We were hardly through the passage before we got a fresh breeze at south. That moment, all the natives made haste to be gone, and we steered to the west, all sails set. I had some thoughts of touching at Amsterdam, as it lay not much out of the way; but, as the wind was now, we could not fetch it; and this was the occasion of my laying my design aside altogether.
Let us now return to Anamocka, as it is called by the natives. It is situated in the latitude of 20° 15ʹ South, longitude 174° 31ʹ West, and was first discovered by Tasman, and by him named Rotterdam. It is of a triangular form, each side whereof is about three and a half or four miles. A salt-water lake in the middle of it occupies not a little of its surface, and in a manner cuts off the S. E. angle. Round the island, that is, from the N. W. to the south, round by the north and east, lie scattered a number of small isles, sand-banks, and breakers. We could see no end to their extent to the north; and it is not impossible that they reach as far south as Amsterdam, or Tongatabu. These, together with Middleburg or Eaoowee, and Pylstart, make a group, containing about three degrees of latitude and two of longitude, which I have named the Friendly Isles or Archipelago, as a firm reliance and friendship seems to subsist among their inhabitants, and their courteous behaviour to strangers entitles them to that appellation; under which we might perhaps extend their group much farther, even down to Boscawen and Keppel’s isles, discovered by Captain Wallis, and lying nearly under the same meridian, and in the latitude of 15° 53ʹ; for, from the little account I have had of the people of these two isles, they seem to have the same sort of friendly disposition we observed in our Archipelago.
The inhabitants, productions, &c. of Rotterdam, and the neighbouring isles, are the same as at Amsterdam. Hogs and fowls are, indeed, much scarcer; of the former having got but six, and not many of the latter. Yams and shaddocks were what we got the most of; other fruits were not so plenty. Not half the isle is laid out in inclosed plantations as at Amsterdam; but the parts which are not inclosed are not less fertile or uncultivated. There is, however, far more waste land on this isle, in proportion to its size, than upon the other, and the people seem to be much poorer; that is, in cloth, matting, ornaments, &c. which constitute a great part of the riches of the South Sea islanders.
The people of this isle seem to be more affected with the leprosy, or some scrophulous disorder, than any I have seen elsewhere. It breaks out in the face more than any other part of the body. I have seen several whose faces were ruined by it, and their noses quite gone. In one of my excursions, happening to peep into a house where one or more of them were, one man only appeared at the door, or hole by which I must have entered, and which he began to stop up, by drawing several parts of a cord across it. But the intolerable stench which came from his putrid face was alone sufficient to keep me out, had the entrance been ever so wide. His nose was quite gone, and his whole face in one continued ulcer; so that the very sight of him was shocking. As our people had not all got clear of a certain disease they had contracted at the Society isles, I took all possible care to prevent its being communicated to the natives here; and I have reason to believe my endeavours succeeded.
Having mentioned a house, it may not be amiss to observe, that some here differ from those I saw at the other isles; being inclosed or walled on every side with reeds neatly put together, but not close. The entrance is by a square hole about two and a half feet each way. The form of these houses is an oblong square; the floor or foundation every way shorter than the eve, which is about four feet from the ground. By this construction, the rain that falls on the roof is carried off from the wall; which otherwise would decay and rot.
We did not distinguish any king, or leading chief, or any person who took upon him the appearance of supreme authority. The man and woman before mentioned, whom I believed to be man and wife, interested themselves on several occasions in our affairs; but it was easy to see they had no great authority. Amongst other things which I gave them as a reward for their service, was a young dog and bitch, animals which they have not, but are very fond of, and know very well by name. They have some of the same sort of earthen pots we saw at Amsterdam; and I am of opinion they are of their own manufacture, or that of some neighbouring isle.
The road, as I have already mentioned, is on the north side of the isle, just to the southward of the southernmost cove; for there are two on this side. The bank is of some extent, and the bottom free from rocks, with twenty-five and twenty fathoms water, one or two miles from the shore.
Fire-wood is very convenient to be got at, and easy to be shipped off; but the water is so brackish that it is not worth the trouble of carrying it on board; unless one is in great distress for want of that article, and can get no better. There is, however, better, not only on this isle, but on others in the neighbourhood; for the people brought us some in cocoa-nut shells, which was as good as need be; but probably the springs are too trifling to water a ship.
I have already observed that the S. W. side of the island is covered by a reef or reefs of rocks, and small isles. If there be a sufficient depth of water between them and the island, as there appeared to be, and a good bottom, this would be a much securer place for a ship to anchor in than that where we had our station.