Part 6 (1/2)
CHAPTER 8. 1769. SOCIETY ISLANDS.
PRODIGIOUS EXPERT THIEVES.
Hardly had the anchor reached the bottom, before they were surrounded by canoes, whose occupants were anxious to sell the supplies of fruits, raw and cooked fish, and a pig they had brought. The price asked for the pig was a hatchet, and as these were scarce, it was not purchased. When all was made safe, a party went ash.o.r.e and was well received by the natives, but those who had previously been there with Wallis reported that those who were at that time said to be chiefs, were keeping in the background.
The next day, however, two men, evidently of rank, came on board, and being invited into the cabin, went through a ceremony described by Banks: ”Each singled out his friend; one took the captain, and the other chose myself. Each took off a part of his clothes and dressed his friend with what he took off; in return for this we presented them with a hatchet and some beads.” They were then invited by their new friends to go ash.o.r.e. On landing they were escorted to a building and introduced to an old man they had not seen before, and he presented Cook with a c.o.c.k, and Banks with a hen, and each with a piece of native cloth. Banks gave in return for his share his large laced silk neckcloth and a linen handkerchief.
After this they were permitted to stroll about, and received many tokens of amity in the shape of green boughs, and were then entertained at a banquet, the princ.i.p.al dishes being fish and bread-fruit. Whilst at dinner, Solander had his pocket picked of an opera gla.s.s, and Monkhouse lost his snuff-box. As soon as this was made known, Lycurgus, as they had named one of their friends, drove off the people, striking them and throwing anything he could lay his hand to, at them. He offered pieces of cloth as compensation, and when these were refused, extended his offer to everything he possessed. He was, at last, made to understand that all that was wanted was the return of the stolen articles, and after a time the snuff-box and the case of the gla.s.s were returned, and, by and by, the gla.s.s itself. During the whole of the stay at the island they had the greatest difficulties with the natives for stealing, an accomplishment at which, Cook says, they were ”prodigious expert.”
On the whole, their first visit ash.o.r.e was satisfactory, and was thought to augur well for the observations of the Transit. A site was selected for a camp on the eastern point of the bay, to which the name of Point Venus was given, the longitude, according to Cook, 149 degrees 31 minutes West, and to Wharton, 149 degrees 29 minutes West. Lines were traced for the boundaries, and Banks's largest tent was pitched and a guard mounted, and then the others went for a walk of inspection. They pa.s.sed through some woods that Mr. Hicks had been prevented from exploring the day before, and Banks had the luck to bring down three ducks with one shot, a deed thought likely to impress the natives with respect for the white man's weapon. On their road back to camp they were alarmed by a musket shot, and hurrying on, found that one of the sentries had been pushed down and his musket stolen, so the mids.h.i.+pman in command had ordered a shot to be fired at the thief, who was killed, but the musket was not recovered. All the natives ran away but one, whom Cook calls Awhaa, and whom the Master, Mr. Molineaux, who had been out with Wallis, recognised as being a man of some authority. Through Awhaa an attempt was made to arrange matters, but the natives were very shy when the English landed the next day. However, the two chiefs who had first made friends, to whom the names of Lycurgus and Hercules had been given, again came on board, bringing presents of pigs and bread-fruit; they concluded as Hercules's present was the larger, he was the richer and therefore the more important chief. To lessen the chances of disagreements in trading and to keep some control of prices, Cook ordered that only one person should conduct the purchasing for the s.h.i.+p, and as Banks had shown apt.i.tude in dealing with the natives, he was appointed. The natives were to be treated ”with every imaginable humanity.”
On the 16th Mr. Buchan, the artist, had another epileptic fit, which was unfortunately fatal, and he was buried at sea in order to run no risk of offending against any of the customs or superst.i.tions of the natives.
Cook, in referring to his death, says: ”He will be greatly missed in the course of this voyage.”
In the afternoon the s.h.i.+p was brought into such a position as to command the site of the proposed camp, and as there was to be an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites, Cook and Green stayed ash.o.r.e to get an observation, but the weather was unpropitious.
COOK SKETCHES.
The camp was now got into order; the north and south sides were protected by a bank 4 feet 6 inches high on the inside, having a ditch 10 feet wide and 6 feet deep on the outside. The west side, facing the bay, had a 4 foot bank crowned by a palisade, with no ditch; and the east side, on the bank of the river, was protected by a double row of water casks. The armament consisted of two carriage guns on the weakest or east side, and six swivel guns, two on each of the other sides. The garrison was forty-five men, including civilians, and Cook considered it was practically impregnable. In the ma.n.u.scripts department of the British Museum is a pen and ink sketch and plan of the fort, drawn by Cook, which agrees much better with the description than the engraving of Parkinson's drawing published in the History of the Voyage. The natives were disturbed by these preparations, some even leaving the bay, but when no dreadful results occurred, they took courage and returned.
The fort completed, the instruments were landed and put into the required positions to be prepared for their work, and the following morning the quadrant, which had not been removed from the case in which it was packed in London, was found to be missing, although a sentry had been stationed within five yards of it the whole night. Enquiries were made, and it was elicited that the thief had been seen making off with it. Banks, his native friend, and one or two of the English at once started, closely followed by Cook and a party of marines. After a long chase the quadrant was recovered, but some of the smaller parts were missing. After a time these also were returned in the case of a horse-pistol which had been stolen from Banks, and soon after the pistol was recovered, and they were able to return to camp. On their arrival they found Cook's friend, Dootahah (Hercules), had been detained as a hostage, so he was at once released, to the great delight of the natives, who had been much alarmed to see the armed party go into the woods. In order to show his grat.i.tude for his release Dootahah sent a present of two hogs to Cook, for which he refused to take any return; but, afterwards, second thoughts proved best, and he sent a man to ask for an axe and a s.h.i.+rt, and to say he was going away, and would not be back for ten days. As the supplies of vegetables and fruit in the market had been decreasing in quant.i.ty, it was thought better to refuse the present in hopes he would apply for it in person, and arrangements could then be made for a regular market, but he sent some one else again, and so word was returned that Cook and Banks would bring it to him the following day. For fear this promise should be forgotten, Dootahah again sent his man, and Cook and Banks started off in the pinnace. On their arrival they were received by a large crowd, which was kept in order by a man in an immense turban, armed with a long white stick, ”which he applied to the people with great judgment and relish.”
The party were conducted to a large tree, and very graciously received by Dootahah, who immediately asked for his axe, which was given him, together with a s.h.i.+rt and a piece of broadcloth made into a boat-cloak.
He put on the cloak and gave the s.h.i.+rt to the man with the stick, and refreshments were served. They were afterwards entertained with dancing and wrestling, and then Dootahah accompanied them back to the s.h.i.+p, taking his supplies for dinner; and when it became known he was on board, trading was resumed.
A day or two after, Banks received an urgent message from his friend Taburai (Lycurgus), saying he was very ill. He complained of having been poisoned by one of the sailors. It seems he had noticed the sailors chewing, and had ask for a quid, had bitten off a piece and swallowed it.
Banks prescribed large draughts of coconut milk, with happy results.
SURF RIDING.
Flies were a terrible pest; they got into everything, and ate off the artist's colours almost as fast as they were laid on. Tar and mola.s.ses was tried as a trap for them, but the natives stole it and used it as ointment for sores. The surf-riding struck the visitors with admiration.
Swimming out with a piece of board they would mount it, and come in on the crests of the waves; and Banks says he does not believe that any European could have lived amongst the breakers as they did; he especially admired the manner they timed the waves and dived beneath on their way out from sh.o.r.e.
A blacksmith's forge had been set up, and in spare time the smith would fas.h.i.+on old iron into axes or repair old axes for the natives; and it was noticed that some of these old axes were not of English make, and it appeared unlikely they were obtained from the Dolphin. At length it was ascertained that since Wallis's visit in that vessel, two s.h.i.+ps had anch.o.r.ed off the east coast, and it was concluded from the description given by the natives of the flags that they were Spanish, but on the arrival of the Endeavour at Batavia they were able to identify them as the French s.h.i.+ps commanded by M. de Bougainville, whose crews were suffering very severely from scurvy at the time.
Paying a visit to Dootahah to see if a supply of fresh meat, which was running very short, could be obtained, they were received in a very friendly manner, but being delayed till it was too late to return to the s.h.i.+p by daylight, they remained all night, and as a consequence nearly every one found they had lost some property; Cook's stockings were stolen from under his pillow, where he had placed them for safety. Perhaps as consolation for their losses they were entertained during the night to a concert. Three drums and four flutes, the latter having four holes into one of which the performer blew with his nostrils, were the orchestra, and Cook's criticism is hardly complimentary: ”The music and singing were so much of a piece that I was very glad when it was over.” They waited till noon the next day in hopes of meat and the return of the stolen articles, but in vain, though Dootahah promised he would bring all to the s.h.i.+p--”a promise we had no reason to expect he would fulfil.”
THE TRANSIT OF VENUS.
The important day of the observation was now approaching, and everything was in readiness. In order to diminish the risk of disappointment through local atmospheric disturbance, Cook sent a party to Eimeo (York Island), and a second one to the south-east of Otaheite, as far to the east of Point Venus as possible. The first party consisted of Lieutenant Gore, Banks, Sporing, and Monkhouse, and the second of Lieutenant Hicks, Clerke, Pickersgill, and Saunders, Mr. Green providing the necessary instruments. At Fort Venus everything was in good working order. The astronomical clock was set up in the large tent, being placed in a strong frame made for the purpose at Greenwich, and was then planted in the ground as firmly as possible and fenced round to prevent accidental disturbance. Twelve feet away the observatory was placed, comprising the telescopes on their stands, the quadrant securely fixed on the top of a cask of wet sand firmly set in the ground, and the journeyman clock. The telescopes used by Cook and Green were two reflecting ones made by Mr. J.
Short.
”The 3rd of June proved as favourable to our purposes as we could wish.
Not a cloud to be seen the whole day and the air was perfectly clear, so that we had every advantage we could desire in observing the whole pa.s.sage of the Planet Venus over the Sun's Disk. We very distinctly saw the atmosphere or Dusky Shade round the body of the planet, which very much disturbed the time of contact, particularly the two internal ones.
Dr. Solander observed as well as Mr. Green and myself, and we differ'd from one another in observing the times of contact much more than could be expected. Mr. Green's telescope and mine were of the same magnifying power, but that of the Doctor was greater than ours. It was nearly calm the whole day, and the thermometer exposed to the sun about the middle of the day rose to a degree of heat we have not before met with.”
In the report published in the Philosophical Transactions he also refers to the heat:
”Every wished-for favourable circ.u.mstance attended the whole of the day, without one single impediment excepting the heat, which was intolerable; the thermometer which hung by the clock and was exposed to the sun, as we were, was one time as high as 119 degrees.”