Narrative of the Voyages Round the World, Performed by Captain James Cook Part 8

Fourteen ducks, besides, other birds, having been shot in this place, he gave it the name of Duck Cove. When he was returning in the evening, he met with three of the natives, one man and two women, whose fears he soon dissipated, and whom he engaged in a conversation, that was little understood on either side. The youngest of the women had a volubility of tongue that could not be exceeded; and she entertained Captain Cook, and the gentlemen who accompanied him with a dance.

By degrees, our commander obtained the good will and confidence of the Indians. His presents, however, were at first received with much indifference, hatchets and spike-nails excepted. At a visit, on the 12th, from a family of the natives, the captain, perceiving they approached the s.h.i.+p with great caution, met them in a boat, which he quitted when he came near them, and went into their canoe. After all, he could not prevail upon them to go on board the Resolution; but at length they put on sh.o.r.e in a little creek, and seating themselves abreast the English vessel, entered into familiar conversation with several of the officers and seamen; in which they paid a much greater regard to some, whom they probably mistook for females, than to others. So well indeed, were they now reconciled to our voyagers, that they took up their quarters nearly within the distance of a hundred yards from the s.h.i.+p's watering place. Captain Cook, in his interview with them, had caused the bagpipes and fife to play, and the drum to beat. The two former they heard with apparent insensibility; but the latter excited in them a certain degree of attention.

On the 18th, a chief, with whom some connexions had already been formed, was induced, together with his daughter, to come on board the Resolution. Previously to his doing it, he presented the captain with a piece of cloth and a green talk hatchet. He gave also a piece of cloth to Mr. Forster; and the girl gave another to Mr. Hodges. Though this custom of making presents, before any are received, is common with the natives of the South Sea isles, our commander had never till now seen it practised in New Zealand. Another thing performed by the chief before he went on board was the taking of a small green branch in his hand, with which he struck the s.h.i.+p's side several times, repeating a speech or prayer. This manner, as it were, of making peace is likewise prevalent among all the nations of the South Seas. When the chief was carried into the cabin, he viewed every part of it with some degree of surprise; but it was not possible to fix his attention to any one object for a single moment. The works of art appeared to him in the same light as those of nature, and were equally distant from his powers of comprehension. He and his daughter seemed to be the most struck with the number of the decks, and other parts of the s.h.i.+p.

As Captain Cook proceeded in examining Dusky Bay, he occasionally met with some few more of the natives, with regard to whom he used every mode of conciliation. On the 20th the chief and his family, who had been more intimate with our navigators than any of the rest of the Indians, went away, and never returned again. This was the more extraordinary, as in all his visits he had been gratified with presents. From different persons, he had gotten nine or ten hatchets, and three or four times that number of large spike nails, besides a variety of other articles. So far as these things might be deemed riches in New Zealand, he was undoubtedly become by far the most wealthy man in the whole country.

One employment of our voyagers, while in Dusky Bay, consisted in seal hunting, an animal which was found serviceable for three purposes. The skins were made use of for rigging, the fat afforded oil for the lamps, and the flesh was eaten. On the 24th, the captain, having five geese remaining of those he had brought with him from the Cape of Good Hope, went and left them at a place to which he gave the name of Goose Cove. This place he fixed upon for two reasons; first, because there were no inhabitants to disturb them; and, secondly, because here was the greatest supply of proper food; so that he had no doubt of their breeding, hoped that in time they might spread over the whole country, to its eminent advantage. Some days afterward, when everything belonging to the s.h.i.+p had been removed from the sh.o.r.e, he set fire to the top-wood in order to dry a piece of ground, which he dug up, and sowed with several sorts of garden seeds. The soil, indeed, was not such as to promise much success to the planter; but it was the best that could be discovered.

The 25th of April was the eighth fair day our people had successively enjoyed; and there was reason to believe that such a circ.u.mstance was very uncommon in the place where they now lay, and at that season of the year. This favourable weather afforded them the opportunity of more speedily completing their wood and water, and of putting the s.h.i.+p into a condition for sea. On the evening of the 25th, it began to rain; and the weather was afterwards extremely variable, being, at times, in a high degree wet, cold, and stormy. Nothing, however, prevented Captain Cook from prosecuting, with his usual sagacity and diligence, his search into every part of Dusky Bay; and, as there are few places in New Zealand where necessary refreshments may be so plentifully obtained, as in this bay, he hath taken care to give such a description of it, and of the adjacent country, as may be of service to succeeding navigators. Although this country lies far remote from what is now the trading part of the world, yet, as he justly observes, we can by no means tell what use future ages may derive from the discoveries made in the present.

The various anchoring places are delineated on our commander's chart, and the most convenient of them he has particularly described. Not only about Dusky Bay, but through all the southern part of the western coast of Tavai-poenammo, the country is exceedingly mountainous. A prospect more rude and craggy is rarely to be met with; for, inland, there are only to be seen the summits of mountains of a tremendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, excepting where they are covered with snow. But the land which borders on the sea-coast is thickly clothed with wood almost down to the water's edge; and this is the case with regard to all the adjoining islands. The trees are of various kinds, and are fit for almost every possible use. Excepting in the river Thames, Captain Cook had not found finer timber in all New Zealand; the most considerable species of which is the spruce tree; for that name he had given it, from the similarity of its foliage to the American spruce, though the wood is more ponderous, and bears a greater resemblance to the pitch pine.

Many of these trees are so large, that they would be able to furnish mainmasts for fifty-gun s.h.i.+ps. Amidst the variety of aromatic trees and shrubs which this part of New Zealand produced, there was none which bore fruit fit to be eaten. The country was not found so dest.i.tute of quadrupeds as was formerly imagined.

As Dusky Bay presented many advantages to our navigators, so it was attended with some disagreeable circ.u.mstances. There were great numbers of small black sandflies, which were troublesome to a degree that our commander had never experienced before. Another evil arose from the continual quant.i.ty of rain that occurred in the bay. This might, indeed, in part proceed from the season of the year: but it is probable that the country must at all times be subject to much wet weather, in consequence of the vast height and vicinity of the mountains. It was remarkable that the rain, though our people were perpetually exposed to it, was not productive of any evil consequences. On the contrary, such of the men as were sick and complaining when they entered the bay, recovered daily, and the whole crew soon became strong and vigorous. So happy a circ.u.mstance could only be attributed to the healthiness of the place, and the fresh provisions it afforded; among which the beer was a very material article.

The inhabitants of Dusky Bay are of the same race with the other natives of New Zealand, speak the same language, and adhere nearly to the same customs. Their mode of life appears to be a wandering one; and though they are few in number, no traces were remarked of their families being connected together In any close bonds of union or friends.h.i.+p.

While the Resolution lay in the bay, Mr. Wales made a variety of scientific observations relative to lat.i.tude and longitude, the variation of the compa.s.s, and the diversity of the tides.

When Captain Cook left Dusky Bay, he directed his course for Queen Charlotte's Sound, where he expected to find the Adventure. This was on the 11th of May, and nothing remarkable occurred till the 17th, when the wind at once flattened to a calm, the sky became suddenly obscured by dark dense clouds, and there was every prognostication of a tempest. Soon after, six waterspouts were seen, four of which rose and spent themselves between the s.h.i.+p and the land; the fifth was at a considerable distance, on the other side of the vessel; and the sixth, the progressive motion of which was not in a straight, but in a crooked line, pa.s.sed within fifty yards of the stern of the Resolution, without producing any evil effect. As the captain had been informed that the firing of a gun would dissipate waterspouts, he was sorry that he had not tried the experiment. But, though he was near enough, and had a gun ready for the purpose, his mind was so deeply engaged in viewing these extraordinary meteors, that he forgot to give the necessary directions.

On the next day, the Resolution came within sight of Queen Charlotte's Sound, where Captain Cook had the satisfaction of discovering the Adventure; and both s.h.i.+ps felt uncommon joy at thus meeting again after an absence of fourteen weeks. As the events which happened to Captain Furneaux, during the separation of the two vessels, do not fall within the immediate design of the present narrative, it may be sufficient to observe, that he had an opportunity of examining, with somewhat more accuracy than had hitherto been done, Van Dieman's Land, and his opinion was, that there are no straits between this land and New Holland, but a very deep bay. He met, likewise, with farther proofs, that the natives of New Zealand are eaters of human flesh.

The morning after Captain Cook's arrival in Queen Charlotte's Sound, he went himself, at daybreak, to look for scurvy-gra.s.s, celery, and other vegetables; and he had the good fortune to return with a boatload, in a very short s.p.a.ce of time. Having found, that a sufficient quant.i.ty of these articles might be obtained for the crews of both the s.h.i.+ps, he gave orders that they should be boiled with wheat and portable broth, every day for breakfast; and with pease and broth for dinner. Experience had taught him, that the vegetables now mentioned, when thus dressed, are extremely beneficial to seamen, in removing the various s...o...b..tic complaints to which they are subject.

Our commander had entertained a desire of visiting Van Dieman's Land, in order to inform himself whether it made a part of New Holland. But as this point had been, in a great measure, cleared up by Captain Furneaux, he came to a resolution to continue his researches to the east, between the lat.i.tudes of 41 and 46; and he directed accordingly, that the s.h.i.+ps should be gotten ready for putting to sea as soon as possible. On the 20th, he sent on sh.o.r.e the only ewe and ram that remained of those which, with the intention of leaving them in this country, he had brought from the Cape of Good Hope. Soon after he visited several gardens, that by order of captain Furneaux had been made and planted with various articles; all of which were in such a flouris.h.i.+ng state, that, if duly attended to, they promised to be of great utility to the natives. The next day, Captain Cook himself set some men to work to form a garden on Long Island, which he stocked with different seeds, and particularly with the roots of turnips, carrots, parsnips, and potatoes. These were the vegetables that would be of the most real use to the Indians, and of these it was easy to give them an idea, by comparing them with such roots as they themselves knew. On the 22nd, Captain Cook received the unpleasant intelligence, that the ewe and ram, which with so much care and trouble he had brought to this place, were both of them found dead. It was supposed that they had eaten some poisonous plant; and by this accident all the captain's hopes of stocking New Zealand with a breed of sheep were instantly blasted.

The intercourse which our great navigator had with the inhabitants of the country, during this his second visit to Queen Charlotte's Sound, was of a friendly nature. Two or three families took up their abode near the s.h.i.+ps, and employed themselves daily in fis.h.i.+ng, and in supplying the English with the fruits of their labour. No small advantage hence accrued to our people, who were by no means such expert fishers as the natives, nor were any of our methods of fis.h.i.+ng equal to theirs. Thus, in almost every state of society, particular arts of life are carried to perfection; and there is something which the most polished nations may learn from the most barbarous.

On the 2nd of June, when the Resolution and Adventure were almost ready to put to sea, Captain Cook sent on sh.o.r.e, on the east side of the sound, two goats, a male and female; and Captain Furneaux left, near Cannibal Cove, a boar and two breeding sows. The gentlemen had little doubt but that the country would, in time, be stocked with these animals, provided they were not destroyed by the Indians before they became wild. Afterwards there would be no danger; and as the natives knew nothing of their being left behind, it was hoped that it might be some time before they would be discovered.

It is remarkable that, during Captain Cook's second visit to Charlotte Sound, he was not able to recollect the face of any one person whom he had seen there three years before. Nor did it once appear, that even a single Indian had the least knowledge of our commander, or of any of our people who had been with him in his last voyage. Hence he thought it highly probable, that the greatest part of the natives who inhabited this sound to the beginning of the year 1770, had either since been driven out of it, or had removed, of their own accord, to some other situation. Not one-third of the inhabitants were there now, that had been seen at that time. Their strong hold on the point of Motuara was deserted, and in every part of the sound many forsaken habitations were discovered. In the captain's opinion, there was not any reason to believe, that the place had ever been very populous.

From comparing the two voyages together, it may be collected that the Indians of Eahei-nomauwe are in somewhat of a more improved state of society than those of Tavai-poenammo.

Part of the 4th of June was employed by Captain Cook in visiting a chief and a whole tribe of the natives, consisting of between ninety and a hundred persons, including men, women and children. After the captain had distributed some presents among these people, and shewn to the chief the gardens which had been made, he returned on board, and spent the remainder of the day in the celebration of his royal master's nativity. Captain Furneaux and all his officers were invited upon the occasion; and the seamen were enabled, by a double allowance, to partake of the general joy.

As some might think it an extraordinary step in our commander, to proceed in discoveries so far south as forty-six degrees of lat.i.tude in the very depth of winter, he has recorded his motives for this part of his conduct. Winter, he acknowledges, is by no means favourable for discoveries. Nevertheless, it appeared to him to be necessary that something should be done in that season, in order to lessen the work in which he was engaged; and lest he should not be able to finish the discovery of the southern part of the south Pacific Ocean in the ensuing summer. Besides, if he should discover any land in his route to the east, he would be ready to begin to explore it, as soon as ever the season should be favourable. Independently of all these considerations, he had little to fear; having two good s.h.i.+ps well provided, and both the crews being healthy. Where then could he better employ his time? If he did nothing more, he was at least in hopes of being enabled to point out to posterity, that these seas may be navigated, and that it is practicable to pursue discoveries even in the depth of winter. Such was the ardour of our navigator for prosecuting the ends of his voyage, in circ.u.mstances which would have induced most men to act a more cautious part!

During Captain Cook's stay in the sound, he had observed, that the second visit to this country had not mended the morals of the natives of either s.e.x. He had always looked upon the females of New Zealand as more chaste than the generality of Indian women. Whatever favours a few of them might have granted to the people in the Endeavour, such intercourse usually took place in a private manner, and did not appear to be encouraged by the men. But now the captain was told, that the male Indians were the chief promoters of this shameful traffic, and that, for a spikenail, or any other thing they valued, they would oblige the women to prost.i.tute themselves, whether it were agreeable or contrary to their inclinations. At the same time no regard was paid to the privacy which decency required. The account of this fact must be read with concern by every wellwisher to the good order and happiness of society, even without adverting to considerations of a higher nature.

On the 7th of June, Captain Cook put to sea from Queen Charlotte's Sound, with the Adventure in company. I shall omit the nautical part of the route from New Zealand to Otaheite, which continued till the 15th of August; and shall only select such circ.u.mstances as are more immediately suitable to the design of the present narrative. It was found, on the 29th of July, that the crew of the Adventure were in a sickly state. Her cook was dead, and about twenty of her best men were rendered incapable of duty by the scurvy and flux. At this time, no more than three men were on the sick list on board the Resolution; and only one of these was attacked with the scurvy. Some others, however, began to discover the symptoms of it; and, accordingly, recourse was had to wort, marmalade of carrots, and the rob of lemons and oranges, with the usual success.

Captain Cook could not account for the prevalence of the scurvy being so much greater in the Adventure than in the Resolution, unless it was owing to the crew of the former being more s...o...b..tic when they arrived in New Zealand than the crew of the latter, and to their eating few or no vegetables while they lay in Queen Charlotte's Sound. This arose partly from their want of knowing the right sorts, and partly from the dislike which seamen have to the introduction of a new diet. Their aversion to any unusual change of food is so great, that it can only be overcome by the steady and persevering example and authority of a commander. Many of Captain Cook's people, officers as well as common sailors, disliked the boiling of celery, scurvy-gra.s.s, and other greens with pease and wheat; and by some the provision, thus prepared, was refused to be eaten. But, as this had no effect on the captain's conduct, their prejudice gradually subsided: they began to like their diet as much as the rest of their companions; and, at length, there was hardly a man in the s.h.i.+p who did not attribute the freedom of the crew from the scurvy, to the beer and vegetables which had been made use of at New Zealand. Henceforward, whenever the seamen came to a place where vegetables could be obtained, our commander seldom found it necessary to order them to be gathered; and, if they were scarce, happy was the person who could lay hold on them first.

On the 1st of August, when the s.h.i.+ps were in the lat.i.tude of 25 1', and the longitude of 130 6' west, they were nearly in the same situation with that which is a.s.signed by Captain Carteret for Pitcairn's Island, discovered by him in 1767. For this island, therefore, our voyagers diligently looked; but saw nothing. According to the longitude in which he had placed it, Captain Cook must have pa.s.sed it fifteen leagues to the west. But as this was uncertain, he did not think it prudent to lose any time in searching for it, as the sickly state of the Adventure's people required as speedy an arrival as possible at a place of refreshment. A sight of it, however, would have been of use in verifying or correcting, not only the longitude of Pitcairn's Island, but of the others discovered by Captain Carteret in that neighbourhood. It is a diminution of the value of that gentleman's voyage, that his longitude was not confirmed by astronomical observations, and that hence it was liable to errors, the correction of which was out of his power.

As Captain Cook had now gotten to the northward of Captain Carteret's tracks, he no longer entertained any hopes of discovering a continent.

Islands were all that he could expect to find, until he returned again to the south. In this and his former voyage, he had crossed the ocean in the lat.i.tude of 40 and upwards, without meeting any thing which could, in the least, induce him to believe that he should attain the great object of his pursuit. Every circ.u.mstance concurred to convince him, that, between the meridian of America and New Zealand, there is no southern continent; and that there is no continent farther to the south, unless in a very high lat.i.tude. This, however; was a point too important to be left to opinions and conjectures. It was to be determined by facts; and the ascertainment of it was appointed, by our commander, for the employment of the ensuing summer.

It was the 6th of August before the s.h.i.+ps had the advantage of the trade wind. This they got at southeast, being at that time in the lat.i.tude of 19 36' south, and the longitude of 131 32' west. As Captain Cook had obtained the south east trade wind, he directed his course to the west-north-west; not only with a view of keeping in with the strength of the wind, but also to get to the north of the islands discovered in his former voyage, that he might have a chance of meeting with any other islands which might lie in the way. It was in the track which had been pursued by M. de Bougainville that our commander now proceeded. He was sorry that he could not spare time to sail to the north of this track; but at present, on account of the sickly state of the Adventure's crew, the arriving at a place where refreshments could be procured was an object superior to that of discovery. To four of the islands which were pa.s.sed by Captain Cook, he gave the names of Resolution Island, Doubtful Island, Furneaux Island, and Adventure Island. They are supposed to be the same that were seen by M. de Bougainville; and these with several others, which const.i.tute a cl.u.s.ter of low and half-drowned isles, that gentleman distinguished by the appellation of the Dangerous Archipelago. The smoothness of the sea sufficiently convinced our navigators, that they were surrounded by them, and that it was highly necessary to proceed with the utmost caution, especially in the night.

Early in the morning, on the 15th of August, the s.h.i.+ps came within sight of Osnaburg Island, or Maitea, which had been discovered by Captain Wallis. Soon after, Captain Cook acquainted Captain Furneaux, that it was his intention to put into Oaiti-piha Bay, near the south-east end of Otaheite, for the purpose of procuring what refreshments he could from that part of the island, before he went down to Matavai. At six to the evening the island was seen bearing west; and our people continued to advance towards it till midnight, when they brought to, till four o'clock in the morning; after which, they sailed in for the land with a fine breeze at east. At day-break, they found themselves within the distance of half a league from the reef; and, at the same time, the breeze began to fail them, and was at last succeeded by a calm. It now became necessary for the boats to be hoisted out, in order to tow off the s.h.i.+ps; but all the efforts of our voyagers, to keep them from being carried near the reef, were insufficient for the purpose. As the calm continued, the situation of the vessels became still more dangerous. Captain Cook, however, entertained hopes of getting round the western point of the reef and into the bay. But, about two o'clock in the afternoon, when he came before an opening or break of the reef, through which he had flattered himself that he might get with the s.h.i.+ps, he found, on sending to examine it, that there was not a sufficient depth of water.

Nevertheless, this opening caused such an indraught of the tide of flood through it, as was very near proving fatal to the Resolution; for as soon as the vessels got into the stream, they were carried towards the reef with great impetuosity. The moment the captain perceived this, he ordered one of the warping machines, which was held in readiness, to be carried out with about four hundred fathoms of rope; but it did not produce the least effect: and our navigators had now in prospect the horrors of s.h.i.+pwreck. They were not more than two cables' length from the breakers; and, though it was the only probable method which was left of saving the s.h.i.+ps, they could find no bottom to anchor. An anchor, however, they did drop; but before it took hold, and brought them up, the Resolution was in less than three fathom water and struck at every fall of the sea, which broke close under her stern in a dreadful surf, and threatened her crew every moment with destruction. Happily the Adventure brought up without striking.

Presently, the Resolution's people carried out two kedge-anchors, with hawsers to each; and these found ground a little without the bower. By heaving upon them, and cutting away the bower anchor, the s.h.i.+p was gotten afloat, where Captain Cook and his men lay for some time in the greatest anxiety, expecting every minute that either the kedges would come home, or the hawsers be cut in two by the rocks. At length, the tide ceased to act in the same direction: upon which the captain ordered all the boats to try to tow off the vessel. Having found this to be practicable, the two kedges were hove up; and at that moment a light air came off from the land, by which the boats were so much a.s.sisted, that the Resolution soon got clear of all danger. Our commander then ordered all the boats to a.s.sist the Adventure; but before they reached her, she was under sail with the land breeze, and in a little time joined her companion, leaving behind her three anchors, her coasting cable, and two hawsers, which were never recovered. Thus were our voyagers once more safe at sea, after narrowly escaping being wrecked on the very island, at which, but a few days before, they had most ardently wished to arrive. It was a peculiarly happy circ.u.mstance, that the calm continued, after bringing the s.h.i.+ps into so dangerous a state; for if the sea breeze, as is usually the ease, had set, in, the Resolution must inevitably have been lost, and probably the Adventure likewise. During the time in which the English were in this critical situation, a number of the natives were either on board or near the vessel in their canoes.

Nevertheless, they seemed to be insensible of our people's danger, shewing not the least surprise, joy, or fear, when the s.h.i.+ps were striking; and they went away a little before sunset, quite unconcerned. Though most of them knew Captain Cook again, and many inquired for Mr. Banks and others who had been with the captain before, it was remarkable that not one of them asked for Tupia.

On the 17th the Resolution and Adventure anch.o.r.ed in Oaiti-piha Bay, immediately upon which they were crowded with the inhabitants of the country, who brought with them cocoa-nuts, plantains, bananas, apples, yams, and other roots, which were exchanged for nails and beads. To some, who called themselves chiefs, our commander made presents of s.h.i.+rts, axes, and several articles besides, in return for which they promised to bring him hogs and fowls; a promise which they did not perform, and which, as might be judged from their conduct, they had never had the least intention of performing. In the afternoon of the same day, Captain Cook landed in company with Captain Furneaux, for the purpose of viewing the watering-place, and of sounding the disposition of the natives. The article of water, which was now much wanted on board, he found might conveniently he obtained, and the inhabitants behaved with great civility. Notwithstanding this civility, nothing was brought to market, the next day, but fruit and roots, though it was said that many hogs were seen about the houses in the neighbourhood. The cry was, that they belonged to Waheatoua, the earee de hi, or king; who had not yet appeared, nor indeed, any other chief of note. Among the Indians that came on board the Resolution, and no small number of whom did not scruple to call themselves earees, there was one of this sort, who had been entertained in the cabin most of the day, and to all of whose friends Captain Cook had made presents, as well as liberally to himself. At length, however, he was caught taking things which did not belong to him, and handing them out of the quarter gallery. Various complaints of the like nature being, at the same time, made against the natives who were on deck, our commander turned them all out of the s.h.i.+p. His cabin guest was very rapid in his retreat; and the captain was so exasperated at his behaviour, that after the earee had gotten to some distance from the Resolution, he fired two muskets over his head, by which he was so terrified that he quitted his canoe and took to the water. Captain Cook then sent a boat to take the canoe; but when the boat approached the sh.o.r.e, the people on land began to pelt her with stones. The captain, therefore, being in some pain for her safety, as she was unarmed, went himself in another boat to protect her, and ordered a great gun, loaded with ball, to be fired along the coast, which made all the Indians retire from the sh.o.r.e, and he was suffered to bring away two canoes without the least show of opposition. In a few hours peace was restored, and the canoes were returned to the first person who came for them.

It was not till the evening of this day, that any one inquired after Tupia, and then the inquiry was made by only two or three of the natives. When they learned the cause of his death, they were perfectly satisfied; nor did it appear to our commander that they would have felt a moment's uneasiness, if Tupia's decease had proceeded from any other cause than sickness. They were as little concerned about Aotourou, the man who had gone away with M. de Bougainville. But they were continually asking for Mr. Banks, and for several others who had accompanied Captain Cook in his former voyage.

Since that voyage, very considerable changes had happened in the country. Toutaha, the regent of the great peninsula of Otaheite, had been killed, in a battle which was fought between the two kingdoms about five months before the Resolution's arrival; and Otto was now the reigning prince. Tubourai Tamaide, and several more of the princ.i.p.al friends to the English, had fallen in this battle, together with a large number of the common people. A peace subsisted, at present, between the two grand divisions of the island.

On the 20th, one of the natives carried off a musket belonging to the guard onsh.o.r.e. Captain Cook, who was himself a witness of the transaction, sent out some of his people after him; but this would have been to very little purpose, if the thief had not been intercepted by several of his own countrymen, who pursued him voluntarily, knocked him down, and returned the musket to the English.

This act of justice prevented our commander from being placed in a disagreeable situation. If the natives had not given their immediate a.s.sistance, it would scarcely have been in his power to have recovered the musket, by any gentle means whatever; and if he had been obliged to have recourse to other methods, he was sure of loosing more than ten times its value.

The fraud of one, who appeared as a chief, is, perhaps, not unworthy of notice. This man, in a visit to Captain Cook, presented him with a quant.i.ty of fruit; among which were a number of cocoa-nuts, that had already been exhausted of their liquor by our people, and afterwards thrown overboard. These the chief had picked up, and tied so artfully in bundles, that at first the deception was not perceived. When he was informed of it, without betraying the least emotion, and affecting a total ignorance of the matter, he opened two or three of the nuts himself, signified that he was satisfied of the fact, and then went on sh.o.r.e and sent off a quant.i.ty of plantains and bananas. The ingenuity and the impudence of fraud are not solely the production of polished society.

Captain Cook, on the 23rd, had an interview with Waheatoua, the result of which was that our navigators obtained this day as much pork as furnished a meal to the crews of both the vessels. In the captain's last voyage, Waheatoua, who was then little more than a boy, was called Tearee; but having succeeded to his father's authority, he had a.s.sumed his father's name.

The fruits that were procured at Oaiti-piha Bay contributed greatly to the recovery of the sick people belonging to the Adventure. Many of them, who had been so ill as to be incapable of moving without a.s.sistance, were, in the compa.s.s of a few days, so far recovered that they were able to walk about of themselves. When the Resolution entered the bay, she had but one s...o...b..tic man on board. A marine, who had long been sick; and who died the second day after her arrival, of a complication of disorders, had not the least mixture of the scurvy.

On the 24th, the s.h.i.+ps put to sea, and arrived the next evening in Matavia Bay. Before they could come to an anchor, the decks were crowded with the natives, many of whom Captain Cook knew, and by most of whom he was well remembered. Among a large mult.i.tude of people, who were collected together upon the sh.o.r.e, was Otoo, the king of the island. Our commander paid him a visit on the following day, at Oparree, the place of his residence; and found him to be a fine, personable, well-made man, six feet high, and about thirty years of age. The qualities of his mind were not correspondent to his external appearance: for when Captain Cook endeavoured to obtain from him the promise of a visit on board, he acknowledged that he was afraid of the guns, and, indeed, manifested in all his actions that he was a prince of a timorous disposition.

Upon the captain's return from Oparree, he found the tents, and the astronomer's observatories, set up, on the same spot from which the transit of Venus had been observed in 1769. The sick, being twenty in number from the Adventure, and one from the Resolution, all of whom were ill of the scurvy, he ordered to be landed; and he appointed a guard of marines on sh.o.r.e, under the command of Lieutenant Edgc.u.mbe.

On the 27th, Otoo was prevailed upon, with some degree of reluctance, to pay our commander a visit. He came attended with a numerous train, and brought with him fruits, a hog, two large fish, and a quant.i.ty of cloth: for which he and all his retinue were gratified with suitable presents. When Captain Cook conveyed his guests to land, he was met by a venerable lady, the mother of the late Toutaha, who seized him by both hands, and burst into a flood of tears, saying, _Toutaha tiyo no toutee matty Toutaha_; that is, 'Toutaha, your friend, or the friend of Cook, is dead.' He was so much affected with her behaviour, that it would have been impossible for him to have refrained from mingling his tears with hers, had not Otoo, who was displeased with the interview, taken him from her. It was with difficulty that the captain could obtain permission to see her again, when he gave her an axe and some other articles. Captain Furneaux, at this time presented the king with two fine goats, which, if no accident befell them, might be expected to multiply.

Several days had pa.s.sed in a friendly intercourse with the natives, and in the procuring provisions, when, in the evening of the 30th, the gentlemen on board the Resolution were alarmed with the cry of murder, and with a great noise on sh.o.r.e, near the bottom of the bay, and at a distance from the English encampment. Upon this, Captain Cook, who suspected that some of his own men were concerned in the affair, immediately dispatched an armed boat, to know the cause of the disturbance, and to bring off such of his people as should be found in the place. He sent also, to the Adventure, and to the post on sh.o.r.e, to learn who were missing: for none but those who were upon duty were absent from the Resolution. The boats speedily returned with three marines and a seaman. Some others, likewise, were taken, belonging to the Adventure; and all of them being put under confinement, our commander, the next morning, ordered them to be punished according to their deserts. He did not find that any mischief had been done, and the men would confess nothing. Some liberties which they had taken with the women had probably given occasion to the disturbance. To whatever cause it was owing, the natives were so much alarmed, that they fled from their habitations in the dead of night, and the alarm was spread many miles along the coast. In the morning, when Captain Cook went to visit Otoo, by appointment, he found he had removed, or rather fled, to a great distance from the usual place of his abode.

After arriving where he was, it was some hours before the captain could be admitted to the sight of him; and then he complained of the riot of the preceding evening.

The sick being nearly recovered, the water completed, and the necessary repairs of the s.h.i.+ps finished, Captain Cook determined to put to sea without delay. Accordingly, on the 1st of September, he ordered every thing to be removed from the sh.o.r.e, and the vessels to be unmoored, in which employment his people were engaged the greater part of the day. In the afternoon of the same day, Lieutenant Pickersgill returned from Attahourou, to which place he had been sent by the captain, for the purpose of procuring some hogs that had been promised. In this expedition, the lieutenant had seen the celebrated Oberea, who has been so much the object of poetical fancy. Her situation was very humble compared with what it had formerly been. She was not only altered much for the worse in her person, but appeared to be poor, and of little or no consequence or authority in the island.

In the evening, a favourable wind having sprung up, our commander put to sea; on which occasion he was obliged to dismiss his Otaheite friends sooner than they wished to depart; but well satisfied with his kind and liberal treatment.

From Matavai Bay, Captain Cook directed his course for the island of Huaheine, where he intended to touch. This island he reached the next day, and, early in the morning of the 3rd of September, made sail for the harbour of Owharre, in which he soon came to an anchor. The Adventure, not happening to turn into the harbour with equal facility, got ash.o.r.e on the north side of the channel; but, by the timely a.s.sistance which Captain Cook had previously provided, in case such an accident should occur, she was gotten off again, without receiving any damage. As soon as both the s.h.i.+ps were in safety, our commander; together with Captain Furneaux, landed upon the island, and was received by the natives with the utmost cordiality. A trade immediately commenced; so that our navigators had a fair prospect of being plentifully supplied with fresh pork and fowls, which, to people in their situation, was a very desirable circ.u.mstance. On, the 4th, Lieutenant Pickersgill sailed with the cutter, on a trading party, toward the south end of the isle. Another trading party was also sent on sh.o.r.e near the s.h.i.+ps, which party Captain Cook attended himself, to see that the business was properly conducted at the first setting out, this being a point of no small importance. Every thing being settled to his mind, he went, accompanied by Captain Furneaux, and Mr.

Forster, to pay a visit to his old friend Oree, the chief of the island. This visit was preceded by many preparatory ceremonies. Among other things the chief sent to our commander the inscription engraved on a small piece of pewter, which he had left with him in July, 1761.

It was in the bag that Captain Cook had made for it, together with a piece of counterfeit English coin, and a few beads, which had been put in at the same time; whence it was evident what particular care had been taken of the whole. After the previous ceremonies had been discharged, the captain wanted to go to the king, but he was informed that the king would come to him. Accordingly, Oree went up to our commander, and fell on his neck, and embraced him; nor was it a ceremonious embrace, for the tears which trickled down the venerable old man's cheeks sufficiently bespoke the language of his heart. The presents, which Captain Cook made to the chief on this occasion, consisted of the most valuable articles he had; for he regarded him as a father. Oree, in return, gave the captain a hog, and a quant.i.ty of cloth, promising that all the wants of the English should be supplied; and it was a promise to which he faithfully adhered. Indeed, he carried his kindness to Captain Cook so far, as not to fail sending him every day, for his table, a plentiful supply of the very best of ready-dressed fruits and roots.

Hitherto, all things had gone on in the most agreeable manner; but on Monday, the 6th, several circ.u.mstances occurred, which rendered it an unpleasant and troublesome day. When our commander went to the trading-place, he was informed that one of the inhabitants had behaved with remarkable insolence. The man was completely equipped in the war habit, had a club in each hand, and seemed bent upon mischief. Captain Cook took, therefore, the clubs from him, broke them before his eyes, and with some difficulty compelled him to retire. About the same time, Mr. Sparrman, who had imprudently gone out alone to botanize, was a.s.saulted by two men, who stripped him of every thing which he had about him, excepting his trowsers, and struck him again and again with his own hanger, though happily without doing him any harm. When they had accomplished their purpose, they made off; after which another of the natives brought a piece of cloth to cover him, and conducted him to the trading place, where the inhabitants, in a large number, were a.s.sembled. The instant that Mr. Sparrman appeared in the condition now described, they all fled with the utmost precipitation. Captain Cook, having recalled a few of the Indians, and convinced them that he should take no step to injure those who were innocent, went to Oree to complain of the outrage. When the chief had heard the whole affair related, he wept aloud, and many other of the inhabitants did the same. After the first transports of his grief had subsided, he began to expostulate with his people, telling them (for so his language was understood by the English) how well Captain Cook had treated them both in this and his former voyage, and how base it was in them to commit such actions. He then took a minute account of the things of which Mr.

Sparrman had been robbed, and, after having promised to use his utmost endeavours for the recovery of them, desired to go into the captain's boat. At this, the natives, apprehensive doubtless for the safety of their prince, expressed the utmost alarm, and used every argument to dissuade him from so rash a measure. All their remonstrances, however, were in vain. He hastened into the boat; and as soon as they saw that their beloved chief was wholly in our commander's power, they set up a great outcry. Indeed, their grief was inexpressible; they prayed, entreated nay, attempted to pull him out of the boat; and every face was bedewed with tears. Even Captain Cook himself was so moved by their distress, that he united his entreaties with theirs, but all to no purpose. Oree insisted upon the captain's coming into the boat, which was no sooner done, than he ordered it to be put off. His sister was the only person among the Indians who behaved with a becoming magnanimity on this occasion; for, with a spirit equal to that of her royal brother, she alone did not oppose his going. It was his design, in coming into the boat of the English, to proceed with them in search of the robbers. Accordingly, he went with Captain Cook, as far as it was convenient, by water, when they landed, entered the country, and travelled same miles inland; in doing which the chief led the way, and inquired after the criminals of every person whom he saw. In this search he would have gone to the very extremity of the island, if our commander, who did not think the object worthy of so laborious a pursuit, had not refused to proceed any farther. Besides, as he intended to sail the next morning, and all manner of trade was stopped in consequence of the alarm of the natives, it became the more necessary for him to return, that he might restore things to their former state. It was with great reluctance that Ores was prevailed upon to discontinue the search, and to content himself with sending, at Captain Cook's request, some of his people for the things which had been carried off. When he and the captain had gotten back to the boat, they found there the chief's sister, and several other persons, who had travelled by land to the place. The English gentlemen immediately stepped into their boat, in order to return on board, without so much as asking Oree to accompany them; notwithstanding which, he insisted upon doing it; nor could the opposition and entreaties of those who were about him induce him to desist from his purpose. His sister followed his example, uninfluenced, on this occasion, by the supplications and tears of her daughter. Captain Cook amply rewarded the chief and his sister for the confidence they had placed in him; and, after dinner, conveyed them both on sh.o.r.e, where some hundreds of people waited to receive them, many of whom embraced Oree with tears of joy. All was now peace and gladness: the inhabitants crowded in from every part, with such a plentiful supply of hogs, fowls, and vegetable productions, that the English presently filled two boats; and the chief himself presented the captain with a large hog, and a quant.i.ty of fruit. Mr. Sparrman's hanger the only thing of value which he had lost, was brought back, together with part of his coat; and our navigators were told, that the remaining articles should be restored the next day. Some things which had been stolen from a party of officers, who had gone out a shooting, were returned in like manner.

The transactions of this day have been the more particularly related, as they shew the high opinion which the chief had formed of our commander, and the unreserved confidence that he placed in his integrity and honour. Oree had entered into a solemn friends.h.i.+p with Captain Cook, according to all the forms which were customary in the country; and he seemed to think, that this friends.h.i.+p could not be broken by the act of any other persons. It is justly observed by the captain, that another chief may never be found, who, under similar circ.u.mstances, will act in the same manner. Oree, indeed, had nothing to fear: for it was not our commander's intention to hurt a hair of his head, or to detain him a moment longer than was agreeable to his own desire. But of this how could he and his people be a.s.sured? They were not ignorant, that when he was once in Captain Cook's power, the whole force of the island would not be sufficient to recover him, and that they must have complied with any demands, however great, for his ransom. The apprehensions, therefore, of the inhabitants, for their chief's and their own safety, had a reasonable foundation.

Early on the 7th, while the s.h.i.+ps were unmooring, the captain went to pay his farewell visit to Oree, and took with him such presents as had not only a fancied value, but a real utility. He left, also, with the chief the inscription plate, that had been before in his possession, and another small copper-plate, on which were engraved these words: 'Anch.o.r.ed here, his Britannic Majesty's s.h.i.+ps, Resolution and Adventure, September, 1773.' These plates, together with some medals, were put up in a bag; of which Oree promised to take care, and to produce them to the first s.h.i.+p or s.h.i.+ps that should arrive at the island. Having, in return, given a hog to Captain Cook, and loaded his boat with fruit, they took leave of each other, when the good old chief embraced our commander with tears in his eyes. Nothing was mentioned, at this interview, concerning the remainder of Mr.

Sparrman's property. As it was early in the morning, the captain judged that it had not been brought in, and he was not willing to speak of it to Oree, lest he should give him pain about things which there had not been time to recover. The robbers having soon afterward been taken, Oree came on board again, to request that our commander would go on sh.o.r.e, either to punish them, or to be present at their punishment; but this not being convenient to him, he left them to the correction of their own chief. It was from the island of Huaheine that Captain Furneaux received into his s.h.i.+p a young man named Omai, a native of Ulietea, of whom so much hath since been known and written.

This choice Captain Cook at first disapproved; as thinking that the youth was not a proper sample of the inhabitants of the Society Islands; being inferior to many of them in birth and acquired rank, and not having any peculiar advantage in point of shape, figure, or complexion. The captain afterward found reason to be better satisfied with Omai's having accompanied our navigators, to England.

During the short stay of the vessels at Huaheine, our people were very successful in obtaining supplies of provisions. No less than three hundred hogs, besides fowls and fruit, were procured; and had the s.h.i.+ps continued longer at the place, the quant.i.ty might have been greatly increased. Such was the fertility of this small island, that none of these articles of refreshment were seemingly diminished, but appeared to be as plentiful as ever.