On the 28th, we went ashore upon an island that lies to the left hand of the entrance of the bay, where we saw the largest canoe that we had yet met with: she was sixty-eight feet and a half long, five broad, and three feet six high; she had a sharp bottom, consisting of three trunks of trees hollowed, of which that in the middle was the longest: the side planks were sixty-two feet long, in one piece, and were not despicably carved in bas-relief; the head also was adorned with carving still more richly. Upon this island there was a larger house than any we had yet seen; but it seemed unfinished, and was full of chips. The wood-work was squared so even and smooth, that we made no doubt of their having among them very sharp tools. The sides of the posts were carved in a masterly style, though after their whimsical taste, which seems to prefer spiril lines and distorted faces: as these carved posts appeared to have been brought from some other place, such work is probably of great value among them.
At four o’clock in the morning of the 29th, having got on board our wood and water, and a large supply of excellent celery, with which the country abounds, and which proved a powerful antiscorbutic, I unmoored and put to sea.
This bay is called by the natives Tolaga; it is moderately large, and has from seven to thirteen fathom, with a clean sandy bottom and good anchorage; and is sheltered from all winds except the north-east. It lies in latitude 38° 22ʹ S. and four leagues and a half to the north of Gable-end Foreland. On the south point lies a small but high island, so near the main as not to be distinguished from it. Close to the north end of the island, at the entrance into the bay, are two high rocks; one is round, like a corn-stack, but the other is long, and perforated in several places, so that the openings appear like the arches of a bridge. Within these rocks is the cove where we cut wood, and filled our water-casks. Off the north point of the bay is a pretty high rocky island; and about a mile without it are some rocks and breakers. The variation of the compass here is 14° 31ʹ E., and the tide flows at the full and change of the moon, about six o’clock, and rises and falls perpendicularly from five to six feet: whether the flood comes from the southward or the northward I have not been able to determine.
We got nothing here by traffic but a few fish, and some sweet potatoes, except a few trifles, which we considered merely as curiosities. We saw no four-footed animals, nor the appearance of any, either tame or wild, except dogs and rats, and these were very scarce: the people eat the dogs, like our friends at Otaheite; and adorn their garments with the skins, as we do ours with fur and ermine. I climbed many of the hills, hoping to get a view of the country, but I could see nothing from the top except higher hills, in a boundless succession. The ridges of these hills produce little besides fern; but the sides are most luxuriantly clothed with wood, and verdure of various kinds, with little plantations intermixed. In the woods, we found trees of above twenty different sorts, and carried specimens of each on board; but there was nobody among us to whom they were not altogether unknown. The tree which we cut for firing was somewhat like our maple, and yielded a whitish gum. We found another sort of it of a deep yellow, which we thought might be useful in dyeing. We found also one cabbage-tree, which we cut down for the cabbages. The country abounds with plants, and the woods with birds, in an endless variety, exquisitely beautiful, and of which none of us had the least knowledge. The soil both of the hills and valleys is light and sandy, and very fit for the production of all kinds of roots; though we saw none except sweet potatoes and yams.
CHAP. III.
THE RANGE FROM TOLAGA TO MERCURY BAY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF MANY INCIDENTS THAT HAPPENED BOTH ON BOARD AND ASHORE: A DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS EXHIBITED BY THE COUNTRY, AND OF THE HEPPAHS, OR FORTIFIED VILLAGES OF THE INHABITANTS.
On Monday, the 30th, about half an hour after one o’clock, having made sail again to the northward for about ten hours, with a light breeze, I hauled round a small island which lay east one mile from the north-east point of the land: from this place I found the land trend away N. W. by W. and W. N. W. as far as I could see, this point being the easternmost land on the whole coast. I gave it the name of East Cape, and I called the island that lies off it East Island; it is of a small circuit, high and round, and appears white and barren: the cape is high, with white cliffs, and lies in latitude 37° 42ʹ 30ʺ S. and longitude 181° W. The land from Tolaga Bay to East Cape is of a moderate but unequal height, forming several small bays, in which are sandy beaches: of the inland country we could not see much, the weather being cloudy and hazy. The soundings were from twenty to thirty fathom, at the distance of about a league from the shore. After we had rounded the Cape, we saw in our run along the shore a great number of villages, and much cultivated land; the country in general appeared more fertile than before, and was low near the sea, but hilly within. At six in the evening, being four leagues to the westward of East Cape, we passed a bay which was first discovered by Lieutenant Hicks, and which, therefore, I called Hicks’s Bay. At eight in the evening, being eight leagues to the westward of the Cape, and three or four miles from the shore, I shortened sail, and brought to for the night, having at this time a fresh gale at S. S. E. and squally; but it soon became moderate, and at two in the morning we made sail again to the S. W. as the land now trended; and at eight o’clock in the morning saw land, which made like an island, bearing west, the south-westernmost part of the main bearing south-west; and about nine no less than five canoes came off, in which were more than forty men, all armed with their country pikes and battle-axes, shouting, and threatening an attack; this gave us great uneasiness, and was, indeed, what we did not expect; for we hoped, that the report both of our power and clemency had spread to a greater extent. When one of these canoes had almost reached the ship, another of an immense size, the largest we had yet seen, crowded with people who were also armed, put off from the shore, and came up at a great rate: as it approached it received signals from the canoe that was nearest to the ship; and we could see that it had sixteen paddles on a side, beside people that sat, and others that stood in a row from stem to stern, being in all about sixty men: as they made directly to the ship, we were desirous of preventing an attack, by showing what we could do; and, therefore, fired a gun, loaded with grape-shot, a-head of them: this made them stop, but not retreat; a round-shot was then fired over them, and upon seeing it fall, they seized their paddles and made towards the shore with such precipitation that they seemed scarcely to allow themselves time to breathe. In the evening, three or four more canoes came off unarmed; but they would not venture within a musket-shot of the vessel. The Cape off which we had been threatened with hostilities I called, from the hasty retreat of the enemy, Cape Runaway. It lies in latitude 37° 32ʹ; longitude 181° 48ʹ. In this day’s run, we found that the land, which made like an island in the morning, bearing west, was so; and we gave it the name of White Island.
At day-break, on the 1st of November, we counted no less than five-and-forty canoes that were coming from the shore towards the ship: seven of them came up with us, and after some conversation with Tupia, sold us some lobsters and mussels, and two conger eels. These people traded pretty fairly; but when they were gone, some others came off from another place, who began also to trade fairly: but after some time they took what was handed down to them, without making any return; one of them who had done so, upon being threatened, began to laugh, and with many marks of derision set us at defiance, at the same time putting off the canoe from the ship: a musket was then fired over his head, which brought him back in a more serious mood, and trade went on with great regularity. At length, when the cabin and gun-room had got as much as they wanted, the men were allowed to come to the gangway, and trade for themselves. Unhappily the same care was not taken to prevent frauds as had been taken before, so that the Indians, finding that they could cheat with impunity, grew insolent again, and proceeded to take greater liberties. One of the canoes, having sold every thing on board, pulled forward, and the people that were in her seeing some linen hang over the ship’s side to dry, one of them, without any ceremony, untied it, and put it up in his bundle: he was immediately called to, and required to return it; instead of which, he let his canoe drop astern, and laughed at us: a musket was fired over his head, which did not put a stop to his mirth; another was then fired at him with small shot, which struck him upon the back; he shrunk a little when the shot hit him, but did not regard it more than one of our men would have done the stroke of a rattan: he continued with great composure to pack up the linen that he had stolen. All the canoes now dropped astern about a hundred yards, and all set up their song of defiance, which they continued till the ship was distant from them about four hundred yards. As they seemed to have no design to attack us, I was not willing to do them any hurt; yet I thought their going off in a bravado might have a bad effect when it should be reported ashore. To show them, therefore, that they were still in our power, though very much beyond the reach of any missile weapon with which they were acquainted, I gave the ship a yaw, and fired a four-pounder so as to pass near them. The shot happened to strike the water and rise several times at a great distance beyond the canoes: this struck them with terror, and they paddled away without once looking behind them.
About two in the afternoon, we saw a pretty high island bearing west from us; and at five, saw more islands and rocks to the westward of that. We hauled our wind in order to go without them, but could not weather them before it was dark. I, therefore, bore up, and ran between them and the main. At seven, I was close under the first, from which a large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at the distance of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a deck, put off, and made sail for the ship: this was the first vessel of the kind that we had seen since we left the South Sea islands. When she came near, the people on board entered very freely into conversation with Tupia, and we thought showed a friendly disposition; but when it was just dark, they ran their canoe close to the ship’s side, and threw in a volley of stones, after which they paddled away.
We learnt from Tupia, that the people in the canoe called the island which we were under Mowtohora; it is but of a small circuit, though high, and lies six miles from the main; on the south side is anchorage in fourteen fathom water. Upon the main land S. W. by W. of this island, and apparently at no great distance from the sea, is a high round mountain, which I called Mount Edgecumbe: it stands in the middle of a large plain, and is, therefore, the more conspicuous; latitude 37° 59ʹ, longitude 183° 7ʹ.
In standing westward, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen to ten fathom; and knowing that we were not far from the small islands and rocks which we had seen before dark, and which I intended to have passed before I brought to for the night, I thought it more prudent to tack, and spend the night under Mowtohora, where I knew there was no danger. It was, indeed, happy for us that we did so; for in the morning, after we had made sail to the westward, we discovered ahead of us several rocks, some of which were level with the surface of the water, and some below it: they lay N. N. E. from Mount Edgecumbe, one league and a half distant from the island Mowtohora, and about nine miles from the main. We passed between these rocks and the main, having from ten to seven fathom water.