BOOK I.

CHAP. I.

THE PASSAGE FROM PLYMOUTH TO MADEIRA, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THAT ISLAND.

HAVING received my commission, which was dated the 25th of May, 1768, I

went on board on the 27th, hoisted the pennant, and took charge of the

ship, which then lay in the basin in Deptford Yard. She was fitted for

sea with all expedition; and stores and provisions being taken on board,

sailed down the river on the 30th of July, and on the 13th of August

anchored in Plymouth Sound.

While we lay here waiting for a wind, the articles of war and the act of

parliament were read to the ship’s company, who were paid two months’

wages in advance, and told that they were to expect no additional pay

for the performance of the voyage.

On Friday, the 26th of August, the wind becoming fair, we got under

sail, and put to sea. On the 31st, we saw several of the birds which the

sailors call Mother Carey’s Chickens, and which they suppose to be the

forerunners of a storm; and on the next day we had a very hard gale,

which brought us under our courses, washed over-board a small boat

belonging to the boatswain, and drowned three or four dozen of our

poultry, which we regretted still more.

On Friday, the 2d of September, we saw land between Cape Finister and

Cape Ortegal, on the coast of Gallicia, in Spain; and on the 5th, by an

observation of the sun and moon, we found the latitude of Cape Finister

to be 42° 53ʹ North, and its longitude 8° 46ʹ West, our first meridian

being always supposed to pass through Greenwich; variation of the needle

21° 4ʹ W.

During this course, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander had an opportunity of

observing many marine animals, of which no naturalist has hitherto taken

notice; particularly a new species of the _Oniscus_, which was found

adhering to the _Medusa Pelagica_; and an animal of an angular figure,

about three inches long, and one thick, with a hollow passing quite

through it, and a brown spot on one end, which they conjectured might be

its stomach; four of these adhered together by their sides when they

were taken, so that at first they were thought to be one animal, but

upon being put into a glass of water they soon separated, and swam about

very briskly. These animals are of a new genus, to which Mr. Banks and

Dr. Solander gave the name of _Dagysa_, from the likeness of one species

of them to a gem: several specimens of them were taken, adhering

together sometimes to the length of a yard or more, and shining in the

water with very beautiful colours. Another animal, of a new genus, they

also discovered, which shone in the water with colours still more

beautiful and vivid, and which indeed exceeded in variety and brightness

any thing that we had ever seen: the colouring and splendour of these

animals were equal to those of an Opal, and from their resemblance to

that gem, the genus was called _Carcinium Opalinum_. One of them lived

several hours in a glass of salt water, swimming about with great

agility, and at every motion displaying a change of colours almost

infinitely various. We caught also among the rigging of the ship, when

we were at the distance of about ten leagues from Cape Finister, several

birds which have not been described by Linnæus; they were supposed to

have come from Spain, and our gentlemen called the species _Motacilla

velificans_, as they said none but sailors would venture themselves on

board a ship that was going round the world: one of them was so

exhausted, that it died in Mr. Banks’s hand, almost as soon as it was

brought to him.

It was thought extraordinary that no naturalist had hitherto taken

notice of the _Dagysa_, as the sea abounds with them not twenty leagues

from the coast of Spain; but, unfortunately for the cause of science,

there are but very few of those who traverse the sea, that are either

disposed or qualified to remark the curiosities of which Nature has made

it the repository.

On the 12th we discovered the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, and on

the next day anchored in Funchiale road, and moored with the

stream-anchor: but, in the night, the bend of the hawser of the

stream-anchor slipped, owing to the negligence of the person who had

been employed to make it fast. In the morning the anchor was heaved up

into the boat, and carried out to the southward; but in heaving it

again, Mr. Weir, the master’s mate, was carried overboard by the

buoy-rope, and went to the bottom with the anchor; the people in the

ship saw the accident, and got the anchor up with all possible

expedition; it was, however, too late; the body came up intangled in the

buoy-rope, but it was dead.

When the island of Madeira is first approached from the sea, it has a

very beautiful appearance; the sides of the hills being entirely covered

with vines almost as high as the eye can distinguish; and the vines are

green when every kind of herbage, except where they shade the ground,

and here and there by the sides of a rill, is entirely burnt up, which

was the case at this time.

On the 13th, about eleven o’clock in the forenoon, a boat, which our

sailors call the product boat, came on board from the officers of

health, without whose permission no person is suffered to land from on

board a ship. As soon as this permission was obtained, we went on shore

at Funchiale, the capital of the island, and proceeded directly to the

house of Mr. Cheap, who is the English consul there, and one of the most

considerable merchants of the place. This gentleman received us with the

kindness of a brother, and the liberality of a prince; he insisted upon

our taking possession of his house, in which he furnished us with every

possible accommodation during our stay upon the island; he procured

leave for Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander to search the island for such

natural curiosities as they should think worth their notice; employed

persons to take fish and gather shells, which time would not have

permitted them to collect for themselves; and he provided horses and

guides to take them to any part of the country which they should choose

to visit. With all these advantages, however, their excursions were

seldom pushed farther than three miles from the town, as they were only

five days on shore; one of which they spent at home, in receiving the

honour of a visit from the governor. The season was the worst in the

year for their purpose, as it was neither that of plants nor insects; a

few of the plants, however, were procured in flower, by the kind

attention of Dr. Heberden, the chief physician of the island, and

brother to Dr. Heberden of London, who also gave them such specimens as

he had in his possession, and a copy of his Botanical Observations;

containing, among other things, a particular description of the trees of

the island. Mr. Banks inquired after the wood which has been imported

into England for cabinet work, and is here called Madeira mahogany: he

learnt that no wood was exported from the island under that name, but he

found a tree called by the natives Vigniatico, the _Laurus indicus_ of

Linnæus, the wood of which cannot easily be distinguished from mahogany.

Dr. Heberden has a book-case, in which the vigniatico and mahogany are

mixed, and they are no otherwise to be known from each other than by the

colour, which, upon a nice examination, appears to be somewhat less

brown in the vigniatico than the mahogany; it is, therefore, in the

highest degree probable, that the wood known in England by the name of

Madeira mahogany, is the vigniatico.

There is great reason to suppose that this whole island was, at some

remote period, thrown up by the explosion of subterraneous fire, as

every stone, whether whole or in fragments, that we saw upon it,

appeared to have been burnt, and even the sand itself to be nothing more

than ashes: we did not, indeed, see much of the country, but the people

informed us that what we did see was a very exact specimen of the rest.

The only article of trade in this island is wine, and the manner in

which it is made is so simple, that it might have been used by Noah, who

is said to have planted the first vineyard after the flood: the grapes

are put into a square wooden vessel, the dimensions of which are

proportioned to the size of the vineyard to which it belongs; the

servants then, having taken off their stockings and jackets, get into

it, and with their feet and elbows press out as much of the juice as

they can: the stalks are afterwards collected, and being tied together

with a rope, are put under a square piece of wood, which is pressed down

upon them by a lever with a stone tied to the end of it. The inhabitants

have made so little improvement in knowledge or art, that they have but

very lately brought all the fruit of a vineyard to be of one sort, by

engrafting their vines: there seems to be in mind as there is in matter,

a kind of _vis inertiæ_, which resists the first impulse to change. He

who proposes to assist the artificer or the husbandman by a new

application of the principles of philosophy, or the powers of mechanism,

will find, that his having hitherto done without them will be a stronger

motive for continuing to do without them still, than any advantage,

however manifest and considerable, for adopting the improvement.

Wherever there is ignorance there is prejudice; and the common people of

all nations are, with respect to improvements, like the parish poor of

England with respect to a maintenance, for whom the law must not only

make a provision, but compel them to accept it, or else they will be

still found begging in the streets. It was, therefore, with great

difficulty that the people of Madeira were persuaded to engraft their

vines, and some of them still obstinately refuse to adopt the practice,

though a whole vintage is very often spoiled by the number of bad grapes

which are mixed in the vat, and which they will not throw out, because

they increase the quantity of the wine: an instance of the force of

habit, which is the more extraordinary, as they have adopted the

practice of engrafting with respect to their chesnut-trees, an object of

much less importance, which, however, are thus brought to bear sooner

than they would otherwise have done.

We saw no wheel-carriages of any sort in the place, which, perhaps, is

not more owing to the want of ingenuity to invent them than to the want

of industry to mend the roads, which, at present, it is impossible that

any wheel-carriage should pass: the inhabitants have horses and mules,

indeed, excellently adapted to such ways; but their wine is,

notwithstanding, brought to town from the vineyards where it is made in

vessels of goat-skins, which are carried by men upon their heads. The

only imitation of a carriage among these people is a board, made

somewhat hollow in the middle, to one end of which a pole is tied, by a

strap of whit-leather: this wretched sledge approaches about as near to

an English cart as an Indian canoe to a ship’s long-boat; and even this

would probably never have been thought of, if the English had not

introduced wine-vessels, which are too big to be carried by hand, and

which, therefore, are dragged about the town upon these machines.

One reason, perhaps, why art and industry have done so little for

Madeira, is, Nature’s having done so much. The soil is very rich, and

there is such a difference of climate between the plains and the hills,

that there is scarcely a single object of luxury that grows either in

Europe or the Indies that might not be produced here. When we went to

visit Dr. Heberden, who lives upon a considerable ascent, about two

miles from town, we left the thermometer at 74, and when we arrived at

his house, we found it at 66. The hills produce, almost spontaneously,

walnuts, chesnuts, and apples in great abundance; and in the town there

are many plants which are the natives both of the East and West Indies,

particularly the banana, the guava, the pine-apple or anana, and the

mango, which flourish almost without culture. The corn of this country

is of a most excellent quality, large grained and very fine, and the

island would produce it in great plenty; yet most of what is consumed by

the inhabitants is imported. The mutton, pork, and beef, are also very

good; the beef, in particular, which we took on board here, was

universally allowed to be scarcely inferior to our own; the lean part

was very like it, both in colour and grain, though the beasts are much

smaller, but the fat is as white as the fat of mutton.

The town of Funchiale derives its name from _Funcho_, the Portuguese

name for fennel, which grows in great plenty upon the neighbouring

rocks, and by the observation of Dr. Heberden, lies in the latitude of

32° 33ʹ 33ʺ N. and longitude 16° 49ʹ W. It is situated in the bottom of

a bay, and though larger than the extent of the island seems to deserve,

is very ill built; the houses of the principal inhabitants are large,

those of the common people are small, the streets are narrow, and worse

paved than any I ever saw. The churches are loaded with ornaments, among

which are many pictures, and images of favourite saints; but the

pictures are in general wretchedly painted, and the saints are dressed

in laced clothes. Some of the convents are in a better taste, especially

that of the Franciscans, which is plain, simple, and neat in the highest

degree. The infirmary in particular drew our attention as a model which

might be adopted in other countries with great advantage. It consists of

a long room, on one side of which are the windows, and an altar for the

convenience of administering the sacrament to the sick: the other side

is divided into wards, each of which is just big enough to contain a

bed, and neatly lined with gally-tiles; behind these wards, and parallel

to the room in which they stand, there runs a long gallery, with which

each ward communicates by a door, so that the sick may be separately

supplied with whatever they want without disturbing their neighbours. In

this convent there is also a singular curiosity of another kind; a small

chapel, the whole lining of which, both sides and ceiling, is composed

of human sculls and thigh-bones; the thigh-bones are laid across each

other, and a scull is placed in each of the four angles. Among the

sculls one is very remarkable; the upper and the lower jaw, on one side,

perfectly and firmly cohere; how the ossification which unites them was

formed, it is not, perhaps, very easy to conceive, but it is certain

that the patient must have lived some time without opening his mouth:

what nourishment he received was conveyed through a hole, which we

discovered to have been made on the other side, by forcing out some of

the teeth, in doing which the jaw also seems to have been injured.

We visited the good Fathers of this convent on a Thursday evening, just

before supper-time, and they received us with great politeness: “We will

not ask you,” said they, “to sup with us, because we are not prepared;

but if you will come to-morrow, though it is a fast with us, we will

have a turkey roasted for you.” This invitation, which showed a

liberality of sentiment not to have been expected in a convent of

Portuguese friars at this place, gratified us much, though it was not in

our power to accept it.

We visited also a convent of nuns, dedicated to _Santa Clara_, and the

ladies did us the honour to express a particular pleasure in seeing us

there: they had heard that there were great philosophers among us, and

not at all knowing what were the objects of philosophical knowledge,

they asked us several questions that were absurd and extravagant in the

highest degree; one was, when it would thunder; and another, whether a

spring of fresh water was to be found any where within the walls of

their convent, of which it seems they were in great want. It will

naturally be supposed that our answers to such questions were neither

satisfactory to the ladies, nor, in their estimation, honourable to us;

yet their disappointment did not in the least lessen their civility, and

they talked, without ceasing, during the whole of our visit, which

lasted about half an hour.

The hills of this country are very high; the highest, Pico Ruivo, rises

5068 feet, near an English mile, perpendicularly from its base, which is

much higher than any land that has been measured in Great Britain. The

sides of these hills are covered with vines to a certain height, above

which there are woods of chesnut and pine of immense extent, and above

them forests of wild timber of various kinds not known in Europe;

particularly two, called by the Portuguese _Mirmulano_ and _Paobranco_,

the leaves of both which, particularly the _Paobranco_, are so

beautiful, that these trees would be a great ornament to the gardens of

Europe.

The number of inhabitants in this island is supposed to be about 80,000,

and the custom-house duties produce a revenue to the King of Portugal of

20,000 pounds a-year, clear of all expenses, which might easily be

doubled by the product of the island, exclusive of the vines, if

advantage was taken of the excellence of the climate, and the amazing

fertility of the soil; but this object is utterly neglected by the

Portuguese. In the trade of the inhabitants of Madeira with Lisbon the

balance is against them, so that all the Portuguese money naturally

going thither, the currency of the island is Spanish; there are, indeed,

a few Portuguese pieces of copper, but they are so scarce that we did

not see one of them: the Spanish coin is of three denominations;

Pistereens, worth about a shilling; Bitts, worth about sixpence; and

Half-bitts, three-pence.

The tides at this place flow at the full and change of the moon, north

and south; the spring tides rise seven feet perpendicular, and the neap

tides four. By Dr. Heberden’s observation, the variation of the compass

here is now 15° 30ʹ West, and decreasing; but I have some doubt whether

he is not mistaken with respect to its decrease: we found that the North

point of the dipping needle belonging to the Royal Society dipped 77°

18ʺ.

The refreshments to be had here are water, wine, fruit of several sorts,

onions in plenty, and some sweetmeats; fresh meat and poultry are not to

be had without leave from the governor, and the payment of a very high

price.

We took in 270 lb. of fresh beef, and a live bullock, charged at 613 lb.

3032 gallons of water, and ten tons of wine; and in the night, between

Sunday the 18th and Monday the 19th of September, we set sail in

prosecution of our voyage.

When Funchiale bore North, 13 East, at the distance of 76 miles, the

variation appeared by several azimuths to be 16° 30ʹ West.

CHAP. II.

THE PASSAGE FROM MADEIRA TO RIO DE JANEIRO, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE

COUNTRY, AND THE INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED THERE.

ON the 21st of September we saw the islands called the Salvages, to the

north of the Canaries; when the principal of these bore S. ½ W. at the

distance of about five leagues, we found the variation of the compass by

an azimuth to be 17° 50ʹ. I make these islands to lie in latitude 30°

11ʹ North, and distant 58 leagues from Funchiale in Madeira, in the

direction of S. 16 E.

On Friday the 23d we saw the Peak of Teneriffe bearing W. by S. ½ S. and

found the variation of the compass to be from 17° 22ʹ to 16° 30ʹ. The

height of this mountain, from which I took a new departure, has been

determined by Dr. Heberden, who has been upon it, to be 15,396 feet,

which is but 148 yards less than three miles, reckoning the mile at 1760

yards. Its appearance at sunset was very striking; when the sun was

below the horizon, and the rest of the island appeared of a deep black,

the mountain still reflected his rays, and glowed with a warmth of

colour which no painting can express. There is no eruption of visible

fire from it, but a heat issues from the chinks near the top, too strong

to be borne by the hand when it is held near them. We had received from

Dr. Heberden, among other favours, some salt which he collected on the

top of the mountain, where it is found in large quantities, and which he

supposes to be the true _natrum_, or _nitrum_ of the ancients: he gave

us also some native sulphur exceedingly pure, which he had likewise

found upon the surface in great plenty.

On the next day, Saturday the 24th, we came into the north-east trade

wind, and on Friday the 30th saw Bona Vista, one of the Cape de Verd

islands; we ranged the east side of it, at the distance of three or four

miles from the shore, till we were obliged to haul off to avoid a ledge

of rocks which stretch out S. W. by W. from the body, or S. E. point of

the island, to the extent of a league and a half. Bona Vista, by our

observation, lies in latitude 16 N. and longitude 21° 5ʹ West.

On the 1st of October, in latitude 14° 6ʹ N. and longitude 22° 10ʹ W. we

found the variation by a very good azimuth to be 10° 37ʹ W. and the next

morning it appeared to be 10°. This day we found the ship five miles a

head of the log, and the next day seven. On the third, hoisted out the

boat to discover whether there was a current, and found one to the

eastward, at the rate of three quarters of a mile an hour.

During our course from Teneriffe to Bona Vista we saw great numbers of

flying fish, which from the cabin windows appear beautiful beyond

imagination, their sides having the colour and brightness of burnished

silver; when they are seen from the deck they do not appear to so much

advantage, because their backs are of a dark colour. We also took a

shark, which proved to be the _Squalus Carcharias_ of Linnæus.

Having lost the trade wind on the 3d, in latitude 12° 14ʹ, and longitude

22° 10ʹ, the wind became somewhat variable, and we had light airs and

calms by turns.

On the 7th, Mr. Banks went out in the boat and took what the seamen call

a Portuguese man of war; it is the _Holuthuria Physalis_ of Linnæus, and

a species of the _Mollusca_. It consisted of a small bladder about seven

inches long, very much resembling the air-bladder of fishes, from the

bottom of which descended a number of strings, of a bright blue and red,

some of them three or four feet in length, which, upon being touched,

sting like a nettle, but with much more force. On the top of the bladder

is a membrane which is used as a sail, and turned so as to receive the

wind which way soever it blows: this membrane is marked in fine

pink-coloured veins, and the animal is in every respect an object

exquisitely curious and beautiful.

We also took several of the shell-fishes, or testaceous animals, which

are always found floating upon the water, particularly the _Helix

Janthina_ and _Violacea_; they are about the size of a snail, and are

supported upon the surface of the water by a small cluster of bubbles,

which are filled with air, and consist of a tenacious slimy substance

that will not easily part with its contents; the animal is oviparous,

and these bubbles serve also as a _nidus_ for its eggs. It is probable

that it never goes down to the bottom, nor willingly approaches any

shore; for the shell is exceedingly brittle, and that of few fresh water

snails is so thin: every shell contains about a teaspoonful of liquor,

which it easily discharges upon being touched, and which is of the most

beautiful red purple that can be conceived. It dies linen cloth, and it

may perhaps be worth enquiry, as the shell is certainly found in the

Mediterranean, whether it be not the _Purpura_ of the ancients.

On the 8th, in latitude 8° 25ʹ North, longitude 22° 4ʹ West, we found a

current setting to the southward, which the next day in latitude 7° 58ʹ,

longitude 22° 13ʹ, shifted to the N. N. W. ¾ W., at the rate of one mile

and a furlong an hour. The variation here, by the mean of several

azimuths, appeared to be 8° 39ʹ W.

On the 10th, Mr. Banks shot the black-toed gull, not yet described

according to Linnæus’s system; he gave it the name of _Larus

crepidatus_: it is remarkable that the dung of this bird is of a lively

red, somewhat like that of the liquor procured from the shells, only not

so full; its principal food therefore is probably the _Helix_ just

mentioned. A current to the N. W. prevailed more or less till Monday the

24th, when we were in latitude 1° 7ʹ N., and longitude 28° 50ʹ.

On the 25th we crossed the line with the usual ceremonies, in longitude

29° 30ʹ, when, by the result of several very good azimuths, the

variation was 2° 24ʹ.

On the 28th, at noon, being in the latitude of Ferdinand _Noronha_, and,

by the mean of several observations by Mr. Green and myself in longitude

32° 5ʹ 16ʺ W., which is to the westward of it by some charts, and to the

eastward by others, we expected to see the island, or some of the shoals

that are laid down in the charts between it and the main, but we saw

neither one nor the other.

In the evening of the 29th, we observed that luminous appearance of the

sea which has been so often mentioned by navigators, and of which such

various causes have been assigned; some supposing it to be occasioned by

fish, which agitated the water by darting at their prey, some by the

putrefaction of fish and other marine animals, some by electricity, and

others referring it into a great variety of different causes. It

appeared to emit flashes of light exactly resembling those of lightning,

only not so considerable; but they were so frequent, that sometimes

eight or ten were visible almost at the same moment. We were of opinion

that they proceeded from some luminous animal, and upon throwing out the

casting net our opinion was confirmed: it brought up a species of the

_Medusa_, which, when it came on board, had the appearance of metal

violently heated, and emitted a white light: with these animals were

taken some very small crabs, of three different species, each of which

gave as much light as a glow-worm, though the creature was not so large

by nine-tenths: upon examination of these animals Mr. Banks had the

satisfaction to find that they were all entirely new.

On Wednesday, the 2d of November, about noon, being in the latitude of

10° 38ʹ S., and longitude 32° 13ʹ 43ʺ W., we passed the line in which

the needle at this time would have pointed due north and south, without

any variation: for in the morning, having decreased gradually in its

deviation for some days, it was no more than 18ʹ W., and in the

afternoon it was 34ʹ East.

On the 6th, being in latitude 19° 3ʹ South, longitude 35° 50ʹ West, the

colour of the water was observed to change, upon which we sounded, and

found ground at the depth of 32 fathoms: the lead was cast three times

within about four hours, without a foot difference in the depth or

quality of the bottom, which was coral rock, fine sand, and shells; we

therefore supposed that we had passed over the tail of the great shoal

which is laid down in all our charts by the name of _Abrothos_, on which

Lord Anson struck soundings in his passage outwards: at four the next

morning we had no ground with 100 fathom.

As several articles of our stock and provisions now began to fall short,

I determined to put into Rio de Janeiro, rather than at any port in

Brazil or Falkland’s Islands, knowing that it could better supply us

with what we wanted, and making no doubt but that we should be well

received.

On the 8th, at day-break, we saw the coast of Brazil, and about ten

o’clock we brought to, and spoke with a fishing boat: the people on

board told us that the land which we saw lay to the southward of _Sancto

Espirito_, but belonging to the captainship of that place.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went on board this vessel, in which they

found eleven men, nine of whom were blacks: they all fished with lines;

and their fresh cargo, the chief part of which Mr. Banks bought,

consisted of dolphins, large pelagic scombers of two kinds, sea-bream,

and some of the fish which, in the West Indies, are called Welshmen. Mr.

Banks had taken Spanish silver with him, which he imagined to be the

currency of the Continent, but to his great surprise the people asked

him for English shillings; he gave them two, which he happened to have

about him, and it was not without some dispute that they took the rest

of the money in pistereens. Their business seemed to be to catch large

fish at a good distance from the shore, which they salted in bulk, in a

place made for that purpose in the middle of their boat: of this

merchandize they had about two quintals on board, which they offered for

about 16 shillings, and would probably have sold for half the money. The

fresh fish, which was bought for about nineteen shillings and sixpence,

served the whole ship’s company: the salt was not wanted.

The sea-provision of these fishermen consisted of nothing more than a

cask of water, and a bag of Cassada flour, which they called _Farinha de

Pao_, or wooden flour; which, indeed, is a name which very well suits

its taste and appearance. Their water-cask was large, as wide as their

boat, and exactly fitted a place that was made for it in the ballast; it

was impossible therefore to draw out any of its contents by a tap, the

sides being, from the bottom to the top, wholly inaccessible; neither

could any be taken out by dipping a vessel in at the head, for an

opening sufficiently wide for that purpose would have endangered the

loss of great part of it by the rolling of the vessel: their expedient

to get at their water, so situated, was curious; when one of them wanted

to drink, he applied to his neighbour, who accompanied him to the

water-cask with a hollow cane about three feet long, which was open at

both ends; this he thrust into the cask through a small hole in the top,

and then, stopping the upper end with the palm of his hand, drew it out;

the pressure of the air against the other end keeping in the water which

it contained; to this end the person who wanted to drink applied his

mouth, and the assistant then taking his hand from the other, and

admitting the air above, the cane immediately parted with its contents,

which the drinker drew off till he was satisfied.

We stood off and on along the shore till the 12th, and successively saw

a remarkable hill near Santo Espirito, then Cape St. Thomas, and then an

island just without Cape Frio, which in some maps is called the Island

of Frio, and which being high, with a hollow in the middle, has the

appearance of two islands when seen at a distance. On this day we stood

along the shore for Rio de Janeiro, and at nine the next morning made

sail for the harbour. I then sent Mr. Hicks, my first lieutenant, before

us in the pinnace, up to the city, to acquaint the Governor, that we put

in there to procure water and refreshments; and to desire the assistance

of a pilot to bring us into proper anchoring-ground. I continued to

stand up the river, trusting to Mr. Bellisle’s draught, published in the

_Petit Atlas Maritime_, Vol. II. No. 54., which we found very good, till

five o’clock in the evening, expecting the return of my lieutenant; and

just as I was about to anchor, above the island of Cobras, which lies

before the city, the pinnace came back without him, having on board a

Portuguese officer, but no pilot. The people in the boat told me, that

my lieutenant was detained by the Viceroy till I should go on shore. We

came immediately to an anchor; and, almost at the same time, a ten-oared

boat, full of soldiers, came up and kept rowing round the ship, without

exchanging a word: in less than a quarter of an hour, another boat came

on board with several of the Viceroy’s officers, who asked whence we

came; what was our cargo; the number of men and guns on board; the

object of our voyage, and several other questions, which we directly and

truly answered: they then told me, as a kind of apology for detaining my

lieutenant, and putting an officer on board my pinnace, that it was the

invariable custom of the place, to detain the first officer who came on

shore from any ship on her arrival, till a boat from the Viceroy had

visited her, and to suffer no boat to go either from or to a ship, while

she lay there, without having a soldier on board. They said that I might

go on shore when I pleased; but wished that every other person might

remain on board till the paper which they should draw up had been

delivered to the Viceroy, promising that, immediately upon their return,

the lieutenant should be sent on board.

This promise was performed; and on the next morning, the 14th, I went on

shore, and obtained leave of the Viceroy to purchase provisions and

refreshments for the ship, provided I would employ one of their own

people as a factor, but not otherwise. I made some objections to this,

but he insisted upon it as the custom of the place. I objected also

against the putting a soldier into the boat every time she went between

the ship and the shore; but he told me, that this was done by the

express orders of his court, with which he could in no case dispense. I

then requested, that the gentlemen whom I had on board might reside on

shore during our stay, and that Mr. Banks might go up the country to

gather plants; but this he absolutely refused. I judged from his extreme

caution, and the severity of these restrictions, that he suspected we

were come to trade; I therefore took some pains to convince him of the

contrary. I told him, that we were bound to the southward, by the order

of His Britannic Majesty, to observe a transit of the planet Venus over

the sun, an astronomical phænomenon of great importance to navigation.

Of the transit of Venus, however, he could form no other conception,

than that it was the passing of the North star through the South Pole;

for these are the very words of his interpreter, who was a Swede, and

spoke English very well. I did not think it necessary to ask permission

for the gentlemen to come on shore during the day, or that, when I was

on shore myself, I might be at liberty, taking for granted that nothing

was intended to the contrary; but in this I was unfortunately mistaken.

As soon as I took leave of His Excellency, I found an officer who had

orders to attend me wherever I went: of this I desired an explanation,

and was told that it was meant as a compliment. I earnestly desired to

be excused from accepting such an honour, but the good Viceroy would by

no means suffer it to be dispensed with.

With this officer, therefore, I returned on board about twelve o’clock,

where I was impatiently expected by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, who made

no doubt but that a fair account of us having been given by the officers

who had been on board the evening before, in their paper called a

_Practica_, and every scruple of the Viceroy removed in my conference

with His Excellency, they should immediately be at liberty to go on

shore, and dispose of themselves as they pleased. Their disappointment

at receiving my report may easily be conceived; and it was still

increased by an account, that it had been resolved, not only to prevent

their residing on shore, and going up the country, but even their

leaving the ship; orders having been given that no person, except the

captain, and such common sailors as were required to be upon duty,

should be permitted to land; and that there was probably a particular

view to the passengers in this prohibition, as they were reported to be

gentlemen sent abroad to make observations and discoveries, and were

uncommonly qualified for that purpose. In the evening, however, Mr.

Banks and Dr. Solander dressed themselves, and attempted to go on shore,

in order to make a visit to the Viceroy; but they were stopped by the

guard-boat which had come off with our pinnace, and which kept hovering

round the ship all the while she lay here, for that purpose; the officer

on board saying, that he had particular orders, which he could not

disobey, to suffer no passenger, nor any officer, except the captain, to

pass the boat. After much expostulation to no purpose, they were

obliged, with whatever reluctance and mortification, to return on board.

I then went on shore myself, but found the Viceroy inflexible; he had

one answer ready for every thing I could say, that the restrictions

under which he had laid us were in obedience to the King of Portugal’s

commands, and therefore indispensable.

In this situation I determined, rather than be made a prisoner in my own

boat, to go on shore no more; for the officer who, under pretence of a

compliment, attended me when I was ashore, insisted also upon going with

me to and from the ship: but still imagining, that the scrupulous

vigilance of the Viceroy must proceed from some mistaken notion about

us, which might more easily be removed by writing than in conversation,

I drew up a memorial, and Mr. Banks drew up another, which we sent on

shore. These memorials were both answered, but by no means to our

satisfaction; we therefore replied: in consequence of which, several

other papers were interchanged between us and the Viceroy, but still

without effect. However, as I thought some degree of force, on the part

of the Viceroy, to enforce these restrictions, necessary to justify my

acquiescence in them to the Admiralty, I gave orders to my lieutenant,

Mr. Hicks, when I sent him with our last reply on Sunday the 20th, in

the evening, not to suffer a guard to be put into his boat. When the

officer on board the guard-boat found that Mr. Hicks was determined to

obey my orders, he did not proceed to force, but attended him to the

landing-place, and reported the matter to the Viceroy. Upon this His

Excellency refused to receive the memorial, and ordered Mr. Hicks to

return to the ship; when he came back to the boat, he found that a guard

had been put on board in his absence, but he absolutely refused to

return till the soldier was removed: the officer then proceeded to

enforce the Viceroy’s orders; he seized all the boat’s crew, and sent

them under an armed force to prison, putting Mr. Hicks, at the same

time, into one of their own boats, and sending him under a guard back to

the ship. As soon as he had reported these particulars, I wrote again to

the Viceroy, demanding my boat and crew, and in my letter inclosed the

memorial which he had refused to receive from Mr. Hicks: these papers I

sent by a petty officer, that I might wave the dispute about a guard,

against which I had never objected except when there was a commissioned

officer on board the boat. The petty officer was permitted to go on

shore with his guard, and, having delivered his letter, was told that an

answer would be sent the next day.

About eight o’clock this evening it began to blow very hard in sudden

gusts from the south, and our long-boat coming on board just at this

time with four pipes of rum, the rope which was thrown to her from the

ship, and which was taken hold of by the people on board, unfortunately

broke, and the boat, which had come to the ship before the wind, went

adrift to windward of her, with a small skiff of Mr. Banks’s that was

fastened to her stern. This was a great misfortune, as the pinnace being

detained on shore, we had no boat on board but a four-oared yawl: the

yawl, however, was immediately manned and sent to her assistance; but,

notwithstanding the utmost effort of the people in both boats, they were

very soon out of sight: far, indeed, we could not see at that time in

the evening, but the distance was enough to convince us that they were

not under command, which gave us great uneasiness, as we knew they must

drive directly upon a reef of rocks which ran out just to leeward of

where we lay: after waiting some hours in the utmost anxiety, we gave

them over for lost, but, about three o’clock the next morning, had the

satisfaction to see all the people come on board in the yawl. From them

we learnt, that the long-boat having filled with water they had brought

her to a grappling, and left her; and that, having fallen in with the

reef of rocks in their return to the ship, they had been obliged to cut

Mr. Banks’s little boat adrift. As the loss of our long-boat, which we

had now too much reason to apprehend, would have been an unspeakable

disadvantage to us, considering the nature of our expedition, I sent

another letter to the Viceroy, as soon as I thought he could be seen,

acquainting him with our misfortune, and requesting the assistance of a

boat from the shore for the recovery of our own; I also renewed my

demand that the pinnace and her crew should be no longer detained: after

some delay, His Excellency thought fit to comply both with my request

and demand; and the same day we happily recovered both the long-boat and

skiff, with the rum, but every thing else that was on board was lost. On

the 23d, the Viceroy, in his answer to my remonstrance against seizing

my men and detaining the boat, acknowledged that I had been treated with

some incivility, but said that the resistance of my officers to what he

had declared to be the King’s orders made it absolutely necessary; he

also expressed some doubts whether the Endeavour, considering her

structure and other circumstances, was in the service of His Majesty,

though I had before showed him my commission: to this I answered in

writing, that, to remove all scruples, I was ready to produce my

commission again. His Excellency’s scruples, however, still remained,

and in his reply to my letter he not only expressed them in still

plainer terms, but accused my people of smuggling. This charge, I am

confident, was without the least foundation in truth. Mr. Banks’s

servants had indeed found means to go on shore on the 22d at day-break,

and stay till it was dark in the evening, but they brought on board only

plants and insects, having been sent for no other purpose. And I had the

greatest reason to believe that not a single article was smuggled by any

of our people who were admitted on shore, though many artful means were

used to tempt them, even by the very officers that were under His

Excellency’s roof, which made the charge still more injurious and

provoking. I have indeed some reason to suspect that one poor fellow

bought a single bottle of rum with some of the clothes upon his back;

and in my answer I requested of His Excellency, that, if such an attempt

at illicit trade should be repeated, he would without scruple order the

offender to be taken into custody. And thus ended our altercation, both

by conference and writing, with the Viceroy of Rio de Janeiro.

A friar in the town having requested the assistance of our surgeon, Dr.

Solander easily got admittance in that character on the 25th, and

received many marks of civility from the people. On the 26th, before

day-break, Mr. Banks also found means to elude the vigilance of the

people in the guard-boat, and got on shore; he did not, however, go into

the town, for the principal objects of his curiosity were to be found in

the fields: to him also the people behaved with great civility, many of

them invited him to their houses, and he bought a porker and some other

things of them for the ship’s company; the porker, which was by no means

lean, cost him eleven shillings, and he paid something less than two for

a Muscovy duck.

On the 27th, when the boats returned from watering, the people told us

there was a report in town, that search was making after some persons

who had been on shore from the ship without the Viceroy’s permission:

these persons we conjectured to be Dr. Solander and Mr. Banks, and

therefore they determined to go on shore no more.

On the first of December, having got our water and other necessaries on

board, I sent to the Viceroy for a pilot to carry us to sea, who came

off to us; but the wind preventing us from getting out, we took on board

a plentiful supply of fresh beef, yams, and greens for the ship’s

company. On the 2d, a Spanish packet arrived, with letters from Buenos

Ayres for Spain, commanded by Don Antonio de Monte Negro y Velasco, who

with great politeness offered to take our letters to Europe: I accepted

the favour, and gave him a packet for the secretary of the Admiralty,

containing copies of all the papers that had passed between me and the

Viceroy; leaving also duplicates with the Viceroy, to be by him

forwarded to Lisbon.

On Monday, the 5th, it being a dead calm, we weighed anchor and towed

down the bay; but, to our great astonishment, when we got abreast of

Santa Cruz, the principal fortification, two shot were fired at us. We

immediately cast anchor, and sent to the fort to enquire the reason of

what had happened; our people brought us word, that the commandant had

received no order from the Viceroy to let us pass; and that, without

such an order, no vessel was ever suffered to go below the fort. It was

now, therefore, become necessary, that we should send to the Viceroy, to

enquire why the necessary order had not been given, as he had notice of

our departure, and had thought fit to write me a polite letter, wishing

me a good voyage. Our messenger soon returned with an account, that the

order had been written some days, but, by an unaccountable negligence,

not sent.

We did not get under sail till the 7th; and, when we had passed the

fort, the pilot desired to be discharged. As soon as he was dismissed,

we were left by our guard-boat, which had hovered about us from the

first hour of our being in this place to the last; and Mr. Banks, having

been prevented from going ashore at Rio de Janeiro, availed himself of

her departure to examine the neighbouring islands, where, particularly

on one in the mouth of the harbour, called Raza, he gathered many

species of plants, and caught a variety of insects.

It is remarkable, that, during the last three or four days of our

staying in this harbour, the air was loaded with butterflies: they were

chiefly of one sort, but in such numbers that thousands were in view in

every direction, and the greatest part of them above our mast-head.

We lay here from the 14th of November to the 7th of December, something

more than three weeks, during which time Mr. Monkhouse, our surgeon, was

on shore every day to buy our provisions; Dr. Solander was on shore

once; I was several times on shore myself, and Mr. Banks also found

means to get into the country, notwithstanding the watch that was set

over us. I shall, therefore, with the intelligence obtained from these

gentlemen, and my own observations, give some account of the town, and

the country adjacent.

Rio de Janeiro, or the river of Januarius, was probably so called from

its having been discovered on the feast-day of that saint; and the town,

which is the capital of the Portuguese dominions in America, derives its

name from the river, which, indeed, is rather an arm of the sea, for it

did not appear to receive any considerable stream of fresh water: it

stands on a plain, close to the shore, on the west side of the bay, at

the foot of several high mountains which rise behind it. It is neither

ill designed nor ill built: the houses, in general, are of stone, and

two stories high; every house having, after the manner of the

Portuguese, a little balcony before its windows, and a lattice of wood

before the balcony. I computed its circuit to be about three miles; for

it appears to be equal in size to the largest country towns in England,

Bristol and Liverpool not excepted: the streets are straight, and of a

convenient breadth, intersecting each other at right angles; the greater

part, however, lie in a line with the citadel called St. Sebastian,

which stands on the top of a hill that commands the town.

It is supplied with water from the neighbouring hills, by an aqueduct,

which is raised upon two stories of arches, and is said in some places

to be at a great height from the ground, from which the water is

conveyed by pipes into a fountain in the great square that exactly

fronts the Viceroy’s palace. At this fountain great numbers of people

are continually waiting for their turn to draw water; and the soldiers,

who are posted at the governor’s door, find it very difficult to

maintain any regularity among them. The water at this fountain, however,

is so bad, that we, who had been two months at sea, confined to that in

our casks, which was almost always foul, could not drink it with

pleasure. Water of a better quality is laid into some other part of the

town, but I could not learn by what means.

The churches are very fine, and there is more religious parade in this

place than in any of the Popish countries in Europe: there is a

procession of some parish every day, with various insignia, all splendid

and costly in the highest degree: they beg money, and say prayers in

great form, at the corner of every street.

While we lay here, one of the churches was rebuilding; and to defray the

expense, the parish to which it belonged had leave to beg in procession

through the whole city once a week, by which very considerable sums were

collected. At this ceremony, which was performed by night, all the boys

of a certain age were obliged to assist, the sons of gentlemen not being

excused. Each of these boys was dressed in a black cassock, with a short

red cloak, hanging about as low as the waist, and carried in his hand a

pole about six or seven feet long, at the end of which was tied a

lantern: the number of lanterns was generally above two hundred, and the

light they gave was so great, that the people who saw it from the cabin

windows thought the town had been on fire.

The inhabitants, however, may pay their devotions at the shrine of any

saint in the calendar, without waiting till there is a procession; for

before almost every house there is a little cupboard, furnished with a

glass window, in which one of these tutelary powers is waiting to be

gracious; and to prevent his being out of mind, by being out of sight, a

lamp is kept constantly burning before the window of his tabernacle in

the night. The people, indeed, are by no means remiss in their

devotions, for before these saints they pray and sing hymns with such

vehemence, that in the night they were very distinctly heard on board

the ship, though she lay at the distance of at least half a mile from

the town.

The government here, as to its form, is mixed; it is notwithstanding

very despotic in fact. It consists of the Viceroy, the governor of the

town, and a council, the number of which I could not learn: without the

consent of this council, in which the Viceroy has a casting vote, no

judicial act should be performed; yet both the Viceroy and Governor

frequently commit persons to prison at their own pleasure, and sometimes

send them to Lisbon, without acquainting their friends or family with

what is laid to their charge, or where they may be found.

To restrain the people from travelling into the country, and getting

into any district where gold or diamonds may be found, of both which

there is much more than the government can otherwise secure, certain

bounds are prescribed them, at the discretion of the Viceroy, sometimes

at a few, and sometimes at many miles’ distance from the city. On the

verge of these limits a guard constantly patroles, and whoever is found

beyond it, is immediately seized and thrown into prison; and if a man

is, upon any pretence, taken up by the guard without the limits, he will

be sent to prison, though it should appear that he did not know their

extent.

The inhabitants, which are very numerous, consist of Portuguese,

negroes, and Indians, the original natives of the country. The township

of Rio, which, as I was told, is but a small part of the Capitanea, or

province, is said to contain 37,000 white persons, and 629,000 blacks,

many of whom are free; making together 666,000 in the proportion of

seventeen to one. The Indians, who are employed to do the King’s work in

this neighbourhood, can scarcely be considered as inhabitants; their

residence is at a distance, from whence they come by turns to their

task, which they are obliged to perform for a small pay. The guard-boat

was constantly rowed by these people, who are of a light copper colour,

and have long black hair.

The military establishment here consists of twelve regiments of regular

troops, six of which are Portuguese and six Creoles; and twelve other

regiments of provincial militia. To the regulars the inhabitants behave

with the utmost humility and submission; and I was told, that if any of

them should neglect to take off his hat upon meeting an officer, he

would immediately be knocked down. These haughty severities render the

people extremely civil to any stranger who has the appearance of a

gentleman. But the subordination of the officers themselves to the

Viceroy is enforced with circumstances equally mortifying, for they are

obliged to attend in his hall three times every day to ask his commands;

the answer constantly is, “There is nothing new.” I have been told, that

this servile attendance is exacted to prevent their going into the

country; and if so, it effectually answers the purpose.

It is, I believe, universally allowed, that the women, both of the

Spanish and Portuguese settlements in South America, make less

difficulty of granting personal favours, than those of any other

civilized country in the world. Of the ladies of this town some have

formed so unfavourable an opinion as to declare, that they did not

believe there was a modest one among them. This censure is certainly too

general; but what Dr. Solander saw of them when he was on shore, gave

him no very exalted idea of their chastity: he told me, that as soon as

it was dark, one or more of them appeared in every window, and

distinguished those whom they liked, among the gentlemen that walked

past them, by giving them nosegays; that he, and two gentlemen who were

with him, received so many of these favours, that, at the end of their

walk, which was not a long one, they threw whole hatfuls of them away.

Great allowance must certainly be made for local customs; that which in

one country would be an indecent familiarity, is a mere act of general

courtesy in another; of the fact, therefore, which I have related, I

shall say nothing, but that I am confident it is true.

Neither will I take upon me to affirm, that murders are frequently

committed here; but the churches afford an asylum to the criminal: and

as our cockswain was one day looking at two men, who appeared to be

talking together in a friendly manner, one of them suddenly drew a

knife, and stabbed the other; who not instantly falling, the murderer

withdrew the weapon, and stabbed him a second time. He then ran away,

and was pursued by some negroes who were also witnesses of the fact; but

whether he escaped or was taken I never heard.

The country, at a small distance round the town, which is all that any

of us saw, is beautiful in the highest degree; the wildest spots being

varied with a greater luxuriance of flowers, both as to number and

beauty, than the best gardens in England.

Upon the trees and bushes sat an almost endless variety of birds,

especially small ones, many of them covered with the most elegant

plumage; among which were the humming-bird. Of insects, too, there was a

great variety, and some of them very beautiful; but they were much more

nimble than those of Europe, especially the butterflies, most of which

flew near the tops of the trees, and were, therefore, very difficult to

be caught, except when the sea breeze blew fresh, which kept them nearer

to the ground.

The banks of the sea, and of the small brooks which water this part of

the country, are almost covered with the small crabs called _Cancer

vocans_; some of these had one of the claws called by naturalists the

hand, very large; others had them both remarkably small, and of equal

size, a difference which is said to distinguish the sexes, that with the

large claw being the male.

There is the appearance of but little cultivation; the greater part of

the land is wholly uncultivated, and very little care and labour seem to

have been bestowed upon the rest; there are, indeed, little patches or

gardens, in which many kinds of European garden stuff are produced,

particularly cabbages, peas, beans, kidney beans, turnips, and white

radishes, but all much inferior to our own: water-melons and pine-apples

are also produced in these spots, and they are the only fruits that we

saw cultivated, though the country produces musk, melons, oranges,

limes, lemons, sweet lemons, citrons, plantains, bananas, mangos, mamane

apples, acajou or cashou apples and nuts; jamboira of two kinds, one of

which bears a small black fruit; cocoa-nuts, mangos, palm-nuts of two

kinds, one long, the other round; and palm-berries; all which were in

season while we were there.

Of these fruits the water-melons and oranges are the best in their kind;

the pine-apples are much inferior to those that I have eaten in England;

they are, indeed, more juicy and sweet, but have no flavour: I believe

them to be natives of this country, though we heard of none that at this

time grow wild; they have, however, very little care bestowed upon them,

the plants being set between beds of any kind of garden-stuff, and

suffered to take the chance of the season. The melons are still worse,

at least those that we tasted, which were mealy and insipid; but the

water-melons are excellent; they have a flavour, at least a degree of

acidity which ours have not. We saw also several species of the prickle

pear, and some European fruits, particularly the apple and peach, both

which were very mealy and insipid. In these gardens also grow yams and

mandihoca, which in the West Indies is called Cassada or Cassava, and to

the flower of which the people here, as I have before observed, give the

name of _Farinha de Pao_, which may not improperly be translated, Powder

of Post. The soil, though it produces tobacco and sugar, will not

produce bread-corn; so that the people here have no wheat-flour, but

what is brought from Portugal, and sold at the rate of a shilling a

pound, though it is generally spoiled by being heated in its passage.

Mr. Banks is of opinion, that all the products of our West Indian

islands would grow here; notwithstanding which, the inhabitants import

their coffee and chocolate from Lisbon.

Most of the land, as far we saw of the country, is laid down in grass,

upon which cattle are pastured in great plenty; but they are so lean,

that an Englishman will scarcely eat of their flesh: the herbage of

these pastures consists principally of cresses, and consequently is so

short, that though it may afford a bite for horses and sheep, it can

scarcely be grazed by horned cattle in a sufficient quantity to keep

them alive.

This country may possibly produce many valuable drugs; but we could not

find any in the apothecaries’ shops, except pariera brava, and balsam

capivi; both of which were excellent in their kind, and sold at a very

low price. The drug trade is probably carried on to the northward, as

well as that of the dying woods, for we could get no intelligence of

either of them here.

As to manufactures, we neither saw nor heard of any except that of

cotton hammocks, in which people are carried about here, as they are

with us in sedan chairs; and these are principally, if not wholly,

fabricated by the Indians.

The riches of the place consist chiefly in the mines, which we supposed

to lie far up the country, though we could never learn where, or at what

distance; for the situation is concealed as much as possible, and troops

are continually employed in guarding the roads that lead to them: it is

almost impossible for any man to get a sight of them, except those who

are employed there; and, indeed, the strongest curiosity would scarcely

induce any man to attempt it, for whoever is found upon the road to

them, if he cannot give undeniable evidence of his having business

there, is immediately hanged up upon the next tree.

Much gold is certainly brought from these mines, but at an expense of

life that must strike every man, to whom custom has not made it

familiar, with horror. No less than forty thousand negroes are annually

imported on the king’s account, to dig the mines; and we were credibly

informed, that the last year but one before we arrived here this number

fell so short, probably from some epidemic disease that twenty thousand

more were draughted from the town of Rio.

Precious stones are also found here in such plenty, that a certain

quantity only is allowed to be collected in a year; to collect this

quantity, a number of people are sent into the country where they are

found, and when it is got together, which sometimes happens in a month,

sometimes in less, and sometimes in more, they return; and after that,

whoever is found in these precious districts, on any pretence, before

the next year, is immediately put to death.

The jewels found here are diamonds, topazes of several kinds, and

amethysts. We did not see any of the diamonds, but were informed that

the Viceroy had a large quantity by him, which he would sell on the King

of Portugal’s account, but not at a less price than they are sold for in

Europe. Mr. Banks bought a few topazes and amethysts as specimens: of

the topazes there are three sorts, of very different value, which are

distinguished here by the names of Pinga d’agua qualidade primeiro,

Pinga d’agua qualidade secundo, and Chrystallos armerillos: they are

sold, large and small, good and bad together, by octavos, or the eighth

part of an ounce; the best at 4s. 9d. All dealing, however, in these

stones is prohibited to the subject under the severest penalties: there

were jewellers here formerly, who purchased and worked them on their own

account; but about fourteen months before our arrival, orders came from

the court of Portugal, that no more stones should be wrought here,

except on the King’s account: the jewellers were ordered to bring all

their tools to the Viceroy, and left without any means of subsistence.

The persons employed here to work stones for the King are slaves.

The coin that is current here, is either that of Portugal, consisting

chiefly of thirty-six shillings pieces; or pieces, both of gold and

silver, which are struck at this place: the pieces of silver, which are

very much debased, are called Petacks, and are of different value, and

easily distinguished by the number of rees that is marked on the

outside. Here is also a copper coin, like that in Portugal, of five and

ten ree pieces. A ree is a nominal coin of Portugal, ten of which are

equal in value to about three farthings sterling.

The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is situated W. by N. 18 leagues from Cape

Frio, and may be known by a remarkable hill, in the form of a

sugar-loaf, at the west point of the bay; but as all the coast is very

high, and rises in many peaks, the entrance of this harbour may be more

certainly distinguished by the islands that lie before it; one of which,

called Rodonda, is high and round, like a hay-stack, and lies at the

distance of two leagues and a half from the entrance of the bay, in the

direction of S. by W.; but the first islands which are met with, coming

from the east, or Cape Frio, are two that have a rocky appearance, lying

near to each other, and at the distance of about four miles from the

shore: there are also at the distance of three leagues to the westward

of these two other islands, which lie near to each other, a little

without the bay on the east side, and very near the shore. This harbour

is certainly a good one; the entrance, indeed, is not wide, but the

sea-breeze, which blows every day from ten or twelve o’clock till sunset

makes it easy for any ship to go in before the wind; and it grows wider

as the town is approached, so that abreast of it there is room for the

largest fleet, in five or six fathom water, with an oozy bottom. At the

narrow part, the entrance is defended by two forts. The principal is

Santa Cruz, which stands on the east point of the bay, and has been

mentioned before; that on the west side is called fort Lozia, and is

built upon a rock that lies close to the main; the distance between them

is about ¾ of a mile, but the channel is not quite so broad, because

there are sunken rocks which lie off each fort, and in this part alone

there is danger: the narrowness of the channel causes the tides, both

flood and ebb, to run with considerable strength, so that they cannot be

stemmed without a fresh breeze. The rockiness of the bottom makes it

also unsafe to anchor here; but all danger may be avoided by keeping in

the middle of the channel. Within the entrance, the course up the bay is

first N. by W. ½ W., and N. N. W., something more than a league; this

will bring the vessel the length of the great road; and N. W. and W. N.

W. one league more will carry her to the Isle dos Cobras, which lies

before the city: she should then keep the north side of this island

close on board, and anchor above it, before a monastery of Benedictines,

which stands upon a hill at the N. W. end of the city.

The river, and, indeed, the whole coast, abounds with a greater variety

of fish than we had ever seen; a day seldom passed in which one or more

of a new species were not brought to Mr. Banks: the bay also is as well

adapted for catching these fish as can be conceived; for it is full of

small islands, between which there is shallow water, and proper beaches

for drawing the seine. The sea, without the bay, abounds with dolphins,

and large mackarel of different kinds, which readily bite at a hook, and

the inhabitants always tow one after their boats for that purpose.

Though the climate is hot, the situation of this place is certainly

wholesome; while we stayed here the thermometer never rose higher than

83 degrees.

We had frequent rains, and once a very hard gale of wind.

Ships water here at the fountain in the great square, though, as I have

observed, the water is not good: they land their casks upon a smooth

sandy beach, which is not more than a hundred yards distant from the

fountain; and, upon application to the Viceroy, a sentinel will be

appointed to look after them, and clear the way to the fountain where

they are to be filled.

Upon the whole, Rio de Janeiro is a very good place for ships to put in

at that want refreshment: the harbour is safe and commodious; and

provisions, except wheaten bread and flour, may be easily procured: as a

succedaneum for bread, there are yams and cassada in plenty; beef, both

fresh and jerked, may be bought at about two-pence farthing a pound;

though, as I have before remarked, it is very lean. The people here jerk

their beef by taking out the bones, cutting it into large but thin

slices, then curing it with salt, and drying it in the shade: it eats

very well, and, if kept dry, will remain good a long time at sea. Mutton

is scarcely to be procured, and hogs and poultry are dear; of

garden-stuff and fruit-trees there is abundance, of which, however, none

can be preserved at sea but the pumpkin; rum, sugar, and molasses, all

excellent in their kind, may be had at a reasonable price; tobacco also

is cheap, but it is not good. Here is a yard for building shipping, and

a small hulk to heave down by; for as the tide never rises above six or

seven feet, there is no other way of coming at a ship’s bottom.

When the boat which had been sent on shore returned, we hoisted her on

board, and stood out to sea.

CHAP. III.

THE PASSAGE FROM RIO DE JANEIRO TO THE ENTRANCE OF THE STREIGHT OF LE

MAIRE, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE INHABITANTS OF TERRA DEL FUEGO.

ON the 9th of December we observed the sea to be covered with broad

streaks of a yellowish colour, several of them a mile long, and three or

four hundred yards wide; some of the water thus coloured was taken up,

and found to be full of innumerable atoms, pointed at the end, of a

yellowish colour, and none more than a quarter of a line, or the

fortieth part of an inch long; in the microscope they appeared to be

_Fasciculi_ of small fibres interwoven with each other, not unlike the

nidus of some of the _Phyganeas_, called Caddices; but whether they were

animal or vegetable substances, whence they came, or for what they were

designed, neither Mr. Banks nor Dr. Solander could guess. The same

appearance had been observed before, when we first discovered the

Continent of South America.

On the 11th we hooked a shark, and while we were playing it under the

cabin window, it threw out, and drew in again, several times, what

appeared to be its stomach: it proved to be a female, and upon being

opened six young ones were taken out of it; five of them were alive, and

swam briskly in a tub of water, but the sixth appeared to have been dead

some time.

Nothing remarkable happened till the 30th, except that we prepared for

the bad weather, which we were shortly to expect, by bending a new suit

of sails; but on this day we ran a course of one hundred and sixty miles

by the log, through innumerable land insects of various kinds, some upon

the wing, and more upon the water, many of which were alive; they

appeared to be exactly the same with the _Carabi_, the _Grylli_, the

_Phalanæ_, _Aranea_, and other flies that are seen in England, though at

this time we could not be less than thirty leagues from land; and some

of these insects, particularly the _Grylli Aranea_, never voluntarily

leave it at a greater distance than twenty yards. We judged ourselves to

be now nearly opposite to _Baye sans fond_, where Mr. Dalrymple supposes

there is a passage quite through the continent of America; and we

thought from the insects that there might be at least a very large

river, and that it had overflowed its banks.

On the 3d of January, 1769, being in latitude 47° 17ʹ S. and longitude

61° 29ʹ 45ʺ W., we were all looking out for Pepys’ island, and for some

time an appearance was seen in the east which so much resembled land,

that we bore away for it; and it was more than two hours and a half

before we were convinced that it was nothing but what sailors call a

fog-bank.

The people now beginning to complain of cold, each of them received what

is called a Magellanic jacket, and a pair of trowsers. The jacket is

made of a thick woollen stuff, called _Fearnought_, which is provided by

the government. We saw, from time to time, a great number of penguins,

albatrosses, and sheerwaters, seals, whales, and porpoises; and on the

11th, having passed Falkland’s islands, we discovered the coast of Terra

del Fuego, at the distance of about four leagues, extending from the W.

to S. E. by S. We had here five-and-thirty fathom, the ground soft,

small slate stones. As we ranged along the shore to the S. E., at the

distance of two or three leagues, we perceived smoke in several places,

which was made by the natives, probably as a signal, for they did not

continue it after we had passed by. This day we discovered that the ship

had got near a degree of longitude to the westward of the log, which, in

this latitude, is 35 minutes of a degree on the equator: probably there

is a small current setting to the westward, which may be caused by the

westerly current coming round Cape Horn, and through the Streight of Le

Maire, and the indraught of the Streight of Magellan.[1]

Having continued to range the coast, on the 14th we entered the Streight

of Le Maire; but the tide turning against us, drove us out with great

violence, and raised such a sea off Cape St. Deigo, that the waves had

exactly the same appearance as they would have had if they had broke

over a ledge of rocks; and when the ship was in this torrent, she

frequently pitched, so that the bowsprit was under water. About noon, we

got under the land between Cape St. Deigo and Cape St. Vincent, where I

intended to have anchored; but finding the ground every where hard and

rocky, and shallowing from thirty to twelve fathoms, I sent the master

to examine a little cove which lay at a small distance to the eastward

of Cape St. Vincent. When he returned, he reported that there was

anchorage in four fathom, and a good bottom, close to the eastward, of

the first bluff point, on the east of Cape St. Vincent, at the very

entrance of the cove, to which I gave the name of VINCENT’s Bay: before

this anchoring ground, however, lay several rocky ledges, that were

covered with sea-weed; but I was told that there was not less than eight

and nine fathom over all of them. It will probably be thought strange,

that where weeds, which grow at the bottom, appear above the surface,

there should be this depth of water; but the weeds which grow upon rocky

ground in these countries, and which always distinguish it from sand and

ooze, are of an enormous size. The leaves are four feet long, and some

of the stalks, though not thicker than a man’s thumb, above one hundred

and twenty. Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander examined some of them, over which

we sounded and had fourteen fathom, which is eighty-four feet; and, as

they made a very acute angle with the bottom, they were thought to be at

least one half longer: the foot-stalks were swelled into an air vessel,

and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander called this plant _Fucus giganteus_. Upon

the report of the master, I stood in with the ship; but not trusting

implicitly to his intelligence, I continued to sound, and found but four

fathom upon the first ledge that I went over; concluding, therefore,

that I could not anchor here without risk, I determined to seek some

port in the Streight, where I might get on board such wood and water as

we wanted.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, however, being very desirous to go on shore,

I sent a boat with them and their people, while I kept plying as near as

possible with the ship.

Having been on shore four hours, they returned about nine in the

evening, with above an hundred different plants and flowers, all of them

wholly unknown to the botanists of Europe. They found the country about

the bay to be in general flat, the bottom of it in particular was a

plain covered with grass, which might easily have been made into a large

quantity of hay; they found also abundance of good wood and water, and

fowl in great plenty. Among other things, of which nature has been

liberal in this place, is Winter’s bark, _Winteranea aromatica_; which

may easily be known by its broad leaf, shaped like the laurel, of a

light green colour without, and inclining to blue within; the bark is

easily stripped with a bone or a stick, and its virtues are well known;

it may be used for culinary purposes as a spice, and is not less

pleasant than wholesome: here is also plenty of wild celery and

scurvy-grass. The trees are chiefly of one kind, a species of the birch,

called _Betula antarctica_; the stem is from thirty to forty feet long,

and from two to three feet in diameter, so that in a case of necessity

they might possibly supply a ship with top-masts; they are a light white

wood, bear a small leaf, and cleave very straight. Cranberries were also

found here in great plenty, both white and red.

The persons who landed saw none of the inhabitants, but fell in with two

of their deserted huts, one in a thick wood, and the other close by the

beach.

Having taken the boat on board, I made sail into the Streight, and at

three in the morning of the 15th I anchored in twelve fathom and a half,

upon coral rocks, before a small cove, which we took for Port Maurice,

at the distance of about half a mile from the shore. Two of the natives

came down to the beach, expecting us to land; but this spot afforded so

little shelter, that I at length determined not to examine it; I

therefore got under sail again about ten o’clock, and the savages

retired into the woods.

At two o’clock, we anchored in the bay of Good Success; and after dinner

I went on shore, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, to look for

a watering-place, and speak to the Indians, several of whom had come in

sight. We landed on the starboard side of the bay near some rocks, which

made smooth water and good landing: thirty or forty of the Indians soon

made their appearance at the end of a sandy beach on the other side of

the bay, but seeing our number, which was ten or twelve, they retreated.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander then advanced about one hundred yards before

us, upon which two of the Indians returned, and, having advanced some

paces towards them, sat down: as soon as they came up, the Indians rose,

and each of them having a small stick in his hand threw it away, in a

direction both from themselves and the strangers, which was considered

as the renunciation of weapons in token of peace: they then walked

briskly towards their companions, who had halted at about fifty yards

behind them, and beckoned the gentlemen to follow, which they did. They

were received with many uncouth signs of friendship; and, in return,

they distributed among them some beads and ribbons, which had been

brought on shore for that purpose, and with which they were greatly

delighted. A mutual confidence and good-will being thus produced, our

parties joined: the conversation, such as it was, became general; and

three of them accompanied us back to the ship. When they came on board,

one of them, whom we took to be a priest, performed much the same

ceremonies which M. Bougainville describes, and supposes to be an

exorcism. When he was introduced into a new part of the ship, or when

any thing that he had not seen before caught his attention, he shouted

with all his force for some minutes, without directing his voice either

to us or his companions.

They eat some bread and some beef, but not apparently with much

pleasure, though such part of what was given them as they did not eat

they took away with them; but they would not swallow a drop either of

wine or spirits: they put the glass to their lips, but, having tasted

the liquor, they returned it, with strong expressions of disgust.

Curiosity seems to be one of the few passions which distinguish men from

brutes; and of this our guests appeared to have very little. They went

from one part of the ship to another, and looked at the vast variety of

new objects that every moment presented themselves, without any

expression either of wonder or pleasure; for the vociferation of our

exorcist seemed to be neither.

After having been on board about two hours, they expressed a desire to

go ashore. A boat was immediately ordered, and Mr. Banks thought fit to

accompany them: he landed them in safety, and conducted them to their

companions, among whom he remarked the same vacant indifference, as in

those who had been on board; for as on one side there appeared no

eagerness to relate, so on the other there seemed to be no curiosity to

hear, how they had been received, or what they had seen. In about half

an hour, Mr. Banks returned to the ship, and the Indians retired from

the shore.

CHAP. IV.

AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT HAPPENED IN ASCENDING A MOUNTAIN TO SEARCH FOR

PLANTS.

ON the 16th, early in the morning, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, with

their attendants and servants, and two seamen to assist in carrying the

baggage, accompanied by Mr. Monkhouse the surgeon, and Mr. Green the

astronomer, set out from the ship, with a view to penetrate as far as

they could into the country, and return at night. The hills, when viewed

at a distance, seemed to be partly a wood, partly a plain, and above

them a bare rock. Mr. Banks hoped to get through the wood, and made no

doubt but that, beyond it, he should, in a country which no botanist had

ever yet visited, find alpine plants which would abundantly compensate

his labour. They entered the wood at a small sandy beach, a little to

the westward of the watering-place, and continued to ascend the hill,

through the pathless wilderness, till three o’clock, before they got a

near view of the places which they intended to visit. Soon after they

reached what they had taken for a plain; but, to their great

disappointment, found it a swamp, covered with low bushes of birch,

about three feet high, interwoven with each other, and so stubborn that

they could not be bent out of the way; it was therefore necessary to

lift the leg over them, which at every step was buried, ancle deep, in

the soil. To aggravate the pain and difficulty of such travelling, the

weather, which had hitherto been very fine, much like one of our bright

days in May, became gloomy and cold, with sudden blasts of a most

piercing wind, accompanied with snow. They pushed forward, however, in

good spirits, notwithstanding their fatigue, hoping the worst of the way

was past, and that the bare rock which they had seen from the tops of

the lower hills was not more than a mile before them: but when they had

got about two-thirds over this woody swamp, Mr. Buchan, one of Mr.

Banks’s draughtsmen, was unhappily seized with a fit. This made it

necessary for the whole company to halt, and as it was impossible that

he should go any farther, a fire was kindled, and those who were most

fatigued were left behind to take care of him. Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander,

Mr. Green, and Mr. Monkhouse went on, and in a short time reached the

summit. As botanists, their expectations were here abundantly gratified;

for they found a great variety of plants, which, with respect to the

alpine plants in Europe, are exactly what those plants are with respect

to such as grow in the plain.

The cold was now become more severe, and the snow-blasts more frequent;

the day also was so far spent, that it was found impossible to get back

to the ship before the next morning: to pass the night upon such a

mountain, in such a climate, was not only comfortless, but dreadful; it

was impossible, however, to be avoided, and they were to provide for it

as well as they could.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, while they were improving an opportunity

which they had, with so much danger and difficulty, procured, by

gathering the plants which they found upon the mountain, sent Mr. Green

and Mr. Monkhouse back to Mr. Buchan and the people that were with him,

with directions to bring them to a hill, which they thought lay in a

better rout for returning to the wood, and which was therefore appointed

as a general rendezvous. It was proposed, that from this hill they

should push through the swamp, which seemed by the new rout not to be

more than half a mile over, into the shelter of the wood and there build

their wigwam, and make a fire: this, as their way was all down hill, it

seemed easy to accomplish. Their whole company assembled at the

rendezvous, and, though pinched with the cold, were in health and

spirits, Mr. Buchan himself having recovered his strength in a much

greater degree than could have been expected. It was now near eight

o’clock in the evening, but still good daylight, and they set forward

for the nearest valley, Mr. Banks himself undertaking to bring up the

rear, and see that no straggler was left behind: this may, perhaps, be

thought a superfluous caution, but it will soon appear to be otherwise.

Dr. Solander, who had more than once crossed the mountains which divide

Sweden from Norway, well knew that extreme cold, especially when joined

with fatigue, produces a torpor and sleepiness that are almost

irresistible: he therefore conjured the company to keep moving, whatever

pain it might cost them, and whatever relief they might be promised by

an inclination to rest. Whoever sits down, says he, will sleep; and

whoever sleeps, will wake no more. Thus, at once admonished and alarmed,

they set forward; but while they were still upon the naked rock, and

before they had got among the bushes, the cold became suddenly so

intense, as to produce the effects that had been most dreaded. Dr.

Solander himself was the first who found the inclination, against which

he had warned others, irresistible; and insisted upon being suffered to

lie down. Mr. Banks entreated and remonstrated in vain: down he lay upon

the ground, though it was covered with snow; and it was with great

difficulty that his friend kept him from sleeping. Richmond also, one of

the black servants, began to linger, having suffered from the cold in

the same manner as the Doctor. Mr. Banks, therefore, sent five of the

company, among whom was Mr. Buchan, forward to get a fire ready at the

first convenient place they could find; and himself, with four others,

remained with the Doctor and Richmond, whom, partly by persuasion and

entreaty, and partly by force, they brought on; but when they had got

through the greatest part of the birch and swamp, they both declared

they could go no farther. Mr. Banks had recourse again to entreaty and

expostulation, but they produced no effect: when Richmond was told, that

if he did not go on he would in a short time be frozen to death, he

answered, that he desired nothing but to lie down and die: the Doctor

did not so explicitly renounce his life; he said he was willing to go

on, but that he must first take some sleep, though he had before told

the company that to sleep was to perish. Mr. Banks and the rest found it

impossible to carry them, and there being no remedy, they were both

suffered to sit down, being partly supported by the bushes, and in a few

minutes they fell into a profound sleep: soon after, some of the people

who had been sent forward, returned, with the welcome news that a fire

was kindled about a quarter of a mile farther on the way. Mr. Banks then

endeavoured to wake Dr. Solander, and happily succeeded: but, though he

had not slept five minutes, he had almost lost the use of his limbs, and

the muscles were so shrunk that his shoes fell from his feet: he

consented to go forward with such assistance as could be given him, but

no attempts to relieve poor Richmond were successful. It being found

impossible to make him stir, after some time had been lost in the

attempt, Mr. Banks left his other black servant and a seaman, who seemed

to have suffered least by the cold, to look after him; promising, that

as soon as two others should be sufficiently warmed, they should be

relieved. Mr. Banks, with much difficulty, at length got the Doctor to

the fire; and soon after sent two of the people who had been refreshed,

in hopes that, with the assistance of those who had been left behind,

they would be able to bring Richmond, even though it should still be

found impossible to wake him. In about half an hour, however, they had

the mortification to see these two men return alone: they said, that

they had been all round the place to which they had been directed, but

could neither find Richmond nor those who had been left with him; and

that though they had shouted many times, no voice had replied. This was

matter of equal surprise and concern, particularly to Mr. Banks, who,

while he was wondering how it could happen, missed a bottle of rum, the

company’s whole stock, which they now concluded to be in the knapsack of

one of the absentees. It was conjectured, that with this Richmond had

been roused by the two persons who had been left with him, and that,

having perhaps drank too freely of it themselves, they had all rambled

from the place where they had been left, in search of the fire, instead

of waiting for those who should have been their assistants and guides.

Another fall of snow now came on, and continued incessantly for two

hours, so that all hope of seeing them again, at least alive, were given

up; but about twelve o’clock, to the great joy of those at the fire, a

shouting was heard at some distance. Mr. Banks, with four more,

immediately went out, and found the seaman with just strength enough

left to stagger along, and call out for assistance: Mr. Banks sent him

immediately to the fire, and, by his direction, proceeded in search of

the other two, whom he soon after found. Richmond was upon his legs, but

not able to put one before the other: his companion was lying upon the

ground, as insensible as a stone. All hands were now called from the

fire, and an attempt was made to carry them to it; but this,

notwithstanding the united efforts of the whole company, was found to be

impossible. The night was extremely dark, the snow was now very deep,

and, under these additional disadvantages, they found it very difficult

to make way through the bushes and the bog for themselves, all of them

getting many falls in the attempt. The only alternative was to make a

fire upon the spot; but the snow which had fallen, and was still

falling, besides what was every moment shaken in flakes from the trees,

rendered it equally impracticable to kindle one there and to bring any

part of that which had been kindled in the wood thither: they were,

therefore, reduced to the sad necessity of leaving the unhappy wretches

to their fate; having first made them a bed of boughs from the trees,

and spread a covering of the same kind over them, to a considerable

height.

Having now been exposed to the cold and the snow near an hour and a

half, some of the rest began to lose their sensibility; and one,

Briscoe, another of Mr. Banks’s servants, was so ill, that it was

thought he must die before he could be got to the fire.

At the fire, however, at length they arrived; and passed the night in a

situation, which however dreadful in itself, was rendered more

afflicting by the remembrance of what was past, and the uncertainty of

what was to come. Of twelve, the number that set out together in health

and spirits, two were supposed to be already dead; a third was so ill,

that it was very doubtful whether he would be able to go forward in the

morning; and a fourth, Mr. Buchan, was in danger of a return of his

fits, by fresh fatigue, after so uncomfortable a night: they were

distant from the ship a long day’s journey, through pathless woods, in

which it was too probable they might be bewildered till they were

overtaken by the next night; and, not having prepared for a journey of

more than eight or ten hours, they were wholly destitute of provisions,

except a vulture, which they happened to shoot while they were out, and

which, if equally divided, would not afford each of them half a meal;

and they knew not how much more they might suffer from the cold, as the

snow still continued to fall. A dreadful testimony of the severity of

the climate, as it was now the midst of summer in this part of the

world, the twenty-first of December being here the longest day; and

every thing might justly be dreaded from a phænomenon which, in the

corresponding season, is unknown even in Norway and Lapland.

When the morning dawned, they saw nothing round them, as far as the eye

could reach, but snow, which seemed to lie as thick upon the trees as

upon the ground; and the blasts returned so frequently, and with such

violence, that they found it impossible for them to set out: how long

this might last they knew not, and they had but too much reason to

apprehend that it would confine them in that desolate forest till they

perished with hunger and cold.

After having suffered the misery and terror of this situation till six

o’clock in the morning, they conceived some hope of deliverance by

discovering the place of the sun through the clouds, which were become

thinner, and began to break away. Their first care was to see whether

the poor wretches whom they had been obliged to leave among the bushes

were yet alive; three of the company were dispatched for that purpose,

and very soon afterwards returned with the melancholy news, that they

were dead.

Notwithstanding the flattering appearance of the sky, the snow still

continued to fall so thick, that they could not venture out on their

journey to the ship; but about eight o’clock a small regular breeze

sprung up, which, with the prevailing influence of the sun, at length

cleared the air; and they soon after, with great joy, saw the snow fall

in large flakes from the trees, a certain sign of an approaching thaw:

they now examined more critically the state of their invalids: Briscoe

was still very ill, but said, that he thought himself able to walk; and

Mr. Buchan was much better than either he or his friends had any reason

to expect. They were now, however, pressed by the calls of hunger; to

which, after long fasting, every consideration of future good or evil

immediately gives way. Before they set forward, therefore, it was

unanimously agreed, that they should eat their vulture: the bird was

accordingly skinned; and, it being thought best to divide it before it

was fit to be eaten, it was cut into ten portions, and every man cooked

his own as he thought fit. After this repast, which furnished each of

them with about three mouthfuls, they prepared to set out; but it was

ten o’clock before the snow was sufficiently gone off, to render a march

practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they were very agreeably

surprised to find themselves upon the beach, and much nearer to the ship

than they had any reason to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the

vessel, they perceived that, instead of ascending the hill in a line, so

as to penetrate into the country, they had made almost a circle round

it. When they came on board, they congratulated each other upon their

safety, with a joy that no man can feel who has not been exposed to

equal danger; and as I had suffered great anxiety at their not returning

in the evening of the day on which they set out, I was not wholly

without my share.

CHAP. V.

THE PASSAGE THROUGH THE STREIGHT OF LE MAIRE, AND A FURTHER DESCRIPTION

OF THE INHABITANTS OF TERRA DEL FUEGO, AND ITS PRODUCTIONS.

ON the 18th and 19th, we were delayed in getting on board our wood and

water by a swell: but on the 20th, the weather being more moderate, we

again sent the boat on shore, and Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went in it.

They landed in the bottom of the bay; and while my people were employed

in cutting brooms, they pursued their great object, the improvement of

natural knowledge, with success, collecting many shells and plants which

hitherto have been altogether unknown: they came on board to dinner, and

afterwards went again on shore to visit an Indian town, which some of

the people had reported to lie about two miles up the country. They

found the distance not more than by the account, and they approached it

by what appeared to be the common road, yet they were above an hour in

getting thither, for they were frequently up to their knees in mud. When

they got within a small distance, two of the people came out to meet

them, with such state as they could assume: when they joined them, they

began to hollow as they had done on board the ship, without addressing

themselves either to the strangers or their companions; and having

continued this strange vociferation some time, they conducted them to

the town. It was situated on a dry knoll, or small hill, covered with

wood, none of which seemed to have been cleared away, and consisted of

about twelve or fourteen hovels, of the most rude and inartificial

structure that can be imagined. They were nothing more than a few poles

set up so as to incline towards each other, and meet at the top, forming

a kind of a cone, like some of our bee-hives: on the weather-side they

were covered with a few boughs, and a little grass; and on the lee-side

about one-eighth of the circle was left open, both for a door and a

fire-place; and of this kind were the huts that had been seen in St.

Vincent’s bay, in one of which the embers of a fire were still

remaining. Furniture they had none: a little grass, which lay round the

inside of the hovel, served both for chairs and beds; and of all the

utensils which necessity and ingenuity have concurred to produce among

other savage nations, they saw only a basket to carry in the hand, a

satchel to hang at the back, and the bladder of some beast to hold

water, which the natives drink through a hole that is made near the top

for that purpose.

The inhabitants of this town were a small tribe, not more than fifty in

number, of both sexes and of every age. Their colour resembles that of

the rust of iron mixed with oil, and they have long black hair: the men

are large, but clumsily built: their stature is from five feet eight to

five feet ten: the women are much less, few of them being more than five

feet high. Their whole apparel consists of the skin of a guanicoe, or

seal, which is thrown over their shoulders, exactly in the state in

which it came from the animal’s back; a piece of the same skin, which is

drawn over their feet, and gathered about the ancles like a purse, and a

small flap, which is worn by the women as a succedaneum for a fig-leaf.

The men wear their cloak open, the women tie it about their waist with a

thong. But although they are content to be naked, they are very

ambitious to be fine. Their faces were painted in various forms: the

region of the eye was in general white, and the rest of the face adorned

with horizontal streaks of red and black; yet scarcely any two were

exactly alike. This decoration seems to be more profuse and elaborate

upon particular occasions; for the two gentlemen who introduced Mr.

Banks and the Doctor into the town were almost covered with streaks of

black in all directions, so as to make a very striking appearance. Both

men and women wore bracelets of such beads as they could make themselves

of small shells or bones; the women both upon their wrists and ancles,

the men upon their wrists only: but to compensate for the want of

bracelets on their legs, they wore a kind of fillet of brown worsted

round their heads. They seemed to set a particular value upon any thing

that was red, and preferred beads even to a knife or a hatchet.

Their language in general is guttural, and they express some of their

words by a sound exactly like that which we make to clear the throat

when any thing happens to obstruct it; yet they have words that would be

deemed soft in the better languages of Europe. Mr. Banks learnt what he

supposes to be their name for beads and water. When they wanted beads,

instead of ribbons or other trifles, they said _hallĕcă_; and when they

were taken on shore from the ship, and by signs asked where water might

be found, they made the sign of drinking, and pointing as well to the

casks as the watering-place, cried _Oodâ_.