|
At this time a small canoe was launched
in a great hurry from the further end of the beach, and putting off with
two men, paddled towards us, when I brought to. They stopped short,
however, as if afraid to approach, until Omai, who addressed them in the
Otaheitean language, in some measure quieted their apprehensions. They
then came near enough to take some beads and nails, which were tied to a
piece of wood, and thrown into the canoe. Omai, perhaps improperly, put
the question to them, whether they ever eat human flesh? which they
answered in the negative, with a mixture of indignation and abhorrence.
One of them, whose name was Mourooa, being asked how he came by a scar on
his forehead, told us that it was the consequence of a wound he had got in
fighting with the people of an island which lies to the north-eastward,
who sometimes came to invade them. They afterward took hold of a rope.
Still, however, they would not venture on board.
Mourooa was lusty and well made, but not
very tall. His features were agreeable, and his disposition seemingly no
less so; for he made several droll gesticulations, which indicated both
good nature and a share of humour. His colour was nearly of the same cast
with that common to the most southern Europeans. The other man was not so
handsome. Both of them had strong straight hair, of a jet colour, tied
together on the crown of the head with a bit of cloth. They wore girdles
of a substance made from the Morus papyrifera, in the same manner
as at the other islands of this ocean. They had on a kind of sandals, made
of a grassy substance interwoven; and, as we supposed, intended to defend
their feet against the rough coral rock. Their beards were long, and the
inside of their arms, from the shoulder to the elbow, and some other
parts, were punctured or tattooed after the manner of the inhabitants of
almost all the other islands in the South Sea. The lobe of their ears was
slit to such a length, that one of them stuck there a knife and some
beads, which he had received from us; and the same person had two polished
pearl shells, and a bunch of human hair, loosely twisted, hanging about
his neck, which was the only ornament we observed. The canoe they came in
was not above ten feet long, and very narrow, but both strong and neatly
made. They paddled either end of it forward indifferently.
We now stood off and on; and as soon as
the ships were in a proper station, I ordered two boats to sound the
coast, and to endeavour to find a landing place. With this view, I went in
one of them myself, taking with me such articles to give the natives as I
thought might serve to gain their good-will. I had no sooner put off from
the ship than the canoe with the two men, which had not left us long
before, paddled towards my boat, and, having come alongside, Mourooa
stepped into her, without being asked, and without a moment's hesitation.
Omai, who was with me, was ordered to
inquire of him where we could land, and he directed us to two different
places. But I saw, with regret, that the attempt could not be made at
either place, unless at the risk of having our boats filled with water, or
even staved to pieces. Nor were we more fortunate in our search for
anchorage, for we could find no bottom till within a cable's length of the
breakers.
While we were thus employed in
reconnoitring the shore, great numbers of the natives thronged down upon
the reef, all armed. Mourooa, who was now in my boat, probably thinking
that this warlike appearance hindered us from landing, ordered them to
retire back. As many of them complied, I judged he must be a person of
some consequence among them. Indeed, if we understood him right, he was
the king's brother. So great was the curiosity of several of them, that
they took to the water, and swimming off to the boats, came on board them
without reserve. Nay, we found it difficult to keep them out, and still
more difficult to prevent them carrying off everything they could lay
their hands upon. At length, when they perceived that we were returning to
the ships, they all left us, except our original visitor Mourooa. He,
though not without evident signs of fear, kept his place in my boat, and
accompanied me on board the ship.
The cattle, and other new objects that
presented themselves to him there, did not strike him with so much
surprise as one might have expected. Perhaps his mind was too much taken
up about his own safety, to allow him to attend to other things. I could
get but little new information from him; and therefore, after he had made
a short stay, I ordered a boat to carry him in toward the land. As soon as
he got out of the cabin, he happened to stumble over one of the goats. His
curiosity now overcoming his fear, he stopped, looked at it, and asked
Omai what bird this was? and not receiving an immediate answer from him,
he repeated the question to some of the people upon deck. The boat having
conveyed him pretty near to the surf, he leapt into the sea, and swam
ashore. He had no sooner landed than the multitude of his countrymen
gathered round him, as if with an eager curiosity to learn from him what
he had seen; and in this situation they remained when we lost sight of
them.
After leaving Mangeea, as this island
was called, on the afternoon of the 30th, we continued our course
northward all that night, and till noon on the 31st, when we again saw
land in the direction of north-east by north, distant eight or ten
leagues, and next morning we got abreast of its north end. I sent three
armed boats to look for anchoring-ground and a landing-place. In the
meantime, we plied up under the island with the ships.
Just as the boats were putting off, we
observed several single canoes coming from the shore. They went first to
the Discovery, she being the nearest ship. It was not long after
when three of the canoes came alongside of the Resolution, each
conducted by one man. They are long and narrow, and supported by
out-riggers. Some knives, beads, and other trifles, were conveyed to our
visitors, and they gave us a few cocoa-nuts, upon our asking for them. But
they did not part with them by way of exchange for what they had received
from us. For they seemed to have no idea of bartering, nor did they appear
to estimate any of our presents at a high rate.
With a little persuasion, one of them
came on board; and the other two, encouraged by his example, soon followed
him. Their whole behaviour marked that they were quite at their ease.
After their departure, another canoe
arrived, conducted by a man who brought a bunch of plantains as a present
to me, asking for me by name, having learnt it from Omai, who was sent
before us in a boat with Mr. Gore. In return for this civility, I gave him
an axe and a piece of red cloth, and he paddled back to the shore well
satisfied. I afterward understood from Omai, that this present had been
sent from the king, or principal chief of the Island.
Not long after a double canoe, in which
were twelve men, came towards us. As they drew near the ship, they recited
some words in concert, by way of chorus, one of their number first
standing up, and giving the word before each repetition. When they had
finished their solemn chant, they came alongside, and asked for the chief.
As soon as I shewed myself, a pig and a few cocoa-nuts were conveyed up
into the ship, and the principal person in the canoe made me an additional
present of a piece of matting.
Our visitors were conducted into the
cabin, and to other parts of the ship. Some objects seemed to strike them
with a degree of surprise; but nothing fixed their attention for a moment.
They were afraid to come near the cows and horses; nor did they form the
least conception of their nature. But the sheep and goats did not surpass
the limits of their ideas; for they gave us to understand, that they knew
them to be birds. I made a present to my new friend, of what I thought
might be most acceptable to him; but, on his going away, he seemed rather
disappointed than pleased. I afterwards understood that he was very
desirous of obtaining a dog, of which animal this island could not boast.
The people in these canoes were in
general of a middling size, and not unlike those of Mangeea; though
several were of a blacker cast than any we saw there. Their features were
various, and some of the young men rather handsome. Like those of Mangeea,
they had girdles of glazed cloth, or fine matting, the ends of which,
being brought betwixt their thighs, covered the adjoining parts.
Ornaments, composed of a sort of broad brass stained with red, and strung
with berries of the nightshade, were worn about their necks. Their ears
were bored, but not slit; and they were punctured upon their legs, from
the knee to the heel, which made them appear as if they wore a kind of
boots. Their behaviour was frank and cheerful, with a great deal of
good-nature.
Soon after daybreak, we observed some
canoes coming off to the ships, and one of them directed its course to the
Resolution. In it was a hog with some plantains and cocoa-nuts, for
which the people who brought them demanded a dog from us, and refused
every other thing that we offered in exchange. To gratify these people,
Omai parted with a favourite dog he had brought from England; and with
this acquisition they departed highly satisfied.
I despatched Lieutenant Gore with three
boats, two from the Resolution, and one from the Discovery.
Two of the natives, who had been on board, accompanied him, and Omai went
with him in his boat as an interpreter. The ships being a full league from
the island when the boats put off, it was noon before we could work up to
it. We then observed a prodigious number of the natives abreast of the
boats. In order to observe their motions, and to be ready to give such
assistance as our people might want, I kept as near the shore as was
prudent. Some of the islanders now and then came off to the ships in their
canoes, with a few cocoa-nuts, which they exchanged for whatever was
offered to them.
These occasional visits served to lessen
my solicitude about the people who had landed. Though we could get no
information from our visitors, yet their venturing on board seemed to
imply, at least, that their countrymen on shore had not made an improper
use of the confidence put in them. At length, a little before sunset, we
had the satisfaction of seeing the boats put off. When they got on board,
I found that Mr. Gore himself, Omai, Mr. Anderson, and Mr. Burney, were
the only persons who had landed. The transactions of the day were now
fully reported to me by Mr. Anderson; I shall give them nearly in his
words:-
WA:
We rowed towards a small sandy beach, upon which a great number of the
natives had assembled. Several of the natives swam off, bringing
cocoa-nuts; and Omai, with their countrymen whom we had with us in the
boats, made them sensible of our wish to land.
Mr. Burney, the first lieutenant of the Discovery,
and I, went in one canoe, a little time before the other; and our
conductors, watching attentively the motions of the surf, landed us safely
upon the reef. An islander took hold of each of us, obviously with an
intention to support us in walking over the rugged rocks to the beach,
where several of the others met us, holding the green boughs of a species
of mimosa in their hands, and saluted us by applying their noses to ours.
We were conducted from the beach amidst
a crowd of people, who flocked with very eager curiosity to look at us. We
were then led up an avenue of cocoa-palms; and soon came to a number of
men, arranged in two rows, armed with clubs. After walking a little way
amongst these, we found a person who seemed a chief, sitting on the ground
cross-legged, cooling himself with a sort of triangular fan made from a
leaf of the cocoa-palm. In his ears were large bunches of beautiful red
feathers; but he had no other mark to distinguish him from the rest of the
people, though they all obeyed him.
We proceeded still amongst the men armed
with clubs, and came to a second chief, who sat fanning himself, and
ornamented as the first. In the same manner we were conducted to a third
chief, who seemed older than the two former. He also was sitting, and
adorned with red feathers; and after saluting him as we had done the
others, he desired us both to sit down.
In a few minutes, we saw, at a small
distance, about twenty young women, ornamented as the chiefs with red
feathers, engaged in a dance, which they performed to a slow and serious
air, sung by them all. We got up and went forward to see them; and though
we must have been strange objects to them, they continued their dance
without paying the least attention to us. Their motions and song were
performed in exact concert. In general, they were rather stout than
slender, with black hair flowing in ringlets down the neck, and of an
olive complexion. Their eyes were of a deep black, and each countenance
expressed a degree of complacency and modesty, peculiar to the sex in
every part of the world; but perhaps more conspicuous here, where Nature
presented us with her productions in the fullest perfection, unbiassed in
sentiment by custom, or unrestrained in manner by art.
The natives now seemed to take some
pains to separate us from each other; every one of us having his circle,
to surround and gaze at him; and when I told the chief with whom I sat,
that I wanted to speak to Omai, he peremptorily refused my request. At the
same time, I found the people began to steal several trifling things which
I had in my pocket; and when I took the liberty of complaining to the
chief of this treatment, he justified it. From these circumstances, I now
entertained apprehensions that they might have formed the design of
detaining us amongst them.
Mr. Burney happening to come to the
place where I was, I mentioned my suspicions to him; and, to put it to the
test, whether they were well founded, we attempted to get to the beach.
But we were stopped, when about half way, by some men who told us that we
must go back to the place where we had left. On coming up, we found Omai
entertaining the same apprehensions. But he had, as he fancied, an
additional reason for being afraid; for he had observed, that they had dug
a hole in the ground for an oven, which they were now heating; and he
could assign no other reason for this, than that they meant to roast and
eat us, as is practised by the inhabitants of New Zealand.
In this manner we were detained the
greatest part of the day, being sometimes together and sometimes
separated, but always in a crowd; who, not satisfied with gazing at us,
frequently desired us to uncover parts of our skin; the sight of which
commonly produced a general murmur of admiration.
Upon our urging the business we came
upon, they gave us to understand, that we must stay and eat with them; and
a pig which we saw, soon after lying near the oven, which they had
prepared and heated, removed Omai's apprehensions of being put into it
himself; and made us think it might be intended for our repast. A piece of
the young hog that had been dressed was set before us, of which we were
desired to eat. Our appetites, however, had failed, from the fatigue of
the day; and though we did eat a little to please them, it was without
satisfaction to ourselves.
It being now near sunset, we told them
it was time to go on board. This they allowed; and sent down to the beach
the remainder of the victuals that had been dressed, to be carried with us
to the ships. They put us on board our boats, with the cocoa-nuts,
plantains, and other provisions, which they had brought; and we rowed to
the ships, very well pleased that we had at last got out of the hands of
our troublesome masters.
We regretted much that our restrained
situation gave us so little opportunity of making observations on the
country. For, during the whole day, we were seldom a hundred yards from
the place where we were introduced to the chiefs on landing; and,
consequently, were confined to the surrounding objects. The first thing
that presented itself, worthy of our notice, was the number of people,
which must have been, at least, two thousand. In general, they had their
hair tied on the crown of the head, long, black, and of a most luxuriant
growth. Many of the young men were perfect models in shape, of a
complexion as delicate as that of the women, and, to appearance, of a
disposition as amiable.
The wife of one of the chiefs appeared
with her child, laid in a piece of red cloth, which had been presented to
her husband; and seemed to carry it with great tenderness, suckling it
much after the manner of our women. Another chief introduced his daughter,
who was young and beautiful; but appeared with all the timidity natural to
the sex, though she gazed on us with a kind of anxious concern, that
seemed to struggle with her fear, and to express her astonishment at so
unusual a sight.
About a third part of the men were armed
with clubs and spears. The clubs were generally about six feet long, made
of hard black wood, lance-shaped at the end, but much broader, with the
edge nicely scolloped, and the whole neatly polished.
What the soil of the island may be,
farther inland, we could not tell. But, toward the sea, it is nothing more
than a bank of coral, ten or twelve feet high, steep and rugged; except
where there are small sandy beaches, at some clefts where the ascent is
gradual. The reef or rock, that lines the shore entirely, runs to
different breadths into the sea, where it ends all at once, and becomes
like a high, steep wall.
CJC: Though
the landing of our gentlemen proved the means of enriching my journal with
the foregoing particulars, the principal object I had in view was, in a
great measure, unattained; for the day was spent without getting any one
thing from the island worth mentioning. The natives, however, were
gratified with a sight they never before had; and, probably, will never
have again. And mere curiosity seems to have been the chief motive for
keeping the gentlemen under such restraint, and for using every art to
prolong their continuance amongst them.
Omai was Mr. Gore's interpreter; but
that was not the only service he performed this day. He was asked, by the
natives, a great many questions concerning us; and according to the
account he gave me, his answers were not a little upon the marvellous. As,
for instance, he told them that our country had ships as large as their
island, on board which were instruments of war, of such dimensions, that
several people might sit within them; and that one of them was sufficient
to crush the whole island at one shot. This led them to inquire of him
what sort of guns we actually had in our two ships. He said, that though
they were but small, in comparison with those he had just described, yet,
with such as they were, we could, with the greatest ease, and at the
distance the ships were from the shore, destroy the island, and kill every
soul in it. They persevered in their inquiries to know by what means this
could be done; and Omai explained the matter as well as he could. He
happened luckily to have a few cartridges in his pocket. These he
produced; the balls, and the gunpowder which was to set them in motion,
were submitted to inspection; and, to supply the defects of his
description, an appeal was made to the senses of the spectators. In the
centre of a circle formed by the natives, the inconsiderable quantity of
gunpowder, collected from his cartridges, was properly disposed upon the
ground, and, by means of a bit of burning wood from the oven, where dinner
was dressing, set on fire. The sudden blast and loud report, the mingled
flame and smoke, that instantly succeeded, now filled the whole assembly
with astonishment; they no longer doubted the tremendous power of our
weapons, and gave full credit to all that Omai had said. This probably
induced them to liberate the gentlemen.
Omai found three of his countrymen here;
their story is an affecting one, as related by him. About twenty persons
had embarked on board a canoe at Otaheite, to cross over to the
neighbouring island, Ulietea. A violent contrary wind arising, they could
neither reach the latter, nor get back to the former. Their intended
passage being a very short one, their stock of provisions was scanty, and
soon exhausted. The hardships they suffered, while driven along by the
storm, are not to be conceived. They passed many days without sustenance.
Their numbers gradually diminished, worn out by famine and fatigue. Four
only survived, when the canoe overset. However, they kept hanging by the
side of the vessel, till Providence brought them in sight of the people of
this island, who immediately sent out canoes and brought them ashore. Of
the four, one was since dead. The other three, still living, spoke highly
of the kind treatment they here met with. And so well satisfied were they
with their situation, that they refused the offer made to them by our
gentlemen, at Omai's request, of giving them a passage on board our ships,
to restore them to their native islands.
The landing of our gentlemen on this
island, though they failed in the object of it, cannot but be considered
as a very fortunate circumstance. It has proved, as we have seen, the
means of bringing to our knowledge a matter of fact, not only very
curious, but very instructive. The application of the above narrative is
obvious. It will serve to explain, better than a thousand conjectures of
speculative reasoners, how the detached parts of the earth, and in
particular how the islands of the South Seas may have been first peopled;
especially those that lie remote from any inhabited continent, or from
each other.
Having taken our final leave of the
Friendly Islands, I now resume my narrative of the voyage. In the evening
of the 17th of July, at eight o'clock, the body of Eaoo bore north-east by
north, distant three or four leagues. The wind was now at east, and blew a
fresh gale. With it I stood to the south, till half an hour past six
o'clock the next morning, when a sudden squall from the same direction
took our ship aback; and before the ships could be trimmed, on the other
tack, the mainsail and the top-gallant sails were much torn.
I continued to stretch to the
east-south-east, without meeting with any thing worthy of note, till seven
o'clock in the evening of the 29th; when we had a sudden and very heavy
squall of wind from the north. At this time, we were under single-reefed
top-sails, courses, and stay-sails. Two of the latter were blown to
pieces; and it was with difficulty that we saved the other sails. After
this squall, we observed several lights moving about on board the Discovery;
by which we concluded that something had given way; and, the next morning,
we saw that her main-topmast had been lost. Both wind and weather
continued very unsettled till noon this day, when the latter cleared up,
and the former settled in the north-west quarter. At this time we were in
the latitude of 28° 6' south, and our longitude was 198° 23' east. Here
we saw some pintado birds, being the first since we left the land. On the
31st, at noon, Captain Clerke made a signal to speak with me. By the
return of the boat, which I sent on board his ship, he informed me, that
the head of the main-mast had been discovered to be sprung, in such a
manner, as to render the rigging of another topmast very dangerous; and
that, therefore, he must rig something lighter in its place. He also
informed me, that he had lost his main-top-gallant-yard; and that he
neither had another, nor a spar to make one, on board. The Resolution's
sprit-sail top-sail-yard, which I sent him, supplied this want. The next
day, we got up a jury top-mast, on which he set a mizen-top-sail; and this
enabled him to keep way with the Resolution.
The wind was fixed in the western board;
that is, from the north, round by the west to south, and I steered east,
and north-east, without meeting with anything remarkable, till eleven
o'clock in the morning of the 8th of August, when the land was seen,
bearing north-north-east, nine or ten leagues distant. At first, it
appeared in detached hills, like so many separate islands; but as we drew
nearer, we found that they were all connected, and belonged to one and the
same island. I steered directly for it, with a fine gale at south-east by
south; and at half-past six o'clock in the afternoon, it extended from
north by east, to north-north-east ¾ east, distant three or four leagues.
The night was spent standing off and on; and, at day-break, the next
morning, I steered for the north-west or lee side of the island; and, as
we stood round its south, or south-west part, we saw it every where
guarded by a reef of coral rock, extending, in some places, a full mile
from the land, and a high surf breaking upon it. Some thought that they
saw land to the southward of this island; but, as that was to the
windward, it was left undetermined. As we drew near, we saw people on
several parts of the coast, walking or running along-shore; and, in a
little time, after we had reached the lee-side of the island, we saw them
launch two canoes, into which above a dozen men got, and paddled toward
us.
I now shortened sail, as well to give
these canoes time to come up with us, as to sound for anchorage. At the
distance of about half a mile from the reef, we found from forty to
thirty-five fathoms' water, over a bottom of fine sand. Nearer in, the
bottom was strewed with coral rocks. The canoes having advanced to about
the distance of a pistol-shot from the ship, there stopped. Omai was
employed, as he usually had been on such occasions, to use all his
eloquence to prevail upon the men in them to come nearer; but no
entreaties could induce them to trust themselves within our reach. They
kept eagerly pointing to the shore with their paddles, and calling to us
to go thither; and several of their countrymen, who stood upon the beach,
held up something white, which we considered also as an invitation to
land. We could very well have done this, as there was good anchorage
without the reef, and a break or opening in it, from whence the canoes had
come out, which had no surf upon it, and where, if there was not water for
the ships, there was more than sufficient for the boats; but I did not
think proper to risk losing the advantage of a fair wind, for the sake of
examining an island that appeared to be of little consequence. We stood in
no need of refreshments, if I had been sure of meeting with them there;
and having already been so unexpectedly delayed in my progress to the
Society Islands, I was desirous of avoiding every possibility of farther
retardment. For this reason, after making several unsuccessful attempts to
induce these people to come alongside, I made sail to the north, and left
them; but not without getting from them, during their vicinity to our
ship, the name of their island, which they called Toobouai. It is situated
in the latitude of 22° 15' south; and in 210° 37' east longitude. Its
greatest extent, in any direction, exclusive of the reef, is not above
five or six miles. On the north-west side, the reef appears in detached
pieces, between which the sea seems to break in upon the shore. Small as
the island is, there are hills in it of a considerable elevation. At the
foot of the hills, is a narrow border of flat land, running quite round
it, edged with a white sand beach.
We had an opportunity, from the
conversation we had with those who came off to us, of satisfying
ourselves, that the inhabitants of Toobouai speak the Otaheite language; a
circumstance that indubitably proves them to be of the same nation. Some
of those whom we saw upon the beach, where about a hundred persons had
assembled, were entirely clothed with a kind of white garment. One of them
kept blowing a large conch-shell, to which a reed, near two feet long, was
fixed; at first, with a continued tone of the same kind; but he afterward
converted it into a kind of musical instrument, perpetually repeating two
or three notes, with the same strength. What the blowing the conch
portended, I cannot say; but I never found it the messenger of peace.
One of the canoes carried seven, and the
other eight, men; and they were managed with small paddles, whose blades
were nearly round. When they saw us determined to leave them, they stood
up in their canoes, and repeated something very loudly in concert; but we
could not tell whether this was meant as a mark of their friendship or
enmity. It is certain, however, that they had no weapons with them; nor
could we perceive, with our glasses, that those on shore had any.
After leaving this island, from the
discovery of which future navigators may possibly derive some advantage, I
steered to the north, with a fresh gale at E. by S., and at day-break in
the morning of the 12th, we saw the island of Maitea. Soon after, Otaheite
made its appearance; and at noon it extended from S.W. by W. to W.N.W.;
the point of Oheitepeha Bay bearing W., about four leagues distant. I
steered for this bay, intending to anchor there, in order to draw what
refreshments I could from the south-east part of the island, before I went
down to Matavai; from the neighbourhood of which station I expected my
principal supply. We had a fresh gale easterly, till two o'clock in the
afternoon; when, being about a league from the bay, the wind suddenly died
away, and was succeeded by baffling, light airs from every direction, and
calms by turns. This lasted about two hours. Then we had sudden squalls,
with rain, from the east. These carried us before the bay, where we got a
breeze from the land, and attempted in vain to work in to gain the
anchoring place. So that, at last, about nine o'clock, we were obliged to
stand out, and to spend the night at sea. |
