The narrative says,—
"They were usually of medium height, but their limbs were remarkably small. Their skin was the colour of soot, or rather, it might be described as of deep chocolate colour. Their hair was black and not woolly, and was cut short; some wore it plaited, some curled. Various portions of their bodies were painted red, and one of them had white stripes on his lips and breast which he called 'carbanda.' Their features were far from disagreeable; they had very bright eyes, white and even teeth, and their voices were sweet and musical. Some among them wore a nose-ornament which Cook had not met with in New Zealand. It was a bone, as large as a finger, passed through the cartilage.
"A little later a quarrel arose. The crew had taken possession of some tortoises which the natives claimed, without having in the least assisted in capturing them. When they found that their demand was not acceded to, they retired in fury, and set fire to the shrubs in the midst of which the English encampment was situated. The latter lost all their combustible commodities in the conflagration, and the fire, leaping from hill to hill, afforded a magnificent spectacle during the night."
Meantime Messrs. Banks, Solander, and others, enjoyed many successful hunts. They killed kangaroos, opossums, a species of pole-cat, wolves, and various kinds of serpents, some of which were venomous. They also saw numbers of birds, kites, hawks, cockatoos, orioles, paroquets, pigeons, and other unknown birds.
After leaving Endeavour River, Cook had good opportunities of testing the difficulties of navigation in these latitudes. Rocks and shallows abounded. It was necessary to cast anchor in the evening, for it was impossible to proceed at night through this labyrinth of rocks without striking. The sea, as far as the eye could reach, appeared to dash upon one line of rocks more violently than upon the others; this appeared to be the last.
Upon arriving there, after five days' struggle with a contrary wind, Cook discovered three islands stretching four or five leagues to the north. But his difficulties were not over. The vessel was once more surrounded by reefs and chains of low islets, amongst which it was impossible to venture.
Cook was inclined to think it would be more prudent to return and seek another passage. But such a détour would have consumed too much time, and have retarded his arrival in the East Indies. Moreover there was an insurmountable obstacle to this course. Three months' provisions were all that remained.
The situation appeared desperate, and Cook decided to steer as far as possible from the coast, and to try and pass the exterior line of rocks. He soon found a channel, which shortly brought them to the open sea.
"So happy a change in the situation," says Kippis, "was received with delight. The English were full of it, and openly expressed their joy. For nearly three months they had been in perpetual danger. When at night they rested at anchor, the sound of an angry sea forced them to remember that they were surrounded by rocks, and that, should the cable break, shipwreck was inevitable. They had travelled over 360 miles, and were forced to keep a man incessantly throwing the line and sounding the rocks through which they navigated. Possibly no other vessel could furnish an example of such continued effort."
Had they not just escaped so terrible a danger, the English would have had cause for uneasiness in reflecting upon the length of way that remained to them across a sea but little known, upon a vessel which let in nine inches of water in an hour. With pumps out of repair and provisions almost consumed, the navigators only escaped these terrible dangers to be exposed on the 16th of April to a peril of equal magnitude.
Carried by the waves to a line of rocks above which the sea spray washed to a prodigious height, making it impossible to cast anchor; without a breath of wind, they had but one resource, to lower boats to tow the vessel off. In spite of the sailors' efforts theEndeavourwas still only 100 paces from the reef, when a light breeze, so slight that under better circumstances no one would have noticed it, arose and disengaged the vessel. But ten minutes later it fell, the currents strongly returned, and theEndeavourwas once more carried within 200 feet of the breakers.
After many unsuccessful attempts, a narrow opening was perceived.
"The danger it offered was less imminent than that of remaining in so terrible a situation," says the narrative. "A light breeze which fortunately sprang up, the efforts of the boats, and the tide, conveyed the ship to the opening, across which she passed with frightful rapidity. The strength of the current prevented theEndeavourfrom touching either shore of the channel, which, however, was but a mile in width, and extremely unequal in depth, giving now thirty fathoms, now only seven of foul bottom."
If we have lingered somewhat over the incidents of this voyage, it is because it was accomplished in unknown seas, in the midst of breakers and currents, which, sufficiently dangerous for a sailor when they are marked on a map, become much more so when, as was the case with Cook, since leaving the coast of New Holland, the voyage is made in the face of unknown obstacles, which all the instinct and keen vision of the sailor cannot always successfully surmount.
One last question remained to be solved,—
Were New Holland and New Guinea portions of one country? Were they divided by an arm of the sea, or by a strait?
In spite of the dangers of such a course, Cook approached the shore, and followed the coast of Australia towards the north.
On the 21st he doubled the most northerly cape of New Holland, to which he gave the name of Cape York, and entered a channel sprinkled with islands near the mainland, which inspired him with the hope of finding a passage to the Indian Ocean.
Once more he landed, and planting the English flag, solemnly took possession in the name of King George, of the entire Eastern Coast from the eighteenth degree of latitude to this spot, situated in 107° south. He gave the name of New South Wales to this territory, and to fitly conclude the ceremony, he caused three salutes to be fired.
Cook next penetrated Torres Strait, which he called Endeavour Strait, discovered and named the Wallis Islands, situated in the middle of the south-west entrance to Booby Island, and Prince of Wales Island, and steered for the southern coast of New Guinea, which he followed until the 3rd of September without being able to land.
Upon that day Cook landed with about eleven well-armed men, amongst them Solander, Banks, and his servants. They were scarcely a quarter of a mile from their ship, when three Indians emerged from the wood, uttering piercing cries, and rushed at the English.
"The one who came nearest," says the narrative, "threw something which he carried at his side, with his hand, and it burned like gunpowder, but we heard no report."
Cook and his companions were obliged to fire upon the natives in order to regain their ship, from whence they could examine them at their leisure. They resembled the Australians entirely, and like them, wore their hair short, and were perfectly naked—only their skin was less dark; no doubt because they were less dirty.
"Meantime the natives struck their fire at intervals, four or five at a time. We could not imagine what this fire could be, nor their object in throwing it.
"They held in the hand a short stick, perhaps a hollow cane, which they flourished from side to side, and at the same instant we saw the fire and smoke exactly as it flashes from a gun, and it lasted no longer. We observed this astonishing phenomenon from the vessel, and the illusion was so great that those on board believed the Indians had fire-arms, and we ourselves should have imagined they fired guns, but that our ship was so close that in such a case we must have heard the explosion."
This fact remains unexplained, in spite of the many commentaries it has occasioned, and which bear out the testimony of the great navigator.
Many of the English officers demanded immediate permission to land in search of cocoa-nuts arid other fruits, but the captain was unwilling to risk his sailors' lives in so futile an attempt; he was, besides, anxious to reach Batavia, to obtain repairs for his vessel. He thought it useless, moreover, to remain a longer time in these latitudes. They had been so often visited by the Spanish and Dutch, that there were no further discoveries to make.
In passing Arrow and Wesel Islands he rectified their positions, and reaching Timor, put into port in Savu Island, where the Dutch had been settled for some time. There Cook revictualled, and by accurate observations settled its position at 10° 35' southern latitude, and 237° 30' west longitude.
After a short interval theEndeavourarrived at Batavia, where she was repaired.
But the stay in that unhealthy country was fatal after such severe fatigue. Endemic fevers raged there; and Banks, Solander, and Cook, as well as the greater part of the crew, fell ill. Many died, amongst them Monkhouse, the surgeon, Tupia, and little Tayeto. Ten men only escaped the fever.
TheEndeavourset sail on the 27th of December, and on the 15th of January, 1771, put into Prince of Wales Island for victuals.
From that moment, sickness increased among the crew. Twenty-three men died, amongst them Green, the astronomer, who was much regretted.
After a stay at the Cape of Good Hope, where he met with the welcome he so sorely needed, Cook re-embarked, touched at St. Helena, and anchored in the Downs on the 11th of June, 1772, after an absence of nearly four years.
"Thus," says Kippis, "ended Cook's first voyage, a voyage in which he had experienced such dangers, discovered so many countries, and so often evinced his superiority of character. He was well worthy of the dangerous enterprise and of the courageous efforts to which he had been called."
CAPTAINCOOK'SSECONDVOYAGE.I.
CAPTAINCOOK'SSECONDVOYAGE.I.
Search for the Southern Continent—Second stay at New Zealand—Pomontou Archipelago—Second stay at Tahiti—Reconnoitring Tonga Isles—Third stay at New Zealand—Second crossing of the Southern Ocean—Easter Island reconnoitred—Visit to the Marquesas Islands.
Had the government not been desirous of rewarding James Cook for the way in which he had fulfilled the mission entrusted to him, the unanimous voice of the public would have constrained them. On the 29th of August he received the rank of commander in the Royal Navy. But the great navigator, proud of the services he had rendered to England and to science, thought the reward less than his achievements merited. He would have delighted in an appointment as ship's captain, but Lord Sandwich, who was then at the head of the Admiralty, pointed out to him, that it was not possible to gratify him without upsetting all established customs, and injuring the discipline of the Royal Navy.
However, Cook busied himself in putting together the necessary materials for the narration of his experiences; but, being soon occupied with still more important matters, he placed them in the hands of Dr. Hawkesworth, who was to superintend their publication.
At the same time, the observations he had taken on the transit of Mercury in concert with Mr. Green, his calculations and astronomical solutions, were submitted to the consideration of the Royal Society, and that learned body at once recognized his merit.
In one respect, however, the important results obtained by Cook were incomplete. He had not perfectly proved the impossibility of an antarctic continent. This chimera was still dear to the hearts of scientific men. Although obliged to admit that neither New Zealand nor Australia made part of such a continent, and that theEndeavourhad navigated in latitudes in which it might have been found, they still affirmed that it would be found still more south, and reiterated all those advantages which its discovery would entail.
The government determined to settle a question which had been discussed for so many years, and to despatch an expedition for the purpose. Its commander was easily selected. The nature of the voyage demanded vessels of peculiar construction. As theEndeavourhad been sent to the Falkland Islands, the Admiralty gave orders for the purchase of the two suitable vessels for the purpose.
Cook was consulted, and insisted that the ships should be solidly built, draw little water, and possess capacity for carrying provisions and ammunition in proportion to the number of the crew and the length of the voyage.
The Admiralty accordingly bought two vessels, constructed at Whitby, by the same ship-builder as theEndeavour. The larger was of 462 tons burden, and was named theResolution, the second was only of 336 tons, and was called theAdventure.
Cook received command of theResolution, and Captain Tobias Furneaux, second lieutenant of theWallis, was raised to the command of theAdventure. The second and third officers, and several of the crew had already served in theEndeavour.
It may readily be imagined that every possible care was taken in the equipment of these ships. Lord Sandwich and Captain Palliser themselves superintended every detail.
Each of the ships was stocked with provisions of every kind for two years and a half.
Very extraordinary articles were provided at the instance of Captain Cook, who claimed them as anti-scorbutics, for instance, malt, sour krout, salted cabbages, soup-slabs, mustard and saloop, as well as carrot marmalade, and thickened and unfermented beer, which was tried at the suggestion of Baron Storch of Berlin, and Mr. Pelham, secretary to the Commissariat department.
Equal care was taken to ship two small boats, each of twenty tons, intended to carry the crew in case of shipwreck.
William Hodges, a landscape painter, two naturalists, John Reinhold Forster and his son George; two astronomers, W. Wales and W. Bayley, accompanied the expedition, provided with the best instruments for observation.
Nothing that could conduce to the success of the adventure was neglected. It was to return with an immense amount of collected information, which was to contribute to the progress of the natural and physical sciences, and to the ethnology of navigation and geography.
Cook says, "I received my instructions at Plymouth dated 25th June. They enjoined my immediate departure for the island of Madeira. To ship wine there, and thence to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope, where I was to let the crew have a spree on shore, and obtain the provisions and other stores I needed. To advance southwards and endeavour to find Circumcision Cape, which was said to have been discovered by M. Bouvet, in the 54° southern parallel, and about 11° 20' east longitude, reckoning from Greenwich. If I found this cape, to ascertain whether it was part of the continent or an island. Should it prove the former, to neglect no opportunity of investigating its possible extent. To collect facts of every kind which might be useful to navigation and commerce, or would tend to the progress of the natural sciences. I was desired to observe the spirit, temperament, character, and means of the inhabitants, should there be any, and to use every fair means of forming friendly alliances with them.
"My instructions proceeded to enjoin me to seek discoveries in the east or west, according to the position in which I might find myself, and advised my nearing the south pole as much as possible, and as long as the condition of the ships, the health of the crew, and the provisions allowed of my doing so. To be careful in any case to reserve sufficient provisions to reach some known port, where I might refit for my return to England.
"In addition, I was ordered, if I found Circumcision Cape to be an island, or if I did not succeed in finding it, in the first case to take the necessary bearings, and in both to sail southward as long as I still hoped to find the continent. Then to proceed eastward, to look for this continent, and to discover the islands which might be situated in this part of the southern hemisphere. To remain in high latitudes and to prosecute my discoveries, as had been already said, as near the pole as possible, until I had completed the navigation of the world, and finally to repair to the Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to Spithead."
Cook left Plymouth harbour on the 13th of July, and on the 29th of the same month he arrived at Funchal, in Madeira. Here he took in provisions, and continued his route southwards. But being shortly convinced that his supply of water would not hold out until he reached the Cape of Good Hope, he determined to break the voyage by putting in at Cape Verd Islands, and on the 10th of August he anchored in Praya Port, which he left four days later.
Cook availed himself of his stay in this port, as he usually did, to collect every fact which might be useful to navigators. His description is the more valuable now, as these parts have completely changed in character, and the conditions of a stay in port have been greatly modified by the improvements accomplished there.
On the 23rd of the same month, after violent squalls which had driven every one on deck, Cook, aware of the pernicious effect of the damp of warm climates, and always on the alert to keep his crew in good health, gave orders to aerate (renew the air) in the between decks. He even had a fire lighted in order to smoke it, and dry it quickly, and not only took the precautions advocated by Lord Sandwich, and Sir Hugh Palliser, but also those which the experience of his last voyage suggested to him.
Thanks to all these efforts at prevention there was not a single sick case on board theResolutionwhen she arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on the 30th of October. Cook, in company with Captain Furneaux, and Messrs. Foster, went to pay a visit to the Dutch governor, Baron de Plettemberg, who placed all the resources of the colony at his disposal. There he found that two French ships, which had left the island of Mauritius in March, had touched at the Cape before proceeding to the southern seas where they were to prosecute discoveries, under command of Captain Marion.
During this stay in port, which was longer than they expected, Forster met the Swedish botanist Sparman, a pupil of Linnæus, and engaged him to accompany him, by promising him large pay. It is difficult to praise Forster's disinterestedness under these circumstances too highly. He had no hesitation in admitting a rival, and even paid his expenses, in order to add completeness to the studies in natural history which he wished to make in the countries he was about to visit.
Anchor was weighed on the 22nd of November, and the two ships resumed their course southwards, in search of Cape Circumcision, discovered by Captain Bouvet, on the 1st of January, 1739. As the temperature would rapidly become colder, Cook distributed the warm clothes, furnished by the Admiralty, to his sailors. From the 29th of November till the 6th of December a frightful tempest prevailed. The ships, driven out of their course, were carried to the east, to such a degree that they were forced to resume the search for Circumcision Cape. Another consequence of the bad weather, and of the sudden change from heat to extreme cold was the death of all the animals embarked at the Cape. And lastly, the sailors suffered so much from the damp, that it was necessary to increase the rations of brandy to stimulate them to work.
On the 10th of December, in 50° 40' southern latitude the first ice was met with. Rain and snow succeeded each other uninterruptedly. The fog soon became so dense, that the crews did not perceive a floating iceberg, until they were a mile past it. "One of these," says the narrative, "was not less than 200 feet high, 400 wide, and 2000 long.
"Taking it as probable, that this piece was of absolutely equal size, its depth beneath the water, would have been 1800 feet, and its height about 2000 feet, and from the dimensions just given its entire bulk must have contained 1600 million cubic feet of ice."
As they proceeded further south the icebergs increased. The sea was so rough, that the waves climbed these glacial blocks, and fell on the other side in fine impalpable dust. The scene filled the observers with admiration. But this was soon succeeded by terror, upon the reflection that if the vessel struck one of these enormous masses, she must be dashed to pieces. The presence of danger soon, however, produced indifference, and more thought was bestowed upon the sublime beauty, than upon the strife with this terrible element.
Upon the 14th of December, an enormous iceberg, which closed in the horizon, prevented the two vessels from proceeding southwards, and it became absolutely necessary to skirt it.
It did not present an unbroken surface, for hillocks were visible on it, similar to those met on the previous days. Some thought they distinguished land under the ice, even Cook for the moment was deceived, but as the fog lifted the mistake was easily rectified.
Next day the vessels were driven before a strong current. The elder Forster and Wales, the astronomer, embarked in a small boat to ascertain its swiftness. Whilst thus engaged, the fog became so dense, that they completely lost sight of the ship. In this miserable boat, without instruments or provisions, in the midst of the wide ocean, far from any coast, surrounded by ice, their situation was dreadful. They left off rowing, lest they should get farther from the ship. They were losing all hope when the sound of a distant bell fell upon their ears. They rowed swiftly in the direction of the sound. TheAdventurereplied to their shouts and picked them up after several hours of terrible suspense.
The generally received opinion was, that the ice floats collected in the bays or mouths of rivers. The explorers, therefore, imagined themselves near land, which would prove to be situated in the south behind the vast iceberg.
They were thirty leagues to the west of it, before they found an opening in the ice which might lead to the south. The captain then determined to steer an equal distance to the east. Should he not find land, he at least hoped to double the iceberg, and penetrate in advance of it to the pole, and thereby settle the doubts of all the physicists.
But although it was the middle of summer in this part of the world, the cold became daily more intense. The sailors complained of it, and symptoms of scurvy appeared on board.
Warmer clothes were distributed, and recourse was had to the remedies usual in such cases, malt and lemon-juice, which soon overcame the malady, and enabled the crews to bear the severity of the temperature.
On the 29th of December, Cook ascertained positively that the iceberg was joined to no land. He therefore decided to proceed eastward as far as the parallel of Cape Circumcision, that is, if no obstacle prevented him.
He had scarcely put this resolve into execution when the wind became so violent, and the sea so rough, that navigation, in the midst of floating ice, which crashed with a fearful noise, became most perilous.
The danger increased, when a field of ice extending beyond the range of vision was seen to the north. There seemed every prospect of the ships being imprisoned for many weeks, "hemmed in," to use the expression of whalers, if indeed they did not run the risk of being crushed at once.
Cook neither tried to run to the west or east, he steered straight for the south. He was now in the latitude attributed to Cape Circumcision, and seventy leagues south of the position assigned to it. Hence he concluded that if land existed as stated by Bouvet (which is now known to be a fact) it could only be an inconsiderable island, and not a large continent.
The captain had no further reason for remaining in these latitudes. In 67° 15' southern latitude a new ice barrier, running from east to west closed the passage for him, and he could find no opening in it. Prudence enjoined his remaining no longer in this region, for two-thirds of the summer were already passed. He therefore determined to seek, with no further delay, the land recently discovered by the French.
On the 1st of February, 1773, the vessels were in 48° 30' south latitude, and 38° 7' west longitude, very nearly the parallel attributed to St. Maurice Island.
After a fruitless cruise, productive of no results, they were forced to conclude, that if there really were land in these latitudes it could only be a small island, otherwise it could not have escaped their search.
On the 8th of February, the captain found to his dismay that theAdventurewas no longer sailing with him. He waited in vain for two days, firing at close intervals and keeping great fires upon the deck all night. TheResolutionhad to continue her voyage alone.
On the morning of the 17th of February, between twelve and three o'clock, the crew witnessed a magnificent spectacle, then first seen by European eyes. It was an aurora borealis. "The officer of the watch," says the narrative, "noticed that from time to time rays left it in spiral and circular forms, and that then its brilliancy increased, which gave it an extremely beautiful appearance. It appeared to have no particular bearing, but remained motionless in the heavens, which it filled entirely from time to time, by throwing its light to all parts."
After another attempt to pass the arctic circle, an attempt, which the fogs, the rain, the snow, and the ice-blocks forced him to relinquish, Cook resumed his course to the north, convinced that he left no large land behind him, and regained New Zealand, which he had agreed upon with theAdventureas a rendezvous in the event of separation.
On the 25th of March he cast anchor in Dusky Bay, after one hundred and seventy consecutive days of sea, in which he had not made less than three thousand six hundred and sixty leagues, without one sight of land.
As soon as he could find suitable anchorage, the captain hastened to avail himself of the resources for feeding his crew, which the country furnished in fowls, fish, and vegetables, whilst he himself, generally with the plumb-line in his hand, traversed the environs of the bay. He met only a few natives, with whom he had little intercourse. But one family becoming somewhat familiarized, established itself a hundred yards from the landing-place. Cook gave a concert for them, in which the fife and cornet were lavished on them in vain, the New Zealanders awarded the palm to the drum!
On the 18th of April, a chief came on board with his daughter. But before entering the ship he rapped her sides with a green wand he held in his hand, and addressed an harangue or invocation in modulated accents, to the strangers, a very general custom with the islanders of the southern sea. Scarcely was his foot on deck, when he offered the captain a bit of cloth, and a green talc hatchet, an unprecedented act of generosity for a New Zealander.
The chief visited every part of the ship. In order to testify his gratitude to the captain he plunged his fingers into a bag at his waist, and offered to anoint his hair with the tainted oil it contained. Cook had much difficulty in escaping from this proof of affection, which had not been very pleasing to Byron in the Strait of Magellan, but the painter Hodges was forced to submit to the operation, to the amusement of the entire crew. The chief then departed, to return no more, taking with him nine hatchets, and thirty pairs of carpenter's scissors, which the officers had given him. Richer than all the New Zealanders put together, he no doubt hastened to stow away his treasures, in the fear that some one would deprive him of them.
Before leaving Cook landed five geese, the last of those he had brought from the Cape, thinking that they would multiply in this little inhabited spot, and he had a plot of land cleared in which he planted kitchen garden seeds. Thus he worked at the same time for the natives and for the future navigators who should find precious resources here.
When Cook had completed the hydrographical survey of Dusky Bay, he started for Queen Charlotte's Sound, the rendezvous assigned to Captain Furneaux.
On the 17th of May the crew witnessed a magnificent spectacle. Six water-spouts, one of them sixty feet wide at its base, were visible a hundred feet from the ship in succession, drawing the clouds and sea into communication by their powerful suction. This phenomenon lasted three quarters of an hour, and the first feeling of fear which it awakened in the breasts of the crew was soon merged in one of admiration, the greater as at this time such marvels were little known.
Next day, just as theResolutionentered Queen Charlotte's Sound, theAdventurewas seen, and proved to have been waiting for six weeks. Furneaux, after reaching Van Diemen's Land on the 1st of March, had coasted it for seventeen days, but he was forced to desist before ascertaining whether it was, as he supposed, a part of New Holland. The refutation of this error was reserved for the surgeon, Bass. On the 9th of April after reaching Queen's Charlotte's Sound, the captain of theAdventurehad profited by his leisure to lay out a garden and to open relations with the natives, who had furnished him with irresistible proofs of their cannibalism.
Before he continued his voyage of discovery, Cook followed the same line of conduct as at Dusky Bay. He landed a ram and a sheep, a goat and a she-goat, a pig and a sow. He also planted potatoes, which only existed upon the more southerly of the two islands which form New Zealand.
The natives resembled those of Dusky Bay, but they appeared more thoughtless, ran from room to room during supper, and devoured everything that was offered to them. It was impossible to induce them to taste wine or brandy, but they were very partial to sugar and water. Cook says,—
"They laid hands on all they saw, but they gave up anything so soon as we made them understand by signs that we could not, or would not give it to them. They particularly admired glass bottles, which they called Tawhaw, but when the durability and use of iron was explained to them they preferred it to glass-ware, ribbons, or white paper. Amongst them were several women, whose lips were covered with little holes, painted a blueish black, whilst vivid red formed of chalk and oil, covered their cheeks. Like the natives of Dusky Bay, they had small legs and bodies, but thick knees, which proves that they take little exercise and sit cross-legged. The almost perpetual squatting in their pirogues no doubt also adds to these peculiarities.
"The colour of their skin is clear brown, their hair is very black, their faces are round, their nose and lips are somewhat thick but not flat, their eyes are black and bright enough, and tolerably expressive.
"Placed in a row, the natives took off their outer garments, and one of them sang a rough sort of song, the others accompanying him with gestures. They stretched out their hands, and alternately struck their feet against the ground with frantic contortions. The last words they repeated in chorus, and we easily distinguished a sort of metre, but I am not sure that there was any rhyme; the music was wild and monotonous."
Some of the New Zealanders begged for news of Tupia, and when they heard of his death, they expressed their grief by a kind of lamentation plainly artificial.
Cook did not recognize a single native whom he had met on his first voyage. He naturally concluded that the natives who in 1770 inhabited the Sound had been chased out, or had gone elsewhere of their free will. The number of inhabitants, too, was reduced by a third, the "pah" was deserted, as well as a number of cabins along the coast.
The two ships being ready to return to sea, Cook gave instructions to Captain Furneaux. He wished to advance southward between 41° to 46° S. lat. up to 140° west longitude, and if he found no land, to steer towards Tahiti, which was appointed as the place of rendezvous. He then proposed to return to New Zealand and survey all the unknown parts of the sea between that island and Cape Horn.
Towards the end of July, after a few days' hot weather, scurvy again broke out on board theAdventure. TheResolutionescaped the scourge, owing to the precautions from which Cook never departed for a single day, and the example which he himself set of constantly eating celery and scurvy grass.
On the 1st of July, the two vessels were in S. lat. 25° 1', and 134° 6' W. long., the situation which Carteret attributed to Pitcairn Island. Cook endeavoured to find it, but, to his great regret, the illness on board theAdventureshortened his cruise.
He was anxious to verify or rectify the longitude of this island, and by so doing, that of all the surrounding lands discovered by Carteret, which had not been confirmed by astronomical observations. But having no longer any hope of finding an Antarctic continent, he set sail for the north-west, and soon reconnoitred several of the islands seen by Bougainville.
"The outlying islands with which the Pacific Ocean abounds between the tropics," he says, "are on a level with the waves in the low parts, and raised only a rood or two above them in the others. Their shape is often circular. In the centre they contain a basin of sea water, and the depth of water all round is not to be sounded. They produce little; cocoa-nuts appear to be the best of their productions; yet in spite of this sterility, and of their small extent, most of them are inhabited. It is not easy to conceive how these little settlements were peopled, and it is not less difficult to determine from whence the highest islands of the Southern Sea drew their inhabitants."
On the 15th of April, Cook reconnoitred Osnaburgh or Mairea Islands, discovered by Wallis, and set off for Otaiti-Piha, where he intended to embark as many provisions as possible before reaching Matavai.
"At daybreak," says Forster, "we rejoiced in one of those beautiful mornings which poets of every country have tried to paint. A light breeze brought a delicious perfume from the land, and ruffled the surface of the water. The forest-capped mountains elevated their majestic heads, over which the rising sun shed his beams. Close to us we saw a ridge of hills, of gentler ascent, but wooded like the first, and pleasantly intermixed with green and brown tints; below, a plain adorned with breadfruit-trees, and a quantity of palms in the background, overshadowing the delightful groves. All seemed still asleep. Dawn was but just breaking, and the country was wrapped in peaceful darkness. Yet we could perceive the houses amid the trees, and the pirogues on the shore. Half a mile from the beach, the waves broke over a reach of rocks level with the sea, and nothing could equal the tranquillity of the interior flow of the harbour. The day-star shed its lustre on the plain; the natives rose, and by degrees added life to this charming scene. At the sight of our vessels, several launched their pirogues in haste, and paddled towards us, as we were happily watching them. We little thought that we were going to run into great danger, and that destruction would soon threaten the vessels and their crews on this fortunate coast."
Skilful the writer, happy the painter, who knew how to find such fresh and varied colours! This enchanting picture is conveyed in a few words. One regrets not having accompanied this bold sailor, this scientist who so well understood Dame Nature! Unfortunately we could not visit these innocent and peaceable inhabitants in that age of gold to which our own century offers a painful comparison.
The vessels were half a league from a reef, when the wind fell. In spite of every effort, the ships were driven upon the rocks, in the very sight of the much-coveted land, when a clever manoeuvre of the captain's, ably seconded by the tide and the land breeze, came to their rescue. They had, however, received some injuries, and theAdventurelost three anchors.
The ships were surrounded by a crowd of pirogues, and every variety of fruit was exchanged for glass beads. Still the natives offered neither fowls nor pigs. Those that were seen near the cabins belonged to the king, and they had no right to sell them. Several of the Tahitans begged for news of Banks and the companions of Cook's earlier voyage. Some also inquired for news of Tupia, but they spoke no more of him when they had learned the circumstances of his death.
Next day, the two vessels anchored in the roadstead of Otaiti-Piha, two cable-lengths from the shore, and were besieged by visitors and traffickers.
Some profited by the crush to throw the merchandize they had already sold into their canoes, that they might sell it over again. To put a stop to this trick, Cook drove the perpetrators away, after having flogged them, a punishment which they accepted without complaining.
In the afternoon the two captains landed, to examine the watering place, which they found very convenient. During their absence a crowd of natives came on board, and amply confirmed the unenviable reputation they had acquired in the earlier records of Bougainville and Cook.
"One of the officers, standing on the quarter-deck," says the narrative, "desiring to give a child six years old, in one of the pirogues, some glass beads, let them fall into the sea. The child at once jumped into the water and dived until he recovered them. To reward his skill, he threw other trifles to him, a generosity which tempted a crowd of men and women, who amused us by their surprising agility in the waves. Their easy attitudes in the water, and the suppleness of their limbs, made them like amphibious animals."
But the Tahitans who came on board were detected in several acts of theft. One of them, who remained for the greater part of the day in Cook's bedroom, hastened to jump into the sea, and the captain, enraged by his conduct, had shots fired over his head. A boat, sent to take the pirogues of the robbers, was assailed with stones until it reached the shore, and it was only after a discharge of shot that the assailants determined to retreat. These hostilities led to no result, the natives came on board as if nothing had occurred.
Cook learned from them that the greater part of his old friends from the neighbourhood of Matavai had fallen in a battle between the inhabitants of the two peninsulas.
The officers made many excursions on land. Forster, animated by an ardour for botanical research, missed none of them. In one of these he witnessed the method employed by the Tahitans in preparing their stuffs.
"We had gone but a few paces," he says, "when a noise from the forest struck upon our ears. Following the sounds, we reached a little tent, where five or six women sitting upon either side of a large square piece of wood, were thrashing the fibrous bark of mulberry-trees to fabricate their stuffs. For this purpose they used a bit of square wood, with long parallel grooves more or less hollowed, according to the different sides. They paused a moment to enable us to examine the bark, the hammer, and the beam which served them for a table.
"They also showed us a kind of gum-water in a large cocoa-nut which they used from time to time to join the various bits of bark together.
"This glue, which appears to us to be obtained from the 'Hibiscus Esculentus,' is absolutely needful in the fabrication of the stuff, which being occasionally two or three yards wide and fifty long, are composed of small pieces of the bark. The women employed at this work wore very old and ragged clothes and their hands were hard and knotted."
The same day Forster saw a man with very long nails, of which he was immensely proud, as proving that he was not obliged to work for his bread. In Annam, in China and other countries, this singular and ridiculous fashion is common. A single finger is kept with a shorter nail, being the one used to scratch with, a very frequent occupation in the extreme East.
In another of his walks Forster saw a native, who passed his days in being fed by his wives, quietly lying upon a carpet of thick shrubs. This melancholy person, who fattened without rendering any service to society, recalled Sir John Mandeville's anger at seeing "such a glutton who passed his days without distinguishing himself by any feats of arms, and who lived in pleasure, as a pig which one fattens in a sty."
On the 22nd of August, Cook having learned that King Waheatua was in the neighbourhood, and being desirous of seeing him, landed with Captain Furneaux, the Forsters, and several natives. He met him advancing towards him with a numerous suite, and recognized him at once as he had seen him several times in 1769.
This king was then a child, and was called Te Arée, but he had changed his name at the death of his father Waheatua. He made the captain sit down on his stool, and inquired solicitously for the various Englishmen he had known on the former voyage. Cook, after the usual compliments, presented him with a shirt, a hatchet, some nails, and other trifles. But of all his presents, that which appeared most precious to him, and which excited most cries of admiration from his followers, was a tuft of red feathers mounted upon iron wire.
Waheatua, king of Little Tahiti, was about seventeen or eighteen years of age. Tall and well made, his appearance would have been majestic, but for a look of fear and distrust.
He was surrounded by several chiefs and noble personages, remarkable for their height, and one of whom, tattooed in a peculiar manner, was enormously stout. The king, who showed him great deference, consulted him every moment. Cook then learned that a Spanish vessel had put into Tahiti a few months previously, and he afterwards ascertained that it was that of Domingo Buenechea, which came from Callao.
Whilst Eteé, the king's confidant, conversed with some officers upon religious subjects, and asked the English if they had a god, Waheatua amused himself with the captain's watch. Astonished at the noise it made, and venting his surprise in the words, "It speaks!" he inquired of what use it was.
It was explained to him that it told the time, and in that respect resembled the sun. Waheatua gave it the name of the "little sun," to show that he understood the explanation.
The vessels sailed on the morning of the 24th, and were followed for a long time by numbers of pirogues bearing cocoa-nuts and fruit. Rather than lose this opportunity of obtaining European commodities, the natives parted with their wares very cheaply; a dozen cocoa-nuts could be obtained for one glass bead.
The abundant fresh provisions soon restored the health of all on board the vessels, and most of the sailors, who on reaching Osnaburgh could scarcely walk, could get about well when they left.
TheResolutionandAdventurereached Matavai Bay on the 26th. A crowd of Tahitians soon invaded the deck. Most of them were known to the captain, and Lieutenant Pickersgill, who had accompanied Wallis in 1767, and Cook two years later, received a warm welcome from them.
Cook had tents erected for the sick, the sail-menders, and the coopers, and then left with Captain Furneaux and the two Forsters for Oparreé. The boat which took them soon passed a "moraï" of stones, and a cemetery known as the "morai of Tootahah." When Cook called it by this name, one of the natives who accompanied him interrupted him by saying that since Tootahah's death it was called O Too.
"A fine lesson for princes, who thus in their lives are reminded that they are mortal, and that after their death the earth which contains their corpse will not be their own. The chief and his wife removed the upper garments from their shoulders as they passed, a mark of respect which natives of all ranks exhibit before a 'morai,' as they appear to attach a particular idea of sanctity to these places."
Cook soon gained admittance to the presence of King O-Too. After many compliments he offered him all that he thought he had which would please him, because he appreciated the advantage this man's friendship would be to him, for his every word showed timidity of disposition.
Tall and well made, the king was about thirty years old. He inquired after Tupia and Cook's companions, although he had seen none of them. Many presents were distributed to those of his cortége who appeared the most influential.