We saw no appearance of their having any food but shell-fish; for though

seals were frequently seen near the shore, they seemed to have no

implements for taking them. The shell-fish is collected by the women,

whose business it seems to be to attend at low water, with a basket in

one hand, and a stick, pointed and barbed, in the other, and a satchel

at their backs: they loosen the limpets, and other fish that adhere to

the rocks with the stick, and put them into the basket, which, when

full, they empty into the satchel.

The only things that we found among them in which there was the least

appearance of neatness or ingenuity were their weapons, which consisted

of a bow and arrows. The bow was not inelegantly made, and the arrows

were the neatest that we had ever seen: they were of wood, polished to

the highest degree; and the point, which was of glass or flint, and

barbed, was formed and fitted with wonderful dexterity. We saw also some

pieces of glass and flint among them unwrought, besides rings, buttons,

cloth, and canvass, with other European commodities; they must,

therefore, sometimes travel to the northward, for it is many years since

any ship has been so far south as this part of Terra del Fuego. We

observed, also, that they showed no surprise at our fire-arms, with the

use of which they appeared to be well acquainted; for they made signs to

Mr. Banks to shoot a seal which followed the boat, as they were going on

shore from the ship.

M. de Bougainville, who, in January, 1768, just one year before us, had

been on shore upon this coast in latitude 53° 40ʹ 41ʺ, had, among other

things, given glass to the people whom he found here; for he says, that

a boy about twelve years old took it into his head to eat some of it: by

this unhappy accident he died in great misery; but the endeavours of the

good father, the French _aumonier_, were more successful than those of

the surgeon; for though the surgeon could not save his life, the

charitable priest found means to steal a Christian baptism upon him so

secretly, that none of his Pagan relations knew any thing of the matter.

These people might probably have some of the very glass which

Bougainville left behind him, either from other natives, or perhaps from

himself; for they appeared rather to be a travelling horde than to have

any fixed habitation. Their houses are built to stand but for a short

time. They have no utensil or furniture but the basket and satchel,

which have been mentioned before, and which have handles adapted to the

carrying them about, in the hand and upon the back. The only clothing

they had here was scarcely sufficient to prevent their perishing with

cold in the summer of this country, much less in the extreme severity of

winter. The shell-fish, which seems to be their only food, must soon be

exhausted at any one place; and we had seen houses upon what appeared to

be a deserted station in St. Vincent’s Bay.

It is also probable that the place where we found them was only a

temporary residence, from their having here nothing like a boat or

canoe, of which it can scarcely be supposed that they were wholly

destitute, especially as they were not sea-sick, or particularly

affected, either in our boat or on board the ship. We conjectured that

there might be a streight or inlet, running from the sea through great

part of this island, from the Streight of Magellan, whence these people

might come, leaving their canoes where such inlet terminated.

They did not appear to have among them any government or subordination:

none was more respected than another; yet they seemed to live together

in the utmost harmony and good fellowship. Neither did we discover any

appearance of religion among them, except the noises which have been

mentioned, and which we supposed to be a superstitious ceremony, merely

because we could refer them to nothing else: they were used only by one

of those who came on board the ship, and the two who conducted Mr. Banks

and Dr. Solander to the town, whom we therefore conjectured to be

priests. Upon the whole, these people appeared to be the most destitute

and forlorn, as well as the most stupid, of all human beings; the

outcasts of nature, who spent their lives in wandering about the dreary

wastes, where two of our people perished with cold in the midst of

summer; with no dwelling but a wretched hovel of sticks and grass, which

would not only admit the wind, but the snow and the rain; almost naked;

and destitute of every convenience that is furnished by the rudest art,

having no implement even to dress their food: yet they were content.

They seemed to have no wish for any thing more than they possessed, nor

did any thing that we offered them appear acceptable but beads, as an

ornamental superfluity of life. What bodily pain they might suffer from

the severities of their winter we could not know; but it is certain that

they suffered nothing from the want of the innumerable articles which we

consider not as the luxuries and conveniencies only but the necessaries

of life: as their desires are few, they probably enjoy them all; and how

much they may be gainers by an exemption from the care, labour, and

solicitude, which arise from a perpetual and unsuccessful effort to

gratify that infinite variety of desires which the refinements of

artificial life have produced among us, is not very easy to determine:

possibly this may counterbalance all the real disadvantages of their

situation in comparison with ours, and make the scales by which good and

evil are distributed to man hang even between us.

In this place we saw no quadruped except seals, sea-lions, and dogs: of

the dogs it is remarkable that they bark, which those that are

originally bred in America do not. And this is a further proof, that the

people we saw here had, either immediately or remotely, communicated

with the inhabitants of Europe. There are, however, other quadrupeds in

this part of the country; for when Mr. Banks was at the top of the

highest hill that he ascended in his expedition through the woods, he

saw the footsteps of a large beast imprinted upon the surface of a bog,

though he could not with any probability guess of what kind it might be.

Of land-birds there are but few: Mr. Banks saw none larger than an

English blackbird, except some hawks and a vulture; but of water-fowl

there is great plenty, particularly ducks. Of fish we saw scarce any,

and with our hooks could catch none that was fit to eat; but shell-fish,

limpets, clams, and mussels, were to be found in abundance.

Among the insects, which were not numerous, there was neither gnat nor

musquito, nor any other species that was either hurtful or troublesome,

which perhaps is more than can be said of any other uncleared country.

During the snow-blasts, which happened every day while we were here,

they hide themselves; and the moment it is fair they appear again, as

nimble and vigorous as the warmest weather could make them.

Of plants, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found a vast variety; the far

greater part wholly different from any that have been hitherto

described. Besides the birch and winter’s bark, which have been

mentioned already; there is the beach, _Fagus antarcticus_, which, as

well as the birch, may be used for timber. The plants cannot be

enumerated here; but as the scurvy-grass, _Cardamine antiscorbutica_,

and the wild celery, _Apium antarcticum_, probably contain antiscorbutic

qualities, which may be of great benefit to the crews of such ships as

shall hereafter touch at this place, the following short description is

inserted:

The scurvy-grass will be found in plenty in damp places, near springs of

water, and, in general, in all places that lie near the beach,

especially at the watering-place in the Bay of Good Success: when it is

young, the state of its greatest perfection, it lies flat upon the

ground, having many leaves of a bright green, standing in pairs opposite

to each other, with a single one at the end, which generally makes the

fifth upon a foot-stalk. The plant, passing from this state, shoots up

in stalks that are sometimes two feet high, at the top of which are

small white blossoms, and these are succeeded by long pods: the whole

plant greatly resembles that which in England is called Lady’s smock, or

Cuckow-flower. The wild celery is very like the celery in our gardens,

the flowers are white, and stand in the same manner, in small tufts at

the top of the branches, but the leaves are of a deeper green. It grows

in great abundance near the beach, and generally upon the soil that lies

next above the spring tides. It may, indeed, easily be known by the

taste, which is between that of celery and parsley. We used the celery

in large quantities, particularly in our soup, which, thus medicated,

produced the same good effects which seamen generally derive from a

vegetable diet, after having been long confined to salt provisions.

On Sunday the 22d of January, about two o’clock in the morning, having

got our wood and water on board, we sailed out of the bay, and continued

our course through the Streight.

CHAP. VI.

A GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE S. E. PART OF TERRA DEL FUEGO, AND THE

STREIGHT OF LE MAIRE; WITH SOME REMARKS ON LORD ANSON’S ACCOUNT OF THEM,

AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE PASSAGE WESTWARD, ROUND THIS PART OF AMERICA,

INTO THE SOUTH SEAS.

ALMOST all writers who have mentioned the island of Terra del Fuego,

describe it as destitute of wood, and covered with snow. In the winter

it may possibly be covered with snow, and those who saw it at that

season might, perhaps, be easily deceived, by its appearance, into an

opinion that it was destitute of wood. Lord Anson was there in the

beginning of March, which answers to our September, and we were there

the beginning of January, which answers to our July; which may account

for the difference of his description of it from ours. We fell in with

it about twenty-one leagues to the westward of the Streight of Le Maire,

and from the time that we first saw it, trees were plainly to be

distinguished with our glasses: and as we came nearer, though here and

there we discovered patches of snow, the sides of the hills and the sea

coast appeared to be covered with a beautiful verdure. The hills are

lofty, but not mountainous, though the summits of them are quite naked.

The soil in the valleys is rich, and of a considerable depth: and at the

foot of almost every hill there is a brook, the water of which has a

reddish hue, like that which runs through our turf bogs in England; but

it is by no means ill tasted, and, upon the whole, proved to be the best

that we took in during our voyage. We ranged the coast to the Streight,

and had soundings all the way from forty to twenty fathom upon a

gravelly and sandy bottom. The most remarkable land on Terra del Fuego

is a hill in the form of a sugar-loaf, which stands on the west side not

far from the sea; and the three hills, called the Three Brothers, about

nine miles to the westward of Cape St. Diego, the low point that forms

the north entrance of the Streight of Le Maire.

It is said in the account of Lord Anson’s voyage, that it is difficult

to determine exactly where the Streight lies, though the appearance of

Terra del Fuego be well known, without knowing also the appearance of

Staten Land; and that some navigators have been deceived by three hills

on Staten Land, which have been mistaken for the Three Brothers on Terra

del Fuego, and so over-shot the Streight. But no ship can possibly miss

the Streight that coasts Terra del Fuego within sight of land, for it

will then of itself be sufficiently conspicuous; and Staten Land, which

forms the east side, will be still more manifestly distinguished, for

there is no land on Terra del Fuego like it. The Streight of Le Maire

can be missed only by standing too far to the eastward, without keeping

the land of Terra del Fuego in sight: if this is done, it may be missed,

however accurately the appearance of the coast of Staten Land may have

been exhibited; and if this is not done, it cannot be missed, though the

appearance of that coast be not known. The entrance of the Streight

should not be attempted but with a fair wind and moderate weather, and

upon the very beginning of the tide of flood, which happens here at the

full and change of the moon, about one or two o’clock; it is also best

to keep as near to the Terra del Fuego shore as the winds will admit. By

attending to these particulars, a ship may be got quite through the

Streight in one tide; or, at least, to the southward of Success Bay,

into which it will be more prudent to put, if the wind should be

southerly, than to attempt the weathering of Staten Land with a lee wind

and a current, which may endanger her being driven on that island.

The Streight itself, which is bounded on the west by Terra del Fuego,

and on the east by the west end of Staten Land, is about five leagues

long, and as many broad. The Bay of Good Success lies about the middle

of it, on the Terra del Fuego side, and is discovered immediately upon

entering the Streight from the northward: and the south head of it may

be distinguished by a mark on the land, that has the appearance of a

broad road, leading up from the sea into the country: at the entrance it

is half a league wide, and runs in westward about two miles and a half.

There is good anchorage in every part of it, in from ten to seven

fathom, clear ground; and it affords plenty of exceeding good wood and

water. The tides flow in the Bay, at the full and change of the moon,

about four or five o’clock, and rise about five or six feet

perpendicular. But the flood runs two or three hours longer in the

Streight than in the Bay; and the ebb, or northerly current, runs with

near double the strength of the flood.

In the appearance of Staten Land, we did not discover the wildness and

horror that is ascribed to it in the account of Lord Anson’s voyage. On

the north side are the appearances of bays or harbours; and the land,

when we saw it, was neither destitute of wood nor verdure, nor covered

with snow. The island seems to be about twelve leagues in length, and

five broad.

On the west side of the Cape of Good Success, which forms the S. W.

entrance of the Streight, lies Valentine’s Bay, of which we only saw the

entrance; from this bay the land trends away to the W. S. W. for twenty

or thirty leagues; it appears to be high and mountainous, and forms

several bays and inlets.

At the distance of fourteen leagues from the Bay of Good Success, in the

direction of S. W. ½ W. and between two and three leagues from the

shore, lies New Island. It is about two leagues in length from N. E. to

S. W. and terminates to the N. E. in a remarkable hillock. At the

distance of seven leagues from New Island, in the direction of S. W.

lies the Isle _Evouts_; and a little to the W. of the south of this

island lie Barnevelt’s two small flat islands, close to each other; they

are partly surrounded with rocks, which rise to different heights above

the water, and lie twenty-four leagues from the Streight of Le Maire. At

the distance of three leagues from Barnevelt’s islands, in the direction

of S. W. by S. lies the S. E. point of Hermit’s islands: these islands

lie S. E. and N. W., and are pretty high: from most points of view they

will be taken for one island, or a part of the main.

From the S. E. point of Hermit’s islands to Cape Horn the course is S.

W. by S., distance three leagues.

The appearance of this Cape and Hermit’s islands is represented in the

chart of this coast, from our first making land to the Cape, which

includes the Streight of Le Maire, and part of Staten Land. In this

chart I have laid down no land, nor traced out any shore but what I saw

myself, and thus far it may be depended upon: the bays and inlets, of

which we saw only the openings, are not traced; it can, however,

scarcely be doubted, but that most, if not all of them, afford

anchorage, wood, and water. The Dutch squadron, commanded by Hermit,

certainly put into some of them in the year 1624. And it was Chapenham,

the Vice-Admiral of this squadron, who first discovered that the land of

Cape Horn consisted of a number of islands. The account, however, which

those who sailed in Hermit’s fleet have given of these parts is

extremely defective; and those of Schouton and Le Maire are still worse.

It is therefore no wonder that the charts hitherto published should be

erroneous, not only in laying down the land, but in the latitude and

longitude of the places they contain. I will, however, venture to

assert, that the longitude of few parts of the world is better

ascertained than that of the Streight of Le Maire, and Cape Horn, in the

chart now offered to the public, as it was laid down by several

observations of the sun and moon, that were made both by myself and Mr.

Green.

The variation of the compass on this coast I found to be from 23° to 25°

E. except near Barnevelt’s islands and Cape Horn, where we found it

less, and unsettled: probably it is disturbed here by the land, as

Hermit’s squadron, in this very place, found all their compasses differ

from each other. The declination of the dipping-needle, when set upon

shore in Success Bay, was 68° 15ʹ below the horizon.

Between Streight Le Maire and Cape Horn we found a current setting,

generally very strong, to the N. E. when we were in with the shore; but

lost it when we were at the distance of fifteen or twenty leagues.

On the 26th January, we took our departure from Cape Horn, which lies in

latitude 55° 53ʹ S. longitude, 68° 13ʹ W. The farthest southern latitude

that we made was 60° 10ʹ, our longitude was then 74° 30ʹ W.; and we

found the variation of the compass, by the mean of eighteen azimuths, to

be 27° 9ʹ E. As the weather was frequently calm, Mr. Banks went out in a

small boat to shoot birds, among which were some albatrosses and

sheerwaters. The albatrosses were observed to be larger than those which

had been taken northward of the Streight; one of them measured ten feet

two inches from the tip of one wing to that of the other, when they were

extended: the sheerwater, on the contrary, is less, and darker coloured

on the back. The albatrosses we skinned, and having soaked them in

salt-water till the morning, we parboiled them, then throwing away the

liquor, stewed them in a very little fresh water till they were tender,

and had them served up with savoury sauce; thus dressed, the dish was

universally commended, and we eat of it very heartily even when there

was fresh pork upon the table.

From a variety of observations which were made with great care, it

appeared probable in the highest degree, that, from the time of our

leaving the land to the 13th of February, when we were in latitude 49°

32ʹ, and longitude 90° 37ʹ, we had no current to the west.

At this time we had advanced about 12° to the westward, and 3 and ½ to

the northward of the Streight of Magellan; having been just three and

thirty days in coming round the land of Terra del Fuego, or Cape Horn,

from the east entrance of the Streight to this situation. And though the

doubling of Cape Horn is so much dreaded, that, in the general opinion,

it is more eligible to pass through the Streight of Magellan, we were

not once brought under our close-reef’d topsails after we left the

Streight of Le Maire. The Dolphin, in her last voyage, which she

performed at the same season of the year with ours, was three months in

getting through the Streight of Magellan, exclusive of the time that she

lay in Port Famine; and I am persuaded, from the winds we had, that if

we had come by that passage, we should not at this time have been in

these seas; that our people would have been fatigued, and our anchors,

cables, sails and rigging much damaged; neither of which inconveniencies

we had now suffered. But supposing it more eligible to go round the

Cape, than through the Streight of Magellan; it may still be questioned,

whether it is better to go through the Streight of Le Maire, or stand to

the eastward, and go round Staten Land. The advice given in the Account

of Lord Anson’s voyage is, “That all ships bound to the South Seas,

instead of passing through the Streight of Le Maire, should constantly

pass to the eastward of Staten Land, and should be invariably bent on

running to the southward as far as the latitude of 61 or 62 degrees,

before they endeavour to stand to the westward.” But, in my opinion,

different circumstances may at one time render it eligible to pass

through the Streight, and to keep to the eastward of Staten Land at

another. If the land is fallen in with to the westward of the Streight,

and the wind is favourable for going through, I think it would be very

injudicious to lose time by going round Staten Land, as I am confident

that, by attending to the directions which I have given, the Streight

may be passed with the utmost safety and convenience. But if, on the

contrary, the land is fallen in with to the eastward of the Streight,

and the wind should prove tempestuous or unfavourable, I think it would

be best to go round Staten Land. But I cannot in any case concur in

recommending the running into the latitude of 61 or 62, before any

endeavour is made to stand to the westward. We found neither the current

nor the storms which the running so far to the southward is supposed

necessary to avoid; and, indeed, as the winds almost constantly blow

from that quarter, it is scarcely possible to pursue the advice. The

navigator has no choice but to stand to the southward, close upon a

wind, and by keeping upon that tack, he will not only make southing, but

westing; and, if the wind varies towards the north of the west, his

westing will be considerable. It will, indeed, be highly proper to make

sure of a westing sufficient to double all the lands, before an attempt

is made to stand to the northward, and to this every man’s own prudence

will of necessity direct him.

We now began to have strong gales and heavy seas, with irregular

intervals of calm and fine weather.

CHAP. VII.

THE SEQUEL OF THE PASSAGE FROM CAPE HORN TO THE NEWLY DISCOVERED ISLANDS

IN THE SOUTH SEAS, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR FIGURE AND APPEARANCE;

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE INHABITANTS, AND SEVERAL INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED

DURING THE COURSE, AND AT THE SHIP’S ARRIVAL AMONG THEM.

ON the first of March, we were in latitude 38° 44ʹ S. and longitude 110°

33ʹ W. both by observation and by the log. This agreement, after a run

of 660 leagues, was thought to be very extraordinary; and is a

demonstration, that after we left the land of Cape Horn we had no

current that affected the ship. It renders it also highly probable, that

we had been near no land of any considerable extent; for currents are

always found when land is not remote, and sometimes, particularly on the

east side of the continent in the North Sea, when land has been distant

100 leagues.

Many birds, as usual, were constantly about the ship, so that Mr. Banks

killed no less than 62 in one day; and what is more remarkable, he

caught two forest flies, both of them of the same species, but different

from any that have hitherto been described; these probably belonged to

the birds, and came with them from the land, which we judged to be at a

great distance. Mr. Banks also, about this time, found a large

cuttle-fish, which had just been killed by the birds, floating in a

mangled condition upon the water; it is very different from the

cuttle-fishes that are found in the European seas; for its arms, instead

of suckers, were furnished with a double row of very sharp talons, which

resemble those of a cat, and, like them, were retractable into a sheath

of skin, from which they might be thrust at pleasure. Of this

cuttle-fish we made one of the best soups we had ever tasted.

The albatrosses now began to leave us, and after the 8th there was not

one to be seen. We continued our course without any memorable event till

the 24th, when some of the people who were upon the watch in the night,

reported that they saw a log of wood pass by the ship; and that the sea,

which was rather rough, became suddenly as smooth as a mill pond. It was

a general opinion that there was land to windward; but I did not think

myself at liberty to search for what I was not sure to find; though I

judged we were not far from the islands that were discovered by Quiros

in 1606. Our latitude was 22° 11ʹ S. and longitude 127° 55ʹ W.

On the 25th, about noon, one of the marines, a young fellow about

twenty, was placed as centry at the cabin-door; while he was upon this

duty, one of my servants was at the same place preparing to cut a piece

of seal-skin into tobacco pouches: he had promised one to several of the

men, but had refused one to this young fellow, though he had asked him

several times; upon which he jocularly threatened to steal one, if it

should be in his power. It happened that the servant being called

hastily away, gave the skin in charge to the centinel, without regarding

what had passed between them. The centinel immediately secured a piece

of the skin, which the other missing at his return, grew angry; but

after some altercation, contented himself with taking it away, declaring

that, for so trifling an affair, he would not complain of him to the

officers. But it happened that one of his fellow-soldiers, over-hearing

the dispute, came to the knowledge of what had happened, and told it to

the rest; who, taking it into their heads to stand up for the honour of

their corps, reproached the offender with great bitterness, and reviled

him in the most opprobrious terms; they exaggerated his offence into a

crime of the deepest dye; they said it was a theft by a centry when he

was upon duty, and of a thing that had been committed to his trust; they

declared it a disgrace to associate with him; and the serjeant, in

particular, said that, if the person from whom the skin had been stolen

would not complain, he would complain himself; for that his honour would

suffer if the offender was not punished. From the scoffs and reproaches

of these men of honour, the poor young fellow retired to his hammock in

an agony of confusion and shame. The serjeant soon after went to him,

and ordered him to follow him to the deck: he obeyed without reply; but

it being in the dusk of the evening, he slipped from the serjeant and

went forward: he was seen by some of the people, who thought he was gone

to the head; but a search being made for him afterwards, it was found

that he had thrown himself overboard; and I was then first made

acquainted with the theft and its circumstances.

The loss of this man was the more regretted as he was remarkably quiet

and industrious, and as the very action that put an end to his life was

a proof of an ingenuous mind; for to such only disgrace is

insupportable.

On Tuesday the 4th of April, about ten o’clock in the morning, Mr.

Banks’s servant, Peter Briscoe, discovered land, bearing south, at the

distance of about three or four leagues. I immediately hauled up for it,

and found it to be an island of an oval form, with a lagoon in the

middle, which occupied much the larger part of it; the border of land

which circumscribes the lagoon is in many places very low and narrow,

particularly on the south side, where it consists principally of a beach

or reef of rocks. It has the same appearance also in three places on the

north side; so that the firm land being disjoined, the whole looks like

many islands covered with wood. On the west end of the island is a large

tree, or clump of trees, that in appearance resembles a tower; and about

the middle are two cocoa-nut trees, which rise above all the rest, and,

as we came near to the island, appeared like a flag. We approached it on

the north side, and though we came within a mile, we found no bottom

with 130 fathom of line, nor did there appear to be any anchorage about

it. The whole is covered with trees of different verdure, but we could

distinguish none, even with our glasses, except cocoa-nuts and

palm-nuts. We saw several of the natives upon the shore, and counted

four and twenty. They appeared to be tall, and to have heads remarkably

large; perhaps they had something wound round them which we could not

distinguish; they were of a copper colour, and had long black hair.

Eleven of them walked along the beach abreast of the ship, with poles or

pikes in their hands which reached twice as high as themselves. While

they walked on the beach they seemed to be naked; but soon after they

retired, which they did as soon as the ship had passed the island, they

covered themselves with something that made them appear of a light

colour. Their habitations were under some clumps of palm-nut trees,

which at a distance appeared like high ground; and to us, who for a long

time had seen nothing but water and sky, except the dreary hills of

Terra del Fuego, these groves seemed a terrestrial paradise. To this

spot, which lies in latitude 18° 47ʺ S., and longitude 139° 28ʹ W. we

gave the name of LAGOON ISLAND. The variation of the needle here is 2°

54ʹ E.

About one o’clock we made sail to the westward, and about half an hour

after three we saw land again to the N. W. We got up with it at sunset,

and it proved to be a low woody island, of a circular form, and not much

above a mile in compass. We discovered no inhabitants, nor could we

distinguish any cocoa-nut trees, though we were within half a mile of

the shore. The land, however, was covered with verdure of many hues. It

lies in latitude 18° 35ʹ S., and longitude 139° 48ʹ W., and is distant

from Lagoon Island, in the direction of N. 62 W., about seven leagues.

We called it THRUMB-CAP. I discovered by the appearance of the shore,

that at this place it was low water; and I had observed at Lagoon

Island, that it was either high water, or that the sea neither ebbed nor

flowed. I infer, therefore, that a S. by E. or S. moon makes high water.

We went on with a fine trade-wind and pleasant weather, and on the 5th,

about three in the afternoon, we discovered land to the westward. It

proved to be a low island of much greater extent than either of those

that we had seen before, being about ten or twelve leagues in compass.

Several of us remained at the mast-head the whole evening, admiring its

extraordinary figure: it was shaped exactly like a bow, the arch and

cord of which were land, and the space between them water: the cord was

a flat beach, without any signs of vegetation, having nothing upon it

but heaps of sea-weed, which lay in different ridges, as higher or lower

tides had left them. It appeared to be about three or four leagues long,

and not more than two hundred yards wide; but as a horizontal plane is

always seen in perspective, and greatly foreshortened, it is certainly

much wider than it appeared: the horns, or extremities of the bow, were

two large tufts of cocoa-nut trees; and much the greater part of the

arch was covered with trees of different height, figure, and hue; in

some parts, however, it was naked and low, like the cord. Some of us

thought they discovered openings through the cord, into the pool or

lake, that was included between that and the bow; but whether there were

or were not such openings is uncertain. We sailed abreast of the low

beach or bow-string, within less than a league of the shore, till

sunset, and we then judged ourselves to be about half-way between the

two horns. Here we brought to, and sounded, but found no bottom with one

hundred and thirty fathom; and, as it is dark almost instantly after

sunset in these latitudes, we suddenly lost sight of the land, and

making sail again, before the line was well hauled in, we steered by the

sound of the breakers, which were distinctly heard till we got clear of

the coast.

We knew this island to be inhabited, by smoke which we saw in different

parts of it, and we gave it the name of BOW ISLAND. Mr. Gore, my second

lieutenant, said, after we had sailed by the island, that he had seen

several of the natives, under the first clump of trees, from the deck;

that he had distinguished their houses, and seen several canoes hauled

up under the shade; but in this he was more fortunate than any other

person on board. The east end of this island, which, from its figure, we

called the Bow, lies in latitude 18° 23ʹ S., and longitude 141° 12ʹ W.;

we observed the variation of the compass to be 5° 38ʹ E.

On the next day, Thursday the 6th, about noon, we saw land again to the

westward, and came up with it about three. It appeared to be two

islands, or rather groups of islands, extending from N. W. by N. to S.

E. by S. about nine leagues. Of these, the two largest were separated

from each other by a channel of about half a mile broad, and were

severally surrounded by smaller islands, to which they were joined by

reefs that lay under water.

These islands were long narrow strips of land, ranging in all

directions, some of them ten miles or upwards in length, but none more

than a quarter of a mile broad, and upon all of them there were trees of

various kinds, particularly the cocoa-nut. The south-eastermost of them

lies in the latitude of 18° 12ʹ S. and longitude 142° 42ʹ W., and at the

distance of twenty-five leagues in the direction of W. ½ N. from the

west end of Bow Island. We ranged along the S. W. side of this island,

and hauled into a bay which lies to the N. W. of the southermost point

of the Group, where there was a smooth sea, and the appearance of

anchorage, without much surf on the shore. We sounded, but we found no

bottom with one hundred fathom, at the distance of no more than three

quarters of a mile from the beach; and I did not think it prudent to go

nearer.

While this was doing, several of the inhabitants assembled upon the

shore, and some came out in their canoes as far as the reefs, but would

not pass them. When we saw this, we ranged, with an easy sail, along the

shore; but just as we were passing the end of the island, six men, who

had for some time kept abreast of the ship, suddenly launched two canoes

with great quickness and dexterity, and three of them getting into each,

they put off, as we imagined, with a design to come on board us; the

ship was therefore brought to, but they, like their fellows, stopped at

the reef. We did not, however, immediately make sail, as we observed two

messengers dispatched to them from the other canoes, which were of a

much larger size. We perceived that these messengers made great

expedition, wading and swimming along the reef; at length they met, and

the men on board the canoes making no dispositions to pass the reef,

after having received the message, we judged that they had resolved to

come no farther. After waiting, therefore, some little time longer, we

stood off; but when we were got about two or three miles from the shore,

we perceived some of the natives following us in a canoe with a sail. We

did not, however, think it worth while to wait for her, and though she

had passed the reef, she soon after gave over the chace.

According to the best judgment that we could form of the people when we

were nearest the shore, they were about our size, and well-made. They

were of a brown-complexion, and appeared to be naked; their hair, which

was black, was confined by a fillet that went round the head, and stuck

out behind like a bush. The greater part of them carried in their hands

two weapons; one of them was a slender pole, from ten to fourteen feet

long, on one end of which was a small knob, not unlike the point of a

spear; the other was about four feet long, and shaped like a paddle, and

possibly might be so, for some of their canoes were very small: those

which we saw them launch seemed not intended to carry more than the

three men that got into them: we saw others that had on board six or

seven men, and one of them hoisted a sail which did not seem to reach

more than six feet above the gun-wale of the boat, and which, upon the

falling of a slight shower, was taken down and converted into an awning

or tilt. The canoe which followed us to sea hoisted a sail not unlike an

English lug-sail, and almost as lofty as an English boat of the same

size would have carried.

The people, who kept abreast of the ship on the beach, made many

signals; but whether they were intended to frighten us away, or invite

us on shore, it is not easy to determine: we returned them by waving our

hats and shouting, and they replied by shouting again. We did not put

their disposition to the test, by attempting to land; because, as the

island was inconsiderable, and as we wanted nothing that it could

afford, we thought it imprudent as well as cruel to risk a contest, in

which the natives must have suffered by our superiority, merely to

gratify an idle curiosity; especially as we expected soon to fall in

with the island where we had been directed to make our astronomical

observation, the inhabitants of which would probably admit us without

opposition, as they were already acquainted with our strength, and might

also procure us a ready and peaceable reception among the neighbouring

people, if we should desire it.

To these islands we gave the name of THE GROUPS.

On the 7th, about half an hour after six in the morning, being just at

day-break, we discovered another island to the northward, which we

judged to be about four miles in circumference. The land lay very low,

and there was a piece of water in the middle of it; there seemed to be

some wood upon it, and it looked green and pleasant; but we saw neither

cocoa-trees nor inhabitants: it abounded, however, with birds, and we

therefore gave it the name of BIRD ISLAND.

It lies in latitude 17° 48ʹ S. and longitude 143° 35ʹ W. at the distance

of ten leagues, in the direction W. ½ N. from the west end of the

Groups. The variation here was 6° 32ʹ E.

On the 8th, about two o’clock in the afternoon, we saw land to the

northward, and about sunset came abreast of it, at about the distance of

two leagues. It appeared to be a double range of low woody islands

joined together by reefs, so as to form one island, in the form of an

ellipsis or oval, with a lake in the middle of it. The small islands and

reefs that circumscribe the lake have the appearance of a chain, and we

therefore gave it the name of CHAIN ISLAND. Its length seemed to be

about five leagues, in the direction of N. W. and S. E., and its breadth

about five miles. The trees upon it appeared to be large, and we saw

smoke rising in different parts of it from among them, a certain sign

that it was inhabited. The middle of it lies in latitude 17° 23ʹ S. and

longitude 145° 54ʹ W., and is distant from Bird Island forty-five

leagues, in the direction of W. by N. The variation here was, by several

azimuths, found to be 4° 54ʹ E.

On the 10th, having had a tempestuous night with thunder and rain, the

weather was hazy till about nine o’clock in the morning, when it cleared

up, and we saw the island to which Captain Wallis, who first discovered

it, gave the name of Osnaburgh Island, called by the natives _Maitea_,

bearing N. W. by W. distant about five leagues. It is a high round

island, not above a league in circuit; in some parts it is covered with

trees, and in others a naked rock. In this direction it looked like a

high-crowned hat; but when it bears north, the top of it has more the

appearance of the roof of a house. We made its latitude to be 17° 48ʹ S.

its longitude 148° 10ʹ W., and its distance from Chain Island forty-four

leagues, in the direction of W. by S.

CHAP. VIII.

THE ARRIVAL OF THE ENDEAVOUR AT OTAHEITE, CALLED BY CAPTAIN WALLIS KING

GEORGE THE THIRD’S ISLAND.—RULES ESTABLISHED FOR TRAFFIC WITH THE

NATIVES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL INCIDENTS WHICH HAPPENED IN A VISIT

TO TOOTAHAH AND TOUBOURAI TAMAIDA, TWO CHIEFS.

ABOUT one o’clock, on Monday the 10th of April, some of the people who

were looking out for the island to which we were bound, said they saw

land a-head, in that part of the horizon where it was expected to

appear; but it was so faint that whether there was land in sight or not,

remained a matter of dispute till sunset. The next morning, however, at

six o’clock, we were convinced that those who said they had discovered

land were not mistaken; it appeared to be very high and mountainous,

extending from W. by S. ½ S. to W. by N. ½ N., and we knew it to be the

same that Captain Wallis had called King George the Third’s Island. We

were delayed in our approach to it by light airs and calms, so that in

the morning of the 12th we were but little nearer than we had been the

night before; but about seven a breeze sprung up, and before eleven

several canoes were seen making towards the ship: there were but few of

them, however, that would come near; and the people in those that did

could not be persuaded to come on board. In every canoe there were young

plantains, and branches of a tree which the Indians call _E’ Midho_:

these, as we afterwards learnt, were brought as tokens of peace and

amity; and the people in one of the canoes handed them up the ship’s

side, making signals at the same time with great earnestness, which we

did not immediately understand; at length we guessed that they wished

these symbols should be placed in some conspicuous part of the ship; we,

therefore, immediately stuck them among the rigging, at which they

expressed the greatest satisfaction. We then purchased their cargoes,

consisting of cocoa-nuts, and various kinds of fruit, which, after our

long voyage, were very acceptable.

[Illustration: _The Island of Otaheite._]

We stood on with an easy sail all night, with soundings from twenty-two

fathom to twelve, and about seven o’clock in the morning we came to an

anchor in thirteen fathom, in Port-royal Bay, called by the natives

_Matavai_. We were immediately surrounded by the natives in their

canoes, who gave us cocoa-nuts, fruit resembling apples, bread-fruit,

and some small fishes, in exchange for beads and other trifles. They had

with them a pig, which they would not part with for any thing but a

hatchet, and therefore we refused to purchase it; because if we gave

them a hatchet for a pig now, we knew they would never afterwards sell

one for less, and we could not afford to buy as many as it was probable

we should want at that price. The bread-fruit grows on a tree that is

about the size of a middling oak: its leaves are frequently a foot and a

half long, of an oblong shape, deeply sinuated like those of the

fig-tree, which they resemble in consistence and colour, and in the

exuding of a white milky juice upon being broken. The fruit is about the

size and shape of a child’s head, and the surface is reticulated, not

much unlike a truffle: it is covered with a thin skin, and has a core

about as big as the handle of a small knife: the eatable part lies

between the skin and the core: it is as white as snow, and somewhat of

the consistence of new bread: it must be roasted before it is eaten,

being first divided into three or four parts: its taste is insipid, with

a slight sweetness, somewhat resembling that of the crumb of

wheaten-bread mixed with a Jerusalem artichoke.

Among others who came off to the ship was an elderly man, whose name, as

we learnt afterwards, was OWHAW and who was immediately known to Mr.

Gore, and several others who had been here with Captain Wallis. As I was

informed that he had been very useful to them, I took him on board the

ship with some others, and was particularly attentive to gratify him, as

I hoped he might also be useful to us.

As our stay here was not likely to be very short, and as it was

necessary that the merchandize which we had brought for traffic with the

natives should not diminish in its value, which it would certainly have

done if every person had been left at liberty to give what he pleased

for such things as he should purchase; at the same time, that confusion

and quarrels must necessarily have arisen from there being no standard

at market, I drew up the following rules, and ordered that they should

be punctually observed:—

_Rules to be observed by every Person in or belonging to His Majesty’s

Bark the Endeavour, for the better establishing a regular and uniform

Trade for Provision, &c. with the Inhabitants of George’s Island._

“I. To endeavour, by every fair means, to cultivate a friendship with

the natives; and to treat them with all imaginable humanity.

“II. A proper person or persons will be appointed to trade with the

natives for all manner of provisions, fruit, and other productions of

the earth; and no officer or seaman, or other person belonging to the

ship, excepting such as are so appointed, shall trade or offer to trade

for any sort of provision, fruit, or other productions of the earth,

unless they have leave so to do.

“III. Every person employed on shore, on any duty whatsoever, is

strictly to attend to the same; and if by any neglect he loseth any of

his arms, or working tools, or suffers them to be stolen, the full value

thereof will be charged against his pay, according to the custom of the

navy in such cases; and he shall receive such farther punishment as the

nature of the offence may deserve.

“IV. The same penalty will be inflicted on every person who is found to

embezzle, trade, or offer to trade, with any part of the ship’s stores

of what nature soever.

“V. No sort of iron, or any thing that is made of iron, or any sort of

cloth, or other useful or necessary articles, are to be given in

exchange for any thing but provision.

“J. COOK.”

As soon as the ship was properly secured, I went on shore with Mr. Banks

and Dr. Solander, a party of men under arms, and our friend Owhaw. We

were received from the boat by some hundreds of the inhabitants, whose

looks at least gave us welcome, though they were struck with such awe,

that the first who approached us crouched so low that he almost crept

upon his hands and knees. It is remarkable that he, like the people in

the canoes, presented to us the same symbol of peace that is known to

have been in use among the ancient and mighty nations of the northern

hemisphere, the green branch of a tree. We received it with looks and

gestures of kindness and satisfaction; and observing that each of them

held one in his hand, we immediately gathered every one a bough, and

carried it in our hands in the same manner.

They marched with us about half a mile towards the place where the

Dolphin had watered, conducted by Owhaw; they then made a full stop, and

having laid the ground bare, by clearing away all the plants that grew

upon it, the principal persons among them threw their green branches

upon the naked spot, and made signs that we should do the same; we

immediately showed our readiness to comply, and to give a greater

solemnity to the rite, the marines were drawn up, and marching in order,

each dropped his bough upon those of the Indians, and we followed their

example. We then proceeded, and when we came to the watering-place it

was intimated to us by signs, that we might occupy that ground, but it

happened not to be fit for our purpose. During our walk, they had shaken

off their first timid sense of our superiority, and were become

familiar: they went with us from the watering-place and took a circuit

through the woods; as we went along, we distributed beads and other

small presents among them, and had the satisfaction to see that they

were much gratified. Our circuit was not less than four or five miles,

through groves of trees, which were loaded with cocoa-nuts and

bread-fruit, and afforded the most grateful shade. Under these trees

were the habitations of the people, most of them being only a roof

without walls, and the whole scene realised the poetical fables of

Arcadia. We remarked, however, not without some regret, that in all our

walk we had seen only two hogs, and not a single fowl. Those of our

company who had been here with the Dolphin told us, that none of the

people whom we had yet seen were of the first class: they suspected that

the chiefs had removed; and upon carrying us to the place where what

they called the Queen’s palace had stood, we found that no traces of it

were left. We determined therefore to return in the morning, and

endeavour to find out the _noblesse_ in their retreats.

In the morning, however, before we could leave the ship, several canoes

came about us, most of them from the westward, and two of them were

filled with people, who, by their dress and deportment, appeared to be

of a superior rank: two of these came on board, and each singled out his

friend; one of them, whose name we found to be MATAHAH, fixed upon Mr.

Banks, and the other upon me: this ceremony consisted in taking off

great part of their clothes and putting them upon us. In return for

this, we presented each of them with a hatchet and some beads. Soon

after they made signs for us to go with them to the places where they

lived, pointing to the S. W.; and as I was desirous of finding a more

commodious harbour, and making farther trial of the disposition of the

people, I consented.

I ordered out two boats, and with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, the other

gentlemen, and our two Indian friends, we embarked for our expedition.

After rowing about a league, they made signs that we should go on shore,

and gave us to understand that this was the place of their residence. We

accordingly landed, among several hundreds of the natives, who conducted

us into a house of much greater length than any we had seen. When we

entered, we saw a middle-aged man, whose name was afterwards discovered

to be TOOTAHAH: mats were immediately spread, and we were desired to sit

down over against him. Soon after we were seated, he ordered a cock and

hen to be brought out, which he presented to Mr. Banks and me: we

accepted the present; and in a short time each of us received a piece of

cloth, perfumed after their manner, by no means disagreeably, which they

took great pains to make us remark. The piece presented to Mr. Banks was

eleven yards long and two wide; in return for which, he gave a laced

silk neckcloth, which he happened to have on, and a linen pocket

handkerchief: Tootahah immediately dressed himself in this new finery,

with an air of perfect complacency and satisfaction. But it is now time

that I should take some notice of the ladies.

Soon after the interchanging of our presents with Tootahah, they

attended us to several large houses, in which we walked about with great

freedom: they showed us all the civility of which, in our situation, we

could accept; and, on their part, seemed to have no scruple that would

have prevented its being carried farther. The houses, which, as I have

observed before, are all open, except a roof, afforded no place of

retirement; but the ladies, by frequently pointing to the mats upon the

ground, and sometimes seating themselves and drawing us down upon them,

left us no room to doubt of their being much less jealous of observation

than we were.

We now took leave of our friendly chief, and directed our course along

the shore. When we had walked about a mile, we met, at the head of a

great number of people, another chief, whose name was TOUBOURAI TAMAIDE,

with whom we were also to ratify a treaty of peace, with the ceremony of

which we were now become better acquainted. Having received the branch

which he presented to us, and given another in return, we laid our hands

upon our left breasts, and pronounced the word _Taio_, which we supposed

to signify friend; the chief then gave us to understand, that if we

chose to eat, he had victuals ready for us. We accepted his offer, and

dined very heartily upon fish, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and plantains,

dressed after their manner: they eat some of their fish raw; and raw

fish was offered to us, but we declined that part of the entertainment.

During this visit a wife of our noble host, whose name was TOMIO, did

Mr. Banks the honour to place herself upon the same mat, close by him.

Tomio was not in the first bloom of her youth, nor did she appear to

have been ever remarkable for her beauty; he did not, therefore, I

believe, pay her the most flattering attention: it happened, too, as a

farther mortification to this lady, that seeing a very pretty girl among

the crowd, he, not adverting to the dignity of his companion, beckoned

her to come to him: the girl, after some entreaty, complied, and sat

down on the other side of him: he loaded her with beads, and every showy

trifle that would please her: his princess, though she was somewhat

mortified at the preference that was given to her rival, did not

discontinue her civilities, but still assiduously supplied him with the

milk of the cocoa-nut, and such other dainties as were in her reach.

This scene might possibly have become more curious and interesting, if

it had not been suddenly interrupted by an interlude of a more serious

kind. Just at this time, Dr. Solander and Mr. Monkhouse complained that

their pockets had been picked. Dr. Solander had lost an opera-glass in a

shagreen case, and Mr. Monkhouse his snuff-box. This incident

unfortunately put an end to the good humour of the company. Complaint of

the injury was made to the chief; and, to give it weight, Mr. Banks

started up, and hastily struck the but-end of his firelock upon the

ground: this action, and the noise that accompanied it, struck the whole

assembly with a panic; and every one of the natives ran out of the house

with the utmost precipitation, except the chief, three women, and two or

three others, who appeared by their dress to be of a superior rank.

The chief, with a mixture of confusion and concern, took Mr. Banks by

the hand, and led him to a large quantity of cloth, which lay at the

other end of the house: this he offered to him piece by piece,

intimating by signs, that if that would atone for the wrong which had

been done, he might take any part of it, or, if he pleased, the whole.

Mr. Banks put it by, and gave him to understand, that he wanted nothing

but what had been dishonestly taken away. Toubourai Tamaide then went

hastily out, leaving Mr. Banks with his wife Tomio, who, during the

whole scene of terror and confusion, had kept constantly at his side,

and intimating his desire that he should wait there till his return. Mr.

Banks accordingly sat down, and conversed with her, as well as he could

by signs, about half an hour. The chief then came back with the

snuff-box and the case of the opera-glass in his hand, and, with a joy

in his countenance that was painted with a strength of expression which

distinguishes these people from all others, delivered them to the

owners. The case of the opera-glass, however, upon being opened, was

found to be empty; upon this discovery, his countenance changed in a

moment; and catching Mr. Banks again by the hand, he rushed out of the

house, without uttering any sound, and led him along the shore, walking

with great rapidity: when they had got about a mile from the house, a

woman met him and gave him a piece of cloth, which he hastily took from

her, and continued to press forward with it in his hand. Dr. Solander

and Mr. Monkhouse had followed them, and they came at length to a house

where they were received by a woman, to whom he gave the cloth, and

intimated to the gentlemen that they should give her some beads. They

immediately complied; and the beads and cloth being deposited upon the

floor, the woman went out, and in about half an hour returned with the

opera-glass, expressing the same joy upon the occasion that had before

been expressed by the chief. The beads were now returned, with an

inflexible resolution not to accept them; and the cloth was, with the

same pertinacity, forced upon Dr. Solander, as a recompence for the

injury that had been done him. He could not avoid accepting the cloth,

but insisted in his turn upon giving a new present of beads to the

woman. It will not, perhaps, be easy to account for all the steps that

were taken in the recovery of this glass and snuff-box; but this cannot

be thought strange, considering that the scene of action was among a

people whose language, policy, and connections, are even now but

imperfectly known; upon the whole, however, they show an intelligence

and influence which would do honour to any system of government, however

regular and improved. In the evening, about six o’clock, we returned to

the ship.

CHAP. IX.

A PLACE FIXED UPON FOR AN OBSERVATORY AND FORT: AN EXCURSION INTO THE

WOODS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.—THE FORT ERECTED: A VISIT FROM SEVERAL

CHIEFS ON BOARD AND AT THE FORT, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE MUSIC OF THE

NATIVES, AND THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY DISPOSE OF THEIR DEAD.

ON the next morning, Saturday the 15th, several of the chiefs whom we

had seen the day before came on board, and brought with them hogs,

bread-fruit, and other refreshments, for which we gave them hatchets and

linen, and such things as seemed to be most acceptable.

As in my excursion to the westward, I had not found any more convenient

harbour than that in which we lay, I determined to go on shore and fix

upon some spot, commanded by the ship’s guns, where I might throw up a

small fort for our defence, and prepare for making our astronomical

observation.

I therefore took a party of men, and landed without delay, accompanied

by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and the astronomer, Mr. Green. We soon fixed

upon a part of the sandy beach, on the N. E. point of the bay, which was

in every respect convenient for our purpose, and not near any habitation

of the natives. Having marked out the ground that we intended to occupy,

a small tent belonging to Mr. Banks was set up, which had been brought

on shore for that purpose: by this time a great number of the people had

gathered about us; but, as it appeared, only to look on, there not being

a single weapon of any kind among them. I intimated, however, that none

of them were to come within the line I had drawn, except one who

appeared to be a chief, and Owhaw. To these two persons I addressed

myself by signs, and endeavoured to make them understand, that we wanted

the ground which we had marked out to sleep upon for a certain number of

nights, and that then we should go away. Whether I was understood I

cannot certainly determine; but the people behaved with a deference and

respect that at once pleased and surprised us: they sat down peaceably

without the circle, and looked on, without giving us any interruption

till we had done, which was upwards of two hours. As we had seen no

poultry, and but two hogs, in our walk when we were last on shore at

this place, we suspected that, upon our arrival, they had been driven

farther up the country; and the rather, as Owhaw was very importunate

with us, by signs, not to go into the woods, which, however, and partly

for these reasons, we were determined to do. Having therefore appointed

the thirteen marines and a petty officer to guard the tent, we set out,

and a great number of the natives joined our party. As we were crossing

a little river that lay in our way we saw some ducks, and Mr. Banks, as

soon as he had got over, fired at them, and happened to kill three at

one shot: this struck them with the utmost terror, so that most of them

fell suddenly to the ground, as if they also had been shot at the same

discharge: it was not long, however, before they recovered from their

fright, and we continued our route; but we had not gone far before we

were alarmed by the report of two pieces, which were fired by the guard

at the tent. We had then straggled a little distance from each other,

but Owhaw immediately called us together, and by waving his hand sent

away every Indian who followed us except three each of whom, as a pledge

of peace on their part, and an entreaty that there might be peace on

ours, hastily broke a branch from the trees, and came to us with it in

their hands. As we had too much reason to fear that some mischief had

happened, we hasted back to the tent, which was not distant above half a

mile, and when we came up, we found it entirely deserted, except by our

own people.

It appeared that one of the Indians who remained about the tent after we

left it had watched his opportunity, and, taking the sentry unawares,

had snatched away his musket. Upon this, the petty officer, a

midshipman, who commanded the party, perhaps from a sudden fear of

farther violence, perhaps from the natural petulance of power newly

acquired, and perhaps from a brutality in his nature, ordered the

marines to fire: the men, with as little consideration or humanity as

the officer, immediately discharged their pieces among the thickest of

the flying crowd, consisting of more than a hundred; and observing that

the thief did not fall, pursued him, and shot him dead. We afterwards

learnt that none of the others were either killed or wounded.

Owhaw, who had never left us, observing that we were now totally

deserted, got together a few of those who had fled, though not without

some difficulty, and ranged them about us: we endeavoured to justify our

people as well as we could, and to convince the Indians that if they did

no wrong to us, we should do no wrong to them: they went away without

any appearance of distrust or resentment; and having struck our tent, we

returned to the ship, but by no means satisfied with the transactions of

the day.

Upon questioning our people more particularly, whose conduct they soon

perceived we could not approve, they alleged that the sentinel whose

musket was taken away was violently assaulted and thrown down, and that

a push was afterwards made at him by the man who took the musket, before

any command was given to fire. It was also suggested, that Owhaw had

suspicions, at least, if not certain knowledge, that something would be

attempted against our people at the tent, which made him so very earnest

in his endeavours to prevent our leaving it; others imputed his

importunity to his desire that we should confine ourselves to the beach;

and it was remarked that neither Owhaw nor the chiefs who remained with

us after he had sent the rest of the people away would have inferred the

breach of peace from the firing at the tent, if they had had no reason

to suspect that some injury had been offered by their countrymen;

especially as Mr. Banks had just fired at the ducks: and yet that they

did infer a breach of peace from that incident was manifest from their

waving their hands for the people to disperse, and instantly pulling

green branches from the trees. But what were the real circumstances of

this unhappy affair, and whether either and which of these conjectures

were true, can never certainly be known.

The next morning but few of the natives were seen upon the beach, and

not one of them came off to the ship. This convinced us that our

endeavours to quiet their apprehensions had not been effectual; and we

remarked with particular regret, that we were deserted even by Owhaw,

who had hitherto been so constant in his attachment, and so active in

renewing the peace that had been broken.

Appearances being thus unfavourable, I warped the ship nearer to the

shore, and moored her in such a manner as to command all the N. E. part

of the bay, particularly the place which I had marked out for the

building a fort. In the evening, however, I went on shore with only a

boat’s crew, and some of the gentlemen: the natives gathered about us,

but not in the same number as before: there were, I believe, between

thirty and forty, and they trafficked with us for cocoa-nuts and other

fruit, to all appearance as friendly as ever.

On the 17th, early in the morning, we had the misfortune to lose Mr.

Buchan, the person whom Mr. Banks had brought out as a painter of

landscapes and figures. He was a sober, diligent, and ingenious young

man, and greatly regretted by Mr. Banks; who hoped, by his means, to

have gratified his friends in England with representations of this

country and its inhabitants, which no other person on board could

delineate with the same accuracy and elegance. He had always been

subject to epileptic fits, one of which seized him on the mountains of

Terra del Fuego, and this disorder being aggravated by a bilious

complaint which he contracted on board the ship, at length put an end to

his life. It was at first proposed to bury him on shore, but Mr. Banks

thinking that it might perhaps give offence to the natives, with whose

customs we were then wholly unacquainted, we committed his body to the

sea, with as much decency and solemnity as our circumstances and

situation would admit.

In the forenoon of this day we received a visit from Tubourai Tamaide

and Tootahah, our chiefs, from the west: they brought with them, as

emblems of peace, not branches of plantain, but two young trees, and

would not venture on board till these had been received, having probably

been alarmed by the mischief which had been done at the tent. Each of

them also brought, as propitiatory gifts, some bread-fruit, and a hog

ready dressed: this was a most acceptable present, as we perceived that

hogs were not always to be got; and in return we gave to each of our

noble benefactors a hatchet and a nail. In the evening we went on shore

and set up a tent, in which Mr. Green and myself spent the night, in

order to observe an eclipse of the first satellite of Jupiter; but the

weather becoming cloudy, we were disappointed.

On the 18th, at day-break, I went on shore, with as many people as could

possibly be spared from the ship, and began to erect our fort. While

some were employed in throwing up intrenchments, others were busy in

cutting pickets and fascines, which the natives, who soon gathered round

us as they had been used to do, were so far from hindering, that many of

them voluntarily assisted us, bringing the pickets and fascines from the

wood where they had been cut, with great alacrity: we had, indeed, been

so scrupulous of invading their property, that we purchased every stake

which was used upon this occasion, and cut down no tree till we had

first obtained their consent. The soil where we constructed our fort was

sandy, and this made it necessary to strengthen the intrenchments with

wood; three sides were to be fortified in this manner; the fourth was

bounded by a river, upon the banks of which I proposed to place a proper

number of water-casks. This day we served pork to the ship’s company for

the first time, and the Indians brought down so much bread-fruit and

cocoa-nuts, that we found it necessary to send away part of them

unbought, and to acquaint them by signs, that we should want no more for

two days to come. Every thing was purchased this day with beads: a

single bead, as big as a pea, being the purchase of five or six

cocoa-nuts, and as many of the bread-fruit. Mr. Banks’s tent was got up

before night within the works, and he slept on shore for the first time.

Proper sentries were placed round it, but no Indian attempted to

approach it the whole night.

The next morning, our friend Tubourai Tamaide made Mr. Banks a visit at

the tent, and brought with him not only his wife and family, but the

roof of a house, and several materials for setting it up, with furniture

and implements of various kinds, intending, as we understood him, to

take up his residence in our neighbourhood: this instance of his

confidence and good-will gave us great pleasure, and we determined to

strengthen his attachment to us by every means in our power. Soon after

his arrival, he took Mr. Banks by the hand, and leading him out of the

line, signified that he should accompany him into the woods. Mr. Banks

readily consented, and having walked with him about a quarter of a mile,

they arrived at a kind of awning which he had already set up, and which

seemed to be his occasional habitation. Here he unfolded a bundle of his

country cloth, and taking out two garments, one of red cloth, and the

other of very neat matting, he clothed Mr. Banks in them, and without

any other ceremony, immediately conducted him back to the tent. His

attendants soon after brought him some pork and bread-fruit, which he

ate, dipping his meat into salt water instead of sauce: after his meal

he retired to Mr. Banks’s bed, and slept about an hour. In the

afternoon, his wife Tomio brought to the tent a young man about

two-and-twenty years of age, of a very comely appearance, whom they both

seemed to acknowledge as their son, though we afterwards discovered that

he was not so. In the evening, this young man and another chief, who had

also paid us a visit, went away to the westward, but Tubourai Tamaide

and his wife returned to the awning in the skirts of the wood.

Our surgeon, Mr. Monkhouse, having walked out this evening, reported,

that he had seen the body of the man who had been shot at the tents,

which he said was wrapped in cloth, and placed on a kind of bier,

supported by stakes, under a roof that seemed to have been set up for

the purpose: that near it were deposited some instruments of war and

other things, which he would particularly have examined but for the

stench of the body, which was intolerable. He said, that he saw also two

more sheds of the same kind, in one of which were the bones of a human

body that had lain till they were quite dry. We discovered afterwards,

that this was the way in which they usually disposed of their dead.

A kind of market now began to be kept just without the lines, and was

plentifully supplied with every thing but pork. Tubourai Tamaide was our

constant guest, imitating our manners, even to the using of a knife and

fork, which he did very handily.

As my curiosity was excited by Mr. Monkhouse’s account of the situation

of the man who had been shot, I took an opportunity to go with some

others to see it. I found the shed under which his body lay, close by

the house in which he resided when he was alive, some others being not

more than ten yards distant; it was about 15 feet long, and 11 broad,

and of a proportionable height: one end was wholly open, and the other

end, and the two sides, were partly enclosed with a kind of wicker work.

The bier on which the corpse was deposited, was a frame of wood like

that in which the sea-beds, called cotts, are placed, with a matted

bottom, and supported by four posts, at the height of about five feet

from the ground. The body was covered first with a mat, and then with

white cloth; by the side of it lay a wooden mace, one of their weapons

of war, and near the head of it, which lay next to the close end of the

shed, lay two cocoa-nut shells, such as are sometimes used to carry

water in; at the other end a bunch of green leaves, with some dried

twigs, all tied together, were stuck in the ground, by which lay a stone

about as big as a cocoa-nut: near these lay one of the young plantain

trees, which are used for emblems of peace, and close by it a stone axe.

At the open end of the shed also hung, in several strings, a great

number of palm-nuts, and without the shed was stuck upright in the

ground the stem of a plantain tree about five feet high, upon the top of

which was placed a cocoa-nut shell full of fresh water: against the side

of one of the posts hung a small bag, containing a few pieces of

bread-fruit ready roasted, which were not all put in at the same time,

for some of them were fresh, and others stale. I took notice that

several of the natives observed us with a mixture of solicitude and

jealousy in their countenances, and by their gestures expressed

uneasiness when we went near the body, standing themselves at a little

distance while we were making our examination, and appearing to be

pleased when we came away.

Our residence on shore would by no means have been disagreeable if we

had not been incessantly tormented by the flies, which, among other

mischief, made it almost impossible for Mr. Parkinson, Mr. Banks’s

natural-history painter, to work; for they not only covered his subject

so as that no part of its surface could be seen, but even ate the colour

off the paper as fast as he could lay it on. We had recourse to

musquito-nets and fly-traps, which, though they made the inconvenience

tolerable, were very far from removing it.

On the 22d, Tootahah gave us a specimen of the music of this country:

four persons performed upon flutes, which had only two stops, and

therefore could not sound more than four notes, by half tones: they were

sounded like our German flutes, except that the performer, instead of

applying it to his mouth, blew into it with one nostril, while he

stopped the other with his thumb: to these instruments four other

persons sung, and kept very good time; but only one tune was played

during the whole concert.

Several of the natives brought us axes, which they had received from on

board the Dolphin, to grind and repair; but among others there was one

which became the subject of much speculation, as it appeared to be

French: after much enquiry, we learnt that a ship had been here between

our arrival and the departure of the Dolphin, which we then conjectured

to have been a Spaniard, but now know to have been the Boudeuse,

commanded by M. Bougainville.

CHAP. X.

AN EXCURSION TO THE EASTWARD, AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL INCIDENTS THAT

HAPPENED BOTH ON BOARD AND ON SHORE, AND OF THE FIRST INTERVIEW WITH

OBEREA, THE PERSON WHO, WHEN THE DOLPHIN WAS HERE, WAS SUPPOSED TO BE

QUEEN OF THE ISLAND, WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE FORT.

ON the 24th, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander examined the country for several

miles along the shore to the eastward: for about two miles it was flat

and fertile; after that, the hills stretched quite to the water’s edge,

and a little farther ran out into the sea, so that they were obliged to

climb over them. These hills, which were barren, continued for about

three miles more, and then terminated in a large plain, which was full

of good houses, and people who appeared to live in great affluence. In

this place there was a river, much more considerable than that at our

fort, which issued from a deep and beautiful valley, and, where our

travellers crossed it, though at some distance from the sea, was near

one hundred yards wide. About a mile beyond this river the country

became again barren, the rocks every where projecting into the sea, for

which reason they resolved to return. Just as they had formed this

resolution, one of the natives offered them refreshment, which they

accepted. They found this man to be of a kind that has been described by

various authors, as mixed with many nations, but distinct from them all.

His skin was of a dead white, without the least appearance of what is

called complexion, though some parts of his body were in a small degree

less white than others: his hair, eye-brows, and beard, were as white as

his skin; his eyes appeared as if they were bloodshot, and he seemed to

be very short-sighted.

At their return they were met by Tubourai Tamaide, and his women, who,

at seeing them, felt a joy which, not being able to express, they burst

into tears, and wept some time before their passion could be restrained.

This evening Dr. Solander lent his knife to one of these women, who

neglected to return it, and the next morning Mr. Banks’s also was

missing; upon this occasion I must bear my testimony, that the people of

this country, of all ranks, men and women, are the errantest thieves

upon the face of the earth. The very day after we arrived here, when

they came on board us, the chiefs were employed in stealing what they

could in the cabin, and their dependents were no less industrious in

other parts of the ship: they snatched up every thing that it was

possible for them to secrete till they got on shore, even to the glass

ports, two of which they carried off undetected. Tubourai Tamaide was

the only one except Tootahah who had not been found guilty; and the

presumption, arising from this circumstance, that he was exempt from a

vice, of which the whole nation besides were guilty, cannot be supposed

to outweigh strong appearances to the contrary. Mr. Banks, therefore,

though not without some reluctance, accused him of having stolen his

knife: he solemnly and steadily denied that he knew any thing of it;

upon which Mr. Banks made him understand, that whoever had taken it, he

was determined to have it returned: upon this resolute declaration, one

of the natives who was present produced a rag, in which three knives

were very carefully tied up. One was that which Dr. Solander had lent to

the woman, another was a table-knife belonging to me, and the owner of

the third was not known. With these the chief immediately set out, in

order to make restitution of them to their owners at the tents. Mr.

Banks remained with the women, who expressed great apprehensions that

some mischief was designed against their lord. When he came to the

tents, he restored one of the knives to Dr. Solander, and another to me,

the third not being owned, and then began to search for Mr. Banks’s in

all the places where he had ever seen it. After some time, one of Mr.

Banks’s servants, understanding what he was about, immediately fetched

his master’s knife, which it seems he had laid by the day before, and

till now knew nothing of its having been missed. Tubourai Tamaide, upon

this demonstration of his innocence, expressed the strongest emotions of

mind, both in his looks and gestures: the tears started from his eyes;

and he made signs with the knife, that, if he was ever guilty of such an

action as had been imputed to him, he would submit to have his throat

cut. He then rushed out of the lines, and returned hastily to Mr. Banks,

with a countenance that severely reproached him with his suspicions. Mr.

Banks soon understood that the knife had been received from his servant,

and was scarcely less affected at what had happened than the chief: he

felt himself to be the guilty person, and was very desirous to atone for

his fault. The poor Indian, however violent his passions, was a stranger

to sullen resentment; and upon Mr. Banks’s spending a little time

familiarly with him, and making him a few trifling presents, he forgot

the wrongs that had been done him, and was perfectly reconciled.

Upon this occasion it may be observed, that these people have a

knowledge of right and wrong from the mere dictates of natural

conscience; and involuntarily condemn themselves when they do that to

others which they would condemn others for doing to them. That Tubourai

Tamaide felt the force of moral obligation is certain; for the

imputation of an action which he considered as indifferent would not,

when it appeared to be groundless, have moved him with such excess of

passion. We must indeed estimate the virtue of these people by the only

standard of morality, the conformity of their conduct to what in their

opinion is right; but we must not hastily conclude that theft is a

testimony of the same depravity in them that it is in us, in the

instances in which our people were sufferers by their dishonesty; for

their temptation was such as to surmount would be considered as a proof

of uncommon integrity among those who have more knowledge, better

principles, and stronger motives to resist the temptations of illicit

advantage: an Indian among penny knives, and beads, or even nails and

broken glass, is in the same state of trial with the meanest servant in

Europe among unlocked coffers of jewels and gold.

On the 26th, I mounted six swivel guns upon the fort, which I was sorry

to see struck the natives with dread: some fishermen who lived upon the

point removed farther off, and Owhaw told us, by signs, that in four

days we should fire great guns.

On the 27th, Tubourai Tamaide, with a friend, who ate with a voracity

that I never saw before, and the three women that usually attended him,

whose names were TERAPO, TIRAO, and OMIE, dined at the fort: in the

evening they took their leave, and set out for the house which Tubourai

Tamaide had set up in the skirts of the wood; but in less than a quarter

of an hour he returned in great emotion, and hastily seizing Mr. Banks’s

arm, made signs that he should follow him. Mr. Banks immediately

complied, and they soon came up to a place where they found the ship’s

butcher, with a reaping-hook in his hand: here the chief stopped, and,

in a transport of rage which rendered his signs scarcely intelligible,

intimated that the butcher had threatened, or attempted, to cut his

wife’s throat with the reaping-hook. Mr. Banks then signified to him,

that if he could fully explain the offence, the man should be punished.

Upon this he became more calm, and made Mr. Banks understand that the

offender, having taken a fancy to a stone-hatchet which lay in his

house, had offered to purchase it of his wife for a nail: that she

having refused to part with it upon any terms, he had catched it up, and

throwing down the nail, threatened to cut her throat if she made any

resistance: to prove this charge the hatchet and the nail were produced,

and the butcher had so little to say in his defence, that there was not

the least reason to doubt of its truth.

Mr. Banks having reported this matter to me, I took an opportunity, when

the chief and his women, with other Indians, were on board the ship, to

call up the butcher, and after a recapitulation of the charge and the

proof, I gave orders that he should be punished, as well to prevent

other offences of the same kind, as to acquit Mr. Banks of his promise:

the Indians saw him stripped and tied up to the rigging with a fixed

attention, waiting in silent suspense for the event; but as soon as the

first stroke was given, they interfered with great agitation, earnestly

intreating that the rest of the punishment might be remitted: to this,

however, for many reasons, I could not consent, and when they found that

they could not prevail by their intercession, they gave vent to their

pity by tears.

Their tears, indeed, like those of children, were always ready to

express any passion that was strongly excited, and like those of

children they also appeared to be forgotten as soon as shed; of which

the following, among many others, is a remarkable instance. Very early

in the morning of the 28th, even before it was day, a great number of

them came down to the fort, and Terapo being observed among the women on

the outside of the gate, Mr. Banks went out and brought her in; he saw

that the tears then stood in her eyes, and as soon as she entered they

began to flow in great abundance: he enquired earnestly the cause, but

instead of answering she took from under her garment a shark’s tooth,

and struck it six or seven times into her head with great force; a

profusion of blood followed, and she talked loud, but in a most

melancholy tone, for some minutes, without at all regarding his

enquiries, which he repeated with still more impatience and concern,

while the other Indians, to his great surprise, talked and laughed,

without taking the least notice of her distress. But her own behaviour

was still more extraordinary. As soon as the bleeding was over, she

looked up with a smile, and began to collect some small pieces of cloth,

which during her bleeding she had thrown down to catch the blood; as

soon as she had picked them all up, she carried them out of the tent,

and threw them into the sea, carefully dispersing them abroad, as if she

wished to prevent the sight of them from reviving the remembrance of

what she had done. She then plunged into the river, and after having

washed her whole body returned to the tents with the same gaiety and

cheerfulness as if nothing had happened.

It is not, indeed, strange, that the sorrows of these artless people

should be transient, any more than that their passions should be

suddenly and strongly expressed: what they feel they have never been

taught either to disguise or suppress, and having no habits of thinking

which perpetually recall the past, and anticipate the future, they are

affected by all the changes of the passing hour, and reflect the colour

of the time, however frequently it may vary: they have no project which

is to be pursued from day to day, the subject of unremitted anxiety and

solicitude, that first rushes into the mind when they awake in the

morning, and is last dismissed when they sleep at the night. Yet if we

admit that they are upon the whole happier than we, we must admit that

the child is happier than the man, and that we are losers by the

perfection of our nature, the increase of our knowledge, and the

enlargement of our views.

Canoes were continually coming in during all this forenoon, and the

tents at the fort were crowded with people of both sexes from different

parts of the island. I was myself busy on board the ship, but Mr.

Mollineux, our master, who was one of those that made the last voyage in

the Dolphin, went on shore. As soon as he entered Mr. Banks’s tent he

fixed his eyes upon one of the women, who was sitting there with great

composure among the rest, and immediately declared her to be the person

who at that time was supposed to be the queen of the island; she also,

at the same time, acknowledging him to be one of the strangers whom she

had seen before. The attention of all present was now diverted from

every other object, and wholly engaged in considering a person who had

made so distinguished a figure in the accounts that had been given of

this island by its first discoverers; and we soon learnt that her name

was OBEREA. She seemed to be about forty years of age, and was not only

tall, but of a large make; her skin was white, and there was an uncommon

intelligence and sensibility in her eyes: she appeared to have been

handsome when she was young, but at this time little more than memorials

of her beauty were left.

As soon as her quality was known, an offer was made to conduct her to

the ship. Of this she readily accepted, and came on board with two men

and several women, who seemed to be all of her family: I received her

with such marks of distinction as I thought would gratify her most, and

was not sparing of my presents, among which this august personage seemed

particularly delighted with a child’s doll. After some time spent on

board, I attended her back to the shore; and as soon as we landed, she

presented me with a hog, and several bunches of plantains, which she

caused to be carried from her canoes up to the fort in a kind of

procession, of which she and myself brought up the rear. In our way to

the fort we met Tootahah, who, though not king, appeared to be at this

time invested with the sovereign authority; he seemed not to be well

pleased with the distinction that was showed to the lady, and became so

jealous when she produced her doll, that to propitiate him it was

thought proper to compliment him with another. At this time he thought

fit to prefer a doll to a hatchet; but this preference arose only from a

childish jealousy, which could not be soothed but by a gift of exactly

the same kind with that which had been presented to Oberea; for dolls in

a very short time were universally considered as trifles of no value.

The men who had visited us from time to time had, without scruple, eaten

of our provisions; but the women had never yet been prevailed upon to

taste a morsel. To day, however, though they refused the most pressing

solicitations to dine with the gentlemen, they afterwards retired to the

servants’ apartment, and ate of plantains very heartily; a mystery of

female economy here, which none of us could explain.

On the 29th, not very early in the forenoon, Mr. Banks went to pay his

court to Oberea, and was told that she was still asleep under the awning

of her canoe: thither therefore he went, intending to call her up, a

liberty which he thought he might take, without any danger of giving

offence: but, upon looking into her chamber, to his great astonishment

he found her in bed with a handsome young fellow about five-and-twenty,

whose name was OBADÉE: he retreated with some haste and confusion, but

was soon made to understand, that such amours gave no occasion to

scandal, and that Obadée was universally known to have been selected by

her as the object of her private favours. The lady being too polite to

suffer Mr. Banks to wait long in her antichamber, dressed herself with

more than usual expedition; and, as a token of special grace, clothed

him in a suit of fine cloth and proceeded with him to the tents. In the

evening Mr. Banks paid a visit to Tubourai Tamaide, as he had often done

before, by candle-light, and was equally grieved and surprised to find

him and his family in a melancholy mood, and most of them in tears: he

endeavoured in vain to discover the cause, and therefore his stay among

them was but short. When he reported this circumstance to the officers

at the fort, they recollected that Owhaw had foretold, that in four days

we should fire our great guns; and as this was the eve of the third day,

the situation in which Tubourai Tamaide and his family had been found

alarmed them. The sentries therefore were doubled at the fort, and the

gentlemen slept under arms. At two in the morning, Mr. Banks himself

went round the point, but found every thing so quiet, that he gave up

all suspicions of mischief intended by the natives as groundless. We

had, however, another source of security,—our little fortification was

now complete. The north and south sides consisted of a bank of earth

four feet and a half high on the inside, and a ditch without ten feet

broad and six deep: on the west side, facing the bay, there was a bank

of earth four feet high, and palisadoes upon that, but no ditch, the

works here being at high-water mark: on the east side, upon the bank of

the river, was placed a double row of water-casks, filled with water;

and as this was the weakest side, the two four pounders were planted

there, and six swivel guns were mounted so as to command the only two

avenues from the woods. Our garrison consisted of about five-and-forty

men with small arms, including the officers and the gentlemen who

resided on shore; and our sentries were as well relieved as in the best

regulated frontier in Europe.

We continued our vigilance the next day, though we had no particular

reason to think it necessary; but about ten o’clock in the morning,

Tomio came running to the tents, with a mixture of grief and fear in her

countenance, and taking Mr. Banks, to whom they applied in every

emergency and distress, by the arm, intimated that Tubourai Tamaide was

dying, in consequence of something which our people had given him to

eat, and that he must instantly go with her to his house. Mr. Banks set

out without delay, and found his Indian friend leaning his head against

a post, in an attitude of the utmost languor and despondency: the people

about him intimated that he had been vomiting, and brought out a leaf

folded up with great care, which they said contained some of the poison,

by the deleterious effects of which he was now dying. Mr. Banks hastily

opened the leaf, and upon examining its contents found them to be no

other than a chew of tobacco, which the chief had begged of some of our

people, and which they had indiscreetly given him: he had observed that

they kept it long in the mouth, and being desirous of doing the same, he

had chewed it to powder, and swallowed the spittle. During the

examination of the leaf and its contents, he looked up at Mr. Banks with

the most piteous aspect, and intimated that he had but a very short time

to live. Mr. Banks, however, being now master of his disease, directed

him to drink plentifully of cocoa-nut milk, which in a short time put an

end to his sickness and apprehensions; and he spent the day at the fort

with that uncommon flow of cheerfulness and good humour which is always

produced by a sudden and unexpected relief from pain either of body or

mind.

Captain Wallis having brought home one of the adzes which these people,

having no metal of any kind, make of stone, Mr. Stevens, the secretary

to the Admiralty, procured one to be made of iron in imitation of it,

which I brought out with me, to show how much we excelled in making

tools after their own fashion: this I had not yet produced, as it never

happened to come into my mind. But on the first of May Tootahah coming

on board about ten o’clock in the forenoon, expressed a great curiosity

to see the contents of every chest and drawer that was in my cabin: as I

always made a point of gratifying him, I opened them immediately; and

having taken a fancy to many things that he saw, and collected them

together, he at last happened to cast his eye upon this adze: he

instantly snatched it up with the greatest eagerness, and putting away

every thing which he had before selected, he asked me whether I would

let him have that: I readily consented; and, as if he was afraid I

should repent, he carried it off immediately in a transport of joy,

without making any other request, which, whatever had been our

liberality, was seldom the case.

About noon, a chief, who had dined with me a few days before,

accompanied by some of his women, came on board alone: I had observed

that he was fed by his women, but I made no doubt that upon occasion he

would condescend to feed himself: in this, however, I found myself

mistaken. When my noble guest was seated, and the dinner upon the table,

I helped him to some victuals: as I observed that he did not immediately

begin his meal, I pressed him to eat; but he still continued to sit

motionless like a statue, without attempting to put a single morsel into

his mouth, and would certainly have gone without his dinner, if one of

the servants had not fed him.

CHAP. XI.

THE OBSERVATORY SET UP; THE QUADRANT STOLEN, AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE

THEFT: A VISIT TO TOOTAHAH: DESCRIPTION OF A WRESTLING-MATCH: EUROPEAN

SEEDS SOWN: NAMES GIVEN TO OUR PEOPLE BY THE INDIANS.

IN the afternoon of Monday the first of May, we set up the observatory,

and took the astronomical quadrant, with some other instruments, on

shore, for the first time.

The next morning, about nine o’clock, I went on shore with Mr. Green to

fix the quadrant in a situation for use, when to our inexpressible

surprise and concern it was not to be found. It had been deposited in

the tent which was reserved for my use, where, as I passed the night on

board, nobody slept: it had never been taken out of the packing-case,

which was eighteen inches square, and the whole was of considerable

weight; a sentinel had been posted the whole night within five yards of

the tent door, and none of the other instruments were missing. We at

first suspected that it might have been stolen by some of our own

people, who seeing a deal box, and not knowing the contents, might think

it contained nails, or some other subjects of traffic with the natives.

A large reward was therefore offered to any one who could find it, as,

without this, we could not perform the service for which our voyage was

principally undertaken. Our search in the mean time was not confined to

the fort and places adjacent, but as the case might possibly have been

carried back to the ship, if any of our own people had been the thieves,

the most diligent search was made for it on board; all the parties,

however, returned without any news of the quadrant. Mr. Banks,

therefore, who upon such occasions declined neither labour nor risk, and

who had more influence over the Indians than any of us, determined to go

in search of it into the woods; he hoped, that if it had been stolen by

the natives, he should find it wherever they had opened the box, as they

would immediately discover that to them it would be wholly useless: or,

if in this expectation he should be disappointed, that he might recover

it by the ascendancy he had acquired over the chiefs. He set out,

accompanied by a midshipman and Mr. Green, and as he was crossing the

river he was met by Tubourai Tamaide, who immediately made the figure of

a triangle with three bits of straw upon his hand. By this Mr. Banks

knew that the Indians were the thieves; and that, although they had

opened the case, they were not disposed to part with the contents. No

time was therefore to be lost, and Mr. Banks made Tubourai Tamaide

understand, that he must instantly go with him to the place whither the

quadrant had been carried; he consented, and they set out together to

the eastward, the chief enquiring at every house which they passed after

the thief by name: the people readily told him which way he was gone,

and how long it was since he had been there: the hope which this gave

them that they should overtake him, supported them under their fatigue,

and they pressed forward, sometimes walking, sometimes running, though

the weather was intolerably hot; when they had climbed a hill at the

distance of about four miles, their conductor showed them a point full

three miles farther, and gave them to understand that they were not to

expect the instrument till they had got thither. Here they paused; they

had no arms, except a pair of pistols, which Mr. Banks always carried in

his pocket; they were going to a place that was at least seven miles

distant from the fort, where the Indians might be less submissive than

at home, and to take from them what they had ventured their lives to

get; and what, notwithstanding our conjectures, they appeared desirous

to keep: these were discouraging circumstances, and their situation

would become more critical at every step. They determined, however, not

to relinquish their enterprise, nor to pursue it without taking the best

measures for their security that were in their power. It was therefore

determined, that Mr. Banks and Mr. Green should go on, and that the

midshipman should return to me, and desire that I would send a party of

men after them, acquainting me at the same time, that it was impossible

they should return till it was dark. Upon receiving this message, I set

out, with such a party as I thought sufficient for the occasion; leaving

orders, both at the ship and at the fort, that no canoe should be

suffered to go out of the bay, but that none of the natives should be

seized or detained.

In the mean time, Mr. Banks and Mr. Green pursued their journey, under

the auspices of Tubourai Tamaide, and in the very spot which he had

specified, they met one of his own people, with part of the quadrant in

his hand. At this most welcome sight they stopped; and a great number of

Indians immediately came up, some of whom pressing rather rudely upon

them, Mr. Banks thought it necessary to show one of his pistols, the

sight of which reduced them instantly to order: as the crowd that

gathered round them was every moment increasing, he marked out a circle

in the grass, and they ranged themselves on the outside of it to the

number of several hundreds with great quietness and decorum. Into the

middle of this circle, the box, which was now arrived, was ordered to be

brought, with several reading-glasses, and other small matters, which in

their hurry they had put into a pistol-case, that Mr. Banks knew to be

his property, it having been some time before stolen from the tents,

with a horse pistol in it, which he immediately demanded, and which was

also restored.