A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 13 by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 13

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[Footnote 60: We are elsewhere told, that "When they were at too great a
distance to reach us with a lance, or a stone, they presumed that we had
no weapon with which we could reach them; here then the defiance was
given, and the words were almost universally the same, _Haromai,
haromai, harre uta a Patoo-Patoo oge_: Come to us, come on shore, and
we will kill you all with our Patoo-Patoos." The language of defiance
and bravado we see is pretty much the same throughout the world. Certain
Europeans, however, excel vastly in the ingenuity and brilliancy with
which they puff it off with oaths and curses; in this most courageous
invention, they as much surpass the mere savages as they do in
instruments of death. Indeed this co-superiority is in excellent
harmony. Our great poet Milton makes no scruple, of course, to ascribe
both offensive means to the inhabitants of the fiery gulph. See the 6th
book of his immortal work for the origin of one, and the whole of the
book, where the arch enemy makes speeches, for specimens of the other.
Milton's devils, however, very commonly preserve a dignified decorum in
their wrath--an indication, by the bye, of his judicious care to
maintain consistency in his characters.--E.]

About two, we saw a large opening, or inlet, for which we bore up; we
had now forty-one fathom water, which gradually decreased to nine, at
which time we were one mile and a half distant from a high towered rock
which lay near the south point of the inlet: This rock and the
northermost of the Court of Aldermen being in one, bearing S. 61 E.

About seven in the evening we anchored in seven fathom, a little within
the south entrance of the bay: To this place we were accompanied by
several canoes and people like those we had seen last, and for some time
they behaved very civilly. While they were hovering about us, a bird was
shot from the ship, as it was swimming upon the water: At this they
shewed less surprise than we expected, and taking up the bird, they tied
it to a fishing line that was towing a-stern; as an acknowledgment for
this favour we gave them a piece of cloth: But notwithstanding this
effect of our fire-arms, and this interchange of civilities, as soon as
it grew dark, they sung their war song, and attempted to tow away the
buoy of the anchor. Two or three musquets were then fired over them, but
this seemed rather to make them angry than afraid, and they went away,
threatening that to-morrow they would return with more force, and be the
death of us all; at the same time sending off a boat, which they told us
was going to another part of the bay for assistance.

There was some appearance of generosity, as well as courage, in
acquainting us with the time when they intended to make their attack;
but they forfeited all credit which this procured them, by coming
secretly upon us in the night, when they certainly hoped to find us
asleep: Upon approaching the ship they found themselves mistaken, and
therefore retired without speaking a word, supposing that they were too
early; after some time they came a second time, and being again
disappointed, they retired as silently as before.[61]

[Footnote 61: It may not be difficult, perhaps, to explain the conduct
of these people in the case now stated, on principles pretty well
ascertained by observation on different classes of mankind. These
islanders have advanced a certain step towards civilization; this is
indicated by the regularity of their conduct, as pointed to some
particular object of general interest; by their being influenced to
emulate one another in the operations of either real or fictitious
warfare, which of course implies free and extensive social intercourse;
and by the cultivation of land, and the useful though not numerous
domestic arts of cookery, and the making of nets and cloth, &c.--not to
mention their music and dancing. In consequence of this progress, they
are excited by the love of property to the display of courage as
necessary for its preservation, and, it seems, often required against
rival or more needy tribes. But their advancement has not been so great
as to destroy or counteract the treacherousness of disposition so common
to savages, whose minds are too intent on objects of desire or
resentment to allow place for reflection on the propriety or impropriety
of the means of attaining them, and whose whole morality, in short,
consists of appetites and indulgence. Hence, on the one hand, a
magnanimity which avows and boasts of its enmity, and on the other, a
cunning which seeks to gratify that feeling by artifices calculated to
put those who are the objects of it, off their guard against its
violence. They would be generous in their hate as well as in their love;
but the evil propensities of their lower life, check the virtues of the
higher. Thus they lose the merit of their valour by the meanness of
their deceit. Their inconsistency renders them more formidable than
either.--E.]

In the morning, at day-break, they prepared to effect by force what they
had in vain attempted by stealth and artifice: No less than twelve
canoes came against us, with about a hundred and fifty men, all armed
with pikes, lances, and stones. As they could do nothing till they came
very near the ship, Tupia was ordered to expostulate with them, and, if
possible, divert them from their purpose: During the conversation they
appeared to be sometimes friendly and sometimes otherwise; at length,
however, they began to trade, and we offered to purchase their weapons,
which some of them consented to sell: They sold two very fairly, but
having received what had been agreed upon for the purchase of a third,
they refused to send it up, but offered it for a second price; a second
was sent down, but the weapon was still detained, and a demand made of a
third; this being refused with some expressions of displeasure and
resentment, the offender, with many ludicrous tokens of contempt and
defiance, paddled his canoe off a few yards from the ship. As I intended
to continue in this place five or six days, in order to make an
observation of the transit of Mercury, it was absolutely necessary, in
order to prevent future mischief, to shew these people that we were not
to be treated ill with impunity; some small shot were therefore fired at
the thief, and a musquet-ball through the bottom of his boat: Upon this
it was paddled to about a hundred yards distance, and to our great
surprise the people in the other canoes took not the least notice of
their wounded companion, though he bled very much, but returned to the
ship, and continued to trade with the most perfect indifference and
unconcern. They sold us many more of their weapons without making any
other attempt to defraud us, for a considerable time; at last, however,
one of them thought fit to paddle away with two different pieces of
cloth which had been given for the same weapon: When he had got about an
hundred yards distance, and thought himself secure of his prize, a
musket was fired after him, which fortunately struck the boat just at
the water's edge, and made two holes in her side; this only incited them
to ply their paddles with greater activity, and the rest of the canoes
also made off with the utmost expedition. As the last proof of our
superiority, therefore, we fired a round shot over them, and not a boat
stopped till they got on shore.

About ten o'clock, I went with two boats to sound the bay, and look out
for a more convenient anchoring-place, the master being in one boat and
myself in the other. We pulled first over to the north shore, from which
some canoes came out to meet us; as we advanced, however, they retired,
inviting us to follow them: But, seeing them all armed, I did not think
it proper to comply, but went towards the head of the bay, where I
observed a village upon a very high point, fortified in the manner that
has been already described, and having fixed upon an anchoring place not
far from where the ship lay, I returned on board.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, I weighed, run in nearer to the
shore, and anchored in four fathom and a half water, with a soft sandy
bottom, the south point of the bay bearing E. distant one mile, and a
river which the boats can enter at low water S.S.E. distant a mile and a
half.

In the morning, the natives came off again to the ship, and we had the
satisfaction to observe that their behaviour was very different from
what it had been yesterday: Among them was an old man, whom we had
before remarked for his prudence and honesty: His name was _Toiava_, and
he seemed to be a person of a superior rank; in the transactions of
yesterday morning he had behaved with great propriety and good sense,
lying in a small canoe, always near the ship, and treating those on
board as if he neither intended a fraud nor suspected an injury: With
some persuasion this man and another came on board, and ventured into
the cabin, where I presented each of them with a piece of English cloth
and some spike nails. They told us that the Indians were now very much
afraid of us, and on our part we promised friendship if they would
behave peaceably, desiring only to purchase what they had to sell upon
their own terms.

After the natives had left us, I went with the pinnace and long-boat
into the river with a design to haul the seine, and sent the master in
the yawl to sound the bay and dredge for fish. The Indians who were on
one side of the river, expressed their friendship by all the signs they
could devise, beckoning us to land among them; but we chose to go ashore
on the other side, as the situation was more convenient for hauling the
seine and shooting birds, of which we saw great numbers of various
kinds: The Indians, with much persuasion, about noon, ventured over to
us. With the seine we had very little success, catching only a few
mullets, neither did we get any thing by the trawl or the dredge, except
a few shells; but we shot several birds, most of them resembling
sea-pies, except that they had black plumage, and red bills and feet.
While we were absent with our guns, the people who staid by the boats
saw two of the Indians quarrel and fight: They began the battle with
their lances, but some old men interposed and took them away, leaving
them to decide the difference, like Englishmen, with their fists: They
boxed with great vigour and obstinacy for some time, but by degrees all
retired behind a little hill, so that our people could not see the event
of the combat.

In the morning the long-boat was sent again to trawll in the bay, and an
officer, with the marines, and a party of men, to cut wood and haul the
seine. The Indians on shore appeared very peaceable and submissive, and
we had reason to believe that their habitations were at a considerable
distance, for we saw no houses, and found that they slept under the
bushes: The bay is probably a place to which they frequently resort in
parties to gather shell-fish, of which it affords incredible plenty, for
wherever we went, whether upon the hills or in the vallies, the woods or
the plains, we saw vast heaps of shells, often many waggon loads
together, some appearing to be very old, and others recent. We saw no
cultivation in this place, which had a desolate and barren appearance:
The tops of the hills were green, but nothing grew there except a large
kind of fern, the roots of which the natives had got together in large
quantities, in order to carry away with them. In the evening Mr Banks
walked up the river, which at the mouth looked fine and broad, but at
the distance of about two miles was not deep enough to cover the foot;
and the country inland was still more barren than at the sea-side. The
seine and dredge were not more successful to-day than yesterday, but the
Indians in some measure compensated for the disappointment by bringing
us several baskets of fish, some dry, and some fresh dressed; it was not
indeed of the best, but I ordered it all to be bought for the
encouragement of trade.

On the 7th, the weather was so bad that none of us left the ship, nor
did any of the Indians come on board.

On the 8th, I sent a party of men on shore to wood and water; and in the
mean time many canoes came off, in one of which was our friend Toiava;
soon after he was alongside of the ship, he saw two canoes coming from
the opposite side of the bay, upon which he hasted back again to the
shore with all his canoes, telling us that he was afraid of the people
who were coming: This was a farther proof that the people of this
country were perpetually committing hostilities against each other. In a
short time, however, he returned, having discovered that the people who
had alarmed him were not the same that he had supposed. The natives that
came to the ship this morning sold us, for a few pieces of cloth, as
much fish of the mackrel kind as served the whole ship's company, and
they were as good as ever were eaten. At noon, this day, I observed the
sun's meridional zenith distance by an astronomical quadrant, which
gave the latitude 36 deg. 47' 43" within the south entrance of the bay.

Mr Banks and Dr Solander went on shore and collected a great variety of
plants, altogether unknown, and not returning till the evening, had an
opportunity of observing in what manner the Indians disposed themselves
to pass the night. They had no shelter but a few shrubs: The women and
the children were ranged innermost, or farthest from the sea; the men
lay in a kind of half circle round them, and their arms were set up
against the trees close by them, in a manner which showed that they were
afraid of an attack by some enemy not far distant. It was also
discovered that they acknowledged neither Teratu, nor any other person,
as their king: As in this particular they differed from all the people
that we had seen upon other parts of the coast, we thought it possible
that they might be a set of outlaws, in a state of rebellion against
Teratu, and in that case they might have no settled habitations, or
cultivated land, in any part of the country.

On the 9th, at day-break, a great number of canoes came on board, loaded
with mackerel of two sorts, one exactly the same with those caught in
England, and the other somewhat different: We imagined the people had
taken a large shoal, and brought us an overplus which they could not
consume; for they sold them at a very low rate. They were, however, very
welcome to us; at eight o'clock the ship had more fish on board than all
her people could eat in three days; and before night, the quantity was
so much increased, that every man who could get salt, cured as many as
would last him a month.

After an early breakfast, I went ashore, with Mr Green and proper
instruments, to observe the transit of Mercury, Mr Banks and Dr Solander
being of the party; the weather had for some time been very thick, with
much rain, but this day was so favourable that not a cloud intervened
during the whole transit. The observation of the ingress was made by Mr
Green alone, while I was employed in taking the sun's altitude, to
ascertain the time. It came on at 7h 20' 58" apparent time: According to
Mr Green's observation, the internal contact was at 12h 8' 58", the
external at 12h 9' 55" p.m. And according to mine, the internal contact
was at 12h 8' 54", and the external 12h 9' 48"; the latitude of the
place of observation was 30 deg. 48' 5-1/2". The latitude observed at noon
was 36 deg. 48' 28". The mean of this and yesterday's observation gives 36 deg.
48' 5-1/2" S. the latitude of the place of observation; the variation of
the compass was 11 deg. 9' E.

About noon we were alarmed by the firing of a great gun from the ship;
Mr Gore, my second lieutenant, was at this time commanding officer on
board, and the account that he gave was this. While some small canoes
were trading with the people, two very large ones came up, full of men,
one of them having on board forty-seven, all armed with pikes, darts,
and stones, and apparently with a hostile intention: They appeared to be
strangers, and to be rather conscious of superiority over us by their
numbers, than afraid of any weapons which could give us superiority over
them: No attack was however made; probably because they learnt from the
people in the other canoes, with whom they immediately entered into
conference, what kind of an enemy they had to deal with: After a little
time, they began to trade, some of them offering their arms, and one of
them a square piece of cloth, which makes a part of their dress, called
a _haahow;_ several of the weapons were purchased, and Mr Gore having
agreed for a haahow, sent down the price, which was a piece of British
cloth, and expected his purchase: But the Indian, as soon as he had got
Mr Gore's cloth in his possession, refused to part with his own, and put
off the canoe: Upon being threatened for this fraud, he and his
companions began to sing their war song in defiance, and shook their
paddles: Still, however, they began no attack, only defying Mr Gore to
take any remedy in his power, which so provoked him that he levelled a
musket loaded with ball at the offender, while he was holding the cloth
in his hand, and shot him dead. It would have been happy if the effect
of a few small shot had been tried upon this occasion, which upon some
others had been successful.

When the Indian dropped, all the canoes put off to some distance; but as
they did not go away, it was thought they might still meditate an
attack. To secure therefore a safe passage for the boat, which it was
necessary to send on shore, a round shot was fired over their heads,
which effectually answered the purpose, and put them all to flight. When
an account of what had happened was brought on shore, our Indians were
alarmed, and drawing all together, retreated in a body. After a short
time, however, they returned, having heard a more particular account of
the affair; and intimated that they thought the man who had been killed
deserved his fate.[62]

[Footnote 62: Savages in general, and more especially when in
unfavourable circumstances as to the means of rendering life
comfortable, shew little sympathy for each other; and accordingly, the
principle of fortitude, which, as justly observed by Mr Millar, in one
of his chapters on the effects of commerce, &c. "is diminished by the
exquisite fellow-feeling of those who live with us," is their prevalent
virtue. Every man is too much occupied by his own wants and desires to
have any fine feeling to squander away on his neighbours; and thus every
man learns to bear his own burdens without any expectation of assistance
from others, who are of course equally loaded with himself. But these
New Zealanders, as we have seen, had so far advanced in the arts of
civilization, as to have exhibited considerable social qualities. The
present instance of concern for their citizen, and of consideration of
the justice of his fate, proves the truth of the remark.--E.]

A little before sun-set the Indians retired to eat their supper, and we
went with them to be spectators of the repast; it consisted of fish of
different kinds, among which were lobsters, and some birds, of a species
unknown to us: These were either roasted or baked; to roast them, they
fastened them upon a small stick, which was stuck up in the ground,
inclining towards their fire; and to bake them, they put them into a
hole in the ground with hot stones, in the same manner as the people of
Otaheite.

Among the natives that were assembled upon this occasion, we saw a
woman, who, after their manner, was mourning for the death of her
relation: She sat upon the ground near the rest, who, one only excepted,
seemed not at all to regard her: The tears constantly trickled down her
cheeks, and she repeated in a low, but very mournful voice, words, which
even Tupia did not at all understand: At the end of every sentence she
cut her arms, her face, or her breast, with a shell that she held in her
hand, so that she was almost covered with blood, and was indeed one of
the most affecting spectacles that can be conceived. The cuts, however,
did not appear to be so deep as are sometimes made upon similar
occasions, if we may judge by the scars which we saw upon the arms,
thighs, breasts, and cheeks of many of them, which we were told were the
remains of wounds which they had inflicted upon themselves as
testimonies of their affection and sorrow.

The next day I went with two boats, accompanied by Mr Banks and the
other gentlemen, to examine a large river that empties itself into the
head of the bay. We rowed about four or five miles up, and could have
gone much farther if the weather had been favourable. It was here wider
than at the mouth, and divided into many streams by small flat islands,
which are covered with mangroves, and overflowed at high water. From
these trees exudes a viscous substance which very much resembles resin;
we found it first in small lumps upon the sea beach, and now saw it
sticking to the trees, by which we knew whence it came. We landed on the
east side of the river, where we saw a tree upon which several shags had
built their nests, and here therefore we determined to dine; twenty of
the shags were soon killed, and being broiled upon the spot, afforded us
an excellent meal. We then went upon the hills, from whence I thought I
saw the head of the river. The shore on each side, as well as the
islands in the middle, were covered with mangroves; and the sandbanks
abounded in cockles and clams: In many places there were rock oysters,
and everywhere plenty of wild fowl, principally shags, ducks, curlieus,
and the sea-pie, that, has been described before. We also saw fish in
the river, but of what kind we could not discover: The country on the
east side of this river is for the most part barren and destitute of
wood; but on the west it has a better aspect, and in some places is
adorned with trees, but has in no part the appearance of cultivation. In
the entrance of the river, and for two or three miles up, there is good
anchoring in four and five fathom water, and places very convenient for
laying a vessel on shore, where the tide rises and falls seven feet at
the full and change of the moon. We could not determine whether any
considerable stream of fresh water came into this river out of the
country; but we saw a number of small rivulets issue from the adjacent
hills. Near the mouth of this river, on the east side, we found a little
Indian village, consisting of small temporary sheds, where we landed,
and were received by the people with the utmost kindness and
hospitality: They treated us with a flat shell-fish of a most delicious
taste, somewhat like a cockle, which we eat hot from the coals. Near
this place is a high point or peninsula, projecting into the river, and
upon it are the remains of a fort, which they call _eppah_, or _heppah_.
The best engineer in Europe could not have chosen a situation better
adapted to enable a small number to defend themselves against a greater.
The steepness of the cliffs renders it wholly inaccessible from the
water which incloses it on three sides; and, to the land, it is
fortified by a ditch, and a bank raised on the inside: From the top of
the bank to the bottom of the ditch, is two-and-twenty feet; the ditch
on the outside is fourteen feet deep, and its breadth is in proportion.
The whole seemed to have been executed with great judgment; and there
had been a row of pickets or pallisadoes, both on the top of the bank
and along the brink of the ditch on the outside; those on the outside
had been driven very deep into the ground, and were inclined towards the
ditch, so as to project over it; but of these the thickest posts only
were left, and upon them there were evident marks of fire, so that the
place had probably been taken and destroyed by an enemy. If any occasion
should make it necessary for a ship to winter here, or stay any time,
tents might be built in this place, which is sufficiently spacious, with
great convenience, and might easily be made impregnable to the whole
country.

On the 11th, there was so much wind and rain that no canoe came off; but
the long-boat was sent to fetch oysters from one of the beds which had
been discovered the day before: The boat soon returned, deeply laden,
and the oysters, which were as good as ever came from Colchester, and
about the same size, were laid down under the booms, and the ship's
company did nothing but eat them from the time they came on board till
night, when, as may reasonably be supposed, great part of them were
expended; this, however, gave us no concern, as we knew that not the
boat only, but the ship, might have been loaded, almost in one tide, as
the beds are dry at half-ebb.

In the morning of Sunday the 12th, two canoes came off full of people
whom we had never seen before, but who appeared to have heard of us, by
the caution which they used in approaching us. As we invited them to
come alongside with all the tokens of friendship that we could shew,
they ventured up, and two of them came on board; the rest traded very
fairly for what they had: A small canoe also came from the other side of
the bay, and sold us some very large fish, which they gave us to
understand they would have brought yesterday, having caught them the day
before, but that the wind was so high they could not venture to sea.