A Voyage Round the World (Forster)/Book 1/Chapter 6

by Georg Forster

1773.
May.

 

CHAP.VI.

 

Passage from Dusky Bay to Queen Charlotte's Sound.—Junction with the Adventure.—Transactions during our stay there.

 

Tuesday 11.Having hoisted in our boat, which returned loaden with seals, we stood to the northward, with a heavy S.W. swell, and numerous sooty albatrosses and blue petrels attending us. As we advanced along shore, the mountains seemed to decrease in height, and in four and twenty hours the thermometer rose 7½ degrees, having been at 46° on the day after we left Dusky Bay, and standing at 53½° the next morning at eight o'clock.Thursday 12.

On the 14th, being off Cape Foul-wind, our favourable gale left us, as if it meant to authenticate the propriety of the denomination, and we really had a contrary wind. It blew a hard gale all the 16th,Sunday 16. attended with heavy rains, and we kept plying the whole day, making one of our boards close in shore under Rock's Point.

At four o'clock in the morning on the 17th we stood to the eastward with a fair wind, so that we were abreast of Cape Farewell at eight o'clock. Here we saw the land appearing low and sandy near the sea-shore, though it rose into high snow-capt mountains in the interior parts. Vast flocks of the little diving petrel, (procellaria tridactyla,) were seen fluttering on the surface of the sea, or sitting on it, or diving to considerable distances with amazing agility. They seemed exactly the same which we had seen on the 29th of January and the 8th of February, in the latitude of 48° S, when we were in search of M. Kerguelen's Islands.

In the afternoon, about four o'clock, we were nearly opposite Cape Stephens, and had little or no wind. We observed thick clouds to the S.W. about that time, and saw that it rained on all the southern parts of that cape. On a sudden a whitish spot appeared on the sea in that quarter, and a column arose out of it, looking like a glass tube; another seemed to come down from the clouds to meet this, and they made a coalition, forming what is commonly called a water-spout. A little while after we took notice of three other columns, which were formed in the same manner as the first. The nearest of all these was about three miles distant, and its apparent diameter, as far as we could guess, might be about seventy fathom at the base. We found our thermometer at 56½ when this phænomenon first took its rise. The nature of water-spouts and their causes being hitherto very little known, we were extremely attentive to mark every little circumstance attendant on this appearance. Their base, where the water of the sea was violently agitated, and rose in a spiral form in vapours, was a broad spot, which looked bright and yellowish when illuminated by the sun. The column was of a cylindrical form, rather encreasing in width towards the upper extremity. These columns moved forward on the surface of the sea, and the clouds not following them with equal rapidity, they assumed a bent or incurvated shape, and frequently appeared crossing each other, evidently proceeding in different directions; from whence we concluded, that it being calm, each of these water-spouts caused a wind of its own. At last they broke one after another, being probably too much distended by the difference between their motion and that of the clouds. In proportion as the clouds came nearer to us, the sea appeared more and more covered with short broken waves, and the wind continually veered all round the compass, without fixing in any point. We soon saw a spot on the sea, within two hundred fathom of us, in a violent agitation. The water, in a space of fifty or sixty fathoms, moved towards the centre, and there rising into vapour, by the force of the whirling motion, ascended in a spiral form towards the clouds. Some hailstones fell on board about this time, and the clouds looked exceedingly black and louring above us. Directly over the whirl-pool, if I may so call the agitated spot on the sea, a cloud gradually tapered into a long slender tube, which seemed to descend to meet the rising spiral, and soon united with it into a strait column of a cylindrical form. We could distinctly observe the water hurled upwards with the greatest violence in a spiral, and it appeared that it left a hollow space in the centre; so that we concluded the water only formed a hollow tube, instead of a solid column. We were strongly confirmed in this belief by the colour, which was exactly like any hollow glass-tube. After some time the last water-spout was incurvated and broke like the others, with this difference, that its disjunction was attended with a flash of lightning, but no explosion was heard. Our situation during all this time was very dangerous and alarming; a phænomenon which carried so much terrific majesty in it, and connected as it were the sea with the clouds, made our oldest mariners uneasy and at a loss how to behave; for most of them, though they had viewed water-spouts at a distance, yet had never been so beset with them as we were; and all without exception had heard dreadful accounts of their pernicious effects, when they happened to break over a ship. We prepared indeed for the worst, by cluing up our topsails; but it was the general opinion that our masts and yards must have gone to wreck if we had been drawn into the vortex. It was hinted that firing a gun had commonly succeeded in breaking water-spouts, by the strong vibration it causes in the air; and accordingly a four-pounder was ordered to be got ready, but our people being, as usual, very dilatory about it, the danger was past before we could try this experiment. How far electricity may be considered as the cause of this phænomenon, we could not determine with any precision; so much however seems certain, that it has some connection with it, from the flash of lightning, which was plainly observed at the bursting of the last column. The whole time, from their first appearance to the dissolution of the last, was about three quarters of an hour. It was five o'clock when the latter happened, and the thermometer then stood at 54° or 2½ degrees lower, than when they began to make their appearance. The depth of water we had under us was thirty-six fathom. The place we were in was analogous to most places where water-spouts have been observed, inasmuch as it was in a narrow sea or strait. Dr. Shaw and Thevenot saw them in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulph; and they are common in the West-Indies, the Straits of Malacca, and the Chinese sea. Upon the whole, we were not fortunate enough to make any remarkable discoveries in regard to this phænomenon; all our observations only tend to confirm the facts already noticed by others, and which are so largely commented upon by the learned Dr. Benjamin Franklin, F.R.S. His ingenious hypothesis, that whirlwinds and water-spouts have a common origin, has not been invalidated by our observations. We refer our philosophical readers to his papers, as containing the most complete and satisfactory account of water-spouts^[1].

Tuesday 18.About five o'clock the next morning we opened Queen Charlotte's Sound, and about seven we saw three flashes rising from the south end of the Motu-Aro, where a hippah, or strong hold of the natives, was situated, which is described in Lieutenant Cook's voyage in the Endeavour^[2]. We immediately conceived that they were signals made by Europeans, and probably by our friends in the Adventure; and upon firing some four-pounders, had the pleasure of being answered out of the Ship Cove, opposite the island. Towards noon we could discern our old consort at anchor; and soon after were met by several of her officers, who brought us a present of fresh fish, and gave us an account of what had happened to them after our separation. In the afternoon it fell calm, so that we were obliged to be towed into the cove, where we anchored at seven in the evening. In the mean time Captain Furneaux came on board, and testified his satisfaction at rejoining us, by a salute of thirteen guns, which our people cheerfully returned. Those who have been in situations similar to ours, may form an adequate idea of the reciprocal pleasure which this meeting produced. It was heightened on both sides, by the recent impressions of accumulated dangers to which our separate courses had exposed us, and which under Providence we had happily escaped.

The Adventure, after losing our company, had continued her course to the northward of us, between the latitudes of 50° and 54° south, experiencing very heavy gales from the westward during the whole time. On the 28th of February, being in about 122° of longitude west from Greenwich, Captain Furneaux thought it adviseable gradually to descend into the latitude of Diemen's Land, or the extremity of New Holland, discovered by Abel Janssen Tasman in November 1642. On the 9th of March he fell in with the S.W. part of this coast, and running along its southern extremity, came to an anchor on the 11th in the afternoon, in a bay on the east side, which he called Adventure Bay, and which is probably the same where Tasman lay at anchor, distinguished by the name of Frederick Henry Bay. The southern extremities of this coast consisted of large broken masses of barren and blackish rocks, resembling the extreme points of the African and American continents. The land round the bay rose in sandy hillocks, of which the innermost were covered with various sorts of trees, rather remote from each other, and without any brush-wood. They also found a lake of fresh water on the west side, covered with great flocks of wild-ducks and other aquatic fowls. Several islands in the offing to the N.E. along shore, were of a moderate height, and likewise covered with wood. Tasman probably took them for one great island, which in his charts bears the name of Maria's Island. The Adventure lay only three days in this bay, during which Captain Furneaux took in a small quantity of fresh water, and collected several curious animals, among which was a species of Viverra, and a fine white hawk. Our Europeans perceived no inhabitants during their stay, but thought they observed some smoke at a great distance in the country.

On the 15th in the evening they weighed and sailed out of Adventure Bay, standing along shore to the northward. They found it consisted of sandy hills of a moderate height, but saw at the same time some much higher in the interior country. At different parts of this coast they met with several islands, particularly those which Tasman named Schouten's and Vander Lyn's Islands. About the latitude of 41° 15′ south, they opened a little bay, which, on account of several fires, probably lighted by the natives, they named the Bay of Fires. They continued examining the coast, not without running some danger from numerous shoals, till the 19th of March at noon, when being in the latitude of 39° 20′ south, and still seeing the land about eight leagues to the north-westward, they concluded that Diemen's Land was connected with the continent of New Holland, and directed their course towards the rendezvous at New Zeeland. However, as they had been obliged, by the frequency of shoals, to keep out of sight of the coast several times, and there remained a space of twenty leagues from the northernmost land they had seen, to Point Hicks, the southern boundary of captain Cook's discoveries in the Endeavour; it is still undetermined, whether a strait or passage does not exist between the main of New Holland and Diemen's Land, though the appearance of quadrupeds upon the latter, rather seems to favour the idea of their being connected together. Be this as it may, there is perhaps no part of the world which so well deserves future investigation as the great continent of New Holland, of which we do not yet know the whole outline, and of whose productions we are in a manner entirely ignorant. Its inhabitants, from the accounts of all the voyagers who have visited them, are but few in number, probably dwell on the sea-coasts only, go perfectly naked, and seem by all description to lead a more savage life than any nation in warm climates. There is consequently a vast interior space of ground, equal to the continent of Europe, and in great measure situated between the tropics, entirely unknown, and perhaps uninhabited: nothing is more certain, from the vast variety of animal and vegetable productions, collected on its sea-coasts in captain Cook's voyage in the Endeavour, than that the inner countries contain immense treasures of natural knowledge, which must of course become of infinite use to the civilized nation, which shall first attempt to go in search of them. The south-west corner of this continent, which hitherto remains wholly unexplored, may perhaps open a way to the heart of the country; for it is not likely, that so great an extent of land, situated under the tropic, should be destitute of a great river, and no part of the coast seems better situated than that for its passage into the sea.

After leaving this coast, the Adventure continued fifteen days at sea, on account of contrary winds, and at length made the coast of New Zeeland, near Rock's Point, on the southern island, on the third of April, at six in the morning, and came to an anchor at Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte's Sound, on the 7th.

During their stay here, they had made the same establishments on shore as we had done at Dusky Bay, except the brewery, which they were not yet acquainted with. They had found the hippah, or strong-hold of the natives, at the southern end of Motu-Aro forsaken, and their astronomer had fixed his observatory upon it. The inhabitants of this sound, who amount to some hundred persons, in several distinct and independent parties, often at variance with each other, had begun an intercourse with them, and paid them several visits, coming from the interior parts. They had been extremely well received, and did not hesitate to come on board, where they eat freely of the sailor's provisions, showing a particular liking to our biscuit, and pease-soup. They had brought with them great quantities of their clothing, tools, and weapons, which they eagerly exchanged for nails, hatchets, and cloth.

On the 11th of May, being the same day we sailed out of Dusky Bay, several of the Adventure's people, who were at work on shore, or dispersed on shooting parties, distinctly felt a shock of an earthquake; but those who remained on board, did not perceive any thing of it. This circumstance may serve to evince the probability of volcanoes on New Zeeland, as these two great phænomena on our globe seem to be closely connected together.

We arrived in Queen Charlotte's Sound, at the time when the Adventure's crew began to despair of ever meeting with us again, and had made preparations to spend the whole winter in this harbour, in order to proceed to the eastward, with the ensuing spring, to explore the South Sea in high latitudes. Captain Cook, however, was by no means inclined to lie inactive during so many months, especially as he knew, that considerable refreshments were to be had at the Society Isles, which he had visited in his former voyage. He therefore gave directions to put both sloops in condition to go to sea, as soon as possible; and the Resolution being entirely prepared for that purpose, her crew assisted that of the Adventure for the sake of greater dispatch.

Wednesd. 19.We began our excursions the day after our arrival, and found the productions of the forests very similar to those of Dusky Bay, but the season and climate infinitely more favourable to our botanical researches. We were fortunate enough to meet with several species of plants still in flower, and also found some birds, which we had not seen before. But the antiscorbutic plants, which grew on every beach, gave this port the most distinguished advantage over our first place of refreshment. We immediately gathered vast quantities of wild celery, and of a well-tasted scurvy-grass (lepidium) which were daily boiled with some oat-meal or wheat for breakfast, and with pease-soup for dinner; and the people on board the Adventure, who had hitherto not known the use of these greens, now followed our example. We also found a species of sow-thistle (sonchus oleraceus,) and a kind of plant which our people called lamb's quarters, (tetragonia cornuta^[3],) which we frequently used as sallads; and if we had not such plenty of wild-fowl and fishes as at Dusky Bay, we were amply recompensed by these excellent vegetables. The spruce and the tea-tree of New Zealand likewise grew in great plenty hereabouts, and we taught our friends to make use of both for their refreshment.

Thursday 20.The next day we went to the Hippah, or fortification of the natives, where Mr. Bailey, the astronomer of the Adventure had fixed his observatory. It is situated on a steep insulated rock, which is accessible only in one place, by a narrow difficult path, where two persons cannot go abreast. At the top it had been surrounded by some palisadoes, but these were in most parts removed, and had been used for fuel by our people. The huts of the natives stood promiscuously within the enclosure, and had no walls, but consisted only of a roof, which rose into a steep ridge. The inner skeletons of these huts were branches of trees plaited so as to resemble hurdles; on these they had laid the bark of trees, and covered the whole with the rough fibres of the flag, or New Zeeland flax-plant. We were told, that the people from the Adventure had found them exceeding full of vermin, and particularly fleas, from which it should seem that they had been but lately inhabited; and indeed it is not unlikely, that all these strong places are only the occasional abode of the natives, in case of danger from their enemies; and that they forsake them, whenever their personal safety does not require their residence. Our fellow-voyagers likewise found immense numbers of rats upon the Hippah rock, so that they were obliged to put some large jars in the ground, level with the surface, into which these vermin fell during night, by running backwards and forwards; and great number of them were caught in this manner. It is therefore very probable, that rats are indigenous in New Zeeland, or at least that their arrival there, is prior to its discovery by European navigators. Captain Furneaux shewed us several spots of ground on the top of this rock, which he had ordered to be dug, and on which he had sown a great variety of garden-seeds; these succeeded so well that we frequently had sallads, and many dishes of European greens at our table, notwithstanding the season of winter was now far advanced. But the climate in this part of New Zeeland is extremely mild, when compared to that of Dusky Bay; and notwithstanding the vicinity of the snowy mountains, I am inclined to believe it seldom freezes hard in Queen Charlotte's Sound; at least we experienced no frost during our continuance there to the 6th of June.

Saturday 22.On the 22d we went over to an island in the sound, to which captain Cook had given the name of Long Island in his former voyage. It consists of one long ridge, of which the sides are steep, and the back or top nearly level, though in most places very narrow. On its N.W. side we saw a fine beach, surrounding a little piece of flat land, of which the greatest part was marshy, and covered with various grasses; the rest was full of antiscorbutics, and the New Zeeland flax-plant (phormium), growing round some old abandoned huts of the natives. We cleared some spots of ground here, and sowed European garden seeds on them, which we thought were likely to thrive in this place. We also climbed to the top of the ridge, which we found covered with dry grasses, intermixed with some low, shrubby plants; and among them a number of quails exactly like those of Europe, had their residence. Several deep and narrow glens which ran down the sides of the ridge to the sea, were filled with trees, shrubs, and climbers, the haunt of numerous small birds, and of several falcons; but where the cliffs were perpendicular, or hanging over the water, great flocks of a beautiful sort of shags, built their nests on every little broken rock, or if possible in small cavities about a foot square, which seemed in a few instances to be enlarged by the birds themselves. The argillaceous stone, of which most of the hills about Queen Charlotte's Sound consisted, is sometimes sufficiently soft for that purpose. It runs in oblique strata, commonly dipping a little towards the south, is of a greenish-grey, or bluish, or yellowish-brown colour, and sometimes contains veins of white quartz. A green talcous or nephritic stone, is also found in this kind of rock, and when very hard, capable of polish, and semi-transparent; it is used by the natives for chissels, hatchets, and sometimes for pattoo-pattoos: it is of the same species which jewellers call the jadde. Several softer sorts of this stone, perfectly opaque, and of a pale green colour, are more numerous than the flinty semi-transparent kind; and several species of horn-stone and argillaceous slate likewise are seen running in great strata through some of the mountains. The latter is commonly found in great quantity, and broken pieces, on the sea beeches, and is what our seamen call shingle, by which name it is distinguished in the account of captain Cook's former voyage. On these beaches we also met with several sorts of flinty stones and pebbles, and some loose pieces of black, compact, and ponderous basaltes, of which the natives form some of their short clubs, called pattoo-pattoos. In many places we likewise saw strata of a blackish saxum Lin. consisting of a black and compact mica or glimmer, intermixed with minute particles of quartz. The argillaceous slate is sometimes found of a rusty colour, which seems evidently to rise from irony particles; and from this circumstance, and the variety of minerals just enumerated, there is great reason to suppose that this part of New Zeeland contains iron ore, and perhaps several other metallic bodies. Before we left this place, we found some small pieces of a whitish pumice-stone on the sea-shore, which, together with the basaltine lava, strongly confirm the existence of volcanoes in New Zeeland.

Sunday 23.On the 23d in the morning, two small canoes came towards us, in which were five men of the natives, the first we had seen since the arrival of our sloop in this harbour. Their appearance was nearly the same as that of the Dusky Bay people, with this difference, that they seemed much more familiar and unconcerned. We bought some fish of them, and likewise made them some presents, conducting them into the cabin, as they did not hesitate to come on board. Seeing us sit down to dinner, they freely partook of our provisions, but drank pure water, refusing to touch either wine or brandy. They were so restless, that they removed from our table to that of the officers in the steerage, where they likewise eat with great appetite, and drank great quantities of water sweetened with sugar, of which they were remarkably fond. Every thing they saw, or could lay hands upon they coveted, but upon the least hint, that we either could not, or would not part with what they had taken up, they laid it down without reluctance. Glass bottles, which they called taw-haw, were however particularly valuable to them; and whenever they saw any of them, they always pointed to them, and then moved the hand to their breast, pronouncing the word mòkh, by which they used to express their desire of possessing any thing. Among the variety of little presents we made them they did not notice beads, ribbons, white paper, &c, but were very eager after iron, nails, and hatchets; a proof that the intrinsic value of these tools cannot fail to make an impression on the minds of these people in the long run, though they were at first indifferent to them, as not knowing their use and durability. Some of our people having made use of their canoes in the afternoon to transport themselves to the shore, they came into the cabin complaining to the captain, whose authority over the rest they very well conceived; and their embarkations being restored to them, they all went away highly pleased.

Monday 24.The next morning at day-break they returned, but brought four other persons with them, one of them a woman, with some children, and traded as usual about the ships. The captains embarked with us after breakfast, in order to visit an extensive inlet on the northern shore of the sound, which was called West Bay in the Endeavour's voyage. On our way we met a double canoe, manned with thirteen persons, who, coming along side, made acquaintance with Captain Cook, and seemed to recollect him, by enquiring for Tupaya, the native of O-Taheitee, whom he had taken on board during his former voyage, and who had lived to visit this country with him. When they were told that he was dead, they seemed much concerned, and pronounced some words in a plaintive tone. We made signs for them to go on board the vessels lying in Ship Cove; but when they saw us going on to the south, they returned to the cove from whence they came.

We found the country not quite so steep as at the southern extremity of New Zeeland, and the hills near the seaside were in general of an inferior height. In most parts, however, they were covered with forests, equally intricate and impenetrable as those of Dusky Bay, but containing a greater number of pigeons, parrots, and small birds, which perhaps abandon that rude climate during the cold season, and pass their winter in these milder regions. Oyster-catchers or sea-pies, and various sorts of shags, likewise enlivened the sea shores here, but ducks were extremely scarce. West Bay contains a number of fine coves, each of which affords excellent anchorage; the hills rise gently all round it, covered with shrubs and trees, and many of their summits are clear of woods, but overgrown with a common species of fern, (acrosticum furcatum.) This is likewise the case with many islands in the sound, and great part of the south-east shore of the sound from Cape Koamaroò to East Bay. After collecting a number of new plants, among which was a species of pepper, very much resembling ginger in the taste, and shooting many birds of all sorts, we returned on board late in the evening.

The launch, which had been sent out in the morning to an adjacent cove, in order to cut greens for the ship's company and some grass for our goats and sheep, did not return that day; but staying out all the next likewise, we began to be very uneasy about the twelve people in her, among whom were our third lieutenant, the lieutenant of marines, Mr. Hodges, the carpenter, and the gunner. Our apprehensions were the more just, as the wind and weather had been favourable for their return from almost any part of the bay, till the morning of the 25th; soon after which it began to be very rainy and stormy. On the day we had gone to West Bay, a large canoe with twelve of the natives came from the north to our ship, and after selling a variety of their dresses, some stone hatchets, clubs, spears, and even paddles, they returned the way they came.

On the 26th, after noon, the weather being somewhat cleared up, our launch arrived on board, but all the people in her were exhausted with fatigue and hunger. All the provision they had taken out with them consisted of three biscuits and a bottle of brandy; and they had not been able to succeed in catching a single fish during the tempestuous weather. After being tossed about by the waves, attempting in vain to return to the vessels, they had put into a cove, on which they found a few deserted huts of the natives, where they took shelter, and just kept themselves from starving by eating a few muscles that adhered to the rocks.

The next morning we made our researches round the bottom of the cove, in quest of plants and birds; and in the afternoon we went out along the rocky shores towards Point Jackson, to kill some shags, which we had now learnt to relish instead of ducks. Between these two excursions we received another visit of the Indian family, whom we had seen before, on the 23d. They seemed to be come for no other purpose than that of eating with us, having brought nothing with them to exchange for our iron-work. We now enquired for their names, but they were a long time before they could understand us; however, comprehending our meaning at last, they gave us a collection of words, which had a singular mixture of gutturals and vowels. The oldest among them was called Towahàngha; the others Kotughâ-a, Koghoäà, Khoäà, Kollàkh, and Taywaherùa. This last was a boy about twelve or fourteen years of age, who had a very promising countenance, and seemed to be the liveliest and most intelligent among them. He came into the cabin and dined with us, eating very voraciously of a shag-pye, of which, contrary to our expectation, he preferred the crust. The captain offered him some Madeira wine, of which he drank something more than one glass, making a great many wry faces at first. A bottle of a very sweet Cape wine being brought upon the table, a glass was filled out to him, which he relished so well that he was continually licking his lips, and desired to have another, which he likewise drank off. This draught began to elevate his spirits, and his tongue ran on with great volubility. He capered about the cabin, insisted on having the captain's boat-cloak, which lay on a chair, and was much vexed at the refusal; he next desired one of the empty bottles, and this request likewise proving fruitless, he went out of the cabin highly offended. On deck he saw some of our servants folding up linen which had been hung out to dry, and immediately seized on a table-cloth; but this being taken from him, his passion was at the highest pitch, he stamped, threatened, then grumbled, or rather grunted awhile, and at last became so sullen that he would not speak a word. The impatient temper of this nation never appeared more distinctly than in this boy's conduct; but at the same time we had room to consider, seeing the effect of strong liquors upon him, how fortunate it was that they were used to no kind of intoxicating draught, which would perhaps serve to make their temper still more fierce and ungovernable than it is at present.

Saturday 29.About thirty natives surrounded us in several canoes the next morning, and brought a few of their tools and weapons to sell, for which they received great quantities of our goods in exchange, owing to the eagerness with which our crews outbid each other. There were a number of women among them, whose lips were of a blackish blue colour, by punctuation; and their cheeks were painted of a lively red, with a mixture of ruddle and oil. Like those at Dusky Bay, they commonly had slender and bandy legs, with large knees; defects which evidently are deducible from the little exercise they use, and their mode of sitting cross-legged and cramped up almost perpetually in canoes. Their colour was of a clear brown, between the olive and mahogany hues, their hair jetty black, the faces round, the nose and lips rather thick but not flat, their black eyes sometimes lively and not without expression; the whole upper part of their figure was not disproportionate, and their assemblage of features not absolutely forbidding. Our crews, who had not conversed with women since our departure from the Cape, found these ladies very agreeable; and from the manner in which their advances were received, it appeared very plainly that chastity was not rigorously observed here, and that the sex were far from being impregnable. However their favours did not depend upon their own inclination, but the men, as absolute masters, were always to be consulted upon the occasion; if a spike-nail, or a shirt, or a similar present had been given for their connivance, the lady was at liberty to make her lover happy, and to exact, if possible, the tribute of another present for herself. Some among them, however, submitted with reluctance to this vile prostitution; and, but for the authority and menaces of the men, would not have complied with the desires of a set of people who could, with unconcern, behold their tears and hear their complaints. Whether the members of a civilized society, who could act such a brutal part, or the barbarians who could force their own women to submit to such indignity, deserve the greatest abhorrence, is a question not easily to be decided. Encouraged by the lucrative nature of this infamous commerce, the New Zeelanders went through the whole vessel, offering their daughters and sisters promiscuously to every person's embraces, in exchange for our iron tools, which they knew could not be purchased at an easier rate. It does not appear that their married women were ever suffered to have this kind of intercourse with our people. Their ideas of female chastity are, in this respect, so different from ours, that a girl may favour a number of lovers without any detriment to her character; but if she marries, conjugal fidelity is exacted from her with the greatest rigour. It may therefore be alledged, that as the New Zeelanders place no value on the continence of their unmarried women, the arrival of Europeans among them, did not injure their moral characters in this respect; but we doubt whether they ever debased themselves so much as to make a trade of their women, before we created new wants by shewing them iron-tools; for the possession of which they do not hesitate to commit an action that, in our eyes, deprives them of the very shadow of sensibility.

It is unhappy enough that the unavoidable consequence of all our voyages of discovery, has always been the loss of a number of innocent lives; but this heavy injury done to the little uncivilized communities which Europeans have visited, is trifling when compared to the irretrievable harm entailed upon them by corrupting their morals. If these evils were in some measure compensated by the introduction of some real benefit in these countries, or by the abolition of some other immoral customs among their inhabitants, we might at least comfort ourselves, that what they lost on one hand, they gained on the other; but I fear that hitherto our intercourse has been wholly disadvantageous to the nations of the South Seas; and that those communities have been the least injured, who have always kept aloof from us, and whose jealous disposition did not suffer our sailors to become too familiar among them, as if they had perceived in their countenances that levity of disposition, and that spirit of debauchery, with which they are generally reproached.

Several of these people were invited into the cabin, where Mr. Hodges applied himself to sketch the most characteristic faces, while we prevailed on them to sit still for a few moments, keeping their attention engaged, by a variety of trifles which we shewed, and some of which we presented to them. We found several very expressive countenances among them, particularly some old men, with grey or white heads and beards; and some young men, with amazing bushy hair, which hung wildly over their faces, and increased their natural savage looks. The stature of these people was middle-sized in general, and their form and colour almost entirely the same as that of the Dusky Bay people; their dress was likewise made in the same manner of the flax-plant, but never interwoven with feathers, in lieu of which they had bits of dog-skin at the four corners of their cloaks, which the others were not fortunate enough to possess. The hoghee-hoghee, or shaggy-cloak, which hangs round their neck like a thatch of straw^[4], was almost constantly worn by them, on account of the season, during which the air began to be sharp, and rains were very frequent. But their other kinds of cloth^[5] were here commonly old, dirty, and not so neatly wrought as they are described in captain Cook's first voyage. The men wore their hair hanging in a very slovenly manner about them, but the women had theirs cut short, which seems to be the general practice among them. They also wore the head-dress, or cap of brown feathers, mentioned in the account of captain Cook's former voyage. After these people had been on board a few hours, they began to steal, and secrete every thing they could lay their hands on. Several of them were discovered in conveying away a large four-hour glass, a lamp, some handkerchiefs, and some Knives; upon which they were ignominiously turned out of the sloop, and never permitted to come on board again. They felt the whole weight of shame, which this proceeding brought upon them; and their fiery temper, which cannot brook any humiliation, was up in arms at this punishment; so that one of them uttered threats, and made violent gestures in his canoe. In the evening they all went on shore, abreast of the sloops, and made some temporary huts of the branches of trees, near which they hawled their canoes on the dry land, and made fires, over which they prepared their suppers. Their meals consisted of some fresh fishes, which they had caught in their canoes not far from shore, with a kind of scoop-net, described in captain Cook's former voyage, which they managed with a dexterity peculiar to themselves.

Sunday 30.The next morning we had fine mild weather, and made a trip over to Long Island, in order to look after some hay, which our people had cut there, and to collect greens for the ship's company, near the huts which the natives had abandoned. We were fortunate enough at the same time to find some new plants, and shoot several little birds, different from those which had hitherto fallen into our hands. In the afternoon, many of our sailors were allowed to go on shore, among the natives, where they traded for curiosities, and purchased the embraces of the ladies, notwithstanding the disgust which their uncleanliness inspired. Their custom of painting their cheeks with ochre and oil, was alone sufficient to deter the more sensible from such intimate connections with them; and if we add to this a certain stench which announced them even at a distance, and the abundance of vermin which not only infested their hair, but also crawled on their clothes, and which they occasionally cracked between their teeth, it is astonishing that persons should be found, who could gratify an animal appetite with such loathsome objects, whom a civilized education and national customs should have taught them to hold in abhorrence.

 

———————— Unde
Hæc tetigit, Gradive, tuos urtica nepotes?

Juvenal.

 

Before they returned on board again, a woman stole a jacket belonging to one of our sailors, and gave it to a young fellow of her own nation. The owner finding it in the young man's hands, took it from him, upon which he received several blows with the fist. These he believed were meant in joke, but as, he was advancing to the waterside, in order to step into the boat, the native threw several large stones at him. The sailor was rouzed, and returning to the fellow, began to box him after the English manner, and in a few moments had given the New Zeelander a black eye, and bloody nose; upon which the latter, to all appearance much terrified, declined the combat, and ran off.

Captain Cook, who was determined to omit nothing which might tend to the preservation of European garden-plants in this country, prepared the soil, sowed seeds, and transplanted the young plants in four or five different parts Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/247 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/248 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/249 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/250 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/251 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/252 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/253 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/254 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/255 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/256 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/257 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/258 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/259 Page:A voyage round the world, in His Britannic Majesty's sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the years 1772, 3, 4, and 5 (IA b30413849 0001).pdf/260 that he would not destroy his plantations, but leave every thing to grow up and propagate, and returned aboard the Resolution, where the marines fired three vollies, and our crews gave three heerty cheers in token of affection to their king.

Monday 7.The wind freshened considerably after noon, and continued to blow very hard for two days following, so that we were obliged to lie at anchor till the 7th in the morning, when we weighed and sailed out of Ship Cove, in company with the Adventure. Our stay here had proved so beneficial to our crews, that they might now be said to be to the full as healthy as when they left England; and we had only a single sick man, a marine, on board our sloop, who had laboured under a consumption and dropsy ever since we had left England.

 

1. See his Experiments on Electricity, &c. 4to. fifth edition, London, 1774.
2. See Hawkesworth's Compilation, vol. II. p. 395, 400.
3. See Hawkesworth, vol. III. p. 442.
4. See Hawkesworth's Compilation, vol. III, p. 453 ,&c.
5. Ibid. p. 455.