A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xv Part 31

"I went, on the 19th in the forenoon, in quest of plants and insects, which I found almost as scarce as at Stellenbosh; but I met with more shrubs or small trees, naturally produced, in the valleys, than in any part of the country I had hitherto seen.

"In the afternoon we went to see a stone of a remarkable size, called by the inhabitants the Tower of Babylon, or the Pearl Diamond.[88] It lies, or stands, upon the top of some low hills, at the foot of which our farm-house was situated; and though the road to it is neither very steep nor rugged, we were above an hour and a half in walking to it. It is of an oblong shape, rounded on the top, and lies nearly S. and N. The E.

and W. sides are steep, and almost perpendicular. The S. end is likewise steep, and its greatest height is there; from whence it declines gently to the N. part, by which we ascended to its top, and had an extensive view of the whole country.

[Footnote 88: In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxviii, part i. p.

102, we have a letter from Mr Anderson to Sir John Pringle, describing this remarkable stone. The account sent home from the Cape, and read before the Royal Society, is much the same with that now published, but rather fuller. In particular, he tells Sir John, that he went to see it at Mr Ma.s.son's desire, who probably had not had an opportunity of sufficiently examining it himself. In the account of his journies above referred to, p. 270, he only says, "there are two large solid rocks on the Perel Berg, each of which (he believes) is more than a mile in circ.u.mference at the base, and upwards of 200 feet high. Their surfaces are nearly smooth, without c.h.i.n.k or fissures; and they are found to be a species of granite, different from that which composes the neighbouring mountains."

Mr Anderson having, with his letter to Sir John Pringle, also sent home a specimen of the rock, it was examined by Sir William Hamilton, whose opinion is, that "this singular, immense fragment of granite, most probably has been raised by a volcanic explosion, or some such cause."

See his Letter to Sir John Pringle, annexed to Mr Anderson's, in the Philosophical Transactions.--D.]

"Its circ.u.mference, I think, must be at least half a mile, as it took us above half an hour to walk round it, including every allowance for the bad road, and stopping a little. At its highest part, which is the S.

end, comparing it with a known object, it seems to equal the dome of St Paul's church. It is one uninterrupted ma.s.s of stone, if we except some fissures, or rather impressions, not above three or four feet deep, and a vein which runs across near its N. end. It is of that sort of stone called, by mineralogists, _Saxum conglutinatum_, and consists chiefly of pieces of coa.r.s.e quartz and glimmer, held together by a clayey cement.

But the vein which crosses it, though of the same materials, is much compacter. This vein is not above a foot broad or thick; and its surface is cut into little squares or oblongs, disposed obliquely, which makes it look like the remains of some artificial work. But I could not observe whether it penetrated far into the large rock, or was only superficial. In descending, we found at its foot a very rich black mould; and on the sides of the hills some trees of a considerable size, natives of the place, which are a species of _olea_.[89]

[Footnote 89: "It is strange that neither Kolben nor de la Caille should have thought the Tower of Babylon worthy of a particular description.

The former [vol. ii. p. 52, 53, English translation] only mentions it as a high mountain. The latter contents himself with telling us, that it is a very low hillock, _un tres bas monticule. Voyage de la Caille_, p.

341. We are much obliged to Mr Anderson for his very accurate account of this remarkable rock, which agrees with Mr Sonnerat's, who was at the Cape of Good Hope so late as 1781. His words are, "La Montagne de la _Perle_, merite d'etre observee. C'est un des plus hautes des environs du Cap. Elle n'est composee que d'un seul bloc de granit creva.s.se dans plusieurs endroits." _Voyage aux Indes_, tom. ii. p. 91.

Mr Sonnerat tells us, that Mr Gordon, commander of the troops at the Cape, had lately made three journies up the country, from which, when he publishes his journal, we may expect much curious information.--D.]

"In the morning of the 20th we set out from the Pearl; and going a different road from that by which we came, pa.s.sed through a country wholly uncultivated, till we got to the Tiger hills, when some tolerable corn-fields appeared. At noon we stopped in a hollow for refreshment, but, in walking about here, were plagued with a vast number of musquitoes or sand-flies, which were the first I saw in the country. In the afternoon we set out again, and in the evening arrived at the Cape Town, tired with the jolting waggon."

On the 23d we got on board the observatory, clock, &c. By a mean of the several results of the equal alt.i.tudes of the sun, taken with the astronomical quadrant, the astronomical clock was found to lose on sidereal time, 1' 8",368 each day. The pendulum was kept at the same length as at Greenwich, where the daily loss of the clock on sidereal time was 4".

The watch, by the mean of the results of fifteen days observations, was found to be losing 2",261, on mean time, each day, which is 1",052 more than at Greenwich; and on the 21st, at noon, she was too slow for mean time by 1'h 20' 57",66. From this 6' 48",956 is to be subtracted, for what she was too slow on the 11th of June at Greenwich, and her daily rate since; and the remainder, viz. 1 14' 8",704, or 18 32' 10", will be the longitude of the Cape Town by the watch. Its true longitude, as found by Messrs Ma.s.son and Dixon, is 18 23' 15". As our observations were made about half a mile to the E. of theirs, the error of the watch in longitude is no more than 8' 25". Hence we have reason to conclude, that she had gone well all the way from England, and that the longitude, thus given, may be nearer the truth than any other.

If this be admitted, it will, in a great measure, enable me to find the direction and strength of the currents we met with on this pa.s.sage from England. For, by comparing the lat.i.tude and longitude by dead reckoning with those by observation and the watch, we shall, from time to time, have, very accurately, the error of the s.h.i.+p's reckoning, be the cause what it will. But as all imaginable care was taken in heaving, and keeping the log, and every necessary allowance made for lee-way, heave of the sea, and other such circ.u.mstances, I cannot attribute those errors that did happen to any other cause but currents; but more particularly when the error was constantly the same way for several days successively.

On the contrary, if we find the s.h.i.+p a-head of the reckoning on one day, and a-stern of it on another, we have reason to believe that such errors are owing to accidental causes, and not to currents. This seems to have been the case in our pa.s.sage between England and Teneriffe. But, from the time of our leaving that island, till the 15th of August, being then in the lat.i.tude of 12 N. and longitude 24 W. the s.h.i.+p was carried 1 20' of longitude to the westward of her reckoning. At this station the currents took a contrary direction, and set to E.S.E. at the rate of twelve or fourteen miles a day, or twenty-four hours, till we arrived into the lat.i.tude of 5 N. and longitude of 20 W.; which was our most easterly situation after leaving the Cape de Verde Islands till we got to the southward. For in this situation the wind came southerly, and we tacked and stretched to the westward; and, for two or three days, could not find that our reckoning was affected by any current. So that I judged we were between the current that generally, if not constantly, sets to the east upon the coast of Guinea, and that which sets to the west toward the coast of Brazil. This westerly current was not considerable till we got into 2 N. and 25 W. From this station to 3 S. and 30 W. the s.h.i.+p, in the s.p.a.ce of four days, was carried 115 miles in the direction of S.W. by W. beyond her reckoning; an error by far too great to have any other cause but a strong current running in the same direction. Nor did its strength abate here; but its course was afterward more westerly, and to the N. of W., and off Cape Augustine N. as I have already mentioned. But this northerly current did not exist at twenty or thirty leagues to the southward of that Cape, nor any other, that I could perceive, in the remaining part of the pa.s.sage. The little difference we afterward found between the reckoning and observations, might very well happen without the a.s.sistance of currents, as will appear by the table of Day's Works.[90]

[Footnote 90: The curious reader will find some interesting, though not decisive, remarks concerning the currents of the Atlantic Ocean in Clerke's Prog. of Mar. Disc. vol. i. p. 358.--E.]

In the accounts of my last voyage, I remarked, that the currents one meets with in his pa.s.sage generally balance each other. It happened so then, because we crossed the Line about 20 more to the eastward than we did now; so that we were, of consequence, longer under the influence of the easterly current, which made up for the westerly one. And this, I apprehend, will generally be the case, if you cross the Line 10 or 15 to the E. of the meridian of St Jago.

From these remarks I shall draw the following conclusion, that after pa.s.sing the Cape de Verde Islands, if you do not make above 4 or 5 easting, and cross the Line in, or to the westward of, the meridian of St Jago, you may expect to find your s.h.i.+p 3 or 4 to the westward of her reckoning by the time you get into the lat.i.tude of 10 S. If, on the other hand, you keep well to the E. and cross the Line 15 or 20 to the E. of St Jago, you will be then as much to the E. of your reckoning; and the more you keep to the eastward, the greater will be your error, as has been experienced by some India s.h.i.+ps, whose people have found themselves close upon the coast of Angola, when they thought its distance was above 200 leagues.

During the whole of our pa.s.sage from England, no opportunity was omitted of observing, with all the attention and accuracy that circ.u.mstances would permit, the variation of the compa.s.s, which I have inserted in a table, with the lat.i.tude and longitude of the s.h.i.+p at the time of observation. As the longitude may be depended upon, to a quarter or half a degree at most, this table will be of use to those navigators who correct their reckoning by the variation. It will also enable Mr Dun to correct his new Variation Chart, a thing very much wanted.

It seems strange to me, that the advocates for the variation should not agree amongst themselves. We find one[91] of them telling us, as I have already observed, "that with 8 W. variation, or any thing above that, you may venture to sail by the Cape de Verde Islands by night or day, being well a.s.sured, with that variation, that you are to the eastward of them." Another, in his chart,[92] lays down this variation ninety leagues to the westward of them. Such a disagreement as this, is a strong proof of the uncertainty of both. However, I have no doubt the former found here, as well as in other places, the variation he mentions. But he should have considered, that at sea, nay even on land, the results of the most accurate observations will not always be the same. Different compa.s.ses will give different variations; and even the same compa.s.s will differ from itself two degrees, without our being able to discover, much less to remove, the cause.

[Footnote 91: Nichelson.]

[Footnote 92: Mr Dun.]

Whoever imagines he can find the variation within a degree, will very often see himself much deceived. For, besides the imperfection which may be in the construction of the instrument, or in the power of the needle, it is certain that the motion of the s.h.i.+p, or attraction of the iron-work, or some other cause not yet discovered, will frequently occasion far greater errors than this. That the variation may be found, with a share of accuracy more than sufficient to determine the s.h.i.+p's course, is allowed; but that it can be found so exactly as to fix the longitude within a degree, or sixty miles, I absolutely deny.[93]

[Footnote 93: Few readers, it is presumed, require to be informed, that the mode of endeavouring to ascertain the longitude by the variation of the compa.s.s is no longer in use. In a work already referred to, Clerke's Prog. of Mar. Disc., a singular enough communication is inserted respecting the effect of tallow on the compa.s.s. It is subscribed by Lieutenant Mason of the marines; but whether the experiments it relates have been repeated by others, or if the inference it maintains has been otherwise confirmed, the writer has yet to learn. He thought it right, however, to notice it, as the more extensively hints are spread which concern the advancement of useful discovery, the greater chance we have of correcting errors, and perfecting science, The same reason justifies his remarking, that the most important observations respecting the variation of the compa.s.s made of late years, are those of Captain Flinders, as to the effect of the s.h.i.+p's course upon it. The reader will find them in the appendix to the account of his voyage lately published, 2d volume. Similar observations have still more recently been made by an officer on board his majesty's s.h.i.+p Sibyl, while in the North Sea protecting our Greenland fishery. They form an appendix to the Account of a Voyage to Spitzbergen, by Mr John Laing, Surgeon, published at Edinburgh, 1815. Of their importance and accuracy, notwithstanding the small scale on which they were made, and the meagre manner in which they have been communicated, it is impossible for a moment to doubt. The concluding remark is ent.i.tled to considerable regard.--"After a more enlarged series of observations shall have been taken, and after the attention of astronomers is directed to this fact, one may confidently expect a most important improvement in the science of navigation." The value of the discovery alluded to, will at once appear from what is said in the way of enquiry as to similar observations to those made in the North Sea applying to s.h.i.+ps coming from the Baltic, viz. that if so, "they most effectually account for s.h.i.+ps getting down on the coast of Holland, when they suppose themselves well over in Mid-channel; and therefore prove the loss of so many of our brave tars when coming from that sea."--P. 163. As a paper, containing Captain Flinders's observations on this subject, had been sent to the officer who makes this communication, by the Lords of the Admiralty, it is reasonable to expect that official agency is engaged to benefit the world by maturing he discovery.--E.]

SECTION IV.

_The two s.h.i.+ps leave the Cape of Good Hope.--Two Islands, named Prince Edwards, seen, and their Appearance described.--Kerguelen's Land visited.--Arrival in Christmas Harbour.--Occurrences there.--Description of it_.

After the disaster which happened to our sheep, it may be well supposed that I did not trust those that remained long on sh.o.r.e, but got them and the other cattle on board as fast as possible. I also added to my original stock by purchasing two young bulls, two heifers, two young stone-horses, two mares, two rams, several ewes and goats, and some rabbits and poultry.

All of them were intended for New Zealand, Otaheite, and the neighbouring islands, or any other places in the course of our voyage, where there might be a prospect that the leaving any of them would be useful to posterity.

Toward the latter end of November the caulkers had finished their work on board the Discovery, and she had received all her provisions and water. Of the former, both s.h.i.+ps had a sufficient supply for two years and upward. And every other article we could think of, necessary for such a voyage, that could be had at the Cape, was procured; neither knowing when, nor where, we might come to a place where we could furnish ourselves so well.

Having given Captain Clerke a copy of my instructions, and an order directing him how to proceed in case of separation, in the morning of the 30th we repaired on board. At five in the afternoon a breeze sprung up at S.E. with which we weighed, and stood out of the bay. At nine it fell calm, and we anch.o.r.ed between Penguin Island and the east sh.o.r.e, where we lay till three o'clock next morning. We then weighed and put to sea, with a light breeze at S., but did not get clear of the land till the morning of the 3d, when, with a fresh gale at W.N.W. we stood to the S.E. to get more into the way of these winds.

On the 5th a sudden squall of wind carried away the Resolution's mizen top-mast. Having another to replace it, the loss was not felt, especially as it was a bad stick, and had often complained. On the 6th, in the evening, being then in the lat.i.tude of 39 14' S. and in the longitude of 25 56' E., we pa.s.sed through several small spots of water of a reddish colour. Some of this was taken up, and it was found to abound with a small animal, which the microscope discovered to be like a cray-fish, of a reddish hue.

We continued our course to the S.E. with a very strong gale from the westward, followed by a mountainous sea, which made the s.h.i.+p roll and tumble exceedingly, and gave us a great deal of trouble to preserve the cattle we had on board. Notwithstanding all our care, several goats, especially the males, died, and some sheep. This misfortune was, in a great measure, owing to the cold, which we now began most sensibly to feel.

On the 12th, at noon, we saw land extending from S.E. by S. to S.E. by E. Upon a nearer approach we found it to be two islands. That which lies most to the south, and is also the largest, I judged to be about fifteen leagues in circuit, and to be in the lat.i.tude of 46 53' S. and in the longitude of 37 46' E. The most northerly one is about nine leagues in circuit, and lies in the lat.i.tude of 46 40' S. and in 38 8' E.

longitude. The distance from the one to the other is about five leagues.

We pa.s.sed through this channel at equal distance from both islands; and could not discover, with the a.s.sistance of our best gla.s.ses, either tree or shrub on either of them. They seemed to have a rocky and bold sh.o.r.e; and, excepting the S.E. parts, where the land is rather low and flat, a surface composed of barren mountains, which rise to a considerable height, and whose summits and sides were covered with snow, which in many places seemed to be of a considerable depth. The S.E. parts had a much greater quant.i.ty on them than the rest, owing, probably, to the sun acting for a less s.p.a.ce of time on these than on the N. and N.W. parts.

The ground, where it was not hid by the snow, from the various shades it exhibited, may be supposed to be covered with moss, or perhaps such a coa.r.s.e gra.s.s as is found in some parts of Falkland's Islands. On the N.

side of each of the islands is a detached rock; that near the S. island is shaped like a tower, and seemed to be at some distance from the sh.o.r.e. As we pa.s.sed along, a quant.i.ty of seaweed was seen, and the colour of the water indicated soundings. But there was no appearance of an inlet, unless near the rock just mentioned; and that, from its smallness, did not promise a good anchoring-place.

These two islands, as also four others which lie from nine to twelve degrees of longitude more to the E. and nearly in the same lat.i.tude, were discovered, as I have mentioned in my late voyage,[94] by Captains Marion du Fresne and Crozet, French navigators, in January, 1772, on their pa.s.sage in two s.h.i.+ps from the Cape of Good Hope to the Philippine Islands. As they have no names in the French chart of the southern hemisphere, which Captain Grozet communicated to me in 1775,[95] I shall distinguish the two we now saw by calling them Prince Edward's Islands, after his majesty's fourth son; and the other four, by the name of Marion's and Crozet's Islands, to commemorate their discoverers.

[Footnote 94: Captain Cook's second voyage. These islands are said to be in the lat.i.tude of 48 S.; that is, 2 farther S. than what here appears to be their real position.--D.]

[Footnote 95: See Cook's voyage, as above. Dr. Forster, in his Observations made during that Voyage, p. 30, gives us this description of the chart then communicated by Monsieur Crozet; that it was "published under the patronage of the Duke de Croye, by Robert de Vaugondy." Captain Cook tells us, lower in this chapter, that it was published in 1773.--D.]

We had now, for the most part, strong gales between the N. and W., and but very indifferent weather; not better, indeed, than we generally have in England in the very depth of winter, though it was now the middle of summer in this hemisphere. Not discouraged, however, by this, after leaving Prince Edward's Islands, I shaped our course to pa.s.s to the southward of the others, that I might get into the lat.i.tude of the land discovered by Monsieur de Kerguelen.

I had applied to the Chevalier de Borda whom, as I have mentioned, I found at Teneriffe, requesting, that if he knew any thing of the island discovered by Monsieur de Kerguelen, between the Cape of Good Hope and New Holland, he would be so obliging as to communicate it to me.

Accordingly, just before we sailed from Santa Cruz Bay, he sent me the following account of it, viz. "That the pilot of the Boussole, who was in the voyage with Monsieur de Kerguelen, had given him the lat.i.tude and longitude of a little island, which Monsieur de Kerguelen called the Isle of Rendezvous, and which lies not far from the great island which he saw. Lat.i.tude of the little isle, by seven observations, 48 26' S.; longitude, by seven observations of the distance of the sun and moon, 64 57' E. from Paris," I was very sorry I had not sooner known that there was on board the frigate at Teneriffe, an officer who had been with Monsieur de Kerguelen, especially the pilot; because from him I might have obtained more interesting information about this land than the situation alone, of which I was not before entirely ignorant.[96]

[Footnote 96: Captain Cook's proceedings, as related in the remaining part of this chapter, and in the next, being upon a coast newly discovered by the French, it could not but be an object of his attention to trace the footsteps of the original explorers. But no superiority of professional skill, nor diligence in exerting it, could possibly qualify him to do this successfully, without possessing, at the same time, full and authentic intelligence of all that had been performed here by his predecessors in the discovery. But that he was not so fortunate as to be thus sufficiently instructed, will appear from the following facts, which the reader is requested to attend to, before he proceeds to the perusal of this part of the journal.

How very little was known, with any precision, about the operations of Kerguelen, when Captain Cook sailed in 1776, may be inferred from the following paragraph of his instructions:--"You are to proceed in search of some islands said to have been lately seen by the French in the lat.i.tude of 48 S., and in the meridian of the Mauritius." This was, barely, the amount of the very indefinite and imperfect information, which Captain Cook himself had received from Baron Plettenberg at the Cape of Good Hope, in November 1772; in the beginning of which year Kerguelen's first voyage had taken place.

The captain, on his return homeward, in March 1775, heard, a second time, something about this French discovery at the Cape, where he met with Monsieur Crozet, who very obligingly communicated to him a chart of the southern hemisphere, wherein were delineated not only his own discoveries, but also that of Captain Kerguelen. But what little information that chart could convey, was still necessarily confined to the operations of the first voyage; the chart here referred to, having been published in France in 1773, that is, before any intelligence could possibly be conveyed from the southern hemisphere of the result of Kerguelen's second visit to this new land, which, we now know, happened towards the close of the same year.

Of these latter operations, the only account (if that can be called an account, which conveys no particular information) received by Captain Cook from Monsieur Crozet, was, that a later voyage had been undertaken by the French, under the command of Captain Kerguelen, which had ended much to the disgrace of that commander.

What Crozet had not communicated to our author, and what we are sure, from a variety of circ.u.mstances, he had never heard of from any other quarter, he missed an opportunity of learning at Teneriffe. He expressed his being sorry, as we have just read, that he did not know sooner that there was on board the frigate an officer who had been with Kerguelen, as he might have obtained from him more interesting information about this land, than its situation. And, indeed, if he had conversed with that officer, he might have obtained information more interesting than he was aware of; he might have learnt that Kerguelen had actually visited this southern land a second time, and that the little isle of which he then received the name and position from the Chevalier de Borda, was a discovery of this later voyage. But the account conveyed to him, being, as the reader will observe, unaccompanied with any date, or other distinguis.h.i.+ng circ.u.mstance, he left Teneriffe, and arrived on the coasts of Kerguelen's Land, under a full persuasion that it had been visited only once before. And, even with regard to the operations of that first voyage, he had nothing to guide him, but the very scanty materials afforded to him by Baron Plettenberg and Monsieur Crozet.

The truth is, the French seem, for some reason or other, not surely founded on the importance of Kerguelen's discovery, to have been very shy of publis.h.i.+ng a full and distinct account of it. No such account had been published while Captain Cook lived. Nay, even after the return of his s.h.i.+ps in 1780, the gentleman who obligingly lent his a.s.sistance to give a view of the prior observations of the French, and to connect them on the same chart with those of our author, though his a.s.siduity in procuring geographical information can be equalled only by his readiness in communicating it, had not, it should seem, been able to procure any materials for that purpose, but such as mark the operations of the first French voyage; and even for these, he was indebted to a MS. drawing.

But this veil of unnecessary secrecy is at length drawn aside. Kerguelen himself has published the journal of his proceedings in two successive voyages, in the years 1772 and 1773; and has annexed to his narrative a chart of the coasts of this land, as far as he had explored them in both voyages. Monsieur de Pages, also, much about the same time, favoured us with another account of the second voyage, in some respects fuller than Kerguelen's own, on board whose s.h.i.+p he was then an officer.