few days, I returned to Conception to take leave of the President
Freire. While on the road, being mounted on a spirited horse, I had got
a little the start of my companions, and was stopping on a height to
contemplate the beautiful landscape around me, when a well-dressed young
man, coming from the direction of the town, suddenly met me, stood
still, looking attentively at me for some moments, and then asked if I
were the Captain of the Russian frigate. On my answering in the
affirmative, after ascertaining that we were not observed, he said, "You
are aware that the two parties in this country are differently disposed
towards you. The day after to-morrow the officers of the regiment in
Talcaguana will give you a farewell ball, when they intend to overpower
the Russian officers, and take them prisoners. I have adopted this
method of making you acquainted with the design; be on your guard." With
these words he disappeared among the high shrubs. As soon as my
companions came up, I took Mendiburu aside, and told him what I had just
heard. Honourable and warm-hearted, my friend at first grew pale with
astonishment and vexation; but, after a few moments' consideration, he
felt convinced, and assured me, that the thing was impossible, and that
my unknown monitor must be in error. At the same time we both
determined, immediately on our arrival in Conception, to mention the
circumstance to the President. Freire received me in a very friendly
manner, and so confidently affirmed the project attributed to his
officers, to be a mere "coinage of the brain" of my informant, that I
trusted to his opinion, and thought no more of it, especially as our own
ball had furnished a proof how easily the silliest and most groundless
reports could gain credit.
After leaving the President, I passed the remainder of the day, and
slept, at the house of my friend Mendiburu. As I was preparing to go to
bed, I heard a gentle knock at my room door; I opened it, and a servant
of the house came timidly in. He told me that he was a Spaniard, and had
been a sailor on board a frigate captured by the Chilians, and that his
present master had taken him into his service, when a prisoner of war.
He then gave me, under the most earnest injunctions not to betray him,
the same caution which I had before received, adding some curses on the
Chilian Government and people, whom he declared to be altogether a set
of vagabonds and thieves. This repeated warning was too striking not to
excite some apprehension. I took all the circumstances into
consideration; and though the motive for such a proceeding remained
perfectly incomprehensible, I still resolved to take measures for my
security, in case it should be really attempted. I passed a sleepless
night, and early in the morning bade adieu to my kind host, to whom I
was unable to impart my new cause of anxiety, and hastened back to
Talcaguana. On my arrival there, I found cards inviting myself and all
my officers to a ball on the following evening: so far, therefore, the
information I had received was correct. To avoid the appearance of
suspicion, I accepted the invitation, and went to the ball accompanied
by a few of my officers. The rest remained on board the ship, having
placed her so as to bring her guns to bear upon the house in which the
ball was given, and to command the respect of the neighbourhood. Thus
Talcaguana was at our mercy; nor had we any thing to fear, either from
the armed corvette, or the battery on shore; the former being so
situated that it must needs have struck to our first broadside, and the
latter mounting only six guns quite unfit for use, and resting upon
broken carriages. We had also removed our observatory, and conveyed all
our effects on board. These imposing preparations did not in all
probability remain unobserved; at all events, the ball passed off
quietly enough; but it was remarkable that very few of the officers who
had given it were present; and instead of the gaiety which had reigned
on the two former occasions, the greatest constraint was evident in the
deportment of the company, who separated at an unusually early hour.
At daybreak we weighed anchor, to resume our voyage; but before we were
in motion, my faithful friend Mendiburu, who had travelled in the night
from Conception, came on board with the news that a Chilian frigate and
a corvette, which had arrived two days before from Valparaiso with
troops, now lay at anchor at the mouth of the bay, and had received
orders to prevent our departure. He had no idea what could have induced
his government, against which he was excessively indignant, to meditate
such an outrage; but he felt assured that the ships were by no means in
a condition to obey. When in full sail, I parted from Mendiburu, for the
second time, with hearty thanks for his sympathy and assistance.
I now ordered the ship and guns to be prepared for battle, in case it
should prove necessary to force our way out. We proceeded with a fresh
and favouring breeze so rapidly, that in an hour's time we could
distinguish the two vessels lying at anchor near the island of
Quiquirino. As we approached, a gun was fired from the frigate, on which
signal both ships got under sail, and took a direction that would enable
them to oppose our progress. No longer doubting their hostile
intentions, I lessened my sail to make the ship more manageable during
the expected engagement. The matches were lighted, and every one stood
at his post; but the Chilian frigate, a bad sailer, having run too far
to leeward, could not come up to the assistance of the corvette which
endeavoured to dispute our passage; but clearly perceiving, when within
gun-shot, that we were prepared to resist an attack, found it most
prudent to sail peaceably on, contenting herself with calling something
to us through a trumpet, which we could not understand. Pursuing our
course in an opposite direction, we were soon at a considerable distance
from the corvette, and then saw the frigate tacking to follow us; but
having already greatly the advantage, and the mouth of the bay clear
before us, we rehoisted our sails, and without waiting for further
evidence of Chilian hostility, stood out to sea; thus escaping attempts
upon our liberty, the real motive of which, perhaps, was a desire to
employ our ships in the transport of troops to Chiloe. The two English
whalers had already been taken possession of for this purpose, without
the consent of their captains.
The result of our observations on land are as follows:
Latitude from Mendiburu's house in Talcaguana 36° 42' 15"
West Longitude 73° 8' 20"
Declination of the needle 14° East
Inclination 80° 4'
The tide is here quite imperceptible. During the whole time of our stay,
Reaumur's thermometer stood between 15 and 17 degrees.
THE
DANGEROUS ARCHIPELAGO.
THE
DANGEROUS ARCHIPELAGO.
The many islands composing this Archipelago, and which the little
coralline insects have built in the midst of the ocean, are so low, that
they are invisible at a very trifling distance. From this cause they
have often, in darkness or bad weather, proved dangerous to navigation,
and have thence derived their name. It was my intention now, to
ascertain exactly the geographical position of the islands which I had
discovered on my former voyage. O Tahaiti was to serve as a point from
which to determine the longitude, and at the same time to furnish us
with provisions.
I directed my course to this Archipelago, between the parallels of 15
and 16 degrees of South latitude, because this is not the usual track
of merchants' ships, nor has it been taken in voyages of discovery, so
that I thought it not improbable that we might fall in with other
unknown islands. In pursuance of this plan, we steered north-west, for
the above mentioned parallel. An uninterrupted fresh south wind having
carried us six hundred and sixty miles forwards in three days, brought
us into the hot climate so suddenly, that we were much inconvenienced by
it. The island of Juan Fernandez, whither the Spaniards, when masters in
Chili, used to banish criminals and republicans, lay on our left, and
the little uninhabited rocky islands of Felix and Ambrosia at a little
distance on our right. After rapidly gaining the Southern Tropic, our
voyage, though pleasant, was far more tranquil; the slightness of the
motion between the Tropics, admits of employment on board a ship, for
which a sailor has generally little opportunity; even drawings may be
executed in the neatest manner.
On the 17th February we found ourselves under eighteen degrees of South
latitude, and a hundred and five degrees longitude. The weather
continued fine and serene, and our men expressed a wish to interrupt the
uniformity of their lives, by getting up a play. The theatre was
prepared, the play-bills given out, and the orchestra had even made the
signal for the company to assemble, when our merriment was suddenly
changed into terror and distress; another sailor fell overboard. He had
been keeping watch on the fore-mast, to provide for our safety against
land and shallows, in this untried region, and having neglected to
secure his own, fell a sacrifice to his thoughtlessness. Being injured
by the fall, he immediately sunk, and all our efforts to save him proved
fruitless. Separated as we had long been from our native country, the
loss of a member of our little society, thus bound together through good
or ill fortune, was sensibly felt; the poor fellow was, besides, one of
our best sailors: in the most violent storms, he had often executed the
most dangerous tasks at the mast-head with the greatest skill, and now
in the finest weather, with the ship moving in a manner scarcely
perceptible, was he destined to end, thus suddenly, his active and
useful life.
Having sailed four thousand miles in three weeks, since we left Chili,
we reached the neighbourhood of the dangerous Archipelago. By degrees we
now lost, contrary to all rule in this climate, the south-east
trade-wind, which had hitherto been so favourable to us, and contrary
winds from the West and North brought us very bad weather. An opinion
has been hitherto entertained, that the coral islands, from lying so low
and in small masses, could produce no change in the atmosphere, and that
the trade-winds, to which they offered no obstruction, would continue to
blow uninterruptedly in their neighbourhood. Repeated experience has,
however, convinced me that this is an error, and that these little
islands, at certain seasons, often cause variations from the ordinary
tropical weather.
On the 26th of February, we entered 16° of latitude, and 129° of
longitude. The wind blew from the West: black clouds labouring upwards,
covered the sky; violent and sudden gusts expended their fury on us, and
lightnings flashed from every corner of the horizon. The night was
really dreadful, and the tempest continued to rage, through a darkness
which, but for the lightning, would have been total, while torrents of
rain swept our decks. Nor did the return of light bring us much relief;
when about noon the heavens cleared for a short time, and allowed us a
little respite; the storm set in again with renewed violence, and for
four days and nights we were condemned to struggle with this tremendous
weather. It is surprising how such tempests can arise at so great a
distance from land. In the ship Rurik, in this same region, at the same
season of year, I have before met with similar though scarcely such
furious storms. On the 2nd of March the tropical wind returned, and
brought with it clearer weather. It was indeed very hot, (Reaumur's
thermometer did not fall even in the night below 24,) but the whole crew
continued in good health. On this evening we calculated that we were in
15° 15' latitude, and 139° 40' longitude; and just as the sun was
sinking, the man at the mast-head called out that land was in sight. The
pleasure of making a new discovery set all our telescopes in motion, and
before night set in we plainly distinguished a very low, thickly wooded
island. Since no navigator, to my knowledge, had ever been here before,
and the newest charts described nothing but empty space, we conceived we
had a right to consider ourselves the first discoverers, and named the
island, after our ship, Predpriatie: we now tacked to stand out to sea
for the night, and at break of day again made towards the island, under
feelings of strong excitement. The many telescopes which our eager
curiosity pointed towards its object, seemed each endued with the
magical power of conveying different images to the sight. Some of us saw
what others saw not, till these delusions of the imagination vanished
before the conviction produced by rising columns of smoke visible to
all, that the island was inhabited. We could soon afterwards, from the
mast-head, perceive its entire extent. The dazzling whiteness of the
coral shore fringed a bright green ground upon which rose a forest of
palms; and we distinguished canoes moving upon a large lake in the
centre of the island. By rapid degrees, we approached so near that every
object became perceptible with the naked eye. A tall, strong,
dark-coloured race of naked savages were assembling on the shore, gazing
on the ship in great agitation, with gestures of astonishment. Some were
arming with long spears and clubs, others kindling piles of wood,
probably, that the smoke might be a signal to neighbouring islands of
their requiring assistance against the unknown sea-monster. From pretty
huts of plaited reeds, under the shade of bread-fruit trees, the women,
some of them with children in their arms, were flying to conceal
themselves in the forest. Such was the commotion our appearance
occasioned in this little community. A few heroes summoned courage
enough to advance, with threatening attitudes, to the margin of the
shore; but no single canoe, though many lay on the coast, ventured to
approach us. Judging from their size and the good arrangement of their
sails, these canoes seem intended for visits to other and even distant
islands. We sailed quite round our new discovery without finding any
haven by which we could effect a landing; and the sea being tempestuous,
with a high and boisterous surf, we were compelled to renounce our
desire of becoming more intimately acquainted with the Predpriatians.
The unclouded sky enabled us, nevertheless, to determine by observation
the exact latitude and longitude of this little island, whose greatest
extent is only four miles from E.N.E. to W.S.W. The latitude of its
central point is 15° 58' 18" South, and its longitude, 140° 11' 30". The
variation of the needle was 4° East.
When we had finished our observations, I steered a westerly course for
the island of Araktschief, discovered in the year 1819 by the Russian
Captain Bellingshausen, in order to convince myself that it was actually
not the one we had just quitted.
At four o'clock in the afternoon we could already see this island from
the mast-head, and we reached it before sunset. It bears, with respect
to size and circumstances, so close a resemblance to that of
Predpriatie, that they might easily be mistaken, if their relative
situations were not exactly known.
From our observation, we found the latitude of the centre of the island
of Araktschief 15° 51' 20" South; and the longitude 140° 50' 50".
According to Captain Bellingshausen's chart, the latitude is 15° 51',
the longitude 140° 52'. Unable to discover any traces of inhabitants on
this island, we should have supposed there were none, had not Captain
Bellingshausen ascertained the contrary.
At night we retired to some distance from the island and lay-to, that we
might not, in the darkness, strike on any unknown land. At break of day
I steered a north-west course, to see the island of Romanzow, (which I
had formerly discovered when with the ship Rurik,) and convince myself
of the accuracy of the astronomical observations then made. At eight
o'clock in the morning we could see the north point of the group of
Wolchonsky Islands, recently discovered by Captain Bellingshausen. When
they lay seven miles off us, to the South, we found the longitude,
according to our chronometers, 142° 2' 38". Bellingshausen considered it
to be 142° 7' 42".
From failure of wind, we could not make the island of Romanzow till the
morning of the 8th of March. We then took advantage of the clearness of
the heavens to ascertain, by the distance between the sun and moon, its
exact longitude, which is 144° 28'. According to the observations we had
made in the ship Rurik, it was 144° 24', consequently there was a
difference of only four minutes.
We now steered due West, in order to learn whether the island which, on
my voyage in the Rurik, I had named after Admiral Spiridow, was really a
new discovery, or, as has been said, only the most southerly of the King
George's Islands. A fresh wind favoured our course, and at six o'clock
in the afternoon we could see this island, my discovery of which has
been denied, lying before us at a distance of six miles westward.
At the same time, we could distinguish from the mast-head the southern
part of another island, lying due North, with open water between the
two. We were in 14° 41' 36" South latitude, and 144° 55' longitude.
During the night we were becalmed, but in the morning a fresh breeze
sprang up directly in our teeth, and the current carried us so far to
the South, that, even from the mast, we could no longer see land. Under
these circumstances, to attempt to regain the Spiridow Island would have
been attended by too great loss of time; so that we remained uncertain
whether this and the other, which we saw in the North, were the two King
George's Islands or not. I can only say, that if they really are so,
their discoverer has given their geographical position very
inaccurately.
The south-east trade-wind had ceased to befriend us, and shifting gusts
from the north-west and south blew with such violence as frequently to
tear our sails, accompanied by incessant rain and storm. The sea being
at the same time remarkably calm, proved that we were surrounded by
islands, and that, in consequence, the greatest caution was required in
sailing, especially as the currents in this region are often very
strong. We soon saw land directly before us; and as in the neighbourhood
of all coral islands the depth of the sea cannot be sounded at a
distance of fifty fathoms from the shore, we approached within a mile of
it. This island stretches ten miles in length, from East to West, and is
only four miles broad; it appeared to be a narrow strip of land,
thickly overgrown with low bushes, surrounding a lake in the centre.
Sea-birds only, of which we saw a vast number, appeared to inhabit this
waste. The latitude of the middle of this island we found to be 15° 27',
and its longitude 145° 31' 12". According to the chart of Admiral
Krusenstern, it may be the island called Carlshof, discovered in the
year 1722, by Roggewin, the geographical position of which is given
differently on almost every chart, and whose very existence has been
disputed. We were now in the midst of the dangerous Archipelago, and
consulted our safety by riding every night only in parts which we had
surveyed during the day.
After reiterated nightly storms and rains, we shaped our course, with
full sails, on the return of fine weather, due East, for the Palliser
Islands discovered by Captain Cook, and reached them in a few hours. On
board the Rurik, I had only seen their northern side, and I now wished,
astronomically, to determine the southern. Cook mentions these islands
very superficially, so that navigators have fallen into many errors
concerning them. The group consists of a number of small islands
connected by coral reefs, which form a circular chain, and enclose a
large piece of water. When we had reached the southern point of the east
Pallisers, we saw a ridge stretching ten miles westward to two small
islands, and thence taking a northern direction to unite itself at a
considerable distance with larger ones.
Cook, from his own account, did not approach near enough to see this
ridge, and from a distance mistook the two little woody islands it
embraces for the most southerly of a distinct cluster, which he calls
the fourth group of Palliser Islands. I can maintain that there are only
three such groups, as the map which accompanies this volume will show.
At noon we found our latitude to be 15° 42' 19", and the longitude 146°
21' 6".
The above-mentioned two small islands on the reef lay directly North,
and the southern part of the first cluster of Pallisers was no longer
visible. Viewed from this spot, the smaller ones might have been
mistaken by us also for part of another group, if we had not previously
ascertained that they were connected with the first by means of the
reef. The second and third group could also be seen from this point; the
former to the S.E. the latter S.W.
At six o'clock in the evening, we found ourselves near the eastern point
of the third group, and saw from the mast-head the Greigh Islands,
discovered by Captain Bellingshausen. We now steered between these two
groups, in order to free ourselves from the Archipelago, and regain the
open sea. Again the night was tempestuous; but a calm occurred in the
course of it, which, had it lasted longer, would have been dangerous, as
a strong current was carrying us towards the shore. The morning sun, as
usual in the Torrid Zone, dispersed the clouds and restored the
beautiful blue of the tropical sky. We soon lost sight of land, but a
black cloud still lowered in that part of the horizon where it had
disappeared; a proof how powerfully these masses of coral attract
thunder clouds. We now recovered the south-east wind, and favoured by
it, took the shortest way to O Tahaiti. All the longitudes in the
dangerous Archipelago which I have given, (without entering into the
manner in which they were calculated,) are made out by means of the
chronometer. This, on arriving at O Tahaiti, was found six minutes fifty
seconds wrong; and the longitudes here given have been rectified
accordingly.
The following is from our observations the situation of the Palliser
Islands:--
South point of the first group. Lat. 15° 34' 25"
Long. 146° 6' 49"
The two small islands to the West
of the first group Lat. 15° 30' 15"
Long. 146° 20' 50"
The Eastern point of the third group Lat. 15° 44' 52"
Long. 146° 28' 2".
Most of the islands of this Archipelago are inhabited, but hitherto
little is known of the natives, who are shy, and endeavour to avoid any
intercourse with navigators. Byron landed by force on one of these
islands; in the struggle many of the inhabitants were killed, the rest
put to flight, and the provision of cocoa-nuts found in their huts
plundered. Tradition may perhaps have exaggerated this attack. Cook also
permitted some of his crew to land, who indeed met with no resistance,
but their presents were received with the greatest indifference, and
stones were thrown after them on their departure. Captain
Bellingshausen, in the year 1820, wished to land on one of these
islands, but the natives opposed his intention so seriously that he
relinquished it rather than use force. These people resemble the O
Tahaitians, their neighbours and relatives, in appearance and language;
and when the latter are farther advanced in civilization, it may be
presumed that intercourse with them will effect a considerable
amelioration in the condition of the other South Sea islanders.
O TAHAITI.
O TAHAITI.
This beautiful island, so richly endowed by nature with every thing that
its simple and innocent natives can require for the enjoyment of
existence, was perhaps first seen by the Spanish voyager Quiras, when,
in the year 1606, he made an expedition from Lima, "to win," as a
countryman of his expresses it, "souls for Heaven, and kingdoms for
Spain." Since, however, the position pointed out by him is extremely
incorrect, it is uncertain whether the island which he called Sagittaria
was really O Tahaiti or not. More probably, the honour of the discovery
belongs to the English Captain Wallis, who in the year 1767 landed
there, and took possession of the country by a solemn declaration, in
the name of his King. As, however, the Tahaitians did not understand
him, this act remained unknown to them; and, notwithstanding a
subsequent renewal, has fallen into oblivion. Captain Wallis gave it the
name of King George the Third's Island.
Eight months after him, the French Captain Bougainville visited it; and
not knowing that Captain Wallis had been there before him, considered
himself the first discoverer, and called it, from the most remarkable
custom of the natives, _Nouvelle Cythère_, but heard that they
themselves called it Tahaiti, or with the article, O Tahaiti; and this
name it has retained.