_Arrival at Bolabola.--Interview with Opoony.--Reasons for purchasing
Monsieur de Bougainville's Anchor.--Departure from the Society
Islands.--Particulars about Bolabola.--History of the Conquest of
Otaha and Ulieta.--High Reputation of the Bolabola Men.--Animals left
there and at Ulietea.--Plentiful Supply of Provisions, and Manner of
salting Pork on Board.--Various Reflections relative to Otaheite and
the Society Islands.--Astronomical and Nautical Observations made
there._
As soon as we had got clear of the harbour, we took our leave of
Ulietea, and steered for Bolabola. The chief, if not sole object I
had in view by visiting that island was, to procure from its monarch,
Opoony, one of the anchors which Monsieur de Bougainville had lost at
Otaheite. This having afterwards been taken up by the natives there,
had, as they informed me, been sent by them as a present to that
chief. My desire to get possession of it did not arise, from our being
in want of anchors; but having expended all the hatchets, and
other iron tools which we had brought from England, in purchasing
refreshments, we were now reduced to the necessity of creating a fresh
assortment of trading articles, by fabricating them out of the spare
iron we had on board; and in such conversions, and in the occasional
uses of the ships, great part of that had been already expended. I
thought that M. de Bougainville's anchor would supply our want of this
useful material; and I made no doubt that I should be able to tempt
Opoony to part with it.
Oreo, and six or eight men more from Ulietea, took a passage with us
to Bolabola. Indeed most of the natives in general, except the chief
himself, would have gladly taken a passage with us to England. At
sunset, being the length of the south point of Bolabola, we shortened
sail, and spent the night making short boards. At day-break, on the
8th, we made sail for the harbour, which is on the west side of the
island. The wind was scant, so that we had to ply up, and it was nine
o'clock before we got near enough to send away a boat to sound the
entrance, for I had thoughts of running the ships in, and anchoring
for a day or two.
When the boat returned, the master, who was in her, reported, that
though at the entrance of the harbour the bottom was rocky, there
was good ground within, and the depth of water twenty-seven and
twenty-five fathoms; and that there was room to turn the ships in,
the channel being one-third of a mile broad. In consequence of this
report, we attempted to work the ships in. But the tide, as well as
the wind, being against us, after making two or three trips, I found
that it could not be done till the tide should turn in our favour.
Upon this I gave up the design of carrying the ships into the harbour;
and having ordered the boats to be got ready, I embarked in one of
them, accompanied by Oreo and his companions, and was rowed in for the
island.
We landed where the natives directed us, and soon after I was
introduced to Opoony, in the midst of a great concourse of people.
Having no time to lose, as soon as the necessary formality of
compliments was over, I asked the chief to give me the anchor, and
produced the present I had prepared for him, consisting of a linen
night-gown, a shirt, some gauze handkerchiefs, a looking-glass, some
beads and other toys, and six axes. At the sight of these last there
was a general outcry. I could only guess the cause, by Opoony's
absolutely refusing to receive my present till I should get the
anchor. He ordered three men to go and deliver it to me; and, as I
understood, I was to send by them what I thought proper in return.
With these messengers we set out in our boat for an island, lying at
the north side of the entrance into the harbour, where the anchor had
been deposited. I found it to be neither so large nor so perfect as I
expected. It had originally weighed seven hundred pounds, according
to the mark that was upon it; but the ring, with part of the shank and
two palms, were now wanting. I was no longer at a loss to guess the
reason of Opoony's refusing my present. He doubtless thought that it
so much exceeded the value of the anchor in its present state, that
I should be displeased when I saw it. Be this as it may, I took the
anchor as I found it, and sent him every article of the present that I
at first intended. Having thus completed my negociation, I returned on
board, and having hoisted in the boats, made sail from the island to
the north.[1]
[Footnote 1: Here again is a trait of genuine nobility, sufficient, we
have no doubt, to reinstate our commander in the good graces of every
reader. On the other hand, there is something so truly honest on
the part of Opoony and his people in declining the acceptance of the
present, till Cook had seen the article he was bargaining for, that
we cannot help giving them high credit for moral attainments. How
forcibly does such a conduct prove the existence of a sense of the
law, which says, "Do to others, as you would that others should do to
you." It is curious, that some authors have maintained, that no such
law is recognised among mankind till they are made acquainted with
divine revelation. But these persons have confounded together two
things, which are quite distinct,--a sense of the obligation of such a
law, and a disposition and power to obey it. The former may exist, and
indeed more generally does exist, without the latter. But we see, by
the present example, that both may operate, where, according to this
opinion, no such thing as either could be found. Here, however,
we would not take it upon us to affirm any thing in respect of
the motives which influenced the obedience. In so far as our
fellow-creatures alone are concerned, it is barely and simply our
actions which ought to be considered. It is the prerogative of
a higher tribunal to judge of the heart and the principles it
contains.--E.]
While the boats were hoisting in, some of the natives came off in
three or four canoes to see the ships, as they said. They brought with
them a few cocoa-nuts and one pig, which was the only one we got at
the island. I make no doubt, however, that if we had staid till the
next day, we should have been plentifully supplied with provisions;
and I think the natives would feel themselves disappointed when they
found that we were gone. But as we had already a very good stock, both
of hogs and of fruit on board, and very little of any thing left to
purchase more, I could have no inducement to defer any longer the
prosecution of our voyage.
The harbour of Bolabola, called Oteavanooa, situated on the west side
of the island, is one of the most capacious that I ever met with; and
though we did not enter it, it was a satisfaction to me that I had
an opportunity of employing my people to ascertain its being a very
proper place for the reception of ships.
The high double-peaked mountain, which is in the middle of the island,
appeared to be barren on the east side; but on the west side, has
trees or bushes on its most craggy parts. The lower grounds, all round
toward the sea, are covered with cocoa-palms and bread-fruit trees,
like the other islands of this ocean; and the many little islets that
surrounded it on the inside of the reef, add both to the amount of its
vegetable productions and to the number of its inhabitants.
But still, when we consider its very small extent, being not more
than eight leagues in compass, it is rather remarkable that its people
should have attempted, or have been able to atchieve the conquest of
Ulietea and Otaha, the former of which islands is, of itself, at least
double its size. In each of my three voyages, we had heard much of the
war that produced this great revolution. The result of our enquiries,
as to the circumstances attending it, may amuse the reader; and I give
it as a specimen of the history of our friends, in this part of the
world, as related to us by themselves.[2]
[Footnote 2: For this, as for many other particulars about these
people, we are indebted to Mr Anderson.--D.]
Ulietea, and Otaha which adjoins it, lived long in friendship, or, as
the natives express it, were considered as two brothers, inseparable
by any interested views. They also admitted the island of Huaheine as
their friend, though not so intimate. Otaha, however, like a traitor,
leagued with Bolabola, and they resolved jointly to attack Ulietea;
whose people called in their friends of Huaheine to assist them
against these two powers. The men of Bolabola were encouraged by a
priestess, or rather prophetess, who foretold that they should be
successful; and, as a proof of the certainty of her prediction, she
desired, that a man might be sent to the sea, at a particular place,
where, from a great depth, a stone would ascend. He went, accordingly,
in a canoe to the place mentioned; and was going to dive to see
where this stone lay, when, behold, it started up to the surface
spontaneously into his hand! The people were astonished at the sight:
The stone was deposited as sacred in the house of the _Eatooa_; and is
still preserved at Bolabola, as a proof of this woman's influence
with the divinity. Their spirits being thus elevated with the hopes of
victory, the canoes of Bolabola set out to engage those of Ulietea
and Huaheine, which being strongly fastened together with ropes,
the encounter lasted long, and would probably, notwithstanding
the prediction and the miracle, have ended in the overthrow of the
Bolabola fleet, if that of Otaha had not, in the critical moment,
arrived. This turned the fortune of the day, and their enemies were
defeated with great slaughter. The men of Bolabola, prosecuting their
victory, invaded Huaheine two days after, which they knew must be
weakly defended, as most of its warriors were absent. Accordingly,
they made themselves masters of that island. But many of its fugitives
having got to Otaheite, there told their lamentable story; which so
grieved those of their countrymen, and of Ulietea, whom, they met with
in that island, that they obtained some assistance from them. They
were equipped with only ten fighting canoes; but, though their force
was so inconsiderable, they conducted the expedition with so much
prudence, that they landed at Huaheine at night, when dark, and,
falling upon the Bolabola men by surprise, killed many of them,
forcing the rest to fly. So that, by this means, they got possession
of their island again, which now remains independent, under the
government of its own chiefs. Immediately after the defeat of the
united fleets of Ulietea and Huaheine, a proposal was made to the
Bolabola men by their allies of Otaha, to be admitted to an equal
share of the conquests. The refusal of this broke the alliance; and
in the course of the war, Otaha itself, as well as Ulietea, was
conquered; and both now remain subject to Bolabola; the chiefs who
govern them being only deputies of Opoony, the sovereign of that
island. In the reduction of the two islands, five battles were fought
at different places, in which great numbers were slain on both sides.
Such was the account we received. I have more than once remarked,
how very imperfectly these people recollect the exact dates of past
events. And with regard to this war, though it happened not many
years ago, we could only guess at the time of its commencement and
its conclusion, from collateral circumstances, furnished by our own
observation, as the natives could not satisfy our enquiries with any
precision. The final conquest of Ulietea, which closed the war, we
know had been made before I was there in the Endeavour, in 1769; but
we may infer, that peace had not been very long restored, as we could
then see marks of recent hostilities having been committed upon that
island. Some additional light may be thrown upon this enquiry, by
attending to the age of Teereetareea, the present chief of Huaheine.
His looks shewed that he was not above ten or twelve years old; and we
were informed that his father had been killed in one of the battles.
As to the time when the war began, we had no better rule for judging
than this, that the young people of about twenty years of age, of whom
we made enquiries, could scarcely remember the first battles; and
I have already mentioned, that Omai's countrymen, whom we found
at Wateoo, knew nothing of this war; so that its commencement was
subsequent to their voyage.
Ever since the conquest of Ulietea and Otaha, the Bolabola men have
been considered by their neighbours as invincible; and such is the
extent of their fame, that even at Otaheite, which is almost out of
their reach, if they are not dreaded, they are, at least, respected
for their valour. It is said that they never fly in battle, and that
they always beat an equal number of the other islanders. But, besides
these advantages, their neighbours seem to ascribe a great deal to the
superiority of their god, who, they believed, detained us at Ulietea
by contrary winds, as being unwilling that we should visit an island
under his special protection.
How high the Bolabola men are now in estimation at Otaheite, may be
inferred from Monsieur de Bougainville's anchor having been
conveyed to them. To the same cause we must ascribe the intention of
transporting to their island the Spanish bull. And they had already
got possession of a third European curiosity, the male of another
animal, brought to Otaheite by the Spaniards. We had been, much
puzzled, by the imperfect description of the natives, to guess what
this could be; but Captain Clerke's deserters, when brought back from
Bolabola, told me, that the animal had been there shewn to them, and
that it was a ram. It seldom happens but that some good arises out
of evil, and if our two men had not deserted, I should not have known
this. In consequence of their information, at the same time that I
landed to meet Opoony, I carried ashore a ewe, which we had brought
from the Cape of Good Hope; and I hope that by this present I have
laid the foundation for a breed of sheep at Bolabola. I also left
at Ulietea, under the care of Oreo, an English boar and sow, and two
goats. So that not only Otaheite, but all the neighbouring islands,
will, in a few years, have their race of hogs considerably improved;
and, probably, be stocked with all the valuable animals which have
been transported hither by their European visitors.
When once this comes to pass, no part of the world will equal these
islands in variety and abundance of refreshments for navigators.
Indeed, even in their present state, I know no place that excels them.
After repeated trials in the course of several voyages we find, when
they are not disturbed by intestine broils, but live in amity with
one another, which has been the case for some years past, that their
productions are in the greatest plenty; and, particularly, the most
valuable of all the articles, their hogs.
If we had had a larger assortment of goods, and a sufficient quantity
of salt on board, I make no doubt that we might have salted as much
pork as would have served both ships near twelve months. But our
visiting the Friendly Islands, and our long stay at Otaheite and the
neigbourhood, quite exhausted our trading commodities, particularly
our axes, with which alone, hogs, in general, were to be purchased.
And we had hardly salt enough to cure fifteen puncheons of meat; of
these, five were added to our stock of provisions at the Friendly
Islands, and the other ten at Otaheite. Captain Clerke also salted a
proportionable quantity for his ship.
The process was the same that had been adopted by me in my last
voyage; and it may be worth while to describe it again. The hogs were
killed in the evening; as soon as they were cleaned, they were cut up,
the bone taken out, and the meat salted when it was hot. It was then
laid in such a position as to permit the juices to drain from it, till
the next morning, when it was again salted, packed into a cask, and
covered with pickle. Here it remained for four or five days, or a
week; after which it was taken out and examined, piece by piece,
and if there was any found to be in the least tainted, as sometimes
happened, it was separated from the rest, which was repacked into
another cask, headed up, and filled with good pickle. In about eight
or ten days time it underwent a second examination; but this seemed
unnecessary, as the whole was generally found to be perfectly cured. A
mixture of bay and of white salt answers the best, but either of them
will do alone. Great care should be taken that none of the large blood
vessels remain in the meat; nor must too great a quantity be packed
together, at the first salting, lest the pieces in the middle should
heat, and, by that means, prevent the salt from penetrating them.
This once happened to us, when we killed a larger quantity than usual.
Rainy sultry weather is unfavourable for salting meat in tropical
climates.
Perhaps the frequent visits Europeans have lately made to these
islanders, may be one great inducement to their keeping up a large
stock of hogs, as they have had experience enough to know, that,
whenever we come, they may be sure of getting from us what they esteem
a valuable consideration for them. At Otaheite they expect the return
of the Spaniards every day, and they will look for the English two or
three years hence, not only there, but at the other islands. It is to
no purpose to tell them that you will not return; they think you must,
though not one of them knows, or will give himself the trouble to
enquire, the reason of your coming.
I own I cannot avoid expressing it as my real opinion, that it would
have been far better for these poor people, never to have known our
superiority in the accommodations and arts that make life comfortable,
than, after once knowing it, to be again left and abandoned to their
original incapacity of improvement. Indeed, they cannot be restored to
that happy mediocrity in which they lived before we discovered them,
if the intercourse between us should be discontinued. It seems to me
that it has become in a manner incumbent on the Europeans to visit
them once in three or four years, in order to supply them with those
conveniences which we have introduced among them, and have given them
a predilection for. The want of such occasional supplies will probably
be felt very heavily by them, when it may be too late to go back to
their old less perfect contrivances, which they now despise, and have
discontinued since the introduction of ours. For by the time that the
iron tools, of which they are now possessed, are worn out, they will
have almost lost the knowledge of their own. A stone-hatchet is, at
present, as rare a thing amongst them, as an iron one was eight years
ago; and a chisel of bone or stone is not to be seen. Spike-nails have
supplied the place of these last, and they are weak enough to fancy
that they have got an inexhaustible store of them; for these were not
now at all sought after. Sometimes, however, nails much smaller than a
spike would still be taken in exchange for fruit. Knives happened,
at present, to be in great esteem at Ulietea, and axes and hatchets
remained unrivalled by any other of our commodities at all the
islands. With respect to articles of mere ornament, these people are
as changeable as any of the polished nations of Europe; so that what
pleases their fancy, while a fashion is in vogue, may be rejected,
when another whim has supplanted it. But our iron tools are so
strikingly useful, that they will, we may confidently pronounce,
continue to prize them highly; and be completely miserable, if,
neither possessing the materials, nor trained up to the art of
fabricating them, they should cease to receive supplies of what may
now be considered as having become necessary to their comfortable
existence.[3]
[Footnote 3: Captain Cook's reasoning here is irresistibly convincing;
yet it is very remarkable that no practical benefit resulted from
it, in favour of the people whose cause he pleads. One can scarcely
account, far less apologize, for the extraordinary fact, that nearly
eleven years, from the date of this voyage, had elapsed, before any
British vessel touched at Otaheite, and that even then the visit was
an accidental one. Soon afterwards, however, Lieutenant Bligh was
ordered to visit it, for the purpose, not of conferring benefits
on it, but of procuring the bread-fruit tree, for our West India
possessions. Of the changes which had happened in that interval,
it would be improper to make any mention in this place. The reader
nevertheless may be informed, that much of the evil, which Captain
Cook had foreseen, really occurred. The want of iron tools especially
was most severely felt.--E.]
Otaheite, though not comprehended in the number of what we have called
the Society Islands, being inhabited by the same race of men,
agreeing in the same leading features of character and manners, it was
fortunate, that we happened to discover this principal island before
the others; as the friendly and hospitable reception we there met
with, of course, led us to make it the principal place of resort,
in our successive visits to this part of the Pacific Ocean. By the
frequency of this intercourse, we have had better opportunities of
knowing something about it and its inhabitants, than about the other
similar but less considerable islands in its vicinity. Of these,
however, we have seen enough to satisfy us, that all that we observed
and have related of Otaheite, may, with trifling variations, be
applied to them.
Too much seems to have been already known and published in our former
relations, about some of the modes of life that made Otaheite so
agreeable an abode to many on board our ships; and, if I could now add
any finishing strokes to a picture, the outlines of which have been
already drawn with sufficient accuracy, I should still have hesitated
to make this journal the place for exhibiting a view of licentious
manners, which could only serve to disgust those for whose information
I write. There are, however, many parts of the domestic, political,
and religious institutions of these people, which, after all our
visits to them, are but imperfectly understood. The foregoing
narrative of the incidents that happened during our stay, will
probably be thought to throw some additional light; and, for farther
satisfaction, I refer to Mr Anderson's remarks.
Amidst our various subordinate employments, while at these islands,
the great objects of our duty were always attended to. No opportunity
was lost of making astronomical and nautical observations; from which
the following table was drawn up:
Place. Latitude. Longitude. Variation of Dip of the
South. East. the Compass. Needle.
Matavai Point,
Otaheite, 17° 24-1/4' 210° 22' 28" 5° 34' East 29° 12'
Owharre Harbour 16° 42-3/4' 208° 52' 24" 5° 13-1/2" East 28° 28'
Huaheine,
Ohamaneno Harbour 16° 45-1/2' 208° 25' 22" 6° 19' East 29° 5'
Ulietea,
[Transcriber's Note: It is possible that the compass variation at
Owharre Harbour should read 5° 13-1/2' not 5° 13-1/2" (minutes not
seconds)]
The longitude of the three several places is deduced from the mean of
145 sets of observations made on shore; some at one place, and some at
another; and carried on to each of the stations by the time-keeper. As
the situation of these places was very accurately settled, during my
former voyages, the above observations were now made chiefly with a
view of determining how far a number of lunar observations might be
depended upon, and how near they would agree with those made upon the
same spot in 1769, which fixed Matavai Point to be in 210° 27' 30".
The difference, it appears, is only of 5' 2"; and, perhaps, no
other method could have produced a more perfect agreement. Without
pretending to say which of the two computations is the nearest the
truth, the longitude of 210° 22' 28", or, which is the same thing,
208° 25' 22", will be the longitude we shall reckon from with the
time-keeper, allowing it to be losing, on mean time, 1,"69 each day,
as found by the mean of all the observations made at these islands for
that purpose.
On our arrival at Otaheite, the error of the time-keeper in longitude
was,
by {Greenwich rate, 1° 18' 58"
{Tongataboo rate, 0° 16' 40"
Some observations were also made on the tide; particularly at Otaheite
and Ulietea, with a view of ascertaining its greatest rise at the
first place. When we were there, in my second voyage, Mr Wales thought
he had discovered that it rose higher than I had observed it to do,
when I first visited Otaheite, in 1769. But the observations we now
made proved that it did not; that is, that it never rose higher
than twelve or fourteen inches at most. And it was observed to be
high-water nearly at noon, as well at the quadratures, as at the full
and change of the moon.
To verify this, the following observations were made at Ulietea:
Day of Water at a stand Mean Time Perpendicular
the of rise
Month. from to High Water. Inches.
November 6. 11h 15m to 12h 20m 11h 48m 5,5
7. 11 40 1 00 12 20 5,2
8. 11 35 12 50 12 12 5,0
9. 11 40 1 16 12 28 5,5
10. 11 25 1 10 12 18 6,5
11. 12 00 1 40 12 20 5,0
12. 11 00 1 05 12 02 5,7
13. 9 30 11 40 10 35 8,0
14. 11 10 12 50 12 00 8,0
15. 9 20 11 30 10 25 9,2
16. 10 00 12 00 11 00 9,0
17. 10 45 12 15 11 30 8,5
18. 10 25 12 10 11 18 9,0
19. 11 00 1 00 12 00 8,0
20. 11 30 2 00 12 45 7,0
21. 11 00 1 00 12 00 8,0
22. 11 30 1 07 12 18 8,0
23. 12 00 1 30 12 45 6,5
24. 11 30 1 40 12 35 5,5
25. 11 40 1 50 12 45 4,7
26. 11 00 1 30 12 15 5,2
Having now finished all that occurs to me, with regard to these
islands, which make so conspicuous a figure in the list of our
discoveries, the reader will permit me to suspend the prosecution of
my journal, while he peruses the following section, for which I am
indebted to Mr Anderson.