Born 1751.—Died 1780.
THIS traveller, who for enterprise and courage has seldom been
surpassed, was born in the year 1751, at Groton, a small village on the
river Thames, in Connecticut, in the United States. He had, at a very
early age, the misfortune to be deprived of his father; and although his
mother, a woman of remarkable piety and benevolence, discharged with
exemplary affection her duties towards him and her other children,
notwithstanding a second marriage, this circumstance cut him off from
all those advantages which the moral education received in a
well-regulated family under the paternal roof confers. Owing in a great
measure to the political condition of the country, but principally,
perhaps, to the restlessness of his own character, his youthful studies
were irregular and ill-directed. He frequently changed his inclinations
in the choice of a profession. At one time the law, at another the
career of a missionary among the Indians, captivated his fancy. When
both these schemes of life had been, one after the other, abandoned, his
imagination appears to have dwelt with complacency for a moment on the
peaceful studies and noiseless, though important, avocations of a
country clergyman.
The completion of the slender education which he received was effected
at Dartmouth College, an institution established by the Rev. Dr.
Wheelock, in the back woods, with the benevolent design of scattering
the seeds of religion and civilization among the Indian nations. Here
Ledyard, whose mind was as impatient of the salutary restraints of
discipline as that of any savage upon earth, exhibited unequivocal
tokens of those locomotive propensities which afterward goaded him into
rather than directed him in his romantic but almost aimless wanderings
over the greater part of the habitable world. For ordinary studies he
had evidently no aptitude. He read, indeed, but it was such reading as
beguiled away the time, and nourished the fantastic vagaries of his
imagination, without much enlarging his mind, or knitting his character
into firmness or consistency. In many respects he scarcely yielded to
the knight of La Mancha. What does the reader think he carried with him
to college, whither he was proceeding for the purpose of fitting himself
for spreading the light of Christianity, and with it the blessings of
social life, among the Indians? Histories of former missions, from the
failure or success of which he might derive light for his own guidance;
or books which, by unfolding the genuine character of savages, might
instruct him in the art of captivating their affections and moulding
their passions into manageable forms? Nothing of the kind. But instead
of these, he drove across the woods to college in a sulkey, containing a
choice collection of plays, with calico curtains, and various other
materials for scenic representations!
When he had been some time at Dartmouth, toiling at studies which were
wholly incompatible with his tastes, he suddenly disappeared, and no one
could conjecture whither he had betaken himself. He was absent upwards
of a quarter of a year; and it afterward appeared that during all this
time he was wandering among the savages, reconnoitring, as his American
biographer conjectures, the strong places of ignorance and prejudice
against which, as a missionary, his future attacks were to be directed.
It is more probable, however, that the excursion was undertaken merely
to escape from the discipline of the college, than which nothing, it is
clear, could be more irksome to him. After roaming as far as the borders
of Canada, picking up as he went along a knowledge of the character and
language of the savages, which was of essential service to him in his
subsequent wanderings, he returned to Dartmouth, and resumed his
studies.
Nevertheless, a secret predilection, which operated like destiny,
already began to shape his course towards its proper goal. An appetite
for violent excitement gradually discovered itself in his character.
Action of some kind or other became necessary. To satisfy this longing
he climbed mountains in winter, and slept in the snow; but this sobering
couch, which we are told brought St. Anthony to reason, failed to
produce so favourable an effect upon Ledyard. He descended the mountain
apparently pleased to have discovered that slight hardships, at least,
would not kill him, and fully resolved, as soon as opportunity should
present itself, to put the force of his constitution to still further
trial. Accident not furnishing him with an occasion for exhibiting his
prowess in this way, he took the matter into his own hands.
Robinson Crusoe was evidently Ledyard’s _beau idéal_ of a hero. To the
young mind which makes companions of its own dream, solitude is sweet,
as it favours their growth, and throws a gorgeous mantle over their
deformities. Our young traveller seems to have early conceived the
design of achieving a reputation, and in the mean while, until he should
have made the first step, and acquired the right to exact some degree of
consideration among mankind, the dim forest, or the lonely river, was a
more agreeable associate in his mind than any of those two-legged
animals with which a residence at college daily brought him into
contact. He therefore at once resolved to put an end to so mawkish a way
of life. Selecting from the majestic forest which clothed the margin of
the Connecticut River a tree large enough to form a canoe, he contrived,
with the aid of some of his fellow-students, to fell and convey it to
the stream, which runs near the college. Here it was hollowed out, and
fashioned in the requisite shape, and when completed measured fifty feet
in length by three in breadth. His young college companions enabled him
to lay in the necessary store of provisions. He had a bear-skin for a
covering; a Greek Testament and Ovid to amuse him on the way; and thus
equipped, he pushed off into the current, bade adieu to his youthful
friends, turned his back upon Dartmouth, and floated leisurely down the
stream. Hartford, the place of his destination, was one hundred and
forty miles distant. The country, during much of the way, was a
wilderness, and the river, of the navigation of which he was totally
ignorant, exhibited in many places dangerous falls and rapids. However,
youth and ignorance are generally bold. He was, besides, too well
pleased at escaping from the irksomeness of regular study, and, indeed,
too much enamoured of danger itself to have been terrified, even had he
fully understood the character of the river.
The canoe being carried along with sufficient rapidity by the force of
the current, he had but little occasion for using his paddles, and
filled up the intervals of reflection with reading. He was thus employed
when the canoe approached Bellows Falls. The noise of the waters rushing
with impetuous velocity through their narrow channel between the rocks,
roused him to a sense of his danger, fortunately, in time to enable him
by the strenuous use of his paddles to reach the shore. His canoe was
dragged round the fall by the kindness of the good people of the
neighbourhood, who were amazed at the boldness and novelty of his
enterprise, and again safely launched upon the waters below. No further
account is given of this singular voyage. He arrived safely at Hartford
about daybreak one fine morning in spring, and astonished his friends by
the strangeness of his appearance, and the no less strange relation of
his adventures.
Whether or not any efforts were made on this occasion to induce Ledyard
to resume his missionary studies is not known; but if there were it was
without success. His inclinations, as I have already observed, had now
taken another direction. He was desirous of becoming a regular
clergyman, and exerted himself, unfit as he was, to obtain a preacher’s
license. Inferior claims have sometimes been urged with effect; but
Ledyard’s were rejected; and in that reckless state of mind produced by
disappointment and disgust, which none but those who have been buffeted
by adverse fortune can properly conceive, he threw himself into the
first gap which he saw open, and determined to combat with the ills of
life in the humble condition of a common sailor. In this capacity he
sailed for Gibraltar, in the ship of a Captain Deshon, who had been a
friend of his father. Though this gentleman, we are told, regarded him
more in the light of a companion than as one of his crew, Ledyard seems
to have conceived no very favourable idea of a seafaring life from his
voyage across the Atlantic, and on his landing at Gibraltar, determined
to avoid a repetition of the experiment by enlisting in the army. By the
solicitations of Captain Deshon, however, who at the same time strongly
remonstrated with him on the impropriety of his conduct, he was
released, and returned with his liberator to New-London. This voyage put
to flight his romantic ideas respecting the life of a mariner; and he
once more saw himself dependent on his friends, without profession or
prospect.
From the conversation of some of the older members of his family, he had
learned that in England he possessed many wealthy relations; and the
idea now occurred to him, that could he but make himself known to these,
he should be received with open arms, and lifted up at once to a
respectable position in society. With him to resolve and to act were the
same thing. He immediately proceeded to New-York, where, finding a
vessel bound for England, he obtained a birth, probably on condition of
his working as a sailor. On landing at Plymouth, he found himself
penniless, and without a friend, in a strange country; but his courage,
sustained by the golden hopes with which he amused his imagination, was
proof against misfortune. His calamities, he flattered himself, were
soon to have an end. He was now within a few days’ journey of his
wealthy relations; and provided he kept, as the vulgar say, body and
soul together, what did it signify how he passed the brief interval
which separated him from his island of Barataria? Accordingly, relying
upon that principle in our nature by which compassion is kindled, and
the hand stretched forth to relieve, as often as real honest distress
presents itself, he set out for London. On the way his good genius
brought him acquainted with an Irishman, whose pockets were as guiltless
of coin as his own; and as it is a comfort not to be “alone unhappy” in
this “wide and universal theatre,” these two moneyless friends were a
great consolation to each other. In fact, it is often among the poor and
unfortunate that fellowship is most sweet. The sight of another’s
sufferings excites our magnanimity. We scorn to sink under what we see
by another man’s experience can be borne, perhaps, without repining. And
thus two poor devils without a penny may be of use to each other, by
reciprocally affording an example of fortitude and patience. Ledyard and
his Hibernian companion begged by turns, and in this way reached London,
where they separated, each to cherish his poverty in a different nook.
Hunger, which has a kind of predilection for great cities, seems to
sharpen the sight as well as the wits of men; for, amid the vast throng
of equipages which jostle and almost hide each other in the streets of
London, Ledyard’s eye caught the family name upon a carriage; and he
learned from the coachman the profession and address of the owner, who
was a rich merchant. El Dorado was before him. He hastened to the house,
and although the master himself was absent, he found the son, who, at
all events, listened to his story. When he had heard him out, however,
he very coolly informed our sanguine traveller that he wholly
disbelieved his representations, never having heard of any relations in
America; but that from the East Indies, he added, they expected a member
of the family, whom Ledyard greatly resembled; and that if in reality he
was the person, he would be received with open arms.
This reception, so different from that which he had anticipated, yet so
extremely natural under the circumstances of the case, was more than
Ledyard’s philosophy, which had not yet been sufficiently disciplined by
poverty, could digest; and he quitted the house of his cautious relative
with avowed disgust. How he now continued to subsist is not known. It
appears, however, that in spite of his distress he succeeded in making
the acquaintance of several respectable individuals, to whom he related
his story, and who, taking an interest in his fate, exerted themselves
to effect a reconciliation between him and his wealthy friends, but
without success; for distrust on the one part, and haughtiness on the
other, intervened, and shipwrecked their good intentions.
While our traveller’s affairs were in this precarious or rather
desperate state, an account of the preparations which were making for
Captain Cook’s third voyage round the world reached him in his
obscurity. Ambition, which for some time seems to have been almost
stifled in his mind by his distresses, now again awoke. He longed to
form a part of the glorious enterprise, and to behold, at least, if he
could not share in the achievements of the illustrious navigator. As a
preliminary step he enlisted in the marine service; and having procured
an interview with Captain Cook, his energy and enthusiasm so strongly
recommended him, that the great discoverer immediately took him into his
service, and promoted him to be a corporal of marines.
The expedition sailed from England on the 12th of July, 1776. It
consisted of two ships, the Resolution, commanded by Captain Cook, and
the Discovery, by Captain Clerke. After touching at Teneriffe, and the
Cape of Good Hope, where they laid in a large stock of provisions, and
live animals, designed to be left at the various islands on which they
did not exist, they sailed towards the southern extremity of
New-Holland. In twenty-five days they arrived at Kerguelen’s Island,
then recently discovered. It was barren, and totally without
inhabitants. There was, however, a scanty supply of grass, and a species
of wild cabbage, which they cut for their cattle. Fresh water was found
in abundance; for it rained profusely, so that torrents came tumbling
down from the hills, and enabled them to replenish their empty casks.
Seals and sea-dogs covered the shore; and vast flocks of birds hovered
around. Never having experienced in their lonely island the danger of
approaching man, they did not fly from their visiters, but suffered
themselves, and more particularly the penguin, to be knocked down with
clubs. Here they celebrated Christmas, and then proceeded to Van
Dieman’s Land.
Within less than two months after leaving the Cape of Good Hope they
cast anchor in Adventure Bay, in this island, which was then supposed to
form a part of New-Holland. At first no inhabitants appeared, though, in
sailing along the coast, they had observed columns of smoke ascending
between the trees; but in a few days the natives, men, women, and
children, came down to the beach, exhibiting in their persons the
extreme of human wretchedness. They were black, with negro features, and
woolly hair, besmeared with red ochre and grease, and went completely
naked. Bread and fish, which were given them, they threw away; but of
the flesh of birds they appeared fond. Their only weapon was a rude
stick about three feet long, and sharpened at one end. They had no
canoes, no houses, and appeared to be, to a great degree, destitute of
curiosity.
Having laid in a sufficient stock of wood and water, the expedition
proceeded to New-Zealand, where they remained a whole month, employed in
laying in provisions, and in making observations on the character of the
country and its inhabitants. They found the New-Zealanders a race
differing in many respects from the natives of all the surrounding
islands. Cannibalism of the most revolting kind flourished here in all
its glory. The first thought of a man on beholding the face of a
fellow-creature, like Fontenelle’s on seeing a flock of sheep in a
meadow, was what nice eating he would make; and if they abstained from
devouring their neighbours as well as their enemies, it was merely from
fear of reprisals. Yet, united with propensities which, if found to be
ineradicable, would justify their extermination, these people are said
to possess a vehement affection for their friends, constancy in their
attachments, and a strong disposition to love. It is very possible that
both their good and bad qualities may have been misrepresented. The
views and feelings of savages are not easily comprehended, and it is
seldom that those who enjoy opportunities of observing them possess the
genius to divine, from a few flitting and often constrained
manifestations of them, the secret temper of the soul.
During their stay at this island one of the mariners formed an
attachment for a young female cannibal; and, in order to wind himself
the more effectually into her affections, he secretly caused himself to
be tattooed, resolving, when the ships should sail, to make his escape,
and relapse into the savage state with his mistress. I say relapse,
because from that state we rose, and, whenever we can slip through the
artificial scaffolding upon which we have been placed by philosophy and
civil government, to that state we inevitably return. These two lovers,
though deprived of the aids which language affords in the communication
of thought and sentiments, contrived thoroughly to understand each
other. When the time for the departure of the ships arrived, the sailor,
tattooed, and dressed like a savage, was suffered to escape among the
crowds of natives who were hurrying on shore; but when the roll was
called to ascertain whether all hands were on board, his absence was
discovered. A guard of marines, despatched in search of him by the
command of Cook, dragged him from the arms of his savage mistress, who
exhibited every token of anguish and inconsolable grief, and leaving her
in loneliness and bitter disappointment on the beach, hurried the
culprit on board to take his trial for desertion. In consideration of
the motive, however, the commander humanely remitted the punishment of
the offence; but it is extremely probable that his vigilance defrauded a
party of New-Zealanders of a feast, for as soon as the ships should have
been out of sight, these honest people would no doubt have consigned the
sailor to their subterranean ovens.
Though desirous of making direct for _Tahiti_, or Otaheite, contrary
winds and boisterous weather forced them out of their course, and as
they now began to be in want of grass and water for the cattle, as well
as fresh provisions for the men, it was judged advisable to sail away
for the Friendly Islands. Many new islands were discovered during this
voyage, upon one of which, named Watteeoo, they landed. Here, to his
great astonishment, Omai, the native of Tahiti whom Cook had taken with
him to England, found three of his countrymen, who, having been
overtaken by a storm at sea, had been driven in their canoe to this
island, a distance of more than fifteen hundred miles. During the
thirteen days that they had been hurried before the gale, without water
or provisions, most of their companions had perished of hunger, or,
stung to phrensy by their sufferings, had jumped into the sea. The
survivors were now settled at Watteeoo, and refused his invitation to
revisit their native country, the sight of which could only renew their
grief for the loss of their dearest friends. This fact suffices to
explain how islands extremely distant from the great hives of mankind
have been peopled, and exhibit in their population resemblances to races
from which they would appear to be separated by insurmountable barriers.
From hence they sailed to Tongataboo, an island exceedingly fertile and
covered with forests, where they remained twenty-six days collecting
provisions. The natives, who, having ingrafted the vices of civilized
nations upon their own, have since exhibited themselves under a
different aspect, now appeared to be a simple and inoffensive race. Much
of their leisure, of which they appeared to have but too-great plenty,
was occupied in curious religious ceremonies, which, as among many
civilized nations, were regarded something in the light of amusements.
Their king, Poulaho, conducted himself with marked suavity and respect
towards his strange guests. Few civilized individuals, indeed, coming
suddenly into contact with a new race of men, could have shown more ease
and self-possession than this savage chief. However, he declined Cook’s
invitation to go on board the day after their arrival; but entertained
Ledyard, whose duty it was to remain on shore that night, in a kind and
hospitable manner.
“It was just dusk,” says our traveller, “when they parted, and as I had
been present during a part of this first interview, and was detained on
shore, I was glad he did not go off, and asked him to my tent; but
Poulaho chose rather to have me go with him to his house, where we went
and sat down together without the entrance. We had been here but a few
minutes before one of the natives advanced through the grove to the
skirts of the green, and there halted. Poulaho observed him, and told me
he wanted him; upon which I beckoned to the Indian, and he came to us.
When he approached Poulaho, he squatted down upon his hams, and put his
forehead to the sole of Poulaho’s foot, and then received some
directions from him, and went away; and returned again very soon with
some baked yams and fish rolled up in fresh plantain-leaves, and a large
cocoanut-shell full of clean fresh water, and a smaller one of salt
water. These he set down, and went and fetched a mess of the same kind,
and set it down by me. Poulaho then desired I would eat; but preferring
salt which I had in the tent to the sea-water which they used, I called
one of the guard, and had some of that brought me to eat with my fish,
which was really most delightfully dressed, and of which I ate very
heartily.
“Their animal and vegetable food is dressed in the same manner here as
at the southern and northern tropical islands throughout these seas,
being all baked among hot stones laid in a hole, and covered over, first
with leaves, and then with mould. Poulaho was fed by the chief who
waited upon him, both with victuals and drink. After he had finished,
the remains were carried away by the chief in waiting, who returned soon
after with two large separate rolls of cloth and two little low wooden
stools. The cloth was for a covering while asleep, and the stools to
raise and rest the head on, as we do on a pillow. These were left within
the house, or rather under the roof, one side being open. The floor
within was composed of dry grass, leaves, and flowers, over which were
spread large well-wrought mats. On this Poulaho and I removed and sat
down, while the chief unrolled and spread out the cloth, after which he
retired; and in a few minutes there appeared a fine young girl about
seventeen years of age, who, approaching Poulaho, stooped and kissed his
great toe, and then retired, and sat down in an opposite part of the
house. It was now about nine o’clock, and a bright moonshine; the sky
was serene, and the wind hushed. Suddenly I heard a number of their
flutes, beginning nearly at the same time, burst from every quarter of
the surrounding grove; and whether this was meant as an exhilarating
serenade, or a soothing soporific to the great Poulaho, I cannot tell.
Immediately on hearing the music he took me by the hand, intimating that
he was going to sleep, and, showing me the other cloth, which was spread
nearly beside him, and the pillow, invited me to use it.”
The manners of the people whom Ledyard had now an opportunity of
contemplating indicated a character nearly the reverse of that of the
New-Zealanders. In what circumstances those extraordinary differences
originated it is foreign to the present purpose to inquire. To account
for them, as some writers have done, by the influence of climate, is
wilfully to sport with facts and experience. Within the same degrees of
latitude, pursuing our researches round the globe, we have black men and
white; cannibals, and races remarkable for humanity; men so gross in
their intellects that they retain nothing of man but the shape, and
others with a character and genius so admirably adapted to receive the
impressions of laws and civilization, that they turn every natural or
accidental advantage of their position to the greatest account, and run
on in the career of improvement with gigantic strides. This was not
Ledyard’s theory. He seemed everywhere to discover proofs of the vast
influence of climate in rendering men what they are, morally as well as
physically; though he could not be ignorant that while the climate of
Greece and Italy remains what it was in old times, the physiognomy of
the inhabitants has undergone an entire change, while their moral
condition is, if possible, deteriorated still more than their features.
The mind of man seems, in fact, after having borne an extraordinary crop
of virtues, knowledge, and heroic deeds, to require, like the earth, to
lie fallow for a season. It cannot be made to yield fruit beyond a
certain point, upon which, when it has once touched, no power under
heaven can prevent its relapsing into barrenness.
The population scattered over the innumerable islands of the Pacific
have been in a remarkably peculiar position from the time in which they
were discovered up to the present moment. Civilization has, in a manner,
been forced upon them. Their idols have been thrown down; the bloody or
absurd rites of their religion have, in many instances, been exchanged
for the blessings and the light of Christianity; and although silly or
affected persons may lament for the disappearance of what they term a
“picturesque superstition,” every real friend of humanity will rejoice
at seeing a church occupying the site of a morai; and men, who once
delighted to feed upon the limbs of an enemy, employing themselves in
deriving subsistence from their own industry and ingenuity.
The people of Tongataboo, at the period of Ledyard’s visit, though
neither cruel nor ferocious, were partial to athletic exercises, and not
averse to war. It seems to have yielded them great satisfaction to be
allowed to display in the presence of their visiters their vigour and
dexterity, which were by no means despicable. Their performances, which
chiefly consisted of wrestling and boxing, always took place upon the
greensward, in the open air; and in order to prevent what was only meant
for amusement from degenerating into angry contests, a certain number of
elderly men presided over and regulated the exercises; and when either
of the combatants appeared to be fairly worsted, they mildly signified
the fact, and this was considered a sufficient compliment to the victor.
Like the boxers of antiquity, they wore upon the hand a kind of glove
composed of cords or thongs, designed to prevent their grappling each
other, and at the same time to preserve them from dislocations of the
joints, particularly of that of the thumb. Sometimes, however, they
engaged each other with clubs, in which cases the performances were
highly dangerous. Our traveller witnessed one of these contests, which,
as the persons engaged were renowned for their superior skill, was
protracted considerably, though they are in general of brief duration.
At length, however, the affair was decided by a fortuitous blow on the
head. The vanquished champion was carried off the ground by his friends,
while the conqueror was greeted with enthusiastic shouts of praise from
the spectators; and “when these shouts ended, the young women round the
circle rose, and sang, and danced a short kind of interlude in
celebration of the hero.”
With the brilliant exhibition of fireworks, which, in return for their
hospitality and politeness, Cook got up for their amusement, both
Poulaho and his people were greatly astonished and delighted. The
animals, likewise, which were new to them, excited their wonder. Goats
and sheep they regarded as a species of birds; but in the horse, the
cow, the cat, and the rabbit they could perceive no analogy with the dog
or the hog, the only animals with which they had till then been
conversant.
The ideas of these people respecting property were either very vague, or
very different from those of their visiters. Whatever they saw pleasing
to the eye in the possession of the white men, without considering
whether or not it was intended for them, they immediately appropriated
to themselves; probably from the belief that these munificent strangers,
who bestowed upon them so many wonderful things, were a kind of good
genii, who, in their own case, stood in no need of such articles. Cook
did not understand this simplicity. He attached the idea of a thief to
every person who touched what did not belong to him, and punished these
ignorant savages with the same rigid justice, if we may so apply the
term, which he would have shown towards a hardened offender at the Old
Bailey. In one instance even the justice of his conduct may be
questioned. One of the chiefs stole some peacocks from the ships, and
Cook arrested, not the offender, but the king, whom he kept in custody
until the culprit came forward engaging to restore the birds. This was
an absurd exercise of power, which could not fail considerably to abate
the respect of the natives for the civilized portion of mankind.
From Tongataboo the expedition sailed to Tahiti, where they arrived on
the 14th of August. Here Ledyard employed his leisure, which appears to
have been considerable, in studying the character and manners of the
inhabitants; and upon these points his opinions generally agree with the
received notions respecting those people. In sailing northward from this
group they discovered the Sandwich Islands, where they remained ten
days; and then, steering still towards the north, arrived without
accident in Nootka Sound, where they cast anchor in nearly five hundred
fathoms of water. Ledyard was now on his native continent, and, though
more than three thousand miles from the place of his birth, experienced
on landing something like a feeling of home. The inhabitants he found to
be of the same race with those on the shores of the Atlantic. In stature
they are above the middle size, athletic in their make, and of a copper
colour. Their long black hair they wear tied up in a roll on the top of
the head, and, by way of ornament, smear it over with oil and paint, in
which they stick a quantity of the down of birds. They paint their faces
red, blue, and white, but refused to reveal the nature of their
cosmetics, or the country whence they obtained them. Their clothing
principally consists of skins, besides which, however, they have two
other kinds of garments, of which one is manufactured from the inner
bark of trees, and resembles our coarser cloths; the other made chiefly
from the hair of white dogs, and wrought over with designs representing
their mode of catching the whale, which our traveller considered the
most ingenious piece of workmanship he anywhere saw executed by a
savage. All their garments, like those of the Hindoos, are worn like
mantles, and are invariably fringed, or ornamented in some fashion or
another at the edges. This species of border ornament, denominated
_wampum_ on the opposite side of the continent, was found, not only all
along this coast, but also on the eastern shores of Asia. On the feet
they wear no covering; and if they occasionally cover their heads, it is
with a species of basket resembling that which is sometimes worn by the
Chinese and Tartars. In character they were cunning, bold, ferocious,
and, like the inhabitants of the Sandwich Islands, addicted to
cannibalism.
From thence they sailed along the coast of America to Behring’s Straits,
in passing through which they observed that both continents were visible
at the same time. The expedition having in vain traversed the polar seas
in search of a north-west passage, returned towards the south. Before
issuing through the belt of the Aleeootskian Islands into the Pacific,
Captain Cook remained some days at Onalaska, where Ledyard was engaged
in an adventure highly characteristic of his intrepid and chivalrous
disposition. Even on their first landing, many peculiarities in the
appearance and costume, no less than in the moveable possessions of the
people, strongly excited their curiosity; for it was at once perceived
that there existed two races of men upon the island, of which one might
be supposed to be aboriginal, while the other might be presumed to be
adscititious; an offshoot, in all probability, from the great Asiatic
stock. They were in possession of tobacco, and in many instances wore
blue linen shirts and drawers. The circumstance, however, which excited
most surprise was the appearance of a young chief, bearing with him a
cake of rye-meal newly baked, and containing a piece of salmon seasoned
with pepper and salt, as a present to Captain Cook. He informed them, by
signs, that there were white strangers in the country, who had come,
like them, over the great waters in a large ship.
This information excited in Cook a desire to explore the island. It was
difficult, however, to determine in what manner the object was to be
effected. An armed body would proceed slowly, and might, perhaps, be cut
off,—an irreparable loss to the expedition. The risk of a single
individual would be imminent, but his movements would be more rapid; and
if he should fall, the loss to the public would not be great. Yet, as
the commander did not think himself justified in ordering any person to
undertake so perilous an enterprise, a volunteer was sought for; and
Ledyard presented himself. The great navigator was highly pleased with
this example of intrepidity, for the brave always sympathize with the
brave; and after giving the traveller instructions how to proceed, “he
wished me well,” says Ledyard, “and desired I would not be longer absent
than a week, if possible; at the expiration of which he should expect me
to return. If I did not return by that time, he should wait another week
for me, and no longer.”
The young chief who brought Cook the rye-cake and the salmon, with two
persons who attended him, were to serve as guides on the occasion. Being
furnished with a small quantity of bread and some brandy in bottles,
intended for presents to the Indians, our traveller departed with his
Indian guides, and during the first day advanced about fifteen miles
into the interior. About nightfall they arrived at a small village
consisting of about thirty huts, some of which were large and spacious,
though not very lofty. These huts were composed of a slight frame
erected over a square hole sunk about four feet into the ground. Below
the frame was covered with turf, which served as a wall, and above it
was thatched with grass. Though the whole village, men, women, and
children, crowded to see him, it was not with the intense curiosity
which their behaviour would have exhibited had they never before beheld
a white man. Here they passed the night.
Their course had hitherto lain towards the north, but they next morning
turned round towards the south-west. About three hours before night they
reached the edge of a large bay, where the chief entered into a canoe,
with all their baggage, and intimating to Ledyard that he was to follow
his other companions, left him abruptly, and paddled across the bay.
Although rendered somewhat uneasy at this movement, he proceeded along
the shore with his guides, and in about two hours observed a canoe
making towards them across the bay. Upon this they ran down to the
water’s edge, and, by shouting and waving bushes to and fro in the air,
attracted the attention of the savages in the canoe. “It was beginning
to be dark,” says he, “when the canoe came to us. It was a skin canoe,
after the Esquimaux plan, with two holes to accommodate two sitters. The
Indians that came in the canoe talked a little with my two guides, and
then came to me, and desired I would get into the canoe. This I did not
very readily agree to, however, as there was no place for me but to be
thrust into the space between the holes, extended at length upon my
back, and wholly excluded from seeing the way I went, or the power of
extricating myself upon an emergency. But as there was no alternative, I
submitted thus to be stowed away in bulk, and went head foremost very
swift through the water about an hour, when I felt the canoe strike a
beach, and afterward lifted up and carried some distance, and then set
down again; after which I was drawn out by the shoulders by three or
four men; for it was now so dark that I could not tell who they were,
though I was conscious I heard a language that was new. I was conducted
by two of these persons, who appeared to be strangers, about forty rods,
when I saw lights and a number of huts like those I left in the morning.
As we approached one of them, a door opened and discovered a lamp, by
which, to my great joy, I discovered that the two men who held me by
each arm were Europeans, fair and comely, and concluded from their
appearance they were Russians, which I soon after found to be true.”
By these Russians, who had established themselves in Onalaska for the
purpose of collecting furs for the markets of Moscow and Petersburg,
Ledyard was received and entertained in a most hospitable manner; and
when he returned to the ships was accompanied by three of the principal
persons among them, and several inferior attendants. “The satisfaction
this discovery gave Cook,” says he, “and the honour that redounded to
me, may be easily imagined; and the several conjectures respecting the
appearance of a foreign intercourse were rectified and confirmed.”
From Onalaska the expedition sailed southward for the Sandwich Islands,
and in two months arrived at Hawaii. On entering a commodious bay
discovered on the southern coast of the island, they observed on each
hand a town of considerable size, from which crowds of people, to whom
the appearance offered by the ships was totally new, crowded down to the
beach to receive the strangers. Their number was prodigious. No less
than three thousand canoes, containing at least fifteen thousand men,
women, and children, were crowded in the bay; and, besides these,
numbers sustained themselves on floats, or swam about in the water. “The
beach, the surrounding rocks, the tops of houses, the branches of trees,
and the adjacent hills were all covered; and the shouts of joy and
admiration proceeding from the sonorous voices of the men, confused with
the shriller exclamations of the women, dancing and clapping their
hands, the oversetting of canoes, cries of the children, goods afloat,
and hogs that were brought to market squeaking, formed one of the most
curious prospects that can be imagined.” Yet, amid all this vast
multitude, no signs of hostility, no disposition to insult or annoy the
strangers appeared. Both parties were very far at that moment from
anticipating that tragical event which shortly afterward died their
shores with blood, and rendered the name of Hawaii memorable in the
history of discovery.
However, for the first few days extraordinary harmony prevailed. Visits
were made and returned; fireworks were exhibited by the English;
wrestling, boxing, and various other kinds of athletic exercises by the
savages. During this continuance of good-humour Ledyard obtained
permission to make a tour in the interior of the island, for the purpose
of examining the nature of the country, and of ascending, if possible,
the peak of _Mouna Roa_, which, though situated in an island not
exceeding ninety miles in diameter, is regarded as one of the loftiest
in the world. He was accompanied by the botanist and gunner of the
Resolution, and by a number of natives, some as guides, others to carry
the baggage. Admonished by the snows which glittered in dazzling
pinnacles on the summit of Mouna Roa, they provided themselves with
additional clothing to guard against the effects of a sudden transition
from the heat of a tropical sun to intense cold. Their road during the
first part of the journey lay through enclosed plantations of sweet
potatoes, with a soil of lava, tilled in some places with difficulty.
Here and there, in moist situations, were small patches of sugar-cane;
and these, as they proceeded, were followed by open plantations of
bread-fruit trees. The land now began to ascend abruptly, and was
thickly covered with wild fern. About sunset they arrived on the skirts
of the woods, which stretched round the mountain like a belt, at the
uniform distance of four or five miles from the shore. Here they found
an uninhabited hut, in which they passed the night.
Next morning, on entering the forests, they found there had been heavy
rain during the night, though none of it had reached them at the
distance of about two hundred yards. They traversed the woods by a
compass, keeping in a direct line for the peak; and, finding a beaten
track nearly in their course, were enabled on the second day to advance
about fifteen miles. At night they rested under the shelter of a fallen
tree, and early next morning recommenced their journey. It was soon
discovered, however, that the difficulties they had hitherto encountered
were ease itself compared with those against which they were now to
contend. To persons unaccustomed as they were to walk, a journey of so
great a length would, under any circumstances, have been a grievous
task. But they were impeded in their movements by heavy burdens; their
path was steep, broken, and rugged; and the farther they proceeded the
more dense and impenetrable did the thickets become. At length, it
became evident that the enterprise must be abandoned; and with those
unpleasant feelings which accompany baffled ambition, they returned by
the way they had gone to the ships.
In less than a fortnight after their arrival at Hawaii, the discoverers,
by their impolitic, or rather insolent behaviour, had contrived to
irritate the savage natives almost to desperation. They saw themselves
and, what perhaps was more galling, their gods treated with silent
contempt or open scorn; while their wives and daughters were
contaminated by the brutal lusts of the sailors. How far these
circumstances were within the control of Captain Cook, or, in other
words, to what degree of blame he is liable for what took place, it is
not our present business to inquire. But assuredly, unless we choose
wholly to reject the testimony of Ledyard, our great navigator seems,
during the last few days of his life, to have been urged by a kind of
fatality into the commission of actions highly despotic and
unjustifiable in themselves, and, under the circumstances in which they
were performed, little short of insane. The mere idea of converting the
fence and idols of the morai—objects sacred to them, however
contemptible in our eyes—into firewood, argues a reprehensible disregard
of the feelings of the natives. His offer of two hatchets to the priest
in payment reminds one of Captain Clapperton’s promise of a couple of
guns, a few flasks of powder, and some rockets to Sultan Bello, as the
price of his _putting down_ the slave trade. But when the priest refused
the proffered payment, not so much on account of its preposterous
inadequacy,—of which, however, savage as he was, he must have been fully
sensible,—because in his eyes no price was an equivalent for articles to
destroy which would be sacrilege, to proceed with a strong hand in the
work of destruction, profaning the spot which contained the ashes of
their ancestors, and throwing down and bearing away the images of their
gods;—this was an outrage which the tamest and most enslaved race would
have found it difficult to endure.
However, force was triumphant; but from that moment the souls of the
natives were on fire, and revenge was determined on. A relation of the
various incidents and small events by which the tragic action moved
onwards to its completion would be incompatible with my present design.
Captain Cook, accompanied by an armed force, in which Ledyard was
included, went on shore for the purpose of making the king a prisoner,
and of keeping him in confinement on board, until certain articles
stolen by his subjects should be restored. The savages, with a boldness
worthy of admiration, opposed his designs, and compelled him to retreat
towards his boats. Here, as the marines were endeavouring to embark, a
contest took place; stones were thrown by the natives; the English flew
to their firearms; and a chief, rushing on with an iron dagger in his
hand, stabbed Cook through the body. His guards, likewise, were all cut
off excepting two, who escaped by swimming. The cannon of the Resolution
were now fired at the crowd, and this produced an almost instantaneous
retreat; though the savages, mindful even in the midst of danger of the
gratification of their appetite, took care to carry along with them the
bodies of their fallen enemies, in order, by feasting upon them at their
leisure, to derive some trifling comfort from their disaster.
The business now was to retire as quickly as possible from the island,
which they did; and having again entered Behring’s Strait, and sailed
about for some time among the ices of the Polar Sea, they returned by
way of China and the Cape of Good Hope to England, after an absence of
four years and three months.
In 1782 Ledyard sailed on board an English man-of-war for America, not
with a design to serve against his country, but determined on seizing
the first occasion of escape which should offer itself. An opportunity
soon occurred. On arriving at Long Island, then in the possession of the
English, he obtained permission of seven days’ absence from the ship,
for the purpose of seeing his mother, who then kept a boarding-house at
Southold, occupied chiefly by British officers. “He rode up to the door,
alighted, went in, and asked if he could be accommodated in her house as
a lodger. She replied that he could, and showed him a room into which
his baggage was conveyed. After having adjusted his dress he came out,
and took a seat by the fire, in company with several other officers,
without making himself known to his mother, or entering into
conversation with any person. She frequently passed and repassed through
the room, and her eye was observed to be attracted towards him with more
than usual attention. He still remained silent. At last, after looking
at him steadily for some minutes, she deliberately put on her
spectacles, approached nearer to him, begging his pardon for her
rudeness, and telling him that he so much resembled a son of hers who
had been absent eight years, that she could not resist her inclination
to view him more closely. The scene that followed may be imagined, but
not described; for Ledyard had a tender heart, and affection for his
mother was among its deepest and most constant emotions.”
He now visited his old friends and many of the places which youthful
recollections rendered dear to him. He was everywhere well received, and
employed the leisure which he now enjoyed for several months in writing
an account of his voyage round the world with Captain Cook. But when
this was done, many motives, among which want of money was not the
least, urged him to enter upon some new plan of life. His favourite
project at this time, and indeed throughout the remainder of his life,
was a voyage of commerce and discovery to the north-western coast of
America; and during the remainder of his stay in his native country he
made numerous efforts to obtain wealthy co-operators in his design.
Being constantly disappointed, however, he once more turned his thoughts
towards Europe, where the spirit of speculation was bolder and more
liberal, and proceeded to France. Here his projects were eagerly
patronised, and as easily abandoned; and during a long stay both at
L’Orient and Paris he subsisted by shifts and expedients, associating by
turns with every variety of character, from Jefferson down to Paul
Jones.
How he existed at all, unless upon the bounty of his friends, is
altogether inexplicable. He was now reduced to the character of a mere
adventurer, and his life during this period affords no incidents worthy
of being described. An Englishman, who had given him fifteen guineas at
St. Germain, shortly afterward invited him to London, and procured him a
passage in a ship bound for the Pacific Ocean, with a promise from the
captain that he would set him on shore upon any point of the north-west
coast which he might choose. He now once more appeared to be verging
towards the accomplishment of his dearest wishes. He embarked; the
vessel sailed down the Thames, and put out to sea; but before they were
out of sight of land the ship was brought back by an order from the
government, and the voyage was finally abandoned.
Ledyard’s enthusiasm, however, in the prosecution of his designs, though
it is probable that few could perceive the advantages to be derived from
their accomplishment, procured him many friends in London; and it is
said that a subscription was set on foot by Sir Joseph Banks, Dr.
Hunter, Sir James Hall, and Colonel Smith. From the result of this
measure we must inevitably infer one of two things,—either that the
liberality of those gentlemen was exceedingly scanty, or that their
opinion of Ledyard’s prudence was very low. From several circumstances
which afterward took place the latter is the more probable inference. Be
this as it may, we find him, on his arrival at Hamburgh, with no more
than ten guineas in his pocket; and these, with reckless and
unpardonable absurdity, he bestowed upon a Major Langhorn, an eccentric
vagabond, who, after accepting his money and reducing him to beggary,
coolly refused to bear him company on his journey to Petersburg,
alleging as his excuse that he could travel _in the way he did_ with no
man upon earth. What his mode of travelling was I have no means of
ascertaining; but from his conduct in this transaction it may be
inferred, without any great stretch of uncharitableness, that Ledyard
was fortunate in getting rid of such a companion at the expense of all
he was worth in the world. The man who is insensible of a generous
action could be no desirable companion in any circumstances of life; but
to be linked with such an individual in traversing a foreign land would
have been a curse which few who have not experienced a similar calamity
can conceive.
Having at the same time bade adieu to his money and the graceless major,
he began to experience the effects of his folly; for had he not, by
singular good fortune, found a merchant who consented to accept a bill
on a friend in London, and pay him the amount, his travels must have
terminated where he was. This supply, however, enabled him to pursue his
route.
On arriving at Stockholm, Ledyard found that the Gulf of Bothnia was
neither sufficiently frozen to enable him to cross it upon the ice, nor
yet free enough from ice to be navigable. Under these circumstances he
formed the daring resolution of travelling round the gulf, a distance of
twelve hundred miles, “over trackless snows, in regions thinly peopled,
where the nights are long, and the cold intense,—and all this to gain no
more than fifty miles.” Accordingly, he set out for Tornea, in the depth
of winter, on foot, with little money in his pocket, and no friends to
whom he could apply when his small stock should be exhausted. Of this
part of his travels no account remains. Other travellers who have
visited Tornea in winter, under the most favourable circumstances,
describe in tremendous colours the horrors of the place. “The place,”
says Maupertuis, “on our arrival on the 30th of December, had really a
most frightful aspect. Its little houses were buried to the tops in
snow, which, if there had been any daylight, must have effectually shut
it out. But the snow continually falling, or ready to fall, for the most
part hid the sun the few moments that he might have showed himself at
midday. In the month of January the cold was increased to the extremity,
that Reaumur’s mercurial thermometers, which in Paris, in the great
frost of 1709, it was thought strange to see fall to fourteen degrees
below the freezing point, were now down to thirty-seven. The spirit of
wine in the others was frozen. If we opened the door of a warm room, the
external air instantly converted all the air in it into snow, whirling
it round in white vortices. If we went abroad, we felt as if the air
were tearing our breasts to pieces.”
Such was the country through which Ledyard made his way to Petersburg,
which he reached on the 20th of March, that is, within seven weeks from
his leaving Stockholm, making the distance travelled over about two
hundred miles per week upon an average. Here he was well received by
Professor Pallas and other scientific men; and through the interest of
Count Segur, the French ambassador, obtained the empress’s permission to
traverse her vast dominions. As he was compelled to wait several months,
however, for this indispensable document, and was destitute on his
arrival at Petersburg of money, and almost of clothes, he drew a bill of
twenty guineas on Sir Joseph Banks, which he was fortunate enough to get
some one to discount. This enabled him to await the leisure of
Catharine, who was too deeply plunged in her schemes of debauchery and
ambition to afford a thought on a poor houseless wanderer like Ledyard.
But at length the passport was granted; and a Dr. Brown happening at
that moment to be proceeding with a quantity of stores to Yakutsk for
the use of Mr. Billings, who was then employed by the empress in
exploring the remoter parts of Siberia and Kamtschatka, our traveller
obtained permission to accompany him.
They left Petersburg on the 1st of June, and in six days arrived at
Moscow. Here they hired a kibitka, and proceeded at the same rapid rate
towards Kazan, on the Volga, where they remained a week; and then set
off on the full gallop for Tobolsk. It should be remarked, that
Ledyard’s object in this journey was not to see the country, but to
reach the north-west coast of America, where he hoped to make some
useful discoveries, as quickly as possible; otherwise it would have been
far wiser to have “made his legs his compasses,” at the risk of
consuming years in the journey. In the vast plain which stretches from
Moscow to the Ural Mountains there was, it is true, very little of the
picturesque, and not much of the moral, to captivate the eye or interest
the mind of a traveller; but there is no country the careful examination
of which may not be made to yield both amusement and instruction.
Ledyard, however, was not answerable for the rapidity of his movements;
he accounted himself but too happy in being allowed to share Dr. Brown’s
kibitka; and had it been in the empress’s power to have darted him
across Siberia upon an iceberg, or astride upon a cloud, he would not
have objected to the conveyance.
From Tobolsk they proceeded to Bernaoul, the capital of the province of
Kolyvan, where Dr. Brown’s journey terminated. At this place Ledyard
remained a whole week, and was entertained in a very hospitable manner
by the treasurer of the mines. He observes, that the immense plain he
had traversed in reaching this city was in many places dotted with large
mounds of earth, which very much resembled those supposed monumental
piles found among various tribes of North America, and the barrows or
heroic tombs of ancient Europe. In the people the Tartar features began
to appear before they reached Kazan. But there existed great variety in
the population; the same village containing every variety of mankind,
from those with fair skin, light hair, and white eyes, to those of olive
complexion, and jet-black eyes and hair. Poverty, as may be supposed,
was no stranger in these villages; for they had not, like the Chremylus
of Aristophanes, discovered the secret of restoring sight to Plutus; but
this did not discourage the fair moieties of the peasants from painting
their faces, like a discontented English beauty, both with red and
white. As these damsels are not niggardly of their kisses, it would be
useless for them to adopt the custom which prevailed among the ancient
Greek ladies, of painting the lips; but this, it would seem, is the sole
consideration which opposes the introduction of the custom. “The Tartar,
however situated,” says Ledyard, “is a voluptuary; and it is an original
and striking trait in their character, from the grand seignior to him
who pitches his tent on the wild frontiers of Russia and China, that
they are more addicted to real sensual pleasure than any other people.”
This is a judicious remark, and corroborates the testimony of the
ancient historian, who tells us that the Scythian ladies were accustomed
to put out the eyes of their male slaves, that they might be ignorant of
the name and quality of the mistresses to whose wantonness they were
made subservient.
From Barnaoul he proceeded with an imperial courier to Tomsk,
discovering as he rode along marks of the tremendous winds which
sometimes devastate Siberia. The trees of the forest were uprooted, and
whole fields of grain were beaten into the earth. Hurrying onward in the
same rapid manner, he crossed the Yeïusei at Krasnojarsk, and entered a
rough mountainous country covered with thick forests, which continued
all the way to Irkutsk, where he arrived in ten days after leaving
Tomsk.
During his stay in this town he made an excursion, in company with a
German colonel, to the Lake Baikal, which, in the Kalmuck language,
signifies the “North Sea.” Arriving on the shores of the lake, they
found a galliot, which in summer plies as a packet across the “North
Sea.” In this galliot they went out with line and lead to take
soundings; but having only fifty fathoms of line, which at one hundred
feet from the shore was wholly taken up, they quickly abandoned their
soundings, and returned through the rain in the galliot’s boat to
Irkutsk.
On the 26th of August he quitted Irkutsk, and proceeded towards the
point where he was to embark on the river Lena for Yakutsk. The country
in this part was well cultivated, and therefore cheerful; but the forest
trees had already begun to drop their foliage, and put on the garb of
autumn. Having proceeded one hundred and fifty miles in his kibitka, he
embarked with Lieutenant Laxman, a Swede, in a boat on the Lena, and
commenced a voyage of fourteen hundred miles. Their boat was carried
along at the rate of eighty or a hundred miles per day, “the river
gradually increasing in size, and the mountain scenery putting on an
infinite variety of forms, alternately sublime and picturesque, bold and
fantastic, with craggy rocks and jutting headlands, bearing on their
brows the verdure of pines, larches, and other evergreens, and alpine
shrubs.” All the way to Yakutsk the river was studded with islands,
which, recurring at short intervals, added to the romantic effect of the
scenery; but the weather was growing cold, and heavy fogs hung over the
river until a late hour in the morning. The mountains flanking the river
were said to abound with wolves and bears; and there was an abundance of
wild fowl, of which our travellers shot as many as they pleased.
Salmon-trout was plentiful in the river; and the inhabitants fished with
seines, and also with spears, like the natives of Tahiti, by torchlight.
On the 18th of September he arrived at Yakutsk, where he immediately
waited on the commandant with his letters of recommendation, and
explained his desire of proceeding with all possible celerity to Okotsk,
before winter should shut in and cut off his progress. The commandant,
however, had received secret orders to detain him; and under pretence
that the season was already too far advanced, informed him that he must
pass the winter at Yakutsk. Though nothing could exceed the rage and
vexation of Ledyard at this unexpected disappointment, he was sensible
that it was necessary to submit; the determination of the despots around
him being as irresistible as destiny. He therefore bent his attention to
the consideration of the objects within his reach; and in these
compulsory studies awaited the return of spring.
Of the Russians in general Ledyard’s experience led him to think
unfavourably; but “I have observed,” says he, “among all nations, that
the women ornament themselves more than the men; that, wherever found,
they are the same kind, civil, obliging, humane, tender beings; that
they are ever inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest. They
do not hesitate, like man, to perform a hospitable or generous action;
not haughty, nor arrogant, nor supercilious, but full of courtesy, and
fond of society; industrious, economical, ingenious; more liable in
general to err than man, but in general also more virtuous, and
performing more good actions than he. I never addressed myself in the
language of decency and friendship to a woman, whether civilized or
savage, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man it has
often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of
inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, frozen Lapland, rude and
churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the wide-spread regions of
the wandering Tartar, if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, woman has ever
been friendly to me, and uniformly so; and to add to this virtue, so
worthy of the appellation of benevolence, these actions have been
performed in so free and so kind a manner, that if I was dry I drank the
sweet draught, and if hungry ate the coarse morsel, with a double
relish.” These remarks, to the correctness of which every man worthy of
the name will bear testimony, do honour to the heart no less than to the
ability of our traveller; for many who have been no less indebted,
perhaps, than he to the inexhaustible benevolence of women have repaid
the obligation with satire against the whole sex.
During the winter, Captain Billings, who had formerly been
assistant-astronomer in Cook’s expedition, but was now in the Russian
service, arrived at Yakutsk. He was surprised to meet Ledyard in the
heart of Siberia; but having a disinclination to connect himself with
any person not favoured by fortune, evinced no disposition to be of the
least service to him. It has even been suspected, and not altogether
without probability, that Billings had some share in bringing about the
unfortunate catastrophe which terminated Ledyard’s travels in Siberia.
However, previous to this event, he invited his old shipmate to
accompany him to Irkutsk, whither they proceeded up the frozen Lena upon
sledges. Here, soon after their arrival, Ledyard was arrested as a
French spy, placed in a kibitka with two hussars, and hurried back with
incredible speed to the frontiers of Poland, where he was dismissed,
with the strictest injunctions never again to enter the dominions of
Russia. It would now be idle to inquire into the motives which urged the
old profligate she-despot into the commission of this act of flagrant
injustice. She had no doubt been told (Dr. Clarke suspects by Billings)
that his success might be some way or another detrimental to the
interests of her commerce; and, without consideration or inquiry,
perhaps in some furious fit of rage or drunkenness, she issued the order
for his recall, which was executed with no less barbarity than it was
issued.
How the poor victim found his way from Poland to London Heaven only
knows. His sufferings, he says, were too great to be disclosed. However,
he had scarcely reached London before a proposal was made to him to
travel for the African Association, which, wretched as he was, he was
but too happy to accept. The object of his mission, like that of many
other brave and adventurous men who have perished in the same track, was
to explore the centre of Africa from Sennaar westward, “in the latitude
and supposed direction of the Niger.” For this purpose he proceeded to
Egypt; but having ascended the Nile to Cairo, and made every necessary
preparation for travelling with a caravan to Sennaar, he was suddenly
attacked by a bilious disorder, and was poisoned by the vitriolic acid
which he took as a remedy, in the month of November, 1788.
Mr. Beaufoy, secretary to the African Association, who had several
opportunities of conversing with Ledyard while he was in London
preparing for his travels in Africa, has drawn the following character
of him, which, to those who consider the scantiness of his means and the
boldness of his designs, will not appear exaggerated:—“To those who have
never seen Mr. Ledyard, it may not, perhaps,” says he, “be uninteresting
to know, that his person, though scarcely exceeding the middle size, was
remarkably expressive of activity and strength; and that his manners,
though unpolished, were neither uncivil nor unpleasing. Little attentive
to difference of rank, he seemed to consider all men as his equals, and
as such he respected them. His genius, though uncultivated and
irregular, was original and comprehensive. Ardent in his wishes, yet
calm in his deliberations; daring in his purposes, but guarded in his
measures; impatient of control, yet capable of strong endurance;
adventurous beyond the conception of ordinary men, yet wary, and
considerate, and attentive to all precautions;—he appeared to be formed
by nature for achievements of hardihood and peril.”
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