A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xv Part 30

[Footnote 79: As a proof of Captain Cook's attention, both to the discipline and to the health of his ship's company, it may be worth while to observe here, that it appears from his log-book, he exercised them at great guns and small arms, and cleaned and smoked the ship betwixt decks, twice in the interval between the 4th and the 10th of August.--D.]

As soon as we were clear of the rocks, we steered S.S.W., till day-break next morning, and then hauled to the westward, to go between Bonavista and the isle of Mayo, intending to look into Port Praya for the Discovery, as I had told Captain Clerke that I should touch there, and did not know how soon he might sail after me. At one in the afternoon, we saw the rocks that lie on the S.W. side of Bonavista, bearing S.E., distant three or four leagues.

Next morning, at six o'clock, the isle of Mayo bore S.S.E., distant about five leagues. In this situation we sounded, and found ground at sixty fathoms. At the same time the variation, by the mean of several azimuths taken with three different compa.s.ses, was 9 32 1/2' W. At eleven o'clock, one extreme of Mayo bore E. by N., and the other S.E. by S. In this position, two roundish hills appeared near its N.E. part; farther on, a large and higher hill; and, at about two-thirds of its length, a single one that is peaked. At the distance we now saw this island, which was three or four miles, there was not the least appearance of vegetation, nor any relief to the eye from that lifeless brown which prevails in countries under the Torrid Zone that are unwooded.

Here I cannot help remarking that Mr Nichelson, in his Preface to "Sundry Remarks and Observations made in a Voyage to the East Indies,"[80] tells us, that "with eight degrees west variation, or any thing above that, you may venture to sail by the Cape de Verde Islands night or day, being well a.s.sured, with that variation, that you are to the eastward of them." Such an a.s.sertion might prove of dangerous consequence, were there any that would implicitly trust to it. We also tried the current, and found one setting S.W. by W., something more than half a mile an hour. We had reason to expect this, from the differences between the longitude given by the watch and dead reckoning, which, since our leaving Teneriffe, amounted to one degree.

[Footnote 80: On board his majesty's ship Elizabeth, from 1758 to 1764; by William Nichelson, master of the said ship.--London, 1773.]

While we were amongst these islands, we had light breezes of wind, varying from the S.E. to E., and some calms. This shews that the Cape de Verde islands are either extensive enough to break the current of the trade wind, or that they are situated just beyond its verge, in that s.p.a.ce where the variable winds, found on getting near the Line, begin.

The first supposition, however, is the most probable, as Dampier found the wind westerly here in the month of February; at which time the trade wind is supposed to extend farthest toward the equinoctial.[81] The weather was hot and sultry, with some rain; and, for the most part, a dull whiteness prevailed in the sky, that seems a medium between fog and clouds. In general, the tropical regions seldom enjoy that clear atmosphere observable where variable winds blow; nor does the sun shine with such brightness. This circ.u.mtance, however, seems an advantage; for otherwise, perhaps, the rays of the sun, being uninterrupted, would render the heat quite unsupportable. The nights are, nevertheless, often clear and serene.

[Footnote 81: Dampier's Voyages, vol. iii. p.10.--Captain Krusenstern appears to be of the same opinion, as to the Cape de Verde islands being of sufficient magnitude to alter the direction of the trade winds, remarking that S.W. winds are frequently met with there, and that if they are not, the wind is always very moderate in their vicinity. He recommends vessels, on their pa.s.sage to the equator, to take their course to the westward of these islands, so as to cross the parallel of 17, or that of the island of Antonio in 26-1/2, or even that of 27, and then to steer S.E. by S. directly to the equator. He further advises, that, if possible, the pa.s.sage of the Line be effected in 20 or 21, as then there is the advantage of a directly free wind as soon as the S.E. trade sets in, and of course the ship gets quicker to the southward. But this can rarely be done. He himself crossed the equator in 24 20' W., after a pa.s.sage of thirty days from Santa Cruz. Ships, he informs us, when crossing in a more westerly direction than 25 and 26, have been driven by strong currents, and a too southerly trade wind, so near the coast of Brazil, as not to be able to clear Cape St Augustin.

The present opportunity is taken of mentioning, that this very cautious and intelligent navigator agrees, in general, with Cook, as to Nichelson's rule. "His instructions for crossing the Line, on the voyage to India, with 6 30' and 7 00' west variation, but in returning to Europe, with eight degrees, might have been of use forty years ago, when the method of finding the longitude at sea by distances of the sun and moon was known to very few navigators, and for a time no great error was committed by pursuing them; but at present a variation of seven degrees would hardly be found on the coast of Africa."--The reason is, as the scientific reader must know, that the variation has been on the western increase since the period alluded to. Thus Nichelson found it at St Helena, in 1764, to be 11 38', and Captain Krusenstern, in 1806, a s.p.a.ce of forty-two years, 17 18' 10".--E.]

At nine o'clock in the morning of the 13th, we arrived before Port Praya, in the island of St Jago, where we saw two Dutch East India ships, and a small brigantine, at anchor. As the Discovery was not there, and we had expended but little water in our pa.s.sage from Teneriffe, I did not think proper to go in, but stood to the southward.

Some alt.i.tudes of the sun were now taken, to ascertain the true time.

The longitude by the watch, deduced therefrom, was 23 48' west; the little island in the bay bore W.N.W., distant near three miles, which will make its longitude 23 51'. The same watch, on my late voyage, made the longitude to be 23 30' W.; and we observed the lat.i.tude to be 14 53' 30" N.

The day after we left the Cape de Verde islands, we lost the N.E. trade wind; but did not get that which blows from the S.E. till the 30th, when we were in the lat.i.tude of 2 north, and in the twenty-fifth degree of west longitude.

During this interval,[82] the wind was mostly in the S.W. quarter.

Sometimes it blew fresh, and in squalls; but for the most part a gentle breeze. The calms were few, and of short duration. Between the lat.i.tude of 12 and of 7 N., the weather was generally dark and gloomy, with frequent rains, which enabled us to save as much water as filled most of our empty casks.

[Footnote 82: On the 18th, I sunk a bucket with a thermometer seventy fathoms below the surface of the sea, where it remained two minutes; and it took three minutes more to haul it up. The mercury in the thermometer was at 66, which before, in the air, stood at 78, and in the surface of the sea at 79. The water which came up in the bucket, contained, by Mr Cavendish's table, 1/25, 7 part salt; and that at the surface of the sea 1/29, 4. As this last was taken up after a smart shower of rain, it might be lighter on that account.--_Captain Cook's log-book_.]

These rains, and the close sultry weather accompanying them, too often bring on sickness in this pa.s.sage. Every bad consequence, at least, is to be apprehended from them; and commanders of ships cannot be too much upon their guard, by purifying the air between decks with fires and smoke, and by obliging the people to dry their clothes at every opportunity. These precautions were constantly observed on board the Resolution[83] and Discovery; and we certainly profited by them, for we had now fewer sick than on either of my former voyages. We had, however, the mortification to find our ship exceedingly leaky in all her upper works. The hot and sultry weather we had just pa.s.sed through, had opened her seams, which had been badly caulked at first, so wide, that they admitted the rain-water through as it fell. There was hardly a man that could lie dry in his bed; and the officers in the gun-room were all driven out of their cabins, by the water that came through the sides.

The sails in the sail-room got wet; and before we had weather to dry them, many of them were much damaged, and a great expence of canvas and of time became necessary to make them in some degree serviceable. Having experienced the same defect in our sail-rooms on my late voyage, it had been represented to the yard-officers, who undertook to remove it. But it did not appear to me that any thing had been done to remedy the complaint. To repair these defects the caulkers were set to work, as soon as we got into fair and settled weather, to caulk the decks and inside weather-works of the ship; for I would not trust them over the sides while we were at sea.

[Footnote 83: The particulars are mentioned in his log-book. On the 14th of August a fire was made in the well, to air the ship below. On the 15th, the spare sails were aired upon deck, and a fire made to air the sail-room. On the 17th, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks, and the bread-room aired with fires. On the 21st, cleaned and smoked betwixt decks; and on the 22d, the men's bedding was spread on deck to air.--D.]

On the first of September[84] we crossed the equator, in the longitude of 27 38' W., with a fine gale at S.E. by S.; and notwithstanding my apprehensions of falling in with the coast of Brazil in stretching to the S.W., I kept the ship a full point from the wind. However, I found my fears were ill-grounded; for on drawing near that coast, we met with the wind more and more easterly; so that, by the time we were in the lat.i.tude of 10 S., we could make a south-easterly course good.

[Footnote 84: The afternoon, as appears from Mr Anderson's Journal, was spent in performing the old and ridiculous ceremony of ducking those who had not crossed the equator before. Though Captain Cook did not suppress the custom, he thought it too trifling to deserve the least mention of it in his Journal, or even in his log-book. Pernetty, the writer of Bougainville's Voyage to the Falkland Islands, in 1763 and 1764, thought differently; for his account of the celebration of this childish festival on board his ship, is extended through seventeen pages, and makes the subject of an entire chapter, under the t.i.tle of _Bapteme de la Ligne_.

It may be worth while to transcribe his introduction to the description of it. "C'est un usage qui ne remonte pas plus haut que ce voyage celebre de Gama, qui a fourni au Camoens le sujet de la Lusiade. L'idee qu'on ne scauroit etre un bon marin, sans avoir traverse l'Equateur, l'ennui inseparable d'une longue navigation, un certain esprit republicain qui regne dans toutes les pet.i.tes societes, peut-etre toutes ces causes reunies, ont pu donner naissance a ces especes de saturnales.

Quoiqu'il en soi, elles furent adoptees, en un instant, dans toutes les nations, et les hommes les plus eclaires furent obliges de se soumettre a une coutume dont ils reconnoissoient l'absurdite. Car, partout, des que le peuple parle, il faut que le sage se mette a l'unison."--_Histoire d'un Voyage aux Isles Malouines_, p. 107, 108.--D.]

On the 8th, we were in the lat.i.tude of 8 57' S.; which is a little to the southward of Cape St Augustine, on the coast of Brazil. Our longitude, deduced from a very great number of lunar observations, was 34 16' W.; and by the watch, 34 47'. The former is 1 43', and the latter 2 14' more westerly than the island of Fernando de Noronha, the situation of which was pretty well determined during my late voyage.

Hence I concluded that we could not now be farther from the continent than twenty or thirty leagues at most; and perhaps not much less, as we neither had soundings nor any other signs of land. Dr Halley, however, in his voyage, published by Mr Dalrymple, tells us,[85] that "he made no more than one hundred and two miles, meridian distance, from the island [Fernando de Noronha] to the coast of Brazil;" and seems to think that "currents could not be the whole cause" of his making so little. But I rather think that he was mistaken, and that the currents had hurried him far to the westward of his intended course. This was, in some measure, confirmed by our own observations; for we had found, during three or four days preceding the 8th, that the currents set to the westward; and, during the last twenty-four hours, it had set strong to the northward, as we experienced a difference of twenty-nine miles between our observed lat.i.tude and that by dead reckoning. Upon the whole, till some better astronomical observations are made on sh.o.r.e on the eastern coast of Brazil, I shall conclude that its longitude is thirty-five degrees and a half, or thirty-six degrees W., at most.

[Footnote 85: Page 11.]

We proceeded on our voyage, without meeting with any thing of note, till the 6th of October. Being then in the lat.i.tude of 35 15' S., longitude 7 45' W., we met with light airs and calms by turns, for three days successively. We had, for some days before, seen albatrosses, pintadoes, and other petrels; and here we saw three penguins, which occasioned us to sound; but we found no ground with a line of one hundred and fifty fathoms. We put a boat in the water, and shot a few birds; one of which was a black petrel, about the size of a crow, and, except as to the bill and feet, very like one. It had a few white feathers under the throat; and the under-side of the quill-feathers were of an ash-colour. All the other feathers were jet black, as also the bill and legs.

On the 8th, in the evening, one of those birds which sailors call noddies, settled on our rigging, and was caught. It was something larger than an English black-bird, and nearly as black, except the upper part of the head, which was white, looking as if it were powdered; the whitest feathers growing out from the base of the upper bill, from which they gradually a.s.sumed a darker colour, to about the middle of the upper part of the neck, where the white shade was lost in the black, without being divided by any line. It was web-footed; had black legs and a black bill, which was long, and not unlike that of a curlew. It is said these birds never fly far from land. We knew of none nearer the station we were in, than Gough's or Richmond Island, from which our distance could not be less than one hundred leagues. But it must be observed that the Atlantic Ocean, to the southward of this lat.i.tude, has been but little frequented; so that there may be more islands there than we are acquainted with.

We frequently, in the night, saw those luminous marine animals mentioned and described in my first voyage. Some of them seemed to be considerably larger than any I had before met with; and sometimes they were so numerous, that hundreds were visible at the same moment.

This calm weather was succeeded by a fresh gale from the N.W., which lasted two days. Then we had again variable light airs for about twenty-four hours; when the N.W. wind returned, and blew with such strength, that on the 17th we had sight of the Cape of Good Hope; and the next day anch.o.r.ed in Table Bay, in four fathoms water, with the church bearing S.W. 1/4 S., and Green Point N.W. 1/4 W.

As soon as we had received the usual visit from the master attendant and the surgeon, I sent an officer to wait on Baron Plettenberg, the governor; and, on his return, saluted the garrison with thirteen guns, which compliment was returned with the same number.

We found in the bay two French East India ships; the one outward, and the other homeward bound. And two or three days before our arrival, another homeward-bound ship of the same nation had parted from her cable, and been driven on sh.o.r.e at the head of the bay, where she was lost. The crew were saved; but the greatest part of the cargo shared the same fate with the ship, or (which amounted to the same) was plundered and stolen by the inhabitants, either out of the ship, or as it was driven or carried on sh.o.r.e. This is the account the French officers gave to me; and the Dutch themselves could not deny the fact. But, by way of excusing themselves from being guilty of a crime disgraceful to every civilized state, they endeavoured to lay the whole blame on the French captain, for not applying in time for a guard.

As soon as we had saluted, I went on sh.o.r.e, accompanied by some of my officers, and waited on the Governor, the Lieutenant-Governor, the Fiscal, and the Commander of the troops. These gentlemen received me with the greatest civility; and the Governor, in particular, promised me every a.s.sistance that the place afforded. At the same time I obtained his leave to set up our observatory on any spot I should think most convenient; to pitch tents for the sail-makers and coopers; and to bring the cattle on sh.o.r.e, to graze near our encampment. Before I returned on board, I ordered soft bread, fresh meat, and greens, to be provided, every day, for the ship's company.

On the 22d, we set up the tents and observatory, and began to send the several articles out of the ship which I wanted on sh.o.r.e. This could not be done sooner, as the militia of the place were exercising on, or near, the ground which we were to occupy.

The next day, we began to observe equal alt.i.tudes of the sun, in order to ascertain the rate of the watch, or, which is the same thing, to find whether it had altered its rate. These observations were continued every day, whenever the weather would permit, till the time of our departure drew near. But before this, the caulkers had been set to work to caulk the ship; and I had concerted measures with Messrs Brandt and Chiron, for supplying both ships with such provisions as I should want. Bakers, likewise, had been ordered, immediately after our arrival, to bake such a quant.i.ty of bread as I thought would be requisite. As fast as the several articles destined for the Resolution were got ready, they were carried on board.

On the 26th, the French ship sailed for Europe, and by her we sent letters to England. The next day, the Hampshire East India ship, from Bencoolen, anch.o.r.ed in the bay, and saluted us with thirteen guns, which we returned with eleven.

Nothing remarkable happened till the evening of the 31st, when it came on to blow excessively hard at S.E., and continued for three days; during which time there was no communication between the ship and the sh.o.r.e. The Resolution was the only ship in the bay that rode out the gale without dragging her anchors. We felt its effects as sensibly on sh.o.r.e. Our tents and observatory were torn to pieces; and our astronomical quadrant narrowly escaped irreparable damage. On the 3d of November the storm ceased, and the next day we resumed our different employments.

On the 6th, the Hampshire India ship sailed for England. In her I sent home an invalid, whom Captain Trimble was so obliging as to receive on board. I was afterward sorry that I had not availed myself of this opportunity to part with two or three more of my crew, who were troubled with different complaints; but, at this time, there was some hope of their health being re-established.

In the morning of the 10th, the Discovery arrived in the bay. Captain Clerke informed me that he had sailed from Plymouth on the 1st of August, and should have been with us here a week sooner, if the gale of wind had not blown him off the coast. Upon the whole, he was seven days longer in his pa.s.sage from England than we had been. He had the misfortune to lose one of his marines, by falling overboard; but there had been no other mortality amongst his people, and they now arrived well and healthy.

Captain Clerke having represented to me that his ship was in want of caulking; that no time might be lost in repairing this defect, next day I sent all my workmen on board her, having already completed this service on board the Resolution. I lent every other a.s.sistance to the captain to expedite his supply of provisions and water, having given him an order to receive on board as much of both articles as he could conveniently stow. I now found that the bakers had failed in baking the bread I had ordered for the Discovery. They pretended a want of flour; but the truth was, they were doubtful of her coming, and did not care to begin till they saw her at anchor in the bay.

I have before made mention of our getting our cattle on sh.o.r.e. The bull and two cows, with their calves, were sent to graze along with some other cattle; but I was advised to keep our sheep, sixteen in number, close to our tents, where they were penned up every night. During the night preceding the 14th, some dogs having got in amongst them, forced them out of the pen, killing four, and dispersing the rest. Six of them were recovered the next day; but the two rams, and two of the finest ewes in the whole flock, were amongst those missing. Baron Plettenberg being now in the country, I applied to the Lieutenant-Governor, Mr Hemmy, and to the Fiscal. Both these gentlemen promised to use their endeavours for the recovery of the lost sheep. The Dutch, we know, boasted that the police at the Cape was so carefully executed, that it was hardly possible for a slave, with all his cunning and knowledge of the country, to effectuate his escape. Yet my sheep evaded all the vigilance of the Fiscal's officers and people. However, after much trouble and expence, by employing some of the meanest and lowest scoundrels in the place (who, to use the phrase of the person who recommended this method to me, would, for a ducatoon, cut their master's throat, burn the house over his head, and bury him and the whole family in the ashes), I recovered them all but the two ewes. Of these I never could bear the least tidings; and I gave over all enquiry after them, when I was told that, since I had got the two rams, I might think myself very well off. One of these, however, was so much hurt by the dogs, that there was reason to believe he would never recover.

Mr Hemmy very obligingly offered to make up this loss, by giving me a Spanish ram, out of some that he had sent for from Lisbon. But I declined the offer, under a persuasion that it would answer my purpose full as well, to take with me some of the Cape rams: the event proved that I was under a mistake. This gentleman had taken some pains to introduce European sheep at the Cape; but his endeavours, as he told me, had been frustrated by the obstinacy of the country people, who held their own breed in greater estimation, on account of their large tails, of the fat of which, they sometimes made more money than of the whole carcase besides; and who thought that the wool of European sheep would, by no means, make up for their deficiency in this respect.[86] Indeed, I have heard some sensible men here make the same observation. And there seems to be foundation for it. For, admitting that European sheep were to produce wool of the same quality here as in Europe, which experience has shewn not to be the case, the Dutch had not hands, at the Cape of Good Hope, to spare for the manufacturing even their own clothing. It is certain that, were it not for the continual importation of slaves, this settlement would have been thinner of people than any other inhabited part of the world.

[Footnote 86: "The most remarkable thing in the Cape sheep, is the length and thickness of their tails, which weigh from fifteen to twenty pounds. The fat is not so tallowish as that of European mutton, and the poorer sort use it for b.u.t.ter."--_Kolben's Cape of Good Hope_ (English translation), vol. ii. p. 65. De la Caille, who finds every thing wrong in Kolben, says, the weight of the tails of the Cape sheep is not above five or six pounds.--_Voyage de la Caille_, p. 343. If the information given to Captain Cook may be depended upon, it will prove, that, in this instance at least, Kolben is unjustly accused of exaggeration.--D.

According to Mr Bingley and others, the tail of this sheep sometimes weighs nearly one-third of the whole carcase, and consists of a substance intermediate betwixt fat and marrow, which is often used instead of b.u.t.ter. The fleeces are very fine, long and beautiful; and, in Thibet, where the breed is also found, are worked into shawls. A similar breed is said to be found in other countries, as Barbary, Ethiopia, the vicinity of Aleppo, Persia, and Asiatic Russia. Kolben's account is conceived to be perfectly credible.--E.]

While the ships were getting ready for the prosecution of our voyage, some of our officers made an excursion to take a view of the neighbouring country. Mr Anderson, my surgeon, who was one of the party, gave me the following relation of their proceedings.[87]

[Footnote 87: In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. lxvi. p. 268 to 319, is an Account of Three Journies from the Cape Town into the Southern Parts of Africa, in 1772, 1773, and 1774; by Mr Francis Ma.s.son, who had been sent from England for the discovery of new plants, towards the improvement of the Royal Botanical Garden at Kew. Much curious information is contained in Mr Ma.s.son's account of these journies. M. de Pages, who was at the Cape in 1773, gives some remarks on the state of that settlement, and also the particulars of his journey from False Bay to the Cape Town.--_Voyage vers le Pole du Sud_, p. 17 to 32.--D.

It is unnecessary to apprise the reader, that our acquaintance with the Cape has been most materially increased since the date of this publication, and that several travellers have devoted their labours to the ill.u.s.tration of its natural history.--E.]

"On the 16th, in the forenoon, I set out in a waggon, with five more, to take a view of some part of the country. We crossed the large plain that lies to the eastward of the town, which is entirely a white sand, like that commonly found on beaches, and produces only heath, and other small plants of various sorts. At five in the afternoon we pa.s.sed a large farm-house, with some corn-fields, and pretty considerable vineyards, situated beyond the plain, near the foot of some low hills, where the soil becomes worth cultivating. Between six and seven we arrived at Stellenbosh, the colony next to that of the Cape for its importance.

"The village does not consist of more than thirty houses, and stands at the foot of the range of lofty mountains, above twenty miles to the eastward of the Cape Town. The houses are neat; and, with the advantage of a rivulet which runs near, and the shelter of some large oaks, planted at its first settling, forms what may be called a rural prospect in this desert country. There are some vineyards and orchards about the place, which, from their thriving appearance, seem to indicate an excellent soil; though, perhaps, they owe much to climate, as the air here has an uncommon serenity.

"I employed the next day in searching for plants and insects about Stellenbosh, but had little success. Few plants are in flower here at this season, and insects but scarce. I examined the soil in several places, and found it to consist of yellowish clay, mixed with a good deal of sand. The sides of the low hills, which appear brown, seem to be const.i.tuted of a sort of stone marl.

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

"In the afternoon we crossed the country, and pa.s.sed a few plantations, one of which seemed very considerable, and was laid out in a taste somewhat different from any other we saw. In the evening we arrived at a farm-house, which is the first in the cultivated tract called the Pearl.

We had, at the same time, a view of Drakenstein, the third colony of this country, which lies along by the foot of the lofty hills already mentioned, and contains several farms or plantations, not very extensive.