The American Encyclopedia of History, Biography and Travel / Comprising Ancient and Modern History: the Biography of Eminent Men of Europe and America, and the Lives of Distinguished Travelers.

by Thomas H. Prescott

DEPARTMENT OF TRAVEL.

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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NAVAL ARCHITECTURE.

From the semi-barbarous epoch of the middle ages to the present century, which has seen the birth of steam navigation, the form and rig of vessels have undergone many modifications. We are about to give a rapid historical sketch of these, quoting, as far as possible, those types of naval architecture celebrated in preceding centuries. Still, we are hardly permitted to go back farther than the ninth century, where we find some certain ideas respecting the Scandinavian vessels. Before this period all is confusion, and leaves us full of uncertainty. We know well that the ancient Trireme gave birth to a sort of row-galleys known in the fifth century by the name of Dromons; but we have no positive details respecting the precise form of these vessels. In the sixth century, the Emperor Maurice, in a treatise on the military art, spoke of them as vessels particularly contrived for battle. Three hundred years later, the Emperor Leo, who wrote on the same subject, said that the dromon was long, and broad in proportion to its length, and that it carried on each side two banks of oars, one above the other, of twenty-five each; but nothing further to enlighten us. As for the Norman vessels from the ninth to the twelfth century, we know the drakar (dragon), which was as much of a dragon as the ancient Pristis was a whale—​that is to say, that at the summit of her prow rose a figure carved into a dragon, and that her form had something that resembled a serpent. All of the dragons were not of the same size. The dragon of Alaf Tryggrasson is spoken of in cotemporary histories as the giant of Scandinavian vessels.

1. Tenth Century.—A Norman Vessel.

2. Twelfth Century.—Galley, three rowers to Bench.

Never was one seen larger, finer, or more imposing in bulk and decoration. She had thirty-four oars on each side. If the tradition is accurate, she must have been as long as the galleys of the sixteenth century. It was, it will be seen, a vessel of considerable importance; for galleys with twenty-six oars only were about one hundred and thirty feet long. The dragons were built to resist a sea more stormy than the Mediterranean. Consequently they had broad sides and a vast stern, so as to have a firm seat on the water. They were flatbottomed, and drew very little water. Besides the draker, the Scandinavians had the sekkar, or serpent vessel, which had twenty benches of rowers. Its form differed little from that of the dragon. It was only shorter, shallower and narrower. All Norman vessels were alike in bow and stern. But some war vessels had a little building on the poop called the castle. This castle was a little embattled platform, where the archers and slingers were placed. It would be difficult to tell precisely what the internal arrangements of the Scandinavian vessels were. The smallest were not probably decked. As for the larger ones, they doubtless had a deck like the galleys; and beneath this deck a hold, apportioned according to their wants, to rooms, magazines and stables for their horses. The Scandinavian vessels had only one mast, with a vane and four or five shrouds. The sail was square, attached to a yard, furnished with sheets at its lower angles, and managed by two braces that belayed aft. The yard had a halyard passing through a block at the mast head. As for the rudder, it consisted of two blades, large, crutchhandled oars, near the stern, on the right, and also left of the vessel. The anchors of the Normans were like oars, but they did not have that cross-bar of wood we call the stock. In the twelfth century we see the galleys, according to Wenesalf, which were only little light dromons, built particularly for speed, and having only one tier of oars. The following is a textual passage from this writer relating to them:—​‘What the ancients called liburnus, the moderns have named galley. It is a ship of no great depth, armed at the prow with a motionless piece of wood, vulgarly called calcar (spur), an instrument with which the galley pierces the enemy’s ships that she strikes.’ A diminutive of the galley was the galleon, which, being shorter and swifter, was better suited for discharging the Greek fire. For the rest, starting from this invention, the action of the shock of the calcar was by degrees replaced by the hand to hand struggle.

3. Thirteenth Century.—​Ship of St. Louis.

4. Thirteenth Century.—​A Galley.

5. Fifteenth Century.—​Ships of Christopher Columbus.

6. Fifteenth Century.—​A Carrack.

Among the galleys, which afterwards gave birth to the galea grossa, in assuming more capacity and more amplitude, some were manœuvred by two oars to the bench, others three. It is even certain that, at a later period, in the sixteenth century, the strongest ones had as many as five oars, which appears incredible. The galleys possessed only one mast, which was stepped rather forward—​that is, in the first third of the vessel. In the thirteenth century, the fleet which St. Louis took with him towards the Holy Land, gives proof of the thorough modifications which naval structures have undergone. St. Louis could only collect the eighteen hundred vessels which composed his fleet, without recourse to the marine of neighboring states—​Genoa and Venice among others. Now, the contracts for hire he exchanged with Venice for many vessels, give us information with respect to one called the St. Mary, represented in the engraving. This vessel had two decks and two masts. It possessed two poops, placed above each other, two platforms, an upper deck, and a fighting gallery of four or five feet overhanging the poop. This ship, manned by one hundred and ten sailors, was one hundred feet long. The same contracts give us also information concerning another vessel, called the Rochefort. Although not so long as the St. Mary, she was stronger and broader. She had two rudders; one to starboard, and the other to larboard. Her sparring consisted, also, of two masts; one at the prow, and the other amidships. The mainmast was smaller and lower than the foremast. It had only twenty-six braces, while the other had twenty-eight. The sails of almost all the fleet were of cotton. All the sails were rectangular triangles with the hypothenuse attached to the yard, and were called antennal. Still, it is proper to mention the assertion of some authors, that the sails of St. Louis’ vessels were square. Their assertions were only founded on the form and dimensions of the yards, which all the documents of the time represent as very long and slung by the middle. We ought to observe that, in speaking of the St. Mary and the Rochefort, Venetian ships, we have indirectly spoken of naval constructions coming from the ports of France and those of other European countries. At this period, all vessels, Genoese, Castilian, French, etc., resembled each other; and to be acquainted with one was to know all. The galleys of the thirteenth century were thus somewhat changed. Lighter, sharper than those of the preceding century, in the fourteenth, the kind called ‘subtle galleys,’ were observed to preponderate. These galleys, extremely light and swift, were furnished on each side with from twenty-four to twenty-six oars, and might have been from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty feet in length. Still, in the fourteenth century, and even in the fifteenth and sixteenth, the most celebrated ships were the carracks. Their tonnage may be estimated by their cargoes, which sometimes amounted to fourteen hundred casks.

7. Sixteenth Century.—​Venetian Galeass.

8. Seventeenth Century.—​The Great Harry.

9. Seventeenth Century.—​Store Ship.

10. Seventeenth Century.—​A Galley.

11. Seventeenth Century.—​The Galeass.

12. Seventeenth Century.—​The Sovereign of the Seas.

13. Seventeenth Century.—​The Royal Sun.

14. Seventeenth Century.—​Sea-Going Craft.

15. Seventeenth Century.—​Mediterranean Craft.

16. Seventeenth Century.—​Long Barque.

17. Seventeenth Century.—​Ocean, Line of Battle Ship.

In 1359, the Castilians took a Venetian carrack, which had three ‘covers’ (decks), and must consequently have been as high as the great storeships of the seventeenth century. In 1545, a French carrack, the Carraquon, which passed for the finest ship and fastest sailer of the western ocean, was of eight hundred tons burthen, and had one hundred pieces of artillery of all calibers for armament. The carracks of the fourteenth century had only two masts; in the fifteenth, they took three, and afterwards four. At first three-decked, they finally reached as high as seven decks. The poop and prow were the height of three or four men above the deck, and looked like castles raised at each of the extremities. The castles mounted each from thirty-five to forty guns. In the galleys, the employment of fire-arms did not effect material changes; the prow alone, somewhat shortened, was armed with a gun mounted on a mass of wood destined for its recoil, and extending amidships through the whole length of the vessel. This piece of wood was called the coursie, and the gun placed upon it the courser. At the sides, upright carriages supported a few falconets and other pieces of small ordnance. The galeass, originating in the galea grossa, as the latter did in the galley, carried, as well as the carrack and other ships, a castle at the bow and a castle at the stern. In the former, there were twelve guns in three tiers; in the latter, ten only in two tiers. She had thirty-two benches of rowers, and between each of her benches rose a swivel on a point. This, it will be perceived, was a formidable armament. The galeass had three masts and lateen sails. The Venetians made great use of this vessel. Their famous Bucentaur belonged to this class. At the end of the fifteenth century, when Christopher Columbus armed his vessels at Palos, he formed his little flotilla exclusively of caravels. Now, this name of caravel, which in the outset belonged only to a common barque, was at this time borne by a vessel of considerable, but not extraordinary size. The caravel had four masts; the forward one with a square sail surmounted by a topsail, the three others each carrying a lateen sail. These sails enabled the caravel to manœuvre well, and she was as prompt to handle as the French tartane, much renowned at that epoch. She came about as quickly as if she had been a row-boat. She had but one deck, and very little carrying capacity. Still, if the caravels of Christopher Columbus were smaller than those of a later period, at the close of the sixteenth century, they were large enough to contain ninety seamen and the provision necessary for a long voyage. The flag ship of Columbus was called the Santa Maria; the two other, La Pinta and La Nina. A passage in the journal of Columbus himself, gives a detail of the canvass of the Santa Maria. ‘The wind,’ says he, ‘became mild and manageable, and I set all the sails of the vessel—​the mainsail with the two studding sails, the foresail, the spritsail, the mizzen and the topsail.’ The caravels then had, like all the great vessels of the period, a castle at the bow and a castle at the stern. They made, on an average, six knots an hour. Columbus was only thirty-five days in going from Palos to San Salvador—​an ordinary passage even in these days of quick sailing. The sixteenth century was an epoch of progress for the marine; England particularly gave it the onward impulse. Meanwhile, an important invention, that of gun-ports, was due to a Frenchman, of Brest, named Descharges. The system then adopted for the arrangement of batteries has never since been changed, and exists to the present time. Historians and antiquaries have taken great pains to arrive at a knowledge of the forms of ships of war at this period. The documents written and drawn are, some so confused, others so deficient in proportion and perspective, that it is difficult to understand them.

Still, as some authentic details respecting the Great Harry are known, this ship may serve to give an idea of the navy of the sixteenth century; and we have accordingly presented our readers with an engraving of this formidable vessel. Up to the seventeenth century, one model seems to have prevailed in all naval constructions. The Spaniards and the Portuguese followed the example of the Venetians; the Dutch and the northern nations derived their nautical knowledge from the same sources; the English themselves, so jealous of their naval supremacy, received their lessons in improving and strengthening their embarkations from Italian masters. They were accustomed to place at the extremity of the prow a sculptured figure, which served to distinguish the vessels of one nation from another. The Venetians adopted a bust from preference; the Spaniards, a lion; the English, especially after the accession of the Stuarts, the figures of the reigning monarch, either on horseback, or riding on a lion. The stern, above the cabin windows, presented a plane surface or tablet, with apertures for light and air, starboard and larboard. On Venetian, Spanish and Portuguese stern some saint or hero was placed. Other nations had only the arms of their respective states. Before the end of the sixteenth century, some Portuguese and Spanish vessels carried as many as eighty guns mounted on carriages. At this period, the strongest vessel of the English navy carried but fifty guns or pieces deserving that name. The ‘Sovereign of the Seas,’ built in 1637, at Woolwich, Kent, ‘to the great glory of His Britannic Majesty,’ as a cotemporary description we have before us declares, was decorated in a style of regal magnificence. On her bow was king Edgar, on horseback, trampling on seven kings; on the stern, a cupid on a lion; and grouped together, at the bow, six statues, representing Counsel, Prudence, Perseverance, Strength, Courage and Victory. On the quarter-deck, four figures, with their attributes, Jupiter, with his eagle, Mars, with sword and shield, Neptune, with his sea-horse, and Eolus on a cameleon. On the stern, a Victory displayed her wings, and bore a scroll with this device: Validis incumbite remis. This vessel had two galleries on each side. These galleries, as well as the whole vessel, were covered with trophies, emblems and scutcheons, of all kinds. Her length from stem to stern was 232 feet. She carried five lanterns, one of which, the largest, could contain ten persons, standing, with ease. She had three decks running from stem to stern, a forecastle-deck, a half-deck, a quarter-deck, and a poop-deck. Her armament was as follows: thirty ports, with large and small guns, in the lower battery; thirty ports, with culverins, in the second battery; twelve ports in the forecastle, and fourteen on the half-deck; finally, thirteen or fourteen swivels, a multitude of port-holes for musketry, ten bow-chasers, and as many stern-chasers. There were twelve anchors. ‘The Sovereign of the Seas,’ says Charnock, ‘was the first large vessel constructed in England. Splendor and magnificence were particularly kept in view in building her. She was in some sort the occasion of the serious complaints made of the expenses of the navy in the reign of Charles I. Cut down one deck, she became one of the best ships of war in the whole world.’ It is certain that the suppression of this deck, and the lowering of her deck-cabin, gave her more stability than she had at first. Now, for speed, what she gained in strength by these changes was compensated by the length added to her masts. Topsails at this period were an important addition to ships. Old engravings show us the vessels of the sixteenth century sailing generally under their courses. After the building of the Sovereign of the Seas, this only occurred in particular cases and certain conditions of the elements. Captain Phineas Pett directed the work of building and afterwards improving the Sovereign of the Seas. A learned engineer, he deserves the credit of having done more than any one else to give an impulse to the English navy. The artillery was strengthened, and the crews larger, and better lodged. The entire navy felt this progress. The Sovereign of the Seas gauged 1637 tons, a thing which, according to a historian of the time, deserved the attention of the whole world, since it represented exactly the date of her launch. Notwithstanding the thrice-fortunate augury which the historian saw in this coïncidence, the Sovereign of the Seas met with the fate of the Great Harry. She was destroyed, like the latter, by fire, in a ship-yard, where she was being repaired, in 1696, after sixty years’ service. Observe here that Fuller, in his history of the ‘Wonders of England,’ acknowledges that at the commencement of the seventeenth century, the Dunkirkers furnished the models of the best vessels built at this period in the British ports.

When Louis XIV became king of France, there was no French navy, properly speaking. Voltaire asserts that in 1664 a few frigates and a line-of-battle ship, in poor condition, constituted the entire force. After the siege of La Rochelle, Richelieu, jealous of the growth of the English navy, had given a sort of impulse to naval ideas by arming immediately fifty ships and twenty galleys; but the effect of this impulse was merely momentary. Colbert was the true creator of the French navy. Under him, in less than five years, France possessed a triumphant maritime force. The most renowned of the French ships at this period was the Royal Sun. This vessel was constructed partly on French, and partly on Dutch principles. She was 1600 tons, 150 feet long, 48 broad, and 16 deep. She carried three lanterns on the poop. As the flag-ship, she carried at the main the white standard, embroidered with the fleurs-de-lys, and the French coat of arms surrounded the orders of St. Michael and the Holy Ghost. The decorations of the Royal Sun surpassed everything before or since. A model of this ship is contained in the naval museum of the Louvre, at Paris. The Royal Sun mounted 120 guns in three batteries complete, with stern and bow guns.

The seventeenth century was perhaps the most brilliant period in the history of galleys. Those of France were commanded by a general. There were two kinds of them, the ordinary and the extraordinary. The ordinary had only twenty-six oars, and twenty-six benches on each side; the extraordinary had often thirty-two. There was no difference of model between them, their dissimilarity only resulting from their relative sizes. All were extremely long, low and narrow. They carried only two masts and lateen sails. The armament consisted of five guns forward and two swivels. These swivels were attached to the sides of the galley to prevent the recoil. There were generally at least five rowers to each oar, the oars being very long and very heavy. Between the rowers’ benches and the sides of the ship there was a space where the soldiers were stationed. Soldiers to fight, sailors to manœuvre, and a gang composed of galley-slaves, or Turkish prisoners, made up the crews of the galleys.

Naval architecture, in the course of the eighteenth century, advanced in model, sparring and rigging of vessels. Two deckers with fifty guns were superseded by frigates carrying the same number of pieces in one battery. The following were the dimensions generally adopted for the different classes of vessels: For first class vessels, one hundred and sixty four to one hundred and eighty-six feet in length, forty-seven to fifty feet in breadth, twenty-three to twenty-five feet in depth; for second class vessels, one hundred and fifty-six to one hundred and seventy in length, forty-three to forty-seven in breadth, twenty and a half to twenty-three in depth; for third class vessels one hundred and fifty to one hundred and sixty in length, forty-two to forty-three in breadth, twenty to twenty and a-half in depth; for fourth class vessels, one hundred and thirty-five to one hundred and fifty in length, thirty-five to forty in breadth, seventeen to twenty in depth; for fifth class vessels, one hundred and two to one hundred and thirty in length, thirty-three to thirty-four in breadth, thirteen to seventeen in depth; for sixth class vessels, sixty to seventy in length, eighteen to twenty in breadth, nine to ten in depth. Among the considerable changes in construction, the first that strikes the eye is the enormous augmentation of canvas. Never did ships carry so much sail.

At the same time that ships of fifty guns became frigates, in their turn the light frigates—​those, for instance, which carried from ten to twenty pieces of artillery—​formed a new class of vessels, under the name of corvettes. The corvettes, at the beginning, had three masts, and their guns under cover. Afterwards, to increase their speed, they carried all their artillery on the upper deck. Later year, the mizzen-mast was abandoned in the smallest. This kind of corvette gave place to the brig-of-war. The bomb-galliot became a bomb-ketch, a sort of three-masted corvette, with platforms between the main and mizzen, and the main and fore masts. Yachts, galliots, gun-boats, armed some with a few light pieces, others with one heavy gun, complete the series of naval forces in use at the eighteenth century, except a few varieties peculiar to different seas and coasts. As for the fire-ship of the first part of the century, no mention is made of it at the close; and if, since that time, certain infernal machines, more or less closely fashioned after the fire-ships, have made their appearance, they have only proved unfortunate attempts, and not answered the expectations of their contrivers. The Turks alone preserved these old warlike contrivances up to the present time; and Navarino offered us, for the last time, the spectacle of a ship—​the Scipio—​engaged with a fire-ship. Like the fire-ship, the ancient galley disappeared with the eighteenth century. In the Mediterranean, the three-masted barque has become the xebeck; and we find, under the same appearance, all the embarkations spoken of in the preceding ages. The lateen vessels are those the least changed in appearance, because, from the simplicity of their rig, they sooner reached a stage bordering on perfection.

The ship Ocean, represented in engraving [a](17)], is an excellent specimen of the science of the eighteenth century. Presented to Louis XIV, by the estates of Burgundy, nothing was spared to make the frigate worthy of its destiny. Built in 1760, it was modernized, and is still in existence.

EARLY MARITIME DISCOVERIES.

The Portuguese were among the first to signalize themselves in the career of geographical discovery. At the beginning of the fifteenth century, Prince Henry, son of John I, was at the head of the marine of Portugal. Under his immediate direction, several voyages were undertaken to the coast of Africa; in one of which the voyagers were driven by a storm out of their usual course along shore, and for the first time the terrified mariners found themselves in the boundless ocean. When the storm abated, they were in sight of an island, to which, in their thankfulness to Heaven for the succor it afforded, they gave the name of Puerto Sancto, or the Holy Haven—​the least of the Madeiras. The voyages of the Portuguese now succeeded each other rapidly; and other navigators of this nation, either grown bolder, or again driven off the coast, discovered the Azores. In 1433, the Portuguese passed Cape Nun, hitherto the limit of their courses, and arrived at a cape, which presenting a frightful barrier to the still timid seamen, in the terrible surf that broke on the shoals near it, they named Bojador, signifying its projection into the sea and the consequent circuit it required to double it.

In succeeding expeditions, Cape Verd was reached, and the Senegal arrived at, and Lisbon saw with astonishment a different race from the Moors. Cape Mesurado was the limit of the Portuguese discoveries at the death of Prince Henry in 1463, which damping the ardor of discovery, it was not until 1471 that the Equator was crossed, and the islands in the gulf of Guinea were discovered.

The terrors of the burning zone, and the belief of the union of Africa and Asia being dissipated by these successive voyages, the passage to India round Africa was no longer deemed impossible, and a fleet was fitted out under Bartholomew Diaz for the express purpose of attempting it. The captain coasted Africa to within sight of its southern point, to which he gave the name of Cape of all Torments, from the violent storms he experienced off it, and which, as well as the want of provisions, obliged him to return to Lisbon, after an absence of sixteen months. The name of the Cape of all Torments was changed by the king to that of Good Hope, from the prospect it afforded of accomplishing the passage to India.

Ten years however elapsed after the discovery of the Cape before this passage was attempted; and Vasco de Gama had the honor of doubling the promontory the 20th of November, 1497. Sailing along the coast of Africa, he passed through the Mozambique Channel to Mombaz and thence to Melinda, where he procured pilots, and crossing the Arabian sea, arrived at Callicut the 22d of May, 1498. It is thought that the ridiculous ceremony of ducking, etc., on crossing the line, was first practiced in this voyage.

CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS.

Christopher Columbo or Colon, better known by his Latinized name of Columbus, was born at Genoa about the year 1436. His father was a woolcomber, in not very affluent circumstances; although connected, according to some accounts, with persons of superior rank. Columbus was the eldest of a family of four. His two brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, will afterwards be mentioned in connection with his discoveries; his sister married an obscure person of the name of Bavarello.

Of the early life of Columbus very little is known. Considering the habits of the age, and the condition of his parents, he appears to have received a good education. While yet a mere child, he learned reading, writing, and arithmetic; he was also such a proficient in drawing and painting, that according to one of his biographers, he could have earned a livelihood by them. At an early age he went to the university of Padua, in Lombardy, then a celebrated school of learning. Here he acquired the Latin language, and devoted himself with zeal to the study of mathematics in all its branches, especially those connected with geography and navigation, towards which he seems to have been drawn from the first by an irresistible propensity. His stay at Padua connot have been long; for in his fourteenth year he returned to his father’s house in Genoa, where he is said to have pursued for some time the occupation of woolcombing. This, however, was far from his taste; and he made choice of the seafaring profession. Genoa being at that time one of the greatest commercial cities in the world, the enthusiasm for maritime enterprise was universal amongst its inhabitants. A historian of the period speaks of the proneness of the Genoese youth to wander through the world in quest of riches, which they intended to return and spend in their native city: few, however, he says, were able to carry their intention into effect—​not one in ten of those who left Genoa ever revisiting it. Of these adventurous youths, whose ambition to be sailors was nursed by the sight of the merchant-vessels landing their rich freights on the quays of Genoa, Columbus was one; and, as we have already seen, his education was suitable for the mode of life he had chosen.

At fourteen years of age Columbus left Genoa in the humble capacity of a sailor boy on board a Mediterranean trader; and for many years, at first as a common sailor, and latterly as master of a vessel, he appears to have sailed along the Mediterranean from the Levant to Gibraltar, possibly also undertaking an occasional voyage to some of the northern countries of Europe, with which the Genoese merchants may have had dealings. In this undistinguished course of life he passed his youth; and he does not come prominently into notice till he settled in Lisbon in 1470, when he was thirty-four years of age. At this period he is described as being above the middle size, and of strong muscular frame. His visage was long; his nose aquiline; his eyes of a bluish gray; his complexion fair, but somewhat inflamed. His hair in youth was reddish, but before he was thirty years of age it had turned quite white. His habits were simple; his manners grave and affable; his temper, which was naturally irritable, he had subdued by the force of his will; and in his attention to the observances of religion, he was devout and enthusiastic. His acquirements were far beyond what might have been expected in one whose life had been spent at sea. Besides being a skillful navigator, he was well-informed in astronomy, geography, and all the general science of the age; and while on shore, his leisure appears to have been spent in studying such scientific works as were within his reach. A marriage which he contracted about this period seems to have had some effect in determining his subsequent career. The lady to whom he became attached was Felipa de Palestrello, the daughter of Bartolemeo de Palestrello, an Italian who had distinguished himself as a navigator in the Portuguese service. Marrying this young lady, Columbus obtained from her mother all the charts, journals, and memorandums of her late husband, the possession of which was a treasure to him. After his marriage he lived for many years as a humble citizen of Lisbon, earning a livelihood for himself and family by constructing maps and charts, or by making an occasional voyage in a Portuguese vessel to the Guinea coast, then the ultimate limit of African navigation.

Columbus seems to have acted from deliberate choice in making Lisbon his place of residence. In no city in the world would the demand be so great at that time for maps and charts, or for persons skilled in any of the arts connected with navigation. Portugal had taken the lead of all the nations of Europe in maritime enterprise; and for upwards of twenty years all the great discoveries which had been made by navigators of new coasts or islands had been effected under the auspices of the Portuguese government.

The best result of Columbus’ labors in drawing maps was, that he thereby became acquainted with the small extent of that part of the earth’s surface known to geographers and navigators, as compared with the conjectural extent of the whole. This fact appears to have made a deep impression on his mind, and to have been the germ of his future speculations. It was not long, however, before the idea began to assume a more definite shape. Like all the navigators of the time, he was full of the notion of discovering a new route to India, Cathay, or Cipango—​the land of gold, and diamonds, and spices—​which was supposed to lie in the east of Asia, and respecting which the most gorgeous fancies were entertained. There was this difference, however, between the speculations of Columbus and other navigators as to this imaginary route to India, that while they universally followed Prince Henry in supposing that it was to be sought by sailing round Africa, he was employed in considering the possibility of effecting the same object by sailing due west across the Atlantic. This most original idea was fully formed in Columbus’ mind before the year 1474.

The globular form of the earth had been for a considerable time known to all scientific men, and various calculations had been made as to its probable size. On this latter point all were at fault, the general supposition being, that the globe was much smaller than it is. Columbus, in pondering on its imaginary magnitude, arrived at the conviction that the Atlantic was a comparatively narrow sea, and that if any one were to push boldly across it, he would inevitably reach the shores of India. These ideas were confirmed by the various rumors which prevailed of lands existing in the Atlantic to the west of Africa. Plato’s fabled island of Atalantis was supposed to be a real country lying in that quarter. There were many traditionary recollections of mariners having been cast upon unknown shores when driven far out to sea by the violence of a storm. There were legends also of adventurers who had embarked in ships in the northern countries of Europe, and gone to seek homes across the Atlantic; and of fugitive bishops and priests, who, to escape persecution in their own country, had committed themselves to the waves, and been conducted by the hand of Providence to fertile and happy islands to the west of the Azores. Moreover, certain circumstances had come within Columbus’ own knowledge, which seemed to argue the existence of land in that direction. Martin Vicenti, a pilot in the Portuguese service, had picked up a piece of carved wood floating in the ocean four hundred and fifty leagues west of St. Vincent, which, as the wind was westerly, he concluded must have come from some land opposite to Africa. Columbus’ brother-in-law, Pedro Correa, had seen a similar piece of wood, which had drifted across the ocean from the same quarter; and had also heard of large canes seen floating on the waves west of Madeira, apparently resembling the reeds known to be produced in the East Indies. It was likewise reported that, when the wind had blown long from the west, trunks of huge pine-trees were often cast ashore upon the Azores; and that once two dead bodies, evidently the corpses neither of Europeans nor Africans, were driven upon the beach of the island of Flores.

All these and many other arguments convinced Columbus that the East Indies could be reached by sailing westward from Gibraltar, or the western coast of Africa. Every circumstance corroborative of this view which came to his knowledge he diligently noted down; and at last the conviction became so strong, that he conceived himself to be expressly destined by God for the great work of discovering a new world. No doubt or hesitation remained in his mind; and his only wish was to find the means of making the contemplated voyage. Once launched upon the Atlantic, he was absolutely certain that, after having sailed seven or eight hundred leagues to the west of the Canaries, he would come upon Marco Polo’s island of Cipango, or the dominions of the great khan of Tartary.

Impressed with these delusive convictions, Columbus was eager to make application to some of the governments of Europe for means to make a voyage of discovery on the Atlantic. He first applied to John II, king of Portugal, who inherited the enterprising spirit of his grand-uncle, prince Henry, and in whose reign the means of finding the latitude at sea had been discovered. Columbus, without much difficulty, obtained an interview with the Portuguese monarch, to whom he explained his scheme of reaching the East Indies, not by the route round Africa, which all other navigators were pursuing, but by a shorter one across the Atlantic. Various accounts are given of the manner in which the proposal was received. John himself was a wise and magnanimous prince, and he appears to have been much impressed by the earnestness of the noble-looking foreigner who addressed him. Naturally cautious, however, of patronising an enterprise which might turn out to be a mere chimera, he referred the matter to some of his counselors, who dissuaded him from engaging in it. Still, such was the effect of Columbus’ representations, that John did not at once dismiss the project. On the contrary, by a piece of meanness not agreeing with his general character, he followed the advice of some of his counselors, and having, on false pretenses, procured from Columbus a detailed plan of his contemplated voyage, with maps and charts to correspond, he secretly despatched a vessel to ascertain the practicability of the intended route. The vessel actually sailed a considerable way beyond the Cape Verd islands; but a storm arising, the crew became afraid to venture farther, and put back, reporting that Columbus’ notion was mad and irrational.

Indignant at this unjust treatment, Columbus, whose wife had for some time been dead, secretly left Lisbon, taking with him his young son Diego. The reason for his leaving the city secretly is said by some to have been the fear of being prevented by the government; by others, the fear of being apprehended for debts which he was unable to pay. Proceeding to his native city of Genoa, he renewed an offer which he had previously made by letter, of conducting the enterprise under the patronage of the Genoese government—​an offer which was contemptuously refused, Genoa being already in the decline of her fortunes, and too broken-spirited to engage in any more bold enterprises. It is said that Columbus’ next offer was made to the Venetian government; which, however, is improbable. The usual account, also, of his sending his brother Bartholomew at this time to England to propose the scheme to Henry VII, is incorrect: it was not till the year 1488, when the negotiations with Spain had begun, that Bartholomew proceeded to England on this errand.

Columbus’ Negotiations in Spain. Spain was the country to which Columbus looked with the greatest hope after the rejection of his scheme by Portugal. No country at that time occupied the attention of Europe so much as Spain. By the marriage of Ferdinand II of Arragon, with Isabella of Castile, the whole of the peninsula, except Portugal, had been consolidated into one powerful kingdom. Ruling separately over their distinct territories—​the wise, cold, and wary Ferdinand over his subjects of Arragon, and the generous and high-souled Isabella over hers of Castile—​the two made it their common endeavor to promote the glory of Spain, and raise its reputation as one of the first powers of Christendom. They were at this time engaged in a war with Granada, the last of the Moorish kingdoms in Spain; and all their energies were occupied in the accomplishment of what was then regarded a noble and chivalrous enterprise—​the entire expulsion of the Moors from the peninsula. Spain, accordingly, was then the land of daring deeds, and hither our poor Italian resolved to bend his steps, with the scheme of a new world.

In Andalusia, one of the most southern of the Spanish provinces, and next to Granada, is an insignificant little seaport, of the name of Palos de Moguer. At a little distance from this village stood, and we believe still stands, a Franciscan convent, dedicated to Santa Marie de Rabido. One day, late in the year of 1485, a stranger on foot, accompanied by a little boy, stopped at the convent gate, and begged a little bread and water for his child. The stranger was of a noble aspect, venerable from his white hairs, and interesting from his foreign accent. While the porter of the convent was supplying him with what he had asked, the prior, Juan Perez de Marchena, chanced to pass, and, struck with the stranger’s appearance, he entered into conversation with him. The stranger informed him that his name was Columbus, and that, with his son, he was on his way to the neighboring town of Huelua, where his brother-in-law resided. Inviting him into the convent, the prior soon learned the rest of his story; and instantly conceiving a wonderful affection for the extraordinary man whom Providence had thus cast in his way, he insisted on his taking up his residence with him until a fit time should arrive for proceeding to the court of the Spanish sovereigns. Himself a man of information and ability, Juan Perez entered heartily into Columbus’ views, and sent for such scientific persons in the neighborhood as he thought would be able to form a judgment on the matter. Here, in the midst of a little club of listeners, gathered in the evenings in the comfortable apartment of the prior, did Columbus produce his charts and expound his project in the winter of 1485–6; and long afterwards, in the height of his fame, did the great navigator remember Juan Perez, his first kind friend in Spain.

Early in the year 1486 Columbus set out for Cordova, where the Spanish court then resided, making preparations for a spring campaign against the Moors of Granada. He left his son Diego under the charge of the worthy prior, who, to add to his other kindnesses, furnished him with a letter of introduction to Fernando de Talavera, prior of Prado, and confessor of Queen Isabella—​a man, therefore, of some importance, and likely to be of use to him. The letter proved of small avail; either Juan Perez had overrated his influence with so great a personage as Talavera, or Talavera was too busy to pay any attention to the poor Italian enthusiast who was introduced to him. Neither Columbus nor his project appears to have been mentioned to the Spanish sovereigns; and the campaign against the Moors having commenced, there was no hope of his obtaining an interview with them for some time. While the court was thus shifting about, Columbus remained in Cordova, supporting himself, as before, by his skill in designing maps. Here also his worth, his noble appearance, and the modest enthusiasm of his manners, gained him many kind friends, through whom he made the acquaintance of Mendoza, archbishop of Toledo, and grand cardinal of Spain. Mendoza, after being satisfied that there was something more in Columbus’ project than a mere vague fancy, procured him an audience with Ferdinand and Isabella. The able Ferdinand instantly perceived the propriety of at least inquiring into the scheme which was proposed to him; he therefore referred the matter to Fernando de Talavera, the above-mentioned prior, to whom Columbus had already been introduced: instructing him to hold a council of the most learned geographers and scientific men to examine and report on the plan submitted by Columbus.

Few meetings ever held are more interesting to us now than the great meeting of scientific men held in the convent of St. Stephen, at Salamanca, to investigate into the feasibility of Columbus’ project of reaching the East Indias by sailing due west. There were assembled all the sages of Spain, professors of astronomy, geography, and mathematics, most of them churchmen, together with a number of learned friars and ecclesiastical dignitaries in their robes; and in the midst of them all stood a simple mariner of Genoa, ready to explain his scheme and answer questions. A great majority seem to have been prepossessed against Columbus from the beginning, arguing that of necessity he must be wrong, seeing that it was not in the nature of things that one man could know better about such matters than all the rest of the world. Others, however, favored him so far as to be ready at least to enter into argument with him. The arguments produced against him were of the strangest kind—​a mixture of crude science with religious dogmas—​quotations from Scripture interpreted in the oddest manner; together with extracts from the Greek and Latin fathers. To all the objections urged Columbus answered with firmness and modesty, failing, however, as may be supposed, to convince men against long-cherished prejudice, backed by an erroneous interpretation of Scripture.

The deliberations of the assembly were interrupted by the departure of the court from Cordova in the spring of 1487. No answer had as yet been given to Columbus with respect to his project; on the whole, however, there seemed little hope of a favorable one. The next five years were occupied by the Spanish sovereigns in the war against Granada, so that they had no leisure to enter personally into a consideration of the merits of the proposal made to them by the Genoese navigator. During all that time Columbus waited patiently, generally residing at Cordova, where, it is said, the children in the streets used to point to their foreheads as he passed, bidding each other look at the mad Italian; sometimes, however, following the court in its journeys from place to place, and even taking part in the sieges and battles in which the Spanish troops were engaged. His hopes seem to have alternately risen and sunk during these five years. In the year 1488 he appears to have despaired of a favorable issue to his application; for in that year he despatched his brother Bartholomew Columbus to England to make an offer of his project to Henry VII. Unfortunately, Bartholomew was captured by pirates on the voyage, and was not able to reach England for some years, otherwise Spain might have been for ever deprived of the advantages offered her; for when the scheme was ultimately proposed to Henry VII, he embraced it more warmly than any monarch to whom it had been broached before. In the same year, 1488, Columbus received a letter from the king of Portugal, inviting him to return to that country, but he refused the invitation.

In the winter of 1491, when the Spanish monarchs were about to commence their last Moorish campaign, Columbus received an answer to his frequent applications. He was informed that the expenses of the war prevented the sovereigns from engaging at present in any new enterprise, but that, when the war was over, his scheme would be again considered. This was most disheartening to one who had waited so long. Already advanced in years, he began to fear that death would overtake him before he had obtained the means of accomplishing his design. He resolved to quit Spain. Before doing so, however, he offered his scheme to two of the Spanish nobles, whose wealth and importance made them almost independent princes—​the Duke of Medina Sidonia and the Duke of Medina Celi. Both, after some delay, refused to engage in the project, as too ambitious for any but a great sovereign. Columbus, therefore, hesitated no longer, but prepared to go to France, where he anticipated a more favorable reception. Before setting out, he proceeded to the convent at Palos, to visit his friend Juan Perez, and to bring away his son Diego, whom with his other son, Fernando, he intended to leave at Cordova. When his old friend the prior saw Columbus once more at the gate of his monastery, after several years of vain solicitation at court, he was deeply affected. He entreated him by all means to remain in the country. He had been father confessor to the queen, and thought he might still exercise an influence over her mind. He accordingly proceeded to Santa Fé, where the sovereigns were in person superintending the siege of the capital of Grenada. Perez obtained a ready access to the queen. He laid before her the propositions of Columbus with freedom and eloquence. Isabella was moved with the grandeur of the project. The principles on which it was founded, the advantages that would result from its success, and the glory it would shed on Spain, were for the first time represented to her in their true colors. She promised her patronage to the undertaking. Columbus was summoned to court, and 20,000 maravedies, equivalent to upwards of $200 of our money, were sent to him to pay his traveling expenses; and he arrived in time to witness the memorable surrender of Granada to the Spanish arms. It was now only necessary to agree upon the terms of the proposed enterprise. A meaner spirit, after years of unsuccessful toil, poverty, and disappointment, would have been glad to secure the assistance of the sovereigns on such arrangements as their own liberality might dictate. But Columbus stipulated his own rewards and honors, and would consent to no other. He demanded them as if he were already successful, and aware of the extent and importance of his discoveries. In consequence of his resoluteness in adhering to these demands, the negotiation was once more broken off; and Columbus, mounting his mule, left Santa Fé; resolved never to return. He was within two leagues of Grenada, when a courier overtook him and brought him back. The court now agreed that he should be admiral on the ocean, and enjoy all the privileges and honors allowed to the high admiral of Castile; that he should be governor over all the countries he might discover; and that he should reserve to himself one-tenth of all pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, and articles of merchandise, in whatever manner obtained, within his admirality. They also allowed that he should appoint judges in all parts of Spain trading to those countries; and that on this voyage, and at all other times, he should contribute an eighth part of the expense, and receive an eighth part of the profits. These articles of agreement were signed by Ferdinand and Isabella at the city of Santa Fé on the 17th of April 1492.

Preparations for the voyage were now commenced in good earnest. The port of Palos de Moguer, already mentioned, was fixed as the place where the armament should be fitted out. Royal orders were issued to the magistrates of Palos to have three caravels in readiness, and somewhat arbitrary measures were had recourse to for the purpose of obtaining crews. As soon as the nature of the enterprise became known, the little town of Palos was in an uproar; the owners of vessels refused to lend them; and the boldest seamen absconded, lest they should be pressed into such service. Columbus had repaired to the spot; but all his exertions were unavailing; neither vessels nor crew could be got. At length a rich and adventurous navigator, named Alonzo Pinzon, came forward, and interested himself strenuously in the expedition. His assistance was effectual. He owned vessels, and had many seamen in his employ, and consequently possessed great influence. He and his brother Vicente Pinzon determined to take commands, and sail with Columbus. Their example had a great effect; they persuaded their relations and friends to embark with them; and the vessels were ready for sea within a month after they had thus engaged in their equipment.

After all, the armament was miserably ill-proportioned to the grandeur of the enterprise. Only one of the three small vessels was full-decked. The other two, says Washington Irving, ‘were light barques, called caravels, not superior to river and coasting craft of more modern days. They are delineated as open, and without deck in the center; but built up high at the prow and stern, with forecastles and cabins for the accommodation of the crew. The largest vessel was called the Santa Maria: on board of this Columbus hoisted his flag. The second, called the Pinta, was commanded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon, accompanied by his brother Francisco Martin, as pilot. The third, called the Nina, had latine sails, and was commanded by the third of the brothers, Vicenta Yanez Pinzon.’ The crews, including Columbus, the three Pinzons, three other pilots, several royal officials, a physician and a surgeon, some private adventurers with their servants, and ninety sailors, amounted in all to one hundred and twenty persons.

Thus, in the fifty-sixth year of his age, after innumerable efforts and disappointments, and at least eighteen years after he had matured his project in his own mind, did Columbus find his wishes gratified, by being placed at the head of an armament bound on a voyage through the hitherto unexplored Atlantic. He still labored under the delusion that the lands he would reach by sailing in that direction would be the East Indies—​the golden regions lying in the eastern extremity of Asia, and described in such glowing colors by Marco Polo. So firm was he in this belief, that he was furnished by Ferdinand and Isabella with letters to be delivered to the great khan of Tartary. It ought to be mentioned also, as characteristic of the times, and of the almost wildly-enthusiastic genius of Columbus, that he had all along cherished the design of devoting the wealth which should be acquired from his discoveries to the object of rescuing the holy sepulchre of Jerusalem from the hands of the infidels.

The Voyage.—​On the 2d of August, 1492, Columbus and all his companions marched in solemn procession to the monastery of Rabida to confess their sins, obtain absolution, and implore the blessing of God on their expedition. The account of this deeply-interesting voyage may be best given in the elegant language of Robertson:

‘On Friday, the third day of August, in the year one thousand four hundred and ninety-two, Columbus set sail, a little before sunrise, in presence of a vast crowd of spectators, who sent up their supplications to Heaven for the prosperous issue of the voyage, which they wished rather than expected. Columbus steered directly for the Canary Islands, and arrived there (August 13) without any occurrence that would have deserved notice on any other occasion. But in a voyage of such expectation and importance, every circumstance was the object of attention. The rudder of the Pinta broke loose the day after she left the harbor; and that accident alarmed the crew, no less superstitious than unskillful, as a certain omen of the unfortunate destiny of the expedition. Even in the short run to the Canaries, the ships were found to be so crazy and ill-appointed, as to be very improper for a navigation which was expected to be both long and dangerous. Columbus refitted them, however, to the best of his power; and having supplied himself with fresh provisions, he took his departure from Gomera, one of the most westerly of the Canary Islands, on the sixth day of September.

‘Here the voyage of discovery may properly be said to begin; for Columbus, holding his course due west, left immediately the usual track of navigation, and stretched into unfrequented and unknown seas. The first day, as it was very calm, he made but little way; but on the second, he lost sight of the Canaries; and many of the sailors, dejected already and dismayed, when they contemplated the boldness of the undertaking, began to beat their breasts and to shed tears, as if they were never more to behold land. Columbus comforted them with assurances of success, and the prospect of vast wealth in those opulent regions whither he was conducting them. This early discovery of the spirit of his followers taught Columbus that he must prepare to struggle not only with the unavoidable difficulties which might be expected from the nature of his undertaking, but with such as were likely to arise from the ignorance and timidity of the people under his command; and he perceived that the art of governing the minds of men would be no less requisite for accomplishing the discoveries which he had in view, than naval skill and undaunted courage. Happily for himself, and for the country by which he was employed, he joined to the ardent temper and inventive genius of a projector, virtues of another species, which are rarely united with them. He possessed a thorough knowledge of mankind, an insinuating address, a patient perseverance in executing any plan, the perfect government of his own passions, and the talent of acquiring an ascendency over those of other men. All these qualities, which formed him for command, were accompanied with that superior knowledge of his profession which begets confidence in times of difficulty and danger. To unskillful Spanish sailors, accustomed only to coasting voyages in the Mediterranean, the maritime science of Columbus—​the fruit of thirty years’ experience, improved by an acquaintance with all the inventions of the Portuguese—​appeared immense. As soon as they put to sea, he regulated everything by his sole authority; he superintended the execution of every order; and allowing himself only a few hours for sleep, he was at all other times upon deck. As his course lay through seas which had not formerly been visited, the sounding line, or instruments for observation, were continually in his hands. After the example of the Portuguese discoverers, he attended to the motion of tides and currents, watched the flight of birds, the appearance of fishes, or seaweeds, and of everything that floated on the waves; and entered every occurrence with a minute exactness in the journal which he kept. As the length of the voyage could not fail of alarming sailors habituated only to short excursions, Columbus endeavored to conceal from them the real progress which they made. With this view, though they ran eighteen leagues on the second day after they left Gomera, he gave out that they had advanced only fifteen; and he uniformly employed the same artifice of reckoning short during the whole voyage. By the fourteenth of September, the fleet was above two hundred leagues to the west of the Canary Islands, at a greater distance from land than any Spaniard had been before that time. There they were struck with an appearance no less astonishing than new. They observed that the magnetic needle in their compasses did not point exactly to the polar star, but varied towards the west; and as they proceeded, this variation increased. This appearance, which is now familiar—​though it still remains one of the mysteries of nature, into the cause of which the sagacity of man hath not been able to penetrate—​filled the companions of Columbus with terror. They were now in a boundless and unknown ocean, far from the usual course of navigation; nature itself seemed to be altered, and the only guide which they had left was about to fail them. Columbus, with no less quickness than ingenuity, invented a reason for this appearance, which, though it did not satisfy himself, seemed so plausible to them, that it dispelled their fears or silenced their murmurs.

‘He still continued to steer due west, nearly in the same latitude with the Canary Islands. In this course he came within the sphere of the trade wind, which blows invariably from east to west between the tropics and a few degrees beyond them. He advanced before this steady gale with such uniform rapidity, that it was seldom necessary to shift a sail. When about four hundred leagues west of the Canaries, he found the sea so covered with weeds that it resembled a meadow of vast extent, and in some places they were so thick as to retard the motion of the vessels. This strange appearance occasioned new alarm and disquiet. The sailors imagined that they were now arrived at the utmost boundary of the navigable ocean; that these floating weeds would obstruct their farther progress, and concealed dangerous rocks, or some other large tract of land, which had sunk, they knew not how, in that place. Columbus endeavored to persuade them that what had alarmed ought rather to have encouraged them, and was to be considered as a sign of approaching land. At the same time a brisk gale arose and carried them forward. Several birds were seen hovering about the ship, and directing their flight towards the west. The desponding crew resumed some degree of spirit, and began to entertain fresh hopes.

‘Upon the first of October they were, according to the admiral’s reckoning, seven hundred and seventy leagues to the west of the Canaries; but, lest his men should be intimidated by the prodigious length of the navigation, he gave out that they had proceeded only five hundred and eighty-four leagues; and, fortunately for Columbus, neither his own pilot, nor those of the other ships, had skill sufficient to corect this error, and discover the deceit. They had now been above three weeks at sea; they had proceeded far beyond what former navigators had attempted or deemed possible; all their prognostics of discovery, drawn from the flight of birds and other circumstances, had proved fallacious; the appearances of land, with which their own credulity or the artifice of their commander had from time to time flattered and amused them, had been altogether illusive; and their prospect of success seemed now to be as distant as ever. These reflections occurred often to men who had no other object or occupation than to reason and discourse concerning the intention and circumstances of their expedition. They made impression at first upon the ignorant and timid; and, extending by degrees to such as were better informed or more resolute, the contagion spread at length from ship to ship. From secret whispers or murmurings, they proceeded to open cabals and public complaints. They taxed their sovereign with inconsiderate credulity in paying such regard to the vain promises and rash conjectures of an indigent foreigner, as to hazard the lives of so many of her own subjects in prosecuting a chimerical scheme. They affirmed that they had fully performed their duty by venturing so far in an unknown and hopeless course, and could incur no blame by refusing to follow any longer a desperate adventurer to certain destruction. They contended that it was necessary to think of returning to Spain while their crazy vessels were still in a condition to keep the sea; but expressed their fears that the attempt would prove vain, as the wind, which had hitherto been so favorable to their course, must render it impossible to sail in the opposite direction. All agreed that Columbus should be compelled by force to adopt a measure on which their common safety depended. Some of the more audacious proposed, as the most expeditious and certain method of getting rid at once of his remonstrances, to throw him into the sea, being persuaded that, upon their return to Spain, the death of an unsuccessful projector would excite little concern, and be inquired into with no curiosity.

‘Columbus was fully sensible of his perilous situation. He had observed with great uneasiness the fatal operation of ignorance and of fear in producing disaffection among his crew, and saw that it was now ready to burst out into open mutiny. He retained, however, perfect presence of mind. He affected to seem ignorant of their machinations. Notwithstanding the agitation and solicitude of his own mind, he appeared with a cheerful countenance, like a man satisfied with the progress he had made, and confident of success. Sometimes he employed all the arts of insinuation to soothe his men. Sometimes he endeavored to work upon their ambition or avarice, by magnificent descriptions of the fame and wealth which they were about to acquire. On other occasions he assumed a tone of authority, and threatened them with vengeance from their sovereign if, by their dastardly behavior, they should defeat this noble effort to promote the glory of God and to exalt the Spanish name above that of every other nation. Even with seditious sailors the words of a man whom they had been accustomed to reverence were weighty and persuasive, and not only restrained them from those violent excesses which they meditated, but prevailed with them to accompany their admiral for some time longer.

‘As they proceeded, the indications of approaching land seemed to be more certain, and excited hope in proportion. The birds began to appear in flocks, making towards the south-west. Columbus, in imitation of the Portuguese navigators, who had been guided in several of their discoveries by the motion of birds, altered his course from due west towards that quarter whither they pointed their flight. But, after holding on for several days in this new direction, without any better success than formerly, having seen no object during thirty days but the sea and the sky, the hopes of his companions subsided faster than they had risen; their fears revived with additional force; impatience, rage, and despair appeared in every countenance. All sense of subordination was lost. The officers, who had hitherto concurred with Columbus in opinion, and supported his authority, now took part with the private men; they assembled tumultuously on the deck, expostulated with their commander, mingled threats with their expostulations, and required him instantly to tack about and to return to Europe. Columbus perceived that it would be of no avail to have recourse to any of his former arts, which, having been tried so often, had lost their effect; and that it was impossible to rekindle any zeal for the success of the expedition among men in whose breasts fear had extinguished every generous sentiment. He saw that it was no less vain to think of employing either gentle of severe measures to quell a mutiny so general and so violent. It was necessary, on all these accounts, to soothe passions which he could no longer command, and to give way to a torrent too impetuous to be checked. He promised solemnly to his men that he would comply with their request, provided they would accompany him, and obey his command for three days longer; and if, during that time, land were not discovered, he would then abandon the enterprise, and direct his course towards Spain.

‘Enraged as the sailors were, and impatient to turn their faces again towards their native country, this proposition did not appear to them unreasonable. Nor did Columbus hazard much in confining himself to a term so short. The presages of discovering land were now so numerous and promising, that he deemed them infallible. For some days the sounding-line reached the bottom, and the soil which it brought up indicated land to be at no great distance. The flocks of birds increased, and were composed not only of sea-fowl, but of such land birds as could not be supposed to fly far from the shore. The crew of the Pinta observed a cane floating, which seemed to have been newly cut, and likewise a piece of timber artificially carved. The sailors aboard the Nina took up the branch of a tree covered with red berries, perfectly fresh. The clouds around the setting sun assumed a new appearance; the air was milder and warmer; and during night the wind became unequal and variable. From all these symptoms, Columbus was so confident of being near land, that on the evening of the eleventh of October, after public prayers for success, he ordered the sails to be furled, and the ships to lie to, keeping strict watch lest they should be driven ashore in the night. During this interval of suspense and expectation no man shut his eyes; all kept upon deck, gazing intently towards that quarter where they expected to discover the land, which had been so long the object of their wishes.

‘About two hours before midnight, Columbus, standing on the forecastle, observed a light at a distance, and privately pointed it out to Pedro Guttierez, a page of the queen’s wardrobe. Guttierez perceived it, and calling to Salcedo, comptroller of the fleet, all three saw it in motion, as if it were carried from place to place. A little after midnight the joyful sound of ‘Land! land!’ was heard from the Pinta, which kept always ahead of the other ships. But having been so often deceived by fallacious appearances, every man had now become slow of belief, and waited in all the anguish of uncertainty and impatience for the return of day. As soon as morning dawned [October 12th], all doubts and fears were dispelled. From every ship an island was seen about two leagues to the north, whose flat and verdant fields, well stored with wood, and watered with many rivulets, presented the aspect of a delightful country. The crew of the Pinta instantly began the Te Deum, as a hymn of thanksgiving to God, and were joined by those of the other ships with tears of joy and transports of congratulation. This office of gratitude to Heaven was followed by an act of justice to their commander. They threw themselves at the feet of Columbus, with feelings of self-condemnation mingled with reverence. They implored him to pardon their ignorance, incredulity, and insolence, which had created him so much unnecessary disquiet, and had so often obstructed the prosecution of his well-concerted plan; and passing, in the warmth of their admiration, from one extreme to another, they now pronounced the man whom they had so lately reviled and threatened, to be a person inspired by Heaven with sagacity and fortitude more than human, in order to accomplish a design so far beyond the ideas and conceptions of all former ages.

‘As soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed. They rowed towards the island with their colors displayed, with warlike music, and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered with a multitude of people, whom the novelty of the spectacle had drawn together, whose attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonishment at the strange objects which presented themselves to their view. Columbus was the first European who set foot in the new world which he had discovered. He landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand. His men followed, and kneeling down, they all kissed the ground which they had so long desired to see. They next erected a crucifix, and, prostrating themselves before it, returned thanks to God for conducting their voyage to such a happy issue. They then took solemn possession of the country for the crown of Castile and Leon, with all the formalities which the Portuguese were accustomed to observe in acts of this kind in their new discoveries.

‘The Spaniards, while thus employed, were surrounded by many of the natives, who gazed in silent admiration upon actions which they could not comprehend, and of which they did not foresee the consequences. The dress of the Spaniards, the whiteness of their skins, their beards, their arms, appeared strange and surprising. The vast machines in which they had traversed the ocean, that seemed to move upon the waters with wings, and uttered a dreadful sound resembling thunder, accompanied with lightning and smoke, struck them with such terror, that they began to respect their new guests as a superior order of beings, and concluded that they were children from the sun, who had descended to visit the earth.

‘The Europeans were hardly less amazed at the scene now before them. Every herb, and shrub, and tree, was different from those which flourished in Europe. The soil seemed to be rich, but bore few marks of cultivation. The climate, even to the Spaniards, felt warm, though extremely delightful. The inhabitants appeared in the simple innocence of nature—​entirely naked. Their black hair, long and uncurled, floated upon their shoulders, or was bound in tresses around their heads. They had no beards, and every part of their bodies was perfectly smooth. Their complexion was of a dusky copper color; their features singular, rather than disagreeable; their aspect gentle and timid. Though not tall, they were well-shaped and active. Their faces, and several parts of their bodies, were fantastically painted with glaring colors. They were shy at first through fear, but soon became familiar with the Spaniards; and with transports of joy received from them hawks’ bells, glass beads, or other baubles, in return for which they gave such provisions as they had, and some cotton yarn, the only commodity of value that they could produce. Towards evening Columbus returned to his ship, accompanied by many of the islanders in their boats, which they called canoes; and though rudely formed out of the trunk of a tree, they rowed them with surprising dexterity. Thus, in the first interview between the inhabitants of the old and new worlds, everything was conducted amicably, and to their mutual satisfaction. The former, enlightened and ambitious, formed already vast ideas with respect to the advantages which they might derive from the regions that began to open to their view. The latter, simple and undiscerning, had no foresight to the calamities and desolation which were approaching their country.

‘Columbus, who now assumed the title and authority of admiral and viceroy, called the island which he had discovered San Salvador. It is better known by the name of Guanahani, which the natives gave to it, and is one of that large cluster of islands called the Lucaya or Bahama Isles. It is situated above three thousand miles to the west of Gomera, from which the squadron took its departure, and only four degrees to the south of it; so little had Columbus deviated from the westerly course which he had chosen as the most proper.’

Cruise in the West India Archipelago—​Various Discoveries.—​Columbus imagined that the island he had thus discovered, and others which could be seen from it, belonged to the Archipelago, which, according to Marco Polo, lay east of the Asiatic continent. He resolved, therefore, to remain no longer at San Salvador, but to sail in the direction in which he conceived the mainland to lie. When he asked the natives, by signs, where they obtained the gold, of which most of them wore thin plates attached to their nostrils by way of ornament, they invariably pointed to the south. To the south, therefore, he determined to prosecute his voyage, not doubting but that the region which the natives pointed to must be Cathay or Cipango. Accordingly, after spending one day at San Salvador, he directed his course through the midst of that multitudinous cluster of islands now called the Bahamas, convinced as he gazed at their green and luxuriant foliage, that these must be the ‘seven thousand four hundred and fifty-eight islands abounding with spices and odoriferous trees,’ which Marco Polo described as filling the Chinese sea. He landed at three of the largest, and gave them names. Here the appearance of the ships and the Spaniards produced the same astonishment among the natives as at San Salvador. Receiving to his inquiries after gold the same invariable answer, that it lay to the south, he pushed on through group after group of islands, and at last, on the 28th of October, came in sight of Cuba. The appearance of this noble island as he approached it, its high mountains, its spreading forests, its broad rivers, made him uncertain whether it might not be part of the great continent he was in search of. ‘He entered the mouth of a large river with his squadron, and all the inhabitants fled to the mountains as he approached the shore. But as he resolved to careen his ships in that place, he sent some Spaniards, together with one of the people of San Salvador, to view the interior part of the country. They having advanced above sixty miles from the shore, reported, upon their return, that the soil was richer and more cultivated than any they had hitherto discovered; that, besides many scattered cottages, they had found one village containing above a thousand inhabitants; that the people, though naked, seemed to be more intelligent than those of San Salvador, but had treated them with the same respectful attention, kissing their feet, and honoring them as sacred beings allied to heaven; that they had given them to eat a certain root, the taste of which resembled roasted chestnuts, and likewise a singular species of corn called maize, which, when roasted whole or ground into meal, was abundantly palatable; that there seemed to be no four-footed animals in the country but a species of dog, which could not bark, and a creature resembling a rabbit, but of a much smaller size; that they had observed some ornaments of gold among the people, but of no great value.’ Here also, for the first time, the Spaniards saw the use of tobacco.

Columbus was particularly anxious to ascertain whether the country he had now reached belonged to the Indian continent. From the rude civilization which he saw around him, the ill constructed huts, the want of clothing among the natives, etc., he knew that he was still at some distance from the territories of the great khan, covered with finely-built cities, and abounding in gold and spices; but he imagined that Cuba might be the extremity of that part of the continent where the expected territories lay. Full of this delusion, he eagerly seized on every little circumstance which seemed to confirm it. When the natives spoke of Cubanacan as the place where the gold was to be found, meaning by it the central district of Cuba, he fancied that they were speaking of the country of Kubla Khan, one of the great potentates mentioned by Marco Polo. At length, however, after cruising along the coast for nearly a fortnight without approaching the confines of the desired country, he altered his course to the east-south-east, intending to sail for an island called Hayti, to which the natives directed him as a place where gold was more plentiful than with them. The fleet left Cuba on the 12th of November, having on board some of the natives, who were to act as guides. On their way thither, ‘Martin Alonzo Pinzon, impatient to be the first who should take possession of the treasures which this country was supposed to contain, quitted his companions, regardless of all the admiral’s signals to slacken sail until they should come up with him. Columbus, retarded by contrary winds, did not reach Hayti till the 6th of December. He called the port where he first touched, St. Nicholas, and the island itself Espagnola, in honor of the kingdom by which he was employed; and it is the only country of those he had yet discovered which has retained the name that he gave it. As he could neither meet with the Pinta, nor have any intercourse with the inhabitants, who fled in great consternation towards the woods, he soon quitted St. Nicholas; and, sailing along the northern coast of the island, he entered another harbor, which he called Conception. Here he was more fortunate; his people overtook a woman who was flying from them, and, after treating her with great gentleness, dismissed her with a present of such toys as they knew were most valued in those regions. The description which she gave to her countrymen of the humanity and wonderful qualities of the strangers, their admiration of the trinkets, which she showed with exultation, and their eagerness to participate in the same favors, removed all their fears, and induced many of them to repair to the harbor. The strange objects which they beheld, and the baubles which Columbus bestowed upon them, amply gratified their curiosity and their wishes. They nearly resembled the people of Guanahani and Cuba. Like them, they were naked, ignorant, and simple; and seemed to be equally unacquainted with all the arts which appear most necessary in polished societies; but they were gentle, credulous, and timid, to a degree which rendered it easy to acquire the ascendency over them, especially as their excessive admiration led them into the same error with the people of the other islands, in believing the Spaniards to be more than mortals, and descended immediately from heaven. They possessed gold in greater abundance than their neighbors, which they readily exchanged for bells, beads, or pins; and in this unequal traffic both parties were highly pleased, each considering themselves as gainers by the transaction.’

The Spaniards remained at Hispaniola for the space of a month, during which time they explored a great part of the coast, and became familiar with the natives. Columbus had a keen sense of the beautiful in scenery, and his journal is full of enthusiastic description of Hispaniola, its deep groves, its clear skies, its tranquil bays, its soft and balmy atmosphere, its birds with their splendid plumage. ‘Tongue,’ he says, ‘cannot express the whole truth, nor pen describe it; and I have been so overwhelmed at the sight of so much beauty, that I have not known how to relate it. The people also seem to have made a deep impression on him by their gentle and confiding manners. ‘So loving, so tractable, so peaceable,’ he says, ‘are these people, that I swear to your majesties there is not in the world a better nation nor a better land. They love their neighbors as themselves; and their discourse is ever sweet and gentle, and accompanied with a smile; and though it is true that they are naked, yet their manners are decorous and praiseworthy.’ Such are the descriptions given of the island of Hayti by its discoverer—​the first island doomed to experience the miseries produced by the cruelty and avarice of the invaders.

The part of Hayti which the fleet first touched at was its western extremity. As usual, one of the earliest inquiries made of the natives was where they obtained gold. The natives, in reply, pointed to a mountainous district to the eastward, which they named Cibao—​a sound in which Columbus, still clinging to his original delusion, traced a resemblance to the Cipango of Marco Polo. Proceeding eastward, therefore, Columbus anchored his two vessels in a habor, to which he gave the name of St. Thomas.

While here he received a message from a chieftain called Guacanagari, one of the five caçiques or kings amongst whom the whole island was divided, requesting that he would come and visit him. Columbus resolved to do so. ‘He sailed for this purpose from St. Thomas on the 24th of December, with a fair wind, and the sea perfectly calm; and as, amongst the multiplicity of his occupations, he had not shut his eyes for two days, he retired at midnight in order to take some repose, having committed the helm to the pilot, with strict injunctions not to quit it for a moment. The pilot, dreading no danger, carelessly left the helm to an inexperienced cabin-boy, and the ship, carried away by the current, was dashed against a rock. The violence of the shock awakened Columbus. He ran up to the deck. There all was confusion and despair. He alone retained presence of mind. He ordered some of the sailors to take a boat, and carry out an anchor astern; but, instead of obeying, they made off towards the Nina, which was about half a league distant. He then commanded the masts to be cut down, in order to lighten the ship; but all his endeavors were too late; the vessel opened near the keel, and filled so fast with water, that its loss was inevitable. The smoothness of the sea, and the timely assistance of boats from the Nina, enabled the crew to save their lives.’ Hearing of the accident, Guacanagari hastened to the shore, and, by the assistance of the Indians with their canoes, everything of value was saved from the wreck. Nothing could exceed the kindness of the chieftain: he testified the utmost sorrow at the loss which had befallen his visitors, and offered his services to repair it. The loss was indeed a serious one to Columbus. He had as yet heard no tidings from the treacherous Pinta; his best ship was a total wreck; and there remained but one crazy little bark to carry so many men back to Europe.

In these circumstances he resolved to leave part of his men in Hispaniola, returning to Spain with the rest for fresh ships and stores. Although driven by necessity to this resolution, it was advisable on many other accounts. The island was one which it would be desirable to colonize at all events; and by leaving a number of men in it, the way would be prepared for a settlement; a quantity of gold would be collected, ready to be carried to Spain against the time he came back; and, by intercourse with the natives, much knowledge would be obtained, not only about Hayti itself, but about the other islands and lands in the Archipelago. Nor did he meet with any difficulty on the part of his men. On the contrary, when the proposal was made to them, many were delighted with the idea of remaining on an island where they would lead a life of such enjoyment. Nothing remained, therefore, but to obtain the permission of Guacanagari, or some other cacique. This was soon granted. It appeared that the island was often visited by a terrible race of people called the Caribs, represented by the Haytians as cannibals, who came from the east, and, penetrating inland, burned their villages, and carried many of them away captives. On the proposal, therefore, of Columbus to leave some of his men on the island, to protect it with their great guns against the incursions of these Caribs, Guacanagari and his people exhibited unbounded delight. The Spaniards immediately commenced building a fortress on a spot named by Columbus La Navidad; not omitting, at the same time, to improve the opportunity of obtaining as much gold as possible from the natives, to be shipped for Spain. Considerable quantities were obtained; the natives readily exchanging little lumps of the precious metal for any trinket offered them. The hawk’s bells of the Spaniards, however, delighted them most. Tying these toys to some part of their persons, they would dance and caper about with them in perfect ecstacies at the sounds they produced; and it is told of one Indian that, having obtained a hawk’s bell in exchange for a lump of gold of about four ounces in weight, he made off to the woods as fast as possible with his prize, lest the Spaniard should repent of his bad bargain, and demand back the bell.

The fortress was soon finished, and thirty-eight men chosen to remain on the island. ‘He intrusted the command of these to Diego de Arado, a gentleman of Cordova, investing him with the same powers which he himself had received from Ferdinand and Isabella; and furnished him with everything requisite for the subsistence or defense of this infant colony. He strictly enjoined them to maintain concord among themselves, to yield an unreserved obedience to their commander, to avoid giving offense to the natives by any violence or exaction, to cultivate the friendship of Guacanagari, but not to put themselves in his power by straggling in small parties, or marching too far from the fort. He promised to revisit them soon, with such a reinforcement of strength as might enable them to take full possession of the country, and to reap all the fruits of their discoveries. In the meantime he engaged to mention their names to the king and queen, and to place their merit and services in the most advantageous light.

‘Having thus taken every precaution for the security of the colony, he left Navidad on the 4th of January 1493, and steering towards the east, discovered and gave names to most of the harbors on the northern coast of the island. On the 6th he descried the Pinta, and soon came up with her, after a separation of more than six weeks. Pinzon endeavored to justify his conduct by pretending that he had been driven from his course by stress of weather, and prevented from returning by contrary winds. The admiral, though he still suspected his perfidious intentions, and knew well what he urged in his own defense to be frivolous as well as false, was so sensible that this was not a proper time for venturing upon any high strain of authority, and felt such satisfaction in this junction with his consort, which delivered him from many disquieting apprehensions, that, lame as Pinzon’s apology was, he admitted of it without difficulty, and restored him to favor. During his absence from the admiral, Pinzon had visited several harbors in the island, and acquired some gold by trafficking with the natives, but had made no discovery of any importance.

‘From the condition of his ships, as well as the temper of his men, Columbus now found it necessary to hasten his return to Europe. The former, having suffered much during a voyage of such unusual length, were extremely leaky; the latter expressed the utmost impatience to revisit their native country, from which they had been so long absent, and where they had things so wonderful and unheard-of to relate. Accordingly, on the 16th of January, he directed his course towards the northeast, and soon lost sight of land. He had on board some of the natives, whom he had taken from the different islands which he discovered; and besides the gold, which was the chief object of research, he had collected specimens of all the productions which were likely to become subjects of commerce in the several countries, as well as many unknown birds, and other natural curiosities, which might attract the attention of the learned, or excite the wonder of the people. The voyage was prosperous to the 14th of February; and he had advanced nearly five hundred leagues across the Atlantic Ocean, when the wind began to rise, and continued to blow with increasing rage, which terminated in a furious hurricane. Everything that the naval skill and experience of Columbus could devise was employed in order to save the ships. But it was impossible to withstand the violence of the storm, and, as they were still far from any land, destruction seemed inevitable. The sailors had recourse to prayers to Almighty God, to the invocation of saints, to vows and charms, to everything that religion dictates or superstition suggests to the affrighted mind of man. No prospect of deliverance appearing, they abandoned themselves to despair, and expected every moment to be swallowed up in the waves. Besides the passions which naturally agitate and alarm the human mind in such awful situations, when certain death, in one of its most terrible forms, is before it, Columbus had to endure feelings of distress peculiar to himself. He dreaded that all knowledge of the amazing discoveries which he had made was now to perish; mankind were to be deprived of every benefit that might have been derived from the happy success of his schemes; and his own name would descend to posterity as that of a rash, deluded adventurer, instead of being transmitted with the honor due to the author and conductor of the most noble enterprise that had ever been undertaken. These reflections extinguished all sense of his own personal danger. Less affected with the loss of life than solicitous to preserve the memory of what he had attempted and achieved, he retired to his cabin, and wrote upon parchment a short account of the voyage which he had made, of the course which he had taken, of the situation and riches of the countries which he had discovered, and of the colony that he had left there. Having wrapped up this in an oiled cloth, which he enclosed in a cake of wax, he put it into a cask carefully stopped up, and threw it into the sea, in hopes that some fortunate accident might preserve a deposit of so much importance to the world.’

The storm at length abated, and Columbus was able to reach the Azores. After being detained here for a short time by a dispute with the Portuguese governor of one of the islands, he continued his voyage, anxious to reach Spain before the Pinta, which had again parted company with him in the storm, with the design, he feared, of being the first to carry the news of his discovery to Spain. A second storm, however, obliged him to make for the coast of Portugal, and take refuge in the Tagus. Proceeding to Lisbon by the king’s invitation, he was received with the highest honors—​having thus the satisfaction of announcing the success of his great scheme to the very persons who, fourteen years before, had scouted and rejected it. After remaining five days at Lisbon, he set out for Palos, having still heard no tidings of the Pinta. He reached the little Spanish seaport on the 15th of March, seven months and four days from the time of his departure from it. Great was the excitement among the inhabitants as they saw the little bark, which they instantly recognized, standing up the river. And when the news spread that the new world was discovered, that Columbus had returned with gold and specimens of the productions of the new lands, and, above all, with live natives on board his ship, the joy was indescribable. The bells were rung, the shops shut, all business was suspended, and the whole population hurried to the shore to receive the admiral with shouts and acclamations, such as usually attend the visits of royalty. Columbus’ first act on landing was to march with his people to church, to return thanks for the success of his voyage. On the evening of the day of his arrival, the missing Pinta likewise entered the harbor, having been driven far to the north by the violence of the storm. The commander, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, full of remorse and chagrin for his past conduct, took to his bed almost immediately on reaching Palos, and died in a few days.

After the first expressions of joy and admiration, Columbus departed for Seville. From this place he sent a message to Barcelona, where the king and queen at that time resided, to lay before them a brief account of his voyage, and to receive from them an indication of their royal will. His reception at Barcelona was particularly gratifying. He made a sort of triumphal entry, surrounded by knights and nobles, who emulated each other in their efforts to swell his praise. He was received publicly by the sovereigns, in a splendid saloon, seated on the throne, and encircled by a magnificent court. On his entrance, they rose to greet him, and would hardly allow him to kiss their hands, considering it too unworthy a mark of vassalage. Columbus then gave an account of his discoveries, and exhibited the different articles which he had brought home with him. He described the quantity of spices, the promise of gold, the fertility of the soil, the delicious climate, the never-fading verdure of the trees, the brilliant plumage of the birds, in the new regions which his own enterprise had acquired for his sovereigns. He then drew their attention to six natives of the new world, whom he had brought, and who were present, and described their manners and dispositions. He exhibited their dresses and ornaments, their rude utensils, their feeble arms; which corresponded with his description of them as naked and ignorant barbarians. To this he added, that he had observed no traces of idolatry or superstition among them, and that they all seemed to be convinced of the existence of a Supreme Being. The conclusion of his speech was in these words: ‘That God had reserved for the Spanish monarchs not only all the treasures of the new world, but a still greater treasure, of inestimable value, in the infinite number of souls destined to be brought over into the bosom of the Christian church.’

After he had finished his address, the whole assembly fell upon their knees, while an anthem was chanted by the choir of the royal chapel. With songs of praise the glory was given to God for the discovery of a new world. Columbus and his adventures were for many days the wonder and delight of the people and the court. The sovereigns admitted the admiral to their audience at all hours, and loaded him with every mark of favor and distinction. Men of the highest rank were proud of the honor of his company.

The news of the great discovery which had been made soon spread over Europe, and the name of Columbus at once became celebrated over the whole of the civilized world. As it was universally believed that the lands which he had discovered were what he supposed them to be—​the extremity of the Asiatic continent—​they were spoken of as the Indies; and hence, even after the error was found out, the name of West Indies still continued to be applied to them.

The Second Voyage—​Colony Founded in Hispaniola.—​No time was lost in fitting out a second expedition to the new world. On the morning of the 25th September, 1493, Columbus left the bay of Cadiz with three large ships and fourteen caravels, loaded with everything necessary to found a colony, and manned not with despondent sailors, as the first fleet had been, but with eager and joyous adventurers, with young and bold cavaliers. In the fleet were several enthusiastic priests, who embarked with the intention of spreading Christianity among the benighted heathens of the new lands.

Steering farther south than in his last voyage, the first land which Columbus made was one of the Caribbee, or Leeward Islands, to which he gave the name of Dominica. It was discovered on the 2d of November, 1493. After cruising for about three weeks among these islands, giving names to several of the largest, among which may be mentioned Porto Rico, and everywhere discovering traces of that savage and warlike disposition which the Haytians had attributed to the Caribs, he bent his course to the north-west, anxious to learn the fate of the little colony which he had left at Hispaniola. Anchoring off the coast of La Navidad, he was surprised and alarmed to find none of the Spaniards on the shore to welcome him, and to receive no return-signals to the shots which he fired announcing his arrival. He soon learned the dreadful truth. Not a man of the thirty-eight he had left remained alive—​they had all fallen victims to their own imprudence and licentiousness. A mystery hung about their story which was never fully cleared up; but it appeared, from the accounts of the natives, that as soon as Columbus had departed the men had begun to range through the island, committing all sorts of crimes, and losing the respect of the Indians; that at length one of the five chieftains of the island, named Caonabo, had attacked the fort, and put them all to death; and that Guacanagari and many of his subjects had been wounded in trying to protect them. With this account Columbus was obliged to be content, although some of his officers questioned its truth, and suspected Guacanagari of having been concerned in the massacre of their countrymen.

A second colony was immediately founded under better auspices. The plan of a city was marked out; and in a short time the building was sufficiently far advanced to afford protection to all who intended to remain on the island. To this rising city, Columbus gave the name of Isabella, in honor of the queen of Castile. Even thus early in the history of the colony, however, symptoms of discontent broke out. Many of the Spaniards were attacked by the diseases incident to a new climate; others, and especially such as were of noble families, began to complain of the hard labor imposed upon them. They had imagined that, on reaching the new world, they would find lumps of gold lying on the soil ready to be gathered, and mines of diamonds which it would only be necessary to open, in order to grow rich; and when they found that what gold the island contained was only to be obtained by industry, and that the principal value of the new country consisted in the fertility of its soil, and its readiness to yield abundant produce to the patient cultivator, they could not conceal their disappointment and dislike to the ambitious foreigner, whose false representations, they said, had lured them from their homes. To banish these gloomy thoughts from the minds of the colonists, Columbus, as soon as the settlement of Isabella was in tolerable condition, employed himself and his men in expeditions into the interior of the island, especially to the mountainous district of Cibao, where gold was said to be obtained in large quantities.

Returning from a long expedition into the interior in the end of March 1492, Columbus found the colony of Isabella in a most flourishing condition. The only drawbacks to the satisfaction of Columbus were the illness of many of the colonists, their growing discontent, and the symptoms of ill-will which the natives began at length to manifest towards the Spaniards. Still, as there was no appearance of any interruption to the tranquillity of the colony, Columbus resolved to undertake a voyage of discovery through the Archipelago, with a view to reach the great Indian continent, of which his imagination was still full. Leaving, therefore, his brother Diego to govern the Island, with the assistance of a council of officers, and intrusting the command of a body of soldiers to Don Pedro Margarita, he sailed from Hayti on the 24th of April 1494. For five months he sailed in various directions through the West Indian Archipelago in quest of the imaginary Cathay or Cipango; discovering nothing of consequence, however, except the island of Jamaica. The weather was tempestuous; and it was only by incessant care on the part of the admiral that his fleet was kept afloat. At length, wearied out with his labors, he was attacked by a violent fever, which terminated in a sort of lethargy or paralysis of all his faculties; and his officers, despairing of his life, returned to Hispaniola in the month of September.

Here a joyful surprise awaited Columbus, which contributed greatly to his recovery. His brother Bartholomew, whom he had not seen for several years, had arrived in the island during his absence. Bartholomew, it will be remembered, had been despatched in 1488 to England, with offers of his brother’s project to Henry VIII; but had been captured by pirates on the way. Escaping at length, he was engaged in negotiations with the English monarch, when he learned that his brother had returned to Spain with the announcement of a new world. Ere he could reach Spain, however, Columbus had departed on his second voyage; but on arriving, he had been treated with great honor by the Spanish sovereigns, and intrusted with the command of a squadron which they were sending out to the colony with provisions. Bartholomew was a man of extraordinary vigor and talent, with less enthusiasm and genius than his brother the admiral, but his equal in decision and sagacity; and much superior to his other brother Diego, who, though a worthy and good man, was of a soft and yielding character.

During Columbus’ absence the colony had fallen into confusion. Besides the growing discontent of many of the colonists, the natives were in insurrection—​provoked, as it appeared, by the ravages and cruelties of the whites. It was necessary, in the first place, to reduce the natives to obedience. Several months were spent in this wretched and bloody work; which was at length accomplished at the expense of the lives of some Spaniards and thousands of the natives. Many of the latter were also taken prisoners, and reduced to servitude; some of them being even shipped to Spain, to be sold in the slave market. The natives universally were compelled to pay tribute. ‘Each person above fourteen years of age, who lived in those districts where gold was found, was obliged to pay quarterly as much gold dust as filled a hawk’s bell; from those in other parts of the country twenty-five pounds of cotton were demanded.’ This was the first regular taxation of the Indians, and served as a precedent for exactions still more intolerable. Such an imposition was extremely contrary to those maxims which Columbus had hitherto inculcated with respect to the mode of treating them. But intrigues were carrying on in the court of Spain at this juncture, in order to undermine his power and discredit his operations, which constrained him to depart from his own system of administration. Several unfavorable accounts of his conduct, as well as of the countries discovered by him, had been transmitted to Spain. Columbus saw that there was but one method of supporting his own credit, and of silencing his adversaries. He must produce such a quantity of gold as would not only justify what he had reported with respect to the richness of the country, but encourage Ferdinand and Isabella to persevere in prosecuting his plans. The necessity of obtaining it forced him not only to impose a heavy tax upon the Indians, but to exact payment of it with extreme rigor; and may be pleaded in excuse for his deviating on this occasion from the mildness and humanity with which he uniformly treated that unhappy people.

The task of reducing the island to order occupied Columbus till towards the end of the year 1495. Meanwhile the representations of his enemies in Spain had gained such weight over the cold and jealous Ferdinand, and even over the generous soul of Isabella, that they resolved to send out a commissioner to investigate into his conduct. The person chosen for this office was Aguado, a groom of the king’s bed-chamber. On arriving in Hispaniola, Aguado’s behavior was so arrogant, and had such a bad effect upon the interests of the colony, that Columbus determined to proceed to Spain, and vindicate his conduct personally to the sovereigns. Accordingly, appointing his brother Bartholomew adelantado, or lieutenant-governor, of the island, and Francis Roldan chief-justice, he set sail in the spring of 1496, and arrived safely in Spain.

Third and Fourth Voyages—​Ill-treatment of Columbus—​Death. The appearance of Columbus in Spain, his manly and candid defense of his conduct, his glowing exposition of the value of his discoveries, and the best means of prosecuting them, had the effect of silencing his detractors for a time. A third expedition was fitted out at his solicitation. It was not, however, till the beginning of 1498 that all was in readiness. This delay arose partly from the dilatoriness of officials, and partly from the unwillingness of men to engage in an enterprise which did not now appear so captivating as it did at first. ‘To supply the want of voluntary recruits,’ a measure was adopted, at the suggestion of Columbus, which shows the desperate alternatives to which he was reduced by the great reaction of public sentiment. This was to commute the sentences of criminals condemned to banishment, to the galleys, or to the mines, into transportation to the new settlements, where they were to labor in the public service without pay. This pernicious measure, calculated to poison the population of an infant community at its very source, was a fruitful cause of trouble, and misery and detriment to the colony. It has been frequently adopted by various nations whose superior experience should have taught them better, and has proved the bane of many a rising settlement. It is assuredly as unnatural for a metropolis to cast forth its crimes and its vices upon its colonies, as it would be for a parent willingly to engraft disease upon his children.

On the 30th of May 1498, Columbus set sail on his third voyage, with a squadron of six vessels. Sailing much farther south in this voyage than he had done in the two former, he landed on the coast of Paria, in the South American continent. The circumstances of this third voyage, part of which lay within the tropics, and the appearance of the new coasts to which it conducted him, made a strong impression on the mind of Columbus, which had a natural bent for theorising upon every phenomenon presented to it. Among other theories which he started about this time, was one by which he attempted to explain the variation of the compass, and other extraordinary changes which occurred in passing from the old world to the new. According to this theory, he supposed that the earth, instead of being spherical, as hitherto imagined, was elongated or pear-shaped, with one end bulbous, and the other produced and tapering—​a theory which, however absurd it may seem, was really a step in advance of the science of the day.

After coasting along the South American continent, acquiring information which he thought all tended to show that he was on the track of the long-desired Indies of Marco Polo, Columbus was obliged, by the shattered condition of his ships, to make for Hispaniola. Here he found all in confusion. Roldan, whom he had appointed chief justice, had rebelled against the authority of the adelantado, and was living in another part of the island as the head of a band of insurgents. Bartholomew had governed the colony vigorously and well; but being a foreigner, and not of high birth, he was unpopular with the Spaniards. It required all Columbus’ skill and command of temper to restore the semblance of order. By a seasonable proclamation, offering free pardon to such as should merit it by returning to their duty, he made impression upon some of the malcontents. By engaging to grant such as should desire it the liberty of returning to Spain, he allured all those unfortunate adventurers who, from sickness and disappointment, were disgusted with the country. By promising to reëstablish Roldan in his former office, he soothed his pride; and, by complying with most of his demands in behalf of his followers, he satisfied their avarice. Thus gradually, and without bloodshed, but after many negotiations, he dissolved this dangerous combination, which threatened the colony with ruin, and restored the appearance of order, regular government, and tranquillity.

Meanwhile Columbus’ enemies were again undermining his popularity in Spain. The accounts which Roldan and others sent home of the arrogance of Columbus and his brothers, received more credit than the admiral’s own despatches. Owing also to the cessation of labor in the colony, Columbus was unable to send home so much wealth as the sovereigns expected. Private adventurers were likewise fitting out expeditions of discovery to the new world; and Ferdinand began to be of opinion that it would be more for the interests of the crown to deprive Columbus of his great and exclusive privileges as his viceroy in the new world, and to place the colonial government on a new footing. Isabella alone seemed to befriend the admiral. At length, however, on the arrival of some ships from Hispaniola freighted with natives, whom Columbus had been forced to permit some of the refractory colonists to take with them on their return to Spain, to be sold in the slave market, her queenly soul, abhorring the idea of making wealth by the sale of human beings, took fire, and she indignantly exclaimed, ‘What right has the admiral to give away my vassals?’ She no longer opposed Ferdinand’s desire to send out a person to examine into the conduct of Columbus, and, if necessary, to order him home. The person chosen as commissioner was Don Francisco de Bovadilla, an officer of the royal household.

On arriving at Hispaniola, Bovadilla reversed the order of his written instructions. He superseded Columbus before investigating into his conduct. Entering the admiral’s residence at Isabella, he seized all his furniture, books, and papers; and by his orders Columbus, with his brothers Diego and Bartholomew, were put in irons. What a burlesque on national gratitude was this outrage! The man who had led Europeans to an acquaintance with America, actually put in manacles by a miserable instrument of the Spanish government! Overcome with emotion, Columbus was thus led on board a ship which waited to receive him. On arriving on board, an officer charged with the duty of attending on him and his brothers offered, with considerate humanity, to remove the irons from his prisoners; but the admiral refused, saying that they were put on by the command of their majesties, and should remain till removed by the same authority. These irons Columbus afterwards preserved as relics.

The rumor had no sooner circulated at Cadiz and Seville that Columbus and his brothers had arrived, loaded with chains, and condemned to death, than it gave rise to a burst of public indignation. The excitement was strong and universal; and messengers were immediately despatched to convey the intelligence to Ferdinand and Isabella. The sovereigns were moved by this exhibition of popular feeling, and were offended that their name and authority should have been used to sanction such dishonorable violence. They gave orders for the immediate liberation of the prisoners, and for their being escorted to Granada with the respect and honor they deserved. They annulled, without examination, all the processes against them, and promised an ample punishment for all their wrongs. At his first interview with the sovereigns after his arrival, Columbus was so overcome that he threw himself at their feet, where he remained for some minutes drowned in tears, and unable to speak from the violence of his sobbings.

Columbus, however, was not reäppointed to his command in Hispaniola. Bovadilla, it is true, was superseded; but his successor was Don Nicholas de Ovando, a Spanish cavalier. It was represented to Columbus that this appointment was only temporary, and that as soon as the colony was in an orderly condition, he would be reinstated in his privileges. In the meantime, he was to undertake a fourth voyage of discovery. In consequence of the knowledge which he had obtained on his previous voyages—​as well as from the voyages of the numerous adventurers who followed him—​of the extent of the American continent, connected with the announcement with which Europe was then ringing, of the final accomplishment of the great feat of the circumnavigation of Africa by Vasco de Gama in 1497, the genius of Columbus had conceived a new project, or rather a modification of his former one. This was the discovery of some strait lying somewhere between Honduras and Paria, in about the situation of what is now known as the Isthmus of Darien, and leading into the Indian Ocean. Having discovered this strait, he would sail through it, coast along the Indies to the shores of Arabia, and either sail up the Red Sea, and travel overland to Spain; or repeat Vasco de Gama’s feat the reverse way, and reach Spain after having circumnavigated the world. Such was the gigantic scheme with the thoughts of which the great old man regaled his declining years. We mistake the character of Columbus if we suppose him merely to have been a man of extraordinary courage, coupled with what we usually understand by the term intellect. He had perhaps one of the most daring and fanciful imaginations. He regarded himself as a personage expressly predestined by heaven to discover a new world, and prepare the way for the recovery of the holy sepulchre, and the conversion of the whole world to Christianity. These three events he conceived to be linked to each other by prophecy; and he considered that he was the instrument in God’s hands for bringing them all about.

On the 9th of May 1502, Columbus again set sail from Cadiz on a fourth voyage of discovery. During this expedition he touched at some parts of the South American continent, and also at some of the formerly-discovered islands; but he failed in making any important discoveries, in consequence of the bad state of his vessels, which were old, and unfit for sailing. With a squadron reduced to a single vessel he now returned to Spain, where he heard with regret of the death of his patron Isabella. This was a sad blow to his expectations of redress and remuneration. Ferdinand was jealous and ungrateful. He was weary of a man who had conferred so much glory on his kingdom, and unwilling to repay him with the honors and privileges his extraordinary services so richly merited. Columbus, therefore, sank into obscurity, and was reduced to such straitened circumstances, that according to his own account, he had no place to repair to except an inn, and very frequently had not wherewithal to pay his reckoning. Disgusted and mortified by the base conduct of Ferdinand, exhausted with the hardships which he had suffered, and oppressed with infirmities, Columbus closed his life at Valladolid on the 20th of May 1506. He died with a composure of mind suitable to the magnanimity which distinguished his character, and with sentiments of piety becoming that supreme respect for religion which he manifested in every occurrence of his life.

Columbus experienced the fate of most great men—​little esteemed during his life, but almost deified after his decease. Fedinand, with a meanness which covers his memory with infamy, allowed this great man to pine and die, a victim of injustice and mortification; but no sooner was he dead, than he erected a splendid monument over his remains in one of the churches of Seville. The body of Columbus was not destined, however, to be indebted to Spain for even this posthumous honor; it was afterwards according to the will of the deceased, transferred to St. Domingo, and buried in the cathedral there; but on the cession of that island, to the French, in the year 1795, it was transferred to Havana, in the island of Cuba, where we hope it will rest in peace.

The discoveries of Columbus laid open a knowledge of what are now termed the West India Islands, and a small portion of the South American continent, which this great navigator, till the day of his death, believed to be a part of Asia or India. About ten years after his decease the real character of America and its islands became known to European navigators; and by a casual circumstance one of these adventurers, Amerigo Vespucii, a Florentine, had the honor of conferring the name America upon a division of the globe which ought, in justice, to have been called after the unfortunate Columbus.

MAGELLAN—FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD.

Ferdinand Magellan was by birth a Portuguese, decended from a good family, and born towards the end of the fifteenth century. In consequence of certain services in the Indian Seas, he applied to the government for some recompense; but being treated with neglect, he left his own country to seek employment in a foreign land. In company with Ruy Falero, an eminent astronomer, and one of his associates, he traveled into Spain, and explained to Charles V, the reigning monarch, his project of making discoveries in distant seas. The court listened to the adventurer with favor, and consented to fit out an expedition.

Magellan’s little squadron consisted of five ships, manned with 237 men, and supplied with provisions, ammunition and stores, for two years. On the 1st of August, 1519, they left Seville, and on the 27th of September sailed from Sanlucar, steering for the Canaries. They refreshed at Teneriffe, and early in October passed the Cape de Verd Islands. Holding on their course, they bore along the coast of Africa, till they crossed the line, seventy days after their departure. In the beginning of December, they came to that part of Brazil which is now called the Bay of St. Lucia. They subsequently anchored at the mouth of a large river, supposed to be the Rio Janeiro, where they continued a fortnight. On their first landing, the inhabitants flocked to the beach in great numbers, beholding, as they imagined, five sea-monsters approaching the shore. When the boats put out from the ships, the natives set up a great shout, conceiving them to be young sea-monsters, the offspring of the others.

Proceeding along the South American Coast, the squadron arrived in April, 1520, at a large bay, now called by the name of St. Julian. Here they saw a wild, gigantic race, of great size and fierceness, who made a roaring not unlike that of bulls. One of them came on board the admiral’s ship, and was well pleased with his reception; but happening to cast his eyes on a looking-glass, he was so terrified, that starting backwards, he beat to the ground two men who stood behind him. Others subsequently came on board, and their behavior afforded great entertainment to the officers. One of these savages ate a basket full of ship-biscuits, and drank a cask of water at a meal. They wore sandals, or a kind of shoes, made of skins, and this caused their feet to appear like those of an animal. Magellan named them Patagonians, from the Spanish word pata, signifying a hoof, or paw.

Magellan determined to continue here till the return of spring, as it is winter in the southern hemisphere during our summer. He had ordered the allowance of provisions to be shortened, to meet this exigence, which caused much discontent among the crews. A mutiny soon followed, which was not quelled till one of the officers was hanged, and some others were sent on shore to be left among the Patagonians. Five dreary months were passed in the harbor of St. Julian, during which, every exertion was made to insure the successful prosecution of the voyage. On the 24th of August, the squadron again set sail, the weather being fine, and proceeded southward, till a violent gale from the east drove one of the vessels on shore, but the crew was happily saved. Coasting south with the four remaining ships, they approached a cape, near which an opening was discovered which was found afterwards to be a strait. Upon this, Magellan gave orders that all other ships should carefully examine the strait, promising to wait for them a certain number of days. While the three vessels were employed in this expedition, one of them was driven out of the strait by the reflux of the tide, when the crew, dissatisfied with their situation, rose on their captain, made him prisoner, and again set sail for Europe. After waiting several days beyond the time he had fixed, Magellan entered the strait or arm of the sea, which has ever since retained his name. The entrance lies in 52 degrees south latitude, and the strait, which is about 110 leagues in length, is very wide in some places, and in others not more than half a league from shore to shore. On both sides the land was high, and the mountains were covered with snow, on advancing about 50 leagues west from the entrance.

In about six weeks they found themselves again in an open sea, the coast terminating westward in a cape, and the shore of the continent taking a northerly direction. The sight of the Pacific Ocean gave Magellan the utmost joy, he being the first European who sailed upon it. Proceeding W.N.W. he arrived at the Ladrone Islands, to which he gave that name on account of the thievish disposition of the natives.

They sailed from the Ladrones on the 10th of March, 1521, and after visiting a number of islands, entered the port of Lebu on the 7th of April. From Lebu they sailed to the island of Mathan, which being governed by two kings, and one of them refusing to pay tribute to the king of Spain, Magellan prepared to reduce him. He marched into the interior of the island, accompanied by sixty Europeans. Here he was attacked by three distinct bodies of the islanders, whose united force amounted to upwards of six thousand. The battle was for some time doubtful, till Magellan’s impetuosity carrying him too far, he was killed by being wounded in the leg with a poisoned arrow, and stabbed through the body by a spear. Eight or nine of the Spaniards and fifteen of the Indians were also slain. After the death of the admiral, new commanders were chosen from among the surviving officers, and as the ships were now in a very bad condition, it was found necessary to make use of one to repair the other two.

Sailing W.S.W. they came to the rich island of Borneo. From this place they sailed to Cimbubon, where they were detained forty days in repairing their ships and taking in wood and water. Bending their course hence S.E. for the Moluccas, they came to anchor in the port of Tidore on the 8th of November. After remaining here some time, they set sail in one ship alone and with fifty-nine persons on board, for Europe. To double the Cape of Good Hope with the greater safety, they sailed as low as 42 degrees S. latitude, where they were obliged to wait seven weeks for a wind. On doubling the cape they were much distressed by hunger and sickness. For two months they held on their course to the N.W. without touching at any port, during which time they lost twenty-one persons, and the rest were on the point of starving.

In this situation they arrived at St. Jago, one of the Cape de Verd Islands. Finally on the 7th of September, they entered St. Lucar in Spain, with their number reduced to about eighteen persons. According to their reckoning, they had sailed 14,000 leagues, and crossed the equator six times, having been absent three years wanting fourteen days. This was the First Voyage Round the World that had ever been made.

SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.

Mr. Drake was first apprenticed to the master of a small vessel trading to France and Zealand; at the age of eighteen he went purser of a ship to the Bay of Biscay, and at twenty made a voyage to the coast of Guinea. Having obtained Queen Elizabeth’s permission for an expedition against the Spaniards, five ships were fitted out, having on board 164 able men and a large quantity of provisions. This fleet sailed out of Plymouth Sound on the 5th of November, 1577; but meeting with a violent storm, they were obliged to put back and refit. On the 13th of December they sailed again, and on the 25th passed Cape Cantin on the coast of Barbary. After visiting numerous islands and meeting with various adventures, having passed the line, they at length discovered the coast of Brazil on the 5th of April, it being fifty-four days since they saw land. As soon as the people on shore saw the ships, they made large fires in different parts, and performed ceremonies to prevail on the gods to sink the vessels, or at least to prevent their landing. Sailing southward, they anchored in fort St. Julian, where the admiral going on shore with six men, some of the natives slew the gunner, whose death was revenged by the commander, who killed the murderer with his own hand. At this place Magellan having executed one of his company who conspired against his life, Drake caused one of the crew named Doughty to be tried for the same offense against himself; and executed him on the same gibbet.

On the 20th of August, they fell in with the strait of Magellan, which they entered, but found so full of intricate windings, that the same wind which was sometimes in their favor, was at others against them. After several difficulties, they entered the South Sea on the 6th of September, and on the next day a violent storm drove them 200 leagues south of the strait, where they anchored among some islands, abounding in herbs and water. Being now arrived at the other mouth of the strait, they steered for the coast of Chili. On their course they met an Indian in a canoe, who informed them that at St. Jago there was a large ship laden for Peru. The admiral rewarded him for this information, whereupon he conducted them to the place where the ship lay at anchor. There were only eight Spaniards and three negroes on board, who mistaking them for friends, welcomed them, and invited them to drink Chili wine. Drake accepted the invitation, and going on board, put them under hatches; arriving on shore, he rifled the town and chapel, from which he took great quantities of silver and gold. Proceeding to sea, they arrived at the port of Tarapaxa, where some of them going on shore, found a Spaniard asleep, with eighteen bars of silver laying by his side, which they took without waking him.

Entering the port of Lima on the 13th of February, they found twelve sail of ships at anchor unguarded, the crews being all on shore. Examining these vessels they found much plate, together with rich silks and linens, which they took away; but having learned that a rich ship called the Cacafuego had lately sailed from that harbor for Taila, the admiral determined to follow her. Having come up with the chase, they gave her three shots, which brought away the mizzen-mast, whereupon they boarded her, and found thirteen chests full of rials of plate, eighty pounds-weight of gold, a quantity of jewels, and twenty-six tons of silver in bars.

They subsequently took several other rich prizes, and Drake having now revenged himself on the Spaniards, began to think of the best way of returning to England. To return by the straits of Magellan would be to throw himself into the hands of the Spaniards; he therefore determined to sail westward to the East Indies, and return by the Cape of Good Hope. But wanting wind, he sailed toward the north, and in 38 degrees N. latitude, discovered a country, which from its white cliffs he called New Albion, though it is now known by the name of California. Here they were received with much hospitality by the natives, and the king made Drake a solemn tender of his kingdom. Sailing hence, they saw the Ladrones on the 13th of October. The admiral held on his course without delay, and on the 4th of November, fell in with the Moluccas. Having arrived at a little island south of Celebes, they staid 26 days, in order to repair the ships. Setting sail hence, they ran among a number of small islands, and the wind shifting about suddenly, drove them upon a rock, on the evening of the 9th of January, 1579, where they stuck fast, till four in the afternoon of the next day. In this extremity they lightened the vessel by taking out eight pieces of ordnance and three tons of cloves. On the 18th of June, they doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and on the 22d of July arrived at Sierra Leone, where they found a great number of elephants. They staid here two days, and holding on their course for Plymouth, arrived there on Monday, September 26, 1580; but according to their own reckoning, on Sunday the 25th, having gone round the world in two years, ten months, and a few days. The honor of knighthood was conferred on Drake, and a chair was made from his ship, which is still shown as a curiosity at Oxford.

HENRY HUDSON.

The distinguished English naval discoverer, Henry Hudson, sailed from London in the year 1607, in a small vessel, for the purpose of discovering a north-east passage to China and Japan, with a crew of only ten men and a boy besides himself, and, proceeding beyond the 80th degree of latitude, returned to England in September. In a second voyage, the next year, he landed at Nova Zembla, but could proceed no farther eastward. In 1609, he undertook a third voyage, under the patronage of the Dutch East India Company. Being unsuccessful in his attempt to find a north-east passage, he sailed for Davis’ straits, but struck the continent of America in 44 deg. N. lat., and holding a southerly course, discovered the mouth of the river Hudson, which he ascended about fifty leagues in a boat. His last voyage was undertaken in 1610. He sailed, April 17th, in a barque named the Discovery, with a crew of twenty-three men, and came within sight of Greenland, June 4th. Proceeding westward he reached, in latitude 60 deg., the strait bearing his name. Through this he advanced along the coast of Labrador, to which he gave the name of Nova Brittannia, until it issued into the vast bay, which is also called after him. He resolved to winter in the most southern part of it, and the crew drew up the ship in a small creek, and endeavored to sustain the severity of that dismal climate, in which attempt they endured severe privations. Hudson, however, fitted up his shallop for farther discoveries; but, not being able to establish any communication with the natives, or to revictual his ship, with tears in his eyes he distributed his little remaining bread to his men, and prepared to return. Having a dissatisfied and mutinous crew, he imprudently uttered some threats of setting some of them on shore; upon which a body of them entered his cabin at night, tied his arms behind him, and put him in his own shallop, at the west end of the straits, with his son, John Hudson, and seven of the most infirm of the crew. They were then turned adrift, and were never more heard of. A small part of the crew, after enduring incredible hardships, arrived at Plymouth, in September, 1611.

LE MAIRE AND SCHOUTEN—​FIRST VOYAGE ROUND CAPE HORN.

A belief that to the south of the strait of Magellan there would be found an open sea, or some other passage leading to the South Sea, had many years been gaining ground, when a company of Dutch merchants determined to make the experiment, which, if successful, would open to them, as they belived, the trade to India, by a new, instead of an interdicted passage, which the strait of Magellan then was.

Jacob le Maire was appointed principal merchant, and president of the ships; and Wilhelm Schouten, an able seamen, received the charge of patron or master mariner. The vessels fitted out were the Eendracht, a ship of three hundred and sixty tons, nineteen guns, and sixty-five men, and a galliot, named the Horne, of one hundred and ten tons, eight guns and twenty-two men. The president, Le Maire, and Patron Schouten, sailed in the former; the latter was commanded by Jan Schouten, brother to the patron, with Adrian Claesz as merchant.

June the 4th, 1615, they quitted the Texel, and in three days anchored in the Downs, where an English gunner was hired. On the 30th of August, dropped anchor in the road of Sierra Leone, where a stock of twenty-five thousand lemons was purchased from the natives, for a few beads. On the 5th of October, were in latitude four degrees seventeen minutes N. when a great noise was heard on board the Eendracht, and immediately after the sea around it became red with blood. Afterwards a piece of the horn of some sea animal was found sticking in the bottom of the ship, seven feet below the water line, having penetrated through the planking, and into one of the ribs: about the same length remained without; it was similar in shape and size to the end of an elephant’s tooth.

Having passed the line, they struck soundings in seventy-five fathoms depth, on the 4th of December, and two days after saw the American coast. On the 8th, anchored in Port Desire, where they took a large supply of birds, etc. On the 19th, the Horne caught fire, and was totally consumed. On the 13th of January, 1616, the Eendracht quitted Port Desire, and on the 20th, passed the latitude of the entrance of the straits of Magellan. On the 24th saw Terra del Fuego to the right, not more than a league off, and on the 29th passed to the north of some rocky islets: Terra del Fuego appeared to the W. N. W. and W., all hilly land covered with snow, with a sharp point which they called Cape Horne, in honor of the vessel which they had lost. On the 30th, having passed to the south of the Cape, steered west, encountering great waves with a current to the westward; and afterwards steered north. The ship continued to advance northward, and on the 1st of March, made the island of Juan Fernandez, and caught two tons of fish, but could find no anchorage. Steering for the East Indies they visited a number of small islands, and on the 5th of August came to the Isle of Goley, subject to the King of Tidore. Sailed again next day; and, after being much delayed by calms, met, September the 7th, with a ship of their own country, anchoring the same day at the Island of Ternate. They were kindly received by the people in power; the Eendracht had not lost one of her crew in her long cruisings, and they had discovered a new passage to the South Sea; yet these merits did not avail them, for on the arrival of the ship at Batavia, she was seized and condemned, on a supposed infringement of the rights of the Dutch East India Company, the officers and crew being put on board other ships, to be conveyed to Europe.

On the 31st of December, during the passage home, died the president, Jacob Le Maire, a victim to the unworthy treatment he had received—​a worthy man and a skillful navigator; and on the 1st of July, 1617, his companions arrived at Holland, by the way of Good Hope, having been absent two years and seventeen days.

VOYAGE OF CAPTAIN JAMES, FOR THE DISCOVERY OF A NORTH-WEST PASSAGE.

In the year 1630, several wealthy merchants of Bristol united in fitting out a vessel for the purpose of accurately examining the whole northern coast of America. The command of this vessel, which was small, only of seventy tons burden, but one of the strongest ships of her size that had ever been built, was given to Captain James. She was provisioned for eighteen months, and manned with only twenty-two seamen, but these were all excellent sailors.

His stores having been all shipped, and the men on board, Captain James left Bristol in the month of April 1631. After passing the southern coast of Ireland, he sailed in a west-north-west-erly direction, and on the fourth of June discovered the coast of Greenland. Two days subsequently to this, his vessel was encompassed with ice, many immense pieces of which beat so violently against her that the captain was fearful she would have been staved and sunk. The boat that accompanied her was crushed to atoms. In one instance he was obliged to order the ship to be made fast to a great piece of the ice, and during a day and night to employ men incessantly in pushing off such masses of ice as floated against her; but in this labor all their poles were broken. The wind at length blew a perfect hurricane, and, though the broken ice on almost all sides rose higher than the decks, and the vessel was beaten about in a most alarming manner, she suffered no injury.

On the morning of the tenth of June, these hardy adventurers passed some masses of the ice that were as high as the topmost of their vessel, and left Cape Desolation, in Greenland, to the eastward. The weather was now so cold that at one time the sails and rigging were all frozen. On the twentieth, the ship reached the southern point of the island of Resolution, at the entrance of Hudson’s Strait, but she was several times carried round by the current, and floating ice, and was in imminent danger of being crushed to pieces before she could be brought to anchor. It now began to snow heavily, and the wind blew a storm from the westward. This drove the ice from the sea into the harbor where the vessel was stationed, until it was choked up. For some time the ice seemed to be perfectly firm and immovable, but it floated out again at the ebb of the tide. The various dangers to which the vessel was exposed in this harbor, of being thrown against the rocks, crushed to pieces in the ice, and sunk, were so great that the captain almost gave up all hope of being able to save her. He describes the thundering noise of the masses of ice beating against each other, the rushing of the water, and the fury of the current, to have been tremendous. After much difficulty and the most persevering exertions, however, she was navigated into a little cove or harbor, where, being made fast to the rocks, she was at length rendered tolerably secure.

Captain James landed on the island, but found that although the summer was far advanced, the ponds were yet frozen. The ground was rocky and barren, and no traces of animals were visible in the snow, though it was evident from some hearths and remains of fire-wood which were seen, that human beings had not long before visited the place. Captain James continued here two days, and then sailed westward; but the masses of ice were still almost impenetrable. They grated the sides of the vessel with such violence that it was feared they would burst through the planks. On looking out from the mast-head scarcely an acre of open sea was visible: nothing was to be seen but a continued and irregular range of ice, towering in different places to an immense height. The ship was thus surrounded till the twenty-seventh of June, when, by a gale from the south-east, the ice opened, and she was enabled to make some way.

Though exposed to incessant danger by the immense masses of ice, which floated on the surface of the ocean, Captain James and his associates proceeded still westward, and entered Hudson’s Strait about the beginning of July. On the fifteenth of that month, they arrived betwixt Digg’s Island and Nottingham Island, but the summer was so cold and unfavorable that it was now evident there would be no possibility of proceeding much further northward this year. About a fortnight afterwards, they were so fast enclosed in the ice, that notwithstanding the ship had all her sails set, and it blew a strong breeze, she was immovable and as firmly fixed as if she had been in a dry dock. On this, the captain and many of the men walked out of her to amuse themselves upon the ice. Several of the crew now began to murmur, and to express great alarm, lest they should not be able either to proceed or return; and lest their provisions, which were beginning to fall short, would soon wholly fail. The captain encouraged them as well as he was able, and though he was aware their murmuring was not without a reason, he affected to ridicule their fears. Among other contrivances to amuse them, he took a quantity of spirits upon the ice, and there drank the king’s health, although there was not a single man in the ship, and though she was at that time under all her sails. This was the twenty-eighth of July. On the thirtieth, they made some little way through the ice, part of the crew heaving the vessel along with their shoulders, whilst others at the same time, broke off the corners of the ice with mallets and iron crows, to clear the way. This labor was continued on the following day, and after much fatigue, they got the ship into thirty-five fathom water. All this time they were in latitude 58 deg. 45 minutes north, and a few days afterwards they were in an open sea free from ice. The Captain and his crew now joined in devout thanksgiving for their deliverance from the dangers to which they had been exposed.

A few days subsequently to this, whilst the ship was under sail, she struck upon some rocks that were concealed by the water, and received three such terrible blows, that the captain was fearful her masts would have been shivered to pieces, and he had no doubt that a hole had been beaten through her sides. But such was the strength of her timbers that she received little injury, and in a short time, was again out of danger.

On the twentieth of August, and in latitude 57 deg. north, they came within sight of land, part of the continent of North America, which the captain named New South Wales, in honor of Charles, Prince of Wales, afterwards King Charles the second: and on the third of September they passed a cape, to which he gave the name of Cape Henrietta Maria, after the Queen. In the ensuing evening, they encountered such a tempest of thunder, snow, rain, and wind, as none of the crew had ever before been exposed to. The sea washed completely over the decks, and the vessel rolled so tremendously, that it was not without great difficulty all things could be kept fast in the hold, and betwixt the decks.

As the winter was now approaching, Captain James began to look out for some harbor, where he and his companions could pass that cheerless season, with as little discomfort, and in as much security, as possible. Landing, on the third of October, upon an island, in the bay that has since been called James’ Bay, he found the tracks of deer, and saw some wild fowl; but not being able to discover a safe anchorage, he proceeded onward with the vessel, and two days afterwards moored the ship, in a place of tolerable security near the same island. It now snowed without intermission, and was so cold that the sails were frozen quite hard, and the cable was as thick with ice as a man’s body.

Several men were sent ashore to cut wood for fuel, and they collected as much as, it was estimated, would last two or three months. It was found inconvenient, particularly for some of the crew who were sick, to continue entirely in the vessel; a kind of house was, therefore, erected on shore, under the direction of the carpenter. In the meantime the captain and some of the men went into the woods to see whether they could discover any traces of human beings, that, in case they found such, they might be on their guard against attack. None were found. The topsails were now taken down from the vessel, thawed, and dried by great fires, and then folded up and secured from wet between the decks. The main-sail was carried on shore, to be used as a covering for the house. In about four days, the house was ready, and a portion of the crew slept in it every night, armed with muskets to defend themselves in case of attack, and guarded by two buck-hounds, which had been brought from England, for the hunting of deer. Such of the other rigging of the vessel as could be taken down, was now removed, and placed under the decks.

On the fourteenth of October, six of the men set out with the dogs, in the hope of killing some deer, the tracks of which they had previously seen. They wandered more than twenty miles over the snow, and returned the next day with one small and lean animal; having passed a cold and miserable night in the woods. Others went out a few days afterwards, and to a still greater distance; these were not only unsuccessful, but they lost one of their companions, who, on attempting to cross a small frozen lake, fell in and was drowned. The captain consequently gave directions that hunting to such distances should be no more attempted.

The crew at first brought beer ashore from the ship; but this, even in their house, and close by the fire, was frozen and spoiled in one night. After this they drank water, which they obtained from a well that they sunk near the house. Their time was chiefly passed in setting traps and hunting for foxes and other animals, and in such occupations as were requisite for their own preservation.

The winter was now so far advanced, that the ship appeared, from the shore, like a piece of ice in the form of a ship. The snow was frozen on every part, and her decks and sides were covered with ice. The captain began to despair of ever again getting her off. Every day the men were employed in beating the ice from the cables, and digging it out of the hawsers with a calking iron; and in these operations the water would freeze on their clothes and hands, so as very soon to render them unequal to almost any exertion.

The ship was found to beat so much, that the captain could devise no other means of preventing her from being shattered to pieces and destroyed, than by directing holes to be bored through her sides, and sinking her in shallow water; where, in the ensuing spring, he might have a chance of again raising her. This was a fearful expedient; but, after all the provisions and things requisite for use on shore had been taken out of her, it was adopted; although it was the general opinion of the crew that she could never be floated again. They, however, had so strong an attachment for their captain, and so much confidence in him, that, even in the midst of despair, they obeyed implicitly all his commands. With true Christian confidence, he exhorted them not to be dismayed. ‘If,’ said he, ‘we end our days here, we are as near heaven as in England; and we are much bound to God Almighty for having given us so large a time for repentance, and having thus, as it were, daily called upon us to prepare our souls for a better life in heaven. He does not, in the meantime, deny that we may use all proper means to save and prolong our lives; and in my judgment, we are not so far past hope of returning to our native country, but that I see a fair way by which we may effect it.’ He then said that there was timber enough in the island for them to build a pinnace or large boat, by which they might endeavor to effect their escape, in case their vessel should be destroyed. This was on the thirtieth of November.

The sufferings and the hardships which these brave men encountered for many successive months, it is impossible to describe. Happily, they had a tolerable store of provisions from their ship, and had not to depend upon the precarious subsistence to be obtained by hunting. Their liquids of every kind, wine, vinegar, oil, etc., were all frozen so hard, that they were obliged to cut them with hatchets, and then melt them over the fire for use.

In the beginning of January, the whole surface of the adjacent sea was so entirely frozen, that no water whatever was to be seen. Some of the men were obliged to be out of doors a considerable part of the day, in fetching timber, and in other necessary employments. Their shoes were all destroyed, except some that had been sunk in the ship, and which were now, of course, inaccessible. They were, consequently, reduced to the necessity of binding up their feet, as well as they could, in pieces of cloth. Their noses, cheeks, and hands, were sometimes frozen in blisters, which were as white as paper; and blisters as large as walnuts rose on different parts of their skin. Their mouths became sore, and their teeth loose.

Timber was cut down, according to the direction of the captain, and the carpenter and crew worked hard at the pinnace, till nearly the end of March, when the carpenter became so weak and ill, that it was necessary to lead him to his labor.

Though they were in the midst of a wood, yet when their fuel began to fail, they had great difficulty in obtaining more. Almost all the axes had been broken in felling timber for the pinnace, and it was peculiarly requisite that care should be taken of such cutting instruments as remained, lest there should be none left for finishing it. And, in felling the timber now, the trees were so hard frozen, that it was first requisite to light large fires around such as were to be cut, in order to thaw the wood, before the axes could make any impression upon them.

During all this season of distress, Captain James and his crew never omitted to perform their religious duties. They particularly solemnized Easter day, the 26th of April, 1632; and it was on this day, whilst they were sitting round their fire, that the captain proposed to attempt, on the first opening of the warm weather, to clear the ship of ice. This was considered by some of the crew impossible; because they believed her to be filled with one solid mass of ice. The attempt, however, was resolved upon; and the question was as to the implements with which it was to be made. These were brought into review, and were only two iron bars (one of which was broken), and four broken shovels, apparently very ineffectual instruments for such a labor.

The time passed miserably and slowly on, till the 16th of May, when they had a comfortable and sunny day. Some efforts were this day made to clear the decks of snow. From this period the vessel began to occupy much of the attention of the captain and his crew. The great cabin was found to be free both from ice and water, and a fire was lighted to clear and dry it. One of the anchors, which was supposed to have been lost, they found under the ice, and recovered. The rudder, which had been torn off by the ice, they were not able to find. By the 24th of May, they had labored so hard in clearing the vessel, that they came to a cask, and could perceive that there was some water in the hold. They pierced the cask, and found it full of good beer; which was a cause of great joy to them.

Their next object was to dig through the ice on the outside of the vessel, to the holes that had been cut for the purpose of sinking her. They succeeded in this operation; and, through the lowest of these, a considerable quantity of water flowed out. The holes were then prevented from admitting any more water, by having strong boards nailed on the outside. Five days afterwards the weather became much warmer than it had been. The water in the hold of the vessel tended to thaw the ice; and, by means of pumps, it was gradually cleared. Several butts of beer, one of cider, and another of wine, were found perfectly sound and good; as well as many barrels of salt beef and pork. A considerable store of shoes and clothing were now also found. These, when dried, were peculiarly acceptable. But it was a subject of sincere rejoicing, that, on examination of the vessel, no defect could be perceived in her; and sanguine hopes began to be entertained that she might still prove capable of performing the remainder of the voyage. Not long after this, the rudder was discovered and got up from beneath the ice.

The carpenter now died. He had been a man beloved by the whole crew, and, with the most exemplary patience, had endured a long illness, in the course of which, with great exertion, he had completed all the most difficult parts of the pinnace. Thus, although he was deeply lamented by his comrades, the loss of him was not so severely felt as it might otherwise have been. At this time nearly the whole crew were disabled, by illness, from working; nor did any of them recover until after the commencement of the warm weather.

From the elevated parts of the land, the open water was first seen on the 19th of June. Four days afterwards the provisions and other articles that were on shore, were carried on board. A cross was next erected; the king’s and queen’s pictures were tied to the top of it; and the island was named Charlton Island. The rigging of the ship was now set. On the 13th, the sea was clear of ice; and on the 2d of July, after the captain and his crew had all devoutly paid thanksgiving to the Almighty for their providential deliverance, they weighed anchor, and proceeded on their voyage.

Still, however, though in the open sea, they suffered great inconvenience from the beating of the floating ice against the ship. On the 22d of July, they again passed Cape Henrietta Maria. The ship had now become so leaky, that, for some time, it was found difficult to keep her clear of water by the pumps. After almost incredible exertions, they made their way northward, according to their estimate, as far as 69 deg. 35 min., when at length they came to an impenetrable mass of ice. It was the opinion of the whole crew, that in the present condition of the ship, the autumn now fast approaching, it would not only be imprudent, but wholly impracticable, to make any further attempt to discover the hoped-for passage of the sea to the north-west. The captain, therefore, with a sorrowful heart, consented to relinquish his object; and, on the 26th of August, determined on returing to England. In his passage homeward, the vessel encountered many difficulties from contrary winds and stormy weather; but, at length, safely arrived at the mouth of the Severn, October 22, 1632.

DAMPIER.

William Dampier was born in Somersetshire, England, in the year 1652. He lost both his parents when very young, and was bound apprentice to the master of a ship at Weymouth, with whom he made a voyage to France and another to New England. In 1673, he served in the Dutch war, and was afterwards an overseer to a plantation in Jamaica. He next visited the bay of Campeachy as a logwood cutter, and, after once more visiting England, engaged in a band of Buccaneers, as they called themselves, although in reality pirates, with whom he roved on the Peruvian coasts. He next visited Virginia, and engaged in an expedition against the Spanish settlements in the South Seas. They accordingly sailed in August, 1683, and, after taking several prizes on the coasts of Peru and Chili, the party experienced various fortune but no very signal success. Dampier, wishing to obtain some knowledge of the northern coast of Mexico, joined the crew of a captain Swan, who cruised in the hopes of meeting the annual royal Mannilla ship, which, however, escaped them. Swan and Dampier were resolved to steer for the East Indies, and they accordingly sailed to the Piscadores, to Bouton island, to New Holland and to Nicobar, where Dampier and others were left ashore to recover their health. Their numbers gave them hopes of being able to navigate a canoe to Achin, in which they succeeded, after encountering a tremendous storm, which threatened them with unavoidable destruction. After making several trading voyages with a Captain Weldon, Dampier entered, as a gunner, the English factory at Bencoolen. Upon this coast he remained until 1691, when he found means to return home, and, being in want of money, sold his property in a curiously painted or tattooed Indian prince, who was shown as a curiosity, and who ultimately died of the small pox at Oxford. Dampier is next heard of as a commander, in the king’s service, of a sloop of war of twelve guns and fifty men, probably fitted out for a voyage of discovery. After experiencing a variety of adventures with a discontented crew, this vessel foundered off the Isle of Ascension, his men with difficulty reaching land. They were released from this island by an East India ship, in which Dampier came to England. He afterwards commanded a ship in the South Seas, and accompanied the expedition of Captain Woodes Rogers as pilot.

PANAMA.

CITY OF PANAMA.

CAPTAIN WOODES ROGERS.

This voyage was undertaken chiefly by the merchants of Bristol, England. Captain Woodes Rogers was appointed commander in chief, and William Dampier first pilot of the expedition. They sailed from Kingroad, Bristol, on the 1st of August, 1708, their force consisting of the Duke, a ship of three hundred tons burden, thirty guns, and one hundred and seventy men, commanded by Rogers; and the Duchess of two hundred and seventy tons, twenty-six guns, and one hundred and fifty-one men, under the command of captain Courtney. They entered the harbor of Cork on the 6th of August, where they enlisted a number of seamen in the room of about forty fellows who had run away. They set sail on the 1st of September, with a very mixed crew, and on the morning of the 10th discovered a sail, to which they immediately gave chase. On coming up with her she proved to be a Swedish ship, and was permitted to proceed unmolested on her way. During the time the ship was in custody, a design had been privately formed on board the Duke, by four inferior officers, to make a prize of her; and when they found she was given up, they began to mutiny; but the boatsman, being displaced, and, with ten others, put in irons, and a severe whipping given to some of the leaders of the disturbance, all was quiet again. On the 14th, however, some of the ship’s company, headed by a daring fellow, came up to captain Rogers at the steerage-door, and demanded the boatswain out of irons. The captain gave them good words, and having taken the ringleader, as if to speak with him on the quarter-deck, had him suddenly seized by the help of the officers, and lashed by one of his own followers. On the 16th the captain released the prisoners from irons on their acknowledging their sorrow for what they had done.

On the 17th, gained sight of the peak of Teneriffe, and the next day took a Spanish bark of twenty-five tons. On the 25th of September passed the tropic, when about sixty of the crew, who had never been this course before, were ducked three times, by hoisting them up halfway the main-yard, with a rope to which they were made fast, and sousing them into the water. After visiting the Cape de Verd islands, where they took in water and provisions, the ships again set sail on the 8th of October, in the evening. On the 14th, they came within sight of Brazil, and soon after came to anchor before the island of Grande, in eleven fathoms water. While they lay here another quarrel arose on board the Duchess, and eight of the ringleaders were put in irons. On the 25th, two men deserted and made their escape into the woods; but, in the night, were so terrified by the noise made by the baboons and monkeys, that they ran back, plunged into the water, and prayed to be taken on board again.

The ships sailed out of the bay of Grande on the first of December, steering for Juan Fernandez, and on the 5th of January, encountered a violent storm, which drove such a quantity of water into the Duchess that they expected she would sink every moment. As the men were going to supper about nine o’clock at night, she shipped a sea at the poop, which beat in the bulkhead and all the cabin windows. On deck the yawl was staved in pieces and one or two of the men severely hurt. On the 17th, took an observation, by which they found they had got round Cape Horn and were to the northward of Cape Victoria. About this time the scurvy began to make great havoc among the crews. They now bore away for the island of Juan Fernandez, which appeared in sight on the last day of January. On going on shore here they discovered a man clothed in goat-skins, whose name was Alexander Selkirk. They remained at this island till the 14th of February, having fully refreshed themselves, when they weighed anchor, with a fair gale at south-east.

After taking a number of valuable prizes, on the 23d of April, captain Rogers with some of his men made a descent in boats and barks upon the town of Guyaquil, which they took with but little resistance and plundered of great quantities of money, jewels, and provisions. He then marched out of the town, and returned on board his own ship, where he was heartily greeted by those of his people whom he had left behind. They afterwards obtained a considerable sum as a ransom for the town, and bore away for the Gallapagos islands, with a strong gale at S. S. W.; discovered land on the 17th of May, but found it barren and destitute of water. Continuing on their voyage, they took several rich prizes, visited Gorgona and the Gallapagos, and sailing for the East Indies arrived at the islands of Serpana and Guam. They left the latter place on the 21st of March, and on the 25th of May, made Bouton. They sailed from this island on the 8th of June, and on the 23d of July, they hove down upon Horn Island to careen their vessels. Having supplied themselves with such necessaries as they wanted, they left Batavia on the 12th of October, and sailed for the Cape of Good Hope.

They came to anchor in the Cape harbor, on the 28th of December. The English saluted the Dutch fort with nine guns: which compliment was was returned with seven. At this place they waited for the convoy of the Dutch fleet till April, on the 5th of which month the Dutch admiral hoisted a blue flag, and loosed his fore-top-sail, as a signal to unmoor; and the next day the whole fleet sailed with a fresh breze at S. S. E. On the 23d of July they arrived in the Texel, and sailing hence with seven prizes came to the moorings in the Downs on the 2d of October, 1711.

CAPTAIN JOHN CLIPPERTON.

About the beginning of the year 1718, some English merchants, foreseeing war between England and Spain, resolved to fit out two ships for the South Seas. Two ships were accordingly provided, one called the Success, the other the Speedwell. The command of the former was given to captain Clipperton, and captain Shelvock was appointed to command the latter. They sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of February 1719, with a fair wind; but the whole stock of wine, brandy and other liquors, for the use of both ships, was still on board the Speedwell. On the 15th, had squally weather with rain; in the evening, unbent the best and small bowers in the Success, stowed their anchors, and found themselves often obliged to shorten sail for the Speedwell. Captain Shelvock came this day under the lee of the Success, and complained to Clipperton of the crankness of his ship, which proceeded from having too much weight aloft; and, therefore, desired him to send for his wine and brandy, which would give him an opportunity of striking down some of his guns into the hold. This was never done.

About ten o’clock at night, on the 19th, there arose a fresh breeze, so as to oblige both ships to take in their topsails. The gale increasing, the Success made a signal for the Speedwell to bring to, and by seven o’clock both ships were under bare poles, nor able to bear a rag of canvass during the night. On the 20th, the storm abated, when Clipperton made sail, steering S. by E., whereas Shelvock stood away to the N. W., so that from this day they never saw each other till they met by accident in the South Seas.

The Canaries being the first place appointed for a rendezvous, Clipperton sailed thither with such expedition as to arrive on the 5th of March. After waiting ten days he determined to continue his voyage, lest he should miss his consort at the next place of rendezvous, which was the Cape de Verd Islands. On the 21st, they saw St. Vincent, and next morning anchored in the bay. They remained here ten days, but not meeting with their consort, proceeded on their voyage.

On the 29th of May, found themselves off the north point of the entrance of the straits of Magellan, and the next day entered the straits. They arrived in the South Seas on the 18th of August, and on the 7th of September cast anchor off the island of Juan Fernandez. They left this island on the 8th of October, leaving behind two deserters whom they had not been able to find. After taking a number of valuable prizes; the Success bore away for the Gallapagos, in order to refresh; and anchored in York Road on the 9th of January 1720. On the 11th of August anchored with a prize they had taken, at the island of Lobos de la Mar. While here a conspiracy among the crew was discovered and punished.

On the 1st of November, sailed for the Bay of Conception; and in the passage took a ship, laden with tobacco, sugar and cloth. They made the Bay on the 6th in the afternoon, where they saw three men-of-war lying, with their topsails loose, who no sooner discovered them than they cut their cables, and stood in chase. At this time Captain Clipperton had one prize with him, which, as well as the Success, hauled close upon a wind; on which the best sailor among the Spanish men-of-war, gave chase to the prize, which she soon came up with and took. The other ships crowded all the sail they could for some time, till the largest, having her mizen-top-mast carried away, fired a gun, tacked, and stood in for the shore, which gave the Success an opportunity of making her escape. In the Spanish prize Clipperton lost his third lieutenant, and twelve of his men.

They continued cruising to the northward, and on the 4th of December found themselves very near the Gallapagos. On the 17th saw the island of Cocos, and most of the crew went on shore. On the 19th of January, 1721, sailed from this place, and on the 25th arrived on the coast of Mexico, where, discovering a sail, they sent their pinnace to give chase, to whom he struck. On the return of the pinnace they had the surprising account that this was a Spanish ship called the Jesu Maria, now commanded by Captain Shelvock, who had lost his ship and most of his men, and taken this prize. These ships again parted, and on the 31st of May, Clipperton anchored in the road of Guam. On the 5th of July entered the port of Amoy, where the crew demanded that the prize money should be shared. Clipperton not complying, they applied to the chief mandarin of the place, requesting that he would do them justice against the captain. Clipperton was therefore summoned before him; and on the mandarin’s demanding a reason why he refused to comply with the desires of the crew, he produced the articles, by which it appeared that the prize-money was not to be shared till their return to London. The mandarin decided that the shares should be settled, and this distribution was accordingly made on the 16th of September; £7,000 being set aside as belonging to the owners. This sum was immediately put on board a Portuguese East Indiaman, which ship was afterwards burnt, and the greater part of the money lost.

Clipperton afterwards took passage for England in a Dutch ship, and arrived there bankrupt in health and fortune, after a long and disastrous voyage.

COMMODORE ANSON.

The expedition under Commodore Anson was fitted out by the English government in the year 1740, to attack the Spanish settlements in America. The squadron consisted of six vessels of war, and two victuallers. These were the

Ships.	Commanders.	Guns.	Men.
Centurion	George Anson	60	400
Gloucester	Richard Norris	50	300
Severn	Edward Legge	50	300
Pearl	Matt. Mitchell	40	250
Wager	Dandy Kidd	28	160
Trial Sloop	John Murray	8	100

On the 18th of September, 1740, the squadron weighed from St. Helens, and reached Madeira the 25th of October. Having sailed hence, they discovered the land of Brazil, on the 16th of December, and on the evening of the 19th cast anchor at the island of St. Catherines. Having repaired their vessels, they quitted this place on the 18th of January, and on the same day of the following month came to anchor in the Bay of St. Julian. The squadron again stood to sea on the 28th of February, when the Gloucester not being able to purchase her anchor, was obliged to cut her cable, and leave her best bower behind. Having reached the southern extremity of the straits of Le Maire, the wind shifted and blew in violent squalls, and the tide turned furiously against them, driving to the eastward with such rapidity, that the two sternmost vessels, the Wager and the Anna Pink, with the utmost difficulty escaped being dashed in pieces on the shore of Staten Island.

CITY OF HAVANA.

SCENE AT HAVANA.

For above three months they struggled with severe gales and terrific waves, and on the 1st of April, the weather, after having been a little more moderate, returned to its former violence; the sky looked dark and gloomy, and the wind began to freshen and blow in squalls; and there were all the appearances of an approaching tempest. Accordingly, on the 3d, there came on a storm, which exceeded in violence and duration all they had hitherto encountered. On the 14th in the morning the weather clearing up a little and the moon shining out on a sudden, the Anna Pink made a signal for seeing land right a-head; and it being then only two miles distant, they were under great apprehensions of running on shore; and had not the wind suddenly shifted, or the moon shone out, every ship must have perished. They found this land, to their disappointment, to be Cape Noir, though they imagined they were ten degrees more to the west. On the evening of the 24th of April, the wind increased to a prodigious storm, and, about midnight, the weather became so thick that the whole squadron separated, nor met again till they reached the island of Juan Fernandez. To add to their misfortunes, the scurvy began to make such havoc, that on board the Centurion only, it carried off forty-three men in the month of April, and twice that number in May.

On the 22d of May the Centurion encountered the severest storm it had yet experienced. Almost all the sails were split; the rigging was destroyed, and a mountainous wave breaking over them on the starboard quarter, gave the vessel such a shock, that several of the shrouds were broke, and the ballast and stores so strangely shifted, that she lay on her larboard side. The wind at length abating a little, they began to exert themselves to stirrup the shrouds, reeve new lanyards, and mend the sails; during which they ran great risk of being driven on the island of Chiloe. After many difficulties they at length reached the island of Juan Fernandez, in a most desponding condition. Here many of the crew died of weariness and disease.

A few days after the Centurion had arrived, the Trial Sloop appeared in sight, and on the 21st of June the Gloucester was discovered to leeward. The Anna Pink arrived about the middle of August, which, with the Trial and Gloucester, mentioned above, were the only vessels that ever joined the squadron; for the Severn and Pearl, having parted from the commodore off Cape Horn, with difficulty reached Brazil, whence they made the best of their way back to Europe, while the Wager was wrecked on the coast. The Anna Pink being judged unlit for service, was taken for the use of the squadron, and her men were sent on board the Gloucester.

About eleven in the morning of the 8th of September, they discovered a sail; when the Centurion, being in the greatest forwardness, made after her as fast as possible. Night coming on they lost sight of the chase. About three in the morning of the 12th, a brisk gale springing up at W. S. W. obliged them to lie upon a N. W. tack, which at break of day, brought them within sight of a sail, at about five leagues distant. She appeared to be a large vessel, and upon hoisting Spanish colors, and bearing towards the Centurion, the commodore ordered everything ready for an engagement; but upon coming nearer, she appeared to be a merchantman, without a single tier of guns, and had mistaken the Centurion for her consort. She soon surrendered, and was found to be a valuable prize.

It appearing from letters on board the prize, that several other merchantmen were at sea, between Callao and Valparaiso, the commodore sent the Trial sloop, to cruise off the latter port; and ordered the Gloucester to cruise off the island of Paita, till she should be joined by the Centurion. The Centurion and her prize weighing from the bay of Juan Fernandez, on the 19th of September, took her course to the eastward, proposing to join the Trial off Valparaiso.

On the 24th, in the evening, they came up with the latter, having taken a prize of six hundred tons burden, laden with a rich cargo. On the 27th, the captain of the Trial came on board the Centurion, bringing with him an instrument, subscribed by himself and all his officers, setting forth that the vessel was so leaky and defective, that it was at the hazard of their lives they staid on board; upon which, the commodore having ordered the crew and every thing of value to be put on board the prize, the Trial was scuttled and sunk. It was now resolved to join the Gloucester off Paita. With this view they stood to the northward, and, on the 10th of November discovered a sail, which Lieutenant Brett was ordered to chase, with the Trial’s pinnace and barge. They found her to be a Spanish vessel of two hundred and seventy tons burden. From the prisoners they learned that, a few days before, a vessel had entered Paita, the master of which told the governor he had been chased by a very large ship, which he imagined to be one of the English squadron, and that the governor had immediately sent an express to Lima, to carry the news to the viceroy, while the royal officer residing at Paita had been busily employed in removing both the king’s treasure and his own to Piuza, a town fourteen leagues within land. It was at once conjectured that the ship which had chased the vessel into Paita was the Gloucester; and, as they were now discovered, and the coast would soon be alarmed, so as to prevent cruising to any advantage, the commodore resolved to endeavor to surprise the place that very night.

When the ships were within five leagues of Paita, about ten o’clock at night, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats under his command, put off, and arrived without being discovered, at the mouth of the bay; though he had no sooner entered it, than some of the people on board a vessel riding at anchor there, perceived him, and immediately getting into their boat, rowed towards the shore, crying out ‘the English, the English dogs,’ etc., by which the town was alarmed and the attack discovered. The town was, however, taken in less than a quarter of an hour from the first landing of the boats; with the loss of one man killed and two wounded.

They weighed anchor from the coast of Paita on the 16th of November, the squadron being increased to six sail by the prizes. On the morning of the 18th, they discovered the Gloucester with a small vessel in tow, which joined them about three in the afternoon, when they learned that captain Mitchell had taken two prizes, one of which had a cargo consisting of wine, brandy and olives, and about seven thousand pounds in specie; and the other was a launch, the people on board which, when taken, were eating their dinner from silver dishes. Notwithstanding this circumstance, the prisoners alleged that they were very poor: having nothing on board, but cotton made up in jars, which, being removed on board the Gloucester, were examined, when the whole appeared to be an extraordinary piece of false package; there being concealed among the cotton, doubloons and dollars, to the amount of twelve thousand pounds.

The cargo and crews of the several vessels were afterwards divided between the Centurion and Gloucester. Quitting the coast of America, they stood for China, the 6th of May, 1742. The Gloucester, which had become decayed, was cleared of every thing by the 15th of August, and then set on fire. On the 27th they arrived at the island of Tinian, where they remained some time. On the night of the 22d of September, when it was excessively dark, the wind blew from the eastward with such fury, that those on board despaired of riding out the storm. At this time Mr. Anson was ill of the scurvy, and most of the hands were on shore, and all the hopes of safety of those on board seemed to depend on immediately putting to sea; all communication between the ship and the island being destroyed.

About one o’clock a strong gust, attended with rain and lightning, drove them to sea, where, being unprepared to struggle with the fury of winds and waves, they expected each moment to be their last. When at daybreak, it was perceived by those on shore that the ship was missing, they concluded her lost, and many of them begged the commodore to send the boat round the island to look for the wreck. In the midst of their gloomy reflections, the commodore formed a plan for extricating them from their present situation; which was by hauling the Spanish barque on shore, sawing her asunder, and lengthening her twelve feet; which would enlarge her to near forty tons burden, and enable her to carry them all to China.

But a discouraging circumstance now occurred, which was, that they had neither compass nor quadrant on the island. At length, on rummaging a chest belonging to the Spanish bark, they found a small compass, which though not much superior to those made for the amusement of school-boys, was to them of the utmost importance.

When this obstacle was removed, and all things ready for sailing, it happened on the afternoon of the 11th of October, that one of the Gloucester’s men being upon a hill, saw the Centurion at a distance. She was soon visible to all, and the next day cast anchor in the road. On the 14th, a sudden gust of wind drove her to sea a second time, but in about five days, they returned again to anchor. On the 20th of October, they set fire to the bark and proa, hoisted in their boats, and got under sail, steering away towards the south end of the island of Macao.

About midnight, on the 5th of November, they made the mainland of China, and on the morning of the 9th, a Chinese pilot came on board, and told them that he would carry the ship into Macao for thirty dollars, which being paid him they proceeded, and on the 12th entered the harbor of Macao.

On the 6th of April the Centurion again stood out to sea. On the last day of May they came in sight of Cape Espiritu Santo, where they continued to cruize till the 20th of June, when about sunrise the great Manilla ship came in sight, having the standard of Spain flying at the top-gallant-mast head, and to the commodore’s surprise, bore down upon him. The engagement soon began, and lasted an hour and a half, when the galleon struck to the Centurion, after having sixty-seven men killed and eighty-four wounded. The Centurion had only two men killed and seventeen wounded. The prize carried five hundred men and thirty-six guns, and her cargo was worth £400,000 sterling. It is impossible to describe the transports on board, when, after all their reiterated disappointments, they at length saw their wishes accomplished. But their joy was very near being suddenly damped by a very alarming accident; for no sooner had the galleon struck, than one of the lieutenants coming to Mr. Anson, whispered him, that the Centurion was dangerously on fire near the powder-room. The commodore received this shocking intelligence without any apparent emotion, and taking care not to alarm his people, gave the necessary orders for extinguishing the fire, which was done, though its first appearance threatened the ship with destruction.

On the 14th, the Centurion cast anchor off Bocca Tigris, forming the mouth of that river: and having got under sail on the 16th of October, 1743, came to anchor in the straits of Sunda on the 3d of January, and continued there till the 8th, taking in wood and water, when she weighed and stood for the Cape of Good Hope, where, on the 11th of March, she came to anchor in Table Bay. Mr. Anson continued here till the 3d of April, 1744, when he put to sea, and on the 19th of the month, was in sight of St. Helena, but did not touch at it.

On the 12th of June they got in sight of the Lizard, and on the evening of the 15th, to their great joy, came safe to anchor at Spithead. On his arrival Mr. Anson learned, that under cover of a thick fog, he had run through a French fleet, which was at that time cruizing in the chops of the channel.

BYRON.

In the year 1764, the Dolphin and Tamar, English ships-of-war, were fitted out for the purpose of prosecuting discoveries in the South Seas. Byron was commander-in-chief, and Captain Mouat commander under him.

On the 3d of July, the commodore hoisted his broad-pendant, and they sailed in prosecution of the voyage. On the 13th of September they came to an anchor in the road of Rio de Janeiro, on the coast of Brazil, when the commodore paid a visit to the governor, who received him in state. They weighed anchor on the 16th of October, steering for Cape Blanco, and on the 21st of November, entered the harbor of Port Desire, and the commodore in his boat, attended by two other boats, went to sound it. He landed, and they had a sight of four beasts, near thirteen hands high, and in shape like a deer, which they took to be granicoes.

CITY OF ADELAIDE.

BALTHURST, N. S. W.

On the 5th of December the ships got under sail, and on the 20th, ran close in-shore to Cape Virgin Mary, and came to an anchor. The commodore observed a number of men on horseback, riding to and fro, opposite the ship, and waving something white, which he took to be an ivitation to land; and as he was anxious to know what people these were, he went in one boat with a party of men well armed; the first lieutenant, with a separate party, following in another. When they came near the shore, the whole appeared to amount to five hundred persons, drawn up on a stony point of land that ran far into the sea. Byron now advanced alone, but as he approached, the Indians retreated: he therefore made signs that one of them should come forward, which was complied with. The one who advanced appeared to be chief, and was over six feet in height; round one of his eyes was a circle of black paint, and a white circle round the other; the rest of his face was painted in streaks of various colors. He had the skin of a beast, with the hair inwards, thrown over his shoulders. The commodore and the Indian having complimented each other, in language equally unintelligible to either, they walked together towards the main body of the Indians, few of whom were shorter than the height abovementioned, and the women were large in proportion.

On the 21st of December they began sailing up the Strait of Magellan, with a view to take in a stock of wood and water. On the 26th, came to anchor at Port Famine. In this place, they found drift-wood enough to have supplied a thousand vessels. The quantity of fish that was daily taken was equal to the supply of both the crews: and the commodore shot as many geese and ducks as furnished several tables besides his own. On the 4th of January 1765, they sailed in search of Falkland’s Islands.

On the 12th they saw land, and on the 14th a flat island, covered with tufts of grass as large as bushes. Soon after this they entered another harbor, to which Byron gave the name of Port Egmont. This harbor is represented to be the finest in the world, and capacious enough to contain the whole navy of England, in full security; there is plenty of fresh water in every part of it, and geese, ducks, snipes, and other edible birds, abound in such numbers, that the sailors were tired with eating them. The commodore was once unexpectedly attacked by a sea-lion, and extricated himself from the impending danger with great difficulty; they had many battles with this animal, the killing of one of which was frequently an hour’s work for six men; one of them almost tore to pieces the commodore’s mastiff-dog, by a single bite. The commodore took possession of the harbor, and the adjacent islands, by the name of Falkland’s Islands.

On Sunday, January the 27th, they left Port Egmont. Next day the commodore gave the name of Berkley’s Sound to a deep inlet between the islands. On the 6th of February stood in for Port Desire at the mouth of which they came to anchor, and had the pleasure of seeing the Florida, a store-ship, which they had expected from England. On the 20th, at Port Famine, received orders to sail for England.

Having narrowly escaped the dreadful effects of a storm on the 3d of March, at length the Dolphin was moored in a little bay opposite Cape Quod; and the Tamar about six miles to the eastward of it. On the 28th the Tamar narrowly escaped being dashed to pieces against the rocks, by the parting of the cables to her best bower-anchor. The Dolphin, therefore, stood out again into the bay, and sent her proper assistance, after which they both anchored for the night; a night the most dreadful they had known. The winds were so violent as perfectly to tear up the sea, and carry it higher than the heads of the masts: a dreadful sea rolled over them, and broke against the rocks, with a noise as loud as thunder. Happily they did not part their cables, or they must have been dashed in pieces against these rocks.

The ships came to anchor on the 4th of April, in a bay which had been discovered, proposing to take in wood and water. While they were here, several of the natives made a fire opposite the ship, on which signals were made for them to come on board; but as they would not, the commodore went on shore, and distributed some trifles which gave great pleasure. Four were at length prevailed on to go on board; and the commodore, with a view to their diversion, directed one of the midshipmen to play on the violin, while some of the seamen danced. The poor Indians were extravagantly delighted; and one of them to testify his gratitude, took his canoe, and fetching some red paint, rubbed it over the face of the musician; nor could the commodore, but with the utmost difficulty, escape the like compliment.

They sailed from this bay on the 7th, and next day the wind blew a hurricane. On the 9th, passed some dangerous rocks, which in Narborough’s Voyage are called the Judges. This day a steady gale at the southwest carried them at the rate of nine miles an hour, so that by eight in the evening they were twenty leagues from the coast. On the 26th, they sailed westward, and bore away for the island of Massafuero and anchored at seven o’clock on Sunday morning.

On the 30th of April they sailed, and on the 7th of June discovered land, being then in 14 deg. 5 min. south latitude, and 144 deg. 58 min. west longitude. The commodore steered for a small island, the appearance of which was pleasing beyond expression. Several natives ran along the beach, with long spears in their hands. The sailors made every possible sign of friendship—​but they retired to the woods, dragging their canoes after them. The commodore proceeded to the other island, and brought to, at three-quarters of a mile from the shore. The natives again ran to the beach, armed with clubs and spears, using threatening gestures. The commodore fired a cannon-shot over their heads, on which they retreated to the woods. This paradise in appearance, was named the Island of Disappointment.

Quitting these on the 8th of June, they discovered an island on the day following, low, and covered with various kinds of trees, among which was the cocoa-nut, and surrounded with a rock of red coral. They now sailed to the westward, and soon discovered another island, distant four leagues. The natives pursued them in two large double canoes, in each of which were about thirty armed men. At this time the boats were at a considerable way to leeward of the ships, and were chased by the canoes; on which the commodore making a signal, the boats turned towards the Indians, who instantly pulled down their sails, and rowed away with great rapidity. On the 12th of June, sailed to another island, and as they coasted along it, the natives, armed as those of the other islands, kept even with the ship for some leagues. This island is situated in 14 deg. 41 min. S. latitude, and 149 deg. 15 min. W. longitude; and both the islands the commodore called King George’s Islands. The boats having returned on board, they sailed westward the same day; and the next afternoon descried another island, towards which they immediately sailed, and found that it was well inhabited, and had a fine appearance of verdure; but that a violent surf broke all along the coast. It lies in 15 deg. south latitude, and 161 deg. 53 min. west longitude, and received the name of the Prince of Wales’ Island.

On the 24th they discovered another island, which was named the Duke of York’s Island. A terrible sea breaks round the coast, but the place itself had a pleasing appearance. On the 29th sailed northward, with a view to cross the equinoctial line, and then sail for the Ladrone Islands. On the 2d of July they discovered a low flat island, abounding with the cocoa-nut and other trees, and affording a most agreeable prospect. A great number of natives were seen on the beach, many of whom, in about sixty canoes or proas, sailed, and formed a circle round the ships; which having surveyed for a considerable time, one of the Indians jumped out of his boat, swam to the ship, ran up its side in a moment, sat down on the deck, and began laughing most violently: he then ran about the ship, pilfering whatever he could lay hands on, which was taken from him as fast as stolen. This man having as many antic tricks as a monkey, was dressed in a jacket and trousers, and afforded exquisite diversion. He devoured some biscuit with great eagerness, and having played the buffoon for some time, made prize of his new dress, by jumping over the side of the ship, and swimming to his companions. These Indians are of a bright copper, with regular and cheerful features, and are tall and well made. One of them, who seemed to be one of some rank, wore a string of human teeth round his waist. Some carried a long spear, the sides of which, for the length of three feet, were stuck with the teeth of the shark, which are as keen as a razor. The officers named this place Byron’s island, in honor of the commodore. It lies in 1 deg. 18 min. S. latitude, and 173 deg. 46 min. E. longitude. They sailed hence on the 3d of July, and on the 28th had sight of the islands Saypan, Tinian, and Aiguigan, which lie between two and three leagues from each other. At noon, on the 31st, anchored at the south-west end of Tinian. The water is so wonderfully clear at this place, that, though one hundred and forty-four feet deep, they could see the bottom. The commodore went on shore, where he saw many huts, which had been left the preceding year by the Spaniards. The commodore remained at Tinian till the 30th of September, by which time the sick being tolerably well recovered, he weighed anchor and stood to the northward.

On the 5th of November they came to an anchor off the island of Timoan, on which Byron landed the day following. The inhabitants, who are Malays, no sooner saw the boat approaching the shore, than many of them came to the beach, each having a dagger by his side, a spear in one hand, and a long knife in the other. The boat’s crew, however, made no hesitation to land, and bartered a few handkerchiefs for a goat, a kid, and a dozen of fowls.

Nothing worth notice happened till the 14th, when a sloop being seen at anchor in the harbor of an island, named Pulo Toupoa, Byron having anchored in the same harbor, and observed that the vessel hoisted Dutch colors, sent an officer on board, who was received with great politeness. The commodore sailed the following day, and held his course till the 19th, when he spoke with an English snow, bound from Bencoolen to Malacca and Bengal, in the East India Company’s service. At this time their biscuit was filled with worms, and rotten, and their beef and pork were unfit to eat. The master of the snow being apprized of the circumstance, sent Byron two gallons of arrack, a turtle, twelve fowls and a sheep. During their run hence to Prince’s Island, in the strait of Sunda, they were so abundantly supplied with turtle, by boats from the Java shore, that the common sailors subsisted wholly on that fish. They staid at Prince’s Island till the 19th, when they sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. On the 13th of February they came to anchor, and were treated with great politeness by the governor.

They sailed on the 7th of March, and, on the 25th, crossed the equinoctial line. About this time an accident happening to the rudder of the Tamar, and it being impossible to make a perfect repair of it at sea, the captain was ordered to bear away for Antigua; in consequence of which they parted company on the 1st of April; and the Dolphin, without meeting with any other material occurrence, came to an anchor in the Downs, on the 9th of May, 1766, after having been little more than twenty-two months in the circumnavigation of the globe.

CAPT. WALLIS.

In 1766, Capt. Wallis, of London, having been appointed to command the ship Dolphin, destined for a voyage round the world, received orders to take under his command the Swallow sloop, and Prince Frederick store-ship. They sailed on the 22d of August, and, on the 7th of September, came to anchor in the road of Maderia.

On the 12th, they sailed thence, and by the 12th of November, were in 30 degrees of south latitude, when they found the weather so cold as to have recourse to their thick jackets. On the 16th of December, being very near Cape Virgin Mary, they saw several men riding on the shore. The captain went ashore, and gave them combs, buttons, knives, scissors, beads, etc., and pleased the women greatly by the distribution of some ribbons. The tallest among these people was six feet seven inches; but the general height was from five feet ten to six feet. They were muscular and well made, but their hands and feet very small, in proportion to the rest of their bodies. The captain took eight of them into the boats: when they came into the ship, they expressed no surprise at the novelties which they beheld, till a looking-glass being observed, they acted many antic gestures before it. The marines being exercised before them, they were terrified at the firing of the muskets, and one of them falling down, shut his eyes, and lay without motion, as if to intimate that he knew the destructive nature of these weapons.

On the 21st, they turned into the Strait of Magellan, and on the 26th, anchored in Port Famine Bay; and the sick were sent on shore. On the 28th, the empty water-casks were landed. When they arrived here, many of the people were very sick with the scurvy; but, by the plentiful use of vegetables, and bathing in the sea, they all recovered in a short time.

They sailed on the 18th, and on the 3d of February came to anchor in York Road. The next day, Captain Wallis, with a party, went on shore near Bachelor’s River. There is a cataract near this river, the noise of which is tremendous, as it falls more than four hundred yards, partly over a very steep descent, and partly in a perpendicular line. On the 1st of March sailed again, and anchored in a place called Swallow harbor, whence they sailed the next morning; and, on the following day, the Swallow, being driven among breakers, made signals of distress; but was happily relieved by a breeze from the shore. On the 10th of April the two ships sailed in company; and, on the 11th, lost sight of each other, and did not meet again during the whole voyage.

This day the Dolphin cleared the Strait of Magellan, in which she had labored with innumerable difficulties, and escaped most imminent dangers, in a passage of almost four months, viz: from December the 17th, 1776, to the 11th of April following. The Spaniards, it seems, built a town here in 1581, which they named Phillipville, and left in it a colony of four hundred persons. They were all starved to death except twenty-four; and the place was called Port Famine, from the melancholy fate of these unfortunate men.

The long wished for relief was now fast approaching, for on Saturday, the 6th, the man at the mast-head cried, ‘Land in the west-north-west.’ As no anchorage was to be found, the captain steered for the other island, giving the name of Whitsun Island to this, because it was discovered on the eve of Whitsunday. Having approached the second, the lieutenant was sent on shore, with two boats, to take possession of the island and to call it Queen Charlotte’s Island. The boats returned loaded with cocoa-nuts and scurvy-grass, after having found two wells of excellent water. Provisions for a week were now allotted for an officer and twenty men, who were left on shore to take in water; the sick were landed for the benefit of the air; and a number of hands were appointed to climb the cocoa-trees, and gather the nuts.

An adjoining island, lying in nineteen degrees twenty minutes south latitude, and one hundred thirty-eight degrees thirty minutes west longitude, received the name of Egmont Island. On the 11th, they observed about sixteen persons on an island, which was called Gloucester Island. This day they likewise discovered another, which was called Cumberland Island; and on the day following, a third, which received the name of Prince William Henry’s Island. On the 17th, again discovered land, but could find no place in which the ship might anchor. This was named Osnaburgh Island, and having soon discovered high land, they came to anchor because the weather was foggy; but it no sooner cleared away, than they found the ship encompassed by hundreds of people. They sailed along the shore, while the canoes made towards the land. On the 21st, the ship came to anchor.

The boats having been sent to sound along the coast, were followed by large double canoes, three of which ran at the cutter, staved in her quarter, and otherwise damaged her; the Indians, at the same time, armed with clubs, endeavoring to board her. The crew now fired; and wounding one man dangerously, and killing another, they both fell into the sea. The ship made sail the following day, and was piloted round a reef, into a harbor, where she was moored. On the 24th, she sailed further up the harbor, followed by many canoes. In the evening, a number of very large canoes advanced, laden with stones; on which the captain ordered the strictest watch to be kept. Soon after a large canoe advanced, in which was an awning, on the top of which sat one of the natives, holding some yellow and red feathers in his hand. He delivered the feathers; and, while a present was preparing, he put back from the ship, and threw the branch of a cocoa-nut tree in the air. This appeared the signal for an onset, for the canoes, approaching the ship, threw volleys of stones into every part of her. On this two guns, loaded with small shot, were fired, and the people on guard discharged their muskets. The number of Indians now round the ships was full two thousand; and though they were at first disconcerted, they soon recovered their spirits, and renewed the attack. Thousands were observed on shore, embarking as fast as the canoes could bring them off; orders were therefore given for firing the cannon, some of which were brought to bear upon the shore. The scattered canoes soon got together again, and threw stones of two pounds weight from slings by which a number of seamen were wounded. At this time several canoes approached the bow of the ship, in one of which was an Indian, who appeared to have an authority over the rest; a gun was therefore leveled at his canoe, the shot of which split it in two pieces, which put an end to the contest; the canoes rowed off with the utmost speed, and the people on shore ran and concealed themselves behind the hills. Next day a lieutenant was despatched, with all the boats manned and armed, and having hoisted a pennant on a staff, he took possession of the place by the name of King George the Third’s Island.

Three days after this, the gunner conducted to the ship a lady of a portly figure and agreeable face, whose age seemed to be upwards of forty. Her whole behavior indicated the woman of superior rank. The captain presented her with a looking-glass and some toys, and gave her a handsome blue mantle, which he tied round her with ribbands. Having intimated that she would be glad to see the Captain on shore, on Sunday, the 12th, he landed, and was met by his fair friend, who was attended by a numerous retinue. As they advanced, great numbers of Indians crowded to meet them. Many advanced to meet her, whom she caused to kiss the captain’s hand, while she signified that they were related to her. Her house was above three hundred and twenty feet in length, and about forty in breadth. The captain, lieutenant, and purser, who had been ill, being seated, the lady helped four of her female attendants to pull of their coats, shoes and stockings; which being performed, the girls smoothed down the skin, and rubbed it lightly with their hands for more than half an hour; and the gentleman received great benefit from the operation. Orders had been given that the captain should be carried; but as he chose to walk, she took hold of his arm, and when they came near any wet or dirty place, she lifted him over, with as much ease as a man would a child. On the 15th, a large party in all the boats rowed round the island. The island was found to be every where very pleasant, and to abound with various necessaries of life. On the 17th, Captain Wallis received another visit from the lady whom he called his queen. On the 21st, she repeated the visit, and presented him with some hogs. The captain having sent a party on shore on the 25th, to examine the country minutely, caused a tent to be erected to observe an eclipse of the sun, and when it was ended, took his telescope to the queen’s house to show her the use of it; and her surprise is not to be expressed, on beholding several objects which she was very familiar with, but which were too distant to be seen by the naked eye. She made signs to be informed if he held his resolution as to the time of his departure, and being answered in the affirmative, her tears witnessed the agitation of her mind. The captain presented her with several articles of use and ornament, which she received in silent sorrow. After some time a breeze springing up, the queen and her attendants took their final leave, with many tears.

The place where the ship had lain was called Port Royal Harbor, and is situated in 17 degrees 30 minutes south latitude, and 150 degrees west longitude. The Dolphin sailed from Otaheite on the 27th of July, 1767, and passed the Duke of York’s Island. On the 28th, they discovered land, which was called Sir Charles Saunder’s Island. On the 30th again made land, which received the name of Lord How’s Island, on which smoke was seen, but no inhabitants. Their next discovery was some dangerous shoals, to which Captain Wallis gave the name of the Scilla Islands. They now steered westward till the 13th of August, when they saw two small islands, one of which was named Keppel’s Isle, and the other Boscawen’s Island. On the 16th they again discovered land, to which the officers gave the name of Wallis’ Island.

On the 18th of September they discovered the island of Saypan, and soon afterwards that of Tinian, off which they anchored on the day following. Tents were erected for the sick, who were sent on shore with all expedition. By the 15th of October the fruit and water were carried on board, and all the sick being recovered, on the next day they left the bay, and sailed to the west.

On the 3d of November they discovered three islands, which were named Sandy Isle, Small Key, and Long Island; which islands are in 19 degrees 20 minutes north latitude, and 247 degrees 20 minutes west longitude. They now altered their course, and, on the 13th, saw the island of Timoun, Aros, and Pesang. On the 16th they crossed the equinoctial line, and came again into south latitude. The next day they saw the islands of Pulo Totè, and Pulo Weste, and the Seven Islands. On the 22d saw the coast of Sumatra; and came to an anchor in the road of Batavia, on the 30th of November, 1767. From this place they sailed on the 8th of December, without losing a single man, and having only two on the sick list.

On the 24th of January they encountered a dreadful storm, which tore the sails to pieces, broke a rudder-chain, and carried several of the booms overboard; yet during this storm they observed a number of birds and butterflies. On the 30th they saw land; and came to anchor in Table Bay, at the Cape of Good Hope, on the 4th of February. Sailed on the 17th of March, anchored in the bay of St. Helena. On the 28th crossed the equinoctial line, and on the 24th of next month saw the Cape of Pico.

No material incident happened from this time to the end of the voyage; and on the 20th of May, 1768, the Dolphin came to anchor in the Downs.

DE BOUGAINVILLE.

A settlement having been commenced by the French on Falkland’s Islands, in the month of February, 1764, the Spaniards demanded them as an appendage to the continent of South America; and France having allowed the propriety of the demand, Mons. de Bougainville was ordered to yield possession of the islands to the Spaniards.

On the 5th of December he sailed from the harbor of Brest, in the frigate La Boudeuse, having on board the Prince of Nassau Seighen, three gentlemen who went as volunteers, eleven officers in commission, and warrant-officers, seamen, soldiers, servants and boys to the number of two hundred. On the evening of the 29th of January, they had sight of Rio-de-la-Plata, and on the morning of the 31st came to anchor in the Bay of Montevideo, where the two Spanish ships, which were to take possession of Falkland Islands, had been at anchor for some weeks. They sailed with these ships on the 28th of February, 1767; and on the 1st of April Bougainville, in the name of the French king, surrendered the islands to Don Puente, the Spanish governor, who received them for his most Catholic majesty, with the ceremony of hoisting the Spanish colors, and the firing of guns from the ships and on shore.

Falkland Islands lie in about 52 degrees south latitude, and 60 degrees west longitude. From the entrance of the Straits of Magellan, and from the coast of Patagonia, their distance is about 250 miles. The harbors are large, and well defended by small islands most happily disposed; and even the smallest vessels may ride in safety in the creeks, while fresh water is easily to be obtained. After waiting at these islands till the 2d of June, 1767, in expectation of the Etoile store-ship from Europe, Bougainville steered for Rio Janeiro, at which place he had appointed the Etoile to join him. They had fine weather from the 2d to the 20th of June, on which day they had sight of the mountains on the main land of Brazil, and entered Rio Janeiro the day following. At the same time a canoe was despatched from the captain of the Etoile, with information of the safe arrival of that vessel, which now lay in the port; and on the 14th of July, both vessels sailed, and on the 31st came to anchor in the Bay of Montevideo. As it was necessary that Bougainville should remain in his present station till the equinox was passed, his first care was to build a hospital for the sick, and to take lodgings at Montevideo.

On the 14th of November, 1767, they sailed from Montevideo, with a fine gale of wind at north. On the 16th, and the five following days, the sea ran high, and the wind was contrary. The 2d of December they had sight of Cape Virgins, with a fair wind. They now saw a number of albatrosses and petrels, the last of which are said to be a sign of bad weather whenever they are seen. They made their best efforts to reach the entrance of the Straits of Magellan; and Bougainville was seven weeks and three days in passing through it, the whole length of which, from Cape Virgin Mary to Cape Pillar, he computes at about 340 miles.

On the 22d of March, land was discovered, and when they had coasted one of the islands for about two miles, they had sight of three men, who advanced hastily towards the shore. They at first imagined that these were part of the crew of some European ship which had been wrecked on the coast, but discovered their conjecture ill-founded, for the people retired to the woods, from which, in a short time, issued a number of them, supposed to be near twenty, with long staves in their hands, which they held up with an air of defiance. This done, they retreated to the woods. These islanders were of a copper complexion and very tall.

During the night between the 22d and 23d they had much rain, accompanied with violent thunder, while the wind blew almost a tempest. At day-break land was discovered, which was called Harp Island, and in the evening a cluster of islands, eleven of which were seen, received the name of the Dangerous Archipelago. A steep mountain, which appeared to be encompassed by the sea, was discovered on the 2d of April, and received the name of Boudoir, or Boudeuse Peak, from Bougainville’s ship. Bearing to the northward of this peak they had sight of land, which extended farther than the eye could reach.

As Bougainville coasted the island, he was charmed with the appearance of a noble cascade, which, falling immediately from the summit of a mountain into the sea, produced a most elegant effect. On the shores very near to the fall of this cascade, was a little town, and the coast appeared to be free from breakers. It was the wish of our adventurers to have cast their anchor within view of such an enchanting prospect; but, after repeated soundings, they found that the bottom consisted only of rocks, and they were, therefore, under a necessity of seeking another anchoring place, where the ships were safely moored.

VALPARAISO.

IRON BRIDGE AT JAMAICA.

They remained at Otaheite until the 16th of April, when they departed, and in the beginning of May three islands were discovered. On the following day another island was seen to the westward of the ship’s course. To the islands the commodore gave the general name of the Archipelago of the Navigators. On the morning of the 11th, another island was discovered, which received the name of the Forlorn Hope.

The ships now steered a westerly course, and early on the morning of the 22d two islands were discovered, one of which received the name Aurora, from the early hour on which it was first seen, and the other that of Whitsuntide Isle, from the day which gave birth to it being so named. In the afternoon, mountainous lands, at thirty miles distance, were seen, appearing, as it were, over and beyond the Island of Aurora. On the 23d it was discovered that this was a separate island, the appearance being lofty, its descent steep, and the whole clothed with trees. From this time to the 27th, they passed many islands, on one of which they observed a fine plantation of trees, between which there were regular walks, resembling those of an European garden. They now quitted this great cluster of islands, which received the general name of Archipelago of the great Cyclades, which, it is conjectured, occupies no less than three degrees of latitude, and five of longitude.

From the 14th to the 18th of June they discovered a number of islands. On July the 2d a cape was discovered, which was called Cape l’Averdi, on which were mountains of an astonishing height. Two more islands were seen on the 6th, and, as the wood and water were expended, and disease reigning aboard, the commodore resolved to land here, and on the following afternoon the ships came to anchor.

In the afternoon of the 24th a favorable breeze enabled the ships to get out to sea. On the 31st a number of Indian boats attacked the Etoile with a volley of stones and arrows; but a single discharge of the musketry got rid of these troublesome companions. On the 4th of August two islands were seen. On the 5th a third island was seen, and then the northern point of New Britain which lies only forty-one minutes south of the land. On the 7th a flat island was seen, covered with trees, abounding with cocoa-nuts. Fishing-boats in multitudes surrounding the island; but the fisherman took no notice of the ships. This received the name of the Island of Anchorets. From this time till the end of the month innumerable small islands were observed every day.

Early in the morning of the 31st our voyagers had sight of the island of Ceram, which runs in a parallel east and west, abounds in lofty mountains, and is partly cleared, and partly in its original state. At midnight a number of fires attracted their attention to the island of Boero, where there is a Dutch factory, at the entrance of the Gulf of Cagei, which the French had sight of at day-break. Their joy on this occasion is not to be expressed, for at this time not half of the seamen were able to perform any duty, and the scurvy had raged so violently, that no man on board was perfectly clear of it.

They sailed on the 7th September and on the 13th the ships were surrounded with Indian boats, bringing parroquets, cockatoos, fowls, eggs, and bananas, which the natives sold for Dutch money, or exchanged for knives. By day-light on the 19th they were within about a league of the Coast of Celibes, which in this part is described as one of the finest countries in the world. On the morning of the 26th the coast of Java appeared with the rising sun. Having come to an anchor for the night, the ships sailed early in the morning of the 27th and on the next day came to anchor in the port of Batavia.

The ships sailed thence on the 16th of October, 1768, and cleared the straits of Sunda on the 19th in the afternoon. By this time the crew were all perfectly recovered of the scurvy, but a few remained ill of the bloody flux. On the 20th the ships were in sight of the Isle of France, and, on the 8th of November, the Boudeuse anchored in the port of that island; the Etoile, which had been unavoidably left behind, anchoring in the same port on the following day.

They sailed from this the 12th of December, 1768, leaving the Etoile behind them to undergo some necessary repairs. Without encountering any singular accident they had sight of the Cape of Good Hope on the 18th of January, and came to anchor in Table Bay on the following morning. Bougainville quitted this on the 17th, anchored off St. Helena on the 4th of February, and on the 25th, joined the Swallow, commanded by Captain Cartert. Nothing material happened from this time till they had sight of the Isle of Ushant, where a violent squall of wind had nearly blasted the hopes of the voyage. On the 15th the commander bore away for St. Maloes, which he entered on the following day, after an absence of two years and four months from his native country; during all which time he had buried only seven of his crew, a circumstance that will be deemed truly astonishing, when we reflect on the variety of dangers they had encountered and the amazing changes of climate they had experienced.

CAPTAIN JAMES COOK.

James Cook was born in a mud hut at Marton, in the north riding of Yorkshire, 27th October 1728. His father was an agricultural servant, who, with his wife, bore a most unexceptionable character for honesty and industry. The village school-mistress taught the boy to read; but at eight years of age his father, through his good conduct, was appointed to be bailiff of a farm near Great Ayton, belonging to Thomas Skottowe, Esq., who at his own expense put James to a day-school in that town, where he was taught writing and the first rules in arithmetic. The predilection of the lad inclined him for the sea; but as this stood contrary to the wishes of his parents, he was soon after his twelfth year apprenticed to William Sanderson, a general dealer in haberdashery, grocery, hardware, etc., at Staith, upon the coast, about ten miles north of Whitby. The youth’s mind, however, continued more occupied upon maritime affairs than anything else, and though he faithfully discharged his duty to his master, he longed to be at sea. An opportunity occurred to favor his desires. Mr. Sanderson canceled his indentures, and left him to pursue his inclinations. Thus freed, he bound himself to Messrs. John and Henry Walker, who owned the Freelove, in which Cook embarked. She was principally engaged in the coal trade, but made a voyage or two to the north; and when his time was out, the youngster still continued to serve as a foremast-man till he was made mate of one of Mr. John Walker’s ships. During this period he evinced no particular marks of genius. His associates, however, were not exactly the class of persons to observe the real bent of his mind; they thought him taciturn, and sometimes sullen; but this doubtless arose from his studious habits, and endeavors to acquire knowledge. As for practical seamanship, there could be no better school than a collier.

When in his twenty-seventh year, war broke out between England and France, and Cook, who was then in the Thames, tried to escape the press-gang, which was sweeping the river of every seaman that could be picked up. This restraint, however, did not meet his views; he looked upon the service of his country as honorable, and at once entered for the Eagle, of 60 guns, commanded by Captain Hamer, who, a few months afterwards, was superseded by Captain (subsequently Sir Hugh) Palliser. The young man’s steady conduct and seaman-like qualities soon attracted this officer’s attention. His knowledge of the coasts was excellent; and Mr. Skottowe having applied to Mr. Osbaldeston, M. P. for Scarborough, to exert his influence to raise Cook to the quarter-deck, by the joint interest of this gentleman, with Captain Palliser, a warrant as master was obtained on 10th May 1759, James being then in his thirty-first year. He joined the Grampus, but she had a master already; he was then appointed to the Garland, but she was abroad; and eventually he sailed in the Mercury, to join the fleet under Sir Charles Saunders, then engaged in conjunction with General Wolfe in the reduction of Quebec. Here the peculiar talents of Mr. Cook were called into active operation. The buoys in the navigation of the St. Lawrence had all been removed by the French at the first appearance of the English fleet, and it was essentially necessary that a survey should be made of the channels, and correct soundings obtained, to enable the ships to keep clear of the numerous shoals. By the recommendation of his old commander, Captain Palliser, this onerous duty was confided to Mr. Cook, who readily undertook it in a barge belonging to a 74. This could only be executed in many parts during the darkness of the night, on account of the enemy; and he experienced a narrow escape one night when detected, his boat having been boarded by Indians in the pay of the French, and carried off in triumph, he and his companions getting away just in time to save their lives and scalps. Through Mr. Cook’s judicious arrangements, the fleet reached the island of Orleans in safety; and he afterwards surveyed and made a chart of the St. Lawrence, which, together with sailing directions for that river, were published in London.

On his return from Quebec, Mr. Cook was appointed master of the Northumberland, under Lord Colville, who was stationed as commodore at Halifax. Here he enjoyed much leisure during the winter, but instead of frittering it away in the frivolous or worse amusements of a seaport, he diligently employed it in studies suitable to his profession. No sailor can possibly advance beyond the rank of an ordinary seaman unless he be acquainted with the theory as well as the practice of navigation; and to gain this knowledge, he must attain a proficiency in mathematics. Aware of this, Cook began by gaining a knowledge of Euclid’s Elements of Plane Geometry; and then of the higher branches of mathematical study, including nautical astronomy. By these means he soon learned to take observations, to calculate a ship’s progress, and to ascertain the degree of latitude and longitude at any given spot on the trackless ocean. In short, he became an accomplished mariner, ready for any office of trust. Besides improving himself in these useful branches of education, he possessed sufficient tact to cultivate urbanity of manner, and to gain the confidence and esteem of his acquaintance. This was a point of some consequence; for intellectual acquirements, without a polite and high moral bearing, are of small avail in the general intercourse of the world, and, personally, may do more harm than good. It is gratifying to know that Cook aimed at gentlemanly behavior not less than skill in his profession; and to this commendable effort—​which the most humble may practice—​is perhaps owing not a little of his future success in life.

In 1762 the Northumberland was ordered to Newfoundland, to assist in the recapture of that island; and here the talents and assiduity of our hero were again conspicuous. Greatly improved by his winter’s studies, he was now still more able to make nautical surveys, and these he carried on to a considerable extent on the coast of Newfoundland; laying down bearings, marking headlands and soundings, and otherwise placing on record many facts which proved highly advantageous to future voyagers, especially those engaged in fishing speculations.

Towards the close of this year (1762) Mr. Cook returned to England, and was married at Barking, in Essex, to Miss Elizabeth Batts, who has been spoken of as a truly amiable and excellent woman. In the following year, through the intervention of Captain (afterwards Admiral) Graves, the governor of Newfoundland, who was well acquainted with Cook’s worth, he was appointed to survey the whole coast of that island, which he accomplished with great ability, as well as Miquelon and St. Pierre, which had been ceded to the French. Cook then returned to England, but did not remain long. His constant friend, Sir Hugh Palliser, assumed the command at Newfoundland, and took Mr. Cook with him, bearing the appointment of marine surveyor, and a schooner was directed to attend upon him in his aquatic excursions. His charts and observations, particularly on astronomy, brought him into correspondence with the members of the Royal Society; and some scientific observations on the eclipse of the sun were inserted in the 57th volume of the Philosophical Transactions.

Here may be said to close the first chapter in Cook’s life. We have traced him from the humble home of his father, an obscure peasant, through the early part of his career, till his thirty-fourth year, at which time he had gained a footing among the most learned men in England. The youthful aspirant will observe that this enviable point had not been reached without patient study. Cook could have gained no acquaintanceship with members of the Royal Society, nor could he have placed himself in the way of promotion, had he been contented to remain an illiterate seaman.

First Voyage Round the World. Prepared by diligent self-culture, Cook was ready for any enterprise which circumstances might produce. The project of a voyage of discovery, involving certain important astronomical observations, fortunately came under discussion while he was in a state of hesitation as to his future movements. The principal object of the expedition was to observe a transit of the planet Venus over the face of the sun, which could only be done somewhere in the Pacific or Southern ocean. The transit was to happen in June 1769. The Royal Society, interested as in the phenomenon for the sake of science, applied to George III to fit out an expedition suitable to take the observations. The request was complied with; and no other man being so well calculated to take the command it was given to Cook. The appointment was quite to the mind of our hero, and he was soon ready for sea. He received the commission of a lieutenant from his majesty, and the Endeavour, of 370 tons, was placed at his disposal. About this time Captain Wallis returned from his voyage of discovery, and reported Otaheite (now called Tahiti) to be the most eligible spot for the undertaking. That island was therefore fixed upon for the observation. Mr. Charles Green undertook the astronomical department, and Mr. Banks (afterwards Sir Joseph) and Dr. Solander, purely through love of science, and at great expense to themselves, obtained permission to accompany the expedition.

The Endeavour was victualed for eighteen months, armed with 12 carriage guns and 12 swivels, and manned with a complement of 84 seamen. Every requisite preparation was made for such a voyage that human foresight could suggest; trinkets and other things were put on board to trade with the natives; and on the 26th of August 1768, they sailed from Plymouth Sound for the hitherto but little explored South Seas. On the 13th September they anchored in Funchal roads, Madeira, and here commenced the researches and inquiries of the men of science. From hence they departed on the night of the 18th; and falling short of water and provisions on the Brazil coast, they put into the beautiful harbor of Rio Janeiro on the 13th November. The viceroy of this fine city could make nothing of the scientific intentions of the English, and was exceedingly troublesome and annoying. When told that they were bound to the South Seas to observe the transit of Venus, he could form no other conception of the matter than that it was the passing of the north star through the south pole. Numerous difficulties were thrown in the way of the departure of the voyagers after they had victualed and watered; and when they sailed, shots were fired at them from the fort of Santa Cruz, a heavy battery at the entrance of the harbor; and on inquiry, Mr. Cook ascertained that the pass for the Endeavour had not been sent from the city. A spirited remonstrance was made, and the viceroy apologised.

On the 7th December the voyagers finally quitted this place, and on the 14th January 1769, entered the Straits of Le Maire, where the sea was running tremendously high, and on the following day anchored in the Bay of Good Success. Although the season was extremely inclement, yet the love of botany induced Mr. Banks, Dr. Solander, Mr. Monkhouse the surgeon, and Mr. Green the astronomer, to ascend the mountains in search of plants. They took with them their attendants and servants, with two seamen; and after suffering severe hardships from the cold and the torpor it produced, they got back to the ship on the second day, leaving two black men, who had accompanied them, dead from the extreme severity of the weather. They could not be got on, but lay down to rest, and slept the sleep of death. Dr. Solander with great difficulty was saved; for although the first to warn others against the danger of reposing, yet he was eventually himself so overcome, that great exertion was required to force him along. They found the inhabitants on the coasts of these straits a wretched set of beings, with scarcely any covering; dwelling in hovels made of sticks and grass, that offered no obstruction to the entrance of the wind, the snow, and the rain. They wandered about, picking up a scanty subsistence wherever they could, though they had not a single implement to dress their fish when caught, or any other food: still they appeared contented; and the only things they coveted from the English were beads and useless trinkets.

On the 26th January the Endeavour took her departure from Cape Horn, and before March 1st had run 660 leagues. Several islands were discovered in their progress, most of which were supposed to be inhabited; and their beautiful verdure and delightful appearance were highly gratifying to the sea-worn mariners. On the 11th of April they came in sight of Otaheite, and two days after anchored in Port Royal (Matavai), where the scientific gentlemen landed, and fixed upon a spot to serve them for an observatory. The natives displayed much friendship; but, to prevent collision, Mr. Cook drew up a code of regulations by which communication and traffic were to be carried on. A tent was erected on the site proposed—​the natives keeping outside a marked boundary—​and a midshipman with thirteen marines were placed over it as guards. As soon as this was accomplished, the party proceeded to examine the interior of the island; but soon after their departure, one of the natives snatched away the musket of the sentry. The marines were ordered to fire, and the thief was shot dead. This greatly alarmed the natives; but in a day or two they again became familiarized and friendly. Mr. Cook proceeded to erect a fort round the observatory, and mounted six swivel guns, which caused apprehensions among the chiefs; but the natives assisted in the works; and the commander displayed his sense of justice by publicly flogging the butcher for having attempted or threatened the life of a wife of one of the chiefs, who was particularly favorable to the English. On the first stroke of the lash, the natives earnestly solicited that the man should be forgiven; but Mr. Cook deemed the example essential, and inflicted the whole punishment, greatly to the pain and regret of the compassionate Indians, many of whom shed tears.

As soon as the fort was completed, and the astronomical instruments were landed, they sought for the quadrant by which the transit was to be observed, but it was nowhere to be found. Diligent search was made, and a reward offered, but without success; and it was feared that the object of their long and arduous voyage would remain unaccomplished. At length, through the judicious intervention of Mr. Banks, the quadrant was recovered from the natives who had stolen it, and with great joy set up in its place. The approach of the time of observation produced anxiety and excitement; and hoping that the atmosphere would be clear and favorable, as well as to make assurance sure, Mr. Cook established two other observatories—​one on the island of Eimeo, under Mr. Banks, and the other to the eastward of the main observatory, under Mr. Hicks (the master).

The morning of the 3d June was ushered in with a cloudless sky, and at the fort the transit was observed in the most satisfactory manner. The success of their enterprise was highly gratifying to the voyagers; but their pleasure was somewhat damped by the violence which at times was engendered between the natives and the seamen, the former of whom proved to be dexterous thieves. But Mr. Cook would not allow the plunderers to be fired upon, as he considered the issue of life and death to be of too important a nature to be intrusted to a sentinel, without any form of trial or show of equity; nor did he deem a petty theft as meriting so severe a punishment. On one occasion, however, he seized upon all their fishing canoes, fully laden; and though from motives of humanity he gave up the fish, yet he detained the vessels, under a hope that several articles which had been pilfered would be restored. But in this he was mistaken; for nothing of value was given up, and ultimately he released the canoes. Mr. Cook and Mr. Banks circumnavigated the island, and visited many villages, where they renewed acquaintance with the several chiefs. Exploring parties were also sent into the interior; and Mr. Banks planted the seeds of water-melons, oranges, lemons, limes, and other plants and trees which he had collected for the purpose (some of which are now in rich perfection); and it was ascertained that parts of the island manifested appearances of subterranean fire.

On the 7th July the carpenters began to dismantle the fort preparatory to departure, and on the 13th the ship weighed anchor. Tupia, one of the principal natives, and chief priest of the country, with a boy of thirteen, having obtained permission from Mr. Cook to embark for England, they took an affecting and affectionate leave of their friends. Few places possess more seductive influences than Otaheite. The climate is delightful, the productions of the earth bountiful and almost spontaneous, and the people, though addicted to pilfering, simple, kind-hearted, and hospitable.

After quitting Otaheite, the Endeavour visited the islands Huaheine, Ulietea, Otaha, and Bolabola, where Mr. Cook purchased various articles of food. They also anchored at Owharre, and exchanged friendly gifts with the natives; and presents of English medals, etc., with inscriptions, were made to the king Oree. Ulietea had been conquered by the king of Bolabola, but he received the English with considerable courtesy. These visits occupied rather more than three weeks; and Ulietea, Otaha, Bolabola, Huaheine, Tabai, and Mawrua, as they lay contiguous to each other, were named by Mr. Cook the Society Islands.

In their intercourse with the natives of these places (all of which more or less resembled the manners and habits of the Otaheitans), they were greatly assisted by Tupia, who was very proud of the power possessed by his new friends. On the 9th August, the Endeavour quitted Ulietea, and on the 13th made the island Oheteoa, where they attempted to land; but the natives displayed so much hostility, that Mr. Cook deemed it best to desist, and proceed on his way to the southward in search of a supposed continent. On the 25th they celebrated the anniversary of their departure from England, and on the 30th they observed a comet; it was just above the horizon, to the eastward, at one A. M.; and about half-past four, when it passed the meridian, its tail subtended an angle of forty-five degrees. Tupia declared that its appearance would be the signal for the warriors of Bolabola to attack the Ulieteans and drive them to the mountains. The vessel was now proceeding in a south-westerly direction from the Pacific towards New Zealand, Cook designing to return by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and thus circumnavigate the globe. On the 6th October land was discovered, which proved to be a part of New Zealand; where, having anchored, an attempt was made to open a communication with the natives, but without effect. Their hostile menaces and actions were all of a decidedly warlike nature, and it was only when they felt the superiority of firearms, of which they seemed to have been in ignorance, that they desisted from attacks. Tupia addressed them to be peaceable, and they understood his language; but he could not prevail upon them to put confidence in the English. A conflict took place, in which some of the New Zealanders were rather unnecessarily killed, and three boys were taken prisoners, who were treated with much kindness. As the place afforded nothing that the voyagers wanted, Mr. Cook named it Poverty Bay. The Boys were dismissed, and the treatment they had experienced induced some of the Indians to come off to the ship; but it appeared almost impossible to conciliate any one of them for long. Armed parties in large canoes assembled, and paddled off to the Endeavour, under pretext of trading, but in reality to plunder; and in various instances it was deemed essentially necessary to fire upon them. They also seized Tayeto, Tupia’s boy, but were compelled to relinquish their prey through the effects of a musket ball; and the lad, taking advantage, leaped from the canoe, in which he had been held down, and swam back to the ship. Whilst standing along the coast, they fell in with the largest canoe they had yet seen: her length was 68½ feet, her breadth 5 feet, and her depth 3 feet 6 inches. About this time the Endeavour narrowly escaped being wrecked on the rocks that lay some distance from the land; but by the skill and judgment of Mr. Cook, the danger was avoided. On the 9th November, Lieutenant Cook, accompanied by Mr. Green, landed with the necessary instruments to observe the transit of Mercury over the sun’s disc, and this they performed to their entire satisfaction.

On the 5th December, whilst turning out of the Bay of Islands, it fell calm; and the Endeavour drifted so close to the shore, that notwithstanding the incessant roar of the breakers, they could converse with the natives on the beach. The pinnace was got out to tow the vessel’s head round; but none expected to escape destruction, when a light land-breeze sprang up, and gradually they got clear from their perilous situation—​the ground was too foul to anchor. About an hour afterwards, just as the man heaving the lead sang out ‘seventeen fathoms,’ she struck on a sunken rock with force; but the swell washed her over, and she was again in deep water. On the 30th December they made the land, which they judged to be Cape Maria, Van Diemens; and on the 14th January, 1770, anchored in a snug cove in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, to refit the ship and clean her bottom. Here they caught a great quantity of fish by means of the seine—​at one time not less than three hundred weight at two hauls. They also found an excellent stream of fresh-water. In one of their researches they discovered an Indian family; and it is related that they had indisputable proofs of the custom of eating human flesh. The place they were in is described as very delightful; and Mr. Cook took several opportunities of obtaining views from the high hills, and examining the nearest coast. The inhabitants were friendly disposed, and everywhere received the English with hospitality. Mr. Cook selected a favorable spot, on which he erected a pole, and having hoisted the union jack, named the place Queen Charlotte’s Sound, in honor of her majesty. Coins and spike-nails were given to the Indian spectators; and after drinking the queen’s health in wine, the empty bottle was bestowed upon the man who had carried it when full, with which he was much delighted.

On the 5th February he quitted this part of New Zealand, and proceeded to explore three or four islands in that locality, giving names to capes, headlands, rocks, etc. But this was not accomplished without considerable peril, on account of the strength of the currents. To one place he gave the name of Admiralty Bay, where he took in wood and filled his water-casks, and sailed again on the 31st March, intending to return home by way of the East Indies. On the 19th April they came in sight of New Holland (or New South Wales, as it is now called), and anchored in Botany Bay on the 28th, where they landed; but contrary to the will of two or three Indians, who attacked the English with their lances, but on the firing of muskets, fled. The voyagers left beads and trinkets in the huts of the natives, and during the time they remained at that place they were untouched. The inhabitants seemed utterly regardless of the ship, though they could never have seen such a spectacle before. Here they caught a fish called a string-ray, which, after the entrails were taken out, weighed 336 pounds.

Mr. Cook prosecuted his discoveries in New South Wales with zeal and energy over a tract of 1300 miles; but on the 10th June, near Trinity Bay, the Endeavour struck on a reef of coral rocks, and was compelled to start her water, throw her guns overboard, and use every mode to lighten the vessel; but with four pumps at work, they could not keep her free; and every soul, though struggling hard for life, yet prepared for that death which now appeared to be inevitable. Upon these rocks the ship remained for nearly forty-eight hours, her sheathing ripped off, and the very timbers nearly rubbed through: by great exertion, however, she was got afloat at high tide, and it was found that she made no more water than when aground; and the men, by working incessantly at the pumps, kept her afloat. At the suggestion of Mr. Monkhouse, a sail was fothered (that is, pieces of oakum and other light materials were slightly stitched to it), and being hauled under the ship’s bottom, the loose pieces were sucked into the leaks, and in a great measure stopped the holes, so that they were enabled to keep the water in the hold under with only one pump. On the morning of the 17th, after running aground twice, they got into a convenient harbor for repairing their damages; and here, when the vessel was hove down, they found a large piece of rock in the ship’s bottom, firmly jammed in the hole it had made, so as to exclude the sea, and which, if it had fallen out, must have proved fatal to all.

About this time the scurvy broke out amongst them, and attacked indiscriminately both officers and men; but the quantity of fish that was caught, allowing each man two pounds and a-half per day, together with turtle and herbs, somewhat checked its progress. Three of the turtle caught weighed together 791 pounds. The natives took but little notice of the voyagers at first, but afterwards became familiar; and on one occasion, when refused something which they wanted, one of them seized a firebrand, and going to windward of the place where the armorer was at work, set fire to the high grass, so that every part of the smith’s forge that would burn was destroyed. A musket ball was fired at them, and they ran away. The fire was repeated in the woods shortly afterwards, but without injury, as the stores and powder that had been landed were already on board. The hills all round burned fiercely for several nights.

It must here be mentioned, that the injuries sustained by the vessel proved destructive to many valuable specimens that had been collected by Mr. Banks, which had been put for security in the bread-room, but the salt-water saturating a great portion, they were utterly spoiled. The place where they refitted was named by Mr. Cook Endeavour River. Its entrance for many miles was surrounded with shoals, and the channels between them were very intricate. On the 4th August they quitted their anchorage, and it was not till the 24th that they got clear of the reefs and sandbanks. After another narrow escape from being wrecked, they made New Guinea on the 3d September, where they anchored, and went on shore; but the hostility of the natives, who resembled those of New South Wales, prevented intercourse. The latter used a sort of combustible material that ignited, without any report. The land looked rich and luxurious in vegetation, and the cocoa-nut, the bread-fruit, and the plantain trees, flourished in the highest perfection. Mr. Cook made sail to the westward, contrary to the wish of his people, who wanted to cut down the trees to get their fruit, but which, through humanity to the natives, he would not permit. In pursuing their voyage, they fell in with islands which were not upon the charts, and passed Timor and others, intending to run for Java: on the 17th they saw a beautiful island, and found Dutch residents, with cattle and sheep. The crew of the Endeavour had suffered many privations and hardships, and the scurvy was making havoc among them, so that they complained of their commander not having put in at Timor; but now they obtained nine buffaloes, six sheep, three hogs, thirty dozen of fowls, etc., with several hundred gallons of palm syrup. This was the island Savu, and the natives are spoken of as highly pure in their morals and integrity, and their land a perfect paradise.

On the 21st Mr. Cook again sailed, and on the 1st of October came within sight of Java, and on the 9th brought up in Batavia Roads, where they found the Harcourt East Indiaman, and once more enjoyed the pleasure of communicating with their countrymen, and obtaining news from home. As it was deemed necessary to reëxamine the Endeavour’s bottom, preparations were made for the purpose. Tupia and his boy Tayoeta were almost mad with delight on viewing the display of European manners on shore; but sickness assailed all who resided in the city, and the two Indians became its victims. In about six weeks there were buried Mr. Spearing, assistant to Mr. Banks, Mr. Parkinson, artist, Mr. Green, astronomer, the boatswain, the carpenter and his mate, Mr. Monkhouse and another midshipman, the sailmaker and his assistant, the ship’s cook, the corporal of marines, and eleven seamen.

On the 27th of December the Endeavour, being completed, stood out to sea, and on the 5th of January 1771, anchored at Prince’s Island, but sailed again on the 15th for the Cape of Good Hope, where they arrived on the 15th of March. On the 14th April Mr. Cook resumed his voyage home, touched at St Helena (1st May to 4th), made the Lizard on the 10th of June, and anchored the next day in the Downs, where Mr. Cook left her.

The arrival of Mr. Cook, and the publication of sketches of his voyage, produced earnest desires to ascertain the full extent of his discoveries. Unknown parts had been explored; vast additions were made to geographical and scientific knowledge; the productions of various countries, together with the manners, habits, and customs of the natives, excited universal curiosity and deep interest; so that, when Dr. Hawkesworth’s account of the voyage, from the papers of Mr. Cook and Mr. Banks, was published, it was eagerly bought up at a large price. The astronomical observations threw much information on the theory of the heavenly bodies; navigation had eminently proved its vast capabilities: it had been in a great measure determined that no southern continent existed, or at least that neither New Zealand nor New South Wales were parts of such a continent; and most interesting accounts were given of the places visited and the perils encountered.

Mr. Cook was promoted to the rank of commander; the Royal Society honored him with especial favor and notice; and his society was courted by men of talent and research, eager for information. His worthy patrons, Sir Charles Saunders and Sir Hugh Palliser, were gratified to find their recommendations had been so well supported; the Earl of Sandwich, then at the head of the Admiralty Board, paid him considerable attention; and his majesty George III, treated him with more than ordinary consideration. Captain Cook enjoyed sufficient to make him proud; but he was too humble in mind, too modest in disposition, and too diffident in manners, to cherish one atom of unbecoming self-estimation.

Second Voyage Round the World. The idea of the existence of a southern continent, or as the learned called it, Terra Australis Incognita, had existed for more than two centuries; and though Cook had sailed over many parts where it was said to be situated, without seeing land, yet his first voyage did not altogether destroy the expectation that it might yet be found. Besides, his discoveries in the South Seas had whetted the public appetite for still further knowledge on the subject. The king, well pleased with what had been done, wished more to be accomplished; and accordingly, two stout ships built at Hull were purchased—​the Resolution, of 462 tons, commanded by Captain Cook, with a complement of 112 persons; and the Adventure, of 336 tons, commanded by Tobias Furneaux, with a crew including officers, of 81 souls. These appointments took place on the 28th of November 1771, and the most active exertions were immediately called into operation to fit them for the undertaking. Experience had taught Captain Cook what was the most essential and requisite for such a voyage; not only for the comforts and preservation of his people from scurvy, not only for commerce with the natives, but cattle and seeds of various kinds, and numerous things which philanthropy suggested, were shipped for the purpose of spreading the advantages of propagation and fertility amongst the South Sea islands; the benefits of which have since been experienced by other voyagers in an eminent degree. The Admiralty engaged Mr. W. Hodges as landscape painter; Mr. J. R. Forster and son were appointed to collect specimens of natural history; and Mr. Wales in the Resolution, and Mr. Bayley in the Adventure, were sent by the Board of Longitude to superintend astronomical observations, for which they were furnished with admirable instruments and four excellent time-pieces.

The instructions given to Captain Cook were—​‘To circumnavigate the whole globe in high southern latitudes, making traverses from time to time into every part of the Pacific Ocean that had not undergone previous investigation, and to use his best endeavors to resolve the much agitated question of the existence of a southern continent.’

On the 13th July 1772, the two vessels quitted Plymouth, and after touching at Madeira for wine, and at the Cape de Verde for water, crossed the line with a brisk south-west wind, and anchored in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope, on the 30th October. Here Captain Cook ascertained that the French were prosecuting discoveries in the South Seas, and that, eight months before, two French ships had sailed about forty miles along land in the latitude of 48 degrees, but had been driven off by a gale of wind. He also learned that two others had recently left the Mauritius for a similar purpose. On the 22d November Captain Cook took leave of Table Bay, and pursued his voyage for Cape Circumcision, but encountered very severe gales, which destroyed much of the live stock, and the people experienced great inconvenience from the intensity of the cold. The judicious management of the commander, however, prevented any fatal result. Warm clothing was given to the men; the decks below were kept well dried and ventilated, as well as warmed; and an addition was made to the issue of grog. On the 10th December they fell in with immense icebergs, some two miles in circuit at the edge of the water, and about sixty feet in height, over which the sea was breaking with tremendous violence. On the 14th the ships were stopped by a field of low ice, to which no end could be seen, either, east, west, or south. On the 18th they got clear of this obstruction, but continued amongst the fields and bergs, with heavy gales of wind, till the 1st January 1773, when it was clear enough to see the moon, which they had only done once before since quitting the Cape. The fogs had been so impenetrable as to obscure the heavens. Various indications had induced a belief that land was not far distant, and Captain Cook had as near as possible pursued a course for the supposed Cape Circumcision. By the 7th January they had reached the latitude of 67 degrees 15 minutes south, where they found the ice closely packed from east to west-south-west, and further progress debarred, unless by running the hazard of getting blocked up as the summer in this part of the world was rapidly passing away. The captain therefore desisted from penetrating further to the south, and returned northerly, to look for the asserted recently-discovered land of the French. On the 1st February they were in latitude 48 degrees 30 minutes south, and longitude 58 degrees 7 minutes east, where it was stated to have been seen; but nothing of the kind presented itself to view. He traversed this part of the ocean with similar results; and during a dense fog, parted company with the Adventure. On the 23d they were in latitude 61 degrees 52 minutes south, and longitude 95 degrees 2 minutes east; the weather thick and stormy, and the ship surrounded by drifting ice. Captain Cook therefore stood to the north in a hard gale with a heavy sea, which broke up the mountains of ice, and rendered them, by their numbers, still more dangerous, especially in the long dark nights. On the 13th and 14th March the astronomers got observations which showed the latitude to be 58 degrees 22 minutes south, and the longitude 136 degrees 22 minutes east, whilst the watches showed the latter to be 134 degrees 42 minutes east. Captain Cook had become convinced he had left no continent south of him, and consequently shaped a course for New Zealand, to refresh his men, refit his ship, and look for the Adventurer. He made the land, and anchored in Dusky Bay on the 26th March, after having been 117 days at sea, and traversed 3660 leagues without seeing any land; whilst during the whole time, through the arrangements and supplies of Captain Cook, scarcely a single case of scurvy occurred. From Dusky Bay they removed to another anchorage, where fish were plentifully caught, and the woods abounded with wild fowl; timber and fire-wood were close at hand, and a fine stream of fresh water within a hundred yards of the ship’s stern. This place was named Pickersgill harbor, in honor of the lieutenant who discovered it. The workmen erected tents for the forge, the carpenters, the sail-makers, coopers, and others, and a spot was selected for an observatory. Some tolerably good beer was manufactured from the branches and leaves of a tree resembling the American black spruce, mixed with the inspissated juice of wort and molasses.

On the 28th some of the natives visited them, and though at first shy, a friendly intercourse was subsequently established. Captain Cook surveyed Dusky Bay, where in retired spots, he planted seeds, and left several geese. They also caught a number of seals, from which they procured a supply of oil. On the 11th May they quitted this place for Queen Charlotte’s Sound, and on the 17th it fell perfectly calm, and they had an opportunity of seeing no less than six waterspouts, one of which passed within fifty yards of the Resolution. The next day they made the Sound, where the Adventure had already arrived, and great was the joy of meeting. On the 4th June they celebrated the birthday of George III, and a chief and his family, consisting of ninety persons, were shown the gardens which had been made, which they promised to continue in cultivation. A male and female goat were put on shore on the east side of the Sound, and a boar and two sows near Cannibal Cove, which it was hoped would not be molested.

On the 17th June the ships sailed, and on the 29th July the crew of the Adventure manifested rather alarming symptoms of a sickly state. The cook died, and about twenty of her best men were incapable of duty through scurvy and flux; whilst at this period only three men were sick in the Resolution, and but one of these with the scurvy. The difference was attributed to the people of the former ship not having fed much upon celery, scurvy-grass, and other greens, whilst at Queen Charlotte’s Sound. On the 1st of August they were in the supposed position of Pitcairn’s Island, laid down by captain Carteret in 1767; but as its longitude was incorrectly stated, they did not see it, but must have passed it about fifteen leagues to the westward. August 6th, the ships got advantage of the trade-winds at south-east, being at that time in latitude 19 deg. 36 min. south, and longitude 131 deg. 32 min. west. The captain directed his course west-northwest, passed a number of islands and rocks, which he named the Dangerous Archipelago, and on the 15th of August came in sight of Osnaburgh Island, or Maitea, which had been discovered by captain Wallis, and sail was immediately made for Otaheite, which they saw the same evening.

On the 17th the ships anchored in Oaiti-piha Bay, and the natives immediately crowded on board with fruit and roots, which were exchanged for nails and beads; and presents of shirts, axes, etc., were made to several who called themselves chiefs. Their thieving propensities, however, could not be restrained; and some articles of value having been stolen, Captain Cook turned the whole of them out of the ship, and then fired musketry over their heads, to show them the hazard which they ran. It is worthy of remark, that though Tupia was well known to the islanders, yet very few inquired what had become of him; and those who did, on being informed that he was dead, expressed neither sorrow, suspicion, nor surprise; but every one anxiously asked for Mr. Banks and others who had accompanied Captain Cook in his former voyage. With respect to the Otaheitans, considerable changes had occurred. Toutaha, the regent of the great peninsula of that island, had been slain in the battle about five months before the Resolution’s arrival, and Otoo was now the reigning chief. Several others friendly to the English had fallen; but Otoo manifested much friendship for them. A few days subsequent to their anchoring in the bay, a marine died; the rest of the men, who labored under sickness and scorbutic weakness, very soon recovered, through the supplies of fresh meat and vegetables.

On the 24th the ships got under weigh, and the next evening anchored in Matavai Bay, where the decks became excessively crowded by natives, who had visited them the voyage previous. On the following day Captain Cook went to Oparre to see Otoo, whom he describes as a fine well-made man, six feet high, and about thirty years of age. He was not, however, very courageous, for he declined accompanying the captain on board the Resolution, as he was ‘afraid of the guns.’ The observatory was fitted up, the sick were landed, as well as a guard of marines, and the natives brought hogs and fruits to barter. Some disturbance that took place through two or three marines behaving rudely to the women, caused at the time considerable alarm; but the men were seized and punished, and tranquillity restored.

Everything being ready for sea, on the 1st of September the ships quitted Matavai Bay, and visited the other islands. At Owharre, the chief brought the presents he had received from Captain Cook on the previous voyage, to show that he had treasured them. He also behaved very generously, in sending the best fruits and vegetables that could be procured for the captain’s table. The intercourse with the natives was proceeding very quietly, when, on the 6th, without any provocation, a man assailed Captain Cook with a club at the landing-place; and Mr. Sparrman, who had gone into the woods to botanise, was stripped and beaten. The Indians expressed great contrition for this outrage; and the king, on being informed of it, not only wept aloud, but placed himself under the entire control of the English, and went with them in search of the stolen articles. His subjects endeavored to prevent this, but his sister encouraged him, and not meeting with success, Oree insisted on being taken on board the Resolution to remain as a hostage. He dined with Captain Cook, and was afterwards landed by that officer, to the great joy of the people, who brought in hogs and fruits, and soon filled two boats. The next day the ships unmoored, and put to sea for Huaheine, where they remained a short time, and received on board a native named Omai, who afterwards figured much in England.

The inhabitants of the Society Islands generally manifested great timidity; on some occasion they offered human sacrifices to a supreme being. The voyagers quitted this part of the world on the 17th, and sailed to the westward, and gave the name of Harvey’s Island to land they discovered on the 23d. It was in 19 degrees 18 minutes south, and 158 degrees 4 minutes west. By October 1st they reached Middleburg, and were welcomed with loud acclamations by the natives. Barter commenced; but the people ashore seemed more desirous to give than receive, and threw into the boats whole bales of cloth, without asking or waiting for anything in the return. After leaving some garden seeds, and other useful things, the ships proceeded to Amsterdam, where they met a similar reception; but Captain Cook putting a stop to the purchase of curiosities and cloth, the natives brought off pigs, fowls, and fruits in abundance, which they exchanged for spike nails. The island was extensively cultivated; there appeared to be not an inch of waste ground; and the fertility of the soil was excellent. Captain Cook paid a visit to the head chief, who was seated, and seemed to be in a sort of idiotic stupor, nor did he take the slightest notice of the captain or any one else. The inhabitants of these islands are described as being of good shape, regular features, brisk and lively; particularly the women, who were constantly merry and cheerful. Most of the people had lost one or both of their little fingers, but no reason could be gathered as to the cause of amputation.

The voyage was renewed on the 7th October, and on the 21st they came in sight of New Zealand, eight or ten leagues from Table Cape, when Captain Cook presented the chief with two boars, two sows, four hens, two cocks, and a great variety of seeds—​wheat, peas, beans, cabbage, turnips, onions, &c., and a spike nail about ten inches in length, with which latter he seemed to be more delighted than with all the rest put together. After beating about the coast in a variety of tempestuous weather, the Resolution anchored in Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte’s Sound, on the 3d November; but the Adventure was separated from them in a heavy gale, and was never seen or heard of during the remainder of the voyage. In this place they made the best use of the means they possessed to repair the damage they had sustained, but, on examining the stock of bread, ascertained that 4992 pounds were totally unfit for use, and other 3000 pounds in such a state of decay that none but persons situated as our voyagers were could have eaten it. On inquiry after the animals left on the island by Captain Cook, most of them were preserved in a good condition, with the exception of two goats that a native had destroyed. The articles planted in the gardens were in a flourishing condition. To his former gifts the captain now added many others, and placed them in such situations that they were not likely to be disturbed. Whilst lying here, complaint was made that some of the Resolution’s men had plundered a native hut. The thief was discovered, tied up to a post, and flogged in the presence of the chiefs and their people, who expressed themselves satisfied with the punishment inflicted. It was a great principle with Cook to set an example of strict honesty.

In this second voyage the captain gained indisputable proofs that the New Zealanders were eaters of human flesh; but he firmly believed that it was the flesh of captives, or those who had been killed in battle.

Captain Cook quitted New Zealand on the 26th November, his ship’s company in good health and spirits, and nowise daunted at the prospects of hardships they were about to endure in again searching for a southern continent or islands in high latitudes. They were not long before they once more encountered fields and islands of ice, and when in latitude 67 degrees 5 minutes, they were nearly blocked up. On the 22d of December they attained the highest latitude they could venture—​this was 67 degrees 31 minutes south, and in longitude 142 degrees 54 minutes west; but no land was discovered. The crew of the Resolution were attacked by slight fever, caused by colds, but on coming northward, it was cured in a few days; and on the 5th January 1774, when in 50 degrees south, there were not more than two or three persons on the sick list.

After traversing the ocean as far south as it was prudent to go, all the scientific men expressed their belief that ice surrounded the pole without any intervening land; the Resolution consequently returned to the northward to look for the island of Juan Fernandez. About this time Captain Cook was seized with a dangerous and distressing disease, and it was several days before the worst symptoms were removed. On his amending, there being no fresh provisions on board, and his stomach loathing the salt food, a favorite dog of Mr. Forster was killed and boiled, which afforded both broth and meat, and upon this fare he gained strength. The Resolution on the 11th March, came in sight of Easter Island, situated in 27 degrees 5 minutes south, and 109 degrees 46 minutes west, where they remained a few days, and found the inhabitants very similar in appearance and character to the people of the more western isles. The place, however, afforded scarcely any food or fuel, the anchorage was unsafe, and the only matters worthy of notice were some rudely-carved gigantic statues in the interior. Captain Cook left Easter Island to pursue a course for the Marquesas, and got sight of them on the 6th April. During the passage the captain had a recurrence of his disorder, but it was neither so violent nor so long in duration as before. The ship was anchored in Resolution Bay, at the island of St. Christina, where thievery was practiced equally as much as at the Society and other isles; and one of the natives was unfortunately killed whilst in the act of carrying away the iron stanchion of the gangway. They had now been nineteen weeks at sea, entirely on salt provisions; but still, owing to the anti-scorbutic articles and medicines, and the warmth and cleanliness preserved, scarcely a man was sick. Here they obtained fresh meat, fruits, yams, and plantains, but in small quantities; and the captain having corrected, by astronomical observations, the exact position of these islands, once more made sail for Otaheite. During the passage they passed several small islands, and discovered four others, which Cook named after his old commander, Sir Hugh Palliser. On the 22d April the anchor was again let go in Matavai Bay, where the usual process was gone through of erecting the observatory to try the rates of the watches; but no tent was required for the sick, as there was not a man ill on board.

During the stay of Captain Cook at this island, where refreshments of all kinds were readily obtained, and particularly in exchange for some red feathers that had been brought from Amsterdam, the old friendships were renewed with Otoo and other chiefs; there was a constant interchange of visits; and on one occasion the Otaheitans got up a grand naval review.

The large canoes in this part of the world are extremely graceful and handsome in display, particularly the double war canoes, with flags and streamers, paddling along with great swiftness, and performing their evolutions with considerable skill. No less than 160 of the largest double war canoes were assembled, fully equipped, and the chiefs and their men, habited in full war costume, appeared upon the fighting stages, with their clubs and other instruments of warfare ready for action. Besides these large vessels, there were 170 smaller double canoes, each of these last having a mast and sail, and a sort of hut or cabin on the deck. Captain Cook calculated that the number of men embarked in them could not be fewer than 7760, most of them armed with clubs, pikes, barbed spears, bows and arrows, and slings for throwing large stones; in fact, strongly resembling the representations of engagements with galleys in the Mediterranean described some centuries before. The spectacle at Otaheite was extremely imposing, and greatly surprised the English.

Whilst lying at Matavai Bay, one of the islanders was caught in the act of stealing a water-cask. Captain Cook had him secured and sent on board the Resolution, where he was put in irons, and in this degraded situation was seen by Otoo and other chiefs, who entreated that the man might be pardoned. But the captain would not comply with their requests; he told them that ‘any act of dishonesty amongst his own people was severely punished, and he was resolved to make an example of the thief he had caught.’ Accordingly, the culprit was taken ashore to the tents, the guard turned out, and the offender being tied to a post, received two dozen lashes, inflicted by a boatswain’s mate. Towha, one of the chiefs, then addressed the people, and recommended them to abstain from stealing in future. To make a further impression on them, the marines were ordered to go through their exercise, and load and fire with ball.

A few days afterwards one of the gunner’s mates attempted to desert, and it was soon ascertained that he had formed an attachment on shore, and if he had got away, the natives would have concealed him up the country. Indeed the temptations for remaining in this beautiful country were very great. Every requisite to sustain existence was abundant, the scenery splendid, the earth spontaneously fertile, the waters abounding with fish—​in short, a few hours’ exertion was sufficient to obtain a week’s supply; and in a climate replete with health, a European might have rendered others subservient to his will, and lived without labor of any kind.

They next anchored in Owharre harbor, at Huaheine, and the former amicable intercourse was repeated. The stock of nails and articles of traffic being much reduced, the smiths were set to work to manufacture more. Whilst lying here, the voyagers had an opportunity of witnessing a theatrical representation, principally founded on an actual occurrence. A young girl had quitted Otaheite and her friends to accompany a seaman to Ulieta, and she was now present to see the drama. It described her as running away from her home, the grief of her parents, and a long string of adventures, which terminated in her return to her native place, where her reception was none of the most gentle that can be conceived. The poor girl could hardly be persuaded to wait for the conclusion, and she cried most bitterly.

They parted from the inhabitants with much regret, and having called at Ulieta, they sailed past Howe Island, and discovered another nearly surrounded with reefs, to which the name of Palmerston was given. On the 20th July fresh land was seen, on which they went ashore, but found the natives fierce and hostile. The firing of muskets did not deter them; and one came close enough to throw a spear at the captain, which passed over his shoulder. The captain presented his piece, but it missed fire, and the daring fellow was saved. They named this Savage Island. It lies in latitude 19 degrees 1 minute south, longitude 169 degrees 37 minutes west. From thence, after passing a number of small islets, they anchored on the 26th on the north side of Anamocka, Rotterdam, and commenced trade for provisions. But here, as at the other islands, frequent disputes and conflicts took place with the inhabitants on account of their thievish propensities. Here they ascertained that a chain of islands, some of which they could see, existed in the neighborhood, forming a group within the compass of three degrees of latitude, and two of longitude, and which Captain Cook named the Friendly Isles; which designation they certainly merited, for the social qualities and conduct of the natives.

Pursuing their course westward, they came, on the 1st July, to a small island, which, on account of the great number of turtle, was named after that amphibious creature; and on the 16th they saw high land; and after coasting it for two other days, they anchored in a harbor in the island of Mallecollo, to which the captain gave the name of Port Sandwich. At first the natives were hostile, but they were soon conciliated through the bland manners of Cook, and were found strictly honest in all their dealings. In fact, they are described as totally different to any they had yet visited. They were very dark, extremely ugly, and ill-proportioned, and their features strongly resembled those of a monkey.

Soon after getting to sea, various other islands were seen and named; and an affray took place with some of the natives, in which two of them were wounded. A promontory near where the skirmish occurred they called Traitor’s Head. After cruising about amongst the great number of islands in this locality, making observations and taking surveys, they steered towards New Zealand, to wood and water, previous to a renewal of their search southward; and on the 4th September discovered land, and entered a pleasant harbor on the following day, where they were well received. On the 13th they weighed again, and surveyed the coast, by which they ascertained that the island was very extensive; and, from certain peculiarities, Cook named it New Caledonia. Botany here received great accessions. Many plants were collected hitherto unknown: and both geography and natural history afforded much research to the scientific men. A small island, on which were growing some pine trees, received the name of Pine Island; and another was called Botany, from the great variety of specimens obtained.

The Resolution, in proceeding for New Zealand, touched at an uninhabited island, abounding with vegetation, which was named Norfolk Island, and on the 18th October anchored in Ship Cove, Queen Charlotte’s Sound, where she refitted and the captain completed his survey. Captain Cook had buried a bottle near the Cove when he was here before, and in digging now it was not to be found. It was therefore supposed that the Adventure had anchored here, and her people had removed it. On the 10th November they took their departure; and having sailed till the 27th in different degrees of latitude, from 43 degrees to 54 degrees 8 minutes south, Captain Cook gave up hopes of falling in with any more land in this ocean. He therefore resolved to steer for the west entrance of the Straits of Magellan, in order to coast along the south side of Terra del Fuego, round Cape Horn to the Straits of Le Maire. On the 17th December he reached his first destination, and here the scenery was very different from what they had before beheld. Lofty rocky mountains entirely destitute of vegetation, craggy summits, and horrible precipices; the whole aspect of the country barren and savage. Yet near every harbor they were enabled to procure fresh-water and fuel; and there were plenty of wild fowl and geese. The inhabitants were wretchedly poor and ignorant.

On the 25th January 1778, having coasted it as far as 60 degrees south, the land presenting the same uncouth appearance, covered with ice and snow, and the ship exposed to numerous storms, and the people to intense cold, the course was altered to look for Bouvet’s Land; but though they reached the spot where it was laid down on the charts, and sailed over and over it, yet no such place could be discovered; and after two days’ search more to the southward, Cook came to the conclusion that Bouvet had been deceived by the ice, and once more bent his thoughts towards home—​especially as the ship stood in need of repairs, and her sails and rigging were nearly worn out—​and consequently steered for the Cape of Good Hope, where he heard of the Adventure, and anchored in Table Bay on the 22d of March. From thence he sailed on the 27th of April, touched at St. Helena on the 15th of May, and remained till the 21st, and then got under weigh for Ascension, where he arrived on the 28th; and from thence shaped a course for the remarkable island Fernando de Noronha, which he reached on the 9th of June; and pursuing his way for the western islands, anchored in Fayal Roads on the 14th of July, where Mr. Wales the astronomer determined the position of the Azores by a series of observations. The Resolution ultimately entered Portsmouth on the 30th; and Captain Cook landed after an absence of three years and eighteen days, having sailed 20,000 leagues in various climates—​from the extreme of heat to the extreme of cold. But so judicious had been the arrangements for preserving health, and so carefully had Captain Cook attended to the ventilation between decks, and the mode of promoting warmth, as well as the food, etc., of the people, that he lost only one man by sickness. It may naturally be supposed that the wear and tear of the ship was great, her rigging scarcely trustworthy, and her sails unfit to meet a fresh breeze; yet so careful were the officers of the masts and yards, that not a spar of any consequence was carried away during the whole voyage.

The fame of Captain Cook as a navigator, coupled with his marked humanity as a man, now exalted him in public estimation far beyond what he had before experienced; and the utmost anxiety prevailed to obtain intelligence relative to his discoveries, etc. The king, to testify his approbation, made him a post captain nine days subsequent to his arrival; and three days afterwards, a captaincy in Greenwich Hospital was conferred upon him, to afford an honorable and competent retirement from active service. On the 29th of February 1776, he was elected a member of the Royal Society, and in a short time he was honored with the gold medal; Sir John Pringle, in presenting it, uttering a well-merited eulogium on the worthy receiver. The account of his second voyage was written by Captain Cook himself, and manifests a plain manly style, giving facts rather than embellishments.

Cook’s Last Voyage. The discovery of a supposed north-west passage from the North Atlantic to the North Pacific oceans had for many years been ardently sought for both by the English and the Dutch. Frobisher in 1576 made the first attempt, and his example was in succeeding times followed by many others. But though much geographical information had been gained in the neighborhood of Hudson’s Bay, Davies’ Straits, Baffin’s Bay, and the coast of Greenland, yet no channel whatever was found. By act of parliament, £20,000 was offered to the successful individual. But though Captain Middleton in 1741, and Captains Smith and Moore in 1746, explored those seas and regions, the object remained unattained. The Honorable Captain Phipps (afterwards Earl Mulgrave) was sent out in the Racehorse, accompanied by Captain Lutwidge in the Carcase (Lord Nelson was a boy in this latter ship), to make observations, and to penetrate as far as it was practicable to do so. They sailed on the 2d of June 1773, and made Spitzbergen on the 28th; but after great exertions, they found the ice to the northward utterly impenetrable. Once they became closely jammed, and it was only with great difficulty they escaped destruction. On the 22d of August, finding it impossible to get further to the northward, eastward, or westward, they made sail, according to their instructions, for England, and arrived off Shetland on the 7th of September.

Notwithstanding these numerous failures, the idea of an existing passage was still cherished; and earl Sandwich continuing at the head of the Admiralty, resolved that a further trial should be made, and captain Cook offered his services to undertake it. They were gladly accepted, and on the 10th of February, 1776, he was appointed to command the expedition in his old but hardy ship, the Resolution, and captain Clerke, in the Discovery, was ordered to attend him. In this instance, however, the mode of experiment was to be reversed, and instead of attempting the former routes by Davis’ Straits or Baffin’s Bay, etc., Cook, at his own request, was instructed to proceed into the South Pacific, and thence to try the passage by the way of Behring’s Straits; and as it was necessary that the islands in the southern ocean should be revisited, cattle and sheep, with other animals, and all kinds of seeds, were shipped for the advantage of the natives.

Every preparation having been made, the Resolution quitted Plymouth on the 12th of July (the Discovery was to follow), taking Omai, the native brought from the Society Isles, with him. Having touched at Teneriffe, they crossed the equator September 1st, and reached the Cape on the 18th of October, where the Discovery joined them on the 10th of November. Whilst lying in Table Bay, the cattle were landed; and some dogs getting into the pens, worried and killed several of the sheep, and dispersed the rest. Two fine rams and two ewes were lost; but the two latter were recovered; the others could not be got back. Captain Cook here made an addition to his stock, and, besides other animals, purchased two young stallions and two mares.

SYDNEY, N. S. WALES.

BARON VON HUMBOLDT.

November 30th the ships sailed again, and encountered heavy gales, in which several sheep and goats died. On the 12th of December they saw two large islands, which Cook named Prince Edward’s Islands; and three days afterwards several others were seen; but having reached Keguelen’s Land, they anchored in a convenient harbor on Christmas day. On the north side of this harbor one of the men found a quart bottle fastened to a projecting rock by stout wire, and on opening it, the bottle was found to contain a piece of parchment, on which was an inscription purporting that the land had been visited by a French vessel in 1772–3. To this Cook added a notice of his own visit; the parchment was then returned to the bottle, and the cork being secured with lead, was placed upon a pile of stones near to the place from which it had been removed. The whole country was extremely barren and desolate; and on the 30th they came to the eastern extremity of Kerguelen’s Land. To his great chagrin, whilst exploring the coast, captain Cook lost through the intense cold two young bulls, one heifer, two rams, and several of the goats.

On the 24th of January, 1777, they came in sight of Van Diemen’s Land, and on the 26th anchored in Adventure Bay, where intercourse was opened with the natives, and Omai took every opportunity of lauding his friends the English. Here they obtained plenty of grass for the remaining cattle, and a supply of fresh provisions for themselves. On the 30th they quitted their port, convinced that Van Diemen’s Land was the southern point of New Holland. Subsequent investigations, however, have proved this idea to be erroneous; Van Diemen’s Land being an island separated from the mainland of Australia by Bass’ Straits.

On the 12th of February captain Cook anchored at his old station in Queen Charlotte’s Sound, New Zealand; but the natives were very shy in approaching the ships, and none could be persuaded to come on board. The reason was, that on the former voyage, after parting with the Resolution, the Adventure had visited this place, and ten of her crew had been killed in an unpremeditated skirmish with the natives. It was the fear of retaliatory punishment that kept them aloof. Captain Cook, however, soon made them easy upon the subject, and their familiarity was renewed; but great caution was used, to be fully prepared for a similar attack, by keeping the men well armed on all occasions. Of the animals left at this island in the former voyages, many were thriving; and the gardens though left in a state of nature, were found to contain cabbages, onions, leeks, radishes, mustard, and a few potatoes. The captain was enabled to add to both. At the solicitation of Omai he received two New Zealand lads on board the Resolution, and by the 27th was clear of the coast.

After landing at a number of islands, and not finding adequate supplies, the ships sailed for Anamocka, and the Resolution was brought up in exactly the same anchorage that she had occupied three years before. The natives behaved in a most friendly manner, and but for their habits of stealing, quiet would have been uninterrupted. Nothing, however, could check this propensity, till captain Cook shaved the heads of all whom he caught practicing it. This rendered them an object of ridicule to their countrymen, and enabled the English to recognize and keep them at a distance. Most of the Friendly Isles were visited by the ships, and everywhere they met with a kind reception. On the 10th of June they reached Tongataboo, where the king offered captain Cook his house to reside in. Here he made a distribution of his animals amongst the chiefs, and the importance of preserving them was explained by Omai. A horse and mare, a bull and cow, several sheep and turkeys, were thus given away; but two kids and two turkey-cocks having been stolen, the captain seized three canoes, put a guard over the chiefs, and insisted that not only the kids and turkeys should be restored, but also everything that had been taken away since their arrival. This produced a good effect, and much of the plunder was returned.

Captain Cook remained at the Friendly Islands nearly three months, and lived almost entirely during that period upon fresh provisions, occasionally eating the produce of the seeds he had sown there in his former visits. On the 17th July they took their final leave of these hospitable people, and on the 12th August reached Otaheite, and took up a berth in Oaiti-piha Bay, which it was discovered had been visited by two Spanish ships since the Resolution had last been there.

Animals of various kinds had been left in the country by the Spaniards, and the islanders spoke of them with esteem and respect. On the 24th the ships went round to Matavai Bay, and Captain Cook presented to the king, Otoo, the remainder of his live stock. There were already at Otoo’s residence a remarkably fine bull and some goats that had been left by the Spaniards, and to these the captain added another bull, three cows, a horse and mare, and a number of sheep; also a peacock and hen, a turkey-cock and hen, one gander and three geese, a drake and four ducks. The geese and ducks began to breed before the English left the island.

They here witnessed a human sacrifice, to propitiate the favor of their gods in a battle they were about to undertake. The victim was generally some strolling vagabond, who was not aware of his fate till the moment arrived, and he received his death-blow from a club. For the purpose of showing the inhabitants the use of the horses, Captain Cook and Clerke rode into the country, to the great astonishment of the islanders; and though this exercise was continued every day by some of the Resolution’s people, yet the wonder of the natives never abated.

On the return of Omai to the land of his birth, the reception he met with was not very cordial; but the affection of his relatives was strong and ardent. Captain Cook obtained the grant of a piece of land for him on the west side of Owharre harbor, Huaheine. The carpenters of the ships built him a small house, to which a garden was attached, planted with shaddocks, vines, pine apples, melons, etc., and a variety of vegetables; the whole of which were thriving before Captain Cook quitted the island. When the house was finished, the presents Omai had received in England were carried ashore, with every article necessary for domestic purposes, as well as two muskets, a bayonet, a brace of pistols, etc.

The two lads brought from New Zealand were put on shore at this place, to form part of Omai’s family; but it was with great reluctance that they quitted the voyagers, who had behaved so kindly to them.

Whilst lying at Huaheine, a thief, who had caused them great trouble, not only had his head and beard shaved, but, in order to deter others, both his ears were cut off. On the 3d November the ships went to Ulietea, and here, decoyed by the natives, two or three desertions took place; and as others seemed inclined to follow the example, Captain Clerke pursued the fugitives with two armed boats and a party of marines; but without effect. Captain Cook experienced a similar failure: he therefore seized upon the persons of the chief’s son, daughter, and son-in-law, whom he placed under confinement till the people should be restored; which took place on the 28th, and the hostages were released. One of the deserters was a midshipman of the Discovery, and the son of a brave officer in the service. Schemes were projected by some of the natives to assassinate Captain Cook and Captain Clerke; but though in imminent danger, the murderous plans failed.

At Bolabola, Captain Cook succeeded in obtaining an anchor which had been left there by M. Bouganville, as he was very desirous of converting the iron into articles of traffic. They left this place on the 8th December, crossed the line, and on the 24th stopped at a small island, which he named Christmas Island, and where he planted cocoa-nuts, yams, and melon seeds, and left a bottle enclosing a suitable inscription.

On the 2d January, 1778, the ships resumed their voyage northward, to pursue the grand object in Behring’s Straits. They passed several islands, the inhabitants of which, though at an immense distance from Otaheite, spoke the same language. Those who came on board displayed the utmost astonishment at everything they beheld; and it was evident they had never seen a ship before. The disposition to steal was equally strong in these as in the other South Sea islanders, and a man was killed who tried to plunder the watering party; but this was not known to Captain Cook till after they had sailed. They also discovered that the practice of eating human flesh was prevalent. To a group of these islands (and they were generally found in clusters) Captain Cook gave the name of the Sandwich Islands, in honor of the noble earl at the head of the Admiralty.

The voyage to the northward was continued on the 2d February, and the long-looked-for coast of New Albion was made on the 7th March, the ships being then in latitude 44 degrees 83 minutes north; and after sailing along it till the 29th, they came to an anchor in a small cove lying in latitude 49 degrees 29 minutes north. A brisk trade commenced with the natives, who appeared to be well acquainted with the value of iron, for which they exchanged the skins of various animals, such as bears, wolves, foxes, deer, etc., both in their original state and made up into garments. But the most extraordinary articles were human skulls, and hands not quite stripped of the flesh, and which had the appearance of having been recently on the fire. Thieving was practiced at this place in a more scientific manner than they had before remarked; and the natives insisted upon being paid for the wood and other things supplied to the ships; with which Captain Cook scrupulously complied. This inlet was named King George’s Sound; but it was afterwards ascertained that the natives called it Nootka Sound. After making every requisite nautical observation, the ships being again ready for sea on the 26th, in the evening they departed, a severe gale of wind blowing them from the shore. From this period they examined the coast, under a hope of finding some communication with the Polar Sea; and one river they traced as high as latitude 61 degrees 30 minutes north, and which was afterwards named Cook’s River.

They left this place on the 6th June, notwithstanding all their watchfulness and vigilance, no passage could be found. The ships ranged across the mouth of the straits in about latitude 60 degrees, where the natives of the island by their manners, gave evident tokens of their being acquainted with Europeans—​most probably Russian traders. They put in at Oonaalaska and other places, which were taken possession of in the name of the king of England. On the 3d August Mr. Anderson, surgeon of the Resolution, died from a lingering consumption, under which he had been suffering more than twelve months. He was a young man of considerable ability, and he possessed an amiable disposition.

Proceeding to the northward, Captain Cook ascertained the relative position of the two continents, Asia and America, whose extremities he observed. On the 18th they were close to a dense wall of ice, beyond which they could not penetrate, the latitude at this time being 70 degrees 44 minutes north. The ice here was from ten to twelve feet high, and seemed to rise higher in the distance. A prodigious number of sea-horses were crouching on the ice, some of which were procured for food. Captain Cook continued to traverse these icy seas till the 29th; he then explored the coasts in Behring’s Strait both in Asia and America; and on the 2d of October again anchored at Oonalaska to refit; and here they had communication with some Russians, who undertook to convey charts and maps, etc., to the English Admiralty; which they faithfully fulfilled. On the 26th the ships quitted the harbor of Samganoodah, and sailed for the Sandwich Islands; Captain Cook purposing to remain there a few months, and then to return to Kamschatka. In latitude 20 degrees 55 minutes, the island of Mowee was discovered on the 26th of November; and on the 30th they fell in with another, called by the natives Owhyhee; and being of large extent, the ships were occupied nearly seven weeks in sailing round it, and examining the coast; and they found the islanders more frank and free from suspicion than any they had yet had intercourse with; so that on the 16th January 1779, there were not fewer than a thousand canoes about the two ships, most of them crowded with people, and well laden with hogs and other productions of the place. A robbery having been committed, Captain Cook ordered a volley of musketry and four great guns to be fired over the canoe that contained the thief; but this seemed only to astonish the natives, without creating any great alarm. On the 17th the ships anchored in a bay called by the islanders Karakakooa. The natives constantly thronged to the ships, whose decks consequently, being at all times crowded, allowed of pilfering without fear of detection; and these practices, it is conjectured, were encouraged by the chiefs. A great number of the hogs purchased were killed and salted down so completely, that some of it was good at Christmas 1780. On the 26th Captain Cook had an interview with Terreeoboo, king of the island, in which great formality was observed, and an exchange of names. The natives were extremely respectful to Cook; in fact, they paid him a sort of adoration, prostrating themselves before him; and a society of priests furnished the ships with a constant supply of hogs and vegetables, without requiring any return. On the 3d February, the day previous to the ships sailing, the king presented them with an immense quantity of cloth, many boat-loads of vegetables, and a whole herd of hogs. The ships sailed on the following day, but on the 6th encountered a very heavy gale, in which, on the night of the 7th, the Resolution sprung the head of her foremast in such a dangerous manner, that they were forced to put back to Karakakooa Bay in order to get it repaired. Here they anchored on the morning of the 11th, and every thing for a time promised to go well in their intercourse with the natives. The friendliness manifested by the chiefs, however, was far from solid. They were savages at a low point of cultivation, and theft and murder were not considered by them in the light of crimes. Cook, aware of the nature of these barbarians, was anxious to avoid any collision, and it was with no small regret that he found that an affray had taken place betwen some seamen and the natives. The cause of the disturbance was the seizure of the cutter of the Discovery as it lay at anchor. The boats of both ships were sent in search of her, and Captain Cook went on shore to prosecute the inquiry, and if necessary, to seize the person of the king, who had sanctioned the theft.

The narrative of what ensued is affectingly tragical. Cook left the Resolution about seven o’clock, attended by the lieutenant of marines, a sergeant, a corporal, and seven private men. The pinnace’s crew were likewise armed, and under the command of Mr. Roberts; the launch was also ordered to assist his own boat. He landed with the marines at the upper end of the town of Kavoroah, where the natives received him with their accustomed tokens of respect, and not the smallest sign of hostility was evinced by any of them; and as the crowds increased, the chiefs employed themselves as before in keeping order. Captain Cook requested the king to go on board the Resolution with him, to which he offered few objections; but in a little time it was observed that the natives were arming themselves with long spears and daggers, and putting on the thick mats which they used by way of armor. This hostile appearance was increased by the arrival of a canoe from the opposite side of the bay, announcing that one of the chiefs had been killed by a shot from the Discovery’s boat. The women, who had been conversing familiarly with the English, immediately retired, and loud murmurs arose amongst the crowd. Captain Cook perceiving the tumultuous proceedings of the natives, ordered Lieutenant Middleton to march his marines down to the boats, to which the islanders offered no obstruction. The Captain followed with the king, attended by his wife, two sons, and several chiefs. One of the sons had already entered the pinnace, expecting his father to follow, when the king’s wife and others hung round his neck, and forced him to be seated near a double canoe, assuring him that he would be put to death if he went on board the ship.

Whilst matters were in this position, one of the chiefs was seen with a dagger partly concealed under his cloak lurking about Captain Cook, and the lieutenant of marines proposed to fire at him; but this the captain would not permit; but the chief closing upon them, the officer of marines struck him with his firelock. Another native grasping the sergeant’s musket, was forced to let it go by a blow from the lieutenant. Captain Cook, seeing the tumult was increasing, observed, that ‘if he were to force the king off, it could only be done by sacrificing the lives of many of his people;’ and was about to give orders to reëmbark, when a man flung a stone at him, which he returned by discharging small shot from one of the barrels of his piece. The man was but little hurt; and brandishing his spear, with threatenings to hurl it at the captain, the latter, unwilling to fire with ball, knocked the fellow down, and then warmly expostulated with the crowd for their hostile conduct. At this moment a man was observed behind a double canoe in the act of darting a spear at Captain Cook, who promptly fired, but killed another who was standing by his side. The sergeant of marines, however, instantly presented, and brought down the native whom the captain had missed. The impetuosity of the islanders was somewhat repressed; but being pushed on by those in the rear, who were ignorant of what was passing in front, a volley of stones was poured in amongst the marines, who, without waiting for orders, returned it with a general discharge of musketry, which was directly succeeded by a brisk fire from the boats. Captain Cook expressed much surprise and vexation: he waved his hand for the boats to cease firing, and to come on shore to embark the marines. The pinnace unhesitatingly obeyed; but the lieutenant in the launch, instead of pulling in to the assistance of his commander, rowed further off at the very moment that the services of himself and people were most required. Nor was this all the mischief that ensued; for, as it devolved upon the pinnace to receive the marines, she became so crowded, as to render the men incapable of using their firearms. The marines on shore, however, fired; but the moment their pieces were discharged, the islanders rushed en masse upon them, forced the party into the water, where four of them were killed, and the lieutenant wounded. At this critical period Captain Cook was left entirely alone upon a rock near the shore. He, however, hurried towards the pinnace, holding his left arm around the back of his head, to shield it from the stones, and carrying his musket under his right. An islander, armed with a club, was seen in a crouching posture cautiously following him, as if watching for an opportunity to spring forward upon his victim. This man was a relation of the king’s, and remarkably agile and quick. At length he jumped forward upon the captain, and struck him a heavy blow on the back of his head, and then turned and fled. The captain appeared to be somewhat stunned. He staggered a few paces, and, dropping his musket, fell on his hands and one knee; but whilst striving to recover his upright position, another islander rushed forward, and with an iron dagger stabbed him in the neck. He again made an effort to procceed, but fell into a small pool of water not more than knee-deep, and numbers instantly ran to the spot, and endeavored to keep him down; but by his struggles he was enabled to get his head above the surface, and casting a look towards the pinnace (then not more than five or six yards distant), seemed to be imploring assistance. It is asserted that, in consequence of the crowded state of the pinnace (through the withdrawal of the launch) the crew of that boat were unable to render any aid: but it is also probable that the emergency of this unexpected catastrophe deprived the English of that cool judgment which was requisite on such an occasion. The islanders, perceiving that no help was afforded, forced him under water again, but in a deeper place; yet his great muscular power once more enabled him to raise himself and cling to the rock. At this moment a forcible blow was given with a club, and he fell down lifeless. The savages then hauled his corpse upon the rock, and ferociously stabbed the body all over, snatching the dagger from each others’ hands to wreak their sanguinary vengeance on the slain. The body was left some time exposed upon the rock; and as the islanders gave way, through terror at their own act and the fire from the boats, it might have been recovered entire. But no attempt of the kind was made; and it was afterwards, together with the marines, cut up, and the parts distributed amongst the chiefs. The mutilated fragments were subsequently restored, and committed to the deep with all the honors due to the rank of the deceased. Thus (February 14, 1779) perished in an inglorious brawl with a set of savages, one of England’s greatest navigators, whose services to science have never been surpassed by any man belonging to his profession. It may almost be said that he fell a victim to his humanity; for if, instead of retreating before his barbarous pursuers with a view to spare their lives, he had turned revengefully upon them, his fate might have been very different.

The death of their commander was felt to be a heavy blow by the officers and seamen of the expedition. With deep sorrow the ships’ companies left Owhyhee, where the catastrophe had occurred, the command of the Resolution devolving on Captain Clerke, and Mr. Gore acting as commander of the Discovery. After making some further exploratory searches among the Sandwich Islands, the vessels visited Kamschatka, and Behring’s Straits. Here it was found impossible to penetrate through the ice either on the coast of America or that of Asia, so that they returned to the southward; and on the 22d August 1779, Captain Clerke died of Consumption, and was succeeded by Captain Gore, who in his turn gave Lieutenant King an acting order in the Discovery. After a second visit to Kamschatka, the two ships returned by way of China, remained some time at Canton, touched at the Cape, and arrived at the Nore, 4th October 1780, after an absence of four years, two months, and twenty-two days, during which the Resolution lost only five men by sickness, and the Discovery did not lose a single man.

By this, as well as the preceding voyages of Cook, a considerable addition was made to a knowledge of the earth’s surface. Besides clearing up doubts respecting the Southern Ocean, and making known many islands in the Pacific, the navigator did an inestimable service to his country in visiting the coasts of New South Wales, Van Diemen’s Land, New Zealand, and Norfolk Island—​all now colonial possessions of Britain, and which promise at no distant day to become the seat of a large and flourishing nation of Anglo-Australians—​the England of the southern hemisphere.

The intelligence of Captain Cook’s death was received with melancholy regrets in England. The king granted a pension of £200 per annum to his widow, and £25 per annum to each of the children; The Royal Society had a gold medal struck in commemoration of him; and various other honors at home and abroad were paid to his memory. ‘Thus, by his own persevering efforts,’ as has been well observed by the author of the Pursuit of Knowledge Under Difficulties, ‘did this great man raise himself from the lowest obscurity to a reputation wide as the world itself, and certain to last as long as the age in which he flourished shall be remembered by history.’ But better still than even all this fame—​than either the honors which he received while living, or those which, when he was no more, his country and mankind bestowed upon his memory—​he had exalted himself in the scale of moral and intellectual being; had won for himself, by his unwearied striving, a new and nobler nature, and taken a high place among the instructors and best benefactors of mankind.

CAPTAINS PORTLOCK AND DIXON.

This voyage was undertaken for the purposes of commerce; principally, indeed, for the fur-trade, on the north-west coast of America, which had been strongly recommended by Captains Cook and King in their last voyage. Two vessels were fitted out for this purpose, the King George and Queen Charlotte, by a society of merchants and others, the former commanded by Nathaniel Portlock, the latter by George Dixon, both of whom had been with Captain Cook; the King George having sixty men, the Queen Charlotte thirty.

September 20th, 1785, they quitted St. Helens, and, proceeding to Guernsey, left it on the 25th. October 16th saw the Canary Islands, and 24th the Cape de Verde group, anchoring for a short time in Port Praya Bay, in St. Jago. Proceeding south, they anchored in Port Egmont, Falkland’s Islands, January 5th, 1786, where, taking in water, they made sail for States Bay, in Terra del Fuego. Having made a good offing from Cape Horn, they had tolerable weather; and continuing their route without touching at any place, or meeting any thing worthy of notice, dropped anchor 26th May in Karakooa Bay, in Owhyhee, Sandwich Islands.

The natives crowded them very much, bartering a variety of articles; but were nevertheless extremely troublesome. It was the general opinion, that it would be impossible to water the vessels without a strong guard, which they could not well spare; while the people were probably jealous that these vessels had come to revenge the death of Captain Cook. Next day they stood out of the bay, lying-to three leagues off, to carry on trade for hogs, plantains, etc. etc., which proved so serviceable that the sick, of whom there were several, began rapidly to recover. June 1st anchored in a bay in Woahoo, another of the islands, and were received civilly by the inhabitants. They now stood for another of the islands, named Oneehow; and, on the 8th, anchored in Yam Bay, where supplies of fruit, vegetables, and pigs, were willingly afforded by the principal chief Abbenooe, who seemed strongly their friend, from recollecting Captain Portlock along with Cook. They took leave of him, with regret, on the 13th, standing for the coast of America.

July 19th made the entrance of Cook’s River; and, while looking for good anchorage, were astonished by the report of a great gun; when, soon afterwards, a party of Russians came on board, attended by some Indians; but none understanding the language of either, no satisfactory information could be gained from them. Most of the natives had fled from their huts, alarmed perhaps by the Russians; several bears were seen, but none near enough to fire at. Two veins of kennel-coal were found, which burned very well, and the place was, therefore, called Coal Harbor. An elderly chief paying Captain Dixon a visit, informed him that they had a battle with the Russians, in which the latter were worsted, and added, that from the difference of dress, he knew they were of a different nation.

Quitting this place, they tried for some time to get into Prince William’s Sound; but, by a series of unfavorable winds, failed in this pursuit. September 23d, they stood away for the Sandwich Islands to pass the winter, and return in the spring. November 14th saw the summit of the high mountain in Owhyhee covered with snow, and employed two or three following days in coasting it, the natives bringing off a variety of articles to barter for iron and trinkets. The first mate of the King George reporting, that a bay they intended to anchor in did not admit of good anchorage, this design was dropped. During the time they lay to, hogs, fowls, wild-geese, bread-fruit, plantains, and several other things were procured in considerable quantities; the natives dealing pretty fairly, but committing a variety of thefts, even before their faces, with a dexterity almost inimitable. For several days they continued lying to off the islands of Mowee and Morotoi, procuring refreshments and receiving visits till the 30th, when both ships bore away for King George’s Bay, in Whoaboo, where they anchored in safety, after experiencing a variety of winds from all points of the compass.

Here they found every thing tabooed, or forbidden, so that it became necessary to court the king’s favor; for which purpose a present was sent to him, and another to a priest, their acquaintance on the former occasion, who paid them a visit, handing up a fig and plantain, which in these islands are signs of friendship. This was soon followed by a visit from Taheeterre, the king, followed by all the chiefs, who took off the taboo. The priest was remarkable for drinking large quantities of the ava, or yava-juice, for which he had two men in constant attendance chewing the root, which, with their spittle, forms this singular and (to us) nauseous beverage. The yava is a root resembling liquorice in shape and color. None but the chiefs and priests have permission to use it, and these are never at the trouble of chewing it themselves; but, as above observed, employ servants; these begin with chewing a sufficient quantity, and when well masticated, it is put into a wooden bowl kept for the purpose, to which a small quantity of water is added; the whole is then strained through a cloth, and, like wine in Europe, it thus forms not merely the drink, but the delight of all parties, feasts, rejoicings, and, in short, every public assemblage of the leading people. Its effects, however, are very pernicious; it is partly intoxicating or rather stupifying; and, by its constant use, the old priest was exceedingly debilitated, and his body covered with a white scurf, resembling leprosy, which is a common symptom throughout the South Sea islands of its frequent use.

The taboo was again put on without any explanation being given, though several canoes nevertheless came off, but without any women, as had been formerly the case. Afterwards it was understood that one of them had been detected in the King George eating pork, which being a heinous offense, she was taken as soon as she came on shore, and offered a sacrifice to the gods: human sacrifices, it appears, are here, as in most parts of the South Sea islands, frequently presented, and it is unquestionably the most inhuman and barbarous custom among them.

December 19th weighed, and two days afterwards anchored between Attoui and Wyema, where, after paying and receiving some visits, their former friend Abbenooe came on board with two canoes loaded with provisions, and remained for two or three days, seemingly very well pleased with his new abode. The king also made his appearance; he was stout and well made, about forty-five years of age, and possessed of more understanding and good nature than any of his subjects. January 5th caught a shark in the King George, thirteen and a half feet long, eight and a half broad, and six feet in the liver; forty-eight young ones in her, about eight inches each in length; two whole turtles of sixty pounds each; several small pigs, and a quantity of bones; so that the numbers and the voracity of this fish may be conceived. From this time to the 10th they were employed in purchasing wood, water, provisions, curiosities, and every thing else they wanted; and now, quitting the anchorage, proceeded to yam Bay, in Oneehow, where, after making a few excursions, they departed once more for Wymoa Bay, Attoui.

On the 3d March weighed, and made sail for the coast of America, and on the 24th April saw Montager Island, coming to anchor in the harbor, where there is sufficient shelter from the prevailing winds. The weather continued very variable, several unsuccessful attempts being made to get into Prince William’s Sound, and only a single straggling inhabitant being seen now and then, so that there was no opportunity to trade.

Captain Dixon now made an excursion in his boats up the Sound, and receiving some hints from the natives of a vessel being there, continued his search for several days, and at length got on board a vessel called the Nootka, from Bengal, commanded by Mr. Meares, which had wintered in Snug-corner Cove. The scurvy had made dreadful havoc among them, nearly all the officers and many of the crew having died of this frightful disorder, so that at length the Captain was the only person on board able to walk the deck. Along with his first mate he soon afterwards visited the ships, met with a hearty reception, and received such assistance as he wanted and as the others could afford. From him they learned that few or no furs could be obtained here; that several vessels from India had been already on this coast for the purposes of trade; and that two or three were expected next month in the same pursuit, which immediately determined our voyagers to separate and push for different parts of the coast, in order to be before their expected rivals; the Queen Charlotte to proceed to King George’s Sound, and Messrs. Hayward and Hill to Cook’s River in the King George’s long-boat, the latter to remain where she was for the present.

On the 13th May several canoes visited them, in one of which was a chief of great consequence, named Sheenaawa, whose party, like most others, were determined thieves, exerting their ingenuity and tricks for this purpose in an extraordinary degree. They danced, sung, laughed, and diverted the attention of the seamen in every possible way, while slyly their hands were seizing every thing on the decks, so that literally they were smiling in their faces and robbing them at the same time. In the meantime the Queen Charlotte and the long-boat sailed, while the King George shifted to Hinchinbroke Cove. Some of the boats were sent out to trade, which were tolerably successful; but they also suffered from continual thefts, which were sometimes accompanied by menaces, if they attempted to resist the plunderers.

June 9th the Nootka left her former anchorage, where she had been frozen in, and came close to the King George, when the crew of the latter were partly employed in rendering her assistance. Two days afterwards the long-boat returned from Cook’s River with a very good cargo, and was again sent off with orders to return by the 20th of July. On the 19th the Nootka sailed. Next day the surgeon took the invalids on shore for an excursion, who, by the use of spruce-beer, which they now brewed in abundance, were rapidly recovering. In the evening observed two Indian boats and several canoes, in which were about twenty-five natives, who came alongside next morning. Their chief, named Taatucktellingnake, was paralytic on one side, had a long beard, and seemed about sixty years of age; his country was called Cheeneecock, situated towards the south-west part of the Sound. July 11th hauled the seine frequently, when not less than two thousand salmon were caught at each haul; and so great were their numbers, that ships prepared for the purpose might have obtained any quantity they wished. The long-boat returned on the 21st, though without so much success as formerly. On the 26th sailed from this place. The natives in general are short in stature, with flat faces and noses, ill-formed legs, but good teeth and eyes; they wear their hair, which is black and straight, very long, but cut it short on the death of a relation, this seeming their only method of mourning. They are attentive to their women, but jealous of them. Their thieving habits seem fixed, the most dexterous being most in esteem, and receiving the greatest applause for the exertion of his talents; he is also distinguished by a fantastical dress, which, while it excites the notice of the spectators, gives the owner additional opportunities of exerting his fingers at their expense.

By the 3d of August had made little progress, from the shifting of the wind. On the 8th, two large boats visited them, with twenty-five men, women, and children on, board, who, very different from their other visitors, seemed very honest, and who were invited to dinner in the cabin, when they relished the English cookery so well, that the dishes were quickly obliged to be replenished. These departed in the evening well pleased with their entertainment, promising to return with the means of trading with their new friends.

On the 11th a new tribe visited them from the eastward, with about the same number of persons as the last; four days after the long-boat returned, having had pretty good success, notwithstanding some acts of hostility which they had been compelled to retaliate upon the Indians. Another party, from the north-west, were extremely addicted to thieving, nothing could escape them; and, when detected, were very impudent, and often threatened those they robbed. The men were of the size of Europeans, of a fierce and savage aspect, using daggers and long spears, easily provoked and ready to indulge their anger.

August 22d weighed and made sail from this coast, having done as much as it seemed likely they could do in the way of trade. September 28th made Owhyhee, the principal of the Sandwich group, when several canoes came off, with whom a brisk trade for hogs and other refreshments was carried on. At Attoui they found the Nootka and Queen Charlotte had been there and left letters for the King George. After procuring what necessaries they wanted, Captain Portlock directed his course for China with his cargo of furs; on the 4th November saw Saypan and Tinian, two of the Ladrone Islands; and on the 21st anchored in Macao Roads, where Captain Dixon was found, whose transactions shall now be noticed.

After separating, the Queen Charlotte coasted it for some time, till, seeing an appearance of an inlet, a boat was despatched which found an excellent harbor, where she soon after anchored. Several canoes came off, from whom some skins were procured, but by no means so many as they had at first reason to expect. The number of inhabitants was about seventy; the harbor, which is good, was named Port Mulgrave, and is situated in 59 degrees 32 minutes north latitude; 140 degrees west longitude. The language of these people is quite different from that of Prince William’s Sound, or Cook’s River, being extremely uncouth and difficult to pronounce. The mode in which they dispose of their dead is remarkable; the head is separated from the body, and both are wrapped in furs, the former being put into a box, the latter into an oblong chest, which are afterwards preserved and disposed of in a fanciful way.

June 4th quitted this place, and kept beating to the southward; a harbor was perceived at a distance, which, upon examination by the boats, was found to extend to a considerable distance, with a number of coves here and there, very well calculated for anchorage; it was named Norfolk Sound. The people were at first civil and well-behaved; but soon became troublesome and thievish, like almost all their brethren on this coast. Trade here was not very brisk. July 1st saw an island, and were soon surrounded by Indians, who, after gratifying their curiosity in examining the vessel, began to trade, and soon parted with all their skins. Several fresh tribes visited them almost daily, who, delighted with European articles of barter, were content to leave their furs behind in exchange. The residence of one was strongly fortified, resembling a nippah or fortified place, in New Zealand; and, from some circumstances which transpired, Dixon was tempted also to believe they were also like the New Zealanders, cannibals. Proceeding to the eastward, eleven canoes came alongside on the 24th with one hundred and eighty persons; but curiosity was the prevailing motive, as they had nothing to sell; and, five days after, no less than two hundred men, women, and children, in eighteen canoes, came off to indulge their curiosity; a number that, on this coast, is rarely found in one community. Their chief had the most savage aspect of any yet seen, his whole appearance sufficiently marking him as the leader of a tribe of cannibals. His stature was above the common size, his body spare and thin, and, though seemingly lank and emaciated, his step was bold and firm, his limbs strong and muscular; his eyes, which were large and goggling, seemed ready to start from their sockets; his forehead deeply wrinkled, as well by age as an habitual frown, which, joined to a long visage, hollow cheeks, high cheek-bones, and natural ferocity of temper, rendered him a most formidable figure.

August 8th, made sail for the Sandwich Islands. September 2d made Owhyhee, and, after procuring refreshments, stood on for Whahoo, being visited the next day by Abbenooe and the king, by whose commands they received abundant supplies of wood, water, and provisions, of which they were in extreme want, several of the crew being nearly dead with the scurvy. Attoui was their next destination, where the chiefs inquired particularly after their friend Po-pote (Captain Portlocke,) and were desirous of contributing all in their power to the assistance of the ship, every one supplying the Captain with a liberality as unbounded as it was unexpected, but which did not go unrewarded; saws, hatchets, nails, and other iron instruments being given to the men, and buttons, beads, and a variety of ornaments to the women.

September 18th made sail for China, and anchored in Macao Roads the 9th November, where being joined as already noticed, by the King George, their meeting was extremely agreeable. Captain Portlock was very much surprised in Canton with his old friend Tiaana, from the Sandwich Islands, who was no less pleased at seeing him, embracing the Captain in the most cordial and affectionate manner.

During his stay, Tiaana was introduced to every place worthy of notice; he was usually dressed in a cloak and fine feather cap, and, to show that he was a person of consequence, carried a spear in his hand. Afterwards, at the persuasion of Mr. Ross, he wore a light satin waistcoat and a pair of trousers. He frequently attended places of public worship, behaving with the greatest decorum, and joining the congregation in the ceremonies of kneeling or standing, as if he had been all his life regularly accustomed to them. Some of the customs of the Chinese displeased him exceedingly, and, during the voyage, was nearly throwing the pilot overboard for some real or imaginary offense; he was, however, of a kind disposition, displaying frequent instances of humanity as well as generosity. Being once at an entertainment, given by one of the Captains at Macao, his compassion was strongly excited after dinner by seeing a number of poor people, in Sampans, crowding round the vessel and asking alms; he solicited his host’s permission to give them some food, remarking it was a great shame to let poor people want victuals, and that in his country there were no beggars. In compliance with his importunities, the broken meat was collected under his care, and he distributed it in the most equal and impartial manner. Tiaana was six feet two inches high, exceedingly well-made, but inclined to corpulency; he had a pleasing animated countenance, fine eyes, and otherwise expressive as well as agreeable features. He was universally liked, and, previous to his departure for Attoui, the gentlemen at Canton furnished him with bulls, cows, sheep, goats, rabbits, turkeys, etc. etc., besides all kinds of seeds which could be useful in his island, with directions how to rear and propagate them. The best skins of their cargoes were disposed of to the East India Company for fifty thousand dollars, while the inferior ones were sold to the Chinese, both vessels receiving in return cargoes of tea. February 6th, 1788, weighed and made sail down the river, quitting Macao finally a day or two afterwards. On the 20th saw the island of Pulo Sapata, four leagues distant; and, 25th, the islands of Aramba; three days afterwards Mr. Lander, surgeon of the Queen Charlotte, died, having been ill for some time, and attended by his brother surgeon, Mr. Hoggan, of the King George. On the 30th of March the ships agreed to separate, and make the best of their way to St. Helena, where the King George arrived the 13th June, and the Queen Charlotte on the 18th. The former at length reached England, without any occurrence worthy of remark, on the 22d August; and the latter the 17th September. Nor was the voyage unfortunate; for though no great gain was made, yet nothing was lost, which, in a new commercial speculation, is not an uncommon occurrence.

MONSIEUR DE LA PEROUSE.

France becoming jealous of the renown acquired by the English circumnavigators, determined to send out an expedition, which, in its scientific equipments, should vie with them in every respect. Two ships were appointed to this service, the Boussole and Astrolabe, the former commanded by La Perouse, the latter by M. de Langle, both captains in the navy, and men of considerable attainments, besides being assisted by men of science and artists. The voyage is interesting as far as it goes; but, unfortunately, the ships, after quitting Botany Bay, in 1788, have never since been heard of, to the regret of all lovers of science and humanity, on account not only of the acquirements but amiable character of the commanders.

On the first of August, 1785, they quitted Brest, and, on the 13th, reached Madeira; they saw Teneriffe on the 19th, and on the 16th of October, the island of Trinidada, barren, rocky, and with a violent surf breaking on the shores, where refreshments not being obtainable, the commander steered for St. Catharine’s on the Brazil coast.

This island is extremely fertile, producing all sorts of fruit, vegetables, and corn, almost spontaneously. It is covered with trees of everlasting green, but they are so curiously interwoven with plants and briars, that it is impossible to pass through the forests without opening a path with a hatchet; to add to the difficulty, danger is also to be apprehended from snakes whose bite is mortal. The habitations are bordering on the sea. The woods are delightfully fragrant, occasioned by the orange-trees, and other odoriferous plants and shrubs, which form a part of them.

On the 14th of January the navigators struck ground on the coast of Patagonia. On the 25th, La Perouse took bearings a league to the southward of Cape San Diego forming the west point of the straits of Lemaire. On the 9th of February, he was abreast of the straits of Magellan. Examining the quantity of provisions he had on board, La Perouse discovered he had very little flour and bread left in store; having been obliged to leave a hundred barrels at Brest. The worms had also taken possession of the biscuits, and consumed or rendered useless a fifth part of them. Under these circumstances, La Perouse preferred Conception to the island of Juan Fernandez. The Bay of Conception in Chili is a most excellent harbor; the water is smooth, and almost without any current, though the tide rises six feet three inches.

At daybreak, on the 15th of March, La Perouse made the signal to prepare to sail. On the 17th, about noon, a light breeze sprung up, with which he got under way. On the 8th of April, about noon, they saw Easter Island. The Indians were alarmed, except a few who had a kind of slight wooden club. Some of them assumed an apparent superiority over the others, which induced La Perouse to consider the former as chiefs, but he soon discovered that these selected persons were the most notorious offenders. Having but a few hours to remain upon the island, and wishing to employ his time to the best advantage, La Perouse left the care of the tent, and other particulars, to his first lieutenant M. d’Escures. A division was then made of the persons engaged in the Adventure; one part, under the command of M. de Langle, was to penetrate into the interior of the island to encourage and promote vegetation, by disseminating seed, etc., in a proper soil; and the other division undertook to visit the monuments, plantations, and habitations, within the compass of a league of the establishment. The largest of the rude busts upon one of the terraces is fourteen feet six inches in height, and the breadth and other particulars appeared to be proportionate.

Returning about noon to the tent, La Perouse found almost every man without hat or handkerchief; so much had forbearance encouraged the audacity of the thieves, that he also experienced a similar depredation. An Indian, who had assisted him in descending from a terrace, rewarded himself for his trouble by taking away his hat. Some of them had dived under water, cut the small cable of the Astrolabe’s boat, and taken away her grapnel. A sort of chief, to whom M. de Langle made a present of a male and female goat, received the animals with one hand, and robbed him of his handkerchief with the other.

On the 28th of May, they saw the mountains of Owhyhee, covered with snow, and afterwards those of Mowee, which are less elevated. About one hundred and fifty canoes were seen putting off from the shore, laden with fruit and hogs, which the Indians proposed to exchange for pieces of iron of the French navigators. Most of them came on board of one or the other of the vessels, but they proceeded so fast through the water that they filled along-side. The Indians were obliged to quit the ropes thrown them, and leaping into the sea, swam after their hogs, when taking them in their arms, they emptied their canoes of the water, and resumed their seats.

After having visited a village, M. de Langle gave orders that six soldiers, with a sergeant, should accompany him: the others were left upon the beach, under the command of M. de Pierrevert, the lieutenant; to them was committed the protection of the ship’s boats, from which not a single sailor had landed. The party reëmbarked at eleven o’clock in very good order, and arrived on board about noon, where M. de Clonard had received a visit from a chief, of whom he had purchased a cloak, and a helmet adorned with red feathers; he had also purchased a hundred hogs, a quantity of potatoes and bananas, plenty of stuffs, mats, and various other articles. On their arrival on board, the two frigates dragged their anchors; it blew fresh from the south-east, and they were driving down upon the island of Morokinne, which was, however, at a sufficient distance to give them time to hoist in their boats. La Perouse made the signal for weighing, but before they could purchase the anchor, he was obliged to make sail, and drag it till he had passed Morokinne, to hinder him from driving past the channel.

A fair wind accompanied the navigators on their departure from the Sandwich Islands. Whales and wild geese convinced them that they were approaching land. Early in the morning of the 23d they descried it; a sudden dispersion of the fog opened to them the view of a long chain of mountains covered with snow. They distinguished Behring’s Mount St. Elias, on the north-west coast of America. Having taken in as much wood and water as was required, the navigators esteemed themselves the most fortunate of men, in having arrived at such a distance from Europe without having a sick person among them, or any one afflicted with the scurvy; but a lamentable misfortune now awaited them. At the entrance of this harbor perished twenty brave seamen, in two boats, by the surf. On the 30th of July, at four in the afternoon, La Perouse got under way. This bay or harbor, to which he gave the name of Port des Français, is situated in 58 deg. 37 min. north latitude, and 139 deg. 50 min. west longitude. In different excursions, he says, he found the high-water mark to be fifteen feet above the surface of the sea. The climate of this coast is infinitely milder than that of Hudson’s Bay, in the same degree of latitude. Pines were seen of six feet in diameter, and one hundred and forty feet in height. Vegetation is vigorous during three or four months of the year. The men wear different small ornaments, pendant from the ears and nose, scarify their arms and breasts, and file their teeth close to their gums, using, for the last operation, a sand-stone, formed into a particular shape. They paint the face and body with soot, ochre, and plumbago, mixed with train-oil, making themselves most horrid figures. When completely dressed, their flowing hair is powdered, and plaited with the down of sea-birds; but, perhaps, only the chiefs of certain distinguished families are thus decorated. Their shoulders are covered with a skin, and on the head, is generally worn a little straw hat, plaited with great taste and ingenuity. Sometimes, indeed, the head is decorated with two horned bonnets of eagles’ feathers. Their head-dresses are extremely various, the grand object in view being only to render themselves terrible, that they may keep their enemies in awe. Some Indians have skirts of otters’ skins. A great chief wore a skirt composed of a tanned skin of the elk, bordered by a fringe of beaks of birds, which, when dancing, imitated the noise of a bell; a common dress among the savages of Canada, and other nations in the eastern parts of America. The passion of these Indians for gaming is astonishing, and they pursue it with great avidity. The sort of play to which they are most devoted, is a certain game of chance; out of thirty pieces of wood, each distinctly marked like the French dice, they hide seven: each plays in succession, and he who guesses nearest to the whole number marked upon the seven is the winner of the stake, which is usually a hatchet or a piece of iron.

At length, after a very long run, on the 11th of September, at three in the afternoon, the navigators got sight of Fort Monterey, and two three-masted vessels which lay in the road. The commander of these two ships having been informed, by the viceroy of Mexico, of the probable arrival of the two French frigates, sent them pilots in the course of the night. Loretto, the only presidency of Old California, is situated on the east coast of this peninsula and has a garrison of fifty-four troopers, who furnish detachments to fifteen missions; the duties of which are performed by Dominican friars. About four thousand Indians, converted and residing in these fifteen parishes, are the sole produce of the long labors of the different religious orders which have succeeded each other. A small navy was established by the Spanish government in this port, under the orders of the viceroy of Mexico, consisting of four corvettes of twelve guns, and one goletta. They are destined to supply with necessaries the presidencies of North California; and they are sometimes despatched as packet-boats to Manilla, when the orders of the court require the utmost expedition.

The company were received with all possible politeness and respect; the president of the missions, in his sacerdotal vestment, with the holy water in hand, waited to receive them at the entrance of the church, which was splendidly illuminated as on their highest festivals: he then conducted them to the foot of the high altar, where Te Deum was sung in thanksgivings for their arrival. Before they entered the church they passed a range of Indians: the parish church, though covered with straw, is neat, and decorated with paintings, copied from Italian originals. The Indians, as well as the missionaries, rise with the sun, and devote an hour to prayers and mass, during which time a species of boiled food is prepared for them: it consists of barley meal, the grain of which has been roasted previous to its being boiled. It is cooked in the centre of the square, in three large kettles. This repast is called atole by the Indians, who consider it as delicious: it is destitute of salt and butter, and must consequently be insipid. The women have little more to attend to than their housewifery, their children, and the roasting and grinding of several grains: the latter operation is long and laborious, as they employ no other means than that of crushing it in pieces with a cylinder upon a stone.

The Indians of the rancheries, or independent villages, are accustomed to paint their bodies red and black, when they are in mourning; but the missionaries have prohibited the former, though they tolerate the latter, these people being singularly attached to their friends. The ties of family are less regarded among them than those of friendship: the children show no filial respect to the father, having been obliged to quit his cabin as soon as they were able to procure their own subsistence.

CALIFORNIA.

RANCHE.

POST OFFICE, SOFULA, TURON RIVER.

RIVER-BED CLAIM ON THE TURON.

REMOVING GOODS.

A Spanish commissary at Monterey, named M. Vincent Vassadre y Vega, brought orders to the governor to collect all the otter-skins of his missions and presidencies, government having reserved to itself the exclusive commerce of them; and M. Fages assured La Perouse that he could annually furnish twenty thousand of them. The Spaniards were ignorant of the importance of this valuable peltry till the publication of the voyages of Captain Cook; that excellent man has navigated for the general benefit of every nation; his own enjoys only the glory of the enterprise, and that of having given him birth.

New California, though extremely fertile, cannot boast of having a single settler; a few soldiers, married to Indian women, who dwell in the forts, or who are dispersed among the different missions, constituting the whole Spanish nation in this district of America. The Franciscan missionaries are principally Europeans; they have a convent in Mexico.

On the evening of the 22d every thing was on board, and leave had been taken of the governor and missionaries. On the morning of the 24th they sailed. On the 3d of November the frigates were surrounded with noddies, terns, and man-of-war birds; and on the 4th they made an island which bore west. This small island is little more than a rock of about five hundred toises in length. La Perouse named it Isle Necker. About an hour past one in the morning La Perouse saw breakers at two cables’ length ahead of the ship; the sea being so smooth, the sound of them was hardly heard; the Astrolabe perceived them at the same time, though at a greater distance than the Boussole; both frigates instantly hauled, with their heads to the south-east; La Perouse gave orders for sounding; they had nine fathoms rocky bottom; soon after ten and twelve fathoms, and in a quarter of an hour got no ground with sixty fathoms. They just escaped the most imminent danger to which navigators can be exposed.

The island of Assumption, to which the Jesuits have attributed six leagues of circumference, from the angles now taken, was reduced to half, and the highest point is about two hundred toises above the level of the sea. A more horrid place cannot be conceived. It was a perfect cone, as black as a coal, and very mortifying to behold, after having enjoyed, in imagination, the cocoa-nuts and turtles expected to be found in some one of the Marianne Islands. Having determined the position, he continued his course towards China; and on the 1st of January 1787, found bottom in sixty fathoms; a number of fishing-boats surrounded him the next day. On the 2d of January our navigators made the White Rock. In the evening they anchored to the north-ward of Ling-sing Island, and the following day in Macao Road. Macao, situated at the mouth of the Tigris, is capable of receiving a sixty-four gun-ship into its road, at the entrance of the Typa; and in its port, below the city, ships of seven hundred tons half laden.

The climate of the road of Typa is, at this season of the year, precarious; most of the crews were afflicted with colds, accompanied with a fever; which yielded to the salutary temperature of the island of Luconia, when they approached it on the 15th of February. Wanting wood, which he knew was dear at Manilla, La Perouse came to a resolution of remaining twenty-four hours at Marivella to procure some, and early the next morning all the carpenters of the two frigates were sent on shore with the long boats; the rest of the ship’s company, with the yawl, were reserved for a fishing-party; but they were unsuccessful, as they found nothing but rocks and very shallow water.

On the 28th the navigators came to an anchor in the port of Cavite, in three fathoms, at two cables’ length from the town. Cavite, situated three leagues to the south-west of Manilla, was formely a place of importance. Manilla is erected on the Bay which also bears its name, and lies at the mouth of a river, being one of the finest situations in the world: all the necessaries of life may be procured there in abundance, and on reasonable terms; but the cloths, and other manufactures of Europe, are extravagantly dear. La Perouse confidently asserts, that a great nation, without any other colony than the Philippines, which would establish a proper government there, might view all the European settlements in Africa and America without envy or regret. These islands contain about 3,000,000 of inhabitants, and that of Luconia consists of about a third of them. These people seem not inferior to Europeans; they cultivate the land with skill, and among them have ingenious goldsmiths, carpenters, joiners, masons, blacksmiths, etc. La Perouse says he has visited them at their villages, and found them affable, hospitable, and honest.

On the 9th of April, according to the French reckoning, and the 10th as the Manillese reckon, our navigators sailed and got to the northward of the island of Luconia. On the 21st they made the island of Formosa; and experienced, in the channel which divides it from that of Luconia, some very violent currents. On the 22d they set Lamy Island, at the south-west point of Formosa, about three leagues distant. The tack they then stood on conveyed them upon the coast of Formosa, near the entrance of the bay of Old Fort Zealand, where the city of Taywan, the capital of that island, is seated.

The whole of the next day a dead calm occurred, in mid channel, between the Bashee Islands, and those of Botol Tabacoxima. It is probable that vessels might provide themselves in this island with provision, wood, and water. La Perouse preserved the name of Kumi Island, which Father Gambil gives it in his chart. In the night of the 25th our navigators passed the strait of Corea, sounding very frequently, and as this coast appeared more eligible to follow than that of Japan, they approached within two leagues of it, and shaped a course parallel to its direction. On the 27th they made the signal to bear up, and steer east, and soon perceived, in the north-north-east, an Island not laid down upon any chart, at the distance of about twenty leagues from the coast of Corea. He named it Isle Dagelet, from the name of the astronomer who first discovered it. The circumference is about three leagues.

On the 30th of May, La Perouse shaped his course east towards Japan, and on the 2d of June saw two Japanese vessels, one of which passed within hail of him. It had a crew of twenty men, all habited in blue cassocks. This vessel was about one hundred tons burden, and had a single high mast stepped in the middle. The Astrolabe hailed her as she passed, but neither the question nor the answer was comprehended. At different times of the day seven Chinese vessels of a smaller construction were seen, which were better calculated to encounter bad weather.

During the seventy-five days since our navigators sailed from Manilla, they had run along the coasts of Quelpert Island, Corea, and Japan; but as these countries were inhabited by people inhospitable to strangers, they did not attempt to visit them. They were extremely impatient to reconnoitre this land, and it was the only part of the globe which had escaped the activity of Captain Cook. The geographers who had drawn the strait of Tessoy erroneously determined the limits of Jesso, of the Company’s land, and of Staten Island; it, therefore, became necessary to terminate the ancient discussions by indisputable facts. The latitude of Baie de Ternai was the same as that of Port Acqueis, though the description of it is very different. The plants which France produces carpeted the whole of this soil. Roses, lilies, and all European meadow-flowers were beheld at every step. Pine-trees embellished the tops of the mountains; and oaks, gradually diminishing in strength and size towards the sea, adorned the less elevated parts. Traces of men were frequently perceived by the havoc they had made. By these, and many other corroborating circumstances, the navigators were clearly of opinion, that the Tartars approach the borders of the sea, when invited thither by the season for fishing and hunting; that they assemble for these purposes along the rivers, and that the mass of people reside in the interior of the country, to attend to the multiplication of their flocks and herds. M. de Lange, with several other officers who had a passion for hunting, endeavored to pursue their sport, but without success, yet they imagined that by silence, perseverance, and posting themselves in ambush in the passes of the stags and bears, they might be able to procure some of them. This plan was determined on for the next day, but, with all their address and management it proved abortive. It was therefore generally acknowledged that fishing presented the greatest prospect of success. Each of the five creeks in the Baie de Ternai afforded a proper place for hauling the seine, and was rendered more convenient by a rivulet, near which they established their kitchen. They caught plenty of trout, salmon, cod-fish, harp-fish, plaice, and herrings.

At eight in the morning of the 7th, he made an island which seemed of great extent; he supposed, at first, that this was Segalien Island, the south part of which some geographers had placed two degrees too far to the northward. The aspect of this land was extremely different from that of Tartary; nothing was to be seen but barren rocks, the cavities of which retained the snow. To the highest of the mountains La Perouse gave the appellation of Peak Lamanon. M. de Lange, who had come to anchor, came instantly on board his ship, having already hoisted out his long boat and small boats. He submitted to La Perouse whether it would not be proper to land before night, in order to reconnoitre the country, and gather some necessary information from the inhabitants. By the assistance of their glasses, they perceived some cabins, and two of the islanders hastening towards the woods.

Our navigators were successful in making the natives comprehend that they requested a description of their country, and that of the Mantchous; one of the old sages rose up, and, with great perspicuity pointed out the most essential and interesting particulars with the end of his staff. His sagacity in guessing the meaning of the questions proposed to him was astonishing, though, in this particular, he was surpassed by another islander of about thirty years of age. The last-mentioned native informed our navigators that they had a commercial intercourse with the people who inhabit the banks of Segalien river, and he distinctly marked, by strokes of a pencil, the number of days it required for a canoe to sail up the river to the respective places of their general traffic. The bay in which they lay at anchor was named Baie de Langle, as Captain de Langle was the first who discovered it, and first landed on its shore. They spent the remainder of the day in visiting the country and its inhabitants. They were surprised to find among a people composed of hunters and fishermen, who were strangers to the cultivation of the earth, and without flocks or herds, such gentle manners, and such a superiority of intellect. The attention of the inhabitants of the Baie de Langle was attracted by the arts and manufactures of the French, they judiciously examined them, and debated among themselves the manner of fabricating the several articles. They were not unacquainted with the weaver’s shuttle. A loom of their construction was carried to France, by which it appeared that their methods of making linens was similar to that of the Europeans; but the thread of it is formed of the bark of the willow-tree. Though they do not cultivate the soil, they convert the spontaneous produce of it to the most useful and necessary purposes.

At daybreak, on the 4th of July, La Perouse made the signal for getting under way; early on the 19th, he saw the land of an island from north-east-by-north, as far as east-south-east, but so thick a fog prevailed that none of the points could be particularly discovered. The bay, which is the best in which he had anchored since his departure from Manilla, he named Baie d. Estaing. M. de Langle, who first landed in the island, found the islanders assembled round three or four canoes, laden with smoked fish: he was there informed that the men who composed the crews of the canoes were Mantchous, and had quitted the banks of the Segalien river to become purchasers of these fish. In the corner of the island, within a kind of circus planted with stakes, each surmounted with the head of a bear, the bones of animals lay scattered. As these people use no firearms, but engage the bears in close combat, their arrows being only capable of wounding them, this circus might probably be intended to perpetuate the memory of certain great exploits. Having entertained conjectures relative to the proximity of the Coast of Tartarty, La Perouse at length discovered that his conjectures were well-founded; for when the horizon became a little more extensive, he saw it perfectly. In the evening of the 22d he came to anchor in thirty-seven fathoms, about a league from land. He was then abreast of a small river, to the northward of which he saw a remarkable peak; its base is on the shore, and its summit on all sides preserves a regular form. La Perouse bestowed on it the title of Peak la Martiniere.

On the 28th, in the evening, our navigators were at the opening of a bay which presented a safe and convenient anchorage. M. de Langle reported to La Perouse that there was excellent shelter behind four islands; he had landed at a village of Tartars, where he was kindly received, and where he discovered a watering place abounding with the most limpid element. From M. de Langle’s report, La Perouse gave orders to prepare for anchoring in the bottom of the bay, which was named Baie de Castris.

In this bay the French navigators first discovered the use of the circle of lead or bone, which these people, and the inhabitants of Segalien Island, wear on the thumb like a ring; it greatly assists them in cutting and stripping the salmon with a knife, which is always hanging to their girdle. Their village was built upon low marshy land, which must doubtless be uninhabitable during the winter, but on the opposite side of the gulf, another village appeared on a more elevated situation. It was seated at the entrance of a wood, and contained eight cabins, larger and better constructed than the first. Not far from these cabins, they visited three yourts, or subterranean houses. They were sufficiently capacious to accommodate the inhabitants of the whole eight cabins during the severity of the inclement season. On the borders of this village several tombs presented themselves, which were larger and more ingeniously fabricated than the houses; each of them contained three, four, or five biers, decorated with Chinese stuffs, some pieces of which were brocade. Bows, arrows, and the other most esteemed articles of these people, were suspended in the interior of these monuments, the wooden door of which was closed by a bar, supported at each end by a prop.

The women are wrapped in a large robe of nankeen, or salmon’s skin, curiously tanned, descending as low as the ankle-bone, sometimes embellished with a border of fringe manufactured of copper, and producing sounds like those of little bells. Those salmon which furnish a covering for the fair, weigh thirty or forty pounds, and are never caught in summer; those which were taken by the French visiters did not exceed three or four pounds in weight; but that disadvantage was fully compensated by the extraordinary number, and the extreme delicacy of their flavor.

On the 2d of August, La Perouse sailed with a light breeze. On the 19th Cape Troun was perceived to the southward, and Cape Uries to the south-east-by-east; its proper direction, according to the Dutch chart: their situation could not possibly have been determined with more precision by modern navigators. In the evening of the 6th, they made the entrance of Avatcha Bay, or St. Peter and St. Paul. The light-house, erected by the Russians on the east point of the entrance, was not kindled during the night; as an excuse for which the governor declared the next day, that all their efforts to keep it burning had been ineffectual; the wind had constantly extinguished the flame, which was only sheltered by four planks of wood very indifferently cemented.

The government of Kamtschatka had been materially changed since the departure of the English, and was now only a dependency of that of Ochotsk. These particulars were communicated to our navigators by lieutenant Kaborof, governor of the harbor of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, having a sergeant and forty soldiers under his command. M. de Lessops, who acted as interpreter, and who perfectly understood the Russian language, wrote a letter, in La Perouse’s name, to the governor of Ochotsk, to whom La Perouse also wrote in French himself. He told him that the narrative of Cook’s last voyage had spread abroad the fame of the hospitality of the Kamtschadale government; and he flattered himself that he should be as favorably received as the English navigators, as his voyage, like theirs, was intended for the benefit of all maritime nations.

The Kamtschadales are of an imitative genius, and fond of adopting the customs of their conquerors. They have already abandoned the yourts, in which they were formerly accustomed to burrow like badgers, breathing foul air during the whole of the winter. The most opulent among them now build isbas, or wooden houses, like those of the Russians: they are divided into three small rooms, and are conveniently warmed by a brick stove. The inferior people pass their winters and summers in balagans, resembling wooden pigeon-houses, covered with thatch, and placed upon the tops of posts twelve or thirteen feet high, to which the women, as well as men, find a ladder necessary for their ascension. But these latter buildings will probably soon disappear; for the Kamtschadales imitate the manners and dresses of the Russians. It is curious to see in their little cottages, a quantity of cash in circulation; and it may be considered as a still greater curiosity, because the practice exists among so small a number of inhabitants. Their consumption of the commodities of Russia and China are so few, that the balance of trade is entirely in their favor, in consequence of which it is necessary to pay them the difference in roubles. The Kamtschadales, says La Perouse, appeared to me to be the same people as those of the Bay of Castries, on the coast of Tartary; they are equally remarkable for their mildness and their probity, and their persons are not very dissimilar.

The approach of winter now warned our navigators to depart; the ground, which, on their arrival on the 7th of September, was adorned with the most beautiful verdure, was as yellow and parched up on the 25th of the same month, as in the environs of Paris at the conclusion of December. La Perouse therefore gave preparatory orders for their departure, and, on the 29th, got under way. M. Kasloff came to take a final leave of him, and dined on board. He accompanied him on shore, with M. de Langle, and several officers, and was liberally entertained with a good supper, and a ball.

Induced by a western gale, La Perouse attempted to reach the parallel of Bougainville’s Navigator’s Islands, a discovery due to the French, where fresh provision might probably be procured. On the 6th of December, at three in the afternoon, he saw the most easterly island of that Archipelago, and stood on and off during the rest of the evening and night. Meaning to anchor if he met with a proper place, La Perouse passed through the channel between the great and the little islands that Bougainville left to the south; though hardly a league wide, it appeared perfectly free from danger. He saw no canoes until he was in the channel, yet he beheld several habitations on the windward side of the island, and a group of Indians sitting under the shade of cocoa nut trees, who seemed delighted with the prospect afforded by the frigates.

At break of day they were surprised not to see land to the leeward; nor was it to be discovered till six o’clock next morning. Charmed with the beautiful dawn of the following morning, La Perouse resolved to reconnoitre the country, take a view of the inhabitants at their own homes, fill water, and immediately get under way; prudence warning him against passing a second night at that anchorage, which M. de Langle also thought too dangerous for a longer stay. It was therefore agreed on to sail in the afternoon, after appropriating the morning in exchanging baubles for hogs and fruit. At the dawn of day the islanders had surrounded the two frigates, with two hundred different canoes laden with provision, which they would only exchange for beads, axes, and cloth; other articles of traffic, were treated by them with contempt. While a part of the crew was occupied in keeping them in order, and dealing, the rest were despatching empty casks on shore to be replenished with water. Two boats of the Boussole, armed, and commanded by Messrs. de Clonard and Colinet, and those of the Astrolabe, commanded by Messrs. de Monti and Bellegarde, set off with that view at five in the morning, for a bay at the distance of about a league. La Perouse followed close after Messrs. Clonard and Monti, in his pinnace, and landed when they did. It unfortunately happened that M. de Langle had formed a resolution to make an excursion in his jolly-boat to another creek, at the distance of about a league from their watering-place; from this excursion a dire misfortune ensued. The creek, towards which the long-boats steered, was large and commodious: these and the other boats remained afloat at low water, within half a pistol-shot of the beach, and excellent water was easily procured. Great order was observed by Messrs. de Clonard and de Monti. A line of soldiers was posted between the beach and the natives, who amounted to about two hundred, including many women and children. They were prevailed on to sit down under cocoa-trees, at a little distance from the boats; each of them had fowls, hogs, pigeons, or fruit, and all of them were anxious to dispose of their articles without delay, which created some confusion.

While matters were thus passing with perfect tranquillity, and the casks expeditiously flilling with water, La Perouse ventured to visit a charming village, situated in the midst of a neighboring wood, the trees of which were loaded with delicious fruit. The houses formed a circle of about one hundred and fifty toises in diameter, leaving an interior open space, beautifully verdant, and shaded with trees, which rendered the air delightfully cool and refreshing. Women, children, and aged men attended him, and earnestly importuned him to enter their houses; they even spread their finest mats upon the floor, decorated with chosen pebbles, and raised a convenient distance from the ground, to prevent offensive humidity. La Perouse condescended to enter one of the handsomest of these huts, which was probably inhabited by a chief, and was astonished to behold a large cabinet of lattice-work, on which as much taste and elegance were displayed as if it had been produced in the environs of Paris. This enchanting country, blessed with a fruitful soil without culture, and enjoying a climate which renders clothing unnecessary, holds out to these fortunate people an abundance of the most estimable food. The trees invite the natives to partake of the bread-fruit, the banana, the cocoa-nut, and the orange; while the swine, fowls, and dogs, which partake of the surplus of these fruits, afford them a rich variety of viands. The inhabitants of this enviable spot were so rich, and entirely free from wants, that they looked with disdain on the cloth and iron tendered by the French visitors, and only deigned to become customers for beads. Abounding in real blessings they languished only for superfluities.

The boats of the Boussole now arrived, loaded with water, and La Perouse made every preparation to get under way. M. de Langle at the same instant returned from his excursion, and mentioned his having landed in a noble harbor for boats, at the foot of a delightful village, and near a cascade of transparent water. He spoke of this watering-place as infinitely more commodious than any other, and begged La Perouse to permit him to take the lead of the first party, assuring him that in three hours he would return on board with all the boats full of water. Though La Perouse, from the appearance of things at this time, had no great apprehensions of danger, he was averse to sending boats on shore without the greatest necessity, especially among an immense number of people, unsupported and unperceived by the ships. The boats put off from the Astrolabe at half past twelve, and arrived at the watering-place soon after one; when, to their great astonishment, M. de Langle and his officers, instead of finding a large commodious bay, saw only a creek full of coral, through which there was no other passage than a winding channel of about twenty-five feet wide. When within, they had no more than five feet water; the longboats grounded, and the barges must have been in the same situation had they not been hauled to the entrance of the channel at a great distance from the beach. M. de Langle was now convinced that he had examined the bay at high-water only, not supposing that the tide at those islands rose five or six feet. Struck with amazement, he instantly resolved to quit the creek, and repair to that where they had before filled water; but the air of tranquillity and apparent good humor of the crowd of Indians, bringing with them an immense quantity of fruit and hogs, chased his first prudent idea from his recollection.

He landed the casks on shore from the four boats without interruption, while his soldiers preserved excellent order on the beach, forming themselves in two lines, the more effectually to answer their purpose. Instead of about two hundred natives, including women and children, which M. de Langle found there at about half after one, they were, at three o’clock, increased to the alarming number of one thousand and two hundred. M. de Langle’s situation became every instant more embarrassing; he found means, however, to ship his water, but the bay was almost dry, and he had not any hopes of getting off the long-boats till four in the afternoon. He and his detachment, however, stepped into them, and took post in the bow with his musket and musketeers, forbidding any one to fire without his command; which he knew would speedily be found necessary. Stones were now violently thrown by the Indians, who were up to their knees in water, and surrounded the long-boats, at the distance of about six feet; the soldiers, who were embarked, making feeble efforts to keep them off.

M. de Langle, still hoping to check hostilities, without effusion of blood, gave no orders, all this time, for firing a volley of musketry and swivels; but shortly after, a shower of stones, thrown with incredible force, struck almost every one in the long-boat. M. de Langle had only fired two shots, when he was knocked overboard, and massacred with clubs and stones by about two hundred Indians. The long-boat of the Boussole, commanded by M. de Boutin, was aground near the Astrolabe, leaving between them a channel unoccupied by the Indians. Many saved themselves by swimming, who fortunately got on board the barges, which keeping afloat, forty-nine persons were saved out of the sixty-one, of which the party consisted. M. Boutin was knocked down by a stone, but fortunately fell between the two long-boats, on board of which not a man remained in the space of about five minutes. Those who preserved their lives by swimming to the two barges, received several wounds; but those who unhappily fell on the other side were instantly despatched by the clubs of the remorseless Indians.

The crews of the barges, who had killed many of the islanders with their muskets, now began to make more room by throwing their water-casks overboard. They had also nearly exhausted their ammunition, and their retreat was rendered difficult, a number of wounded persons lying stretched out upon the thwarts, and impeding the working of the oars. To the prudence of M. Vaujaus, and the discipline kept up by M. Mouton, who commanded the Boussole’s barge, the public are indebted for the preservation of the forty-nine persons of both crews who escaped. M. Bouton had received five wounds in the head, and one in the breast, and was kept above water by the cockswain of the longboat who had himself received a severe wound. M. Colinet was discovered in a state of insensibility upon the grapnel-rope of the barge, with two wounds on the head, an arm fractured, and a finger broken. M. Lavaux, surgeon of the Astrolabe, was obliged to suffer the operation of the trepan. M. de Lamanon, and M. de Langle, were cruelly massacred with Talio, master at arms of the Boussole, and nine other persons belonging to the two crews. M. le Gobien, who commanded the Astrolabe’s long-boat, did not desert his post till he was left alone; when, having exhausted his ammunition, he leaped into the channel, and, notwithstanding his wounds, preserved himself on board one of the barges. A little ammunition was afterwards found, and completely exhausted on the infuriated crowd; and the boats at length extricated themselves from their lamentable situation.

At five o’clock the officers and crew of the Boussole were informed of this disastrous event; they were at that moment surrounded with about one hundred canoes, in which the natives were disposing of their provisions with security, and perfectly innocent of the catastrophe which had happened. But they were the countrymen, the brothers, the children of the infernal assassins, the thoughts of which so transported La Perouse with rage, that he could with difficulty confine himself to the limits of moderation, or hinder the crew from punishing them with death.

On the 14th of December, La Perouse stood for the island of Oyolava, which had been observed before they arrived at the anchorage which proved so fatal. This island is separated from that of Maouna, or of the Massacre, by a wide channel, and vies with Otaheite in beauty, extent, fertility, and population. At the distance of about three leagues from the north-east point, he was surrounded by canoes, laden with bread-fruit, bananas, cocoanuts, sugar-cane, pigeons, and a few hogs. The inhabitants of this island resemble those of the island of Maouna, whose treachery had been so fatally experienced. Some exchanges were conducted with these islanders with more tranquillity and honesty than at the island of Maouna, as the smallest act of injustice received immediate chastisement.

On the 17th they approached the island of Pola, but not a single canoe came off perhaps the natives had been intimidated by hearing of the event which had taken place at Maouna. Pola is a smaller island than that of Oyolava, but equally beautiful, and is only separated from it by a channel four leagues across. The natives of Maouna informed our visitors, that the Navigator’s Islands are ten in number, viz. Opoun, the most easterly, Leone, Fanfoue, Maouna, Oyolava, Calinasse, Pola Skika, Ossamo, and Ouera. These islands form one of the finest archipelagoes of the South Sea, and are as interesting with respect to arts, productions, and population, as the Society and Friendly Islands, which the English navigators have so satisfactorily described. In favor of their moral characters, little remains to be noticed; gratitude cannot find a residence in their ferocious minds; nothing but fear can restrain them from outrageous and inhuman actions. The huts of these islanders are elegantly formed; though they disdain the fabrications of iron, they finish their work with wonderful neatness, with tools formed of a species of basaltes in the form of an adze. For a few glass-beads, they batered large three-legged dishes of wood, so well-polished as to have the appearance of being highly varnished. They kept up a wretched kind of police; a few, who had the appearance of chiefs, chastised the refractory with their sticks, but their assumed power seemed generally disregarded; any regulations which they attempted to enforce and to establish, were transgressed almost as soon as they were promulgated. Never were sovereigns so negligently obeyed, never were orders enforced with such feeble shadows of authority.

Imagination cannot figure to itself more agreeable situations than those of their villages. All the houses are built under fruit-trees, which render them delightfully cool; they are seated on the borders of streams, leading down from the mountains. Though the principal object in their architecture is to protect them from offensive heat, the islanders never abandoned the idea of elegance. Their houses are sufficiently spacious to accommodate several families; and they are furnished with blinds, which are drawn to the windward to prevent the intrusion of the potent rays of the sun. The natives repose upon fine comfortable mats, which are cautiously preserved from humidity. Nothing can be said, by our travelers, of the religious rites of these natives, as no moral was perceived belonging to them. The islands are fertile, and their population is supposed to be considerable. Opun, Leone, and Fanfoue, are small; but Maoune, Oyolava, and Pola, may be classed among the largest and most beautiful in the South Sea. Cocoa island is lofty, and formed like a sugar-loaf; it is nearly a mile in diameter, covered with trees, and is separated from Traitors’ Island by a channel about a league wide.

At eight in the morning La Perouse brought to, to the west-south-west, at two miles from a sandy bay in the western part of the Great Island of Traitors, where he expected to find an anchorage sheltered from easterly winds. About twenty canoes instantly quitted the shore and approached the frigates in order to make exchanges; several of them were loaded with excellent cocoa-nuts, with a few yams and bananas; one of them brought a hog, and three or four fowls. It evidently appeared that these Indians had before some knowledge of Europeans, as they came near without fear, traded with honesty, and never refused to part with their fruit before they were paid for it. They spoke, however, the same language, and the same ferocity appeared in their countenances; their manner of tattooing, and the form of their canoes, were the same, but they had not, like them, two joints cut off from the little finger of the left hand; two individuals had, however, suffered that operation.

On the 27th of December, Vavao was perceived, an island which Captain Cook had never visited, but was no stranger to its existence, as one of the archipelago of the Friendly Islands; it is nearly equal in extent to that of Tongataboo, and is particularly fortunate in having no deficiency of fresh water. The two small islands of Hoongatonga are no more than two large uninhabitable rocks, which are high enough to be seen at the distance of fifteen leagues. Their position is ten leagues north of Tongataboo; but that island being low, it can hardly be seen at half that distance. On the 31st of December, at six in the morning, an appearance like the tops of trees, which seemed to grow in the water, proved the harbinger of Van Dieman’s point. The wind being northerly, La Perouse steered for the south coast of the island, which may, without danger, be approached within three musket-shots. Not the semblance of a hill is to be seen; a calm sea cannot present a more level surface to the eye. The huts of the natives were scattered irregularly over the fields, and not socially collected into a conversable neighborhood. Seven or eight canoes were launched from these habitations, and directed their course towards the vessels; but these islanders were awkward seamen, and did not venture to come near, though the water was smooth, and no obstacle impeded their passage. At the distance of about eight or ten feet, they leaped overboard and swam near the frigates, holding in each hand a quantity of cocoa-nuts, which they were glad to exchange for pieces of iron, nails, and hatchets; from the honesty of their dealings a friendly intercourse ensued between the islanders and the navigators, and they ventured to come on board.

Norfolk Island, off the coast of New South Wales, which they saw on the 13th of January, is very steep, but does not exceed eighty toises above the level of the sea. It is covered with pines, which appear to be of the same species as those of New Caledonia, or New Zealand. Captain Cook having declared that he saw many cabbage-trees in this island, heightened the desire of the navigators to land on it. Perhaps the palm which produces these cabbages is very small, for not a single tree of that species could be discovered. On the 26th, at nine in the morning, La Perouse let go the anchor at a mile from the north coast of Botany Bay, in seven fathoms water. An English lieutenant, and a midshipman, were sent on board his ship by Captain Hunter, commander of the Sirius. They offered him, in Captain Hunter’s name, all the services in his power; but circumstances would not permit him to supply them with provision, ammunition, or sails. An officer was despatched from the French to the English Captain, returning thanks, and adding, that his wants extended only to wood and water, of which he should find plenty in the bay. The journal of La Perouse proceeds no further. La Perouse, according to his last letters from Botany Bay, was to return to the Isle of France in 1788.

They left Botany Bay in March, and, in a letter which the commodore wrote February 7, he stated his intention to continue his researches till December, when he expected, after visiting the Friendly Islands, to arrive at the Isle of France. This was the latest intelligence received of the fate of the expedition; and M. d’ Entrecasteaux, who was despatched by the French government, in 1791, in search of La Perouse, was unable to trace the course he had taken, or gain any clew to the catastrophe which had befallen him and his companions.

In 1825 the attention of the public was excited towards this mysterious affair, by a notice published by the French minister of the marine, purporting that an American captain had declared that he had seen, in the hands of one of the natives of an island in the tract between Louisiade and New Caledonia, a cross of the order of St. Louis, and some medals, which appeared to have been procured from the shipwreck of La Perouse. In consequence of this information, the commander of a vessel which sailed from Toulon, in April, 1826, on a voyage of discovery, received orders to make researches in the quarter specified, in order to restore to their country any of the shipwrecked crew who might yet remain in existence. Other intelligence, relative to the wreck of two large vessels, on two different islands of the New Hebrides, was obtained by Captain Dillon, the commander of an English vessel at Tucopia, in his passage from Valparaiso to Pondicherry, in May, 1826, in consequence of which he was sent back to ascertain the truth of the matter. The facts discovered by him on this mission, were, that the two ships struck on a reef at Mallicolo; one of them immediately went down, and all on board perished; some of the crew of the other escaped, part of whom were murdered by the savages; the remainder built a small vessel and set sail, but their fate is not known. It is not certain that these were the vessels of La Perouse.

GEORGE VANCOUVER.

George Vancouver, born about the year 1750, accompanied captain Cook in his second voyage round the world, and, on his return, went out with him in the Discovery, to the north pole, and arrived again in England in 1780. In the latter end of the last mentioned year, he was appointed a lieutenant of the ship Fame, part of lord Rodney’s fleet, then on its way to the West Indies, where he remained till 1789, being employed, during the last six years, on the Jamaica station, in the sloop Europa. On his arrival in England, in 1790, he was made master and commander of the Discovery; in which ship he was sent out to ascertain if there existed in North America, between the thirtieth and sixtieth degrees of latitude, an interior sea, or any canals of communication between the known gulfs of the Atlantic and the Great Sea; a point about which Cook and other navigators had been able to give no satisfactory information.

On the 17th of August, 1791, he reached the southern coast of New Holland, where he discovered King George the Third’s Sound; and, after leaving Dusky Bay, in New Zealand, ascertained the situation of some dangerous rocks and an inhabited island, giving to the former the name of the Snares, and to the latter that of Oparo. On the 24th of January, 1792, he set sail from Otaheite; and in the following March, arrived at Owhyhee, where he was visited by the chiefs of the island. He then proceeded along the north coast of New Albion to De Fuca’s Straits, Nootka, and Monterey Bay. Here he passed some days, and having received an important communication from the Spanish commandant relative to the cession of Monterey, he forwarded a despatch to England, by captain Broughton, in the ship Dædalus, together with his journal of discoveries up to that time.

In February, 1793, he sailed to the Sandwich Islands, where he endeavored to establish peace between the different chiefs, and compelled them to execute two islanders, whom he discovered to have been the murderers of lieutenant Hergest and other seamen of the Dædalus. In April, he sailed along the American shore as far as Cape Decision; and, after coasting along the western side of Queen Charlotte’s Islands to Nootka, proceeded to the Spanish settlements of New California, and discovered, to the south of Monterey, a double chain of mountains, and that the one nearest the sea was the least in height. In January, 1794, in which year he was made a post-captain, he reached Owhyhee, which was, shortly after his arrival, ceded by the king Tamaahmæah to the king of England. On leaving Owhyhee, he passed Trinity Isles, and discovered an island uninhabited and covered with snow, which he called Tschericow. He then proceeded up Cook’s river, and after minutely examining several bays, straits, and inlets, and discovering King George the Third’s Archipelago, he terminated his operations in Port Conclusion, which he reached on the 22d of August, where he made the following remarks in his journal:—​‘The principal object which his majesty appears to have had in view, in directing the undertaking of this voyage, having at length been completed, I trust the precision with which the survey of the coast of North-West America has been carried into effect will remove every doubt, and set aside every opinion of a northwest passage, or any water communication navigable for shipping, existing between the North Pacific and the interior of the American continent, within the limits of our researches.’ On the 6th of July, 1795, he arrived at St. Helena, and observed that, having made the tour of the world by the east, he had gained twenty-four hours; it being, according to his estimation, Monday, instead of Sunday, the 5th of July, as in the island.

He arrived in London in November, 1795, and, in a state of declining health from the effects of his voyages, devoted himself to the arrangement of his manuscripts for publication, until within a very short time of his death, which occurred on the 10th of May, 1798. In the same year, his work, edited by his brother, was printed at the expense of government, entitled, ‘A Voyage of Discovery to the North Pacific Ocean, and round the World, in which the Coast of North West America has been carefully Examined and accurately Surveyed, Undertaken by His Majesty’s Command, and Performed in the Years 1790, 1791, 1792, 1793, 1794, and 1795:’ and was, shortly after its appearance, translated into French, German and Swedish.

The world is indebted to Vancouver for ascertaining the precise knowledge of the North-West American coast, of which he entered parts never before deemed accessible but to the smallest sea boats, and traveled in a canoe nearly nine thousand miles among the labyrinth of isles which border that part of the coast. His maps afford an exact description of the discoveries, which he determined with great precision. Zealous, and indefatigable in the pursuit of his object, he was, at the same time, benevolent and unassuming, and insisted on his companions sharing in the credit of his undertakings. In his account he offers some curious notions in reference to the various inhabitants of the north-west coast, the Russian and Spanish colonies, and the isles of the Great Sea; which, by their frequent intercourse with Europeans, had suffered much change in an interval of thirty years. His narrative, in addition to the information it contains, is also replete with interest.