FRENCH CIRCUMNAVIGATORS.
The journey of Freycinet--Rio de Janeiro and its gipsy inhabitants--The
Cape and its wines--The Bay of Sharks--Stay at Timor--Ombay Island and
its cannibal inhabitants--The Papuan Islands--The pile dwellings of the
Alfoers--A dinner with the Governor of Guam--Description of the
Marianne Islands and their inhabitants--Particulars concerning the
Sandwich Islands--Port Jackson and New South Wales--Shipwreck in
Berkeley Sound--The Falkland Islands--Return to France--The voyage of
the _Coquille_ under the command of Duperrey--Martin-Vaz and Trinidad--
The Island of St. Catharine--The independence of Brazil--Berkeley Sound
and the remains of the _Uranie_--Stay at Conception--The civil war in
Chili--The Araucanians--Discoveries in the Dangerous Archipelago--Stay
at Otaheite and New Ireland--The Papuans--Stay at Ualan--The Caroline
Islands and their inhabitants--Scientific results of the expeditions.
The expedition under the command of Louis Claude de Saulces de
Freycinet was the result of the leisure which the Peace of 1815 brought
to the French navy. The idea was started by one of its most adventurous
officers, the same who had accompanied Baudin in his survey of the
Australian coasts, and to him was entrusted the task of carrying it
out. It was the first voyage which had not hydrography alone for its
object. Its chief aim was to survey the shape of the land in the
southern hemisphere, and to make observations in terrestrial magnetism,
without, at the same time, omitting to give attention to all natural
phenomena, and to the manners, customs, and languages of indigenous
races. Purely geographical inquiries, though not altogether omitted
from the programme, had the least prominent place in it.
Among the medical officers of the navy, Freycinet found MM. Quoy,
Gaimard, and Gaudichaud, whose attainments in natural history qualified
them for being valuable coadjutors; and he also chose to accompany him
several distinguished officers who had risen to high rank in the navy,
the best known being Duperrey, Lamarche, Berard, and Odet-Pellion, who
subsequently became, one a member of the Institute, the others superior
officers or admirals.
No less care was exercised by Freycinet in composing his crew chiefly
of sailors who were also skilled in some trade; so that out of the 120
men who manned the corvette _Uranie_, no less than fifty could serve on
occasion as carpenters, ropemakers, sailmakers, blacksmiths, or other
mechanics.
The _Uranie_, amply supplied with stores for two years, and provided
with all sorts of apparatus of proved utility, iron cisterns for fresh
water, machines for distilling salt water, preserved provisions,
remedies for scurvy, &c. At last, on the 17th of September, 1817, she
set sail from Toulon. On board, disguised as a sailor, was the
commander's wife, who was not to be deterred from joining her husband
by the dangers and hardships of so protracted a voyage.
Together with all these provisions for bodily comfort, Freycinet took
with him a stock of the best scientific instruments, together with
minute instructions from the Institute intended to direct his
researches, and to suggest the experiments best adapted to promote the
progress of science.
The _Uranie_ reached Rio de Janeiro on the 6th of December, having put
in at Gibraltar, and made a short stay at Teneriffe, one of the
Canaries, which, as Freycinet wittily observes, were not Fortunate
Islands for his crew, all communication with the land being forbidden
by the governors.
During their stay at Rio de Janeiro the officers took a great many
magnetical observations and made experiments with the pendulum, whilst
the naturalists scoured the country for new specimens and curiosities,
making large and important collections.
The original records of the voyage contain a long narrative of the
discovery and colonization of Brazil, and detailed information on the
customs and manners of the people, on the temperature and the climate,
as well as a minute description of the principal buildings and the
suburbs of Rio de Janeiro itself. The most curious part of this account
is that which touches upon the gipsies, who, at that time, were to be
met with at Rio de Janeiro.
"Worthy descendants of the Pariahs of India, whence these gipsies
without doubt originally came," says Freycinet, "they are noted like
their ancestors for every vicious practice and criminal propensity.
Most of them, possessing immense wealth, make a great display in dress
and in horses, especially at their weddings, which are celebrated with
much expense; and they find their chief pleasure either in riotous
debauchery or in sheer idleness. Knaves and liars, they cheat as much
as they can in trade, and are also clever smugglers. Here, as
elsewhere, these detestable people intermarry only among their own
race. They speak a jargon of their own with a peculiar accent. The
government most unaccountably tolerates the nuisance of their presence,
and goes so far as to appropriate to their exclusive use two streets in
the neighbourhood of the Campo de Santa Anna."
A little further on the traveller remarks,--
"Any one who saw Rio de Janeiro only by day would come to the
conclusion that the population consisted entirely of negroes. The
respectable classes never go out except in the evening, unless
compelled by some pressing circumstance or for the performance of
religious duties; and it is in the evening that the ladies especially
show themselves. During the day all remain indoors, and pass the time
between their couches and their looking-glasses. The only places where
a man can enjoy the society of the ladies are the theatres and the
churches."
During the sail from Brazil to the Cape of Good Hope nothing occurred
deserving special mention. On the 7th March the _Uranie_ anchored in
Table Bay. After a quarantine of three days, the travellers obtained
permission to land, and were received with a hearty welcome by Governor
Somerset. As soon as a place suitable for their reception had been
found, the scientific instruments were brought on shore, and the usual
experiments were made with the pendulum, and the variations of the
magnetic needle observed.
MM. Quoy and Gaimard, the naturalists, in company with several officers
of the staff, made scientific excursions to Table Mountain and to the
famous vineyards of Constantia. M. Gaimard observes, "The vines that we
rode amongst are in the midst of alleys of oak and of pine; and the
vine-stems, planted at the distance of four feet from one another, are
not supported by props. Every year the vines are pruned, and the earth
about them, which is of a sandy nature, is turned up. We noticed here
and there plenty of peaches, apricots, apples, pears, citrons, as well
as small plots cultivated as kitchen-gardens. On our return, M. Colyn
insisted on our tasting the several sorts of wine which he
produces,--Constantia properly so-called, both red and white, Pontac,
Pierre, and Frontignac. The wine produced in other localities, which is
called _Cape wine par excellence_, is manufactured from a muscatel
grape of a dark straw colour, which seemed to me in flavour preferable
to the grape of Provence. We have just said that there are two sorts of
Constantia, the red and the white; they are both produced from muscatel
grapes of different colours. People at the Cape generally prefer
Frontignac to all the other wines produced from the vintages of
Constantia."
Exactly a month after quitting the southern extremity of Africa, the
_Uranie_ cast anchor off Port Louis in the Isle of France, which, since
the Treaties of 1815, has been in the hands of the English. The
necessity for careening the ship, that it might be thoroughly examined,
and the copper sheathing repaired, led to a much longer stay in this
port than Freycinet had calculated upon; but our travellers found no
cause to regret the delay, for the society of Port Louis fully
sustained its old reputation for generous hospitality. The time passed
quickly in excursions, receptions, dinners, balls, horse-races, and all
sorts of festivities. It was, therefore, not without some regret that
the French guests bade adieu to a place where they had been received
with so much kindness both by their old compatriots and by those who
had so lately been their bitter enemies.
The stay of the _Uranie_ at the Isle of France had not, however, been
sufficiently long to allow Freycinet to investigate many subjects of
much interest, but this omission was remedied by the polite readiness
shown by some of the leading residents in supplying him with valuable
papers on the agriculture of the island, its commerce, its financial
position, the industrial pursuits, and the social condition of the
people, the correct appreciation of which demanded a more careful and
minute examination than a mere passing traveller could possibly give to
them. Since the island had come under English administration, it
appeared that a number of new roads had been planned out, and a policy
of reform had supplanted a benumbing system of routine fatal to all
activity and progress.
Bourbon was the next place touched at by the _Uranie_, where the
supplies of which the travellers stood in need were to be procured from
the government stores. She cast anchor off St. Denis on the 19th July,
1818, remaining in the roadstead of St. Paul until the 2nd August, when
she set sail for the Bay of Sharks, on the western shores of Australia.
There is little of interest to be noted in connexion with the stay at
Bourbon beyond the steady increase of the population and of trade which
had taken place during the century preceding the arrival of the French
expedition in 1717. According to Gentil de Barbinais, there were living
in the island only 900 free people, amongst whom were no more than six
white families, and 1100 slaves. At the last census taken in 1817,
these numbers had risen to 14,790 whites, 4342 free blacks, 49,759
slaves, making a total of 68,898 inhabitants. This large and rapid
increase must be attributed partly to the salubrity of the climate, but
chiefly to the freedom of trade, of which the island had for some time
enjoyed the advantage.
After a fortunate voyage of forty days, the _Uranie_ cast anchor at the
entrance of the Bay of Sharks on the 12th September. A party was at
once despatched to Dirk Hartog, in order to determine the latitude and
longitude of Cape Levaillant, and to bring on board the corvette a
certain metal plate which had been left there by the Dutch at a remote
period, and had been seen by Freycinet in 1801. Whilst this party were
away, the two alembics were set to work to distil sea-water, which was
effected so successfully that as long as the vessel stayed there, no
other water was drunk but that obtained by this process, and all on
board were satisfied with it.
On landing, the party sent to Dirk Hartog, got a view of the natives,
who were armed with javelins and clubs, but had not a vestige of
clothing. They, however, refused to have any close communications with
the white strangers, keeping themselves at a respectful distance, and
not handling any of the presents offered them without a previous
careful inspection.
Although the Bay of Sharks had been minutely explored at the time of
the expedition under Baudin, there still remained a hydrographical gap
to be filled up on the eastern side of Hamelin Bay. Accordingly
Duperrey proceeded there to complete the survey of that part of the
coast. At the same time Gaimard, the naturalist, not disposed to rest
satisfied with the interviews which as yet he had been able to obtain
with the natives of the country, whom the sound of the fire-arms had
summarily dispersed, decided upon penetrating into the interior, to
gain some information respecting their mode of life. His companion and
himself lost their way, as also did Riche in 1792 upon Nuyt's Land,
where for three days they underwent severe sufferings from thirst, not
being able to find a single rivulet or spring in the country.
The Expedition were well pleased when the inhospitable shores of
Endracht disappeared from view. They had a pleasant passage in lovely
weather, and over an unruffled sea, to the island of Timor, where on
the 9th October the _Uranie_ cast anchor in the roadstead of Coupang,
and the travellers met with a cordial reception from the Portuguese
authorities. But they found that the prosperity which had made the
colony an object of wonder and admiration to the French travellers who
had visited it with Baudin, had passed away. The Rajah of Amanoubang,
the district where the sandal-tree grows in such abundance, who was
formerly a tributary prince, was carrying on war to gain independence.
The hostilities which were proceeding were not only detrimental to the
interests of the colony, but also made it very difficult for Freycinet
to purchase the commodities of which he stood in need. Some of the
staff set off to pay a visit to the Rajah Peters de Banacassi, whose
residence was not more than three-quarters of a league from Coupang.
Peters, then eighty years of age, must have been a remarkably fine man.
He gave them an audience surrounded by his attendants, who treated him
with profound respect, and among whom were conspicuous several warriors
of gigantic stature. The dwelling that served for the royal palace was
rudely constructed, yet the French travellers saw with lively surprise
that articles of luxury were plentiful, and they observed also some
muskets of good manufacture and great value.
Notwithstanding the excessive heat of the climate, the thermometer
rising in the open air to 45 degrees, and in the shade to 33 degrees,
and even to 35 degrees, the commander and his officers carried on with
unremitting zeal the observations and surveys which it was the object
of the Expedition to make. A few fell victims to their own imprudence,
for in defiance of the earnest warnings of Freycinet, some of the young
officers and the seamen chose to sally forth in the middle of the day,
and with the view of fortifying themselves against the injurious
effects of their dangerous freak, drank and ate plentifully of cold
water and sour fruits. The result was that in a short time five of the
most imprudent were confined to their hammocks with dysentery. This
necessitated a departure from Timor; so the _Uranie_ weighed anchor and
set sail on the 23rd October.
At first the corvette sailed rapidly along the north coast of Timor,
for the purpose of making a survey, but when she had reached the
narrowest part of the Channel of Ombay, she encountered such violent
currents that--the winds being slight and contrary--it was only with
great difficulty she was able to regain the course which she had lost
during the calm. No less than nineteen days were wasted in this trying
situation; though certain of the officers took advantage of the delay
to land on the nearest point of the island of Ombay, where the coast
had a very inviting appearance. They went on shore near a village
called Bitouka, and advanced to meet a body of the natives, armed with
shields and cuirasses made of buffalo-skin, and carrying bows, arrows,
and daggers. Savages though they were, they had quite the air of
warriors, and were not at all afraid of fire-arms; on the contrary,
they argued that the loading of the gun caused loss of time, for while
that operation was going on, they could fire off a great number of
arrows.
Gaimard writes, "The points of the arrows were of hard wood, or of
bone, and some of iron. The arrows themselves, displayed fan-wise, were
fastened on the left side of the warrior to the belt of his sword or
dagger. Most of these people wore bundles of palm-leaves, slit so as to
allow red or black coloured strips of the same to be passed through to
hold them together, which were attached to the belt or the right thigh.
The rustling sound produced with every movement of the wearers of this
singular ornament, increased by knocking against the cuirass or the
buckler, with the addition of the tinkling of little bells, which also
formed part of the warrior's equipment, altogether made such a jumble
of discordant sounds that we could not refrain from laughing. Far from
taking offence, our Ombayan friends joined heartily in our merriment.
M. Arago[1] greatly excited their astonishment by performing some
sleight-of-hand tricks. We then took our way straight to the village of
Bitouka, which was situated on a rising ground. In passing one of their
cottages we happened to see about a score of human jawbones suspended
from the roof, and anxious to get possession of one or two, I offered
the most valuable articles I had about me in exchange. The answer was,
'palami,' they are sacred. We ascertained afterwards that these were
the jawbones of their enemies, preserved as trophies of victory."
[Footnote 1: Jacques Arago, brother of the illustrious astronomer.]
[Illustration: Warriors of Ombay and Guebeh. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]
This excursion derived greater interest from the circumstance of the
island of Ombay having been up to that time rarely visited by
Europeans; and the few vessels that had effected any landing brought
mournful accounts of the warlike and ferocious temper of the natives,
and even in some instances of their cannibal propensities. Thus in 1802
the merchant-ship _Rose_ had her small boat carried off, and the crew
were detained as prisoners by the savages. Ten years later, the captain
of the ship _Inacho_, who landed by himself, received several arrow
wounds. Again, in 1817, an English frigate sent the cutter ashore for
the purpose of getting wood, when a scrimmage took place between the
crew and the natives, which ended in the former being killed and eaten.
The day after, an armed sloop was despatched in quest of the missing
crew; but nothing was found save some fragments of the cutter and the
bloody remains of the unfortunate men.
In view of these facts the French travellers must be congratulated on
having escaped being entrapped by the savage cannibals, which would
undoubtedly have been attempted had the _Uranie_ stayed long enough at
Ombay.
On the 17th of November the anchor was let go at Dili.
After the customary interchange of compliments with the Portuguese
governor, Freycinet made known the requirements of the expedition, and
received a friendly assurance that the necessary provisions should be
instantly forthcoming. The reception given to all the members of the
expedition was both hearty and liberal, and when Freycinet took his
leave, the governor, wishing that he should carry away some souvenir of
his visit, presented him with two boys and two girls, of the ages of
six and seven, natives of Failacor, a kingdom in the interior of Timor.
To insure the acceptance of this present, the governor, D. Jose Pinto
Alcofarado d'Azevado e Souza, stated that the race to which the
children belonged was quite unknown in Europe. In spite of all the
strong and conclusive reasons that Freycinet gave to explain why he
felt compelled to decline the present, he was obliged to take charge of
one of the little boys, who subsequently received the name of Joseph
Antonio in baptism, but when sixteen years old died of some scrofulous
disease at Paris.
On a first examination it would appear that the population of Timor
belonged altogether to the Asiatic race; but so far as any reliance can
be placed upon somewhat extended researches, there is reason to think
that in the unfrequented mountains in the centre of the island there
exists a race of negroes with woolly hair, and savage manners, of the
type of the indigenous races of New Guinea and New Ireland, whom one is
led to consider the primitive population. This line of research,
commenced at the close of the eighteenth century by an Englishman of
the name of Crawford, has been in our time carried forward with
striking results by the labours of the learned Doctors Broca and E.
Hamy, to the latter of whom the reading public are indebted for the
pleasing and instructive papers on primitive populations which have
appeared in _Nature_ and in the journals of the Royal Geographical
Society.
After leaving Timor the _Uranie_ proceeded towards the Strait of
Bourou, and in passing between the islands of Wetter and Roma got sight
of the picturesque island of Gasses, clothed in the brightest and
thickest verdure imaginable. The corvette was then drifted by currents
almost as far as the island of Pisang, near which she fell in with
three dhows, manned by natives of the island of Gueby. These people
have an olive complexion, broad flat noses, and thick lips; some are
strong, looking robust and athletic, others are slender and weakly in
appearance; and others, again, thickset and repulsive-looking. The only
clothing worn by the majority at this time was a pair of drawers
fastened with a handkerchief round the waist.
A landing was effected on the little island of Pisang. It was found to
be of volcanic origin, and the soil, formed from the decomposition of
trachytic lava, was evidently very fertile. From Pisang the corvette
made her way among islands, till then scarcely known, to Rawak, where
she cast anchor at noon on the 16th of December. This island, though
small, is inhabited; but though our navigators were often visited by
the natives of Waigiou, opportunities for studying this species of the
human family have been rare. Moreover, it ought to be mentioned that
through ignorance of the language of the indigenous tribes, and the
difficulty of making them understand through the medium of Malayan, of
which they know only a few words, even those few opportunities have not
been turned to much account. As soon as a suitable position was found,
the instruments were set up, and the usual physical and astronomical
observations were made in conjunction with geographical researches.
[Illustration: Rawak hut on piles. (Fac-simile of early engraving.)]
The islands which Freycinet calls the islands of the Papuans are Rawak,
Boni, Waigiou, and Manouran, which are situated almost immediately
below the equator. The largest of these, Waigiou, is not less than
seventy-two miles from one side to the other; the low shorage consists
mainly of swamp and morass, while the banks, which run up steeply, are
surrounded by coral reefs, and are full of small caves hollowed out by
the waves. All the islets are clothed with vegetation of surprising
beauty. They abound with magnificent trees, amongst which the
"Barringtonia" may be recognized, with its voluminous trunk always
leaning towards the sea, allowing the tips of the branches to touch the
water; the "scoevola lobelia," fig-trees, mangroves, the casuarinae,
with their straight and slender stems shooting up to the height of
forty feet, the rima, the takanahaka, with its trunk more than twenty
feet in circumference; the cynometer, belonging to the family of
leguminous plants, bright from its topmost to its lowest branches with
pale red flowers and golden fruits; and besides these rarer trees,
palms, nutmeg-trees, roseapple-trees, banana-trees, flourish in the low
and moist ground.
[Illustration: The luxuriant vegetation of the Papuan Islands.]
The fauna, however, has not attained to the same exceptionally fine
development as the flora. At Rawak the phalanger and the sheepdog in a
wild state were the only quadrupeds met with. In Waigiou, the boar
called barberossa, and a diminutive of the same race were found. But as
to the feathered tribe, they were not so numerous as one might have
supposed; the plants yielding grain necessary for the sustenance of
birds not being able to thrive in the dense shade of the forests.
Hornbills are here met with, whose wings, furnished with long feathers
separated at the tips, make a very loud noise when they fly; great
quantities of parrots, kingfishers, turtle-doves, piping-crows, brown
hawks, crested pigeons, and possibly also birds of paradise, though the
travellers did not see any specimens.
The Papuans themselves are positively repulsively ugly. To quote the
words of Odet-Pellion, "a flat skull, a facial angle of 75 degrees, a
large mouth, eyes small and sunken, a thick nose, flat at the end and
pressed down on the upper lip, a scanty beard, a peculiarity of the
people of those regions already noticed, shoulders of a moderate size,
a prominent belly, and slight lower limbs; these are the chief
characteristics of the Papuans. Their hair both in its nature and mode
of arrangement varies a good deal. Most commonly it is dressed with
great pains into a matted structure not less than eight inches in
height; composed of a mass of soft downy hair curling naturally; or it
is frizzed up, till it positively bristles, and with the assistance of
a coating of grease, is plastered round the skull in the shape of a
globe. A long wooden comb of six or seven teeth is also often stuck in,
not so much to aid in keeping the mass together as to give a finishing
touch of ornament."
These unfortunate people are afflicted with the terrible scourge of
leprosy, which is so prevalent that at least a tenth part of the
population are infested with the disease. The cause of this dreadful
malady must be sought in the insalubrity of the climate, the miasma
from the marshes, which are overflowed with sea-water every flood tide,
the neighbourhood of the burial-places, which are badly kept, and
perhaps also to the consumption of shell-fish which these natives
devour greedily.
All the houses, whether inland or on the coast, are built on piles.
Many of these dwellings are erected in places extremely difficult of
access. They are made by thrusting stakes into the earth, to which
transverse beams are fastened with ropes made of fibre, and on these a
flooring is laid of palm-leaves, trimmed and strongly intertwined one
with another. These leaves, made to lap over in an artistic fashion,
are also used for the roof of the house, which has only one door.
Should the dwellings be built over the water, communication is carried
on between them and the shore by means of a kind of bridge resting upon
trestles, the movable flooring of which can be quickly taken up. Every
house is also surrounded by a kind of balcony furnished with a
balustrade.
The travellers could not obtain any information as to the friendly
disposition of these natives. Whether the whole tribe consists of large
communities united under one chief or several, whether each community
obeys only its own proper head, whether the population is numerous or
not, are all points which could not be ascertained. The name by which
they call themselves is Alfourous. They appeared to talk in several
distinct dialects, which differ remarkably from Papuan or Malay.
The inhabitants of this group seem to be a very industrious race. They
manufacture all sorts of fishing apparatus very cleverly; they are
expert in finding their way through the forests; they know how to
prepare the pith of the sago-plant, and to make ovens for the cooking
of the sago; they can turn pottery ware, weave mats, carpets, baskets,
and can also carve idols and figures. In the harbour of Boni on the
coast of Waigiou, MM. Quoy and Gaimard noticed a statue moulded in
white clay, under a sort of canopy close to a tomb. It represented a
man standing upright, of the natural height, with his hands raised
towards heaven. The head was of wood, with the cheeks and eyes inlaid
with small pieces of white shell.
[Illustration: Map of Australia.]
On the 6th of January, 1819, having taken in supplies at Rawak, the
_Uranie_ proceeded on her voyage, and soon came in sight of the Ayou
islands, mere sand-banks surrounded by breakers, of which few
geographical details had been known up to that time. There was much to
be done in the way of accurate survey, but unfortunately the
hydrographers were sorely hindered in their work by the fever which
they and some forty of the crew had contracted at Rawak. Sailing on,
the Anchoret Islands came in sight on the 12th of February, and on the
day following the Amirantes, but the _Uranie_ did not attempt to make
for the land. Shortly after passing the Amirantes, the corvette sighted
St. Bartholomew, which the inhabitants call Poulousouk. It belongs to
the Caroline archipelago. A busy trade, always attended with much
uproar, was soon set on foot with the indigenous people, who resisted
all persuasion to come on board, conducting all their transactions,
nevertheless, with admirable good faith, in no instance showing any
dishonest tendencies. One after another Poulouhat, Alet, Tamatam,
Allap, Tanadik, all islands belonging to this archipelago, passed
before the admiring gaze of the French navigators. At length, on the
17th of March, 1819, just eighteen months from the time of quitting
France, Freycinet got sight of the Marianne Islands, and cast anchor in
the roads of Umata on the coast of Guam. Just as the officers of the
expedition were ready to go on shore, the governor of the island, D.
Medinilla y Pineda, accompanied by his lieutenant, Major D. Luis de
Torres, came on board to bid them welcome. These gentlemen showed a
polite anxiety to learn what the explorers stood in need of, and
engaged that all their wants should be supplied with the least possible
delay.
No time was lost in looking for a place suited for conversion into a
temporary hospital, and one being found, the sick on board, to the
number of twenty, were removed to it for treatment the very next day.
A dinner to the staff of the expedition was given by the governor, and
all the officers assembled in his house at the appointed hour. They
found a table covered with light cakes and fruits, in the midst of
which were two bowls of hot punch. Some surprise escaped the guests, in
private remarks to one another, at this singular kind of banquet. Could
it be a fast-day? Why did no one sit down? But as there was no
interpreter to clear up these points, and as it would have been
unbecoming to ask for an explanation, they kept their difficulties for
solution among themselves, and paid attention to the good things before
them. Soon a fresh surprise came; the table was cleared and covered
with various sorts of prepared dishes--in short, a substantial and
sumptuous dinner was served. The collation which had been taken at the
commencement, called in the language of the country "Refresco," had
been intended only to whet the appetites of the guests for what was to
follow.
After this, luxurious dinners became quite the rage at Guam. Two days
subsequent to the governor's banquet, the officers found themselves at
a dinner-party of fifty guests, where no less than forty-four separate
dishes were served at each of the three courses of which the dinner
consisted. Freycinet, from information he had received, relates that
"this dinner cost the lives of two oxen and three fat pigs, to say
nothing of poultry, game, and fish. Such a slaughter, I should think,
has not been known since the marriage-feast of Gamache. No doubt our
host considered that persons who had undergone so many privations
during a protracted voyage ought to be compensated with an unusually
profuse entertainment. The dessert showed no falling off either in
abundance or in variety; it was succeeded by tea, coffee, creams,
liqueurs of every description; and as the 'Refresco' had been served as
usual an hour previous to dinner, it will be admitted without question
that at Guam the most intrepid gourmand could find no other cause for
disappointment but the limited capacity of the human stomach."
However, the objects of the mission were not interfered with by all
this dining and festivity. Natural history excursions, magnetical
observations, the geographical survey of the island of Guam, entrusted
to Duperrey, were all being pushed forward simultaneously. But in the
meantime the corvette had got to moorings in the deep water off the
port of St. Louis, while the chief of the Staff, as well as the sick,
were housed at Agagna, the capital of the island and the seat of
government. At that place, in honour of the French visitors,
cock-fights took place, a kind of sport very popular in all the Spanish
possessions in Oceania; dances also were given, the figures in which,
it was said, contained allusions to events in the history of Mexico.
The dancers, students of the Agagna college, were dressed in rich
silks, imported a long time previously by the Jesuits from New Spain.
Then came combats with sticks in which the Carolins took part; which
again were succeeded, almost uninterruptedly by other amusements. But
what Freycinet considered of most value was the mass of information
concerning the customs and manners of the former inhabitants of the
islands, which he obtained through Major D. Luis Torres; who, himself
born in the country, had made a constant study of this subject. Of this
interesting information use will be made when the subject is presently
resumed, but first some notice must be taken of an excursion to the
islands Rota and Tinian, the latter of which had already become known
to us through the narratives of former travellers.
[Illustration: A performer of the dances of Montezuma. (Fac-simile of
early engraving.)]
On the 22nd April a small fleet of eight proas conveyed MM. Berard,
Gaudichaud, and Jacques Arago to Rota, where their arrival occasioned
great surprise and alarm, explained by the fact that a report had
gained currency in the island that the corvette was manned with rebels
from America.
Beyond Rota the proas reached Tinian, where the arid plains recalled to
the travellers the desolate coasts of the land of Endracht, testifying
to the considerable changes that must have taken place there since the
time when Lord Anson described the place as a terrestrial Paradise.
The Marianne archipelago was discovered by Magellan on the 6th March,
1521, and at first received the name of _Islas de las velas latinas_,
the Isles of the lateen sails, but subsequently that of the _Ladrones_,
or the Robbers. If one may trust Pigafetta, the illustrious admiral saw
no islands but Tinian, Saypan, and Agoignan. Five years later they were
visited by the Spaniard Loyasa, whose cordial reception was quite a
contrast to that of Magellan; and in 1565 the islands were declared to
be Spanish territory by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. It was not, however,
until 1669 that they were colonized and evangelized by Father
Sanvitores. It will be understood that we should not follow Freycinet's
narrative of past events in the history of this archipelago, were it
not that the manuscripts and works of every kind which he was permitted
to consult enabled him to treat the subject _de novo_, and throw upon
it the light of real knowledge.
The admiration, still lingering in the minds of the travellers, which
had been aroused by the incredible fertility of the Papuan Islands and
the Moluccas was no doubt calculated to weaken the impression produced
by any of the Marianne Islands. The forests of Guam, though well
stocked, did not present the gigantic appearance common to forest
scenery in the tropics. They extended over a large part of the island,
yet there were also immense spaces devoted to pasturage, where not a
breadfruit-tree nor a cocoa-nut palm was to be seen. In the depths of
the forests, moreover, the conquerors of the islands had created
artificial glades, in order that the herds of horned cattle which they
had introduced might find food and also enjoy shelter from the sun.
Agoignan, an island with a very rocky coast, presented from a distance
an arid and barren appearance, but is in reality thickly clothed with
trees even to the summit of its highest mountains.
Rota is a regular jungle, an almost impenetrable mass of brushwood,
above which rise thickets of rimas, tamarind, fig, and palm trees.
Tinian, too, presents anything but an agreeable appearance. The French
explorers altogether missed the charming scenes described in such
glowing colours by their predecessors, but the appearance of the soil,
and the immense number of dead trees, led them to the conclusion that
old accounts were not altogether exaggerated, especially as the
southern portion of the island is now rendered quite inaccessible by
its dense forests.
At the time of Freycinet's visit the population of these islands was of
a very mixed character, the aborigines being quite in the minority. The
more highly born of the natives were formerly bigger, stronger, and
better made than Europeans, but the race is degenerating, and the
primitive type in its purity is now only to be met with in Rota.
Capital swimmers and divers, able to walk immense distances without
fatigue, every man of them had to prove his proficiency in these
exercises on his marriage; but although this proficiency has been in
some measure kept up, the leading characteristic of the people of the
Marianne group is idleness, or perhaps to be more strictly accurate,
indifference.
Marriages are contracted at a very early age, the bridegroom being
generally between fifteen and eighteen, the bride between twelve and
fifteen. A numerous progeny is the result of these unions; instances
being on record of twenty-two children born of one mother.
Not only do the people of Guam suffer from many diseases, such as lung
complaints, smallpox, &c., introduced by Europeans; but also from some
which seem to be endemic, or in any case to have assumed a type
peculiar to the place and altogether abnormal. Such are elephantiasis
and leprosy, three varieties of which are met with at Guam, differing
from each other alike in their symptoms and their effects.
Before the conquest, the people of the Mariannes lived on the fruit of
the rima or bread-tree, rice, sago, and other farinaceous plants. Their
mode of cooking these articles was extremely simple, though not so much
so as their style of dress, for they went about in a state of nature,
unrelieved even by the traditional fig-leaf.
At the present time children still wear no clothing till they are about
ten years old. Alluding to this peculiar custom, Captain Pages, writing
at the close of last century, says, "I found myself near a house, in
front of which an Indian girl, about eleven years old, was squatted on
her heels in the full blaze of the sun, without a vestige of clothing
on. Her chemise lay folded on the ground in front of her. When she saw
me approaching, she got up quickly and put it on again. Although still
far from decently clothed, for only her shoulders were covered by it,
she now considered herself properly dressed, and stood before me quite
unembarrassed."
Judging from the remains nearly everywhere to be met with, such as the
ruins of dwellings originally supported by masonry pillars, it is plain
that the population was formerly considerable. The earliest traveller
who has made any reference to this subject is Lord Anson. He has given
a somewhat fanciful description, which, however, the explorers in the
_Uranie_ were able to corroborate, as will be seen from the following
extract.
"The description found in the narrative of Lord Anson's voyage is
correct; but the ruins and the branches of the trees that have in some
way twined themselves about the masonry pillars, wear now a very
different aspect from what they did in his time. The sharp edges of the
pillars have got rubbed away, and the half-globes that surmounted them
have no longer their former roundness."
[Illustration: Ruins of ancient pillars at Tinian. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]
Of the structures of more recent date only a sixth part are of stone.
At Agagna may be counted several buildings possessing some interest on
account of their size, if not on that of their elegance, grandeur, or
the fineness of their proportions. These are the College of St. John
Lateran, the church, the clergy-house, the governor's palace, and the
taverns.
Before the Spaniards established their sway in these islands, the
natives were divided into three classes, the nobility, the inferior
nobility, and the commonalty. These last, the Pariahs of the country,
Freycinet remarks, though without citing his authority, were of a more
diminutive stature than the other inhabitants. This difference of
height is, however, scarcely a sufficient reason for pronouncing them
to be of a different race from the other two classes; is it not more
reasonable to conclude it to be the result of the degrading servitude
to which they have been subjected? These plebeians could under no
circumstances raise themselves to a higher class; and a seafaring life
was forbidden to them. Each of the three castes had its own sorceresses
and priestesses, or medicine-women, who each devoted her attention to
the treatment of some one disorder; only no reason, however, for
crediting them with any special skill in its cure.
The business of canoe-building was monopolized by the nobles; who,
however, allowed the inferior nobles to assist in their construction.
The making of canoes was to them a work of the utmost importance, and
the nobles maintained it as one of their most valuable privileges. The
language spoken in the Philippine group, though it has some affinity
with the Malay and Tagala dialects, has all the same a distinctive
character of its own. Freycinet's narrative also contains much
information on the extremely singular customs of the former population
of the Mariannes, which are beyond our province, though well worthy of
the attention of the philosopher and historian.
The _Uranie_ had been now more than two months at anchor. It was full
time to resume the work of exploration. Freycinet and his staff,
therefore, devoted the few remaining days of their stay to the task of
paying farewell visits and expressing their gratitude for the hearty
kindness which had been so profusely shown to them. The governor,
however, not only declined to admit his claim to thanks from the French
travellers for the hospitable attentions heaped upon them for upwards
of two months; but also refused to accept any payment for the supplies
which had been furnished for the refitting of the corvette. He even
went so far as to write a letter of apology for the scantiness of the
provisions, the result of the drought which had desolated Guam for the
previous six months, and which had prevented him from doing things as
he could have wished. The final farewell took place off Agagna. "It was
impossible," says Freycinet, "to take leave of the amiable man, who had
loaded us with so many proofs of his friendly disposition, without
being deeply affected. I was too much moved to be able to find
expression for the feelings with which my heart was filled; but the
tears which filled my eyes must have been to him a surer evidence than
any words could have been of my gratitude and my regret."
From the 5th to the 16th June the _Uranie_ occupied in an exploring
cruise round the north of the Marianne Islands, in the course of which
were made the observations of which the substance has been given above.
The commander, wishing to make a quick passage to the Sandwich Islands,
then took advantage of a breeze to gain a higher latitude, where he
hoped to meet with favourable winds. But as the explorers penetrated
further and further into this part of the Pacific Ocean, cold and dense
fogs wrapped them round, permeating the whole vessel with damp, equally
unpleasant and injurious to health. However, the crew suffered no worse
inconvenience than slight colds; in fact, the change had rather a
bracing effect than otherwise on men now for some time accustomed to
the enervating heat of the tropics.
On the 6th August the south point of Hawai was doubled, and Freycinet
made for the western side of the island, where he hoped to find a safe
and convenient anchorage. A dead calm prevailing, the first and second
days were spent in opening relations with the natives. The women came
off in crowds immediately on the arrival of the ship, with the view of
carrying on their usual trade, but the commander laid an interdict on
their coming on board.
The first piece of news given to the captain by one of the Areois[2]
was that King Kamahamaha was dead, and that his young son Rio Rio had
succeeded him. Taking advantage of a change of wind the _Uranie_ sailed
on to the Bay of Karakakoa, and Freycinet was about to send an officer
in advance to take soundings, when a canoe put off from the shore,
having on board the governor of the island, Prince Kouakini, otherwise
John Adams,[3] who promised the captain that he would find boats
suitable for the taking of the necessary supplies to the corvette. This
young man, about nine and twenty years of age, almost a giant in
stature, but well proportioned, surprised Freycinet by the extent of
his information. On being informed that the corvette was on a voyage of
discovery, he inquired, "Have you doubled Cape Horn or did you come
round the Cape of Good Hope?" He then asked for the latest information
about Napoleon, and wished to know whether it was true that the island
of St. Helena had been swallowed up with all its inhabitants! A story
he had evidently heard from some facetious whalemen, but had not
entirely believed.
[Footnote 2: See Part II, Chapter 1, footnote 3 on the Areois.]
[Footnote 3: It was the custom for the chiefs in these parts to assume
new names, often for the most trifling reasons.--_Trans._]
Kouakini next apprised Freycinet that though actual disturbances had
not broken out on the death of Kamahamaha, yet that some of the chiefs
having asserted claims to independence, the stability of the monarchy
was in some danger. As a result the political situation was strained
and the government was in some perplexity, a state of things which
probably would soon terminate, especially if the commandant would
consent to make some declaration in favour of the youthful sovereign.
Freycinet landed with the prince, to pay him a return visit; and, on
entering his house, was introduced to his wife, a very corpulent woman,
who was lying on a European bedstead covered with matting. After this
visit, the captain and his host went to visit the widows of Kamahamaha,
the prince's sisters, but not being able to see them, they proceeded to
the yards and workshops of the deceased king. Here were four sheds
sacred to the building of large war-canoes, and others containing
European boats. Farther on were seen wood for building purposes, bars
of copper, quantities of fishing-nets, a forge, a cooper's workshop,
and lastly, some cases belonging to the prime minister, Kraimokou,
filled with all necessary appliances for navigation, such as compasses,
sextants, thermometers, watches, and even a chronometer. Strangers were
not allowed to inspect two other magazines in which were stored powder
and other war-materials, strong liquors, iron, &c. All these places
were for the present abandoned by the new sovereign, who held his court
at Koaihai Bay.
Freycinet, on receiving an invitation from the king, made ready to
visit him there, under the guidance of a native pilot who showed
himself most attentive, and was very skilful in forecasting the
weather. "The monarch," writes Freycinet, "was waiting for me on the
beach, dressed in the full uniform of an English captain, and
surrounded by the whole of his suite. In spite of the terrible
barrenness of this side of the island, the spectacle of the grotesque
assemblage of men and women was not without grandeur and beauty. The
king himself stood in front with his principal officers a little
distance behind him; some wearing splendid mantles made of red or
yellow feathers, or of scarlet cloth; others in short tippets of the
same kind, but in which the two glaring colours were relieved with
black; a few had helmets on their heads. This striking picture was
further diversified by a number of soldiers grouped here and there, and
clad in various and strange costumes."
The sovereign now under notice was the same, who, with his young and
charming wife, undertook at a later period a voyage to England, where
they both died. Their remains were brought back to Hawai by Captain
Byron in the frigate _La Blonde_.
Freycinet seized this opportunity to repeat his request for supplies of
fresh provisions, and the king promised that two days should not pass
before his wishes should be fully complied with. However, although the
good faith of the young monarch was above suspicion, the commander soon
discovered that most of the chiefs had no intention of obeying their
sovereign's orders.
Some little time after this, the principal officers of the staff went
to pay a visit to the widows of Kamahamaha. The following amusing
description of their lively reception is given by M. Quoy:--"A strange
spectacle," he says, "met our view on our entrance into an apartment of
narrow dimensions, where eight lumps of half naked humanity lay on the
ground with their faces downwards. It was not an easy task to find
space to lay ourselves down according to custom in the same manner. The
attendants were constantly on the move, some carrying fans made of
feathers to whisk away the flies; another a lighted pipe, which was
passed from one prostrate figure to another, each taking a whiff or
two, while the rest were engaged in shampooing the royal personages....
Conversation, it may readily be imagined, was not well maintained under
these trying circumstances, and had it not been for some excellent
watermelons which were handed to us, the tedium of the interview would
have been insupportable."
Freycinet next went to pay a visit to the famous John Young, who had
been for so long a time the faithful friend and sagacious adviser of
King Kamahamaha. Although he was then old and in bad health, he was not
the less able to supply Freycinet with some valuable information about
the Sandwich Islands, where he had lived for thirty years, and in the
history of which he had played a prominent part.
Kraimokou, the minister, during a visit which he was paying on board
the _Uranie_, had caught sight of the Abbe de Quelen, the chaplain,
whose costume puzzled him a good deal. As soon as he had learned that
the strangely dressed person was a priest, he expressed to the
commandant a desire to receive baptism. His mother, he said, had been
admitted to that sacrament upon her deathbed, and she had obtained from
him a promise to submit himself to the same ceremony as soon as he met
with a convenient opportunity. Freycinet gave his consent, and
endeavoured to make the proceeding as solemn as possible, all the more
because Rio Rio requested permission to be present at it with all his
suite. Every one behaved with the utmost decorum and reverence while
the ceremony was taking place; but immediately on its close there was a
general rush to the collation which the commandant had ordered to be
prepared. It was wonderful to see how rapidly the bottles of wine and
the flasks of rum and of brandy were emptied, and to witness the speedy
disappearance of the viands with which the table had been covered.
Fortunately the day was coming to a close, or Rio Rio and the majority
of his officers and courtiers would not have been in a condition to
reach the shore. In spite of this, however, it was necessary to comply
with his request for two additional bottles of brandy, that he might,
as he said, drink the health of the commander and success to his
voyage, a request which all his attendants felt bound in politeness to
make likewise.
"It is not an over-statement," observes Freycinet, "to say that in the
short space of two hours our distinguished guests drank and carried
away what would have been sufficient to supply the wants of ten
ordinary persons for three months." Several presents had been exchanged
between the royal pair and the commander. Among those made by the young
queen was a cloak of feathers, a kind of garment which had become
exceedingly scarce in the Sandwich Islands.
Freycinet was about to set sail again, when he learnt from an American
captain that a merchant-vessel was lying off the island of Miow, having
a large quantity of biscuit and rice on board, which there was no doubt
might be purchased. This information determined Freycinet to anchor
first off Raheina, among other reasons, because it was there that
Kraimokou had undertaken to deliver a number of pigs, which were
required for the use of the crew. But the minister displayed signal bad
faith in the transaction; he tendered miserably poor pigs, and demanded
an extravagantly high price; so that it was necessary to have recourse
to threats before the business could be satisfactorily arranged. In
this matter Kraimokou was under the misguidance of an English runaway
convict from Port Jackson, and most probably had the native been left
to obey the promptings of his own nature he would have acted on this
occasion with the good faith and the sense of honour which were his
usual characteristics.
On reaching the island of Waihou, Freycinet dropped anchor off
Honolulu. The hearty welcome he received from the European residents
made him regret that he had not come here direct to begin with; for he
was able without any delay to procure all the supplies which he had
found so much difficulty in getting together at the two other islands.
Boki, the governor of Waihou, received baptism from the chaplain of the
_Uranie_. He was prompted apparently by no other motive than a wish to
do as his brother had done, who had previously received this sacrament.
He was far from having the air of intelligence common to the other
natives of the various islands of the Sandwich group hitherto visited.
Many observations on these natives are made in the narrative of the
expedition, which are too interesting to be passed over without a brief
summary here. All navigators are agreed in considering that the class
of chiefs belong to a race excelling the other inhabitants, both in
intelligence and in stature. It is very unusual to find one who is less
than six feet in height. Obesity is very common, but chiefly among the
women, who while still quite young often become enormously corpulent.
The Sandwich type is strongly marked and distinct. Pretty women are
numerous; but the blessing of length of days is seldom enjoyed. An old
man of seventy is a rare phenomenon. This early decline and premature
death must be ascribed to the persistent dissipation in which the
people pass their lives.
On leaving the Sandwich Islands, Freycinet found it necessary to notice
carefully the curves of the magnetic equator in low latitudes.[4]
Accordingly, he crowded all sail in an easterly direction. On the 7th
October the _Uranie_ entered the southern hemisphere, and on the 19th
of the same month the Dangerous Islands came in sight. To the eastward
of the Navigators' archipelago, an island was discovered, not marked on
the charts, which was named "Rose," after Madame Freycinet. This was
the only actual discovery of the voyage.
[Footnote 4: This refers to the line made up of the succession of
points at which the magnetic needle ceases to indicate.--_Trans._]
The position of the islands of Pylstaart and Howe was next rectified,
and on the 13th November the lights of Port Jackson, or Sydney, were at
last sighted.
Freycinet had fully expected to find the town enlarged during the
sixteen years that had passed since his last visit; but his
astonishment was great indeed at the sight of a large and prosperous
European city, set down in the midst of scenery which might almost be
called wild. But as the travellers made excursions in various
directions, fresh signs of the progress which the colony had made were
forced on their attention. Fine roads carefully kept, bordered with the
eucalyptus, styled by Perou "the giant of the Australian forests," well
constructed bridges, distances marked by milestones, proved the
existence of a well organized local administration; whilst the charming
cottages, the numerous herds of cattle, and the carefully cultivated
fields, bore testimony to the industry and perseverance of the new
colonists.
Governor Macquarie, and the principal authorities of the province vied
with each other in showing attention to the French travellers, who,
however, persisted in declining all but a single invitation, lest the
work of the mission should not receive its fair share of attention. The
entertainment given by the governor took place at his country house at
Paramatta, whither the officers of the expedition proceeded by water,
accompanied by a military band. Several of them also visited the little
town of Liverpool, built in a pleasant situation on the banks of the
river George. Excursions too were made to the little villages of
Richmond and Windsor, which were growing up near Hawkesbury river. At
the same time a party of the staff joined in a kangaroo hunt, and
crossing the Blue Mountains penetrated the Bathurst settlement.
Through the friendly relations which Freycinet had established with the
residents during his two visits, he was able to collect numerous
interesting details respecting the Australian colony. Therefore the
chapter that he devotes to New South Wales, recording the marvellous
and rapid advance of this effort at colonization, excited a lively
interest in France, where the development and growing prosperity of
Australia were very imperfectly known. Freycinet's narrative was there
quite a new revelation, well calculated to excite inquiry, and which
had, moreover, the advantage of showing the exact condition of the
colony so late as the year 1825.
The chain of mountains at some distance from the coast, known by the
name of the Australian Alps, separates New South Wales from the
interior of the Australian continent. For twenty-five years this chain
formed a barrier against all communication with the country beyond; but
now, thanks to the energy of Governor Macquarie, the barrier has been
removed. A zigzag road has been cut in the rock, thus opening the way
to the colonization of wide spreading plains watered by important
rivers. The loftiest summits of this chain, nearly 10,000 feet in
height, are covered with snow even in the middle of summer. Whilst the
elevation of the principal peaks, Mount Exmouth, Mount Cunningham, and
others was being taken, it was discovered that so far from Australia
possessing only one large watercourse, the Swan River, it had several,
the chief being Hawkesbury River, formed by the confluence of the
Nepean, the Grose, and the Brisbane; the river Murray not being yet
known. At the period under notice a commencement had been made in the
working of coal-mines, slate quarries, layers of solid carbonate of
iron, sandstone, chalk, porphyry and jasper; but the presence of gold,
the metal that was to effect so rapid a development of the young
colony, had not as yet been established.
The nature of the soil varies. On the sea-coast it is barren, able only
to support the growth of a few stunted trees; but inland the traveller
meets with fields clothed with a rich vegetation, vast pasturages in
which here and there rise a few tall shrubs, and forests where giant
trees entwined with an inextricable growth of underwood, defy all
attempts to penetrate to their recesses.
[Illustration: An Australian farm near the Blue Mountains. (Fac-simile
of early engraving.)]
One circumstance which much surprised travellers was the apparent
homogeneity of race throughout the whole of this immense continent.
Take the aborigines at the Bay of Sharks, or in the land of Endracht,
or by the Swan River, or at Port Jackson, and the same complexion, and
the same kind of hair, the same features, the same physique, all prove
indisputably that they have sprung from one common origin. Those
dwelling by the rivers or on the sea coast subsist chiefly on shell or
other fish, but those living in the interior trust to hunting for their
food, and will eat indiscriminately the flesh of the opossum or the
kangaroo, not rejecting even lizards, snakes, worms, or ants, the last
named of which they manufacture into a sort of paste with the addition
of their eggs and the roots of ferns. All over the continent the
practice of the aborigines is to go completely naked; though they have
no objection to put on any articles of European clothing that they can
get possession of. It is said that in 1820 at Port Jackson there was a
laughable caricature of the European style of dress to be seen in the
person of an ancient negress who went about clothed in some pieces of
an old woollen blanket, wearing on her head a bonnet of green silk. A
few of the aborigines, however, make themselves cloaks of opossum or
kangaroo skin, stitching the pieces together with the nerve-fibres of
the cassowary; but this kind of garment is of rare occurrence.
Though their hair is smooth, they plaster it with grease and arrange it
in curls. Then inserting in the middle a tuft of grass, they raise a
strange and comical superstructure, surmounted by a few cockatoo
feathers; or failing these, they fasten on, with the aid of a resinous
gum, a few human teeth, or some bits of bone, a dog's tail, or one or
two fish bones. Although the practice of tattooing is not much in
favour among the natives of New Holland, some are occasionally to be
seen who have succeeded by means of sharp shells in cutting symmetrical
figures upon their skins. A more general custom is that of painting on
their bodies monstrous designs in red and white colours which, on their
dark skins, give them an almost diabolical aspect.
These savages formerly believed that after death they would take the
form of children, and be transported to the clouds or to the summits of
lofty trees, where, in a sort of aerial paradise, they would be regaled
with plentiful repasts. But since the arrival of the Europeans their
faith on this point has undergone some change, their present belief
being, that metamorphosed into whites they will go to inhabit some
far-off land. It is also an article of their creed that the whites
themselves are no other than their own ancestors, who, having been
killed in battle, have assumed the form of Europeans.
[Illustration: Native Australians.]
The census of 1819--one of the strictest hitherto instituted--gives the
number of the colonists at 25,425; this return, it must be understood,
does not take in the soldiers. The women being very much in the
minority, the mother-country had made efforts to remedy the
inconvenience resulting from this great disparity of the sexes, by
promoting the immigration of young women, who soon married and founded
families of a higher tone of morality than that of the convicts.
Freycinet devotes a very long chapter in his narrative to all matters
connected with political economy. The various soils and the crops
suited to them; industrial pursuits; the breeding of cattle; farming
economy; manufactures; foreign trade; means of communication;
government;--all these subjects are treated comprehensively on the
authority of documents then newly compiled, and with an ability that
could scarcely have been expected from a man who had not given special
attention to questions of this nature. He has, moreover, added a close
inquiry into the regimen which the convicts were subjected to from the
time of their arrival in the colony, the punishments they had to
undergo, as also the encouragements and rewards which were readily
granted to them, when earned by good behaviour. The chapter concludes
with reflections full of learning and sound judgment on the probable
development and future prosperity of the Australian colony.
After this long and fruitful stay in New Holland, the _Uranie_ put to
sea on the 25th December, 1819, and steered so as to pass to the south
of New Zealand and Campbell Island, with the view of doubling Cape
Horn. A few days afterwards ten fugitive convicts were discovered on
board; but the corvette had left the shores of Australia too far behind
to allow of their restoration. The coast of Tierra del Fuego was
reached without anything worthy of special notice having occurred
during a very prosperous voyage, with a prevailing west wind. On the
5th February, Cape Desolation was sighted. Having doubled Cape Horn
without any difficulty, the _Uranie_ let go her anchor in the Bay of
Good Success, where the shores, lined with grand forest-trees and
echoing to the sound of waterfalls, presented a scene totally different
from the sterile desolation generally characterizing this quarter of
the globe. No long stay was, however, made there; the corvette resuming
her voyage, lost no time in entering the Strait of Le Maire,
notwithstanding a dense haze. Here she met with a heavy swell, a strong
gale, and a mist so thick that land, sea, and sky were confounded in
one general obscurity. The rain and the heavy spray raised by the
storm, and the coming on of night, made it necessary to put the
_Uranie_ under a close-reefed topsail and jib, under which pressure of
sail she behaved splendidly. The only available course was to run
before the wind, and the travellers had just begun to feel thankful for
their good fortune in being driven by the storm far away from the land,
when the cry was heard, "Land close ahead!"
All hearts sunk with despair; shipwreck and death seemed inevitable.
Freycinet alone, after a brief instant of hesitation, recovered his
self-command. It was impossible that land could be ahead. He,
therefore, kept on his northerly course, bearing a little east, and the
correctness of his calculations was soon verified. On the next day but
one the weather grew calmer; observations were taken, and as they
proved the vessel to have run a great distance from the Bay of Good
Success, the commander had to choose between a detention off the coast
of South America, or off the Falkland Islands. The island of Conti, the
Bay of Marville, and Cape Duras, were successively observed through the
haze, whilst a favourable breeze speeded the corvette on her course to
Berkeley Sound, fixed on as the best place for the next halt.
Mutual congratulations were already being exchanged on the happy
termination of the dangerous struggle, and on the fortunate escape from
any serious accident during so hazardous a trip. The sailors all
rejoiced, to use the words of Byron, that--
"The worst was over, and the rest seemed sure."
But a severe trial was still in store for them!
On entering Berkeley Sound, every man was at his post, ready to let go
the anchor. The look-outs were on the watch, men were stationed in the
main-shrouds to heave the lead. Then first at twenty, after at eighteen
fathoms, the presence of rocks was reported. The ship was now about
half a league off shore, and Freycinet thought it prudent to put her
off about two points. This precaution proved fatal, for the corvette
suddenly struck violently on a hidden rock. As she struck, the
soundings gave fifteen fathoms to starboard, and twelve to larboard.
The reef against which the corvette had run, was, therefore, not so
wide as the vessel itself; in fact, it was but the pointed summit of a
rock.
The immediate rising of pieces of wood to the surface of the water at
once gave reason for fears that the injury was serious. There was a
rush to the pumps. Water was pouring into the hold. Freycinet had sent
for a sail, and had it passed under the vessel in such a manner that
the pressure of the water forcing it into the leak in a measure stopped
it up. But it was of no avail. Although the whole ship's company,
officers and sailors alike, worked at the pumps, no more could be done
than just keep the water from gaining on the vessel. There was nothing
for it but to run her ashore. This decision, painful as it was, had to
be carried out, and it was indeed no easy task. On every side the land
was girded with rocks, and only at the very bottom of the bay was there
a strip of sandy beach favourable for running the ship aground.
Meanwhile the wind had become contrary, night was approaching, the
vessel was already half full of water. The distress of the commander
can be imagined. But there was no alternative, so the vessel was
stranded on Penguin Island.
"This effected," to quote Freycinet, "the men were so exhausted that it
was necessary to cease further work of every kind, and to allow the
crew an interval of rest, all the more indispensable on account of the
hardships and dangers which our present disastrous situation must
entail upon all. As for myself, repose was out of the question.
Tormented by a thousand harassing reflections, I could scarcely credit
my own existence. The sudden transition from a position where all
things seemed to smile on me, to that in which I found myself at that
moment, weighed on my spirits like a horrible nightmare. It was
difficult to regain the composure necessary to face fairly the painful
trial. All my companions had done their duty in the frightful accident,
which had all but lost us our lives, and I am glad to be able to do
justice to their admirable conduct.
"As soon as daylight revealed the nature of the country, a mournful
gloomy look settled upon every countenance. Not a tree, not so much as
a blade of grass was to be seen, not a sound was to be heard, and the
silent desolation around reminded us of the Bay of Sharks."
[Illustration: Berkeley Sound, in the Falkland Islands.]
But there was no time to be lost in vain lamentations. Was the sea to
be allowed to swallow up the journals and observations, the precious
results of so much labour and so many hardships?
All the papers were saved. The same good fortune did not,
unfortunately, attend the collections. Several cases of specimens which
were at the bottom of the hold were entirely lost; others were damaged
by the sea water. The collections that sustained the chief injury were
those of natural history, and the herbarium that had been put together
with infinite trouble by Gaudichaud. The merino sheep, generously
presented to the expedition by Mr. MacArthur, of Sydney, which it was
hoped could be acclimatized in France, were brought on shore, as also
were all the animals still alive.
A few tents were pitched, first for the sick, happily not very
numerous, and then for the officers and the crew. The provisions and
ammunition taken out of the ship were carefully deposited in a place
where they would be sheltered from the inclemency of the weather. The
alcoholic liquors were allowed to remain on board until the time
arrived for quitting the scene of the shipwreck, and during the three
months of the expedition's stay here, not a single theft of rum or of
brandy came to light, although no one had anything to drink but pure
water.
The efforts of the whole of the expedition were steadily applied to the
task of trying to repair the main injuries sustained by the _Uranie_,
with the exception of a few sailors told off to provide, by hunting and
fishing, for the subsistence of the community. The lakes were
frequented by numbers of sea-lions, geese, ducks, teal, and snipe, but
it was no easy matter to procure, at one time, a sufficient quantity of
these animals to serve for the food of the entire crew; at the same
time, the expenditure of powder was necessarily considerable. As good
luck would have it, gulls abounded in sufficient numbers to furnish a
hundred and twenty men with food for four or five months, and these
creatures were so stupid as to allow themselves to be knocked on the
head with a stick. A few horses were also killed which had relapsed
into a wild state since the departure of the colony founded by
Bougainville.
By the 28th February the painful conclusion was come to, that with the
slender resources available, it was impracticable to repair the damage
done to the _Uranie_, especially as the original injury had been
aggravated by the repeated shocks occasioned by thumping on the beach.
"What was to be done?" Should the explorers calmly wait until some
vessel chanced to put in at Berkeley Sound? This would be to leave the
sailors with nothing to do, and this enforced idleness would open the
door to disorder and insubordination. Would it not be better to build a
small vessel out of the wreckage of the _Uranie_? As it happened, there
was a large sloop belonging to the ship; if the sides were raised, and
a deck added, it might be possible to reach Monte Video, and there
obtain the assistance of a vessel capable of bringing off in safety the
members of the expedition and all the cargo worth preserving. This
latter plan met with the approval of Freycinet, and a decision once
come to, not a moment was wasted.
The sailors, animated with fresh energy, rapidly pushed on the work.
Now was proved the sound judgment of the commander when manning the
corvette at Toulon, in selecting sailors who were also skilled in some
mechanical employment. Blacksmiths, sail-makers, rope-makers, sawyers,
all worked with zeal at the different tasks assigned to them.
No doubts were entertained of the success of the voyage before them.
Monte Video was separated from the Falkland Islands by but three
hundred and fifty nautical miles, and with the winds prevailing in
these latitudes at this time of year, this distance could be traversed
in a few days by the _Esperance_--for so the transformed sloop was
named. To provide, at the same time, against the possible contingency
of the frail vessel failing to reach the Rio de la Plata, Freycinet
determined to commence the construction of a schooner of a hundred
tons, as soon as the sloop had taken her departure. Notwithstanding the
incessant demands on the energies of all made by the arduous and varied
tasks involved in reconstruction and refitting of the new vessel, the
usual astronomical and physical observations, the natural history
researches and the hydrographical surveys, were not neglected. No one
could have imagined that the stay in Berkeley Sound was anything more
than an ordinary halt for exploring purposes.
At last the sloop was finished and safely launched. The instructions
for Captain Duperrey, appointed to take command, were all drawn up; the
crew was selected; the provisions were on board; in two days the
adventurers were to sail, when on the 19th March, 1820, the cry was
raised, "A sail! a sail!" A sloop under full sail was seen entering the
bay.
A cannon was fired several times to attract attention, and in a short
time the master of the new arrival was on shore. In a few words
Freycinet explained to him the misadventure which had led to the
residence of the explorers upon this desolate coast. The master stated
in reply that he was under the orders of the captain of an American
ship, the _General Knox_, engaged in the seal-fishery at West Island,
to the west of the Falklands. An officer was at once deputed to go and
ascertain from the captain what succour he could render to the French
travellers. The result of the interview was a demand for 135,750 francs
for the conveyance of the shipwrecked strangers to Rio--an unworthy
advantage to take of the necessities of the unfortunate. To such a
bargain the French officer was unwilling to agree without the consent
of his commander; so he begged the American captain to sail for
Berkeley Sound. While these negotiations were going on, however,
another ship, the _Mercury_, under command of Captain Galvin, had made
its appearance in the bay. The _Mercury_ was bound from Buenos Ayres to
Valparaiso with cannon, but just before doubling Cape Horn she had
sprung a leak, and was compelled to put in at the Falkland Islands to
make the necessary repairs. It was a fortunate incident for the
Frenchmen, who knew they could turn to account the competition which
must result from the arrival of two ships.
[Illustration: The _Mercury_ at anchor in Berkeley Sound.]
Freycinet at once made an offer to Captain Galvin to repair the damage
the _Mercury_ had sustained, with the materials and the labour at his
command, asking in return for this service a free passage for himself
and his companions to Rio de Janeiro.
At the end of fifteen days the repairs of the _Mercury_ were completed.
While they were going on, the negotiation with the _General Knox_ was
terminated by a positive refusal on the part of Freycinet to agree to
the extravagant terms proposed by the American captain. It took several
days to come to a settlement with Captain Galvin, who finally made the
following agreement.
1. Captain Galvin engaged to convey to Rio the wrecked persons, their
papers, collections, and instruments, as well as all the cargo saved
out of the _Uranie_ that could be got on board.
2. Freycinet and his people were during the passage to subsist entirely
on the provisions set apart for them.
3. That the captain was to receive the sum of 97,740 francs within ten
days of their arrival at Rio. By the acceptance of these truly
extortionate conditions a bargain, which had cost much dispute, was
finally settled.
Before leaving the Falklands, however, the naturalist, Gaudichaud,
planted its destitute shores with several sorts of vegetables, which he
thought likely to be of service to future voyagers who might be
detained there.
A few particulars regarding this archipelago will not be without
interest. The group, lying between 50 degrees 57 minutes, and 52
degrees 45 minutes S. latitude, and 60 degrees 4 minutes, 63 degrees 48
minutes west of the meridian of Paris, consists of several islets and
two principal islands, named Conti and Maidenland. Berkeley Sound,
situated in the extreme east of the Conti Island, is a wide opening,
rather deep than extensive, with a shelving rocky coast. The
temperature of the islands is milder than one would expect from the
high latitude. Snow does not fall in any great quantity, and does not
remain even on the summits of the highest hills longer than for about
two months. The streams are never frozen, and the lakes and marshes are
never covered with ice hard enough to bear the weight of a man, for
more than twenty-four hours consecutively. From the observations of
Weddell, who visited these parts between 1822 and 1824, the temperature
must have risen considerably during the last forty years in consequence
of a change in the direction taken by the icebergs which melt away in
the mid-Atlantic. M. Quoy, the naturalist, judging from the shallowness
of the sea between the Falkland Islands and South America, as well as
the resemblance of their grassy plains to the pampas of Buenos Ayres,
is of opinion that they once formed part of the continent. These plains
are low, marshy, covered with tall grass and shrubs, and are inundated
in the winter. Peat is abundant and makes excellent fuel. The character
of the soil has proved an obstacle to the growth of the trees which
Bougainville endeavoured to acclimatize, of which scarce a vestige
remained at the time of Freycinet's visit. The plant which reaches the
greatest height and grows most plentifully is a species of sword-grass,
excellent food for cattle, and serving also as a place of shelter to
numbers of seals and multitudes of gulls. It is this high grass which
sailors have taken from a distance for bushes. The only vegetables
growing on these islands of any use to man are celery, scurvy-grass,
watercress, dandelion, raspberries, sorrel, and pimpernel.
Both French and Spanish colonists had at different times imported into
these islands oxen, horses, and pigs, which had multiplied to a
singular extent in the island of Conti; but the persistent hunting of
them by the crews of the whaling ships must tend to considerably reduce
their numbers. The only quadruped indigenous to the Falkland Islands is
the Antarctic dog, the muzzle of which strikingly resembles that of the
fox. It has therefore had the name dog-fox, or wolf-fox, given to it by
whalers. These animals are so fierce that they rushed into the water to
attack Byron's sailors. They, however, find rabbits enough, whose
reproductive powers are limitless, to satisfy them; but the seals,
which the dogs attack without any fear, manage to escape from them.