The American Encyclopedia of History, Biography and Travel / Comprising Ancient and Modern History: the Biography of Eminent Men of Europe and America, and the Lives of Distinguished Travelers.

by Thomas H. Prescott

The climate of the road of Typa is, at this season of the year, precarious; most of the crews were afflicted with colds, accompanied with a fever; which yielded to the salutary temperature of the island of Luconia, when they approached it on the 15th of February. Wanting wood, which he knew was dear at Manilla, La Perouse came to a resolution of remaining twenty-four hours at Marivella to procure some, and early the next morning all the carpenters of the two frigates were sent on shore with the long boats; the rest of the ship’s company, with the yawl, were reserved for a fishing-party; but they were unsuccessful, as they found nothing but rocks and very shallow water.

On the 28th the navigators came to an anchor in the port of Cavite, in three fathoms, at two cables’ length from the town. Cavite, situated three leagues to the south-west of Manilla, was formely a place of importance. Manilla is erected on the Bay which also bears its name, and lies at the mouth of a river, being one of the finest situations in the world: all the necessaries of life may be procured there in abundance, and on reasonable terms; but the cloths, and other manufactures of Europe, are extravagantly dear. La Perouse confidently asserts, that a great nation, without any other colony than the Philippines, which would establish a proper government there, might view all the European settlements in Africa and America without envy or regret. These islands contain about 3,000,000 of inhabitants, and that of Luconia consists of about a third of them. These people seem not inferior to Europeans; they cultivate the land with skill, and among them have ingenious goldsmiths, carpenters, joiners, masons, blacksmiths, etc. La Perouse says he has visited them at their villages, and found them affable, hospitable, and honest.

On the 9th of April, according to the French reckoning, and the 10th as the Manillese reckon, our navigators sailed and got to the northward of the island of Luconia. On the 21st they made the island of Formosa; and experienced, in the channel which divides it from that of Luconia, some very violent currents. On the 22d they set Lamy Island, at the south-west point of Formosa, about three leagues distant. The tack they then stood on conveyed them upon the coast of Formosa, near the entrance of the bay of Old Fort Zealand, where the city of Taywan, the capital of that island, is seated.

The whole of the next day a dead calm occurred, in mid channel, between the Bashee Islands, and those of Botol Tabacoxima. It is probable that vessels might provide themselves in this island with provision, wood, and water. La Perouse preserved the name of Kumi Island, which Father Gambil gives it in his chart. In the night of the 25th our navigators passed the strait of Corea, sounding very frequently, and as this coast appeared more eligible to follow than that of Japan, they approached within two leagues of it, and shaped a course parallel to its direction. On the 27th they made the signal to bear up, and steer east, and soon perceived, in the north-north-east, an Island not laid down upon any chart, at the distance of about twenty leagues from the coast of Corea. He named it Isle Dagelet, from the name of the astronomer who first discovered it. The circumference is about three leagues.

On the 30th of May, La Perouse shaped his course east towards Japan, and on the 2d of June saw two Japanese vessels, one of which passed within hail of him. It had a crew of twenty men, all habited in blue cassocks. This vessel was about one hundred tons burden, and had a single high mast stepped in the middle. The Astrolabe hailed her as she passed, but neither the question nor the answer was comprehended. At different times of the day seven Chinese vessels of a smaller construction were seen, which were better calculated to encounter bad weather.

During the seventy-five days since our navigators sailed from Manilla, they had run along the coasts of Quelpert Island, Corea, and Japan; but as these countries were inhabited by people inhospitable to strangers, they did not attempt to visit them. They were extremely impatient to reconnoitre this land, and it was the only part of the globe which had escaped the activity of Captain Cook. The geographers who had drawn the strait of Tessoy erroneously determined the limits of Jesso, of the Company’s land, and of Staten Island; it, therefore, became necessary to terminate the ancient discussions by indisputable facts. The latitude of Baie de Ternai was the same as that of Port Acqueis, though the description of it is very different. The plants which France produces carpeted the whole of this soil. Roses, lilies, and all European meadow-flowers were beheld at every step. Pine-trees embellished the tops of the mountains; and oaks, gradually diminishing in strength and size towards the sea, adorned the less elevated parts. Traces of men were frequently perceived by the havoc they had made. By these, and many other corroborating circumstances, the navigators were clearly of opinion, that the Tartars approach the borders of the sea, when invited thither by the season for fishing and hunting; that they assemble for these purposes along the rivers, and that the mass of people reside in the interior of the country, to attend to the multiplication of their flocks and herds. M. de Lange, with several other officers who had a passion for hunting, endeavored to pursue their sport, but without success, yet they imagined that by silence, perseverance, and posting themselves in ambush in the passes of the stags and bears, they might be able to procure some of them. This plan was determined on for the next day, but, with all their address and management it proved abortive. It was therefore generally acknowledged that fishing presented the greatest prospect of success. Each of the five creeks in the Baie de Ternai afforded a proper place for hauling the seine, and was rendered more convenient by a rivulet, near which they established their kitchen. They caught plenty of trout, salmon, cod-fish, harp-fish, plaice, and herrings.

At eight in the morning of the 7th, he made an island which seemed of great extent; he supposed, at first, that this was Segalien Island, the south part of which some geographers had placed two degrees too far to the northward. The aspect of this land was extremely different from that of Tartary; nothing was to be seen but barren rocks, the cavities of which retained the snow. To the highest of the mountains La Perouse gave the appellation of Peak Lamanon. M. de Lange, who had come to anchor, came instantly on board his ship, having already hoisted out his long boat and small boats. He submitted to La Perouse whether it would not be proper to land before night, in order to reconnoitre the country, and gather some necessary information from the inhabitants. By the assistance of their glasses, they perceived some cabins, and two of the islanders hastening towards the woods.

Our navigators were successful in making the natives comprehend that they requested a description of their country, and that of the Mantchous; one of the old sages rose up, and, with great perspicuity pointed out the most essential and interesting particulars with the end of his staff. His sagacity in guessing the meaning of the questions proposed to him was astonishing, though, in this particular, he was surpassed by another islander of about thirty years of age. The last-mentioned native informed our navigators that they had a commercial intercourse with the people who inhabit the banks of Segalien river, and he distinctly marked, by strokes of a pencil, the number of days it required for a canoe to sail up the river to the respective places of their general traffic. The bay in which they lay at anchor was named Baie de Langle, as Captain de Langle was the first who discovered it, and first landed on its shore. They spent the remainder of the day in visiting the country and its inhabitants. They were surprised to find among a people composed of hunters and fishermen, who were strangers to the cultivation of the earth, and without flocks or herds, such gentle manners, and such a superiority of intellect. The attention of the inhabitants of the Baie de Langle was attracted by the arts and manufactures of the French, they judiciously examined them, and debated among themselves the manner of fabricating the several articles. They were not unacquainted with the weaver’s shuttle. A loom of their construction was carried to France, by which it appeared that their methods of making linens was similar to that of the Europeans; but the thread of it is formed of the bark of the willow-tree. Though they do not cultivate the soil, they convert the spontaneous produce of it to the most useful and necessary purposes.

At daybreak, on the 4th of July, La Perouse made the signal for getting under way; early on the 19th, he saw the land of an island from north-east-by-north, as far as east-south-east, but so thick a fog prevailed that none of the points could be particularly discovered. The bay, which is the best in which he had anchored since his departure from Manilla, he named Baie d. Estaing. M. de Langle, who first landed in the island, found the islanders assembled round three or four canoes, laden with smoked fish: he was there informed that the men who composed the crews of the canoes were Mantchous, and had quitted the banks of the Segalien river to become purchasers of these fish. In the corner of the island, within a kind of circus planted with stakes, each surmounted with the head of a bear, the bones of animals lay scattered. As these people use no firearms, but engage the bears in close combat, their arrows being only capable of wounding them, this circus might probably be intended to perpetuate the memory of certain great exploits. Having entertained conjectures relative to the proximity of the Coast of Tartarty, La Perouse at length discovered that his conjectures were well-founded; for when the horizon became a little more extensive, he saw it perfectly. In the evening of the 22d he came to anchor in thirty-seven fathoms, about a league from land. He was then abreast of a small river, to the northward of which he saw a remarkable peak; its base is on the shore, and its summit on all sides preserves a regular form. La Perouse bestowed on it the title of Peak la Martiniere.

On the 28th, in the evening, our navigators were at the opening of a bay which presented a safe and convenient anchorage. M. de Langle reported to La Perouse that there was excellent shelter behind four islands; he had landed at a village of Tartars, where he was kindly received, and where he discovered a watering place abounding with the most limpid element. From M. de Langle’s report, La Perouse gave orders to prepare for anchoring in the bottom of the bay, which was named Baie de Castris.