While we lay here, having cleared and lightened the ship, we heeled her so as to come at her leak, which the carpenter stopped as well as he could; we found the sheathing greatly decayed, and the bottom much eaten by the worms, but we payed it as far as we could get at it with a mixture of hot pitch and tar boiled together. The carpenter also cut down many spars, for studding-sail booms, having but few left of those which he had brought from England.
English Cove lies N.E. 1/2 N. three or four miles from Wallis's Island; there is a small shoal on the starboard hand going in, which will be easily seen by the seas breaking upon it. The water ebbs and flows once in four-and-twenty hours; the flood came in about nine or ten o'clock, and it was high water between three and four in the afternoon, after which it ebbed all night, and was low water about six in the morning. The water rises and falls between eight and nine feet, sometimes more, sometimes less; but I doubt whether this fluctuation is not rather the effect of the sea and land-breeze, than of a regular tide. We anchored here with our best bower in twenty-seven fathom water, with a bottom of sand and mud; we veered into the cove a cable and a half from the anchor, moored head and stern with the stream anchor, and steadied with hawsers on each bow; the ship then lay in ten fathom, at the distance of a cable's length from the shore at the bottom of the cove, Wallis's point bearing S.W. 1/2 S., distant about three or four miles. At this place there is plenty of excellent wood and water, and good shingle ballast. The variation was 6° 1/2 E.
On Monday the 7th of September, I weighed anchor, but before I sailed, I took possession of this country, with all its islands, bays, ports, and harbours, for his majesty George the Third, king of Great Britain; and we nailed upon a high tree a piece of board, faced with lead, on which was engraved the English union, with the name of the ship, and her commander, the name of the cove, and the time of her coming in and sailing out of it.[59] While we lay here, I sent the boat out to examine the harbours upon the coast, from one of which expeditions she returned with a load of cocoa-nuts, which she procured in a fine little harbour, about four leagues W.N.W. from the station we were in. The officer on board reported that the trees grew where he had gathered the fruit in great plenty; but as he had observed that several of them were marked, and that there were many huts of the natives near them; I did not think it proper that the boat should return: But the refreshment which now offered was of such importance to the sick, that I determined to go into the harbour with the ship, and place her so as to protect the men who should be employed to fell the trees, and cut off the cabbages and the fruit. We sailed from English Cove with the land-breeze early in the morning, and in the evening secured the ship a-breast of the grove, where the cocoa-nuts had been gathered, and at very little distance from the shore. Here we procured above a thousand cocoa-nuts, and as many of the cabbages as we could use while they were good, and I would have staid long enough to have given my people all the refreshments they wanted, but the season of the year made the shortest delay dangerous. There was too much reason to suppose that the lives of all on board depended upon our getting to Batavia while the monsoon continued to blow from the eastward; there was indeed time enough for any other ship to have gone three times the distance, but I knew it was scarcely sufficient for the Swallow in her present condition: And that if we should be obliged to continue here another season, it would probably become impossible to navigate her at all, especially as she had but a single sheathing, and her bottom was not filled with nails, so that the worms would have eaten through it; besides that our provision would long before that time have been totally exhausted. I therefore weighed anchor and quitted this station, which was much the best that had been our lot during the whole run from the Strait of Magellan, on the 9th in the morning, at break of day, with a light breeze from the land.
[Footnote 59: The following quotation from the account of Bougainville's voyage may interest the reader:--"A sailor, belonging to my barge, being in search of shells, found buried in the sand, a piece of a plate of lead, on which we read these remains of English words, HOR'D HERE ICK MAJESTY. There yet remained the mark of the nails, with which they had fastened this inscription, that did not seem to be of any ancient date. The savages had, doubtless, torn off the plate, and broken it in pieces. This adventure engaged us carefully to examine all the neighbourhood of our anchorage. We therefore ran along the coast within the isle which covers the bay; we followed it for about two leagues, and came to a deep bay of very little breadth, open to the S.W. at the bottom of which we landed, near a fine river. Some trees sawed in pieces, or cut down with hatchets, immediately struck our eyes, and shewed us that this was the place where the English put in at. We now had little trouble to find the spot where the inscription had been placed. It was a very large and very apparent tree, on the right-hand shore of the river, in the middle of a great place, where we concluded that the English had pitched their tents; for we still saw several ends of ropes fastened to the trees, the nails stuck in the tree; and the plate had been torn off but a few days before; for the marks of it appeared quite fresh. In the tree itself, there were notches cut, either by the English or the islanders. Some fresh shoots coming up from one of the trees which was cut down, gave us an opportunity of concluding, that the English had anchored in this bay but about four months ago. The rope which we found, likewise sufficiently indicated it; for though it lay in a very wet place, it was not rotten. I make no doubt but that the ship which touched here was the Swallow, a vessel of 14 guns, commanded by Captain Carteret, and which sailed from Europe in August 1766, with the Dolphin, Captain Wallis. This is a very strange chance, by which we, among so many lands, come to the very spot where this rival nation had left a monument of an enterprize similar to ours." The name which B. gave to this harbour was Port Praslin.--E.]
To this place we gave the name of Carteret's Harbour; It is about W.N.W. four leagues from English Cove, and formed by two islands and the main; the largest, which is to the N.W. we called Cocoa-nut Island, and the other, which is to the S.E. we called Leigh's Island. Between these two islands there is shoal water, and each of them forms an entrance into the harbour; the south-east or weather entrance is formed by Leigh's Island, and in this there is a rock that appears above water, to which we gave the name of Booby Rock; the passage is between the rock and the island, nor is the rock dangerous; there being deep water close to it. The north-west, or lee entrance, is formed by Cocoa-nut Island, and this is the best, because there is good anchorage in it, the water in the other being too deep: We entered the harbour by the south-east passage, and went out of it by the north-west. At the south-east end of the harbour there is a large cove, which is secure from all winds, and fit to haul a ship into. Into this cove a river seemed to empty itself, but our boats did not examine it. In the north-west part of the harbour there is another cove, which our boat did examine, and from which she brought us very good water; this also is fit for a ship to haul into, and very convenient for wooding and watering: She may lie in any depth from thirty to five fathom, and at any distance from the shore, with a bottom of soft mud. The harbour runs about S.E. by S. and N.W. by N. and is about three miles long, and four cables' length broad. We anchored in thirty fathom, near the north-west entrance, and a-breast of the trees on Cocoa-nut Island.
SECTION VI.
Discovery of a Strait dividing the Land called Nova Britannia into two Islands, with a Description of several small Islands that lie in the Passage, and the Land on each Side, with the Inhabitants. When we got about four leagues off the land, after leaving this harbour, we met with a strong gale at E.S.E. a direction just contrary to that which would have favoured our getting round the land, and doubling Cape Saint Maria. We found at the same time a strong current, setting us to the N.W. into a deep bay or gulph, which Dumpier calls St George's Bay, and which lies between Cape St George and Cape Orford. As it was impossible to get round the land, against both the wind and current, and follow the track of Dampier, I was under the necessity of attempting a passage to the westward by this gulph, and the current gave me hopes that I should succeed. When I had got, therefore, about five miles to the south-west of Cocoa-nut Island, I steered to the N.W. and the N.N.W. as the land trends, and had soon good reason to believe that what has been called St George's Bay, and thought to be formed by two points of the same island, was indeed a channel between two islands, and so the event proved it to be.
Before it was dark, we found this channel divided by a pretty large island which I called the Duke of York's Island, and some smaller islands that were scattered about it. On the southermost side of the main, or the largest of the two islands that are divided by the channel or strait, which I left in possession of its ancient name, New Britain, there is some high land, and three remarkable hills close to each other, which I called the Mother and Daughters. The Mother is the middlemost and largest, and behind them we saw a vast column of smoke, so that probably one of them is a volcano: They are easily seen in clear weather at the distance of twenty leagues, and will then, by those who do not know them, be taken for islands; they seem to lie far inland, and the Mother bears about west from the Duke of York's Island. To the east of these hills there is a point making like a cape land, which I called Cape Palliser; and another to the westward, which I called Cape Stephens. Cape Stephens is the northernmost part of New Britain. North of this Cape is an island, which I called the Isle of Man. Cape Palliser and Cape Stephens bear about N.W. and S.E. of each other; and between them is a bay, the land of which near the water-side is low, pleasant, and level, and gradually rises, as it retires towards the Mother and Daughters, into very lofty hills, in general covered with vast woods, but having many clear spots like plantations intermixed. Upon this part of the country we saw many fires in the night, and have therefore reason to suppose that it is well inhabited. The Duke of York's Island lies between the two points, Cape Palliser and Cape Stephens. As it was not safe to attempt either of the passages into which the strait was divided by this island in the dark, we brought to for the night, and kept sounding, but had no ground with one hundred and forty fathom. The strait here, including the two passages, is about fifteen leagues broad. The land of the Duke of York's Island is level, and has a delightful appearance: Inland it is covered with lofty woods, and near the water-side are the houses of the natives, which stand not far from each other, among groves of cocoa-nut trees, so that the whole forms a prospect the most beautiful and romantic that can be imagined. We saw many of their canoes, which are very neatly made, and in the morning, soon after I made sail, some of them came off towards the ship; but as we had a fresh gale at that time, we could not stay for them. The latitude of this island is 4° 9' S., longitude 151° 20' E.; and it is five-and-twenty leagues distant from Cape George. As I coasted not New Britain, but the northermost coast of the strait, I passed through the passage that is formed by that coast, and the corresponding side of the Duke of York's Island, which is about eight leagues broad, and may be considered as the first narrow of the strait, and then steering N.W. by W. all night, we found at day-break that we had lost sight of the southermost island, or New Britain, and having now ascertained the supposed bay to be a strait, I called it St George's Channel, and to the northern island I gave the name of Nova Hibernia, or New Ireland. The weather being hazy, with a strong gale and sudden gusts, I continued to steer, along the coast of New Ireland at about the distance of six leagues from the shore, till I came off the west end of it, and then, altering our course, I steered W.N.W. I could plainly perceive, that we were set along the shore by a strong westerly current. At noon, we found, by observation, that we were much to the northward of the log; but as it was impossible the current could set due north, as that would be right against the land, I was obliged, for the correction of my account, to allow no less than four-and-twenty miles W.N.W. which is nearly as the land lies along the shore. At this time we had about half a point east variation; and at night we discovered a fine large island, forming a strait or passage with New Ireland. As it was very dark and squally, with rain, we brought-to, not knowing to what danger the navigation of this strait might expose us. The night was tempestuous, with much thunder and lightning, but about two in the morning the weather cleared; the gusts settled into a little breeze, and the moon shone very bright. At this time therefore we made sail again, and found a strong current setting us to the westward, through the passage of the second narrow, which is about five leagues wide. The island, which has a pleasant appearance, and is very populous, I called Sandwich Island, in honour of the earl, then first lord of the admiralty: It is larger than the Duke of York's Island, and there seems to be some good bays and harbours upon the coast. On the north part of it there is a remarkable peak, like a sugar-loaf; and opposite to it, upon the coast of New Ireland, there is just such another: They are distant about five leagues, in the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E. and N. by W. 1/2 W. All the while we lay-to off this island, we heard an incessant noise in the night, like the beating of a drum: And being becalmed just as we got through the strait, ten canoes put off from New Ireland, with about one hundred and fifty men on board, and rowed towards the ship; they came near enough to exchange some trifles with us, which were conveyed at the end of a long stick, but none of them would venture on board. They seemed to prefer such iron as we gave them to every thing else, though none of it was manufactured except nails; for, as I observed before, we had no cutlery ware on board. The canoes were very long and very narrow, with an outrigger, and some of them were very neatly made: One of them could not be less than ninety feet long, for it was very little shorter than the ship; it was, notwithstanding, formed of a single tree; it had some carved ornaments about it, and was rowed or paddled by three-and-thirty men: We saw no appearance of sails. The people are black, and woolly-headed, like Negroes, but have not the flat nose and thick lips; and we thought them much the same people as the inhabitants of Egmont's Island: Like them, they were all stark naked, except a few ornaments made of shells upon their arms and legs. They had, however, adopted a practice without which none of our belles and beaux are supposed to be completely drest, for the hair, or rather the wool, upon their heads, was very abundantly powdered with white powder; the fashion of wearing powder, therefore, is probably of higher antiquity than it is generally supposed to be, as well as of more extensive influence; it is indeed carried farther among these people than among any of the inhabitants of Europe, for they powder not only their heads but their beards too. Their heads however were decorated with more showy ornaments, for I observed that most of them had, just above one ear, stuck a feather, which appeared to have been taken from the tail of the common dunghill cock; so that these gentlemen are not without poultry for their table. They were armed with spears, and long sticks or poles, like the quarter-staff; but we did not see any bows and arrows among them: Possibly they might have them on board, and think proper to keep them out of sight. On my part, I kept every body at their quarters while they were hovering about the ship, and I observed that they had a very watchful eye upon our guns, as if they apprehended danger from them; so that possibly they are not wholly unacquainted with the effect of firearms. They had fishing nets with them, which, as well as their cordage, seemed to be very well made. After they had been some time with us, a breeze sprung up, and they returned to the shore.
The peak upon Sandwich Island lies in latitude 2° 53' S., longitude 149° 17' E. After the Indians had left us, we steered nearly west, and soon after saw a point of land, which proved to be the south-west extremity of New Ireland, to which I gave the name of Cape Byron: It lies in latitude 2° 30' S., longitude 149° 2' E. Over-against the coast of New Ireland, to the westward of Cape Byron, lies a fine, large island, to which I gave the name of New Hanover. Between this island and New Ireland, there is a strait or passage, which turns away to the N.E. In this passage lie several small islands, upon one of which there is a remarkable peak: This island I called Byron's Island, and the passage, or strait, I called Byron's Strait. The land of New Hanover is high; it is finely covered with trees, among which are many plantations, and the whole has a most beautiful appearance. The south-west point of it, which is a high bluff point, I called Queen Charlotte's Foreland, in honour of her majesty. This foreland, and the land about it, is remarkable for a great number of little hummocks or hills, but night coming on, with thick weather, hard squalls, and much rain, we could not see more of it distinctly enough to describe its appearance.
We steered westward all night, and in the morning, the weather being still thick, our view of New Hanover was very imperfect; but we saw, about eight leagues to the westward of it, six or seven small islands, which I called the Duke of Portland's Islands, two of which are pretty large. I now perceived by the swell of the sea that we were clear of all the land, and I found Saint George's Channel to be a much better and shorter passage, whether from the eastward or the westward, than round all the land and islands to the northward; the distress, therefore, which pushed me upon this discovery, may probably be, in its consequences, of great advantage to future navigators, especially as there can be no doubt but that refreshments of every kind may easily be procured from the natives who inhabit either of the coasts of the channel, or the islands that lie near them, for beads, ribbands, looking-glasses, and especially iron tools and cutlery-ware, of which they are immoderately fond, and with which, to our great misfortune, we were not furnished.