After I had dispatched Paowang, I returned to Wha-a-gou and his friends, who were still for detaining me. They seemed to wait with great impatience for something, and to be unwilling and ashamed to take away the two dogs, without making me a return. As night was approaching, I pressed to be gone; with which they complied, and so we parted.
The preceding day, Mr. Forster learnt from the people the proper name of the island, which they call Tanna; and this day I learnt from them the names of those in the neighbourhood. The one we touched at last is called Erromango; the small isle, which we discovered the morning we landed here, Immer; the Table Island to the east, discovered at the same time, Erronan or Foottoona; and an island which lies to the S. E. Annattom. All these islands are to be seen from Tanna.
They gave us to understand, in a manner which I thought admitted of no doubt, that they eat human flesh, and that circumcision was practised among them. They began the subject of eating human flesh of their own accord, by asking us if we did; otherwise I should never have thought of asking them such a question. I have heard people argue, that no nation could be cannibals, if they had other flesh to eat, or did not want food; thus deriving the custom from necessity. The people of this island can be under no such necessity; they have fine pork and fowls, and plenty of roots and fruits. But since we have not actually seen them eat human flesh, it will admit of doubt with some, whether they are cannibals.
When I got on board, I learnt that, when the launch was on the west side of the harbour taking in ballast, one of the men employed on this work had scalded his fingers in taking a stone up out of some water. This circumstance produced the discovery of several hot springs at the foot of the cliff, and rather below high water mark.
This day Mr. Wales and two or three of the officers advanced a little, for the first time, into the island. They met with a straggling village, the inhabitants of which treated them with great civility; and the next morning, Mr. Forster and his party, and some others, made another excursion inland. They met with several fine plantations of plantains, sugar-canes, yams, &c.; and the natives were courteous and civil. Indeed, by this time, the people, especially those in our neighbourhood, were so well reconciled to us, that they showed not the least dislike at our rambling about in the skirts of the woods, shooting, &c. In the afternoon, some boys having got behind thickets, and having thrown two or three stones at our people, who were cutting wood, they were fired at by the petty officers present on duty. Being ashore at the time, I was alarmed at hearing the report of the muskets, and seeing two or three boys run out of the wood. When I knew the cause, I was much displeased at so wanton an use being made of our fire-arms, and took measures to prevent it for the future. Wind southerly, with heavy showers of rain.
During the night, and also all the 11th, the volcano was exceedingly troublesome, and made a terrible noise, throwing up prodigious columns of fire and smoke at each explosion, which happened every three or four minutes; and, at one time, great stones were seen high in the air. Besides the necessary work of wooding and watering, we struck the main-top-mast to fix new trestle-trees and back-stays. Mr. Forster and his party went up the hill on the west side of the harbour, where he found three places from whence smoke of a sulphureous smell issued, through cracks or fissures in the earth. The ground about these was exceedingly hot, and parched or burnt, and they seemed to keep pace with the volcano, for at every explosion of the latter, the quantity of smoke or steam in these was greatly increased, and forced out so as to rise in small columns, which we saw from the ship, and had taken for common fires made by the natives. At the foot of this hill are the hot springs before mentioned.
In the afternoon Mr. Forster, having begun his botanical researches on the other side of the harbour, fell in with our friend Paowang’s house, where he saw most of the articles I had given him, hanging on the adjoining trees and bushes, as if they were not worthy of being under his roof.
On the 12th, some of the officers accompanied Mr. Forster to the hot places he had been at the preceding day. A thermometer placed in a little hole made in one of them, rose from 80, at which it stood in the open air, to 170. Several other parts of the hill emitted smoke or steam all the day, and the volcano was unusually furious, insomuch, that the air was loaded with its ashes. The rain which fell at this time, was a compound of water, sand, and earth; so that it properly might be called showers of mire. Whichever way the wind was, we were plagued with the ashes; unless it blew very strong indeed from the opposite direction. Notwithstanding the natives seemed well enough satisfied with the few expeditions we had made in the neighbourhood; they were unwilling we should extend them farther. As a proof of this, some undertook to guide the gentlemen when they were in the country, to a place where they might see the mouth of the volcano. They very readily embraced the offer; and were conducted down to the harbour, before they perceived the cheat.
The 13th, wind at N. E., gloomy weather. The only thing worthy of note this day was, that Paowang being at dinner with us on board, I took the opportunity to show him several parts of the ship, and various articles, in hopes of finding out something which they might value, and be induced to take from us in exchange for refreshments; for what we got of this kind was trifling. But he looked on every thing that was shown him with the utmost indifference; nor did he take notice of any one thing except a wooden sand-box, which he seemed to admire, and turned two or three times over in his hand.
Next morning, after breakfast, a party of us set out for the country, to try if we could not get a nearer and better view of the volcano. We went by the way of one of those hot smoking places before mentioned, and dug a hole in the hottest part, into which a thermometer of Fahrenheit’s construction was put; and the mercury presently rose to 100°. It remained in the hole two minutes and a half without either rising or falling. The earth about this place was a kind of white clay, had a sulphureous smell, and was soft and wet, the surface only excepted, over which was spread a thin dry crust, that had upon it some sulphur, and a vitriolic substance, tasting like alum. The place affected by the heat was not above eight or ten yards square; and near it were some fig-trees, which spread their branches over a part of it, and seemed to like their situation. We thought that this extraordinary heat was caused by the steam of boiling water, strongly impregnated with sulphur. I was told that some of the other places were larger than this; though we did not go out of the road to look at them, but proceeded up the hill through a country so covered with trees, shrubs, and plants, that the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees, which seem to have been planted here by nature, were in a manner choked up. Here and there we met with a house, some few people, and plantations. These latter we found in different states; some of long standing; others lately cleared; and some only clearing, and before any thing had been planted. The clearing a piece of ground for a plantation seemed to be a work of much labour, considering the tools they had to work with, which, though much inferior to those at the Society Isles, are of the same kind. Their method is, however, judicious, and as expeditious as it can well be. They lop off the small branches of the large trees, dig under the roots, and there burn the branches and small shrubs and plants which they root up. The soil, in some parts, is a rich black mould; in other parts, it seemed to be composed of decayed vegetables, and of the ashes the volcano sends forth throughout all its neighbourhood. Happening to turn out of the common path, we came into a plantation, where we found a man at work, who, either out of good-nature, or to get us the sooner out of his territories, undertook to be our guide. We followed him accordingly, but had not gone far before we came to the junction of two roads, in one of which stood another man with a sling and a stone, which he thought proper to lay down when a musket was pointed at him. The attitude in which we found him, the ferocity appearing in his looks, and his behaviour after, convinced us that he meant to defend the path he stood in. He, in some measure, gained his point; for our guide took the other road, and we followed; but not without suspecting he was leading us out of the common way. The other man went with us likewise, counting us several times over, and hallooing, as we judged, for assistance; for we were presently joined by two or three more, among whom was a young woman with a club in her hand. By these people we were conducted to the brow of a hill, and shown a road leading down to the harbour, which they wanted us to take. Not choosing to comply, we returned to that we had left, which we pursued alone, our guide refusing to go with us. After ascending another ridge, as thickly covered with wood as those we had come over, we saw yet other hills between us and the volcano, which seemed as far off as at our first setting out. This discouraged us from proceeding farther, especially as we could get no one to be our guide. We therefore came to a resolution to return; and had but just put this in execution, when we met between twenty and thirty people, whom the fellow before mentioned had collected together, with a design, as we judged, to oppose our advancing into the country; but as they saw us returning, they suffered us to pass unmolested. Some of them put us into the right road, accompanied us down the hill, made us stop by the way to entertain us with cocoa-nuts, plantains, and sugar-cane; and what we did not eat on the spot, they brought down the hill with us. Thus, we found these people hospitable, civil, and good-natured, when not prompted to a contrary conduct by jealousy; a conduct I cannot tell how to blame them for, especially when I consider the light in which they must view us. It was impossible for them to know our real design; we enter their ports without their daring to oppose; we endeavour to land in their country as friends, and it is well if this succeeds; we land, nevertheless, and maintain the footing we have got, by the superiority of our fire-arms. Under such circumstances, what opinion are they to form of us? Is it not as reasonable for them to think that we come to invade their country, as to pay them a friendly visit? Time, and some acquaintance with us, can only convince them of the latter. These people are yet in a rude state; and, if we may judge from circumstances and appearances, are frequently at war, not only with their neighbours, but among themselves; consequently must be jealous of every new face. I will allow there are some exceptions to this rule to be found in this sea; but there are few nations who would willingly suffer visitors like us to advance far into their country.