The wind blew very hard the next morning, as it had done all night, but

being at W. N. W. which was off the land, we sent the boats away soon

after it was light, and about ten, they returned with each of them a

load of water, and a great number of pintado birds: These birds they got

from the people on shore, who told them, that when a gale of wind

happened in the night they flew faster into their fire than they could

well take them out, so that during the gale of the last night, they got

no less than seven hundred of them. The boats were employed in getting

water on board all this day, although the surf was so great that several

of the casks were staved and lost: They were sent out again a little

before it was light the next day, and by seven o'clock a few casks only

were wanting to complete our stock. The threatening appearances of the

weather made me now very impatient to get the people on board, with the

casks that were still at the watering-place; as soon, therefore, as the

boats were cleared of their loading, I dispatched them again, with

orders to bring off all the hands, with the tent, and every thing else

that was on shore, with all possible expedition. From this time the wind

increased very fast, and by eleven o'clock it blew so hard, with violent

gusts from the land, that the ship began to drive off the bank: We

heaved the small anchor up, and got it in out of the way of the other;

the gale still increased, but as it was right off the land, I was in no

pain about the ship, which continued to drive, still dragging the anchor

through the sand, with two hundred fathom of cable out; being very

solicitous to give the boats time to bring all on board before we were

quit of the bank, I would not weigh. At two o'clock, however, the anchor

was quite off the ground, and the ship was in deep water; we were now

therefore obliged to bring the cable to the capstern, and with great

difficulty we got the anchor up. The gusts off the land were so violent,

that, not daring to show any canvas, we lay-to under our bare poles, and

the water was frequently torn up, and whirled round in the air much

higher than our mast heads. As the ship now drove from the island at a

great rate, and night was coming on, I began to be in great pain for the

boats, in which, besides my lieutenant, there were eight-and-twenty of

my best men; but just in the dusk of the evening, I perceived one of

them scudding before the seas, and making towards the ship: This proved

to be the long-boat, which, in spite of all the efforts of those on

board, had been forced from her grappling, and driven off the land. We

took the best opportunity that offered to get her on board, but

notwithstanding all our care, she received considerable damage as we

were hoisting her in. She had on board ten of my people, who informed

me, that when they were first driven from the shore, they had some

fire-wood on board, but that they were obliged to throw that, and every

thing else, into the sea, to lighten the boat. As we had yet seen

nothing of the cutter, and had reason to fear that she also, with the

tents, and the other eighteen people, besides the lieutenant, had been

driven off the island, I gave her up for lost; knowing that if the

night, which was now at hand, should overtake her in such a storm, she

must inevitably perish. It was however possible that the people might be

ashore, and therefore that, if the boat should be lost, they might still

be preserved; for this reason I determined to regain the land as soon as

possible. At midnight the weather became more moderate, so that we could

carry our courses and topsails, and at four o'clock in the morning we

crowded all the sail we could make. At ten o'clock, we were very near

the shore; to our great concern, we saw nothing of the cutter, yet we

continued to stand on till about noon, when we happily discovered her at

a grappling, close under the land: We immediately ran to our glasses, by

the help of which we saw the people getting into her; and about three

o'clock, to our mutual and inexpressible joy, she came safe on board

with all her people: They were however so exhausted with fatigue, that

they could scarcely get up the ship's side. The lieutenant told me, that

the night before he had attempted to come off, but that as soon as he

had left the shore, a sudden squall so nearly filled the boat with

water, that she was very near going to the bottom; but that all hands

bailing with the utmost diligence and activity, they happily cleared

her: That he then made for the land again, which, with the utmost

difficulty, he regained, and having left a sufficient number on board

the boat, to watch her, and keep her free from water, he with the rest

of the people went on shore. That having passed the night in a state of

inexpressible anxiety and distress, they looked out for the ship with

the first dawn of the morning, and seeing nothing of her, concluded that

she had perished in the storm, which they had never seen exceeded. They

did not, however, sit down torpid in despair, but began immediately to

clear the ground near the beach of brushes and weeds, and cut down

several trees of which they made rollers to assist them in hauling up

the boat, in order to secure her; intending, as they had no hope of the

ship's return, to wait till the summer season and then attempt to make

the island of Juan Fernandes. They had now better hopes, and all sense

of the dangers that were before us was for a while obliterated by the

joy of our escape from those that were past.

From the 16th, when we were first driven from our anchoring-ground, to

this time, we suffered an uninterrupted series of danger, fatigue, and

misfortunes. The ship worked and sailed very ill, the weather was dark

and tempestuous, with thunder, lightning, and rain, and the boats, which

I was obliged to keep always employed, even when we were under sail, to

procure us water, were in continual danger of being lost, as well by the

hard gales which constantly blew, as by the sudden gusts which

frequently rushed upon us with a violence that is scarcely to be

conceived. This distress was the more severe as it was unexpected, for I

had experienced very different weather in these parts about two years

before with Commodore Byron. It has generally been thought, that upon

this coast the winds are constantly from the S. to the S.W., though

Frezier mentions his having had strong gales and high seas from the

N.N.W. and N.W. quarter, which was unhappily my case.

Having once more got my people and boats safe on board, I made sail from

this turbulent climate, and thought myself fortunate not to have left

any thing behind me except the wood, which our people had cut for

firing.

The island of Masafuero lies in latitude 33°45'S., longitude 80°46'W. of

London. Its situation is west of Juan Fernandes, both being nearly in

the same latitude, and by the globe, it is distant about thirty-one

leagues. It is very high and mountainous, and at a distance appears like

one hill or rock: It is of a triangular form, and about seven or eight

leagues in circumference. The south part, which we saw when we first

made the island, at a distance of three-and-twenty leagues, is much the

highest: On the north end there are several spots of clear ground, which

perhaps might admit of cultivation.

The author of the account of Lord Anson's voyage mentions only one part

of this island as affording anchorage, which is on the north side, and

in deep water, but we saw no part where there was not anchorage: On the

west side in particular, there is anchorage at about a mile from the

shore in twenty fathom, and at about two miles and a half in forty and

forty-five fathom, with a fine black sand at the bottom. This author

also says, that "there is a reef of rocks running off the eastern point

of the island about two miles in length, which may be seen by the sea's

breaking over them;" but in this he is mistaken, there is no reef of

rocks, or shoal running off the eastern point, but there is a reef of

rocks and sand running off the western side, near the south end of it.

He is also mistaken as to the distance of this island from Juan

Fernandes, and its direction, for he says the distance is twenty-two

leagues, and the direction W. by S., but we found the distance nearly

one-third more, and the direction is due west, for, as I have before

observed, the latitude of both islands is nearly the same. The goats

that he mentions we found upon it in the same abundance, and equally

easy to be caught.

On the south-west point of the island there is a remarkable rock with a

hole in it, which is a good mark to come to an anchor on the western

side, where there is the best bank of any about the place. About a mile

and a half to the northward of this hole, there is a low point of land,

and from this point runs the reef that has been just mentioned, in the

direction of W. by S. to the distance of about three quarters of a mile,

where the sea continually breaks upon it. To anchor, run in till the

hole in the rock is shut in, about a cable's length upon this low point

of land, then bearing S. by E. 1/2 E. and anchor in twenty and

twenty-two fathom, fine black sand and shells: There is anchorage also

at several places on the other sides of the island, particularly off the

north point, in fourteen and fifteen fathom, with fine sand.

There is plenty of wood and water all round the island, but they are not

to be procured without much difficulty. A great quantity of stones, and

large fragments of the rock, have fallen from the high land all round

the island, and upon these there breaks such a surf that a boat cannot

safely come within a cable's length of the shore; there is therefore no

landing here but by swimming from the boat, and then mooring her without

the rocks, nor is there any method of getting off the wood and water but

by hauling them to the boat with ropes: There are, however, many places

where it would be very easy to make a commodious landing by building a

wharf, which it would be worth while even for a single ship to do if

she was to continue any time at the island.

This part of Masafuero is a very good place for refreshment, especially

in the summer season: The goats have been mentioned already, and there

is all round the island such plenty of fish, that a boat may, with three

hooks and lines, catch as much as will serve an hundred people: Among

others we caught excellent coal-fish, cavallies, cod, hallibut, and

cray-fish. We took a king-fisher that weighed eighty-seven pounds, and

was five feet and a half long, and the sharks were so ravenous, that

when we were sounding one of them swallowed the lead, by which we hauled

him above water, but as he then disgorged it, we lost him. The seals

were so numerous, that I verily think if many thousands of them were

killed in a night, they would not be missed in the morning: We were

obliged to kill great numbers of them, as, when we walked the shore,

they were continually running against us, making at the same time a most

horrible noise. These animals yield excellent train oil, and their

hearts and plucks are very good eating, being in taste something like

those of a hog, and their skins are covered with the finest fur I ever

saw of the kind. There are many birds here, and among others some very

large hawks. Of the pintado birds, our people, as I have before

observed, caught no less than seven hundred in one night. We had not

much opportunity to examine the place for vegetable productions, but we

saw several leaves of the mountain cabbage, which is a proof that the

tree grows here.

SECTION III

_The Passage from Masafuero to Queen Charlotte's Islands; several

Mistakes corrected concerning Davis's Land, and an Account of some small

Islands, supposed to be the same that were seen by Quiros._

When we took our departure from Masafuero, we had a great sea from the

N.W. with a swell of long billows from the southward, and the wind,

which was from the S.W. to the W.N.W., obliged me to stand to the

northward, in hope of getting the south-east trade-wind, for the ship

was so dull a sailer, that there was no making her go without a strong

wind in her favour. Having thus run farther to the northward than at

first I intended, and finding myself not far from the parallel of

latitude which has been assigned to two islands called Saint Ambrose,

and Saint Felix or Saint Paul, I thought I should perform an acceptable

service by examining if they were fit for shipping to refresh at,

especially as the Spaniards having fortified Juan Fernandes, they might

be found convenient for Great Britain, if she should hereafter be

engaged in a Spanish war. These islands are laid down in Green's charts,

which were published in the year 1753, from latitude 26° 20' to 27° S.,

and from 1°1/4 to 2°1/2 W. of Masafuero; I therefore hauled up with a

design to keep in that latitude, but soon afterwards, consulting

Robertson's Elements of Navigation, I found the island of Saint Ambrose

there laid down in latitude 25° 50' S., and 82° 20' longitude west of

London, and supposing that islands of so small an extent might be laid

down with more exactness in this work than in the chart, I bore away

more northward for that latitude; the event, however, proved that I

should not have trusted him so far: I missed the islands, and as I saw

great numbers of birds and fish, which are certain indications of land

not far off, there is the greatest reason to conclude that I went to the

northward of them. I am sorry to say that upon a farther examination of

Robertson's tables of latitudes and longitudes, I found them erroneous

in many particulars: This censure, however, if I had not thought it

necessary to prevent future mischief, should have been suppressed.

Upon examining the account that is given by Wafer, who was surgeon on

board Captain Davis's ship, I think it is probable that these two

islands are the land that Davis fell in with in his way to the southward

from the Gallapago islands, and that the land laid down in all the sea

charts under the name of Davis's Land, has no existence, notwithstanding

what is said in the account of Roggewein's voyage, which was made in

1722, of land that they called Eastern Island, which some have imagined

to be a confirmation of Davis's discovery, and the same land to which

his name has been given.

It is manifest from Wafer's narrative, that little credit is due to the

account kept on board Davis's ship, except with respect to the latitude,

for he acknowledges that they had like to have perished by their making

an allowance for the variation of the needle westward, instead of

eastward: He tells us also that they steered S. by E. 1/2 E. from the

Gallapagos, till they made land in latitude 27° 20' S., but it is

evident that such a course would carry them not to the westward but to

the eastward of the Gallapagos, and set them at about the distance of

two hundred leagues from Capiapo, and not five hundred leagues, as he

has alleged; for the variation here is not more than half a point to the

eastward now, and it must have been still less then, it having been

increasing to the eastward on all this coast. The course that Davis

steered therefore, if the distance between the islands of St Ambrose and

St Felix, and the Gallapagos, as laid down in all our sea charts, is

right, must have brought him within sight of St Ambrose and St Felix,

when he had run the distance he mentions. The truth is, that if there

had been any such place as Davis's Land in the situation which has been

allotted to it in our sea charts, I must have sailed over it, or at

least have seen it, as will appear in the course of this narrative.

I kept between the latitude 25° 50' and 25° 30', in search of the

islands I intended to examine, till I got five degrees to the westward

of our departure, and then seeing no land, and the birds having left us,

I hauled more to the southward, and got into latitude 27° 20' S. where I

continued till we got between seventeen and eighteen degrees to the

westward of our departure. In this parallel we had light airs and foul

winds, with a strong northerly current, which made me conjecture that we

were near this Davis's Land, for which we looked out with great

diligence, but a fair wind springing up again, we steered west by south,

which gradually brought us into the latitude of 28° 1/2 S., so that it

is evident I must have sailed over this land, or at least have seen it

if there had been any such place. I afterwards kept in the latitude of

28° for forty degrees to the westward of my departure, or, according to

my account, 121 degrees west of London, this being the highest south

latitude the winds and weather would permit me to keep, so that I must

have gone to the southward of the situation assigned to the supposed

continent called Davis's Land in all our charts.[55]

[Footnote 55: This was really the case, as will be seen in the account

of one of Cook's Voyages: For there seems reason to believe, that the

island called Easter Island, and sometimes Teapy, is the land which

Captain Davis saw in 1686, and Roggewein visited in 1722. See what is

said on this subject in vol. xi, p. 90, of this collection.--E.]

We continued our search till Wednesday the 17th of June, when, in

latitude 28° S., longitude 112° W., we saw many sea-birds, which flew in

flocks, and some rock-weed, which made me conjecture that we were

approaching, or had passed by, some land. At this time the wind blew

hard from the northward, which made a great sea, but we had

notwithstanding long rolling billows from the southward so that whatever

land was in that quarter, could be only small rocky islands; and I am

inclined to believe that if there was land at all it was to the

northward, possibly it might be Roggewein's eastern island, which he has

placed in latitude 27° S., and which some geographers have supposed to

be about seven hundred leagues distant from the continent of South

America, if indeed any credit is to be given to his account.

It was now the depth of winter in these parts, and we had hard gales and

high seas that frequently brought us under our courses and low sails:

The winds were also variable, and though we were near the tropic, the

weather was dark, hazy, and cold, with frequent thunder and lightning,

sleet and rain. The sun was above the horizon about ten hours in the

four-and-twenty, but we frequently passed many days together without

seeing him; and the weather was so thick, that when he was below the

horizon the darkness was dreadful: The gloominess of the weather was

indeed not only a disagreeable, but a most dangerous circumstance, as we

were often long without being able to make an observation, and were,

notwithstanding, obliged to carry all the sail we could spread, day and

night, our ship being so bad a sailer, and our voyage so long, to

prevent our perishing by hunger, which, with all its concomitant

horrors, would otherwise be inevitable.

We continued our course westward till the evening of Thursday the 2d of

July, when we discovered land, to the northward of us. Upon approaching

it the next day, it appeared like a great rock rising out of the sea: It

was not more than five miles in circumference, and seemed to be

uninhabited; it was, however, covered with trees, and we saw a small

stream of fresh water running down one side of it. I would have landed

upon it, but the surf, which, at this season broke upon it with great

violence, rendered it impossible. I got soundings on the west side of it

at somewhat less than a mile from the shore, in twenty-five fathom, with

a bottom of coral and sand; and it is probable that in fine summer

weather landing here may not only be practicable but easy. We saw a

great number of sea-birds hovering about it, at somewhat less than a

mile from the shore, and the sea here seemed to have fish. It lies in,

latitude 25° 2' S., longitude 133° 21' W., and about a thousand leagues

to the westward of the continent of America. It is so high that we saw

it at the distance of more than fifteen leagues, and it having been

discovered by a young gentleman, son to Major Pitcairn of the marines,

who was unfortunately lost in the Aurora, we called it PITCAIRNS ISLAND.

While we were in the neighbourhood of this island, the weather was

extremely tempestuous, with long rolling billows from the southward,

larger and higher than any I had seen before. The winds were variable,

but blew chiefly from the S.S.W.W. and W.N.W. We had very seldom a gale

to the eastward, so that we were prevented from keeping in a high south

latitude, and were continually driving to the northward.

On the 4th, we found that the ship made a good deal of water, for having

been so long labouring in high and turbulent seas, she was become very

crazy; our sails also being much worn, were continually splitting, so

that it was become necessary to keep the sail-maker constantly at work.

The people had hitherto enjoyed good health, but they now began to be

affected with the scurvy. While we were in the Strait of Magellan, I

caused a little awning to be made, which I covered with a clean painted

canvas, that had been allowed me for a floor-cloth to my cabin, and with

this we caught so much rain-water, with but little trouble or

attendance, that the people were never put to a short allowance of this

important article: The awning also afforded shelter from the inclemency

of the weather, and to these precautions I imputed our having escaped

the scurvy so long, though perhaps it was in some measure owing to the

mixture of spirit of vitriol with the water that was thus preserved, our

surgeon putting a small quantity into every cask when it was filled up.

On Saturday the 11th, we discovered a small, low, flat island, which

appeared to be almost level with the water's edge, and was covered with

green trees: As it was to the south and directly to windward of us, we

could not fetch it. It lies in latitude 22°S., and longitude 141° 34'W.;

and we called it the Bishop of Osnaburgh's Island, in honour of his

majesty's second son.[56]

[Footnote 56: There is another island of this name, among these that

were discovered by Captain Wallis.]

On the 12th, we fell in with two more small islands, which were covered

with green trees, but appeared to be uninhabited. We were close in with

the southermost, which proved to be a slip of land in the form of a

half-moon, low, flat, and sandy: From the south end of it a reef runs

out to the distance of about half a mile, on which the sea breaks with

great fury. We found no anchorage, but the boat landed. It had a

pleasant appearance, but afforded neither vegetables nor water; there

were however many birds upon it, so tame that they suffered themselves

to be taken by hand. The other island very much resembles this, and is

distant from it about five or six leagues: They lie W.N.W. and E.S.E. of

each other. One of them is in latitude 20° 38'S., longitude 146°W.; the

other 20°34'S., longitude 146° 15' W., and we called them the Duke of

Gloucester's Islands; the variation here is five degrees east. These

islands are probably the land seen by Quiros, as the situation is nearly

the same; but if not, the land he saw could not be more considerable:

Whatever it was, he went to the southward of it, and the long billows we

had here, convinced us that there was no land near us in that direction.

The wind here being to the eastward, I hauled to the southward again,

and the next day, Monday the 13th, in the evening, as we were steering

W.S.W. we observed that we lost the long southerly billows, and that we

got them again at seven o'clock the next day. When we lost them we were

in latitude 21°7'S., longitude 147°4' W.; and when we got them again we

were in latitude 21° 43 S., longitude 149°48'W; so that I imagine there

was some land to the southward, not far distant.[57]

[Footnote 57: The Islands called Oheteroa, Toobouai, Vabouai, Vavitoo,

lie a little to the south of this part of Carteret's track.--E.]

From this time to the 16th, the winds were variable from N.E. round by

the N. the N.W. and S.W. and blew very hard, with violent gusts, one of

which was very near being fatal to us, with thick weather and hard rain.

We were then in latitude 22° S., and 70°30'W. of our departure, where we

found the variation 6°30'E. and the tempestuous gales were succeeded by

a dead calm. After some time, however, the wind sprung up again at west,

and at length settled in the W.S.W. which soon drove us again to the

northward, so that on the 20th we were in latitude 19° S., longitude

75°30'W. of our departure: The variation was here 6°E.

On the 22d, we were got into latitude 18°S., longitude 161°W., which was

about one thousand eight hundred leagues to the westward of the

continent of America, and in all this track we had no indication of a

continent. The men now began to be very sickly, the scurvy having made

great progress among them, and as I found that all my endeavours to keep

in a high southern latitude at this time were ineffectual, and that the

badness of the weather, the variableness of the winds, and above all,

the defects of the ship, rendered our progress slow, I thought it

absolutely necessary to fix upon that course which was most likely to

preserve the vessel and the crew; instead therefore of attempting to

return back by the south-east, in which, considering our condition, and

the advanced season of the year, it was scarcely possible that we should

succeed, I bore away to the northward, that I might get into the

trade-wind, keeping still in such a track, as if the charts were to be

trusted, was most likely to bring me to some island, where the

refreshments of which we stood so much in need might be procured

intending then, if the ship could be put in a proper condition, to have

pursued the voyage to the southward, when the fit season should return,

to have attempted farther discoveries in this track; and, if I should

discover a continent, and procure a sufficient supply of provisions

there, to keep along the coast to the southward till the sun had crossed

the equinoctial, and then, getting into a high southern latitude, either

have gone west about to the Cape of Good Hope, or returned to the

eastward, and having touched at Falkland's Islands, if necessary, made

the best of my way from thence back to Europe.

When I got into latitude 16° S. and not before, I found the true

trade-wind; and as we proceeded to the north-west, and the northward, we

found the variation increase very fast; for when we had advanced to

latitude 18° 15' S. and were in longitude 80° 1/4 W. of our departure,

it was 7° 30' E. We had bad weather, with hard gales, and a great sea

from the eastward till the 25th, when, being in latitude 12° 15' S., we

saw many birds flying in flocks, and supposed ourselves to be near some

land, particularly several islands that are laid down in the charts, and

one which was seen by Commodore Byron in 1765, and called the Island of

Danger; none of these islands, however, could we see. At this time it

blew so hard, that, although we went before the wind, we were obliged to

reef our top-sails, and the weather was still very thick and rainy. The

next morning, being in latitude 10° S., longitude 167° W., we kept

nearly in the same parallel, in hopes to have fallen in with some of the

islands called Solomon's Islands, this being the latitude in which the

southermost of them is laid down. We had here the trade-wind strong,

with violent squalls and much rain, and continuing our course till

Monday the 3d of August, we were then in latitude 10° 18' S. longitude,

by account, 177° 1/2 E.; our distance west from the continent of America

about twenty-one hundred leagues, and we were five degrees to the

westward of the situation of those islands in the charts. It was not our

good fortune, however, to fall in with any land; probably we might pass

near some, which the thick weather prevented our seeing; for in this run

great numbers of sea birds were often about the ship: However, as

Commodore Byron in his last voyage sailed over the northern limits of

that part of the ocean in which the Islands of Solomon are said to lie,

and as I sailed over the southern limits without seeing them, there is

great reason to conclude, that, if there are any such islands, their

situation in all our charts is erroneously laid down.[58]

[Footnote 58: See what is said on this subject in the account of Byron's

voyage. It will be resumed when we come to speak of some of Cook's

discoveries--E.]

From the latitude 14° S., longitude 163° 46' W., we had a strong gale

from the S.E. which made a great sea after us, and from that time I did

not observe the long billows from the southward till we got into

latitude 10° 18' S., longitude 177° 30' E., and then it returned from

the S.W. and S.S.W., and we found a current setting to the southward,

although a current in the contrary direction had attended us almost all

the way from the Streight of Magellan; I conjectured therefore that here

the passage opened between New Zealand and New Holland. The variation

here was 11° 14' E. On the 5th, being in latitude 10° 1/2 S., longitude

175° 44' E., the variation was 11° 15' E.; and on the 8th, in latitude

11° S., longitude 171° 14' E. it was 14° 1/2 E.

About this time we found our stock of log-lines nearly expended, though

we had already converted all our fishing lines to the same use. I was

some time in great perplexity how to supply this defect, but, upon a

very diligent enquiry, found that we had, by chance, a few fathom of

thick untarred rope. This, which in our situation was an inestimable

treasure, I ordered to be untwisted; but as the yarns were found to be

too thick for our purpose, it became necessary to pick them into oakham;

and when this was done, the most difficult part of the work remained;

for this oakham could not be spun into yarn, till, by combing, it was

brought into hemp, its original state. This was not seamen's work, and

if it had, we should have been at a loss how to perform it for want of

combs; one difficulty therefore arose upon another, and it was necessary

to make combs, before we could try our skill in making hemp. Upon this

trying occasion we were again sensible of the danger to which we were

exposed by the want of a forge: Necessity, however, the fruitful mother

of invention, suggested an expedient. The armourer was set to work to

file nails down to a smooth point, with which we produced a tolerable

succedaneum for a comb; and one of the quarter-masters was found

sufficiently skilled in the use of this instrument to render the oakham

so smooth and even, that we contrived to spin it into yarn, as fine as

our coarse implements would admit; and thus we made tolerable log-lines,

although we found it much more difficult than to make cordage of our old

cables, after they had been converted into junk, which was an expedient

that we had been obliged to practise long before. We had also long

before used all our sewing sail-twine, and if, knowing that the quantity

with which I had been supplied was altogether inadequate to the wants of

such a voyage, I had not taken the whole quantity that had been put on

board to repair the seine into my own custody, this deficiency might

have been fatal to us all.

SECTION IV.

_An Account of the Discovery of Queen Charlotte's Islands, with a

Description of them and their Inhabitants, and of what happened at

Egmont Island._

The scurvy still continued to make great progress among us, and those

hands that were not rendered useless by disease, were worn down by

excessive labour; our vessel, which at best was a dull sailer, had been

long in so bad a condition that she would not work; and on the 10th, to

render our condition still more distressful and alarming, she sprung a

leak in the bows, which being under water, it was impossible to get at

while we were at sea. Such was our situation, when, on the 12th, at

break of day, we discovered land: The sudden transport of hope and joy

which this inspired, can perhaps be equalled only by that which a

criminal feels who bears the cry of a reprieve at the place of

execution. The land proved to be a cluster of islands, of which I

counted seven, and believe there were many more. We kept on for two of

them, which were right a-head when land was first discovered, and seemed

to lie close together; in the evening we anchored on the north-east side

of one of them, which was the largest and the highest of the two, in

about thirty fathom, with a good bottom, and at the distance of about

three cables' length from the shore. We soon after saw two of the

natives, who were black, with woolly heads, and stark naked; I

immediately sent the master out with the boat to fix upon a

watering-place, and speak to them, but they disappeared before she could

reach the shore. The boat soon after returned with an account that there

was a fine run of fresh water a-breast of the ship and close to the

beach, but that the whole country in that part being an almost

impenetrable forest quite to the water's edge, the watering would be

very difficult, and even dangerous, if the natives should come down to

prevent it: That there were no esculent vegetables, for the refreshment

of the sick, nor any habitations as far as the country had been

examined, which was wild, forlorn, and mountainous.

Having considered this account, and finding that a swell, which came

round the eastern part of the bay, would render watering troublesome and

inconvenient, exclusive of the danger that might be apprehended from the

natives, if they should attack us from ambushes in the wood, I

determined to try whether a better situation could not be found.

The next morning, therefore, as soon as it was light, I dispatched the

master, with fifteen men in the cutter, well armed and provided, to

examine the coast to the westward, our present situation being on the

lee of the island, for a place where we might more conveniently be

supplied with wood and water, and at the same time procure some

refreshments for the sick, and lay the ship by the stern to examine and

stop the leak. I gave him some beads, ribbons, and other trifles, which

by chance I happened to have on board, to conciliate the good-will of

the natives, if he should happen to meet with any of them; but at the

same time enjoined him to run no risk, and gave him particular orders

immediately to return to the ship, if any number of canoes should

approach him which might bring on hostilities; and if he should meet the

Indians in small parties, either at sea or upon shore, to treat them

with all possible kindness, so as to establish a friendly intercourse

with them; charging him on no account to leave the boat himself, nor to

suffer more than two men to go on shore at a time, while the rest stood

ready for their defence; recommending to him, in the strongest terms; an

application to his duty, without regarding any other object, as the

finding a proper place for the ship was of the utmost importance to us

all; and conjuring him to return as soon as this service should be

performed, with all possible speed.

Soon after I had dispatched the cutter on this expedition, I sent the

long-boat with ten men on board well armed to the shore, who before

eight o'clock brought off a ton of water. About nine, I sent her off

again, but soon after seeing some of the natives advancing along the

shore towards the place where the men landed, I made the signal for them

to return, not knowing to what number they would be exposed, and having

no boat to send off with assistance if they should be attacked.

Our men had not long returned on board, when we saw three of the natives

sit down under the trees a-breast of the ship. As they continued there

gazing at us till the afternoon, as soon as the cutter came in sight,

not caring that both the boats should be absent at the same time, I sent

my lieutenant in the long-boat, with a few beads, ribbons, and trinkets,

to endeavour to establish some kind of intercourse with them, and by

their means, with the rest of the inhabitants; these men, however,

before the boat could reach the shore, quitted their station, and

proceeded along the beach. As the trees would soon prevent their being

seen by our people, who were making towards the land, we kept our eyes

fixed upon them from the ship, and very soon perceived that they were

met by three others. After some conversation, the first three went on,

and, those who met them proceeded towards the boat with a hasty pace.

Upon this, I made the signal to the lieutenant to be upon his guard, and

as soon as he saw the Indians, observing that there were no more than

three, he backed the boat into the shore, and making signs of

friendship, held up to them the beads and ribbons which I had given him

as presents, our people at the same time carefully concealing their

arms. The Indians, however, taking no notice of the beads and ribbons,

resolutely advanced within bow-shot, and then suddenly discharged their

arrows, which happily went over the boat without doing any mischief;

they did not prepare for a second discharge, but instantly ran away into

the woods, and our people discharged some musquets after them, but none

of them were wounded by the shot. Soon after this happened, the cutter

came under the ship's side, and the first person that I particularly

noticed was the master, with three arrows sticking in his body. No other

evidence was necessary to convict him of having acted contrary to my

orders, which appeared indeed more fully from his own account of the

matter, which it is reasonable to suppose was as favourable to himself

as he could make it. He said, that having seen some Indian houses with

only five or six of the inhabitants, at a place about fourteen or

fifteen miles to the westward of the ship's station, where he had

sounded some bays, he came to a grappling, and veered the boat to the

beach, where he landed with four men, armed with musquets and pistols;

that the Indians at first were afraid of him, and retired, but that soon

after they came down to him, and he gave them some beads and other

trifles, with which they seemed to be much pleased: That he then made

signs to them for some cocoa-nuts, which they brought him, and with

great appearance of friendship and hospitality, gave him a broiled fish

and some boiled yams: That he then proceeded with his party to the

houses, which, he said, were not more than fifteen or twenty yards from

the water-side, and soon after saw a great number of canoes coming round

the western point of the bay, and many Indians among the trees: That

being alarmed at these appearances, he hastily left the house where

they had been received, and with the men, made the best of his way

towards the boat; but that, before he could get on board, the Indians

attacked as well those that were with him as those that were in the

boat, both from the canoes and the shore. Their number, he said, was

between three and four hundred: Their weapons were bows and arrows, the

bows were six feet five inches long, and the arrows four feet four,

which they discharged in platoons, as regularly as the best disciplined

troops in Europe: That it being necessary to defend himself and his

people when they were thus attacked, they fired among the Indians to

favour their getting into their boat, and did great execution, killing

many and wounding more: That they were not however discouraged, but

continued to press forward, still discharging their arrows by platoons

in almost one continued flight: That the grappling being foul,

occasioned a delay in hauling off the boat, during which time he, and

half of the boat's crew, were desperately wounded: That at last they cut

the rope, and ran off under their foresail, still keeping up their fire

with blunderbusses, each loaded with eight or ten pistol balls, which

the Indians returned with their arrows, those on shore wading after them

breast-high into the sea: When they had got clear of these, the canoes

pursued them with great fortitude and vigour, till one of them was sunk,

and the numbers on board the rest greatly reduced by the fire, and then

they returned to the shore.

Such was the story of the master, who, with three of my best seamen,

died some time afterwards of the wounds they had received; but culpable

as he appears to have been by his own account, he appears to have been

still more so by the testimony of those who survived him. They said,

that the Indians behaved with the greatest confidence and friendship

till he gave them just cause of offence, by ordering the people that

were with him, who had been regaled in one of their houses, to cut down

a cocoa-nut tree; and insisting upon the execution of his order,

notwithstanding the displeasure which the Indians strongly expressed

upon the occasion: As soon as the tree fell, all of them except one, who

seemed to be a person of authority, went away; and in a short time a

great number of them were observed to draw together into a body among

the trees, by a midshipman who was one of the party that were on shore,

and who immediately acquainted the master with what he had seen, and

told him, that from the behaviour of the people he imagined an attack

was intended: That the master made light of the intelligence, and

instead of repairing immediately to the boat, as he was urged to do,

fired one of his pistols at a mark: That the Indian who had till that

time continued with them left them abruptly, and joined the body in the

wood: That the master, even after this, by an infatuation that is

altogether unaccountable, continued to trifle away his time on shore,

and did not attempt to recover the boat till the attack was begun.

As the expedition to find a better place for the ship had issued thus

unhappily, I determined to try what could be done where we lay; the next

day, therefore, the ship was brought down by the stern, as far as we

could effect it, and the carpenter, the only one of the crew who was in

tolerable health, caulked the bows, as far down as he could come at the

bottom; and though he did not quite stop the leak, he very much reduced

it. In the afternoon a fresh gale set right into the bay, which made the

ship ride with her stern very near the shore, and we observed a great

number of the natives sculking among the trees upon the beach, who

probably expected that the wind would have forced the ship on shore.

The next morning, the weather being fine, we veered the ship close in

shore, with a spring upon our cable, so that we brought our broadside to

bear upon the watering-place, for the protection of the boats that were

to be employed there. As there was reason to suppose that the natives

whom we had seen among the trees the night before, were not now far

distant, I fired a couple of shot into the wood, before I sent the

waterers ashore; I also sent the lieutenant in the cutter, well manned

and armed, with the boat that carried them, and ordered him and his

people to keep on board, and lie close to the beach, to cover the

watering-boat while she was loading, and to keep discharging muskets

into the wood on each side of the party that were filling the water.

These orders were well executed, the beach was steep, so that the boats

could lie close to the people that were at work, and the lieutenant from

the cutter fired three or four vollies of small arms into the woods

before any of the men went on shore, and none of the natives appearing,

the waterers landed and went to work. But notwithstanding all these

precautions, before they had been on shore a quarter of an hour, a

flight of arrows was discharged among them, one of which dangerously

wounded a man that was filling water in the breast, and another stuck

into a bareca on which Mr Pitcairn was sitting. The people on board the

cutter immediately fired several vollies of small arms into that part of

the wood from which the arrows came, and I recalled the boats that I

might more effectually drive the Indians from their ambuscades with

grape-shot from the ship's guns. When the boats and people were on

board, we began to fire, and soon after saw about two hundred men rush

out of the woods, and run along the beach with the utmost precipitation.

We judged the coast to be now effectually cleared, but in a little time

we perceived that a great number had got together on the westermost

point of the bay, where they probably thought themselves beyond our

reach: To convince them therefore of the contrary, I ordered a gun to be

fired at them with round shot; the ball just grazing the water rose

again, and fell in the middle of them, upon which they dispersed with

great hurry and confusion, and we saw no more of them. After this we

watered without any farther molestation, but all the while our boats

were on shore, we had the precaution to keep firing the ship's guns into

the wood on both sides of them, and the cutter, which lay close to the

beach, as she did before, kept up a constant fire of small arms in

platoons, at the same time. As we saw none of the natives daring all

this firing, we should have thought that none of them had ventured back

into the wood, if our people had not reported that they heard groans

from several parts of it, like those of dying men.

Hitherto, though I had been long ill of an inflammatory and bilious

disorder, I had been able to keep the deck; but this evening the

symptoms became so much more threatening that I could keep up no longer,

and I was for some time afterwards confined to my bed. The master was

dying of the wounds he received in his quarrel with the Indians, the

lieutenant also was very ill, the gunner and thirty of my men incapable

of duty, among whom were seven of the most vigorous and healthy, that

had been wounded with the master, and three of them mortally, and there

was no hope of obtaining such refreshments as we most needed in this

place. These were discouraging circumstances, and not only put an end to

my hopes of prosecuting the voyage farther to southward, but greatly

dispirited the people; except myself, the master, and the lieutenant,

there was nobody on board capable of navigating the ship home; the

master was known to be a dying man, and the recovery of myself and the

lieutenant was very doubtful. I would however have made a further effort

to obtain refreshments here, if I had been furnished with any toys, iron

tools, or cutlery-ware, which might have enabled me to recover the

goodwill of the natives, and establish a traffic with them for such

necessaries as they could have furnished us with; but I had no such

articles, and but very few others fit for an Indian trade; and not being

in a condition to risk the loss of any more of the few men who were

capable of doing duty, I weighed anchor at day-break on Monday the 17th,

and stood along the shore for that part of the island to which I had

sent the cutter. To the island I had given the name of _Egmont Island_,

in honour of the Earl: It certainly is the same to which the Spaniards

have given the name of Santa Cruz, as appears by the accounts which

their writers have given of it, and I called the place in which we had

lain, _Swallow Bay_. From the eastermost point of this bay, which I

called _Swallow Point_, to the north-east point of the island, which I

called _Cape Byron_, is about seven miles east, and from the westermost

point of the bay, which I called _Hanway's Point_, to Cape Byron, is

about ten or eleven miles. Between Swallow Point and Hanway's Point, in

the bottom of the bay, there is a third point, which does not run out so

far; and a little to the westward of this point is the best

anchoring-place, but it is necessary to give it birth, as the ground

near it is shoaly. When we were at anchor in this bay, Swallow Point

bore E. by N. and Hanway's Point W.N.W. From this Point there runs a

reef, on which the sea breaks very high: The outer part of this reef

bore N.W. by W. and an island which has the appearance of a volcano, was

just over the breakers. Soon after we had passed Hanway's Point, we saw

a small village, which stands upon the beach, and is surrounded by

cocoa-nut trees. It is situated in a bay between Hanway's Point and

another, to which I gave the name of _Howe's Point_. The distance from

Hanway's Point to Howe's Point is between four and five miles. Close to

the shore there is about thirty fathom of water; but in crossing the

bay, at the distance of about two miles, we had no bottom. Having passed

Howe's Point, we opened another bay or harbour, which had the appearance

of a deep lagoon, and which we called _Carlisle Harbour_. Over-against

the entrance of Carlisle Harbour, and north of the coast, we found a

small island, which we called _Portland's Island_. On the west side of

this island there is a reef of rocks that runs to the main; the passage

into the harbour, therefore, is on the east side of it, and runs in and

out E.N.E. and W.S.W. it is about two cables' length wide, and has about

eight fathom water. I believe the harbour within it to be good; but a

ship would be obliged to warp both in and out, and would after all be in

danger of an attack by the natives, who are bold even to temerity, and

have a perseverance which is not common among undisciplined savages.

When the ship was a mile from the shore, we had no ground with fifty

fathom. About four or five miles west from Portland's Island, is a fine,

small, round harbour, just big enough to receive three ships, which we

called _Byron's Harbour_. When we were abreast of the entrance of it, it

bore from us S. by E. 1/2 E. and the Volcano Island bore N.W. 1/2 W. Our

boat entered it, and found two runs of water, one fresh and the other

salt; by the run of salt water we judged that it had a communication

with Carlisle Harbour. When we had proceeded about three leagues from

the harbour, we opened the bay where the cutter had been attacked by the

Indians, to which, for that reason, we gave the name of _Bloody Bay_. In

this bay is a small rivulet of fresh water, and here we saw many houses

regularly built: Close to the water-side stood one much longer than any

of the rest, which seemed to be a kind of common-hall, or council-house,

and was neatly built and thatched. This was the building in which our

people had been received who were on shore here with the master; and

they told me that both the sides and floor were lined with a kind of

fine matting, and a great number of arrows, made up into bundles, were

hung up in it ready for use. They told me also, that at this place there

were many gardens, or plantations, which are enclosed by a fence of

stone, and planted with cocoa-nut trees, bananas, plantains, yams, and

other vegetables. The cocoa-nut trees we saw from the ship in great

numbers, among the houses of the village. About three miles to the

westward of this town we saw another of considerable extent; in the

front of which, next to the water-side, there was a breast-work of

stone, about four feet six inches high, not in a straight line, but in

angles, like a fortification; and there is great reason to suppose,

from the weapons of these people, and their military courage, which

must in great measure be the effect of habit, that they have frequent

wars among themselves. As we proceeded westward from this place, we

found, at the distance of two or three miles, a small bight, forming a

kind of bay, in which a river empties itself. Upon taking a view of this

river from the mast-head, it appeared to run very far into the country,

and at the entrance, at least, to be navigable for small vessels. This

river we called _Granville's River_, and to the westward of it is a

point, to which we gave the name of _Ferrer's Point_. From this point

the land forms a large bay, and near it is a town of great extent, which

seemed to swarm like a bee-hive: An incredible multitude came out of it

as the ship passed by, holding something in their hands which looked

like a wisp of green grass, with which they seemed to stroke each other,

at the same time dancing, or running in a ring. About seven miles to the

westward of Point Ferrers, is another that was called _Carteret Point_,

from which a reef of rocks, that appears above water, runs out to the

distance of about a cable's length. Upon this point we saw a large

canoe, with an awning or shade built over it; and a little to the

westward, another large town, fronted, and probably surrounded, with a

breastwork of stone, like the last. Here also the people thronged to the

beach as the ship was passing, and performed the same kind of circular

dance. After a little time they launched several canoes, and made

towards us; upon which we lay-to, that they might have time to come up,

and we conceived great hopes that we should prevail upon them to come on

board; but when they came near enough to have a more distinct view of

us, they lay upon their paddles and gazed at us, but seemed to have no

design of advancing farther; and therefore we made sail and left them

behind us. About half a mile from Carteret Point, we had sixty fathom,

with a bottom of sand and coral. From this point the land trends away

W.S.W. and S.W. forming a deep lagoon, at the mouth of which lies an

island, that with the main forms two entrances into it. The island we

called _Trevanion's Island_. This entrance is about two miles wide, and

the lagoon, if there is anchorage in it, is certainly a fine harbour for

shipping. After crossing the first entrance, and coming off the

north-west part of Trevanion's Island, which we called _Cape Trevanion_,

we saw a great rippling, and therefore sent the boat off to sound. We

had, however, no bottom with fifty fathom; the rippling being caused

only by the meeting of the tides. Having hauled round this cape, we

found the land trend to the southward; and we continued to stand along

the shore till we opened the western passage into the lagoon between

Trevanion's Island and the main. In this place, both the main and the

island appeared to be one continued town, and the inhabitants were

innumerable. We sent a boat to examine this entrance or passage, and

found the bottom to be coral and rock, with very irregular soundings

over it. As soon as the natives saw the boat leave the ship, they sent

off several armed canoes to attack her. The first that came within

bow-shot discharged her arrows at the people on board, who, being ready,

fired a volley, by which one of the Indians was killed, and another

wounded; at the same time we fired a great gun from the ship, loaded

with grape-shot, among them; upon which they all pulled back to the

shore with great precipitation, except the canoe which began the attack;

and that being secured by the boat's crew, with the wounded man in her,

was brought to the ship. I immediately ordered the Indian to be taken on

board, and the surgeon to examine his wounds. It appeared that one shot

had gone through his head, and that his arm was broken by another: The

surgeon was of opinion that the wound in his head was mortal; I

therefore ordered him to be put again into his canoe, and,

notwithstanding his condition, he paddled away towards the shore. He was

a young man, with a woolly head, like that of the negroes, and a small

beard, but he was well-featured, and not so black as the natives of

Guinea. He was of the common stature, and, like all the rest of the

people whom we had seen upon this island, quite naked. His canoe was

very small, and of rude workmanship, being nothing more than part of the

trunk of a tree made hollow; it had, however, an outrigger, but none of

them had sails.

We found this place to be the western extremity of the island on the

north side, and that it lay in exactly the same latitude as the eastern

extremity on the same side. The distance between them is about fifty

miles due east and west, and a strong current sets westward along the

shore.

I was still confined to my bed, and it was with infinite regret that I

gave up the hopes of obtaining refreshments at this place, especially

as our people told me they saw hogs and poultry in great plenty as we

sailed along the shore, with cocoa-nut trees, plantains, bananas, and a

variety of other vegetable productions, which would soon have restored

to us the health and vigour we had lost, by the fatigue and hardships of

a long voyage; but no friendly intercourse with the natives could now be

expected, and I was not in a situation to obtain what I wanted by force.

I was myself dangerously ill, great part of my crew, as I have already

observed, was disabled, and the rest dispirited by disappointment and

vexation, and if the men had been all in health and spirits, I had not

officers to lead them on or direct them in any enterprise, nor even to

superintend the duties that were to be performed on board the ship.

These disadvantages, which prevented my obtaining refreshments at this

island, prevented me also from examining the rest that were near it. Our

little strength was every minute becoming less; I was not in a condition

to pursue the voyage to the southward, and was in danger of losing the

monsoon, so that no time was now to be lost; I therefore gave orders to

steer northward, hoping to refresh at the country which Dampier has

called _Nora Britannia_. I shall, however, give the best account I can

of the appearance and situation of the islands that I left behind me.

I gave the general name of _Queen Charlotte's Islands_ to the whole

cluster, as well to those I did not see distinctly, as to those that I

did; and I gave several of them particular names as I approached them.

To the southermost of the two, which when we first discovered land were

right a-head, I gave the name of _Lord Howe's Island_, and the other was

Egmont Island, of which some account has already been given. The

latitude of Lord Howe's Island is 11° 10' S. longitude 164° 43' E. The

latitude of Cape Byron, the north-east point of Egmont Island, is 10°

40' S. longitude 164° 49' E. The east sides of these two islands, which

lie exactly in a line with each other, about N. by W. and S. by E.

including the passage between them, extend about eleven leagues, and the

passage is about four miles broad; both of them appear to be fertile,

and have a pleasant appearance, being covered with tall trees, of a

beautiful verdure. Lord Howe's Island, though more flat and even than

the other, is notwithstanding high land. About thirteen leagues W.N.W.

1/2 N. by compass, from Cape Byron, there is an island of a stupendous

height, and a conical figure. The top of it is shaped like a funnel,

from which we saw smoke issue, though no flame; it is, however,

certainly a volcano, and therefore I called it _Volcano Island_. To a

long flat island that, when Howe's and Egmont's islands were right

a-head, bore N.W. I gave the name of _Keppel's Island_. It lies in

latitude 10° 15' S. longitude, by account, 165° 4' E. The largest of two

others to the S.E. I called _Lord Edgcumb's Island_. The small one I

called _Ourry's Island_. Edgcumb's Island has a fine, pleasant

appearance, and lies in latitude 11° 10' S. longitude 163° 14' E. The

latitude of Ourry's Island is 11° 10' S. longitude 165° 19' E. The other

islands, of which there were several, I did not particularly name.

The inhabitants of Egmont island, whose persons have been described

already, are extremely nimble, vigorous, and active, and seem to be

almost as well qualified to live in the water as upon the land, for they

were in and out of their canoes almost every minute. The canoes that

came out against us from the west end of the island, were all like that

which our people brought on board, and might probably, upon occasion,

carry about a dozen men, though three or four manage them with amazing

dexterity: We saw, however, others of a large size upon the beach, with

awnings or shades over them.

We got two of their bows, and a bundle of their arrows, from the canoe

that was taken with the wounded man; and with these weapons they do

execution at an incredible distance. One of them went through the boat's

washboard, and dangerously wounded a midshipman in the thigh. Their

arrows were pointed with flint, and we saw among them no appearance of

any metal. The country in general is woody and mountainous, with many

vallies intermixed; several small rivers flow from the interior part of

the country into the sea, and there are many harbours upon the coast.

The variation here was about 11° 15' E.

SECTION V.

_Departure from Egmont Island, and Passage to Nova Britannia; with a

Description of several other Islands, and their Inhabitants._

We made sail from this island in the evening of Tuesday the 18th of

August, with a fresh trade-wind from the eastward, and a few squalls at

times. Al first we only hauled up W.N.W. for I was not without hope of

falling in with some other islands, where we might be more fortunate

than we had been at those we left, before we got the length of Nova

Britannia.

On the 20th, we discovered a small, flat, low island, and got up with it

in the evening. It lies in latitude 7° 56' S. longitude 138° 56' E. and

I gave it the name of _Gower's Island_. To our great mortification we

found no anchorage here, and could procure only a few cocoa-nuts from

the inhabitants, (who were much the same kind of people that we had seen

at Isle Egmont,) in exchange for nails, and such trifles as we had; they

promised, by signs, to bring us more the next day, and we kept off and

on all night. The night was extremely dark; and the next morning at

day-break, we found that a current had set us considerably to the

southward of the island, and brought us within sight of two more. They

were situated nearly east and west of each other, and were distant about

two miles. That to the eastward is much the smallest, and this we called

_Simpson's Island_; to the other, which is lofty, and has a stately

appearance, we gave the name of _Carteret's Island_. The east end of it

bears about south from Gower's island, and the distance between them is

about ten or eleven leagues. Carteret's Island lies in about the

latitude of 8° 26' S. longitude 159° 14' E. and its length from east to

west is about six leagues. We found the variation here 8° 30' E. Both

these islands were right to windward of us, and we bore down to Gower's

Island. It is about two leagues and a half long on the western side,

which makes in bays: The whole is well wooded, and many of the trees are

cocoa-nut. We found here a considerable number of the Indians, with two

boats or canoes, which we supposed to belong to Carteret's Island, and

to have brought the people hither only to fish. We sent the boat on

shore, which the natives endeavoured to cut off; and hostilities being

thus commenced, we seized their canoe, in which we found about an

hundred cocoa-nuts, which were very acceptable. We saw some turtle near

the beach, but were not fortunate enough to take any of them. The canoe,

or boat, was large enough to carry eight or ten men, and was very neatly

built, with planks well jointed; it was adorned with shell-work, and

figures rudely painted, and the seams were covered with a substance

somewhat like our black putty, but it appeared to me to be of a better

consistence. The people were armed with bows, arrows, and spears; the

spears and arrows were pointed with flint. By some signs which they

made, pointing to our muskets, we imagined they were not wholly

unacquainted with fire-arms. They are much the same kind of people as we

had seen at Egmont island, and, like them, were quite naked; but their

canoes were of a very different structure, and a much larger size,

though we did not discover that any of them had sails. The cocoa-nuts

which we got here, and at Egmont island, were of infinite advantage to

the sick.

From the time of our leaving Egmont island, we had observed a current

setting strongly to the southward, and in the neighbourhood of these

islands we found its force greatly increased: This determined me, when I

sailed from Gower's island, to steer N.W. fearing we might otherwise

fall in with the main land too far to the southward; for if we had got

into any gulph or deep bay, our crew was so sickly, and our ship so bad,

that it would have been impossible for us to have got out again.

About eight o'clock in the morning of the 22d, as we were continuing our

course with a fine fresh gale, Patrick Dwyer, one of the marines, who

was doing something over the ship's quarter, by some accident missed his

hold and fell into the sea; we instantly threw overboard the canoe which

we had seized at Gower's island, brought the ship to, and hoisted out

the cutter with all possible expedition; but the poor fellow, though

remarkably strong and healthy, sunk at once, and we saw him no more. We

took the canoe on board again; but she had received so much damage by

striking against one of the guns, as the people were hoisting her

overboard, that we were obliged to cut her up.

In the night of Monday the 24th, we fell in with nine islands. They

stretch nearly N.W. by W. and S.E. by E. about fifteen leagues, and lie

in latitude 4° 36' S. longitude 154° 17' E. according to the ship's

account. I imagine these to be the islands which are called Ohang Java,

and were discovered by Tasman; for the situation answers very nearly to

their place in the French chart, which in the year 1756 was corrected

for the king's ships. The other islands, Carteret's, Gower's, and

Simpson's, I believe had never been seen by an European navigator

before. There is certainly much land in this part of the ocean not yet

known.

One of these islands is of considerable extent, the other eight are

scarcely better than large rocks; but though they are low and flat, they

are well covered with wood, and abound with inhabitants. The people are

black, and woolly-headed, like the negroes of Africa: Their weapons are

bows and arrows; and they have large canoes which they navigate with a

sail, one of which came near us, but would not venture on board.

We went to the northward of these islands, and steered W. by S. with a

strong south-westerly current. At eleven o'clock at night, we fell in

with another island of a considerable extent, flat, green, and of a

pleasant appearance. We saw none of its inhabitants; but it appeared by

the many fires which we saw in the night to be well peopled. It lies in

latitude 4° 50' S. and bears west fifteen leagues from the northermost

of the Nine Islands, and we called it _Sir Charles Hardy's Island_.

At day-break the next morning, we discovered another large high island,

which, rising in three considerable hills, had, at a distance, the

appearance of three islands. We gave it the name of _Winchelsea's

Island_; it is distant from Sir Charles Hardy's island about ten

leagues, in the direction of S. by E. We had here the wind squally, with

unsettled weather, and a very strong westerly current.

About ten o'clock in the morning of the 26th, we saw another large

island to the northward, which I supposed to be the same that was

discovered by Schouten, and called the island of Saint John. Soon after

we saw high land to the westward, which proved to be Nova Britannia; and

as we approached it we found a very strong S.S. westerly current,

setting at the rate of no less than thirty-two miles a-day. The next

day, having only light winds, a north-westerly current set us into a

deep bay or gulph, which proved to be that which Dampier has

distinguished by the name of Saint George's Bay.

On the 28th, we anchored in a bay near a little island at the distance

of about three leagues to the N.W. of Cape Saint George, which was

called _Wallis's Island_. I found the latitude of this Cape to be about

5° S. and its longitude by account 152° 19' E. which is about two

thousand five hundred leagues due west from the continent of America,

and about one degree and a half more to the eastward than its place in

the French chart which has been just mentioned. In the afternoon I sent

the cutter to examine the coast, and the other boat to get some

cocoa-nuts, and haul the seine. The people in this boat caught no fish,

but they brought on board about an hundred and fifty cocoa-nuts, which

were distributed to the men at the surgeon's discretion. We had seen

some turtle as we were coming into the bay, and hoping that some of them

might repair to the island in the night, especially as it was sandy,

barren, and uninhabited, like the places these animals most frequent, I

sent a few men on shore to watch for them, but they returned in the

morning without success.

We anchored here only to wait till the boats could find a fit place for

our purpose; and several very good harbours being discovered not far

distant, we now endeavoured to weigh anchor, but, with the united

strength of our whole company, were not able: This was an alarming proof

of our debility, and with heavy hearts we had recourse to an additional

purchase; with this assistance, and our utmost efforts, we got the

anchor just clear of the bottom, but the ship casting in shore, it

almost immediately hooked again in foul ground. Our task was now to

begin again; and though all hands that were able to move applied their

utmost force, the whole remaining part of the day, with the greatest

purchase we could make, we were not able to stir it: We were very

unwilling to cut the cable, for though it was much worn, we could at

this time ill sustain the loss of it, as we intended to make small cord,

which we much, wanted, of the best part of it. We therefore, with

whatever reluctance, desisted for the night; and the next day, having a

little recruited our strength, we were more successful. We got the

anchor up; but we found it so much injured as to be wholly

unserviceable, the palm being broken.

From this place we sailed to a little cove about three of four miles

distant, to which we gave the name of _English Cove_. Here we anchored,

and immediately began to get wood and water, which we found in great

plenty, besides ballast. I also sent the boat out every day to different

places with the seine; but though there was plenty of fish, we were able

to catch very little,--a misfortune which was probably owing in part to

the clearness of the water, in part to the rockiness of the beach, and

perhaps in some degree also to our want of skill. We plied this labour

day and night, notwithstanding the want of success, and at the same time

had recourse to the hook and line, but, to our great mortification, not

a single fish would take the bait. We saw a few turtle, but they were so

shy that we could not catch one of them: Here, therefore, we were

condemned to the curse of Tantalus, perpetually in sight of what our

appetites most importunately craved, and perpetually disappointed in our

attempts to reach it. We got, however, from the rocks, at low water, a

few rock-oysters, and cockles of a very large size; and from the shore

some cocoa-nuts, and the upper part of the tree that bears them, which

is called the cabbage: This cabbage is a white, crisp, juicy substance,

which, eaten raw, tastes somewhat like a chesnut, but when boiled is

superior to the best parsnip; we cut it small into the broth that we

made of our portable soup, which was afterwards thickened with oatmeal,

and made a most comfortable mess: For each of these cabbages, however,

we were forced to cut down a tree; and it was with great regret that we

destroyed, in the parent stock, so much fruit, which perhaps is the most

powerful antiscorbutic in the world; but necessity has no law. This

supply of fresh vegetable, and especially the milk, or rather the water

of the nut, recovered our sick very fast. They also received great

benefit and pleasure from the fruit of a tall tree, that resembles a

plum, and particularly that which in the West Indies is called the

Jamaica Plum. Our men gave it the same name; it has a pleasant tartish

taste, but is a little woody, probably only for want of culture: These

plums were not plenty; so that having the two qualities of a dainty,

scarcity and excellence, it is no wonder that they were held in the

highest estimation.

The shore about this place is rocky, and the country high and

mountainous, but covered with trees of various kinds, some of which are

of an enormous growth, and probably would be useful for many purposes.

Among others, we found the nutmeg tree in great plenty; and I gathered a

few of the nuts, but they were not ripe: They did not indeed appear to

be the best sort, but perhaps that is owing partly to their growing

wild, and partly to their being too much in the shade of taller trees.

The cocoa-nut tree is in great perfection, but does not abound. Here

are, I believe, all the different kinds of palm, with the beetle-nut

tree, various species of the aloe, canes, bamboos, and rattans, with

many trees, shrubs, and plants, altogether unknown to me; but no

esculent vegetable of any kind. The woods abound with pigeons, doves,

rooks, parrots, and a large bird with black plumage, that makes a noise

somewhat like the barking of a dog, with many others which I can neither

name nor describe. Our people saw no quadruped but two of a small size

that they took for dogs; the carpenter and another man got a transient

glimpse of them in the woods as they were cutting spars for the ship's

use, and said they were very wild, and ran away the moment they saw them

with great swiftness. We saw centipieds, scorpions, and a few serpents

of different kinds, but no inhabitants. We fell in, however, with

several deserted habitations; and by the shells that were scattered

about them, and seemed not long to have been taken out of the water, and

some sticks half burnt, the remains of a fire, there is reason to

conclude that the people had but just left the place when we arrived. If

we may judge of the people by that which had been their dwelling, they

must stand low even in the scale of savage life: For it was the most

miserable hovel we had ever seen.

While we lay here, having cleared and lightened the ship, we heeled her

so as to come at her leak, which the carpenter stopped as well as he

could; we found the sheathing greatly decayed, and the bottom much eaten

by the worms, but we payed it as far as we could get at it with a

mixture of hot pitch and tar boiled together. The carpenter also cut

down many spars, for studding-sail booms, having but few left of those

which he had brought from England.

English Cove lies N.E. 1/2 N. three or four miles from Wallis's Island;

there is a small shoal on the starboard hand going in, which will be

easily seen by the seas breaking upon it. The water ebbs and flows once

in four-and-twenty hours; the flood came in about nine or ten o'clock,

and it was high water between three and four in the afternoon, after

which it ebbed all night, and was low water about six in the morning.

The water rises and falls between eight and nine feet, sometimes more,

sometimes less; but I doubt whether this fluctuation is not rather the

effect of the sea and land-breeze, than of a regular tide. We anchored

here with our best bower in twenty-seven fathom water, with a bottom of

sand and mud; we veered into the cove a cable and a half from the

anchor, moored head and stern with the stream anchor, and steadied with

hawsers on each bow; the ship then lay in ten fathom, at the distance of

a cable's length from the shore at the bottom of the cove, Wallis's

point bearing S.W. 1/2 S., distant about three or four miles. At this

place there is plenty of excellent wood and water, and good shingle

ballast. The variation was 6° 1/2 E.

On Monday the 7th of September, I weighed anchor, but before I sailed, I

took possession of this country, with all its islands, bays, ports, and

harbours, for his majesty George the Third, king of Great Britain; and

we nailed upon a high tree a piece of board, faced with lead, on which

was engraved the English union, with the name of the ship, and her

commander, the name of the cove, and the time of her coming in and

sailing out of it.[59] While we lay here, I sent the boat out to examine

the harbours upon the coast, from one of which expeditions she returned

with a load of cocoa-nuts, which she procured in a fine little harbour,

about four leagues W.N.W. from the station we were in. The officer on

board reported that the trees grew where he had gathered the fruit in

great plenty; but as he had observed that several of them were marked,

and that there were many huts of the natives near them; I did not think

it proper that the boat should return: But the refreshment which now

offered was of such importance to the sick, that I determined to go into

the harbour with the ship, and place her so as to protect the men who

should be employed to fell the trees, and cut off the cabbages and the

fruit. We sailed from English Cove with the land-breeze early in the

morning, and in the evening secured the ship a-breast of the grove,

where the cocoa-nuts had been gathered, and at very little distance from

the shore. Here we procured above a thousand cocoa-nuts, and as many of

the cabbages as we could use while they were good, and I would have

staid long enough to have given my people all the refreshments they

wanted, but the season of the year made the shortest delay dangerous.

There was too much reason to suppose that the lives of all on board

depended upon our getting to Batavia while the monsoon continued to

blow from the eastward; there was indeed time enough for any other ship

to have gone three times the distance, but I knew it was scarcely

sufficient for the Swallow in her present condition: And that if we

should be obliged to continue here another season, it would probably

become impossible to navigate her at all, especially as she had but a

single sheathing, and her bottom was not filled with nails, so that the

worms would have eaten through it; besides that our provision would long

before that time have been totally exhausted. I therefore weighed anchor

and quitted this station, which was much the best that had been our lot

during the whole run from the Strait of Magellan, on the 9th in the

morning, at break of day, with a light breeze from the land.

[Footnote 59: The following quotation from the account of Bougainville's

voyage may interest the reader:--"A sailor, belonging to my barge, being

in search of shells, found buried in the sand, a piece of a plate of

lead, on which we read these remains of English words, HOR'D HERE ICK

MAJESTY. There yet remained the mark of the nails, with which they had

fastened this inscription, that did not seem to be of any ancient date.

The savages had, doubtless, torn off the plate, and broken it in pieces.

This adventure engaged us carefully to examine all the neighbourhood of

our anchorage. We therefore ran along the coast within the isle which

covers the bay; we followed it for about two leagues, and came to a deep

bay of very little breadth, open to the S.W. at the bottom of which we

landed, near a fine river. Some trees sawed in pieces, or cut down with

hatchets, immediately struck our eyes, and shewed us that this was the

place where the English put in at. We now had little trouble to find the

spot where the inscription had been placed. It was a very large and very

apparent tree, on the right-hand shore of the river, in the middle of a

great place, where we concluded that the English had pitched their

tents; for we still saw several ends of ropes fastened to the trees, the

nails stuck in the tree; and the plate had been torn off but a few days

before; for the marks of it appeared quite fresh. In the tree itself,

there were notches cut, either by the English or the islanders. Some

fresh shoots coming up from one of the trees which was cut down, gave us

an opportunity of concluding, that the English had anchored in this bay

but about four months ago. The rope which we found, likewise

sufficiently indicated it; for though it lay in a very wet place, it was

not rotten. I make no doubt but that the ship which touched here was the

Swallow, a vessel of 14 guns, commanded by Captain Carteret, and which

sailed from Europe in August 1766, with the Dolphin, Captain Wallis.

This is a very strange chance, by which we, among so many lands, come

to the very spot where this rival nation had left a monument of an

enterprize similar to ours." The name which B. gave to this harbour was

Port Praslin.--E.]

To this place we gave the name of _Carteret's Harbour_; It is about

W.N.W. four leagues from English Cove, and formed by two islands and the

main; the largest, which is to the N.W. we called _Cocoa-nut Island_,

and the other, which is to the S.E. we called _Leigh's Island_. Between

these two islands there is shoal water, and each of them forms an

entrance into the harbour; the south-east or weather entrance is formed

by Leigh's Island, and in this there is a rock that appears above water,

to which we gave the name of _Booby Rock_; the passage is between the

rock and the island, nor is the rock dangerous; there being deep water

close to it. The north-west, or lee entrance, is formed by Cocoa-nut

Island, and this is the best, because there is good anchorage in it, the

water in the other being too deep: We entered the harbour by the

south-east passage, and went out of it by the north-west. At the

south-east end of the harbour there is a large cove, which is secure

from all winds, and fit to haul a ship into. Into this cove a river

seemed to empty itself, but our boats did not examine it. In the

north-west part of the harbour there is another cove, which our boat did

examine, and from which she brought us very good water; this also is fit

for a ship to haul into, and very convenient for wooding and watering:

She may lie in any depth from thirty to five fathom, and at any distance

from the shore, with a bottom of soft mud. The harbour runs about S.E.

by S. and N.W. by N. and is about three miles long, and four cables'

length broad. We anchored in thirty fathom, near the north-west

entrance, and a-breast of the trees on Cocoa-nut Island.

SECTION VI.

_Discovery of a Strait dividing the Land called Nova Britannia into two

Islands, with a Description of several small Islands that lie in the

Passage, and the Land on each Side, with the Inhabitants._

When we got about four leagues off the land, after leaving this harbour,

we met with a strong gale at E.S.E. a direction just contrary to that

which would have favoured our getting round the land, and doubling Cape

Saint Maria. We found at the same time a strong current, setting us to

the N.W. into a deep bay or gulph, which Dumpier calls St George's Bay,

and which lies between Cape St George and Cape Orford. As it was

impossible to get round the land, against both the wind and current, and

follow the track of Dampier, I was under the necessity of attempting a

passage to the westward by this gulph, and the current gave me hopes

that I should succeed. When I had got, therefore, about five miles to

the south-west of Cocoa-nut Island, I steered to the N.W. and the N.N.W.

as the land trends, and had soon good reason to believe that what has

been called St George's Bay, and thought to be formed by two points of

the same island, was indeed a channel between two islands, and so the

event proved it to be.

Before it was dark, we found this channel divided by a pretty large

island which I called the _Duke of York's Island_, and some smaller

islands that were scattered about it. On the southermost side of the

main, or the largest of the two islands that are divided by the channel

or strait, which I left in possession of its ancient name, New Britain,

there is some high land, and three remarkable hills close to each other,

which I called the _Mother and Daughters_. The Mother is the middlemost

and largest, and behind them we saw a vast column of smoke, so that

probably one of them is a volcano: They are easily seen in clear weather

at the distance of twenty leagues, and will then, by those who do not

know them, be taken for islands; they seem to lie far inland, and the

Mother bears about west from the Duke of York's Island. To the east of

these hills there is a point making like a cape land, which I called

_Cape Palliser_; and another to the westward, which I called _Cape

Stephens_. Cape Stephens is the northernmost part of New Britain. North

of this Cape is an island, which I called the _Isle of Man_. Cape

Palliser and Cape Stephens bear about N.W. and S.E. of each other; and

between them is a bay, the land of which near the water-side is low,

pleasant, and level, and gradually rises, as it retires towards the

Mother and Daughters, into very lofty hills, in general covered with

vast woods, but having many clear spots like plantations intermixed.

Upon this part of the country we saw many fires in the night, and have

therefore reason to suppose that it is well inhabited. The Duke of

York's Island lies between the two points, Cape Palliser and Cape

Stephens. As it was not safe to attempt either of the passages into

which the strait was divided by this island in the dark, we brought to

for the night, and kept sounding, but had no ground with one hundred and

forty fathom. The strait here, including the two passages, is about

fifteen leagues broad. The land of the Duke of York's Island is level,

and has a delightful appearance: Inland it is covered with lofty woods,

and near the water-side are the houses of the natives, which stand not

far from each other, among groves of cocoa-nut trees, so that the whole

forms a prospect the most beautiful and romantic that can be imagined.

We saw many of their canoes, which are very neatly made, and in the

morning, soon after I made sail, some of them came off towards the ship;

but as we had a fresh gale at that time, we could not stay for them. The

latitude of this island is 4° 9' S., longitude 151° 20' E.; and it is

five-and-twenty leagues distant from Cape George. As I coasted not New

Britain, but the northermost coast of the strait, I passed through the

passage that is formed by that coast, and the corresponding side of the

Duke of York's Island, which is about eight leagues broad, and may be

considered as the first narrow of the strait, and then steering N.W. by

W. all night, we found at day-break that we had lost sight of the

southermost island, or New Britain, and having now ascertained the

supposed bay to be a strait, I called it _St George's Channel_, and to

the northern island I gave the name of _Nova Hibernia_, or _New

Ireland_. The weather being hazy, with a strong gale and sudden gusts, I

continued to steer, along the coast of New Ireland at about the

distance of six leagues from the shore, till I came off the west end of

it, and then, altering our course, I steered W.N.W. I could plainly

perceive, that we were set along the shore by a strong westerly current.

At noon, we found, by observation, that we were much to the northward of

the log; but as it was impossible the current could set due north, as

that would be right against the land, I was obliged, for the correction

of my account, to allow no less than four-and-twenty miles W.N.W. which

is nearly as the land lies along the shore. At this time we had about

half a point east variation; and at night we discovered a fine large

island, forming a strait or passage with New Ireland. As it was very

dark and squally, with rain, we brought-to, not knowing to what danger

the navigation of this strait might expose us. The night was

tempestuous, with much thunder and lightning, but about two in the

morning the weather cleared; the gusts settled into a little breeze, and

the moon shone very bright. At this time therefore we made sail again,

and found a strong current setting us to the westward, through the

passage of the second narrow, which is about five leagues wide. The

island, which has a pleasant appearance, and is very populous, I called

_Sandwich Island_, in honour of the earl, then first lord of the

admiralty: It is larger than the Duke of York's Island, and there seems

to be some good bays and harbours upon the coast. On the north part of

it there is a remarkable peak, like a sugar-loaf; and opposite to it,

upon the coast of New Ireland, there is just such another: They are

distant about five leagues, in the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E. and N.

by W. 1/2 W. All the while we lay-to off this island, we heard an

incessant noise in the night, like the beating of a drum: And being

becalmed just as we got through the strait, ten canoes put off from New

Ireland, with about one hundred and fifty men on board, and rowed

towards the ship; they came near enough to exchange some trifles with

us, which were conveyed at the end of a long stick, but none of them

would venture on board. They seemed to prefer such iron as we gave them

to every thing else, though none of it was manufactured except nails;

for, as I observed before, we had no cutlery ware on board. The canoes

were very long and very narrow, with an outrigger, and some of them were

very neatly made: One of them could not be less than ninety feet long,

for it was very little shorter than the ship; it was, notwithstanding,

formed of a single tree; it had some carved ornaments about it, and was

rowed or paddled by three-and-thirty men: We saw no appearance of sails.

The people are black, and woolly-headed, like Negroes, but have not the

flat nose and thick lips; and we thought them much the same people as

the inhabitants of Egmont's Island: Like them, they were all stark

naked, except a few ornaments made of shells upon their arms and legs.

They had, however, adopted a practice without which none of our belles

and beaux are supposed to be completely drest, for the hair, or rather

the wool, upon their heads, was very abundantly powdered with white

powder; the fashion of wearing powder, therefore, is probably of higher

antiquity than it is generally supposed to be, as well as of more

extensive influence; it is indeed carried farther among these people

than among any of the inhabitants of Europe, for they powder not only

their heads but their beards too. Their heads however were decorated

with more showy ornaments, for I observed that most of them had, just

above one ear, stuck a feather, which appeared to have been taken from

the tail of the common dunghill cock; so that these gentlemen are not

without poultry for their table. They were armed with spears, and long

sticks or poles, like the quarter-staff; but we did not see any bows and

arrows among them: Possibly they might have them on board, and think

proper to keep them out of sight. On my part, I kept every body at their

quarters while they were hovering about the ship, and I observed that

they had a very watchful eye upon our guns, as if they apprehended

danger from them; so that possibly they are not wholly unacquainted with

the effect of firearms. They had fishing nets with them, which, as well

as their cordage, seemed to be very well made. After they had been some

time with us, a breeze sprung up, and they returned to the shore.

The peak upon Sandwich Island lies in latitude 2° 53' S., longitude 149°

17' E. After the Indians had left us, we steered nearly west, and soon

after saw a point of land, which proved to be the south-west extremity

of New Ireland, to which I gave the name of _Cape Byron_: It lies in

latitude 2° 30' S., longitude 149° 2' E. Over-against the coast of New

Ireland, to the westward of Cape Byron, lies a fine, large island, to

which I gave the name of _New Hanover_. Between this island and New

Ireland, there is a strait or passage, which turns away to the N.E. In

this passage lie several small islands, upon one of which there is a

remarkable peak: This island I called _Byron's Island_, and the passage,

or strait, I called _Byron's Strait_. The land of New Hanover is high;

it is finely covered with trees, among which are many plantations, and

the whole has a most beautiful appearance. The south-west point of it,

which is a high bluff point, I called _Queen Charlotte's Foreland_, in

honour of her majesty. This foreland, and the land about it, is

remarkable for a great number of little hummocks or hills, but night

coming on, with thick weather, hard squalls, and much rain, we could not

see more of it distinctly enough to describe its appearance.

We steered westward all night, and in the morning, the weather being

still thick, our view of New Hanover was very imperfect; but we saw,

about eight leagues to the westward of it, six or seven small islands,

which I called the _Duke of Portland's Islands_, two of which are pretty

large. I now perceived by the swell of the sea that we were clear of all

the land, and I found Saint George's Channel to be a much better and

shorter passage, whether from the eastward or the westward, than round

all the land and islands to the northward; the distress, therefore,

which pushed me upon this discovery, may probably be, in its

consequences, of great advantage to future navigators, especially as

there can be no doubt but that refreshments of every kind may easily be

procured from the natives who inhabit either of the coasts of the

channel, or the islands that lie near them, for beads, ribbands,

looking-glasses, and especially iron tools and cutlery-ware, of which

they are immoderately fond, and with which, to our great misfortune, we

were not furnished.

Queen Charlotte's Foreland, the south-west part of New Hanover, lies in

latitude 2° 29' S., longitude 148° 27' E.; and the middle of Portland's

Islands in latitude 2° 27' S., longitude 148° 3' E. The length of this,

streight or channel, from Cape Saint George to Cape Byron, the southwest

extremity of New Ireland, is above eighty leagues; the distance from

Cape Byron to Queen Charlotte's Foreland is about twelve leagues, and

from the foreland to Portland's Islands about eight leagues; so that the

whole length of Saint George's Channel is about one hundred leagues, or

three hundred miles.

Though we cleared the streight in the morning of Sunday the 13th of

September, we had no observation of the sun till the 15th, which I could

not but greatly regret, as it prevented my being so exact in my latitude

and longitude as might be expected. The description also of the country,

its productions and people, would have been much more full and

circumstantial, if I had not been so much enfeebled and dispirited by

sickness, as almost to sink under the duty that for want of officers

devolved upon me, being obliged, when I was scarcely able to crawl, to

keep watch and watch, and share other duties with my lieutenant, whose

health also was, greatly impaired.

SECTION VII.

_The Passage from Saint George's Channel to the Island of Mindanao, with

an Account of many Islands that were seen, and Incidents that happened

by the Way._

As soon as we had cleared Saint George's Channel, we steered westward,

and the next day we discovered land bearing W.N.W. and hauled up for it;

it proved to be an island of considerable extent, and soon afterwards we

saw another to the north-east of it, but this appeared to be little more

than a large rock above water. As I had here strong currents, and for

several days had not been able to get an observation of the sun, I

cannot so exactly ascertain the situation of these islands as I might

otherwise have done. As we proceeded to the westward, we discovered more

land, consisting of many islands lying to the southward of the large one

which we had first discovered. As the nights were now moonlight, we kept

on till eleven o'clock, and the lieutenant, who was then officer of the

watch, finding that the course we were steering would carry us among

them, and not being willing to awaken me till it was my turn to watch,

hauled off S. by E. and S.S.E. I came upon deck about midnight, and at

one in the morning, perceiving that we were clear of them, I bore away

again to the westward with an easy sail: The islands, however, were not

far distant, and about six o'clock, a considerable number of canoes,

with several hundred people on board, came off, and paddled toward the

ship: One of them, with seven men on board, came near enough to hail us,

and made us several signs which we could not perfectly understand, but

repeated, as near as we could, to shew that whatever they meant to us we

meant to them; however, the better to bespeak their good-will, and

invite them on board, we held up to them several of the few trifles we

had: Upon this they drew nearer to the ship, and I flattered myself that

they were coming on board; but on the contrary, as soon as they came

within reach of us they threw their lances, with great force, where we

stood thickest upon the deck. As I thought it better to prevent than to

repress a general attack, in which as the number would be more, the

mischief would be greater, and having now no doubt of their hostile

intentions, I fired some muskets, and one of the swivel guns, upon which

some of them being killed or wounded, they rowed off and joined the

other canoes, of which there were twelve or fourteen, with several

hundred men on board. I then brought-to, waiting for the issue, and had

the satisfaction to see, that, after having long consulted together,

they made for the shore: That I might still farther intimidate them, and

more effectually prevent their return, I fired a round shot from one of

my six-pounders, so as to fall into the water beyond them: This seemed

to have a good effect, for they not only used their paddles more nimbly,

but hoisted sail, still standing towards the shore. Soon after, however,

several more canoes put off from another part of the island, and came

towards us very fast: They stopped at about the same distance as the

other had done, and one of them also in the same manner came forward: To

the people on board this vessel we made all the signs of friendship we

could devise, shewing them every thing we had which we thought would

please them, opening our arms, and inviting them on board: But our

rhetoric was to no effect, for as soon as they came within a cast of the

ship, they poured in a shower of darts and lances, which, however, did

us no harm. We returned the assault by firing some muskets, and one man

being killed, the rest precipitately leaped into the sea, and swimming

to the others, who waited at a distance, all returned together from

whence they came. As soon as the canoe was deserted, we got out our boat

and brought it on board: It was full fifty feet long, though one of the

smallest that came against us; it was very rudely made out of one tree,

but had an out-rigger. We found in it six fine fish, and a turtle, some

yams, one cocoa-nut, and a bag full of a small kind of apple or plum, of

a sweetish taste and farinaceous substance; it had a flatfish kernel,

and was wholly different from every thing we have seen either before or

since; it was eatable raw, but much better boiled, or roasted in the

embers: We found also two large earthen pots, shaped somewhat like a

jug, with a wide mouth, but without handles, and a considerable quantity

of matting, which these people use both for sails and awning, spreading

it over bent sticks, much in the same manner as the tilts of the London

wherries. From the contents of this vessel we judged that it had been

fishing, and we observed that the people had a fire on board, with one

of their pots on it, in which they were boiling their provision. When we

had satisfied our curiosity by examining it, we cut it up for fire-wood.

These Indians were the same kind of people that we had seen before on

the coast of New Ireland, and at Egmont Island: They were of a very dark

copper colour, nearly black, with woolly heads. They chew beetle-nut,

and go quite naked, except the rude ornaments of shells strung together,

which they wear round their legs and arms: They were also powdered like

our last visitors, and had, besides, their faces painted with white

streaks: But I did not observe that they had any beards. Their lances

were pointed with a kind of bluish flint.

Having disengaged ourselves from this fierce and unfriendly people, we

pursued our course along the other islands, which are between twenty and

thirty in number, and of considerable extent; one in particular would

alone make a large kingdom. I called them the _Admiralty Islands_, and

should have been glad to have examined them, if my ship had been in a

better condition, and I had been provided with such articles as are

proper for an Indian trade, especially as their appearance is very

inviting: They are clothed with the most beautiful verdure; the woods

are lofty and luxuriant, interspersed with spots that have been cleared

for plantations, groves of cocoa-nut trees, and houses of the natives,

who seem to be very numerous. Nothing would be more easy than to

establish an amicable intercourse with them, as they would soon be

sensible that our superiority would render contest vain, and traffic

advantageous. I judge the middle of the largest to lie in latitude 2°

18' S., longitude 146° 44' E. and at the distance of five-and-thirty

leagues from Queen Charlotte's Foreland in New Hanover, in the direction

of W. 1/2 N. On the south side of this island, there is a small one,

which rises conically in a high peak. The latitude of this peak is 2°

27' S., and it lies five degrees and a half westward of Cape Saint

George in New Ireland. As we ran along the south side of the large

island, we found it to be eighteen leagues long, in the direction, of

east and west; how far it runs to the northward, I do not know, but by

its appearance there is reason to suppose a very considerable distance.

I think it probable, in the highest degree, that these islands produce

many valuable articles of trade, particularly spices, especially as they

lie in the same climate and latitude as the Malaccas, and as I found the

nutmeg-tree in a soil comparatively rocky and barren upon the coast of

New Ireland.

Having passed these islands, we continued our course W. by N. with a

fine eastern breeze, and smooth water. On the 16th in the morning, we

found the variation, by a medium of several azimuths, to be 6° 30' E.,

our latitude being 2° 19' S., and our longitude 145° 40' E. by

observation. I was surprised to find the variation on this side the

land of New Britain and New Ireland so much, as we had found it

gradually decreasing daring our progress to the N.W., but I recollected

that about two years before I had found nearly the same variation in

this meridian, about the island of Tinian.

On Saturday evening the 19th, we discovered two small islands, both low

land, level, and green: One of them we saw only from the

main-top-gallant-mast head; this I called _Durour's Island_. Its

latitude is about 1° 14' or 16' S., its longitude 148° 21' E. The other

island, which I called _Maty's Island_, we coasted during the night, and

saw the inhabitants, in great numbers, run along the beach, a-breast of

the ship, with lights: The side along which we sailed seemed to be about

six miles in length, E. by N. and W. by S. As it was dark we could see

no more of it, and having a fine breeze, which we could not afford to

lose, we kept on. Its latitude is about 1° 45' S., and its longitude

about 143° 2' E.; the variation here was 4° 4'E. and we found a strong

north-westerly current. We had now fresh gales and squalls, with rain,

the wind blowing very unsteadily from E.S.E. to E.N.E. till the 22d,

when it became variable. Our latitude was then 53' S., longitude 140° 5'

E.; the variation was 4° 40' E.

On the 24th, we saw two small islands to the south-west, but it being

calm, with light airs, and a strong westerly current, we could not get

nearer to them than four or five leagues: They had a green, pleasant

appearance, and were well covered with trees; but whether they are

inhabited I do not know. They run about N.W. by W.S.E. by E. One is

about three miles long, and the other about six: The passage between

them appeared to be about two miles broad. They lie in latitude 22' S.,

longitude 138° 39 E. and I gave them the name of _Stephens's Islands_.

We kept steering N.W. by W. with a light variable wind, and a strong

north-west current.

On the 25th, we saw land a-head, which proved to be three small islands;

and before it was dark we got pretty near them. Several canoes soon came

off, filled with the natives, who, after making signs of peace, came on

board without the least appearance of fear or distrust: They had

nothing with them but a few cocoa-nuts, which they sold with great joy

for a few pieces of an iron hoop. We soon found that they were not

unacquainted with that metal, which they called _parram_; and they made

us understand, by signs, that a ship like ours sometimes touched at

their islands for refreshment. I gave one of them three pieces of an old

iron hoop, each about four inches long, which threw him into an extacy

little short of distinction. I could not but sympathise in his joy, nor

observe, without great pleasure, the changes of countenance, and

extravagance of gesture, by which it was expressed. All these people,

indeed, appeared to be more fond of iron than any we had seen before;

and I am sure, that for iron tools we might have purchased every thing

upon the islands which we could have brought away. They are of the

Indian copper colour; the first of that complexion that we had seen in

these parts, with fine long black hair, and little beards, for we

observed that they were continually plucking the hair from their chin

and upper-lip by the roots. Their features are pleasing, and their teeth

remarkably white and even: They were of the common stature, but nimble,

vigorous, and active, in a surprising degree, running up to the

mast-head much faster than our own people. Their disposition was free

and open; they eat and drank whatever was given them; went without

hesitation into every part of the ship, and were as familiar and merry

with the crew as if they had been of long and intimate acquaintance.

They were not, like the people on all the other islands that we had

visited, quite naked, though they had only a slight covering for the

waist, which consisted of a narrow piece of fine matting. Their canoes

were very well and neatly made, having a hollow tree for the bottom, and

planks for the sides, with a sail of fine matting, and an outrigger;

their ropes and netting were also very good. They urged us strongly to

go on shore, offering to leave an equal number of their own people

behind, as a pledge of their safe return; and indeed I would gladly have

consented if it had been in my power; but a strong westerly current

hurried me to so great a distance, that I had no opportunity to seek for

anchorage, and night coming on we pursued our course. When our visitors

perceived this, one of them insisted upon going with us, and,

notwithstanding all that I and his companions could say or do,

obstinately refused to go on shore. As I thought it possible that this

man might be the means of our making some useful discovery, I did not

put him ashore by force, but indulged him in his desire. We learned

from him that there were other islands to the northward, the inhabitants

of which, he said, had iron, and always killed his countrymen when they

could catch them out at sea. It was with great concern that I perceived

this poor fellow, whom I called Joseph Freewill, from his readiness to

go with us, become gradually sickly after he had been some time at sea.

He lived till I got to the island of Celebes, and there died. As the

islands from which I had taken him were very small and low, the largest

being not more than five miles in compass, I was surprised to see with

how many of the productions of Celebes he was acquainted; beside the

cocoa-nut and palm, he knew the beetle-nut and the lime, and the moment

he got a bread-fruit, he went to the fire and roasted it in the embers.

He made us understand also, that in his country they had plenty of fish,

and turtle in their season. It is, however, very probable,

notwithstanding the number of people who subsist upon these islands,

that they have no fresh water but what falls in rain: How they catch and

preserve it, I had no opportunity to learn, but I never met with a

spring in a spot so small and low, and in such a spot I believe no

spring was ever found. The largest of these islands, which the natives

call Pegan, and to which I gave the name of _Freewill Island_, lies

fifty minutes north of the Line, and in 137° 51' east longitude. They

are all surrounded by a reef of rocks. The chart of these islands I drew

from the Indian's description, who delineated them with chalk upon the

deck, and ascertained the depth of water by stretching-his arms as a

fathom.

I now steered N.W. by N. to get from under the sun, and had light winds

at E.S.E. with which almost any ship but the Swallow would have made

good way, but with every possible advantage she went at a heavy rate. We

now found our variation begin again to decrease, as will appear by the

following table:

Longitude from Queen

Latitude. Charlotte's Foreland. Variation.

40'S. 8° 36'W. 4° 40'E.

Upon the Line. 9 40 W. 4 17 E.

.30'N. 10 30 W. 3 10 E.

2° N. 11 40 W. 2 30 E.

2° 50' N. 12 10 W. 2 E.

On the 28th, being in latitude 2° 53' N. longitude 136° 10' E. we fell

in with a very dangerous shoal, which is about eleven or twelve miles in

circuit, and surrounded with small stones that just shew themselves

above water. We found here a strong northerly current, but could not

determine whether it inclined to the east or west. In the evening, we

discovered from the mast-head another island to the southward of us; the

east end of it seemed to rise in a peak, and had the appearance of a

sail, but we did not go near enough to see anything of it from the deck.

I suppose its latitude to be about 2° 50' N. and its longitude east of

London about 136° 10' E.

We continued to have a current to the northward till Monday the 5th of

October, when, being in latitude 4° 30' N. I found it southerly, and

very strong. I had, among other deficiencies and misfortunes, no small

boat on board, so that I could not try these currents, which I had a

great desire to do; but I am of opinion, that when the current set

southward, it inclined to the east; and that when it set northward, it

inclined to the west.

On Monday the 12th, we discovered a small island, with trees upon it,

though scarcely bigger than a rock; and I called it _Current Island_. It

lies in latitude 4°40'N. longitude 14°24'W. of Queen Charlotte's

Foreland. The next day, we discovered two other small islands, which I

called _Saint Andrew's Islands_. They lie in latitude 5°18'N. longitude

14°47'W. of Queen Charlotte's Foreland. I called the small island

Current Island, because we had here a southerly current so strong that

it set us from twenty-four to thirty miles southward every day, besides

the difference it might make in our longitude. The wind was now

variable, blowing by turns from every point in the compass, with much

rain and hard squalls. On Tuesday the 20th, being in latitude 8°N. it

blew with such violence that we were obliged to lie-to sixty-four hours.

This gale, which made a very great sea, I supposed to be the shifting of

the monsoon; and, notwithstanding the southerly current, it drove us,

while we lay-to, as far as nine degrees northward.

SECTION VIII.

_Some Account of the Coast of Mindanao, and the Islands near it, in

which some Mistakes of Dampier are corrected._

On the 26th, we discovered land again, but not being able to make an

observation, we could ascertain our latitude and longitude only by our

dead reckoning; the next day, however, was more favourable, and I then

found the effect of the current had been so great, that I was obliged to

add to the log S.W. by S. no less than sixty-four miles for the last two

days. We now knew that the land we had seen was the north-east part of

the island of Mindanao.[60] As I had many sick people on board, and was

in the most pressing need of refreshments, I determined to try what

could be procured in a bay which Dampier has described as lying on the

south-east part of the island, and which, he says, furnished him with

great plenty of deer from a savannah. I therefore coasted that side of

the island, and that I might be sure not to miss the bay, I sent out the

lieutenant with the boat and a proper number of hands, to keep in-shore

a-head of the ship. No such bay, however, was to be found; but, at the

very southernmost extremity of the island, they opened a little nook, at

the bottom of which was a town and a fort. As soon as our boat was

discovered by the people on shore, they fired a great gun, and sent off

three boats or canoes full of people. As the lieutenant had not a

sufficient force to oppose them, he immediately made towards the ship,

and the canoes chaced him till they came within sight of her, and being

then overmatched in their turn, they thought fit to go back. Being thus

disappointed in my search of Dampier's Bay and Savannah, I would have

anchored off this town, notwithstanding these hostile appearances, if it

had not been necessary first to get up some guns from the hold, and make

a few necessary repairs in the rigging; this however being the case, I

ran a little to the eastward, where, on the 3d of November, I came to an

anchor in a little bay, having a bottom of soft mud, and seven fathom of

water, at the distance of a cable's length from the shore. The

westermost point of the bay bore W.S.W. distant about three miles; the

easier-most point E. by S. distant about one mile; a river, which

empties itself into the bay, about N.W. and the peak of an island,

called Hummock Island, S. 7° E. distant about five leagues. Before it

was dark the same day, our two boats went to the river, and brought off

their loads of water: They saw no signs of inhabitants where they were

on shore, but we observed a canoe come round the westermost point of the

bay, which we supposed had been dispatched from the town, to learn what

we were, or at least to see what we were doing. As soon as I discovered

this canoe, I hoisted English colours, and was not without hope that she

would come on board: but after viewing us some time, she returned. As we

had seen no inhabitants, nor any signs of inhabitants where we got our

water, I intended to procure a further supply the next day from the same

place, and endeavour also to recruit our wood; but about nine o'clock at

night, we were suddenly surprised by a loud noise on that part of the

shore which was a-breast of the ship: It was made by a great number of

human voices, and very much resembled the war-whoop of the American

savages; a hideous shout which they give at the moment of their attack,

and in which all who have heard it agree there is something

inexpressibly terrifying and horrid.

[Footnote 60: For some particulars respecting this island, see vol. X.

p. 275, &c. Playfair's and Pinkerton's Geography also may be

advantageously consulted as to Mindanao and the other eastern islands

spoken of in this voyage. Some account will be given of them when we

come to treat of Cook's discoveries.]

As I was now farther convinced that it was necessary to dispose of our

little force to the greatest advantage, we began the next day by getting

the guns up from the hold, and making the necessary repairs to our

rigging. At eleven o'clock, not having seen any thing of the people, who

had endeavoured to terrify us by their yells in the night, I sent the

long-boat on shore for more water; but as I thought it probable that

they might have concealed themselves in the woods, I kept the cutter

manned and armed, with the lieutenant on board, that immediate succour

might be sent to the waterers, if any danger should threaten them. It

soon appeared that my conjectures were well-founded, for our people had

no sooner left their boat, than a number of armed men rushed out of the

woods, one of whom held up somewhat white, which I took to be a signal

of peace. Upon this occasion I was again sensible of the mortifying

deficiency in the ship's equipment, which I had so often experienced

before. I had no white flag on board, and therefore, as the best

expedient in my power, I ordered the lieutenant, whom I sent on shore in

the cutter, to display one of my table-cloths: As soon as the officer

landed, the standard-bearer and another came down to him unarmed, and

received him with great appearance of friendship. One of them addressed

him in Dutch, which none of our people understood; he then spoke a few

words in Spanish, in which one of the persons of the cutter was a

considerable proficient: The Indian however spoke it so very

imperfectly, that it was with great difficulty, and by the help of many

signs, he made himself understood; possibly if any of our people had

spoken Dutch, he might have been found equally deficient in that

language. He asked for the captain however by the name of the skipper,

and enquired whether we were Hollanders; whether our ship was intended

for merchandize or for war; how many guns and men she carried; and

whether she had been, or was going to Batavia. When we had satisfied him

in all these particulars, he said that we should go to the town, and

that he would introduce us to the governor, whom he distinguished by the

title of Raja. The lieutenant then told him, that we intended to go to

the town, but that we were in immediate want of water, and therefore

desired permission to fill some casks; he also requested that the people

who were armed with bows and arrows, might be ordered to a greater

distance. With both these requisitions the Indian, who seemed to be

invested with considerable authority, complied; and as he seemed to take

particular notice of a silk handkerchief which the lieutenant had tied

round his neck, it was immediately presented to him; in return for which

he desired him to accept a kind of cravat, made of coarse calico, which

was tied round his own, his dress being somewhat after the Dutch

fashion. After this interchange of cravats, he enquired of the officer

whether the ship was furnished with any articles for trade; to which he

answered that she was sufficiently furnished to trade for provisions,

but nothing more: The chief replied, that whatever we wanted we should

have. After this conference, which I considered as an earnest of every

advantage which this place could afford us, the boats returned on board

laden with water, and we went cheerfully on with our business on board

the ship. In about two hours, however, we saw with equal surprise and

concern, many hundreds of armed men, posting themselves in parties at

different places, among the trees, upon the beach, a-breast of the ship;

their weapons were muskets, bows and arrows, long pikes or spears,

broad-swords, a kind of hanger called a cress, and targets: We observed

also, that they hauled a canoe, which lay under a shed upon the beach,

up into the woods. These were not friendly appearances, and they were

succeeded by others that were still more hostile; for these people spent

all the remainder of the day in entering and rushing out of the woods,

as if they had been making sallies to attack an enemy; sometimes

shooting their arrows, and throwing their lances into the water towards

the ship; and sometimes lifting their targets, and brandishing their

swords at us in a menacing manner. In the mean time we were not idle on

board: We got up our guns, repaired our rigging, and put every thing in

order before evening, and then, being ready to sail, I determined, if

possible, to get another conference with the people on shore, and learn

the reason of so sudden and unaccountable a change of behaviour. The

lieutenant therefore was again dispatched, and as a testimony that our

disposition was still peaceable, the table-cloth was again displayed as

a flag of truce. I had the precaution, however, to order the boat to a

part of the beach which was clear of wood, that the people on board

might not be liable to mischief from enemies whom they could not see; I

also ordered that nobody should go on shore. When the Indians saw the

boat came to the beach, and observed that nobody landed, one of them

came out of the wood, with a bow and arrows in his hand, and made signs

for the boat to come to the place where he stood. This the officer very

prudently declined, as he would then have been within bow-shot of an

ambuscade, and after waiting some time, and finding that a conference

could be procured upon no other terms, he returned back to the ship. It

was certainly in my power to have destroyed many of these unfriendly

people, by firing my great guns into the wood, but it would have

answered no good purpose: We could not afterwards have procured wood and

water here without risking the loss of our own people, and I still hoped

that refreshment might be procured upon friendly terms at the town,

which, now I was in a condition to defend myself against a sudden

assault, I resolved to visit.

The next morning, therefore, as soon as it was light, I sailed from this

place, which I called _Deceitful Bay_, with a light land-breeze, and

between ten and eleven o'clock we got off the bay or nook, at the bottom

of which our boats had discovered the town and fort. It happened however

that just at this time the weather became thick, with heavy rain, and it

began to blow hard from a quarter which made the land here a lee-shore;

this obliged me to stand off, and having no time to lose, I stood away

to the westward, that I might reach Batavia before the season was past.

I shall now give a more particular account of our navigating the sea

that washes the coasts of this island, the rather as Dampier's

description is in several particulars erroneous.