Every thing conspired to make us believe this was the Bay of St Philip and St Jago, discovered by Quiros in 1606. To determine this point, it was necessary to proceed farther up; for at this time we saw no end to it. The wind being at south, we were obliged to ply, and first stretched over for the west shore, from which we were three miles at noon, when our latitude was 14° 55' 30" S., longitude 167° 3' E.; the mouth of the bay extending from N. 64° W., to S. 86° E., which last direction was the bluff-head, distant three leagues. In the afternoon the wind veering to E.S.E., we could look up to the head of the bay; but as the breeze was faint, a N.E. swell hurtled us over to the west shore; so that, at half past four o'clock p.m., we were no more than two miles from it, and tacked in one hundred and twenty fathoms water, a soft muddy bottom. The bluff-head, or east point of the bay, bore north 53° east.
We had no sooner tacked than it fell calm, and we were left to the mercy of the swell, which continued to hurtle us towards the shore, where large troops of people were assembled. Some ventured off in two canoes; but all the signs of friendship we could make, did not induce them to come along-side, or near enough to receive any present from us. At last they took sudden fright at something, and returned ashore. They were naked, except having some long grass, like flags, fastened to a belt, and hanging down before and behind, nearly as low as the knee. Their colour was very dark, and their hair woolly, or cut short, which made it seem so. The canoes were small and had outriggers. The calm continued till near eight o'clock, in which time we drove into eighty-five fathoms water, and so near the shore that I expected we should be obliged to anchor. A breeze of wind sprung up at E.S.E., and first took us on the wrong side; but, contrary to all our expectations, and when we had hardly room to veer, the ship came about, and having filled on the starboard tack, we stood off N.E. Thus we were relieved from the apprehensions of being forced to anchor in a great depth, on a lee shore, and in a dark and obscure night.
We continued to ply upwards, with variable light breezes between E.S.E. and S., till ten next morning, when it fell calm. We were, at this time, about seven or eight miles from the head of the bay, which is terminated by a low beach; and behind that, is an extensive flat covered with wood, and bounded on each side by a ridge of mountains. At noon we found the latitude to be 15° 5' S., and were detained here by the calm till one o'clock p.m., when we got a breeze at N. by W., with which we steered up to within two miles of the head of the bay; and then I sent Mr Cooper and Mr Gilbert to sound and reconnoitre the coast, while we stood to and fro with the ship. This gave time to three sailing canoes which had been following us some time, to come up. There were five or six men in each; and they approached near enough to receive such things as were thrown to them fastened to a rope, but would not advance alongside. They were the same sort of people as those we had seen the preceding evening; indeed we thought they came from the same place. They seemed to be stouter and better shaped men than those of Mallicollo; and several circumstances concurred to make us think they were of another nation. They named the numerals as far as five or six in the language of Anamocka, and understood us when we asked the names of the adjacent lands in that language. Some, indeed, had black short frizzled hair like the natives of Mallicollo, but others had it long, tied up on the crown of the head, and ornamented with feathers like the New Zealanders. Their other ornaments were bracelets and necklaces; one man had something like a white shell on his forehead, and some were painted with a blackish pigment. I did not see that they had any other weapon but darts and gigs, intended only for striking of fish. Their canoes were much like those of Tanna, and navigated in the same manner, or nearly so. They readily gave us the names of such parts as we pointed to; but we could not obtain from them the name of the island. At length, seeing our boats coming, they paddled in for the shore, notwithstanding all we could say or do to detain them.
When the boats returned, Mr Cooper informed me, that they had landed on the beach which is at the head of the bay, near a fine river, or stream of fresh water, so large and deep that they judged boats might enter it at high water. They found three fathoms depth close to the beach, and fifty-five and fifty, two cables' length off. Farther out they did not sound; and where we were with the ship, we had no soundings with a hundred and seventy fathoms line. Before the boats got on board, the wind had shifted to the S.S.E. As we were in want of nothing, and had no time to spare, I took the advantage of this shift of wind, and steered down the bay. During the fore-part of the night, the country was illuminated with fires, from the sea-shore to the summits of the mountains; but this was only on the west side of the shore. I cannot pretend to say what was the occasion of these fires, but have no idea of their being on our account. Probably, they were burning or clearing the ground for new plantations. At day-break on the 27th, we found ourselves two-thirds down the bay, and, as we had but little wind, it was noon before we were the length of the N.W. point, which at this time bore N. 82° W., distant five miles. Latitude observed 14° 39' 30".
Some of our gentlemen were doubtful of this being the bay of St Philip and St Jago, as there was no place which they thought could mean the port of Vera Cruz. For my part I found general points to agree so well with Quiros's description, that I had not the least doubt about it. As to what he calls the Port of Vera Cruz, I understand that to be the anchorage at the head of the bay, which in some places may extend farther off than where our boats landed. There is nothing in his account of the port which contradicts this supposition*. It was but natural for his people to give a name to the place, independent of so large a bay, where they lay so long at anchor. A port is a vague term, like many others in geography, and has been very often applied to places far less sheltered than this.
[See Quiros's Voyage, in Dalrymple's Collection, vol i, p.136, 137.]
Our officers observed that grass and other plants grew on the beach close to high water-mark, which is always a sure sign of pacific anchorage, and an undeniable proof that there never is a great surf on the shore. They judged that the tide rose about four or five feet, and that boats and such craft might, at high-water, enter the river, which seemed to be pretty deep and broad within; so that this, probably, is one of those mentioned by Quiros; and if we were not deceived, we saw the other.
The bay hath twenty leagues sea-coast, six on the east side, which lies in the direction of S. half W. and N. half E., two at the head, and twelve on the west side, the direction of which is S. by E. and N. by W., from the head down to two-thirds of its length, and then N.W. by N. to the N.W. point. The two points which form the entrance, lie in the direction of S. 53° E., and N. 53° W., from each other, distant ten leagues. The bay is every where free from danger, and of an unfathomable depth, except near the shores, which are for the most part low. This, however, is only a very narrow strip between the sea-shore and the foot of the hills; for the bay, as well as the flat land at the head of it, is bounded on each side by a ridge of hills, one of which, that to the west, is very high and double, extending the whole length of the island. An uncommonly luxuriant vegetation was every where to be seen; the sides of the hills were chequered with plantations; and every valley watered by a stream. Of all the productions of nature this country was adorned with, the cocoa-nut trees were the most conspicuous. The columns of smoke we saw by day, and fires by night all over the country, led us to believe that it is well inhabited and very fertile. The east point of this bay, which I name Cape Quiros, in memory of its first discoverer, is situated in latitude 14° 56' S., longitude 167° 13' E. The N.W. point, which I named Cape Cumberland, in honour of his Royal Highness the Duke, lies in the latitude of 14° 38' 45" S., longitude 166° 49' 1/2 E., and is the N.W. extremity of this archipelago; for, after doubling it, we found the coast to trend gradually round to the S. and S.S.E.
On the 28th and 29th, we had light airs and calms, so that we advanced but little. In this time, we took every opportunity, when the horizon was clearer than usual, to look out for more land, but none was seen. By Quiros's track to the north, after leaving the bay above-mentioned, it seems probable that there is none nearer than Queen Charlotte's Island, discovered by Captain Carteret, which lies about ninety leagues N.N.W. from Cape Cumberland, and I take to be the same with Quiros's Santa Cruz.
On the 30th, the calm was succeeded by a fresh breeze at S.S.E. which enabled us to ply up the coast. At noon we observed in 15° 20'; afterwards we stretched in east, to within a mile of the shore, and then tacked in seventy-five fathoms, before a sandy flat, on which several of the natives made their appearance. We observed on the sides of the hills, several plantations that were laid out by line, and fenced round.