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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During this visit a wife of our noble host, whose name was _Tomio_, did
Mr Banks the honour to place herself upon the same matt, close by him.
Tomio was not in the first bloom of her youth, nor did she appear to
have been ever remarkable for her beauty: he did not therefore, I
believe, pay her the most flattering attention: it happened too, as a
farther mortification to this lady, that seeing a very pretty girl among
the crowd, he, not adverting to the dignity of his companion, beckoned
her to come to him: the girl, after some entreaty, complied, and sat
down on the other side of him; he loaded her with beads, and every showy
trifle that would please her: his princess, though she was somewhat
mortified at the preference that was given to her rival, did not
discontinue her civilities, but still assiduously supplied him with the
milk of the cocoa-nut, and such other dainties as were in her reach.
This scene might possibly have become more curious and interesting, if
it had not been suddenly interrupted by an interlude of a more serious
kind. Just at this time, Dr Solander and Mr Monkhouse complained that
their pockets had been picked. Dr Solander had lost an opera glass in a
shagreen case, and Mr Monkhouse his snuff box. This incident
unfortunately put an end to the good-humour of the company. Complaint of
the injury was made to the chief; and, to give it weight, Mr Banks
started up, and hastily struck the butt end of his firelock upon the
ground: this action, and the noise that accompanied it, struck the whole
assembly with a panic, and every one of the natives ran out of the house
with the utmost precipitation, except the chief, three women, and two or
three others, who appeared by their dress to be of a superior rank.

The chief, with a mixture of confusion and concern, took Mr Banks by the
hand, and led him to a large quantity of cloth, which lay at the other
end of the house: this he offered to him piece by piece, intimating by
signs, that if that would atone for the wrong which had been done, he
might take any part of it, or, if he pleased, the whole. Mr Banks put it
by, and gave him to understand that he wanted nothing but what had been
dishonestly taken away. Toubourai Tamaide then went hastily out, leaving
Mr Banks with his wife Tomio, who during the whole scene of terror and
confusion had kept constantly at his side, and intimating his desire
that he should wait there till his return. Mr Banks accordingly sat
down, and conversed with her, as well as he could by signs, about half
an hour. The chief then came back with the snuff-box and the case of the
opera glass in his hand, and, with a joy in his countenance that was
painted with a strength of expression which distinguishes these people
from all others, delivered them to the owners. The case of the opera
glass, however, upon being opened, was found to be empty; upon this
discovery, his countenance changed in a moment; and catching Mr Banks
again by the hand, he rushed out of the house, without uttering any
sound, and led him along the shore, walking with great rapidity: when
they had got about a mile from the house, a woman met him and gave him a
piece of cloth, which he hastily took from her, and continued to press
forward with it in his hand. Dr Solander and Mr Monkhouse had followed
them, and they came at length to a house where they were received by a
woman, to whom he gave the cloth, and intimated to the gentlemen that
they should give her some beads. They immediately complied; and the
beads and cloth being deposited upon the floor, the woman went out, and
in about half an hour returned with the opera-glass, expressing the same
joy upon the occasion that had before been expressed by the chief. The
beads were now returned, with an inflexible resolution not to accept
them; and the cloth was, with the same pertinacity, forced upon Dr
Solander, as a recompence for the injury that had been done him. He
could not avoid accepting the cloth, but insisted in his turn upon
giving a new present of beads to the woman. It will not perhaps be easy
to account for all the steps that were taken in the recovery of this
glass and snuff-box; but this cannot be thought strange, considering
that the scene of action was among a people whose language, policy, and
connections are even now but imperfectly known; upon the whole, however,
they show an intelligence and influence which would do honour to any
system of government, however regular and improved. In the evening,
about six o'clock, we returned to the ship.

SECTION IX.

_A place fixed upon for an Observatory and Fort: an Excursion into the
Woods, and its Consequences. The Fort erected: a Visit from several
Chiefs on board and at the Fort, with some Account of the Music of the
Natives, and the Manner in which they dispose of their Dead._

On the next morning, Saturday the 15th, several of the chiefs whom we
had seen the day before came on board, and brought with them, hogs,
bread-fruit, and other refreshments, for which we gave them hatchets and
linen, and such things as seemed to be most acceptable. As in my
excursion to the westward, I had not found any more convenient harbour
than that in which we lay, I determined to go on shore and fix upon some
spot, commanded by the ship's guns, where I might throw up a small fort
for our defence, and prepare for making our astronomical observation.

I therefore took a party of men, and landed without delay, accompanied
by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and the astronomer, Mr Green. We soon fixed
upon a part of the sandy beach, on the N.E. point of the bay, which was
in every respect convenient for our purpose, and not near any habitation
of the natives. Having marked out the ground that we intended to occupy,
a small tent belonging to Mr Banks was set up, which had been brought on
shore for that purpose: by this time a great number of the people had
gathered about us; but, as it appeared, only to look on, there not being
a single weapon of any kind among them. I intimated, however, that none
of them were to come within the line I had drawn, except one who
appeared to be a chief, and Owhaw. To these two persons I addressed
myself by signs, and endeavoured to make them understand, that we wanted
the ground which we had marked out to sleep upon for a certain number of
nights, and that then we should go away. Whether I was understood I
cannot certainly determine; but the people behaved with a deference and
respect that at once pleased and surprised us; they sat down peaceably
without the circle, and looked on, without giving us any interruption,
till we had done, which was upwards of two hours. As we had seen no
poultry, and but two hogs, in our walk when we were last on shore at
this place, we suspected that, upon our arrival, they had been driven
farther up the country; and the rather, as Owhaw was very importunate
with us, by signs, not to go into the woods, which, however, and partly
for these reasons, we were determined to do. Having therefore appointed
the thirteen marines and a petty officer to guard the tent, we set out,
and a great number of the natives joined our party. As we were crossing
a little river that lay in our way we saw some ducks, and Mr Banks, as
soon as he had got over, fired at them, and happened to kill three at
one shot: this struck them with the utmost terror, so that most of them
fell suddenly to the ground, as if they also had been shot at the same
discharge: it was not long, however, before they recovered from their
fright, and we continued our route; but we had not gone far before we
were alarmed by the report of two pieces, which were fired by the guard
at the tent. We had then straggled a little distance from each other,
but Owhaw immediately called us together, and by waving his hand, sent
away every Indian who followed us except three, each of whom, as a
pledge of peace on their part, and an entreaty that there might be peace
on ours, hastily broke a branch from the trees, and came to us with it
in their hands. As we had too much reason to fear that some mischief
had happened, we hasted back to the tent, which was not distant above
half a mile, and when we came up, we found it entirely deserted, except
by our own people.

It appeared, that one of the Indians who remained about the tent after
we left it, had watched his opportunity, and, taking the centry
unawares, had snatched away his musquet. Upon this, the petty officer, a
midshipman, who commanded the party, perhaps from a sudden fear of
farther violence, perhaps from the natural petulance of power newly
acquired, and perhaps from a brutality in his nature, ordered the
marines to fire: the men, with as little consideration or humanity as
the officer, immediately discharged their pieces among the thickest of
the flying crowd, consisting of more than a hundred; and observing that
the thief did not fall, pursued him, and shot him dead. We afterwards
learnt, that none of the others were either killed or wounded.

Owhaw, who had never left us, observing that we were now totally
deserted, got together a few of those who had fled, though not without
some difficulty, and ranged them about us; we endeavoured to justify our
people as well as we could, and to convince the Indians that if they did
no wrong to us, we should do no wrong to them: they went away without
any appearance of distrust or resentment; and having struck our tent, we
returned to the ship, but by no means satisfied with the transactions of
the day.

Upon questioning our people more particularly, whose conduct they soon
perceived we could not approve, they alleged that the centinel whose
musket was taken away, was violently assaulted and thrown down, and that
a push was afterwards made at him by the man who took the musket, before
any command was given to fire. It was also suggested, that Owhaw had
suspicions, at least, if not certain knowledge, that something would be
attempted against our people at the tent, which made him so very earnest
in his endeavours to prevent our leaving it; others imputed his
importunity to his desire that we should confine ourselves to the beach:
and it was remarked that neither Owhaw, nor the chiefs who remained with
us after he had sent the rest of the people away, would have inferred
the breach of peace from the firing at the tent, if they had had no
reason to suspect that some injury had been offered by their
countrymen; especially as Mr Banks had just fired at the ducks: And yet
that they did infer a breach of peace from that incident, was manifest
from their waving their hands for the people to disperse, and instantly
pulling green branches from the trees. But what were the real
circumstances of this unhappy affair, and whether either, and which of
these conjectures were true, could never certainly be known.

The next morning but few of the natives were seen upon the beach, and
not one of them came off to the ship. This convinced us that our
endeavours to quiet their apprehensions had not been effectual; and we
remarked with particular regret, that we were deserted even by Owhaw,
who had hitherto been so constant in his attachment, and so active in
renewing the peace that had been broken.

Appearances being thus unfavourable, I warped the ship nearer to the
shore, and moored her in such a manner as to command all the N.E. part
of the bay, particularly the place which I had marked out for the
building a fort. In the evening, however, I went on shore with only a
boat's crew, and some of the gentlemen: The natives gathered about us,
but not in the same number as before; there were I believe between
thirty and forty, and they trafficked with us for cocoa-nuts and other
fruit, to all appearance as friendly as ever.

On the 17th, early in the morning, we had the misfortune to lose Mr
Buchan, the person whom Mr Banks had brought out as a painter of
landscapes and figures. He was a sober, diligent, and ingenious young
man, and greatly regretted by Mr Banks; who hoped, by his means, to have
gratified his friends in England with representations of this country
and its inhabitants, which no other person on board could delineate with
the same accuracy and elegance. He had always been subject to epileptic
fits, one of which seized him on the mountains of Terra del Fuego, and
this disorder being aggravated by a bilious complaint which he
contracted on board the ship, at length put an end to his life. It was
at first proposed to bury him on shore, but Mr Banks thinking that it
might perhaps give offence to the natives, with whose customs we were
then wholly unacquainted, we committed his body to the sea, with as much
decency and solemnity as our circumstances and situation would admit.

In the forenoon of this day we received a visit from Tubourai Tamaide,
and Tootahah, our chiefs, from the west: They brought with them, as
emblems of peace, not branches of plantain, but two young trees, and
would not venture on board till these had been received, having probably
been alarmed by the mischief which had been done at the tent. Each of
them also brought, as propitiatory gifts, some bread-fruit, and a hog
ready dressed: This was a most acceptable present, as we perceived that
hogs were not always to be got; and in return we gave to each of our
noble benefactors a hatchet and a nail. In the evening we went on shore
and set up a tent, in which Mr Green and myself spent the night, in
order to observe an eclipse of the first satellite of Jupiter; but the
weather becoming cloudy, we were disappointed.

On the 18th, at day-break, I went on shore, with as many people as could
possibly be spared from the ship, and began to erect our fort. While
some were employed in throwing up intrenchments, others were busy in
cutting pickets and fascines, which the natives, who soon gathered round
us as they had been used to do, were so far from hindering, that many of
them voluntarily assisted us, bringing the pickets and fascines from the
wood where they had been cut, with great alacrity: We had indeed been so
scrupulous of invading their property, that we purchased every stake
which was used upon this occasion, and cut down no tree till we had
first obtained their consent. The soil where we constructed our fort was
sandy, and this made it necessary to strengthen the entrenchments with
wood; three sides were to be fortified in this manner; the fourth was
bounded by a river, upon the banks of which I proposed to place a proper
number of water-casks. This day we served pork to the ship's company for
the first time, and the Indians brought down so much bread-fruit and
cocoa-nuts, that we found it necessary to send away part of them
unbought, and to acquaint them, by signs, that we should want no more
for two days to come. Every thing was purchased this day with beads: A
single bead, as big as a pea, being the purchase of five or six
cocoa-nuts, and as many of the bread-fruit. Mr Banks's tent was got up
before night within the works, and he slept on shore for the first time.
Proper centries were placed round it, but no Indian attempted to
approach it the whole night.

The next morning, our friend Tubourai Tamaide made Mr Banks a visit, at
the tent, and brought with him not only his wife and family, but the
roof of a house, and several materials for setting it up, with furniture
and implements of various kinds, intending, as we understood him, to
take up his residence in our neighbourhood: This instance of his
confidence and good-will gave us great pleasure, and we determined to
strengthen his attachment to us by every means in our power. Soon after
his arrival he took Mr Banks by the hand, and leading him out of the
line, signified that he should accompany him into the woods. Mr Banks
readily consented, and having walked with him about a quarter of a mile,
they arrived at a kind of awning which he had already set up, and which
seemed to be his occasional habitation. Here he unfolded a bundle of his
country cloth, and taking out two garments, one of red cloth, and the
other of very neat matting, he clothed Mr Banks in them, and without any
other ceremony immediately conducted him back to the tent. His
attendants soon after brought him some pork and bread-fruit, which he
eat, dipping his meat into salt water instead of sauce: After his meal
he retired to Mr Banks's bed, and slept about an hour. In the afternoon,
his wife Tomio brought to the tent a young man about two-and-twenty
years of age, of a very comely appearance, whom they both seemed to
acknowledge as their son, though we afterwards discovered that he was
not so. In the evening, this young man and another chief, who had also
paid us a visit, went away to the westward, but Tubourai Tamaide and his
wife returned to the awning in the skirts of the wood.

Our surgeon, Mr Monkhouse, having walked out this evening, reported that
he had seen the body of the man who had been shot at the tents, which he
said was wrapped in cloth, and placed on a kind of bier, supported by
stakes, under a roof that seemed to have been set up for the purpose:
That near it were deposited some instruments of war, and other things,
which he would particularly have examined but for the stench of the
body, which was intolerable. He said, that he saw also two more sheds of
the same kind, in one of which were the bones of a human body that had
lain till they were quite dry. We discovered afterwards, that this was
the way in which they usually disposed of their dead.

A kind of market now began to be kept just without the lines, and was
plentifully supplied with every thing but pork. Tubourai Tamaide was our
constant guest, imitating our manners, even to the using of a knife and
fork, which he did very handily.

As my curiosity was excited by Mr Monkhouse's account of the situation
of the man who had been shot, I took an opportunity to go with some
others to see it. I found the shed under which his body lay, close by
the house in which he resided when he was alive, some others being not
more than ten yards distant; it was about fifteen feet long, and eleven
broad, and of a proportionable height: One end was wholly open, and the
other end, and the two sides, were partly inclosed with a kind of wicker
work. The bier on which the corpse was deposited, was a frame of wood
like that in which the sea-beds, called cotts, are placed, with a matted
bottom, and supported by four posts, at the height of about five feet
from the ground. The body was covered first with a matt, and then with
white cloth; by the side of it lay a wooden mace, one of their weapons
of war, and near the head of it, which lay next to the close end of the
shed, lay two cocoa-nut shells, such as are sometimes used to carry
water in; at the other end a bunch of green leaves, with some dried
twigs, all tied together, were stuck in the ground, by which lay a stone
about as big as a cocoa-nut: Near these lay one of the young plantain
trees, which are used for emblems of peace, and close by it a stone axe.
At the open end of the shed also hung, in several strings, a great
number of palm-nuts, and without the shed, was stuck upright in the
ground, the stem of a plantain tree about five feet high, upon the top
of which was placed a cocoa-nut shell full of fresh water: Against the
side of one of the posts hung a small bag, containing a few pieces of
breadfruit ready roasted, which were not all put in at the same time,
for some of them were fresh, and others stale. I took notice that
several of the natives observed us with a mixture of solicitude and
jealousy in their countenances, and by their gestures, expressed
uneasiness when we went near the body, standing themselves at a little
distance while we were making our examination, and appearing to be
pleased when we came away.

Our residence on shore would by no means have been disagreeable if we
had not been incessantly tormented by the flies, which, among other
mischief, made it almost impossible for Mr Parkinson, Mr Banks's natural
history painter, to work; for they not only covered his subject so as
that no part of its surface could be seen, but even eat the colour off
the paper as fast as he could lay it on.[88] We had recourse to
musquito-nets and fly-traps, which, though they made the inconvenience
tolerable, were very far from removing it.

[Footnote 88: Mr Sydney Parkinson, the person here mentioned, published
a journal of this voyage at London, 1775, in 4to. Another edition of it,
with the remarks of John Fothergill, appeared in 1784; and a French
translation of it, with additional matter, was printed at Paris in 1767.
"Il est recommandable surtout, (says the Bibl. Univ. des voyages) par
des details sur l'histoire naturelle, et par des vocabulaires plus
etendus que ceux qui se trouvent dans le Premier Voyage de Cook." How
far it is entitled to this, or to any praise, the editor is unable to
say, having never been favoured with a sight of it.--E.]

On the 22d, Tootahah gave us a specimen of the music of this country;
four persons performed upon flutes, which had only two stops, and
therefore could not sound more than four notes, by half tones: They were
sounded like our German flutes, except that the performer, instead of
applying it to his mouth, blew into it with one nostril, while he
stopped the other with his thumb: To these instruments four other
persons sung, and kept very good time; but only one tune was played
during the whole concert.

Several of the natives brought us axes, which they had received from on
board the Dolphin, to grind and repair; but among others there was one
which became the subject of much speculation, as it appeared to be
French: After much enquiry, we learnt that a ship had been here between
our arrival and the departure of the Dolphin, which we then conjectured
to have been a Spaniard, but afterwards knew to have been the Boudeuse,
commanded by M. Bougainville.

SECTION X.

_An Excursion to the Eastward, an Account of several Incidents that
happened both on board and on shore, and of the first Interview with
Oberea, the Person who, when the Dolphin was here, was supposed to be
Queen of the Island, with a Description of the Fort._

On the 24th, Mr Banks and Dr Solander examined the country for several
miles along the shore to the eastward: For about two miles it was flat
and fertile; after that the hills stretched quite to the water's edge,
and a little farther ran out into the sea, so that they were obliged to
climb over them. These hills, which were barren, continued for about
three miles more, and then terminated in a large plain, which was full
of good houses, and people who appeared to live in great affluence. In
this place there was a river, much more considerable than that at our
fort, which issued from a deep and beautiful valley, and, where our
travellers crossed it, though at some distance from the sea, was near
one hundred yards wide. About a mile beyond this river the country
became again barren, the rocks every where projecting into the sea, for
which reason they resolved to return. Just as they had formed this
resolution, one of the natives offered them refreshment, which they
accepted. They found this man to be of a kind that has been described by
various authors, as mixed with many nations, but distinct from them all.
His skin was of a dead white, without the least appearance of what is
called complexion, though some parts of his body were in a small degree
less white than others: His hair, eye-brows, and beard, were as white as
his skin; his eyes appeared as if they were bloodshot, and he seemed to
be very short-sighted.[89]

[Footnote 89: Several authors have collected facts, and reasoned on the
subject of that remarkable race of beings, denominated, from their
colour, Albinos. Mention is made of some of them in the article
Complexion, in the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, to which the reader is
referred. After all, however, it remains very doubtful whether the
peculiarity of the beings in question is to be attributed to disease, or
to some distinct constitution of animal economy, which may be considered
as sufficient to characterize a species of our nature. The writer of
this note inclines to the former opinion. This place, however, is
improper for the discussion of arguments for or against that opinion. It
may be more satisfactory to the general reader to be informed, that
individuals answering the usual description of the Albinos, have been
found in all the quarters of the earth, and that some families are so
peculiarly constituted as to produce them very frequently, so that the
affection is, properly speaking, hereditary in them. Few persons any way
curiously disposed have not had it in their power to see specimens of
Albinos, as exhibited for emolument in travelling shows. But,
notwithstanding, such opportunities have not been much improved by
philosophical minds, so that the history of Albinos is still involved in
considerable mystery.--E.]

At their return they were met by Tubourai Tamaide, and his women, who,
at seeing them, felt a joy which not being able to express, they burst
into tears, and wept some time before their passion could be restrained.