Present State of the Countries visited by the
Author--Correction of Mr. Irving’s Statements respecting
St. Louis 400
APPENDIX
Mr. Seton’s Adventures--Survivors of the Expedition in
1854--Author’s Protest against some Expressions in Mr.
Irving’s “Astoria”--Note by Huntington 405
INTRODUCTION
Since the independence of the United States of America, the merchants
of that industrious and enterprising nation have carried on an
extremely advantageous commerce on the northwest coast of this
continent. In the course of their voyages they have made a great
number of discoveries which they have not thought proper to make
public; no doubt to avoid competition in a lucrative business.
In 1792, Captain Gray,[1] commanding the ship Columbia of Boston,
discovered in latitude 46° 19′ north, the entrance of a great bay
on the Pacific coast. He sailed into it, and having perceived that
it was the outlet or estuary of a large {18} river, by the fresh
water which he found at a little distance from the entrance, he
continued his course upwards some eighteen miles, and dropped anchor
on the left bank, at the opening of a deep bay. There he made a map
or rough sketch of what he had seen of this river (accompanied by
a written description of the soundings, bearings, &c.); and having
finished his traffic with the natives (the object of his voyage to
these parts), he put out to sea, and soon after fell in with Captain
Vancouver, who was cruising by order of the British government, to
seek new discoveries.[2] Mr. Gray acquainted him with the one he had
just made, and even gave him a copy of the chart he had drawn up.
Vancouver, who had just driven off a colony of Spaniards established
on the coast, under the command of Señor Quadra (England and Spain
being then at war), despatched his first-lieutenant Broughton, who
ascended the river in boats some one hundred and twenty or one
hundred and fifty miles, took possession of the country in the name
of his Britannic majesty, giving the {19} river the name of the
_Columbia_, and to the bay where the American captain stopped, that
of _Gray’s bay_.[3] Since that period the country had been seldom
visited (till 1811), and chiefly by American ships.
Sir Alexander M’Kenzie,[4] in his second overland voyage, tried to
reach the western ocean by the Columbia river, and thought he had
succeeded when he came out six degrees farther north, at the bottom
of Puget’s sound, by another river.[5]
In 1805, the American government sent Captains Lewis and Clark, with
about thirty men, including some Kentucky hunters, on an overland
journey to the mouth of the Columbia.[6] They ascended the Missouri,
crossed the mountains at the source of that river, and following the
course of the Columbia, reached the shores of the Pacific, where they
were forced to winter. The report which they made of their expedition
to the United States government created a lively sensation.[7]
{20} Mr. John Jacob Astor, a New York merchant,[8] who conducted
almost alone the trade in furs south of the great lakes Huron and
Superior, and who had acquired by that commerce a prodigious fortune,
thought to augment it by forming on the banks of the Columbia an
establishment of which the principal or supply factory should be at
the mouth of that river. He communicated his views to the agents of
the Northwest Company; he was even desirous of forming the proposed
establishment in concert with them; but after some negotiations,
the inland or wintering partners of that association of fur-traders
having rejected the plan, Mr. Astor determined to make the attempt
alone. He needed for the success of his enterprise, men long versed
in the Indian trade, and he soon found them. Mr. Alexander M’Kay
(the same who had accompanied Sir Alexander M’Kenzie in his travels
overland), a bold and enterprising man, left the Northwest Company
to join him;[9] and soon after, Messrs. Duncan M’Dougal and Donald
M’Kenzie (also in the service of the company), and {21} Messrs. David
Stuart and Robert Stuart, all of Canada, did the same. At length, in
the winter of 1810, a Mr. Wilson Price Hunt of St. Louis,[10] on
the Mississippi, having also joined them, they determined that the
expedition should be set on foot in the following spring.
It was in the course of that winter that one of my friends made me
acquainted in confidence with the plan of these gentlemen, under
the injunction of strictest secrecy. The desire of seeing strange
countries, joined to that of acquiring a fortune, determined me to
solicit employment of the new association; on the 20th of May I had
an interview with Mr. A. M’Kay, with whom the preliminaries were
arranged; and on the 24th of the same month I signed an agreement as
an apprenticed clerk for the term of five years.
When the associates had engaged a sufficient number of Canadian
boatmen, they equipped a bark canoe under charge of Messrs. Hunt
and M’Kenzie, with a Mr. Perrault as clerk, and a crew of fourteen
men. These gentlemen were {22} to proceed to Mackinaw, and thence
to St. Louis, hiring on the way as many men as they could to man
the canoes, in which, from the last-mentioned port, they were to
ascend the Missouri to its source, and there diverging from the route
followed by Lewis and Clark, reach the mouth of the Columbia to form
a junction with another party, who were to go round by way of Cape
Horn.[11] In the course of my narrative I shall have occasion to
speak of the success of both these expeditions.
[1] Captain Robert Gray was a native of Rhode Island
(born 1755), who served in the United States navy
during the Revolution. He afterwards commanded
merchant vessels for Boston firms, and visited
the Northwest Coast of America on the expedition
commanded by Captain John Kendrick (1787-90). Gray
sailed home in his ship “Columbia,” by way of the
Cape of Good Hope, and first carried the American
flag around the world. Upon his next Northwest Coast
expedition, Gray made the discovery herein cited
(May 11, 1792), upon which the United States based
its claims to the valley of the Columbia River. He
continued in the service of the merchant marine
until his death at Charleston, South Carolina, in
1806. For a brief history of the discovery of the
Northwest Coast, see Thwaites, _Rocky Mountain
Exploration_ (New York, 1904), pp. 16-21.--ED.
[2] Captain George Vancouver (born in 1758) entered the
English navy at the age of thirteen. As midshipman
he accompanied Cook in two voyages around the world.
In 1780 Vancouver was promoted to a lieutenancy, and
served with Rodney in the West Indies (1781-83).
The “Discovery,” Vancouver in command, was fitted
out in 1790 for the purpose indicated by its name.
The voyage in this vessel lasted until 1795, and
had momentous consequences. Vancouver named the
Northwest Coast of America “New Albion,” and took
possession of it for the British crown. Upon his
return to England, he prepared the narrative of his
voyage, which appeared in 1798, the year of the
author’s death.--ED.
[3] It is incorrect to say that Vancouver drove off the
Spaniards. Upon his departure from England (April
1, 1791), he had received instructions to take over
the post at Nootka Sound in accordance with the
diplomatic agreement between the governments of
Great Britain and Spain. Señor Don Juan Francisco
de la Bodega y Quadra (Cuadra) had been sent on
the part of the latter government to arrange the
transfer. Owing to a dispute as to the meaning of
treaty terms, the Spaniards were left in virtual
possession of Nootka harbor until the final
diplomatic adjustments in 1794.
Lieutenant William Robert Broughton, after serving
with Vancouver, and exploring the Columbia River as
far as Point Vancouver (1792), returned to Europe
with despatches via San Blas and Vera Cruz (1793).
The following year he was made commander of the
“Providence,” and visited the same coasts only to
find Vancouver departed. Broughton’s vessel was lost
on the coast of Formosa, but its crew was saved.
In 1804 he published a history of this voyage. He
served in the East Indies, 1810-12, retiring the
latter year from the service, when he lived at
Florence until his death in 1821.--ED.
[4] Sir Alexander Mackenzie, one of the most intrepid of
Canadian explorers, was the first to reach Pacific
waters by an overland route from the East. Entering
the service of the North West Company in 1779, he
made his first westward journey five years later,
and upon the reorganization of the company (1787)
was placed in charge of the Athabascan district,
with headquarters at Fort Chepewyan. Fired with
zeal for discovery, Mackenzie set out (1789) for
the Arctic Ocean, whither he proceeded by way
of the great river which now bears his name--an
adventurous and perilous expedition of a hundred
and two days. He immediately began preparations for
a second journey to the Pacific. For this he was
obliged to repair to London to obtain astronomical
instruments and geographical information. By the
autumn of 1791, he was again at Fort Chepewyan,
whence he proceeded to the forks of Peace River,
to prepare for departure thence the following
spring. Having crossed the divide, he came upon
Fraser River; but finding that it trended too far
southward, he crossed over by land to the ocean,
reaching his farthest point at the mouth of Cascade
Inlet, in Dean Inlet, latitude about 52° 20′ north.
Franchère’s “six degrees farther north” is correct;
but by the “bottom of Puget Sound” he must intend
the northern end of Georgian Strait, the farthest
portion of Vancouver Island. Mackenzie painted
his name and the date--July 22, 1793--upon a rock
fronting the ocean, and returned to Fort Chepewyan.
The narrative of his travels appeared in 1801. He
was knighted the following year, and died near
Edinburgh in 1820.--ED.
[5] M’Kenzie’s Travels.--FRANCHÈRE.
[6] See _Original Journals of Lewis and Clark
Expedition_ (New York, 1904); Thwaites, _Rocky
Mountain Exploration_, pp. 92-187.--ED.
[7] Lewis and Clark’s Report.--FRANCHÈRE.
[8] John Jacob Astor was born in Waldorf, Germany,
in July, 1763, the son of a butcher. At the age
of seventeen he made his way to London, where he
learned English, and where in 1783 he embarked for
America. During a delay in Chesapeake Bay, he met a
compatriot who gave him information with regard to
the fur-trade. In this he embarked upon his arrival
at New York, and by 1800 had accumulated therein a
considerable fortune. His plan for the founding of
Astoria was continental in breadth of conception,
but was brought to naught by the War of 1812-15.
Astor began to withdraw from active business about
1830, and died in New York, March 29, 1848. His
chief public benefaction was the Astor Library.--ED.
[9] Alexander McKay was Sir Alexander Mackenzie’s
lieutenant on the latter’s voyage to the Pacific in
1793 (see note 4, _ante_). Later author-travellers
met him at different posts in the Athabasca
department of the North West Company, from
1797-99. In 1804, he became one of the partners
of that company, but in 1810 was induced to join
Astor’s enterprise. His fate at the capture of the
“Tonquin,” is narrated by Franchère, _post_.--ED.
[10] Duncan McDougall is but little known aside from what
Franchère relates. After transferring Astoria to
the North West Company’s agents, he remained upon
the Columbia until 1817, as partner of the British
corporation. In his appendix, Franchère gives all
that is known concerning his death.
For biographical sketches of McKenzie, the Stuarts,
and Hunt, see Bradbury’s _Travels_, vol. v of our
series, notes 2, 4, and 119.--ED.]
[11] For history of the overland Astorian expedition,
see Bradbury’s _Travels_, vol. v of our series.
Bradbury accompanied the expedition up the Missouri
River.--ED.
NARRATIVE OF A VOYAGE TO THE NORTHWEST COAST OF AMERICA
CHAPTER I
Departure from Montreal--Arrival in New York--Description of that
City--Names of the Persons engaged in the Expedition.
We remained in Montreal the rest of the spring and a part of the
summer. At last, having completed our arrangements for the journey,
we received orders to proceed, and on the 26th of July, accompanied
by my father and brothers and a few friends, I repaired to the place
of embarkation, where was prepared a birch bark canoe, manned by nine
Canadians, having Mr. A. M’Kay as commander, and a Mr. A. Fisher as
passenger. The sentiments which I experienced {24} at that moment
would be as difficult for me to describe as they were painful to
support; for the first time in my life I quitted the place of my
birth, and was separated from beloved parents and intimate friends,
having for my whole consolation the faint hope of seeing them again.
We embarked at about five, P. M., and arrived at La Prairie de la
Madeleine (on the opposite side of the St. Lawrence), toward eight
o’clock.[12] We slept at this village, and the next morning, very
early, having secured the canoe on a wagon, we got in motion again,
and reached St. John’s on the river Richelieu, a little before
noon. Here we relaunched our canoe (after having well calked the
seams), crossed or rather traversed the length of Lake Champlain,
and arrived at Whitehall on the 30th. There we were overtaken by
Mr. Ovid de Montigny, and a Mr. P. D. Jeremie, who were to be of the
expedition.[13]
Having again placed our canoe on a wagon, {25} we pursued our
journey, and arrived on the 1st of August at Lansingburg, a little
village situated on the bank of the river Hudson. Here we got our
canoe once more afloat, passed by Troy, and by Albany, everywhere
hospitably received, our Canadian boatmen, having their hats
decorated with parti-colored ribands and feathers, being taken by the
Americans for so many wild Indians, and arrived at New York on the
3d, at eleven o’clock in the evening.
We had landed at the north end of the city, and the next day, being
Sunday, we re-embarked, and were obliged to make a course round the
city, in order to arrive at our lodgings on Long Island. We sang as
we rowed; which, joined to the unusual sight of a birch bark canoe
impelled by nine stout Canadians, dark as Indians, and as gayly
adorned, attracted a crowd upon the wharves to gaze at us as we
glided along. We found on Long Island (in the village of Brooklyn)
those young gentlemen engaged in the service of the new company, who
had left Canada in advance of our party.
{26} The vessel in which we were to sail not being ready, I should
have found myself quite isolated and a stranger in the great city of
New York, but for a letter of introduction to Mr. G----, given me on
my setting out, by Madame his sister. I had formed the acquaintance
of this gentleman during a stay which he had made at Montreal in
1801; but as I was then very young, he would probably have had
some difficulty in recognising me without his sister’s letter.
He introduced me to several of his friends, and I passed in an
agreeable manner the five weeks which elapsed between my arrival in
New York and the departure of the ship.
I shall not undertake to describe New York; I will only say, that
the elegance of the buildings, public and private, the cleanliness
of the streets, the shade of the poplars which border them, the
public walks, the markets always abundantly provided with all sorts
of commodities, the activity of its commerce, then in a flourishing
condition, the vast number of ships of all nations which crowded the
quays; all, in a word, conspired {27} to make me feel the difference
between this great maritime city and my native town, of whose
steeples I had never lost sight before, and which was by no means at
that time what it is now.[14]
New York was not then, and indeed is not at this time a fortified
town; still there were several batteries and military works, the most
considerable of which were seen on the _Narrows_, or channel which
forms the principal mouth of the Hudson. The isles called _Governor’s
Island_, and _Bedloe_ or _Gibbet Island_, were also well fortified.
On the first, situated to the west of the city and about a mile from
it, there were barracks sufficiently capacious for several thousand
soldiers, and a Moro, or castle, with three tiers of guns, all
bomb-proof. These works have been strengthened during the last war.
The market-places are eight in number; the most considerable is
called _Fly-Market_.[15]
The _Park_, the _Battery_, and _Vauxhall Garden_, are the principal
promenades.[16] There were, in 1810, thirty-two churches, two of
which were devoted {28} to the catholic worship; and the population
was estimated at ninety thousand souls, of whom ten thousand were
French. It is thought that this population has since been augmented
(1819) by some thirty thousand souls.
During my sojourn at New York, I lodged in Brooklyn, on Long Island.
This island is separated from the city by a sound, or narrow arm of
the sea. There is here a pretty village, not far from which is a
basin, where some gunboats were hauled up, and a few war vessels were
on the stocks. Some barracks had been constructed here, and a guard
was maintained.
Before leaving New York, it is well to observe that during our stay
in that city, Mr. M’Kay thought it the part of prudence to have an
interview with the minister plenipotentiary of his Britannic majesty,
Mr. Jackson,[17] to inform him of the object of our voyage, and get
his views in regard to the line of conduct we ought to follow in case
of war breaking out between the two powers; intimating to him that
we were all British {29} subjects, and were about to trade under the
American flag. After some moments of reflection Mr. Jackson told him,
“that we were going on a very hazardous enterprise; that he saw our
object was purely commercial, and that all he could promise us, was,
that in case of a war we should be respected as British subjects and
traders.”
This reply appeared satisfactory, and Mr. M’Kay thought we had
nothing to apprehend on that side.
The vessel in which we were to sail was called the _Tonquin_, of
about 300 tons burden, commanded by Captain Thorn (a first-lieutenant
of the American navy, on furlough for this purpose),[18] with a crew
of twenty-one men. The number of passengers was thirty-three. Here
follow the names of both.
PASSENGERS
{ Messrs. Alexander M’Kay }
{ “ Duncan M’Dougall }
PARTNERS { “ David Stuart } all of Canada.
{ “ Robert Stuart }
{ {30} James Lewis of New York.
{ Russel Farnham of Massachusetts.
{ William W. Matthews of New York.
{ Alexander Ross }
{ Donald M’Gîllis }
CLERKS { Ovide de Montigny }
{ Francis B. Pillot } all from Canada.
{ Donald M’Lennan }
{ William Wallace }
{ Thomas M’Kay }
{ Gabriel Franchère }
{ Oliver Roy Lapensée }
{ Ignace Lapensée }
{ Basile Lapensée }
{ Jacques Lafantaisie }
{ Benjamin Roussel }
{ Michel Laframboise }
BOATMEN, ETC. { Giles Leclerc } all of Canada.
{ Joseph Lapierre }
{ Joseph Nadeau }
{ J. B’te. Belleau }
{ Antoine Belleau }
{ Louis Bruslé }
{ P. D. Jeremie }
Johann Koaster, ship-carpenter, a Russian.
George Bell, cooper, New York.
Job Aitken, rigger and calker, from Scotland.
Augustus Roussil, blacksmith, Canada.
Guilleaume Perreault, a boy. These last were all
mechanics, &c., destined for the establishment.
CREW
Jonathan Thorn, captain, New York State.
Ebenezer D. Fox, 1st mate, of Boston.
John M. Mumford, 2d mate, of Massachusetts.
James Thorn, brother of the captain, New York.
John Anderson, boatswain, foreigner.
Egbert Vanderhuff, tailor, New York.
John Weeks, carpenter, “
{31} Stephen Weeks, armorer, New York.
John Coles, New York, } sailmakers.
John Martin, a Frenchman, }
{ John White, New York.
{ Adam Fisher, “
{ Peter Verbel, “
{ Edward Aymes, “
SAILORS { Robert Hill, Albany, New York.
{ John Adams, “
{ Joseph Johnson, Englishman.
{ Charles Roberts, New York.
A colored man as cook,
A mulatto steward,
And three or four others whose names I have forgotten.
[12] This place is famous in the history of Canada, and
more particularly in the thrilling story of the
Indian missions.--HUNTINGTON.
[13] Jérémie was a boat-builder, who deserted at Astoria,
but was retaken. He afterward joined the British
service, and shipped as clerk upon the “Raccoon.”
See _post_.--ED.
[14] For a brief description of New York, about this
period, see Wilson, _New York: Old and New_
(Philadelphia and London, 1902), i, pp. 280-302.--ED.
[15] Fly Market, the oldest in New York, and begun in
1706, was at the foot of Maiden Lane. The name is a
phonetic corruption of the Dutch pronunciation of
valley, “v’ly.”--ED.
[16] The “Park” was that of the City Hall originally
called the “Flat,” later the “Common.” During the
Revolutionary period this was a popular gathering
place. The Stamp Act was here execrated, and its
repeal celebrated; upon this place the tree of
liberty was erected, and here Alexander Hamilton
made his maiden speech. The Battery fort was
demolished in 1790, but rebuilt during the War of
1812-15. During the latter years of the eighteenth,
and the first decades of the nineteenth century, the
Battery walk was a fashionable promenade. Vauxhall
Gardens were originally a place of amusement at
the corner of Greenwich and Warren streets. Later,
the name was transferred to a resort built by a
Frenchman named Delacroix, between Astor Place,
Broadway, and the Bowery. They were extensive
gardens with theatrical buildings, and were much
frequented as a summer resort until 1820, when
Lafayette Place was opened through them. The
Astor Library now stands near their centre. For a
contemporary cut, see Wilson, _Memorial History of
New York City_ (New York, 1892), iii, p. 520.--ED.
[17] This gentleman was really _chargé d’affaires_.--FRANCHÈRE.
[18] Captain Jonathan Thorn had been a subaltern in the
American navy. Enlisting as a midshipman, April 28,
1800, he served in the Mediterranean squadron, and
in 1803, was acting lieutenant on the “Enterprise,”
Stephen Decatur commanding. In the daring exploit of
destroying the “President” in the harbor of Tripoli,
Thorn had an active part; and three months later
commanded gun-boat “Number 4” in the bombardment of
Tripoli harbor. After this action, he was commended
for gallantry by Decatur in the highest terms, and
placed in charge of one of the prize boats. February
16, 1807, he was promoted to a lieutenancy, and
furloughed May 18, 1810, in order to command the
“Tonquin.” His conduct during the cruise of this
vessel has been much censured. Alexander Ross,
whose narrative is published as vol. vii of our
series, is bitter in his denunciation. Irving, in
_Astoria_, makes apologies for Thorn, and shows that
his conduct proceeded from a sense of duty to his
employer, and a desire for naval discipline somewhat
too strenuous for a merchant-vessel with passengers.
Franchère sought to be just to Thorn, but his
sympathies were with the Astorians. Thorn’s tragic
fate doubtless deprived the United States of a naval
officer of unusual ability and integrity.--ED.
{32} CHAPTER II
Departure from New York--Reflections of the Author--Navigation,
falling in with other Ships, and various Incidents, till the
Vessel comes in Sight of the Falkland Isles.
All being ready for our departure, we went on board ship, and weighed
anchor on the 6th of September, in the morning. The wind soon fell
off, and the first day was spent in drifting down to Staten island,
where we came to anchor for the night. The next day we weighed anchor
again; but there came on another dead calm, and we were forced to
cast anchor near the lighthouse at Sandy Hook. On the 8th we weighed
anchor for the third time, and by the help of a fresh breeze from the
southwest, we succeeded in passing the bar; the pilot quitted us at
about eleven o’clock, and soon after we lost sight of the coast.
{33} One must have experienced it one’s self, to be able to conceive
the melancholy which takes possession of the soul of a man of
sensibility, at the instant that he leaves his country and the
civilized world, to go to inhabit with strangers in wild and unknown
lands. I should in vain endeavor to give my readers an idea, even
faintly correct, of the painful sinking of heart that I suddenly
felt, and of the sad glance which I involuntarily cast toward a
future so much the more frightful to me, as it offered nothing but
what was perfectly confused and uncertain. A new scene of life was
unfolded before me, but how monotonous, and ill suited to diminish
the dejection with which my mind was overwhelmed! For the first time
in my life, I found myself under way upon the main sea, with nothing
to fix my regards and arrest my attention but the frail machine which
bore me between the abyss of waters and the immensity of the skies.
I remained for a long time with my eyes fixed in the direction of
that land which I no longer saw, and almost despaired of ever seeing
again; I made {34} serious reflections on the nature and consequences
of the enterprise in which I had so rashly embarked; and I confess
that if at that moment the offer had been made to release me from my
engagement, I should have accepted the proposal with all my heart. It
is true that the hopeless confusion and incumberment of the vessel’s
deck, the great number of strangers among whom I found myself,
the brutal style which the captain and his subalterns used toward
our young Canadians; all, in a word, conspired to make me augur a
vexatious and disagreeable voyage. The sequel will show that I did
not deceive myself in that.
We perceived very soon in the S. W., which was our weather side,
a vessel that bore directly toward us; she made a signal that was
understood by our captain; we hove to, and stood on her bow. It
turned out to be the American frigate _Constitution_.[19] We sent our
boat on board of her, and sailed in company till toward five o’clock,
when, our papers having been sent back to us, we separated.
{35} The wind having increased, the motion of the vessel made us
sea-sick, those of us, I mean, who were for the first time at sea.
The weather was fine, however; the vessel, which at first sailing was
lumbered in such a manner that we could hardly get in or out of our
berths, and scarcely work ship, by little and little got into order,
so that we soon found ourselves more at ease.
On the 14th we commenced to take flying fish. The 24th, we saw a
great quantity of dolphins. We prepared lines and took two of the
latter, which we cooked. The flesh of this fish appeared to me
excellent.
After leaving New York, till the 4th of October, we headed southeast.
On that day we struck the trade winds, and bore S. S. E.; being,
according to our observations, in latitude 17° 43′ and longitude 22°
39′.
On the 5th, in the morning, we came in sight of the Cape-Verd
islands, bearing W. N. W., and distant about eight or nine miles,
having the coast of Africa to the E. S. E. We should have been very
glad to touch at these islands to take {36} in water; but as our
vessel was an American bottom, and had on board a number of British
subjects, our captain did not think fit to expose himself to meet the
English ships-of-war cruising on these coasts, who certainly would
not have failed to make a strict search, and to take from us the best
part of our crew; which would infallibly have proved disastrous to
the object for which we had shipped them.
Speaking of water, I may mention that the rule was to serve it out
in rations of a quart a day; but that we were now reduced to a pint
and a half. For the rest, our fare consisted of fourteen ounces of
hard bread, a pound and a quarter of salt beef or one of pork, per
day, and half a pint of souchong tea, with sugar, per man. The pork
and beef were served alternately: rice and beans, each once a week;
corn-meal pudding with molasses, ditto; on Sundays the steerage
passengers were allowed a bottle of Teneriffe wine. All except
the four partners, Mr. Lewis, acting as captain’s clerk, and Mr.
T. M’Kay, were in the steerage; the cabin containing {37} but six
berths, besides the captain’s and first-mate’s state-rooms.
As long as we were near the coast of Africa, we had light and
variable winds, and extremely hot weather; on the 8th, we had a dead
calm, and saw several sharks round the vessel; we took one which we
ate. I found the taste to resemble sturgeon. We experienced on that
day an excessive heat, the mercury being at 94° of Fahrenheit. From
the 8th to the 11th we had on board a canary bird, which we treated
with the greatest care and kindness, but which nevertheless quitted
us, probably for a certain death.
The nearer we approached to the equator the more we perceived the
heat to increase: on the 16th, in latitude 6°, longitude 22° west
from Greenwich, the mercury stood at 108°. We discovered on that day
a sail bearing down upon us. The next morning she reappeared, and
approached within gun-shot. She was a large brig, carrying about
twenty guns: we sailed in company all day by a good breeze, all sail
{38} spread; but toward evening she dropped astern and altered her
course to the S. S. E.
On the 18th, at daybreak, the watch alarmed us by announcing that the
same brig which had followed us the day before, was under our lee,
a cable’s length off, and seemed desirous of knowing who we were,
without showing her own colors. Our captain appeared to be in some
alarm; and admitting that she was a better sailer than we, he called
all the passengers and crew on deck, the drum beat to quarters, and
we feigned to make preparations for combat.
It is well to observe that our vessel mounted ten pieces of cannon,
and was pierced for twenty; the forward portholes were adorned with
sham guns. Whether it was our formidable appearance or no, at about
ten A. M. the stranger again changed her course, and we soon lost
sight of her entirely.
Nothing further remarkable occurred to us till the 22d, when we
passed the line in longitude 25° 9′. According to an ancient custom
the crew baptized those of their number who had never {39} before
crossed the equator; it was a holyday for them on board. About two
o’clock in the afternoon we perceived a sail in the S. S. W. We were
not a little alarmed, believing that it was the same brig which we
had seen some days before; for it was lying to, as if awaiting our
approach. We soon drew near, and to our great joy discovered that she
was a Portuguese; we hailed her, and learned that she came from some
part of South America, and was bound to Pernambuco, on the coasts
of Brazil.[20] Very soon after we began to see what navigators call
the _Clouds of Magellan_: they are three little white spots that one
perceives in the sky almost as soon as one passes the equator: they
were situated in the S. S. W.
The 1st November, we began to see great numbers of aquatic birds.
Toward three o’clock P. M., we discovered a sail on our larboard, but
did not approach sufficiently near to speak her. The 3d, we saw two
more sails, making to the S. E. We passed the tropic of capricorn on
the 4th, with a fine breeze, and in longitude 33° 27′. {40} We lost
the trade-winds, and as we advanced south the weather became cold
and rainy. The 11th, we had a calm, although the swell was heavy. We
saw several turtles, and the captain having sent out the small boat,
we captured two of them. During the night of the 11th and 12th, the
wind changed to the N. E., and raised a terrible tempest, in which
the gale, the rain, the lightning, and thunder, seemed to have sworn
our destruction; the sea appeared all a-fire, while our little vessel
was the sport of winds and waves. We kept the hatches closed, which
did not prevent us from passing very uncomfortable nights while the
storm lasted; for the great heats that we had experienced between
the tropics, had so opened the seams of the deck that every time
the waves passed over, the water rushed down in quantities upon
our hammocks. The 14th, the wind shifted to the S. S. W., which
compelled us to beat to windward. During the night we were struck by
a tremendous sea; the helm was seized beyond control, and the man at
the wheel was thrown from one side {41} of the ship to the other,
breaking two of his ribs, which confined him to his berth for a week.
In latitude 35° 19′, longitude 40°, the sea appeared to be covered
with marine plants, and the change that we observed in the color of
the water, as well as the immense number of gulls and other aquatic
birds that we saw, proved to us that we were not far from the mouth
of the _Rio de la Plata_. The wind continued to blow furiously till
the 21st, when it subsided a little, and the weather cleared up. On
the 25th, being in the 46th degree, and 30 minutes of latitude, we
saw a penguin.
We began to feel sensibly the want of water: since passing the tropic
of Capricorn the daily allowance had been always diminishing, till we
were reduced to three gills a day, a slender modicum considering that
we had only salt provisions. We had indeed a still, which we used to
render the sea-water drinkable; but we distilled merely what sufficed
for the daily use of the kitchen, as to do more would have required
a great quantity of wood or coal. As we were {42} not more than one
hundred and fifty leagues from the Falkland isles, we determined to
put in there and endeavor to replenish our casks, and the captain
caused the anchors to be got ready.
We had contrary winds from the 27th of November to the 3d December.
On the evening of that day, we heard one of the officers, who was at
the mast head, cry “Land! Land!” Nevertheless, the night coming on,
and the barren rocks which we had before us being little elevated
above the ocean, we hove to.
[19] Astor had applied to the naval officer in command
of New York harbor for an escort to protect the
“Tonquin” against a British brig which was rumored
to be cruising near by, in order to impress seamen.
As a number of the “Tonquin’s” crew were British
subjects, there was especial need of protection.
Commodore Rodgers detailed Captain Isaac Hull
of the “Constitution” to act as escort to the
merchantman. The “Constitution” had but just
entered upon the career that won for her the title
of “Old Ironsides.” Built and launched (1797) from
a Boston shipyard, her principal service had been
in the Tripolitan War (1803-05). From 1809-11 the
“Constitution” cruised in home waters, and the
latter year carried the United States minister to
France. During the War of 1812-15, the frigate won
great renown in three sea fights, capturing or
destroying four British men-of-war. In 1828, the
secretary of the navy ordered her demolition, on
the ground that repairs would be costly; whereupon
Oliver Wendell Holmes wrote his poem, “Old
Ironsides,” that so appealed to popular sentiment
that a public subscription secured her repairs. The
“Constitution” thereafter made many cruises, and
served as a training ship for naval cadets. In 1897
she was towed into Boston harbor for the celebration
of the hundredth anniversary of her launching. She
still lies in that harbor, and is being restored by
a patriotic society, the “Sons of 1812.”--ED.
[20] Ross says that this vessel was bound from Liverpool
to Pernambuco--a more probable course.--ED.
{43} CHAPTER III
Arrival at the Falkland Isles--Landing--Perilous Situation of
the Author and some of his Companions--Portrait of Captain
Thorn--Cape Horn--Navigation to the Sandwich Islands.
On the 4th (Dec.) in the morning, I was not the last to mount on
deck, to feast my eyes with the sight of land; for it is only those
who have been three or four months at sea, who know how to appreciate
the pleasure which one then feels even at sight of such barren and
bristling rocks as form the Falkland Isles. We drew near these rocks
very soon, and entered between two of the islands, where we anchored
on good ground. The first mate being sent ashore to look for water,
several of our gentlemen accompanied him. They returned in the
evening with the disappointing intelligence that they had not been
able to find fresh water. They brought us, {44} to compensate for
this, a number of wild geese and two seals.
The weather appearing to threaten, we weighed anchor and put out to
sea. The night was tempestuous, and in the morning of the 5th we had
lost sight of the first islands. The wind blowing off land, it was
necessary to beat up all that day; in the evening we found ourselves
sufficiently near the shore, and hove to for the night. The 6th
brought us a clear sky, and with a fresh breeze we succeeded in
gaining a good anchorage, which we took to be Port Egmont, and where
we found good water.
On the 7th, we sent ashore the water casks, as well as the cooper to
superintend filling them, and the blacksmiths who were occupied in
some repairs required by the ship.
For our part, having erected a tent near the springs, we passed the
time while they were taking in water, in coursing over the isles: we
had a boat for our accommodation, and killed every day a great many
wild geese and ducks. These birds differ in plumage from those which
are seen in Canada. {45} We also killed a great many seals. These
animals ordinarily keep upon the rocks. We also saw several foxes
of the species called _Virginia_ fox: they were shy and yet fierce,
barking like dogs and then flying precipitately. Penguins are also
numerous on the Falkland Isles. These birds have a fine plumage, and
resemble the loon: but they do not fly, having only little stumps of
wings which they use to help themselves in waddling along. The rocks
were covered with them. It being their sitting season we found them
on their nests, from which they would not stir. They are not wild or
timid: far from flying at our approach, they attack us with their
bill, which is very sharp, and with their short wings. The flesh of
the penguin is black and leathery, with a strong fishy taste, and one
must be very hungry to make up one’s mind to eat it. We got a great
quantity of eggs by dislodging them from their nests.
As the French and English had both attempted to form establishments
on these rocks, we endeavored to find some vestige of them; the
tracks which we met everywhere made us hope {46} to find goats
also: but all our researches were vain: all that we discovered was
an old fishing cabin, constructed of whalebone, and some seal-skin
moccasins; for these rocks offer not a single tree to the view,
and are frequented solely by the vessels which pursue the whale
fishery in the southern seas. We found, however, two head-boards
with inscriptions in English, marking the spot where two men had
been interred: as the letters were nearly obliterated, we carved new
ones on fresh pieces of board procured from the ship. This pious
attention to two dead men nearly proved fatal to a greater number of
the living; for all the casks having been filled and sent on board,
the captain gave orders to re-embark, and without troubling himself
to inquire if this order had been executed or not, caused the anchor
to be weighed on the morning of the 11th, while I and some of my
companions were engaged in erecting the inscriptions of which I have
spoken, others were cutting grass for the hogs, and Messrs. M’Dougall
and D. Stuart had gone to the south side of the isle to look for game.
{47} The roaring of the sea against the rock-bound shore prevented
them from hearing the gun, and they did not rejoin us till the vessel
was already at sea. We then lost no time, but pushed off, being eight
in number, with our little boat, only twenty feet keel. We rowed
with all our might, but gained nothing upon the vessel. We were
losing sight of the islands at last, and our case seemed desperate.
While we paused, and were debating what course to pursue, as we had
no compass, we observed the ship tacking and standing toward us. In
fine after rowing for three hours and a half, in an excited state of
feeling not easily described, we succeeded in regaining the vessel,
and were taken on board at about three o’clock P. M.
[Illustration: View of the Falkland Islands
Boat and five passengers pulling after Ship Tonquin]
Having related this trait of malice on the part of our captain, I
shall be permitted to make some remarks on his character. Jonathan
Thorn was brought up in the naval service of his country, and had
distinguished himself in a battle fought between the Americans
and the Turks at Tripoli, some years before: he held the rank of
first lieutenant. {48} He was a strict disciplinarian, of a quick
and passionate temper, accustomed to exact obedience, considering
nothing but duty, and giving himself no trouble about the murmurs
of his crew, taking counsel of nobody, and following Mr. Astor’s
instructions to the letter. Such was the man who had been selected
to command our ship. His haughty manners, his rough and overbearing
disposition, had lost him the affection of most of the crew and of
all the passengers: he knew it, and in consequence sought every
opportunity to mortify us. It is true that the passengers had some
reason to reproach themselves; they were not free from blame; but he
had been the aggressor; and nothing could excuse the act of cruelty
and barbarity of which he was guilty, in intending to leave us upon
those barren rocks of the Falkland isles, where we must inevitably
have perished. This lot was reserved for us, but for the bold
interference of Mr. R. Stuart, whose uncle was of our party, and who,
seeing that the captain, far from waiting for us, coolly continued
his course, threatened to {49} blow his brains out unless he hove to
and took us on board.
We pursued our course, bearing S. S. W., and on the 14th, in latitude
54° 1′ longitude 64° 13′, we found bottom at sixty-five fathoms, and
saw a sail to the south. On the 15th, in the morning, we discovered
before us the high mountains of _Terra del Fuego_, which we continued
to see till evening: the weather then thickened, and we lost sight
of them. We encountered a furious storm which drove us to the 56th
degree and 18′ of latitude. On the 18th, we were only fifteen leagues
from Cape Horn. A dead calm followed, but the current carried us
within sight of the cape, five or six leagues distant. This cape,
which forms the southern extremity of the American continent, has
always been an object of terror to the navigators who have to pass
from one sea to the other; several of whom to avoid doubling it,
have exposed themselves to the long and dangerous passage of the
straits of Magellan, especially when about entering the Pacific
ocean. When we saw ourselves under {50} the stupendous rocks of the
cape, we felt no other desire but to get away from them as soon as
possible, so little agreeable were those rocks to the view, even in
the case of people who had been some months at sea! And by the help
of a land breeze we succeeded in gaining an offing. While becalmed
here, we measured the velocity of the current setting east, which we
found to be about three miles an hour.
The wind soon changed again to the S. S. W., and blew a gale. We had
to beat. We passed in sight of the islands of Diego Ramirez, and saw
a large schooner under their lee. The distance that we had run from
New York, was about 9,165 miles. We had frightful weather till the
24th, when we found ourselves in 58° 16′ of south latitude. Although
it was the height of summer in that hemisphere, and the days as long
as they are at Quebec on the 21st of June (we could read on deck
at midnight without artificial light), the cold was nevertheless
very great and the air very humid: the mercury for several days was
but fourteen degrees {51} above freezing point, by Fahrenheit’s
thermometer. If such is the temperature in these latitudes at the
end of December, corresponding to our June, what must it be in the
shortest days of the year, and where can the Patagonians then take
refuge, and the inhabitants of the islands so improperly named the
Land of Fire!
The wind, which till the 24th had been contrary, hauled round to the
south, and we ran westward. The next day being Christmas, we had
the satisfaction to learn by our noon-day observation that we had
weathered the cape, and were, consequently, now in the Pacific ocean.
Up to that date we had but one man attacked with scurvy, a malady
to which those who make long voyages are subject, and which is
occasioned by the constant use of salt provisions, by the humidity of
the vessel, and the inaction.
From the 25th of December till the 1st of January, we were favored
with a fair wind and ran eighteen degrees to the north in that short
space of time. Though cold yet, the weather was nevertheless very
agreeable. On the 17th, in latitude {52} 10° S., and longitude 110°
50′ W., we took several _bonitas_, an excellent fish. We passed
the equator on the 23d, in 128° 14′ of west longitude. A great
many porpoises came round the vessel. On the 25th arose a tempest
which lasted till the 28th. The wind then shifted to the E. S. E.
and carried us two hundred and twenty-four miles on our course in
twenty-four hours. Then we had several days of contrary winds; on
the 8th of February it hauled to the S. E., and on the 11th we saw
the peak of a mountain covered with snow, which the first mate, who
was familiar with these seas, told me was the summit of _Mona-Roah_,
a high mountain on the island of _Ohehy_, one of those which the
circumnavigator Cook named the Sandwich Isles, and where he met his
death in 1779.[21] We headed to the land all day, and although we
made eight or nine knots an hour, it was not till evening that we
were near enough to distinguish the huts of the islanders: which is
sufficient to prove the prodigious elevation of _Mona Roah_ above the
level of the sea.
[21] The Hawaiian Islands were first discovered by the
Spanish in the sixteenth century; but no use was
made of the discovery, therefore Captain Cook is
justly accredited with this honor. He first sighted
Oahu January 18, 1778, and after remaining about
two weeks sailed for the north. In November of the
same year he returned and wintered on the island
of Hawaii. The natives at first regarded him as a
god, and paid him divine honors. His exactions,
however, bore heavily upon their resources; and
when he attempted to seize one of their chiefs he
was killed (February 14, 1779) in the struggle that
ensued. Cook named the islands for his patron, Lord
Sandwich, but the official name is now Hawaii. This
is the word which Franchère writes “Ohehy”--the
native language lacking consonant sounds, and not
being reduced to alphabetical writing until after
the coming of the missionaries (1820). Mauna Loa
(Mona-Roah) is an active volcano on the island of
Hawaii, 13,675 feet in altitude.--ED.
{53} CHAPTER IV
Accident--View of the Coast--Attempted Visit of the Natives--Their
Industry--Bay of Karaka-koua--Landing on the Island--John Young,
Governor of Owahee.
We were ranging along the coast with the aid of a fine breeze, when
the boy Perrault, who had mounted the forerigging to enjoy the
scenery, lost his hold, and being to windward where the shrouds were
taut, rebounded from them like a ball some twenty feet from the
ship’s side into the ocean. We perceived his fall and threw over to
him chairs, barrels, benches, hen-coops, in a word everything we
could lay hands on; then the captain gave the orders to heave to;
in the twinkling of an eye the lashings of one of the quarter-boats
were cut apart, the boat lowered and manned: by this time the boy was
considerably a-stern. He would have been lost undoubtedly {54} but
for a wide pair of canvass overalls full of tar and grease, which
operated like a life-preserver. His head, however, was under when he
was picked up, and he was brought on board lifeless, about a quarter
of an hour after he fell into the sea. We succeeded, notwithstanding,
in a short time, in bringing him to, and in a few hours he was able
to run upon the deck.
The coast of the island, viewed from the sea, offers the most
picturesque _coup d’œil_, and the loveliest prospect; from the beach
to the mountains the land rises amphitheatrically, all along which
is a border of lower country covered with cocoa-trees and bananas,
through the thick foliage whereof you perceive the huts of the
islanders; the valleys which divide the hills that lie beyond appear
well cultivated, and the mountains themselves, though extremely high,
are covered with wood to their summits, except those few peaks which
glitter with perpetual snow.
As we ran along the coast, some canoes left the beach and came
alongside, with vegetables and cocoa-nuts; but as we wished to profit
by {55} the breeze to gain the anchorage, we did not think fit to
stop. We coasted along during a part of the night; but a calm came
on which lasted till the morrow. As we were opposite the bay of
Karaka-koua, the natives came out again, in greater numbers, bringing
us cabbages, yams, _taro_, bananas, bread-fruit, water-melons,
poultry, &c., for which we traded in the way of exchange. Toward
evening, by the aid of a sea breeze that rose as day declined, we got
inside the harbor where we anchored on a coral bottom in fourteen
fathoms water.
The next day the islanders visited the vessel in great numbers all
day long, bringing, as on the day before, fruits, vegetables, and
some pigs, in exchange for which we gave them glass beads, iron
rings, needles, cotton cloth, &c.
Some of our gentlemen went ashore and were astonished to find a
native occupied in building a small sloop of about thirty tons: the
tools of which he made use consisted of a half worn-out axe, an adze,
about two-inch blade, made out of a paring chisel, a saw, and an
iron rod which he {56} heated red hot and made it serve the purpose
of an auger. It required no little patience and dexterity to achieve
anything with such instruments: he was apparently not deficient in
these qualities, for his work was tolerably well advanced. Our people
took him on board with them, and we supplied him with suitable tools,
for which he appeared extremely grateful.
On the 14th, in the morning, while the ship’s carpenter was engaged
in replacing one of the cat-heads, two composition sheaves fell into
the sea; as we had no others on board, the captain proposed to the
islanders, who are excellent swimmers, to dive for them, promising a
reward; and immediately two offered themselves. They plunged several
times, and each time brought up shells as a proof that they had been
to the bottom. We had the curiosity to hold our watches while they
dove, and were astonished to find that they remained four minutes
under the water. That exertion appeared to me, however, to fatigue
them a great deal, to such a degree that the blood streamed from
their nostrils and ears. {57} At last one of them brought up the
sheaves and received the promised recompense, which consisted of four
yards of cotton.
Karaka-koua bay where we lay, may be three quarters of a mile deep,
and a mile and a half wide at the entrance: the latter is formed
by two low points of rock which appear to have run down from the
mountains in the form of lava, after a volcanic eruption. On each
point is situated a village of moderate size; that is to say, a
small group of the low huts of the islanders. The bottom of the bay
terminates in a bold _escarpment_ of rock, some four hundred feet
high, on the top of which is seen a solitary cocoa-tree.
On the evening of the 14th, I went ashore with some other passengers,
and we landed at the group of cabins on the western point, of those
which I have described. The inhabitants entertained us with a dance
executed by nineteen young women and one man, all singing together,
and in pretty good time. An old man showed us the spot where Captain
Cook was killed, on the 14th of February, 1779, with the cocoa-nut
{58} trees pierced by the balls from the boats which the unfortunate
navigator commanded.[22] This old man, whether it were feigned or
real sensibility, seemed extremely affected and even shed tears, in
showing us these objects. As for me, I could not help finding it a
little singular to be thus, by mere chance, upon this spot, on the
14th of February, 1811; that is to say, thirty-two years after, on
the anniversary of the catastrophe which has rendered it for ever
celebrated. I drew no sinister augury from the coincidence, however,
and returned to the ship with my companions as gay as I left it.
When I say with my companions, I ought to except the boatswain, John
Anderson, who, having had several altercations with the captain on
the passage, now deserted the ship, preferring to live with the
natives rather than obey any longer so uncourteous a superior. A
sailor also deserted; but the islanders brought him back, at the
request of the captain. They offered to bring back Anderson, but the
captain preferred leaving him behind.
{59} We found no good water near Karaka-koua bay: what the natives
brought us in gourds was brackish. We were also in great want of
fresh meat, but could not obtain it: the king of these islands having
expressly forbidden his subjects to supply any to the vessels which
touched there. One of the chiefs sent a canoe to Tohehigh bay, to get
from the governor of the island, who resided there, permission to
sell us some pigs. The messengers returned the next day, and brought
us a letter, in which the governor ordered us to proceed without
delay to the isle of Wahoo, where the king lives; assuring us that we
should there find good water and everything else we needed.
We got under way on the 16th, and with a light wind coasted the
island as far as Tohehigh bay.[23] The wind then dropping away
entirely, the captain, accompanied by Messrs. M’Kay and M’Dougall,
went ashore, to pay a visit to the governor aforesaid. He was not
a native, but a Scotchman named John Young, who came hither some
years after the death of Captain Cook. {60} This man had married a
native woman, and had so gained the friendship and confidence of the
king, as to be raised to the rank of chief and after the conquest of
Wahoo by King Tamehameha, was made governor of Owhyhee (Hawaii) the
most considerable of the Sandwich Islands, both by its extent and
population.[24] His excellency explained to our gentlemen the reason
why the king had interdicted the trade in hogs to the inhabitants
of all the islands: this reason being that his majesty wished to
reserve to himself the monopoly of that branch of commerce, for the
augmentation of his royal revenue by its exclusive profits. The
governor also informed them that no rain had fallen on the south
part of Hawaii for three years; which explained why we found so
little fresh water: he added that the north part of the island was
more fertile than the south, where we were: but that there was no
good anchorage: that part of the coast being defended by sunken
rocks which form heavy breakers. In fine, the governor dismissed
our gentlemen with a present of four fine fat hogs; and we, {61}
in return, sent him some tea, coffee, and chocolate, and a keg of
Madeira wine.
The night was nearly a perfect calm, and on the 17th we found
ourselves abreast of _Mona-Wororayea_ a snowcapped mountain, like
_Mona-Roah_, but which appeared to me less lofty than the latter. A
number of islanders came to visit us as before, with some objects
of curiosity, and some small fresh fish. The wind rising on the
18th, we soon passed the western extremity of Hawaii, and sailed by
Mowhee and Tahooraha,[25] two more islands of this group, and said
to be, like the rest, thickly inhabited. The first presents a highly
picturesque aspect, being composed of hills rising in the shape of
a sugar loaf and completely covered with cocoa-nut and bread-fruit
trees.
At last, on the 21st, we approached Wahoo, and came to anchor
opposite the bay of _Ohetity_, outside the bar, at a distance of some
two miles from the land.
[22] This bay is on the southwestern coast of the island
of Hawaii, and is now called Kealakekua. A monument
has been erected where Cook fell.--ED.
[23] This is the port now known as Kailua (Kihola)
Bay. It was a royal residence, and is now one of
the principal landings for the coasting trade,
gaining in importance with the growth of the coffee
industry.--ED.
[24] Among the first American vessels to visit Hawaii
(1789) was the “Eleanor,” Captain Metcalf
commanding. In revenge for theft, this officer
fired upon a large number of natives who had come
out to trade, killing nearly one hundred of them.
In retaliation the natives seized his smaller boat,
the “Fair American,” massacring all of the crew but
two, one of whom was John Young, the boatswain of
the “Eleanor.” Young remained with the Hawaiians,
was made a chief, and became one of the trusted
councillors of King Kamehameha I. Upon his advice
the fort at the entrance to Honolulu harbor was
built (1815-16). Queen Emma, wife of Kamehameha IV,
was Young’s grand-daughter.--ED.
[25] The mountain was probably Hualalai, 8,273 feet above
sea-level. The two islands are those now called Maui
and Kahoolawe.--ED.
{62} CHAPTER V
Bay of Ohetity--Tamehameha, King of the Islands--His Visit to the
Ship--His Capital--His Naval Force--His Authority--Productions
of the Country--Manners and Customs--Reflections.
There is no good anchorage in the bay of Ohetity, inside the bar or
coral reef: the holding-ground is bad: so that, in case of a storm,
the safety of the ship would have been endangered. Moreover, with a
contrary wind, it would have been difficult to get out of the inner
harbor; for which reasons, our captain preferred to remain in the
road.[26] For the rest, the country surrounding the bay is even more
lovely in aspect than that of Karaka-koua; the mountains rise to a
less elevation in the back-ground, and the soil has an appearance of
greater fertility.
_Tamehameha_, whom all the Sandwich Isles {63} obeyed when we were
there in 1811, was neither the son nor the relative of Tierroboo,
who reigned in Owhyhee (Hawaii) in 1779, when Captain Cook and some
of his people were massacred. He was, at that date, but a chief of
moderate power; but, being skilful, intriguing, and full of ambition,
he succeeded in gaining a numerous party, and finally possessed
himself of the sovereignty. As soon as he saw himself master of
Owhyhee, his native island, he meditated the conquest of the leeward
islands, and in a few years he accomplished it. He even passed into
_Atouay_, the most remote of all, and vanquished the ruler of it,
but contented himself with imposing on him an annual tribute. He
had fixed his residence at Wahoo, because of all the Sandwich Isles
it was the most fertile, the most picturesque--in a word, the most
worthy of the residence of the sovereign.[27]
As soon as we arrived, we were visited by a canoe manned by three
white men, Davis and Wadsworth, Americans, and Manini, a Spaniard.
The last offered to be our interpreter during {64} our stay; which
was agreed to. Tamehameha presently sent to us his prime-minister,
_Kraimoku_, to whom the Americans have given the name of _Pitt_, on
account of his skill in the affairs of government.[28] Our captain,
accompanied by some of our gentlemen, went ashore immediately, to
be presented to Tamehameha. About four o’clock, P. M., we saw them
returning, accompanied by a double pirogue conveying the king and his
suite. We ran up our colors, and received his majesty with a salute
of four guns.
Tamehameha was above the middle height, well made, robust and
inclined to corpulency, and had a majestic carriage. He appeared to
me from fifty to sixty years old. He was clothed in the European
style, and wore a sword. He walked a long time on the deck, asking
explanations in regard to those things which he had not seen on
other vessels, and which were found on ours. A thing which appeared
to surprise him, was to see that we could render the water of the
sea fresh, by means of the still attached to our caboose; he could
not imagine how that could {65} be done. We invited him into the
cabin, and, having regaled him with some glasses of wine, began to
talk of business matters: we offered him merchandise in exchange
for hogs, but were not able to conclude the bargain that day. His
majesty re-embarked in his double pirogue, at about six o’clock
in the evening. It was manned by twenty-four men. A great chest,
containing firearms, was lashed over the centre of the two canoes
forming the pirogue; and it was there that Tamehameha sat, with his
prime-minister at his side.
In the morning, on the 22d, we sent our water-casks ashore and filled
them with excellent water. At about noon his sable majesty paid
us another visit, accompanied by his three wives and his favorite
minister. These females were of an extraordinary corpulence, and of
unmeasured size. They were dressed in the fashion of the country,
having nothing but a piece of _tapa_, or bark-cloth, about two yards
long, passed round the hips and falling to the knees. We resumed the
negotiations of the day before, and were {66} more successful. I
remarked that when the bargain was concluded, he insisted with great
pertinacity that part of the payment should be in Spanish dollars. We
asked the reason, and he made answer that he wished to buy a frigate
of his brother, King George, meaning the king of England. The bargain
concluded, we prayed his majesty and his suite to dine with us; they
consented, and toward evening retired, apparently well satisfied with
their visit and our reception of them.
In the meantime, the natives surrounded the ship in great numbers,
with hundreds of canoes, offering us their goods, in the shape of
eatables and the rude manufactures of the island, in exchange for
merchandise; but, as they had also brought intoxicating liquors in
gourds, some of the crew got drunk; the captain was, consequently,
obliged to suspend the trade, and forbade any one to traffic with the
islanders, except through the first-mate, who was intrusted with that
business.
I landed on the 22d, with Messrs. Pillet and {67} M’Gillis: we passed
the night ashore, spending that day and the next morning in rambling
over the environs of the bay, followed by a crowd of men, women, and
children.
Ohetity, where Tamehameha resides, and which, consequently, may be
regarded as the capital of his kingdom, is--or at least was at that
time--a moderate-sized city, or rather a large village. Besides the
private houses, of which there were perhaps two hundred, constructed
of poles planted in the ground and covered over with matting, there
were the royal palace, which was not magnificent by any means: a
public store, of two stories, one of stone and the other of wood;
two _morais_, or idol temples, and a wharf. At the latter we found
an old vessel, the _Lady Bird_, which some American navigators had
given in exchange for a schooner; it was the only large vessel which
King Tamehameha possessed; and, besides, was worth nothing. As
for schooners he had forty of them, of from twenty to thirty tons
burthen: these vessels served to transport the tributes in kind
paid by his vassals in the other {68} islands. Before the Europeans
arrived among these savages, the latter had no means of communication
between one isle and another, but their canoes, and as some of the
islands are not in sight of each other, these voyages must have been
dangerous. Near the palace I found an Indian from Bombay, occupied
in making a twelve inch cable, for the use of the ship which I have
described.
Tamehameha kept constantly round his house a guard of twenty-four
men. These soldiers wore, by way of uniform, a long blue coat with
yellow; and each was armed with a musket. In front of the house, on
an open square, were placed fourteen four-pounders, mounted on their
carriages.
The king was absolute, and judged in person the differences between
his subjects. We had an opportunity of witnessing a proof of it,
the day after our landing. A Portuguese having had a quarrel with
a native, who was intoxicated, struck him: immediately the friends
of the latter, who had been the aggressor after all, gathered in
a crowd to beat down the poor foreigner with {69} stones; he fled
as fast as he could to the house of the king, followed by a mob of
enraged natives, who nevertheless stopped at some distance from the
guards, while the Portuguese, all breathless, crouched in a corner.
We were on the esplanade in front of the palace royal, and curiosity
to see the trial led us into the presence of his majesty, who having
caused the quarrel to be explained to him, and heard the witnesses
on both sides, condemned the native to work four days in the garden
of the Portuguese and to give him a hog. A young Frenchman from
Bordeaux, preceptor of the king’s sons, whom he taught to read, and
who understood the language, acted as interpreter to the Portuguese,
and explained to us the sentence. I can not say whether our presence
influenced the decision, or whether, under other circumstances, the
Portuguese would have been less favorably treated. We were given
to understand that Tamehameha was pleased to see whites establish
themselves in his dominions, but that he esteemed only people with
some useful trade, and despised idlers, and especially drunkards.
{70} We saw at Wahoo about thirty of these white inhabitants,
for the most part, people of no character, and who had remained
on the islands either from indolence, or from drunkenness and
licentiousness. Some had taken wives in the country, in which case
the king gave them a portion of land to cultivate for themselves.
But two of the worst sort had found means to procure a small still,
wherewith they manufactured rum and supplied it to the natives.[29]
The first navigators found only four sorts of quadrupeds on the
Sandwich islands:--dogs, swine, lizards, and rats. Since then sheep
have been carried there, goats, horned cattle, and even horses, and
these animals have multiplied.
The chief vegetable productions of these isles are the sugar cane,
the bread-fruit tree, the banana, the water-melon, the musk-melon,
the _taro_, the _ava_, the _pandanus_, the mulberry, &c. The
bread-fruit tree is about the size of a large apple-tree; the
fruit resembles an apple and is about twelve or fourteen inches in
circumference; the rind is thick and rough like a melon: when {71}
cut transversely it is found to be full of sacs, like the inside of
an orange; the pulp has the consistence of water-melon, and is cooked
before it is eaten. We saw orchards of bread-fruit trees and bananas,
and fields of sugar-cane, back of Ohetity.
The _taro_ grows in low situations, and demands a great deal of
care. It is not unlike a white turnip,[30] and as it constitutes
the principal food of the natives, it is not to be wondered at that
they bestow so much attention on its culture. Wherever a spring of
pure water is found issuing out of the side of a hill, the gardener
marks out on the declivity the size of the field he intends to plant.
The ground is levelled and surrounded with a mud or stone wall, not
exceeding eighteen inches in height, and having a flood gate above
and below. Into this enclosure the water of the spring is conducted,
or is suffered to escape from it, according to the dryness of the
season. When the root has acquired a sufficient size it is pulled up
for immediate use. This esculent {72} is very bad to eat raw, but
boiled it is better than the yam. Cut in slices, dried, pounded and
reduced to a farina, it forms with bread-fruit the principal food of
the natives. Sometimes they boil it to the consistence of porridge,
which they put into gourds and allow to ferment; it will then keep a
long time. They also use to mix with it, fish, which they commonly
eat raw with the addition of a little salt, obtained by evaporation.
The _ava_ is a plant more injurious than useful to the inhabitants of
these isles; since they only make use of it to obtain a dangerous and
intoxicating drink, which they also call _ava_. The mode of preparing
this beverage is as follows: they chew the root, and spit out the
result into a basin; the juice thus expressed is exposed to the sun
to undergo fermentation; after which they decant it into a gourd; it
is then fit for use, and they drink it on occasions to intoxication.
The too frequent use of this disgusting liquor causes loss of sight,
and a sort of leprosy, which can only be cured by abstaining from it,
and by {73} bathing frequently in the water of the sea. This leprosy
turns their skin white: we saw several of the lepers, who were also
blind, or nearly so.[31] The natives are also fond of smoking: the
tobacco grows in the islands, but I believe it has been introduced
from abroad. The bark of the mulberry furnishes the cloth worn by
both sexes; of the leaves of the _pandanus_ they make mats. They have
also a kind of wax-nut, about the size of a dried plum of which they
make candles by running a stick through several of them. Lighted at
one end, they burn like a wax taper, and are the only light they use
in their huts at night.
The men are generally well made and tall: they wear for their entire
clothing what they call a _maro_; it is a piece of figured or white
tapa, two yards long and a foot wide, which they pass round the loins
and between the legs, tying the ends in a knot over the left hip. At
first sight I thought they were painted red, but soon perceived that
it was the natural color of their skin. The women wear a petticoat
of the same stuff as the _maro_, but wider and longer, without, {74}
however, reaching below the knees. They have sufficiently regular
features, and but for the color, may pass, generally speaking, for
handsome women. Some to heighten their charms, dye their black hair
(cut short for the purpose) with quick lime, forming round the head
a strip of pure white, which disfigures them monstrously. Others
among the young wear a more becoming garland of flowers. For other
traits, they are very lascivious, and far from observing a modest
reserve, especially toward strangers. In regard to articles of mere
ornament, I was told that they were not the same in all the island.
I did not see them, either, clothed in their war dresses, or habits
of ceremony. But I had an opportunity to see them paint or print
their _tapa_, or bark cloth, an occupation in which they employ a
great deal of care and patience. The pigments they use are derived
from vegetable juices, prepared with the oil of the cocoa-nut. Their
pencils are little reeds or canes of bamboo, at the extremity of
which they carve out divers sorts of flowers. First they tinge the
cloth they mean {75} to print, yellow, green, or some other color
which forms the ground: then they draw upon it perfectly straight
lines, without any other guide but the eye; lastly they dip the ends
of the bamboo sticks in paint of a different tint from the ground,
and apply them between the dark or bright bars thus formed. This
cloth resembles a good deal our calicoes and printed cottons; the
oils with which it is impregnated renders it impervious to water. It
is said that the natives of _Atowy_ excel all the other islanders in
the art of painting the tapa.
The Sandwich-islanders live in villages of one or two hundred houses
arranged without symmetry, or rather grouped together in complete
defiance of it. These houses are constructed (as I have before
said) of posts driven in the ground, covered with long dry grass,
and walled with matting; the thatched roof gives them a sort of
resemblance to our Canadian barns or granges. The length of each
house varies according to the number of the family which occupies
it: they are not smoky like the wigwams of our Indians, the {76}
fireplace being always outside in the open air, where all the cooking
is performed. Hence their dwellings are very clean and neat inside.
Their pirogues or canoes are extremely light and neat: those which
are single have an outrigger, consisting of two curved pieces of
timber lashed across the bows, and touching the water at the distance
of five or six feet from the side; another piece, turned up at each
extremity, is tied to the end and drags in the water, on which it
acts like a skating iron on the ice, and by its weight keeps the
canoe in equilibrium: without that contrivance they would infallibly
upset. Their paddles are long, with a very broad blade. All these
canoes carry a lateen, or sprit-sail, which is made of a mat of grass
or leaves, extremely well woven.
I did not remain long enough with these people to acquire very
extensive and exact notions of their religion: I know that they
recognise a Supreme Being, whom they call _Etoway_, and a number of
inferior divinities. Each village has one or more _morais_. These
morais are enclosures {77} which served for cemeteries; in the middle
is a temple, where the priests alone have a right to enter: they
contain several idols of wood, rudely sculptured. At the feet of
these images are deposited, and left to putrify, the offerings of the
people, consisting of dogs, pigs, fowls, vegetables, &c. The respect
of these savages for their priests extends almost to adoration;
they regard their persons as sacred, and feel the greatest scruple
in touching the objects, or going near the places, which they have
declared _taboo_ or forbidden. The _taboo_ has often been useful to
European navigators, by freeing them from the importunities of the
crowd.[32]
In our rambles we met groups playing at different games. That of
draughts appeared the most common. The checkerboard is very simple,
the squares being marked on the ground with a sharp stick: the men
are merely shells or pebbles. The game was different from that played
in civilized countries, so that we could not understand it.
Although nature has done almost everything {78} for the inhabitants
of the Sandwich islands--though they enjoy a perpetual spring, a
clear sky, a salubrious climate, and scarcely any labor is required
to produce the necessaries of life--they can not be regarded
as generally happy: the artisans and producers, whom they call
_Tootoos_, are nearly in the same situation as the Helots among
the Lacedemonians, condemned to labor almost incessantly for their
lord or _Eris_, without hope of bettering their condition, and
even restricted in the choice of their daily food.[33] How has it
happened that among a people yet barbarous, where knowledge is
nearly equally distributed, the class which is beyond comparison the
most numerous has voluntarily submitted to such a humiliating and
oppressive yoke? The Tartars, though infinitely less numerous than
the Chinese, have subjected them, because the former were warlike
and the latter were not. The same thing has happened, no doubt, at
remote {79} periods, in Poland, and other regions of Europe and Asia.
If moral causes are joined to physical ones, the superiority of one
caste and the inferiority of the other will be still more marked; it
is known that the natives of Hispaniola, when they saw the Spaniards
arrive on their coast, in vessels of an astonishing size to their
apprehensions, and heard them imitate the thunder with their cannon,
took them for beings of a superior nature to their own. Supposing
that this island had been extremely remote from every other country,
and that the Spaniards, after conquering it, had held no further
communication with any civilized land, at the end of a century or two
the language and the manners would have assimilated, but there would
have been two castes, one of lords, enjoying all the advantages, the
other of serfs, charged with all the burdens. This theory seems to
have been realized anciently in Hindostan; but if we must credit the
tradition of the Sandwich-islanders, their country was originally
peopled by a man and woman, who came to Owyhee in a canoe.[34]
Unless, then, they {80} mean that this man and woman came with their
slaves, and that the _Eris_ are descended from the first, and the
_Tootoos_ from the last, they ought to attribute to each other the
same origin, and consequently regard each other as equals, and even
as brothers, according to the manner of thinking that prevails among
savages. The cause of the slavery of women among most barbarous
tribes, is more easily explained: the men have subjected them by the
right of the strongest, if ignorance and superstition have not caused
them to be previously regarded as beings of an inferior nature, made
to be servants and not companions.[35]
[26] Franchère is here describing the harbor of Honolulu,
discovered and surveyed by an English ship under
Captain Brown (1794). The harbor has been much
improved since then, and may now be entered by
vessels of thirty feet draught.--ED.
[27] This is a brief description of the career of the
remarkable Kamehameha I, occasionally called the
“Napoleon of the Pacific.” Before his reign the
islands were in a semi-feudal state, each with its
own chief and lesser vassals. Kamehameha (born about
1736) was chieftain of a portion of Hawaii, and
after the death of Kalaniopuu (called Tereoboo, by
Cook) he took advantage of a disputed succession,
and by means of a sanguinary war of nearly nine
years (1782-91) made himself master of the island
of Hawaii. Aided by European arms and advice, he
gradually subjugated the neighboring islands; the
great battle of Nuuanu Valley in 1795 putting him
in final possession of Oahu (Wahoo). Later (1803),
the lord of Kauai (Atouay) submitted to Kamehameha,
who thus became absolute king of the entire island
group. He remained at Oahu until 1813, when he
returned to his native Hawaii, where he died in
May, 1819. Kamehameha was a man of great force of
character, and his reign was the beginning of law
and order in the Hawaiian archipelago. He appointed
subordinate governors in each island, instituted a
regular system of taxation or tribute, made some
progress in enforcing justice, and ruled with the
sway of a benevolent despot.--ED.
[28] Isaac Davis was one of the crew saved from the
massacre of the American vessel in 1789 (see note
24, _ante_). He had become a trusted councillor of
the king, and his influence upon the islanders was
beneficial. He died (April, 1810) shortly after this
visit of the “Tonquin.”
Don Francisco Marin (Manini) de Paula arrived in the
islands in 1791, and lived therein for forty years,
growing rich on the profits of his large plantation
in Oahu, and his services as ship-carpenter, mason,
physician, and interpreter to the king. He taught
the natives agricultural methods that proved
valuable.
Although of humble origin, Kalaimoku rose to the chief
rank in the kingdom, because of his great abilities.
Originally, he had fought against Kamehameha I, but
after yielding submission proved a loyal servitor.
Europeans called him “Billy Pitt,” because of his
position as prime minister. By the natives he was
known as the “iron cable of Hawaii.” He was one
of the two regents of the kingdom at the death
of Kamehameha I, and that of his son (1825). He
welcomed and supported the missionaries, and became
an adherent of Christianity. His death in 1827
caused great sorrow, and his house, the finest upon
the islands, was demolished in his honor.--ED.
[29] At this time there were said to be sixty white
people upon the islands, most of them of abandoned
and degraded character. The men who established
the still were convicts escaped from Botany Bay.
The vices they introduced, and the accompanying
drunkenness, have done much to decrease the native
population of the islands.--ED.
[30] Bougainville calls it “Calf-foot root.”--FRANCHÈRE.
[31] The lepers have now been segregated in two villages
on the island of Molokai. The missionary work
among them, of the Reverend Father Damien, has
been much extolled, particularly by Robert Louis
Stevenson.--ED.
[32] The singular custom of “taboo” was broken after
the death of Kamehameha I, and this paved the way
for the introduction of Christianity. For a brief
account of the native religion and temple worship,
see Blackman, _Making of Hawaii_ (New York, 1899),
pp. 31-44.--ED.
[33] The _Tootoos_ and all the women, the wives of the
king and principal chiefs excepted, are eternally
condemned to the use of fruits and vegetables; dogs
and pigs being exclusively reserved for the table of
the _Eris_.--FRANCHÈRE.
[34] This tradition of their migration is shared with
the people of Eastern Oceania; and together with
similarities in language, customs, etc., indicates
identity of origin. See Blackman, _Making of
Hawaii_, pp. 3-5.--ED.
[35] Some Indian tribes think that women have no souls,
but die altogether like the brutes; others assign
them a different paradise from that of men, which
indeed they might have reason to prefer for
themselves, unless their relative condition were to
be ameliorated in the next world.--FRANCHÈRE.
{81} CHAPTER VI
Departure from Wahoo--Storm--Arrival at the Mouth of the
Columbia--Reckless Order of the Captain--Difficulty of the
Entrance--Perilous Situation of the Ship--Unhappy Fate of a part
of the Crew and People of the Expedition.
Having taken on board a hundred head of live hogs, some goats, two
sheep, a quantity of poultry, two boatloads of sugar-cane, to feed
the hogs, as many more of yams, taro, and other vegetables, and all
our water-casks being snugly stowed, we weighed anchor on the 28th of
February, sixteen days after our arrival at Karaka-koua.
We left another man (Edward Aymes) at Wahoo. He belonged to a boat’s
crew which was sent ashore for a load of sugar-canes. By the time
the boat was loaded by the natives the ebb of the tide had left her
aground, and Aymes {82} asked leave of the coxswain to take a stroll,
engaging to be back for the flood. Leave was granted him, but during
his absence, the tide having come in sufficiently to float the boat,
James Thorn, the coxswain, did not wait for the young sailor, who was
thus left behind. The captain immediately missed the man, and, on
being informed that he had strolled away from the boat on leave, flew
into a violent passion. Aymes soon made his appearance alongside,
having hired some natives to take him on board; on perceiving him,
the captain ordered him to stay in the long-boat, then lashed to
the side with its load of sugar-cane. The captain then himself got
into the boat, and, taking one of the canes, beat the poor fellow
most unmercifully with it; after which, not satisfied with this act
of brutality, he seized his victim and threw him overboard! Aymes,
however, being an excellent swimmer, made for the nearest native
canoe, of which there were, as usual, a great number around the ship.
The islanders, more humane than our captain, took in the poor fellow,
who, {83} in spite of his entreaties to be received on board, could
only succeed in getting his clothes, which were thrown into the
canoe. At parting, he told Captain Thorn that he knew enough of the
laws of his country, to obtain redress, should they ever meet in the
territory of the American Union.
While we were getting under sail, Mr. M’Kay pointed out to the
captain that there was one water-cask empty, and proposed sending
it ashore to be filled, as the great number of live animals we had
on board required a large quantity of fresh water. The captain, who
feared that some of the men would desert if he sent them ashore,
made an observation to that effect in answer to Mr. M’Kay, who then
proposed sending me on a canoe which lay alongside, to fill the cask
in question: this was agreed to by the captain, and I took the cask
accordingly to the nearest spring. Having filled it, not without some
difficulty, the islanders seeking to detain me, and I perceiving that
they had given me some gourds full of salt water, I was forced also
to demand a double pirogue (for the canoe which had brought the {84}
empty cask, was found inadequate to carry a full one), the ship being
already under full sail and gaining an offing. As the natives would
not lend a hand to procure what I wanted, I thought it necessary
to have recourse to the king, and in fact did so. For seeing the
vessel so far at sea, with what I knew of the captain’s disposition,
I began to fear that he had formed the plan of leaving me on the
island. My fears, nevertheless were ill-founded; the vessel made a
tack toward the shore, to my great joy; and a double pirogue was
furnished me, through the good offices of our young friend the French
school-master, to return on board with my cask.
Our deck was now as much encumbered as when we left New York; for we
had been obliged to place our live animals at the gangways, and to
board over their pens, on which it was necessary to pass, to work
ship. Our own numbers were also augmented; for we had taken a dozen
islanders for the service of our intended commercial establishment.
Their term of engagement was three years, during which we were to
{85} feed and clothe them, and at its expiration they were to receive
a hundred dollars in merchandise. The captain had shipped another
dozen as hands on the coasting voyage. These people, who make very
good sailors, were eager to be taken into employment, and we might
easily have carried off a much greater number.
We had contrary winds till the 2d of March, when, having doubled the
western extremity of the island, we made northing, and lost sight of
these smiling and temperate countries, to enter very soon a colder
region and less worthy of being inhabited. The winds were variable,
and nothing extraordinary happened to us till the 16th, when, being
arrived at the latitude of 35° 11′ north, and in 138° 16′ of west
longitude, the wind shifted all of a sudden to the S. S. W., and
blew with such violence, that we were forced to strike top-gallant
masts and top-sails, and run before the gale with a double reef in
our foresail. The rolling of the vessel was greater than in all the
gales we had experienced previously. Nevertheless, as we made great
headway, and were {86} approaching the continent, the captain, by
way of precaution, lay to for two nights successively. At last, on
the 22d, in the morning, we saw the land. Although we had not been
able to take any observations for several days, nevertheless, by the
appearance of the coast, we perceived that we were near the mouth of
the river Columbia, and were not more than three miles from land. The
breakers formed by the bar at the entrance of that river, and which
we could distinguish from the ship, left us no room to doubt that we
had arrived at last at the end of our voyage.
The wind was blowing in heavy squalls, and the sea ran very high:
in spite of that, the captain caused a boat to be lowered, and Mr.
Fox (first mate), Basile Lapensee, Ignace Lapensee, Jos. Nadeau, and
John Martin, got into her, taking some provisions and firearms, with
orders to sound the channel and report themselves on board as soon
as possible. The boat was not even supplied with a good sail, or a
mast, but one of the partners gave Mr. Fox a pair of bed sheets to
serve for the former. Messrs. M’Kay {87} and M’Dougall could not help
remonstrating with the captain on the imprudence of sending the boat
ashore in such weather; but they could not move his obstinacy. The
boat’s crew pulled away from the ship; alas! we were never to see her
again; and we already had a foreboding of her fate. The next day the
wind seemed to moderate, and we approached very near the coast. The
entrance of the river, which we plainly distinguished with the naked
eye, appeared but a confused and agitated sea: the waves, impelled by
a wind from the offing, broke upon the bar, and left no perceptible
passage. We got no sign of the boat; and toward evening, for our own
safety, we hauled off to sea, with all countenances extremely sad,
not excepting the captain’s, who appeared to me as much afflicted as
the rest, and who had reason to be so. During the night, the wind
fell, the clouds dispersed, and the sky became serene. On the morning
of the 24th, we found that the current had carried us near the coast
again, and we dropped anchor in fourteen fathoms water, north of Cape
Disappointment.[36] {88} The _coup d’œil_ is not so smiling by a
great deal at this anchorage, as at the Sandwich islands, the coast
offering little to the eye but a continuous range of high mountains
covered with snow.
[Illustration: Entrance of the Columbia River
Ship Tonquin crossing the bar, 25th March, 1811]
Although it was calm, the sea continued to break over the reef with
violence, between Cape Disappointment and Point Adams.[37] We sent
Mr. Mumford (the second mate) to sound a passage; but having found
the breakers too heavy, he returned on board about mid-day. Messrs.
M’Kay and D. Stuart offered their services to go ashore, to search
for the boat’s crew who left on the 22d; but they could not find a
place to land. They saw Indians, who made signs to them to pull round
the cape, but they deemed it more prudent to return to the vessel.
Soon after their return, a gentle breeze sprang up from the westward,
we raised anchor, and approached the entrance of the river. Mr.
Aikin was then despatched in the pinnace, accompanied by John Coles
(sailmaker), Stephen Weeks (armorer), and two Sandwich-islanders;
and we followed under easy {89} sail. Another boat had been sent
out before this one, but the captain judging that she bore too far
south, made her a signal to return. Mr. Aikin not finding less than
four fathoms, we followed him and advanced between the breakers,
with a favorable wind, so that we passed the boat on our starboard,
within pistol-shot. We made signs to her to return on board, but
she could not accomplish it; the ebb tide carried her with such
rapidity that in a few minutes we had lost sight of her amidst the
tremendous breakers that surrounded us. It was near nightfall, the
wind began to give way, and the water was so low with the ebb, that
we struck six or seven times with violence: the breakers broke over
the ship and threatened to submerge her. At last we passed from two
and three quarters fathoms of water to seven, where we were obliged
to drop anchor, the wind having entirely failed us. We were far,
however, from being out of danger, and the darkness came to add to
the horror of our situation: our vessel, though at anchor, threatened
to be carried away every moment by the tide; the best bower was {90}
let go, and it kept two men at the wheel to hold her head in the
right direction. However, Providence came to our succor: the flood
succeeded to the ebb, and the wind rising out of the offing, we
weighed both anchors, in spite of the obscurity of the night, and
succeeded in gaining a little bay or cove, formed at the entrance of
the river by Cape Disappointment, and called _Baker’s Bay_, where we
found a good anchorage.[38] It was about midnight, and all retired to
take a little rest: the crew, above all, had great need of it. We
were fortunate to be in a place of safety, for the wind rose higher
and higher during the rest of the night, and on the morning of the
25th allowed us to see that this ocean is not always pacific.
Some natives visited us this day, bringing with them beaver-skins;
but the inquietude caused in our minds by the loss of two boats’
crews, for whom we wished to make search, did not permit us to think
of traffic. We tried to make the savages comprehend, by signs, that
we had sent a boat ashore three days previous, and that we had no
news of her; but they seemed not to {91} understand us. The captain,
accompanied by some of our gentlemen, landed, and they set themselves
to search for our missing people, in the woods, and along the shore
N. W. of the cape. After a few hours we saw the captain return with
Weeks, one of the crew of the last boat sent out. He was stark naked,
and after being clothed, and receiving some nourishment, gave us
an account of his almost miraculous escape from the waves on the
preceding night, in nearly the following terms:--
“After you had passed our boat,” said he, “the breakers caused by the
meeting of the wind roll and ebb-tide, became a great deal heavier
than when we entered the river with the flood. The boat, for want
of a rudder, became very hard to manage, and we let her drift at
the mercy of the tide, till, after having escaped several surges,
one struck us midship and capsized us. I lost sight of Mr. Aiken
and John Coles: but the two islanders were close by me; I saw them
stripping off their clothes, and I followed their example; and seeing
the pinnace within {92} my reach, keel upward, I seized it; the two
natives came to my assistance; we righted her, and by sudden jerks
threw out so much of the water that she would hold a man: one of the
natives jumped in, and, bailing with his two hands, succeeded in a
short time in emptying her. The other native found the oars, and
about dark we were all three embarked. The tide having now carried
us outside the breakers, I endeavored to persuade my companions in
misfortune to row, but they were so benumbed with cold that they
absolutely refused. I well knew that without clothing, and exposed
to the rigor of the air, I must keep in constant exercise. Seeing
besides that the night was advancing, and having no resource but the
little strength left me, I set to work sculling, and pushed off the
bar, but so as not to be carried out too far to sea. About midnight,
one of my companions died: the other threw himself upon the body of
his comrade, and I could not persuade him to abandon it. Daylight
appeared at last; and, being near the shore, I headed in for it, and
{93} arrived, thank God, safe and sound, through the breakers, on a
sandy beach. I helped the islander, who yet gave some signs of life,
to get out of the boat, and we both took to the woods; but, seeing
that he was not able to follow me, I left him to his bad fortune,
and, pursuing a beaten path that I perceived, I found myself, to my
great astonishment, in the course of a few hours, near the vessel.”
The gentlemen who went ashore with the captain divided themselves
into three parties, to search for the native whom Weeks had left at
the entrance of the forest; but, after scouring the woods and the
point of the cape all day, they came on board in the evening without
having found him.
[36] Cape Disappointment was so named by Captain John
Meares, who explored this coast in 1788. Having
the charts of the Spaniard Heceta, who in 1775 had
named this point Cape St. Roque, and mentioned the
evidences of a great river, Meares was disappointed
in not finding a safe harbor; he entirely overlooked
the river’s mouth, naming the inlet Deception Bay.
Many of Meares’s names have persisted on the map of
the Northwest Coast.--ED.
[37] Vancouver thus describes (1792) this cape: “Point
Adams is a low, narrow, sandy spit of land,
projecting northerly into the ocean, and lies from
Cape Disappointment S. 44 E. about four miles
distant.” The name was given by Captain Gray (see
note 1, _ante_), who likewise named the northern
headland “Point Hancock.” This latter title
Vancouver ignored in favor of the older term,
Cape Disappointment. Vancouver’s usage fixed the
terminology.--ED.
[38] Baker’s Bay was named by Vancouver’s lieutenant in
honor of Captain Baker of the American brig “Jenny,”
which, upon his return from exploring the river, he
found at anchor within this bay. The name was also
intended to indicate that the American discoveries
were confined to the shallow bays at the mouth of
the river, and that the prior exploration of the
river itself should be accorded to the English.
Lewis and Clark called the bay “Haley’s,” after a
favorite trader with the Indians; while Sergeant
Gass, of the same expedition, called it “Rogue’s
Harbor,” because of the knavery of neighboring
Indians.--ED.
{94} CHAPTER VII
Regrets of the Author at the Loss of his Companions--Obsequies of a
Sandwich Islander--First steps in the Formation of the intended
Establishment--New Alarm--Encampment.
The narrative of Weeks informed us of the death of three of our
companions, and we could not doubt that the five others had met a
similar fate. This loss of eight of our number, in two days, before
we had set foot on shore, was a bad augury, and was sensibly felt
by all of us. In the course of so long a passage, the habit of
seeing each other every day, the participation of the same cares
and dangers, and confinement to the same narrow limits, had formed
between all the passengers a connection that could not be broken,
above all in a manner so sad and so unlooked for, without making us
feel a void like that {95} which is experienced in a well-regulated
and loving family, when it is suddenly deprived by death, of the
presence of one of its cherished members. We had left New York,
for the most part strangers to one another; but arrived at the
river Columbia we were all friends, and regarded each other almost
as brothers. We regretted especially the two brothers Lapensée
and Joseph Nadeau: these young men had been in an especial manner
recommended by their respectable parents in Canada to the care of
Mr. M’Kay; and had acquired by their good conduct the esteem of
the captain, of the crew, and of all the passengers. The brothers
Lapensée were courageous and willing, never flinching in the hour
of danger, and had become as good seamen as any on board. Messrs.
Fox and Aikin were both highly regarded by all; the loss of Mr. Fox,
above all, who was endeared to every one by his gentlemanly behavior
and affability, would have been severely regretted at any time, but
it was doubly so in the present conjuncture: this gentleman, who had
already made a voyage to the {96} Northwest, could have rendered
important services to the captain and to the company. The preceding
days had been days of apprehension and of uneasiness; this was one of
sorrow and mourning.
The following day, the same gentlemen who had volunteered their
services to seek for the missing islander, resumed their labors, and
very soon after they left us, we perceived a great fire kindled at
the verge of the woods, over against the ship. I was sent in a boat
and arrived at the fire. It was our gentlemen who had kindled it, to
restore animation to the poor islander, whom they had at last found
under the rocks, half dead with cold and fatigue, his legs swollen
and his feet bleeding. We clothed him, and brought him on board,
where, by our care, we succeeded in restoring him to life.
Toward evening, a number of the Sandwich islanders, provided with the
necessary utensils, and offerings consisting of biscuit, lard, and
tobacco, went ashore, to pay the last duties to their compatriot, who
died in Mr. Aikin’s boat, on the {97} night of the 24th. Mr. Pillet
and I went with them, and witnessed the obsequies, which took place
in the manner following. Arrived at the spot where the body had been
hung upon a tree to preserve it from the wolves, the natives dug
a grave in the sand; then taking down the body, and stretching it
alongside the pit, they placed the biscuit under one of the arms, a
piece of pork beneath the other, and the tobacco beneath the chin
and the genital parts. Thus provided for the journey to the other
world, the body was deposited in the grave and covered with sand
and stones. All the countrymen of the dead man then knelt on either
side of the grave, in a double row, with their faces to the east,
except one of them who officiated as priest; the latter went to the
margin of the sea, and having filled his hat with water, sprinkled
the two rows of islanders, and recited a sort of prayer, to which the
others responded, nearly as we do in the litanies. That prayer ended,
they rose and returned to the vessel, looking neither to the right
hand nor to the left. As every one of them appeared to me familiar
{98} with the part he performed, it is more than probable that
they observed, as far as circumstances permitted, the ceremonies
practised in their country on like occasions. We all returned on
board about sundown.
The next day, the 27th, desirous of clearing the gangways of the live
stock, we sent some men on shore to construct a pen, and soon after
landed about fifty hogs, committing them to the care of one of the
hands. On the 30th, the long boat was manned, armed and provisioned,
and the captain, with Messrs. M’Kay and D. Stuart, and some of the
clerks, embarked on it, to ascend the river and choose an eligible
spot for our trading establishment. Messrs. Ross and Pillet left at
the same time, to run down south, and try to obtain intelligence of
Mr. Fox and his crew. In the meantime, having reached some of the
goods most at hand, we commenced, with the natives who came every day
to the vessel, a trade for beaver-skins, and sea-otter stones.
Messrs. Ross and Pillet returned on board on the 1st of April,
without having learned anything {99} respecting Mr. Fox and his
party. They did not even perceive along the beach any vestiges
of the boat. The natives who occupy Point _Adams_, and who are
called _Clatsops_, received our young gentlemen very amicably and
hospitably.[39] The captain and his companions also returned on the
4th, without having decided on a position for the establishment,
finding none which appeared to them eligible. It was consequently
resolved to explore the south bank, and Messrs. M’Dougal and D.
Stuart departed on that expedition the next day, promising to return
by the 7th.
The 7th came, and these gentlemen did not return. It rained almost
all day. The day after, some natives came on board, and reported
that Messrs. M’Dougal and Stuart had capsized the evening before in
crossing the bay. This news at first alarmed us; and, if it had been
verified, would have given the finishing blow to our discouragement.
Still, as the weather was excessively bad, and we did not repose
entire faith in the story of the natives--whom, moreover, we might
not have perfectly understood--{100} we remained in suspense till
the 10th. On the morning of that day, we were preparing to send some
of the people in search of our two gentlemen, when we perceived two
large canoes, full of Indians, coming toward the vessel: they were
of the _Chinook_ village,[40] which was situated at the foot of a
bluff on the north side of the river, and were bringing back Messrs.
M’Dougal and Stuart. We made known to these gentlemen the report we
had heard on the 8th from the natives, and they informed us that it
had been in fact well founded; that on the 7th, desirous of reaching
the ship agreeably to their promise, they had quitted _Chinook_
point, in spite of the remonstrances of the chief, _Comcomly_,[41]
who sought to detain them by pointing out the danger to which they
would expose themselves in crossing the bay in such a heavy sea as it
was; that they had scarcely made more than a mile and a half before
a huge wave broke over their boat and capsized it; that the Indians,
aware of the danger to which they were exposed, had followed them,
and that, but for their assistance, {101} Mr. M’Dougal, who could not
swim, would inevitably have been drowned; that, after the Chinooks
had kindled a large fire and dried their clothes, they had been
conducted by them back to their village, where the principal chief
had received them with all imaginable hospitality, regaling them with
every delicacy his wigwam afforded; that, in fine, if they had got
back safe and sound to the vessel, it was to the timely succor and
humane cares of the Indians whom we saw before us that they owed it.
We liberally rewarded these generous children of the forest, and they
returned home well satisfied.
This last survey was also fruitless, as Messrs. M’Dougal and Stuart
did not find an advantageous site to build upon. But, as the
captain wished to take advantage of the fine season to pursue his
traffic with the natives along the N. W. coast, it was resolved to
establish ourselves on Point _George_, situated on the south bank,
about fourteen or fifteen miles from our present anchorage.[42]
Accordingly, we embarked on the 12th, in the long-boat, to the number
of {102} twelve, furnished with tools, and with provisions for a
week. We landed at the bottom of a small bay, where we formed a sort
of encampment. The spring, usually so tardy in this latitude, was
already far advanced; the foliage was budding, and the earth was
clothing itself with verdure; the weather was superb, and all nature
smiled. We imagined ourselves in the garden of Eden; the wild forests
seemed to us delightful groves, and the leaves transformed to
brilliant flowers. No doubt, the pleasure of finding ourselves at the
end of our voyage, and liberated from the ship, made things appear
to us a great deal more beautiful than they really were. Be that
as it may, we set ourselves to work with enthusiasm, and cleared,
in a few days, a point of land of its under-brush, and of the huge
trunks of pine-trees that covered it, which we rolled, half-burnt,
down the bank. The vessel came to moor near our encampment, and
the trade went on. The natives visited us constantly and in great
numbers; some to trade, others to gratify their curiosity, or to
purloin some little articles if they found {103} an opportunity. We
landed the frame timbers which we had brought, ready cut for the
purpose, in the vessel; and by the end of April, with the aid of the
ship-carpenters, John Weeks and Johann Koaster, we had laid the keel
of a coasting-schooner of about thirty tons.
[39] The Clatsop Indians were a tribe of the Lower
Chinook family, who occupied the northwestern
corner of the present state of Oregon, giving name
to a county and town. Lewis and Clark wintered
among this tribe (1805-06), giving their name to
the wintering-post. They reported that they found
but two hundred Clatsop--the remnant left from a
scourge of small-pox, by which they had been visited
some four years previous. The Clatsop tribe is now
extinct.--ED.
[40] Chinook was the appellation of a large stock of
Indians inhabiting for the most part the north bank
of the Columbia, from the mouth to the Dalles. The
Chinook proper lived on the point between Gray’s
Bay and the ocean. Lewis and Clark gave them a
bad reputation, and would not suffer them within
their fort. They estimated the number of these
unwelcome neighbors at about four hundred. They are
now practically extinct. The Chinook jargon was a
dialect invented for trading along the Northwest
Coast. It contained a number of Chinook words; but
was not their language, being only an invention of
the traders.--ED.
[41] For an account of the shrewd rascality of this
Chinook chief, see Ross, _Adventures_, vol vii of
our series. The marriage of Comcomly’s daughter with
McDougall, is characteristically related by Irving
in _Astoria_. An engraving of the tomb of this chief
is given in Wilkes, _Narrative of United States
Exploring Expedition during the years 1838-42_
(Philadelphia, 1849). Wilkes claims that the chief’s
skull was carried to Glasgow by a Hudson’s Bay
Company agent.--ED.
[42] Point George was thus named by Vancouver and
Broughton, in 1792. It is now known as Smith Point,
and is the site of the present town of Astoria. The
fort built by the Astorian expedition at this point
was transferred (as hereafter to be narrated) to the
North West Company. In December, 1813, the British
flag was raised, and the stockade re-christened Fort
George. In 1818 Captain Biddle and Commissioner
Prevost took formal re-possession in the name of the
United States; but no attempt was made to re-occupy
the post, which remained an English fur-trading
station. Upon the consolidation of the British
companies (1821), the main post was removed to
Vancouver and Fort George was abandoned (1824).
The modern Astoria was built up after American
occupation.--ED.
{104} CHAPTER VIII
Voyage up the River--Description of the Country--Meeting with
strange Indians.
The Indians having informed us that above certain rapids, there was
an establishment of white men, we doubted not that it was a trading
post of the Northwest Company;[43] and to make sure of it, we
procured a large canoe and a guide, and set out, on the 2d of May,
Messrs. M’Kay, R. Stuart, Montigny, and I, with a sufficient number
of hands. We first passed a lofty headland, that seemed at a distance
to be detached from the main, and to which we gave the name of
_Tongue Point_.[44] Here the river gains a width of some nine or ten
miles, and keeps it for about twelve miles up. The left bank, which
we were coasting, being concealed by little low islands, {105} we
encamped for the night on one of them, at the village of _Wahkaykum_,
to which our guide belonged.[45]
We continued our journey on the 3d: the river narrows considerably,
at about thirty miles from its mouth, and is obstructed with islands,
which are thickly covered with the willow, poplar, alder, and ash.
These islands are, without exception, uninhabited and uninhabitable,
being nothing but swamps, and entirely overflowed in the months
of June and July; as we understood from _Coalpo_, our guide, who
appeared to be an intelligent man.[46] In proportion as we advanced,
we saw the high mountains capped with snow, which form the chief and
majestic feature, though a stern one, of the banks of the Columbia
for some distance from its mouth, recede, and give place to a country
of moderate elevation, and rising amphitheatrically from the margin
of the stream. The river narrows to a mile or thereabouts; the forest
is less dense, and patches of green prairie are seen. We passed a
large village on the south bank, called _Kreluit_, above which is a
fine forest {106} of oaks;[47] and encamped for the night, on a low
point, at the foot of an isolated rock, about one hundred and fifty
feet high. This rock appeared to me remarkable on account of its
situation, reposing in the midst of a low and swampy ground, as if it
had been dropped from the clouds, and seeming to have no connection
with the neighboring mountains. On a cornice or shelving projection
about thirty feet from its base, the natives of the adjacent villages
deposit their dead, in canoes; and it is the same rock to which, for
this reason, Lieutenant Broughton gave the name of _Mount Coffin_.[48]
On the 4th, in the morning, we arrived at a large village of the same
name as that which we had passed the evening before, _Kreluit_, and
we landed to obtain information respecting a considerable stream,
which here discharges into the Columbia, and respecting its resources
for the hunter and trader in furs. It comes from the north, and is
called _Cowlitzk_ by the natives. Mr. M’Kay embarked with Mr. de
Montigny and two Indians, in a small canoe, to examine the {107}
course of this river, a certain distance up. On entering the stream,
they saw a great number of birds, which they took at first for
turkeys, so much they resembled them, but which were only a kind of
carrion eagles, vulgarly called _turkey-buzzards_. We were not a
little astonished to see Mr. de Montigny return on foot and alone; he
soon informed us of the reason: having ascended the _Kowlitzk_ about
a mile and a half, on rounding a bend of the stream, they suddenly
came in view of about twenty canoes, full of Indians, who had made
a rush upon them with the most frightful yells; the two natives and
the guide who conducted their little canoe, retreated with the utmost
precipitancy, but seeing that they would be overtaken, they stopped
short, and begged Mr. M’Kay to fire upon the approaching savages,
which he, being well acquainted with the Indian character from the
time he accompanied Sir Alexander M’Kenzie, and having met with
similar occurrences before, would by no means do; but displayed a
friendly sign to the astonished natives, and invited them to land for
{108} an amicable talk; to which they immediately assented. Mr. M’Kay
had sent Mr. de Montigny to procure some tobacco and a pipe, in order
to strike a peace with these barbarians. The latter then returned to
Mr. M’Kay, with the necessary articles, and in the evening the party
came back to our camp, which we had fixed between the villages. We
were then informed that the Indians whom Mr. M’Kay had met, were
at war with the _Kreluits_.[49] It was impossible, consequently,
to close our eyes all night; the natives passing and repassing
continually from one village to the other, making fearful cries, and
coming every minute to solicit us to discharge our firearms; all to
frighten their enemies, and let them see that they were on their
guard.
On the 5th, in the morning, we paid a visit to the hostile camp;
and those savages, who had never seen white men, regarded us with
curiosity and astonishment, lifting the legs of our trousers and
opening our shirts, to see if the skin of our bodies resembled
that of our faces and hands. We remained some time with them, to
make proposals {109} of peace; and having ascertained that this
warlike demonstration originated in a trifling offence on the part
of the _Kreluits_, we found them well disposed to arrange matters
in an amicable fashion. After having given them, therefore, some
looking-glasses, beads, knives, tobacco, and other trifles, we
quitted them and pursued our way.
Having passed a deserted village, and then several islands, we came
in sight of a noble mountain on the north, about twenty miles
distant, all covered with snow, contrasting remarkably with the dark
foliage of the forests at its base, and probably the same which was
seen by Broughton, and named by him _Mount St. Helen’s_.[50] We
pulled against a strong current all this day, and at evening our
guide made us enter a little river, on the bank of which we found
a good camping place, under a grove of oaks, and in the midst of
odoriferous wild flowers, where we passed a night more tranquil than
that which had preceded it.