A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xvi Part 11

They stain their gourd-sh.e.l.ls prettily with undulated lines, triangles, and other figures of a black colour; instances of which we saw practised at New Zealand. And they seem to possess the art of varnishing; for some of these stained gourd-sh.e.l.ls are covered with a kind of lacker; and, on other occasions, they use a strong size, or gluey substance, to fasten their things together. Their wooden dishes and, bowls, out of which they drink their _ova_, are of the _etooa_-tree, or _cordia_, as neat as if made in our turning-lathe, and perhaps better polished. And amongst their articles of handicraft, may be reckoned small square fans of mat or wicker-work, with handles tapering from them of the same, or of wood; which are neatly wrought with small cords of hair, and fibres of the cocoa-nut coir intermixed.

The great variety of fishing-hooks are ingeniously made; some of bone, others of wood pointed with bone, and many of pearl sh.e.l.l. Of the last, some are like a sort that we saw at Tongataboo; and others simply curved, as the common sort at Otaheite, as well as the wooden ones. The bones are mostly small, and composed of two pieces; and all the different sorts have a barb, either on the inside, like ours, or on the outside, opposite the same part; but others have both, the outer one being farthest from the point. Of this last sort, one was procured nine inches long, of a single piece of bone, which doubtless belonged to some large fish. The elegant form and polish of this could not certainly be outdone by any European artist, even if he should add all his knowledge in design to the number and convenience of his tools. They polish their stones by constant friction, with pumice-stone in water; and such of their working instruments, or tools, as I saw, resembled those of the Southern Islands. Their hatchets, or rather adzes, were exactly of the same pattern, and either made of the same sort of blackish stone, or of a clay-coloured one. They have also little instruments, made of a single shark's tooth, some of which are fixed to the fore-part of a dog's jawbone, and others to a thin wooden handle of the same shape; and at the other end there is a bit of string fastened through a small perforation.

These serve as knives occasionally, and are perhaps used in carving.

The only iron tools, or rather bits of iron, seen amongst them, and which they had before our arrival, were a piece of iron hoop, about two inches long, fitted into a wooden handle;[2] and another edge-tool, which our people guessed to be made of the point of a broad-sword. Their having the actual possession of these, and their so generally knowing the use of this metal, inclined some on board to think that we had not been the first European visitors of these islands. But it seems to me, that the very great surprise expressed by them on seeing our ships, and their total ignorance of the use of fire-arms, cannot be reconciled with such a notion. There are many ways by which such people may get pieces of iron, or acquire the knowledge of the existence of such a metal, without having ever had an immediate connection with nations that use it. It can hardly be doubted, that it was unknown to all the inhabitants of this sea, before Magalhaens led the way into it; for no discoverer, immediately after his voyage, ever found any of this metal in their possession; though, in the course of our late voyages, it has been observed, that the use of it was known at several islands, to which no former European ships had ever, as far as we know, found their way. At all the places where Mendana touched in his two voyages, it must have been seen and left; and this would extend the knowledge of it, no doubt, to all the various islands with which those whom he had visited had any immediate intercourse. It might even be carried farther; and where specimens of this favourite article could not be procured, descriptions might, in some measure, serve to make it known when afterward seen. The next voyage to the southward of the Line, in which any intercourse was had with the natives of this ocean, was that of Quiros, who landed at Sagittaria, the Island of Handsome People, and at Tierra del Espiritu Santo; at all which places, and at those with whom they had any communication, it must of consequence have been made known. To him succeeded, in this navigation, Le Maire and Schouten, whose connections with the natives commenced much farther to the eastward, and ended at Cocos and Horn Islands. It was not surprising, that when I visited Tongataboo, in 1773, I should find a bit of iron there, as we knew that Tasman had visited it before me; but let us suppose, that he had never discovered the Friendly Islands, our finding iron, amongst them would have occasioned much speculation; though we have mentioned before the method by which they had gained a renewal of their knowledge of this metal, which confirms my hypothesis. For Neeootaboo taboo, or Boscawen's Island, where Captain Wallis's ships left it, and from whence Poulaho received it, lies some degrees to the north-west of Tongataboo. It is well known, that Roggewein lost one of his ships on the Pernicious Islands; which, from their situation, are probably not unknown to, though not frequently visited by, the inhabitants of Otaheite and the Society Islands. It is equally certain, that these last people had a knowledge of iron, and purchased it with the greatest avidity, when Captain Wallis discovered Otaheite; and this knowledge could only have been acquired through the medium of those neighbouring islands where it had been originally left. Indeed, they acknowledge that this was actually the case; and they have told us since, that they held it in such estimation before Captain Wallis's arrival, that a chief of Otaheite, who had got two nails into his possession, received no small emolument, by letting out the use of these to his neighbours for the purpose of boring holes, when their own methods failed, or were thought too tedious.[3] The men of the Society Islands whom we found at Wateeoo, had been driven thither, long after the knowledge and use of iron had thus been introduced amongst their countrymen; and though probably they had no specimen of it with them, they would naturally, and with ease, communicate at that island their knowledge of this valuable material by description. From the people of Wateeoo, again, those of Hervey's Island might derive that desire to possess some of it, of which we had proofs during our short intercourse with them.

[Footnote 2: Captain King, we are told, purchased this, and had it in his possession at the time of publishing this account.--E.]

[Footnote 3: A similar instance of profitable revenue, drawn from the use of nails by the chiefs of the Caroline Islands, is mentioned by Father Cantova: "Si, par hazard, un vaisseau etranger laisse dans leurs Isles quelques vieux morceaux de fer, ils appartiennent de droit aux Tamoles, qui en font faire des outils, le mieux qu'il est possible. Ces outils sent un fond le Tamole tire un revenu considerable, car il les donne a louage, et ce louage se paye a.s.sez chere."--P. 314.]

The consideration of these facts sufficiently explains, how the knowledge of iron has been conveyed throughout this ocean to islands which never have had an immediate intercourse with Europeans; and it may easily be conceived, that wherever the history of it only has been reported, or a very small quant.i.ty of it has been left, the greater eagerness will be shewn by the natives to get copious supplies of it. The application of these particulars to the instance now under consideration, is obvious. The people of Atooi and Oneeheow, without having ever been visited by Europeans before us, might have received it from intermediate islands lying between them and the Ladrones, which have been frequented by the Spaniards almost ever since the date of Magalhaens's voyage. Or if the distant western situation of the Ladrones should render this solution less probable, is there not the extensive continent of America to windward, where the Spaniards have been settled for more than two hundred years; during which long period of time, shipwrecks must have frequently happened on its coasts?

It cannot be thought at all extraordinary, that part of such wrecks containing iron, should, by the easterly trade wind, be, from time to time, cast upon islands scattered about this vast ocean. The distance of Atooi from America is no argument against this supposition. But even if it were, it would not destroy it. This ocean is traversed every year by Spanish ships; and it is obvious, that, besides the accident of losing a mast and its appendages, casks with iron hoops, and many other things containing iron, may be thrown or may fall overboard during so long a pa.s.sage, and thus find their way to land.

But these are not mere conjectures and possibilities; for one of my people actually did see some wood in one of the houses at Wymoa, which he judged to be fir. It was worm-eaten, and the natives gave him to understand, that it had been driven ash.o.r.e by the waves of the sea; and we had their own express testimony, that they had got the inconsiderable specimens of iron, found amongst them, from some place to the eastward.

From this digression (if it can be called so) I return to the observations made during our stay at Atooi; and some account must now be given of their canoes. These, in general, are about twenty-four feet long, and have the bottom, for the most part, formed of a single piece or log of wood, hollowed out to the thickness of an inch, or an inch and a half, and brought to a point at each end. The sides consist of three boards, each about an inch thick, and neatly fitted and lashed to the bottom part. The extremities, both at head and stern, are a little raised, and both are made sharp, somewhat like a wedge; but they flatten more abruptly; so that the two sideboards join each other side by side, for more than a foot. As they are not more than fifteen or eighteen inches broad, those that go single (for they sometimes join them as at the other islands) have outriggers, which are shaped and fitted with more judgment than any I had before seen.

They are rowed by paddles, such as we had generally met with; and some of them have a light triangular sail, like those of the Friendly Islands, extending to a mast and boom. The ropes used for their boats, and the smaller cords for their fishing-tackle, are strong and well made.

What we saw of their agriculture, furnished sufficient proofs that they are not novices in that art. The vale ground has already been mentioned as one continued plantation of _taro_, and a few other things, which have all the appearance of being well attended to. The potatoe fields, and spots of sugar-cane, or plantains on the higher grounds, are planted with the same regularity; and always in some determinate figure, generally as a square or oblong; but neither these, nor the others, are enclosed with any kind of fence, unless we reckon the ditches in the low grounds such, which, it is more probable, are intended to convey water to the _taro_. The great quant.i.ty and goodness of these articles may also, perhaps, be as much attributed to skilful culture as to natural fertility of soil, which seems better adapted to them than to bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees; the few which we saw of these latter not being in a thriving state, which will sufficiently account for the preference given to the culture of the other articles, though more labour be required to produce them. But, notwithstanding this skill in agriculture, the general appearance of the island shewed, that it was capable of much more extensive improvement, and of maintaining, at least, three times the number of the inhabitants that are at present upon it; for the far greater part of it, that now lies quite waste, seemed to be as good a soil as those parts of it that are in cultivation. We must therefore conclude, that these people, from some cause, which we were not long enough amongst them to be able to trace, do not increase in that proportion, which would make it necessary to avail themselves of the extent of their island, toward raising a greater quant.i.ty of its vegetable productions for their subsistence.

Though I did not see a chief of any note, there were however several, as the natives informed us, who reside upon Atooi, and to whom they prostrate themselves as a mark of submission; which seems equivalent to the _moe_, _moea_, paid to the chiefs of the Friendly Islands, and is called here _hamoea_, or _moe_. Whether they were at first afraid to shew themselves, or happened to be absent, I cannot say; but, after I had left the island, one of these great men made his appearance, and paid a visit to Captain Clerke, on board the Discovery. He came off in a double canoe; and, like the king of the Friendly Islands, paid no regard to the small canoes that happened to lie in his way, but ran against, or over them, without endeavouring in the least to avoid them. And it was not possible for these poor people to avoid him, for they could not manage their canoes; it being a necessary mark of their submission that they should lie down till he had pa.s.sed. His attendants helped him into the ship, and placed him on the gangway.

Their care of him did not cease then; for they stood round him, holding each other by the hands; nor would they suffer any one to come near him but Captain Clerke himself. He was a young man, clothed from head to foot, and accompanied by a young woman, supposed to be his wife. His name was said to be Tamahano. Captain Clerke made him some suitable presents; and received from him, in return, a large bowl, supported by two figures of men, the carving of which, both as to the design and execution, shewed some degree of skill. This bowl, as our people were told, used to be filled with the _kava_ or _ava_, (as it is called at Otaheite), which liquor they prepare and drink here as at the other islands in this ocean. Captain Clerke could not prevail upon this great man to go below, nor to move from the place where his attendants had first fixed him. After staying some time in the ship, he was carried again into his canoe, and returned to the island, receiving the same honours from all the natives as when he came on board. The next day several messages were sent to Captain Clerke, inviting him to return the visit ash.o.r.e, and acquainting him that the chief had prepared a large present on that occasion. But, being anxious to get to sea, and join the Resolution, the Captain did not think it advisable to accept of the invitation.

The very short and imperfect intercourse which we had with the natives, put it out of our power to form any accurate judgment of the mode of government established amongst them; but, from the general resemblance of customs, and particularly from what we observed of the honours paid to their chiefs, it seems reasonable to believe, that it is of the same nature with that which prevails throughout all the islands we had hitherto visited; and probably their wars amongst themselves are equally frequent. This, indeed, might be inferred from the number of weapons which we found them possessed of, and from, the excellent order these were kept in. But we had direct proof of the fact from their own confession; and, as we understood, these wars are between the different districts of their own island, as well as between it and their neighbours of Oneeheow and Orrehoua, we need scarcely a.s.sign any other cause besides this to account for the appearance already mentioned, of their population bearing no proportion to the extent of their ground capable of cultivation.

Besides their spears or lances, made of a fine chesnut-coloured wood, beautifully polished, some of which are barbed at one end, and flattened to a point at the other, they have a sort of weapon which we had never seen before, and not mentioned by any navigator, as used by the natives of the South Sea. It is somewhat like a dagger, in general about a foot and a half long, sharpened at one or both ends, and secured to the hand by a string. Its use is to stab in close fight; and it seems well adapted to the purpose. Some of these may be called double daggers, having a handle in the middle, with which they are better enabled to strike different ways. They have also bows and arrows; but, both from their apparent scarcity and their slender make, it may almost be presumed that they never use them in battle. The knife or saw, formerly mentioned, with which they dissect the dead bodies, may also be ranked amongst their weapons, as they both strike and cut with it when closely engaged. It is a small flat wooden instrument, of an oblong shape, about a foot long, rounded at the corners, with a handle almost like one sort of the _patoos_ of New Zealand; but its edges are entirely surrounded with sharks' teeth, strongly fixed to it, and pointing outward; having commonly a hole in the handle, through which pa.s.ses a long string, which is wrapped several times round the wrist. We also suspected that they use slings on some occasions; for we got some pieces of the _haemat.i.tes_, or blood-stone, artificially made of an oval shape, divided longitudinally, with a narrow groove in the middle of the convex part.

To this the person, who had one of them, applied a cord of no great thickness, but would not part with it, though he had no objection to part with the stone, which must prove fatal, when thrown with any force, as it weighed a pound. We likewise saw some oval pieces of whetstone, well polished, but somewhat pointed toward each end, nearly resembling in shape some stones which we had seen at New Caledonia in 1774, and used there in their slings.

What we could learn of their religions inst.i.tutions, and the manner of disposing of their dead, which may properly be considered as closely connected, has been already mentioned. And as nothing more strongly points out the affinity between the manners of these people and of the Friendly and Society Islands, I must just mention some other circ.u.mstances to place this in a strong point of view, and at the same time to shew how a few of the infinite modifications, of which a few leading principles are capable, may distinguish any particular nation.

The people of Tongataboo inter their dead in a very decent manner, and they also inter their human sacrifices; but they do not offer, or expose any other animal, or even vegetable, to their G.o.ds, as far as we know. Those of Otaheite do not inter their dead, but expose them to waste by time and putrefaction, though the bones are afterward buried; and as this is the case, it is very remarkable that they should inter the entire bodies of their human sacrifices. They also offer other animals and vegetables to their G.o.ds; but are by no means attentive to the state of the sacred places where those solemn rites are performed; most of their _morais_ being in a ruinous condition, and bearing evident marks of neglect. The people of Atooi, again, inter both their common dead and human sacrifices, as at Tongataboo; but they resemble those of Otaheite in the slovenly state of their religious places, and in offering vegetables and animals to their G.o.ds.

The _taboo_ also prevails in Atooi in its full extent, and seemingly with much more rigour than even at Tongataboo. For the people here always asked, with great eagerness and signs of fear to offend, whether any particular thing, which they desired to see, or we were unwilling to shew, was _taboo_, or, as they p.r.o.nounced the word, _tafoo_? The _maia_, _rua_, or forbidden articles at the Society Islands, though doubtless the same thing, did not seem to be so strictly observed by them, except with respect to the dead, about whom we thought them more superst.i.tious than any of the others were. But these are circ.u.mstances with which we are not as yet sufficiently acquainted to be decisive about; and I shall only just observe, to shew the similitude in other matters connected with religion, that the priests, or _tahounas_, here, are as numerous as at the other islands; if we may judge, from our being able, during our short stay, to distinguish several saying their _poore_ or prayer.

But whatever resemblance we might discover, in the general manners of the people of Atooi to those of Otaheite, these, of course, were less striking than the coincidence of language, indeed, the languages of both places may be said to be almost, word for word, the same. It is true, that we sometimes remarked particular words to be p.r.o.nounced exactly as we had found at New Zealand and the Friendly Islands; but, though all the four dialects are indisputably the same, these people, in general, have neither the strong guttural p.r.o.nunciation of the former, nor a less degree of it, which also distinguishes the latter; and they have not only adopted the soft mode of the Otaheitans, in avoiding harsh sounds, but the whole idiom of their language; using not only the same affixes and suffixes to their words, but the same measure and cadence in their songs; though, in a manner, somewhat less agreeable. There seems, indeed, at first hearing, some disagreement to the ear of a stranger; but it ought to be considered, that the people of Otaheite, from their frequent connections with the English, had learnt it, in some measure, to adapt themselves to our scanty knowledge of their language, by using not only the most common, but even corrupted expressions, in conversation with us; whereas, when they conversed among themselves, and used the several parts necessary to propriety of speech, they were scarcely at all understood by those amongst us, who had made the greatest proficiency in their vocabulary.

A catalogue of words was collected at Atooi by Mr Anderson, who lost no opportunity of making our voyage useful to those who amuse themselves in tracing the migrations of the various tribes or families that have peopled the globe, by the most convincing of all arguments, that drawn from affinity of language.

How shall we account for this nation's having spread itself, in so many detached islands, so widely disjoined from each other, in every quarter of the Pacific Ocean! We find it, from New Zealand, in the south, as far as the Sandwich Islands to the north! And, in another direction, from Easter Island to the Hebrides! that is, over an extent of sixty degrees of lat.i.tude, or twelve hundred leagues, north and south! and eighty-three degrees of longitude, or sixteen hundred and sixty leagues east and west! How much farther, in either direction, its colonies reach is not known; but what we know already, in consequence of this and our former voyage, warrants us in p.r.o.nouncing it to be, though perhaps not the most numerous, certainly, by far, the most extensive nation upon the earth.[4]

[Footnote 4: See more about the great extent of the colonies of this nation in the Introductory Preface.]

Had the Sandwich Islands been discovered at an early period by the Spaniards, there is little doubt that they would have taken advantage of so excellent a situation, and have made use of Atooi, or some other of the islands, as a refreshing place to the ships that sail annually from Acapulco for Manilla. They lie almost midway between the first place and Guam, one of the Ladrones, which is at present their only port in traversing this vast ocean; and it would not have been a week's sail out of their common route to have touched at them; which could have been done without running the least hazard of losing the pa.s.sage, as they are sufficiently within the verge of the easterly trade-wind. An acquaintance with the Sandwich Islands would have been equally favourable to our Buccaneers, who used sometimes to pa.s.s from the coast of America to the Ladrones, with a stock of food and water scarcely sufficient to preserve life. Here they might always have found plenty, and have been within a month's sure sail of the very part of California, which the Manilla ship is obliged to make, or else have returned to the coast of America, thoroughly refitted, after an absence of two months. How happy would Lord Anson have been, and what hardships would he have avoided, if he had known that there was a group of islands half way between America and Tinian, where all his wants could have been effectually supplied; and in describing which, the elegant historian of that voyage would have presented his reader with a more agreeable picture than I have been able to draw in this chapter![5]

[Footnote 5: We defer considering the curious subject of the ident.i.ty and origin of the people that inhabit the South Sea, till other relations shall have put the reader in possession of the facts requisite for the discussion. Of the Sandwich Islands, we shall hereafter probably have mere complete information than is now given.--E.]

SECTION XIII.

_Observations made at the Sandwich Islands, on the Longitude, Variation of the Compa.s.s and Tides.--Prosecution of the Voyage.--Remarks on the Mildness of the Weather, as far as the Lat.i.tude 44 North.--Paucity of Sea Birds, in the Northern Hemisphere.--Small Sea Animals described.--Arrival on the Coast of America.--Appearance of the Country.--Unfavourable Winds and boisterous Weather.--Remarks on Martin de Aguilar's River, and Juan de Fuca's pretended Strait.--An Inlet discovered, where the Ships anchor.--Behaviour of the Natives._

After the Discovery had joined us, we stood away to the northward, close hauled, with a gentle gale from the east; and nothing occurring, in this situation, worthy of a place in my narrative, the reader will permit me to insert here the nautical observations which I had opportunities of making relative to the islands we had left; and which we had been fortunate enough to add to the geography of this part of the Pacific Ocean.

The longitude of the Sandwich Islands was determined by seventy-two sets of lunar observations; some of which were made while we were at anchor in the road of Wymoa; others before we arrived, and after we left it, and reduced to it by the watch or time-keeper. By the mean result of these observations, the longitude of the road is

200 13' 0" East.

Time-keeper / Greenwich rate, 200 0' 0"

Ulietea rate, 200 21' 0"

The lat.i.tude of the road, by the mean of two meridian observations } 21 56' 15" North.

of the sun /

The observations for the variation of the compa.s.s did not agree very well among themselves. It is true, they were not all made exactly in the same spot. The different situations, however, could make very little difference. But the whole will be seen, by casting an eye on the following table.

Time. Lat.i.tude. Longitude. Compa.s.s. East Mean variation. Variation.

Jan. 18th. A.M. 21 12' 200 41' Gregory's 10 10' 10" Knight's 9 20' 5" } 90 51' 38"

Martin's 10 4' 40"/

19th. P.M. 21 51' 200 20' Knight's 10 2' 10" 10 37' 10"

Gregory's 11 12' 30"/

28th. A.M. 21 22' 199 56' Gregory's 9 1' 20" Knight's 9 1' 25" } 9 26' 57"

Martin's 10 18' 5"/

28th. P.M. 21 36' 199 50' Gregory's 11 21' 15" Knight's 10 40' 0" } 11 12' 50"

Martin's 11 37' 50"/

Means of the} 21 29' 200 12' 10 17' 11"

above }

On January 18. 21 12' 200 41' the north end of the needle dipped 42 1' 7".

The tides at the Sandwich Islands are so inconsiderable, that, with the great surf which broke against the sh.o.r.e, it was hardly possible to tell, at any time, whether we had high or low water, or whether it ebbed or flowed. On the south side of Atooi, we generally found a current setting to the westward, or north-westward. But when we were at anchor off Oneeheow, the current set nearly north-west and south-east, six hours one way and six the other, and so strong as to make the ships tend, though the wind blew fresh. This was certainly a regular tide; and, as far as I could judge, the flood came from the north-west.

I now return to the progress of our voyage. On the 7th, being in the lat.i.tude of 29 N. and in the longitude of 200 E. the wind veered to S.E. This enabled us to steer N.E. and E.; which course we continued, till the 12th, when the wind had veered round by the S. and W. to N.E. and E.N.E. I then tacked and stood to the northward, our lat.i.tude being 30 N. and our longitude 206 15' E. Notwithstanding our advanced lat.i.tude, and its being the winter season, we had only begun, for a few days past, to feel a sensation of cold in the mornings and evenings. This is a sign of the equal and lasting influence of the sun's heat, at all seasons, to 30 on each side the line. The disproportion is known to become very great after that. This must be attributed almost entirely to the direction of the rays of the sun, independent of the bare distance, which is by no means equal to the effect.

On the 19th, being now in the lat.i.tude of 37 N. and in the longitude of 206 E. the wind veered to S.E.; and I was enabled again to steer to the E. inclining to the N. We had, on the 25th, reached the lat.i.tude of 42 30', and the longitude of 219; and then we began to meet with the rock-weed, mentioned by the writer of Lord Anson's voyage, under the name of sea-leek, which the Manilla ships generally fall in with. Now and then a piece of wood also appeared. But if we had not known that the continent of North America was not far distant, we might, from the few signs of the vicinity of land hitherto met with, have concluded, that there was none within some thousand leagues of us. We had hardly seen a bird, or any other oceanic animal, since we left Sandwich Islands.

On the 1st of March, our lat.i.tude being now 44 49' N., and our longitude 228 E. we had one calm day. This was succeeded by a wind from the N. with which I stood to the E. close hauled, in order to make the land. According to the charts, it ought not to have been far from us. It was remarkable, that we should still carry with us such moderate and mild weather so far to the northward, and so near the coast of an extensive continent, at this time of the year. The present season either must be uncommon for its mildness, or we can a.s.sign no reason why Sir Francis Drake should have met with such severe cold, about this lat.i.tude, in the month of June. Viscaino, indeed, who was near the same place in the depth of winter, says little of the cold, and speaks of a ridge of snowy mountains somewhere on the coast, as a thing rather remarkable.[1] Our seeing so few birds, in comparison of what we met with in the same lat.i.tudes to the south of the Line, is another singular circ.u.mstance, which must either proceed from a scarcity of the different sorts, or from a deficiency of places to rest upon. From hence, we may conclude, that, beyond 40 in the southern hemisphere, the species are much more numerous, and the isles where they inhabit also more plentifully scattered about, than any where between the coast of California and j.a.pan, in or near that lat.i.tude.

[Footnote 1: See Torquemada's Narrative of Viscaino's Expedition in 1602 and 1603, in the second volume of Vanegas's History of California, English translation, from p. 229 to p. 308.--D.]

During a calm, on the morning of the 2d, some parts of the sea seemed covered with a kind of slime, and some small sea-animals were swimming about. The most conspicuous of which were of the gelatinous or _medusa_ kind, almost globular; and another sort smaller, that had a white or shining appearance, and were very numerous. Some of these last were taken up, and put into a gla.s.s cup with some salt water, in which they appeared like small scales or bits of silver, when at rest, in a p.r.o.ne situation. When they began to swim about, which they did, with equal ease, upon their backs, sides, or belly, they emitted the brightest colours of the most precious gems, according to their position with respect to the light. Sometimes they appeared quite pellucid, at other times a.s.suming various tints of blue, from a pale sapphirine to a deep violet colour; which were frequently mixed with a ruby or opaline redness; and glowed with a strength sufficient to illuminate the vessel and water. These colours appeared most vivid when the gla.s.s was held to a strong light; and mostly vanished on the subsiding of the animals to the bottom, when they had a brownish cast.

But, with candle light, the colour was, chiefly, a beautiful pale green, tinged with a burnished gloss; and, in the dark, it had a faint appearance of glowing fire. They proved to be a new species of _oniscus_, and, from their properties, were, by Mr Anderson, (to whom we owe this account of them), called _oniscus fulgens_; being probably an animal which has a share in producing some sorts of that lucid appearance, often observed near ships at sea in the night. On the same day two large birds settled on the water, near the ship. One of these was the _procellaria maxima_ (the _quebrantahuessos_), and the other, which was little more than half the size, seemed to be of the _albatross_ kind. The upper part of the wings, and tip of the tail, were black, with the rest white; the bill yellowish; upon the whole not unlike the sea-gull, though larger.

On the 6th at noon, being in the lat.i.tude of 44 10' N., and the longitude of 234-1/2 E., we saw two seals and several whales; and at day-break the next morning, the long-looked-for coast of New Albion[2]

was seen, extending from N.E. to S.E., distant ten or twelve leagues.

At noon our lat.i.tude was 44 33' N., and our longitude 235 20' E.; and the land extended from N.E. 1/2 N. to S.E. by S. about eight leagues distant. In this situation we had seventy-three fathoms water, over a muddy bottom, and about a league farther off found ninety fathoms. The land appeared to be of a moderate height, diversified with hills and valleys, and almost every where covered with wood.

There was, however, no very striking object on any part of it, except one hill, whose elevated summit was flat. This bore E. from us at noon. At the northern extreme the land formed a point, which I called _Cape Foulweather_, from the very bad weather that we soon after met with. I judge it to lie in the lat.i.tude of 44 55' N., and in the longitude of 235 54' E.

[Footnote 2: This part of the west side of North America was so named by Sir Francis Drake.--D.]