I was now taken ill of the bilious colic, which was so violent as to confine me to my bed; so that the management of the ship was left to Mr. Cooper, the first officer, who conducted her very much to my satisfaction. It was several days before the most dangerous symptoms of my disorder were removed; during which time Mr. Patten, the surgeon, was to me not only a skilful physician, but an affectionate nurse; and I should ill deserve the care he bestowed on me, if I did not make this public acknowledgment. When I began to recover, a favourite dog, belonging to Mr. Forster, fell a sacrifice to my tender stomach. We had no other fresh meat whatever on board; and I could eat of this flesh, as well as broth made of it, when I could taste nothing else. Thus I received nourishment and strength from food which would have made most people in Europe sick; so true it is, that necessity is governed by no law.
On the 28th, in the latitude of 33° 7ʹ S., longitude 102° 33ʹ W., we began to see flying-fish, egg-birds, and nodies, which are said not to go above sixty or eighty leagues from land; but of this we have no certainty. No one yet knows to what distance any of the oceanic birds go to sea; for my own part, I do not believe there is one in the whole tribe that can be relied on, in pointing out the vicinity of land.
In the latitude of 30° 30ʹ S., longitude 101° 45ʹ W., we began to see men-of-war birds. In the latitude of 29° 44ʹ, longitude 100° 45ʹ W., we had a calm for near two days together, during which time the heat was intolerable; but what ought to be remarked, was a very great swell from the south-west.
On the 6th of March, the calm was succeeded by an easterly wind, with which we steered north-west till noon the 8th, when, being in the latitude of 27° 4ʹ S., longitude 103° 58ʹ W., we steered west, meeting every day with great numbers of birds, such as men-of-war, tropic, and egg-birds, nodies, sheer-waters, &c., and once we passed several pieces of sponge, and a small dried leaf not unlike a bay one. Soon after, we saw a sea-snake, in every respect like those we had before seen at the tropical islands. We also saw plenty of fish; but were such bad fishers, that we caught only four albacores, which were very acceptable, to me especially, who was just recovering from my late illness.
CHAP. VII.
SEQUEL OF THE PASSAGE FROM NEW ZEALAND TO EASTER ISLAND, AND TRANSACTIONS THERE, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF AN EXPEDITION TO DISCOVER THE INLAND PART OF THE COUNTRY, AND A DESCRIPTION OF SOME OF THE SURPRISING GIGANTIC STATUES FOUND IN THE ISLAND.
At eight o’clock in the morning on the 11th, land was seen, from the mast-head, bearing west, and at noon from the deck, extending from W. 3⁄4 N. to W. by S. about twelve leagues distant. I made no doubt that this was Davis’s Land, or Easter Island, as its appearance from this situation corresponded very well with Wafer’s account; and we expected to have seen the low sandy isle that Davis fell in with, which would have been a confirmation; but in this we were disappointed. At seven o’clock in the evening, the island bore from N. 62° W. to N. 87° W., about five leagues distant; in which situation we sounded, without finding ground, with a line of an hundred and forty fathoms. Here we spent the night, having alternately light airs and calms, till ten o’clock the next morning, when a breeze sprung up at west-south-west. With this we stretched in for the land; and, by the help of our glass, discovered people, and some of those colossian statues or idols mentioned by the authors of Roggewin’s Voyage.[[4]] At four o’clock in the afternoon, we were half a league south-south-east, and north-north-west of the north-east point of the island; and, on sounding, found thirty-five fathoms, a dark sandy bottom. I now tacked and endeavoured to get into what appeared to be a bay, on the west side of the point, or south-east side of the island; but before this could be accomplished, night came upon us, and we stood on and off under the land till the next morning, having soundings from seventy-five to an hundred and ten fathoms, the same bottom as before.
On the 13th, about eight o’clock in the morning, the wind, which had been variable most part of the night, fixed at south-east and blew in squalls, accompanied with rain, but it was not long before the weather became fair. As the wind now blew right on the south-east shore, which does not afford that shelter I at first thought, I resolved to look for anchorage on the west and north-west sides of the island. With this view, I bore up round the south point, off which lie two small islots, the one nearest the point high and peaked, and the other low and flattish. After getting round the point, and coming before a sandy beach, we found soundings, thirty and forty fathoms, sandy ground, and about one mile from the shore. Here a canoe conducted by two men came off to us. They brought with them a bunch of plantains, which they sent into the ship by a rope, and then they returned ashore. This gave us a good opinion of the islanders, and inspired us with hopes of getting some refreshments, which we were in great want of.
I continued to range along the coast till we opened the northern point of the isle without seeing a better anchoring-place than the one we had passed. We therefore tacked, and plied back to it; and, in the mean time, sent away the master in a boat to sound the coast. He returned about five o’clock in the evening, and soon after we came to an anchor, in thirty-six fathoms’ water, before the sandy beach above-mentioned. As the master drew near the shore with the boat, one of the natives swam off to her, and insisted on coming aboard the ship, where he remained two nights and a day. The first thing he did after coming aboard, was to measure the length of the ship, by fathoming her from the tafferel to the stern; and as he counted the fathoms, we observed that he called the numbers by the same names that they do at Otaheite; nevertheless, his language was in a manner wholly unintelligible to all of us.
Having anchored too near the edge of the bank, a fresh breeze from the land, about three o’clock the next morning, drove us off it; on which the anchor was heaved up, and sail made to regain the bank again. While the ship was plying in, I went ashore, accompanied by some of the gentlemen, to see what the island was likely to afford us. We landed at the sandy beach, where some hundreds of the natives were assembled, and who were so impatient to see us, that many of them swam off to meet the boats. Not one of them had so much as a stick or weapon of any sort in their hands. After distributing a few trinkets amongst them, we made signs for something to eat; on which they brought down a few potatoes, plantains, and sugar-canes, and exchanged them for nails, looking-glasses, and pieces of cloth.
We presently discovered that they were as expert thieves, and as tricking in their exchanges, as any people we had yet met with. It was with some difficulty we could keep the hats on our heads, but hardly possible to keep any thing in our pockets, not even what themselves had sold us; for they would watch every opportunity to snatch it from us, so that we sometimes bought the same thing two or three times over, and after all did not get it.