After remaining a few days at Somoson collecting tortoise shell we took on board those Wallis island men and got under way with the intention of going to Wallis island and retake the Oldham. On our arrival there we sent in two boats well armed to reconnoitre. The boats were absent so long we became alarmed for their safety, and fired guns and sent up rockets to hasten their return, which had the desired effect. The reason for their long absence was because the distance from the ship to the shore was much greater than we had supposed. They found that an English man-of-war brig had been there and set fire to the ship and, after losing one man and killing many of the natives, they took the survivor (the boy) and carried him to Port Jackson.
The ship being destroyed and nothing left for us to do here, we proceeded to Rotumah, where we arrived the latter part of July, 1832. Here fourteen of us were discharged who were passengers from the Feejees. I remained here ten weeks, when the whaling schooner New Zealand, Capt. Rapsey, of Sidney, arrived. I went on board and applied for a berth with seven others of our party, but having a full crew and being scant of provisions, we were refused, but afterwards some of his men ran away and among them was his cooper, so I shipped as cooper to receive the same lay that the old cooper had.
We took wood and water and were about to leave when a large whale was seen from masthead, which we took, after getting one boat stove. The weather coming on rugged, we lost part of the head but saved 82 barrels from him. We beat up under the island and landed our stoven boat and the carpenter to repair her. When done, we sailed for the Kingsmill group of islands. Here we spoke ship Milo, Capt. West, of New Bedford, with 808 barrels of oil, and a Sidney barque with many of her crew sick with the scurvey and bound to Rotumah.
We saw a great number of whales around here but only took about 300 barrels. We used up some three months and put away for Rotumah, lacking about ten tons of a full cargo and expecting to get that in our passage. We proceeded to Rotumah, got a supply of wood, water and provisions and sailed for Sydney, where we arrived the last day of December. On our arrival the vessel and cargo was seized, but the crew was paid off for 65 tons, the amount reported.
I stopped in Sydney till the 18th of February, 1833, when I sailed in schooner Clementine belonging to the Isle of France, for New Castle, after coal. We took in at New Castle about 100 tons of coal and returned to Sydney, where we discharged on board of different ships about 60 tons. Then took in a cargo of cedar, barley and cheese, and on the 18th of March sailed for Hobart Town, where we arrived after about 10 days' passage. Here we discharged our cargo and took in a few bags of potatoes and about ten tons of stone ballast and on the 7th of April sailed again for Sydney where, after a very rough, boisterous passage, we arrived on the 23rd of the same month.
After our arrival I continued attached to the schooner for some time. At length the ship Tybee, of Salem, Capt. Mellet, arrived. I immediately went on board, found he wanted men, and engaged a berth. I then got my discharge from the schooner and joined the Tybee. We first took in a lot of hides, horns, hoops and bones. After filling the lower hold with these articles, we filled between decks with New Zealand flax and got ready for sea.
On the 9th of June, 1833, we got under way for the United States, after being searched by the search boat for runaway convicts. We steered out clear of the land, discharged the pilot and steered for New Zealand. On the 16th, fine moderate weather, we passed the Bay of Islands, New Zealand, and continued our course of Cape Horn, having strong winds and fair until near the longitude of the Cape. We then had much light easterly winds with plenty of snow. Went as far South as 63 degrees, where we saw large fields of ice extending to the horizon to the southward of us as far as we could see from masthead. I suffered very much from the cold, having been so long in a warm climate and my wardrobe now not the most abundant. But after a while we got by the Cape, made Staten Island and continued our course for Pernambuco. On our passage spoke an English sloop-of-war from Rio Janeiro for Valparaiso.
We arrived at Pernambuco the 22d of September, got some bread and other supplies, and left for America. We had fine winds and fair weather until in the neighborhood of Bermuda, where spoke schooner Baltimore, from Para. The weather was very squally, with heavy thunder. The schooner which was a short distance from us was struck by lightning, which shivered her mast, then passed down below the deck and went out through her foretopgallant mast, took a piece out of the head of her foreside about six inches above water.
We continued our course homeward. On the 26th of October, 1833, about midnight, we made Cape Cod light. At 9 a. m. took a pilot and about noon came to anchor in Salem harbor.