is somewhat less than five-and-twenty; it is fixed to a frame that is above the canoe, and receives a sail of matting about one-third longer than itself: The sail is pointed at the top, square at the bottom, and curved at the side; somewhat resembling what we call a shoulder-of-mutton sail, and used for boats belonging to men-of-war: It is placed in a frame of wood, which surrounds it on every side, and has no contrivance either for reefing or furling; so that, if either should become necessary, it must be cut away, which, however, in these equal climates, can seldom happen. At the top of the mast are fastened ornaments of feathers, which are placed inclining obliquely forwards.
The oars or paddles that are used with these boats, have a long handle and a flat blade, not unlike a baker's peel. Of these every person in the boat has one, except those that sit under the awning; and they push her forward with them at a good rate. These boats, however, admit so much water at the seams, that one person at least is continually employed in throwing it out. The only thing in which, they excel is landing, and putting off from the shore in a surf: By their great length and high sterns they land dry, when our boats could scarcely land at all; and have the same advantages in putting off by the height of the head. The Ivahahs are the only boats that are used by the inhabitants of Otaheite; but we saw several Pahies that came from other islands. Of one of these I shall give the exact dimensions from a careful admeasurement, and then particularly describe the manner in which they are built.
Feet. Inches.
Extreme length from stem to stern, not reckoning
the bending up of either 51 0
Breadth in the clear of the top forward 1 3
Breadth in the midships 1 6
Breadth aft 1 3
In the bilge forward 2 8
In the midships 2 11
Aft 2 9
Depth in the midships 8 4
Height from the ground on which she stood 3 6
Height of her head from the ground, without the
figure 4 4
Height of the figure 0 11
Height of the stern from the ground 8 9
Height of the figure 2 0
The first stage, or keel, is made of a tree hollowed out like a trough; for which the longest trees are chosen that can be got, so that there are never more than three in the whole length: The next stage is formed of straight plank, about four feet long, fifteen inches broad, and two inches thick: The third stage, is, like the bottom, made of trunks, hollowed into its bilging form; the last is also cut out of trunks, so that the moulding is of one piece with the upright. To form these parts separately, without saw, plane, chissel, or any other iron tool, may well be thought no easy task; but the great difficulty is to join them together.
When all the parts are prepared, the keel is laid upon blocks, and the planks being supported by stanchions, are sewed or clamped together with strong thongs of plaiting, which are passed several times through holes that are bored with a gouge or auger of bone, that has been described already; and the nicety with which this is done, may be inferred from their being sufficiently water-tight for use without caulking. As the platting soon rots in the water, it is renewed at least once a-year; in order to which, the vessel is taken entirely to pieces. The head and stern are rude with respect to the design; but very neatly finished, and polished to the highest degree.
These Pahies are kept with great care, in a kind of house built on purpose for their reception; the houses are formed of poles set upright in the ground, the tops of which are drawn towards each other, and fastened together with their strongest cord, so as to form a kind of Gothic arch, which is completely thatched quite to the ground, being open only at the ends; they are sometimes fifty or sixty paces long.
As connected with the navigation of these people, I shall mention their wonderful sagacity in foretelling the weather, at least the quarter from which the wind shall blow at a future time; they have several ways of doing this, of which however I know but one. "They say, that the Milky-way, is always curved laterally; but sometimes, in one direction, and sometimes in another: And that this curvature is the effect of its being already acted upon by the wind, and its hollow part therefore towards it; so that, if the same curvature continues a night, a corresponding wind certainly blows the next day. Of their rules, I shall not pretend to judge; but I know that, by whatever means, they can predict the weather, at least the wind, with much greater certainty than we can. [21]
[Footnote 21: It is injudicious and unphilosophical to slight the observations of the vulgar on subjects level to their capacities and habits of thought. But, on the other hand, it is almost always necessary to distrust their reasonings and theories about them. This is one of the cases in which both cautions are to be practised. The common people in all countries are more accustomed to make remarks upon the weather, than those who are given to literary or scientific pursuits. It would be worth some person's while to make a collection of their observations on the subject. For a man of science, learning, and ingenuity, no one perhaps has paid more attention to the signs of the weather than Mr Jones,--See his Physiological Disquisitions, published at London 1781.--E.]
In their longer voyages, they steer by the sun in the day, and in the night by the stars; all of which they distinguish separately by names, and know in what part of the heavens they will appear in any of the months during which they are visible in their horizon; they also know the time of their annual appearing and disappearing with more precision than will easily be believed by an European astronomer.[22]
[Footnote 22: Mr Bryan Edwards has been at pains to compare together the Otaheitans and the original inhabitants of some of the West India islands. On the whole, he gives the preference to the latter. But he is far indeed from being unjust to the former, in the description he has given of them. A few quotations may be made from his work, to the edification of the reader, and it is conceived, that though some of them seem to respect subjects discussed in the next chapter, this is the best place for giving them. "Having mentioned the natives of the South-Sea Islands, I cannot but advert to the wonderful similarity observable, in many respects, between our ill-fated West Indians and that placid people. The same frank and affectionate temper, the same cheerful simplicity, gentleness, and candour;--a behaviour, devoid of meanness and treachery, of cruelty and revenge, are apparent in the character of both; and although placed at so great a distance from each other, and divided by the intervention of the American continent, we may trace a resemblance even in many of their customs and institutions; their national songs and dances, their domestic economy, their system of government, and their funeral ceremonies. I pretend not, however, to affirm that this resemblance is so exact as to create the presumption of common origin. The affinity perceivable in the dispositions and virtues of these widely-separated tribes, arose probably from a similarity in their circumstances and situation, operating on the general principles of human nature. Placed alike in a happy medium; between savage life, properly so called, and the refinements of polished society, they are found equally exempt from the sordid corporeal distresses and sanguinary passions of the former state, and from the artificial necessities, the restraints, and solicitudes of the latter."--"In those inventions and arts, which, varying the enjoyments, add considerably to the value of life, I believe the Otaheitans were in general somewhat behind our islanders; in agriculture they were particularly so. The great support of the inferior territories of the South-sea consists of the bread-fruit and the plantain; both which flourish there spontaneously; and although the inhabitants have likewise plantations of yams, and other excellent roots, yet the cultivation of none of them appears to be as extensive as was that of the maize in the West Indies, or to display equal skill with the preparation of the Cassavi-bread from the maniock. The West Indians, notwithstanding that they possessed almost every variety of vegetable nature which grew in the countries I have mentioned, the bread-fruit excepted, raised also both the maize and the maniock in great abundance; and they had acquired the skill of watering their lands from distant rivers, in time of drought. It may likewise be observed, that although the Otaheitans possess the shrub which produces cotton, they neither improve it by culture, nor have the knowledge of converting its wool into cloth, but content themselves with a far meaner production as a substitute. Our islanders had not only the skill of making excellent cloth from their cotton, but they practised also the arts of dying it, with a variety of colours, some of them of the utmost brilliancy and beauty. In the science of shipbuilding (if the construction of such vessels as either people used may be distinguished with that appellation) the superiority is on the side of the Otaheitans; yet the piraguas of the West Indians were fully sufficient for the navigation they were employed in, and indeed were by no means contemptible sea-boats."--"On the other hand, our islanders far surpassed the people of Otaheite, in the elegance and variety of their domestic utensils and furniture; their earthen-ware, curiously woven beds, and implements of husbandry." For the particulars of the comparison here entered into, the reader who is interested will have recourse to the work itself, in which, besides, he will find several circumstances related of another people, the Charaibes, which much resemble what he has now read in the account of the Otaheitans. This note is already too large to admit of their being specified in any satisfactory manner, and it was thought improper to be continually calling off the attention of the reader, from the text, to smaller notes at the individual instances.--E.]
SECTION XIX.
Of the Division of Time in Otaheile; Numeration, Computation of Distance, Language, Diseases, Disposal of the Dead, Religion, War, Weapons, and Government; with some general Observations for the Use of future Navigators.
We were not able to acquire a perfect idea of their method of dividing time; but observed, that in speaking of it, either past or to come, they never used any term but Malama, which signifies Moon. Of these moons they count thirteen, and then begin again; which is a demonstration that they have a notion of the solar year: But how they compute their months, so that thirteen of them shall be commensurate with the year, we could not discover; for they say that each month has twenty-nine days, including one in which the moon is not visible. They have names for them separately, and have frequently told us the fruits that would be in season, and the weather that would prevail, in each of them; and they have indeed a name for them collectively, though they use it only when they speak of the mysteries of their religion.
Every day is subdivided into twelve parts, each of two hours, of which six belong to the day, and six to the night. At these divisions they guess pretty nearly by the height of the sun while he is above the horizon; but there are few of them that can guess at them, when he is below it, by the stars.[23]
[Footnote 23: It is distinctly proved by President Goguet, that the course of the moon, and her various appearances, served mankind in general, in the first ages, for the measurement of time. What is here said of the Otaheitans confirms his observations. We are told too, in another work, that the natives of the Pellew Islands reckon their time by months, and not by years; in which, however, we see they are inferior to the former as to extent of science. Now there are two sorts of lunar month, called in the language of astronomers, synodical and periodical; the first is the time from new moon to new moon, consisting of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 min. 3 seconds, which is the month most commonly used by the early observers; the second, consisting of 27 days, 7 hours, 43 min. 5 seconds, is that portion of time which the moon takes to finish her course round the earth. Neither of these multiplied by 13 will make up the solar year exactly. In what manner then the Otaheitans reckon, it is not easy to comprehend. The probability is, that they have no notion of the periodical month.--E.]
In numeration they proceed from one to ten, the number of fingers on both hands; and though they have for each number a different name, they generally take hold of their fingers one by one, shifting from one hand to the other, till they come to the number they want to express. And in other instances, we observed that, when they were conversing with each other, they joined signs to their words, which were so expressive that a stranger might easily apprehend their meaning.
In counting from ten they repeat the name of that number, and add the word more; ten, and one more, is eleven; ten, and two more, twelve; and so of the rest, as we say one-and-twenty, two-and-twenty. When they come to ten and ten more, they have a new denomination, as we say a score; and by these scores they count till they get ten of them, when they have a denomination for two hundred; and we never could discover that they had any denomination to express a greater number: Neither, indeed; do they seem to want any; for ten of these amount to two thousand, a greater number than they can ever apply.[24]
[Footnote 24: The reader cannot but be pleased with what Goguet says on the practice of numbering with the fingers, so common in most nations, and adopted we see by the Otaheitans. "Nature has provided us with a kind of arithmetical instrument more generally used than is commonly imagined; I mean our fingers. Every thing inclines us to think, that these were the first instruments used by men to assist them in the practice of numeration. We may observe in Homer, that Proteus counts his sea-calves by fives and fives, that is, by his fingers. Several nations in America have no other instruments of calculation. It was probably the same in the primitive ages. It is another strong presumption of the truth of what I now advance, that all civilized nations count by tens, tens of tens, or hundreds, tens of hundreds, thousands, and so on; still from ten to ten. We can discover no reason why the number ten should be chosen rather than any other for the term of numeration, except this primitive practice of counting by the fingers." The whole of his observations on this subject are well worthy of minute consideration. On such elements, the provision of nature, are founded the most sublime and important sciences.--E.]
In measuring distance they are much more deficient than in computing numbers, having but one term which answers to fathom; when they speak of distances from place to place, they express it, like the Asiatics, by the time that is required to pass it.
Their language is soft and melodious; it abounds with vowels, and we easily learnt to pronounce it: But found it exceedingly difficult to teach them to pronounce a single word of ours; probably not only from its abounding in consonants, but from some peculiarity in its structure; for Spanish and Italian words, if ending in a vowel, they pronounced with great facility.
Whether it is copious, we were not sufficiently acquainted with it to know; but it is certainly very imperfect, for it is almost totally without inflexion, both of nouns and verbs. Few of the nouns have more than one case, and few of the verbs more than one tense; yet we found no great difficulty in making ourselves mutually understood, however strange it may appear in speculation.
They have, however, certain affixa, which, though but few in number, are very useful to them, and puzzled us extremely. One asks another, Harre hea? "Where are you going?" the other answers Ivahinera, "To my wives;" upon which the first repeating the answer interrogatively, "To your wives?" is answered, Ivahinereira; "Yes, I am going to my wives." Here the suffixa era and eira save several words to both parties.[25]
[Footnote 25: A table of some words of the language follows in the copy.--It is omitted here, because an opportunity will occur, to give one more full and correct; and it seemed injudicious to run the hazard of being charged with unnecessary repetition.--E.]
Among people whose food is so simple, and who in general are seldom drunk, it is scarcely necessary to say, that there are but few diseases; we saw no critical disease during our stay upon the island, and but few instances of sickness, which were accidental fits of the cholic. The natives, however, are afflicted with the erysipelas, and cutaneous eruptions of the scaly kind, very nearly approaching to a leprosy. Those in whom this distemper was far advanced, lived in a state of seclusion from all society, each in a small house built upon some unfrequented spot, where they were supplied with provisions: But whether they had any hope of relief, or languished out the remainder of their lives in solitude and despair, we could not learn. We observed also a few who had ulcers upon different parts of their bodies, some of which had a very virulent appearance; yet they seemed not much to be regarded by those who were afflicted with them, for they were left entirely without application even to keep off the flies.[26]
[Footnote 26: The affection of the skin, called leprosy in the text, is, in the missionary account, ascribed to the excessive use of the yava, the intoxicating beverage of the Otaheitans, and is there said to be regarded by many as a badge of nobility. This perhaps is something on the same principle as the gout is accounted among us, an evidence of a person's being rich; for it appears, that the common people in general are as unable to procure the yava in Otaheite, as they are on our side of the world to indulge in luxurious living. What excellency there is in the scabbed skins of the Otaheitan lepers, to entitle them to the estimation of nobility, or what advantage they find in this to compensate the sufferings of so grievous a malady, is difficult indeed to divine; but it may be very safely affirmed of those among us, who have prospered so well as to obtain the gout for a possession, that they really require all the comforts of riches, though tenfold more than imagined, to render the residue of life any way tolerable. Yet such is the inconsistency of human nature, and so formidable its weakness of resolution, when pernicious habits are once formed, that few persons, though even writhing at the bare remembrance of its horrors, and dreading its approach as the attack ofPerverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things, Abominable, unutterable, and worse Than fables yet have feign'd, or fear conceived, Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire,can be prevailed on to swear rebellion against it "For," says Dr Heberden, "this seems to be the favourite disease of the present age in England; wished for by those who have it not, and boasted of by those who fancy they have it, though very sincerely lamented by most who in reality suffer its tyranny. For, so much respect hath been shown to this distemper, that all the other evils, except pain, which the real or supposed gouty patient ever feels, are imputed most commonly not to his having too much of this disease, but to his wanting more; and the gout, far from being blamed as the cause, is looked up to as the expected deliverer from these evils." "The dread of being cured of the gout," he further remarks, "was and is still much greater than the dread of having it; and the world seems agreed patiently to submit to this tyrant, lest a worse should come in its room." It is not difficult to account for such absurdity, though it be quite impracticable to palliate it; and what is worse, from its being founded on something more congenial to human nature than even prejudice, it is almost impossible to remove it. A single quotation more from the same author, so much in repute among his professional brethren, will at once unravel the mystery, and show how rare a thing a cure is, where the means essential to it are necessarily dependent on the self-denial of the patient. "Strong wines, and in no small quantity, have the reputation of being highly beneficial to gouty persons; which notion they have very readily and generally received, not so much perhaps from a reasonable persuasion of its truth, as from a desire that it should be true, because they love wine. Let them consider, that a free use of vinous and spirituous liquors peculiarly hurts the stomach and organs of digestion, and that the gout is bred and fostered by those who indulge themselves in drinking much wine; while the poorer part of mankind, who can get very little stronger than water to drink, have better appetites than wine-drinkers, and better digestions, and are far less subject to arthritic complaints. The most perfect cures, of which I have been a witness, have been effected by a total abstinence from spirits, and wine, and flesh, which in two or three instances hath restored the helpless and miserable patients from a state worse than death, to active and comfortable life: But I have seen too few examples of the success of this method, to be confident or satisfied of its general utility." The language of the missionary account is very similar and equally encouraging. "On the discontinuance of the practice of drinking the yava, the skin of the leprous persons soon becomes smooth and clear, and they grow fat, though few are found who deny themselves the use of it." If drugs could remove either of these calamities, it is certain there would be no difficulty in getting them to be swallowed; for most men, it seems, prefer any sorts of bitter and nauseating substances, though taken by the pound, and without intermission, to the salutary restraints on appetite and vicious propensities, which common sense as well as common experience so authoritatively enjoin. It is as unjust to censure physicians for failing to cure the gout, as it would be to censure a surgeon for the lameness or deformity of the leg of a man, who, while under treatment for a fracture, should make daily attempts to dance or ride on horseback.--E.]
Where intemperance produces no diseases, there will be no physicians by profession; yet where there is sufferance, there will always be attempts to relieve; and where the cause of the mischief and the remedy are alike unknown, these will naturally be directed by superstition: Thus it happens, that in this country, and in all others which are not further injured by luxury, or improved by knowledge, the management of the sick falls to the lot of the priest. The method of cure that is practised by the priests of Otaheite, consists chiefly of prayers and ceremonies. When he visits his patient he repeats certain sentences, which appear to be set forms contrived for the occasion, and at the same time plaits the leaves of the cocoa-nut into different figures very neatly; some of these he fastens to the fingers and toes of the sick, and often leaves behind him a few branches of the the specia populnea, which they call E'midho: These ceremonies are repeated till the patient recovers or dies. If he recovers, they say the remedies cured him, if he dies, they say the disease was incurable, in which perhaps they do not much differ from the custom of other countries.[27]
[Footnote 27: Dr Hawkesworth, we see, is at loggerheads with both priests and physicians, and spares neither. Let the respective members of these bodies defend their crafts as they best can. Certainly they will have the bias of the multitude in their favour, and so need to care little about the insinuations and sarcasms of the few. If nine-tenths of mankind give them credit for their pretences, and of consequence yield to their influence, they may contentedly, without a grudge, see the remaining modicum persist in their obstinacy. The fact is, however, that the fears and hopes of mankind are almost always superior in efficacy to their reason, and accordingly, in the two predicaments of bodily and spiritual health, are continually acting like tendrils which embrace with undistinguishing affection whatever comes in their way, as the ivy clings to the tree or wall that happens to be in its neighbourhood. Influence, once acquired by accident or artifice, is easily prolonged by him who knows the secret of its origin and existence--and hence in all ages and countries of the world, the mysteries and mummeries of designing men, leagued to practise on the infatuated propensities and real weaknesses of their fellow creatures. It is not till many generations have passed, that the small sparks of reason, occasionally shooting off in various directions, have penetrated the gloomy atmosphere around them, and ascertained the universal and unqualified dependence of the whole human race on the same uncontroulable powers. In proportion as these rays of light have coalesced, the presumption of the learned brethren has decreased; and should this superlative discovery be ever consummated in the general conviction of society, then will their characters undergo a thorough revolution--they will be loved more and admired less--they will be considered, not as the repositories of secrets to be dispensed with the cold hand of calculating avarice and hypocrisy, but as the liberally minded declarers of those generally beneficial truths which honest study has discovered, in their peculiar departments of science. Till then the world must submit to wonder and believe, and, above all things, to pay them fees. But, looking forward to this era of improvement, they may join with the poet in sayingYes! there are hearts, prophetic Hope may trust, That slumber yet in uncreated dust, Ordain'd to fire th' adoring sons of earth With every charm of wisdom and of worth; Ordain'd to light, with intellectual day, The mazy wheels of Nature as they play.--E.]
If we had judged of their skill in surgery from the dreadful scars which we sometimes saw, we should have supposed it to be much superior to the art not only of their physicians, but of ours. We saw one man whose face was almost entirely destroyed, his nose, including the bone, was perfectly flat, and one cheek and one eye were so beaten in that the hollow would almost receive a man's fist, yet no ulcer remained; and our companion, Tupia, had been pierced quite through his body by a spear headed with the bone of the sting-ray, the weapon having entered his back, and come out just under his breast; but, except in reducing dislocations and fractures, the best surgeon can contribute very little to the cure of a wound; the blood itself is the best vulnerary balsam, and when the juices of the body are pure, and the patient is temperate, nothing more is necessary as an aid to nature in the cure of the worst wound, than the keeping it clean.
Their commerce with the inhabitants of Europe has, however, already entailed upon them that dreadful curse which avenged the inhumanities committed by the Spaniards in America, the venereal disease. As it is certain that no European vessel besides our own, except the Dolphin, and the two that were under the command of Mons. Bougainville, ever visited this island, it must have been brought either by one of them or by us.[28] That it was not brought by the Dolphin, Captain Wallis has demonstrated in the account of her voyage, and nothing is more certain than that when we arrived, it had made most dreadful ravages in the island. One of our people contracted it within five days after we went on shore; and by the enquiries among the natives, which this occasioned, we learnt, when we came to understand a little of their language, that it had been brought by the vessels which had been there about fifteen months before us, and had lain on the east side of the island. They distinguished it by a name of the same import with rottenness, but of a more extensive signification, and described, in the most pathetic terms, the sufferings of the first victims to its rage, and told us that it caused the hair and the nails to fall off, and the flesh to rot from the bones; that it spread a universal terror and consternation among them, so that the sick were abandoned by their nearest relations, lest the calamity should spread by contagion, and left to perish alone in such misery as till then had never been known among them. We had some reason, however, to hope that they had found out a specific to cure it: During our stay upon the island we saw none in whom it had made a great progress, and one who went from us infected, returned after a short time in perfect health; and by this it appeared, either that the disease had cured itself, or that they were not unacquainted with the virtues of simples, nor implicit dupes to the superstitious follies of their priests. We endeavoured to learn the medical qualities which they imputed to their plants, but our knowledge of their language was too imperfect for us to succeed. If we could have learnt their specific for the venereal disease, if such they have, it would have been of great advantage to us, for when we left the island it had been contracted by more than half the people on board the ship.
[Footnote 28: Bougainville most positively asserts, that the disease existed in the island at his arrival; yet the statement of Wallis as to the soundness of his crew, seems deserving of all credit. After all, perhaps, there is reason to doubt if the affection judged to be the Lues Venerea, and at different times so exceedingly prevalent among these people, were really so. Scientific men of the medical profession, know the extreme difficulty there is of deciding, as to the existence of this disease in certain cases. Common observers easily perceive and confidently aver. But to the general reader the discussion of this topic would be very unamusing. It is indeed quite irrelevant to the objects of this work. But there may be some propriety in giving the following remarks. The origin of the disease in question has never been distinctly ascertained, and perhaps never will be. The common opinion is, that it was brought from the western hemisphere; and the island of Hispaniola or St Domingo is particularly mentioned by some writers as the place of its first appearance. Hence the historian Robertson, with somewhat more of unnecessary vehemence than of dignified moderation and good sense, tells us in words very like part of our text: "One dreadful malady, the severest scourge with which, in this life, offended heaven chastens the indulgence of criminal desire, seems to have been peculiar to the Americans. By communicating it to their conquerors, they have not only amply avenged their own wrongs, but by adding this calamity to those which formerly embittered human life, they have, perhaps, more than counterbalanced all the benefits which Europe has derived from the discovery of the New World." As if a disease which every body might have avoided, so soon as its existence, its inveterate nature, and the mode of communicating it, were known, and which, after all that has been said of its malignity and rapid progress, was both mitigated by various means soon after its appearance, and ultimately at no great distance of time effectually arrested in its terrifying career--as if this could be considered competent to liquidate all the advantages and the greatly augmented comforts which have resulted to Europe and to the world at large by the discoveries of Columbus: And as if, granting all that has been exaggeratingly related of its spreading over Europe with the celerity and unqualified extension of an epidemic--such visitation on multitudes of generations no way implicated in the guilt, could by any rules of logic for the interpreting of Providence be construed into acts of righteous retribution in avenging these Indians! But in reality, it is highly disputable if the facts on which is exhibited such an uncommonly zealous display of justice on the part of the historian, are adequate to warrant his opinion, that America inflicted this calamity. This is rather unfortunate for his apparent warmth of piety, and the more so, as, from the information to which he alludes in his note on the text, he must have been diffident at least of the accuracy of its application. In that note, he makes mention of a dissertation published in 1765, by Dr Antonio Sanchez Ribeiro, in which it is endeavoured to be proved that the venereal disease took its rise in Europe, and was brought on by an epidemical and malignant disorder. Though calling in question some of the facts on which this opinion is built, the Principal allows that it "is supported with such plausible arguments, as render it (what? deserving of considerable regard, or very probable? No such thing--as render it) a subject of enquiry well deserving the attention of learned physicians!" Mr Bryan Edwards is more moderate in his judgment of the matter, and seemingly more industrious in ascertaining the evidence of it. In his opinion, an attentive enquirer will hesitate to subscribe to the conclusion that this infection was the product of the West Indies. He refers to the work of Sanchez above mentioned, and to several other works, for reasons to substantiate the other view; and he terminates his note with the following paragraph, which by most readers will be considered of superlative authority as to one important part of the case: In Stowe's Survey of London, vol. ii. p. 7, is preserved a copy of the rules or regulations established by parliament in the eighth year of Henry the Second, for the government of the licensed stews in Southwark, among which I find the following: "No stewholder to keep any woman that hath the perilous infirmity of burning." This was 330 years before the voyage of Columbus. If this "perilous infirmity of burning" be the disease now denominated the Lues Venerea, the question is solved as to the concern of America in its production. And all that Oviedo, Guicciardin, Charlevoix, and others say, as to its first appearance in Europe, when the king of Spain sent an army to the assistance of Ferdinand the Second of Naples, must be reckoned as applicable only to its greater frequency, or more common occurrence, than had before been known. But, indeed, the description given of the disease which then prevailed so alarmingly, is with some difficulty reconcileable to what is now ascertained of the venereal infection. Guicciardin himself seems to hint at a diversity in its form and mode of reception, betwixt the period he assigns for its appearance, and "after the course of many years." "For then," says he, (the quotation is made from Fenton's curious translation, London, 1599) "the disease began to be less malitious, changing itself into diverse kindes of infirmity, differing from the first calamity, whereof truly the regions and people of our times might justly complain, if it happened to them without their proper disorder (that is, without their own fault,) seeing it is well approved by all those that have diligently studied and observed the properties of that evil, that either never or very rarely it happeneth to any otherwayes, than by contagious whoredome or immoderate incontinency." That a mistake exists in the early accounts as to the nature of the disease which was found at Hispaniola by the Spaniards, and by them on their return to Europe communicated to the French and Neapolitans, is very probable from the circumstance mentioned in them, that some vegetable substances, especially guiaicum, were effectual for its cure;--since it is most certain, that the Lues Venerea of modern times is not at all destructible by such means, whereas there are several cutaneous affections which may be benefited by them. A similar remark may be made respecting the disease observable at Otaheite, which, as the reader will find in the text, is said to have been cured by simples known to the inhabitants. This is most unlikely, if that disease were really the Lues Venerea, as is alleged, and had not existed among them previous to the arrival of Europeans; though what Lawson says in his account of the natives of North Carolina does undoubtedly yield material evidence to such an opinion. "They cure," says he, "the pox, which is frequent among them, by a berry that salivates, as mercury does; yet they use sweating and decoctions very much with it; as they do, almost on every occasion; and when they are thoroughly heated, they leap into the river." The natives of Madagascar too are said to cure this disease by similar treatment. But the reader's patience, perhaps, is exhausted, and it is full time to conclude this long note. On the whole, it seems probable enough, that this disease is not the product of any one particular country, and from it propagated among others by communication, but is the result of certain circumstances not indeed yet ascertained, but common to the human race, and of earlier occurrence in the world than is generally imagined.--E.]
It is impossible but that, in relating incidents, many particulars with respect to the customs, opinions, and works of these people should be anticipated; to avoid repetition therefore, I shall only supply deficiencies. Of the manner of disposing of their dead much has been said already. I must more explicitly observe, that there are two places in which the dead are deposited; one a kind of shed, where the flesh is suffered to putrify; the other an inclosure, with erections of stone, where the bones are afterwards buried. The sheds are called Tupapow and the inclosures Morai. The Morais are also places of worship.[29]
[Footnote 29: "It is the heaviest stone," says Sir Thomas Brown in his curious work Hydriotaphia, "that melancholy can throw at a man, to tell him he is at the end of his nature; or that there is no farther state to come, unto which this seems progressional, and otherwise made in vain." But of such a conspiracy and assault against the best hopes of man, these Otaheitans, we see, are by no means guilty. They look for another existence after that one is finished, in which the body held an inseparable companionship. By their mode of treating the dead, they seem to study the perpetuity of friendship, and by their using their morais as places of worship, they acknowledge a fellowship with them in something that death cannot destroy. The philosopher of modern times may say this is foolish, and may call for evidence that the notion of immortality is not groundless. It is perhaps impossible to satisfy him, because, in fact, he demands of reason what it is not the province of reason to afford. The notion is founded on other principles of the constitution which God has imparted to man, and these principles rebut all the sophistry of the presumptuous sciolist. Is it true, that this notion prevails universally among the human race? Let him answer to this. He must admit it;--let him then explain it, if he can. Reason, he will say, is incompetent to the task.--Admitted. But so is it to many other tasks--it cannot, for instance, solve the question, why we believe the sun will rise to-morrow and dispel the darkness now cloaking over the horizon? The hope that it will do so, is nevertheless very natural. Who shall say it is improper, or that it is founded on the mere fancy of man? Reason indeed may strengthen the ground of this hope, and so may it too the notion of a future existence. But they both rest on foundations quite distinct from that faculty, and might, for any thing can be seen to the contrary, have formed part of our moral constitution, although that faculty had never existed in our minds. And here let it be distinctly understood, that in stating the notion or expectation of a future existence to be founded on some principle or principles separate from reason, and the same in all the human race, it is not meant to be denied that the mere opinions as to the nature and condition of that existence may have no other foundation whatever than what Mr Hume, for instance, has ascribed erroneously to the notion itself--men's own conceit and imagination. This in fact is the secret of that writer's vile sophistry on the subject, and at once confutes it, by proving the inapplicability of his argument. All that is now contended for, is, the universality of the notion or belief, not by any means the similarity of the opinions connected with it. These opinions are as numerous, indeed, as the characteristic features of different nations and governments; but were they a thousand times more diversified than they are ascertained to be, and a thousand times more contradictory and absurd, they still recognise some instinctive or constitutional principle common to our race, and which no reasoning or artifices of priests or designing men could possibly produce. No conceit or imagination can ever originate, though it may certainly foster, "this hope, this fond desire, this longing after immortality;" and no reasoning, no efforts of the mind, nay, what is still more striking, no dislike, however strong, as proceeding from an apprehension of some evil consequences involved in the truth of the belief, can eradicate the inclination to entertain it. In short, it is no way paradoxical to assert, that, were man by any means to know that there shall be no hereafter, his whole life, supposing his constitution to remain the same, would be a direct and continued contradiction to his knowledge. This, to be sure, would be a strange anomaly in the government of God, and utterly irreconcileable with every view we can form of his veracity, if we may use the expression, though still consistent with his wisdom and goodness. But what then shall we say of the conduct of the would-be philosophers, who, with limited faculties and intelligences and benevolence, (this is no disparagement, for even Voltaire himself, with all his powers, was but a finite creature!) force reason and science to prove what their own feelings belie, and to oppose what their consciences declare to be irresistible? It is not profane, on such an occasion, to accommodate the language of an apostle into a suitable rebuke to such perverse contenders. "What if some labour not to believe, shall their attempts frustrate the work of God? Far be it--God will maintain his truth, though all men should conspire against it." Allowing then free scope to a notion so natural to us, and having our opinions guided by an unerring light, we shall see that there is something vastly more dignified than fashion in the funeral rites of the Otaheitans--and feel that there is something vastly more important than eloquence, in the words of an author already quoted at the commencement of this note:--"Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave, solemnizing nativities and deaths with equal lustre, nor omitting ceremonies of bravery, in the infancy of his nature;"--the reason for which is explained by another author, in words still more sublime and exhilarating:--"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."--E.]
As soon as a native of Otaheite is known to be dead, the house is filled with relations, who deplore their loss, some by loud lamentations, and some by less clamorous, but more genuine expressions of grief. Those who are in the nearest degree of kindred, and are really affected by the event, are silent; the rest are one moment uttering passionate exclamations in a chorus, and the next laughing and talking without the least appearance of concern. In this manner the remainder of the day on which they assemble is spent, and all the succeeding night. On the next morning the body is shrouded in their cloth, and conveyed to the seaside upon a bier, which the bearers support upon their shoulders, attended by the priest, who having prayed over the body, repeats his sentences during the procession: When it arrives at the water's edge, it is set down upon the beach; the priest renews his prayers, and taking up some of the water in his hands, sprinkles it towards the body, but not upon it. It is then carried back forty or fifty yards, and soon after brought again to the beach, where the prayers and sprinkling are repeated: It is thus removed backwards and forwards several times, and while these ceremonies have been performing, a house has been built, and a small space of ground railed in. In the centre of this house, or Tupapow, posts are set up to support the bier, which is at length conveyed thither, and placed upon it, and here the body remains to putrify till the flesh is wholly wasted from the bones.
These houses of corruption are of a size proportioned to the rank of the person whose body they are to contain; those allotted to the lower class are just sufficient to cover the bier, and have no railing round them. The largest we ever saw was eleven yards long, and such as these are ornamented according to the abilities and inclination of the surviving kindred, who never fail to lay a profusion of good cloth about the body, and sometimes almost cover the outside of the house. Garlands of the fruit of the palm-nut, or pandanus, and cocoa leaves, twisted by the priests in mysterious knots, with a plant called by them Ethee no Morai, which is particularly consecrated to funeral solemnities, are deposited about the place; provision and water are also left at a little distance, of which, and of other decorations, a more particular description has been given already.
As soon as the body is deposited in the Tupapow, the mourning is renewed. The women assemble, and are led to the door by the nearest relation, who strikes a shark's tooth several times into the crown of her head: The blood copiously follows, and is carefully received upon pieces of linen, which are thrown under the bier. The rest of the women follow this example, and the ceremony is repeated at the interval of two or three days, as long as the zeal and sorrow of the parties hold out. The tears also which are shed upon these occasions, are received upon pieces of cloth, and offered as oblations to the dead: Some of the younger people cut off their hair, and that is thrown under the bier with the other offerings. This custom is founded upon a notion that the soul of the deceased, which they believe to exist in a separate state, is hovering about the place where the body is deposited; that it observes the actions of the survivors, and is gratified by such testimonies of their affection and grief.
Two or three days after these ceremonies have been commenced by the women, during which the men seem to be wholly insensible of their loss, they also begin to perform their part. The nearest relations take it in turn to assume the dress, and perform the office which have already been particularly described in the account of Tubourai Tamaide's having acted as chief mourner to an old woman, his relation, who died while we were in the island. One part of the ceremony, however, which accounts for the running away of the people as soon as this procession is in sight, has not been mentioned. The chief mourner carries in his hand a long flat stick, the edge of which is set with shark's teeth, and in a phrenzy, which his grief is supposed to have inspired, he runs at all he sees, and if any of them happen to be overtaken, he strikes them most unmercifully with this indented cudgel, which cannot fail to wound them in a dangerous manner.
These processions continue at certain intervals for five moons, but are less and less frequent, by a gradual diminution, as the end of that time approaches. When it is expired, what remains of the body is taken down from the bier, and the bones having been scraped and washed very clean, are buried, according to the rank of the person, either within or without a morai: If the deceased was an earee, or chief, his skull is not buried with the rest of the bones, but is wrapped up in fine cloth, and put in a kind of box made for that purpose, which is also placed in the morai. This coffer is called ewharre no te orometua, the house of a teacher or master. After this the mourning ceases, except some of the women continue to be really afflicted for the loss, and in that case they will sometimes suddenly wound themselves with the shark's tooth wherever they happen to be: This perhaps will account for the passion of grief in which Terapo wounded herself at the fort; some accidental circumstance might forcibly revive the remembrance of a friend or relation whom she had lost, with a pungency of regret and tenderness which forced a vent by tears, and prompted her to a repetition of the funeral rite.
The ceremonies, however, do not cease with the mourning: Prayers are still said by the priest, who is well paid by the surviving relations, and offerings made at the morai. Some of the things, which from time to time are deposited there, are emblematical: A young plantain represents the deceased, and the bunch of feathers the deity who is invoked. The priest places himself over against the symbol of the god, accompanied by some of the relations, who are furnished with a small offering, and repeats his oraison in a set form, consisting of separate sentences; at the same time weaving the leaves of the cocoa-nut into different forms, which he afterwards deposits upon the ground where the bones have been interred; the deity is then addressed by a shrill screech, which is used only upon that occasion. When the priest retires, the tuft of feathers is removed, and the provisions left to putrify, or be devoured by the rats.[30]
[Footnote 30: There is something very remarkable in the circumstance of resemblance among very different and distant people, as to the practice of mourning for the dead, when in fact there can be no such thing as grief in existence, and when the appearance of it is merely a part of what may be called professional duty. It is clear from the accounts of the text and other authorities, that more are concerned in this mourning work at Otaheite, than are really concerned in the occasion of it; and the probability of course is, that in some way or other these additional attendants are recompensed for their doleful services. That the use of mercenary mourners prevailed, and still prevails, among some eastern nations, is clear from Scripture and the relations of recent authors. The reader will find some amusing information concerning them, and an account of the Caoinan or funeral cry of the Irish as practised for similar purposes, in Dr A. Clarke's edition of Mr Harmer's Observations, before alluded to. A quotation from that work can scarcely fail to interest the reader, who will be afterwards favoured with a very curious description of what is said by Lawson to have been practised in North Carolina, in which the general point of resemblance is most strikingly displayed.--"Not only do the relations and female friends, in Egypt, surround the corpse, while it remains unburied, with the most bitter cries, scratching and beating their faces so violently as to make them bloody, and black, and blue; but, to render the hubbub more complete, and do the more honour to the dead person, whom they seem to imagine to be very fond of noise, those of the lower class of people are wont to call in, on these occasions, certain women, who play on tabors, and whose business it is to sing mournful airs to the sound of this instrument, which they accompany with a thousand distortions of their limbs, as frightful as those of people possessed by the devil. These women attend the corpse to the grave intermixed with the relations and friends of the deceased, who commonly have their hair in the utmost disorder, like the frantic Bacchanalian women of the ancient heathens, their heads covered with dust, their faces daubed with indigo, or at least rubbed with mud, and howling like mad people." Now let us hear Lawson.--"These savages all agree in their mourning, which is to appear, every night, at the sepulchre, and howl and weep in a very dismal manner, having their faces daubed over with light-wood soot, (which is the same as lamp-black) and bears-oil. This renders them as black as it is possible to make themselves, so that their's very much resemble the faces of executed men boiled in tar. If the dead person was a grandee, to carry on the funeral ceremonies, they hire people to cry and lament over the dead man. Of this sort there are several, that practise it for a livelihood, and are very expert at shedding abundance of tears, and howling like wolves, and so discharging their office with abundance of hypocrisy and art." The reader will meet with a pretty full account of the funeral ceremonies among some of the eastern nations, in Dr Scott's introduction to his recent edition of the Arabian Nights Entertainments.--E.]
Of the religion of these people, we were not able to acquire any clear and consistent knowledge: We found it like the religion of most other countries, involved in mystery, and perplexed with apparent inconsistencies. The religious language is also here, as it is in China, different from that which is used in common; so that Tupia, who took great pains to instruct us, having no words to express his meaning which we understood, gave us lectures to very little purpose: What we learnt, however, I will relate with as much perspicuity as I can.
Nothing is more obvious to a rational being, however ignorant or stupid, than that the universe and its various parts, as far as they fall under his notice, were produced by some agent inconceivably more powerful than himself; and nothing is more difficult to be conceived, even by the most sagacious and knowing, than the production of them from nothing, which among us is expressed by the word Creation. It is natural therefore, as no Being apparently capable of producing the universe is to be seen, that he should be supposed to reside in some distant part of it, or to be in his nature invisible, and that he should have originally produced all that now exists in a manner similar to that in which nature is renovated by the succession of one generation to another; but the idea of procreation includes in it that of two persons, and from the conjunction of two persons these people imagine every thing in the universe either originally or derivatively to proceed.
The Supreme Deity, one of these two first beings, they call Taroataihetoomoo, and the other, whom they suppose to have been a rock, Tepapa. A daughter of these was Tettowmatatayo, the year, or thirteen months collectively, which they never name but upon this occasion, and she, by the common father, produced the months, and the months, by conjunction with each other, the days; the stars they suppose partly to be the immediate offspring of the first pair, and partly to have increased among themselves; and they have the same notion with respect to the different species of plants. Among other progeny of Taroataihetoomoo and Tepapa, they suppose an inferior race of deities whom they call Eatuas. Two of these Eatuas, they say, at some remote period of time, inhabited the earth, and were the parents of the first man. When this man, their common ancestor, was born, they say that he was round like a ball, but that his mother, with great care, drew out his limbs, and having at length moulded him into his present form, she called him Eothe, which signifies finished. That being prompted by the universal instinct to propagate his kind, and being able to find no female but his mother, he begot upon her a daughter, and upon the daughter other daughters for several generations, before there was a son; a son, however, being at length born, he, by the assistance of his sisters, peopled the world.
Besides their daughter Tettowmatatayo, the first progenitors of nature had a son whom they called Tane. Taroataihetoomoo, the Supreme Deity, they emphatically style the causer of earthquakes; but their prayers are more generally addressed to Tane, whom they suppose to take a greater part in the affairs of mankind.
Their subordinate deities or Eatuas, which are numerous, are of both sexes: The male are worshipped by the men, and the female by the women; and each have morais to which the other sex is not admitted, though they have also morais common to both. Men perform the office of priest to both sexes, but each sex has its priests, for those who officiate for one sex do not officiate for the other.[31]
[Footnote 31: In several respects the theological notions of these islanders resemble those of the oriental philosophers, spoken of in Mosheim's Historical Account of the Church in the First Century, to which the curious reader is referred. The Otaheitan Eatuas and the Gnostic [Greek] seem near a-kin; the generation scheme is common to both. What said the philosophers? The Supreme Being, after passing many ages in silence and inaction, did at length beget of himself, two beings of very excellent nature like his own; these, by some similar operation, produced others, who having the same desires and ability, soon generated more, till the [Greek], or whole space inhabited by them, was completely occupied. A sort of inferior beings proceeded from these, and were considered by the worshippers as intermediate betwixt themselves and the upper gods. But enough of this trash. Let certain infatuated admirers of ancient philosophy blush, if they are capable of such an indication of modesty, to find that the rude and tin-lettered inhabitants of an island in the South-Sea, are not a whit behind their venerated sages in the manufacture of gods and godlings. Alas, poor Gibbon! must the popular religion of Otaheite, the licentious, the dissolute, the child-murdering, the unnatural Otaheite, be put on a level with the elegant mythology of Homer, and the mild, serviceable superstition of imperial Rome? Why not? Is it fitting that even Otaheite be excluded the benefit of this very impartial historian's humane maxim, which he puts into the mouths of the Lords of the earth; "in every country, the form of superstition, which has received the sanction of time and experience, is the best adapted to the climate and to its inhabitants?" By all means, give Taroataihetoomoo, Tepapa, and Tettowmatatayo, the freedom of the city--only clip their names a little for the conveniency of the liberal-minded catholics who may desire their acquaintance.--E.]
They believe the immortality of the soul, at least its existence in a separate state, and that there are two situations of different degrees of happiness, somewhat analogous to our heaven and hell: The superior situation they call Tavirua Perai, the other Tiahoboo. They do not, however, consider them as places of reward and punishment, but as receptacles for different classes; the first, for their chiefs and principal people, the other for those of inferior rank, for they do not suppose that their actions here in the least influence their future state, or indeed that they come under the cognizance of their deities at all. Their religion, therefore, if it has no influence upon their morals, is at least disinterested; and their expressions of adoration and reverence, whether by words or actions, arise only from a humble sense of their own inferiority, and the ineffable excellence of divine perfection.
The character of the priest, or Tahowa, is hereditary: The class is numerous, and consists of all ranks of people; the Chief, however, is generally the younger brother of a good family, and is respected in a degree next to their kings: Of the little knowledge that is possessed in this country, the priests have the greatest share; but it consists principally in an acquaintance with the names and ranks of the different Eatuas or subordinate divinities, and the opinions concerning the origin of things, which have been traditionally preserved among the order in detached sentences, of which some will repeat an incredible number, though but very few of the words that are used in their common dialect occur in them.
The priests, however, are superior to the rest of the people in the knowledge of navigation and astronomy, and indeed the name Tahowa signifies nothing more than a man of knowledge. As there are priests of every class, they officiate only among that class to which they belong: The priest of the inferior class is never called upon by those of superior rank, nor will the priest of the superior rank officiate for any of the inferior class.
Marriage in this island, as appeared to us, is nothing more than an agreement between the man and woman, with which the priest has no concern. Where it is contracted it appears to be pretty well kept, though sometimes the parties separate by mutual consent, and in that case a divorce takes place with as little trouble as the marriage.
But though the priesthood has laid the people under no tax for a nuptial benediction, there are two operations which it has appropriated, and from which it derives considerable advantages. One is tattowing, and the other circumcision, though neither of them have any connection with religion. The tattowing has been described already. Circumcision has been adopted merely from motives of cleanliness; it cannot indeed properly be called circumcision, because the prepuce is not mutilated by a circular wound, but only slit through the upper part to prevent its contracting over the glans. As neither of these can be performed by any but a priest, and as to be without either is the greatest disgrace, they may be considered as a claim to surplice fees like our marriages and christenings, which are cheerfully and liberally paid, not according to any settled stipend, but the rank and abilities of the parties or their friends.
The morai, as has already been observed, is at once a burying-ground and a place of worship, and in this particular our churches too much resemble it. The Indian, however, approaches his morai with a reverence and humility that disgraces the christian, not because he holds any thing sacred that is there, but because he there worships an invisible divinity, for whom, though he neither hopes for reward, nor fears punishment, at his hand, he always expresses the profoundest homage and most humble adoration. I have already given a very particular description both of the morais and the altars that are placed near them. When an Indian is about to worship at the morai, or brings his offering to the altar, he always uncovers his body to the waist, and his looks and attitude are such as sufficiently express a corresponding disposition of mind.[32]
[Footnote 32: Almost all the particulars now and afterwards stated in favour of the Otaheitans, are fully allowed by recent accounts, especially that of the Missionary Voyage already noticed.--E.]
It did not appear to us that these people are, in any instance, guilty of idolatry; at least they do not worship any thing that is the work of their hands, nor any visible part of the creation. This island indeed, and the rest that lie near it, have a particular bird, some a heron, and others a king's fisher, to which they pay a peculiar regard, and concerning which they have some superstitious notions with respect to good and bad fortune, as we have of the swallow and robin-red-breast, giving them the name of Eatua, and by no means killing or molesting them; yet they never address a petition to them, or approach them with any act of adoration.[33]
[Footnote 33: The account now given of the religion of the Otaheitans is imperfect in point of information; and it must be held erroneous as to principle, by all who chuse to derive their knowledge on the subject of man's relation to his Maker, from the sacred Scriptures alone. The imperfections were the consequence of the very limited acquaintance with these islanders, which existed at the time, and may be readily filled up on the authority of subsequent observers. As to the erroneousness of principle, it may suffice for the enlightened reader to remind him, that as the Supreme Being himself is the only object of worship, so every other one that is worshipped in place of him, whether made by the hands of men, or found made by nature, or conceived to exist, is virtually and essentially an idol. It follows from this, that idolatry is much more prevalent than is usually imagined, and is by no means confined to nations in a barbarous or semi-barbarous state. The worshippers of reason, or virtue, or taste, or fashion, or nature, or one's own goodness and piety, or the spiritual entities of philosophers and religionists, are as truly idolaters as the worshippers of the grand lama in Thibet, or the economical sect in Lapland, who content themselves with the largest stone they can find. Mr Hume, who has been at such pains to enquire into the natural history of religion, is most unnecessarily cautious as to the qualifying of one of his most important assertions on the subject of the prevalence of idolaters. "The savage tribes of America, Africa, and Asia," says he, "are all idolaters. Not a single exception to this rule. Insomuch, that, were a traveller to transport himself into any unknown region; if he found inhabitants cultivated with arts and sciences, though even upon that supposition there are odds against their being theists, yet could he not safely, till further enquiry, pronounce any thing on that head; but if he found them ignorant and barbarous, he might beforehand declare them idolaters; and there is scarcely a possibility of his being mistaken." He might have said with perfect confidence, that a traveller would scarcely find one person in a thousand amid all the tribes of the earth, who was entitled to be considered as a pure theist, or at least, who was single-minded in the exercise of his religious devotion. The generality of mankind, in short, are like a certain people of old,--they fear the Lord, and worship their own gods. Then again as to the disinterestedness of the Otaheitan devotees, Dr Hawkesworth egregiously blunders--as if it were conceivable, or any way natural, that they or any other people could possibly serve their divinities without entertaining the hope that they should be served by them in turn. This were to exceed even Homer in his exaggerating human nature at the expence of the gods. That poet puts a curious speech in the mouth of Dione, the mother of Venus, when addressing her daughter, who had been wounded by Diomede:--My child! how hard soe'er thy sufferings seem, Endure them patiently, since many a wrong From human hands profane the gods endure, And many a painful stroke mankind from ours.But Dr H. it is probable, had embraced the fanatical and monstrous notion of some specialists, that God and religion were to be loved for their own sakes; not because of the benefits they confer; and he wished to exalt the characters of these islanders by representing them as acting on it. This, however, is as irrational in itself, as it is impracticable by such a creature as man. Self-love, directed by wisdom, is perhaps the best principle that can actuate him. Considering scripture as an authority, there is a high degree of commendation implied in what is said of Moses by an apostle, when speaking of his faith and obedience, and accounting for it, "he had respect unto the recompence of reward;" and of one higher than Moses it is related, that, "for the joy set before him, (certainly not then possessed,) he endured the cross." Were man always to act from a sense of what he has received, and the hope of what he may receive, he would never do wrong. He, on the other hand, that attempts to serve God out of pure benevolence, and without expectation of advantage, will soon spurn archangels, and may set up for a God himself, on any day he shall think he has succeeded in accomplishing such super-eminent disinterestedness. On the whole, it may be remarked, that the Dr seems correct enough in his notions of religion, considered as founded on reason; but is far from being so in those concerning its foundation in the principles of human nature. This, however, seems the consequence of inattention to the subject as a speculation, rather than of studied disregard to those secret surmisings which every human heart will oftentimes experience to carry it beyond the brink of perishable things, and to give it a birth amid the realities of wonder, fear, and hope. Far be it from the writer to class him amongst those whom the poet Campbell so pathetically, and yet so indignantly describes in the beautiful lines,--
Oh! lives there, heaven! beneath thy dread expanse, One hopeless, dark idolater of chance, Content to feed, with pleasures unrefined, The lukewarm passions of a lowly mind; Who, mouldering earthward, 'reft of every trust, In joyless union wedded to the dust, Could all his parting energy dismiss, And call this barren world sufficient bliss?He may not merit the "proud applause," the "pre-eminence in ill," of those "lights of the world," and "demi-gods of fame," who league reason and science against the hopes of mankind, and busy themselves in throwing the "heaviest stones of melancholy" at the poor wretch shivering over the dregs of life, and tottering towards the grass. And yet it is certain, that what was written on his own tombstone implied much less the hope of another life, than the gloomy satisfaction of having partners in the darkness and inactivity of death. The reader will see it in the Encyclopædia Britannica, where a short account of him is given.--E.]
Though I dare not assert that these people, to whom the art of writing, and consequently the recording of laws, are utterly unknown, live under a regular form of government, yet a subordination is established among them, that greatly resembles the early state of every nation in Europe under the feudal system, which secured liberty in the most licentious excess to a few, and entailed the most abject slavery upon the rest.[34]
[Footnote 34: The government of this island, it is most certain, is both monarchical and hereditary in one family. There is not the smallest reason to think that the Otaheitans, with all their ingenuity and love of freedom, are, any more than other people, exempt from those principles so vigorously depicted by Cowper in his "Task," as the origin of kingship:--It is the abject property of most, That, being parcel of the common mass, And destitute of means to raise themselves, They sink, and settle, lower than they need. They know not what it is to feel within A comprehensive faculty, that grasps Great purposes with ease, that turns and wields Almost without an effort, plans too vast For their conception, which they cannot move. Conscious of impotence, they soon grow drunk With gazing, when they see an able man Step forth to notice; and besotted thus, Build him a pedestal, and say, "Stand there, And be our admiration and our praise."But at what time this able man stepped forth to monopolise the admiration and the allegiance of his brethren (all sound men and true!), is not in the record. The Otaheitans, we know, are not historians. Probably, then, they have been favoured by their priests with some good orthodox doctrine, as to divine appointment on the subject. Indeed, the case of these islanders is one in which the necessary effect of that consciousness of impotence and self-abasement, is scarcely in any degree counteracted by other principles. We see it literally exemplifying the description of the poet,--
Thenceforth they are his cattle: drudges, born To bear his burdens, drawing in his gears, And sweating in his service, his caprice Becomes the soul that animates them all."It is considered," says the missionary account, "as the distinctive mark of their regal dignity, to be every where carried about on men's shoulders. As their persons are esteemed sacred, before them all must uncover below their breast. They may not enter into any house but their own, because, from that moment, it would become raã, or sacred, and none but themselves, or their train, could dwell or eat there; and the land their feet touched would be their property." It sometimes happens in other countries, it is true, that men can be found base enough to emulate beasts of burden, by drawing the carriages of their sovereign lords. This, however, is only on some peculiar occasions, where certain clear indications of personal superiority have been manifested, to induce the mass of the people to revert to the notion of their own pristine lowliness. The Otaheitan princes, on the other hand, practise less self-denial in such imposition; or, which is perhaps more likely to be the truth, they find their continuance in an exalted situation very requisite to discriminate their office, which could not be inferred from any superiority of character they possess; for, says the same account, "the king and queen were always attended by a number of men, as carriers, domestics, or favourites, who were ràa, or sacred, living without families, and attending only on the royal pair; and a worse set of men the whole island does not afford for thievery, plunder, and impurity." If this opinion be correct, one might safely infer, that the monarchy of Otaheite is of very old standing, or, in other words, that the royal blood is run to the dregs. And what though it be? Cannot the pageantry of state suffice for all the ends of good government in Otaheite, as well as any where else? It is very foolish, to say no more of it, to be exclaiming with the poet,
But is it fit, or can it bear the shock Of rational discussion, that a man, Compounded and made up like other men, Of elements tumultuous, in whom lust And folly in as ample measure meet, As in the bosoms of the slaves he rules, Should he a despot absolute, and boast Himself the only freeman of his land?This is to overlook, entirely, the existence of certain springs in a government, which ensure its not stopping, for a considerable time after the corruption or even disorganization of what is apparently its head and source of vitality. It is to imagine that a political constitution depends for its preservation on the same identical principles which gave it origin, and that none other can be substituted in their place, without breaking up the whole machine. It is to forget, that after a certain period of society, the whims and vices of the nominal chief are of little more importance, than the movements and attitudes of a dancing doll. "Habit," says Mr Hume, in his sensible way, "soon consolidates what other principles of human nature had imperfectly founded; and men once accustomed to obedience never think of departing from that path, in which they and their ancestors have constantly trod, and to which they are confined by so many urgent and visible motives."--E.]
Their orders are, earee rahie, which answers to king; earee, baron; manahouni, vassal; and toutou, villain. The earee rahie, of which there are two in this island, one being the sovereign of each of the peninsulas of which it consists, is treated with great respect by all ranks, but did not appear to us to be invested with so much power as was exercised by the earees in their own districts; nor indeed did we, as we have before observed, once see the sovereign of Obereonoo while we were in the island. The earees are lords of one or more of the districts into which each of the peninsulas is divided, of which there may be about one hundred in the whole island; and they parcel out their territories to the manahounies, who cultivate each his part which he holds under the baron. The lowest class, called toutous, seem to be nearly under the same circumstances as the villains in feudal governments: These do all the laborious work, they cultivate the land under the manahounies, who are only nominal cultivators for the lord, they fetch wood and water, and, under the direction of the mistress of the family, dress the victuals; they also catch the fish.
Each of the eares keeps a kind of court, and has a great number of attendants, chiefly the younger brothers of their own tribe; and among these some hold particular offices, but of what nature exactly we could not tell. One was called the Eowa no l'Earee, and another the Whanno no l'Earee, and these were frequently dispatched to us with messages. Of all the courts of these eares, that of Tootahah was the most splendid, as indeed might reasonably be expected, because he administered the government for Outou, his nephew, who was earee rahie of Obereonoo, and lived upon his estate. The child of the baron or earee, as well as of the sovereign or earee rahie, succeeds to the title and honours of the father as soon as it is born: So that a baron, who was yesterday called earee, and was approached with the ceremony of lowering the garments, so as to uncover the upper part of the body, is to day, if his wife was last night delivered of a child, reduced to the rank of a private man, all marks of respect being transferred to the child, if it is suffered to live, though the father still continues possessor and administrator of his estate: Probably this custom has its share, among other inducements, in forming the societies called Arreoy.[35]
[Footnote 35: What renders this opinion the more probable, is the circumstance of these societies being generally made up of the nobles. But it is certain, that the inhuman practice of child-murder is not confined to the Arreoys. "It is the common practice," says the missionary account, "among all ranks, to strangle infants the moment they are born," To the same work we are indebted for some particulars respecting the division of ranks in Otaheite, which do not quite accord with the statement in the text. The difference is indeed very immaterial, and would scarcely deserve notice, if any thing were not important which seems to illustrate the history of so interesting a people. A slight sketch of the subject, as given in that work, may suffice for the reader's consideration. The person next in rank to the king is his own father, if alive--it being the invariable maxim of this government, though quite unexampled elsewhere, for a son to succeed to the title and dignity of king, immediately on his birth, and in prejudice of his own father, who, however, is usually, but not always, entrusted with the regency, till the young man have ability for the duties of his office. The chiefs of the several districts are next in dignity; they exercise almost regal authority in their respective territories; they are notwithstanding subject to the sovereign, and liable to be called on by him for such assistance as circumstances may induce him to require. Next to these, are the near relatives of the chiefs, called to-whas and tayos. Then follows the rank of rattira or gentlemen, whose estates are called rahoe. These two ranks have the power of laying a prohibition on their respective lands, or on particular sorts of provision, for the purpose of accumulating articles for their feasts, or after any great consumption of the necessaries of life. The lowest class of society after the rattira, is the manahoune, which bears a resemblance to our cottagers. They cultivate the lands, and are in a state of vassalage, but they are not compelled to constant service, and they are permitted both to change masters, and to migrate to other districts. The servants in any class are called toutou; such as wait on the women, tuti, an occupation into which, it seems, for reasons best known to themselves, young men of the first families not unfrequently insinuate, though by so doing they are excluded from the solemnities of religion. A detestable set of men named mahoos, and bearing a resemblance to the Catamites of old, deserve not to be mentioned in the list of the ranks in this society. Birth has several distinctions in its favour among these people. Thus, a chief is always a chief, notwithstanding his demerits or misdemeanours; and, on the contrary, nothing can raise a common man above the station of a towha or rattira. The king allows perfect freedom of intercourse and communion with his subjects, treating them with the greatest freedom, and, indeed, scarcely preserving any appearance of distinction from them. His household is often changed, as no one serves him longer than he likes, and it is not usual to engage for any stated time, or for any wages. With these people it is not a reproach to be poor; but they freely express their contempt of those who are affluent, and at the same time covetous. The dread of being thus despised is so great and prevalent among them, that a man would give the clothes off his body, rather than be called in their language peere peere, i.e. stingy. The rights of property are sacredly respected, and though there be no records or writing in the island, are minutely ascertained, and carefully preserved by tradition.--E.]
If a general attack happens to be made upon the island, every district under the command of an earee, is obliged to furnish its proportion of soldiers for the common defence. The number furnished by the principal districts, which Tupia recollected, when added together, amounted, as I have observed before, to six thousand six hundred and eighty.
Upon such occasions, the united force of the whole island is commanded in chief by the earee rahie. Private differences between two earees are decided by their own people, without at all disturbing the general tranquillity.
Their weapons are slings, which they use with great dexterity, pikes headed with the stings of sting-rays, and clubs, of about six or seven feet long, made of a very hard heavy wood. Thus armed, they are said to fight with great obstinacy, which is the more likely to be true, as it is certain that they give no quarter to either man, woman, or child, who is so unfortunate as to fall into their hands during the battle, or for some hours afterwards, till their passion, which is always violent, though not lasting, has subsided.
The earee rahie of Obereonoo, while we were here, was in perfect amity with the earee rahie of Tiarreboo, the other peninsula, though he took to himself the title of king of the whole island: This, however, produced no more jealousy in the other sovereign, than the title of King of France, assumed by our sovereign, did in his most Christian Majesty.
In a government so rude, it cannot be expected that distributive justice should be regularly administered, and indeed, where there is so little opposition of interest, in consequence of the facility with which every appetite and passion is gratified, there can be but few crimes.[36] There is nothing like money, the common medium by which every want and every wish is supposed to be gratified by those who do not possess it; there is no apparently permanent good which either fraud or force can unlawfully obtain; and when all the crimes that are committed by the inhabitants of civilized countries, to get money, are set out of the account, not many will remain: Add to this, that where the commerce with women is restrained by no law, men will seldom be under any temptation to commit adultery, especially as one woman is always less preferred to another, where they are less distinguished by personal decorations, and the adventitious circumstances which are produced by the varieties of art, and the refinements of sentiment. That they are thieves is true; but as among these people no man can be much injured or benefited by theft, it is not necessary to restrain it by such punishments, as in other countries are absolutely necessary to the very existence of civil society. Tupia, however, tells us, that adultery is sometimes committed as well as theft. In all cases where an injury has been committed, the punishment of the offender lies with the sufferer: Adultery, if the parties are caught in the fact, is sometimes punished with death in the first ardour of resentment; but without circumstances of immediate provocation, the female sinner seldom suffers more than a beating. As punishment, however, is enforced by no law, nor taken into the hand of any magistrate, it is not often inflicted, except the injured party is the strongest; though the chiefs do sometimes punish their immediate dependants for faults committed against each other, and even the dependants of others, if they are accused of any offence committed in their district.[37]
[Footnote 36: It is impossible not to censure so gross a blunder, if blunder that may be called, which is alike abhorrent to the truth of facts and to the validity of all good principle. The language indeed is so vague, as to admit something like a defence, under the shadow of a definition which shall restrict crimes to gross violations of public and private right; but even this would be faulty, as implying what is not the case, that the facility of indulgence, and of course the frequency, does not enhance the strength and efficacy of those passions and appetites, which, if not moderated, certainly lead to outrageous conduct. Habits of indulgence, it is no doubt certain, imply a softening down of the violence of character; and hence, in a peculiar sense, it may be said, that the ages of refinement and luxury are the most happy and virtuous, an assertion which Mr Hume has spent no small labour in maintaining: But, on the other hand, it is clear, that violence is more easily guarded against, in almost any state of society, than the artifices of dishonesty and the pollution of licentiousness; and, besides, it never will be found that any fecundity of nature can keep pace, with the accelerating increase of vicious desires and propensities, consequent on indulgence. Restraint from the operation of fear, and better still when practicable, the implantation and growth of moral principle and right feeling, are vastly better preservatives against crimes of every sort, than all the facilities of sensual gratification which Otaheite or any other country can afford.--E.]
[Footnote 37: The nature of the laws of a country is perhaps the best test of its civilization; as the condition and treatment of the women are of its refinement in sentiment and feeling. In Otaheite, every man seems to be his own lawyer; because in fact, the whole society is held together by principles quite natural to a state of ease and enjoyment. Now as women form a principal ingredient in this state of society, and as, at the same time, property is considered heritable, we may readily enough infer what will be the conduct of a dishonoured husband among those islanders, when we know what his rank and circumstances are. The poor man will think no real injury done him, but may resent the partiality shewn to another, by a conduct certainly not calculated to procure affection for himself, coolness or a drubbing. The rich, on the other hand, in addition to the feeling of wounded pride, will dread the spuriousness of his offspring, and so storm most lustily on both male and female sinner, till revenge be fully gratified. The difference of opinion about this matter, in different nations and ages, is immense and embarrassing. Some people, we know, had their wives in common, as related of our own ancestors by Cæsar, and of the Massagetæ by Herodotus. The Greeks and Romans thought it more convenient to lend them out occasionally to a friend or acquaintance, in which they seem to have imitated the Spartans. In certain countries, the offer of a wife is a common civility to strangers, who cannot be expected to carry their own about with them constantly. The Indians of North Carolina, we are told by Lawson, never punish a woman for adultery, because, say they, she is a weakly creature, and easily drawn away by the man's persuasion. That people, however, take good care to recover damages from the man, in which one might think the inhabitants of Britain now-a-days would conceive they acted wisely, and might only envy them the power they allow to the husband of assessing the offender, and levying the fine; for, says Lawson, "he that strives to evade such satisfaction as the husband demands lives daily in danger of his life; yet, when discharged, all animosity is laid aside, and the cuckold is very well pleased with his bargain, whilst the rival is laughed at by the whole nation, for carrying on his intrigue with no better conduct, than to be discovered, and pay so dear for his pleasure." In this, however, we differ; our cuckolds are laughed at as fools, which is monstrously absurd, whilst the transgressor is denominated a fine fellow, no less monstrously unjust. How far the laws of England may be accessary to such glaring perversity of sentiment, it is difficult to say; but if one were disposed to fear with Mr Christian, (see his notes on Blackstone, lib. 1, ch. 16.) "that there is little reason to pay a compliment to them for their respect and favour to the female sex," he might not hesitate to suspect some radical vice in their constitution, which could so far debase female honour as to leave it problematical, whether or not the violaters of it, in any sense or degree, were capable of any thing but infamy. 'Twere too puritanical, perhaps, to join Cowper in his ironical commendation;--"But now, yes, now, We are become so candid and so fair, So liberal in construction, and so rich In Christian charity (good-natured age!) That they are safe, sinners of either sex, Transgress what laws they may."But surely it is desirable, that a nation professing supreme regard to a divine revelation, should shew something of its abhorrence, at a crime which strikes at the root of all social comfort and happiness.--E.]
Having now given the best description that I can of the island in its present state, and of the people, with their customs and manners, language and arts, I shall only add a few general observations, which may be of use to future navigators, if any of the ships of Great Britain should receive orders to visit it. As it produces nothing that appears to be convertible into an article of trade, and can be used only by affording refreshments to shipping in their passage through these seas, it might be made to answer this purpose in a much greater degree, by transporting thither sheep, goats, and horned cattle, with European garden stuff, and other useful vegetables, which there is the greatest reason to suppose will flourish in so fine a climate, and so rich a soil.
Though this and the neighbouring islands lie within the tropic of Capricorn, yet the heat is not troublesome, nor did the winds blow constantly from the east. We had frequently a fresh gale from the S.W. for two or three days, and sometimes, though very seldom, from the N.W. Tupia reported, that south-westerly winds prevail in October, November, and December, and we have no doubt of the fact. When the winds are variable, they are always accompanied by a swell from the S.W. or W.S.W.; there is also a swell from the same points when it is calm, and the atmosphere loaded with clouds, which is a sure indication that the winds are variable, or westerly out at sea, for with the settled trade-wind the weather is clear.
The meeting with westerly winds, within the general limits of the eastern trade, has induced some navigators to suppose that they were near some large tract of land, of which, however, I think they are no indication.
It has been found, both by us and the Dolphin, that the trade-wind, in these parts, does not extend farther to the south than twenty degrees, beyond which, we generally found a gale from the westward; and it is reasonable to suppose, that when these winds blow strong, they will drive back the easterly wind, and consequently encroach upon the limits within which they constantly blow, and thus necessarily produce variable winds, as either happens to prevail, and a south-westerly swell. This supposition is the more probable, as it is well known that the trade-winds blow but faintly for some distance within their limits, and therefore may be more easily stopped or repelled by a wind in the contrary direction: It is also well known, that the limits of the trade-winds vary not only at different seasons of the year, but sometimes at the same season, in different years.
There is therefore no reason to suppose that south-westerly winds, within these limits, are caused by the vicinity of large tracts of land, especially as they are always accompanied with a large swell, in the same direction in which they blow; and we find a much greater surf beating upon the shores of the south-west side of the islands that are situated just within the limits of the trade-wind, than upon any other part of them.
The tides about these islands are perhaps as inconsiderable as in any part of the world. A south or S. by W. moon makes high water in the bay of Matavai at Otaheite; but the water very seldom rises perpendicularly above ten or twelve inches.
The variation of the compass I found to be 4° 46' easterly, this being the result of a great number of trials made with four of Dr Knight's needles, adapted to azimuth compasses. These compasses I thought the best that could be procured, yet when applied to the meridian line, I found them to differ not only one from another, sometimes a degree and a half, but the same needle, half a degree from itself in different trials made on the same day; and I do not remember that I have ever found two needles which exactly agreed at the same time and place, though I have often found the same needle agree with itself, in several trials made one after the other. This imperfection of the needle, however, is of no consequence to navigation, as the variation can always be found to a degree of accuracy, more than sufficient for all nautical purposes.
SECTION XX.
A Description of several other Islands in the Neighbourhood of Otaheite, with various Incidents; a dramatic Entertainment; and many Particulars relative to the Customs and Manners of the Inhabitants.[38]
[Footnote 38: Several additional particulars respecting the islands here spoken of, are given on the authority of the missionary account, and other works, to which it is unnecessary to refer particularly.--E.]
After parting with our friends, we made an easy sail, with gentle breezes and clear weather, and were informed by Tupia, that four of the neighbouring islands, which he distinguished by the names of Huaheine, Ulietea, Otaha, and Bolabola lay at the distance of between one and two days sail from Otaheite; and that hogs, fowls, and other refreshments, with which we had of late been but sparingly supplied, were there to be procured in great plenty; but having discovered from the hills of Otaheite, an island lying to the northward, which he called Tethuroa, I determined first to stand that way, to take a nearer view of it. It lies N. 1/2 W. distant eight leagues from the northern extremity of Otaheite, upon which we had observed the transit, and to which we had, for that reason, given the name of Point Venus. We found it to be a small low island, and were told by Tupia, that it had no settled inhabitants, but was occasionally visited by the inhabitants of Otaheite, who sometimes went thither for a few days to fish; we therefore determined to spend no more time in a farther examination of it, but to go in search of Huaheine and Ulietea, which he described to be well peopled, and as large as Otaheite.[39]
[Footnote 39: Tethuroa consists of several low islets, enclosed in a reef ten leagues round, and inaccessible to large canoes. The people are subject to the sovereign of Otaheite, and are in general members of the wandering society of the arreoyes, who frequent these spots for purposes of amusement and luxury. No bread-fruit is allowed to be planted on these islets, in order that the resident inhabitants, who are few in number, may be obliged to come with their fish, which is their principal commodity, to Oparre, where it may be had in exchange. Cocoa-nuts, however, abound, as they thrive most in low places. The passage to these islets is represented as difficult and dangerous, but this does not deter the people from assembling on them in great numbers. So many as a hundred canoes have been seen occasionally around this spot.--E.]
At six o'clock in the morning of the 14th, the westermost part of Eimeo, or York island, bore S.E. 1/2 S. and the body of Otaheite E. 1/2 S. At noon, the body of York Island bore E. by S 1/2 S.; and Port-Royal bay, at Otaheite, S. 70° 45' E. distant 61 miles; and an island which we took to be Saunders's Island, called by the natives Tapoamanao, bore S.S.W. We also saw land bearing N.W. 1/2 W. which Tupia said was Huaheine.[40]
[Footnote 40: Eimeo, or, as the natives usually call it, Morea, is the nearest to Otaheite, its distance from the western coast being only about four leagues.--It is reckoned ten miles long, from north to south, and half as much in breadth. It has several harbours, and is intersected by considerable valleys of a fertile appearance. The natives, who are at present dependent on Otaheite, are said to be as much addicted to thieving as those of that island. The women are inferior in attractions to any in their neighbourhood. The harbour of Taloo on the north coast is very eligible for vessels--it is situate in 17° 30' latitude, and 150° west longitude. This island is always seen by persons who touch at Otaheite. Tapoamanao, a little to the westward of Eimeo, has perhaps never been landed on by Europeans and is little known.--It is not above six miles long, but seems fertile, and to abound especially with cocoa-nuts. There are not many habitations to be seen on it. The government is said to depend on Huaheine, which is distant from it about fourteen leagues.--E.]On the 15th, it was hazy, with light breezes and calms succeeding each other, so that we could see no land, and made but little way. Our Indian, Tupia, often prayed for a wind to his god Tane, and as often boasted of his success, which indeed he took a very effectual method to secure, for he never began his address to Tane, till he saw a breeze so near that he knew it must reach the ship before his oraison was well over.
On the 16th, we had a gentle breeze; and in the morning about eight o'clock, being close in with the north-west part of the Island Huaheine, we sounded, but had no bottom with 80 fathom. Some canoes very soon came off, but the people seemed afraid, and kept at a distance till they discovered Tupia, and then they ventured nearer. In one of the canoes that came up to the ship's side, was the king of the island and his wife. Upon assurances of friendship, frequently and earnestly repeated, their majesties and some others came on board. At first they were struck with astonishment, and wondered at every thing that was shewn them; yet they made no enquiries, and seeming to be satisfied with what was offered to their notice, they made no search after other objects of curiosity, with which it was natural to suppose a building of such novelty and magnitude as the ship must abound. After some time, they became more familiar. I was given to understand, that the name of the king was Oree, and he proposed, as a mark of amity, that we should exchange names. To this I readily consented; and he was Cookee, for so he pronounced my name, and I was Oree, for the rest of the time we were together. We found these people to be very nearly the same with those of Otaheite, in person, dress, language, and every other circumstance, except, if Tupia might be believed, that they would not steal.
Soon after dinner, we came to an anchor, in a small but excellent harbour on the west side of the island, which the natives call Owharre, in eighteen fathom water, clear ground, and secure from all winds. I went immediately ashore, accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Mr Monkhouse, Tupia, King Cookee, and some other of the natives who had been on board ever since the morning. The moment we landed, Tupia stripped himself as low as the waist, and desired Mr Monkhouse to do the same: He then sat down before a great number of the natives, who were collected together in a large house or shed; for here, as well as at Otaheite, a house consists only of a roof supported upon poles; the rest of us, by his desire, standing behind. He then began a speech or prayer, which lasted about a quarter of an hour, the king, who stood over against him, every now and then answering in what appeared to be set responses. In the course of this harangue he delivered at different times two handkerchiefs, a black silk neckcloth, some beads, two small bunches of feathers, and some plantains, as presents to their Eatua, or God. In return for these, he received for our Eatua, a hog, some young plantains, and two small bunches of feathers, which he ordered to be carried on board the ship. After these ceremonies, which we supposed to be the ratification of a treaty between us, every one was dismissed to go whither he pleased; and Tupia immediately repaired to offer his oblations at one of the Morais.
The next morning, we went on shore again, and walked up the hills, where the productions were exactly the same as those of Otaheite, except that the rocks and clay appeared to be more burnt. The houses were neat, and the boat-houses remarkably large; one that we measured was fifty paces long, ten broad, and twenty-four feet high; the whole formed a pointed arch, like those of our old cathedrals, which was supported on one side by twenty-six, and on the other by thirty pillars, or rather posts, about two feet high, and one thick, upon most of which were rudely carved the heads of men, and several fanciful devices, not altogether unlike those which we sometimes see printed from wooden blocks, at the beginning and end of old books. The plains, or flat part of the country, abounded in bread-fruit, and cocoa-nut trees; in some places, however, there were salt swamps and lagoons, which would produce neither.
We went again a-shore on the 18th, and would have taken the advantage of Tupia's company, in our perambulation; but he was too much engaged with his friends. We took, however, his boy, whose name was Tayeto, and Mr Banks went to take a farther view of what had much engaged his attention before; it was a kind of chest or ark, the lid of which was nicely sewed on, and thatched very neatly with palm-nut leaves: It was fixed upon two poles, and supported on little arches of wood, very neatly carved; the use of the poles seemed to be to remove it from place to place, in the manner of our sedan chairs: In one end of it was a square hole, in the middle of which was a ring touching the sides, and leaving the angles open, so as to form a round hole within a square one. The first time Mr Banks saw this coffer, the aperture at the end was stopped with a piece of cloth, which, lest he should give offence, he left untouched; probably there was then something within, but now the cloth was taken away, and, upon looking into it, it was found empty. The general resemblance between this repository and the ark of the Lord among the Jews is remarkable; but it is still more remarkable, that upon enquiring of the boy what it was called, he said, Ewharre no Eatua, the house of the God: He could however give no account of its signification or use.[41]
[Footnote 41: Mr Parkhurst, in his Hebrew Lexicon, takes notice of this circumstance, and admits the resemblance. But in fact, there is no need to have recourse to the Jews in particular, for something similar to what is here mentioned. The Egyptians, according to Herodotus, Euter. 63, kept their god in a case or box, and at certain times carried it about or drew it on a four-wheeled carriage. Diodorus Siculus says the same thing of them, in his first book. Both these writers, it is remarkable, use the same word for this containing vehicle; it is [Greek] or [Greek], the temple, shrine, or sacred dwelling. The reader may have heard of the horrid god at Juggernaut, who is drawn on a wheeled carriage, as described in such dreadful terms by Dr Buchanan, in the account of his travels and researches in India. The Israelites, it is very probable from a passage in the prophet Amos, v. 26, copied the example of some of their idolatrous neighbours, in bearing a temple of Moloch and Chiun. See Raphelius on Acts vii. 43. where mention is made of the same offence against the positive commands of God. It may be distinctly proved, that the gods and goddesses of the heathens were accustomed to have their tabernacula and fana, and that some of them were portable. Thus the Greeks had their [Greek], and the Romans their thensa. Virgil, we see in the Eneid, speaks of the Errantesque deos, agitataque numina Trojæ, as a great misfortune. It would be idle to enter here on the question discussed by different men of learning, whether the practice of having temples or places of abode for their gods originated among the Gentiles, and was thence adopted by way of condescension into the Mosaic economy; or was borrowed by the Gentiles from some early revelation corrupted, which had for its object the holding out the great promise, that God himself would one day tabernacle among men upon the earth. This latter opinion is the more probable one by a great deal. It is not a little like the sentiment so strongly maintained by some excellent authors, and certainly in a high degree countenanced by scripture, that the sacrifices amongst the heathens were derived from some early but vitiated revelation of that one great sacrifice and atonement, which God himself had provided in behalf of his guilty creatures. For this opinion, the candid reader will not fail to perceive the strongest evidence produced, in a most important recent publication, Dr Magee's Discourses, &c. on the Atonement.--E.]
We had commenced a kind of trade with the natives, but it went on slowly; for when any thing was offered, not one of them would take it upon his own judgment, but collected the opinions of twenty or thirty people, which could not be done without great loss of time. We got, however, eleven pigs, and determined to try for more the next day.
The next day, therefore, we brought out some hatchets, for which we hoped we should have had no occasion, upon an island which no European had ever visited before. These procured us three very large hogs; and as we proposed to sail in the afternoon, King Oree and several others came on board to take their leave. To the King I gave a small plate of pewter, on which was stamped this inscription, "His Britannic Majesty's ship, Endeavour, Lieutenant Cook Commander, 16th July, 1769, Huaheine." I gave him also some medals or counters, resembling the coin of England, struck in the year 1761, with some other presents; and he promised that with none of these, particularly the plate, he would ever part. I thought it as lasting a testimony of our having first discovered this island, as any we could leave behind; and having dismissed our visitors well satisfied, and in great good humour, we set sail, about half an hour after two in the afternoon.
The island of Huaheine, or Huahene, is situated in the latitude of 16° 48' S. and longitude 150° 52' W. from Greenwich: It is distant from Otaheite about thirty-one leagues, in the direction of N. 58 W. and is about seven leagues in compass. Its surface is hilly and uneven, and it has a safe and commodious harbour. The harbour, which is called by the natives Owalle, or Owharre, lies on the west side, under the northernmost high land, and within the north end of the reef, which lies along that side of the island; there are two inlets or openings, by which it may be entered, through the reef, about a mile and a half distant from each other; the southermost is the widest, and on the south side of it lies a very small sandy island.
Huaheine seems to be a month forwarder in its productions than Otaheite, as we found the cocoa-nuts full of kernel, and some of the new bread-fruit fit to eat. Of the cocoa-nuts the inhabitants make a food which they call Poe, by mixing them with yams; they scrape both fine, and having incorporated the powder, they put it into a wooden trough, with a number of hot stones, by which an oily kind of hasty-pudding is made, that our people relished very well, especially when it was fryed. Mr Banks found not more than eleven or twelve new plants; but he observed some insects, and a species of scorpion which he had not seen before.
The inhabitants seem to be larger made, and more stout, than those of Otaheite. Mr Banks measured one of the men, and found him to be six feet three inches and a half high; yet they are so lazy, that he could not persuade any of them to go up the hills with him: They said, if they were to attempt it, the fatigue would kill them. The women were very fair, more so than those of Otaheite; and in general, we thought them more handsome, though none that were equal to some individuals. Both sexes seemed to be less timid, and less curious: It has been observed, that they made no enquiries on board the ship; and when we fired a gun, they were frightened indeed, but they did not fall down, as our friends at Otaheite constantly did when we first came among them.. For this difference, however, we can easily account upon other principles; the people at Huaheine had not seen the Dolphin, those at Otaheite had. In one, the report of a gun was connected with the idea of instant destruction; to the other, there was nothing dreadful in it but the appearance and the sound, as they had never experienced its power of dispensing death.
While we were on shore, we found that Tupia had commended them beyond their merit, when he said that they would not steal; for one of them was detected in the fact. But when he was seized by the hair, the rest, instead of running away, as the people at Otaheite would have done, gathered round, and enquired what provocation had been given: But this also may be accounted for without giving them credit for superior courage; they had no experience of the consequence of European resentment, which the people at Otaheite had in many instances purchased with life. It must, however, be acknowledged, to their honour, that when they understood what had happened, they showed strong signs of disapprobation, and prescribed a good beating for the thief, which was immediately administered.[42]
[Footnote 42: Huaheine or Aheine (a word which signifies woman) is the eastermost of the Society Isles. It bears some resemblance to Otaheite, being divided into two peninsulas by an isthmus of low land, having a stripe of fertile soil next the shore, from which hills of a volcanic origin arise towards the centre. Since Capt. Cook's time, this island has been visited by Lieut. Watts, Capt. Bligh, and Capt. Edwards, but none of these officers has afforded any satisfactory information respecting its government and history. In the year 1791, it is said to have acknowledged the sovereignty of Otaheite.--E.]
We now made sail for the island of Ulietea, which lies S.W. by W. distant seven or eight leagues from Huaheine, and at half an hour after six in the evening we were within three leagues of the shore, on the eastern side. We stood off and on all night, and when the day broke the next morning, we stood in for the shore: We soon after discovered an opening in the reef which lies before the island, within which Tupia told us there was a good harbour. I did not, however, implicitly take his word; but sent the master out in the pinnace to examine it: He soon made the signal for the ship to follow; we accordingly stood in, and anchored in two-and-twenty fathom, with soft ground.
The natives soon came off to us in two canoes, each of which brought a woman and a pig. The woman we supposed was a mark of confidence, and the pig was a present; we received both with proper acknowledgments, and complimented each of the ladies with a spike-nail and some beads, much to their satisfaction. We were told by Tupia, who had always expressed much fear of the men of Bolabola, that they had made a conquest of this island; and that, if we remained here, they would certainly come down to-morrow, and fight us. We determined, therefore, to go on shore without delay, while the day was our own.
I landed in company with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and the other gentleman, Tupia being also of the party. He introduced us by repeating the ceremonies which he had performed at Huaheine, after which I hoisted an English jack, and took possession of this and the three neighbouring islands, Huaheine, Otaha, and Bolabola, which were all in sight, in the name of his Britannic majesty. After this, we took a walk to a great morai, called Tapodeboatea. We found it very different from those of Otaheite; for it consisted only of four walls, about eight feet high, of coral stones, some of which were of an immense size, inclosing an area of about five-and-twenty yards square, which was filled up with smaller stones: Upon the top of it many planks were set up an end, which were carved in their whole length: At a little distance we found an altar, or Ewhatta, upon which lay the last oblation or sacrifice, a hog of about eighty pounds weight, which had been offered whole, and very nicely roasted. Here were also four or five Ewharre no-Eatua, or houses of God, to which carriage-poles were fitted, like that which we had seen at Huaheine. One of these Mr Banks examined by putting his hand into it, and found a parcel about five feet long and one thick, wrapped up in matts: He broke a way through several of these matts with his fingers, but at length came to one which was made of the fibres of the cocoa-nut, so firmly plaited together that he found it impossible to tear it, and therefore was forced to desist; especially as he perceived, that what he had done already gave great offence to our new friends. From hence we went to a long house, not far distant, where among rolls of cloth, and several other things, we saw the model of a canoe, about three feet long, to which were tied eight human jaw-bones: We had already learnt that these, like scalps among the Indians of North America, were trophies of war. Tupia affirmed that they were the jaw-bones of the natives of this island; if so, they might have been hung up, with the model of a canoe, as a symbol of invasion, by the warriors of Bolabola, as a memorial of their conquest.
Night now came on apace, but Mr Banks and Dr Solander continued their walk along the shore, and at a little distance saw another Ewharre-no-Eatua, and a tree of the fig kind, the same as that which Mr Green had seen at Otaheite, in great perfection, the trunk, or rather congeries of the roots of which, was forty-two paces in circumference.
On the 21st, having dispatched the master in the long-boat to examine the coast of the south part of the island, and one of the mates in the yawl, to sound the harbour where the ship lay, I went myself in the pinnace, to survey that part of the island which lies to the north. Mr Banks and the gentlemen were again on shore, trading with the natives, and examining the products and curiosities of the country; they saw nothing, however, worthy notice, but some more jaw-bones, of which they made no doubt but that the account they had heard was true.
On the 22d and 23d, having strong gales and hazy weather, I did not think it safe to put to sea; but on the 24th, though the wind was still variable, I got under sail, and plied to the northward within the reef, with a view to go out at a wider opening than that by which I had entered; in doing this, however, I was unexpectedly in the most imminent danger of striking on the rock: The master, whom I had ordered to keep continually sounding in the chains, suddenly called out, "Two fathom." This alarmed me, for though I knew the ship drew at least fourteen feet, and that therefore it was impossible such a shoal should be under her keel, yet the master was either mistaken, or she went along the edge of a coral rock, many of which, in the neighbourhood of these islands, are as steep as a wall.
This harbour, or bay, is called by the natives Oopoa, and taken in its greatest extent, it is capable of holding any number of shipping. It extends almost the whole length of the east side of the island, and is defended from the sea by a reef of coral rocks: The southermost opening in this reef, or channel, into the harbour, by which we entered, is little more than a cable's length wide; it lies off the eastermost point of the island, and may be known by another small woody island, which lies a little to the south-east of it, called by the people here Oatara. Between three and four miles north-west from this island lie two other islets, in the same direction as the reef, of which they are a part, called Opururu and Tamou; between these lies the other channel into the harbour, through which I went out, and which is a full quarter of a mile wide. Still farther to the north-west are some other small islands, near which I am told there is another small channel into the harbour; but this I know only by report.
The principal refreshments that are to be procured at this part of the island are, plantains, cocoa-nuts, yams, hogs, and fowls; the hogs and fowls, however, are scarce; and the country, where we saw it, is neither so populous, nor so rich in produce, as Otaheite, or even Huaheine. Wood and water may also be procured here; but the water cannot conveniently be got at.[43]
[Footnote 43: Ulietea, or Reiadea, is nearly twice the size of Huaheine, and bears a still more striking resemblance to Otaheite. Its importance was once very great among these islands, but this and its population have much declined, in consequence of an unsuccessful war it carried on with the people of Bolabola, aided by those of Otaha. The distressed inhabitants fled in great numbers to Otaheite, and having obtained some reinforcement, ventured to attack their conquerors in Huaheine, where they had also carried their victorious arms. They succeeded in this attack, which was conducted with much caution and prudence; but they were never able to recover possession of their own island. The people of Otaha were soon afterwards subdued by their own allies of Bolabola, by much the most formidable and warlike of all these people, and said to be descended from persons who had been banished for their crimes from the neighbouring islands. Bolabola we shall find was not landed on by Capt. Cook, in consequence of his being on that side of it, where there is no harbour. It was touched at by him in a boat when he last visited this cluster, and Capt. Edwards went ashore there in 1791. It is of a rude, barren appearance, especially on the eastern side, and is easily known by its lofty double-peaked mountain. The warriors of Bolabola are differently punctured from all the other people in these islands, and are the terror of the whole neighbourhood. Otaha, which is about four leagues to the south-west of Bolabola, and is subject to it, though superior in size, scarcely merits any notice additional to the text. It is neither fertile nor populous, and being but about two miles from Ulietea, presents no inducements to Europeans. Capt. Edwards examined it in 1791. A material advantage it has in two very good harbours, as will soon be mentioned.--E.]
We were now again at sea, without having received any interruption from the hostile inhabitants of Bolabola, whom, notwithstanding the fears of Tupia, we intended to visit. At four o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th, we were within a league of Otaha, which bore N. 77° W. To the northward of the south end of that island, on the east side of it, and something more than a mile from the shore, lie two small islands, called Toahoutu and Whennuia; between which Tupia says, there is a channel into a very good harbour, which lies within the reef, and appearances confirmed his report.
As I discovered a broad channel between Otaha and Bolabola, I determined rather to go through it, than run to the northward of all; but the wind being right a-head, I got no ground.
Between five and six in the evening of the 26th, as I was standing to the northward, I discovered a small low island, lying N. by W. or N.N.W. distant four or five leagues from Bolabola. We were told by Tupia that the name of this island is Tubai; that it produces nothing but cocoa-nuts, and is inhabited only by three families; though it is visited by the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands, who resort thither to catch fish, with which the coast abounds.[44]
[Footnote 44: It is singular that the language of the few people that inhabit the cluster of islets, known under the name of Tubai or Toobae, is unintelligible to the natives of the other Society Islands. The supposition hence arises, that they are of a different race; but no satisfactory information can be given respecting them. The island is said to abound in turtle, and is in consequence often visited by the people of other isles.--E.]
On the 27th, about noon, the peak of Bolabola bore N. 25° W. and the north end of Otaha, N. 80° W. distant three leagues. The wind continued contrary all this day and the night following. On the 28th, at six in the morning, we were near the entrance of the harbour on the east side of Otaha, which has been just mentioned; and finding that it might be examined without losing time, I sent away the master in the long-boat, with orders to sound it; and, if the wind did not shift in our favour, to land upon the island, and traffic with the natives for such refreshments as were to be had. In this boat went Mr Banks and Dr Solander, who landed upon the island, and before night purchased three hogs, twenty-one fowls, and as many yams and plantains as the boat would hold. Plantains we thought a more useful refreshment even than pork; for they were boiled and served to the ship's company as bread, and were now the more acceptable as our bread was so full of vermin, that notwithstanding all possible care, we had sometimes twenty of them in our mouths at a time, every one of which tasted as hot as mustard. The island seemed to be more barren than Ulietea, but the produce was of the same kind. The people also exactly resembled those that we had seen at the other islands; they were not numerous, but they flocked about the boat wherever she went from all quarters, bringing with them whatever they had to sell. They paid the strangers, of whom they had received an account from Tupia, the same compliment which they used towards their own kings, uncovering their shoulders, and wrapping their garments round their breasts; and were so solicitous to prevent its being neglected by any of their people, that a man was sent with them, who called out to every one they met, telling him what they were, and what he was to do.
In the mean time, I kept plying off and on, waiting for the boat's return; at half an hour after five, not seeing any, thing of her, I fired a gun, and after it was dark hoisted a light; at half an hour after eight, we heard the report of a musket, which we answered with a gun, and soon after the boat came on board. The master reported, that the harbour was safe and commodious, with good anchorage from twenty-five to sixteen fathom water, clear ground.
As soon as the boat was hoisted in, I made sail to the northward, and at eight o'clock in the morning of the 29th, we were close under the Peak of Bolabola, which was high, rude, and craggy. As the island was altogether inaccessible in this part, and we found it impossible to weather it, we tacked and stood off, then tacked again, and after many trips did not weather the south end of it till twelve o'clock at night. At eight o'clock the next morning, we discovered an island, which bore from us N. 63° W. distant about eight leagues; at the same time the Peak of Bolabola bore N. 1/2 E. distant three or four leagues. This island Tupia called Maurua, and said that it was small, wholly surrounded by a reef, and without any harbour for shipping; but inhabited, and bearing the same produce as the neighbouring islands: The middle of it rises in a high round hill, that may be seen at the distance of ten leagues.[45]
[Footnote 45: The people of Otaheite are said to procure pearls from this island. It is, however, subject to Bolabola, as the reader will soon see mentioned.--E.]
When we were off Bolabola, we saw but few people on the shore, and were told by Tupia that many of the inhabitants were gone to Ulietea. In the afternoon we found ourselves nearly the length of the south end of Ulietea, and to windward of some harbours that lay on the west side of this island. Into one of these harbours, though we had before been ashore on the other side of the island, I intended to put, in order to stop a leak which we had sprung in the powder-room, and to take in more ballast, as I found the ship too light to carry sail upon a wind. As the wind was right against us, we plied off one of the harbours, and about three o'clock in the afternoon on the 1st of August, we came to an anchor in the entrance of the channel leading into it in fourteen fathom water, being prevented from working in, by a tide which set very strong out. We then carried out the kedge-anchor, in order to warp into the harbour; but when this was done, we could not trip the bower-anchor with all the purchase we could make; we were therefore obliged to lie still all night, and in the morning, when the tide turned, the ship going over the anchor, it tripped of itself, and we warped the ship into a proper birth with ease, and moored in twenty-eight fathom, with a sandy bottom. While this was doing, many of the natives came off to us with hogs, fowls, and plantains, which they parted with at an easy rate.
When the ship was secured, I went on shore to look for a proper place to get ballast and water, both which I found in a very convenient situation.
This day Mr Banks and Dr Solander spent on shore very much to their satisfaction; every body seemed to fear and respect them, placing in them at the same time the utmost confidence, behaving as if conscious that they possessed the power of doing them mischief, without any propensity to make use of it. Men, women, and children crowded round them, and followed them wherever they went; but none of them were guilty of the least incivility: On the contrary, whenever there happened to be dirt or water in the way, the men vied with each other to carry them over on their backs. They were conducted to the houses of the principal people, and were received in a manner altogether new: The people, who followed them while they were in their way, rushed forward as soon as they came to a house, and went hastily in before them, leaving however a lane sufficiently wide for them to pass. When they entered, they found those who had preceded them ranged on each side of a long matt, which was spread upon the ground, and at the farther end of which sat the family: In the first house they entered they found some very young women or children, dressed with the utmost neatness, who kept their station, expecting the strangers to come up to them and make them presents, which they did with the greatest pleasure; for prettier children or better dressed they had never seen. One of them was a girl about six years old; her gown, or upper garment, was red; a large quantity of plaited hair was wound round her head, the ornament to which they give the name of Tamou, and which they value more than any thing they possess. She sat at the upper end of a matt thirty feet long, upon which none of the spectators presumed to set a foot, notwithstanding the crowd; and she leaned upon the arm of a well-looking woman about thirty, who was probably her nurse. Our gentlemen walked up to her, and as soon as they approached, she stretched out her hand to receive the beads which they offered her, and no princess in Europe could have done it with a better grace.
The people were so much gratified by the presents which, were made to these girls, that when Mr Banks and Dr Solander returned they seemed attentive to nothing but how to oblige them; and in one of the houses they were, by order of the master, entertained with a dance, different from any that they had seen. It was performed by one man, who put upon his head a large cylindrical piece of wicker-work, or basket, about four feet long and eight inches in diameter, which was faced with feathers, placed perpendicularly, with the tops bending forwards, and edged, round with shark's teeth, and the tail-feathers of tropic birds: When he had put on this head-dress, which is called a Whow, he began to dance, moving slowly, and often turning his head so as that the top of his high wicker-cap described a circle, and sometimes throwing it so near the faces of the spectators as to make them start back: This was held among them as a very good joke, and never failed to produce a peal of laughter, especially when it was played off upon one of the strangers.
On the 3d, we went along the shore to the northward, which was in a direction opposite to that of the route Mr Banks and Dr Solander had taken the day before, with a design to purchase stock, which we always found the people more ready to part with, and at a more easy price, at their houses than at the market. In the course of our walk we met with a company of dancers, who detained us two hours, and during all that time afforded us great entertainment. The company consisted of two women-dancers, and six men, with three drums; we were informed by Tupia, that they were some of the most considerable people of the island, and that though they were continually going from place to place, they did not, like the little strolling companies of Otaheite, take any gratuity from the spectators. The women had upon their heads a considerable quantity of Tamou, or plaited hair, which was brought several times round the head, and adorned in many parts with the flowers of the cape-jessamine, which were stuck in with much taste, and made a head-dress truly elegant. Their necks, shoulders, and arms were naked; so were the breasts also as low as the parting of the arm; below that, they were covered with black cloth, which set close to the body; at the side of each breast, next the arm, was placed a small plume of black feathers, much in the same manner as our ladies now wear their nosegays or bouquets; upon their hips rested a quantity of cloth plaited very full, which reached up to the breast, and fell down below into long petticoats, which quite concealed their feet, and which they managed with as much dexterity as our opera-dancers could have done: The plaits above the waist were brown and white alternately, the petticoats below were all white.
In this dress they advanced sideways in a measured step, keeping excellent time to the drums, which beat briskly and loud; soon after they began to shake their hips, giving the folds of cloth that lay upon them a very quick motion, which was in some degree continued through the whole dance, though the body was thrown into various postures, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, and sometimes resting on their knees and elbows, the fingers also being moved at the same time with a quickness scarcely to be imagined. Much of the dexterity of the dancers, however, and the entertainment of the spectators, consisted in the wantonness of their attitudes and gestures, which was, indeed, such as exceeds all description.
One of these girls had in her ear three pearls; one of them was very large, but so foul that it was of little value; the other two were as big as a middling pea; these were clear, and of a good colour and shape, though spoiled by the drilling. Mr Banks would fain have purchased them, and offered the owner any thing she would ask for them, but she could not be persuaded to part with them at any price: He tempted her with the value of four hogs, and whatever else she should chuse, but without success; and indeed they set a value upon their pearls very nearly equal to what they would fetch among us, except they could be procured before they are drilled.
Between the dances of the women, the men performed a kind of dramatic interlude, in which there was dialogue as well as dancing; but we were not sufficiently acquainted with their language to understand the subject.
On the 4th, some of our gentlemen saw a much more regular entertainment of the dramatic kind, which was divided into four acts.
Tupia had often told us that he had large possessions in this island, which had been taken away from him by the inhabitants of Bolabola, and he now pointed them out in the very bay where the ship was at anchor. Upon our going on shore, this was confirmed by the inhabitants, who shewed us several districts or Whennuas, which they acknowledged to be his right.
On the 5th, I received a present of three hogs, some fowls, several pieces of cloth, the largest we had seen, being fifty yards long, which they unfolded and displayed so as to make the greatest show possible; and a considerable quantity of plantains, cocoa-nuts, and other refreshments, from Opoony, the formidable king, or, in the language of the country, Earee rahie, of Bolabola, with a message that he was at this time upon the island, and that the next day he intended to pay me a visit.
In the mean time Mr Banks and Dr Solander went upon the hills, accompanied by several of the Indians, who conducted them by excellent paths, to such a height, that they plainly saw the other side of the island, and the passage through which the ship had passed the reef between the little islands of Opururu and Tamou, when we landed upon it the first time. As they were returning, they saw the Indians exercising themselves at what they call Erowhaw, which is nothing more than pitching a kind of light lance, headed with hard wood, at a mark: In this amusement, though they seem very fond of it, they do not excel; for not above one in twelve struck the mark, which was the bole of a plantain tree, at about twenty yards distance.
On the 6th, we all staid at home, expecting the visit of the great king, but we were disappointed; we had, however, much more agreeable company, for he sent three very pretty girls to demand something in return for his present: Perhaps he was unwilling to trust himself on board the ship, or perhaps he thought his messengers would procure a more valuable return for his hogs and poultry than he could himself; be that as it may, we did not regret his absence, nor his messengers their visit.
In the afternoon, as the great king would not come to us, we determined to go to the great king. As he was lord of the Bolabola men, the conquerors of this, and the terror of all the other islands, we expected to see a chief young and vigorous, with an intelligent countenance, and an enterprising spirit: We found, however, a poor feeble wretch, withered and decrepit, half blind with age, and so sluggish and stupid that he appeared scarcely to have understanding enough left to know that it was probable we should be gratified either by hogs or women.[46] He did not receive us sitting, or with any state or formality as the other chiefs had done: We made him our present, which be accepted, and gave a hog in return. We had learnt that his principal residence was at Otaha; and upon our telling him that we intended to go thither in our boats the next morning, and that we should be glad to have him along with us, he promised to be of the party.
[Footnote 46: He was alive, however, when Cook visited Bolabola in his last voyage, and even then was universally esteemed and feared.--E.]
Early in the morning, therefore, I set out both with the pinnace and long-boat for Otaha, having some of the gentlemen with me; and in our way we called upon Opoony, who was in his canoe, ready to join us. As soon as we landed at Otaha, I made him a present of an axe, which I thought might induce him to encourage his subjects to bring us such provision as we wanted; but in this we found ourselves sadly disappointed; for after staying with him till noon, we left him without being able to procure a single article. I then proceeded to the north point of the island, in the pinnace, having sent the long-boat another way. As I went along I picked up half a dozen hogs, as many fowls, and some plantains and yams. Having viewed and sketched the harbour on this side of the island, I made the best of my way back, with the long-boat, which joined me soon after it was dark; and about ten o'clock at night we got on board the ship.
In this excursion Mr Banks was not with us; he spent the morning on board the ship, trading with the natives, who came off in their canoes, for provisions and curiosities; and in the afternoon he went on shore with his draughtsmen, to sketch the dresses of the dancers which he had seen a day or two before. He found the company exactly the same, except that another woman had been added to it: The dancing also of the women was the same, but the interludes of the men were somewhat varied; he saw five or six performed, which were different from each other, and very much resembled the drama of our stage-dances. The next day, he went ashore again, with Dr Solander, and they directed their course towards the dancing company, which, from the time of our second landing, had gradually moved about two leagues in their course round the island. They saw more dancing and interludes, the interludes still varying from each other: In one of them the performers, who were all men, were divided into two parties, which were distinguished from each other by the colour of their clothes, one being brown, and the other white. The brown party represented a master and servants, and the white party a company of thieves: The master gave a basket of meat to the rest of his party, with a charge to take care of it: The dance of the white party consisted of several expedients to steal it, and that of the brown party in preventing their success. After some time, those who had charge of the basket placed themselves round it upon the ground, and leaning upon it, appeared to go to sleep; the others, improving this opportunity, came gently upon them, and lifting them up from the basket, carried off their prize: The sleepers soon after awaking, missed their basket, but presently fell a-dancing, without any farther regarding their loss; so that the dramatic action of this dance was, according to the severest laws of criticism, one, and our lovers of simplicity would here have been gratified with an entertainment perfectly suited to the chastity of their taste.
On the 9th, having spent the morning in trading with the canoes, we took the opportunity of a breeze, which sprung up at east, and having stopped our leak, and got the fresh stock which we had purchased on board, we sailed out of the harbour. When we were sailing away, Tupia strongly urged me to fire a shot towards Bolabola, possibly as a mark of his resentment, and to shew the power of his new allies: In this I thought proper to gratify him, though we were seven leagues distant.
While we were about these islands, we expended very little of the ship's provisions, and were very plentifully supplied with hogs, fowls, plantains, and yams, which we hoped would have been of great use to us in our course to the southward; but the hogs would not eat European grain of any kind, pulse, or bread-dust, so that we could not preserve them alive; and the fowls were all very soon seized with a disease that affected the head so, that they continued to hold it down between their legs till they died: Much dependence therefore must not be placed in live-stock taken on board at these places, at least not till a discovery is made of some food that the hogs will eat, and some remedy for the disease of the poultry.
Having been necessarily detained at Ulietea so long, by the carpenters in stopping our leak, we determined to give up our design of going on shore at Bolabola, especially as it appeared to be difficult of access.
To these six islands, Ulietea, Otaha, Bolabola, Huaneine, Tubai, and Maurua, as they lie contiguous to each other, I gave the names of Society Islands, but did not think it proper to distinguish them separately by any other names than those by which they were known to the natives.
They are situated between the latitude of 16° 10' and 16° 55' S. and between the longitude of 150° 57' and 152° W. from the meridian of Greenwich. Ulietea and Otaha lie within about two miles of each other, and are both inclosed within one reef of coral rocks, so that there is no passage for shipping between them. This reef forms several excellent harbours; the entrances into them, indeed, are but narrow, yet when a ship is once in, nothing can hurt her. The harbours on the east side have been described already; and on the west side of Ulietea, which is the largest of the two, there are three. The northermost, in which we lay, is called Ohamaneno: The channel leading into it is about a quarter of a mile wide, and lies between two low sandy islands, which are the northermost on this side; between, or just within the two islands, there is good anchorage in twenty-eight fathom, soft ground. This harbour, though small, is preferable to the others, because it is situated in the most fertile part of the islands, and where fresh water is easily to be got. The other two harbours lie to the southward of this, and not far from the south end of the island: In both of them there is good anchorage, with ten, twelve, and fourteen fathom. They are easily known by three small woody islands at their entrance. The southermost of these two harbours lies within, and to the southward of the southermost of these islands, and the other lies between the two northermost. I was told that there were more harbours at the south end of this island, but I did not examine whether the report was true.
Otaha affords two very good harbours, one on the east side, and the other on the west. That on the east side is called Ohamene, and has been mentioned already; the other is called Oherurua, and lies about the middle of the south-west side of the island; it is pretty large and affords good anchorage in twenty and twenty-five fathom, nor is there any want of fresh water. The breach in the reef, that forms a channel into this harbour, is about a quarter of a mile broad, and, like all the rest, is very steep on both sides; in general there is no danger here but what is visible.
The island of Bolabola lies N.W. and by W. from Otaha, distant about four leagues; it is surrounded by a reef of rocks, and several small islands, in compass together about eight leagues. I was told, that on the south-west side of the island there is a channel through the reef into a very good harbour, but I did not think it worth while to examine it, for the reasons that have been just assigned. This island is rendered very remarkable by a high craggy hill, which appears to be almost perpendicular, and terminates at the top in two peaks, one higher than the other.
The land of Ulietea and Otaha is hilly, broken, and irregular, except on the sea-coast, yet the hills look green and pleasant, and are in many places clothed with wood. The several particulars in which these islands and their inhabitants differ from what we had observed at Otaheite, have been mentioned in the course of the narrative.
We pursued our course without any event worthy of note till the 13th, about noon, when we saw land bearing S.E. which Tupia told us was an island called Oheteroa. About six in the evening, we were within two or three leagues of it, upon which I shortened sail, and stood off and on all night; the next morning stood in for the land. We ran to leeward of the island, keeping close in shore, and saw several of the natives, though in no great numbers, upon the beach. At nine o'clock I sent Mr Gore, one of my lieutenants, in the pinnace, to endeavour to land upon the island, and learn from the natives whether there was anchorage in a bay then in sight, and what land lay farther to the southward. Mr Banks and Dr Solander accompanied Mr Gore in this expedition, and as they thought Tupia might be useful, they took him with them.
As the boat approached the shore, those on board perceived the natives to be armed with long lances; as they did not intend to land till they got round a point which run out at a little distance, they stood along the coast, and the natives therefore very probably thought they were afraid of them. They had now got together to the number of about sixty, and all of them sat down upon the shore, except two, who were dispatched forward to observe the motions of those in the boat. These men, after walking abreast of her some time, at length leaped into the water, and swam towards her, but were soon left behind; two more then appeared, and attempted to board her in the same manner, but they also were soon left behind; a fifth man then ran forward alone, and having got a good way ahead of the boat before he took to the water, easily reached her. Mr Banks urged the officer to take him in, thinking it a good opportunity to get the confidence and good will of a people, who then certainly looked upon them as enemies, but he obstinately refused: This man therefore was left behind like the others, and so was a sixth, who followed him.
When the boat had got round the point, she perceived that all her followers had desisted from the pursuit: She now opened a large bay, at the bottom of which appeared another body of men, armed with long lances like the first. Here our people prepared to land, and pushed towards the shore, a canoe at the same time putting off to meet them. As soon as it came near them, they lay upon their oars, and calling out to them, told them that they were friends, and that if they would come up they would give them nails, which were held up for them to see: After some hesitation they came up to the boat's stern, and took some nails that were offered them with great seeming satisfaction; but in less than a minute they appeared to have formed a design of boarding the boat, and making her their prize: Three of them suddenly leaped into it, and the others brought up the canoe, which the motion in quitting her had thrown off a little, manifestly with a design to follow their associates, and support them in their attempt. The first that boarded the boat, entered close to Mr Banks, and instantly snatched his powder-horn out of his pocket: Mr Banks seized it, and with some difficulty wrenched it out of his hand, at the same time pressing against his breast in order to force him over-board, but he was too strong for him, and kept his place: The officer then snapped his piece, but it missed fire, upon which he ordered some of the people to fire over their heads; two pieces were accordingly discharged, upon which they all instantly leaped into the water: One of the people, either from cowardice or cruelty, or both, levelled a third piece at one of them as he was swimming away, and the ball grazed his forehead; happily, however, the wound was very slight, for he recovered the canoe, and stood up in her as active and vigorous as the rest. The canoe immediately stood in for the shore, where a great number of people, not less than two hundred, were now assembled. The boat also pushed in, but found the land guarded all round with a shoal, upon which the sea broke with a considerable surf; it was therefore thought advisable by the officer to proceed along shore in search of a more convenient landing-place: In the mean time, the people on board saw the canoe go on shore, and the natives gather eagerly round her to enquire the particulars of what had happened. Soon after, a single man ran along the shore, armed with his lance, and when he came a-breast of the boat he began to dance, brandish his weapon, and call out in a very shrill tone, which Tupia said was a defiance from the people. The boat continued to row along the shore, and the champion followed it, repeating his defiance by his voice and his gestures; but no better landing-place being found than that where the canoe had put the natives onshore, the officer turned back with a view to attempt it there, hoping, that if it should not be practicable, the people would come to a conference either on the shoals or in their canoes, and that a treaty of peace might be concluded with them.
As the boat rowed slowly along the shore back again, another champion came down, shouting defiance, and brandishing his lance: His appearance was more formidable than that of the other, for he wore a large cap made of the tail feathers of the tropic bird, and his body was covered with stripes of different coloured cloth, yellow, red, and brown. This gentleman also danced, but with much more nimbleness and dexterity than the first; our people therefore, considering his agility and his dress, distinguished him by the name of Harlequin. Soon after a more grave and elderly man came down to the beach, and hailing the people in the boat, enquired who they were, and from whence they came; Tupia answered in their own language, from Otaheite: The three natives then walked peaceably along the shore till they came to a shoal, upon which a few people were collected; here they stopped, and after a short conference, they all began to pray very loud: Tupia made his responses, but continued to tell us that they were not our friends. When their prayer, or, as they call it, their Poorah, was over, our people entered into a parley with them, telling them, that if they would lay by their lances and clubs, for some had one and some the other, they would come on shore, and trade with them for whatever they would bring: They agreed, but it was only upon condition that we would leave behind us our musquets: This was a condition which, however equitable it might appear, could not be complied with, nor indeed would it have put the two parties upon an equality, except their numbers had been equal. Here then the negotiation seemed to be at an end; but in a little time they ventured to come nearer to the boat, and at last came near enough to trade, which they did very fairly, for a small quantity of their cloth and some of their weapons; but as they gave our people no hope of provisions, nor indeed any thing else except they would venture through a narrow channel to the shore, which, all circumstances considered, they did not think it prudent to do, they put off the boat and left them.
With the ship and the boat we had now made the circuit of the island, and finding that there was neither harbour nor anchorage about it, and that the hostile disposition of the people would render landing impracticable, without bloodshed, I determined not to attempt it, having no motive that could justify the risk of life.
The bay which the boat entered lies on the west side of the island; the bottom was foul and rocky, but the water so clear that it could plainly be seen at the depth of five-and-twenty fathom, which is one hundred and fifty feet.
This island is situated in the latitude of 22° 27' S. and in the longitude of 150° 47' W. from the meridian of Greenwich. It is thirteen miles in circuit, and rather high than low, but neither populous nor fertile in proportion to the other islands that we had seen in these seas. The chief produce seems to be the tree of which they make their weapons, called in their language etoa; many plantations of it were seen along the shore, which is not surrounded, like the neighbouring islands, by a reef.
The people seemed to be lusty and well-made, rather browner than those we had left: Under their arm-pits they had black marks about as broad as the hand, the edges of which formed not a straight but an indented line: They had also circles of the same colour, but not so broad, round their arms and legs, but were not marked on any other part of the body.
Their dress was very different from any that we had seen before, as well as the cloth of which it was made. The cloth was of the same materials as that which is worn in the other islands, and most of that which was seen by our people was dyed of a bright but deep yellow, and covered on the outside with a composition like varnish, which was either red, or of a dark lead-colour; over this ground it was again painted in stripes of many different patterns, with wonderful regularity, in the manner of Our striped silks in England; the cloth that was painted red was striped with black, and that which was painted lead-colour with white. Their habit was a short jacket of this cloth, which reached about as low as their knees; it was of one piece, and had no other making than a hole in the middle of it, stitched round with long stitches, in which it differed from all that we had seen before: Through this hole the head was put, and what hung down was confined to their bodies by a piece of yellow cloth or sash, which, passing round the neck behind, was crossed upon the breast, and then collected round the waist like a belt, which passed over another belt of red cloth, so that they made a very gay and warlike appearance; some had caps of the feathers of the tropic bird, which have been before described, and some had a piece of white or lead-coloured cloth wound about the head like a small turban, which our people thought more becoming.
Their arms were long lances, made of the etoa, the wood of which is very hard; they were well polished and sharpened at one end: some were near twenty feet long, though not more than three fingers thick; they had also a weapon which was both club and pike, made of the same wood, about seven feet long; this also was well polished, and sharpened at one end into a broad point. As a guard against these weapons, when they attack each other, they have matts folded up many times, which they place under their clothes from the neck to the waist: The weapons themselves indeed are capable of much less mischief than those of the same kind which we saw at the other islands, for the lances were there pointed with the sharp bone of the stingray that is called the sting, and the pikes were of much greater weight. The other things that we saw here were all superior in their kind to any we had seen before; the cloth was of a better colour in the dye, and painted with greater neatness and taste; the clubs were better cut and polished, and the canoe, though a small one, was very rich in ornament, and the carving was executed in a better manner: Among other decorations peculiar to this canoe, was a line of small white feathers, which bung from the head and stern on the outside, and which, when we saw them, were thoroughly wetted by the spray.
Tupia told us, that there were several islands lying at different distances, and in different directions from this, between the south and the north-west; and that at the distance of three days sail to the north-east, there was an island called Manua, Bird-island: He seemed, however, most desirous that we should sail to the westward, and described several islands in that direction which he said he had visited: He told us that he had been ten or twelve days in going thither, and thirty in coming back, and that the pahie in which he had made the voyage, sailed much faster than the ship: Reckoning his pahie therefore to go at the rate of forty leagues a-day, which from my own observation I have great reason to think these boats will do, it would make four hundred leagues in ten days, which I compute to be the distance of Boscawen and Keppel's Islands, discovered by Captain Wallis, westward of Ulietea, and therefore think it very probable that they were the islands he had visited.[47] The farthest island that he knew any thing of to the southward, he said, lay at the distance of about two days sail from Oteroah, and was called Moutou; but he said that his father had told him there were islands to the southward of that: Upon the whole, I was determined to stand southward in search of a continent, but to spend no time in searching for islands, if we did not happen to fall in with them during our course.
[Footnote 47: These and other islands since discovered in the South Sea, will be properly laid down in a map to be afterwards given. The chart that accompanied the preceding volume was restricted to the state of geographical knowledge at the time of publishing Hawkesworth's work, and is, of coarse, imperfect. But it was judged unadvisable to anticipate recent information.--E.]
SECTION XXI.
The Passage from Oteroah to New Zealand; Incidents which happened on going a-shore there, and while the Ship lay in Poverty Bay.
We sailed from Oteroah on the 15th of August, and on Friday the 25th we celebrated the anniversary of our leaving England, by taking a Cheshire cheese from a locker, where it had been carefully treasured up for this occasion, and tapping a cask of porter, which proved to be very good, and in excellent order. On the 29th, one of the sailors got so drunk, that the next morning he died: We thought at first that he could not have come honestly by the liquor, but we afterwards learnt that the boatswain, whose mate he was, had in mere good-nature given him part of a bottle of rum.
On the 30th we saw the comet: At one o'clock in the morning it was a little above the horizon in the eastern part of the heavens; at about half an hour after four it passed the meridian, and its tail subtended an angle of forty-two degrees. Our latitude was 38° 20' S., our longitude, by log, 147° 6' W., and the variation of the needle, by the azimuth, 7° 9' E. Among others that observed the comet, was Tupia, who instantly cried out, that as soon as it should be seen by the people of Bolabola, they would kill the inhabitants of Ulietea, who would with the utmost precipitation fly to the mountains.
On the 1st of September, being in the latitude of 40° 22' S. and longitude 147° 29' W, and there not being any signs of land, with a heavy sea from the westward, and strong gales, I wore, and stood back to the northward, fearing that we might receive such damage in our sails and rigging, as would hinder the prosecution of the voyage.
On the next day, there being strong gales to the westward, I brought-to, with the ship's head to the northward; but in the mooring of the 3d, the wind being more moderate, we loosened the reef of the mainsail, set the top-sails, plied to the westward.
We continued our course till the 19th, when our latitude being 29° and our longitude 159° 29', we observed the variation to be 8° 32' E. On the 24th, being in latitude 33° 18', longitude 162° 51', we observed a small piece of seaweed, and a piece of wood covered with barnacles: The variation here was 10° 48' E.
On the 27th, being in latitude 28° 59', longitude 169° 5, we saw a seal asleep upon the water, and several bunches of sea-weed. The next day we saw more seaweed in bunches, and on the 29th, a bird, which we thought a land bird; it somewhat resembled a snipe, but had a short bill. On the 1st of October, we saw birds innumerable, and another seal asleep upon the water; it is a general opinion that seals never go out of soundings, or far from land, but those that we saw in these seas prove the contrary. Rock-weed is, however, a certain indication that, land is not far distant. The next day, it being calm, we hoisted out the boat to try whether there was a current, but found none. Our latitude was 37° 10', longitude 172° 54' W. On the 3d, being in latitude 36° 56', longitude 173°27', we took up more sea-weed, and another piece of wood covered with barnacles. The next day we saw two more seals, and a brown bird, about as big as a raven, with some white feathers under the wing. Mr Gore told us, that birds of this kind were seen in great numbers about Falkland's Islands, and our people gave them the name of Port-Egmont hens.
On the 5th, we thought the water changed colour, but upon casting the lead, had no ground with 180 fathom. In the evening of this day, the variation was 12° 50' E., and while we were going nine leagues it increased to 14° 2'.
On the next day, Friday, October the 6th, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing W. by N. and stood directly for it; in the evening it could just be discerned from the deck, and appeared large. The variation this day was, by azimuth and amplitude, 15° 4' 1/2 E., and by observation made of the sun and moon, the longitude of the ship appeared to be 180° 55' W., and by the medium of this, and subsequent observations, there appeared to be an error in the ship's account of her longitude during her run from Otaheite of 3° 16', she being so much to the westward of the longitude resulting from the log. At midnight I brought to and sounded, but had no ground with one hundred and seventy fathom.
On the 7th it fell calm, we therefore approached the land slowly, and in the afternoon, when a breeze sprang up, we were still distant seven or eight leagues. It appeared still larger as it was more distinctly seen, with four or five ranges of hills, rising one over the other, and a chain of mountains above all, which appeared to be of an enormous height. This land became the subject of much eager conversation; but the general opinion seemed to be that we had found the terra australis incognita. About five o'clock we saw the opening of a bay, which seemed to run pretty far inland, upon which we hauled our wind and stood in for it; we also saw smoke ascending from different places on shore. When night came on, however, we kept plying off and on till day-light, when we found ourselves to the leeward of the bay, the wind being at north: We could now perceive that the hills were clothed with wood, and that some of the trees in the valleys were very large. By noon we fetched in with the south-west point; but not being able to weather it, tacked and stood off: At this time we saw several canoes standing cross the bay, which in a little time made to shore, without seeming to take the least notice of the ship; we also saw some houses, which appeared to be small, but neat; and near one of them a considerable number of the people collected together, who were sitting upon the beach, and who, we thought, were the same that we had seen in the canoes. Upon a small peninsula, at the north-east head, we could plainly perceive a pretty high and regular paling, which inclosed the whole top of a hill; this was also the subject of much speculation, some supposing it to be a park of deer, others an inclosure for oxen and sheep. About four o'clock in the afternoon we anchored on the north-west side of the bay, before the entrance of a small river, in ten fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom, and at about half a league from the shore. The sides of the bay are white cliffs of a great height; the middle is low land, with hills gradually rising behind, one towering above another, and terminating in the chain of mountains which appeared to be far inland.
In the evening I went on shore, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, with the pinnace and yawl and a party of men. We landed abreast of the ship, on the east side of the river, which was here about forty yards broad; but seeing some natives on the west side, whom I wished to speak with, and finding the river not fordable, I ordered the yawl in to carry us over, and left the pinnace at the entrance. When we came near the place where the people were assembled, they all ran away; however, we landed, and leaving four boys to take care of the yawl, we walked up to some huts which were about two or three hundred yards from the water-side. When we had got some distance from the boat, four men, armed with long lances, rushed out of the woods, and running up to attack the boat, would certainly have cut her off, if the people in the pinnace had not discovered them, and called to the boys to drop down the stream: The boys instantly obeyed; but being closely pursued by the Indians, the cockswain of the pinnace, who had the charge of the boats, fired a musket over their heads; at this they stopped and looked round them, but in a few minutes renewed the pursuit, brandishing their lances in a threatening manner: The cockswain then fired a second musket over their heads, but of this they took no notice; and one of them lifting up his spear to dart it at the boat, another piece was fired, which shot him dead. When he fell, the other three stood motionless for some minutes, as if petrified with astonishment; as soon as they recovered, they went back, dragging after them the dead body, which, however, they soon left, that it might not encumber their flight. At the report of the first musket we drew together, having straggled to a little distance from each other, and made the best of our way back to the boat; and crossing the river, we soon saw the Indian lying dead upon the ground. Upon examining the body, we found that he had been shot through the heart: He was a man of the middle size and stature; his complexion was brown, but not very dark; and one side of his face was tattowed in spiral lines of a very regular figure: He was covered with a fine cloth, of a manufacture altogether new to us, and it was tied on exactly according to the representation in Valentyn's Account of Abel Tasman's Voyage, vol. 3, part 2, page 50, his hair also was tied in a knot on the top of his head, but had no feather in it.[48] We returned immediately to the ship, where we could hear the people on shore talking with great earnestness, and in a very loud tone, probably about what had happened, and what should be done.
[Footnote 48: Abel Tasman was sent out by the Dutch East India Company in 1642, to take surveys of the new-found countries, and, if possible, to make discoveries. The account of his voyage was published in Low Dutch, by Dirk Rembrant. A French translation of it was given by Thevenot, in the 4th part of his collection, published at Paris, 1673, an abridgement of which was inserted in Harris's collection. Though curious and considerably important, his observations were long disregarded; and in particular, his discovery of New Zealand or Staaten Land, as he called it in honour of the States General, seems to have been either discredited or held immaterial or overlooked, till this voyage of Captain Cook obtained for it the notice it deserved. Then, as is not unusual, it attracted undue consideration and importance. Mr Finkerton has re-published the account of this voyage in his collection. Tasman discovered New Zealand on the 13th September, 1642, but did not land on it, an unfortunate event having given him a total distrust of the natives. Some of them, after a good deal of backwardness and seeming fear, ventured to go on board the Heenskirk, which was the consort of his own vessel, named the Zee-Haan. Tasman, not liking their appearance, and being apprehensive of their hostile intentions, sent seven of his men to put the people of that vessel on their guard. The savages attacked them, killed three, and forced the others to seek their lives by swimming. This occasioned his giving the name of the Bay of Murderers, to the place where it happened. The rough weather prevented him from taking vengeance.--E.]
In the morning we saw several of the natives where they had been seen the night before, and some walking with a quick pace towards the place where we had landed, most of them unarmed; but three or four with long pikes in their hands. As I was desirous to establish an intercourse with them, I ordered three boats to be manned with seamen and marines, and proceeded towards the shore, accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, the other gentlemen, and Tupia; about fifty of them seemed to wait for our landing, on the opposite side of the river, which we thought a sign of fear, and seated themselves upon the ground: At first, therefore, myself, with only Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia, landed from the little boat, and advanced towards them; but we had not proceeded many paces before they all started up, and every man produced either a long pike, or a small weapon of green talc, extremely well polished, about a foot long, and thick enough to weigh four or five pounds: Tupia called to them in the language of Otaheite; but they answered only by flourishing their weapons, and making signs to us to depart; a musket was then fired wide of them, and the ball struck the water, the river being still between, us: They saw the effect, and desisted from their threats; but we thought it prudent to retreat till the marines could be landed. This was soon done; and they marched, with a jack carried before them, to a little bank, about fifty yards from the water-side; here they were drawn up, and I again advanced, with Mr Banks and Dr Solander; Tupia, Mr Green, and Mr Monkhouse, being with us. Tupia was again directed to speak to them, and it was with great pleasure that we perceived he was perfectly understood, he and the natives speaking only different dialects of the same language. He told them that we wanted provision and water, and would give them iron in exchange, the properties of which he explained as well as he was able. They were willing to trade, and desired that we would come over to them for that purpose: To this we consented, provided they would lay by their arms; which, however, they could by no means be persuaded to do. During this conversation, Tupia warned us to be upon our guard, for that they were not our friends: We then pressed them in our turn to come over to us; and at last one of them stripped himself, and swam over without his arms: He was almost immediately followed by two more, and soon after by most of the rest, to the number of twenty or thirty; but these brought their arms with them. We made them all presents of iron and heads; but they seemed to set little value upon either, particularly the iron, not having the least idea of its use; so that we got nothing in return but a few feathers: They offered indeed to exchange their arms for ours, and, when we refused, made many attempts to snatch them out of our hands. As soon as they came over, Tupia repeated his declaration, that they were not our friends, and again warned us to be upon our guard; their attempts to snatch our weapons, therefore, did not succeed; and we gave them to understand by Tupia, that we should be obliged to kill them if they offered any farther violence. In a few minutes, however, Mr Green happening to turn about, one of them snatched away his hanger, and retiring to a little distance, waved it round his head with a shout of exultation: The rest now began to be extremely insolent, and we saw more coming to join them from the opposite side of the river. It was therefore become necessary to repress them, and Mr Banks fired at the man who had taken the hanger with small shot, at the distance of about fifteen yards: When the shot struck him, he ceased his cry; but instead of returning the hanger, continued to flourish it over his head, at the same time slowly retreating to a greater distance. Mr Monkhouse seeing this, fired at him with ball, and he instantly dropped. Upon this the main body, who had retired to a rock in the middle of the river upon the first discharge, began to return; two that were near to the man who had been killed, ran up to the body, one seized his weapon of green talc, and the other endeavoured to secure the hanger, which Mr Monkhouse had but just time to prevent. As all that had retired to the rock were now advancing, three of us discharged our pieces, loaded only with small shot, upon which they swam back for the shore; and we perceived, upon their landing, that two or three of them were wounded. They retired slowly up the country, and we re-embarked in our boats.
As we had unhappily experienced that nothing was to be done with these people at this place, and finding the water in the river to be salt, I proceeded in the boats round the head of the bay in search of fresh water, and with a design, if possible, to surprise some of the natives, and take them on board, where by kind treatment and presents I might obtain their friendship, and by their means establish an amicable correspondence with their countrymen.
To my great regret, I found no place where I could land, a dangerous surf every where beating upon the shore; but I saw two canoes coming in from the sea, one under sail, and the other worked with paddles. I thought this a favourable opportunity to get some of the people into my possession without mischief, as those in the canoe were probably fishermen, and without arms, and I had three boats full of men. I therefore disposed the boats so as most effectually to intercept them in their way to the shore; the people in the canoe that was paddled perceived us so soon, that by making to the nearest land with their utmost strength, they escaped us; the other sailed on till she was in the midst of us, without discerning what we were; but the moment she discovered us, the people on board struck their sail, and took to their paddles, which they plied so briskly that she out-ran the boat. They were however within hearing, and Tupia called out to them to come along-side, and promised for us that they should come to no hurt: They chose, however, rather to trust to their paddles than our promises, and continued to make from us with all their power. I then ordered a musquet to be fired over their heads, as the least exceptionable expedient to accomplish my design, hoping it would either make them surrender or leap into the water. Upon the discharge of the piece, they ceased paddling; and all of them, being seven in number, began to strip, as we imagined to jump overboard; but it happened otherwise. They immediately formed a resolution not to fly, but to fight; and when the boat came up, they began the attack with their paddles, and with stones and other offensive weapons that were in the boat, so vigorously, that we were obliged to fire upon them in our own defence: Four were unhappily killed, and the other three, who were boys, the eldest about nineteen, and the youngest about eleven, instantly leaped into the water; the eldest swam with great vigour, and resisted the attempts of our people to take him into the boat by every effort that he could make: He was however at last overpowered, and the other two were taken up with less difficulty. I am conscious that the feeling of every reader of humanity will censure me for having fired upon these unhappy people, and it is impossible that, upon a calm review, I should approve it myself. They certainly did not deserve death for not chusing to confide in my promises; or not consenting to come on board my boat, even if they had apprehended no danger; but the nature of my service required me to obtain a knowledge of their country, which I could no otherwise effect than by forcing my way into it in a hostile manner, or gaining admission through the confidence and good-will of the people. I had already tried the power of presents without effect; and I was now prompted, by my desire to avoid further hostilities, to get some of them on board, as the only method left of convincing them that we intended them no harm, and had it in our power to contribute to their gratification and convenience. Thus far my intentions certainly were not criminal; and though in the contest, which I had not the least reason to expect, our victory might have been complete without so great an expence of life, yet in such situations, when the command to fire has been given, no man can restrain its excess, or prescribe its effect.[49]
[Footnote 49: It seems impossible to justify the transaction. Let conscience and the law of nature speak. Palliating circumstances may be allowed their full influence, but still there will remain enough in the deed, to spot the memory of our great and certainly humane navigator. The life of man is the most sacred property under the heavens--its value is perhaps incalculable by any other means than an appeal to the consciousness of its dignity and importance, which every one who enjoys it possesses. It is worse than vain to set about considering the comparative value of different lives, in order to ascertain the momentum of the guilt of violating them in particular instances; and thus to depreciate the existence of savages, by comparing their habits, their manners, their enjoyments, and sufferings, with those of civilized people. A man's life is always valuable to himself, in the proportion of what he would give to secure and prolong it. Is not this the basis of the law, which excuses homicide when committed in self-defence? Does not that law imply the equality of lives in all cases, without disparagement of rank, station, or circumstances? Yet even that law, recognised in all countries worthy of notice for their intelligence and cultivation, required something of the nature of a purgation of the person, whom it at the same time absolved of the deadly guilt of the action. Dr Hawkesworth, in his General Introduction, which it was quite unnecessary to give entire in this work, argues the question of the lawfulness of such aggression as has been mentioned, on the abstract principle that the advantages of discoveries overbalance the evils attendant on the making of them. But admitting all that he says on the subject, which is something more than he proves--admitting, in this case, that the end justifies the means--still it may be contended with propriety, that those who have been entrusted with such commands are amenable to the fundamental laws of humanity and all good governments--Let it be proved that they have not exceeded their instructions, or availed themselves of a concession only problematically and in fact eventually just, to use force and deal out slaughter in conferring their favours. Let there be no relaxation of the solemnity and imposing aspect of the law in such cases, whatever there be of its retributive severity. Sailors in general, and our own in particular, as we may see even in the course of this narrative, are not to be trusted with the smallest discretionary power, where the lives of naked men are concerned. The obvious contrast is too much for their pride; mercifulness of disposition does not mitigate its pungency. An abatement in the rigour of the law unfortunately flatters their prejudices, and loosens the tie by which their passions are feebly bound under a sense of duty and fear. The consequences are shocking and unavoidable. Abrogate entirely from these at all times unthinking men, the liberty of judgment as to the worth of life--let there be but one law for an Englishman and a savage--declare by the voice of justice, that though their skins have not the same hue, and though their hair be differently turned on their heads, yet their blood is the same, and that He that made one made the other also, and has the same interest in both. Such principles would facilitate discoveries, and would render them blessings. The maxims and the Conduct of William Penn, a name, associated, as it no doubt is, with ideas of something extravagant, and perhaps with the opinion of something impracticable, nevertheless so dear and encouraging to humanity, are worthy of being set up in letters of gold before the eyes of all generations. "Whoever, (was his enactment for the regulation of intercourse with the natives of the country still bearing his name), whoever shall hurt, wrong, or offend any Indian, shall incur the same penalty as if he had offended in like manner against his fellow planter." He treated these savages as his brethren, and he made them such. They pledged themselves "to live in love with William Penn and his children as long as the sun and moon should endure"--nor did they violate their faith. It is lamentable to be constrained to join with Voltaire in saying, "this is the only treaty ever concluded betwixt Christians, and Savages that was not ratified by an oath; and the only one that never was broken!" Penn outlived the storms and malice of more than half a century of persecutions, and died in peace at the age of seventy-two. Who does not think of the murder of Cook, with a feeling of something more than common regret for the loss of a great and most estimable man!--E.]
As soon as the poor wretches whom we had taken out of the water were in the boat, they squatted down, expecting no doubt instantly to be put to death: We made haste to convince them of the contrary, by every method in our power; we furnished them with clothes, and gave them every other testimony of kindness that could remove their fears and engage their good-will. Those who are acquainted with human nature will not wonder, that the sudden joy of these young savages at being unexpectedly delivered from the fear of death, and kindly treated by those whom they supposed would have been their instant executioners, surmounted their concern for the friends they had lost, and was strongly expressed in their countenance and behaviour. Before we reached the ship, their suspicions and fears being wholly removed, they appeared to be not only reconciled to their situation but in high spirits, and upon being offered some bread when they came on board, they devoured it with a voracious appetite. They answered and asked many questions, with great appearance of pleasure and curiosity; and when our dinner came, they expressed an inclination to taste every thing that they saw: They seemed best pleased with the salt pork, though we had other provisions upon the table. At sun-set, they eat another meal with great eagerness, each devouring a large quantity of bread, and drinking above a quart of water. We then made them beds upon the lockers, and they went to sleep with great seeming content. In the night, however, the tumult of their minds having subsided, and given way to reflection, they sighed often and loud. Tupia, who was always upon the watch to comfort them, got up, and by soothing and encouragement, made them not only easy but cheerful; their cheerfulness was encouraged, so that they sung a song with a degree of taste that surprised us: The tune was solemn and slow, like those of our Psalms, containing many notes and semitones. Their countenances were intelligent and expressive, and the middlemost, who seemed to be about fifteen, had an openness in his aspect, and an ease in his deportment, which were very striking: We found that the two eldest were brothers, and that their names were Tuahourange and Koikerange; the name of the youngest was Maragovete. As we were returning to the ship, after having taken these boys into the boat, we picked up a large piece of pumice stone floating upon the water; a sure sign that there either is, or has been a volcano in this neighbourhood.
In the morning, they all seemed to be cheerful, and eat another enormous meal; after this we dressed them, and adorned them with bracelets, anclets, and necklaces, after their own fashion, and the boat being hoisted out, they were told that we were going to set them ashore: This produced a transport of joy; but upon perceiving that we made towards our first landing-place near the river, their countenances changed, and they entreated with great earnestness that they might not be set ashore at that place, because they said, it was inhabited by their enemies, who would kill them and eat them. This was a great disappointment to me; because I hoped the report and appearance of the boys would procure a favourable reception for ourselves. I had already sent an officer on shore with the marines and a party of men to cut wood, and I was determined to land near the place; not, however, to abandon the boys, if, when we got ashore, they should be unwilling to leave us, but to send a boat with them in the evening to that part of the bay to which they pointed, and which they called their home. Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia were with me, and upon our landing with the boys, and crossing the river, they seemed at first to be unwilling to leave us; but at length they suddenly changed their mind, and, though not without a manifest struggle, and some tears, they took their leave: When they were gone, we proceeded along a swamp, with a design to shoot some ducks, of which we saw great plenty, and four of the marines attended us, walking abreast of us upon a bank that overlooked the country. After we had advanced about a mile, these men called out to us and told us, that a large body of the Indians was in sight, and advancing at a great rate. Upon receiving this intelligence, we drew together, and resolved to make the best of our way to the boats; we had scarcely begun to put this into execution, when the three Indian boys started suddenly from some bushes, where they had concealed themselves, and again claimed our protection: we readily received them, and repairing to the beach as the clearest place, we walked briskly towards the boats. The Indians were in two bodies; one ran along the bank which had been quitted by the marines, the other fetched a compass by the swamp, so that we could not see them: When they perceived that we had formed into one body, they slackened their pace, but still followed us in a gentle walk: That they slackened their pace, was for us, as well as for them, a fortunate circumstance; for when we came to the side of the river, where we expected to find the boats that were to carry us over to the wooders, we found the pinnace at least a mile from her station, having been sent to pick up a bird which had been shot by the officer on shore, and the little boat was obliged to make three trips before we could all get over to the rest of the party. As soon as we were drawn up on the other side, the Indians came down, not in a body as we expected, but by two or three at a time, all armed, and in a short time their number increased to about two hundred: As we now despaired of making peace with them, seeing that the dread of our small arms did not keep them at a distance, and that the ship was too far off to reach the place with a shot, we resolved to re-embark, lest our stay should embroil us in another quarrel, and cost more of the Indians their lives. We therefore advanced towards the pinnace which was now returning, when one of the boys suddenly cried out, that his uncle was among the people who had marched down to us, and desired us to stay and talk with them: We complied, and a parley immediately commenced between them and Tupia; during which the boys held up every thing we had given them as tokens of our kindness and liberality; but neither would either of the boys swim over to them, or any of them to the boys. The body of the man who had been killed the day before, still lay exposed upon the beach; the boys seeing it lie very near us, went up to it, and covered it with some of the clothes that we had given them; and soon after a single man, unarmed, who proved to be the uncle of Maragovete, the youngest of the boys, swam over to us, bringing in his hand a green branch, which we supposed, as well here as at Otaheite, to be an emblem of peace. We received his branch by the hands of Tupia, to whom he gave it, and made him many presents; we also invited him to go on board the ship, but he declined it; we therefore left him, and expected that his nephew, and the two other young Indians, would have staid with him, but to our great surprise, they chose rather to go with us. As soon as we had retired, he went and gathered another green branch, and with this in his hand, he approached the dead body which the youth had covered with part of his clothes, walking sideways, with many ceremonies, and then throwing it towards him. When this was done, he returned to his companions, who had sat down upon the sand to observe the issue of his negociation: They immediately gathered round him, and continued in a body above an hour, without seeming to take any farther notice of us. We were more curious than they, and observing them with our glasses from on board the ship, we saw some of them cross the river upon a kind of raft, or catamarine, and four of them carry off the dead body which had been covered by the boy, and over which his uncle had performed the ceremony of the branch, upon a kind of bier, between four men: The other body was still suffered to remain where it had been first left.
After dinner, I directed Tupia to ask the boys, if they had now any objection to going ashore, where we had left their uncle, the body having been carried off, which we understood was a ratification of peace: They said, they had not; and the boat being ordered, they went into it with great alacrity: When the boat, in which I had sent two midshipmen, came to land, they went willingly ashore; but soon after she put off, they returned to the rocks, and wading into the, water, earnestly entreated to be taken on board again; but the people in the boat, having positive orders to leave them, could not comply. We were very attentive to what happened on shore, and keeping a constant watch with our glasses, we saw a man pass the river upon another raft, and fetch them to a place where forty or fifty of the natives were assembled, who closed round them, and continued in the same place till sun-set: Upon looking again, when we saw them in motion, we could plainly distinguish our three prisoners, who separated themselves from the rest, came down to the beach, and having waved their hands three times towards the ship, ran nimbly back and joined their companions, who walked leisurely away towards that part which the boys had pointed to as their dwelling-place; we had therefore the greatest reason to believe that no mischief would happen to them, especially as we perceived that they went off in the clothes we had given them.
After it was dark, loud voices were heard on shore in the bottom of the bay as usual, of which we could never learn the meaning.[50]
[Footnote 50: It is remarked in the account of Tasman's voyage, that the people of this island had very hoarse, rough, strong voices.--E.]
SECTION XXII.
A Description of Poverty Bay, and the Face of the adjacent Country. The Range from thence to Cape Turnagain, and back to Tolaga, with some Account of the People and the Country, and several Incidents that happened on that Part of the Coast.
The next morning, at six o'clock, we weighed, and stood away from this unfortunate and inhospitable place, to which I gave the name of Poverty Bay, and which by the natives is called Taoneroa, or Long Sand, as it did not afford us a single article that we wanted except a little wood. It lies in latitude 38° 42' S. and longitude 181° 36' W.; it is in the form of an horse-shoe, and is known by an island lying close under the north-east point: The two points which form the entrance are high, with steep white cliffs, and lie a league and a half, or two leagues, from each other, N.E. by E. and S.W. by W.; the depth of water in the bay is from twelve to five fathom, with a sandy bottom and good anchorage; but the situation is open to the wind between the south and east: Boats can go in and out of the river at any time of the tide in fine weather; but as there is a bar at the entrance, no boat can go either in or out when the sea runs high: The best place to attempt it, is on the north-east side, and it is there practicable when it is not so in any other part. The shore of the bay, a little within its entrance, is a low flat sand; behind which, at a small distance, the face of the country is finely diversified by hills and valleys, all clothed with wood, and covered with verdure. The country also appears to be well inhabited, especially in the valleys leading up from the bay, where we daily saw smoke rising in clouds one behind another to a great distance, till the view terminated in mountains of a stupendous height.
The south-west point of the bay I named Young Nick's Head, after Nicholas Young, the boy who first saw the land; at noon, it bore N.W. by W. distant about three or four leagues, and we were then about three miles from the shore. The main-land extended from N.E. by N; to south, and I proposed to follow the direction of the coast to the southward as far as the latitude of 40 or 41; and then, if I met with no encouragement to proceed farther, to return to the northward.
In the afternoon we lay becalmed, which the people on shore perceiving, several canoes put off, and came within less than a quarter of a mile of the vessel; but could not be persuaded to come nearer, though Tupia exerted all the powers of his lungs and his eloquence upon the occasion, shouting, and promising that they should not be hurt. Another canoe was now seen coming from Poverty Bay, with only four people on board, one of whom we well remembered to have seen in our first interview upon the rock. This canoe, without stopping or taking the least notice of the others, came directly alongside of the ship, and with very little persuasion, we got the Indians on board. Their example was soon followed by the rest, and we had about us seven canoes, and about fifty men. We made them all presents with a liberal hand; notwithstanding which, they were so desirous to have more of our commodities, that they sold us every thing they had, even the clothes from their backs, and the paddles from their boats. There were but two weapons among them, these were the instruments of green talc, which were shaped somewhat like a pointed battledore, with a short handle and sharp edges; they were called Patoo-Patoo, and were well contrived for close-fighting, as they would certainly split the thickest scull at a single blow.
When these people had recovered from the first impressions of fear, which, notwithstanding their resolution in coming on board, had manifestly thrown them into some confusion, we enquired after our poor boys. The man who first came on board immediately answered, that they were unhurt and at home; adding, that he had been induced to venture on board by the account which they had given him of the kindness with which they had been treated, and the wonders that were contained in the ship.
While they were on board they shewed every sign of friendship, and invited us very cordially to go back to our old bay, or to a small cove which they pointed out, that was not quite so far off; but I chose rather to prosecute my discoveries than go back, having reason to hope that I should find a better harbour than any I had yet seen.
About an hour before sun-set, the canoes put off from the ship with the few paddles they had reserved, which were scarcely sufficient to set them on shore; but by some means or other three of their people were left behind: As soon as we discovered it, we hailed them; but not one of them would return to take them on board: This greatly surprised us; but we were surprised still more to observe that the deserted Indians did not seem at all uneasy at their situation, but entertained us with dancing and singing after their manner, eat their suppers, and went quietly to bed.
A light breeze springing up soon after it was dark, we steered along the shore under an easy sail till midnight, and then brought-to, soon after which it fell calm; we were now some leagues distant from the place where the canoes had left us, and at day-break, when the Indians perceived it, they were seized with consternation and terror, and lamented their situation in loud complaints, with gestures of despair and many tears. Tupia, with great difficulty, pacified them; and about seven o'clock in the morning, a light breeze springing up, we continued to stand south-west along the shore. Fortunately for our poor Indians, two canoes came off about this time, and made towards the ship: They stopped, however, at a little distance, and seemed unwilling to trust themselves nearer. Our Indians were greatly agitated in this state of uncertainty, and urged their fellows to come alongside of the ship, both by their voice and gestures, with the utmost eagerness and impatience. Tupia interpreted what they said, and we were much surprised to find, that, among other arguments, they assured the people in the canoes, we did not eat men. We now began seriously to believe that this horrid custom prevailed among them; for what the boys had said, we considered as a mere hyperbolical expression of their fear.[51] One of the canoes, at length, ventured to come under the ship's side; and an old man came on board, who seemed to be a chief from the finery of his garment, and the superiority of his weapon, which was a Patoo-Patoo, made of bone, that, as he said, had belonged to a whale. He staid on board but a short time, and when he went away, he took with him our guests, very much to the satisfaction both of them and us.
[Footnote 51: It is remarked in the account of Tasman's voyage, that the people of this island had very hoarse, rough, strong voices.--E.]
At the time when we sailed, we were abreast of a point, from which the land trends S.S.W. and which, on account of its figure, I called Cape Table. This point lies seven leagues to the southward of Poverty Bay, in latitude 39° 7' S. and longitude 181° 36' W.; it is of a considerable height, makes in a sharp angle, and appears to be quite flat at the top.
In steering along the shore to the southward of the Cape, at the distance of two or three miles, our soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom, having a chain of rocks between us and the shore, which appeared at different heights above the water.
At noon, Cape Table bore N. 20 E. distant about four leagues, and a small island, which was the southernmost land in sight, bore S. 70 W. at the distance of about three miles. This island, which the natives call Teahowray, I named the Island of Portland, from its very great resemblance to Portland in the English Channel: It lies about a mile from a point on the main; but there appears to be a ridge of rocks, extending nearly, if not quite, from one to the other. N. 57 E. two miles from the south point of Portland, lies a sunken rock, upon which the sea breaks with great violence. We passed between this rock and the land, having from seventeen to twenty fathom.
In sailing along the shore, we saw the natives assembled in great numbers as well upon Portland Island as the main: We could also distinguish several spots of ground that were cultivated; some seemed to be fresh turned up, and lay in furrows like ploughed land, and some had plants upon them in different stages of their growth. We saw also in two places, high rails upon the ridges of hills, like what we had seen upon the peninsula at the north-east head of Poverty Bay: As they were ranged in lines only, and not so as to inclose an area, we could not guess at their use, and therefore supposed they might be the work of superstition.
About noon another canoe appeared, in which were four men; she came within about a quarter of a mile of us, where the people on board seemed to perform divers ceremonies: One of them, who was in the bow, sometimes seemed to ask and to offer peace, and sometimes to threaten war, by brandishing a weapon that he held in his hand: Sometimes also he danced, and sometimes he sung. Tupia talked much to him, but could not persuade him to come to the ship.
Between one and two o'clock we discovered land to the westward of Portland; extending to the southward as far as we could see; and as the ship was hauling round the south end of the island, she suddenly fell into shoal water and broken ground: We had indeed always seven fathom or more, but the soundings were never twice the same, jumping at once from seven fathom to eleven; in a short time, however, we got clear of all danger, and had again deep water under us.
At this time the island lay within a mile of us, making in white cliffs, and a long spit of low land running from it towards the main. On the sides of these cliffs sat vast numbers of people, looking at us with a fixed attention, and it is probable that they perceived some appearance of hurry and confusion on board, and some irregularity in the working of the ship, while we were getting clear of the shallow water and broken ground, from which they might infer that we were alarmed or in distress; we thought that they wished to take advantage of our situation, for five canoes were put off with the utmost expedition, full of men, and well armed: They came so near, and shewed so hostile a disposition by shouting, brandishing their lances, and using threatening gestures, that we were in some pain for our small boat, which was still employed in sounding: A musket was therefore fired over them, but finding it did them no harm, they seemed rather to be provoked than intimidated, and I therefore fired a four-pounder, charged with grape-shot, wide of them: This had a better effect; upon the report of the piece they all rose up and shouted, but instead of continuing the chace, drew altogether, and after a short consultation, went quietly away.
Having got round Portland, we hauled in for the land N.W. having a gentle breeze at N.E. which about five o'clock died away, and obliged us to anchor; we had one-and-twenty fathom, with a fine sandy bottom: The south point of Portland bore S.E. 1/2 S. distant about two leagues, and a low point on the main bore N. 1/2 E. In the same direction with this low point, there runs a deep bay, behind the land of which Cape Table is the extremity, so as to make this land a peninsula, leaving only a low narrow neck between that and the main. Of this peninsula, which the natives call Terakaca, Cape Table is the north point, and Portland the south.
While we lay at anchor, two more canoes came off to us, one armed, and the other a small fishing-boat, with only four men in her; they came so near that they entered into conversation with Tupia; they answered all the questions that he asked them with great civility, but could not be persuaded to come on board; they came near enough, however, to receive several presents that were thrown to them from the ship, with which they seemed much pleased, and went away. During the night many fires were kept upon shore, probably to shew us that the inhabitants were too much upon their guard to be surprised.
About five o'clock in the morning of the 13th, a breeze springing up northerly we weighed, and steered in for the land. The shore here forms a large bay, of which Portland is the north-east point, and the bay, that runs behind Cape Table, an arm. This arm I had a great inclination to examine, because there appeared to be safe anchorage in it, but not being sure of that, and the wind being right an end, I was unwilling to spare the time. Four-and-twenty fathom was the greatest depth within Portland, but the ground was every where clear. The land near the shore is of a moderate height, with white cliffs and sandy beaches; within, it rises into mountains, and upon the whole the surface is hilly, for the most part covered with wood, and to appearance pleasant and fertile. In the morning nine canoes came after the ship, but whether with peaceable or hostile intentions we could not tell, for we soon left them behind us.
In the evening we stood in for a place that had the appearance of an opening, but found no harbour; we therefore stood out again, and were soon followed by a large canoe, with eighteen or twenty men, all armed, who, though they could not reach us, shouted defiance, and brandished their weapons, with many gestures of menace and insult.
In the morning we had a view of the mountains inland, upon which the snow was still lying: The country near the shore was low and unfit for culture, but in one place we perceived a patch of somewhat yellow, which had greatly the appearance of a corn field, yet was probably nothing more than some dead flags, which are not uncommon in swampy places:[52] At some distance we saw groves of trees, which appeared high and tapering, and being not above two leagues from the south-west cod of the great bay, in which we had been coasting for the two last days, I hoisted out the pinnace and long-boat to search for fresh water; but just as they were about to put off, we saw several boats full of people coming from the shore, and therefore I did not think it safe for them to leave the ship. About ten o'clock, five of these boats having drawn together, as if to hold a consultation, made towards the ship, having on board between eighty and ninety men, and four more followed at some distance, as if to sustain the attack: When the first five came within about a hundred yards of the ship, they began to sing their war-song, and brandishing their pikes, prepared for an engagement. We had now no time to lose, for if we could not prevent the attack, we should come under the unhappy necessity of using our fire-arms against them, which we were very desirous to avoid. Tupia was therefore ordered to acquaint them that we had weapons which, like thunder, would destroy them in a moment; that we would immediately convince them of their power by directing their effect so that they should not be hurt; but that if they persisted in any hostile attempt, we should be obliged to use them for our defence: A four-pounder, loaded with grape-shot, was then discharged wide of them, which produced the desired effect; the report, the flash, and above all, the shot, which spread very far in the water, so intimidated them, that they began to paddle away with all their might: Tupia, however, calling after them, and assuring them that if they would come unarmed, they should be kindly received, the people in one of the boats put their arms on board of another, and came under the ship's stern: We made them several presents, and should certainly have prevailed upon them to come on board, if the other canoes had not, come up, and again threatened us, by shouting and brandishing their weapons: At this the people who had come to the ship unarmed, expressed great displeasure, and soon after they all went away.
[Footnote 52: The natives cultivate a plant much resembling flag. It is their substitute for hemp and flax; and by their ingenuity of management, yield them excellent clothing, and lines and cordage for their fishing-nets and other useful purposes.--E.]
In the afternoon we stood over to the south point of the bay, but not reaching it before it was dark, we stood off and on all night. At eight the next morning, being a-breast of the point, several fishing-boats came off to us, and sold us some stinking fish: It was the best they had, and we were willing to trade with them upon any terms: These people behaved very well, and we should have parted good friends if it had not been for a large canoe, with two-and-twenty armed men on board, which came boldly up alongside of the ship. We soon saw that this boat had nothing for traffic, yet we gave them two or three pieces of cloth, an article which they seemed very fond of. I observed that one man had a black skin thrown over him, somewhat resembling that of a bear, and being desirous to know what animal was its first owner, I offered him for it a piece of red baize, and he seemed greatly pleased with the bargain, immediately pulling off the skin, and holding it up in the boat;[53] he would not, however, part with it till he had the cloth in his possession, and as there could be no transfer of property, if with equal caution I had insisted upon the same condition, I ordered the cloth to be handed down to him, upon which, with amazing coolness, instead of sending up the skin, he began to pack up both that, and the baize, which he had received as the purchase of it, in a basket, without paying the least regard to my demand or remonstrances, and soon after, with the fishing-boats, put off from the-ship; when they were at some distance, they drew together, and after a short-consultation returned; the fishermen offered more fish, which, though good for nothing, was purchased, and trade was again renewed. Among others who were placed over the ship's side to hand up what we bought, was little Tayeto, Tupia's boy; and one of the Indians, watching his opportunity, suddenly seized him, and dragged him down into the canoe; two of them held him down in the fore-part of it, and the others, with great activity, paddled her off, the rest of the canoes following as fast as they could; upon this the marines, who were under arms upon deck, were ordered to fire. The shot was directed to that part of the canoe which was farthest from the boy, and rather wide of her, being willing rather to miss the rowers than to hurt him: It happened, however, that one man dropped, upon which the others quitted their hold of the boy, who instantly leaped into the water, and swam towards the ship; the large canoe immediately pulled round and followed him, but some muskets, and a great gun being fired at her, she desisted from the pursuit. The ship being brought-to, a boat was lowered, and the poor boy taken up unhurt, though so terrified, that for a time he seemed to be deprived of his senses. Some of the gentlemen, who traced the canoes to shore with their glasses, said, that they saw three men carried up the beach, who appeared to be either dead, or wholly disabled by their wounds.
[Footnote 53: The principal clothing of these people is prepared from the flag, as has been mentioned; but they greatly esteem the skins of such animals as they can procure. These, however, are neither very numerous nor valuable. They will be mentioned hereafter.--E.]
To the cape off which this unhappy transaction happened, I gave the name of Cape Kidnappers. It lies in latitude 39° 43', and longitude 182° 24' W. and is rendered remarkable by two white rocks like hay-stacks, and the high white cliffs on each side. It lies S.W. by W. distant thirteen leagues from the isle of Portland; and between them is the bay of which it is the south point, and which, in honour of Sir Edward Hawke, then First Lord of the Admiralty, I called Hawke's Bay. We found in it from twenty-four to seven fathom, and good anchorage. From Cape Kidnappers the land trends S.S.W. and in this direction we made our run along the shore, keeping at about a league distance, with a steady breeze and clear weather.
As soon as Tayeto recovered from his fright, he brought a fish to Tupia, and told him that he intended it as an offering to his Eatua, or god, in gratitude for his escape; Tupia commended his piety, and ordered him to throw the fish into the sea, which was accordingly done.[54]
[Footnote 54: This may be held as no small evidence that the Otaheitans are not so disinterested in their devotion as Dr Hawkesworth imagined, according to an assertion of his already commented on. Gratitude implies the reception of a favour, and prayer the expectation of one. Religion without interest is both unnatural and absurd. The very notion of religion is humble reliance upon God. "Take this away," says Dr Magee very justly, "and we become a race of independent beings, claiming as a debt the reward of our good works; a sort of contracting party with the Almighty, contributing nought to his glory, but anxious to maintain our own independence, and our own rights." The lips of uninspired man never spake more truth in one sentence. Let the aspiring moralist consider it in its nature and consequences. If he obtain humility by the meditation, he will feel the blessedness of a grateful heart.--E.]
About two o'clock in the afternoon, we passed a small but high white island lying close to the shore, upon which we saw many houses, boats, and people. The people we concluded to be fishers, because the island was totally barren; we saw several people also on shore, in a small bay upon the main, within the island. At eleven, we brought-to till day-light, and then made sail to the southward, along the shore. About seven o'clock we passed a high point of land, which lies S.S.W. twelve leagues from Cape Kidnappers: From this point the land trends three-fourths of a point more to the westward; at ten, we saw more land open to the southward, and at noon, the southermost land that was in sight bore S. 39° W. distant eight or ten leagues, and a high bluff head, with yellowish cliffs, bore W. distant about two miles: The depth of water was thirty-two fathom.
In the afternoon we had a fresh breeze at west, and during the night variable light airs and calms: In the morning a gentle breeze sprung up between the N.W. and N.E. and having till now stood to the southward, without seeing any probability of meeting with a harbour, and the country manifestly altering for the worse, I thought that standing farther in that direction would be attended with no advantage, but on the contrary would be a loss of time that might be employed with a better prospect of success in examining the coast to the northward; about one, therefore, in the afternoon, I tacked, and stood north, with a fresh breeze at west. The high bluff head, with yellowish cliffs, which we were a-breast of at noon, I called Cape Turnagain, because here we turned back. It lies in latitude 40° 34' S. longitude 182° 55' W., distant eighteen leagues S.S.W. and S.S.W. 1/2 W. from Cape Kidnappers. The land between them is of a very unequal height; in some places it is lofty next the sea with white cliffs, in others low, with sandy beaches: The face of the country is not so well clothed with wood as it is about Hawke's bay, but looks more like our high downs in England: It is, however, to all appearance, well inhabited, for as we stood along the shore, we saw several villages, not only in the vallies, but on the tops and sides of the hills, and smoke in many other places. The ridge of mountains, which has been mentioned before, extends to the southward farther than we could see, and was then every where chequered with snow. At night we saw two fires inland, so very large, that we concluded they must have been made to clear the land for tillage; but however that be, they are a demonstration that the part of the country where they appeared is inhabited.
On the 18th, at four o'clock in the morning, Cape Kidnappers bore N. 32 W. distant two leagues: In this situation we had sixty-two fathom, and when the Cape bore W. by N. distant three or four leagues, we had forty-five fathom: In the mid-way between the isle of Portland and the Cape we had sixty-five fathom. In the evening, being abreast of the peninsula, within Portland island, called Terakako, a canoe came off from that shore, and with much difficulty overtook the ship; there were on board five people, two of whom appeared to be chiefs, and the other three servants: The chiefs, with very little invitation, came on board, and ordered the rest to remain in their canoe. We treated them with great kindness, and they were not backward in expressing their satisfaction; they went down into the cabin, and after a short time told us that they had determined not to go on shore till the next morning. As the sleeping on board was an honour which we neither expected nor desired, I remonstrated strongly against it, and told them, that on their account it would not be proper, as the ship would probably be at a great distance from where she was then, the next morning: They persisted, however, in their resolution, and as I found it impossible to get rid of them without turning them by force out of the ship, I complied: As a proper precaution, however, I proposed to take their servants also on board, and hoist their canoe into the ship; they made no objection, and this was accordingly done. The countenance of one of these chiefs was the most open and ingenuous of all I have ever seen, and I very soon gave up every suspicion of his having any sinister design: They both examined every thing they saw with great curiosity and attention, and received very thankfully such little presents as we made them; neither of them, however, could be persuaded either to eat or drink, but their servants devoured every thing they could get with great voracity. We found that these men had heard of our kindness and liberality to the natives who had been on board before, yet we thought the confidence they placed in us an extraordinary instance of their fortitude. At night I brought-to till day-light, and then made sail; at seven in the morning, I brought-to again under Cape Table, and sent away our guests with their canoe, who expressed some surprise at seeing themselves so far from home, but landed a-breast of the ship. At this time I saw other canoes putting off from the shore, but I stood away to the northward without waiting for their coming up.
About three, I passed a remarkable head-land, which I called Gable-End-Foreland, from the very great likeness of the white cliff at the point to the gable-end of a house: It is not more remarkable for its figure, than for a rock which rises like a spire at a little distance. It lies from Cape Table N. 24 E. distant about twelve leagues. The shore between them forms a bay, within which lies Poverty Bay, at the distance of four leagues from the head-land, and eight from the Cape. At this place three canoes came off to us, and one man came on board; we gave him some trifles, and he soon returned to his boat, which, with all the rest, dropped a-stern.
In the morning I made sail in shore, in order to look into two bays, which appeared about two leagues to the northward of the Foreland; the southernmost I could not fetch, but I anchored in the other about eleven o'clock.
Into this bay we were invited by the people on board many canoes, who pointed to a place where they said there was plenty of fresh water: I did not find so good a shelter from the sea as I expected, but the natives who came about us appearing to be of a friendly disposition, I was determined to try whether I could not get some knowledge of the country here before I proceeded farther to the northward.
In one of the canoes that came about us as soon as we anchored, we saw two men, who by their habits appeared to be chiefs: One of them was dressed in a jacket, which was ornamented after their manner, with dog's skin; the jacket of the other was almost covered with small tufts of red feathers. These men I invited on board, and they entered the ship with very little hesitation: I gave each of them about four yards of linen, and a spike nail; with the linen they were much pleased, but seemed to set no value upon the nail. We perceived that they knew what had happened in Poverty Bay, and we had therefore no reason to doubt but they would behave peaceably; however, for further security, Tupia was ordered to tell them for what purpose we came thither, and to assure them that we would offer them no injury, if they offered none to us. In the mean time those who remained in the canoes traded with our people very fairly for what they happened to have with them: The chiefs, who were old men, staid with us till we had dined, and about two o'clock I put off with the boats, manned and armed, in order to go on shore in search of water, and the two chiefs went into the boat with me. The afternoon was tempestuous, with much rain, and the surf every where ran so high, that although we rowed almost round the bay, we found no place where we could land: I determined therefore to return to the ship, which being intimated to the chiefs, they called to the people on shore, and ordered a canoe to be sent off for themselves; this was accordingly done, and they left us, promising to come on board again in the morning, and bring us some fish and sweet-potatoes.
In the evening, the weather having become fair and moderate, the boats were again ordered out, and I landed, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander. We were received with great expressions of friendship by the natives, who behaved with a scrupulous attention not to give offence. In particular, they took care not to appear in great bodies: One family, or the inhabitants of two or three houses only, were generally placed together, to the number of fifteen or twenty, consisting of men, women, and children. These little companies sat upon the ground, not advancing towards us, but inviting us to them, by a kind of beckon, moving one hand towards the breast. We made them several little presents; and in our walk round the bay found two small streams of fresh water. This convenience, and the friendly behaviour of the people, determined me to stay at least a day, that I might fill some of my empty casks, and give Mr Banks an opportunity of examining the natural produce of the country.
In the morning of the 21st, I sent Lieutenant Gore on shore, to superintend the watering, with a strong party of men; and they were soon followed by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, with Tupia, Tayeto, and four others.
The natives sat by our people, and seemed pleased to observe them; but did not intermix with them: They traded, however, chiefly for cloth, and after a short time applied to their ordinary occupations, as if no stranger had been among them. In the forenoon, several of their boats went out a-fishing, and at dinner time every one repaired to his respective dwelling; from which, after a certain time, he returned. These fair appearances encouraged Mr Banks and Dr Solander to range the bay with very little precaution, where they found many plants, and shot some birds of exquisite beauty. In their walk, they visited several houses of the natives, and saw something of their manner of life; for they showed, without any reserve, every thing which the gentlemen desired to see. They were sometimes found at their meals, which the approach of the strangers never interrupted. Their food at this season consisted of fish, with which, instead of bread, they eat the root of a kind of fern, very like that which grows upon our commons in England. These roots they scorch over the fire, and then beat with a stick, till the bark and dry outside fall off; what remains is a soft substance, somewhat clammy and sweet, not unpleasing to the taste, but mixed with three or four times its quantity of strings and fibres, which are very disagreeable; these were swallowed by some, but spit out by the far greater number, who had baskets under them to receive the rejected part of what had been chewed, which had an appearance very like that of tobacco in the same state. In other seasons they have certainly plenty of excellent vegetables; but no tame animals were seen among them except dogs, which were very small and ugly. Mr Banks saw some of their plantations, where the ground was as well broken down and tilled as even in the gardens of the most curious people among us: In these spots were sweet potatoes, coccos or eddas, which are well known and much esteemed both in the East and West Indies, and some gourds: The sweet potatoes were planted in small hills, some ranged in rows, and others in quincunx, all laid by a line with the greatest regularity: The coccos were planted upon flat land, but none of them yet appeared above ground; and the gourds were set in small hollows, or dishes, much as in England. These plantations were of different extent, from one or two acres to ten: Taken together, there appeared to be from 150 to 200 acres in cultivation in the whole bay, though we never saw an hundred people. Each district was fenced in, generally with reeds, which were placed so close together that there was scarcely room for a mouse to creep between.
The women were plain, and made themselves more so by painting their faces with red ochre and oil, which being generally fresh and wet upon their cheeks and foreheads, was easily transferred to the noses of those who thought fit to salute them; and that they were not wholly averse to such familiarity, the noses of several of our people strongly testified: They were, however, as great coquets as any of the most fashionable ladies in Europe, and the young ones as skittish as an unbroken filly: Each of them wore a petticoat, under which there was a girdle, made of the blades of grass highly perfumed, and to the girdle was fastened a small bunch of the leaves of some fragrant plant, which served their modesty as its innermost veil.[55] The faces of the men were not so generally painted, yet we saw one whose whole body, and even his garments, were rubbed over with dry ochre, of which he kept a piece constantly in his hand, and was every minute renewing the decoration in one part or another, where he supposed it was become deficient.[56] In personal delicacy they were not equal to our friends at Otaheite, for the coldness of the climate did not invite them so often to bathe; but we saw among them one instance of cleanliness in which they exceeded them, and of which perhaps there is no example in any other Indian nation. Every house, or every little cluster of three or four houses, was furnished with a privy, so that the ground was every where clean. The offals of their food, and other litter, were also piled up in regular dunghills, which probably they made use of at a proper time for manure.
[Footnote 55: It is elsewhere said of these women, that, contrary to the custom of the sex in general, they affected dress rather less than the men. As to their modesty, let one fact related in the same place, be allowed its legal influence.--Their innermost veil, as our author will have it, was always bound fast round them, except when they went into the water to catch lobsters, and then great care was taken that they should not be seen by the other sex. "Some of us happening one day to land upon a small island in Tolaga Bay, we surprised several of them at this employment; and the chaste Diana, with her nymphs, could not have discovered more confusion and distress at the sight of Actæon, than these women expressed on our approach. Some of them hid themselves among the rocks, and the rest crouched down in the sea till they had made themselves a girdle and apron of such weeds as they could find, and when they came out, even with this veil, we could perceive that their modesty suffered much pain by our presence!" One fact of this kind speaks volumes. The reader may glance over them at his leisure.--E.]
[Footnote 56: It is elsewhere remarked, that the bodies of both sexes are marked with the black stains called Amoco, like the tattowing of the Otaheitans, but that the women are not so lavish in the decoration as the men, and that whereas at Otaheite the breech is the choice spot for the display of their beautifying ingenuity, in New Zealand, on the contrary, it is almost entirely neglected as unworthy of embellishment. So much for the capricious partiality of dame Fashion.--E.]
In this decent article of civil oeconomy they were beforehand with one of the most considerable nations of Europe, for I am credibly informed, that, till the year 1760, there was no such thing as a privy in Madrid, the metropolis of Spain, though it is plentifully supplied with water. Before that time it was the universal practice to throw the ordure out of the windows, during the night, into the street, where numbers of men were employed to remove it, with shovels, from the upper parts of the city to the lower, where it lay till it was dry, and was then carried away in carts, and deposited without the gates. His catholic majesty, having determined to free his capital from so gross a nuisance, ordered, by proclamation, that the proprietor of every house should build a privy, and that sinks, drains, and common-sewers should he made at the public expence. The Spaniards, though long accustomed to an arbitrary government; resented this proclamation with great spirit, as an infringement of the common rights of mankind, and made a vigorous struggle against its being carried into execution. Every class devised some objection against it, but the physicians bade the fairest to interest the king in the preservation of the ancient privileges of his people; for they remonstrated, that if the filth was not, as usual, thrown into the streets, a fatal sickness would probably ensue, because the putrescent particles of the air, which such filth attracted, would then be imbibed by the human body. But this expedient, with every other that could be thought of, proved unsuccessful, and the popular discontent then ran so high that it was very near producing an insurrection; his majesty, however, at length prevailed, and Madrid is now as clear as most of the considerable cities in Europe. But many of the citizens, probably upon the principles advanced by their physicians, that heaps of filth prevent deleterious particles of air from fixing upon neighbouring substances, have, to keep their food wholesome, constructed their privies by the kitchen fire.[57]
[Footnote 57: It is a little singular, that Dr Hawkesworth did not adduce a similar instance of negligence, in a certain Northern Capital. The English, not much averse, at the time of the publication, to depreciate and despise their neighbours, would certainly have relished it vastly--for, as Swift somewhere wittily observes, your men of nice taste have very filthy ideas. That the city alluded to has improved much, within the last half century, is but to lump it with almost all the other cities and towns in Britain, of which the same thing may be predicated. Still, however, it is chargeable with glaring sins of both omission and commission; and it is certain, that the vigilance of its police has hitherto been insufficient to vindicate its cleanliness. One might incline to think, that the prejudice in favour of bad smells had not quite abandoned the inhabitants, who could allow for months, and that even in the consummating fervour of the summer sun, and in open despite of his face too, of putrifying dunghills within the precincts of their city. It is a certain fact that such a receptacle of filth, of the largest size, is established in all its amplitude of abomination on the west side of it, and often emits its pestilential spirit on the whole track of one of its principal streets. Such things ought not to be, and would not, if people used their heads as well as their noses.--E.]
In the evening, all our boats being employed in carrying the water, on board, and Mr Banks and his company finding it probable that they should be left on shore after it was dark, by which much time would be lost, which they were impatient to employ in putting the plants they had gathered in order, they applied to the Indians for a passage in one of their canoes: They immediately consented, and a canoe was launched for their use. They went all on board, being eight in number, but not being used to a vessel that required so even a balance, they unfortunately overset her in the surf: No life however was lost, but it was thought advisable that half of them should wait for another turn. Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Tupia, and Tayeto embarked again, and without any farther accident arrived safely at the ship, well pleased with the good nature of their Indian friends, who cheerfully undertook to carry them a second time, after having experienced how unfit a freight they were for such a vessel.
While these gentlemen were on shore, several of the natives went off to the ship, and trafficked, by exchanging their cloth for that of Otaheite: Of this barter they were for some time very fond, preferring the Indian cloth to that of Europe: But before night it decreased in its value five hundred per cent. Many of these Indians I took on board, and shewed them the ship and her apparatus, at which they expressed equal satisfaction and astonishment.
As I found it exceedingly difficult to get water on board on account of the surf, I determined to stay no longer at this place; on the next morning, therefore, about five o'clock, I weighed anchor and put to sea.
This bay, which is called by the natives Tegadoo, lies in the latitude of 38° 10' S.; but as it has nothing to recommend it, a description of it is unnecessary.
From this bay I intended to stand on to the northward, but the wind being right against me, I could make no way. While I was beating about to windward, some of the natives came on board, and told me, that in a bay which lay a little to the southward, being the same that I could not fetch the day I put into Tegadoo, there was excellent water, where the boats might land without a surf. I thought it better therefore to put into this bay, where I might complete my water, and form farther connections with the Indians, than to keep the sea. With this view I bore up for it, and sent in two boats, manned and armed, to examine the watering place, who, confirming the report of the Indians at their return, I came to an anchor about one o'clock, in eleven fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom, the north point of the bay N. by E. and the south point S.E. The watering-place, which was in a small cove a little within the south point of the bay, bore S. by E. distant about a mile, many canoes came immediately off from the shore, and all traded very honestly for Otaheite cloth and glass bottles, of which they were immoderately fond.
In the afternoon of the 23d, as soon as the ship was moored, I went on shore to examine the watering-place, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander: The boat landed in the cove, without the least surf; the water was excellent, and conveniently situated; there was plenty of wood close to high-water mark, and the disposition of the people was in every respect such as we could wish.
Having, with Mr Green, taken several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of them gave 180° 47' W. longitude; but, as all the observations made before exceeded these, I have laid down the coast from the mean of the whole. At noon, I took the sun's meridian altitude with an astronomical quadrant, which was set up at the watering-place, and found the latitude to be 38° 22' 24".
On the 24th, early in the morning, I sent Lieutenant Gore on shore, to superintend the cutting of wood and filling of water, with a sufficient number of men for both purposes, and all the marines as a guard. After breakfast, I went on shore myself, and continued there the whole day.
Mr Banks and Dr Solander also went on shore to gather plants, and in their walks saw several things worthy of notice. They met with many houses in the vallies that seemed to be wholly deserted, the people living on the ridges of the hills in a kind of sheds very slightly built. As they were advancing in one of these vallies, the hills on each side of which were very steep, they were suddenly struck with the sight of a very extraordinary natural curiosity. It was a rock, perforated through its whole substance, so as to form a rude but stupendous arch or cavern, opening directly to the sea; this aperture was seventy-five feet long, twenty-seven broad, and five-and-forty high, commanding a view of the bay and the hills on the other side, which were seen through it, and, opening at once upon the view, produced an effect far superior to any of the contrivances of art.
As they were returning to the watering-place in the evening, they met an old man, who detained them some time by shewing them the military exercises of the country with the lance and Patoo-Patoo, which are all the weapons in use. The lance is from ten to fourteen feet long, made of a very hard wood, and sharp at both ends: The Patoo-Patoo has been described already, it is about a foot long, made of talc or bone, with sharp edges, and used as a battle-axe. A post or stake was set up as his enemy, to which he advanced with a must furious aspect, brandishing his lance, which he grasped with great firmness; when it was supposed to have been pierced by his lance, he ran at it with his Patoo-Patoo, and falling upon the upper end of it, which was to represent his adversary's head, he laid on with great vehemence, striking many blows, any one of which would probably have split the skull of an ox. From our champion's falling upon his mock enemy with the Patoo-Patoo, after he was supposed to have been pierced with the lance, our gentlemen inferred, that in the battles of this country there is no quarter.
This afternoon, we set up the armourer's forge, to repair the braces of the tiller which had been broken, and went on getting our wood and water, without suffering the least molestation from the natives; who came down with different sorts of fish, which we purchased with cloth, beads, and glass bottles, as usual.
On the 25th, Mr Banks and Dr Solander went again on shore; and while they were searching for plants, Tupia staid with the waterers: Among other Indians who came down to them was a priest, with whom Tupia entered into a very learned conversation. In their notions of religion they seemed to agree very well, which is not often the case between learned divines on our side of the ocean: Tupia, however, seemed to have the most knowledge, and he was listened to with great deference and attention by the other. In the course of this conversation, after the important points of divinity had been settled, Tupia enquired if it was their practice to eat men, to which they answered in the affirmative; but said that they eat only their enemies who were slain in battle.[58]
[Footnote 58: There is some reason, however, to believe that they make battle in order that they may have enemies to eat. It is something like the plea of the slave-dealers. They took those only who had been made prisoners in war, and who would be butchered if not thus disposed of. But who occasioned the wars which brought these miserable beings into the hands of their enemies? There's the rub.--E.]
On the 26th, it rained all day, so that none of us could go ashore; and very few of the Indians came either to the watering-place or the ship.
On the 27th, I went with Dr Solander to examine the bottom of the bay; but though we went ashore at two places, we met with little worth notice. The people behaved very civilly, shewing us every thing that we expressed a desire to see. Among other trifling curiosities which Dr Solander purchased of them, was a boy's top, shaped exactly like those which children play with in England; and they made signs, that to make it spin it was to be whipped. Mr Banks in the mean time went ashore at the watering-place, and climbed a hill which stood at a little distance to see a fence of poles, which we had observed from the ship, and which had been much the subject of speculation. The hill was extremely steep, and rendered almost inaccessible by wood; yet he reached the place, near which he found many houses that for some reason had been deserted by their inhabitants. The poles appeared to be about sixteen feet high; they were placed in two rows, with a space of about six feet between them, and the poles in each row were about ten feet distant from each other. The lane between them was covered by sticks, that were set up sloping towards each other from the top of the poles on each side, like the roof of a house. This rail-work, with a ditch that was parallel to it, was carried about a hundred yards down the hill in a kind of curve; but for what purpose we could not guess.
The Indians, at the watering-place, at our request, entertained us with their war-song, in which the women joined, with the most horrid distortions of countenance, rolling their eyes, thrusting out their tongues, and often heaving loud and deep sighs; though all was done in very good time.
On the 28th, we went ashore upon an island that lies to the left hand of the entrance of the bay, where we saw the largest canoe that we had yet met with: She was sixty-eight feet and a half long, five broad, and three feet six high; she had a sharp bottom, consisting of three trunks of trees hollowed, of which that in the middle was the longest: The side-planks were sixty-two feet long in one piece, and were not despicably carved in bas relief; the head also was adorned with carving still more richly. Upon this island there was a larger house than any we had yet seen; but it seemed unfinished and was full of chips. The wood work was squared so even and smooth, that we made no doubt of their having among them very sharp tools. The sides of the posts were carved in a masterly style, though after their whimsical taste, which seems to prefer spiral lines and distorted faces: As these carved posts appeared to have been brought from some other place, such work is probably of great value among them.
At four o'clock in the morning of the 29th, having got on board our wood and water, and a large supply of excellent celery, with which the country abounds, and which proved a powerful antiscorbutic, I unmoored and put to sea.
This bay is called by the natives Tolaga; it is moderately large, and has from seven to thirteen fathom, with a clean sandy bottom and good anchorage; and is sheltered from all winds except the north-east. It lies in latitude 38° 22' S. and four leagues and a half to the north of Gable-end Foreland. On the south point lies a small but high island, so near the main as not to be distinguished from it. Close to the north end of the island, at the entrance into the bay, are two high rocks; one is round like a corn-stack, but the other is long, and perforated in several places, so that the openings appear like the arches of a bridge. Within these rocks is the cove where we cut wood, and filled our water-casks. Off the north point of the bay is a pretty high rocky island; and about a mile without it, are some rocks and breakers. The variation of the compass here is 14° 31' E., and the tide flows at the full and change of the moon, about six o'clock, and rises and falls perpendicularly from five to six feet: Whether the flood comes from the southward or the northward I have not been able to determine.
We got nothing here by traffic but a few fish, and some sweet potatoes, except a few trifles, which we considered merely as curiosities. We saw no four-footed animals, not the appearance of any, either tame or wild, except dogs and rats, and these were very scarce: The people eat the dogs, like our friends at Otaheite; and adorn their garments with the skins, as we do ours with fur and ermine. I climbed many of the hills, hoping to get a view of the country, but I could see nothing from the top except higher hills, in a boundless succession. The ridges of these hills produce little besides fern; but the sides are most luxuriantly clothed with wood, and verdure of various kinds, with little plantations intermixed. In the woods, we found trees of above twenty different sorts, and carried specimens of each on board; but there was nobody among us to whom they were not altogether unknown. The tree which we cut for firing was somewhat like our maple, and yielded a whitish gum. We found another sort of it of a deep yellow, which we thought might be useful in dying. We found also one cabbage tree, which we cut down for the cabbages. The country abounds with plants, and the woods with birds, in an endless variety, exquisitely beautiful, and of which none of us had the least knowledge. The soil, both of the hills and vallies, is light and sandy, and very fit for the production of all kinds of roots; though we saw none except sweet potatoes and yams.
SECTION XXIII.
The Range from Tolaga to Mercury Bay, with an Account of many Incidents that happened both on board and ashore: A Description of several Views exhibited by the Country, and of the Heppahs, or fortified Villages of the Inhabitants.
On Monday the 30th, about half an hour after one o'clock, having made sail again to the northward for about ten hours, with a light breeze, I hauled round a small island which lay east one mile from the north-east point of the land: From this place I found the land trend away N.W. by W. and W.N.W. as far as I could see, this point being the eastermost land on the whole coast. I gave it the name of East Cape, and I called the island that lies off it East Island; it is of a small circuit, high and round, and appears white and barren: The Cape is high, with white cliffs, and lies in latitude 37° 42' 30" S. and longitude 181° W. The land from Tolaga Bay to East Cape is of a moderate, but unequal height, forming several small bays, in which are sandy beaches: Of the inland country we could not see much, the weather being cloudy and hazy. The soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom at the distance of about a league from the shore. After we had rounded the Cape, we saw in our run along the shore a great number of villages, and much cultivated land; the country in general appeared more fertile than before, and was low near the sea, but hilly within. At six in the evening, being four leagues to the westward of East Cape, we passed a bay which was first discovered by Lieutenant Hicks, and which therefore I called Hicks's Bay. At eight in the evening, being eight leagues to the westward of the Cape, and three or four miles from the shore, I shortened sail, and brought-to for the night, having at this time a fresh gale at S.S.E. and squally; but it soon became moderate, and at two in the morning, we made sail again to the S.W. as the land now trended; and at eight o'clock in the morning, saw land, which made like an island, bearing west, the south-westermost part of the main bearing south-west; and about nine no less than five canoes came off, in which were more than forty men, all armed with their country pikes and battle-axes, shouting and threatening an attack; this gave us great uneasiness, and was indeed what we did not expect; for we hoped, that the report both of our power and clemency had spread to a greater extent. When one of these canoes had almost reached the ship, another, of an immense size, the largest that we had yet seen, crowded with people, who were also armed, put off from the shore, and came up at a great rate; as it approached it received signals from the canoe that was nearest to the ship, and we could see that it had sixteen paddles on a side, beside people that sat, and others that stood in a row from stem to stern, being in all about sixty men: As they made directly to the ship, we were desirous of preventing an attack, by showing what we could do; and therefore fired a gun, loaded with grape-shot, a-head of them: This made them stop, but not retreat; a round shot was then fired over them, and upon seeing it fall, they seized their paddles and made towards the shore with such precipitation, that they seemed scarcely to allow themselves time to breathe. In the evening, three or four more canoes came off unarmed; but they would not venture within a musket-shot of the vessel. The Cape, off which we had been threatened with hostilities, I called, from the hasty retreat of the enemy, Cape Runaway. It lies in latitude 37° 32'; longitude 181° 48'. In this day's run, we found that the land, which made like an island in the morning, bearing west, was so; and we gave it the name of White Island.
At day-break on the 1st of November, we counted no less than five-and-forty canoes that were coming from the shore towards the ship: Seven of them came up with us, and after some conversation with Tupia, sold us some lobsters and muscles, and two conger eels. These people traded pretty fairly: When they were gone, some others came off from another place, who began also to trade fairly; but after some time they look what was handed down to them, without making any return; one of them who had done so, upon being threatened, began to laugh, and with many marks of derision set us at defiance, at the same time putting off the canoe from the ship: A musket was then fired over his head, which brought him back in a more serious mood, and trade went on with great regularity. At length, when the cabin and gun-room had got as much as they wanted, the men were allowed to come to the gangway, and trade for themselves. Unhappily the same care was not taken to prevent frauds as had been taken before, so that the Indians, finding that they could cheat with impunity, grew insolent again, and proceeded to take greater liberties. One of the canoes, having sold every thing on board, pulled forward, and the people that were in her seeing some linen hang over the ship's side to dry, one of them, without any ceremony, untied it, and put it up in his bundle: He was immediately called to, and required to return it; instead of which, he let his canoe drop astern, and laughed at us: A musket was fired over his head, which, did not put a stop to his mirth; another was then fired at him with small shot, which struck him upon the back; he, shrunk a little when the shot hit him, but did not regard it more than one of our men would have done the stroke of a rattan: He continued with great composure to pack up the linen that he had stolen. All the canoes now dropped astern about a hundred yards, and all set up their song of defiance, which they continued till the ship was distant from them about four hundred yards. As they seemed to have no design to attack us, I was not willing to do them any hurt; yet I thought their going off in a bravado might have a bad effect when it should be reported ashore. To show them therefore that they were still in our power, though very much beyond the reach of any missile weapon with which they were acquainted, I gave the ship a yaw, and fired a four-pounder so as to pass near them. The shot happened to strike the water, and rise several times at a great distance beyond the canoes; This struck them with terror, and they paddled away without once looking behind them.
About two in the afternoon, we saw a pretty high island bearing west from us; and at five, saw more islands and rocks to the westward of that. We hauled our wind in order to go without them, but could not weather them before it was dark. I therefore bore up, and ran between them and the main. At seven, I was close under the first, from which a large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at the distance of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a deck, put off, and made sail for the ship: This was the first vessel of the kind that we had seen since we left the South Sea islands. When she came near, the people on board entered very freely into conversation with Tupia, and, we thought, showed a friendly disposition; but when it was just dark, they ran their canoe close to the ship's side, and threw in a volley of stones, after which they paddled ashore.
We learnt from Tupia, that the people in the canoe called the island which we were under Mowtohora; it is but of a small circuit, though high, and lies six miles from the main; on the south side is anchorage in fourteen fathom water. Upon the main land, S.W. by W. of this island, and apparently at no great distance from the sea, is a high round mountain, which I called Mount Edgecumbe: it stands in the middle of a large plain, and is therefore the more conspicuous; latitude 37° 59', longitude 183° 7'.
In standing westward, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen to ten fathom; and knowing that we were not far from the small islands and rocks which we had seen before dark, and which I intended to have passed before I brought-to for the night, I thought it more prudent to tack, and spend the night under Mowtohora, where I knew there was no danger. It was indeed happy for us that we did so; for in the morning, after we had made sail to the westward, we discovered a-head of us several rocks, some of which were level with the surface of the water, and some below it: They lay N.N.E. from Mount Edgecumbe, one league and a half distant from the island Mowtohora, and about nine miles from the main. We passed between these rocks and the main, having from ten to seven fathom water.
This morning, many canoes and much people were seen along the shore; several of the canoes followed us, but none of them could reach us, except one with a sail, which proved to be the same that had pelted us the night before. The people on board again entered into conversation with Tupia; but we expected another volley of their ammunition, which was not indeed dangerous to any thing but the cabin windows. They continued abreast of the ship about an hour, and behaved very peaceably; but at last the salute which we expected was given; we returned it by firing a musquet over them, and they immediately dropped astern and left us, perhaps rather satisfied with having given a test of their courage by twice insulting a vessel so much superior to their own, than intimidated by the shot.
At half an hour after ten, we passed between a low flat island and the main: The distance from one to the other was about four miles, and the depth of water from ten to twelve fathom. The main land between this flat island and Mowtohora is of a moderate height, but level, pretty clear of wood, and full of plantations and villages. The villages, which were larger than any we had yet seen, were built upon eminences near the sea, and fortified on the land side by a bank and ditch, with a high paling within it, which was carried all round: Beside a bank, ditch, and pallisadoes, some of them appeared to have out-works. Tupia had a notion that the small inclosures of pallisadoes, and a ditch that we had seen before, were Morais, or places of worship; but we were of opinion that they were forts, and concluded that these people had neighbouring enemies, and were always exposed to hostile attacks.[59]
[Footnote 59: The latter opinion was the more correct, as might be readily shewn; but it is not purposed to treat of the subject till we come to the account of the 3d voyage.--E.]
At two o'clock we passed a small high island, lying four miles from a high round head upon the main. From this head the land trends N.W. as far as can be seen, and has a rugged and hilly appearance. As the weather was hazy, and the wind blew fresh on the shore, we hauled off for the weathermost island in sight, which bore from us N.N.E. distant about six or seven leagues.
Under this island, which I have called the Mayor, we spent the night. At seven in the morning it bore S. 47 E. distant six leagues, and a cluster of small islands and rocks bore N. 1/2 E. distant one league, to which I gave the name of the Court of Aldermen. They lie in the compass of about half a league every way, and five leagues from the main, between which and them lie other islands, most of them barren rocks, of which there is great variety: Some of them are as small in compass as the Monument of London, but rise to a much greater height, and some of them are inhabited. They lie in latitude 36° 57', and at noon bore S. 60 E. distant three or four leagues; and a rock like a castle, lying not far from the main, bore N. 40 W. at the distance of one league. The country that we passed the night before, appeared to be well inhabited, many towns were in sight, and some hundreds of large canoes lay under them upon the beach; but this day, after having sailed about fifteen leagues, it appeared to be barren and desolate. As far as we had yet coasted this country from Cape Turnagain, the people acknowledged one Chief, whom they called Teratu, and to whose residence they pointed, in a direction that we thought to be very far inland, but afterwards found to be otherwise.
About one o'clock three canoes came off to us from the main, with one-and-twenty men on board. The construction of these vessels appeared to be more simple than that of any we had seen, they being nothing more than trunks of a single tree hollowed by fire, without any convenience or ornament. The people on board were almost naked, and appeared to be of a browner complexion; yet naked and despicable as they were, they sung their song of defiance, and seemed to denounce against us inevitable destruction: They remained, however, some time out of stones throw, and then venturing nearer, with less appearance of hostility, one of our men went to the ship side, and was about to hand them a rope; this courtesy, however, they thought fit to return by throwing a lance at him, which having missed him, they immediately threw another into the ship: Upon this a musquet was fired over them, which at once sent them away.[60]
[Footnote 60: We are elsewhere told, that "When they were at too great a distance to reach us with a lance, or a stone, they presumed that we had no weapon with which we could reach them; here then the defiance was given, and the words were almost universally the same, Haromai, haromai, harre uta a Patoo-Patoo oge: Come to us, come on shore, and we will kill you all with our Patoo-Patoos." The language of defiance and bravado we see is pretty much the same throughout the world. Certain Europeans, however, excel vastly in the ingenuity and brilliancy with which they puff it off with oaths and curses; in this most courageous invention, they as much surpass the mere savages as they do in instruments of death. Indeed this co-superiority is in excellent harmony. Our great poet Milton makes no scruple, of course, to ascribe both offensive means to the inhabitants of the fiery gulph. See the 6th book of his immortal work for the origin of one, and the whole of the book, where the arch enemy makes speeches, for specimens of the other. Milton's devils, however, very commonly preserve a dignified decorum in their wrath--an indication, by the bye, of his judicious care to maintain consistency in his characters.--E.]
About two, we saw a large opening, or inlet, for which we bore up; we had now forty-one fathom water, which gradually decreased to nine, at which time we were one mile and a half distant from a high towered rock which lay near the south point of the inlet: This rock and the northermost of the Court of Aldermen being in one, bearing S. 61 E.
About seven in the evening we anchored in seven fathom, a little within the south entrance of the bay: To this place we were accompanied by several canoes and people like those we had seen last, and for some time they behaved very civilly. While they were hovering about us, a bird was shot from the ship, as it was swimming upon the water: At this they shewed less surprise than we expected, and taking up the bird, they tied it to a fishing line that was towing a-stern; as an acknowledgment for this favour we gave them a piece of cloth: But notwithstanding this effect of our fire-arms, and this interchange of civilities, as soon as it grew dark, they sung their war song, and attempted to tow away the buoy of the anchor. Two or three musquets were then fired over them, but this seemed rather to make them angry than afraid, and they went away, threatening that to-morrow they would return with more force, and be the death of us all; at the same time sending off a boat, which they told us was going to another part of the bay for assistance.
There was some appearance of generosity, as well as courage, in acquainting us with the time when they intended to make their attack; but they forfeited all credit which this procured them, by coming secretly upon us in the night, when they certainly hoped to find us asleep: Upon approaching the ship they found themselves mistaken, and therefore retired without speaking a word, supposing that they were too early; after some time they came a second time, and being again disappointed, they retired as silently as before.[61]
[Footnote 61: It may not be difficult, perhaps, to explain the conduct of these people in the case now stated, on principles pretty well ascertained by observation on different classes of mankind. These islanders have advanced a certain step towards civilization; this is indicated by the regularity of their conduct, as pointed to some particular object of general interest; by their being influenced to emulate one another in the operations of either real or fictitious warfare, which of course implies free and extensive social intercourse; and by the cultivation of land, and the useful though not numerous domestic arts of cookery, and the making of nets and cloth, &c.--not to mention their music and dancing. In consequence of this progress, they are excited by the love of property to the display of courage as necessary for its preservation, and, it seems, often required against rival or more needy tribes. But their advancement has not been so great as to destroy or counteract the treacherousness of disposition so common to savages, whose minds are too intent on objects of desire or resentment to allow place for reflection on the propriety or impropriety of the means of attaining them, and whose whole morality, in short, consists of appetites and indulgence. Hence, on the one hand, a magnanimity which avows and boasts of its enmity, and on the other, a cunning which seeks to gratify that feeling by artifices calculated to put those who are the objects of it, off their guard against its violence. They would be generous in their hate as well as in their love; but the evil propensities of their lower life, check the virtues of the higher. Thus they lose the merit of their valour by the meanness of their deceit. Their inconsistency renders them more formidable than either.--E.]
In the morning, at day-break, they prepared to effect by force what they had in vain attempted by stealth and artifice: No less than twelve canoes came against us, with about a hundred and fifty men, all armed with pikes, lances, and stones. As they could do nothing till they came very near the ship, Tupia was ordered to expostulate with them, and, if possible, divert them from their purpose: During the conversation they appeared to be sometimes friendly and sometimes otherwise; at length, however, they began to trade, and we offered to purchase their weapons, which some of them consented to sell: They sold two very fairly, but having received what had been agreed upon for the purchase of a third, they refused to send it up, but offered it for a second price; a second was sent down, but the weapon was still detained, and a demand made of a third; this being refused with some expressions of displeasure and resentment, the offender, with many ludicrous tokens of contempt and defiance, paddled his canoe off a few yards from the ship. As I intended to continue in this place five or six days, in order to make an observation of the transit of Mercury, it was absolutely necessary, in order to prevent future mischief, to shew these people that we were not to be treated ill with impunity; some small shot were therefore fired at the thief, and a musquet-ball through the bottom of his boat: Upon this it was paddled to about a hundred yards distance, and to our great surprise the people in the other canoes took not the least notice of their wounded companion, though he bled very much, but returned to the ship, and continued to trade with the most perfect indifference and unconcern. They sold us many more of their weapons without making any other attempt to defraud us, for a considerable time; at last, however, one of them thought fit to paddle away with two different pieces of cloth which had been given for the same weapon: When he had got about an hundred yards distance, and thought himself secure of his prize, a musket was fired after him, which fortunately struck the boat just at the water's edge, and made two holes in her side; this only incited them to ply their paddles with greater activity, and the rest of the canoes also made off with the utmost expedition. As the last proof of our superiority, therefore, we fired a round shot over them, and not a boat stopped till they got on shore.
About ten o'clock, I went with two boats to sound the bay, and look out for a more convenient anchoring-place, the master being in one boat and myself in the other. We pulled first over to the north shore, from which some canoes came out to meet us; as we advanced, however, they retired, inviting us to follow them: But, seeing them all armed, I did not think it proper to comply, but went towards the head of the bay, where I observed a village upon a very high point, fortified in the manner that has been already described, and having fixed upon an anchoring place not far from where the ship lay, I returned on board.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, I weighed, run in nearer to the shore, and anchored in four fathom and a half water, with a soft sandy bottom, the south point of the bay bearing E. distant one mile, and a river which the boats can enter at low water S.S.E. distant a mile and a half.
In the morning, the natives came off again to the ship, and we had the satisfaction to observe that their behaviour was very different from what it had been yesterday: Among them was an old man, whom we had before remarked for his prudence and honesty: His name was Toiava, and he seemed to be a person of a superior rank; in the transactions of yesterday morning he had behaved with great propriety and good sense, lying in a small canoe, always near the ship, and treating those on board as if he neither intended a fraud nor suspected an injury: With some persuasion this man and another came on board, and ventured into the cabin, where I presented each of them with a piece of English cloth and some spike nails. They told us that the Indians were now very much afraid of us, and on our part we promised friendship if they would behave peaceably, desiring only to purchase what they had to sell upon their own terms.
After the natives had left us, I went with the pinnace and long-boat into the river with a design to haul the seine, and sent the master in the yawl to sound the bay and dredge for fish. The Indians who were on one side of the river, expressed their friendship by all the signs they could devise, beckoning us to land among them; but we chose to go ashore on the other side, as the situation was more convenient for hauling the seine and shooting birds, of which we saw great numbers of various kinds: The Indians, with much persuasion, about noon, ventured over to us. With the seine we had very little success, catching only a few mullets, neither did we get any thing by the trawl or the dredge, except a few shells; but we shot several birds, most of them resembling sea-pies, except that they had black plumage, and red bills and feet. While we were absent with our guns, the people who staid by the boats saw two of the Indians quarrel and fight: They began the battle with their lances, but some old men interposed and took them away, leaving them to decide the difference, like Englishmen, with their fists: They boxed with great vigour and obstinacy for some time, but by degrees all retired behind a little hill, so that our people could not see the event of the combat.
In the morning the long-boat was sent again to trawll in the bay, and an officer, with the marines, and a party of men, to cut wood and haul the seine. The Indians on shore appeared very peaceable and submissive, and we had reason to believe that their habitations were at a considerable distance, for we saw no houses, and found that they slept under the bushes: The bay is probably a place to which they frequently resort in parties to gather shell-fish, of which it affords incredible plenty, for wherever we went, whether upon the hills or in the vallies, the woods or the plains, we saw vast heaps of shells, often many waggon loads together, some appearing to be very old, and others recent. We saw no cultivation in this place, which had a desolate and barren appearance: The tops of the hills were green, but nothing grew there except a large kind of fern, the roots of which the natives had got together in large quantities, in order to carry away with them. In the evening Mr Banks walked up the river, which at the mouth looked fine and broad, but at the distance of about two miles was not deep enough to cover the foot; and the country inland was still more barren than at the sea-side. The seine and dredge were not more successful to-day than yesterday, but the Indians in some measure compensated for the disappointment by bringing us several baskets of fish, some dry, and some fresh dressed; it was not indeed of the best, but I ordered it all to be bought for the encouragement of trade.
On the 7th, the weather was so bad that none of us left the ship, nor did any of the Indians come on board.
On the 8th, I sent a party of men on shore to wood and water; and in the mean time many canoes came off, in one of which was our friend Toiava; soon after he was alongside of the ship, he saw two canoes coming from the opposite side of the bay, upon which he hasted back again to the shore with all his canoes, telling us that he was afraid of the people who were coming: This was a farther proof that the people of this country were perpetually committing hostilities against each other. In a short time, however, he returned, having discovered that the people who had alarmed him were not the same that he had supposed. The natives that came to the ship this morning sold us, for a few pieces of cloth, as much fish of the mackrel kind as served the whole ship's company, and they were as good as ever were eaten. At noon, this day, I observed the sun's meridional zenith distance by an astronomical quadrant, which gave the latitude 36° 47' 43" within the south entrance of the bay.
Mr Banks and Dr Solander went on shore and collected a great variety of plants, altogether unknown, and not returning till the evening, had an opportunity of observing in what manner the Indians disposed themselves to pass the night. They had no shelter but a few shrubs: The women and the children were ranged innermost, or farthest from the sea; the men lay in a kind of half circle round them, and their arms were set up against the trees close by them, in a manner which showed that they were afraid of an attack by some enemy not far distant. It was also discovered that they acknowledged neither Teratu, nor any other person, as their king: As in this particular they differed from all the people that we had seen upon other parts of the coast, we thought it possible that they might be a set of outlaws, in a state of rebellion against Teratu, and in that case they might have no settled habitations, or cultivated land, in any part of the country.
On the 9th, at day-break, a great number of canoes came on board, loaded with mackerel of two sorts, one exactly the same with those caught in England, and the other somewhat different: We imagined the people had taken a large shoal, and brought us an overplus which they could not consume; for they sold them at a very low rate. They were, however, very welcome to us; at eight o'clock the ship had more fish on board than all her people could eat in three days; and before night, the quantity was so much increased, that every man who could get salt, cured as many as would last him a month.
After an early breakfast, I went ashore, with Mr Green and proper instruments, to observe the transit of Mercury, Mr Banks and Dr Solander being of the party; the weather had for some time been very thick, with much rain, but this day was so favourable that not a cloud intervened during the whole transit. The observation of the ingress was made by Mr Green alone, while I was employed in taking the sun's altitude, to ascertain the time. It came on at 7h 20' 58" apparent time: According to Mr Green's observation, the internal contact was at 12h 8' 58", the external at 12h 9' 55" p.m. And according to mine, the internal contact was at 12h 8' 54", and the external 12h 9' 48"; the latitude of the place of observation was 30° 48' 5-1/2". The latitude observed at noon was 36° 48' 28". The mean of this and yesterday's observation gives 36° 48' 5-1/2" S. the latitude of the place of observation; the variation of the compass was 11° 9' E.
About noon we were alarmed by the firing of a great gun from the ship; Mr Gore, my second lieutenant, was at this time commanding officer on board, and the account that he gave was this. While some small canoes were trading with the people, two very large ones came up, full of men, one of them having on board forty-seven, all armed with pikes, darts, and stones, and apparently with a hostile intention: They appeared to be strangers, and to be rather conscious of superiority over us by their numbers, than afraid of any weapons which could give us superiority over them: No attack was however made; probably because they learnt from the people in the other canoes, with whom they immediately entered into conference, what kind of an enemy they had to deal with: After a little time, they began to trade, some of them offering their arms, and one of them a square piece of cloth, which makes a part of their dress, called a haahow; several of the weapons were purchased, and Mr Gore having agreed for a haahow, sent down the price, which was a piece of British cloth, and expected his purchase: But the Indian, as soon as he had got Mr Gore's cloth in his possession, refused to part with his own, and put off the canoe: Upon being threatened for this fraud, he and his companions began to sing their war song in defiance, and shook their paddles: Still, however, they began no attack, only defying Mr Gore to take any remedy in his power, which so provoked him that he levelled a musket loaded with ball at the offender, while he was holding the cloth in his hand, and shot him dead. It would have been happy if the effect of a few small shot had been tried upon this occasion, which upon some others had been successful.
When the Indian dropped, all the canoes put off to some distance; but as they did not go away, it was thought they might still meditate an attack. To secure therefore a safe passage for the boat, which it was necessary to send on shore, a round shot was fired over their heads, which effectually answered the purpose, and put them all to flight. When an account of what had happened was brought on shore, our Indians were alarmed, and drawing all together, retreated in a body. After a short time, however, they returned, having heard a more particular account of the affair; and intimated that they thought the man who had been killed deserved his fate.[62]
[Footnote 62: Savages in general, and more especially when in unfavourable circumstances as to the means of rendering life comfortable, shew little sympathy for each other; and accordingly, the principle of fortitude, which, as justly observed by Mr Millar, in one of his chapters on the effects of commerce, &c. "is diminished by the exquisite fellow-feeling of those who live with us," is their prevalent virtue. Every man is too much occupied by his own wants and desires to have any fine feeling to squander away on his neighbours; and thus every man learns to bear his own burdens without any expectation of assistance from others, who are of course equally loaded with himself. But these New Zealanders, as we have seen, had so far advanced in the arts of civilization, as to have exhibited considerable social qualities. The present instance of concern for their citizen, and of consideration of the justice of his fate, proves the truth of the remark.--E.]
A little before sun-set the Indians retired to eat their supper, and we went with them to be spectators of the repast; it consisted of fish of different kinds, among which were lobsters, and some birds, of a species unknown to us: These were either roasted or baked; to roast them, they fastened them upon a small stick, which was stuck up in the ground, inclining towards their fire; and to bake them, they put them into a hole in the ground with hot stones, in the same manner as the people of Otaheite.
Among the natives that were assembled upon this occasion, we saw a woman, who, after their manner, was mourning for the death of her relation: She sat upon the ground near the rest, who, one only excepted, seemed not at all to regard her: The tears constantly trickled down her cheeks, and she repeated in a low, but very mournful voice, words, which even Tupia did not at all understand: At the end of every sentence she cut her arms, her face, or her breast, with a shell that she held in her hand, so that she was almost covered with blood, and was indeed one of the most affecting spectacles that can be conceived. The cuts, however, did not appear to be so deep as are sometimes made upon similar occasions, if we may judge by the scars which we saw upon the arms, thighs, breasts, and cheeks of many of them, which we were told were the remains of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves as testimonies of their affection and sorrow.
The next day I went with two boats, accompanied by Mr Banks and the other gentlemen, to examine a large river that empties itself into the head of the bay. We rowed about four or five miles up, and could have gone much farther if the weather had been favourable. It was here wider than at the mouth, and divided into many streams by small flat islands, which are covered with mangroves, and overflowed at high water. From these trees exudes a viscous substance which very much resembles resin; we found it first in small lumps upon the sea beach, and now saw it sticking to the trees, by which we knew whence it came. We landed on the east side of the river, where we saw a tree upon which several shags had built their nests, and here therefore we determined to dine; twenty of the shags were soon killed, and being broiled upon the spot, afforded us an excellent meal. We then went upon the hills, from whence I thought I saw the head of the river. The shore on each side, as well as the islands in the middle, were covered with mangroves; and the sandbanks abounded in cockles and clams: In many places there were rock oysters, and everywhere plenty of wild fowl, principally shags, ducks, curlieus, and the sea-pie, that, has been described before. We also saw fish in the river, but of what kind we could not discover: The country on the east side of this river is for the most part barren and destitute of wood; but on the west it has a better aspect, and in some places is adorned with trees, but has in no part the appearance of cultivation. In the entrance of the river, and for two or three miles up, there is good anchoring in four and five fathom water, and places very convenient for laying a vessel on shore, where the tide rises and falls seven feet at the full and change of the moon. We could not determine whether any considerable stream of fresh water came into this river out of the country; but we saw a number of small rivulets issue from the adjacent hills. Near the mouth of this river, on the east side, we found a little Indian village, consisting of small temporary sheds, where we landed, and were received by the people with the utmost kindness and hospitality: They treated us with a flat shell-fish of a most delicious taste, somewhat like a cockle, which we eat hot from the coals. Near this place is a high point or peninsula, projecting into the river, and upon it are the remains of a fort, which they call eppah, or heppah. The best engineer in Europe could not have chosen a situation better adapted to enable a small number to defend themselves against a greater. The steepness of the cliffs renders it wholly inaccessible from the water which incloses it on three sides; and, to the land, it is fortified by a ditch, and a bank raised on the inside: From the top of the bank to the bottom of the ditch, is two-and-twenty feet; the ditch on the outside is fourteen feet deep, and its breadth is in proportion. The whole seemed to have been executed with great judgment; and there had been a row of pickets or pallisadoes, both on the top of the bank and along the brink of the ditch on the outside; those on the outside had been driven very deep into the ground, and were inclined towards the ditch, so as to project over it; but of these the thickest posts only were left, and upon them there were evident marks of fire, so that the place had probably been taken and destroyed by an enemy. If any occasion should make it necessary for a ship to winter here, or stay any time, tents might be built in this place, which is sufficiently spacious, with great convenience, and might easily be made impregnable to the whole country.
On the 11th, there was so much wind and rain that no canoe came off; but the long-boat was sent to fetch oysters from one of the beds which had been discovered the day before: The boat soon returned, deeply laden, and the oysters, which were as good as ever came from Colchester, and about the same size, were laid down under the booms, and the ship's company did nothing but eat them from the time they came on board till night, when, as may reasonably be supposed, great part of them were expended; this, however, gave us no concern, as we knew that not the boat only, but the ship, might have been loaded, almost in one tide, as the beds are dry at half-ebb.
In the morning of Sunday the 12th, two canoes came off full of people whom we had never seen before, but who appeared to have heard of us, by the caution which they used in approaching us. As we invited them to come alongside with all the tokens of friendship that we could shew, they ventured up, and two of them came on board; the rest traded very fairly for what they had: A small canoe also came from the other side of the bay, and sold us some very large fish, which they gave us to understand they would have brought yesterday, having caught them the day before, but that the wind was so high they could not venture to sea.
After breakfast I went with the pinnace and yawl, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, over to the north side of the bay, to take a view of the country, and two fortified villages which we had discovered at a distance. We landed near the smallest of them, the situation of which was the most beautifully romantic that can be imagined; it was built upon a small rock, detached from the main, and surrounded at high water. The whole body of this rock was perforated by an hollow or arch, which possessed much the largest part of it; the top of the arch was above sixty feet perpendicular above the sea, which at high water flowed through the bottom of it: The whole summit of the rock above the arch was fenced round after their manner; but the area was not large enough to contain more than five or six houses: It was accessible only by one very narrow and steep path, by which the inhabitants, at our approach, came down, and invited us into the place; but we refused, intending to visit a much more considerable fort of the same kind at about a mile's distance. We made some presents, however, to the women, and in the mean time we saw the inhabitants of the town which we were going to, coming towards us in a body, men, women, and children, to the number of about one hundred: When they came near enough to be heard, they waved their hands and called out Horomai; after which they sat down among the bushes near the beach; these ceremonies we were told were certain signs of their friendly disposition. We advanced to the place where they were sitting, and when we came up, made them a few presents, and asked leave to visit their Heppah; they consented with joy in their countenances, and immediately led the way. It is called Wharretouwa, and is situated upon a high promontory or point, which projects into the sea, on the north side, and near the head of the bay: Two sides of it are washed by the sea, and these are altogether inaccessible; two other sides are to the land: Up one of them, which is very steep, lies the avenue from the beach; the other is flat and open to the country upon the hill, which is a narrow ridge: The whole is enclosed by a pallisade about ten feet high, consisting of strong pales bound together with withes. The weak side next the land is also defended by a double ditch, the innermost of which has a bank and an additional pallisade; the inner pallisades are upon the bank next the town, but at such a distance from the top of the bank as to leave room for men to walk and use their arms, between them and the inner ditch: The outermost pallisades are between the two ditches, and driven obliquely into the ground, so that their upper ends incline over the inner ditch: The depth of this ditch, from the bottom to the top or crown of the bank, is four-and-twenty feet. Close within the innermost pallisade is a stage, twenty feet high, forty feet long, and six broad; it is supported by strong posts, and is intended as a station for those who defend the place, from which they may annoy the assailants by darts and stones, heaps of which lay ready for use. Another stage of the same kind commands the steep avenue from the beach, and stands also within the pallisade; on this side of the hill there are some little outworks and huts, not intended as advanced posts, but as the habitations of people who for want of room could not be accommodated within the works, but who were, notwithstanding, desirous of placing themselves under their protection. The pallisades, as has been observed already, ran round the whole brow of the hill, as well towards the sea as towards the land; but the ground within having originally been a mount, they have reduced it not to one level, but to several, rising in stages one above the other, like an amphitheatre, each of which is inclosed within its separate pallisade; they communicate with each other by narrow lanes, which might easily be stopt up, so that if an enemy should force the outward pallisade, he would have others to carry before the place could be wholly reduced, supposing these places to be obstinately defended one after the other. The only entrance is by a narrow passage, about twelve feet long, communicating with the steep ascent from the beach: It passes under one of the fighting stages, and though we saw nothing like a door or gateway, it may be easily barricaded in a manner that will make the forcing it a very dangerous and difficult undertaking. Upon the whole, this must be considered as a place of great strength, in which a small number of resolute men may defend themselves against all the force which a people with no other arms than those that are in use here could bring against it. It seemed to be well furnished for a siege with every thing but water; we saw great quantities of fern root, which they eat as bread, and dried fish piled up in heaps; but we could not perceive that they had any fresh water nearer than a brook, which runs close under the foot of the hill: Whether they have any means of getting it from this place during a siege, or whether they have any method of storing it within the works in gourds or other vessels, we could not learn; some resource they certainly have with respect to this article, an indispensable necessary of life, for otherwise the laying up dry provisions could answer no purpose. Upon our expressing a desire to see their method of attack and defence, one of the young men mounted a fighting stage, which they call Porava, and another went into the ditch: Both he that was to defend the place, and he that was to assault it, sung the war-song, and danced with the same frightful gesticulations that we had seen used in more serious circumstances, to work themselves up into a degree of that mechanical fury, which, among all uncivilized nations, is the necessary prelude to a battle; for dispassionate courage, a strength of mind that can surmount the sense of danger, without a flow of animal spirits by which it is extinguished, seems to be the prerogative of those who have projects of more lasting importance, and a keener sense of honour and disgrace, than can be formed or felt by men who have few pains or pleasures besides those of mere animal life, and scarcely any purpose but to provide for the day that is passing over them, to obtain plunder, or revenge an insult: They will march against each other indeed in cool blood, though they find it necessary to work themselves into passion before they engage; as among us there have been many instances of people who have deliberately made themselves drunk, that they might execute a project which they formed when they were sober, but which, while they continued so, they did not dare to undertake.[63]
[Footnote 63: Dr Hawkesworth, we see, is anxious to array the character of a mercenary soldier, in the best garment his reason and conscience could allow him to fabricate--But the deformities are scarcely concealed. It had been more candid, and on the whole too more judicious, to say, that he fights without having interest in the nature of the contest, and butchers without feeling passion against his opponent, for he can scarcely be called enemy. It follows then, that the efforts of courage he makes are the product of some superinduced principles, the result of a certain discipline, suited to his desire for distinction, and the love of what he holds to be glory. These principles are more uniformly steady of operation than the rage, whether real or affected, of savages, and are more conducive to the accomplishment of the objects in view, than even the desperate intrepidity which they so often exhibit, or that amazing fortitude in which they excel. Among these, the enthusiasm of every individual is efficient indeed to the infliction of vengeance and suffering, but it wants the energy of combination and the sagacity of practised theory, for the accomplishment of great and important designs. An army of soldiers, on the contrary, is a machine organized and adjusted for a particular purpose, and formidable, not in the proportion merely of the numbers of which it is composed, but in a much higher degree; it operates, in short, by the accumulation of the respective agencies of which it is made up, and the skill of the engineer who conducts its operations. The whirlwind of the former is dreadful indeed, but it is soon hushed on the ruins it has occasioned, and it blusters no more; but the gale of the latter is interminable in desolation, and seems to increase in strength as the bulwarks which opposed it disappear. The repose of Europe has been assailed by both, at different periods of her history. It is our mercy to have outlived the mighty storm, and we are now in a condition to look with gratitude, though mixed with pain, on the general wreck around us. It is not one of the least singularities in the astonishing events we are still so busy in contemplating, that the union of the two kinds of force now specified, was essential to the liberation of the world from that odious but scientific oppression, by which it had been so long held in misery, and which was repeatedly found, by very direful experience, to be too strong for either of them separately. It was not till the enthusiastic indignation of vulgar minds, and the cordial ferocity of some of the rudest of the allied tribes, had been amalgamated with the disciplined valour and the love of most enviable honour, conspicuous in veteran warriors, that the blasting demon of destruction knew his policy to be unravelled, or felt his power to do mischief controuled to his infamy.--E.]
On the side of the hill, near this inclosure, we saw about half an acre planted with gourds and sweet potatoes, which was the only cultivation in the bay: Under the foot of the point upon which this fortification stands, are two rocks, one just broken off from the main, and the other not perfectly detached from it: They are both small, and seem more proper for the habitations of birds than men; yet there are houses and places of defence upon each of them. And we saw many other works of the same kind upon small islands, rocks, and ridges of hills, on different parts of the coast, besides many fortified towns, which appeared to be much superior to this.
The perpetual hostility in which these poor savages, who have made every village a fort, must necessarily live, will account for there being so little of their land in a state of cultivation; and, as mischiefs very often reciprocally produce each other, it may perhaps appear, that there being so little land in a state of cultivation, will account for their living in perpetual hostility. But it is very strange, that the same invention and diligence which have been used in the construction of places so admirably adapted to defence, almost without tools, should not, when urged by the same necessity, have furnished them with a single missile weapon except the lance, which is thrown by hand: They have no contrivance like a bow to discharge a dart, nor any thing like a sling to assist them in throwing a stone; which is the more surprising, as the invention of slings, and bows and arrows, is much more obvious than of the works which these people construct, and both these weapons are found among much ruder nations, and in almost every other part of the world. Besides the long lance and Patoo-Patoo, which have been mentioned already, they have a staff about five feet long, sometimes pointed, like a serjeant's halberd, sometimes only tapering to a point at one end, and having the other end broad, and shaped somewhat like the blade of an oar. They have also another weapon, about a foot shorter than these, pointed at one end, and at the other shaped like an axe. The points of their long lances are barbed, and they handle them with such strength and agility, that we can match them with no weapon but a loaded musquet.
After taking a slight view of the country, and loading both the boats with celery, which we found in great plenty near the beach, we returned from our excursion, and about five o'clock in the evening got on board the ship.
On the 15th, I sailed out of the bay, and at the same time had several canoes on board, in one of which was our friend Toiava, who said, that as soon as we were gone he must repair to his Heppah or fort, because the friends of the man who had been shot by Mr Gore on the 9th, had threatened to revenge his death upon him, whom they had reproached as being our friend. Off the north point of the bay I saw a great number of islands, of various extent, which lay scattered to the north-west, in a direction parallel with the main as far as I could see. I steered northeast for the north eastermost of these islands; but the wind coming to the north-west, I was obliged to stand out to sea.
To the bay which we now left I gave the name of Mercury Bay, on account of the observation which we had made there of the transit of that planet over the sun. It lies in latitude 30° 47 S.; and in the longitude of 184° 4' W.: There are several islands lying both to the southward and northward of it, and a small island or rock in the middle of the entrance: Within this island the depth of water no where exceeds nine fathom: The best anchoring is in a sandy bay, which lies just within the south head, in five and four fathom, bringing a high tower or rock, which lies without the head, in one with the head, or just shut in behind it. This place is very convenient both for wooding and watering, and in the river there is an immense quantity of oysters and other shell-fish: I have for this reason given it the name of Oyster River. But for a ship that wants to stay here any time, the best and safest place is in the river at the head of the bay, which, from the number of mangrove trees about it, I have called Mangrove River. To sail into this river, the south shore must be kept all the way on board. The country on the east side of the river and bay is very barren, its only produce being fern, and a few other plants that will grow in a poor soil. The land on the north-west side is covered with wood, and the soil being much more fertile, would doubtless produce all the necessaries of life with proper cultivation: It is not however so fertile as the lands that we have seen to the southward, nor do the inhabitants, though numerous, make so good an appearance: They have no plantations; their canoes are mean, and without ornament; they sleep in the open air; and say, that Teratu, whose sovereignty they do not acknowledge, if he was to come among them, would kill them. This favoured our opinion of their being outlaws; yet they told us, that they had Heppahs or strongholds, to which they retired in time of imminent danger.
We found, thrown upon the shore, in several parts of this bay, great quantities of iron-sand, which is brought down by every little rivulet of fresh water that finds its way from the country; which is a demonstration that there is ore of that metal not far inland: Yet neither the inhabitants of this place, or any other part of the coast that we have seen, know the use of iron, or set the least value upon it; all of them preferring the most worthless and useless trifle, not only to a nail, but to any tool of that metal.
Before we left the bay, we cut upon one of the trees near the watering-place the ship's name, and that of the commander, with the date of the year and month when we were there; and after displaying the English colours, I took a formal possession of it in the name of his Britannic majesty King George the Third.
SECTION XXIV.
The Range from Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands: An Expedition up the River Thames: Some Account of the Indians who inhabit its Banks, and the fine Timber that grows there: Several Interviews with the Natives on different Parts of the Coast, and a Skirmish with them upon an Island.
I continued plying to windward two days to get under the land, and on the 18th, about seven in the morning, we were abreast of a very conspicuous promontory, being then in latitude 36°26', and in the direction of N. 48 W. from the north head of Mercury Bay, or Point Mercury, which was distant nine leagues: Upon this point stood many people, who seemed to take little notice of us, but talked together with great earnestness. In about half an hour, several canoes put off from different places, and came towards the ship; upon which the people on the point also launched a canoe, and about twenty of them came in her up with the others. When two of these canoes, in which there might be about sixty men, came near enough to make themselves heard, they sung their war-song; but seeing that we took little notice of it, they threw a few stones at us, and then rowed off towards the shore. We hoped that we had now done with them, but in a short time they returned, as if with a fixed resolution to provoke us into a battle, animating themselves by their song as they had done before. Tupia, without any directions from us, went to the poop, and began to expostulate: He told them, that we had weapons which would destroy them in a moment; and that, if they ventured to attack us, we should be obliged, to use them. Upon this, they flourished their weapons, and cried out, in their language, "Come on shore, and we will kill you all:" Well, said Tupia, but why should you molest us while we are at sea? As we do not wish to fight, we shall not accept your challenge to come on shore; and here there is no pretence for quarrel, the sea being no more your property than the ship. This eloquence of Tupia, though it greatly surprised us, having given him no hints for the arguments he used, had no effect upon our enemies, who very soon renewed their battery: A musquet was then fired through one of their boats and this was an argument of sufficient weight, for they immediately fell astern and left us.
From the point, of which we were now abreast, the land trends W. 1/2 S. near a league, and then S.S.E. as far as we could see; and, besides the islands that lay without us, we could see land round by the S.W. as far as the N.W.; but whether this was the main or islands, we could not then determine: The fear of losing the main, however, made me resolve to follow its direction. With this view, I hauled round the point and steered to the southward, but there being light airs all round the compass, we made but little progress.
About one o'clock, a breeze sprung up at east, which afterwards came to N.E. and we steered along the shore S. by E. and S.S.E. having from twenty-five to eighteen fathom.
At about half an hour after seven in the evening, having run seven or eight leagues since noon, I anchored in twenty-three fathom, not causing to run any farther in the dark, as I had now land on both sides, forming the entrance of a strait, bay, or river, lying S. by E. for on that point we could see no land.
At day-break, on the 19th, the wind being still favourable, we weighed and stood with an easy sail up the inlet, keeping nearest to the east side. In a short time, two large canoes came off to us from the shore; the people on board said, that they knew Toiava very well, and called Tupia by his name. I invited some of them on board; and as they knew they had nothing to fear from us, while they behaved honestly and peaceably, they immediately complied: I made each of them some presents, and dismissed them much gratified. Other canoes afterwards came up to us from a different side of the bay; and the people on board of these also mentioned the name of Toiava, and sent a young man into the ship, who told us he was his grandson, and he also was dismissed with a present.
After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathom; and not chusing to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the channel, which is near eleven miles over; after which I sent two boats out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.
The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the head of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way inland, I thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior part of the country, and its produce.
At day-break, therefore, I set out in the pinnace and long-boat, accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia; and we found the inlet end in a river, about nine miles above the ship: Into this river we entered with the first of the flood, and within three miles found the water perfectly fresh. Before we had proceeded more than one third of that distance, we found an Indian town, which was built upon a small bank of dry sand, but entirely surrounded by a deep mud, which possibly the inhabitants might consider as a defence. These people, as soon as they saw us, thronged to the banks, and invited us on shore. We accepted the invitation; and made them a visit notwithstanding the mud. They received us with open arms, having heard of us from our good old friend Toiava; but our stay could not be long, as we had other objects of curiosity in view. We proceeded up the river till near noon, when we were fourteen miles within its entrance; and then, finding the face of the country to continue nearly the same, without any alteration in the course of the stream, which we had no hope of tracing to its source, we landed on the west side, to take a view of the lofty trees which every where adorned its banks. They were of a kind that we had seen before, though only at a distance, both in Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay. Before we had walked an hundred yards into the wood, we met with one of them which was nineteen feet eight inches in the girt, at the height of six feet above the ground: Having a quadrant with me, I measured its height from the root to the first branch, and found it to be eighty-nine feet: It was as straight as an arrow, and tapered but very little in proportion to its height; so that I judged there were three hundred and fifty-six feet of solid timber in it, exclusive of the branches. As we advanced, we saw many others that were still larger; we cut down a young one, and the wood proved heavy and solid, not fit for masts, but such as would make the finest plank in the world. Our carpenter, who was with us, said that the timber resembled that of the pitch-pine, which is lightened by tapping; and possibly some such method might be found to lighten these, and they would then be such masts as no country in Europe can produce. As the wood was swampy, we could not range far; but we found many stout trees of other kinds, all of them utterly unknown to us, specimens of which we brought away.
The river at this height is as broad as the Thames at Greenwich, and the tide of flood as strong; it is not indeed quite so deep, but has water enough for vessels of more than a middle size, and a bottom of mud, so soft that nothing could take damage by running ashore.
About three o'clock, we reimbarked, in order to return with the first of the ebb, and named the river the Thames, it having some resemblance to our own river of that name. In our return, the inhabitants of the village where we had been ashore, seeing us take another channel, came off to us in their canoes, and trafficked with us in the most friendly manner, till they had disposed of the few trifles they had. The tide of ebb just carried us out of the narrow part of the river, into the channel that run up from the sea, before it was dark; and we pulled hard to reach the ship, but meeting the flood, and a strong breeze at N.N.W. with showers of rain, we were obliged to desist; and about midnight, we run under the land, and came to a grappling, where we took such rest as our situation would admit. At break of day, we set forward again, and it was past seven o'clock before we reached the ship. We were all extremely tired, but thought ourselves happy to be on board; for before nine it blew so hard that the boat could not have rowed ahead, and must therefore either have gone ashore, or taken shelter under it.
About three o'clock, having the tide of ebb, we took up our anchor, made sail, and plied down the river till eight in the evening, when we came to an anchor again: Early in the morning we made sail with the first ebb, and kept plying till the flood of tide obliged us once more to come to an anchor. As we had now only a light breeze, I went in the pinnace, accompanied by Dr Solander, to the western shore, but I saw nothing worthy of notice.
When I left the ship, many canoes were about it; Mr Banks therefore chose to stay on board, and traffic with the natives: They bartered their clothes and arms, chiefly for paper, and behaved with great friendship and honesty. But while some of them were below with Mr Banks, a young man who was upon the deck stole a half minute glass which was in the binnacle, and was detected just as he was carrying it off. Mr Hicks, who was commanding officer on board, took it into his head to punish him, by giving him twelve lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails; and accordingly ordered him to be taken to the gang-way, and tied up to the shrouds. When the other Indians who were on board saw him seized, they attempted to rescue him; and being resisted, called for their arms, which were handed up from the canoes, and the people of one of them attempted to come up the ship's side. The tumult was heard by Mr Banks, who, with Tupia, came hastily upon the deck to see what had happened. The Indians immediately ran to Tupia, who, finding Mr Hicks inexorable, could only assure them, that nothing was intended against the life of their companion; but that it was necessary he should suffer some punishment for his offence, which being explained to them, they seemed to be satisfied. The punishment was then inflicted, and as soon as the criminal was unbound, an old man among the spectators, who was supposed to be his father, gave him a hearty beating, and sent him down into his canoe. All the canoes then dropped astern, and the people said that they were afraid to come any more near the ship: After much persuasion, however, they ventured back again, but their cheerful confidence was at an end, and their stay was short; they promised indeed, at their departure, to return with some fish, but we saw no more of them.
On the 23d, the wind being contrary, we kept plying down the river, and at seven in the evening, got without the N.W. point of the islands lying on the west side of it. The weather being bad, night coming on, and having land on every side of us, I thought it most advisable to tack, and stretch in under the point, where we anchored in nineteen fathom. At five in the morning of the 24th, we weighed, and made sail to the N.W. under our courses and double-reefed top-sails, the wind being at S.W. by W. and W.S.W. a strong gale and squally. As the gale would not permit us to come near the land, we had but a slight and distant view of it from the time when we got under sail till noon, daring a run of twelve leagues, but we never once lost sight of it. At this time, our latitude, by observation, was 36° 15' 20", we were not above two miles from a point of land on the main, and three leagues and a half from a very high island, which bore N.E. by E.: In this situation we had twenty-six fathom water: The farthest point on the main that we could see bore N.W. but we could perceive several small islands lying to the north of that direction. The point of land of which we were now a-breast, and which I called Point Rodney, is the N.W. extremity of the river Thames; for under that name I comprehend the deep bay, which terminates in the fresh water stream, and the N E. extremity is the promontory which we passed when we entered it, and which I called Cape Colville, in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Colville.
Cape Colville lies in latitude 36° 26', longitude 184° 27'; it rises directly from the sea, to a considerable height, and is remarkable for a lofty rock, which stands to the pitch of the point, and may be distinguished at a very great distance. From the south point of this Cape the river runs in a direct line S. by E., and is no where less than three leagues broad for the distance of fourteen leagues above the Cape, and there it is contracted to a narrow stream, but continues the same course through a low flat country, or broad valley, which lies parallel with the sea coast, and the end of which we could not see. On the east side of the broad part of this river the land is tolerably high and hilly; on the west side it is rather low, but the whole is covered with verdure and wood, and has the appearance of great fertility, though there were but a few small spots which had been cultivated. At the entrance of the narrow part of the river the land is covered with mangroves and other shrubs; but farther, there are immense woods of perhaps the finest timber in the world, of which some account has already been given: In several places the wood extends to the very edge of the water, and where it is at a little distance, the intermediate space is marshy, like some parts of the banks of the Thames in England: It is probable that the river contains plenty of fish, for we saw poles stuck up in many places to set nets for catching them, but of what kinds I do not know. The greatest depth of water that we found in this river was six-and-twenty fathom, which gradually decreased to one fathom and a half: In the mouth of the fresh-water stream it is from four to three fathom, but there are large flats and sand-banks lying before it. A ship of moderate draught may, notwithstanding, go a long way up this river with a flowing tide, for it rises perpendicularly, near ten feet, and at the full and change of the moon, it is high water about nine o'clock.
Six leagues within Cape Colville, under the eastern shore, are several small islands, which, together with the main, seem to form good harbours; and opposite to these islands, under the western shore, lie other islands, by which it is also probable that good harbours may be formed: But if there are no harbours about this river, there is good anchoring in every part of it where the depth of water is sufficient, for it is defended from the sea by a chain of islands of different extent, which lie cross the mouth of it, and which I have, for that reason, called Barrier Islands: They stretch N.W. and S.E. ten leagues. The south end of the chain lies N.E. between two and three leagues from Cape Colville; and the north end lies N.E. four leagues and a half from Point Rodney. Point Rodney lies W.N.W. nine leagues from Cape Colville, in latitude 36°15' S. longitude 184° 53' W.
The natives residing about this river do not appear to be numerous, considering the great extent of the country. But they are a strong, well-made, and active people, and all of them paint their bodies with red ochre and oil from head to foot, which we had not seen before. Their canoes were large and well-built, and adorned with carving, in as good a taste as any we had seen upon the coast.
We continued to stand along the shore till night, with the main land on one side, and islands on the other, and then anchored in a bay, with fourteen fathom, and a sandy bottom. We had no sooner come to an anchor, than we tried our lines, and in a short time caught near one hundred fish, which the people called sea-bream; they weighed from six to eight pounds a piece, and consequently would supply the whole ship's company with food for two days. From the success of our lines here, we called the place Bream Bay: The two points that form it lie north and south, five leagues from each other; it is every where of a good breadth, and between three and four leagues deep: At the bottom of it there appears to be a river of fresh water. The north head of the bay, called Bream Head, is high land, and remarkable for several pointed rocks, which stand in a range upon the top of it: It may also be known by some small islands which lie before it, called the Hen and Chickens, one of which is high, and terminates in two peaks. It lies in latitude 35°46' S., and at the distance of seventeen leagues and a half from Cape Colville, in the direction of N. 41 W.
The land between Point Rodney and Bream Head, an extent of ten leagues, is low, and wooded in tufts, with white sand-banks between the sea and the firm lands. We saw no inhabitants, but many fires in the night; and where there are fires there are always people.
At day break, on the 25th, we left the bay, and steered along the shore to the northward: We found the variation of the compass to be 12° 49' E. At noon, our latitude was 35° 36' S., Bream Head bore south, distant ten miles; and we saw some small islands, to which I gave the name of the Poor Knights, at N.E. by N. distant three leagues; the northernmost land in sight bore N.N.W.: We were in this place at the distance of two miles from the shore, and had twenty-six fathom water.
The country appeared low; but well covered with wood: We saw some straggling houses, three or four fortified towns, and near them a large quantity of cultivated land.
In the evening, seven large canoes came off to us, with about two hundred men: Some of them came on board, and said that they had heard of us. To two of them, who appeared to be chiefs, I gave presents; but when these were gone out of the ship, the others became exceedingly troublesome. Some of those in the canoes began to trade, and, according to their custom, to cheat, by refusing to deliver what had been bought, after they had received the price: Among these was one who had received an old pair of black breeches, which, upon a few small shot being fired at him, he threw into the sea. All the boats soon after paddled off to some distance, and when they thought they were out of reach, they began to defy us, by singing their song and brandishing their weapons. We thought it advisable to intimidate them, as well for their sakes as our own, and therefore fired first some small arms, and then round shot over their heads; the last put them in a terrible fright, though they received no damage, except by overheating themselves in paddling away, which they did with astonishing expedition.
In the night we had variable light airs; but towards the morning a breeze sprung up at S. and afterwards at S.E. with which we proceeded slowly to the northward, along the shore.
Between six and seven o'clock two canoes came off, and told us that they had heard of yesterday's adventure, notwithstanding which the people came on board, and traded very quietly and honestly for whatever they had: Soon after two canoes came off from a more distant part of the shore; these were of a much larger size, and full of people: When they came near, they called off the other canoes which were along side of the ship, and after a short conference they all came up together. The strangers appeared to be persons of a superior rank; their canoes were well carved with many ornaments, and they had with them a great variety of weapons: They had patoo-patoos both of stone and whalebone, upon which they appeared to set a great value; they had also ribs of whale, of which we had before seen imitations in wood, carved and adorned with tufts of dog's hair. Their complexions were browner than those of the people we had seen to the southward, and their bodies and faces were more marked with the black stains which they call amoco: They had a broad spiral on each buttock; and the thighs of many of them were almost entirely black, some narrow lines only being left untouched, so that at first sight they appeared to wear striped breeches. With respect to the amoco, every different tribe seemed to have a different custom, for all the men in some canoes seemed to be almost covered with it, and those in others had scarcely a stain, except on the lips, which were black in all of them without a single exception. These gentlemen, for a long time, refused to part with any of their weapons, whatever was offered for them; at last, however, one of them produced a piece of talc, wrought into the shape of an axe, and agreed to sell it for a piece of cloth: The cloth was handed over the ship's side, but his honour immediately put off his canoe with the axe. We had recourse to our usual expedient, and fired a musket-ball over the canoe, upon which it put back to the ship, and the piece of cloth was returned; all the boats then went ashore, without offering any further intercourse.
At noon, the main land extended from S. by E. to N.W. by W. a remarkable point of land bearing W. distant four or five miles; at three we passed it, and I gave it the name of Cape Bret, in honour of Sir Piercy. The land of this Cape is considerably higher than any part of the adjacent coast: At the point of it is a high round hillock, and N.E. by N. at the distance of about a mile, is a small high island or rock, which, like several that have already been described, was perforated quite through, so as to appear like the arch of a bridge. This Cape, or at least some part of it, is by the natives called Motugogogo, and it lies in latitude 35° 10' 30" S. longitude 185° 25' W. On the west side of it is a large and pretty deep bay, lying in S.W. by W. in which there appeared to be several small islands: The point that forms the N.W. entrance lies W. 1/4 N. at the distance of three or four leagues from Cape Bret, and I distinguished it by the name of Point Pococke. On the west side of the bay we saw several villages, both upon islands and the main, and several very large canoes came off to us, full of people, who made a better appearance than any we had seen yet: They were all stout and well-made; their hair, which was black, was tied up in a bunch on the crown of their heads, and stuck with white feathers. In each of the canoes were two or three chiefs, whose habits were of the best sort of cloth, and covered with dog's skin, so as to make an agreeable appearance: Most of these people were marked with the amoco, like those who had been alongside of us before: Their manner of trading was also equally fraudulent; and the officers neglecting either to punish or fright them, one of the midshipmen, who had been defrauded in his bargain, had recourse for revenge to an expedient which was equally ludicrous and severe: He got a fishing line, and when the man who had cheated him was close under the ship's side in his canoe, he heaved the lead with so good an aim that the hook caught him by the backside; he then pulled the line, and the man holding back, the hook broke in the shank, and the beard was left sticking in the flesh.
During the course of this day, though we did not range more than six or eight leagues of the coast, we had alongside and on board the ship between four and five hundred of the natives, which is a proof that this part of the country is well inhabited.
At eight o'clock the next morning we were within a mile of a group of islands which lie close under the main, at the distance of two-and-twenty miles from Cape Bret, in the direction of N.W. by W. 1/2 W. At this place, having but little wind, we lay about two hours, during which time several canoes came off, and sold us some fish, which we called cavalles, and for that reason I gave the same name to the islands. These people were very insolent, frequently threatening us, even while they were selling their fish; and when some more canoes came up, they began to pelt us with stones. Some small shot were then fired, and hit one of them while he had a stone in his hand, in the very action of throwing it into the ship: They did not, however, desist, till some others had been wounded, and then they went away, and we stood off to sea.
The wind being directly against us, we kept plying to windward till the 29th, when we had rather lost than gained ground; I therefore bore up for a bay which lies to the westward of Cape Bret; at this time it was about two leagues to leeward of us; and at about eleven o'clock we anchored under the south-west side of one of the many islands which line it on the south-east, in four fathom and a half water; we shoaled our water to this depth all at once, and if this had not happened I should not have come to an anchor so soon. The master was immediately sent out with two boats to sound, and he soon discovered that we had got upon a bank, which runs out from the northwest end of the island, and that on the outside of it there was from eight to ten fathom.
In the mean time the natives, to the number of near four hundred, crowded upon us in their canoes, and some of them were admitted on board: To one, who seemed to be a chief, I gave a piece of broad cloth, and distributed some trifling presents among the rest. I perceived that some of these people had been about the ship when she was off at sea, and that they knew the power of our fire-arms, for the very sight of a gun threw them into manifest confusion: Under this impression they traded very fairly; but the people in one of the canoes took the opportunity of our being at dinner to tow away our buoy: A musket was fired over them, but without effect, we then endeavoured to reach them with small shot; but they were too far off: By this time they had got the buoy into their canoe, and we were obliged to fire a musket at them with ball: This hit one of them, and they immediately threw the buoy overboard: A round shot was then fired over them, which struck the water and went ashore. Two or three of the canoes immediately landed their people, who ran about the beach, as we imagined, in search of the ball. Tupia called to them, and assured them that while they were honest they should be safe, and with a little persuasion many of them returned to the ship, and their behaviour was such as left us no reason to suspect that they intended to give us any farther trouble.
After the ship was removed into deeper water, and properly secured, I went with the pinnace and yawl, manned and armed, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, and landed upon the island, which was about three quarters of a mile distant: We observed that the canoes which were about the ship, did not follow us upon our leaving her, which we thought a good sign; but we had no sooner landed than they crowded to different parts of the island and came on shore. We were in a little cove, and in a few minutes were surrounded by two or three hundred people, some rushing from behind the heads of the cove, and others appearing on the tops of the hills: They were all armed, but they came on in so confused and straggling a manner that we scarcely suspected they meant us any harm, and we were determined that hostilities should not begin on our part. We marched towards them, and then drew a line upon the sand between them and us, which we gave them to understand they were not to pass: At first they continued quiet, but their weapons were held ready to strike, and they seemed to be rather irresolute than peaceable. While we remained in this state of suspence, another party of Indians came up, and now growing more bold as their number increased, they began the dance and song which are their preludes to a battle: Still, however, they delayed the attack, but a party ran to each of our boats, and attempted to draw them on shore; this seemed to be the signal, for the people about us at the same time began to press in upon our line: Our situation was now become too critical for us to remain longer inactive, I therefore discharged my musket, which was loaded with small shot, at one of the forwardest, and Mr Banks and two of the men fired immediately afterwards: This made them fall back in some confusion, but one of the chiefs, who was at the distance of about twenty yards, rallied them, and running forward waving his patoo-patoo, and calling loudly to his companions, led them to the charge. Dr Solander, whose piece was not yet discharged, fired at this champion, who stopped short upon feeling the shot, and then ran away with the rest: They did not, however, disperse, but got together upon a rising ground, and seemed only to want some leader of resolution to renew their attack. As they were now beyond the reach of small shot, we fired with ball, but as none of them took place they still continued in a body, and in this situation we remained about a quarter of an hour: In the mean time the ship, from whence a much greater number of Indians were seen than could be discovered in our situation, brought her broad-side to bear, and entirely dispersed them, by firing a few shot over their heads. In this skirmish only two of the Indians were hurt with the small-shot, and not a single life was lost, which would not have been the case if I had not restrained the men, who, either from fear or the love of mischief, shewed as much impatience to destroy them as a sportsman to kill his game.[64] When we were in quiet possession of our cove, we laid down our arms and began to gather celery, which grew here in great plenty: After a little time we recollected to have seen some of the people hide themselves in a cave of one of the rocks, we therefore went towards the place, when an old Indian, who proved to be the chief that I had presented with a piece of broad-cloth in the morning, came out with his wife and his brother, and in a supplicating posture, put themselves under our protection. We spoke kindly to them, and the old man then told us that he had another brother, who was one of those that had been wounded by the small shot, and enquired with much solicitude and concern if he would die. We assured him that he would not, and at the same time put into his hand both a musket-ball and some small shot, telling him, that those only who were wounded with the ball would die, and that the others would recover; at the same time assuring him, that if we were attacked again, we should certainly defend ourselves with the ball, which would wound them mortally. Having now taken courage, they came and sat down by us, and, as tokens of our perfect amity, we made them presents of such trifles as we happened to have about us.
[Footnote 64: This is a very candid admission, and quite characteristic of the ordinary race of sailors. They who freely expose their own lives, as a principle of professional expediency, are not by any means solicitously sparing of the lives of others, who may happen to disagree with them on questions of interest and advantage. Even the inferior officers, and especially those who wish to attract notice in whatever is reputable, as the means of obtaining promotion, do not in general differ essentially from the common men. The ingenious midshipman who contrived so very dexterously to hook the poor savage's backside, would have had very little difficulty in bringing himself to act the sportsman as a hunter or shooter as well as a fisher. Indeed there seems much stronger evidence than mere imagination can supply, for the opinion of Hobbes, that war is the state of nature to mankind. It is certain at least, that the love of mischief is very congenial to that part of it, which, on the whole, receives the least modification of what is natural, from the restraints of education. The darling dreams of Rousseau, alas! have no prototype in the history of our species.--E.]
Soon after we re-embarked in our boats, and having rowed to another cove in the same island, climbed a neighbouring hill, which commanded the country to a considerable distance. The prospect was very uncommon and romantic, consisting of innumerable islands, which formed as many harbours, where the water was as smooth as a mill-pool: We saw also many towns, scattered houses, and plantations, the country being much more populous than any we had seen. One of the towns was very near us, from which many of the Indians advanced, taking great pains to shew us that they were unarmed, and in their gestures and countenances, expressing great meekness and humility. In the mean time, some of our people, who, when the Indians were to be punished for a fraud, assumed the inexorable justice of a Lycurgus, thought fit to break into one of their plantations, and dig up some potatoes: For this offence I ordered each of them to be punished with twelve lashes, after which two of them were discharged; but the third, insisting that it was no crime in an Englishman to plunder an Indian plantation, though it was a crime in an Indian to defraud an Englishman of a nail, I ordered him back into his confinement, from which I would not release him till he had received six lashes more.
On the 30th, there being a dead calm, and no probability of our getting to sea, I sent the master, with two boats; to sound the harbour; and all the forenoon had several canoes about the ship, who traded in a very fair and friendly manner. In the evening we went ashore upon the main, where the people received us very cordially; but we found nothing worthy of notice.
In this bay we were detained by contrary winds and calms several days, during which time our intercourse with the natives was continued in the most peaceable and friendly manner, they being frequently about the ship; and we ashore, both upon the islands and the main. In one of our visits to the continent, an old man shewed us the instrument they use in staining their bodies, which exactly resembled those that were employed for the same purpose at Otaheite. We saw also the man who was wounded in attempting to steal our buoy: The ball had passed through the fleshy part of his arm, and grazed his breast; but the wound, under the care of nature, the best surgeon, and a simple diet, the best nurse, was in a good state, and seemed to give the patient neither pain nor apprehension.[65] We saw also the brother of our old chief, who had been wounded with small shot in our skirmish: They had struck his thigh obliquely, and though several of them were still in the flesh, the wound seemed to be attended with neither danger nor pain. We found among their plantations the morus papyrifera, of which these people, as well as those of Otaheite, make cloth; but here the plant seems to be rare, and we saw no pieces of the cloth large enough for any use but to wear by way of ornament in their ears.
[Footnote 65: Dr Hawkesworth is much given to this silly sort of cant, more gratifying to vulgar prejudice, than becoming a scholar, or a man of science. One knows not how to show its absurdity better than, by merely directing the reader to consider for a moment, the things that are put in contrast or compared together. If he cannot be at the trouble of this, or, if attempting it, he finds his optics will not penetrate the mist, let him ask himself whether dame Nature is a good setter of bones, or is very expert in stopping dangerous bleedings from wounded arteries;--or if a simple diet, say for example hasty-pudding and water-gruel, personified by any fertility of poetic fancy, can smooth one's pillow when his head aches, or bathe one's body when burning with fever? No good surgeon pretends to heal wounded parts, but he is positively useful nevertheless, by placing them so as to render the efforts of nature efficient towards healing: And no nurse, however conceited, ever had the least inclination to be stewed down into jelly, or made a fricasee of, for the nourishment of her patient, though she can help him to his candle and wine very delectably! But, to be sure, where a wound gave neither pain nor apprehension, as is mentioned in the text, it is very likely, that both nature and diet are quite different beings from what are so called in our corner of the world. If so, Dr H. ought to have given their history, as a genus incognitum. But this is idle.--E.]
Having one day landed in a very distant part of the bay, the people immediately fled, except one old man, who accompanied us wherever we went, and seemed much pleased with the little presents we made him. We came at last to a little fort, built upon a small rock, which at high water was surrounded by the sea, and accessible only by a ladder: We perceived that he eyed us with a kind of restless solicitude as we approached it, and upon our expressing a desire to enter it, he told us that his wife was there: He saw that our curiosity was not diminished by this intelligence, and after some hesitation, he said, if we would promise to offer no indecency he would accompany us: Our promise was readily given, and he immediately led the way. The ladder consisted of steps fastened to a pole, but we found the ascent both difficult and dangerous. When we entered we found three women, who, the moment they saw us, burst into tears of terror and surprise: Some kind words, and a few presents, soon removed their apprehensions, and put them into good humour. We examined the house of our old friend, and by his interest two others, which were all that the fortification contained, and having distributed a few more presents, we parted with mutual satisfaction.
At four o'clock in the morning of the 5th of December, we weighed, with a light breeze, but it being variable, with frequent calms, we made little way. We kept turning out of the bay till the afternoon, and about ten o'clock we were suddenly becalmed, so that the ship would neither wear nor stay, and the tide or current setting strong, she drove towards land so fast, that before any measures could be taken for her security she was within a cable's length of the breakers: We had thirteen fathom water, but the ground was so foul that we did not dare to drop our anchor; the pinnace therefore was immediately hoisted out to take the ship in tow, and the men, sensible of their danger, exerting themselves to the utmost, and a faint breeze springing up off the land, we perceived with unspeakable joy that she made head-way, after having been so near the shore that Tupia, who was not sensible of our hair's breadth escape, was at this very time conversing with the people upon the beach, whose voices were distinctly heard, notwithstanding the roar of the breakers. We now thought all danger was over, but about an hour afterwards, just as the man in the chains had cried "Seventeen fathom," the ship struck. The shock threw us all into the utmost consternation; Mr Banks, who had undressed himself, and was stepping into bed, ran hastily up to the deck, and the man in the chains called out "Five fathom;" by this time, the rock on which we had struck being to windward, the ship went off without having received the least damage, and the water very soon deepened to twenty fathom.
This rock lies half a mile W.N.W. of the northermost or outermost island on the south-east side of the bay. We had light airs from the land, with calms, till nine o'clock the next morning, when we got out of the bay, and a breeze springing up at N.N.W. we stood out to sea.
This bay, as I have before observed, lies on the west side of Cape Bret, and I named it the Bay of Islands, from the great number of islands which line its shores, and from several harbours equally safe and commodious, where there is room and depth for any number of shipping. That in which we lay is on the south-west side of the south-westermost island, called Maturaro, on the south-east side of the bay. I have made no accurate survey of this bay, being discouraged by the time it would cost me; I thought also that it was sufficient to be able to affirm that it afforded us good anchorage, and refreshment of every kind. It was not the season for roots, but we had plenty of fish, most of which, however, we purchased of the natives, for we could catch very little ourselves either with net or line. When we shewed the natives our seine, which is such as the king's ships are generally furnished with, they laughed at it, and in triumph produced their own, which was indeed of an enormous size, and made of a kind of grass, which is very strong: It was five fathom deep, and by the room it took up, it could not be less than three or four hundred fathom long. Fishing seems indeed to be the chief business of life in this part of the country; we saw about all their towns a great number of nets, laid in heaps like hay-cocks, and covered with a thatch to keep them from the weather, and we scarcely entered a house where some of the people were not employed in making them. The fish we procured here were sharks, stingrays, sea-bream, mullet, mackrel, and some others.
The inhabitants in this bay are far more numerous than in any other part of the country that we had before visited; it did not appear to us that they were united under one head, and though their towns were fortified, they seemed to live together in perfect amity.
It is high water in this bay at the full and change of the moon, about eight o'clock, and the tide then rises from six to eight feet perpendicularly. It appears from such observations as I was able to make of the tides upon the sea-coast, that the flood comes from the southward; and I have reason to think that there is a current which comes from the westward, and sets along the shore to the S.E. or S.S.E. as the land happens to lie. [66]
[Footnote 66: Some sketches of the Bay of Islands, and a good deal of valuable information about it, are given by Mr Savage in his Account of New Zealand, to which we shall be indebted hereafter.--E.]
SECTION XXV.
Range from the Bay of Islands round North Cape to Queen Charlotte's Sound; and a Description of that Part of the Coast.
On Thursday the 7th of December, at noon, Cape Bret bore S.S.E. 1/2 E. distant ten miles, and our latitude, by observation, was 34° 59' S.; soon after we made several observations of the sun and moon, the result of which made our longitude 185° 36' W. The wind being against us, we had made but little way. In the afternoon, we stood in shore, and fetched close under the Cavalles, from which islands the main trends W. by N.: Several canoes put off and followed us, but a light breeze springing up, I did not chuse to wait for them. I kept standing to the W.N.W. and N.W. till the next morning at ten o'clock, when I tacked and stood in for the shore, from which we were about five leagues distant. At noon, the westernmost land in sight bore W. by S. and was about four leagues distant. In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze to the west, which in the evening came to the south, and continuing so all night, by day-light brought us pretty well in with the land, seven leagues to the westward of the Cavalles, where we found a deep bay running in S.W. by W. and W.S.W. the bottom of which we could but just see, and there the land appeared to be low and level. To this bay, which I called Doubtless Bay, the entrance is formed by two points, which lie W.N.W. and E.S.E. and are five miles distant from each other. The wind not permitting us to look in here, we steered for the westermost land in sight, which bore from us W.N.W. about three leagues, but before we got the length of it it fell calm.
While we lay becalmed, several canoes came off to us, but the people having heard of our guns, it was not without great difficulty that they were persuaded to come under our stern: After having bought some of their clothes, as well as their fish, we began to make enquiries concerning their county, and learnt, by the help of Tupia, that, at the distance of three days rowing in their canoes, at a place called Moore-wennua, the land would take a short turn to the southward, and from thence extend no more to the west. This place we concluded to be the land discovered by Tasman, which he called Cape Maria van Diemen, and finding these people so intelligent, we enquired farther, if they knew of any country besides their own: They answered, that they never had visited any other, but that their ancestors had told them, that to the N.W. by N. or N.N.W. there was a country of great extent, called Ulimaroa, to which some people had sailed in a very large canoe; that only part of them returned, and reported, that after a passage of a month they had seen a country where the people eat hogs. Tupia then enquired whether these adventurers brought any hogs with them when they returned? They said No: Then, replied Tupia, your story is certainly false, for it cannot be believed that men who came back from an expedition without hogs, had ever visited a country where hogs were to be procured. It is however remarkable, notwithstanding the shrewdness of Tupia's objection, that when they mentioned hogs it was not by description but by name, calling them Booah, the name which is given them in the South-sea islands; but if the animal had been wholly unknown to them, and they had no communication with people to whom it was known, they could not possibly have been acquainted with the name.
About ten o'clock at night, a breeze sprung up at W.N.W. with which we stood off north; and at noon the next day, the Cavalles bore S.E. by E. distant eight leagues; the entrance of Doubtless Bay S. by W. distant three leagues; and the north-west extremity of the land in sight, which we judged to be the main, bore N.W. by W.: Our latitude by observation was 34° 44' S. In the evening, we found the variation to be 12°41' E. by the azimuth, and 12° 40' by the amplitude.
Early in the morning, we stood in with the land, seven leagues to the westward of Doubtless Bay, the bottom of which is not far distant from the bottom of another large bay, which the shore forms at this place, being separated only by a low neck of land, which juts out into a peninsula that I have called Knuckle Point. About the middle of this Bay, which we called Sandy Bay, is a high mountain, standing upon a distant shore, to which I gave the name of Mount Camel. The latitude here is 84° 51' S. and longitude 186° 50'. We had twenty-four and twenty-five fathom water, with a good bottom; but there seems to be nothing in this bay that can induce a ship to put into it; for the land about it is utterly barren and desolate, and, except Mount Camel, the situation is low: The soil appears to be nothing but white sand, thrown up in low irregular hills and narrow ridges, lying parallel with the shore. But barren and desolate as this place is, it is not without inhabitants: We saw one village on the west side of Mount Camel, and another on the east side: We saw also five canoes full of people, who pulled after the ship, but could not come up with us. At nine o'clock, we tacked and stood to the northward; and at noon, the Cavalles bore S.E. by E. distant thirteen leagues; the north extremity of the land in sight, making like an island, bore N.W. 1/4 N. distant nine leagues; and Mount Camel bore S.W. by S. distance six leagues.
The wind being contrary, we kept plying northward till five o'clock in the evening of the 12th, when, having made very little way, we tacked and stood to the N.E. being two leagues to the northward of Mount Camel, and about a mile and a half from the shore, in which situation we had two-and-twenty fathom water.
At ten, it began to blow and rain, which brought us under double-reefed topsails; at twelve we tacked and stood to the westward till seven the next morning, when we tacked and stood again to the N.E. being about a mile to windward of the place where we tacked last night. Soon after it blew very hard at N.N.W. with heavy squalls and much rain, which brought us under our courses, and split the maintop-sail; so that we were obliged to unbend it and bend another: At ten it became more moderate, and we set the top-sails, double-reefed. At noon, having strong gales and heavy weather, we tacked and stood to the westward, and had no land in sight for the first time since we had been upon this coast.
We had now strong gales at W. and W.S.W.; and at half an hour past three we tacked and stood to the northward. Soon after, a small island lying off Knuckle Point bore S. 1/2 W. distant half a league. In the evening, having split the fore and mizen topsails, we brought the ship under her courses; and at midnight we wore, and stood to the southward till five in the morning; when we tacked and stood to the N.W. and saw land bearing south, at the distance of eight or nine leagues; by this we discovered that we had fallen much to the leeward since yesterday morning. At noon, our latitude by observation was 34° 6' S.; and the same land which we had seen before to the N.W. now bore S.W. and appeared to be the northern extremity of the country. We had a large swell rolling in from the westward, and therefore concluded that we were not covered by any land in that quarter. At eight in the evening, we tacked and stood to the westward, with as much sail as we could bear; and at noon the next day, we were in latitude 34° 10', longitude 186° 45' W. and by estimation about seventeen leagues from the land, notwithstanding our utmost endeavours to keep in with it.
On the 16th, at six in the morning, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing S.S.W.; and at noon it bore S. by W. distant fourteen leagues: While we were standing in for the shore we sounded several times, but had no ground with ninety fathom. At eight, we tacked in a hundred and eight fathom, at about three or four miles from the shore, which was the same point of land that we had to the N.W. before we were blown off. At noon it bore S.W. distant about three miles; Mount Camel bore S. by E. distant about eleven leagues, and the westermost land in sight bore S. 75 W.; the latitude by observation was 34° 20' S. At four o'clock, we tacked and stood in shore, in doing which, we met with a strong rippling, and the ship fell fast to leeward, which we imputed to a current setting east. At eight, we tacked and stood off till eight the next morning; when we tacked and stood in, being about ten leagues from the land: At noon, the point of land which we were near the day before, bore S.S.W. distant five leagues. The wind still continued at west; and at seven o'clock, we tacked in thirty-five fathom, when the point of land which has been mentioned before, bore N.W. by N. distant four or five miles; so that we had not gained one inch to windward the last twenty-four hours, which confirmed our opinion that there was a current to the eastward. The point of land I called North Cape, it being the northern extremity of this country. It lies in latitude 34° 22' S. longitude 186° 55' W. and thirty-one leagues distant from Cape Bret, in the direction of N. 63 W. It forms the north point of Sandy Bay, and is a peninsula jutting out N.E. about two miles, and terminating in a bluff head that is flat at the top. The isthmus which joins this head to the main land is very low, and for that reason the land of the Cape, from several situations, has the appearance of an island. It is still more remarkable when it is seen from the southward, by the appearance of a high round island at the S.E. point of the Cape; but this also is a deception; for what appears to be an island is a round hill, joined to the Cape by a low narrow neck of land. Upon the Cape we saw a Hippah or village, and a few inhabitants; and on the south-east side of it there appears to be anchorage, and good shelter from the south-west and north-west winds.
We continued to stand off and on, making N.W. till noon on the 21st, when North Cape bore S. 39 E. distant thirty-eight leagues. Our situation varied only a few leagues till the 23d, when, about seven o'clock in the evening, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing S. 1/2 E. At eleven the next morning, we saw it again, bearing S.S.E. at the distance of eight leagues: We now stood to the S.W.; and at four o'clock, the land bore S.E. by S. distant four leagues, and proved to be a small island, with other islands or rocks, still smaller, lying off the south-west end of it, and another lying off the north-east end, which were discovered by Tasman, and called the Three Kings. The principal island lies in latitude 34° 12' S. longitude 187° 48' W. and distant fourteen or fifteen leagues from North Cape, in the direction of W. 14 N. At midnight, we tacked and stood to the N.E. till six the next morning, which was Christmas day, when we tacked and stood to the southward. At noon, the Three Kings bore E. 8 N. distant five or six leagues. The variation this morning by the azimuth was 11° 25' E.
On the 26th, we stood to the southward close upon a wind; and at noon, were in latitude 35° 10' S longitude 188° 20' W. the Three Kings bearing N. 26 W. distant twenty-two leagues. In this situation we had no land in sight; and yet, by observation, we were in the latitude of the Bay of Islands; and by my reckoning but twenty leagues to the westward of North Cape: From whence it appears, that the northern part of this island is very narrow; for otherwise we must have seen some part of the west side of it. We stood to the southward till twelve at night, and then tacked and stood to the northward.
At four o'clock in the morning, the wind freshened, and at nine blew a storm; so that we were obliged to bring the ship to under her mainsail. Our course made good between noon this day and yesterday was S.S.W. 1/2 W. distance eleven miles. The Three Kings bore N. 27 E. distant seventy-seven miles. The gale continued all this day, and till two the next morning, when it fell, and began to veer to the southward and S.W. where it fixed about four, when we made sail and steered east in for the land, under the fore-sail and main-sail; but the wind then rising, and by eight o'clock being increased to a hurricane, with a prodigious sea, we were obliged to take in the main-sail; we then wore the ship, and brought her to with her head to the north west. At noon the gale was somewhat abated, but we had still heavy squalls. Our course made good this day, was north, a little easterly, twenty-nine miles; latitude by account 34° 50' S. longitude 188° 27' W.; the Three Kings bore N. 41 E. distant fifty-two miles. At seven o'clock in the evening, the wind being at S.W. and S.W. by W. with hard squalls, we wore and lay on the other tack; and at six the next morning spread more sail. Our course and distance since yesterday was E. by N. twenty-nine miles. In the afternoon, we had hard squalls at S.W.; and at eight in the evening, wore and stood to the N.W. till five the next morning; and then wore and stood to the S.E. At six, we saw the land bearing N.E. distant about six leagues, which we judged to be Cape Maria Van Diemen, and which corresponded with the account that had been given of it by the Indians. At midnight we wore and stood to the S.E. And on the next day at noon, Cape Maria Van Diemen bore N.E. by N. distant about five leagues. At seven in the evening, we tacked and stood to the westward, with a moderate breeze at S.W. by S. and S.W. Mount Camel then bore N. 88 E. and the northermost land, or Cape Maria Van Diemen, N. by W.; we were now distant from the nearest land about three leagues, where we had something more than forty fathom water; and it must be remarked, that Mount Camel, which when seen on the other side did not seem to be more than one mile from the sea, seemed to be but little more when seen from this side; which is a demonstration that the land here cannot be more than two or three miles broad, or from sea to sea.
At six o'clock in the morning of January the 1st, 1770, being New-year's Day, we tacked and stood to the eastward, the Three Kings bearing N.W. by N. At noon, we tacked again, and stood to the westward, being in latitude 34° 37' S.; the Three Kings bearing N.W. by N. at the distance of ten or eleven leagues; and Cape Maria Van Diemen N. 31 E. distant about four leagues and a half: In this situation we had fifty-four fathom water.
During this part of our navigation two particulars are very remarkable; in latitude 35° S. and in the midst of summer, I met with a gale of wind, which for its strength and continuance was such as I had scarcely ever been in before, and we were three weeks in getting ten leagues to the westward, and five weeks in getting fifty leagues, for at this time it was so long since we passed Cape Bret. During the gale, we were happily at a considerable distance from the land, otherwise it is highly probable that we should never have returned to relate our adventures.
At five o'clock in the evening, having a fresh breeze to the westward, we tacked and stood to the southward: At this time North Cape bore E. 1/4 N. and just open of a point that lies three leagues W. by N. from it.
This Cape, as I have observed before, is the northermost extremity of this country, and the eastermost point of a peninsula, which runs out N.W. and N.W. by N. seventeen or eighteen leagues, and of which Cape Maria Van Diemen is the westermost point. Cape Maria lies in latitude 34° 30' S. longitude 187° 18' W.; and from this point the land trends away S.E. by S. and S.E. beyond Mount Camel, and is every where a barren shore, consisting of banks of white sand.
On the 2d, at noon, we were in latitude 35° 17' S. and Cape Maria bore north, distant about sixteen leagues, as near as we could guess; for we had no land in sight, and did not dare to go nearer, as a fresh gale blew right on shore, with a rolling sea. The wind continued at W.S.W and S.W. with frequent squalls; in the evening we shortened sail, and at midnight tacked, and made a trip to the N.W. till two in the morning, when we wore and stood to the southward. At break of day, we made sail, and edged away, in order to make land; and at ten o'clock, we saw it, hearing N.W. It appeared to be high, and at noon extended from N. to E.N.E. distant by estimation eight or ten leagues. Cape Maria then bore N. 2° 30' W. distant thirty-three leagues; our latitude by observation was 36° 2' S. About seven o'clock in the evening, we were within six leagues of it; but having a fresh gale upon it, with a rolling sea, we hauled our wind to the S.E.; and kept on that course close upon the wind all night, sounding several times, but having no ground with one hundred and one hundred and ten fathom.
At eight o'clock the next morning, we were about five leagues from the land, and off a place which lies in latitude 86° 25', and had the appearance of a bay or inlet. It bore east; and in order to see more of it, we kept on our course till eleven o'clock, when we were not more than three leagues from it, and then discovered that it was neither inlet nor bay, but a tract of low land, bound by higher lands on each side, which produced the deception. At this time, we tacked and stood to the N.W.; and at noon, the land was not distant more than three or four leagues. We were now in latitude 36° 31' S. longitude 185° 50' W. Cape Maria bore N. 25 W. distant forty-four leagues, and a half; so that the coast must be almost straight in the direction of S.S.E. 3/4 E. and N.N.W. 3/4 W. nearly. In about latitude 35° 45' is some high land adjoining to the sea; to the southward of which the shore is also high, and has the most desolate and inhospitable appearance that can be imagined. Nothing is to be seen but hills of sand, on which there is scarcely a blade of verdure; and a vast sea, impelled by the westerly winds, breaking upon it in a dreadful surf, renders it not only forlorn, but frightful; complicating the idea of danger with desolation, and impressing the mind at once with a sense of misery and death. From this place I steered to the northward, resolving never more to come within the same distance of the coast, except the wind should be very favourable indeed. I stood under a fresh sail all the day, hoping to get an offing by the next noon, and we made good a course of a hundred and two miles N. 38 W. Our latitude by observation was 35° 10'S.; and Cape Maria bore N. 10 E. distance forty-one miles. In the night, the wind shifted from S.W. by S. to S. and blew fresh. Our course to the noon of the 5th was N. 75 W. distance eight miles.
At day-break on the 6th, we saw the land which we took to be Cape Maria, bearing N.N.E. distant eight or nine leagues: And on the 7th, in the afternoon, the land bore east: And some time after we discovered a turtle upon the water; but being awake, it dived instantly, so that we could not take it. At noon, the high land, which has just been mentioned, extended from N. to E. at the distance of five or six leagues; and in two places, a flat gave it the appearance of a bay or inlet. The course that we made good the last four-and-twenty hours was S. 33 E. fifty-three miles; Cape Maria bearing N. 25 W. distant thirty leagues.
We sailed within sight of land all this day, with gentle gales between the N.E. and N.W.; and by next noon had sailed sixty-nine miles, in the direction of S. 37 E.; our latitude, by observation was 36° 39' S. The land which on the 4th we had taken for a bay, now bore N.E. by N. distant five leagues and a half; and Cape Maria N. 29 W. forty-seven leagues.
On the 9th, we continued a south-east course till eight o'clock in the evening, having run seven leagues since noon, with the wind at N.N.E. and N. and being within three or four leagues of the land, which appeared to be low and sandy. I then steered S.E. by S. in a direction parallel wills the coast, having from forty-eight to thirty-four fathom water, with a black sandy bottom. At day-break the next morning, we found ourselves between two and three leagues from the land, which began to have a better appearance, rising in gentle slopes, and being covered with trees and herbage. We saw a smoke and a few houses, but it appeared to be but thinly inhabited. At seven o'clock we steered S. by E. and afterwards S. by W., the land lying in that direction. At nine, we were abreast of a point which rises with an easy ascent from the sea to a considerable height: This point, which lies in latitude 37° 43', I named Woody Head. About eleven miles from this Head, in the direction of S.W. 1/2 W. lies a very small island, upon which we saw a great number of gannets, and which we therefore called Gannet Island. At noon, a high craggy point bore E.N.E. distant about a league and a half, to which I gave the name of Albetross Point: It lies in latitude 38° 4' S. longitude 184° 42' W.; and is distant seven leagues, in the direction of S. 17 W. from Woody Head. On the north side of this point the shore forms a bay, in which there appears to be anchorage and shelter for shipping. Our course and distance for the last twenty-four hours was S. 37 E. sixty-nine miles; and at noon this day Cape Maria bore N. 30 W. distant eighty-two leagues. Between twelve and one, the wind shifted at once from N.N.E. to S.S.W. with which we stood to the westward till four o'clock in the afternoon, and then tacked, and stood again in shore till seven; when we tacked again and stood to the westward, having but little wind. At this time Albetross Point bore N.E. distant near two leagues, and the southermost land insight bore S.S.W. 1/2 W. being a very high mountain, and in appearance greatly resembling the peak of Teneriffe. In this situation we had thirty fathom water, and having but little wind all night, we tacked about four in the morning and stood in for the shore. Soon after, it fell calm; and being in forty-two fathom water, the people caught a few sea-bream. At eleven, a light breeze sprang up from the west, and we made sail to the southward. We continued to steer S. by W. and S.S.W. along the shore, at the distance of about four leagues, with gentle breezes from between N.W. and N.N.E. At seven in the evening, we saw the top of the peak to the southward, above the clouds, which concealed it below. And at this time, the southermost land in sight bore S. by W.; the variation, by several azimuths which were taken both in the morning and the evening, appeared to be 14° 15' easterly.
At noon on the 12th, we were distant about three leagues from the shore which lies under the peak, but the peak itself was wholly concealed by clouds: We judged it to bear about S.S.E.; and some very remarkable peaked islands, which lay under the shore, bore E.S.E. distant three or four leagues. At seven in the evening we sounded, and had forty-two fathom, being distant from the shore between two and three leagues: We judged the peak to bear east; and after it was dark, we saw fires upon the shore.
At five o'clock in the morning we saw, for a few minutes, the summit of the peak, towering above the clouds, and covered with snow. It now bore N.E.; it lies in latitude 39° 16' S. longitude 185° 15' W.; and I named it Mount Egmont, in honour of the Earl. It seems to have a large base, and to rise with a gradual ascent. It lies near the sea, and is surrounded by a flat country of a pleasant appearance, being clothed with verdure and wood, which renders it the more conspicuous, and the shore under it forms a large cape, which I have named Cape Egmont. It lies S.S.W. 1/2 W. twenty-seven leagues distant from Albetross Point, and on the north side of it are two small islands, which lie near a remarkable point on the main, that rises to a considerable height in the form of a sugar-loaf. To the southward of the Cape, the land trends away S.E. by E. and S.S.E. and seems to be every where a bold shore. At noon, Cape Egmont bore about N.E.; and in this direction, at about four leagues from the shore, we had forty fathom of water. The wind, during the rest of the day was from W. to N.W. by W. and we continued to steer along the shore S.S.E. and S.E. by E. keeping at the distance of between two and three leagues. At half an hour after seven, we had another transient view of Mount Edgecombe, which bore N. 17 W. distant about ten leagues.
At five the next morning, we steered S.E. by S. the coast inclining more southerly; and in about half an hour, we saw land bearing S.W. by S. for which we hauled up. At noon the north-west extremity of the land in sight bore S. 63 W. and some high land, which had the appearance of an island lying under the main, bore S.S.E. distant five leagues. We were now in a bay, the bottom of which bearing south we could not see, though it was clear in that quarter. Our latitude by observation was 40° 27' S. longitude 184° 39' W. At eight in the evening, we were within two leagues of the land which we had discovered in the morning, having run ten leagues since noon: The land which then bore S. 63 W. now bore N. 49 W. at the distance of seven or eight leagues, and had the appearance of an island. Between this land and Cape Egmont lies the bay, the west side of which was our situation at this time, and the land here is of a considerable height, and diversified by bill and valley.
SECTION XXVI.
Transactions in Queen Charlotte's Sound: Passage through the Streight which divides the two Islands, and back to Cape Turnagain: Horrid Custom of the Inhabitants: Remarkable Melody of Birds: A Visit to a Heppah, and many other Particulars.
The shore at this place seemed to form several bays, into one of which I proposed to carry the ship, which was become very foul, in order to careen her, and at the same time repair some defects, and recruit our wood and water.
With this view I kept plying on and off all night, having from eighty to sixty-three fathom. At day-break the next morning, I stood for an inlet which runs in S.W.; and at eight I got within the entrance, which may be known by a reef of rocks, stretching from the north-west point, and some rocky islands which lie off the south-east point. At nine o'clock, there being little wind, and what there was being variable, we were carried by the tide or current within two cables' length of the north-west shore, where we had fifty-four fathom water, but by the help of our boats we got clear. Just at this time we saw a sea-lion rise twice near the shore, the head of which exactly resembled that of the male which has been described in the account of Lord Anson's voyage. We also saw some of the natives in a canoe cross the bay, and a village situated upon the point of an island which lies seven or eight miles within the entrance. At noon, we were the length of this island, but there being little wind, the boats were ordered a-head to tow. About one o'clock we hauled close round the southwest end of the island; and the inhabitants of the village which was built upon it, were immediately up in arms. About two, we anchored in a very safe and convenient cove, on the north-west side of the bay, and facing the southwest end of the island, in eleven fathom water, with soft ground, and moored with the stream anchor.
We were about four long cannon-shot distant from the village or Heppah, from which four canoes were immediately dispatched, as we imagined to reconnoitre, and, if they should find themselves able, to take us. The men were all well armed, and dressed nearly as they are represented in the figure published by Tasman; two corners of the cloth which they wrapped round the body were passed over the shoulders from behind, and being brought down to the upper edge of it before, were made fast to it just under the breast; but few, or none, had feathers in their hair.
They rowed round the ship several times, with their usual tokens of menace and defiance, and at last began the assault, by throwing some stones: Tupia expostulated with them, but apparently to very little purpose; and we began to fear that they would oblige us to fire at them, when a very old man in one of the boats expressed a desire of coming on board. We gladly encouraged him in his design, a rope was thrown into his canoe, and she was immediately alongside of the ship: The old man rose up, and prepared to come up the ship's side, upon which all the rest expostulated with great vehemence against the attempt, and at last laid hold of him, and held him back: He adhered, however, to his purpose, with a calm but steady perseverance, and having at length disengaged himself, he came on board. We received him with all possible expressions of friendship and kindness, and after some time dismissed him, with many presents, to his companions. As soon as he was returned on board his canoe, the people in all the rest began to dance, but whether as a token of enmity or friendship we would not certainly determine, for we had seen them dance in a disposition both for peace and war. In a short time, however, they retired to their fort, and soon after I went on shore, with most of the gentlemen, at the bottom of the cove, a-breast of the ship.
We found a fine stream of excellent water, and wood in the greatest plenty, for the land here was one forest, of vast extent. As we brought the seine with us, we hauled it once or twice, and with such success, that we caught near three hundred weight of fish, of different sorts, which was equally distributed among the ship's company.
At day-break, while we were busy in careening the ship, three canoes came off to us, having on board above a hundred men, besides several of their women, which we were pleased to see, as in general it is a sign of peace; but they soon afterwards became very troublesome, and gave us reason to apprehend some mischief from them to the people that were in our boats alongside the ship. While we were in this situation, the long-boat was sent ashore with some water-casks, and some of the canoes attempting to follow her, we found it necessary to intimidate them, by firing some small shot: We were at such a distance, that it was impossible to hurt them, yet our reproof had its effect, and they desisted from the pursuit. They had some fish in their canoes, which they now offered to sell, and which, though it stunk, we consented to buy: For this purpose a man in a small boat was sent among them, and they traded for some time very fairly. At length, however, one of them, watching his opportunity, snatched at some paper which our market-man held in his hand, and missing it, immediately put himself in a posture of defence, flourishing his patoo-patoo, and making show as if he was about to strike; some small-shot were then fired at him from the ship, a few of which struck him upon the knee: This put an end to our trade, but the Indians still continued near the ship, rowing round her many times, and conversing with Tupia, chiefly concerning the traditions they had among them with respect to the antiquities of their country. To this subject they were led by the enquiries which Tupia had been directed to make, whether they had ever seen such a vessel as ours, or had ever heard that any such had been upon their coast. These enquiries were all answered in the negative, so that tradition has preserved among them no memorial of Tasman; though, by an observation made this day, we find that we are only fifteen miles south of Murderer's bay, our latitude being 41° 5' 32", and Murderer's bay, according to his account, being 40° 50'.
The women in these canoes, and some of the men, had a head-dress which we had not before seen. It consisted of a bunch of black feathers, made up in a round form, and tied upon the top of the head, which it entirely covered, and made it twice as high, to appearance, as it was in reality.
After dinner, I went in the pinnace with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Tupia, and some others, into another cove, about two miles distant from that in which the ship lay: In our way we saw something floating upon the water, which we took for a dead seal, but upon rowing up to it, found it to be the body of a woman, which to all appearance had been dead some days. We proceeded to our cove, where we went on shore, and found a small family of Indians, who appeared to be greatly terrified at our approach, and all ran away except one. A conversation between this person and Tupia soon brought hack the rest, except an old man and a child, who still kept aloof, but stood peeping at us from the woods. Of these people, our curiosity naturally led us to enquire after the body of the woman, which we had seen floating upon the water: And they acquainted us, by Tupia, that she was a relation, who had died a natural death; and that, according to their custom, they had tied a stone to the body, and thrown it into the sea, which stone, they supposed, had by some accident been disengaged.
This family, when we came on shore, was employed in dressing some provisions: The body of a dog was at this time buried in their oven, and many provision baskets stood near it. Having cast our eyes carelessly into one of these as we passed it, we saw two bones pretty cleanly picked, which did not seem to be the bones of a dog, and which, upon a nearer examination, we discovered to be those of a human body. At this sight we were struck with horror, though it was only a confirmation of what we had heard many times since we arrived upon this coast. As we could have no doubt but the bones were human, neither could we have any doubt that the flesh which covered them had been eaten. They were found in a provision basket; the flesh that remained appeared manifestly to have been dressed by fire, and in the gristles at the end, were the marks of the teeth which had gnawed them: To put an end, however, to conjecture, founded upon circumstances and appearances, we directed Tupia to ask what bones they were; and the Indians, without the least hesitation, answered, the bones of a man: They were then asked what was become of the flesh, and they replied that they had eaten it; but, said Tupia, why did you not eat the body of the woman which we saw floating upon the water: The woman, said they, died of disease; besides, she was our relation, and we eat only the bodies of our enemies, who are killed in battle. Upon enquiry who the man was whose bones we had found, they told us, that about five days before, a boat belonging to their enemies came into the bay, with many persons on board, and that this man was one of seven whom they had killed. Though stronger evidence of this horrid practice prevailing among the inhabitants of this coast will scarcely be required, we have still stronger to give. One of us asked if they had any human bones with the flesh remaining upon them, and upon their answering us that all had been eaten, we affected to disbelieve that the bones were human, and said that they were the bones of a dog; upon which one of the Indians with some eagerness took hold of his own fore-arm, and thrusting it towards us, said, that the bone which Mr Banks held in his hand had belonged to that part of a human body; at the same time, to convince us that the flesh had been eaten, he took hold of his own arm with his teeth, and made shew of eating: He also bit and gnawe'd the bone which Mr Banks had taken, drawing it through his mouth, and shewing, by signs, that it had afforded a delicious repast; the bone was then returned to Mr Banks, and he brought it away with him. Among the persons of this family, there was a woman who had her arms, legs, and thighs frightfully cut in several places; and we were told that she had inflicted the wounds upon herself, in token of her grief for the loss of her husband, who had been lately killed and eaten by their enemies, who had come from some place to the eastward, towards which the Indians pointed.
The ship lay at the distance of somewhat less than a quarter of a mile from the shore, and in the morning we were awakened by the singing of the birds: The number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their throats in emulation of each other. This wild melody was infinitely superior to any that we had ever heard of the same kind; it seemed to be like small bells, exquisitely tuned, and perhaps the distance and the water between, might be no small advantage to the sound. Upon enquiry, we were informed that the birds here always began to sing about two hours after midnight, and continuing their music till sunrise, were, like our nightingales, silent the rest of the day.[67] In the forenoon, a small canoe came off from the Indian village to the ship, and among those that were in it, was the old man who had first come on board at our arrival in the bay. As soon as it came alongside, Tupia renewed the conversation that had passed the day before, concerning their practice of eating human flesh, during which they repeated what they had told us already; but, said Tupia, where are the heads? do you eat them too? Of the heads, said the old man, we eat only the brains, and the next time I come I will bring some of them, to convince you that what we have told you is truth. After some farther conversation between these people and Tupia, they told him that they expected their enemies to come very shortly, to revenge the death of the seven men whom they had killed and eaten.
[Footnote 67: This is a vulgar error, though at the same time a poetical one. It is known that nightingales do sing in the day; but their song is then less attended to or distinguished, because it forms a part only of the harmony of the feathered choir.--E.]
On the 18th, the Indians were more quiet than usual, no canoe came near the ship, nor did we see one of them moving on the shore, their fishing, and other usual occupations, being totally suspended. We thought they expected an attack on this day, and therefore attended more diligently to what passed on shore; but we saw nothing to gratify our curiosity.
After breakfast, we went out in the pinnace, to take a view of the bay, which was of vast extent, and consisted of numberless small harbours and coves, in every direction: We confined our excursion, however, to the western side, and the country being an impenetrable forest where we landed, we could see nothing worthy of notice: We killed, however, a good number of shaggs, which we saw sitting upon their nests in the trees, and which, whether roasted or stewed, we considered as very good provision. As we were returning, we saw a single man in a canoe fishing; we rowed up to him, and to our great surprise he took not the least notice of us, but even when we were alongside of him, continued to follow his occupation, without adverting to us any more than if we had been invisible. He did not, however, appear to be either sullen or stupid: We requested him to draw up his net, that we might examine it, and he readily complied: It was of a circular form, extended by two hoops, and about seven or eight feet in diameter: The top was open, and sea-ears were fastened to the bottom as a bait: This he let down so as to lie upon the ground, and when he thought fish enough were assembled over it, he drew it up by a very gentle and even motion, so that the fish rose with it, scarcely sensible that they were lifted, till they came very near the surface of the water, and then were brought out in the net by a sudden jerk. By this simple method, he had caught abundance of fish, and indeed they are so plenty in this bay, that the catching them requires neither much labour nor art.
This day, some of our people found in the skirts of the wood, near a hole or oven, three human hip-bones, which they brought on board; a farther proof that these people eat human flesh: Mr Monkhouse, our surgeon, also brought on board, from a place where he saw many deserted houses, the hair of a man's head, which he had found, among many other things, tied up to the branches of trees.
In the morning of the 19th, we set up the armourer's forge to repair the braces of the tiller, and other iron-work, all hands on board being still busy in careening, and other necessary operations about the vessel: This day, some Indians came on board from another part of the bay, where they said was a town which we had not seen: They brought plenty of fish, which they sold for nails, having now acquired some notion of their use; and in this traffic no unfair practice was attempted.
In the morning of the 20th, our old man kept his promise, and brought on board four of the heads of the seven people who had been so much the subject of our enquiries: The hair and flesh were entire, but we perceived that the brains had been extracted; the flesh was soft, but had by some method been preserved from putrefaction, for it had no disagreeable smell. Mr Banks purchased one of them, but they sold it with great reluctance, and could not by any means be prevailed upon to part with a second; probably they may be preserved as trophies, like the scalps in America, and the jaw-bones in the islands of the South Seas. Upon examining the head which had been bought by Mr Banks, we perceived that it had received a blow upon the temples, which had fractured the skull. This day we made another excursion in the pinnace, to survey the bay, but we found no flat large enough for a potatoe garden, nor could we discover the least appearance of cultivation: We met not a single Indian, but found an excellent harbour, and about eight o'clock in the evening returned on board the ship.
On the 21st, Mr Banks and Dr Solander went a-fishing with hook and line, and caught an immense quantity every where upon the rocks, in between four and five fathom water: The seine was hauled every night, and seldom failed to supply the whole ship's company with as much fish as they could eat. This day all the people had leave to go on shore at the watering-place, and divert themselves as they should think proper.
In the morning of the 22d, I set out again in the pinnace, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, with a design to examine the head of the inlet, but after rowing about four or five leagues without so much as coming in sight of it, the wind being contrary, and the day half spent, we went on shore on the south-east side, to try what might be discovered from the hills.
Mr Banks and Dr Solander immediately employed themselves in botanizing near the beach, and I, taking a seaman with me, ascended one of the hills: When I reached the summit, I found a view of the inlet intercepted by hills, which in that direction rose still higher, and which were rendered inaccessible by impenetrable woods; I was, however, abundantly compensated for my labour, for I saw the sea on the eastern side of the country, and a passage leading from it to that on the west, a little to the eastward of the entrance of the inlet where the ship now lay. The main land, which lay on the south east of this inlet, appeared to be a narrow ridge of very high hills, and to form part of the south-west side of the streight; the land on the opposite side appeared to trend away east as far as the eye could reach; and to the south-east there appeared to be an opening to the sea, which washed the eastern coast: On the east side of the inlet also I saw some islands which I had before taken to be part of the main land. Having made this discovery, I descended the hill, and as soon as we had taken some refreshment, we set out on our return to the ship. In our way, we examined the harbours and coves which lie behind the islands that I had discovered from the hill; and in this route we saw an old village, in which there were many houses that seemed to have been long deserted: We also saw another village which was inhabited, but the day was too far spent for us to visit it, and we therefore made the best of our way to the ship, which we reached between eight and nine o'clock at night.
The 23d I employed in carrying on a survey of the place; and upon one of the islands where I landed, I saw many houses which seemed to have been long deserted, and no appearance of any inhabitant.
On the 24th, we went to visit our friends at the Hippah or village on the point of the island near the ship's station, who had come off to us on our first arrival in the bay. They received us with the utmost confidence and civility, shewing us every part of their habitations, which were commodious and neat. The island or rock on which this town is situated, is divided from the main by a breach or fissure so narrow, that a man might almost leap from one to the other: The sides of it are every where so steep as to render the artificial fortification of these people almost unnecessary: There was, however, one slight pallisade, and one small fighting-stage, towards that part of the rock where access was least difficult.
The people here brought us out several human bones, the flesh of which they had eaten, and offered them to sale; for the curiosity of those among us who had purchased them as memorials of the horrid practice, which many, notwithstanding the reports of travellers, have professed not to believe, had rendered them a kind of article of trade. In one part of this village we observed, not without some surprise, a cross exactly like that of a crucifix; it was adorned with feathers, and upon our enquiring for what purpose it had been set up, we were told that it was a monument for a man who was dead: We had before understood that their dead were not buried, but thrown into the sea; but to our enquiry how the body of the man had been disposed of, to whose memory this cross had been erected, they refused to answer.
When we left these people, we went to the other end of the island, and there taking water, crossed over to the main, where we saw several houses but no inhabitants, except a few in some straggling canoes, that seemed to be fishing. After viewing this place, we returned on board the ship to dinner.
During our visit to the Indians this day, Tupia being always of our party, they had been observed to be continually talking of guns, and shooting people: For this subject of their conversation we could not at all account; and it had so much engaged our attention, that we talked of it all the way back, and even after we got on board the ship: We had perplexed ourselves with various conjectures, which were all given up in their turn; but now we learnt, that on the 21st one of our officers, upon pretence of going out to fish, had rowed up to the Hippah, and that two or three canoes coming off towards his boat, his fears suggested that an attack was intended, in consequence of which three muskets were fired, one with small shot, and two with ball, at the Indians, who retired with the utmost precipitation, having probably come out with friendly intentions, for such their behaviour both before and afterwards expressed, and having no reason to expect such treatment from people who had always behaved to them not only with humanity, but kindness, and to whom they were not conscious of having given offence.
On the 25th, I made another excursion along the coast, in the pinnace, towards the mouth of the inlet, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, and going on shore at a little cove, to shoot shags, we fell in with a large family of Indians, whose custom it is to disperse themselves among the different creeks and coves, where fish is to be procured in the greatest plenty, leaving a few only in the Hippah, to which the rest repair in times of danger. Some of these people came out a good way to meet us, and gave us an invitation to go with them to the rest of their party, which, we readily accepted. We found a company of about thirty, men, women, and children, who received us with all possible demonstrations of friendship: We distributed among them a few ribbands and beads, and in return, received the kisses and embraces of both sexes, both young and old: They gave us also some fish, and after a little time we returned, much pleased with our new acquaintance.
In the morning of the 26th, I went again out in the boat, with Mr Banks and Dr Solander, and entered one of the bays, which lie on the east side of the inlet, in order to get another sight of the streight, which passed between the eastern and western seas. For this purpose, having landed at a convenient place, we climbed a hill of a very considerable height, from which we had a full view of it, with the land on the opposite shore, which we judged to be about four leagues distant; but as it was hazy in the horizon, we could not see far to the south-east: I resolved however to search the passage with the ship, as soon as I should put to sea. Upon the top of this hill we found a parcel of loose stones, with which we erected a pyramid, and left in it some musket-balls, small shot, beads, and other things, which we happened to have about us, that were likely to stand the test of time, and not being of Indian workmanship, would convince any European who should come to the place and pull it down, that other natives of Europe had been there before him. When this was done we descended the hill, and made a comfortable meal of the shags and fish which our guns and lines had procured us, and which were dressed by the boat's crew in a place that we had appointed: In this place we found another Indian family, who received us, as usual, with strong expressions of kindness and pleasure, shewing us where to procure water, and doing us such other good offices as were in their power. From this place we went to the town, of which the Indians had told us, who visited us on the 19th: This, like that which we had seen before, was built upon a small island or rock, so difficult of access, that we gratified our curiosity at the risk of our necks. The Indians here also received us with open arms, carried us to every part of the place, and shewed us all that it contained: This town, like the other, consisted of between eighty and an hundred houses, and had only one fighting-stage. We happened to have with us a few nails and ribbands, and some paper, with which our guests were so gratified, that at our coming away they filled our boat with dried fish, of which we perceived they had laid up great quantities.
The 27th and 28th were spent in refitting the ship for the sea, fixing a transom for the tiller, getting stones on board to put into the bottom of the bread-room, to bring the ship more by the stern, in repairing the casks, and catching fish.
On the 29th, we received a visit from our old man, whose name we found to be Topaa, and three other natives, with whom Tupia had much conversation. The old man told us, that one of the men who had been fired upon by the officer who had visited their Hippah, under pretence of fishing, was dead; but to my great comfort I afterwards discovered that this report was not true, and that if Topaa's discourses were taken literally, they would frequently lead us into mistakes. Mr Banks and Dr Solander were several times on shore during the last two or three days, not without success, but greatly circumscribed in their walks by climbers of a most luxuriant growth, which were so interwoven together, as to fill up the space between the trees about which they grew, and render the woods altogether impassable. This day also I went on shore again myself, upon the western, point of the inlet, and from a hill of considerable height, I had a view of the coast to the N.W. The farthest land I could see in that quarter, was an island which has been mentioned before, at the distance of about ten leagues, lying not far from the main: Between this island and the place where I stood, I discovered, close under the shore, several other islands, forming many bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage for shipping. After I had set off the different points for my survey, I erected another pile of stones, in which I left a piece of silver coin, with some musket-balls and beads, and a piece of an old pendant flying on the top. In my return to the ship, I made a visit to several of the natives, whom I saw along the shore, and purchased a small quantity of fish.
On the 30th, early in the morning, I sent a boat to one of the islands for celery, and while the people were gathering it, about twenty of the natives, men, women, and children, landed near some empty huts: As soon as they were on shore, five or six of the women sat down, upon the ground together, and began to cut their legs, arms, and faces, with shells, and sharp pieces of talc or jasper, in a terrible manner. Our people understood that their husbands had lately been killed by their enemies; but while they were performing this horrid ceremony, the men set about repairing the huts, with the utmost negligence and unconcern. The carpenter having prepared two posts to be left as memorials of our having visited this place, I ordered them to be inscribed with the ship's name, and the year and month; one of them I set up at the watering-place, hoisting the union flag upon the top of it; and the other I carried over to the island that lies nearest to the sea, called by the natives Motuara. I went first to the village or Hippah, accompanied by Mr Monkhouse and Tupia, where I met with our old man, and told him and several others, by means of Tupia, that we were come to set up a mark upon the island, in order to show to any other ship which should happen to come thither, that we had been there before. To this they readily consented, and promised that they never would pull it down: I then gave something to every one present; and to the old man I gave a silver threepence, dated 1736, and some spike nails, with the king's broad arrow cut deep upon them; things which I thought most likely to remain long among them: I then took the post to the highest part of the island, and after fixing it firmly in the ground, I hoisted upon it the union-flag, and honoured this inlet with the name of Queen Charlotte's Sound, at the same time taking formal possession of this and the adjacent country, in the name and for the use of his majesty King George the Third. We then drank a bottle of wine to her majesty's health, and gave the bottle to the old man who had attended us up the hill, and who was mightily delighted with his present.
While the post was setting up, we enquired of the old man concerning the passage into the eastern sea, the existence of which he confirmed; and then asked him about the land to the S.W. of the streight, where we were then situated: This land, he said, consisted of two Whennuas or islands, which might be circumnavigated in a few days, and which he called Tovy Poenammoo; the literal translation of this word is, "the water of green talc:" and probably, if we had understood him better, we should have found that Tovy Poenammoo was the name of some particular place where they got the green talc or stone of which they make their ornaments and tools, and not a general name for the whole southern district: He said, there was also a third Whennua, on the east side of the streight, the circumnavigation of which would take up many moons: This he called Eaheinomauwe; and to the lands on the borders of the streight he gave the name of Tiera Witte. Having set up our post, and procured this intelligence, we returned on board the ship, and brought the old man with us, who was attended by his canoe, in which, after dinner, he returned home.
On the 31st, having completed our wooding, and filled all our water casks, I sent out two parties, one to cut and make brooms, and another to catch fish. In the evening, we had a strong gale from the N.W. with such a heavy rain, that our little wild musicians on shore suspended their song, which till now we had constantly heard during the night, with a pleasure which it was impossible to lose without regret.
On the 1st, the gale increased to a storm, with heavy gusts from the high land, one of which broke the hawser, that we had fastened to the shore, and obliged us to let go another anchor. Towards midnight, the gale became more moderate, but the rain continued with such violence, that the brook which had supplied us with water overflowed its banks, and carried away ten small casks which had been left there full of water, and notwithstanding we searched the whole cove, we could never recover one of them.
On the 3d, as I intended to sail the first opportunity, I went over to the Hippah on the east side of the Sound, and purchased a considerable quantity of split and half-dried fish, for sea stores. The people here confirmed all that the old man had told us concerning the streight and the country, and about noon I took leave of them: Some of them seemed to be sorry, and others glad that we were going: The fish which I bought they sold freely, but there were some who shewed manifest signs of disapprobation. As we returned to the ship, some of us made an excursion along the shore to the northward, to traffic with the natives for a farther supply of fish; in which, however, they had no great success. In the evening, we got every thing off from the shore, as I intended to sail in the morning, but the wind would not permit.
On the 4th, while we were waiting for a wind, we amused ourselves by fishing, and gathering shells and seeds of various kinds; and early in the morning of the 5th, we cast off the hawser, hove short on the bower, and carried the kedge-anchor out in order to warp the ship out of the cove, which having done about two o clock in the afternoon, we hove up the anchor and got under sail; but the wind soon failing, we were obliged to come to an anchor again a little above Motuara. When we were under sail, our old man Topaa came on board to take his leave of us, and as we were still desirous of making farther enquiries whether any memory of Tasman had been preserved among these people, Tupia was directed to ask him whether he had ever heard that such a vessel as ours had before visited the country. To this he replied in the negative, but said, that his ancestors had told him there had once come to this place a small vessel, from a distant country, called Ulimaroa, in which were four men, who, upon their coming on shore, were all killed: Upon being asked where this distant land lay, he pointed to the northward. Of Ulimaroa we had heard something before from the people about the Bay of Islands, who said that their ancestors had visited it; and Tupia had also talked to us of Ulimaroa, concerning which he had some confused traditionary notions, not very different from those of our old man, so that we could draw no certain conclusion from the accounts of either.
Soon after the ship came to an anchor the second time, Mr Banks and Dr Solander went on shore, to see if any gleanings of natural knowledge remained, and by accident fell in with the most agreeable Indian family they had seen, which afforded them a better opportunity of remarking the personal subordination among these people, than had before offered. The principal persons were a widow, and a pretty boy about ten years old: The widow was mourning for her husband with tears of blood, according to their custom, and the child, by the death of its father, was become proprietor of the land where we had cut our wood. The mother and the son were sitting upon matts, and the rest of the family, to the number of sixteen or seventeen, of both sexes, sat round them in the open air, for they did not appear to have any house, or other shelter from the weather, the inclemencies of which, custom has probably enabled them to endure without any lasting inconvenience. Their whole behaviour was affable, obliging, and unsuspicious; they presented each person with fish, and a brand of fire to dress it, and pressed them many times to stay till the morning, which they would certainly have done if they had not expected the ship to sail, greatly regretting that they had not become acquainted with them sooner, as they made no doubt but that more knowledge of the manners and disposition of the inhabitants of this country would have been obtained from them in a day, than they had yet been able to acquire during our whole stay upon the coast.
On the 6th, about six o'clock in the morning, a light breeze sprung up at north, and we again got under sail, but the wind proving variable, we reached no farther than just without Motuara; in the afternoon, however, a more steady gale at N. by W. set us clear of the Sound, which I shall now describe.
The entrance of Queen Charlotte's Sound is situated in latitude 41° S. longitude 184° 45' W. and near the middle of the south-west side of the streight in which it lies. The land of the south-east head of the Sound, called by the natives Koamaroo, off which lie two small islands and some rocks, makes the narrowest part of the streight. From the north-west head a reef of rocks runs out about two miles, in the direction of N.E. by N.; part of which is above the water, and part below. By this account of the heads, the Sound will be sufficiently known: At the entrance, it is three leagues broad, and lies in S.W. by S.S.W. and W.S.W. at least ten leagues, and is a collection of some of the finest harbours in the world, as will appear from the plan, which is laid down with all the accuracy that time and circumstances would admit. The land forming the harbour or cove in which we lay, is called by the natives Totarranue: The harbour itself, which I called Ship Cove, is not inferior to any in the Sound, either for convenience or safety: It lies on the west side of the Sound, and is the southermost of three coves, that are situated within the island of Motuara, which bears east of it. Ship Cove may be entered, either between Motuara and a long island, called by the natives Hamote, or between Motuara and the western shore. In the last of these channels are two ledges of rocks, three fathom under water, which may easily be known by the sea-weed that grows upon them. In sailing either in or out of the Sound, with little wind, attention must be had to the tides, which flow about nine or ten o'clock at the fall and change of the moon, and rise and fall between seven and eight feet perpendicularly. The flood comes in through the streight from the S.E. and sets strongly over upon the north-west head, and the reef that lies off it: The ebb sets with still greater rapidity to the S.E. over upon the rocks and islands that lie off the south-east head. The variation of the compass we found from good observation to be 13° 5' E.
The land about this Sound, which is of such a height that we saw it at the distance of twenty leagues, consists wholly of high hills and deep vallies, well stored with a variety of excellent timber, fit for all purposes except masts, for which it is too hard and heavy. The sea abounds with a variety of fish, so that without going out of the cove where we lay, we caught every day, with the seine and hooks and lines, a quantity sufficient to serve the whole ship's company: And along the shore we found plenty of shags, and a few other species of wild-fowl, which those who have long lived upon salt provisions will not think despicable food.
The number of inhabitants scarcely exceeds four hundred, and they live dispersed along the shores, where their food, consisting of fish and fern roots, is most easily procured; for we saw no cultivated ground. Upon any appearance of danger, they retire to their Hippahs, or forts; in this situation we found them, and in this situation they continued for some time after our arrival. In comparison of the inhabitants of other parts of this country, they are poor, and their canoes are without ornament; the little traffic we had with them was wholly for fish, and indeed they had scarcely any thing else to dispose of. They seemed, however, to have some knowledge of iron, which the inhabitants of some other parts had not; for they willingly took nails for their fish, and sometimes seemed to prefer it to every thing else that we could offer, which had not always been the case. They were at first very fond of paper; but when they found that it was spoiled by being wet, they would not take it: Neither did they set much value upon the cloth of Otaheite; but English broad-cloth, and red kersey, were in high estimation; which shewed that they had sense enough to appreciate the commodities which we offered by their use, which is more than could be said of some of their neighbours, who made a much better appearance. Their dress has been mentioned already, particularly their large round head-dresses of feathers, which were far from being unbecoming.
As soon as we got out of the Sound I stood over to the eastward, in order to get the streight well open before the tide of ebb came on. At seven in the evening, the two small islands which lie off Cape Koamaroo, the south-east head of Queen Charlotte's Sound, bore east, distant about four miles: At this time it was nearly calm, and the tide of ebb setting out, we were, in a very short time, carried by the rapidity of the stream close upon one of the islands, which was a rock rising almost perpendicularly out of the sea: We perceived our danger increase every moment, and had but one expedient to prevent our being dashed to pieces, the success of which a few minutes would determine. We were now within little more than a cable's length of the rock, and had more than seventy-five fathom water; but upon dropping an anchor, and veering about one hundred and fifty fathom of cable, the ship was happily brought up: This, however, would not have saved us, if the tide which set S. by E. had not, upon meeting with the island, changed its direction to S.E. and carried us beyond the first point. In this situation, we were not above two cables' length, from the rocks; and here we remained in the strength of the tide, which set to the S.E. after the rate of at least five miles an hour, from a little after seven till near midnight, when the tide abated, and we began to heave. By three in the morning the anchor was at the bows, and having a light breeze at N.W. we made sail for the eastern shore; but the tide being against us, we made but little way: The wind however afterwards freshened, and came to N. and N.E. with which, and the tide of ebb, we were in a short time hurried through the narrowest part of the straight, and then stood away for the southermost land we had in sight, which bore from us S. by W. Over this land appeared a mountain of stupendous height, which was covered with snow.
The narrowest part of the streight, through which we had been driven with such rapidity, lies between Cape Tierawitte, on the coast of Eaheinomawe, and Cape Koamaroo: The distance between them I judged to be between four or five leagues, and notwithstanding the tide, now its strength is known, may be passed without much danger. It is however safest to keep on the north-east shore, for on that side there appeared to be nothing to fear; but on the other shore there are not only the islands and rocks which lie off Cape Koamaroo, but a reef of rocks stretching from these islands six or seven miles to the southward, at the distance of two or three miles from the shore, which I had discovered from the hill when I took my second view of the streight from the east to the western sea. The length of the streight we had passed I shall not pretend to assign, but some judgment may be formed of it from a view of the chart.
About nine leagues north from Cape Tierawitte, and under the same shore, is a high and remarkable island which may be distinctly seen from Queen Charlotte's Sound, from which it is distant about six or seven leagues. This island, which was noticed when we passed it on the 14th of January, I have called Entry Isle.
On the east side of Cape Tierawitte, the land trends away S.E. by E. about eight leagues, where it ends in a point, and is the southermost land on Eaheinomawe. To this point I have given the name of Cape Palliser, in honour of my worthy friend Captain Palliser. It lies in latitude 41° 34,' S. longitude 183° 56' W. and bore from us this day at noon S. 79 E. distant about thirteen leagues, the ship being then in the latitude of 41° 27' S.; Koamaroo at the same time bearing N. 1/2 E. distant seven or eight leagues. The southermost land in sight bore S. 16 W. and the snowy mountain S.W. At this time we were about three leagues from the shore, and abreast of a deep bay or inlet, to which I gave the name of Cloudy Bay, and at the bottom of which there appeared low land covered with tall trees.
At three o'clock in the afternoon we were abreast of the southermost point of land that we had seen at noon, which I called Cape Campbell; it lies S. by W. distant between twelve and thirteen leagues from Cape Koamaroo, in latitude 41° 44' S. longitude 185° 45' W.; and with Cape Palliser forms the southern entrance of the streight, the distance between them being between thirteen and fourteen leagues W. by S. and E. by N.
From this cape we steered along the shore S.W. by S. till eight o'clock in the evening, when the wind died away. About half an hour afterwards, however, a fresh breeze sprung up at S.W. and I put the ship right before it. My reason for this was a notion which some of the officers had just started, that Eaheinomauwe was not an island, and that the land might stretch away to the S.E. from between Cape Turnagain and Cape Palliser, there being a space of between twelve and fifteen leagues that we had not seen. I had indeed the strongest conviction that they were mistaken, not only from what I had seen the first time I discovered the streight, but from many other concurrent testimonies that the land in question was an island; but being resolved to leave no possibility of doubt with respect to an object of such importance, I took the opportunity of the wind's shifting, to stand eastward, and accordingly steered N.E. by E. all the night. At nine o'clock in the morning we were abreast of Cape Palliser, and found the land trend away N.E. towards Cape Turnagain, which I reckoned to be distant about twenty-six leagues: However, as the weather was hazy, so as to prevent our seeing above four or five leagues, I still kept standing to the N.E. with a light breeze at south; and at noon Cape Palliser bore N. 72 W. distant about three leagues.
About three o'clock in the afternoon, three canoes came up to the ship with between thirty and forty people on board, who had been pulling after us with great labour and perseverance for some time: They appeared to be more cleanly, and a better class, than we had met with since we left the Bay of Islands, and their canoes were also distinguished by the same ornaments which we had seen upon the northerly part of the coast. They came on board with very little invitation; and their behaviour was courteous and friendly: Upon receiving presents from us, they made us presents in return, which had not been done by any of the natives that we had seen before. We soon perceived that our guests had heard of us, for as soon as they came on board, they asked for whow, the name by which nails were known among the people with whom we had trafficked: but though they had heard of nails, it was plain they had seen none; for when nails were given them, they asked Tupia what they were. The term whow, indeed, conveyed to them the idea not of their quality, but only of their use; for it is the same by which they distinguish a tool, commonly made of bone, which they use both as an auger and a chisel. However, their knowing that we had whow to sell was a proof that their connections extended as far north as Cape Kidnappers, which was distant no less than forty-five leagues; for that was the southermost place on this side the coast where we had had any traffic with the natives. It is also probable, that the little knowledge which the inhabitants of Queen Charlotte's Sound had of iron, they obtained from their neighbours at Tierawitte; for we had no reason to think that the inhabitants of any part of this coast had the least knowledge of iron or its use before we came among them, especially as when it was first offered they seemed to disregard it, as of no value. We thought it probable, that we were now once more in the territories of Teratu; but upon enquiring of these people, they said that he was not their king. After a short time, they went away, much gratified with the presents that we had made them; and we pursued our course along the shore to the N.E. till eleven o'clock the next morning. About this time the weather happening to clear up, we saw Cape Turnagain, bearing N. by E. 1/2 E. at the distance of about seven leagues: I then called the officers upon deck, and asked them, whether they were not now satisfied, that Eahienomauwe was an island; they readily answered in the affirmative, and all doubts being now removed, we hauled our wind to the eastward.
SECTION XXVII.
Range from Cape Turnagain southward along the eastern Coast of Poenammoo, round Cape South, and bade to the western Entrance of Cook's Streight, which completed the Circumnavigation of this Country; with a Description of the Coast, and of Admiralty Bay: The Departure from New Zealand, and various Particulars.
At four o'clock in the afternoon of Friday the 9th of February, we tacked, and stood S.W. till eight o'clock the next morning; when, being not above three or four miles from the shore, we stood off two hours, and then again S.W. till noon, when, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, we had twenty-six fathom water.
We continued to make sail to the southward till sunset on the 11th, when a fresh breeze at N.E. had carried us back again the length of Cape Palliser, of which, as the weather was clear, we had a good view. It is of a height sufficient to be seen in clear weather at the distance of twelve or fourteen leagues, and the land is of a broken and hilly surface. Between the foot of the high land and the sea there is a low flat border, off which there are some rocks that appear above water. Between this Cape and Cape Turnagain, the land near the shore is, in many places, low and flat, and has a green and pleasant appearance; but farther from the sea it rises into hills. The land between Cape Palliser and Cape Tierawitte is high, and makes in table-points; it also seemed to us to form two bays, but we were at too great a distance from this part of the coast to judge accurately from appearances. The wind having been variable, with calms, we had advanced no farther by the 12th at noon than latitude 41° 52', Cape Palliser then bearing north, distant about five leagues; and the snowy mountain S. 83 W.
At noon on the 13th, we found ourselves in the latitude of 42° 2' S.; Cape Palliser bearing N. 20 E. distant eight leagues. In the afternoon, a fresh gale sprung up at N.E. and we steered S.W. by W. for the southermost land in sight, which at sun-set bore from us S. 74 W. At this time the variation was 15° 4' E.
At eight o'clock on the morning of the 14th, having run one-and-twenty leagues S. 58 W. since the preceding noon, it fell calm. We were then abreast of the snowy mountain which bore from us N.W. and in this direction lay behind a mountainous ridge of nearly the same height, which rises directly from the sea, and runs parallel with the shore, which lies N.E. 1/2 N. and S.W. 1/2 S. The north-west end of the ridge rises inland, not far from Cape Campbell; and both the mountain and the ridge are distinctly seen as well from Cape Koamaroo as Cape Palliser: From Koamaroo they are distant two-and-twenty leagues S.W. 1/2 S.; and from Cape Palliser thirty leagues W.S.W.; and are of a height sufficient to be seen at a much greater distance. Some persons on board were of opinion that they were as high as Teneriffe; but I did not think them as high as Mount Egmont on the south-west coast of Eahienomauwe; because the snow, which almost entirely covered Mount Egmont, lay only in patches upon these. At noon this day, we were in latitude 42° 34' S. The southermost land in sight bore S.W. 1/2 S.; and some low land that appeared like an island, and lay close under the foot of the ridge, bore N.W. by N. about five or six leagues.
In the afternoon, when Mr Banks was out in the boat a-shooting, we saw with our glasses, four double canoes, having on board fifty-seven men, put off from that shore, and make towards him: We immediately made signals for him to come on board; but the ship, with respect to him, being right in the wake of the sun, he did not see them. We were at a considerable distance from the shore, and he was at a considerable distance from the ship, which was between him and the shore; so that, it being a dead calm, I began to be in some pain for him, fearing that he might not see the canoes time enough to reach the ship before they should get up with him: Soon after, however, we saw his boat in motion, and had the pleasure to take him on board before the Indians came up, who probably had not seen him, as their attention seemed to be wholly fixed upon the ship. They came within about a stone's cast, and then stopped, gazing at us with a look of vacant astonishment: Tupia exerted all his eloquence to prevail upon them to come nearer, but without any effect. After surveying us for some time, they left us, and made towards the shore; but had not measured more than half the distance between that and the ship before it was dark. We imagined that these people had heard nothing of us, and could not but remark the different behaviour and dispositions of the inhabitants of the different parts of this coast upon their first approaching the vessel. These kept aloof with a mixture of timidity and wonder: Others had immediately commenced hostilities, by pelting us with stones: The gentleman whom we had found alone, fishing in his boat, seemed to think us entirely unworthy of his notice; and some, almost without invitation, had come on board with an air of perfect confidence and good-will. From the behaviour of our last visitors, I gave the land from which they had put off, and which, as I have before observed, had the appearance of an island, the name of Lookers-on.
At eight o'clock in the evening, a breeze sprung up at S.S.W. with which I stretched of south-east, because some on board thought they saw land in that quarter. In this course we continued till six o'clock the next morning, when we had run eleven leagues, but saw no land, except that which we had left. Having stood to the S.E. with a light breeze, which veered from the west to the north, till noon, our latitude by observation was 42° 56' S., and the high land that we were abreast of the preceding noon bore N.N.W. 1/2 W. In the afternoon we had a light breeze at N.E. with which we steered west, edging in for the land, which was distant about eight leagues. At seven in the evening, we were about six leagues from the shore, and the southermost extremity of the land in sight bore W.S.W.
At day-break on the 16th, we discovered land bearing S. by W. and seemingly detached from the coast we were upon. About eight, a breeze sprung up, at N. by E. and we steered directly for it. At noon, we were in latitude 43° 19' S. the peak on the snowy mountain bore N. 20 E. distant twenty-seven leagues; the southern extremity of the land we could see bore west, and the land which had been discovered in the morning appeared like an island extending from S.S.W. to S.W. by W. 1/2 W. distant about eight leagues. In the afternoon, we stood to the southward of it, with a fresh breeze at north: At eight in the evening, we had run eleven leagues, and the land then extended from S.W. by W. to N. by W. We were then distant about three or four leagues from the nearest shore, and in this situation had fifty fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom. The variation of the compass by this morning's amplitude was 14° 39' E.
At sun-rise, the next morning, our opinion that the land we had been standing for was an island, was confirmed, by our seeing part of the land of Tovy Poenammoo open to the westward of it, extending as far as W. by S. At eight in the morning, the extremes of the island bore N. 76 W. and N.N.E. 1/2 E.; and an opening near the south point, which had the appearance of a bay or harbour, N. 20 W. distant between three and four leagues: In this situation we had thirty-eight fathom water, with a brown sandy bottom.
This island, which I named after Mr Banks, lies about five leagues from the coast of Tovy Poenamoo; the south point bears S. 21 W. from the highest peak on the snowy mountain, and lies in latitude 43° 32' S. and in longitude 186° 30' W. by an observation of the sun and moon which was made this morning: It is of a circular figure, and about twenty-four leagues in compass: It is sufficiently high to be seen at the distance of twelve or fifteen leagues, and the land has a broken irregular surface, with the appearance rather of barrenness than fertility; yet it was inhabited, for we saw smoke in one place, and a few straggling natives in another.
When this island was first discovered in the direction of S. by W. some persons on board were of opinion that they also saw land bearing S.S.E. and S.E. by E. I was myself upon the deck at the time, and told them, that in my opinion it was no more than a cloud, and that as the sun rose it would dissipate and vanish. However, as I was determined to leave no subject for disputation which experiment could remove, I ordered the ship to be wore, and steered E.S.E. by compass, in the direction which the land was said to bear from us at that time. At noon, we were in latitude 44° 7' S.; the south point of Banks's Island bearing north, distant five leagues. By seven o'clock at night we had run eight-and-twenty miles, when seeing no land, nor any signs of any, but that which we had left, we bore away S. by W. and continued upon that course till the next day at noon, when we were in latitude 45° 16', the south point of Banks's Island bearing N. 6° 30' W. distant twenty-eight leagues. The variation by the azimuth this morning was 15° 30' E. As no signs of land had yet appeared to the southward, and as I thought that we had stood far enough in that direction to weather all the land we had left, judging from the report of the natives in Queen Charlotte's Sound, I hauled to the westward.
We had a moderate breeze at N.N.W.N. till eight in the evening, when it became unsettled; and at ten fixed at south: During the night, it blew with such violence that it brought us under our close reefed topsails. At eight the next morning, having run twenty-eight leagues upon a W. by N. 1/2 N. course, and judging ourselves to be to the westward of the land of Tovy Poenammoo, we bore away N.W. with a fresh gale at south. At ten, having run eleven miles upon this course, we saw land extending from the S.W. to the N.W. at the distance of about ten leagues, which we hauled up for. At noon, our latitude by observation was 44° 38', the south-east point of Banks's Island bore N. 58° 30' E. distant thirty leagues, and the main body of the land in sight W. by N. A head sea prevented us from making much way to the southward; at seven in the evening the extremes of the land stretched from S.W. by S. to N. by W.; and at six leagues from the shore we had thirty-two fathom water. At four o'clock the next morning, we stood in for the shore W. by S. and during a course of four leagues, our depth of water was from thirty-two to thirteen fathom. When it was thirteen fathom we were but three miles distant from the shore, and therefore stood off; its direction is here nearly N. and S. The surface, to the distance of about five miles from the sea, is low and flat; but it then rises into hills of a considerable height. It appeared to be totally barren, and we saw no signs of its being inhabited. Our latitude, at noon, was 44° 44'; and the longitude which we made from Banks's Island to this place was 2° 22' W. During the last twenty-four hours, though we carried as much sail as the ship would bear, we were driven three leagues to the leeward.
We continued to stand off and on all this day and the next, keeping at the distance of between four and twelve leagues from the shore, and having water from thirty-five to fifty-three fathom. On the 22d, at noon, we had no observation, but by the land judged ourselves to be about three leagues farther north than we had been the day before. At sun-set, the weather, which had been hazy, clearing up, we saw a mountain which rose in a high peak, bearing N.W. by N.; and at the same time, we saw the land more distinctly than before, extending from N. to S.W. by S. which, at some distance within the coast, had a lofty and mountainous appearance. We soon found that the accounts which had been given us by the Indians in Queen Charlotte's Sound of the land to the southward were not true; for they had told us that it might be circumnavigated in four days.
On the 23d, having a hollow swell from the S.E. and expecting wind from the same quarter, we kept plying between seven and fifteen leagues from the shore, having from seventy to forty-four fathom. At noon, our latitude by observation was 44° 40' S. and our longitude from Banks's Island 1° 31' W. From this time to six in the evening it was calm; but a light breeze then springing up at E.N.E. we steered S.S.E. all night, edging off from the land, the hollow swell still continuing; our depth of water was from sixty to seventy-five fathom. While we were becalmed, Mr Banks, being out in the boat, shot two Port Egmont hens, which were in every respect the same as those that are found in great numbers upon the island of Faro, and were the first of the kind we had seen upon this coast, though we fell in with some a few days before we made land.
At day-break, the wind freshened, and before noon we had a strong gale at N.N.E. At eight in the morning we saw the land extending as far as S.W. by S. and steered directly for it. At noon, we were in latitude 45° 22' S.; and the land, which now stretched from S.W. 1/2 S. to N.N.W. appeared to be rudely diversified by hill and valley. In the afternoon, we steered S.W. by S. and S.W. edging in for the land with a fresh gale at north; but though we were at no great distance, the weather was so hazy that we could see nothing distinctly upon it, except a ridge of high hills, lying not far from the sea, and parallel to the coast, which in this place stretches S. by W. and N. by E. and seemed to end in a high bluff point to the southward. By eight in the evening we were abreast of this point; but it being then dark, and I not knowing which way the land trended, we brought-to for the night. At this time, the point bore west, and was distant about five miles: Our depth of water was thirty-seven fathom, and the bottom consisted of small pebbles.
At day-break, having made sail, the point bore north, distant three leagues, and we now found that the land trended from it S.W. by W. as far as we could see. This point I named Cape Saunders, in honour of Sir Charles. Our latitude was 45° 35' S., and longitude 189° 4' W. By the latitude, and the angles that are made by the coast, this point will be sufficiently known; there is, however, about three or four leagues to the south-west of it, and very near the shore, a remarkable saddle-hill, which is a good direction to it on that quarter. From one league to four leagues north of Cape Saunders, the shore forms two or three bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage, and effectual shelter from the S.W. westerly, and N. westerly winds; but my desire of getting to the southward, in order to ascertain whether this country was an island or a continent, prevented my putting into any of them.
We kept at a small distance from the shore all this morning, with the wind at S.W., and had a very distinct view of it: It is of a moderate height, and the surface is broken by many hills which are green and woody; but we saw no appearance of inhabitants. At noon, Cape Saunders bore N. 30 W. distant about four leagues. We had variable winds and calms till five o'clock in the evening, when it fixed at W.S.W. and soon blew so hard that it put us past our topsail, and split the foresail all to pieces: After getting another to the yard, we continued to stand to the southward under two courses; and at six the next morning, the southermost land in sight bore W. by N. and Cape Saunders N. by W. distant eight leagues: At noon, it bore N. 20 W. fourteen leagues; and our latitude by observation was 46° 36'. The gale continued, with heavy squalls and a large hollow sea all the afternoon; and at seven in the evening, we lay-to under our foresail, with the ship's head to the southward: At noon on the 27th, our latitude was 46° 54', and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 24' E. At seven in the evening, we made sail under our courses; and at eight the next morning set the top-sails close reefed. At noon, our latitude was 47° 43', and our longitude east from Cape Saunders 2° 10'. At this time we wore and stood to the northward: In the afternoon, we found the variation to be 16° 34' E. At eight in the evening, we tacked and stood to the southward, with the wind at west.
At noon, this day, our latitude, by account, was 47° 52', and our longitude from Cape Saunders 1° 8' E. We stood to the southward till half an hour past three in the afternoon; and then, being in latitude 48° S. and longitude 188° W., and seeing no appearance of land, we tacked and stood to the northward, having a large swell from the S.W. by W. At noon, the next day, our latitude was 46° 42' S.; and Cape Saunders bore N. 46 W. distant eighty-six miles. The south-west swell continuing till the 3d, confirmed our opinion, that there was no land in that quarter. At four in the afternoon, we stood to the westward with all the sail we could make. In the morning of the 4th, we found the variation to be 16° 16' E. This day we saw some whales and seals, as we had done several times after our having passed the streight; but we saw no seals while we were upon the coast of Eahienomauwe. We sounded both in the night and this morning, but had no ground with one hundred and fifty fathom. At noon, we saw Cape Saunders bearing N. 1/2 W.; and our latitude by observation was 46° 31' S. At half an hour past one o'clock, we saw land bearing W. by S., which we steered for, and before it was dark were within three or four miles of it: During the whole night we saw fires upon it, and at seven in the morning were within about three leagues of the shore, which appeared to be high, but level. At three o'clock in the afternoon, we saw the land extending from N.E. by N. to N.W. 1/2 N.; and soon after we discovered some low land, which appeared like an island, bearing S. 1/2 W. We continued our course to the W. by S., and in two hours we saw high land over the low land, extending to the southward as far as S.W. by S.; but it did not appear to be joined to the land to the northward, so that there is either water, a deep bay, or low land between them.
At noon on the 6th, we were nearly in the same situation as at noon on the day before: In the afternoon we found the variation, by several azimuths and the amplitude, to be 15° 10' E. On the 7th at noon, we were in latitude 47° 6' S. and had made twelve miles easting during the last twenty-four hours. We stood to the westward the remainder of this day, and all the next till sun-set, when the extremes of the land bore from N. by E. to W. distant about seven or eight leagues: In this situation our depth of water was fifty-five fathom, and the variation by amplitude 16° 29' E. The wind now veered from the N. to the W., and as we had fine weather, and moon-light, we kept standing close upon the wind to the S.W. all night. At four in the morning, we had sixty fathom water; and at day-light, we discovered under our bow a ledge of rocks, extending from S. by W. to W. by S. upon which the sea broke very high: They were not more than three quarters of a mile distant, yet we had five-and-forty fathom water. As the wind was at N.W. we could not now weather them, and as I was unwilling to run to leeward, I tacked and made a trip to the eastward; the wind however soon after coming to the northward, enabled us to get clear of all. Our soundings, while we were passing within the ledge, were from thirty-five to forty-seven fathom, with a rocky bottom.
This ledge lies S.E. six leagues from the southermost part of the land, and S.E. by E. from some remarkable hills which stand near the shore: About three leagues to the northward of it, there is another ledge, which lies full three leagues from the shore, and on which the sea broke in a dreadful surf. As we passed these rocks to the north in the night, and discovered the others under our bow at break of day, it is manifest that our danger was imminent, and our escape critical in the highest degree: From the situation of these rocks, so well adapted to catch unwary strangers, I called them the Traps. Our latitude at noon was 47° 26' S. The land in sight, which had the appearance of an island, extended from N.E. by N. to N.W. by W. and seemed to be about five leagues distant from the main; the eastermost ledge of rocks bore S.S.E. distant one league and a half, and the northermost N.E. 1/2 E. distant about three leagues. This land is high and barren, with nothing upon it but a few straggling shrubs, for not a single tree was to be seen; it was however remarkable for a number of white patches which I took to be marble, as they reflected the sun's rays very strongly: Other patches of the same kind we had observed in different parts of this country, particularly in Mercury Bay: We continued to stand close upon a wind to the westward, and at sun-set the southermost point of land bore N. 38 E. distant four leagues, and the westermost land in sight bore N. 2 E. The point which lies in latitude 47° 19' S. longitude.192° 12' W. I named South Cape; the westermost land was a small island, lying off the point of the main.
Supposing South Cape to be the southern extremity of this country, as indeed it proved to be, I hoped to get round it by the west, for a large hollow swell from the south-west, ever since our last hard gale, had convinced me that there was no land in that direction.
In the night we had a hard gale at N.E. by N. and N. which brought us under our courses, but about eight in the morning it became moderate; and at noon veering to the west, we tacked and stood to the northward, having no land in sight. Our latitude, by observation, was 47° 33' S. our longitude, west from the South Cape, 59'. We stood away N.N.E. close upon a wind, without seeing any land, till two the next morning, when we discovered an island bearing N.W. by N. distant about five leagues: About two hours afterwards we saw land a-head, upon which we tacked and stood off till six, when we stood in to take a nearer view of it: At eleven we were within three leagues of it, but the wind seeming to incline upon the shore, I tacked and stood off to the southward. We had now sailed round the land which we had discovered on the 5th, and which then did not appear to be joined to the main which lay north of it; and being now come to the other side of what we supposed to be water, a bay, or low land, it had the same appearance, but when I came to lay it down upon paper I saw no reason to suppose it to be an island; on the contrary, I was clearly of opinion that it made part of the main. At noon, the western extremity of the main bore N. 59 W., and the island which we had seen in the morning S. 59 W. distant about five leagues. It lies in latitude 46° 31' S. longitude 192° 49' W., and is nothing but a barren rock about a mile in circuit, remarkably high, and lies full five leagues distant from the main. This island I named after Dr Solander, and called it Solander's Island. The shore of the main lies nearest E. by S. and W. by N. and forms a large open bay, in which there is no appearance of any harbour or shelter for shipping against S.W. and southerly winds: The surface of the country is broken into craggy hills, of a great height, on the summits of which are several patches of snow: It is not, however, wholly barren, for we could see wood not only in the vallies, but upon the highest ground, yet we saw no appearance of its being inhabited.
We continued to stand to the S.W. by S. till eleven o'clock the next morning, when the wind shifted to the S.W. by W., upon which we wore, and stood to the N.N.W., being then in latitude 47° 40' S. longitude 193° 50' W., and having a hollow sea from the S.W.
During the night, we steered N.N.W. till six in the morning, when, seeing no land, we steered N. by E. till eight, when we steered N.E. by E. 1/2 E. to make the land, which at ten we saw bearing E.N.E., but it being hazy, we could distinguish nothing upon it. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 46° S. About two it cleared up, and the land appeared to be high, rude, and mountainous.: About half an hour after three I hauled in for a bay, in which there appeared to be good anchorage; but in about an hour, finding the distance too great to run before it would be dark, and the wind blowing too hard to make the attempt safe in the night, I bore away along the shore.
This bay, which I called Dusky Bay, lies in latitude 45° 47' S.: It is between three and four miles broad at the entrance, and seems to be full as deep as it is broad: It contains several islands, behind which there must be shelter from all winds, though possibly there may not be sufficient depth of water. The north point of this bay, when it bears S.E. by S, is rendered very remarkable by five high peaked rocks which lie off it, and have the appearance of the four fingers and thumb of a man's hand, for which reason I called it Point Five Fingers: The land of this point is farther remarkable, for being the only level land within a considerable distance. It extends near two leagues to the northward, is lofty, and covered with wood. The land behind it is very different, consisting wholly of mountains, totally barren and rocky; and this difference gives the Cape the appearance of an island.
At sun-set, the southermost land in sight bore due south, distant about five or six leagues; and as this is the westermost point of land upon the whole coast, I called it West Cape. It lies about three leagues to the southward of Dusky Bay, in the latitude of 45° 54' S. and in the longitude of 193° 17' W. The land of this Cape is of a moderate height next the sea, and has nothing remarkable about it, except a very white cliff, two or three leagues to the southward of it: To the southward of it also the land trends away to the S.E. and to the northward it trends N.N.E.
Having brought-to for the night, we made sail along the shore at four in the morning, in the direction of N.E. 1/2 N. with a moderate breeze at S.S.E. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 45° 18' S. At this time, being about a league and a half from the shore, we sounded, but had no ground with seventy fathom: We had just passed a small narrow opening in land, where there seemed to be a very safe and convenient harbour, formed by an island, which lay in the middle of the opening at east. The opening lies in latitude 45° 16' S., and on the land behind it are mountains, the summits of which were covered with snow, that appeared to have been recently fallen; and indeed for two days past we had found the weather very cold. On each side the entrance of the opening, the land rises almost perpendicularly from the sea to a stupendous height, and this indeed was the reason why I did not carry the ship into it, for no wind could blow there but right in, or right out, in the direction of either east or west, and I thought it by no means advisable to put into a place whence I could not have got out but with a wind which experience had taught me did not blow more than one day in a month. In this, however, I acted contrary to the opinion of some persons on board, who in very strong terms expressed their desire to harbour for present convenience, without any regard to future disadvantages.
In the evening, being about two leagues from the shore, we sounded, and had no ground with 108 fathom: The variation of the needle, by azimuth, was 14° E. and by amplitude 15° 2'. We made the best of our way along the shore with what wind we had, keeping at the distance of between two and three leagues. At noon, we were in latitude 44° 47', having run only twelve leagues upon a N.E. 1/4 N. course, during the last four-and-twenty hours.
We continued to steer along the shore, in the direction of N.E. 1/4 E. till six o'clock in the evening, when we brought-to for the night. At four in the morning, we stood in for the land, and when the day broke we saw what appeared to be an inlet; but upon a nearer approach proved to be only a deep valley between two high lands: We proceeded therefore in the same course, keeping the shore at the distance of between four and five miles. At noon on the 16th, the northermost point of land in sight bore N. 60 E. at the distance of ten miles; and our latitude, by observation, was 44° 5', our longitude from Cape West 3° 8' E. About two, we past the point which at noon had been distant ten miles, and found it to consist of high red cliffs, down which there fell a cascade of water in four small streams, and I therefore gave it the name of Cascade Point. From this Point the land trends first N. 76 E. and afterwards more to the northward. At the distance of eight leagues from Cascade Point, in the direction of E.N.E. and at a little distance from the shore, lies a small low island, which bore from us S. by E. at the distance of about a league and a half.
At seven in the evening, we brought-to, in thirty-three fathom, with a fine sandy bottom; at ten we had fifty fathom, and at twelve wore in sixty-five fathom, having driven several miles N.N.W. after our having brought-to. At two in the morning, we had no ground with 140 fathom, by which it appears that the soundings extend but a little way from the shore. About this time it fell calm; at eight, a breeze sprung up at S.W. with which we steered along the shore, in the direction of N.E. by E. 1/2 E. at the distance of about three leagues. At six in the evening, being about one league from the shore, we had seventeen fathom; and at eight, being about three leagues from the shore, we had forty-four; we now shortened sail, and brought-to, having run ten leagues N.E. by E. since noon.
It was calm most part of the night; but at ten in the morning a light breeze sprung up at S.W. by W. when we made sail again along the shore N.E. by N., having a large swell from the W.S.W. which had risen in the night; at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 43° 4' S. and our longitude from Cape West 4° 12' E. We observed, that the vallies as well as the mountains were this morning covered with snow, part of which we supposed to have fallen during the night, when we had rain. At six in the evening we shortened sail, and at ten brought-to, at the distance of about five leagues from the shore, where we had 115 fathom. At midnight, there being little wind, we made sail, and at eight in the morning we stood to the N.E. close upon a wind till noon, when we tacked, being about three leagues from the land, and, by observation, in latitude 42° 8' and longitude from Cape West 5° 5' E.
We continued to stand westward till two in the morning, when we made a trip to the eastward, and afterwards stood westward till noon, when, by our reckoning, we were in the latitude 42° 23', and longitude from Cape West 3° 55' E. We now tacked and stood eastward, with a fresh gale at N. by W. till six in the evening, when the wind shifted to the S. and S.S.W. with which we steered N.E. by N. till six in the morning, when we hauled in E. by N. to make the land, which we saw soon afterwards; at noon, our latitude, by account, was 41° 37', and our longitude from Cape West 5° 42' E. We were now within three or four leagues of the land, but it being foggy, we could see nothing upon it distinctly, and as we had much wind, and a vast swell rolling in upon the shore, from the W.S.W. I did not think it safe to go nearer.
In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze from the S.S.W. with which we steered north along the shore till eight, when, being within between two and three leagues, we sounded, and had but thirty-four fathom; upon which we hauled off N.W. by N. till eleven at night, and then brought-to, having sixty-four fathom. At four in the morning, we made sail to the N.E. with a light breeze at S.S.W. which at eight veered to the westward, and soon after died away; at this time we were within three or four miles of the land, and had fifty-four fathom, with a large swell from the W.S.W. rolling obliquely upon the shore, which made me fear that I should be obliged to anchor; but by the help of a light air now and then from the S.W. I was able to keep the ship from driving. At noon, the northermost land in sight bore N.E. by E. 1/2 E. distant about ten leagues; our latitude, by account, was 40° 55' S. longitude from Cape West 6° 35' E. From this time we had light airs from the southward, with intervals of calm, till noon on the 23d, when our latitude, by observation, was 40° 36' 30" S. and our longitude from Cape West 6° 52' E. The eastermost point of land in sight bore E. 10 N. at the distance of seven leagues, and a bluff head or point, of which we had been abreast at noon the day before, and off which lay some rocks above water, bore S. 18 W. at the distance of six leagues. This point I called Rock's Point. Our latitude was now 40° 55' S., and having nearly run down the whole of the north-west coast of Tovy Poenammoo, I shall give some account of the face of the country.
I have already observed, that on the 11th, when we were off the southern part, the land then seen was craggy and mountainous; and there is great reason to believe that the same ridge of mountains extends nearly the whole length of the island. Between the westernmost land which we saw that day, and the easternmost which we saw on the 13th, there is a space of about six or eight leagues, of which we, did not see the coast, though we plainly discovered the mountains inland. The sea-coast near Cape West is low, rising with an easy and gradual ascent to the foot of the mountains, and being in most parts covered with wood. From Point Five Fingers, down to latitude 44° 26', there is a narrow ridge of hills that rises directly from the sea, and is covered with wood: Close behind these hills are the mountains, extending in another ridge of a stupendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, except where they are covered with snow, which is to be seen in large patches upon many parts of them, and has probably lain there ever since the creation of the world: A prospect more rude, craggy, and desolate than this country affords from the sea, cannot possibly be conceived, for as far inland as the eye can reach, nothing appears but the summits of rocks, which stand so near together, that instead of vallies there are only fissures between them. From the latitude of 44° 20', to the latitude of 42° 8', these mountains lie farther inland, and the sea-coast consists of woody hills and valleys, of various height and extent, and has much appearance of fertility: Many of the vallies form plains of considerable extent, wholly covered with wood, but it is very probable that the ground, in many places, is swampy, and interspersed with pools of water. From latitude 42° 8', to 41° 30', the land is not distinguished by any thing remarkable: It rises into hills directly from the sea, and is covered with wood; but the weather being foggy while we were upon this part of the coast, we could see very little inland, except now and then the summits of the mountains, towering above the cloudy mists that obscured them below, which confirmed my opinion that a chain of mountains extended from one end of the island to the other.
In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze at S.W., which, before it was quite dark, brought us abreast of the eastern point which we had seen at noon; but not knowing what course the land took on the other side of it, we brought-to in thirty-four fathom, at the distance of about one league from the shore. At eight in the evening, there being little wind, we filled and stood on till midnight, and then we brought-to till four in the morning, when we again made sail, and at break of day we saw low land extending from the point to the S.S.E. as far as the eye could reach, the eastern extremity of which appeared in round hillocks: By this time the gale had veered to the eastward, which obliged us to ply to windward. At noon next day, the eastern point bore S.W. by S. distant sixteen miles, and our latitude was 40° 19': The wind continuing easterly, we were nearly in the same situation at noon on the day following. About three o'clock the wind came to the westward, and we steered E.S.E. with all the sail we could set till it was dark, and then shortened sail till the morning: As we had thick hazy weather all night, we kept sounding continually, and had from thirty-seven to forty-two fathom. When the day broke we saw land bearing S.E. by E. and an island lying near it, bearing E.S.E. distant about five leagues: This island I knew to be the same that I had seen from the entrance of Queen Charlotte's Sound, from which it bears N.W. by N. distant nine leagues. At noon, it bore south, distant four or five miles, and the north-west head of the Sound S.E. by S. distant ten leagues and a half. Our latitude, by observation, was 40° 33' S.
As we had now circumnavigated the whole country, it became necessary to think of quitting it; but as I had thirty tons of empty water casks on board, this could not be done till I had filled them: I therefore hauled round the island, and entered a bay which lies between that and Queen Charlotte's Sound, leaving three more islands, which lay close under the western shore, between three or four miles within the entrance, on our starboard hand: While we were running in, we kept the lead continually going, and had from forty to twelve fathom. At six o'clock in the evening, we anchored in eleven fathom with a muddy bottom, under the west shore, in the second cove, that lies within the three islands; and as soon as it was light the next morning, I took a boat, and went on shore to look for a watering-place, and a proper birth for the ship, both which I found, much to my satisfaction. As soon as the ship was moored, I sent an officer on shore to superintend the watering, and the carpenter, with his crew, to cut wood, while the long-boat was employed in landing the empty casks.
In this employment we were busy till the 30th, when the wind seeming to settle at S.E. and our water being nearly completed, we warped the ship out of the cove, that we might have room to get under sail: And at noon I went away in the pinnace to examine as much of the bay as my time would admit.
After rowing about two leagues up it, I went ashore upon a point of land on the western side, and having climbed a hill, I saw the western arm of this bay run in S.W. by W. about five leagues farther, yet I could not discover the end of it: There appeared to be several other inlets, or at least small bays, between this and the north-west head of Queen Charlotte's Sound, in each of which, I make no doubt, there is anchorage and shelter, as they are all covered from the sea-wind by the islands which lie without them. The land about this bay, as far as I could see of it, is of a hilly surface, chiefly covered with trees, shrubs, and fern, which render travelling difficult and fatiguing. In this excursion I was accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, who found several new plants. We met with some huts, which seemed to have been long deserted, but saw no inhabitants. Mr Banks examined several of the stones that lay upon the beach, which were full of veins, and had a mineral appearance; but he did not discover any thing in them which he knew to be ore: If he had had an opportunity to examine any of the bare rocks, perhaps he might have been more fortunate. He was also of opinion that what I had taken for marble in another place, was a mineral substance; and that, considering the correspondence of latitude between this place and South America, it was not improbable but that, by a proper examination, something very valuable might be found.
At my return in the evening, I found all the wood and water on board, and the ship ready for the sea; I resolved therefore to quit the country, and return home by such a route as might be of most advantage to the service; and upon this subject took the opinion of my officers. I had myself a strong desire to return by Cape Horn, because that would have enabled me finally to determine, whether there is or is not a southern continent; but against this it was a sufficient objection that we must have kept in a high southern latitude in the very depth of winter, with a vessel which was not thought sufficient for the undertaking: And the same reason was urged against our proceeding directly for the Cape of Good Hope, with still more force, because no discovery of moment could be hoped for in that route; it was therefore resolved that we should return by the East Indies, and that with this view we should, upon leaving the coast, steer westward, till we should fall in with the east coast of New Holland, and then follow the direction of that coast to the northward, till we should arrive at its northern extremity; but if that should be found impracticable, it was further resolved that we should endeavour to fall in with the land, or islands, said to have been discovered by Quiros.
With this view, at break of day on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we got under sail, and put to sea, with the advantage of a fresh gale at S.E. and clear weather, taking our departure from the eastern point, which we had seen at noon on the 23d, and to which, on this occasion I gave the name of Cape Farewell.
The bay out of which we had just sailed I called Admiralty Bay, giving the name of Cape Stephens to the northwest point, and Cape Jackson to the south-east, after the two gentlemen who at this time were secretaries to the board.
Admiralty Bay may easily be known by the island that has been just mentioned, which lies two miles N.E. of Cape Stephens, in latitude 40° 37' S. longitude 185° 6' W., and is of a considerable height. Between this island and Cape Farewell, which are between fourteen and fifteen leagues distant from each other, in the direction of W. by N. and E. by S. the shore forms a large deep bay, the bottom of which we could scarcely see while we were sailing in a straight line from one Cape to the other; it is, however, probably of less depth than it appeared to be, for as we found the water shallower here, than at the same distance from any other part of the coast, there is reason to suppose, that the land at the bottom which lies next the sea is low, and therefore not easily to be distinguished from it. I have for this reason called it Blind Bay, and am of opinion that it is the same which was called Murderer's Bay by Tasman.[68]
[Footnote 68: The three following sections of the original are occupied by unsatisfactory accounts of New Zealand, which it seemed very unadvisable to give here, as the subject must be resumed when we come to the third voyage of Captain Cook. It was equally objectionable to anticipate fuller information now, and to repeat imperfect notices hereafter. The present omission will be made up to the reader's content. We now go on with the remainder of the narrative.--E.]
SECTION XXVIII.
The Run from New Zealand to Botany Bay, on the East Coast of New Holland, now called New South Wales; various Incidents that happened there; with some Account of the Country and its Inhabitants.
Having sailed from Cape Farewell, which lies in latitude 40° 33' S., longitude 186° W., on Saturday the 31st of March, 1770, we steered westward, with a fresh gale at N.N.E., and at noon on the 2d of April, our latitude, by observation, was 40°, our longitude from Cape Farewell 2° 31' W.
In the morning of the 9th, being in latitude 38° 29' S. we saw a tropic bird which in so high a latitude is very uncommon.
In the morning of the 10th, being in latitude 38° 51' S., longitude 202° 43' W., we found the variation, by the amplitude, to be 11° 25' E. and by the azimuth 11° 20'.
In the morning of the 11th, the variation was 13° 48', which is two degrees and a half more than the day before, though I expected to have found it less.
In the course of the 13th, being in latitude 39° 23' S., longitude 204° 2' W., I found the variation to be 12° 27' E., and in the morning of the 14th, it was 11° 30'; this day we also saw some flying fish. On the 15th, we saw an egg bird and a gannet, and as these are birds that never go far from the land, we continued to sound all night, but had no ground with 130 fathom. At noon on the 16th, we were in latitude 39° 45' S., longitude 208° W. At about two o'clock the wind came about to the W.S.W. upon which we tacked and stood to the N.W.; soon after, a small land-bird perched upon the rigging, but we had no ground with 120 fathom. At eight we wore and stood to the southward till twelve at night, and then wore and stood to the N.W. till four in the morning, when we again stood to the southward, having a fresh gale at W.S.W. with squalls and dark weather till nine, when the weather became clear, and there being little wind, we had an opportunity to take several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 207° 56' W. longitude: Our latitude at noon was 39° 36' S. We had now a hard gale from the southward, and a great sea from the same quarter, which obliged us to run under our fore-sail and mizen all night, during which we sounded every two hours, but had no ground with 120 fathom.
In the morning of the 18th, we saw two Port Egmont hens, and a pintado bird, which are certain signs of approaching land, and indeed by our reckoning we could not be far from it, for our longitude was now one degree to the westward of the east side of Van Diemen's land, according to the longitude laid down by Tasman, whom we could not suppose to have erred much in so short a run as from this land to New Zealand, and by our latitude we could not be above fifty or fifty-five leagues from the place whence he took his departure. All this day we had frequent squalls and a great swell. At one in the morning we brought-to and sounded, but had no ground with 130 fathom; at six we saw land extending from N.E. to W. at the distance of five or six leagues, having eighty fathom, water with a fine sandy bottom.
We continued standing westward, with the wind at S.S.W. till eight, when we made all the sail we could, and bore away along the shore N.E. for the eastermost land in sight, being at this time in latitude 37° 58' S., and longitude 210° 39' W. The southermost point of land in sight, which bore from us W. 1/4 S., I judged to lie in latitude 38°, longitude 211° 7', and gave it the name of Point Hicks, because Mr Hicks, the first lieutenant, was the first who discovered it. To the southward of this Point no land was to be seen, though it was very clear in that quarter, and by our longitude, compared with that of Tasman, not as it is laid down in the printed charts, but in the extracts from Tasman's journal, published by Rembrantse, the body of Van Diemen's land ought to have borne due south; and indeed, from the sudden falling of the sea after the wind abated, I had reason to think it did; yet as I did not see it, and as I found this coast trend N.E. and S.W. or rather more to the eastward, I cannot determine whether it joins to Van Diemen's land or not.[69]
[Footnote 69: This part of geography has been a good deal improved since Cook's time, as will be illustrated in progress. Van Diemen's land, which was formerly reckoned a part of New Holland, and is marked as such in the accompanying chart, is separated from it by Bass's Strait, which is about 30 leagues in breadth,' and contains several groups of islands. Of these more hereafter.--E.]
At noon, we were in latitude 370° 5', longitude 210° 29' W. The extremes of the land extended from N.W. to E.N.E. and a remarkable point bore N. 20 E. at the distance of about four leagues. This point rises in a round hillock, very much resembling the Ram-Head at the entrance of Plymouth Sound, and therefore I called it by the same name. The variation by an azimuth, taken this morning, was 3° 7' E.; and what we had now seen of the land, appeared low and level: The sea-shore was a white sand, but the country within was green and woody. About one o'clock, we saw three water spouts at once; two were between us and the shore, and the third at some distance, upon our larboard quarter: This phenomenon is so well known, that it is not necessary to give a particular description of it here.
At six o'clock in the evening, we shortened sail, and brought-to for the night, having fifty-six fathom water, and a fine sandy bottom. The northermost land in sight then bore N. by E. 1/2 E., and a small island lying close to a point on the main bore W. distant two leagues. This point, which I called Cape Howe, may be known by the trending of the coast, which is north on the one side, and south-west on the other; it may also be known by some round hills upon the main, just within it.
We brought-to for the night, and at four in the morning made sail along shore to the northward. At six, the northermost land in sight bore N.N.W. and we were at this time about four leagues from the shore. At noon, we were in latitude 36° 51' S. longitude 209° 53' W. and about three leagues distant from the shore. The weather being clear, gave us a good view of the country, which has a very pleasing appearance: It is of a moderate height, diversified by hills and vallies, ridges and plains, interspersed with a few lawns of no great extent, but in general covered with wood: The ascent of the hills and ridges is gentle, and the summits are not high. We continued to sail along the shore to the northward, with a southerly wind, and in the afternoon we saw a smoke in several places, by which we knew the country to be inhabited. At six in the evening, we shortened sail, and sounded: We found forty-four fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom, and stood on under an easy sail till twelve, when we brought-to for the night, and had ninety fathom water.
At four in the morning, we made sail again, at the distance of about five leagues from the land, and at six, we were abreast of a high mountain, lying near the shore, which, on account of its figure, I called Mount Dromedary: Under this mountain the shore forms a point, to which I gave the name of Point Dromedary, and over it there is a peaked hillock. At this time, being in latitude 36° 18' S., longitude 209° 55' W. we found the variation to be 10° 42' E.
Between ten and eleven, Mr Green and I took several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of which gave 209° 17' longitude W. By an observation made the day before, our longitude was 210° 9' W., from. which 20' being subtracted, there remains 209° 49', the longitude of the ship this day at noon, the mean of which, with this day's observation, gives 209° 33', by which I fix the longitude of this coast. At noon, our latitude was 35° 49' S., Cape Dromedary bore S. 30 W., at the distance of twelve leagues, and an open bay, in which were three or four small islands, bore N.W. by W. at the distance of five or six leagues. This bay seemed to afford but little shelter from the sea winds, and yet it is the only place where there appeared a probability of finding anchorage upon the whole coast. We continued to steer along the shore N. by E. and N.N.E. at the distance of about three leagues, and saw smoke in many places near the beach. At five in the evening, we were abreast of a point of land which rose in a perpendicular cliff, and which, for that reason, I called Point Upright. Our latitude was 35° 35' S. when this point bore from us due west, distant about two leagues: In this situation, we had about thirty-one fathom water with a sandy bottom. At six in the evening, the wind falling, we hauled off E.N.E. and at this time the northermost land in sight bore N. by E. 1/2 E. At midnight, being in seventy fathom water, we brought-to till four in the morning, when we made sail in for the land; but at day-break, found our situation nearly the same as it had been at five the evening before, by which it was apparent that we had been driven about three leagues to the southward, by a tide or current, during the night. After this we steered along the shore N.N.E. with a gentle breeze at S.W., and were so near the land as to distinguish several of the natives upon the beach, who appeared to be of a black, or very dark colour. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 35° 27' S. and longitude 209° 23' W.; Cape Dromedary bore S. 28 W. distant nineteen leagues, a remarkable peaked hill, which resembled a square dove-house, with a dome at the top, and which for that reason I called the Pigeon House, bore N. 32° 30' W., and a small low island, which lay close under the shore, bore N.W. distant about two or three leagues. When I first discovered this island, in the morning, I was in hopes from its appearance, that I should have found shelter for the ship behind it, but when we came near it, it did not promise security even for the landing of a boat: I should however have attempted to send a boat on shore, if the wind had not veered to that direction, with a large hollow sea rolling in upon the land from the S.E. which indeed had been the case ever since we had been upon it. The coast still continued to be of a moderate height, forming alternately rocky points and sandy beaches; but within, between Mount Dromedary and the Pigeon House, we saw high mountains, which, except two, are covered with wood: These two lie inland behind the Pigeon House, and are remarkably flat at the top, with steep rocky cliffs all round them as far as we could see. The trees, which almost every where clothe this country, appear to be large and lofty. This day the variation was found to be 9° 50' E., and for the two last days, the latitude, by observation, was twelve or fourteen miles to the southward of the ship's account, which could have been the effect of nothing but a current setting in that direction. About four in the afternoon, being near five leagues from the land, we tacked and stood off S.E. and E., and the wind having veered in the night, from E. to N.E. and N., we tacked about four in the morning, and stood in, being then about nine or ten leagues from the shore. At eight, the wind began to die away, and soon after it was calm. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 35° 38', and our distance from the land about six leagues. Cape Dromedary bore S. 37 W. distant seventeen leagues, and the Pigeon House N. 40 W.: In this situation we had 74 fathom water. In the afternoon, we had variable light airs and calms, till six in the evening, when a breeze sprung up at N. by W.: At this time, being about four or five leagues from the shore, we had seventy fathom water. The Pigeon House bore N. 45 W. Mount Dromedary S. 30 W. and the northermost land in sight N. 19 E.
We stood to the north-east till noon the next day, with a gentle breeze at N.W., and then we tacked and stood westward. At this time, our latitude, by observation, was 35° 10' S., and longitude 208° 51' W. A point of land which I had discovered on St George's day, and which therefore I called Cape George, bore W. distant nineteen miles, and the Pigeon House (the latitude and longitude of which I found to be 35° 19' S. and 209° 42' W.) S. 75 W. In the morning, we had found the variation, by amplitude, to be 7° 50' E. and by several azimuths 7° 54' E. We had a fresh breeze at N.W. from noon till three; it then came to the west, when we tacked and stood to the northward. At five in the evening, being about five or six leagues from the shore, with the Pigeon House bearing W.S.W. distant about nine leagues, we had eighty-six fathom water; and at eight, having thunder and lightning, with heavy squalls, we brought-to in 120 fathom.
At three in the morning, we made sail again to the northward, having the advantage of a fresh gale at S.W. At noon, we were about three or four leagues from the shore, and in latitude 34° 22' S., longitude 208° 36' W. In the course of this day's run from the preceding noon, which was forty-five miles north-east, we saw smoke in several places near the beach. About two leagues to the northward of Cape George, the shore seemed to form a bay, which promised shelter from the north-east winds, but as the wind was with us, it was not in my power to look into it without beating up, which would have cost me more time than I was willing to spare. The north point of this bay, on account of its figure, I named Long Nose; its latitude is 35° 6', and about eight leagues north of it there lies a point, which, from the colour of the land about it, I called Red Point: Its latitude is 34° 29', and longitude 208° 45' W. To the north-west of Red Point, and a little way inland, stands a round hill, the top of which looks like the crown of a hat. In the afternoon of this day, we had a light breeze at N.N.W. till five in the evening, when it fell calm: At this time, we were between three and four leagues from the shore, and had forty-eight fathom water: The variation by azimuth was 8° 48' E. and the extremities of this land were from N.E. by N. to S.W. by S. Before it was dark, we saw smoke in several places along the shore, and a fire two or three times afterwards. During the night we lay becalmed, driving in before the sea till one in the morning, when we got a breeze from the land, with which we steered N.E. being then in thirty-eight fathom. At noon, it veered to N.E. by N. and we were then in latitude 34° 10' S., longitude 208° 27' W.: The land was distant about five leagues, and extended from S. 37 W. to N. 1/2 E. In this latitude, there are some white cliffs, which rise perpendicularly from the sea to a considerable height. We stood off the shore till two o'clock, and then tacked and stood in till six, when we were within four or five miles of it, and at that distance had fifty fathom water. The extremities of the land bore from S. 28 W. to N. 25° 30' E. We now tacked and stood off till twelve, then tacked and stood in again till four in the morning, when we made a trip off till day-light; and during all this time we lost ground, owing to the variableness of the winds. We continued at the distance of between four and five miles from the shore, till the afternoon, when we came within two miles, and I then hoisted out the pinnace and yawl to attempt a landing, but the pinnace proved to be so leaky that I was obliged to hoist her in again. At this time we saw several of the natives walking briskly along the shore, four of whom carried a small canoe upon their shoulders: We flattered ourselves that they were going to put her into the water, and come off to the ship, but finding ourselves disappointed, I determined to go on shore in the yawl, with as many as it would carry: I embarked, therefore, with only Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Tupia, and four rowers: We pulled for that part of the shore where the Indians appeared, near which four small canoes were lying at the water's edge. The Indians sat down upon the rocks, and seemed to wait for our landing; but to our great regret, when we came within about a quarter of a mile, they ran away into the woods: We determined however to go ashore, and endeavour to procure an interview, but in this we were again disappointed, for we found so great a surf beating upon every part of the beach, that landing with our little boat was altogether impracticable: We were therefore obliged to be content with gazing at such objects as presented themselves from the water: The canoes, upon a near view, seemed very much to resemble those of the smaller sort at New Zealand. We observed, that among the trees on shore, which were not very large, there was no underwood; and could distinguish that many of them were of the palm kind, and some of them cabbage trees: After many a wishful look we were obliged to return, with our curiosity rather excited than satisfied, and about five in the evening got on board the ship. About this time it fell calm, and our situation was by no means agreeable: We were now not more than a mile and a half from the shore, and within some breakers, which lay to the southward; but happily a light breeze came off the land, and carried us out of danger. With this breeze we stood to the northward, and at day-break we discovered a bay, which seemed to be well sheltered from all winds, and into which therefore I determined to go with the ship. The pinnace being repaired, I sent her, with the master, to sound the entrance, while I kept turning up, having the wind right out. At noon, the mouth of the bay bore N.N.W. distant about a mile, and seeing a smoke on the shore, we directed our glasses to the spot, and soon discovered ten people, who, upon our nearer approach, left their fire, and retired to a little eminence, whence they could conveniently observe our motions. Soon after two canoes, each having two men on board, came to the shore just under the eminence, and the men joined the rest on the top of it. The pinnace, which had been sent ahead to sound, now approached the place, upon which all the Indians retired farther up the hill, except one, who hid himself among some rocks near the landing-place. As the pinnace proceeded along the shore, most of the people took the same route, and kept abreast of her at a distance; when she came back, the master told us, that in a cove a little within the harbour, some of them had come down to the beach, and invited him to land by many signs and words of which he knew not the meaning; but that all of them were armed with long pikes, and a wooden weapon shaped somewhat like a cymitar. The Indians who had not followed the boat, seeing the ship approach, used many threatening gestures; and brandished their weapons; particularly two, who made a very singular appearance, for their faces seemed to have been dusted with a white powder, and their bodies painted with broad streaks of the same colour, which, passing obliquely over their breasts and backs, looked not unlike the cross-belts worn by our soldiers; the same kind of streaks were also drawn round their legs and thighs like broad garters: Each of these men held in his hand the weapon that had been described to us as like a cymitar, which appeared to be about two feet and a half long, and they seemed to talk to each other with great earnestness.
We continued to stand into the bay, and early in the afternoon anchored under the south shore, about two miles within the entrance, in six fathom water, the south point bearing S.E. and the north point east. As we came in we saw, on both points of the bay, a few huts, and several of the natives, men, women, and children. Under the south head we saw four small canoes, with each one man on board, who were very busily employed in striking fish with a long pike or spear: They ventured almost into the surf, and were so intent upon what they were doing, that although the ship passed within a quarter of a mile of them, they scarcely turned their eyes toward her; possibly being deafened by the surf, and their attention wholly fixed upon their business or sport, they neither saw nor heard her go past them.
The place where the ship had anchored was abreast of a small village, consisting of about six or eight houses; and while we were preparing to hoist out the boat, we saw an old woman, followed by three children, come out of the wood; she was loaded with fire-wood, and each of the children had also its little burden: When she came to the houses, three more children, younger than the others, came out to meet her: She often looked at the ship, but expressed neither fear nor surprise: In a short time she kindled a fire, and the four canoes came in from fishing. The men landed, and having hauled up their boats, began to dress their dinner, to all appearance wholly unconcerned about us, though we were within half a mile of them. We thought it remarkable that of all the people we had yet seen, not one had the least appearance of clothing, the old woman herself being destitute even of a fig-leaf.
After dinner the boats were manned, and we set out from the ship, having Tupia of our party. We intended to land where we saw the people, and began to hope that as they had so little regarded the ship's coming into the bay, they would as little regard our coming on shore: In this, however, we were disappointed; for as soon as we approached the rocks, two of the men came down upon them to dispute our landing, and the rest ran away. Each of the two champions was armed with a lance about ten feet long, and a short stick, which he seemed to handle as if it was a machine to assist him in managing or throwing the lance: They called to us in a very loud tone, and in a harsh dissonant language, of which neither we nor Tupia understood a single word: They brandished their weapons, and seemed resolved to defend their coast to the uttermost, though they were but two, and we were forty. I could not but admire their courage, and being very unwilling that hostilities should commence with such inequality of force between us, I ordered the boat to lie upon her oars: We then parlied by signs for about a quarter of an hour, and to bespeak their good-will, I threw them nails, beads, and other trifles, which they took up and seemed to be well pleased with. I then made signs that I wanted water, and, by all the means that I could devise, endeavoured to convince them that we would do them no harm: They now waved to us, and I was willing to interpret it as an invitation; but upon our putting the boat in, they came again to oppose us. One appeared to be a youth about nineteen or twenty, and the other a man of middle age: As I had now no other resource, I fired a musquet between them. Upon the report, the youngest dropped a bundle of lances upon the rock, but recollecting himself in an instant he snatched them up again with great haste: A stone was then thrown at us, upon which I ordered a musquet to be fired with small shot, which struck the eldest upon the legs, and he immediately ran to one of the houses, which was distant about an hundred yards: I now hoped that our contest was over, and we immediately landed; but we had scarcely left the boat when he returned, and we then perceived that he had left the rock only to fetch a shield or target for his defence. As soon as he came up, he threw a lance at us, and his comrade another; they fell where we stood thickest, but happily hurt nobody. A third musquet with small shot was then fired at them, upon which one of them threw another lance, and both immediately ran away: If we had pursued, we might probably have taken one of them; but Mr Banks suggesting that the lances might be poisoned, I thought it not prudent to venture into the woods. We repaired immediately to the huts, in one of which we found the children, who had hidden themselves behind a shield and some bark; we peeped at them, but left them in their retreat, without their knowing that they had been discovered, and we threw into the house when we went away some beads, ribbons, pieces of cloth, and other presents, which we hoped would procure us the good-will of the inhabitants when they should return; but the lances which we found lying about, we took away with us, to the number of about fifty:[70] They were from six to fifteen feet long, and all of them had four prongs in the manner of a fish-gig, each of which was pointed with fish-bone, and very sharp: We observed that they were smeared with a viscous substance of a green colour, which favoured the opinion of their being poisoned, though we afterwards discovered that it was a mistake: They appeared, by the sea-weed that we found sticking to them, to have been used in striking fish. Upon examining the canoes that lay upon the beach, we found them to be the worst we had ever seen: They were between twelve and fourteen feet long, and made of the bark of a tree in one piece, which was drawn together and tied up at each end, the middle being kept open by sticks which were placed across them from gunwale to gunwale as thwarts. We then searched for fresh water, but found none, except in a small hole which had been dug in the sand.
[Footnote 70: This action is not altogether to be commended--perhaps indeed, it is scarcely justifiable, but on the same principle that would warrant these or other savages making off with the muskets or any thing else belonging to the ship's company. These lances were most valuable property to their original possessors; and it is doubtful if the plea which might be set up for the abstraction of them, viz. that they would be used against our people, can be sustained, seeing the savages had fled; and more especially as, supposing, them to have so purposed, they could with readiness be checked by a display of superior means of annoyance. Is it conceivable, that the unworthy desire to possess these lances as curiosities, could actuate the persons concerned to such a piece of pilfering? We have repeatedly seen that our people had not been scrupulous in allegiance to the commandment--thou shalt not covet, &c.--E.]
Having re-embarked in our boat, we deposited our lances on board the ship, and then went over to the north point of the bay, where we had seen several of the inhabitants when we were entering it, but which we now found totally deserted. Here however we found fresh water, which trickled down from the top of the rocks, and stood in pools among the hollows at the bottom; but it was situated so as not to be procured for our use without difficulty.
In the morning, therefore, I sent a party of men to that part of the shore where we first landed, with orders to dig holes in the sand where the water might gather; but going ashore myself with the gentlemen soon afterwards, we found, upon a more diligent search, a small stream, more than sufficient for our purpose.
Upon visiting the hut where we had seen the children, we were greatly mortified to find that the beads and ribbons which we had left there the night before, had not been moved from their places, and that not an Indian was to be seen.[71]
[Footnote 71: Beads and ribbons, and all other niceties in ornament, could be of little or no value in the estimation of those, who with difficulty could procure the necessaries of life. The love of such trifles does not seem to be excited, till the physical wants are so far supplied, as to leave the mind free to the discursive recreations of fancy. Their excellence or superiority in attire becomes distinctive of affluence and ease, and of course procures respect, which, by a principle inherent in human nature, all persons seek to obtain.--E.]
Having sent some empty water-casks on shore, and left a party of men to cut wood, I went myself in the pinnace to sound, and examine the bay; during my excursion I saw several of the natives, but they all fled at my approach. In one of the places where I landed, I found several small fires, and fresh mussels broiling upon them; here also I found some of the largest oyster-shells I had ever seen.
As soon as the wooders and waterers came on board to dinner, ten or twelve of the natives came down to the place, and looked with great attention and curiosity at the casks, but did not touch them: They took away however the canoes which lay near the landing-place, and again disappeared. In the afternoon, when our people were again ashore, sixteen or eighteen Indians, all armed, came boldly within about an hundred yards of them, and then stopped: Two of them advanced somewhat nearer; and Mr Hicks, who commanded the party on shore, with another, advanced to meet them, holding out presents to them as he approached, and expressing kindness and amity by every sign he could think of, but all without effect; for before he could get up with them they retired, and it would have answered no purpose to pursue. In the evening, I went with Mr Banks and Dr Solander to a sandy cove on the north side of the bay, where, in three or four hauls with the seine, we took above three hundred-weight of fish, which was equally divided among the ship's company.
The next morning, before day-break, the Indians came down to the houses that were abreast of the ship, and were heard frequently to shout very loud. As soon as it was light, they were seen walking along the beach; and soon after they retired to the woods, where, at the distance of about a mile from the shore, they kindled several fires.
Our people went ashore as usual, and with them Mr Banks and Dr Solander; who, in search of plants, repaired to the woods. Our men, who were employed in cutting grass, being the farthest removed from the main body of the people, a company of fourteen or fifteen Indians advanced towards them, having sticks in their hands, which, according to the report of the serjeant of the marines, shone like a musquet. The grass-cutters, upon seeing them approach, drew together, and repaired to the main body. The Indians, being encouraged by this appearance of a flight, pursued them; they stopped however when they were within about a furlong of them, and after shouting several times went back into the woods. In the evening they came again in the same manner, stopped at the same distance, shouted and retired. I followed them myself, alone and unarmed, for a considerable way along the shore, but I could not prevail upon them to stop.
This day Mr Green took the sun's meridian altitude a little within the south entrance of the bay, which gave the latitude 34° S., the variation of the needle was 11° 3' E.
Early the next morning, the body of Forby Sutherland, one of our seamen, who died the evening before, was buried near the watering-place; and from this incident I called the south point of this bay Sutherland Point. This day we resolved to make an excursion into the country. Mr Banks, Dr Solander, myself, and seven others, properly accoutred for the expedition, set out, and repaired first to the huts, near the watering-place, whither some of the natives continued every day to resort; and though the little presents which we had left there before had not yet been taken away, we left others of somewhat more value, consisting of cloth, looking-glasses, combs, and beads, and then went up into the country. We found the soil to be either swamp or light sand, and the face of the country finely diversified by wood and lawn. The trees are tall, straight, and without underwood, standing at such a distance from each other, that the whole country, at least where the swamps do not render it incapable of cultivation, might be cultivated without cutting down one of them: Between the trees the ground is covered with grass, of which there is great abundance, growing in tufts about as big as can well be grasped in the hand, which stand very close to each other. We saw many houses of the inhabitants, and places where they had slept upon the grass without any shelter; but we saw only one of the people, who the moment he discovered us ran away. At all these places we left presents, hoping that at length they might produce confidence and good-will. We had a transient and imperfect view of a quadruped about as big as a rabbit: Mr Banks's grey-hound, which was with us, got sight of it, and would probably have caught it, but the moment he set off he lamed himself, against a stump which lay concealed in the long grass. We afterwards saw the dung of an animal which fed upon grass, and which we judged could not be less than a deer; and the footsteps of another, which was clawed like a dog, and seemed to be about as big as a wolf; we also tracked a small animal, whose foot resembled that of a polecat or weasel. The trees over our head abounded with birds of various kinds, among which were many of exquisite beauty, particularly loriquets and cockatoos, which flew in flocks of several scores together. We found some wood which had been felled by the natives with a blunt instrument, and some that had been barked. The trees were not of many species; among others there was a large one which yielded a gum not unlike the Sanguis draconis; and in some of them steps that had been cut at about three feet distance from each other, for the convenience of climbing them.
From this excursion we returned between three and four o'clock, and having dined on board, we went ashore again at the watering-place, where a party of men were filling casks. Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, had been sent out in the morning with a boat to dredge for oysters at the head of the bay; when he had performed this service, he went ashore, and having taken a midshipman with him, and sent the boat away, set out to join the waterers by land. In his way he fell in with a body of two-and-twenty Indians, who followed him, and were often not more than twenty yards distant; when Mr Gore perceived them so near, he stopped, and faced about, upon which they stopped also; and when he went on again, continued their pursuit: They did not however attack him, though they were all armed with lances, and he and the midshipman got in safety to the watering-place. The Indians, who had slackened their pursuit when they came in sight of the main body of our people, halted at about the distance of a quarter of a mile, where they stood still. Mr Monkhouse and two or three of the waterers took it into their head to march up to them; but seeing the Indians keep their ground till they came pretty near them, they were seized with a sudden fear very common to the rash and fool-hardy, and made a hasty retreat: This step, which insured the danger that it was taken to avoid, encouraged the Indians, and four of them running forward discharged their lances at the fugitives, with such force, that flying no less than forty yards, they went beyond them. As the Indians did not pursue, our people, recovering their spirits, stopped to collect the lances when they came up to the place where they lay; upon which the Indians, in their turn, began to retire. Just at this time I came up, with Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia; and being desirous to convince the Indians that we were neither afraid of them, nor intended them any mischief, we advanced towards them, making signs of expostulation and entreaty, but they could not be persuaded to wait till we could come up. Mr Gore told us, that he had seen some of them up the bay, who had invited him by signs to come on shore, which he, certainly with great prudence, declined.
The morning of the next day was so rainy, that we were all glad to stay on board. In the afternoon, however, it cleared up, and we made another excursion along the sea-coast to the southward: We went ashore, and Mr Banks and Dr Solander gathered many plants; but besides these we saw nothing worthy of notice. At our first entering the woods, we met with three of the natives, who instantly ran away: More of them were seen by some of the people, but they all disappeared, with great precipitation, as soon as they found that they were discovered. By the boldness of these people at our first landing, and the terror that seized them at the sight of us afterwards, it appears that they were sufficiently intimidated by our fire-arms: Not that we had any reason to think the people much hurt by the small-shot which we were obliged to fire at them, when they attacked us at our coming out of the boat; but they had probably seen the effects of them, from their lurking-places, upon the birds that we had shot. Tupia, who was now become a good marksman, frequently strayed from us to shoot parrots; and he had told us, that while he was thus employed, he had once met with nine Indians, who, as soon as they perceived he saw them, ran from him, in great confusion and terror.
The next day, twelve canoes, in each of which was a single Indian, came towards the watering-place, and were within half a mile of it a considerable time: They were employed in striking fish, upon which, like others that we had seen before, they were so intent, that they seemed to regard nothing else. It happened, however, that a party of our people were out a-shooting near the place, and one of the men, whose curiosity might at length perhaps be roused by the report of the fowling-pieces, was observed by Mr Banks to haul up his canoe upon the beach, and go towards the shooting party: In something more than a quarter of an hour he returned, launched his canoe, and went off in her to his companions. This incident makes it probable that the natives acquired a knowledge of the destructive power of our fire-arms, when we knew nothing of the matter; for this man was not seen by any of the party whose operations he had reconnoitred.
While Mr Banks was gathering plants near the watering-place, I went with Dr Solander and Mr Monkhouse to the head of the bay, that I might examine that part of the country, and make farther attempts to form some connection with the natives. In our way we met with eleven or twelve small canoes, with each a man in it, probably the same that were afterwards abreast of the shore, who all made into shoal water upon our approach. We met other Indians on shore the first time we landed, who instantly took to their canoes, and paddled away. We went up the country to some distance, and found the face of it nearly the same with that which has been described already, but the soil was much richer; for instead of sand, I found a deep black mould, which I thought very fit for the production of grain of any kind. In the woods we found a tree which bore fruit that in colour and shape resembled a cherry; the juice had an agreeable tartness, though but little flavour. We found also interspersed some of the finest meadows in the world: Some places, however, were rocky, but these were comparatively few: The stone is sandy, and might be used with advantage for building. When we returned to the boat, we saw some smoke upon another part of the coast, and went thither in hopes of meeting with the people, but at our approach, these also ran away. We found six small canoes, and six fires very near the beach, with some mussels roasting upon them, and a few oysters lying near: By this we judged that there had been one man in each canoe, who, having picked up some shell-fish, had come ashore to eat it, and made his separate fire for that purpose: We tasted of their cheer, and left them in return some strings of beads, and other things which we thought would please them. At the foot of a tree in this place we found a small well of fresh water, supplied by a spring; and the day being now far spent, we returned to the ship. In the evening, Mr Banks made a little excursion with his gun, and found such a number of quails, resembling those in England, that he might have shot as many as he pleased; but his object was variety and not number.
The next morning, as the wind would not permit me to sail, I sent out several parties into the country to try again whether some intercourse could not be established with the natives. A midshipman who belonged to one of these parties having straggled a long way from his companions, met with a very old man and woman, and some little children; they were sitting under a tree by the water-side, and neither party saw the other till they were close together: The Indians showed signs of fear, but did not attempt to run away. The man happened to have nothing to give them but a parrot that he had shot; this he offered, but they refused to accept it, withdrawing themselves from his hand, either through fear or aversion. His stay with them was but short, for he saw several canoes near the beach fishing, and being alone, he feared they might come ashore and attack him: He said, that these people were very dark-coloured, but not black; that the man and woman appeared to be very old, being both grey-headed; that the hair of the man's head was bushy, and his beard long and rough; that the woman's hair was cropped short, and both of them were stark naked. Mr Monkhouse the surgeon, and one of the men, who were with another party near the watering-place, also strayed from their companions, and as they were coming out of a thicket, observed six Indians standing together, at the distance of about fifty yards. One of them pronounced a word very loud, which was supposed to be a signal, for a lance was immediately thrown at him out of the wood, which very narrowly missed him. When the Indians saw that the weapon had not taken effect, they ran away with the greatest precipitation; but on turning about towards the place whence the lance had been thrown, he saw a young Indian, whom he judged to be about nineteen or twenty years old, come down from a tree, and he also ran away with such speed as made it hopeless to follow him. Mr Monkhouse was of opinion that he had been watched by these Indians in his passage through the thicket, and that the youth had been stationed in the tree, to discharge the lance at him, upon a signal as he should come by; but however this be, there could be no doubt that he was the person who threw the lance.
In the afternoon I went myself with a party over to the north shore, and while some of our people were hauling the seine, we made an excursion a few miles into the country, proceeding afterwards in the direction of the coast. We found this place without wood, and somewhat resembling our moors in England; the surface of the ground, however, was covered with a thin brush of plants, about as high as the knees: The hills near the coast are low, but others rise behind them, increasing by a gradual ascent to a considerable distance, with marshes and morasses between. When we returned to the boat, we found that our people had caught with the seine a great number of small fish, which are well known in the West-Indies, and which our sailors call leather-jackets, because their skin is remarkably thick. I had sent the second lieutenant out in the yawl a-striking, and when we got back to the ship, we found that he also had been very successful. He had observed that the large sting-rays, of which there is great plenty in the bay, followed the flowing tide into very shallow water; he therefore took the opportunity of flood, and struck several in not more than two or three feet water: One of them weighed no less than two hundred and forty pounds after his entrails were taken out.
The next morning, as the wind still continued northerly, I sent out the yawl again, and the people struck one still larger, for when his entrails were taken out he weighed three hundred and thirty-six pounds.
The great quantity of plants which Mr Banks and Dr Solander collected in this place induced me to give it the name of Botany Bay.[72] It is situated in the latitude of 34° S., longitude 208° 37' W. It is capacious, safe, and convenient, and maybe known by the land on the sea-coast, which is nearly level, and of a moderate height; in general higher than it is farther inland, with steep rocky cliffs next the sea, which have the appearance of a long island lying close under the shore. The harbour lies about the middle of this land, and in approaching it from the southward, is discovered before the ship comes abreast of it; but from, the northward it is not discovered so soon: The entrance is a little more than a quarter of a mile broad, and lies in W.N.W. To sail into it the southern shore should be kept on board, till the ship is within a small bare island, which lies close under the north shore; within this island the deepest water on that side is seven fathom, shallowing to five a good way up. At a considerable distance from the south shore there is a shoal, reaching from the innersouth point quite to the head of the harbour; But over towards the north and north-west shore there is a channel of twelve or fourteen feet at low water, for three or four leagues, up to a place where there is three or four fathom, but here I found very little fresh water. We anchored near the south shore, about a mile within the entrance, for the convenience of sailing with a southerly wind, and because I thought it the best situation for watering; but I afterwards found a very fine stream on the north shore, in the first sandy cove within the island, before which a ship might lie almost land-locked, and procure wood as well as water in great abundance. Wood indeed is every where plenty, but I saw only two kinds which may be considered as timber. These trees are as large, or larger than the English oak, and one of them has not a very different appearance: This is the same that yields the reddish gum like sanguis draconis, and the wood is heavy, hard, and dark-coloured, like lignum vitae; the other grows tall and straight, something like the pine; and the wood of this, which has some resemblance to the live oak of America, is also hard and heavy. There are a few shrubs, and several kinds of the palm; mangroves also grow in great plenty near the head of the bay. The country in general is level, low, and woody, as far as we could see. The woods, as I have before observed, abound with birds of exquisite beauty, particularly of the parrot kind; we found also crows here, exactly the same with those in England. About the head of the harbour, where there are large flats of sand and mud, there is great plenty of water-fowl, most of which were altogether unknown to us: One of the most remarkable was black and white, much larger than a swan, and in shape somewhat resembling a pelican. On these banks of sand and mud there are great quantities of oysters, mussels, cockles, and other shell-fish, which seem to be the principal subsistence of the inhabitants, who go into shoal water with their little canoes, and pick them out with their hands. We did not observe that they eat any of them raw, nor do they always go on shore to dress them, for they have frequently fires in their canoes for that purpose. They do not however subsist wholly upon this food, for they catch a variety of other fish, some of which they strike with gigs, and some they take with hook and line. All the inhabitants that we saw were stark naked: They did not appear to be numerous, nor to live in societies, but like other animals were scattered about along the coast, and in the woods. Of their manner of life, however, we could know but little, as we were never able to form the least connection with them: After the first contest at our landing, they would never come near enough to parley; nor did they touch a single article of all that we had left at their huts, and the places they frequented, on purpose for them to take away.
[Footnote 72: The reader will be plentifully supplied with information respecting this noted place, and the settlement of British convicts made at Port Jackson, in another part of this work. It would be very injudicious to break down the matter intended to be given there, for the purpose of ekeing out the limited remarks here made. This intimation may be equally applied to the whole subject of New Holland: about which the reader may promise himself very ample satisfaction in the course of this collection. Let this then be accepted as a pledge in apology for the paucity of observations on the text.--E.]
During my stay in this harbour, I caused the English colours to be displayed on shore every day, and the ship's name, and the date of the year, to be inscribed upon one of the trees near the watering-place.
It is high water here at the full and change of the moon about eight o'clock, and the tide rises and falls perpendicularly between four and five feet.
SECTION XXIX.
The Range from Botany Bay to Trinity Bay; with a farther Account of the Country, its Inhabitants; and Productions.
At day-break, on Sunday the 6th of May 1770, we set sail from Botany Bay, with a light breeze at N.W. which soon after coming to the southward, we steered along the shore N.N.E.; and at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 33° 50' S. At this time we were between two and three miles distant from the land, and a-breast of a bay, or harbour, in which there appeared to be good anchorage, and which I called Port Jackson. This harbour lies three leagues to the northward of Botany Bay: The variation, by several azimuths, appeared to be 8° E. At sun-set, the northermost land in sight bore N. 26 E. and some broken land, that seemed to form a bay, bore N. 40 W. distant four leagues. This bay, which lies in latitude 33° 42' I called Broken Bay. We steered along the shore N.N.E. all night, at the distance of about three leagues from the land, having from thirty-two to thirty-six fathom water, with a hard sandy bottom.
Soon after sun-rise on the 7th, I took several azimuths, with four needles belonging to the azimuth compass, the mean result of which gave the variation 7° 56' E. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 33° 22' S.: We were about three leagues from the shore; the northermost land in sight bore N. 19 E. and some lands which projected in three bluff points, and which, for that reason; I called Cape Three Points, bore S.W. distant five leagues. Our longitude from Botany Bay was 19' E. In the afternoon, we saw smoke in several places upon the shore, and in the evening, found the variation to be 8° 25' E. At this time we were between two and three miles from the shore, in twenty-eight fathom; and at noon the next day, we had not advanced one step to the northward. We stood off shore, with the winds northerly, till twelve at night, and at the distance of about five leagues, had seventy fathom; at the distance of six leagues we had eighty fathom, which is the extent of the soundings; for at the distance of ten leagues, we had no ground with 150 fathom.
The wind continuing northerly, till the morning of the 10th, we continued to stand in and off the shore, with very little change of situation in other respects; but a gale then springing up at S.W. we made the best of our way along the shore to the northward. At sun-rise, our latitude was 33° 2' S. and the variation 8° E. At nine in the forenoon, we passed a remarkable hill, which stood a little way inland, and somewhat resembled the crown of a hat: And at noon, our latitude, by observation, was 32° 53' S., and our longitude 208° W. We were about two leagues distant from the land, which extended from N. 41 E. to S. 41 W., and a small round rock, or island, which lay close under the land, bore S. 82 W. distant between three and four leagues. At four in the afternoon, we passed, at the distance of about a mile, a low rocky point, which I called Point Stephens, on the north side of which is an inlet, which I called Port Stephens: This inlet appeared to me, from the mast-head, to be sheltered from all winds. It lies in latitude 32° 40', longitude 207° 51', and at the entrance are three small islands, two of which are high; and on the main near the shore are some high round hills, which at a distance appear like islands. In passing this bay, at the distance of two or three miles from the shore, our soundings were from thirty-three to twenty-seven fathom, from which I conjectured that there must be a sufficient depth of water within it. At a little distance within land, we saw smoke in several places; and at half an hour past five, the northermost land in sight bore N. 36 E. and Point Stephens S.W. distant four leagues. Our soundings in the night, were from forty-eight to sixty-two fathom, at the distance of between three and four leagues from the shore, which made in two hillocks. This Point I called Cape Hawke: It lies in the latitude of 32° 14' S., longitude 207° 30' W.; and at four o'clock in the morning bore W. distant about eight miles; at the same time the northermost land in sight bore N. 6 E. and appeared like an island. At noon, this land bore N. 8 E. the northermost land in sight N. 13 E. and Cape Hawke S. 37 W. Our latitude, by observation, was 32° 2' S. which was twelve miles to the southward of that given by the log; so that probably we had a current setting that way: By the morning amplitude and azimuth, the variation was 9° 10' E. During our run along the shore, in the afternoon, we saw smoke in several places, at a little distance from the beach, and one upon the top of a hill, which was the first we had seen upon elevated ground since our arrival upon the coast. At sun-set, we had twenty-three fathom, at the distance of a league and a half from the shore: The northermost land then bore N. 13 E. and three hills, remarkably large and high, lying contiguous to each other, and not far from the beach, N.N.W. As these hills bore some resemblance to each other, we called them The Three Brothers. They lie in latitude 31° 40' and maybe seen fourteen or sixteen leagues. We steered N.E. by N. all night, having from twenty-seven to sixty-seven fathom, at the distance of between two and six leagues from the shore.
At day-break, we steered north, for the northermost land in sight. At noon, we were four leagues from the shore, and by observation, in latitude 31° 18' S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude 206° 58' W. In the afternoon, we stood in for the land, where we saw smoke in several places, till six in the evening, when, being within three or four miles of it, and in twenty-four fathom of water, we stood off with a fresh breeze at N. and N.N.W. till midnight, when we had 118 fathom, at the distance of eight leagues from the land, and then tacked. At three in the morning, the wind veered to the westward, when we tacked and stood to the northward. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 30° 43' S., and our longitude 206° 45' W. At this time we were between three and four leagues from the shore, the northermost part of which bore from us N. 13 W. and a point, or head-land, on which we saw fires that produced a great quantity of smoke, bore W. distant four leagues. To this Point I gave the name of Smokey Cape: It is of a considerable height, and over the pitch of the point is a round hillock; within it are two others, much higher and larger, and within them the land is very low. Our latitude was 30° 31' S., longitude 206° 54' W.: This day the observed latitude was only five miles south of the log. We saw smoke in several parts along the coast, besides that seen upon Smokey Cape.
In the afternoon, the wind being at N.E. we stood off and on, and at three or four miles distance from the shore had thirty fathom water: The wind afterwards coming cross of land, we stood to the northward, having from thirty to twenty-one fathom, at the distance of four or five miles from the shore.
At five in the morning, the wind veered to the north, and blew fresh, attended with squalls: At eight, it began to thunder and rain, and in about an hour it fell calm, which gave us an opportunity to sound, and we had eighty-six fathom at between four and five leagues from the shore: Soon after this we had a gale from the southward, with which we steered N. by W. for the northermost land in sight. At noon, we were about four leagues from the shore, and by observation, in latitude 30° 22', which was nine miles to the southward of our reckoning, longitude 206° 39' W. Some lands near the shore, of a considerable height, bore W.
As we advanced to the northward from Botany Bay, the land gradually increased in height, so that in this latitude it may be called a hilly country. Between this latitude and the Bay, it exhibits a pleasing variety of ridges, hills, vallies, and plains, all clothed with wood, of the same appearance with that which has been particularly described: The land near the shore is in general low and sandy, except the points, which are rocky, and over many of them are high bills, which, at their first rising out of the water, have the appearance of islands.[73] In the afternoon, we had some small rocky islands between us and the land, the southermost of which lies in latitude 30° 10', and the northermost in 29° 58', and somewhat more than two leagues from the land: About two miles without the northermost island we had thirty-three fathom water. Having the advantage of a moon, we steered along the shore all night, in the direction of N. and N. by E. keeping at the distance of about three leagues from the land, and having from twenty to twenty-five fathom water. As soon as it was light, having a fresh gale, we made all the sail we could, and at nine o'clock in the morning, being about a league from the shore, we discovered smoke in many places, and having recourse to our glasses, we saw about twenty of the natives, who had each a large bundle upon his back, which we conjectured to be palm-leaves for covering their houses: We continued to observe them above an hour, during which they walked upon the beach, and up a path that led over a hill of a gentle ascent, behind which we lost sight of them: Not one of them was observed to stop and look towards us, but they trudged along, to all appearance, without the least emotion either of curiosity or surprise, though it is impossible they should not have seen the ship by a casual glance as they walked along the shore; and though she must, with respect to every other object they had yet seen, have been little less stupendous and unaccountable than a floating mountain with all its woods would have been to us. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 28° 39' S., and longitude 206° 27' W. A high point of land, which I named Cape Byron, bore N.W. by W. at the distance of three miles. It lies in latitude 28° 37' 30" S., longitude 206° 30' W., and may be known by a remarkable sharp peaked mountain, which lies inland, and bears from it N.W. by W. From this point, the land trends N. 13 W.: Inland it is high and hilly, but low near the shore; to the southward of the point it is also low and level. We continued to steer along the shore with a fresh gale, till sun-set, when we suddenly discovered breakers a-head, directly in the ship's course and also on our larboard bow. At this time we were about five miles from the land, and had twenty fathom water: We hauled up east till eight, when we had run eight miles, and increased our depth of water to forty-four fathom: We then brought-to, with the ship's head to the eastward, and lay upon this tack till ten, when, having increased our sounding to seventy-eight fathom, we wore, and lay with the ship's head to the land till five in the morning, when we made sail, and at day-light, were greatly surprised to find ourselves farther to the southward, than we had been the evening before, though the wind had been southerly, and blown fresh all night: We now saw the breakers again within us, and passed them at the distance of one league. They lie in latitude 28° 8' S. stretching off east two leagues from a point of land, under which is a small island. Their situation may always be known by the peaked mountain which has been just mentioned, and which bears from them S.W. by W. for this reason I have named it Mount Warning. It lies seven or eight leagues inland, in latitude 28° 22' S. The land about it is high and hilly, but it is of itself sufficiently conspicuous to be at once distinguished from every other object. The Point off which these shoals lie, I have named Point Danger. To the northward of this Point the land is low, and trends N.W. by N.; but it soon turns again more to the northward.
[Footnote 73: The appearance and adjustment of the hills in New Holland have attracted very considerable regard. They are thought to bear a strong resemblance in disposition to the Andes in South America. Some interesting information on this topic will be given when we treat of another voyage. This hint may suffice for the present.--E.]
At noon, we were about two leagues from the land, and by observation, in latitude 27° 46' S., which was seventeen miles to the southward of the log; our longitude was 206° 26' W. Mount Warning bore S. 26 W. distant fourteen leagues, and the northermost land in sight bore N. We pursued our course along the shore, at the distance of about two leagues, in the direction of N. 1/4 E. till between four and five in the afternoon, when we discovered breakers in our larboard bow. Our depth of water was thirty-seven fathom, and at sun-set, the northermost land bore N. by W. the breakers N.W. by W. distant four miles, and the northermost land set at noon, which formed a point, and to which I gave the name of Point Look-out, W. distant five or six miles, in the latitude of 27° 6'. On the north side of this Point, the shore forms a wide open bay, which I called Moreton's Bay, in the bottom of which the land is so low that I could but just see it from the top-mast head. The breakers lie between three or four miles from Point Look-out; and at this time we had a great sea from the southward, which broke upon them very high. We stood on N.N.E. till eight o'clock, when having passed the breakers, and deepened our water to fifty-two fathom, we brought-to till midnight, when we made sail again to the N.N.E. At four in the morning, we had 135 fathom, and when the day broke, I perceived that during the night I had got much farther northward, and from the shore, than I expected from the course we steered, for we were distant at least seven leagues; I therefore hauled in N.W. by W. with a fresh gale at S.S.W. The land that was farthest to the north the night before, now bore S.S.W. distant six leagues, and I gave it the name of Cape Moreton, it being the north point of Moreton's Bay: Its latitude is 26° 56', and its longitude is 206° 28'. From Cape Moreton the land trends away west, farther than can be seen, for there is a small space, where at this time no land is visible, and some on board having also observed that the sea looked paler than usual, were of opinion that the bottom of Moreton's Bay opened into a river. We had here thirty-four fathom water, and a fine sandy bottom: This alone would have produced the change that had been observed in the colour of the water; and it was by no means necessary to suppose a river to account for the land at the bottom of the Bay not being visible, for supposing the land there to be as low as we knew it to be in a hundred other parts of the coast, it would have been impossible to see it from the station of the ship; however, if any future navigator should be disposed to determine the question, whether there is or is not a river in this place, which the wind would not permit us to do, the situation may always be found by three hills which lie to the northward of it, in the latitude of 26° 53'. These hills lie but a very little way inland, and not far from each other: They are remarkable for the singular form of their elevation, which very much resembles a glasshouse, and for which reason I called them the Glass Houses: The northermost of the three is the highest and largest: There are also several other peaked hills inland to the northward of these, but they are not nearly so remarkable.[74] At noon, our latitude was, by observation, 26° 28' S. which was ten miles to the northward of the log, a circumstance which had never before happened upon this coast; our longitude was 206° 46'. At this time we were between two and three leagues from the land, and had twenty-four fathom water. A low bluff point, which was the south head of a sandy bay, bore N. 62 W., distant three leagues, and the northermost point of land in sight bore N. 1/4 E. This day we saw smoke in several places, and some at a considerable distance inland.
[Footnote 74: The depth of the Bay from Cape Moreton is said to be 34 miles--it then contracts into a small stream; and there is a considerable river near Glass-House Peaks, as they have been called.--E.]
In steering along the shore at the distance of two leagues, our soundings were from twenty-four to thirty-two fathom, with a sandy bottom. At six in the evening, the northermost point of land bore N. 1/4 W., distant four leagues; at ten it bore N.W. by W. 1/2 W. and as we had seen no land to the northward of it, we brought-to, not well knowing which way to steer.
At two in the morning, however, we made sail with the wind at S.W., and at day-light, we saw the land extending as far as N. 1/4 E. the point we had set the night before bore S.W. by W., distant between three and four leagues. It lies in latitude 25° 58', longitude 206° 48' W.: The land within it is of a moderate and equal height, but the point itself is so unequal, that it looks like two small islands lying under the land, for which reason I gave it the name of Double Island Point; it may also be known by the white cliffs on the north side of it. Here the land trends to the N.W. and forms a large open bay, the bottom of which is so low a flat that from the deck it could scarcely be seen. In crossing this bay, our depth of water was from thirty to twenty-two fathom, with a white sandy bottom. At noon, we were about three leagues from the shore, in latitude 25° 84' S., longitude 206° 45' W.: Double Island Point bore S. 1/4 W. and the northermost land in sight N. 1/4 E. This part of the coast, which is of a moderate height, is more barren than any we had seen, and the soil more sandy. With our glasses we could discover that the sands, which lay in great patches of many acres, were moveable, and that some of them had not been long in the place they possessed; for we saw in several parts, trees half buried, the tops of which were still green; and in others, the naked trunks of such as the sand had surrounded long enough to destroy. In other places the woods appeared to be low and shrubby, and we saw no signs of inhabitants. Two water-snakes swam by the ship: They were beautifully spotted, and in every respect like land-snakes, except that their tails were broad and flat, probably to serve them instead of fins in swimming. In the morning of this day, the variation was 8° 20' E., and in the evening, 8° 36. During the night, we continued our course to the northward, with a light breeze from the land, being distant from it between two and three leagues, and having from twenty-three to twenty-seven fathom, with a fine sandy bottom.
At noon on the 19th, we were about four miles from the land, with only thirteen fathom. Our latitude was 26° 4', and the northermost land in sight bore N. 21 W., distant eight miles. At one o'clock, being still four miles distant from the shore, but having seventeen fathom water, we passed a black bluff head, or point of land, upon which a great number of the natives were assembled, and which therefore I called Indian Head: it lies in latitude 25° 3'. About four miles N. by W. of this head, is another very like it, from whence the land trends away somewhat more to the westward: Next to the sea it is low and sandy, and behind it nothing was to be seen, even from the mast-head. Near Indian Head we saw more of the natives, and upon the neighbouring shore fires by night, and smoke by day. We kept to the northward all night, at the distance of from four miles to four leagues from the shore, and with a depth of water from seventeen to thirty-four fathom. At daybreak, the northermost land bore from us W.S.W. and seemed to end in a point, from which we discovered a reef running out to the northward as far as we could see. We had hauled our wind to the westward before it was light, and continued the course till we saw the breakers upon our lee-bow. We now edged away N.W. and N.N.W. along the east side of the shoal, from two to one mile distant, having regular soundings from thirteen to seven fathom, with a fine sandy bottom. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 20°26', which was thirteen miles to the northward of the log: We judged the extreme point of the shoal to bear from us about N.W. and the point from which it seemed to run out bore S. 3/4 W., distant twenty miles. This point I named Sandy Cape, from two very large patches of white sand which lay upon it. It is sufficiently high to be seen at the distance of twelve leagues, in clear weather, and lies in latitude 24°45', longitude 206° 51': The land trends from it S.W. as far as can be seen. We kept along the east side of the shoal till two in the afternoon, when, judging that there was a sufficient depth of water upon it to allow passage for the ship, I sent the boat a-head to sound, and upon her making the signal for more than five fathom, we hauled our wind, and stood over the tail of it in six fathom. At this time we were in latitude 24°22', and Sandy Cape bore S. 1/2 E., distant eight leagues; but the direction of the shoal is nearest N.N.W. and S.S.E. It is remarkable that when on board the ship we had six fathom, the boat, which was scarcely a quarter of a mile to the southward, had little more than five, and that immediately after six fathom we had thirteen, and then twenty, as fast as the man could cast the lead: From these circumstances, I conjectured that the west side of the shoal was steep. This shoal I called the Break Sea Spit, because we had now smooth water, and to the southward of it we had always a high sea from the S.E. At six in the evening, the land of Sandy Cape extended from S. 17 E. to S. 27 E., at the distance of eight leagues; our depth of water was twenty-three fathom: With the same soundings we stood to the westward all night. At seven in the morning, we saw, from the mast-head, the land of Sandy Cape bearing S.E. 1/2 E., distant about thirteen leagues: At nine, we discovered land to the westward, and soon after saw smoke in several places. Our depth of water was now decreased to seventeen fathom, and by noon we had no more than thirteen, though we were seven leagues from the land, which extended from S. by W. to W.N.W. Our latitude at this time was 24° 28' S. For a few days past we had seen several of the sea-birds called boobies, not having met with any of them before; last night a small flock of them passed the ship, and went away to the N.W.; and in the morning, from about half an hour before sun-rise, to half an hour after, flights of them were continually coming from the N.N.W. and flying to the S.S.E. nor was one of them seen to fly in any other direction; we therefore conjectured that there was a lagoon, river, or inlet of shallow water, in the bottom of the deep bay, to the southward of us, whither these birds resorted to feed in the day, and that not far to the northward there were some islands to which they repaired in the night. To this bay I gave the name of Hervey's Bay, in honour of Captain Hervey. In the afternoon we stood in for the land, steering S.W. with a gentle breeze at S.E. till four o'clock, when, being in latitude 24° 36', about two leagues from the shore, and having nine fathom water, we bore away along the coast N.W. by W. and at the same time could see land extending to the S.S.E. about eight leagues. Near the sea the land is very low, but within there are some lofty hills, all thickly clothed with, wood. While we were running along the shore, we shallowed our water from nine to seven fathom, and at one time we had but six, which determined us to anchor for the night.
At six in the morning we weighed, with a gentle breeze from the southward, and steered N.W. 1/4 W. edging in for the land till we got within two miles of it, with water from seven to eleven fathom; we then steered N.N.W. as the land lay, and at noon, our latitude was 24° 19'. We continued in the same course, at the same distance, with from twelve fathom to seven, till five in the evening, when we were abreast of the south point of a large open bay, in which I intended to anchor. During this course, we discovered with our glasses that the land was covered with palm-nut trees, which we had not seen from the time of our leaving the islands within the tropic; we also saw two men walking along the shore, who did not condescend to take the least notice of us. In the evening, having hauled close upon a wind, and made two or three trips, we anchored about eight o'clock in five fathom, with a fine sandy bottom. The south point of the bay bore E. 3/4 S. distant two miles, the north point N.W. 1/4 N. and about the same distance from the shore.
Early the next morning I went ashore, with a party of men, in order to examine the country, accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, the other gentlemen, and Tupia: The wind blew fresh, and we found it so cold, that being at some distance from the shore, we took our cloaks as a necessary equipment for the voyage. We landed a little within the south point of the bay, where we found a channel leading into a large lagoon: This channel I proceeded to examine, and found three fathom water till I got about a mile up it, where I met with a shoal, upon which there was little more than one fathom; but having passed over it, I had three fathom again. The entrance of this channel lies close to the south point of the bay, being formed by the shore on the east, and on the west by a large spit of sand: It is about a quarter of a mile broad, and lies in S. by W. In this place there is room for a few ships to lie in great security, and a small stream of fresh water; I would have rowed into the lagoon, but was prevented by shallows. We found several bogs, and swamps of salt water, upon which, and by the sides of the lagoon, grows the true mangrove, such as is found in the West Indies, and the first of the kind that we had met with. In the branches of these mangroves there were many nests of a remarkable kind of ant, that was as green as grass: When the branches were disturbed they came out in great numbers, and punished the offender by a much sharper bite than ever we had felt from the same kind of animal before.[75] Upon these mangroves also we saw small green caterpillars in great numbers: Their bodies were thick set with hairs, and they were ranged upon the leaves side by side like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty together: When we touched them, we found that the hair of their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us a much more acute, though less durable pain. The country here is manifestly worse than about Botany Bay: The soil is dry and sandy, but the sides of the hills are covered with trees, which grow separately, without underwood. We found here the tree that yields a gum like the sanguis draconis; but it is somewhat different from the trees of the same kind which we had seen before, for the leaves are longer, and hang down like those of the weeping willow.[76] We found also much less gum upon them, which is contrary to the established opinion, that the hotter the climate, the more gums exude. Upon a plant also which yielded a yellow gum, there was less than upon the same kind of plant in Botany Bay. Among the shoals and sandbanks we saw many large birds, some in particular of the same kind that we had seen in Botany Bay, much bigger than swans, which we judged to be pelicans; but they were so shy that we could not get within gun-shot of them. Upon the shore we saw a species of the bustard, one of which we shot; it was as large as a turkey, and weighed seventeen pounds and a half. We all agreed that this was the best bird we had eaten since we left England; and in honour of it we called this inlet Bustard Bay. It lies in latitude 24° 4', longitude 208° 18'. The sea seemed to abound with fish; but unhappily, we tore our seine all to pieces at the first haul: Upon the mud banks, under the mangroves, we found innumerable oysters of various kinds; among others the hammer-oyster, and a large proportion of small pearl-oysters: If in deeper water there is equal plenty of such oysters at their full growth, a pearl fishery might certainly be established here to very great advantage.
[Footnote 75: For some remarks on these creatures, see the Section which treats of this country in general.--E.]
[Footnote 76: There are several trees which yield a resinous substance, resembling what is called dragon's blood, as the Pterocarpus draco, the Dracaena draco, the Calamus draco, the Dalbergia monetaria, &c. Some observations on the botany of New Holland are reserved for a future page.--E.]
The people who were left on board the ship said, that while we were in the woods about twenty of the natives came down to the beach, abreast of her, and having looked at her some time, went away; but we that were ashore, though we saw smoke in many places, saw no people: The smoke was at places too distant for us to get to them by land, except one, to which we repaired. We found ten small fires still burning within a few paces of each other; but the people were gone: We saw near them several vessels of bark, which we supposed to have contained water, and some shells and fish-bones, the remains of a recent meal. We saw also, lying upon the ground, several pieces of soft bark, about the length and breadth of a man, which we imagined might be their beds; and, on the windward side of the fires, a small shade, about a foot and a half high, of the same substance. The whole was in a thicket of close trees, which afforded good shelter from the wind. The place seemed to be much trodden, and as we saw no house, nor any remains of a house, we were inclined to believe that, as these people had no clothes, they had no dwelling; but spent their nights, among the other commoners of Nature, in the open air; and Tupia himself, with an air of superiority and compassion, shook his head, and said, that they were Taata Enos, "poor wretches,".[77] I measured the perpendicular height of the last tide, and found it to be eight feet above low-water mark, and from the time of low-water this day, I found that it must be high-water at the full and change of the moon at eight o'clock.
[Footnote 77: The natives of New Holland are indeed "poor wretches;" but let it be remembered that the term poor is relative. The reader must make allowance for prejudice, in judging of their state from the testimony of one who had lived in Otaheitan luxury. A Sicilian, it is probable, would give a very sorry account of the Highlands and Highlanders of Scotland--Yet still e'en here Content can spread a charm, Redress the clime, and all its rage disarm.
We never more erroneously estimate the happiness of a people, than when we set up our own habits as the criterion of perfection. The error of Tupia is the error of thousands.--E.]
At four o'clock in the morning we weighed, and with a gentle breeze at south made sail out of the bay. In standing out, our soundings were from five to fifteen fathom; and at day-light, when we were in the greatest depth, and abreast of the north head of the bay, we discovered breakers stretching out from it N.N.E. between two and three miles, with a rock at the outermost point of them just above water. While we were passing these rocks, at the distance of about half a mile, we had from fifteen to twenty fathom; and as soon as we had passed them, we hauled along shore W.N.W. for the farthest land we had in sight. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 23° 52' S.; the north part of Bustard Bay bore S. 62 E. distant ten miles; and the northermost land in sight N. 60 W.; the longitude was 208° 37', and our distance from the nearest shore six miles, with fourteen fathom water.
Till five in the afternoon it was calm, but afterwards we steered before the wind N.W. as the land lay till ten at night, and then brought-to, having had all along fourteen and fifteen fathom. At five in the morning we made sail; and at day-light the northermost point of the main bore N. 70 W. Soon after we saw more land, making like islands, and bearing N.W. by N. At nine, we were abreast of the point, at the distance of one mile, with fourteen fathom water. This point I found to lie directly under the tropic of Capricorn; and for that reason I called it Cape Capricorn: Its longitude is 208° 58' W. It is of a considerable height, looks white and barren, and may be known by some islands which lie to the N.W. of it, and some small rocks at the distance of about a league S.E. On the west side of the cape there appeared to be a lagoon, and on the two spits which formed the entrance we saw an incredible number of the large birds that resemble a pelican. The northermost land now in sight bore from Cape Capricorn N. 24 W. and appeared to be an island; but the main land trended W. by N. 1/2 N. which course we steered, having from fifteen to six fathom, and from six to nine, with a hard sandy bottom. At noon, on latitude, by observation, was 23° 24' S.; Cape Capricorn bore S. 60 E. distant two leagues; and a small island N. by E. two miles: In this situation we had nine fathom, being about four miles from the main, which, next the sea, is low and sandy, except the points which are high and rocky. The country inland is hilly, but by no means of a pleasing aspect. We continued to stand to the N.W., till four o'clock in the afternoon, when it fell calm; and we soon after anchored in twelve fathom, having the main land and islands in a manner all round us, and Cape Capricorn bearing S. 54 E. distant four leagues. In the night, we found the tide rise and fall near seven feet; and the flood to set to the westward, and the ebb to the eastward, which is just contrary to what we found when we were at anchor to the eastward of Bustard Bay.
At six in the morning we weighed, with a gentle breeze at south, and stood away to the N.W. between the outermost range of islands and the main, leaving several small islands between the main and the ship, which we passed at a very little distance; our soundings being irregular, from twelve to four fathom, I sent a boat a-head to sound. At noon, we were about three miles from the main, and about the same distance from the islands without us: Our latitude, by observation, was 23° 7' S. The main land here is high and mountainous; the islands which lie off it are also most of them high, and of a small circuit, having an appearance rather of barrenness than fertility. At this time we saw smoke in many places at a considerable distance inland, and therefore conjectured that there might be a lagoon, river, or inlet, running up the country, the rather as we had passed two places which had the appearance of being such; but our depth of water was too little to encourage me to venture where I should probably have less. We had not stood to the northward above an hour, before we suddenly fell into three fathom; upon which I anchored, and sent away the master to sound the channel which lay to the leeward of us, between the northermost island and the main: It appeared to be pretty broad, but I suspected that it was shallow, and so indeed it was found; for the master reported at his return that in many places he had only two fathom and a half, and where we lay at anchor we had only sixteen feet, which was not two feet more than the ship drew. While the master was sounding the channel, Mr Banks tried to fish from the cabin windows with hook and line: The water was too shallow for fish; but the ground was almost covered with crabs, which readily took the bait, and sometimes held it so fast in their claws, that they did not quit their hold till they were considerably above water. These crabs were of two sorts, and both of them such as we had not seen before: One of them was adorned with the finest blue that can be imagined, in every respect equal to the ultra-marine, with which all his claws and every joint was deeply tinged; the under part of him was white, and so exquisitely polished, that in colour and brightness it exactly resembled the white of old china: The other was also marked with the ultra-marine upon his joints and his toes, but somewhat more sparingly; and his back was marked with three brown spots, which had a singular appearance. The people who had been out with the boat to sound reported, that upon an island where we had observed two fires, they had seen several of the inhabitants, who called to them, and seemed very desirous that they should land. In the evening, the wind veered to E.N.E. which gave us an opportunity to stretch three or four miles back by the way we came; after which the wind shifted to the south, and obliged us again to anchor in six fathom.
At five in the morning, I sent away the master to search for a passage between the islands, while we got the ship under sail; and as soon as it was light, we followed the boat, which made a signal that a passage had been found. As soon as we had got again into deep water, we made sail to the northward, as the land lay, with soundings from nine fathom to fifteen, and some small islands still without us. At noon we were about two leagues distant from the main, and by observation, in latitude 22° 53' S. The northermost point of land in sight now bore N.N.W. distant ten miles. To this point I gave the name of Cape Manifold, from the number of high hills which appeared over it. It lies in latitude 22° 43' S. and distant about seventeen leagues from Cape Capricorn, in the direction of N. 26 W. Between these capes the shore forms a large bay, which I called Keppel Bay; and I also distinguished the islands by the name of Keppel's Islands. In this bay there is good anchorage; but what refreshments it may afford I know not; we caught no fish, though we were at anchor, but probably there is fresh water in several places, as both the islands and the main are inhabited. We saw smoke and fires upon the main, and upon the islands we saw people. At three in the afternoon we passed Cape Manifold, from which the land trends N.N.W. The land of the Cape is high, rising in hills directly from the sea, and may be known by three islands which lie off it, one of them near the shore, and the other two eight miles out at sea. One of these islands is low and flat, and the other high and round. At six o'clock in the evening we brought-to, when the northermost part of the main in sight bore N.W. and some islands which lie off it N. 31 W. Our soundings after twelve o'clock were from twenty to twenty-five fathom, and in the night from thirty to thirty-four.
At day-break we made sail, Cape Manifold bearing S. by E. distant eight leagues, and the islands which I had set the night before were distant four miles in the same direction. The farthest visible point of the main bore N. 67 W. at the distance of twenty-two miles; but we could see several islands to the northward of this direction. At nine o'clock in the forenoon we were abreast of the point which I called Cape Townshend. It lies in latitude 22° 15', longitude 209° 43'. The land is high and level, and rather naked than woody. Several islands lie to the northward of it, at the distance of four or five miles out at sea; three or four leagues to the S.E. the shore forms a bay, in the bottom of which there appeared to be an inlet or harbour. To the westward of the Cape the land trends S.W. 1/2 S. and there forms a very large bay which turns to the eastward, and probably communicates with the inlet, and makes the land of the Cape an island. As soon as we got round this cape, we hauled our wind to the westward, in order to get within the islands, which lie scattered in the bay in great numbers, and extend out to sea as far as the eye could reach, even from the mast-head: These islands vary both in height and circuit from each other, so that although they are very numerous, no two of them are alike. We had not stood long upon a wind before we came into shoal water, and were obliged to tack at once to avoid it. Having sent a boat a-head, I bore away W. by N. many small islands, rocks, and shoals lying between us and the main, and many of a larger extent without us; our soundings till near noon were from fourteen to seventeen fathom, when the boat made the signal for meeting with shoal water; upon this we hauled close upon a wind to the eastward, but suddenly fell into three-fathom and a quarter; we immediately dropped an anchor, which brought the ship up with all her sails standing. When the ship was brought up we had four fathom, with a coarse sandy bottom, and found a strong tide setting to the N.W. by W. 1/2 W. at the rate of near three miles an hour, by which we were so suddenly carried upon the shoal. Our latitude, by observation, was 22° 8' S. Cape Townshend bore E. 16 S. distant thirteen miles; and the westermost part of the main in sight W. 3/4 N. At this time a great number of islands lay all round us.
In the afternoon, having sounded round the ship, and found that there was water sufficient to carry her over the shoal, we weighed, and about three o'clock made sail and stood to the westward, as the land lay, having sent a boat a-head to sound. At six in the evening we anchored in ten fathom, with a sandy bottom, at about two miles distance from the main; the westermost part of which bore W.N.W. and a great number of islands, lying along way without us, were still in sight.
At five o'clock the next morning, I sent away the master with two boats to sound the entrance of an inlet which bore from us west, at about the distance of a league, into which I intended to go with the ship, that I might wait a few days till the moon should increase, and in the mean time examine the country. As soon as the ship could be got under sail, the boats made the signal for anchorage, upon which we stood in, and anchored in five fathoms water, about a league within the entrance of the inlet; which, as I observed a tide to flow and ebb considerably, I judged to be a river that ran up the country to a considerable distance. In this place I had thoughts of laying the ship ashore, and cleaning her bottom; I therefore landed with the master in search of a convenient place for that purpose, and was accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander. We found walking here exceedingly troublesome, for the ground was covered with a kind of grass, the seeds of which were very sharp and bearded backwards, so that whenever they stuck into our clothes, which indeed was at every step, they worked forwards by means of the beard, till they got at the flesh, and at the same time we were surrounded by a cloud of musquitos, which incessantly tormented us with their stings. We soon met with several places where the ship might conveniently be laid ashore, but to our great disappointment we could find no fresh water. We proceeded however up the country, where we found gum trees like those that we had seen before, and observed that here also the gum was in very small quantities. Upon the branches of these trees, and some others, we found ants nests made of clay, as big as a bushel, something like those described in Sir Hans Sloan's Natural History of Jamaica, vol. ii. p. 221, tab. 258, but not so smooth; the ants which inhabited these nests were small and their bodies white. But upon another species of the tree we found a small black ant, which perforated all the twigs, and having worked out the pith, occupied the pipe which had contained it, yet the parts in which these insects had thus formed a lodgment, and in which they swarmed in amazing numbers, bore leaves and flowers, and appeared to be in as flourishing a state as those that were sound. We found also an incredible number of butterflies, so that for the space of three or four acres the air was so crowded with them, that millions were to be seen in every direction, at the same time that every branch and twig was covered with others that were not upon the wing. We found here also a small fish of a singular kind; it was about the size of a minnow, and had two very strong breast fins; we found it in places that were quite dry, where we supposed it might have been left by the tide; but it did not seem to have become languid by the want of water, for upon our approach it leaped away, by the help of the breast fins, as nimbly as a frog; neither indeed did it seem to prefer water to land; for when we found it in the water, it frequently leaped out, and pursued its way upon dry ground; we also observed that when it was in places where small stones were standing above the surface of the water at a little distance from each other, it chose rather to leap from stone to stone, than to pass through the water; and we saw several of them pass entirely over puddles in this manner, till they came to dry ground, and then leap away.[78]
[Footnote 78: As the natural history department of the account of this country will be filled up when we come to another voyage, little or no attention is paid to it at present. Dr Hawkesworth's labours, it may have been already observed by the intelligent reader, are satisfactory to any one more than to a student of that science.--E.]
In the afternoon we renewed our search after fresh water, but without success, and therefore I determined to make my stay here but short; however, having observed from an eminence that the inlet penetrated a considerable way into the country, I determined to trace it in the morning.
At sun-rise I went ashore, and climbing a considerable hill, I took a view of the coast and the islands that lie off it, with their bearings, having an azimuth compass with me for that purpose, but I observed that the needle differed very considerably in its position, even to thirty degrees, in some places more, in others less; and once I found it differ from itself no less than two points in the distance of fourteen feet. I took up some of the loose stones that lay upon the ground, and applied them to the needle, but they produced no effect, and I therefore concluded that there was iron ore in the hills, of which I had remarked other indications both here and in the neighbouring parts. After I had made my observations upon the hill, I proceeded with Dr Solander up the inlet; I set out with the first of the flood, and long before high water I had advanced above eight leagues. Its breadth thus far was from two to five miles, upon a S.W. by S. direction; but here it opened every way, and formed a large lake, which to the N.W. communicated with the sea; and I not only saw the sea in this direction, but found the tide of flood coming strongly in from that point: I also observed an arm of this lake extending to the eastward, and it is not improbable that it may communicate with the sea in the bottom of the bay, which lies to the westward of Cape Townshend. On the south side of the lake is a ridge of high hills which I was very desirous to climb; but it being high-water, and the day far spent, I was afraid of being bewildered among the shoals in the night, especially as the weather was dark and rainy; and therefore I made the best of my way to the ship. In this excursion I saw only two people, and they were at a distance; they followed the boat along the shore a good way, but the tide running strongly in my favour, I could not prudently wait for them: I saw however several fires in one direction, and smoke in another, but they also were at a distance. While I was tracing the inlet with Dr Solander, Mr Banks was endeavouring to penetrate into the country, where several of the people who had leave to go ashore were also rambling about. Mr Banks and his party found their course obstructed by a swamp, covered with mangroves, which, however, they resolved to pass; the mud was almost knee deep, yet they resolutely went on, but before they got half way, they repented of their undertaking: The bottom was covered with branches of trees interwoven with each other, sometimes they kept their footing upon them, sometimes their feet slipt through, and sometimes they were so entangled among them, that they were forced to free themselves by groping in the mud and slime with their hands. In about an hour, however, they crossed it, and judged it might be about a quarter of a mile over. After a short walk they came up to a place where there had been four small fires, and near them some shells and bones of fish, that had been roasted: They found also heaps of grass laid together, where four or five people appeared to have slept. The second lieutenant, Mr Gore, who was at another place, saw a little water lying in the bottom of a gully, and near it the track of a large animal: Some bustards were also seen, but none shot, nor any other bird except a few of the beautiful loriquets which we had seen in Botany Bay. Mr Gore, and one of the midshipmen, who were in different places, said that they had heard the voices of Indians near them, but had seen none. The country in general appeared sandy and barren, and being destitute of fresh water, it cannot be supposed to have any settled inhabitants. The deep gullies, which were worn by torrents from the hills, prove that at certain seasons the rains here are very copious and heavy.
The inlet in which the ship lay I called Thirsty Sound, because it afforded us no fresh water. It lies in latitude 22° 10' S. and longitude 210° 18' W. and may be known by a group of small islands lying under the shore, from two to five leagues distant, in the direction of N.W. and by another group of islands that lie right before it, between three and four leagues out at sea. Over each of the points that form the entrance is a high round hill, which on the N.W. is a peninsula that at high water is surrounded by the sea; they are bold to both the shores, and the distance between them is about two miles. In this inlet is good anchorage in seven, six, five, and four fathom; and places very convenient for laying a ship down, where, at spring-tides, the water does not rise less than sixteen or eighteen feet. The tide flows at the full and change of the moon about 11 o'clock. I have already observed that here is no fresh water, nor could we procure refreshment of any other kind. We saw two turtles, but we were not able to take either of them; neither did we catch either fish or wild-fowl, except a few small land-birds: We saw indeed the same sorts of water-fowl as in Botany Bay, but they were so shy that we could not get a shot at them.
As I had not therefore a single inducement to stay longer in this place, I weighed anchor at six o'clock in the morning of Thursday the 31st of May, and put to sea. We stood to the N.W. with a fresh breeze at S.S.E. and kept without the group of islands that lie in shore, and to the N.W. of Thirsty Sound, as there appeared to be no safe passage between them and the main: At the same time we had a number of islands without us, extending as far as we could see: During our run in this direction our depth of water was ten, eight, and nine fathom. At noon, the west point of Thirsty Sound, which I have called Pier Head, bore S. 36 E. distant five leagues; the east point of the other inlet, which communicates with the sound, bore S. by W. distant two leagues; the group of islands just mentioned lay between us and the point, and the farthest part of the main in sight, on the other side of the inlet, bore N.W. Our latitude by observation was 21° 53'. At half an hour after twelve, the boat, which was sounding a-head, made the signal for shoal water, and we immediately hauled our wind to the N.E. At this time we had seven fathom, at the next cast five, and at the next three, upon which we instantly dropped an anchor that brought the ship up. Pier Head, the north-west point of Thirsty Sound, bore S.E. distant six leagues, being half-way between the islands which lie off the east point of the western inlet, and three small islands which lie directly without them. It was now the first of the flood, which we found to set N.W. by W. 1/2 W.; and having sounded about the shoal, upon which we had three fathom, and found deep water all round it, we got under sail, and having hauled round the three islands that have been just mentioned, came to an anchor under the lee of them, in fifteen fathom water; and the weather being dark, hazy, and rainy, we remained there till seven o'clock in the morning. At this time we got again under sail, and stood to the N.W. with a fresh breeze at S.S.E.; having the main land in sight, and a number of islands all round us, some of which lay out at sea as far as the eye could reach. The western inlet, which in the chart is distinguished by the name of Broad Sound, we had now all open; at the entrance, it is at least nine or ten leagues wide: In it, and before it, lie several islands, and probably shoals also; for our soundings were very irregular, varying suddenly from ten to four fathom. At noon, our latitude by observation was 21° 29' S., a point of land which forms the north-west entrance into Broad Sound, and which I named Cape Palmerston, lying in latitude 21° 30', longitude 210° 54' W. bore W. by N. distant three leagues. Our latitude was 21° 27', our longitude 210° 57'. Between this Cape and Cape Townshend lies the bay which I called the Bay of Inlets. We continued to stand to the N.W. and N.W. by N. as the land lay, under an easy sail, having a boat a-head to sound: At first the soundings were very irregular, from nine to four fathom; but afterwards they were regular, from nine to eleven. At eight in the evening, being about two leagues from the main land, we anchored in eleven fathom, with a sandy bottom, and soon after we found the tide setting with a slow motion to the westward. At one o'clock it was slack, or low water; and at half an hour after two the ship tended to the eastward, and rode so till six in the morning, when the tide had risen eleven feet. We now got under sail, and stood away in the direction of the coast, N.N.W. From what we had observed of the tide during the night, it is plain that the flood came from the N.W., whereas the preceding day, and several days before, it came from the S.E.; nor was this the first or even second time that we had remarked the same thing. At sun-rise this morning, we found the variation to be 6° 45' E.; and in steering along the shore, between the island and the main, at the distance of about two leagues from the main, and three or four from the island, our soundings were regular from twelve to nine fathom; but about eleven o'clock in the forenoon we were again embarrassed with shoal water, having at one time not more than three fathom, yet we got clear without casting anchor. At noon we were about two leagues from the main, and four from the islands without us. Our latitude by observation was 20° 56', and a high promontory, which I named Cape Hillsborough, bore W. 1/2 N., distant seven miles. The land here is diversified by mountains, hills, plains, and valleys, and seems to be well clothed with herbage and wood: The islands which lie parallel to the coast, and from five to eight or ten miles distant, are of various height and extent; scarcely any of them are more than five leagues in circumference, and many are not four miles: Besides this chain of islands, which lies at a distance from the coast, there are others much less, which lie under the land, from which we saw smoke rising in different places. We continued to steer along the shore at the distance of about two leagues, with regular soundings from nine to ten fathom. At sun-set, the farthest point of the main bore N. 48 W. and to the northward of this lay some high land, which I took to be an island, and of which the north-west point bore 41 W.; but not being sure of a passage, I came to an anchor about eight o'clock in the evening, in ten fathom water, with a muddy bottom. About ten we had a tide setting to the northward, and at two it had fallen nine feet; after this it began to rise, and the flood came from the northward, in the direction of the islands which lay out to sea; a plain indication that there was no passage to the N.W. This however had not appeared at day-break, when we got under sail and stood to the N.W. At eight o'clock in the morning, we discovered low land quite across what we took for an opening, which proved to be a bay, about five or six leagues deep; upon this we hauled our wind to the eastward round the north point of the bay, which at this time bore from us N.E. by N. distant four leagues: From this point we found the land trend away N. by W. 1/2 W. and a streight or passage between it and a large island, or islands, lying parallel to it. Having the tide of ebb in our favour, we stood for this passage; and at noon were just within the entrance: Our latitude by observation was 20° 26' S.; Cape Hillsborough bore S. by E. distant ten leagues; and the north point of the bay S. 19 W. distant four miles. This point, which I named Cape Conway, lies in latitude 26° 36' S., longitude 211° 28' W.; and the bay which lies between this Cape and Cape Hillsborough I called Repulse Bay. The greatest depth of water which we found in it was thirteen fathom, and the least eight. In all parts there was safe anchorage, and I believe, that upon proper examination, some good harbours would be found in it; especially at the north side within Cape Conway; for just within that Cape there lie two or three small islands, which alone would shelter that side of the bay from the southerly and southeasterly winds, that seem to prevail here as a Trade. Among the many islands that lie upon this coast, there is one more remarkable than the rest; it is of a small circuit, very high and peaked, and lies E. by S. ten miles from Cape Conway, at the south end of the passage. In the afternoon, we steered through this passage, which we found to be from three to seven miles broad, and eight or nine leagues in length, N. by W. 1/2 W., S. by E. 1/2 E. It is formed by the main on the west, and by the islands on the east, one of which is at least five leagues in length: Our depth of water in running through was from twenty to five-and-twenty fathom, with good anchorage everywhere, and the whole passage may be considered as one safe harbour, exclusive of the small bays and coves which abound on each side, where ships might lie as in a bason. The land both upon the main and islands is high, and diversified by hill and valley, wood and lawn, with a green and pleasant appearance. On one of the islands we discovered with our glasses two men and a woman, and a canoe with an outrigger, which appeared to be larger, and of a construction very different from those of bark tied together at the ends, which we had seen upon other parts of the coast; we hoped therefore that the people here had made some farther advances beyond mere animal life than those that we had seen before. At six o'clock in the evening, we were nearly the length of the north end of the passage; the north-westermost point of the main in sight bore N. 54.W., and the north end of the island N.N.E. with an open sea between the two points. As this passage was discovered on Whitsunday, I called it Whitsunday's Passage, and I called the islands that form it Cumberland Islands, in honour of his Royal Highness the Duke. We kept under an easy sail, with the lead going all night, being at the distance of about three leagues from the shore, and having from twenty-one to twenty-three fathom water. At daybreak, we were abreast of the point which had been the farthest in sight to the north-west the evening before, which I named Cape Gloucester. It is a lofty promontory, in latitude 19° 59'S., longitude 211° 49' W. and may be known by an island which lies out at sea N. by W. 1/2 W. at the distance of five or six leagues from it, and which I called Holborne Isle; there are also islands lying under the land between Holborne Isle and Whitsunday's Passage. On the west side of Cape Gloucester the land trends away S.W. and S.S.W. and forms a deep bay, the bottom of which I could but just see from the mast-head: It is very low, and a continuation of the low land which we had seen at the bottom of Repulse Bay. This bay I called Edgecumbe Bay, but without staying, to look into it, we continued our course to the westward, for the farthest land we could see in that direction, which bore W. by N. 1/2 N. and appeared very high. At noon, we were about three leagues from the shore, by observation in latitude 19° 47' S., and Cape Gloucester bore S. 63 E. distant seven leagues and a half. At six in the evening, we were abreast of the westermost point just mentioned, at about three miles distance, and because it rises abruptly from the low lands which surround it, I called it Cape Upstart. It lies in latitude 19° 39' S., longitude 212° 32' W., fourteen leagues W.N.W. from Cape Gloucester, and is of a height sufficient to be seen at the distance of twelve leagues: Inland there are some high hills or mountains, which, like the Cape, afford but a barren prospect. Having passed this Cape, we continued standing to the W.N.W. as the land lay, under an easy sail, having from sixteen to ten fathom, till two o'clock in the morning, when we fell into seven fathom; upon which we hauled our wind to the northward, judging ourselves to be very near land: At day-break, we found our conjecture to be true, being within little more than two leagues of it. In this part of the coast the land, being very low, is nearer than it appears to be, though it is diversified with here and there a hill. At noon, we were about four leagues from the land, in fifteen fathom water, and our latitude, by observation, was 19° 12' S. Cape Upstart bearing S. 32° 30' E. distant twelve leagues. About this time some very large columns of smoke were seen rising from the low lands. At sun-set, the preceding night, when we were close under Cape Upstart, the variation was nearly 9° E., and at sun-rise this day, it was no more than 5° 35'.; I judged therefore that it had been influenced by iron-ore, or other magnetical matter, contained under the surface of the earth.
We continued to steer W.N.W. as the land lay, with twelve or fourteen fathom water, till noon on the 6th, when our latitude by observation was 19° 1' S. and we had the mouth of a bay all open, extending from S. 1/2 E. to S.W. 1/2 S. distant two leagues. This bay, which I named Cleaveland Bay, appeared to be about five or six miles in extent every way: The east point I named Cape Cleaveland, and the west, which had the appearance of an island, Magnetical Isle, as we perceived that the compass did not traverse well when we were near it: They are both high, and so is the main-land within them, the whole forming a surface the most rugged, rocky, and barren of any we had seen upon the coast; it was not however without inhabitants, for we saw smoke in several parts of the bottom of the bay. The northermost land that was in sight at this time, bore N.W. and it had the appearance of an island, for we could not trace the main-land farther than W. by N. We steered W.N.W. keeping the main land on board, the outermost part of which, at sun-set, bore W. by N. but without it lay high land, which we judged not to be part of it. At day-break, we were abreast of the eastern part of this land, which we found to be a group of islands, lying about five leagues from the main: At this time, being between the two shores, we advanced slowly to the N.W. till noon, when our latitude, by observation, was 18° 49' S. and our distance from the main about five leagues: The northwest part of it bore from us N. by W. 1/2 W. the islands extending from N. to E. and the nearest being distant about two miles: Cape Cleaveland bore S. 50 E. distant eighteen leagues. Our soundings, in the course that we had sailed between this time and the preceding noon, were from fourteen to eleven fathom.
In the afternoon, we saw several large columns of smoke upon the main; we saw also some people and canoes, and upon one of the islands what had the appearance of cocoa-nut trees: As a few of these nuts would now have been very acceptable, I sent Lieutenant Hicks ashore, and with him went Mr Banks and Dr Solander, to see what refreshment could be procured, while I kept standing in for the island with the ship. About seven o'clock in the evening they returned, with an account that what we had taken for cocoa-nut trees, were a small kind of cabbage-palm, and that, except about fourteen or fifteen plants, they had met with nothing worth bringing away. While they were ashore, they saw none of the people, but just as they had put off, one of them came very near the beach, and shouted with a loud voice; it was so dark that they could not see him, however they turned towards the shore, but when he heard the boat putting back, he ran away or hid himself, for they could not get a glimpse of him, and though, they shouted he made no reply. After the return of the boats, we stood away N. by W. for the northermost land in sight, of which we were abreast at three o'clock in the morning, having passed all the islands three or four hours before. This land, on account of its figure, I named Point Hillock: It is of a considerable height, and may be known by a round hillock, or rock, which joins to the Point, but appears to be detached from it. Between this Cape and Magnetical Isle the shore forms a large bay, which I called Halifax Bay: Before it lay the group of islands which has been just mentioned, and some others, at a less distance from the shore. By these islands the Bay is sheltered from all winds, and it affords good anchorage. The land near the beach, in the bottom of the Bay, is low and woody, but farther back it is one continued ridge of high land, which appeared to be barren and rocky. Having passed Point Hillock, we continued standing to the N.N.W. as the land trended, having the advantage of a light moon. At six, we were abreast of a point of land which lies N. by W. 1/2 W., distant eleven miles from Point Hillock, which I named Cape Sandwich. Between these two points the land is very high, and the surface is craggy and barren. Cape Sandwich may be known not only by the high craggy land over it, but by a small island which lies east of it; at the distance of a mile, and some others that lie about two leagues to the northward. From Cape Sandwich the land trends W. and afterwards N. forming a fine large bay, which I called Rockingham Bay, where there appears to be good shelter, and good anchorage, but I did not stay to examine it: I kept ranging along the shore to the northward, for a cluster of small islands, which lie off the northern point of the Bay. Between the three outermost of these islands, and those near the shore, I found a channel of about a mile broad, through which I passed, and upon one of the nearest islands we saw with our glasses about thirty of the natives, men, women, and children, all standing together, and looking with great attention at the ship; the first instance of curiosity we had seen among them: They were all stark naked, with short hair, and of the same complexion with those that we had seen before.[79] At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 17° 59', and we were abreast of the north point of Rockingham Bay, which bore from us W. at the distance of about two miles. This boundary of the Bay is formed by an island of considerable height, which I distinguished by the name of Dunk Isle, and which lies so near the shore as not to be easily distinguished from it. Our longitude was 213° 57' W. Cape Sandwich bore S. by E. 1/2 E. distant nineteen miles, and the northermost land in sight N. 1/2 W.: Our depth of water for the last ten hours had not been more than sixteen, nor less than seven fathom. At sun-set, the northern extremity of the land bore N. 25 W. and we kept our course N. by W. along the coast, at the distance of between three and four leagues, with an easy sail all night, having from twelve to fifteen fathom water.
[Footnote 79: Dampier was of opinion, from the inattention of the people of New Holland whom he fell in with, that they had some defect in vision, so that they could not see at the usual distance. But this opinion has been long abandoned. Other savages have occasionally exhibited as strong marks of indifference to objects, one should think, well fitted to attract their admiration and astonishment. A certain degree of civilization seems absolutely requisite to rouse the human mind to feelings of curiosity. Under this degree, man resembles a vegetable, much more than that animated and intelligent being he becomes in cultivated society.--E.]
At six o'clock in the morning, we were abreast of some small islands, which we called Frankland's Isles, and which lie about two leagues distant from the mainland. The most distant point in sight to the northward bore N. by W. 1/2 W. and we thought it was part of the main, but afterwards found it to be an island of considerable height, and about four miles in circuit. Between this island and a point on the main, from which it is distant about two miles, I passed with the ship. At noon, we were in the middle of the channel, and by observation in the latitude of 16° 57' S. with twenty fathom water. The point on the main, of which we were now abreast, I called Cape Grafton: Its latitude is 16° 57' S., and longitude 214° 6' W., and the land here, as well as the whole coast for about twenty leagues to the southward, is high, has a rocky surface, and is thinly covered with wood: During the night we had seen several fires, and about noon some people. Having hauled round Cape Grafton, we found the land trend away N.W. by W., and three miles to the westward of the Cape we found a bay, in which we anchored about two miles from the shore, in four fathom water with an oozy bottom. The east point of the bay bore S. 74 E., the west point S. 83 W., and a low, green, woody island, which lies in the offing, N. 35 E. This island, which lies N. by E. 1/2 E. distant three or four leagues from Cape Grafton, I called Green Island.
As soon as the ship was brought to an anchor, I went ashore, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander. As my principal view was to procure some fresh water, and as the bottom of the bay was low land covered with mangroves, where it was not probable fresh water was to be found, I went out towards the Cape, and found two small streams, which however were rendered very difficult of access by the surf and rocks upon the shore: I saw also, as I came round the Cape, a small stream of water run over the beach, in a sandy cove, but I did not go in with the boat, because I saw that it would not be easy to land. When we got ashore, we found the country every where rising into steep rocky hills, and as no fresh water could conveniently be procured, I was unwilling to lose time by going in search of lower land elsewhere: We therefore made the best of our way back to the ship, and about midnight we weighed and stood to the N.W., having but little wind, with some showers of rain. At four in the morning, the breeze freshened at S. by E. and the weather became fair: We continued steering N.N.W. 1/2 W. as the land lay, at about three leagues distance, with ten, twelve, and fourteen fathom water. At ten, we hauled off north, in order to get without a small low island, which lay at about two leagues distance from the main, and great part of which at this time, it being high-water, was overflowed: About three leagues to the north-west of this island, close under the main land, is another island, the land of which rises to a greater height, and which at noon bore from us N. 55 W. distant seven or eight miles. At this time our latitude was 16° 20' S. Cape Grafton bore S. 29 E. distant forty miles, and the northermost point of land in sight N. 20 W.; our depth of water was fifteen fathom. Between this point and Cape Grafton, the shore forms a large, but not a very deep bay, which being discovered on Trinity Sunday, I called Trinity Bay.
SECTION XXX.
Dangerous Situation of the Ship in her Course from Trinity Bay to Endeavour River.[80]
[Footnote 80: We have now to relate some of the most remarkable incidents in the history of nautical deliverances. These, however, the philosophical composure of Dr Hawkesworth's creed did not allow him to particularize, with that acknowledgment of providential interposition, which those who have actually been in such dangers, are, in general, strongly enough, and, it may be safely affirmed, sincerely inclined to offer. It would be unjust not to hear him in defence of his own opinions and conduct in the matter. It is given with all the candour that becomes a man who chuses to think for himself, and at the same time with as much boldness as entitles him to generous treatment from those who think themselves bound to oppose him. The passage may seem long for a note, but no one will object to it as such, who sets a value on correctness of sentiment on the subject of which it treats."I have now only to request," says he, "of such of my readers as may be disposed to censure me for not having attributed any of the critical escapes from danger that I have recorded, to the particular interposition of Providence, that they would, in this particular, allow me the right o£ private judgment, which I claim with the greater confidence, as the very same principle which would have determined them to have done it, has determined me to the contrary. As I firmly believe the divine precept delivered by the Author of Christianity, 'there is not a sparrow falls to the ground without my Father,' and cannot admit the agency of chance in the government of the world, I must necessarily refer every event to one cause, as well the danger as the escape, as well the sufferings as the enjoyments of life: and for this opinion, I have, among other respectable authorities, that of the Bible. 'Shall we,' says Job, 'receive good from the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?' The Supreme Being is equally wise and benevolent in the dispensation of both evil and good, as means of effecting ultimate purposes worthy of his ineffable perfections; so that whether we consider ourselves as Christians or philosophers, we must acknowledge that he deserves blessing not more when he gives than when he takes away. If the fall of a sparrow, as well as its preservation, is imputed to Providence, why not the fall as well as the preservation of a man? And why should we attribute to Providence only what appears to be good in its immediate effect, when we suppose that the whole concatenation of events, whether the preservation or destruction of particular parts, tends ultimately to the good of the whole? The same voice commissions the winds to plough up the deep, which at the appointed time rebukes them, saying, 'Peace, be still.' If the adorable Author and Preserver of Nature was such a being as Baal is represented to have been by the prophet, when he derided his worshippers; if he was sometimes on a journey, and sometimes asleep, we might with propriety say that a fire happened to break out, or a storm to rise, but that by the interposition of Providence life was preserved, expressions which imply that the mischief had one origin, and the remedy another; but such language certainly derogates, from the honour of the great Universal Cause, who, acting through all duration, and subsisting in all space, fills immensity with his presence, and eternity with his power.
"It will perhaps be said, that in particular instances evil necessarily results from that constitution of things which is best upon the whole, and that Providence occasionally interferes, and supplies the defects of the constitution in these particulars; but this notion will appear not to be supported by those facts which are said to be providential; it will always be found that Providence interposes too late, and only moderates the mischief which it might have prevented. But who can suppose an extraordinary interposition of Providence to supply particular defects in the constitution of Nature, who sees those defects supplied but in part? It is true, that when the Endeavour was upon the rock off the coast of New Holland, the wind ceased, and that otherwise she must have been beaten to pieces; but either the subsiding of the wind was a mere natural event, If it was a natural event, Providence is out of the question, at least we can with no more propriety say that providentially the wind ceased, than that providentially the sun rose in the morning. If it was not a mere natural event, but produced by an extraordinary interposition, correcting a defect in the constitution of nature, tending to mischief, it will lie upon those who maintain the position, to shew, why an extraordinary interposition did not take place rather to prevent the ship's striking, than to prevent her being beaten to pieces after she had struck. A very slight impulse upon the ship's course would have caused her to steer clear of the rock; and if all things were not equally easy to Omnipotence, we should say that this might have been done with less difficulty than a calm could be produced by suspending the general laws of Nature, which had brought on the gale.
"I have, however, paid my homage to the Supreme Being, consonant to my own ideas of his agency and perfections; and those who are of opinion that my notions are erroneous, must allow, that he who does what he thinks to be right, and abstains from what he thinks to be wrong, acquits himself equally of moral obligation, whether his opinions are false or true."
Such are the concluding observations in Dr Hawkesworth's General Introduction to this work. That they have a most specious and rational aspect, cannot be denied, with the exception of scarcely any thing more than the last paragraph, in which it is implied, most erroneously, that the conviction of being right is a sufficient evidence that one is so,--a sentiment not more certainly the result of ignorance of human nature in its present condition, than it is the potential source of almost every immorality and mischief that have degraded or destroyed our species. But conceding entirely the principles contended for by Dr H., it may be demonstrated, that a directly contrary conclusion is their proper legitimate issue, and that too, independent of any consideration of other parts of our moral system, which, however, it will be found, in point of fact, are more concerned than even our reason in the influence exerted over our conduct. Neither time nor place admits the discussion of the topic; and to the intelligent reader, this will seem quite unnecessary, when he recollects a single principle, and follows it out into its just consequences, viz. That as the Supreme Being is the cause of all things, and is equally wise and benevolent in the dispensation of both evil and good, so is he entitled to the homage, the fear, and love of those whom he has created with faculties competent to the understanding, in any degree, of his ineffable perfections; and in consequence, his actions or dispensations become to them the proper indications of the qualities of mind with which they ought to adore him. It follows, that though alike proceeding from his benevolence or wisdom, good and evil must be differently accepted by them, as really intended for different, though perfectly consistent purposes. The humiliation therefore of affliction, and the fervour of joy, are alike becoming them on different occasions. We find accordingly, that in the constitution he has given us, there is ample provision made for both, and that he acts in perfect consistency with that constitution: And thus we may cordially join in the sentiment of Mr Gibbon (ay, Mr Gibbon!) on another occasion: "The satirist may laugh, the philosopher may preach; but reason herself will respect the prejudices and habits which have been consecrated by the experience of mankind." But Dr H., we see, is not content with the dictates of reason; he calls in another aid to maintain this exercise of private judgment. Has he appealed to Scripture? Then to Scripture he shall go. But perhaps it may be said to him, as a popish priest, defending the doctrine of purgatory, said to a protestant, who did not relish it, "He may go farther, and fare worse. The language of the Bible seems not to concur in the propriety of the Doctor's philosophic apathy in such occurrences. The Psalmist, it may be safely affirmed, knew as much of human nature as the Doctor, and was as well acquainted too with what was becoming worship. He, however, differs egregiously in opinion. In the 107th psalm, which so beautifully describes the manifold goodness, and yet the varying providences of the Most High, we find a passage which strikingly applies to such a case as we have been contemplating, and which, at the same time, points out the natural and highly proper emotions which result from it. "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, these see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and all their wisdom is swallowed up. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!" Almost every word of this gives the lie to the practical consequences of our Doctor's theory. It would be invidious to oppress him with any other of the numerous such like instances which this book presents. He appears to make much of the obvious impropriety of using such terms as happened, in speaking of certain events. But this is childish; for every one knows that by such terms is expressed merely our ignorance of the series or train of operations by which those events are brought to pass. They are used in respect of ourselves, not by any means in reference to the Deity. But there is something vastly worse than childishness, in his insinuation as to what Omnipotence might do in preventing, not remedying evils. They breathe a spirit of malevolent disaffection, which is indeed but very imperfectly smothered in the decent language of conjectural propositions. A sounder philosophy than his own would have told Dr H. in the words of Bacon, that "the prerogative of God extendeth as well to the reason, as to the will of man;" and that therefore it became him humbly to contemplate what God has done, rather than to speculate as to what he might have done. In nothing, however, has he so monstrously blundered, as in hinting, that if an event is natural, therefore Providence is out of the question in effecting it; and that, on the other hand, if it is not natural, therefore even a benevolent Providence, that has interposed to remedy the evils of it, is faulty in not having been earlier at work to prevent its occurrence altogether. This is sophistry of the worst kind. A single remark may be sufficient to silence it. Nature is the regular operation of an intelligent Providence; and natural events are the individual instances of it; but it does not follow, either that events which to us seem irregular, are therefore uninfluenced by the same Agent, or that the addition of the word mere to the word natural, can signify any thing else than the presumption of him, who chuses to exercise his right of private judgment in using it, to exclude entirely the consideration of a Providence. This is the more extraordinary in Dr H, because in his letter to Mr Dalrymple, who had taxed him with some errors on this subject, he affirms his belief to be "that the Supreme Being is perpetually operating," and "that he is the cause of all events,"--propositions certainly not very reconcileable with what he says here as to mere natural events. It is, however, very like the inconsistencies of a man who esteems his own conviction of consciousness of the rectitude of his opinions, so highly, as to make him comparatively indifferent whether they are false or true. Taking the view of the subject, then, which such an admission offers, the question is readily solved, but not to the credit of Dr H.'s judgment. If the Supreme Being is continually operating, and is the cause of all things, then the Supreme Being is the only providence, and providence is concerned in every event. But according to the constitution which this providence has given us, different events produce different effects on us, and these, on the same principle, are also in the order of providence; and besides, we have the advice of an inspired writer to this purport. "In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider." It will be difficult to shew that any prosperity is so blissful to the human heart as redemption from death, in whatever sense we take the word; or that any joy is so rational as that which expresses itself in gratitude to God, the author of the blessing enjoyed. The converse of the text may be similarly applied. That is the greatest adversity that most threatens life (for all that a man hath will he give for it); and that is the most suitable consideration that teaches to acknowledge the hand that smites, and produces humble submission to the blow,--that leads a man, to say with Job of old, "I have heard of thee (0 Lord) by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."--E.]
Hitherto we had safely navigated this dangerous coast, where the sea in all parts conceals shoals that suddenly project from the shore, and rocks that rise abruptly like a pyramid from the bottom, for an extent of two-and-twenty degrees of latitude, more than one thousand three hundred miles; and therefore hitherto none of the names which distinguish the several parts of the country that we saw, are memorials of distress; but here we became acquainted with misfortune, and we therefore called the point which we had just seen farthest to the northward, Cape Tribulation. This cape lies in latitude l6° 6' S. and longitude 214° 39' W. We steered along the shore N. by W. at the distance of between three and four leagues, having from fourteen to twelve, and ten fathom water: In the offing we saw two islands, which lie in latitude 16° S. and about six or seven leagues from the main. At six in the evening, the northermost land in sight bore N. by W. 1/2 W. and two low woody islands, which some of us took to be rocks above water, bore N. 1/2 W. At this time we shortened sail and hauled off shore E.N.E. and N.E. by E. close upon a wind; for it was my design to stretch off all night, as well to avoid the danger we saw a-head, as to see whether any islands lay in the offing, especially as we were now near the latitude assigned to the islands which were discovered by Quiros, and which some geographers, for what reason I know not, have thought fit to join to this land. We had the advantage of a fine breeze, and a cleat moonlight night, and in standing off from six till near nine o'clock, we deepened our water from fourteen to twenty-one fathom; but while we were at supper it suddenly shoaled, and we fell into twelve, ten, and eight fathom, within the space of a few minutes. I immediately ordered every body to their station, and all was ready to put about and come to an anchor; but meeting at the next cast of the lead with deep water again, we concluded that we had gone over the tail of the shoals which we had seen at sun-set, and that all danger was past. Before ten, we had twenty and one-and-twenty fathom, and this depth continuing, the gentlemen left the deck in great tranquillity, and went to bed; but a few minutes before eleven, the water shallowed at once from twenty to seventeen fathom, and before the lead could be cast again, the ship struck, and remained immoveable, except by the heaving of the surge, that beat her against the crags of the rock upon which she lay. In a few moments every body was upon the deck, with countenances which sufficiently expressed the horrors of our situation. We had stood off the shore three hours and a half, with a pleasant breeze, and therefore knew that we could not be very near it, and we had too much reason to conclude that we were upon a rock of coral, which is more fatal than any other, because the points of it are sharp, and every part of the surface so rough as to grind away whatever is rubbed against it, even with the gentlest motion. In this situation all the sails were immediately taken in, and the boats hoisted out to examine the depth of water round the ship. We soon discovered that our fears had not aggravated our misfortune, and that the vessel had been lifted over a ledge of the rock, and lay in a hollow within it: In some places there was from three to four fathom, and in others not so many feet. The ship lay with her head to the N.E.; and at the distance of about thirty yards on the starboard side, the water deepened to eight, ten, and twelve fathom. As soon as the long-boat was out, we struck our yards and topmasts, and carried out the stream anchor on the starboard bow, got the coasting anchor and cable into the boat, and were going to carry it out the same way; but upon sounding a second time round the ship, the water was found to be deepest astern: the anchor therefore was carried out from the starboard quarter instead of the starboard bow, that is, from the stern instead of the head, and having taken ground, our utmost force was applied to the capstern, hoping that if the anchor did not come home, the ship would be got off; but, to our great misfortune and disappointment, we could not move her. During all this time she continued to beat with great violence against the rock, so that it was with the utmost difficulty that we kept upon our legs; and to complete the scene of distress, we saw by the light of the moon the sheathing-boards from the bottom of the vessel floating away all round her, and at last her false keel, so that every moment was making way for the sea to rush in which was to swallow us up. We had now no chance but to lighten her, and we had lost the opportunity of doing that to the greatest advantage, for unhappily we went on shore just at high water, and by this time it had considerably fallen, so that after she should be lightened so as to draw as much less water as the water had sunk, we should be but in the same situation as at first; and the only alleviation of this circumstance was, that as the tide ebbed the ship settled to the rocks, and was not beaten against them with so much violence. We had indeed some hope from the next tide, but it was doubtful whether she would hold together so long, especially as the rock kept grating her bottom under the starboard bow with such force as to be heard in the fore store-room. This, however, was no time to indulge conjecture, nor was any effort remitted in despair of success. That no time might be lost, the water was immediately started in the hold, and pumped up; six of our guns, being all we had upon the deck, our iron and stone ballast, casks, hoop staves, oil jars, decayed stores, and many other things that lay in the way of heavier materials, were thrown overboard with the utmost expedition, every one exerting himself with an alacrity almost approaching to cheerfulness, without the least repining or discontent; yet the men were so far imprest with a sense of their situation, that not an oath was heard among them, the habit of profaneness, however strong, being instantly subdued by the dread of incurring guilt when death seemed to be so near.
While we were thus employed, day broke upon us, and we saw the land at about eight leagues distance, without any island in the intermediate space, upon which, if the ship should have gone to pieces, we might have been set ashore by the boats, and from which they might have taken us by different turns to the main: The wind however gradually died away, and early in the forenoon it was a dead calm; if it had blown hard, the ship must inevitably have been destroyed. At eleven in the forenoon we expected high water, and anchors were got out, and every thing made ready for another effort to heave her off if she should float; but, to our inexpressible surprise and concern, she did not float by a foot and a half, though we had lightened her near fifty ton, so much did the day tide fall short of that in the night. We now proceeded to lighten her still more, and threw overboard every thing that it was possible for us to spare: Hitherto she had not admitted much water, but as the tide fell, it rushed in so fast, that two pumps, incessantly worked, could scarcely keep her free. At two o'clock, she lay heeling two or three streaks to starboard, and the pinnace, which lay under her bows, touched the ground; we had now no hope but from the tide at midnight, and to prepare for it we carried out our two bower anchors, one on the starboard quarter, and the other right a-stern, got the blocks and tackle which were to give us a purchase upon the cables in order, and brought the falls, or ends of them, in abaft, straining them tight, that the next effort might operate upon the ship, and by shortening the length of the cable between that and the anchors, drew her off the ledge upon which she rested, towards the deep water. About five o'clock in the afternoon, we observed the tide begin to rise, but we observed at the same time that the leak increased to a most alarming degree, so that two, more pumps were manned, but unhappily only one of them, would work; three of the pumps, however, were kept going, and at nine o'clock the ship righted, but the leak had gained upon us so considerably, that it was imagined she must go to the bottom as soon as she ceased to be supported by the rock: This was a dreadful circumstance, so that we anticipated the floating of the ship not as an earnest of deliverance, but as an event that would probably precipitate our destruction. We well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all on shore, and that when the dreadful crisis should arrive, as all command and subordination would be at an end, a contest for preference would probably ensue, that would increase even the horrors of shipwreck, and terminate in the destruction of us all by the hands of each other; yet we knew that if any should be left on board to perish in the waves, they would probably suffer less upon the whole than those who should get on shore, without any lasting or effectual defence against the natives, in a country where even nets and fire-arms would scarcely furnish them with food; and where, if they should find the means of subsistence, they must be condemned to languish out the remainder of life in a desolate wilderness, without the possession, or even hope, of any domestic comfort, and cut off from all commerce with mankind, except the naked savages who prowled the desert, and who perhaps were some of the most rude and uncivilized upon the earth.
To those only who have waited in a state of such suspense, Death has approached in all his tenors; and as the dreadful moment that was to determine our fate came on, every one saw his own sensations pictured in the countenances of his companions: However, the capstan and wind-lace were manned with as many hands as could be spared from the pumps, and the ship floating about twenty minutes after ten o'clock, the effort was made, and she was heaved into deep water. It was some comfort to find that she did not now admit more water than she had done upon the rock; and though by the gaining of the leak upon the pumps, there was no less than three feet nine inches water in the hold, yet the men did not relinquish their labour, and we held the water as it were at bay; but having now endured excessive fatigue of body and agitation of mind for more than four-and-twenty hours, and having but little hope of succeeding at last, they began to flag: None of them could work at the pump more than five or six minutes together, and then, being totally exhausted, they threw themselves down upon the deck, though a stream of water was running over it from the pumps between three and four inches deep; when those who succeeded them had worked their spell, and were exhausted in their turn, they threw themselves down in the same manner, and the others started up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving each other till an accident was very near putting an end to their efforts at once. The planking which lines the inside of the ship's bottom is called the ceiling, and between this and the outside planking there is a space of about eighteen inches: The man who till this time had attended the well to take the depth of water, had taken it only to the ceiling, and gave the measure accordingly; but he being now relieved, the person who came in his stead reckoned the depth to the outside planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to have gained upon the pumps eighteen inches, the difference between the planking without and within. Upon this even the bravest was upon the point of giving up his labour with his hope, and in a few minutes every thing would have been involved in all the confusion of despair. But this accident, however dreadful in its first consequences, was eventually the cause of our preservation. The mistake was soon detected, and the sudden joy which every man felt upon finding his situation better than his fears had suggested, operated like a charm, and seemed to possess him with a strong belief that scarcely any real danger remained. New confidence and new hope, however founded, inspired new vigour; and though our state was the same as when the men first began to slacken in their labour, through weariness and despondency, they now renewed their efforts with such alacrity and spirit, that before eight o'clock in the morning the leak was so far from having gained upon the pumps, that the pumps had gained considerably upon the leak. Every body now talked of getting the ship into some harbour, as a thing not to be doubted, and as hands could be spared from the pumps, they were employed in getting up the anchors: The stream anchor and best bower we had taken on board; but it was found impossible to save the little bower, and therefore it was cut away at a whole cable; we lost also the cable of the stream anchor among the rocks; but in our situation these were trifles which scarcely attracted our notice. Our next business was to get up the fore top-mast, and fore-yard, and warp the ship to the south-east, and at eleven, having now a breeze from the sea, we once more got under sail and stood for the land.
It was however impossible long to continue the labour by which the pumps had been made to gain upon the leak, and as the exact situation of it could not be discovered, we had no hope of stopping it within. In this situation, Mr Monkhouse, one of my midshipmen, came to me and proposed an expedient that he had seen used on board a merchant ship, which sprung a leak that admitted above four feet water an hour, and which by this expedient was brought safely from Virginia to London; the master having such confidence in it, that he took her out of harbour, knowing her condition, and did not think it worth while to wait till the leak could be otherwise stopped. To this man, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called fothering the ship, was immediately committed, four or five of the people being appointed to assist him, and he performed it in this manner: He took a lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of oakum and wool, chopped pretty small, he stitched it down in handfuls upon the sail, as lightly as possible, and over this he spread the dung of our sheep and other filth; but horse dung, if we had had it, would have been better. When the sail was thus prepared, it was hauled under the ship's bottom by ropes, which kept it extended, and when it came under the leak, the suction which carried in the water, carried in with it the oakum and wool from the surface of the sail, which in other parts the water was not sufficiently agitated to wash off.[81] By the success of this expedient, our leak was so far reduced, that instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under with one. This was a new source of confidence and comfort; the people could scarcely have expressed more joy if they had been already in port; and their views were so far from being limited to running the ship ashore in some harbour, either of an island or the main, and building a vessel out of her materials to carry us to the East Indies, which had so lately been the utmost object of our hope, that nothing was now thought of but ranging along the shore in search of a convenient place to repair the damage she had sustained, and then prosecuting the voyage upon the same plan as if nothing had happened. Upon this occasion I must observe, both in justice and gratitude to the ship's company, and the gentlemen on board, that although in the midst of our distress every one seemed to have a just sense of his danger, yet no passionate exclamations, or frantic gestures, were to be heard or seen; every one appeared to have the perfect possession of his mind, and everyone exerted himself to the uttermost, with a quiet and patient perseverance, equally distant from the tumultuous violence of terror, and the gloomy inactivity of despair.[82]
[Footnote 81: A somewhat different account of the operation called fothering a vessel, is given in the Encyclopædia Britannica. The expedient does not appear to be adopted. The importance of the benefit intended by it is so great, as to justify the most sedulous care to bring the principle within the range of a seaman's professional studies. It is somewhat singular that Cook was not acquainted with it.--E.]
[Footnote 82: With the modesty of real worth, Cook expends his eulogium on his companions in danger, without seeming to reserve the smallest consideration for his own dignified behaviour in such extreme peril. Who can doubt, that the conduct of the crew was in unison with the fortitude and intelligence of their commander? It is on such occasions that the effects of discipline are most conspicuous. In common occurrences, the mere attention to rules is amply sufficient to call forth our esteem. What shall we say of their merit, who, in such untoward emergencies, extend the influence of beneficial authority beyond the force of some of the strongest passions that agitate our frame?--E.]
In the mean time, having light airs at E.S.E. we got up the main top-mast, and main-yard, and kept edging in for the land, till about six o'clock in the evening, when we came to an anchor in seventeen fathom water, at the distance of seven leagues from the shore, and one from the ledge of rocks upon which we had struck.
This ledge or shoal lies in latitude 15° 45' S., and between six and seven leagues from the main. It is not however the only shoal on this part of the coast, especially to the northward; and at this time we saw one to the southward, the tail of which we passed over, when we had uneven soundings about two hours before we struck. A part of this shoal is always above water, and has the appearance of white sand: A part also of that upon which we had lain is dry at low water, and in that place consists of sand stones, but all the rest of it is a coral rock.
Whilst we lay at anchor for the night, we found that the ship made about fifteen inches water an hour, from which no immediate danger was to be apprehended; and at six o'clock in the morning we weighed and stood to the N.W., still edging in for the land with a gentle breeze at S.S.E. At nine we passed close without two small islands that lie in latitude 15° 41' S., and about four leagues from the main: To reach these islands had, in the height of our distress, been the object of our hope, or perhaps rather of our wishes, and therefore I called them Hope Islands. At noon we were about three leagues from the land, and in latitude 15° 37' S.; the northermost part of the main in sight bore N. 30 W.; and Hope Islands extended from S. 30 E. to S. 40 E. In this situation we had twelve fathom water, and several sand banks without us. At this time the leak had not increased; but that we might be prepared for all events, we got the sail ready for another fothering. In the afternoon, having a gentle breeze at S.E. by E., I sent out the master with two boats, as well to sound a-head of the ship as to look out for a harbour where we might repair our defects, and put the ship in a proper trim. At three o'clock we saw an opening that had the appearance of an harbour, and stood off and on while the boats examined it, but they soon found that there was not depth of water in it sufficient for the ship. When it was near sun-set, there being many shoals about us, we anchored in four fathom, at the distance of about two miles from the shore, the land extending from N. 1/2 E. to S. by E. 1/2 E. The pinnace was still out with one of the mates; but at nine o'clock she returned, and reported, that about two leagues to leeward she had discovered just such a harbour as we wanted, in which there was a sufficient rise of water, and every other convenience that could be desired, either for laying the ship ashore, or heading her down.
In consequence of this information, I weighed at six o'clock in the morning, and having sent two boats a-head, to lie upon the shoals that we saw in our way, we ran down to the place; but notwithstanding our precaution, we were once in three fathom water. As soon as these shoals were passed, I sent the boats to lie in the channel that led to the harbour, and by this time it began to blow. It was happy for us that a place of refuge was at hand; for we soon found that the ship would not work, having twice missed stays: Oar situation, however, though it might have been much worse, was not without danger; we were entangled among shoals, and I had great reason to fear being driven to leeward before the boats could place themselves so as to prescribe our course. I therefore anchored in four fathom, about a mile from the shore, and then made the signal for the boats to come on board. When this was done, I went myself and buoyed the channel, which I found very narrow; the harbour also I found smaller than I expected, but most excellently adapted to our purpose; and it is remarkable, that in the whole course of our voyage we had seen no place which, in our present circumstances, could have afforded us the same relief. At noon, our latitude was 15° 26' S. During all the rest of this day, and the whole night, it blew too fresh for us to venture from our anchor and run into the harbour; and for our farther security, we got down the top-gallant yards, unbent the main-sail and some of the small sails; got down the fore-top-gallant-mast, and the jibb-boom, and sprit-sail, with a view to lighten the ship forwards as much as possible, in order to come at her leak, which we supposed to be somewhere in that part; for in all the joy of our unexpected deliverance, we had not forgot that at this time there was nothing but a lock of wool between us and destruction. The gale continuing, we kept our station all the 15th. On the 16th, it was somewhat more moderate; and about six o'clock in the morning we hove the cable short, with a design to get under sail, but were obliged to desist, and veer it out again. It is remarkable that the sea-breeze, which blew fresh when we anchored, continued to do so almost every day white we stayed here; it was calm only while we were upon the rock, except once; and even the gale that afterwards wafted us to the shore, would then certainly have beaten us to pieces. In the evening of the preceding day, we had observed a fire near the beach over against us; and, as it would be necessary for us to stay some time in this place, we were not without hope of making an acquaintance with the people. We saw more fires upon the hills to-day, and with our glasses discovered four Indians going along the shore, who stopped and made two fires; but for what purpose it was impossible we should guess.
The scurvy now began to make its appearance among us, with many formidable symptoms. Our poor Indian, Tupia, who had some time before complained that his gums were sore and swelled, and who had taken plentifully of our lemon juice by the surgeon's direction, had now livid spots upon his legs, and other indubitable testimonies that the disease had made a rapid progress, notwithstanding all our remedies, among which the bark had been liberally administered. Mr Green, our astronomer, was also declining; and these, among other circumstances, embittered the delay which prevented our going ashore.
In the morning of the 17th, though the wind was still fresh, we ventured to weigh, and push in for the harbour; but in doing this we twice run the ship aground: The first time she went off without any trouble, but the second time she stuck fast. We now got down the fore-yard, fore top-masts, and booms, and taking them overboard, made a raft of them alongside of the ship. The tide was happily rising, and about one o'clock in the afternoon she floated. We soon warped her into the harbour, and having moored her alongside of a steep beach to the south, we got the anchors, cables, and all the hawsers on shore before night.
SECTION XXXI.
Transactions while the Ship was refitting in Endeavour River: A Description of the adjacent Country, its Inhabitants and Productions.
In the morning of Monday the 18th, a stage was made from the ship to the shore, which was so bold that she floated at twenty feet distance: Two tents were also set up, one for the sick, and the other for stores and provisions, which were landed in the course of the day. We also landed all the empty water-casks, and part of the stores. As soon as the tent for the sick was got ready for their reception, they were sent ashore to the number of eight or nine, and the boat was dispatched to haul the seine, in hopes of procuring some fish for their refreshment; but she returned without success. In the mean time, I climbed one of the highest hills among those that overlooked the harbour, which afforded by no means a comfortable prospect: The low land near the river is wholly over-run with mangroves, among which the salt water flows every tide; and the high land appeared to be everywhere stoney and barren. In the mean time, Mr Banks had also taken a walk up the country, and met with the frames of several old Indian houses, and places where they had dressed shell-fish; but they seemed not to have been frequented for some months. Tupia, who had employed himself in angling, and lived entirely upon what he caught, recovered in a surprising degree; but Mr Green still continued to be extremely ill.
The next morning I got the four remaining guns out of the hold, and mounted them upon the quarter-deck; I also got a spare anchor and anchor-stock ashore, and the remaining part of the stores and ballast that were in the hold; set up the smith's forge, and employed the armourer and his mate to make nails and other necessaries for the repair of the ship. In the afternoon, all the officers' stores and ground tier of water were got out, so that nothing remained in the fore and main hold but the coals, and a small quantity of stone ballast. This day Mr Banks crossed the river to take a view of the country on the other side; he found it consist principally of sand-hills, where he saw some Indian houses, which appeared to have been very lately inhabited. In his walk he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows: Of the pigeons, which were exceedingly beautiful, he shot several; but the crows, which were exactly like those in England, were so shy that he could not get within reach of them.
On the 20th, we landed the powder and got out the stone ballast and wood, which brought the ship's draught of water to eight feet ten inches forward, and thirteen feet abaft; and this I thought, with the difference that would be made of trimming the coals aft, would be sufficient; for I found that the water rose and fell perpendicularly eight feet at the spring-tides: But as soon as the coals were trimmed from over the leak, we could hear the water rush in a little abaft the foremast, about three feet from the keel; this determined me to clear the hold entirely. This evening Mr Banks observed that in many parts of the inlet there were large quantities of pumice-stones, which lay at a considerable distance above high-water mark, whither they might have been carried either by the freshes or extraordinary high tides, for there could be no doubt but that they came from the sea.
The next morning we went early to work, and by four o'clock in the afternoon had got out all the coals, cast the moorings loose, and warped the ship a little higher up the harbour to a place which I thought most convenient for laying her ashore in order to stop the leak. Her draught of water forward was now seven feet nine inches, and abaft thirteen feet six inches. At eight o'clock, it being high water, I hauled her bow close ashore, but kept her stern afloat, because I was afraid of neiping her; it was however necessary to lay the whole of her as near the ground as possible.
At two o'clock in the morning of the 22d, the tide left her, and gave us an opportunity to examine the leak, which we found to be at her floor-heads, a little before the starboard fore-chains. In this place the rocks had made their way through four planks, and even into the timbers; three more planks were much damaged, and the appearance of these breaches was very extraordinary: There was not a splinter to be seen, but all was so smooth as if the whole had been cut away by an instrument: The timbers in this place were happily very close, and if they had not, it would have been absolutely impossible to have saved the ship. But after all, her preservation depended upon a circumstance still more remarkable: One of the holes, which was big enough to have sunk us, if we had had eight pumps instead of four, and been able to keep them incessantly going, was in great measure plugged up by a fragment of the rock, which, after having made the wound, was left sticking in it, so that the water which at first had gained upon our pumps was what came in at the interstices, between the stone and the edges of the hole that received it. We found also several pieces of the fothering, which had made their way between the timbers, and in a great measure stopped those parts of the leak which the stone had left open. Upon further examination, we found that, besides the leak, considerable damage had been done to the bottom; great part of the sheathing was gone from under the larboard bow; a considerable part of the false keel was also wanting, and these indeed we had seen swim away in fragments from the vessel, while she lay beating against the rock: The remainder of it was in so shattered a condition, that it had better have been gone; and the fore foot and main keel were also damaged, but not so as to produce any immediate danger: What damage she might have received abaft could not yet be exactly known, but we have reason to think it was not much, as but little water made its way into her bottom, while the tide kept below the leak which has already been described. By nine o'clock in the morning the carpenters got to work upon her, while the smiths were busy in making bolts and nails. In the mean time, some of the people were sent on the other side of the water to shoot pigeons for the sick, who at their return reported that they had seen an animal as large as a greyhound, of a slender make, a mouse-colour, and extremely swift; they discovered also many Indian houses, and a fine stream of fresh water.
The next morning I sent a boat to haul the seine; but at noon it returned with only three fish, and yet we saw them in plenty leaping about the harbour. This day the carpenter finished the repairs that were necessary on the starboard side; and at nine o'clock in the evening we heeled the ship the other way, and hauled her off about two feet for fear of neiping. This day almost every body had seen the animal which the pigeon-shooters had brought an account of the day before; and one of the seamen, who had been rambling in the woods, told us at his return that he verily believed he had seen the devil: We naturally enquired in what form he had appeared, and his answer was in so singular a style, that I shall set down his own words: "He was," says John, "as large as a one gallon keg and very like it; he had horns and wings, yet he crept so slowly through, the grass, that if I had not been afeard I might have touched him." This formidable apparition we afterwards discovered to have been a batt; and the batts here must be acknowledged to have a frightful appearance, for they are nearly black, and full as large as a partridge; they have indeed no horns, but the fancy of a man who thought he saw the devil, might easily supply that defect.
Early on the 24th the carpenters began to repair the sheathing under the larboard bow, where we found two planks cut about half through; and in the mean time I sent a party of men, under the direction of Mr Gore, in search, of refreshments for the sick: This party returned about noon with a few palm cabbages, and a bunch or two of wild plantain; the plantains were the smallest I had ever seen, and the pulp, though it was well tasted, was full of small stones. As I was walking this morning at a little distance from the ship, I saw myself one of the animals which had been so often described; it was of a light mouse-colour, and in size and shape very much resembling a greyhound; it had a long tail also, which it carried like a greyhound; and I should have taken it for a wild-dog, if, instead of running, it had not leapt like a hare or deer: Its legs were said to be very slender, and the print of its foot to be like that of a goat; but where I saw it the grass was so high that the legs were concealed, and the ground was too hard to receive the track. Mr Banks also had an imperfect view of this animal, and was of opinion that its species was hitherto unknown.[83]
[Footnote 83: It is almost superfluous to tell any reader now that the animal mentioned is the kangaroo, of which specimens are to be seen in nearly every travelling collection of wild beasts.--E.]
After the ship was hauled ashore, all the water that came into her of course went backwards; so that although she was dry forwards, she had nine feet water abaft: As in this part therefore her bottom could not be examined on the inside, I took the advantage of the tide being out this evening to get the master and two of the men to go under her, and examine her whole larboard side without. They found the sheathing gone about the floor-heads abreast of the main-mast, and part of a plank a little damaged; but all agreed that she had received no other material injury. The loss of her sheathing alone was a great misfortune, as the worm would now be let into her bottom, which might expose us to great inconvenience and danger; but as I knew no remedy for the mischief but heaving her down, which would be a work of immense labour and long time, if practicable at all in our present situation, I was obliged to be content. The carpenters however continued to work under her bottom in the evening till they were prevented by the tide; the morning tide did not ebb out far enough to permit them to work at all, for we had only one tolerable high and low tide in four-and-twenty hours, as indeed we had experienced when we lay upon the rock. The position of the ship, which threw the water in her abaft, was very near depriving the world of all the knowledge which Mr Banks had endured so much labour, and so many risks, to procure; for he had removed the curious collection of plants which he made during the whole voyage into the bread-room, which lies in the after-part of the ship, as a place of the greatest security; and nobody having thought of the danger to which laying her head so much higher than the stem would expose them, they were this day found under water. Most of them however were, by indefatigable care and attention, restored to a state of preservation, but some were entirely spoilt and destroyed.
The 25th was employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging, and at low-water the carpenters finished the repairs under the larboard bow, and every other place which the tide would permit them to come at; some casks were then lashed under her bows to facilitate her floating, and at night, when it was high water, we endeavoured to heave her off, but without success, for some of the casks that were lashed to her gave way.
The morning of the 26th was employed in getting more casks ready for the same purpose, and in the afternoon we lashed no less than eight-and-thirty under the ship's bottom, but to our great mortification these also proved ineffectual, and we found ourselves reduced to the necessity of waiting till the next spring-tide.
This day some of our gentlemen who had made an excursion into the woods, brought home the leaves of a plant which was thought to be the same that in the West Indies is called coccos; but upon trial the roots proved too acrid to be eaten; the leaves, however, were little inferior to spinnage. In the place where these plants were gathered, grew plenty of the cabbage trees which have occasionally been mentioned before, a kind of wild plantain, the fruit of which was so full of stones as scarcely to be eatable; another fruit was also found about the size of a small golden pippin, but flatter, and of a deep purple colour: When first gathered from the tree, it was very hard and disagreeable, but after being kept a few days became soft, and tasted very much like an indifferent damascene.
The next morning we began to move some of the weight from the after-part of the ship forward, to ease her; in the mean time the armourer continued to work at the forge, the carpenter was busy in caulking the ship, and the men employed in filling water and overhauling the rigging: In the forenoon, I went myself in the pinnace up the harbour, and made several hauls with the seine, but caught only between twenty and thirty fish, which were given to the sick and convalescent.
On the 28th, Mr Banks went with some of the seamen up the country, to shew them the plant which in the West Indies is called Indian kale, and which served us for greens. Tupia had much meliorated the root of the coccos, by giving them a long dressing in his country oven, but they were so small that we did not think them an object for the ship. In their walk they found one tree which had been notched for the convenience of climbing it, in the same manner with those, we had seen in Botany Bay: They saw also many nests of white ants, which resemble those of the East Indies, the most pernicious insects in the world. The nests were of a pyramidical figure, from a few inches to six feet high, and very much resembled the stones in England, which are said to be monuments of the Druids. Mr Gore who was also this day four or five miles up the country, reported that he had seen the footsteps of men, and tracked animals of three or four different sorts, but had not been fortunate enough to see either man or beast.
At two o'clock in the morning of the 20th, I observed, in conjunction with Mr Green, an emersion of Jupiter's first satellite; the time here was 2h 18' 53", which gave the longitude of this place 214° 42' 30" W.; its latitude is 15° 26' S. At break of day, I sent the boat out again with the seine, and in the afternoon it returned with as much fish as enabled me to give every man a pound and a half. One of my midshipmen, an American, who was this day abroad with his gun, reported that he had seen a wolf, exactly like those which he had been used to see in his own country, and that he had shot at it, but did not kill it.
The next morning, encouraged by the success of the day before, I sent the boat again to haul the seine, and another party to gather greens: I sent also some of the young gentlemen to take a plan of the harbour, and went myself upon a hill, which lies over the south point, to take a view of the sea. At this time it was low water, and I saw, with great concern, innumerable sand-banks and shoals lying all along the coast in every direction. The innermost lay about three or four miles from the shore, the outermost extended as far as I could see with my glass, and many of them did but just rise above water. There was some appearance of a passage to the northward, and I had no hope of getting clear but in that direction, for as the wind blows constantly from the S.E., it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to return back to the southward.
Mr Gore reported that he had this day seen two animals like dogs, of a straw colour, that they ran like a hare, and were about the same size. In the afternoon, the people returned from hauling the seine, with still better success than before, for I was now able to distribute two pounds and an half to each man: The greens that had been gathered I ordered to be boiled among the peas, and they made an excellent mess, which, with copious supplies of fish, afforded us unspeakable refreshment.
The next day, July the 1st, being Sunday, every body had liberty to go ashore, except one from each mess, who were again sent out with the seine. The seine was again equally successful, and the people who went up the country gave an account of having seen several animals, though none of them were to be caught. They saw a fire also about a mile up the river, and Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, picked up the husk of a cocoa-nut, which had been cast upon the beach, and was full of barnacles: This probably might come from some island to windward, perhaps from the Terra del Espirito Santo of Quiros, as we were now in the latitude where it is said to lie. This day the thermometer in the shade rose to 87, which was higher than it had been on any day since we came upon this coast.
Early the next morning, I sent the master in the pinnace out of the harbour, to sound about the shoals in the offing, and look for a channel to the northward: At this time we had a breeze from the land, which continued till about nine o'clock, and was the first we had since our coming into the river. At low water we lashed some empty casks under the ship's bows, having some hope that as the tides were rising she would float the next high water. We still continued to fish with great success, and at high water we again attempted to heave the ship off, but our utmost efforts were still ineffectual.
The next day at noon the master returned, and reported that he had found a passage out to sea between the shoals, and described its situation. The shoals, he said, consisted of coral rocks, many of which were dry at low water, and upon one of which he had been ashore. He found here some cockles of so enormous a size, that one of them was more than two men could eat, and a great variety of other shell-fish, of which he brought us a plentiful supply: In the evening he had also landed in a bay about three leagues to the northward of our station, where he disturbed some of the natives who were at supper; they all fled with the greatest precipitation at his approach, leaving some fresh sea-eggs, and a fire ready kindled, behind them, but there was neither house nor hovel near the place. We observed that although the shoals that lie just within sight of the coast, abound with shell-fish, which may be easily caught at low water; yet we saw no such shells about the fire-places on shore. This day an allegator was seen to swim about us for some time; and at high water we made another effort to float the ship, which happily succeeded: We found however that by lying so long with her head a-ground, and her stern a-float, she had sprung a plank between decks, a-breast of the main-chains, so that it was become necessary to lay her ashore again.
The next morning was employed in trimming her upon an even keel, and in the afternoon, having warped her over, and waited for high water, we laid her ashore on the sandbank on the south side of the river; for the damage she had received already from the great descent of the ground, made me afraid to lay her broad-side to the shore in the same place from which we had just floated her. I was now very desirous to make another trial to come at her bottom, where the sheathing had been rubbed off, but though she had scarcely four feet water under her, when the tide was out, yet that part was not dry.
On the 5th, I got one of the carpenter's crew, a man in whom I could confide, to go down again to the ship's bottom, and examine the place. He reported, that three streaks of the sheathing, about eight feet long, were wanting, and that the main plank had been a little rubbed. This account perfectly agreed with the report of the master, and others, who had been under her bottom before: I had the comfort, however, to find the carpenter of opinion that this would be of little consequence, and therefore, the other damage being repaired, she was again floated at high water, and moored alongside the beach, where the stores had been deposited; we then went to work to take the stores on board, and put her in a condition for the sea. This day, Mr Banks crossed to the other side of the harbour, where, as he walked along a sandy beach, he found innumerable fruits, and many of them such as no plants which he had discovered in this country produced: Among others were some cocoa-nuts, which Tupia said had been opened by a kind of crab, which from his description we judged to be the same that the Dutch call Beurs Krabbe, and which we had not seen in these seas. All the vegetable substances which he found in this place were encrusted with marine productions, and covered with barnacles; a sure sign that they must have come far by sea, and, as the trade-wind blows right upon the shore, probably from Terra del Espirito Santo, which has been mentioned already.
The next morning, Mr Banks, with Lieutenant Gore, and three men, set out in a small boat up the river, with a view to spend two or three days in an excursion, to examine the country, and kill some of the animals which had been so often seen at a distance.
On the 7th, I sent the master again out to sound about the shoals, the account which he had brought me of the channel being by no means satisfactory; and we spent the remainder of this day, and the morning of the next, in fishing, and other necessary occupations.
About four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr Banks and his party returned, and gave us an account of their expedition. Having proceeded about three leagues among swamps and mangroves, they went up into the country, which they found to differ but little from what they had seen before: They pursued their course therefore up the river, which at length was contracted into a narrow channel, and was bounded, not by swamps and mangroves, but by steep banks, that were covered with trees of a most beautiful verdure, among which was that which in the West Indies is called Mohoe, or the bark tree, the hibiscus tiliaceus; the land within was in general low, and had a thick covering of long grass: The soil seemed to be such as promised great fertility to any who should plant and improve it. In the course of the day, Tupia saw an animal, which, by his description, Mr Banks judged to be a wolf: They also saw three other animals, but could neither catch nor kill one of them, and a kind of bat, as large, as a partridge, but this also eluded all their diligence and skill. At night, they took up their lodging close to the banks of the river, and made a fire, but the musquitos swarmed about them in such numbers, that their quarters were almost untenable: They followed them into the smoke, and almost into the fire, which, hot as the climate was, they could better endure than the stings of these insects, which were an intolerable torment. The fire, the flies, and the want of a better bed than the ground, rendered the night extremely uncomfortable, so that they passed it not in sleep, but in restless wishes for the return of day. With the first dawn they set out in search of game, and in a walk of many miles, they saw four animals of the same kind, two of which Mr Banks's greyhound fairly chaced, but they threw him out at a great distance, by leaping over the long thick grass, which prevented his running: This animal was observed not to run upon four legs, but to bound or hop forward upon two, like the Jerbua, or Mus Jaculus. About noon, they returned to the boat, and again proceeded up the river, which was soon contracted into a fresh-water brook, where, however, the tide rose to a considerable height. As evening approached, it became low water, and it was then so shallow that they were obliged to get out of the boat and drag her along, till they could find a place in which they might, with some hope of rest, pass the night. Such a place at length offered, and while they were getting the things out of the boat, they observed a smoke at the distance of about a furlong: As they did not doubt but that some of the natives, with whom they had so long and earnestly desired to become personally acquainted, were about the fire, three of the party went immediately towards it, hoping that so small a number would not put them to flight: When they came up to the place, however, they found it deserted, and therefore they conjectured, that before they had discovered the Indians, the Indians had discovered them. They found the fire still burning, in the hollow of an old tree that was become touch-wood, and several branches of trees newly broken down, with which children had been playing: They observed also many footsteps upon the sand, below high-water mark, which were certain indications that the Indians had been recently upon the spot. Several houses were found at a little distance, and some ovens dug in the ground, in the same manner as those of Otaheite, in which victuals appeared to have been dressed since the morning; and scattered about them, lay some shells of a kind of clamm, and some fragments of roots, the refuse of the meal. After regretting their disappointment, they repaired to their quarters, which was a broad sand-bank, under the shelter of a bush. Their beds were plantain leaves, which they spread upon the sand, and which were as soft as a mattress; their cloaks served them for bed-clothes, and some bunches of grass for pillows: With these accommodations they hoped to pass a better night than the last, especially as, to their great comfort, not a musquito was to be seen. Here then they lay down, and, such is the force of habit, they resigned themselves to sleep, without once reflecting upon the probability and danger of being found by the Indians in that situation. If this appears strange, let us for a moment reflect, that every danger, and every calamity, after a time becomes familiar, and loses its effect upon the mind. If it were possible that a man should first be made acquainted with his mortality, or even with the inevitable debility and infirmities of old age, when his understanding had arrived at its full strength, and life was endeared by the enjoyments of youth, and vigour, and health, with what an agony of terror and distress would the intelligence be received! yet, being gradually acquainted with these mournful truths, by insensible degrees, we scarce know when, they lose all their force, and we think no more of the approach of old age and death, than these wanderers of an unknown desert did of a less obvious and certain evil, the approach of the native savages, at a time when they must have fallen an easy prey to their malice or their fears. And it is remarkable, that the greater part of those who have been condemned to suffer a violent death, have slept the night immediately preceding their execution, though there is perhaps no instance of a person accused of a capital crime having slept the first night of his confinement. Thus is the evil of life in some degree a remedy for itself, and though every man at twenty deprecates fourscore, almost every man is as tenacious of life at fourscore as at twenty; and if he does not suffer under any painful disorder, loses as little of the comforts that remain by reflecting that he is upon the brink of the grave, where the earth already crumbles under his feet, as he did of the pleasures of his better days, when his dissolution, though certain, was supposed to be at a distance.[84]
[Footnote 84: The reader will receive this hypothetical statement as he finds it agreeable, or not, to his own experience,--a better guide, in all probability, than mere philosophy. The writer has his doubts upon the subject. But let every one judge for himself. For his part, he is convinced that frequent contemplation of death, though it certainly aids the mind in reasoning about it, does not lessen the apprehension of it, but the reverse: so that, did not some peculiar principle come to his aid, and seem indeed to acquire continually more clearness and efficiency, his distress or uneasy feeling would be much heightened by the exercise. But he sees no reason either to expect, or to wish, that it may be ever otherwise with him; for he is persuaded, that much of man's dignity and welfare consists in his seeing things just as they are, without any disguise or delusion; and that whatever death really is, there is an infallible remedy provided against its greatest terrors, to which he can always have recourse. So far, on the other hand, as his observation on others, which has not been small, extends, he would notice, that, on the whole, young persons die more easily than the aged; he means, they submit to that event, when really imminent, with more apparent tranquillity, though, when at a distance, they are much less disposed either to think or to speak about it. It will not be easy to reconcile these two facts with the reasoning in the text. But to be sure, a wider induction is requisite for the establishment of any theory. This is not the place for it. The instances adduced by Dr H. in support of his theory, are explicable on another principle, viz. that every excitement of mind or body is followed by a depression precisely proportioned to its intensity. This seems a law in our economy, deducible from almost unlimited observation, and of extreme importance, both in point of fact, and as a principle for discussion. Before ending this note, it is suggested to the reader, to consult, on the subjects of it, his own heart and mind, in preference to all the books ever written, save one. If that one enforce the dictates promulgated within, and at the same time minister consolation, he will smile at philosophy, and gain the best victory over the fear of death. To him then, notwithstanding every outward difficulty to which he can possibly be exposed, and all that inward strife and humiliation which he cannot but experience, the words of Cowper will be expressively applicable:--"Therefore in Contemplation is his bliss, Whose power is such, that whom she lifts from earth She makes familiar with a heaven unseen, And shows him glories yet to be revealed."But this is a mystery!--E.]
Our travellers having slept, without once awaking, till the morning, examined the river, and finding the tide favoured their return, and the country promised nothing worthy of a farther search, they re-embarked in their boat, and made the best of their way to the ship.
Soon after the arrival of this party, the master also returned, having been seven leagues out to sea, and he was now of opinion that there was no getting out where before, he thought there had been a passage: His expedition, however, was by no means without its advantage; for having been a second time upon the rock where he had seen the large cockles, he met with a great number of turtle, three of which he caught, that together weighed seven hundred and ninety-one pounds, though he had no better instrument than a boat-hook.
The next morning, therefore, I sent him out again, with proper instruments for taking them, and Mr Banks went with him; but the success did not at all answer our expectations, for, by the unaccountable conduct of the officer, not a single turtle was taken, nor could he be persuaded to return: Mr Banks, however, went ashore upon the reef, where he saw several of the large cockles, and having collected many shells and marine productions, he returned at eleven o'clock at night in his own small boat, the master still continuing with the large one upon the rock. In the afternoon, seven or eight of the natives had appeared on the south side of the river, and two of them came down to the sandy point, opposite to the ship; but upon seeing me put off in a boat to speak with them, they all ran away with the greatest precipitation.
As the master continued absent with the boat all night, I was forced to send the second lieutenant for him early the next morning in the yawl; and soon after, four of the natives appeared upon the sandy point, on the north side of the river, having with them a small wooden canoe, with out-riggers: They seemed for some time to be busily employed in striking fish. Some of our people were for going over to them in a boat, but this I would by no means permit, repeated experience having convinced me that it was more likely to prevent, than procure an interview. I was determined to try what could be done by a contrary method, and accordingly let them alone, without appearing to take the least notice of them: This succeeded so well, that at length two of them came in the canoe within a musket-shot of the ship, and there talked a great deal in a very loud tone. We understood nothing that they said, and therefore could answer their harangue only by shouting, and making all the signs of invitation and kindness that we could devise. During this conference, they came, insensibly, nearer and nearer, holding up their lances, not in a threatening manner, but as if to intimate that if we offered them any injury, they had weapons to revenge it. When they were almost along-side of us, we threw them some cloth, nails, beads, paper, and other trifles, which they received without the least appearance of satisfaction: At last, one of the people happened to throw them a small fish; at this they expressed the greatest joy imaginable, and intimating, by signs, that they would fetch their companions, immediately paddled away towards the shore. In the mean time some of our people, and among them Tupia, landed on the opposite side of the river. The canoe, with all the four Indians, very soon returned to the ship, and came quite along-side, without expressing any fear or distrust. We distributed some more presents among them, and soon after they left us, and landed on the same side of the river where our people had gone ashore: Every man carried in his hand two lances, and a stick, which is used in throwing them, and advanced to the place where Tupia and the rest of our people were sitting. Tupia soon prevailed upon them to lay down their arms, and come forward without them: He then made signs that they should sit down by him, with which they complied, and seemed to be under no apprehension or constraint: Several more of us then going ashore, they expressed some jealousy lest we should get between them and their arms; we took care, however, to shew them that we had no such intention, and having joined them, we made them some more presents, as a farther testimony of our good-will, and our desire to obtain theirs. We continued together, with the utmost cordiality, till dinner-time, and then giving them to understand that we were going to eat, we invited them, by signs, to go with us: This, however, they declined, and as soon as we left them, they went away in their canoe. One of these men was somewhat above the middle age, the other three were young; they were in general of the common stature, but their limbs were remarkably small; their skin was of the colour of wood soot, or what would be called a dark chocolate colour; their hair was black, but not woolly; it was short cropped, in some lank, and in others curled. Dampier says, that the people whom he saw on the western coast of this country wanted two of their fore-teeth, but these had no such defect. Some part of their bodies had been painted red, and the upper-lip and breast of one of them was painted with streaks of white, which he called Carbanda; their features were far from disagreeable, their eyes were lively, and their teeth even and white; their voices were soft and tunable, and they repeated many words after us with great facility. In the night, Mr Gore and the master returned with the long-boat, and brought one turtle and a few shell-fish. The yawl had been left upon the shoal with six men, to make a farther trial for turtle.
The next morning, we had another visit from four of the natives; three of them had been with us before, but the fourth was a stranger, whose name, as we learnt from his companions who introduced him, was Yaparico. This gentleman was distinguished by an ornament of a very striking appearance: It was the bone of a bird, nearly as thick as a man's finger, and five or six inches long, which he had thrust into a hole made in the gristle that divides the nostrils. Of this we had seen one instance, and only one, in New Zealand; but upon examination, we found that among all these people this part of the nose was perforated, to receive an ornament of the same kind: They had also holes in their ears, though nothing was then hanging to them, and had bracelets upon the upper part of their arms, made of plaited hair; so that, like the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, they seem to be fond of ornament, though they are absolutely without apparel; and one of them, to whom I had given part of an old shirt, instead of throwing it over any part of his body, tied it as a fillet round his head. They brought with them a fish, which they gave us, as we supposed, in return for the fish that we had given them the day before. They seemed to be much pleased, and in no haste to leave us; but seeing some of our gentlemen examine their canoe with great curiosity and attention, they were alarmed, and jumping immediately into it, paddled away without speaking a word.
About two the next morning, the yawl, which had been left upon the shoal, returned, with three turtles and a large skeat. As it seemed now probable that this fishery might be prosecuted with advantage, I sent her out again, after breakfast, for a further supply. Soon after, three Indians ventured down to Tupia's tent, and were so well pleased with their reception, that one of them went with the canoe to fetch two others whom we had never seen: When he returned, he introduced the strangers by name, a ceremony which, upon such occasions, was never omitted. As they had received the fish that was thrown into their canoe, when they first approached the ship, with so much pleasure, some fish was offered to them now, and we were greatly surprised to see that it was received with the greatest indifference: They made signs, however, to some of the people, that they should dress it for them, which was immediately done, but after eating a little of it, they threw the rest to Mr Banks's dog. They staid with us all the forenoon, but would never venture above twenty yards from their canoe. We now perceived that the colour of their skin was not so dark as it appeared, what we had taken for their complexion, being the effects of dirt and smoke, in which, we imagined, they contrived to sleep, notwithstanding the heat of the climate, as the only means in their power to keep off the musquitos. Among other things that we had given them when we first saw them, were some medals, which we had hung round their necks by a ribband; and these ribbands were so changed by smoke, that we could not easily distinguish of what colour they had been: This incident led us more narrowly to examine the colour of their skin. While these people were with us, we saw two others on the point of land that lay on the opposite side of the river, at the distance of about two hundred yards, and by our glasses discovered them to be a woman and a boy; the woman, like the rest, being stark naked. We observed, that all of them were remarkably clean-limbed, and exceedingly active and nimble. One of these strangers had a necklace of shells, very prettily made, and a bracelet upon his arm, formed of several strings, so as to resemble what in England is called gymp: Both of them had a piece of bark tied over the forehead, and were disfigured by the bone in the nose. We thought their language more harsh than that of the islanders in the South Sea, and they were continually repeating the word chercau, which we imagined to be a term expressing admiration, by the manner in which it was uttered: They also cried out, when they saw any thing new, Cher, tut, tut, tut, tut! which probably had a similar signification. Their canoe was not above ten feel long, and very narrow, but it was fitted with an outrigger, much like those of the islands, though in every respect very much inferior: When it was in shallow water, they set it on with poles, and when in deep, they worked it with paddles about four feet long: It contained just four people, so that the people who visited us to-day went away at two turns. Their lances were like those that we had seen in Botany Bay, except that they had but a single point, which in some of them was the sting of the ray, and barbed with two or three sharp bones of the same fish: It was indeed a most terrible weapon, and the instrument which they used in throwing it, seemed to be formed with more art than any we had seen before. About twelve o'clock next day, the yawl returned, with another turtle, and a large sting-ray, and in the evening, was sent out again.
The next morning, two of the Indians came on board, but after a short stay, went along the shore, and applied themselves with great diligence to the striking of fish. Mr Gore, who went out this day with his gun, had the good fortune to kill one of the animals which had been so much the subject of our speculation. This animal is called by the natives Kangaroo. The next day it was dressed for dinner, and proved most excellent meat; we might now indeed be said to fare sumptuously every day, for we had turtle in great plenty, and we all agreed that they were much better than any we had tasted in England, which we imputed to their being eaten fresh from the sea, before their natural fat had been wasted, or their juices changed by a diet and situation so different from what the sea affords them, as garbage and a tub. Most of those that we caught here, were of the kind called green turtle, and weighed from two to three hundred weight, and when these were killed, they were always found to be full of turtle-grass which our naturalists took to be a kind of conferva: Two of them were loggerheads, the flesh of which was much less delicious, and in their stomachs nothing was to be found but shells.
In the morning of the 16th, while the people were employed as usual in getting the ship ready for the sea, I climbed one of the hills on the north side of the river, from which I had an extensive view of the inland country, and found it agreeably diversified by hills, vallies, and large plains, which in many places were richly covered with wood. This evening, we observed an emersion of Jupiter's first satellite, which gave 214° 53' 45" of longitude. The observation which was made on the 29th of June gave 214° 42' 30"; the mean is 214° 48' 7-1/2", the longitude of this place west of Greenwich.
On the 17th, I sent the master and one of the mates in the pinnace to look for a channel to the northward; and I went myself with Mr Banks and Dr Solander into the woods on the other side of the water. Tupia, who had been thither by himself, reported, that he had seen three Indians who had given him some roots about as thick as a man's finger, in shape not much unlike a radish, and of a very agreeable taste. This induced us to go over, hoping that we should be able to improve our acquaintance with the natives; in a very little time we discovered four of them in a canoe, who, as soon as they saw us, came ashore, and, though they were all strangers, walked up to us, without any signs of suspicion or fear. Two of these had necklaces of shells, which we could not persuade them to part with for any thing we could give them: We presented them however with some beads, and after a short stay they departed. We attempted to follow them, hoping that they would conduct us to some place where we should find more of them, and have an opportunity of seeing their women; but they made us understand, by signs, that they did not desire our company.
At eight o'clock the next morning, we were visited by several of the natives, who were now become quite familiar. One of them, at our desire, threw his lance, which was about eight feet-long: It flew with a swiftness and steadiness that surprised us, and though it was never more than four feet from the ground, it entered deeply into a tree at fifty paces distance. After this they ventured on board, where I left them, to all appearance, much entertained, and went again with Mr Banks to take a view of the country; but chiefly to indulge an anxious curiosity, by looking round us upon the sea, of which our wishes almost persuaded us we had formed an idea more disadvantageous than the truth. After having walked about seven or eight miles along the shore to the northward, we ascended a very high hill, and were soon convinced that the danger of our situation was at least equal to our apprehensions; for in whatever direction we turned our eyes, we saw rocks and shoals without number, and no passage out to sea, but through the winding channels between them, which could not be navigated without the last degree of difficulty and danger. We returned therefore to the ship, not in better spirits than when we left it: We found several natives still on board, and we were told that the turtles, of which we had no less than twelve upon the deck, had fixed their attention more than any thing else in the ship.
On the 19th in the morning, we were visited by ten of the natives, the greater part from the other side of the river, where we saw six or seven more, most of them women, and, like all the rest of the people we had seen in this country, they were stark naked. Our guests brought with them a greater number of lances than they had ever done before, and having laid them up in a tree, they set a man and a boy to watch them: The rest then came on board, and we soon perceived that they had determined to get one of our turtle, which was probably as great a dainty to them as to us. They first asked us by signs, to give them one; and being refused, they expressed, both by looks and gestures, great disappointment and anger. At this time we happened to have no victuals dressed, but I offered one of them some biscuit, which he snatched and threw overboard with great disdain. One of them renewed his request to Mr Banks, and upon a refusal stamped with his foot, and pushed him from him in a transport of resentment and indignation: Having applied by turns to almost every person who appeared to have any command in the ship, without success, they suddenly seized two of the turtles, and dragged them towards the side of the ship where their canoe lay: Our people soon forced them out of their hands, and replaced them with the rest. They would not however relinquish their enterprise, but made several other attempts of the same kind, in all which being equally disappointed, they suddenly leaped into their canoe in a rage, and began to paddle towards the shore. At the same time I went into the boat with Mr Banks, and five or six of the ship's crew, and we got ashore before them, where many more of our people were already engaged in various employments; as soon as they landed, they seized their arms, and before we were aware of their design, they snatched a brand from under a pitch kettle which was boiling, and making a circuit to the windward of the few things we had on shore, they set fire to the grass in their way, with surprising quickness and dexterity: The grass, which was five or six feet high, and as dry as stubble, burnt with amazing fury; and the fire made a rapid progress towards a tent of Mr Banks's, which had been set up for Tupia when he was sick, taking in its course a sow and pigs, one of which it scorched to death. Mr Banks leaped into a boat, and fetched some people from on board, just time enough to save his tent, by hauling it down upon the beach; but the smith's forge, at least such part of it as would burn, was consumed. While this was doing, the Indians went to a place at some distance, where several of our people were washing, and where our nets, among which was the seine, and a great quantity of linen, were laid out to dry; here they again set fire to the grass, entirely disregarding both threats and entreaties. "We were therefore obliged to discharge a musquet, loaded with small shot, at one of them, which drew blood at the distance of about forty yards, and this putting them to flight, we extinguished the fire at this place before it had made much progress; but where the grass had been first kindled, it spread into the woods to a great distance. As the Indians were still in sight, I fired a musquet, charged with ball, abreast of them among the mangroves, to convince them that they were not yet out of our reach: Upon hearing the ball they quickened their pace, and we soon lost sight of them. We thought they would now give us no more trouble; but soon after we heard their voices in the woods, and perceived that they came nearer and nearer. I set out, therefore, with Mr Banks and three or four more, to meet them: When our parties came in sight of each other, they halted; except one old man, who came forward to meet us: At length he stopped, and having uttered some words, which we were very sorry we could not understand, he went back to his companions, and the whole body slowly retreated. We found means however to seize some of their darts, and continued to follow them about a mile: We then sat down upon some rocks, from which we could observe their motions, and they also sat down at about an hundred yards distance. After a short time, the old man again advanced towards us, carrying in his hand a lance without a point: He stopped several times, at different distances, and spoke; we answered by beckoning and making such signs of amity as we could devise; upon which the messenger of peace, as we supposed him to be, turned and spoke aloud to his companions, who then set up their lances against a tree, and advanced towards us in a friendly manner: When they came up, we returned the darts or lances that we had taken from them, and we perceived with great satisfaction that this rendered the reconciliation complete. We found in this party four persons whom we had never seen before, who as usual were introduced to us by name; but the man who had been wounded in the attempt to burn our nets and linen, was not among them; we knew however that he could not be dangerously hurt, by the distance at which the shot reached him. We made all of them presents of such trinkets as we had about us, and they walked back with us towards the ship: As we went along, they told us, by signs, that they would not set fire to the grass any more; and we distributed among them some musquet balls, and endeavoured to make them understand their use and effect. When they came abreast of the ship, they sat down, but could not be prevailed upon to come on board; we therefore left them, and in about two hours they went away, soon after which we perceived the woods on fire at about two miles distance. If this accident had happened a very little while sooner, the consequence might have been dreadful; for our powder had been aboard but a few-days, and the store-tent, with many valuable things which it contained, had not been removed many hours. We had no idea of the fury with which grass would burn in this hot climate, nor consequently of the difficulty of extinguishing it; but we determined, that if it should ever again be necessary for us to pitch our tents in such a situation, our first measure should be to clear the ground round us.
In the afternoon we got every thing on board the ship, new-birthed her, and let her swing with the tide; and at night the master returned, with the discouraging account that there was no passage for the ship to the northward.
The next morning, at low water, I went and sounded and buoyed the bar, the ship being now ready for sea. We saw no Indians this day, but all the hills round us for many miles were on fire, which at night made a most striking and beautiful appearance.
The 21st past without our getting sight of any of the inhabitants, and indeed without a single incident worth notice. On the 22d, we killed a turtle for the day's provision, upon opening which we found a wooden harpoon or turtle-peg, about as thick as a man's finger, near fifteen inches long, and bearded at the end, such as we had seen among the natives, sticking through both shoulders: It appeared to have been struck a considerable time, for the wound had perfectly healed up over the weapon.
Early in the morning of the 23d, I sent some people into the country to gather a supply of the greens which have been before mentioned by the name of Indian Kale; one of them having straggled from the rest, suddenly fell in with four Indians, three men and a boy, whom he did not see, till, by turning short in the wood, he found himself among them. They had kindled a fire, and were broiling a bird of some kind, and part of a Kangaroo, the remainder of which, and a cockatoo, hung at a little distance upon a tree: The man, being unarmed, was at first greatly terrified; but he had the presence of mind not to run away, judging very rightly, that he was most likely to incur danger by appearing to apprehend it; on the contrary, he went and sat down by them, and, with an air of chearfulness and good humour, offered them his knife, the only thing he had about him which he thought would be acceptable to them; they received it, and having handed it from one to the other, they gave it him again: He then made an offer to leave them; but this they seemed not disposed to permit: Still however he dissembled his fears, and sat down again; they considered him with great attention and curiosity, particularly his clothes, and then felt his hands and face, and satisfied themselves that his body was of the same texture with their own. They treated him with the greatest civility, and having kept him about half an hour, they made signs that he might depart: He did not wait for a second dismission, but when he left them, not taking the direct way to the ship, they came from their fire, and directed him; so that they well knew whence he came.
In the mean time, Mr Banks, having made an excursion on the other side of the river to gather plants, found the greatest part of the cloth that had been given to the Indians lying in a heap together, probably as useless lumber, not worth carrying away; and perhaps if he had sought further, he might have found the other trinkets; for they seemed to set very little value upon any thing we had, except our turtle, which was a commodity that we were least able to spare.
The blowing weather, which prevented our attempt to get out to sea, still continuing, Mr Banks and Dr Solander went out again on the 24th to see whether any new plant could be picked up: They traversed the woods all day without success; but as they were returning through a deep valley, the sides of which, though almost as perpendicular as a wall, were covered with trees and bushes; they found lying upon the ground several marking nuts, the Anacardium orientate; these put them upon a new scent, and they made a most diligent search after the tree that bore them, which perhaps no European botanist ever saw; but to their great mortification they could not find it: So that, after spending much time, and cutting down four or five trees, they returned quite exhausted with fatigue to the ship.
On the 25th, having made an excursion up the river, I found a canoe belonging to our friends the Indians, whom we had not seen since the affair of the turtle; they had left it tied to some mangroves, about a mile distant from the ship, and I could see by their fires that they were retired at least six miles directly inland.
As Mr Banks was again gleaning the country for his Natural History on the 26th, he had the good fortune to take an animal of the Opossum tribe: It was a female, and with, it he took two young ones: It was found much to resemble the remarkable animal of the kind which Mons. de Buffon has described in his Natural History by the name of Phalanger, but it was not the same. Mons. Buffon supposes this tribe to be peculiar to America, but in this he is certainly mistaken; and probably, as Pallas has observed in his Zoology, the Phalanger itself is a native of the East Indies, as the animal which was caught by Mr Banks resembled it in the extraordinary conformation of the feet, in which it differs from animals of every other tribe.
On the 27th, Mr Gore shot a kangaroo, which, with the skin, entrails, and head, weighed eighty-four pounds. Upon examination, however, we found that this animal was not at its full growth, the innermost grinders not being yet formed. We dressed it for dinner the next day; but to our great disappointment, we found it had a much worse flavour than that we had eaten before.
The wind continued in the same quarter, and with the same violence, till five o'clock in the morning of the 29th, when it fell calm; soon after a light breeze sprung up from the land, and it being about two hours ebb, I sent a boat to see what water was upon the bar; in the mean time we got the anchor up, and made all ready to put to sea. But when the boat came back, the officer reported that there was only thirteen feet water upon the bar, which was six inches less than the ship drew. We were therefore obliged to come to, and the sea breeze setting in again about eight o'clock; we gave up all hope of sailing that day.
We had fresh gales at S.E., with hazy weather and rain, till two in the morning of the 31st, when the weather being something more moderate, I had thoughts of trying to warp the ship out of the harbour; but upon going out myself first in the boat, I found it still blow too fresh for the attempt. During all this time the pinnace and yawl continued to ply the net and hook with tolerable success; sometimes taking a turtle, and frequently bringing in from two to three hundred-weight of fish.
On the 1st of August, the carpenter examined the pumps, and to our great mortification, found them all in a state of decay, owing, as he said, to the sap's being left in the wood; one of them was so rotten, as, when hoisted up, to drop to pieces, and the rest were little better; so that our chief trust was now in the soundness of our vessel, which happily did not admit more than one inch of water in an hour.
At six o'clock in the morning of Friday the 3d, we made another unsuccessful attempt to warp the ship out of the harbour; but at five o'clock in the morning of the 4th, our efforts had a better effect, and about seven we got once more under sail, with a light air from the land, which soon died away, and was followed by the sea breezes from S.E. by S., with which we stood off to sea E. by N., having the pinnace a-head, which was ordered to keep sounding continually. The yawl had been sent to the turtle bank to take up the net which had been left there; but as the wind freshened, we got out before her. A little before noon we anchored in fifteen fathom water, with a sandy bottom, for I did not think it safe to run in among the shoals till I had well viewed them at low water from the mast head, which might determine me which way to steer; for as yet I was in doubt whether I should beat back to the southward, round all the shoals, or seek a passage to the eastward or the northward, all which at present appeared to be equally difficult and dangerous. When we were at anchor, the harbour from which we sailed bore S. 70 W., distant about five leagues; the northermost point of the main in sight, which I named Cape Bedford, and which lies in latitude 15° 16' S. longitude 214° 45' W., bore N. 20 W., distant three leagues and a half; but to the N.E. of this cape we could see land which had the appearance of two high islands: The turtle banks bore east, distant one mile; our latitude by observation was 15° 32' S., and our depth of water in standing off from the land was from three and a half to fifteen fathom.
SECTION XXXII.
Departure from Endeavour River; a particular Description of the Harbour there, in which the Ship was refitted, the adjacent Country, and several Islands near the Coast; the Range from Endeavour River to the Northern Extremity of the Country, and the Dangers of that Navigation.
To the harbour which we had now left, I gave the name of Endeavour River. It is only a small bar, harbour, or creek, which runs in a winding channel three or four leagues inland, and at the head of which there is a small brook of fresh water: There is not depth of water for shipping above a mile within the bar, and at this distance only on the north side; where the bank is so steep for near a quarter of a mile, that a ship may lie afloat at low water, so near the shore as to reach it with a stage, and the situation is extremely convenient for heaving down; but at low water the depth upon the bar is not more than nine or ten feet, nor more than seventeen or eighteen at the height of the tide; the difference between high and low water, at spring tides, being about nine feet. At the new and full of the moon it is high water between nine and ten o'clock: It must also be remembered, that this part of the coast is so barricaded with shoals, as to make the harbour still more difficult of access; the safest approach is from the southward, keeping the main land close upon the board all the way. Its situation may always be found by the latitude, which has been very accurately laid down. Over the south point is some high land, but the north point is formed by a low sandy beach, which extends about three miles to the northward, where the land begins again to be high.
The chief refreshment that we procured here was turtle, but as they were not to be had without going five leagues out to sea, and the weather was frequently tempestuous, we did not abound with this dainty: What we caught, as well as the fish, was always equally divided among us all by weight, the meanest person on board having the same share as myself; and I think every commander, in such a voyage as this, will find it his interest to follow the same rule. In several parts of the sandy beaches, and sand hills near the sea, we found purslain, and a kind of bean that grows upon a stalk, which creeps along the ground: The purslain we found very good when it was boiled, and the beans are not to be despised, for we found them of great service to our sick: The best greens, however, that could be procured here, were the tops of the coccos, which have been mentioned already, as known in the West Indies by the name of Indian kale: These were, in our opinion, not much inferior to spinnage, which in taste they somewhat resemble; the roots indeed are not good, but they might probably be meliorated by proper cultivation. They are found here chiefly in boggy ground. The few cabbage palms that we met with were in general small, and yielded so little cabbage that they were not worth seeking.
Besides the kanguroo and the opossum that have been already mentioned, and a kind of pole-cat, there are wolves upon this part of the coast, if we were not deceived by the tracks upon the ground, and several species of serpents; some of the serpents are venomous, and some harmless: There are no tame animals here except dogs, and of these we saw but two or three, which frequently came about the tents to pick up the scraps and bones that happened to lie scattered near them. There does not indeed seem to be many of any animal except the kanguroo; we scarcely saw any other above once, but this we met with almost every time we went into the woods. Of land-fowls we saw crows, kites, hawks, cockatoos of two sorts, one white and the other black, a very beautiful kind of loriquets, some parrots, pigeons of two or three sorts, and several small birds not known in Europe. The water-fowls are herns, whistling ducks, which perch, and, I believe, roost upon trees, wild geese, curlieus, and a few others, but these do not abound. The face of the country, which has been occasionally mentioned before, is agreeably diversified by hill and valley, lawn and wood. The soil of the hills is hard, dry, and stony, yet it produces coarse grass besides wood: The soil of the plains and vallies is in some places sand, and in some clay; in some also it is rocky and stony, like the hills; in general, however, it is well clothed, and has at least the appearance of fertility. The whole country, both hill and valley, wood and plain, abounds with anthills, some of which are six or eight feet high, and twice as much in circumference. The trees here are not of many sorts; the gum tree, which we found on the southern part of the coast, is the most common, but here it is not so large: On each side of the river, through its whole course, there are mangroves in great numbers, which in some places extend a mile within the coast. The country is in all parts well watered, there being several fine rivulets at a small distance from each other, but none in the place where we lay, at least not during the time we were there, which was the dry season; we were, however, well supplied with water by springs, which were not far off.
In the afternoon of the 4th, we had a gentle breeze at S.E., and clear weather, but as I did not intend to sail till the morning, I sent all the boats to the reef to get what turtle and shell-fish they could. At low water I went up to the mast-head and took a view of the shoals, which made a very threatening appearance: I could see several at a remote distance, and part of many of them was above water. The sea appeared most open to the north-east of the turtle reef, and I came to a resolution to stretch out that way close upon a wind, because, if we should find no passage, we could always return the way we went. In the evening, the boats brought in a turtle, a sting-ray, and as many large cockles as came to about a pound and a half a man, for in each of them there was not less than two pounds of meat: In the night also we caught several sharks, which, though not a dainty, were an acceptable increase of our fresh provision.
In the morning I waited till half ebb before I weighed, because at that time the shoals begin to appear, but the wind then blew so hard that I was obliged to remain at anchor: In the afternoon, however, the gale becoming more moderate, we got under sail, and stood out upon a wind N.E. by E., leaving the turtle reef to windward, and having the pinnace sounding a-head: We had not kept this course long before we discovered shoals before us, and upon both the bows; and at half an hour after four, having run about eight miles, the pinnace made the signal for shoal water, where we little expected it: Upon this we tacked, and stood on and off, while the pinnace stretched farther to the eastward, and night approaching, I came to an anchor in twenty fathom water, with a muddy bottom. Endeavour River then bore S. 52 W.; Cape Bedford W. by N. 1/2 N., distant five leagues; the northermost land in sight, which had the appearance of an island, N.; and a shoal, a small sandy part of which appeared above water, bore N.E., distant between two and three miles: In standing off from turtle reef to this place, we had from fourteen to twenty fathom water, but when the pinnace was about a mile farther to the E.N.E., there was no more than four or five feet water, with rocky ground, and yet this did not appear to us in the ship. In the morning of the 6th, we had a strong gale, so that instead of weighing, we were obliged to veer away more cable, and strike our top-gallant yards. At low water, myself, with several of the officers, kept a look-out at the mast-head to see if any passage could be discovered between the shoals, but nothing was in view except breakers, extending from the S. round by the E. as far as N.W., and out to sea beyond the reach of our sight; these breakers, however, did not appear to be caused by one continued shoal, but by several which lay detached from each other: On that which lay farthest to the eastward, the sea broke very high, which made me think it was the outermost, for upon many of these within, the breakers were inconsiderable, and from about half ebb to half flood, they were not to be seen at all, which makes sailing among them still more dangerous, especially as the shoals here consist principally of coral rocks, which are as steep as a wall; upon some of them, however, and generally at the north end, there are patches of sand, which are covered only at high water, and which are to be discerned at some distance. Being now convinced that there was no passage to sea but through the labyrinth formed by these shoals, I was altogether at a loss which way to steer, when the weather should permit us to get under sail. It was the master's opinion that we should beat back the way we came, but this would have been an endless labour, as the wind blew strongly from that quarter, almost without intermission; on the other hand, if no passage could be found to the northward, we should be compelled to take that measure at last. These anxious deliberations engaged us till eleven o'clock at night, when the ship drove, and obliged us to veer away to a cable and one third, which brought her up; but in the morning, the gale increasing, she drove again, and we therefore let go the small bower, and veered away to a whole cable upon it, and two cables on the other anchors, yet she still drove, though not so fast; we then got down top gallant-gallant-masts, and struck the yards and topmasts close down, and at last had the satisfaction to find that she rode. Cape Bedford now bore W.S.W. distant three leagues and a half, and in this situation we had shoals to the eastward, extending from the S.E. by S. to the N.N.W., the nearest of which was about two miles distant. As the gale continued, with little remission, we rode till seven o'clock in the morning of the 10th, when it being more moderate, we weighed and stood in for the land, having at length determined to seek a passage along the shore to the northward, still keeping the boat a-head: During our run in we had from nineteen to twelve fathom: After standing in about an hour, we edged away for three small islands that lay N.N.E. 1/2 E., three leagues from Cape Bedford, which the master had visited while we were in port. At nine o'clock we were a-breast of them, and between them and the main: Between us and the main there was another low island, which lies N.N.W. four miles from the three islands; and in this channel we had fourteen fathom water. The northermost point of land in sight now bore N.N.W. 1/2 W., distant about two leagues. Four or five leagues to the north of this head-land we saw three islands, near which lay some that were still smaller, and we could see the shoals and reefs without us, extending to the northward, as far as these islands: Between these reefs and the headland we directed our course, leaving to the eastward a small island, which lies N. by E., distant four miles from the three islands. At noon, we were got between the headland and the three islands: From the head-land we were distant two leagues, and from the islands four; our latitude by observation was 14° 51'. We now thought we saw a clear opening before us, and hoped that we were once more out of danger; in this hope, however, we soon found ourselves disappointed, and for that reason I called the head-land Cape Flattery. It lies in latitude 14° 56' S., longitude 214° 43' W., and is a lofty promontory, making next the sea in two hills, which have a third behind them, with low sandy ground on each side: It may, however, be still better known by the three islands out at sea: The northermost and largest lies about five leagues from the cape, in the direction of N.N.E. From Cape Flattery the land trends away N.W. and N.W. by W. We steered along the shore N.W. by W. till one o'clock, for what we thought the open channel; when the potty officer at the mast-head cried-out that he saw land a-head, extending quite round to the islands that lay without us, and a large reef between us and them: Upon this I ran up to the mast-head myself, from whence I very plainly saw the reef, which was now so far to windward, that we could not weather it, but the land a-head, which he had supposed to be the main, appeared to me to be only a bluster of small islands. As soon as I got down from the mast-head, the master and some others went up, who all insisted that the land a-head was not islands, but the main; and, to make their report still more alarming, they said that they saw breakers all round us. In this dilemma, we hauled upon a wind in for the land, and made the signal for the boat that was sounding a-head to come on board, but as she was far to leeward, we were obliged to edge away to take her up, and soon after we came to an anchor, under a point of the main, in somewhat less than five fathom, and at about the distance of a mile from the shore. Cape Flattery now bore S.E. distant three leagues and a half. As soon as the ship was at anchor, I went ashore upon the point, which is high, and afforded me a good view of the sea coast, trending away N.W. by W. eight or ten leagues, which, the weather not being very clear, was as far as I could see. Nine or ten small low islands, and some shoals, appeared off the coast; I saw also some large shoals between the main and the three high islands, without which, I was clearly of opinion there were more islands, and not any part of the main. Except the point I was now upon, which I called Point Lookout, and Cape Flattery, the main-land, to the northward of Cape Bedford, is low, and chequered with white sand and green bushes, for ten or twelve miles inland, beyond which it rises to a considerable height. To the northward of Point Lookout, the coast appeared to be shoal and flat for a considerable distance, which did not encourage the hope that the channel we had hitherto found in with the land would continue. Upon this point, which was narrow, and consisted of the finest white sand we had ever seen, we discovered the footsteps of people, and we saw also smoke and fire at a distance up the country.
In the evening, I returned to the ship, and resolved the next morning to visit one of the high islands in the offing, from the top of which, as they lay five leagues out to sea, I hoped to discover more distinctly the situation of the shoals, and the channel between them.
In the morning therefore of the 11th, I set out in the pinnace, accompanied by Mr Banks, whose fortitude and curiosity made him a party in every expedition, for the northermost and largest of the three islands, and at the same time I sent the master in the yawl to leeward, to sound between the low islands and the main. In my way, I passed over a reef of coral rock and sand, which lies about two leagues from the island, and I left another to leeward, which lies about three miles from it: On the north part of the reef, to the leeward, there is a low sandy island, with trees upon it; and upon the reef which we passed over, we saw several turtle: We chased one or two, but having little time to spare, and the wind blowing fresh, we did not take any.
About one o'clock, we reached the island, and immediately ascended the highest hill, with a mixture of hope and fear, proportioned to the importance of our business, and the uncertainty of the event: When I looked round, I discovered a reef of rocks, lying between two and three leagues without the islands, and extending in a line N.W. and S.E. farther than I could see, upon which the sea broke in a dreadful surf: This however made me think that there were no shoals beyond them, and I conceived hopes of getting without these, as I perceived several breaks or openings in the reef, and deep water between that and the islands. I continued upon this hill till sunset, but the weather was so hazy during the whole time that I came down much disappointed. After reflecting upon what I had seen, and comparing the intelligence I had gained with what I expected, I determined to stay upon the island all night, hoping that the morning might be clearer, and afford me a more distinct and comprehensive view. We therefore took up our lodging under the shelter of a bush which grew upon the beach, and at three in the morning, having sent the pinnace, with one of the mates whom I had brought out with me, to sound between the island and the reefs, and examine what appeared to be a channel through them, I climbed the hill a second time, but to my great disappointment found the weather much more hazy than it had been the day before. About noon the pinnace returned, having been as far as the reef, and found between fifteen and twenty-eight fathom of water; but it blew so hard that the mate did not dare to venture into one of the channels, which he said appeared to him to be very narrow: This however did not discourage me, for I judged, from his description of the place he had been at, that he had seen it to disadvantage. While I was busy in my survey, Mr Banks was attentive to his favourite pursuit, and picked up several plants which he had not before seen. We found the island, which is visible at twelve leagues distance, to be about eight leagues in circumference, and in general very rocky and barren. On the north-west side, however, there are some sandy bays, and some low land, which is covered with long thin grass, and trees of the same kind with those upon the main: This part also abounded with lizards of a very large size, some of which we took. We found also fresh water in two places: One was a running stream, but that was a little brackish where I tasted it, which was close to the sea; the other was a standing pool, close behind the sandy beach, and this was perfectly sweet and good. Notwithstanding the distance of this island from the main, we saw, to our great surprise, that it was sometimes visited by the natives; for we found seven or eight frames of their huts, and vast heaps of shells, the fish of which we supposed had been their food. We observed that all these huts were built upon eminences, and entirely exposed to the S.E. contrary to those which we had seen upon the main; for they were all built either upon the side of a hill, or under some bushes, which afforded them shelter from the wind. From these huts, and their situation, we concluded that at some seasons of the year the weather here is invariably calm and fine; for the inhabitants have no boat which can navigate the sea to so great a distance, in such weather as we had from the time of our first coming upon the coast. As we saw no animals upon this place but lizards, I called it Lizard Island; the other two high islands, which lie at the distance of four or five miles from it, are comparatively small; and near them lie three others smaller still, and low, with several shoals or reefs, especially to the S.E. There is, however, a clear passage from Cape Flattery to these islands, and even quite to the outward reefs, leaving Lizard Island to the N.W. and the others to the S.E.
At two in the afternoon, there being no hope of clear weather, we set out from Lizard Island to return to the ship, and in our way landed upon the low sandy island with trees upon it, which we had remarked in our going out. Upon this island we saw an incredible number of birds, chiefly sea-fowl: We found also the nest of an eagle with young ones, which we killed; and the nest of some other bird, we knew not what, of a most enormous size; it was built with sticks upon the ground, and was no less than six-and-twenty feet in circumference, and two feet eight inches high. We found also that this place had been visited by the Indians, probably to eat turtle, many of which we saw upon the island, and a great number of their shells, piled one upon another in different places.
To this spot we gave the name of Eagle Island, and after leaving it, we steered S.W. directly for the ship, sounding all the way, and we had never less than eight fathom, nor more than fourteen; the same depth of water that I had found between this and Lizard Island.
When I got on board, the master informed me that he had been down to the low islands, between which and the main I had directed him to sound; that he judged them to lie about three leagues from the main; that without them he found from ten to fourteen fathom, and between them and the main seven: But that a flat, which ran two leagues out from the main, made this channel narrow. Upon one of these low islands he slept, and was ashore upon others; and he reported, that he saw every where piles of turtle-shells; and fins hanging upon the trees in many places, with the flesh upon them, so recent, that the boats crew eat of them: He saw also two spots, clear of grass, which appeared to have been lately dug up, and from the shape and size of them, he conjectured they were graves.
After considering what I had seen myself, and the report of the master, I was of opinion that the passage to leeward would be dangerous, and that, by keeping in with the main, we should run the risk of being locked in by the great reef, and at last be compelled to return back in search of another passage, by which, or any other accident that should cause the same delay, we should infallibly lose our passage to the East Indies, and endanger the ruin of the voyage, as we had now but little more than three months provisions on board at short allowance.
Having stated this opinion, and the facts and appearances upon which it was founded, to the officers, it was unanimously agreed, that the best thing we could do would be to quit the coast altogether, till we could approach it with less danger.
In the morning, therefore, at break of day, we got under sail, and stood out N.E. for the north-west end of Lizard Island, leaving Eagle Island to windward, and some other islands and shoals to the leeward, and having the pinnace a-head to ascertain the depth of water in every part of our course. In this channel we had from nine to fourteen fathom. At noon, the north-west end of Lizard Island bore E.S.E. distant one mile; our latitude, by observation, was 14° 38', and our depth of water fourteen fathom. We had a steady gale at S.E. and by two o'clock we just fetched to windward of one of the channels or openings in the outer reef, which I had seen from the island. We now tacked, and made a short trip to the S.W. while the master, in the pinnace, examined the channel: He soon made the signal for the ship to follow, and in a short time she got safe out. As soon as we had got without the breakers, we had no ground with one hundred and fifty fathom, and found a large sea rolling in from the S.E. a certain sign that neither land nor shoals were near us in that direction.
Our change of situation was now visible in every countenance, for it was most sensibly felt in every breast: We had been little less than three months entangled among shoals and rocks, that every moment threatened us with destruction; frequently passing our nights at anchor within hearing of the surge that broke over them; sometimes driving towards them even while our anchors were out, and knowing that if by any accident, to which an almost continual tempest exposed us, they should not hold, we must in a few minutes inevitably perish. But now, after having sailed no less than three hundred and sixty leagues, without once having a man out of the chains heaving the lead, even for a minute, which perhaps never happened to any other vessel, we found ourselves in an open sea, with deep water, and enjoyed a flow of spirits, which was equally owing to our late dangers and our present security: Yet the very waves, which by their swell convinced us that we had no rocks or shoals to fear, convinced us also that we could not safely put the same confidence in our vessel as before she had struck; for the blows she received from them so widened her leaks, that she admitted no less than nine inches water an hour, which, considering the state of our pumps, and the navigation that was still before us, would have been a subject of more serious consideration to people whose danger had not so lately been so much more imminent.
The passage or channel, through which we passed into the open sea beyond the reef, lies in latitude 14° 32' S. and may always be known by the three high islands within it, which I have called the Islands of Direction, because by these a stranger may find a safe passage through the reef quite to the main. The channel lies from Lizard Island N.E. 1/2 N. distant three leagues, and is about one-third of a mile broad, and not more in length. Lizard Island, which is, as I have before observed, the largest and the northermost of the three, affords safe anchorage under the north-west side, fresh water, and wood for fuel. The low islands and shoals also which lie between it and the main abound with turtle and fish, which may probably be caught in all seasons of the year, except when the weather is very tempestuous; so that, all things considered, there is not perhaps a better place for ships to refresh at upon the whole coast than this island. And before I dismiss it, I must observe, that we found upon it, as well as upon the beach in and about Endeavour River, bamboos, cocoa-nuts, pumice-stone, and the seeds of plants which are not the produce of this country, and which it is reasonable to suppose are brought from the eastward by the trade-winds. The islands which were discovered by Quiros, and called Australia del Espiritu Santa, lie in this parallel, but how far to the eastward cannot now be ascertained: In most charts they are placed in the same longitude with this country, which, as appears by the account of his voyage that has been published, he never saw; for that places his discoveries no less than two-and-twenty degrees to the eastward of it.[85]
[Footnote 85: The islands form part of what is now called New Hebrides. We shall have occasion to speak of them when we treat of a subsequent voyage, it is needless to say a word about them at present.--E.]
As soon as we were without the reef, we brought-to, and having hoisted in the boats, we stood off and on upon a wind all night; for I was not willing to run to leeward till I had a whole day before me. In the morning, at daybreak, Lizard Island bore S. 15 E. distant ten leagues, and we then made sail and stood away N.N.W. 1/2 W. till nine o'clock, when we stood N.W. 1/2 N. having the advantage of a fresh gale at S.E. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was I3° 46' S. and at this time we had no land in sight. At six in the evening we shortened sail and brought the ship to, with her head to the N.E.; and at six in the morning made sail and steered west, in order to get within sight of the land, that I might be sure not to overshoot the passage, if a passage there was, between this land and New Guinea. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 13° 2' S., longitude 216° W.; which was 1° 23' W. of Lizard Island: At this time we had no land in sight; but a little before one o'clock, we saw high land from the masthead, bearing W.S.W. At two, we saw more land to the N.W. of that we had seen before: It appeared in hills, like islands; but we judged it to be a continuation of the main land. About three, we discovered breakers between the land and the ship, extending to the southward farther than we could see; but to the north we thought we saw them terminate abreast of us. What we took for the end of them in this direction, however, soon appeared to be only an opening in the reef; for we presently saw them again, extending northward beyond the reach of our sight. Upon this we hauled close upon a wind, which was now at E.S.E. and we had scarcely trimmed our sails before it came to E. by N. which was right upon the reef, and consequently made our clearing it doubtful. At sun-set the northermost part of it that was in sight bore from us N. by E. and was two or three leagues distant; this however being the best tack to clear it, we kept standing to the northward with all the sail we could set till midnight; when, being afraid of standing too far in this direction, we tacked and stood to the southward, our run from sun-set to this time being six leagues N. and N. by E. When we had stood about two miles S.S.E. it fell calm. We had sounded several times during the night, but had no bottom with one hundred and forty fathom, neither had we any ground now with the same length of line; yet, about four in the morning, we plainly heard the roaring of the surf, and at break of day saw it foaming to a vast height, at not more than a mile's distance. Our distress now returned upon us with double force; the waves, which rolled in upon the reef, carried us towards it very fast; we could reach no ground with an anchor, and had not a breath of wind for the sail. In this dreadful situation, no resource was left us but the boats; and to aggravate our misfortune the pinnace was under repair: The long-boat and yawl, however, were put into the water, and sent a-head to tow, which, by the help of our sweeps abaft, got the ship's head round to the northward; which, if it could not prevent our destruction, might at least delay it. But it was six o'clock before this was effected, and we were not then a hundred yards from the rock upon which the same billow which washed the side of the ship, broke to a tremendous height the very next time it rose; so that between us and destruction there was only a dreary valley, no wider than the base of one wave, and even now the sea under us was unfathomable, at least no bottom was to be found with a hundred and twenty fathom. During this scene of distress the carpenter had found means to patch up the pinnace, so that she was hoisted out, and sent a-head, in aid of the other boats, to tow; but all our efforts would have been ineffectual, if, just at this crisis of our fate, a light air of wind had not sprung up, so light, that at any other time we should not have observed it, but which was enough to turn the scale in our favour, and, in conjunction with the assistance which was afforded us by the boats, to give the ship a perceptible motion obliquely from the reef. Our hopes now revived; but in less than ten minutes it was again a dead calm, and the ship was again driven towards the breakers, which were not now two hundred yards distant. The same light breeze, however, returned before we had lost all the ground it had enabled us to gain, and lasted about ten minutes more. During this time we discovered a small opening in the reef, at about the distance of a quarter of a mile: I immediately sent one of the mates to examine it, who reported that its breadth was not more than the length of the ship, but that within it there was smooth water: This discovery seemed to render our escape possible, and that was all, by pushing the ship through the opening, which was immediately attempted. It was uncertain indeed whether we could reach it; but if we should succeed thus far, we made no doubt of being able to get through: In this however we were disappointed, for having reached it by the joint assistance of our boats and the breeze, we found that in the mean time it had become high water, and to our great surprise we met the tide of ebb rushing out of it like a mill-stream. We gained, however, some advantage, though in a manner directly contrary to our expectations: We found it impossible to go through the opening, but the stream that prevented us, carried us out about a quarter of a mile: It was too narrow for us to keep in it longer; yet this tide of ebb so much assisted the boats, that by noon we had got an offing of near two miles. We had, however, reason to despair of deliverance, even if the breeze, which had now died away, should revive, for we were still embayed in the reef; and the tide of ebb being spent, the tide of flood, notwithstanding our utmost efforts, again drove the ship into the bight. About this time, however, we saw another opening, near a mile to the westward, which I immediately sent the first lieutenant, Mr Hicks, in the small boat to examine: In the mean time we struggled hard with the flood, sometimes gaining a little, and sometimes losing; but every man still did his duty, with as much calmness and regularity as if no danger had been near. About two o'clock, Mr Hicks returned with an account that the opening was narrow and dangerous, but that it might be passed: The possibility of passing it was sufficient encouragement to make the attempt, for all danger was less imminent than that of our present situation. A light breeze now sprung up at E.N.E. with which, by the help of our boats, and the very tide of flood that without an opening would have been our destruction, we entered it, and were hurried through with amazing rapidity, by a torrent that kept us from driving against either side of the channel, which was not more than a quarter of a mile in breadth. While we were shooting this gulph, our soundings were from thirty to seven fathom, very irregular, and the ground at bottom very foul.
As soon as we had got within the reef, we anchored in nineteen fathom, over a bottom of coral and shells. And now, such is the vicissitude of life, we thought ourselves happy in having regained a situation, which but two days before it was the utmost object of our hope to quit. Rocks and shoals are always dangerous to the mariner, even where their situation has been ascertained; they are more dangerous in seas which have never before been navigated, and in this part of the globe they are more dangerous than in any other; for here there are reefs of coral rock, rising like a wall almost perpendicularly out of the unfathomable deep, always overflowed at high-water, and at low-water dry in many places; and here the enormous waves of the vast Southern Ocean, meeting with so abrupt a resistance, break with inconceivable violence, in a surf which no rocks or storms in the northern hemisphere can produce. The danger of navigating unknown parts of this ocean was now greatly increased by our having a crazy ship, and being short of provisions and every other necessary; yet the distinction of a first discoverer made us cheerfully encounter every danger, and submit to every inconvenience; and we chose rather to incur the censure of imprudence and temerity, which the idle and voluptuous so liberally bestow upon unsuccessful fortitude and perseverance, than leave a country which we had discovered unexplored, and give colour to a charge of timidity and irresolution.
Having now congratulated ourselves upon getting within the reef, notwithstanding we had so lately congratulated ourselves upon getting without it, I resolved to keep the main-land on board in my future route to the northward, whatever the consequence might be; for if we had now gone without the reef again, it might have carried us so far from the coast as to prevent my being able to determine, whether this country did, or did not, join to New Guinea; a question which I was determined to resolve from my first coming within sight of land. However, as I had experienced the disadvantage of having a boat under repair, at a time when it was possible I might want to use her, I determined to remain fast at anchor, till the pinnace was perfectly refitted. As I had no employment for the other boats, I sent them out in the morning to the reef, to see what refreshments could be procured, and Mr Banks, in his little boat, accompanied by Dr Solander, went with them. In this situation I found the variation by amplitude and azimuth to be 4° 9' E.; and at noon, our latitude by observation was 12° 38' S., and our longitude 216° 45' W. The main land extended from N. 66 W. to S.W. by S., and the nearest part of it was distant about nine leagues. The opening through which we had passed I called Providential Channel; and this bore E.N.E. distant ten or twelve miles: On the main land within us was a lofty promontory which I called Cape Weymouth; on the north side of which is a bay, which I called Weymouth Bay: They lie in latitude 12° 42' S., longitude 217° 15' W. At four o'clock in the afternoon the boats returned with two hundred and forty pounds of the meat of shell-fish, chiefly of cockles, some of which were as much as two men could move, and contained twenty pounds of good meat. Mr Banks also brought back many curious shells, and Mollusca; besides many species of coral, among which was that called the Tubipora musica.
At six o'clock in the morning, we got under sail and stood away to the N.W., having two boats ahead to direct us; our soundings were very irregular, varying five or six fathom every cast, between ten and twenty-seven. A little before noon, we passed a low sandy island, which we left on our starboard-side, at the distance of two miles. At noon, our latitude was 12° 28', and our distance from the main about four leagues: It extended from S. by W. to N. 71 W., and some small islands from N. 40 W. to 54 W. Between us and the main were several shoals, and some without us, besides the main or outermost reef, which we could see from the mast-head, stretching away to the N.E. At two in the afternoon, as we were steering N.W. by N. we saw a large shoal right ahead, extending three or four points upon each bow; upon this we hauled up N.N.E. and N.E. by N. to get round the north point of it, which we reached by four, and then edged away to the westward, and ran between the north end of this shoal and another, which lies two miles to the northward of it, having a boat all the way ahead sounding; our depth of water was still very irregular, from twenty-two to eight fathom. At half an hour after six, we anchored in thirteen fathom: The northermost of the small islands seen at noon bore W. 1/2 S., distant three miles: These islands, which I distinguished by the name of Forbes's Islands, lie about five leagues from the main, which here forms a high point that we called Bolt Head, from which the land trends more westerly, and is in that direction all low and sandy; to the southward it is high and hilly even near the sea.
At six in the morning we got again under sail, and steered for an island which lay at a small distance from the main, and at this time bore from us N. 40 W., distant about five leagues: Our course was soon interrupted by shoals; however, by the help of the boats, and a good look-out from the top of the mast, we got into a fair channel that led us down to the island, between a very large shoal on our starboard side and several small ones towards the main: In this channel we had from twenty to thirty fathom water. Between eleven and twelve o'clock we hauled round the north-east side of the island, leaving it between us and the main, from which it is distant about seven or eight miles. This island is about a league in circuit, and we saw upon it five of the natives, two of whom had lances in their hands; they came down upon a point, and having looked a little while at the ship, retired. To the N.W. of it are several low islands and quays, which lie not far from the main; and to the northward and eastward are several other islands and shoals; so that we were now encompassed on every side: But having lately been exposed to much greater danger, and rocks and shoals being grown familiar, we looked at them comparatively with little concern. The main land appeared to be low and barren, interspersed with large patches of the very fine white sand, which we had found upon Lizard Island and different parts of the main. The boats had seen many turtle upon the shoals which they passed, but it blew too hard for them to take any. At noon, our latitude by observation was 12°, and our longitude 217° 25': Our depth of water was fourteen fathom; and our course and distance, reduced to a straight line, was, between this time and the preceding noon, N. 29 W. thirty-two miles.
The main land within the islands that have been just mentioned forms a point, which I called Cape Grenville: It lies in latitude 11° 58', longitude 217° 38'; and between it and Bolt Head is a bay, which I called Temple Bay. At the distance of nine leagues from Cape Grenville, in the direction of E. 1/2 N. lie some high islands, which I called Sir Charles Hardy's Isles; and those which lie off the Cape I called Cockburn's Isles. Having lain by for the boats, which had got out of their station, till about one o'clock, we then took the yawl in tow; and the pinnace having got ahead, we filled, and stood N. by W. for some small islands which lay in that direction; such at least they were in appearance, but upon approaching them we perceived that they were joined together by a large reef: Upon this we edged away N.W. and left them on our starboard hand; we steered between them and the islands that lay off the main, having a clear passage, and from fifteen to twenty-three fathom water. At four o'clock, we discovered some low islands and rocks, bearing W.N.W., and stood directly for them: At half an hour after six, we anchored on the north-east side of the northermost of them, at one mile distance, and in sixteen fathom. These islands lie N.W. four leagues from Cape Grenville, and from the number of birds that I saw upon them, I called them Bird Isles. A little before sun-set, we were in sight of the main-land, which appeared all very low and sandy, extending as far to the northward as N.W. by N., some shoals, quays, and low sandy isles stretching away to the N.E.
At six o'clock in the morning, we got again under sail, with a fresh breeze at E., and stood away N.N.W. for some low islands in that direction, but were soon obliged to haul close upon a wind to weather a shoal which we discovered upon our larboard bow, having at the same time others to the eastward: By the time we had weathered this shoal to leeward, we had brought the islands well upon our lee-bow, but seeing some shoals run off from them, and some rocks on our starboard-bow, which we did not discover till we were very near them, I was afraid to go to windward of the islands, and therefore brought-to, and having made the signal for the pinnace, which was ahead, to come on board, I sent her to leeward of the islands, with orders to keep along the edge of the shoal, which ran off from the south side of the southermost island, sending the yawl at the same time, to run over the shoal in search of turtle. As soon as the pinnace had got to a proper distance, we wore, and stood after her: As we ran to leeward of this land, we took the yawl in tow, she having seen only one small turtle, and therefore made but little stay upon the shoal. The island we found to be a small spot of sand with some trees upon it, and we could discern many huts, or habitations of the natives whom we supposed occasionally to visit these islands from the main, they being only five leagues distant, to catch turtle, when they come ashore to lay their eggs. We continued to stand after the pinnace N.N.E. and N. by E. for two other low islands, having two shoals without us, and one between us and the main. At noon, we were about four leagues from the main, which we saw extending to the northward, as far as N.W. by N. all flat and sandy. Our latitude, by observation, was 11° 23' S. and our longitude 217° 46' W. our soundings were from fourteen to twenty-three fathom. By one o'clock, we had run nearly the length of the southermost of the two islands in sight, and finding that the going to windward of them would carry us too far from the main, we bore up and ran to leeward, where finding a fair open passage, we steered N. by W. in a direction parallel to the main, leaving a small island which lay between it and the ship, and some low sandy isles and shoals without us, of all which we lost sight by four o'clock, and saw no more before the sun went down: At this time the farthest part of the land in sight bore N.N.W. 1/2 W., and soon after we anchored in thirteen fathom, upon soft ground, at the distance of about five leagues from the land, where we lay till day-light.
Early in the morning, we made sail again, and steered N.N.W. by compass, for the northermost land in sight; and at this time, we observed the variation of the needle to be 3° 6' E. At eight o'clock, we discovered shoals ahead, on our larboard bow, and saw that the northermost land, which we had taken for the main, was detached from it, and that we might pass between them, by running to leeward of the shoals on our larboard-bow, which were now near us: We therefore wore and brought-to, sending away the pinnace and yawl to direct us, and then steered N.W. along the S.W. or inside of the shoals, keeping a good look-out from the mast-head, and having another shoal on our larboard-side: We found however a good channel of a mile broad between them, in which we had from ten to fourteen fathom. At eleven o'clock, we were nearly the length of the land detached from the main, and there appeared to be no obstruction in the passage between them, yet having the long-boat astern, and rigged, we sent her away to keep in shore upon our larboard bow, and at the same time dispatched the pinnace a starboard; precautions which I thought necessary, as we had a strong flood that carried us an end very fast, and it was near high water: As soon as the boats were ahead, we stood after them, and by noon got through the passage. Our latitude, by observation, was then 10° 36', and the nearest part of the main, which we soon after found to be the northermost, bore W. 2 S., distant between three or four miles: We found the land which was detached from the main, to be a single island, extending from N. to N. 75 E., distant between two and three miles; at the same time we saw other islands at a considerable distance, extending from N. by W. to W.N.W., and behind them another chain of high land, which we judged also to be islands; there were still other islands, extending as far as N. 71 W., which at this time we took for the main.
The point of the main which forms the side of the channel through which we passed, opposite to the island, is the northern promontory of the country, and I called it York Cape. Its longitude is 218° 24' W., the latitude of the north point is 10° 37', and of the east point 10° 42' S. The land over the east point, and to the southward of it, is rather low, and as far as the eye can reach, very flat, and of a barren appearance. To the southward of the Cape the shore forms a large open bay, which I called Newcastle Bay, and in which are some small low islands and shoals; the land adjacent is also very low, flat, and sandy. The land of the northern part of the Cape is more hilly, the vallies seem to be well clothed with wood, and the shore forms some small bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage. Close to the eastern point of the Cape are three small islands, from one of which a small ledge of rocks runs out into the sea: There is also an island close to the northern point. The island that forms the streight or channel through which we had passed, lies about four miles without these, which, except two, are very small: The southermost is the largest, and much higher than any part of the main land. On the north-west side of this island there appeared to be good anchorage, and on shore, vallies that promised both wood and water. These islands are distinguished in the chart by the name of York Isles. To the southward, and south-east, and even to the eastward and northward of them, there are several other low islands, rocks, and shoals: Our depth of water in sailing between them and the main, was twelve, thirteen, and fourteen fathom.
We stood along the shore to the westward, with a gentle breeze at S.E. by S., and when we had advanced between three and four miles, we discovered the land ahead, which, when we first saw it, we took for the main, to be islands detached from it by several channels: Upon this we sent away the boats, with proper instructions, to lead us through that channel which was next the main; but soon after discovering rocks and shoals in this channel, I made a signal for the boats to go through the next channel to the northward, which lay between these islands, leaving some of them between us and the main: The ship followed, and had never less than five fathom water in the narrowest part of the channel, where the distance from island to island was about one mile and a half.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, we anchored, being about a mile and a half, or two miles, within the entrance, in six fathom and a half, with clear ground: The channel here had begun to widen, and the islands on each side of us were distant about a mile: The main-land stretched away to the S.W., the farthest point in view bore S. 48 W., and the southermost point of the islands, on the north-west side of the passage, bore S. 76 W. Between these two points we could see no land, so that we conceived hopes of having, at last, found a passage into the Indian sea; however, that I might be able to determine with more certainty, I resolved to land upon the island which lies at the south-east point of the passage. Upon this island we had seen many of the inhabitants when we first came to an anchor, and when I went into the boat, with a party of men, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, in order to go ashore, we saw ten of them upon a hill: Nine of them were armed with such lances as we had been used to see, and the tenth had a bow, and a bundle of arrows, which we had never seen in the possession of the natives of this country before: We also observed, that two of them had large ornaments of mother-of-pearl hanging round their necks. Three of these, one of whom was the bowman, placed themselves upon the beach abreast of us, and we expected that they would have opposed our landing, but when we came within about a musket's shot of the beach, they walked leisurely away. We immediately climbed the highest hill, which was not more than three times as high as the mast-head, and the most barren of any we had seen. From this hill, no land could be seen between the S.W. and W.S.W., so that I had no doubt of finding a channel through. The land to the north-west of it consisted of a great number of islands of various extent, and different heights, ranged one behind another, as far to the northward and westward as I could see, which could not be less than thirteen leagues. As I was now about to quit the eastern coast of New Holland, which I had coasted from latitude 38 to this place, and which I am confident no European had ever seen before, I once more hoisted English colours, and though I had already taken possession of several particular parts, I now took possession of the whole eastern coast, from latitude 38° to this place, latitude 10 1/2 S. in right of his Majesty King George the Third, by the name of New South Wales, with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and islands situated upon it: We then fired three vollies of small arms, which were answered by the same number from the ship. Having performed this ceremony upon the island, which we called Possession Island, we re-embarked in our boat, but a rapid ebb-tide setting N.E. made our return to the vessel very difficult and tedious. From the time of our last coming among the shoals, we constantly found a moderate tide, the flood setting to the N.W. and the ebb to the S.E. At this place, it is high water at the full and change of the moon, about one or two o'clock, and the water rises and falls perpendicularly about twelve feet. We saw smoke rising in many places from the adjacent lands and islands, as we had done upon every part of the coast, after our last return to it through the reef.
We continued at anchor all night, and between seven and eight o'clock in the morning, we saw three or four of the natives upon the beach gathering shell-fish; we discovered, by the help of our glasses, that they were women, and, like all the other inhabitants of this country, stark naked. At low water, which happened about ten o'clock, we got under sail, and stood to the S.W. with a light breeze at E. which afterwards veered to N. by E.: Our depth of water was from six to ten fathom, except in one place, where we had but five. At noon, Possession Island bore N. 53 E., distant four leagues, the western extremity of the main-land in sight bore S. 43 W., distant between four and five leagues, and appeared to be extremely low, the south-west point of the largest island on the north-west side of the passage bore N. 71 W., distant eight miles, and this point I called Cape Cornwall. It lies in latitude 10° 43'S., longitude 219° W.; and some lowlands that lie about the middle of the passage, which I called Wallis's Isles, bore W. by S. 1/2 S., distant about two leagues: Our latitude, by observation, was 10° 46' S. We continued to advance with the tide of flood W.N.W. having little wind, and from eight to five fathom water. At half an hour after one, the pinnace, which was a-head, made the signal for shoal-water, upon which we tacked, and sent away the yawl to sound also: We then tacked again, and stood after them: In about two hours, they both made the signal for shoal-water, and the tide being nearly at its greatest height, I was afraid to stand on, as running aground at that time might be fatal; I therefore came to an anchor in somewhat less than seven fathom, sandy ground. Wallis's Islands bore S. by W. 1/2 W., distant five or six miles, the islands to the northward extended from S. 73 E. to N. 10 E., and a small island, which was just in sight, bore N.W. 1/2 W. Here we found the flood-tide set to the westward, and the ebb to the eastward.
After we had come to an anchor, I sent away the master in the long-boat to sound, who, upon his return in the evening, reported that there was a bank stretching north, and south, upon which there were but three fathom, and that beyond it there were seven. About this time it fell calm, and continued so till nine the next morning, when we weighed with a light breeze at S.S.E.; and steered N.W. by W. for the small island which was just in sight, having first sent the boats a-head to sound: The depth of water was eight, seven, six, five, and four fathom, and three fathom upon the bank, it being now the last quarter ebb. At this time, the northermost island in sight bore N. 9 E., Cape Cornwall E., distant three leagues, and Wallis's Isles S. 3 E., distant three leagues. This bank, at least so much as we have sounded, extends nearly N. and S., but to what distance I do not know: Its breadth is not more than half a mile at the utmost. When we had got over the bank, we deepened our water to six fathom three quarters, and had the same depth all the way to the small island a-head, which we reached by noon, when it bore S., distant about half a mile. Our depth of water was now five fathom, and the northermost land in sight, which is part of the same chain of islands that we had seen to the northward from the time of our first entering the streight, bore N. 71 E. Our latitude by observation was 10° 33' S., and our longitude 219° 22' W.: In this situation no part of the main was in sight. As we were now near the island, and had but little wind, Mr Banks and I landed upon it, and found it, except a few patches of wood, to be a barren rock, the haunt of birds, which had frequented it in such numbers as to make the surface almost uniformly white with their dung: Of these birds the greater part seemed to be boobies, and I therefore called the place Booby Island. After a short stay, we returned to the ship, and in the mean time the wind had got to the S.W.; it was but a gentle breeze, yet it was accompanied by a swell from the same quarter, which, with other circumstances, confirmed my opinion that we were got to the westward of Carpentaria, or the northern extremity of New Holland, and had now an open sea to the westward, which gave me great satisfaction, not only because the dangers and fatigues of the voyage were drawing to an end, but because it would no longer be a doubt whether New Holland and New Guinea were two separate islands, or different parts of the same.[86]
[Footnote 86: Here it may be proper to introduce a paragraph from M. Peron's Historical Relation of a Voyage of Discovery to the Southern Islands, as presented to the Imperial Institute in June 1806. It will show his conception of the difficulties attendant on navigating these parts: "In fact, it is not in voyages on the high seas, however long they may be, that adverse circumstances or shipwrecks are so much to be dreaded; those, on the contrary, along unknown shores and barbarous coasts, at every instant present new difficulties to encounter, with perpetual dangers. Those difficulties and dangers, the woeful appendage of all expeditions begun for the purposes of geographic detail, were of more imminent character from the nature of the coasts we had to explore; for no country has hitherto been discovered more difficult to reconnoitre than New Holland, and all the voyages of any extent made for the purpose in this point, have been marked either by reverses or infructuous attempts. For example, Paliser on the western coast was one of the first victims of these shores; Vlaming speaks of wrecks by which Rottnest island was covered when he landed there in 1697; and we ourselves observed others of much more recent date. Captain Dampier, notwithstanding his intrepidity and experience, could not preserve his vessel from grounding when on the northwest coast of this continent, a coast already famous for the shipwreck of Vianin; on the east, Bougainville, menaced with destruction, was constrained to precipitate flight; Cook escaped by a kind of miracle, the rock which pierced his ship remaining in the breach it made, and alone preventing it from sinking; on the south-west, Vancouver and D'Entrecasteaux were not more fortunate in their several plans of completing its geography, and the French admiral nearly lost both his ships. Towards the south, but a few years have elapsed since the discovery of Bass's Straits, and already the major part of the islands of this strait is strewed with the wrecks of ships; very recently, and almost before our face, I may say, the French ship Enterprize was dashed to pieces against the dangerous islands which close its eastern opening. The relation of our voyage, and the dangers incurred, will still farther demonstrate the perils of this navigation; and the loss of the two vessels of Captain Flinders, sent by the English government to compete with us, will but too clearly furnish a new and lamentable evidence. The circumstance of Cook's escape, we see, is allowed its due impression on the mind of this gentleman. It is very probable that had Dr Hawkesworth himself ever been in such critical perils, and experienced any thing like such a remarkable deliverance, the placidity of his principles would have given way to more lively emotions. The deductions of reason, it is certain, are not unusually at variance with the instantaneous, but perhaps more real and genuine productions of our feelings, which it is the cant of modern days to denominate the lower parts of our constitution.--E.]
The north-east entrance of this passage or streight lies in the latitude of 10° 39' S., and in the longitude of 218° 36' W. It is formed by the main, or the northern extremity of New Holland, on the S.E., and by a congeries of islands, which I called the Prince of Wales's Islands, to the N.W., and it is probable that these islands extend quite to New Guinea. They differ very much both in height and circuit, and many of them seemed to be well clothed with herbage and wood: Upon most, if not all of them, we saw smoke, and therefore there can be no doubt of their being inhabited: It is also probable, that among them there are at least as good passages as that we came through, perhaps better, though better would not need to be desired, if the access to it from the eastward were less dangerous: That a less dangerous access may be discovered, I think there is little reason to doubt, and to find it, little more seems to be necessary than to determine how far the principal, or outer reef, which bounds the shoals to the eastward, extends towards the north, which I would not have left to future navigators if I had been less harassed by danger and fatigue, and had had a ship in better condition for the purpose.
To this channel, or passage, I have given the name of the ship, and called it Endeavour Streights. Its length from N.E. to S.W. is ten leagues, and it is about five leagues broad, except at the north-east entrance, where it is somewhat less than two miles, being contracted by the islands which lie there. That which I called Possession Island is of a moderate height and circuit, and this we left between us and the main, passing between it and two small round islands which lie about two miles to the N.W. of it. The two small islands, which I called Wallis's Islands, lie in the middle of the south-west entrance, and these we left to the southward. Our depth of water in the streight was from four to nine fathom, with every where good anchorage, except upon the bank, which lies two leagues to the northward of Wallis's Islands, where at low water there are but three fathom: For a more particular knowledge of this streight, and of the situations of the several islands and shoals on the eastern coast of New Wales, I refer to the chart where they are delineated with all the accuracy that circumstances would admit; yet, with respect to the shoals, I cannot pretend that one half of them are laid down, nor can it be supposed possible that one half of them should be discovered in the course of a single navigation: Many islands also must have escaped my pencil, especially between latitude 20° and 22°, where we saw islands out at sea as far as an island could be distinguished; it must not therefore be supposed, by future navigators, that where no shoal or island is laid down in my chart, no shoal or island will be found in these seas: It is enough that the situation of those that appear in the chart is faithfully ascertained, and, in general, I have the greatest reason to hope that it will be found as free from error as any that has not been corrected by subsequent and successive observations. The latitudes and longitudes of all, or most of the principal head-lands and bays, may be confided in, for we seldom failed of getting an observation once at least every day, by which to correct the latitude of our reckoning, and observations for settling the longitude were equally numerous, no opportunity that was offered by the sun and moon being suffered to escape. It would be injurious to the memory of Mr Green, not to take this opportunity of attesting that he was indefatigable both in making observations and calculating upon them; and that, by his instructions and assistance, many of the petty officers were enabled both to observe and calculate with great exactness. This method of finding the longitude at sea may be put into universal practice, and may always be depended upon within half a degree, which is sufficient for all nautical purposes. If, therefore, observing and calculating were considered as necessary qualifications for every sea officer, the labours of the speculative theorist to solve this problem might be remitted, without much injury to mankind: Neither will it be so difficult to acquire this qualification, or put it in practice, as may at first appear; for, with the assistance of the nautical almanack, and astronomical ephemeris, the calculations for finding the longitude will take up little more time than the calculation of an azimuth for finding the variation of the compass.[87]
[Footnote 87: Reference is made above to Cook's large chart, which of course could not be given here with advantage corresponding to the expence of engraving it. This omission is of less moment, as the chart that accompanies the work is quite sufficient for general readers; and as any additional one that may be afterwards given, must derive much of its value from the labours of Cook. Important aids have been afforded the navigator since the date of this publication; and the two great problems in nautical astronomy, viz. the deducing the longitude from lunar distances, and the latitude from two altitudes of the sun, have been brought within the reach of every one who is in full possession of elementary arithmetic. See a Collection of Tables for those important, purposes, by Joseph de Mendoza Rios, published at London, 1806,--an account of which is given in the Edinburgh Review, vol. viii. p. 451.]--E.]
SECTION XXXIII.
Departure from New South Wales; a particular Description of the Country, its Products, and People: A Specimen of the Language, and some Observations upon the Currents and Tides.[88]
[Footnote 88: All these particulars will be more fully illustrated hereafter. The present account is certainly imperfect, but it has its value; and it could not have been omitted without some disparagement to the original work, and some loss of interest to the reader. It is worth while to possess all the histories, and more especially the original ones, of a country like New Holland, which, its extent, position, and nature, as well as some peculiar contingencies, are likely to render more and more conspicuous in the records of mankind. There is another reason for wishing to retain the account now given, and which would not apply to any equally imperfect one of any other country or people where civilization had made greater progress. Dr Robertson, referring to this very description, says, "This perhaps is the country where man has been discovered in the earliest stage of his progress, and it exhibits a miserable specimen of his condition and powers in the uncultivated state. If this country shall be more fully explored by future navigators, the comparison of the manners of its inhabitants, with those of the Americans, will prove an instructive article in the history of the human species,"--Note 33, in the ninth volume of his works. What was held as a desideratum by this historian, has been accomplished in so far as additional materials are concerned: How far it has been so in a philosophical point of view, may be afterwards considered.--E.]
Of this country, its products and its people, many particulars have already been related in the course of the narrative, being so interwoven with the events as not to admit of a separation. I shall now give a more full and circumstantial description of each, in which, if some things should happen to be repeated, the greater part will be found new. New Holland, or, as I have now called the eastern coast, New South Wales, is of a larger extent than any other country in the known world that does not bear the name of a continent: The length of coast along which we sailed, reduced to a straight line, is no less than twenty-seven degrees of latitude, amounting to near 2000 miles, so that its square surface must be much more than equal to all Europe. To the southward of 33 or 34, the land in general is low and level; farther northward it is hilly, but in no part can be called mountainous; and the hills and mountains, taken together, make but a small part of the surface, in comparison with the vallies and plains. It is, upon the whole, rather barren than fertile, yet the rising ground is chequered by woods and lawns, and the plains and vallies are in many places covered with herbage: The soil, however, is frequently sandy, and many of the lawns, or savannahs, are rocky and barren, especially to the northward, where, in the best spots, vegetation was less vigorous than in the southern part of the country; the trees were not so tall, nor was the herbage so rich. The grass in general is high, but thin, and the trees, where they are largest, are seldom less than forty feet asunder; nor is the country inland, as far as we could examine it, better clothed than the sea coast. The banks of the bays are covered with mangroves to the distance of a mile within the beach, under which the soil is a rank mud, that is always overflowed by a spring tide; farther in the country we sometimes met with a bog, upon which the grass was very thick and luxuriant, and sometimes with a valley that was clothed with underwood: The soil in some parts seemed to be capable of improvement, but the far greater part is such as can admit of no cultivation. The coast, at least that part of it which lies to the northward of 25° S., abounds with fine bays and harbours, where vessels may lie in perfect security from all winds.
If we may judge by the appearance of the country while we were there, which was in the very height of the dry season, it is well watered. We found innumerable small brooks and springs, but no great rivers; these brooks, however, probably become large in the rainy season. Thirsty Sound was the only place where fresh water was not to be procured for the ship, and even there, one or two small pools were found in the woods, though the face of the country was every where intersected by salt-creeks and mangrove-land.
Of trees there is no great variety. Of those that could be called timber, there are but two sorts; the largest is the gum-tree, which grows all over the country, and has been mentioned already: It has narrow leaves, not much unlike a willow; and the gum, or rather resin, which it yields, is of a deep red, and resembles the sanguis draconis; possibly it may be the same, for this substance is known to be the produce of more than one plant. It is mentioned by Dampier, and is perhaps the same that Tasman found upon Diemen's Land, where he says he saw "gum of the trees, and gum lac of the ground." The other timber tree is that which grows somewhat like our pines, and has been particularly mentioned in the account of Botany Bay. The wood of both these trees, as I have before remarked, is extremely hard and heavy. Besides these, here are trees covered with a soft bark that is easily peeled off, and is the same that in the East Indies is used for the caulking of ships.
We found here the palm of three different sorts. The first, which grows in great plenty to the southward, has leaves that are plaited like a fan: The cabbage of these is small, but exquisitely sweet; and the nuts, which it bears in great abundance, are very good food for hogs. The second sort bore a much greater resemblance to the true cabbage-tree of the West Indies: Its leaves were large and pinnated, like those of the cocoa-nut; and these also produced a cabbage, which, though not so sweet as the other, was much larger. The third sort, which, like the second, was found only in the northern parts, was seldom more than ten feet high, with small pinnated leaves, resembling those of some kind of fern: It bore no cabbage, but a plentiful crop of nuts, about the size of a large chesnut, but rounder. As we found the hulls of these scattered round the places where the Indians had made their fires, we took for granted that they were fit to eat; those however who made the experiment paid dear for their knowledge of the contrary, for they operated both as an emetic and cathartic with great violence. Still, however, we made no doubt but that they were eaten by the Indians; and judging that the constitution of the hogs might be as strong as theirs, though our own had proved to be so much inferior, we carried them to the stye: The hogs eat them, indeed, and for some time we thought without suffering any inconvenience; but in about a week they were so much disordered that two of them died, and the rest were recovered with great difficulty. It is probable, however, that the poisonous quality of these nuts may lie in the juice, like that of the cassada of the West Indies; and that the pulp, when dried, may be not only wholesome, but nutricious. Besides these species of the palm, and mangroves, there were several small trees and shrubs altogether unknown in Europe; particularly one which produced a very poor kind of fig; another that bore what we called a plum, which it resembled in colour, but not in shape, being flat on the sides like a little cheese; and a third that bore a kind of purple apple, which, after it had been kept a few days, became eatable, and tasted somewhat like a damascene.
Here is a great variety of plants to enrich the collection of a botanist, but very few of them are of the esculent kind. A small plant, with long, narrow, grassy leaves, resembling that kind of bulrush which in England is called the Cat's-tail, yields a resin of a bright yellow colour, exactly resembling gambouge, except that it does not stain: It has a sweet smell, but its properties we had no opportunity to discover, any more than those of many others with which the natives appear to be acquainted, as they have distinguished them by names.
I have already mentioned the root and leaves of a plant resembling the coccos of the West Indies, and a kind of bean; to which may be added, a sort of parsley and purselain, and two kinds of yams; one shaped like a radish, and the other round, and covered with stringy fibres: Both sorts are very small, but sweet; and we never could find the plants that produced them, though we often saw the places where they had been newly dug up: It is probable that the drought had destroyed the leaves, and we could not, like the Indians, discover them by the stalks.
Most of the fruits of this country, such as they are, have been mentioned already. We found one in the southern part of the country resembling a cherry, except that the stone was soft; and another not unlike a pine-apple in appearance, but of a very disagreeable taste, which is well known in the East Indies, and is called by the Dutch Pyn Appel Boomen.
Of the quadrupeds, I have already mentioned the dog, and particularly described the kangaroo, and the animal of the opossum kind, resembling the phalanger of Buffon; to which I can add only one more, resembling a pole-cat, which the natives call Quoll: The back is brown, spotted with white, and the belly white unmixed. Several of our people said they had seen wolves; but perhaps, if we had not seen tracks that favoured the account, we might have thought them little more worthy of credit than he who reported that he had seen the devil.
Of batts, which hold a middle place between the beasts and the birds, we saw many kinds, particularly one which, as I have observed already, was larger than a partridge: We were not fortunate enough to take one either alive or dead, but it was supposed to be the same as Buffon has described by the name of Rouset or Rouget.
The sea and other water-fowl of this country, are gulls, shags, soland geese, or gannets, of two sorts, boobies, noddies, curlieus, ducks, pelicans of an enormous size, and many others. The land-birds, are crows, parrots, paroquets, cockatoos, and other birds of the same kind, of exquisite beauty; pigeons, doves, quails, bustards, herons, cranes, hawks, and eagles. The pigeons flew in numerous flocks, so that, notwithstanding their extreme shyness, our people frequently killed ten or twelve of them in a day: These birds are very beautiful, and crested very differently from any we had seen before.
Among other reptiles, here are serpents of various kinds, some noxious, and some harmless; scorpions, centipieds, and lizards. The insects are but few. The principal are the musquito and the ant. Of the ant there are several sorts; some are as green as a leaf, and live upon trees, where they build their nests of various sizes, between that of a man's head and his fist. These nests are of a very curious structure: They are formed by bending down several of the leaves, each of which is as broad as a man's hand, and gluing the points of them together, so as to form a purse; the viscus used for this purpose is an animal juice, which Nature has enabled them to elaborate. Their method of first bending down the leaves, we had not an opportunity to observe; but we saw thousands uniting all their strength to hold them in this position, while other busy multitudes were employed within, in applying the gluten that was to prevent their returning back. To satisfy ourselves that the leaves were bent, and held down by the effort of these diminutive artificers, we disturbed them in their work, and as soon as they were driven from their station, the leaves on which they were employed sprung up with a force much greater than we could have thought them able to conquer by any combination of their strength. But though we gratified our curiosity at their expence, the injury did not go unrevenged; for thousands immediately threw themselves upon us, and gave us intolerable pain with their stings, especially those who took possession of our necks and our hair, from whence they were not easily driven: The sting was scarcely less painful than that of a bee; but, except it was repeated, the pain did not last more than a minute.
Another sort are quite black, and their operations and manner of life are not less extraordinary. Their habitations are the inside of the branches of a tree, which they contrive to excavate by working out the pith almost to the extremity of the slenderest twig; the tree at the same time flourishing, as if it had no such inmate. When we first found the tree, we gathered some of the branches, and were scarcely less astonished than we should have been to find that we had prophaned a consecrated grove, where every tree, upon being wounded, gave signs of life; for we were instantly covered with legions of these animals, swarming from every broken bough, and inflicting their stings with incessant violence. They are mentioned by Rumphius in his Herbarium Amboinense, vol. ii. p. 257; but the tree in which he saw their dwelling is very different from that in which we found them.
A third kind we found nested in the root of a plant, which grows on the bark of trees in the manner of misletoe, and which they had perforated for that use. This root is commonly as big as a large turnip, and sometimes much bigger: When we cut it, we found it intersected by innumerable winding passages, all filled with these animals, by which, however, the vegetation of the plant did not appear to have suffered any injury. We never cut one of these roots that was not inhabited, though some were not bigger than a hazle nut. The animals themselves are very small, not more than half as big as the common red ant in England. They had stings, but scarcely force enough to make them felt: They had, however, a power of tormenting us in an equal, if not a greater degree; for the moment we handled the root, they swarmed from innumerable holes, and running about those parts of the body that were uncovered, produced a titillation more intolerable than pain, except it is increased to great violence. Rumphius has also given an account of this bulb and its inhabitants, vol. vi. p. 120, where he mentions another sort that are black.
We found a fourth kind, which are perfectly harmless, and almost exactly resemble the white ants of the East Indies: The architecture of these is still more curious than that of the others. They have houses of two sorts; one is suspended on the branches of trees, and the other erected upon the ground: Those upon the trees are about three or four times as big as a man's head, and are built of a brittle substance, which seems to consist of small part of vegetables kneaded together with a glutinous matter, which their bodies probably supply. Upon breaking this crust, innumerable cells, swarming with inhabitants, appear in a great variety of winding directions, all communicating with each other, and with several apertures that lead to other nests upon the same tree; they have also one large avenue, of covered way, leading to the ground, and carried on under it to the other nest or house that is constructed there. This house is generally at the root of a tree, but not of that upon which their other dwellings are constructed: It is formed like an irregularly sided cone, and sometimes is more than six feet high, and nearly as much in diameter. Some are smaller, and these are generally flat-sided, and very much resemble in figure the stones which are seen in many parts of England, and supposed to be the remains of druidical antiquity. The outside of these is of well-tempered clay, about two inches thick; and within are the cells, which have no opening outwards, but communicate only with the subterranean way to the houses on the tree, and to the tree near which they are constructed, where they ascend up the root, and so up the trunk and branches, under covered ways of the same kind as those by which they descended from their other dwellings. To these structures on the ground they probably retire in the winter, or rainy seasons, as they are proof against any wet that can fall, which those in the tree, though generally constructed under some overhanging branch, from the nature and thinness of their crust or wall, cannot be.[89]
[Footnote 89: There are upwards of twenty species of ants known, which differ from one another in several respects, but more especially in the materials and construction of their habitations. Some employ earth, others the leaves and bark of trees, and others again prefer straw; whilst another species, as is mentioned above, occupy the central parts of trees. Their manners too are very different, though all, in various degrees, no doubt, manifest very remarkable instinctive wisdom, and, if the expression be allowable, even acquired knowledge. The reader who is desirous of minute and most instructive information on the subject of these sagacious animals, will do well to consult the Edinburgh Review, vol. xx. page 143, &c. where an account is given of Mr Huber's observations and experiments respecting them. A single extract from the Review may prove interesting to the reader who has not the convenience of referring to the volume. "The accounts of these same animals, in other climates, sufficiently shew what formidable power they acquire when the efforts of numbers are combined. Mr Malovat mentions, in his account of his travels through the forest of Guyana, his arriving at a savannah, extending in a level plain beyond the visible horizon, and in which he beheld a structure that appeared to have been raised by human industry. M. de Prefontaine, who accompanied him in the expedition, informed him that it was an ant-hill, which they could not approach without danger of being devoured. They passed some of the paths frequented by the labourers, which belonged to a very large species of black ants. The nest they had constructed, which had the form of a truncated pyramid, appeared to be from fifteen to twenty feet in height, on a base of thirty or forty feet. He was told that when the new settlers, in their attempt to clear the country, happened to meet with any of these fortresses, they were obliged to abandon the spot, unless they could muster sufficient forces to lay regular siege to the enemy. This they did by digging a circular trench all round the nest, and filling it with a large quantity of dried wood, to the whole of which they fire at the same time, by lighting it in different parts all round the circumference. While the entrenchments are blazing, the edifice may be destroyed by firing at it with cannon; and the ants being by this means dispersed, have no avenue for escape except through the flames, in which they perish." It might be worthy the attention of philosophers to enquire, what general purposes in the economy of Nature these wonder-working animals accomplish. The labours of certain other creatures, there is every reason to believe, are destined to raise up habitable islands in various parts of the ocean. May not these small architects be employed in fitting certain soils for the growth of vegetable substances? There seems, indeed, to exist in our world a living spirit, or principle, continually operating in the production of creatures, and places suitable for them, to compensate the loss of those which an irrevocable law of the great Fabricator has doomed to successive destruction, as if He chose to manifest the glory of His wisdom and power, by creating new existences, rather than by preserving the old ones.--E.]
The sea in this country is much more liberal of food to the inhabitants than the land; and though fish is not quite so plenty here as they generally are in higher latitudes, yet we seldom hauled the seine without taking from fifty to two hundred weight. They are of various sorts; but, except the mullet, and some of the shell-fish, none of them are known in Europe: Most of them are palatable, and some are very delicious. Upon the shoals and reef there are incredible numbers of the finest green turtle in the world, and oysters of various kinds, particularly the rock-oyster and the pearl-oyster. The gigantic cockles have been mentioned already; besides which, there are sea-crayfish, or lobsters, and crabs: Of these, however, we saw only the shells. In the rivers and salt creeks there are aligators.
The only person who has hitherto given any account of this country or its inhabitants is Dampier, and though he is, in general, a writer of credit, yet in many particulars he is mistaken. The people whom he saw were indeed inhabitants of a part of the coast very distant from that which we visited; but we also saw inhabitants upon parts of the coast very distant from each other, and there being a perfect uniformity in person and customs among them all, it is reasonable to conclude, that distance in another direction has not considerably broken it.
The number of inhabitants in this country appears to be very small in proportion to its extent. We never saw so many as thirty of them together but once, and that was at Botany Bay, when men, women, and children, assembled upon a rock to see the ship pass by: When they manifestly formed a resolution to engage us, they never could muster above fourteen or fifteen fighting men; and we never saw a number of their sheds or houses together that could accommodate a larger party. It is true, indeed, that we saw only the sea-coast on the eastern side; and that, between this and the western shore, there is an immense tract of country wholly unexplored: But there is great reason to believe that this immense tract is either wholly desolate, or at least still more thinly inhabited than the parts we visited. It is impossible that the inland country should subsist inhabitants at all seasons without cultivation; it is extremely improbable that the inhabitants of the coast should be totally ignorant of arts of cultivation, which were practised inland; and it is equally improbable that, if they knew such arts, there should be no traces of them among them. It is certain that we did not see one foot of ground in a state of cultivation in the whole country; and therefore it may well be concluded that where the sea does not contribute to feed the inhabitants, the country is not inhabited.
The only tribe with which we had any intercourse, we found where the ship was careened; it consisted of one-and-twenty persons; twelve men, seven women, one boy, and one girl: The women we never saw but at a distance; for when the men came over the river they were always left behind. The men here, and in other places, were of a middle size, and in general well-made, clean-limbed, and remarkably vigorous, active, and nimble: Their countenances were not altogether without expression, and their voices were remarkably soft and effeminate.
Their skins were so uniformly covered with dirt, that it was very difficult to ascertain their true colour: We made several attempts, by wetting our fingers and rubbing it, to remove the incrustations, but with very little effect. With the dirt they appear nearly as black as a negro; and according to our best discoveries, the skin itself is of the colour of wood-soot, or what is commonly called a chocolate-colour. Their features are far from being disagreeable, their noses are not flat, nor are their lips thick; their teeth are white and even, and their hair naturally long and black, it is however universally cropped short; in general it is straight, but sometimes it has a slight curl; we saw none that was not matted and filthy, though without oil or grease, and to our great astonishment free from lice. Their beards were of the same colour with their hair, and bushy and thick: They are not however suffered to grow long. A man whom we had seen one day with his beard somewhat longer than his companions, we saw the next, with it somewhat shorter, and upon examination found the ends of the hairs burnt: From this incident, and our having never seen any sharp instrument among them, we concluded that both the hair and the beard were kept short by singeing them.[90]
[Footnote 90: It is somewhat curious that almost all savages entertain an abhorrence at hair on any other part of the body than the head; and some of them even to that. Two reasons, at least, may be assigned for it, both of them, however, somewhat hypothetical, it must be owned. 1. Their admiration of youth--the same principle which induces some civilized people to powder their heads, and dye their whiskers, &c. when assuming the silvery hue of age! And, 2. Their having learned by experience that it rendered them more obnoxious to vermin and filth. The hair of the head is one of the finest objects in human beauty, and as such, probably in defiance of interlopers, has been generally saved in its natural state, or made the basis of important decorations.--E.]
Both sexes, as I have already observed, go stark naked, and seem to have no more sense of indecency in discovering the whole body, than we have in discovering our hands and face. Their principal ornament is the bone which they thrust through the cartilage that divides the nostrils from each other: What perversion of taste could make them think this a decoration, or what could prompt them, before they had worn it or seen it worn, to suffer the pain and inconvenience that must of necessity attend it, is perhaps beyond the power of human sagacity to determine: As this bone is as thick as a man's finger, and between five and six inches long, it reaches quite across the face, and so effectually stops up both the nostrils that they are forced to keep their mouths wide open for breath, and snuffle so when they attempt to speak, that they are scarcely intelligible even to each other. Our seamen, with some humour, called it their spritsail-yard; and indeed it had so ludicrous an appearance, that till we were used to it, we found it difficult to refrain from laughter.[91] Beside this nose-jewel, they had necklaces made of shells, very neatly cut and strung together; bracelets of small cord, wound two or three times about the upper part of their arm, and a string of plaited human hair about as thick as a thread of yarn, tied round the waist. Besides these, some of them had gorgets of shells hanging round the neck, so as to reach cross the breast. But though these people wear no clothes, their bodies have a covering besides the dirt, for they paint them both white and red: The red is commonly laid on in broad patches upon the shoulders and breast; and the white in stripes, some narrow, and some broad: The narrow were drawn over the limbs, and the broad over the body, not without some degree of taste. The white was also laid on in small patches upon the face, and drawn in a circle round each eye. The red seemed to be ochre, but what the white was we could not discover; it was close-grained, saponaceous to the touch, and almost as heavy as white lead; possibly it might be a kind of Steatites, but to our great regret we could not procure a bit of it to examine. They have holes in their ears, but we never saw any thing worn in them. Upon such ornaments as they had, they set so great a value, that they would never part with the least article for any thing we could offer; which was the more extraordinary as our beads and ribbons were ornaments of the same kind, but of a more regular form and more showy materials. They had indeed no idea of traffic, nor could we communicate any to them: They received the things that we gave them; but never appeared to understand our signs when we required a return. The same indifference which prevented them from buying what we had, prevented them also from attempting to steal: If they had coveted more, they would have been less honest; for when we refused to give them a turtle, they were enraged, and attempted to take it by force, and we had nothing else upon which they seemed to set the least value; for, as I have observed before, many of the things that we had given them, we found left negligently about in the woods, like the playthings of children, which please only while they are new. Upon their bodies we saw no marks of disease or sores, but large scars in irregular lines, which appeared to be the remains of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves with some blunt instrument, and which we understood by signs to have been memorials of grief for the dead.[92]
[Footnote 91: Other people, we know, have a fancy for such ornaments. According to Captain Carver's account of some of the North American Indians, "it is a common custom among them to bore their noses, and wear in them pendants of different sorts." And more instances might be mentioned. But we shall have occasion hereafter to speak of some remarkable modes in which the love of distinction and ornament manifests itself The very same principle leads human nature to embellish itself from the "crown of the head to the sole of the foot." One's own dear self is so lovely as to become every sort of ornament that ingenuity can contrive!--E.]
[Footnote 92: It might be worth one's while to enquire as to the prevalency of this practice amongst different people, and whether or not it is in general connected with any peculiarities of religious belief. That it was in use in early times, is certain, for we find a prohibition against it in the Mosaic code, Deut. xiv. 1. and an allusion to it in Jerem. xvi. 6. Mr Harmer, who has some observations on the subject, seems to be of opinion that the expression used in Deuteronomy, the dead, means idols, and that the practice accordingly was rather of a religious nature. But the language of the prophet in the verse alluded to, does not fall in with such a notion. Cicero speaks contemptuously of such modes of mourning for the dead, calling them varie et detestabilia genera lugendi. Tusc. Quæst. 3.--E.]
They appeared to have no fixed habitations, for we saw nothing like a town or village in the whole country. Their houses, if houses they may be called, seem to be formed with less art and industry than any we had seen, except the wretched hovels at Terra del Fuego, and in some respects they are inferior even to them. At Botany Bay, where they were best, they were just high enough for a man to sit upright in; but not large enough for him to extend himself in his whole length in any direction: They are built with pliable rods about as thick as a man's finger, in the form of an oven, by sticking the two ends into the ground, and then covering them with palm-leaves, and broad pieces of bark: The door is nothing but a large hole at one end, opposite to which the fire is made, as we perceived by the ashes. Under these houses, or sheds, they sleep, coiled up with their heels to their head; and in this position one of them will hold three or four persons. As we advanced northward, and the climate became warmer, we found these sheds still more slight: They were built, like the others, of twigs, and covered with bark; but none of them were more than four feet deep, and one side was entirely open: The close side was always opposed to the course of the prevailing wind, and opposite to the open side was the fire, probably more as a defence from the musquitos than the cold. Under these hovels it is probable, that they thrust only their heads and the upper part of their bodies, extending their feet towards the fire. They were set up occasionally by a wandering horde in any place that would furnish them for a time with subsistence, and left behind them when, after it was exhausted, they went away: But in places where they remained only for a night or two, they slept without any shelter, except the bushes or grass, which is here near two feet high. We observed, however, that though the sleeping huts which we found upon the main, were always turned from the prevailing wind, those upon the islands were turned towards it; which seems to be a proof that they have a mild season here, during which the sea is calm, and that the same weather which enables them to visit the islands, makes the air welcome even while they sleep.
The only furniture belonging to these houses that fell under our observation, is a kind of oblong vessel made of bark, by the simple contrivance of tying up the two ends with a withy, which not being cut off serves for a handle; these we imagined were used as buckets to fetch water from the spring, which may be supposed sometimes to be at a considerable distance. They have however a small bag, about the size of a moderate cabbage-net, which is made by laying threads loop within loop, somewhat in the manner of knitting used by our ladies to make purses. This bag the man carries loose upon his back by a small string which passes over his head; it generally contains a lump or two of paint and resin, some fish-books and lines, a shell or two, out of which their hooks are made, a few points of darts, and their usual ornaments, which includes the whole worldly treasure of the richest man among them.
Their fish-hooks are very neatly made, and some of them are exceedingly small. For striking turtle they have a peg of wood which is about a foot long, and very well bearded; this fits into a socket at the end of a staff of light wood, about as thick as a man's wrist, and about seven or eight feet long: To the staff is tied one end of a loose line about three or four fathom long, the other end of which is fastened to the peg. To strike the turtle, the peg is fixed into the socket, and when it has entered his body, and is retained there by the barb, the staff flies off and serves for a float to trace their victim in the water; it assists also to tire him, till they can overtake him with their canoes, and haul him ashore. One of these pegs, as I have mentioned already, we found buried in the body of a turtle, which had healed up over it. Their lines are from the thickness of a half-inch rope to the fineness of a hair, and are made of some vegetable substance, but what in particular we had no opportunity to learn.
Their food is chiefly fish, though they sometimes contrive to kill the kangaroo, and even birds of various kinds; notwithstanding they are so shy that we found it difficult to get within reach of them with a fowling-piece. The only vegetable that can be considered as an article of food is the yam; yet doubtless they eat the several fruits which have been mentioned among other productions of the country; and indeed we saw the shells and hulls of several of them lying about the places where they had kindled their fire.
They do not appear to eat any animal food raw; but having no vessel in which water can be boiled, they either broil it upon the coals, or bake it in a hole by the help of hot stones, in the same manner as is practised by the inhabitants of the islands in the South Seas.
Whether they are acquainted with any plant that has an intoxicating quality, we do not know; but we observed that several of them held leaves of some sort constantly in their mouths, as an European does tobacco, and an East-Indian betele; we never saw the plant, but when they took it from their mouths at our request; possibly it might be a species of the betele, but whatever it was, it had no effect upon the teeth or lips.
As they have no nets, they catch fish only by striking, or with a hook and line, except such as they find in the hollows of the rocks, and shoals, which are dry at half-ebb.
Their manner of hunting we had no opportunity to see; but we conjectured, by the notches which they had every where cut in large trees in order to climb them, that they took their station near the tops of them, and there watched for such animals as might happen to pass near enough to be reached by their lances: It is possible also, that in this situation they might take birds when they came to roost.
I have observed that when they went from our tents upon the banks of Endeavour River, we could trace them by the fires which they kindled in their way; and we imagined that these fires were intended some way for the taking the kangaroo, which we observed to be so much afraid of fire, that our dogs could scarcely force it over places which had been newly burnt, though the fire was extinguished.
They produce fire with great facility, and spread it in a wonderful manner. To produce it they take two pieces of dry soft wood, one is a stick about eight or nine inches long, the other piece is flat: The stick they shape into an obtuse point at one end, and pressing it upon the other, turn it nimbly by holding it between both their hands as we do a chocolate mill, often shifting their hands up, and then moving them down upon it, to increase the pressure as much as possible. By this method they get fire in less than two minutes, and from the smallest spark they increase it with great speed and dexterity. We have often seen one of them run along the shore, to all appearance with nothing in his hand, who stooping down for a moment, at the distance of every fifty or a hundred yards, left fire behind him, as we could see first by the smoke and then by the flame among the drift-wood, and other litter which was scattered along the place. We had the curiosity to examine one of these planters of fire, when he set off, and we saw him wrap up a small spark in dry grass, which, when he had run a little way, having been fanned by the air that his motion produced, began to blaze; he then laid it down in a place convenient for, his purpose, inclosing a spark of it in another quantity of grass, and so continued his course.
There are perhaps few things in the history of mankind more extraordinary than the discovery and application of fire: It will scarcely be disputed that the manner of producing it, whether by collision or attrition, was discovered by chance: But its first effects would naturally strike those to whom it was a new object, with consternation and terror: It would appear to be an enemy to life and nature, and to torment and destroy whatever was capable of being destroyed or tormented; and therefore it seems not easy to conceive what should incline those who first saw it receive a transient existence from chance, to reproduce it by design. It is by no means probable that those who first saw fire, approached it with the same caution, as those who are familiar with its effects, so as to be warmed only and not burnt; and it is reasonable to think that the intolerable pain which, at its first appearance, it must produce upon ignorant curiosity, would sow perpetual enmity between this element and mankind; and that the same principle which incites them to crush a serpent, would incite them to destroy fire, and avoid all means by which it would be produced, as soon as they were known. These circumstances considered, how men became sufficiently familiar with it to render it useful, seems to be a problem very difficult to solve: Nor is it easy to account for the first application of it to culinary purposes, as the eating both animal and vegetable food raw, must have become a habit, before there was fire to dress it, and those who have considered the force of habit will readily believe, that to men who had always eaten the flesh of animals raw, it would be as disagreeable dressed, as to those who have always eaten it dressed, it would be raw. It is remarkable that the inhabitants of Terra del Fuego produce fire from a spark by collision, and that the happier natives of this country, New Zealand and Otaheite, produce it by the attrition of one combustible substance against another: Is there not then some reason to suppose that these different operations correspond with the manner in which chance produced fire in the neighbourhood of the torrid and frigid zones? Among the rude inhabitants of a cold country, neither any operation of art, or occurrence of accident, could be supposed so easily to produce fire by attrition, as in a climate where every thing is hot, dry, and adust, teeming with a latent fire which a slight degree of motion was sufficient to call forth; in a cold country therefore, it is natural to suppose that fire was produced by the accidental collision of two metallic substances, and in a cold country, for that reason, the same expedient was used to produce it by design: But in hot countries, where two combustible substances easily kindle by attrition, it is probable that the attrition of such substances first produced fire, and here it was therefore natural for art to adopt the same operation, with a view to produce the same effect. It may indeed be true that fire is now produced in many cold countries by attrition, and in many hot by a stroke; but perhaps upon enquiry there may appear reason to conclude that this has arisen from the communication of one country with another, and that with respect to the original production of fire in hot and cold countries, the distinction is well founded.
There may perhaps be some reason to suppose that men became gradually acquainted with the nature and effects of fire, by its permanent existence in a volcano, there being remains of volcanoes, or vestiges of their effects, in almost every part of the world: By a volcano, however, no method of producing fire, otherwise than by contact, could be learnt; the production and application of fire therefore, still seem to afford abundant subject of speculation to the curious.[93]
[Footnote 93: Mr Jones, who writes on this subject in one of his Physiological Disquisitions, is not a little displeased with some of the observations made here, which seem to imply that mankind were left destitute of the knowledge of fire, and had to acquire it by mere accidental notice.--Mr Jones's zeal, however, appears more conspicuous in this matter than either his judgment or his acquaintance with the remarks of various authors. President Goguet has shewn his usual industry in this matter. He refers to a considerable number of authors for proof that the knowledge of fire was by no means very extensive among the early nations, and that even where it existed, it had been often discovered by accident. A summary of what this excellent writer has said on the subject, with a quotation or two, cannot fail to be interesting to the reader, and will scarcely run any risk of being judged either ill-timed or tedious. The Chinese, Persians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and several other nations, admit that their ancestors were once without the use of fire. This is said on the authority of Plato, Diodorus Siculus, Sanchoniathon, authors mentioned by Bannier, as Hesiod, Lucretius, Virgil, &c. &c. And we learn from Pomponius Mela, Pliny, Plutarch, and others, that in their times there were nations who were either quite ignorant of fire, or had but just learned its nature and effects. These authorities are strengthened by what has been related of people discovered in modern times. Thus the inhabitants of the Marian or Ladrone Islands, and also of the Philippine and Canaries, are said to have been without this knowledge, at the time of their discovery. We are told besides of several nations in America and Africa being in the same state of ignorance. As to these, however, it is but fair to apprize the reader, that the authorities adduced by the President are not such as can be implicitly relied on--a remark, perhaps, which some readers will not fail to apply to certain of the writers formerly mentioned. The Egyptians owed their knowledge of fire to thunder and lightning; the Phoenicians to the effect of the wind on woods and forests; volcanos, burning earth, (as in a province of Persia) and boiling wells (frequent in several countries), gave rise to this knowledge amongst other people. "We may form very probable conjectures about the methods which men at first used to procure fire, when they had occasion for it, from ancient traditions, and from the present practices of the savages. They could not be long in discovering, that by striking two flints each against other, there went sparks from them:" "They remarked, that by rubbing two pieces of hard wood very strongly against each other, they raised sparks; nay, that by rubbing for some time two pieces of wood, they raised flame." "The Chinese say that one of their first kings taught them this latter method; and the Greeks had nearly the same tradition." This method, we learn from Lawson, was in use amongst the natives of Carolina, before they became acquainted, with the use of steel and flints. "They got their fire," says he, "with sticks, which by vehement collision, or rubbing together, take fire." "You are to understand," he adds, "that the two sticks they use to strike fire withal, are never of one sort of wood, but always differ from each other." Indeed it is probable that this method has been very generally practised. Seneca makes mention of it in the 2d book, chap. 22. of his Nat. Quæst., and he specifies some of the kinds of wood known by the shepherds to be fit for the purpose, "sicut lauris, hederæ, et alia in hunc usum nota pastoribus." This is noticed by Mr Jones, who gives it as his opinion that the lauris, here spoken of, is the bay-tree, which, according to the poet Lucretius, is remarkable for its inflammability. The reader may desire to see the opinion of Mr Jones as to the origin of man's acquaintance with fire.--It is certainly worthy of consideration, and supposing it restricted to the parent of our race, and his immediate offspring, may be held with no small confidence. It embraces indeed a wider field than can possibly be investigated in this place. "The first family," says he, "placed by the Creator upon this earth, offered sacrifices; which being an article of religious duty, they were certainly possessed of the means of performing it, and consequently of the knowledge and use of fire, without which it could not be practised. The next generation presents us with artificers in brass and iron, which could not possibly be wrought without the complete knowledge of fire; neither indeed could any works of art be well carried on. The account of this affair in the Bible is much more natural, because it is much more agreeable to the goodness of God, and the dignity of the human species, than to suppose, on the principles of a wild and savage philosophy (alluding to Dr Hawkesworth's poor conjectures, as Mr Jones styles them), that men were left ignorant of the use of an element intended for their accommodation and support. To interdict a man from the use of fire and water, was accounted the same in effect as to send him out of life; so that if men, upon the original terms of their creation, were thus interdicted by the Creator himself, as the Heathen mythologists supposed them to be, they were sent into life upon such terms as others were sent out of it. If we admit any such gloomy suppositions, where shall we stop? If mankind were left destitute in respect to the knowledge of fire, perhaps they were left without language, without food, without clothing, without reason, and in a worse condition than the beasts, who are born with the proper knowledge of life, but man receives it by education; therefore he who taught the beasts by instinct, taught man by information." Much might be said for and against this mode of reasoning, which this place, already so fully occupied, will not admit. The history of fire is involved in difficulties, and has really obtained less attention from men of learning than it deserves. Probably, on appointing the rites of sacrifice, which there is reason to believe was immediately after the first gracious promise to Adam, God testified his acceptance of the offering by fire from heaven, which was the beginning of man's acquaintance with it, and in this manner it is certain God afterwards shewed his approbation.--E.]
The weapons of these people are spears or lances, and these are or different kinds: Some that we saw upon the southern part of the coast had four prongs, pointed with bone, and barbed; the points were also smeared with a hard resin, which gave them a polish, and made them enter deeper into what they struck. To the northward, the lance has but one point: The shaft is made of cane, or the stalk of a plant somewhat resembling a bulrush, very straight and light, and from eight to fourteen feet long, consisting of several joints, where the pieces are let into each other, and bound together; to this are fitted points of different kinds; some are of hard heavy wood, and some are the bones of fish: We saw several that were pointed with the stings of the sting-ray, the largest that they could procure, and barbed with several that were smaller, fastened on in a contrary direction; the points of wood were also sometimes armed with sharp pieces of broken shells, which were stuck in, and at the junctures covered with resin: The lances that are thus barbed, are indeed dreadful weapons, for when once they have taken place, they can never be drawn back without tearing away the flesh, or leaving the sharp ragged splinters of the bone or shell which forms the beard, behind them in the wound. These weapons are thrown with great force and dexterity; if intended to wound at a short distance, between ten and twenty yards, simply with the hand, but if at the distance of forty or fifty, with an instrument which we called a throwing-stick. This is a plain smooth piece of a hard reddish wood, very highly polished, about two inches broad, half an inch thick, and three feet long, with a small knob, or hook at one end, and a cross piece about three or four inches long at the other: The knob at one end is received in a small dent or hollow, which is made for that purpose in the shaft of the lance near the point, but from which it easily slips, upon being impelled forward: When the lance is laid along upon this machine, and secured in a proper position by the knob, the person that is to throw it holds it over his shoulder, and after shaking it, delivers both the throwing-stick and lance with all his force; but the stick being stopped by the cross piece which comes against the shoulder, with a sudden jerk, the lance flies forward with incredible swiftness, and with so good an aim, that at the distance of fifty yards these Indians were more sure of their mark than we could be with a single bullet. Besides these lances, we saw no offensive weapon upon this coast, except when we took our last view of it with our glasses, and then we thought we saw a man with a bow and arrows, in which it is possible we might be mistaken. We saw, however, at Botany Bay, a shield or target of an oblong shape, about three feet long, and eighteen inches broad, which was made of the bark of a tree: This was fetched out of a hut by one of the men that opposed our landing, who, when he ran away, left it behind him, and upon taking it up, we found that it had been pierced through with a single pointed lance near the center. These shields are certainly in frequent use among the people here; for though this was the only one that we saw in their possession, we frequently found trees from which they appeared manifestly to have been cut, the marks being easily distinguished from those that were made by cutting buckets: Sometimes also we found the shields cut out, but not yet taken off from the tree, the edges of the bark only being a little raised by wedges, so that these people appear to have discovered that the bark of a tree becomes thicker and stronger by being suffered to remain upon the trunk after it has been cut round.
The canoes of New Holland are as mean and rude as the houses. Those on the southern part of the coast are nothing more than a piece of bark, about twelve feet long, tied together at the ends, and kept open in the middle by small bows of wood: Yet in a vessel of this construction we once saw three people. In shallow water they are set forward by a pole, and in deeper by paddles, about eighteen inches long, one of which the boatman holds in each hand; mean as they are, they have many conveniencies; they draw but little water, and they are very light, so that they go upon mud banks to pick up shell-fish, the most important use to which they can be applied, better perhaps than vessels of any other construction. We observed, that in the middle of these canoes there was a heap of sea-weed, and upon that a small fire; probably that the fish may be broiled and eaten the moment it is caught.
The canoes that we saw when we advanced farther to the northward, are not made of bark, but of the trunk of a tree hollowed, perhaps by fire. They are about fourteen feet long, and, being very narrow, are fitted with an outrigger to prevent their oversetting. These are worked with paddles, that are so large as to require both hands to manage one of them: The outside is wholly unmarked by any tool, but at each end the wood is left longer at the top than at the bottom, so that there is a projection beyond the hollow part resembling the end of a plank; the sides are tolerably thin, but how the tree is felled and fashioned, we had no opportunity to learn. The only tools that we saw among them are an adze, wretchedly made of stone, some small pieces of the same substance in form of a wedge, a wooden mallet, and some shells and fragments of coral. For polishing their throwing-sticks, and the points of their lances, they use the leaves of a kind of wild fig-tree, which bites upon wood almost as keenly as the shave-grass of Europe, which is used by our joiners: With such tools, the making even such a canoe as I have described, must be a most difficult and tedious labour: To those who have been accustomed to the use of metal, it appears altogether impracticable; but there are few difficulties that will not yield to patient perseverance, and he who does all he can, will certainly produce effects that greatly exceed his apparent power.[94]
[Footnote 94: This very just observation cannot be too forcibly urged, or too frequently recollected. The deficiency of which most men have reason to complain, is not that of ability, but of industry and application. Genius is pursued and coveted, because it is imagined to be a sort of creating energy which produces at will, and without labour.--It is therefore desirable to indolent minds. But this is a mistake of no small detriment, though of very common occurrence. Few people perhaps discover it to be so, till they have to condemn themselves for the loss of much of their best time, spent in idly wishing for the inspiration which is to do such wonders, for them without exertion on their part. Reader, in place of this, fix on some useful or laudable work, and set about doing it.--E.]
The utmost freight of these canoes is four people, and if more at any time wanted to come over the river, one of those who came first was obliged to go back for the rest: From this circumstance we conjectured that the boat we saw, when we were lying in Endeavour River, was the only one in the neighbourhood: We have however some reason to believe that the bark canoes are also used where the wooden ones are constructed, for upon one of the small islands where the natives had been fishing for turtle, we found one of the little paddles which had belonged to such a boat, and would have been useless on board any other.
By what means the inhabitants of this country are reduced to such a number as it can subsist, is not perhaps very easy to guess; whether, like the inhabitants of New Zealand, they are destroyed by the hands of each other in contests for food; whether they are swept off by accidental famine, or whether there is any cause which prevents the increase of the species, must be left for future adventurers to determine.[95] That they have wars, appears by their weapons; for supposing the lances to serve merely for the striking of fish, the shield could be intended for nothing but a defence against men; the only mark of hostility, however, which we saw among them, was the perforation of the shield by a spear, which has been just mentioned, for none of them appeared to have been wounded by an enemy. Neither can we determine whether they are pusillanimous or brave; the resolution with which two of them attempted to prevent our landing, when we had two boats full of men, in Botany Bay, even after one of them was wounded with small shot, gave us reason to conclude that they were not only naturally courageous, but that they had acquired a familiarity with the dangers of hostility, and were, by habit as well as nature, a daring and warlike people; but their precipitate flight from every other place that we approached, without even a menace, while they were out of our reach, was an indication of uncommon tameness and timidity, such as those who had only been occasionally warriors must be supposed to have shaken off, whatever might have been their natural disposition. I have faithfully related facts, the reader must judge of the people for himself.[96]
[Footnote 95: Some remarks on this very interesting subject will be given hereafter.--E.]
[Footnote 96: The reader may wait a little till he has received some information destined to his use. What has been now given is too scanty evidence to justify a final decision in the matter.--E.]
From the account that has been given of our commerce with them, it cannot be supposed that we should know much of their language; yet as this is an object of great curiosity, especially to the learned, and of great importance in their researches into the origin of the various nations that have been discovered, we took some pains to bring away such a specimen of it as might, in a certain degree, answer the purpose, and I shall now give an account how it was procured. If we wanted to know the name of a stone, we took a stone up into our hands, and, as well as we could, intimated by signs that we wished they should name it: The word that they pronounced upon the occasion, we immediately wrote down. This method, though it was the best we could contrive, might certainly lead us into many mistakes; for if an Indian was to take up a stone, and ask us the name of it, we might answer a pebble or a flint; so when we took up a stone and asked an Indian the name of it, he might pronounce a word that distinguished the species, and not the genus, or that instead of signifying stone simply, might signify a rough stone, or a smooth stone: However, as much as possible to avoid mistakes of this kind, several of us contrived, at different times, to get from them as many words as we could, and having noted them down, compared our lists; those which were the same in all, and which, according to every one's account, signified the same thing, we ventured to record, with a very few others, which, from the simplicity of the subject, and the ease of expressing our question with plainness and precision by a sign, have acquired equal authority.
English. New Holland.
The head, Wageegee.
Hair, Morye.
Eyes, Meul.
Ears, Melea.
Lips, Yembe.
Nose, Bonjoo.
Tongue, Unjar.
Nails, Kulke.
Sun, Gallan.
Fire, Meanang.
A stone, Walba.
Sand, Yowall.
A rope, Gurka.
A man, Bama.
Beard, Wallar.
Neck, Doomboo.
Nipples, Cayo.
Hands, Marigal.
Thighs, Coman.
Navel, Toolpoor.
Knees, Pongo.
Feet, Edamal.
Heel, Kniorror.
Cockatoo, Wanda.
The soal of the foot Chumal.
Ankle, Chongurn.
Arms, Aco, or Acol.
Thumb, Eboorbalga.
The fore, middle, and ring fingers, Egalbaiga.
The little finger, Nakil, or Ebornakil.
The Sky, Kere, or Kearre.
A father, Dunjo.
A Son, Jumurre.
A male turtle, Poinga.
A female, Mameingo.
A canoe, Marigan.
To paddle, Pelenyo.
Sit down, Takai.
Smooth, Mier Carrar.
A dog, Cotta, or Kota.
A loriquet. Perpere, or pier-pier.
Blood, Yarmbe.
Wood, Yocou.
The bone in the nose, Tapool.
A bag, Charngala.
A great cockle, Moingo.
Cocos, Yams, Maracatou.
New Holland. English
Cherr, } Expressions, as we supposed, of
Cherco, } admiration, which they continually
Yarcaw, } used when they were
Tut, tut, tut, tut, } in company with us.[97]
[Footnote 97: This table is exceedingly scanty and imperfect, and would not have been given were it not thought proper, for a reason already assigned, to preserve entire this early account of New Holland.--E.]
I shall now quit this country with a few observations relative to the currents and tides upon the coast. From latitude 32°, and somewhat higher, down to Sandy Cape, in latitude 24° 46', we constantly found a current setting to the southward, at the rate of about ten or fifteen miles a-day, being more or less, according to our distance from the land, for it always ran with more force in-shore than in the offing; but I could never satisfy myself whether the flood-tide came from the southward, the eastward, or the northward; I inclined to the opinion that it came from the southeast; but the first time we anchored off the coast, which was in latitude 24° 30', about ten leagues to the south-east of Bustard Bay, I found it came from the north-west; on the contrary, thirty leagues farther to the north-west, on the south side of Keppel Bay, I found that it came from the east, and at the northern part of that bay it came from the northward, but with a much slower motion than it had come from the east: On the east side of the Bay of Inlets, it set strongly to the westward, as far as the opening of Broad Sound; but on the north side of that sound it came with a very slow motion from the north-west; and when we lay at anchor before Repulse Bay, it came from the northward: To account for its course in all this variety of directions, we need only admit that the flood-tide comes from the east or south-east. It is well known, that where there are deep inlets, and large creeks into low lands running up from the sea, and not occasioned by rivers of fresh water, there will always be a great indraught of the flood-tide, the direction of which will be determined by the position or direction of the coast which forms the entrance of such inlet, whatever be its course at sea; and where the tides are weak, which upon this coast is generally the case, a large inlet will, if I may be allowed the expression, attract the flood-tide for many leagues.
A view of the chart will at once illustrate this position. To the northward of Whitsunday's Passage there is no large inlet, consequently the flood sets to the northward, or northwestward, according to the direction of the coast, and the ebb to the south, or south-eastward, at least such is their course at a little distance from the land, for very near it they will be influenced by small inlets. I also observed that we had only one high tide in twenty-four hours, which happened in the night. The difference between the perpendicular rise of the water in the day and the night, when there is a spring-tide, is no less than three feet, which, where the tides are so inconsiderable as they are here, is a great proportion of the whole difference between high and low water. This irregularity of the tides, which is worthy of notice, we did not discover till we were ran ashore, and perhaps farther to the northward it is still greater. After we got within the reef the second time, we found the tides more considerable than we had ever done before, except in the Bay of Inlets, and possibly this may be owing to the water being more confined between the shoals; here also the flood sets to the north-west, and continues in the same direction to the extremity of New Wales, from whence its direction is west and south-west into the Indian sea.
SECTION XXXIV.
The Passage from New South Wales to New Guinea, with an Account of what happened upon landing there.
In the afternoon of Thursday, August the 23d, after leaving Booby Island, we steered W.N.W. with light airs from the S.S.W. till five o'clock, when it fell calm, and the tide of ebb soon after setting to the N.E., we came to an anchor in eight fathom water, with a soft sandy bottom. Booby Island bore S. 50 E., distant five miles, and the Prince of Wales's Isles extended from N.E. by N. to S. 55 E.; between these there appeared to be a clear open passage, extending from N. 46 E. to E. by N.
At half an hour after five in the morning of the 24th, as we were purchasing the anchor, the cable parted at about eight or ten fathom from the ring: The ship then began to drive, but I immediately dropped another anchor, which brought her up before she got more than a cable's length from the buoy; the boats were then sent to sweep for the anchor, but could not succeed. At noon our latitude by observation was 10° 30' S. As I was resolved not to leave the anchor behind, while there remained a possibility of recovering it, I sent the boats again after dinner with a small line, to discover where it lay; this being happily effected, we swept for it with a hawser, and by the same hawser hove the ship up to it: We proceeded to weigh it, but just as we were about to ship it, the hawser slipped, and we had all our labour to repeat: By this time it was dark, and we were obliged to suspend our operations till the morning.
As soon as it was light, we sweeped it again, and heaved it to the bows: By eight o'clock we weighed the other anchor, got under sail, and, with a fine breeze at E.N.E. stood to the north-west. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10° 18' S., longitude 219° 39' W. At this time we had no land in sight, but about two miles to the southward of us lay a large shoal, upon which the sea broke with great violence, and part of which, I believe, is dry at low water. It extends N.W. and S.E., and is about five leagues in circuit. Our depth of water, from the time we weighed till now, was nine fathom, but it soon shallowed to seven fathom; and at half an hour after one, having run eleven miles between noon and that time, the boat which was a-head made the signal for shoal water; we immediately let go an anchor, and brought the ship up with all the sails standing, for the boat, having just been relieved, was at but a little distance: Upon looking out from the ship, we saw shoal water almost all round us, both wind and tide at the same time setting upon it. The ship was in six fathom, but upon sounding round her, at the distance of half a cable's length, we found scarcely two. This shoal reached from the east, round by the north and west, as far as the south-west, so that there was no way for us to get clear but that which we came. This was another hair's-breadth escape, for it was near high water, and there run a short cockling sea, which must very soon have bulged the ship if she had struck; and if her direction had been half a cable's length more either to the right or left, she must have struck before the signal for the shoal was made. The shoals which, like these, lie a fathom or two under water, are the most dangerous of any, for they do not discover themselves till the vessel is just upon them, and then indeed the water looks brown, as if it reflected a dark cloud. Between three and four o'clock the tide of ebb began to make, and I sent the master to sound to the southward and south-westward, and in the mean time, as the ship tended, I weighed anchor, and with a little sail stood first to the southward, and after edging away to the westward, got once more out of danger. At sun-set we anchored in ten fathom, with a sandy bottom, having a fresh gale at E.S.E.
At six in the morning we weighed again and stood west, having, as usual, first sent a boat a-head to sound. I had intended to steer N.W. till I had made the south coast of New Guinea, designing, if possible, to touch upon it; but upon meeting with these shoals, I altered my course, in hopes of finding a clearer channel, and deeper water. In this I succeeded, for by noon our depth of water was gradually increased to seventeen fathom. Our latitude was now, by observation, 10° 10' S., and our longitude 220° 12' W. No land was in sight. We continued to steer W. till sun-set, our depth of water being from twenty-seven to twenty-three fathom: We then shortened sail, and kept upon a wind all night; four hours on one tack and four on another. At day-light we made all the sail we could, and steered W.N.W. till eight o'clock, and then N.W. At noon our latitude, by observation, was 9° 56' S., longitude 221° W.; variation 2° 30' E. We continued our N.W. course till sun-set, when we again shortened sail, and hauled close upon a wind to the northward: Our depth of water was twenty-one fathom. At eight, we tacked and stood to the southward till twelve; then stood to the northward, with little sail, till day-light: Our soundings were from twenty-five to seventeen fathom, the water growing gradually shallow as we stood to the northward. At this time we made sail and stood to the north, in order to make the land of New Guinea: From the time of our making sail, till noon, the depth of water gradually decreased from seventeen to twelve fathom, with a stoney and shelly bottom. Our latitude, by observation, was now 8° 52' S, which is in the same parallel as that in which the southern parts of New Guinea are laid down in the charts; but there are only two points so far to the south, and I reckoned that we were a degree to the westward of them both, and therefore did not see the land, which trends more to the northward. We found the sea here to be in many parts covered with a brown scum, such as sailors generally call spawn. When I first saw it, I was alarmed, fearing that we were among shoals; but upon sounding, we found the same depth of water as in other places. This scum was examined both by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, but they could not determine what it was: It was formed of innumerable small particles, not more than half a line in length, each of which in the microscope appeared to consist of thirty or forty tubes; and each tube was divided through its whole length by small partitions into many cells, like the tubes of the conferva: They were supposed to belong to the vegetable kingdom, because, upon burning them, they produced no smell like that of an animal substance. The same appearance had been observed upon the coast of Brazil and New Holland, but never at any considerable distance from the shore. In the evening a small bird hovered about the ship, and at night, settling among the rigging, was taken. It proved to be exactly the same bird which Dampier has described, and of which he has given a rude figure, by the name of a Noddy, from New Holland. [See his Voyages, vol. iii. p. 98, Tab. of Birds, fig. 5.][98]
[Footnote 98: Additional information on this subject remains for a subsequent part of our work.--E.]
We continued standing to the northward with a fresh gale at E. by S. and S.E., till six in the evening, having very irregular soundings, the depth changing at once from twenty-four fathom to seven. At four we had seen the land from the mast-head, bearing N.W. by N.; it appeared to be very low, and to stretch from W.N.W. to N.N.E., distant four or five leagues. We now hauled close upon a wind till seven, then tacked and stood to the southward till twelve, at which time we wore and stood to the northward till four in the morning, then laid the head of the vessel off till daylight, when we again saw the land, and stood in N.N.W., directly for it, with a fresh gale at E. by S. Our soundings during the night were very irregular, from seven to five fathom, suddenly changing from deep to shallow, and from shallow to deep, without in the least corresponding with our distance from the land. At half an hour after six in the morning, a small low island, which lay at the distance of about a league from the main, bore N. by W. distant five miles: This island lies in latitude 8° 13' S., longitude 231° 25' W.; and I find it laid down in the charts by the names of Bartholomew and Whermoysen. We now steered N.W. by W.W.N.W., W. by N.W. by S., and S.W. by W., as we found the land lie, with from five to nine fathom; and though we reckoned we were not more than four leagues from it, yet it was so low and level that we could but just see it from the deck. It appeared, however, to be well covered with wood, and, among other trees, we thought we could distinguish the cocoa-nut. We saw smoke in several places, and therefore knew there were inhabitants. At noon we were about three leagues from the land; the westermost part of which that was in sight bore S. 79° W. Our latitude, by observation, was 8° 19' S., and longitude 221° 44' W. The island of St Bartholomew bore N. 74 E. distant 20 miles.
After steering S.W. by W. six miles, we had shoal water on our starboard bow, which I sent the yawl to sound, and at the same time hauled off upon a wind till four o'clock, and though during that time we had run six miles, we had not deepened our water an inch. I then edged away S.W. four miles more; but finding it still shoal water, I brought-to and called the boats aboard. At this time, being between three and four leagues from the shore, and the yawl having found only three fathom water in the place to which I had sent her to sound, I hauled off close upon a wind, and weathered the shoal about half a mile.
Between one and two o'clock we passed a bay or inlet, before which lies a small island that seems to shelter it from the southerly winds; but I very much doubt whether there is sufficient depth of water behind it for shipping. I could not attempt to determine the question, because the S.E. trade-wind blows right into the bay, and we had not as yet had any breeze from the land.
We stretched off to sea till twelve o'clock, when we were about eleven leagues from the land, and had deepened our water to twenty-nine fathom. We now tacked and stood in till five in the morning, when, being in six fathom and a half, we tacked and laid the head of the vessel off till daylight, when we saw the land, bearing N.W. by W., at about the distance of four leagues. We now made sail, and steered first W.S.W., then W. by S.; but coming into five fathom and a half, we hauled off S.W. till we deepened our water to eight fathom, and then kept away W. by S. and W., having nine fathom, and the land just in sight from the deck; we judged it to be about four leagues distant, and it was still very low and woody. Great quantities of the brown scum continued to appear upon the water, and the sailors having given up the notion of its being spawn, found a new name for it, and called it sea saw-dust. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 8° 30' S., our longitude 222° 34' W.; and Saint Bartholomew's Isle bore N. 69 E., distant seventy-four miles.
As all this coast appears to have been very minutely examined by the Dutch, and as our track will appear by the chart, it is sufficient to say, that we continued our course to the northward with very shallow water, upon a bank of mud, at such a distance from the shore as that it could scarcely be seen from the ship till the third of September. During this time we made many attempts to get near enough to go on shore, but without success; and having now lost six days of fair wind, at a time when we knew the south-east monsoon to be nearly at an end, we began to be impatient of farther delay, and determined to run the ship in as near to the shore as possible, and then land with the pinnace, while she kept plying off and on to examine the produce of the country, and the disposition of the inhabitants. For the two last days we had, early in the morning, a light breeze from the shore, which was strongly impregnated with the fragrance of the trees, shrubs, and herbage that covered it, the smell being something like that of gum Benjamin. On the 3d of September, at day-break, we saw the land extending from N. by E. to S.E., at about four leagues distance, and we then kept standing in for it with a fresh gale at E.S.E. and E. by S. till nine o'clock, when being within about three or four miles of it, and in three fathom water, we brought-to. The pinnace being hoisted out, I set off from the ship with the boat's crew, accompanied by Mr Banks, who also took his servants, and Dr Solander, being in all twelve persons, well armed; we rowed directly towards the shore, but the water was so shallow that we could not reach it by about two hundred yards; we waded, however, the rest of the way, having left two of the seamen to take care of the boat. Hitherto we had seen no signs of inhabitants at this place; but as soon as we got ashore we discovered the prints of human feet, which could not long have been impressed upon the sand, as they were below high-water mark: We therefore concluded that the people were at no great distance, and, as a thick wood came down within a hundred yards of the water, we thought it necessary to proceed with caution, lest we should fall into an ambuscade, and our retreat to the boat be cut off. We walked along the skirts of the wood, and at the distance of about two hundred yards from the place where we landed, we came to a grove of cocoa-nut trees, which stood upon the banks of a little brook of brackish water. The trees were of a small growth, but well hung with fruit; and near them was a shed or hut, which had been covered with their leaves, though most of them were now fallen off: About the hut lay a great number of the shells of the fruit, some of which appeared to be just fresh from the tree. We looked at the fruit very wishfully, but not thinking it safe to climb, we were obliged to leave it without tasting a single nut. At a little distance from this place we found plantains, and a bread-fruit tree, but it had nothing upon it; and having now advanced about a quarter of a mile from the boat, three Indians rushed out of the wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance of a hundred yards; and as they ran towards us, the foremost threw something out of his hand, which flew on one side of him, and burnt exactly like gunpowder, but made no report: The other two instantly threw their lances at us; and as no time was now to be lost, we discharged our pieces, which were loaded with small shot. It is probable that they did not feel the shot, for though they halted a moment, they did not retreat; and a third dart was thrown at us. As we thought their farther approach might be prevented with less risk of life than it would cost to defend ourselves against their attack if they should come nearer, we loaded our pieces with ball, and fired a second time: By this discharge it is probable that some of them were wounded; yet we had the satisfaction to see that they all ran away with great agility. As I was not disposed forcibly to invade this country, either to gratify our appetites or our curiosity, and perceived that nothing was to be done upon friendly terms, we improved this interval, in which the destruction of the natives was no longer necessary to our own defence, and with all expedition returned towards our boat. As we were advancing along the shore, we perceived that the two men on board made signals that more Indians were coming down; and before we got into the water we saw several of them coming round a point at the distance of about five hundred yards: It is probable that they had met with the three who first attacked as; for as soon as they saw us they halted, and seemed to wait till their main body should come up. We entered the water and waded towards the boat, and they remained at their station, without giving us any interruption. As soon as we were aboard we rowed abreast of them, and their number then appeared to be between sixty and a hundred. We now took a view of them at our leisure; they made much the same appearance as the New Hollanders, being nearly of the same stature, and having their hair short cropped: Like them also, they were all stark naked, but we thought the colour of their skin was not quite so dark; this however might perhaps be merely the effect of their not being quite so dirty. All this while they were shouting defiance, and letting off their fires by four or five at a time. What these fires were, or for what purpose intended, we could not imagine: Those who discharged them had in their hands a short piece of stick, possibly a hollow cane, which they swung sideways from them, and we immediately saw fire and smoke, exactly resembling those of a musket, and of no longer duration. This wonderful phenomenon was observed from the ship, and the deception was so great that the people on board thought they had fire-arms; and in the boat, if we had not been so near as that we must have heard the report, we should have thought they had been firing volleys.[99] After we had looked at them attentively some time, without taking any notice of their flashing and vociferation, we fired some muskets over their heads: Upon hearing the balls rattle among the trees, they walked leisurely away, and we returned to the ship. Upon examining the weapons they had thrown at us, we found them to be light darts, about four feet long, very ill made, of a reed or bamboo cane, and pointed with hard wood, in which there were many barbs. They were discharged with great force; for though we were at sixty yards distance, they went beyond us, but in what manner we could not exactly see; possibly they might be shot with a bow, but we saw no bows among them when we surveyed them from the boat, and we were in general of opinion that they were thrown, with a stick, in the manner practised by the New Hollanders.
[Footnote 99: So far as the writer recollects, no satisfactory account of this singular fact has been given. He has long borne it in remembrance, and sought for further information respecting it, but hitherto has failed. He can conjecture, it is true, two or three modes of explanation; but he does not chuse to be wise abase what is written.--E.]
This place lies in the latitude of 6° 15' S., and about sixty-five leagues to the N.E. of Port Saint Augustine, or Walche Cape, and is near what is called in the charts C. de la Colta de St Bonaventura. The land here, like that in every other part of the coast, is very low, but covered with a luxuriance of wood and herbage that can scarcely be conceived. We saw the cocoa-nut, the bread-fruit, and the plantain tree, all flourishing in a state of the highest perfection, though the cocoa-nuts were green, and the bread-fruit not in season; besides most of the trees, shrubs, and plants that are common to the South-Sea islands, New Zealand, and New Holland.
Soon after our return to the ship, we hoisted in the boat, and made sail to the westward, being resolved to spend no more time upon this coast, to the great satisfaction of a very considerable majority of the ship's company. But I am sorry to say that I was strongly urged by some of the officers to send a party of men ashore and cut down the cocoa-nut trees for the sake of the fruit. This I peremptorily refused, as equally unjust and cruel. The natives had attacked us merely for landing upon their coast, when we attempted to take nothing away, and it was therefore morally certain that they would have made a vigorous effort to defend their property if it had been invaded, in which case many of them must have fallen a sacrifice to our attempt, and perhaps also some of our own people. I should have regretted the necessity of such a measure, if I had been in want of the necessaries of life, and certainly it would have been highly criminal when nothing was to be obtained but two or three hundred of green cocoa-nuts, which would at most have procured us a mere transient gratification.[100] I might indeed have proceeded farther along the coast to the northward and westward, in search of a place where the ship might have lain so near the shore as to cover the people with her guns when they landed; but this would have obviated only part of the mischief, and though it might have secured us, would probably in the very act have been fatal to the natives. Besides, we had reason to think that before such a place would have been found, we should have been carried so far to the westward as to have been obliged to go to Batavia, on the north side of Java, which I did not think so safe a passage as to the south of Java, through the Streights of Sunday: The ship also was so leaky, that I doubted whether it would not be necessary to heave her down at Batavia, which was another reason for making the best of our way to that place, especially as no discovery could be expected in seas which had already been navigated, and where every coast had been laid down by the Dutch geographers. The Spaniards, indeed, as well as the Dutch, seem to have circumnavigated all the islands in New Guinea, as almost every place that is distinguished in the chart has a name in both languages. The charts with which I compared such part of the coast as I visited, are bound up with a French work, entitled, "Histoire des Navigationes aux Terres Australes," which was published in 1756, and I found them tolerably exact; yet I know not by whom, or when they were taken: And though New Holland and New Guinea are in them represented as two distinct countries, the very history in which they are bound up, leaves it in doubt.[101] I pretend, however, to no more merit in this part of the voyage than to have established the fact beyond all controversy.
[Footnote 100: Delicacy of feeling, perhaps, would have preferred the omission of what has now been recorded as to the advice of some of the officers, to the stating it in such a manner as leaves the responsible persons under the shade of the guiltless, or implicates the latter in the odium of the former. The advice, at all events, might have been stated impersonally, as a mere suggestion that would naturally present itself to any one who considered the benefit of the crew only, without respect to the rights and properties of the natives,--a suggestion, however, which it required but a moment's reflection on the laws of humanity to dissipate with reproach. Some readers, it is probable, will be sensible, as well as the writer, of an uncomfortable emotion at the perusal of this part of the text, exclusive entirely of disapprobation of the matter of which it treats.--E.]
[Footnote 101: The work here mentioned was the valuable labour of President De Brosses, and appeared at Paris, in two vols. quarto. It was translated into English, and published at London in 1767. We shall hereafter have occasion to cull some information from it, and to revert to the fact of the separation of New Holland and New Guinea now alluded to. Callender published a work at Edinburgh, in 1766, in three vols. octavo, entitled, "Terra Australis Cognita; or Voyages to the Terra Australis, or Southern Hemisphere, &c." It bore to be an original, but is in fact a translation of what has now been mentioned.--E.]
As the two countries lie very near each other, and the intermediate space is full of islands, it is reasonable to suppose that they were both peopled from one common stock; yet no intercourse appears to have been kept up between them; for if there had, the cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, plantains, and other fruits of New Guinea, which are equally necessary for the support of life, would certainly have been transplanted to New Holland, where no traces of them are to be found. The author of the "Histoire des Navigationes aux Terres Australes," in his account of La Maire's voyage, has given a vocabulary of the language that is spoken in an island near New Britain, and we find, by comparing that vocabulary with the words which we learnt in New Holland, that the languages are not the same. If therefore it should appear that the languages of New Britain and New Guinea are the same, there will be reason to suppose that New Britain and New Guinea were peopled from a common stock, but that the inhabitants of New Holland had a different origin, notwithstanding the proximity of the countries.[102]
[Footnote 102: An interesting enough subject for enquiry is here started. We shall, in another part of our work, have to give it some attention.--E.]
SECTION XXXV.
The Passage from New Guinea to the Island of Semau, and the Transactions there.[103]
[Footnote 103: It is quite unnecessary, and would answer no good purpose, to occupy the reader's attention with any geographical notes respecting the islands mentioned in this section. Subsequent voyages, and other publications, have greatly enriched our acquaintance with this subject; but it would make sad patch-work to detail it here. The reader will do better to amuse himself with the narrative for the present, and to reserve study for a future occasion.--E.]
We made sail, from noon on Monday the 3d, to noon on Tuesday the 4th, standing to the westward, and all the time kept in soundings, having from fourteen to thirty fathom; not regular, but sometimes more, sometimes less. At noon on the 4th, we were in fourteen fathom, and latitude 6° 44' S., longitude 223° 51' W.; our course and distance since the 3d, at noon, were S. 76 W., one hundred and twenty miles to the westward. At noon on the 5th of September, we were in latitude 7° 25' S., longitude 225° 41' W., having been in soundings the whole time from ten to twenty fathom.
At half an hour after one in the morning of the next day, we passed a small island which bore from us N.N.W., distant between three and four miles; and at day-light we discovered another low island, extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E., distant about two or three leagues. Upon this island, which did not appear to be very small, I believe I should have landed to examine its produce, if the wind had not blown too fresh to admit of it. When we passed this island we had only ten fathom water, with a rocky bottom, and therefore I was afraid of running down to leeward, lest I should meet with shoal water and foul ground. These islands have no place in the charts except they are the Arrou islands; and if these, they are laid down much too far from New Guinea. I found the south part of them to lie in latitude 7° 6' S., longitude 225° W.
We continued to steer W.S.W., at the rate of four miles and a half an hour, till ten o'clock at night, when we had forty-two fathom, at eleven we had thirty-seven, at twelve forty-five, at one in the morning, forty-nine, and at three, 120, after which we had no ground. At day-light we made all the sail we could, and at ten o'clock saw land extending from N.N.W. to W. by N., distant between five and six leagues: At noon it bore from N. to W., and at about the same distance: It appeared to be level, and of a moderate height; by our distance from New Guinea, it ought to have been part of the Arrou Islands, but it lies a degree farther to the south than any of these islands are laid down in the charts; and, by the latitude, should be Timor Laoet: We sounded, but had no ground with fifty fathom.
As I was not able to satisfy myself from any chart, what land it was that I saw to leeward, and fearing that it might trend away more southerly, the weather also being so hazy that we could not see far, I steered S.W., and by four had lost sight of the island. I was now sure that no part of it lay to the southward of 8° 15' S., and continued standing to the S.W. with an easy sail, and a fresh breeze at S.E. by E. and E.S.E.: We sounded every hour, but had no bottom with 120 fathom.
At day-break in the morning, we steered W.S.W., and afterwards W. by S., which by noon brought us into the latitude of 9° 30' S., longitude 229° 34' W., and by our run from New Guinea, we ought to have been within sight of Weasel Isles, which in the charts are laid down at the distance of twenty or twenty-five leagues from the coast of New Holland; we however saw nothing, and therefore they must have been placed erroneously; nor can this be thought strange, when it is considered that not only these islands, but the coast which bounds this sea, have been discovered and explored by different people, and at different times, and the charts upon which they are delineated, put together by others, perhaps at the distance of more than a century after the discoveries had been made; not to mention that the discoverers themselves had not all the requisites for keeping an accurate journal, of which those of the present age are possessed.
We continued our course, steering W. till the evening of the 8th, when the variation of the compass, by several azimuths, was 12' W., and by the amplitude 5' W. At noon, on the 9th, our latitude, by observation, was 9° 46' S., longitude 232° 7' W. For the last two days we had steered due W., yet, by observation, we made sixteen miles southing, six miles from noon on the 6th to noon on the 7th, and ten miles from noon on the 7th to noon on the 8th, by which it appeared that there was a current setting to the southward. At sun-set, we found the variation to be 2 W., and at the same time, saw an appearance of very high land bearing N.W.
In the morning of the 10th, we saw clearly that what had appeared to be land the night before, was Timor. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10° 1' S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude, by observation, was 233° 27' W. We steered N.W. in order to obtain a more distinct view of the land in sight, till four o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the wind came to the N.W. and W., with which we stood to the southward till nine, when we tacked and stood N.W., having the wind now at W.S.W. At sun-rise the land had appeared to extend from W.N.W. to N.E., and at noon, we could see it extend to the westward as far as W. by S. 1/2 S. but no farther to the eastward than N. by E. We were now well assured, that as the first land we had seen was Timor, the last island we had passed was Timor Laoet, or Laut.[104] Laoet, is a word in the language of Malaca, signifying Sea, and this island was named by the inhabitants of that country. The south part of it lies in latitude 8° 15' S., longitude 228° 10' W., but in the charts the south point is laid down in various latitudes, from 8° 30' to 9° 30': It is indeed possible that the land we saw might be some other island, but the presumption to the contrary is very strong, for if Timor Laut had lain where it is placed in the charts, we must have seen it there. We were now in latitude 9° 37' S.; longitude, by an observation of the sun and moon, 233° 54' W.; we were the day before in 233° 27'; the difference is 27', exactly the same that was given by the log: This, however, is a degree of accuracy in observation that is seldom to be expected. In the afternoon, we stood in shore till eight in the evening; when we tacked and stood off, being at the distance of about three leagues from the land, which at sun-set extended from S.W. 1/2 W. to N.E.: At this time we sounded, and had no ground with 140 fathom. At midnight, having but little wind, we tacked and stood in, and at noon the next day, our latitude, by observation, was 9° 36' S. This day, we saw smoke on shore in several places, and had seen many fires during the night. The land appeared to be very high, rising in gradual slopes one above another: The hills were in general covered with thick woods, but among them we could distinguish naked spots of a considerable extent, which had the appearance of having been cleared by art. At five o'clock in the afternoon, we were within a mile and a half of the shore, in sixteen fathom water, and abreast of a small inlet into the low land, which lies in latitude 9° 34 S., and probably is the same that Dampier entered with his boat, for it did not seem to have sufficient depth of water for a ship. The land here answered well to the description that he has given of it: close to the beach it was covered with high spiry trees, which he mentions as having the appearance of pines; behind these there seemed to be salt-water creeks, and many mangroves, interspersed however with cocoa-nut trees: The flat land at the beach appeared in some places to extend inward two or three miles before the rise of the first hill; in this part, however, we saw no appearance of plantations or houses, but great fertility, and from the number of fires, we judged that the place most be well peopled.
[Footnote 104: Little is known of this island. Timor is said to have been discovered by the companions of Magellan in 1522, when it was found full of white sandal wood. The Portuguese very early settled in it as a place of refuge from the Dutch, who however soon followed them, and in 1613, drove them from Cupan, their principal town, at the west end of the island. The possession of this island might be made more valuable than it seems as yet to have been. With scarcely any help from human industry, its products in useful articles are considerable. We shall have to treat of it hereafter.--E.]
When we had approached within a mile and a half of the shore, we tacked and stood off, and the extremes of the coast then extended from N.E. by E. to W. by S. 1/2 S. The south-westerly extremity was a low point, distant from us about three leagues. While we were standing in for the shore, we sounded several times, but had no ground till we came within about two miles and a half, and then we had five-and-twenty fathom, with a soft-bottom. After we had tacked, we stood off till midnight, with the wind at S.; we then tacked and stood two hours to the westward, when the wind veered to S.W. and W.S.W., and we then stood to the southward again. In the morning, we found the variation to be 1° 10' W. by the amplitude, and by the azimuth 1° 27'. At noon, our latitude was, by observation, 9° 45' S., our longitude 234° 12' W.; we were then about seven leagues distant from the land, which extended from N. 31 E. to W.S.W. 1/2 W.
With light land-breezes from W. by N. for a few hours in a morning, and sea-breezes from S.S.W. and S. we advanced to the westward but slowly. At noon on the 14th, we were between six and seven leagues from the land, which extended from N. by E. to S. 78 W.; we still saw smoke in many places by day, and fire by night, both upon the low land and the mountains beyond it. We continued steering along the shore, till the morning of the 15th, the land still appearing hilly, but not so high as it had been: The hills in general came quite down to the sea, and where they did not, we saw instead of flats and mangrove land, immense groves of cocoa-nut trees, reaching about a mile up from the beach: There the plantations and houses commenced, and appeared to be innumerable. The houses were shaded by groves of the fan-palm, or borassus, and the plantations, which were inclosed by a fence, reached almost to the tops of the highest hills. We saw however neither people nor cattle, though our glasses were continually employed, at which we were not a little surprised.
We continued our course, with little variation, till nine o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when we saw the small island called Rotte; and at noon the island Semau, lying off the south end of Timor, bore N.W.
Dampier, who has given a large description of the island of Timor, says, that it is seventy leagues long, and sixteen broad, and that it lies nearly N E. and S.W. I found the east side of it to lie nearest N.E. by E. and S.W. by W., and the south end to lie in latitude 10° 23' S., longitude 236° 5' W. We ran about forty-five leagues along the east side, and found the navigation altogether free from danger. The land which is bounded by the sea, except near the south end, is low for two or three miles within the beach, and in general intersected by salt creeks: Behind the low land are mountains, which rise one above another to a considerable height. We steered W.N.W. till two in the afternoon, when, being within a small distance of the north end of Rotte, we hauled up N.N.W. in order to go between it and Semau: After steering three leagues upon this coarse, we edged away N.W. and W., and by six, we were clear of all the islands. At this time, the south part of Semau, which lies in latitude 10° 15' S., bore N.E. distant four leagues, and the island of Rotte extended as far to the southward as S. 36 W. The north end of this island, and the south end of Timor, lie N. 1/2 E. and S. 1/4 W., and are about three or four leagues distant from each other. At the west end of the passage between Rotte and Semau, are two small islands, one of which lies near the Rotte shore, and the other off the south-west point of Semau: There is a good channel between them, about six miles broad, through which we passed. The isle of Rotte has not so lofty and mountainous an appearance as Timor, though it is agreeably diversified by hill and valley: On the north side, there are many sandy beaches, near which grew some trees of the fan-palm, but the far greater part was covered with a kind of brushy wood, that was without leaves. The appearance of Semau was nearly the same with that of Timor, but not quite so high. About ten o'clock at night, we observed a phænomenon in the heavens, which in many particulars resembled the aurora borealis, and in others, was very different: It consisted of a dull reddish light, and reached about twenty degrees above the horizon: Its extent was very different at different times, but it was never less than eight or ten points of the compass: Through and out of this passed rays of light of a brighter colour, which vanished, and were renewed nearly in the same time as those of the aurora borealis, but had no degree of the tremulous or vibratory motion which is observed in that phænomenon: The body of it bore S.S.E. from the ship, and it continued, without any diminution of its brightness, till twelve o'clock, when we retired to sleep, but how long afterwards, I cannot tell.
Being clear of all the islands, which are laid down in the maps we had on board, between Timor and Java, we steered a west course till six o'clock the next morning, when we unexpectedly saw an island bearing W.S.W., and at first I thought we had made a new discovery. We steered directly for it, and by ten o'clock were close in with the north side of it, where we saw houses, cocoa-nut trees, and to our very agreeable surprise, numerous flocks of sheep. This was a temptation not to be resisted by people in our situation, especially as many of us were in a bad state of health, and many still repining at my not having touched at Timor: It was, therefore soon determined to attempt a commerce with people who appeared to be so well able to supply our many necessities, and remove at once the sickness and discontent that had got footing among us. The pinnace was hoisted out, and Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, sent to see if there was any convenient place to land, taking with him some trifles, as presents to the natives, if any of them should appear. While he was gone, we saw from the ship two men on horseback, who seemed to be riding upon the hills for their amusement, and often stopped to look at the ship. By this we knew that the place had been settled by Europeans, and hoped, that the many disagreeable circumstances which always attend the first establishment of commerce with savages, would be avoided. In the mean time, Mr Gore landed in a small sandy cove near some houses, and was met by eight or ten of the natives, who, as well in their dress as their persons, very much resembled the Malays; They were without arms, except the knives which it is their custom to wear in their girdles, and one of them had a jack-ass with him: They courteously invited him ashore, and conversed with him by signs, but very little of the meaning of either party could be understood by the other. In a short time he returned with this report, and, to our great mortification, added, that there was no anchorage for the ship. I sent him however a second time, with both money and goods, that he might, if possible, purchase some refreshments, at least for the sick; and Dr Solander went in the boat with him. In the mean time I kept standing on and off with the ship, which at this time was within about a mile of the shore. Before the boat could land, we saw two other horsemen, one of whom was in a complete European dress, consisting of a blue coat, a white waistcoat, and a laced hat: These people, when the boat came to the shore, took little notice of her, but sauntered about, and seemed to look with great curiosity at the ship. We saw however other horsemen, and a great number of persons on foot, gather round our people, and, to our great satisfaction, perceived several cocoa-nuts carried into the boat, from which we concluded that peace and commerce were established between us.
After the boat had been ashore about an hour and a half, she made the signal for having intelligence that there was a bay to leeward, where we might anchor: We stood away directly for it, and the boat following, soon came on board. The lieutenant told us, that he had seen some of the principal people, who were dressed in fine linen, and had chains of gold round their necks: He said, that he had not been able to trade, because the owner of the cocoa-nuts was absent, but that about two dozen had been sent to the boat as a present, and that some linen had been accepted in return. The people, to give him the information that he wanted, drew a map upon the sand, in which they made a rude representation of a harbour to leeward, and a town near it: They also gave him to understand, that sheep, hogs, fowls, and fruit might there be procured in great plenty. Some of them frequently pronounced the word Portuguese, and said something of Larntuca upon the island of Ende: From this circumstance, we conjectured that there were Portuguese somewhere upon the island, and a Portugueze, who was in our boat, attempted to converse with the Indians in that language, but soon found that they knew only a word or two of it by rote: One of them however, when they were giving our people to understand that there was a town near the harbour to which they had directed us, intimated, that, as a token of going right, we should see somewhat, which he expressed by crossing his fingers, and the Portuguese instantly conceived that he meant to express a cross. Just as our people were putting off, the horsemen in the European dress came up, but the officer not having his commission about him, thought it best to decline a conference.
At seven o'clock in the evening, we came to an anchor in the bay to which we had been directed, at about the distance of a mile from the shore, in thirty-eight fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom. The north point of the bay bore N. 30 E., distant two miles and a half, and the south point, or west end of the island, bore S. 63 W. Just as we got round the north point, and entered the bay, we discovered a large Indian town or village, upon which we stood on, hoisting a jack on the fore top-mast head: Soon after, to our great surprise, Dutch colours were hoisted in the town, and three guns fired; we stood on, however, till we had soundings and then anchored.
As soon as it was light in the morning, we saw the same colours hoisted upon the beach, abreast of the ship; supposing therefore that the Dutch had a settlement here, I sent Lieutenant Gore ashore, to wait upon the governor, or the chief person residing upon the spot, and acquaint him who we were, and for what purpose we had touched upon the coast. As soon as he came ashore, he was received by a guard of between twenty and thirty Indians, armed with musquets, who conducted him to the town, where the colours had been hoisted the night before, carrying with them those that had been hoisted upon the beach, and marching without any military regularity. As soon as he arrived, he was introduced to the Raja, or king of the island, and by a Portuguese interpreter told him, that the ship was a man-of-war belonging to the king of Great Britain, and that she had many sick on board, for whom we wanted to purchase such refreshments as the island afforded. His majesty replied, that he was willing to supply us with whatever we wanted, but, that being in alliance with the Dutch East India Company, he was not at liberty to trade with any other people, without having first procured their consent, for which, however, he said he would immediately apply to a Dutchman who belonged to the Company, and who was the only white man upon the island. To this man, who resided at some distance, a letter was immediately dispatched, acquainting him with our arrival and request: In the mean time, Mr Gore dispatched a messenger to me, with an account of his situation, and the state of the treaty. In about three hours, the Dutch resident answered the letter that had been sent him, in person: He proved to be a native of Saxony, and his name was Johan Christopher Lange, and the same person whom we had seen on horseback in a European dress: He behaved with great civility to Mr Gore, and assured him, that we were at liberty to purchase of the natives whatever we pleased. After a short time, he expressed a desire of coming on board, as did the king also, and several of his attendants: Mr Gore intimated that he was ready to attend them, but they desired that two of our people might be left ashore as hostages, and in this also they were indulged.
About two o'clock, they all came aboard the ship, and our dinner being ready, they accepted our invitation to partake of it: I expected them immediately to sit down, but the king seemed to hesitate, and at last, with some confusion, said, he did not imagine that we, who were white men, would suffer him, who was of a different colour, to sit down in our company; a compliment soon removed his scruples, and we all sat down together with great cheerfulness and cordiality: Happily we were at no loss for interpreters, both Dr Solander and Mr Sporing understanding Dutch enough to keep up a conversation with Mr Lange, and several of the seamen were able to converse with such of the natives as spoke Portuguese. Our dinner happened to be mutton, and the king expressed a desire of having an English sheep; we had but one left, however that was presented to him: The facility with which this was procured, encouraged him to ask for an English dog, and Mr Banks politely gave up his greyhound: Mr Lange then intimated that a spying-glass would be acceptable, and one was immediately put into his hand. Our guests then told us, that the island abounded with buffaloes, sheep, hogs, and fowls, plenty of which should be driven down to the beach the next day, that we might purchase as many of them as we should think fit: This put us all into high spirits, and the liquor circulated rather faster than either the Indians or the Saxon could bear; they intimated their desire to go away, however, before they were quite drunk, and were received upon deck, as they had been when they came aboard, by the marines under arms. The king expressed a curiosity to see them exercise, in which he was gratified, and they fired three rounds: He looked at them with great attention, and was much surprised at their regularity and expedition, especially in cocking their pieces; the first time they did it, he struck the side of the ship with a stick that he had in his hand, and cried out with great vehemence, that all the locks made but one clink. They were dismissed with many presents, and when they went away saluted with nine guns: Mr Banks and Dr Solander went ashore with them; and as soon as they put off they gave us three cheers.
Our gentlemen, when they came ashore, walked up with them to the town, which consists of many houses, and some of them are large; they are however nothing more than a thatched roof, supported over a boarded floor, by pillars about four feet high. They produced some of their palm-wine, which was the fresh unfermented juice of the tree; it had a sweet, but not a disagreeable taste; and hopes were conceived that it might contribute to recover our sick from the scurvy. Soon after it was dark, Mr Banks and Dr Solander returned on board.
In the morning of the 19th I went ashore with Mr Banks, and several of the officers and gentlemen, to return the king's visit; but my chief business was to procure some of the buffaloes, sheep, and fowls, which we had been told should be driven down to the beach. We were greatly mortified to find that no steps had been taken to fulfil this promise; however, we proceeded to the house of assembly, which, with two or three more, had been erected by the Dutch East India Company, and are distinguished from the rest by two pieces of wood resembling a pair of cow's horns, one of which is set up at each end of the ridge that terminates the roof; and these were certainly what the Indian intended to represent by crossing his fingers, though our Portuguese, who was a good catholic, construed the sign into a cross, which had persuaded us that the settlement belonged to his countrymen. In this place we met Mr Lange, and the king, whose name was A. Madocho Lomi Djara, attended by many of the principal people. We told them that we had in the boat goods of various kinds, which we proposed to barter for such refreshments as they would give us in exchange, and desired leave to bring them on shore; which being granted, they were brought ashore accordingly. We then attempted to settle the price of the buffaloes, sheep, hogs, and other commodities which we proposed to purchase, and for which we were to pay in money; but as soon as this was mentioned, Mr Lange left us, telling us that these preliminaries must be settled with the natives: He said, however, that he had received a letter from the governor of Concordia in Timor, the purport of which he would communicate to us when he returned.
As the morning was now far advanced, and we were very unwilling to return on board and eat salt provisions, when so many delicacies surrounded us ashore, we petitioned his majesty for liberty to purchase a small hog and some rice, and to employ his subjects to dress them for us. He answered very graciously, that if we could eat victuals dressed by his subjects, which he could scarcely suppose, he would do himself the honour of entertaining us. We expressed our gratitude, and immediately sent on board for liquors.
About five o'clock dinner was ready; it was served in six-and-thirty dishes, or rather baskets, containing alternately rice and pork; and three bowls of earthenware, filled with the liquor in which the pork had been boiled: These were ranged upon the floor, and mats laid round them for us to sit upon. We were then conducted by turns to a hole in the floor, near which stood a man with water in a vessel, made of the leaves of the fan-palm, who assisted us in washing our hands. When this was done, we placed ourselves round the victuals, and waited for the king. As he did not come, we enquired for him, and were told that the custom of the country did not permit the person who gave the entertainment to sit down with his guests; but that, if we suspected the victuals to be poisoned, he would come and taste it. We immediately declared that we had no such suspicion, and desired that none of the rituals of hospitality might be violated on our account. The prime minister and Mr Lange were of our party, and we made a most luxurious meal: We thought the pork and rice excellent, and the broth not to be despised; but the spoons, which were made of leaves, were so small, that few of us had patience to use them. After dinner, our wine passed briskly about, and we again enquired for our royal host, thinking that though the custom of his country would not allow him to eat with us, he might at least share in the jollity of one bottle; but he again excused himself, saying, that the master of a feast should never be drunk, which there was no certain way to avoid but by not tasting the liquor. We did not, however, drink our wine where we had eaten our victuals; but as soon as we had dined, made room for the seamen and servants, who immediately took our places: They could not dispatch all that we had left, but the women who came to clear away the bowls and baskets, obliged them to carry away with them what they had not eaten. As wine generally warms and opens the heart, we took an opportunity, when we thought its influence began to be felt, to revive the subject of the buffaloes and sheep, of which we had not in all this time heard a syllable, though they were to have been brought down early in the morning. But our Saxon Dutchman, with great phlegm, began to communicate to us the contents of the letter which he pretended to have received from the governor of Concordia. He said, that after acquainting him that a vessel had steered from thence towards the island where we were now ashore, it required him, if such ship should apply for provisions in distress, to relieve her; but not to suffer her to stay longer than was absolutely necessary, nor to make any large presents to the inferior people, or to leave any with those of superior rank to be afterwards distributed among them; but he was graciously pleased to add, that we were at liberty to give beads and other trifles in exchange for petty civilities, and palm-wine.
It was the general opinion that this letter was a fiction; that the prohibitory orders were feigned with a view to get money from us for breaking them; and that by precluding our liberality to the natives, this man hoped more easily to turn it into another channel.
In the evening, we received intelligence from our trading-place that no buffaloes or hogs had been brought down, and only a few sheep, which had been taken away before our people, who had sent for money, could procure it. Some fowls, however, had been bought, and a large quantity of a kind of syrup made of the juice of the palm-tree, which, though infinitely superior to molasses or treacle, sold at a very low price. We complained of our disappointment to Mr Lange, who had now another subterfuge; he said, that if we had gone down to the beach ourselves, we might have purchased what we pleased, but that the natives were afraid to take money of our people, lest it should be counterfeit. We could not but feel some indignation against a man who had concealed this, being true; or alleged it, being false. I started up, however, and went immediately to the beach, but no cattle or sheep were to be seen, nor were any at hand to be produced. While I was gone, Lange, who knew well enough that I should succeed no better than my people, told Mr Banks that the natives were displeased at our not having offered them gold for their stock; and that if gold was not offered, nothing would be bought. Mr Banks did not think it worth his while to reply, but soon after rose up, and we all returned on board, very much dissatisfied with the issue of our negociations. During the course of the day, the king had promised that some cattle and sheep should be brought down in the morning, and had given a reason for our disappointment somewhat more plausible; he said that the buffaloes were far up the country, and that there had not been time to bring them down to the beach.
The next morning we went ashore again: Dr Solander went up to the town to speak to Lange, and I remained upon the beach, to see what could be done in the purchase of provisions. I found here an old Indian, who, as he appeared to have some authority, we had among ourselves called the prime minister; to engage this man in our interest, I presented him with a spying-glass, but I saw nothing at market except one small buffalo. I enquired the price of it, and was told five guineas: This was twice as much as it was worth; however, I offered three, which I could perceive the man who treated with me thought a good price; but he said he must acquaint the king with what I had offered before he could take it. A messenger was immediately dispatched to his majesty, who soon returned, and said that the buffaloe would not be sold for any thing less than five guineas. This price I absolutely refused to give; and another messenger was sent away with an account of my refusal: This messenger was longer absent than the other, and while I was waiting for his return, I saw, to my great astonishment, Dr Solander coming from the town, followed by above a hundred men, some armed with muskets and some with lances. When I enquired the meaning of this hostile appearance, the Doctor told me that Mr Lange had interpreted to him a message from the king, purporting that the people would not trade with us, because we had refused to give them more than half the value of what they had to sell; and that we should not be permitted to trade upon any terms longer than this day. Besides the officers who commanded the party, there came with it a man who was born at Timor; of Portuguese parents, and who, as we afterwards discovered, was a kind of colleague to the Dutch factor; by this man, what they pretended to be the king's order was delivered to me, of the same purport with that which Dr Solander had received from Lange. We were all clearly of opinion that this was a mere artifice of the factors to extort money from us, for which we had been prepared by the account of a letter from Concordia; and while we were hesitating what step to take, the Portuguese, that he might the sooner accomplish his purpose, began to drive away the people who had brought down poultry and syrup, and others that were now coming in with buffaloes and sheep. At this time I glanced my eye upon the old man whom I had complimented in the morning with the spying-glass, and I thought, by his looks, that he did not heartily approve of what was doing; I therefore took him by the hand, and presented him with an old broad-sword. This instantly turned the scale in our favour; he received the sword with a transport of joy, and flourishing it over the busy Portuguese, who crouched like a fox to a lion, he made him, and the officer who commanded the party, sit down upon the ground behind him. The people, who, whatever were the crafty pretences of these iniquitous factors for a Dutch company, were eager to supply us with whatever we wanted, and seemed also to be more desirous of goods than money, instantly improved the advantage that had been procured them, and the market was stocked almost in an instant. To establish a trade for buffaloes, however, which I most wanted, I found it necessary to give ten guineas for two, one of which weighed no more than a hundred and sixty pounds; but I bought seven more much cheaper, and might afterwards have purchased as many as I pleased almost upon my own terms, for they were now driven down to the water-side in herds. In the first two that I bought so dear, Lange had certainly a share, and it was in hopes to obtain part of the price of others, that he had pretended that we must pay for them in gold. The natives, however, sold what they afterwards brought down much to their satisfaction, without paying part of the price to him as a reward for exacting money from us. Most of the buffaloes that we bought, after our friend, the prime minister, had procured us a fair market, were sold for a musket a-piece, and at this price we might have bought as many as would have freighted our ship.
The refreshments which we procured here consisted of nine buffaloes, six sheep, three hogs, thirty dozen of fowls, a few limes, and some cocoa-nuts; many dozen of eggs, half of which, however, proved to be rotten; a little garlic, and several hundred gallons of palm syrup.
SECTION XXXVI.
A particular Description of the Island of Savu, its Produce, and Inhabitants, with a Specimen of their Language.
This island is called by the natives Savu; the middle of it lies in about the latitude 10° 35' S., longitude 237° 30' W.; and has in general been so little known, that I never saw a map or chart in which it is clearly or accurately laid down. I have seen a very old one, in which it is called Sou, and confounded with Sandel Bosch. Rumphius mentions an island by the name of Saow, and he also says that it is the same which the Dutch call Sandel Bosch: But neither is this island, nor Timor, nor Rotte, nor indeed any one of the islands that we have seen in these seas, placed within a reasonable distance of its true situation.[105] It is about eight leagues long from east to west; but what is its breadth, I do not know, as I saw only the north side. The harbour in which we lay is called Seba, from the district in which it lies: It is on the north-west side of the island, and well sheltered from the south-west trade-wind, but it lies open to the north-west. We were told that there were two other bays where ships might anchor; that the best, called Timo, was on the south-west side of the south-east point: Of the third we learnt neither the name nor situation. The sea-coast, in general, is low; but in the middle of the island there are hills of a considerable height. We were upon the coast at the latter end of the dry season, when there had been no rain for seven months; and we were told that when the dry season continues so long, there is no running stream of fresh water upon the whole island, but only small springs, which are at a considerable distance from the sea-side; yet nothing can be imagined so beautiful as the prospect of the country from the ship. The level ground next to the sea-side was covered with cocoa-nut trees, and a kind of palm called arecas; and beyond them the hills, which rose in a gentle and regular ascent, were richly clothed, quite to the summit, with plantations of the fan-palm, forming an almost impenetrable grove. How much even this prospect must be improved, when every foot of ground between the trees is covered with verdure, by maize, and millet, and indigo, can scarcely be conceived but by a powerful imagination, not unacquainted with the stateliness and beauty of the trees that adorn this part of the earth. The dry season commences in March or April, and ends in October or November.
[Footnote 105: These islands are far from being well known to Europeans; The policy of both Portuguese and Dutch has ever been unfavourable to the communication, whatever it may have been to the commercial extension, of geographical science. Pinkerton has laid down (in his map of East India isles) Sou, as he has chosen to call it, in 10 S. lat., and 121° 30' E. long., but on what authority does not appear. He does not, however, confound it with Sandle-Wood Island.--E.]
The principal trees of this island are the fan-palm, the cocoa-nut, tamarind, limes, oranges, and mangoes; and other vegetable productions are maize, Guinea-corn, rice, millet, callevances, and water-melons. We saw also one sugar-cane, and a few kinds of European garden-stuff, particularly cellery, marjoram, fennel, and garlic. For the supply of luxury, it has betel, areca, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and a small quantity of cinnamon, which seems to be planted here only for curiosity; and indeed we doubted whether it was the genuine plant, knowing that the Dutch are very careful not to trust the spices out of their proper islands. There are, however, several kinds of fruit besides those which have been already mentioned; particularly the sweet-sop, which is well known to the West Indians, and a small oval fruit, called the blimbi, both of which grow upon trees. The blimbi is about three or four inches long, and in the middle about as thick as a man's finger, tapering towards each end: It is covered with a very thin skin of a light green colour, and in the inside are a few seeds disposed in the form of a star: Its flavour is a light, clean, pleasant acid, but it cannot be eaten raw; it is said to be excellent as a pickle; and stewed, it made a most agreeable sour sauce to our boiled dishes.
The tame animals are buffaloes, sheep, goats, hogs, fowls, pigeons, horses, asses, dogs, and cats; and of all these there is great plenty. The buffaloes differ very considerably from the horned cattle of Europe in several particulars; their ears are much larger, their skins are almost without hair, their horns are curved towards each other, but together bend directly backwards, and they have no dewlaps. We saw several that were as big as a well-grown European ox, and there must be some much larger; for Mr Banks saw a pair of horns which measured, from tip to tip, three feet nine inches and a half, across their widest diameter, four feet one inch and a half, and in the whole sweep of their semicircle in front, seven feet six inches and a half. It must, however, be observed, that a buffalo here of any given size, does not weigh above half as much as an ox of the same size in England: Those that we guessed to weigh four hundred weight, did not weigh more than two hundred and fifty; the reason is, that so late in the dry season the bones are very thinly covered with flesh: There is not an ounce of fat in a whole carcase, and the flanks are literally nothing but skin and bone: The flesh, however, is well tasted and juicy, and I suppose better than the flesh of an English ox would be if he was to starve in this sun-burnt country.
The horses are from eleven to twelve hands high, but though they are small, they are spirited and nimble, especially in pacing, which is their common step: The inhabitants generally ride them without a saddle, and with no better bridle than a halter. The sheep are of the kind which in England are called Bengal sheep, and differ from ours in many particulars. They are covered with hair instead of wool; their ears are very large, and hang down under their horns, and their noses are arched; they are thought to have a general resemblance to a goat, and for that reason are frequently called cabritos: Their flesh we thought the worst mutton we had ever eaten, being as lean as that of the buffaloes, and without flavour. The hogs, however, were some of the fattest we had ever seen, though, as we were told, their principal food is the outside husks of rice, and a palm syrup dissolved in water.[106] The fowls are chiefly of the game breed, and large, but the eggs are remarkably small.
[Footnote 106: The reader will please remember this evidence of the nutritious quality of the palm-syrup. He will find it useful very shortly, when the value of sugar as an article of diet is mentioned.--E]--E.]
Of the fish which the sea produces here, we know but little: Turtles are sometimes found upon the coast, and are by these people, as well as all others, considered as a dainty.
The people are rather under than over the middling size; the women especially are remarkably short and squat built: Their complexion is a dark brown, and their hair universally black and lank. We saw no difference in the colour of rich and poor, though in the South-Sea islands those that were exposed to the weather were almost as brown as the New Hollanders, and the better sort nearly as fair as the natives of Europe. The men are in general well-made, vigorous, and active, and have a greater variety in the make and disposition of their features than usual: The countenances of the women, on the contrary, are all alike.
The men fasten their hair up to the top of their heads with a comb, the women tie it behind in a club, which is very far from becoming. Both sexes eradicate the hair from under the arm, and the men do the same by their beards, for which purpose, the better sort always carry a pair of silver pincers hanging by a string round their necks; some, however, suffer a very little hair to remain upon their upper-lips, but this is always kept short.
The dress of both sexes consists of cotton cloth, which being dyed blue in the yarn, and not uniformly of the same shade, is in clouds or waves of that colour, and even in our eye had not an inelegant appearance. This cloth they manufacture themselves, and two pieces, each about two yards long, and a yard and a half wide, make a dress: One of them is worn round the middle, and the other covers the upper part of the body: The lower edge of the piece that goes round the middle, the men draw pretty tight just below the fork, the upper edge of it is left loose, so as to form a kind of hollow belt, which serves them as a pocket to carry their knives, and other little implements which it is convenient to have about them. The other piece of cloth is passed through this girdle behind, and one end of it being brought over the left shoulder, and the other over the right, they fall down over the breast, and are tucked into the girdle before, so that by opening or closing the plaits, they can cover more or less of their bodies as they please; the arms, legs, and feet are always naked. The difference between the dress of the two sexes consists principally in the manner of wearing the waist-piece; for the women, instead of drawing the lower edge tight, and leaving the upper edge loose for a pocket, draw the upper edge tight, and let the lower edge fall as low as the knees, so as to form a petticoat; the body-piece, instead of being passed through the girdle, is fastened under the arms, and cross the breast with the utmost decency. I have already observed that the men fastened the hair upon the top of the head, and the women tie it in a club behind, but there is another difference in the head-dress, by which the sexes are distinguished: The women wear nothing as a succedaneum for a cap, but the men constantly wrap something round their heads in the manner of a fillet; it is small, but generally of the finest materials that can be procured: We saw some who applied silk handkerchiefs to this purpose, and others that wore fine cotton, or muslin, in the manner of a small turban.
These people bore their testimony that the love of finery is a universal passion, for their ornaments were very numerous. Some of the better sort wore chains of gold round their necks, but they were made of plaited wire, and consequently were light and of little value; others had rings, which were so much worn that they seemed to have descended through many generations; and one person had a silver-headed cane, marked with a kind of cypher, consisting of the Roman letters, V, O, C, and therefore probably a present from the Dutch East India Company, whose mark it is: They have also ornaments made of beads, which some wear round their necks as a solitaire, and others as bracelets, upon their wrists: These are common to both sexes, but the women have, besides, strings or girdles of beads, which they wear round their waists, and which serve to keep up their petticoat. Both sexes had their ears bored, nor was there a single exception that fell under our notice, yet we never saw an ornament in any of them; we never, indeed, saw either man or woman in any thing but what appeared to be their ordinary dress, except the king and his minister, who in general wore a kind of night-gown of coarse chintz, and one of whom once received us in a black robe, which appeared to be made of what is called prince's stuff. We saw some boys, about twelve or fourteen years old, who had spiral circles of thick brass-wire passed three or four times round their arms, above the elbow, and some men wore rings of ivory, two inches in breadth, and above an inch in thickness, upon the same part of the arm; these, we were told, were the sons of the rajas, or chiefs, who wore those cumbrous ornaments as badges of their high birth.
Almost all the men had their names traced upon their arms, in indelible characters of a black colour, and the women had a square ornament of flourished lines, impressed in the same manner, just under the bend of the elbow. We were struck with the similitude between these marks and those made by tattowing in the South-Sea islands, and upon enquiring into its origin, we learnt that it had been practised by the natives long before any Europeans came among them, and that in the neighbouring islands the inhabitants were marked with circles upon their necks and breasts. The universality of this practice, which prevails among savages in all parts of the world, from the remotest limits of North America, to the islands in the South-Seas, and which probably differs but little from the method of staining the body that was in use among the ancient inhabitants of Britain, is a curious subject of speculation.[107]
[Footnote 107: In the account which Mr Bossu has given of some Indians who inhabit the banks of the Akanza, a river of North America, which rises in New Mexico, and falls into the Mississippi, he relates the following incident: "The Akanzas," says he, "have adopted me, and as a mark of my privilege, have imprinted the figure of a roebuck upon my thigh, which was done in this manner: An Indian having burnt some straw, diluted the ashes with water, and with this mixture drew the figure upon my skin; he then retraced it, by pricking the lines with needles, so as at every puncture just to draw the blood, and the blood mixing with the ashes of the straw, forms a figure which can never be effaced." See Travels through Louisiana, vol. i, p. 107.]--E.]
So far this note is by Dr Hawkesworth. Some observations on the practice of staining or tattowing the body, have been offered in another part of this work. It may be worth while to add here the account which Krustenstern has given of the mode adopted in Nukahiwa, one of the Washington Islands: "As soon as a Nukahiewer arrives at the age of puberty, his whole body is tatooed; an art carried to a much greater perfection in this island than in any other, as they paint, in fact, their bodies with different figures, rubbing a pleasing colour into the skin, which is first scratched until it bleeds. Black is the colour generally used for this purpose, which, after some time, takes a bluish tinge. The king, his father, and the high-priest, were the only persons who were coloured quite black, nor was any part of their bodies left unadorned; the face, eye-lids, and even a part of their heads, from which the hair had been shaved, being tatooed. Neither in the Society nor the Friendly Islands is this customary. In the latter, the king alone is not tatooed; and it is only in New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands, as Captain King relates, where the face is tatooed. The New Zealander and the Nukahiwer have a similar mode of performing this operation; for instance, they not only mark the body with single upright figures, or animals, as in the Sandwich Islands, but represent upon it, in the most perfect symmetry, connected ornaments in concentric rings and knots, which added greatly to the beauty of its appearance. The women only tatoo their hands and arms, the ends of their ears, and their lips. The lower classes are less tatooed, and many of them not at all; and it is therefore not improbable that this ornament serves to point out a noble, or, at any rate, a distinguished personage. There are some among them who have particularly acquired this art; one of whom took up his residence on board the ship, where he found sufficient employment, as almost all the sailors underwent the operation." Figures of animals are favourite decorations for the skin with some people. Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusets Bay, second edition, tells of the natives,--"Upon their cheeks, and in many parts of their bodies, some of them, by incisions, into which they convey a black unchangeable ink, make the figures of bears, deer, moose, wolves, eagles, hawks, &c, which were indelible, and generally lasted as long as they lived." Not content with their own art of embellishment, however, he says, in a note, "Since they have been furnished with paints from Europe, they daub their faces with vermillion, and sometimes with blue, green, and other colours." Colden observes of the five nations of Canada, that their faces were always painted in a frightful manner when they went out to war, "to make themselves terrible to their enemies." Neal, speaking of the New Englanders, says,--"They grease their bodies and hair very often, and paint themselves all over; their faces and shoulders with a deep red, and their bodies with a variety of ugly mishapen figures; and he is the bravest fellow that has the most frightful forms drawn upon him, and looks most terrible." Again, describing their diversions, "If the dancers or actors are to shew warlike postures, then they come in painted for war, some with their faces red, and some black; some black and red, with streaks of white; under their eyes, as they imagine will appear most terrible." Captain Carver gives a similar account of the tribes he saw.
The houses of Savu are all built upon the same plan, and differ only in size, being large in proportion to the rank and riches of the proprietor. Some are four hundred feet long, and some are not more than twenty: They are all raised upon posts, or piles, about four feet high, one end of which is driven into the ground, and upon the other end is laid a substantial floor of wood, so that there is a vacant space of four feet between the floor of the house and the ground. Upon this floor are placed other posts or pillars, that Support a roof of sloping sides, which meet in a ridge at the top, like those of our barns: The eaves of this roof, which is thatched with palm-leaves, reach within two feet of the floor, and overhang it as much: The space within is generally divided lengthwise into three equal parts; the middle part, or centre, is enclosed by a partition of four sides, reaching about six feet above the floor, and one or two small rooms are also sometimes taken off from the sides, the rest of the space under the roof is open, so as freely to admit the air and the light: The particular uses of these different apartments, our short stay would not permit us to learn, except that the close room in the centre was appropriated to the women.
The food of these people consists of every tame animal in the country, of which the hog holds the first place in their estimation, and the horse the second; next to the horse is the buffalo, next to the buffalo their poultry, and they prefer dogs and cats to sheep and goats. They are not fond of fish, and, I believe, it is never eaten but by the poor people, nor by them except when their duty or business requires them to be upon the beach, and then every man is furnished with a light casting-net, which is girt round him, and makes part of his dress; and with this he takes any small fish which happen to come in his way.
The esculent vegetables and fruits have been mentioned already, but the fan-palm requires more particular notice, for at certain times it is a succedaneum for all other food both to man and beast. A kind of wine, called toddy, is procured from this tree, by cutting the buds which are to produce flowers, soon after their appearance, and tying under them small baskets, made of the leaves, which are so close as to hold liquids without leaking. The juice which trickles into these vessels is collected by persons who climb the trees for that purpose, morning and evening, and is the common drink of every individual upon the island; yet a much greater quantity is drawn off than is consumed in this use, and of the surplus they make both a syrup and coarse sugar. The liquor is called dua, or duac, and both the syrup and sugar, gula. The syrup is prepared by boiling the liquor down in pots of earthen-ware, till it is sufficiently inspissated; it is not unlike treacle in appearance, but is somewhat thicker, and has a much more agreeable taste: The sugar is of a reddish brown, perhaps the same with the Jugata sugar upon the continent of India, and it was more agreeable to our palates than any cane-sugar, unrefined, that we had ever tasted. We were at first afraid that the syrup, of which some of our people eat very great quantities, would have brought on fluxes, but its aperient quality was so very slight, that what effect it produced was rather salutary than hurtful. I have already observed, that it is given with the husks of rice to the hogs, and that they grow enormously fat without taking any other food: We were told also, that this syrup is used to fatten their dogs and their fowls, and that the inhabitants themselves have subsisted upon this alone for several months, when other crops have failed, and animal food has been scarce.[108] The leaves of this tree are also put to various uses, they thatch houses, and make baskets, cups, umbrellas, and tobacco-pipes. The fruit is least esteemed, and as the blossoms are wounded for the tuac or toddy, there is not much of it: It is about as big as a large turnip, and covered, like the cocoa-nut, with a fibrous coat, under which are three kernels, that must be eaten before they are ripe, for afterwards they become so hard that they cannot be chewed; in their eatable state they taste not unlike a green cocoa-nut, and, like them, probably they yield a nutriment that is watery and unsubstantial.
[Footnote 108: Few things are so nutritious to animals as sugar; and vegetable substances, in general, are nutritious in proportion to the quantity of it they contain. How it can be pernicious, then, as an ingredient in diet, it would be very difficult to show, without disparaging the wisdom and goodness by which the world is supported. But in fact there is not the least reason for such an opinion; and if the strongest assertions of most respectable men are at all to be regarded, a very different one, indeed, must be maintained. A few quotations may satisfy the reader on the subject, and dispossess him of unfounded prejudices reluctantly imbibed in the nursery. "So palatable, salutary, and nourishing is the juice of the cane, that every individual of the animal creation drinking freely of it, derives health and vigour from its use. The meagre and sickly among the negroes exhibit a surprising alteration in a few weeks after the mill is set in action. The labouring horses, oxen, and mules, though almost constantly at work during this season, yet being indulged with plenty of the green tops of this noble plant, and some of the scummings from the boiling-house, improve more than at any one period of the year. Even the pigs and poultry fatten on the refuse." So says Mr Edwards. Two physicians quoted by him speak to the same effect,--take the words of one of them; Dr Rush, of Philadelphia,--"Sugar affords the greatest quantity of nourishment in a given quantity of matter, of any substance in nature. Used alone, it has fattened horses and cattle in St Domingo, for a period of several months. The plentiful use of sugar in diet is one of the best preventatives that ever has been discovered, of the diseases which are produced by worms. The plague has never been known in this country, where sugar composes a material part of the diet of the inhabitants." Dr Mosely, in his Treatise on Sugar, speaks equally confidently of the nutritious and beneficial effects of this substance. Now, indeed, the concurrent testimony and opinions of medical men are so decided on the subject, that it seems impossible to entertain any other sentiment. The principal objection to the use of sugar in diet, is what applies to certain cases only, when the stomach and bowels are particularly disordered, or where there is a strong tendency to an over full state of the blood-vessels, tending to the production of palsy or apoplexy, which this article, from its very nutritious properties, and because also it perhaps undergoes a sort of fermentation in the stomach, by which something of the nature of wine may be produced, would be apt rather to augment.--E.]
The common method of dressing food here is by boiling, and as fire-wood is very scarce, and the inhabitants have no other fuel, they make use of a contrivance to save it, that is not wholly unknown in Europe, but is seldom practised, except in camps. They dig a hollow under ground, in a horizontal direction, like a rabbit-burrow, about two yards long, and opening into a hole at each end, one of which is large, and the other small: By the large hole the fire is put in, and the small one serves for a draught. The earth over this burrow is perforated by circular holes, which communicate with the cavity below; and in these holes are set earthen pots, generally about three to each fire, which are large in the middle, and taper towards the bottom, so that the fire acts upon a large part of their surface. Each of these pots generally contains about eight or ten gallons, and it is surprising to see with how small a quantity of fire they may be kept boiling; a palm-leaf, or a dry stalk thrust in now and then, is sufficient: In this manner they boil all their victuals, and make all their syrup and sugar. It appears by Frazier's account of his voyage to the South-Sea, that the Peruvian Indians have a contrivance of the same kind, and perhaps it might be adopted with advantage by the poor people even of this country, where fuel is very dear.
Both sexes are enslaved by the hateful and pernicious habit of chewing betel and areca, which they contract even while they are children, and practise incessantly from morning till night. With these they always mix a kind of white lime, made of coral stone and shells, and frequently a small quantity of tobacco, so that their mouths are disgustful in the highest degree both to the smell and the sight: The tobacco taints their breath, and the betel and lime make the teeth not only as black as charcoal, but as rotten too. I have seen men between twenty and thirty, whose fore-teeth have been consumed almost down to the gums, though no two of them were exactly of the same length or thickness, but irregularly corroded, like iron by rust. The loss of teeth is, I think, by all who have written upon the subject, imputed to the tough and stringy coat of the areca-nut; but I impute it wholly to the lime: They are not loosened, or broken, or forced out, as might be expected if they were injured by the continual chewing of hard and rough substances, but they are gradually wasted like metals that are exposed to the action of powerful acids; the stumps always adhering firmly to the socket in the jaw, when there is no part of the tooth above the gums: And possibly those who suppose that sugar has a bad effect upon the teeth of Europeans, may not be mistaken, for it is well known that refined loaf-sugar contains a considerable quantity of lime; and he that doubts whether lime will destroy bone of any kind, may easily ascertain the fact by experiment.[109]
[Footnote 109: The injurious effect of sugar on the teeth, it is believed, is not now seriously contended for by any persons who think and make observations on the matter, though, undoubtedly, the assertion respecting it holds its place as strongly as ever, among the economical maxims of prudent matrons. A word or two as to lime. When this is spoken of, let it be understood always what is meant; whether pure lime, that is what is called burnt lime, or the same substance in combination with fixed air, or carbonic acid, of which the process of burning deprives it. The effects of these two preparations are exceedingly different on animal bodies; the former causing rapid decomposition and consumption; the latter being, on the contrary, quite inert. Loaf-sugar, though prepared by means of lime, ought never to contain a particle of it, and scarcely ever does. So that, on the whole, the remarks in the text are totally incorrect. As a matter of fact, again, the writer, from his own experience, and as what he has often occasion to recommend to others, takes the liberty of prescribing a tooth-powder, equal in comfort, efficacy, and safety, to any sold in the shops under such pompous and imposing titles. It consists of equal parts of lump-sugar, (the finer the better) Spanish or French chalk, (which is in fact lime) rose-pink, (for the purpose of colouring, and also as an absorbent) and oris-root, (remarkable for its pleasant smell, and to be had in the perfumers' or druggists' shops, ready powdered) all in very fine powder, and properly mixed together. A box of this never-to-be-excelled dentifrice, may cost two-pence, or so, for which, however, or for something else not a whit better, if as good, they who choose may give half-a-crown. When the teeth are already tolerably clean, and not encrusted with what is called tartar, a soft brush is always to be preferred, as risking the enamel less. Hard brushes and gritty powders ruin more teeth than all the sugar and lime in the world. Charcoal is undoubtedly a good substitute for a tooth-powder; but it is to be objected to as leaving black furrows in the gums, which even much washing fails to remove in any reasonable time. This is a good deal obviated when it forms but a part of the article used. It may be mixed with the powder recommended.--E.]
If the people here are at any time without this odious mouthful, they are smoking. This operation they perform by rolling up a small quantity of tobacco, and putting it into one end of a tube about six inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill, which they make of a palm leaf. As the quantity of tobacco in these pipes is very small, the effect of it is increased, especially among the women, by swallowing the smoke.
When the natives of this island were first formed into civil society, is not certainly known, but at present it is divided into five principalities or nigrees: Laai, Seba, Regeeua, Timo, and Massara, each of which is governed by its respective raja or king. The raja of Seba, the principality in which we were ashore, seemed to have great authority, without much external parade or show, or much appearance of personal respect. He was about five-and-thirty years of age, and the fattest man we saw upon the whole island; he appeared to be of a dull phlegmatic disposition, and to be directed almost implicitly by the old man who, upon my presenting him with a sword, had procured us a fair market, in spite of the craft and avarice of the Dutch-factors. The name of this person was Mannu Djarme, and it may reasonably be supposed that he was a man of uncommon integrity and abilities, as, notwithstanding his possession of power in the character of a favourite, he was beloved by the whole principality. If any difference arises among the people, it is settled by the raja and his counsellors, without delay or appeal, and, as we were told, with the most solemn deliberation and impartial justice.
We were informed by Mr Lange, that the chiefs who had successively presided over the five principalities of this island, had lived for time immemorial in the strictest alliance and most cordial friendship with each other; yet he said the people were of a warlike disposition, and had always courageously defended themselves against foreign invaders. We were told also that the island was able to raise, upon very short notice, 7300 fighting men, armed with muskets, spears, lances, and targets. Of this force, Laai was said to furnish 2600; Seba, 2000; Regeeua, 1500; Timo, 800; and Massara, 400. Besides the arms that have been already mentioned, each man is furnished with a large pole-ax, resembling a wood-bill, except that it has a straight edge, and is much heavier: This, in the hands of people who have courage to come to close quarters with an enemy, must be a dreadful weapon; and we were told that they were so dexterous with their lances, that at the distance of sixty feet they would throw them with such exactness as to pierce a man's heart, and such force as to go quite through his body.
How far this account of the martial prowess of the inhabitants of Savu may be true, we cannot take upon us to determine; but during our stay, we saw no appearance of it. We saw indeed in the town-house, or house of assembly, about one hundred spears and targets, which served to arm the people who were sent down to intimidate us at the trading place; but they seemed to be the refuse of old armories, no two being of the same make or length, for some were six, and some sixteen feet long: We saw no lance among them, and as to the muskets, though they were clean on the outside, they were eaten into holes by the rust within; and the people themselves appeared to be so little acquainted with military discipline, that they marched like a disorderly rabble, every one having, instead of his target, a cock, some tobacco, or other merchandise of the like kind, which he took that opportunity to bring down to sell, and few or none of their cartridge-boxes were furnished with either powder or ball, though a piece of paper was thrust into the hole to save appearances. We saw a few swivel guns and pateraros at the town-house, and a great gun before it; but the swivels and pateraros lay out of their carriages, and the great gun lay upon a heap of stones, almost consumed with rust, with the touch-hole downwards, possibly to conceal its size, which might perhaps be little less than that of the bore.
We could not discover that among these people there was any rank of distinction between the raja and the landowners: The land-owners were respectable in proportion to their possessions; the inferior ranks consist of manufacturers, labouring poor, and slaves. The slaves, like the peasants in some parts of Europe, are connected with the estate, and both descend together: But though the landowner can sell his slave, he has no other power over his person, not even to correct him, without the privity and approbation of the raja. Some have five hundred of these slaves, and some not half a dozen: The common price of them is a fat hog. When a great man goes out, he is constantly attended by two or more of them: One of them carries a sword or hanger, the hilt of which is commonly of silver, and adorned with large tassels of horse hair; and another carries a bag which contains betel, areca, lime, and tobacco. In these attendants consists all their magnificence, for the raja himself has no other mark of distinction.
The chief object of pride among these people, like that of a Welchman, is a long pedigree of respectable ancestors, and indeed a veneration for antiquity seems to be carried farther here than in any other country: Even a house that has been well inhabited for many generations, becomes almost sacred, and few articles either of use or luxury bear so high a price as stones, which having been long sat upon, are become even and smooth: Those who can purchase such stones, or are possessed of them by inheritance, place them round their houses, where they serve as seats for their dependants.[110]
[Footnote 110: The specification of the Welch here is very vulgar, and the more so, as obviously sarcastic. Deeper or more scientific observation would have led Dr Hawkesworth to some general principle which produces a love of ancestry in all our species. Mr Gibbon has very expressively described it, in the beginning of the memoirs of his own life, to which the reader is referred. Nothing is less becoming a philosopher, than wittily pointing out national peculiarities, without taking the least pains to discover the foundations on which they are built, or connecting them with circumstances and principles common to mankind. Every thing, in fact, will seem anomalous and insulated in the history of different nations, if it is not distinctly recollected that human nature is the same throughout the globe which it inhabits, and is merely modified by external causes.--E.]
Every Raja sets up in the principal town of his province, or nigree, a large stone, which serves as a memorial of his reign. In the principal town of Seba, where we lay, there are thirteen such stones, besides many fragments of others, which had been set up in earlier times, and are now mouldering away: These monuments seem to prove that some kind of civil establishment here is of considerable antiquity. The last thirteen reigns in England make something more than 276 years.
Many of these stones are so large, that it is difficult to conceive by what means they were brought to their present station, especially as it is the summit of a hill; but the world is full of memorials of human strength, in which the mechanical powers that have been since added by mathematical science, seem to be surpassed; and of such monuments there are not a few among the remains of barbarous antiquity in our own country, besides those upon Salisbury plain.
These stones not only record the reigns of successive princes, but serve for a purpose much more extraordinary, and probably altogether peculiar to this country. When a raja dies, a general feast is proclaimed throughout his dominions, and all his subjects assemble round these stones: Almost every living creature that can be caught is then killed, and the feast lasts for a less or greater number of weeks or months, as the kingdom happens to be more or lets furnished with live stock at the time; the stones serve for tables. When this madness is over, a fast must necessarily ensue, and the whole kingdom is obliged to subsist upon syrup and water, if it happens in the dry season, when no vegetables can be procured, till a new stock of animals can be raised from the few that have escaped by chance, or been preserved by policy from the general massacre, or can be procured from the neighbouring kingdoms. Such, however, is the account that we received from Mr Lange.
We had no opportunity to examine any of their manufactures, except that of their cloth, which they spin, weave, and dye; we did not indeed see them employed, but many of the instruments which they use fell in our way. We saw their machine for clearing cotton of its seeds, which is made upon the same principles as those in Europe, but is so small that it might be taken for a model, or a toy: It consists of two cylinders, like our round rulers, somewhat less than an inch in diameter, one of which, being turned round by a plain winch, turns the other by means of an endless worm; and the whole machine is not more than fourteen inches long, and seven high: That which we saw had been much used, and many pieces of cotton were hanging about it, so that there is no reason to doubt its being a fair specimen of the rest. We also once saw their apparatus for spinning; it consisted of a bobbin, on which was wound a small quantity of thread, and a kind of distaff filled with cotton; we conjectured therefore that they spin by hand, as the women of Europe did before the introduction of wheels; and I am told that they have not yet found their way into some parts of it. Their loom seemed to be in one respect preferable to ours, for the web was not stretched upon a frame, but extended by a piece of wood at each end, round one of which the cloth was rolled, and round the other the threads: The web was about half a yard broad, and the length of the shuttle was equal to the breadth of the web, so that probably their work goes on but slowly. That they dyed this cloth we first guessed from its colour, and from the indigo which we saw in their plantations; and our conjecture was afterwards confirmed by Mr Lange's account. I have already observed, that it is dyed in the yarn, and we once saw them dying what was said to be girdles for the women, of a dirty red, but with what drug we did not think it worth while to enquire.
The religion of these people, according to Mr Lange's information, is an absurd kind of paganism, every man chusing his own god, and determining for himself how he should be worshipped; so that there are almost as many gods and modes of worship as people. In their morals, however, they are said to be irreproachable, even upon the principles of Christianity: No man is allowed more than one wife; yet an illicit commerce between the sexes is in a manner unknown among them: Instances of theft are very rare; and they are so far from revenging a supposed injury by murder, that if any difference arises between them, they will not so much as make it the subject of debate, lest they should be provoked to resentment and ill-will, but immediately and implicitly refer it to the determination of their king.
They appeared to be a healthy and long-lived people; yet some of them were marked with the small-pox, which Mr Lange told us had several times made its appearance among them, and was treated with the same precaution as the plague. As soon as a person was seized with the distemper, he was removed to some solitary place, very remote from any habitation, where the disease was left to take its course, and the patient supplied with daily food by reaching it to him at the end of a long pole.
Of their domestic economy we could learn but little: In one instance, however, their delicacy and cleanliness are very remarkable. Many of us were ashore here three successive days, from a very early hour in the morning till it was dark; yet we never saw the least trace of an offering to Cloacina, nor could we so much as guess where they were made. In a country so populous this is very difficult to be accounted for, and perhaps there is no other country in the world where the secret is so effectually kept.
The boats in use here are a kind of proa.
This island was settled by the Portugueze almost as soon as they first found their way into this part of the ocean; but they were in a short time supplanted by the Dutch. The Dutch however did not take possession of it, but only sent sloops to trade with the natives, probably for provisions to support the inhabitants of their spice islands, who, applying themselves wholly to the cultivation of that important article of trade, and laying out all their ground in plantations, can breed few animals: Possibly their supplies by this occasional traffic were precarious; possibly they were jealous of being supplanted in their turn; but however that be, their East India Company, about ten years before, entered into a treaty with the rajas, by which the Company stipulated to furnish each of them with a certain quantity of silk, fine linen, cutlery ware, arrack, and other articles, every year; and the rajas engaged that neither they nor their subjects should trade with any person except the Company, without having first obtained their consent, and that they would admit a resident on behalf of the Company, to reside upon the island, and see that their part of the treaty was fulfilled: They also engaged to supply annually a certain quantity of rice, maize, and calevances. The maize and calevances are sent to Timor in sloops, which are kept there for that purpose, each of which is navigated by ten Indians; and the rice is fetched away annually by a ship which brings the Company's returns, and anchors alternately in each of the three bays. These returns are delivered to the rajas in the form of a present, and the cask of arrack they and their principal people never cease to drink, as long as a drop of it remains. In consequence of this treaty, the Dutch placed three persons upon the island: Mr Lange, his colleague, the native of Timor, the son of an Indian woman by a Portuguese, and one Frederick Craig, the son of an Indian woman by a Dutchman. Lange visited each of the rajas once in two months, when he made the tour of the island, attended by fifty slaves on horseback. He exhorted these chiefs to plant, if it appeared that they had been remiss, and observed where the crops were got in, that he might order sloops to fetch it; so that it passed immediately from the ground to the Dutch store-houses at Timor. In these excursions he always carried with him some bottles of arrack, which he found of great use in opening the hearts of the rajas, with whom he had to deal.
During the ten years that he had resided upon this island he had never seen a European besides ourselves, except at the arrival of the Dutch ship, which had sailed about two months before we arrived; and he was to be distinguished from the natives only by his colour and his dress, for he sate upon the ground, chewed his betel, and in every respect adopted their character and manners: He had married an Indian woman of the island of Timor, who kept his house after the fashion of her country; and he gave that as a reason for not inviting us to visit him, saying, that he could entertain us in no other manner than the Indians had done, and he spoke no language readily but that of the country.
The office of Mr Frederick Craig was to instruct the youth of the country in reading and writing, and the principles of the Christian religion; the Dutch having printed versions of the New Testament, a catechism, and several other tracts, in the language of this and the neighbouring islands. Dr Solander, who was at his house, saw the books, and the copy-books also, of his scholars, many of whom wrote a very fair hand. He boasted that there were no less than six hundred Christians in the township of Seba; but what the Dutch Christianity of these Indians may be, it is not perhaps very easy to guess, for there was not a church, nor even a priest, in the whole island.
While we were at this place, we made several enquiries concerning the neighbouring islands, and the intelligence which we received is to the following effect:--
A small island to the westward of Savu, the name of which we did not learn, produces nothing of any consequence but areca-nuts, of which the Dutch receive annually the freight of two sloops, in return for presents that they make to the islanders.
Timor is the chief, and the Dutch residents on the other islands go thither once a-year to pass their accounts. The place was nearly in the same state as in Dampier's time, the Dutch having there a fort and storehouses; and by Lange's account we might there have been supplied with every necessary that we expected to procure at Batavia, salt provisions and arrack not excepted. But the Portuguese were still in possession of several towns on the north side of the island, particularly Laphao and Sesial.
About two years before our arrival, a French ship was wrecked upon the east coast of Timor; and after she had lain some days upon the shoal, a sudden gale broke her up at once, and drowned the captain, with the greatest part of the crew: Those who got ashore, among whom was one of the lieutenants, made the best of their way to Concordia; they were four days upon the road, where they were obliged to leave part of their company through fatigue, and the rest, to the number of about eighty, arrived at the town. They were supplied with every necessary, and sent back to the wreck, with proper assistance, for recovering what could be fished up: They fortunately got up all their bullion, which was in chests, and several of their guns, which were very large. They then returned to the town, but their companions who had been left upon the road were missing, having, as it was supposed, been kept among the Indians, either by persuasion or force; for they are very desirous of having Europeans among them, to instruct them in the art of war. After a stay of more than two months at Concordia, their number was diminished nearly one half by sickness, in consequence of the fatigue and hardship which they had suffered by the shipwreck, and the survivors were sent in a small vessel to Europe.
Rotte was in much the same situation as Savu; a Dutch factor resided upon it to manage the natives, and look after its produce, which consists, among other articles, of sugar. Formerly it was made only by bruising the canes, and boiling the juice to a syrup, in the same manner as toddy; but great improvements have lately been made in preparing this valuable commodity. The three little islands called the Solars were also under the influence of the Dutch settlement at Concordia: They are flat and low, but abound with provisions of every kind, and the middlemost is said to have a good harbour for shipping. Ende, another little island to the westward of the Solars, was still in the hands of the Portuguese, who had a good town and harbour on the north-east corner of it called Larntuca: They had formerly an harbour on the south side of it, but that, being much inferior to Larntuca, had for some time been altogether neglected.
The inhabitants of each of these little islands speak a language peculiar to themselves, and it is an object of Dutch policy to prevent, as much as possible, their learning the language of each other. If they spoke a common language, they would learn, by a mutual intercourse with each other, to plant such things as would be of more value to themselves than their present produce, though of less advantage to the Dutch; but their languages being different, they can communicate no such knowledge to each other, and the Dutch secure to themselves the benefit of supplying their several necessities upon their own terms, which it is reasonable to suppose are not very moderate. It is probably with a view to this advantage that the Dutch never teach their own language to the natives of these islands, and have been at the expence of translating the Testament and catechisms into the different languages of each; for in proportion as Dutch had become the language of their religion, it would have become the common language of them all.[111]
[Footnote 111: The Dutch in all their transactions abroad seem to have invariably minded the main chance, the one thing needful; and to this consideration, as a fundamental principle in their character, they never scrupled to sacrifice every and any matter of religion, policy or humanity,--as if the love of money was (to reverse the language of an apostle) the root of all virtue, and alone worthy of cultivation in the breasts of mankind. Whether their contempt of other people were greater than their indifference to the real interests which necessary connexion with them recommended, it is impossible to ascertain in some cases. It is on either supposition, to their indelible disgrace, that not the least pains were almost at any time bestowed by them, to acquire a knowledge of the languages of the people whom they had subdued. The Javanese, a language venerable from its antiquity, as certainly connected with the Sanscrit or sacred dialect of the Hindus, and important from its own excellence, as well as because spoken by some millions of people with whom the Dutch had very long intercourse, was so completely neglected, that till very lately not a single individual among them could write or converse in it. Of the Malayan tongue, which is quite distinct, though it has borrowed much from it, in consequence of certain commercial and even religious intercourse, a little knowledge had been acquired, and plainly for this reason, that without it no communication could have been carried on with the people inhabiting the sea-coasts and islands of the eastern parts of India. But even this knowledge, it is probable, extended no farther than to the names of substances imperatively alluring to the cupidity of Dutch merchants. What, alas! could be expected of intellectual energy or enterprize, from men who had surrendered their souls to mammon, and whose only remaining care it was, to guzzle gin and devour enough of victuals?--E.]
To this account of Savu, I shall only add a small specimen of its language, by which it will appear to have some affinity with that of the South-Sea islands, many of the words being exactly the same, and the numbers manifestly derived from the same source.
A man, Momonne. A sheep, Doomba. A woman, Mobunne. A goat, Kesavoo. The head, Catoo. A dog, Guaca. The hair, Row catoo. A cat, Maio. The eyes, Matta. A fowl, Mannu. The eye } Rowna matta. The tail, Carow. lashes, } The beak, Pangoutoo. The nose, Swanga. A fish, Ica. The cheeks, Cavaranga. A turtle, Unjoo. The ears, Wodeeloo. A cocoa-nut, Nieu. The tongue, Vaio. Fan-palm, Boaceree. The neck, Lacoco. Areca, Calella. The breasts, Soosoo. Betele, Canana. The nipples, Caboo soosoo. Lime, Aou. The belly, Dulloo. A fish-hook, Maänadoo. The navel, Assoo. Tattow, the} Tata. The thighs, Tooga. marks on } The knees, Rootoo. the skin, } The legs, Baibo. The sun, Lodo. The feet, Dunceala. The moon, Wurroo. The toes, Kissovei yilla. The sea, Aidassee. The arms, Camacoo. Water, Ailea. The hand, Wulaba. Fire, Aee. A buffalo, Cabaou. To die, Maate. A horse, Djara. To sleep, Tabudge. A hog, Vavee. To rise, Tateetoo. One, Usse. Two, Lhua. Three, Tullu. Four, Uppah. Five, Lumme. Six, Unna. Seven, Pedu. Eight, Arru. Nine, Saou. Ten, Singooroo. Eleven Singurung usse. 20, Lhuangooroo. 100, Sing assu. 1000, Setuppah. 10,000, Selacussa. 100,000, Serata. 1,000,000, Sereboo.
In this account of the island of Savu it must be remembered, that, except the facts in which we were parties, and the account of the objects which we had an opportunity to examine, the whole is founded merely upon the report of Mr Lange, upon whose authority alone therefore it most rest.
SECTION XXXVII.
The Run from the Island of Savu to Batavia, and an Account of the Transactions there while the Ship was refitting.
In the morning of Friday the 21st of September, 1770, we got under sail, and stood away to the westward, along the north side of the island of Savu, and of the smaller that lies to the westward of it, which at noon bore from us S.S.E. distant two leagues. At four o'clock in the afternoon, we discovered a small low island, bearing S.S.W. distant three leagues, which has no place in any chart now extant, at least in none that I have been able to procure: It lies in latitude 10° 47' S., longitude 238° 28' W.
At noon on the 22d, we were in latitude 11° 10' S., longitude 240° 38' W. In the evening of the 23d, we found the variation of the needle to be 2° 44' W.; as soon as we got clear of the islands we had constantly a swell from the southward, which I imagined was not caused by a wind blowing from that quarter, but by the sea being so determined by the position of the coast of New Holland.
At noon on the 26th, being in latitude 10° 47' S., longitude 249° 52' W., we found the variation to be 3° 10' W., and our situation to be twenty-five miles to the northward of the log; for which I know not how to account. At noon on the 27th, our latitude by observation was 10° 51' S., which was agreeable to the log; and our longitude was 252° 11' W. We steered N.W. all day on the 28th, in order to make the land of Java; and at noon on the 29th, our latitude by observation was 9° 31' S., longitude 254° 10' W.; and in the morning of the 30th, I took into my possession the log-book and journals, at least all I could find, of the officers, petty officers, and seamen, and enjoined them secrecy with respect to where they had been.
At seven in the evening, being in the latitude of Java Head, and not seeing any land, I concluded that we were too far to the westward: I therefore hauled up E.N.E. having before steered N. by E. In the night, we had thunder and lightning; and about twelve o'clock, by the light of the flashes, we saw the land bearing east. I then tacked and stood to the S.W. till four o'clock in the morning of the 1st of October; and at six, Java Head, or the west end of Java, bore S.E. by E., distant five leagues: Soon after we saw Prince's Island, bearing E. 1/2 S.; and at ten, the island of Cracatoa, bearing N.E. Cracatoa is a remarkably high-peaked island, and at noon it bore N. 40 E. distant seven leagues.
I must now observe that, during our run from Savu, I allowed twenty minutes a-day for the westerly current, which I concluded must run strong at this time, especially off the coast of Java, and I found that this allowance was just equivalent to the effect of the current upon the ship.[112]
[Footnote 112: This is a single but not an inconsiderable instance of Cook's skill, in the important art of navigation.--E.]
At four o'clock in the morning of the 2d, we fetched close in with the coast of Java, in fifteen fathom; we then stood along the coast, and early in the forenoon, I sent the boat ashore to try if she could procure some fruit for Tupia, who was very ill, and some grass for the buffaloes that were still alive. In an hour or two she returned with four cocoa-nuts, and a small bunch of plantains, which had been purchased for a shilling, and some herbage for the cattle, which the Indians not only gave us, but assisted our people to cut. The country looked like one continued wood, and had a very pleasant appearance.
About eleven o'clock, we saw two Dutch ships lying off Anger Point, and I sent Mr Hicks on board of one of them to enquire news of our country, from which we had been absent so long. In the mean time it fell calm, and about noon I anchored in eighteen fathom with a muddy bottom.[113] When Mr Hicks returned, he reported that the ships were Dutch East Indiamen from Batavia, one of which was bound to Ceylon, and the other to the coast of Malabar; and that there was also a flyboat or packet, which was said to be stationed here to carry letters from the Dutch ships that came hither to Batavia, but which I rather think was appointed to examine all ships that pass the Streight: From these ships we heard, with great pleasure, that the Swallow had been at Batavia about two years before.[114]
[Footnote 113: Mr Barrow advises that vessels should touch at Anger or Angeire Point, for refreshments. He says it is vastly better than stopping near North Island, on the Sumatra side, as the stores are much superior, and the station is very healthy.--E.]
[Footnote 114: This is related in the preceding volume.--E.]
At seven o'clock a breeze sprung up at S.S.W., with which having weighed, we stood to the N.E. between Thwart-the-way-Island and the Cap, sounding from eighteen to twenty-eight fathom: We had but little wind all night, and having a strong current against us, we got no further by eight in the morning than Bantam Point. At this time the wind came to the N.E., and obliged us to anchor in two-and-twenty fathom, at about the distance of two miles from the shore; the point bore N.E. by E., distant one league, and here we found a strong current setting to the N.W. In the morning we had seen the Dutch packet standing after us, but when the wind shifted to the N.E. she bore away.[115]
[Footnote 115: There is considerable difficulty at certain seasons, in working up this strait. Thus it is not unusual for a vessel going at a wrong time, to be six weeks in accomplishing a distance, which at another time may be gone over in twelve hours. This, however, is when the Great Channel, as it is called, is attempted at a wrong season. The Secured Passage or Bahonden, viz. betwixt Java and Prince's Island, is more generally navigated, except by vessels coming from Bengal, Surat, &c. which cannot reach the windward shore of Java against the south-east monsoon. Those which take the Secured Passage soon get into anchoring depth off the Java shore, which is one of its greatest advantages,--E.]
At six o'clock in the evening, the wind having obliged us to continue at anchor, one of the country boats came along side of us, on board of which was the master of the packet. He seemed to have two motives for his visit, one to take an account of the ship, and the other to sell us refreshments; for in the boat were turtle, fowls, ducks, parrots, paroquets, rice-birds, monkies, and other articles, which they held at a very high price, and brought to a bad market, for our Savu stock was not yet expended: However, I gave a Spanish dollar for a small turtle, which weighed about six-and-thirty pounds: I gave also a dollar for ten large fowls, and afterwards bought fifteen more at the same price; for a dollar we might also have bought two monkies, or a whole cage of rice-birds. The master of the sloop brought with him two books, in one of which he desired that any of our officers would write down the name of the ship and its commander, with that of the place from which she sailed, and of the port to which she was bound, with such other particulars relating to themselves, as they might think proper, for the information of any of our friends that should come after us: And in the other he entered the names of the ship and the commander himself, in order to transmit them, to the governor and council of the Indies. We perceived that in the first book many ships, particularly Portuguese, had made entries of the same kind with that for which it was presented to us. Mr Hicks, however, having written the name of the ship, only added "from Europe." He took notice of this, but said, that he was satisfied with any thing we thought fit to write, it being intended merely for the information of those who should enquire after us from motives of friendship.
Having made several attempts to sail with a wind that would not stem the current, and as often come to an anchor, a proa came along-side of us in the morning of the 5th, in which was a Dutch officer, who sent me down a printed paper in English, duplicates of which he had in other languages, particularly in French and Dutch, all regularly signed, in the name of the governor and council of the Indies, by their secretary: It contained nine questions, very ill expressed, in the following terms:
"1. To what nation the ship belongs, and its name?
"2. If it comes from Europe, or any other place?
"3. From what place it lastly departed from?
"4. Whereunto designed to go?
"5. What and how many ships of the Dutch Company
by departure from the last shore there layed, and their
names?
"6. If one or more of these ships in company with this,
is departed for this or any other place?
"7. If during the voyage any particularities is happened
or seen?
"8. If not any ships in sea, or the Streights of Sunda,
have seen or hailed in, and which?
"9. If any other news worth of attention, at the place
from whence the ship lastly departed, or during the voyage,
is happened?
BATAVIA, in the Castle.
"By order of the Governor-General
and the Counsellors of India,
J. BRANDER BUNGL, Sec."
Of these questions I answered only the first and the fourth; which when the officer saw, he said answers to the rest were of no consequence: Yet he immediately added, that he must send that very paper away to Batavia, and that it would be there the next day at noon. I have particularly related this incident, because I have been credibly informed that it is but of late years that the Dutch have taken upon them to examine the ships that pass through this Streight.[116]
[Footnote 116: The Dutch East-India Company claimed the absolute sovereignty of the Straits of Sunda, as possessing the kingdom of Bantam, on the shore of Java, and having conquered the land of Lampon and other provinces on the opposite side.--E.]
At ten o'clock the same morning, we weighed, with a light breeze at S.W.; but did little more than stem the current, and about two o'clock anchored again under Bantam Point, where we lay till nine; a light breeze then springing up at S.E. we weighed and stood to the eastward till ten o'clock the next morning, when the current obliged us again to anchor in twenty-two fathom, Pulababi bearing E. by S. 1/2 S. distant between three and four miles. Having alternately weighed and anchored several times, till four in the afternoon of the 7th, we then stood to the eastward, with a very faint breeze at N.E. and passed Wapen Island, and the first island to the eastward of it; when the wind dying away, we were carried by the current between the first and second of the islands that lie to the eastward of Wapen Island, where we were obliged to anchor in thirty fathom, being very near a ledge of rocks that run out from one of the islands. At two the next morning we weighed with the land-wind at south, and stood out clear of the shoal; but before noon were obliged to come-to again in twenty-eight fathom, near a small island among those that are called the Thousand Islands, which we did not find laid down in any chart. Pulo Pare at this time bore E.N.E. distance between six and seven miles.
Mr Banks and Dr Solander went ashore upon the island, which they found not to be more than five hundred yards long, and one hundred broad; yet there was a house upon it, and a small plantation, where among other things was the Palma Christi, from which the caster-oil is made in the West Indies:[117] they made a small addition to their collection of plants, and shot a bat, whose wings when extended measured three feet from point to point: They shot also four plovers, which exactly resembled the golden plover of England. Soon after they returned, a small Indian boat came along-side with two Malays on board, who brought three turtles, some dried fish, and a few pumpkins: We bought the turtle, which altogether weighed a hundred and forty-six pounds, for a dollar, and considering that we had lately paid the Dutchman a dollar for one that weighed only six-and-thirty pounds, we thought we had a good bargain. The seller appeared equally satisfied, and we then treated with him for his pumpkins, for which he was very unwilling to take any money but a dollar; we said that a whole dollar was greatly too much; to which he readily assented, but desired that we would cut one and give him a part: At last, however, a fine shining Portuguese petack tempted him, and for that he sold us his whole stock of pumpkins, being in number twenty-six. At parting, he made signs that we should not tell at Batavia that any boat had been aboard us.
[Footnote 117: The Ricinus Communis: The oil is obtained from the seeds, either by expression or decoction.--E.]
We were not able to weather Polo Pare this day, but getting the land-wind at south about ten o'clock at night, we weighed and stood to the E.S.E. all night. At ten in the morning, we anchored again, to wait for the sea-breeze; and at noon it sprung up at N.N.E. with which we stood in for Batavia road, where at four o'clock in the afternoon we came to an anchor.
We found here the Harcourt Indiaman from England, two English private traders of that country, thirteen sail of large Dutch ships, and a considerable number of small vessels.
A boat came immediately on board from a ship which had a broad pendant flying, and the officer who commanded having enquired who we were, and whence we came, immediately returned with such answers as we thought fit to give him: Both he and his people were pale as spectres a sad presage of our sufferings in so unhealthy a country; but our people, who, except Tupia, were all rosy and plump seemed to think themselves so seasoned by various-climates that nothing could hurt them.[118] In the mean time, I sent a lieutenant ashore to acquaint the governor of our arrival and to make an excuse for our not saluting; for as I could salute with only three guns, except the swivels, which I was of opinion would not be heard, I thought it was better to let it alone. As soon as the boat was dispatched, the carpenter delivered me an account of the defects of the ship, of which the following is a copy:
"The defects of his Majesty's bark Endeavour, "Lieutenant James Cook Commander. "The ship very leaky, as she makes from twelve to six inches water an hour, occasioned by her main keel being wounded in many places, and the scarfs of her stern being very open: The false keel gone beyond the midships from forward, and perhaps farther, as I had no opportunity of seeing for the water; when hauled ashore for repairing: Wounded on the larboard side under the main channel, where I imagine the greatest leak is, but could not come at it for the water: One pump on the larboard side useless; the others decayed within an inch and a half of the bore. Otherwise masts, yards, boats, and hull, in pretty good condition."
As it was the universal opinion that the ship could not safely proceed to Europe without an examination of her bottom, I determined to apply for leave to heave her down at this place; and as I understood that it would be necessary to make this application in writing, I drew up a request, and the next morning, having got it translated into Dutch, we all went ashore.
[Footnote 118: It is of some consequence to remember the circumstance of the crew's good health on arriving at Batavia. So far the precautions used for their welfare had been found very efficacious.--E.]
We repaired immediately to the house of Mr Leith, the only Englishman of any credit who was resident at this place; he received us with great politeness, and engaged us to dinner: To this gentleman we applied for instructions how to provide ourselves with lodgings and necessaries while we should stay ashore, and he told us that there was a hotel, or kind of inn, kept by the order of government, where all merchants and strangers were obliged to reside, paying half per cent, upon the value of their goods for warehouse room, which the master of the house was obliged to provide; but that as we came in a king's ship, we should be at liberty to live where we pleased, upon asking the governor's permission, which would be granted of course. He said that it would be cheaper for us to take a house in the town, and bring our own servants ashore, if we had any body upon whom we could depend to buy in our provisions; but as this was not the case, having no person among us who could speak the Malay language, our gentlemen determined to go to the hotel. At the hotel, therefore, beds were immediately hired, and word was sent that we should sleep there at night.
At five o'clock in the afternoon I was introduced to the governor-general, who received me very courteously; he told me that I should have every thing I wanted, and that in the morning my request should be laid before the council, which I was desired to attend.
About nine o'clock we had a dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, during which the main-mast of one of the Dutch East Indiamen was split, and carried away by the deck; the main-top-mast and top-gallant-mast were shivered to pieces; she had an iron spindle at the main-top-mast-head, which probably directed the stroke. This ship lay not more than the distance of two cables' length from ours, and in all probability we should have shared the same fate, but for the electrical chain which we had but just got up, and which conducted the lightning over the side of the ship; but though we escaped the lightning, the explosion shook us like an earthquake, the chain at the same time appearing like a line of fire: A centinel was in the action of charging his piece, and the shock forced the musket out of his hand, and broke the rammer-rod. Upon this occasion I cannot but earnestly recommend chains of the same kind to every ship, whatever be her destination, and I hope that the fate of the Dutchman will be a warning to all who shall read this narrative, against having an iron spindle at the mast-head.[119]
[Footnote 119: Thunder storms are particularly frequent in this climate, especially about the ends of the monsoons, at which times scarcely an evening passes without one. But in general, it has been remarked, they are not productive of much mischief; the reason, perhaps, why the Indiaman was not furnished in the manner recommended. The Dutch are scarcely to be charged with want of foresight, or with inattention to their interests. Nevertheless, the advice here given is worthy of attention, as well to them as to others.--E.]
The next morning I attended at the council-chamber, and was told that I should have every thing I wanted. In the mean time, the gentlemen ashore agreed with the keeper of the hotel for their lodging and board, at the rate of two rix-dollars, or nine shillings sterling a-day for each; and as there were five of them, and they would probably have many visitors from the ship, he agreed to keep them a separate table, upon condition that they should pay one rix-dollar for the dinner of every stranger, and another for his supper and bed, if he should sleep ashore. Under this stipulation they were to be furnished with tea, coffee, punch, pipes and tobacco, for themselves and their friends, as much as they could consume; they were also to pay half a rupee, or one shilling and three-pence a-day for each of their servants.[120]
[Footnote 120: Captain Bligh, who got to Batavia in 1739, speaks very indifferently of the hotel there. "One of the greatest difficulties," says he, "that strangers have to encounter, is their being obliged to live at the hotel. This hotel was formerly two houses, which, by doors of communication, have been made one. It is in the middle of a range of buildings more calculated for a cold country than for such a climate as Batavia. There is no free circulation of air, and what is equally bad, it is always very dirty; and there is great want of attendance. What they call cleaning the house, is another nuisance; for they never use any water to cool it or lay the dust, but sweep daily with brooms, in such a manner, that those in the house are almost suffocated by a cloud of dust." His officers, he tells us, complained of the tradesmen imposing on them as to the price of goods, in consequence of which he spoke to the sabander, who gave redress. He himself was obliged; on account of his health, to have a house in the country.--E.]
They soon learnt that these rates were more than double the common charges of board and lodging in the town, and their table, though it had the appearance of magnificence, was wretchedly served. Their dinner consisted of one course of fifteen dishes, and their supper of one course of thirteen, but nine or ten of them consisted of bad poultry, variously dressed, and often served up the second, third, and even the fourth time: The same duck having appeared more than once roasted, found his way again to the table as a fricasee, and a fourth time in the form of forced meat. It was not long, however, before they learnt that this treatment was only by way of essay, and that it was the invariable custom of the house to supply all strangers, at their first coming, with such fare as could be procured for the least money, and consequently would produce the most gain: That if either through indolence or good nature they were content, it was continued for the benefit of the host, but that if they complained, it was gradually amended till they were satisfied, which sometimes happened before they had the worth of their money. After this discovery, they remonstrated, and their fare became better; however, after a few days, Mr Banks hired a little house, the next door on the left hand to the hotel, for himself and his party, for which he paid after the rate of ten rix-dollars, or two pounds five shillings sterling a-month; but here they were very far from having either the convenience or the privacy which they expected; no person was permitted to sleep in this private house occasionally, as a guest to the person who hired it, under a penalty, but almost every Dutchman that went by ran in without any ceremony, to ask what they sold, there having been very seldom any private persons at Batavia who had not something to sell. Every body here hires a carriage, and Mr Banks hired two. They are open chaises, made to hold two people, and driven by a man sitting on a coach-box; for each of these he paid two rix-dollars a-day.
As soon as he was settled in his new habitation, he sent for Tupia, who, till now, had continued on board upon account of his illness, which was of the bilious kind, and for which he had obstinately refused to take any medicine. He soon came ashore, with his boy Tayeto, and though while he was on board, and after he came into the boat, he was exceedingly listless and dejected, he no sooner entered the town than he seemed to be animated with a new soul. The houses, carriages, streets, people, and a multiplicity of other objects, all new, which rushed upon him at once, produced an effect like the sudden and secret power that is imagined of fascination. Tayeto expressed his wonder and delight with still less restraint, and danced along the street in a kind of extasy, examining every object with a restless and eager curiosity, which was every moment excited and gratified. One of the first things that Tupia remarked, was the various dresses of the passing multitude, concerning which he made many enquiries; and when he was told that in this place, where people of many different nations were assembled, every one wore the habit of his country, he desired that he might conform to the custom, and appear in that of Otaheite. South-Sea cloth was therefore sent for from the ship, and he equipped himself with great expedition and dexterity. The people who had seen Otouron, the Indian, who had been brought hither by M. Bougainville, enquired whether Tupia was not the same person: From these enquiries, we learnt who it was that we had supposed to be Spaniards, from the accounts that had been given of two ships by the islanders.[121]
[Footnote 121: Should our limits allow it, an abstract of Bougainville's voyage will be given as an appendix, in which mention will be made of the Indian here alluded to.--E.]
In the mean time, I procured an order to the superintendant of the Island of Onrust, where the ship was to be repaired, to receive her there; and sent by one of the ships that sailed for Holland, an account of our arrival here, to Mr Stephens, the secretary to the Admiralty.
The expences that would be incurred by repairing and refitting the ship, rendered it necessary for me to take up money in this place, which I imagined might be done without difficulty, but I found myself mistaken; for after the most diligent enquiry, I could not find any private person that had ability and inclination to advance the sum that I wanted. In this difficulty I applied to the governor himself, by a written request, in consequence of which, the shebander had orders to supply me with what money I should require, out of the Company's treasury.
On the 18th, as soon as it was light, having by several accidents and mistakes suffered a delay of many days, I took up the anchor, and ran down to Onrust: A few days afterwards we went alongside of the wharf, on Cooper's Island, which lies close to Onrust, in order to take out our stores.
By this time, having been here only three days, we began to feel the fatal effects of the climate and situation. Tupia, after the flow of spirits which the novelties of the place produced upon his first landing, sank on a sadden, and grew every day worse and worse. Tayeto was seized with an inflammation upon his lungs, Mr Banks's two servants became very ill, and himself and Dr Solander were attacked by fevers; in a few days, almost every person both on board and ashore were sick; affected, no doubt, by the low swampy situation of the place, and the numberless dirty canals which intersect the town in all directions. On the 26th, I set up the tent for the reception of the ship's company, of whom there was but a small number able to do duty. Poor Tupia, of whose life we now began to despair, and who till this time had continued ashore with Mr Banks, desired to be removed to the ship, where, he said, he should breathe a freer air than among the numerous houses which obstructed it ashore: On board the ship, however, he could not go, for she was unrigged, and preparing to be laid down at the careening-place; but on the 28th, Mr Banks went with him to Cooper's Island, or, as it is called here, Kuypor, where she lay, and as he seemed pleased with the spot, a tent was there pitched for him: At this place both the sea-breeze and the land-breeze blew directly over him, and he expressed great satisfaction in his situation. Mr Banks, whose humanity kept him two days with this poor Indian, returned to the town on the 30th, and the fits of his intermittent, which was now become a regular tertian, were so violent as to deprive him of his senses while they lasted, and leave him so weak that he was scarcely able to crawl down stairs: At this time, Dr Solander's disorder also increased, and Mr Monkhouse, the surgeon, was confined to his bed.
On the 5th of November, after many delays in consequence of the Dutch ships coming alongside the wharfs to load pepper, the ship was laid down, and the same day, Mr Monkhouse, our surgeon, a sensible skilful man, fell the first sacrifice to this fatal country, a loss which was greatly aggravated by our situation. Dr Solander was just able to attend his funeral, but Mr Banks was confined to his bed. Our distress was now very great, and the prospect before us discouraging in the highest degree: Our danger was not such as we could surmount by any efforts of our own; courage, skill, and diligence were all equally ineffectual, and death was every day making advances upon us, where we could neither resist nor fly. Malay servants were hired to attend the sick, but they had so little sense either of duty or humanity, that they could not be kept within call, and the patient was frequently obliged to get out of bed to seek them.[122] On the 9th, we lost our poor Indian boy, Tayeto, and Tupia was so much affected, that it was doubted whether he would survive till the next day.
[Footnote 122: The Malays are not indebted to the representations of any author who has ever been at the pains to paint their character. What every body says, is at least likely to be true; and if so, they are a compound of every thing that is terrific in the rudest of the species, and of every thing that is odious in human nature, when corrupted to the extreme. Desperadoes in courage, and gluttons in revenge, they have also the low cunning and the treacherous plausibility with all the licentious propensities of the most designing and profligate of mankind. Their advancement in the arts which render life comfortable, and sometimes, too, embellish even vice, cannot in any measure redeem them into favourable estimation. They are in most points inferior (perhaps in every respect, save navigation,) to all the nations that inhabit the vast peninsula of Eastern India.--E.]
In the mean time, the bottom of the ship being examined, was found to be in a worse condition than we apprehended: The false keel was all gone to within twenty feet of the stern-post; the main keel was considerably injured in many places; and a great quantity of the sheathing was torn off, and several planks were much damaged; two of them, and the half of a third, under the main channel near the keel, were, for the length of six feet, so worn, that they were not above an eighth part of an inch thick, and here the worms had made their way quite into the timbers; yet in this condition she had sailed many hundred leagues, where navigation is as dangerous as in any part of the world: How much misery did we escape by being ignorant that so considerable a part of the bottom of the vessel was thinner than the sole of a shoe, and that every life on board depended upon so slight and fragile a barrier between us and the unfathomable ocean! It seemed, however, that we had been preserved only to perish here; Mr Banks and Dr Solander were so bad that the physician declared they had no chance for recovery but by removing into the country; a house was therefore hired for them at the distance of about two miles from the town, which belonged to the master of the hotel, who engaged to furnish them with provisions, and the use of slaves. As they had already experienced their want of influence over slaves that had other masters, and the unfeeling inattention of these fellows to the sick, they bought each of them a Malay woman, which removed both the causes of their being so ill served; the women were their own property, and the tenderness of the sex, even here, made them good nurses.[123] While these preparations were making, they received an account of the death of Tupia, who sunk at once after the loss of the boy, whom he loved with the tenderness of a parent.[124]
[Footnote 123: Dr Hawkesworth seems to have forgotten here the superiority of a simple diet over the tribe of nurses; it would seem, too, as if nature did not possess in this climate any considerable skill in surgery or medicine.--E.]
[Footnote 124: Tupia merited some eulogium; and it is singular that Dr Hawkesworth did not bestow it. This, however, has been done by Mr Forster, in his account of Cook's second voyage.--E.]
By the 14th, the bottom of the ship was thoroughly repaired, and very much to my satisfaction: It would, indeed, be injustice to the officers and workmen of this yard, not to declare, that, in my opinion, there is not a marine yard in the world where a ship can be laid down with more convenience, safety, and dispatch, nor repaired with more diligence and skill. At this place they heave down by two masts, a method which we do not now practise; it is, however, unquestionably more safe and expeditious to heave down with two masts than one, and he must have a good share of bigotry to old customs, and an equal want of common sense, who will not allow this, after seeing with what facility the Dutch heave down their largest ships at this place.
Mr Banks and Dr Solander recovered slowly at their country-house, which was not only open to the sea breeze, but situated upon a running stream, which greatly contributed to the circulation of the air: But I was now taken ill myself; Mr Sporing, and a seaman who had attended Mr Banks, were also seized with intermittents; and, indeed, there were not more than ten of the whole ship's company that were able to do duty.
We proceeded however in rigging the ship, and getting water and stores aboard: The water we were obliged to procure from Batavia, at the rate of six shillings and eight-pence a leager, or one hundred and fifty gallons.
About the 26th, the westerly monsoon set in, which generally blows here in the night from the S.W., and in the day from the N.W. or N. For some nights before this, we had very heavy rain, with much thunder; and in the night between the 25th and 26th, such rain as we had seldom seen, for near four hours without intermission. Mr Banks's house admitted the water in every part like a sieve, and it ran through the lower rooms in a stream that would have turned a mill: He was by this time sufficiently recovered to go out, and upon his entering Batavia the next morning, he was much surprised to see the bedding every where hung out to dry.
The wet season was now set in, though we had some intervals of fair weather.[125] The frogs in the ditches, which croak ten times loader than any frogs in Europe, gave notice of rain by an incessant noise that was almost intolerable, and the gnats and musquitos, which had been very troublesome even during the dry weather, were now become innumerable, swarming from every plash of water like bees from a hive; they did not, however, much incommode us in the day, and the stings, however troublesome at first, never continued to itch above half an hour, so that none of us felt in the day the effects of the wounds they had received in the night.
[Footnote 125: They reckon two seasons or monsoons in this climate. The east, or good one, begins about the end of April, and continues till about the beginning of October. During this, the trade-winds usually blow from the south-east and east-south-east, and there is fine weather, with a clear sky. The west, or bad monsoon, begins about the end of November, or commencement of December, and continues till towards the end of February, during which the winds are mostly from the west. This is the most unhealthy season. It has been remarked, but not explained, that the periods of the monsoons are not so regular as they once were, so that neither their beginning nor end can be so confidently depended on. The months not included in either of the monsoons are called shifting-months.--E.]
On the 8th of December, the ship being perfectly refitted, and having taken in most of her water and stores, and received the sick on board, we ran up to Batavia Road, and anchored in four fathom and a half of water.[126]
[Footnote 126: Batavia Road is reckoned one of the best in the world for size, safety, and goodness of anchorage. It is open indeed from the north-west to east north-east and east; nevertheless, ships lie quite secure in it, as there are several islands on that side which break the force of the waves. There is no occasion for mooring stern and stern in it.--E.]
From this time, to the 24th, we were employed in getting on board the remainder of our water and provisions, with some new pumps, and in several other operations that were necessary to fit the ship for the sea, all which would have been effected much sooner, if sickness and death had not disabled or carried off a great number of our men.
While we lay here, the Earl of Elgin, Captain Cook, a ship belonging to the English East India Company, came to anchor in the road. She was bound from Madras to China, but having lost her passage, put in here to wait for the next season. The Phoenix, Captain Black, an English country ship, from Bencoolen, also came to an anchor at this place.
In the afternoon of Christmas-eve, the 24th, I took leave of the governor, and several of the principal gentlemen of the place, with whom I had formed connexions, and from whom I received every possible civility and assistance; but in the mean time an accident happened which might have produced disagreeable consequences. A seaman had run away from one of the Dutch ships in the road, and entered on board of mine: The captain had applied to the governor to reclaim him as a subject of Holland, and an order for that purpose was procured: This order was brought to me soon after I returned from my last visit, and I said, that if the man appeared to be a Dutchman, he should certainly be delivered up. Mr Hicks commanded on board, and I gave the Dutch officer an order to him to deliver the man up under that condition. I slept myself this night on shore, and in the morning the captain of the Dutch commodore came and told me that he had carried my order on board, but that the officer had refused to deliver up the man, alleging not only that he was not a Dutchman, but that he was a subject of Great Britain, born in Ireland; I replied, that the officer had perfectly executed my orders, and that if the man was an English subject, it could not be expected that I should deliver him up. The captain then said, that he was just come from the governor to demand the man of me in his name, as a subject of Denmark, alleging that he stood in the ship's books as born at Elsineur. The claim of this man as a subject of Holland being now given up, I observed to the captain that there appeared to be some mistake in the general's message, for that he would certainly never demand a Danish seaman from me who had committed no other crime than preferring the service of the English to that of the Dutch. I added, however, to convince him of my sincere desire to avoid disputes, that if the man was a Dane, he should be delivered up as a courtesy, though he could not be demanded as a right; but that if I found he was an English subject, I would keep him at all events. Upon these terms we parted, and soon after I received a letter from Mr Hicks, containing indubitable proof that the seaman in question was a subject of his Britannic majesty. This letter I immediately carried to the shebander, with a request that it might be shewn to the governor, and that his excellency might at the same time be told I would not upon any terms part with the man. This had the desired effect, and I heard no more of the affair.[127]
[Footnote 127: Whatever may be thought of the advantage of such policy, it is certain that Cook acted here in the full spirit of a British officer and minister. Every reader must be aware how materially the same determination on the part of our government has tended to embroil us with the Americans, betwixt whom and us, the question of fact, as to country, is often much more difficult of solution than it can well be where any other people oppose our claims.--E.]
In the evening I went on board, accompanied by Mr Banks, and the rest of the gentlemen who had constantly resided on shore, and who, though better, were not yet perfectly recovered.
At six in the morning of the 26th, we weighed and set sail, with a light breeze at S.W. The Elgin Indiaman saluted us with three cheers and thirteen guns, and the garrison with fourteen; both which, with the help of our swivels, we returned, and soon after the sea-breeze set in at N. by W. which obliged us to anchor just without the ships in the road.
At this time the number of sick on board amounted to forty, and the rest of the ship's company were in a very feeble condition. Every individual had been sick except the sail-maker, an old man between seventy and eighty years of age; and it is very remarkable, that this old man, during our stay at this place, was constantly drunk every day:[128] We had buried seven, the surgeon, three seamen, Mr Green's servant, Tupia, and Tayeto, his boy. All but Tupia fell a sacrifice to the unwholesome, stagnant, putrid air of the country, and he who, from his birth, had been used to subsist chiefly upon vegetable food, particularly ripe fruit, soon contracted all the disorders that are incident to a sea life, and would probably have sunk under them before we could have completed our voyage, if we had not been obliged to go to Batavia to refit.
[Footnote 128: Cases similar to this are of constant occurrence, and are familiarly known to medical men who have a principle to account for it. The continual operation of exciting causes so as to produce a certain degree of action of the system, will prevent, as well as remedy, diseases of debility. The plague has been kept off by a like treatment on the same principle, and so has the ague, an intermitting fever so formidable in some countries. Giving over or abating of this stimulating treatment, however, if other circumstances remain the same, will, of course, render the person as obnoxious as ever to attack, or rather more so. It is evident that at times this cure is as bad as the disease; for scarcely any state of health is more deplorably fatal than constant drunkenness.--E.]
SECTION XXXVIII.
Some Account of Batavia, and the adjacent Country; with their Fruits, Flowers, and other Productions.
Batavia, the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, and generally supposed to have no equal among all the possessions of the Europeans in Asia, is situated on the north side of the island of Java, in a low fenny plain, where several small rivers, which take their rise in the mountains called Blaeuwen Berg, about forty miles up the country, empty themselves into the sea, and where the coast forms a large bay, called the Bay of Batavia, at the distance of about eight leagues from the streight of Sunda. It lies in latitude 6° 10' S., and longitude 106° 50' E. from the meridian of Greenwich, as appears from astronomical observations made upon the spot, by the Rev. Mr Mohr, who has built an elegant observatory, which is as well furnished with instruments as most in Europe.[129]
[Footnote 129: Batavia, called by some writers, the Queen of the East, on account of its wealth and the beauty of its buildings, is situate very near the sea, in a fertile plain, watered by the river Jaccatra, which divides the town. The sea-shore is on the north of the city; and on the south the land rises with a very gentle slope to the mountains, which are about fifteen leagues inland. One of these is of great height, and is called the Blue Mountain. The early history of this city is given in the tenth volume of the Modern Universal History, to which the reader is referred for information which it would perhaps be tedious to detail in this place. Batavia, the reader will easily imagine, has been much impaired by the calamities of her European parent; but, indeed, for some considerable time before they commenced, she had very materially declined in consequence and power.--E.]
The Dutch seem to have pitched upon this spot for the convenience of water-carriage, and in that it is indeed a second Holland, and superior to every other place in the world. There are very few streets that have not a canal of considerable breadth running through them, or rather stagnating in them, and continued for several miles in almost every direction beyond the town, which is also intersected by five or six rivers, some of which are navigable thirty or forty miles up the country.[130] As the houses are large, and the streets wide, it takes up a much greater extent, in proportion to the number of houses it contains, than any city in Europe. Valentyn, who wrote an account of it about the year 1726, says, that in his time there were, within the walls, 1242 Dutch houses, and 1200 Chinese; and without the walls, 1066 Dutch, and 1240 Chinese, besides 12 arrack houses, making in all 4760: But this account appeared to us to be greatly exaggerated, especially with respect to the number of houses within the walls.
[Footnote 130: The river Jaccatra, as has been mentioned, runs through the city, viz. from south to north, and having three bridges, one near the castle, at the lower end, another at the upper end, and the third about the centre of the town. It is from 160 to 180 feet broad, within the city, and is fortified, though indifferently, at its mouth, which, however, is of less importance, as a continually increasing bar renders access to the city by it impracticable for large vessels.--E.]
The streets are spacious and handsome, and the banks of the canals are planted with rows of trees, that make a very pleasing appearance; but the trees concur with the canals to make the situation unwholesome.[131] The stagnant canals in the dry season exhale an intolerable stench, and the trees impede the course of the air, by which, in some degree, the putrid effluvia would be dissipated. In the wet season the inconvenience is equal, for then these reservoirs of corrupted water overflow their banks in the lower part of the town, especially in the neighbourhood of the hotel, and fill the lower stories of the houses, where they leave behind them an inconceivable quantity of slime and filth: Yet these canals are sometimes cleaned; but the cleaning them is so managed as to become as great a nuisance as the foulness of the water; for the black mud that is taken from the bottom is suffered to lie upon the banks, that is, in the middle of the street, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of hardness to be made the lading of a boat, and carried away. As this mud consists chiefly of human ordure, which is regularly thrown into the canals every morning, there not being a necessary-house in the whole town, it poisons the air while it is drying, to a considerable extent. Even the running streams become nuisances in their turn, by the nastiness or negligence of the people; for every now and then a dead hog, or a dead horse, is stranded upon the shallow parts, and it being the business of no particular person to remove the nuisance, it is negligently left to time and accident. While we were here, a dead buffalo lay upon the shoal of a river that ran through one of the principal streets, above a week, and at last was carried away by a flood.[132]
[Footnote 131: Some of the streets are paved, but they consist of a hard clay which allows of being made plain and smooth; and within the city there are stone foot paths along their sides.--E.]
[Footnote 132: Five roads lead from the city into the country, all of which are finely planted with trees, and have very agreeable gardens on both sides. These roads run along the course of the rivulets or canals which form so remarkable a feature in the history and appearance of this city. The environs of Batavia have always been highly commended for their beauty and the fertility of the soil; the consequence, no doubt, of the extraordinary care taken to have them well watered--E.]
The houses are in general well adapted to the climate; they consist of one very large room, or hall, on the ground floor, with a door at each end, both which generally stand open: At one end a room is taken off by a partition, where the master of the house transacts his business; and in the middle, between each end, there is a court, which gives light to the hall, and at the same time increases the draught of air. From one corner of the hall the stairs go up to the floor above, where also the rooms are spacious and airy. In the alcove, which is formed by the court, the family dine; and at other times it is occupied by the female slaves, who are not allowed to sit down any where else.[133]
[Footnote 133: The houses are mostly built of brick, stuccoed without, and with sash-windows, so as to have a light agreeable appearance. The plan of their internal construction is much the same in the whole. On one side of a narrow passage into which you enter from the street, you have a parlour, and a little farther on, a large long room, lighted from an inner court, as is mentioned in the text. The rooms in general are badly furnished, and are floored with dark-red stones. The upper rooms are laid out like the under ones; Few of the private houses have gardens.--E.]
The public buildings are most of them old, heavy, and ungraceful; but the new church is not inelegant; it is built with a dome, that is seen from a great distance at sea, and though the outside has rather a heavy appearance, the inside forms a very fine room: It is furnished with an organ of a proper size, being very large, and is most magnificently illuminated by chandeliers.[134]
[Footnote 134: There are several churches for the reformed religion, and service is performed in the Dutch, Portuguese, and Malay languages. The description in the text is believed to apply to the Lutheran church, erected during the government of Baron Van Imhof.--E.]
The town is enclosed by a stone wall of a moderate height; but the whole of it is old, and many parts are much out of repair. This wall itself is surrounded by a river, which in some places is fifty, and in some a hundred yards wide: The stream is rapid, but the water is shallow. The wall is also lined within by a canal, which in different parts is of different breadths; so that, in passing either out or in through the gates, it is necessary to cross two draw-bridges; and there is no access for idle people or strangers to walk upon the ramparts, which seem to be but ill provided with guns.[135]
[Footnote 135: The wall is built of coral rock, and part of it, according to Sir Geo. Staunton's account, of lava of a dark-blue colour, and firm hard texture. It has twenty two bastions mounted with artillery, and is surrounded by a broad moat, generally well filled with water. There are five gates to the city; two on the south, the New Gate, and the Diast Gate; one on the north, the Square Gate; Rotterdam Gate on the east; and the Utrecht Gate on the west--E.]
In the north-east corner of the town stands the castle or citadel, the walls of which are both higher and thicker than those of the town, especially near the landing-place, where there is depth of water only for boats, which it completely commands, with several large guns, that make a very good appearance.
Within this castle are apartments for the governor-general, and all the council of India, to which they are enjoined to repair in case of a siege. Here are also large storehouses where great quantities of the Company's goods are kept, especially those that are brought from Europe, and where almost all their writers transact their business. In this place also are laid up a great number of cannon, whether to mount upon the walls or furnish shipping, we could not learn; and the Company is said to be well supplied with powder, which is dispersed in various magazines, that if some should be destroyed by lightning, which in this place is very frequent, the rest may escape.[136]
[Footnote 136: The castle is a square fortress, having four bastions connected by curtains, surrounded by a ditch. The walls are about twenty-four feet high, and built also of coral rock. Besides the houses, &c. mentioned in the text and near to what is called the Iron Magazine, is the grass plot where criminals are executed: It is a square space, artificially elevated, and furnished with gallows, &c. Close adjoining, and fronting it, is a small building where the magistrates, according to the Dutch custom, attend during the execution.--E.]
Besides the fortifications of the town, numerous forts are dispersed about the country to the distance of twenty or thirty miles; these seem to have been intended merely to keep the natives in awe, and indeed they are fit for nothing else. For the same purpose a kind of houses, each of which mounts about eight guns, are placed in such situations as command the navigation of three or four canals, and consequently the roads upon their banks: Some of these are in the town itself, and it was from one of these that all the best houses belonging to the Chinese were levelled with the ground in the Chinese rebellion of 1740.[137] These defences are scattered over all parts of Java, and the other islands of which the Dutch have got possession in these seas. Of one of these singular forts, or fortified houses, we should have procured a drawing, if our gentlemen had not been confined by sickness almost all the time they were upon the island.
[Footnote 137: One of the most shocking transactions ever recorded, is here alluded to. It has been often described, for it horrified all Europe, and excited most general disgust at the very name of Dutchmen. They, however, endeavoured to make the affair look as decent as possible, and when forced to abandon every other claim to favourable interpretation, used at last the tyrant's plea, necessity. Rebellion must be punished, it is admitted; a thousand reasons are in readiness to justify the punishment of it. But, alas! in this case many hundreds were punished who had never been in rebellion, never thought of it, never knew it, were incapable of it. The vengeful spirit of their "High Mightinesses" in Batavia, was glutted to the throat. Butchery could not do her work more thoroughly. Not a drop of blood was left in Chinese veins to circulate disaffection, or boil in the agony of despairing hate. Extermination smiled in the gloom of Death,--merciful in this at least, that she suffered not a heart to remain to curse her triumph. See Modern Universal History, vol. xiv. ch. 7. Our limits will not permit the dreadful recital.--E.]
If the Dutch fortifications here are not formidable in themselves, they become so by their situation; for they are among morasses where the roads, which are nothing more than a bank thrown up between a canal and a ditch, may easily be destroyed, and consequently the approach of heavy artillery either totally prevented or greatly retarded: For it would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, to transport them in boats, as they all muster every night under the guns of the castle, a situation from which it would be impossible for an enemy to take them. Besides, in this country, delay is death; so that whatever retards an enemy, will destroy him. In less than a week we were sensible of the unhealthiness of the climate; and in less than a month half the ship's company were unable to do their duty. We were told, that of a hundred soldiers who arrive here from Europe, it was a rare thing for fifty to survive the first year; that of those fifty, half would then be in the hospital, and not ten of the rest in perfect health: Possibly this account may be exaggerated; but the pale and feeble wretches whom we saw crawling about with a musket, which they were scarcely able to carry, inclined us to believe that it was true.[138] Every white inhabitant of the town indeed is a soldier; the younger are constantly mustered, and those who have served five years are liable to be called out when their assistance is thought to be necessary; but as neither of them are ever exercised, or do any kind of duty, much cannot be expected from them. The Portuguese, indeed, are in general good marksmen, because they employ themselves much in shooting wild-hogs and deer: Neither the Mardykers nor the Chinese know the use of fire-arms; but as they are said to be brave, they might do much execution with their own weapons, swords, lances, and daggers. The Mardykers are Indians of all nations, who are descended from free ancestors, or have themselves been made free.
[Footnote 138: Mr Barrow does not give a more favourable report. According to him, no less than three out of five of the new settlers at this place die in the first year of their residence; and he learned from the registers of the military hospital, that though the establishment of troops never exceeded 1500 men, and sometimes was not half this number, yet during sixty-two years the annual deaths amounted to 1258! Of those Europeans who have in some degree got accustomed to the place, he says that rather more than ten in a hundred die yearly; and that scarcely any live beyond the middle stage of life. The natives, as might be expected, suffer less, but even they are exposed to frequent visits of the old enemy. In Mr B.'s opinion, the climate is not so injurious as the circumstances of the situation, and the pernicious, though convenient, prevalency of canals, aided, he admits, by the bad habits of the people.--E.]
But if it is difficult to attack Batavia by land, it is utterly impossible to attack it by sea: For the water is so shallow, that it will scarcely admit a long-boat to come within cannon-shot of the walls, except in a narrow channel, called the river, that is walled on both sides by strong piers, and runs about half a mile into the harbour. At the other end, it terminates under the fire of the strongest part of the castle; and here its communication with the canals that intersect the town is cut off by a large wooden boom, which is shut every night at six o'clock, and upon no pretence opened till the next morning.[139] The harbour of Batavia is accounted the finest in India, and, to all appearance, with good reason; it is large enough to contain any number of ships, and the ground is so good that one anchor will hold till the cable decays: It never admits any sea that is troublesome, and its only inconvenience is the shoal water between the road and the river. When the sea-breeze blows fresh, it makes a cockling sea that is dangerous to boats: Our long-boat once struck two or three times as she was attempting to come out, and regained the river's mouth with some difficulty. A Dutch boat, laden with sails and rigging for one of the Indiamen, was entirely lost.
[Footnote 139: The reader need not be reminded of the facility with which Batavia was lately taken by our gallant countrymen. The accounts of that successful expedition may be advantageously compared with what is here given. This, however, they must do who are interested in the subject. The introduction of it here would be very irrelevant--E.]
Round the harbour, on the outside, lie many islands, which the Dutch have taken possession of, and apply to different uses.[140] To one of them, called Edam, they transport all Europeans who have been guilty of crimes that are not worthy of death: Some are sentenced to remain there ninety-nine years, some forty, some twenty, some less, down to five, in proportion to their offence; and during their banishment, they are employed as slaves in making ropes, and other drudgery.[141] In another island, called Purmerent, they have an hospital, where people are said to recover much faster than at Batavia.[142] In a third, called Kuyper, they have warehouses belonging to the Company, chiefly for rice, and other merchandise of small value; and here the foreign ships, that are to be laid down at Onrnst, another of these islands, which with Kuyper has been mentioned before, discharge their cargoes at wharfs which are very convenient for the purpose.[143] Here the guns, sails, and other stores of the Falmouth, a man-of-war which was condemned at this place when she was returning from Manilla, were deposited, and the ship herself remained in the harbour, with only the warrant officers on board, for many years. Remittances were regularly made them from home; but no notice was ever taken of the many memorials they sent, desiring to be recalled. Happily for them, the Dutch thought fit, about six months before our arrival, to sell the vessel and all her stores, by public auction, and send the officers home in their own ships. At Onrust, they repair all their own shipping, and keep a large quantity of naval stores.
[Footnote 140: There are fifteen islands in all, but only four of them are used by the Company; and of these, Onrust is the chief. This is about three leagues north-west from the city, and is fortified, as commanding the channel. It is very small, but there are several warehouses and other buildings on it.--E.]
[Footnote 141: Edam is three leagues north-north-east from the city. It abounds in wood, and is remarkable for a large tree of the fig kind, which is an object of high veneration among the superstitious Javanese.--E.]
[Footnote 142: Purmerent is to the eastward of Onrust, and is half as large again as that island. It is planted with trees. The hospital on it is maintained by the voluntary alms of both the natives and Europeans.--E.]
[Footnote 143: Kuyper, or Cooper's Isle, is considerably less than Onrust, and lies very near it. Several large tamarind trees yield it an agreeable shade. It has two pier-heads at its south side, where ships take in and discharge their freight.--E.]
The country round Batavia is for some miles a continued range of country houses and gardens. Many of the gardens are very large, and by some strange fatality, all are planted with trees almost as thick as they can stand; so that the country derives no advantage from its being cleared of the wood that originally covered it, except the fruit of that which has been planted in its room. These impenetrable forests stand in a dead flat, which extends some miles beyond them, and is intersected in many directions by rivers, and more still by canals, which are navigable for small vessels. Nor is this the worst, for the fence of every field and garden is a ditch; and interspersed among the cultivated ground there are many filthy fens, bogs, and morasses, as well fresh as salt.
It is not strange that the inhabitants of such a country should be familiar with disease and death: Preventative medicines are taken almost as regularly as food; and every body expects the returns of sickness, as we do the seasons of the year. We did not see a single face in Batavia that indicated perfect health, for there is not the least tint of colour in the cheeks either of man or woman: The women indeed are toast delicately fair; but with the appearance of disease there never can be perfect beauty. People talk of death with as much indifference as they do in a camp; and when an acquaintance is said to be dead, the common reply is, "Well, he owed me nothing;" or, "I must get my money of his executors."[144]
[Footnote 144: Those parts of the city are said to be most healthy which are farthest off from the sea; and the reason given for the difference is, that a great deal of mud, filth, blubber, &c. is thrown up by the tide close to the other parts, and soon putrifying from the extreme beat, adds materially to the influence of the generally operating nuisances. But it seems pretty plain that the difference can be but small, as the contaminated air must rapidly defuse itself throughout the neighbourhood. Admitting it, however, to be appreciable, the inference is very obvious as to what ought to be done for the bettering of Batavia, considered as a receptacle of human beings, and not as a putrid ditch from which gold is to be raked at the certain expense of life.--E.]
To this description of the environs of Batavia there are but two exceptions. The governor's country house is situated upon a rising ground; but its ascent is so inconsiderable, that it is known to be above the common level only by the canals being left behind, and the appearance of a few bad hedges: His excellency, however, who is a native of this place, has, with some trouble and expence, contrived to inclose his own garden with a ditch; such is the influence of habit both upon the taste and the understanding. A famous market also, called Passar Tanabank, is held upon an eminency that rises perpendicularly about thirty feet above the plain; and except these situations, the ground, for an extent of between thirty and forty miles round Batavia, is exactly parallel to the horizon. At the distance of about forty miles inland, there are hills of a considerable height, where, as we were informed, the air is healthy, and comparatively cool. Here the vegetables of Europe flourish in great perfection, particularly strawberries, which, can but ill bear heat, and the inhabitants are vigorous and ruddy. Upon these hills some of the principal people have country houses, which they visit once a-year; and one was begun for the governor, upon the plan of Blenheim, the famous seat of the Duke of Marlborough in Oxfordshire, but it has never been finished. To these hills also people are sent by the physicians for the recovery of their health, and the effects of the air are said to be almost miraculous: The patient grows well in a short time, but constantly relapses soon after his return to Batavia.[145]
[Footnote 145: On approaching the mountains towards the southern parts of the island, the heat of the air gradually diminishes, till at last, especially in the morning and evening, it is absolutely cold, and cannot be endured without the aid of such clothing as is used in winter in other countries. How materially the proper use of such a change of climate may operate to the restoration of health, can be easily imagined by any one who has felt the different effects of deleterious heat and invigorating cold. The island of Jamaica presents something very similar to what is now related of the different climates in the vicinity of Batavia.--E.]
But the same situation and circumstances which render Batavia and the country round it unwholesome, render it the best gardener's ground in the world. The soil is fruitful beyond imagination, and the conveniences and luxuries of life that it produces are almost without number.
Rice, which is well known to be the corn of these countries, and to serve the inhabitants instead of bread, grows in great plenty; and I must here observe, that in the hilly parts of Java, and in many of the eastern islands, a species of this grain is planted, which in the western parts of India is entirely unknown. It is called by the natives Paddy Gunung, or Mountain Rice: This, contrary to the other sort, which must be under water three parts in four of the time of its growth, is planted upon the sides of hills where no water but rain can come: It is however planted at the beginning of the rainy season, and reaped in the beginning of the dry. How far this kind of rice might be useful in our West-Indian islands, where no bread corn is grown, it may perhaps be worth while to enquire.[146]
[Footnote 146: The island of Java produces rice, which is the principal food of millions, in such quantities, as to have obtained the title of the granary of the East. Nearly three thousand cwt., it is said, were furnished by it in the year 1767, for the use of Batavia, Ceylon, and Banda. It is sown in low ground generally, and after it has got a little above the ground, is transplanted in small bundles, in rows, each bundle having about six plants. The waters of the rivulets, &c. are then allowed to flow on it till the stalk has attained due strength, when the land is drained. When ripe, the fields of rice have an appearance like wheat and barley. It is cut down by a small knife, about a foot under the ear. In place of being threshed, the seed is separated from the husk by stamping with wooden blocks.--E.]
Indian corn, or maize, is also produced here, which the inhabitants gather when young, and toast in the ear. Here is also a great variety of kidney-beans, and lentiles which they call Cadjang, and which make a considerable part of the food of the common people; besides millet, yams both wet and dry, sweet potatoes, and European potatoes, which are very good, but not cultivated in great plenty. In the gardens, there are cabbages, lettuces, cucumbers, radishes, the white radishes of China, which boil almost as well as a turnip; carrots, parsley, celery, pigeon peas, the egg plant, which, broiled and eaten with pepper and salt, is very delicious; a kind of greens resembling spinnage; onions, very small, but excellent; and asparagus: Besides some European plants of a strong smell, particularly sage, hysop, and rue. Sugar is also produced here in immense quantities; very great crops of the finest and largest canes that can be imagined are produced with very little care, and yield a much larger proportion of sugar than the canes in the West Indies. White sugar is sold here at two-pence half-penny a pound; and the molasses makes the arrack, of which, as of rum, it is the chief ingredient; a small quantity of rice, and some cocoa-nut wine, being added, chiefly, I suppose, to give it flavour. A small quantity of indigo is also produced here, not as an article of trade, but merely for home consumption.[147]
[Footnote 147: Pepper, sugar, and coffee, are produced in very considerable quantities, especially the first, which has been reckoned one of the chief commodities of the place. As to sugar, one may have some notion of the quantity yielded, by a circumstance noticed by Stavorinus in his account. He says that thirteen millions of pounds were manufactured, in 1765, in the province of Jaccatra alone. Much of it used to be sent to the west of India, and a considerable part found its way to Europe before the derangement, or rather annihilation of the Dutch trade, by the effects of the revolutionary wars.--E.]
But the most abundant article of vegetable luxury here, is the fruit; of which there is no less than six-and-thirty different kinds, and I shall give a very brief account of each.
1. The pine-apple; Bromelia Ananas. This fruit, which is here called Nanas, grows very large, and in such plenty that they may sometimes be bought at the first hand for a farthing a-piece; and at the common fruit-shops we got three of them for two-pence half-penny. They are very juicy and well flavoured; but we all agreed that we had eaten as good from a hot-house in England: They are however so luxuriant in their growth that most of them have two or three crowns, and a great number of suckers from the bottom of the fruit; of these Mr Banks once counted nine, and they are so forward that very often while they still adhered to the parent plant they shot out their fruit, which, by the time the large one became ripe, were of no inconsiderable size. We several times saw three upon one apple, and were told that a plant once produced a cluster of nine, besides the principal: This indeed was considered as so great a curiosity, that it was preserved in sugar, and sent to the Prince of Orange.
2. Sweet oranges. These are very good, but while we were here, sold for six-pence a piece.
3. Pumplemoeses, which in the West Indies are called Shaddocks. These were well flavoured, but not juicy; their want of juice, however, was an accidental effect of the season.
4. Lemons. These were very scarce; but the want of them was amply compensated by the plenty of limes.
5. Limes. These were excellent, and to be bought at about twelve-pence a hundred. We saw only two or three Seville oranges, which were almost all rind; and there are many sorts, both of oranges and lemons, which I shall not particularly mention, because they are neither esteemed by Europeans nor the natives themselves.
6. Mangos. This fruit during our stay was so infested with maggots, which bred in the inside of them, that scarcely one in three was eatable; and the best of them were much inferior to those of Brazil: They are generally compared by Europeans to a melting peach, which indeed they resemble in softness and sweetness, but certainly fall much short in flavour. The climate here, we were told, is too hot and damp for them; but there are as many sorts of them as there are of apples in England, and some are much superior to others. One sort, which is called Mangha Cowani, has so strong a smell that a European can scarcely bear one in the room. These, however, the natives are fond of. The three sorts which are generally preferred, are the Mangha Doodool, the Mangha Santock, and the Mangha Gure.
7. Bananas. Of these also there are innumerable sorts, but three only are good; the Pissang Mas, the Pissang Radja, and the Pissang Ambou: All these have a pleasant vinous taste, and the rest are useful in different ways; some are fried in batter, and others are boiled and eaten as bread. There is one which deserves the particular notice of the botanist, because, contrary to the nature of its tribe, it is full of seeds, and is therefore called Pissang Batu, or Pissang Bidjie; it his however no excellence to recommend it to the taste, but the Malays use it as a remedy for the flux.
8. Grapes. These are not in great perfection, but they are very dear; for we could not buy a moderate bunch for less than a shilling or eighteen-pence.
9. Tamarinds. These are in great plenty, and very cheap: The people, however, do not put them up in the manner practised by the West Indians, but cure them with salt, by which means they become a black mass, so disagreeable to the sight and taste, that few Europeans chuse to meddle with them.
10. Water melons. These are in great plenty, and very good.
11. Pumpkins. These are beyond comparison the most useful fruit that can be carried to sea; for they will keep without any care several months, and with sugar and lemon-juice, make a pye that can scarcely be distinguished from one made of the best of apples; and with pepper and salt, they are a substitute for turnips, not to be despised.
12 Papaws. This fruit when it is ripe is full of seeds, and almost without flavour; but if when it is green it is pared, and the core taken out, it is better than the best turnip.
13. Guava. This fruit is much commended by the inhabitants of our islands in the West Indies, who probably have a better sort than we met with here, where the smell of them was so disagreeably strong that it made some of us sick; those who tasted them said, that the flavour was equally rank.
14. Sweet sop. The Annona Squammosa of Linnæus. This is also a West-Indian fruit: It consists only of a mass of large kernels, from which a small proportion of pulp may be sucked, which is very sweet, but has little flavour.
15. Custard apple. The Annona Reticulata of Linnæus. The quality of this fruit is well expressed by its English name, which it acquired in the West Indies; for it is as like a custard, and a good one too, as can be imagined.
16. The cashew apple. This is seldom eaten on account of its astringency. The nut that grows upon the top of it is well known in Europe.
17. The cocoa-nut. This is also well known in Europe: There are several sorts, but the best of those we found here is called Calappi Edjou, and is easily known by the redness of the flesh between the skin and the shell.
18. Mangostan. The Garcinia Mangostana of Linnæus. This fruit, which is peculiar to the East Indies, is about the size of the crab apple, and of a deep red-wine colour: On the top of it is the figure of five or six small triangles joined in a circle, and at the bottom several hollow green leaves, which are remains of the blossom. When they are to be eaten, the skin, or rather flesh, must be taken off, under which are found six or seven white kernels, placed in a circular order, and the pulp with which these are enveloped, is the fruit, than which nothing can be more delicious: It is a happy mixture of the tart and the sweet, which is no less wholesome than pleasant; and with the sweet orange, this fruit is allowed in any quantity to those who are afflicted with fevers, either of the putrid or inflammatory kind.
19. The jamboo. The Eugenia Mallaccensis of Linnæus. This fruit is of a deep red colour, and an oval shape; the largest, which are always the best, are not bigger than a small apple; they are pleasant and cooling, though they have not much flavour.
20. The jambu-eyer. A species of the Eugenia of Linnæus. Of this fruit there are two sorts of a similar shape, resembling a bell, but differing in colour; one being red, the other white. They somewhat exceed a large cherry in size, and in taste have neither flavour nor even sweetness, containing nothing but a watery juice, slightly acidulated; yet their coolness recommends them in this hot country.
21. Jambu-eyer mauwar. The Eugenia Jambos of Linnæus. This is more grateful to the smell than the taste: In taste it resembles the conserve of roses, and in smell the fresh scent of those flowers.
22. The pomegranate. This is the same fruit that is known by the same name all over Europe.
23. Durion. A fruit that in shape resembles a small melon, but the skin is covered with sharp conical spines, whence its name; for dure, in the Malay language, signifies prickle. When it is ripe, it divides longitudinally into seven or eight compartments, each of which contains six or seven nuts, not quite so large as chesnuts, which are covered with a substance that in colour and consistence very much resembles thick cream: This is the part that is eaten, and the natives are fond of it to excess. To Europeans it is generally disagreeable at first; for in taste it somewhat resembles a mixture of cream, sugar, and onions; and in the smell, the onions predominate.
24. Nanca. This fruit, which in some parts of India is called Jakes, has, like the Durion, a smell very disagreeable to strangers, and somewhat resembling that of mellow apples mixed with garlic: The flavour is not more adapted to the general taste. In some countries that are favourable to it, it is said to grow to an immense size. Rumphius relates, that it is sometimes so large that a man cannot easily lift it; and we were told by a Malay, that at Madura it is sometimes so large as not to be carried but by the united efforts of two men. At Batavia, however, they never exceed the size of a large melon, which in shape they very much resemble: They are covered with angular prickles, like the shootings of some crystals, which however are not hard enough to wound those who handle them.
25. Champada. This differs from the Nanca in little except size, it not being so big. .
26. Rambutan. This is a fruit little known to Europeans. In appearance it very much resembles a chesnut with the husk on, and like that, is covered with small points, which are soft, and of a deep red colour: Under this skin is the fruit, and within the fruit a stone; the eatable part thereof is small in quantity, but its acid is perhaps more agreeable than any other in the whole vegetable kingdom.
27. Jambolan. This, in size and appearance, is not unlike a damascene; but in taste is still more astringent, and therefore less agreeable.
28. The Boa Bidarra, or Rhamnus Jujuba of Linnæus. This is a round yellow fruit, about the size of a gooseberry; its flavour is like that of an apple, but it has the astringency of a crab.
29. Nam nam. The Cynometra Cauliflora of Linnæus. This fruit in shape somewhat resembles a kidney; it is about three inches long, and the outside is very rough: It is seldom eaten raw, but fried with batter it makes a good fritter.
30, 31. The Catappa, or Terminalia Catappa; and the Canare, the Canarium Commune of Linnæus, are both nuts, with kernels somewhat resembling an almond; but the difficulty of breaking the shell is so great, that they are no where publicly sold. Those which we tasted were gathered for curiosity by Mr Banks from the tree upon which they grew.
32. The Madja, or Limoni of Linnæus, contains, under a hard brittle shell, a lightly acid pulp, which cannot be eaten without sugar; and with it, is not generally thought pleasant.
33. Suntul. The Trichilia of Linnæus. This is the worst of all the fruits that I shall particularly mention: In size and shape it resembles the Madja, and within a thick skin contains kernels like those of the Mangostan, the taste of which is both acid and astringent, and so disagreeable, that we were surprised to see it exposed upon the fruit-stalls.
34, 35, 36. The Blimbing, or Averrhoa Belimbi; the Blimbing Besse, or Averrhoa Carambola; and the Cherrema, or Averrhoa Acida of Linnæus, are three species of one genus; and though they differ in shape, are nearly of the same taste. The Blimbing Besse is the sweetest: the other two are so austerely acid, that they cannot be used without dressing; they make, however, excellent pickles and sour sauce.
37. The Salack, or Calamus Rotang Zalacca of Linnæus. This is the fruit of a prickly bush; it is about as big as a walnut, and covered with scales, like those of a lizard: Below the scales are two or three yellow kernels, in flavour somewhat resembling a strawberry.
Besides these, the island of Java, and particularly the country round Batavia, produces many kinds of fruit which were not in season during our stay: We were also told that apples, strawberries, and many other fruits from Europe, had been planted up in the mountains, and flourished there in great luxuriance. We saw several fruits preserved in sugar, that we did not see recent from the tree, one of which is called Kimkit, and another Boa Atap: And here are several others which are eaten only by the natives, particularly the Kellor, the Guilindina, the Moringa, and the Soccum. The Soccum is of the same kind with the breadfruit in the South-Sea islands, but so much inferior, that if it had not been for the similitude in the outward appearance both of the fruit and the tree, we should not have referred it to that class. These and some others do not merit to be particularly mentioned.
The quantity of fruit that is consumed at Batavia is incredible; but that which is publicly exposed to sale is generally over-ripe. A stranger, however, may get good fruit in a street called Passar Pissang, which lies north from the great church, and very near it. This street is inhabited by none but Chinese fruit-sellers, who are supplied from the gardens of gentlemen in the neighbourhood of the town with such as is fresh, and excellent in its kind, for which, however, they must be paid more than four times the market price.
The town in general is supplied from a considerable distance, where great quantities of land are cultivated merely for the production of fruit. The country people, to whom these lands belong, meet the people of the town at two great markets; one on Monday, called Passar Sineeu, and the other on Saturday, called Passar Tanabank. These fairs are held at places considerably distant from each other, for the convenience of different districts; neither of them, however, are more than five miles distant from Batavia. At these fairs, the best fruit may be bought at the cheapest rate, and the sight of them to a European is very entertaining. The quantity of fruit is astonishing; forty or fifty cart-loads of the finest pine-apples, packed as carelessly as turnips in England, are common, and other fruit in the same profusion. The days, however, on which these markets are held are ill contrived; the time between Saturday and Monday is too short, and that between Monday and Saturday too long: Great part of what is bought on Monday is always much the worse for keeping before a new stock can be bought, either by the retailer or consumer; so that for several days in every week there is no good fruit in the hands of any people but the Chinese in Passar Pissang.
The inhabitants of this part of India practise a luxury which seems to be but little attended to in other countries; they are continually burning aromatic woods and resins, and scatter odours round them in a profusion of flowers, possibly as an antidote to the noisome effluvia of their ditches and canals. Of sweet-smelling flowers they have a great variety, altogether unknown in Europe, the chief of which I shall briefly describe.
1. The Champacka, or Michelia Champacca. This grows upon a tree as large as an apple-tree, and consists of fifteen long narrow petala, which give it the appearance of being double, though in reality it is not so: Its colour is yellow, and much deeper than that of a jonquil, to which it has some resemblance in smell.
2. The Cananga, or Uvaria Cananga, is a green flower, not at all resembling the blossom of any tree or plant in Europe: It has indeed more the appearance of a bunch of leaves than a flower; its scent is agreeable, but altogether peculiar to itself.
3. The Mulatti, or Nyctanthes Sambac. This is well known in English hot-houses by the name of Arabian jessamine: It grows here in the greatest profusion, and its fragrance, like that of all other Indian flowers, though exquisitely pleasing, has not that overpowering strength which distinguishes some of the same sorts in Europe.
4, 5. The Combang Caracnassi, and Combang Tonquin, Percularia Glabro. These are small flowers, of the dog's-bane kind, very much resembling each other in shape and smell, highly fragrant, but very different from every product of an English garden.
6. The Bonga Tanjong, or Mimusops Elengi of Linnaeus. This flower is shaped like a star of seven or eight rays, and is about half an inch in diameter: It is of a yellowish colour, and has an agreeable smell. Besides these, there is the Sundal Malam, or Polianthes Tuberosa. This flower, being the same with our own tuberose, can have no place among those that are unknown in Europe; but I mention it for its Malay name, which signifies "Intriguer of the night," and is not inelegantly conceived. The heat of this climate is so great, that few flowers exhale their sweets in the day; and this in particular, from its total want of scent at that time, and the modesty of its colour, which is white, seems negligent of attracting admirers, but as soon as night comes on, it diffuses its fragrance, and at once compels the attention, and excites the complacency, of all who approach it.
These are all sold about the streets every evening at sunset, either strung upon a thread, in wreaths of about two feet long, or made up into nosegays of different forms, either of which may be purchased for about a half-penny. Besides these, there are, in private gardens, many other sweet flowers, which are not produced in a sufficient quantity to be brought to market. With a mixture of these flowers, and the leaves of a plant called Pandang, cut into small pieces, persons of both sexes fill their hair and their clothes, and with the same mixture indulge a much higher luxury by strewing it on their beds; so that the chamber in which they sleep breathes the richest and purest of all odours, unallayed by the fumes which cannot but arise where the sleeper lies under two or three blankets and a quilt, for the bed covering here is nothing more than a single piece of fine chintz.
Before I close my account of the vegetable productions of this part of India, I must take some notice of the spices. Java originally produced none but pepper. This is now sent from hence into Europe to a great value, but the quantity consumed here is very small: The inhabitants use Capsicum, or, as it is called in Europe, Cayan pepper, almost universally in its stead. Cloves and nutmegs, having been monopolized by the Dutch, are become too dear to be plentifully used by the other inhabitants of this country, who are very fond of them. Cloves, although they are said originally to have been the produce of Machian, or Bachian, a small island far to the eastward, and only fifteen miles to the northward of the line, and to have been from thence disseminated by the Dutch, at their first coming into these parts, over all the eastern islands, are now confined to Amboina, and the small isles that lie in its neighbourhood; the Dutch having, by different treaties of peace between them and the conquered kings of all the other islands, stipulated, that they should have only a certain number of trees in their dominions; and in future quarrels, as a punishment for disobedience and rebellion, lessened the quantity, till at last they left them no claim to any. Nutmegs have in a manner been extirpated in all the islands except their first native soil, Banda, which easily supplies every nation upon earth, and would as easily supply every nation in another globe of the same dimensions, if there was any such to which the industrious Hollander could transport the commodity: It is, however, certain, that there are a few trees of this spice upon the coast of New Guinea. There may perhaps be both cloves and nutmegs upon other islands to the eastward; for those, neither the Dutch, nor any other European, seem to think it worth while to examine.
The principal tame quadrupeds of this country, are horses, cattle, buffaloes, sheep, goats, and hogs The horses are small, never exceeding in size what we call a stout galloway, but they are nimble and spirited, and are reported to have been found here when the Europeans first came round the Cape of Good Hope. The horned cattle are said to be the same species as those in Europe, but they differ so much in appearance, that we were inclined to doubt it: They have indeed the palearia or dewlap, which naturalists make the distinguishing characteristic of the European species, but they certainly are found wild, not only in Java, but several of the eastern islands. The flesh of those that we eat at Batavia, had a finer grain than European beef, but it was less juicy, and miserably lean. Buffaloes are plenty, but the Dutch never eat them, nor will they drink their milk, being prepossessed with a notion that both are unwholesome, and tend to produce fevers; though the natives and Chinese eat both, without any injury to their health. The sheep are of the kind which have long ears that hang down, and hair instead of wool: The flesh of these is hard and tough, and in every respect the worst mutton we ever saw. We found here, however, a few Cape sheep, which are excellent, but so dear that we gave five-and-forty shillings a-piece for four of them, the heaviest of which weighed only five-and-forty pounds. The goats are not better than the sheep; but the hogs, especially the Chinese breed, are incomparable, and so fat, that the purchaser agrees for the lean separately. The butcher, who is always a Chinese, without the least scruple cuts off as much of the fat as he is desired, and afterwards sells it to his countrymen, who melt it down, and eat it instead of butter with their rice: But notwithstanding the excellence of this pork, the Dutch are so strongly prejudiced in favour of every thing that comes from their native country, that they eat only of the Dutch breed, which are here sold as much dearer than the Chinese, as the Chinese are sold dearer than the Dutch in Europe.
Besides these animals, which are tame, they have dogs and cats, and there are among the distant mountains some wild horses and cattle: Buffaloes are not found wild in any part of Java, though they abound in Macassar, and several other eastern islands. The neighbourhood of Batavia, however, is plentifully supplied with two kinds of deer, and wild hogs, which are sold at a reasonable price by the Portuguese, who shoot them, and are very good food.
Among the mountains, and in the desert parts of the island, there are tigers, it is said, in great abundance, and some rhinoceroses: In these parts also there are monkies, and there are a few of them even in the neighbourhood of Batavia.
Of fish, here is an amazing plenty; many sorts are excellent, and all are very cheap, except the few that are scarce. It happens here, as in other places, that vanity gets the better even of appetite: The cheap fish, most of which is of the best kind, is the food only of slaves, and that which is dear, only because it is scarce, and very much inferior in every respect, is placed upon the tables of the rich. A. sensible house-keeper once spoke to us freely upon the subject. "I know," said he, "as well as you, that I could purchase a better dish of fish for a shilling, than what now costs me ten; but if I should make so good a use of my money, I should here be as much despised, as you would be in Europe, if you were to cover your table with offals, fit only for beggars, or dogs."
Turtle is also found here, but it is neither so sweet nor so fat as the West-Indian turtle, even in London; such as it is, however, we should consider it as a dainty; but the Dutch, among other singularities, do not eat it. We saw some lizards, or Iguanas, here of a very large size; we were told that some were as thick as a man's thigh, and Mr Banks shot one that was five feet long: The flesh of this animal proved to be very good food.
Poultry is very good here, and in great plenty: Fowls of a very large size, ducks, and geese, are very cheap; pigeons are dear, and the price of turkies extravagant. We sometimes found the flesh of these animals lean and dry, but this was merely the effect of their being ill fed, for those that we fed ourselves were as good as any of the same kind that we had tasted in Europe, and we sometimes thought them even better.
Wild fowl in general is scarce. We once saw a wild duck in the fields, but never any that were to be sold. We frequently saw snipes of two kinds, one of them exactly the same as that in Europe; and a kind of thrush was always to be had in great plenty of the Portuguese, who, for I know not what reason, seem to have monopolized the wild fowl and game. Of snipes, it is remarkable, that they are found in more parts of the world than any other bird, being common almost all over Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.
With respect to drink, Nature has not been quite so liberal to the inhabitants of Java as to some whom she has placed in the less fruitful regions of the north. The native Javanese, and most of the other Indians who inhabit this island, are indeed Mahometans, and therefore have no reason to regret the want of wine; but, as if the prohibition of their law respected only the manner of becoming drunk, and not drunkenness itself, they chew opium, to the total subversion not only of their understanding, but their health.[148]
[Footnote 148: Besides opium, both betel and a sort of tobacco is much used by most people at Batavia. A lady scarcely ever goes out unattended by a slave, who carries her betel box, to which she very frequently has recourse. The constant use of this substance has a very unpleasant (i. e. according to European opinion) effect on the teeth, rendering them quite black! This, however, is not thought any disparagement of their beauty, and it is believed that the toothache is prevented by the practice of chewing. A few additional remarks on this subject are given in the following section.--E.]
The arrack that is made here, is too well known to need a description: Besides which, the palm yields a wine of the same kind with that which has already been described in the account of the island of Savu: It is procured from the same tree, in the same manner, and is sold in three states. The first, in which it is called Tuac manise, differs little from that in which it comes from the tree; yet even this has received some preparation altogether unknown to us, in consequence of which it will keep eight-and-forty hours, though otherwise it would spoil in twelve: In this state it has an agreeable sweetness, and will not intoxicate. In the other two states it has undergone a fermentation, and received an infusion of certain herbs and roots, by which it loses its sweetness, and acquires a taste very austere and disagreeable. In one of these states it's called Tuac cras, and in the other Tuac cuning, but the specific difference I do not know; in both, however, it intoxicates very powerfully. A liquor called Tuac is also made from the cocoa-nut tree, but this is used chiefly to put into the arrack, for in that which is good it is an essential ingredient.
SECTION XXXIX.
Some Account of the Inhabitants of Batavia, and the adjacent Country, their Manners, Customs, and Manner of Life.
The town of Batavia, although, as I have already observed, it is the capital of the Dutch dominions in India, is so far from being peopled with Dutchmen, that not one-fifth part, even of the European inhabitants of the town, and its environs, are natives of Holland, or of Dutch extraction: The greater part are Portuguese, and besides Europeans, there are Indians of various nations, and Chinese, besides a great number of negro slaves.[149] In the troops, there are natives of almost every country in Europe, but the Germans are more than all the rest put together; there are some English and French, but the Dutch, though other Europeans are permitted to get money here, keep all the power in their own hands, and consequently possess all public employments. No man, of whatever nation, can come hither to settle, in any other character than that of a soldier in the Company's service, in which, before they are accepted, they must covenant to remain five years. As soon, however, as this form has been complied with, they are allowed, upon application to the council, to absent themselves from their corps, and enter immediately into any branch of trade which their money or credit will enable them to carry on; and by this means it is that all the white inhabitants of the place are soldiers.
[Footnote 149: Mr Barrow estimates the population of Batavia, and the adjacent villages, at 116,000, of which only about 8000 are Europeans; the slaves are supposed 17,000, the Chinese 22,000, and the remainder consists of free Javanese or Malays. The streets of Batavia, he says, present a greater variety of races than are almost any where else to be found together. Among these, however, as is to be expected, the Dutchman is by much the most consequential, when he condescends, which is not frequent, to appear amongst the lower species. Mr B.'s description of this important being may amuse the reader. "The Dutchman, whose predominant vice in Europe is avarice, rising into affluence in an unhealthy foreign settlement, almost invariably changes this part of his character, and, with a thorough contempt of the frugal maxim of Molier's L'Avare, lives to eat, rather than eats to live. His motto is, 'Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.' He observes, it is true, the old maxim of rising at an early hour in the morning, not however for the sake of enjoying the cool breeze, and of taking moderate exercise, but rather to begin the day's career of eating and drinking. His first essay is usually a sopie, or glass of gin to which succeed a cup of coffee and a pipe. His stomach thus fortified, he lounges about the great hall of the house, or the viranda, if in the country, with a loose night-gown, carelessly thrown over his shoulders, a night-cap and slippers, till about eight o'clock, which is the usual hour of breakfast. This is generally a solid meal of dried meat, fish, and poultry, made into curries, eggs, rice, strong beer, and spirits. Currie and rice is a standing dish at all meals, and at all seasons of the year, being considered as an excellent stimulus to the stomach. The business of the day occupies little more than a couple of hours, from ten to twelve, when he again sits down to dinner, a meal that is somewhat more solid than the breakfast. From table he retires to sleep, and remains invisible till about five in the evening, when he rises and prepares for a ride or a walk, from which he uniformly returns to a smoking-hot supper." So much for the portly Dutchman at Batavia,--a sort of animal not unsuccessfully emulated, as to substantials, by a certain genus in some islands of the West Indies!-E.]--E.]
Women, however, of all nations, are permitted to settle here, without coming under any restrictions; yet we were told that there were not, when we arrived at Batavia, twenty women in the place that were born in Europe, but that the white women, who were by no means scarce, were descendants from European parents of the third or fourth generation, the gleanings of many families who had successively come hither, and in the male line become extinct; for it is certain that, whatever be the cause, this climate is not so fatal to the ladies as to the other sex.
These women imitate the Indians in every particular; their dress is made of the same materials, their hair is worn in the same manner, and they are equally enslaved by the habit of chewing betel.
The merchants carry on their business here with less trouble perhaps than in any other part of the world: Every manufacture is managed by the Chinese, who sell the produce of their labour to the merchant resident here, for they are permitted to sell it to no one else; so that when a ship comes in, and bespeaks perhaps a hundred leagers of arrack, or any quantity of other commodities, the merchant has nothing to do but to send orders to his Chinese to see them delivered on board: He obeys the command, brings a receipt, signed by the master of the ship, for the goods to his employer, who receives the money, and having deducted his profit, pays the Chinese his demand. With goods that are imported, however, the merchant has a little more trouble, for these he must examine, receive, and lay up in his warehouse, according to the practice of other countries.
The Portuguese are called by the natives Oranserrne, or Nazareen men (Oran, being Man in the language of the country,) to distinguish them from other Europeans; yet they are included in the general appellation of Caper, or Cafir, an opprobrious term, applied by Mahometans to all who do not profess their faith. These people, however, are Portuguese only in name; they have renounced the religion of Rome, and become Lutherans: Neither have they the least communication with the country of their forefathers, or even knowledge of it: They speak indeed a corrupt dialect of the Portuguese language, but much more frequently use the Malay: They are never suffered to employ themselves in any but mean occupations: Many of them live by hunting, many by washing linen, and some are handicraftsmen and artificers. They have adopted all the customs of the Indians, from whom they are distinguished chiefly by their features and complexion, their skin being considerably darker, and their noses more sharp; their dress is exactly the same, except in the manner of wearing their hair.
The Indians, who are mixed with the Dutch and Portuguese in the town of Batavia, and the country adjacent, are not, as might be supposed, Javanese, the original natives of the island, but natives of the various islands from which the Dutch import slaves, and are either such as have themselves been manumized, or the descendants of those who formerly received manumission; and they are all comprehended under the general name of Oranslam, or Isalam, signifying believers of the true faith. The natives of every country, however, in other respects, keep themselves distinct from the rest, and are not less strongly marked than the slaves by the vices or virtues of their respective nations. Many of these employ themselves in the cultivation of gardens, and in selling fruit and flowers. The betel and areca, which are here called siri and pinang, and chewed by both sexes and every rank in amazing quantities, are all grown by these Indians: Lime is also mixed with these roots here as it is in Savu, but it is less pernicious to the teeth, because it is first slaked, and, besides the lime, a substance called gambir, which is brought from the continent of India; the better sort of women also add cardamum, and many other aromatics, to give the breath an agreeable smell. Some of the Indians, however, are employed in fishing, and as lightermen, to carry goods from place to place by water; and some are rich, and live with much of the splendour of their country, which chiefly consists in the number of their slaves.
In the article of food, these Isalams are remarkably temperate: It consists chiefly of boiled rice, with a small portion of buffalo, fish, or fowl, and sometimes of dried fish, and dried shrimps, which are brought hither from China; every dish, however, is highly seasoned with Cayan pepper, and they have many kinds of pastry made of rice-flour, and other things to which I am a stranger; they eat also a great deal of fruit, particularly plantains.
But notwithstanding their general temperance their feasts are plentiful, and, according to their manner, magnificent. As they are Mahometans, wine and strong liquors professedly make no part of their entertainment, neither do they often indulge with them privately, contenting themselves with their betel and opium.
The principal solemnity among them is a wedding, upon which occasion both the families borrow as many ornaments of gold and silver as they can, to adorn the bride and bridegroom, so that their dresses are very showy and magnificent. The feasts that are given upon these occasions among the rich, last sometimes a fortnight, and sometimes longer; and during this time the man, although married on the first day, is, by the women, kept from his wife.
The language that is spoken among all these people, from what place soever they originally came, is the Malay; at least, it is a language so called, and probably it is a very corrupt dialect of that spoken at Malacca. Every little island, indeed, has a language of its own, and Java has two or three, but this lingua franca is the only language that is now spoken here, and, as I am told, it prevails over a great part of the East Indies. A dictionary of Malay and English was published in London by Thomas Bowrey, in the year 1701.[150]
[Footnote 150: What is here said of the Malay language cannot be implicitly relied on, information on the subject being exceedingly scanty at the time of the publication. Mr Marsden has lately favoured the world with both dictionary and grammar of the Malay, of which a very important account will be found in the Edinburgh Review for April 1814.--E.]
Their women wear as much hair as can grow upon the head, and to increase the quantity, they use oils, and other preparations of various kinds. Of this ornament Nature has been very liberal; it is universally black, and is formed into a kind of circular wreath upon the top of the head, where it is fastened with a bodkin, in a taste which we thought inexpressibly elegant: The wreath of hair is surrounded by another of flowers, in which the Arabian jessamine is beautifully intermixed with the golden stars of the bonger tanjong.
Both sexes constantly bathe themselves in the river at least once a-day, a practice which, in this hot country, is equally necessary both to personal delicacy and health. The teeth of these people also, whatever they may suffer in their colour by chewing betel, are an object of great attention: The ends of them, both in the upper and under jaw, are rubbed with a kind of whetstone, by a very troublesome and painful operation, till they are perfectly even and flat, so that they cannot lose less than half a line in their length. A deep groove is then made across the teeth of the upper jaw, parallel with the gums, and in the middle between them and the extremity of the teeth; the depth of this groove is at least equal to one-fourth of the thickness of the teeth, so that it penetrates far beyond what is called the enamel, the least injury to which, according to the dentists of Europe, is fatal; yet among these people, where the practice of thus wounding the enamel is universal, we never saw a rotten tooth; nor is the blackness a stain, but a covering, which may be washed off at pleasure, and the teeth, then appear as white as ivory, which, however, is not an excellence in the estimation of the belles and beaux of these nations.
These are the people among whom the practice that is called a mock, or running a muck, has prevailed for time immemorial. It is well known, that to run a muck, in the original sense of the word, is to get intoxicated with opium, and then rush into the street with a drawn weapon, and kill whoever comes in the way, till the party is himself either killed or taken prisoner; of this several instances happened while we were at Batavia, and one of the officers, whose business it is, among other things, to apprehend such people, told us, that there was scarcely a week in which he, or some of his brethren, were not called upon to take one of them into custody. In one of the instances that came to our knowledge, the party had been severely injured by the perfidy of women, and was mad with jealousy before he made himself drunk with opium; and we were told, that the Indian who runs a muck is always first driven to desperation by some outrage, and always first revenges himself upon those who have done him wrong: We were also told, that though these unhappy wretches afterwards run into the street with a weapon in their hand, frantic and foaming at the mouth, yet they never kill any but those who attempt to apprehend them, or those whom they suspect of such an intention, and that whoever gives them way is safe. They are generally slaves, who indeed are most subject to insults, and least able to obtain legal redress: Freemen, however, are sometimes provoked into this extravagance, and one of the persons who ran a muck while we were at Batavia, was free, and in easy circumstances. He was jealous of his own brother, whom he first killed, and afterwards two others, who attempted to oppose him: He did not, however, come out of his house, but endeavoured to defend himself in it, though the opium had so far deprived him of his senses, that of three muskets, which he attempted to use against the officers of justice, not one was either loaded or primed. If the officer takes one of these amocks, or mohawks, as they have been called by an easy corruption, alive, his reward is very considerable, but if he kills them, nothing is added to his usual pay; yet such is the fury of their desperation, that three out of four are of necessity destroyed in the attempt to secure them, though the officers are provided with instruments like large tongs, or pincers, to lay hold of them without coming within the reach of their weapon. Those who happen to be taken alive are generally wounded, but they are always broken alive upon the wheel, and if the physician who is appointed to examine their wounds thinks them likely to be mortal, the punishment is inflicted immediately, and the place of execution is generally the spot where the first murder was committed.[151]
[Footnote 151: The word amock, which is vulgarly applied to this most extraordinary exhibition of ferocious despair, signifies, in the native language, kill, and is often vociferated by the unhappy madmen as they prowl the streets, intent on vengeance. There is reason to believe that opium is no otherwise concerned in producing such frenzy than as it contributes to keep up the passions which had been previously raised, and to render the persons under their influence insensible to the dangers that beset them:--In the same manner as in other countries, the intemperate use of spirits produces a sort of temporary, but often fatal, and always hazardous derangement. The Malays are remarkable for ferocity of temper, and are, at the same time, exceedingly liable to jealousy, and to take offence. It is usually after such occurrences as excite their bad passions, that they take to opium and are at last wrought up to the madness of the "amock," which ends their days and griefs together.--E.]
Among these people there are many absurd practices and opinions which they derive from their pagan ancestors: They believe that the devil, whom they call Satan, is the cause of all sickness and adversity, and for this reason, when they are sick, or in distress, they consecrate meat, money, and other things to him as a propitiation. If any one among them is restless, and dreams for two or three nights successively, he concludes that Satan has taken that method of laying his commands upon him, which if he neglects to fulfil, he will certainly suffer sickness or death, though they are not revealed with sufficient perspicuity to ascertain their meaning: To interpret his dream, therefore, he taxes his wits to the uttermost, and if, by taking it literally or figuratively, directly or by contraries, he can put no explanation upon it that perfectly satisfies him, he has recourse to the cawin, or priest, who assists him with a comment and illustrations, and perfectly reveals the mysterious suggestions of the night. It generally appears that the devil wants victuals or money, which are always allotted him, and being placed on a little plate of cocoa-nut leaves, are hung upon the branch of a tree near the river, so that it seems not to be the opinion of these people, that in prowling the earth "the devil walketh through dry places." Mr Banks once asked, whether they thought Satan spent the money, or eat the victuals? he was answered, that as to the money, it was considered rather as a mulct upon an offender, than a gift to him who had enjoined it, and that therefore, if it was devoted by the dreamer, it mattered not into whose hands it came, and they supposed that it was generally the prize of some stranger who wandered that way; but as to the meat, they were clearly of opinion that although the devil did not eat the gross parts, yet, by bringing his mouth near it, he sucked out all its savour without changing its position, so that afterwards it was as tasteless as water.[152]
[Footnote 152: The people of Borneo are said to have a similar mode of placating the devil by means of victuals, &c. A curious account of it is given by Capt. Daniel Beeckman, in his relation of a voyage to that island, published at London, 1718. The following extract may amuse:--"There was one Cay Deponattee, a very honest man, who often used to visit us; he happened to come one day when Mr Becher was delirious, (being ill of a fever) and perceiving him to be very earnest in speaking, he asked us what he talked of? We told him he was seila, that is, light-headed; and we explained to him what extravagant things he said. Whereupon he told us, that he was possessed with the devil, and that it was not he that spoke, but the devil that was within him. He begged that we would carry some fowls, rice, and fruit, and offer it to the devil in the woods, where they have certain places for that purpose, and that then the devil would leave him; for, says he, what signifies the expence? We answered him, that we knew better things, and that his illness did not proceed from what he imagined; that we Christians feared not the devil, for that he had no power to hurt any but those that put their trust in him, and not in God. The old man laughed at our notions, and said, that their sultan was of our opinion, but that, for his own part, he knew otherwise by experience. The next day he came to see him again; and upon his enquiry how he did, Mr Becher (being then sensible) answered him, that he was something better, but that he had a great pain across his stomach. 'Ay,' says the old man, 'I told you yesterday what the matter was, but you are fools, and would not believe me, nor be ruled by me; but though the devil is gone, he has smote you on the stomach; and without you follow my directions, you will certainly die in a very little time.' Then he desired that his wife might go and make such offerings; but Mr Becher answered, that she might do what she pleased, but not on his account, for that he would rather lose his life than be beholden to the devil for it. The manner of these offerings is thus; When any person is very ill, especially in the condition Mr B. was, imagining him to be possessed, they buy the aforesaid provisions; and having dressed them with as much care as if they were to make a splendid entertainment, they carry this banquet into the woods to a certain house or shed, built always under the largest trees near the water side, where they leave it. As to what ceremonies of prayer, &c., they use on this occasion, I know not particularly, only that they invite the devil very kindly to it, assuring him that it is very good, and well dressed, and begging him to accept it. Now these woods are so full of monkeys, that if never so much was left at night, they would devour it before morning, which these ignorant creatures believe to be eaten by the devil; and if the person recovers, they think themselves very much obliged to him for his civility and good nature, and, by way of thanks, they send him more; but if the person dies, then they revile against him, calling him a cross ill-natured devil, that he is often a deceiver, and that he has been very ungrateful in accepting the present, and then killing their friend: In fine, they are very angry with him." He mentions some other ways of enchanting away distempers, where such offerings to the devil are no inconsiderable part of the prescription.--E.]
But they have another superstitious opinion that is still more unaccountable. They believe that women, when they are delivered of children, are frequently at the same time delivered of a young crocodile, as a twin to the infant: They believe that these creatures are received most carefully by the midwife, and immediately carried down to the river, and put into the water. The family in which such a birth is supposed to have happened constantly put victuals into the river for their amphibious relation, and especially the twin, who, as long as he lives, gets down to the river at stated seasons, to fulfil this fraternal duly, for the neglect of which it is the universal opinion that he will be visited with sickness or death. What could at first produce a notion so extravagant and absurd, it is not easy to guess, especially as it seems to be totally unconnected with any religious mystery, and how a fact which never happened, should be pretended to happen every day, by those who cannot be deceived into a belief of it by appearances, nor have any apparent interest in the fraud, is a problem still more difficult to solve. Nothing however can be more certain than the firm belief of this strange absurdity among them, for we had the concurrent testimony of every Indian who was questioned about it, in its favour. It seems to have taken its rise in the islands of Celebes and Boutou, where many of the inhabitants keep crocodiles in their families; but however that be, the opinion has spread over all the eastern islands, even to Timor and Ceram, and westward as far as Java and Sumatra, where, however, young crocodiles are, I believe, never kept.[153]
[Footnote 153: Maximus Tyrius tells us a story of an Egyptian woman having brought up a young crocodile as a companion to her son, who was much about the same age. Things went on very well with these two friends for a considerable time; but the crocodile gaining strength and the common properties of his species, at last devoured his comrade. The Egyptians, it is well known, had a peculiar regard for this animal, and esteemed it as sacred. What could have given rise to the strange notions mentioned in the text, the writer is utterly unable to conjecture, and he does not recollect any relation or circumstances that can illustrate them.--E.]
These crocodile twins are called sudaras, and I shall Relate one of the innumerable stories that were told us, in proof of their existence, from ocular demonstration.
A young female slave, who was born and bred up among the English at Bencoolen, and had learnt a little of the language, told Mr Banks, that her father, when he was dying, acquainted her that he had a crocodile for his sudara, and solemnly charged her to give him meat when he should be dead, telling her in what part of the river he was to be found, and by what name he was to be called up: That in pursuance of her father's instructions and command, she went to the river, and standing upon the bank, called out, Radja Pouti, white king, upon which a crocodile came to her out of the water, and eat from her hand the provisions that she had brought him. When she was desired to describe this paternal uncle, who in so strange a shape had taken up his dwelling in the water, she said, that he was not like other crocodiles, but much handsomer; that his body was spotted, and his nose red; that he had bracelets of gold upon his feet, and ear-rings of the same metal in his ears. Mr Banks heard this tale of ridiculous falsehood patiently to the end, and then dismissed the girl, without reminding her that a crocodile with ears was as strange a monster as a dog with a cloven foot. Some time after this, a servant whom Mr Banks had hired at Batavia, and who was the son of a Dutchman by a Javanese woman, thought fit to acquaint his master that he had seen a crocodile of the same kind, which had also been seen by many others, both Dutchmen and Malays: That being very young, it was but two feet long, and had bracelets of gold upon its feet. There is no giving credit to these stories, said Mr Banks, for I was told the other day that a crocodile had ear-rings, and you know that could not be true, because crocodiles have no ears. Ah, sir, said the man, these sudara oran are not like other crocodiles; they have five toes upon each foot, a large tongue that fills their mouth, and ears also, although they are indeed very small.
How much of what these people related, they believed, cannot be known; for there are no bounds to the credulity of ignorance and folly. In the girl's relation, however, there are some things in which she could not be deceived; and therefore must have been guilty of wilful falsehood. Her father might perhaps give her a charge to feed a crocodile, in consequence of his believing that it was his sudara; but its coming to her out of the river when she called it by the name of white king, and taking the food she had brought it, must have been a fable of her own invention; for this being false, it was impossible that she should believe it to be true. The girl's story, however, as well as that of the man, is a strong proof that they both firmly believed the existence of crocodiles that are sudaras to men; and the girl's fiction will be easily accounted for, if we recollect that the earnest desire which every one feels to make others believe what he believes himself, is a strong temptation to support it by unjustifiable evidence. And the averring what is known to be false, in order to produce in others the belief of what is thought to be true, must, upon the most charitable principles, be imputed to many, otherwise venerable characters, through whose hands the doctrines of Christianity passed for many ages in their way to us, as the source of all the silly fables related of the Romish saints, many of them not less extravagant and absurd than this story of the white king, and all of them the invention of the first relater.[154]
[Footnote 154: It is no doubt very true, that many of the pious frauds, as they have been called, are as absurd as the story alluded to; but really there does not seem to be any occasion whatever for lugging them in here, in order to shew a sort of malicious contempt of those who framed them. Dr Hawkesworth, it is very clear, kept himself much on the look-out for subjects capable of serving as baits for the greedy scoffers of his day. Few people have candour or patience enough to discriminate betwixt truth and its counterpart, when religion is to be investigated; and nothing is more common among the witlings, than a sneer at the bullion, because of its being occasionally blended with dross. But such behaviour has much stronger indications of spite than claims to the merit of ability or good sense.--E.]
The Bougis, Macassars, and Boetons, are so firmly persuaded that they have relations of the crocodile species in the rivers of their own country, that they perform a periodical ceremony in remembrance of them. Large parties of them go out in a boat, furnished with great plenty of provisions, and all kinds of music, and row backwards and forwards, in places where crocodiles and alligators are most common, singing and weeping by turns, each invoking his kindred, till a crocodile appears, when the music instantly stops, and provisions, betel, and tobacco are thrown into the water. By this civility to the species, they hope to recommend themselves to their relations at home, and that it will be accepted instead of offerings immediately to themselves, which it is not in their power to pay.
In the next rank to the Indians stand the Chinese, who in this place are numerous, but possess very little property; many of then live within the walls, and keep shops. The fruit-sellers of Passar-Pissang have been mentioned already; but others have a rich show of European and Chinese goods: The far greater part, however, live in a quarter by themselves, without the walls, called Campang China. Many of them are carpenters, joiners, smiths, tailors, slipper-makers, dyers of cotton, and embroiderers, maintaining the character of industry that is universally given of them; and some are scattered about the country, where they cultivate gardens, sow rice and sugar, and keep cattle and buffaloes, whose milk they bring daily to town.[155]
[Footnote 155: The Chinese who carry on any trade or profession, i.e. almost all of them, pay a monthly tax to the government. In Stavorinus's time, this was about six shillings sterling a-piece.--E.]
There is nothing clean or dirty, honest or dishonest, provided there is not too much danger of a halter, that the Chinese will not readily do for money. But though they work with great diligence, and patiently undergo any degree of labour, yet no sooner have they laid down their tools than they begin to game, either at cards or dice, or some other play among the multitude that they have invented, which are altogether unknown in Europe: To this they apply with such eagerness as scarcely to allow time for the necessary refreshments of food and sleep; so that it is as rare to see a Chinese idle, as it is to see a Dutchman or an Indian employed.
In manners they are always civil, or rather obsequious; and in dress they are remarkably neat and clean, to whatever rank of life they belong.[156] I shall not attempt a description either of their persons or habits, for the better kind of China paper, which is now common in England, exhibits a perfect representation of both, though perhaps with some slight exaggerations approaching towards the caricatura.
[Footnote 156: Whatever may be their personal cleanliness in appearance, their moral impurity, according to all accounts, is most gross and detestable. We shall not pollute our page by the slightest mention of the abominable gratifications in which they are said to indulge, contrary to the most palpable enactments of nature.--E.]
In eating, they are easily satisfied, though the few that are rich have many savory dishes. Rice, with a small proportion of flesh or fish, is the food of the poor; and they have greatly the advantage of the Mahometan Indians, whose religion forbids them to eat of many things which they could most easily procure. The Chinese, on the contrary, being under no restraint, eat, besides pork, dogs, cats, frogs, lizards, serpents of many kinds, and a great variety of sea-animals, which the other inhabitants of this country do not consider as food: They also eat many vegetables, which an European, except he was perishing with hunger, would never touch.[157]
[Footnote 157: The reader may turn to our account of Anson's voyage for some particulars respecting their taste. Indeed, in almost every voyage he will find abundantly disgusting information of this singularly unamiable people. It is but fair, however, to allow them credit for one of the virtues of necessity. Their capability of subsisting on such food as others reject, is a very requisite part of education in their own country, where the danger of famine is so great and frequent.--E.]
The Chinese have a singular superstition with regard to the burial of their dead; for they will upon no occasion open the ground a second time where a body has been interred. Their burying-grounds, therefore, in the neighbourhood of Batavia, cover many hundred acres, and the Dutch, grudging the waste of so much land, will not sell any for this purpose but at the most exorbitant price. The Chinese, however, contrive to raise the purchase-money, and afford another instance of the folly and weakness of human nature, in transferring a regard for the living to the dead, and making that the object of solicitude and expence, which cannot receive the least benefit from either. Under the influence of this universal prejudice, they take an uncommon method to preserve the body entire, and prevent the remains of it from being mixed with the earth that surrounds it. They enclose it in a large thick coffin of wood, not made of planks joined together, but hollowed out of the solid timber like a canoe; this being covered, and let down into the grave, is surrounded with a coat of their mortar, called chinam, about eight or ten inches thick, which in a short time becomes as hard as a stone. The relations of the deceased attend the funeral ceremony, with a considerable number of women that are hired to weep: It might reasonably be supposed that the hired appearance of sorrow could no more flatter the living than benefit the dead, yet the appearance of sorrow is known to be hired among people much more reflective and enlightened than the Chinese. In Batavia, the law requires that every man should be buried according to his rank, which is in no case dispensed with; so that if the deceased has not left sufficient to pay his debts, an officer takes an inventory of what was in his possession when he died, and out of the produce buries him in the manner prescribed, leaving only the overplus to his creditors. Thus in many instances are the living sacrificed to the dead, and money that should discharge a debt, or feed an orphan, lavished in idle processions, or materials that are deposited in the earth to rot.[158]
[Footnote 158: Their veneration for the dead is certainly excessive, and by no means in unison with the rest of their character, which seems to be made up of the grossest selfishness, avarice, and apathy. They often visit the graves of their friends, strew flowers around them, and when they leave them, deposit presents and sundry articles of provisions, which, of course, are soon removed, though not by the dead. In this, respect, then, it is very obvious that their mourning may not be quite useless to the living.--E.]
Another numerous class among the inhabitants of this country is the slaves; for by slaves the Dutch, Portuguese, and Indians, however different in their rank or situation, are constantly attended: They are purchased from Sumatra, Malacca, and almost all the eastern islands. The natives of Java, very few of whom, as I have before observed, live in the neighbourhood of Batavia, have an exemption from slavery under the sanction of very severe penal laws, which I believe are seldom violated. The price of these slaves is from ten to twenty pounds sterling; but girls, if they have beauty, sometimes fetch a hundred. They are a very lazy set of people; but as they will do but little work, they are content with a little victuals, subsisting altogether upon boiled rice, and a small quantity of the cheapest fish. As they are natives of different countries, they differ from each other extremely, both in person and disposition. The African negroes, called here Papua, are the worst, and consequently may be purchased for the least money: They are all thieves, and all incorrigible. Next to these are the Bougis and Macassars, both from the island of Celebes: These are lazy in the highest degree, and though not so much addicted to theft as the negroes, have a cruel and vindictive spirit, which renders them extremely dangerous, especially as, to gratify their resentment, they will make no scruple of sacrificing life. The best slaves, and consequently the dearest, are procured from the island of Bali: The most beautiful women from Nias, a small island on the coast of Sumatra; but they are of a tender and delicate constitution, and soon fall a sacrifice to the unwholesome air of Batavia.[159] Besides these, there are Malays, and slaves of several other denominations, whose particular characteristics I do not remember.
[Footnote 159: Other causes operate to the early extinction of these unfortunate females,--the lusts of their masters, and the cruel jealousy, ingenious and discriminating in torture, of their mistresses. Stavorinus well explains what is here meant. Speaking of the ladies of Batavia, he writes to this effect. In common with most women in India, they have an extreme jealousy of their husbands and female slaves. If they observe the least familiarity between them, they set no bounds to their revenge against the poor creatures, who, in general, have no alternative but that of gratifying their masters, or experiencing very harsh usage from them. On such discovery, their mistresses punish them in different ways, whipping them with ropes; or beating them with canes, till they fall down exhausted. One of the modes of tormenting them, is to pinch them with their toes in a certain tender part, against which their vengeance is chiefly directed; for this purpose, these wretched girls are made to sit before them in a peculiar position, and so exquisite is their suffering, that they often faint away. Indeed, the refinements in cruelty practised on them almost exceed belief.--E.]
These slaves are wholly in the power of their masters, with respect to any punishment that does not take away life; but if a slave dies in consequence of punishment, though his death should not appear to have been intended, the master is called to a severe account, and he is generally condemned to suffer capitally. For this reason the master seldom inflicts punishment upon the slave himself, but applies to an officer called a Marineu, one of whom is stationed in every district. The duty of the Marineu is to quell riots, and take offenders into custody; but more particularly to apprehend runaway slaves, and punish them for such crimes as the master, supported by proper evidence, lays to their charge: The punishment, however, is not inflicted by the Marineu in person, but by slaves who are bred up to the business. Men are punished publicly, before the door of their master's house; but women within it. The punishment is, by stripes, the number being proportioned to the offence; and they are given with rods made of rattans, which are split into slender twigs for the purpose, and fetch blood at every stroke. A common punishment costs the master a rix-dollar, and a severe one a ducatoon, about six shillings and eight-pence. The master is also obliged to allow the slave three dubbelcheys, equal to about seven-pence half-penny a-week, as an encouragement, and to prevent his being under temptations to steal, too strong to be resisted.
Concerning the government of this place I can say but little. We observed, however, a remarkable subordination among the people. Every man who is able to keep house has a certain specific rank, acquired by the length of his services to the Company: The different ranks which are thus acquired are distinguished by the ornaments of the coaches and the dresses of the coachmen: Some are obliged to ride in plain coaches, some are allowed to paint them in different manners and degrees, and some to gild them. The coachman also appears in clothes that are quite plain, or more or less adorned with lace.[160]
[Footnote 160: The distinctions of rank, and all the punctilios of the respective ceremonies and homage, are attended to at Batavia with the most religious exactness. Stavorinus specifies many instances, which, to some readers, it might be amusing enough to transcribe. But in fact, and to be honest, the writer has neither time, inclination, nor patience to interfere with such mummeries, or investigate the claims to precedency and peculiarly modified respect set up by Dutch merchants, and their still more consequential spouses. He has not the smallest pretensions to the office of master of the ceremonies for any society whatever.--E.]
The officer who presides here has the title of Governor General of the Indies, and the Dutch governors of all the other settlements are subordinate to him, and obliged to repair to Batavia that he may pass their accounts. If they appear to have been criminal, or even negligent, he punishes them by delay, and detains them during pleasure, sometimes one year, sometimes two years, and sometimes three; for they cannot quit the place till he gives them a dismission. Next to the governor are the members of the council, called here Edele Heeren, and by the corruption of the English, Idoleers. These Idoleers take upon them so much state, that whoever meets them in a carriage is expected to rise up and bow, then to drive on one side of the road, and there stop till they are past: The same homage is required also to their wives, and even their children; and it is commonly paid them by the inhabitants. But some of our captains have thought so slavish a mark of respect beneath the dignity which they derive from the service of his Britannic majesty, and have refused to pay it; yet, if they were in a hired carriage, nothing could deter the coachman from honouring the Dutch grandee at their expence, but the most peremptory menace of immediate death.[161]
[Footnote 161: The reader will remember what Captain Carteret says on this subject, in the account given of his voyage.--E.]
Justice is administered here by a body of lawyers, who have ranks of distinction among themselves. Concerning their proceedings in questions of property, I know nothing; but their decisions in criminal cases seem to be severe with respect to the natives, and lenient with respect to their own people, in a criminal degree. A Christian always is indulged with an opportunity of escaping before he is brought to a trial, whatever may have been his offence; and if he is brought to a trial and convicted, he is seldom punished with death; while the poor Indians, on the contrary, are hanged, and broken upon the wheel, and even impaled alive without mercy.[162]
[Footnote 162: Impalement, as practised at Batavia, is one of the most shocking punishments ever invented. An iron spike, about six feet long, is forcibly passed between the back-bone and the skin from the lower part of the body, where a cross cut is made for its insertion, till it come out betwixt the shoulders and neck, the executioner guiding the point of it so that none of the vitals or large blood vessels may be wounded. The under end of the spike is afterwards made fast to a wooden post, which is then stuck into the ground, so that the miserable wretch is raised aloft, where he is supported partly by the iron spike in his skin, and partly by a little bench, projecting about ten feet from the ground. He may remain alive in this most cruel situation for several days, during which period he is tortured besides with hunger and thirst, for no victuals, of any kind, are allowed him; and numerous insects also continually torment him in the fervent heat of the sun. His misery is the greater and longer, as the weather is clear and dry. Should a shower of rain fall, he is soon relieved from torment, as it is noticed that any water getting into the wounds speedily induces gangrene and death. Stavorinus saw an execution of this sort, and relates some very affecting particulars. The fortitude of the wretched sufferer was astonishing. He uttered no complaint, unless when the spike was fastened to the post, when the agitation occasioned by hammering, &c. appeared to give him intolerable pain, so that he roared out. He did so again when the post was lifted up and put into the ground. In this dreadful situation he continued till death ended his torment, which happened next day. This was owing to a light shower of rain, of about an hour's continuance, half an hour after which he breathed his last. He continually complained of thirst, which no one was allowed to relieve by a single drop of water.--E.]
The Malays and Chinese have judicial officers of their own, under the denominations of captains and lieutenants, who determine in civil cases, subject to an appeal to the Dutch court.
The taxes paid by these people to the Company are very considerable; and that which is exacted of them for liberty to wear their hair, is by no means the least. They are paid monthly, and, to save the trouble and charge of collecting them, a flag is hoisted upon the top of a house in the middle of the town when a payment is due, and the Chinese have experienced that it is their interest to repair thither with their money without delay.
The money current here consists of ducats, worth a hundred and thirty-two stivers; ducatoons, eighty stivers; imperial rix-dollars, sixty; rupees of Batavia, thirty; schellings, six; double cheys, two stivers and a half; and doits, one fourth of a stiver. Spanish dollars, when we were here, were at five shillings and five-pence; and we were told, that they were never lower than five shillings and four-pence, even at the Company's warehouse. For English guineas we could never get more than nineteen shillings upon an average; for though the Chinese would give twenty shillings for some of the brightest, they would give no more than seventeen shillings for those that were much worn.
It may perhaps be of some advantage to strangers to be told that there are two kinds of coin here, of the same denomination, milled and unmilled, and that the milled is of most value. A milled ducatoon is worth eighty stivers; but an unmilled ducatoon is worth no more than seventy-two. All accounts are kept in rix-dollars and stivers, which, here at least, are mere nominal coins, like our pound sterling. The rix-dollar is equal to forty-eight stivers, about four shillings and six-pence English currency.[163]
[Footnote 163: The reader need scarcely be informed, that the statements given in the text as to the respective value of the coin, are fitted to the circumstances of the period at which the account of the voyage was published. It was thought unnecessary to correct them to the present times in this place.--E.]
SECTION XL.
The Passage from Batavia to the Cape of Good Hope. Some Account of Prince's Island and its Inhabitants. Our Arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. Some Remarks on the Run from Java Head to that Place, and to Saint Helena. The Return of the Ship to England.[164]
[Footnote 164: The original contains some remarks on the language of Prince's Island, and a comparative view of it with the Malay and Javanese. These have been omitted, because another opportunity will present of treating the subject more fully than could be done here, without anticipating information which belongs to another place. Much additional light has been thrown on this interesting topic since the date of this navigation.--E.]
On Thursday the 27th of December, at six o'clock in the morning, we weighed again and stood out to sea. After much delay by contrary winds, we weathered Pulo Pare on the 29th, and stood in for the main: Soon after, we fetched a small island under the main, in the midway between Batavia and Bantam, called Maneater's Island. The next day, we weathered first Wapping Island, and then Pulo Babi. On the 31st, we stood over to the Sumatra shore; and on the morning of new-year's-day, 1771, we stood over for the Java shore.
We continued our course as the wind permitted us till three o'clock in the afternoon of the 5th, when we anchored under the south-east side of Prince's Island in eighteen fathom, in order to recruit our wood and water, and procure refreshments for the sick, many of whom were now become much worse than they were when we left Batavia. As soon as the ship was secured, I went ashore, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr Solander, and we were met upon the beach by some Indians, who carried us immediately to a man, who, they said, was their king. After we had exchanged a few compliments with his majesty, we proceeded to business; but in settling the price of turtle we could not agree: This however did not discourage us, as we made no doubt but that we should buy them at our own price in the morning. As soon as we parted, the Indians dispersed, and we proceeded along the shore in search of a watering-place. In this we were more successful; we found water very conveniently situated, and, if a little care was taken in filling it, we had reason to believe that it would prove good. Just as we were going off, some Indians, who remained with a canoe upon the beach, sold us three turtle, but exacted a promise of us that we should not tell the king.
The next morning, while a party was employed in filling water, we renewed our traffic for turtle: At first, the Indians dropped their demands slowly, but about noon they agreed to take the price that we offered, so that before night we had turtle in plenty: The three that we had purchased the evening before, were in the mean time served to the ship's company, who, till the day before, had not once been served with salt provisions from the time of our arrival at Savu, which was now near four months. In the evening, Mr Banks went to pay his respects to the king, at his palace, in the middle of a rice field, and though his majesty was busily employed in dressing his own supper, he received the stranger very graciously.
The next day, the natives came down to the trading place, with fowls, fish, monkies, small deer, and some vegetables, but no turtle; for they said that we had bought them all the day before. The next day, however, more turtle appeared at market, and some were brought down every day afterwards, during our stay, though the whole, together, was not equal to the quantity that we bought the day after our arrival.
On the 11th, Mr Banks having learnt from the servant whom he had hired at Batavia, that the Indians of this island had a town upon the shore, at some distance to the westward, determined to see it. With this view he set out in the morning, accompanied by the second lieutenant; and as he had some reason to think that his visit would not be agreeable to the inhabitants, he told the people whom he met, as he was advancing along the shore, that he was in search of plants, which indeed was also true. In about two hours they arrived at a place where there were four or five houses, and meeting with an old man, they ventured to make some enquiries concerning the town. He said that it was far distant; but they were not to be discouraged in their enterprize, and he, seeing them proceed in their journey, joined company and went on with them. He attempted several times to lead them out of the way, but without success; and at length they came within sight of the houses. The old man then entered cordially into their party, and conducted them into the town. The name of it is Samadang; it consists of about four hundred houses, and is divided by a river of brackish water into two parts, one of which is called the old town, and the other the new. As soon as they entered the old town, they met several Indians whom they had seen at the trading-place, and one of them undertook to carry them over to the new town, at the rate of two-pence a-head. When the bargain was made, two very small canoes were produced, in which they embarked; the canoes being placed along-side of each other, and held together, a precaution which was absolutely necessary to prevent their oversetting, the navigation was at length safely performed, though not without some difficulty; and when they landed in the new town, the people received them with great friendship, and showed them the houses of their kings and principal people, which are in this district: Few of them, however, were open, for at this time the people had taken up their residence in the rice-grounds, to defend the crop against the birds and monkies, by which it would otherwise have been destroyed. When their curiosity was satisfied, they hired a large sailing boat for two rupees, four shillings, which brought them back to the ship time enough to dine upon one of the small deer, weighing only forty pounds, which had been bought the day before, and proved to be very good and savoury meat.
We went on shore in the evening, to see how the people who were employed in wooding and watering went on, and were informed that an axe had been stolen. As the passing over this fault might encourage the commission of others of the same kind, application was immediately made to the king, who, after some altercation, promised that the axe should be restored in the morning; and kept his word, for it was brought to us by a man who pretended that the thief, being afraid of a discovery, had privately brought it and left it at his house in the night.
We continued to purchase between two and three hundred weight of turtle in a day, besides fowls and other necessaries; and in the evening of the 13th, having nearly completed our wood and water, Mr Banks went ashore to take leave of his majesty, to whom he had made several trifling presents, and at parting gave him two quires of paper, which he graciously received. They had much conversation, in the course of which his majesty enquired, why the English did not touch there as they had been used to do. Mr Banks replied, that he supposed it was because they found a deficiency of turtle, of which there not being enough to supply one ship, many could not be expected. To supply this defect, he advised his majesty to breed cattle, buffaloes, and sheep, a measure which he did not seem much inclined to adopt.
On the 14th, we made ready to sail, having on board a good stock of refreshments, which we purchased of the natives, consisting of turtle, fowl, fish, two species of deer, one as big as a sheep, the other not larger than a rabbit; with cocoa-nuts, plantains, limes, and other vegetables. The deer, however, served only for present use, for we could seldom keep one of them alive more than four-and-twenty hours after it was on board. On our part, the trade was carried on chiefly with Spanish dollars, the natives seeming to set little value upon any thing else; so that our people, who had a general permission to trade, parted with old shirts and other articles, which they were obliged to substitute for money, to great disadvantage. In the morning of the 15th, we weighed, with a light breeze at N.E. and stood out to sea. Java Head, from which I took my departure, lies in latitude 6° 49' S., longitude 258° 12' W.
Prince's Island, where we lay about ten days, is, in the Malay language, called Pulo Selan, and in the language of the inhabitants, Pulo Paneitan. It is a small island, situated in the western mouth of the Streight of Sunda. It is woody, and a very small part of it only has been cleared: There is no remarkable hill upon it, yet the English call the small eminence which is just over the landing-place the Pike. It was formerly much frequented by the India ships of many nations, but especially those of England, which of late have forsaken it, as it is said, because the water is bad; and touch either at North Island, a small island that lies on the coast of Sumatra, without the east entrance of the streight, or at Mew Bay, which lies only a few leagues from Prince's Island, at neither of which places any considerable quantity of other refreshments can be procured. Prince's Island is, upon the whole, certainly more eligible than either of them; and though the water is brackish if it is filled at the lower part of the brook, yet higher up it will be found excellent.
The first and second, and perhaps the third ship that comes in the season, may be tolerably supplied with turtle; but those that come afterwards must be content with small ones. Those that we bought were of the green kind, and at an average cost us about a half-penny or three farthings a pound. We were much disappointed to find them neither fat nor well flavoured; and we imputed it to their having been long kept in crawls or pens of brackish water, without food. The fowls are large, and we bought a dozen of them for a Spanish dollar, which is about five-pence a-piece: The small deer cost us two-pence a-piece, and the larger, of which two only were brought down, a rupee. Many kinds of fish are to be had here, which the natives sell by hand, and we found them tolerably cheap. Cocoa-nuts we bought at the rate of a hundred for a dollar, if they were picked; and if they were taken promiscuously, one hundred and thirty. Plantains we found in great plenty: We procured also some pine-apples, water melons, jaccas, and pumpkins; besides rice, the greater part of which was of the mountain kind, that grows on dry land; yams, and several other vegetables, at a very reasonable rate.
The inhabitants are Javanese, whose Raja is subject to the Sultan of Bantam. Their customs are very similar to those of the Indians about Batavia; but they seem to be more jealous of their women, for we never saw any of them during all the time we were there, except one by chance in the woods, as she was running away to hide herself. They profess the Mahometan religion, but I believe there is not a mosque in the whole island: We were among them during the fast, which the Turks call Ramadan, which they seemed to keep with great rigour, for not one of them would touch a morsel of victuals, or even chew their betel, till sun-set.
Their food is nearly the same as that of the Batavian Indians, except the addition of the nuts of the palm, called Cycas circinalis, with which, upon the coast of New Holland, some of our people were made sick, and some of our hogs poisoned.
Upon observing these nuts to be part of their food, we enquired by what means they deprived them of their deleterious quality; and they told us, that, they first cut them into thin slices, and dried them in the sun; then steeped them in fresh water for three months, and afterwards, pressing out the water, dried them in the sun a second time; but we learnt that, after all, they are eaten only in times of scarcity, when they mix them with their rice to make it go farther.
The houses of their town are built upon piles, or pillars, four or five feet above the ground: Upon these is laid a floor of bamboo canes, which are placed at some distance from each other, so as to leave a free passage for the air from below; the walls also are of bamboo, which are interwoven, hurdlewise, with small sticks, that are fastened perpendicularly to the beams which form the frame of the building: It has a sloping roof, which is so well thatched with palm leaves, that neither the sun nor the rain can find entrance. The ground over which this building is erected, is an oblong square. In the middle of one side is the door, and in the middle between that and the end of the house, towards the left hand, is a window: A partition runs out from each end towards the middle, which, if continued, would divide the whole floor into two equal parts, longitudinally; but they do not meet in the middle, so that an opening is left over-against the door: Each end of the house therefore, to the right and left of the door, is divided into two rooms, like stalls in a stable, all open towards the passage from the door to the wall on the opposite side: In that next the door to the left hand, the children sleep; that opposite to it, on the right hand, is allotted to strangers; the master and his wife sleep in the inner room on the left hand, and that opposite to it is the kitchen. There is no difference between the houses of the poor and the rich, but in the size; except that the royal palace, and the house of a man, whose name was Gundang, the next in riches and influence to the king, were walled with boards, instead of being wattled with sticks and bamboo.
As the people are obliged to abandon the town, and live in the rice-fields at certain seasons, to secure their crops from the birds and the monkies, they have occasional houses there for their accommodation. They are exactly the same as the houses in the town, except that they are smaller, and are elevated eight or ten feet above the ground instead of four.
The disposition of the people, as far as we could discover it, is good. They dealt with us very honestly, except, like all other Indians, and the itinerant retailers of fish in London, they asked sometimes twice, and sometimes thrice as much for their commodities as they would take. As what they brought to market belonged, in different proportions, to a considerable number of the natives, and it would have been difficult to purchase it in separate lots, they found out a very easy expedient, with which every one was satisfied: They put all that was bought of one kind, as plantains, or cocoa-nuts, together; and when we had agreed for the heap, they divided the money that was paid for it among those of whose separate property it consisted, in a proportion corresponding with their contributions. Sometimes, indeed, they changed our money, giving us 240 doits, amounting to five shillings, for a Spanish dollar, and ninety-six, amounting to two shillings, for a Bengal rupee.
They all speak the Malay language, though they have a language of their own, different both from the Malay and the Javanese. Their own language they call Catta Gunung, the language of the mountains; and they say that it is spoken upon the mountains of Java, whence their tribe originally migrated, first to Mew Bay, and then to their present station, being driven from their first settlement by tygers, which they found too numerous to subdue.
We now made the best of our way for the Cape of Good Hope, but the seeds of disease which we had received at Batavia began to appear with the most threatening symptoms in dysenteries and slow fevers. Lest the water which we had taken in at Prince's Island should have any share in our sickness, we purified it with lime, and we washed all parts of the ship between decks with vinegar, as a remedy against infection. Mr Banks was among the sick, and for some time there was no hope of his life. We were very soon in a most deplorable situation; the ship was nothing better than an hospital, in which those that were able to go about were too few to attend the sick, who were confined to their hammocks; and we had almost every night a dead body to commit to the sea. In the course of about six weeks, we buried Mr Sporing, a gentleman who was in Mr Banks's retinue, Mr Parkinson, his natural history painter, Mr Green, the astronomer, the boatswain, the carpenter and his mate, Mr Monkhouse, the midshipman, who had fothered the ship after she had been stranded on the coast of New Holland, our old jolly sail-maker and his assistant, the ship's cook, the corporal of the marines, two of the carpenter's crew, a midshipman, and nine seamen; in all three-and-twenty persons, besides the seven that we buried at Batavia.[165] On Friday the 15th of March, about ten o'clock in the morning, we anchored off the Cape of Good Hope, in seven fathom, with an oozy bottom. The west point of the bay, called the Lion's Tail, bore W.N.W., and the castle S.W., distant about a mile and a half. I immediately waited upon the governor, who told me that I should have every thing the country afforded. My first care was to provide a proper place ashore for the sick, which were not a few; and a house was soon found, where it was agreed they should be lodged and boarded at the rate of two shillings a-head per day.
[Footnote 165: In the Biog. Brit. where a summary of Cook's Voyages is given, an observation is made on this melancholy part of the narrative, which the reader may not be displeased to see copied here. "It is probable that these calamitous events, which could not fail of making a powerful impression on the mind of Lieutenant Cook, might give occasion to his turning his thoughts more zealously to those methods of preserving the health of seamen, which he afterwards pursued with such remarkable success." These methods will be amply detailed hereafter.--E.]
Our run from Java Head to this place afforded very few subjects of remark that can be of use to future navigators; such as occurred, however, I shall set down. We had left Java Head eleven days before we got the general south-east trade-wind, during which time we did not advance above 5° to the southward, and 3° to the west, having variable light airs, interrupted by calms, with sultry weather, and an unwholesome air, occasioned probably by the load of vapours which the eastern trade-wind and westerly monsoons bring into these latitudes, both which blow in these seas at the time of the year when we happened to be there. The easterly wind prevails as far as 10° or 12° S., and the westerly as far as 6° or 8°; in the intermediate space the winds are variable, and the air, I believe, always unwholesome; it certainly aggravated the diseases which we brought with us from Batavia, and particularly the flux, which was not in the least degree checked by any medicine, so that whoever was seized with it considered himself as a dead man; but we had no sooner got into the trade-wind, than we began to feel its salutary effects: We buried indeed several of our people afterwards, but they were such as had been taken on board in a state so low and feeble that there was scarcely a possibility of their recovery. At first we suspected that this dreadful disorder might have been brought upon us by the water that we took on board at Prince's Island, or even by the turtle that we bought there; but there is not the least reason to believe that this suspicion was well-grounded, for all the ships that came from Batavia at the same season, suffered in the same degree, and some of them even more severely, though none of them touched at Prince's Island in their way.
A few days after we left Java, we saw boobies about the ship for several nights successively, and as these birds are known to roost every night on shore, we thought them an indication that some island was not far distant; perhaps it might be the island of Selam, which, in different charts, is very differently laid down both in name and situation.
The variation of the compass off the west coast of Java, is about 3° W., and so it continued without any sensible variation, in the common track of ships, to the longitude of 288° W., latitude 22° S., after which it increased apace, so that in longitude 295°, latitude 23°, the variation was 10° 20' W.: In seven degrees more of longitude, and one of latitude, it increased two degrees; in the same space farther to the west, it increased five degrees: In latitude 28°, longitude 314°, it was 24°, 20', in latitude 29°, longitude 317°, it was 26° 10', and was then stationary for the space of about ten degrees farther to the west; but in latitude 34°, longitude 333°, we observed it twice to be 28° 1/4 W., and this was its greatest variation, for in latitude 35° 1/2 longitude 337°, it was 24°, and continued gradually to decrease; so that off Cape Anguillas it was 22° 30', and in Table Bay 20° 30' W.
As to currents, it did not appear that they were at all considerable, till we came within a little distance of the meridian of Madagascar; for after we had made 52° of longitude from Java Head, we found, by observation, that our error in longitude was only two degrees, and it was the same when we had made only nineteen. This error might be owing partly to a current setting to the westward, partly to our not making proper allowances for the setting of the sea before which we run, and perhaps to an error in the assumed longitude of Java Head. If that longitude is erroneous, the error must be imputed to the imperfection of the charts of which I made use in reducing the longitude from Batavia to that place, for there can be no doubt but that the longitude of Batavia is well determined. After we had passed the longitude of 307°, the effects of the westerly currents began to be considerable; for, in three days, our error in longitude was 1° 5': The velocity of the current kept increasing as we proceeded to the westward, in so much, that for five days successively after we made the land, we were driven to the S.W. or S.W. by W., not less than twenty leagues a-day; and this continued till we were within sixty or seventy leagues of the Cape, where the current set sometimes one way, and sometimes the other, though inclining rather to the westward.
After the boobies had left us, we saw no more birds till we got nearly abreast of Madagascar, where, in latitude 27° 3/4 S., we saw an albatross, and after that time we saw them every day in great numbers, with birds of several other sorts, particularly one about as big as a duck, of a very dark brown colour, with a yellowish bill. These birds became more numerous as we approached the shore, and as soon as we got into soundings, we saw gannets, which we continued to see as long as we were upon the bank which stretches off Anguillas to the distance of forty leagues, and extends along the shore to the eastward, from Cape False, according to some charts, one hundred and sixty leagues. The real extent of this bank is not exactly known; it is, however, useful as a direction to shipping when to haul in, in order to make the land.
While we lay here, the Houghton Indiaman sailed for England, who, during, her stay in India, lost by sickness between thirty and forty men; and when she left the Cape, had many in a helpless condition with the scurvy. Other ships suffered in the same proportion, who had been little more than twelve months absent from England; our sufferings, therefore, were comparatively light, considering that we had been absent near three times as long.
Having lain here to recover the sick, procure stores, and perform several necessary operations upon the ship and rigging, till the 13th of April, I then got all the sick on board, several of whom were still in a dangerous state, and having taken leave of the governor, I unmoored the nest morning, and got ready to sail.[166]
[Footnote 166: Some remarks concerning the Cape of Good Hope are now given in the original. They are omitted here, as being only supplementary to other accounts, and because we shall elsewhere have an opportunity of drawing the reader's attention very fully to the subject. The same thing may be said respecting some notices of St Helena, contained in this section. Whatever is of value in either of these accounts, will be had recourse to on another occasion.--E.]
On the morning of the 14th we weighed and stood out of the bay; and at five in the evening anchored under Penquin, or Robin Island: We lay here all night, and as I could not sail in the morning for want of wind, I sent a boat to the island for a few trifling articles which we had forgot to take in at the Cape. But as soon as the boat came near the shore, the Dutch hailed her, and warned the people not to land, at their peril, bringing down at the same time six men armed with muskets, who paraded upon the beach. The officer who commanded the boat not thinking it worth while to risk the lives of the people on board for the sake of a few cabbages, which were all we wanted, returned to the ship. At first we were at a loss to account for our repulse, but we afterwards recollected, that to this island the Dutch at the Cape banish such criminals as are not thought worthy of death, for a certain number of years, proportioned to the offence, and employ them as slaves in digging lime-stone, which, though scarce upon the continent, is in plenty here; and that a Danish ship, which by sickness had lost great part of her crew, and had been refused assistance at the Cape, came down to this island, and sending her boat ashore, secured the guard, and took on board as many of the criminals as she thought proper to navigate her home: We concluded therefore that the Dutch, to prevent the rescue of their criminals in time to come, had given order to their people here to suffer no boat of any foreign nation to come ashore.
On the 25th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we weighed, with a light breeze at S.E., and put to sea. About an hour afterwards, we lost our master, Mr Robert Mollineux, a young man of good parts, but unhappily given up to intemperance, which brought on disorders that put an end to his life.
We proceeded in our voyage homeward without any remarkable incident; and in the morning of the 29th we crossed our first meridian, having circumnavigated the globe in the direction from east to west, and consequently lost a day, for which we made an allowance at Batavia.
At day-break on the first of May, we saw the island of Saint Helena; and at noon we anchored in the road before James's fort.
We staid here till the 4th, to refresh, and Mr Banks improved the time in making the complete circuit of the island, and visiting the most remarkable places upon it. At one o'clock in the afternoon of the 4th of May, we weighed and stood out of the road, in company with the Portland man-of-war, and twelve sail of Indiamen.
We continued to sail in company with the fleet, till the 10th in the morning, when, perceiving that we sailed much heavier than any other ship, and thinking it for that reason probable that the Portland would get home before us, I made the signal to speak with her, upon which Captain Elliot himself came on board, and I delivered to him a letter to the Admiralty, with a box, containing the common logbooks of the ship, and the journals of some of the officers. We continued in company, however, till the 23d in the morning, and then there was not one of the ships in sight. About one o'clock in the afternoon, died our first lieutenant, Mr Hicks, and in the evening we committed his body to the sea, with the usual ceremonies. The disease of which he died was a consumption, and as he was not free from it when we sailed from England, it may truly be said that he was dying during the whole voyage, though his decline was very gradual till we came to Batavia: The next day I gave Mr Charles Clerk an order to act as lieutenant in his room, a young man who was extremely well qualified for that station.
Our rigging and sails were now become so bad, that something was giving way every day. We continued our course, however, in safety till the 10th of June, when land, which proved to be the Lizard, was discovered by Nicholas Young, the same boy that first saw New Zealand; on the 11th we run up the Channel, at six in the morning of the 12th we passed Beachy Head, at noon we were abreast of Dover, and about three came to an anchor in the Downs, and went ashore at Deal.
An Abstract of the VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, performed by LEWIS DE BOUGAINVILLE, Colonel of Foot, and Commander of the Expedition, in the Frigate La Boudeuse, and the Store-ship L'Etoile, in the Years 1766-7-8 and 9. (Drawn up expressly for this Work.)
The restitution of the Falkland Islands to the Spaniards was the first object of this voyage. So early as February 1764, France had commenced a settlement on them, and in all probability would have ensured its prosperity; but the property was claimed by Spain, in virtue of the old and at best imaginary rights conferred on that power by the Pope to the lands of the western hemisphere, of which they were held to be a part. It is sometimes more politic, and perhaps almost always more convenient, to avoid war, by the display of generosity in concession, than to run the hazard of expensive contension, and an unprofitable issue, by the obstinate maintenance of dubious advantages. Such seems to have been the opinion of the French king, in this instance. He acknowledged the claim of the Spaniards, and accordingly gave orders for the delivering up of the settlement. In this determination, it is probable, he was strengthened by the apprehension of the difficulties of supporting and defending an establishment, at so great a distance from his dominions. M. Bougainville, the person who had proposed the settlement, and in a considerable degree accomplished it, by carrying out several French families, and cultivating and stocking some parts of the islands, was appointed to execute a formal surrender; and he was further instructed, after doing so, to traverse the South Sea between the tropics, for the purpose of making discoveries, and to return home by the East Indies. The fulfilment of these directions constitutes his voyage round the world, with a short, but it is believed satisfactory abstract of which, it is now intended to supply the reader. The account of the voyage was drawn up and published by Bougainville himself, and has always been highly esteemed by his countrymen, who are commonly patriotic enough in their commendations. In this instance, however, if one may judge from the concurrence in opinion of others, their praise has not been injudicious; though it must be admitted on the other hand, that the partiality is ridiculous, which would place it above the narratives of Anson's and Cook's Voyages. Bougainville seems to have been a man of talents, of refined taste, and considerable literary acquirements; and his work, though, as he says in his introduction, written for seamen chiefly, yet presents some very interesting features to the general reader, and not a little information to scientific observers. He has thought proper to apologize for his deficiency in composition; but it is questionable if this be not mere affectation, common with writers who are far from thinking too meanly of themselves, for the reasons they chuse to state in the way of deprecating critical severity, and abundantly disposed to attach magnitude of consequence to the very particulars which they have employed to indicate their own inferiority. A translation of his work by Mr John Reinhold Forster, was published at London 1772, and contains additional notes. This has principally been consulted in drawing up the present abstract, which is intended as a companion to the accounts of voyages it is the object of our work to give entire. This is the proper place for its insertion, if it be right to insert it at all, and opportunities will present themselves as we proceed, for giving similar abstracts of other voyages.
Bougainville had under his command the frigate La Boudeuse, carrying 26 twelve-pounders, and the store-ship L'Etoile, appointed to supply him with provisions and stores, and to accompany him during the whole of his voyage. His establishment consisted of eleven commissioned officers, three volunteers, and two hundred sailors, &c. The prince of Nassau-Sieghen obtained leave from the king to go out on this expedition, and availed himself of it. He sailed from Nantes on the 15th November, 1766, purposing to make the river La Plata, where two Spanish frigates, appointed to receive possession of the islands, were to wait for his arrival. A squall of wind occasioned him much confusion, and forced him to put into Brest, whence, after having undergone several repairs and alterations, which the deficient state of his vessel rendered necessary, he departed on the 5th December, but not without being obliged to cut his cable, as the east wind and the ebb tide prevented his tacking about to keep clear of the shore. A pretty constant and fresh wind accompanied him, till he got sight of the Salvages on the 17th, in the afternoon. These are uninhabited islands or rocks, lying to the north of the Canary islands, and belong to the Portuguese, who, although making little or no use of them, are jealously careful to prevent others from visiting or profiting by them. The sight of these rocks convinced M. Bougainville of a considerable error in his reckoning, during even this short trip. Having rectified it, and made observations for their position, he took a fresh departure on the 19th December, at noon, when he got sight of the Isle of Ferro. On the 8th of January, he crossed the Line between 27° and 28° of longitude, and on the 31st of the same month, after an easy and uninteresting voyage, came to an anchor in Monte Video bay, where the Spanish frigates had lain expecting him four weeks. He made some observations on the currents noticed during this voyage, which are well known to occasion much error in the calculations of the navigator; but as these are not interesting to the general reader, they are omitted here, and the more properly so, because we have had frequent occasion to notice the subject in our accounts of other voyages.
Bougainville left Monte Video on the 28th February, in company with the Spanish ships, but having encountered a storm and a good deal of contrary wind, he did not quit the river till the 3d March. The voyage to the Falkland Islands was rough and troublesome, especially to the two Spanish frigates, which suffered a good deal during the course, and were for some time separated from Bougainville's ship. On the 23d and 24th of March, however, they all arrived at the place of their destination, where a formal surrender of the settlement was made according to the instructions of the two governments. The islands were delivered up on the 1st April, the Spaniards taking possession by planting their colours, which were saluted both on shore and from aboard the vessels. Several families resident there availed themselves of the French king's permission to remain under the new government, and the others embarked in the Spanish frigates to return home. M. Bougainville has related several particulars respecting the history of these islands, which, however, it is quite unnecessary to consider here, as we have either already stated them, or may hereafter have occasion to do so; they are, besides, little connected with our present object, that of tracing his course round the world.
As the store-ship did not join him at the time expected, and as it was impossible for him to traverse the Pacific Ocean, without the supplies and assistance she was appointed to afford, Bougainville resolved to quit these islands, and go to Rio Janeiro, the place specified as the rendezvous to both vessels. He sailed therefore on the 2d June, got in sight of the high head-lands of the Brazils on the 20th, and in the evening of the following day came to an anchor in the roads of Rio Janeiro, where the Etoile had arrived but a few days before. Being still, however, imperfectly furnished with provisions, he returned to Monte Video, as a fitter place for procuring them. The Etoile being a bad sailer, and having made a good deal of water, he was retarded in this voyage, which in consequence took him up from the 14th to the 31st of July. A little before his departure, he rendered some important services to a Spanish man-of-war, which had been obliged to put into Rio Janeiro to refit for her voyage to Europe, and was most ungenerously denied what was needful by the Portuguese government, for eight months. The viceroy seems to have been of an unfeeling and absurdly consequential disposition, of which some instances have been already related in our account of another voyage.
Whilst lying in Montevideo bay, a register ship ran foul of the Etoile during a hurricane, and did her so much damage, as to render it necessary to heave her down to be repaired. This was done at the Encenada de Baragan up the river, Monte Video itself not having proper accommodation for the purpose. But the requisite repairs were after all accomplished with much difficulty, and at a great expence of money, and occupied the whole of the month of October. To add to these sources of regret, this vessel had the misfortune to lose three of her crew, in returning down the river to Monte Video, a passage, which, though short, is described as very difficult, and requiring almost constant soundings to avoid danger. This accident happened from the boat containing them and other two men getting foul under the ship when it was wearing. During this passage too, it was observed, that the Etoile still continued to take in water, notwithstanding the overhauling she had received.
Some days were now occupied in the necessary preparations for leaving the Rio La Plata, such as stowing and caulking the Boudeuse, repairing the Etoile's boat, cutting grass for the live cattle on board, &c. Part of the delay, however, which these preparations occasioned, was fortunate, as a schooner happened to come from Buenos Ayres laden with flour, of which they contrived to stow sixty hundred weight on board their ships, and which proved to be a valuable addition to their stock of provisions. At this time, the crew was in perfect health, and notwithstanding the loss already mentioned, and the desertion of twelve men from the two ships, was made up to its original establishment, as some sailors had been engaged at the Falkland Islands, besides an engineer, a supercargo, and a surgeon. The provisions laid in were supposed enough for a voyage of ten months.
They left Monte Video the 14th November, with a fine breeze from the north, which was favourable for their course to Magellan's Straits. The wind was contrary from the 16th to the 21st, and they had a very high sea, so that they were obliged to keep what advantageous boards they could in tacking under their courses and close-reefed top-sails. On the 22d there was a hard gale, accompanied with squalls and showers, which continued during the night, over a frightful sea. The Etoile made signals of distress, but it was not till the 24th that she came within hail, or could specify the damage she had received. Her fore-top-sail-yard had been carried away, and four of her chain plates; and all the cattle she had taken in at Monte Video, except two, were lost in the storm. This last misfortune, unluckily, was common to both vessels, and in their present situation admitted no remedy. During the remainder of this month, the wind was variable from S.W. to N.W. and the currents ran rapidly to the southward, as far as 45° latitude, where they were merely perceptible. No ground was reached by sounding till the 27th at night, when they were in latitude 47°, and about thirty-five leagues from the coast of Patagonia. In this position, they had seventy fathoms, and an oozy bottom with black and grey sand. From the 27th till they saw land, they had pretty regular soundings, in 67, 60, 55, 50, 47, and 40 fathoms, when they got sight of Cape Virgin, or, as Anson calls it, Cape Virgin Mary, the same name by which it was known to Sir John Narborough. Bougainville advises not to approach near the coast till coming to latitude 49°, as there is a hidden rock in 48° 30', at six or seven leagues off shore, which he says he discovered when sailing here in 1765. He then ran within a quarter of a league of it, and the person who first saw it, took it to be a grampus.
He now enters upon a discussion respecting the longitude of this cape, of which he got sight on the 2d December, and which is certainly an interesting point in geography, as it determines the length of the straits. This however may be omitted, as the question is considered in the account of Captain Cook's Second Voyage, and will of course come before the reader in its proper place. Though differing with Anson as to its precise position, Bougainville admits that his lordship's view of it is most exactly true.
Contrary winds and stormy weather opposed the entrance into the straits for several days, and after having entered, obliged him to lie-to between the shores of Terra del Fuego and the continent. His foresail was split on the 4th December, and as he had then only twenty fathom, the fear of the breakers which extend S.S.E. off the cape, induced him to scud under bare poles, which, however, facilitated his bending another foresail to the yard. He afterwards discovered that these soundings were not so alarming as he then imagined them to be, as they were in fact those in the channel; and he remarks, for the benefit of succeeding navigators, that a gravelly bottom shews the position to be nearer the Terra del Fuego coast, than that of the continent, where a fine sandy, and sometimes an oozy bottom will be found. On the evening of this day, he brought-to again, under main and mizen-stay-sails, but after several disadvantageous tacks, got somewhat further from the coast towards night. At four o'clock the next afternoon, he again got sight of Cape Virgin, when he made sail in order to double it, at about a league and a half or two leagues distance. In his opinion, it was improper to sail nearer, as a bank lies off it, over the tail of which he thought he passed even at that distance; for between two soundings made by his own vessel, one of twenty-four, and the other of seventeen fathom, the Etoile, which sailed in his wake, found no more at one time than eight fathom, but immediately afterwards deepened her water. On the night of the 5th, he got Cape Virgin to bear N., but as there was a fresh breeze, and the night was gloomy, threatening a storm, he kept off and on till day-break, when having unreefed his top-sails, he run to W.N.W. He continued plying to windward, under courses and top-sails, for the whole of the 6th, during which he discovered Cape Possession on the continent coast, and also got sight of Terra del Fuego. By noon on the 7th, however, he found himself still at Cape Possession, as, besides his never going more than three leagues from the northern shore, which, obliged him to sound continually, he lost as much by the tides as he ever gained by them. About this time the wind shifting favourably, he continued his voyage, and got to the entrance of the first gut about half after two o'clock; but now with all his sails set, and aided by a fine breeze, he could not stem the tide, which ran six knots an hour against him, and carried him astern. It was in vain to strive; and fearing, as the wind was unsteady, that he might be becalmed in the gut, and therefore exposed to danger on the ledges off the capes forming the entrance, especially a long one on the Terra del Fuego side, he was at last constrained to turn in search of anchorage in the bottom of Possession Bay, for which he steered N. by E. This he found at seven in the evening, about two leagues from the land, in twenty fathom, having a mud and sand ground, with black and white gravel. He was more successful in his exertions the following morning, when having stemmed a contrary tide, the current set to windward, and carried him, tacking frequently to avoid both coasts, through the first gut, in spite of the wind which blew hard against him. It was noon before he accomplished this, after which he made sail, as the wind had veered to S., and the tide still ran to windward; both, however, failing about three o'clock, he anchored in Boucalt Bay on the continent side, in eighteen fathom, having an oozy bottom. Immediately afterwards he hoisted out one of his boats, as did also the Etoile, and embarking in them to the number of ten officers, each armed with his musket landed at the bottom of the bay to have an interview with the Patagonians, who had kept up fires all night on the coast, and in the morning had hoisted a white flag, supposed to be the same which the Etoile, when here in June 1766, had left with them as a sign of friendship and alliance. Their having kept it, is properly enough considered by Bougainville, as an indication of very laudable social qualities. The Spaniards, indeed, have given a favourable report of the people that inhabit this part of the strait, mentioning several circumstances in praise of their humanity and good faith.
As soon as the officers got ashore, six of the natives rode up to them in full gallop, and having alighted when about fifty yards off, immediately came up to them with outstretched arms, and congratulatory shouts of Shawa, shawa, which the officers were careful to repeat, with similar marks of satisfaction. Some symptoms of fear were visible on two of these people, but they were speedily removed; and shortly afterwards this party was joined by many more of their countrymen, who manifested entire confidence and good nature. They did not seem surprised at seeing the strangers; and as they imitated the report of muskets, it was inferred that they were not ignorant of the use of these arms, and that consequently, they had had previous intercourse with Europeans, in proof of their willingness to please their visitors, it is mentioned, that they immediately set about picking plants, and carrying them to some of the officers who had commenced searching for them; and it is noted, as an evidence of their having some notions of the use of medicines, that one of them afflicted with a sore eye, applied by signs to Chevalier du Bouchage, one of the gentlemen so engaged, to point out a remedy for it. They asked in a similar manner for tobacco. Any thing of a red colour pleased them highly; and always when any presents had been made them, and at every mark of kindness, they testified their satisfaction by loud shouts of shawa. Among other things given them in exchange for skins, or in mere condescension, was some brandy, of which each got a little drop. The effect of it was singular; immediately on swallowing it, they beat with their hands on their throats, and uttered a sort of tremulous, but inarticulate sound, which was terminated by a quick motion of the lips. This is said to have been done by all of them. They expressed a degree of uneasiness and concern, when they understood the officers were preparing to leave them. This was appeased, however, when it was intimated to them that they would be visited again on the following day; and they accompanied the party to the sea-shore, one of their number singing during the march. Some of them even waded into the water, and got within reach of the boats; but this was not so convenient, as they manifested a pretty strong disposition to furnish themselves with whatever they could lay hold on. Before the boats got to any distance, the number of the savages increased very much, many coming up in the same manner as these had done, at full gallop.
In the opinion of Bougainville, these people were the same that had been seen by the Etoile in 1765; for he says, that one of his present sailors, who was then on board that vessel, distinctly recognised one of them. They were well shaped, and their height was estimated at betwixt 5 feet 5 inches, and 5 feet 10 inches French; or in English, measure, 5 feet 10,334 inches, and 6 feet 2,5704 inches. They appeared gigantic, it is added very properly, because they had very broad shoulders, their heads were large, and their limbs thick. They were robust and very muscular, and seemed to enjoy perfection of health, and to possess abundance of wholesome diet. Their figures, notwithstanding the dimensions, were far from being coarse or unpleasant; on the contrary, many of them might be esteemed handsome. The peculiarities of their features were, a round and somewhat flat face, very fiery eyes, uncommonly white teeth, and long black hair which was worn tied on the top of the head. In the colour of the skin, they did not differ from other Americans. Some of them had their cheeks painted red. The language they used is said to have been very delicate. The description now given of these people, it must be remarked, applies to the men, for hitherto none of the women had been seen. In dress they nearly resembled the Indians residing about the Rio de la Plata. A piece of leather served them for an apron, and a cloak of skin fastened round the body with a girdle, hung as far down as their heels, but had besides a part, generally allowed to fall down also, which might occasionally cover their shoulders, though this was not often done. They did not seem very sensible to the cold of the climate, which, even at this season, viz. their summer, was only ten degrees less than that which freezes water. Their legs were covered with a sort of half boot, open behind; and some of them, wore on the thigh a copper ring about two inches broad. That they had had acquaintance with Europeans was still more clearly manifested by sundry articles amongst them, of which are mentioned particularly little iron knives, supposed to have been given them by Commodore Byron a short time before. Their horses were bridled and saddled in the same manner as those of the inhabitants of Rio de la Plata; and one of these bulky cavaliers had gilt nails at his saddle, wooden stirrups covered with copper plates, a bridle of twisted leather, and an entire Spanish harness. Here did not appear to be any thing like superiority of rank or subordination established among them; nor could it be remarked, that three old men who were in the party, received any peculiar marks of esteem from the rest. Bougainville gives it as his opinion, that these savages lived somewhat in the manner of the Tartars, traversing the immense plains of South America, living almost constantly on horse-back, and subsisting on such fare as their hunting expeditions, if not their pillaging ones, brought them in.
On the morning of the 9th, an attempt was made to stem the tide, by steering S.W. by W., but the progress was very inconsiderable; and the wind having veered from N.W. to S.W., it was found necessary to come to an anchor again, which was done in nineteen fathom. The weather during this day and the following one, was so exceedingly unfavourable, that not one fit opportunity presented of sending out a boat to fulfil the promise made to the Patagonians, which probably was an equal disappointment to both parties. Whole troops of the natives were seen at the place where the landing had been made, and where, there can be no doubt, another was anxiously expected. At midnight on the 11th, the wind having veered to N.E., and the tide having set to the westward, a signal was made for weighing, but unfortunately the cable parted the bits and the hawse, so that the anchor was lost. The sails being set, some way was made next morning; but it was little, however, as the tide soon ran contrary, and could scarcely be stemmed with the light breeze at N.W. This difficulty was removed at noon, about which time the tide ebbed, and favoured their passing the second gut, when the frigate came to an anchor to the northward of the Isle of Elizabeth, in seven fathom, at about two miles off shore, and the store-ship a quarter of a league farther to the S.E. in seventeen fathom. A boat landed at the island on the 12th, but the description of it is uninteresting, as, except its presenting great facility for landing, and having some bustards, it was no way remarkable.
On the 13th in the afternoon, they weighed and made sail betwixt the island and the Isles of St Bartholomew and Lions, the only practicable channel here in the opinion of Bougainville, who, however, it is likely, rather followed the example of Byron, than investigated for himself. Here the tide set to the southward, and was very strong, and there were continual squalls coming off the high land of Elizabeth Island, to which they were forced to keep near, in order to avoid the breakers extending round the other islands. The coast of the continent from below Cape Noir, and which runs southward, was well covered with woods, and had a very pleasant appearance. They sailed along the coast at about a league distance, and for a considerable time this day, hoping to be able to double Cape Round during the night; but in this they were disappointed, for a little after midnight, very suddenly the wind got round to the S.W., the coast became foggy, and the weather altogether exceedingly foul; an evidence of the fickleness of the climate. Having split their main-sail, they had to ply to windward as well as they could, endeavouring to get shelter in Port Famine; but this they were unable to effect; and, as in consequence of the short tacks they had to make, and their being obliged to wear, they were in some risk of being taken by a strong current into a great inlet on the Terra del Fuego side, it became necessary for them, after losing much time and labour, to go along the coast in search of anchorage to leeward. It was not till eleven o'clock next morning that they succeeded in this, when they got to a bay named by him Duclos Bay, after the second in command, where they cast anchor in eight and a half fathom, and an oozy bottom. This bay is a little to the south of Fresh-Water Bay, and, besides having good anchorage, affords water of an excellent quality, about four hundred yards from the mouth of two rivers, which discharge themselves into it: No quadrupeds were seen here, and only a very few birds. At four o'clock on the 16th, they set sail with a pretty favourable wind, but a cloudy sky, passed Point St Anne and Cape Round, the Cape Shutup of others, and brought-to, within a league and a half from Cape Forward, where they were becalmed for two hours. Between the two points last mentioned, a distance, according to Byron, of seven leagues S.W. by S. course, Bougainville says there are four bays in which a vessel may anchor, and that two of them are separated from each other by a cape of a very singular appearance and structure. It rises more than 150 feet above the level of the sea, and consists entirely of petrified shells lying in horizontal strata; a line of 100 fathom, it is added, did not reach the bottom of the sea at the foot of it. This very extraordinary monument of the revolutions which our globe has undergone, does not seem to have been noticed by the geologists.
Cape Forward, or St Isidore, as it has been named by some navigators, and which is the most southerly point of the American continent, lies in lat. 54° 5' 45". It is a perpendicular rock, the top of which is covered with snow, but some trees are to be seen on its sides. The sea below it is too deep for anchorage; however, between two hillocks which shew on part of its surface, there is a little bay provided with a rivulet, where, in case of necessity, a vessel might anchor in about fifteen fathom. Having ascertained these and some other matters during the calm which allowed him to use his pinnace, Bougainville returned on board, and set out for Cape Holland. But the wind veering to S.W., he went in search of the harbour which M. de Gennes named French Bay, and anchored between the two points which constitute its entrance, in ten fathom. Here he resolved to take in wood and water for his voyage across the Pacific Ocean, as it had been so favourably described by that gentleman, and as he himself was ignorant of the remaining navigation of the straits. But having ascertained, however, that the anchorage was not safe here, and that the boats could not get up the river, except at high water, he removed eastward to a small bay, in which in 1765, as related in the account of Byron's voyage, he had taken in wood for the Falkland Islands, and which had been named after him Bougainville's Bay. Here then he anchored in twenty-eight fathom, and afterwards warped into the bottom of the bay, to ensure all safety during his continuance for the necessary repairs and getting supplies, which took him up till the end of December, and would in all probability have consumed more time, had not the labours of the Etoile, his present consort, when here before, facilitated his operations. This residence, it was expected, would allow opportunity for examining the straits in this part, besides occupying the astronomer and botanist, and the useful pursuits of hunting and fowling. Their success, however, was not very considerable in any of these respects. The sky was exceedingly unfavourable for observation; many obstacles impeded those who searched for plants; the only animal seen was a fox, which was killed amongst the workmen; and the attempt to explore the coast of the continent was fruitless, as the weather became so very tempestuous, as to force those who were engaged in it to return to the vessel with all possible celerity, after being thoroughly drenched in rain, and almost starved to death by cold, though in the middle of summer. Some days after this uncomfortable expedition, another was planned to the Terra del Fuego side, and succeeded better. On the 27th, the party intended for it, consisting among others of Bougainville himself, Messrs de Bournand, and d'Oraison, and the Prince of Nassau, well armed with swivel-guns and muskets, sailed in the Boudeuse's long-boat, and the Etoile's barge, across the straits, and landed at the mouth of a little river, on the banks of which they dined beneath the shade of a pleasant wood, where they discovered several huts belonging to the natives. After dinner, they rowed along the coast of Terra del Fuego in a hollow sea, and with the wind somewhat westerly, which was unfavourable. It carried them, however, across a great inlet, of which they could not see the end, and which, indeed, they believed, from the circumstances of the high rolling sea, and the numbers of whales they observed, to have a communication with the ocean at Cape Horn. On the farther side of this inlet, they saw several fires, which were afterwards extinguished and again lighted, when some savages made their appearance on the low point of a bay where it was intended to touch. They were recognized by Bougainville, as the same people he had seen in his first voyage in the straits, and then denominated Pecherais, from the word which they pronounced so often to their visitants. They are described as most disgustingly filthy, and extremely wretched as to provisions, and every accommodation that renders life desirable; in short, as the poorest and most miserable of all that bear the name of savages. Meanly, however, as they are spoken of, it is admitted, that they have some social virtues; but, perhaps, it is a doubtful article in the short catalogue of their commendation, that they are superstitions enough to put implicit confidence in the efficacy of their physicians and priests. The number of this forlorn tribe is too inconsiderable to render their history important, even though their manners and characters were more calculated than they are represented to be, to excite interest or call forth sympathy on the part of the reader. The enthusiastic eulogist of Optimism will readily reconcile their condition to the principles which claim his admiration, by the obvious discovery, that their natures are in alliance with their circumstances, and by the easy belief, that hitherto no hope or idea of greater comfort had enhanced the magnitude of their present misery. The wretch, he would say, whose taste can regale itself on putridity and corruption, need never be held up as an exception to the philosophical system, which finds nothing but beauty and happiness diffused throughout the universe; though his appearance, it must be owned, in the very act of indulgence especially, might somewhat stagger the student who was still engaged in enquiring into the grounds of the theory. To be content, it is often preached, is to be happy; the reason is, however, what perhaps they who so strongly urge the proposition, are not quite aware of in their voluntary complacency, that, in order to be happy, one must be contented. The dialectical skill of an Aquinas would fail to prove the theme, that happiness exists where there are desires ungratified, and appetites unprovided for; and most certainly, these poor Pecherais would never be adduced by him as evidence, till he had humanely, though sophistically, secured their testimony by bribing their stomachs. If one may judge from the experience of Bougainville, this kind of subornation would be somewhat difficult of accomplishment. To return.--The night after falling in with these people, was passed on the banks of a pretty considerable river, on which the party made a fire, and erected a sort of tents with the sails of their boats, the weather being cold, though fine. Next morning they discovered the bay and port of Beaubassin, so called by them from the beauty of the anchoring-place, and which is represented to be a commodious and safe situation. Bougainville continued his survey to the westward, of which he has given a minute, and to navigators, it is probable, a very useful description, not, however, requisite for this work. Having spent a little time in this excursion, and encountered a good deal of disagreeable weather, he returned to the frigate, and on the last day of December weighed and set sail, in order to pass the remainder of the straits. On the evening of this day he doubled Cape Holland, and came to an anchor in the road of Port Gallant, which was very fortunate, as the succeeding night became tempestuous, the wind blowing hard at S.W. In this place, however, they were forced by the state of the weather, which, it is said, was inconceivably worse than the severest winter at Paris, to remain for three weeks together, a space abundantly long to give them an intimate acquaintance with the parts in their neighbourhood. Amongst the objects which attracted their notice here, they found vestiges of the passage and touching of English ships, especially a label of wood with the words Chatham, March, 1766, and initial letters and names with the same date, marked on several of the trees. M. Verron, who had got his astronomical instruments on shore, made an observation, by which he found the latitude to be 53° 40' 41" S., from which, and some bearings taken at different times, it was inferred that the distance from Port Gallant to Port Forward was twelve leagues. An attempt was made by the same gentleman to determine the longitude of the bay, by means of an eclipse of the moon which occurred on the 3d January (1768); but the excessive rain which continued through the whole day and night frustrated his endeavours. The declination of the needle was observed by the azimuth-compass to be 22° 30' 32" N.E., and its inclination from the elevation of the pole, 11° 11'. Such is the poor amount of the astronomical labours for nearly a month, in this so uncourteous a season and climate. During this long and disagreeable residence, most annoying to both men of science and common sailors, some visits from the Pecherais, already mentioned, afforded a little recreation, but of no very elegant or dignified kind; and even this, indifferent as it was, presented a melancholy accident, with which the reader has been already made acquainted--one of the children of these poor creatures swallowing some bits of glass, improvidently given him by the sailors, and losing his life in consequence.[167] On the 13th, 14th, and 15th of January, the weather assumed something of a milder form; and on the 16th, appearances were altogether so agreeable, as to induce Bougainville to weigh, the breeze being from the north, and the tide, which was ebbing, in his favour. He was not long, however, before he had cause to repent his facility of confidence. The wind soon shifted to W. and W.S.W., and the tide would not serve him to gain Rupert Isle. His vessel sailed very ill, and drove rapidly to leeward. The Etoile, it seems, had now considerably the advantage over her. They plied all this day between Rupert Island, and a head-land of the continent, waiting for the ebb, with which it was hoped they might gain either the anchoring-place in Bay Dauphine on Louis le Grand Island, or Elizabeth Bay. But as ground was lost in this labour, Bougainville sent out a boat to sound for an anchorage to the S.E. of Rupert's Island, where he now intended to wait, if possible, till the tide became favourable. A signal was made from the boat that this was found, but by this time they had fallen to leeward of it, and had to endeavour to gain it by making a board in-shore. The frigate unfortunately missed stays twice, and it became necessary to wear, in the very act of which, the force of the tide brought her to the wind again, a strong current having already taken her within half a cable's length of the shore. In this state, an anchor was let go in eight fathom, but falling upon rocks it came home again. At this time, they had only three fathom and a half of water astern, and were not more than thrice the length of the ship from the shore, when a little breeze opportunely springing up, filled their sails, and carried them to leeward, the boats of both vessels coming a-head, and taking her in tow. Their danger, however, was yet to be increased, for when veering away their cable, it happened to get foul between decks, and so stopt their course; a hinderance, for which there remained no other remedy than that of cutting it, which was most promptly done, and saved the ship. The breeze then freshened, and enabled them with some difficulty and tacking, to return to Port Gallant, where they anchored in twenty fathom, and an oozy bottom. Thus ended their enjoyment of the fine weather.
[Footnote 167: This is particularly related in our account of Cook's voyage, vol. xii. p. 397.]--E.]
On the following day, a greater storm came on than had been yet experienced. The sea ran mountains high in the channel, and often exhibited waves striking in contrary directions against each other. A clap of thunder was heard at noon, the only one they had ever noticed in this strait, and it seemed to be a signal for an increased violence of the wind. They dragged their anchor in the storm, and were obliged to let go the sheet-anchor, and to strike their lower yards and top-masts. Some intervals between the bad weather occurred on the 18th and 19th, and allowed them, among other things, to send the Etoile's barge, which was in peculiar good condition, to view the channel of Sainte Barbe, about which, however, his information was so scanty and apparently incorrect, at least imperfect, as to prove of little utility in his present situation. This he the more regretted, as, in his opinion, the perfect knowledge of it would have considerably shortened the passage of the straits. It requires little time, he remarks, to get to Port Gallant, the chief difficulty being to double Cape Forward, which, he says, is rendered easier by the discovery he made of three ports on the Terra del Fuego side; and when once that port is gained, even though the winds should prevent a vessel taking the ordinary course, this channel is open, and may be gone through in twenty-four hours, so as to reach the South Sea. He could not perfectly demonstrate the truth of this opinion he entertained, as the bad weather prevented the examination of some points as he had projected.
The storm and bad weather continued with little intermission till the 24th, when a calm and some sun-shine induced him to make another attempt to proceed. Since re-entering Port Gallant, he had taken in several tons of ballast, and altered his stowage, by which he succeeded in getting the frigate to sail better than it did before. On the whole, however, he remarks, it will always be found very difficult to manage so long a vessel as a frigate usually is, in the midst of currents. Captain Cook, perhaps, had contemplated such a difficulty, when he assigned his reasons for preferring a vessel like the Endeavour, for the purposes of discovery.
On the 25th, at one in the morning, they unmoored, weighed at three, the breeze being northerly, but settling in the east at half-past five, when they got top-gallant and studding-sails set, a circumstance somewhat unusual in this navigation. They kept the middle of the strait, following the windings of what Narborough justly calls Crooked Reach. The coast runs W.N.W. for about two leagues from Bay Elizabeth, when you reach the Bachelor river of that navigator. This is easily known; it comes from a deep valley, having a high mountain on the west, the most westerly point of which is low and wooded, and the coast is sandy. Bougainville reckons three leagues from this river to the entrance of St Jerome's channel, or the False Strait as others have called it, and the bearing is N.W. by W. This channel, the entrance of which is said to be about half a league broad, may be easily mistaken for the true one, as it is admitted, happened at first on the present occasion. In order to avoid it, Bougainville advises to keep the coast of Louis le Grand Island on board, which may be done, he says, without danger. He himself ran within a mile of the shore of this island, which is about four leagues long, and the north side of which runs W.N.W., as far as Bay Dauphine. At noon this day, Cape Quade (or Quod) which is about four leagues from St Jerome's channel, bore W. 13° S. two leagues distant, and Cape St Louis, E. by N. about two leagues and a half. The weather continued fair, and they had the advantage of all their sails being set.
The strait runs W.N.W. and N.W. by W. from Cape Quade, and being without any considerable turnings, has obtained the name of Long-Reach. The cape consists of craggy rocks, resembling some ancient ruins, and the coast, up to it is wooded, the verdure of the trees contrasting finely with the frozen and snowy summits of the neighbouring mountains; but after doubling this point, the nature of the country is said to be very different, presenting scarcely any thing but barren rocks, the intervals of which are filled up with immense masses of no less unfriendly ice, altogether meriting the name which Narborough bestowed on it in the penury of his feelings, the Desolation of the South. Opposite this cape, and about fifteen leagues off, is Cape Monday on the Terra del Fuego side, which, with other remarkable points of this strait, we have elsewhere described. Bougainville was tempted by the fineness of the weather to continue his course in this strait during the night, but the excessive rain and wind which came on about ten o'clock, made him repent his temerity, and rendered his situation betwixt two shores, which it required the greatest caution and continual activity to avoid, one of the most critical and unpleasant he experienced during the voyage. The dawn of the following day, gave them sight of the land, which for some hours they had been groping against in the utmost fear of collision; and about noon, they descried Cape Pillar, the termination of this perilous strait, beyond which, there beamed on their joyful eyes an immense horizon and an unspotted sea.
Fifty-two days were elapsed since they left Cape Virgin, the half of which had been spent in inactive but painful suffering at Port Gallant. Bougainville reckons the length of the strait at about one-hundred and fourteen leagues, viz. from Cape Virgin Mary to Cape Pillar; and in his opinion, notwithstanding the difficulties of the passage, it is to be preferred to doubling Cape Horn, especially in the period from September to the end of March. His reasons for this opinion, and the concurrent and contrary sentiments of other navigators, have been either already stated, or will require to be so hereafter, and need not now interrupt our prosecution of the remainder of his voyage.
A few days after entering the Western Sea, the wind got S. and S.S.W. This was sooner than Bougainville expected, as it was thought the west winds generally lasted to about 30°, and obliged him to lay aside his intention of going to the isle of Juan Fernandez, as the doing so would necessarily prolong his voyage. He stood, therefore, as much as possible to the west, in order to keep the wind, and to get off the coast; and with a view to discover a greater space of the ocean, he directed the commander of the Etoile to go every morning southward as far from him as the weather would permit, keeping in sight, and to join, him in the evening, and follow in his wake at about half a league's distance. This it was hoped would both facilitate examination, and secure mutual assistance, and was the order of sailing preserved throughout the voyage.
He now directed his course in search of the land seen by Davis in 1686, between 27° and 28° south latitude, and sought for in vain by Roggewein. This search, however, was equally fruitless, though Bougainville crossed the position laid down for it in M. de Bellin's chart. His conclusion, in consequence, is, that the land spoken of by Davis was no other than the isles of St Ambrose and St Felix, which are about two hundred leagues off the coast of Chili. Westerly winds came on about the 23d of February, and lasted to the 3d of March, the weather varying much, but almost every day bringing rain about noon, accompanied with thunder. This seemed strange to Bougainville, as this ocean under the tropic had always been renowned for the uniformity and freshness of the E. and S.E. trade-winds, supposed to last throughout the year. In the month of February, four astronomical observations were made for determining the longitude. The first, made on the 6th, differed 31' from the reckoning, the latter being to the westward. The second, on the 11th, differed 37' 45", in the opposite direction. By the third, made on the 22d, the reckoning was 42' 30", westward in excess; and that of the 27th shewed a difference of 1' 25" in the same line. At this time they had calms and contrary winds. The thermometer, till they came to 45° latitude, had always kept between 5° and 8° above the freezing point; after that, it rose successively, and when they were between 27° and 24° latitude, varied upwards a good deal. A sore throat prevailed among the crew of the frigate ever since leaving the straits, and was attributed, whether justly or not, to the snow waters they had been in the habit of using there. It was not, however, very obstinate, readily yielding to simple remedies; and at the end of March, it is said, there was no body on the sick list.
On the 21st of this month, a tunny was caught with some little fish, not yet digested in its belly, which are noticed never to go any great distance from the shore. This accordingly was held as an indication of land being near, and indeed a just one, in the present instance; for about six in the morning of the next day, they got sight of four little isles at one time, bearing S.S.E. 1/2 E., and of another about four leagues west. The former, Bougainville called les quatre Facardins, but being too far to windward for him at present, he preferred standing for the single one a-head. On approaching this, it was discovered to be surrounded with a very level sand, and to have all its interior parts covered with thick woods surmounted by cocoa-trees. So delightful an appearance as it presented, lost none of its charms in the eyes of men who longed for the refreshments of dry land and the vegetable world. But their desires must have consumed them, had this been the only shore which could gratify them. It was found impossible to land on it, or to obtain the advantages which it seemed to hold out to their hopes. Bougainville bestowed on it the name of Isle des Lanciers, from the circumstance of his noticing about fifteen or twenty of its inhabitants carrying very long pikes, as in the act of brandishing them against the ship, with signs of threatening. After this idle display of courage, they were seen to retire to the woods, where it was possible to distinguish their huts by means of glasses. The men are represented as being tall, and of a bronze colour, and destitute of clothing.
In the night of the 22d, a storm came on attended with thunder and rain, which obliged Bougainville to bring to, for fear of running against some of the lowlands in this sea. At day-break on the following day, land was seen bearing from N.E. by N. to N.N.W., which he stood for; at eight o'clock, he got about three leagues from its eastermost point; but then perceiving that there were breakers all along the opposite coast, which seemed low and covered with trees, he stood out to sea again, waiting for fairer weather to permit a nearer approach. This was done towards ten o'clock, when the island was not more than a league off. Similar difficulties, however, were experienced here, as at the former island; and after several fruitless attempts to find anchorage for the ships, or a landing-place for the boats, it was necessary to abandon it, which was done with similar feelings of chagrin on the morning of the 24th. This island was denominated Harp Island, from its figure, and had inhabitants much resembling those of the one which had been previously discovered. At five in the afternoon of this day, an island was discovered about seven or eight leagues distant; another, in the morning of the 25th, extending S.E. and N.W.; and the course was continued till the 27th, between several low and partly overflowed islands, four of which were examined and found quite inaccessible, or undeserving of being visited. To the whole cluster, Bougainville gave the name of Dangerous Archipelago, by which they have been generally known since his day, and which sufficiently indicates the nature of the navigation around them.
He now shaped his course more southerly, in order to avoid a situation which presented him with so many difficulties, and yielded so few comforts; and on the 28th, he ceased to see land. About this time, it is noted, the scurvy made its appearance on eight or ten of the crew, which was imputed in a great degree to the moistness of the weather. Lemonade was the principal article used for the removal or prevention of it. From the 3d of March till his arrival at New Britain, Bougainville constantly used Poissonier's distilling apparatus, by which, he says, above a barrel of tolerably fresh water was obtained daily.
On the 2d of April, the island of Otaheite, or Taiti, as Bougainville calls it, was got sight of, and soon afterwards were discovered some of the islands in its neighbourhood. But it was not till the 4th, that, when standing in for the shore of the former, as likely to realize the hopes of refreshment, which had been so eagerly entertained by the crew, some of the natives came off to them in their canoes, and commenced a friendly intercourse. Being ignorant of the coast and nature of the situation, for to Bougainville, at this time, Otaheite was a new discovery, a good deal of time was lost in examining the island for an anchoring-place, which was not determined on till the 6th. The numbers of islanders that surrounded the ships as they neared the land, rendered the operations of mooring and warping somewhat difficult and troublesome. The manners too of these easy people multiplied embarrassments, of a particular kind, which it required no ordinary authority and self-denial to controul. In one instance, however, it is said, the presence of an Otaheitan Venus, in any thing else than a repulsive attitude, had the effect of expediting the necessary work. Both sailors and soldiers, it seems, pressed towards the hatch-way, where she had planted herself in all the revealed attraction of native beauty; and the capstern was in consequence hove with more than common eagerness and expedition. But the utmost care, one may readily believe, was requisite to keep these enchanted fellows in good order. It is a trite remark, that the imaginary anticipation of pleasure is seldom or ever equalled by the enjoyment of it. Independent of the causes which may account for such commonly experienced disappointment, it is ten to one in almost any case, but that in a world like this, some vexatious occurrence or other, nowise calculated on by an excited fancy, will altogether prevent the realization hoped for. Such was the fortune of Bougainville's cook, who, in spite of the law to the contrary, effected his escape to the shore in company with a complying damsel. The poor fellow soon returned on board, more dead than alive. Immediately on landing, it seems, the natives surrounded him, and with all the ease and genuine curiosity of naturalists inspecting a non-descript mineral, proceeded to turn him over and over, undressing him from head to foot, and pawing him about most tumultuously. They afterwards returned him his clothes, replacing whatever they had taken out of his pockets, and then brought the girl to him. But after such a scrutinizing and fatiguing process, it was no wonder that the terrified cook should desist from his addresses, and make the best of his way back. He afterwards said, his master might reprimand him as much as he pleased, but could never frighten him so much as he had been frightened on shore. When the ships were moored, Bougainville with several of his officers went to survey the watering-place. The natives expressed joy at their arrival; and the chief of the district conducted them into his own house, and entertained them there with liberal hospitality. The rights of friendship, nevertheless, did not obliterate the inclination to thieving, so prevalent among these people, for a little before going on board, one of the gentlemen missed a pistol, which he had been in the habit of carrying in his pocket. The chief was immediately informed of it, and gave orders for searching all the persons present. Bougainville stopped him, and endeavoured to make him understand, that the thief would certainly be the victim of his own dishonesty, for that what he had stolen would kill him. This hint had the desired effect; for on the following day, the pistol was brought on board by the chief himself.
It was now proposed to erect a camp on shore for the sick, and to carry on the watering and other necessary operations. But this was soon opposed, the principal people of the district, headed by the chief, whose name was Ereti, and his father, coming to Bougainville, and expressing their unwillingness to suffer any of the crew to remain on shore at night, though they did not object to frequenting it in the day-time. To this tolerably reasonable intimation, Bougainville replied, that encampment was absolutely necessary for him, and would facilitate the friendly intercourse that had been commenced. On this, the natives held a council, the result of which was, that the chief came to Bougainville, and made enquiry of him, whether or not he intended to remain there for ever, and if the latter, how long it would be before he departed. He was informed that the ships were to sail in eighteen days. Another council was now held, at which Bougainville was desired to be present. A grave man who took an active part in the conference, was very desirous to reduce the time of encamping to half the number of days; but Bougainville still insisted on his original proposal, to which at last the council assented, and a good understanding was immediately restored. The remainder of the stay here does not seem, however, to have been either very peaceable or free from danger. The thieving disposition of the natives occasioned several unpleasant contentions and perpetual jealousy. Two of them were murdered by some of the crew, but on what grounds, or by whom particularly, it is said, could not be discovered. The circumstance led to much apprehension of an attempt to revenge, and measures were accordingly taken to render it inefficient, but they were seemingly unnecessary. The dangers at sea were much more formidable, and far less easily provided against. It is perhaps quite enough to say of them, that the ships were for a considerable time in the greatest risque of being wrecked on the reef coast of the island, and that in the short space of nine days during which they were here, they lost no less than six anchors. All this, it is probable, would have been avoided, if Bougainville had been better acquainted with the island. His description of it, indeed, is so imperfect, and in several respects erroneous, as to be altogether void of interest to any one who peruses what we have already given on the subject, in the preceding and present volumes. We shall accordingly pass it over, specifying only a few particulars respecting one of its natives Aotourou, who, at his own desire, accompanied Bougainville to Europe, and whose history has attracted a little notice.
This young man was the son of an Otaheitan chief, and a captive woman of the neighbouring isle of Oopoa, with the natives of which the Otaheitans often carried on war. Immediately on Bougainville's arrival at his native place, he expressed a determination to follow the strangers, which his countrymen seemed to applaud, and his zeal in which was so great as to overcome an attachment to a handsome girl, from whom he had to tear himself on coming aboard the ship. Bougainville admits, that in yielding to this determination, he hoped to avail himself of one whose knowledge of the language of the people in this part of the world, was likely to be useful in the remainder of his voyage; and besides this, which perhaps was laudable enough, or at least justifiable, he entertained the supposition, rather an unlikely one indeed, that through him on his return, enriched by the useful knowledge which he would bring, a profitable union might be established betwixt these islanders and his own nation. The immediate advantages were not considerable, for this youth's talents were but slender, and the ultimate object was never accomplished, as he died of the small-pox in the voyage out to Otaheite. Bougainville, notwithstanding, is deserving of credit for the care and attention he bestowed on him. He spared neither money nor trouble to render his residence at Paris both comfortable and useful, and so far succeeded, it appears, as that during the long time Aotourou was there, he gave no symptoms of weariness. But it is certain, on the other hand, that his advancement in useful knowledge was not very flattering to his teachers, and never equalled the favourable ideas Bougainville had entertained of his capabilities. Mr Forster says, in a footnote to the translation, that some Englishmen who saw him at Paris, and whose testimony, were their names mentioned, would be decisive with the public, were decidedly of opinion, that Aotourou was naturally a stupid fellow, an opinion, it seems, in which his own countrymen unanimously concurred. The amount of his improvements, even on Bougainville's own evidence, was, his scarcely blabbering out some French words, his finding his way through Paris, his hardly ever paying for things beyond their real value, and his perfectly well knowing the days of the opera, to the amusements of which he shewed an excessive partiality. These degrees of refinement, it must be allowed, do not indicate superlative talents; yet, if one may judge from the advancement in Frenchification made by many who have visited Paris from other countries, they may not depreciate the docility of poor Aotourou, much below the common average! He embarked at Rochelle in 1770, on board the Brisson, which was to take him to the Isle of France, whence, by orders of the ministry, he was to be conveyed home, which, as already mentioned, he never reached.
At eight in the morning of the 16th of April, the ships were about ten leagues N.E. by N. off the north point of Otaheite, from which point, Bougainville now took his departure. He got sight of some land in the vicinity on the same day, and shaped his course so as to avoid what Roggewein called the Pernicious Isles. During the remainder of this month, the weather continued very fine, and the winds were chiefly from the east inclining to the north. In the first week of May, several islands were discovered, which Bougainville divided into two clusters, calling one the Archipelago of Bourbon, and the other the Archipelago of the Navigators. Some of them, it is probable, had been known before, as the ascertained longitude corresponded tolerably well with that which Abel Tasman gave for the isles of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, &c. bad weather came on the 6th of this month, and continued with scarcely any interruption till the 20th, during which period, calms, rains, and westerly winds were to be encountered. The situation of the ships had now become very distressing. There was a scarcity of water and wholesome provisions; the scurvy broke out among the crew, and several men were affected with venereal symptoms, the consequence, it is said, of infection got at Otaheite. Hence it is asked, but by no means is the affirmative reply distinctly asserted, if the English brought it there? This subject has been discussed with tolerable freedom in another part of this work, and need not be resumed here. Such critical circumstances induced Bougainville to use all possible speed in getting to some place of refreshment, and of course materially interfered with his plan of making discoveries.
On the 22d of May, two isles were observed, the most southerly bearing from S. by E. to S.W. by S., and seeming to be about twelve leagues long, in a N.N.W. direction; the other bore from S.W. 1/2 S. to W.N.W., and having been first seen at day-break, was called Aurora. To the former, in honour of the day, was given the name of Isle de la Pentecôte, or Whitsun Isle. Bougainville attempted to pass betwixt these two islands, but the wind failing him, he was obliged to go to leeward of Aurora. In getting to the northward, along its eastern shore, he saw a little isle, rising like a sugar-loaf and bearing N. by W. which he denominated Peak of the Etoile. He now ranged along the Isle of Aurora, at about a league and a half distant. It is described as about ten leagues in length, but not more than two in breadth, with steep shores, and as covered with wood. At two in the afternoon, when coasting this isle, the summits of high mountains were perceived over it, about ten leagues off, which belonged to another island, as was found next morning. This island lay S.W. of Aurora, and at the nearest part was about three or four leagues from it. Several canoes were seen along its coasts, but none of the natives put off to the ships. Though no bottom could be found near the shore with fifty fathom, yet Bougainville resolved, if possible, to make a landing on it, in order to get wood and necessary refreshments. A party of men was accordingly sent off in three armed boats; and effected a landing without any opposition. Bougainville himself and some others went to join this party in the afternoon, and found it busily employed as directed, the natives lending considerable assistance by conveying wood, &c. to the boats. At first, indeed, they presented themselves in an armed posture, and seemed resolved to prevent any intrusion on their ground, but the prudent and conciliatory conduct of the officers effected a relinquishment of immediate hostility. This, it is thought, was but deceitful, and apparently intended to throw the party off its guard. Very probably, they meditated a serious attack, but were disconcerted by the party embarking sooner than they expected. In doing so, they exhibited what had continued to actuate them, for when the party put off in their boats, these people followed it, and showed their dexterity in throwing stones and arrows, from which they did not desist, till twice fired on by the crew. These savages are unfavourably described; they are said to have been ugly, of short stature, and ill proportioned; and as they were affected with a disease which Bougainville considered leprosy, this island got the name of Isle of Lepers. The few women that were seen, at best rivalled the men in disagreeable appearance, and were about as naked.
Bougainville now made sail to the S.W. for a long coast in sight, extending as far as the eye could reach, from S.W. to W.N.W., but as there was little or no wind during the 24th, both day and night, he was left to the mercy of the currents, which would scarcely allow him to get three leagues off the Isle of Lepers. He advanced somewhat better on the 25th, though the Etoile still lay becalmed, and at last found himself, as it were, shut up in a great gulph in the land, which lay to the west. Not knowing whether he was so or not, it became necessary to stand again towards that island, and in consequence the 25th was lost in making short tacks, which were the more required, as the Etoile did not feel the breeze till the evening.
The bearings taken on the 26th, shewed that the currents had taken them several miles to the southward of their reckoning. Whitsun-isle still appeared separated from the S.W. land, but by a narrower passage, and what had before been considered a continued coast, was now found to be a cluster of islands. Some agreeable appearances induced several attempts at landing, but they were unavailing, and only exposed those that made them to attacks from the natives, who seemed to concur with the natural difficulties around their islands, in preventing too near an approach. Bougainville bestowed the name of Archipelago of the Great Cyclades on these very numerous isles, which lie in 30° S. latitude, and 180° longitude west of Ferro, and which have been better known since the time of Cook by the name of New Hebrides. During Bougainville's being on board the Etoile about this time, transacting some necessary business, he had the opportunity of verifying a report, which had for a good while been circulated in both ships, viz. that M. de Commerçon's servant, named Baré, was a woman. Several suspicious circumstances had been noticed as to her sex, and something amounting to a discovery of it had been made, it seems, by the very discerning people of Otaheite; but now, she came to Bougainville, her face covered with tears, and confessed it, giving a history of herself, and an explanation of her reasons for undertaking so romantic an expedition. "She will be the first woman," says Bougainville, "that ever made such a voyage, and I must do her the justice to affirm, that she always behaved on board with the most scrupulous modesty. She was neither ugly nor handsome, and not more than twenty-six or twenty-seven years of age. It must be owned, that if the two ships had been wrecked on any uninhabited island in the ocean, the fate of Baré would have been a very singular one." The idea perhaps is scarcely susceptible of embellishment, but one may wonder, that it never struck the fancy of a poet.
On the 29th of May, they lost sight of the land, which had so much but so fruitlessly engaged their attention, and sailed westward with a very fresh south-east wind. This brought them on the 4th June, to a low flat island, surrounded, by a dangerous shoal, to which with little courtesy, perhaps, to the goddess, was given the name of the Shoal of Diana. A sand-bank and breakers were discovered on the 6th, and indicated such a dangerous navigation, that Bougainville immediately resolved on altering his course, which he did by steering N.E. by N., abandoning entirely his scheme of proceeding westward, in the latitude of 15°. He justifies this conduct by the reflection, that though he had persevered in his original intention, he must have reached the eastern coast of New Holland, which, estimating it by what Dampier ascertained of the western coast, would have proved both unimportant and inhospitable. The judicious reader, however, will allow far greater weight to the circumstances of his deficiency for an uncertain navigation, than to such hypothetical reasoning. He had only bread for two months, and pulse for forty days; and his salt meat had become so bad, that the crew preferred the rats to it, whenever they were fortunate enough to catch them.
The S.E. wind unluckily failing them, their course from the 7th made good, was only N. by E., when on the 10th at day-break, land was seen, bearing from E. to N.W., a delicious smell having previously intimated its vicinity. This was off the N.E. coast of New Holland, the passage betwixt which and New Britain, Bougainville mistook for a deep gulph or bay, and which of course he had the utmost difficulty to get clear of, with an unfavourable wind, very bad weather, and a great south-eastern swell. This mistake seems to have occasioned him more danger and much greater hardships than had yet been experienced. To this imaginary gulph, Bougainville gave the name of Gulph of the Louisiade, and that of Cape Deliverance to its N. or N.N.E. extremity, which he doubled after no less than a fortnight spent in extreme peril and continual fears. In the morning of the 28th, when about sixty leagues to the northward of this cape, and steering N.E. on the coast of New Britain, he discovered land to the N.W. nine or ten leagues off. This proved to be two isles, and about the same time there appeared a long high coast, extending to the northward for some distance, and then turning to N.N.W. His situation was extremely hazardous among these lands, to him altogether unknown, often surrounded with dangerous shoals, and his boats, which were occasionally sent out to sound, being sometimes beset by the natives. It was not till the 5th of July, that he succeeded in finding any thing like safe anchorage, which he at last effected in Carteret's Harbour, or, as he calls it, Port Praslin. It was here, as we have elsewhere related, that he found some vestiges of the Swallow's residence a short time before. The situation was far from yielding the advantages so much longed for; no refreshments could be procured for the sick, and scarcely any thing solid for the healthy. The miseries of famine stared them in the face, and the delay occasioned by the necessity of repairing the vessels, and the wretched state of the weather, aggravated their sufferings in the highest degree. At last, on the evening of the 24th, a breeze springing up from the bottom of the harbour, enabled them, with the help of the boats, to get out to sea, when they steered from E. by S. to N.N.E., turning to northward with the land. The longitude was corrected by observation on leaving Port Praslin, which gave a difference of about 3°, the reckoning being to the eastward.
Bougainville now coasted New Britain for some time, passing betwixt it and a series of islands, on which he bestowed the names of his principal officers. The sufferings of the crew for want of proper and sufficient victuals, were now extreme; but no one, we are told, was dejected or altogether lost patience. On the contrary, it was quite usual for both officers and men to dance in the evenings, as if in a time of the greatest ease and plenty. Such recreation, one may most certainly infer from Bougainville's own words, must soon have been performed very languidly, and in a little time longer ceased entirely; for it became necessary to shorten even the small allowance of food, which, repeated attempts at landing on different shores failed to augment, and the quality of the provisions too, was such, as in the emphatic language of Bougainville, rendered those the hardest moments of the sad days they passed, when the bell gave notice to receive the disgusting and unwholesome fare. The scurvy also made fearful impression on them after leaving Port Praslin; no one could be said to be quite free from it, and half of the ships' companies could not do duty. But such misery was now near a termination, for having navigated, with several nautical difficulties, a strait formed by the Papou Isles denominated Passage des Francois, the ships came to an anchor on the last day of August, in Cajeli Bay, on the coast of the island Boero, where there was a Dutch settlement, and where provisions of an excellent sort, and the necessary refreshments, were got in abundance. The effects of such a favourable change were most speedy and obvious, so that in the course of six days, all things were ready for prosecuting the voyage. Bougainville therefore left Boero on the 7th September, and steered successively N.E. by N. and N.N.E in order to clear the guiph of Cajeli. Having accomplished this, he directed his course through the straits of Bouton, of which, and of the adjacent coasts, he has given a tolerably minute description, useful, it is likely, to mariners. After this, he got sight of the high lands of the island Saleyer, on the 18th September, and passed the strait betwixt it and the island of Celebes. On the 21st, he got sight of the isles Alambia, the position of which, as of several other interesting points in this navigation, it is candidly admitted, is very inaccurately laid down in the common French charts; but Bougainville takes the opportunity, which, it is believed, no one will grudge, of paying a tribute of commendation to the labours and worth of D'Anville. His map of Asia, he says, published in 1752, gave him the greatest assistance, and is very good from Ceram to the isles of Alambia, Bougainville having verified his positions in this navigation. He adds, "I do this justice to M. D'Anville's work with pleasure; I knew him intimately, and he appeared to me to be as good a member of society as he was a critic and a man of erudition." Bougainville now kept along the shore of Java, and after being out at sea for ten months and a half, arrived at Batavia on the 28th of September.
After the account we have already given of Batavia in this volume, it would be quite unnecessary to notice what Bougainville says of it. We shall only mention that his experience of its unhealthiness was such, as made him use all imaginable expedition to leave it, in order to save the lives of his people, who were reduced to a most deplorable state of health. What Captain Cook says of his old sail-makers is somewhat paralleled by what Bougainville relates of the effect of the novelties of Batavia on the Otaheitan man Aotourou, in keeping him so highly and constantly excited, as for long to preserve him from the prevailing illnesses. At last, we are told, the poor fellow fell sick, and it is mentioned, evidently in praise of his docility, that he became as good a swallower of physic, as a man born in Paris! The inference from this is somewhat dubious, but not to be sceptical, valeat quantum valere potest. Aotourou's remembrance of the evils of Batavia was such, as prompted him, whenever he named it, to call it, in the language of his country, enoua mate, "the land which kills."
It was the 16th October when Bougainville quitted Batavia, on the 19th he cleared the straits of Sunda, and in little more than a fortnight afterwards, he came in sight of the Isle of France, where he found it necessary to put in, to have the frigate hove down and repaired, and to procure refreshments for his voyage home. Having accomplished these objects, he set sail on the 12th December, leaving the Etoile there to be careened, as his junction with her was no longer needed for either vessel. On touching at the Cape of Good Hope, he learned, as is elsewhere mentioned, that Captain Carteret was eleven days before him. This, however, owing to the state of the Swallow, was an inconsiderable advantage, and soon ceased to exist. The particulars of the meeting which took place betwixt that vessel and Bougainville's, have been related in our account of Carteret's voyage, to which the reader is referred.
On the 4th of March, Bougainville got sight of the isle of Tereera, on the 14th of Ushant, and on the 16th entered the port of St Maloes, after a voyage of two years and four months.