A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12 by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 12

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[Footnote 81: The incident related by Bougainville, to which the
allusion is made, is somewhat affecting. An interesting boy, one of the
savages' children, had unwarily, and from ignorance of its dangerous
nature, put some bits of glass into his mouth which the sailors gave
him. His lips and palate, &c. were cut in several places, and he soon
began to spit blood, and to be violently convulsed. This excited the
most distressing alarm and suspicion among the savages. One of them,
whom Bougainville denominates a juggler, immediately had recourse to
very strange and unlikely means in order to relieve the poor child. He
first laid him on his back, then kneeling down between his legs, and
bending himself, he pressed the child's belly as much as he could with
his head and hands, crying out continually, but with inarticulate
sounds. From time to time he raised himself, and seeming to hold the
disease in his joined hands, opened them at once into the air, blowing,
as if he drove away some evil spirit. During those rites, an old woman
in tears howled with great violence in the child's ears. These
ceremonies, however, not proving effectual, but rather, indeed, as might
have been expected, doing mischief, the juggler disappeared for a
little, in order, as should seem, to procure a peculiar dress, in which
he might practise his exorcism with greater confidence of success, and
to bring a brother in the trade, similarly apparelled, to aid him in his
labours. But so much the worse for the wretched patient, who was now
pummelled and squeezed all over, till his body was completely bruised.
Such treatment, it is almost unnecessary to say, aggravated his
sufferings, but accomplished no cure. The jugglers at last consented to
allow the interference of the French surgeon, but appeared to be very
jealous of his skill. The child became somewhat easier towards night;
however, from his continual sickness, there was much room to apprehend
that he had swallowed some of the glass, and died in consequence; for
"about two o'clock in the morning," says Bougainville, "we on board
heard repeated howls, and at break of day, though the weather was very
dreadful, the savages went off. They doubtless fled from a place defiled
by death, and by unlucky strangers, who, they thought, were come merely
to destroy them." It is very probable that the person whom Cook supposed
a priest, practised the charms spoken of, in order to destroy any ill
luck, and to prevent the occurrence of such like misfortunes in his
intercourse with the wonderful strangers. There is an allusion to this
incident in a following section.--E.]

They ate some bread and some beef, but not apparently with much
pleasure, though such part of what was given them as they did not eat,
they took away with them; but they would not swallow a drop either of
wine or spirits: They put the glass to their lips, but, having tasted
the liquor, they returned it with strong expressions of disgust.
Curiosity seems to be one of the few passions which distinguish men from
brutes; and of this our guests appeared to have very little. They went
from one part of the ship to another, and looked at the vast variety of
new objects that every moment presented themselves, without any
expression either of wonder or pleasure, for the vociferation of our
exorcist seemed to be neither.

After having been on board about two hours, they expressed a desire to
go ashore. A boat was immediately ordered, and Mr Banks thought fit to
accompany them: He landed them in safety, and conducted them to their
companions, among whom he remarked the same vacant indifference, as in
those who had been on board; for as on one side there appeared no
eagerness to relate, so on the other there seemed to be no curiosity to
hear, how they had been received, or what they had seen. In about half
an hour Mr Banks returned to the ship, and the Indians retired from the
shore.

SECTION IV.

_An Account of what happened in ascending a Mountain to search for
Plants._

On the 16th, early in the morning, Mr Banks and Dr Solander, with their
attendants and servants, and two seamen to assist in carrying the
baggage, accompanied by Mr Monkhouse the surgeon, and Mr Green the
astronomer, set out from the ship with a view to penetrate as far as
they could into the country, and return at night. The hills, when viewed
at a distance, seemed to "be partly a wood, partly a plain, and above
them a bare rock. Mr Banks hoped to get through the wood, and made no
doubt, but that, beyond it, he should, in a country which no botanist
had ever yet visited, find alpine plants which would abundantly
compensate his labour. They entered the wood at a small sandy beach, a
little to the westward of the watering-place, and continued to ascend
the hill, through the pathless wilderness, till three o'clock, before
they got a near view of the places which they intended to visit. Soon
after they reached what they had taken for a plain; but, to their great
disappointment, found it a swamp, covered with low bushes of birch,
about three feet high, interwoven with each other, and so stubborn that
they could not be bent out of the way; it was therefore necessary to
lift the leg over them, which at every step was buried, ancle-deep, in
the soil. To aggravate the pain and difficulty of such travelling, the
weather, which had hitherto been very fine, much like one of our bright
days in May, became gloomy and cold, with sudden blasts of a most
piercing wind, accompanied with snow. They pushed forward, however, in
good spirits, notwithstanding their fatigue, hoping the worst of the way
was past, and that the bare rock which, they had seen from the tops of
the lower hills was not more than a mile before them; but when they had
got about two-thirds over this woody swamp, Mr Buchan, one of Mr Banks's
draughtsmen, was unhappily seized with a fit. This made it necessary for
the whole company to halt, and as it was impossible that he should go
any farther, a fire was kindled, and those who were most fatigued were
left behind to take care of him. Mr Banks, Dr Solander, Mr Green, and Mr
Monkhouse, went on, and in a short time reached the summit. As
botanists, their expectations were here abundantly gratified; for they
found a great variety of plants, which, with respect to the alpine
plants in Europe, are exactly what those plants are with respect to such
as grow in the plain.

The cold was now become more severe, and the snow-blasts more frequent;
the day also was so far spent, that it was found impossible to get back
to the ship, before the next morning: To pass the night upon such a
mountain, in such a climate, was not only comfortless but dreadful; it
was impossible, however, to be avoided, and they were to provide for it
as well as they could.

Mr Banks and Dr Solander, while they were improving an opportunity which
they had, with so much danger and difficulty, procured, by gathering the
plants which they found upon the mountain, sent Mr Green and Mr
Monkhouse back to Mr Buchan and the people that were with him, with
directions to bring them to a hill, which they thought lay in a better
route for returning to the wood, and which was therefore appointed as a
general rendezvous. It was proposed, that from this hill they should
push through the swamp, which seemed by the new route not to be more
than half a mile over, into the shelter of the wood, and there build
their wigwam, and make a fire: This, as their way was all down hill, it
seemed easy to accomplish. Their whole company assembled at the
rendezvous, and, though pinched with the cold, were in health and
spirits, Mr Buchan himself having recovered his strength in a much
greater degree than could have been expected. It was now near eight
o'clock in the evening, but still good day-light, and they set forward
for the nearest valley, Mr Banks himself undertaking to bring up the
rear, and see that no straggler was left behind: This may perhaps be
thought a superfluous caution, but it will soon appear to be otherwise.
Dr Solander, who had more than once crossed the mountains which divide
Sweden from Norway, well knew that extreme cold, especially when joined
with fatigue, produces a torpor and sleepiness that are almost
irresistible: He therefore conjured the company to keep moving, whatever
pain it might cost them, and whatever relief they might be promised by
an inclination to rest: Whoever sits down, says he, will sleep; and
whoever sleeps, will wake no more. Thus, at once admonished and alarmed,
they set forward; but while they were still upon the naked rock, and
before they had got among the bushes, the cold became suddenly so
intense, as to produce the effects that had been most dreaded. Dr
Solander himself was the first who found the inclination, against which
he had warned others, irresistible; and insisted upon being suffered to
lie down. Mr Banks entreated and remonstrated in vain, down he lay upon
the ground, though it was covered with snow; and it was with great
difficulty that his friend kept him from sleeping. Richmond also, one of
the black servants, began to linger, having suffered from the cold in
the same manner as the doctor. Mr Banks, therefore, sent five of the
company, among whom was Mr Buchan, forward to get a fire ready at the
first convenient place they could find; and himself, with four others,
remained with the doctor and Richmond, whom, partly by persuasion and
entreaty, and partly by force, they brought on; but when they had got
through the greatest part of the birch and swamp, they both declared
they could go no farther. Mr Banks had recourse again to entreaty and
expostulation, but they produced no effect: When Richmond was told, that
if he did not go on he would in a short time be frozen to death, he
answered, that he desired nothing but to lie down and die: The doctor
did not so explicitly renounce his life; he said he was willing to go
on, but that he must first take some sleep, though he had before told
the company that to sleep was to perish. Mr Banks and the rest found it
impossible to carry them, and there being no remedy they were both
suffered to sit down, being partly supported by the bushes, and in a few
minutes they fell into a profound sleep: Soon after, some of the people
who had been sent forward returned, with the welcome news that a fire
was kindled about a quarter of a mile farther on the way. Mr Banks then
endeavoured to wake Dr Solander, and happily succeeded: But, though he
had not slept five minutes, he had almost lost the use of his limbs, and
the muscles were so shrunk that his shoes fell from his feet; he
consented to go forward with such assistance as could be given him, but
no attempts to relieve poor Richmond were successful. It being found
impossible to make him stir, after some time had been lost in the
attempt, Mr Banks left his other black servant and a seaman, who seemed
to have suffered least by the cold, to look after him; promising, that
as soon as two others should be sufficiently warmed, they should be
relieved. Mr Banks, with much difficulty, at length got the doctor to
the fire; and soon after sent two of the people who had been refreshed,
in hopes that, with the assistance of those who had been left behind,
they would be able to bring Richmond, even though it should still be
found impossible to wake him. In about half an hour, however, they had
the mortification to see these two men return alone; they said, that
they had been all round the place to which they had been directed, but
could neither find Richmond nor those who had been left with him; and
that though they had shouted many times, no voice had replied. This was
matter of equal surprise and concern, particularly to Mr Banks, who,
while he was wondering how it could happen, missed a bottle of rum, the
company's whole stock, which they now concluded to be in the knapsack of
one of the absentees. It was conjectured, that with this Richmond had
been roused by the two persons who had been left with him, and that,
having perhaps drank too freely of it themselves, they had all rambled
from the place where they had been left, in search of the fire, instead
of waiting for those who should have been their assistants and guides.
Another fall of snow now came on, and continued incessantly for two
hours, so that all hope of seeing them again, at least alive, were given
up; but about twelve o'clock, to the great joy of those at the fire, a
shouting was heard at some distance. Mr Banks, with four more,
immediately went out, and found the seaman with just strength enough
left to stagger along, and call out for assistance: Mr Banks sent him
immediately to the fire, and, by his direction, proceeded in search of
the other two, whom he soon after found. Richmond was upon his legs, but
not able to put one before the other; his companion was lying upon the
ground, as insensible as a stone. All hands were now called from the
fire, and an attempt was made to carry them to it; but this,
notwithstanding the united efforts of the whole company, was found to be
impossible. The night was extremely dark, the snow was now very deep,
and, under these additional disadvantages, they found it very difficult
to make way through the bushes and the bog for themselves, all of them
getting many falls in the attempt. The only alternative was to make a
fire upon the spot; but the snow which had fallen, and was still
falling, besides what was every moment shaken in flakes from the trees,
rendered it equally impracticable to kindle one there, and to bring any
part of that which had been kindled in the wood thither: They were,
therefore, reduced to the sad necessity of leaving the unhappy wretches
to their fate; having first made them a bed of boughs from the trees,
and spread a covering of the same kind over them to a considerable
height.

Having now been exposed to the cold and the snow near an hour and a
half, some of the rest began to lose their sensibility; and one Briscoe,
another of Mr Banks's servants, was so ill, that it was thought he must
die before he could be got to the fire.

At the fire, however, at length they arrived; and passed the night in a
situation, which, however dreadful in itself, was rendered more
afflicting by the remembrance of what was past, and the uncertainty of
what was to come. Of twelve, the number that set out together in health
and spirits, two were supposed to be already dead; a third was so ill,
that it was very doubtful whether he would be able to go forward in the
morning; and a fourth, Mr Buchan, was in danger of a return of his fits,
by fresh fatigue, after so uncomfortable a night: They were distant from
the ship a long day's journey, through pathless woods, in which it was
too probable they might be bewildered till they were overtaken by the
next night; and, not having prepared for a journey of more than eight or
ten hours, they were wholly destitute of provisions, except a vulture,
which they happened to shoot while they were out, and which, if equally
divided, would not afford each of them half a meal; and they knew not
how much more they might suffer from the cold, as the snow still
continued to fall. A dreadful testimony of the severity of the climate,
as it was now the midst of summer in this part of the world, the 21st of
December being here the longest day; and every thing might justly be
dreaded from a phenomenon which, in the corresponding season, is unknown
even in Norway and Lapland.

When the morning dawned, they saw nothing round them, as far as the eye
could reach, but snow, which seemed to lie as thick upon the trees as
upon the ground; and the blasts returned so frequently, and with such
violence, that they found it impossible for them to set out: How long
this might last they knew not, and they had but too much reason to
apprehend that it would confine them in that desolate forest till they
perished with hunger and cold.

After having suffered the misery and terror of this situation till six
o'clock in the morning, they conceived some hope of deliverance by
discovering the place of the sun through the clouds, which were become
thinner, and began to break away. Their first care was to see whether
the poor wretches whom they had been obliged to leave among the bushes
were yet alive; three of the company were dispatched for that purpose,
and very soon afterwards returned with the melancholy news, that they
were dead.

Notwithstanding the flattering appearance of the sky, the snow still
continued to fall so thick that they could not venture out on their
journey to the ship; but about eight o'clock a small regular breeze
sprung up, which, with the prevailing influence of the sun, at length
cleared the air; and they soon after, with great joy, saw the snow fall
in large flakes from the trees, a certain sign of an approaching thaw:
They now examined more critically the state of their invalids; Briscoe
was still very ill, but said, that he thought himself able to walk; and
Mr Buchan was much better than either he or his friends had any reason
to expect. They were now, however, pressed by the calls of hunger, to
which, after long fasting, every consideration of future good or evil
immediately gives way. Before they set forward, therefore, it was
unanimously agreed that they should eat their vulture; the bird was
accordingly skinned, and, it being thought best to divide it before it
was fit to be eaten, it was cut into ten portions, and every man cooked
his own as he thought fit. After this repast, which furnished each of
them with about three mouthfuls, they prepared to set out; but it was
ten o'clock before the snow was sufficiently gone off, to render a march
practicable. After a walk of about three hours, they were very agreeably
surprised to find themselves upon the beach, and much nearer to the ship
than they had any reason to expect. Upon reviewing their track from the
vessel, they perceived, that, instead of ascending the hill in a line,
so as to penetrate into the country, they had made almost a circle round
it. When they came on board, they congratulated each other upon their
safety, with a joy that no man can feel who has not been exposed to
equal danger; and as I had suffered great anxiety at their not returning
in the evening of the day on which they set out, I was not wholly
without my share.

SECTION V.

_The Passage through the Streight of Le Maire, and a further Description
of the Inhabitants of Terra del Fuego and its Productions._

On the 18th and 19th, we were delayed in getting on board our wood and
water by a swell: But on the 20th, the weather being more moderate, we
again sent the boat on shore, and Mr Banks and Dr Solander went in it.
They landed in the bottom of the bay, and while my people were employed
in cutting brooms, they pursued their great object, the improvement of
natural knowledge, with success, collecting many shells and plants which
hitherto have been altogether unknown: They came on board to dinner, and
afterwards went again on shore to visit an Indian town, which some of
the people had reported to lie about two miles up the country. They
found the distance not more than by the account, and they approached it
by what appeared to be the common road, yet they were above an hour in
getting thither, for they were frequently up to their knees in mud; when
they got within a small distance, two of the people came out to meet
them, with such state as they could assume; when they joined them, they
began to halloo as they had done on board the ship, without addressing
themselves either to the strangers or their companions; and having
continued this strange vociferation some time, they conducted them to
the town. It was situated on a dry knoll, or small hill, covered with
wood, none of which seemed to have been cleared away, and consisted of
about twelve or fourteen hovels, of the most rude and inartificial
structure that can be imagined. They were nothing more than a few poles
set up so as to incline towards each other, and meet at the top, forming
a kind of a cone, like some of our bee-hives: On the weather-side they
were covered with a few boughs, and a little grass; and on the lee-side
about one-eighth of the circle was left open, both for a door and a
fire-place; and of this kind were the huts that had been seen in St
Vincent's bay, in one of which the embers of a fire were still
remaining. Furniture they had none; a little grass, which lay round the
inside of the hovel, served both for chairs and beds; and of all the
utensils which necessity and ingenuity have concurred to produce among
other savage nations, they saw only a basket to carry in the hand, a
satchel to hang at the back, and the bladder of some beast to hold
water, which the natives drink through a hole that is made near the top
for that purpose.

The inhabitants of this town were a small tribe, not more than fifty in
number; of both sexes and of every age. Their colour resembles that of
the rust of iron mixed with oil, and they have long black hair: The men
are large, but clumsily built; their stature is from five feet eight to
five feet ten; the women are much less, few of them being more than five
feet high. Their whole apparel consists of the skin of a guanicoe, or
seal, which is thrown over their shoulders, exactly in the state in
which it came from the animal's back; a piece of the same skin, which is
drawn over their feet, and gathered about the ancles like a purse, and a
small flap, which is worn by the women as a succedaneum for a fig-leaf.
The men wear their cloak open, the women tie it about their waist with a
thong. But although they are content to be naked, they are very
ambitious to be fine. Their faces were painted in various forms: The
region of the eye was in general white, and the rest of the face adorned
with horizontal streaks of red and black; yet scarcely any two were
exactly alike. This decoration seems to be more profuse and elaborate
upon particular occasions, for the two gentlemen who introduced Mr Banks
and the doctor into the town, were almost covered with streaks of black
in all directions, so as to make a very striking appearance. Both men
and women wore bracelets of such beads as they could make themselves of
small shells or bones; the women both upon their wrists and ancles, the
men upon their wrists only; but to compensate for the want of bracelets
on their legs, they wore a kind of fillet of brown worsted round their
heads. They seemed to set a particular value upon any thing that was
red, and preferred beads even to a knife or a hatchet.

Their language in general is guttural, and they express some of their
words by a sound exactly like that which we make to clear the throat
when any thing happens to obstruct it; yet they have words that would be
deemed soft in the better languages of Europe. Mr Banks learned what he
supposes to be their name for beads and water. When they wanted beads,
instead of ribbons or other trifles, they said _halleca_; and when they
were taken on shore from the ship, and by signs asked where water might
be found, they made the sign of drinking, and pointing as well to the
casks as the watering-place, cried _Ooda_.

We saw no appearance of their having any food but shellfish; for though
seals were frequently seen near the shore, they seemed to have no
implements for taking them. The shell-fish are collected by the women,
whose business it seems to be to attend at low water, with a basket in
one hand, and a stick, pointed and barbed, in the other, and a satchel
at their backs: They loosen the limpets, and other fish that adhere to
the rocks, with the stick, and put them into the basket; which, when
full, they empty into the satchel.

The only things that we found among them in which there was the least
appearance of neatness or ingenuity, were their weapons, which consisted
of a bow and arrows. The bow was not inelegantly made, and the arrows
were the neatest that we had ever seen: They were of wood, polished to
the highest degree; and the point, which was of glass or flint, and
barbed, was formed and fitted with wonderful dexterity. We saw also some
pieces of glass and flint among them unwrought, besides rings, buttons,
cloth, and canvas, with other European commodities; they must,
therefore, sometimes travel to the northward, for it was many years
since any ship had been so far south as this part of Terra del Fuego. We
observed also, that they shewed no surprise at our fire-arms, with the
use of which they appeared to be well acquainted; for they made signs to
Mr Banks to shoot a seal which followed the boat, as they were going on
shore from the ship.

M. de Bougainville, who, in January 1768, just one year before us, had
been on shore upon this coast in latitude 53 deg. 40' 41", had, among other
things, given glass to the people whom he found here; for he says, that
a boy about twelve years old took it into his head to eat some of it, by
which unhappy accident he died in great misery. These people might
probably have some of the very glass which Bougainville left behind him,
either from other natives, or perhaps from himself; for they appeared
rather to be a travelling horde, than to have any fixed habitation.
Their houses were built to stand but for a short time; they had no
utensil or furniture but the basket and satchel, which have been
mentioned before, and which had handles adapted to the carrying them
about, in the hand and upon the back; the only clothing they had here
was scarcely sufficient to prevent their perishing with cold in the
summer of this country, much less in the extreme severity of winter; the
shell-fish, which seemed to be their only food, would soon be exhausted
at any one place; and we had seen houses upon what appeared to be a
deserted station in St Vincent's bay.