On the 15th, I sailed out of the bay, and at the same time had several

canoes on board, in one of which was our friend Toiava, who said, that

as soon as we were gone he must repair to his Heppah or fort, because

the friends of the man who had been shot by Mr. Gore on the 9th, had

threatened to revenge his death upon him, whom they had reproached as

being our friend. Off the north point of the bay, I saw a great number

of islands, of various extent, which lay scattered to the north-west, in

a direction parallel with the main as far as I could see. I steered

north-east for the north-easternmost of these islands, but the wind

coming to the north-west, I was obliged to stand out to sea.

To the bay which we had now left I gave the name of MERCURY BAY, on

account of the observation which we had made there of the transit of

that planet over the sun. It lies in latitude 36° 47ʹ S.; and in the

longitude of 184° 4ʹ W.: there are several islands lying both to the

southward and northward of it, and a small island or rock in the middle

of the entrance: within this island the depth of water no where exceeds

nine fathom; the best anchoring is in a sandy bay, which lies just

within the south head, in five and four fathom, bringing a high tower or

rock, which lies without the head, in one with the head, or just shut in

behind it. This place is very convenient both for wooding and watering,

and in the river there is an immense quantity of oysters and other

shell-fish: I have for this reason given it the name of OYSTER RIVER.

But for a ship that wants to stay here any time, the best and safest

place is in the river at the head of the bay; which, from the number of

mangrove trees about it, I have called MANGROVE RIVER. To sail into this

river, the south shore must be kept all the way on board. The country on

the east side of the river and bay, is very barren, its only produce

being fern, and a few other plants that will grow in a poor soil. The

land on the north-west side is covered with wood, and the soil being

much more fertile would doubtless produce all the necessaries of life

with proper cultivation: it is not however so fertile as the lands that

we have seen to the southward, nor do the inhabitants, though numerous,

make so good an appearance: they have no plantations; their canoes are

mean, and without ornament; they sleep in the open air; and say, that

Teratu, whose sovereignty they do not acknowledge, if he was to come

among them, would kill them. This favoured our opinion of their being

out-laws; yet they told us, that they had Heppahs, or strongholds, to

which they retired in time of imminent danger.

We found, thrown upon the shore, in several parts of this bay, great

quantities of iron sand, which is brought down by every little rivulet

of fresh water that finds its way from the country; which is a

demonstration that there is ore of that metal not far inland: yet

neither the inhabitants of this place, or any other part of the coast

that we have seen, know the use of iron, or set the least value upon it;

all of them preferring the most worthless and useless trifle, not only

to a nail, but to any tool of that metal.

Before we left the bay, we cut upon one of the trees near the

watering-place the ship’s name, and that of the commander, with the date

of the year and month when we were there; and after displaying the

English colours, I took a formal possession of it in the name of his

Britannic Majesty King George the Third.

CHAP. IV.

THE RANGE FROM MERCURY BAY TO THE BAY OF ISLANDS; AN EXPEDITION UP THE

RIVER THAMES: SOME ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS WHO INHABIT ITS BANKS, AND THE

FINE TIMBER THAT GROWS THERE: SEVERAL INTERVIEWS WITH THE NATIVES ON

DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COAST, AND A SKIRMISH WITH THEM UPON AN ISLAND.

I continued plying to windward two days to get under the land, and on

the 18th, about seven in the morning, we were abreast of a very

conspicuous promontory, being then in latitude 36° 26ʹ, and in the

direction of N. 48 W. from the north head of Mercury Bay, or Point

Mercury, which was distant nine leagues: upon this point stood many

people, who seemed to take little notice of us, but talked together with

great earnestness. In about half an hour, several canoes put off from

different places, and came towards the ship; upon which the people on

the point also launched a canoe, and about twenty of them came in her up

with the others. When two of these canoes, in which there might be about

sixty men, came near enough to make themselves heard, they sung their

war-song; but seeing that we took little notice of it, they threw a few

stones at us, and then rowed off towards the shore. We hoped that we had

now done with them, but in a short time they returned, as if with a

fixed resolution to provoke us into a battle, animating themselves by

their song as they had done before. Tupia, without any directions from

us, went to the poop, and began to expostulate: he told them, that we

had weapons which would destroy them in a moment; and that, if they

ventured to attack us, we should be obliged to use them. Upon this, they

flourished their weapons, and cried out, in their language, “Come on

shore, and we will kill you all:” Well, said Tupia, but why should you

molest us while we are at sea? as we do not wish to fight, we shall not

accept your challenge to come on shore; and here there is no pretence

for quarrel, the sea being no more your property than the ship. This

eloquence of Tupia, though it greatly surprised us, having given him no

hints for the arguments he used, had no effect upon our enemies, who

very soon renewed their battery: a musket was then fired through one of

their boats, and this was an argument of sufficient weight, for they

immediately fell astern and left us.

From the point, of which we were now abreast, the land trends W. ½ S.

near a league, and then S. S. E. as far as we could see; and, besides

the islands that lay without us, we could see land round by the S. W. as

far as N. W.; but whether this was the main or islands, we could not

then determine: the fear of losing the main, however, made me resolve to

follow its direction. With this view, I hauled round the point, and

steered to the southward, but there being light airs all round the

compass, we made but little progress.

About one o’clock, a breeze sprung up at east, which afterwards came to

N. E. and we steered along the shore S. by E. and S. S. E. having from

twenty-five to eighteen fathom.

At about half an hour after seven in the evening, having run seven or

eight leagues since noon, I anchored in twenty-three fathom, not

choosing to run any farther in the dark, as I had now land on both

sides, forming the entrance of a straight, bay, or river, lying S. by E.

for on that point we could see no land.

At day-break, on the 19th, the wind being still favourable, we weighed

and stood with an easy sail up the inlet, keeping nearest to the east

side. In a short time, two large canoes came off to us from the shore;

the people on board said, that they knew Toiava very well, and called

Tupia by his name. I invited some of them on board; and as they knew

they had nothing to fear from us, while they behaved honestly and

peaceably, they immediately complied: I made each of them some presents,

and dismissed them much gratified. Other canoes afterwards came up to us

from a different side of the bay; and the people on board of these also

mentioned the name of Toiava, and sent a young man into the ship, who

told us he was his grandson, and he also was dismissed with a present.

After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored

the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathom;

and not choosing to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind

blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the

channel, which is near eleven miles over; after which I sent two boats

out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.

The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now

in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the head

of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way inland, I

thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior part of

the country, and its produce.

At day-break, therefore, I set out in the pinnace and long-boat,

accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia; and we found the

inlet end in a river, about nine miles above the ship: into this river

we entered with the first of the flood, and within three miles found the

water perfectly fresh. Before we had proceeded more than one third of

that distance, we found an Indian town, which was built upon a small

bank of dry sand, but entirely surrounded by a deep mud, which possibly

the inhabitants might consider as a defence. These people, as soon as

they saw us, thronged to the banks, and invited us on shore. We accepted

the invitation, and made them a visit notwithstanding the mud. They

received us with open arms, having heard of us from our good old friend

Toiava; but our stay could not be long, as we had other objects of

curiosity in view. We proceeded up the river till near noon, when we

were fourteen miles within its entrance; and then, finding the face of

the country to continue nearly the same, without any alteration in the

course of the stream, which we had no hope of tracing to its source, we

landed on the west side, to take a view of the lofty trees which every

where adorned its banks. They were of a kind that we had seen before,

though only at a distance, both in Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bay. Before

we had walked an hundred yards into the wood, we met with one of them

which was nineteen feet eight inches in the girt, at the height of six

feet above the ground: having a quadrant with me, I measured its height

from the root to the first branch, and found it to be eighty-nine feet:

it was as straight as an arrow, and tapered but very little in

proportion to its height; so that I judged there were three hundred and

fifty-six feet of solid timber in it, exclusive of the branches. As we

advanced, we saw many others that were still larger; we cut down a young

one, and the wood proved heavy and solid, not fit for masts, but such as

would make the finest plank in the world. Our carpenter, who was with

us, said that the timber resembled that of the pitch-pine, which is

lightened by tapping; and possibly some such method might be found to

lighten these, and they would then be such masts as no country in Europe

can produce. As the wood was swampy, we could not range far; but we

found many stout trees of other kinds, all of them utterly unknown to

us, specimens of which we brought away.

The river at this height is as broad as the Thames at Greenwich, and the

tide of flood as strong; it is not indeed quite so deep, but has water

enough for vessels of more than a middle size, and a bottom of mud so

soft, that nothing could take damage by running ashore.

About three o’clock, we reimbarked, in order to return with the first of

the ebb, and named the river the THAMES, it having some resemblance to

our own river of that name. In our return, the inhabitants of the

village where we had been ashore, seeing us take another channel, came

off to us in their canoes, and trafficked with us in the most friendly

manner, till they had disposed of the few trifles they had. The tide of

ebb just carried us out of the narrow part of the river, into the

channel that run up from the sea before it was dark; and we pulled hard

to reach the ship, but meeting the flood, and a strong breeze at N. N.

W. with showers of rain, we were obliged to desist; and about midnight,

we run under the land, and came to a grappling, where we took such rest

as our situation would admit. At break of day, we set forward again, and

it was past seven o’clock before we reached the ship. We were all

extremely tired, but thought ourselves happy to be on board; for before

nine it blew so hard that the boat could not have rowed ahead, and must

therefore either have gone ashore, or taken shelter under it.

About three o’clock, having the tide of ebb, we took up our anchor, made

sail, and plied down the river till eight in the evening, when we came

to an anchor again: early in the morning, we made sail with the first

ebb, and kept plying till the flood obliged us once more to come to an

anchor. As we had now only a light breeze, I went in the pinnace,

accompanied by Dr. Solander, to the western shore, but I saw nothing

worthy of notice.

When I left the ship, many canoes were about it; Mr. Banks therefore

chose to stay on board and traffic with the natives; they bartered their

clothes and arms, chiefly for paper, and behaved with great friendship

and honesty. But while some of them were below with Mr. Banks, a young

man who was upon the deck stole a half minute glass which was in the

binnacle, and was detected just as he was carrying it off. Mr. Hicks,

who was commanding-officer on board, took it into his head to punish

him, by giving him twelve lashes with a cat-o’nine-tails; and

accordingly ordered him to be taken to the gangway, and tied up to the

shrouds. When the other Indians who were on board saw him seized, they

attempted to rescue him; and being resisted called for their arms, which

were handed up from the canoes, and the people of one of them attempted

to come up the ship’s side. The tumult was heard by Mr. Banks, who, with

Tupia, came hastily upon the deck to see what had happened. The Indians

immediately ran to Tupia, who, finding Mr. Hicks inexorable, could only

assure them, that nothing was intended against the life of their

companion; but that it was necessary he should suffer some punishment

for his offence; which being explained to them, they seemed to be

satisfied. The punishment was then inflicted, and as soon as the

criminal was unbound, an old man among the spectators, who was supposed

to be his father, gave him a hearty beating, and sent him down into his

canoe. All the canoes then dropped a-stern, and the people said that

they were afraid to come any more near the ship: after much persuasion,

however, they ventured back again, but their cheerful confidence was at

an end, and their stay was short; they promised indeed, at their

departure, to return with some fish, but we saw no more of them.

On the 23d, the wind being contrary, we kept plying down the river, and

at seven in the evening, got without the N. W. point of the islands

lying on the west side of it. The weather being bad, night coming on,

and having land on every side of us, I thought it most advisable to

tack, and stretch in under the point, where we anchored in nineteen

fathom. At five in the morning of the 24th, we weighed, and made sail to

the N. W. under our courses and double reefed topsails, the wind being

at S. W. by W. and W. S. W. a strong gale and squally. As the gale would

not permit us to come near the land, we had but a slight and distant

view of it from the time when we got under sail till noon, during a run

of twelve leagues, but we never once lost sight of it. At this time, our

latitude by observation was 36° 15ʹ 20ʺ, we were not above two miles

from a point of land on the main, and three leagues and an half from a

very high island, which bore N. E. by E.: in this situation we had

twenty-six fathom water: the farthest point on the main that we could

see bore N. W. but we could perceive several small islands lying to the

north of that direction. The point of land of which we were now

a-breast, and which I called POINT RODNEY, is the N. W. extremity of the

river Thames; for under that name I comprehend the deep bay, which

terminates in the fresh water stream, and the N. E. extremity is the

promontory which we passed when we entered it, and which I called CAPE

COLVILLE, in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Colville.

Cape Colville lies in latitude 36° 26ʹ, longitude 184° 27ʹ; it rises

directly from the sea, to a considerable height, and is remarkable for a

lofty rock, which stands to the pitch of the point, and may be

distinguished at a very great distance. From the south point of this

cape, the river runs in a direct line S. by E., and is no where less

than three leagues broad for the distance of fourteen leagues above the

cape, and there it is contracted to a narrow stream, but continues the

same course through a low flat country, or broad valley, which lies

parallel with the sea coast, and the end of which we could not see. On

the east side of the broad part of this river, the land is tolerably

high and hilly; on the west side, it is rather low, but the whole is

covered with verdure and wood, and has the appearance of great

fertility, though there were but a few small spots which had been

cultivated. At the entrance of the narrow part of the river, the land is

covered with mangroves and other shrubs; but farther, there are immense

woods of perhaps the finest timber in the world, of which some account

has already been given: in several places, the wood extends to the very

edge of the water, and where it is at a little distance, the

intermediate space is marshy, like some parts of the banks of the Thames

in England: it is probable that the river contains plenty of fish, for

we saw poles stuck up in many places to set nets for catching them, but

of what kinds I do not know. The greatest depth of water that we found

in this river was six-and-twenty fathom, which gradually decreased to

one fathom and an half: in the mouth of the fresh-water stream, it is

from four to three fathom, but there are large flats and sand banks

lying before it. A ship of moderate draught may, notwithstanding, go a

long way up this river with a flowing tide, for it rises perpendicularly

near ten feet, and at the full and change of the moon, it is high water

about nine o’clock.

Six leagues within Cape Colville, under the eastern shore, are several

small islands, which, together with the main, seem to form good

harbours; and opposite to these islands, under the western shore, lie

other islands, by which it is also probable that good harbours may be

formed: but if there are no harbours about this river, there is good

anchoring in every part of it where the depth of water is sufficient,

for it is defended from the sea by a chain of islands of different

extent, which lie cross the mouth of it, and which I have, for that

reason, called BARRIER ISLANDS: they stretch N. W. and S. E. ten

leagues. The south end of the chain lies N. E. between two and three

leagues from Cape Colville; and the north end lies N. E. four leagues

and an half from Point Rodney. Point Rodney lies W. N. W. nine leagues

from Cape Colville, in latitude 36° 15ʹ S. longitude 184° 53ʹ W.

The natives residing about this river do not appear to be numerous,

considering the great extent of the country. But they are strong,

well-made, and active people, and all of them paint their bodies with

red oker and oil from head to foot, which we had not seen before. Their

canoes were large and well built, and adorned with carving, in as good a

taste as any that we had seen upon the coast.

We continued to stand along the shore till night, with the main land on

one side, and islands on the other, and then anchored in a bay, with

fourteen fathom, and a sandy bottom. We had no sooner come to an anchor,

than we tried our lines, and in a short time caught near one hundred

fish, which the people called Sea-bream; they weighed from six to eight

pounds a-piece, and consequently would supply the whole ship’s company

with food for two days. From the success of our lines here, we called

the place BREAM BAY: the two points that form it lie north and south,

five leagues from each other; it is every where of a good breadth, and

between three and four leagues deep: at the bottom of it there appears

to be a river of fresh water. The north head of the bay, called BREAM

HEAD, is high land, and remarkable for several pointed rocks, which

stand in a range upon the top of it: it may also be known by some small

islands which lie before it, called the HEN AND CHICKENS, one of which

is high, and terminates in two peaks. It lies in latitude 35° 46ʹ S.,

and at the distance of seventeen leagues and an half from Cape Colville,

in the direction of N. 41 W.

The land between Point Rodney and Bream Head, an extent of ten leagues,

is low, and wooded in tufts, with white sand banks between the sea and

the firm lands. We saw no inhabitants, but many fires in the night; and

where there are fires, there are always people.

At day-break, on the 25th, we left the bay, and steered along shore to

the northward: we found the variation of the compass to be 12° 42ʹ E. At

noon, our latitude was 35° 36ʹ S., Bream Head bore south, distant ten

miles; and we saw some small islands, to which I gave the name of the

POOR KNIGHTS, at N. E. by N. distant three leagues; the northernmost

land in sight bore N. N. W.: we were in this place at the distance of

two miles from the shore, and had twenty-six fathom water.

The country appeared low, but well covered with wood: we saw some

straggling houses, three or four fortified towns, and near them a large

quantity of cultivated land.

In the evening, seven large canoes came off to us, with about two

hundred men: some of them came on board, and said that they had heard of

us. To two of them, who appeared to be chiefs, I gave presents; but when

these were gone out of the ship, the others became exceedingly

troublesome. Some of those in the canoes began to trade, and, according

to their custom, to cheat, by refusing to deliver what had been bought,

after they had received the price: among these was one who had received

an old pair of black breeches, which, upon a few small shot being fired

at him, he threw into the sea. All the boats soon after paddled off to

some distance, and when they thought they were out of reach, they began

to defy us, by singing their song, and brandishing their weapons. We

thought it advisable to intimidate them, as well for their sakes as our

own, and therefore fired first some small arms, and then round shot over

their heads; the last put them in a terrible fright, though they

received no damage, except by over-heating themselves in paddling away,

which they did with astonishing expedition.

In the night we had variable light airs; but towards the morning, a

breeze sprung up at S. and afterwards at S. E. with which we proceeded

slowly to the northward, along the shore.

Between six and seven o’clock, two canoes came off, and told us that

they had heard of yesterday’s adventure, notwithstanding which the

people came on board, and traded very quietly and honestly for whatever

they had: soon after two canoes came off from a more distant part of the

shore; these were of a much larger, size and full of people: when they

came near, they called off the other canoes which were along side of the

ship, and after a short conference they all came up together. The

strangers appeared to be persons of a superior rank; their canoes were

well carved with many ornaments, and they had with them a great variety

of weapons: they had patoo-patoos both of stone and whalebone, upon

which they appeared to set a great value; they had also ribs of whale,

of which we had before seen imitations in wood, carved and adorned with

tufts of dog’s hair. Their complexions were browner than those of the

people we had seen to the southward, and their bodies and faces were

more marked with the black stains which they call Amoco: they had a

broad spiral on each buttock; and the thighs of many of them were almost

entirely black, some narrow lines only being left untouched, so that at

first sight they appeared to wear striped breeches. With respect to the

Amoco, every different tribe seemed to have a different custom; for all

the men, in some canoes, seemed to be almost covered with it, and those

in others had scarcely a stain, except on the lips, which were black in

all of them, without a single exception. These gentlemen, for a long

time, refused to part with any of their weapons, whatever was offered

for them; at last, however, one of them produced a piece of talc,

wrought into the shape of an axe, and agreed to sell it for a piece of

cloth: the cloth was handed over the ship’s side, but his honour

immediately put off his canoe with the axe. We had recourse to our usual

expedient, and fired a musket ball over the canoe, upon which it put

back to the ship, and the piece of cloth was returned; all the boats

then went ashore, without offering any further intercourse.

At noon, the main land extended from S. by E. to N. W. by W. a

remarkable point of land bearing W. distant four or five miles; at three

we passed it, and I gave it the name of CAPE BRET, in honour of Sir

Piercy. The land of this cape is considerably higher than any part of

the adjacent coast: at the point of it, is a high round hillock, and N.

E. by N. at the distance of about a mile, is a small high island or

rock, which, like several that have already been described, was

perforated quite through, so as to appear like the arch of a bridge.

This cape, or at least some part of it, is by the natives called

MOTUGOGOGO, and it lies in latitude 35° 10ʹ 30ʺ S. longitude 185° 25ʹ W.

On the west side of it is a large and pretty deep bay, lying in S. W. by

W. in which there appeared to be several small islands: the point that

forms the N. W. entrance, lies W. ¼ N. at the distance of three or four

leagues from Cape Bret, and I distinguished it by the name of POINT

POCOCKE. On the west side of the bay, we saw several villages, both upon

islands and the main, and several very large canoes came off to us, full

of people, who made a better appearance than any we had seen yet: they

were all stout and well-made; their hair, which was black, was tied up

in a bunch on the crown of their heads, and stuck with white feathers.

In each of the canoes, were two or three chiefs, whose habits were of

the best sort of cloth, and covered with dog’s skin, so as to make an

agreeable appearance: most of these people were marked with the Amoco,

like those who had been alongside of us before: their manner of trading

was also equally fraudulent; and the officers neglecting either to

punish or fright them, one of the midshipmen who had been defrauded in

his bargain, had recourse, for revenge, to an expedient which was

equally ludicrous and severe: he got a fishing line, and when the man

who had cheated him was close under the ship’s side in his canoe, he

heaved the lead with so good an aim, that the hook caught him by the

backside; he then pulled the line, and the man holding back, the hook

broke in the shank, and the beard was left sticking in the flesh.

During the course of this day, though we did not range more than six or

eight leagues of the coast, we had alongside and on board the ship

between four and five hundred of the natives, which is a proof that this

part of the country is well inhabited.

At eight o’clock the next morning, we were within a mile of a group of

islands which lie close under the main, at the distance of

two-and-twenty miles from Cape Bret, in the direction of N. W. by W. ½

W. At this place, having but little wind, we lay about two hours, during

which time several canoes came off, and sold us some fish, which we

called Cavalles, and for that reason I gave the same name to the

islands. These people were very insolent, frequently threatening us,

even while they were selling their fish; and when some more canoes came

up, they began to pelt us with stones. Some small shot were then fired,

and hit one of them while he had a stone in his hand, in the very action

of throwing it into the ship: they did not, however, desist, till some

others had been wounded, and then they went away, and we stood off to

sea.

The wind being directly against us, we kept plying to windward till the

29th, when we had rather lost than gained ground; I therefore bore up

for a bay which lies to the westward of Cape Bret; at this time it was

about two leagues to leeward of us; and at about eleven o’clock we

anchored under the south west side of one of the many islands which line

it on the south-east, in four fathom and an half water; we shoaled our

water to this depth all at once, and if this had not happened, I should

not have come to an anchor so soon. The master was immediately sent out

with two boats to sound, and he soon discovered that we had got upon a

bank, which runs out from the north-west end of the island, and that on

the outside of it there was from eight to ten fathom.

In the mean time the natives, to the number of near four hundred,

crowded upon us in their canoes, and some of them were admitted on

board: to one, who seemed to be a chief, I gave a piece of broad cloth,

and distributed some trifling presents among the rest. I perceived that

some of these people had been about the ship when she was off at sea,

and that they knew the power of our fire-arms, for the very sight of a

gun threw them into manifest confusion: under this impression, they

traded very fairly; but the people in one of the canoes took the

opportunity of our being at dinner to tow away our buoy: a musket was

fired over them without effect, we then endeavoured to reach them with

some small shot, but they were too far off: by this time they had got

the buoy into their canoe, and we were obliged to fire a musket at them

with ball: this hit one of them, and they immediately threw the buoy

over board: a round shot was then fired over them, which struck the

water and went ashore. Two or three of the canoes immediately landed

their people, who ran about the beach, as we imagined, in search of the

ball. Tupia called to them, and assured them that, while they were

honest, they should be safe, and with a little persuasion many of them

returned to the ship, and their behaviour was such as left us no reason

to suspect that they intended to give us any farther trouble.

After the ship was removed into deeper water, and properly secured, I

went with the pinnace and yawl, manned and armed, accompanied by Mr.

Banks and Dr. Solander, and landed upon the island, which was about

three quarters of a mile distant: we observed that the canoes which were

about the ship, did not follow us upon our leaving her, which we thought

a good sign; but we had no sooner landed than they crowded to different

parts of the island and came on shore. We were in a little cove, and in

a few minutes were surrounded by two or three hundred people, some

rushing from behind the heads of the cove, and others appearing on the

tops of the hills: they were all armed, but they came on in so confused

and straggling a manner that we scarcely suspected they meant us any

harm, and we were determined that hostilities should not begin on our

part. We marched towards them, and then drew a line upon the sand

between them and us, which we gave them to understand they were not to

pass: at first they continued quiet, but their weapons were held ready

to strike, and they seemed to be rather irresolute than peaceable. While

we remained in this state of suspense, another party of Indians came up,

and now growing more bold as their number increased, they began the

dance and song, which are their preludes to a battle: still, however,

they delayed the attack, but a party ran to each of our boats, and

attempted to draw them on shore; this seemed to be the signal, for the

people about us at the same time began to press in upon our line: our

situation was now become too critical for us to remain longer inactive,

I therefore discharged my musket, which was loaded with small shot, at

one of the forwardest, and Mr. Banks and two of the men fired

immediately afterwards: this made them fall back in some confusion, but

one of the chiefs, who was at the distance of about twenty yards,

rallied them, and running forward, weaving his patoo-patoo, and calling

loudly to his companions, led them to the charge. Dr. Solander, whose

piece was not yet discharged, fired at this champion, who stopped short

upon feeling the shot, and then ran away with the rest: they did not

however disperse, but got together upon a rising ground, and seemed only

to want some leader of resolution to renew their attack. As they were

now beyond the reach of small shot, we fired with ball, but as none of

them took place, they still continued in a body, and in this situation

we remained about a quarter of an hour: in the mean time the ship, from

whence a much greater number of Indians were seen than could be

discovered in our situation, brought her broad-side to bear, and

entirely dispersed them, by firing a few shot over their heads. In this

skirmish only two of the Indians were hurt with the small shot, and not

a single life was lost, which would not have been the case, if I had not

restrained the men, who, either from fear or the love of mischief,

showed as much impatience to destroy them as a sportsman to kill his

game. When we were in quiet possession of our cove, we laid down our

arms and began to gather celery, which grew here in great plenty: after

a little time we recollected to have seen some of the people hide

themselves in a cave of one of the rocks, we therefore went towards the

place, when an old Indian, who proved to be the chief that I had

presented with a piece of broad cloth in the morning, came out with his

wife and his brother, and in a supplicating posture put themselves under

our protection. We spoke kindly to them, and the old man then told us

that he had another brother, who was one of those that had been wounded

by the small shot, and enquired, with much solicitude and concern, if he

would die. We assured him that he would not, and at the same time put

into his hand both a musket-ball and some small shot, telling him, that

those only who were wounded with the ball would die, and that the others

would recover; at the same time assuring him, that if we were attacked

again, we should certainly defend ourselves with the ball, which would

wound them mortally. Having now taken courage, they came and sat down by

us, and as tokens of our perfect amity, we made them presents of such

trifles as we happened to have about us.

Soon after we re-embarked in our boats, and having rowed to another cove

in the same island, climbed a neighbouring hill, which commanded the

country to a considerable distance. The prospect was very uncommon and

romantic, consisting of innumerable islands, which formed as many

harbours, where the water was as smooth as a mill-pool: we saw also many

towns, scattered houses, and plantations, the country being much more

populous than any we had seen. One of the towns was very near us, from

which many of the Indians advanced, taking great pains to show us that

they were unarmed, and in their gestures and countenances expressing

great meekness and humility. In the mean time some of our people, who,

when the Indians were to be punished for a fraud, assumed the inexorable

justice of a Lycurgus, thought fit to break into one of their

plantations, and dig up some potatoes: for this offence I ordered each

of them to be punished with twelve lashes, after which two of them were

discharged; but the third, insisting that it was no crime in an

Englishman to plunder an Indian plantation, though it was a crime in an

Indian to defraud an Englishman of a nail, I ordered him back into his

confinement, from which I would not release him till he had received six

lashes more.

On the 30th, there being a dead calm, and no probability of our getting

to sea, I sent the master, with two boats, to sound the harbour; and all

the forenoon had several canoes about the ship, who traded in a very

fair and friendly manner. In the evening we went ashore upon the main,

where the people received us very cordially; but we found nothing worthy

of notice.

In this bay we were detained by contrary winds and calms several days,

during which time our intercourse with the natives was continued in the

most peaceable and friendly manner, they being frequently about the

ship, and we ashore, both upon the islands and the main. In one of our

visits to the continent, an old man showed us the instrument they use in

the staining their bodies, which exactly resembled those that were

employed for the same purpose at Otaheite. We saw also the man who was

wounded in attempting to steal our buoy: the ball had passed through the

fleshy part of his arm, and grazed his breast; but the wound, under the

care of Nature, the best surgeon, and a simple diet, the best nurse, was

in a good state, and seemed to give the patient neither pain nor

apprehension. We saw also the brother of our old chief, who had been

wounded with small shot in our skirmish: they had struck his thigh

obliquely, and though several of them were still in the flesh, the wound

seemed to be attended with neither danger nor pain. We found among their

plantations the _morus papyrifera_, of which these people, as well as

those of Otaheite, make cloth; but here the plant seems to be rare, and

we saw no pieces of the cloth large enough for any use but to wear by

way of ornament in their ears.

Having one day landed in a very distant part of the bay, the people

immediately fled, except one old man, who accompanied us wherever we

went, and seemed much pleased with the little presents we made him. We

came at last to a little fort, built upon a small rock, which at high

water was surrounded by the sea, and accessible only by a ladder: we

perceived that he eyed us with a kind of restless solicitude as we

approached it, and upon our expressing a desire to enter it, he told us

that his wife was there: he saw that our curiosity was not diminished by

this intelligence, and after some hesitation, he said, if we would

promise to offer no indecency, he would accompany us: our promise was

readily given, and he immediately led the way. The ladder consisted of

steps fastened to a pole, but we found the ascent both difficult and

dangerous. When we entered we found three women, who, the moment they

saw us, burst into tears of terror and surprise: some kind words and a

few presents soon removed their apprehensions, and put them into good

humour. We examined the house of our old friend, and by his interest two

others, which were all that the fortification contained, and having

distributed a few more presents, we parted with mutual satisfaction.

At four o’clock in the morning of the 5th of December, we weighed, with

a light breeze, but it being variable with frequent calms, we made

little way. We kept turning out of the bay till the afternoon, and about

ten o’clock we were suddenly becalmed, so that the ship would neither

wear nor stay, and the tide or current setting strong, she drove towards

land so fast, that before any measures could be taken for her security,

she was within a cable’s length of the breakers: we had thirteen fathom

water, but the ground was so foul that we did not dare to drop our

anchor; the pinnace therefore was immediately hoisted out to take the

ship in tow, and the men, sensible of their danger, exerting themselves

to the utmost, and a faint breeze springing up off the land, we

perceived, with unspeakable joy, that she made head-way, after having

been so near the shore that Tupia, who was not sensible of our hair’s

breadth escape, was at this very time conversing with the people upon

the beach, whose voices were distinctly heard, notwithstanding the roar

of the breakers. We now thought all danger was over, but about an hour

afterwards, just as the man in the chains had cried “seventeen fathom,”

the ship struck. The shock threw us all into the utmost consternation;

Mr. Banks, who had undressed himself and was stepping into bed, ran

hastily up to the deck, and the man in the chains called out “five

fathom;” by this time, the rock on which we had struck being to

windward, the ship went off without having received the least damage,

and the water very soon deepened to twenty fathom.

This rock lies half a mile W. N. W. of the northernmost or outermost

island on the south-east side of the bay. We had light airs from the

land, with calms, till nine o’clock the next morning, when we got out of

the bay, and a breeze springing up at N. N. W. we stood out to sea.

This bay, as I have before observed, lies on the west side of Cape Bret,

and I named it the BAY OF ISLANDS, from the great number of islands

which line its shores, and from several harbours equally safe and

commodious, where there is room and depth for any number of shipping.

That in which we lay is on the south-west side of the south westernmost

island, called MATURARO, on the south-east side of the bay. I have made

no accurate survey of this bay, being discouraged by the time it would

cost me; I thought also that it was sufficient to be able to affirm that

it afforded us good anchorage, and refreshment of every kind. It was not

the season for roots, but we had plenty of fish, most of which, however,

we purchased of the natives, for we could catch very little ourselves

either with net or line. When we showed the natives our seine, which is

such as the King’s ships are generally furnished with, they laughed at

it, and in triumph produced their own, which, was indeed of an enormous

size, and made of a kind of grass, which is very strong: it was five

fathom deep, and by the room it took up, it could not be less than three

or four hundred fathom long. Fishing seems indeed to be the chief

business of life in this part of the country; we saw about all their

towns a great number of nets, laid in heaps like hay-cocks, and covered

with a thatch to keep them from the weather, and we scarcely entered a

house where some of the people were not employed in making them. The

fish we procured here were sharks, sting-rays, sea-bream, mullet,

mackerel, and some others.

The inhabitants in this bay are far more numerous than in any other part

of the country that we had before visited; it did not appear to us that

they were united under one head, and though their towns were fortified,

they seemed to live together in perfect amity.

It is high water in this bay at the full and change of the moon, about

eight o’clock, and the tide then rises from six to eight feet

perpendicularly. It appears, from such observations as I was able to

make of the tides upon the sea-coast, that the flood comes from the

southward; and I have reason to think that there is a current which

comes from the westward, and sets along the shore to the S. E. or S. S.

E. as the land happens to lie.

CHAP. V.

RANGE FROM THE BAY OF ISLANDS ROUND NORTH CAPE TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S

SOUND; AND A DESCRIPTION OF THAT PART OF THE COAST.

ON Thursday the 7th of December, at noon, Cape Bret bore S. S. E. ½ E.

distant ten miles, and our latitude, by observation, was 34° 59ʹ S.;

soon after we made several observations of the sun and moon, the result

of which made our longitude 185° 36ʹ W. The wind being against us, we

had made but little way. In the afternoon, we stood in shore, and

fetched close under the Cavalles, from which islands the main trends W.

by N.: several canoes put off and followed us, but a light breeze

springing up, I did not choose to wait for them. I kept standing to the

W. N. W. and N. W. till the next morning ten o’clock, when I tacked and

stood in for the shore, from which we were about five leagues distant.

At noon, the westernmost land in sight bore W. by S. and was about four

leagues distant. In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze to the west,

which in the evening came to the south, and continuing so all night, by

day-light brought us pretty well in with the land, seven leagues to the

westward of the Cavalles, where we found a deep bay running in S. W. by

W. and W. S. W. the bottom of which we could but just see, and there the

land appeared to be low and level. To this bay, which I called DOUBTLESS

BAY, the entrance is formed by two points, which lie W. N. W. and E. S.

E. and are five miles distant from each other. The wind not permitting

us to look in here, we steered for the westernmost land in sight, which

bore from us W. N. W. about three leagues, but before we got the length

of it, it fell calm.

While we lay becalmed, several canoes came off to us, but the people

having heard of our guns, it was not without great difficulty that they

were persuaded to come under our stern: after having bought some of

their cloaths, as well as their fish, we began to make inquiries

concerning their country, and learnt, by the help of Tupia, that, at the

distance of three days’ rowing in their canoes, at a place called

MOOREWENNUA, the land would take a short turn to the southward, and from

thence extend no more to the west. This place we concluded to be the

land discovered by Tasman, which he called CAPE MARIA VAN DIEMEN, and

finding these people so intelligent, we inquired farther, if they knew

of any country besides their own: they answered, that they never had

visited any other, but that their ancestors had told them, that to the

N. W. by N. or N. N. W. there was a country of great extent, called

ULIMAROA, to which some people had sailed in a very large canoe; that

only part of them returned, and reported, that after a passage of a

month they had seen a country where the people eat hogs. Tupia then

inquired whether these adventurers brought any hogs with them when they

returned; they said, No: Then, replied Tupia, your story is certainly

false, for it cannot be believed that men who came back from an

expedition without hogs, had ever visited a country where hogs were to

be procured. It is however remarkable, notwithstanding the shrewdness of

Tupia’s objection, that when they mentioned hogs, it was not by

description but by name; calling them _Booah_, the name which is given

them in the South-sea islands; but if the animal had been wholly unknown

to them, and they had had no communication with people to whom it was

known, they could not possibly have been acquainted with the name.

About ten o’clock at night, a breeze sprung up at W. N. W. with which we

stood off north; and at noon the next day, the Cavalles bore S. E. by E.

distant eight leagues; the entrance of Doubtless Bay S. by W., distant

three leagues; and the north-west extremity of the land in sight, which

we judged to be the main, bore N. W. by W.: our latitude by observation

was 34° 44ʹ S. In the evening, we found the variation to be 12° 41ʹ E.

by the azimuth, and 12° 40ʹ by the amplitude.

Early in the morning, we stood in with the land, seven leagues to the

westward of Doubtless Bay, the bottom of which is not far distant from

the bottom of another large bay, which the shore forms at this place,

being separated only by a low neck of land, which juts out into a

peninsula that I have called KNUCKLE POINT. About the middle of this

bay, which we called SANDY BAY, is a high mountain, standing upon a

distant shore, to which I gave the name of MOUNT CAMEL. The latitude

here is 34° 51ʹ S. and longitude 186° 50ʹ. We had twenty-four and

twenty-five fathom water, with a good bottom; but there seems to be

nothing in this bay that can induce a ship to put into it; for the land

about it is utterly barren and desolate, and, except Mount Camel, the

situation is low: the soil appears to be nothing but white sand, thrown

up in low irregular hills and narrow ridges, lying parallel with the

shore. But barren and desolate as this place is, it is not without

inhabitants: we saw one village on the west side of Mount Camel, and

another on the east side; we saw also five canoes full of people, who

pulled after the ship, but could not come up with us. At nine o’clock,

we tacked and stood to the northward; and at noon, the Cavalles bore S.

E. by E., distant thirteen leagues; the north extremity of the land in

sight, making like an island, bore N. W. ¼ N. distant nine leagues; and

Mount Camel bore S. W. by S., distance six leagues.

The wind being contrary, we kept plying northward till five o’clock in

the evening of the 12th, when, having made very little way, we tacked

and stood to the N. E. being two leagues to the northward of Mount

Camel, and about a mile and a half from the shore, in which situation we

had two-and-twenty fathom water.

At ten it began to blow and rain, which brought us under double reefed

topsails; at twelve we tacked and stood to the westward till seven the

next morning, when we tacked and stood again to the N. E., being about a

mile to windward of the place where we tacked last night. Soon after it

blew very hard at N. N. W. with heavy squalls and much rain, which

brought us under our courses, and split the maintopsail; so that we were

obliged to unbend it and bend another: at ten, it became more moderate,

and we set the topsails, double reefed: at noon, having strong gales and

heavy weather, we tacked and stood to the westward, and had no land in

sight for the first time since we had been upon this coast.

We had now strong gales at W. and W. S. W.; and at half an hour past

three we tacked and stood to the northward. Soon after, a small island

lying off Knuckle Point bore S. ½ W., distant half a league. In the

evening, having split the fore and mizen topsails, we brought the ship

under her courses; and at midnight, we wore, and stood to the southward

till five in the morning; when we tacked and stood to the N. W., and saw

land bearing south, at the distance of eight or nine leagues; by this we

discovered that we had fallen much to the leeward since yesterday

morning. At noon our latitude by observation was 34° 6ʹ S.; and the same

land which we had seen before to the N. W. now bore S. W., and appeared

to be the northern extremity of the country. We had a large swell

rolling in from the westward, and, therefore, concluded that we were not

covered by any land in that quarter. At eight in the evening, we tacked

and stood to the westward, with as much sail as we could bear; and at

noon the next day, we were in latitude 34° 10ʹ, longitude 185° 45ʹ W.,

and by estimation about seventeen leagues from the land, notwithstanding

our utmost endeavours to keep in with it.

On the 16th, at six in the morning, we saw land from the mast-head,

bearing S. S. W.; and at noon it bore S. by W. distant fourteen leagues:

while we were standing in for the shore, we sounded several times, but

had no ground with ninety fathom. At eight, we tacked in a hundred and

eight fathom, at about three or four miles from the shore, which was the

same point of land that we had to the N. W. before we were blown off. At

noon, it bore S. W., distant about three miles; Mount Camel bore S. by

E., distant about eleven leagues, and the westernmost land in sight bore

S. 75 W.; the latitude by observation was 34° 20ʹ S. At four o’clock, we

tacked and stood in shore, in doing which, we met with a strong

rippling, and the ship fell fast to leeward, which we imputed to a

current setting east. At eight, we tacked and stood off till eight the

next morning; when we tacked and stood in, being about ten leagues from

the land: at noon, the point of land which we were near the day before,

bore S. S. W. distant five leagues. The wind still continued at west;

and at seven o’clock, we tacked in thirty-five fathom, when the point of

land which has been mentioned before, bore N. W. by N., distant four or

five miles; so that we had not gained one inch to windward the last

twenty-four hours, which confirmed our opinion that there was a current

to the eastward. The point of land I called NORTH CAPE, it being the

northern extremity of this country. It lies in latitude 34° 22ʹ S.,

longitude 186° 55ʹ W., and thirty-one leagues distant from Cape Bret, in

the direction of N. 63 W. It forms the north point of Sandy Bay, and is

a peninsula jutting out N. E. about two miles, and terminating in a

bluff head that is flat at the top. The isthmus which joins this head to

the main land is very low, and for that reason the land of the cape,

from several situations, has the appearance of an island. It is still

more remarkable when it is seen from the southward, by the appearance of

a high round island at the S. E. point of the cape; but this also is a

deception; for what appears to be an island is a round hill, joined to

the cape by a low narrow neck of land. Upon the cape we saw a Hippah or

village, and a few inhabitants; and on the south-east side of it, there

appears to be anchorage, and good shelter from the south-west and

north-west winds.

We continued to stand off and on, making N. W. till noon on the 21st,

when North Cape bore S. 39 E. distant thirty-eight leagues. Our

situation varied only a few leagues till the 23d, when, about seven

o’clock in the evening, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing S. ½ E.

At eleven the next morning, we saw it again, bearing S. S. E. at the

distance of eight leagues: we now stood to the S. W.; and at four

o’clock, the land bore S. E. by S. distant four leagues, and proved to

be a small island, with other islands or rocks, still smaller, lying off

the south-west end of it, and another lying off the north-east end,

which were discovered by Tasman, and called the Three Kings. The

principal island lies in latitude 34° 12ʹ S., longitude 187° 48ʹ W., and

distant fourteen or fifteen leagues from North Cape, in the direction of

W. 14 N. At midnight, we tacked and stood to the N. E. till six the next

morning, which was Christmas-day, when we tacked and stood to the

southward. At noon, the Three Kings bore E. 8 N. distant five or six

leagues. The variation this morning by the azimuth was 11° 25ʹ E.

On the 26th, we stood to the southward close upon a wind; and at noon,

were in latitude 35° 10ʹ S., longitude 188° 20ʹ W., the Three Kings

bearing N. 26 W. distant twenty-two leagues. In this situation we had no

land in sight; and yet, by observation, we were in the latitude of the

Bay of Islands; and by my reckoning but twenty leagues to the westward

of North Cape: from whence it appears, that the northern part of this

island is very narrow; for otherwise we must have seen some part of the

west side of it. We stood to the southward till twelve at night, and

then tacked and stood to the northward.

At four o’clock in the morning, the wind freshened, and at nine, blew a

storm; so that we were obliged to bring the ship to under her mainsail.

Our course made good between noon this day and yesterday was S. S. W. ½

W., distance eleven miles. The Three Kings bore N. 27 E. distant

seventy-seven miles. The gale continued all this day, and till two the

next morning, when it fell, and began to veer to the southward and S.

W., where it fixed about four, when we made sail and steered east in for

the land, under the fore-sail and main-sail; but the wind then rising,

and by eight o’clock being increased to a hurricane, with a prodigious

sea, we were obliged to take in the main-sail; we then wore the ship,

and brought her to with her head to the north-west. At noon the gale was

somewhat abated, but we had still heavy squalls. Our course made good

this day, was north, a little easterly, twenty-nine miles; latitude by

account 34° 50ʹ S., longitude 188° 27ʹ W.; the Three Kings bore N. 41 E.

distant fifty-two miles. At seven o’clock in the evening, the wind being

at S. W. and S. W. by W., with hard squalls, we wore and lay on the

other tack; and at six the next morning spread more sail. Our course and

distance since yesterday was E. by N. twenty-nine miles. In the

afternoon, we had hard squalls at S. W.; and at eight in the evening,

wore and stood to the N. W. till five the next morning; and then wore

and stood to the S. E. At six, we saw the land bearing N. E., distant

about six leagues, which we judged to be Cape _Maria Van Diemen_, and

which corresponded with the account that had been given of it by the

Indians. At midnight we wore and stood to the S. E. And on the next day

at noon, Cape Maria Van Diemen bore N. E. by N., distant about five

leagues. At seven in the evening, we tacked and stood to the westward,

with a moderate breeze at S. W. by S. and S. W. Mount Camel then bore N.

83 E., and the northernmost land, or Cape Maria Van Diemen, N. by W.; we

were now distant from the nearest land about three leagues, where we had

something more than forty fathom water; and it must be remarked, that

Mount Camel, which when seen on the other side did not seem to be more

than one mile from the sea, seemed to be but little more when seen from

this side; which is a demonstration that the land here cannot be more

than two or three miles broad, or from sea to sea.

At six o’clock in the morning of January the 1st, 1770, being New-year’s

day, we tacked and stood to the eastward, the Three Kings bearing N. W.

by N. At noon, we tacked again, and stood to the westward, being in

latitude 34° 37ʹ S.; the Three Kings bearing N. W. by N. at the distance

of ten or eleven leagues; and Cape Maria Van Diemen N. 31 E. distant

about four leagues and a half: in this situation we had fifty-four

fathom water.

During this part of our navigation two particulars are very remarkable;

in latitude 35° S., and in the midst of summer, I met with a gale of

wind, which for its strength and continuance was such as I had scarcely

ever been in before, and we were three weeks in getting ten leagues to

the westward, and five week in getting fifty leagues, for at this time

it was so long since we passed Cape Bret. During the gale, we were

happily at a considerable distance from the land, otherwise it is highly

probable that we should never have returned to relate our adventures.

At five o’clock in the evening, having a fresh breeze to the westward,

we tacked and stood to the southward: at this time North Cape bore E. ¾

N., and just open of a point that lies three leagues W. by N. from it.

This cape, as I have observed before, is the northernmost extremity of

this country, and the easternmost point of a peninsula, which runs out

N. W. and N. W. by N. seventeen or eighteen leagues, and of which Cape

Maria Van Diemen is the westernmost point. Cape Maria lies in latitude

34° 30ʹ S., longitude 187° 18ʹ W.; and from this point the land trends

away S. E. by S. and S. E. beyond Mount Camel, and is every where a

barren shore, consisting of banks of white sand.

On the 2d, at noon, we were in latitude 35° 17ʹ S., and Cape Maria bore

north, distant about sixteen leagues, as near as we could guess; for we

had no land in sight, and did not dare to go nearer, as a fresh gale

blew right on shore, with a rolling sea. The wind continued at W. S. W.

and S. W. with frequent squalls; in the evening we shortened sail, and

at midnight tacked, and made a trip to the N. W. till two in the

morning, when we wore and stood to the southward. At break of day, we

made sail, and edged away, in order to make land; and at ten o’clock, we

saw it, bearing N. W. It appeared to be high, and at noon extended from

N. to E. N. E. distant by estimation eight or ten leagues. Cape Maria

then bore N. 2° 30ʹ W. distant thirty-three leagues; our latitude by

observation was 36° 2ʹ S. About seven o’clock in the evening, we were

within six leagues of it; but having a fresh gale upon it, with a

rolling sea, we hauled our wind to the S. E., and kept on that course

close upon the wind all night, sounding several times, but having no

ground with one hundred, and one hundred and ten fathom.

At eight o’clock the next morning, we were about five leagues from the

land, and off a place which lies in latitude 36° 25ʹ, and had the

appearance of a bay or inlet. It bore east; and in order to see more of

it, we kept on our course till eleven o’clock, when we were not more

than three leagues from it, and then discovered that it was neither

inlet nor bay, but a tract of low land, bounded by higher lands on each

side, which produced the deception. At this time, we tacked and stood to

the N. W.; and at noon, the land was not distant more than three or four

leagues. We were now in latitude 36° 31ʹ S., longitude 185° 50ʹ W. Cape

Maria bore N. 25 W. distant forty-four leagues and a half; so that the

coast must be almost straight in the direction of S. S. E. ¾ E. and N.

N. W. ¾ W. nearly. In about latitude 35° 45ʹ is some high land adjoining

to the sea; to the southward of which the shore is also high, and has

the most desolate and inhospitable appearance that can be imagined.

Nothing is to be seen but hills of sand, on which there is scarcely a

blade of verdure; and a vast sea, impelled by the westerly winds

breaking upon it in a dreadful surf, renders it not only forlorn, but

frightful; complicating the idea of danger with desolation, and

impressing the mind at once with a sense of misery and death. From this

place I steered to the northward, resolving never more to come within

the same distance of the coast, except the wind should be very

favourable indeed. I stood under a fresh sail all the day, hoping to get

an offing by the next noon, and we made good a course of a hundred and

two miles N. 38 W. Our latitude by observation was 35° 10ʹ S.; and Cape

Maria bore N. 10 E., distance forty-one miles. In the night, the wind

shifted from S. W. by S. to S., and blew fresh. Our course to the noon

of the 5th, was N. 75 W., distance eight miles.

At day-break on the 6th, we saw the land, which we took to be Cape

Maria, bearing N. N. E., distant eight or nine leagues: and on the 7th,

in the afternoon, the land bore east: and some time after, we discovered

a turtle upon the water; but being awake, it dived instantly, so that we

could not take it. At noon, the high land, which has just been

mentioned, extended from N. to E. at the distance of five or six

leagues; and in two places, a flat gave it the appearance of a bay or

inlet. The course that we made good the last four-and-twenty hours was

S. 33 E. fifty-three miles; Cape Maria bearing N. 25 W., distant thirty

leagues.

We sailed within sight of land all this day, with gentle gales between

the N. E. and N. W.; and by the next noon had sailed sixty-nine miles,

in the direction of S. 37 E.; our latitude by observation was 36° 39ʹ S.

The land which on the 4th we had taken for a bay, now bore N. E. by N.,

distant five leagues and a half; and Cape Maria N. 29 W., forty-seven

leagues.

On the 9th, we continued a south-east course till eight o’clock in the

evening, having run seven leagues since noon, with the wind at N. N. E.

and N., and being within three or four leagues of the land, which

appeared to be low and sandy. I then steered S. E. by S. in a direction

parallel with the coast, having from forty-eight to thirty-four fathom

water, with a black sandy bottom. At day-break the next morning, we

found ourselves between two and three leagues from the land, which began

to have a better appearance, rising in gentle slopes, and being covered

with trees and herbage. We saw a smoke and a few houses, but it appeared

to be but thinly inhabited. At seven o’clock, we steered S. by E., and

afterwards S. by W., the land lying in that direction. At nine, we were

a-breast of a point which rises with an easy ascent from the sea to a

considerable height: this point, which lies in latitude 37° 43ʹ, I named

WOODY HEAD. About eleven miles from this Head, in the direction of S. W.

½ W. lies a very small island, upon which we saw a great number of

gannets, and which we, therefore, called GANNET ISLAND. At noon, a high

craggy point bore E. N. E. distant about a league and a half, to which I

gave the name of ALBATROSS POINT: it lies in latitude 38° 4ʹ S.,

longitude 184° 42ʹ W.; and is distant seven leagues in the direction of

S. 17 W. from Woody Head. On the north-side of this point the shore

forms a bay, in which there appears to be anchorage and shelter for

shipping. Our course and distance for the last twenty-four hours was S.

37 E. sixty-nine miles; and at noon this day Cape Maria bore N. 30 W.

distant eighty-two leagues. Between twelve and one, the wind shifted at

once from N. N. E. to S. S. W. with which we stood to the westward till

four o’clock in the afternoon; and then tacked, and stood again in shore

till seven; when we tacked again and stood to the westward, having but

little wind. At this time Albatross Point bore N. E., distant near two

leagues, and the southernmost land in sight bore S. S. W. ½ W. being a

very high mountain, and in appearance greatly resembling the Peak of

Teneriffe. In this situation we had thirty fathom water, and having but

little wind all night, we tacked about four in the morning, and stood in

for the shore. Soon after, it fell calm; and being in forty-two fathom

water, the people caught a few sea-bream. At eleven, a light breeze

sprung up from the west, and we made sail to the southward. We continued

to steer S. by W. and S. S. W. along the shore, at the distance of about

four leagues, with gentle breezes from between N. W. and N. N. E. At

seven in the evening, we saw the top of the peak to the southward, above

the clouds, which concealed it below. And at this time, the southernmost

land in sight bore S. by W.; the variation, by several azimuths which

were taken both in the morning and the evening, appeared to be 14° 15ʹ

easterly.

At noon on the 12th, we were distant about three leagues from the shore

which lies under the peak, but the peak itself was wholly concealed by

clouds: we judged it to bear about S. S. E.; and some very remarkable

peaked islands, which lay under the shore, bore E. S. E., distant three

or four leagues. At seven in the evening we sounded, and had forty-two

fathom, being distant from the shore between two and three leagues: we

judged the peak to bear east; and after it was dark, we saw fires upon

the shore.

At five o’clock in the morning we saw, for a few minutes, the summit of

the peak, towering above the clouds, and covered with snow. It now bore

N. E.; it lies in latitude 39° 16ʹ S., longitude 185° 15ʹ W.; and I

named it MOUNT EGMONT, in honour of the earl. It seems to have a large

base, and to rise with a gradual ascent; it lies near the sea, and is

surrounded by a flat country, of a pleasant appearance, being clothed

with verdure and wood, which renders it the more conspicuous, and the

shore under it forms a large cape, which I have named CAPE EGMONT. It

lies S. S. W. ½ W. twenty-seven leagues distant from Albatross Point,

and on the north-side of it are two small islands, which lie near a

remarkable point on the main, that rises to a considerable height in the

form of a sugar-loaf. To the southward of the cape, the land trends away

S. E. by E. and S. S. E., and seems to be every where a bold shore. At

noon, Cape Egmont bore about N. E.; and in this direction, at about four

leagues from the shore, we had forty fathom of water. The wind during

the rest of the day was from W. to N. W. by W., and we continued to

steer along the shore S. S. E. and S. E. by E., keeping at the distance

of between two or three leagues. At half an hour after seven, we had

another transient view of Mount Edgcombe, which bore N. 17 W., distant

about ten leagues.

At five the next morning, we steered S. E. by S., the coast inclining

more southerly; and in about half an hour we saw land, bearing S. W. by

S., for which we hauled up. At noon, the north-west extremity of the

land in sight bore S. 63 W., and some high land, which had the

appearance of an island lying under the main, bore S. S. E., distant

five leagues. We were now in a bay, the bottom of which bearing south,

we could not see, though it was clear in that quarter. Our latitude by

observation was 40° 27ʹ S., longitude 184° 39ʹ W. At eight in the

evening, we were within two leagues of the land which we had discovered

in the morning, having run ten leagues since noon: the land which then

bore S. 63 W., now bore N. 59 W., at the distance of seven or eight

leagues, and had the appearance of an island. Between this land and CAPE

EGMONT lies the bay, the west-side of which was our situation at this

time, and the land here is of a considerable height, and diversified by

hill and valley.

CHAP. VI.

TRANSACTIONS IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND: PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIGHT

WHICH DIVIDES THE TWO ISLANDS, AND BACK TO CAPE TURNAGAIN: HORRID CUSTOM

OF THE INHABITANTS: REMARKABLE MELODY OF BIRDS: A VISIT TO A HEPPAH, AND

MANY OTHER PARTICULARS.

THE shore at this place seemed to form several bays, into one of which I

proposed to carry the ship, which was become very foul, in order to

careen her, and at the same time repair some defects, and recruit our

wood and water.

With this view, I kept plying on and off all night, having from eighty

to sixty-three fathom. At day-break the next morning, I stood for an

inlet which runs in S. W.; and at eight I got within the entrance which

may be known by a reef of rocks, stretching from the north-west point,

and some rocky islands which lie off the south-east point. At nine

o’clock, there being little wind, and what there was being variable, we

were carried by the tide or current within two cables’ length of the

north-west shore, where we had fifty-four fathom water, but by the help

of our boats we got clear. Just at this time we saw a sea-lion rise

twice near the shore, the head of which exactly resembled that of the

male which has been described in the Account of Lord Anson’s Voyage. We

also saw some of the natives in a canoe cross the bay, and a village

situated upon the point of an island which lies seven or eight miles

within the entrance. At noon, we were the length of this island, but

there being little wind, the boats were ordered a-head to tow. About one

o’clock, we hauled close round the south-west end of the island; and the

inhabitants of the village which was built upon it, were immediately up

in arms. About two, we anchored in a very safe and convenient cove, on

the north-west-side of the bay, and facing the south-west end of the

island, in eleven fathom water, with soft ground, and moored with the

stream anchor.

We were about four long cannon shot distant from the village or Heppah,

from which four canoes were immediately dispatched, as we imagined, to

reconnoitre, and, if they should find themselves able, to take us. The

men were all well armed, and dressed nearly as they are represented in

the figure published by Tasman; two corners of the cloth which they

wrapped round the body were passed over the shoulders from behind, and

being brought down to the upper edge of it before, were made fast to it

just under the breast; but few, or none, had feathers in their hair.

They rowed round the ship several times, with their usual tokens of

menace and defiance, and at last began the assault by throwing some

stones: Tupia expostulated with them, but apparently to very little

purpose; and we began to fear that they would oblige us to fire at them,

when a very old man in one of the boats expressed a desire of coming on

board. We gladly encouraged him in his design, a rope was thrown into

his canoe, and she was immediately along side of the ship: the old man

rose up, and prepared to come up the ship’s side, upon which all the

rest expostulated with great vehemence against the attempt, and at last

laid hold of him, and held him back: he adhered however to his purpose

with a calm but steady perseverance, and having at length disengaged

himself, he came on board. We received him with all possible expressions

of friendship and kindness, and after some time dismissed him, with many

presents, to his companions. As soon as he was returned on board his

canoe, the people in all the rest began to dance, but whether as a token

of enmity or friendship we could not certainly determine, for we had

seen them dance in a disposition both for peace and war. In a short

time, however, they retired to their fort, and soon after I went on

shore, with most of the gentlemen, at the bottom of the cove, a-breast

of the ship.

We found a fine stream of excellent water, and wood in the greatest

plenty, for the land here was one forest, of vast extent. As we brought

the seine with us, we hauled it once or twice, and with such success

that we caught near three hundred weight of fish of different sorts,

which was equally distributed among the ship’s company.

At day-break, while we were busy in careening the ship, three canoes

came off to us, having on board above a hundred men, besides several of

their women, which we were pleased to see, as in general it is a sign of

peace; but they soon afterwards became very troublesome, and gave us

reason to apprehend some mischief from them to the people that were in

our boats alongside the ship. While we were in this situation, the

long-boat was sent ashore with some water casks, and some of the canoes

attempting to follow her, we found it necessary to intimidate them by

firing some small-shot: we were at such a distance that it was

impossible to hurt them, yet our reproof had its effect, and they

desisted from the pursuit. They had some fish in their canoes which they

now offered to sell, and which, though it stunk, we consented to buy:

for this purpose a man in a small boat was sent among them, and they

traded for some time very fairly. At length, however, one of them

watching his opportunity, snatched at some paper which our market-man

held in his hand, and missing it, immediately put himself in a posture

of defence, flourished his patoo-patoo, and making show as if he was

about to strike; some small shot were then fired at him from the ship, a

few of which struck him upon the knee: this put an end to our trade, but

the Indians still continued near the ship, rowing round her many times,

and conversing with Tupia, chiefly concerning the traditions they had

among them with respect to the antiquities of their country. To this

subject they were led by the inquiries which Tupia had been directed to

make, whether they had ever seen such a vessel as ours, or had ever

heard that any such had been upon their coast. These inquiries were all

answered in the negative, so that tradition has preserved among them no

memorial of Tasman; though, by an observation made this day, we find

that we are only fifteen miles south of Murderer’s Bay, our latitude

being 41° 5ʹ 32ʺ, and Murderer’s Bay, according to his account, being

40° 50ʹ.

The women in these canoes, and some of the men, had a head-dress which

we had not before seen. It consisted of a bunch of black feathers, made

up in a round form, and tied upon the top of the head, which it entirely

covered, and made it twice as high, to appearance, as it was in reality.

After dinner I went in the pinnace with Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia,

and some others, into another cove, about two miles distant from that in

which the ship lay: in our way we saw something floating upon the water,

which we took for a dead seal, but upon rowing up to it, found it to be

the body of a woman, which, to all appearance, had been dead some days.

We proceeded to our cove, where we went on shore, and found a small

family of Indians, who appeared to be greatly terrified at our approach,

and all ran away except one. A conversation between this person and

Tupia soon brought back the rest, except an old man and a child, who

still kept aloof, but stood peeping at us from the woods. Of these

people, our curiosity naturally led us to enquire after the body of the

woman, which we had seen floating upon the water: and they acquainted

us, by Tupia, that she was a relation, who had died a natural death; and

that, according to their custom, they had tied a stone to the body, and

thrown it into the sea, which stone, they supposed, had, by some

accident, been disengaged.

This family, when we came on shore, was employed in dressing some

provisions: the body of a dog was at this time buried in their oven, and

many provision-baskets stood near it. Having cast our eyes carelessly

into one of these, as we passed it, we saw two bones pretty cleanly

picked, which did not seem to be the bones of a dog, and which, upon a

nearer examination, we discovered to be those of a human body. At this

sight we were struck with horror, though it was only a confirmation of

what we had heard many times since we arrived upon this coast. As we

could have no doubt but the bones were human, neither could we have any

doubt but that the flesh which covered them had been eaten. They were

found in a provision basket; the flesh that remained appeared manifestly

to have been dressed by fire, and in the gristles at the end, were the

marks of the teeth which had gnawed them: to put an end, however, to

conjecture, founded upon circumstances and appearances, we directed

Tupia to ask what bones they were; and the Indians, without the least

hesitation, answered, the bones of a man: they were then asked what was

become of the flesh, and they replied that they had eaten it; but, said

Tupia, why did you not eat the body of the woman which we saw floating

upon the water: the woman, said they, died of disease; besides, she was

our relation, and we eat only the bodies of our enemies, who are killed

in battle. Upon enquiry who the man was whose bones we had found, they

told us, that about five days before, a boat belonging to their enemies

came into the bay, with many persons on board, and that this man was of

the seven whom they had killed. Though stronger evidence of this horrid

practice prevailing among the inhabitants of this coast will scarcely be

required, we have still stronger to give. One of us asked if they had

any human bones with the flesh remaining upon them, and upon their

answering us that all had been eaten, we affected to disbelieve that the

bones were human, and said that they were the bones of a dog; upon which

one of the Indians, with some eagerness, took hold of his own fore-arm,

and thrusting it towards us, said, that the bone which Mr. Banks held in

his hand had belonged to that part of the human body; at the same time,

to convince us that the flesh had been eaten, he took hold of his own

arm with his teeth, and made show of eating: he also bit and gnawed the

bone which Mr. Banks had taken, drawing it through his mouth, and

showing, by signs, that it had afforded a delicious repast; the bone was

then returned to Mr. Banks, and he brought it away with him. Among the

persons of this family, there was a woman who had her arms, legs, and

thighs, frightfully cut in several places; and we were told that she had

inflicted the wounds upon herself, in token of her grief for the loss of

her husband, who had been lately killed and eaten by their enemies, who

had come from some place to the eastward, towards which the Indians

pointed.

The ship lay at the distance of somewhat less than a quarter of a mile

from the shore, and in the morning we were awakened by the singing of

the birds: the number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their

throats in emulation of each other. This wild melody was infinitely

superior to any that we had ever heard of the same kind; it seemed to be

like small bells, most exquisitely tuned, and perhaps the distance, and

the water between, might be no small advantage to the sound. Upon

inquiry, we were informed that the birds here always began to sing about

two hours after midnight, and continuing their music till sunrise, were,

like our nightingales, silent the rest of the day. In the forenoon, a

small canoe came off from the Indian village to the ship, and among

those that were in it, was the old man who had first come on board at

our arrival in the bay. As soon as it came alongside, Tupia renewed the

conversation that had passed the day before, concerning their practice

of eating human flesh, during which they repeated what they had told us

already; but, said Tupia, where are the heads? do you eat them too? Of

the heads, said the old man, we eat only the brains, and the next time I

come I will bring some of them to convince you that what we have told

you is truth. After some farther conversation between these people and

Tupia, they told him that they expected their enemies to come very

shortly, to revenge the death of the seven men whom they had killed and

eaten.

On the 18th, the Indians were more quiet than usual, no canoe came near

the ship, nor did we see one of them moving on the shore, their fishing,

and other usual occupations being totally suspended. We thought they

expected an attack on this day, and, therefore, attended more diligently

to what passed on shore; but we saw nothing to gratify our curiosity.

After breakfast, we went out in the pinnace, to take a view of the bay,

which was of vast extent, and consisted of numberless small harbours and

coves, in every direction: we confined our excursion, however, to the

western side, and the country being an impenetrable forest where we

landed, we could see nothing worthy of notice: we killed, however, a

good number of shags, which we saw sitting upon their nests in the

trees, and which, whether roasted or stewed, we considered as very good

provision. As we were returning, we saw a single man in a canoe fishing;

we rowed up to him, and, to our great surprise, he took not the least

notice of us, but even when we were alongside of him, continued to

follow his occupation, without adverting to us any more than if we had

been invisible. He did not, however, appear to be either sullen or

stupid: we requested him to draw up his net, that we might examine it,

and he readily complied: it was of a circular form, extended by two

hoops, and about seven or eight feet in diameter: the top was open, and

sea-ears were fastened to the bottom as a bait: this he let down so as

to lie upon the ground, and when he thought fish enough were assembled

over it, he drew it up by a very gentle and even motion, so that the

fish rose with it, scarcely sensible that they were lifted, till they

came very near the surface of the water, and then were brought out in

the net by a sudden jerk. By this simple method, he had caught abundance

of fish, and, indeed, they are so plenty in this bay, that the catching

them requires neither much labour nor art.

This day, some of our people found in the skirts of the wood, near a

hole or oven, three human hipbones, which they brought on board; a

farther proof that these people eat human flesh: Mr. Monkhouse, our

surgeon, also brought on board, from a place where he saw many deserted

houses, the hair of a man’s head, which he had found, among many other

things, tied up to the branches of trees.

In the morning of the 19th, we set up the armourer’s forge to repair the

braces of the tiller, and other iron-work, all hands on board being

still busy in careening, and other necessary operations about the

vessel: this day, some Indians came on board from another part of the

bay, where they said there was a town which we had not seen: they

brought plenty of fish, which they sold for nails, having now acquired

some notion of their use; and in this traffic no unfair practice was

attempted.

In the morning of the 20th, our old man kept his promise, and brought on

board four of the heads of the seven people who had been so much the

subject of our inquiries: the hair and flesh were entire, but we

perceived that the brains had been extracted; the flesh was soft, but

had by some method been preserved from putrefaction, for it had no

disagreeable smell. Mr. Banks purchased one of them, but they sold it

with great reluctance, and could not by any means be prevailed upon to

part with a second; probably they may be preserved as trophies, like the

scalps in America, and the jaw-bones in the islands of the South Seas.

Upon examining the head which had been bought by Mr. Banks, we perceived

that it had received a blow upon the temples, which had fractured the

skull. This day we made another excursion in the pinnace, to survey the

bay, but we found no flat large enough for a potatoe garden, nor could

we discover the least appearance of cultivation: we met not a single

Indian, but found an excellent harbour; and about eight o’clock in the

evening returned on board the ship.

On the 21st, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went a fishing with hook and

line, and caught an immense quantity every where upon the rocks, in

between four and five fathom water: the seine was hauled every night,

and seldom failed to supply the whole ship’s company with as much fish

as they could eat. This day all the people had leave to go on shore at

the watering-place, and divert themselves as they should think proper.

In the morning of the 22d, I set out again in the pinnace, accompanied

by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, with a design to examine the head of the

inlet, but, after rowing about four or five leagues without so much as

coming in sight of it, the wind being contrary, and the day half spent,

we went on shore on the south-east side, to try what might be discovered

from the hills.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander immediately employed themselves in botanizing

near the beach, and I, taking a seaman with me, ascended one of the

hills: when I reached the summit, I found a view of the inlet

intercepted by hills, which in that direction rose still higher, and

which were rendered inaccessible by impenetrable woods; I was, however,

abundantly compensated for my labour, for I saw the sea on the eastern

side of the country, and a passage leading from it to that on the west,

a little to the eastward of the entrance of the inlet where the ship now

lay. The main land, which lay on the south-east of this inlet, appeared

to be a narrow ridge of very high hills, and to form part of the

south-west side of the straight; the land on the opposite side appeared

to trend away east as far as the eye could reach; and to the south-east

there appeared to be an opening to the sea, which washed the eastern

coast: on the east side of the inlet also I saw some islands which I had

before taken to be part of the main land. Having made this discovery, I

descended the hill, and as soon as we had taken some refreshment, we set

out on our return to the ship. In our way, we examined the harbours and

coves which lie behind the islands that I had discovered from the hill;

and in this route we saw an old village, in which there were many houses

that seemed to have been long deserted: we also saw another village

which was inhabited, but the day was too far spent for us to visit it,

and we therefore made the best of our way to the ship, which we reached

between eight and nine o’clock at night.

The 23d I employed in carrying on a survey of the place; and upon one of

the islands where I landed, I saw many houses which seemed to have been

long deserted, and no appearance of any inhabitant.

On the 24th, we went to visit our friends at the Hippah or village on

the point of the island near the ship’s station, who had come off to us

on our first arrival in the bay. They received us with the utmost

confidence and civility, showing us every part of their habitations,

which were commodious and neat. The island or rock on which this town is

situated, is divided from the main by a breach or fissure so narrow,

that a man might almost leap from one to the other: the sides of it are

every where so steep as to render the artificial fortification of these

people almost unnecessary: there was, however, one slight pallisade, and

one small fighting-stage, towards that part of the rock where access was

least difficult.

The people here brought us out several human bones, the flesh of which

they had eaten, and offered them to sale; for the curiosity of those

among us who had purchased them as memorials of the horrid practice

which many, notwithstanding the reports of travellers, have professed

not to believe, had rendered them a kind of article of trade. In one

part of this village, we observed, not without some surprise, a cross

exactly like that of a crucifix; it was adorned with feathers, and upon

our inquiring for what purpose it had been set up, we were told that it

was a monument for a man who was dead: we had before understood that

their dead were not buried, but thrown into the sea; but to our inquiry

how the body of the man had been disposed of, to whose memory this cross

had been erected, they refused to answer.

When we left these people, we went to the other end of the island, and

there taking water, crossed over to the main, where we saw several

houses, but no inhabitants, except a few in some straggling canoes, that

seemed to be fishing. After viewing this place, we returned on board the

ship to dinner.

During our visit to the Indians this day, Tupia being always of our

party, they had been observed to be continually talking of guns, and

shooting people: for this subject of their conversation we could not at

all account; and it had so much engaged our attention, that we talked of

it all the way back, and even after we got on board the ship: we had

perplexed ourselves with various conjectures, which were all given up in

their turn; but now we learnt, that on the 21st one of our officers,

upon pretence of going out to fish, had rowed up to the Hippah, and that

two or three canoes coming off towards his boat, his fears suggested

that an attack was intended, in consequence of which three muskets were

fired, one with small shot and two with ball, at the Indians, who

retired with the utmost precipitation, having probably come out with

friendly intentions; for such their behaviour both before and afterwards

expressed; and having no reason to expect such treatment from people who

had always behaved to them not only with humanity but kindness, and to

whom they were not conscious of having given offence.

On the 25th, I made another excursion along the coast, in the pinnace,

towards the mouth of the inlet, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr.

Solander, and going on shore at a little cove, to shoot shags, we fell

in with a large family of Indians, whose custom it is to disperse

themselves among the different creeks and coves, where fish is to be

procured in the greatest plenty, leaving a few only in the hippah, to

which the rest repair in times of danger. Some of these people came out

a good way to meet us, and gave us an invitation to go with them to the

rest of their party, which we readily accepted. We found a company of

about thirty, men, women, and children, who received us with all

possible demonstrations of friendship: we distributed among them a few

ribands and beads, and, in return, received the kisses and embraces of

both sexes, both young and old: they gave us also some fish, and after a

little time we returned, much pleased with our new acquaintance.

In the morning of the 26th, I went again out in the boat, with Mr. Banks

and Dr. Solander, and entered one of the bays, which lie on the east

side of the inlet, in order to get another sight of the streight, which

passed between the eastern and western seas. For this purpose, having

landed at a convenient place, we climbed a hill of a very considerable

height, from which we had a full view of it, with the land on the

opposite shore, which we judged to be about four leagues distant; but as

it was hazy in the horizon, we could not see far to the south-east: I

resolved, however, to search the passage with the ship, as soon as I

should put to sea. Upon the top of this hill we found a parcel of loose

stones, with which we erected a pyramid, and left in it some musket

balls, small shot, beads, and other things, which we happened to have

about us, that were likely to stand the test of time, and, not being of

Indian workmanship, would convince any European who should come to the

place and pull it down, that other natives of Europe had been there

before him. When this was done, we descended the hill, and made a

comfortable meal of the shags and fish which our guns and lines had

procured us, and which were dressed by the boat’s crew in a place that

we had appointed: in this place we found another Indian family, who

received us, as usual, with strong expressions of kindness and pleasure,

showing us where to procure water, and doing us such other good offices

as were in their power. From this place we went to the town of which the

Indians had told us, who visited us on the 19th; this, like that which

we had seen before, was built upon a small island or rock, so difficult

of access, that we gratified our curiosity at the risk of our necks. The

Indians here also received us with open arms, carried us to every part

of the place, and showed us all that it contained: this town, like the

other, consisted of between eighty and an hundred houses, and had only

one fighting-stage. We happened to have with us a few nails and ribands,

and some paper, with which our guests were so gratified, that at our

coming away they filled our boat with dried fish, of which we perceived

they had laid up great quantities.

The 27th and 28th were spent in refitting the ship for the sea, fixing a

transom for the tiller, getting stones on board to put into the bottom

of the bread-room, to bring the ship more by the stern, in repairing the

casks, and catching fish.

On the 29th, we received a visit from our old man, whose name we found

to be TOPĀA, and three other natives, with whom Tupia had much

conversation. The old man told us, that one of the men who had been

fired upon by the officer who had visited their hippah, under pretence

of fishing, was dead; but to my great comfort I afterwards discovered

that this report was not true, and that if Topāa’s discourses were taken

literally, they would frequently lead us into mistakes. Mr. Banks and

Dr. Solander were several times on shore during the last two or three

days, not without success, but greatly circumscribed in their walks, by

climbers of a most luxuriant growth, which were so interwoven together

as to fill up the space between the trees about which they grew, and

render the woods altogether impassable. This day, also, I went on shore

again myself, upon the western point of the inlet, and from a hill of

considerable height I had a view of the coast to the N. W. The farthest

land I could see in that quarter was an island which has been mentioned

before, at the distance of about ten leagues, lying not far from the

main: between this island and the place where I stood, I discovered,

close under the shore, several other islands, forming many bays, in

which there appeared to be good anchorage for shipping. After I had set

off the different points for my survey, I erected another pile of

stones, in which I left a piece of silver coin, with some musket balls

and beads, and a piece of an old pendant flying on the top. In my return

to the ship, I made a visit to several of the natives, whom I saw along

the shore, and purchased a small quantity of fish.

On the 30th, early in the morning, I sent a boat to one of the islands

for celery, and while the people were gathering it, about twenty of the

natives, men, women, and children, landed near some empty huts: as soon

as they were on shore, five or six of the women sat down upon the ground

together, and began to cut their legs, arms, and faces, with shells, and

sharp pieces of talc or jaspar, in a terrible manner. Our people

understood that their husbands had lately been killed by their enemies:

but, while they were performing this horrid ceremony, the men set about

repairing the huts, with the utmost negligence and unconcern.

The carpenter having prepared two posts to be left as memorials of our

having visited this place, I ordered them to be inscribed with the

ship’s name, and the year and month: one of them I set up at the

watering-place, hoisting the Union-flag upon the top of it; and the

other I carried over to the island that lies nearest to the sea, called

by the natives MOTUARA. I went first to the village or hippah,

accompanied by Mr. Monkhouse and Tupia, where I met with our old man,

and told him and several others, by means of Tupia, that we were come to

set up a mark upon the island, in order to show to any other ship which

should happen to come thither, that we had been there before. To this

they readily consented, and promised that they never would pull it down:

I then gave something to every one present; and to the old man I gave a

silver three-pence, dated 1736, and some spike-nails, with the king’s

broad arrow cut deep upon them; things which I thought most likely to

remain long among them: I then took the post to the highest part of the

island, and, after fixing it firmly in the ground, I hoisted upon it the

Union-flag, and honoured this inlet with the name of QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S

SOUND; at the same time taking formal possession of this and the

adjacent country, in the name and for the use of his Majesty King George

the Third. We then drank a bottle of wine to her Majesty’s health, and

gave the bottle to the old man who had attended us up the hill, and who

was mightily delighted with his present.

While the post was setting up, we enquired of the old man concerning the

passage into the eastern sea, the existence of which he confirmed; and

then asked him about the land to the S. W. of the streight, where we

were then situated: this land, he said, consisted of two whennuas or

islands, which may be circumnavigated in a few days, and which he called

TOVY POENAMMOO: the literal translation of this word is, “the water of

green talc;” and probably if we had understood him better, we should

have found that Tovy Poenammoo was the name of some particular place

where they got the green talc or stone of which they make their

ornaments and tools, and not a general name for the whole southern

district: he said there was also a third whennua, on the east side of

the streight, the circumnavigation of which would take up many moons:

this he called EAHEINOMAUWE; and to the land on the borders of the

streight he gave the name of TIERA WITTE. Having set up our post, and

procured this intelligence, we returned on board the ship, and brought

the old man with us, who was attended by his canoe, in which, after

dinner, he returned home.

On the 31st, having completed our wooding, and filled all our

water-casks, I sent out two parties, one to cut and make brooms, and

another to catch fish. In the evening we had a strong gale from the N.

W., with such a heavy rain, that our little wild musicians on shore

suspended their song, which till now we had constantly heard during the

night, with a pleasure which it was impossible to lose without regret.

On the 1st, the gale increased to a storm, with heavy gusts from the

high land, one of which broke the hawser that we had fastened to the

shore, and obliged us to let go another anchor. Towards midnight, the

gale became more moderate, but the rain continued with such violence,

that the brook which had supplied us with water overflowed its banks,

and carried away ten small casks which had been left there full of

water, and, notwithstanding we searched the whole cove, we could never

recover one of them.

On the 3d, as I intended to sail the first opportunity, I went over to

the hippah on the east side of the Sound, and purchased a considerable

quantity of split and half-dried fish, for sea-stores. The people here

confirmed all that the old man had told us concerning the streight and

the country, and about noon I took leave of them: some of them seemed to

be sorry, and others glad, that we were going: the fish which I had

bought they sold freely, but there were some who showed manifest signs

of disapprobation. As we returned to the ship, some of us made an

excursion along the shore to the northward, to traffic with the natives

for a farther supply of fish; in which, however, they had no great

success. In the evening we got every thing off from the shore, as I

intended to sail in the morning, but the wind would not permit.

On the 4th, while we were waiting for a wind, we amused ourselves by

fishing, and gathering shells and seeds of various kinds; and early in

the morning of the 5th, we cast off the hawser, hove short on the bower,

and carried the kedge-anchor out, in order to warp the ship out of the

cove, which having done, about two o’clock in the afternoon, we hove up

the anchor and got under sail; but the wind soon failing, we were

obliged to come to an anchor again a little above Motuara. When we were

under sail, our old man, Topāa, came on board to take his leave of us;

and as we were still desirous of making farther enquiries whether any

memory of Tasman had been preserved among these people, Tupia was

directed to ask him whether he had ever heard that such a vessel as ours

had before visited the country. To this he replied in the negative; but

said that his ancestors had told him there had once come to this place a

small vessel, from a distant country, called ULIMAROA, in which were

four men, who, upon their coming on shore, were all killed: upon being

asked where this distant land lay, he pointed to the northward. Of

Ulimaroa we had heard something before, from the people about the Bay of

Islands, who said that their ancestors had visited it; and Tupia had

also talked to us of Ulimaroa, concerning which he had some confused

traditionary notions, not very different from those of our old man, so

that we could draw no certain conclusion from the accounts of either.

Soon after the ship came to an anchor the second time, Mr. Banks and Dr.

Solander went on shore, to see if any gleanings of natural knowledge

remained; and by accident fell in with the most agreeable Indian family

they had seen, which afforded them a better opportunity of remarking the

personal subordination among these people than had before offered. The

principal persons were a widow, and a pretty boy about ten years old:

the widow was mourning for her husband with tears of blood, according to

their custom, and the child, by the death of its father, was become

proprietor of the land where we had cut our wood. The mother and the son

were sitting upon mats, and the rest of the family, to the number of

sixteen or seventeen, of both sexes, sat round them in the open air, for

they did not appear to have any house, or other shelter from the

weather, the inclemencies of which custom has probably enabled them to

endure without any lasting inconvenience. Their whole behaviour was

affable, obliging, and unsuspicious: they presented each person with

fish, and a brand of fire to dress it, and pressed them many times to

stay till the morning, which they would certainly have done if they had

not expected the ship to sail, greatly regretting that they had not

become acquainted with them sooner, as they made no doubt but that more

knowledge of the manners and disposition of the inhabitants of this

country would have been obtained from them in a day than they had yet

been able to acquire during our whole stay upon the coast.

On the 6th, about six o’clock in the morning, a light breeze sprung up

at north, and we again got under sail; but the wind proving variable, we

reached no farther than just without Motuara; in the afternoon, however,

a more steady gale at N. by W. set us clear of the Sound, which I shall

now describe.

The entrance of Queen Charlotte’s Sound is situated in latitude 41° S.,

longitude 184° 45ʹ W., and near the middle of the south-west side of the

streight in which it lies. The land of the south-east head of the Sound,

called by the natives KOAMAROO, off which lie two small islands and some

rocks, makes the narrowest part of the streight. From the north-west

head a reef of rocks runs out about two miles, in the direction of N. E.

by N.; part of which is above the water, and part below. By this account

of the heads, the Sound will be sufficiently known: at the entrance it

is three leagues broad, and lies in S. W. by S. S. W. and W. S. W. at

least ten leagues, and is a collection of some of the finest harbours in

the world, as will appear from the plan, which is laid down with all the

accuracy that time and circumstances would admit. The land forming the

harbour or cove in which we lay, is called by the natives TOTARRANUE:

the harbour itself, which I called SHIP COVE, is not inferior to any in

the Sound, either for convenience or safety: it lies on the west side of

the Sound, and is the southernmost of three coves, that are situated

within the island of Motuara, which bears east of it. Ship Cove may be

entered, either between Motuara and a long island, called by the natives

HAMOTE, or between Motuara and the western shore. In the last of these

channels are two ledges of rocks, three fathom under water, which may

easily be known by the sea-weed that grows upon them. In sailing either

in or out of the Sound, with little wind, attention must be had to the

tides, which flow about nine or ten o’clock at the full and change of

the moon, and rise and fall between seven and eight feet

perpendicularly. The flood comes in through the streight from the S. E.

and sets strongly over upon the north-west head, and the reef that lies

off it: the ebb sets with still greater rapidity to the S. E. over upon

the rocks and islands that lie off the south-east head. The variation of

the compass we found, from good observation, to be 13° 5ʹ E.

The land about this Sound, which is of such a height that we saw it at

the distance of twenty-leagues, consists wholly of high hills and deep

valleys, well stored with a variety of excellent timber, fit for all

purposes except masts, for which it is too hard and heavy. The sea

abounds with a variety of fish, so that, without going out of the cove

where we lay, we caught every day, with the seine and hooks and lines, a

quantity sufficient to serve the whole ship’s company; and along the

shore we found plenty of shags, and a few other species of wild-fowl,

which those who have long lived upon salt provisions will not think

despicable food.

The number of inhabitants scarcely exceeds four hundred, and they live

dispersed along the shores, where their food, consisting of fish and

fern roots, is most easily procured; for we saw no cultivated ground.

Upon any appearance of danger, they retire to their hippahs, or forts:

in this situation we found them, and in this situation they continued

for some time after our arrival. In comparison of the inhabitants of

other parts of this country, they are poor, and their canoes are without

ornament: the little traffic we had with them was wholly for fish; and

indeed they had scarcely any thing else to dispose of. They seemed,

however, to have some knowledge of iron, which the inhabitants of some

other parts had not; for they willingly took nails for their fish, and

sometimes seemed to prefer it to every thing else that we could offer,

which had not always been the case. They were at first very fond of

paper; but when they found that it was spoiled by being wet, they would

not take it: neither did they set much value upon the cloth of Otaheite;

but English broad cloth and red kersey were in high estimation; which

showed that they had sense enough to appreciate the commodities which we

offered by their use, which is more than could be said of some of their

neighbours, who made a much better appearance. Their dress has been

mentioned already, particularly their large round head-dresses of

feathers, which were far from being unbecoming.

As soon as we got out of the Sound, I stood over to the eastward, in

order to get the streight well open before the tide of ebb came on. At

seven in the evening, the two small islands which lie off Cape Koamaroo,

the south-east head of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, bore east, distant about

four miles: at this time it was nearly calm, and the tide of ebb setting

out, we were, in a very short time, carried by the rapidity of the

stream close upon one of the islands, which was a rock rising almost

perpendicularly out of the sea: we perceived our danger increase every

moment, and had but one expedient to prevent our being dashed to pieces,

the success of which a few minutes would determine. We were now within

little more than a cable’s length of the rock, and had more than

seventy-five fathom water; but upon dropping an anchor, and veering

about one hundred and fifty fathom of cable, the ship was happily

brought up: this, however, would not have saved us, if the tide which

set S. by E. had not, upon meeting with the island, changed its

direction to S. E. and carried us beyond the first point. In this

situation, we were not above two cables’ length from the rocks; and here

we remained in the strength of the tide, which set to the S. E. after

the rate of at least five miles an hour, from a little after seven till

near midnight, when the tide abated, and we began to heave. By three in

the morning the anchor was at the bows, and having a light breeze at N.

W. we made sail for the eastern shore; but the tide being against us, we

made but little way: the wind, however, afterwards freshened, and came

to N. and N. E. with which, and the tide of ebb, we were in a short time

hurried through the narrowest part of the streight, and then stood away

for the southernmost land we had in sight, which bore from us S. by W.

Over this land appeared a mountain of stupendous height, which was

covered with snow.

The narrowest part of the streight, through which we had been driven

with such rapidity, lies between Cape Tierawitte, on the coast of

Eaheinomauwe, and Cape Koamaroo: the distance between them I judged to

be between four or five leagues, and, notwithstanding the tide, now its

strength is known, may be passed without much danger. It is, however,

safest to keep on the north-east shore, for on that side there appeared

to be nothing to fear; but on the other shore there are not only the

islands and rocks which lie off Cape Koamaroo, but a reef of rocks

stretching from these islands six or seven miles to the southward, at

the distance of two or three miles from the shore, which I had

discovered from the hill when I took my second view of the streight from

the east to the western sea. The length of the streight we had passed, I

shall not pretend to assign, but some judgment may be formed of it from

a view of the chart.

About nine leagues north from Cape Tierawitte, and under the same shore,

is a high and remarkable island which may be distinctly seen from Queen

Charlotte’s Sound, from which it is distant about six or seven leagues.

This island, which was noticed when we passed it on the 14th of January,

I have called ENTRY ISLE.

On the east side of Cape Tierawitte, the land trends away S. E. by E.

about eight leagues, where it ends in a point, and is the southernmost

land on Eaheinomauwe. To this point I have given the name of CAPE

PALLISER, in honour of my worthy friend Captain Palliser. It lies in

latitude 41° 34ʹ S., longitude 183° 58ʹ W., and bore from us this day at

noon S. 79 E. distant about thirteen leagues, the ship being then in the

latitude of 41° 27ʹ S.; Koamaroo at the same time bearing N. ½ E.

distant seven or eight leagues. The southernmost land in sight bore S.

16 W. and the snowy mountain S. W. At this time we were about three

leagues from the shore, and abreast of a deep bay or inlet, to which I

gave the name of CLOUDY BAY, and at the bottom of which there appeared

low land covered with tall trees.

At three o’clock in the afternoon we were abreast of the southernmost

point of land that we had seen at noon, which I called CAPE CAMPBELL: it

lies S. by W. distant between twelve and thirteen leagues from Cape

Koamaroo, in latitude 41° 44ʹ S., longitude 183° 45ʹ W.; and with Cape

Palliser forms the southern entrance of the straight, the distance

between them being between thirteen and fourteen leagues W. by S. and E.

by N.

From this Cape we steered along the shore S. W. by S. till eight o’clock

in the evening, when the wind died away. About half an hour afterwards,

however, afresh breeze sprung up at S. W., and I put the ship right

before it. My reason for this was a notion which some of the officers

had just started, that Eaheinomauwe was not an island, and that the land

might stretch away to the S. E. from between Cape Turnagain and Cape

Palliser, there being a space of between twelve and fifteen leagues that

we had not seen. I had, indeed, the strongest conviction that they were

mistaken, not only from what I had seen the first time I discovered the

straight, but from many other concurrent testimonies, that the land in

question was an island; but being resolved to leave no possibility of

doubt with respect to an object of such importance, I took the

opportunity of the wind’s shifting, to stand eastward, and accordingly

steered N. E. by E. all the night. At nine o’clock in the morning we

were abreast of Cape Palliser, and found the land trend away N. E.

towards Cape Turnagain, which I reckoned to be distant about twenty-six

leagues: however, as the weather was hazy, so as to prevent our seeing

above four or five leagues, I still kept standing to the N. E. with a

light breeze at south; and at noon Cape Palliser bore N. 72 W. distant

about three leagues.

About three o’clock in the afternoon three canoes came up to the ship

with between thirty and forty people on board, who had been pulling

after us with great labour and perseverance for some time: they appeared

to be more cleanly, and a better class, than any we had met with since

we left the Bay of Islands; and their canoes were also distinguished by

the same ornaments which we had seen upon the northernly part of the

coast. They came on board with very little invitation; and their

behaviour was courteous and friendly. Upon receiving presents from us,

they made us presents in return, which had not been done by any of the

natives that we had seen before. We soon perceived that our guests had

heard of us, for as soon as they came on board, they asked for _Whow_,

the name by which nails were known among the people with whom we had

trafficked: but though they had heard of nails, it was plain they had

seen none; for when nails were given them, they asked Tupia what they

were. The term _Whow_, indeed, conveyed to them the idea not of their

quality, but only of their use; for it is the same by which they

distinguish a tool, commonly made of bone, which they use both as an

auger and a chisel. However, their knowing that we had _whow_ to sell,

was a proof that their connections extended as far north as Cape

Kidnappers, which was distant no less than forty-five leagues; for that

was the southernmost place on this side the coast where we had had any

traffic with the natives. It is also probable, that the little knowledge

which the inhabitants of Queen Charlotte’s Sound had of iron, they

obtained from their neighbours at Tierawitte; for we had no reason to

think that the inhabitants of any part of this coast had the least

knowledge of iron or its use before we came among them, especially as,

when it was first offered, they seemed to disregard it as of no value.

We thought it probable, that we were now once more in the territories of

Teratu; but upon enquiring of these people, they said that he was not

their king. After a short time, they went away, much gratified with the

presents that we had made them; and we pursued our course along the

shore to the N. E. till eleven o’clock the next morning. About this

time, the weather happening to clear up, we saw Cape Turnagain, bearing

N. by E. ½ E. at the distance of about seven leagues: I then called the

officers upon deck, and asked them, whether they were not now satisfied

that Eahienomauwe was an island: they readily answered in the

affirmative; and all doubts being now removed, we hauled our wind to the

eastward.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Printed by A. and R. Spottiswoode,

Printers-Street, London.

Footnote 1:

The celebrated navigator who discovered this streight was a native of

Portugal, and his name, in the language of his country, was _Fernando

de Magalhaens_; the Spaniards call him _Hernando Magalhanes_, and the

French _Magellan_, which is the orthography that has been generally

adopted: a gentleman, the fifth in descent from this great adventurer,

is now living in or near London, and communicated the true name of his

ancestor to Mr. Banks, with a request that it might be inserted in

this work.

Transcriber’s Note

This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were

retained in the ebook version. Some corrections have been made to the

text, including such as normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are

noted below:

p. 9: appearance; the the sides -> appearance; the sides

p. 26: whereever I went -> wherever I went

p. 29: some doubs whether -> some doubts whether

p. 36: as to to declare -> as to declare

Caption to illustration facing p. 84: Otahiete -> Otaheite

p. 174: by a a succession -> by a succession

p. 178: tellting us, that they -> telling us, that they

p. 190: not sraight lines -> not straight lines

p. 200: sucks it into his month -> sucks it into his mouth

p. 222: inhabiants of Otaheite -> inhabitants of Otaheite

p. 240: the cermony of lowering -> the ceremony of lowering

p. 240: to day -> to-day

p. 279: for our our landing -> for our landing

p. 295: wind being right an end -> wind being right on end

p. 309: the sun’s meridan -> the sun’s meridian

p. 310: their is no quarter -> there is no quarter

p. 316: lobsters and muscles -> lobsters and mussels

p. 320: the nothernmost of the Court -> the northernmost of the Court

p. 333: the botton to the top -> the bottom to the top

p. 361: discovered by Tafman -> discovered by Tasman

p. 365: by obervation -> by observation

p. 380: continued to folllow -> continued to follow

p. 397: they aked for -> they asked for