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)

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"We left Stellenbosh next morning, and soon arrived at the house we had
passed on Saturday; the owner of which, Mr Cloeder, had sent us an
invitation the evening before to visit him. This gentleman entertained
us with the greatest hospitality, and in a manner very different from
what we expected. He received us with music, and a band also played
while we were at dinner; which, considering the situation of the place,
might be reckoned elegant. He shewed us his wine-cellars, his orchards,
and vineyards; all which, I must own, inspired me with a wish to know in
what manner these industrious people could create such plenty, in a spot
where, I believe, no other European nation would have attempted to
settle.

"In the afternoon we crossed the country, and passed a few plantations,
one of which seemed very considerable, and was laid out in a taste
somewhat different from any other we saw. In the evening we arrived at a
farm-house, which is the first in the cultivated tract called the Pearl.
We had, at the same time, a view of Drakenstein, the third colony of
this country, which lies along by the foot of the lofty hills already
mentioned, and contains several farms or plantations, not very
extensive.

"I went, on the 19th in the forenoon, in quest of plants and insects,
which I found almost as scarce as at Stellenbosh; but I met with more
shrubs or small trees, naturally produced, in the valleys, than in any
part of the country I had hitherto seen.

"In the afternoon we went to see a stone of a remarkable size, called by
the inhabitants the Tower of Babylon, or the Pearl Diamond.[88] It lies,
or stands, upon the top of some low hills, at the foot of which our
farm-house was situated; and though the road to it is neither very steep
nor rugged, we were above an hour and a half in walking to it. It is of
an oblong shape, rounded on the top, and lies nearly S. and N. The E.
and W. sides are steep, and almost perpendicular. The S. end is likewise
steep, and its greatest height is there; from whence it declines gently
to the N. part, by which we ascended to its top, and had an extensive
view of the whole country.

[Footnote 88: In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxviii, part i. p.
102, we have a letter from Mr Anderson to Sir John Pringle, describing
this remarkable stone. The account sent home from the Cape, and read
before the Royal Society, is much the same with that now published, but
rather fuller. In particular, he tells Sir John, that he went to see it
at Mr Masson's desire, who probably had not had an opportunity of
sufficiently examining it himself. In the account of his journies above
referred to, p. 270, he only says, "there are two large solid rocks on
the Perel Berg, each of which (he believes) is more than a mile in
circumference at the base, and upwards of 200 feet high. Their surfaces
are nearly smooth, without chink or fissures; and they are found to be a
species of granite, different from that which composes the neighbouring
mountains."

Mr Anderson having, with his letter to Sir John Pringle, also sent home
a specimen of the rock, it was examined by Sir William Hamilton, whose
opinion is, that "this singular, immense fragment of granite, most
probably has been raised by a volcanic explosion, or some such cause."
See his Letter to Sir John Pringle, annexed to Mr Anderson's, in the
Philosophical Transactions.--D.]

"Its circumference, I think, must be at least half a mile, as it took us
above half an hour to walk round it, including every allowance for the
bad road, and stopping a little. At its highest part, which is the S.
end, comparing it with a known object, it seems to equal the dome of St
Paul's church. It is one uninterrupted mass of stone, if we except some
fissures, or rather impressions, not above three or four feet deep, and
a vein which runs across near its N. end. It is of that sort of stone
called, by mineralogists, _Saxum conglutinatum_, and consists chiefly of
pieces of coarse quartz and glimmer, held together by a clayey cement.
But the vein which crosses it, though of the same materials, is much
compacter. This vein is not above a foot broad or thick; and its surface
is cut into little squares or oblongs, disposed obliquely, which makes
it look like the remains of some artificial work. But I could not
observe whether it penetrated far into the large rock, or was only
superficial. In descending, we found at its foot a very rich black
mould; and on the sides of the hills some trees of a considerable size,
natives of the place, which are a species of _olea_.[89]

[Footnote 89: "It is strange that neither Kolben nor de la Caille should
have thought the Tower of Babylon worthy of a particular description.
The former [vol. ii. p. 52, 53, English translation] only mentions it as
a high mountain. The latter contents himself with telling us, that it
is a very low hillock, _un tres bas monticule. Voyage de la Caille_, p.
341. We are much obliged to Mr Anderson for his very accurate account of
this remarkable rock, which agrees with Mr Sonnerat's, who was at the
Cape of Good Hope so late as 1781. His words are, "La Montagne de la
_Perle_, merite d'etre observee. C'est un des plus hautes des environs
du Cap. Elle n'est composee que d'un seul bloc de granit crevasse dans
plusieurs endroits." _Voyage aux Indes_, tom. ii. p. 91.

Mr Sonnerat tells us, that Mr Gordon, commander of the troops at the
Cape, had lately made three journies up the country, from which, when he
publishes his journal, we may expect much curious information.--D.]

"In the morning of the 20th we set out from the Pearl; and going a
different road from that by which we came, passed through a country
wholly uncultivated, till we got to the Tiger hills, when some tolerable
corn-fields appeared. At noon we stopped in a hollow for refreshment,
but, in walking about here, were plagued with a vast number of
musquitoes or sand-flies, which were the first I saw in the country. In
the afternoon we set out again, and in the evening arrived at the Cape
Town, tired with the jolting waggon."

On the 23d we got on board the observatory, clock, &c. By a mean of the
several results of the equal altitudes of the sun, taken with the
astronomical quadrant, the astronomical clock was found to lose on
sidereal time, 1' 8",368 each day. The pendulum was kept at the same
length as at Greenwich, where the daily loss of the clock on sidereal
time was 4".

The watch, by the mean of the results of fifteen days observations, was
found to be losing 2",261, on mean time, each day, which is 1",052 more
than at Greenwich; and on the 21st, at noon, she was too slow for mean
time by 1'h 20' 57",66. From this 6' 48",956 is to be subtracted, for
what she was too slow on the 11th of June at Greenwich, and her daily
rate since; and the remainder, viz. 1 deg. 14' 8",704, or 18 deg. 32' 10", will
be the longitude of the Cape Town by the watch. Its true longitude, as
found by Messrs Masson and Dixon, is 18 deg. 23' 15". As our observations
were made about half a mile to the E. of theirs, the error of the watch
in longitude is no more than 8' 25". Hence we have reason to conclude,
that she had gone well all the way from England, and that the longitude,
thus given, may be nearer the truth than any other.

If this be admitted, it will, in a great measure, enable me to find the
direction and strength of the currents we met with on this passage from
England. For, by comparing the latitude and longitude by dead reckoning
with those by observation and the watch, we shall, from time to time,
have, very accurately, the error of the ship's reckoning, be the cause
what it will. But as all imaginable care was taken in heaving, and
keeping the log, and every necessary allowance made for lee-way, heave
of the sea, and other such circumstances, I cannot attribute those
errors that did happen to any other cause but currents; but more
particularly when the error was constantly the same way for several days
successively.

On the contrary, if we find the ship a-head of the reckoning on one day,
and a-stern of it on another, we have reason to believe that such errors
are owing to accidental causes, and not to currents. This seems to have
been the case in our passage between England and Teneriffe. But, from
the time of our leaving that island, till the 15th of August, being then
in the latitude of 12 deg. N. and longitude 24 deg. W. the ship was carried 1 deg.
20' of longitude to the westward of her reckoning. At this station the
currents took a contrary direction, and set to E.S.E. at the rate of
twelve or fourteen miles a day, or twenty-four hours, till we arrived
into the latitude of 5 deg. N. and longitude of 20 deg. W.; which was our most
easterly situation after leaving the Cape de Verde Islands till we got
to the southward. For in this situation the wind came southerly, and we
tacked and stretched to the westward; and, for two or three days, could
not find that our reckoning was affected by any current. So that I
judged we were between the current that generally, if not constantly,
sets to the east upon the coast of Guinea, and that which sets to the
west toward the coast of Brazil. This westerly current was not
considerable till we got into 2 deg. N. and 25 deg. W. From this station to 3 deg.
S. and 30 deg. W. the ship, in the space of four days, was carried 115 miles
in the direction of S.W. by W. beyond her reckoning; an error by far too
great to have any other cause but a strong current running in the same
direction. Nor did its strength abate here; but its course was afterward
more westerly, and to the N. of W., and off Cape Augustine N. as I have
already mentioned. But this northerly current did not exist at twenty or
thirty leagues to the southward of that Cape, nor any other, that I
could perceive, in the remaining part of the passage. The little
difference we afterward found between the reckoning and observations,
might very well happen without the assistance of currents, as will
appear by the table of Day's Works.[90]

[Footnote 90: The curious reader will find some interesting, though not
decisive, remarks concerning the currents of the Atlantic Ocean in
Clerke's Prog. of Mar. Disc. vol. i. p. 358.--E.]

In the accounts of my last voyage, I remarked, that the currents one
meets with in his passage generally balance each other. It happened so
then, because we crossed the Line about 20 deg. more to the eastward than we
did now; so that we were, of consequence, longer under the influence of
the easterly current, which made up for the westerly one. And this, I
apprehend, will generally be the case, if you cross the Line 10 deg. or 15 deg.
to the E. of the meridian of St Jago.

From these remarks I shall draw the following conclusion, that after
passing the Cape de Verde Islands, if you do not make above 4 deg. or 5 deg.
easting, and cross the Line in, or to the westward of, the meridian of
St Jago, you may expect to find your ship 3 deg. or 4 deg. to the westward of
her reckoning by the time you get into the latitude of 10 deg. S. If, on the
other hand, you keep well to the E. and cross the Line 15 deg. or 20 deg. to the
E. of St Jago, you will be then as much to the E. of your reckoning; and
the more you keep to the eastward, the greater will be your error, as
has been experienced by some India ships, whose people have found
themselves close upon the coast of Angola, when they thought its
distance was above 200 leagues.

During the whole of our passage from England, no opportunity was omitted
of observing, with all the attention and accuracy that circumstances
would permit, the variation of the compass, which I have inserted in a
table, with the latitude and longitude of the ship at the time of
observation. As the longitude may be depended upon, to a quarter or half
a degree at most, this table will be of use to those navigators who
correct their reckoning by the variation. It will also enable Mr Dun to
correct his new Variation Chart, a thing very much wanted.

It seems strange to me, that the advocates for the variation should not
agree amongst themselves. We find one[91] of them telling us, as I have
already observed, "that with 8 deg. W. variation, or any thing above that,
you may venture to sail by the Cape de Verde Islands by night or day,
being well assured, with that variation, that you are to the eastward of
them." Another, in his chart,[92] lays down this variation ninety
leagues to the westward of them. Such a disagreement as this, is a
strong proof of the uncertainty of both. However, I have no doubt the
former found here, as well as in other places, the variation he
mentions. But he should have considered, that at sea, nay even on land,
the results of the most accurate observations will not always be the
same. Different compasses will give different variations; and even the
same compass will differ from itself two degrees, without our being able
to discover, much less to remove, the cause.

[Footnote 91: Nichelson.]

[Footnote 92: Mr Dun.]

Whoever imagines he can find the variation within a degree, will very
often see himself much deceived. For, besides the imperfection which may
be in the construction of the instrument, or in the power of the needle,
it is certain that the motion of the ship, or attraction of the
iron-work, or some other cause not yet discovered, will frequently
occasion far greater errors than this. That the variation may be found,
with a share of accuracy more than sufficient to determine the ship's
course, is allowed; but that it can be found so exactly as to fix the
longitude within a degree, or sixty miles, I absolutely deny.[93]

[Footnote 93: Few readers, it is presumed, require to be informed, that
the mode of endeavouring to ascertain the longitude by the variation of
the compass is no longer in use. In a work already referred to, Clerke's
Prog. of Mar. Disc., a singular enough communication is inserted
respecting the effect of tallow on the compass. It is subscribed by
Lieutenant Mason of the marines; but whether the experiments it relates
have been repeated by others, or if the inference it maintains has been
otherwise confirmed, the writer has yet to learn. He thought it right,
however, to notice it, as the more extensively hints are spread which
concern the advancement of useful discovery, the greater chance we have
of correcting errors, and perfecting science, The same reason justifies
his remarking, that the most important observations respecting the
variation of the compass made of late years, are those of Captain
Flinders, as to the effect of the ship's course upon it. The reader will
find them in the appendix to the account of his voyage lately published,
2d volume. Similar observations have still more recently been made by an
officer on board his majesty's ship Sibyl, while in the North Sea
protecting our Greenland fishery. They form an appendix to the Account
of a Voyage to Spitzbergen, by Mr John Laing, Surgeon, published at
Edinburgh, 1815. Of their importance and accuracy, notwithstanding the
small scale on which they were made, and the meagre manner in which they
have been communicated, it is impossible for a moment to doubt. The
concluding remark is entitled to considerable regard.--"After a more
enlarged series of observations shall have been taken, and after the
attention of astronomers is directed to this fact, one may confidently
expect a most important improvement in the science of navigation." The
value of the discovery alluded to, will at once appear from what is said
in the way of enquiry as to similar observations to those made in the
North Sea applying to ships coming from the Baltic, viz. that if so,
"they most effectually account for ships getting down on the coast of
Holland, when they suppose themselves well over in Mid-channel; and
therefore prove the loss of so many of our brave tars when coming from
that sea."--P. 163. As a paper, containing Captain Flinders's
observations on this subject, had been sent to the officer who makes
this communication, by the Lords of the Admiralty, it is reasonable to
expect that official agency is engaged to benefit the world by maturing
he discovery.--E.]

SECTION IV.

_The two Ships leave the Cape of Good Hope.--Two Islands, named Prince
Edwards, seen, and their Appearance described.--Kerguelen's Land
visited.--Arrival in Christmas Harbour.--Occurrences there.--Description
of it_.

After the disaster which happened to our sheep, it may be well supposed
that I did not trust those that remained long on shore, but got them and
the other cattle on board as fast as possible. I also added to my
original stock by purchasing two young bulls, two heifers, two young
stone-horses, two mares, two rams, several ewes and goats, and some
rabbits and poultry.

All of them were intended for New Zealand, Otaheite, and the
neighbouring islands, or any other places in the course of our voyage,
where there might be a prospect that the leaving any of them would be
useful to posterity.

Toward the latter end of November the caulkers had finished their work
on board the Discovery, and she had received all her provisions and
water. Of the former, both ships had a sufficient supply for two years
and upward. And every other article we could think of, necessary for
such a voyage, that could be had at the Cape, was procured; neither
knowing when, nor where, we might come to a place where we could furnish
ourselves so well.

Having given Captain Clerke a copy of my instructions, and an order
directing him how to proceed in case of separation, in the morning of
the 30th we repaired on board. At five in the afternoon a breeze sprung
up at S.E. with which we weighed, and stood out of the bay. At nine it
fell calm, and we anchored between Penguin Island and the east shore,
where we lay till three o'clock next morning. We then weighed and put to
sea, with a light breeze at S., but did not get clear of the land till
the morning of the 3d, when, with a fresh gale at W.N.W. we stood to the
S.E. to get more into the way of these winds.

On the 5th a sudden squall of wind carried away the Resolution's mizen
top-mast. Having another to replace it, the loss was not felt,
especially as it was a bad stick, and had often complained. On the 6th,
in the evening, being then in the latitude of 39 deg. 14' S. and in the
longitude of 25 deg. 56' E., we passed through several small spots of water
of a reddish colour. Some of this was taken up, and it was found to
abound with a small animal, which the microscope discovered to be like a
cray-fish, of a reddish hue.

We continued our course to the S.E. with a very strong gale from the
westward, followed by a mountainous sea, which made the ship roll and
tumble exceedingly, and gave us a great deal of trouble to preserve the
cattle we had on board. Notwithstanding all our care, several goats,
especially the males, died, and some sheep. This misfortune was, in a
great measure, owing to the cold, which we now began most sensibly to
feel.

On the 12th, at noon, we saw land extending from S.E. by S. to S.E. by
E. Upon a nearer approach we found it to be two islands. That which lies
most to the south, and is also the largest, I judged to be about fifteen
leagues in circuit, and to be in the latitude of 46 deg. 53' S. and in the
longitude of 37 deg. 46' E. The most northerly one is about nine leagues in
circuit, and lies in the latitude of 46 deg. 40' S. and in 38 deg. 8' E.
longitude. The distance from the one to the other is about five leagues.

We passed through this channel at equal distance from both islands; and
could not discover, with the assistance of our best glasses, either tree
or shrub on either of them. They seemed to have a rocky and bold shore;
and, excepting the S.E. parts, where the land is rather low and flat, a
surface composed of barren mountains, which rise to a considerable
height, and whose summits and sides were covered with snow, which in
many places seemed to be of a considerable depth. The S.E. parts had a
much greater quantity on them than the rest, owing, probably, to the sun
acting for a less space of time on these than on the N. and N.W. parts.
The ground, where it was not hid by the snow, from the various shades it
exhibited, may be supposed to be covered with moss, or perhaps such a
coarse grass as is found in some parts of Falkland's Islands. On the N.
side of each of the islands is a detached rock; that near the S. island
is shaped like a tower, and seemed to be at some distance from the
shore. As we passed along, a quantity of seaweed was seen, and the
colour of the water indicated soundings. But there was no appearance of
an inlet, unless near the rock just mentioned; and that, from its
smallness, did not promise a good anchoring-place.

These two islands, as also four others which lie from nine to twelve
degrees of longitude more to the E. and nearly in the same latitude,
were discovered, as I have mentioned in my late voyage,[94] by Captains
Marion du Fresne and Crozet, French navigators, in January, 1772, on
their passage in two ships from the Cape of Good Hope to the Philippine
Islands. As they have no names in the French chart of the southern
hemisphere, which Captain Grozet communicated to me in 1775,[95] I shall
distinguish the two we now saw by calling them Prince Edward's Islands,
after his majesty's fourth son; and the other four, by the name of
Marion's and Crozet's Islands, to commemorate their discoverers.

[Footnote 94: Captain Cook's second voyage. These islands are said to be
in the latitude of 48 deg. S.; that is, 2 deg. farther S. than what here appears
to be their real position.--D.]

[Footnote 95: See Cook's voyage, as above. Dr. Forster, in his
Observations made during that Voyage, p. 30, gives us this description
of the chart then communicated by Monsieur Crozet; that it was
"published under the patronage of the Duke de Croye, by Robert de
Vaugondy." Captain Cook tells us, lower in this chapter, that it was
published in 1773.--D.]

We had now, for the most part, strong gales between the N. and W., and
but very indifferent weather; not better, indeed, than we generally have
in England in the very depth of winter, though it was now the middle of
summer in this hemisphere. Not discouraged, however, by this, after
leaving Prince Edward's Islands, I shaped our course to pass to the
southward of the others, that I might get into the latitude of the land
discovered by Monsieur de Kerguelen.

I had applied to the Chevalier de Borda whom, as I have mentioned, I
found at Teneriffe, requesting, that if he knew any thing of the island
discovered by Monsieur de Kerguelen, between the Cape of Good Hope and
New Holland, he would be so obliging as to communicate it to me.
Accordingly, just before we sailed from Santa Cruz Bay, he sent me the
following account of it, viz. "That the pilot of the Boussole, who was
in the voyage with Monsieur de Kerguelen, had given him the latitude and
longitude of a little island, which Monsieur de Kerguelen called the
Isle of Rendezvous, and which lies not far from the great island which
he saw. Latitude of the little isle, by seven observations, 48 deg. 26' S.;
longitude, by seven observations of the distance of the sun and moon,
64 deg. 57' E. from Paris," I was very sorry I had not sooner known that
there was on board the frigate at Teneriffe, an officer who had been
with Monsieur de Kerguelen, especially the pilot; because from him I
might have obtained more interesting information about this land than
the situation alone, of which I was not before entirely ignorant.[96]

[Footnote 96: Captain Cook's proceedings, as related in the remaining
part of this chapter, and in the next, being upon a coast newly
discovered by the French, it could not but be an object of his attention
to trace the footsteps of the original explorers. But no superiority of
professional skill, nor diligence in exerting it, could possibly qualify
him to do this successfully, without possessing, at the same time, full
and authentic intelligence of all that had been performed here by his
predecessors in the discovery. But that he was not so fortunate as to be
thus sufficiently instructed, will appear from the following facts,
which the reader is requested to attend to, before he proceeds to the
perusal of this part of the journal.

How very little was known, with any precision, about the operations of
Kerguelen, when Captain Cook sailed in 1776, may be inferred from the
following paragraph of his instructions:--"You are to proceed in search
of some islands said to have been lately seen by the French in the
latitude of 48 deg. S., and in the meridian of the Mauritius." This was,
barely, the amount of the very indefinite and imperfect information,
which Captain Cook himself had received from Baron Plettenberg at the
Cape of Good Hope, in November 1772; in the beginning of which year
Kerguelen's first voyage had taken place.

The captain, on his return homeward, in March 1775, heard, a second
time, something about this French discovery at the Cape, where he met
with Monsieur Crozet, who very obligingly communicated to him a chart of
the southern hemisphere, wherein were delineated not only his own
discoveries, but also that of Captain Kerguelen. But what little
information that chart could convey, was still necessarily confined to
the operations of the first voyage; the chart here referred to, having
been published in France in 1773, that is, before any intelligence could
possibly be conveyed from the southern hemisphere of the result of
Kerguelen's second visit to this new land, which, we now know, happened
towards the close of the same year.