_The Passage from Oteroah to New Zealand; Incidents which happened on
going a-shore there, and while the Ship lay in Poverty Bay_.
We sailed from Oteroah on the 15th of August, and on Friday the 25th we
celebrated the anniversary of our leaving England, by taking a Cheshire
cheese from a locker, where it had been carefully treasured up for this
occasion, and tapping a cask of porter, which proved to be very good,
and in excellent order. On the 29th, one of the sailors got so drunk,
that the next morning he died: We thought at first that he could not
have come honestly by the liquor, but we afterwards learnt that the
boatswain, whose mate he was, had in mere good-nature given him part of
a bottle of rum.
On the 30th we saw the comet: At one o'clock in the morning it was a
little above the horizon in the eastern part of the heavens; at about
half an hour after four it passed the meridian, and its tail subtended
an angle of forty-two degrees. Our latitude was 38° 20' S., our
longitude, by log, 147° 6' W., and the variation of the needle, by the
azimuth, 7° 9' E. Among others that observed the comet, was Tupia, who
instantly cried out, that as soon as it should be seen by the people of
Bolabola, they would kill the inhabitants of Ulietea, who would with the
utmost precipitation fly to the mountains.
On the 1st of September, being in the latitude of 40° 22' S. and
longitude 147° 29' W, and there not being any signs of land, with a
heavy sea from the westward, and strong gales, I wore, and stood back to
the northward, fearing that we might receive such damage in our sails
and rigging, as would hinder the prosecution of the voyage.
On the next day, there being strong gales to the westward, I
brought-to, with the ship's head to the northward; but in the mooring of
the 3d, the wind being more moderate, we loosened the reef of the
mainsail, set the top-sails, plied to the westward.
We continued our course till the 19th, when our latitude being 29° and
our longitude 159° 29', we observed the variation to be 8° 32' E. On the
24th, being in latitude 33° 18', longitude 162° 51', we observed a small
piece of seaweed, and a piece of wood covered with barnacles: The
variation here was 10° 48' E.
On the 27th, being in latitude 28° 59', longitude 169° 5, we saw a seal
asleep upon the water, and several bunches of sea-weed. The next day we
saw more seaweed in bunches, and on the 29th, a bird, which we thought a
land bird; it somewhat resembled a snipe, but had a short bill. On the
1st of October, we saw birds innumerable, and another seal asleep upon
the water; it is a general opinion that seals never go out of soundings,
or far from land, but those that we saw in these seas prove the
contrary. Rock-weed is, however, a certain indication that, land is not
far distant. The next day, it being calm, we hoisted out the boat to try
whether there was a current, but found none. Our latitude was 37°
10', longitude 172° 54' W. On the 3d, being in latitude 36° 56',
longitude 173°27', we took up more sea-weed, and another piece of wood
covered with barnacles. The next day we saw two more seals, and a brown
bird, about as big as a raven, with some white feathers under the wing.
Mr Gore told us, that birds of this kind were seen in great numbers
about Falkland's Islands, and our people gave them the name of
Port-Egmont hens.
On the 5th, we thought the water changed colour, but upon casting the
lead, had no ground with 180 fathom. In the evening of this day, the
variation was 12° 50' E., and while we were going nine leagues it
increased to 14° 2'.
On the next day, Friday, October the 6th, we saw land from the
mast-head, bearing W. by N. and stood directly for it; in the evening it
could just be discerned from the deck, and appeared large. The variation
this day was, by azimuth and amplitude, 15° 4' 1/2 E., and by
observation made of the sun and moon, the longitude of the ship appeared
to be 180° 55' W., and by the medium of this, and subsequent
observations, there appeared to be an error in the ship's account of her
longitude during her run from Otaheite of 3° 16', she being so much to
the westward of the longitude resulting from the log. At midnight I
brought to and sounded, but had no ground with one hundred and seventy
fathom.
On the 7th it fell calm, we therefore approached the land slowly, and in
the afternoon, when a breeze sprang up, we were still distant seven or
eight leagues. It appeared still larger as it was more distinctly seen,
with four or five ranges of hills, rising one over the other, and a
chain of mountains above all, which appeared to be of an enormous
height. This land became the subject of much eager conversation; but the
general opinion seemed to be that we had found the _terra australis
incognita_. About five o'clock we saw the opening of a bay, which seemed
to run pretty far inland, upon which we hauled our wind and stood in for
it; we also saw smoke ascending from different places on shore. When
night came on, however, we kept plying off and on till day-light, when
we found ourselves to the leeward of the bay, the wind being at north:
We could now perceive that the hills were clothed with wood, and that
some of the trees in the valleys were very large. By noon we fetched in
with the south-west point; but not being able to weather it, tacked and
stood off: At this time we saw several canoes standing cross the bay,
which in a little time made to shore, without seeming to take the least
notice of the ship; we also saw some houses, which appeared to be small,
but neat; and near one of them a considerable number of the people
collected together, who were sitting upon the beach, and who, we
thought, were the same that we had seen in the canoes. Upon a small
peninsula, at the north-east head, we could plainly perceive a pretty
high and regular paling, which inclosed the whole top of a hill; this
was also the subject of much speculation, some supposing it to be a park
of deer, others an inclosure for oxen and sheep. About four o'clock in
the afternoon we anchored on the north-west side of the bay, before the
entrance of a small river, in ten fathom water, with a fine sandy
bottom, and at about half a league from the shore. The sides of the bay
are white cliffs of a great height; the middle is low land, with hills
gradually rising behind, one towering above another, and terminating in
the chain of mountains which appeared to be far inland.
In the evening I went on shore, accompanied by Mr Banks and Dr
Solander, with the pinnace and yawl and a party of men. We landed
abreast of the ship, on the east side of the river, which was here about
forty yards broad; but seeing some natives on the west side, whom I
wished to speak with, and finding the river not fordable, I ordered the
yawl in to carry us over, and left the pinnace at the entrance. When we
came near the place where the people were assembled, they all ran away;
however, we landed, and leaving four boys to take care of the yawl, we
walked up to some huts which were about two or three hundred yards from
the water-side. When we had got some distance from the boat, four men,
armed with long lances, rushed out of the woods, and running up to
attack the boat, would certainly have cut her off, if the people in the
pinnace had not discovered them, and called to the boys to drop down the
stream: The boys instantly obeyed; but being closely pursued by the
Indians, the cockswain of the pinnace, who had the charge of the boats,
fired a musket over their heads; at this they stopped and looked round
them, but in a few minutes renewed the pursuit, brandishing their lances
in a threatening manner: The cockswain then fired a second musket over
their heads, but of this they took no notice; and one of them lifting up
his spear to dart it at the boat, another piece was fired, which shot
him dead. When he fell, the other three stood motionless for some
minutes, as if petrified with astonishment; as soon as they recovered,
they went back, dragging after them the dead body, which, however, they
soon left, that it might not encumber their flight. At the report of the
first musket we drew together, having straggled to a little distance
from each other, and made the best of our way back to the boat; and
crossing the river, we soon saw the Indian lying dead upon the ground.
Upon examining the body, we found that he had been shot through the
heart: He was a man of the middle size and stature; his complexion was
brown, but not very dark; and one side of his face was tattowed in
spiral lines of a very regular figure: He was covered with a fine cloth,
of a manufacture altogether new to us, and it was tied on exactly
according to the representation in Valentyn's Account of Abel Tasman's
Voyage, vol. 3, part 2, page 50, his hair also was tied in a knot on the
top of his head, but had no feather in it.[48] We returned immediately
to the ship, where we could hear the people on shore talking with great
earnestness, and in a very loud tone, probably about what had happened,
and what should be done.
[Footnote 48: Abel Tasman was sent out by the Dutch East India Company
in 1642, to take surveys of the new-found countries, and, if possible,
to make discoveries. The account of his voyage was published in Low
Dutch, by Dirk Rembrant. A French translation of it was given by
Thevenot, in the 4th part of his collection, published at Paris, 1673,
an abridgement of which was inserted in Harris's collection. Though
curious and considerably important, his observations were long
disregarded; and in particular, his discovery of New Zealand or Staaten
Land, as he called it in honour of the States General, seems to have
been either discredited or held immaterial or overlooked, till this
voyage of Captain Cook obtained for it the notice it deserved. Then, as
is not unusual, it attracted undue consideration and importance. Mr
Finkerton has re-published the account of this voyage in his collection.
Tasman discovered New Zealand on the 13th September, 1642, but did not
land on it, an unfortunate event having given him a total distrust of
the natives. Some of them, after a good deal of backwardness and seeming
fear, ventured to go on board the Heenskirk, which was the consort of
his own vessel, named the Zee-Haan. Tasman, not liking their appearance,
and being apprehensive of their hostile intentions, sent seven of his
men to put the people of that vessel on their guard. The savages
attacked them, killed three, and forced the others to seek their lives
by swimming. This occasioned his giving the name of the Bay of
Murderers, to the place where it happened. The rough weather prevented
him from taking vengeance.--E.]
In the morning we saw several of the natives where they had been seen
the night before, and some walking with a quick pace towards the place
where we had landed, most of them unarmed; but three or four with long
pikes in their hands. As I was desirous to establish an intercourse with
them, I ordered three boats to be manned with seamen and marines, and
proceeded towards the shore, accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, the
other gentlemen, and Tupia; about fifty of them seemed to wait for our
landing, on the opposite side of the river, which we thought a sign of
fear, and seated themselves upon the ground: At first, therefore,
myself, with only Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia, landed from the
little boat, and advanced towards them; but we had not proceeded many
paces before they all started up, and every man produced either a long
pike, or a small weapon of green talc, extremely well polished, about a
foot long, and thick enough to weigh four or five pounds: Tupia called
to them in the language of Otaheite; but they answered only by
flourishing their weapons, and making signs to us to depart; a musket
was then fired wide of them, and the ball struck the water, the river
being still between, us: They saw the effect, and desisted from their
threats; but we thought it prudent to retreat till the marines could be
landed. This was soon done; and they marched, with a jack carried before
them, to a little bank, about fifty yards from the water-side; here they
were drawn up, and I again advanced, with Mr Banks and Dr Solander;
Tupia, Mr Green, and Mr Monkhouse, being with us. Tupia was again
directed to speak to them, and it was with great pleasure that we
perceived he was perfectly understood, he and the natives speaking only
different dialects of the same language. He told them that we wanted
provision and water, and would give them iron in exchange, the
properties of which he explained as well as he was able. They were
willing to trade, and desired that we would come over to them for that
purpose: To this we consented, provided they would lay by their arms;
which, however, they could by no means be persuaded to do. During this
conversation, Tupia warned us to be upon our guard, for that they were
not our friends: We then pressed them in our turn to come over to us;
and at last one of them stripped himself, and swam over without his
arms: He was almost immediately followed by two more, and soon after by
most of the rest, to the number of twenty or thirty; but these brought
their arms with them. We made them all presents of iron and heads; but
they seemed to set little value upon either, particularly the iron, not
having the least idea of its use; so that we got nothing in return but a
few feathers: They offered indeed to exchange their arms for ours, and,
when we refused, made many attempts to snatch them out of our hands. As
soon as they came over, Tupia repeated his declaration, that they were
not our friends, and again warned us to be upon our guard; their
attempts to snatch our weapons, therefore, did not succeed; and we gave
them to understand by Tupia, that we should be obliged to kill them if
they offered any farther violence. In a few minutes, however, Mr Green
happening to turn about, one of them snatched away his hanger, and
retiring to a little distance, waved it round his head with a shout of
exultation: The rest now began to be extremely insolent, and we saw more
coming to join them from the opposite side of the river. It was
therefore become necessary to repress them, and Mr Banks fired at the
man who had taken the hanger with small shot, at the distance of about
fifteen yards: When the shot struck him, he ceased his cry; but instead
of returning the hanger, continued to flourish it over his head, at the
same time slowly retreating to a greater distance. Mr Monkhouse seeing
this, fired at him with ball, and he instantly dropped. Upon this the
main body, who had retired to a rock in the middle of the river upon
the first discharge, began to return; two that were near to the man who
had been killed, ran up to the body, one seized his weapon of green
talc, and the other endeavoured to secure the hanger, which Mr Monkhouse
had but just time to prevent. As all that had retired to the rock were
now advancing, three of us discharged our pieces, loaded only with small
shot, upon which they swam back for the shore; and we perceived, upon
their landing, that two or three of them were wounded. They retired
slowly up the country, and we re-embarked in our boats.
As we had unhappily experienced that nothing was to be done with these
people at this place, and finding the water in the river to be salt, I
proceeded in the boats round the head of the bay in search of fresh
water, and with a design, if possible, to surprise some of the natives,
and take them on board, where by kind treatment and presents I might
obtain their friendship, and by their means establish an amicable
correspondence with their countrymen.
To my great regret, I found no place where I could land, a dangerous
surf every where beating upon the shore; but I saw two canoes coming in
from the sea, one under sail, and the other worked with paddles. I
thought this a favourable opportunity to get some of the people into my
possession without mischief, as those in the canoe were probably
fishermen, and without arms, and I had three boats full of men. I
therefore disposed the boats so as most effectually to intercept them in
their way to the shore; the people in the canoe that was paddled
perceived us so soon, that by making to the nearest land with their
utmost strength, they escaped us; the other sailed on till she was in
the midst of us, without discerning what we were; but the moment she
discovered us, the people on board struck their sail, and took to their
paddles, which they plied so briskly that she out-ran the boat. They
were however within hearing, and Tupia called out to them to come
along-side, and promised for us that they should come to no hurt: They
chose, however, rather to trust to their paddles than our promises, and
continued to make from us with all their power. I then ordered a musquet
to be fired over their heads, as the least exceptionable expedient to
accomplish my design, hoping it would either make them surrender or
leap into the water. Upon the discharge of the piece, they ceased
paddling; and all of them, being seven in number, began to strip, as we
imagined to jump overboard; but it happened otherwise. They immediately
formed a resolution not to fly, but to fight; and when the boat came up,
they began the attack with their paddles, and with stones and other
offensive weapons that were in the boat, so vigorously, that we were
obliged to fire upon them in our own defence: Four were unhappily
killed, and the other three, who were boys, the eldest about nineteen,
and the youngest about eleven, instantly leaped into the water; the
eldest swam with great vigour, and resisted the attempts of our people
to take him into the boat by every effort that he could make: He was
however at last overpowered, and the other two were taken up with less
difficulty. I am conscious that the feeling of every reader of humanity
will censure me for having fired upon these unhappy people, and it is
impossible that, upon a calm review, I should approve it myself. They
certainly did not deserve death for not chusing to confide in my
promises; or not consenting to come on board my boat, even if they had
apprehended no danger; but the nature of my service required me to
obtain a knowledge of their country, which I could no otherwise effect
than by forcing my way into it in a hostile manner, or gaining admission
through the confidence and good-will of the people. I had already tried
the power of presents without effect; and I was now prompted, by my
desire to avoid further hostilities, to get some of them on board, as
the only method left of convincing them that we intended them no harm,
and had it in our power to contribute to their gratification and
convenience. Thus far my intentions certainly were not criminal; and
though in the contest, which I had not the least reason to expect, our
victory might have been complete without so great an expence of life,
yet in such situations, when the command to fire has been given, no man
can restrain its excess, or prescribe its effect.[49]
[Footnote 49: It seems impossible to justify the transaction. Let
conscience and the law of nature speak. Palliating circumstances may be
allowed their full influence, but still there will remain enough in the
deed, to spot the memory of our great and certainly humane navigator.
The life of man is the most sacred property under the heavens--its value
is perhaps incalculable by any other means than an appeal to the
consciousness of its dignity and importance, which every one who enjoys
it possesses. It is worse than vain to set about considering the
comparative value of different lives, in order to ascertain the momentum
of the guilt of violating them in particular instances; and thus to
depreciate the existence of savages, by comparing their habits, their
manners, their enjoyments, and sufferings, with those of civilized
people. A man's life is always valuable to himself, in the proportion of
what he would give to secure and prolong it. Is not this the basis of
the law, which excuses homicide when committed in self-defence? Does not
that law imply the equality of lives in all cases, without disparagement
of rank, station, or circumstances? Yet even that law, recognised in all
countries worthy of notice for their intelligence and cultivation,
required something of the nature of a purgation of the person, whom it
at the same time absolved of the deadly guilt of the action. Dr
Hawkesworth, in his General Introduction, which it was quite unnecessary
to give entire in this work, argues the question of the lawfulness of
such aggression as has been mentioned, on the abstract principle that
the advantages of discoveries overbalance the evils attendant on the
making of them. But admitting all that he says on the subject, which is
_something_ more than he proves--admitting, in _this_ case, that the end
justifies the means--still it may be contended with _propriety_, that
those who have been entrusted with such commands are amenable to the
fundamental laws of humanity and all good governments--Let it be proved
that they have not exceeded their instructions, or availed themselves of
a concession only problematically and in fact eventually just, to use
force and deal out slaughter in conferring their favours. Let there be
no relaxation of the solemnity and imposing aspect of the law in such
cases, whatever there be of its retributive severity. Sailors in
general, and our own in particular, as we may see even in the course of
this narrative, are not to be trusted with the smallest discretionary
power, where the lives of _naked_ men are concerned. The obvious
contrast is too much for their pride; mercifulness of disposition does
not mitigate its pungency. An abatement in the rigour of the law
unfortunately flatters their prejudices, and loosens the tie by which
their passions are feebly bound under a sense of duty and fear. The
consequences are shocking and unavoidable. Abrogate entirely from these
at all times unthinking men, the liberty of judgment as to the worth of
life--let there be but one law for an Englishman and a savage--declare
by the voice of justice, that though their skins have not the same hue,
and though their hair be differently turned on their heads, yet their
blood is the same, and that He that made one made the other also, and
has the same interest in both. Such principles would facilitate
discoveries, and would render them blessings. The maxims and the Conduct
of William Penn, a name, associated, as it no doubt is, with ideas of
something extravagant, and perhaps with the opinion of something
impracticable, nevertheless so dear and encouraging to humanity, are
worthy of being set up in letters of gold before the eyes of all
generations. "Whoever, (was his enactment for the regulation of
intercourse with the natives of the country still bearing his name),
whoever shall hurt, wrong, or offend any Indian, shall incur the same
penalty as if he had offended in like manner against his fellow
planter." He treated these savages as his brethren, and he made them
such. They pledged themselves "to live in love with William Penn and
his children as long as the sun and moon should endure"--nor did they
violate their faith. It is lamentable to be constrained to join with
Voltaire in saying, "this is the only treaty ever concluded betwixt
Christians, and Savages that was not ratified by an oath; and the only
one that never was broken!" Penn outlived the storms and malice of more
than half a century of persecutions, and died in peace at the age of
seventy-two. Who does not think of the _murder_ of Cook, with a feeling
of _something more than common regret_ for the loss of a great and most
estimable man!--E.]
As soon as the poor wretches whom we had taken out of the water were in
the boat, they squatted down, expecting no doubt instantly to be put to
death: We made haste to convince them of the contrary, by every method
in our power; we furnished them with clothes, and gave them every other
testimony of kindness that could remove their fears and engage their
good-will. Those who are acquainted with human nature will not wonder,
that the sudden joy of these young savages at being unexpectedly
delivered from the fear of death, and kindly treated by those whom they
supposed would have been their instant executioners, surmounted their
concern for the friends they had lost, and was strongly expressed in
their countenance and behaviour. Before we reached the ship, their
suspicions and fears being wholly removed, they appeared to be not only
reconciled to their situation but in high spirits, and upon being
offered some bread when they came on board, they devoured it with a
voracious appetite. They answered and asked many questions, with great
appearance of pleasure and curiosity; and when our dinner came, they
expressed an inclination to taste every thing that they saw: They seemed
best pleased with the salt pork, though we had other provisions upon the
table. At sun-set, they eat another meal with great eagerness, each
devouring a large quantity of bread, and drinking above a quart of
water. We then made them beds upon the lockers, and they went to sleep
with great seeming content. In the night, however, the tumult of their
minds having subsided, and given way to reflection, they sighed often
and loud. Tupia, who was always upon the watch to comfort them, got up,
and by soothing and encouragement, made them not only easy but cheerful;
their cheerfulness was encouraged, so that they sung a song with a
degree of taste that surprised us: The tune was solemn and slow, like
those of our Psalms, containing many notes and semitones. Their
countenances were intelligent and expressive, and the middlemost, who
seemed to be about fifteen, had an openness in his aspect, and an ease
in his deportment, which were very striking: We found that the two
eldest were brothers, and that their names were _Tuahourange_ and
_Koikerange_; the name of the youngest was _Maragovete_. As we were
returning to the ship, after having taken these boys into the boat, we
picked up a large piece of pumice stone floating upon the water; a sure
sign that there either is, or has been a volcano in this neighbourhood.
In the morning, they all seemed to be cheerful, and eat another enormous
meal; after this we dressed them, and adorned them with bracelets,
anclets, and necklaces, after their own fashion, and the boat being
hoisted out, they were told that we were going to set them ashore: This
produced a transport of joy; but upon perceiving that we made towards
our first landing-place near the river, their countenances changed, and
they entreated with great earnestness that they might not be set ashore
at that place, because they said, it was inhabited by their enemies, who
would kill them and eat them. This was a great disappointment to me;
because I hoped the report and appearance of the boys would procure a
favourable reception for ourselves. I had already sent an officer on
shore with the marines and a party of men to cut wood, and I was
determined to land near the place; not, however, to abandon the boys,
if, when we got ashore, they should be unwilling to leave us, but to
send a boat with them in the evening to that part of the bay to which
they pointed, and which they called their home. Mr Banks, Dr Solander,
and Tupia were with me, and upon our landing with the boys, and crossing
the river, they seemed at first to be unwilling to leave us; but at
length they suddenly changed their mind, and, though not without a
manifest struggle, and some tears, they took their leave: When they were
gone, we proceeded along a swamp, with a design to shoot some ducks, of
which we saw great plenty, and four of the marines attended us, walking
abreast of us upon a bank that overlooked the country. After we had
advanced about a mile, these men called out to us and told us, that a
large body of the Indians was in sight, and advancing at a great rate.
Upon receiving this intelligence, we drew together, and resolved to
make the best of our way to the boats; we had scarcely begun to put this
into execution, when the three Indian boys started suddenly from some
bushes, where they had concealed themselves, and again claimed our
protection: we readily received them, and repairing to the beach as the
clearest place, we walked briskly towards the boats. The Indians were in
two bodies; one ran along the bank which had been quitted by the
marines, the other fetched a compass by the swamp, so that we could not
see them: When they perceived that we had formed into one body, they
slackened their pace, but still followed us in a gentle walk: That they
slackened their pace, was for us, as well as for them, a fortunate
circumstance; for when we came to the side of the river, where we
expected to find the boats that were to carry us over to the wooders, we
found the pinnace at least a mile from her station, having been sent to
pick up a bird which had been shot by the officer on shore, and the
little boat was obliged to make three trips before we could all get over
to the rest of the party. As soon as we were drawn up on the other side,
the Indians came down, not in a body as we expected, but by two or three
at a time, all armed, and in a short time their number increased to
about two hundred: As we now despaired of making peace with them, seeing
that the dread of our small arms did not keep them at a distance, and
that the ship was too far off to reach the place with a shot, we
resolved to re-embark, lest our stay should embroil us in another
quarrel, and cost more of the Indians their lives. We therefore advanced
towards the pinnace which was now returning, when one of the boys
suddenly cried out, that his uncle was among the people who had marched
down to us, and desired us to stay and talk with them: We complied, and
a parley immediately commenced between them and Tupia; during which the
boys held up every thing we had given them as tokens of our kindness and
liberality; but neither would either of the boys swim over to them, or
any of them to the boys. The body of the man who had been killed the day
before, still lay exposed upon the beach; the boys seeing it lie very
near us, went up to it, and covered it with some of the clothes that we
had given them; and soon after a single man, unarmed, who proved to be
the uncle of Maragovete, the youngest of the boys, swam over to us,
bringing in his hand a green branch, which we supposed, as well here as
at Otaheite, to be an emblem of peace. We received his branch by the
hands of Tupia, to whom he gave it, and made him many presents; we also
invited him to go on board the ship, but he declined it; we therefore
left him, and expected that his nephew, and the two other young Indians,
would have staid with him, but to our great surprise, they chose rather
to go with us. As soon as we had retired, he went and gathered another
green branch, and with this in his hand, he approached the dead body
which the youth had covered with part of his clothes, walking sideways,
with many ceremonies, and then throwing it towards him. When this was
done, he returned to his companions, who had sat down upon the sand to
observe the issue of his negociation: They immediately gathered round
him, and continued in a body above an hour, without seeming to take any
farther notice of us. We were more curious than they, and observing them
with our glasses from on board the ship, we saw some of them cross the
river upon a kind of raft, or catamarine, and four of them carry off the
dead body which had been covered by the boy, and over which his uncle
had performed the ceremony of the branch, upon a kind of bier, between
four men: The other body was still suffered to remain where it had been
first left.
After dinner, I directed Tupia to ask the boys, if they had now any
objection to going ashore, where we had left their uncle, the body
having been carried off, which we understood was a ratification of
peace: They said, they had not; and the boat being ordered, they went
into it with great alacrity: When the boat, in which I had sent two
midshipmen, came to land, they went willingly ashore; but soon after she
put off, they returned to the rocks, and wading into the, water,
earnestly entreated to be taken on board again; but the people in the
boat, having positive orders to leave them, could not comply. We were
very attentive to what happened on shore, and keeping a constant watch
with our glasses, we saw a man pass the river upon another raft, and
fetch them to a place where forty or fifty of the natives were
assembled, who closed round them, and continued in the same place till
sun-set: Upon looking again, when we saw them in motion, we could
plainly distinguish our three prisoners, who separated themselves from
the rest, came down to the beach, and having waved their hands three
times towards the ship, ran nimbly back and joined their companions, who
walked leisurely away towards that part which the boys had pointed to as
their dwelling-place; we had therefore the greatest reason to believe
that no mischief would happen to them, especially as we perceived that
they went off in the clothes we had given them.
After it was dark, loud voices were heard on shore in the bottom of the
bay as usual, of which we could never learn the meaning.[50]
[Footnote 50: It is remarked in the account of Tasman's voyage, that the
people of this island had very hoarse, rough, strong voices.--E.]