As no answer came this morning from the Great Man, Captain Maxwell took the ships into a more secure anchorage at the north-east corner of the bay; our first anchorage being too close to a reef, and moreover open to the south-west winds. The place we had now shifted to, though apparently exposed, is, in fact, sheltered by a chain of reefs under water outside of us to the westward. By this change, we have been brought close to the bridge spoken of before, and are now abreast the east end of the town: the Lyra not being more than a quarter of a mile from the shore. A strict watch is kept on shore, so that no boat leaves the ships without being observed. Orders have been given for the whole anchorage to be carefully sounded; in doing this, the boats often approach the shore, and whenever this happens, a crowd of the natives, headed by one or other of the chiefs, repair to the spot, and wave them to keep farther off.
21st of September.—There appears to be some embargo upon the canoes, for there has not been one near us this morning, and only one on board the Alceste. It was found necessary to-day to move the frigate still farther in, and four or five hawsers were laid out for the purpose of warping her a-head. While this was going on, the beach, and all the heights near us, were crowded with people, wondering, no doubt, how the ship was made to move without sails, for the hawsers were low down, and might have escaped their observation. In the canoe which visited the Alceste, there came two men, who had not been seen before; they remained but a short time, which was spent in examining the hawsers and the mode of warping the ship. As soon as they had made themselves master of this subject, they went on shore, as if to make a report. During their visit they said little, being intent upon what was going on; but the interpreter learnt from one of them, that a Great Man had actually come, or was expected in the town to-day. A report prevails, that the King of the island has lately been on board in disguise. We cannot trace the report to any good foundation, and it is probably false. At the same time, if his Majesty has any curiosity, it is not unlikely that he may have come near enough to see such a strange sight as we must be.
It is possible that our moving up so close to the town has alarmed the people, and may have prevented their visiting us as heretofore; at all events, it is very unfair in our friends, the Chiefs, neither to let the people come on board, nor to allow us to go on shore to look at them.
Our occupation in the mean time is to observe the natives through the telescope placed on a table on the Lyra's poop. The stone bridge appears to be a great thoroughfare, several roads from the country leading to it; it seems also to be the only entrance to the town on this side. Nobody crosses it without stopping to look at us, and a crowd of idle people have taken post on and about it. We see a number of women coming from the country with baskets on their heads. Their outer dress differs from that of the men, it is open in front, and they have no girdle; they have an under dress, or sack, which is also loose, but not open; in some we can see that this comes nearly to the feet, in others just to the knee, and we imagine that those who work in the fields have the short dress: most of them allow their upper garment to flow out with the wind behind them. We observe a woman carrying a child across the hip as in India, with its hands on its mother's shoulder, while her arm is round the child's waist. One young lady has been seen for some time amusing herself by making a dog bark at the ships. We see women beating rice in wooden mortars. On the banks of the stream which the bridge crosses, there are a number of people washing clothes, which they perform in the Indian way, by dipping the clothes in water and beating them on stones. From one end of the beach to the other there is a range of people watching us, they are formed here and there into groups; one of which, on a craggy knoll abreast of the ships, has struck us as being particularly interesting. A fine majestic looking man, whose full beard and flowing garments remind us of a figure in the Cartoons of Raphael, is standing in the middle of a circle of old men, who are lying on the grass, and appear to be listening to him.
22nd of September.—This morning brings us no news, no permission to land! A number of flags and streamers are displayed on the masts of the vessels in the inner harbour, and there seems to be something going on on shore; no boats have come to us, and we have no occupation but looking through the glass, which, however, affords a good deal of entertainment, particularly as the people whom we see with it act in the usual way, being unconscious of our scrutiny.
In the afternoon a number of boats left the shore and proceeded to the Alceste in procession. In the foremost boat there seemed to be a person of consequence, whom we immediately conjectured to be the Great Man alluded to by the people yesterday. He got on board the Alceste before us, and the natives also had left their canoes, so that we found the ship's decks crowded with people. The Chief, whom we found seated in the cabin, was clothed in purple silk, with a light purple hatchee matchee. An official communication of our history was now repeated at the old man's request. He listened with great attention till Captain Maxwell concluded his statement, by informing him that the ship was leaky and required frequent pumping. He then begged permission to see this operation, if it would not give too much trouble. As this was exactly what we wished, the chain pumps were ordered to be got ready, and the conference went on, consisting principally of compliments. Observing that we took notice of his being a little deaf, he seemed anxious to explain that this was the effect of age. He made us feel his pulse, and look at the withered state of his hand, then taking ours and feeling the pulse, held them up along with his own, and laughed with great good humour at the contrast which age had produced. He was about sixty years old, and his beard of thin hair was as white as snow: he had a cheerfulness of expression, and a liveliness of manner, which are remarkable for a man of his years. His manners were graceful and elegant, and from the first moment he seemed quite at his ease. Every thing about him, in short, indicated good-breeding, and a familiarity with good society; and we could not help remarking his decided superiority in appearance over the other chiefs.
When the pumps were ready, he was escorted to the main deck, where he sat for some time in great admiration of the machinery; and seeing the labour required to work it, he seemed really affected at our situation, which he naturally thought must be very bad, from the immense quantity of water thrown out by the pumps. The ship being upright, the water did not run off freely from the deck, and in a short time it flowed round the chair in which the old man was seated. Three or four of the sailors seeing him somewhat uneasy at this inundation, took him up chair and all, and placed him on a dry spot. The old gentleman was surprised, not displeased, and very graciously replied to the low bows which the sailors made him. On returning to the cabin, they were all entertained as usual with sweet wine, cherry brandy, and pipes. The old man filled pipes for us, and as soon as this part of the ceremonial had been gone through, a formal request was made for permission to land the Alceste's casks and stores, in order to stop the leak and make other repairs. This produced a long discussion amongst the chiefs, in which the old man joined but little; he spoke, however, now and then, and whatever he said, appeared to be to the purpose. Whenever the chiefs spoke, they rose and addressed themselves to him in a most respectful manner. At length, having agreed about an answer, they communicated to Captain Maxwell that there was no good place here for the purposes he wanted, and that as our present anchorage was unsafe, they recommended our going round to the harbour alluded to on a former occasion. At this place, which they call Winching or Oonching, he said we might put on shore whatever we chose. On our asking if in Winching the water was deep enough to admit a large ship, a long discussion arose, during which they appeared to be considering the merits of the harbour. They seemed apprehensive of giving it too high a character, and that on our reaching it we should be disappointed. The old man at length suggested sending the "little ship" to see whether it would answer. To this Captain Maxwell agreed, only requesting that a person might accompany us, in order to save time in the search. Simple as this appears, they took a long time to consider it, and ended by saying that no reply could be given till the next day.
While the subject of this harbour was under discussion, the old man drew on a sheet of paper, a chart of the island, and pointed out the place where the harbour lay. It proved afterwards, when we had surveyed the island, that this sketch possessed considerable accuracy, as the situation of the harbour of which they spoke corresponds exactly with that of Port Melville, discovered in the Lyra. It is much to be regretted that this curious sketch is lost.
The Chief now walked about the cabin, examined the globes, books, and pictures, with great attention. The wainscot struck him particularly, as well as the machinery and finish of the windows and sliding shutters. Captain Maxwell tried to make him comprehend our track on the globe. He had felt it becoming to preserve some state while business was going on, but he now became quite chatty and familiar. He went all over the ship, accompanied by the other chiefs and his own personal suite, consisting of a pipe bearer, a man who carried his large camp chair, another with a cover of red cloth for the chair, and a man who carried a round Japan box for the hatchee-matchee. Two others took it in turn to fan him, and to hold his arm by the elbow and wrist whenever he walked about; probably as a piece of state, for the ship had very little motion: these fanners were very expert at their business, for not content with cooling his face and neck, they lifted up his large sleeves and fanned his arms. On returning to the cabin, he saw Mr. Clifford using gloves, and begged leave to try them on; with the right one he succeeded very well, but the nails of his left hand being about an inch long, he found it not so easy a matter: he seemed to think them the oddest things he had met with, and laughing much, held them up repeatedly to the other chiefs.
The old man brought a present for Captain Maxwell, and sent another to the Lyra, consisting of a hog, a kid, two bags of potatoes, a basket of charcoal, thirty bundles of eggs (five in each), a bundle of vermicelli, and a jar of an ardent spirit called samchew. All the chiefs, who were in their best attire, were severally accompanied by a man carrying a box for the hatchee-matchee; their dresses were of various colours, and their sandals and stockings all alike. On rising to go away, the old man bowed to me, and said that he meant to visit my ship; but this being evidently complimentary, I begged him not to take so much trouble: he, in return, expressed himself obliged to me for being satisfied with the politeness intended. The Embassador's barge was manned to take him on shore, but as soon as he saw what was intended, he drew back, and declared that he could not land in any boat but his own. As it was supposed that his modesty prevented his accepting this offer, he was urged to overcome his scruples, and land in the manner proposed; he still, however, declined the honour, but at last went down the ladder, and having stepped into the barge, made a bow to Captain Maxwell, as if in acknowledgment of the attention, but immediately afterwards went into his own boat and pushed off, under a salute of three guns from each ship.