of my cabin to see an army, as they told me, coming to attack us. I
turned out hastily enough, as may be easily conjectured, and such an
army appeared as no ship was ever attacked with; for we spied three or
four hundred black creatures, come playing and tumbling down the stream
towards us, like so many porpoises in the water. I was not satisfied at
first that they were human creatures, but would have persuaded our men,
that they were sea-monsters, or fishes of some strange kind.
But they quickly undeceived us, for they came swimming about our ships,
staring and wondering and calling to one another, but said not one word
to us, at least, if they did, we could not understand them.
Some of them came very near our ships, and we made signs to them to
come on board, but they would not venture. We tossed one of them a rope,
and he took hold of it boldly; but as soon as we offered to pull, he let
go, and laughed at us; another of them did the like, and when he let go,
turned up his black buttocks, as in sport at us; the language of which,
in our country, we all knew, but whether it had the same meaning here,
we were at a loss to know.
However, this dumb manner of conversing with them we did not like,
neither was it to any purpose to us; and I was resolved, if possible, to
know something more of them than we could get thus; so I ordered out our
pinnace with six oars, and as many other men well armed, to row among
them; and, if possible, to take some of them and bring them on board.
They went off, but the six-oar pinnace, though a very nimble boat, could
not row so fast as they could swim; for, if pulling with all their
might, they came near one of them, immediately, like dog and duck, they
would dive, and come up again thirty or forty yards off; so that our men
did not know which way to row after them; however, at last getting among
the thickest of them, they got hold of two, and with some difficulty
dragged them in; but think of our surprise, to find they were not men,
but both young women. However, they were brought on board naked as they
were.
When they came on board, I ordered they should have two pieces of linen
wrapped round their waists to cover them, which they seemed well pleased
with. We gave them also several strings of beads, and our men tied them
about their necks, and about their arms like bracelets, and they were
wonderfully delighted with their ornaments. Others of our men gave each
of them a pair of scissors, with needles and some thread, and threading
the needles, showed them how to sew with them; we also gave them food,
and each of them a dram of arrack, and made signs to know of them where
they lived; they pointed up to the river, but we could by no means
understand them.
When we had dressed them up thus with necklaces, and bracelets, and
linen, we brought them up upon the deck, and made them call to their
country folk, and let them see how well they were used, and the girls
beckoned them to come on board, but they would not venture.
However, as I thought the discovery we were to make, would be something
the easier on account of the usage of these two young women; for they
were not, as we guessed, above twenty or two-and-twenty years of age; we
resolved that the boat should go on, as we intended, up the river; and
that, as the two women pointed that way, we should carry them along with
us.
Accordingly we sent two shallops, or large boats, which carried together
sixty men, all well armed. We gave them store of beads and knives and
scissors, and such baubles with them, with hatchets and nails, and
hooks, looking-glasses, and the like; and we built up the sides and
sterns of the boats, and covered them with boards, to keep off arrows
and darts, if they should find occasion, so that they looked like London
barges. In this posture, as soon as the tide or flood was made up, our
men went away, carrying a drum and a trumpet in each boat; and each boat
had also two patereroes, or small cannon, fixed on the gunnel near the
bow.
Thus furnished, they went off about eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and
to my very great uneasiness, I heard no more of them for four days. The
whole ship's company were indeed surprised at their stay, and the
captain of the sloop would fain have had me let him have sailed up the
river with the sloop, as far as the channel would serve; which really we
found was deep enough. Indeed, as I was unwilling to run any more risks,
I could not persuade myself, but that the force I had already sent was
sufficient to fight five thousand naked creatures, such as the natives
seemed to be, and therefore, I was very unwilling to send. However, I
consented at last to have our long-boat and two smaller boats manned
with fifty-four men more, very well armed, and covered from arrows and
darts as the other had been, to go up the river, upon their solemn
promise, and with express order, to return the next day, at farthest;
ordering them to fire guns as they went up the river, to give notice to
their fellows, if they could be heard, that they were coming; and that,
in the mean time, if I fired three guns they should immediately return.
They went away with the tide of flood, a little before noon, and went up
the river about five leagues, the tide running but slowly, and a strong
fresh of land-water that checked the current coming down; so that when
the tide was spent they came to an anchor. They found the river,
contrary to their expectation, continued both deep enough, and was wider
in breadth than where the ships were at anchor; and that it had another
mouth or outlet into the sea some leagues farther east, so that the land
to the east of us, where our men went on shore, was but an island, and
had not many inhabitants, if any; the people they had seen there having
possibly swam over the other arm or branch of the river, to observe our
ships the nearer. As our men found they could go no farther for want of
the tide, they resolved to come to an anchor; but, just as they were
sounding, to see what ground they had, and what depth, a small breeze at
north-east sprang up, by which they stemmed the current and reached up
about two leagues farther, when they hove over their grappling in five
fathom water, soft ground; so that all this way, and much farther, every
one of our ships might have gone up the channel, being as broad as the
Thames is about Vauxhall.
It must be observed, that all along this river they found the land,
after they came past the place where the other branch of the river broke
off, eastward, was full of inhabitants on both sides, who frequently
came down to the water-side in haste to look at our boats; but always
when our men called to them, as if they thought our men inquired after
their fellows, they pointed up the river, which was as much as to say,
they were gone farther that way.
However, our men not being able to go any farther against the tide, took
no notice of that; but, after a little while some of them, in one of the
smaller boats, rowed towards the shore, holding up a white flag to the
people in token of friendship; but it was all one, and would have been
all one for aught we knew, if they had held up a red flag, for they all
ran away, men, women, and children; nor could our men by any
persuasions, by gestures and signs of any kind, prevail on them to stay,
or hardly so much as to look at them.
The night coming on, our men knew not well what course to take; they saw
several of the Indians' dwellings and habitations, but they were all at
a distance from the river, occasioned, as our men supposed, by the
river's overflowing the flat grounds near its banks, so as to render
those lands not habitable.
Our men had a great inclination to have gone up to one of the towns they
saw, but he that commanded would not permit it; but told them, if they
could find a good landing-place, that they might all go on shore, except
a few to keep the boats, if they chose to venture; upon which the
smallest boat rowed up about a mile, and found a small river running
into the greater, and here they all resolved to land; but first they
fired two muskets, to give notice, if possible, to their comrades, that
they were at hand; however, they heard nothing of them.
What impression the noise of the two muskets made among the Indians they
could not tell, for they were all run away before.
They were no sooner on shore, but, considering they had not above two
hours day, and that the Indian villages were at least two miles off,
they called a council, and resolved not to march so far into a country
they knew so little of, and be left to come back in the dark; so they
went on board again, and waited till morning. However, they viewed the
country, found it was a fertile soil, and a great herbage on the ground;
there were few trees near the river; but farther up where the Indian
dwellings were, the little hills seemed to be covered with woods, but of
what kind they knew not.
In the morning, before break of day, some of our men fancied they heard
a gun fired up the river; upon which the officer ordered two muskets to
be fired again, as had been done the evening before; and in about a
quarter of an hour they were answered by the like firing, by which our
men knew that their comrades heard them; so, without pursuing their
intended landing, the tide being then running upwards, they weighed, and
set to their oars, having little or no wind, and that which they had
blowing down the stream.
After they had gone about a league, they heard a confused noise at a
great distance, which surprised them a little at first; but, as they
perceived it drew nearer and nearer, they waited awhile, when they
discovered first here and there some people, then more, and then about
two or three hundred men and women together, running, and every one
carrying something.
Where it was they were going to, or what it was they carried, our men
could not tell till they came nearer, when they found that they were all
loaded with provisions, cocoa-nuts, roots, cabbages, and a great variety
of things which the men knew little of; and all these were carrying
down to our ships, as we understood afterwards, in gratitude for our
kind usage of the two young women.
When these people saw our men and their three boats, they were at a full
stop, and once or twice they were ready to lay down all their loads, and
run for it; but ours made signs of peace, and held up a white flag to
them.
Some of them, it seems, having, as we found, conversed with our men, had
a little more courage than the rest, and came to the shore side, and
looked at the boats. One of our men thought of a stratagem to make known
our desire of peace with them. Taking a string of beads and some toys,
he held them up at the end of the boat-hook staff, and showed them to
the Indians, pointing to them with his hand, and then pointing with the
other hand to what the Indians carried, and to his mouth, intimating
that we wanted such things to eat, and would give him the beads for
them.
One of the Indians presently understood him, and threw himself into the
water, holding a bundle of plants, such as he had trussed up together,
upon his head, and swimming with the other hand, came so near the boat,
where our men held out the staff, as to reach the end of the staff, take
off the string of beads and toys, and hang his bunch of trash, for it
was not better, upon the hook, and then went back again, for he would
come no nearer.
When he was gotten on shore again, all his comrades came about him to
see what he had got; he hung the string of beads round his neck, and ran
dancing about with the other things in his hand, as if he had been mad.
What our men got was a trifle of less worth than a good bunch of carrots
in England, but yet it was useful, as it brought the people to converse
with us; for after this they brought us roots and fruits innumerable,
and began to be very well acquainted with us.
By that time our men had chaffered thus four or five times they first
heard, and in a little while after saw, their two great boats, with
their fellows, coming down the river, at about two miles' distance, with
their drums and trumpets, and making noise enough.
They had been, it seems, about three leagues higher up, where they had
been on shore among the Indians, and had set at liberty the two maidens,
for such they understood they were; who, letting their friends see how
fine they were dressed, and how well they were used, the Indians were
so exceedingly obliged, and showed themselves so grateful, that they
thought nothing too much for them, but brought out all the sorts of
provisions which their country produced, which, it seem, amounted to
nothing but fruits, such as plantains, cocoa-nuts, oranges and lemons,
and such things, and roots, which we could give no name to; but that
which was most for our use, was a very good sort of maize, or Indian
corn, which made us excellent bread.
They had, it seems, some hogs and some goats; but our men got only six
of the latter, which were at hand, and were very good. But that which
was most remarkable was, that whereas in all the islands within the
tropics the people are thievish, treacherous, fierce, and mischievous,
and are armed with lances, or darts, or bows and arrows; these appeared
to be a peaceable, quiet, inoffensive people; nor did our men see any
weapon among them except a long staff, which most of the men carried in
their hands, being made of a cane, about eight foot long, and an inch
and a half in diameter, much like a quarter-staff, with which they would
leap over small brooks of water with admirable dexterity.
The people were black, or rather of a tawny dark brown; their hair long,
but curling in very handsome ringlets: they went generally quite naked,
both men and women; except that in two places, our men said, they found
some of the women covered from the middle downward. They seemed to have
been strangers to the sea; nor did we find so much as any one boat among
them: nor did any of the inhabitants dwell near the sea; but cultivated
their lands very well, in their way; having abundance of greens and
fruits growing about their houses; and upon which we found they chiefly
lived. The climate seemed to be very hot, and yet the country very
fruitful.
These people, by all we could perceive, had never had any converse with
the rest of the world by sea; what they might have by land we know not;
but, as they lie quite out of the way of all commerce, so it might be
probable they never had seen a ship or boat, whether any European ship,
or so much as a periagua of the islands. We have mentioned their nearest
distance to the Ladrones, being at least four hundred leagues; and from
the Spice Islands, and the country of New Guinea, much more; but as to
the European shipping, I never heard of any that ever went that way,
nor do I believe any ever did.
I take the more notice of these people's not having conversed, as I say,
with the world, because of the innocence of their behaviour, their
peaceable disposition, and their way of living upon the fruits and
produce of the earth; also their cultivation, and the manner of their
habitations; no signs of rapine or violence appearing among them. Our
stay here was so little, that we could make no inquiry into their
religion, manner of government, and other customs; nor have I room to
crowd many of these things into this account. They went, indeed, as I
have said, naked, some of them stark naked, both men and women, but I
thought they differed in their countenances from all the wild people I
ever saw; that they had something singularly honest and sincere in their
faces, nor did we find anything of falsehood or treachery among them.
The gratitude they expressed for our kindly using the two young women I
have mentioned, was a token of generous principles; and our men told us,
that they would have given them whatever they could have asked, that was
in their power to bestow.
In a word, it was on their account they sent that little army of people
to us loaden with provisions, which our men met before the two shallops
came down. But all the provisions they had consisted chiefly in fruits
of the earth, cocoa-nuts, plantains, oranges, lemons, &c., and maize, or
Indian corn. We were not a sufficient time with them to inquire after
what traffick they had, or whether anything fit for us. They had several
fragrant plants, and some spices, particularly cinnamon, which we found,
but what else the country produced we knew not.
We came away from hence after seven days' stay, having observed little
of the country, more than that it seemed to be very pleasant, but very
hot; the woods were all flourishing and green and the soil rich, but
containing little that could be the subject of trade; but an excellent
place to be a baitland, or port of refreshment, in any voyage that might
afterwards be undertaken that way.
We set sail, I say, from hence in seven days, and, finding the coast lie
fairly on our starboard side, kept the land on board all the way,
distance about three leagues; and it held us thus, about a hundred and
twenty leagues due east, when on a sudden we lost sight of the land;
whether it broke off, or whether it only drew off farther south, we
could not tell.
We went on two or three days more, our course south-east, when we made
land again; but found it only to be two small islands, lying south and
by east, distance nine leagues. We stood on to them, and two of our
boats went on shore, but found nothing for our purpose; no inhabitants,
nor any living creatures, except sea fowls, and some large snakes;
neither was there any fresh water. So we called that land Cape Dismal.
The same evening we stood away full south, to see if we could find out
the continuance of the former land; but as we found no land, so a great
sea coming from the south we concluded we should find no land that way.
And, varying our course easterly, we ran with a fair fresh gale at
north-west and by west, for seven days more; in all which time, we saw
nothing but the open sea every way; and making an observation found we
had passed the southern tropic; and that we were in the latitude of 26 deg.
13', after which we continued our course still southerly for several
days more, until we found, by another observation, that we were in 32 deg.
20'.
This evening we made land over our starboard bow, distance six leagues,
and stood away south and by east: but the wind slackening we lay by in
the night; and in the morning found the land bearing east and by south,
distance one league and a half; a good shore, and on sounding, about
five-and-thirty fathom, stony ground. We now hoisted our boat out, and
sent it on shore for discoveries, to sound the depth of the water, and
see for a good harbour to put in at.
Our people went quite in with the shore, where they found several men
and women crowded together to look at us. When our men came close to the
land they hung out a white flag, but the wild people understood nothing
of the meaning of it, but stood looking and amazed, and we have great
reason to believe that they never had seen any ship or bark of any
nation before. We found on our landing, no boats or sails, or anything
they had to make use of on the water; but some days after we saw several
small canoes, with three or four men in each.
Our men not being able to speak a word for them to understand, or to
know what was said to them, the first thing they did, was to make signs
to them for something to eat; upon which three of them seemed to go
away, and coming again in a few minutes, brought with them several
bundles or bunches of roots, some plantains, and some green lemons, or
limes, and laid down all upon the coast. Our men took courage then to go
on shore, and, taking up what they brought, set up a stick, and upon the
end of it hung five bunches or strings of blue and white beads, and went
on board again.
Never was such joy among a wild people discovered, as these natives
showed, when they took the beads off the stick; they danced and capered,
and made a thousand antic gestures, and, inviting our men on shore, laid
their hands upon their breasts across, and then looked up, intimating a
solemn oath not to hurt us.
Our men made signs, by which they made them understand, that they would
come again next morning, and also that they should bring us more
eatables; accordingly, we sent three boats the next morning, and our men
carried knives, scissors, beads, looking-glasses, combs, and any toys
they had, not forgetting glass beads and glass ear-rings in abundance.
The Indians were very ready to meet us, and brought us fruits and herbs
as before; but three of them, who stood at a distance, held each of them
a creature exactly like a goat, but without horns or beard; and these
were brought to traffick with us.
We brought out our goods, and offered every one something; but the
variety was surprising to them who had never seen such things before.
But that which was most valuable of all our things, was a hatchet, which
one of their principal men took up and looked at it, felt the edge, and
laid it down; then took it up again, and wanted to know the use of it:
upon which one of our men took it, and stepping to a tree that stood
near, cut off a small bough of it at one blow. The man was surprised,
and ran to the tree with it, to see if he could do the same, and finding
he could, he laid it down, ran with all his might into the country, and
by-and-by returning, came with two men more with him, to show them this
wonderful thing, a hatchet.
But if they were surprised with the novelty of a hatchet, our men were
as much surprised to see hanging round the ears of both the men that he
brought with him, large flat pieces of pure gold. The thread which they
hung by was made of the hair of the goats, twisted very prettily
together and very strong.
Our men offering to handle them, to see if they were gold, one of the
men took off his two gold bobs, and offered them to our men for the
hatchet. Our men seemed to make much difficulty of it, as if the hatchet
was of much greater value than those trifles; upon which he, being as we
found, superior, made the other, who came with him, pull off his two
ear-jewels also; and so our unreasonable people took them all four,
being of pure gold, and weighing together some grains above two ounces,
in exchange for an old rusty hatchet. However unreasonable the price
was, the purchaser did not think it so; and so over-fond was he of the
hatchet, that as soon as he had it for his own, he ran to the tree, and
in a few minutes had so laid about him with the hatchet, that there was
not a twig left on it that was within his reach.
This exchange was a particular hint to me; and I presently directly my
chief mate, and Captain Merlotte, to go on shore the next day, and
acquaint themselves as much as they could with the natives, and, if
possible, to find out where they had this gold, and if any quantity was
to be found.
Captain Merlotte and my chief mate bestowed their time so well, and
obliged the natives so much, by the toys and trifles they gave them,
that they presently told them that the gold, which they called Aarah,
was picked up in the rivers that came down from a mountain which they
pointed to, a great way off. Our men prevailed with three of them, to go
with them to one of these rivers, and gave them beads and such things to
encourage them, but no hatchet; that was kept up at a high rate, and as
a rarity fit only for a king, or some great man who wore Aarah on his
ears.
In a word, they came to the river where they said they found this Aarah;
and the first thing our men observed there, was an Indian sitting on the
ground, and beating something upon a great stone, with another stone in
his hand for his hammer: they went to see what he was doing, and found
he had got a lump of gold from the sand, as big as a swan-shot, of no
regular shape, but full of corners, neither round nor square; and the
man was beating it flat as well as he could.
One of our men, who had a hatchet in his hand, made signs to him to let
him flatten it for him; and so turning the back part of the hatchet,
which served the purpose of a hammer, he beat the piece of gold flat in
an instant; and then turning it upon the edge, beat it that way until he
brought it to be round also.
This was so surprising to the man who had been beating, that he stood
looking on with all the tokens of joy and amazement; and, desiring to
see the hatchet, looked this way and that way, upon those of his
countrymen who came with us, as if asking them if ever they saw the
like.