Accident.--View of the Coast.--Attempted Visit of the
Natives.--Their Industry.--Bay of Karaka-koua.--Landing on the
Island.--John Young, Governor of Owahee.
We were ranging along the coast with the aid of a fine breeze, when the
boy Perrault, who had mounted the fore-rigging to enjoy the scenery,
lost his hold, and being to windward where the shrouds were taut,
rebounded from them like a ball some twenty feet from the ship's side
into the ocean. We perceived his fall and threw over to him chairs,
barrels, benches, hen-coops, in a word everything we could lay hands on;
then the captain gave the orders to heave to; in the twinkling of an eye
the lashings of one of the quarter-boats were cut apart, the boat
lowered and manned: by this time the boy was considerably a-stern. He
would have been lost undoubtedly but for a wide pair of canvass
overalls full of tar and grease, which operated like a life-preserver.
His head, however, was under when he was picked up, and he was brought
on board lifeless, about a quarter of an hour after he fell into the
sea. We succeeded, notwithstanding, in a short time, in bringing him to,
and in a few hours he was able to run upon the deck.
The coast of the island, viewed from the sea, offers the most
picturesque _coup d'oeil_ and the loveliest prospect; from the beach to
the mountains the land rises amphitheatrically, all along which is a
border of lower country covered with cocoa-trees and bananas, through
the thick foliage whereof you perceive the huts of the islanders; the
valleys which divide the hills that lie beyond appear well cultivated,
and the mountains themselves, though extremely high, are covered with
wood to their summits, except those few peaks which glitter with
perpetual snow.
As we ran along the coast, some canoes left the beach and came
alongside, with vegetables and cocoa-nuts; but as we wished to profit
by the breeze to gain the anchorage, we did not think fit to stop. We
coasted along during a part of the night; but a calm came on which
lasted till the morrow. As we were opposite the bay of Karaka-koua, the
natives came out again, in greater numbers, bringing us cabbages, yams,
_taro_, bananas, bread-fruit, water-melons, poultry, &c., for which we
traded in the way of exchange. Toward evening, by the aid of a sea
breeze that rose as day declined, we got inside the harbor where we
anchored on a coral bottom in fourteen fathoms water.
The next day the islanders visited the vessel in great numbers all day
long, bringing, as on the day before, fruits, vegetables, and some pigs,
in exchange for which we gave them glass beads, iron rings, needles,
cotton cloth, &c.
Some of our gentlemen went ashore and were astonished to find a native
occupied in building a small sloop of about thirty tons: the tools of
which he made use consisted of a half worn-out axe, an adze, about
two-inch blade, made out of a paring chisel, a saw, and an iron rod
which he heated red hot and made it serve the purpose of an auger. It
required no little patience and dexterity to achieve anything with such
instruments: he was apparently not deficient in these qualities, for his
work was tolerably well advanced. Our people took him on board with
them, and we supplied him with suitable tools, for which he appeared
extremely grateful.
On the 14th, in the morning, while the ship's carpenter was engaged in
replacing one of the cat-heads, two composition sheaves fell into the
sea; as we had no others on board, the captain proposed to the
islanders, who are excellent swimmers, to dive for them, promising a
reward; and immediately two offered themselves. They plunged several
times, and each time brought up shells as a proof that they had been to
the bottom. We had the curiosity to hold our watches while they dove,
and were astonished to find that they remained four minutes under the
water. That exertion appeared to me, however, to fatigue them a great
deal, to such a degree that the blood streamed from their nostrils and
ears. At last one of them brought up the sheaves and received the
promised recompense, which consisted of four yards of cotton.
Karaka-koua bay where we lay, may be three quarters of a mile deep, and
a mile and a half wide at the entrance: the latter is formed by two low
points of rock which appear to have run down from the mountains in the
form of lava, after a volcanic eruption. On each point is situated a
village of moderate size; that is to say, a small group of the low huts
of the islanders. The bottom of the bay terminates in a bold
_escarpment_ of rock, some four hundred feet high, on the top of which
is seen a solitary cocoa-tree.
On the evening of the 14th, I went ashore with some other passengers,
and we landed at the group of cabins on the western point, of those
which I have described. The inhabitants entertained us with a dance
executed by nineteen young women and one man, all singing together, and
in pretty good time. An old man showed us the spot where Captain Cook
was killed, on the 14th of February, 1779, with the cocoa-nut trees
pierced by the balls from the boats which the unfortunate navigator
commanded. This old man, whether it were feigned or real sensibility,
seemed extremely affected and even shed tears, in showing us these
objects. As for me, I could not help finding it a little singular to be
thus, by mere chance, upon this spot, on the 14th of February, 1811;
that is to say, thirty-two years after, on the anniversary of the
catastrophe which has rendered it for ever celebrated. I drew no
sinister augury from the coincidence, however, and returned to the ship
with my companions as gay as I left it. When I say with my companions, I
ought to except the boatswain, John Anderson, who, having had several
altercations with the captain on the passage, now deserted the ship,
preferring to live with the natives rather than obey any longer so
uncourteous a superior. A sailor also deserted; but the islanders
brought him back, at the request of the captain. They offered to bring
back Anderson, but the captain preferred leaving him behind.
We found no good water near Karaka-koua bay: what the natives brought us
in gourds was brackish. We were also in great want of fresh meat, but
could not obtain it: the king of these islands having expressly
forbidden his subjects to supply any to the vessels which touched there.
One of the chiefs sent a canoe to Tohehigh bay, to get from the governor
of the island, who resided there, permission to sell us some pigs. The
messengers returned the next day, and brought us a letter, in which the
governor ordered us to proceed without delay to the isle of Wahoo, where
the king lives; assuring us that we should there find good water and
everything else we needed.
We got under way on the 16th and with a light wind coasted the island as
far as Tohehigh bay. The wind then dropping away entirely, the captain,
accompanied by Messrs. M'Kay and M'Dougall, went ashore, to pay a visit
to the governor aforesaid. He was not a native, but a Scotchman named
John Young, who came hither some years after the death of Captain Cook.
This man had married a native woman, and had so gained the friendship
and confidence of the king, as to be raised to the rank of chief and
after the conquest of Wahoo by King Tamehameha, was made governor of
Owhyhee (Hawaii) the most considerable of the Sandwich Islands, both by
its extent and population. His excellency explained to our gentlemen the
reason why the king had interdicted the trade in hogs to the inhabitants
of all the islands: this reason being that his majesty wished to reserve
to himself the monopoly of that branch of commerce, for the augmentation
of his royal revenue by its exclusive profits. The governor also
informed them that no rain had fallen on the south part of Hawaii for
three years; which explained why we found so little fresh water: he
added that the north part of the island was more fertile than the south,
where we were: but that there was no good anchorage: that part of the
coast being defended by sunken rocks which form heavy breakers. In fine,
the governor dismissed our gentlemen with a present of four fine fat
hogs; and we, in return, sent him some tea, coffee, and chocolate, and
a keg of Madeira wine.
The night was nearly a perfect calm, and on the 17th we found ourselves
abreast of _Mona-Wororayea_ a snow-capped mountain, like _Mona-Roah_,
but which appeared to me less lofty than the latter. A number of
islanders came to visit us as before, with some objects of curiosity,
and some small fresh fish. The wind rising on the 18th, we soon passed
the western extremity of Hawaii, and sailed by Mowhee and Tahooraha, two
more islands of this group, and said to be, like the rest, thickly
inhabited. The first presents a highly picturesque aspect, being
composed of hills rising in the shape of a sugar loaf and completely
covered with cocoa-nut and bread-fruit trees.
At last, on the 21st, we approached Wahoo, and came to anchor opposite
the bay of _Ohetity_, outside the bar, at a distance of some two miles
from the land.