FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[30-1]They sighted Easter Island on March 4th, 1791, Ducie's Island on the 16th, Hoods' Island on the 17th, and Carysfort on the 19th. The latitude and description of Ducie's Island leaves little doubt that it was the first island discovered by Quiros on January 26th, 1606 and called by him Luna Puesta. It appears as Encarnaçion in Espinosa's chart. Quiros thus describes it: "A buen juzgar dista de Lima ochocientas leguas: tiene cinco de boj, mucha arboleda y playas de arena, y junto á tierra fondo de ochenta brazas." Had Edwards but sailed due west from Ducie Island he must have sighted Pitcairn and discovered the hiding-place of Fletcher Christian's ill-fated colony.[31-1]An American vessel.[33-1]Morrison was Boatswain's Mate of theBounty. He had previously served as midshipman in the navy, and by talent and education he was far above the station he held in Bligh's ship. It was he who planned and directed the building of the fast-sailing little schooner which acted as thePandora'stender, was the first vessel to anchor in Fiji, and made the record passage from China to the Sandwich Islands. Morrison was chaplain as well as foreman to the little band of shipwrights. On Sundays he hoisted the English colours on a staff and read the Church Service to them. He kept a journal, not only throughout theBounty'scruise, but during his sojourn with the mutineers in Tahiti, and, though it is not explained how he contrived to preserve it through the wreck of thePandoraand the boat voyage, there can be no doubt that it was a genuine document. At Captain Heywood's death it passed with his other papers to his daughters. This journal has been annotated and corrected by another hand, probably Heywood's own, but without material alteration of the sense. It is filled with acrimony against Bligh from the outset of theBounty'scruise, and the form of the entries shows that it was intended to be the basis for laying serious charges against him when the ship was paid off. It is needless to add that it does not spare Edwards in respect of his treatment of his prisoners.[36-1]ThePandorafound one of them at Palmerston Island.[37-1]Executed at Portsmouth.[37-2]Pardoned.[37-3]Acquitted.[37-4]Drowned in the wreck of thePandora.[37-5]Morrison said that his plan was to reach Batavia in time to secure a passage home in the next fleet bound to Holland, and that the return to Tahiti was occasioned, not by any distrust of his talents, but by the refusal of the natives, who were anxious to keep them in Tahiti, to victual the ship for so long a voyage. There were no casks on the schooner for storing water. Morrison, Heywood and Stewart had planned an escape from Tubuai in theBounty'sboat, but, fortunately for them—since the attempt would have been certain death—their plan was discovered and frustrated by the other mutineers.[38-1]Oliver, master's mate; Renouard, midshipman; James Dodds, quartermaster; and six seamen.[40-1]Oatafu, one of the Union Group, discovered by Commodore Byron in 1765. If the mutineers had settled there they would have starved, for there is neither food nor water. Since Byron's discovery a native settlement has been made from Bowditch Island (Fakaago), and the people, about 100 in number, live on fish, pandanus, and water caught in holes cut on the lee side of the cocoa-palms.[40-2]The northernmost island of the Cook Group, discovered by Bligh, April 11, 1798, a few days before the mutiny. In 1823 John Williams, the missionary, heard at Rarotonga a native tradition of Bligh's visit. The natives heard the first rumours of a world beyond their own from two Tahitian castaways who had seen Captain Cook, and had with them an iron hatchet obtained from theResolution. They represented the strange beings who traversed the ocean in vast canoes, not lashed with sinnet nor furnished with outriggers, as impious people who laughed at the tabu, and even ate of the consecrated food from the Maraés. They were like the gods; if they were attacked they blew at their assailants with long blow-pipes (pupuhi) from which flames and stones were belched. Such were the Tutë (Cooks).Thereafter, having need of iron (kurima) and other wonders current in Tahiti the men of Aitutaki prayed to their gods to send the Tutë to their island with axes and nails andpupuhi, and this, according to an old priest, was their prayer. "O great Tangaroa, send your large ship to our land: let us see the Cookees. Great Tangiia, send us a dead sea, send us a propitious gale, to bring the far-famed Cookees to our land, to give us nails and iron and axes; let us see these outriggerless canoes." And with the feast presented with the prayer were promises of greater feasts so soon as their prayer was answered. The gods heard them. A few months later the Cookees came. The great ship did not anchor, but one of the natives took his courage in both hands, and went off in his canoe. He brought back strange tales of what he had seen. It was a floating island; there were two rivers flowing on it (the pumps), and two plantations in which grew taro and sugar-cane and bread-fruit, and the keel scraped the bottom of the sea, for he dived as deep as he could go without finding it.Williams has fallen into two errors in his account (p. 171). In the same breath he claims for himself the discovery of Rarotonga, in 1823, and announces this to have been a visit of theBountyafter she was taken by the mutineers,i.e.in April, 1789. Rarotonga was, in fact, discovered by the shipSeringapatamin 1814, though Williams may have been the first to land. The tradition must have referred to Bligh's visit to Aitutaki before the mutiny when the decks were encumbered with bread-fruit, for we know that the first thing the mutineers did after setting their captain adrift was to throw all the bread-fruit plants overboard, and that they steered direct for Tahiti.[42-1]Discovered by Cook in his second voyage. There are nine small islands connected by a reef, covered with trees, but destitute of water.[43-1]Sufficient for thirty days at most. In the face of the danger of parting company, with thePandoraoverloaded with stores, and the tender too feebly manned to wait at so dangerous a rendezvous as the Friendly Islands, Edwards showed very little foresight in neglecting to provision the tender for an independent voyage. His neglect nearly cost the crew their lives.[44-1]Seep. 126.[46-1]Fakaafo or Bowditch Island, whence the present permanent inhabitants migrated.[46-2]Nukunono, a new discovery, another of the Union Group. It was surveyed by the American Exploring Expedition in 1840, and was found to be 7-2/10 miles long, N. and S., and 5 miles E. and W.[48-1]The actual position is 9·5′ S. Latitude and 171·38′ W. Longitude.[49-1]Savaii in the Samoa Group. If not the 'Beauman' Islands seen by Roggewein in 1721, they were discovered by Bougainville in 1768 and visited by La Pérouse in 1787. Freycinet also visited them before Edwards.[49-2]Mata-atua Harbour. There is no river there except after heavy rain.[49-3]He had a finger cut off in mourning for Finau Ulukalala, who must have died in 1790.[50-1]La Pérouse and Kotzebue call it Pola.[50-2]Upolu on which is Apia, the present capital of Samoa.[50-3]Upolu is the native name, but it has been called Ojalava, Oahtooha, Ojatava, and Opoloo by different navigators, who may have taken the names of villages or districts to mean the whole island. The population exceeded 20,000 at the beginning of last century.[50-4]Turmeric powder, never a mark of distinction, was besmeared over nursing mothers, chief women at the feasts connected with puberty, and persons concerned in certain other ceremonies.[51-1]Bougainville sighted Upolu on May 5th, 1760. A thick fog which came on that afternoon, and lasted all the following day, prevented him from approaching it, and from seeing Savaii, which he would have seen on May 7th in clear weather. La Pérouse coasted along its southern shore on December 17th, 1789. Unfortunately, smarting from the massacre of de Langle and his boat's crew at Tutuila, he was in no mood for communicating with the natives, and he did not anchor.[51-2]Seep. 12.[52-1]Fatafehi is the hereditary title of one of the spiritual chiefs of Tonga.He had no executive authority, but his wealth, derived from his lands and the offerings to which he was entitled, gave him considerable influence. The complicated hierarchy of spiritual chiefs in Tonga was a continual puzzle to Cook. Fatafehi at this time was an ornamental personage, inferior in dignity to the Tui Tonga, and in power to Tukuaho, who wielded the authority of his father Mumui, the Tui Kanakubolu. The Toobou (Tubou) mentioned here was the deputy of the tyrant Tukuaho, who, eight years later, was to pay the penalty of his crimes in the Revolution of 1799. Hamilton mentions that the tradition of Tasman's visit in 1642 was still preserved.[54-1]Among the people who boarded the ship from Tofoa Lieut. Hayward recognized some of those who attacked Bligh's boat four days after the mutiny, and murdered Quartermaster Norton, but solicitude for the crew of the tender, which might call there, prevented Edwards from punishing them as they deserved. No doubt, both at Tofoa and Namuka, the natives would have attempted to take the ship had they thought success possible as, we now know, they had planned to capture Cook's ships, and as they actually did capture the privateerPort-au-Princein 1806 at Haapai. In 1808 William Mariner, one of the survivors of that ill-fated ship, who has left behind him the best account of a native race that exists probably in any language, was led by the strange native account of Norton's murder, to visit his grave. The natives asserted that Norton was killed by a carpenter for the sake of an axe which he was carrying; that his body was stripped and dragged some distance inland to aMalaewhere it lay exposed for three days before burial; and that the grass had never since grown upon the track of the body nor upon its resting-place on theMalae. Mariner found a bare track leading inland from the beach and terminating in a bare patch, lying transversely, about the length and breadth of a man. It did not appear to be a beaten path, nor were there people enough in the neighbourhood to make such a path. Probably it was an old track, long disused and forgotten, for by such natural causes is man's belief in the supernatural fed.[55-1]The Vavau Group, called by the natives Haafuluhao, which then as now, owed spiritual allegiance to Tonga.[55-2]Manua, the most Easterly of the Samoa Group, called Opoun by La Pérouse.[55-3]Tutuila, discovered by Roggewein in 1721, visited by Bougainville 4th May, 1768, and by La Pérouse 10th December, 1787. On the day before his murder by the natives, Comte de Langle, La Pérouse's second in command, discovered Pangopango harbour while on a walk through the island, but neither Bougainville nor La Pérouse seems to have discerned the masked fissure in the cliff which forms its entrance. Edwards must have had a copy of Bougainville on board, but no record of La Pérouse's visit four years before, or he would have shown greater caution in communicating with the natives. That he had heard something of La Pérouse's voyage, and had some ground for suspicion is shown by Hamilton. A detailed account of de Langle's murder is to be found in "La Pérouse's Voyage," vol. ii.[56-1]Vavau.[57-1]He might have added "in the Pacific," for it is a magnificent land-locked harbour, a little narrow for sailing ships to beat out of in a southerly wind, but excellent for steamships.[57-2]This was Finau Ulukalala, one of the most notable men in Tongan history. He had just succeeded his elder brother, the Finau (Feenow) of Captain Cook's visit in 1777. On April 21st, 1799, he conspired against Tukuaho, the temporal sovereign of Tonga and assassinated him, plunging Tonga into a civil anarchy which lasted twenty years. He was Mariner's patron and protector until his death in 1809. "The great master of Greek drama," says a writer in the "Quarterly Review," "could have desired no better elements than are to be found in the history of this remarkable man; his remorseless ambition and his natural affections—his contempt for the fables and ceremonies of his country when in prosperity—his patient submission to them when in distress—his strong intellects—his evil deeds—and the death which was believed to be inflicted on him in vengeance by the over-ruling divinities whom he defied."[58-1]Hunga.[58-2]Niuababu.[58-3]Falevai.[58-4]Fonua Lei (Land of Whales' teeth).[58-5]Laté.[58-6]Toku.[58-7]These islands had already been twice visited and named, and Cook, though he did not visit them, gives all their native names in his list of the islands composing the Friendly or Tonga Group. The honour of their discovery belongs to the Spanish pilot Maurelle, who sailed from Manila in 1781, without proper charts or instruments and almost without provisions for his long voyage to America. Reduced to desperate straits by famine, he sighted Fonua Lei, the northernmost of the Tonga Group, which he called Margoura, believing it to be one of the Solomon Islands. At Vavau he was liberally entertained by Bau or Poulaho, the Tui Tonga of Cook's visit four years before. La Pérouse passed close to the islands in December, 1787, but, consistent with his determination to hold no further intercourse with natives after the murder of M. de Langle, did not enter the harbour of Neiafu. Edwards had no account of either of these voyages. La Pérouse's journals were not published until 1797.Fonua Lei was again destroyed by an eruption in 1846. The inhabitants who had plantations on it were removed to Vavau just in time.[59-1]There is only one. It was so named by Tasman 1642. Maurelle called it Sola. But Edwards probably mistook the twin islets of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Haapai for Pylstaart.[62-1]Niua-fo'ou (New Niua), discovered by W. Cornelis Schouten in the Dutch shipEendracht(Unity) on May 14th, 1616, and named by him "Good Hope" Island. Twelve canoes came off, and some of them attempted to take the boat that he had sent ashore for water, but desisted on discharge of a volley which killed two men. He wrote: "The island was full of black cliffs, green on the top, and black, and was full of coco-trees and black earth. There was a large village, and several other houses on the seashore: the land was undulating, but not very high." No ship is known to have visited the island from 1614 to this visit in 1791.The cocoanuts grown here are the largest in the world, but the specimens planted in other islands do not appear to maintain their abnormal size. The island is further remarkable from the fact that the Megapodius, or Scrub hen, is plentiful there, and nowhere else in the Pacific further east than the New Hebrides. The natives have no traditions of its introduction. The eggs have been prized as a delicacy in Tonga for centuries, and are exported thither by every canoe going southward during the breeding season. It is said that they are sometimes hatched artificially, but the youngmalaodoes not take kindly to the bush in Tonga, although the vegetation is much the same. Why should the bird be found in Polynesia, having skipped all the intermediate islands of Melanesia? To what story of the migration of races is it the only clue?[63-1]Niuatobutabu, like Niuafoou, subject to the King of Tonga.[63-2]Uea, discovered by Wallis in 1767, and visited by Maurelle on April 22nd, 1781. It has 3000 inhabitants who are said by the French missionaries to be increasing. Uea is nominally independent under its own queen, but the French priests wield the real power in so spirited a fashion that the natives frequently attempt to escape from the island as stowaways.[64-1]Mourning for the death of a chief or near relation.[65-1]This confirms the story of Kau Moala, a Tongan navigator, who returned to his native land in 1807 and related his adventures to Mariner. He had visited Futuna, Rotuma and Fiji in a double canoe, and, in describing Rotuma, he related the legend of two giants who had migrated from Tonga to Rotuma in legendary times. He was shown gigantic bones in proof of the story, the bones, no doubt, of some marine monster. Mention is made of Rotuma in a Tongan saga of the early sixteenth century, and there can be no doubt that there was occasional intercourse between these distant islands during the period when the Tongans were the Norsemen of the Pacific.Kau Moala heard nothing of Edwards' visit, though he brought news of the visit of a ship to Futuna, and of an ineffectual attempt to take her—perhaps the visit of Schouten, whose account of the affray tallies closely with theirs even to the killing of six natives. The tradition was still fresh after 190 years. Edwards' visit, having brought no disasters on the natives, escaped the attention of the native poets and was forgotten.[67-1]Native name Fataka. The Russian Captain Kroutcheff, who landed upon it in 1822, found it uninhabited.[67-2]Kroutcheff placed it 41 minutes further west.[68-1]This was Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz Group. It was probably seen by Mendaña in 1595, and again by Carteret in 1767, but the interest attached to it by Europeans, and particularly to Edwards' visit, lies in the undoubted fact that at that very time there were survivors of La Pérouse's ill-fated expedition upon it. If his search for the mutineers had been as keen at this part of his voyage as it was in the earlier portion, he would have been the means of rescuing them. The smoke he saw may well have been signal fires lighted by the castaways to attract his attention.La Pérouse's ships were cast away in 1788, just three years before, shortly after the Commander had delivered his journals to Governor Phillip in Botany Bay for transmission to Europe. Their fate was unknown until Peter Dillon chanced upon a French swordhilt in Tucopia thirty-eight years later in 1826. Satisfying himself that they had been brought from Vanikoro, he persuaded the East India Company to place him in command of a search expedition. In 1827 he made a thorough examination of the island, and found the remains of theBoussole; theAstrolabe, according to the native account, having foundered in deep water. He found the clearing where the survivors had felled timber to build themselves a brig in which they sailed to meet a second shipwreck elsewhere, perhaps on the Great Barrier reef of Queensland. But two had been left, and of these one had died shortly before his visit, and the other had gone with the natives to another island leaving no trace behind him.D'Entrecasteaux, when in search of La Pérouse in 1793, also passed within sight of the castaways.D'Urville made a thorough examination of the island both in 1828 and 1838. The relics brought home by Dillon may be seen in the Gallerie de la Marine in the Louvre.[69-1]This was the dangerous reef now known as Indispensable Reef, after the shipIndispensablecommanded by Captain Wilkinson, who discovered it in 1790.[69-2]It was, in fact, the mainland of New Guinea. The land East of Cape Rodney, comprising Orangerie, Table, and Cloudy Bays, lies so low and is so generally obscured with haze that on a dull day Edwards would not have seen it.It is doubtful whether Edwards' Capes Rodney and Hood, are correctly placed in the modern charts. Our Cape Rodney is not a conspicuous headland, and it lies half a degree eastward of 212·14 W. Longitude, and 9′ South of 106·3° S. Latitude. Edwards' positions are usually so accurate that I cannot see why they should have been departed from. Our Cape Hood, on the other hand, is exactly in the position of his Cape Rodney, and is besides a very conspicuous wooded tongue of land. Beyond is another conspicuous point. Round Head, which corresponds in position with Edwards' Cape Hood. Mount Clarence, moreover, would not appear to lie between Capes Rodney and Hood until the former was out of sight astern. I think that Mount Clarence must have been hidden by clouds, and that Edwards' Mount Clarence was in reality the high cone in the Saroa district, which is a conspicuous feature on the coast line. A further indication that the day was hazy lies in the fact that Edwards did not see the great Owen Stanley Range which towers up 13,000 feet behind. Had he done so he would not have mistaken the mainland for a group of scattered islands. Hamilton does not call Mount Clarence an "island," but a "mountain." A further proof that Edwards' "Cape Hood" was Round Head is found in the remark "After passing Cape Hood the land appears lower, and to branch off about N.N.W., . . . for we saw no other land." This applies to Round Head, and to no other part of the coast.[70-1]If he had kept this course he would have struck the New Guinea Coast again a little East of the Maikasa River.[70-2]East Bay.[71-1]It is difficult to understand how Edwards failed to see Flinders Passage, which, while not free from obstructions to the westward, would have admitted him to a safe anchorage at the Murray Islands, inside the Barrier Reef.[71-2]It was an unfortunate choice. Had he steered north on first encountering the reefs he would have made the coast which he might have followed in safety, as Bligh did in his boat voyage after the mutiny, by what is now known as the Great North-East Channel. He was led Southward by his plan of using the Endeavour Straits. See Hamilton's account,pp. 141-2.[73-1]Two men were crushed to death; one by a gun that had broken loose, and the other by a falling spar. The whole ship's company seems to have behaved splendidly, working at the pumps and at the sail they were preparing to haul under the ship's bottom until they could scarcely stand for fatigue, with nothing to replenish their strength but "a cask of excellent strong ale which we brewed at Anamooka" (Hamilton).[73-2]Every reader must be struck by the fact that in his description of this disaster, Edwards never once speaks of the prisoners. Hamilton, it is true, does say "The prisoners were ordered to be let out of irons," but another account, ascribed to Lieutenant Corner, second lieutenant of thePandora, throws a sinister light on this part of the narrative. "Three of theBounty'speople, Coleman, Norman, and M'Intosh, were now let out of irons, and sent to work at the pumps. The others offered their assistance, and begged to be allowed a chance of saving their lives; instead of which, two additional sentinels were placed over them, with orders to shoot any who should attempt to get rid of their fetters. Seeing no prospect of escape, they betook themselves to prayer, and prepared to meet their fate, everyone expecting that the ship would soon go to pieces, her rudder and part of the sternpost being already beat away. No notice was taken of the prisoners, as is falsely stated by the author of the 'Pandora's Voyage,' although Captain Edwards was entreated by Mr. Heywood to have mercy upon them, when he passed over their prison to make his own escape, the ship then lying on her broadside, with the larboard bow completely under water. Fortunately the master-at-arms, either by accident or design, when slipping from the roof of 'Pandora's Box' into the sea, let the keys of the irons fall through the scuttle or entrance, which he had just before opened, and thus enabled them to commence their own liberation, in which they were generously assisted, at the imminent risk of his own life, by William Moulter, a boatswain's mate who clung to the coamings, and pulled the long bars through the shackles, saying he would set them free, or go to the bottom with them. Scarcely was this effected when the ship went down. The master-at-arms and all the sentinels sunk to rise no more. Among the drowned were Mr. Stewart, John Sumner, Richard Skinner, and Henry Hillbrandt, the whole of whom perished with their hands still in manacles."Some allowance is to be made both for the confusion of a shipwreck, and for the natural fear of the commander that in the loosening of the ties of authority natural to such a moment, the liberation among his crew of a number of men who had already mutinied successfully, and were going home with a rope about their necks, would be an act of merciful folly. This, however, does not excuse him for refusing his prisoners the shelter of an old sail on the sand cay, and so obliging them to get shelter from the sun by burying themselves neck-deep in the sand, as Heywood afterwards stated. Heywood further asserted that after the vessel struck the prisoners, having wrenched themselves out of their irons, implored Edwards to let them out of "Pandora's Box," but that he had them all ironed again.[74-1]In his evidence before the court-martial Edwards said: "The double canoe, that was able to support a considerable number of men, broke adrift with only one man, and was bulged upon a reef, and afforded us no help when she was so much wanted."[74-2]Hamilton says 34.[75-1]Each boat was supplied with the latitude and longitude of Timor, 1100 miles distant. As soon as they embarked the oars were laid athwart the boat so that they could stow two tiers of men. The men were distributed as follows:Pinnace—Capt. Edwards; Lieut. Hayward; Rickards, Master's Mate; Packer, Gunner; Edmonds, Captain's Clerk; 3 prisoners, 16 privates.Red Yawl—Lieut. Larkan; Surgeon Hamilton; Reynolds, Master's Mate; Matson, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 18 privates.Launch—Lieutenant Corner; Bentham, Purser; Montgomery; Carpen Bowling, Master's Mate; Mackendrick, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 24 privates.Blue Yawl—George Passmore, Master; Cunningham, Boatswain; Innes, Surgeon's Mate; Fenwick, Midshipman; Pycroft, Midshipman; 3 prisoners; 15 privates.[77-1]Tree Island.[77-2]Now called Prince of Wales' Channel or Flinders Channel. It is the best Channel through Torres Straits, and, if Edwards' narrative had been published his discovery would doubtless have been perpetuated in his name.[77-3]Horn Island.[77-4]Dingoes.[77-5]North West Reef.[78-1]Like Bligh's men, they wetted their shirts in salt water to cool themselves by evaporation, but found that the absorption through the skin tainted the fluids of the body with salt so that the saliva became intolerable in the mouth. The young bore the want of water better than the old, but all alike became excessively irritable.[80-1]This hospitality was not extended to the prisoners, who were confined in irons in the castle, and fed on bad provisions. But on the passage to Batavia in theRembangthey had worse in store, for the ship was partially dismasted in a cyclone, and would certainly have gone ashore but for the exertions of the English passengers. The prisoners took their turn at the pumps with the rest, and when their strength gave out, they were put in irons and allowed to rest upon a wet sail soaked with the drainings of a pig-stye under which it was spread. At Batavia Edwards distributed the purchase-money of the tender among his people to enable them to buy clothes, and the prisoners, having their hands at liberty, made suits and hats for thePandora'screw, and so were able to buy clothes of their own.

[30-1]They sighted Easter Island on March 4th, 1791, Ducie's Island on the 16th, Hoods' Island on the 17th, and Carysfort on the 19th. The latitude and description of Ducie's Island leaves little doubt that it was the first island discovered by Quiros on January 26th, 1606 and called by him Luna Puesta. It appears as Encarnaçion in Espinosa's chart. Quiros thus describes it: "A buen juzgar dista de Lima ochocientas leguas: tiene cinco de boj, mucha arboleda y playas de arena, y junto á tierra fondo de ochenta brazas." Had Edwards but sailed due west from Ducie Island he must have sighted Pitcairn and discovered the hiding-place of Fletcher Christian's ill-fated colony.

[31-1]An American vessel.

[33-1]Morrison was Boatswain's Mate of theBounty. He had previously served as midshipman in the navy, and by talent and education he was far above the station he held in Bligh's ship. It was he who planned and directed the building of the fast-sailing little schooner which acted as thePandora'stender, was the first vessel to anchor in Fiji, and made the record passage from China to the Sandwich Islands. Morrison was chaplain as well as foreman to the little band of shipwrights. On Sundays he hoisted the English colours on a staff and read the Church Service to them. He kept a journal, not only throughout theBounty'scruise, but during his sojourn with the mutineers in Tahiti, and, though it is not explained how he contrived to preserve it through the wreck of thePandoraand the boat voyage, there can be no doubt that it was a genuine document. At Captain Heywood's death it passed with his other papers to his daughters. This journal has been annotated and corrected by another hand, probably Heywood's own, but without material alteration of the sense. It is filled with acrimony against Bligh from the outset of theBounty'scruise, and the form of the entries shows that it was intended to be the basis for laying serious charges against him when the ship was paid off. It is needless to add that it does not spare Edwards in respect of his treatment of his prisoners.

[36-1]ThePandorafound one of them at Palmerston Island.

[37-1]Executed at Portsmouth.

[37-2]Pardoned.

[37-3]Acquitted.

[37-4]Drowned in the wreck of thePandora.

[37-5]Morrison said that his plan was to reach Batavia in time to secure a passage home in the next fleet bound to Holland, and that the return to Tahiti was occasioned, not by any distrust of his talents, but by the refusal of the natives, who were anxious to keep them in Tahiti, to victual the ship for so long a voyage. There were no casks on the schooner for storing water. Morrison, Heywood and Stewart had planned an escape from Tubuai in theBounty'sboat, but, fortunately for them—since the attempt would have been certain death—their plan was discovered and frustrated by the other mutineers.

[38-1]Oliver, master's mate; Renouard, midshipman; James Dodds, quartermaster; and six seamen.

[40-1]Oatafu, one of the Union Group, discovered by Commodore Byron in 1765. If the mutineers had settled there they would have starved, for there is neither food nor water. Since Byron's discovery a native settlement has been made from Bowditch Island (Fakaago), and the people, about 100 in number, live on fish, pandanus, and water caught in holes cut on the lee side of the cocoa-palms.

[40-2]The northernmost island of the Cook Group, discovered by Bligh, April 11, 1798, a few days before the mutiny. In 1823 John Williams, the missionary, heard at Rarotonga a native tradition of Bligh's visit. The natives heard the first rumours of a world beyond their own from two Tahitian castaways who had seen Captain Cook, and had with them an iron hatchet obtained from theResolution. They represented the strange beings who traversed the ocean in vast canoes, not lashed with sinnet nor furnished with outriggers, as impious people who laughed at the tabu, and even ate of the consecrated food from the Maraés. They were like the gods; if they were attacked they blew at their assailants with long blow-pipes (pupuhi) from which flames and stones were belched. Such were the Tutë (Cooks).Thereafter, having need of iron (kurima) and other wonders current in Tahiti the men of Aitutaki prayed to their gods to send the Tutë to their island with axes and nails andpupuhi, and this, according to an old priest, was their prayer. "O great Tangaroa, send your large ship to our land: let us see the Cookees. Great Tangiia, send us a dead sea, send us a propitious gale, to bring the far-famed Cookees to our land, to give us nails and iron and axes; let us see these outriggerless canoes." And with the feast presented with the prayer were promises of greater feasts so soon as their prayer was answered. The gods heard them. A few months later the Cookees came. The great ship did not anchor, but one of the natives took his courage in both hands, and went off in his canoe. He brought back strange tales of what he had seen. It was a floating island; there were two rivers flowing on it (the pumps), and two plantations in which grew taro and sugar-cane and bread-fruit, and the keel scraped the bottom of the sea, for he dived as deep as he could go without finding it.Williams has fallen into two errors in his account (p. 171). In the same breath he claims for himself the discovery of Rarotonga, in 1823, and announces this to have been a visit of theBountyafter she was taken by the mutineers,i.e.in April, 1789. Rarotonga was, in fact, discovered by the shipSeringapatamin 1814, though Williams may have been the first to land. The tradition must have referred to Bligh's visit to Aitutaki before the mutiny when the decks were encumbered with bread-fruit, for we know that the first thing the mutineers did after setting their captain adrift was to throw all the bread-fruit plants overboard, and that they steered direct for Tahiti.

Williams has fallen into two errors in his account (p. 171). In the same breath he claims for himself the discovery of Rarotonga, in 1823, and announces this to have been a visit of theBountyafter she was taken by the mutineers,i.e.in April, 1789. Rarotonga was, in fact, discovered by the shipSeringapatamin 1814, though Williams may have been the first to land. The tradition must have referred to Bligh's visit to Aitutaki before the mutiny when the decks were encumbered with bread-fruit, for we know that the first thing the mutineers did after setting their captain adrift was to throw all the bread-fruit plants overboard, and that they steered direct for Tahiti.

[42-1]Discovered by Cook in his second voyage. There are nine small islands connected by a reef, covered with trees, but destitute of water.

[43-1]Sufficient for thirty days at most. In the face of the danger of parting company, with thePandoraoverloaded with stores, and the tender too feebly manned to wait at so dangerous a rendezvous as the Friendly Islands, Edwards showed very little foresight in neglecting to provision the tender for an independent voyage. His neglect nearly cost the crew their lives.

[44-1]Seep. 126.

[46-1]Fakaafo or Bowditch Island, whence the present permanent inhabitants migrated.

[46-2]Nukunono, a new discovery, another of the Union Group. It was surveyed by the American Exploring Expedition in 1840, and was found to be 7-2/10 miles long, N. and S., and 5 miles E. and W.

[48-1]The actual position is 9·5′ S. Latitude and 171·38′ W. Longitude.

[49-1]Savaii in the Samoa Group. If not the 'Beauman' Islands seen by Roggewein in 1721, they were discovered by Bougainville in 1768 and visited by La Pérouse in 1787. Freycinet also visited them before Edwards.

[49-2]Mata-atua Harbour. There is no river there except after heavy rain.

[49-3]He had a finger cut off in mourning for Finau Ulukalala, who must have died in 1790.

[50-1]La Pérouse and Kotzebue call it Pola.

[50-2]Upolu on which is Apia, the present capital of Samoa.

[50-3]Upolu is the native name, but it has been called Ojalava, Oahtooha, Ojatava, and Opoloo by different navigators, who may have taken the names of villages or districts to mean the whole island. The population exceeded 20,000 at the beginning of last century.

[50-4]Turmeric powder, never a mark of distinction, was besmeared over nursing mothers, chief women at the feasts connected with puberty, and persons concerned in certain other ceremonies.

[51-1]Bougainville sighted Upolu on May 5th, 1760. A thick fog which came on that afternoon, and lasted all the following day, prevented him from approaching it, and from seeing Savaii, which he would have seen on May 7th in clear weather. La Pérouse coasted along its southern shore on December 17th, 1789. Unfortunately, smarting from the massacre of de Langle and his boat's crew at Tutuila, he was in no mood for communicating with the natives, and he did not anchor.

[51-2]Seep. 12.

[52-1]Fatafehi is the hereditary title of one of the spiritual chiefs of Tonga.He had no executive authority, but his wealth, derived from his lands and the offerings to which he was entitled, gave him considerable influence. The complicated hierarchy of spiritual chiefs in Tonga was a continual puzzle to Cook. Fatafehi at this time was an ornamental personage, inferior in dignity to the Tui Tonga, and in power to Tukuaho, who wielded the authority of his father Mumui, the Tui Kanakubolu. The Toobou (Tubou) mentioned here was the deputy of the tyrant Tukuaho, who, eight years later, was to pay the penalty of his crimes in the Revolution of 1799. Hamilton mentions that the tradition of Tasman's visit in 1642 was still preserved.

[54-1]Among the people who boarded the ship from Tofoa Lieut. Hayward recognized some of those who attacked Bligh's boat four days after the mutiny, and murdered Quartermaster Norton, but solicitude for the crew of the tender, which might call there, prevented Edwards from punishing them as they deserved. No doubt, both at Tofoa and Namuka, the natives would have attempted to take the ship had they thought success possible as, we now know, they had planned to capture Cook's ships, and as they actually did capture the privateerPort-au-Princein 1806 at Haapai. In 1808 William Mariner, one of the survivors of that ill-fated ship, who has left behind him the best account of a native race that exists probably in any language, was led by the strange native account of Norton's murder, to visit his grave. The natives asserted that Norton was killed by a carpenter for the sake of an axe which he was carrying; that his body was stripped and dragged some distance inland to aMalaewhere it lay exposed for three days before burial; and that the grass had never since grown upon the track of the body nor upon its resting-place on theMalae. Mariner found a bare track leading inland from the beach and terminating in a bare patch, lying transversely, about the length and breadth of a man. It did not appear to be a beaten path, nor were there people enough in the neighbourhood to make such a path. Probably it was an old track, long disused and forgotten, for by such natural causes is man's belief in the supernatural fed.

[55-1]The Vavau Group, called by the natives Haafuluhao, which then as now, owed spiritual allegiance to Tonga.

[55-2]Manua, the most Easterly of the Samoa Group, called Opoun by La Pérouse.

[55-3]Tutuila, discovered by Roggewein in 1721, visited by Bougainville 4th May, 1768, and by La Pérouse 10th December, 1787. On the day before his murder by the natives, Comte de Langle, La Pérouse's second in command, discovered Pangopango harbour while on a walk through the island, but neither Bougainville nor La Pérouse seems to have discerned the masked fissure in the cliff which forms its entrance. Edwards must have had a copy of Bougainville on board, but no record of La Pérouse's visit four years before, or he would have shown greater caution in communicating with the natives. That he had heard something of La Pérouse's voyage, and had some ground for suspicion is shown by Hamilton. A detailed account of de Langle's murder is to be found in "La Pérouse's Voyage," vol. ii.

[56-1]Vavau.

[57-1]He might have added "in the Pacific," for it is a magnificent land-locked harbour, a little narrow for sailing ships to beat out of in a southerly wind, but excellent for steamships.

[57-2]This was Finau Ulukalala, one of the most notable men in Tongan history. He had just succeeded his elder brother, the Finau (Feenow) of Captain Cook's visit in 1777. On April 21st, 1799, he conspired against Tukuaho, the temporal sovereign of Tonga and assassinated him, plunging Tonga into a civil anarchy which lasted twenty years. He was Mariner's patron and protector until his death in 1809. "The great master of Greek drama," says a writer in the "Quarterly Review," "could have desired no better elements than are to be found in the history of this remarkable man; his remorseless ambition and his natural affections—his contempt for the fables and ceremonies of his country when in prosperity—his patient submission to them when in distress—his strong intellects—his evil deeds—and the death which was believed to be inflicted on him in vengeance by the over-ruling divinities whom he defied."

[58-1]Hunga.

[58-2]Niuababu.

[58-3]Falevai.

[58-4]Fonua Lei (Land of Whales' teeth).

[58-5]Laté.

[58-6]Toku.

[58-7]These islands had already been twice visited and named, and Cook, though he did not visit them, gives all their native names in his list of the islands composing the Friendly or Tonga Group. The honour of their discovery belongs to the Spanish pilot Maurelle, who sailed from Manila in 1781, without proper charts or instruments and almost without provisions for his long voyage to America. Reduced to desperate straits by famine, he sighted Fonua Lei, the northernmost of the Tonga Group, which he called Margoura, believing it to be one of the Solomon Islands. At Vavau he was liberally entertained by Bau or Poulaho, the Tui Tonga of Cook's visit four years before. La Pérouse passed close to the islands in December, 1787, but, consistent with his determination to hold no further intercourse with natives after the murder of M. de Langle, did not enter the harbour of Neiafu. Edwards had no account of either of these voyages. La Pérouse's journals were not published until 1797.Fonua Lei was again destroyed by an eruption in 1846. The inhabitants who had plantations on it were removed to Vavau just in time.

Fonua Lei was again destroyed by an eruption in 1846. The inhabitants who had plantations on it were removed to Vavau just in time.

[59-1]There is only one. It was so named by Tasman 1642. Maurelle called it Sola. But Edwards probably mistook the twin islets of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Haapai for Pylstaart.

[62-1]Niua-fo'ou (New Niua), discovered by W. Cornelis Schouten in the Dutch shipEendracht(Unity) on May 14th, 1616, and named by him "Good Hope" Island. Twelve canoes came off, and some of them attempted to take the boat that he had sent ashore for water, but desisted on discharge of a volley which killed two men. He wrote: "The island was full of black cliffs, green on the top, and black, and was full of coco-trees and black earth. There was a large village, and several other houses on the seashore: the land was undulating, but not very high." No ship is known to have visited the island from 1614 to this visit in 1791.The cocoanuts grown here are the largest in the world, but the specimens planted in other islands do not appear to maintain their abnormal size. The island is further remarkable from the fact that the Megapodius, or Scrub hen, is plentiful there, and nowhere else in the Pacific further east than the New Hebrides. The natives have no traditions of its introduction. The eggs have been prized as a delicacy in Tonga for centuries, and are exported thither by every canoe going southward during the breeding season. It is said that they are sometimes hatched artificially, but the youngmalaodoes not take kindly to the bush in Tonga, although the vegetation is much the same. Why should the bird be found in Polynesia, having skipped all the intermediate islands of Melanesia? To what story of the migration of races is it the only clue?

The cocoanuts grown here are the largest in the world, but the specimens planted in other islands do not appear to maintain their abnormal size. The island is further remarkable from the fact that the Megapodius, or Scrub hen, is plentiful there, and nowhere else in the Pacific further east than the New Hebrides. The natives have no traditions of its introduction. The eggs have been prized as a delicacy in Tonga for centuries, and are exported thither by every canoe going southward during the breeding season. It is said that they are sometimes hatched artificially, but the youngmalaodoes not take kindly to the bush in Tonga, although the vegetation is much the same. Why should the bird be found in Polynesia, having skipped all the intermediate islands of Melanesia? To what story of the migration of races is it the only clue?

[63-1]Niuatobutabu, like Niuafoou, subject to the King of Tonga.

[63-2]Uea, discovered by Wallis in 1767, and visited by Maurelle on April 22nd, 1781. It has 3000 inhabitants who are said by the French missionaries to be increasing. Uea is nominally independent under its own queen, but the French priests wield the real power in so spirited a fashion that the natives frequently attempt to escape from the island as stowaways.

[64-1]Mourning for the death of a chief or near relation.

[65-1]This confirms the story of Kau Moala, a Tongan navigator, who returned to his native land in 1807 and related his adventures to Mariner. He had visited Futuna, Rotuma and Fiji in a double canoe, and, in describing Rotuma, he related the legend of two giants who had migrated from Tonga to Rotuma in legendary times. He was shown gigantic bones in proof of the story, the bones, no doubt, of some marine monster. Mention is made of Rotuma in a Tongan saga of the early sixteenth century, and there can be no doubt that there was occasional intercourse between these distant islands during the period when the Tongans were the Norsemen of the Pacific.Kau Moala heard nothing of Edwards' visit, though he brought news of the visit of a ship to Futuna, and of an ineffectual attempt to take her—perhaps the visit of Schouten, whose account of the affray tallies closely with theirs even to the killing of six natives. The tradition was still fresh after 190 years. Edwards' visit, having brought no disasters on the natives, escaped the attention of the native poets and was forgotten.

Kau Moala heard nothing of Edwards' visit, though he brought news of the visit of a ship to Futuna, and of an ineffectual attempt to take her—perhaps the visit of Schouten, whose account of the affray tallies closely with theirs even to the killing of six natives. The tradition was still fresh after 190 years. Edwards' visit, having brought no disasters on the natives, escaped the attention of the native poets and was forgotten.

[67-1]Native name Fataka. The Russian Captain Kroutcheff, who landed upon it in 1822, found it uninhabited.

[67-2]Kroutcheff placed it 41 minutes further west.

[68-1]This was Vanikoro in the Santa Cruz Group. It was probably seen by Mendaña in 1595, and again by Carteret in 1767, but the interest attached to it by Europeans, and particularly to Edwards' visit, lies in the undoubted fact that at that very time there were survivors of La Pérouse's ill-fated expedition upon it. If his search for the mutineers had been as keen at this part of his voyage as it was in the earlier portion, he would have been the means of rescuing them. The smoke he saw may well have been signal fires lighted by the castaways to attract his attention.La Pérouse's ships were cast away in 1788, just three years before, shortly after the Commander had delivered his journals to Governor Phillip in Botany Bay for transmission to Europe. Their fate was unknown until Peter Dillon chanced upon a French swordhilt in Tucopia thirty-eight years later in 1826. Satisfying himself that they had been brought from Vanikoro, he persuaded the East India Company to place him in command of a search expedition. In 1827 he made a thorough examination of the island, and found the remains of theBoussole; theAstrolabe, according to the native account, having foundered in deep water. He found the clearing where the survivors had felled timber to build themselves a brig in which they sailed to meet a second shipwreck elsewhere, perhaps on the Great Barrier reef of Queensland. But two had been left, and of these one had died shortly before his visit, and the other had gone with the natives to another island leaving no trace behind him.D'Entrecasteaux, when in search of La Pérouse in 1793, also passed within sight of the castaways.D'Urville made a thorough examination of the island both in 1828 and 1838. The relics brought home by Dillon may be seen in the Gallerie de la Marine in the Louvre.

La Pérouse's ships were cast away in 1788, just three years before, shortly after the Commander had delivered his journals to Governor Phillip in Botany Bay for transmission to Europe. Their fate was unknown until Peter Dillon chanced upon a French swordhilt in Tucopia thirty-eight years later in 1826. Satisfying himself that they had been brought from Vanikoro, he persuaded the East India Company to place him in command of a search expedition. In 1827 he made a thorough examination of the island, and found the remains of theBoussole; theAstrolabe, according to the native account, having foundered in deep water. He found the clearing where the survivors had felled timber to build themselves a brig in which they sailed to meet a second shipwreck elsewhere, perhaps on the Great Barrier reef of Queensland. But two had been left, and of these one had died shortly before his visit, and the other had gone with the natives to another island leaving no trace behind him.

D'Entrecasteaux, when in search of La Pérouse in 1793, also passed within sight of the castaways.

D'Urville made a thorough examination of the island both in 1828 and 1838. The relics brought home by Dillon may be seen in the Gallerie de la Marine in the Louvre.

[69-1]This was the dangerous reef now known as Indispensable Reef, after the shipIndispensablecommanded by Captain Wilkinson, who discovered it in 1790.

[69-2]It was, in fact, the mainland of New Guinea. The land East of Cape Rodney, comprising Orangerie, Table, and Cloudy Bays, lies so low and is so generally obscured with haze that on a dull day Edwards would not have seen it.It is doubtful whether Edwards' Capes Rodney and Hood, are correctly placed in the modern charts. Our Cape Rodney is not a conspicuous headland, and it lies half a degree eastward of 212·14 W. Longitude, and 9′ South of 106·3° S. Latitude. Edwards' positions are usually so accurate that I cannot see why they should have been departed from. Our Cape Hood, on the other hand, is exactly in the position of his Cape Rodney, and is besides a very conspicuous wooded tongue of land. Beyond is another conspicuous point. Round Head, which corresponds in position with Edwards' Cape Hood. Mount Clarence, moreover, would not appear to lie between Capes Rodney and Hood until the former was out of sight astern. I think that Mount Clarence must have been hidden by clouds, and that Edwards' Mount Clarence was in reality the high cone in the Saroa district, which is a conspicuous feature on the coast line. A further indication that the day was hazy lies in the fact that Edwards did not see the great Owen Stanley Range which towers up 13,000 feet behind. Had he done so he would not have mistaken the mainland for a group of scattered islands. Hamilton does not call Mount Clarence an "island," but a "mountain." A further proof that Edwards' "Cape Hood" was Round Head is found in the remark "After passing Cape Hood the land appears lower, and to branch off about N.N.W., . . . for we saw no other land." This applies to Round Head, and to no other part of the coast.

It is doubtful whether Edwards' Capes Rodney and Hood, are correctly placed in the modern charts. Our Cape Rodney is not a conspicuous headland, and it lies half a degree eastward of 212·14 W. Longitude, and 9′ South of 106·3° S. Latitude. Edwards' positions are usually so accurate that I cannot see why they should have been departed from. Our Cape Hood, on the other hand, is exactly in the position of his Cape Rodney, and is besides a very conspicuous wooded tongue of land. Beyond is another conspicuous point. Round Head, which corresponds in position with Edwards' Cape Hood. Mount Clarence, moreover, would not appear to lie between Capes Rodney and Hood until the former was out of sight astern. I think that Mount Clarence must have been hidden by clouds, and that Edwards' Mount Clarence was in reality the high cone in the Saroa district, which is a conspicuous feature on the coast line. A further indication that the day was hazy lies in the fact that Edwards did not see the great Owen Stanley Range which towers up 13,000 feet behind. Had he done so he would not have mistaken the mainland for a group of scattered islands. Hamilton does not call Mount Clarence an "island," but a "mountain." A further proof that Edwards' "Cape Hood" was Round Head is found in the remark "After passing Cape Hood the land appears lower, and to branch off about N.N.W., . . . for we saw no other land." This applies to Round Head, and to no other part of the coast.

[70-1]If he had kept this course he would have struck the New Guinea Coast again a little East of the Maikasa River.

[70-2]East Bay.

[71-1]It is difficult to understand how Edwards failed to see Flinders Passage, which, while not free from obstructions to the westward, would have admitted him to a safe anchorage at the Murray Islands, inside the Barrier Reef.

[71-2]It was an unfortunate choice. Had he steered north on first encountering the reefs he would have made the coast which he might have followed in safety, as Bligh did in his boat voyage after the mutiny, by what is now known as the Great North-East Channel. He was led Southward by his plan of using the Endeavour Straits. See Hamilton's account,pp. 141-2.

[73-1]Two men were crushed to death; one by a gun that had broken loose, and the other by a falling spar. The whole ship's company seems to have behaved splendidly, working at the pumps and at the sail they were preparing to haul under the ship's bottom until they could scarcely stand for fatigue, with nothing to replenish their strength but "a cask of excellent strong ale which we brewed at Anamooka" (Hamilton).

[73-2]Every reader must be struck by the fact that in his description of this disaster, Edwards never once speaks of the prisoners. Hamilton, it is true, does say "The prisoners were ordered to be let out of irons," but another account, ascribed to Lieutenant Corner, second lieutenant of thePandora, throws a sinister light on this part of the narrative. "Three of theBounty'speople, Coleman, Norman, and M'Intosh, were now let out of irons, and sent to work at the pumps. The others offered their assistance, and begged to be allowed a chance of saving their lives; instead of which, two additional sentinels were placed over them, with orders to shoot any who should attempt to get rid of their fetters. Seeing no prospect of escape, they betook themselves to prayer, and prepared to meet their fate, everyone expecting that the ship would soon go to pieces, her rudder and part of the sternpost being already beat away. No notice was taken of the prisoners, as is falsely stated by the author of the 'Pandora's Voyage,' although Captain Edwards was entreated by Mr. Heywood to have mercy upon them, when he passed over their prison to make his own escape, the ship then lying on her broadside, with the larboard bow completely under water. Fortunately the master-at-arms, either by accident or design, when slipping from the roof of 'Pandora's Box' into the sea, let the keys of the irons fall through the scuttle or entrance, which he had just before opened, and thus enabled them to commence their own liberation, in which they were generously assisted, at the imminent risk of his own life, by William Moulter, a boatswain's mate who clung to the coamings, and pulled the long bars through the shackles, saying he would set them free, or go to the bottom with them. Scarcely was this effected when the ship went down. The master-at-arms and all the sentinels sunk to rise no more. Among the drowned were Mr. Stewart, John Sumner, Richard Skinner, and Henry Hillbrandt, the whole of whom perished with their hands still in manacles."Some allowance is to be made both for the confusion of a shipwreck, and for the natural fear of the commander that in the loosening of the ties of authority natural to such a moment, the liberation among his crew of a number of men who had already mutinied successfully, and were going home with a rope about their necks, would be an act of merciful folly. This, however, does not excuse him for refusing his prisoners the shelter of an old sail on the sand cay, and so obliging them to get shelter from the sun by burying themselves neck-deep in the sand, as Heywood afterwards stated. Heywood further asserted that after the vessel struck the prisoners, having wrenched themselves out of their irons, implored Edwards to let them out of "Pandora's Box," but that he had them all ironed again.

Some allowance is to be made both for the confusion of a shipwreck, and for the natural fear of the commander that in the loosening of the ties of authority natural to such a moment, the liberation among his crew of a number of men who had already mutinied successfully, and were going home with a rope about their necks, would be an act of merciful folly. This, however, does not excuse him for refusing his prisoners the shelter of an old sail on the sand cay, and so obliging them to get shelter from the sun by burying themselves neck-deep in the sand, as Heywood afterwards stated. Heywood further asserted that after the vessel struck the prisoners, having wrenched themselves out of their irons, implored Edwards to let them out of "Pandora's Box," but that he had them all ironed again.

[74-1]In his evidence before the court-martial Edwards said: "The double canoe, that was able to support a considerable number of men, broke adrift with only one man, and was bulged upon a reef, and afforded us no help when she was so much wanted."

[74-2]Hamilton says 34.

[75-1]Each boat was supplied with the latitude and longitude of Timor, 1100 miles distant. As soon as they embarked the oars were laid athwart the boat so that they could stow two tiers of men. The men were distributed as follows:Pinnace—Capt. Edwards; Lieut. Hayward; Rickards, Master's Mate; Packer, Gunner; Edmonds, Captain's Clerk; 3 prisoners, 16 privates.Red Yawl—Lieut. Larkan; Surgeon Hamilton; Reynolds, Master's Mate; Matson, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 18 privates.Launch—Lieutenant Corner; Bentham, Purser; Montgomery; Carpen Bowling, Master's Mate; Mackendrick, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 24 privates.Blue Yawl—George Passmore, Master; Cunningham, Boatswain; Innes, Surgeon's Mate; Fenwick, Midshipman; Pycroft, Midshipman; 3 prisoners; 15 privates.

Pinnace—Capt. Edwards; Lieut. Hayward; Rickards, Master's Mate; Packer, Gunner; Edmonds, Captain's Clerk; 3 prisoners, 16 privates.

Red Yawl—Lieut. Larkan; Surgeon Hamilton; Reynolds, Master's Mate; Matson, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 18 privates.

Launch—Lieutenant Corner; Bentham, Purser; Montgomery; Carpen Bowling, Master's Mate; Mackendrick, Midshipman; 2 prisoners; 24 privates.

Blue Yawl—George Passmore, Master; Cunningham, Boatswain; Innes, Surgeon's Mate; Fenwick, Midshipman; Pycroft, Midshipman; 3 prisoners; 15 privates.

[77-1]Tree Island.

[77-2]Now called Prince of Wales' Channel or Flinders Channel. It is the best Channel through Torres Straits, and, if Edwards' narrative had been published his discovery would doubtless have been perpetuated in his name.

[77-3]Horn Island.

[77-4]Dingoes.

[77-5]North West Reef.

[78-1]Like Bligh's men, they wetted their shirts in salt water to cool themselves by evaporation, but found that the absorption through the skin tainted the fluids of the body with salt so that the saliva became intolerable in the mouth. The young bore the want of water better than the old, but all alike became excessively irritable.

[80-1]This hospitality was not extended to the prisoners, who were confined in irons in the castle, and fed on bad provisions. But on the passage to Batavia in theRembangthey had worse in store, for the ship was partially dismasted in a cyclone, and would certainly have gone ashore but for the exertions of the English passengers. The prisoners took their turn at the pumps with the rest, and when their strength gave out, they were put in irons and allowed to rest upon a wet sail soaked with the drainings of a pig-stye under which it was spread. At Batavia Edwards distributed the purchase-money of the tender among his people to enable them to buy clothes, and the prisoners, having their hands at liberty, made suits and hats for thePandora'screw, and so were able to buy clothes of their own.

Governmenthaving resolved to bring to punishment the mutineers of His Majesty's late shipBounty, and to survey the Straits of Endeavour, to facilitate a passage to Botany Bay, on the 10th of August 1790, appointed Captain Edward Edwards to put in commission at Chatham, and take command of thePandoraFrigate of twenty-four guns, and a hundred and sixty men.

A great naval armament then equipping retarded our progress, and prevented that particular attention to the choice of men which their Lordships so much wished; as contagion here crept amongst us from infected clothing, the fatal effects of which we discovered, and severely experienced, in the commencement of the voyage.

Every thing necessary being completed, and an additional complement of naval stores, received for the refitment of theBounty; dropped down to Sheerness, saluted Admiral Dalrymple, payed the same compliments to Sir Richard King, in passing the Downs, arrived at Portsmouth, and found there Lord Howe with the Union Flag at the main, and the proudest navy that ever graced the British seas under his command.

Here the officers and men received six months pay in advance, and after receiving their final orders, got thetime-keeper on board, weighed anchor, and proceeded to sea.

As the white cliffs of Albion receded from our view alternate hopes and fears took possession of our minds, wafting the last kind adieu to our native soil.

We pursued our voyage with a favourable breeze; butPandoranow seemed inclined to shed her baneful influence among us, and a malignant fever threatened much havoc, as in a few days thirty-five men were confined to their beds, and unfortunately Mr. Innes, the Surgeon's only mate, was among the first taken ill; what rendered our situation still more distressing, was the crowded state of the ship being filled to the hatchways with stores and provisions, for, like weevils, we had to eat a hole in our bread, before we had a place to lay down in; every officer's cabin, the Captain's not excepted, being filled with provisions and stores. Our sufferings were much encreased, for want of room to accommodate our sick, notwithstanding every effort of the Captain that humanity could suggest.

In this sickly lumbered state, near the latitude of Madeira, we observed a sail bearing down upon us: from her appearance and manœuvres, we had every reason to believe she was a ship of war; and a rumour of a Spanish war prevailing when we left England, rendered it necessary to clear ship for action; as soon as our guns were run out, and all hands at quarters, got along side of her, when she proved His Majesty's Ship,Shark, sent out with orders of recall to Admiral Cornish, who had sailed for the West Indies a few days before we left Spithead.

This little disaster deranged us much, having at the same time bad weather, attended with heavy thunder squals. The Peek of Teneriff now began to shew his venerable crest, towering above the clouds; and in twodays more came to an anchor in the road of Santa Cruz, but did not salute, as the Commandant had not authority to return it.

Immediately on our arrival we were boarded by the Port-master, by whom we learnt they had been in much apprehension of a disagreeable visit from the English, but were happy to hear that matters were amicably settled between the Courts of Madrid and St. James's.

With respect to site nothing can be more beautifully picturesque than the town of Santa Cruz. It stands in the centre of a spacious bay, on a gentle acclivity surrounded with retiring hills, and the noble promontory of the Peek rising majestically behind it, dignifies the scene beyond description, being continually diversified with every vicissitude of the surrounding atmosphere, emerging and retiring thro' the fleecy clouds, from the bottom of the mountain to its summit.

All the circumjacent hills on the margin of the beach are tufted with little forts, and barbett batteries, forming an Esplanade round the bay, affords a most agreeable landscape. The houses being all painted white, pretty regularly built, and standing on a rising ground, raises one street above another, and heightens the scene from the water; to which the Governor's garden contributes much to beautify the town.

In the centre of the principal square, is a well built fountain, continually playing, which, in a warm climate, has a desirable cooling effect. There is but one church, which contains a few indifferent paintings.

The inhabitants are civil, but reserved, and the inquisition being on the island, spreads a gloomy distrust on the countenance of the people.

The troops are miserably cloathed, and poverty and superstition lord it wide. The wines of this place, from a late improvement in the vines, are equal to the secondkind of Madeira, and I cannot pass over this subject without making honourable mention of the candour of Mr. Rooney our wine merchant.

Here we completed our water from an acqueduct admirably constructed for the convenience of the shipping, and after receiving on board lemons, oranges, pomegranates, and bananas, with every variety of fruits and other refreshments with which this island most plentifully abounds, proceeded again on our voyage.

The fever that prevailed on our leaving England became now pretty general, and almost every man had it in turn, and as we approached the line many of the convalescents had a relapse, but the Lords of the Admirality, previous to our sailing, had supplied us with such unbounded liberality in every thing necessary for the preservation of the seamens' health, that I may venture to say many lives were saved from their bounty, and I should be wanting in my duty to their Lordships, as well as the community, was I to pass over in silence the uncommon good effects we experienced from supplying the sick and convalescent with tea and sugar; this being the first time it has ever been introduced into his Majesty's service; but it is an article in life that has crept into such universal use, in all orders of society, that it needs no comment of mine to recommend it. It may, however, be easily conceived that it will be sought with more avidity by those whose aliment consists chiefly in animal food, and that always salt, and often of the worst kind. Their bread too is generally mixed with oatmeal, and of a hot drying nature. Scarcity of water is a calamity to which seafaring people are always subject; and it is an established fact, that a pint of tea will satiate thirst more than a quart of water. But when sickness takes place, a loathing of all animal food follows; then tea becomes their sole existence, and that which can be conveyed to them as natural food will be taken with pleasure, when any slip slop, given as drink, will be rejected with disgust. Suffice it to say, that Quarter-masters, and real good seamen have ever been observed to be regular in cooking their little pot of tea or coffee, and in America seamen going long voyages, always make it an article in their agreement to be supplied with tea and sugar.

The air now becoming intolerably hot, and to evacuate the foul air from below where the people slept, had recourse to Mr. White's new ventilator, but found little benefit from it; not from any fault in the machine, but from the crowded state of the ship, it was impossible to throw a current of air into those places where it was most wanted, but by the addition of a flexible leather tube, like a water engine, it might be rendered of the utmost importance to the service, as in tenders' press-holds, and in line-of-battle ships at sea, when the lower deck ports cannot be opened; where often the jail fever, and all the calamities that attend human nature in crowded situations, are engendered, that might be entirely obviated by Mr. White's ingenious machine. I should beg to recommend wheels to be substituted for legs to it, for its easier conveyance from one part of the ship to the other, and that he would sacrifice beauty to strength, as a slight mahogany jim crack is not well calculated to the severity of heat we are exposed to, in climates where it is most wanted.

There were now many water spouts about the ship, at which we fired several guns: the thermometer fluctuated between seventy-nine and eighty, and without any thing worthy of remark, in the common occurrence of things at sea, on the twenty-eight of December saw the land of the Brazils, and in two days saluted the fort at Rio Janiero with fifteen guns, which was immediately returned.

On our coming to anchor, an officer came to acquaint the Captain, that a party of soldiers should be sent on board of us, agreeable to their custom, which was most peremptorily denied as inadmissable with the dignity of the British flag, nor would Captain Edwards go on shore to pay his respects to the Vice Roy, till that etiquete was settled, that his boat should not be boarded.

After the usual compliments were paid the Vice Roy, his suit of carriages were ordered to attend the British officers, and Monsieur le Font, the Surgeon-General, who spoke English with ease and fluency, shewed us every mark of politeness and attention on the occasion, in carrying us through the principal streets, then visited the public gardens, built by the late Vice Roy, and laid out with much taste and expence. All the extremity of the garden is a fine terrace which commands a view of the water, and is frequented by people of fashion, as their Grand Mall: at each end of the terrace there is an octagonal built room, superbly furnished, where merendas[96-1]are sometimes given. On the pannels are painted the various productions and commerce of South America, representing the diamond fishery, the process of the indigo trade. The rice grounds and harvest, sugar plantation, South Sea whale fishery, &c. these were interspersed with views of the country, and the quadrupedes that inhabit those parts. The ceilings contained all the variety, the one of the fish, the other of the fowl of that continent. The copartments of the ceiling of the one room was enriched in shell work, with all the variegated shells of that country, and in the copartments are delineated all the variety of fish that the coast of South America produces. The other copartment is enriched with feathers and so inimitably blended as to produce the happiest effect. In this ceiling is painted allthe birds and fowls of the country, in all their splendid elegance of plumage. The sofas and furniture are rich in the extreme: and in this elegant recess, an idle traveller may have an agreeable lounge, and at one view comprehend the whole natural history of this vast continent. In the centre of the terrace there is a Jet d'eau, in form of a large palm-tree, made of copper, which at pleasure may be made to spout water from the extremity of all the leaves. This tree stands on a well disposed grotto, which rises from the gravel walk below to the level of the terrace, and terminates the view of the principal walk. Near the foot of the grotto two large aligators, made of copper, are continually discharging water into a handsome bason of white marble, filled with gold and silver fishes.

There are fine orangeries, and lofty covered arbours in different parts of the garden, capable of containing a thousand people. Here the cyprian nymphs hold their nocturnal revels; but intrigue is attended with great danger, as the stilletto is in general use, and assassination frequent, the men being of a jealous sanguinary turn, and the women fond of gallantry, who never appear in public unveiled. WhenBougainville, the French circumnavigator called here, his chaplain was assassinated in an affray of that kind; but since that accident, orders were given that a commissioned officer should attend all foreign officers, and a soldier the privates; and all strangers, on landing, are conducted to the main guard for their escort. This answers a double purpose, as they are much afraid of strangers smuggling or carrying money out of the country, under the mask of personal protection, every motion is watched and scrutinized, nor can you purchase any thing of a merchant, till he has settled with the officer of the police how much he shall exact for his goods; so you have always the satisfaction of being rob'd as the act directs.

The trade of this country is much cramped by the improper policy of the mother country; for although it abounds with every thing that the earth produces, wealth is far from being diffusive, and a spirit for revolt seems to prevail amongst them; but they were rather premature in business, a conspiracy being detected whilst we were there, many of the first people in the country thrown into dungeons, a strong guard put over them, and all intercourse denied them. But in order to check that spirit of rebellion among the colonists, a regiment of black slaves is now embodied, who will be very ready to bear arms against their oppressive masters; but should a revolution in South America take place, which sooner or later must eventually happen, some of our South Sea discoveries would then prove an advantageous situation for a little British colony.

All public works are done here by slaves in chains, who perform a kind of plaintive melancholy dirge in recitative, to sooth their unavailing toil, which, with the accompanyment of the clanking of their irons, is the real voice of wo, and attunes the soul to sympathy and compassion, more than the most elaborate piece of music.

The troops are remarkably well cloathed, and in fine order, both infantry and cavalry; the horses are small, but spirited, and tournaments frequently performed as the favourite amusement of the inhabitants, at which the cavaliers display a wonderful share of address.

The town is large, built of stone, and the streets very regular; there are several handsome churches, monasteries, and nunneries, and contains about forty thousand inhabitants; but, like the old town of Edinburgh, each floor contains a distinct family, and of course liable to the same inconveniencies, cleanliness being none of its most shining virtues.

The officers of the army shewed us uncommon kindness,and made us some presents of red bird skins for the savages we were going amongst.

I cannot, in words, bestow sufficient panegyric on the laudable exertions of my worthy messmates, Lieutenants Corner and Hayward, for their unremitting zeal in procuring and nursing such plants as might be useful at Otaheitee or the islands we might discover.

We now took leave of our friends here, and it was with some regret, as it was bidding adieu to civilized life, for a very undetermined space of time. Lieutenant Hayward having finished his astronomical observations on shore, came on board with the time-keeper and instruments, and again proceeded on our voyage, on the morning of January 8,1791. In running down the coast of the Brazils, saw several spermacæti whales, and vessels employed on that fishery. Could it have been accomplished in the month of January, it was intended to take in a supply of water at New-Year's harbour, but the season was too far advanced. The weather now became cold, and the health of the people mended apace: passed by the straits of Magellan, and on the 31st of January saw Cape St. Juan, Staten Island, and New-Year's Island. The thermometer was at 48 degrees. We were fortunate enough to weather the tempestuous regions of Cape Horn, without any thing remarkable happening, although late in the season.

The weather, as we advanced, became now exceedingly pleasant, and the many good things with which we were supplied, began to have a wonderful good effect on the strength of our convalescents. I here beg the reader's indulgence for a small digression on the health of the seamen, as it is a subject of much national importance, and those voyages the only test of what is found to succeed best, my duty leads me to the attempt, however unequal to the task:

It may be remarked, the sour Crout kept during the voyage, in the highest perfection, and was often eat as a sallad with vinegar, in preference to recent, cut vegetables from the shore. A cask of this grand antiscorbutic was kept open for the crew to eat as much of as they pleased; and I will venture to affirm, that it will answer every purpose that can be expected from the vegetable kingdom.

The Essence of Malt afforded a most delightful beverage, and, with the addition of a little hops, in the warmest climates, made as good strong beer as we could in England. We were likewise supplied with malt in grain, but should prefer the essence, as it is less liable to decay, and stows in much less room, which is a very valuable consideration in long voyages.

Cocoa we found great benefit from; it is much relished by the men, stows in little room, and affords great nourishment. At the close of the war in 1783, in the West Indies, men that had been the whole war on salt provisions, from a liberal use of the cocoa, got fat and strong, and in theAgamemnonwe had five hundred men who had served most of the war on salt provisions; but after the cocoa was introduced, we had not a sick man on board till the day she was paid off. Indeed it is the only article of nourishment in sea victualling; for what can in reason be expected from beef or pork after it has been salted a year or two?

Wheat we found answer extremely well, rough ground in a mill occasionally as we wanted it, and with the addition of a little brown sugar, it made a pleasant nourishing diet, of which the men were extremely fond. Another great advantage attending it, that it does not require half the quantity of water that pease do.

Soft bread was found extremely beneficial to the sick and convalescent, and we availed ourselves of every opportunity of baking for half the complement at a time.As the flour keeps so much longer sound than biscuit, it may be needless to remark its superior advantages; besides, it is not liable to be damaged by water or otherwise, so much as bread, as a crust forms outside, which protects the rest. In point of stowage it likewise is preferable.

As the fate of every expedition of this kind depends much on the exertion of the subordinate departments of office, the thanks of every individual in thePandorais due to Mr. Cherry, for his uncommon attention to the victualling.

The dividing the people into three watches had a double good effect as it gave them longer time to sleep, and dry themselves before they turned in; and as most of our crew consisted of landsmen, the fewer people being on deck at a time, rendered it necessary to exert themselves more in learning their duty.

The air became now temperate, mild, and agreeable; but unfortunately we sprung a leak in the after part of the ship, which reached the bread room, and damaged much of it, as one thousand five hundred and fifteen pounds were thrown over-board, and a great deal much injured, that we kept for feeding the cattle. Many blue Peterals were seen flying about, and on the 4th of March saw Easter Island. We now set the forge to work, and the armourers were busily employed in making knives and iron work to trade with the savages. On the 16th we discovered a Lagoon Island of about three or four miles extent; it was well wooded, but had no inhabitants, and was named Ducie's Island, in honour of Lord Ducie.

On the 17th we discovered another Island, about five or six miles long, with a great many trees on it, but was not inhabited: this was called Lord Hood's Island.

On the 19th we discovered an Island of the samedescription as the former, which was named Carrisfort Island, in honour of Lord Carrisfort.

On the 22nd passed Maitea, and on the morning of the 23rd of March anchored in Matavy bay, in the Island ofOtaheitee. In the dawn of the morning, a native immediately on seeing us, paddled off in his canoe, and came on board, who shewed expressions of joy to a degree of madness, on embracing and saluting us, by whom we learnt that several of the mutineers were on the island; but that Mr. Christian and nine men had left Otaheitee long since in theBounty, and amused the natives, by telling them Captain Bligh had gone to settle at Whytutakee, and that Captain Cook was living there. Language cannot express his surprise on Lieutenant Hayward's being introduced to him, who had been purposely concealed.

At eleven in the forenoon the Launch and Pinnance was dispatched with Lieutenants Corner and Hayward and twenty-six men, to the north west part of the island, in quest of mutineers. Immediately on our arrival, Joseph Coleman, the armourer of theBounty, came on board, and a little after the two midshipmen belonging to theBounty; at three Richard Skinner came off, and on the 25th the boats returned, after chasing the mutineers on shore, and taking possession of their boat. As they had taken to the heights, and claimed the protection of Tamarrah, a great chief in Papara, who was the proper king of Otaheitee, the present family of Ottoo being usurpers, and who intended, had we not arrived with the assistance of theBounty'speople, to have disputed the point with Ottoo.

On the twenty-seventh we sent the Pinnace with a present of a bottle of rum to king Ottoo, who was with his two queens at Tiaraboo, requesting the honour of his company, but the bottle of rum removed all scruples, and next day the royal family paid us a visit, and in hissuit came Oedidy, a chief particularly noticed by Captain Cook.

On the first visit they make it a point of honour of accepting of no present; but they make sufficient amends for that, by introducing a numerous train of dependents afterwards, to obtain presents.

The King is a tall handsome looking man, about six feet three inches high, good natured, and affable in his manners. His principal queen, Edea, is a robust looking, course woman, about thirty, and was extremely solicitous in learning and adopting our customs, and on hearing our English ladies drank tea, became very fond of it. The other queen, or concubine, namedAeredy, is a pretty young creature, about sixteen years of age: they all three sleep together, and live in the most perfect harmony.

A detachment of men were immediately ordered, under the command of Lieutenant Corner, to march across the country, and if possible to get between the mountains and the mutineers; this gentleman was extremely well calculated for an expedition of this kind, having, in the early part of his life, bore a commission in the land service, and next morning they landed on Point Venus, attended by the principal chiefs as conductors, and a number of the common people to assist in carrying the ammunition over the heights: what rendered their assistance more necessary, was their having to cross a rapid cataract, or river, which came down from the mountains, and formed so many curves. They had to ford it sixteen times in the course of their journey, which gave evident proofs of the superior strength of the natives over the English seamen. The former went over with ease, where the sailors could not stem the rapidity of the torrent without their help. They were, however, forced to send to the ship for ropes and tackles to gain some heights which were otherwise inaccessible.

On the party coming to a rest, the Lieutenant expressed a wish to one of the natives for something to eat, who told him he might be supplied with plenty of victuals ready dressed; he immediately ran to a temple, or place of worship, where meat was regularly served to their god, and came running with a roasted pig, that had been presented that day. This striking instance of impiety rather startled the Lieutenant, which the other easily got over, by saying there was more left than the god could eat.

It was with much difficulty they could restrain the natives from committing depredations on the Cava grounds of the upper districts, as they were on the eve of a war with them respecting the hereditary right of the crown.

The party now arrived at the residence of a great chief, who received them with much hospitality and kindness; and after refreshing them with plenty of meat and drink, carried the officer to visit the Morai of the dead chief, his father. Mr. Corner judging it necessary, by every mark of attention, to gain the good graces of this great man, ordered his party to draw up, and fire three vollies over the deceased, who was brought out in his best new cloaths, on the occasion; but the burning cartridge from one of the muskets, unfortunately set fire to the paper cloaths of the dead chief. This unlucky disaster threw the son into the greatest perplexity, as agreeable to their laws, should the corpse of his father be stolen away, or otherwise destroyed, he forfeits his title and estate, and it descends to the next heir.

There was at the same time a party embarked by water, under the command of Lieutenant Hayward, who took with him some of the principal chiefs, amongst whom was Oedidy, before mentioned by Captain Cook, who went a voyage with him, but fell into disrepute amongst them,from affirming he had seen water in a solid form; alluding to the ice. He also took with him one Brown, an Englishman, that had been left on shore by an American vessel that had called there, for being troublesome on board: but otherwise a keen, penetrating, active fellow, who rendered many eminent services, both in this expedition and the subsequent part of the voyage. He had lived upwards of twelve months amongst the natives, adopted perfectly their manners and customs, even to the eating of raw fish, and dipping his roast pork into a cocoa nut shell of salt water, according to their manner, as substitute for salt. He likewise avoided all intercourse and communication with theBounty'speople, by which means necessity forced him to gain a pretty competent knowledge of their language; and from natural complexion was much darker than any of the natives.

Captain Edwards had taken every possible means of gaining the friendship of Tamarrah, the great prince of the upper district, by sending him very liberal presents, which effectually brought him over to our interest. The mutineers were now cut off from every hope of resource; the natives were harrassing them behind, and Mr. Hayward and his party advancing in front; under cover of night they had taken shelter in a hut in the woods, but were discovered by Brown, who creeping up to the place where they were asleep, distinguished them from the natives by feeling their toes; as people unaccustomed to wear shoes are easily discovered from the spread of their toes. Next day Mr. Hayward attacked them, but they grounded their arms without opposition; their hands were bound behind their back and sent down to the boat under a strong guard.

During the whole business there was only two natives killed; one was shot in the dusk of the evening, two nights before the people surrendered, by one of the centinels,who had his musket twice beat out of his hand from the natives pelting our party with large stones; but the instant he was shot, some of his friends rushed in and carried off the corpse.

The other native was shot by the mutineers; when attacked by the natives they took to a river; a stone being thrown by one of the natives at the wife, or woman, of one of the mutineers, enraged him so much, that he immediately shot the offender.

A prison was built for their accommodation on the quarter deck, that they might be secure, and apart from our ship's company; and that it might have every advantage of a free circulation of air, which rendered it the most desirable place in the ship. Orders were likewise given that they should be victualled, in every respect in the same as the ship's company, both in meat, liquor, and all the extra indulgencies with which we were so liberally supplied, notwithstanding the established laws of the service, which restricts prisoners to two-thirds allowance: but Captain Edwards very humanely commiserated with their unhappy and inevitable length of confinement. Oripai, the king's brother, a discerning, sensible, and intelligent chief, discovered a conspiracy amongst the natives on shore to cut our cables should it come to blow hard from the sea. This was more to be dreaded, as many of the prisoners were married to the most respectable chiefs' daughters in the district opposite to where we lay at anchor; in particular one, who took the name of Stewart, a man of great possession in landed property, near Matavy Bay: a gentleman of that name belonging to theBountyhaving married his daughter, and he, as his friend and father-in law, agreeable to their custom, took his name.

Ottoo the king, his two brothers, and all the principal chiefs, appeared extremely anxious for our safety; andafter the prisoners were on board, kept watch during the night; were always keeping a sharp look out upon our cables, and continually spurring the centinels to be careful in their duty. The prisoners' wives visited the ship daily and brought their children, who were permitted to be carried to their unhappy fathers. To see the poor captives in irons, weeping over their tender offspring, was too moving a scene for any feeling heart. Their wives brought them ample supplies of every delicacy that the country afforded while we lay there, and behaved with the greatest fidelity and affection to them.

Next day the king, his two queens, and retinue, came on board to pay us a formal visit, preceded by a band of music. The ladies had about sixty or seventy yards of Otaheitee cloth wrapt round them, and were so bulky andunwieldywith it, they were obliged to be hoisted on board like horn cattle: hogs, cocoa-nuts, bananas, a rich sort of peach, and a variety of ready dressed puddings and victuals, composed their present to the Captain.

As soon as they were on board, the Captain debarassoit the ladies, by rolling their linen round his middle; an indispensable ceremony here in receiving a present of cloth: and Medua, wife to Oripai, the king's brother, took a great liking to the Captain's laced coat, which he immediately put on her with much gallantry; and that beautiful princess seemed much elated with her new finery. I cannot ommit a circumstance of this lady's attachment to dress. There was a custom which had prevailed for a long time, to present the god with all red feathers that could be procured; but thinking she would become red feathers full as well as his godship, immediately employed all her domestics making them up into fly flaps, and other personal ornaments, to prevent the altar making a monopoly of all the good things, in this, as well as in other countries.

A grand Hæva was next day ordered for our entertainment ashore, on Point Venus, and on our landing we were preceded by a band of music, and led to where the king and his levee were in waiting to receive us. The course was soon cleared by the chiefs, and the entertainment began by two men, who vied with each other in filthy lascivious attitudes, and frightful distortions of their mouths. These having performed their part, two ladies, pretty fancifully dressed, as described in Captain Cook's Voyages, were introduced after a little ceremony. Something resembling a turkey-cock's tail, and stuck on their rumps in a fan kind of fashion, about five feet in diameter, had a very good effect while the ladies kept their faces to us; but when in a bending attitude, they presented their rumps, to shew the wonderful agility of their loins; the effect is better conceived than described. After half an hour's hard exercise, the dear creatures had remüé themselves into a perfect fureur, and the piece concluded by the ladies exposing that which is better felt than seen; and, in that state of nature, walked from the bottom of the theatre to the top where we were sitting on the grass, till they approached just by us, and then we complimented them in bowing, with all the honours of war.

These accomplishments are so much prized amongst them that girls come from the interior parts of the country to the court residence, for improvement in the Hæva, just as country gentlemen send their daughters to London boarding-schools.

This may well be called the Cytheria of the southern hemisphere, not only from the beauty and elegance of the women, but their being so deeply versed in, and so passionately fond of the Eleusinian mysteries; and what poetic fiction has painted of Eden, or Arcadia, is here realized, where the earth without tillage produces both food and cloathing, the trees loaded with the richestof fruit, the carpet of nature spread with the most odoriferous flowers, and the fair ones ever willing to fill your arms with love.

It affords a happy instance of contradicting an opinion propagated by philosophers of a less bountiful soil, who maintain that every virtuous or charitable act a man commits, is from selfish and interrested views. Here human nature appears in more amiable colours, and the soul of man, free from the gripping hand of want, acts with a liberality and bounty that does honour to his God.

Back to Index Next