ISLANDTHE ISLAND OF TAHITI AND ITS EXTRAORDINARY DOUBLE CANOES: AS SEEN BY CAPTAIN COOK
THE ISLAND OF TAHITI AND ITS EXTRAORDINARY DOUBLE CANOES: AS SEEN BY CAPTAIN COOK
THE ISLAND OF TAHITI AND ITS EXTRAORDINARY DOUBLE CANOES: AS SEEN BY CAPTAIN COOK
The New Zealanders were told that all the white men wanted was provisions and water, and that they would give them iron in exchange. The properties of iron were then explained to them. The Maoris replied they were willing to trade, but declined to lay by their arms, and insisted on the white men coming into their midst. However, after some further exchange of shouted messages to and fro, one of the Maoris put down his weapons, stripped off his clothing, and swam over the intervening river, and with great bravery (considering all the circumstances ofthe case) walked into the midst of the white men, and was soon followed by other Maoris to the number of twenty or thirty. Some of them were armed. To all were given presents of iron and beads. But they set very little value on either, particularly of iron, of which they had not the least idea. In exchange they gave a few birds' feathers, which they considered ornaments. They then offered to exchange their weapons for those of the white men, and, when the latter refused, made attempts to snatch them from the hands of the officers and soldiers. They were plainly told that if they did not desist the white men would be obliged to kill them. However, a few minutes afterwards, one of the officers happening to turn his back on the Maoris, one of them snatched away his hanger (sword), and, retiring to a little distance, waved it above his head with a shout of exultation. The rest of the savages now became extremely insolent, and called to their friends across the river to join them. The invitation being accepted, it was necessary for the white men to defend themselves. Thereupon Banks fired at the Maori, who was still waving the hanger above his head. The gun was loaded with small shot, which peppered the man at a distance of about 15 yards. He still continued to flourish the sword about, but began slowly to retreat to a greater distance. Whereupon the midshipman named Monkhouse, who figures prominently in Cook's narrative as a person very ready to fire on natives, and who was responsible for the death of the first Tahitian (see p. 196), fired at the Maori with ball cartridge and killed him. The main body of New Zealanders, who in their advance had halted on a rock in the middle of the river when the first gun was fired, began to return to the other shore, while two of those still remaining on the side where the white men weresnatched the weapon of green jade (see p. 215) from the dead man, and another endeavoured to secure the naval officer's sword. This was prevented by Mr. Monkhouse. Once again the whole body of Maoris attempted to cross the river and attack the Englishmen, but they were met by a discharge of small shot, whereupon they recrossed the river and retired slowly up country, whilst Cook and his men returned in their boats to theEndeavour.
This river was probably the little Ormond River, which flows into Poverty Bay. Near the sea it was salt, so that Cook and his party, unable to furnish their ship with fresh water, made an expedition in boats round the head of the bay to search for fresh water. On their way they saw two canoes coming in from the sea, one under sail and the other worked with paddles. It was decided to intercept these canoes and seize the people in them, so that they might be conveyed to the ship, given presents, and, as it were, forcibly made friends with, and then return on shore to open up negotiations with their fellow countrymen. The two canoes, however, escaped the cordon of boats by desperate paddling. A musket was fired over their heads. Upon the discharge of the piece the men of one of the canoes ceased paddling, stripped off their garments, and actually tackled the boat that came up to seize them, fighting, with their paddles, stones, and other weapons which they had, so vigorously that Cook's party was obliged to fire on them in their own defence. Four, unhappily, were killed, and the other three—boys or youths—leaped into the sea. With great difficulty they were seized and hauled into the boats.
On reaching the ship they had already regained their composure, and evinced a most intense curiosity as to everything they saw, taking especial pleasure in eatingbread and salt pork. During the night, however, they gave way to sadness, and sighed very loudly, but Tupia, the invaluable interpreter from Tahiti, came and talked to them so soothingly that they regained their cheerfulness, and to pass the time sang a song with a degree of taste that surprised the crew. The tune was solemn and slow, like that of a psalm, and contained many notes and semitones. The names of these three young Maoris are recorded as Taurangi, Koikerange, and Maragovete. Next morning, after eating another enormous meal, and having been dressed in European clothes and adorned with bracelets, anklets, and necklaces, they were taken on shore by Cook and his party, but evinced great fear when they found they were to be landed at the mouth of the little river, since at that spot the natives were the enemies of their own tribe. However, amongst the large party of Maoris which began to advance on the landing party the boys discerned a relation. Eventually peace was made between the white men and the Maoris, and the boys probably returned to their relations.
As the result of this turn in events a canoe came off from Poverty Bay before theEndeavourleft the vicinity, others from the neighbourhood followed, and soon there were fifty Maoris on board, who sold everything they had, even the clothes from their backs and the paddles from their boats. Cook sailed southwards at first as far as the point which he named Cape Turnagain. The rumours of his kindly treatment of Maoris on board theEndeavourhaving fortunately spread in all directions, whenever theEndeavourcame to an anchor canoes would come off to visit the ship and to bring produce for trade, and although one or two disagreeable incidents occurred, such as when the natives attempted to kidnap a Polynesian boy on boardfor the purpose of eating him—for their cannibalism began to be patent to Cook and his officers—the relations between the Englishmen and the Maoris became so friendly that frequent excursions were made on shore, the houses of chiefs were visited, and meals were taken with them.
The food of these New Zealanders consisted mainly of fish, with which they ate, as a kind of bread, the roots of a bracken fern. These roots were scorched over a fire, beaten with a stick till the bark fell off, and what remained was a soft substance, somewhat clammy and sweet, though not unpleasing to the taste, but very fibrous and stringy. The natives, being tidy in their eating, kept baskets by them into which they spat out the fibrous refuse of the bracken-fern roots. They had no domestic animals except dogs, which were very small and ugly. (The black, bear-like skins which Cook saw being worn occasionally were probably skins of sea-lions or seals.) But they had plantations of sweet potatoes, taro yams, and gourds. The surroundings of their houses were kept scrupulously clean, and there were regular places in which all litter, offal, and refuse was piled up in regular dunghills. The women were not so good-looking as the men, and made themselves uglier by painting their faces with red ochre and oil, an adornment which was very disagreeable to Europeans, because they found out the favourite salutation of the New Zealanders to be that of rubbing noses, so that any attempts to get into friendly relations resulted in most of the officers having their faces smeared with greasy red paint. As a rule, the men confined their decorations to the elaborate tatuing, which has since become so famous, yet there were some who liked to cover their faces, bodies, and clothing with red ochre, and went about carrying pieces of this earth with which to renew the colouring wherever itwas removed by contact. Each woman wore a girdle made of sweet-smelling grasses and leaves, and over this a petticoat of roughly plaitedPhormiumfibre.
They found the country luxuriantly clothed with forest and everywhere a beautiful verdure. The species of trees in the woods were unknown to them. They specially noticed here and there cabbage-palms, which they cut down for the cabbages.[76]
The woods abounded in birds of great variety, some of them exquisitely beautiful, but all quite unknown to the Europeans.
Amongst the food supplies of the natives were observed occasionally "lobsters" (which were probably langoustes, see p. 190), besides various wild birds, which the Maoris either roasted by fastening them upon a small stick stuck into the ground and inclined towards the open fire, or baked by putting them into the ground with hot stones. Like the other Polynesians, these Maoris were given to displaying their sorrow, either for the death of a relation, or for some matter of mere personal pique, not only by shedding quantities of tears and singing mournful songs, but by cutting their arms, faces, chests, and thighs with sharp-edged shells, so that in the middle of their paroxysm of grief their bodies were covered with blood. Many of the natives met with were scarred from head to foot with old "grief marks".
Some of the promontories stretching out into the sea were noteworthy for the fortified villages, called by the nativeseppahorpah. "The best engineer in Europe could not have chosen a situation better adapted to enablea small number to defend themselves against a greater. The steepness of the cliffs renders it wholly inaccessible from the water, which encloses it on three sides; and, to the land, it is fortified by a ditch and a bank raised on the inside: from the top of the bank to the bottom of the ditch is 22 feet; the ditch on the outside is 14 feet deep, and its breadth is in proportion. The whole seemed to have been executed with great judgment; and there had been a row of pickets or palisades, both on the top of the bank and along the brink of the ditch on the outside; those on the outside had been driven very deep into the ground, and were inclined towards the ditch, so as to project over it; but of these the thickest posts only were left, and upon them there were evident marks of fire, so that the place had probably been taken and destroyed by an enemy."
The weakness of these forts as regards standing a siege was that in none of them did there seem to have been wells sunk or any provision made for storing water in large quantities. And although always built near a stream, the besieged would be obliged every now and then to elude the vigilance of their enemies at night-time and renew their supplies of water by fetching it up to the fort from the stream below. But otherwise these forts were provisioned with quantities of fern roots and dried fish. The people's only weapons seemed to be lances, pikes, and halberds of wood, pointed sometimes with jade[77]or bone, and heavy jade clubs and axes; butthey had no bows and arrows or slings, and very few weapons that they could throw.
On 20 November, 1769, Cook discovered a river at the head of a great inlet, which he named the Thames, and in this region of the North Island he noticed the splendid kauri pines.[78]One of these he judged to be 89 feet from the root to the first branch, and perhaps 200 feet high altogether. Its girth near the ground was nearly 20 feet. In the most northern part of the North Island they met with the paper-mulberry tree growing in the native plantations, and here they frequently found a kind of celery, which was eagerly gathered by the seamen as a vegetable addition to their diet.
In December, 1769, they rounded the northernmost promontory of New Zealand, which Cook at once identified with Cape Maria Van Diemen of Tasman's discovery, and perhaps realized then for the first time that the Terra Australis along which he had been coasting was none other than the New Zealand discovered by Tasman. The natives in this northernmost part gave a very interesting description, through Tupia the interpreter (when asked if they knew of any other land besides New Zealand), and said that far away to the north-west there was a country of great extent, which they called Ulimaroa, and which had been reached by some of their people in a very large canoe after a month's sail. The most striking feature to them in this distant land was that its inhabitants possessed and ate pigs, and they called these pigs by the widespread name,bua. It is probable that the land to which they alluded was Fiji; for though New Caledonia answers better to the description, thepeople possessed no pigs when this large island was first visited by Cook.
After rounding Cape Maria Van Diemen, theEndeavoursailed southwards along the west coast of the North Island and sighted Mount Egmont, which is 8340 feet high. The appearance of this mountain rising straight up from the sea coast was superb, and even although it was the middle of the New Zealand summer its summit was covered with snow. They next entered the broad gulf between the Taranaki Peninsula and the South Island. The ship came to an anchor in Queen Charlotte Sound. On the waters of this beautiful inlet they saw floating the dead body of a woman. Landing shortly afterwards, and getting into friendly relations with a small family of Maoris, they enquired about the dead body of the woman, and were told that it was one of their relations who had died a natural death, and, according to their custom, they had tied a stone to the body and had thrown it into the sea.
"This family when we came on shore, was employed in dressing some provisions: the body of a dog was at this time buried in their oven, and many provision baskets stood near it. Having cast our eyes carelessly into one of these as we passed it, we saw two bones pretty cleanly picked, which did not seem to be the bones of a dog, and which, upon a nearer examination, we discovered to be those of a human body. At this sight we were struck with horror, though it was only a confirmation of what we had heard many times since we arrived upon this coast. As we could have no doubt but the bones were human, neither could he have any doubt but that the flesh which covered them had been eaten. They were found in a provision basket; the flesh that remainedappeared manifestly to have been dressed by fire, and in the gristles at the end were the marks of the teeth which had gnawed them. To put an end, however, to conjecture, founded upon circumstances and appearances, we directed Tupia to ask what bones they were; and the Indians, without the least hesitation, answered: 'the bones of a man'. They were then asked what was become of the flesh, and they replied that they had eaten it. 'But,' said Tupia, 'why did you not eat the body of the woman which we saw floating upon the water?' 'The woman', said they, 'died of disease; besides, she was our relation, and we eat only the bodies of our enemies who are killed in battle.'"
Upon enquiry who the man was whose bones had been found, they told the party from theEndeavourthat about five days before a boat belonging to their enemies came into the bay with many persons on board, and that this man was one of seven whom they had killed. "Though stronger evidence of this horrible practice prevailing among the inhabitants of this coast will scarcely be required, we have still stronger to give. One of us asked if they had any human bones with the flesh remaining upon them, and upon their answering us that all had been eaten, we affected to disbelieve that the bones were human, and said that they were the bones of a dog; upon which one of the Indians[79]with some eagerness took hold of his own forearm, and, thrusting it towards us, said that the bone which Mr. Banks held in his hand had belonged to that part of a human body. At the same time, to convince us that the fleshhad been eaten, he took hold of his own arm with his teeth and made show of eating. He also bit and gnawed the bone which Mr. Banks had taken, drawing it through his mouth, and showing, by signs, that it had afforded a delicious repast."
Elsewhere along this coast human bones with the flesh on were often offered to Cook and his men for sale.[80]
On 30 January, 1770, on the shores of Queen Charlotte Sound, Lieutenant James Cook hoisted the British flag and took possession of the two great islands of New Zealand in the name of His Majesty, King George III—of the two islands, for they had already learnt from the natives the existence of Cook's Strait, which separated the North Island from the South, and which would lead them back into the eastern sea. The principal person to give this information was an old man named Topaa. He was asked if he had ever seen such a vessel before as theEndeavour, and whether white men had ever visited the land in the memory of the people. Topaa replied in the negative, but added that his ancestors had told him that there had once arrived (probably on the North Island) four men who had come in a small vessel from a distant country—Ulimaroa—but upon the four men landing they were all killed. This additional reference to Ulimaroa—which was either Fiji or the New Hebrides—is very interesting, as it would show that it has been possible for natives, probably of Melanesiantype, to reach New Zealand in bygone times, and, this being the case, it would explain why succeeding French expeditions thought that in the Southern Island they detected a negroid type of New Zealander, altogether uglier and inferior in physique to the Polynesian Maori. It seems possible that the Polynesian Maoris were preceded by a dark-skinned race, who destroyed most of the Moas and other large flightless birds which had apparently become nearly or quite extinct before the Maori colonization took place.
Passing through the passage afterwards to be named Cook's Strait, theEndeavourturned to the north and once more sighted Cape Turnagain, besides meeting Maori canoes, the occupants of which recognized theEndeavourand entered into friendly relations. From Turnagain they sailed southwards in the early part of 1770, and after zigzagging about in search of other islands which might lie to the eastward of New Zealand, they at length reached South Cape, the southernmost extremity of the Dominion, the promontory of Stewart Island. They overlooked the passage between South Island and Stewart Island, which was afterwards discovered by CaptainFoveaux. Rounding this, and following as well as they could the distant glimpses of the coast, they reached the west coast of the great South Island at Dusky Bay. Continuing their circumnavigation northwards they became gradually aware that behind the hills of the coast was a ridge of mountains "of a stupendous height, covered with snow in places". Cook had, in fact, discovered the Southern Alps, the remarkable snowy range of Southern New Zealand, of which the loftiest peak, rising to an altitude of 12,349 feet, has been named after him. At length, on 27 March, they wereback again at Queen Charlotte Sound, having completely circumnavigated New Zealand.
Before passing on with Cook to the discovery of eastern Australia, it may be of interest to give here his first impressions of the Maoris or indigenes of New Zealand—though the name of Maori did not come into use till the early nineteenth century. The men were tall and sometimes handsome (except for their frightful face-tatuing), with the features of white men and a skin colour not much darker. They usually wore short beards. The women were generally much shorter in stature than the men, with darker skins and more negroid features. [Even at the present day some of the Maori women are very negroid in appearance. This was also the case with both men and women of some of the tribes in the great South Island; and it would really seem that New Zealand had at one time received a colonization from the direction of Melanesia.]
The food of the Maoris has already been described in its main elements—sweet potatoes, gourds, fern roots, and the flesh of human beings, dogs, and wood-birds. Cook also mentions that they ate penguins, albatrosses, and seals. They had no intoxicating drink, and water was their only beverage. The Maoris seemed to Cook singularly free of disease and to enjoy perfect and uninterrupted health. The expedition never saw a single person who appeared to have any bodily complaint or to suffer from any eruption of the skin. Their wounds healed with remarkable facility, and in all large assemblages of people were noticed the number of old men, who, by the loss of their hair and teeth, appeared to be very ancient, but who were not decrepit, and though notequal to the young in muscular strength, exhibited great liveliness of disposition.
The Maori dress was of several kinds. The roughest was made from the leaves of the Phormium[81]. These leaves were split into three or four slips, which, when dried, were plaited into a material midway between knitting and cloth, with the unwoven ends hanging out as a fringe. Two or three pieces of this would serve as a complete dress, one of them being tied over the shoulders with a string and reaching down to the knees. At the end of this upper garment was fastened a bodkin of bone, which served the purpose of raising a corner to the shoulder or any other part of the dress. The second piece of cloth was wrapped round the waist and reached nearly to the ground, but both sexes wore a belt or girdle, which they scarcely ever removed. The finer cloths were made from the fibre obtained by macerating the Phormium leaves, and were roughly woven in a frame about 5 feet long and 4 broad, somewhat after the fashion of matting. This beautiful, glistening, silky cloth was ornamented with borders of different colours done with stitching, something like the old English wool-work. Some of the chiefs wore dresses made entirely of dogs' skin, but, this fur being very valuable, it was more often cut into strips and sewn on to their clothes as an adornment. Cloaks of sealskin were worn in the south. In both islands the men and women trimmed their garments with birds' feathers, especially those of parrots,penguins, and albatrosses. Dogs' teeth were collected and strung into necklaces. The women wore bracelets and anklets made of the bones of birds or of shells, while the men preferred pieces of green jade or whalebone. Besides boring their ears and wearing ornaments in the lobes, or decorating them with the down of the albatross, which was as white as snow, they often bored the septum or gristle of the nose between the nostrils and thrust feathers through the hole. The chiefs would carry a staff of distinction, generally the rib of a whale as white as snow, much carved, and ornamented with dogs' hair and with feathers; or a stick about 6 feet long, adorned in the same manner and inlaid with mother-of-pearl. Chiefs and warriors also carried a great jade club, calledpatu-patu. It was fastened to the wrist by a strong strap, lest it should be wrenched from the owner in fight, but the chiefs sometimes wore this handsome weapon stuck into the girdle round their waists.
The Maoris were of course, like all the Polynesians, completely in the Stone Age when first visited by Cook, and ignored the use of any metal. Their adzes and axes were made of a hard basaltic stone; and a jasper-like stone was very useful in its small fragments for making a sharp, hard borer. These fragments were chipped off a block as flints might be. They were used in finishing their nicest work until they were blunt, and then they were thrown away. With these splinters of jasper they were able in no time to drill a hole through a piece of glass. Their canoes were long and narrow, and the largest sort would carry as many as 100 armed men. One such war canoe was 68 feet long, 5 feet broad, and 3½ feet deep, with a sharp keel. It consisted of three lengths hollowed out to a thickness of about2 inches, and fastened together with strong plaiting. Each side consisted of one entire plank, 63 feet long and nearly 1 foot broad. Both the prow and the stern were decorated with wonderful pieces of carved wood. Some of the canoes, however, were only dug-outs, trunks hollowed by fire and axes. The Maoris were experts at sailing of the simpler kind, but their canoes could only go before the wind. The sail was made of netting or mats set up between two poles that were fixed upright upon each gunwale and served both as masts and yards.
VIEWA VIEW OF DUSKY BAY, ON THE GREAT SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND, WITH A MAORI FAMILY:
A VIEW OF DUSKY BAY, ON THE GREAT SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND, WITH A MAORI FAMILY:
A VIEW OF DUSKY BAY, ON THE GREAT SOUTH ISLAND OF NEW ZEALAND, WITH A MAORI FAMILY:
On 31 March, 1770, theEndeavoursailed from Cape Farewell on the north coast of the South Island of New Zealand, and on 19 April sighted the coast of what Cook still knew as "New Holland", which was, of course, the south-eastern extremity of Australia near Cape Howe. Cook then sailed along the coast to the northward, seeing smoke in several places, by which he knew the country to be inhabited. A camel-like mountain was called Mount Dromedary, a peaked hill, which resembled a square dovehouse with a dome at the top, was called Pigeonhouse, names which seem to have disappeared from the map of Australia. An attempt to land near the place now called Sutherland[82]was defeated by the heavy surf which lashed the white cliffs, while the natives on the beach, whose presence had attracted them, ran away. They were therefore obliged to guess at the landscape from a distance, and even then they observed that although there were numerous trees there was no underwood.
At last a bay—the celebrated Botany Bay, as it was subsequently named—opened before theEndeavour. The astonished natives appeared again on the beach, gazingat the ship as she slowly made her way into sheltered waters. They were absolutely naked, but their faces were dusted over with a white powder, and their bodies were painted in stripes of the same colour, which, passing obliquely over their breasts and backs, appeared like the belts worn crosswise in those days by British soldiers. Similar streaks were drawn round their legs and thighs like broad garters. They were armed with long wooden pikes, and "a wooden weapon shaped somewhat like a scimitar". This was the celebrated boomerang, the curved or crooked flat piece of wood which was one of Man's earliest weapons. Hurled by a practised hand it will whirl through the air, and unless it strikes the object aimed at with its sharp, flat edge, it returns almost to the spot from which it has been thrown. The boomerang has been in use at one time or another from West Africa to east Australia, and was once used in ancient Egypt. Reproduced in metal it is the origin of the throwing-knife of North Central Africa.
On Saturday, 28 April, 1770, theEndeavouranchored in Botany Bay, abreast of a small village consisting of six or eight houses. As the sailors were preparing to hoist out the boat they saw an old man, followed by three children, come out of the forest carrying firewood, and each of the children had also its little burden. Other children came out to meet them, and all alike gazed at the ship without either fear or surprise. The women set to work to kindle a fire, and four canoes came in from fishing. The men landed, and, having hauled up their boats, began to dress their dinner, to all appearance wholly unconcerned about this wonderful arrival, though theEndeavourwas anchored within half a mile of them. As soon, however, as Cook and his party landed, twomen of the native Australians came down to dispute their landing, whilst the others ran away. Each of these men was armed with a wooden lance about 10 feet long, and a short stick. They called out to the white men in a very loud tone in a hard, dissonant language, which neither the Englishmen nor Tupia, their Polynesian interpreter, understood in the least. They brandished their weapons and seemed resolved to defend their coast to the uttermost, though they were but two and the white men forty in number. Unwilling to provoke hostilities, Cook ordered the boat to lie upon her oars, and commenced to parley by signs, and to bespeak the goodwill of these stark-naked savages, throwing them at the same time nails, beads, and other trifles, which they took up and seemed to be well pleased with.
These overtures were of no use, however. As soon as the boat neared the shore the men again opposed the landing. A musket, consequently, was fired in the air, and upon hearing the report the younger of the two men dropped a bundle of lances, then in an instant snatched them up again and threw a stone, upon which a musket was fired with small shot, which struck the elder man in the legs. He immediately ran to one of the houses, which was distant about 100 yards, but only to return with a shield for his defence. As soon as he came up he threw a wooden lance, and his comrade another. Fortunately none of the white men was struck. A third musket with small shot was then fired at them, another lance was thrown, and at last the Australians ran away sufficiently far into the woods to make it prudent for the white men to venture into the village. Amongst these huts they found the children, who had hidden themselves behind a shield and some bark. They were left in their retreat,but beads, ribbons, and pieces of cloth and other presents were thrown into the huts to secure the goodwill of the inhabitants. Some of the lances lying about were taken away. They were from 6 to 15 feet long, and all of them had four prongs, each of which was armed with fish bone, and very sharp. They were in reality a kind of fish harpoon. The canoes are described as having been the worst that Cook had ever seen, between 12 and 14 feet long, and simply made (as already described in Chapter II) out of the bark of a tree removed in a single piece, tied at each end, and the middle kept open by sticks used as thwarts from gunwale to gunwale.
Crossing over to the north side of the bay, fresh water was found trickling down from the top of the rocks. None of the presents left in the huts were taken, nor were the natives inclined to enter into friendly relations. The face of the country round about Botany Bay was finely diversified by woods and grassy lawns. The trees were tall and straight, and standing at such a distance from each other that the whole country (wrote Cook) might be cultivated without cutting down one of them. Between the trees the ground was covered with grass, of which there was great abundance, growing in tufts about as big as could be well grasped in the hand. They had a transient view of an animal about as big as a rabbit, and came upon traces of what was really a kangaru, together with the footsteps of a beast like a wolf (a dingo or native dog), and the tracks of a polecat or weasel (the small white-spotted native "cats" or dasyures). The branches over their heads abounded with birds of exquisite beauty, particularly parrakeets and cockatoos, which flew in flocks of several scores together. Many of the trees had been barked, and one or two had been felled by some blunt instrument.Those that were standing, especially such as yielded gum, had had steps cut into their trunks, about 3 feet distant from each other, so that the natives could climb them. Some of the trees bore fruit that in colour and shape resembled a cherry; the juice had an agreeable tartness, but little flavour. About the head of the bay they traversed natural lawns which seemed to Cook the finest meadows in the world.
On the beach there was an abundance of mussels and oysters, some of which latter had been already roasted by the natives, and were eaten by Cook and his party. Banks shot a number of quails resembling those of England. One of the midshipmen accompanying a party sent to get into touch with the natives (who did nothing but run away whenever they were approached) strayed from his companions and suddenly found himself in the presence of a very old man and woman and some little children. They showed no signs of fear, and did not attempt to run away. The midshipman gave them a parrot which he had just killed, but they refused to accept it. All these people seemed a dark chocolate brown in colour. Both men and women were grey-headed. The hair of the men was long and ragged, while the women's hair was cropped short.
On the north shore of the bay there were no trees, and the ground resembled an English moor, its surface being covered with a thin scrub of plants about as high as the knees.
On Sunday, 6 May, 1770, theEndeavoursailed out of Botany Bay (as the place had been named, on account the abundance of wild flowers), and as she passed northwards Cook noticed a harbour which seemed to promise great things, and named it Port Jackson. This was the celebrated harbour ofSydney, one of the most remarkableinlets of the sea for beauty, extent, and the variety and number of deep and sheltered anchorages, to be found anywhere in the world. As theEndeavoursailed northwards the land gradually increased in height, so that it became actually mountainous, with a pleasing variety of hills and plains all clothed with woods. Cook sighted the large islands off the pleasant town of Brisbane (the capital of Queensland), and named one of them Cape Moreton. The coast of Queensland (as long afterwards it came to be called) was less hilly than that of New South Wales. Rounding the great promontory of Sandy Cape, theEndeavouranchored in what was then and there called Bustard Bay, from the killing and eating of a fine large bustard as big as a turkey.[83]"We all agreed that this was the best bird we had eaten since we left England." The landing parties found innumerable oysters—some of them pearl-producing, others hammer-shaped—on the mud banks under the mangroves. Upon these mangroves also were swarms of small green caterpillars, the bodies of which were thick-set with hairs. "They were ranged upon the leaves side by side, like a file of soldiers, to the number of twenty or thirty: when we touched them we found that the hair of their bodies had the quality of a nettle, and gave us an acute though less durable pain." Among the shoals and sandbanks were many water birds, especially the large black-and-white pelicans, but the country inland was not so attractive as the region round Botany Bay, being dry and sandy, though the sides of the hills were covered sparsely with trees, most of them eucalypti, yielding a yellow gum. The natives seen inthe distance from time to time were few in numbers, and seemed to lead an even more barbarous life than those of New South Wales, to be without houses as well as clothes, and to sleep in the open air. But they made use of fire, and even constructed rough drinking vessels out of bark, and made bark beds, and shelters against which they slept.
TheEndeavouragain came to an anchor in the vicinity of Keppel Bay (near Rockhampton). The water had become very shallow, and they had to stop to find a channel. Banks took advantage of this halt to fish from the cabin windows with hook and line, and in this way managed to catch some of the crabs which swarmed over the sea bottom. One of these was an exceedingly beautiful creature, adorned with the finest blue that can be imagined, with a white under side, and so exquisitely polished that its blue and white resembled old china. Another crab was marked with vivid ultramarine upon his joints and toes, and had on his back three large brown spots of singular appearance. A landing was made in Shoalwater Bay, and they found the ground covered with a kind of grass, the seeds of which were very sharp and bearded backwards, so that when they stuck into the clothes they worked inwards by means of the beard till they got at the flesh.[84]There were also clouds of mosquitoes which tormented the landing party with their bites. As usual the trees seemed to be mainly gums of the eucalyptus type. On the branches of some of these were large ant nests made of clay, as big as a bushel. There were also an incredible number of butterflies: for the space of 3 or 4 acres the air would be so crowded with them that millions must have been visible in every direction, while the branches and twigsof the trees were covered with those that were not in flight. They also found a small fish (thePeriophthalmusor mud-skipper) "about the size of a minnow", with two very strong breast-fins, in places that were quite dry, where it might have been left by the tide. It did not seem to feel the want of water, but leapt about by means of the breast-fins as nimbly as a frog. Even when found in the water it leapt out and pursued its way upon dry ground, and in shallow water it liked to progress by leaping from stone to stone above the surface.
On the islands off this coast of northern Queensland they noted that the natives were provided with outrigger canoes, showing that Melanesian or Polynesian influence had once reached this part.
All this was a dangerous coast where the sea in many parts concealed shoals which suddenly projected from the shore and rocks that rose abruptly, like a pyramid, from the bottom to within a few inches of the surface. For more than 1300 miles the navigation of theEndeavourhad been a source of the utmost anxiety to Cook and to her sailing-master. Anxiety was to be followed by actual misfortune near Cape Tribulation, a point which lies to the north of a very mountainous part of the north Queensland coast region, where the peaks rise to altitudes of nearly 6000 feet. On this coast the water shallowed suddenly, the ship struck, and remained immovable, except for the heaving of the surge which beat her against the rocks on which she lay. In a few moments everyone was on deck with countenances fully expressing the horror of their situation. The rock was evidently of coral, which is the most fatal kind owing to its hardness and sharpness. Against these pinnacles the bottom of the ship was being rubbed away by the rising and falling of the swell. The sails were at once taken in,and it was found that theEndeavourhad been lifted over a ledge of the rock by the surge and lay in a hollow inside it, in about 18 to 24 feet of water. For hours they strove by means of anchors and cables to warp her off the rock into deeper water and so get her out to sea; but she was immovable, and yet all this time continued to beat with great violence against the rock, so that it was with the utmost difficulty her crew could keep upon their legs. To add to their distress of mind they saw by the light of the moon the shifting boards from the bottom of the vessel floating around her, and at last her false keel, so that every moment the time was coming nearer in which the sea would rush into the ship and swallow her up. Land was actually about 24 miles distant. However, the wind gradually died away. Had it continued, the ship must inevitably have gone to pieces, and Cook and all his party would probably never have been heard of again; for the boats were insufficient to carry them all at once on shore, and even if they had reached the land it is doubtful whether they could have survived, for their northward march along the Cape York Peninsula would have been dogged by hostile natives, who would in the end have succeeded in killing and eating them. Even supposing they had reached Torres Straits and managed by means of native canoes to cross over to New Guinea, a similar fate awaited them there, for that part of New Guinea was then quite out of touch with the Dutch possessions.
COOKCAPTAIN COOK AT BOTANY BAY
CAPTAIN COOK AT BOTANY BAY
CAPTAIN COOK AT BOTANY BAY
However, the wind and swell having died down, everything that they could possibly throw overboard was thrown out of the ship (now heeling over dangerously to starboard). The pumps were incessantly at work keeping at bay the appalling inrush of the sea through the cracks and holes made by the injuries to the ship's sides and bottom.At last with the rise of the tide theEndeavourrighted herself so that she rode on an even keel and was apparently floating off. But even then they dreaded that when she was free of the rocks she might founder with the inrush of water through the leaks. "We well knew that our boats were not capable of carrying us all on shore, and that when the dreadful crisis should arrive, as all command and subordination would be at an end, a contest for preference would probably ensue that would increase the horrors even of shipwreck and terminate in the destruction of all of us at the hands of each other.... To those only who have waited in such a state of suspense, death has approached in all its terrors; and as the dreadful moment that was to determine our fate came on, everyone saw his own sensations pictured in the countenances of his companions."
However, the capstan and windlass were manned with as many hands as could be spared from the pumps, and the ship floating about twenty minutes after ten o'clock, a great effort was made, and she was warped and heaved into deep water. It was some comfort to find that she did not now admit more water than she had done upon the rock; and though, by the gaining of the leak upon the pumps, there was no less than 3 feet 9 inches of water in the hold, yet the men did not relinquish their labour, and held the water, as it were, at bay. "But having now endured excessive fatigue of body and agitation of mind for more than four-and-twenty hours, and having but little hope of succeeding at last, they began to flag: none of them could work at the pump more than five or six minutes together, and then, being totally exhausted, they threw themselves down upon the deck, though a stream of water was running over it from the pumps between 3 and 4 inches deep; whenthose who succeeded them had worked their spell, and were exhausted in their turn, they threw themselves down in the same manner, and the others started up again, and renewed their labour; thus relieving each other, till an accident was very near putting an end to their efforts at once. The planking which lines the inside of the ship's bottom is called the ceiling, and between this and the outside planking there is a space of about 18 inches: the man who till this time had attended the well to take the depth of water, had taken it only to the ceiling, and gave the measure accordingly; but he being now relieved, the person who came in his stead reckoned the depth to the outside planking, by which it appeared in a few minutes to have gained upon the pumps 18 inches, the difference between the planking without and within. Upon this, even the bravest was upon the point of giving up his labour with his hope, and in a few minutes everything would have been involved in all the confusion of despair. But this accident, however dreadful in its first consequences, was eventually the cause of our preservation: the mistake was soon detected, and the sudden joy which every man felt upon finding his situation better than his fears had suggested, operated like a charm, and seemed to possess him with a strong belief that scarcely any real danger remained."
The men now renewed their efforts with such alacrity and spirit, that before eight o'clock in the morning the leak no longer gained upon them, but the pumps gained considerably upon the leak. They cut most of their cables with the consequent loss of anchors, but got once more under sail and stood for the land.
It would, however, have been impossible to continue indefinitely the frightful labour of pumping out the seawater as fast as it poured in through the leaks, and the expedition would only have received a miserable respite but for the ingenious suggestion made by the same reckless midshipman, Monkhouse, who had been so ready to open fire on boisterous natives. He approached his commander, and proposed an expedient he had once seen used on board a merchant ship, which sprung a leak that admitted more than 4 feet of water an hour, and yet by this expedient had been brought safely from North America to London.[85]To midshipman Monkhouse, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called "fothering" the ship, was immediately committed, four or five of the people being appointed to assist him, and he performed it in this manner: "He took the lower studding sail, and having mixed together a large quantity of oakham and wool, chopped pretty small, he stitched it down in handfuls upon the sail, as lightly as possible, and over this he spread the dung of our sheep and other filth. When the sail was thus prepared, it was hauled under the ship's bottom by ropes, which kept it extended, and when it came under the leak, the suction which carried in the water, carried in with it the oakham and wool from the surface of the sail, which in other parts the water was not sufficiently agitated to wash off. By the success of this expedient our leak was so far reduced that, instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under by one. This was a new source of confidence and comfort; the people could scarcely have expressed more joy if they had been already in port." Cook goes on to observe in his journal that even when everything looked at its worst both officers and crewexhibited perfect possession of mind, and that everyone exerted himself to the uttermost, "with a quiet and patient perseverance, equally distant from the tumultuous violence of terror, and the gloomy inactivity of despair".
Sailing away with this device, which reduced the leaking of the ship to only about 15 inches of water an hour, easily kept at bay by the pumps, Cook passed close to two small islands, which at one time had seemed almost unattainable, and which out of gratitude he called Hope Islands. "In all the joy of our unexpected deliverance we had not forgotten that there was nothing but a lock of wool between us and destruction." At last they managed to reach the right kind of harbour at the place where the great town of Cooktown now stands. Here the ship was run up against a steep part of the shore, the stores, provisions, and the men were all transferred to the beach, where a camp was made and tents were put up for the sick; for, in addition to their other troubles, scurvy had broken out. Amongst other people thus affected was Tupia, the invaluable Polynesian interpreter, who, however, no sooner got on shore than he caught plenty of fresh fish and obtained herbs which cured his scurvy. Banks explored the country in all directions. There were many traces of the natives, but none of these people were visible. In his walks he met with vast flocks of pigeons and crows[86], and the pigeons (the plumage of which was exceedingly beautiful) proved most welcome as stores of fresh food.
On examining the main leak of the ship it was found that the coral rocks had pierced through four planks even into the timbers of her construction. There was not asplinter to be seen, but all was as smooth as though it had been cut by sharp instruments. The vessel would have been inevitably swamped but that a portion of the leak was filled up by fragments of rock broken off the spikes of coral.
On shore, palms yielding "cabbages" were found, which proved to be a grateful supply of vegetable food, and they even met with clumps of wild bananas yielding small fruit with nice-tasting pulp, but full of hard black seeds. "As I was walking this morning at a little distance from the ship", wrote Cook in his journal, "I saw myself one of the animals which had been so often described. It was of a light mouse colour, and in size and shape very much resembled a greyhound. It had a long tail also.... I should have taken it for a wild dog if instead of running it had not leapt like a hare or bird." It was, in fact, a kangaru. They also saw two animals like dogs (dingoes), of a straw colour. There were very large fruit-eating bats, "as big as a partridge", with wide-stretching black wings.
At last, after they had been many days on shore, they succeeded in getting into touch with the natives, who were more amenable to reason than the savages farther south. Their skin was dark chocolate, the hair was black, in some cases lank and in others curly, but never woolly like the Papuans. Their bodies were painted with streaks of red and white, the features of their faces were agreeable, and their voices were soft and tuneful. One of them wore the bone of a bird 5 or 6 inches long thrust through the gristle between the nostrils. However, the kindness shown them led these people on to acts of great presumption. They began to pester the party on land with requests for food, and, when this was denied them, gave way to transports ofrage, and finally, seizing brands from a fire, set light to the dry grass. Having in this way nearly succeeded in destroying the camp, it was necessary to shoot at them with muskets. With great difficulty peace was made, which was perhaps fortunate, for the seamen, straying out in all directions in search of food, encountered parties of native Australians who might otherwise have killed them had they not been reassured as to the intentions of the white men. In one such instance a seaman found himself alone in a little camp of four natives, who had kindled a fire and were broiling a bird over it together with part of a kangaru. The seaman, being unarmed, was very much alarmed, but had the presence of mind to assume a placid demeanour. He sat down with the people and offered them his knife, but after examining it they returned it to him politely. They examined his hands and face and clothes with the greatest attention, and then made signs that he could go away if he wished, a leave which he hastened to take. It was invariably found, however, that presents given to these people, whether cloth, beads, trinkets, or iron, were thrown away as useless lumber. The expedition also obtained a specimen of phalanger, a marsupial often misnamed the Australian opossum.[87]These phalangers or cuscuses had already been sent home to European collections from the Dutch East Indies, and had been described and named by Buffon, the great eighteenth-century French zoologist. Among the birds seen atEndeavourHarbour, where the ship was laid up for repairs, and where the chief fresh food of the crew was the green turtle, were Australian crows, kites, hawks, black cockatoos and white cockatoos, many beautiful parrots and parrakeets, a variety of pigeons, tree-ducks(noted for their whistling cry), geese, and curlews. On the islands off the coast which they touched at as they sailed northwards there were large Monitor lizards; and the nests of great eagles could be seen, mostly built on the ground. In their passage northward they were again and again within a few yards of destruction amongst the shoals, the coral reefs, the sudden storms, and the holes of unfathomable water. The dangers of navigating the unknown parts of the vast Pacific Ocean were greatly increased by having a crazy ship and by being short of provisions, "yet the first adventures of a first discoverer made us cheerfully encounter every danger".
On Tuesday, 21 August, 1770, Cook rounded Cape York and realized that he was quitting the shores of Australia and had found a passage between that island continent and New Guinea—the straits through which the Spaniard, Torres, had sailed in 1607, the existence of which had been entirely overlooked or forgotten. Cook, believing that he had at last found a passage into the Indian Ocean, landed on a little islet, climbed its highest hill, and hoisted the British flag, taking possession of the whole eastern coast of Australia (by the name of "New South Wales") on behalf of His Majesty King George III, "with all the bays, harbours, rivers, and islands situated upon it".
No clue is given in Cook's journals to his reason for giving the very inappropriate name of New South Wales to the eastern side of the Australian continent.
Almost unconsciously they rounded the northernmost extremity of Australia, feeling their way between islands, sandbanks, and shoals. On 23 August, 1770, they saw an open sea to the westward and realized that they were passing Tasman's Gulf of Carpentaria, and that theyhad discovered (in reality, rediscovered) the important strait between New Guinea and Australia, proving that the last-named (which they knew as "New Holland"), though continental in size, was in reality a separate island, and not connected with New Guinea.
New South Wales and much of Queensland was found by Cook to be fairly well watered, with innumerable small brooks and springs, but no great rivers. Access to the coast was much obstructed by the dense mangrove thickets. Eucalyptus was the most prominent type of tree in the forests. Cook observed two sorts of this "gum tree", with its "narrow leaves not much unlike those of a willow", and its gum of a deep-red colour. The pine trees[88]he mentions were probably species ofAraucariaandFrenela(miscalledCallitris). They found three different kinds of palm[89], that which grew in the southern part of New South Wales had fan-shaped fronds, and the heart of the palm (namely, the undeveloped fronds—the cabbage, as it was called by the mariners in those days, who depended on it so much for vegetable food) was exceedingly sweet to the taste. The nuts which it bore in great abundance weregood food for pigs. The second palm, also producing an edible cabbage, had large pinnated fronds like those of the coconut; and the third kind, which, like the second, was found only in northern Queensland, was seldom more than 10 feet high, with fronds resembling those of a large fern. It bore no cabbage, but a plentiful crop of nuts the size of a large chestnut only rounder, nuts that were probably roasted and eaten by the aborigines. Nevertheless, when eaten by Europeans, they proved almost poisonous, causing them to vomit and to be purged with great violence.
The conclusions at which Cook arrived in regard to the aborigines of Australia were singularly accurate, considering that he had only landed about five times on the coast of New South Wales and Queensland, and had in addition only the scanty records of Dampier and the Dutch seamen regarding the western coast of Australia. He argues from the utter savagery of these coast natives, and from the Dutch accounts of the desolate, parched nature of the south and west coasts of Australia, that the interior is probably mainly desert and uninhabitable. Their houses, which were seen at their best at Botany Bay, were just high enough for a man to sit upright in, and not large enough for him to lie down at full length. They were built with pliable rods as thick as a man's finger, in the form of an oven, the two ends being stuck into the ground. These withes were then covered with palm leaves and broad pieces of bark, and the door was nothing but a large hole at one end. In other words, they were precisely like the houses built by the pygmies in some parts of the Congo Forest. Inside these huts they slept three or four in number, coiled up. Their only implements seemed to be made of bark or nettedfibre. Pieces of bark were tied at the two ends with some lithe twig which served as a handle, and these bark basins or buckets would then hold water. In addition the natives roughly knitted together long fibres into bags, which they slung by a string over the head. But their fish hooks were very neatly made of shell, and some exceedingly small. For striking turtle they had a barbed wooden harpoon, the detachable end of which was fastened into a staff of light wood, to which was tied a line of fibrous string, while the other end of the bush rope was fastened to the harpoon. After striking the turtle the barbed end of this weapon would become detached in the animal's body, while the staff, being of light wood, rose to the surface and served as a float by which the victim could be traced, and also as a drag on his speed. They were able to make string from some fibre which ranged from the thickness of a half-inch rope to the fineness of a hair, and argued some skill on their part. Their cooking was done by broiling on coals or baking in a hole with the help of hot stones. They had no nets for catching fish, though they used a hook and line and also the harpoon. The boomerang was almost their only weapon for bringing down birds. They produced fire by whirling a drilling-stick into a piece of soft wood, getting a spark in less than two minutes. "We have often seen one of them running along the shore, to all appearance with nothing in his hand, who, stooping down for a moment at the distance of every 50 or 100 yards, left fire behind him, as we could see first by the smoke and then by the flame amongst the driftwood and other litter. We had the curiosity to examine one of these planters of fire when he set off, and we saw him wrap up a small spark indry grass, which when he had run a little way, having been fanned by the air that his motion produced, began to blaze. He then laid it down in a place convenient for his purpose, enclosing a spark of it in another quantity of grass, and so continued his course."
By setting fire to the bush the natives managed to surround and kill a number of animals—kangarus, emus, lizards, &c.
The lances of the Australians were of wood, sometimes with a shaft made of cane or the stem of a bulrush. The actual weapon itself was of hard wood, the point of which would be smeared with a resin which gave it a polish and made it enter deeper into what it struck. In the southern regions these lances usually had four prongs, each pointed with bone or sharp shells, and barbed. All such insertions of substances into the wood were held in their places by resin (Eucalyptus orDammaragum). They could become terrible weapons, for they were thrown with great force, and, owing to the smooth resin, entered far into the flesh of the person aimed at, and could never be drawn out without tearing the flesh or leaving sharp ragged splinters of bone or shell behind. When fighting at close quarters the lances were aimed with the hand, but at a greater distance were thrown by an instrument which Cook calls a throwing-stick. This was a plain, smooth piece of hard wood, highly polished, about 2 inches broad, ½ inch thick, and 3 feet long, with a small knob or hook at one end and a crosspiece about 3 or 4 inches long at the other. The knob at one end caught into a small dent or hollow, which was made for that purpose in the shaft of the lance near its point, but was not made sufficiently deep or rough to detain the lance when violently projected.When it was intended to hurl a lance by this means it was laid along the machine, being held in position by the knob entering the small hollow in the shaft, and the person throwing it held both lance and throwing-stick over his shoulder. He then, after a preliminary shake, hurled both the throwing-stick and the lance with all his force, but the stick being stopped by the cross-piece, which came against the shoulder with a sudden jerk, the lance went forward with incredible swiftness and with so good an aim that at a distance of 50 yards these black Australians were more certain of their mark than the white men often were with their guns. The only tools the people possessed seemed to be adzes with stone blades, wooden mallets, sharp shells, and fragments of coral; but for polishing their throwing-sticks and the points of their lances they rubbed down the wood with a leaf of a kind of wild fig tree, the underside of which had a very rough surface, which bit upon the wood almost as keenly (remarks Cook) as the shaving grass of Europe which was formerly used by English joiners.
As theEndeavoursailed along the south coast of New Guinea the breezes from the shore would be strongly impregnated with the trees, shrubs, and herbage, which was pleasantly aromatic. At some point on the south coast of New Guinea about 130 miles to the east of Valsche Cape (False Cape) theEndeavouranchored for a short time whilst Cook, Banks, and a small party of men went on shore, in all twelve persons well armed. The coast was very low, and covered with a luxuriance of wood and herbage that can scarcely be conceived. They were obliged to wade 200 yards till they reached the strand, where they saw the prints of human feet. Walking alongthe outskirts of the forest they came to a grove of coconut trees on the banks of a little brackish stream. They looked at the fruit very wistfully, but, not thinking it safe to climb, were obliged to leave without tasting a single nut. Suddenly three Papuans rushed out of the forest with a hideous shout, and as they ran towards them the foremost threw something out of his hand which burnt exactly like gunpowder but made no report. The other two instantly threw their lances, and as there was now no time to be lost the Eurupeans fired their guns, which were loaded with small shot. Several still came on. Bullets were used, and then they ran away, whilst the white men retreated to the water and a boat. As they waded away from the shore a number of Papuans came out to attack them, which they did by discharging some flaming substance through a short piece of stick, probably a hollow cane. "This wonderful phenomenon was observed from the ship, and the deception was so great that the people on board thought they had firearms." Having made this attack they retired, and the people of Cook's party picked up the fire-producing weapons. They were found to be light darts about 4 feet long, of reed or bamboo, pointed with hard wood in which were many barbs. They were apparently hurled with a throwing-stick like the lances of the Australians.
Passing by the south end of Timor they saw unexpectedly an island, which they thought at first was a new discovery. It was Savu, midway between Timor and Sumba, or Sandalwood Island. To their great surprise they saw not only people dressed more or less after the fashion of Europeans, but numerous flocks of sheep. The second lieutenant landed and was received with great civility. Moving round to a better anchorage they sawthe Dutch colours. The raja or chief of the island, who had with him a Portuguese interpreter, explained that he would be delighted to afford them stores and other assistance, if they could first obtain the permission of the Dutch East India Company, without which he was not able to trade with any other people. This Company was represented in Savu at that time by a German named Lange. He came on board and behaved with great civility, bringing with him the raja of the island. But in spite of fine words it was with the utmost difficulty, and after many delays, that Cook's party obtained any supply of fresh provisions, the Dutch Company's agent pretending that he had received instructions from his superior officers on the Island of Timor to render no assistance. In fact, Cook would have fared very badly had it not been for the inherent good nature of the Malay people of the island. He pleaded with the raja for liberty to purchase one pig and some rice, as they were so urgently in need of fresh provisions. The king replied graciously that he would give them a dinner himself.
"About five o'clock dinner was ready; it was served in six-and-thirty dishes, or rather baskets, containing alternately rice and pork, and three bowls of earthenware, filled with the liquor in which the pork had been boiled; these were ranged upon the floor, and mats laid round them for us to sit upon. We were then conducted by turns to a hole in the floor, near which stood a man with water in a vessel made of the leaves of the fan-palm, who assisted us in washing our hands. When this was done, we placed ourselves round the victuals, and waited for the king. As he did not come, we enquired for him, and were told that the custom of the country did notpermit the person who gave the entertainment to sit down with his guests; but that, if we suspected the victuals to be poisoned, he would come and taste it. We immediately declared that we had no such suspicion, and desired that none of the rituals of hospitality might be violated on our account. The Prime Minister and Mr. Lange were of our party, and we made a most luxurious meal; we thought the pork and rice excellent, and the broth not to be despised; but the spoons, which were made of leaves, were so small that few of us had patience to use them. After dinner, our wine passed briskly about, and we again enquired for our royal host, thinking that though the custom of his country would not allow him to eat with us, he might at least share in the jollity of our bottle; but he again excused himself, saying, that the master of a feast should never be drunk, which there was no certain way to avoid but by not tasting the liquor. We did not however drink our wine where we had eaten our victuals; but as soon as we had dined made room for the seamen and servants, who immediately took our places: they could not despatch all that we had left, but the women who came to clear away the bowls and baskets, obliged them to carry away with them what they had not eaten."
At length the old man who was the king's Prime Minister, and who was won over by the present of a spyglass and a broadsword, intervened with a show of force, and the Dutch-German factor and his Portuguese colleague had to give way. Cook purchased 9 buffaloes, 6 sheep, 3 pigs, 360 fowls, a few limes, some coconuts, dozens of eggs, a little garlic, and several gallons of palm syrup—a most welcome addition to the food supply of the ship, which by this time had been reduced in the matter of fresh provisions to a single sheep, and probably the savingof life for many invalids on board. The sheep which he bought on the island were like those of Southern India, with hair instead of wool, very long, pendent ears, and arched noses.
This small island of Savu was densely inhabited, and could raise from out of the five principalities into which it was divided an army of at least 7700 men armed with muskets, spears, lances, and pole-axes. The people were somewhat elaborately dressed, and had a great variety of food owing to the abundance of domestic animals and of vegetables. They were made hideous by the abuse of the betelnut, the chewing of which with lime darkened their teeth and wore them down to the gums. But they were very proud of their pedigrees, which they traced back for generations. Each raja set up in the principal town of his province a large stone which served as a memorial of his reign. Many of these stones were so large that it is difficult to conceive by what means they were raised to their present position on summits of hills. Muhammadanism had not yet reached them, nor had Christianity. Their religion was described as "absurd", inasmuch as each man chose his own god and determined for himself how he should be worshipped. Nevertheless, their morals were irreproachable. They were honest, and although warlike in disposition kept the peace amongst one another. Their style of living was remarkable for delicacy and cleanliness. They appeared to be healthy and long-lived.
From Savu theEndeavourreached without difficulty Batavia, the capital of Java and of the Dutch Indies. But her arrival at Batavia, together with the facilities which were given to Cook by the Dutch Government for repairing his ship—to say nothing of the pleasure of finding oneself amongst Europeans and even Englishmen for thefirst time after having sailed half round the globe—were of small consolation in the presence of a terrible sickness which seized on all of them owing to the unhealthy nature of the place. Tupia and his boy Taito, who had come with them all the way from Tahiti, and who had been through such wonderful adventures in New Zealand and elsewhere, and who showed themselves so intensely delighted with the varied aspect of civilization at Batavia, both succumbed to illness, and died. Banks and Solander were so bad that they also nearly died; Monkhouse, the surgeon, and several seamen perished. Cook himself was very ill. Every individual, in fact, of theEndeavour'screw was ill except the sailmaker, an old man between seventy and eighty years of age. Five Englishmen out of the crew were buried at Batavia, besides the two Tahitians.
From Java they sailed to the Cape of Good Hope, where they stayed for rest and refreshment, and after calling at St. Helena theEndeavouranchored in the Downs off Deal, and at that place Cook landed on 12 June, 1771, after his circumnavigation of the world, which opened a new epoch in colonial history.
Cook was commended highly by the Admiralty for his services, and he was made a Fellow by the Royal Society, very small rewards for such a wonderful achievement. [To excuse their niggardliness in this respect the Government of the day said,after Cook was dead, that had he lived to return from his third voyage he might have been made a baronet!] But perhaps the most striking evidence of the insolent indifference to Cook's interests was displayed by the Board of Admiralty in regard to Cook's Journals and Banks's elaborate records of the ethnology, botany, and zoology observed in the course of the wonderfulvoyage. All this material was placed in the hands of a Dr. Hawkesworth by Lord Sandwich, the dissolute and vicious Minister[90]at the head of the Admiralty, simply because Hawkesworth had been introduced to him by the actor Garrick as a writer of plays for the stage. Wishing to help Hawkesworth with funds, without putting his hand in his pocket, Lord Sandwich handed over to him Cook's Journals, and induced Banks to do the like with his own work. Hawkesworth then sold the joint work of Cook and Banks to publishers and booksellers for £6000, which he invested on his own behalf, and which—for he died soon afterwards—passed to his widow without benefiting Cook (Banks being rich did not need it) in the least. Banks, it must be remembered, had spent something like £8000 on the expedition.