Mulgrave Islands, and stood to the westward. At daylight, we had
lost sight of the group, and at 10, A.M., made South Pedder's Island.
Having stood a little too far to the southward, we were all day
beating up to weather the N.E. point, where, at sun-down, we hove to
in the hope that on the following morning we should be able to effect
a landing, and get a sight of the great chief, so celebrated amongst
the people we had just left. On the 11th of December, having passed
all the early part of the day searching in vain for anchorage, we
hove to, a little after meridian, opposite to a considerable bay,
upon the shore of which was a native village, and large forests of
cocoa-nut trees. The captain took Huzzy in the gig, and, followed by
another boat, pulled in over a wide coral bank to the village. A few
people were attracted to the shore by the appearance of our boats.
They immediately conducted the captain to the chief, who was seated
on a mat in the open air, in front of his hut. He seemed but little
moved at the unexpected appearance of his visitors. He was a very
old man, and had a long white beard that came down upon his breast.
The natives stood round in respectful silence, as the old chief
addressed the captain, whom he soon distinguished as the person of
highest rank amongst the strangers. He spoke the same language as
the inhabitants of the Mulgraves, and Huzzy was forbidden to let him
know that he was understood, but to listen attentively to what he was
saying to those around him. For a time his intercourse with the
captain was carried on by signs, and Huzzy overheard him say to the
natives, standing by, "Don't disturb them yet. Wait until to-morrow,
and see what they are going to do. They will look round here to see
what they can find, trade a little, and go on board of their vessel,
to sleep, and to-morrow they will come again." When the captain told
Huzzy to address some questions to the chief in his own language, it
seemed to operate as quickly as an electric shock upon the natives,
who stared wildly around at him, and at each other, with looks of the
utmost astonishment. The chief partially lost his gravity in the
sensation it produced, being not less surprised than his subjects.
He asked Huzzy, before answering the question put to him, where he
had learned to speak the language of Pedder's Island. Huzzy replied,
that he had learned it at the Mulgrave Islands, where he had been for
two years. The old chief said, that he had been informed of two
white men being there, and was then fitting out a fleet of canoes to
send after them. He expressed a great deal of disappointment, that
we had taken them away, saying, he would have had them brought to his
own island, and treated them well. He asked, if Lay was also on
board of the vessel. The captain had taken on shore a present for
the chief, and a number of trifles, that he thought might be
acceptable to the natives. Our people endeavoured to obtain a
quantity of cocoa-nuts and bup, of which there was the greatest
abundance; but the natives parted with their fruit very reluctantly.
When finally the captain addressed the chief, upon the subject of
giving or selling us a supply, he said,--No! that his island was
thickly inhabited, and produced no more food than was necessary for
his people. That, if we were in want of cocoa-nuts and bup, there
were other islands, not far to the westward, where there was an
abundance, and but few people, and he advised our going there as
speedily as possible. Upon being asked, if he had ever seen white
men before, he replied,--Yes; that a long time ago there came a large
vessel, in which there were white men, who brought their forge on
shore, where they remained for several days. This, he said, was the
only instance. The young women were all sent away, and concealed in
the thickets, or upon a distant part of the island, where they
remained during the whole day.
Amongst other presents made by the captain to the high chief, was a
battle-axe,--to him an article of the greatest value. He received
it, however, with reluctance, expressing his regret, that he had it
not in his power to make a suitable return for so valuable a
consideration, accompanying his apology with a small present of mats,
cocoa-nuts, and a preparation of the ripe bup, that had an agreeable
sweet taste. It was after dark when our party left the village, and
went to the beach to embark. They had already left the shore a few
yards, when some natives came running down, and called for them to
return, saying, the chief had another mat for the captain. They
landed, when they were told, that the mat was in the village, and
that Huzzy must go for it. The captain, not choosing to send for the
mat, put off again. In a few moments two or three other messengers
came running to the beach, calling for the boat to return. When she
had pulled in a few yards from the shore, they said that the chief
wanted Huzzy to go up to the village for the mat, and that he did not
wish to keep the axe, which he had sent back to the captain,
unwilling, as we supposed, to lay himself under so great an
obligation as its acceptance implied. The captain refused to take
the axe, telling the messenger to say to his chief, that what we had
given, we never took back, and, with this, left the shore and
returned on board. The tide had risen considerably over the coral
bank, and the party found the surf somewhat dangerous in returning,
having their boats nearly filled with water.
The dress and general appearance of these people, as well as their
language, was the same as that of the natives of the Mulgraves.
Their canoes were also the same. We saw only three or four with
sails, which were hauled upon the beach. The power of the great
chief must, therefore, consist in his dominion over other islands to
the northward and westward of him, where there is an almost connected
chain for several hundred miles, and from which, when he undertakes
an important enterprise, he must, in a great measure, draw his
resources. It was probably with the object of collecting forces for
the great chief, that Latuano visited so many islands during his
exile from his own, and to which he was at last restored by foreign
aid.
At eight in the evening, we made sail to the northward and westward,
with a fresh breeze from the eastward. The weather was clear, and we
stood on under easy sail all night. Early in the morning land was
discovered, bearing nearly west, and soon afterwards more land was
seen to the north. The last was Ibbitson's Island, and appeared to
be separate from that discovered first. It is not improbable,
however, that they are connected by coral reefs, that were too
distant from us to be observed.
The land was all low, and had the appearance of the Mulgraves and
other coral islands. At meridian, we hove to, and put off in two
boats. Having passed to leeward of the island, we crossed a drowned
reef, that extended as far as the eye could reach to the N.W., when
we found ourselves in an inland sea, which was extensive and quite
smooth. That part of the island where we landed was about five miles
long, and a quarter of a mile wide. Upon the margin of the inland
sea, there were a number of huts, but when we landed, not an
inhabitant could be seen. The huts had evidently been but recently
occupied. The island was covered abundantly with cocoa-nut and bup
trees, and a few of the bread-fruit were here and there to be seen.
On the shore of the inland sea the water was smooth and unruffled,
and the humble but neat dwellings of the natives, scattered about
amongst the cocoa forests, presented a scene of quiet and repose,
peculiarly soothing to the mind, contrasted with the eternal war of
breakers on the ocean side. We had not been long on shore before we
found a few old people, who had concealed themselves in the bushes,
and, although they were at first afraid of us, they became less
timid, and increased in number, when we had presented them with some
pieces of iron, and a few old buttons. In return, they gave us mats,
fishing-nets, cocoa-nuts, and bup, with the last of which they filled
our boat. Their dress and language was the same as at the Mulgraves,
and their habitations and canoes were also the same. Amongst all
these islands, the natives ascend the cocoa-nut trees, in the way I
have described at the Marquesas. Here we saw several very old
people, some of whom had lost all their teeth,--a circumstance we had
not before remarked in any of these islands. There were also two or
three cripples, who were not less remarkable, being the first we had
seen. All the females were very old, and, upon inquiring the cause,
they replied, that the young men had sent the young women away, for
fear they would be given presents. Two or three large sail canoes
came from a great distance over the inland sea, and approached us
without fear. The natives told us that they had never seen white men
before.
The captain landed upon a different island from myself, and the
natives, having fled from their habitations as they did upon the
island where I landed, he sent a few old people, that were found,
commanding all the inhabitants to return to their homes, and, fearing
his displeasure, in a few minutes their huts were occupied in the
same manner as though the white-faced strangers had not appeared
amongst them.
At five, P.M., we returned to the schooner, with our boats laden with
fruit, and soon afterwards made sail, shaping our course for the
Sandwich Islands. We were favoured with south easterly trades,
blowing in fresh gales for a number of days, which rendered our
passage materially shorter than it would probably have been
otherwise. But what was still less to have been expected than a
south-east trade in the northern tropic, was a strong current, that
set us at the rate of thirty to forty miles a day, N.E. from the
latitude of sixteen to twenty-five north. Part of the time that we
experienced this strong current, the wind was blowing a double-reefed
top-sail breeze from East and E.N.E., differing only from two to four
points with the opposite direction of the current. When we arrived
in the latitude of twenty-three degrees north, the trades left us,
and the winds became variable. At meridian of December the 24th, we
were, by our calculation, thirty miles from an island, said to have
been discovered recently by a whaler, and which we made to bear from
us E. by N. Our latitude observed was twenty-five degrees
fifty-seven minutes, N. Longitude, by chronometer, one hundred and
eighty-six degrees twenty-seven minutes, W. We ran off to the
eastward all the following day, and at meridian, December 25th,
observed, in latitude twenty-six degrees, N.; longitude one hundred
and eighty-three degrees twenty minutes W., without having seen the
slightest indications of land.
On Christmas day, we gave the crew a dinner of turtle, which were
still fat, and very delicious. We had fed them occasionally upon bup
and other vegetation, that was found upon the islands.
December the 27th, we came within the vicinity of another new
discovery of a whaler, and at meridian, had it bearing, by our
calculation, S.E. ten miles. We ran for it until six, P.M., December
28th, when no appearance of land being in sight, we hove about, and
stood to the northward, for a newly discovered reef, which, at
meridian, bore from us, by calculation N. by E., distant one hundred
miles. Latitude observed, twenty-six degrees ten minutes N.;
longitude, by chronometer, one hundred and seventy-six degrees
fifty-one minutes, W. The reef for which we were now steering was
called, by the discoverer, Clark's Reef. It was said to extend sixty
miles, in a south-west and north-easterly direction, and we thought
it impossible that it should escape our observation, if laid down any
where near the given latitude and longitude.
At nine, P.M., December the 30th, we were within twenty-five miles of
the centre of the reef, by our calculation, and as it was blowing a
gale, and we were scudding before it with an unusually high sea, we
hove to for the night. At three, A.M., we again made sail, and ran
for the centre of the reef. At meridian, December the 31st, the
centre of it was still twenty miles from us, bearing N. E. by N.
From meridian to one, P.M., we steered N. by E., and then bore up,
and steered east all the rest of the twenty-four hours, without
seeing the reef or any indications of it. At meridian, observed, in
latitude twenty-six degrees forty-seven minutes, N.; longitude, by
chronometer, one hundred and seventy-two degrees eleven minutes, W.
We continued on to the eastward, with the hope of falling in with two
islands and a reef, of another whaler's discovery. Our confidence in
their given latitude and longitude, however, was quite destroyed by
frequent disappointments, and we now looked for their discoveries, as
we would have sought for lands, known only in the tradition of the
natives of some unfrequented island, with the hope of finding them,
but with little expectation of success. It happened with these, as
with all the rest of the new discoveries we had looked for. We
passed within a few miles of the latitude, and ran down from one to
two degrees of longitude, without observing any thing that indicated
the vicinity of land.
On the second of January, 1826, we ran off to the southward of east
for Ballard's Island. During the middle of the day, the sea, from
being very heavy, became comparatively smooth, and continued so for
sixty miles, when the heavy swell again set in from the westward, as
before.
At three, P.M., on the fourth of January, a rock was reported from
the mast-head, eight leagues from us. It proved to be Ballard's
Island, as it is called. At eight on the following morning, we
passed within two hundred yards of it. It is about two or three
hundred yards in circumference, and rises two hundred feet from the
sea. On one side it has a considerable inclination, where seals had
crawled up, and several were basking in the sun, almost to the very
top. Large flocks of birds were perched upon its ragged sides, or
wending their flight around it. Not the least sign of vegetation was
any where to be seen. Near its base, was a small rock, from ten to
twenty feet above the water level. Ballard's Rock rises in three
equi-distant peaks, the centre of which is the highest, and all of
them, to the very base, are white with bird-lime. A high surf breaks
all around it. Our observations placed it in north latitude,
twenty-five degrees two minuses; west longitude, one hundred and
sixty-seven degrees fifty minutes.
On the evening of January the fifth, the weather became squally, with
constant flashes of lightning and distant thunder. From south to
west, and N.W., the heavens were obscured with a heavy black cloud,
which rose with great rapidity. We furled all sail. When the cloud
ascended our zenith, it became perfectly calm, and a roaring was
heard in the air for several minutes, like that of wind through the
tops of pines, when hail-stones of an unusual size began to fall upon
our deck, accompanied with very sharp lightning and heavy thunder.
The hail was of short duration, and passed over without a breath of
wind.
The nearest of the Sandwich Group was Bird Island, for which we
steered, and on the ninth of January, at eight in the morning (having
the preceding night been enveloped in fog) it was discovered close to
us. We tacked and stood close in with the south-west side, where was
a small sand-beach, fifty to a hundred yards long.
The captain, taking the Globe's whale-boat, went in shore to fish,
but seeing a few seal upon the sand beach, was induced to land. It
soon afterwards became squally and blew with great violence. The
surf upon the beach rose with the wind, and, when the captain, after
a short examination of the island, attempted to return, he found it
impossible to launch his boat through the surf, and was reduced to
the necessity of passing the night upon the island. It blew a gale
and rained in torrents all night. The captain and his boat's crew
took shelter in a cavern upon the sea-shore, where they had not been
long by a comfortable fire they had made, when, by the rising of the
tide the sea broke in upon them, and they with difficulty escaped to
the side of the rocks, and thence upon the sand-beach. The island
was high and almost perpendicular, and with the floods that fell and
rushed down its steep sides, rocks of a large size were disengaged
from their beds, and came tumbling down in every direction, to the
great peril of the captain and his boat's crew, sufficiently
uncomfortable from the torrents of water that were falling and
driving upon the gale. After a little search, they found an asylum
in a cave at the side of a mountain, where they passed the night. In
the morning, when they ascended the mountain, the schooner was no
where to be seen. It was high and steep, and she had beat up within
a few miles of the island and passed their line of sight. Their
disappointment and chagrin was inexpressible, supposing, from the
schooner's not being in sight, she had been driven off, and that it
would be a considerable time before she could return, and afford them
that relief their situation so much required, being very much
fatigued and exhausted from their exposure. At day-light, the
weather cleared and the wind moderated. We beat up and hove to off
the sand-beach nearly as soon as the boat we had sent with
refreshments.
When the captain saw the schooner approaching close in with the
island, he made a last effort to launch his boat. They succeeded in
getting her into the breakers, but the first heavy roller that broke
under them severed the boat amid-ships, and the captain upon one end
of her and a man that could not swim on the other, were hove up
safely on the beach by the succeeding wave. The rest of the boat's
crew were good swimmers, and also landed in safety. Our boat was not
far off when this occurred, and anchoring as near as possible to the
shore, the men, all but one, swam off to her through the surf. The
only way we could devise to get the captain and seaman off, was to
float a cork-jacket on shore, at the end of a line, which being put
on by the captain and seaman, alternately, and a rope tied round
them, they were hauled through the surf without any other injury than
swallowing a quantity of salt-water.
Bird's Island is an uninhabited rock, about a league in
circumference, and the highest part from five to eight hundred feet
above the ocean. Where our boat landed, is the only spot where a
landing could be effected, and upon that side alone it has an
inclination by which it may be ascended. Every where else it is
perpendicular, and at a distance, looks like the work of art. It has
a scanty vegetation.
At five, P.M., January the 11th, we made sail for the island of
Oahoo, with a fine breeze from the westward and pleasant weather. At
daylight, on the following morning, we saw the small island of
Onehow, and soon afterwards, the highland of Atooi. During the whole
day, we were coming up with and sailing along on the west side of
Atooi, moving at the rate of eight and nine miles per hour. Of a
clear day, it may be seen at least fifty or sixty miles. We did not
approach nearer to it than eight or ten. It had the appearance, at
that distance, of beautiful table-land, being every where very
regular and of nearly the same altitude. Towards evening, on the
12th of January, we made the island of Oahoo, and should have been at
anchor in Onavoora on the following day had we passed between Atooi
and Oahoo, but from some mistake about the prevailing winds on the
opposite side of Oahoo, we continued on round the north end of it,
and did not anchor at Onavoora until the sixteenth. Two or three
American merchant vessels were lying there, with which we exchanged
salutes. The Dolphin was the first American man-of-war that ever
entered a harbour of the Sandwich Islands, and the firing of the
guns, and the report widely circulated that an American man-of-war
had arrived, brought the inhabitants from far and near to the shore
of the harbour to witness the novel sight. Several of our
countrymen, who were traders here, and had been expecting us for some
time, came on board to offer their congratulations, and invite us on
shore to partake of their hospitality. It was highly gratifying to
us upon landing, to meet nearly all of our countrymen residing at the
Island, who came down, en masse, to the beach, to welcome us on
shore, in the most kind and friendly manner. We were a little
disappointed, however, when we came to look round and found that none
of the missionaries had partaken in the general sentiment. They were
also our countrymen, and from the character of benevolence and
philanthropy they had assumed to themselves, we had a right to expect
they would have been amongst the first to hail us with a welcome to
their lonely abode. We expected, indeed, that they would not only
have received us as countrymen, but as friends, whose kindness, and
sympathy would be highly acceptable to them in their peculiar
situation.
From the shore we were escorted to a large frame building called the
wooden-house, then occupied by our countryman, Captain Wilds, where a
handsome dinner was prepared, to which every luxury was added that
could be obtained from the shipping or the shore. We were much
surprised on landing, to find a rabble of naked and half-naked
natives, amounting to many hundreds, as we had been taught to
believe, from the various information we had received, that their
condition was much improved, and that they were far advanced in
civilization. They were of all ages, and formed a more varied and
fantastic group than I had any where seen, even where no degree of
civilization had taken place, from an intercourse with white men.
Some of them were quite naked; some had their native dress of tappa
cloths; some had on cotton shirts, some a pair of old trowsers, and
some nothing but an old jacket. Many of them had adorned their heads
with wreaths of red and yellow flowers, and some their necks and
wrists with necklaces and bracelets of shells. They expressed the
greatest pleasure at seeing us, shouting and crowding around, so that
we could not get along without pushing them out of the way. In
appearance, a comparison of them with the natives of the Marquesas or
Mulgrave Islands, would have been greatly to their disadvantage. On
the following day, we were again invited to dine at the same place,
where we met a second time with our countrymen, and interchanged with
them those sentiments of friendship and sympathy that naturally arise
on meeting in a strange land, and which are felt by Americans with
peculiar force. It appeared to us that they could not sufficiently
express their gratification at seeing us at Oahoo, by the most
unremitted attention, for they continued to feast and give us parties
every day for more than a week, and until our various and pressing
duties made it inconvenient for us to partake of them. On the first
sabbath after our arrival, I went to the place of worship appointed
by the missionaries for the natives. A large building, formerly
occupied for this purpose, had been destroyed a short time previous
to our arrival, and as they had now no house sufficiently large to
contain the whole congregation, the place appointed for worship was
an extensive enclosure in the rear of a large frame building, which
is occupied as the dwelling of the young king. Within this
enclosure, was assembled about a thousand people, as I supposed,
seated on the ground. Some of them were dressed in silks, cottons,
and calicoes, and others were in their native dress, being quite
naked, except about the waist. They were in the open air, without
any protection from the sun, which was pouring its vertical rays upon
them. Mr. Bingham, the head of the mission, was addressing them in
the language of the island, and when he saw me at the outer edge of
the circle, very kindly beckoned me to come round where the queen
dowager was seated. He was standing there himself. A native was
holding an umbrella over his head, and around him were seated all the
chief men and women, some in chairs, and some of them on the ground.
With one or two exceptions, they were all people of uncommon size.
Some of them were quite neatly dressed, but others had displayed a
most whimsical and ridiculous fancy. When I came near Cahumanu, who
was the favourite wife of the departed and highly distinguished
Tamahamaha, she extended her hand to me and bade one of her
attendants bring me a chair. The service lasted about an hour, when
the assemblage dispersed, and the natives ran away as much pleased as
so many children let loose from school. At the close of the service,
I promised myself so much politeness on the part of the distinguished
personages present, as to receive from some of them an invitation to
go into their houses, as I was in the uniform of a foreign officer;
but in this I was altogether disappointed. I had the satisfaction of
speaking, for a few minutes, with Mr. Bingham, whose attention was
soon called from me by the presence of some chief, with whom he
wished to exchange a salutation, and after recognizing two or three
of the chiefs present whom I had seen before, I was suffered to
depart without receiving any further notice.