A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xv Part 28

On the 15th the Resolution sailed from Long Reach, with the Discovery in company, and the same evening they anch.o.r.ed at the Nore. Next day the Discovery proceeded, in obedience to my order; but the Resolution was ordered to remain at the Nore till I should join her, being at this time in London.

As we were to touch at Otaheite and the Society Islands in our way to the intended scene of our fresh operations, it had been determined not to omit this opportunity (the only one ever likely to happen) of carrying Omai back to his native country. Accordingly, every thing being ready for our departure, he and I set out together from London on the 24th, at six o'clock in the morning. We reached Chatham, between ten and eleven o'clock; and, after dining with Commissioner Proby, he very obligingly ordered his yacht to carry us to Sheerness, where my boat was waiting to take us on board.

Omai left London with a mixture of regret and satisfaction. When we talked about England, and about those who, during his stay, had honoured him with their protection or friendship, I could observe that his spirits were sensibly affected, and that it was with difficulty he could refrain from tears. But the instant the conversation turned to his own islands, his eyes began to sparkle with joy. He was deeply impressed with a sense of the good treatment he had met with in England, and entertained the highest ideas of the country and of the people; but the pleasing prospect he now had before him of returning home, loaded with what he well knew would be esteemed invaluable treasures there, and the flattering hope which the possession of these gave him, of attaining to a distinguished superiority amongst his countrymen, were considerations which operated, by degrees, to suppress every uneasy sensation; and he seemed to be quite happy when he got on board the ship.

He was furnished by his majesty with an ample provision of every article which, during our intercourse with his country, we had observed to be in any estimation there, either as useful or as ornamental. He had, besides, received many presents of the same nature from Lord Sandwich, Sir Joseph Banks, and several other gentlemen and ladies of his acquaintance. In short, every method had been employed, both during his abode in England, and at his departure, to make him the instrument of conveying to the inhabitants of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, the most exalted opinion of the greatness and generosity of the British nation.

While the Resolution lay at the Nore, Mr King made several observations for finding the longitude by the watch. The mean of them all gave 0 44'

0" for the longitude of the ship. This, reduced to Sheerness, by the bearing and estimated distance, will make that place to be 0 37' 0" E.

of Greenwich, which is more by seven miles than Mr Lyons made it by the watch which Lord Mulgrave had with him, on his voyage toward the North Pole. Whoever knows any thing of the distance between Sheerness and Greenwich, will be a judge which of these two observations is nearest the truth.

The variation of the needle here, by a mean of different sets, taken with different compa.s.ses, was 20 37' W.

On the 25th, about noon, we weighed anchor, and made sail for the Downs through the Queen's Channel, with a gentle breeze at N.W. by W. At nine in the evening we anch.o.r.ed, with the North Foreland bearing S. by E. and Margate Point S.W. by S.

Next morning, at two o'clock, we weighed and stood round the Foreland; and when it bore north by the compa.s.s, the watch gave 1 24' E.

longitude, which, reduced to the Foreland, will be 1 21' E. Lunar observations made the preceding evening, fixed it at 1 20' E. At eight o'clock the same morning we anch.o.r.ed in the Downs. Two boats had been built for us at Deal, and I immediately sent on sh.o.r.e for them. I was told that many people had a.s.sembled there to see Omai, but, to their great disappointment, he did not land.

Having received the boats on board, and a light breeze at S.S.E.

springing up, we got under sail the next day at two o'clock in the afternoon; but the breeze soon died away, and we were obliged to anchor again till ten o'clock at night. We then weighed with the wind at E. and proceeded down the Channel.

On the 30th, at three o'clock in the afternoon, we anch.o.r.ed in Plymouth Sound, where the Discovery had arrived only three days before. I saluted Admiral Amherst, whose flag was flying on board the Ocean, with thirteen guns, and he returned the compliment with eleven.

It was the first object of our care on arriving at Plymouth, to replace the water and provisions that we had expended, and to receive on board a supply of port wine. This was the employment which occupied us on the 1st and 2d of July.

During our stay here, the crews were served with fresh beef every day.

And I should not do justice to Mr Ommanney, the agent victualler, if I did not take this opportunity to mention, that he shewed a very obliging readiness to furnish me with the best of every thing that lay within his department. I had been under the like obligations to him on my setting out upon my last voyage. Commissioner Ourry, with equal zeal for the service, gave us every a.s.sistance that we wanted from the naval yard.

It could not but occur to us as a singular and affecting circ.u.mstance, that at the very instant of our departure upon a voyage, the object of which was to benefit Europe by making fresh discoveries in North America, there should be the unhappy necessity of employing others of his majesty's ships, and of conveying numerous bodies of land forces to secure the obedience of those parts of that continent which had been discovered and settled by our countrymen in the last century. On the 6th his majesty's ships Diamond, Ambuscade, and Unicorn, with a fleet of transports, consisting of sixty-two sail, bound to America, with the last division of the Hessian troops, and some horse, were forced into the Sound by a strong N.W. wind.

On the 8th I received, by express, my instructions for the voyage, and an order to proceed to the Cape of Good Hope with the Resolution. I was also directed to leave an order for Captain Clerke to follow us as soon as he should join his ship, he being at this time detained in London.

Our first discoverers of the New World, and navigators of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, were justly thought to have exerted such uncommon abilities, and to have accomplished such perilous enterprises, that their names have been handed down to posterity as so many Argonauts.

Nay, even the hulks of the ships that carried them, though not converted into constellations in the heavens, used to be honoured and visited as sacred relics upon earth. We, in the present age of improved navigation, who have been instructed by their labours, and have followed them as our guides, have no such claim to fame. Some merit, however, being still, in the public opinion, considered as due to those who sail to unexplored quarters of the globe; in conformity to this favourable judgment, I prefixed to the account of my last voyage the names of the officers of both my ships, and a table of the number of their respective crews. The like information will be expected from me at present.

The Resolution was fitted out with the same complement of officers and men as she had before; and the Discovery's establishment varied from that of the Adventure, in the single instance of her having no marine officer on board. This arrangement was to be finally completed at Plymouth; and on the 9th we received the party of marines allotted for our voyage. Colonel Bell, who commanded the division at this port, gave me such men for the detachment as I had reason to be satisfied with. And the supernumerary seamen, occasioned by this reinforcement, being turned over into the Ocean man-of-war, our several complements remained fixed, as represented in the following table:--

RESOLUTION. DISCOVERY.

_Officers and Men. No. Officers No. Officers Names Names_.

Captains, 1 James Cook. 1 Charles Clerke.

Lieutenants, 3 John Gore. 2 James Burney.

James King. John Rickman.

John Williamson.

Master, 1 William Bligh. 1 Thomas Edgar.

Boatswain, 1 William Ewin. 1 Aneas Atkins.

Carpenter, 1 James Clevely. 1 Peter Reynolds.

Gunner, 1 Robert Anderson. 1 William Peckover.

Surgeon, 1 William Anderson. 1 John Law.

Master's Mates, 3 2 Midshipmen, 6 4 Surgeon's Mates, 2 2 Captain's Clerk, 1 1 Master at Arms, 1 Corporal, 1 Armourer, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 1 Sail Maker, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 1 Boatswain's Mates, 3 2 Carpenter's Ditto, 3 2 Gunner's Ditto, 2 1 Carpenter's Crew, 4 4 Cook, 1 1 Ditto Mate, 1 Quarter Masters, 6 4 Able Seamen, 45 33 Marines.

Lieutenants, 1 Molesworth Philips.

Serjeant, 1 1 Corporals, 2 1 Drummer, 1 1 Privates, 15 8

Total, 112 80

On the 10th, the commissioner and pay clerks came on board, and paid the officers and crew up to the 30th of last month. The petty officers and seamen had, besides, two months wages in advance. Such indulgence to the latter is no more than what is customary in the navy. But the payment of what was due to the superior officers was humanely ordered by the Admiralty, in consideration of our peculiar situation, that we might be better able to defray the very great expence of furnishing ourselves with a stock of necessaries for a voyage which, probably, would be of unusual duration, and to regions where no supply could be expected.

Nothing now obstructing my departure but a contrary wind, which blew strong at S.W., in the morning of the 11th, I delivered into the hands of Mr Burney, first lieutenant of the Discovery, Captain Clerke's sailing orders; a copy of which I also left with the officer commanding his majesty's ships at Plymouth, to be delivered to the captain immediately on his arrival. In the afternoon, the wind moderating, we weighed with the ebb, and got farther out, beyond all the shipping in the sound; where, after making an unsuccessful attempt to get to sea, we were detained most of the following day, which was employed in receiving on board a supply of water; and, by the same vessel that brought it, all the empty casks were returned.

As I did not imagine my stay at Plymouth would have been so long as it proved, we did not get our instruments on sh.o.r.e to make the necessary observations for ascertaining the longitude by the watch. For the same reason, Mr Bayly did not set about this, till he found that the Discovery would probably be detained some days after us. He then placed his quadrant upon Drake's Island; and had time, before the Resolution sailed, to make observations sufficient for the purpose we had in view.

Our watch made the island to lie 4 14', and his, 4 13 1/2', west of Greenwich. Its lat.i.tude, as found by Messrs Wales and Bayly, on the last voyage, is 50 21' 30" N.

We weighed again at eight in the evening, and stood out of the sound, with a gentle breeze at N.W. by W.

SECTION II.

_Pa.s.sage of the Resolution to Teneriffe.--Reception there.--Description of Santa Cruz Road.--Refreshment to be met with.--Observations for fixing the Longitude of Teneriffe.--Some Account of the Island.--Botanical Observations.--Cities of Santa Cruz and Loguna.--Agriculture.--Air and Climate.--Commerce.--Inhabitants_.

We had not been long out of Plymouth Sound, before the wind came more westerly, and blew fresh, so that we were obliged to ply down the Channel; and it was not till the 14th, at eight in the evening, that we were off the Lizard.

On the 16th, at noon, St Agnes's light-house on the isles of Scilly bore N.W. by W., distant seven or eight miles. Our lat.i.tude was now 49 53'

30" N., and our longitude, by the watch, 6 11' W. Hence, I reckon that St Agnes's light-house is in 49 57' 30" N. lat.i.tude, and in 6 20' of W. longitude.

On the 17th[68] and 18th we were off Ushant, and found the longitude of the island to be, by the watch, 5 18' 37" W. The variation was 23 0'

50", in the same direction.

[Footnote 68: It appears from Captain Cook's log-book, that he began his judicious operations for preserving the health of his crew, very early in the voyage. On the 17th, the ship was smoked between decks with gunpowder. The spare sails also were then well aired.--D.]

With a strong gale at S., on the 19th, we stood to the westward, till eight o'clock in the morning; when the wind shifting to the W. and N.W., we tacked and stretched to the southward. At this time, we saw nine sail of large ships, which we judged to be French men-of-war. They took no particular notice of us, nor we of them.

At ten o'clock in the morning of the 22d, we saw Cape Ortegal; which at noon bore S.E. 1/2 S., about four leagues distant. At this time we were in the lat.i.tude of 44 6' N.; and our longitude, by the watch, was 8 23" W.

After two days of calm weather, we pa.s.sed Cape Finisterre on the afternoon of the 24th, with a fine gale at N.N.E. The longitude of this cape, by the watch, is 9 29' W.; and, by the mean of forty-one lunar observations, made before and after we pa.s.sed it, and reduced to it by the watch, the result was 9 19' 12".

On the 30th, at six minutes and thirty-eight seconds past ten o'clock at night, apparent time, I observed, with a night telescope, the moon totally eclipsed. By the _ephemeris_, the same happened at Greenwich at nine minutes past eleven o'clock; the difference being one hour, two minutes, and twenty-two seconds, or 15 35' 30" of longitude. The watch, for the same time, gave 15 26' 45' longitude W.; and the lat.i.tude was 31 10' N. No other observation could be made on this eclipse, as the moon was hid behind the clouds the greater part of the time; and, in particular, when the beginning and end of total darkness, and the end of the eclipse, happened.

Finding that we had not hay and corn sufficient for the subsistence of the stock of animals on board, till our arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, I determined to touch at Teneriffe, to get a supply of these, and of the usual refreshments for ourselves; thinking that island, for such purposes, better adapted than Madeira. At four in the afternoon of the 31st, we saw Teneriffe, and steered for the eastern part. At nine, being near it, we hauled up, and stood off and on during the night.

At day-light, on the morning of the 1st of August, we sailed round the east point of the island; and, about eight o'clock, anch.o.r.ed on the S.E.

side of it, in the road of Santa Cruz, in twenty-three fathoms water; the bottom, sand and ooze. Punta de Nago, the east point of the road, bore N. 64 E.; St Francis's church, remarkable for its high steeple, W.S.W.; the Pic, S. 65 W.; and the S.W. point of the road, on which stands a fort or castle, S. 39 W. In this situation, we moored N.E. and S.W. with a cable each way, being near half a mile from the sh.o.r.e.

We found, riding in this road, La Boussole, a French frigate, commanded by the Chevalier de Borda; two brigantines of the same nation; an English brigantine from London, bound to Senegal; and fourteen sail of Spanish vessels.

No sooner had we anch.o.r.ed, than we were visited by the master of the port, who satisfied himself with asking the ship's name. Upon his leaving us, I sent an officer ash.o.r.e, to present my respects to the governor; and to ask his leave to take in water, and to purchase such articles as we were in want of. All this he granted with the greatest politeness; and, soon after, sent an officer on board, to compliment me on my arrival. In the afternoon, I waited upon him in person, accompanied by some of my officers; and, before I returned to my ship, bespoke some corn and straw for the live stock; ordered a quant.i.ty of wine from Mr McCarrick, the contractor, and made an agreement with the master of a Spanish boat to supply us with water, as I found that we could not do it ourselves.