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° 14' S. and in the longitude of 25° 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° 53' S. and in the longitude of 37° 46' E. The most northerly one is about nine leagues in circuit, and lies in the latitude of 46° 40' S. and in 38° 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° S.; that is, 2° 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° 26' S.; longitude, by seven observations of the distance of the sun and moon, 64° 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° 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.

Of these latter operations, the only account (if that can be called an account, which conveys no particular information) received by Captain Cook from Monsieur Crozet, was, that a later voyage had been undertaken by the French, under the command of Captain Kerguelen, which had ended much to the disgrace of that commander.

What Crozet had not communicated to our author, and what we are sure, from a variety of circumstances, he had never heard of from any other quarter, he missed an opportunity of learning at Teneriffe. He expressed his being sorry, as we have just read, that he did not know sooner that there was on board the frigate an officer who had been with Kerguelen, as he might have obtained from him more interesting information about this land, than its situation. And, indeed, if he had conversed with that officer, he might have obtained information more interesting than he was aware of; he might have learnt that Kerguelen had actually visited this southern land a second time, and that the little isle of which he then received the name and position from the Chevalier de Borda, was a discovery of this later voyage. But the account conveyed to him, being, as the reader will observe, unaccompanied with any date, or other distinguishing circumstance, he left Teneriffe, and arrived on the coasts of Kerguelen's Land, under a full persuasion that it had been visited only once before. And, even with regard to the operations of that first voyage, he had nothing to guide him, but the very scanty materials afforded to him by Baron Plettenberg and Monsieur Crozet.

The truth is, the French seem, for some reason or other, not surely founded on the importance of Kerguelen's discovery, to have been very shy of publishing a full and distinct account of it. No such account had been published while Captain Cook lived. Nay, even after the return of his ships in 1780, the gentleman who obligingly lent his assistance to give a view of the prior observations of the French, and to connect them on the same chart with those of our author, though his assiduity in procuring geographical information can be equalled only by his readiness in communicating it, had not, it should seem, been able to procure any materials for that purpose, but such as mark the operations of the first French voyage; and even for these, he was indebted to a MS. drawing.

But this veil of unnecessary secrecy is at length drawn aside. Kerguelen himself has published the journal of his proceedings in two successive voyages, in the years 1772 and 1773; and has annexed to his narrative a chart of the coasts of this land, as far as he had explored them in both voyages. Monsieur de Pagès, also, much about the same time, favoured us with another account of the second voyage, in some respects fuller than Kerguelen's own, on board whose ship he was then an officer.

From these sources of authentic information, we are enabled to draw every necessary material to correct what is erroneous, and to illustrate what, otherwise, would have remained obscure, in this part of Captain Cook's journal. We shall take occasion to do this in separate notes on the passages as they occur, and conclude this tedious, but, it is hoped, not unnecessary, detail of facts, with one general remark, fully expressive of the disadvantages our author laboured under. He never saw that part of the coast upon which the French had been in 1772; and he never knew that they had been upon another part of it in 1773, which was the very scene of his own operations. Consequently, what he knew of the former voyage, as delineated upon Crozet's chart, only served to perplex and mislead his judgment; and his total ignorance of the latter, put it out of his power to compare his own observations with those then made by Kerguelen; though we, who are better instructed, can do this, by tracing the plainest marks of coincidence and agreement.--D.]

My instructions directing me to examine it, with a view to discover a good harbour, I proceeded in the search; and on the 16th, being then in the latitude of 48° 45', and in the longitude of 52° E., we saw penguins and divers, and rock-weed floating in the sea. We continued to meet with more or less of these every day, as we proceeded to the eastward; and on the 21st, in the latitude of 48° 27' S., and in the longitude of 65° E., a very large seal was seen. We had now much foggy weather, and as we expected to fall in with the land every hour, our navigation became both tedious and dangerous.

At length, on the 24th, at six o'clock in the morning, as we were steering to the eastward, the fog clearing away a little, we saw land,[97] bearing S.S.E., which, upon a nearer approach, we found to be an island of considerable height, and about three leagues in circuit.[98] Soon after, we saw another of the same magnitude, one league to the eastward;[99] and between these two, in the direction of S.E., some smaller ones.[100] In the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E., from the E. end of the first island, a third[101] high island was seen. At times, as the fog broke away, we had the appearance of land over the small islands; and I had thoughts of steering for it, by running in between them. But, on drawing nearer, I found this would be a dangerous attempt, while the weather continued foggy. For if there should be no passage, or if we should meet with any sudden danger, it would have been impossible for us to get off; the wind being right a-stern, and a prodigious sea running, that broke on all the shores in a frightful surf. At the same time, seeing another island in the N.E. direction, and not knowing but that their might be more, I judged it prudent to haul off, and wait for clearer weather, lest we should get entangled amongst unknown lands in a thick fog.

[Footnote 97: Captain Cook was not the original discoverer of these small islands which he now fell in with. It is certain that they had been seen and named by Kerguelen, on his second voyage, in December 1773. Their position, relatively to each other, and to the adjoining coasts of the greater land, bears a striking resemblance to Kerguelen's delineation of them; whose chart, however, the public may be assured, was unknown in England till after that accompanying the account of this third voyage had been engraved.--D.]

[Footnote 98: This is the isle to which Kerguelen gave the name of Croy, or Crouy. Besides delineating it upon his chart, he has added a particular view of it, exactly corresponding with Captain Cook's account of its being of considerable height.--D.]

[Footnote 99: Kerguelen called this Isle Rolland, after the name of his own ship. There is also a particular view of it on the French chart.--D.]

[Footnote 100: The observations of the French and English navigators agree exactly as to the position of these smaller isles.--D.]

[Footnote 101: The situation of Kerguelen's Isle de Clugny, as marked on this chart, shews it to be the third high island seen by Captain Cook.--D.]

We did but just weather the island last mentioned. It is a high round rock, which was named Bligh's Cap. Perhaps this is the same that Monsieur de Kerguelen called the Isle of Rendezvous;[102] but I know nothing that can rendezvous at it, but fowls of the air; for it is certainly inaccessible to every other animal.

[Footnote 102: This isle, or rock, was the single point about which Captain Cook had received the least information at Teneriffe; and we may observe how sagacious he was in tracing it. What he could only speak of as probable, a comparison of his chart with that lately published by Kerguelen, proves to be certain; and if he had even read and copied what his predecessor in the discovery says of it, he could scarcely have varied his account of its shape. Kerguelen's words are, "Isle de Reunion, qui n'est qu'une Roche, nous servoit de Rendezvous, ou de point de ralliement; et ressemble à un coin de mire."--D.]

At eleven o'clock the weather began to clear up, and we immediately tacked, and steered in for the land. At noon, we had a pretty good observation, which enabled us to determine the latitude of Bligh's Cap, which is the northernmost island, to be 48° 29' S., and its longitude 68° 40' E.'[103] We passed it at three o'clock, standing to the S.S.E., with a fresh gale at W.

[Footnote 103: The French and English agree very nearly (as might be expected) in their accounts of the latitude of this island; but the observations by which they fix its longitude vary considerably. The pilot at Teneriffe made it only 64° 57' E. from Paris, which is about 67° 16' E. from London; or 1° 24' more westerly than Captain Cook's observations fix it. Monsieur de Pagès says it is 66° 47' E. from Paris, that is, 69° 6' E. from London, or twenty-six miles more easterly than it is placed by Captain Cook. Kerguelen himself only says that it is about 68° of E. longitude, par 68° de longitude.--D.]

Soon after we saw the land, of which we had a faint view in the morning; and at four o'clock it extended from S.E. 1/2 E., to S.W. by S., distant about four miles. The left extreme, which I judged to be the northern point of this land, called, in the French chart of the southern hemisphere, Cape St Louis,[104] terminated in a perpendicular rock of a considerable height; and the right one (near which is a detached rock) in a high indented point.[105] From this point the coast seemed to turn short round to the southward, for we could see no land to the westward of the direction in which it now bore to us, but the islands we had observed in the morning; the most southerly[106] of them lying nearly W. from the point, about two or three leagues distant.

[Footnote 104: Hitherto, we have only had occasion to supply defects, owing to Captain Cook's entire ignorance of Kerguelen's second voyage in 1773; we must now correct errors, owing to his very limited knowledge of the operations of the first voyage in 1772. The chart of the southern hemisphere, his only guide, having given him, as he tells us, the name of Cape St Louis (or Cape Louis) as the most northerly promontory then seen by the French; and his own observations now satisfying him that no part of the main land stretched farther north than the left extreme now before him; from this supposed similarity of situation, he judged that his own perpendicular rock must be the Cape Louis of the first discoverers. By looking upon the chart originally published with this voyage, we shall find Cape Louis lying upon a different part of the coast; and by comparing this chart with that published by Kerguelen, it will appear, in the clearest manner, that the northern point now described by Captain Cook, is the very same to which the French have given the name of Cape Francois--D.]

[Footnote 105: This right extreme of the coast, as it now shewed itself to Captain Cook, seems to be what is represented on Kerguelen's chart under the name of Cape Aubert. It may be proper to observe here, that all that extent of coast lying between Cape Louis and Cape Francois, of which the French saw very little during their first visit in 1772, and may be called the N.W. side of this land, they had it in their power to trace the position of in 1773, and have assigned names to some of its bays, rivers, and promontories, upon their chart.--D.]

[Footnote 106: Kerguelen's Isle de Clugny.--D.]

About the middle of the land there appeared to be an inlet, for which we steered; but, on approaching, found it was a bending in the coast, and therefore bore up, to go round Cape St Louis.[107] Soon after, land opened off the cape, in the direction of S. 53° E., and appeared to be a point at a considerable distance; for the trending of the coast from the cape was more southerly. We also saw several rocks and islands to the eastward of the above directions, the most distant of which was about seven leagues from the cape, bearing S. 88° E.[108] We had no sooner got off the cape, than we observed the coast, to the southward, to be much indented by projecting points and bays; so that we now made sure of soon finding a good harbour. Accordingly, we had not run a mile farther, before we discovered one behind the cape, into which we began to ply; but after making one board, it fell calm, and we anchored at the entrance in forty-five fathoms water, the bottom black sand; as did the Discovery soon after. I immediately dispatched Mr Bligh, the master, in a boat to sound the harbour; who, on his return, reported it to be safe and commodious, with good anchorage in every part; and great plenty of fresh-water, seals, penguins, and other birds on the shore; but not a stick of wood. While we lay at anchor, we observed that the flood tide came from the S.E., running two knots, at least, in an hour.

[Footnote 107: Cape François, as already observed.--D.]

[Footnote 108: The observations of the French, round Cape François, remarkably coincide with Captain Cook's in this paragraph; and the rocks and islands here mentioned by him, also appear upon their chart.--D.]

At day-break, in the morning of the 25th, we weighed with a gentle breeze at W,; and having wrought into the harbour, to within a quarter of a mile of the sandy beach at its head, we anchored in eight fathoms water, the bottom a fine dark sand. The Discovery did not get in till two o'clock in the afternoon, when Captain Clerke informed me, that he had narrowly escaped being driven on the S. point of the harbour, his anchor having started before they had time to shorten in the cable. This obliged them to set sail, and drag the anchor after them, till they had room to heave it up, and then they found one of its palms was broken off.

As soon as we had anchored, I ordered all the boats to be hoisted out, the ship to be moored with a kedge-anchor, and the water-casks to be got ready to send on shore. In the mean time I landed, to look for the most convenient spot where they might be filled, and to see what else the place afforded.

I found the shore, in a manner, covered with penguins and other birds, and seals. These latter were not numerous, but so insensible of fear, (which plainly indicated that they were unaccustomed to such visitors,) that we killed as many as we chose, for the sake of their fat, or blubber, to make oil for our lamps, and other uses. Fresh water was in no less plenty than were birds; for every gully afforded a large stream. But not a single tree, or shrub, nor the least sign of any, was to be discovered, and but very little herbage of any sort. The appearances, as we sailed into the harbour, had flattered us with the hope of meeting with something considerable growing here, as we observed the sides of many of the hills to be of a lively green. But I now found that this was occasioned by a single plant, which, with the other natural productions, shall be described in another place. Before I returned to my ship, I ascended the first ridge of rocks, which rise in a kind of amphitheatre above one another. I was in hopes, by this means, of obtaining a view of the country; but before I reached the top, there came on so thick a fog, that I could hardly find my way down again. In the evening, we hauled the seine at the head of the harbour, but caught only half a dozen small fish. We had no better success next day, when we tried with hook and line. So that our only resource here, for fresh provisions, were birds, of which there was an inexhaustible store.

The morning of the 26th proved foggy, with rain. However, we went to work to fill water, and to cut grass for our cattle, which we found in small spots near the head of the harbour. The rain which fell swelled all the rivulets to such a degree, that the sides of the hills, bounding the harbour, seemed to be covered with a sheet of water. For the rain, as it fell, run into the fissures and crags of the rocks that composed the interior parts of the hills, and was precipitated down their sides in prodigious torrents.

The people having wrought hard the two preceding days, and nearly completed our water, which we filled from a brook at the left corner of the beach, I allowed them the 27th as a day of rest, to celebrate Christmas. Upon this indulgence, many of them went on shore, and made excursions, in different directions, into the country, which they found barren and desolate in the highest degree. In the evening, one of them brought to me a quart bottle which he had found, fastened with some wire to a projecting rock on the north side of the harbour. This bottle contained a piece of parchment, on which was written the following inscription:

Ludovico XV. Galliarum rege, et d.[109] de Boynes regi a Secretis ad res maritimas annis 1772 et 1773.

[Footnote 109: The (d.), no doubt, is a contraction of the word Domino. The French secretary of the marine was then Monsieur de Boynes.--D.]

From this inscription, it is clear, that we were not the first Europeans who had been in this harbour. I supposed it to be left by Monsieur de Boisguehenneu, who went on shore in a boat on the 13th of February, 1772, the same day that Monsieur de Kerguelen discovered this land, as appears by a note in the French chart of the southern hemisphere, published the following year.[110]

[Footnote 110: On perusing this paragraph of the journal, it will be natural to ask, How could Monsieur de Boisguehenneu, in the beginning of 1772, leave an inscription, which, upon the very face of it, commemorates a transaction of the following year? Captain Cook's manner of expressing himself here, strongly marks, that he made this supposition, only for want of information to enable him to make any other. He had no idea that the French had visited this land a second time; and, reduced to the necessity of trying to accommodate what he saw himself, to what little he had heard of their proceedings, he confounds a transaction which we, who have been better instructed, know, for a certainty, belongs to the second voyage, with a similar one, which his chart of the southern hemisphere has recorded, and which happened in a different year, and at a different place.

The bay, indeed, in which Monsieur de Boisguehenneu landed, is upon the west side of this land, considerably to the south of Cape Louis, and not far from another more southerly promontory, called Cape Bourbon; a part of the coast which our ships were not upon. Its situation is marked upon the chart constructed for this voyage; and a particular view of the bay du Lion Marin, (for so Boisguehenneu called it,) with the soundings, is preserved by Kerguelen.

But if the bottle and inscription found by Captain Cook's people were not left here by Boisguehenneu, by whom and when were they left? This we learn most satisfactorily, from the accounts of Kerguelen's second voyage, as published by himself and Monsieur de Pagès, which present us with the following particulars:--"That they arrived on the west side of this land on the 14th of December, 1773; that steering to the N.E., they discovered, on the 16th, the Isle de Reunion, and the other small islands as mentioned above; that, on the 17th, they had before them the principal land, (which they were sure was connected with that seen by them on the 14th,) and a high point of that land, named by them Cape François; that beyond this cape, the coast took a south-easterly direction, and behind it they found a bay, called by them Baie de l'Oiseau, from the name of their frigate; that they then endeavoured to enter it, but were prevented by contrary winds and blowing weather, which drove them off the coast eastward; but that, at last, on the 6th of January, Monsieur de Rosnevet, captain of the Oiseau, was able to send his boat on shore into this bay, under the command of Monsieur de Rochegude, one of his officers, who took possession of that bay, and of all the country, in the name of the King of France, with all the requisite formalities."

Here then we trace, by the most unexceptionable evidence, the history of the bottle and inscription; the leaving of which was, no doubt, one of the requisite formalities observed by Monsieur de Rochegude on this occasion. And though he did not land till the 6th of January 1774, yet, as Kerguelen's ships arrived upon the coast on the 14th of December 1773, and had discovered and looked into this very bay on the 17th of that month, it was with the strictest propriety and truth that 1773, and not 1774, was mentioned as the date of the discovery.

We need only look at Kerguelen's and Cook's charts, to judge that the Baie de l'Oiseau, and the harbour where the French inscription was found, is one and the same place. But besides this agreement as to the general position, the same conclusion results more decisively still, from another circumstance worth mentioning: The French, as well as the English visitors of this bay and harbour, have given us a particular plan of it; and whoever compares them, must be struck with a resemblance that could only be produced by copying one common original with fidelity. Nay, even the soundings are the same upon the same spots in both plans, being forty-five fathoms between the two capes, before the entrance of the bay; sixteen fathoms farther in, where the shores begin to contract; and eight fathoms up, near the bottom of the harbour.

To these particulars, which throw abundant light on this part of our author's journal, I shall only add, that the distance of our harbour from that where Boisguehenneu landed in 1772, is forty leagues. For this we have the authority of Kerguelen, in the following passage:--"Monsieur de Boisguehenneu descendit le 13 de Fevrier 1772, dans un baie, qu'il nomme Baie du Lion Marin, & prit possession de cette terre au nom de Roi; il n'y vit aucune trace d'habitants. Monsieur de Rochegude, en 1774, a descendu dans un autre baie, que nous avons nommé Baie de l'Oiseau, & cette seconde rade est à quarantes lieues de la premiere. Il en a également pris possession, & il n'y trouva également aucune trace d'habitants." Kerguelen, p. 92.--D.]

As a memorial of our having been in this harbour, I wrote on the other side of the parchment,

Naves Resolution et Discovery de Rege Magnae Britanniae, Decembris 1776.

I then put it again into a bottle, together with a silver two-penny piece of 1772; and having covered the mouth of the bottle with a leaden cap, I placed it the next morning in a pile of stones erected for the purpose, upon a little eminence on the north shore of the harbour, and near to the place where it was first found, in which position it cannot escape the notice of any European, whom chance or design may bring into this port. Here I displayed the British flag, and named the place Christmas Harbour, from our having arrived in it on that festival.

It is the first or northernmost inlet that we meet with on the S.E. side of the Cape St Louis,[111] which forms the N. side of the harbour, and is also the northern point of this land. The situation alone is sufficient to distinguish it from any of the other inlets; and, to make it more remarkable, its S. point terminates in a high rock, which is perforated quite through, so as to appear like the arch of a bridge. We saw none like this upon the whole coast.[112] The harbour has another distinguishing mark within, from a single stone or rock, of a vast size, which lies on the top of a hill on the S. side, near its bottom; and opposite this, on the N. side, there is another hill, much like it, but smaller. There is a small beach at its bottom, where we commonly landed; and, behind it, some gently rising ground, on the top of which is a large pool of fresh-water. The land on both sides of the inlet is high, and it runs in W., and W.N.W., about two miles. Its breadth is one mile and a quarter, for more than half its length, above which it is only half a mile. The depth of water, which is forty-five fathoms at the entrance, varies, as we proceed farther in, from thirty to five and four fathoms. The shores are steep; and the bottom is every where a fine dark sand, except in some places close to the shore, where there are beds of sea-weed, which always grows on rocky ground. The head of the harbour lies open only to two points of the compass; and even these are covered by islands in the offing, so that no sea can fall in to hurt a ship. The appearances on shore confirmed this; for we found grass growing close to high-water mark, which is a sure sign of a pacific harbour.[113] It is high-water here, at the full and change days, about ten o'clock; and the tide rises and falls about four feet.

[Footnote 111: Cape François, for reasons already assigned.--D.]

[Footnote 112: If there could be the least doubt remaining, of the identity of the Baie de l'Oiseau and Christmas Harbour, the circumstance of the perforated rock, which divides it from another bay to the south, would amount to a strict demonstration. For Monsieur de Pagès had observed this discriminating mark before Captain Cook. His words are as follows:--"L'on vit que la cote de l'Est, voisine du Cap François, avoit deux baies; elles étoient separees par une pointe très reconnoissable par sa forme, qui representoit une porte cochere, au travers de laquelle l'on voyoit le jour."--Voyages du M. de Pagès, vol. ii. p. 67. Every one knows how exactly the form of a porte cochere, or arched gateway, corresponds with that of the arch of a bridge. It is very satisfactory to find the two navigators, neither of whom knew any thing of the other's description, adopting the same idea; which both proves that they had the same uncommon object before their eyes, and that they made an accurate report.--D.]

[Footnote 113: In the last note, we saw how remarkably Monsieur de Pagès and Captain Cook agree about the appearance of the south point of the harbour; I shall here subjoin another quotation from the former, containing his account of the harbour itself, in which the reader may trace the same distinguishing features observed by Captain Cook in the foregoing paragraph.

"Le 6, l'on mit à terre dans la premiere baie à l'Est du Cap François, & l'on prit possession de ces contrées. Ce mouillage consiste en une petite rade, qui a environs quatres encablures, ou quatre cents toises de profondeur, sur un tiers en sus de largeur. En dedans de cette rade est un petit port, dont l'entrée, de quatres encablures de largeur, presente au Sud-Est. La sonde de la petite rade est depuis quarante-cinq jusqu'à trente brasses; et celle du port depuis seize jusqu'à huit. Le fond des deux est de sable noir et vaseux. La cote des deux bords est haute, & par une pente très rude; elle est couverte de verdure, & il y a une quantité prodigieuse d'Outardes. Le fond du port est occupé par un monticule qui laisse entre lui, et la mer une plage de sable. Une petite riviere, de très bonne eau, coule à la mer dans cet endroit; & elle est fournie par un lac qui est un peu au loin, au dessus du monticule. Il y avoit sur le plage beaucoup de pinguoins & de lions marins. Ces deux especes d'animaux ne fuyoient pas, & l'on augura que le pays n'étoit point habité; la terre rapportoit de l'herbe large, noire, & bien nourrie, qui n'avoit cependant que cinque pouces ou plus de hauteur. L'on ne vit aucun arbre, ni signe l'habitation."--Voyage du Monsieur de Pagès, tom. ii. p. 69, 70.--D.]

After I had finished this business of the inscription, I went in my boat round the harbour, and landed in several places, to examine what the shore afforded; and, particularly, to look for drift wood. For, although the land here was totally destitute of trees, this might not be the case in other parts; and if there were any, the torrents would force some, or, at least, some branches, into the sea, which would afterward throw them upon the shores, as in all other countries where there is wood, and in many where there is none: But throughout the whole extent of the harbour, I found not a single piece.

In the afternoon, I went upon Cape St Louis,[114] accompanied by Mr King, my second lieutenant. I was in hopes, from this elevation, to have had a view of the sea-coast, and of the islands lying off it. But, when I got up, I found every distant object below me hid in a thick fog. The land on the same plain, or of a greater height, was visible enough, and appeared naked and desolate in the highest degree, except some hills to the southward, which were covered with snow.

[Footnote 114: Cape François.--D.]

When I got on board, I found the launch hoisted in, the ships unmoored, and ready to put to sea; but our sailing was deferred till five o'clock the next morning, when we weighed anchor.[115]

[Footnote 115: The reader is probably not a little wearied with Dr Douglas's minute comparisons of Kerguelen's and Cook's accounts of the lands in question, which indeed seem unworthy of so much concern. It was of consequence, however, to guard our navigator's reputation; and some persons may relish the discussion, as exhibiting the acumen and good sense which the detector of the infamous Lauder, and the author of "The Criterion," so eminently possessed.--E.]

SECTION V.

Departure from Christmas Harbour.--Range along the Coast, to discover its Position and Extent.--Several Promontories and Bays, and a Peninsula, described and named.--Danger from Shoals.--Another Harbour and a Sound.--Mr Anderson's Observations on the Natural Productions, Animals, Soil, etc. of. Kerguelen's Land.

As soon as the ships were out of Christmas Harbour, we steered S.E. 1/2 S., along the coast, with a fine breeze at N.N.W., and clear weather. This we thought the more fortunate, as, for some time past, fogs had prevailed, more or less, every day; and the continuance of them would have defeated our plan of extending Kerguelen's discovery. We kept the lead constantly going; but seldom struck ground with a line of fifty or sixty fathoms.

About seven or eight o'clock, we were off a promontory, which I called Cape Cumberland. It lies a league and a half from the south point of Christmas Harbour, in the direction of S.E. 1/2 S. Between them is a bay with two arms, both of which seemed to afford good shelter for shipping. Off Cape Cumberland is a small but pretty high island, on the summit of which is a rock like a sentry-box, which occasioned our giving that name to the island. Two miles farther to the eastward, lies a group of small islands and rocks, with broken ground about them: We sailed between these and Sentry-Box Island, the channel being a full mile broad, and more than forty fathoms deep; for we found no bottom with that length of line.

Being through this channel, we discovered, on the south side of Cape Cumberland, a bay, running in three leagues to the westward. It is formed by this Cape to the north, and by a promontory to the south, which I named Point Pringle, after my good friend Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society. The bottom of this bay was called Cumberland Bay; and it seemed to be disjoined from the sea, which washes the N.W. coast of this country, by a narrow neck of land. Appearances, at least, favoured such a conjecture.

To the southward of Point Pringle, the coast is formed into a fifth bay; of which this point is the northern extreme; and from it to the southern extreme, is about four miles in the direction of S.S.E. 1/4 E. In this bay, which obtained the name of White Bay, on account of some white spots of land or rocks in the bottom of it, are several lesser bays or coves, which seemed to be sheltered from all winds. Off the south point are several rocks which raise their heads above water; and, probably, many more than do that.

Thus far our course was in a direction parallel to the coast, and not more than two miles from it. Thither our glasses were continually pointed; and we could easily see that, except the bottoms of the bays and coves, which, for the most part, terminated in sandy beaches, the shores were rocky, and, in many places, swarmed with birds; but the country had the same barren and naked appearance as in the neighbourhood of Christmas Harbour.

We had kept, on our larboard bow, the land which first opened off Cape St Louis,[116] in the direction of S. 53° E., thinking that it was an island, and that we should find a passage between it and the main. We now discovered this to be a mistake; and found that it was a peninsula, joined to the rest of the coast by a low isthmus. I called the bay, formed by this peninsula, Repulse Bay; and a branch of it seemed to run a good way inland towards the S.S.W. Leaving this, we steered for the northern point of the peninsula, which we named Howe's Foreland, in honour of Admiral Lord Howe.

[Footnote 116: Cape François.]

As we drew near it, we perceived some rocks and breakers near the N.W. part; and two islands a league and a half to the eastward of it, which, at first, appeared as one. I steered between them and the Foreland;[117] and was in the middle of the channel by noon. At that time our latitude, by observation, was 48° 51' S.; and we had made twenty-six miles of east longitude from Cape St Louis.[118]

[Footnote 117: Though Kerguelen's ships, in 1773, did not venture to explore this part of the coast, Monsieur de Pagès's account of it answers well to Captain Cook's. "Du 17 au 23, l'on ne prit d'autre connoissance que celle de la figure de la cote, qui, courant d'abord au Sud-Est, & revenant ensuite au Nord-Est, formoit un grand golfe. Il étoit occupé par des brisans & des rochers; il avoit aussi une isle basse, & assez etendue, & l'on usa d'une bien soigneuse precaution, pour ne pas s'affaler dans ce golfe."--Voyage du M. de Pagès, tom. ii. p. 67.--D.]

[Footnote 118: Cape François.]

From this situation, the most advanced land to the southward bore S.E.; but the trending of the coast from the Foreland was more southerly. The islands which lie off Christmas Harbour bore N.; and the north point of the Foreland N. 60° W., distant three miles. The land of this Peninsula, or Foreland, is of a moderate height, and of a hilly and rocky substance. The coast is low, with rocky points shooting out from it; between which points are little coves, with sandy beaches; and these, at this time, were mostly covered with sea birds. We also saw upon them some seals.

As soon as we were clear of the rocks and islands before mentioned, I gave orders to steer S.E. by S. along the coast. But before these orders could be carried into execution, we discovered the whole sea before us to be chequered with large beds of rock-weed, which we knew to be fast to the bottom, and to grow on rocky shoals. I had often found a great depth of water on such shoals; and I had, as often, found rocks that have raised their heads nearly to the surface of the water. It is always dangerous, therefore, to sail over them before they are well examined; but more especially, when there is no surge of the sea to discover the danger. This was the case at present, for the sea was as smooth as a mill-pond. Consequently we endeavoured to avoid them, by steering through the winding channels by which they were separated. We kept the lead continually going; but never struck ground with a line of sixty fathoms. This circumstance increased the danger, as we could not anchor, whatever necessity there might be for it. After running in this manner above an hour, we discovered a lurking rock, just even with the surface of the sea. It bore N.E. 1/2 E., distant three or four miles, and lay in the middle of one of these large beds of weeds. This was a sufficient warning to make us use every precaution to prevent our coming upon them.

We were now cross the mouth of a large bay, that lies about eight miles to the southward of Howe's Foreland. In and before the entrance of this bay are several low islands, rocks, and those beds of sea-weed. But there seemed to be winding channels between them. After continuing our course half an hour longer, we were so much embarrassed with these shoals, that I resolved to haul off to the eastward, as the likeliest means of extricating ourselves from the danger that threatened us. But so far was this from answering the intended purpose, that it brought us into more. I therefore found it absolutely necessary to secure the ships, if possible, in some place before night; especially as the weather had now become hazy, and a fog was apprehended. And seeing some inlets to the S.W. of us, I ordered Captain Clerke, as the Discovery drew less water than the Resolution, to lead in for the shore; which was accordingly done.

In standing in, it was not possible to avoid running over the edges of some of the shoals, on which we found from ten to twenty fathoms water; and the moment we were over, had no ground at the depth of fifty fathoms. After making a few boards to weather a spit that run out from an island on our lee, Captain Clerke made the signal for having discovered an harbour; in which, about five o'clock, we anchored in fifteen fathoms water, over a bottom of fine dark sand, about three quarters of a mile from the shore; the north point of the harbour bearing N. by E. 1/2 E., one mile distant; and the small islands in the entrance, within which we anchored, extending from E. to S.E.

Scarcely were the ships secured, when it began to blow very strong; so that we thought it prudent to strike top-gallant yards. The weather, however, continued fair; and the wind dispersing the fog that had settled on the hills, it was tolerably clear also. The moment, therefore, we had anchored, I hoisted out two boats; in one of which I sent Mr Bligh, the master, to survey the upper part of the harbour, and look for wood; for not a shrub was to be seen from the ship. I also desired Captain Clerke to send his master to sound the channel that is on the south side of the small isles, between them and a pretty large island which lies near the south point of the harbour. Having given these directions, I went myself, in my other boat, accompanied by Mr Gore, my first lieutenant, and Mr Bayly, and landed on the north point, to see what I could discover from thence.

From the highest hill over the point, we had a pretty good view of the sea-coast, as far as Howe's Foreland. It is much indented, and several rocky points seemed to shoot out from it, with coves and inlets of unequal extent. One of the latter, the end of which I could not see, was disjoined from that in which the ships were at anchor, by the point we then stood upon. A great many small islands, rocks, and breakers, appeared scattered along the coast, as well to the southward as northward; and I saw no better channel to get out of the harbour, than by the one through which we had entered it.

While Mr Bayly and I were making the observations, Mr Gore encompassed the hill, and joined us by a different route, at the place where I had ordered the boat to wait for us. Except the craggy precipices, we met with nothing to obstruct our walk. For the country was, if possible, more barren and desolate than about Christmas Harbour. And yet, if there be the least fertility in any part of this land, we ought to have found it in this, which is completely sheltered from the predominating bleak southerly and westerly winds. I observed, with regret, that there was neither food nor covering for cattle of any sort; and that, if I left any, they must inevitably perish. In the little cove where the boat waited for us (which I called Penguin Cove, as the beach was covered with these birds), is a fine rivulet of fresh water, that may be easily come at. Here were also some large seals, shags, and a few ducks; and Mr Bayly had a transient sight of a very small land bird; but it flew amongst the rocks, and we lost it. About nine o'clock we got on board.

Soon after, Mr Bligh returned, and reported, that he had been four miles up the harbour, and, as he judged, not far from the head of it. He found that its direction was W.S.W.; and that its breadth, a little above the ships, did not exceed a mile; but grew narrower toward the head. The soundings were very irregular, being from thirty-seven to ten fathoms; and, except under the beds of sea-weed, which in many places extended from the shore near half channel over, the bottom was a fine sand. He landed on both shores, which he found barren and rocky, without the least signs of tree or shrub, and with very little verdure of any kind. Penguins, and other oceanic birds and seals, occupied part of the coast, but not in such numbers as at Christinas Harbour.

Finding no encouragement to continue our researches, and, the next morning, both wind and weather being favourable, I weighed anchor and put to sea. To this harbour I gave the name of Port Palliser, in honour of my worthy friend Admiral Sir Hugh Palliser. It is situated in the latitude of 49° 3' S., in the longitude of 69° 37' E., and five leagues from Howe's Foreland, in the direction of S. 25° E. There are several islands, rocks, and breakers lying in and without the entrance. We went in and out between them and the north head; but I have no doubt that there are other channels.

As we were standing out of Port Palliser, we discovered a round hill, like a sugar-loaf, in the direction of S. 72° E., about nine leagues distant. It had the appearance of an island lying at some distance from the coast; but we afterward found it was upon the main land. In getting out to sea, we had to steer through the winding channels amongst the shoals. However, we ventured to run over some of them, on which we never found less than eighteen fathoms, and often did not strike ground with twenty-four; so that, had it not been for the sea-weed growing upon all of them, they would not have been discovered.

After we had got about three or four leagues from the coast, we found a clear sea, and then steered E. till nine o'clock, when the Sugar Loaf hill, above mentioned, which I named Mount Campbell, bore S.E., and a small island that lies to the northward of it, S.S.E., distant four leagues. I now steered more southerly, in order to get in with the land. At noon, the latitude by double altitudes was 49° 8' S.; and we had made eighty miles of east longitude from Cape St Louis.[119] Mount Campbell bore S. 47° W., distant about four leagues; a low point, beyond which no land was to be seen, bore S.S.E., at the distance of about twenty miles; and we were about two leagues from the shore.

[Footnote 119: Cape François.]

The land here is low and level.[120] The mountains ending about five leagues from the low point, a great extent of low land is left, on which Mount Campbell is situated, about four miles from the foot of the mountains, and one from the sea coast. These mountains have a considerable elevation, as also most of the inland ones. They seemed to be composed of naked rocks, whose summits were capt with snow. Nor did the valleys appear to greater advantage. To whatever quarter we directed our glasses, nothing but sterility was to be seen.

[Footnote 120: This part of the coast seems to be what the French saw on the 5th of January 1774. Monsieur de Pagès speaks of it thus: "Nous reconnumes une nouvelle cote etendue de toute veu dans l'Est, & dans le Ouest. Les terres de cette cote étoient moins elevées que celles que nous avions veues jusques ici; elles étoient aussi d'un aspect moins rude."--De Pagès, tom. ii. p. 68.--D.]

We had scarcely finished taking the bearings at noon, before we observed low land opening off the low point just mentioned, in the direction of S.S.E., and eight miles beyond it. This new point proved to be the very eastern extremity of this land, and it was named Cape Digby. It is situated in the latitude of 49° 23' S., and in the longitude of 70° 34' E.

Between Howe's Foreland and Cape Digby, the shore forms (besides the several lesser bays and harbours) one great bay that extends several leagues to the S.W., where it seemed to lose itself in various arms running in, between the mountains. A prodigious quantity of sea-weed grows all over it, which seemed to be the same sort of weed that Sir Joseph Banks distinguished by the name of fucus giganteus. Some of this weed is of a most enormous length, though the stem is not much thicker than a man's thumb. I have mentioned, that on some of the shoals upon which it grows, we did not strike ground with a line of twenty-four fathoms. The depth of water, therefore, must have been greater. And as this weed does not grow in a perpendicular direction, but makes a very acute angle with the bottom, and much of it afterward spreads many fathoms on the surface of the sea, I am well warranted to say, that some of it grows to the length of sixty fathoms and upward.

At one o'clock (having run two leagues upon a S.E. 1/2 E. course, from noon) we sounded, and found eighteen fathoms water, and a bottom of fine sand. Seeing a small bending in the coast, on the north side of Cape Digby, I steered for it. It was my intention to anchor there, if I should find it might be done with safety, and to land on the Cape, to examine what the low land within it produced. After running in one league, we sounded again, and found thirteen fathoms; and immediately after, saw a shoal right before us, that seemed to extend off from the shore, from which we were distant about two miles. This discovery obliged us to haul off, E. by S., one league, where our depth of water increased to twenty-five fathoms. We then steered along shore, and continued in the same depth, over a bottom of fine sand, till Cape Digby bore W., two leagues distant, when we found twenty-six fathoms.

After this we did not strike ground, though we tried several times; but the ship having a good deal of way, ran the line out before the lead could reach the bottom, and being disappointed in my views both of anchoring and of landing, I would not shorten sail, but pushed forward, in order to see as much of the coast as possible before night. From Cape Digby, it trends nearly S.W. by S. for about four or five leagues, or to a low point, to which, in honour of her majesty, I gave the name of Point Charlotte, and it is the southernmost on the low coast.

Six leagues from Cape Digby, in the direction of S.S.W. 1/2 W., is a pretty high projecting point, which was called Prince of Wales's Foreland; and six leagues beyond that, in the same direction, and in the latitude of 49° 54' S., and the longitude of 70 13' E., is the most southerly point of the whole coast, which I distinguished by the name of Cape George, in honour of his majesty.

Between Point Charlotte and Prince of Wales's Foreland, where the country to the S.W. began again to be hilly, is a deep inlet, which was called Royal Sound. It runs in W. quite to the foot of the mountains which bound it on the S.W., as the low land before-mentioned does on the N. There are islands lying in the entrance, and others higher up, as far as we could distinguish. As we advanced to the S. we observed, on the S.W. side of Prince of Wales's Foreland, another inlet into Royal Sound; and it then appeared, that the foreland was the E. point of a large island lying in the mouth of it. There are several small islands in this inlet; and one about a league to the southward of Prince of Wales's Foreland.

All the land on the S.W. side of Royal Sound, quite to Cape George, is composed of elevated hills, that rise directly from the sea, one behind another, to a considerable height. Most of the summits were capt with snow, and they appeared as naked and barren as any we had seen. The smallest vestige of a tree or shrub was not discoverable, either inland or on the coast; and, I think, I may venture to pronounce that the country produces none. The low land about Cape Digby, when examined through our glasses, resembled the rest of the low land we had before met with; that is, it appeared to be partly naked and partly covered with a green turf, a description of which shall be given in its proper place. The shore is composed of sandy beaches, on which were many penguins, and other oceanic birds; and an immense number of shags kept perpetually flying about the ships as we sailed along.

Being desirous of getting the length of Cape George, to be assured whether or no it was the most southerly point of the whole land, I continued to stretch to the S. under all the sail we could carry, till half an hour past seven o'clock, when, seeing no likelihood of accomplishing my design, as the wind had by this time shifted to W.S.W., the very direction in which we wanted to go, I took the advantage of the shifting of the wind, and stood away from the coast.

At this time Cape George bore S. 53° W. distant about seven leagues. A small island that lies off the pitch of the cape was the only land we could see to the south of it; and we were farther confirmed that there was no more in that quarter by a S.W. swell which we met as soon as we brought the cape to bear in this direction.

But we have still a stronger proof that no part of this land can extend much, if at all, to the southward of Cape George, and that is, Captain Furneaux's track in February, 1773, after his separation from me during my late voyage. His log-book is now lying before me; and I find from it, that he crossed the meridian of the land only about seventeen leagues to the southward of Cape George, a distance at which it may very well be seen in clear weather. This seems to have been the case when Captain Furneaux passed it. For his log-book makes no mention of fogs or hazy weather; on the contrary, it expressly tells us, that, when in this situation, they had it in their power to make observations, both for latitude and longitude, on board his ship; so that, if this land extends farther S. than Cape George, it would have been scarcely possible that he should have passed without seeing it.

From these circumstances we are able to determine, within a very, few miles, the quantity of latitude that this land occupies, which does not much exceed one degree and a quarter. As to its extent from E. to W. that still remains undecided. We only know, that no part of it can reach so far to the W. as the meridian of 65°, because, in 1773, under that meridian, I searched for it in vain.[121]

[Footnote 121: If the French observations, as marked upon Captain Cook's chart, and still more authentically upon that published by their own discoverers, may be depended upon, this land doth not reach so far to the W. as the meridian of 63°; Cape Louis, which is represented as its most westerly point, being laid down by them to the E. of that meridian.--D.]

The French discoverers, with some reason, imagined Cape St Louis[122] to be the projecting point, of the southern continent. The English have since proved that no such continent exists, and that the land in question is an island of no great extent;[123] which, from its sterility, I should, with great propriety, call the Island of Desolation, but that I would not rob Monsieur de Kerguelen of the honour of its bearring his name.[124]

[Footnote 122: The idea of Cape Louis being this projecting point of a southern continent must have soon vanished, as Cape François, within a year after, was found, by the same discoverer, to lie above one third of a degree farther N. upon the same land. But if Kerguelen entertained any such imagination at first, we are sure that afterwards he thought very differently. This appears from the following explicit declaration of his sentiments, which deserves to be transcribed from his late publication, as it does equal honour to his candour, and Captain Cook's abilities:--"La terre que j'ai decouverte est certainement une Isle; puisque le célebre Capitaine Cook a passé au Sud, lors de son premiere voyage, sans rien rencontrer. Je juge inême, que cette isle n'est pas bien grande. Il y a aussi apparence, d'apres le Voyage de Monsieur Cook, que toute cette étendue de Mers Meridionales, est semée d'lsles ou de rochers; mais qu'il n'y a ni continent ni grande terre." Kerguelen, p. 92.--D.]

[Footnote 123: Kerguelen, as we see in the last note, concurs with Captain Cook as to this. However, he tells us, that he has reason to believe that it is about 200 leagues in circuit; and that he was acquainted with about fourscore leagues of its coast. "J'en connois environs quatre-vingt lieues des cotes; et; j'ai lieu de croire, qu'elle a environ deux cents lieues de circuit." Kerguelen, page 32--D.]

[Footnote 124: Some of Monsieur de Kerguelen's own countrymen seem more desirous than we are to rob him of his honour. It is very remarkable, that Monsieur de Pagès never once mentions the name of his commander; and, though he takes occasion to enumerate the several French explorers of the southern hemisphere, from Gonneville down to Crozet, he affects to preserve an entire silence about Kerguelen, whose first voyage, in which the discovery of this considerable tract of land was made, is kept as much out of sight as if it never had taken place. Nay, not satisfied with refusing to acknowledge the right of another, he almost assumes it to himself. For, upon a map of the world annexed to his book, at the spot where the new land is delineated, we read this inscription,

Isles nouvelles Australes vuées par Monsieur de Pagès, en

1774. He could scarcely have expressed himself in stronger terms, if he had meant to convey an idea that he was the conductor of the discovery. And yet we know that he was only a lieutenant [Enseigne de vaisseau] on board of one of three ships commanded by Kerguelen; and that the discovery had been already made in a former voyage, undertaken while he was actually engaged in his singular journey round the world.

After all, it cannot but be remarked, that Kerguelen was peculiarly unfortunate in having done so little to complete what he had begun. He discovered a new land indeed; but, in two expeditions to it, he could not once bring his ships to an anchor upon any part of its coasts. Captain Cook, as we have seen in this, and in the foregoing chapter, had either fewer difficulties to struggle with, or was more successful in surmounting them.--D.]

Mr Anderson, my surgeon, who, as I have already mentioned, had made natural history a part of his studies, lost no opportunity, during the short time we lay in Christmas Harbour, of searching the country in every direction. He afterward communicated to me the observations he made on its natural productions; and I shall insert them here in his own words.

"Perhaps no place hitherto discovered in either hemisphere, under the same parallel of latitude, affords so scanty a field for the naturalist as this barren spot. The verdure which appears, when at a little distance from the shore, would flatter one with the expectation of meeting with some herbage; but in this we were much deceived. For on landing, we saw that this lively colour was occasioned only by one small plant, not much unlike some sorts of saxifrage, which grows in large spreading tufts to a considerable way up the hills. It forms a surface of a pretty large texture, and grows on a kind of rotten turf, into which one sinks a foot or two at every step. This turf, dried, might, in cases of necessity, serve for fuel, and is the only thing we met with here that could possibly be applied to this use."

"There is another plant, plentifully enough scattered about the boggy declivities, which grows to near the height of two feet, and not much unlike a small cabbage, when it has shot into seeds. The leaves about the root are numerous, large, and rounded; narrower at the base, and ending in a small point. Those on the stalks are much smaller, oblong, and pointed. The stalks, which are often three or four, all rise separately from the root, and run into long cylindrical heads, composed of small flowers. It has not only the appearance, but the watery acrid taste of the antiscorbutic plants, and yet differs materially from the whole tribe; so that we looked upon it as a production entirely peculiar to the place. We ate it frequently raw, and found it almost like the New Zealand scurvy grass. But it seemed to acquire a rank flavour by being boiled; which, however, some of our people did not perceive, and esteemed it good. If it could be introduced into our kitchen gardens, it would, in all probability, improve so far by cultivation as to be an excellent pot-herb. At this time none of its seeds were ripe enough to be preserved, and brought home, to try the experiment."

"Two other small plants were found near the brooks and boggy places, which were eaten as sallad; the one almost like garden cresses, and very fiery, and the other very mild. This last, though but small, is in itself a curiosity; having not only male and female, but what the botanists call androgynous plants."

"A coarse grass, which we cut down for the cattle, grows pretty plentifully in a few small spots about the sides of the harbour, with a smaller sort, which is rarer; and upon the flat ground a sort of goose-grass, and another small plant much like it. In short, the whole catalogue of plants does not exceed sixteen or eighteen, including some sorts of moss, and a beautiful species of lichen, which grows upon the rocks, higher up than the rest of the vegetable productions. Nor is there even the least appearance of a shrub in the whole country."

"Nature has rather been more bountiful in furnishing it with animals, though, strictly speaking, they are not inhabitants of the place, being all of the marine kind; and, in general, only using the land for breeding and for a resting-place. The most considerable are seals, or (as we used to call them) sea-bears, being that sort called the ursine seal. These come ashore to rest or breed; but they were not very numerous, which is not to be wondered at, as it is known that these animals rather frequent out-rocks, and little islands lying off coasts, than bays or inlets. They were, at this time, shedding their hair, and so tame, that we killed what number we chose."

"No other quadruped, either of the sea or of the land kind, was seen; but a great number of birds, viz. ducks, petrels, albatrosses, shags, gulls, and sea-swallows."

"The ducks are about the size of a teal or widgeon, but somewhat different in colour from either. They were in tolerable plenty about the sides of the hills, or even lower; and we killed a considerable number, which were good, and without the least fishy taste. We met with some of the same sort at the island of Georgia in our late voyage."

"The cape petrel, or pintado bird; the small blue one, which is always seen at sea, and the small black one, or Mother Carey's chicken, are not here in great numbers. But we found a nest of the first with an egg in it, about the size of a pullet's; and the second, though scarce, was met with in some holes like rabbit-burrows."

"Another sort, which is the largest of all the petrels, and called by the seamen Mother Carey's goose, is in greater numbers, and so tame, that at first we could kill them with a stick upon the beach. They are not inferior in size to an albatross, and are carnivorous, feeding on the dead carcasses of seals or birds that were thrown into the sea. Their colour is a sooty brown, with a greenish bill and feet; and, doubtless, they are the same that the Spaniards call quebrantahuessos, whose head is figured in Pernetty's Voyage to Falkland Islands."[125]

[Footnote 125: Fig. 3, plate viii.]

"Of the albatrosses, none were found on shore except the grey one, which is commonly met with at sea in the higher southern latitudes. Once I saw one of these sitting in the cliff of a rock, but they were frequently flying about the harbour; and the common large sort, as well as the smaller with a black face, were seen farther out."

"Penguins form, by far, the greatest number of birds here, and are of three sorts; the first, or largest, I have seen formerly at the island of Georgia.[126] It is also mentioned by Bougainville;[127] but it does not seem to be so solitary as he represents it, for we found considerable numbers flocking together. The head is black, the upper part of the body a leaden grey, and the under part white, with black feet. It has two broad stripes of fine yellow, that begin on the sides of the head, and, descending by each side of the neck, meet above its breast. The bill is partly reddish, and longer than in the other sorts."

[Footnote 126: Pennant's Patagonian penguin. See his Genera of Birds, tab. 14, p. 66.]

[Footnote 127: Voyage autour du Monde, p. 69.]

"The second sort of penguins scarcely exceeds half the size of the former. The upper part of the body is a blackish grey, with a white spot on the upper part of the head, growing broader at each side. The bill and feet are yellowish. A very accurate figure and description, both of this and of the preceding, is given by Mr Sonnerat."[128]

[Footnote 128: Voyage à la Nouvelle Guinée, p. 181, 182. Tab. 113, 115.]

"The third sort of penguin met with here, had never been seen by any of us before. Its length is twenty-four inches, and its breadth twenty. The upper part of the body and throat are black, the rest white, except the upper part of the head, which has a fine yellow arch, looking backward, and ending on each side in long soft feathers, which it can erect as two crests."

"The two first sorts were found together on the beach; the large ones keeping by themselves, and walking in small flocks amongst the others, which were more numerous, and were sometimes seen a considerable way up the sides of the hills. The third sort were only found by themselves, but in great numbers, on the outer shores of the harbour. They were breeding at this time; and they lay on the bare stones only one white egg, larger than that of a duck. All the three sorts of penguins were so tame, that we took as many as we pleased with our hands."

"The shags of this place are of two sorts; the lesser cormorant or water-crow, and another, which is black above, with a white belly, the same that is found in New Zealand, Terra del Fuego, and the island of Georgia."

"We also met with here the common sea-gull, sea-swallow, tern, and Port Egmont hen; the last of which were tame and numerous."

"Another sort of white bird, flocks of which flew about the bay, is very singular, having the base of the bill covered with a horny crust.[129] It is larger than a pigeon, with the bill black and the feet white, made like those of a curlew. Some of our people put it in competition with the duck as food."

[Footnote 129: The sheath-bill. See Pennant's Genera of Birds, p. 43.]

"The seine was hauled once, but we found only a few fish about the size of a small haddock, though quite different from any we knew. The snout is lengthened, the head armed with some strong spines, the rays of the back-fin long, and very strong, the belly is large, and the body without scales. The only shell-fish are a few limpets and muscles; and amongst the stones a few small star-fish and sea-anemonies were found."

"The hills are of a moderate height; yet many of their tops were covered with snow at this time, though answering to our June. Some of them have large quantities of stones, irregularly heaped together at their root, or on their sides. The sides of others, which form steep cliffs toward the sea, are rent from the top downward, and seem ready to fall off, having stones of a considerable size lying in the fissures. Some were of opinion that frost might be the cause of these fissures, which I shall not dispute; but how others of the appearances could be effected, but by earthquakes, or some such severe shocks, I cannot say."

"It appears that rain must be almost constant here, not only from the marks of large torrents having rushed down, but from the disposition of the country, which, even on the hills, is almost an entire bog or swamp, the ground sinking at every step."

"The rocks, or foundations of the hills, are composed chiefly of a dark blue, and very hard, stone; intermixed with small particles of glimmer or quartz. This seems to be one of the most universal productions of nature, as it constitutes whole mountains in Sweden, in Scotland, at the Canary Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, and at this place. Another brownish brittle stone forms here some considerable rocks; and one which is blacker, and found in detached pieces, incloses bits of coarse quartz. A red, a dull yellow, and a purplish sand-stone, are also found in small pieces; and pretty large lumps of semi-transparent quartz, disposed irregularly in polyedral pyramidal crystals of long shining fibres. Some small pieces of the common sort are met with in the brooks, made round by attrition; but none hard enough to resist a file. Nor were any of the other stones acted on by aquafortis, or attracted by the magnet."

"Nothing, that had the least appearance of an ore or metal, was seen."

SECTION VI.

Passage from Kerguelen's to Van Diemen's Land.--Arrival in Adventure Bay.--Incidents there.--Interviews with the Natives.--Their Persons and Dress described.--Account of their Behaviour.--Table of the Longitude, Latitude, and Variation.--Mr Anderson's Observations on the Natural Productions of the Country, on the Inhabitants, and their Language.

After leaving Kerguelen's Land, I steered E. by N. intending, in obedience to my instructions, to touch next at New Zealand, to recruit our water, to take in wood, and to make hay for the cattle. Their number, by this time, had been considerably diminished; two young bulls, one of the heifers, two rams, and several of the goats, having of late died, while we were employed in exploring this desolate coast.

The 31st in the morning, being the day after we stood out to sea, we had several observations of the sun and moon. Their results gave the longitude 72° 33' 36" E. The timekeeper, in this situation, gave 72° 38' 15". These observations were the more useful, as we had not been able to get any for some time before, and they now served to assure us that no material error had crept into the time-keeper.

On the 1st of January, being then in the latitude of 48° 41' S. longitude 76° 50' E., the variation was 30° 39' W.; and in the next day, in the latitude of 48° 22' S. longitude 80° 22' E., it was 30° 47' 18" W. This was the greatest variation we found in this passage; for afterward it began to decrease, but so slowly, that on the 3d, in the evening, being then in the latitude of 48° 16' S. longitude 85° E., it was 29° 38' W.

Thus far we had fresh gales from the W. and S.W., and tolerably clear weather. But now the wind veered to the N. where it continued eight days, and was attended with a thick fog. During this time we ran above 300 leagues in the dark. Now and then the weather would clear up, and give us a sight of the sun; but this happened very seldom, and was always of short continuance. On the 7th I hoisted out a boat, and sent an order to Captain Clerke, appointing Adventure Bay, in Van Diemen's Land, as our place of rendezvous, in case of separation before we arrived in the meridian of that land. But we were fortunate enough, amidst all this foggy weather, by frequently firing guns as signals, though we seldom saw each other, not to lose company.

On the 12th, being in the latitude of 48° 40' S. longitude 110° 26' E. the northerly winds ended in a calm; which, after a few hours, was succeeded by a wind from the southward. This, with rain, continued for twenty-four hours, when it freshened, and veered to the W. and N.W., and brought on fair and clear weather.

We continued our course to the eastward, without meeting with any thing worthy of notice, till four o'clock in the morning of the 19th, when, in a sudden squall of wind, though the Discovery received no damage, our fore-top-mast went by the board, and carried the main-top-gallant-mast with it. This occasioned some delay, as it took up the whole day to clear the wreck, and fit another top-mast. The former was accomplished without losing any part of it, except a few fathoms of small rope. Not having a spare main-top-gallant-mast on board, the fore-top-gallant-mast was converted into one for our immediate use.

The wind continued westerly, blew a fresh gale, and was attended with clear weather, so that scarcely a day passed without being able to get observations for fixing the longitude, and the variation of the compass. The latter decreased in such a manner, that in the latitude of 44° 18' S. longitude 132° 2' E., it was no more than 5° 34' 18" W.; and on the 22d, being then in the latitude of 43° 27' S. longitude 141° 50' E., it was 1° 24' 15" E. So that we had crossed the Line where the compass has no variation.

On the 24th, at three o'clock in the morning, we discovered the coast of Van Diemen's Land, bearing N. 1/2 W. At four o'clock the S.W. cape bore N.N.W. 1/2 W., and the Mewstone N.E. by E. three leagues distant. There are several islands and high rocks lying scattered along this part of the coast, the southernmost of which is the Mewstone. It is a round elevated rock, five or six leagues distant from the S.W. cape, in the direction of S. 55° E.

At noon, our latitude was 43° 47' S. longitude 147° E., and the situation of the lands round us as follows: An elevated round-topped hill bore N. 17° W.; the S.W. cape N. 74° W.; the Mewstone W. 1/2 N.; Swilly Isle, or Rock, S. 49° E.; and the S.E. of S. cape N. 40° E. distant near three leagues. The land between the S.W. and S. capes is broken and hilly, the coast winding, with points shooting out from it; but we were too far off to be able to judge whether the bays formed by these points were sheltered from the sea-winds. The bay which appeared to be the largest and deepest, lies to the westward of the peaked hill above mentioned. The variation of the compass here was 5° 15' E.

At six o'clock in the afternoon we sounded, and found sixty fathoms water, over a bottom of broken coral and shells. The S. cape then bore N. 75° W. two or three leagues distant; Tasman's Head N.E.; and Swilly Rock S. by W 1/2 W. About a league to the eastward of Swilly is another elevated rock, that is not taken notice of by Captain Furneaux. I called it the Eddystone, from its very great resemblance to that light-house. Nature seems to have left these two rocks here for the same purpose that the Eddystone light-house was built by man, viz. to give navigators notice of the dangers around them; for they are the conspicuous summits of a ledge of rocks under water, on which the sea, in many places, breaks very high. Their surface is white with the dung of sea-fowls; so that they may be seen at some distance even in the night. On the N.E. side of Storm Bay, which lies between the S. cape and Tasman's Head, there are some coves or creeks, that seemed to be sheltered from the sea-winds; and I am of opinion, that, were this coast examined, there would be found some good harbours.

Soon after we had sight of land the westerly winds left us, and were succeeded by variable light airs and alternate calms, till the 26th at noon. At that time a breeze sprung up and freshened at S.E. which put it in my power to carry into execution the design I had, upon due consideration, formed, of carrying the ships into Adventure Bay, where I might expect to get a supply of wood and of grass for the cattle; of both which articles we should, as I now found, have been in great want if I had waited till our arrival in New Zealand. We therefore stood for the bay, and anchored in it at four o'clock in the afternoon, at twelve fathoms water, over a bottom of sand and ooze. Penguin Island, which lies close to the E. point of the bay, bore N. 84° E.; the southernmost point of Maria's Islands bore N. 76° 1/2 E.; and Cape Frederick Henry, or the N. point of the bay, bore N. 33° E. Our distance from the nearest shore was about three quarters of a mile.

As soon as we had anchored, I ordered the boats to be hoisted out. In one of them I went myself to look for the most commodious place for furnishing ourselves with the necessary supplies; and Captain Clerke went in his boat upon the same service. Wood and water we found in plenty, and in situations convenient enough, especially the first. But grass, of which we stood most in need, was scarce, and also very coarse. Necessity, however, obliged us to take such as we could get.

Next morning early, I sent Lieutenant King to the E. side of the bay with two parties, one to cut wood, and the other to cut grass, under the protection of the marines, whom I judged it prudent to land as a guard. For although, as yet, none of the natives had appeared, there could be no doubt that some were in our neighbourhood, as we had seen columns of smoke from the time of our approaching the coast, and some now was observed at no great distance up in the woods, I also sent the launch for water; and afterward visited all the parties myself. In the evening, we drew the seine at the head of the bay, and, at one haul, caught a great quantity of fish. We should have got many more, had not the net broken in drawing it ashore. Most of them were of that sort known to seamen by the name of elephant fish. After this, every one repaired on board with what wood and grass we had cut, that we might be ready to sail whenever the wind should serve.

This not happening next morning, the people were sent on shore again on the same duty as the day before. I also employed the carpenter, with part of his crew, to cut some spars for the use of the ship; and dispatched Mr Roberts, one of the mates, in a small boat to survey the bay.

In the afternoon, we were agreeably surprised, at the place where we were cutting wood, with a visit from some of the natives, eight men and a boy. They approached as from the woods, without betraying any marks of fear, or rather with the greatest confidence imaginable; for none of them, had any weapons, except one who held in his hand a stick about two feet long, and pointed at one end.

They were quite naked, and wore no ornaments, unless we consider as such, and as a proof of their love of finery, some small punctures or ridges raised on different parts of their bodies, some in straight, and others in curved lines.

They were of the common stature, but rather slender. Their skin was black, and also their hair, which was as woolly as that of any native of Guinea; but they were not distinguished by remarkably thick lips, nor flat noses. On the contrary, their features were far from being disagreeable. They had pretty good eyes; and their teeth were tolerably even, but very dirty. Most of them had their hair and beards smeared with a red ointment; and some had their faces also painted with the same composition.

They received every present we made to them without the least appearance of satisfaction. When some bread was given, as soon as they understood that it was to be eaten, they either returned it, or threw it away, without even tasting it. They also refused some elephant fish, both raw and dressed, which we offered to them. But upon giving some birds to them, they did not return these, and easily made us comprehend that they were fond of such food. I had brought two pigs ashore, with a view to leave them in the woods. The instant these came within their reach, they seized them, as a dog would have done, by the ears, and were for carrying them off immediately, with no other intention, as we could perceive, but to kill them.

Being desirous of knowing the use of the stick which one of our visitors carried in his hand, I made signs to them to shew me; and so far succeeded, that one of them set up a piece of wood as a mark, and threw at it at the distance of about twenty yards. But we had little reason to commend his dexterity; for, after repeated trials, he was still very wide from the object. Omai, to shew them how much superior our weapons were to theirs, then fired his musquet at it, which alarmed them so much, that notwithstanding all we could do or say, they ran instantly into the woods. One of them was so frightened, that he let drop an axe and two knives that had been given to him. From us, however, they went to the place where some of the Discovery's people were employed in taking water into their boat. The officer of that party, not knowing that they had paid us so friendly a visit, nor what their intent might be, fired a musquet in the air, which sent them off with the greatest precipitation.

Thus ended our first interview with the natives. Immediately after their final retreat, judging that their fears would prevent their remaining near enough to observe what was passing, I ordered the two pigs, being a boar and sow, to be carried about a mile within the woods at the head of the bay. I saw them left there, by the side of a fresh-water brook. A young bull and a cow, and some sheep and goats, were also, at first, intended to have been left by me, as an additional present to Van Diemen's Land. But I soon laid aside all thought of this, from a persuasion that the natives, incapable of entering into my views of improving their country, would destroy them. If ever they should meet with the pigs, I have no doubt this will be their fate. But as that race of animals soon becomes wild, and is fond of the thickest cover of the woods, there is great probability of their being preserved. An open place must have been chosen for the accommodation of the other cattle; and, in such a situation, they could not possibly have remained concealed many days.

The morning of the 29th was ushered in with a dead calm, which continued all day, and effectually prevented our sailing. I therefore sent a party over to the E. point of the bay to cut grass, having been informed that some of a superior quality grew there. Another party, to cut wood, was ordered to go to the usual place, and I accompanied them myself. We had observed several of the natives this morning sauntering along the shore, which assured us, that though their consternation had made them leave us so abruptly the day before, they were convinced that we intended them no mischief, and were desirous of renewing the intercourse. It was natural that I should wish to be present on the occasion.

We had not been long landed, before about twenty of them, men and boys, joined us, without expressing the least sign of fear or distrust. There was one of this company conspicuously deformed, and who was not more distinguishable by the hump upon his back, than by the drollery of his gestures, and the seeming humour of his speeches, which he was very fond of exhibiting, as we supposed, for our entertainment. But, unfortunately, we could not understand him; the language spoken here being wholly unintelligible to us. It appeared to me to be different from that spoken by the inhabitants of the more northern parts of this country, whom I met with in my first voyage; which is not extraordinary, since those we now saw, and those we then visited, differ in many other respects.[130] Nor did they seem to be such miserable wretches as the natives whom Dampier mentions to have seen on its western coast.[131]

[Footnote 130: The most striking difference seems to be with regard to the texture of the hair. The natives whom Captain Cook met with at Endeavour River in 1769, are said, by him, to have "naturally long and black hair, though it be universally cropped short. In general it is straight, but sometimes it has a slight curl. We saw none that was not matted and filthy. Their beards were of the same colour with the hair, and bushy and thick."