The French Governor, the representative of European decorum, was one of the most animated of the spectators, and gave full swing to the recklessness of the Tahitians, who are accustomed to push the law of hospitality to the extent of prostituting their daughters, remarking, with muchnaïveté, that the natives would take it exceedingly ill were any one to refuse to take part in certain old habits and customs, or were to declare themselves openly opposed to their continuance!
At the close of the fête the Governor ordered some Frenchwines, "the cocoa milk of the Europeans," to be set before the inhabitants of Faáa. Adéjeûner à la fourchettewas laid out under tents, where, at twenty long tables covered in the European manner, the most distinguished personages took their seats. Every family had contributed something, the whole having the appearance of a regular pic-nic.
On each table were displayed flowers, bananas, bread-fruit, and other delicious products of the vegetable world. The European guests were seated at a large table erected at the upper end of an alley of trees. The chieftainess and her husband sat beside the Governor. Next in order was the Government interpreter, a Mr. Darling, the son of one of the oldest English missionaries sent out to Tahiti, on whom devolved the interpretation into Tahitian or French, as the case might be, of the various speeches and toasts.
The dinner-service, at our table at least, was entirely in the European manner, which seemed to me a pity; a meal without knives or forks, as is the custom among the natives, would have been infinitely more interesting and peculiar. The husband gave the health of the ruler of France, and—evidently in honour of the guests from the banks of the Danube—that of the Emperor of Austria! Immediately thereafter the Governor rose suddenly and left the table, with the intention, it would seem, of escaping some untimeous speeches of the natives. The company presently broke up, and while a few of the guests returned straight to the port, the majority,the French Governor himself mingling with the excited populace, did not reach Papeete till far in the night.
The fête at Faáa was followed, a few days later, 24th February, by a dashing ball at the Governor's. ThePré Catalanwas gaily festooned with coloured lamps, and various devices for illuminating the festivities. The Tahitians, accustomed to dance only in the darkness of night, or at most under the light of a few paltry suet candles, flocked hither in crowds to revel in the brilliant light, and witness the Europeans dance the "Upa-Upa" after their own fashion. Within the Palace was assembled all that was ultra-fashionable in Tahitian society. All the authorities and notabilities of the country were present. More than 200 persons thronged the apartment, where, out of courtesy to our host, the band of our frigate played a succession of polkas, waltzes, and quadrilles. Queen Pomáre, accompanied by her consort and several princes and princesses of her house, was also present. The Governor received her at the threshold of the apartment, offered her his arm, and escorted her to seats already reserved for the royal family. Pomáre is now almost fifty years of age, stout and under the middle size, with a full inexpressive countenance, and a waddling gait. Her toilette was simple but thoroughly European. She wore a white ball-dress of the latest Frenchmode, and flowers in her hair. In her hands she also carried a gigantic bouquet. Her youngest son, a boy of twelve years, named after Prince de Joinville, showed spiritand vivacity; the heir to the throne seemed feeble, sickly, and too soon matured.
This happened to be the first presentation of the members of the Expedition to the Queen—the first opportunity they had had of conversing with her. Hitherto there had been apparent on the part of the French authorities a reluctance to bring about a meeting, which the Queen might possibly regard as a triumph. In fact, Queen Pomáre was not at liberty to receive any one in her house, except members of her family, without first obtaining the permission of the French authorities. Two incidents, which had occurred to arouse the French authorities shortly before our arrival, had still further contributed to sharpen the Queen's watchfulness, and to limit her receptions to her own nearest relatives. The poor woman had, after much pressure, and without communicating with M. Saisset, signed in his absence a document which fairly ran counter to a previous ordinance on the same subject. A territorial squabble, which had long before been decided by law, had, through the exertions of one of the parties interested, been once more brought up for trial, before the native bench, as it was thought that the result of the opinion of several judges might be productive of some more favourable result. The Governor refused his assent to this proceeding. The Queen, notwithstanding, under bad advice, issued a written mandate to the native Court to try the case over again. As the Court was being assembled, however, it was dismissed by the Governor, the chief judge banished to anadjoining island, and the Queen compelled herself to abrogate the ordinance. A somewhat similar affair had occurred a few weeks before at the village of Papaoa, near which Queen Pomáre possesses a country-house, in which some of the royal family were implicated. Some native feasts, which in Tahiti are always accompanied with the wildest Bacchanalian license, had excited the crowd to an unusual degree. A few of the Tahitian nationality-mongers drank death to the whites, and pretty openly declared their hostility to a foreign yoke. The excess of a couple of drunken patriots was magnified by the excited fancy of the French officers into the dimensions of a politicalémeute, and seemed to present the long-coveted opportunity of showing their authority, and of acquiring with little trouble the credit of having nipped in the bud a formidable insurrection. As soon as the news of these seditious speeches and exclamations reached head-quarters, the Governor marched in the night with 150 well-armed soldiers to Papaoa, distant about an hour's march from the capital. Pomáre and her family were just assembled to evening prayers, when the Governor made his appearance, and ordered her forthwith to accompany him to Papeete. An Englishman resident in the harbour was ordered to convey the Queen to her town residence in his small one-horse waggon. Her two sons, however, were escorted to Papeete as prisoners on foot, and their hands bound behind their backs, their ears saluted by the oft-repeated threat of the soldiers that their lives should answer for any intentional injurywhich the Europeans might sustain at the hands of the natives. As the procession approached the harbour, the Queen bent forward to her driver, and asked him in a low voice whether it was intended to carry her to theCarabus.[83]The driver turned off towards her own residence. As he turned the corner, the Queen suddenly started forwards, and seizing the reins from the driver with both hands, stopped the horse, and looked whether her two sons were by her side. She feared they would be taken to the prison, but they were likewise conducted to her house. However, Queen Pomáre and all her family and attendants were cautioned not to leave Papeete till the matter had been thoroughly inquired into. An intimation was even conveyed to the Protestant missionary Mr. Howe that he must discontinue his visits to the Queen till further orders.
Under these circumstances it is more than probable that the persecuted Queen only made her appearance at the ball in deference to the Governor's commands, and hence possibly she confined her conversation with the strangers to the most common-place topics. The Queen was described to usas a clever, well-educated woman, who spoke English with considerable fluency, as also a little French, and in public affairs displayed a surprising degree of shrewdness and tact. With the French authorities she conversed exclusively in Tahitian. She appears much to dislike the intervention of an interpreter or secretary, preferring greatly to place herself directly in communication with the official concerned, as an autograph letter exhibits, which she addressed to the Treasurer Receiver-general, requesting him to send her a carriage in which to drive on business from her estate at Papaoa to Papeete.[84]
It is very surprising to find in the course of conversation with natives of every grade, that notwithstanding the French Protectorate has now lasted upwards of twenty years, the French language has hardly made the slightest advance. We met but two natives who could speak French. The knowledge of English even is confined to the few individuals who live entirely on the coast, and come frequently into contact with foreigners. A law was in contemplation, however, at the period of our visit, by the provisions of which no native after the lapse of 10 years, that is to say, by 1869, would be eligible for any Government employ, not even that of amurtói(police sergeant, literally "one who listens secretlyto the words of the people"[85]), unless he has a thorough acquaintance with French.
On the whole, the Government of the Second of December appears to regard Tahiti simply as a military outpost and naval station, and to attach little value to the evident future commercial importance of the island. If, however, there are behind this ostensible indifference no secret views, or politicalarrière-penséesinvolved, it must undoubtedly be pronounced most unjust and unwise. True, Tahiti possesses but a small proportion of surface suitable for cultivation; true, with the exception of oranges,[86]there is hardly any natural product exported,[87]the produce of the island barely sufficing to support its own population; but, apart from its extremely favourable geographical position, and the vegetable profusion of this and the adjoining islands, Tahiti might, under able administration, be made a sort of general emporium for theinterchange of the products of Polynesia against the fabrics of Europe.
The total superficial area of Tahiti amounts to 104,215 hectares, 79,485 of which form Tahiti proper and the isthmus of Taravao, while the peninsula of Taiarapu comprises the remaining 24,730. The greater portion of this surface is occupied by mountains, only a very small proportion being devoted to tillage. At the mouths of several of the rivers are small strips of arable land, of which the plains of Taunoa (near Papeete), Point Venus, Pusenaura, Papara, Papeuriri, and Papeari, as also the delta of the river Fautáua, on the peninsula of Taiarapu, are the most important.
All these level grounds put together do not amount to more than from 2200 to 2500 hectares, while the swampy state of much of even this small area renders many portions fit only for the cultivation of taro and rice.[88]
The climate of Tahiti is uncommonly salubrious and delightful; the temperature is tolerably uniform, and is sensibly moderated by the alternate land and sea-breezes. Only about mid-day, when there usually sets in that profound calm, which the French, in their elegant epigrammatic way, stylel'immobilité des feuilles, the heat becomes absolutely oppressive, but the mornings and evenings are cool, and the air very refreshing.The average maximum temperature during the rainy season is 84°.4 Fahr., the average minimum 74°.6 Fahr. Only immediately prior to the outbreak of a storm does the fluctuation of the thermometer become strongly marked. In the dry season the temperature averages 80°.6 Fahr. during the day, and 68° Fahr. during the night. When, however, as occasionally happens, the temperature at Papeete sinks to 57°.2 Fahr. and at Fautáua to 46°.4 Fahr., or even lower, even the Europeans are compelled to adopt certain precautions against taking cold, which the natives for the most part disregard, and are accordingly liable to acute inflammatory disorders.
With such a temperature, combined with the fertility insured by the volcanic tufa soil, it is perfectly evident that the majority of the tropical and sub-tropical nut-bearing and other alimentary plants might be extensively grown upon the island without much difficulty. The sugar-cane, the coffee-tree, the cotton-shrub, the vanilla, the cocoa-tree, the indigo plant, the sorgho[89], rice, maize, &c., flourish here in a marked degree, and their persistent cultivation would realize a splendid profit for the landowner.
Of fruits there are bananas, bread-fruits, mangoes, ananas(pine-apples), papayas (carica papayi), pandanus fruit, cocoa-nuts, oranges, lemons, anonas (a kind of custard apple), guavas, &c. The chief sustenance of the natives consists of the following:—
I. The féi, or wild plantain (Musa Féi, orMusa Rubra), of which there are five varieties. It is first encountered at an elevation of from 600 to 800 feet above the sea, grows most luxuriantly between the zones of 1000 and 1500 feet, is of a very peculiar saffron-yellow colour, and is usually either roasted or boiled.
II. The haari, or cocoa-palm (Cocos nucifera), whose trunk, bark, leaves, and fruit are pressed into their service by the natives. The fruit, however, is the most important, as it is used as meat for man and beast, as well as a beverage, and to obtain oil from it. Mixed with fine sandal-wood shavings and other aromatic substances, the oily liquid pressed out from the cocoa-nut is used by the Tahiti women as a much-prized cosmetic (monoï), with which to lubricate their long beautiful black hair. Here, as among the other South Sea islands, the cocoa-palm begins to bear after the first seven or eight years only, after which, however, it becomes so abundant that the fruit of each tree is valued at five francs annually. It takes 20 to 25 cocoa-nuts to make a gallon of oil.[90]
III. The urú (also calledMaioré), or bread-fruit tree (Artocarpusincisa), is, after the cocoa-palm, the most useful tree on the island. The fruit, baked in a canak (or native) oven, (vide ante, p. 162), between two heated stones, is the substitute for bread to the Tahitians. At the period of the war, or in consequence of a short crop, the natives, like the New Zealanders and the aborigines of the Caroline Archipelago, buried the fruit of the urú in the earth, and ate it in the putrefied state. The bread-tree is productive thrice in the year. The first crop, the best and largest, ripens in March, the second in July, the third, Manavahói, at the end of November. The fruit varies from eight to twelve pounds in weight.
IV. The fara, orpandanus, the fruit of which is treated in the same manner as that of the urú, while the leaves serve as a thatch for the bamboo-cane huts of the aborigines. Of the red seeds of thepandanus odoratissimus, the ornament-loving Tahitian women prepare exceedingly fine coronals and necklaces. The leaves of another species, called irí by the natives, are used for enveloping tobacco, and making cigarettes, as also in the manufacture of house mats, and mats on which to sleep.
V. The taro (Caladium esculentum), a sort of tuber, which at certain seasons supplies any deficiency in the bread-fruit, and is very carefully cultivated by the natives. Of this plant there are in Tahiti thirteen varieties.
VI. Pia (Tacca pinnatifida), a sort of tuber resembling the taro, the mealy substance of which is chiefly used as nutriment for children and convalescent persons, and which incommerce is erroneously confounded with arrow-root, the latter being chiefly procured from the Antilles and India, more especially fromMarantha IndicaandMarantha arundinacea. The pia is also much used in Tahitian households in the preparation of small sweet cakes (Poe-pia), and is a not unpalatable substitute for wheaten flour.
VII. Hói, or yams (Dioscorea alata), of which useful tuber a variety of species are extensively used on the island.
VIII. Umará, or sweet potato (Convolvulus Batata), preferred by the natives to the European potato, and widely cultivated, though it has somewhat degenerated in Tahiti.
IX. Fare-rupe (Pteris esculentum), a kind of fern, the root of which was in former times much used for food here, as also in New Zealand.
There still remain to be noticed two plants of much interest, from the roots of which the Tahitians, prior to the arrival of the Europeans, obtained strong intoxicating beverages.[91]These are the ti-plant (Cordyline Australis) and the kawa, or ava (Piper methysticum), of which latter fourteen varieties are known to the natives.
The cultivation of this species of pepper is at present prohibited in Tahiti, and kawa-drinking has accordingly fallen into entire disuse. Only on the peninsula are a few agedTahitians to be found, who appear obstinately opposed to the use of our alcoholized liquors, who on special festivities will face every privation for the luxury of boozing over their kawa, for which they sometimes pay five francs for a small piece.
Formerly the process of chewing the kawa was performed by the young girls, and then only by those who had the finest teeth. Before beginning this delicate task, they were required carefully to rinse their mouths and purify their hands, for which purpose they made use of special vessels. When the roots had been slowly and equally chewed, and had been changed into little cones held together by saliva, they were mingled with water in a large wooden vessel (Umeli), standing upon a tripod, and gently squeezed by hand. In many of the islands this process of dilution is performed by mixing cocoa-nut juice instead of the customary water. The kawa is a very fluid substance, not very inviting in appearance at any time, but still less so when one has witnessed the mode of preparing it. Usually it is of the colour ofcafé au lait; but occasionally, when some of the leaves of the plant have been mixed with the root, the beverage assumes a greenish tinge, something like wormwood, although to the palate it has nothing in common with that substance.
Kawa is drunk out of the half of the cocoa-nut shell, which in the hands of a native skilled in carving becomes a really elegant beaker. Only families of high birth, the Arii andRaatira,[92]who are exempted from toil, are however able to indulge in the luxury of a daily draught of kawa. The symptoms of intoxication are very similar to those of opium. In the kawa-drinker, like the opium-eater or Samshoo smoker, there is a nervous tremulousness perceptible, followed by utter exhaustion, and an overpowering necessity for sleep. After its effects have passed off, there is a sensation of weariness in the limbs, to remove which the regular kawa-drinkers are accustomed to plunge into the cold waters of the nearest mountain stream. A very peculiar cuticular disease, the infallible result of the daily use of this beverage, is called by the nativesArewarewa.
A German chemist, M. Nöllenberger, who was resident at Papeete during our visit to the Archipelego, had succeeded in September, 1858, in crystallizing the essential principle of the kawa root, which he called Kawaïn, the powers and properties of which he was about to investigate more minutely. As we have since then been favoured with a copy of the very valuable work of Mr. G. Cuzent upon Tahiti, already alluded to, we learn therein that that zealous naturalist had already,in 1857, found in the kawa root an organic base, which he termed Kawahine, and which is fully described in his interesting Monography (p. 99).
Owing to kawa-drinking having been prohibited in Tahiti, chiefly through the influence of the missionaries, the use of brandy and other spirituous liquors is beginning to exercise a not less baneful influence in that island upon the physical and intellectual powers.
In agriculture, as in commerce, the effect of the French Protectorate has been visibly to slacken the rate of progress. The number of ships that visit the island does not exceed 60 to 80 annually, representing an interchange of merchandise to the value of about £64,000 per annum, of which about five-eighths, or £40,000, may be estimated as the amount exported.[93]What is most surprising, is the small number of whalers who visit the island for provisions and repairs. In 1836, the total number was fifty-two; at present not more than five or six in the year enter the harbour of Papeete. In the official reports this falling off is ascribed to the fish having forsaken these regions, while the stagnation of trade is generally ascribed to the reduction of the French garrison (!) in Tahiti, and the rise of late years of the Sandwich Islands and California. But thetruecause of the decay is to besought for in a very different direction. It lies chiefly in a very defective system of administration, which is constantly being transferred from one hand to the other, having at its head to-day a ship-captain, and to-morrow possibly an officer of gensdarmes or an engineer. A letter[94]addressed to the Emperor Louis Napoleon by an English merchant long resident at Tahiti, unsparingly unveils the present disorders of Tahiti with respect to rights of property, administration of justice, legislation, and social state, and draws a shocking picture of the actual state of the island, once in such high estimation for the felicity of its inhabitants.
On the other hand, the very benefits the mother country is supposed to derive from its Protectorate are at least problematical. While the establishment of French stations in Oceania has required about £240,000, the annual cost of keeping them on foot has never cost less than £100,000, and of this the Protectorate of Tahiti figures for from £24,000 to £28,000.[95]This by no means trifling sum is not however employed in promoting commerce or advancing trading interests; for not more than two or three ships in the year come direct to Tahiti from France, while the majority of thefabrics used there are English, which are imported from Valparaiso, the only port with which Papeete has regular communication.
The military colony of Taiohái on the island of Nukahiwa, one of the Marquesas, has been entirely abandoned since 1st January, 1859, on account of the too great cost of keeping it up, although Uté-Moána, the king of the Marquesas, and the chiefs of the island of Nukahiwa, were desirous of retaining the French Protectorate, and had drawn up a formal address of submission, while, on the other hand, New Caledonia (Dum'mbia) can only be kept up at very considerable cost.
Lately great reforms have been everywhere inaugurated, in order to diminish the heavy administrative expense hitherto incurred. The French colonies of eastern and western Oceania are to be provided with entirely independent administrations. The Governor of the French establishments in Oceania Oriental is to reside in Papeete, while his colleague of Oceania Occidental is to have his seat of Government at Port de France in New Caledonia. This subdivision, however, must add materially to the cost of maintenance, while it is difficult to see how it can augment the prospects of any increase of revenue.
The French, in a word, have no success in their attempts anywhere at colonization; they are not practical colonists. The absence of this faculty, if one may call it so, is doubly apparent in the Southern hemisphere, where they are surrounded on all hands by English colonies. True it is, theEnglish also have usually acquired by the strong hand their possessions in Oceania, in Australia, in Asia, &c., and from the stand-point of humanity it is impossible always to defend the means by which they have made themselves masters of the fairest and most fertile countries on the globe. But what have been the results directly springing from these high-handed acts, these politicalfaits accomplis? England has thrown open to the unrestricted enterprise of all trading and seafaring nations those islands and continents so highly favoured by nature, with their feckless fast-disappearing aboriginal races; she has striven, by giving free institutions, to attract diligent colonists, to develope the natural wealth of these countries by means of scientific exploration, for the benefit of all; she has wafted to the remotest corners of the earth the seeds of Christian civilization, and by her energy, her capacity for labour, and her earnestness of purpose, has impressed all, even the most savage races, with a feeling of envy and astonishment at the intellectual superiority, the power, and the greatness of the white man!
Under the influence of liberal but more morally stringent laws, Tahiti might speedily be raised to the position of a great emporium of the Southern seas, the Singapore of Oceania. Under the French Protectorate, on the contrary, the island, with its population long since renowned for indolence and sensuality, has become, in fact, what a French captain once jocularly termed it, "La Nouvelle Cythère!"
Although the Society Islands are by no means a Frenchpenal settlement (the climate being possiblytoo healthy), there are, nevertheless, both at Tahiti and Nukahiwa, a few men, rather politically discontented than downright dangerous, whom a merciful interpretation of French martial law has exempted from banishment to Cayenne, (that name of terror![96]) and whom we might almost say that a beneficent destiny has transported to the shores of the South Sea. One of these political offenders, named Longomasino, has to thank the visit of the Austrian frigate to Papeete for his restoration to liberty. He had been a journalist at Toulousein 1851, and maintained a zealous correspondence with some of the most intimate hangers-on upon Louis Napoleon, till thecoup d'étatrevealed the French ruler's projects, and Longomasino joined the camp of the opponents of the new empire. His contumacious agitation against the new order of things led to his imprisonment and ultimate banishment. He was first transported to Nukahiwa, one of the Marquesas Islands, and afterwards received permission to settle at Papeete in Tahiti. Starting as a farrier, then an advocate, and finally a tavern-keeper, he was unable in any of these capacities to earn a subsistence for himself and his numerous family; the less so, that political intrigues deprived him of the right to practise at the bar, and this compelled him to have recourse to a business for which he had neither taste nor turn. If we understood matters aright, Longomasino, in the course of his juridical labours, had been able to do many a good turn to the Catholic bishop of Tahiti in his dispute with the French administration, and it was therefore less sympathy with the unfortunate political convict than the desire to play an adversary a trick by depriving him of an able adherent, which induced the Governor to ask our Commodore permission to give a free passage to Longomasino, who had been condemned to transportation for life. The request was willingly granted, and on the eve of our sailing Longomasino came on board the frigate, while his wife and family were to follow by a merchant-ship. The unhappy man, who had not words enough wherewith to express his gratitude for the friendly reception he experienced,still further gained the sympathies of all on board, with his melancholy fate, by his manly reticence on the subject of the injustice he had sustained.[97]
Another convict, who had excited universal attention at Papeete, was M. Belmare, a well-educated young man, who in 1850 avowed he had shot at Louis Napoleon while at the Tuileries, and, in consequence, been transported to Tahiti. The fact that Belmare has since then been taken into the employ of the treasury at Papeete, where he receives a salary of £100 per annum, gave colour to the most whimsical reports as to the clemency displayed by the French Government in this case; yet we repeatedly heard the opinion expressed that Belmare was solely put forward as a tool for carrying out—which was to be used as a blind by giving the Government of Louis Napoleon opportunity for new stretches of arbitrary power. Whether, however, a residence at Tahiti, even with a handsome salary, be sufficient recompence for such services, M. Belmare alone is in a position to say.
A succession of bad weather, such as so frequently occurs in the tropics, delayed our departure for several days. Now it was a heavy gale, commencing in the north and gradually veering round to W. and S.W.; now it was a series of calms, while the surf swept in unbroken masses on the beach, and so heavily, that it seemed the height of imprudence to take thefrigate out through the narrow channel which constitutes the mouth of the harbour of Papeete, and is nothing but a cleft in the coral walls which surround Tahiti, and protect it from the ocean swell.
At length, on 28th February, at day-break, we got under weigh. One of our own boats, as also a boat from the French steamerMilan, which was courteously placed at our disposal, towed theNovaraoutside the reef, and materially aided the efforts of our men, a barely perceptible catspaw of wind just filling the sails. Piloted by a native lootse, we steered out so close to the projecting coral reefs, that the frigate all but touched them.
We now had a parting view of Tahiti and the little island of Motu-Uta, where stood our improvised observatory, and where so many sleepless nights had been passed in observations for the purpose of defining astronomically the exact position of the island.
We found the breeze freshened once we were outside the reef, and steered northwards, beautiful Tahiti, with the imposing and irregular outline of its hills, and the richness and variety of its vegetation, recalling, in some aspects, the glowing loveliness of the tropics, in others, the still sublimity of some of our Alpine landscapes, till it lay behind us like a shadowy vision of dream-land.
Almost simultaneously with the departure of theNovara, the American whalerEmily Morgan, Captain Chase, stood out from the harbour of Papeete. This vessel had been whaling inthe southern seas during five years, without any adequate return for her perseverant exertions. Her entire take was as yet only four barrels of train oil!! She was now making for the Sandwich Islands, and thence home to Boston. Latterly, the North American whalers have formed themselves into partnership, so as to divide profit and loss. If his companions had encountered no better fortune than Captain Chase, they might safely aver they had worked five years for nothing. The crew of theEmily Morgan, who were as usual almost entirely dependent for their remuneration on their tenth share of the oil, had begun to despair, and six of their number deserted from the ship, to stay behind at Tahiti. Throughout the voyage, Captain Chase had had his wife with him, a spirited energetic American woman, who on occasions could take her trick at the helm, or even direct the ship's manœuvres. So completely had she fallen into the ways on board ship, that even in ordinary conversation she frequently let slip a few sea-phrases, and recounted, with much pride, how, when the boats had been away in pursuit, she had kept her watch like a regular officer.
On 8th March, Shrove Tuesday was celebrated on board. Several sailors had disguised themselves as Invalids, as Tahitians, as Nicobarians, &c., and played off all manner of pranks. Dolce, our cook, the merry-andrew of the vessel, figured as a troubadour, in which capacity he sang several heart-thrilling melodies. In the afternoon the band playedon deck, and in the evening the jolly tars, to their great gratification, received each a double allowance of grog.
It was our Commodore's intention to cross the shorter diameter of the almost elliptical curve of equal magnetic declination, which occurs in this vicinity, with the view, if possible, of ascertaining by observation by what law the "local variation" of the needle is diminishing within the curve of 5°, the latest indicated in the most recent magnetic charts.
This curve of 5° easterly magnetic declination lies, according to F. Evans,[98]between the parallels of 5° 30′ N. and 13° S. lat., and 120° W. and 134° 30′ W., north-eastward from the Marquesas Islands.
The magnetic needle, as is well known, does not point to the geographical poles, but is deflected from the due north and south meridian, in a direction eastward or westward according to locality, at an angle which, in the measure of the easterly or westerly magnetic variation of the plane, is called eastern or western declination or variation, and which not only gradually alters at every place with the lapse of time, but also is universally found to assume different values at different places, so that in certain lines, known as lines of equal declination, the variation remains the same for all places under that line during a certain given period.
As the compass is the sole reliable guide of the seamanwhile traversing the ocean, and it is of the utmost importance to investigate and accurately lay down the ship's course for the port which is her object to make, it appears necessary to explain to the uninitiated how the local variation of the magnetic needle is determined, as thereby one can readily find the precise angle at which the magnetic meridian of any place is deflected from the true meridian.
The determination of this divergence is effected by means of observations of the sun, by the aid of which one can calculate at any moment its actual bearings, as seen from the deck of the ship, and this, compared with the true position of the sun, gives the amount of variation.
This apparently simple method of determination encounters in practice, owing to certain local influences, a variety of obstacles, for it is executed on board of a ship, which frequently contains within itself, at a greater or less distance from the binnacle, large superficies of iron, operating less or more prejudicially upon the needle, by deflecting it from the direction which it would actually have but for these masses of iron. Hence the variation is not even the same in all parts of the ship, nor does it follow the same direction, but varies according to certain laws, founded upon the intensity and direction of the magnetic attraction of the earth. It is therefore necessary to make allowance for these local deflections of the needle, in order to find the true variation of the needle.
So far as regards the last-named, many thousand observations, both by land and sea, have resulted in furnishing uswith a rule for empirically finding the amount of variation, for short periods at least, according to which the magnetic needle is found to vary from year to year at every spot along certain given lines, which it has been found possible to delineate upon the charts; thus showing at a glance the amount of variation to be allowed for at any given spot. As this is sufficient for all practical purposes of navigation, the seaman is, in most cases, relieved of the necessity of making for himself these observations and calculations, if only he can ascertain with anything like accuracy the position of his ship on the earth's surface, and has determined the amount of local variation on board.
These iso-magnetic lines are, however, susceptible of great improvement, and if they are ever to become practically and universally useful, repeated observations must not be neglected by such navigators as have the means and the requisite scientific knowledge to pursue such investigation.
On board theNovaranot a single sunshiny day was suffered to pass without the variation being frequently determined, or such observations repeated as related to the determination of local attraction on board.
Under such circumstances, an unusual value attached to our ascertaining and following up so far as practicable the decrease in declination of the magnetic needle till it reached the zero point assigned to it, and comparing our own observations with the amounts stated on the charts.
It was, however, at least as regarded nautical matters, ofby no means special importance, that we should reach the very point of minimum declination,—it sufficed to ascertain that the observed diminution, as marked upon the charts, corresponded with our observations, which proved, in fact, to be the case.
This confirmation proved the more satisfactory, that when we reached the N.E. side of the Paomotu group (also called Pakomotu, lying between 13°-22° S., and 135°-150° W.) we found a fresh north-easter blowing, a phenomenon which during the fine season is due to the high temperature of these islands, and of course interposed a serious and persistent obstacle to our intended N.E. course.
Another impediment to our attempt to get nearer to the zero point of minimum declination presented itself in the far from healthy state of the ship's crew. A peculiar endemic colic,[99]called by the French at Tahiticolique sèche, orcolique végétale(dry or vegetable colic), was rapidly extending among the men, and had already carried off one victim, a sailor, who died after a short illness on the morning of the 9th March, and was committed to the deep the same day with the customary solemnities.
By 17th March, in 15° 52′ S., and 137° 23′ W., the declination of the magnetic needle had diminished to 51⁄2° E., and thus far agreed pretty accurately with that indicated by the charts; it is not, however, likely that it actually falls to azero point, but rather diminishes gradually as the central point is approached, which would hardly be the case if the declination actually fell to zero.
By 25th March we found ourselves about the latitude of Pitcairn Island, from which we were barely one hundred miles distant. This island, so singular alike by its physical features and its remarkable history as the retreat of the surviving mutineers of theBountywith their families, has latterly had its interesting population removed to Norfolk Island, where there was room for the simple God-fearing community to increase its numbers without the risk of an excess of population over the resources of the soil, as there appeared reason to apprehend had they been left on Pitcairn Island.
The story of the mutiny itself, the escape and subsequent career of Captain and Admiral Bligh, the extraordinary change that came over Adams when, ere ten years had passed, he found himself the sole survivor of the mutineers, all but one of whom died a violent death, and the hardly less marvellous manner in which this primitive community was discovered, after the lapse of nearly thirty years, are themes that need no recapitulation here. Much less known however is their subsequent, hardly less singular, destiny, and it will not, therefore, be out of place if, in the interests of the general reader, we vouchsafe a passing notice of their strange career.
In 1814, twenty-five years after the mutiny, Sir Thomas Staines in H.M.S.Britonvisited the island, at which timethe little colony consisted of 46 individuals, 38 of whom had been born thus far from all civilization. Nevertheless the little community were living contented and happy in all the simplicity of a patriarchal family, and in the cultivation of the cardinal virtues of Christian morality, inculcated by the now venerable Will. Adams, such as thankfulness to the Creator of all things, patience, gentleness, and neighbourly love.
The very singular origin of this exemplary race repeatedly attracted passing ships to this little-known island, and this intercourse did not fail to exercise a pernicious effect upon the spiritual-mindedness of the islanders, the more so that there were among these numbers of desperate adventurers, who did all in their power to mislead this simple-minded race.
When Captain Beechy, in 1825, approached the island in his shipBlossom, he perceived a small boat standing off towards him under full sail. On board were Adams himself and several of his pupils. They requested permission to come on board, and hardly waiting for an answer, the little active lads had clambered up and stood on the quarter-deck. Adams had lost his youthful agility, and for a moment seemed to hesitate. The sight of a man-of-war, it may well be conceived, made a deep impression upon him. It called up too many mournful recollections, and when he beheld the cannon and all the "circumstance of war," with which in his youth he had been familiar, he could no longer restrain himself,and tears of emotion flowed down his wrinkled cheeks and silvery beard. At this period the island boasted 66 inhabitants, and the old man felt deep anxiety lest the little spot of earth to which he was banished apparently without hope of reprieve, should ere long prove insufficient to provide adequate support or even space for its rapidly-increasing population.[100]He spoke to the excellent Beechy upon the subject, and implored the English Government to provide his little flock with a more comfortable abiding-place under the English sceptre, and better adapted to the wants of his rapidly-increasing posterity.
On 5th March, 1829, Adams expired at the age sixty-five, surrounded by his children and descendants. In the latter days of his illness, during the short intervals of ease which his intermittent agony left him, he expressed a wish that the community would during his life select some one to be their head; however, out of respect for the venerable sufferer, this was not carried out officially, but after the death of Adams, Edward Johnny, son of one of the seamen of theBounty, assumed the Presidency of the little colony, while renouncing the honorary title.
Under him the Anglo-Tahitian settlers enjoyed visible prosperity, when an unexpected event destroyed for ever theplacid tenure of their existence, and compelled them to leave their beloved island. On his return to Europe, the gallant Beechy, intending to confer a real benefit on the gentle people in whom he felt so lively an interest, had laid before the British Government Adams' dying request, in consequence of which an English man-of-war and a transport made their appearance from Port Jackson, Australia, in March, 1831, to transport the whole of the inhabitants to Tahiti, which European nations regarded as the most suitable spot for them to be settled in. The Pitcairn Islanders were in despair, for, when made aware of the steps taken by "Father Adams" through Captain Beechy to get them placed under the British Crown, the good folks had long before written to England and urgently entreated that they would not remove them from their own hearth; but their entreaties seem not to have reached the proper quarter, or else to have received no attention, and now that the two ships lay off the island, evincing the interest taken by the English Government in their future destiny, they could not venture on refusing to embark. They had to content themselves with the assurance that they should be restored to Pitcairn Island, in the event of their not finding themselves comfortable in their new asylum.
By the end of March, 1831, they reached Tahiti. Although Queen Pomáre had set apart a certain tract of land for them to settle in, and manifested the warmest interest, and though the usually frivolous but hospitable and kindly Tahitiansreceived the new arrivals in the most cordial manner, the pure minds of the latter were so disgusted and revolted with what they saw at Papeete, that the very day after they disembarked, they loudly declared that under no circumstances would they remain there, and therefore claimed to be taken back to Pitcairn's Island. When it was found that all representations failed to induce them to make any stay at Tahiti, a few Protestant missionaries got up, in conjunction with some English residents, a fund of some £400, with which they chartered a schooner, for the purpose of restoring the Pitcairn Islanders to their rocky paradise in the solitudes of the Pacific, for which they felt such an irresistible homesickness. In August of the same year the return voyage took place. During their short stay at Tahiti, fourteen had died of sheer grief and anguish of mind, like plants that had been transplanted into a foreign soil. Although only six months absent in all from Pitcairn Island, there was not one single family but had to regret the loss of some beloved member!
Despite their bitter experience hitherto, the old terror of over-population again arose in the bosoms of the Pitcairners, after a series of prosperous and peaceful years, and a wish began to be frequently expressed that at least a portion of the inhabitants could be drafted off to some other island. In order to comprehend and do justice to this feeling, one must place oneself in the position of a resident on an extremely small solitary island in the ocean, which is oftenfor years cut off from any communication with the outer world, and every corner of which has already been cultivated to the utmost: would it not be a pardonable anxiety, which in view of such circumstances should fill with gloomy forebodings the heart of every prudent head of a family, and make him hesitate between love for his native soil, and the desire to preserve independence and comfort to his family?
A second attempt at acquiring a settlement beyond their own confined limits was not more fortunate than the first. The Government of England, with the meritorious care for the interest of even the poorest of her subjects in the most remote regions of the globe, which is one of her noblest characteristics, once more dispatched a ship of war to Pitcairn, with orders to transport the inhabitants to Norfolk Island between New Zealand and New California, of the marvellous climate, vegetation, and fertility of which the most glowing accounts were in circulation. A few plants which had been conveyed thence by English navigators to Europe had excited universal astonishment—such exquisite forms of vegetation, it was thought, could only form part of some landscape of marvellous beauty and richness. And one must, in fact, have seen theAraucaria excelsa, the well-known Norfolk Island pine, in order rightly to understand these raptures. Such an island, it was thought, with an equable climate, fertile, and of adequate extent, must be the very thing for the idyllic life of such a people as the Pitcairn Islanders. Adams' descendants and their kinsmen accordingly suffered themselvesto be persuaded into trying this change, the more so that their own island was beginning, as had long been foreseen, to prove too small for them, and the possibility of a deficiency of food began to assume an appalling air of probability.
In May, 1856, the British Government expended £5000 in sending another ship from Sydney to Pitcairn, to carry out the wishes of the inhabitants and their advocates in England, by transporting the entire community to Norfolk Island. There were in all 193 souls, viz. 40 men, 47 women, 54 boys and 52 girls, who now said farewell to the land of their birth. But on this occasion also the elder seemed to feel an anticipation of their speedy return, and before they embarked they took every possible precaution to ensure their finding their dwellings in the same order in which they were leaving them. They placed written bills on the doors of their houses, in which they requested all visitors to abstain from injuring their property, as they were only leaving the island for an indefinite visit, and would very speedily return to their old quarters. They killed all the pigs and dogs upon the island, lest the first should violate the sanctity of the grave, and the latter injure their flocks and herds.
By the ensuing harvest-time they were installed in their new home. Provided for the first time by the English Government with the requisite means of subsistence, as well as agricultural implements, &c., they seemed to feel themselves quite at home, and their friends and well-wishers in Englandbegan to indulge hopes that they had at last found at Norfolk Island the long-wished-for asylum, and as energetic and industrious landowners would at once benefit themselves and develope the resources of the island. These pleasing anticipations were the more natural, as for a number of years nothing more was heard of the "Pitcairn Islanders," except that everything was going on prosperously and quietly in the new colony.
While theNovarawas lying at Sydney, in November and December, 1858, intelligence was received respecting these colonists, in whom, on account of their singular history, the deepest interest was felt there as elsewhere. In the (then) Governor-general's (Sir W. Denison's) residence we saw a photographic group of the islanders, male and female, whose pleasing expression involuntarily excited profound sympathy for the persons thus represented. Since their arrival in Norfolk Island there had been no more definite news concerning them.
At New Zealand, in like manner, nothing was known of what they were doing. At St. John's College, Auckland, we quite accidentally fell in with two young well-grown men, who we were told were Pitcairn Islanders in the course of education for missionaries. There was in their faces a mild, half-melancholy expression; they spoke perfectly good English, but in the most ordinary conversation used Scriptural phraseology. It was known that when he began to instruct the younger members of the community Adams possessedonly a Bible and some religious books. Thus they not only were instructed in the Book of books, but even in ordinary life the biblical phraseology and peculiarity of expression still clung, even to the fourth generation.
During our visit to Tahiti we heard one day that the schoonerLouisa, Captain Stewart, had just arrived from Pitcairn Island, whither he had transported a number of its former inhabitants from Norfolk Island. We resolved to get speech with this gentleman, in order that we might gather from his own lips the details of his voyage. It so chanced that he stayed in the house of an English settler, who had let to us a small palm-hut during our stay at Papeete. We very soon struck up an acquaintance. Captain Stewart, a genuine Englishman in appearance, character, and expression, explained to us in brief terms that he had at their own cost transported a number of the Pitcairners from Norfolk Isle to their old home, and, during the voyage, which lasted some weeks, had kept a pretty full journal. "But," continued the truth-loving captain, "I am not at present in a position to give you any circumstantial details respecting them. Business compels me to go over to the island of Eimeo, and by the time I return hither theNovarawill be well on her way to Valparaiso. I am likewise bound, however, for the west coast of South America, in fact to Valparaiso, and shall probably arrive there a few weeks after you. I promise you, during my voyage thither, to jot down the most important data I can recall respecting these islanders, and they shall be placed atyour disposal immediately on my arrival in Valparaiso." We thanked Captain Stewart for his kindness, and we parted with a vigorous "shake hands" of genuine English cordiality.
The reader will see in the subsequent chapter how honourably the worthy skipper kept his word. Two months later, after we had sailed over 5220 nautical miles, we were handed the promised information; but to preserve uniformity we shall present the reader at once with this comprehensive sketch of the present state of Pitcairn and its amiable inhabitants, as furnishing the latest particulars of the islanders, which are now for the first time published in Europe.
"Captain Stewart had been in communication with the inhabitants of Pitcairn in November, 1858. Landing at Norfolk Island, in the course of a voyage in the South Sea, the community chartered his schooner to convey certain of their number back to Pitcairn Island. They declared they had only quitted Pitcairn in consequence of the glowing description given them of Norfolk Island. Instead of the promised superabundance, they could only by dint of severe labour provide themselves with the ordinary necessaries of life. Their staple of food was sweet potatoes and a small quantity of meat, in fact, a single bullock, which by permission of Government they slaughtered once a week, and the flesh of which served the entire community.
"Besides all this, the rudeness of the climate did not seem to suit them, and diseases seemed to become more and more frequent among them. In fact, it turned out that the naturaladvantages of Norfolk Island had been persistently overrated by early visitors, the consequence being that the poor Pitcairners found themselves woefully disappointed in the expectations they had formed of their sojourn in this terrestrial paradise.
"The scenery of the island is everywhere lovely, and the peculiarity of its vegetation, especially when seen from seaward, exercises a kind of fascination over the beholder; but the ground, which is the most important consideration for the settler, who is bound to the soil, not by the sublime and beautiful, but by the useful, is very far from being fertile, and the sole descriptions of produce extensively raised are maize and sweet potato. Wheat and barley are so exposed to frost and mildew that only one crop out of several proves remunerative, and the potato makes so small a return, in consequence of the amount of seed and labour required, that it is only cultivated as a rarity. Even the commonest vegetables are scanty and of poor quality, and under these circumstances it is at least probable that the cultivation formerly carried on by the English convicts and criminals, in which the results would naturally exceed expectation, had led to the mistaken idea that Norfolk Island was fertile. It is about 9000 English acres (14 English square miles) of superficial area, of which about 1500 acres only are cleared, and but one half of that, or one-twelfth of the whole, suitable for cultivation.
"It is just possible to land on either the south or north sides, ifthe water be smooth; the little village is situated nearthe former, and consists of about 100 'block-houses' of various dimensions. There are also a number of stone-buildings upon the island, which speak of the times when the island was a penal settlement, and comprises a large prison for about 2000 convicts, besides the necessary barracks for the military guard; a church, a hospital, magazines, and dwelling-houses for the Governor, the chaplain, the inspector, the officers, &c., buildings which, taken in conjunction with the grave-mounds and frail tombstones of the adjoining churchyard, tell a mournful tale to the visitor of the earlier inhabitants, and of the tragic fate of many thousands who must have toiled and sunk under their hopeless doom in Norfolk Island.
"The Pitcairn Islanders occupied the houses constructed for the Government officials, and had not shown the slightest attempt to settle upon spots suitable for agriculture. When the British Government made the island over to them to be cleared and reclaimed there were about 2000 head of sheep, several hundred cattle, 20 draught horses, and a large number of swine and poultry. In addition to this handsome present, Government gave them provisions for six months, besides agricultural implements, seeds of various useful plants, and vegetables of every description. There were also two sloops, of about 15 tons each, left at the island, besides a complete stock of household necessaries. All the above were made a free gift of to the islanders by the British Government, which merely reserved to itself a part of what used tobe the prison-buildings, in case it should wish to devote them to its former purposes at some future period.
"When Captain Stewart visited Norfolk Island, in 1858, the population consisted of 219 Pitcairn Islanders, and two English soldiers with their families, employed as surveyors by Government.
"On the day of his arrival a public meeting was held, at which the chief magistrate of the community presided, and the females played a not unimportant part. It was arranged that for a certain sum Captain Stewart should convey 60 of the Pitcairn Islanders to their old abode. A special motion for the purpose was put to the meeting with all due form, seconded, and reduced to writing on either side. At the same time it was imperatively ordered that all should be ready to embark on the fourth day thereafter, and as there is but one, and that not a very safe, anchorage off the whole coast of the island, the Captain stood off and on in its neighbourhood.
"The eve of the fated fourth day found the delicate question still unsettled of who were to be the happy 60, so many had set their hearts on forming part of the expedition. A second meeting was convened, this time under the presidency of their chaplain, but the only result was to defer for one day the embarkation. During this entire period the poor people were in the utmost excitement. The place of embarkation was covered with the baggage of all who were desirous ofreturning to Pitcairn's Island; but, as in consequence of their original descent there have been such frequent intermarriages, and hence such close relationship, reminding one of the clans of Scotland, it was impossible to decide who was to go and who to remain. At length, on the expiry of the last day left them to decide, it was arranged that in the event of Captain Stewart proving unable to take off two entire families or clans (about 100 persons), only one should be taken to Pitcairn. The Captain hesitated at venturing on so long a voyage with such a number of souls in so small a vessel. He therefore took on board only 17 of the islanders, men, women, and children, whom he landed at Pitcairn Island, after a voyage of 42 days, amid tears of rapture at finding themselves on the well-remembered spot. The notifications they had attached to their doors on leaving had not entirely answered their expectations. During their absence several of the huts had been gutted, and a large number of the oxen had been carried off. However, it was not altogether malice or wanton destruction which had diverted to other purposes their cherished household gods. Shortly before their arrival, in a wild night of storms, the American clipperWild Wavehad been wrecked on a coral reef, not far from Pitcairn, and a part of the crew, having succeeded in reaching the island, were compelled to avail themselves of the building material, thus collected to hand for them, with which to construct a boat, in which, with true sailor-like hardihood, to face the winds and waves once more. For this purpose the church and sometwenty huts came handy, while a plentiful stock of goats, sheep, and poultry were roaming at large about the island. A considerable quantity of valuable tropical fruit was hanging ripe upon the trees, and seemed only awaiting the return of the former owners to be plucked for use.
"The baggage was speedily landed, and an unusual activity prevailed, with the view of getting housed as speedily as possible. It was plain these poor people had never expected again to get possession of a domain which they had abandoned through ignorance and misrepresentation. The reverent air with which they entered their huts and gazed around with keen scrutinizing glance to see if all had been left in its former state, showed with what love and veneration they clung to this gloomy possession of their progenitors, with all its melancholy traditions, which seemed to exercise over them a deeper attraction than the majestic ruins of a princely ancestral castle, with all its world-famous memories, sometimes does upon the youthful representative of its pristine glories.
"The important part played by the women during the consultations held at Norfolk Island seemed anew to be claimed by the fair sex at Pitcairn, and Captain Stewart could not sufficiently wonder at the high social position they occupied in the little community. The ladies for their part made the most of this privilege, and their utmost efforts were directed towards justifying it by their activity in household matters."
Such is the latest that is known as to the Pitcairn Islanders and their singular destiny. It is not at all improbable that the majority of their kindred will gradually find their way back to the original seat of their race, there to end their days.
Making all allowance for their aptitude and their natural preferences, their innate timidity and lack of decision must leave a painful impression upon every impartial mind; but this prominent trait of character seems to have a deep-seated physiological basis. The "Mutiny of theBounty" was followed by a natural reaction. The ever-present dread of discovery, which constantly haunted Christian and his criminal associates, and to their dying day deprived them of all tranquillity of mind, was transmitted, but in a milder form, to their descendants, and struck root in their bosoms in a feeling of dependence and excessive timidity, which prevented even their grand-children from attaining tranquillity, and from becoming not to say intellectual, but even useful, members of society. Will, courage, independence, seem for ever to have fled from the breast of the Pitcairn Islanders, who, on the other hand, have many virtues well calculated to excite our sympathies, and of whom especially the founder of this simple-minded community, the energetic, clear-sighted Adams, has, by his actions, proved anew the truthfulness of the saying, "Whoever has the power toWILL(a thing) can perform miracles!"
Our voyage to the west coast of America was speedy, though rather stormy. Seldom were the heavens clear, and alternately with violent rains, we felt that discomfort arising from constant motion, the result of heavy seas and tremendous rolling, to which the voyager is so frequently exposed.
On 4th April, at night, while shortening sail, owing to the violence of the wind and the threatening aspect of the weather, one of the crew was precipitated from the main-top-gallant-yard, a height of 125 feet above the deck. Being caught as he fell among the shrouds and rigging, he succeeded in catching hold of one, and so with diminished force fell into the main-top, a fall of 69 feet, upon which some of his comrades, going to his assistance, rescued him from further danger, when he was found to have suffered so little, that he returned to duty the following day!
On the 11th, without any particularly heavy weather, the main-yard suddenly snapped in two. On a more minute investigation it was found that it had become greatly weakened by dry rot, so much so that it could no longer be used. It was fortunate this took place during ordinary weather, so that the two fragments could be lowered without much difficulty. In a high sea and heavy weather, such an accident is often attended by most lamentable results, for two pieces of timber, each above 40 feet in length, measuring 21 inches at the thickest, by 8 inches at the smallest diameter, and several thousand pounds in weight, can hardly come rattling downupon the hull of the ship without inflicting serious injury, and endangering the lives of numbers of men.
As we had no spare main-yard, we had to sling a smaller one till our arrival at the nearest port, giving rather a singular appearance to the vessel, but without perceptibly affecting her speed.
In 34° S. and 76° W., the temperature of the ocean was observed suddenly to fall 3°.1 Fahr., and we now, for a distance of about 200 nautical miles, were in what is known as Humboldt's current, which carried us towards N. by W. at a velocity of from half to three-quarters of a mile per hour. Our experience of this renowned current, so far at least as regards the season of the year, and the latitude and longitude in which it is fallen in with, are widely different from those statistics which represent it as sensibly felt at a distance of from 800 to 1000 miles off the W. coast of South America.
On the 16th, the faint outline was visible of Aconcagua, the highest of the Chilean Andes, and a few hours later we made the lighthouse of Valparaiso. A light breeze with a heavy sea made it seem advisable not to run in during the night, the result of which was that on the following morning it was only by the efforts of some tow-boats dispatched to our assistance by the commander of H.B.M. ship of the line "Ganges," and the French corvette "Eurydice" that we were enabled, by 3.30P.M., to reach Valparaiso in the midst of a profound calm, when our anchor was let go in 25 fathoms, good holdingground, in an excellent roomy berth, away from the bustle of the merchantmen.
The voyage from Tahiti, 5000 nautical miles, was accomplished in 48 days, and although a considerable portion must be marked as "lost," owing to our having steered for the zero point of magnetic declination, we yet arrived at our destination sooner than merchantmen which left Papeete before us, or in company, but had steered south of the Paomotu group.
Mr. Flemmich, the Austrian Consul-general at Valparaiso, immediately sent our letters on board, but the regular packet, which we had expected to find here before us, had not come in, and the delay served to double the anxiety of all on board, in view of the political clouds that were hovering over our native land.