Voyage of H.M.S. Pandora Part 10

It now came on to blow fresh, and we were obliged to make off from the land. Those who were engaged in trade on board were so anxious, that we had got almost out of sight of their canoes before they perceived the ship's motion, when they all jumped into the water like a flock of wild geese; but one fellow, more earnest than the rest, hung by the rudder chains for a mile or two, thinking to detain her.

This evening, at five o'clock, we unfortunately parted company, and lost sight of our tender. False fires were burnt, and great guns and small arms were fired without success, as it came on thick blowing weather.

We cruised for her all the 23rd and 24th, near where we parted company, which was off a piece of remarkable high land. What was most unfortunate, water and provisions were then on deck for her, which were intended to have been put on board of her in the morning. She had the day before received orders, in case of separation, to rendezvous at Anamooka, and to wait there for us. A small cag of salt, and another of nails and iron-ware, were likewise put on board of her, to traffic with the Indians, and the lat.i.tudes and longitudes of the places we would touch at, in our intended rout. She had a boarding netting fixed, to prevent her being boarded, and several seven-barrelled pieces and blunderbusses put on board of her.

As we proceeded to the eastward, we saw another island, which we knew to be one of the navigator's isles, discovered by Mons. Bougainville. On the 28th, in the morning, saw the Happai Islands, discovered by Capt. Cook, and before noon, the group of islands to the eastward of Anamooka, and sailed down between Little Anamooka and the Fallaf.a.gee Island.

On the 29th, we anch.o.r.ed in the road of Anamooka. Immediately on our arrival, a large sailing canoe was hired, and Lieut. Hayward and one private sent to the Happai and Feegee Islands,[132-1] to make inquiry after the _Bounty_ and our tender; but received no intelligence. Here they found an axe, which had been left by Capt. Cook, and bartered with the natives of the different islands for hogs, yams, &c.

The people of Anamooka are the most daring set of robbers in the South Seas; and, with the greatest deference and submission to Capt. Cook, I think the name of Friendly Isles is a perfect misnomer, as their behaviour to himself, to us, and to Capt. Bligh's unfortunate boat at Murderer's Cove, pretty clearly evinces. Indeed Murderer's Cove, in the Friendly Isles, is saying a volume on the subject.

Two or three of the officers were taking a walk on sh.o.r.e one evening, who had the precaution to take their pistols with them. They seemed to crowd round us with more than idle curiosity; but, on presenting the pistols to them, they sheered off. The Captain soon joined us, and brought his servant with him, carrying a bag of nails, and some trifling presents, which he meant to distribute amongst them; but he took the bag from him, and dispatched him with a message to the boat, on which the crowd followed him. As soon as he got out of our sight, they stripped him naked, and robbed him of his cloaths, and every article he had, but one shoe, which he used for concealing his nakedness. At this juncture Lieut.

Hayward arrived from his expedition, and called the a.s.sistance of the guard in searching for the robbers. We saw the natives all running, and dodging behind the trees, which led us to suspect there was some mischief brewing; but we soon discovered the great Irishman, with his shoe full in one hand, and a bayonet in the other, naked and foaming mad with revenge on the natives, for the treatment he had received. Night coming on, we went on board, without recovering the poor fellow's cloathes.

Next day we were honoured with a visit from Tatafee, king of Anamooka, who was of lineal descent from the same family that reigned in the island when discovered by Tasman, the Dutch circ.u.mnavigator; and the story of his landing and supplying them with dogs and hogs, is handed down, by oral tradition, to this day.[133-1]

Here society may be said to exist in the second stage with respect to Otaheite. As land is scarcer, private property is more exactly ascertained, and each man's possession fenced in with a beautiful Chinese railing. Highways, and roads leading to public places, are neatly fenced in on each side, and a handsome approach to their houses by a gravel-walk, with shubbery planted with some degree of taste on each side of it. Many of them had rows of pine apples on each side of the avenue.

Messrs. Hayward and Corner, with their usual benevolence, took much pains in teaching them the manner of transplanting their pine-apples; which hint they immediately adopted, and were very thankful for any advice, either in rearing their fruit, or cultivating their ground. The shaddocks are superior in flavour to those of the West Indies; and they will soon have oranges from what we have left amongst them.

The women here are extremely beautiful; and although they want that feminine softness of manners which the Otaheite women possess in so eminent a degree, their matchless vivacity, and fine animated countenances, compensate the want of the softer blandishments of their sister island.

There is a favourite amus.e.m.e.nt of the ladies here, (the cup and ball), such as children play at in England. It serves to give them a degage kind of air, by which means you have a more elegant display of their charms.

They are well aware of their fascinating powers, and use them with as much address as our fine women do notting, and other acts of industry.

Trade went briskly on. They brought abundance of hogs, and several ton weight of very excellent yams. We found that the pork took salt, and was cured much better here than at Otaheite.

Many beautiful girls were brought on board for sale by their mothers, who were very exorbitant in their demands, as nothing less than a broad axe would satisfy them; but after standing their market three days, _la pucelage_ fell to an old razor, a pair of scissors, or a very large nail.

Indeed this trade was pushed to so great a height, that the quarter-deck became the scene of the most indelicate familiarities. Nor did the unfeeling mothers commiserate with the pain and suffering of the poor girls, but seemed to enjoy it as a monstrous good thing. It is customary here, when girls meet with an accident of this kind, that a council of matrons is held, and the noviciate has a gash made in her fore finger. We soon observed a number of cut fingers amongst them; and had the razors held out, I believe all the girls in the island would have undergone the same operation.

A party was sent on sh.o.r.e to cut wood for fuel, and gra.s.s for the sheep; but they would not permit a blade of gra.s.s to be cut till they were paid for it.

The watering party shared the same fate; and notwithstanding a guard of armed men were sent to protect the others whilst on that duty, the natives were continually hara.s.sing them, and commiting depredations. One of them came behind Lieut. Corner, and made a blow at him with his club, which luckily missed his head, and only stunned him in the back of the neck; and, while in that state, s.n.a.t.c.hed his handkerchief from him; but Mr. Corner recovering before the thief got out of sight, levelled his piece and shot him dead.

Tatafee[135-1] the king was going to collect tribute from the islands under his jurisdiction, and went in the frigate to Tofoa; but previous to our sailing, a letter was left to Mr. Oliver, the commander of the tender, should he chance to arrive before our return, with Macaucala, a princ.i.p.al chief. In the night, the burning mountain on Tofoa exhibited a very grand spectacle; and in the morning two canoes were sent on sh.o.r.e, to announce the arrival of those two great personages, Tatafee and Toobou, who went on sh.o.r.e in the _Pandora's_ barge, to give them more consequence; but the tributary princes came off in canoes, to do homage to Tatafee before he reached the sh.o.r.e. They came alongside the barge, lowered their heads over the side of the canoe, and Tatafee, agreeable to their custom, put his foot upon their heads. When on sh.o.r.e, what presents he had received from us, he distributed amongst his subjects, with a liberality worthy of a great prince.

Some of the people were here who behaved with such savage barbarity to Capt. Bligh's boat at Murderer's Cove. They perfectly recollected Mr.

Hayward, and seemed to shrink from him. Captain Edwards took much pains with Tatafee, the king, to make him sensible of his disapprobation of their conduct to Capt. Bligh's boat. But conciliatory and gentle means were all that could be enjoined at present, lest our tender should fall in amongst them.

FOOTNOTES:

[126-1] This gives occasion for a splenetic and unjust tirade from an anonymous writer in the _United Service Journal_ for 1831: "When this boat with a midshipman and several men (four) had been inhumanely ordered from alongside, it was known that there was nothing in her but one piece of salt beef, compa.s.sionately thrown in by a seaman; and horrid as must have been their fate, the flippant surgeon, after detailing the disgraceful fact, adds 'that this is the way the world was peopled,' or words to that effect, for we quote only from memory." With a fresh E.S.E.

breeze and no provisions there can be little doubt that Midshipman Sival perished at sea, but neither Edwards nor Hamilton are to be censured, the former for despatching a boat on ordinary duty, the latter for penning a plat.i.tude.

[128-1] This suggests the Fijian _Nanga_, or 'bed of the ancestors,' a cult introduced by native castaways many generations ago. These castaways may have been Polynesians.

[129-1] Savaii in the Samoa group. See p. 49 _ante_.

[129-2] It is known by its native name, Tutuila.

[132-1] A mistake. Hayward visited Huapai only.

[133-1] Tasman visited Namuka in 1642.

[135-1] Fatafehi.

CHAP. III.

VOYAGE FROM ANAMOOKA, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE LOSS OF THE _PANDORA_.

THE wind not permitting us to visit Tongataboo, we proceeded to Catooa and Navigator's Isles, the loss of our tender having prevented us from doing it before, and endeavoured to fall in with the eastermost of these islands.

On the morning of the 12th of July, we discovered a cl.u.s.ter of islands in the N.W. quarter; but the wind being favourable for us, left examining of them till our return to the Friendly Isles.[136-1] On the 14th, in the forenoon, saw three isles, supposed to be the cl.u.s.ter of isles called by Bougainville Navigator's Isles. The largest the natives called Tumaluah.[136-2] We pa.s.sed them at a little distance, and found much intreaty necessary to bring them on board.

On the 15th, we saw another island, which proved to be Otutuelah,[136-3]

which has been already described. Here we found some of the French navigator's cloathing and b.u.t.tons; and there is little doubt but they have murdered them.[136-4]

On the 18th, saw the group of islands we discovered on our way here; and on the 19th, ran down the north side till we came to an opening, where we saw the sea on the other side. A sound is formed here by some islands to the south east and north west, and interior bays, which promises better anchorage than any other place in the Friendly Isles. The natives told us there were excellent watering-places in several different parts within the sound. The country is well wooded. Several of the inferior chiefs were on board, one of the Tatafee, and one of the Toobou family; but the princ.i.p.al chief was not on board. We supposed he was coming off just as we sailed.[137-1] The natives in general were very fair and honourable in their dealings. They were more inoffensive and better behaved than any we had seen for some time. They have frequent intercourse with Anamooka, and their religion, customs, and language, are the same.

A number of beautiful paroquets were brought off by the natives, all remarkable for the richness and variety of their plumage.

The group of islands was called Howe's Islands, but were particularly distinguished by the names of Barrington's, Sawyer's, Hotham's, and Jarvis's Islands. The sound itself was called Curtis's Sound. Under the general denomination of Howe's Islands, were included several islands to the south east, to which we gave no particular name, and two more islands to the westward, called Bickerton's Islands, including two small islands near the above. There seems to be a tolerable landing-place on the north-west side of Gardner's Island. All this part of the island has a most barren aspect. There were evident marks of volcanic eruptions having happened. The very singular appearance which this part of the island presented, I cannot omit mentioning; it bore the figure of a piece of flat table-land, without the slightest eminence or indentation, and smoke was issuing from the edges, round its whole circ.u.mference.

On the 23rd, we pa.s.sed an inhabited island, which we supposed to be the Pylestaart island. It has two remarkable high peaks upon it.

On the 26th, we saw Middleburg Island, and run down between it and Euah; examined it without success; pa.s.sed Tongatabu; got some provisions here, but found the water brackish.

On the 29th, we anch.o.r.ed again in the road of Anamooka. We were sorry to hear the tender had not been there. On the 5th of August, we again proceeded on our voyage. As the occurrences at this time bore some semblance to the transactions in our last visit, to avoid wounding the delicate, or satiating the licentious, we shall conclude in the torpid phraseology of the log, with ditto repeated.

Every thing being ready for sea on the 3d day of August, we sailed from Anamooka; and on the 5th, discovered an island of some considerable extent, called by the natives Onooafow,[138-1] which we called Proby's Island, in honour of Commissioner Proby. We traded with the inhabitants for some hours. The land was hilly, and the houses of much larger construction than we had observed in those seas.

We were now convinced that we were further to the westward than we imagined, and therefore shaped a course to fall in to the eastward of Wallis's Island; and next day fell in with it. We gave presents, as customary, to the first boat; who, from a theft they committed, were afraid to return. Their cheek-bones were much bruised and flattened, and some had both their little fingers cut off.[138-2]

We bore away, intending to steer in the track of Carteret and Bligh, between Spirito Santo and Santa Cruz; and on the 8th saw land to the westward. We sounded, but found no bottom. We run down the island, and saw a vast number of houses amongst the trees. It is very hilly, and, from the great height of some of them, may be called mountains. They are cultivated to the top; the reason of which, I presume, is from its being so full of inhabitants. It is about seven miles long; and being a new discovery, we called it Grenville's Island, in honour of Lord Grenville.

The name the natives gave it is Rotumah. They came off in a fleet of canoes, rested on their paddles, and gave the war-hoop at stated periods.

They were all armed with clubs, and meant to attack us; but the magnitude and novelty of such an object as a man of war, struck them with a mixture of wonder and fear. They were, however, perfectly ignorant of fire-arms, and seemed much startled at the report of a musket, were too shy to stand the experiment of a great gun. As they came off with hostile intentions, they brought no women with them.

They wore necklaces, bracelets, and girdles of white sh.e.l.ls. Their bodies were curiously marked with the figures of men, dogs, fishes, and birds, upon every part of them; so that every man was a moving landscape. These marks were all raised, and done, I suppose, by pinching up the skin.

They were great adepts in thieving, and uncommonly athletic and strong.

One fellow was making off with some booty, but was detected; and although five of the stoutest men in the ship were hanging upon him, and had fast hold of his long flowing black hair, he overpowered them all, and jumped overboard with his prize. There is a high promontory on this island, which we named Mount Temple.

On the 11th, no land being then in sight, we run over a reef of coral, in eleven fathom water. We were much alarmed, but pa.s.sed it in five minutes; and on sounding immediately afterwards, found no bottom. This was called Pandora's Reef.

On the 12th, in the morning, we discovered an island well wooded, but not inhabited. It had two remarkable promontories on it, one resembling a mitre, and the other a steeple; from whence we called it Mitre Island. We pa.s.sed it, and stood to the westward; and at ten, the same morning, discovered another island to the north west. It is entirely cultivated, and a vast number of inhabitants, though only a mile in length. The beach from the east, round by the south, is a white sand, but too much surf for a boat to attempt to land. In grat.i.tude for the many good things we had on board, and the very high state of preservation in which they kept, we called this Cherry's Island, in honour of ---- Cherry, Esq; Commissioner of the Victualling-office.[140-1]