Volume Xii Part 5 (1/2)
Close to the houses of these people, we saw buildings of another kind, which appeared to be burying-places, and from which we judged that they had great veneration for their dead. They were situated under lofty trees, that gave a thick shade; the sides and tops were of stone; and in their figure they somewhat resembled the square tombs, with a flat top, which are always to be found in our country church-yards. Near these buildings we found many neat boxes full of human bones, and upon the branches of the trees which shaded them, hung a great number of the heads and bones of turtle, and a variety of fish, inclosed in a kind of basket-work of reeds: Some of the fish we took down, and found that nothing remained but the skin and the teeth; the bones and entrails seemed to have been extracted, and the muscular flesh dried away.
We sent off several boat-loads of cocoa-nuts, and a great quant.i.ty of scurvy-gra.s.s, with which the island is covered; refreshments which were of infinite service to us, as by this time I believe there was not a man among us wholly untouched by the scurvy.
The fresh water here is very good, but it is scarce; the wells which supply the natives are so small, that when two or three cocoa-nut sh.e.l.ls have been filled from them, they are dry for a few minutes; but as they presently fill again, if a little pains were taken to enlarge them, they would abundantly supply any s.h.i.+p with water.
We saw no venomous creature here; but the flies were an intolerable torment, they covered us from head to foot, and filled not only the boat, but the s.h.i.+ps. We saw great numbers of parrots and paroquets, and several other birds which were altogether unknown to us; we saw also a beautiful kind of dove, so tame that some of them frequently came close to us, and even followed us into the Indian huts.
All this day the natives kept themselves closely concealed, and did not even make a smoke upon any part of the islands as far as we could see; probably fearing that a smoke might discover the place of their retreat.
In the evening, we all returned on board the s.h.i.+p.
This part of the island lies in lat.i.tude 14 29' S., longitude 148 50'
W. and after I got on board, I hauled a little way farther from the sh.o.r.e, intending to visit the other island in the morning, which had been seen to the westward of that before which the s.h.i.+p lay, and which is distant about sixty-nine leagues from the Islands of Disappointment, in the direction of W.1/2 S.
The next morning at six o'clock, I made sail for the island which I intended to visit, and when I reached it, I steered S.W. by W. close along the north-east side of it, but could get no soundings: This side is about six or seven leagues long, and the whole makes much the same appearance as the other, having a large salt-water lake in the middle of it. As soon as the s.h.i.+p came in sight, the natives ran down to the beach in great numbers: They were armed in the same manner as those that we had seen upon the other island, and kept abreast of the s.h.i.+p for several leagues. As the heat of this climate is very great, they seemed to suffer much by running so far in the sun, for they sometimes plunged into the sea, and sometimes fell flat upon the sand, that the surf might break over them, after which they renewed the race with great vigour.
Our boats were at this time sounding along the sh.o.r.e, as usual, but I had given strict orders to the officers who commanded them never to molest the natives, except it should become absolutely necessary for their own defence, but to try all possible means to obtain their confidence and good will: Our people therefore went as near to the sh.o.r.e as they durst for the surf, and made signs that they wanted water; the Indians readily understood them, and directed them to run down farther along the sh.o.r.e, which they did, till they came abreast of such a cl.u.s.ter of houses as we had just left upon the other island; to this place the Indians still followed them, and were there joined by many others: The boats immediately hauled close into the surf, and we brought-to, with the s.h.i.+ps, at a little distance from the sh.o.r.e, upon which a stout old man, with a long white beard, that gave him a very venerable appearance, came down from the houses to the beach. He was attended by a young man, and appeared to have the authority of a chief or king: The rest of the Indians, at a signal which he made, retired to a little distance, and he then advanced quite to the water's edge; in one hand he held the green branch of a tree, and in the other he grasped his beard, which he pressed to his bosom; in this att.i.tude he made a long oration, or rather song, for it had a musical cadence which was by no means disagreeable. We regretted infinitely that we could not understand what he said to us, and not less that he could not understand any thing which we should say to him; to shew our good-will, however, we threw him some trifling presents, while he was yet speaking, but he would neither touch them himself, nor suffer them to be touched by others till he had done: He then walked into the water, and threw our people the green branch, after which he took up the things which had been thrown from the boats. Every thing now having a friendly appearance, our people made signs that they should lay down their arms, and most of them having complied, one of the mids.h.i.+pmen, encouraged by this testimony of confidence and friends.h.i.+p, leaped out of the boat with his clothes on, and swam through the surf to sh.o.r.e. The Indians immediately gathered round him, and began to examine his clothes with great curiosity; they seemed particularly to admire his waistcoat, and being willing to gratify his new friends, he took it off, and presented it to them; this courtesy, however, produced a disagreeable effect, for he had no sooner given away his waistcoat; than one of the Indians very ingeniously untied his cravat, and the next moment s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his neck, and ran away with it. Our adventurer, therefore, to prevent his being stripped by piece-meal, made the best of his way back again to the boat: Still, however, we were upon good terms, and several of the Indians swam off to our people, some of them bringing a cocoa-nut, and others a little fresh water in a cocoa-nut sh.e.l.l. But the princ.i.p.al object of our boats was to obtain some pearls; and the men, to a.s.sist them in explaining their meaning, had taken with them some of the pearl oyster-sh.e.l.ls which they had found in great numbers upon the coast; but all their endeavours were ineffectual, for they could not, even with this a.s.sistance, at all make themselves understood. It is indeed probable that we should have succeeded better, if an intercourse of any kind could have been established between us, but it was our misfortune that no anchorage could be found for the s.h.i.+ps. As all Indians are fond of beads, it can scarcely be supposed that the pearls, which the oysters at this place contained, were overlooked by the natives, and it is more than probable that if we could have continued here a few weeks, we might have obtained some of great value in exchange for nails, hatchets, and billhooks, upon which the natives, with more reason, set a much higher value. We observed, that in the lake, or lagoon, there were two or three very large vessels, one of which had two masts, and some cordage aloft to support them.
To these two islands, I gave the name of King George's Islands, in honour of his majesty. That which we last visited, lies in lat.i.tude 1441'S., longitude 14915'W; the variation of the compa.s.s here was 5E.
SECTION X.
_The Run from King George's Islands to the Islands of Saypan, Tinian, and Aguigan; with an Account of several Islands that were discovered in that Track._
We pursued our course to the westward the same day, and the next, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we saw land again, bearing S.S.W.
distant about six leagues. We immediately stood for it, and found it to be a low and very narrow island, lying east and west: we ran along the south side of it, which had a green and pleasant appearance, but a dreadful surf breaks upon every part of it, with foul ground at some distance, and many rocks and small islands scattered at about three leagues from the sh.o.r.e. We found it about twenty leagues in length, and it appeared to abound with inhabitants, though we could only get a transient glance of them as we pa.s.sed along. To this place I gave the name of the _Prince of Wales's Island._ It lies in lat.i.tude 15S. and the westermost end of it in longitude 15153' W. It is distant from King George's Islands about eight-and-forty leagues, in the direction of S.80 W. the variation here was 530'E.
From the western extremity of this island, we steered N. 82 W. and at noon on the 16th, were in lat.i.tude 1428'S. longitude 15623'W. the variation being 740'E. The wind was now easterly, and we had again the same mountainous swell from the southward that we had before we made the Islands of Direction, and which, from that time to this day, we had lost: When we lost that swell, and for some days before, we saw vast flocks of birds, which we observed always took their flight to the southward when evening was coming on.[38] These appearances persuaded me that there was land in the same direction, and I am of opinion, that if the winds had not failed me in the higher lat.i.tudes, I should have fallen in with it: I would indeed at this time have hauled away to the southward, and attempted the discovery, if our people had been healthy, for having observed that all the islands we had seen were full of inhabitants, I was still more confirmed in my opinion; as I could account for their being peopled only by supposing a chain of islands reaching to a continent; but the sickness of the crews, in both s.h.i.+ps, was an insuperable impediment.
[Footnote 38: No doubt to the Navigators' Islands, so called by Bougainville. Captain Wallis touched at one of them, and named them Boscawen's and Keppel's Islands. Peyrouse has given a very curious, but not a pleasing account of their inhabitants. To the south of them again are the Friendly Islands.--E.]
The next day we again saw many birds of various sorts about the s.h.i.+p, and therefore supposed that some other island was not far distant, for the swell continuing, I concluded that the land was not of very great extent: I proceeded, however, with caution, for the islands in this part of the ocean render the navigation very dangerous, they being so low, that a s.h.i.+p may be close in with them before they are seen. We saw nothing, however, on the 18th, the 19th, nor the 20th, during which we continued to steer the same course, though the birds still continued about the vessel in great numbers. Our lat.i.tude was now 1233'S.
longitude 16747'W. The Prince of Wales's Island was distant, 313 leagues, and the variation of the needle was 915'E. The next morning about seven o'clock, we discovered a most dangerous reef of breakers, bearing S.S.W. and not farther distant than a single league. In about half an hour afterwards, land was seen from the mast-head, bearing W.N.W. and distant about eight leagues; it had the appearance of three islands, with rocks and broken ground between them. The south-east side of these islands lies N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. and is about three leagues in length between the extreme points, from both which a reef runs out, upon which the sea breaks to a tremendous height. We sailed round the north end, and upon the north-west and west side, saw innumerable rocks and shoals, which stretched near two leagues into the sea, and were extremely dangerous. The islands themselves had a more fertile and beautiful appearance than any we had seen before, and, like the rest, swarmed with people, whose habitations we saw standing in cl.u.s.ters all along the coast. We saw also a large vessel under sail, at a little distance from the sh.o.r.e; but to our unspeakable regret we were obliged to leave the place without farther examination, for it was surrounded in every direction by rocks and breakers, which rendered the hazard more than equivalent to every advantage we might procure. At this time I took these for part of the islands called Solomon's Islands, and was in hopes that I should fall in with others of them, in some of which we might find an harbour.
The reef of rocks which we first saw as we approached these islands, lies in lat.i.tude 1015'S. longitude 16928' W. and it bears from Prince of Wales's Island N.7648' W. distant 352 leagues. The islands bear from the reef W.N.W. distant nine leagues: I called them the _Islands of Danger_, and steered from them N.W. by W. allowing for the variation.
After having seen the breakers soon after it was light in the morning, I told my officers that I apprehended we should have frequent alarms in the night; at night, therefore, every body was upon the watch, which a very hard squall of wind, with rain, rendered the more necessary. About nine o'clock, having just gone down into my cabin, I heard a great noise above, and when I enquired what was the matter, I was told that the Tamar, who was a-head, had fired a gun, and that our people saw breakers to leeward: I ran instantly upon deck, and soon perceived that what had been taken for breakers was nothing more than the undulating reflection of the moon, which was going down, and shone faintly from behind a cloud in the horizon; we therefore bore away after the Tamar, but did not get sight of her till an hour afterwards.
Nothing worthy of notice happened till Monday the 24th when, about ten o'clock in the morning, we discovered another island, bearing S.S.W.
distant about seven or eight leagues: We steered for it, and found it to be low, but covered with wood, among which were cocoa-nut trees in great abundance. It had a pleasant appearance, and a large lake in the middle, like King George's Island: It is near thirty miles in circ.u.mference, a dreadful sea breaks upon almost every part of the coast, and a great deal of foul ground lies about it. We sailed quite round it, and when we were on the lee-side, sent out boats to sound, in hopes of finding anchorage: No soundings, however, were to be got near the sh.o.r.e, but I sent the boats out a second time, with orders to land, if it were possible, and procure some refreshments for the sick: they landed with great difficulty, and brought off about two hundred cocoa-nuts, which, to persons in our circ.u.mstances, were an inestimable treasure. The people who were on sh.o.r.e, reported that there were no signs of its having ever been inhabited, but that they found thousands of sea fowl sitting upon their nests, which were built in high trees: These birds were so tame that they suffered themselves to be knocked down without leaving their nests: The ground was covered with land crabs, but our people saw no other animal. At first I was inclined to believe that this island was the same that in the Neptune Francois is called Maluita, and laid down about a degree to the eastward of the great island of Saint Elizabeth, which is the princ.i.p.al of the Solomon's Islands; but being afterwards convinced to the contrary, I called it the _Duke of York's Island_, in honour of his late royal highness, and I am of opinion that we were the first human beings who ever saw it. There is indeed great reason to believe that there is no good authority for laying down Solomon's Islands in the situation that is a.s.signed to them by the French: The only person who has pretended to have seen them is Quiros, and I doubt whether he left behind him any account of them by which they might be found by future navigators.[39]
[Footnote 39: The opinion here stated is now pretty generally confided in. Byron we see sailed over the northern, and Captain Carteret (as we shall find) the southern limits of these supposed islands, but could not find them. The name is now given to a cl.u.s.ter of islands tying betwixt the north of Queen Charlotte's Archipelago, discovered by Carteret, and the south-east coast of New Britain, &c.--E.]
We continued our course till the 29th, in the track of these islands, and being then ten degrees to the westward of their situation in the chart, without having seen any thing of them, I hauled to the northward, in order to cross the equinoxial, and afterwards shape my course for the Ladrone Islands, which, though a long run, I hoped to accomplish before I should be distressed for water, notwithstanding it now began to fall short. Our lat.i.tude, this day, was 813'S., longitude 17620'E. and the variation was 1010'E.
On Tuesday the 2d of July, we again saw many birds about the s.h.i.+p, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, discovered an island bearing north, and distant about six leagues: We stood for it till sun-set, when it was distant about four leagues, and then kept off and on for the night. In the morning, we found it a low flat island, of a most delightful appearance, and full of wood, among which the cocoa-nut tree was very conspicuous: We saw, however, to our great regret, much foul ground about it, upon which the sea broke with a dreadful surf. We steered along the southwest side of it, which we judged to be about four leagues in length, and soon perceived not only that it was inhabited, but very populous; for presently after the s.h.i.+p came in sight, we saw at least a thousand of the natives a.s.sembled upon the beach, and in a very short time more than sixty canoes, or rather proas, put off from the sh.o.r.e, and made towards us. We lay by to receive them, and they were very soon ranged in a circle round us. These vessels were very neatly made, and so clean that they appeared to be quite new: None of them had fewer than three persons on board, nor any of them more than six.[40] After these Indians had gazed at us some time, one of them suddenly jumped out of his proa, swam to the s.h.i.+p, and ran up the side like a cat: As soon as he had stepped over the gunwale, he sat down upon it, and burst into a violent fit of laughter, then started up, and ran all over the s.h.i.+p, attempting to steal whatever he could lay his hands upon, but without success, for, being stark naked, it was impossible to conceal his booty for a moment. Our seamen put on him a jacket and trowsers, which produced great merriment, for he had all the gestures of a monkey newly dressed: We also gave him bread, which he eat with a voracious appet.i.te, and after having played a thousand antic tricks, he leaped overboard, jacket and trowsers and all, and swam back again to his proa; after this several others swam to the s.h.i.+p, ran up the side of the gun-room ports, and having crept in, s.n.a.t.c.hed up whatever lay in their reach, and immediately leaped again into the sea, and swam away at a great rate, though some of them, having both hands full, held up their arms quite out of the water, to prevent their plunder from being spoiled. These people are tall, well-proportioned, and clean-limbed; Their skin is a bright copper-colour, their features are extremely good, and there is a mixture of intrepidity and cheerfulness in their countenances that is very striking. They have long black hair, which some of them wore tied up behind in a great bunch, others in three knots: Some of them had long beards, some only whiskers, and some nothing more than a small tuft at the point of the chin. They were all of them stark naked, except their ornaments, which consisted of sh.e.l.ls, very prettily disposed and strung together, and were worn round their necks, wrists, and waists: All their ears were bored, but they had no ornaments in them when we saw them: Such ornaments as they wear, when they wear any, are probably very heavy, for their ears hang down almost to their shoulders, and some of them were quite split through.[41] One of these men, who appeared to be a person of some consequence, had a string of human teeth about his waist, which was probably a trophy of his military prowess, for he would not part with it in exchange for any thing I could offer him. Some of them were unarmed, but others had one of the most dangerous weapons I had ever seen: It was a kind of spear, very broad at the end, and stuck full of sharks' teeth, which are as sharp as a lancet, at the sides, for about three feet of its length. We shewed them some cocoa-nuts, and made signs that we wanted more; but instead of giving any intimation that they could supply us, they endeavoured to take away those we had.
[Footnote 40: ”These have some resemblance to the proas used by the Indians of the Ladrone Islands, they having what is termed an outrigger, that is, a frame laid out to the windward, to balance this little vessel, and prevent its oversetting, which would otherwise infallibly happen, from its small breadth in proportion to its length.”]