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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




[Footnote 37: "They were in much greater number than at the other
island, and followed us in the same manner, several hundreds of them
running along the coast in great disorder."--"They had many canoes,
which, on our approaching the shore, they dragged into the woods, and at
the same time, the women came with great stones in their hands to assist
the men in preventing our landing."--"We had now 50 sick on board, to
whom the land air, the fruit and vegetables, that appeared so beautiful
and attractive, would doubtless have afforded immediate relief." It
seems very probable, from the conduct of these islanders, and of the
others mentioned in the next section, that some former visitants had
used them so ill, as to unite them in determined opposition to the
entrance of all strangers. Would it be unfair to imagine, from a
circumstance afterwards narrated, that these visitants were Dutch? All
the seafaring nations of Europe, alas! are too deeply implicated in the
animosities and miseries of the South Sea inhabitants.--E.]

About noon, finding there was no anchorage here, I bore away and steered
along the shore to the westermost point of the island: The boats
immediately followed us, and kept sounding close to the beach, but could
get no ground.

When we came to the westermost point of this island, we saw another,
bearing S.W. by W. about four leagues distant. We were at this time
about a league beyond the inlet where we had left the natives, but they
were not satisfied with having got rid of us quietly; for I now
perceived two large double canoes sailing after the ship, with about
thirty men in each, all armed after the manner of their country. The
boats were a good way to leeward of us, and the canoes passing between
the ship and the shore, seemed very eagerly to give them chace. Upon
this I made the signal for the boats to speak with the canoes, and as
soon as they perceived it, they turned, and made towards the Indians,
who, seeing this, were seized with a sudden panic, and immediately
hauling down their sails, paddled back again at a surprising rate. Our
boats however came up with them; but notwithstanding the dreadful surf
that broke upon the shore, the canoes pushed through it, and the Indians
immediately hauled them up upon the beach. Our boats followed them, and
the Indians, dreading an invasion of their coast, prepared to defend it
with clubs and stones, upon which our men fired, and killed two or three
of them: One of them received three balls which went quite through his
body; yet he afterwards took up a large stone, and died in the action of
throwing it against his enemy. This man fell close to our boats, so that
the Indians who remained unhurt did not dare to attempt the carrying off
his body, which gave us an opportunity to examine it; but they carried
off the rest of their dead, and made the best of their way back to their
companions at the inlet. Our boats then returned, and brought off the
two canoes, which they had pursued. One of them was thirty-two feet
long, and the other somewhat less, but they were both of a very curious
construction, and must have cost those who made them infinite labour.
They consisted of planks exceedingly well wrought, and in many places
adorned with carving; these planks were sewed together, and over every
seam there was a stripe of tortoise-shell, very artificially fastened,
to keep out the weather: Their bottoms were as sharp as a wedge, and
they were very narrow; and therefore two of them were joined laterally
together by a couple of strong spars, so that there was a space of about
six or eight feet between them: A mast was hoisted in each of them, and
the sail was spread between the masts: The sail, which I preserved, and
which is now in my possession, is made of matting, and is as neat a
piece of work as ever I saw: their paddles were very curious, and their
cordage was as good and as well laid as any in England, though it
appeared to be made of the outer covering of the cocoa-nut. When these
vessels sail, several men sit upon the spars which hold the canoes
together.

As the surf, which broke very high upon the shore, rendered it
impossible to procure refreshments for the sick in this part of the
island, I hauled the wind, and worked back to the inlet, being
determined to try once more what could be done there.

I recovered that station in the afternoon, and immediately sent the
boats to sound the inlet again, but they confirmed the account which had
been made before, that it afforded no anchorage for a ship. While the
boats were absent, I observed a great number of the natives upon the
point near the spot where we had left them in the morning, and they
seemed to be very busy in loading a great number of large canoes which
lay close to the beach. As I thought they might be troublesome, and was
unwilling that they should suffer by another unequal contest with our
people, I fired a shot over their heads, which produced the effect I
intended, for they all disappeared in a moment.

Just before the evening closed in, our boats landed, and got a few
cocoa-nuts, which they brought off, and saw none of the inhabitants. In
the night, during which we had rain and hard squalls, I stood off and on
with the ships, and at seven o'clock in the morning brought-to off the
inlet. I immediately sent the boats on shore in search of refreshments,
and made all the men who were not so ill of the scurvy as to be laid up,
go in them; I also went on shore myself, and continued there the whole
day. We saw many houses or wigwams of the natives, but they were totally
deserted, except by the dogs, who kept an incessant howling from the
time we came on shore till we returned to the ship: They were low mean
hovels, thatched with cocoa-nut branches; but they were most
delightfully situated in a fine grove of stately trees, many of which
were the cocoa-nut, and many such as we were utterly unacquainted with.
The cocoa-nut trees seem to furnish them with almost all the necessaries
of life; particularly food, sails, cordage; timber, and vessels to hold
water; so that probably these people always fix their habitations where
the trees abound. We observed the shore to be covered with coral, and
the shells of very large pearl oysters; so that I make no doubt but that
as profitable a pearl fishery might be established here as any in the
world. We saw but little of the people, except at a distance; we could
however perceive that the women had a piece of cloth of some kind,
probably fabricated of the same stuff as their sail, hanging from the
waist as low as the knee; the men were naked.

Our people, in rummaging some of the huts, found the carved head of a
rudder, which--had manifestly belonged to a Dutch long-boat, and was
very old and worm-eaten. They found also a piece of hammered iron, a
piece of brass, and some small iron tools, which the ancestors of the
present inhabitants of this place probably obtained from the Dutch ship
to which the long-boat had belonged, all which I brought away with me.
Whether these people found means to cut off the ship, or whether she was
lost upon the island, or after she left it, cannot be known; but there
is reason to believe that she never returned to Europe, because no
account of her voyage, or of any discoveries that she made, is extant.
If the ship sailed from this place in safety, it is not perhaps easy to
account for her leaving the rudder of her long-boat behind her: And if
she was cut off by the natives, there must be much more considerable
remains of her in the island, especially of her iron-work, upon which
all Indian nations, who have no metal, set the highest value; we had no
opportunities however to examine this matter farther. The hammered-iron,
brass, and iron tools, I brought away with me; but we found a tool
exactly in the form of a carpenter's adze, the blade of which was a
pearl oyster-shell; possibly this might have been made in imitation of
an adze which had belonged to the carpenter of the Dutch ship, for among
the tools that I brought away there was one which seemed to be the
remains of such an implement, though it was worn away almost to nothing.

Close to the houses of these people, we saw buildings of another kind,
which appeared to be burying-places, and from which we judged that they
had great veneration for their dead. They were situated under lofty
trees, that gave a thick shade; the sides and tops were of stone; and in
their figure they somewhat resembled the square tombs, with a flat top,
which are always to be found in our country church-yards. Near these
buildings we found many neat boxes full of human bones, and upon the
branches of the trees which shaded them, hung a great number of the
heads and bones of turtle, and a variety of fish, inclosed in a kind of
basket-work of reeds: Some of the fish we took down, and found that
nothing remained but the skin and the teeth; the bones and entrails
seemed to have been extracted, and the muscular flesh dried away.

We sent off several boat-loads of cocoa-nuts, and a great quantity of
scurvy-grass, with which the island is covered; refreshments which were
of infinite service to us, as by this time I believe there was not a man
among us wholly untouched by the scurvy.

The fresh water here is very good, but it is scarce; the wells which
supply the natives are so small, that when two or three cocoa-nut shells
have been filled from them, they are dry for a few minutes; but as they
presently fill again, if a little pains were taken to enlarge them, they
would abundantly supply any ship with water.

We saw no venomous creature here; but the flies were an intolerable
torment, they covered us from head to foot, and filled not only the
boat, but the ships. We saw great numbers of parrots and paroquets, and
several other birds which were altogether unknown to us; we saw also a
beautiful kind of dove, so tame that some of them frequently came close
to us, and even followed us into the Indian huts.

All this day the natives kept themselves closely concealed, and did not
even make a smoke upon any part of the islands as far as we could see;
probably fearing that a smoke might discover the place of their retreat.
In the evening, we all returned on board the ship.

This part of the island lies in latitude 14 deg. 29' S., longitude 148 deg. 50'
W. and after I got on board, I hauled a little way farther from the
shore, intending to visit the other island in the morning, which had
been seen to the westward of that before which the ship lay, and which
is distant about sixty-nine leagues from the Islands of Disappointment,
in the direction of W.1/2 S.

The next morning at six o'clock, I made sail for the island which I
intended to visit, and when I reached it, I steered S.W. by W. close
along the north-east side of it, but could get no soundings: This side
is about six or seven leagues long, and the whole makes much the same
appearance as the other, having a large salt-water lake in the middle of
it. As soon as the ship came in sight, the natives ran down to the beach
in great numbers: They were armed in the same manner as those that we
had seen upon the other island, and kept abreast of the ship for several
leagues. As the heat of this climate is very great, they seemed to
suffer much by running so far in the sun, for they sometimes plunged
into the sea, and sometimes fell flat upon the sand, that the surf might
break over them, after which they renewed the race with great vigour.
Our boats were at this time sounding along the shore, as usual, but I
had given strict orders to the officers who commanded them never to
molest the natives, except it should become absolutely necessary for
their own defence, but to try all possible means to obtain their
confidence and good will: Our people therefore went as near to the shore
as they durst for the surf, and made signs that they wanted water; the
Indians readily understood them, and directed them to run down farther
along the shore, which they did, till they came abreast of such a
cluster of houses as we had just left upon the other island; to this
place the Indians still followed them, and were there joined by many
others: The boats immediately hauled close into the surf, and we
brought-to, with the ships, at a little distance from the shore, upon
which a stout old man, with a long white beard, that gave him a very
venerable appearance, came down from the houses to the beach. He was
attended by a young man, and appeared to have the authority of a chief
or king: The rest of the Indians, at a signal which he made, retired to
a little distance, and he then advanced quite to the water's edge; in
one hand he held the green branch of a tree, and in the other he grasped
his beard, which he pressed to his bosom; in this attitude he made a
long oration, or rather song, for it had a musical cadence which was by
no means disagreeable. We regretted infinitely that we could not
understand what he said to us, and not less that he could not understand
any thing which we should say to him; to shew our good-will, however, we
threw him some trifling presents, while he was yet speaking, but he
would neither touch them himself, nor suffer them to be touched by
others till he had done: He then walked into the water, and threw our
people the green branch, after which he took up the things which had
been thrown from the boats. Every thing now having a friendly
appearance, our people made signs that they should lay down their arms,
and most of them having complied, one of the midshipmen, encouraged by
this testimony of confidence and friendship, leaped out of the boat with
his clothes on, and swam through the surf to shore. The Indians
immediately gathered round him, and began to examine his clothes with
great curiosity; they seemed particularly to admire his waistcoat, and
being willing to gratify his new friends, he took it off, and presented
it to them; this courtesy, however, produced a disagreeable effect, for
he had no sooner given away his waistcoat; than one of the Indians very
ingeniously untied his cravat, and the next moment snatched it from his
neck, and ran away with it. Our adventurer, therefore, to prevent his
being stripped by piece-meal, made the best of his way back again to the
boat: Still, however, we were upon good terms, and several of the
Indians swam off to our people, some of them bringing a cocoa-nut, and
others a little fresh water in a cocoa-nut shell. But the principal
object of our boats was to obtain some pearls; and the men, to assist
them in explaining their meaning, had taken with them some of the pearl
oyster-shells which they had found in great numbers upon the coast; but
all their endeavours were ineffectual, for they could not, even with
this assistance, at all make themselves understood. It is indeed
probable that we should have succeeded better, if an intercourse of any
kind could have been established between us, but it was our misfortune
that no anchorage could be found for the ships. As all Indians are fond
of beads, it can scarcely be supposed that the pearls, which the oysters
at this place contained, were overlooked by the natives, and it is more
than probable that if we could have continued here a few weeks, we might
have obtained some of great value in exchange for nails, hatchets, and
billhooks, upon which the natives, with more reason, set a much higher
value. We observed, that in the lake, or lagoon, there were two or three
very large vessels, one of which had two masts, and some cordage aloft
to support them.

To these two islands, I gave the name of King George's Islands, in
honour of his majesty. That which we last visited, lies in latitude
14 deg.41'S., longitude 149 deg.15'W; the variation of the compass here was 5 deg.E.


SECTION X.

_The Run from King George's Islands to the Islands of Saypan, Tinian,
and Aguigan; with an Account of several Islands that were discovered in
that Track._


We pursued our course to the westward the same day, and the next, about
three o'clock in the afternoon, we saw land again, bearing S.S.W.
distant about six leagues. We immediately stood for it, and found it to
be a low and very narrow island, lying east and west: we ran along the
south side of it, which had a green and pleasant appearance, but a
dreadful surf breaks upon every part of it, with foul ground at some
distance, and many rocks and small islands scattered at about three
leagues from the shore. We found it about twenty leagues in length, and
it appeared to abound with inhabitants, though we could only get a
transient glance of them as we passed along. To this place I gave the
name of the _Prince of Wales's Island._ It lies in latitude 15 deg.S. and
the westermost end of it in longitude 151 deg.53' W. It is distant from King
George's Islands about eight-and-forty leagues, in the direction of
S.80 W. the variation here was 5 deg.30'E.

From the western extremity of this island, we steered N. 82 W. and at
noon on the 16th, were in latitude 14 deg.28'S. longitude 156 deg.23'W. the
variation being 7 deg.40'E. The wind was now easterly, and we had again the
same mountainous swell from the southward that we had before we made the
Islands of Direction, and which, from that time to this day, we had
lost: When we lost that swell, and for some days before, we saw vast
flocks of birds, which we observed always took their flight to the
southward when evening was coming on.[38] These appearances persuaded me
that there was land in the same direction, and I am of opinion, that if
the winds had not failed me in the higher latitudes, I should have
fallen in with it: I would indeed at this time have hauled away to the
southward, and attempted the discovery, if our people had been healthy,
for having observed that all the islands we had seen were full of
inhabitants, I was still more confirmed in my opinion; as I could
account for their being peopled only by supposing a chain of islands
reaching to a continent; but the sickness of the crews, in both ships,
was an insuperable impediment.

[Footnote 38: No doubt to the Navigators' Islands, so called by
Bougainville. Captain Wallis touched at one of them, and named them
Boscawen's and Keppel's Islands. Peyrouse has given a very curious, but
not a pleasing account of their inhabitants. To the south of them again
are the Friendly Islands.--E.]

The next day we again saw many birds of various sorts about the ship,
and therefore supposed that some other island was not far distant, for
the swell continuing, I concluded that the land was not of very great
extent: I proceeded, however, with caution, for the islands in this part
of the ocean render the navigation very dangerous, they being so low,
that a ship may be close in with them before they are seen. We saw
nothing, however, on the 18th, the 19th, nor the 20th, during which we
continued to steer the same course, though the birds still continued
about the vessel in great numbers. Our latitude was now 12 deg.33'S.
longitude 167 deg.47'W. The Prince of Wales's Island was distant, 313
leagues, and the variation of the needle was 9 deg.15'E. The next morning
about seven o'clock, we discovered a most dangerous reef of breakers,
bearing S.S.W. and not farther distant than a single league. In about
half an hour afterwards, land was seen from the mast-head, bearing
W.N.W. and distant about eight leagues; it had the appearance of three
islands, with rocks and broken ground between them. The south-east side
of these islands lies N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. and is about three
leagues in length between the extreme points, from both which a reef
runs out, upon which the sea breaks to a tremendous height. We sailed
round the north end, and upon the north-west and west side, saw
innumerable rocks and shoals, which stretched near two leagues into the
sea, and were extremely dangerous. The islands themselves had a more
fertile and beautiful appearance than any we had seen before, and, like
the rest, swarmed with people, whose habitations we saw standing in
clusters all along the coast. We saw also a large vessel under sail, at
a little distance from the shore; but to our unspeakable regret we were
obliged to leave the place without farther examination, for it was
surrounded in every direction by rocks and breakers, which rendered the
hazard more than equivalent to every advantage we might procure. At this
time I took these for part of the islands called Solomon's Islands, and
was in hopes that I should fall in with others of them, in some of which
we might find an harbour.

The reef of rocks which we first saw as we approached these islands,
lies in latitude 10 deg.15'S. longitude 169 deg.28' W. and it bears from Prince
of Wales's Island N.76 deg.48' W. distant 352 leagues. The islands bear from
the reef W.N.W. distant nine leagues: I called them the _Islands of
Danger_, and steered from them N.W. by W. allowing for the variation.

After having seen the breakers soon after it was light in the morning, I
told my officers that I apprehended we should have frequent alarms in
the night; at night, therefore, every body was upon the watch, which a
very hard squall of wind, with rain, rendered the more necessary. About
nine o'clock, having just gone down into my cabin, I heard a great noise
above, and when I enquired what was the matter, I was told that the
Tamar, who was a-head, had fired a gun, and that our people saw breakers
to leeward: I ran instantly upon deck, and soon perceived that what had
been taken for breakers was nothing more than the undulating reflection
of the moon, which was going down, and shone faintly from behind a cloud
in the horizon; we therefore bore away after the Tamar, but did not get
sight of her till an hour afterwards.

Nothing worthy of notice happened till Monday the 24th when, about ten
o'clock in the morning, we discovered another island, bearing S.S.W.
distant about seven or eight leagues: We steered for it, and found it to
be low, but covered with wood, among which were cocoa-nut trees in great
abundance. It had a pleasant appearance, and a large lake in the middle,
like King George's Island: It is near thirty miles in circumference, a
dreadful sea breaks upon almost every part of the coast, and a great
deal of foul ground lies about it. We sailed quite round it, and when we
were on the lee-side, sent out boats to sound, in hopes of finding
anchorage: No soundings, however, were to be got near the shore, but I
sent the boats out a second time, with orders to land, if it were
possible, and procure some refreshments for the sick: they landed with
great difficulty, and brought off about two hundred cocoa-nuts, which,
to persons in our circumstances, were an inestimable treasure. The
people who were on shore, reported that there were no signs of its
having ever been inhabited, but that they found thousands of sea fowl
sitting upon their nests, which were built in high trees: These birds
were so tame that they suffered themselves to be knocked down without
leaving their nests: The ground was covered with land crabs, but our
people saw no other animal. At first I was inclined to believe that this
island was the same that in the Neptune Francois is called Maluita, and
laid down about a degree to the eastward of the great island of Saint
Elizabeth, which is the principal of the Solomon's Islands; but being
afterwards convinced to the contrary, I called it the _Duke of York's
Island_, in honour of his late royal highness, and I am of opinion that
we were the first human beings who ever saw it. There is indeed great
reason to believe that there is no good authority for laying down
Solomon's Islands in the situation that is assigned to them by the
French: The only person who has pretended to have seen them is Quiros,
and I doubt whether he left behind him any account of them by which they
might be found by future navigators.[39]

[Footnote 39: The opinion here stated is now pretty generally confided
in. Byron we see sailed over the northern, and Captain Carteret (as we
shall find) the southern limits of these supposed islands, but could
not find them. The name is now given to a cluster of islands tying
betwixt the north of Queen Charlotte's Archipelago, discovered by
Carteret, and the south-east coast of New Britain, &c.--E.]

We continued our course till the 29th, in the track of these islands,
and being then ten degrees to the westward of their situation in the
chart, without having seen any thing of them, I hauled to the northward,
in order to cross the equinoxial, and afterwards shape my course for the
Ladrone Islands, which, though a long run, I hoped to accomplish before
I should be distressed for water, notwithstanding it now began to fall
short. Our latitude, this day, was 8 deg.13'S., longitude 176 deg.20'E. and the
variation was 10 deg.10'E.

On Tuesday the 2d of July, we again saw many birds about the ship, and
at four o'clock in the afternoon, discovered an island bearing north,
and distant about six leagues: We stood for it till sun-set, when it was
distant about four leagues, and then kept off and on for the night. In
the morning, we found it a low flat island, of a most delightful
appearance, and full of wood, among which the cocoa-nut tree was very
conspicuous: We saw, however, to our great regret, much foul ground
about it, upon which the sea broke with a dreadful surf. We steered
along the southwest side of it, which we judged to be about four leagues
in length, and soon perceived not only that it was inhabited, but very
populous; for presently after the ship came in sight, we saw at least a
thousand of the natives assembled upon the beach, and in a very short
time more than sixty canoes, or rather proas, put off from the shore,
and made towards us. We lay by to receive them, and they were very soon
ranged in a circle round us. These vessels were very neatly made, and so
clean that they appeared to be quite new: None of them had fewer than
three persons on board, nor any of them more than six.[40] After these
Indians had gazed at us some time, one of them suddenly jumped out of
his proa, swam to the ship, and ran up the side like a cat: As soon as
he had stepped over the gunwale, he sat down upon it, and burst into a
violent fit of laughter, then started up, and ran all over the ship,
attempting to steal whatever he could lay his hands upon, but without
success, for, being stark naked, it was impossible to conceal his booty
for a moment. Our seamen put on him a jacket and trowsers, which
produced great merriment, for he had all the gestures of a monkey newly
dressed: We also gave him bread, which he eat with a voracious appetite,
and after having played a thousand antic tricks, he leaped overboard,
jacket and trowsers and all, and swam back again to his proa; after this
several others swam to the ship, ran up the side of the gun-room ports,
and having crept in, snatched up whatever lay in their reach, and
immediately leaped again into the sea, and swam away at a great rate,
though some of them, having both hands full, held up their arms quite
out of the water, to prevent their plunder from being spoiled. These
people are tall, well-proportioned, and clean-limbed; Their skin is a
bright copper-colour, their features are extremely good, and there is a
mixture of intrepidity and cheerfulness in their countenances that is
very striking. They have long black hair, which some of them wore tied
up behind in a great bunch, others in three knots: Some of them had long
beards, some only whiskers, and some nothing more than a small tuft at
the point of the chin. They were all of them stark naked, except their
ornaments, which consisted of shells, very prettily disposed and strung
together, and were worn round their necks, wrists, and waists: All their
ears were bored, but they had no ornaments in them when we saw them:
Such ornaments as they wear, when they wear any, are probably very
heavy, for their ears hang down almost to their shoulders, and some of
them were quite split through.[41] One of these men, who appeared to be
a person of some consequence, had a string of human teeth about his
waist, which was probably a trophy of his military prowess, for he would
not part with it in exchange for any thing I could offer him. Some of
them were unarmed, but others had one of the most dangerous weapons I
had ever seen: It was a kind of spear, very broad at the end, and stuck
full of sharks' teeth, which are as sharp as a lancet, at the sides, for
about three feet of its length. We shewed them some cocoa-nuts, and made
signs that we wanted more; but instead of giving any intimation that
they could supply us, they endeavoured to take away those we had.

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