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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After breakfast I went with the pinnace and yawl, accompanied by Mr
Banks and Dr Solander, over to the north side of the bay, to take a view
of the country, and two fortified villages which we had discovered at a
distance. We landed near the smallest of them, the situation of which
was the most beautifully romantic that can be imagined; it was built
upon a small rock, detached from the main, and surrounded at high
water. The whole body of this rock was perforated by an hollow or arch,
which possessed much the largest part of it; the top of the arch was
above sixty feet perpendicular above the sea, which at high water flowed
through the bottom of it: The whole summit of the rock above the arch
was fenced round after their manner; but the area was not large enough
to contain more than five or six houses: It was accessible only by one
very narrow and steep path, by which the inhabitants, at our approach,
came down, and invited us into the place; but we refused, intending to
visit a much more considerable fort of the same kind at about a mile's
distance. We made some presents, however, to the women, and in the mean
time we saw the inhabitants of the town which we were going to, coming
towards us in a body, men, women, and children, to the number of about
one hundred: When they came near enough to be heard, they waved their
hands and called out _Horomai_; after which they sat down among the
bushes near the beach; these ceremonies we were told were certain signs
of their friendly disposition. We advanced to the place where they were
sitting, and when we came up, made them a few presents, and asked leave
to visit their Heppah; they consented with joy in their countenances,
and immediately led the way. It is called Wharretouwa, and is situated
upon a high promontory or point, which projects into the sea, on the
north side, and near the head of the bay: Two sides of it are washed by
the sea, and these are altogether inaccessible; two other sides are to
the land: Up one of them, which is very steep, lies the avenue from the
beach; the other is flat and open to the country upon the hill, which is
a narrow ridge: The whole is enclosed by a pallisade about ten feet
high, consisting of strong pales bound together with withes. The weak
side next the land is also defended by a double ditch, the innermost of
which has a bank and an additional pallisade; the inner pallisades are
upon the bank next the town, but at such a distance from the top of the
bank as to leave room for men to walk and use their arms, between them
and the inner ditch: The outermost pallisades are between the two
ditches, and driven obliquely into the ground, so that their upper ends
incline over the inner ditch: The depth of this ditch, from the bottom
to the top or crown of the bank, is four-and-twenty feet. Close within
the innermost pallisade is a stage, twenty feet high, forty feet long,
and six broad; it is supported by strong posts, and is intended as a
station for those who defend the place, from which they may annoy the
assailants by darts and stones, heaps of which lay ready for use.
Another stage of the same kind commands the steep avenue from the beach,
and stands also within the pallisade; on this side of the hill there are
some little outworks and huts, not intended as advanced posts, but as
the habitations of people who for want of room could not be accommodated
within the works, but who were, notwithstanding, desirous of placing
themselves under their protection. The pallisades, as has been observed
already, ran round the whole brow of the hill, as well towards the sea
as towards the land; but the ground within having originally been a
mount, they have reduced it not to one level, but to several, rising in
stages one above the other, like an amphitheatre, each of which is
inclosed within its separate pallisade; they communicate with each other
by narrow lanes, which might easily be stopt up, so that if an enemy
should force the outward pallisade, he would have others to carry before
the place could be wholly reduced, supposing these places to be
obstinately defended one after the other. The only entrance is by a
narrow passage, about twelve feet long, communicating with the steep
ascent from the beach: It passes under one of the fighting stages, and
though we saw nothing like a door or gateway, it may be easily
barricaded in a manner that will make the forcing it a very dangerous
and difficult undertaking. Upon the whole, this must be considered as a
place of great strength, in which a small number of resolute men may
defend themselves against all the force which a people with no other
arms than those that are in use here could bring against it. It seemed
to be well furnished for a siege with every thing but water; we saw
great quantities of fern root, which they eat as bread, and dried fish
piled up in heaps; but we could not perceive that they had any fresh
water nearer than a brook, which runs close under the foot of the hill:
Whether they have any means of getting it from this place during a
siege, or whether they have any method of storing it within the works in
gourds or other vessels, we could not learn; some resource they
certainly have with respect to this article, an indispensable necessary
of life, for otherwise the laying up dry provisions could answer no
purpose. Upon our expressing a desire to see their method of attack and
defence, one of the young men mounted a fighting stage, which they call
_Porava_, and another went into the ditch: Both he that was to defend
the place, and he that was to assault it, sung the war-song, and danced
with the same frightful gesticulations that we had seen used in more
serious circumstances, to work themselves up into a degree of that
mechanical fury, which, among all uncivilized nations, is the necessary
prelude to a battle; for dispassionate courage, a strength of mind that
can surmount the sense of danger, without a flow of animal spirits by
which it is extinguished, seems to be the prerogative of those who have
projects of more lasting importance, and a keener sense of honour and
disgrace, than can be formed or felt by men who have few pains or
pleasures besides those of mere animal life, and scarcely any purpose
but to provide for the day that is passing over them, to obtain plunder,
or revenge an insult: They will march against each other indeed in cool
blood, though they find it necessary to work themselves into passion
before they engage; as among us there have been many instances of people
who have deliberately made themselves drunk, that they might execute a
project which they formed when they were sober, but which, while they
continued so, they did not dare to undertake.[63]

[Footnote 63: Dr Hawkesworth, we see, is anxious to array the character
of a mercenary soldier, in the best garment his reason and conscience
could allow him to fabricate--But the deformities are scarcely
concealed. It had been more candid, and on the whole too more judicious,
to say, that he fights without having interest in the nature of the
contest, and butchers without feeling passion against his opponent, for
he can scarcely be called enemy. It follows then, that the efforts of
courage he makes are the product of some superinduced principles, the
result of a certain discipline, suited to his desire for distinction,
and the love of what he holds to be glory. These principles are more
uniformly steady of operation than the rage, whether real or affected,
of savages, and are more conducive to the accomplishment of the objects
in view, than even the desperate intrepidity which they so often
exhibit, or that amazing fortitude in which they excel. Among these, the
enthusiasm of every individual is efficient indeed to the infliction of
vengeance and suffering, but it wants the energy of combination and the
sagacity of practised theory, for the accomplishment of great and
important designs. An army of soldiers, on the contrary, is a machine
organized and adjusted for a particular purpose, and formidable, not in
the proportion merely of the numbers of which it is composed, but in a
much higher degree; it operates, in short, by the accumulation of the
respective agencies of which it is made up, and the skill of the
engineer who conducts its operations. The whirlwind of the former is
dreadful indeed, but it is soon hushed on the ruins it has occasioned,
and it blusters no more; but the gale of the latter is interminable in
desolation, and seems to increase in strength as the bulwarks which
opposed it disappear. The repose of Europe has been assailed by both, at
different periods of her history. It is our mercy to have outlived the
mighty storm, and we are now in a condition to look with gratitude,
though mixed with pain, on the general wreck around us. It is not one of
the least singularities in the astonishing events we are still so busy
in contemplating, that the union of the two kinds of force now
specified, was essential to the liberation of the world from that odious
but scientific oppression, by which it had been so long held in misery,
and which was repeatedly found, by very direful experience, to be too
strong for either of them separately. It was not till the enthusiastic
indignation of vulgar minds, and the cordial ferocity of some of the
rudest of the allied tribes, had been amalgamated with the disciplined
valour and the love of most enviable honour, conspicuous in veteran
warriors, that the blasting demon of destruction knew his policy to be
unravelled, or felt his power to do mischief controuled to his
infamy.--E.]

On the side of the hill, near this inclosure, we saw about half an acre
planted with gourds and sweet potatoes, which was the only cultivation
in the bay: Under the foot of the point upon which this fortification
stands, are two rocks, one just broken off from the main, and the other
not perfectly detached from it: They are both small, and seem more
proper for the habitations of birds than men; yet there are houses and
places of defence upon each of them. And we saw many other works of the
same kind upon small islands, rocks, and ridges of hills, on different
parts of the coast, besides many fortified towns, which appeared to be
much superior to this.

The perpetual hostility in which these poor savages, who have made every
village a fort, must necessarily live, will account for there being so
little of their land in a state of cultivation; and, as mischiefs very
often reciprocally produce each other, it may perhaps appear, that there
being so little land in a state of cultivation, will account for their
living in perpetual hostility. But it is very strange, that the same
invention and diligence which have been used in the construction of
places so admirably adapted to defence, almost without tools, should
not, when urged by the same necessity, have furnished them with a single
missile weapon except the lance, which is thrown by hand: They have no
contrivance like a bow to discharge a dart, nor any thing like a sling
to assist them in throwing a stone; which is the more surprising, as the
invention of slings, and bows and arrows, is much more obvious than of
the works which these people construct, and both these weapons are found
among much ruder nations, and in almost every other part of the world.
Besides the long lance and Patoo-Patoo, which have been mentioned
already, they have a staff about five feet long, sometimes pointed, like
a serjeant's halberd, sometimes only tapering to a point at one end, and
having the other end broad, and shaped somewhat like the blade of an
oar. They have also another weapon, about a foot shorter than these,
pointed at one end, and at the other shaped like an axe. The points of
their long lances are barbed, and they handle them with such strength
and agility, that we can match them with no weapon but a loaded musquet.

After taking a slight view of the country, and loading both the boats
with celery, which we found in great plenty near the beach, we returned
from our excursion, and about five o'clock in the evening got on board
the ship.

On the 15th, I sailed out of the bay, and at the same time had several
canoes on board, in one of which was our friend Toiava, who said, that
as soon as we were gone he must repair to his Heppah or fort, because
the friends of the man who had been shot by Mr Gore on the 9th, had
threatened to revenge his death upon him, whom they had reproached as
being our friend. Off the north point of the bay I saw a great number of
islands, of various extent, which lay scattered to the north-west, in a
direction parallel with the main as far as I could see. I steered
northeast for the north eastermost of these islands; but the wind coming
to the north-west, I was obliged to stand out to sea.

To the bay which we now left I gave the name of _Mercury Bay_, on
account of the observation which we had made there of the transit of
that planet over the sun. It lies in latitude 30 deg. 47 S.; and in the
longitude of 184 deg. 4' W.: There are several islands lying both to the
southward and northward of it, and a small island or rock in the middle
of the entrance: Within this island the depth of water no where exceeds
nine fathom: The best anchoring is in a sandy bay, which lies just
within the south head, in five and four fathom, bringing a high tower or
rock, which lies without the head, in one with the head, or just shut in
behind it. This place is very convenient both for wooding and watering,
and in the river there is an immense quantity of oysters and other
shell-fish: I have for this reason given it the name of _Oyster River_.
But for a ship that wants to stay here any time, the best and safest
place is in the river at the head of the bay, which, from the number of
mangrove trees about it, I have called _Mangrove River_. To sail into
this river, the south shore must be kept all the way on board. The
country on the east side of the river and bay is very barren, its only
produce being fern, and a few other plants that will grow in a poor
soil. The land on the north-west side is covered with wood, and the soil
being much more fertile, would doubtless produce all the necessaries of
life with proper cultivation: It is not however so fertile as the lands
that we have seen to the southward, nor do the inhabitants, though
numerous, make so good an appearance: They have no plantations; their
canoes are mean, and without ornament; they sleep in the open air; and
say, that Teratu, whose sovereignty they do not acknowledge, if he was
to come among them, would kill them. This favoured our opinion of their
being outlaws; yet they told us, that they had Heppahs or strongholds,
to which they retired in time of imminent danger.

We found, thrown upon the shore, in several parts of this bay, great
quantities of iron-sand, which is brought down by every little rivulet
of fresh water that finds its way from the country; which is a
demonstration that there is ore of that metal not far inland: Yet
neither the inhabitants of this place, or any other part of the coast
that we have seen, know the use of iron, or set the least value upon it;
all of them preferring the most worthless and useless trifle, not only
to a nail, but to any tool of that metal.

Before we left the bay, we cut upon one of the trees near the
watering-place the ship's name, and that of the commander, with the date
of the year and month when we were there; and after displaying the
English colours, I took a formal possession of it in the name of his
Britannic majesty King George the Third.

SECTION XXIV.

_The Range from Mercury Bay to the Bay of Islands: An Expedition up the
River Thames: Some Account of the Indians who inhabit its Banks, and
the fine Timber that grows there: Several Interviews with the Natives on
different Parts of the Coast, and a Skirmish with them upon an Island_.

I continued plying to windward two days to get under the land, and on
the 18th, about seven in the morning, we were abreast of a very
conspicuous promontory, being then in latitude 36 deg.26', and in the
direction of N. 48 W. from the north head of Mercury Bay, or Point
Mercury, which was distant nine leagues: Upon this point stood many
people, who seemed to take little notice of us, but talked together with
great earnestness. In about half an hour, several canoes put off from
different places, and came towards the ship; upon which the people on
the point also launched a canoe, and about twenty of them came in her up
with the others. When two of these canoes, in which there might be about
sixty men, came near enough to make themselves heard, they sung their
war-song; but seeing that we took little notice of it, they threw a few
stones at us, and then rowed off towards the shore. We hoped that we had
now done with them, but in a short time they returned, as if with a
fixed resolution to provoke us into a battle, animating themselves by
their song as they had done before. Tupia, without any directions from
us, went to the poop, and began to expostulate: He told them, that we
had weapons which would destroy them in a moment; and that, if they
ventured to attack us, we should be obliged, to use them. Upon this,
they flourished their weapons, and cried out, in their language, "Come
on shore, and we will kill you all:" Well, said Tupia, but why should
you molest us while we are at sea? As we do not wish to fight, we shall
not accept your challenge to come on shore; and here there is no
pretence for quarrel, the sea being no more your property than the ship.
This eloquence of Tupia, though it greatly surprised us, having given
him no hints for the arguments he used, had no effect upon our enemies,
who very soon renewed their battery: A musquet was then fired through
one of their boats and this was an argument of sufficient weight, for
they immediately fell astern and left us.

From the point, of which we were now abreast, the land trends W. 1/2 S.
near a league, and then S.S.E. as far as we could see; and, besides the
islands that lay without us, we could see land round by the S.W. as far
as the N.W.; but whether this was the main or islands, we could not then
determine: The fear of losing the main, however, made me resolve to
follow its direction. With this view, I hauled round the point and
steered to the southward, but there being light airs all round the
compass, we made but little progress.

About one o'clock, a breeze sprung up at east, which afterwards came to
N.E. and we steered along the shore S. by E. and S.S.E. having from
twenty-five to eighteen fathom.

At about half an hour after seven in the evening, having run seven or
eight leagues since noon, I anchored in twenty-three fathom, not causing
to run any farther in the dark, as I had now land on both sides, forming
the entrance of a strait, bay, or river, lying S. by E. for on that
point we could see no land.

At day-break, on the 19th, the wind being still favourable, we weighed
and stood with an easy sail up the inlet, keeping nearest to the east
side. In a short time, two large canoes came off to us from the shore;
the people on board said, that they knew Toiava very well, and called
Tupia by his name. I invited some of them on board; and as they knew
they had nothing to fear from us, while they behaved honestly and
peaceably, they immediately complied: I made each of them some presents,
and dismissed them much gratified. Other canoes afterwards came up to us
from a different side of the bay; and the people on board of these also
mentioned the name of Toiava, and sent a young man into the ship, who
told us he was his grandson, and he also was dismissed with a present.

After having run about five leagues from the place where we had anchored
the night before, our depth of water gradually decreased to six fathom;
and not chusing to go into less, as it was tide of flood, and the wind
blew right up the inlet, I came to an anchor about the middle of the
channel, which is near eleven miles over; after which I sent two boats
out to sound, one on one side, and the other on the other.

The boats not having found above three feet more water than we were now
in, I determined to go no farther with the ship, but to examine the
head of the bay in the boats; for, as it appeared to run a good way
inland, I thought this a favourable opportunity to examine the interior
part of the country, and its produce.

At day-break, therefore, I set out in the pinnace and long-boat,
accompanied by Mr Banks, Dr Solander, and Tupia; and we found the inlet
end in a river, about nine miles above the ship: Into this river we
entered with the first of the flood, and within three miles found the
water perfectly fresh. Before we had proceeded more than one third of
that distance, we found an Indian town, which was built upon a small
bank of dry sand, but entirely surrounded by a deep mud, which possibly
the inhabitants might consider as a defence. These people, as soon as
they saw us, thronged to the banks, and invited us on shore. We accepted
the invitation; and made them a visit notwithstanding the mud. They
received us with open arms, having heard of us from our good old friend
Toiava; but our stay could not be long, as we had other objects of
curiosity in view. We proceeded up the river till near noon, when we
were fourteen miles within its entrance; and then, finding the face of
the country to continue nearly the same, without any alteration in the
course of the stream, which we had no hope of tracing to its source, we
landed on the west side, to take a view of the lofty trees which every
where adorned its banks. They were of a kind that we had seen before,
though only at a distance, both in Poverty Bay and Hawke's Bay. Before
we had walked an hundred yards into the wood, we met with one of them
which was nineteen feet eight inches in the girt, at the height of six
feet above the ground: Having a quadrant with me, I measured its height
from the root to the first branch, and found it to be eighty-nine feet:
It was as straight as an arrow, and tapered but very little in
proportion to its height; so that I judged there were three hundred and
fifty-six feet of solid timber in it, exclusive of the branches. As we
advanced, we saw many others that were still larger; we cut down a young
one, and the wood proved heavy and solid, not fit for masts, but such as
would make the finest plank in the world. Our carpenter, who was with
us, said that the timber resembled that of the pitch-pine, which is
lightened by tapping; and possibly some such method might be found to
lighten these, and they would then be such masts as no country in Europe
can produce. As the wood was swampy, we could not range far; but we
found many stout trees of other kinds, all of them utterly unknown to
us, specimens of which we brought away.

The river at this height is as broad as the Thames at Greenwich, and
the tide of flood as strong; it is not indeed quite so deep, but has
water enough for vessels of more than a middle size, and a bottom of
mud, so soft that nothing could take damage by running ashore.

About three o'clock, we reimbarked, in order to return with the first of
the ebb, and named the river the _Thames_, it having some resemblance to
our own river of that name. In our return, the inhabitants of the
village where we had been ashore, seeing us take another channel, came
off to us in their canoes, and trafficked with us in the most friendly
manner, till they had disposed of the few trifles they had. The tide of
ebb just carried us out of the narrow part of the river, into the
channel that run up from the sea, before it was dark; and we pulled hard
to reach the ship, but meeting the flood, and a strong breeze at N.N.W.
with showers of rain, we were obliged to desist; and about midnight, we
run under the land, and came to a grappling, where we took such rest as
our situation would admit. At break of day, we set forward again, and it
was past seven o'clock before we reached the ship. We were all extremely
tired, but thought ourselves happy to be on board; for before nine it
blew so hard that the boat could not have rowed ahead, and must
therefore either have gone ashore, or taken shelter under it.

About three o'clock, having the tide of ebb, we took up our anchor, made
sail, and plied down the river till eight in the evening, when we came
to an anchor again: Early in the morning we made sail with the first
ebb, and kept plying till the flood of tide obliged us once more to come
to an anchor. As we had now only a light breeze, I went in the pinnace,
accompanied by Dr Solander, to the western shore, but I saw nothing
worthy of notice.

When I left the ship, many canoes were about it; Mr Banks therefore
chose to stay on board, and traffic with the natives: They bartered
their clothes and arms, chiefly for paper, and behaved with great
friendship and honesty. But while some of them were below with Mr Banks,
a young man who was upon the deck stole a half minute glass which was in
the binnacle, and was detected just as he was carrying it off. Mr Hicks,
who was commanding officer on board, took it into his head to punish
him, by giving him twelve lashes with a cat-o'-nine-tails; and
accordingly ordered him to be taken to the gang-way, and tied up to the
shrouds. When the other Indians who were on board saw him seized, they
attempted to rescue him; and being resisted, called for their arms,
which were handed up from the canoes, and the people of one of them
attempted to come up the ship's side. The tumult was heard by Mr Banks,
who, with Tupia, came hastily upon the deck to see what had happened.
The Indians immediately ran to Tupia, who, finding Mr Hicks inexorable,
could only assure them, that nothing was intended against the life of
their companion; but that it was necessary he should suffer some
punishment for his offence, which being explained to them, they seemed
to be satisfied. The punishment was then inflicted, and as soon as the
criminal was unbound, an old man among the spectators, who was supposed
to be his father, gave him a hearty beating, and sent him down into his
canoe. All the canoes then dropped astern, and the people said that they
were afraid to come any more near the ship: After much persuasion,
however, they ventured back again, but their cheerful confidence was at
an end, and their stay was short; they promised indeed, at their
departure, to return with some fish, but we saw no more of them.