A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18) by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 15 (of 18)

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50

"That branch of natural knowledge which may be called _nautical
astronomy_, was undoubtedly in its infancy when these voyages were first
undertaken. Both instruments and observers, which deserved the name,
were very rare; and so late as the year 1770, it was thought necessary,
in the appendix to Mayor's Tables, published by the Board of Longitude,
to state facts, in contradiction to the assertions of so celebrated an
astronomer as the Abbe de la Caille, that the altitude of the sun at
noon, the easiest and most simple of all observations, could not be
taken with certainty to a less quantity than five, six, seven, or even
eight minutes.[53] But those who will give themselves the trouble to
look into the astronomical observations, made in Captain Cook's last
voyage, will find, that there were few, even of the petty officers, who
could not observe the distance of the moon from the sun, or a star, the
most delicate of all observations, with sufficient accuracy. It may be
added, that the method of making and computing observations for finding
the variation of the compass, is better known, and more frequently
practised, by those who have been on these voyages, than by most others.
Nor is there, perhaps, a person who ranks as an officer, and has been
concerned in them, who would not, whatever his real skill may be, feel
ashamed to have it thought that he did not know how to observe for, and
compute the time at sea; though, but a short while before these voyages
were set on foot, such a thing was scarcely ever heard of amongst
seamen; and even first-rate astronomers doubted the possibility of doing
it with sufficient exactness.[54]

[Footnote 53: The Abbe's words are,--"Si ceux qui promettent une si
grande precision dans ces sortes de methodes, avoient navigue quelques
temps, ils auroient vu souvent, que dans l'observation la plus simple de
toutes, qui est celle de la hauteur du soleil a midi, deux observations,
munis de bons quartiers de reflexion, bien rectifies, different
entr'eux, lorsqu'ils observent chacun a part, de 5', 6', 7', &
8'."--_Ephemer_. 1755--1765. _Introduction_, p. 32.

It must be, however, mentioned, in justice to M. de la Caille, that he
attempted to introduce the lunar method of discovering the longitude,
and proposed a plan of calculations of the moon's distance from the sun
and fixed stars; but, through the imperfection of his instruments, his
success was much less than that method was capable of affording. The
bringing it into general use was reserved for Dr Maskelyne, our
Astronomer Royal. See the preface to the Tables for correcting the
Effects of Refraction and Parallax, published by the Board of Longitude,
under the direction of Dr Shepherd, Flumian Professor of Astronomy and
Experimental Philosophy at Cambridge, in 1772.--D.]

[Footnote 54: In addition, to Mr Wales's remark, it may be observed,
that the proficiency of our naval officers in taking observations at
sea, must ultimately be attributed to the great attention paid to this
important object by the Board of Longitude at home; liberal rewards
having been given to mathematicians for perfecting the lunar tables, and
facilitating calculations, and to artists for constructing more accurate
instruments for observing, and watches better adapted to keeping time at
sea. It appears, therefore, that the voyages of discovery, and the
operations of the Board of Longitude, went hand in hand; and they must
be combined, in order to form a just estimate of the extent of the plan
carried into execution since his majesty's accession, for improving
astronomy and navigation. But, besides the establishment of the Board of
Longitude on its present footing, which has had such important
consequences, it must also be ever acknowledged, that his present
majesty has extended his royal patronage to every branch of the liberal
arts and useful science. The munificent present to the Royal Society for
defraying the expence of observing the _transit_ of Venus; the
institution of the Academy of Painting and Sculpture; the magnificent
apartments allotted to the Royal and Antiquarian Societies, and to the
Royal Academy at Somerset-Place; the support of the Garden of Exotics at
Kew, to improve which Mr Masson was sent to the extremities of Africa;
the substantial encouragement afforded to learned men and learned works
in various departments, and particularly that afforded to Mr Herschel,
which has enabled him to devote himself entirely to the improvement of
astronomy;--these, and many other instances which might be enumerated,
would have greatly distinguished his majesty's reign, even if he had not
been the patron of those successful attempts to perfect geography and
navigation by so many voyages of discovery.--D.

It is scarcely necessary to add to this note by saying, that the period
which has elapsed since the first publication of this voyage, has not
witnessed any failure of the promises held out by the previous state of
science, notwithstanding the calamities and embarrassments attendant on
the revolutionary frenzy that, in some degree, infected every country in
Europe. Science, indeed, has peculiarly prospered amid the miseries of
the world. In pity of the destructive work, in which man's bad passions
had been engaged with such industrious ferocity, she has held out in one
hand a remedy for the evil, and pointed with the other to the blessings
of peace. Is it unreasonable to hope, that the precious seed sown in
such tumultuous times as we have witnessed, and are now witnessing, will
ere long yield a rich harvest to reward the industry of her labourers?
But let, us not limit our expectations and toils to the completion of
mere _minutiae_, as Dr Douglas speaks. The opinion of plenty, says Lord
Bacon, is one of the causes of want. A more unfavourable symptom of our
condition could hardly be found, than a belief that we had reached
perfection. Let us rather think that greater progress may yet be made in
beneficial arts and sciences than ever was made hitherto, and be
therefore stimulated to more ambitious exertions. It will be no glory to
the next generation that we have gone so far, if they themselves are not
invited and enabled by our success to get beyond us.--E.]

"The number of places at which the rise and times of flowing of tides
have been observed, in these voyages, is very great, and hence an
important article of useful knowledge is afforded. In these
observations, some very curious, and even unexpected, circumstances,
have offered themselves to our consideration. It will be sufficient to
instance the exceedingly small height to which the tide rises in the
middle of the great Pacific Ocean, where it falls short, two-thirds at
least, of what might have been expected from theory and calculation.

"The direction and force of currents at sea, make also an important
object. These voyages will be found to contain much useful information
on this head, as well relating to seas nearer home, and which, in
consequence, are navigated every day, as to those which are more remote,
but where, notwithstanding, the knowledge of these things may be of
great service to those who are destined to navigate them hereafter. To
this head also we may refer the great number of experiments which have
been made for enquiring into the depth of the sea, its temperature, and
saltness at different depths, and in a variety of places and climates.

"An extensive foundation has also been laid for improvements in
magnetism, for discovering the cause and nature of the polarity of the
needle, and a theory of its variations, by the number and variety of the
observations and experiments which have been made, both on the variation
and dip, in almost all parts of the world. Experiments also have been
made, in consequence of the late voyages, on the effects of gravity in
different and very distant places, which may serve to increase our stock
of natural knowledge. From the same source of information we have
learned, that the phenomenon, usually called the _aurora borealis_, is
not peculiar to high northern latitudes, but belongs equally to all cold
climates, whether they be north or south.

"But, perhaps, no part of knowledge has been so great a gainer by the
late voyages as that of botany. We are told,[55] that at least twelve
hundred new plants have been added to the known system; and that very
considerable additions have been made to every other branch of natural
history, by the great skill and industry of Sir Joseph Banks, and the
other gentlemen who have accompanied Captain Cook for that purpose."

[Footnote 55: See Dr Shepherd's Preface, as above.]

To our naval officers in general, or to their learned associates in the
expeditions, all the foregoing improvements of knowledge may be traced;
but there is one very singular improvement indeed, still behind, for
which, as we are solely indebted to Captain Cook, let us state it in his
own words: "Whatever may be the public judgment about other matters, it
is with real satisfaction, and without claiming any merit but that of
attention to my duty, that I can conclude this account with an
observation, which facts enable me to make, that our having discovered
the possibility of preserving health amongst a numerous ship's company
for such a length of time, in such varieties of climate, and amidst such
continued hardships and fatigues, will make this voyage remarkable in
the opinion of every benevolent person, when the disputes about a
southern continent shall have ceased to engage the attention and to
divide the judgment of philosophers."[56]

[Footnote 56: 34: Cook's second voyage.]

5. But while our late voyages have opened so many channels to an
increase of knowledge in the several articles already enumerated; while
they have extended our acquaintance with the contents of the globe;
while they have facilitated old tracks, and opened new ones for
commerce; while they have been the means of improving the skill of the
navigator, and the science of the astronomer; while they have procured
to us so valuable accessions in the several departments of natural
history, and furnished such opportunities of teaching us how to preserve
the healths and lives of seamen, let us not forget another very
important object of study, for which they have afforded to the
speculative philosopher ample materials; I mean the study of human
nature in various situations, equally interesting as they are uncommon.

However remote or secluded from frequent intercourse with more polished
nations the inhabitants of any parts of the world be, if history or our
own observation should make it evident that they have been formerly
visited, and that foreign manners and opinions, and languages, have been
blended with their own, little use can be made of what is observed
amongst such people toward drawing a real picture of man in his natural
uncultivated state. This seems to be the situation of the inhabitants of
most of the islands that lie contiguous to the continent of Asia, and of
whose manners and institutions the Europeans, who occasionally visit
them, have frequently given us accounts. But the islands which our
enterprising discoverers visited in the centre of the South Pacific
Ocean, and are indeed the principal scenes of their operations, were
untrodden ground. The inhabitants, as far as could be observed, were
unmixed with any different tribe, by occasional intercourse, subsequent
to their original settlement there; left entirely to their own powers
for every art of life, and to their own remote traditions for every
political or religions custom or institution; uninformed by science;
unimproved by education; in short, a fit soil from whence a careful
observer could collect facts for forming a judgment, how far unassisted
human nature will be apt to degenerate, and in what respects it can ever
be able to excel. Who could have thought, that the brutal ferocity of
feeding upon human flesh, and the horrid superstition of offering human
sacrifices, should be found to exist amongst the natives lately
discovered in the Pacific Ocean, who, in other respects, appear to be no
strangers to the fine feelings of humanity, to have arrived at a certain
stage of social life, and to be habituated to subordination and
government, which tend so naturally to repress the ebullitions of wild
passion, and expand the latent powers of the understanding?

Or, if we turn from this melancholy picture, which will suggest copious
matter for philosophical speculation, can we, without astonishment,
observe to what a degree of perfection the same tribe (and indeed we may
here join, in some of those instances, the American tribes visited in
the course of the present voyage) have carried their favourite
amusements, the plaintive songs of their women, their dramatic
entertainments, their dances, their olympian games, as we may call them,
the orations of their chiefs, the chants of their priests, the solemnity
of their religious processions, their arts and manufactures, their
ingenious contrivances to supply the want of proper materials, and of
effective tools and machines, and the wonderful productions of their
persevering labour under a complication of disadvantages, their cloth
and their mats, their weapons, their fishing instruments, their
ornaments, their utensils, which in design and in execution may vie with
whatever modern Europe or classical antiquity can exhibit?

It is a favourite study with the scholar to trace the remains of Grecian
or Roman workmanship; he turns over his Montfaucon with learned
satisfaction; and he gazes with rapture on the noble collection of Sir
William Hamilton. The amusement is rational and instructive. But will
not his curiosity be more awakened, will he not find even more real
matter for important reflection, by passing an hour in surveying the
numerous specimens of the ingenuity of our newly-discovered friends,
brought from the utmost recesses of the globe to enrich the British
Museum, and the valuable repository of Sir Ashton Lever? If the
curiosities of Sir Ashton's Sandwich-room alone were the only
acquisition gained by our visits to the Pacific Ocean, who, that has
taste to admire, or even eyes to behold, could hesitate to pronounce
that Captain Cook had not sailed in vain? The expence of his three
voyages did not, perhaps, far exceed that of digging out the buried
contents of Herculaneum. And we may add, that the novelties of the
Society or Sandwich Islands seem better calculated to engage the
attention of the studious in our times, than the antiquities which
exhibit proofs of Roman magnificence.

The grounds for making this remark cannot be better explained, than in
the words of a very ingenious writer: " In an age," says Mr Warton,[57]
"advanced to the highest degree of refinement, that species of curiosity
commences, which is busied in contemplating the progress of social life,
in displaying the gradation of science, and in tracing the transition
from barbarism to civility. That these speculations should become the
favourite topics of such a period, is extremely natural. We look back on
the savage condition of our ancestors with the triumph of superiority;
and are pleased to mark the steps by which we have been raised from
rudeness to elegance; and our reflections on this subject are
accompanied with a conscious pride, arising, in a great measure, from a
tacit comparison of the infinite disproportion between the feeble
efforts of remote ages, and our present improvements in knowledge. In
the mean time, the manners, monuments, customs, practices, and opinions
of antiquity, by forming so strong a contrast with those of our own
times, and by exhibiting human nature and human inventions in new
lights, in unexpected appearances, and in various forms, are objects
which forcibly strike a feeling imagination. Nor does this spectacle
afford nothing more than a fruitless gratification to the fancy. It
teaches us to set a just estimation on our own acquisitions, and
encourages us to cherish that cultivation, which is so closely connected
with the existence and the exercise of every social virtue." We need not
here observe, that the manners, monuments, customs, practices, and
opinions of the present inhabitants of the Pacific Ocean, or of the west
side of North America, form the strongest contrast with those of our own
time in polished Europe; and that a feeling imagination will probably be
more struck with the narration of the ceremonies of a _Natche_ at
Tongataboo, than of a Gothic tournament at London; with the
contemplation of the colossuses of Easter Island, than of the mysterious
remains of Stonehenge.[58]

[Footnote 57: Preface to his History of English Poetry.]

[Footnote 58: This may be disputed, both in point of fact, and on
principles of reasoning. As to the first, the fact, let readers in
general enquire as to the comparative degree and frequency of attention
bestowed on the different kinds of topics alluded to by the doctor. What
is the conclusion from their observations on the subject? The writer for
one, does not hesitate to assert, that he is convinced, the evidence
bears against the opinion of the learned editor. So far as his notice
extends, it appears, that the fooleries of a superstitious age, the lies
of legendary fabulists, the incomprehensible relics of long-forgotten
delusions, really obtain more regard as objects of curiosity, than
whatever of ingenuity or labour is to be found in the history of
presently existing savages. Then again as to the reasons for such a
preference. Is there not a sort of fashionable taste for the productions
of antiquity, the want of which is quite unpardonable in our polished
and literary circles? Does not the attainment of this taste, in any
meritorious degree, by necessarily requiring much study, operate as
preclusive of information to the possession of which no peculiar epithet
of a commendatory nature has hitherto been awarded? Nay, is there not a
sort of prejudice allied to a notion of vulgarity, directed against
almost any shew of acquaintance with the habits and histories of
uncultivated nations? But it would be unpardonable to imagine, there
were not other reasons of a less invidious nature to explain the fact.
We must certainly be allowed to pay higher respect to the particular
concerns of those people with whom we stand in the light of offspring or
relatives, or whose transactions and fates have rendered the history of
the world what it is, almost superlatively important to every
intelligent mind. If time shall witness the triumph of civilization over
the savages of the southern hemisphere, then, it is highly probable, a
similar enthusiasm will prevail among their literary descendants; and
objects regarded by us as mere dust in the high road of nature, will be
enshrined with all the partiality and fondness of national
idolatry.--E.]

Many singularities, respecting what may be called the natural history of
the human species, in different climates, will, on the authority of our
late navigators, open abundant sources for philosophical discussion. One
question of this sort, in particular, which had formerly divided the
opinions of the inquisitive, as to the existence, if not of "giants on
the earth," at least of a race, (inhabiting a district bordering on the
north side of the strait of Magalhaens,) whose stature considerably
exceeds that of the bulk of mankind, will no longer be doubted or
disbelieved. And the ingenious objections of the sceptical author of
_Recherches sur les Americains_,[59] will weigh nothing in the balance
against the concurrent and accurate testimony of Byron, Wallis, and
Carteret.

[Footnote 59: Tom. i. p. 331.]

Perhaps there cannot be a more interesting enquiry than to trace the
migrations of the various families or tribes that have peopled the
globe; and in no respect have our late voyages been more fertile in
curious discoveries. It was known in general, (and I shall use the words
of Kaempfer,[60]) that the Asiatic nation called Malayans "in former
times, had by much the greatest trade in the Indies, and frequented with
their merchant ships, not only all the coasts of Asia, but ventured even
over to the coasts of Africa, particularly to the great island of
Madagascar.[61] The title which the king of the Malayans assumed to
himself, of _Lord of the Winds and Seas to the East and to the West_, is
an evident proof of this; but much more the Malayan language, which
spread most all over the East, much after the same manner as formerly
the Latin, and of late the French, did all over Europe." Thus far, I
say, was known. But that from Madagascar to the Marqueses and Easter
Island, that is, nearly from the east side of Africa, till we approach
toward the west side of America, a space including above half the
circumference of the globe, the same tribe or nation, the Phoenicians,
as we may call them, of the oriental world, should have made their
settlements, and founded colonies throughout almost every intermediate
stage of this immense tract, in islands at amazing distances from the
mother continent, and ignorant of each other's existence; this is an
historical fact, which could be but very imperfectly known before
Captain Cook's two first voyages discovered so many new-inhabited spots
of land lurking in the bosom of the South Pacific Ocean; and it is a
fact which does not rest solely on similarity of customs and
institutions, but has been established by the most satisfactory of all
proofs, that drawn from affinity of language. Mr Marsden, who seems to
have considered this curious subject with much attention, says, "that
the links of the latitudinal chain remain yet to be traced."[40] The
discovery of the Sandwich Islands in this last voyage, has added some
links to the chain. But Captain Cook had not an opportunity of carrying
his researches into the more westerly parts of the North Pacific. The
reader, therefore, of the following work will not, perhaps, think that
the editor was idly employed when he subjoined some notes, which contain
abundant proof that the inhabitants of the Ladrones, or Marianne
islands, and those of the Carolines, are to be traced to the same common
source, with those of the islands visited by our ships. With the like
view of exhibiting a striking picture of the amazing extent of this
oriental language, which marks, if not a common original, at least an
intimate intercourse between the inhabitants of places so very remote
from each other, he has inserted a comparative table of their numerals,
upon a more enlarged plan than any that has hitherto been executed.

[Footnote 60: History of Japan, vol. i. p. 93.]

[Footnote 61: That the Malayans have not only frequented Madagascar, but
have also been the progenitors of some of the present race of
inhabitants there, is confirmed to us by the testimony of Monsieur de
Pages, who visited that island so late as 1774. "Ils m'ont paru provenir
des diverses races; leur couleur leur cheveux, et leur corps
l'indiquent. Ceux que je n'ai pas cru originaires des anciens naturels
du pays, sont petits et trapus; ils ont les cheveux presque unis, et
sont _olivatres comme les Malayes, avec qui ils ont, en general, une
espece de resemblance_."--_Voyages des M. des Pages_, tom. ii. p.
90.--D.]

[Footnote 40: Archaeolog. vol. vi. p. 155. See also his History of
Sumatra, p. 166, from which the following passage is transcribed:--
"Besides the Malaye, there are a variety of languages spoken in Sumatra,
which, however, have not only a manifest affinity among themselves, but
also to that general language which is found to prevail in, and to be
indigenous to, all the islands of the eastern seas; from Madagascar to
the remotest of Captain Cook's discoveries, comprehending a wider extent
than the Roman or any other tongue has yet boasted. In different places,
it has been more or less mixed and corrupted; but between the most
dissimilar branches, an eminent sameness of many radical words is
apparent; and in some very distant from each other, in point of
situation: As, for instance, the Philippines and Madagascar, the
deviation of the words is scarcely more than is observed in the dialects
of neighbouring provinces of the same kingdom."--D.]

Our British discoverers have not only thrown a blaze of light on the
migrations of the tribe which has so wonderfully spread itself
throughout the islands in the eastern ocean, but they have also favoured
us with much curious information concerning another of the families of
the earth, whose lot has fallen in less hospitable climates. We speak of
the Esquimaux, hitherto only found seated on the coasts of Labradore and
Hudson's Bay, and who differ in several characteristic marks from the
inland inhabitants of North America. That the Greenlanders and they
agree in every circumstance of customs, and manners, and language, which
are demonstrations of an original identity of nation, had been
discovered about twenty years ago.[62] Mr Hearne, in 1771, traced this
unhappy race farther back, toward that part of the globe from whence
they had originally coasted along in their skin boats, having met with
some of them at the mouth of the Copper-mine River, in the latitude of
72 deg., and near five hundred leagues farther west than Pickersgill's most
westerly station in Davis's Strait. Their being the same tribe who now
actually inhabit the islands and coasts on the west side of North
America, opposite Kamtschatka, was a discovery, the completion of which
was reserved for Captain Cook. The reader of the following work will
find them at Norton Sound, and at Oonalashka and Prince William's Sound;
that is, near 1500 leagues distant from their stations in Greenland and
on the Labradore coast. And lest similitude of manners should be thought
to deceive us, a table exhibiting proofs of affinity of language, which
was drawn up by Captain Cook, and is inserted in this work, will remove
every doubt from the mind of the most scrupulous enquirer after
truth.[63]