France becoming jealous of the renown acquired by the English
circumnavigators, determined to send out an expedition, which, in its
scientific equipments, should vie with them in every respect. Two
ships were appointed to this service, the Boussole and Astrolabe, the
former commanded by La Perouse, the latter by M. de Langle, both
captains in the navy, and men of considerable attainments, besides
being assisted by men of science and artists. The voyage is
interesting as far as it goes; but, unfortunately, the ships, after
quitting Botany Bay, in 1788, have never since been heard of, to the
regret of all lovers of science and humanity, on account not only of
the acquirements but amiable character of the commanders.
On the first of August, 1785, they quitted Brest, and, on the 13th,
reached Madeira; they saw Teneriffe on the 19th, and on the 16th of
October, the island of Trinidada, barren, rocky, and with a violent
surf breaking on the shores, where refreshments not being obtainable,
the commander steered for St. Catharine’s on the Brazil coast.
This island is extremely fertile, producing all sorts of fruit,
vegetables, and corn, almost spontaneously. It is covered with trees
of everlasting green, but they are so curiously interwoven with plants
and briars, that it is impossible to pass through the forests without
opening a path with a hatchet; to add to the difficulty, danger is
also to be apprehended from snakes whose bite is mortal. The
habitations are bordering on the sea. The woods are delightfully
fragrant, occasioned by the orange-trees, and other odoriferous plants
and shrubs, which form a part of them.
On the 14th of January the navigators struck ground on the coast of
Patagonia. On the 25th, La Perouse took bearings a league to the
southward of Cape San Diego forming the west point of the straits of
Lemaire. On the 9th of February, he was abreast of the straits of
Magellan. Examining the quantity of provisions he had on board, La
Perouse discovered he had very little flour and bread left in store;
having been obliged to leave a hundred barrels at Brest. The worms had
also taken possession of the biscuits, and consumed or rendered
useless a fifth part of them. Under these circumstances, La Perouse
preferred Conception to the island of Juan Fernandez. The Bay of
Conception in Chili is a most excellent harbor; the water is smooth,
and almost without any current, though the tide rises six feet three
inches.
At daybreak, on the 15th of March, La Perouse made the signal to
prepare to sail. On the 17th, about noon, a light breeze sprung up,
with which he got under way. On the 8th of April, about noon, they saw
Easter Island. The Indians were alarmed, except a few who had a kind
of slight wooden club. Some of them assumed an apparent superiority
over the others, which induced La Perouse to consider the former as
chiefs, but he soon discovered that these selected persons were the
most notorious offenders. Having but a few hours to remain upon the
island, and wishing to employ his time to the best advantage, La
Perouse left the care of the tent, and other particulars, to his first
lieutenant M. d’Escures. A division was then made of the persons
engaged in the Adventure; one part, under the command of M. de Langle,
was to penetrate into the interior of the island to encourage and
promote vegetation, by disseminating seed, etc., in a proper soil; and
the other division undertook to visit the monuments, plantations, and
habitations, within the compass of a league of the establishment. The
largest of the rude busts upon one of the terraces is fourteen feet
six inches in height, and the breadth and other particulars appeared
to be proportionate.
Returning about noon to the tent, La Perouse found almost every man
without hat or handkerchief; so much had forbearance encouraged the
audacity of the thieves, that he also experienced a similar
depredation. An Indian, who had assisted him in descending from a
terrace, rewarded himself for his trouble by taking away his hat. Some
of them had dived under water, cut the small cable of the Astrolabe’s
boat, and taken away her grapnel. A sort of chief, to whom M. de
Langle made a present of a male and female goat, received the animals
with one hand, and robbed him of his handkerchief with the other.
On the 28th of May, they saw the mountains of Owhyhee, covered with
snow, and afterwards those of Mowee, which are less elevated. About
one hundred and fifty canoes were seen putting off from the shore,
laden with fruit and hogs, which the Indians proposed to exchange for
pieces of iron of the French navigators. Most of them came on board of
one or the other of the vessels, but they proceeded so fast through
the water that they filled along-side. The Indians were obliged to
quit the ropes thrown them, and leaping into the sea, swam after their
hogs, when taking them in their arms, they emptied their canoes of the
water, and resumed their seats.
After having visited a village, M. de Langle gave orders that six
soldiers, with a sergeant, should accompany him: the others were left
upon the beach, under the command of M. de Pierrevert, the lieutenant;
to them was committed the protection of the ship’s boats, from which
not a single sailor had landed. The party reëmbarked at eleven o’clock
in very good order, and arrived on board about noon, where M. de
Clonard had received a visit from a chief, of whom he had purchased a
cloak, and a helmet adorned with red feathers; he had also purchased a
hundred hogs, a quantity of potatoes and bananas, plenty of stuffs,
mats, and various other articles. On their arrival on board, the two
frigates dragged their anchors; it blew fresh from the south-east, and
they were driving down upon the island of Morokinne, which was,
however, at a sufficient distance to give them time to hoist in their
boats. La Perouse made the signal for weighing, but before they could
purchase the anchor, he was obliged to make sail, and drag it till he
had passed Morokinne, to hinder him from driving past the channel.
A fair wind accompanied the navigators on their departure from the
Sandwich Islands. Whales and wild geese convinced them that they were
approaching land. Early in the morning of the 23d they descried it; a
sudden dispersion of the fog opened to them the view of a long chain
of mountains covered with snow. They distinguished Behring’s Mount St.
Elias, on the north-west coast of America. Having taken in as much
wood and water as was required, the navigators esteemed themselves the
most fortunate of men, in having arrived at such a distance from
Europe without having a sick person among them, or any one afflicted
with the scurvy; but a lamentable misfortune now awaited them. At the
entrance of this harbor perished twenty brave seamen, in two boats, by
the surf. On the 30th of July, at four in the afternoon, La Perouse
got under way. This bay or harbor, to which he gave the name of Port
des Français, is situated in 58 deg. 37 min. north latitude, and 139
deg. 50 min. west longitude. In different excursions, he says, he
found the high-water mark to be fifteen feet above the surface of the
sea. The climate of this coast is infinitely milder than that of
Hudson’s Bay, in the same degree of latitude. Pines were seen of six
feet in diameter, and one hundred and forty feet in height. Vegetation
is vigorous during three or four months of the year. The men wear
different small ornaments, pendant from the ears and nose, scarify
their arms and breasts, and file their teeth close to their gums,
using, for the last operation, a sand-stone, formed into a particular
shape. They paint the face and body with soot, ochre, and plumbago,
mixed with train-oil, making themselves most horrid figures. When
completely dressed, their flowing hair is powdered, and plaited with
the down of sea-birds; but, perhaps, only the chiefs of certain
distinguished families are thus decorated. Their shoulders are covered
with a skin, and on the head, is generally worn a little straw hat,
plaited with great taste and ingenuity. Sometimes, indeed, the head is
decorated with two horned bonnets of eagles’ feathers. Their
head-dresses are extremely various, the grand object in view being
only to render themselves terrible, that they may keep their enemies
in awe. Some Indians have skirts of otters’ skins. A great chief wore
a skirt composed of a tanned skin of the elk, bordered by a fringe of
beaks of birds, which, when dancing, imitated the noise of a bell; a
common dress among the savages of Canada, and other nations in the
eastern parts of America. The passion of these Indians for gaming is
astonishing, and they pursue it with great avidity. The sort of play
to which they are most devoted, is a certain game of chance; out of
thirty pieces of wood, each distinctly marked like the French dice,
they hide seven: each plays in succession, and he who guesses nearest
to the whole number marked upon the seven is the winner of the stake,
which is usually a hatchet or a piece of iron.
At length, after a very long run, on the 11th of September, at three
in the afternoon, the navigators got sight of Fort Monterey, and two
three-masted vessels which lay in the road. The commander of these two
ships having been informed, by the viceroy of Mexico, of the probable
arrival of the two French frigates, sent them pilots in the course of
the night. Loretto, the only presidency of Old California, is situated
on the east coast of this peninsula and has a garrison of fifty-four
troopers, who furnish detachments to fifteen missions; the duties of
which are performed by Dominican friars. About four thousand Indians,
converted and residing in these fifteen parishes, are the sole produce
of the long labors of the different religious orders which have
succeeded each other. A small navy was established by the Spanish
government in this port, under the orders of the viceroy of Mexico,
consisting of four corvettes of twelve guns, and one goletta. They are
destined to supply with necessaries the presidencies of North
California; and they are sometimes despatched as packet-boats to
Manilla, when the orders of the court require the utmost expedition.
The company were received with all possible politeness and respect;
the president of the missions, in his sacerdotal vestment, with the
holy water in hand, waited to receive them at the entrance of the
church, which was splendidly illuminated as on their highest
festivals: he then conducted them to the foot of the high altar, where
_Te Deum_ was sung in thanksgivings for their arrival. Before they
entered the church they passed a range of Indians: the parish church,
though covered with straw, is neat, and decorated with paintings,
copied from Italian originals. The Indians, as well as the
missionaries, rise with the sun, and devote an hour to prayers and
mass, during which time a species of boiled food is prepared for them:
it consists of barley meal, the grain of which has been roasted
previous to its being boiled. It is cooked in the centre of the
square, in three large kettles. This repast is called _atole_ by the
Indians, who consider it as delicious: it is destitute of salt and
butter, and must consequently be insipid. The women have little more
to attend to than their housewifery, their children, and the roasting
and grinding of several grains: the latter operation is long and
laborious, as they employ no other means than that of crushing it in
pieces with a cylinder upon a stone.
The Indians of the _rancheries_, or independent villages, are
accustomed to paint their bodies red and black, when they are in
mourning; but the missionaries have prohibited the former, though they
tolerate the latter, these people being singularly attached to their
friends. The ties of family are less regarded among them than those of
friendship: the children show no filial respect to the father, having
been obliged to quit his cabin as soon as they were able to procure
their own subsistence.
[Illustration: CALIFORNIA.]
[Illustration: RANCHE.]
[Illustration: POST OFFICE, SOFULA, TURON RIVER.]
[Illustration: RIVER-BED CLAIM ON THE TURON.]
[Illustration: REMOVING GOODS.]
[Illustration]
A Spanish commissary at Monterey, named M. Vincent Vassadre y Vega,
brought orders to the governor to collect all the otter-skins of his
missions and presidencies, government having reserved to itself the
exclusive commerce of them; and M. Fages assured La Perouse that he
could annually furnish twenty thousand of them. The Spaniards were
ignorant of the importance of this valuable peltry till the
publication of the voyages of Captain Cook; that excellent man has
navigated for the general benefit of every nation; his own enjoys only
the glory of the enterprise, and that of having given him birth.
New California, though extremely fertile, cannot boast of having a
single settler; a few soldiers, married to Indian women, who dwell in
the forts, or who are dispersed among the different missions,
constituting the whole Spanish nation in this district of America. The
Franciscan missionaries are principally Europeans; they have a convent
in Mexico.
On the evening of the 22d every thing was on board, and leave had been
taken of the governor and missionaries. On the morning of the 24th
they sailed. On the 3d of November the frigates were surrounded with
noddies, terns, and man-of-war birds; and on the 4th they made an
island which bore west. This small island is little more than a rock
of about five hundred toises in length. La Perouse named it Isle
Necker. About an hour past one in the morning La Perouse saw breakers
at two cables’ length ahead of the ship; the sea being so smooth, the
sound of them was hardly heard; the Astrolabe perceived them at the
same time, though at a greater distance than the Boussole; both
frigates instantly hauled, with their heads to the south-east; La
Perouse gave orders for sounding; they had nine fathoms rocky bottom;
soon after ten and twelve fathoms, and in a quarter of an hour got no
ground with sixty fathoms. They just escaped the most imminent danger
to which navigators can be exposed.
The island of Assumption, to which the Jesuits have attributed six
leagues of circumference, from the angles now taken, was reduced to
half, and the highest point is about two hundred toises above the
level of the sea. A more horrid place cannot be conceived. It was a
perfect cone, as black as a coal, and very mortifying to behold, after
having enjoyed, in imagination, the cocoa-nuts and turtles expected to
be found in some one of the Marianne Islands. Having determined the
position, he continued his course towards China; and on the 1st of
January 1787, found bottom in sixty fathoms; a number of fishing-boats
surrounded him the next day. On the 2d of January our navigators made
the White Rock. In the evening they anchored to the north-ward of
Ling-sing Island, and the following day in Macao Road. Macao, situated
at the mouth of the Tigris, is capable of receiving a sixty-four
gun-ship into its road, at the entrance of the Typa; and in its port,
below the city, ships of seven hundred tons half laden.
The climate of the road of Typa is, at this season of the year,
precarious; most of the crews were afflicted with colds, accompanied
with a fever; which yielded to the salutary temperature of the island
of Luconia, when they approached it on the 15th of February. Wanting
wood, which he knew was dear at Manilla, La Perouse came to a
resolution of remaining twenty-four hours at Marivella to procure
some, and early the next morning all the carpenters of the two
frigates were sent on shore with the long boats; the rest of the
ship’s company, with the yawl, were reserved for a fishing-party; but
they were unsuccessful, as they found nothing but rocks and very
shallow water.
On the 28th the navigators came to an anchor in the port of Cavite, in
three fathoms, at two cables’ length from the town. Cavite, situated
three leagues to the south-west of Manilla, was formely a place of
importance. Manilla is erected on the Bay which also bears its name,
and lies at the mouth of a river, being one of the finest situations
in the world: all the necessaries of life may be procured there in
abundance, and on reasonable terms; but the cloths, and other
manufactures of Europe, are extravagantly dear. La Perouse confidently
asserts, that a great nation, without any other colony than the
Philippines, which would establish a proper government there, might
view all the European settlements in Africa and America without envy
or regret. These islands contain about 3,000,000 of inhabitants, and
that of Luconia consists of about a third of them. These people seem
not inferior to Europeans; they cultivate the land with skill, and
among them have ingenious goldsmiths, carpenters, joiners, masons,
blacksmiths, etc. La Perouse says he has visited them at their
villages, and found them affable, hospitable, and honest.
On the 9th of April, according to the French reckoning, and the 10th
as the Manillese reckon, our navigators sailed and got to the
northward of the island of Luconia. On the 21st they made the island
of Formosa; and experienced, in the channel which divides it from that
of Luconia, some very violent currents. On the 22d they set Lamy
Island, at the south-west point of Formosa, about three leagues
distant. The tack they then stood on conveyed them upon the coast of
Formosa, near the entrance of the bay of Old Fort Zealand, where the
city of Taywan, the capital of that island, is seated.
The whole of the next day a dead calm occurred, in mid channel,
between the Bashee Islands, and those of Botol Tabacoxima. It is
probable that vessels might provide themselves in this island with
provision, wood, and water. La Perouse preserved the name of Kumi
Island, which Father Gambil gives it in his chart. In the night of the
25th our navigators passed the strait of Corea, sounding very
frequently, and as this coast appeared more eligible to follow than
that of Japan, they approached within two leagues of it, and shaped a
course parallel to its direction. On the 27th they made the signal to
bear up, and steer east, and soon perceived, in the north-north-east,
an Island not laid down upon any chart, at the distance of about
twenty leagues from the coast of Corea. He named it Isle Dagelet, from
the name of the astronomer who first discovered it. The circumference
is about three leagues.
On the 30th of May, La Perouse shaped his course east towards Japan,
and on the 2d of June saw two Japanese vessels, one of which passed
within hail of him. It had a crew of twenty men, all habited in blue
cassocks. This vessel was about one hundred tons burden, and had a
single high mast stepped in the middle. The Astrolabe hailed her as
she passed, but neither the question nor the answer was comprehended.
At different times of the day seven Chinese vessels of a smaller
construction were seen, which were better calculated to encounter bad
weather.
During the seventy-five days since our navigators sailed from Manilla,
they had run along the coasts of Quelpert Island, Corea, and Japan;
but as these countries were inhabited by people inhospitable to
strangers, they did not attempt to visit them. They were extremely
impatient to reconnoitre this land, and it was the only part of the
globe which had escaped the activity of Captain Cook. The geographers
who had drawn the strait of Tessoy erroneously determined the limits
of Jesso, of the Company’s land, and of Staten Island; it, therefore,
became necessary to terminate the ancient discussions by indisputable
facts. The latitude of Baie de Ternai was the same as that of Port
Acqueis, though the description of it is very different. The plants
which France produces carpeted the whole of this soil. Roses, lilies,
and all European meadow-flowers were beheld at every step. Pine-trees
embellished the tops of the mountains; and oaks, gradually diminishing
in strength and size towards the sea, adorned the less elevated parts.
Traces of men were frequently perceived by the havoc they had made. By
these, and many other corroborating circumstances, the navigators were
clearly of opinion, that the Tartars approach the borders of the sea,
when invited thither by the season for fishing and hunting; that they
assemble for these purposes along the rivers, and that the mass of
people reside in the interior of the country, to attend to the
multiplication of their flocks and herds. M. de Lange, with several
other officers who had a passion for hunting, endeavored to pursue
their sport, but without success, yet they imagined that by silence,
perseverance, and posting themselves in ambush in the passes of the
stags and bears, they might be able to procure some of them. This plan
was determined on for the next day, but, with all their address and
management it proved abortive. It was therefore generally acknowledged
that fishing presented the greatest prospect of success. Each of the
five creeks in the Baie de Ternai afforded a proper place for hauling
the seine, and was rendered more convenient by a rivulet, near which
they established their kitchen. They caught plenty of trout, salmon,
cod-fish, harp-fish, plaice, and herrings.
At eight in the morning of the 7th, he made an island which seemed of
great extent; he supposed, at first, that this was Segalien Island,
the south part of which some geographers had placed two degrees too
far to the northward. The aspect of this land was extremely different
from that of Tartary; nothing was to be seen but barren rocks, the
cavities of which retained the snow. To the highest of the mountains
La Perouse gave the appellation of Peak Lamanon. M. de Lange, who had
come to anchor, came instantly on board his ship, having already
hoisted out his long boat and small boats. He submitted to La Perouse
whether it would not be proper to land before night, in order to
reconnoitre the country, and gather some necessary information from
the inhabitants. By the assistance of their glasses, they perceived
some cabins, and two of the islanders hastening towards the woods.
Our navigators were successful in making the natives comprehend that
they requested a description of their country, and that of the
Mantchous; one of the old sages rose up, and, with great perspicuity
pointed out the most essential and interesting particulars with the
end of his staff. His sagacity in guessing the meaning of the
questions proposed to him was astonishing, though, in this particular,
he was surpassed by another islander of about thirty years of age. The
last-mentioned native informed our navigators that they had a
commercial intercourse with the people who inhabit the banks of
Segalien river, and he distinctly marked, by strokes of a pencil, the
number of days it required for a canoe to sail up the river to the
respective places of their general traffic. The bay in which they lay
at anchor was named Baie de Langle, as Captain de Langle was the first
who discovered it, and first landed on its shore. They spent the
remainder of the day in visiting the country and its inhabitants. They
were surprised to find among a people composed of hunters and
fishermen, who were strangers to the cultivation of the earth, and
without flocks or herds, such gentle manners, and such a superiority
of intellect. The attention of the inhabitants of the Baie de Langle
was attracted by the arts and manufactures of the French, they
judiciously examined them, and debated among themselves the manner of
fabricating the several articles. They were not unacquainted with the
weaver’s shuttle. A loom of their construction was carried to France,
by which it appeared that their methods of making linens was similar
to that of the Europeans; but the thread of it is formed of the bark
of the willow-tree. Though they do not cultivate the soil, they
convert the spontaneous produce of it to the most useful and necessary
purposes.
At daybreak, on the 4th of July, La Perouse made the signal for
getting under way; early on the 19th, he saw the land of an island
from north-east-by-north, as far as east-south-east, but so thick a
fog prevailed that none of the points could be particularly
discovered. The bay, which is the best in which he had anchored since
his departure from Manilla, he named Baie d. Estaing. M. de Langle,
who first landed in the island, found the islanders assembled round
three or four canoes, laden with smoked fish: he was there informed
that the men who composed the crews of the canoes were Mantchous, and
had quitted the banks of the Segalien river to become purchasers of
these fish. In the corner of the island, within a kind of circus
planted with stakes, each surmounted with the head of a bear, the
bones of animals lay scattered. As these people use no firearms, but
engage the bears in close combat, their arrows being only capable of
wounding them, this circus might probably be intended to perpetuate
the memory of certain great exploits. Having entertained conjectures
relative to the proximity of the Coast of Tartarty, La Perouse at
length discovered that his conjectures were well-founded; for when the
horizon became a little more extensive, he saw it perfectly. In the
evening of the 22d he came to anchor in thirty-seven fathoms, about a
league from land. He was then abreast of a small river, to the
northward of which he saw a remarkable peak; its base is on the shore,
and its summit on all sides preserves a regular form. La Perouse
bestowed on it the title of Peak la Martiniere.
On the 28th, in the evening, our navigators were at the opening of a
bay which presented a safe and convenient anchorage. M. de Langle
reported to La Perouse that there was excellent shelter behind four
islands; he had landed at a village of Tartars, where he was kindly
received, and where he discovered a watering place abounding with the
most limpid element. From M. de Langle’s report, La Perouse gave
orders to prepare for anchoring in the bottom of the bay, which was
named Baie de Castris.
In this bay the French navigators first discovered the use of the
circle of lead or bone, which these people, and the inhabitants of
Segalien Island, wear on the thumb like a ring; it greatly assists
them in cutting and stripping the salmon with a knife, which is always
hanging to their girdle. Their village was built upon low marshy land,
which must doubtless be uninhabitable during the winter, but on the
opposite side of the gulf, another village appeared on a more elevated
situation. It was seated at the entrance of a wood, and contained
eight cabins, larger and better constructed than the first. Not far
from these cabins, they visited three yourts, or subterranean houses.
They were sufficiently capacious to accommodate the inhabitants of the
whole eight cabins during the severity of the inclement season. On the
borders of this village several tombs presented themselves, which were
larger and more ingeniously fabricated than the houses; each of them
contained three, four, or five biers, decorated with Chinese stuffs,
some pieces of which were brocade. Bows, arrows, and the other most
esteemed articles of these people, were suspended in the interior of
these monuments, the wooden door of which was closed by a bar,
supported at each end by a prop.
The women are wrapped in a large robe of nankeen, or salmon’s skin,
curiously tanned, descending as low as the ankle-bone, sometimes
embellished with a border of fringe manufactured of copper, and
producing sounds like those of little bells. Those salmon which
furnish a covering for the fair, weigh thirty or forty pounds, and are
never caught in summer; those which were taken by the French visiters
did not exceed three or four pounds in weight; but that disadvantage
was fully compensated by the extraordinary number, and the extreme
delicacy of their flavor.
On the 2d of August, La Perouse sailed with a light breeze. On the
19th Cape Troun was perceived to the southward, and Cape Uries to the
south-east-by-east; its proper direction, according to the Dutch
chart: their situation could not possibly have been determined with
more precision by modern navigators. In the evening of the 6th, they
made the entrance of Avatcha Bay, or St. Peter and St. Paul. The
light-house, erected by the Russians on the east point of the
entrance, was not kindled during the night; as an excuse for which the
governor declared the next day, that all their efforts to keep it
burning had been ineffectual; the wind had constantly extinguished the
flame, which was only sheltered by four planks of wood very
indifferently cemented.
The government of Kamtschatka had been materially changed since the
departure of the English, and was now only a dependency of that of
Ochotsk. These particulars were communicated to our navigators by
lieutenant Kaborof, governor of the harbor of Saint Peter and Saint
Paul, having a sergeant and forty soldiers under his command. M. de
Lessops, who acted as interpreter, and who perfectly understood the
Russian language, wrote a letter, in La Perouse’s name, to the
governor of Ochotsk, to whom La Perouse also wrote in French himself.
He told him that the narrative of Cook’s last voyage had spread abroad
the fame of the hospitality of the Kamtschadale government; and he
flattered himself that he should be as favorably received as the
English navigators, as his voyage, like theirs, was intended for the
benefit of all maritime nations.
The Kamtschadales are of an imitative genius, and fond of adopting the
customs of their conquerors. They have already abandoned the yourts,
in which they were formerly accustomed to burrow like badgers,
breathing foul air during the whole of the winter. The most opulent
among them now build isbas, or wooden houses, like those of the
Russians: they are divided into three small rooms, and are
conveniently warmed by a brick stove. The inferior people pass their
winters and summers in balagans, resembling wooden pigeon-houses,
covered with thatch, and placed upon the tops of posts twelve or
thirteen feet high, to which the women, as well as men, find a ladder
necessary for their ascension. But these latter buildings will
probably soon disappear; for the Kamtschadales imitate the manners and
dresses of the Russians. It is curious to see in their little
cottages, a quantity of cash in circulation; and it may be considered
as a still greater curiosity, because the practice exists among so
small a number of inhabitants. Their consumption of the commodities of
Russia and China are so few, that the balance of trade is entirely in
their favor, in consequence of which it is necessary to pay them the
difference in roubles. The Kamtschadales, says La Perouse, appeared to
me to be the same people as those of the Bay of Castries, on the coast
of Tartary; they are equally remarkable for their mildness and their
probity, and their persons are not very dissimilar.
The approach of winter now warned our navigators to depart; the
ground, which, on their arrival on the 7th of September, was adorned
with the most beautiful verdure, was as yellow and parched up on the
25th of the same month, as in the environs of Paris at the conclusion
of December. La Perouse therefore gave preparatory orders for their
departure, and, on the 29th, got under way. M. Kasloff came to take a
final leave of him, and dined on board. He accompanied him on shore,
with M. de Langle, and several officers, and was liberally entertained
with a good supper, and a ball.
Induced by a western gale, La Perouse attempted to reach the parallel
of Bougainville’s Navigator’s Islands, a discovery due to the French,
where fresh provision might probably be procured. On the 6th of
December, at three in the afternoon, he saw the most easterly island
of that Archipelago, and stood on and off during the rest of the
evening and night. Meaning to anchor if he met with a proper place, La
Perouse passed through the channel between the great and the little
islands that Bougainville left to the south; though hardly a league
wide, it appeared perfectly free from danger. He saw no canoes until
he was in the channel, yet he beheld several habitations on the
windward side of the island, and a group of Indians sitting under the
shade of cocoa nut trees, who seemed delighted with the prospect
afforded by the frigates.
At break of day they were surprised not to see land to the leeward;
nor was it to be discovered till six o’clock next morning. Charmed
with the beautiful dawn of the following morning, La Perouse resolved
to reconnoitre the country, take a view of the inhabitants at their
own homes, fill water, and immediately get under way; prudence warning
him against passing a second night at that anchorage, which M. de
Langle also thought too dangerous for a longer stay. It was therefore
agreed on to sail in the afternoon, after appropriating the morning in
exchanging baubles for hogs and fruit. At the dawn of day the
islanders had surrounded the two frigates, with two hundred different
canoes laden with provision, which they would only exchange for beads,
axes, and cloth; other articles of traffic, were treated by them with
contempt. While a part of the crew was occupied in keeping them in
order, and dealing, the rest were despatching empty casks on shore to
be replenished with water. Two boats of the Boussole, armed, and
commanded by Messrs. de Clonard and Colinet, and those of the
Astrolabe, commanded by Messrs. de Monti and Bellegarde, set off with
that view at five in the morning, for a bay at the distance of about a
league. La Perouse followed close after Messrs. Clonard and Monti, in
his pinnace, and landed when they did. It unfortunately happened that
M. de Langle had formed a resolution to make an excursion in his
jolly-boat to another creek, at the distance of about a league from
their watering-place; from this excursion a dire misfortune ensued.
The creek, towards which the long-boats steered, was large and
commodious: these and the other boats remained afloat at low water,
within half a pistol-shot of the beach, and excellent water was easily
procured. Great order was observed by Messrs. de Clonard and de Monti.
A line of soldiers was posted between the beach and the natives, who
amounted to about two hundred, including many women and children. They
were prevailed on to sit down under cocoa-trees, at a little distance
from the boats; each of them had fowls, hogs, pigeons, or fruit, and
all of them were anxious to dispose of their articles without delay,
which created some confusion.
While matters were thus passing with perfect tranquillity, and the
casks expeditiously flilling with water, La Perouse ventured to visit
a charming village, situated in the midst of a neighboring wood, the
trees of which were loaded with delicious fruit. The houses formed a
circle of about one hundred and fifty toises in diameter, leaving an
interior open space, beautifully verdant, and shaded with trees, which
rendered the air delightfully cool and refreshing. Women, children,
and aged men attended him, and earnestly importuned him to enter their
houses; they even spread their finest mats upon the floor, decorated
with chosen pebbles, and raised a convenient distance from the ground,
to prevent offensive humidity. La Perouse condescended to enter one of
the handsomest of these huts, which was probably inhabited by a chief,
and was astonished to behold a large cabinet of lattice-work, on which
as much taste and elegance were displayed as if it had been produced
in the environs of Paris. This enchanting country, blessed with a
fruitful soil without culture, and enjoying a climate which renders
clothing unnecessary, holds out to these fortunate people an abundance
of the most estimable food. The trees invite the natives to partake of
the bread-fruit, the banana, the cocoa-nut, and the orange; while the
swine, fowls, and dogs, which partake of the surplus of these fruits,
afford them a rich variety of viands. The inhabitants of this enviable
spot were so rich, and entirely free from wants, that they looked with
disdain on the cloth and iron tendered by the French visitors, and
only deigned to become customers for beads. Abounding in real
blessings they languished only for superfluities.
The boats of the Boussole now arrived, loaded with water, and La
Perouse made every preparation to get under way. M. de Langle at the
same instant returned from his excursion, and mentioned his having
landed in a noble harbor for boats, at the foot of a delightful
village, and near a cascade of transparent water. He spoke of this
watering-place as infinitely more commodious than any other, and
begged La Perouse to permit him to take the lead of the first party,
assuring him that in three hours he would return on board with all the
boats full of water. Though La Perouse, from the appearance of things
at this time, had no great apprehensions of danger, he was averse to
sending boats on shore without the greatest necessity, especially
among an immense number of people, unsupported and unperceived by the
ships. The boats put off from the Astrolabe at half past twelve, and
arrived at the watering-place soon after one; when, to their great
astonishment, M. de Langle and his officers, instead of finding a
large commodious bay, saw only a creek full of coral, through which
there was no other passage than a winding channel of about twenty-five
feet wide. When within, they had no more than five feet water; the
longboats grounded, and the barges must have been in the same
situation had they not been hauled to the entrance of the channel at a
great distance from the beach. M. de Langle was now convinced that he
had examined the bay at high-water only, not supposing that the tide
at those islands rose five or six feet. Struck with amazement, he
instantly resolved to quit the creek, and repair to that where they
had before filled water; but the air of tranquillity and apparent good
humor of the crowd of Indians, bringing with them an immense quantity
of fruit and hogs, chased his first prudent idea from his
recollection.
He landed the casks on shore from the four boats without interruption,
while his soldiers preserved excellent order on the beach, forming
themselves in two lines, the more effectually to answer their purpose.
Instead of about two hundred natives, including women and children,
which M. de Langle found there at about half after one, they were, at
three o’clock, increased to the alarming number of one thousand and
two hundred. M. de Langle’s situation became every instant more
embarrassing; he found means, however, to ship his water, but the bay
was almost dry, and he had not any hopes of getting off the long-boats
till four in the afternoon. He and his detachment, however, stepped
into them, and took post in the bow with his musket and musketeers,
forbidding any one to fire without his command; which he knew would
speedily be found necessary. Stones were now violently thrown by the
Indians, who were up to their knees in water, and surrounded the
long-boats, at the distance of about six feet; the soldiers, who were
embarked, making feeble efforts to keep them off.
M. de Langle, still hoping to check hostilities, without effusion of
blood, gave no orders, all this time, for firing a volley of musketry
and swivels; but shortly after, a shower of stones, thrown with
incredible force, struck almost every one in the long-boat. M. de
Langle had only fired two shots, when he was knocked overboard, and
massacred with clubs and stones by about two hundred Indians. The
long-boat of the Boussole, commanded by M. de Boutin, was aground near
the Astrolabe, leaving between them a channel unoccupied by the
Indians. Many saved themselves by swimming, who fortunately got on
board the barges, which keeping afloat, forty-nine persons were saved
out of the sixty-one, of which the party consisted. M. Boutin was
knocked down by a stone, but fortunately fell between the two
long-boats, on board of which not a man remained in the space of about
five minutes. Those who preserved their lives by swimming to the two
barges, received several wounds; but those who unhappily fell on the
other side were instantly despatched by the clubs of the remorseless
Indians.
The crews of the barges, who had killed many of the islanders with
their muskets, now began to make more room by throwing their
water-casks overboard. They had also nearly exhausted their
ammunition, and their retreat was rendered difficult, a number of
wounded persons lying stretched out upon the thwarts, and impeding the
working of the oars. To the prudence of M. Vaujaus, and the discipline
kept up by M. Mouton, who commanded the Boussole’s barge, the public
are indebted for the preservation of the forty-nine persons of both
crews who escaped. M. Bouton had received five wounds in the head, and
one in the breast, and was kept above water by the cockswain of the
longboat who had himself received a severe wound. M. Colinet was
discovered in a state of insensibility upon the grapnel-rope of the
barge, with two wounds on the head, an arm fractured, and a finger
broken. M. Lavaux, surgeon of the Astrolabe, was obliged to suffer the
operation of the trepan. M. de Lamanon, and M. de Langle, were cruelly
massacred with Talio, master at arms of the Boussole, and nine other
persons belonging to the two crews. M. le Gobien, who commanded the
Astrolabe’s long-boat, did not desert his post till he was left alone;
when, having exhausted his ammunition, he leaped into the channel,
and, notwithstanding his wounds, preserved himself on board one of the
barges. A little ammunition was afterwards found, and completely
exhausted on the infuriated crowd; and the boats at length extricated
themselves from their lamentable situation.
At five o’clock the officers and crew of the Boussole were informed of
this disastrous event; they were at that moment surrounded with about
one hundred canoes, in which the natives were disposing of their
provisions with security, and perfectly innocent of the catastrophe
which had happened. But they were the countrymen, the brothers, the
children of the infernal assassins, the thoughts of which so
transported La Perouse with rage, that he could with difficulty
confine himself to the limits of moderation, or hinder the crew from
punishing them with death.
On the 14th of December, La Perouse stood for the island of Oyolava,
which had been observed before they arrived at the anchorage which
proved so fatal. This island is separated from that of Maouna, or of
the Massacre, by a wide channel, and vies with Otaheite in beauty,
extent, fertility, and population. At the distance of about three
leagues from the north-east point, he was surrounded by canoes, laden
with bread-fruit, bananas, cocoanuts, sugar-cane, pigeons, and a few
hogs. The inhabitants of this island resemble those of the island of
Maouna, whose treachery had been so fatally experienced. Some
exchanges were conducted with these islanders with more tranquillity
and honesty than at the island of Maouna, as the smallest act of
injustice received immediate chastisement.
On the 17th they approached the island of Pola, but not a single canoe
came off perhaps the natives had been intimidated by hearing of the
event which had taken place at Maouna. Pola is a smaller island than
that of Oyolava, but equally beautiful, and is only separated from it
by a channel four leagues across. The natives of Maouna informed our
visitors, that the Navigator’s Islands are ten in number, viz. Opoun,
the most easterly, Leone, Fanfoue, Maouna, Oyolava, Calinasse, Pola
Skika, Ossamo, and Ouera. These islands form one of the finest
archipelagoes of the South Sea, and are as interesting with respect to
arts, productions, and population, as the Society and Friendly
Islands, which the English navigators have so satisfactorily
described. In favor of their moral characters, little remains to be
noticed; gratitude cannot find a residence in their ferocious minds;
nothing but fear can restrain them from outrageous and inhuman
actions. The huts of these islanders are elegantly formed; though they
disdain the fabrications of iron, they finish their work with
wonderful neatness, with tools formed of a species of basaltes in the
form of an adze. For a few glass-beads, they batered large
three-legged dishes of wood, so well-polished as to have the
appearance of being highly varnished. They kept up a wretched kind of
police; a few, who had the appearance of chiefs, chastised the
refractory with their sticks, but their assumed power seemed generally
disregarded; any regulations which they attempted to enforce and to
establish, were transgressed almost as soon as they were promulgated.
Never were sovereigns so negligently obeyed, never were orders
enforced with such feeble shadows of authority.
Imagination cannot figure to itself more agreeable situations than
those of their villages. All the houses are built under fruit-trees,
which render them delightfully cool; they are seated on the borders of
streams, leading down from the mountains. Though the principal object
in their architecture is to protect them from offensive heat, the
islanders never abandoned the idea of elegance. Their houses are
sufficiently spacious to accommodate several families; and they are
furnished with blinds, which are drawn to the windward to prevent the
intrusion of the potent rays of the sun. The natives repose upon fine
comfortable mats, which are cautiously preserved from humidity.
Nothing can be said, by our travelers, of the religious rites of these
natives, as no moral was perceived belonging to them. The islands are
fertile, and their population is supposed to be considerable. Opun,
Leone, and Fanfoue, are small; but Maoune, Oyolava, and Pola, may be
classed among the largest and most beautiful in the South Sea. Cocoa
island is lofty, and formed like a sugar-loaf; it is nearly a mile in
diameter, covered with trees, and is separated from Traitors’ Island
by a channel about a league wide.
At eight in the morning La Perouse brought to, to the west-south-west,
at two miles from a sandy bay in the western part of the Great Island
of Traitors, where he expected to find an anchorage sheltered from
easterly winds. About twenty canoes instantly quitted the shore and
approached the frigates in order to make exchanges; several of them
were loaded with excellent cocoa-nuts, with a few yams and bananas;
one of them brought a hog, and three or four fowls. It evidently
appeared that these Indians had before some knowledge of Europeans, as
they came near without fear, traded with honesty, and never refused to
part with their fruit before they were paid for it. They spoke,
however, the same language, and the same ferocity appeared in their
countenances; their manner of tattooing, and the form of their canoes,
were the same, but they had not, like them, two joints cut off from
the little finger of the left hand; two individuals had, however,
suffered that operation.
On the 27th of December, Vavao was perceived, an island which Captain
Cook had never visited, but was no stranger to its existence, as one
of the archipelago of the Friendly Islands; it is nearly equal in
extent to that of Tongataboo, and is particularly fortunate in having
no deficiency of fresh water. The two small islands of Hoongatonga are
no more than two large uninhabitable rocks, which are high enough to
be seen at the distance of fifteen leagues. Their position is ten
leagues north of Tongataboo; but that island being low, it can hardly
be seen at half that distance. On the 31st of December, at six in the
morning, an appearance like the tops of trees, which seemed to grow in
the water, proved the harbinger of Van Dieman’s point. The wind being
northerly, La Perouse steered for the south coast of the island, which
may, without danger, be approached within three musket-shots. Not the
semblance of a hill is to be seen; a calm sea cannot present a more
level surface to the eye. The huts of the natives were scattered
irregularly over the fields, and not socially collected into a
conversable neighborhood. Seven or eight canoes were launched from
these habitations, and directed their course towards the vessels; but
these islanders were awkward seamen, and did not venture to come near,
though the water was smooth, and no obstacle impeded their passage. At
the distance of about eight or ten feet, they leaped overboard and
swam near the frigates, holding in each hand a quantity of cocoa-nuts,
which they were glad to exchange for pieces of iron, nails, and
hatchets; from the honesty of their dealings a friendly intercourse
ensued between the islanders and the navigators, and they ventured to
come on board.
Norfolk Island, off the coast of New South Wales, which they saw on
the 13th of January, is very steep, but does not exceed eighty toises
above the level of the sea. It is covered with pines, which appear to
be of the same species as those of New Caledonia, or New Zealand.
Captain Cook having declared that he saw many cabbage-trees in this
island, heightened the desire of the navigators to land on it. Perhaps
the palm which produces these cabbages is very small, for not a single
tree of that species could be discovered. On the 26th, at nine in the
morning, La Perouse let go the anchor at a mile from the north coast
of Botany Bay, in seven fathoms water. An English lieutenant, and a
midshipman, were sent on board his ship by Captain Hunter, commander
of the Sirius. They offered him, in Captain Hunter’s name, all the
services in his power; but circumstances would not permit him to
supply them with provision, ammunition, or sails. An officer was
despatched from the French to the English Captain, returning thanks,
and adding, that his wants extended only to wood and water, of which
he should find plenty in the bay. The journal of La Perouse proceeds
no further. La Perouse, according to his last letters from Botany Bay,
was to return to the Isle of France in 1788.
They left Botany Bay in March, and, in a letter which the commodore
wrote February 7, he stated his intention to continue his researches
till December, when he expected, after visiting the Friendly Islands,
to arrive at the Isle of France. This was the latest intelligence
received of the fate of the expedition; and M. d’ Entrecasteaux, who
was despatched by the French government, in 1791, in search of La
Perouse, was unable to trace the course he had taken, or gain any clew
to the catastrophe which had befallen him and his companions.
In 1825 the attention of the public was excited towards this
mysterious affair, by a notice published by the French minister of the
marine, purporting that an American captain had declared that he had
seen, in the hands of one of the natives of an island in the tract
between Louisiade and New Caledonia, a cross of the order of St.
Louis, and some medals, which appeared to have been procured from the
shipwreck of La Perouse. In consequence of this information, the
commander of a vessel which sailed from Toulon, in April, 1826, on a
voyage of discovery, received orders to make researches in the quarter
specified, in order to restore to their country any of the shipwrecked
crew who might yet remain in existence. Other intelligence, relative
to the wreck of two large vessels, on two different islands of the New
Hebrides, was obtained by Captain Dillon, the commander of an English
vessel at Tucopia, in his passage from Valparaiso to Pondicherry, in
May, 1826, in consequence of which he was sent back to ascertain the
truth of the matter. The facts discovered by him on this mission,
were, that the two ships struck on a reef at Mallicolo; one of them
immediately went down, and all on board perished; some of the crew of
the other escaped, part of whom were murdered by the savages; the
remainder built a small vessel and set sail, but their fate is not
known. It is not certain that these were the vessels of La Perouse.