Volume Xiii Part 20 (2/2)
[Footnote 102: An interesting enough subject for enquiry is here started. We shall, in another part of our work, have to give it some attention.--E.]
SECTION x.x.xV.
_The Pa.s.sage from New Guinea to the Island of Semau, and the Transactions there_.[103]
[Footnote 103: It is quite unnecessary, and would answer no good purpose, to occupy the reader's attention with any geographical notes respecting the islands mentioned in this section. Subsequent voyages, and other publications, have greatly enriched our acquaintance with this subject; but it would make sad patch-work to detail it here. The reader will do better to amuse himself with the narrative for the present, and to reserve study for a future occasion.--E.]
We made sail, from noon on Monday the 3d, to noon on Tuesday the 4th, standing to the westward, and all the time kept in soundings, having from fourteen to thirty fathom; not regular, but sometimes more, sometimes less. At noon on the 4th, we were in fourteen fathom, and lat.i.tude 6 44' S., longitude 223 51' W.; our course and distance since the 3d, at noon, were S. 76 W., one hundred and twenty miles to the westward. At noon on the 5th of September, we were in lat.i.tude 7 25'
S., longitude 225 41' W., having been in soundings the whole time from ten to twenty fathom.
At half an hour after one in the morning of the next day, we pa.s.sed a small island which bore from us N.N.W., distant between three and four miles; and at day-light we discovered another low island, extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E., distant about two or three leagues. Upon this island, which did not appear to be very small, I believe I should have landed to examine its produce, if the wind had not blown too fresh to admit of it.
When we pa.s.sed this island we had only ten fathom water, with a rocky bottom, and therefore I was afraid of running down to leeward, lest I should meet with shoal water and foul ground. These islands have no place in the charts except they are the Arrou islands; and if these, they are laid down much too far from New Guinea. I found the south part of them to lie in lat.i.tude 7 6' S., longitude 225 W.
We continued to steer W.S.W., at the rate of four miles and a half an hour, till ten o'clock at night, when we had forty-two fathom, at eleven we had thirty-seven, at twelve forty-five, at one in the morning, forty-nine, and at three, 120, after which we had no ground. At day-light we made all the sail we could, and at ten o'clock saw land extending from N.N.W. to W. by N., distant between five and six leagues: At noon it bore from N. to W., and at about the same distance: It appeared to be level, and of a moderate height; by our distance from New Guinea, it ought to have been part of the Arrou Islands, but it lies a degree farther to the south than any of these islands are laid down in the charts; and, by the lat.i.tude, should be Timor Laoet: We sounded, but had no ground with fifty fathom.
As I was not able to satisfy myself from any chart, what land it was that I saw to leeward, and fearing that it might trend away more southerly, the weather also being so hazy that we could not see far, I steered S.W., and by four had lost sight of the island. I was now sure that no part of it lay to the southward of 8 15' S., and continued standing to the S.W. with an easy sail, and a fresh breeze at S.E. by E.
and E.S.E.: We sounded every hour, but had no bottom with 120 fathom.
At day-break in the morning, we steered W.S.W., and afterwards W. by S., which by noon brought us into the lat.i.tude of 9 30' S., longitude 229 34' W., and by our run from New Guinea, we ought to have been within sight of Weasel Isles, which in the charts are laid down at the distance of twenty or twenty-five leagues from the coast of New Holland; we however saw nothing, and therefore they must have been placed erroneously; nor can this be thought strange, when it is considered that not only these islands, but the coast which bounds this sea, have been discovered and explored by different people, and at different times, and the charts upon which they are delineated, put together by others, perhaps at the distance of more than a century after the discoveries had been made; not to mention that the discoverers themselves had not all the requisites for keeping an accurate journal, of which those of the present age are possessed.
We continued our course, steering W. till the evening of the 8th, when the variation of the compa.s.s, by several azimuths, was 12' W., and by the amplitude 5' W. At noon, on the 9th, our lat.i.tude, by observation, was 9 46' S., longitude 232 7' W. For the last two days we had steered due W., yet, by observation, we made sixteen miles southing, six miles from noon on the 6th to noon on the 7th, and ten miles from noon on the 7th to noon on the 8th, by which it appeared that there was a current setting to the southward. At sun-set, we found the variation to be 2 W., and at the same time, saw an appearance of very high land bearing N.W.
In the morning of the 10th, we saw clearly that what had appeared to be land the night before, was Timor. At noon, our lat.i.tude, by observation, was 10 1' S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude, by observation, was 233 27' W. We steered N.W.
in order to obtain a more distinct view of the land in sight, till four o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the wind came to the N.W. and W., with which we stood to the southward till nine, when we tacked and stood N.W., having the wind now at W.S.W. At sun-rise the land had appeared to extend from W.N.W. to N.E., and at noon, we could see it extend to the westward as far as W. by S. 1/2 S. but no farther to the eastward than N. by E. We were now well a.s.sured, that as the first land we had seen was Timor, the last island we had pa.s.sed was Timor Laoet, or Laut.[104] Laoet, is a word in the language of Malaca, signifying Sea, and this island was named by the inhabitants of that country. The south part of it lies in lat.i.tude 8 15' S., longitude 228 10' W., but in the charts the south point is laid down in various lat.i.tudes, from 8 30' to 9 30': It is indeed possible that the land we saw might be some other island, but the presumption to the contrary is very strong, for if Timor Laut had lain where it is placed in the charts, we must have seen it there. We were now in lat.i.tude 9 37' S.; longitude, by an observation of the sun and moon, 233 54' W.; we were the day before in 233 27'; the difference is 27', exactly the same that was given by the log: This, however, is a degree of accuracy in observation that is seldom to be expected. In the afternoon, we stood in sh.o.r.e till eight in the evening; when we tacked and stood off, being at the distance of about three leagues from the land, which at sun-set extended from S.W. 1/2 W. to N.E.: At this time we sounded, and had no ground with 140 fathom. At midnight, having but little wind, we tacked and stood in, and at noon the next day, our lat.i.tude, by observation, was 9 36' S. This day, we saw smoke on sh.o.r.e in several places, and had seen many fires during the night. The land appeared to be very high, rising in gradual slopes one above another: The hills were in general covered with thick woods, but among them we could distinguish naked spots of a considerable extent, which had the appearance of having been cleared by art. At five o'clock in the afternoon, we were within a mile and a half of the sh.o.r.e, in sixteen fathom water, and abreast of a small inlet into the low land, which lies in lat.i.tude 9 34 S., and probably is the same that Dampier entered with his boat, for it did not seem to have sufficient depth of water for a s.h.i.+p. The land here answered well to the description that he has given of it: close to the beach it was covered with high spiry trees, which he mentions as having the appearance of pines; behind these there seemed to be salt-water creeks, and many mangroves, interspersed however with cocoa-nut trees: The flat land at the beach appeared in some places to extend inward two or three miles before the rise of the first hill; in this part, however, we saw no appearance of plantations or houses, but great fertility, and from the number of fires, we judged that the place most be well peopled.
[Footnote 104: Little is known of this island. Timor is said to have been discovered by the companions of Magellan in 1522, when it was found full of white sandal wood. The Portuguese very early settled in it as a place of refuge from the Dutch, who however soon followed them, and in 1613, drove them from Cupan, their princ.i.p.al town, at the west end of the island. The possession of this island might be made more valuable than it seems as yet to have been. With scarcely any help from human industry, its products in useful articles are considerable. We shall have to treat of it hereafter.--E.]
When we had approached within a mile and a half of the sh.o.r.e, we tacked and stood off, and the extremes of the coast then extended from N.E. by E. to W. by S. 1/2 S. The south-westerly extremity was a low point, distant from us about three leagues. While we were standing in for the sh.o.r.e, we sounded several times, but had no ground till we came within about two miles and a half, and then we had five-and-twenty fathom, with a soft-bottom. After we had tacked, we stood off till midnight, with the wind at S.; we then tacked and stood two hours to the westward, when the wind veered to S.W. and W.S.W., and we then stood to the southward again. In the morning, we found the variation to be 1 10' W. by the amplitude, and by the azimuth 1 27'. At noon, our lat.i.tude was, by observation, 9 45' S., our longitude 234 12' W.; we were then about seven leagues distant from the land, which extended from N. 31 E. to W.S.W. 1/2 W.
With light land-breezes from W. by N. for a few hours in a morning, and sea-breezes from S.S.W. and S. we advanced to the westward but slowly.
At noon on the 14th, we were between six and seven leagues from the land, which extended from N. by E. to S. 78 W.; we still saw smoke in many places by day, and fire by night, both upon the low land and the mountains beyond it. We continued steering along the sh.o.r.e, till the morning of the 15th, the land still appearing hilly, but not so high as it had been: The hills in general came quite down to the sea, and where they did not, we saw instead of flats and mangrove land, immense groves of cocoa-nut trees, reaching about a mile up from the beach: There the plantations and houses commenced, and appeared to be innumerable. The houses were shaded by groves of the fan-palm, or _bora.s.sus_, and the plantations, which were inclosed by a fence, reached almost to the tops of the highest hills. We saw however neither people nor cattle, though our gla.s.ses were continually employed, at which we were not a little surprised.
We continued our course, with little variation, till nine o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when we saw the small island called _Rotte_; and at noon the island _Semau_, lying off the south end of Timor, bore N.W.
Dampier, who has given a large description of the island of Timor, says, that it is seventy leagues long, and sixteen broad, and that it lies nearly N E. and S.W. I found the east side of it to lie nearest N.E. by E. and S.W. by W., and the south end to lie in lat.i.tude 10 23' S., longitude 236 5' W. We ran about forty-five leagues along the east side, and found the navigation altogether free from danger. The land which is bounded by the sea, except near the south end, is low for two or three miles within the beach, and in general intersected by salt creeks: Behind the low land are mountains, which rise one above another to a considerable height. We steered W.N.W. till two in the afternoon, when, being within a small distance of the north end of Rotte, we hauled up N.N.W. in order to go between it and Semau: After steering three leagues upon this coa.r.s.e, we edged away N.W. and W., and by six, we were clear of all the islands. At this time, the south part of Semau, which lies in lat.i.tude 10 15' S., bore N.E. distant four leagues, and the island of Rotte extended as far to the southward as S. 36 W. The north end of this island, and the south end of Timor, lie N. 1/2 E. and S. 1/4 W., and are about three or four leagues distant from each other. At the west end of the pa.s.sage between Rotte and Semau, are two small islands, one of which lies near the Rotte sh.o.r.e, and the other off the south-west point of Semau: There is a good channel between them, about six miles broad, through which we pa.s.sed. The isle of Rotte has not so lofty and mountainous an appearance as Timor, though it is agreeably diversified by hill and valley: On the north side, there are many sandy beaches, near which grew some trees of the fan-palm, but the far greater part was covered with a kind of brushy wood, that was without leaves. The appearance of Semau was nearly the same with that of Timor, but not quite so high. About ten o'clock at night, we observed a phaenomenon in the heavens, which in many particulars resembled the aurora borealis, and in others, was very different: It consisted of a dull reddish light, and reached about twenty degrees above the horizon: Its extent was very different at different times, but it was never less than eight or ten points of the compa.s.s: Through and out of this pa.s.sed rays of light of a brighter colour, which vanished, and were renewed nearly in the same time as those of the aurora borealis, but had no degree of the tremulous or vibratory motion which is observed in that phaenomenon: The body of it bore S.S.E. from the s.h.i.+p, and it continued, without any diminution of its brightness, till twelve o'clock, when we retired to sleep, but how long afterwards, I cannot tell.
Being clear of all the islands, which are laid down in the maps we had on board, between Timor and Java, we steered a west course till six o'clock the next morning, when we unexpectedly saw an island bearing W.S.W., and at first I thought we had made a new discovery. We steered directly for it, and by ten o'clock were close in with the north side of it, where we saw houses, cocoa-nut trees, and to our very agreeable surprise, numerous flocks of sheep. This was a temptation not to be resisted by people in our situation, especially as many of us were in a bad state of health, and many still repining at my not having touched at Timor: It was, therefore soon determined to attempt a commerce with people who appeared to be so well able to supply our many necessities, and remove at once the sickness and discontent that had got footing among us. The pinnace was hoisted out, and Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, sent to see if there was any convenient place to land, taking with him some trifles, as presents to the natives, if any of them should appear. While he was gone, we saw from the s.h.i.+p two men on horseback, who seemed to be riding upon the hills for their amus.e.m.e.nt, and often stopped to look at the s.h.i.+p. By this we knew that the place had been settled by Europeans, and hoped, that the many disagreeable circ.u.mstances which always attend the first establishment of commerce with savages, would be avoided. In the mean time, Mr Gore landed in a small sandy cove near some houses, and was met by eight or ten of the natives, who, as well in their dress as their persons, very much resembled the Malays; They were without arms, except the knives which it is their custom to wear in their girdles, and one of them had a jack-a.s.s with him: They courteously invited him ash.o.r.e, and conversed with him by signs, but very little of the meaning of either party could be understood by the other. In a short time he returned with this report, and, to our great mortification, added, that there was no anchorage for the s.h.i.+p. I sent him however a second time, with both money and goods, that he might, if possible, purchase some refreshments, at least for the sick; and Dr Solander went in the boat with him. In the mean time I kept standing on and off with the s.h.i.+p, which at this time was within about a mile of the sh.o.r.e. Before the boat could land, we saw two other hors.e.m.e.n, one of whom was in a complete European dress, consisting of a blue coat, a white waistcoat, and a laced hat: These people, when the boat came to the sh.o.r.e, took little notice of her, but sauntered about, and seemed to look with great curiosity at the s.h.i.+p. We saw however other hors.e.m.e.n, and a great number of persons on foot, gather round our people, and, to our great satisfaction, perceived several cocoa-nuts carried into the boat, from which we concluded that peace and commerce were established between us.
After the boat had been ash.o.r.e about an hour and a half, she made the signal for having intelligence that there was a bay to leeward, where we might anchor: We stood away directly for it, and the boat following, soon came on board. The lieutenant told us, that he had seen some of the princ.i.p.al people, who were dressed in fine linen, and had chains of gold round their necks: He said, that he had not been able to trade, because the owner of the cocoa-nuts was absent, but that about two dozen had been sent to the boat as a present, and that some linen had been accepted in return. The people, to give him the information that he wanted, drew a map upon the sand, in which they made a rude representation of a harbour to leeward, and a town near it: They also gave him to understand, that sheep, hogs, fowls, and fruit might there be procured in great plenty. Some of them frequently p.r.o.nounced the word Portuguese, and said something of Larntuca upon the island of Ende: From this circ.u.mstance, we conjectured that there were Portuguese somewhere upon the island, and a Portugueze, who was in our boat, attempted to converse with the Indians in that language, but soon found that they knew only a word or two of it by rote: One of them however, when they were giving our people to understand that there was a town near the harbour to which they had directed us, intimated, that, as a token of going right, we should see somewhat, which he expressed by crossing his fingers, and the Portuguese instantly conceived that he meant to express a cross. Just as our people were putting off, the hors.e.m.e.n in the European dress came up, but the officer not having his commission about him, thought it best to decline a conference.
At seven o'clock in the evening, we came to an anchor in the bay to which we had been directed, at about the distance of a mile from the sh.o.r.e, in thirty-eight fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom. The north point of the bay bore N. 30 E., distant two miles and a half, and the south point, or west end of the island, bore S. 63 W. Just as we got round the north point, and entered the bay, we discovered a large Indian town or village, upon which we stood on, hoisting a jack on the fore top-mast head: Soon after, to our great surprise, Dutch colours were hoisted in the town, and three guns fired; we stood on, however, till we had soundings and then anch.o.r.ed.
As soon as it was light in the morning, we saw the same colours hoisted upon the beach, abreast of the s.h.i.+p; supposing therefore that the Dutch had a settlement here, I sent Lieutenant Gore ash.o.r.e, to wait upon the governor, or the chief person residing upon the spot, and acquaint him who we were, and for what purpose we had touched upon the coast. As soon as he came ash.o.r.e, he was received by a guard of between twenty and thirty Indians, armed with musquets, who conducted him to the town, where the colours had been hoisted the night before, carrying with them those that had been hoisted upon the beach, and marching without any military regularity. As soon as he arrived, he was introduced to the Raja, or king of the island, and by a Portuguese interpreter told him, that the s.h.i.+p was a man-of-war belonging to the king of Great Britain, and that she had many sick on board, for whom we wanted to purchase such refreshments as the island afforded. His majesty replied, that he was willing to supply us with whatever we wanted, but, that being in alliance with the Dutch East India Company, he was not at liberty to trade with any other people, without having first procured their consent, for which, however, he said he would immediately apply to a Dutchman who belonged to the Company, and who was the only white man upon the island. To this man, who resided at some distance, a letter was immediately dispatched, acquainting him with our arrival and request: In the mean time, Mr Gore dispatched a messenger to me, with an account of his situation, and the state of the treaty. In about three hours, the Dutch resident answered the letter that had been sent him, in person: He proved to be a native of Saxony, and his name was Johan Christopher Lange, and the same person whom we had seen on horseback in a European dress: He behaved with great civility to Mr Gore, and a.s.sured him, that we were at liberty to purchase of the natives whatever we pleased. After a short time, he expressed a desire of coming on board, as did the king also, and several of his attendants: Mr Gore intimated that he was ready to attend them, but they desired that two of our people might be left ash.o.r.e as hostages, and in this also they were indulged.
About two o'clock, they all came aboard the s.h.i.+p, and our dinner being ready, they accepted our invitation to partake of it: I expected them immediately to sit down, but the king seemed to hesitate, and at last, with some confusion, said, he did not imagine that we, who were white men, would suffer him, who was of a different colour, to sit down in our company; a compliment soon removed his scruples, and we all sat down together with great cheerfulness and cordiality: Happily we were at no loss for interpreters, both Dr Solander and Mr Sporing understanding Dutch enough to keep up a conversation with Mr Lange, and several of the seamen were able to converse with such of the natives as spoke Portuguese. Our dinner happened to be mutton, and the king expressed a desire of having an English sheep; we had but one left, however that was presented to him: The facility with which this was procured, encouraged him to ask for an English dog, and Mr Banks politely gave up his greyhound: Mr Lange then intimated that a spying-gla.s.s would be acceptable, and one was immediately put into his hand. Our guests then told us, that the island abounded with buffaloes, sheep, hogs, and fowls, plenty of which should be driven down to the beach the next day, that we might purchase as many of them as we should think fit: This put us all into high spirits, and the liquor circulated rather faster than either the Indians or the Saxon could bear; they intimated their desire to go away, however, before they were quite drunk, and were received upon deck, as they had been when they came aboard, by the marines under arms. The king expressed a curiosity to see them exercise, in which he was gratified, and they fired three rounds: He looked at them with great attention, and was much surprised at their regularity and expedition, especially in c.o.c.king their pieces; the first time they did it, he struck the side of the s.h.i.+p with a stick that he had in his hand, and cried out with great vehemence, that all the locks made but one clink.
They were dismissed with many presents, and when they went away saluted with nine guns: Mr Banks and Dr Solander went ash.o.r.e with them; and as soon as they put off they gave us three cheers.
Our gentlemen, when they came ash.o.r.e, walked up with them to the town, which consists of many houses, and some of them are large; they are however nothing more than a thatched roof, supported over a boarded floor, by pillars about four feet high. They produced some of their palm-wine, which was the fresh unfermented juice of the tree; it had a sweet, but not a disagreeable taste; and hopes were conceived that it might contribute to recover our sick from the scurvy. Soon after it was dark, Mr Banks and Dr Solander returned on board.
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