A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xii Part 5

Close to the houses of these people, we saw buildings of another kind, which appeared to be burying-places, and from which we judged that they had great veneration for their dead. They were situated under lofty trees, that gave a thick shade; the sides and tops were of stone; and in their figure they somewhat resembled the square tombs, with a flat top, which are always to be found in our country church-yards. Near these buildings we found many neat boxes full of human bones, and upon the branches of the trees which shaded them, hung a great number of the heads and bones of turtle, and a variety of fish, inclosed in a kind of basket-work of reeds: Some of the fish we took down, and found that nothing remained but the skin and the teeth; the bones and entrails seemed to have been extracted, and the muscular flesh dried away.

We sent off several boat-loads of cocoa-nuts, and a great quant.i.ty of scurvy-gra.s.s, with which the island is covered; refreshments which were of infinite service to us, as by this time I believe there was not a man among us wholly untouched by the scurvy.

The fresh water here is very good, but it is scarce; the wells which supply the natives are so small, that when two or three cocoa-nut sh.e.l.ls have been filled from them, they are dry for a few minutes; but as they presently fill again, if a little pains were taken to enlarge them, they would abundantly supply any ship with water.

We saw no venomous creature here; but the flies were an intolerable torment, they covered us from head to foot, and filled not only the boat, but the ships. We saw great numbers of parrots and paroquets, and several other birds which were altogether unknown to us; we saw also a beautiful kind of dove, so tame that some of them frequently came close to us, and even followed us into the Indian huts.

All this day the natives kept themselves closely concealed, and did not even make a smoke upon any part of the islands as far as we could see; probably fearing that a smoke might discover the place of their retreat.

In the evening, we all returned on board the ship.

This part of the island lies in lat.i.tude 14 29' S., longitude 148 50'

W. and after I got on board, I hauled a little way farther from the sh.o.r.e, intending to visit the other island in the morning, which had been seen to the westward of that before which the ship lay, and which is distant about sixty-nine leagues from the Islands of Disappointment, in the direction of W.1/2 S.

The next morning at six o'clock, I made sail for the island which I intended to visit, and when I reached it, I steered S.W. by W. close along the north-east side of it, but could get no soundings: This side is about six or seven leagues long, and the whole makes much the same appearance as the other, having a large salt-water lake in the middle of it. As soon as the ship came in sight, the natives ran down to the beach in great numbers: They were armed in the same manner as those that we had seen upon the other island, and kept abreast of the ship for several leagues. As the heat of this climate is very great, they seemed to suffer much by running so far in the sun, for they sometimes plunged into the sea, and sometimes fell flat upon the sand, that the surf might break over them, after which they renewed the race with great vigour.

Our boats were at this time sounding along the sh.o.r.e, as usual, but I had given strict orders to the officers who commanded them never to molest the natives, except it should become absolutely necessary for their own defence, but to try all possible means to obtain their confidence and good will: Our people therefore went as near to the sh.o.r.e as they durst for the surf, and made signs that they wanted water; the Indians readily understood them, and directed them to run down farther along the sh.o.r.e, which they did, till they came abreast of such a cl.u.s.ter of houses as we had just left upon the other island; to this place the Indians still followed them, and were there joined by many others: The boats immediately hauled close into the surf, and we brought-to, with the ships, at a little distance from the sh.o.r.e, upon which a stout old man, with a long white beard, that gave him a very venerable appearance, came down from the houses to the beach. He was attended by a young man, and appeared to have the authority of a chief or king: The rest of the Indians, at a signal which he made, retired to a little distance, and he then advanced quite to the water's edge; in one hand he held the green branch of a tree, and in the other he grasped his beard, which he pressed to his bosom; in this att.i.tude he made a long oration, or rather song, for it had a musical cadence which was by no means disagreeable. We regretted infinitely that we could not understand what he said to us, and not less that he could not understand any thing which we should say to him; to shew our good-will, however, we threw him some trifling presents, while he was yet speaking, but he would neither touch them himself, nor suffer them to be touched by others till he had done: He then walked into the water, and threw our people the green branch, after which he took up the things which had been thrown from the boats. Every thing now having a friendly appearance, our people made signs that they should lay down their arms, and most of them having complied, one of the midshipmen, encouraged by this testimony of confidence and friendship, leaped out of the boat with his clothes on, and swam through the surf to sh.o.r.e. The Indians immediately gathered round him, and began to examine his clothes with great curiosity; they seemed particularly to admire his waistcoat, and being willing to gratify his new friends, he took it off, and presented it to them; this courtesy, however, produced a disagreeable effect, for he had no sooner given away his waistcoat; than one of the Indians very ingeniously untied his cravat, and the next moment s.n.a.t.c.hed it from his neck, and ran away with it. Our adventurer, therefore, to prevent his being stripped by piece-meal, made the best of his way back again to the boat: Still, however, we were upon good terms, and several of the Indians swam off to our people, some of them bringing a cocoa-nut, and others a little fresh water in a cocoa-nut sh.e.l.l. But the princ.i.p.al object of our boats was to obtain some pearls; and the men, to a.s.sist them in explaining their meaning, had taken with them some of the pearl oyster-sh.e.l.ls which they had found in great numbers upon the coast; but all their endeavours were ineffectual, for they could not, even with this a.s.sistance, at all make themselves understood. It is indeed probable that we should have succeeded better, if an intercourse of any kind could have been established between us, but it was our misfortune that no anchorage could be found for the ships. As all Indians are fond of beads, it can scarcely be supposed that the pearls, which the oysters at this place contained, were overlooked by the natives, and it is more than probable that if we could have continued here a few weeks, we might have obtained some of great value in exchange for nails, hatchets, and billhooks, upon which the natives, with more reason, set a much higher value. We observed, that in the lake, or lagoon, there were two or three very large vessels, one of which had two masts, and some cordage aloft to support them.

To these two islands, I gave the name of King George's Islands, in honour of his majesty. That which we last visited, lies in lat.i.tude 1441'S., longitude 14915'W; the variation of the compa.s.s here was 5E.

SECTION X.

_The Run from King George's Islands to the Islands of Saypan, Tinian, and Aguigan; with an Account of several Islands that were discovered in that Track._

We pursued our course to the westward the same day, and the next, about three o'clock in the afternoon, we saw land again, bearing S.S.W.

distant about six leagues. We immediately stood for it, and found it to be a low and very narrow island, lying east and west: we ran along the south side of it, which had a green and pleasant appearance, but a dreadful surf breaks upon every part of it, with foul ground at some distance, and many rocks and small islands scattered at about three leagues from the sh.o.r.e. We found it about twenty leagues in length, and it appeared to abound with inhabitants, though we could only get a transient glance of them as we pa.s.sed along. To this place I gave the name of the _Prince of Wales's Island._ It lies in lat.i.tude 15S. and the westermost end of it in longitude 15153' W. It is distant from King George's Islands about eight-and-forty leagues, in the direction of S.80 W. the variation here was 530'E.

From the western extremity of this island, we steered N. 82 W. and at noon on the 16th, were in lat.i.tude 1428'S. longitude 15623'W. the variation being 740'E. The wind was now easterly, and we had again the same mountainous swell from the southward that we had before we made the Islands of Direction, and which, from that time to this day, we had lost: When we lost that swell, and for some days before, we saw vast flocks of birds, which we observed always took their flight to the southward when evening was coming on.[38] These appearances persuaded me that there was land in the same direction, and I am of opinion, that if the winds had not failed me in the higher lat.i.tudes, I should have fallen in with it: I would indeed at this time have hauled away to the southward, and attempted the discovery, if our people had been healthy, for having observed that all the islands we had seen were full of inhabitants, I was still more confirmed in my opinion; as I could account for their being peopled only by supposing a chain of islands reaching to a continent; but the sickness of the crews, in both ships, was an insuperable impediment.

[Footnote 38: No doubt to the Navigators' Islands, so called by Bougainville. Captain Wallis touched at one of them, and named them Boscawen's and Keppel's Islands. Peyrouse has given a very curious, but not a pleasing account of their inhabitants. To the south of them again are the Friendly Islands.--E.]

The next day we again saw many birds of various sorts about the ship, and therefore supposed that some other island was not far distant, for the swell continuing, I concluded that the land was not of very great extent: I proceeded, however, with caution, for the islands in this part of the ocean render the navigation very dangerous, they being so low, that a ship may be close in with them before they are seen. We saw nothing, however, on the 18th, the 19th, nor the 20th, during which we continued to steer the same course, though the birds still continued about the vessel in great numbers. Our lat.i.tude was now 1233'S.

longitude 16747'W. The Prince of Wales's Island was distant, 313 leagues, and the variation of the needle was 915'E. The next morning about seven o'clock, we discovered a most dangerous reef of breakers, bearing S.S.W. and not farther distant than a single league. In about half an hour afterwards, land was seen from the mast-head, bearing W.N.W. and distant about eight leagues; it had the appearance of three islands, with rocks and broken ground between them. The south-east side of these islands lies N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. and is about three leagues in length between the extreme points, from both which a reef runs out, upon which the sea breaks to a tremendous height. We sailed round the north end, and upon the north-west and west side, saw innumerable rocks and shoals, which stretched near two leagues into the sea, and were extremely dangerous. The islands themselves had a more fertile and beautiful appearance than any we had seen before, and, like the rest, swarmed with people, whose habitations we saw standing in cl.u.s.ters all along the coast. We saw also a large vessel under sail, at a little distance from the sh.o.r.e; but to our unspeakable regret we were obliged to leave the place without farther examination, for it was surrounded in every direction by rocks and breakers, which rendered the hazard more than equivalent to every advantage we might procure. At this time I took these for part of the islands called Solomon's Islands, and was in hopes that I should fall in with others of them, in some of which we might find an harbour.

The reef of rocks which we first saw as we approached these islands, lies in lat.i.tude 1015'S. longitude 16928' W. and it bears from Prince of Wales's Island N.7648' W. distant 352 leagues. The islands bear from the reef W.N.W. distant nine leagues: I called them the _Islands of Danger_, and steered from them N.W. by W. allowing for the variation.

After having seen the breakers soon after it was light in the morning, I told my officers that I apprehended we should have frequent alarms in the night; at night, therefore, every body was upon the watch, which a very hard squall of wind, with rain, rendered the more necessary. About nine o'clock, having just gone down into my cabin, I heard a great noise above, and when I enquired what was the matter, I was told that the Tamar, who was a-head, had fired a gun, and that our people saw breakers to leeward: I ran instantly upon deck, and soon perceived that what had been taken for breakers was nothing more than the undulating reflection of the moon, which was going down, and shone faintly from behind a cloud in the horizon; we therefore bore away after the Tamar, but did not get sight of her till an hour afterwards.

Nothing worthy of notice happened till Monday the 24th when, about ten o'clock in the morning, we discovered another island, bearing S.S.W.

distant about seven or eight leagues: We steered for it, and found it to be low, but covered with wood, among which were cocoa-nut trees in great abundance. It had a pleasant appearance, and a large lake in the middle, like King George's Island: It is near thirty miles in circ.u.mference, a dreadful sea breaks upon almost every part of the coast, and a great deal of foul ground lies about it. We sailed quite round it, and when we were on the lee-side, sent out boats to sound, in hopes of finding anchorage: No soundings, however, were to be got near the sh.o.r.e, but I sent the boats out a second time, with orders to land, if it were possible, and procure some refreshments for the sick: they landed with great difficulty, and brought off about two hundred cocoa-nuts, which, to persons in our circ.u.mstances, were an inestimable treasure. The people who were on sh.o.r.e, reported that there were no signs of its having ever been inhabited, but that they found thousands of sea fowl sitting upon their nests, which were built in high trees: These birds were so tame that they suffered themselves to be knocked down without leaving their nests: The ground was covered with land crabs, but our people saw no other animal. At first I was inclined to believe that this island was the same that in the Neptune Francois is called Maluita, and laid down about a degree to the eastward of the great island of Saint Elizabeth, which is the princ.i.p.al of the Solomon's Islands; but being afterwards convinced to the contrary, I called it the _Duke of York's Island_, in honour of his late royal highness, and I am of opinion that we were the first human beings who ever saw it. There is indeed great reason to believe that there is no good authority for laying down Solomon's Islands in the situation that is a.s.signed to them by the French: The only person who has pretended to have seen them is Quiros, and I doubt whether he left behind him any account of them by which they might be found by future navigators.[39]

[Footnote 39: The opinion here stated is now pretty generally confided in. Byron we see sailed over the northern, and Captain Carteret (as we shall find) the southern limits of these supposed islands, but could not find them. The name is now given to a cl.u.s.ter of islands tying betwixt the north of Queen Charlotte's Archipelago, discovered by Carteret, and the south-east coast of New Britain, &c.--E.]

We continued our course till the 29th, in the track of these islands, and being then ten degrees to the westward of their situation in the chart, without having seen any thing of them, I hauled to the northward, in order to cross the equinoxial, and afterwards shape my course for the Ladrone Islands, which, though a long run, I hoped to accomplish before I should be distressed for water, notwithstanding it now began to fall short. Our lat.i.tude, this day, was 813'S., longitude 17620'E. and the variation was 1010'E.

On Tuesday the 2d of July, we again saw many birds about the ship, and at four o'clock in the afternoon, discovered an island bearing north, and distant about six leagues: We stood for it till sun-set, when it was distant about four leagues, and then kept off and on for the night. In the morning, we found it a low flat island, of a most delightful appearance, and full of wood, among which the cocoa-nut tree was very conspicuous: We saw, however, to our great regret, much foul ground about it, upon which the sea broke with a dreadful surf. We steered along the southwest side of it, which we judged to be about four leagues in length, and soon perceived not only that it was inhabited, but very populous; for presently after the ship came in sight, we saw at least a thousand of the natives a.s.sembled upon the beach, and in a very short time more than sixty canoes, or rather proas, put off from the sh.o.r.e, and made towards us. We lay by to receive them, and they were very soon ranged in a circle round us. These vessels were very neatly made, and so clean that they appeared to be quite new: None of them had fewer than three persons on board, nor any of them more than six.[40] After these Indians had gazed at us some time, one of them suddenly jumped out of his proa, swam to the ship, and ran up the side like a cat: As soon as he had stepped over the gunwale, he sat down upon it, and burst into a violent fit of laughter, then started up, and ran all over the ship, attempting to steal whatever he could lay his hands upon, but without success, for, being stark naked, it was impossible to conceal his booty for a moment. Our seamen put on him a jacket and trowsers, which produced great merriment, for he had all the gestures of a monkey newly dressed: We also gave him bread, which he eat with a voracious appet.i.te, and after having played a thousand antic tricks, he leaped overboard, jacket and trowsers and all, and swam back again to his proa; after this several others swam to the ship, ran up the side of the gun-room ports, and having crept in, s.n.a.t.c.hed up whatever lay in their reach, and immediately leaped again into the sea, and swam away at a great rate, though some of them, having both hands full, held up their arms quite out of the water, to prevent their plunder from being spoiled. These people are tall, well-proportioned, and clean-limbed; Their skin is a bright copper-colour, their features are extremely good, and there is a mixture of intrepidity and cheerfulness in their countenances that is very striking. They have long black hair, which some of them wore tied up behind in a great bunch, others in three knots: Some of them had long beards, some only whiskers, and some nothing more than a small tuft at the point of the chin. They were all of them stark naked, except their ornaments, which consisted of sh.e.l.ls, very prettily disposed and strung together, and were worn round their necks, wrists, and waists: All their ears were bored, but they had no ornaments in them when we saw them: Such ornaments as they wear, when they wear any, are probably very heavy, for their ears hang down almost to their shoulders, and some of them were quite split through.[41] One of these men, who appeared to be a person of some consequence, had a string of human teeth about his waist, which was probably a trophy of his military prowess, for he would not part with it in exchange for any thing I could offer him. Some of them were unarmed, but others had one of the most dangerous weapons I had ever seen: It was a kind of spear, very broad at the end, and stuck full of sharks' teeth, which are as sharp as a lancet, at the sides, for about three feet of its length. We shewed them some cocoa-nuts, and made signs that we wanted more; but instead of giving any intimation that they could supply us, they endeavoured to take away those we had.

[Footnote 40: "These have some resemblance to the proas used by the Indians of the Ladrone Islands, they having what is termed an outrigger, that is, a frame laid out to the windward, to balance this little vessel, and prevent its oversetting, which would otherwise infallibly happen, from its small breadth in proportion to its length."]

[Footnote 41: "Though we saw upwards of a hundred of them in their proas, there was but one woman among them, and of her they seemed to take great notice; she was distinguished by wearing something about her waist."]

I sent out the boats to sound soon after we brought-to off the island, and when they came back, they reported that there was ground at the depth of thirty fathom, within two cables' length of the sh.o.r.e; but as the bottom was coral rock, and the soundings much too near the breakers for a ship to lie in safety, I was obliged again to make sail without procuring any refreshments for the sick. This island, to which my officers gave the name of Byron's Island, lies in lat.i.tude 118'S., longitude 17346'E., the variation of the compa.s.s here was one point E.

In our course from this place, we saw, for several days, abundance of fish, but we could take only sharks, which were become a good dish even at my own table. Many of the people now began to fall down with fluxes; which the surgeon imputed to the excessive heat and almost perpetual rains.

By the 21st, all our cocoa-nuts being expended, our people began to fall down again with the scurvy. The effect of these nuts alone, in checking this disease, is astonishing: Many whose limbs were become as black as ink, who could not move without the a.s.sistance of two men, and who, besides total debility, suffered excruciating pain, were in a few days, by eating these nuts, although at sea, so far recovered as to do their duty, and could even go aloft as well as they did before the distemper seized them. For several days about this time, we had only faint breezes, with smooth water, so that we made but little way, and as we were now not far from the Ladrone Islands, where we hoped some refreshments might be procured; we most ardently wished for a fresh gale, especially as the heat was still intolerable, the gla.s.s for a long time having never been lower than eighty-one, but often up to eighty-four; and I am of opinion that this is the hottest, the longest, and most dangerous run that ever was made.

On the 18th, we were in lat.i.tude 139'N., longitude 15850'E., and on the 22d, in lat.i.tude 1425'N., longitude 15311'E, during which time we had a northerly current. Being now nearly in the lat.i.tude of Tinian, I shaped my course for that island.

SECTION XI

_The Arrival of the Dolphin and Tamar at Tinian, a Description of the present Condition of that Island, and an Account of the Transactions there._

On the 28th, we saw a great number of birds about the ship, which continued till the 30th, when about two o'clock in the afternoon we saw land, bearing W.12 N. which proved to be the islands Saypan, Tinian, and Aiguigan. At sun-set, the extremes of them bore from N.W.1/2 N. westward to S.W.; and the three islands had the appearance of one. At seven, we hauled the wind, and stood off and on all night; and at six the next morning, the extremes of the islands, which still made in one, bore from N.W. by N. to S.W. by S. distant five leagues. The east side of these islands lies N.E. by N. and S.W. by S. Saypan is the northermost; and from the north-east point of that island to the south-west point of Aiguigan, the distance is about seventeen leagues. These three islands are between two and three leagues distant from each other; Saypan is the largest, and Aguigan, which is high and round, the smallest. We steered along the east side of them, and at noon hauled round the south point of Tinian, between that island and Aiguigan, and anch.o.r.ed at the south-west end of it, in sixteen fathom water, with a bottom of hard sand and coral rock, opposite to a white sandy bay, about a mile and a quarter from the sh.o.r.e, and about three quarters of a mile from a reef of rocks that lies at a good distance from the sh.o.r.e, in the very spot where Lord Anson lay in the Centurion. The water at this place is so very clear that the bottom is plainly to be seen at the depth of four-and-twenty fathom, which is no less than one hundred and forty-four feet.

As soon as the ship was secured, I went on sh.o.r.e, to fix upon a place where tents might be erected for the sick, which were now very numerous; not a single man being wholly free from the scurvy, and many in the last stage of it. We found several huts which had been left by the Spaniards and Indians the year before; for this year none of them had as yet been at the place, nor was it probable that they should come for some months, the sun being now almost vertical, and the rainy season set in. After I had fixed upon a spot for the tents, six or seven of us endeavoured to push through the woods, that we might come at the beautiful lawns and meadows of which there is so luxuriant a description in the Account of Lord Anson's Voyage, and if possible kill some cattle. The trees stood so thick, and the place was so overgrown with underwood, that we could not see three yards before us, we therefore were obliged to keep continually hallooing to each other, to prevent our being separately lost in this trackless wilderness. As the weather was intolerably hot, we had nothing on besides our shoes, except our shirts and trowsers, and these were in a very short time torn all to rags by the bushes and brambles; at last however, with incredible difficulty and labour, we got through; but, to our great surprise and disappointment, we found the country very different from the account, we had read of it: The lands were entirely overgrown with a stubborn kind of reed or brush, in many places higher than our heads, and no where lower than our middles, which continually entangled our legs, and cut us like whipcord; our stockings perhaps might have suffered still more, but we wore none. During this, march we were also covered with flies from head to foot, and whenever we offered to speak we were sure of having a mouthful, many of which never failed to get down our throats. After we had walked about three or four miles, we got sight of a bull, which we killed, and a little before night got back to the beach, as wet as if we had been dipt in water, and so fatigued that we were scarcely able to stand. We immediately sent out a party to fetch the bull, and found that during our excursion some tents had been got up, and the sick brought on sh.o.r.e.

The next day our people were employed in setting up more tents, getting the water-casks on sh.o.r.e, and clearing the well at which they were to be filled. This well I imagined to be the same that the Centurion watered at; but it was the worst that we had met with during the voyage, for the water was not only brackish, but full of worms. The road also where the ships lay was a dangerous situation at this season, for the bottom is hard sand and large coral rocks, and the anchor having no hold in the sand, the cable is in perpetual danger of being cut to pieces by the coral; to prevent which as much as possible, I rounded the cables, and buoyed them up with empty water-casks. Another precaution also was taught me by experience, for at first I moored, but finding the cables much damaged, I resolved to lie single for the future, that by veering away or heaving in, as we should have more or less wind, we might always keep them from being slack, and consequently from rubbing, and this expedient succeeded to my wish. At the full and change of the moon, a prodigious swell tumbles in here, so that I never saw ships at anchor roll so much as ours did while we lay here; and it once drove in from the westward with such violence, and broke so high upon the reef, that I was obliged to put to sea for a week; for if our cable had parted in the night, and the wind had been upon the sh.o.r.e, which sometimes, happens for two or three days together, the ship must have inevitably been lost upon the rocks.

As I was myself very ill with the scurvy, I ordered a tent to be pitched for me, and took up my residence on sh.o.r.e; where we also erected the armourer's forge, and began to repair the iron-work of both the ships. I soon found that the island produced limes, sour oranges, cocoa-nuts, breadfruit,[42] guavas, and paupas in great abundance; but we found no water-melons, scurvy-gra.s.s, or sorrel.

[Footnote 42: See a particular description of the bread-fruit, in the 8th chapter of Lieut. Cook's voyage.]

Notwithstanding the fatigue and distress that we had endured, and the various climates we had pa.s.sed through, neither of the ships had yet lost a single man since their sailing from England; but while we lay here two died of fevers, a disease with which many were seized, though we all recovered very fast from the scurvy. I am indeed of opinion that this is one of the most unhealthy spots in the world, at least during the season in which we were here. The rains were violent, and almost incessant, and the heat was so great as to threaten us with suffocation.

The thermometer, which was kept on board the ship, generally stood at eighty-six, which is but nine degrees less than the heat of the blood at the heart; and if it had been on sh.o.r.e it would have risen much higher.

I had been upon the coast of Guinea, in the West Indies, and upon the island of Saint Thomas, which is under the Line, but I had never felt any such heat as I felt here. Besides the inconvenience which we suffered from the weather, we were incessantly tormented by the flies in the day, and by the musquitos in the night. The island also swarms with centipedes and scorpions, and a large black ant, scarcely inferior to either in the malignity of its bite. Besides these, there were venomous insects without number, altogether unknown to us, by which many of us suffered so severely, that we were afraid to lie down in our beds; nor were those on board in a much better situation than those on sh.o.r.e, for great numbers of these creatures being carried into the ship with the wood, they took possession of every birth, and left the poor seamen no place of rest either below or upon the deck.

As soon as we were settled in our new habitations, I sent out parties to discover the haunts of the cattle, some of which were found, but at a great distance from the tents, and the beasts were so shy that it was very difficult to get a shot at them. Some of the parties which, when their haunts had been discovered, were sent out to kill them, were absent three days and nights before they could succeed; and when a bullock had been dragged seven or eight miles through such woods and lawns as have just been described, to the tents, it was generally full of flyblows, and stunk so as to be unfit for use: Nor was this the worst, for the fatigue of the men in bringing down the carcase, and the intolerable heat they suffered from the climate and the labour, frequently brought on fevers which laid them up.[43] Poultry however we procured upon easier terms: There was great plenty of birds, and they were easily killed; but the flesh of the best of them was very ill-tasted, and such was the heat of the climate that within an hour after they were killed it was as green as gra.s.s, and swarmed with maggots. Our princ.i.p.al resource for fresh meat was the wild hog, with which the island abounds. These creatures are very fierce, and some of them so large that a carcase frequently weighed two hundred pounds. We killed them without much difficulty, but a black belonging to the Tamar contrived a method to snare them, so that we took great numbers of them alive, which was an unspeakable advantage; for it not only ensured our eating the flesh while it was sweet, but enabled us to send a good number of them on board as sea-stores.

[Footnote 43: "But we had cast anchor on the wrong side of the island, and, to our great disappointment, found cattle very scarce," &c. &c.]

In the mean time we were very desirous of procuring some beef in an eatable state, with less risk and labour, and Mr Gore, one of our mates, at last discovered a pleasant spot upon the north-west part of the island, where cattle were in great plenty, and whence they might be brought to the tents by sea. To this place, therefore, I dispatched a party, with a tent for their accommodation, and sent the boats every day to fetch what they should kill; sometimes however there broke such a sea upon the rocks, that it was impossible to approach them, and the Tamar's boat unhappily lost three of her best men by attempting it. We were now, upon the whole, pretty well supplied with provisions; especially as we baked fresh bread every day for the sick and the fatigue of our people being less, there were fewer ill with the fever; But several of them were so much disordered by eating of a very fine-looking fish which we caught here, that their recovery was for a long time doubtful. The author of the Account of Lord Anson's Voyage says,[44] that the people on board the Centurion thought it prudent to abstain from fish, as the few which they caught at their first arrival surfeited those who eat of them. But not attending sufficiently to this caution, and too hastily taking the word _surfeit_ in its literal and common acceptation, we imagined that those who tasted the fish when Lord Anson first came hither, were made sick merely by eating too much; whereas, if that had been the case, there would have been no reason for totally abstaining afterwards, but only eating temperately. We however bought our knowledge by experience, which we might have had cheaper; for though all our people who tasted this fish, eat sparingly, they were all soon afterwards dangerously ill.

[Footnote 44: The other account indicates a little more grat.i.tude:--"Our people had as much good beef and broth as we could possibly expend; with guavas, oranges, lemons, limes, plenty of excellent cabbages, which grow on the cocoa-trees, and the bread-fruit, for which these islands are justly famous; and not only poultry like those in England, but wild fowl of various sorts,"]

Besides the fruit that has been mentioned already, this island produces cotton and indigo in abundance, and would certainly be of great value if it were situated in the West Indies. The surgeon of the Tamar enclosed a large spot of ground here, and made a very pretty garden; but we did not stay long enough to derive any advantage from it.[45]

[Footnote 45: The descriptions of this island given by the author of Anson's Voyage, and in the other account of this one, so often referred to, are both more favourable than Byron's; a circ.u.mstance which may, perhaps, be accounted for on very common principles, without any impeachment of the respective authorities. The former description was purposely omitted in our 10th volume, as it was judged advisable to introduce it in this place, so that the reader might directly compare it with that which is given in the text. Here it follows entire:--

"Its length is about twelve miles, and its breadth about half as much; it extending from the S.S.W to N.N.E. The soil is every where dry and healthy, and somewhat sandy, which being less disposed than other soils to a rank and over luxuriant vegetation, occasions the meadows and the bottoms of the woods to be much neater and smoother than is customary'

in hot climates. The land rises by easy slopes, from the very beach where we watered to the middle of the island; though the general course of its ascent is often interrupted and traversed by gentle descents and valleys; and the inequalities that are formed by the different combinations of these gradual swellings of the ground; are most beautifully diversified with large lawns, which are covered with a very fine trefoil, intermixed with a variety of flowers, and are skirted by woods of tall and well-spread trees, most of them celebrated either for their aspect or their fruit. The turf of the lawns is quite clean and even, and the bottoms of the woods in many places clear of all bushes and underwoods; and the woods themselves usually terminate on the lawns with a regular outline, not broken, nor confused with straggling trees, but appearing uniform as if laid out by art. Hence across a great variety of the most elegant and entertaining prospects formed by the mixture of these woods and lawns, and their various intersections with each other, as they spread themselves differently through the vallies and over the slopes and declivities with which the place abounds. The fortunate animals too, which for the greatest part of the year are the sole lords of this happy soil, partake in some measure of the romantic cast of the island, and are no small addition to its wonderful scenery: For the cattle, of which it is not uncommon to see herds of some thousands feeding together in a large meadow, are certainly the most remarkable in the world; for they are all of them milk-white, except their ears, which are generally black. And though there are no inhabitants here, yet the clamour and frequent parading of domestic poultry, which range the woods in great numbers, perpetually excite the ideas of the neighbourhood of farms and villages, and greatly contribute to the cheerfulness and beauty of the place. The cattle on the island we computed were at least ten thousand; and we had no difficulty in getting near them, as they were not shy of us. Our first method of killing them was shooting them; but at last, when by accidents to be hereafter recited, we were obliged to husband our ammunition, our men ran them down with ease. Their flesh was extremely well tasted, and was believed by us to be much more easily digested, than any we had ever met with.

The fowls too were exceeding good, and were likewise run down with little trouble; for they could scarce fly further than an hundred yards at a flight, and even that fatigued them so much, that they could not readily rise again; so that, aided by the openness of the woods, we could at all times furnish ourselves with whatever number we wanted.

Besides the cattle and the poultry, we found here abundance of wild hogs: These were most excellent food; but as they were a very fierce animal, we were obliged either to shoot them, or to hunt them with large dogs, which we found upon the place at our landing, and which belonged to the detachment which was then upon the island ama.s.sing provisions for the garrison of Guam. As these dogs had been purposely trained to the killing of the wild hogs, they followed us very readily, and banted for us; but though they were a large bold breed, the hogs fought with so much fury, that they frequently destroyed them, so that we by degrees lost the greatest part of them."

"But this place was not only extremely grateful to us from the plenty and excellency of its fresh provisions, but was as much perhaps to be admired for its fruits and vegetable productions, which were most fortunately adapted to the cure of the sea scurvy, which had so terribly reduced us. For in the woods there were inconceivable quant.i.ties of cocoa-nuts, with the cabbages growing on the same tree; There were besides guavoes, limes, sweet and sour oranges, and a kind of fruit peculiar to these islands, called by the Indians _Rima_, but by us the _Bread-fruit_, for it was constantly eaten by us during our stay upon the island instead of bread, and so universally preferred to it, that no ship's bread was expended during that whole interval. It grew upon a tree which is somewhat lofty, and which, towards the top, divides into large and spreading branches. The leaves of this tree are of a remarkable deep green, are notched about the edges, and are generally from a foot to eighteen inches in length. The fruit itself grows indifferently on all parts of the branches; it is in shape rather elliptical than round, is covered with a rough rind, and is usually seven or eight inches long; each of them grows singly and not in cl.u.s.ters. This fruit is fittest to be used when it is full grown, but is still green; in which state its taste has some distant resemblance to that of an artichoke bottom, and its texture is not very different, for it is soft and spungy. As it ripens it grows softer and of a yellow colour, and then contracts a luscious taste, and an agreeable smell, not unlike a ripe peach; but then it is esteemed, unwholesome, and is said to produce fluxes. Besides the fruits already enumerated, there were many other vegetables extremely conducive to the cure of the malady we had long laboured under, such as water-melons, dandelion, creeping purslain, mint, scurvy-gra.s.s, and sorrel; all which, together with the fresh meats of the place, we devoured with great eagerness, prompted thereto by the strong inclination which nature never fails of exciting in s...o...b..tic disorders for these powerful specifics. It will easily be conceived from what hath been already said, that our cheer upon this island was in some degree luxurious, but I have not yet recited all the varieties of provision which we here indulged in. Indeed we thought it prudent totally to abstain from fish, the few we caught at our first arrival having surfeited those who eat of them; but considering how much we had been inured to that species of food, we did not regard this circ.u.mstance as a disadvantage, especially as the defect was so amply supplied by the beef, pork, and fowls already mentioned, and by great plenty of wild fowl; for I must observe, that near the centre of the island there were two considerable pieces of fresh water, which abounded with duck, teal, and curlew: Not to mention the whistling plover, which we found there in prodigious plenty."