It may be necessary to mention here, on the authority of Captain King, that Captain Cook was very unwilling to allow that the hair of the natives now met with in Adventure Bay was woolly, fancying that his people, who first observed this, had been deceived, from its being clotted with grease and red ochre. But Captain King prevailed upon him afterward to examine carefully the hair of the boys, which was generally, as well as that of the women, free from this dirt; and then he owned himself satisfied that it was naturally woolly. Perhaps we may suppose it possible, that he himself had been deceived when he was in Endeavour River, from this very circumstance, as he expressly says, that "they saw none that was not matted and filthy."--D.]

[Footnote 131: And yet Dampier's New Hollanders, on the western coast, bear a striking resemblance to Captain Cook's at Van Diemen's Land, in many remarkable instances:--

1st, As to their becoming familiar with the strangers.

2dly, As to their persons; being straight-bodied and thin, their skin black, and black, short, curled hair, like the negroes of Guinea, with wide mouths.

3dly, As to their wretched condition, having no houses, no garment, no canoes, no instrument to catch large fish; feeding on broiled muscles, cockles, and periwinkles; having no fruits of the earth; their weapons a straight pole, sharpened and hardened at the end, etc. etc.

The chief peculiarities of Dampier's miserable wretches are, 1st, Their eye-lids being always half closed, to keep the flies out, which were excessively troublesome there; and, 2dly, Their wanting the two fore-teeth of the upper jaw, and their having no beards. See Dampier's Voyages, vol. i. p. 464, etc. There seems to be no reason for supposing that Dampier was mistaken in the above account of what he saw.--D.]

Some of our present group wore, loose, round their necks, three or four folds of small cord, made of the fur of some animal; and others of them had a narrow slip of the kangooroo skin tied round their ankles. I gave to each of them a string of beads and a medal, which I thought they received with some satisfaction. They seemed to set no value on iron, or on iron tools. They were even ignorant of the use of fish-hooks, if we might judge from their manner of looking at some of ours which we shewed to them.

We cannot, however, suppose it to be possible that a people who inhabit a sea-coast, and who seem to derive no part of their sustenance from the productions of the ground, should not be acquainted with some mode of catching fish, though we did not happen to see any of them thus employed, nor observe any canoe, or vessel, in which they could go upon the water. Though they absolutely rejected the sort of fish that we offered to them, it was evident that shell-fish, at least, made a part of their food, from the many heaps of muscle-shells we saw in different parts near the shore, and about some deserted habitations near the head of the bay. These were little sheds, or hovels, built of sticks, and covered with bark. We could also perceive evident signs of their sometimes taking up their abode in the trunks of large trees, which had been hollowed out by fire, most probably for this very purpose. In or near all these habitations, and wherever there was a heap of shells, there remained the marks of fire, an indubitable proof that they do not eat their food raw.

After staying about an hour with the wooding party and the natives, as I could now be pretty confident that the latter were not likely to give the former any disturbance, I left them, and went over to the grass-cutters on the east point of the bay, and found that they had met with a fine patch. Having seen the boats loaded, I left that party, and returned on board to dinner; where, some time after, Lieutenant King arrived.

From him I learnt, that I had but just left the shore, when several women and children made their appearance, and were introduced to him by some of the men who attended them. He gave presents to all of them, of such trifles as he had about him. These females wore a kangooroo skin (in the same shape as it came from the animal) tied over the shoulders, and round the waist. But its only use seemed to be to support their children when carried on their backs, for it did not cover those parts which most nations conceal; being, in all other respects, as naked as the men, and as black, and their bodies marked with scars in the same manner. But in this they differed from the men, that though their hair was of the same colour and texture, some of them had their heads completely shorn or shaved; in others this operation had been performed only on one side, while the rest of them had all the upper part of the head shorn close, leaving a circle of hair all round, somewhat like the tonsure of the Romish ecclesiastics.[132] Many of the children had fine features, and were thought pretty; but of the persons of the women, especially those advanced in years, a less favourable report was made. However, some of the gentlemen belonging to the Discovery, I was told, paid their addresses, and made liberal offers of presents, which were rejected with great disdain; whether from a sense of virtue, or the fear of displeasing their men, I shall not pretend to determine. That this gallantry was not very agreeable to the latter, is certain; for an elderly man, as soon as he observed it, ordered all the women and children to retire, which they obeyed, though some of them shewed a little reluctance.

[Footnote 132: Captain Cook's account of the natives of Van Diemen's Land, in this chapter, no doubt proves that they differ, in many respects, as he says, from the inhabitants of the more northerly parts of the east coast of New Holland, whom he met with in his first voyage. It seems very remarkable, however, that the only woman any of his people came close to, in Botany Bay, should have her hair cropped short, while the man who was with her, is said to have had the hair of his head bushy, and his beard long and rough. Could the natives of Van Diemen's Land be more accurately described, than by saying that the hair of the men's heads is bushy, and their beards long and rough, and that the women's hair is cropped short? So far north, therefore, as Botany Bay, the natives of the east coast of New Holland seem to resemble those of Van Diemen's Land, in this circumstance.--D.]

This conduct of Europeans amongst savages, to their women, is highly blameable; as it creates a jealousy in their men, that may be attended with consequences fatal to the success of the common enterprise, and to the whole body of adventurers, without advancing the private purpose of the individual, or enabling him to gain the object of his wishes. I believe it has been generally found among uncivilized people, that where the women are easy of access, the men are the first to offer them to strangers; and that, where this is not the case, neither the allurement of presents, nor the opportunity of privacy, will be likely to have the desired effect. This observation, I am sure, will hold good, throughout all the parts of the South Sea where I have been. Why then should men act so absurd a part, as to risk their own safety, and that of all their companions, in pursuit of a gratification which they have no probability of obtaining?[133]

[Footnote 133: In uncivilized nations, the women are completely subservient to the power and desires of the men, without seeming to possess, or to be allowed, a will or thought of their own. Amongst them, therefore, the primitive mode of temptation must be reversed, and the husband is first to be gained over. When this is done, all that follows, is understood and intended by him, as a sort of temporary barter; and the favours of his wife, or daughter, are valued by him just in the proportion they are sought for by those with whom he is dealing. But where his animal necessities can scarcely be supplied, it cannot be imagined that he will be very sensible to the force of toys and trinkets as objects of temptation. These, on the other hand, will carry most persuasion, where, through the greater bounty of nature, an avenue has been opened for the display of vanity and the love of ornament. Any opposition on the female part in either case, is of no avail as a barrier against strangers, as he who is most concerned to protect it, finds his account in its sacrifice. We have instances of both in Captain Cook's voyages.--E.]

In the afternoon I went again to the grass-cutters, to forward their work. I found them then upon Penguin Island, where they had met with a plentiful crop of excellent grass. We laboured hard till sun-set, and then repaired on board, satisfied with the quantity we had collected, and which I judged sufficient to last till our arrival in New Zealand.

During our whole stay, we had either calms or light airs from the eastward. Little or no time, therefore, was lost by my putting in at this place. For if I had kept the sea, we should not have been twenty leagues advanced farther on our voyage. And, short as our continuance was here, it has enabled me to add somewhat to the imperfect acquaintance that hath hitherto been acquired, with this part of the globe.

Van Diemen's Land has been twice visited before. It was so named by Tasman, who discovered it in November 1642. From that time it had escaped all farther notice by European navigators, till Captain Furneaux touched at it in March 1773.[134] I hardly need say, that it is the southern point of New Holland, which, if it doth not deserve the name of a continent, is by far the largest island in the world.

[Footnote 134: This is a mistake, though unintentional, no doubt, and ignorantly on the part of Cook. Captain Marion, a French navigator, and mentioned occasionally in these voyages, visited Van Diemen's Land about a twelve-month before Captain Furneaux. The account of his voyage was published at Paris in 1783, but is little known in England; for which reason, and because of its possessing a considerable degree of interest, Captain Flinders has given an abridgment of that portion of its contents which respects the land in question. This the reader will find in his introduction, p. 83, or he may content himself with being informed, that the description it gives of the natives, etc, generally coincides with what is furnished in the text. Subsequent to this voyage, it may be remarked, Captain Bligh put into Adventure Bay with his majesty's ship Bounty, viz. in 1788: and afterwards, viz. in 1792, the coast of Van Diemen's Land was visited by the French Rear-Admiral D'Entrecasteaux.--E.]

The land is, for the most part, of a good height, diversified with hills and valleys, and every where of a greenish hue. It is well wooded; and, if one may judge from appearances, and from what we met with in Adventure Bay, is not ill supplied with water. We found plenty of it in three or four places in this bay. The best, or what is most convenient for ships that touch here, is a rivulet, which is one of several that fall into a pond, that lies behind the beach at the head of the bay. It there mixes with the sea-water, so that it must be taken up above this pond, which may be done without any great trouble. Fire-wood is to be got, with great ease, in several places.

The only wind to which this bay is exposed, is the N.E. But as this wind blows from Maria's Islands, it can bring no very great sea along with it; and therefore, upon the whole, this may be accounted a very safe road. The bottom is clean, good holding ground; and the depth of water from twelve to five and four fathoms.

Captain Furneaux's sketch of Van Diemen's Land, published with the narrative of my last voyage, appears to me to be without any material error, except with regard to Maria's Islands, which have a different situation from what is there represented.[135] The longitude was determined by a great number of lunar observations, which we had before we made the land, while we were in sight of it, and after we had left it; and reduced to Adventure Bay, and the several principal points, by the time-keeper. The following table will exhibit both the longitude and latitude at one view:

Latitude South. Longitude East: Adventure Bay, 43° 21' 20" 147° 29' 0" Tasman's Head, 43 33 0 147 28 0 South Cape, 43 42 0 146 56 0 South-west Cape, 43 37 0 146 7 0 Swilly Isle, 43 55 0 147 6 0

Adventure { Variation of the compass 5° 15' E. Bay, { Dip of the south end of the needle 70° 15 1/2'.

We had high-water on the 29th, being two days before the last quarter of the moon, at nine in the morning. The perpendicular rise then was eighteen inches, and there was no appearance of its ever having exceeded two feet and a half. These are all the memorials useful to navigation, which my short stay has enabled me to preserve, with respect to Van Diemen's Land.

[Footnote 135: But Captain Flinders has pointed out some other mistakes, especially as to the Storm and Frederik Hendrik's Bays of Tasman, in which, says he, "He has been followed by all the succeeding navigators, of the same nation, which has created not a little confusion in the geography of this part of the world." Let us prevent the perpetuity of errors, by quoting another passage from the same most accurate and skilful navigator. "The bay supposed to have been Storm Bay, has no name in Tasman's chart; though the particular plan shews that he noticed it, as did Marion, more distinctly. The rocks marked at the east point of this bay, and called the Friars, are the Boreal's Eylanden of Tasman; the true Storm Bay is the deep inlet, of which Adventure Bay is a cove. Frederik Hendrik's Bay is not within this inlet, but lies to the north-eastward, on the outer side of the land which Captain Furneaux, in consequence of his first mistake, took to be Maria's Island, but which, in fact, is a part of the main land." A copy of Tasman's charts is given in the atlas to D'Entrecasteaux's voyage; it is taken from Valantyn, and is conformable to the manuscript charts in the Dutch journal. But according to Flinders, it has an error of one degree too much east, in the scale of longitude. Besides, he informs us, "In the plan of Frederik Hendrik's Bay, the name is placed within the inner bay, instead of being written, as in the original, on the point of land between the inner and outer bays." He imagines the name was intended to comprise both, and refers to vol. iii. of Captain Burney's History of Discoveries in the South Sea, for a copy of Tasman's charts as they stand in the original.--E.]

Mr Anderson, my surgeon, with his usual diligence, spent the few days we remained in Adventure Bay, in examining the country. His account of its natural productions, with which he favoured me, will more than compensate for my silence about them: Some of his remarks on the inhabitants will supply what I may have omitted, or represented imperfectly; and his specimen of their language, however short, will be thought worth attending to, by those who wish to collect materials for tracing the origin of nations. I shall only premise, that the tall strait forest trees, which Mr Anderson describes in the following account, are of a different sort from those which are found in the more northern parts of this coast. The wood is very long and close-grained, extremely tough, fit for spars, oars, and many other uses; and would, on occasion, make good masts, (perhaps none better,) if a method could be found to lighten it.

"At the bottom of Adventure Bay is a beautiful sandy beach, which seems to be wholly formed by the particles washed by the sea from a very fine white sand-stone, that in many places bounds the shore, and of which Fluted Cape, in the neighbourhood, from its appearance, seems to be composed. This beach is about two miles long, and is excellently adapted for hauling a seine, which both ships did repeatedly with success. Behind this is a plain or flat, with a salt, or rather brackish lake (running in length parallel with the beach), out of which we caught, with angling rods, many whitish bream, and some small trout. The other parts of the country adjoining the bay are quite hilly; and both those and the flat are an entire forest of very tall trees, rendered almost impassable by shrubs, brakes of fern, and fallen trees; except on the sides of some of the hills, where the trees are but thin, and a coarse grass is the only interruption."

"To the northward of the bay there is low land, stretching farther than the eye can reach, which is only covered with wood in certain spots; but we had no opportunity to examine in what respects it differed from the hilly country. The soil on the flat land is either sandy, or consists of a yellowish mould, and, in some places, of a reddish clay. The same is found on the lower part of the hills; but farther up, especially where there are few trees, it is of a grey tough cast, to appearance very poor."

"In the valleys between the hills, the water drains down from their sides; and at last, in some places, forms small brooks; such, indeed, as were sufficient to supply us with water, but by no means of that size we might expect in so extensive a country, especially as it is both hilly and well wooded. Upon the whole, it has many marks of being naturally a very dry country; and perhaps might (independent of its wood) be compared to Africa, about the Cape of Good Hope, though that lies ten degrees farther northward, rather than to New Zealand, on its other side, in the same latitude, where we find every valley, however small, furnished with a considerable stream of water. The heat, too, appears to be great, as the thermometer stood at 64, 70, and once at 74. And it was remarked, that birds were seldom killed an hour or two, before they were almost covered with small maggots, which I would rather attribute merely to the heat; as we had not any reason to suppose there is a peculiar disposition in the climate to render substances soon putrid."

"No mineral bodies, nor indeed stones of any other sort but the white sand one already mentioned, were observed.

"Amongst the vegetable productions, there is not one, that we could find, which afforded the smallest subsistence for man."

"The forest trees are all of one sort, growing to a great height, and in general quite straight, branching but little, till toward the top. The bark is white, which makes them appear, at a distance, as if they had been peeled; it is also thick; and within it are sometimes collected, pieces of a reddish transparent gum or rosin, which has an astringent taste. The leaves of this tree are long, narrow, and pointed; and it bears clusters of small white flowers, whose cups were, at this time, plentifully scattered about the ground, with another sort resembling them somewhat in shape, but much larger; which makes it probable that there are two species of this tree. The bark of the smaller branches, fruit, and leaves, have an agreeable pungent taste, and aromatic smell, not unlike peppermint; and in its nature, it has some affinity to the myrtus of botanists."

"The most common tree, next to this, is a small one about ten feet high, branching pretty much, with narrow leaves, and a large, yellow, cylindrical flower, consisting only of a vast number of filaments; which, being shed, leave a fruit like a pine-top. Both the above-mentioned trees are unknown in Europe."

"The underwood consists chiefly of a shrub somewhat resembling a myrtle, and which seems to be the leptospermum scoparium, mentioned in Dr Foster's Char. Gen. Plant.; and, in some places, of another, rather smaller, which is a new species of the melaleuca of Linnaeus."

"Of other plants, which are by no means numerous, there is a species of gladiolus, rush, bell-flower, samphire, a small sort of wood-sorrel, milk-wort, cudweed, and Job's tears; with a few others, peculiar to the place. There are several kinds of fern, as polypody, spleenwort, female fern, and some mosses; but the species are either common, or at least found in some other countries, especially New Zealand."

"The only animal of the quadruped kind we got, was a sort of opossum, about twice the size of a large rat; and is, most probably, the male of that species found at Endeavour river, as mentioned in Cook's first voyage. It is of a dusky colour above, tinged with a brown or rusty cast, and whitish below. About a third of the tail, towards its tip, is white, and bare underneath; by which it probably hangs on the branches of trees, as it climbs these, and lives on berries. The kangooroo, another animal found farther northward in New Holland, as described in the same voyage, without all doubt also inhabits here, as the natives we met with had some pieces of their skins; and we several times saw animals, though indistinctly, run from the thickets when we walked in the woods, which, from the size, could be no other. It should seem also, that they are in considerable numbers, from the dung we saw almost every where, and from the narrow tracks or paths they have made amongst the shrubbery."

"There are several sorts of birds, but all so scarce and shy, that they are evidently harrassed by the natives, who, perhaps, draw much of their subsistence from them. In the woods, the principal sorts are large brown hawks or eagles; crows, nearly the same as ours in England; yellowish paroquets; and large pigeons. There are also three or four small birds, one of which is of the thrush kind; and another small one, with a pretty long tail, has part of the head and neck of a most beautiful azure colour; from whence we named it motacilla cyanea. On the shore were several common and sea gulls; a few black oyster-catchers, or sea-pies; and a pretty plover of a stone colour, with a black hood. About the pond or lake behind the beach, a few wild-ducks were seen; and some shags used to perch upon the high leafless trees near the shore."

"Some pretty large blackish snakes were seen in the woods; and we killed a large, hitherto unknown, lizard, fifteen inches long, and six round, elegantly clouded with black and yellow; besides a small sort, of a brown gilded colour above, and rusty below."

"The sea affords a much greater plenty, and at least as great a variety, as the land. Of these the elephant fish, or pejegallo, mentioned in Frezier's voyage,[136] are the most numerous; and though inferior to many other fish, were very palatable food. Several large rays, nurses, and small leather-jackets, were caught; with some small white bream, which were firmer and better than those caught in the lake. We likewise got a few soles and flounders; two sorts of gurnards, one of them a new species; some small spotted mullet; and, very unexpectedly, the small fish with a silver band on its side, called atherina hipsetus by Hasseiquist."[137]

[Footnote 136: Tom. ii. p. 211. 12mo. Planche XVII.]

[Footnote 137: Iter Palastinum.]

"But that next in number, and superior in goodness, to the elephant fish, was a sort none of us recollected to have seen before. It partakes of the nature both of a round and of a flat fish, having the eyes placed very near each other; the fore-part of the body much flattened or depressed, and the rest rounded. It is of a brownish sandy colour, with rusty spots on the upper part, and whitish below. From the quantity of slime it was always covered with, it seems to live after the manner of flat fish, at the bottom."

"Upon the rocks are plenty of muscles, and some other small shell-fish. There are also great numbers of sea-stars; some small limpets; and large quantities of sponge; one sort of which, that is thrown on shore by the sea, but not very common, has a most delicate texture; and another, is the spongia dichotoma."

"Many pretty Medusa's heads were found upon the beach; and the stinking laplysia or sea-hare, which, as mentioned by some authors, has the property of taking off the hair by the acrimony of its juice; but this sort was deficient in this respect."

"Insects, though not numerous, are here in considerable variety. Amongst them are grasshoppers, butterflies, and several sorts of small moths, finely variegated. There are two sorts of dragon-flies, gad-flies, camel-flies; several sorts of spiders; and some scorpions; but the last are rather rare. The most troublesome, though not very numerous tribe of insects, are the musquitoes; and a large black ant, the pain of whose bite is almost intolerable, during the short time it lasts. The musquitoes, also, make up the deficiency of their number, by the severity of their venomous proboscis."

"The inhabitants whom we met with here, had little of that fierce or wild appearance common to people in their situation; but, on the contrary, seemed mild and cheerful, without reserve or jealousy of strangers. This, however, may arise from their having little to lose or care for."

"With respect to personal activity or genius, we can say but little of either. They do not seem to possess the first in any remarkable degree; and as for the last, they have, to appearance, less than even the half-animated inhabitants of Terra del Fuego, who have not invention sufficient to make clothing for defending themselves from the rigour of their climate, though furnished with the materials. The small stick, rudely pointed, which one of them carried in his hand, was the only thing we saw that required any mechanical exertion, if we except the fixing on the feet of some of them pieces of kangooroo skin, tied with thongs; though it could not be learnt whether these were in use as shoes, or only to defend some sore. It must be owned, however, they are masters of some contrivance in the manner of cutting their arms and bodies in lines of different lengths and directions, which are raised considerably above the surface of the skin, so that it is difficult to guess the method they use in executing this embroidery of their persons. Their not expressing that surprise which one might have expected from their seeing men so much unlike themselves, and things, to which, we were well assured, they had been hitherto utter strangers; their indifference for our presents; and their general inattention; were sufficient proofs of their not possessing any acuteness of understanding."

"Their colour is a dull black, and not quite so deep as that of the African negroes. It should seem also, that they sometimes heightened their black colour, by smutting their bodies; as a mark was left behind on any clean substance, such as white paper, when they handled it. Their hair, however, is perfectly woolly, and it is clotted or divided into small parcels, like that of the Hottentots, with the use of some sort of grease, mixed with a red paint or ochre, which they smear in great abundance over their heads. This practice, as some might imagine, has not the effect of changing their hair into the frizzling texture we observed; for, on examining the head of a boy, which appeared never to have been smeared, I found the hair to be of the same kind. Their noses, though not flat, are broad and full. The lower part of the face projects a good deal, as is the case of more Indians I have seen; so that a line let fall from the forehead would cut off a much larger portion, than it would in Europeans. Their eyes are of a middling size, with the white less clear than in us; and though not remarkably quick or piercing, such as give a frank cheerful cast to the whole countenance. Their teeth are broad, but not equal, nor well set; and, either from nature or from dirt, not of so true a white as is usual among people of a black colour. Their mouths are rather wide; but this appearance seems heightened by wearing their beards long, and clotted with paint, in the same manner as the hair on their heads. In other respects, they are well-proportioned; though the belly seems rather projecting. This may be owing to the want of compression there, which few nations do not use, more or less. The posture of which they seem fondest, is to stand with one side forward, or the upper part of the body gently reclined, and one hand grasping (across the back) the opposite arm, which hangs down by the projecting side."

"What the ancient poets tell us of Fauns and Satyrs living in hollow trees, is here realized. Some wretched constructions of sticks, covered with bark, which do not even deserve the name of huts, were indeed found near the shore in the bay; but these seemed only to have been erected for temporary purposes; and many of their largest trees were converted into more comfortable habitations. These had their trunks hollowed out by fire, to the height of six or seven feet; and that they take up their abode in them sometimes, was evident from the hearths, made of clay, to contain the fire in the middle, leaving room for four or five persons to sit round it.[138] At the same time, these places of shelter are durable; for they take care to leave one side of the tree sound, which is sufficient to keep it growing as luxuriantly as those which remain untouched."

[Footnote 138: Tasman, when in the bay of Frederick Henry, adjoining to Adventure Bay, found two trees, one of which was two fathoms, and the other two fathoms and a half in girth, and sixty or sixty-five feet high, from the root to the branches.--See his Voyage, in Harris's Collection, Campbell's Edition, vol. i. p. 326.--D.]

"The inhabitants of this place are, doubtless, from the same stock with those of the northern parts of New Holland. Though some of the circumstances mentioned by Dampier, relative to those he met with on the western coast of this country, such as their defective sight, and want of fore-teeth, are not found here; and though Hawkesworth's account of those met with by Captain Cook on the east side, shews also that they differ in many respects; yet still, upon the whole, I am persuaded that distance of place, entire separation, diversity of climate, and length of time, all concurring to operate, will account for greater differences, both as to their persons and as to their customs, than really exist between our Van Diemen's Land natives, and those described by Dampier, and in Captain Cook's first voyage. This is certain, that the figure of one of those seen in Endeavour River, and represented in Sidney Parkinson's Journal of that voyage, very much resembles our visitors in Adventure Bay. That there is not the like resemblance in their language, is a circumstance that need not create any difficulty. For though the agreement of the languages of people living distant from each other, may be assumed as a strong argument for their having sprung from one common source, disagreement of language is by no means a proof of the contrary."[139]

[Footnote 139: The ingenious author of Récherches sur les Americains illustrates the grounds of this assertion in the following satisfactory manner: "C'est quelque chose de surprenant, que la foule des idiomes, tous variés entr'eux, que parlent les naturels de l'Amérique Septentrionale. Qu'on reduise ces idiomes à des racines qu'on les simplifie, qu'on en separe les dialectes et les jargons derivés, il en resulte toujours cinq ou six languesmeres, respectivement incomprehensibles. On a observé la même singularité dans la Siberie et la Tartarie, où le nombre des idiomes, et les dialectes, est également multiplié; et rien n'est plus commun, que d'y voir deux hordes voisines qui ne se comprennent point. On rétrouve cette même multiplicité de jargons dans toutes les Provinces de l'Amérique Méridionale." [He might also have included Africa.] "Il y a beaucoup d'apparence que la vie sauvage, en dispersant les hommes par petites troupes isolées dans des bois épais, occasione nécessairement cette grande diversité des langues, dont le nombre diminue à mésure que la société, en rassemblant les barbares vagabonds, en forme un corps de nation. Alors l'idiome le plus riche, ou le moins panvre en mots, devient dominant, et absorbe les autres." Tom. i. p. 159, 160.--D.]

"However, we must have a far more intimate acquaintance with the languages spoken here, and in the more northern parts of New Holland, before we can be warranted to pronounce that they are totally different. Nay, we have good grounds for the opposite opinion; for we found that the animal called kangooroo at Endeavour river, was known under the same name here; and I need not observe, that it is scarcely possible to suppose that this was not transmitted from one another, but accidentally adopted by two nations, differing in language and extraction. Besides, as it seems very improbable that the Van Diemen's Land inhabitants should have ever lost the use of canoes or sailing vessels, if they had been originally conveyed thither by sea, we must necessarily admit that they, as well as the kangooroo itself, have been stragglers by land from the more northern parts of the country. And if there be any force in this observation, while it traces the origin of the people, it will, at the same time, serve to fix another point, if Captain Cook and Captain Furneaux have not already decided it, that New Holland is no where totally divided by the sea into islands, as some have imagined."[140]

[Footnote 140: The reader is aware of the erroneous opinion generally entertained at this time, of Van Diemen's Land being connected with the continent of New Holland. He will therefore modify the remark above given, as to its inhabitants being stragglers by land from the more northern parts of the country. It is of some consequence also to inform him, that in the visit of D'Entrecasteaux, it was found that the people who inhabited the shores of the channel were in possession of bark canoes.--E.]

"As the New Hollanders seem all to be of the same extraction, so neither do I think there is any thing peculiar in them. On the contrary, they much resemble many of the inhabitants whom I have seen at the islands Tanna and Mallicolla. Nay, there is even some foundation for hazarding a supposition, that they may have originally come from the same place with all the inhabitants of the South Sea. For, of only about ten words which we could get from them, that which expresses cold, differs little from that of New Zealand and Otaheite; the first being Mallareede, the second Makkareede, and the third Mareede. The rest of our very scanty Van Diemen's Land Vocabulary is as follows:

Quadne, A woman. Everai, The eye. Muidje, The nose. Kamy, The teeth, mouth, or tongue. Laerenne, A small bird, a native of the woods here. Koygee, The ear. Noonga, Elevated scars on the body. Teegera, To eat. Togarago, I must begone, or, I will go.

"Their pronunciation is not disagreeable; but rather quick; though not more so than is that of other nations of the South Sea; and, if we may depend upon the affinity of languages as a clue to guide us in discovering the origin of nations, I have no doubt but we shall find, on a diligent enquiry, and when opportunities offer to collect accurately a sufficient number of these words, and to compare them, that all the people from New Holland, eastward to Easter Island, have been derived from the same common root."[141]

[Footnote 141: We find Mr Anderson's notions on this subject conformable to those of Mr Marsden, who has remarked, "that one general language prevailed (however mutilated and changed in the course of time) throughout all this portion of the world, from Madagascar to the most distant discoveries eastward; of which the Malay is a dialect, much corrupted or refined by a mixture of other tongues. This very extensive similarity of language indicates a common origin of the inhabitants; but the circumstances and progress of their separation are wrapped in the darkest veil of obscurity."--

History of Sumatra

, p. 35.

See also his very curious paper, read before the Society of Antiquaries, and published in their Archaeologia, vol. vi, p. 155; where his sentiments on this subject are explained more at large, and illustrated by two Tables of corresponding Words.--D.]

SECTION VII.

The Passage from Van Diemen's Land to New Zealand.--Employments in Queen Charlotte's Sound.--Transactions with the Natives there.--Intelligence about the Massacre of the Adventure's Boat's Crew.--Account of the Chief who headed the Party on that occasion.--Of the two young Men who embark to attend Omai.--Various Remarks on the Inhabitants.--Astronomical and Nautical Observations.

At eight o'clock in the morning of the 30th of January, a light breeze springing up at W., we weighed anchor, and put to sea from Adventure Bay. Soon after, the wind veered to the southward, and increased to a perfect storm. Its fury abated in the evening, when it veered to the E, and N.E.

This gale was indicated by the barometer, for the wind no sooner began to blow, than the mercury in the tube began to fall. Another remarkable thing attended the coming on of this wind, which was very faint at first. It brought with it a degree of heat that was almost intolerable. The mercury in the thermometer rose, as it were instantaneously, from about 70° to near 90°. This heat was of so short a continuance, that it seemed to be wafted away before the breeze that brought it; so that some on board did not perceive it.

We pursued our course to the eastward, without meeting with any thing worthy of note, till the night between the 6th and 7th of February, when a marine belonging to the Discovery fell over-board, and was never seen afterward. This was the second misfortune of the kind that had happened to Captain Clerke since he left England.

On the 10th, at four in the afternoon, we discovered the land of New Zealand. The part we saw proved to be Rock's Point, and bore S.E. by S., about eight or nine leagues distant. During this run from Van Diemen's Land, the wind, for the first four or five days, was at N.E., N., and N.N.W., and blew, for the most part, a gentle breeze. It afterward veered to S.E., where it remained twenty-four hours. It then came to W. and S.W.; in which points it continued, with very little deviation, till we reached New Zealand.

After making the land, I steered for Cape Farewell, which at day-break the next morning bore S. by W., distant about four leagues. At eight o'clock, it bore S.W. by S., about five leagues distant; and, in this situation, we had forty-five fathoms water over a sandy bottom. In rounding the Cape we had fifty fathoms, and the same sort of bottom.

I now steered for Stephens's Island, which we came up with at nine o'clock at night; and at ten, next morning, anchored in our old station, in Queen Charlotte's Sound. Unwilling to lose any time, our operations commenced that very afternoon, when we landed a number of empty water-casks, and began to clear a place where we might set up the two observatories, and tents for the reception of a guard, and of such of our people whose business might make it necessary for them to remain on shore.

We had not been long at anchor before several canoes, filled-with natives, came along-side of the ships; but very few of them would venture on board; which appeared the more extraordinary, as I was well known to them all. There w as one man in particular amongst them, whom I had treated with remarkable kindness, during the whole of my stay when I was last here. Yet now, neither professions of friendship, nor presents, could prevail upon him to come into the ship. This shyness was to be accounted for only upon this supposition, that they were apprehensive we had revisited their country, in order to revenge the death of Captain Furneaux's people. Seeing Omai on board my ship now, whom they must have remembered to have seen on board the Adventure when the melancholy affair happened, and whose first conversation with them, as they approached, generally turned on that subject, they must be well assured that I was no longer a stranger to it. I thought it necessary, therefore, to use every endeavour to assure them of the continuance of my friendship, and that I should not disturb them on that account. I do not know whether this had any weight with them; but certain it is, that they very soon laid aside all manner of restraint and distrust.

On the 13th we set up two tents, one from each ship, on the same spot where we had pitched them formerly. The observatories were at the same time erected; and Messrs King and Bayly began their operations immediately, to find the rate of the time-keeper, and to make other observations. The remainder of the empty water-casks were also sent on shore, with the cooper to trim, and a sufficient number of sailors to fill them. Two men were appointed to brew spruce beer; and the carpenter and his crew were ordered to cut wood. A boat, with a party of men, under the direction of one of the mates, was sent to collect grass for our cattle; and the people that remained on board were employed in refitting the ship, and arranging the provisions. In this manner we were all profitably busied during our stay. For the protection of the party on shore, I appointed a guard of ten marines, and ordered arms for all the workmen; and Mr King, and two or three petty officers, constantly remained with them. A boat was never sent to any considerable distance from the ships without being armed, and under direction of such officers as I could depend upon, and who were well acquainted with the natives. During my former visits to this country, I had never taken some of these precautions; nor were they, I firmly believe, more necessary now than they had been formerly. But after the tragical fate of the Adventure's boat's crew in this sound, and of Captain Marion du Fresne, and of some of his people, in the Bay of Islands (in 1772), it was impossible totally to divest ourselves of all apprehension of experiencing a similar calamity.

If the natives entertained any suspicion of our revenging these acts of barbarity, they very soon laid it aside. For, during the course of this day, a great number of families came from different parts or the coast, and took up their residence close to us; so that there was not a spot in the cove where a hut could be put up, that was not occupied by them, except the place where we had fixed our little encampment. This they left us in quiet possession of; but they came and took away the ruins of some old huts that were there, as materials for their new erections.

It is curious to observe with what facility they build these occasional places of abode. I have seen above twenty of them erected on a spot of ground, that, not an hour before, was covered with shrubs and plants. They generally bring some part of the materials with them; the rest they find upon the premises. I was present when a number of people landed, and built one of these villages. The moment the canoes reached the shore, the men leaped out, and at once took possession of a piece of ground, by tearing up the plants and shrubs, or sticking up some part of the framing of a hut. They then returned to their canoes, and secured their weapons, by setting them up against a tree, or placing them in such a position, that they could be laid hold of in an instant. I took particular notice that no one neglected this precaution. While the men were employed in raising the huts, the women were not idle. Some were stationed to take care of the canoes; others to secure the provisions, and the few utensils in their possession; and the rest went to gather dry sticks, that a fire might be prepared for dressing their victuals. As to the children, I kept them, as also some of the more aged, sufficiently occupied in scrambling for beads, till I had emptied my pockets, and then I left them.

These temporary habitations are abundantly sufficient to afford shelter from the wind and rain, which is the only purpose they are meant to answer. I observed that, generally, if not always, the same tribe or family, though it were ever so large, associated and built together; so that we frequently saw a village, as well as their larger towns, divided into different districts, by low pallisades, or some similar mode of separation.

The advantage we received from the natives coming to live with us, was not inconsiderable. For, every day, when the weather would permit, some of them went out to catch fish; and we generally got, by exchanges, a good share of the produce of their labours. This supply, and what our own nets and lines afforded us, was so ample, that we seldom were in want of fish. Nor was there any deficiency of other refreshments. Celery, scurvy-grass, and portable soup were boiled with the pease and wheat, for both ships' companies, every day daring our whole stay; and they had spruce-beer for their drink. So that, if any of our people had contracted the seeds of the scurvy, such a regimen soon removed them. But the truth is, when we arrived here, there were only two invalids (and these on board the Resolution) upon the sick lists in both ships.

Besides the natives who took up their abode close to us, we were occasionally visited by others of them, whose residence was not far off; and by some who lived more remote. Their articles of commerce were, curiosities, fish, and women. The two first always came to a good market, which the latter did not. The seamen had taken a kind of dislike to these people, and were either unwilling, or afraid, to associate with them; which produced this good effect, that I knew no instance of a man's quitting his station, to go to their habitations.

A connection with women I allow, because I cannot prevent it; but never encourage, because I always dread its consequences. I know, indeed, that many men are of opinion, that such an intercourse is one of our greatest securities amongst savages; and perhaps they who, either from necessity or choice, are to remain and settle with them, may find it so. But with travellers and transient visitors, such as we were, it is generally otherwise; and, in our situation, a connection with their women betrays more men than it saves. What else can be reasonably expected, since all their views are selfish, without the least mixture of regard or attachment? My own experience, at least, which hath been pretty extensive, hath not pointed out to me one instance to the contrary.[142]

[Footnote 142: We ought to distinguish betwixt the affection of the sexes, and those gross physical principles which lead to their temporary intercourse. The latter exist, in some degree or other, wherever the difference of sex is found; but the former is the result of refinement in feeling, and a habit of reflection on objects of common interest, which civilization alone can produce. This is with respect to members of the same community; much more does the rule hold where strangers are concerned. It is positively absurd for them to expect affection, where the lawful and accustomed possessors of the she-savage have never yet been fortunate enough to elicit its display. Well, therefore, has Captain Cook remarked, that the motives which lead to their occasional connexion are selfish, by which must be understood, the mercenary nature of the principle which actuates the female.--E.]

Amongst our occasional visitors was a chief named Kahoora, who, as I was informed, headed the party that cut off Captain Furneaux's people, and himself killed Mr Howe, the officer who commanded. To judge of the character of Kahoora, by what I heard from many of his countrymen, he seemed to be more feared than beloved amongst them. Not satisfied with telling me that he was a very bad man, some of them even importuned me to kill him; and, I believe, they were not a little surprised that I did not listen to them; for, according to their ideas of equity, this ought to have been done. But if I had followed the advice of all our pretended friends, I might have extirpated the whole race; for the people of each hamlet, or village, by turns, applied to me to destroy the other. One would have almost thought it impossible, that so striking a proof of the divided state in which this miserable people live, could have been assigned. And yet I was sure that I did not misconceive the meaning of those who made these strange applications to me; for Omai, whose language was a dialect of their own, and perfectly understood all that they said, was our interpreter.

On the 15th, I made an excursion in my boat to look for grass, and visited the Hippah, or fortified village at the S.W. point of Motuara, and the places where our gardens had been planted on that island. There were no people at the former; but the houses and pallisades had been rebuilt, and were now in a state of good repair; and there were other evident marks of its having been inhabited not long before. It would be unnecessary, at present, to give a particular account of this Hippah, sufficient notice having been taken of it in the account of my first voyage.

When the Adventure arrived first at Queen Charlotte's Sound, in 1773, Mr Bayly fixed upon this place for making his observations; and he, and the people with him, at their leisure hours, planted several spots with English garden seeds. Not the least vestige of these now remained. It is probable that they had been all rooted out to make room for buildings, when the village was re-inhabited; for, at all the other gardens then planted by Captain Furneaux, although now wholly over-run with the weeds of the country, we found cabbages, onions, leeks, purslain, radishes, mustard, etc. and a few potatoes. These potatoes, which were first brought from the Cape of Good Hope, had been greatly improved by change of soil; and, with proper cultivation, would be superior to those produced in most other countries. Though the New Zealanders are fond of this root, it was evident that they had not taken the trouble to plant a single one (much less any other of the articles which we had introduced); and if it were not for the difficulty of clearing ground where potatoes had been once planted, there would not have been any now remaining.

On the 16th, at day-break, I set out with a party of men, in five boats, to collect food for our cattle. Captain Clerke, and several of the officers, Omai, and two of the natives, accompanied me. We proceeded about three leagues up the sound, and then landed on the east side, at a place where I had formerly been. Here we cut as much grass as loaded the two launches.

As we returned down the sound, we visited Grass Cove, the memorable scene of the massacre of Captain Furneaux's people. Here I met with my old friend Pedro, who was almost continually with me the last time I was in this sound, and is mentioned in my History of that Voyage. He, and another of his countrymen, received us on the beach, armed with the pa-too and spear. Whether this form of reception was a mark of their courtesy or of their fear, I cannot say; but I thought they betrayed manifest signs of the latter. However, if they had any apprehensions, a few presents soon removed them, and brought down to the beach two or three more of the family; but the greatest part of them remained out of sight.

Whilst we were at this place, our curiosity prompted us to enquire into the circumstances attending the melancholy fate of our countrymen; and Omai was made use of as our interpreter for this purpose. Pedro, and the rest of the natives present, answered all the questions that were put to them on the subject, without reserve, and like men who are under no dread of punishment for a crime of which they are not guilty. For we already knew that none of them had been concerned in the unhappy transaction. They told us, that while our people were sitting at dinner, surrounded by several of the natives, some of the latter stole, or snatched from them, some bread and fish, for which they were beat. This being resented, a quarrel ensued, and two New Zealanders were shot dead, by the only two musquets that were fired. For before our people had time to discharge a third, or to load again those that had been fired, the natives rushed in upon them, overpowered them with their numbers, and put them all to death. Pedro and his companions, besides relating the history of the massacre, made us acquainted with the very spot that was the scene of it. It is at the corner of the cove on the right hand. They pointed to the place of the sun, to mark to us at what hour of the day it happened; and, according to this, it must have been late in the afternoon. They also shewed us the place where the boat lay; and it appeared to be about two hundred yards distant from that where the crew were seated. One of their number, a black servant of Captain Furneaux, was left in the boat to take care of her.

We were afterward told that this black was the cause of the quarrel, which was said to have happened thus: One of the natives stealing something out of the boat, the Negro gave him a severe blow with a stick. The cries of the fellow being heard by his countrymen at a distance, they imagined he was killed, and immediately began the attack on our people; who, before they had time to reach the boat, or to arm themselves against the unexpected impending danger, fell a sacrifice to the fury of their savage assailants.

The first of these accounts was confirmed by the testimony of many of the natives whom we conversed with at different times, and who, I think, could have no interest in deceiving us. The second manner of relating the transaction, rests upon the authority of the young New Zealander, who chose to abandon his country and go away with us, and who, consequently, could have no possible view in disguising the truth. All agreeing that the quarrel happened when the boat's crew were sitting at their meal, it is highly probable that both accounts are true, as they perfectly coincide. For we may very naturally suppose, that while some of the natives were stealing from the man who had been left in the boat, others of them might take the same liberties with the property of our people who were on shore.

Be this as it will, all agree that the quarrel first took its rise from some thefts, in the commission of which the natives were detected. All agree, also, that there was no premeditated plan of bloodshed, and that, if these thefts had not been unfortunately too hastily resented no mischief would have happened. For Kahoora's greatest enemies, those who solicited his destruction most earnestly, at the same time confessed that he had no intention to quarrel, much less to kill, till the fray had actually commenced. It also appears that the unhappy victims were under no sort of apprehension of their fate, otherwise they never would have ventured to sit down to a repast at so considerable a distance from their boat, amongst people who were the next moment to be their murderers. What became of the boat I never could learn. Some said she was pulled to pieces and burnt, others told us that she was carried, they knew not whither, by a party of strangers.

We stayed here till the evening, when, having loaded the rest of the boats with grass, celery, scurvy-grass, etc. we embarked to return to the ships. We had prevailed upon Pedro to launch his canoe, and accompany us; but we had scarcely put off from the shore when the wind began to blow very hard at N.W., which obliged him to put back, We proceeded ourselves, but it was with a good deal of difficulty that we could reach the ships, where some of the boats did not arrive till one o'clock the next morning; and it was fortunate that they got on board then, for it afterward blew a perfect storm, with abundance of rain, so that no manner of work could go forward that day. In the evening the gale ceased, and the wind, having veered to the E., brought with it fair weather.

The next day we resumed our works; the natives ventured out to catch fish; and Pedro, with all his family, came and took up his abode near us. The chief's proper name is Matahouah; the other being given him by some of my people during my last voyage, which I did not know till now. He was, however, equally well known amongst his countrymen by both names.

On the 20th, in the forenoon, we had another storm from, the N.W. Though this was not of so long continuance as the former, the gusts of wind from the hills were far more violent, insomuch that we were obliged to strike the yards and top-masts to the very utmost; and, even with all this precaution, it was with difficulty that we rode it out. These storms are very frequent here, and sometimes violent and troublesome. The neighbouring mountains, which at these times are always loaded with vapours, not only increase the force of the wind, but alter its direction in such a manner, that no two blasts follow each other from the same quarter; and the nearer the shore, the more their effects are felt.

The next day we were visited by a tribe or family, consisting of about thirty persons, men, women and children, who came from the upper part of the Sound. I had never seen them before. The name of their chief was Tomatongeauooranuc, a man of about forty-five years of age, with a cheerful open countenance; and, indeed, the rest of his tribe were, in general, the handsomest of the New Zealand race I had ever met with.

By this time more than two-thirds of the inhabitants, of the Sound had settled themselves about us. Great numbers of them daily frequented the ships, and the encampment on shore; but the latter became, by far, the most favourite place of resort, while our people there were melting some seal blubber. No Greenlander was ever fonder of train-oil than our friends here seemed to be. They relished the very skimmings of the kettle, and dregs of the casks; but a little of the pure stinking oil was a delicious feast, so eagerly desired, that I suppose it is seldom enjoyed.

Having got on board as much hay and grass as we judged sufficient to serve the cattle till our arrival at Otaheite, and having completed the wood and water of both ships, on the 23d we struck our tents, and carried every thing off from the shore, and next morning we weighed anchor, and stood out of the cove. But the wind not being very fair, and finding that the tide of ebb would be spent before we could get out of the Sound, we cast anchor again a little without the island Motuara, to wait for a more favourable opportunity of putting into the strait.

While we were unmooring and getting under sail, Tomatongeauooranuc, Matahouah, and many more of the natives, came to take their leave of us, or rather to obtain, if they could, some additional presents from us before we left them. These two chiefs became suitors to me for some goats and hogs. Accordingly, I gave to Matahouah two goats, a male, and female with kid; and to Tomatongeauooranuc two pigs, a boar and a sow. They made me a promise not to kill them; though, I must own, I put no great faith in this. The animals which Captain Furneaux sent on shore here, and which soon after fell into the hands of the natives, I was now told were all dead; but I could get no intelligence about the fate of those I had left in West Bay, and in Cannibal Cove, when I was here in the course of my last voyage. However, all the natives whom I conversed with, agreed, that poultry are now to be met with wild in the woods behind Ship Cove; and I was afterward informed, by the two youths who went away with us, that Tiratou, a popular chief amongst them, had a great many cocks and hens in his separate possession, and one of the sows.

On my present arrival at this place, I fully intended to have left not only goats and hogs, but sheep, and a young bull, with two heifers, if I could have found either a chief powerful enough to protect and keep them, or a place where there might be a probability of their being concealed from those who would ignorantly attempt to destroy them. But neither the one nor the other presented itself to me. Tiratou was now absent; and Tringoboohee, whom I had met with during my last voyage, and who seemed to be a person of much consequence at that time, had been killed five months ago, with about seventy persons of his tribe; and I could not learn that there now remained in our neighbourhood any tribe, whose numbers could secure to them a superiority of power over the rest of their countrymen. To have given the animals to any of the natives who possessed no such power, would not have answered the intention; for in a country like this, where no man's property is secure, they would soon have fallen a prey to different parties, and been either separated or killed, but most likely both. This was so evident, from what we had observed since our arrival, that I had resolved to leave no kind of animal till Matahouah and the other chief solicited me for the hogs and goats. As I could spare them, I let them go, to take their chance. I have at different times, left in New Zealand not less than ten or a dozen hogs, besides those put on shore by Captain Furneaux. It will be a little extraordinary, therefore, if this race should not increase and be preserved here, either in a wild or in a domestic state, or in both.

We had not been long at anchor near Motuara, before three or four canoes, filled with natives, came off to us from the S.E. side of the sound; and a brisk trade was carried on with them for the curiosities of this place. In one of these canoes was Kahoora, whom I have already mentioned as the leader of the party who cut off the crew of the Adventure's boat. This was the third time he had visited us, without betraying the smallest appearance of fear. I was ashore when he now arrived, but had got on board just as he was going away. Omai, who had returned with me, presently pointed him out, and solicited me to shoot him. Not satisfied with this, he addressed himself to Kahoora, threatening to be his executioner if ever he presumed to visit us again.

The New Zealander paid so little regard to these threats, that he returned the next morning with his whole family, men, women, and children, to the number of twenty and upward. Omai was the first who acquainted me with his being along-side the ship, and desired to know if he should ask him to come on board. I told him he might; and accordingly he introduced the chief into the cabin, saying, "There is Kahoora, kill him!" But, as if he had forgot his former threats, or were afraid that I should call upon him to perform them, he immediately retired. In a short time, however, he returned; and seeing the chief unhurt, he expostulated with me very earnestly, saying, "Why do you not kill him? You tell me, if a man kills another in England that he is hanged for it. This man has killed ten, and yet you will not kill him, though many of his countrymen desire it, and it would be very good." Omai's arguments, though specious enough, having no weight with me, I desired him to ask the chief why he had killed Captain Furneaux's people? At this question, Kahoora folded his arms, hung down his head, and looked like one caught in a trap; and I firmly believe he expected instant death. But no sooner was he assured of his safety, than he became cheerful. He did not, however, seem willing to give me an answer to the question that had been put to him, till I had, again and again, repeated my promise that he should not be hurt. Then he ventured to tell us, "That one of his countrymen having brought a stone hatchet to barter, the man, to whom it was offered, took it, and would neither return it, nor give any thing for it; on which the owner of it snatched up the bread as an equivalent, and then the quarrel began."

The remainder of Kahoora's account of this unhappy affair, differed very little from what we had before learnt from the rest of his countrymen. He mentioned the narrow escape he had during the fray; a musquet being levelled at him, which he avoided by skulking behind the boat; and another man, who stood close to him, was shot dead. As soon as the musquet was discharged, he instantly seized the opportunity to attack Mr Rowe, who commanded the party, and who defended himself with his hanger, (with which he wounded Kahoora in the arm,) till he was overpowered by numbers.

Mr Burney, who was sent by Captain Furneaux the next day, with an armed party, to look for his missing people, upon discovering the horrid proofs of their shocking fate, had fired several vollies amongst the crowds of natives who still remained assembled on the spot, and were probably partaking of the detestable banquet. It was natural to suppose that he had not fired in vain; and that, therefore, some of the murderers and devourers of our unhappy countrymen had suffered under our just resentment. Upon enquiry, however, into this matter, not only from Kahoora, but from others who had opportunities of knowing, it appeared that our supposition was groundless, and that not one of the shot fired by Mr Burney's people had taken effect, so as to kill, or even to hurt, a single person.[143]

[Footnote 143: Mr Burney was not warranted in firing. It was not possible for him, at the time, to know whether or not his comrades had been justly punished for aggressions on the savages. He acted, therefore, from the impulse of blind revenge. But such a motive, though natural enough it may be, must, nevertheless, be condemned by every law recognised among civilized nations. Even his observing these people engaged in feasting on the victims of their fury, much indeed as it would necessarily augment his abhorrence, could not be allowed a sufficient plea for his attacking them; because the principles which ought to govern the conduct of a member of such a society as he belonged to, are indiscriminately imperative in their nature, and do not allow any latitude of dispensation to an individual. The only thing that warrants the violation of them, is the necessity imposed by a still higher law,--that of preserving his own existence. But, in the present instance, it does not appear that he was in any danger.--E.]

It was evident, that most of the natives we had met with since our arrival, as they knew I was fully acquainted with the history of the massacre, expected I should avenge it with the death of Kahoora. And many of them seemed not only to wish it, but expressed their surprise at my forbearance. As he could not be ignorant of this, it was a matter of wonder to me that he put himself so often in my power. When he visited us while the ships lay in the cove, confiding in the number of his friends that accompanied him, he might think himself safe; but his two last visits had been made under such circumstances, that he could no longer rely upon this. We were then at anchor in the entrance of the sound, and at some distance from any shore; so that he could not have any assistance from thence, nor flatter himself he could have the means of making his escape, had I determined to detain him. And yet, after his first fears, on being interrogated, were over, he was so far from entertaining any uneasy sensations, that, on seeing a portrait of one of his countrymen hanging up in the cabin, he desired to have his own portrait drawn; and sat till Mr Webber had finished it, without marking the least impatience. I must confess I admired his courage, and was not a little pleased to observe the extent of the confidence he put in me; for he placed his whole safety in the declarations I had uniformly made to those who solicited his death, That I had always been a friend to them all, and would continue so, unless they gave me cause to act otherwise; that as to their inhuman treatment of our people, I should think no more of it, the transaction having happened long ago, and when I was not present; but that, if ever they made a second attempt of that kind, they might rest assured of feeling the weight of my resentment.[144]

[Footnote 144: Here Captain Cook acted wisely; and, indeed, throughout the whole transaction, his conduct merits the highest applause. To resist the solicitations of envy and revenge, where acquiescence would have proved so availing to his reputation, and so secure in its display, implied a conscientious regard to an invisible authority, which must ever be allowed to constitute a feature of excellence in any man to whom power is committed. His threatening is not to be considered as any exception to what is now said in his praise, being, in fact, a beneficial intimation calculated to secure subjection to a necessary law. Here it may not be amiss to remark, that savages, little as some men think of them, are possessed of all the faculties of human nature; and that conscience, that principle, which, more than reason, characterizes our species, has as true and as efficient an existence in their breasts. Now this always respects a superior power, and is the source of that indescribable dread of some opposing and awful agency, which never fails to visit the transgressor of its dictates. We must not, however, ascribe to it every apprehension of danger with which the mind is occasionally disturbed. There is a sort of fear of evil which seems common to us with the lower animals, and which cannot therefore be imagined to have any connection with moral delinquency. This latter, it is probable, was all that Kahoora experienced in his first interview with Cook after the massacre; and hence his apprehensions would easily be subdued by the assurances which that gentleman made him. In fact, from the facility of his confidence, we may almost certainly infer his consciousness of innocence, notwithstanding his share in the commission of the deed. This implies no inconsistency, as every thinking person will at once perceive; for it must be remembered, that there is no evidence whatever as to any design or premeditated plan on the part of the savages. Had his dread been of the former kind, it is scarcely conceivable that the utmost assurances of indemnity which Cook could give, would have produced so unaffected a manifestation of ease as is described.--E.]

For some time before we arrived at New Zealand, Omai had expressed a desire to take one of the natives with him to his own country. We had not been there many days before he had an opportunity of being gratified in this; for a youth, about seventeen or eighteen years of age, named Taweiharooa, offered to accompany him, and took up his residence on board. I paid little attention to this at first, imagining that he would leave us when we were about to depart, and after he had got what he could from Omai. At length, finding that he was fixed in his resolution to go with us, and having learnt that he was the only son of a deceased chief, and that his mother, still living, was a woman much respected here, I was apprehensive that Omai had deceived him and his friends, by giving them hopes and assurances of his being sent back. I therefore caused it to be made known to them all, that if the young man went away with us he would never return. But this declaration seemed to make no sort of impression. The afternoon before we left the cove, Tiratoutou, his mother, came on board, to receive her last present from Omai. The same evening she and Taweiharooa parted, with all the marks of tender affection that might be expected between a parent and a child, who were never to meet again. But she said she would cry no more; and, sure enough, she kept her word. For when she returned the next morning, to take her last farewell of him, all the time she was on board she remained quite cheerful, and went away wholly unconcerned.

That Taweiharooa might be sent away in a manner becoming his birth, another youth was to have gone with him as his servant; and, with this view, as we supposed, he remained on board till we were about to sail, when his friends took him ashore. However, his place was supplied next morning by another, a boy of about nine or ten years of age, named Kokoa. He was presented to me by his own father, who, I believe, would have parted with his dog with far less indifference. The very little clothing the boy had he stript him of, and left him as naked as he was born. It was to no purpose that I endeavoured to convince these people of the improbability, or rather of the impossibility, of these youths ever returning home. Not one, not even their nearest relations, seemed to trouble themselves about their future fate. Since this was the case, and I was well satisfied that the boys would be no losers by exchange of place, I the more readily gave my consent to their going.

From my own observations, and from the information of Taweiharooa and others, it appears to me that the New Zealanders must live under perpetual apprehensions of being destroyed by each other; there being few of their tribes that have not, as they think, sustained wrongs from some other tribe, which they are continually upon the watch to revenge. And, perhaps, the desire of a good meal may be no small incitement. I am told that many years sometimes elapse before a favourable opportunity happens, and that the son never loses sight of an injury that has been done to his father.[145] Their method of executing their horrible designs, is by stealing upon the adverse party in the night; and if they find them unguarded, (which, however, I believe, is very seldom the case,) they kill every one indiscriminately; not even sparing the women and children. When the massacre is completed, they either feast and gorge themselves on the spot, or carry off as many of the dead bodies as they can, and devour them at home, with acts of brutality too shocking to be described. If they are discovered before they can execute their bloody purpose, they generally steal off again, and sometimes are pursued and attacked by the other party in their turn. To give quarter, or to take prisoners, makes no part of their military law; so that the vanquished can only save their lives by flight. This perpetual state of war, and destructive method of conducting it, operates so strongly in producing habitual circumspection, that one hardly ever finds a New Zealander off his guard either by night or by day. Indeed, no other man can have such powerful motives to be vigilant, as the preservation both of body and of soul depends upon it; for, according to their system of belief, the soul of the man whose flesh is devoured by the enemy, is doomed to a perpetual fire, while the soul of the man whose body has been rescued from those who killed him, as well as the souls of all who die a natural death, ascend to the habitations of the gods. I asked, Whether they eat the flesh of such of their friends as had been killed in war, but whose bodies were saved from falling into the enemy's hands? They seemed surprised at the question, which they answered in the negative, expressing some abhorrence at the very idea. Their common method of disposing of their dead, is by depositing their bodies in the earth; but if they have more of their slaughtered enemies than they can eat, they throw them into the sea.

[Footnote 145: Every reader almost will here recollect, that a similar disposition to perpetuate grievances has been found to operate in all barbarous nations, and indeed amongst many people who lay great claims to refinement in civilization. It will be found, in truth, too strong an effort for most men's charity, to regard with perfect impartiality either a person or a nation whom their fathers had pointed out as an enemy. On the great scale of the world, we see it is the nearly inevitable consequence of war to generate malicious feelings. In addition, then, to some contrariety of interest, to some real or imaginary aggression, or even a bare possibility of being injured, it is almost enough, at any time, for the commencement of a new struggle betwixt rival nations, that one, or both of them, remember they were formerly at variance. Nor is it at all requisite for due rancour in such cases, that politicians explain the grounds of the quarrel, and aggravate the enormous injustice of the opponent, or prove his readiness to do mischief. The animosity is already conceived, and waits only the removal of the gauze-like partition, to be able, with greater certainty of effect, to guide its instruments of destruction. "Hear," says Mr Ferguson, in his essay on this subject, "hear the peasants on different sides of the Alps, and the Pyrenees, the Rhyne, or the British channel, give vent to their prejudices and national passions; it is among them that we find the materials of war and dissension laid without the direction of government, and sparks ready to kindle into a flame, which the statesman is frequently disposed to extinguish. The fire will not always catch where his reasons of state would direct, nor stop where the concurrence of interest has produced an alliance. 'My father,' said a Spanish peasant, 'would rise from his grave if he could foresee a war with France.' What interest had he, or the bones of his father, in the quarrels of princes?" The answer might easily be given by another anecdote. During a parley betwixt the leaders of two rival Highland clans, which had for its object the peaceable termination of their differences, a subordinate officer, not relishing the unusual homily, went up to his chief in a rage, and upbraided him for delaying the combat. "Don't you see," says he, brandishing his claymore, "that the sun is almost set?--we'll no hae half time to kill thae rascals!" The peasant naturally enough wished that his father might rise again to take his share in the delightful work of slaughter. Pray, what childish scruples withhold persons of such keen appetites from occasionally taking a belly-full of their enemy's flesh?--E.]

They have no such thing as morais, or other places of public worship; nor do they ever assemble together with this view. But they have priests, who alone address the gods in prayer for the prosperity of their temporal affairs, such as an enterprise against a hostile tribe, a fishing party, or the like.

Whatever the principles of their religion may be, of which we remain very ignorant, its instructions are very strongly inculcated into them from their very infancy. Of this I saw a remarkable instance, in the youth who was first destined to accompany Taweiharooa. He refrained from eating the greatest part of the day, on account of his hair being cut, though every method was tried to induce him to break his resolution, and he was tempted with the offer of such victuals as he was known to esteem the most. He said, if he eat any thing that day the Eatooa would kill him. However, toward evening, the cravings of nature got the better of the precepts of his religion, and he ate, though but sparingly. I had often conjectured, before this, that they had some superstitious notions about their hair, having frequently observed quantities of it tied to the branches of trees near some of their habitations; but what these notions are I could never learn.

Notwithstanding the divided and hostile state in which the New Zealanders live, travelling strangers, who come with no ill design, are well received and entertained during their stay; which, however, it is expected will be no longer than is requisite to transact the business they come upon. Thus it is that a trade for poenammoo, or green talc, is carried on throughout the whole northern island. For they tell us, that there is none of this stone to be found but at a place which bears its name, somewhere about the head of Queen Charlotte's Sound, and not above one or two days journey, at most, from the station of our ships. I regretted much that I could not spare time sufficient for paying a visit to the place; as we were told a hundred fabulous stories about this stone, not one of which carried with it the least probability of truth, though some of their most sensible men would have us believe them. One of these stories is, that this stone is originally a fish, which they strike with a gig in the water, tie a rope to it, and drag it to the shore, to which they fasten it, and it afterwards becomes stone. As they all agree that it is fished out of a large lake, or collection of waters, the most probable conjecture is, that it is brought from the mountains, and deposited in the water by the torrents. This lake is called by the natives Tavai Poenammoo, that is, the Water of Green Talc; and it is only the adjoining part of the country, and not the whole southern island of New Zealand, that is known to them by the name which hath been given to it on my chart.

Polygamy is allowed amongst these people; and it is not uncommon for a man to have two or three wives. The women are marriageable at a very early age; and it should seem, that one who is unmarried, is but in a forlorn state. She can with difficulty get a subsistence; at least she is, in a great measure, without a protector, though in constant want of a powerful one.

The New Zealanders seem to be a people perfectly satisfied with the little knowledge they are masters of, without attempting, in the least, to improve it. Nor are they remarkably curious, either in their observations or their enquiries. New objects do not strike them with such a degree of surprise as one would naturally expect; nor do they even fix their attention for a moment. Omai, indeed, who was a great favourite with them, would sometimes attract a circle about him; but they seemed to listen to his speeches like persons who neither understood, nor wished to understand, what they heard.

One day, on our enquiring of Taweiharooa, how many ships, such as ours, had ever arrived in Queen Charlotte's Sound, or in any part of its neighbourhood? he began with giving an account of one absolutely unknown to us. This, he said, had put into a port on the N.W. coast of Teerawitte, but a very few years before I arrived in the Sound in the Endeavour, which the New Zealanders distinguish by calling it Tupia's ship. At first, I thought he might have been mistaken as to the time and place; and that the ship in question might be either Monsieur Surville's, who is said to have touched upon the N.E. coast of Eaheinomauwe, the same year I was there in the Endeavour; or else Monsieur Marion du Fresne's, who was in the Bay of Islands, on the same coast, a few years after. But he assured us that he was not mistaken, either as to the time, or as to the place of this ship's arrival, and that it was well known to every body about Queen Charlotte's Sound and Teerawitte. He said, that the captain of her, during his stay here, cohabited with a woman of the country; and that she had a son by him still living, about the age of Kokoa, who, though not born then, seemed to be equally well acquainted with the story. We were also informed by Taweiharooa, that this ship first introduced the venereal disease amongst the New Zealanders. I wish that subsequent visitors from Europe may not have their share of guilt in leaving so dreadful a remembrance of them amongst this unhappy race. The disorder now is but too common here, though they do not seem to regard it, saying, that its effects are not near so pernicious at present as they were at its first appearance. The only method, as far as I ever heard, that they make use of as a remedy, is by giving the patient the use of a sort of hot bath, which they produce by the steam of certain green plants laid over hot stones.

I regretted much that we did not hear of this ship while we were in the sound; as, by means of Omai, we might have had full and correct information about her from eyewitnesses. For Taweiharooa's account was only from what he had been told, and therefore liable to many mistakes. I have not the least doubt, however, that his testimony may so far be depended upon, as to induce us to believe that a ship really had been at Teerawitte prior to my arrival in the Endeavour, as it corresponds with what I had formerly heard. For in the latter end of 1773, the second time I visited New Zealand, during my late voyage, when we were continually making enquiries about the Adventure, after our separation, some of the natives informed us of a ship's having been in a port on the coast of Teerawitte. But, at this time, we thought we must have misunderstood them, and took no notice of the intelligence.

The arrival of this unknown ship has been marked by the New Zealanders with more causes of remembrance than the unhappy one just mentioned. Taweiharooa told us their country was indebted to her people for the present of an animal, which they left behind them. But as he had not seen it himself, no sort of judgment could be formed from his description of what kind it was.

We had another piece of intelligence from him, more correctly given, though not confirmed by our own observations, that there are snakes and lizards there of an enormous size. He described the latter as being eight feet in length, and as big round as a man's body. He said they sometimes seize and devour men; that they burrow in the ground; and that they are killed by making fires at the mouths of the holes. We could not be mistaken as to the animal; for, with his own hand, he drew a very good representation of a lizard on a piece of paper, as also of a snake, in order to shew what he meant.[146]

[Footnote 146: There can be little doubt that the animal here called a lizard is an alligator.--E.]

Though much has been said, in the narratives of my two former voyages, about this country and its inhabitants, Mr Anderson's remarks, as serving either to confirm or to correct our former accounts, may not be superfluous. He had been three times with me to Queen Charlotte's Sound during my last voyage; and, after this fourth visit, what he thought proper to record, may be considered as the result of sufficient observation. The reader will find it in the next section; and I have nothing farther to add, before I quit New Zealand, but to give some account of the astronomical and nautical observations made during our stay there.

The longitude of the observatory in Ship Cove, by a mean of 103 sets of observations, each set consisting of six or more observed distances, was 174° 25' 15" E. By the time-keeper, at Greenwich rate, it was 175 26 30 By ditto, at the Cape rate, it was 174 56 12 Variation of the compass, being the mean of six needles, observed on board the ship 12 40 0 E. By the same needles on shore, it was 13 53 0 The dip of the south end, observed on shore was 63 42 0

By a mean of the results of eleven days observations, the time-keeper was too slow for mean time on February 22, at noon, by 11h 50' 37",396; and she was found to be losing on mean time at the rate of 2",913 per day. From this rate the longitude will be computed, till some other opportunity offers to ascertain her rate anew. The astronomical clock, with the same length of pendulum as at Greenwich, was found to be losing on sidereal time 40",239 per day.

It will not be amiss to mention, that the longitude, by lunar observations, as above, differs only 6' 45" from what Mr Wales made it during my last voyage; his being so much more to the W. or 174° 18' 30".

The latitude of Ship Cove is 41° 6' 0", as found by Mr Wales.

SECTION VIII.

Mr Anderson's Remarks on the Country near Queen Charlotte's Sound.--The Soil.--Climate.--Weather.--Winds.--Trees.--Plants.--Birds.--Fish.--Other Animals.--Of the Inhabitants.--Description of their Persons.--Their Dress.--Ornaments.--Habitations.--Boats.--Food and Cookery,--Arts.--Weapons --Cruelty to Prisoners.--Various Customs.--Specimen of their Language.

The land every where about Queen Charlotte's Sound is uncommonly mountainous, rising immediately from the sea into large hills, with blunted tops. At considerable distances are valleys, or rather impressions on the sides of the hills, which are not deep, each terminating toward the sea in a small cove, with a pebbly or sandy beach; behind which are small flats, where the natives generally build their huts, at the same time hauling their canoes upon the beaches. This situation is the more convenient, as in every cove a brook of very fine water (in which are some small trout) empties itself into the sea.

The bases of these mountains, at least toward the shore, are constituted of a brittle, yellowish sand-stone, which acquires a bluish cast where the sea washes it. It runs, at some places, in horizontal, and, at other-places, in oblique strata, being frequently divided, at small distances, by thin veins of coarse quartz, which commonly follow the direction of the other, though they sometimes intersect it. The mould, or soil, which covers this, is also of a yellowish cast, not unlike marl; and is commonly from a foot to two, or more, in thickness.

The quality of this soil is best indicated by the luxuriant growth of its productions. For the hills (except a few toward the sea, which are covered with smaller bushes) are one continued forest of lofty trees, flourishing with a vigour almost superior to anything that imagination can conceive, and affording an august prospect to those who are delighted with the grand and beautiful works of nature.

The agreeable temperature of the climate, no doubt, contributes much to this uncommon strength in vegetation. For, at this time, though answering to our month of August, the weather was never disagreeably warm, nor did it raise the thermometer higher than 60°. The winter, also, seems equally mild with respect to cold; for in June, 1773, which corresponds to our December, the mercury never fell lower than 48°; and the trees, at that time, retained their verdure, as if in the summer season; so that, I believe, their foliage is never shed, till pushed off by the succeeding leaves in spring.

The weather, in general, is good, but sometimes windy, with heavy rain, which, however, never lasts above a day; nor does it appear that it is ever excessive. For there are no marks of torrents rushing down the hills, as in many countries; and the brooks, if we may judge from their channels, seem never to be greatly increased. I have observed, in the four different times of my being here, that the winds from the south-eastward are commonly moderate, but attended with cloudy weather, or rain. The S.W. winds blow very strong, and are also attended with rain, but they seldom last long. The N.W. winds are the most prevailing; and though often pretty strong, are almost constantly connected with fine weather. In short, the only obstacle to this being one of the finest countries upon earth, is its great hillyness; which, allowing the woods to be cleared away, would leave it less proper for pasturage than flat land, and still more improper for cultivation, which could never be effected here by the plough.