It is astonishing to conceive what quantities of fruit are eaten at

Batavia. Two large markets are held weekly, at distant places, for the

accommodation of persons residing in different parts of the country; and

at these markets the fruit-sellers of the town meet the gardeners, and

purchase their goods at very low rates: but as the markets are held on

Mondays and Saturdays, those who wish to be supplied with what is fresh,

in the middle of the week, must apply to the Chinese dealers above

mentioned, as the heat of the climate renders it unfit for eating in a

few days. At these markets it is common to see “fifty or sixty

cart-loads of the finest pine-apples carelessly tumbled together.”

The Batavians, and the natives of other parts of the island of Java,

strew an immense number of flowers about their houses, and are almost

always burning aromatic woods and gums; which, it is imagined, is done

by way of purifying the air; the stench that arises from the canals and

ditches being exceeding nauseous and disagreeable.

The sweet scented flowers of this country are very numerous, many of

which being totally unknown in England, we shall mention a few of the

most remarkable.--The combang tonquin, and combang caracnassi, are very

fragrant flowers, but unlike any thing seen in the gardens of Europe:

they are very small, seem to be of the dog’s-bane kind, and both in

smell and shape are very much alike.--The cananga looks more like a

bunch of leaves than a flower; its smell is singular, but extremely

pleasant.--The bonja tanjong is of a pale yellow colour, and delightful

smell; it is about an inch and a half in circumference, and consists of

pointed leaves, which give it the form of a star.--The champacka smells

somewhat like a jonquil, and is otherwise not unlike it, though rather

of a deeper yellow: this flower is produced by a large tree.

The sundal malam is only mentioned on account of its name, which

implies, “the intriguer of the night.” This flower has no kind of smell

during the day-time, but on the approach of the night its sweets begin

to disclose themselves, and its fragrancy is almost unequalled: in other

respects it is the same as the tuberose of England.

All the above-mentioned kinds of flowers being made into nosegays of

various shapes, or strung on a piece of thread, are carried through the

streets of an evening for sale. The gardens of the gentlemen afford many

flowers besides those above-mentioned, but they do not grow in numbers

sufficient to be offered to sale.

This country produces a plant, called pandang, the leaves of which being

shred small, and mixed with a variety of flowers, the natives, both men

and women, fill their clothes and hair with this fragrant mixture, which

they likewise sprinkle on their beds, and sleep beneath a profusion of

sweets; a single sheet of fine chintz being all the other covering of

the bed.

Formerly the island of Java produced no kind of spices but pepper, and

the quantity which the Dutch bring annually from thence is very

considerable; but the quantity that is made use of in the country is

very small, as the people there give the preference to Cayan pepper. The

inhabitants are extremely fond of nutmegs and cloves, but they bear too

high a price to be much in use, as the trees which produce them are all

become Dutch property.

Cloves are now grown no where but on the island of Amboina, and some

little islands near it; the artful Hollanders having possessed

themselves of all the trees, in consequence of several subsequent

treaties of peace, with the several kings of the other islands; for at

the conclusion of every war, the conquerors left the poor Indians still

fewer trees, by way of punishment for their opposition, till, in the

end, they have destroyed them all.

There are scarce any nutmegs, except on the island of Banda, where they

originally grew; this island, however, produces a plenty, equal to the

demand of all the world. On the coast of New Guinea there are a small

number of nutmeg-trees.

The island of Java produces goats, sheep, hogs, buffaloes, and horses.

The horse, which is said to have been met with here when the country was

originally discovered, is a small, but nimble animal, being seldom above

thirteen hands high. The horned cattle of this country are different

from those of Europe: the flesh is extremely lean, but of a very fine

grain. Both the Chinese and the natives of the island feed on the

buffaloe; but the Dutch will neither taste the flesh nor the milk, from

a ridiculous idea, that they are productive of fevers. The sheep are

tough and ill-tasted; their skins are hairy, and they have long

hanging-ears. A few sheep from the Cape of Good Hope being at Batavia,

Captain Cook bought some of them at the rate of a shilling a pound.

The hogs, especially those of the Chinese breed, are exquisitely fine

food, but so extravagantly fat, that the lean is always sold separately.

The butchers, who are Chinese, have no kind of objection to taking off

the fat, which they melt, and sell to their countrymen, who eat it with

their rice: though these hogs are such fine food, yet the Dutch prefer

the breed of Holland, which are consequently sold at extravagant rates.

[Illustration: _The hooded Serpent._ _An Ape of Java._]

The Portuguese make a practice of shooting the wild hog, and deer of two

kinds, with which the neighbourhood of Batavia abounds: these are all

good eating, and are purchased at very moderate prices. The goats of

this country are as bad food as the sheep. Dogs and cats abound on the

island, and wild horses and other cattle are found on the mountains at a

considerable distance from Batavia.

Few monkies are seen near the town, but there are many of them on the

mountains and desart places, where also are a few rhinoceroses, and

great numbers of tygers.

The quantity of fish taken here is astonishingly great, and all the

kinds of them are fine food, except a few which are very scarce; yet

such is the false pride of the inhabitants, that these few scarce sorts

are sold at very high rates, while those that are good are sold for a

mere trifle, nor are they eaten but by the slaves. A gentleman with whom

Captain Cook dined told him, he could have bought a finer dish of fish

for a shilling, than what he had given ten for; but that he should have

been the ridicule of all the politer people, if he had gone to so good a

market.

The Dutch will not taste of the turtle which are taken here: Captain

Cook acknowledges that they are fine eating, though not equal to those

catched in the West Indies, even when they are dressed in London. Mr.

Banks shot a lizard five feet in length, which was extremely well

tasted: our adventurers were informed, that some of these animals had

been seen, which were full as thick as the thigh of a man.

This country produces an abundance of poultry, as excellent of their

kinds as those of England. The turkies are immoderately dear, and the

pigeons not much less so; but the geese, ducks, and fine large fowls are

altogether as cheap.

The neighbourhood of Batavia produces snipes of two kinds, one of which

was the same as the English: of the Portuguese, who appear to be the

only dealers in wild fowl, any number of thrushes might have been

purchased. Our adventurers once, and once only, saw a wild duck in the

fields, but never observed any of these birds exposed to sale; and,

indeed, wild fowl in general are far from being plentiful at Batavia.

Captain Cook observes, as a singularity respecting the snipe, that he is

to be met with in all the quarters of the globe, and is seen in a

greater variety of places than any other of the whole feathered

creation.

The liquors of the island of Java, are palm-wine and arrack; of the

former they have three sorts, the first of which is drank within a few

hours after it is drawn from the tree, and almost in its original state,

when it has a moderate sweetness: the second and third sorts are made by

fermenting it, and putting various herbs and roots into it: the first of

these liquors will not occasion drunkenness, but the two latter will.

The arrack is so generally known, as not to demand any description.

The natives of Java profess the religion of Mahomet, and of course do

not indulge in wine, at least publickly; but not to be exceeded in the

vice of drunkenness by their christian neighbours, they are almost

constantly chewing opium, which is well known to intoxicate in a high

degree.

Exclusive of the Chinese, and the Indians of many different nations, who

inhabit the town of Batavia, and the country in its neighbourhood, the

inhabitants are, proportionably, a very small number; and even of these

not a fifth part are Dutch, or descended from natives of Holland: the

Portuguese are more in number than all the other Europeans.

The troops in the Dutch service are composed of the natives of almost

all the kingdoms of Europe; but of these the Germans out-number all the

others. When a person of any country goes to reside at Batavia, it is

necessary that he first enter as a soldier in the service of the Dutch

East India Company, binding himself to serve five years, which being

done, he applies to the Council for leave of absence, which being

granted of course, he then engages in any business he thinks proper:

thus the Dutch have always an army ready to be called forth on any

emergency. No foreigner, of whatever nation, has any share in the

management of public affairs, all places of power, trust and profit,

being held by the Dutch.

Though the men of other countries are bound to the observation of the

above-mentioned conditions, women, from any part of the globe, may

reside and traffick at Batavia unmolested. Captain Cook was informed

that, at the time he was there, the whole place could not furnish fifty

women who were natives of Europe, yet the town abounded with white

women, who were descended from Europeans, who had settled there at

different times, all the men having paid the debt of nature; for so it

is, that the climate of Batavia destroys the men much faster than the

women. These women follow the delicate custom of chewing betel, after

the example of the native Javanese, whose dress they imitate, and whose

manners they copy, in all other respects.

Mercantile business is conducted at Batavia with the slightest trouble

imaginable: when a merchant receives an order for goods of any kind, he

communicates the contents of it to the Chinese, who are the universal

manufacturers. The Chinese Agent delivers the effects on board the ship,

for which they are bespoke, and taking a receipt for them from the

master of the vessel, he delivers it to the merchant, who pays the

Chinese for the goods, and reserves a considerable profit, without the

least trouble, risk, or anxiety. But when a merchant imports goods of

any kind, he receives them himself, and lodges them in his own

warehouses. It may be wondered, that the Chinese do not ship the goods

on their own account; but from this they are restricted, and compelled

to sell them to the merchants only.

The inhabitants of Java distinguish the Portuguese by the name of

_Oranserane_, that is, Nazareen men; but they use the general term of

_Caper_, or _Casir_, respecting all who do not profess the religion of

Mahomet; and in this they include the Portuguese. But the Portuguese of

Batavia are so only in name; for they have neither any connection with,

or knowledge of, the kingdom of Portugal, and they have changed the

religion of the church of Rome, for that of Luther. With the manners of

the Javanese, they are wholly familiarized, and they commonly speak

their language, though they are able to converse in a corrupt kind of

Portuguese. They dress in the habit of the country, with a difference

only in the manner of wearing their hair: their noses are more peaked,

and their skin of a deeper cast than that of the natives. Some of them

are mechanics and artificers, others subsist by washing of linen, and

the rest procure a maintenance by hunting.

The Indian inhabitants of Batavia, and the country in its neighbourhood,

are not native Javanese, but are either born on the several islands from

whence the Dutch bring their slaves, or the offspring of such as have

been born on those islands: and these having been made free, either in

their own persons, or in the persons of their ancestors, enjoy all the

privileges of freemen. They receive the general appellation of Oranslam,

which implies, “Believers of the true faith.”

The various other Indian inhabitants of this country attach themselves

each to the original customs of that, in which either themselves or

their ancestors were born; keeping themselves apart from those of other

nations, and practising both the virtues and vices peculiar to their own

countries. The cultivation of gardens, and the consequent sale of

flowers and fruit, afford subsistence to great numbers of them: these

are the people who raise the betel and areca, which being mixed with

lime, and a substance which is called _gambir_, the produce of the

Indian continent, is chewed by persons of all ranks, women as well as

men: indeed some of the politer ladies make an addition of cardamum, and

other aromatics, to take off the disagreeable smell with which the

breath would be otherwise tainted. Some of the Indians are very rich,

keep a great number of slaves, and live, in all respects, according to

the customs of their respective countries; while others are employed to

convey goods by water; and others again subsist by fishing.

The Oranslams feed principally on boiled rice, mixed with a small

quantity of dried shrimps and other fish, which are imported from China,

and a little of the flesh of buffaloes and chicken: they are fond of

fruit, of which they eat large quantities; and with the flower of the

rice they make several sorts of pastry. They sometimes make very superb

entertainments, after the fashion of their respective countries; but, in

general, they are a very temperate people: of wine they drink very

little, if any, as the religion of Mahomet, which they profess, forbids

the use of it.

When a marriage is to be solemnized among the Oranslams, all the gold

and silver ornaments that can be procured, are borrowed to deck out the

young couple, who on these occasions never fail to make the most

splendid appearance. Sumptuous entertainments are given by those who can

afford them, which continue twelve or fourteen days, and frequently

more, during all which time the women take care that the bridegroom

shall not visit his wife privately, though the wedding takes place

previous to the festival.

All these Indians, though they come from different countries, speak the

Malay language, if it deserves that name. On the island of Java there

are two or three different dialects; and there is a language peculiar to

every small island; it is conjectured, that the Malay tongue is a

corruption of the language of Malacca.

The hair of the people, which is black, without a single exception,

grows in great abundance: yet the women make use of oils and other

ingredients, to increase the quantity of it: they fasten it to the crown

of the head with a bodkin, having first twisted it into a circle, round

which circle they place an elegant wreath of flowers, so that the whole

head-dress has the most beautiful appearence that imagination can form

an idea of.

It is the universal custom, both with the men and women, to bathe in a

river once every day, and sometimes oftener, which not only promotes

health, but prevents that contraction of filth, which would be otherwise

unavoidable in so hot a climate.

The teeth of the Oranslams have some particularities in them well worthy

of notice. With a kind of whetstone they rub the ends of them till they

are quite flat and even; they then make a deep groove in the teeth of

the upper jaw, in the centre between the bottom of each tooth and the

gum, and horizontally with the latter; this groove is equal in depth to

a quarter of the thickness of the teeth; yet none of these people have a

rotten tooth, though, according to the dentists of England and France,

such a thing must be unavoidable, as the tooth is pierced much deeper

than what we call the enamel. The teeth of these people become very

black by the chewing of betel, yet a slight washing will take off this

blackness, and the teeth are then perfectly white; but they are very

seldom washed, as the depth of the colour is very far from being thought

disagreeable.

Almost every person has read or heard of the Mohawks; and these are the

people who are so denominated, from a corruption of the word Amock,

which will be well explained by the following story and observations. To

run a muck is to get drunk with opium, and then seizing some offensive

weapon, to sally forth from the house, kill the person or persons

supposed to have injured the Amock, and any other person that attempts

to impede his passage, till he himself is taken prisoner, or killed on

the spot.--While Captain Cook was at Batavia, a person whose

circumstances in life were independent becoming jealous of his brother,

intoxicated himself with opium, and then murdered his brother, and two

other men, who endeavoured to seize him. This man, contrary to the usual

custom, did not leave his own house, but made his resistance from within

it; yet he had taken such a quantity of the opium, that he was totally

delirious, which appeared from his attempting to fire three muskets,

neither of which had been loaded, or even primed.

During the time that Captain Cook was at Batavia, several instances of

the like kind occurred, and he was informed by an officer, whose duty it

was to take such offenders into custody, that hardly a week passed in

the year in which he was not obliged to exercise his authority: the

Captain was also told, that jealousy of the women is the usual reason of

these poor creatures running a muck, and that the first object of their

vengeance is always the person whom they suppose to have injured them.

The officer, whose business it is to apprehend these unhappy wretches,

is furnished with a long pair of tongs, in order to take hold of them at

such a distance from the point of their weapons, as to insure his

personal safety. When he takes one of them alive he is amply rewarded;

but this is not often the case, as they are so desperate as not to be

easily apprehended: when they are killed in the attempt to take them,

the officer has only the customary gratification. Those who are taken

alive are broken on the wheel, as near as possible to the place where

the first murder was perpetrated; and, as they are seldom apprehended

without being previously wounded, the time of their execution is sooner

or later, according to the opinions of the physicians, whether the

wounds are, or are not mortal.

The Oranslams believe that the Devil is the author of sickness, and

other misfortunes, on which account they make an oblation of meat,

money, and other things, to him, when they are either sick or in

trouble. When they dream successively for several nights, they have no

doubt but that the Devil has enjoined the performance of some act, to

discover which they torture their brains in vain, and then apply to the

priest, who never fails to interpret the dream in a satisfactory manner.

In consequence of this interpretation, by which it appears that the

Devil is in want of money and food, a quantity of each is placed in the

leaves of the cocoa-nut tree, and being hung on the bough of a tree by

the side of a river, is left till some passenger shall find, and take

away the money, which is considered not so much an offering to the

Devil, as a fine due for some crime committed; with regard to the food,

they imagine that the Devil comes and sucks out the nutritious parts of

it, without moving it out of its place. From this part of the story it

seems reasonable to conclude, that the priest, having previous knowledge

where the oblation is to be made, takes the money, and leaves the

victuals.

This instance of the superstition of these people may be thought very

extraordinary; but the following will appear much more so. They are

possessed with an idea, that when one of their wives is brought to bed,

a crocodile is born, as a brother to the infant; and they imagine that

the midwife conveys the young crocodile to an adjacent river, into which

she puts it, with the utmost care and tenderness. Those who suppose

themselves honoured by the birth of this new relation, fail not to put

food in the river for his subsistence; but this is the peculiar duty of

the twin brother, who performs this service regularly, at fixed periods,

during the whole course of his life; firmly believing at the same time,

that sickness or death would be the consequence of an omission on his

part.

In the islands of Boutou and Celebes the natives keep crocodiles in

their families; and it is conjectured, that the strange idea of the twin

crocodile was first conceived in one of those islands: it extends,

however, to Java and Sumatra westward, and among the islands to the

eastward as far as Ceram and Timor. It is a matter of perfect

astonishment, how even the most ignorant and credulous of the human

race, should firmly believe an utter impossibility to occur daily; yet

it is certain, that not one of the Indians whom Captain Cook questioned

on the subject, entertained the least doubt about the matter. The

crocodiles supposed to be thus born are distinguished by the name of

_Sudaras_; and our readers cannot fail of being entertained with the

following story respecting them, which Mr. Banks heard from a young

woman who was born at Bencoolen, and having lived among the English at

that place, had learnt to speak as much of our language as was

sufficient to make her story intelligible.

She said that, when her father was on his death-bed, he laid the

strongest injunctions on her to feed a crocodile that was his _Sudara_;

that he told her the name by which he might be called up, and the

particular part of the river where she would find him. Soon after the

death of her father, she hastened to the river, and calling _Radja

Pouti_ (which signifies white king) the Sudara crocodile made his

appearance, and she fed him with her own hands. She described him as

being more beautiful than crocodiles are in general, for he had a red

nose, and spots on his body; his ears were adorned with rings, and his

feet with ornaments of gold. This story will appear the more

extravagantly ridiculous, when it is recollected that crocodiles have

not any ears.

A man whose mother was a native of the island of Java, and whose father

was a Dutchman, was engaged in the service of Mr. Banks during his

residence at Batavia. This man told his master that several Dutchmen,

and many Javanese, as well as himself, had seen such a crocodile as was

described by the girl who told the preceding story, and that, like

her’s, its feet were adorned with gold. On Mr. Banks’s remarking the

absurdity of these tales, and saying that crocodiles had not ears, he

replied, that the Sudaras differed considerably from other crocodiles;

that they had ears, though he acknowledged they were small, that their

tongues filled their mouths, and that on each foot they had five toes.

There are three tribes of Indians on the island of Batavia, who are

called Boetons, Macassars, and Bougis. These people are firm believers

in the existence of the Sudara crocodiles; and they have a custom among

them, which, however ridiculous in itself, seems to do honour to their

filial and fraternal affections. At fixed periods they assemble

together, and having laden a large boat with various sorts of

provisions, they launch her at a spot most likely to be frequented by

crocodiles; here they row about, sometimes singing and sometimes

weeping, while a variety of musical instruments are played on, till they

get sight of a crocodile. The moment this happens they throw tobacco,

betel and victuals of several sorts, over the side of the boat, as a

friendly offering to the Sudara crocodiles of their own country;

imagining, that by this means they conciliate the affections and good

will of their relations, whom they fail not to invoke during the whole

of the ceremony.

The Chinese inhabitants of Batavia are, like those of their own country,

some of the most industrious people on the face of the earth. They act

as embroiderers, dyers of cotton, taylors, carpenters, joiners, smiths,

and makers of slippers: some of them are shop-keepers, and deal largely

in the manufactures of Europe and China. A few of these people live

within the walls of the town; but the majority of them take up their

residence in a district, named Campang China, which is situated without

the walls. Those of the Chinese, who live in the country, either keep

buffaloes and other cattle, the milk of which they sell daily at

Batavia, or they procure a subsistence by the raising of rice and sugar

canes, and the cultivation of gardens.

Captain Cook observes, that the danger of being hanged for any crime

being excepted, there is nothing, however infamous, which a Chinese will

refuse to do for gain; and in this opinion he concurs with every

preceding writer; so that these people must have taken no small pains to

establish their reputation for knavery. They labour with unwearied

diligence, but the moment they have compleated their work they sit down

to dice, cards, or some other of the very numerous games which they are

expert at; and they follow their sports with such eagerness, that the

business of eating and sleeping is frequently suspended.

The cloaths of the Chinese, whether rich or poor, are singularly clean

and decent. Their behaviour is civil even to humility. They are such

temperate eaters, that gluttony is unknown among them; but as their

religion does not command them to refrain from any particular food, they

eat a variety of things which are denied to those Indians who profess

the Mahometan faith. Exclusive of vegetables and fish of various kinds,

their principal food consists of dogs, cats, lizards, frogs, serpents of

several sorts, and hogs.

The Chinese have purchased of the Dutch, at a very large expence,

several hundred acres of land in the vicinity of Batavia, for the

interment of their dead; for it is a rule, from which they never depart,

not to open a grave which has once received the body of one of their

countrymen: and hence arises an enormous expence in the purchase of

land, which greatly distresses the living, to pay an imaginary honour to

the dead. In order to preserve the body as long as possible from decay,

the coffin consists of a piece of solid timber hollowed out: and this

being covered with a kind of mortar several inches thick, petrifies in

the ground till it is as hard as a flint. The funeral is attended by the

near relations of the deceased, and by a train of women, who are paid

for making lamentations.

In these expensive customs, absurd as they are, the Chinese are equalled

by the rest of their Batavian neighbours; for every person is buried

with a degree of splendour proportioned to the rank he has held in life,

and there is a positive law which enjoins the observance of this custom;

in consequence of which it frequently happens, that those who have not

money sufficient to pay the just demands on them, are buried in a

pompous manner, merely because they have lived elegantly. In this case

persons are employed to take an account of what the man died worth, and,

when the funeral expences are defrayed, the surplus is divided among the

creditors.

The various inhabitants of the island of Java, whether Dutch, Portuguese

or Indians, are all waited on by slaves, whose number is proportioned to

the circumstances of the master; but there are laws in force, that no

native of the island shall serve as a slave. These people, the number of

which is very great, are bought at Sumatra, and the other eastern

islands, at various prices, from ten to twenty pounds; but there have

been instances of very beautiful girls being sold at above five times

the common market price. They are fed on boiled rice, and such fish as

can be purchased at the lowest rates; a little of which satisfies them,

nor indeed do they deserve even the little they eat, for they are idle

and sluggish in the highest degree.

The negroes of Africa are purchased at a lower price than any other

slaves, and indeed any price whatever exceeds their merit, for they are

of the most obstinate dispositions, and thieves, without a single

exception. Those slaves which are purchased from the island of Celebes

are most intolerably lazy, and of so ferocious a disposition, that their

employers run the hazard of their personal safety. The island of Bali

furnishes the most useful slaves; and the little island Nias, near

Sumatra, supplies female slaves of exquisite beauty; but to these

ill-fated women death is the almost certain consequence of even a short

residence at Batavia.

The masters of any of these slaves may punish them in whatever way they

chuse, so as not to deprive them of life; but when it happens that a

slave dies of the punishment he has received, the master is tried, and

commonly suffers as a murderer. From this circumstance it is reasonable

to suppose, that the masters are cautious how they beat the slaves with

undue severity: it is not indeed very common for them to strike them at

all, but they pay an officer, who is called the Marineu, for inflicting

the punishment. The Marineu having heard what is alledged against the

delinquent, determines how many stripes he shall receive, and these are

given by slaves, whose particular business it is to obey the commands of

the Marineu: these strokes are laid on with rods made of rattans split

very small. For a severe whipping the Marineu receives a ducatoon, and a

rixdollar for a slighter punishment. The women slaves are whipped in the

house of the master, but the men publickly in the streets. In order that

these slaves may not be under too great temptations to steal, their

masters are compelled to allow them seven pence half-penny weekly for

pocket-money.

There is something singular in the subordination observed among the

inhabitants of Batavia and the adjacent country. The man who has been

longest in the Dutch East India Company’s service is permitted to gild

his coach, while others are allowed to ride in coaches differently

painted, according to the length of their services, and others again

ride in those that are quite plain. In like manner the coachmen are

dressed in liveries, that have a greater or less quantity of lace on

them, or without any lace at all.

The lawyers of Batavia are partial in their administration of justice,

to a very reprehensible degree. When an Indian has committed any crime

deemed worthy of death, he is impaled, hanged, or broken on the wheel,

without ceremony: on the contrary, if a Christian is capitally

convicted, execution very seldom follows the sentence: and, what is more

extraordinary, no pains are taken to apprehend the offender, till time

enough has been allowed him to run away, if he thinks proper.

The civil officers of justice among the Chinese and Malays are called

Captains and Lieutenants, but their decisions are not final, if the

party against whom they may decide, thinking himself aggrieved, should

appeal to the Dutch lawyers, in which case the decision of the latter

must be abided by.

The Dutch have laid considerable taxes on these people, among which is

one for the permission to wear their hair. When these taxes become due,

which is once a month, they hoist a flag on the top of a house, nearly

in the center of Batavia, and the man who does not speedily go and pay

his money, has reason to repent the omission.

The current money of this country is of different value, from a Dutch

doit to a ducat. When Captain Cook was at Batavia, Spanish dollars sold

at five shillings and five-pence each, and the price is seldom much

lower. The Chinese would give only the value of twenty shillings for an

English guinea that was almost new, and for those that were old, and

much worn, only seventeen shillings.

The milled ducatoons of Batavia are valued at eighty stivers; those that

are unmilled at seventy-two; the ducat at one hundred and thirty-two;

the imperial rixdollars at sixty; the rupees at thirty; the schellings

at six; the double cheys at two and a half; and the doits at a quarter

of a stiver.

We shall now proceed to a recital of the incidents which occurred during

their passage from Batavia to the Cape of Good Hope; in which we shall

trace them with the utmost fidelity, omitting not a single circumstance

that may either entertain or instruct the reader.

Early in the morning of the 27th of December 1770, the Endeavour left

the road of Batavia, and, after several hindrances, occasioned by the

wind being contrary, she stood over for the shore of Java, on the first

day of January 1771. As many of the ship’s crew, who had been very ill

while at Batavia, were now become much worse, the vessel was brought to

an anchor in the afternoon of the 5th near Princes Island, with a view

to get some necessary refreshments, and likewise to take in wood and

water.

Messieurs Solander and Banks now went ashore with the Captain, and they

were no sooner landed, than some of the natives conducted them to the

King of the island, with whom they endeavoured to make a bargain for

some turtle, but the price could not be agreed on. As our adventurers

had no doubt but that they should purchase on their own terms the

following day, they left the Indians, and proceeded in search of a

proper place to fill water, which was soon found. As they were about to

embark for the ship, they purchased three turtle from some of the

natives, but with the strictest injunction, that their Sovereign should

not be informed of the transaction.

On Sunday the 6th of January they purchased, at very moderate prices, as

many turtle as they had occasion for, and the whole ship’s company fed

on this delicious fish. The King was at this time at a house situated in

a rice field, where Mr. Banks waited on him, and found him cooking his

own victuals.

On Monday the inhabitants brought vegetables, deer, fish, fowls and

monkies, for sale; and on the following day they brought down a farther

number of turtle.

A servant that Mr. Banks had hired at Batavia having acquainted him,

that there was a town on the island, his curiosity determined him to

have a view of it, and one of the officers of the ship accompanied him

on his visit. As he was apprehensive that the natives would not be

pleased at his going to the town, he told such of them as he met, that

he was seeking for plants, which, in fact, was a part of the business of

the day. Having come to a kind of village, consisting of a very few

houses, they asked an Indian the way to the town, and some other

particulars respecting it; but he endeavoured to prevent their

proceeding, by representing it as at a very great distance. When he saw

they were resolved to go forward, he proceeded with them, making

frequent attempts to mislead them. When they were within sight of the

town, the Indian changed his behaviour at once, and led the way to it.

This place, which contains between three and four hundred houses, is

called Samadang, and is parted by a river into the old and the new town.

Some of the natives, whom the gentlemen remembered to have seen among

those who had brought provisions for sale, agreed to carry them from the

old town to the new for a trifling gratification. This was done by means

of two little canoes, which were lashed together; and they had no sooner

reached the opposite shore, than the Indians shewed them the houses of

their Chiefs, and behaved otherwise in the most friendly manner; but as

this was the season when the natives live in their rice-grounds, to save

their corn from the depredations of the monkies and birds, most of the

houses were shut. When the gentlemen had seen every thing that they

thought worthy of notice, they hired a sailing-boat, which conveyed them

to the ship time enough for dinner; for the town of Samadang, though at

a considerable distance from the place where the Endeavour lay at

anchor, is situated at only a small distance from the sea-coast.

On the 12th, while the Captain was on shore giving orders to the people

who were cutting wood and filling water, he was told, that one of the

natives had stolen an ax. The thief was unknown; but the Captain,

resolved not to pave the way for future depredations of this kind, by

taking no notice of the first offence, immediately applied to the King;

and in consequence of this application, the ax was brought down to the

watering-place the next day. The Indian who brought it back said, it was

left at his house in the night; but it was suspected, that himself was

the thief.

Mr. Banks having several times visited on the King of the island, and

given him some trifles that were very acceptable, he waited on him for

the last time on the 13th of January, and gratified him very much by a

present of a small quantity of paper. The King asked the reason why the

English ships did not touch at the island, as was formerly their custom;

when Mr. Banks attributed the omission to the scarcity of turtle, and

advised the King to breed buffaloes, sheep and cattle, for the

accommodation of his future visitants.

After a stay of ten days at Princes Island, during which they purchased

vegetables of various kinds, fowls, deer, turtle, &c. the anchor was

weighed, and the vessel once more put to sea.

We shall now proceed to a description of the island, which lies in the

western mouth of the Streight of Sunda. It is a small woody island, and

has been cleared only in very few places. Our India ships used to touch

at Princes Island to take in water, but they have omitted this practice

for some years since, on account, as it is said, of the water being

brackish; yet Captain Cook says it is exceeding good, if filled towards

the head of the brook.

The fowls which were purchased at this place cost about five-pence each;

the turtle three-farthings a pound, and other fish were proportionably

cheap; one hundred of the best cocoa-nuts cost only a dollar, and

pumpkins, pine-apples and other fruits, were equally cheap and plenty.

The natives profess the religion of Mahomet, and are so strict in the

observance of the feast called _Ramadan_, that they not only abstain

from food till the sun is down, but even from the chewing of betel. The

manners of these people are not unlike those of the Javanese; but they

are much more jealous of their wives: during the ten days that the

Endeavour lay here, only one woman was seen, and she ran away the moment

she was discovered.

The houses are constructed in the form of an oblong square: they are

built on pillars four feet above the ground, and well thatched with

palm-leaves, as a defence from the sun and rain: the flooring is of

bamboo canes, placed at a distance from each other, to admit the air:

these houses consist of four rooms, one of which is destined for the

reception of visitants, the children sleep in a second, and the two

others are allotted, the one for the purpose of cookery, and the other

for the bed-chamber of the owner and his wife. The residence of the King

of the island, and that of another person of great authority, has boards

on the sides, while the houses of all the inferior people have walls

made of the bamboo cane, slit into small sticks, and wrought across the

beams of the building, in the manner of a hurdle. The King of the island

is subject to the Sultan of Bantam.

Captain Cook represents the natives as very honest in their dealings,

with the single exception, of demanding more than double the sum they

intended to sell for: the goods of each sort which different persons

brought to market were all sold together, and the purchase-money divided

among the several contributors, in proportion to the quantity that each

had given in to the general stock. When they changed money, they gave

two hundred and forty Dutch doits for a Spanish dollar.

The natives speak a language which they call _Catta Gunung_, that is,

the language of the mountains, and they say, that their ancestors came

from the mountains of Java, where this language is spoken; that they

first settled at New Bay, where the tygers were so numerous, that they

could not live in safety, and therefore took up their residence on

Prince’s Island: all these people, however, are capable of conversing in

the Malay language.

At the time the Endeavour left Princes Island, her crew began to feel,

in all its force, the ill effects of the putrid air of Batavia; and soon

afterwards the ship was a mere hospital, filled with unhappy wretches,

sinking under the rage of fevers and dysenteries. In the space of six

weeks twenty-three persons died, exclusive of the seven which had been

buried at Batavia: these were nine seamen, the Corporal of the marines,

the ship’s Cook, two of the Carpenter’s crew, the Carpenter and his

Mate, a Midshipman, the old sail-maker, who was in perfect health when

all the rest were ill at Batavia, and his Mate, the Boatswain, Mr.

Monkhouse, a Midshipman, Mr. Sporing, who accompanied Mr. Banks, Mr.

Parkinson, draughtsman to that gentleman, and Mr. Green, the Astronomer.

After a passage in which nothing remarkable occurred, the ship was

brought to an anchor off the Cape of Good Hope, on the 15th of March

1771. The Captain repaired instantly to the Governor, who said, that

such refreshments as the country supplied, should be chearfully granted

him; on which a house was hired for the sick, who were to have their

board and lodging, on the payment of two shillings a day for each man.

At the time the Endeavour lay at anchor here, an English East Indiaman

sailed for the port of London, who had buried above thirty of her crew

while she was in India; and at that time had many others severely

afflicted with the scurvy; so that the sufferings of the crew of the

Endeavour, considering her long absence from England, is a circumstance

not at all to be wondered at.

We shall now proceed to a description of the Cape of Good Hope, in which

we shall only mention such particulars as are either wholly new, or such

as have been mis-represented by other writers. The land over the Cape is

mountainous, and totally barren; beyond these mountains the country is

covered with a light sand, which will not admit of cultivation: there

are indeed a few cultivated spots, but they are hardly more than a

thousandth part of the whole country. Provisions are brought to the Cape

from a distance nine hundred miles up the country, which is an evident

proof of its extreme sterility, notwithstanding what has been heretofore

written to the contrary. While Captain Cook lay here, a farmer came to

the Cape, bringing his young children with him, from a distance that

took him fifteen days journey; and on his being asked why he had not

left his children with some neighbour, he said, there was no inhabitant

within five days journey of his farm. There are no trees that are even

two yards in height, except in some plantations in the vicinity of Cape

town.

This town consists of near a thousand brick houses, the outsides of

which being generally plaistered, they have a very pleasing appearance.

There is a canal in the main street, with two rows of oak-trees on its

borders, which are in a more flourishing state than the other trees of

this country: the streets, which cross each other at right angles, are

very spacious and handsome. The inhabitants are chiefly Dutch, or of

Dutch extraction: the women are beautiful in a high degree, and possess

those blooming countenances which denote the most perfect health: they

are most of them mothers of many children, and Captain Cook says, they

are the best wives in the world.

The air of the Cape of Good Hope is so pure and salubrious, that a sick

person, who goes thither from Europe, whatever be his disorder, almost

always recovers his health in a little time; but those who bring

diseases with them from the East Indies, have not an equal chance of

recovery.

Although this country is naturally so barren, as scarcely to produce any

thing, yet the unceasing industry of its inhabitants has so effectually

combated the sparing hand of Nature, that there are few places where the

necessaries of life are more plentiful, and even what are generally

deemed luxuries, are by no means scarce. The constantia wine is known to

be excellent, but the genuine sort is made only at one particular

vineyard a few miles from the town. The gardens produce many sorts of

European and Indian fruits, and almost all the common kinds of

vegetables. The cultivated fields yield wheat and barley of equal

quality with that of the growth of England. The sheep of this country

have tails of a very extraordinary size, many of which weigh upwards of

a dozen pounds; the meat of this animal as well as of the ox, is very

fine food: the wool of the sheep is rather of the hairy kind, and the

horns of the black cattle spread much wider than those of England, while

the beast himself is handsomer and lighter made. The cheese has a very

indifferent flavour, but the butter is extremely good. The pork of this

country is nearly the same as that of Europe, and there are abundance of

goats, but the inhabitants do not eat their flesh. The country abounds

in hares, altogether like those of England; there are several species of

the antelope, a plenty of bustards, and two kinds of quails.

When a stranger arrives at the Cape, it is customary for him to board in

a private house, and he pays from two shillings to a crown a day,

according to the accommodations he expects. If he appears and behaves as

a gentleman, he is invited to the private entertainments which are given

by the more opulent of the inhabitants; and this cannot fail of being

the more acceptable, as there are no places of public diversion in the

country. Horses are here let to hire at six shillings a day, and coaches

at one pound four.

The Dutch company have a garden at the extremity of the high street,

which is more than half a mile in length, in the center walk of which

are a number of fine oak trees. A small part of this garden is covered

with botanical plants, but all the rest is allotted to the production of

the common vegetables for the kitchen: the whole is divided into squares

by the form of its walks, and each square is fenced in by oaks cut into

small hedges. There is a menagerie of beasts and birds, many of them

known in Europe, at the upper end of this garden; and among the rest is

the _Coe Doe_, a beast not less than a horse, which has those curious

spiral horns that have frequently found a place in the cabinets of the

curious.

The native inhabitants of this country are usually dressed in a sheep

skin thrown across the shoulders, and a little pouch before them, to

which is fixed a kind of belt, ornamented with little bits of copper,

and beads: round the waists of the women is a broad piece of leather,

and rings of the same round their ancles, to protect them from the

thorns, which grow in abundance all over the country; a few of them wear

a kind of shoe, made of the bark of a tree, but the major part of them

go barefooted: both sexes adorn themselves with bracelets and necklaces,

made of beads. None of these people reside at a less distance than four

days journey from Cape Town, except a number of the poorer sort, who

look after the cattle belonging to the Dutch farmers, and are employed

in various other menial offices. Their stature is about the same as that

of the people of England, from five to six feet in height; but scarce

any of them are corpulent: their skins are dark, but this is in a great

degree owing to their extreme indelicacy: their hair curls naturally,

and falls in ringlets of above six inches in length: they are singular

for their strength and agility.

Most of the Hottentots speak the Dutch language, without any thing

remarkable in their manner; yet, when they converse in their native

language, they frequently stop, and make a clucking with their tongues,

which has a most singular and ridiculous effect to the ears of a

stranger; and, exclusive of this clucking, their language itself is

scarcely sounded articulately.

These people are modest to the utmost degree of bashfulness, and, though

they are fond of singing and dancing, can hardly be prevailed on to

divert themselves with their favourite amusements before strangers: both

their singing and dancing are alternately quick and slow in the utmost

extreme.

Some of the Hottentots understand the art of melting and preparing

copper, with which they make plates, and wear them on their foreheads,

as an article of finery. They are also capable of making knives,

superior to those they can purchase of the Dutch, from whom they procure

the iron.

They have the art of making butter by shaking milk in the skin of a

beast: with this butter they anoint their skins; or, when they cannot

procure butter, they use the fat of the sheep. The principal people are

owners of immense herds of cattle; and these clothe themselves with the

skins of lions and other beasts, which are adorned with fringes,

elegantly designed.

The Hottentots are so dextrous in throwing stones, that they will hit a

mark not larger than a crown piece, at the distance of an hundred yards.

They are likewise expert in the use of arrows, and of the lance called

an Assagay, the points of which they poison, sometimes with the venom of

a serpent, and sometimes with the juice of particular herbs; so that a

wound received from either of these weapons is almost always mortal.

Exclusive of what is above recited, they met with nothing respecting

these people, but such particulars as have been previously mentioned by

various other voyagers, and which will of course be found in the

preceding volumes: we shall therefore accompany the ship in her voyage

to England.

On the 14th of April, 1771, the anchor of the Endeavour was weighed, and

she once more put to sea, but came to an anchor again before night near

Robin island. As a few vegetables were wanted, which they had neglected

to take in at the Cape, the Captain sent off a boat to the island; but,

when she reached the shore, some Dutch soldiers forbad her crew landing,

at the hazard of their lives; and the officer who commanded very

prudently returned to the ship. For some time they were puzzled to

account for this behaviour on the part of the Dutch; but it was at

length recollected, that the Dutch government at the Cape of Good Hope

had assigned this island for the reception of such offenders whose

crimes were not deemed worthy of death, where their slavery consists in

digging lime-stone, for such a number of years as are thought

proportionable to the heinousness of their offences: and that a ship

belonging to Denmark, which had buried most of her hands, had called at

this island, and taken on board a number of these criminals, in order to

navigate the vessel to Europe: hence the conduct of the Dutch soldiers

was easily accounted for.

The ship sailed again on the following day, when the master of her died,

having hastened his death by hard drinking, though, in other respects,

he left behind him an excellent character.

On Monday, May-day, they came to an anchor off the island of St. Helena,

and, as they proposed to remain three days, Mr. Banks employed the

interval in surveying every object that was thought worthy of notice.

The island of St. Helena rises out of the immense Atlantic ocean, is

about eighteen hundred miles from the coast of America, and twelve

hundred from that of Africa. It has the appearance of a huge mountain,

the foundation of which is probably at the center of the globe. It had

formerly volcanoes in several parts of it, as is evident from the

appearance of the earth and stones in many places; and it looks like a

cluster of rocks, bounded by precipices of immense height: as a vessel

sails along the coast, the cliffs perpend over her head so as to

threaten her instant destruction, and nothing in nature can be conceived

more awful than their appearance.

Close to the sea side stands the town, which had formerly a church of

very indifferent architecture, but it is now little better than a heap

of ruins, nor is the market house in a much better condition: most of

the houses are also constructed in a vile taste.

As this island is the property of the English East India Company, the

inhabitants are not suffered to carry on any trade for their own

emolument, but get their livelihood by selling the productions of the

island to the crews of the vessels which anchor there for a supply of

refreshments.

St. Helena is so happily situated, with regard to climate, that it

would, if properly cultivated, produce the trees, fruits, plants and

flowers, of all the different parts of the world. On the summit of the

highest ridges the cabbage-tree flourishes; in the parts below these

grow the gum-wood and red-wood, and in the vallies many of the plants of

the Indies, and almost all those of Europe; yet these several

productions will not grow but on the spots of ground peculiarly adapted

to each.

The only white inhabitants of the island are subjects of the King of

Great Britain: these employ slaves, who transport goods of all kinds

from place to place on their heads; and we are sorry to say, that the

inhumanity of our countrymen to these slaves is a disgrace to those who

profess the christian faith. There are a small number of horses at St.

Helena, but they are never employed in draught, there being no such

thing as a waggon or cart on the island, though in many places the land

is not so steep, but that such carriages might easily be drawn.

Ebony-trees are a natural production of the island of St. Helena, but

there have not been many of them within the memory of any person now

living there. Snails are found in abundance on the summits of the

highest mountains; but the other insects of the island are very few in

number.

On Saturday the 4th of May 1771, the Endeavour sailed from the road of

St. Helena, together with the Portland man of war, and several sail of

Indiamen. They kept company with the man of war and Indiamen till Friday

the 10th. But Captain Cook observing, that they were out-sailed by all

the other ships, and consequently imagining that some of them would

reach England before him, made signals to speak with the Portland, when

the Captain of that vessel came on board, and received from Captain Cook

a letter to the Lords of the Admiralty, together with a box, in which

were deposited the journals of many of the officers, and the ship’s log

books.

On the 23d they lost sight of all the ships they sailed in company with

from St. Helena, and in the afternoon of the same day, Mr. Hicks, the

first Lieutenant, died of a consumption, with which he had been

afflicted during the whole voyage.

No single occurrence worth recording happened from this time, till the

ship came to an anchor in the Downs, which was on the 12th of June

following.

Whoever has carefully read, and duly considered the wonderful protection

of this ship, in cases of danger the most imminent and astonishing,

particularly when encircled in the wide ocean with rocks of coral, her

sheathing beaten off, and her false-keel floating by her side, a hole in

her bottom, and the men alternately fainting at the pumps, and will yet

deny the existence of a _particular Providence_, and the most gracious

and merciful interposition of the Deity, in behalf of our adventrous

countrymen, will deserve some share of that censure, which the thinking

part of mankind have so liberally and justly bestowed on the Compiler of

the account of the Voyage of the ENDEAVOUR. There is a comfort in the

reflection that God is good, which can be felt only by those who

acknowledge his mercy, and adore his power.

ACCOUNT OF

MONS. DE BOUGAINVILLE’s

VOYAGE

ROUND THE WORLD.

PERFORMED BY

ORDER OF THE FRENCH KING,

In the years 1766, 1767, 1768, 1769.

A settlement having been commenced for the French King, on Falkland’s

Islands[1], in the month of February 1764, the Spaniards demanded them

as their right, as an appendage to the continent of South America; and

France having allowed the propriety of the demand, Mons. Bougainville

was ordered to yield possession of the islands to the Spaniards.

[1] M. Bougainville every where calls these islands the _Isles

Malouines_; but we shall call them by the name of Falkland’s Islands,

which was given them by our countryman, Strong, in 1689.

In consequence of the orders he had received, he sailed from the port of

Mindin on the 15th of November 1766, having under his command the

frigate la Boudeuse--la Esmeralda, and la Liebre; two frigates belonging

to Spain, were to join him in the river de la Plata, to the commanding

officer of which he was to deliver the settlement; and the l’Etoile, a

French store-ship, was to carry him such provisions as were necessary

for the long voyage on which he was bound, and to meet him at Falkland’s

Islands: but the voyage was necessarily several months longer in

compleating than it might have been, on account, as will appear

hereafter, of the delay which prevented the l’Etoile from joining Mons.

Bougainville.

The Boudeuse had been at sea only two days when she encountered such a

violent storm of wind, as carried away the clue of the fore-sail, broke

the top-mast, and main-top-mast, and took off the head of the main-mast.

Thus situated, Mons. Bougainville found it necessary to put into Brest

to refit, and to make some necessary alterations in the stowage of his

ship, which was ill calculated, for withstanding the fury of those seas

he was to pass, and particularly so for the navigation of the seas round

Cape Horn.

And here a reflection will naturally arise, on that fatality, by which

those who have the appointment of naval equipments, almost always

destine for services of the most imminent danger, vessels totally

inadequate for the purpose. Hence arise orders and counter-orders, till

the proper season for performing the most hazardous parts of the voyage,

is lost in the necessary preparation for making it.

On the 5th of December Mons. Bougainville sailed from the harbour of

Brest, having on board the Prince of Nassau-Seighen, three gentlemen who

went as volunteers, eleven officers in commission; and warrant-officers,

seamen, soldiers, servants and boys, to the number of two hundred.

On the 17th they were in sight of the Salvages, a small flat island,

which at each end rises into a hillock: the next day they saw the Island

of Palma, and that of Ferro on the 19th. Mons. Bougainville was now

convinced of a great error in his reckoning, which he attributes to the

rapidity of the currents opposite the Streights of Gibraltar. Having

corrected his reckoning, he took a fresh departure, and arrived at Rio

de la Plata, without meeting with any thing worthy of notice.

On the evening of the 29th of January they had sight of Rio de la Plata,

but as the night was dark and tempestuous, they lay to, with the head of

the vessel towards the offing. The next morning they had a view of the

mountains of Maldonado, which, after a ship enters the Rio de la Plata,

are the first high lands seen to the north. At the Maldonados the

Spaniards have a small garrisoned town, in the vicinity of which are

picked up some beautiful transparent stones; and there is likewise a

gold mine near it, which has been worked for a few years past, but has

yielded little profit.

On the morning of the 31st the Boudeuse came to an anchor in the Bay of

Montevideo, where the two Spanish ships, which were to take possession

of Falkland’s Islands, had been at anchor for some weeks.

Don Philip Ruis Puente, the principal in command of the Spanish vessels,

having been appointed Governor of the islands which were to be

surrendered by the French, he accompanied Mons. Bougainville to Buenos

Ayres, to settle, with the Governor-general, the mode of making the

cession: and the Prince of Nassau-Sieghen attended them in this

expedition.

The gentlemen made the voyage in a schooner, but a contrary wind

preventing their passage by sea, they went on shore above the colony of

San Sacramento, and travelled over a prodigious extent of country, in

which there were no roads, and where the eye was their only guide.

During this expedition they slept in little hovels constructed with

leather, while the tygers howled round them on every side. Mons.

Bougainville particularly mentions the manner and the danger of their

passing the river St. Lucia, which is wide and deep, yet amazingly

rapid:--being placed in a long narrow canoe, one side of which was

beyond all proportion higher than the other, a horse was fastened on

each side the vessel, the master of which pulling off all his cloaths,

got into it, and supporting the heads of the horses above the surface of

the stream, drove them across it, in the best manner he was able, and,

with some difficulty, they stemmed the rapidity of the torrent. It is

necessary for travellers who pass this wild and extensive country to be

very careful in finding the fordable parts of the rivers; they usually

drive before them a considerable number of horses, in order to take

fresh ones as often as those they ride on are jaded.

[Illustration: _Monsieur de Bougainville Crossing the River S^t. Lucia

in a Canoe drawn by Horses_]

Monsieur Bougainville having transacted his business at Buenos Ayres,

returned to Montevideo on the 16th of February, and was followed in a

few days by the Spanish Governor, Don Puente. Some necessaries of

various kinds being taken on board, the vessels were prepared for

sailing to Falkland’s Islands.

Our author now gives a long account of the establishment of the

Spaniards in Rio de la Plata, of which we shall take no notice, because

similar accounts are to be found in a great number of volumes, some or

other of which are in the hands of almost every reader.

Our voyagers having caused a small vessel to be laden with cattle for

the use of the ship’s companies, they sailed in company, on the 28th of

February 1767, a pilot, acquainted with the coast of Falkland’s Islands,

having been previously put on board each of the Spanish ships; but this

day they were obliged to bring their vessels to an anchor, on account of

the thickness of a fog, which prevented their seeing land.

The winds now proving contrary, the ships remained at anchor the

following day; but as the current of the river ran strongly in their

favour, Mons. Bougainville sent to acquaint the Spanish commander, that

his vessel being too near the English sand-bank, off the isle of Flores,

he thought it would be proper to sail on the following day, even if the

wind should not change in their favour. To this the Spanish officer

replied, that his pilot refused to weigh the anchor till the wind became

fair and blew steady: on which Don Puente was acquainted, that the

anchor of the Boudeuse would certainly be weighed early the next

morning, and that she would either anchor more to the north, or ply to

the windward, waiting for the Spanish ships, unless they should be

unavoidably separated by the violence of the wind.

The small vessel laden with cattle had not come to an anchor during the

preceding night, nor was she seen any more during the voyage; but it was

afterwards learnt that she went back to Montevideo, after an absence of

three weeks from that place. The night had been so tempestuous, that all

the ships dragged their anchors, and in the morning the Spanish vessels

were observed with their main-yards lowered, and their top-masts handed:

the Boudeuse, however, got under sail, and got out of the river before

night, leaving the Spaniards still at anchor. Mons. Bougainville had

variable, but chiefly bad, weather till the 23d of the month, when he

came to an anchor in the Bay of Falkland’s islands, where the Spanish

vessels also anchored, on the day following. These last had suffered

extremely through the inclemency of the weather; the cabbin windows of

Don Puente’s ship had been broke by the violence of the waves, so that

the sea for some time poured into her in torrents; and a number of

cattle, destined for the use of the colony at Falkland’s Island, died on

the passage.

On the 1st of April Mons. Bougainville, in the name of the French king,

surrendered the island to Don Puente, who received it for his most

catholic Majesty, with the ceremony of hoisting the Spanish colours, and

the firing of guns from the ships and on shore: Mons. Bougainville then

read a letter, in which his sovereign granted leave to such of the

inhabitants as chose to continue their residence, to be under the

dominion of Spain: this offer was accepted by some, while others

embarked with the garrison, and were conveyed to Montevideo in the

Spanish ships. The whole expence of the French settlement, to the time

of its being delivered to the Spaniards, was six hundred and three

thousand livres; but as his most Catholic Majesty took the ships,

provisions, and all the stores of every kind, he reimbursed this sum to

France.

Mons. Bougainville now proceeds to make some historical remarks

respecting Falkland’s Islands, in which we shall trace him with all

possible fidelity. He says that, in the year 1502, when Americo

Vespucius was on his third voyage for the discovery of America, he

sailed along the northern coasts of the islands, and to him, therefore,

he allows the honour of being the first discoverer; yet he says that

Vespucious knew not whether what he saw was an island, or a part of the

main land. Gouin, a French commander, came to an anchor on these

islands, in the year 1700, as he was returning from a voyage into the

South Seas; but Gouin mistook them for Sebald’s isles, which lie very

near them, Falkland’s Islands being between those, and the island of

Beauchesne; so that a ship at anchor on the east side of Sebald’s isles,

is within sight of Falkland’s;--Besides Beauchesne’s description of what

he took to be Sebald’s, exactly answers to these; for he says there are

no woods, that the country is swampy, that there are many fresh-water

lakes and marshes on it, and that it abounds in ducks, snipes, wild

geese, and teals.

Mons. Bougainville justly observes, that Falkland’s islands have been

but little known, and ill described, till within a few years past. They

are commonly represented as being covered with woods; but this mistake

might very well happen in the accounts of those who only saw them from

on board a ship for what are taken for woods are tall rushes, which grow

very close together, and the stalk being dry to the height of five feet

from the ground, a large tuft springs from the top of it, so that their

number, and the manner in which they grow, form no ill resemblance of a

wood. Great part of the hills on the island are covered with heath,

while the rushes grow only on some small isles, and near the sea coast.

In the year 1594 Sir Richard Hawkins had sight of these islands, and

called them Hawkins’s Maiden-Land: he says he saw fires on them, and

that they were then inhabited: about the commencement of the present

century, a French ship, called the St. Louis, came to an anchor on this

coast, under the shelter of the isles of Anican, which are some small

islands, so called after the privateer of that name; but the commander

of the St. Louis did not think it worth his while to examine the

country: yet, Mons. Bougainville observes, that the navigators of all

nations have remarked how conveniently they are situated for affording

shelter and refreshment to vessels bound to the South-Seas.

France having come to a resolution of sending a colony to settle on

Falkland’s islands, Mons. Bougainville, towards the beginning of the

year 1763, made an offer to establish the settlement at his own expence,

with the assistance of two of his near relations, Mons. de Arboulin, and

Mons. de Nerville. This offer being accepted, the adventrous Frenchman

gave orders for the building and equipment of a vessel of twenty, and

another of twelve guns, the former of which was called the Eagle, and

the latter the Sphinx: and as soon as these vessels had taken in such

stores as were necessary for the voyage, and for making the settlement,

Mons. Bougainville, having previously engaged some acadian families,

embarked his officers, seamen and settlers, and sailed from the Port of

St. Malo, on the 15th of September, 1763.

In the course of the voyage he touched on the coast of Brazil, and at

Montevideo, at which last place he took a number of horned cattle and

horses on board, in order to stock the island to which he was destined.

On the 31st of January, 1764, Mons. Bougainville was within sight of

Sebald’s isles, and came to an anchor in a large bay on the eastermost

point of Falkland’s islands, on the third of February.

It was soon resolved to form the settlement on the coast of this Bay;

and Mons. Bougainville immediately began to take a survey of the island,

to learn what it produced, for the support and convenience of life. He

observes, that various kinds of water and land-fowl, and fish, were all

its edible productions: and that the reader already knows that there

grows no wood, either for firing, or other purposes; but this

deficiency, in Mons. Bougainville’s opinion, might be tolerably well

supplied by an excellent kind of turf, which was almost every where to

be found in great abundance.

On the first arrival of our adventurers, it was a sight not less

pleasing than astonishing, to behold the birds flock round them, with

evident curiosity, but without the least signs of timidity: these

harmless animals used to perch on those who were standing still, and

would at all times submit to be taken with the hand: but they very soon

learnt to be shy of the company of those who sought only their

destruction.

The colony consisted of nineteen men, five women, and three children;

and Mons. Bougainville having fixed on the spot for their residence,

they lost no time in erecting huts, which they covered with rushes, to

protect them from the inclemency of the weather. They likewise built a

magazine, and erected a small fort, in the center of which they raised

an obelisk, under which they had placed several pieces of money, and a

medal, on one side of which was the head of the French king, with the

following motto; _Tibi serviat ultima thule_; and on the other side of

the medal was an inscription, of which the following is a

translation.--“Settlement of the Isles Malouines, situated in 51 degrees

30 minutes of south latitude, 60 degrees 50 minutes west longitude, from

the meridian of Paris, by the Eagle frigate, Captain P. Duclos Guyot,

Captain of a fire-ship, and the Sphinx sloop; Captain F. Chenard de la

Giraudais, Lieutenant of a frigate, equipped by Louis Antoine de

Bougainville, Colonel of infantry, Captain of a ship, chief of the

expedition, G. de Nerville, Captain of infantry, and P. d’ Arboulin,

postmaster general of France: construction of a fort, and an obelisk,

decorated with a medallion of his Majesty Louis XV. after the plans of

A. L’Huillier, engineer and geographer of the field and army, serving on

this expedition; during the administration of E’. de Choiseul, Duke of

Stainville, in February 1764.”

Mons. de Bougainville having promised the settlers, that he would soon

bring them more companions, and give them farther assistance, his

relation, Mons. de Nerville, agreed to stay till his return from France,

as well to be an hostage for the performance of de Bougainville’s

promise, as to encourage the young colonists, by participating in every

hardship and danger to which they might be exposed, in a station so far

removed from all communication with the rest of mankind. In return for

Mons. de Nerville’s kind compliance with the wish of the settlers, he

was to be considered as their Governor.

On the 8th of April 1764, Mons. Bougainville weighed his anchor, and

sailed for Europe, having first taken possession of the islands, in the

name, and for the use of his most Christian Majesty.

In the month of January 1765, Mons. Bougainville again visited

Falkland’s Islands, where he found the settlers in good health, and

pleased with their situation. After he had debarked the stores which he

had brought for their use, he sailed to the Streights of Magellan, where

he took in timber and pallisadoes, and a number of young trees for

planting on Falkland’s Islands; which place he again left on the 27th of

April, when the whole number of colonists was only twenty-four.

While Monsieur de Bougainville was on the above mentioned expedition in

the Streights of Magellan, he saw the ships under Commodore Byron’s

command; the reader will recollect this circumstance, in the account of

Mr. Byron’s Voyage, related in the twenty-first page of the preceding

volume.

The colonists on Falkland’s Islands were encreased to about one hundred

and fifty, by a number of fresh settlers, which sailed from France in

the Eagle, in the year 1765. This ship was accompanied by the Etoile

store-ship, which carried provisions to the island. By this time the

Governor, and an officer who took care of the stores, had good houses

built of stone, and the rest of the colonists were lodged in commodious

huts, having walls composed of sods of earth. With the wood which Mons.

Bougainville had brought from the Streights of Magellan, they had built

several small vessels, adapted to examine the coasts of the island; and

three magazines were by this time erected, in which to deposit the

public and private stores; several kinds of grain which had been brought

from France grew very well, and promised a sufficient encrease; and some

train-oil had been made, and seals-skins turned, by the settlers, with

which the Eagle was loaded, and returned to France.

In the year 1766, when an English colony had settled at Port Egmont,

Captain Macbride, of the Jason frigate, visited the French settlement,

and, to use Mons. Bougainville’s own words, “pretended that those parts

belonged to his Britannic Majesty, threatened to land by force, if he

should be any longer denied that liberty, visited the Governor, and

sailed away again the same day.”

The above, according to Bougainville’s account, was the state of

Falkland’s islands, when the French surrendered them to Spain; and he

pretends, that the prior claim of Spain was confirmed by such surrender

of those who had made the first settlement: and perhaps there might be

some force in this reckoning, if the prior claim of Spain was founded in

justice, and warranted by the laws which have hitherto directed the

discoverers of unknown countries. An Englishman, however, will be glad

to see this argument stated in its proper light, by which it will

appear, that the right to the possession of these islands, is

undoubtedly vested in the Crown of these realms.

The plain state of facts, then, is as follows: as early as the voyage

under Sir Thomas Cavendish, in the year 1592, Captain Davis had sight of

these islands: they were seen a second time, in 1594, as

before-mentioned by Sir Richard Hawkins, who gave them the name of

Hawkins’s Maiden Land: the third person who saw them was the Dutch

voyager Sebald de Waert, who called them Sebald’s Isles, and under this

name they are laid down in the Dutch charts. In the year 1683 they were

seen by Dampier, and, in 1689, by Strong, who gave them their present

English name of Falkland Islands, which Dr. Halley, the celebrated

astronomer, adopting, they are now so called in all the maps and charts

of this country. During the reign of William and Mary, the English

privateers often saw these islands, whereas, according to Mons.

Bougainville’s own account, the first Frenchman who ever saw them was

Gouin, no longer ago than the year 1700. From this state of the evidence

it does not appear, that the Spaniards visited them at all, and that the

French were the last visitors; yet would Mons. Bougainville have his

readers believe, that the Spaniards have the prior claim to their

possession, and that this claim has been ratified by the French!--This

reasoning may sound admirably well in the ears of the slaves of two

arbitrary monarchs, but will be equally ridiculed and contemned by every

sensible subject of our happier, because limited, monarchy.

Monsieur Bougainville now proceeds to give an account of the natural

history of, and other particulars respecting, Falkland’s Islands, which,

he says, are the result of the observations of his kinsman, Mons. de

Nerville, who resided at the settlement three years. The picture our

ingenious voyager gives of the first appearance of the islands is very

striking, and his arguments for and against settling them are very

conclusive. On their first arrival not an object struck their view,

except the commodiousness of the port in which the ship lay, which could

tempt them to take up their residence on so inhospitable a shore. The

land was in many places broke in upon by the sea; the mountains,

unclothed with wood, had the most barren appearance; the fields looked

dreary for want of houses and inhabitants; an universal silence reigned,

except when the howling of some sea-monster disturbed the solemn

stillness; while a dull and gloomy sameness of appearance added horror

to the whole picture.

Discouraging as this scene appeared, our adventurers knew that all would

yield to time and diligence, and that the labour of the industrious

would not go unrequited: indeed some consolation arose in their breasts,

on viewing the place in a more favourable light. The climate had that

kind of temperature likely to afford health, strength, and long life,

and was therefore preferable to the noxious air of those regions where

the sickening inhabitant faints under the scorching heat of the vertical

sun: the island produced a number of plants, admirable in the cure of

the scurvy, and other disorders incident to the sailor’s life. The fish

and the birds were most exquisitely delicious, and there were amphibious

animals in immense numbers, while there were none of the fierce or the

poisonous kind. Cascades and rivulets fell from the mountains, which at

the same time sheltered the fisherman from the violence of the winds, so

that he could sport or labour in the spacious bay, in perfect security:

meadows of an immense extent promised constant pasturage for any number

of flocks and herds, which might feed at pleasure, undisturbed by any

tyrant lord of the soil. These various advantages, in the opinion of our

adventurers, were sufficient to recompence them for the dangers and

fatigue of the voyage, and a pledge for the full reward of their future

labours.

The situation of Falkland’s Islands is between fifty-one and fifty-two

degrees and a half of south latitude, and sixty-five degrees and a half

of west longitude from Paris. From the entrance of the Streights of

Magellan, and from the coast of Patagonia, their distance is about 250

miles.

The harbours are large, and well defended by small islands most happily

disposed; and even the smallest vessels may ride in safety in the

creeks: while fresh water is easily to be obtained, as the small rivers

which descend from the mountains discharge themselves into the sea. The

tides do not rise and fall at any stated times, but depend on the force

with which the wind agitates the waves of the sea; it was, however,

observed, that just before high water, the sea rises and subsides, with

a quick motion, three times within the space of fifteen minutes and that

at the full of the moon, and during the equinoxes and solstices, this

motion is much greater than at any other time.

Those winds that blow from between the south and west, and the north and

west points, prevail more than others but in general the winds vary as

in most other countries. In summer time the winds usually blow from some

point between the north-west and south-west. It is remarkable, that

these winds rise with the rising sun, encrease in force as the sun

advances to the meridian, blow most violently just at noon, decrease

again with the declining sun, and totally cease about the time of its

setting. The tides also frequently add to the violence of these winds,

and not unfrequently change their direction.

The blowing of the winds in winter is a certain indication of the

weather. If they come from the south-east, they are not so violent as

the summer winds from the same quarter; but they are accompanied with

slight fogs. When they blow between the south and west points, hoar

frost, hail and snow, are the certain consequences; and the weather is

wet and foggy, when they come from the points between the north and the

west. The snow which comes with the south and west winds is but small in

quantity, and commonly disappears from the ground in a day or two,

except what lodges on the summits of the high mountains, where it will

remain about two months. The running streams are never frozen, and the

lakes and stagnate pools have seldom been covered with ice strong enough

to bear the weight of a man two days together. In the spring and autumn

there are slight hoar frosts, which being changed to a kind of dew by

the warmth of the sun, are rather nutrimental than prejudicial to the

vegetable productions. There is seldom any thunder or lightning, nor is

the climate hot or cold in any extraordinary degree. Throughout the year

the nights are, in general, star-light, serene, and fair; and, upon the

whole, the climate is very favourable to the constitution.

The fresh water of these islands is extremely good, and in great plenty:

the beds of some of the rivers are a kind of tuft, which gives a

yellowish cast to the water, yet does not affect its taste; but the

bottom of most of the rivers is either sand or gravel.

The depth of the soil in the vallies is more than sufficient for the

purposes of plowing; but, before our adventurers could proceed to

cultivation, they were obliged to extract the roots of plants, which

every where interfered and choaked up the ground for near a foot deep:

these roots they dried and burnt, and they then made a rich manure for

the ground from which they had been cleared. Under the first land is a

layer of black earth, ten inches or more in depth; under that again a

yellow soil, beneath which are stones and slate; but these stones are

not found on the little adjacent islands. The sea-coast is, in most

places, composed of stones, which are very fit for the purposes of

building; and there are beds of a hard fine grained stone, in several

spots on the island; likewise another kind of stones, in which are

particles of talc. Our settlers found a kind of stone which split in

pieces easily, and with which they made grind-stones, to give an edge to

their instruments. In the quarries they met with a stone of a yellowish

hue, which, when first taken out, was so soft as to be cut with a knife;

but it soon grew hard when exposed to the open air. The island likewise

yeilded earth fit for making bricks and potters-ware, and plenty of sand

and clay.

In many parts of the country there are marshy places, which produce a

sort of rushes with sharp points, the remains of the roots of which

being continually wasting, form the turf that was used for firing, which

burnt exceeding well, and had nothing offensive in its smell.

A plant of the gramen kind grows on a stalk which has a sweetish

flavour, and is extremely nutrimental for cattle, who like it better

than any other kind of pasturage. This plant flourishes on the

sea-coasts, and on the little isles, where it bends till the stalks

unite, forming a kind of harbour, to which the sea-lions and the seals

occasionally retreat. Our adventurers, in several excursions, found

these natural built houses, a very agreeable defence against the

inclemency of the weather, and the more so, as the dry leaves which had

fallen off formed a bed, by no means to be despised.

The above-mentioned plant is the largest that grows on the island, which

likewise produces many shrubs that were very useful in heating ovens,

and other purposes of firing. A kind of heath, which grows in great

plenty, bears a red fruit, which is eaten by the fowls and birds.

A plant was discovered which resembles a shrub, but having been tasted,

it was thought fit for the brewing of beer: happily our colonists were

supplied with malt and molasses, to which they added the beer-plant, and

were enabled at all times to brew a very wholesome kind of spruce beer,

which was an admirable specific for the scurvy. This plant was likewise

infused in water, in which those who had contracted any illness, while

out at sea, bathed themselves, and it was found to be a fine

restorative: when pressed, it yeilded a mealy substance, of a fragrant

smell, and a glutinous nature: the leaves of this plant are small, of a

clear bright green, and dentated.

Other vegetables in abundance were found, which were used as

antiscorbutics; particularly water-cresses, sorrel, wild parsley, a kind

of maiden-hair, and a species of celery.

But the most extraordinary vegetable production of Falkland’s Islands,

is a kind of resinous gum-plant, of which we shall speak more

particularly, as it is wholly unknown in these parts of the globe.

Though this is called a plant, it is without leaves, branches, or any

apparent stalk and, except in colour, which is that of a bright green,

it more resembles a lump of earth rising from the common surface of the

ground. It does not grow to the height of more than eighteen inches, and

its breadth in different plants is from two feet to two yards and

upwards: the smaller plants have the form of an hemisphere, and their

circumference is regular; but when they come to the full size, they

terminate in irregular bunches and hollows: there are drops of a tough

yellow matter, as big as a pea, on different parts of its surface, which

smell like turpentine. Mons. Bougainville having cut this plant close to

the ground, found that it arose from a stalk, from which grew an immense

number of shoots, consisting of leaves resembling stars, laying one

within the other. The outsides of these shoots, which are exposed to the

air, are green, and the insides white: they contain a viscid milky

juice, which is likewise found in the roots and the stalk. The roots

extending horizontally, frequently produce fresh shoots at a distance,

so that there is no instance of one of these plants being found alone.

The resin of this plant was found to be a good medicine for the cure of

slight wounds; but this resin was often washed away by the rains, or

wasted by the influence of the air; yet, however contradictory it may

appear, it would not dissolve except in spirits: some of the seeds were

brought to Europe, in order to attempt the cultivation of so singular a

curiosity in the vegetable world.

The island on which our colonists had taken up their residence is

divided from east to west by a chain of hills, to the south of which

they found another plant, not unlike the resinous gum-plant, which,

however, did not yield any resin, but produced beautiful yellow flowers;

neither was it of so firm a texture, nor was its green of the same

shade; yet, in other respects, the resemblance was very strong. On the

hills was found a species of Maiden-hair, which grew to a great height,

and the leaves of it were shaped like the blade of a sword. The hills

likewise abounded with various kinds of plants, which had the appearance

of holding a middle station between stones and vegetables. It was

apprehended, that these might have been successfully used in dying, and

our colonists proposed to have made the experiment if they had remained

longer on the island.

The place produces flowers in a considerable variety, but only one of

them has any smell, which is like that of a tuberose; this flower is

perfectly white. A true violet was seen, which was of a regular light

yellow colour.

A fruit was found, of the size of a pea, which received the name of the

lucet, from its resemblance to the North American fruit of that name:

its colour is white, but the side which is exposed to the sun changes to

a red: it has the smell of orange blossoms, and a very agreeable

flavour: its branches, which creep along the ground, produce leaves of

dark green, which are round and shining, and these leaves infused into

milk give it a delicious taste: the flowers grow in large numbers on the

borders of lakes, and the plant delights in a moist soil. Besides the

lucet only one other fruit was found, which grows on long branches, in

the same manner as the strawberry, but it has the appearance of a

mulberry, which name it received, and its leaves are like those of the

hornbeam.

Our colonists found but few sea-plants which they could apply to any

use; but all the coast of the harbour was lined with sea-weeds, which

were serviceable in breaking the force of the waves in stormy weather.

Many kinds of coralines, of various beautiful colours, and a great

number of curious shells and spunges were washed on shore by the force

of the tides. Among the shells were the smooth and striated muscle,

scallops, whelks, and a bivalve shell, of a very singular kind, named

_la Poulette_.

Sea lions and seals are the only amphibious animals found in these

parts; but there are great varieties of fish on the coasts, scarce any

of which are known in Europe. It sometimes happens that the whales,

getting too near the shore, are stranded in the bays, where their

remains have been seen. Bones of great magnitude have been found far up

the country, where the force of the waters could not have conveyed them,

which Mons. Bougainville deems a proof that the soil is encreased, or

the sea diminished.

The only quadruped found on Falkland’s island is of a species between

the fox and the wolf, and our author therefore calls him the wolf-fox:

the tail of this animal is more bushy than that of the wolf, and he

lives in a kennel which he digs in the ground, on the downs by the

sea-side. At one time of the year the wolf-fox is so lean as to appear

almost starved, from whence it is imagined that he fasts for a

considerable time: he is about as large as a sheep-dog, and barks very

much like one, only that his yelp is not so loud. He subsists

principally on wild fowl, in search of which he travels in such a direct

line from one day to another, that when our adventurers first beheld his

track, they imagined that the island was inhabited, and that the natives

had made the path. Mons. Bougainville makes it a matter of wonder how

the wolf-fox can have been conveyed to these islands, without

considering, that land-animals having got on large pieces of ice, which

being broken by the sea, they have frequently been conveyed to places

very remote from those of their first residence. The circumstance of ice

so broken from the shore is not uncommon on the coast of Greenland.

These islands and their coasts produce land and water-fowls in

incredible numbers, many of which are the prey of falcons, hawks, eagles

and owls; while the eggs and the young birds are destroyed by the

wolf-fox.--The smaller fish are destroyed by the whales, the amphibious

animals, and the voracious birds, some of which are constantly flying

close over the surface of the waters, while others perch themselves on

the rocks to watch the event.

Mons. Bougainville now proceeds to a description of such birds as were

found on the islands, which could be applied to any kind of use;

omitting those that could not be rendered serviceable to the colonists.

The swan is perfectly white, except its feet and its neck, the former of

which are of a flesh-colour, and the latter as black as jet.

Of wild geese there are four kinds, only one of which feeds on dry

ground. It has very high legs, and a neck of great length: its flight is

much more free than that of the English goose; it walks with equal ease,

and does not cackle like the common goose. The feathers of the male are

white except on the wings, which have a mixture of ash-colour and black:

the wings of the female are of various colours; and its body is yellow.

It seldom lays more than six eggs. The flavour of these birds is

agreeable, and they were found to be very nutritious: exclusive of those

which are hatched on the island, large flocks fly thither with a

westerly wind which blows in the autumn, so that they were generally to

be taken in great abundance, and formed a principal part of the

subsistence of the settlers. Those which came in the autumn were easily

known from those resident on the island, by their not being shy.

The other three kinds are of various colours; yellow, white, black, and

ash-colour; they are not by far so beautiful as those above described:

and as they live entirely on fish, their flesh acquires a disagreeable

taste; one of these three species seldom rises from the surface of the

water, and is almost constantly making a very disagreeable noise. A soft

thick down, either grey or white, grows under the feathers of all these

geese, as it does likewise under those of the swan.

The rivers and ponds of Falkland’s islands abound in teals of two

species, and two of wild ducks: of the latter some are perfectly white,

and others totally black, but in other respects they resemble those of

England and France. These birds are all exquisite fine food, and to be

procured in any numbers. One kind of the teal is very small; but the

other is as large as the duck, and its bill is blue. The bellies of some

of them are also covered with feathers of a flesh-colour.

The island produces a bird which Mons. Bougainville calls the Diver,

but, from the description he gives of it, it is conjectured to be the

Grebe, which abounds on the lake of Geneva, and of the skin of which the

most elegant muffs and tippets are made. Of these Divers there are two

kinds, of which the most plentiful has brown feathers, with no other

variation than that the feathers on the belly are of a somewhat lighter

colour than those on the back. The belly of the other kind is white, and

the back grey; and the feathers on the belly are very thick, shining and

soft. The eyes of these birds are as bright as rubies, and are encircled

with a ring of white feathers. The female hatches only two young birds

at a time, which she carries on her back, not subjecting them to the

coldness of the water, till feathers have taken place of the down with

which they are hatched. The toes of this bird are thin, and of a green

colour, and being round towards the claw, they are not unlike the leaves

of some plants: their feet are not webbed, as is common among

water-fowl, but their toes are separate, having a strong membrane on

each side.

The colonists gave the name of Saw-bills to two kinds of birds which

bore a great similitude to each other, the chief difference consisting

in their size, and in the bellies of most of them being white, while a

few were observed to have brown feathers on the belly: the feathers on

the rest of the body are of a dark blue, as soft as silk, and grow very

close together. Their feet are webbed and flesh coloured, and their

bills pointed: they lay their eggs on the rocks, where great numbers of

them live together; and they subsist on fish, thousands of which they

destroy. Our settlers not only ate the eggs of these birds, but

frequently killed many scores of them at a time, and their flesh was

found to be excellent food. They had so little apprehension of being

catched, that it was an easy matter to knock them down with a stick, and

in this manner they were usually taken. A bird called by the Spaniards

_Quebrantahuessos_, which measures more than two yards from the

extremity of its wings, destroys the saw-bills. This bird of prey has a

long bill, with two hollow tubes of the same kind of substance as the

bill, and its feet are webbed: some of the seamen called this bird the

Albatross, but it differs considerably from the common bird of that

name, nor is it an easy matter to determine precisely on its species,

from the imperfect account which Mons. Bougainville has given of it.

Gulls, mews, and terns, of different beautiful plumage, served to direct

our colonists what was the proper time for taking of pilchards. These

birds, flying in large flocks over the surface of the water, dart on the

pilchard and swallow it; presently they catch another of these fish, and

then they disgorge the one which had been previously swallowed, and so

on. When the pilchards are not in season, they feed on various other

sorts of small fish. The eggs of these birds were found in great

abundance upon the leaves of a plant, on the borders of the marshes, and

they proved to be very good eating.

Three kinds of penguins breed on the island, one of these is a

remarkably grand and elegant bird, the belly of which is a clear white,

the back a kind of blue, and it has a ruff round its neck near the head,

of a bright yellow, which descending towards the belly, separates the

white feathers from the blue ones; these birds do not live together in

numbers, but seek the most quiet and retired places of abode. One of

them being caught, with an intention of being brought to France, soon

grew so tame, that it followed the person who fed it; its food was

bread, fish and flesh; but there was something more wanting for its

sustenance, for it gradually lost its fatness till it died. The second

kind of penguin answers to the description of that bird in Anson’s

voyage[2]. The third kind of penguins lay their eggs among the high

cliffs of the rocks, where they reside together in immense numbers,

never seeking that solitude of which the first kind are so fond. They

are much smaller than the others, and were named hopping penguins, from

their method of moving, which is very much like hopping; they have

gold-coloured feathers, which form a kind of eye-brows, and a tuft of

the same colour, which they raise when they are displeased. This bird

has a very chearful look, and its general colour is a deep yellow.

[2] This description will, of course, be found when we come to give an

account of that voyage.

At different times, but not frequently, three kinds of petrels were seen

by our adventurers. These birds build their nests on the sea-coasts,

where their young were sometimes found, covered with down. One sort of

them is quite white, their bills red, and not unlike a pigeon; a second

sort is larger, and the third smaller than the pigeon; and these two

sorts have white feathers on the belly, while every other part of the

body is black.

Eagles were also seen of three different species, two of which are

black, with white and yellow feet, and the other is of a dull white: all

these subsist on snipes, and other small birds, which they seize every

opportunity to destroy.

Egrets, a species of the heron, were frequently seen on the island: they

make a disagreeable noise, not much unlike the barking of a little dog;

and they never take any food till towards the evening.

Two kinds of the thrush came regularly to the island in the autumnal

months, one of which was of the same colour as the European thrush; and

the other yellow, except on the belly, which was spotted with black.

There was a third kind of thrush, which lived on the island throughout

the year, the feathers on the belly of which are of a bright red: this

was called the Red-bird, and though Mons. Bougainville ranks it among

the thrushes, it is probably no other than the red-breast of America.

A bird which they called the Sea-pie, was constantly seen on the coasts,

the feet of which were white, the bill red, and the feathers black and

white. This bird whistles a kind of note, which the colonists found it

easy to imitate, and by that means they came near enough to catch them

without much trouble: they subsist on shrimps, which they pick up after

the ebbing of the tide.--Such is Mons. Bougainville’s description of the

sea-pie; but if it be the true bird of that kind, oysters form a part of

its subsistence; for when the tide is out, these fish are left on the

sand, and the sea-pie, forcing open the shell with his bill, swallows

the oyster; whence he is also called oyster-catcher.

Great numbers of curlews, the same as those of Europe, were constantly

seen in the summer; and snipes of the European kind were found in

abundance. It is easy to shoot these birds, as they fly in a regular

manner. At the time when they are breeding, they ascend to a great

height, and having sung some time in the air, they drop at once into

their nests, which are built on the ground, in the open field, where it

is most free from grass or other herbage, so that these nests are very

easily found: the snipes are excellent food if dressed towards the

decline of the year; but in the breeding season they are lean, and not

so fit to eat.

The amphibious animals of Falkland’s islands are seals and sea-lions,

which having been before-mentioned, and being described in many books of

voyages, we shall only add, that they frequently travel in very numerous

companies three or four miles up the country, to feast on the herbs, and

repose themselves in the warmth of the sun.

Of the fish which were found on the coasts of Falkland’s islands, one

that was taken in the greatest plenty was called the Mullet, from the

likeness it bears to the European fish of that name: the colonists dried

many of these, which were full a yard in length: the seals prey on these

fish whenever they can catch them; but, by a natural instinct, they are

taught to avoid these voracious enemies, by sheltering themselves in

holes, among slimy ground, on the banks of the rivers, and in these

places they were frequently taken. A fish called the _gradeau_, about

twelve inches in length, was found in great abundance; and another,

named the _sardine_, was found only at the commencement of the winter

season. Some white porpoises were taken in the bays, when the weather

was fair, and some eels in those cavities of the rocks which were filled

with water. A fresh water fish was found, about the size of a trout,

without scales, the colour of which was green. Many smaller fish were

catched with the hook and line, among them was one species, the head of

which resembled that of a pike, and it had no scales: a few soals were

found; and Mons. Bougainville is of opinion, that a greater number of

those, and many other different kinds of fish, might have been procured,

if there had been hands sufficient to have constantly spared a proper

number to attend the sea-fishery. The shell-fish found at this place

were muscles, a very small kind of shrimp, a crab, the feet of which

were blue, and a kind of cray-fish, or prawn, the colour of which was

naturally red, without boiling: but our author says, these were only

taken through curiosity, as their taste was much inferior to those

European fish which are nearly of the same species.

The above is a faithful detail of the natural history of Falkland’s

islands, as far as it could be learnt by the French settlers, during a

residence of three years; if they had continued longer in the country,

there is no doubt but that their discoveries would have been greater,

and their account more accurate: from such as it is, however, it will

probably be thought, by the English reader, that these islands are by no

means so barren and inhospitable a spot, as our ministerial writers took

the pains to represent them, as soon as it was known, that our people in

power had formed the disgraceful resolution of permitting the prior

claim of England to this extensive country, to yeild to the imperious

demand of the haughty Spaniards.

It must, indeed, appear evident to the unprejudiced view of the

intelligent reader, that these islands might, in the course of a few

years, be made a very valuable possession: as they abound in fowl and

fish of various useful kinds, while their amphibious animals, the

sea-lions and seals, would yeild a quantity of grease and train-oil,

which might make no inconsiderable articles of commerce; and what

astonishing crops of wheat, barley, and every kind of European grain

might not be raised on a tract of land that is many hundred miles in

extent! It is true the islands do not naturally produce any trees; but

it would be easy to carry thither the seeds of some, and young trees of

other kinds; and there is no doubt, but that they would flourish in a

country situated, with regard to the south pole, nearly as Ireland is

with regard to the north.

As true Englishmen, we cannot help expressing a wish that the day may

yet arrive, when some Statesman of sense and spirit may re-urge and

insist on the right of Great Britain, to the possession of Falkland’s

islands; The reader will excuse this digression, and prepare to attend

Mons. Bougainville in the course of his voyage.

After waiting at these islands till the 2d of June 1767, in expectation

of the Etoile store-ship, and finding that she did not arrive, Mons.

Bougainville considered, that as his vessel would hold no more than six

months provisions, and that he had only two on board, it would be an act

of rashness to attempt the crossing the great pacific ocean alone; he

therefore resolved to steer to Rio Janeiro, at which place he had

appointed the Etoile to join him, in case any unforeseen accident should

prevent her reaching Falkland’s islands before he left the harbour of

that place.

They had fine weather from the 2d till the 20th of June, on which day

they had sight of the mountains on the main land of Brasil; and they saw

the entrance of Rio Janeiro on the day following. A number of

fishing-boats being observed near the shore, Mons. Bougainville hoisted

Portuguese colours, and ordered a cannon to be fired; on which a boat

put off to the ship, and a pilot was engaged to conduct her into the

road.

The coast of this country is broken by a number of small hills, which

serve to give an agreeable variety to the prospect. The country is

rather mountainous, and well clothed with woods.

The ship having arrived off the Port of Santa Cruz, a Portuguese officer

was sent to enquire the reason of her sailing into it; on which Mons.

Bougainville sent one of his officers to acquaint the Viceroy of the

Brasils, with the motives for his touching there, and to enquire whether

if he should salute the fort, the compliment would be returned.

The answer which the French officer received from Count d’Acunha, marks

that singular haughtiness and arrogance, for which some of the

Portuguese Governors are not a little famous:--the Count said, that when

a person bowed to another whom he might casually meet in the street, he

was not previously certain that his compliment would be returned, and

that if Mons. Bougainville should fire his guns by way of salute, he

(the Viceroy) had then to consider what was proper to be done. As this

answer was by no means satisfactory to Mons. Bougainville, he, with that

spirit of pride becoming a gentleman and an officer, disdained to fire a

single gun.

About the same time a canoe was dispatched from the Captain of the

Etoile, to inform Mons. Bougainville of the safe arrival of that vessel,

which now lay in the port. The Commander, Mons. de la Giraudais, sent

word, that instead of leaving France in the month of December, various

accidents had combined to detain him two months beyond that time: that

when he had been three months at sea, his rigging was so greatly

damaged, and his vessel admitted so much water, that he was obliged to

make the harbour of Montevideo, whence he sailed for his present

station, and had come to an anchor but a few days before Mons.

Bougainville’s arrival.

The Etoile had at this time salt provisions sufficient to supply both

the vessels for almost a year and a half; but as her stock of bread and

legumes was insufficient for the consumption of more than seven weeks,

Mons. Bougainville resolved on sailing to Rio de la Plata, to take in a

stock of those articles, as neither flour, wheat, nor biscuit could be

purchased at Rio Janeiro.

On the 22d of June 1767, Mons. Bougainville and his officers paid a

visit to the Viceroy of the Brasils, which was returned three days

afterwards on board the Boudeuse; when the Viceroy gave permission for

the purchase of a sloop, which our adventurers imagined might be very

serviceable during the long voyage they proposed to make. The Chaplain

of the Etoile having been murdered, some days before the arrival of the

Boudeuse, under the windows of the Viceroy’s palace, that gentleman

promised that he would endeavour to find out, and severely punish, the

perpetrators of the horrid deed; but Mons. Bougainville complains much

of his remissness in the execution of this necessary piece of justice.

The Viceroy, contrary to his usual custom, continued to behave with

politeness to the French officers, for several days after this visit;

and acquainted them, that he proposed to honour them with an elegant

collation in bowers of orange-trees and jasmine, on the banks of the

river; and he actually gave orders, that a box at the opera should be

assigned for their reception. Here, says our author, a band of mulatoes

performed the best pieces of metastasio, while the compositions of the

greatest geniuses Italy ever produced, were “executed by an Orchestra,

which was under the direction of a hump-backed Priest, in his

canonicals.”