BOOK II.

CHAP. I.

THE PASSAGE FROM OTEROAH TO NEW ZEALAND; INCIDENTS WHICH HAPPENED ON GOING A-SHORE THERE, AND WHILE THE SHIP LAY IN POVERTY BAY.

WE sailed from Oteroah on the 15th of August, and on Friday the 25th we celebrated the anniversary of our leaving England, by taking a Cheshire cheese from a locker, where it had been carefully treasured up for this occasion, and tapping a cask of porter, which proved to be very good, and in excellent order. On the 29th, one of the sailors got so drunk, that the next morning he died: we thought at first that he could not have come honestly by the liquor, but we afterwards learnt that the boatswain, whose mate he was, had, in mere good-nature, given him part of a bottle of rum.

On the 30th, we saw the comet; at one o’clock in the morning, it was a little above the horizon in the eastern part of the heavens; at about half an hour after four it passed the meridian, and its tail subtended an angle of forty-two degrees. Our latitude was 38° 20ʹ S., our longitude, by log, 147° 6ʹ W., and the variation of the needle, by the azimuth, 7° 9ʹ E. Among others that observed the comet, was Tupia, who instantly cried out, that as soon as it should be seen by the people of Bolabola, they would kill the inhabitants of Ulietea, who would, with the utmost precipitation, fly to the mountains.

On the 1st of September, being in the latitude of 40° 22ʹ S., and longitude 147° 29ʹ W., and there not being any signs of land, with a heavy sea from the westward, and strong gales, I wore, and stood back to the northward, fearing that we might receive such damage in our sails and rigging, as would hinder the prosecution of the voyage.

On the next day, there being strong gales to the westward, I brought to, with the ship’s head to the northward; but in the morning of the 3d, the wind being more moderate, we loosened the reef of the main-sail, set the top-sails, and plied to the westward.

We continued our course till the 19th, when our latitude being 29° and our longitude 159° 29ʹ, we observed the variation to be 8° 32ʹ E. On the 24th, being in latitude 33° 18ʹ, longitude 162° 51ʹ, we observed a small piece of sea-weed, and a piece of wood covered with barnacles: the variation here was 10° 48ʹ E.

On the 27th, being in latitude 28° 59ʹ, longitude 169° 5ʹ, we saw a seal asleep upon the water, and several bunches of sea-weed. The next day we saw more sea-weed in bunches, and on the 29th, a bird, which we thought a land-bird; it somewhat resembled a snipe, but had a short bill. On the 1st of October, we saw birds innumerable, and another seal asleep upon the water; it is a general opinion, that seals never go out of soundings, or far from land, but those that we saw in these seas prove the contrary. Rock-weed is, however, a certain indication that land is not far distant. The next day, it being calm, we hoisted out the boat, to try whether there was a current, but found none. Our latitude was 37° 10ʹ, longitude 172° 54ʹ W. On the 3d, being in latitude 36° 56ʹ, longitude 173° 27ʹ, we took up more sea-weed, and another piece of wood covered with barnacles. The next day, we saw two more seals, and a brown bird, about as big as a raven, with some white feathers under the wing. Mr. Gore told us, that birds of this kind were seen in great numbers about Falkland’s Islands, and our people gave them the name of Port-Egmont hens.

On the 5th, we thought the water changed colour, but, upon casting the lead, had no ground with 180 fathom. In the evening of this day, the variation was 12° 50ʹ E., and, while we were going nine leagues, it increased to 14° 2ʹ.

On the next day, Friday, October the 6th, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing W. by N., and stood directly for it; in the evening, it could just be discerned from the deck, and appeared large. The variation this day was, by azimuth and amplitude, 15° 4-½ʹ E., and by observation made of the sun and moon, the longitude of the ship appeared to be 180° 55ʹ W., and by the medium of this and subsequent observations, there appeared to be an error in the ship’s account of longitude during her run from Otaheite of 3° 16ʹ, she being so much to the westward of the longitude resulting from the log. At midnight, I brought to and sounded, but had no ground with one hundred and seventy fathom.

On the 7th, it fell calm, we therefore approached the land slowly, and in the afternoon, when a breeze sprung up, we were still distant seven or eight leagues. It appeared still larger as it was more distinctly seen, with four or five ranges of hills, rising one over the other, and a chain of mountains above all, which appeared to be of an enormous height. This land became the subject of much eager conversation; but the general opinion seemed to be that we had found the _Terra australis incognita_. About five o’clock, we saw the opening of a bay, which seemed to run pretty far inland, upon which we hauled our wind and stood in for it; we also saw smoke ascending from different places on shore. When night came on, however, we kept plying off and on till day-light, when we found ourselves to the leeward of the bay, the wind being at north: we could now perceive that the hills were clothed with wood, and that some of the trees in the valleys were very large. By noon we fetched in with the south-west point; but not being able to weather it, tacked and stood off: at this time we saw several canoes standing cross the bay, which, in a little time, made to shore, without seeming to take the least notice of the ship; we also saw some houses, which appeared to be small, but neat; and near one of them a considerable number of the people collected together, who were sitting upon the beach, and who, we thought, were the same that we had seen in the canoes. Upon a small peninsula, at the north-east head, we could plainly perceive a pretty high and regular paling, which inclosed the whole top of a hill; this was also the subject of much speculation, some supposing it to be a park of deer, others an inclosure for oxen and sheep. About four o’clock in the afternoon, we anchored on the north-west side of the bay, before the entrance of a small river, in ten fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom, and at about half a league from the shore. The sides of the bay are white cliffs of a great height; the middle is low land, with hills gradually rising behind, one towering above another, and terminating in the chain of mountains, which appeared to be far inland.

In the evening I went on shore, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, with the pinnace and yawl, and a party of men. We landed abreast of the ship, on the east side of the river, which was here about forty yards broad; but seeing some natives on the west side whom I wished to speak with, and finding the river not fordable, I ordered the yawl in to carry us over, and left the pinnace at the entrance. When we came near the place where the people were assembled, they all ran away; however, we landed, and leaving four boys to take care of the yawl, we walked up to some huts which were about two or three hundred yards from the water-side. When we had got some distance from the boat, four men, armed with long lances, rushed out of the woods, and running up to attack the boat, would certainly have cut her off, if the people in the pinnace had not discovered them, and called to the boys to drop down the stream: the boys instantly obeyed; but being closely pursued by the Indians, the Cockswain of the pinnace, who had the charge of the boats, fired a musket over their heads; at this they stopped and looked round them, but in a few minutes renewed the pursuit, brandishing their lances in a threatening manner: the Cockswain then fired a second musket over their heads, but of this they took no notice; and one of them lifting up his spear to dart it at the boat, another piece was fired, which shot him dead. When he fell, the other three stood motionless for some minutes, as if petrified with astonishment; as soon as they recovered, they went back, dragging after them the dead body, which however they soon left, that it might not encumber their flight. At the report of the first musket, we drew together, having straggled to a little distance from each other, and made the best of our way back to the boat; and crossing the river, we soon saw the Indian lying dead upon the ground. Upon examining the body, we found that he had been shot through the heart: he was a man of the middle size and stature; his complexion was brown, but not very dark; and one side of his face was tattowed in spiral lines of a very regular figure: he was covered with a fine cloth, of a manufacture altogether new to us, and it was tied on exactly according to the representation in Valentyn’s Account of Abel Tasman’s Voyage, vol. iii. part 2. page 50.: his hair also was tied in a knot on the top of his head, but had no feather in it. We returned immediately to the ship, where we could hear the people on shore talking with great earnestness, and in a very loud tone, probably about what had happened, and what should be done.

In the morning, we saw several of the natives where they had been seen the night before, and some walking with a quick pace towards the place where we had landed, most of them unarmed; but three or four with long pikes in their hands. As I was desirous to establish an intercourse with them, I ordered three boats to be manned with seamen and marines, and proceeded towards the shore, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, the other gentlemen, and Tupia; about fifty of them seemed to wait for our landing, on the opposite side of the river, which we thought a sign of fear, and seated themselves upon the ground: at first, therefore, myself, with only Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia, landed from the little boat, and advanced towards them; but we had not proceeded many paces before they all started up, and every man produced either a long pike, or a small weapon of green Talc, extremely well polished, about a foot long, and thick enough to weigh four or five pounds: Tupia called to them in the language of Otaheite; but they answered only by flourishing their weapons, and making signs to us to depart; a musket was then fired wide of them, and the ball struck the water, the river being still between us; they saw the effect, and desisted from their threats: but we thought it prudent to retreat till the marines could be landed. This was soon done; and they marched, with a jack carried before them, to a little bank, about fifty yards from the water-side; here they were drawn up, and I again advanced, with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander; Tupia, Mr. Green, and Mr. Monkhouse, being with us. Tupia was again directed to speak to them, and it was with great pleasure that we perceived he was perfectly understood, he and the natives speaking only different dialects of the same language. He told them that we wanted provision and water, and would give them iron in exchange, the properties of which he explained as well as he was able. They were willing to trade, and desired that we would come over to them for that purpose: to this we consented, provided they would lay by their arms; which, however, they could by no means be persuaded to do. During this conversation, Tupia warned us to be upon our guard, for that they were not our friends: we then pressed them in our turn to come over to us; and at last one of them stripped himself, and swam over without his arms: he was almost immediately followed by two more, and soon after by most of the rest, to the number of twenty or thirty; but these brought their arms with them. We made them all presents of iron and beads; but they seemed to set little value upon either, particularly the iron, not having the least idea of its use; so that we got nothing in return but a few feathers: they offered indeed to exchange their arms for ours, and, when we refused, made many attempts to snatch them out of our hands. As soon as they came over, Tupia repeated his declaration, that they were not our friends, and again warned us to be upon our guard; their attempts to snatch our weapons, therefore, did not succeed; and we gave them to understand by Tupia, that we should be obliged to kill them, if they offered any farther violence. In a few minutes, however, Mr. Green happening to turn about, one of them snatched away his hanger, and retiring to a little distance, waved it round his head, with a shout of exultation: the rest now began to be extremely insolent, and we saw more coming to join them from the opposite side of the river. It was therefore become necessary to repress them, and Mr. Banks fired at the man who had taken the hanger, with small shot, at the distance of about fifteen yards: when the shot struck him, he ceased his cry; but instead of returning the hanger, continued to flourish it over his head, at the same time slowly retreating to a greater distance. Mr. Monkhouse seeing this, fired at him with ball, and he instantly dropped. Upon this the main body, who had retired to a rock in the middle of the river upon the first discharge, began to return; two that were near to the man who had been killed, ran up to the body, one seized his weapon of green Talc, and the other endeavoured to secure the hanger, which Mr. Monkhouse had but just time to prevent. As all that had retired to the rock were now advancing, three of us discharged our pieces, loaded only with small shot, upon which they swam back for the shore; and we perceived, upon their landing, that two or three of them were wounded. They retired slowly up the country, and we reimbarked in our boats.

As we had unhappily experienced, that nothing was to be done with these people at this place; and finding the water in the river to be salt, I proceeded in the boats round the head of the bay in search of fresh water, and with a design, if possible, to surprise some of the natives, and take them on board, where, by kind treatment and presents I might obtain their friendship, and by their means establish an amicable correspondence with their countrymen.

To my great regret, I found no place where I could land, a dangerous surf every where beating upon the shore; but I saw two canoes coming in from the sea, one under sail, and the other worked with paddles. I thought this a favourable opportunity to get some of the people into my possession without mischief, as those in the canoe were probably fishermen, and without arms, and I had three boats full of men. I therefore disposed the boats so as most effectually to intercept them in their way to the shore; the people in the canoe that was paddled perceived us so soon, that, by making to the nearest land with their utmost strength, they escaped us; the other sailed on till she was in the midst of us without discerning what we were; but the moment she discovered us, the people on board struck their sail, and took to their paddles, which they plied so briskly that she out-ran the boat. They were however within hearing, and Tupia called out to them to come along-side, and promised for us that they should come to no hurt: they chose, however, rather to trust to their paddles than our promises, and continued to make from us with all their power. I then ordered a musket to be fired over their heads, as the least exceptionable expedient to accomplish my design, hoping it would either make them surrender, or leap into the water. Upon the discharge of the piece, they ceased paddling; and all of them, being seven in number, began to strip, as we imagined, to jump overboard; but it happened otherwise. They immediately formed a resolution not to fly, but to fight; and when the boat came up, they began the attack with their paddles, and with stones and other offensive weapons that were in the boat, so vigorously, that we were obliged to fire upon them in our own defence; four were unhappily killed, and the other three, who were boys, the eldest about nineteen, and the youngest about eleven, instantly leaped into the water; the eldest swam with great vigour, and resisted the attempts of our people to take him into the boat by every effort that he could make: he was however at last overpowered, and the other two were taken up with less difficulty. I am conscious that the feeling of every reader of humanity will censure me for having fired upon these unhappy people, and it is impossible that, upon a calm review, I should approve it myself. They certainly did not deserve death for not chusing to confide in my promises; or not consenting to come on board my boat, even if they had apprehended no danger; but the nature of my service required me to obtain a knowledge of their country, which I could no otherwise effect than by forcing my way into it in a hostile manner, or gaining admission through the confidence and good-will of the people. I had already tried the power of presents without effect; and I was now prompted, by my desire to avoid further hostilities, to get some of them on board, as the only method left of convincing them that we intended them no harm, and had it in our power to contribute to their gratification and convenience. Thus far my intentions certainly were not criminal; and though in the contest, which I had not the least reason to expect, our victory might have been complete without so great an expence of life; yet in such situations, when the command to fire has been given, no man can restrain its excess, or prescribe its effect.

As soon as the poor wretches whom we had taken out of the water were in the boat, they squatted down, expecting no doubt instantly to be put to death: we made haste to convince them of the contrary, by every method in our power; we furnished them with clothes, and gave them every other testimony of kindness that could remove their fears and engage their good-will. Those who are acquainted with human nature will not wonder, that the sudden joy of these young savages at being unexpectedly delivered from the fear of death, and kindly treated by those whom they supposed would have been their instant executioners, surmounted their concern for the friends they had lost, and was strongly expressed in their countenances and behaviour. Before we reached the ship, their suspicions and fears being wholly removed, they appeared to be not only reconciled to their situation but in high spirits, and upon being offered some bread when they came on board, they devoured it with a voracious appetite. They answered and asked many questions, with great appearance of pleasure and curiosity; and when our dinner came, they expressed an inclination to taste every thing that they saw: they seemed best pleased with the salt pork, though we had other provisions upon the table. At sun-set, they eat another meal with great eagerness, each devouring a large quantity of bread, and drinking above a quart of water. We then made them beds upon the lockers, and they went to sleep with great seeming content. In the night, however, the tumult of their minds having subsided, and given way to reflection, they sighed often and loud. Tupia, who was always upon the watch to comfort them, got up, and by soothing and encouragement made them not only easy but cheerful; their cheerfulness was encouraged so that they sung a song with a degree of taste that surprised us: the tune was solemn and slow, like those of our Psalms, containing many notes and semi-tones. Their countenances were intelligent and expressive, and the middlemost, who seemed to be about fifteen, had an openness in his aspect, and an ease in his deportment, which were very striking: we found that the two eldest were brothers, and that their names were TAAHOURANGE and KOIKERANGE; the name of the youngest was MARAGOVETE. As we were returning to the ship, after having taken these boys into the boat, we picked up a large piece of pumice-stone floating upon the water; a sure sign that there either is, or has been a volcano in this neighbourhood.

In the morning, they all seemed to be cheerful, and ate another enormous meal; after this we dressed them, and adorned them with bracelets, anclets, and necklaces, after their own fashion, and the boat being hoisted out, they were told that we were going to set them ashore: this produced a transport of joy; but upon perceiving that we made towards our first landing-place near the river, their countenances changed, and they entreated with great earnestness that they might not be set ashore at that place, because they said, it was inhabited by their enemies, who would kill them and eat them. This was a great disappointment to me; because I hoped the report and appearance of the boys would procure a favourable reception for ourselves. I had already sent an officer on shore with the marines and a party of men to cut wood, and I was determined to land near the place; not, however, to abandon the boys, if, when we got ashore, they should be unwilling to leave us; but to send a boat with them in the evening to that part of the bay to which they pointed, and which they call their home. Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia, were with me, and upon our landing with the boys, and crossing the river, they seemed at first to be unwilling to leave us; but at length they suddenly changed their mind, and, though not without a manifest struggle, and some tears, they took their leave: when they were gone, we proceeded along a swamp, with a design to shoot some ducks, of which we saw great plenty, and four of the marines attended us, walking abreast of us upon a bank that overlooked the country. After we had advanced about a mile, these men called out to us and told us, that a large body of the Indians was in sight, and advancing at a great rate. Upon receiving this intelligence, we drew together, and resolved to make the best of our way to the boats; we had scarcely begun to put this into execution, when the three Indian boys started suddenly from some bushes, where they had concealed themselves, and again claimed our protection: we readily received them, and repairing to the beach as the clearest place, we walked briskly towards the boats. The Indians were in two bodies; one ran along the bank which had been quitted by the marines, the other fetched a compass by the swamp, so that we could not see them: when they perceived that we had formed into one body, they slackened their pace, but still followed us in a gentle walk; that they slackened their pace, was for us, as well as for them, a fortunate circumstance; for when we came to the side of the river, where we expected to find the boats that were to carry us over to the wooders, we found the pinnace at least a mile from her station, having been sent to pick up a bird which had been shot by the officer on shore, and the little boat was obliged to make three trips before we could all get over to the rest of the party. As soon as we were drawn up on the other side, the Indians came down, not in a body as we expected, but by two or three at a time, all armed, and in a short time their number increased to about two hundred: as we now despaired of making peace with them, seeing that the dread of our small arms did not keep them at a distance, and that the ship was too far off to reach the place with a shot, we resolved to re-imbark, lest our stay should embroil us in another quarrel, and cost more of the Indians their lives. We therefore advanced towards the pinnace, which was now returning, when one of the boys suddenly cried out, that his uncle was among the people who had marched down to us, and desired us to stay and talk with them: we complied, and a parley immediately commenced between them and Tupia; during which the boys held up every thing we had given them as tokens of our kindness and liberality; but neither would either of the boys swim over to them, or any of them to the boys. The body of the man who had been killed the day before, still lay exposed upon the beach; the boys seeing it lie very near us, went up to it, and covered it with some of the clothes that we had given them; and soon after a single man, unarmed, who proved to be the uncle of Maragovete, the youngest of the boys, swam over to us, bringing in his hand a green branch, which we supposed, as well here as at Otaheite, to be an emblem of peace. We received his branch by the hands of Tupia, to whom he gave it, and made him many presents; we also invited him to go on board the ship, but he declined it; we therefore left him, and expected that his nephew, and the two other young Indians would have staid with him, but to our great surprise, they chose rather to go with us. As soon as we had retired, he went and gathered another green branch, and with this in his hand, he approached the dead body which the youth had covered with part of his clothes, walking sideways, with many ceremonies, and then throwing it towards him. When this was done, he returned to his companions, who had sat down upon the sand to observe the issue of his negociation: they immediately gathered round him, and continued in a body above an hour, without seeming to take any farther notice of us. We were more curious than they, and observing them with our glasses from on board the ship, we saw some of them cross the river upon a kind of raft, or catamarine, and four of them carry off the dead body which had been covered by the boy, and over which his uncle had performed the ceremony of the branch, upon a kind of bier, between four men: the other body was still suffered to remain where it had been first left.

After dinner, I directed Tupia to ask the boys, if they had now any objection to going ashore, where we had left their uncle, the body having been carried off, which we understood was a ratification of peace: they said, they had not; and the boat being ordered, they went into it with great alacrity: when the boat, in which I had sent two midshipmen, came to land, they went willingly ashore; but soon after she put off, they returned to the rocks, and wading into the water, earnestly entreated to be taken on board again; but the people in the boat, having positive orders to leave them, could not comply. We were very attentive to what happened on shore, and keeping a constant watch with our glasses, we saw a man pass the river upon another raft, and fetch them to a place where forty or fifty of the natives were assembled, who closed round them, and continued in the same place till sun-set: upon looking again, when we saw them in motion, we could plainly distinguish our three prisoners, who separated themselves from the rest, came down to the beach, and having waved their hands three times towards the ship, ran nimbly back, and joined their companions, who walked leisurely away towards that part which the boys had pointed to as their dwelling-place; we had therefore the greatest reason to believe that no mischief would happen to them, especially as we perceived that they went off in the clothes we had given them.

After it was dark, loud voices were heard on shore in the bottom of the bay as usual, of which we could never learn the meaning.

CHAP. II.

A DESCRIPTION OF POVERTY BAY, AND THE FACE OF THE ADJACENT COUNTRY. THE RANGE FROM THENCE TO CAPE TURNAGAIN, AND BACK TO TOLAGA, WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE PEOPLE AND THE COUNTRY, AND SEVERAL INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED ON THAT PART OF THE COAST.

THE next morning, at six o’clock, we weighed, and stood away from this unfortunate and inhospitable place, to which I gave the name of POVERTY BAY, and which by the natives is called TAONEROA, or Long Sand, as it did not afford us a single article that we wanted, except a little wood. It lies in latitude 38° 42ʹ S. and longitude 181° 36ʹ W.; it is in the form of an horse-shoe, and is known by an island lying close under the north-east point: the two points which form the entrance are high, with steep white cliffs, and lie a league and a half, or two leagues from each other, N. E. by E. and S. W. by W.; the depth of water in the bay is from twelve to five fathom, with a sandy bottom and good anchorage; but the situation is open to the wind between the south and east: boats can go in and out of the river at any time of the tide in fine weather; but as there is a bar at the entrance, no boat can go either in or out when the sea runs high: the best place to attempt it, is on the north-east side, and it is there practicable when it is not so in any other part. The shore of the bay, a little within its entrance, is a low flat sand; behind which, at a small distance, the face of the country is finely diversified by hills and valleys, all clothed with wood, and covered with verdure. The country also appears to be well inhabited, especially in the valleys leading up from the bay, where we daily saw smoke rising in clouds one behind another, to a great distance, till the view terminated in mountains of a stupendous height.

The south-west point of the bay I named YOUNG NICK’S HEAD, after Nicholas Young, the boy who first saw the land; at noon, it bore N. W. by W. distant about three or four leagues, and we were then about three miles from the shore. The main land extended from N. E. by N. to south, and I proposed to follow the direction of the coast to the southward as far as the latitude of 40 or 41; and then, if I met with no encouragement to proceed farther, to return to the northward.

In the afternoon we lay becalmed, which the people on shore perceiving, several canoes put off, and came within less than a quarter of a mile of the vessel; but could not be persuaded to come nearer, though Tupia exerted all the powers of his lungs and his eloquence upon the occasion, shouting, and promising that they should not be hurt. Another canoe was now seen coming from Poverty Bay, with only four people on board, one of whom we well remembered to have seen in our first interview upon the rock. This canoe, without stopping or taking the least notice of the others, came directly alongside of the ship, and with very little persuasion, we got the Indians on board. Their example was soon followed by the rest, and we had about us seven canoes, and about fifty men. We made them all presents with a liberal hand; notwithstanding which, they were so desirous to have more of our commodities, that they sold us every thing they had, even the clothes from their backs, and the paddles from their boats. There were but two weapons among them, these were the instruments of green talc, which were shaped somewhat like a pointed battledore, with a short handle and sharp edges; they were called _Patoo-patoo_, and were well contrived for close-fighting, as they would certainly split the thickest skull at a single blow.

When these people had recovered from the first impressions of fear, which, notwithstanding their resolution in coming on board, had manifestly thrown them into some confusion, we inquired after our poor boys. The man who first came on board immediately answered, that they were unhurt and at home; adding, that he had been induced to venture on board by the account which they had given him of the kindness with which they had been treated, and the wonders which were contained in the ship.

While they were on board they showed every sign of friendship, and invited us very cordially to go back to our old bay, or to a small cove which they pointed out, that was not quite so far off; but I chose rather to prosecute my discoveries than go back, having reason to hope that I should find a better harbour than any I had yet seen.

About an hour before sun-set, the canoes put off from the ship with the few paddles they had reserved, which were scarcely sufficient to set them on shore; but by some means or other three of their people were left behind: as soon as we discovered it, we hailed them; but not one of them would return to take them on board: this greatly surprised us; but we were surprised still more to observe that the deserted Indians did not seem at all uneasy at their situation, but entertained us with dancing and singing after their manner, eat their suppers, and went quietly to bed.

A light breeze springing up soon after it was dark, we steered along the shore under an easy sail till midnight, and then brought to, soon after which it fell calm; we were now some leagues distant from the place where the canoes had left us, and at day-break, when the Indians perceived it, they were seized with consternation and terror, and lamented their situation in loud complaints, with gestures of despair and many tears. Tupia, with great difficulty, pacified them; and about seven o’clock in the morning, a light breeze springing up, we continued to stand south-west along the shore. Fortunately for our poor Indians, two canoes came off about this time, and made towards the ship: they stopped, however, at a little distance, and seemed unwilling to trust themselves nearer. Our Indians were greatly agitated in this state of uncertainty, and urged their fellows to come alongside of the ship, both by their voice and gestures, with the utmost eagerness and impatience. Tupia interpreted what they said, and we were much surprised to find, that, among other arguments, they assured the people in the canoes, we did not eat men. We now began seriously to believe that this horrid custom prevailed among them; for what the boys had said, we considered as a mere hyperbolical expression of their fear. One of the canoes, at length, ventured to come under the ship’s side; and an old man came on board, who seemed to be a chief from the finery of his garment, and the superiority of his weapon, which was a Patoo-patoo, made of bone, that, as he said, had belonged to a whale. He staid on board but a short time, and when he went away, he took with him our guests, very much to the satisfaction both of them and us.

At the time when we sailed, we were abreast of a point, from which the land trends S. S. W. and which on account of its figure, I called CAPE TABLE. This point lies seven leagues to the southward of Poverty Bay, in latitude 39° 7ʹ S. and longitude 181° 36ʹ W.; it is of a considerable height, makes a sharp angle, and appears to be quite flat at the top.

In steering along the shore to the southward of the Cape, at the distance of two or three miles, our soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom, having a chain of rocks between us and the shore, which appeared at different heights above the water.

At noon, Cape Table bore N. 20 E. distant about four leagues, and a small island, which was the southernmost land in sight, bore S. 70 W. at the distance of about three miles. This island, which the natives call TEAHOWRAY, I named the ISLAND OF PORTLAND, from its very great resemblance to Portland, in the English Channel: it lies about a mile from a point on the main; but there appears to be a ridge of rocks, extending nearly, if not quite, from one to the other. N. 57 E. two miles from the south point of Portland, lies a sunken rock, upon which the sea breaks with great violence. We passed between this rock and the land, having from seventeen to twenty fathom.

In sailing along the shore, we saw the natives assembled in great numbers as well upon Portland island as the main: we could also distinguish several spots of ground that were cultivated; some seemed to be fresh turned up, and lay in furrows like ploughed land, and some had plants upon them in different stages of their growth. We saw also in two places, high rails upon the ridges of hills, like what we had seen upon the peninsula at the north-east head of Poverty Bay: as they were ranged in lines only, and not so as to inclose an area, we could not guess at their use, and therefore supposed they might be the work of superstition.

About noon another canoe appeared, in which were four men; she came within about a quarter of a mile of us, where the people on board seemed to perform divers ceremonies: one of them who was in the bow, sometimes seemed to ask and to offer peace, and sometimes to threaten war, by brandishing a weapon that he held in his hand: sometimes also he danced, and sometimes he sung. Tupia talked much to him, but could not persuade him to come to the ship.

Between one and two o’clock we discovered land to the westward of Portland, extending to the southward as far as we could see; and as the ship was hauling round the south end of the island, she suddenly fell into shoal water and broken ground: we had indeed always seven fathom or more, but the soundings were never twice the same, jumping at once from seven fathom to eleven; in a short time, however, we got clear of all danger, and had again deep water under us.

At this time the island lay within a mile of us, making in white cliffs, and a long spit of low land running from it towards the main. On the sides of these cliffs sat vast numbers of people, looking at us with a fixed attention, and it is probable that they perceived some appearance of hurry and confusion on board, and some irregularity in the working of the ship, while we were getting clear of the shallow water and broken ground, from which they might infer that we were alarmed or in distress: we thought that they wished to take advantage of our situation, for five canoes were put off with the utmost expedition, full of men, and well armed: they came so near, and showed so hostile a disposition by shouting, brandishing their lances, and using threatening gestures, that we were in some pain for our small boat, which was still employed in sounding: a musket was therefore fired over them, but finding it did them no harm, they seemed rather to be provoked than intimidated, and I therefore fired a four-pounder, charged with grape-shot, wide of them: this had a better effect; upon the report of the piece they all rose up and shouted, but instead of continuing the chace, drew altogether, and after a short consultation, went quietly away.

Having got round Portland, we hauled in for the land N. W. having a gentle breeze at N. E. which about five o’clock died away, and obliged us to anchor; we had one-and-twenty fathom, with a fine sandy bottom: the south point of Portland bore S. E. ½ S. distant about two leagues, and a low point on the main bore N. ½ E. In the same direction with this low point, there runs a deep bay, behind the land of which Cape Table is the extremity, so as to make this land a peninsula, leaving only a low narrow neck between that and the main. Of this peninsula, which the natives call TERAKACO, Cape Table is the north point, and Portland the south.

While we lay at anchor, two more canoes came off to us, one armed, and the other a small fishing boat, with only four men in her; they came so near that they entered into conversation with Tupia; they answered all the questions that he asked them with great civility, but could not be persuaded to come on board; they came near enough, however, to receive several presents that were thrown to them from the ship, with which they seemed much pleased, and went away. During the night many fires were kept upon shore, probably to show us that the inhabitants were too much upon their guard to be surprised.

About five o’clock in the morning of the 13th, a breeze springing up northerly, we weighed, and steered in for the land. The shore here forms a large bay, of which Portland is the north-east point, and the bay, that runs behind Cape Table, an arm. This arm I had a great inclination to examine, because there appeared to be safe anchorage in it, but not being sure of that, and the wind being right on end, I was unwilling to spare the time. Four-and-twenty fathom was the greatest depth within Portland, but the ground was every where clear. The land near the shore is of a moderate height, with white cliffs and sandy beaches; within, it rises into mountains, and upon the whole the surface is hilly, for the most part covered with wood, and to appearance pleasant and fertile. In the morning nine canoes came after the ship, but whether with peaceable or hostile intentions we could not tell, for we soon left them behind us.

In the evening we stood in for a place that had the appearance of an opening, but found no harbour; we therefore stood out again, and were soon followed by a large canoe, with eighteen or twenty men, all armed, who, though they could not reach us, shouted defiance, and brandished their weapons, with many gestures of menace and insult.

In the morning we had a view of the mountains inland, upon which the snow was still lying: the country near the shore was low and unfit for culture, but in one place we perceived a patch of somewhat yellow, which had greatly the appearance of a cornfield, yet was probably nothing more than some dead flags, which are not uncommon in swampy places: at some distance we saw groves of trees, which appeared high and tapering, and being not above two leagues from the south-west cod of the great bay, in which we had been coasting for the two last days, I hoisted out the pinnace and long-boat to search for fresh water; but just as they were about to put off, we saw several boats full of people coming from the shore, and, therefore, I did not think it safe for them to leave the ship. About ten o’clock, five of these boats having drawn together, as if to hold a consultation, made towards the ship, having on board between eighty and ninety men, and four more followed at some distance, as if to sustain the attack: when the first five came within about a hundred yards of the ship, they began to sing their war-song, and brandishing their pikes, prepared for an engagement. We had now no time to lose, for if we could not prevent the attack, we should come under the unhappy necessity of using our fire-arms against them, which we were very desirous to avoid. Tupia, was therefore, ordered to acquaint them that we had weapons which, like thunder, would destroy them in a moment; that we would immediately convince them of their power by directing their effect so that they should not be hurt; but that if they persisted in any hostile attempt, we should be obliged to use them for our defence: a four-pounder, loaded with grape-shot, was then discharged wide of them, which produced the desired effect; the report, the flash, and above all, the shot, which spread very far in the water, so intimidated them, that they began to paddle away with all their might: Tupia, however, calling after them, and assuring them that if they would come unarmed, they should be kindly received; the people in one of the boats put their arms on board of another, and came under the ship’s stern; we made them several presents, and should certainly have prevailed upon them to come on board, if the other canoes had not come up, and again threatened us, by shouting and brandishing their weapons: at this the people who had come to the ship unarmed, expressed great displeasure, and soon after they all went away.

In the afternoon we stood over to the south point of the bay, but not reaching it before it was dark, we stood off and on all night. At eight the next morning, being a-breast of the point, several fishing boats came off to us, and sold us some stinking fish: it was the best they had, and we were willing to trade with them upon any terms: these people behaved very well, and we should have parted good friends if it had not been for a large canoe, with two-and-twenty armed men on board, which came boldly up along-side of the ship. We soon saw that this boat had nothing for traffic, yet we gave them two or three pieces of cloth, an article which they seemed very fond of. I observed that one man had a black skin thrown over him, somewhat resembling that of a bear, and being desirous to know what animal was its first owner, I offered him for it a piece of red baize, and he seemed greatly pleased with the bargain, immediately pulling off the skin, and holding it up in the boat; he would not, however, part with it till he had the cloth in his possession, and as there could be no transfer of property, if with equal caution I had insisted upon the same condition, I ordered the cloth to be handed down to him, upon which, with amazing coolness, instead of sending up the skin, he began to pack up both that and the baize, which he had received as the purchase of it, in a basket, without paying the least regard to my demand or remonstrances, and soon after, with the fishing boats, put off from the ship; when they were at some distance, they drew together, and after a short consultation returned; the fishermen offered more fish, which, though good for nothing, was purchased, and trade was again renewed. Among others who were placed over the ship’s side to hand up what we bought, was little Tayeto, Tupia’s boy; and one of the Indians, watching his opportunity, suddenly seized him, and dragged him down into the canoe; two of them held him down in the forepart of it, and the others, with great activity, paddled her off, the rest of the canoes following as fast as they could; upon this the marines, who were under arms upon deck, were ordered to fire. The shot was directed to that part of the canoe which was farthest from the boy, and rather wide of her, being willing rather to miss the rowers than to hurt him: it happened, however, that one man dropped, upon which the others quitted their hold of the boy, who instantly leaped into the water, and swam towards the ship; the large canoe immediately pulled round and followed him, but some musquets, and a great gun being fired at her, she desisted from the pursuit. The ship being brought to, a boat was lowered, and the poor boy taken up unhurt, though so terrified, that for a time he seemed to be deprived of his senses. Some of the gentlemen who traced the canoes to shore with their glasses, said, that they saw three men carried up the beach, who appeared to be either dead, or wholly disabled by their wounds.

To the cape off which this unhappy transaction happened, I gave the name of CAPE KIDNAPPERS. It lies in latitude 39° 43ʹ, and longitude 182° 24ʹ W., and is rendered remarkable by two white rocks like hay stacks, and the high white cliffs on each side. It lies S. W. by W. distant thirteen leagues from the isle of Portland; and between them is the bay of which it is the south point, and which, in honour of Sir Edward Hawke, then First Lord of the Admiralty, I called HAWKE’S BAY. We found in it from twenty-four to seven fathom, and good anchorage. From Cape Kidnappers the land trends S. S. W., and in this direction we made our run along the shore, keeping at about a league distance, with a steady breeze and clear weather.

As soon as Tayeto recovered from his fright, he brought a fish to Tupia, and told him that he intended it as an offering to his Eatua, or god, in gratitude for his escape; Tupia commended his piety, and ordered him to throw the fish into the sea, which was accordingly done.

About two o’clock in the afternoon, we passed a small but high white island lying close to the shore, upon which we saw many houses, boats, and people. The people we concluded to be fishers, because the island was totally barren; we saw several people also on shore, in a small bay upon the main, within the island. At eleven, we brought to till day-light, and then made sail to the southward, along the shore. About seven o’clock we passed a high point of land, which lies S. S. W. twelve leagues from Cape Kidnappers: from this point the land trends three-fourths of a point more to the westward; at ten, we saw more land open to the southward, and at noon, the southernmost land that was in sight, bore S. 39 W. distant eight or ten leagues, and a high bluff head, with yellowish cliffs, bore W. distant about two miles: the depth of water was thirty-two fathom.

In the afternoon we had a fresh breeze at west, and during the night variable light airs and calms: in the morning a gentle breeze sprung up between the N. W. and N. E., and having till now stood to the southward, without seeing any probability of meeting with a harbour, and the country manifestly altering for the worse, I thought that standing farther in that direction would be attended with no advantage, but on the contrary would be a loss of time that might be employed with a better prospect of success in examining the coast to the northward; about one, therefore, in the afternoon, I tacked, and stood north, with a fresh breeze at west. The high bluff head, with yellowish cliffs, which we were abreast of at noon, I called CAPE TURNAGAIN, because here we turned back. It lies in latitude 40° 34ʹ S. longitude 182° 55ʹ W., distant eighteen leagues S. S. W. and S. S. W. ½ W. from Cape Kidnappers. The land between them is of a very unequal height; in some places it is lofty next the sea with white cliffs, in others low, with sandy beaches: the face of the country is not so well clothed with wood as it is about Hawke’s bay, but looks more like our high downs in England: it is, however, to all appearance, well inhabited; for as we stood along the shore, we saw several villages, not only in the valleys, but on the tops and sides of the hills, and smoke in many other places. The ridge of mountains which has been mentioned before, extends to the southward farther than we could see, and was then every where chequered with snow. At night we saw two fires, inland, so very large, that we concluded they must have been made to clear the land for tillage; but however that be, they are a demonstration that the part of the country where they appeared is inhabited.

On the 18th, at four o’clock in the morning, Cape Kidnappers bore N. 32 W. distant two leagues: in this situation we had sixty-two fathom, and when the cape bore W. by N. distant three or four leagues, we had forty-five fathom: in the mid-way between the isle of Portland and the cape we had sixty-five fathom. In the evening, being abreast of the peninsula, within Portland island, called TERAKAKO, a canoe came off from that shore, and with much difficulty overtook the ship; there were on board five people, two of whom appeared to be chiefs, and the other three servants: the chiefs, with very little invitation, came on board, and ordered the rest to remain in their canoe. We treated them with great kindness, and they were not backward in expressing their satisfaction; they went down into the cabin, and after a short time told us that they had determined not to go on shore till the next morning. As the sleeping on board was an honour which we neither expected nor desired, I remonstrated strongly against it, and told them, that on their account it would not be proper, as the ship would probably be at a great distance from where she was then, the next morning: they persisted, however, in their resolution, and as I found it impossible to get rid of them without turning them by force out of the ship, I complied: as a proper precaution, however, I proposed to take their servants also on board, and hoist their canoe into the ship; they made no objection, and this was accordingly done. The countenance of one of these chiefs was the most open and ingenuous of all I have ever seen, and I very soon gave up every suspicion of his having any sinister design: they both examined every thing they saw with great curiosity and attention, and received very thankfully such little presents as we made them; neither of them, however, could be persuaded either to eat or drink, but their servants devoured every thing they could get with great voracity. We found that these men had heard of our kindness and liberality to the natives who had been on board before, yet we thought the confidence they placed in us, an extraordinary instance of their fortitude. At night I brought to till day-light, and then made sail; at seven in the morning, I brought to again under Cape Table, and sent away our guests with their canoe, who expressed some surprise at seeing themselves so far from home, but landed abreast of the ship. At this time I saw other canoes putting off from the shore, but I stood away to the northward without waiting for their coming up.

About three, I passed a remarkable head-land, which I called GABLE-END-FORELAND, from the very great likeness of the white cliff at the point, to the gable-end of a house: it is not more remarkable for its figure, than for a rock which rises like a spire at a little distance. It lies from Cape Table N. 24 E. distant about twelve leagues. The shore between them forms a bay, within which lies Poverty Bay, at the distance of four leagues from the head-land, and eight from the Cape. At this place three canoes came off to us, and one man came on board; we gave him some trifles, and he soon returned to his boat, which, with all the rest, dropped astern.

In the morning I made sail in shore, in order to look into two bays, which appeared about two leagues to the northward of the Foreland; the southernmost I could not fetch, but I anchored in the other about eleven o’clock.

Into this bay we were invited by the people on board many canoes, who pointed to a place where they said there was plenty of fresh water: I did not find so good a shelter from the sea as I expected; but the natives who came about us, appearing to be of a friendly disposition, I was determined to try whether I could not get some knowledge of the country here before I proceeded farther to the northward.

In one of the canoes that came about us as soon as we anchored, we saw two men, who by their habits appeared to be chiefs: one of them was dressed in a jacket, which was ornamented, after their manner, with dog’s skin; the jacket of the other was almost covered with small tufts of red feathers. These men I invited on board, and they entered the ship with very little hesitation: I gave each of them about four yards of linen, and a spike-nail; with the linen they were much pleased, but seemed to set no value upon the nail. We perceived that they knew what had happened in Poverty Bay, and we had therefore no reason to doubt but that they would behave peaceably; however, for further security, Tupia was ordered to tell them for what purpose we came thither, and to assure them that we would offer them no injury, if they offered none to us. In the mean time those who remained in the canoes traded with our people very fairly for what they happened to have with them: the chiefs, who were old men, staid with us till we had dined, and about two o’clock I put off with the boats, manned and armed, in order to go on shore in search of water, and the two chiefs went into the boat with me. The afternoon was tempestuous, with much rain, and the surf every where ran so high, that although we rowed almost round the bay, we found no place where we could land: I determined therefore to return to the ship, which being intimated to the chiefs, they called to the people on shore, and ordered a canoe to be sent off for themselves; this was accordingly done, and they left us, promising to come on board again in the morning, and bring us some fish and sweet potatoes.

In the evening, the weather having become fair and moderate, the boats were again ordered out, and I landed, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. We were received with great expressions of friendship by the natives, who behaved with a scrupulous attention not to give offence. In particular, they took care not to appear in great bodies: one family, or the inhabitants of two or three houses only, were generally placed together, to the number of fifteen or twenty, consisting of men, women, and children. These little companies sat upon the ground, not advancing towards us, but inviting us to them, by a kind of beckon, moving one hand towards the breast. We made them several little presents; and in our walk round the bay found two small streams of fresh water. This convenience, and the friendly behaviour of the people, determined me to stay at least a day, that I might fill some of my empty casks, and give Mr. Banks an opportunity of examining the natural produce of the country.

In the morning of, the 21st, I sent lieutenant Gore on shore, to superintend the watering, with a strong party of men; and they were soon followed by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, with Tupia, Tayeto, and four others.

The natives sat by our people, and seemed pleased to observe them; but did not intermix with them: they traded, however, chiefly for cloth, and after a short time applied to their ordinary occupations, as if no stranger had been among them. In the forenoon, several of their boats went out a-fishing, and at dinner time every one repaired to his respective dwelling; from which, after a certain time, he returned. These fair appearances encouraged Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander to range the bay with very little precaution, where they found many plants, and shot some birds of exquisite beauty. In their walk, they visited several houses of the natives, and saw something of their manner of life; for they showed, without any reserve, every thing which the gentlemen desired to see. They were sometimes found at their meals, which the approach of the strangers never interrupted. Their food at this season consisted of fish, with which, instead of bread, they eat the root of a kind of fern, very like that which grows upon our commons in England. These roots they scorch over the fire, and then beat with a stick, till the bark and dry outside fall off; what remains is a soft substance, somewhat clammy and sweet, not unpleasing to the taste, but mixed with three or four times its quantity of strings and fibres, which are very disagreeable; these were swallowed by some, but spit out by the far greater number, who had baskets under them to receive the rejected part of what had been chewed, which had an appearance very like that of tobacco in the same state, in other seasons they have certainly plenty of excellent vegetables; but no tame animals were seen among them except dogs, which were very small and ugly. Mr. Banks saw some of their plantations, where the ground was as well broken down and tilled as even in the gardens of the most curious people among us: in these spots were sweet potatoes, coccos or eddas, which are well known and much esteemed both in the East and West Indies, and some gourds: the sweet potatoes were planted in small hills, some ranged in rows, and others in quincunx, all laid by a line with the greatest regularity: the coccos were planted upon flat land, but none of them yet appeared above ground; and the gourds were set in small hollows, or dishes, much as in England. These plantations were of different extent, from one or two acres to ten: taken together, there appeared to be from 150 to 200 acres in cultivation in the whole bay, though we never saw an hundred people. Each district was fenced in, generally with reeds, which were placed so close together that there was scarcely room for a mouse to creep between.

The women were plain, and made themselves more so by painting their faces with red ochre and oil, which, being generally fresh and wet upon their cheeks and foreheads, was easily transferred to the noses of those who thought fit to salute them; and that they were not wholly averse to such familiarity, the noses of several of our people strongly testified: they were, however, as great coquets as any of the most fashionable ladies in Europe, and the young ones as skittish as an unbroken filly: each of them wore a petticoat, under which there was a girdle, made of the blades of grass highly perfumed, and to the girdle was fastened a small bunch of the leaves of some fragrant plant, which served their modesty as its innermost veil. The faces of the men were not so generally painted, yet we saw one whose whole body, and even his garments, were rubbed over with dry ochre, of which he kept a piece constantly in his hand, and was every minute renewing the decoration in one part or another, where he supposed it was become deficient. In personal delicacy they were not equal to our friends at Otaheite, for the coldness of the climate did not invite them so often to bathe; but we saw among them one instance of cleanliness in which they exceeded them, and of which perhaps there is no example in any other Indian nation. Every house, or every little cluster of three or four houses, was furnished with a privy, so that the ground was every where clean. The offals of their food, and other litter, were also piled up in regular dunghills, which probably they made use of at a proper time for manure.

In this decent article of civil economy they were beforehand with one of the most considerable nations of Europe; for I am credibly informed, that, till the year 1760, there was no such thing as a privy in Madrid, the metropolis of Spain, though it is plentifully supplied with water. Before that time it was the universal practice to throw the ordure out of the windows, during the night, into the street, where numbers of men were employed to remove it, with shovels, from the upper parts of the city to the lower, where it lay till it was dry, and was then carried away in carts, and deposited without the gates. His present Catholic Majesty, having determined to free his capital from so gross a nuisance, ordered, by proclamation, that the proprietor of every house should build a privy, and that sinks, drains, and common sewers should be made at the public expense. The Spaniards, though long accustomed to an arbitrary government, resented this proclamation with great spirit, as an infringement of the common rights of mankind, and made a vigorous struggle against its being carried into execution. Every class devised some objection against it, but the physicians bid the fairest to interest the king in the preservation of the ancient privileges of his people; for they remonstrated that if the filth was not, as usual, thrown into the streets, a fatal sickness would probably ensue, because the putrescent particles of the air, which such filth attracted, would then be imbibed by the human body. But this expedient, with every other that could be thought of, proved unsuccessful, and the popular discontent then ran so high that it was very near producing an insurrection; his Majesty, however, at length prevailed, and Madrid is now as clear as most of the considerable cities in Europe. But many of the citizens, probably upon the principles advanced by their physicians, that heaps of filth prevent deleterious particles of air from fixing upon neighbouring substances, have, to keep their food wholesome, constructed their privies by the kitchen fire.

In the evening, all our boats being employed in carrying the water on board, and Mr. Banks and his company finding it probable that they should be left on shore after it was dark, by which much time would be lost, which they were impatient to employ in putting the plants they had gathered in order, they applied to the Indians for a passage in one of their canoes: they immediately consented, and a canoe was launched for their use. They went all on board, being eight in number, but not being used to a vessel that required so even a balance, they unfortunately overset her in the surf: no life, however, was lost, but it was thought advisable that half of them should wait for another turn. Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, and Tayeto embarked again, and without any further accident arrived safely at the ship, well pleased with the good nature of their Indian friends, who cheerfully undertook to carry them a second time, after having experienced how unfit a freight they were for such a vessel.

While these gentlemen were on shore, several of the natives went off to the ship, and trafficked, by exchanging their cloth for that of Otaheite: of this barter they were for some time very fond, preferring the Indian cloth to that of Europe: but before night it decreased in its value five hundred per cent. Many of these Indians I took on board, and showed them the ship and her apparatus, at which they expressed equal satisfaction and astonishment.

As I found it exceedingly difficult to get water on board on account of the surf, I determined to stay no longer at this place; on the next morning, therefore, about five o’clock, I weighed anchor, and put to sea.

This bay, which is called by the natives TEGADOO, lies in the latitude of 38° 10ʹ S.; but as it has nothing to recommend it, a description of it is unnecessary.

From this bay I intended to stand on to the northward, but the wind being right against me, I could make no way. While I was beating about to windward, some of the natives came on board, and told me, that in a bay which lay a little to the southward, being the same that I could not fetch the day I put into Tegadoo, there was excellent water, where the boats might land without a surf. I thought it better, therefore, to put into this bay, where I might complete my water, and form farther connections with the Indians, than to keep the sea. With this view I bore up for it, and sent in two boats, manned and armed, to examine the watering-place, who confirming the report of the Indians at their return, I came to an anchor about one o’clock, in eleven fathom water, with a fine sandy bottom, the north point of the bay N. by E., and the south point S. E. The watering-place, which was in a small cove a little within the south point of the bay, bore S. by E., distant about a mile. Many canoes came immediately off from the shore, and all traded very honestly for Otaheite cloth and glass-bottles, of which they were immoderately fond.

In the afternoon of the 23d, as soon as the ship was moored, I went on shore to examine the watering-place, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander: the boat landed in the cove, without the least surf; the water was excellent, and conveniently situated; there was plenty of wood close to high-water mark, and the disposition of the people was in every respect such as we could wish.

Having, with Mr. Green, taken several observations of the sun and moon, the mean result of them gave 180° 47ʹ W. longitude; but, as all the observations made before exceeded these, I have laid down the coast from the mean of the whole. At noon, I took the sun’s meridian altitude with an astronomical quadrant, which was set up at the watering-place, and found the latitude to be 38° 22ʹ 24ʺ.

On the 24th, early in the morning, I sent Lieutenant Gore on shore, to superintend the cutting of wood and filling of water, with a sufficient number of men for both purposes, and all the marines as a guard. After breakfast, I went on shore myself, and continued there the whole day.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander also went on shore to gather plants, and in their walks saw several things worthy of notice. They met with many houses in the valleys that seemed to be wholly deserted, the people living on the ridges of the hills in a kind of sheds very slightly built. As they were advancing in one of these valleys, the hills on each side of which were very steep, they were suddenly struck with the sight of a very extraordinary natural curiosity. It was a rock, perforated through its whole substance, so as to form a rude but stupendous arch or cavern, opening directly to the sea: this aperture was seventy-five feet long, twenty-seven broad, and five-and-forty high, commanding a view of the bay and the hills on the other side, which were seen through it, and, opening at once upon the view, produced an effect far superior to any of the contrivances of art.

As they were returning to the watering-place in the evening, they met an old man, who detained them some time by showing them the military exercises of the country with the lance and patoo-patoo, which are all the weapons in use. The lance is from ten to fourteen feet long, made of a very hard wood, and sharp at both ends: the patoo-patoo has been described already: it is about a foot long, made of talc or bone, with sharp edges, and used as a battle-axe. A post or stake was set up as his enemy, to which he advanced with a most furious aspect, brandishing his lance, which he grasped with great firmness; when it was supposed to have been pierced by his lance, he ran at it with his patoo-patoo, and falling upon the upper end of it, which was to represent his adversary’s head, he laid on with great vehemence, striking many blows, any one of which would probably have split the skull of an ox. From our champion’s falling upon his mock enemy with the patoo-patoo, after he was supposed to have been pierced with the lance, our gentlemen inferred, that in the battles of this country there is no quarter.

This afternoon, we set up the armourer’s forge, to repair the braces of the tiller, which had been broken, and went on getting our wood and water, without suffering the least molestation from the natives; who came down with different sorts of fish, which we purchased with cloth, beads, and glass-bottles, as usual.

On the 25th, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went again on shore; and while they were searching for plants, Tupia staid with the waterers: among other Indians who came down to them, was a priest, with whom Tupia entered into a very learned conversation. In their notions of religion they seemed to agree very well, which is not often the case between learned divines on our side of the ocean: Tupia, however, seemed to have the most knowledge, and he was listened to with great deference and attention by the other. In the course of this conversation, after the important points of divinity had been settled, Tupia enquired if it was their practice to eat men, to which they answered in the affirmative; but said, that they eat only their enemies who were slain in battle.

On the 26th, it rained all day, so that none of us could go ashore; and very few of the Indians came either to the watering-place or the ship.

On the 27th, I went with Dr. Solander to examine the bottom of the bay; but though we went ashore at two places we met with little worth notice. The people behaved very civilly, showing us every thing that we expressed a desire to see. Among other trifling curiosities which Dr. Solander purchased of them, was a boy’s top, shaped exactly like those which children play with in England; and they made signs that to make it spin it was to be whipped. Mr. Banks in the mean time went ashore at the watering-place, and climbed a hill which stood at a little distant to see a fence of poles, which we had observed from the ship, and which had been much the subject of speculation. The hill was extremely steep, and rendered almost inaccessible by wood; yet he reached the place, near which he found many houses that for some reason had been deserted by their inhabitants. The poles appeared to be about sixteen feet high; they were placed in two rows, with a space of about six feet between them, and the poles in each row were about ten feet distant from each other. The lane between them was covered by sticks, that were set up sloping towards each other from the top of the poles on each side, like the roof of a house. This rail-work, with a ditch that was parallel to it, was carried about a hundred yards down the hill in a kind of curve; but for what purpose we could not guess.

The Indians, at the watering-place, at our request, entertained us with their war-song, in which the women joined, with the most horrid distortions of countenance, rolling their eyes, thrusting out their tongues, and often heaving loud and deep sighs; though all was done in very good time.

On the 28th, we went ashore upon an island that lies to the left hand of the entrance of the bay, where we saw the largest canoe that we had yet met with: she was sixty-eight feet and a half long, five broad, and three feet six high; she had a sharp bottom, consisting of three trunks of trees hollowed, of which that in the middle was the longest: the side planks were sixty-two feet long, in one piece, and were not despicably carved in bas-relief; the head also was adorned with carving still more richly. Upon this island there was a larger house than any we had yet seen; but it seemed unfinished, and was full of chips. The wood-work was squared so even and smooth, that we made no doubt of their having among them very sharp tools. The sides of the posts were carved in a masterly style, though after their whimsical taste, which seems to prefer spiril lines and distorted faces: as these carved posts appeared to have been brought from some other place, such work is probably of great value among them.

At four o’clock in the morning of the 29th, having got on board our wood and water, and a large supply of excellent celery, with which the country abounds, and which proved a powerful antiscorbutic, I unmoored and put to sea.

This bay is called by the natives TOLAGA; it is moderately large, and has from seven to thirteen fathom, with a clean sandy bottom and good anchorage; and is sheltered from all winds except the north-east. It lies in latitude 38° 22ʹ S. and four leagues and a half to the north of Gable-end Foreland. On the south point lies a small but high island, so near the main as not to be distinguished from it. Close to the north end of the island, at the entrance into the bay, are two high rocks; one is round, like a corn-stack, but the other is long, and perforated in several places, so that the openings appear like the arches of a bridge. Within these rocks is the cove where we cut wood, and filled our water-casks. Off the north point of the bay is a pretty high rocky island; and about a mile without it are some rocks and breakers. The variation of the compass here is 14° 31ʹ E., and the tide flows at the full and change of the moon, about six o’clock, and rises and falls perpendicularly from five to six feet: whether the flood comes from the southward or the northward I have not been able to determine.

We got nothing here by traffic but a few fish, and some sweet potatoes, except a few trifles, which we considered merely as curiosities. We saw no four-footed animals, nor the appearance of any, either tame or wild, except dogs and rats, and these were very scarce: the people eat the dogs, like our friends at Otaheite; and adorn their garments with the skins, as we do ours with fur and ermine. I climbed many of the hills, hoping to get a view of the country, but I could see nothing from the top except higher hills, in a boundless succession. The ridges of these hills produce little besides fern; but the sides are most luxuriantly clothed with wood, and verdure of various kinds, with little plantations intermixed. In the woods, we found trees of above twenty different sorts, and carried specimens of each on board; but there was nobody among us to whom they were not altogether unknown. The tree which we cut for firing was somewhat like our maple, and yielded a whitish gum. We found another sort of it of a deep yellow, which we thought might be useful in dyeing. We found also one cabbage-tree, which we cut down for the cabbages. The country abounds with plants, and the woods with birds, in an endless variety, exquisitely beautiful, and of which none of us had the least knowledge. The soil both of the hills and valleys is light and sandy, and very fit for the production of all kinds of roots; though we saw none except sweet potatoes and yams.

CHAP. III.

THE RANGE FROM TOLAGA TO MERCURY BAY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF MANY INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED BOTH ON BOARD AND ASHORE: A DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS EXHIBITED BY THE COUNTRY, AND OF THE HEPPAHS, OR FORTIFIED VILLAGES OF THE INHABITANTS.

On Monday, the 30th, about half an hour after one o’clock, having made sail again to the northward for about ten hours, with a light breeze, I hauled round a small island which lay east one mile from the north-east point of the land: from this place I found the land trend away N. W. by W. and W. N. W. as far as I could see, this point being the easternmost land on the whole coast. I gave it the name of EAST CAPE, and I called the island that lies off it EAST ISLAND; it is of a small circuit, high and round, and appears white and barren: the cape is high, with white cliffs, and lies in latitude 37° 42ʹ 30ʺ S. and longitude 181° W. The land from Tolaga Bay to East Cape is of a moderate but unequal height, forming several small bays, in which are sandy beaches: of the inland country we could not see much, the weather being cloudy and hazy. The soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom, at the distance of about a league from the shore. After we had rounded the Cape, we saw in our run along the shore a great number of villages, and much cultivated land; the country in general appeared more fertile than before, and was low near the sea, but hilly within. At six in the evening, being four leagues to the westward of East Cape, we passed a bay which was first discovered by Lieutenant Hicks, and which, therefore, I called HICKS’S BAY. At eight in the evening, being eight leagues to the westward of the Cape, and three or four miles from the shore, I shortened sail, and brought to for the night, having at this time a fresh gale at S. S. E. and squally; but it soon became moderate, and at two in the morning we made sail again to the S. W. as the land now trended; and at eight o’clock in the morning saw land, which made like an island, bearing west, the south-westernmost part of the main bearing south-west; and about nine no less than five canoes came off, in which were more than forty men, all armed with their country pikes and battle-axes, shouting, and threatening an attack; this gave us great uneasiness, and was, indeed, what we did not expect; for we hoped, that the report both of our power and clemency had spread to a greater extent. When one of these canoes had almost reached the ship, another of an immense size, the largest we had yet seen, crowded with people who were also armed, put off from the shore, and came up at a great rate: as it approached it received signals from the canoe that was nearest to the ship; and we could see that it had sixteen paddles on a side, beside people that sat, and others that stood in a row from stem to stern, being in all about sixty men: as they made directly to the ship, we were desirous of preventing an attack, by showing what we could do; and, therefore, fired a gun, loaded with grape-shot, a-head of them: this made them stop, but not retreat; a round-shot was then fired over them, and upon seeing it fall, they seized their paddles and made towards the shore with such precipitation that they seemed scarcely to allow themselves time to breathe. In the evening, three or four more canoes came off unarmed; but they would not venture within a musket-shot of the vessel. The Cape off which we had been threatened with hostilities I called, from the hasty retreat of the enemy, CAPE RUNAWAY. It lies in latitude 37° 32ʹ; longitude 181° 48ʹ. In this day’s run, we found that the land, which made like an island in the morning, bearing west, was so; and we gave it the name of WHITE ISLAND.

At day-break, on the 1st of November, we counted no less than five-and-forty canoes that were coming from the shore towards the ship: seven of them came up with us, and after some conversation with Tupia, sold us some lobsters and mussels, and two conger eels. These people traded pretty fairly; but when they were gone, some others came off from another place, who began also to trade fairly: but after some time they took what was handed down to them, without making any return; one of them who had done so, upon being threatened, began to laugh, and with many marks of derision set us at defiance, at the same time putting off the canoe from the ship: a musket was then fired over his head, which brought him back in a more serious mood, and trade went on with great regularity. At length, when the cabin and gun-room had got as much as they wanted, the men were allowed to come to the gangway, and trade for themselves. Unhappily the same care was not taken to prevent frauds as had been taken before, so that the Indians, finding that they could cheat with impunity, grew insolent again, and proceeded to take greater liberties. One of the canoes, having sold every thing on board, pulled forward, and the people that were in her seeing some linen hang over the ship’s side to dry, one of them, without any ceremony, untied it, and put it up in his bundle: he was immediately called to, and required to return it; instead of which, he let his canoe drop astern, and laughed at us: a musket was fired over his head, which did not put a stop to his mirth; another was then fired at him with small shot, which struck him upon the back; he shrunk a little when the shot hit him, but did not regard it more than one of our men would have done the stroke of a rattan: he continued with great composure to pack up the linen that he had stolen. All the canoes now dropped astern about a hundred yards, and all set up their song of defiance, which they continued till the ship was distant from them about four hundred yards. As they seemed to have no design to attack us, I was not willing to do them any hurt; yet I thought their going off in a bravado might have a bad effect when it should be reported ashore. To show them, therefore, that they were still in our power, though very much beyond the reach of any missile weapon with which they were acquainted, I gave the ship a yaw, and fired a four-pounder so as to pass near them. The shot happened to strike the water and rise several times at a great distance beyond the canoes: this struck them with terror, and they paddled away without once looking behind them.

About two in the afternoon, we saw a pretty high island bearing west from us; and at five, saw more islands and rocks to the westward of that. We hauled our wind in order to go without them, but could not weather them before it was dark. I, therefore, bore up, and ran between them and the main. At seven, I was close under the first, from which a large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at the distance of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a deck, put off, and made sail for the ship: this was the first vessel of the kind that we had seen since we left the South Sea islands. When she came near, the people on board entered very freely into conversation with Tupia, and we thought showed a friendly disposition; but when it was just dark, they ran their canoe close to the ship’s side, and threw in a volley of stones, after which they paddled away.

We learnt from Tupia, that the people in the canoe called the island which we were under MOWTOHORA; it is but of a small circuit, though high, and lies six miles from the main; on the south side is anchorage in fourteen fathom water. Upon the main land S. W. by W. of this island, and apparently at no great distance from the sea, is a high round mountain, which I called MOUNT EDGECUMBE: it stands in the middle of a large plain, and is, therefore, the more conspicuous; latitude 37° 59ʹ, longitude 183° 7ʹ.

In standing westward, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen to ten fathom; and knowing that we were not far from the small islands and rocks which we had seen before dark, and which I intended to have passed before I brought to for the night, I thought it more prudent to tack, and spend the night under Mowtohora, where I knew there was no danger. It was, indeed, happy for us that we did so; for in the morning, after we had made sail to the westward, we discovered ahead of us several rocks, some of which were level with the surface of the water, and some below it: they lay N. N. E. from Mount Edgecumbe, one league and a half distant from the island Mowtohora, and about nine miles from the main. We passed between these rocks and the main, having from ten to seven fathom water.

This morning, many canoes and much people were seen along the shore: several of the canoes followed us, but none of them could reach us, except one with a sail, which proved to be the same that had pelted us the night before. The people on board again entered into conversation with Tupia; but we expected another volley of their ammunition, which was not, indeed, dangerous to any thing but the cabin windows. They continued abreast of the ship about an hour, and behaved very peaceably; but at last the salute which we expected was given: we returned it by firing a musket over them, and they immediately dropped astern and left us, perhaps rather satisfied with having given a test of their courage by twice insulting a vessel so much superior to their own, than intimidated by the shot.

At half an hour after ten, we passed between a low flat island and the main: the distance from one to the other was about four miles, and the depth of water from ten to twelve fathom. The main land between this flat island and Mowtohora is of a moderate height, but level, pretty clear of wood, and full of plantations and villages. The villages, which were larger than any we had yet seen, were built upon eminences near the sea, and fortified on the land side by a bank and ditch, with a high paling within it, which was carried all round: beside a bank, ditch, and pallisadoes, some of them appeared to have outworks. Tupia had a notion that the small inclosure of pallisadoes, and a ditch that we had seen before, were morais or places of worship; but we were of opinion that they were forts, and concluded that these people had neighbouring enemies, and were always exposed to hostile attacks.

At two o’clock we passed a small high island, lying four miles from a high round head upon the main. From this head the land trends N. W. as far as can be seen, and has a rugged and hilly appearance. As the weather was hazy, and the wind blew fresh on the shore, we hauled off for the weathermost island in sight, which bore from us N. N. E., distant about six or seven leagues.

Under this island, which I have called the MAYOR, we spent the night. At seven in the morning it bore S. 47 E., distant six leagues, and a cluster of small islands and rocks bore N. ½ E., distant one league, to which I gave the name of the COURT OF ALDERMEN. They lie in the compass of about half a league every way, and five leagues from the main, between which and them lie other islands, most of them barren rocks, of which there is great variety: some of them are as small in compass as the Monument of London, but rise to a much greater height, and some of them are inhabited. They lie in latitude 36° 57ʹ, and at noon bore S. 60 E., distant three or four leagues; and a rock like a castle, lying not far from the main, bore N. 40 W., at the distance of one league. The country that we passed the night before appeared to be well inhabited, many towns were in sight, and some hundreds of large canoes lay under them upon the beach; but this day, after having sailed about fifteen leagues, it appeared to be barren and desolate. As far as we had yet coasted this country from Cape Turnagain, the people acknowledged one chief, whom they called TERATU, and to whose residence they pointed, in a direction that we thought to be very far inland, but afterwards found to be otherwise.

About one o’clock, three canoes came off to us from the main, with one-and-twenty men on board. The construction of these vessels appeared to be more simple than that of any we had seen, they being nothing more than trunks of a single tree hollowed by fire, without any convenience or ornament. The people on board were almost naked, and appeared to be of a browner complexion; yet naked and despicable as they were, they sung their song of defiance, and seemed to denounce against us inevitable destruction: they remained, however, some time out of stone’s throw, and then venturing nearer, with less appearance of hostility, one of our men went to the ship’s side, and was about to hand them a rope; this courtesy, however, they thought fit to return by throwing a lance at him, which having missed him, they immediately threw another into the ship: upon this a musket was fired over them, which at once sent them away.

About two, we saw a large opening, or inlet, for which we bore up; we had now forty-one fathom water, which gradually decreased to nine, at which time we were one mile and a half distant from a high towered rock which lay near the south point of the inlet: this rock, and the northernmost of the Court of Alderman being in one, bearing S. 61 E.

About seven in the evening we anchored in seven fathom, a little within the south entrance of the bay: to this place we were accompanied by several canoes and people like those we had seen last, and for some time they behaved very civilly. While they were hovering about us, a bird was shot from the ship, as it was swimming upon the water: at this they showed less surprise than we expected, and taking up the bird, they tied it to a fishing line that was towing astern; as an acknowledgment for this favour, we gave them a piece of cloth: but notwithstanding this effect of our fire-arms, and this interchange of civilities, as soon as it grew dark, they sung their war-song, and attempted to tow away the buoy of the anchor. Two or three muskets were then fired over them, but this seemed rather to make them angry than afraid, and they went away, threatening that to-morrow they would return with more force, and be the death of us all; at the same time sending off a boat, which they told us was going to another part of the bay for assistance.

There was some appearance of generosity, as well as courage, in acquainting us with the time when they intended to make their attack, but they forfeited all credit which this procured them, by coming secretly upon us in the night, when they certainly hoped to find us asleep: upon approaching the ship, they found themselves mistaken, and therefore retired without speaking a word, supposing that they were too early; after some time, they came a second time, and being again disappointed, they retired as silently as before.

In the morning, at day-break, they prepared to effect by force what they had in vain attempted by stealth and artifice: no less than twelve canoes came against us with about a hundred and fifty men, all armed with pikes, lances, and stones. As they could do nothing till they came very near the ship, Tupia was ordered to expostulate with them, and if possible divert them from their purpose: during the conversation, they appeared to be sometimes friendly and sometimes otherwise; at length, however, they began to trade, and we offered to purchase their weapons, which some of them consented to sell: they sold two very fairly, but having received what had been agreed upon for the purchase of a third, they refused to send it up, but offered it for a second price; a second was sent down, but the weapon was still detained, and a demand made of a third; this being refused with some expressions of displeasure and resentment, the offender, with many ludicrous tokens of contempt and defiance, paddled his canoe off a few yards from the ship. As I intended to continue in this place five or six days, in order to make an observation of the transit of Mercury, it was absolutely necessary, in order to prevent future mischief, to show these people that we were not to be treated ill with impunity; some small shot were therefore fired at the thief, and a musket ball through the bottom of his boat: upon this it was paddled to about a hundred yards’ distance, and to our great surprise the people in the other canoes took not the least notice of their wounded companion, though he bled very much, but returned to the ship, and continued to trade with the most perfect indifference and unconcern. They sold us many more of their weapons, without making any other attempt to defraud us, for a considerable time; at last, however, one of them thought fit to paddle away with two different pieces of cloth which had been given for the same weapon: when he had got about an hundred yards’ distance, and thought himself secure of his prize, a musket was fired after him, which fortunately struck the boat just at the water’s edge, and made two holes in her side; this only incited them to ply their paddles with greater activity, and the rest of the canoes also made off with the utmost expedition. As the last proof of our superiority, therefore, we fired a round shot over them, and not a boat stopped till they got on shore.

About ten o’clock, I went with two boats to sound the bay, and look out for a more convenient anchoring-place, the master being in one boat and myself in the other. We pulled first over to the north shore, from which some canoes came out to meet us; as we advanced, however, they retired, inviting us to follow them; but seeing them all armed, I did not think it proper to comply, but went towards the head of the bay, where I observed a village upon a very high point, fortified in the manner that has been already described, and having fixed upon an anchoring-place not far from where the ship lay, I returned on board.

At three o’clock in the afternoon, I weighed, run in nearer to the shore, and anchored in four fathom and an half water, with a soft sandy bottom, the south point of the bay bearing E. distant one mile, and a river which the boats can enter at low water S. S. E., distant a mile and an half.

In the morning, the natives came off again to the ship, and we had the satisfaction to observe that their behaviour was very different from what it had been yesterday: among them was an old man, whom we had before remarked for his prudence and honesty: his name was TOIAVA, and he seemed to be a person of a superior rank; in the transactions of yesterday morning he had behaved with great propriety and good sense, lying in a small canoe, always near the ship, and treating those on board as if he neither intended a fraud, nor suspected an injury: with some persuasion this man and another came on board, and ventured into the cabin, where I presented each of them with a piece of English cloth and some spike nails. They told us that the Indians were now very much afraid of us, and on our part we promised friendship, if they would behave peaceably, desiring only to purchase what they had to sell upon their own terms.

After the natives had left us, I went with the pinnace and long boat into the river with a design to haul the seine, and sent the master in the yawl to sound the bay and dredge for fish. The Indians, who were on one side of the river, expressed their friendship by all the signs they could devise, beckoning us to land among them; but we chose to go ashore on the other side, as the situation was more convenient for hauling the seine and shooting birds, of which we saw great numbers of various kinds: the Indians, with much persuasion, about noon, ventured over to us. With the seine we had very little success, catching only a few mullets, neither did we get any thing by the trawl or the dredge, except a few shells; but we shot several birds, most of them resembling sea-pies, except that they had black plumage, and red bills and feet. While we were absent with our guns, the people who staid by the boats saw two of the Indians quarrel and fight: they began the battle with their lances, but some old men interposed and took them away, leaving them to decide the difference, like Englishmen, with their fists: they boxed with great vigour and obstinacy for some time, but by degrees all retired behind a little hill, so that our people could not see the event of the combat.

In the morning the long-boat was sent again to traul in the bay, and an officer, with the marines, and a party of men, to cut wood and haul the seine. The Indians on shore appeared very peaceable and submissive, and we had reason to believe that their habitations were at a considerable distance, for we saw no houses, and found that they slept under the bushes: the bay is probably a place to which they frequently resort in parties to gather shell-fish, of which it affords incredible plenty; for wherever we went, whether upon the hills or in the valleys, the woods or the plains, we saw vast heaps of shells, often many waggon-loads together, some appearing to be very old, and others recent. We saw no cultivation in this place, which had a desolate and barren appearance; the tops of the hills were green, but nothing grew there, except a large kind of fern, the roots of which the natives had got together in large quantities, in order to carry away with them. In the evening Mr. Banks walked up the river, which, at the mouth, looked fine and broad, but at the distance of about two miles was not deep enough to cover the foot; and the country inland was still more barren than at the sea side. The seine and dredge were not more successful to-day than yesterday, but the Indians in some measure compensated for the disappointment by bringing us several baskets of fish, some dry, and some fresh dressed; it was not indeed of the best, but I ordered it all to be bought for the encouragement of trade.

On the 7th, the weather was so bad that none of us left the ship, nor did any of the Indians come on board.

On the 8th, I sent a party of men on shore to wood and water; and in the mean time many canoes came off, in one of which was our friend Toiava; soon after he was alongside of the ship, he saw two canoes coming from the opposite side of the bay, upon which he hasted back again to the shore with all his canoes, telling us that he was afraid of the people who were coming: this was a farther proof that the people of this country were perpetually committing hostilities against each other. In a short time, however, he returned, having discovered that the people who had alarmed him were not the same that he had supposed. The natives that came to the ship this morning sold us, for a few pieces of cloth, as much fish of the mackerel kind as served the whole ship’s company, and they were as good as ever were eaten. At noon, this day, I observed the sun’s meridional zenith distance by an astronomical quadrant, which gave the latitude 36° 47ʹ 43ʺ within the south entrance of the bay.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went on shore and collected a great variety of plants, altogether unknown, and not returning till the evening, had an opportunity of observing in what manner the Indians disposed themselves to pass the night. They had no shelter but a few shrubs; the women and the children were ranged innermost, or farthest from the sea; the men lay in a kind of half circle round them, and their arms were set up against the trees close by them, in a manner which showed that they were afraid of an attack by some enemy not far distant. It was also discovered that they acknowledged neither Teratu, nor any other person as their king: as in this particular they differed from all the people that we had seen upon other parts of the coast, we thought it possible that they might be a set of outlaws, in a state of rebellion against Teratu, and in that case they might have no settled habitations, or cultivated land in any part of the country.

On the 9th, at day-break, a great number of canoes came on board, loaded with mackerel of two sorts, one exactly the same with those caught in England, and the other somewhat different: we imagined the people had taken a large shoal, and brought us an overplus which they could not consume; for they sold them at a very low rate. They were, however, very welcome to us; at eight o’clock, the ship had more fish on board than all her people could eat in three days; and before night, the quantity was so much increased, that every man who could get salt, cured as many as would last him a month.

After an early breakfast, I went ashore, with Mr. Green and proper instruments, to observe the transit of Mercury, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander being of the party; the weather had for some time been very thick, with much rain, but this day was so favourable that not a cloud intervened during the whole transit. The observation of the ingress was made by Mr. Green alone, while I was employed in taking the sun’s altitude to ascertain the time. It came on at 7^h 20ʹ 58ʺ apparent time: according to Mr. Green’s observation, the internal contact was at 12^h 8ʹ 58ʺ, the external at 12^h 9ʹ 55ʺ P. M. And according to mine, the internal contact was at 12^h 8ʹ 54ʺ, and the external 12^h 9ʹ 48ʺ; the latitude of the place of observation was 30° 48ʹ 5-½ʺ. The latitude observed at noon was 36° 48ʹ 28ʺ. The mean of this and yesterday’s observation gives 36° 48ʹ 5-½ʺ S. the latitude of the place of observation; the variation of the compass was 11° 9ʹ E.

About noon, we were alarmed by the firing of a great gun from the ship; Mr. Gore, my second lieutenant, was at this time commanding officer on board, and the account that he gave was this. While some small canoes were trading with the people, two very large ones came up, full of men, one of them having on board forty-seven, all armed with pikes, darts, and stones, and apparently with a hostile intention: they appeared to be strangers, and to be rather conscious of superiority over us by their numbers, than afraid of any weapons which could give us the superiority over them: no attack however was made; probably because they learnt from the people in the other canoes, with whom they immediately entered into conference, what kind of an enemy they had to deal with: after a little time, they began to trade, some of them offering their arms, and one of them a square piece of cloth, which makes a part of their dress, called a _Haahow_; several of the weapons were purchased, and Mr. Gore having agreed for a Haahow, sent down the price, which was a piece of British cloth, and expected his purchase: but the Indian, as soon as he had got Mr. Gore’s cloth in his possession, refused to part with his own, and put off the canoe: upon being threatened for this fraud, he and his companions began to sing their war-song in defiance, and shook their paddles: still however they began no attack, only defying Mr. Gore to take any remedy in his power, which so provoked him that he levelled a musket loaded with ball at the offender, while he was holding the cloth in his hand, and shot him dead. It would have been happy, if the effect of a few small shot had been tried upon this occasion, which, upon some others, had been successful.

When the Indian dropped, all the canoes put off to some distance; but as they did not go away, it was thought they might still meditate an attack. To secure therefore a safe passage for the boat, which it was necessary to send on shore, a round shot was fired over their heads, which effectually answered the purpose, and put them all to flight. When an account of what had happened was brought ashore, our Indians were alarmed, and drawing all together, retreated in a body. After a short time, however, they returned, having heard a more particular account of the affair; and intimated that they thought the man who had been killed deserved his fate.

A little before sunset the Indians retired to eat their supper, and we went with them to be spectators of the repast; it consisted of fish of different kinds, among which were lobsters, and some birds, of a species unknown to us: these were either roasted or baked; to roast them, they fastened them upon a small stick, which was stuck up in the ground inclining towards their fire; and to bake them, they put them into a hole in the ground, with hot stones, in the same manner as the people of Otaheite.

Among the natives that were assembled upon this occasion, we saw a woman, who, after their manner, was mourning for the death of her relation: she sat upon the ground near the rest, who, one only excepted, seemed not at all to regard her: the tears constantly trickled down her cheeks, and she repeated in a low, but very mournful voice, words, which even Tupia did not at all understand: at the end of every sentence she cut her arms, her face, or her breast with a shell that she held in her hand, so that she was almost covered with blood, and was indeed one of the most affecting spectacles that can be conceived. The cuts, however, did not appear to be so deep as are sometimes made upon similar occasions, if we may judge by the scars which we saw upon the arms, thighs, breasts, and cheeks of many of them, which we were told were the remains of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves as testimonies of their affection and sorrow.

The next day, I went with two boats, accompanied by Mr. Banks and the other gentlemen, to examine a large river that empties itself into the head of the bay. We rowed about four or five miles up, and could have gone much farther, if the weather had been favourable. It was here wider than at the mouth, and divided into many streams by small flat islands, which are covered with mangroves, and overflowed at high water. From these trees exudes a viscous substance which very much resembles resin: we found it first in small lumps upon the sea-beach, and now saw it sticking to the trees, by which we knew whence it came. We landed on the east side of the river, where we saw a tree upon which several shags had built their nests, and here therefore we determined to dine; twenty of the shags were soon killed, and being broiled upon the spot, afforded us an excellent meal. We then went upon the hills from whence I thought I saw the head of the river. The shore on each side, as well as the islands in the middle, were covered with mangroves; and the sandbanks abounded in cockles and clams: in many places there were rock-oysters, and every where plenty of wild fowl, principally shags, ducks, curlieus, and the sea-pie, that has been described before. We also saw fish in the river, but of what kind we could not discover: the country on the east side of this river is for the most part barren, and destitute of wood; but on the west it has a better aspect, and in some places is adorned with trees, but has in no part the appearance of cultivation. In the entrance of the river, and for two or three miles up, there is good anchoring in four and five fathom water, and places very convenient for laying a vessel on shore, where the tide rises and falls seven feet at the full and change of the moon. We could not determine, whether any considerable stream of fresh water came into this river out of the country; but we saw a number of small rivulets issue from the adjacent hills. Near the mouth of this river, on the east side, we found a little Indian village, consisting of small temporary sheds, where we landed, and were received by the people with the utmost kindness and hospitality: they treated us with a flat shell fish of a most delicious taste, somewhat like a cockle, which we eat hot from the coals. Near this place is a high point or peninsula, projecting into the river, and upon it are the remains of a fort, which they call _Eppah_, or _Heppah_. The best engineer in Europe could not have chosen a situation better adapted to enable a small number to defend themselves against a greater. The steepness of the cliffs renders it wholly inaccessible from the water which incloses it on three sides; and, to the land, it is fortified by a ditch, and a bank raised on the inside: from the top of the bank to the bottom of the ditch, is two and twenty feet; the ditch on the outside is fourteen feet deep, and its breadth is in proportion. The whole seemed to have been executed with great judgment; and there had been a row of pickets or pallisadoes, both on the top of the bank and along the brink of the ditch on the outside; those on the outside had been driven very deep into the ground, and were inclined towards the ditch, so as to project over it; but of these the thickest posts only were left, and upon them there were evident marks of fire, so that the place had probably been taken and destroyed by an enemy. If any occasion should make it necessary for a ship to winter here, or stay any time, tents might be built in this place, which is sufficiently spacious, with great convenience, and might easily be made impregnable to the whole country.

On the eleventh, there was so much wind and rain that no canoe came off; but the long-boat was sent to fetch oysters from one of the beds which had been discovered the day before: the boat soon returned, deeply laden, and the oysters, which were as good as ever came from Colchester, and about the same size, were laid down under the booms, and the ship’s company did nothing but eat them from the time they came on board till night, when, as may reasonably be supposed, great part of them were expended; this, however, gave us no concern, as we knew that not the boat only, but the ship, might have been loaded, almost in one tide, as the beds are dry at half ebb.

In the morning of Sunday the 12th, two canoes came off full of people whom we had never seen before, but who appeared to have heard of us by the caution which they used in approaching us. As we invited them to come alongside with all the tokens of friendship that we could show, they ventured up, and two of them came on board; the rest traded very fairly for what they had: a small canoe also came from the other side of the bay, and sold us some very large fish, which they gave us to understand they would have brought yesterday, having caught them the day before, but that the wind was so high they could not venture to sea.

After breakfast, I went with the pinnace and yawl, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, over to the north side of the bay, to take a view of the country, and two fortified villages which we had discovered at a distance. We landed near the smallest of them, the situation of which was the most beautifully romantic that can be imagined; it was built upon a small rock, detached from the main, and surrounded at high water. The whole body of this rock was perforated by an hollow or arch, which possessed much the largest part of it; the top of the arch was above sixty feet perpendicular above the sea, which at high water flowed through the bottom of it: the whole summit of the rock above the arch was fenced round after their manner; but the area was not large enough to contain more than five or six houses: it was accessible only by one very narrow and steep path, by which the inhabitants, at our approach, came down, and invited us into the place; but we refused, intending to visit a much more considerable fort of the same kind at about a mile’s distance. We made some presents however to the women, and in the mean time we saw the inhabitants of the town which we were going to, coming towards us in a body, men, women, and children, to the number of about one hundred: when they came near enough to be heard, they waved their hands and called out _Horomai_; after which they sat down among the bushes near the beach; these ceremonies we were told were certain signs of their friendly disposition. We advanced to the place where they were sitting, and when we came up, made them a few presents, and asked leave to visit their Heppah; they consented with joy in their countenances, and immediately led the way. It is called WHARRETOUWA, and is situated upon a high promontory or point, which projects into the sea, on the north side, and near the head of the bay: two sides of it are washed by the sea, and these are altogether inaccessible; two other sides are to the land: up one of them, which is very steep, lies the avenue from the beach; the other is flat and open to the country upon the hill, which is a narrow ridge: the whole is inclosed by a pallisade about ten feet high, consisting of strong pales bound together with withes. The weak side next the land is also defended by a double ditch, the innermost of which has a bank and an additional pallisade: the inner pallisades are upon the bank next the town, but at such a distance from the top of the bank as to leave room for men to walk and use their arms, between them and the inner ditch; the outermost pallisades are between the two ditches, and driven obliquely into the ground, so that their upper ends incline over the inner ditch: the depth of this ditch, from the bottom to the top or crown of the bank, is four-and-twenty feet. Close within the innermost pallisade is a stage, twenty feet high, forty feet long, and six broad; it is supported by strong posts, and is intended as a station for those who defend the place, from which they may annoy the assailants by darts and stones, heaps of which lay ready for use. Another stage of the same kind commands the steep avenue from the beach, and stands also within the pallisade; on this side of the hill, there are some little outworks and huts, not intended as advanced posts, but as the habitations of people who, for want of room, could not be accommodated within the works, but who were, notwithstanding, desirous of placing themselves under their protection. The pallisades, as has been observed already, run round the whole brow of the hill, as well towards the sea as towards the land; but the ground within having originally been a mount, they have reduced it not to one level, but to several, rising in stages one above the other, like an amphitheatre, each of which is inclosed within its separate pallisade; they communicate with each other by narrow lanes, which might easily be stopt up, so that if an enemy should force the outward pallisade, he would have others to carry before the place could be wholly reduced, supposing these places to be obstinately defended one after the other. The only entrance is by a narrow passage, about twelve feet long, communicating with the steep ascent from the beach: it passes under one of the fighting stages, and though we saw nothing like a door or gateway, it may be easily barricaded in a manner that will make the forcing it a very dangerous and difficult undertaking. Upon the whole, this must be considered as a place of great strength, in which a small number of resolute men may defend themselves against all the force which a people with no other arms than those that are in use here could bring against it. It seemed to be well furnished for a siege with every thing but water; we saw great quantities of fern root, which they eat as bread, and dried fish piled up in heaps; but we could not perceive that they had any fresh water nearer than a brook, which runs close under the foot of the hill: whether they have any means of getting it from this place during a siege, or whether they have any method of storing it within the works in gourds or other vessels, we could not learn; some resource they certainly have with respect to this article, an indispensable necessary of life, for otherwise the laying up dry provisions could answer no purpose. Upon our expressing a desire to see their method of attack and defence, one of the young men mounted a fighting stage, which they call _Porava_, and another went into the ditch: both he that was to defend the place, and he that was to assault it, sung the war-song, and danced with the same frightful gesticulations that we had seen used in more serious circumstances, to work themselves up into a degree of that mechanical fury, which, among all uncivilized nations, is the necessary prelude to a battle; for dispassionate courage, a strength of mind that can surmount the sense of danger, without a flow of animal spirits by which it is extinguished, seems to be the prerogative of those who have projects of more lasting importance, and a keener sense of honour and disgrace, than can be formed or felt by men who have few pains or pleasures besides those of mere animal life, and scarcely any purpose but to provide for the day that is passing over them, to obtain plunder, or revenge an insult: they will march against each other indeed in cool blood, though they find it necessary to work themselves into passion before they engage; as among us there have been many instances of people who have deliberately made themselves drunk, that they might execute a project which they formed when they were sober, but which, while they continued so, they did not dare to undertake.

On the side of the hill, near this inclosure, we saw about half an acre planted with gourds and sweet potatoes, which was the only cultivation in the bay: under the foot of the point upon which this fortification stands, are two rocks, one just broken off from the main, and the other not perfectly detached from it: they are both small, and seem more proper for the habitations of birds than men; yet there are houses and places of defence upon each of them. And we saw many other works of the same kind upon small islands, rocks, and ridges of hills, on different parts of the coast, besides many fortified towns, which appeared to be much superior to this.

The perpetual hostility in which these poor savages, who have made every village a fort, must necessarily live, will account for there being so little of their land in a state of cultivation; and, as mischiefs very often reciprocally produce each other, it may perhaps appear, that there being so little land in a state of cultivation, will account for their living in perpetual hostility. But it is very strange, that the same invention and diligence which have been used in the construction of places so admirably adapted to defence, almost without tools, should not, when urged by the same necessity, have furnished them with a single missile weapon except the lance, which is thrown by hand; they have no contrivance like a bow to discharge a dart, nor any thing like a sling to assist them in throwing a stone; which is the more surprising, as the invention of slings, and bows and arrows, is much more obvious than of the works which these people construct, and both these weapons are found among much ruder nations, and in almost every other part of the world. Besides the long lance and Patoo-patoo, which have been mentioned already, they have a staff about five feet long, sometimes pointed like a Serjeant’s halberd, sometimes only tapering to a point at one end, and having the other end broad, and shaped somewhat like the blade of an oar. They have also another weapon, about a foot shorter than these, pointed at one end, and at the other shaped like an axe. The points of their long lances are barbed, and they handle them with such strength and agility, that we can match them with no weapon but a loaded musquet.

After taking a slight view of the country, and loading both the boats with celery, which we found in great plenty near the beach, we returned from our excursion, and about five o’clock in the evening got on board the ship.

On the 15th, I sailed out of the bay, and at the same time had several canoes on board, in one of which was our friend Toiava, who said, that as soon as we were gone he must repair to his Heppah or fort, because the friends of the man who had been shot by Mr. Gore on the 9th, had threatened to revenge his death upon him, whom they had reproached as being our friend. Off the north point of the bay, I saw a great number of islands, of various extent, which lay scattered to the north-west, in a direction parallel with the main as far as I could see. I steered north-east for the north-easternmost of these islands, but the wind coming to the north-west, I was obliged to stand out to sea.

To the bay which we had now left I gave the name of MERCURY BAY, on account of the observation which we had made there of the transit of that planet over the sun. It lies in latitude 36° 47ʹ S.; and in the longitude of 184° 4ʹ W.: there are several islands lying both to the southward and northward of it, and a small island or rock in the middle of the entrance: within this island the depth of water no where exceeds nine fathom; the best anchoring is in a sandy bay, which lies just within the south head, in five and four fathom, bringing a high tower or rock, which lies without the head, in one with the head, or just shut in behind it. This place is very convenient both for wooding and watering, and in the river there is an immense quantity of oysters and other shell-fish: I have for this reason given it the name of OYSTER RIVER. But for a ship that wants to stay here any time, the best and safest place is in the river at the head of the bay; which, from the number of mangrove trees about it, I have called MANGROVE RIVER. To sail into this river, the south shore must be kept all the way on board. The country on the east side of the river and bay, is very barren, its only produce being fern, and a few other plants that will grow in a poor soil. The land on the north-west side is covered with wood, and the soil being much more fertile would doubtless produce all the necessaries of life with proper cultivation: it is not however so fertile as the lands that we have seen to the southward, nor do the inhabitants, though numerous, make so good an appearance: they have no plantations; their canoes are mean, and without ornament; they sleep in the open air; and say, that Teratu, whose sovereignty they do not acknowledge, if he was to come among them, would kill them. This favoured our opinion of their being out-laws; yet they told us, that they had Heppahs, or strongholds, to which they retired in time of imminent danger.

We found, thrown upon the shore, in several parts of this bay, great quantities of iron sand, which is brought down by every little rivulet of fresh water that finds its way from the country; which is a demonstration that there is ore of that metal not far inland: yet neither the inhabitants of this place, or any other part of the coast that we have seen, know the use of iron, or set the least value upon it; all of them preferring the most worthless and useless trifle, not only to a nail, but to any tool of that metal.

Before we left the bay, we cut upon one of the trees near the watering-place the ship’s name, and that of the commander, with the date of the year and month when we were there; and after displaying the English colours, I took a formal possession of it in the name of his Britannic Majesty King George the Third.

CHAP. IV.

THE RANGE FROM MERCURY BAY TO THE BAY OF ISLANDS; AN EXPEDITION UP THE RIVER THAMES: SOME ACCOUNT OF THE INDIANS WHO INHABIT ITS BANKS, AND THE FINE TIMBER THAT GROWS THERE: SEVERAL INTERVIEWS WITH THE NATIVES ON DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COAST, AND A SKIRMISH WITH THEM UPON AN ISLAND.

I continued plying to windward two days to get under the land, and on the 18th, about seven in the morning, we were abreast of a very conspicuous promontory, being then in latitude 36° 26ʹ, and in the direction of N. 48 W. from the north head of Mercury Bay, or Point Mercury, which was distant nine leagues: upon this point stood many people, who seemed to take little notice of us, but talked together with great earnestness. In about half an hour, several canoes put off from different places, and came towards the ship; upon which the people on the point also launched a canoe, and about twenty of them came in her up with the others. When two of these canoes, in which there might be about sixty men, came near enough to make themselves heard, they sung their war-song; but seeing that we took little notice of it, they threw a few stones at us, and then rowed off towards the shore. We hoped that we had now done with them, but in a short time they returned, as if with a fixed resolution to provoke us into a battle, animating themselves by their song as they had done before. Tupia, without any directions from us, went to the poop, and began to expostulate: he told them, that we had weapons which would destroy them in a moment; and that, if they ventured to attack us, we should be obliged to use them. Upon this, they flourished their weapons, and cried out, in their language, “Come on shore, and we will kill you all:” Well, said Tupia, but why should you molest us while we are at sea? as we do not wish to fight, we shall not accept your challenge to come on shore; and here there is no pretence for quarrel, the sea being no more your property than the ship. This eloquence of Tupia, though it greatly surprised us, having given him no hints for the arguments he used, had no effect upon our enemies, who very soon renewed their battery: a musket was then fired through one of their boats, and this was an argument of sufficient weight, for they immediately fell astern and left us.

From the point, of which we were now abreast, the land trends W. ½ S. near a league, and then S. S. E. as far as we could see; and, besides the islands that lay without us, we could see land round by the S. W. as far as N. W.; but whether this was the main or islands, we could not then determine: the fear of losing the main, however, made me resolve to follow its direction. With this view, I hauled round the point, and steered to the southward, but there being light airs all round the compass, we made but little progress.

About one o’clock, a breeze sprung up at east, which afterwards came to N. E. and we steered along the shore S. by E. and S. S. E. having from twenty-five to eighteen fathom.

At about half an hour after seven in the evening, having run seven or eight leagues since noon, I anchored in twenty-three fathom, not choosing to run any farther in the dark, as I had now land on both sides, forming the entrance of a straight, bay, or river, lying S. by E. for on that point we could see no land.

At day-break, on the 19th, the wind being still favourable, we weighed and stood with an easy sail up the inlet, keeping nearest to the east side. In a short time, two large canoes came off to us from the shore; the people on board said, that they knew Toiava very well, and called Tupia by his name. I invited some of them on board; and as they knew they had nothing to fear from us, while they behaved honestly and peaceably, they immediately complied: I made each of them some presents, and dismissed them much gratified. Other canoes afterwards came up to us from a different side of the bay; and the people on board of these also mentioned the name of Toiava, and sent a young man into the ship, who told us he was his grandson, and he also was dismissed with a present.

After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathom; and not choosing to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the channel, which is near eleven miles over; after which I sent two boats out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.

The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the head of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way inland, I thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior part of the country, and its produce.

At day-break, therefore, I set out in the pinnace and long-boat, accompanied by Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, and Tupia; and we found the inlet end in a river, about nine miles above the ship: into this river we entered with the first of the flood, and within three miles found the water perfectly fresh. Before we had proceeded more than one third of that distance, we found an Indian town, which was built upon a small bank of dry sand, but entirely surrounded by a deep mud, which possibly the inhabitants might consider as a defence. These people, as soon as they saw us, thronged to the banks, and invited us on shore. We accepted the invitation, and made them a visit notwithstanding the mud. They received us with open arms, having heard of us from our good old friend Toiava; but our stay could not be long, as we had other objects of curiosity in view. We proceeded up the river till near noon, when we were fourteen miles within its entrance; and then, finding the face of the country to continue nearly the same, without any alteration in the course of the stream, which we had no hope of tracing to its source, we landed on the west side, to take a view of the lofty trees which every where adorned its banks. They were of a kind that we had seen before, though only at a distance, both in Poverty Bay and Hawke’s Bay. Before we had walked an hundred yards into the wood, we met with one of them which was nineteen feet eight inches in the girt, at the height of six feet above the ground: having a quadrant with me, I measured its height from the root to the first branch, and found it to be eighty-nine feet: it was as straight as an arrow, and tapered but very little in proportion to its height; so that I judged there were three hundred and fifty-six feet of solid timber in it, exclusive of the branches. As we advanced, we saw many others that were still larger; we cut down a young one, and the wood proved heavy and solid, not fit for masts, but such as would make the finest plank in the world. Our carpenter, who was with us, said that the timber resembled that of the pitch-pine, which is lightened by tapping; and possibly some such method might be found to lighten these, and they would then be such masts as no country in Europe can produce. As the wood was swampy, we could not range far; but we found many stout trees of other kinds, all of them utterly unknown to us, specimens of which we brought away.

The river at this height is as broad as the Thames at Greenwich, and the tide of flood as strong; it is not indeed quite so deep, but has water enough for vessels of more than a middle size, and a bottom of mud so soft, that nothing could take damage by running ashore.

About three o’clock, we reimbarked, in order to return with the first of the ebb, and named the river the THAMES, it having some resemblance to our own river of that name. In our return, the inhabitants of the village where we had been ashore, seeing us take another channel, came off to us in their canoes, and trafficked with us in the most friendly manner, till they had disposed of the few trifles they had. The tide of ebb just carried us out of the narrow part of the river, into the channel that run up from the sea before it was dark; and we pulled hard to reach the ship, but meeting the flood, and a strong breeze at N. N. W. with showers of rain, we were obliged to desist; and about midnight, we run under the land, and came to a grappling, where we took such rest as our situation would admit. At break of day, we set forward again, and it was past seven o’clock before we reached the ship. We were all extremely tired, but thought ourselves happy to be on board; for before nine it blew so hard that the boat could not have rowed ahead, and must therefore either have gone ashore, or taken shelter under it.

About three o’clock, having the tide of ebb, we took up our anchor, made sail, and plied down the river till eight in the evening, when we came to an anchor again: early in the morning, we made sail with the first ebb, and kept plying till the flood obliged us once more to come to an anchor. As we had now only a light breeze, I went in the pinnace, accompanied by Dr. Solander, to the western shore, but I saw nothing worthy of notice.

When I left the ship, many canoes were about it; Mr. Banks therefore chose to stay on board and traffic with the natives; they bartered their clothes and arms, chiefly for paper, and behaved with great friendship and honesty. But while some of them were below with Mr. Banks, a young man who was upon the deck stole a half minute glass which was in the binnacle, and was detected just as he was carrying it off. Mr. Hicks, who was commanding-officer on board, took it into his head to punish him, by giving him twelve lashes with a cat-o’nine-tails; and accordingly ordered him to be taken to the gangway, and tied up to the shrouds. When the other Indians who were on board saw him seized, they attempted to rescue him; and being resisted called for their arms, which were handed up from the canoes, and the people of one of them attempted to come up the ship’s side. The tumult was heard by Mr. Banks, who, with Tupia, came hastily upon the deck to see what had happened. The Indians immediately ran to Tupia, who, finding Mr. Hicks inexorable, could only assure them, that nothing was intended against the life of their companion; but that it was necessary he should suffer some punishment for his offence; which being explained to them, they seemed to be satisfied. The punishment was then inflicted, and as soon as the criminal was unbound, an old man among the spectators, who was supposed to be his father, gave him a hearty beating, and sent him down into his canoe. All the canoes then dropped a-stern, and the people said that they were afraid to come any more near the ship: after much persuasion, however, they ventured back again, but their cheerful confidence was at an end, and their stay was short; they promised indeed, at their departure, to return with some fish, but we saw no more of them.

On the 23d, the wind being contrary, we kept plying down the river, and at seven in the evening, got without the N. W. point of the islands lying on the west side of it. The weather being bad, night coming on, and having land on every side of us, I thought it most advisable to tack, and stretch in under the point, where we anchored in nineteen fathom. At five in the morning of the 24th, we weighed, and made sail to the N. W. under our courses and double reefed topsails, the wind being at S. W. by W. and W. S. W. a strong gale and squally. As the gale would not permit us to come near the land, we had but a slight and distant view of it from the time when we got under sail till noon, during a run of twelve leagues, but we never once lost sight of it. At this time, our latitude by observation was 36° 15ʹ 20ʺ, we were not above two miles from a point of land on the main, and three leagues and an half from a very high island, which bore N. E. by E.: in this situation we had twenty-six fathom water: the farthest point on the main that we could see bore N. W. but we could perceive several small islands lying to the north of that direction. The point of land of which we were now a-breast, and which I called POINT RODNEY, is the N. W. extremity of the river Thames; for under that name I comprehend the deep bay, which terminates in the fresh water stream, and the N. E. extremity is the promontory which we passed when we entered it, and which I called CAPE COLVILLE, in honour of the Right Honourable Lord Colville.

Cape Colville lies in latitude 36° 26ʹ, longitude 184° 27ʹ; it rises directly from the sea, to a considerable height, and is remarkable for a lofty rock, which stands to the pitch of the point, and may be distinguished at a very great distance. From the south point of this cape, the river runs in a direct line S. by E., and is no where less than three leagues broad for the distance of fourteen leagues above the cape, and there it is contracted to a narrow stream, but continues the same course through a low flat country, or broad valley, which lies parallel with the sea coast, and the end of which we could not see. On the east side of the broad part of this river, the land is tolerably high and hilly; on the west side, it is rather low, but the whole is covered with verdure and wood, and has the appearance of great fertility, though there were but a few small spots which had been cultivated. At the entrance of the narrow part of the river, the land is covered with mangroves and other shrubs; but farther, there are immense woods of perhaps the finest timber in the world, of which some account has already been given: in several places, the wood extends to the very edge of the water, and where it is at a little distance, the intermediate space is marshy, like some parts of the banks of the Thames in England: it is probable that the river contains plenty of fish, for we saw poles stuck up in many places to set nets for catching them, but of what kinds I do not know. The greatest depth of water that we found in this river was six-and-twenty fathom, which gradually decreased to one fathom and an half: in the mouth of the fresh-water stream, it is from four to three fathom, but there are large flats and sand banks lying before it. A ship of moderate draught may, notwithstanding, go a long way up this river with a flowing tide, for it rises perpendicularly near ten feet, and at the full and change of the moon, it is high water about nine o’clock.

Six leagues within Cape Colville, under the eastern shore, are several small islands, which, together with the main, seem to form good harbours; and opposite to these islands, under the western shore, lie other islands, by which it is also probable that good harbours may be formed: but if there are no harbours about this river, there is good anchoring in every part of it where the depth of water is sufficient, for it is defended from the sea by a chain of islands of different extent, which lie cross the mouth of it, and which I have, for that reason, called BARRIER ISLANDS: they stretch N. W. and S. E. ten leagues. The south end of the chain lies N. E. between two and three leagues from Cape Colville; and the north end lies N. E. four leagues and an half from Point Rodney. Point Rodney lies W. N. W. nine leagues from Cape Colville, in latitude 36° 15ʹ S. longitude 184° 53ʹ W.

The natives residing about this river do not appear to be numerous, considering the great extent of the country. But they are strong, well-made, and active people, and all of them paint their bodies with red oker and oil from head to foot, which we had not seen before. Their canoes were large and well built, and adorned with carving, in as good a taste as any that we had seen upon the coast.

We continued to stand along the shore till night, with the main land on one side, and islands on the other, and then anchored in a bay, with fourteen fathom, and a sandy bottom. We had no sooner come to an anchor, than we tried our lines, and in a short time caught near one hundred fish, which the people called Sea-bream; they weighed from six to eight pounds a-piece, and consequently would supply the whole ship’s company with food for two days. From the success of our lines here, we called the place BREAM BAY: the two points that form it lie north and south, five leagues from each other; it is every where of a good breadth, and between three and four leagues deep: at the bottom of it there appears to be a river of fresh water. The north head of the bay, called BREAM HEAD, is high land, and remarkable for several pointed rocks, which stand in a range upon the top of it: it may also be known by some small islands which lie before it, called the HEN AND CHICKENS, one of which is high, and terminates in two peaks. It lies in latitude 35° 46ʹ S., and at the distance of seventeen leagues and an half from Cape Colville, in the direction of N. 41 W.

The land between Point Rodney and Bream Head, an extent of ten leagues, is low, and wooded in tufts, with white sand banks between the sea and the firm lands. We saw no inhabitants, but many fires in the night; and where there are fires, there are always people.

At day-break, on the 25th, we left the bay, and steered along shore to the northward: we found the variation of the compass to be 12° 42ʹ E. At noon, our latitude was 35° 36ʹ S., Bream Head bore south, distant ten miles; and we saw some small islands, to which I gave the name of the POOR KNIGHTS, at N. E. by N. distant three leagues; the northernmost land in sight bore N. N. W.: we were in this place at the distance of two miles from the shore, and had twenty-six fathom water.

The country appeared low, but well covered with wood: we saw some straggling houses, three or four fortified towns, and near them a large quantity of cultivated land.

In the evening, seven large canoes came off to us, with about two hundred men: some of them came on board, and said that they had heard of us. To two of them, who appeared to be chiefs, I gave presents; but when these were gone out of the ship, the others became exceedingly troublesome. Some of those in the canoes began to trade, and, according to their custom, to cheat, by refusing to deliver what had been bought, after they had received the price: among these was one who had received an old pair of black breeches, which, upon a few small shot being fired at him, he threw into the sea. All the boats soon after paddled off to some distance, and when they thought they were out of reach, they began to defy us, by singing their song, and brandishing their weapons. We thought it advisable to intimidate them, as well for their sakes as our own, and therefore fired first some small arms, and then round shot over their heads; the last put them in a terrible fright, though they received no damage, except by over-heating themselves in paddling away, which they did with astonishing expedition.

In the night we had variable light airs; but towards the morning, a breeze sprung up at S. and afterwards at S. E. with which we proceeded slowly to the northward, along the shore.

Between six and seven o’clock, two canoes came off, and told us that they had heard of yesterday’s adventure, notwithstanding which the people came on board, and traded very quietly and honestly for whatever they had: soon after two canoes came off from a more distant part of the shore; these were of a much larger, size and full of people: when they came near, they called off the other canoes which were along side of the ship, and after a short conference they all came up together. The strangers appeared to be persons of a superior rank; their canoes were well carved with many ornaments, and they had with them a great variety of weapons: they had patoo-patoos both of stone and whalebone, upon which they appeared to set a great value; they had also ribs of whale, of which we had before seen imitations in wood, carved and adorned with tufts of dog’s hair. Their complexions were browner than those of the people we had seen to the southward, and their bodies and faces were more marked with the black stains which they call Amoco: they had a broad spiral on each buttock; and the thighs of many of them were almost entirely black, some narrow lines only being left untouched, so that at first sight they appeared to wear striped breeches. With respect to the Amoco, every different tribe seemed to have a different custom; for all the men, in some canoes, seemed to be almost covered with it, and those in others had scarcely a stain, except on the lips, which were black in all of them, without a single exception. These gentlemen, for a long time, refused to part with any of their weapons, whatever was offered for them; at last, however, one of them produced a piece of talc, wrought into the shape of an axe, and agreed to sell it for a piece of cloth: the cloth was handed over the ship’s side, but his honour immediately put off his canoe with the axe. We had recourse to our usual expedient, and fired a musket ball over the canoe, upon which it put back to the ship, and the piece of cloth was returned; all the boats then went ashore, without offering any further intercourse.

At noon, the main land extended from S. by E. to N. W. by W. a remarkable point of land bearing W. distant four or five miles; at three we passed it, and I gave it the name of CAPE BRET, in honour of Sir Piercy. The land of this cape is considerably higher than any part of the adjacent coast: at the point of it, is a high round hillock, and N. E. by N. at the distance of about a mile, is a small high island or rock, which, like several that have already been described, was perforated quite through, so as to appear like the arch of a bridge. This cape, or at least some part of it, is by the natives called MOTUGOGOGO, and it lies in latitude 35° 10ʹ 30ʺ S. longitude 185° 25ʹ W. On the west side of it is a large and pretty deep bay, lying in S. W. by W. in which there appeared to be several small islands: the point that forms the N. W. entrance, lies W. ¼ N. at the distance of three or four leagues from Cape Bret, and I distinguished it by the name of POINT POCOCKE. On the west side of the bay, we saw several villages, both upon islands and the main, and several very large canoes came off to us, full of people, who made a better appearance than any we had seen yet: they were all stout and well-made; their hair, which was black, was tied up in a bunch on the crown of their heads, and stuck with white feathers. In each of the canoes, were two or three chiefs, whose habits were of the best sort of cloth, and covered with dog’s skin, so as to make an agreeable appearance: most of these people were marked with the Amoco, like those who had been alongside of us before: their manner of trading was also equally fraudulent; and the officers neglecting either to punish or fright them, one of the midshipmen who had been defrauded in his bargain, had recourse, for revenge, to an expedient which was equally ludicrous and severe: he got a fishing line, and when the man who had cheated him was close under the ship’s side in his canoe, he heaved the lead with so good an aim, that the hook caught him by the backside; he then pulled the line, and the man holding back, the hook broke in the shank, and the beard was left sticking in the flesh.

During the course of this day, though we did not range more than six or eight leagues of the coast, we had alongside and on board the ship between four and five hundred of the natives, which is a proof that this part of the country is well inhabited.

At eight o’clock the next morning, we were within a mile of a group of islands which lie close under the main, at the distance of two-and-twenty miles from Cape Bret, in the direction of N. W. by W. ½ W. At this place, having but little wind, we lay about two hours, during which time several canoes came off, and sold us some fish, which we called Cavalles, and for that reason I gave the same name to the islands. These people were very insolent, frequently threatening us, even while they were selling their fish; and when some more canoes came up, they began to pelt us with stones. Some small shot were then fired, and hit one of them while he had a stone in his hand, in the very action of throwing it into the ship: they did not, however, desist, till some others had been wounded, and then they went away, and we stood off to sea.

The wind being directly against us, we kept plying to windward till the 29th, when we had rather lost than gained ground; I therefore bore up for a bay which lies to the westward of Cape Bret; at this time it was about two leagues to leeward of us; and at about eleven o’clock we anchored under the south west side of one of the many islands which line it on the south-east, in four fathom and an half water; we shoaled our water to this depth all at once, and if this had not happened, I should not have come to an anchor so soon. The master was immediately sent out with two boats to sound, and he soon discovered that we had got upon a bank, which runs out from the north-west end of the island, and that on the outside of it there was from eight to ten fathom.

In the mean time the natives, to the number of near four hundred, crowded upon us in their canoes, and some of them were admitted on board: to one, who seemed to be a chief, I gave a piece of broad cloth, and distributed some trifling presents among the rest. I perceived that some of these people had been about the ship when she was off at sea, and that they knew the power of our fire-arms, for the very sight of a gun threw them into manifest confusion: under this impression, they traded very fairly; but the people in one of the canoes took the opportunity of our being at dinner to tow away our buoy: a musket was fired over them without effect, we then endeavoured to reach them with some small shot, but they were too far off: by this time they had got the buoy into their canoe, and we were obliged to fire a musket at them with ball: this hit one of them, and they immediately threw the buoy over board: a round shot was then fired over them, which struck the water and went ashore. Two or three of the canoes immediately landed their people, who ran about the beach, as we imagined, in search of the ball. Tupia called to them, and assured them that, while they were honest, they should be safe, and with a little persuasion many of them returned to the ship, and their behaviour was such as left us no reason to suspect that they intended to give us any farther trouble.

After the ship was removed into deeper water, and properly secured, I went with the pinnace and yawl, manned and armed, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, and landed upon the island, which was about three quarters of a mile distant: we observed that the canoes which were about the ship, did not follow us upon our leaving her, which we thought a good sign; but we had no sooner landed than they crowded to different parts of the island and came on shore. We were in a little cove, and in a few minutes were surrounded by two or three hundred people, some rushing from behind the heads of the cove, and others appearing on the tops of the hills: they were all armed, but they came on in so confused and straggling a manner that we scarcely suspected they meant us any harm, and we were determined that hostilities should not begin on our part. We marched towards them, and then drew a line upon the sand between them and us, which we gave them to understand they were not to pass: at first they continued quiet, but their weapons were held ready to strike, and they seemed to be rather irresolute than peaceable. While we remained in this state of suspense, another party of Indians came up, and now growing more bold as their number increased, they began the dance and song, which are their preludes to a battle: still, however, they delayed the attack, but a party ran to each of our boats, and attempted to draw them on shore; this seemed to be the signal, for the people about us at the same time began to press in upon our line: our situation was now become too critical for us to remain longer inactive, I therefore discharged my musket, which was loaded with small shot, at one of the forwardest, and Mr. Banks and two of the men fired immediately afterwards: this made them fall back in some confusion, but one of the chiefs, who was at the distance of about twenty yards, rallied them, and running forward, weaving his patoo-patoo, and calling loudly to his companions, led them to the charge. Dr. Solander, whose piece was not yet discharged, fired at this champion, who stopped short upon feeling the shot, and then ran away with the rest: they did not however disperse, but got together upon a rising ground, and seemed only to want some leader of resolution to renew their attack. As they were now beyond the reach of small shot, we fired with ball, but as none of them took place, they still continued in a body, and in this situation we remained about a quarter of an hour: in the mean time the ship, from whence a much greater number of Indians were seen than could be discovered in our situation, brought her broad-side to bear, and entirely dispersed them, by firing a few shot over their heads. In this skirmish only two of the Indians were hurt with the small shot, and not a single life was lost, which would not have been the case, if I had not restrained the men, who, either from fear or the love of mischief, showed as much impatience to destroy them as a sportsman to kill his game. When we were in quiet possession of our cove, we laid down our arms and began to gather celery, which grew here in great plenty: after a little time we recollected to have seen some of the people hide themselves in a cave of one of the rocks, we therefore went towards the place, when an old Indian, who proved to be the chief that I had presented with a piece of broad cloth in the morning, came out with his wife and his brother, and in a supplicating posture put themselves under our protection. We spoke kindly to them, and the old man then told us that he had another brother, who was one of those that had been wounded by the small shot, and enquired, with much solicitude and concern, if he would die. We assured him that he would not, and at the same time put into his hand both a musket-ball and some small shot, telling him, that those only who were wounded with the ball would die, and that the others would recover; at the same time assuring him, that if we were attacked again, we should certainly defend ourselves with the ball, which would wound them mortally. Having now taken courage, they came and sat down by us, and as tokens of our perfect amity, we made them presents of such trifles as we happened to have about us.

Soon after we re-embarked in our boats, and having rowed to another cove in the same island, climbed a neighbouring hill, which commanded the country to a considerable distance. The prospect was very uncommon and romantic, consisting of innumerable islands, which formed as many harbours, where the water was as smooth as a mill-pool: we saw also many towns, scattered houses, and plantations, the country being much more populous than any we had seen. One of the towns was very near us, from which many of the Indians advanced, taking great pains to show us that they were unarmed, and in their gestures and countenances expressing great meekness and humility. In the mean time some of our people, who, when the Indians were to be punished for a fraud, assumed the inexorable justice of a Lycurgus, thought fit to break into one of their plantations, and dig up some potatoes: for this offence I ordered each of them to be punished with twelve lashes, after which two of them were discharged; but the third, insisting that it was no crime in an Englishman to plunder an Indian plantation, though it was a crime in an Indian to defraud an Englishman of a nail, I ordered him back into his confinement, from which I would not release him till he had received six lashes more.

On the 30th, there being a dead calm, and no probability of our getting to sea, I sent the master, with two boats, to sound the harbour; and all the forenoon had several canoes about the ship, who traded in a very fair and friendly manner. In the evening we went ashore upon the main, where the people received us very cordially; but we found nothing worthy of notice.

In this bay we were detained by contrary winds and calms several days, during which time our intercourse with the natives was continued in the most peaceable and friendly manner, they being frequently about the ship, and we ashore, both upon the islands and the main. In one of our visits to the continent, an old man showed us the instrument they use in the staining their bodies, which exactly resembled those that were employed for the same purpose at Otaheite. We saw also the man who was wounded in attempting to steal our buoy: the ball had passed through the fleshy part of his arm, and grazed his breast; but the wound, under the care of Nature, the best surgeon, and a simple diet, the best nurse, was in a good state, and seemed to give the patient neither pain nor apprehension. We saw also the brother of our old chief, who had been wounded with small shot in our skirmish: they had struck his thigh obliquely, and though several of them were still in the flesh, the wound seemed to be attended with neither danger nor pain. We found among their plantations the _morus papyrifera_, of which these people, as well as those of Otaheite, make cloth; but here the plant seems to be rare, and we saw no pieces of the cloth large enough for any use but to wear by way of ornament in their ears.

Having one day landed in a very distant part of the bay, the people immediately fled, except one old man, who accompanied us wherever we went, and seemed much pleased with the little presents we made him. We came at last to a little fort, built upon a small rock, which at high water was surrounded by the sea, and accessible only by a ladder: we perceived that he eyed us with a kind of restless solicitude as we approached it, and upon our expressing a desire to enter it, he told us that his wife was there: he saw that our curiosity was not diminished by this intelligence, and after some hesitation, he said, if we would promise to offer no indecency, he would accompany us: our promise was readily given, and he immediately led the way. The ladder consisted of steps fastened to a pole, but we found the ascent both difficult and dangerous. When we entered we found three women, who, the moment they saw us, burst into tears of terror and surprise: some kind words and a few presents soon removed their apprehensions, and put them into good humour. We examined the house of our old friend, and by his interest two others, which were all that the fortification contained, and having distributed a few more presents, we parted with mutual satisfaction.

At four o’clock in the morning of the 5th of December, we weighed, with a light breeze, but it being variable with frequent calms, we made little way. We kept turning out of the bay till the afternoon, and about ten o’clock we were suddenly becalmed, so that the ship would neither wear nor stay, and the tide or current setting strong, she drove towards land so fast, that before any measures could be taken for her security, she was within a cable’s length of the breakers: we had thirteen fathom water, but the ground was so foul that we did not dare to drop our anchor; the pinnace therefore was immediately hoisted out to take the ship in tow, and the men, sensible of their danger, exerting themselves to the utmost, and a faint breeze springing up off the land, we perceived, with unspeakable joy, that she made head-way, after having been so near the shore that Tupia, who was not sensible of our hair’s breadth escape, was at this very time conversing with the people upon the beach, whose voices were distinctly heard, notwithstanding the roar of the breakers. We now thought all danger was over, but about an hour afterwards, just as the man in the chains had cried “seventeen fathom,” the ship struck. The shock threw us all into the utmost consternation; Mr. Banks, who had undressed himself and was stepping into bed, ran hastily up to the deck, and the man in the chains called out “five fathom;” by this time, the rock on which we had struck being to windward, the ship went off without having received the least damage, and the water very soon deepened to twenty fathom.

This rock lies half a mile W. N. W. of the northernmost or outermost island on the south-east side of the bay. We had light airs from the land, with calms, till nine o’clock the next morning, when we got out of the bay, and a breeze springing up at N. N. W. we stood out to sea.

This bay, as I have before observed, lies on the west side of Cape Bret, and I named it the BAY OF ISLANDS, from the great number of islands which line its shores, and from several harbours equally safe and commodious, where there is room and depth for any number of shipping. That in which we lay is on the south-west side of the south westernmost island, called MATURARO, on the south-east side of the bay. I have made no accurate survey of this bay, being discouraged by the time it would cost me; I thought also that it was sufficient to be able to affirm that it afforded us good anchorage, and refreshment of every kind. It was not the season for roots, but we had plenty of fish, most of which, however, we purchased of the natives, for we could catch very little ourselves either with net or line. When we showed the natives our seine, which is such as the King’s ships are generally furnished with, they laughed at it, and in triumph produced their own, which, was indeed of an enormous size, and made of a kind of grass, which is very strong: it was five fathom deep, and by the room it took up, it could not be less than three or four hundred fathom long. Fishing seems indeed to be the chief business of life in this part of the country; we saw about all their towns a great number of nets, laid in heaps like hay-cocks, and covered with a thatch to keep them from the weather, and we scarcely entered a house where some of the people were not employed in making them. The fish we procured here were sharks, sting-rays, sea-bream, mullet, mackerel, and some others.

The inhabitants in this bay are far more numerous than in any other part of the country that we had before visited; it did not appear to us that they were united under one head, and though their towns were fortified, they seemed to live together in perfect amity.

It is high water in this bay at the full and change of the moon, about eight o’clock, and the tide then rises from six to eight feet perpendicularly. It appears, from such observations as I was able to make of the tides upon the sea-coast, that the flood comes from the southward; and I have reason to think that there is a current which comes from the westward, and sets along the shore to the S. E. or S. S. E. as the land happens to lie.

CHAP. V.

RANGE FROM THE BAY OF ISLANDS ROUND NORTH CAPE TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND; AND A DESCRIPTION OF THAT PART OF THE COAST.

ON Thursday the 7th of December, at noon, Cape Bret bore S. S. E. ½ E. distant ten miles, and our latitude, by observation, was 34° 59ʹ S.; soon after we made several observations of the sun and moon, the result of which made our longitude 185° 36ʹ W. The wind being against us, we had made but little way. In the afternoon, we stood in shore, and fetched close under the Cavalles, from which islands the main trends W. by N.: several canoes put off and followed us, but a light breeze springing up, I did not choose to wait for them. I kept standing to the W. N. W. and N. W. till the next morning ten o’clock, when I tacked and stood in for the shore, from which we were about five leagues distant. At noon, the westernmost land in sight bore W. by S. and was about four leagues distant. In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze to the west, which in the evening came to the south, and continuing so all night, by day-light brought us pretty well in with the land, seven leagues to the westward of the Cavalles, where we found a deep bay running in S. W. by W. and W. S. W. the bottom of which we could but just see, and there the land appeared to be low and level. To this bay, which I called DOUBTLESS BAY, the entrance is formed by two points, which lie W. N. W. and E. S. E. and are five miles distant from each other. The wind not permitting us to look in here, we steered for the westernmost land in sight, which bore from us W. N. W. about three leagues, but before we got the length of it, it fell calm.

While we lay becalmed, several canoes came off to us, but the people having heard of our guns, it was not without great difficulty that they were persuaded to come under our stern: after having bought some of their cloaths, as well as their fish, we began to make inquiries concerning their country, and learnt, by the help of Tupia, that, at the distance of three days’ rowing in their canoes, at a place called MOOREWENNUA, the land would take a short turn to the southward, and from thence extend no more to the west. This place we concluded to be the land discovered by Tasman, which he called CAPE MARIA VAN DIEMEN, and finding these people so intelligent, we inquired farther, if they knew of any country besides their own: they answered, that they never had visited any other, but that their ancestors had told them, that to the N. W. by N. or N. N. W. there was a country of great extent, called ULIMAROA, to which some people had sailed in a very large canoe; that only part of them returned, and reported, that after a passage of a month they had seen a country where the people eat hogs. Tupia then inquired whether these adventurers brought any hogs with them when they returned; they said, No: Then, replied Tupia, your story is certainly false, for it cannot be believed that men who came back from an expedition without hogs, had ever visited a country where hogs were to be procured. It is however remarkable, notwithstanding the shrewdness of Tupia’s objection, that when they mentioned hogs, it was not by description but by name; calling them _Booah_, the name which is given them in the South-sea islands; but if the animal had been wholly unknown to them, and they had had no communication with people to whom it was known, they could not possibly have been acquainted with the name.

About ten o’clock at night, a breeze sprung up at W. N. W. with which we stood off north; and at noon the next day, the Cavalles bore S. E. by E. distant eight leagues; the entrance of Doubtless Bay S. by W., distant three leagues; and the north-west extremity of the land in sight, which we judged to be the main, bore N. W. by W.: our latitude by observation was 34° 44ʹ S. In the evening, we found the variation to be 12° 41ʹ E. by the azimuth, and 12° 40ʹ by the amplitude.

Early in the morning, we stood in with the land, seven leagues to the westward of Doubtless Bay, the bottom of which is not far distant from the bottom of another large bay, which the shore forms at this place, being separated only by a low neck of land, which juts out into a peninsula that I have called KNUCKLE POINT. About the middle of this bay, which we called SANDY BAY, is a high mountain, standing upon a distant shore, to which I gave the name of MOUNT CAMEL. The latitude here is 34° 51ʹ S. and longitude 186° 50ʹ. We had twenty-four and twenty-five fathom water, with a good bottom; but there seems to be nothing in this bay that can induce a ship to put into it; for the land about it is utterly barren and desolate, and, except Mount Camel, the situation is low: the soil appears to be nothing but white sand, thrown up in low irregular hills and narrow ridges, lying parallel with the shore. But barren and desolate as this place is, it is not without inhabitants: we saw one village on the west side of Mount Camel, and another on the east side; we saw also five canoes full of people, who pulled after the ship, but could not come up with us. At nine o’clock, we tacked and stood to the northward; and at noon, the Cavalles bore S. E. by E., distant thirteen leagues; the north extremity of the land in sight, making like an island, bore N. W. ¼ N. distant nine leagues; and Mount Camel bore S. W. by S., distance six leagues.

The wind being contrary, we kept plying northward till five o’clock in the evening of the 12th, when, having made very little way, we tacked and stood to the N. E. being two leagues to the northward of Mount Camel, and about a mile and a half from the shore, in which situation we had two-and-twenty fathom water.

At ten it began to blow and rain, which brought us under double reefed topsails; at twelve we tacked and stood to the westward till seven the next morning, when we tacked and stood again to the N. E., being about a mile to windward of the place where we tacked last night. Soon after it blew very hard at N. N. W. with heavy squalls and much rain, which brought us under our courses, and split the maintopsail; so that we were obliged to unbend it and bend another: at ten, it became more moderate, and we set the topsails, double reefed: at noon, having strong gales and heavy weather, we tacked and stood to the westward, and had no land in sight for the first time since we had been upon this coast.

We had now strong gales at W. and W. S. W.; and at half an hour past three we tacked and stood to the northward. Soon after, a small island lying off Knuckle Point bore S. ½ W., distant half a league. In the evening, having split the fore and mizen topsails, we brought the ship under her courses; and at midnight, we wore, and stood to the southward till five in the morning; when we tacked and stood to the N. W., and saw land bearing south, at the distance of eight or nine leagues; by this we discovered that we had fallen much to the leeward since yesterday morning. At noon our latitude by observation was 34° 6ʹ S.; and the same land which we had seen before to the N. W. now bore S. W., and appeared to be the northern extremity of the country. We had a large swell rolling in from the westward, and, therefore, concluded that we were not covered by any land in that quarter. At eight in the evening, we tacked and stood to the westward, with as much sail as we could bear; and at noon the next day, we were in latitude 34° 10ʹ, longitude 185° 45ʹ W., and by estimation about seventeen leagues from the land, notwithstanding our utmost endeavours to keep in with it.

On the 16th, at six in the morning, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing S. S. W.; and at noon it bore S. by W. distant fourteen leagues: while we were standing in for the shore, we sounded several times, but had no ground with ninety fathom. At eight, we tacked in a hundred and eight fathom, at about three or four miles from the shore, which was the same point of land that we had to the N. W. before we were blown off. At noon, it bore S. W., distant about three miles; Mount Camel bore S. by E., distant about eleven leagues, and the westernmost land in sight bore S. 75 W.; the latitude by observation was 34° 20ʹ S. At four o’clock, we tacked and stood in shore, in doing which, we met with a strong rippling, and the ship fell fast to leeward, which we imputed to a current setting east. At eight, we tacked and stood off till eight the next morning; when we tacked and stood in, being about ten leagues from the land: at noon, the point of land which we were near the day before, bore S. S. W. distant five leagues. The wind still continued at west; and at seven o’clock, we tacked in thirty-five fathom, when the point of land which has been mentioned before, bore N. W. by N., distant four or five miles; so that we had not gained one inch to windward the last twenty-four hours, which confirmed our opinion that there was a current to the eastward. The point of land I called NORTH CAPE, it being the northern extremity of this country. It lies in latitude 34° 22ʹ S., longitude 186° 55ʹ W., and thirty-one leagues distant from Cape Bret, in the direction of N. 63 W. It forms the north point of Sandy Bay, and is a peninsula jutting out N. E. about two miles, and terminating in a bluff head that is flat at the top. The isthmus which joins this head to the main land is very low, and for that reason the land of the cape, from several situations, has the appearance of an island. It is still more remarkable when it is seen from the southward, by the appearance of a high round island at the S. E. point of the cape; but this also is a deception; for what appears to be an island is a round hill, joined to the cape by a low narrow neck of land. Upon the cape we saw a Hippah or village, and a few inhabitants; and on the south-east side of it, there appears to be anchorage, and good shelter from the south-west and north-west winds.

We continued to stand off and on, making N. W. till noon on the 21st, when North Cape bore S. 39 E. distant thirty-eight leagues. Our situation varied only a few leagues till the 23d, when, about seven o’clock in the evening, we saw land from the mast-head, bearing S. ½ E. At eleven the next morning, we saw it again, bearing S. S. E. at the distance of eight leagues: we now stood to the S. W.; and at four o’clock, the land bore S. E. by S. distant four leagues, and proved to be a small island, with other islands or rocks, still smaller, lying off the south-west end of it, and another lying off the north-east end, which were discovered by Tasman, and called the Three Kings. The principal island lies in latitude 34° 12ʹ S., longitude 187° 48ʹ W., and distant fourteen or fifteen leagues from North Cape, in the direction of W. 14 N. At midnight, we tacked and stood to the N. E. till six the next morning, which was Christmas-day, when we tacked and stood to the southward. At noon, the Three Kings bore E. 8 N. distant five or six leagues. The variation this morning by the azimuth was 11° 25ʹ E.

On the 26th, we stood to the southward close upon a wind; and at noon, were in latitude 35° 10ʹ S., longitude 188° 20ʹ W., the Three Kings bearing N. 26 W. distant twenty-two leagues. In this situation we had no land in sight; and yet, by observation, we were in the latitude of the Bay of Islands; and by my reckoning but twenty leagues to the westward of North Cape: from whence it appears, that the northern part of this island is very narrow; for otherwise we must have seen some part of the west side of it. We stood to the southward till twelve at night, and then tacked and stood to the northward.

At four o’clock in the morning, the wind freshened, and at nine, blew a storm; so that we were obliged to bring the ship to under her mainsail. Our course made good between noon this day and yesterday was S. S. W. ½ W., distance eleven miles. The Three Kings bore N. 27 E. distant seventy-seven miles. The gale continued all this day, and till two the next morning, when it fell, and began to veer to the southward and S. W., where it fixed about four, when we made sail and steered east in for the land, under the fore-sail and main-sail; but the wind then rising, and by eight o’clock being increased to a hurricane, with a prodigious sea, we were obliged to take in the main-sail; we then wore the ship, and brought her to with her head to the north-west. At noon the gale was somewhat abated, but we had still heavy squalls. Our course made good this day, was north, a little easterly, twenty-nine miles; latitude by account 34° 50ʹ S., longitude 188° 27ʹ W.; the Three Kings bore N. 41 E. distant fifty-two miles. At seven o’clock in the evening, the wind being at S. W. and S. W. by W., with hard squalls, we wore and lay on the other tack; and at six the next morning spread more sail. Our course and distance since yesterday was E. by N. twenty-nine miles. In the afternoon, we had hard squalls at S. W.; and at eight in the evening, wore and stood to the N. W. till five the next morning; and then wore and stood to the S. E. At six, we saw the land bearing N. E., distant about six leagues, which we judged to be Cape _Maria Van Diemen_, and which corresponded with the account that had been given of it by the Indians. At midnight we wore and stood to the S. E. And on the next day at noon, Cape Maria Van Diemen bore N. E. by N., distant about five leagues. At seven in the evening, we tacked and stood to the westward, with a moderate breeze at S. W. by S. and S. W. Mount Camel then bore N. 83 E., and the northernmost land, or Cape Maria Van Diemen, N. by W.; we were now distant from the nearest land about three leagues, where we had something more than forty fathom water; and it must be remarked, that Mount Camel, which when seen on the other side did not seem to be more than one mile from the sea, seemed to be but little more when seen from this side; which is a demonstration that the land here cannot be more than two or three miles broad, or from sea to sea.

At six o’clock in the morning of January the 1st, 1770, being New-year’s day, we tacked and stood to the eastward, the Three Kings bearing N. W. by N. At noon, we tacked again, and stood to the westward, being in latitude 34° 37ʹ S.; the Three Kings bearing N. W. by N. at the distance of ten or eleven leagues; and Cape Maria Van Diemen N. 31 E. distant about four leagues and a half: in this situation we had fifty-four fathom water.

During this part of our navigation two particulars are very remarkable; in latitude 35° S., and in the midst of summer, I met with a gale of wind, which for its strength and continuance was such as I had scarcely ever been in before, and we were three weeks in getting ten leagues to the westward, and five week in getting fifty leagues, for at this time it was so long since we passed Cape Bret. During the gale, we were happily at a considerable distance from the land, otherwise it is highly probable that we should never have returned to relate our adventures.

At five o’clock in the evening, having a fresh breeze to the westward, we tacked and stood to the southward: at this time North Cape bore E. ¾ N., and just open of a point that lies three leagues W. by N. from it.

This cape, as I have observed before, is the northernmost extremity of this country, and the easternmost point of a peninsula, which runs out N. W. and N. W. by N. seventeen or eighteen leagues, and of which Cape Maria Van Diemen is the westernmost point. Cape Maria lies in latitude 34° 30ʹ S., longitude 187° 18ʹ W.; and from this point the land trends away S. E. by S. and S. E. beyond Mount Camel, and is every where a barren shore, consisting of banks of white sand.

On the 2d, at noon, we were in latitude 35° 17ʹ S., and Cape Maria bore north, distant about sixteen leagues, as near as we could guess; for we had no land in sight, and did not dare to go nearer, as a fresh gale blew right on shore, with a rolling sea. The wind continued at W. S. W. and S. W. with frequent squalls; in the evening we shortened sail, and at midnight tacked, and made a trip to the N. W. till two in the morning, when we wore and stood to the southward. At break of day, we made sail, and edged away, in order to make land; and at ten o’clock, we saw it, bearing N. W. It appeared to be high, and at noon extended from N. to E. N. E. distant by estimation eight or ten leagues. Cape Maria then bore N. 2° 30ʹ W. distant thirty-three leagues; our latitude by observation was 36° 2ʹ S. About seven o’clock in the evening, we were within six leagues of it; but having a fresh gale upon it, with a rolling sea, we hauled our wind to the S. E., and kept on that course close upon the wind all night, sounding several times, but having no ground with one hundred, and one hundred and ten fathom.

At eight o’clock the next morning, we were about five leagues from the land, and off a place which lies in latitude 36° 25ʹ, and had the appearance of a bay or inlet. It bore east; and in order to see more of it, we kept on our course till eleven o’clock, when we were not more than three leagues from it, and then discovered that it was neither inlet nor bay, but a tract of low land, bounded by higher lands on each side, which produced the deception. At this time, we tacked and stood to the N. W.; and at noon, the land was not distant more than three or four leagues. We were now in latitude 36° 31ʹ S., longitude 185° 50ʹ W. Cape Maria bore N. 25 W. distant forty-four leagues and a half; so that the coast must be almost straight in the direction of S. S. E. ¾ E. and N. N. W. ¾ W. nearly. In about latitude 35° 45ʹ is some high land adjoining to the sea; to the southward of which the shore is also high, and has the most desolate and inhospitable appearance that can be imagined. Nothing is to be seen but hills of sand, on which there is scarcely a blade of verdure; and a vast sea, impelled by the westerly winds breaking upon it in a dreadful surf, renders it not only forlorn, but frightful; complicating the idea of danger with desolation, and impressing the mind at once with a sense of misery and death. From this place I steered to the northward, resolving never more to come within the same distance of the coast, except the wind should be very favourable indeed. I stood under a fresh sail all the day, hoping to get an offing by the next noon, and we made good a course of a hundred and two miles N. 38 W. Our latitude by observation was 35° 10ʹ S.; and Cape Maria bore N. 10 E., distance forty-one miles. In the night, the wind shifted from S. W. by S. to S., and blew fresh. Our course to the noon of the 5th, was N. 75 W., distance eight miles.

At day-break on the 6th, we saw the land, which we took to be Cape Maria, bearing N. N. E., distant eight or nine leagues: and on the 7th, in the afternoon, the land bore east: and some time after, we discovered a turtle upon the water; but being awake, it dived instantly, so that we could not take it. At noon, the high land, which has just been mentioned, extended from N. to E. at the distance of five or six leagues; and in two places, a flat gave it the appearance of a bay or inlet. The course that we made good the last four-and-twenty hours was S. 33 E. fifty-three miles; Cape Maria bearing N. 25 W., distant thirty leagues.

We sailed within sight of land all this day, with gentle gales between the N. E. and N. W.; and by the next noon had sailed sixty-nine miles, in the direction of S. 37 E.; our latitude by observation was 36° 39ʹ S. The land which on the 4th we had taken for a bay, now bore N. E. by N., distant five leagues and a half; and Cape Maria N. 29 W., forty-seven leagues.

On the 9th, we continued a south-east course till eight o’clock in the evening, having run seven leagues since noon, with the wind at N. N. E. and N., and being within three or four leagues of the land, which appeared to be low and sandy. I then steered S. E. by S. in a direction parallel with the coast, having from forty-eight to thirty-four fathom water, with a black sandy bottom. At day-break the next morning, we found ourselves between two and three leagues from the land, which began to have a better appearance, rising in gentle slopes, and being covered with trees and herbage. We saw a smoke and a few houses, but it appeared to be but thinly inhabited. At seven o’clock, we steered S. by E., and afterwards S. by W., the land lying in that direction. At nine, we were a-breast of a point which rises with an easy ascent from the sea to a considerable height: this point, which lies in latitude 37° 43ʹ, I named WOODY HEAD. About eleven miles from this Head, in the direction of S. W. ½ W. lies a very small island, upon which we saw a great number of gannets, and which we, therefore, called GANNET ISLAND. At noon, a high craggy point bore E. N. E. distant about a league and a half, to which I gave the name of ALBATROSS POINT: it lies in latitude 38° 4ʹ S., longitude 184° 42ʹ W.; and is distant seven leagues in the direction of S. 17 W. from Woody Head. On the north-side of this point the shore forms a bay, in which there appears to be anchorage and shelter for shipping. Our course and distance for the last twenty-four hours was S. 37 E. sixty-nine miles; and at noon this day Cape Maria bore N. 30 W. distant eighty-two leagues. Between twelve and one, the wind shifted at once from N. N. E. to S. S. W. with which we stood to the westward till four o’clock in the afternoon; and then tacked, and stood again in shore till seven; when we tacked again and stood to the westward, having but little wind. At this time Albatross Point bore N. E., distant near two leagues, and the southernmost land in sight bore S. S. W. ½ W. being a very high mountain, and in appearance greatly resembling the Peak of Teneriffe. In this situation we had thirty fathom water, and having but little wind all night, we tacked about four in the morning, and stood in for the shore. Soon after, it fell calm; and being in forty-two fathom water, the people caught a few sea-bream. At eleven, a light breeze sprung up from the west, and we made sail to the southward. We continued to steer S. by W. and S. S. W. along the shore, at the distance of about four leagues, with gentle breezes from between N. W. and N. N. E. At seven in the evening, we saw the top of the peak to the southward, above the clouds, which concealed it below. And at this time, the southernmost land in sight bore S. by W.; the variation, by several azimuths which were taken both in the morning and the evening, appeared to be 14° 15ʹ easterly.

At noon on the 12th, we were distant about three leagues from the shore which lies under the peak, but the peak itself was wholly concealed by clouds: we judged it to bear about S. S. E.; and some very remarkable peaked islands, which lay under the shore, bore E. S. E., distant three or four leagues. At seven in the evening we sounded, and had forty-two fathom, being distant from the shore between two and three leagues: we judged the peak to bear east; and after it was dark, we saw fires upon the shore.

At five o’clock in the morning we saw, for a few minutes, the summit of the peak, towering above the clouds, and covered with snow. It now bore N. E.; it lies in latitude 39° 16ʹ S., longitude 185° 15ʹ W.; and I named it MOUNT EGMONT, in honour of the earl. It seems to have a large base, and to rise with a gradual ascent; it lies near the sea, and is surrounded by a flat country, of a pleasant appearance, being clothed with verdure and wood, which renders it the more conspicuous, and the shore under it forms a large cape, which I have named CAPE EGMONT. It lies S. S. W. ½ W. twenty-seven leagues distant from Albatross Point, and on the north-side of it are two small islands, which lie near a remarkable point on the main, that rises to a considerable height in the form of a sugar-loaf. To the southward of the cape, the land trends away S. E. by E. and S. S. E., and seems to be every where a bold shore. At noon, Cape Egmont bore about N. E.; and in this direction, at about four leagues from the shore, we had forty fathom of water. The wind during the rest of the day was from W. to N. W. by W., and we continued to steer along the shore S. S. E. and S. E. by E., keeping at the distance of between two or three leagues. At half an hour after seven, we had another transient view of Mount Edgcombe, which bore N. 17 W., distant about ten leagues.

At five the next morning, we steered S. E. by S., the coast inclining more southerly; and in about half an hour we saw land, bearing S. W. by S., for which we hauled up. At noon, the north-west extremity of the land in sight bore S. 63 W., and some high land, which had the appearance of an island lying under the main, bore S. S. E., distant five leagues. We were now in a bay, the bottom of which bearing south, we could not see, though it was clear in that quarter. Our latitude by observation was 40° 27ʹ S., longitude 184° 39ʹ W. At eight in the evening, we were within two leagues of the land which we had discovered in the morning, having run ten leagues since noon: the land which then bore S. 63 W., now bore N. 59 W., at the distance of seven or eight leagues, and had the appearance of an island. Between this land and CAPE EGMONT lies the bay, the west-side of which was our situation at this time, and the land here is of a considerable height, and diversified by hill and valley.

CHAP. VI.

TRANSACTIONS IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND: PASSAGE THROUGH THE STRAIGHT WHICH DIVIDES THE TWO ISLANDS, AND BACK TO CAPE TURNAGAIN: HORRID CUSTOM OF THE INHABITANTS: REMARKABLE MELODY OF BIRDS: A VISIT TO A HEPPAH, AND MANY OTHER PARTICULARS.

THE shore at this place seemed to form several bays, into one of which I proposed to carry the ship, which was become very foul, in order to careen her, and at the same time repair some defects, and recruit our wood and water.

With this view, I kept plying on and off all night, having from eighty to sixty-three fathom. At day-break the next morning, I stood for an inlet which runs in S. W.; and at eight I got within the entrance which may be known by a reef of rocks, stretching from the north-west point, and some rocky islands which lie off the south-east point. At nine o’clock, there being little wind, and what there was being variable, we were carried by the tide or current within two cables’ length of the north-west shore, where we had fifty-four fathom water, but by the help of our boats we got clear. Just at this time we saw a sea-lion rise twice near the shore, the head of which exactly resembled that of the male which has been described in the Account of Lord Anson’s Voyage. We also saw some of the natives in a canoe cross the bay, and a village situated upon the point of an island which lies seven or eight miles within the entrance. At noon, we were the length of this island, but there being little wind, the boats were ordered a-head to tow. About one o’clock, we hauled close round the south-west end of the island; and the inhabitants of the village which was built upon it, were immediately up in arms. About two, we anchored in a very safe and convenient cove, on the north-west-side of the bay, and facing the south-west end of the island, in eleven fathom water, with soft ground, and moored with the stream anchor.

We were about four long cannon shot distant from the village or Heppah, from which four canoes were immediately dispatched, as we imagined, to reconnoitre, and, if they should find themselves able, to take us. The men were all well armed, and dressed nearly as they are represented in the figure published by Tasman; two corners of the cloth which they wrapped round the body were passed over the shoulders from behind, and being brought down to the upper edge of it before, were made fast to it just under the breast; but few, or none, had feathers in their hair.

They rowed round the ship several times, with their usual tokens of menace and defiance, and at last began the assault by throwing some stones: Tupia expostulated with them, but apparently to very little purpose; and we began to fear that they would oblige us to fire at them, when a very old man in one of the boats expressed a desire of coming on board. We gladly encouraged him in his design, a rope was thrown into his canoe, and she was immediately along side of the ship: the old man rose up, and prepared to come up the ship’s side, upon which all the rest expostulated with great vehemence against the attempt, and at last laid hold of him, and held him back: he adhered however to his purpose with a calm but steady perseverance, and having at length disengaged himself, he came on board. We received him with all possible expressions of friendship and kindness, and after some time dismissed him, with many presents, to his companions. As soon as he was returned on board his canoe, the people in all the rest began to dance, but whether as a token of enmity or friendship we could not certainly determine, for we had seen them dance in a disposition both for peace and war. In a short time, however, they retired to their fort, and soon after I went on shore, with most of the gentlemen, at the bottom of the cove, a-breast of the ship.

We found a fine stream of excellent water, and wood in the greatest plenty, for the land here was one forest, of vast extent. As we brought the seine with us, we hauled it once or twice, and with such success that we caught near three hundred weight of fish of different sorts, which was equally distributed among the ship’s company.

At day-break, while we were busy in careening the ship, three canoes came off to us, having on board above a hundred men, besides several of their women, which we were pleased to see, as in general it is a sign of peace; but they soon afterwards became very troublesome, and gave us reason to apprehend some mischief from them to the people that were in our boats alongside the ship. While we were in this situation, the long-boat was sent ashore with some water casks, and some of the canoes attempting to follow her, we found it necessary to intimidate them by firing some small-shot: we were at such a distance that it was impossible to hurt them, yet our reproof had its effect, and they desisted from the pursuit. They had some fish in their canoes which they now offered to sell, and which, though it stunk, we consented to buy: for this purpose a man in a small boat was sent among them, and they traded for some time very fairly. At length, however, one of them watching his opportunity, snatched at some paper which our market-man held in his hand, and missing it, immediately put himself in a posture of defence, flourished his patoo-patoo, and making show as if he was about to strike; some small shot were then fired at him from the ship, a few of which struck him upon the knee: this put an end to our trade, but the Indians still continued near the ship, rowing round her many times, and conversing with Tupia, chiefly concerning the traditions they had among them with respect to the antiquities of their country. To this subject they were led by the inquiries which Tupia had been directed to make, whether they had ever seen such a vessel as ours, or had ever heard that any such had been upon their coast. These inquiries were all answered in the negative, so that tradition has preserved among them no memorial of Tasman; though, by an observation made this day, we find that we are only fifteen miles south of Murderer’s Bay, our latitude being 41° 5ʹ 32ʺ, and Murderer’s Bay, according to his account, being 40° 50ʹ.

The women in these canoes, and some of the men, had a head-dress which we had not before seen. It consisted of a bunch of black feathers, made up in a round form, and tied upon the top of the head, which it entirely covered, and made it twice as high, to appearance, as it was in reality.

After dinner I went in the pinnace with Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Tupia, and some others, into another cove, about two miles distant from that in which the ship lay: in our way we saw something floating upon the water, which we took for a dead seal, but upon rowing up to it, found it to be the body of a woman, which, to all appearance, had been dead some days. We proceeded to our cove, where we went on shore, and found a small family of Indians, who appeared to be greatly terrified at our approach, and all ran away except one. A conversation between this person and Tupia soon brought back the rest, except an old man and a child, who still kept aloof, but stood peeping at us from the woods. Of these people, our curiosity naturally led us to enquire after the body of the woman, which we had seen floating upon the water: and they acquainted us, by Tupia, that she was a relation, who had died a natural death; and that, according to their custom, they had tied a stone to the body, and thrown it into the sea, which stone, they supposed, had, by some accident, been disengaged.

This family, when we came on shore, was employed in dressing some provisions: the body of a dog was at this time buried in their oven, and many provision-baskets stood near it. Having cast our eyes carelessly into one of these, as we passed it, we saw two bones pretty cleanly picked, which did not seem to be the bones of a dog, and which, upon a nearer examination, we discovered to be those of a human body. At this sight we were struck with horror, though it was only a confirmation of what we had heard many times since we arrived upon this coast. As we could have no doubt but the bones were human, neither could we have any doubt but that the flesh which covered them had been eaten. They were found in a provision basket; the flesh that remained appeared manifestly to have been dressed by fire, and in the gristles at the end, were the marks of the teeth which had gnawed them: to put an end, however, to conjecture, founded upon circumstances and appearances, we directed Tupia to ask what bones they were; and the Indians, without the least hesitation, answered, the bones of a man: they were then asked what was become of the flesh, and they replied that they had eaten it; but, said Tupia, why did you not eat the body of the woman which we saw floating upon the water: the woman, said they, died of disease; besides, she was our relation, and we eat only the bodies of our enemies, who are killed in battle. Upon enquiry who the man was whose bones we had found, they told us, that about five days before, a boat belonging to their enemies came into the bay, with many persons on board, and that this man was of the seven whom they had killed. Though stronger evidence of this horrid practice prevailing among the inhabitants of this coast will scarcely be required, we have still stronger to give. One of us asked if they had any human bones with the flesh remaining upon them, and upon their answering us that all had been eaten, we affected to disbelieve that the bones were human, and said that they were the bones of a dog; upon which one of the Indians, with some eagerness, took hold of his own fore-arm, and thrusting it towards us, said, that the bone which Mr. Banks held in his hand had belonged to that part of the human body; at the same time, to convince us that the flesh had been eaten, he took hold of his own arm with his teeth, and made show of eating: he also bit and gnawed the bone which Mr. Banks had taken, drawing it through his mouth, and showing, by signs, that it had afforded a delicious repast; the bone was then returned to Mr. Banks, and he brought it away with him. Among the persons of this family, there was a woman who had her arms, legs, and thighs, frightfully cut in several places; and we were told that she had inflicted the wounds upon herself, in token of her grief for the loss of her husband, who had been lately killed and eaten by their enemies, who had come from some place to the eastward, towards which the Indians pointed.

The ship lay at the distance of somewhat less than a quarter of a mile from the shore, and in the morning we were awakened by the singing of the birds: the number was incredible, and they seemed to strain their throats in emulation of each other. This wild melody was infinitely superior to any that we had ever heard of the same kind; it seemed to be like small bells, most exquisitely tuned, and perhaps the distance, and the water between, might be no small advantage to the sound. Upon inquiry, we were informed that the birds here always began to sing about two hours after midnight, and continuing their music till sunrise, were, like our nightingales, silent the rest of the day. In the forenoon, a small canoe came off from the Indian village to the ship, and among those that were in it, was the old man who had first come on board at our arrival in the bay. As soon as it came alongside, Tupia renewed the conversation that had passed the day before, concerning their practice of eating human flesh, during which they repeated what they had told us already; but, said Tupia, where are the heads? do you eat them too? Of the heads, said the old man, we eat only the brains, and the next time I come I will bring some of them to convince you that what we have told you is truth. After some farther conversation between these people and Tupia, they told him that they expected their enemies to come very shortly, to revenge the death of the seven men whom they had killed and eaten.

On the 18th, the Indians were more quiet than usual, no canoe came near the ship, nor did we see one of them moving on the shore, their fishing, and other usual occupations being totally suspended. We thought they expected an attack on this day, and, therefore, attended more diligently to what passed on shore; but we saw nothing to gratify our curiosity.

After breakfast, we went out in the pinnace, to take a view of the bay, which was of vast extent, and consisted of numberless small harbours and coves, in every direction: we confined our excursion, however, to the western side, and the country being an impenetrable forest where we landed, we could see nothing worthy of notice: we killed, however, a good number of shags, which we saw sitting upon their nests in the trees, and which, whether roasted or stewed, we considered as very good provision. As we were returning, we saw a single man in a canoe fishing; we rowed up to him, and, to our great surprise, he took not the least notice of us, but even when we were alongside of him, continued to follow his occupation, without adverting to us any more than if we had been invisible. He did not, however, appear to be either sullen or stupid: we requested him to draw up his net, that we might examine it, and he readily complied: it was of a circular form, extended by two hoops, and about seven or eight feet in diameter: the top was open, and sea-ears were fastened to the bottom as a bait: this he let down so as to lie upon the ground, and when he thought fish enough were assembled over it, he drew it up by a very gentle and even motion, so that the fish rose with it, scarcely sensible that they were lifted, till they came very near the surface of the water, and then were brought out in the net by a sudden jerk. By this simple method, he had caught abundance of fish, and, indeed, they are so plenty in this bay, that the catching them requires neither much labour nor art.

This day, some of our people found in the skirts of the wood, near a hole or oven, three human hipbones, which they brought on board; a farther proof that these people eat human flesh: Mr. Monkhouse, our surgeon, also brought on board, from a place where he saw many deserted houses, the hair of a man’s head, which he had found, among many other things, tied up to the branches of trees.

In the morning of the 19th, we set up the armourer’s forge to repair the braces of the tiller, and other iron-work, all hands on board being still busy in careening, and other necessary operations about the vessel: this day, some Indians came on board from another part of the bay, where they said there was a town which we had not seen: they brought plenty of fish, which they sold for nails, having now acquired some notion of their use; and in this traffic no unfair practice was attempted.

In the morning of the 20th, our old man kept his promise, and brought on board four of the heads of the seven people who had been so much the subject of our inquiries: the hair and flesh were entire, but we perceived that the brains had been extracted; the flesh was soft, but had by some method been preserved from putrefaction, for it had no disagreeable smell. Mr. Banks purchased one of them, but they sold it with great reluctance, and could not by any means be prevailed upon to part with a second; probably they may be preserved as trophies, like the scalps in America, and the jaw-bones in the islands of the South Seas. Upon examining the head which had been bought by Mr. Banks, we perceived that it had received a blow upon the temples, which had fractured the skull. This day we made another excursion in the pinnace, to survey the bay, but we found no flat large enough for a potatoe garden, nor could we discover the least appearance of cultivation: we met not a single Indian, but found an excellent harbour; and about eight o’clock in the evening returned on board the ship.

On the 21st, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went a fishing with hook and line, and caught an immense quantity every where upon the rocks, in between four and five fathom water: the seine was hauled every night, and seldom failed to supply the whole ship’s company with as much fish as they could eat. This day all the people had leave to go on shore at the watering-place, and divert themselves as they should think proper.

In the morning of the 22d, I set out again in the pinnace, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, with a design to examine the head of the inlet, but, after rowing about four or five leagues without so much as coming in sight of it, the wind being contrary, and the day half spent, we went on shore on the south-east side, to try what might be discovered from the hills.

Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander immediately employed themselves in botanizing near the beach, and I, taking a seaman with me, ascended one of the hills: when I reached the summit, I found a view of the inlet intercepted by hills, which in that direction rose still higher, and which were rendered inaccessible by impenetrable woods; I was, however, abundantly compensated for my labour, for I saw the sea on the eastern side of the country, and a passage leading from it to that on the west, a little to the eastward of the entrance of the inlet where the ship now lay. The main land, which lay on the south-east of this inlet, appeared to be a narrow ridge of very high hills, and to form part of the south-west side of the straight; the land on the opposite side appeared to trend away east as far as the eye could reach; and to the south-east there appeared to be an opening to the sea, which washed the eastern coast: on the east side of the inlet also I saw some islands which I had before taken to be part of the main land. Having made this discovery, I descended the hill, and as soon as we had taken some refreshment, we set out on our return to the ship. In our way, we examined the harbours and coves which lie behind the islands that I had discovered from the hill; and in this route we saw an old village, in which there were many houses that seemed to have been long deserted: we also saw another village which was inhabited, but the day was too far spent for us to visit it, and we therefore made the best of our way to the ship, which we reached between eight and nine o’clock at night.

The 23d I employed in carrying on a survey of the place; and upon one of the islands where I landed, I saw many houses which seemed to have been long deserted, and no appearance of any inhabitant.

On the 24th, we went to visit our friends at the Hippah or village on the point of the island near the ship’s station, who had come off to us on our first arrival in the bay. They received us with the utmost confidence and civility, showing us every part of their habitations, which were commodious and neat. The island or rock on which this town is situated, is divided from the main by a breach or fissure so narrow, that a man might almost leap from one to the other: the sides of it are every where so steep as to render the artificial fortification of these people almost unnecessary: there was, however, one slight pallisade, and one small fighting-stage, towards that part of the rock where access was least difficult.

The people here brought us out several human bones, the flesh of which they had eaten, and offered them to sale; for the curiosity of those among us who had purchased them as memorials of the horrid practice which many, notwithstanding the reports of travellers, have professed not to believe, had rendered them a kind of article of trade. In one part of this village, we observed, not without some surprise, a cross exactly like that of a crucifix; it was adorned with feathers, and upon our inquiring for what purpose it had been set up, we were told that it was a monument for a man who was dead: we had before understood that their dead were not buried, but thrown into the sea; but to our inquiry how the body of the man had been disposed of, to whose memory this cross had been erected, they refused to answer.

When we left these people, we went to the other end of the island, and there taking water, crossed over to the main, where we saw several houses, but no inhabitants, except a few in some straggling canoes, that seemed to be fishing. After viewing this place, we returned on board the ship to dinner.

During our visit to the Indians this day, Tupia being always of our party, they had been observed to be continually talking of guns, and shooting people: for this subject of their conversation we could not at all account; and it had so much engaged our attention, that we talked of it all the way back, and even after we got on board the ship: we had perplexed ourselves with various conjectures, which were all given up in their turn; but now we learnt, that on the 21st one of our officers, upon pretence of going out to fish, had rowed up to the Hippah, and that two or three canoes coming off towards his boat, his fears suggested that an attack was intended, in consequence of which three muskets were fired, one with small shot and two with ball, at the Indians, who retired with the utmost precipitation, having probably come out with friendly intentions; for such their behaviour both before and afterwards expressed; and having no reason to expect such treatment from people who had always behaved to them not only with humanity but kindness, and to whom they were not conscious of having given offence.

On the 25th, I made another excursion along the coast, in the pinnace, towards the mouth of the inlet, accompanied by Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, and going on shore at a little cove, to shoot shags, we fell in with a large family of Indians, whose custom it is to disperse themselves among the different creeks and coves, where fish is to be procured in the greatest plenty, leaving a few only in the hippah, to which the rest repair in times of danger. Some of these people came out a good way to meet us, and gave us an invitation to go with them to the rest of their party, which we readily accepted. We found a company of about thirty, men, women, and children, who received us with all possible demonstrations of friendship: we distributed among them a few ribands and beads, and, in return, received the kisses and embraces of both sexes, both young and old: they gave us also some fish, and after a little time we returned, much pleased with our new acquaintance.

In the morning of the 26th, I went again out in the boat, with Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, and entered one of the bays, which lie on the east side of the inlet, in order to get another sight of the streight, which passed between the eastern and western seas. For this purpose, having landed at a convenient place, we climbed a hill of a very considerable height, from which we had a full view of it, with the land on the opposite shore, which we judged to be about four leagues distant; but as it was hazy in the horizon, we could not see far to the south-east: I resolved, however, to search the passage with the ship, as soon as I should put to sea. Upon the top of this hill we found a parcel of loose stones, with which we erected a pyramid, and left in it some musket balls, small shot, beads, and other things, which we happened to have about us, that were likely to stand the test of time, and, not being of Indian workmanship, would convince any European who should come to the place and pull it down, that other natives of Europe had been there before him. When this was done, we descended the hill, and made a comfortable meal of the shags and fish which our guns and lines had procured us, and which were dressed by the boat’s crew in a place that we had appointed: in this place we found another Indian family, who received us, as usual, with strong expressions of kindness and pleasure, showing us where to procure water, and doing us such other good offices as were in their power. From this place we went to the town of which the Indians had told us, who visited us on the 19th; this, like that which we had seen before, was built upon a small island or rock, so difficult of access, that we gratified our curiosity at the risk of our necks. The Indians here also received us with open arms, carried us to every part of the place, and showed us all that it contained: this town, like the other, consisted of between eighty and an hundred houses, and had only one fighting-stage. We happened to have with us a few nails and ribands, and some paper, with which our guests were so gratified, that at our coming away they filled our boat with dried fish, of which we perceived they had laid up great quantities.

The 27th and 28th were spent in refitting the ship for the sea, fixing a transom for the tiller, getting stones on board to put into the bottom of the bread-room, to bring the ship more by the stern, in repairing the casks, and catching fish.

On the 29th, we received a visit from our old man, whose name we found to be TOPĀA, and three other natives, with whom Tupia had much conversation. The old man told us, that one of the men who had been fired upon by the officer who had visited their hippah, under pretence of fishing, was dead; but to my great comfort I afterwards discovered that this report was not true, and that if Topāa’s discourses were taken literally, they would frequently lead us into mistakes. Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander were several times on shore during the last two or three days, not without success, but greatly circumscribed in their walks, by climbers of a most luxuriant growth, which were so interwoven together as to fill up the space between the trees about which they grew, and render the woods altogether impassable. This day, also, I went on shore again myself, upon the western point of the inlet, and from a hill of considerable height I had a view of the coast to the N. W. The farthest land I could see in that quarter was an island which has been mentioned before, at the distance of about ten leagues, lying not far from the main: between this island and the place where I stood, I discovered, close under the shore, several other islands, forming many bays, in which there appeared to be good anchorage for shipping. After I had set off the different points for my survey, I erected another pile of stones, in which I left a piece of silver coin, with some musket balls and beads, and a piece of an old pendant flying on the top. In my return to the ship, I made a visit to several of the natives, whom I saw along the shore, and purchased a small quantity of fish.

On the 30th, early in the morning, I sent a boat to one of the islands for celery, and while the people were gathering it, about twenty of the natives, men, women, and children, landed near some empty huts: as soon as they were on shore, five or six of the women sat down upon the ground together, and began to cut their legs, arms, and faces, with shells, and sharp pieces of talc or jaspar, in a terrible manner. Our people understood that their husbands had lately been killed by their enemies: but, while they were performing this horrid ceremony, the men set about repairing the huts, with the utmost negligence and unconcern.

The carpenter having prepared two posts to be left as memorials of our having visited this place, I ordered them to be inscribed with the ship’s name, and the year and month: one of them I set up at the watering-place, hoisting the Union-flag upon the top of it; and the other I carried over to the island that lies nearest to the sea, called by the natives MOTUARA. I went first to the village or hippah, accompanied by Mr. Monkhouse and Tupia, where I met with our old man, and told him and several others, by means of Tupia, that we were come to set up a mark upon the island, in order to show to any other ship which should happen to come thither, that we had been there before. To this they readily consented, and promised that they never would pull it down: I then gave something to every one present; and to the old man I gave a silver three-pence, dated 1736, and some spike-nails, with the king’s broad arrow cut deep upon them; things which I thought most likely to remain long among them: I then took the post to the highest part of the island, and, after fixing it firmly in the ground, I hoisted upon it the Union-flag, and honoured this inlet with the name of QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND; at the same time taking formal possession of this and the adjacent country, in the name and for the use of his Majesty King George the Third. We then drank a bottle of wine to her Majesty’s health, and gave the bottle to the old man who had attended us up the hill, and who was mightily delighted with his present.

While the post was setting up, we enquired of the old man concerning the passage into the eastern sea, the existence of which he confirmed; and then asked him about the land to the S. W. of the streight, where we were then situated: this land, he said, consisted of two whennuas or islands, which may be circumnavigated in a few days, and which he called TOVY POENAMMOO: the literal translation of this word is, “the water of green talc;” and probably if we had understood him better, we should have found that Tovy Poenammoo was the name of some particular place where they got the green talc or stone of which they make their ornaments and tools, and not a general name for the whole southern district: he said there was also a third whennua, on the east side of the streight, the circumnavigation of which would take up many moons: this he called EAHEINOMAUWE; and to the land on the borders of the streight he gave the name of TIERA WITTE. Having set up our post, and procured this intelligence, we returned on board the ship, and brought the old man with us, who was attended by his canoe, in which, after dinner, he returned home.

On the 31st, having completed our wooding, and filled all our water-casks, I sent out two parties, one to cut and make brooms, and another to catch fish. In the evening we had a strong gale from the N. W., with such a heavy rain, that our little wild musicians on shore suspended their song, which till now we had constantly heard during the night, with a pleasure which it was impossible to lose without regret.

On the 1st, the gale increased to a storm, with heavy gusts from the high land, one of which broke the hawser that we had fastened to the shore, and obliged us to let go another anchor. Towards midnight, the gale became more moderate, but the rain continued with such violence, that the brook which had supplied us with water overflowed its banks, and carried away ten small casks which had been left there full of water, and, notwithstanding we searched the whole cove, we could never recover one of them.

On the 3d, as I intended to sail the first opportunity, I went over to the hippah on the east side of the Sound, and purchased a considerable quantity of split and half-dried fish, for sea-stores. The people here confirmed all that the old man had told us concerning the streight and the country, and about noon I took leave of them: some of them seemed to be sorry, and others glad, that we were going: the fish which I had bought they sold freely, but there were some who showed manifest signs of disapprobation. As we returned to the ship, some of us made an excursion along the shore to the northward, to traffic with the natives for a farther supply of fish; in which, however, they had no great success. In the evening we got every thing off from the shore, as I intended to sail in the morning, but the wind would not permit.

On the 4th, while we were waiting for a wind, we amused ourselves by fishing, and gathering shells and seeds of various kinds; and early in the morning of the 5th, we cast off the hawser, hove short on the bower, and carried the kedge-anchor out, in order to warp the ship out of the cove, which having done, about two o’clock in the afternoon, we hove up the anchor and got under sail; but the wind soon failing, we were obliged to come to an anchor again a little above Motuara. When we were under sail, our old man, Topāa, came on board to take his leave of us; and as we were still desirous of making farther enquiries whether any memory of Tasman had been preserved among these people, Tupia was directed to ask him whether he had ever heard that such a vessel as ours had before visited the country. To this he replied in the negative; but said that his ancestors had told him there had once come to this place a small vessel, from a distant country, called ULIMAROA, in which were four men, who, upon their coming on shore, were all killed: upon being asked where this distant land lay, he pointed to the northward. Of Ulimaroa we had heard something before, from the people about the Bay of Islands, who said that their ancestors had visited it; and Tupia had also talked to us of Ulimaroa, concerning which he had some confused traditionary notions, not very different from those of our old man, so that we could draw no certain conclusion from the accounts of either.

Soon after the ship came to an anchor the second time, Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander went on shore, to see if any gleanings of natural knowledge remained; and by accident fell in with the most agreeable Indian family they had seen, which afforded them a better opportunity of remarking the personal subordination among these people than had before offered. The principal persons were a widow, and a pretty boy about ten years old: the widow was mourning for her husband with tears of blood, according to their custom, and the child, by the death of its father, was become proprietor of the land where we had cut our wood. The mother and the son were sitting upon mats, and the rest of the family, to the number of sixteen or seventeen, of both sexes, sat round them in the open air, for they did not appear to have any house, or other shelter from the weather, the inclemencies of which custom has probably enabled them to endure without any lasting inconvenience. Their whole behaviour was affable, obliging, and unsuspicious: they presented each person with fish, and a brand of fire to dress it, and pressed them many times to stay till the morning, which they would certainly have done if they had not expected the ship to sail, greatly regretting that they had not become acquainted with them sooner, as they made no doubt but that more knowledge of the manners and disposition of the inhabitants of this country would have been obtained from them in a day than they had yet been able to acquire during our whole stay upon the coast.

On the 6th, about six o’clock in the morning, a light breeze sprung up at north, and we again got under sail; but the wind proving variable, we reached no farther than just without Motuara; in the afternoon, however, a more steady gale at N. by W. set us clear of the Sound, which I shall now describe.

The entrance of Queen Charlotte’s Sound is situated in latitude 41° S., longitude 184° 45ʹ W., and near the middle of the south-west side of the streight in which it lies. The land of the south-east head of the Sound, called by the natives KOAMAROO, off which lie two small islands and some rocks, makes the narrowest part of the streight. From the north-west head a reef of rocks runs out about two miles, in the direction of N. E. by N.; part of which is above the water, and part below. By this account of the heads, the Sound will be sufficiently known: at the entrance it is three leagues broad, and lies in S. W. by S. S. W. and W. S. W. at least ten leagues, and is a collection of some of the finest harbours in the world, as will appear from the plan, which is laid down with all the accuracy that time and circumstances would admit. The land forming the harbour or cove in which we lay, is called by the natives TOTARRANUE: the harbour itself, which I called SHIP COVE, is not inferior to any in the Sound, either for convenience or safety: it lies on the west side of the Sound, and is the southernmost of three coves, that are situated within the island of Motuara, which bears east of it. Ship Cove may be entered, either between Motuara and a long island, called by the natives HAMOTE, or between Motuara and the western shore. In the last of these channels are two ledges of rocks, three fathom under water, which may easily be known by the sea-weed that grows upon them. In sailing either in or out of the Sound, with little wind, attention must be had to the tides, which flow about nine or ten o’clock at the full and change of the moon, and rise and fall between seven and eight feet perpendicularly. The flood comes in through the streight from the S. E. and sets strongly over upon the north-west head, and the reef that lies off it: the ebb sets with still greater rapidity to the S. E. over upon the rocks and islands that lie off the south-east head. The variation of the compass we found, from good observation, to be 13° 5ʹ E.

The land about this Sound, which is of such a height that we saw it at the distance of twenty-leagues, consists wholly of high hills and deep valleys, well stored with a variety of excellent timber, fit for all purposes except masts, for which it is too hard and heavy. The sea abounds with a variety of fish, so that, without going out of the cove where we lay, we caught every day, with the seine and hooks and lines, a quantity sufficient to serve the whole ship’s company; and along the shore we found plenty of shags, and a few other species of wild-fowl, which those who have long lived upon salt provisions will not think despicable food.

The number of inhabitants scarcely exceeds four hundred, and they live dispersed along the shores, where their food, consisting of fish and fern roots, is most easily procured; for we saw no cultivated ground. Upon any appearance of danger, they retire to their hippahs, or forts: in this situation we found them, and in this situation they continued for some time after our arrival. In comparison of the inhabitants of other parts of this country, they are poor, and their canoes are without ornament: the little traffic we had with them was wholly for fish; and indeed they had scarcely any thing else to dispose of. They seemed, however, to have some knowledge of iron, which the inhabitants of some other parts had not; for they willingly took nails for their fish, and sometimes seemed to prefer it to every thing else that we could offer, which had not always been the case. They were at first very fond of paper; but when they found that it was spoiled by being wet, they would not take it: neither did they set much value upon the cloth of Otaheite; but English broad cloth and red kersey were in high estimation; which showed that they had sense enough to appreciate the commodities which we offered by their use, which is more than could be said of some of their neighbours, who made a much better appearance. Their dress has been mentioned already, particularly their large round head-dresses of feathers, which were far from being unbecoming.

As soon as we got out of the Sound, I stood over to the eastward, in order to get the streight well open before the tide of ebb came on. At seven in the evening, the two small islands which lie off Cape Koamaroo, the south-east head of Queen Charlotte’s Sound, bore east, distant about four miles: at this time it was nearly calm, and the tide of ebb setting out, we were, in a very short time, carried by the rapidity of the stream close upon one of the islands, which was a rock rising almost perpendicularly out of the sea: we perceived our danger increase every moment, and had but one expedient to prevent our being dashed to pieces, the success of which a few minutes would determine. We were now within little more than a cable’s length of the rock, and had more than seventy-five fathom water; but upon dropping an anchor, and veering about one hundred and fifty fathom of cable, the ship was happily brought up: this, however, would not have saved us, if the tide which set S. by E. had not, upon meeting with the island, changed its direction to S. E. and carried us beyond the first point. In this situation, we were not above two cables’ length from the rocks; and here we remained in the strength of the tide, which set to the S. E. after the rate of at least five miles an hour, from a little after seven till near midnight, when the tide abated, and we began to heave. By three in the morning the anchor was at the bows, and having a light breeze at N. W. we made sail for the eastern shore; but the tide being against us, we made but little way: the wind, however, afterwards freshened, and came to N. and N. E. with which, and the tide of ebb, we were in a short time hurried through the narrowest part of the streight, and then stood away for the southernmost land we had in sight, which bore from us S. by W. Over this land appeared a mountain of stupendous height, which was covered with snow.

The narrowest part of the streight, through which we had been driven with such rapidity, lies between Cape Tierawitte, on the coast of Eaheinomauwe, and Cape Koamaroo: the distance between them I judged to be between four or five leagues, and, notwithstanding the tide, now its strength is known, may be passed without much danger. It is, however, safest to keep on the north-east shore, for on that side there appeared to be nothing to fear; but on the other shore there are not only the islands and rocks which lie off Cape Koamaroo, but a reef of rocks stretching from these islands six or seven miles to the southward, at the distance of two or three miles from the shore, which I had discovered from the hill when I took my second view of the streight from the east to the western sea. The length of the streight we had passed, I shall not pretend to assign, but some judgment may be formed of it from a view of the chart.

About nine leagues north from Cape Tierawitte, and under the same shore, is a high and remarkable island which may be distinctly seen from Queen Charlotte’s Sound, from which it is distant about six or seven leagues. This island, which was noticed when we passed it on the 14th of January, I have called ENTRY ISLE.

On the east side of Cape Tierawitte, the land trends away S. E. by E. about eight leagues, where it ends in a point, and is the southernmost land on Eaheinomauwe. To this point I have given the name of CAPE PALLISER, in honour of my worthy friend Captain Palliser. It lies in latitude 41° 34ʹ S., longitude 183° 58ʹ W., and bore from us this day at noon S. 79 E. distant about thirteen leagues, the ship being then in the latitude of 41° 27ʹ S.; Koamaroo at the same time bearing N. ½ E. distant seven or eight leagues. The southernmost land in sight bore S. 16 W. and the snowy mountain S. W. At this time we were about three leagues from the shore, and abreast of a deep bay or inlet, to which I gave the name of CLOUDY BAY, and at the bottom of which there appeared low land covered with tall trees.

At three o’clock in the afternoon we were abreast of the southernmost point of land that we had seen at noon, which I called CAPE CAMPBELL: it lies S. by W. distant between twelve and thirteen leagues from Cape Koamaroo, in latitude 41° 44ʹ S., longitude 183° 45ʹ W.; and with Cape Palliser forms the southern entrance of the straight, the distance between them being between thirteen and fourteen leagues W. by S. and E. by N.

From this Cape we steered along the shore S. W. by S. till eight o’clock in the evening, when the wind died away. About half an hour afterwards, however, afresh breeze sprung up at S. W., and I put the ship right before it. My reason for this was a notion which some of the officers had just started, that Eaheinomauwe was not an island, and that the land might stretch away to the S. E. from between Cape Turnagain and Cape Palliser, there being a space of between twelve and fifteen leagues that we had not seen. I had, indeed, the strongest conviction that they were mistaken, not only from what I had seen the first time I discovered the straight, but from many other concurrent testimonies, that the land in question was an island; but being resolved to leave no possibility of doubt with respect to an object of such importance, I took the opportunity of the wind’s shifting, to stand eastward, and accordingly steered N. E. by E. all the night. At nine o’clock in the morning we were abreast of Cape Palliser, and found the land trend away N. E. towards Cape Turnagain, which I reckoned to be distant about twenty-six leagues: however, as the weather was hazy, so as to prevent our seeing above four or five leagues, I still kept standing to the N. E. with a light breeze at south; and at noon Cape Palliser bore N. 72 W. distant about three leagues.

About three o’clock in the afternoon three canoes came up to the ship with between thirty and forty people on board, who had been pulling after us with great labour and perseverance for some time: they appeared to be more cleanly, and a better class, than any we had met with since we left the Bay of Islands; and their canoes were also distinguished by the same ornaments which we had seen upon the northernly part of the coast. They came on board with very little invitation; and their behaviour was courteous and friendly. Upon receiving presents from us, they made us presents in return, which had not been done by any of the natives that we had seen before. We soon perceived that our guests had heard of us, for as soon as they came on board, they asked for _Whow_, the name by which nails were known among the people with whom we had trafficked: but though they had heard of nails, it was plain they had seen none; for when nails were given them, they asked Tupia what they were. The term _Whow_, indeed, conveyed to them the idea not of their quality, but only of their use; for it is the same by which they distinguish a tool, commonly made of bone, which they use both as an auger and a chisel. However, their knowing that we had _whow_ to sell, was a proof that their connections extended as far north as Cape Kidnappers, which was distant no less than forty-five leagues; for that was the southernmost place on this side the coast where we had had any traffic with the natives. It is also probable, that the little knowledge which the inhabitants of Queen Charlotte’s Sound had of iron, they obtained from their neighbours at Tierawitte; for we had no reason to think that the inhabitants of any part of this coast had the least knowledge of iron or its use before we came among them, especially as, when it was first offered, they seemed to disregard it as of no value. We thought it probable, that we were now once more in the territories of Teratu; but upon enquiring of these people, they said that he was not their king. After a short time, they went away, much gratified with the presents that we had made them; and we pursued our course along the shore to the N. E. till eleven o’clock the next morning. About this time, the weather happening to clear up, we saw Cape Turnagain, bearing N. by E. ½ E. at the distance of about seven leagues: I then called the officers upon deck, and asked them, whether they were not now satisfied that Eahienomauwe was an island: they readily answered in the affirmative; and all doubts being now removed, we hauled our wind to the eastward.

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

Printed by A. and R. Spottiswoode, Printers-Street, London.

Footnote 1:

The celebrated navigator who discovered this streight was a native of Portugal, and his name, in the language of his country, was _Fernando de Magalhaens_; the Spaniards call him _Hernando Magalhanes_, and the French _Magellan_, which is the orthography that has been generally adopted: a gentleman, the fifth in descent from this great adventurer, is now living in or near London, and communicated the true name of his ancestor to Mr. Banks, with a request that it might be inserted in this work.

Transcriber’s Note

This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were retained in the ebook version. Some corrections have been made to the text, including such as normalizing punctuation. Further corrections are noted below:

p. 9: appearance; the the sides -> appearance; the sides p. 26: whereever I went -> wherever I went p. 29: some doubs whether -> some doubts whether p. 36: as to to declare -> as to declare Caption to illustration facing p. 84: Otahiete -> Otaheite p. 174: by a a succession -> by a succession p. 178: tellting us, that they -> telling us, that they p. 190: not sraight lines -> not straight lines p. 200: sucks it into his month -> sucks it into his mouth p. 222: inhabiants of Otaheite -> inhabitants of Otaheite p. 240: the cermony of lowering -> the ceremony of lowering p. 240: to day -> to-day p. 279: for our our landing -> for our landing p. 295: wind being right an end -> wind being right on end p. 309: the sun’s meridan -> the sun’s meridian p. 310: their is no quarter -> there is no quarter p. 316: lobsters and muscles -> lobsters and mussels p. 320: the nothernmost of the Court -> the northernmost of the Court p. 333: the botton to the top -> the bottom to the top p. 361: discovered by Tafman -> discovered by Tasman p. 365: by obervation -> by observation p. 380: continued to folllow -> continued to follow p. 397: they aked for -> they asked for