Volume Ii Part 14 (1/2)
Depending on the goodness of Mr Kendall's watch, I resolved to try to make the island by a direct course. For the first six days, that is, till we got into the lat.i.tude of 27 S., longitude 11 1/2 W. of the cape, the winds were southerly and S.E. After this we had variable light airs for two days; they were succeeded by a wind at S.E. which continued to the island, except a part of one day, when it was at N.E. In general the wind blew faint all the pa.s.sage, which made it longer than common.
1775 May
At day-break in the morning of the 15th of May, we saw the island of St Helena at the distance of fourteen leagues; and at midnight anch.o.r.ed in the road before the town, on the N.W. side of the island. At sun-rise the next morning, the castle, and also the Dutton, saluted us, each with thirteen guns; on my landing, soon after, I was saluted by the castle with the same number, and each of the salutes was returned by the s.h.i.+p.
Governor Skettowe and the princ.i.p.al gentlemen of the island, received and treated me, during my stay, with the greatest politeness; by shewing me every kind of civility in their power.
Whoever views St Helena in its present state, and can but conceive what it must have been originally, will not hastily charge the inhabitants with want of industry. Though, perhaps, they might apply it to more advantage, were more land appropriated to planting of corn, vegetables, roots, etc. instead of being laid out in pasture, which is the present mode. But this is not likely to happen, so long as the greatest part of it remains in the hands of the company and their servants. Without industrious planters, this island can never flourish, and be in a condition to supply the s.h.i.+pping with the necessary refreshments.
Within these three years a new church has been built; some other new buildings were in hand; a commodious landing-place for boats has been made; and several other improvements, which add both strength and beauty to the place.
During our stay here, we finished some necessary repairs of the s.h.i.+p, which we had not time to do at the Cape. We also filled all our empty water-casks; and the crew were served with fresh beef, purchased at five-pence per pound. Their beef is exceedingly good, and is the only refreshment to be had worth mentioning.
By a series of observations made at the Cape town, and at James Fort in St Helena, at the former by Messrs Mason and Dixon, and at the latter by Mr Maskelyne, the astronomer royal, the difference of longitude between these two places is 24 12' 15”, only two miles more than Mr Kendall's watch made. The lunar observations made by Mr Wales, before we arrived at the island, and after we left it, and reduced to it by the watch, gave 5 51' for the longitude of James Fort; which is only five miles more west than it is placed by Mr Maskelyne. In like manner the longitude of the Cape Town was found within 5' of the truth. I mention this to shew how near the longitude of places may be found by the lunar method, even at sea, with the a.s.sistance of a good watch.
CHAPTER X.
_Pa.s.sage from St Helena to the Western Islands, with a Description of the Island of Ascension and Fernando Noronha._
1775 May
On the 21st in the evening, I took leave of the governor, and repaired on board. Upon my leaving the sh.o.r.e, I was saluted with thirteen guns; and upon my getting under sail, with the Dutton in company, I was saluted with thirteen more; both of which I returned.
After leaving St Helena, the Dutton was ordered to steer N.W. by W. or N.W. by compa.s.s, in order to avoid falling in with Ascension; at which island, it was said, an illicit trade was carried on between the officers of the India Company's s.h.i.+ps, and some vessels from North America, who, of late years, had frequented the island on pretence of fis.h.i.+ng whales or catching turtle, when their real design was to wait the coming of the India s.h.i.+ps. In order to prevent their homeward-bound s.h.i.+ps from falling in with these smugglers, and to put a stop to this illicit trade, the Dutton was ordered to steer the course above-mentioned, till to the northward of Ascension. I kept company with this s.h.i.+p till the 24th, when, after putting a packet on board her for the Admiralty, we parted: She continuing her course to the N.W., and I steering for Ascension.
In the morning of the 28th I made the island; and the same evening anch.o.r.ed in Cross Bay on the N.W. side, in ten fathoms water, the bottom a fine sand, and half a mile from the sh.o.r.e. The Cross Hill, so called on account of a cross, or flag-staff erected upon it, bore by compa.s.s S.
38 E.; and the two extreme points of the bay extended from N.E. to S.W.
We remained here till the evening of the 31st, and notwithstanding we had several parties out every night, we got but twenty-four turtle, it being rather too late in the season; however, as they weighed between four or five hundred pounds each, we thought ourselves not ill off. We might have had a plentiful supply of fish in general, especially of that sort called Old Wives, of which I have no where seen such abundance.
There were also cavalies, conger eels, and various other sorts; but the catching of any of these was not attended to, the object being turtle.
There are abundance of goats, and aquatic birds, such as men-of-war and tropic birds, b.o.o.bies, etc.
The island of Ascension is about ten miles in length, in the direction of N.W. and S.E., and about five or six in breadth. It shews a surface composed of barren hills and vallies, on the most of which not a shrub or plant is to be seen for several miles, and where we found nothing but stones and sand, or rather flags and ashes; an indubitable sign that the isle, at some remote time, has been destroyed by a volcano, which has thrown up vast heaps of stones, and even hills. Between these heaps of stones we found a smooth even surface, composed of ashes and sand, and very good travelling upon it; but one may as easily walk over broken gla.s.s bottles as over the stones. If the foot deceives you, you are sure to be cut or lamed, which happened to some of our people. A high mountain at the S.E. end of the isle seems to be left in its original state, and to have escaped the general destruction. Its soil is a kind of white marl, which yet retains its vegetative qualities, and produceth a kind of purslain, spurge, and one or two gra.s.ses. On these the goats subsist, and it is at this part of the isle where they are to be found, as also land-crabs, which are said to be very good.
I was told, that about this part of the isle is some very good land on which might be raised many necessary articles; and some have been at the trouble of sowing turnips and other useful vegetables. I was also told there is a fine spring in a valley which disjoins two hills on the top of the mountain above-mentioned; besides great quant.i.ties of fresh water in holes in the rocks, which the person who gave me this information, believed was collected from rains. But these supplies of water can only be of use to the traveller; or to those who may be so unfortunate as to be s.h.i.+pwrecked on the island; which seems to have been the fate of some not long ago, as appeared by the remains of a wreck we found on the N.E.
side. By what we could judge, she seemed to have been a vessel of about one hundred and fifty tons burthen.
While we lay in the road, a sloop of about seventy tons burthen came to an anchor by us. She belonged to New York, which place she left in February, and having been to the coast of Guinea with a cargo of goods, was come here to take in turtle to carry to Barbadoes. This was the story which the master, whose name was Greves, was pleased to tell, and which may, in part, be true. But I believe the chief view of his coming here, was the expectation of meeting with some of the India s.h.i.+ps. He had been in the island near a week, and had got on board twenty turtle.
A sloop, belonging to Bermuda, had sailed but a few days before with one hundred and five on board, which was as many as she could take in; but having turned several more on the different sandy beaches, they had ripped open their bellies, taken out the eggs, and left their carca.s.ses to putrify; an act as inhuman as injurious to those who came after them.
Part of the account I have given of the interior parts of this island I received from Captain Greves, who seemed to be a sensible intelligent man, and had been all over it. He sailed in the morning of the same day we did.
Turtle, I am told, are to be found at this isle from January to June.
The method of catching them is to have people upon the several sandy bays, to watch their coming on sh.o.r.e to lay their eggs, which is always in the night, and then to turn them on their backs, till there be an opportunity to take them off the next day. It was recommended to us to send a good many men to each beach, where they were to lie quiet till the turtle were ash.o.r.e, and then rise and turn them at once. This method may be the best when the turtle are numerous; but when there are but few, three or four men are sufficient for the largest beach; and if they keep patroling it, close to the wash of the surf, during the night, by this method they will see all that come ash.o.r.e, and cause less noise than if there were more of them. It was by this method we caught the most we got; and this is the method by which the Americans take them.
Nothing is more certain, than that all the turtle which are found about this island, come here for the sole purpose of laying their eggs; for we met with none but females; and of all those which we caught, not one had any food worth mentioning in its stomach; a sure sign, in my opinion, that they must have been a long time without any; and this may be the reason why the flesh of them is not so good as some I have eat on the coast of New South Wales, which were caught on the spot where they fed.
The watch made 8 45' difference of longitude between St Helena and Ascension; which, added to 5 49' the longitude of James Fort in St Helena, gives 14 34' for the longitude of the Road of Ascension, or 14 30' for the middle of the island, the lat.i.tude of which is 8 S. The lunar observations made by Mr Wales, and reduced to the same point of the island by the watch, gave 14 28' 30” west longitude.
On the 31st of May, we left Ascension, and steered to the northward with a fine gale at S.E. by E. I had a great desire to visit the island of St Matthew, to settle its situation; but as I found the wind would not let me fetch it, I steered for the island of Fernando de Noronha on the coast of Brazil, in order to determine its longitude, as I could not find this had yet been done. Perhaps I should have performed a more acceptable service to navigation, if I had gone in search of the island of St Paul, and those shoals which are said to lie near the equator, and about the meridian of 20 W.; as neither their situation nor existence are well known. The truth is, I was unwilling to prolong the pa.s.sage in searching for what I was not sure to find; nor was I willing to give up every object, which might tend to the improvement of navigation or geography, for the sake of getting home a week or a fortnight sooner. It is but seldom that opportunities of this kind offer; and when they do, they are too often neglected.