_Arrival at Ulietea.--Astronomical Observations.--A Marine deserts,
and is delivered up.--Intelligence from Omai.--Instructions to Captain
Clerke.--Another Desertion of a Midshipman and a Seaman.--Three of
the chief Persons of the Island confined on that Account.--A Design to
seize Captains Cook and Clerke, discovered.--The two Deserters brought
back, and the Prisoners released.--The Ships sail.--Refreshments
received at Ulietea.--Present and former State of that
Island.--Account of its dethroned King, and of the late Regent of
Huaheine._
The boat which carried Omai ashore, never to join us again, having
returned to the ship, with the remainder of the hawser, we hoisted her
in, and immediately stood over for Ulietea, where I intended to touch
next. At ten o'clock at night, we brought-to, till four the next
morning, when we made sail round the south end of the island, for the
harbour of Ohamaneno. We met with calms and light airs of wind, from
different directions, by turns; so that, at noon, we were still a
league from the entrance of the harbour. While we were thus detained,
my old friend Oreo, chief of the island, with his son and Pootoe, his
son-in-law, came off to visit us.
Being resolved to push for the harbour, I ordered all the boats to be
hoisted out, and sent them a-head to tow, being assisted by a slight
breeze from the southward. This breeze failed too soon, and being
succeeded by one from the E., which blew right out of the harbour, we
were obliged to come to an anchor at its entrance at two o'clock, and
to warp in, which employed us till night set in. As soon as we were
within the harbour, the ships were surrounded with canoes filled
with people, who brought hogs and fruit to barter with us for our
commodities, so that wherever we went we found plenty.
Next morning, being the 4th, I moored the ship head and stern close to
the north shore, at the head of the harbour; hauled up the cables on
deck, and opened one of the ballast-ports. From this a slight stage
was made to the land, being at the distance of about twenty feet, with
a view to get clear of some of the rats that continued to infest us.
The Discovery moored alongside the south shore for the same purpose.
While this work was going forward, I returned Oreo's visit. The
present I made him on the occasion, consisted of a linen gown, a
shirt, a red-feathered cap from Tongataboo, and other things of less
value. I then brought him and some of his friends on board to dinner.
On the 6th, we set up the observatories, and got the necessary
instruments on shore. The two following days we observed the sun's
azimuths, both on board and ashore, with all the compasses, in order
to find the variation; and in the night of the latter, observed an
occultation of _Sigma Capricorni_, by the moon's dark limb. Mr Bayly and
I agreed in fixing the time of its happening, at six minutes and
fifty-four seconds and a half past ten o'clock. Mr King made it half
a second sooner. Mr Bayly observed with the achromatic telescope
belonging to the board of longitude; Mr King, with the reflector
belonging also to the board; and I made use of my own reflector of
eighteen inches. There was also an immersion of _Pi Capricorni_ behind
the moon's dark limb, some time before, but it was observed by Mr
Bayly alone. I attempted to trace it with a small achromatic, but
found its magnifying power not sufficient.
Nothing worthy of note happened till the night between the 12th
and 13th, when John Harrison, a marine, who was sentinel at the
observatory, deserted, carrying with him his musket and accoutrements.
Having in the morning got intelligence which way he had moved off, a
party was sent after him; but they returned in the evening, after an
ineffectual enquiry and search. The next day I applied to the chief
to interest himself in this matter. He promised to send a party of his
men after him, and gave me hopes that he should be brought back the
same day. But this did not happen; and I had reason to suspect that no
steps had been taken by him. We had at this time a great number of
the natives about the ships, and some thefts were committed; the
consequence of which being dreaded by them, very few visitors came
near us the next morning. The chief himself joined in the alarm, and
he and his whole family fled. I thought this a good opportunity to
oblige them to deliver up the deserter; and having got intelligence
that he was at a place called Hamoa, on the other side of the island,
I went thither with two armed boats, accompanied by one of the
natives; and, in our way, we found the chief, who also embarked
with me. I landed about a mile and a half from the place, with a
few people, and marched briskly up to it, lest the sight of the
boat should give the alarm, and allow the man time to escape to the
mountains. But this precaution was unnecessary, for the natives there
had got information of my coming, and were prepared to deliver him up.
I found Harrison, with the musket lying before him, sitting between
two women, who, the moment that I entered the house, rose up to plead
in his behalf. As it was highly proper to discourage such proceedings,
I frowned upon them, and bid them begone. Upon this they burst into
tears, and walked off. Paha, the chief of the district, now came with
a plantain tree, and a sucking pig, which he would have presented
to me as a peace-offering. I rejected it, and ordered him out of my
sight; and having embarked with the deserter on board the first boat
that arrived, returned to the ships. After this, harmony was again
restored. The fellow had nothing to say in his defence, but that the
natives had enticed him away; and this might in part be true, as it
was certain that Paha, and also the two women above-mentioned, had
been at the ship the day before he deserted. As it appeared that he
remained upon his post till within a few minutes of the time when he
was to have been relieved, the punishment that I inflicted upon him
was not very severe.
Though we had separated from Omai, we were still near enough to have
intelligence of his proceedings; and I had desired to hear from him.
Accordingly, about a fortnight after our arrival at Ulietea, he
sent two of his people in a canoe, who brought me the satisfactory
intelligence that he remained undisturbed by the people of the island,
and that every thing went well with him, except that his goat had died
in kidding. He accompanied this intelligence with a request, that I
would send him another goat and two axes. Being happy to have this
additional opportunity of serving him, the messengers were sent back
to Huaheine on the 18th, with the axes and two kids, male and female,
which were spared for him out of the Discovery.
The next day I delivered to Captain Clerke instructions how to proceed
in case of being separated from me, after leaving these islands; and
it may not be improper to give them a place here.
_By Captain James Cook, Commander of his Majesty's Sloop the
Resolution._
"Whereas the passage from the Society Islands to the northern coast of
America, is of considerable length, both in distance and in time, and
as a part of it must be performed in the very depth of winter, when
gales of wind and bad weather must be expected, and may possibly
occasion a separation, you are to take all imaginable care to prevent
this. But if, notwithstanding all our endeavours to keep company, you
should be separated from me, you are first to look for me where
you last saw me. Not seeing me in five days, you are to proceed (as
directed by the instructions of their lordships, a copy of which you
have already received) for the coast of New Albion; endeavouring to
fall in with it in the latitude of 45°.
"In that latitude, and at a convenient distance from the land, you are
to cruize for me ten days. Not seeing me in that time, you are to put
into the first convenient port in or to the north of that latitude, to
recruit your wood and water, and to procure refreshments.
"During your stay in port, you are constantly to keep a good look-out
for me. It will be necessary, therefore, to make choice of a station,
situated as near the sea-coast as is possible, the better to enable
you to see me when I shall appear in the offing.
"If I do not join you before the 1st of next April, you are to put to
sea, and proceed northward to the latitude 56°; in which latitude,
and at a convenient distance from the coast, never exceeding fifteen
leagues, you are to cruize for me till the 10th of May.
"Not seeing me in that time, you are to proceed northward, and
endeavour to find a passage into the Atlantic Ocean, through Hudson's
or Baffin's Bays, as directed by the above-mentioned instructions.
"But if you should fail in finding a passage through either of the
said bays, or by any other way, as the season of the year may render
it unsafe for you to remain in high latitudes, you are to repair
to the harbour of St Peter and St Paul, in Kamtschatka, in order to
refresh your people, and to pass the winter.
"But, nevertheless, if you find that you cannot procure the necessary
refreshments at the said port, you are at liberty to go where you
shall judge most proper; taking care, before you depart, to leave with
the governor an account of your intended destination, to be delivered
to me upon my arrival; and in the spring of the ensuing year, 1779,
you are to repair back to the above-mentioned port, endeavouring to be
there by the 10th of May, or sooner.
"If, on your arrival, you receive no orders from, or account of me, so
as to justify your pursuing any other measures than what are pointed
out in the before-mentioned instructions, your future proceedings are
to be governed by them.
"You are also to comply with such parts of said instructions as have
not been executed, and are not contrary to these orders. And in
case of your inability, by sickness or otherwise, to carry these,
and the instructions of their lordships into execution, you are to be
careful to leave them with the next officer in command, who is hereby
required to execute them in the best manner he can.
"Given under my hand, on board the Resolution, at Ulietea, the 18th
day of November 1777.
"J. COOK.
"To Captain Charles Clerke, Commander of his Majesty's Sloop
the Discovery,"
While we lay moored to the shore we heeled and scrubbed both sides of
the bottoms of the ships. At the same time we fixed some tin-plates
under the binds, first taking off the old sheathing, and putting in a
piece unfilled, over which the plates were nailed. These plates I
had from the ingenious Mr Pelham, secretary to the commissioners for
victualling his majesty's navy, with a view of trying whether tin
would answer the same end as copper on the bottoms of ships.
On the 24th, in the morning, I was informed that a midshipman and a
seaman, both belonging to the Discovery, were missing. Soon after we
learnt from the natives, that they went away in a canoe the preceding
evening, and were, at this time, at the other end of the island. As
the midshipman was known to have expressed a desire to remain at these
islands, it seemed pretty certain that he and his companion had gone
off with this intention; and Captain Clerke set out in quest of them
with two armed boats and a party of marines. His expedition proved
fruitless, for he returned in the evening, without having got any
certain intelligence where they were. From the conduct of the natives,
Captain Clerke seemed to think that they intended to conceal the
deserters; and, with that view, had amused him with false information
the whole day, and directed him to search for them in places where
they were not to be found. The Captain judged right; for the next
morning we were told that our runaways were at Otaha. As these two
were not the only persons in the ships who wished to end their days
at these favourite islands, in order to put a stop to any further
desertion, it was necessary to get them back at all events; and, that
the natives might be convinced that I was in earnest, I resolved to go
after them myself; having observed, from repeated instances, that they
seldom offered to deceive me with false information.
Accordingly, I set out the next morning with two armed boats, being
accompanied by the chief himself. I proceeded as he directed, without
stopping any where, till we came to the middle of the east side of
Otaha. There we put ashore, and Oreo dispatched a man before us, with
orders to seize the deserters, and keep them till we should arrive
with the boats. But when we got to the place where we expected to find
them, we were told that they had quitted this island, and gone over
to Bolabola the day before. I did not think proper to follow them
thither, but returned to the ships, fully determined, however, to have
recourse to a measure which, I guessed, would oblige the natives to
bring them back.
In the night, Mr Bayly, Mr King, and myself, observed an immersion of
Jupiter's third satellite. It happened, by the observation of
Mr Bayly, at 2^h 37^m 54^s }
Mr King, at 2 37 24 } in the morning.
Myself, at 2 37 44 }
Mr Bayly and Mr King observed with Dolland's three-and-a-half inch
achromatic telescope, and with the greatest magnifying power. I
observed with a two-feet Gregorian reflector, made by Bird.
Soon after day-break, the chief, his son, daughter, and son-in-law,
came on board the Resolution. The three last I resolved to detain
till the two deserters should be brought back. With this view, Captain
Clerke invited them to go on board his ship; and, as soon as they
arrived there, confined them in his cabin. The chief was with me when
the news reached him. He immediately acquainted me with it, supposing
that this step had been taken without my knowledge, and, consequently,
without my approbation. I instantly undeceived him; and then he began
to have apprehensions as to his own situation, and his looks expressed
the utmost perturbation of mind. But I soon made him easy as to this;
by telling him, that he was at liberty to leave the ship whenever he
pleased, and to take such measures as he should judge best calculated
to get our two men back; that, if he succeeded, his friends on board
the Discovery should be delivered up, if not, that I was determined
to carry them away with me. I added, that his own conduct, as well
as that of many of his men, in not only assisting these two men to
escape, but in being, even at this very time, assiduous in enticing
others to follow them, would justify any step I could take to put a
stop to such proceedings.
This explanation of the motives upon which I acted, and which we found
means to make Oreo and his people, who were present, fully comprehend,
seemed to recover them, in a great measure, from that general
consternation into which they were at first thrown. But, if relieved
from apprehensions about their own safety, they continued under the
deepest concern for those who were prisoners. Many of them went under
the Discovery's stern in canoes, to bewail their captivity, which they
did with long and loud exclamations. _Poedooa!_ for so the chief's
daughter was called, resounded from every quarter; and the women
seemed to vie with each other in mourning her fate with more
significant expressions of their grief than tears and cries, for there
were many bloody heads upon the occasion.
Oreo himself did not give way to unavailing lamentations, but
instantly began his exertions to recover our deserters, by dispatching
a canoe to Bolabola, with a message to Opoony, the sovereign of that
island, acquainting him with what had happened, and requesting him to
seize the two fugitives, and send them back. The messenger, who was no
less a man than the father of Pootoe, Oreo's son-in-law, before he set
out came to receive my commands. I strictly enjoined him not to return
without the deserters, and to tell Opoony, from me, that, if they had
left Bolabola, he must send canoes to bring them back, for I suspected
that they would not long remain in one place.
The consequence, however, of the prisoners was so great, that the
natives did not think proper to trust to the return of our people for
their release; or, at least, their impatience was so great, that it
hurried them to meditate an attempt which might have involved them in
still greater distress, had it not been fortunately prevented. Between
five and six o'clock in the evening, I observed that all their canoes
in and about the harbour began to move off, as if some sudden panic
had seized them. I was ashore, abreast of the ship at the time, and
enquired in vain to find out the cause, till our people called to
as from the Discovery, and told us, that a party of the natives had
seized Captain Clerke and Mr Gore, who had walked out a little way
from the ships. Struck with the boldness of this plan of retaliation,
which seemed to counteract me so effectually in my own way, there was
no time to deliberate. I instantly ordered the people to arm; and in
less than five minutes, a strong party, under the command of Mr King,
was sent to rescue our two gentlemen. At the same time, two armed
boats, and a party under Mr Williamson, went after the flying canoes,
to cut off their retreat to the shore. These several detachments
were hardly out of sight, before an account arrived that we had been
misinformed, upon which I sent and called them all in.
It was evident, however, from several corroborating circumstances,
that the design of seizing Captain Clerke had really been in agitation
amongst the natives. Nay, they made no secret in speaking of it the
next day. But their first and great plan of operations was to have
laid hold of me. It was my custom, every evening, to bathe in the
fresh water. Very often I went alone, and always without arms.
Expecting me to go as usual this evening, they had determined to seize
me, and Captain Clerke too, if he had accompanied me. But I had, after
confining Oreo's family, thought it prudent to avoid putting myself in
their power; and had cautioned Captain Clerke and the officers not to
go far from the ships. In the course of the afternoon the chief asked
me three several times, if I would not go to the bathing-place; and
when he found, at last, that I could not be prevailed upon, he went
off with the rest of his people, in spite of all that I could do or
say to stop him. But as I had no suspicion, at this time, of their
design, I imagined that some sudden fright had seized them, which
would, as usual, soon be over. Finding themselves disappointed as to
me, they fixed on those who were more in their power. It was fortunate
for all parties that they did not succeed, and not less fortunate
that no mischief was done on the occasion; for not a musket was fired,
except two or three to stop the canoes. To that firing, perhaps,
Messrs Clerke and Gore owed their safety;[1] for, at that very
instant, a party of the natives, armed with clubs, were advancing
toward them, and, on hearing the report of the muskets, they
dispersed.
[Footnote 1: Perhaps they owed their safety principally to Captain
Clerke's walking with a pistol in his hand, which he once fired.
This circumstance is omitted both in Captain Cook's and Mr Andersen's
journal, but it is here mentioned on the authority of Captain
King.--D.]
This conspiracy, as it may be called, was first discovered by a girl,
whom one of the officers had brought from Huaheine. She, overhearing
some of the Ulieteans say, that they would seize Captain Clerke and Mr
Gore, ran to acquaint the first of our people that she met with. Those
who were charged with the execution of the design threatened to kill
her as soon as we should leave the island, for disappointing them.
Being aware of this, we contrived that her friends should come, some
days after, and take her out of the ship, to convey her to a place
of safety, where she might lie concealed till they should have an
opportunity of sending her back to Huaheine.
On the 27th, our observatories were taken down, and every thing we had
ashore carried on board; the moorings of the ships were cast off, and
we transported them a little way down the harbour, where they came to
an anchor again. Toward the afternoon the natives began to shake off
their fears, gathering round and on board the ships as usual, and the
awkward transactions of the day before seemed to be forgotten on both
sides.
The following night the wind blew in hard squalls from S. to E.
attended with heavy showers of rain. In one of the squalls, the cable
by which the Resolution was riding, parted just without the hawse.
We had another anchor ready to let go, so that the ship was presently
brought up again. In the afternoon the wind became moderate, and we
hooked the end of the best small bower-cable, and got it again into
the hawse.
Oreo, the chief, being uneasy, as well as myself, that no account had
been received from Bolabola, set out this evening for that island,
and desired me to follow him the next day with the ships. This was my
intention, but the wind would not admit of our getting to sea. But
the same wind which kept us in the harbour, brought Oreo back from
Bolabola, with the two deserters. They had reached Otaha the same
night they deserted; but, finding it impossible to get to any of the
islands to the eastward (which was their intention) for want of wind,
they had proceeded to Bolabola, and from thence to the small island
Toobaee, where they were taken by the father of Pootoe, in consequence
of the first message sent to Opoony. As soon as they were on board,
the three prisoners were released. Thus ended an affair which had
given me much trouble and vexation. Nor would I have exerted myself so
resolutely on the occasion, but for the reasons before mentioned, and
to save the son of a brother officer from being lost to his country.
The wind continued constantly between the N. and W. and confined us in
the harbour till eight o'clock in the morning of the 7th of December,
when we took the advantage of a light breeze which then sprung up at
N.E., and, with the assistance of all the boats, got out to sea, with
the Discovery in company.
During the last week we had been visited by people from all parts
of the island, who furnished us with a large stock of hogs and green
plantains. So that the time we lay wind-bound in the harbour was
not entirely lost; green plantains being an excellent substitute for
bread, as they will keep good a fortnight or three weeks. Besides this
supply of provisions, we also completed our wood and water.
The inhabitants of Ulietea seemed, in general, smaller and blacker
than those of the other neighbouring islands, and appeared also less
orderly, which, perhaps, may be considered as the consequence of their
having become subject to the natives of Bolabola. Oreo, their chief,
is only a sort of deputy of the sovereign of that island; and the
conquest seems to have lessened the number of subordinate chiefs
resident among them; so that they are less immediately under the
inspection of those whose interest it is to enforce due obedience to
authority. Ulietea, though now reduced to this humiliating state,
was formerly, as we were told, the most eminent of this cluster of
islands, and, probably, the first seat of government; for, they say,
that the present royal family of Otaheite is descended from that which
reigned here before the late revolution. Ooroo, the dethroned monarch
of Ulietea, was still alive when we were at Huaheine, where he
resides, a royal wanderer, furnishing, in his person, an instance of
the instability of power; but, what is more remarkable, of the respect
paid by these people to particular families, and to the customs which
have once conferred sovereignty; for they suffer Ooroo to preserve all
the ensigns which they appropriate to majesty, though he has lost his
dominions.
We saw a similar instance of this while we were at Ulietea. One of the
occasional visitors I now had was my old friend Oree, the late chief
of Huaheine. He still preserved his consequence; came always at the
head of a numerous body of attendants, and was always provided with
such presents as were very acceptable. This chief looked much better
now than I had ever seen him during either of my former voyages. I
could account for his improving in health as he grew older, only
from his drinking less copiously of _ava_ in his present station as
a private gentleman, than he had been accustomed to do when he was
regent.[2]
[Footnote 2: Captain Cook had seen Oree in 1769, when he commanded the
Endeavour; also twice during his second voyage in 1772.--D.]