NARRATIVE

OF A

WHALING VOYAGE

ROUND THE GLOBE.

LONDON :

J. H. NICHOLS AND SON, 25, PARLIAMENT STREET.

I/

NARRATIVE

OF A

WHALING VOYAGE ,

ROUND THE GLOBE,

FROM THE YEAR 1833 TO 1836.

COMPRISING SKETCHES OF

POLYNESIA, CALIFORNIA, THE INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO,

ETC.

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF

SOUTHERN WHALES, THE SPERM WHALE FISHERY,

AND

THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CLIMATES VISITED.

BY

FREDERICK DEBELL BENNETT, ESQ. F.R.G.S,

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, LONDON.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. II.

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET, $ubtts1)n- in (©rtmarp to ftn

1840.

847

CONTENTS OF VOL. II.

CHAPTER I.

Final departure from the Sandwich group — Proceed for the "off-shore" cruising ground — Approach the American con_ tinent — Discover a cluster of islands — The Lobos Islands — Arrival at Cape St. Lucas — Description of its coast and settlement — Inhabitants of an estancia, or grazing-farm — Their social state — Religion — Commerce — Natural produc- tions of the Cape — The Puma, or American lion — Deer — Vultures, or Turkey-buzzards — Pigeons — Reptiles — Turtle Haliotis, or ear-shell — Vegetation of the soil — Its luxu- riance and beauty — Species of Cactus — The Sargasso-weed.

Page I

CHAPTER II.

Leave Cape St. Lucas and proceed to the southward — A false alarm — Cross the Equator, and cruise to the westward — Second visit to Santa Christina, Marquesas — Unfavourable prospects of the missionaries there — Selfish policy of the chief, Eutiti — War averted by the interference of the mis- sionaries— Distillation of ardent spirits by the natives — Its dreaded effects — Endeavours to introduce a breed of ducks on the island — Departure — Visit Huahine — Description of

VI CONTENTS.

the island — Settlement at Fare — Mr. Barff — Success of the coffee-plant grown on this soil — Captain Cook's Shaddock- tree — Third visit to Raiatea — Improved condition of the people — Their versatile character — Vigilance of the native police — Passage to Tahiti — Sir Charles Saunders Island — Eimeo — Domestic state of Tahiti — Laws prohibitory of the use of ardent spirits — Improved state of commerce — Meet with natives of the Palisser Islands — Journey to Mairipehe — Battle-field near Bunaauia — Moral of Paea — Remarkable caverns in the S.W. coast — Their probable origin — Curious sub-marine springs — Tati, governor of Papara — Great Morai of Maihatea — Excursion to the celebrated mountain-lake at Vaihirea — Village and harbour of Mairipehe — Atinua 21

CHAPTER III.

Cruise to the northward — Tetuaroa — Return to Tahiti to repair a leak — Native worship — Observance of the Sabbath — The Ofai-marama or moon-stone — Visit of the Zebra — Remarks on missionary labours in Polynesia — Sail for Eng- land, by way of the Cape of Good Hope — Rotch Island — Remarkable effects of a current — Capture Sperm Wales — Tench's Island — See other islands — Enter the Indian Archi- pelago— Floating pumice-stone — Capture a water-snake, Hy- drophis bicolor — Spirula Australis — Take a large Whale in Pitt's Passage — Curious effects of refraction — Speak the Soubrou, Bombay trader — Approach the Island of Timor — Its coast scenery . . . . .50

CHAPTER IV.

Anchor in Soutranha Bay, Timor — Visit the rajah — The ship visited by the rajah, his family, and suite — Description of the country and its inhabitants — Village of Soutranha — Physical character of the natives — Their clothing — Ornaments and food — The Betel masticatory — Despotism of the rajah — His

CONTENTS. VT

warriors and wars — Religion of the people — Malay and abo- riginal languages — Commerce and manufactures — Chinese residents — Proas and canoes — Climate — Natural productions Reflections on the probable Asiatic origin of Polynesian Islanders — Natural History corroborative of that opinion

74

CHAPTER V.

Quit Soutranha — Enter the Indian Ocean — Relinquish whaling — Passage round the Cape of Good Hope — Complete the circuit of the Globe — Arrival at St. Helena — Its coast scenery — Account of the Island — Visits to Longwood and the tomb of Napoleon — Remarks on a rumoured intention to remove the remains of Napoleon to Europe — Population of the island — Soil and climate — Effects of the recent change of government — Geological remarks — Natural productions of the island — Departure — See a Sperm Whale — The Sargasso- or Gulf- weed — Return to the port of London . Ill

APPENDIX.

ZOOLOGY. — Cetaceans .... 145 — 241

Birds .... 242—254

Fishes .... 255—289

Mollusca .... 290—318

Marine Phosphorescence . . 319 — 326

BOTANY 327 — 395

NARRATIVE

OF

A WHALING VOYAGE

ROUND THE GLOBE.

CHAPTER L

Final departure from the Sandwich group — Proceed for the " off-shore " cruising ground — Approach the Ame- rican continent — Discover a cluster of islands — The Lobos Islands — Arrival at Cape St. Lucas — Description of its coast and settlement — Inhabitants of an estancia, or grazing-farm — Their social state — Religion — Commerce — Natural productions of the Cape — The Puma, or American lion — Deer — Vultures, or Turkey-buzzards — Pigeons — Reptiles — Turtle — Haliotis, or ear-shell — Vegetation of the soil — Its luxuriance and beauty- Species of Cactus — The Sargasso -weed.

WE took our final leave of the Sandwich Islands on the 4th of November, 1835 ; and pro- ceeded for the American continent and the Equator by nearly the same route we had taken in the preceding year. On this occasion, how- ever, it was not until we reached the thirty-fifth degree of north latitude that we found winds favourable to an easterly course. As we advanced thus far to the northward the barometer main- tained an unusually high grade ; namely, from

VOL. II. B

2 DISCOVER THREE ISLANDS.

30*40 to 30'60, which last was the highest it marked during the entire voyage.

Dec. 10.— In latitude 24° N., long. 115£° W., numerous shoals of bonita, albacore, and skip- jacks, (Salt atrix y CatesbyJ came around us ; several turtle also made their appearance ; and the sea was covered with a large quantity of the sea-weed named porra by the olden Spanish na- vigators, who were accustomed to regard its presence as an indication of their vicinity to the coast of Mexico.

At daylight on the morning of the 12th, land was unexpectedly seen from the deck of the ship, bearing N.N.E., distant thirty miles. It proved to be a group of three islands, extending in an east and west direction, of moderate size, elevated, rocky, and apparently barren. By our observations, this group lies in lat. 24° 9' N., long. 112° 39' W. — a spot where no land is laid down in any of our charts. An ordinary map of North America, of 1814, places islands in the vicinity under the name of Celisos ;* but it is more than probable that this group is the Lobos (or Seal) Islands, laid down in Krusenstern's and in Arrowsmith's charts 1 50 miles to the N.N.W. of the position above assigned.

* Probably a corruption of A lejos, signifying " in the offing " or " afar off."

VISIT CAPE ST. LUCAS. 3

These islands are so perilously placed for shipping making Cape St. Lucas from the north- ward, (a route annually followed by numerous South-Seamen,) that it is surprising they should have remained so long unnoticed, or their posi- tion undetermined.* That we failed to observe them during our passage of the preceding year, arose from our having then hauled up for the American continent much more to the southward than on the present occasion.

On the following day the dark and elevated land of the N. American continent was seen from the mast-head, bearing E. by S. ; and on the morning of the 15th we approached that coast within eight miles, and hove to between Cape St. Lucas and Cape Palmo, (the southern extremity of the peninsula of California,-}-) off the mouth of

* Upon our subsequent arrival at Cape St. Lucas we were informed, that the existence of this group had been reported there by a brig, trading on the coast, and that some small vessels in quest of fur-skins had attempted to visit it, but without success. Judging from the appearance of the island, it is very probable that the fur-seal abounds on their shores.

f Discovered by Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, in honour of whom the gulf or strait was formerly named. In the year 1578, Sir F. Drake visited this peninsula, and (with the sanction of the sovereign chief of the whole country) took possession of it for the British crown. But

B 2

4 ST. LUCAS BAY.

a bay, corresponding to a small grazing settle- ment. Upon landing here we were kindly received by the inhabitants, and hospitably en- tertained by them during the two days we were engaged in receiving beef on board the ship, and salting it for sea-stock.

This bay is situated on the N.E. side of Cape St. Lucas, and is extensive ; but affords anchor- age only on its eastern side, in about seventeen fathoms water close to the shore, and lies ex- posed to S.E. gales, which occasionally (and chiefly in the tempestuous summer months) in- vade its shores with great severity : the sea inundating the lowlands and leaving permanent traces of its inroads. Its beach is sandy, and washed by a long surf; but landing from boats may be safely effected. The tide on the coast is regular, with a rise and fall of six feet.

The level plain that opens upon the bay is about thirty miles in length by ten in breadth, and entirely composed of a fine silicious sand, covered with a dense jungle. The mountains that enclose it are of white and red granite, and clothed with a cheerful verdure. The entire plain is one estate, which was originally possessed

this claim was never vindicated by Great Britain; and, until the late war of independence, California, with the annexed coast of Mexico, remained a possession of Spain, by the right of discovery and conquest.

A SPANISH SETTLEMENT. 5

by a Spaniard, who obtained it from the Mexican government by the payment of twenty dollars, and held it at a rent, or tenure, of one dollar per annum. He applied it to the purpose of an estan- cia, or grazing-farm, for supplying bullocks to the numerous South-Seamen frequenting this coast. Since his death, the management of the estate has devolved upon his son-in-law, an American, named Fisher.

The village or settlement consists of about eight dwellings, erected at a distance from the sea, beneath the shade of some mimosa trees. They are small, built of adobes, (or unburnt bricks,) and thatched with flags, obtained from the neighbouring town of St. Jose. Each hut usually contains one or never more than two apartments ; and is faced with a portico, which affords a favourite lounge for the resident family. Their furniture is scanty, and rather more useful than ornamental. The hairy sur- face of a dried bullock's hide, spread on the hard earthen floor, is the usual bed ; and the ta- bles and benches are very rudely constructed. Beneath the portico are deposited dried or tanned hides; the horse -furniture of the far- mers, including the cumbrous but luxurious saddles, saddle-bags, (capable in themselves of containing a horse-load,) and spurs of mur- derous length ; whilst on lines passing across

6 DESCRIPTION OF THE RESIDENTS,

the roof, are suspended cows' udders or tongues, and large pieces of beef undergoing the process of jerking. Some sheds, distinct from the dwellings, are used for cooking, or preparing cheese ; and an extensive range of corrals, or cattle-pens, contain at night the milch-kine and goats.

The residents consist of about thirty persons, who, together with the occupants of other and similar farms scattered on the contiguous coast, form a motley population of " old country" and creole Spaniards ; Spanish half-castes, or cholos ; and native Indians. Nor does this small community furnish any exception to the rule, that there are but few habitable parts of the world which do not contain a subject of Great Britain or of the United States of America. The creole Spaniards (or those born of parents from the mother-country) do not differ in ap- pearance from their European progenitors : the women, who seldom expose themselves to the sun, have fair and even ruddy complexions. The cholos, also, (when but slightly tinged with Indian blood,) are sufficiently fair ; while their features are rendered more softened, pensive, and pleasing, by an admixture of native traits.

The costume of the women is neat, and as light as the climate demands. It is comprised in a chemise garment of white cotton, and a

THEIR DRESS AND DIET. 7

short striped-cotton petticoat. Their hair is simply parted on the forehead, and descends over the shoulders, braided in an elaborate and becoming manner. The men wear a cotton shirt, open at the neck, breeches loose at the knees, (to facilitate equestrian exercises,) a broad-brimmed straw hat, and shoes and bus- kins of rudely-tanned leather, well adapted to protect their legs from the thorny plants of the country. Some of the men wear their hair short ; while others have it braided into a queue and pendant over the shoulders, after the man- ner of the women. A large woollen rug, white striped with blue, worn over the shoulders or enveloping the entire person, they more ca- priciously assume, and chiefly when on their journeys.

Since the character of the soil offers no in- ducement to agricultural pursuits, these people confine their attention to rearing cattle, which, together with the cheese they prepare from the milk of their herds, form the staple commodi- ties of the settlement. As we had been accus* tomed among the Polynesian islands, to notice a race of people living almost solely on a vege- table diet, so here we found another subsisting as entirely upon animal food : the only vege- tables they consume being maize,, (which they procure from a distant part of the country,) and

8 SOCIAL STATE OF THE PEOPLE.

a few small and indifferent sweet-potatoes, which they rack their own soil to produce.

No rivers are to be found on this spot, nor any natural supply of fresh water, beyond a few ponds filled by the periodical rains. The inha- bitants draw their supply of this essential from wells sunk in the sands, which produce good water at a very inconsiderable depth. The sale and use of ardent spirits is interdictedby their social laws ; but they nevertheless indulge occasionally in a kind of rum or aquadiente, dis- tilled from sugar-cane, grown in the inland parts of the country. Notwithstanding their mono- tonous, and highly animalized diet, these people are healthy, active, and robust : their only en- demic diseases are agues, which they contract from the malaria arising from the jungle, soon after the termination of the rainy season. They live contented, and consequently happy; and their conduct towards each other, as well as to ouselves, was equally courteous and hospitable. The women are notable and modest. The men are expert equestrians, and excel in the use of the lasso.* It is a curious fact, that the

* A strong and flexible rope of neatly-twisted hide, with a noose at one extremity, to cast over and entangle wild animals, while the other end is fastened to the saddle of the horse. The more correct orthography is /c/zo, a Spanish word, signifying a slip-knot or noose.

JESUIT MISSIONARIES. 9

women, whether Creole Spaniards or half-caste, cannot be prevailed upon to eat with the men : a prejudice which must be regarded as of native or Indian origin, and one which coincides in a remarkable manner with the primitive custom of the Polynesian tribes. We noticed here also, an interesting Indian boy, about seven years old, whose only clothing was a girdle of cloth, whilst his features, complexion, and figure, ac- corded so closely with the Polynesian charac- teristics, that it would have been impossible to have detected him as an alien amidst an as- semblage of Society Island youth of the same age.

The Spanish language is universally em- ployed by this people. They profess the Roman Catholic religion ; and receive occasional pas- toral visits from the padre of the neighbouring town of St. Jose ; but of any literary acquire- ments they are ignorant to the extent of perfect bliss. At a very early period after its discovery, a Spanish Jesuit mission was established on the peninsula of California, and supported by supplies from the parent society at Manilla: the richly-freighted galleons, passing annually between the latter country and Acapulco, being instructed to touch at Cape St. Lucas on their way, to learn from the residents if their further

10 COMMERCE.

progress was free from the danger of enemies' ships. The Jesuit missionaries would appear to have performed their duty with assiduity and success ; the native Indians, with the exception of a very few tribes, having adopted in a great measure the language, religion, and habits of their civilized teachers. The objects of this mission having been considered as effected, the establishment has ceased to exist, and the spiritual charge of the mixed population is now entrusted to ordinary priests, as amongst the Roman Catholic nations of Europe.

The commerce of the residents at the Cape is nearly confined to the English and American South-Seamen, that call there for supplies, and from which they procure the foreign manufac- tures they require, in exchange for the produce of their farm. The nominal price of a bullock is from three to ten dollars ; cheese two dollars the 20 Ibs. ; turkeys a dollar and a half each ; and other provisions in proportion ; but the difficulty they find in procuring foreign mer- chandise, excepting at the exorbitant prices of the Spanish-American market, as well as the profit they derive from vending contraband goods at the town of St. Jose, or annual fair at La Paz, makes them anxious to trade in kind with the vessels they supply. When foreign

ADVANTAGES OF THE PORT. li

ships are known to be hovering on the coast, an officer from the custom-house of St. Jose is stationed at this grazing settlement to prevent the contraband introduction of foreign goods ; but this Cerberus is always greedy for a sop, and is himself seldom averse to doing a little in the way of free trade.

To ships in want of essentials this port offers some advantages ; but is not remarkable for the abundance or variety of the supplies it affords. Wood and water may be obtained by purchase, conveniently, and in sufficient quantity; and when a ready market is promised, the residents bring from the interior of the country an abund- ance of musk- and water-melons, oranges, ba- nanas, pumpkins, and other fruits which their own sterile soil denies. The excellent beef also that can be obtained here, proves invaluable to South-Seamen when their stock of salt provi- sions is exhausted, and often enables them to make a much more protracted stay in the Pacific than they would otherwise be enabled to do.

The oxen found here do not differ essentially from the European breed. Their average size is perhaps less ; and their prevailing colour black, or black and white ; they all, except the milch kine, rove unrestrained through the jungle of the plain, or browse on the declivities of the

12 DOMESTIC QUADRUPEDS.

mountains, as the temptations of pasture may induce them. When any are required for slaughter, the owner, or his herdsman, fgaucho,} rides in pursuit of them, and casting his lasso over their horns, brings them captive to the settlement. Their meat is exceedingly well flavoured ; and this may in some measure be attributed to the quality of their food, which is chiefly a herb, a species of Chenopodium, bear- ing tall, plumy, and fragrant flowers, and which covers the soil in sufficient abundance to supply the place of a grass pasturage. When the re- sidents have more beef than they can imme- diately consume, they cut it into broad slices, and expose it to the sun until it becomes dry and hard ; in this form, or, as it is usually termed, jerked, (a corruption of the Spanish word charqui,) it remains unchanged for a long time, and if well packed is very eligible as a sea- store. The other domestic animals are horses, of a breed more remarkable for bone than blood, but which are tall, active, and docile ; goats, which are numerous, and sold at low prices ; and swine, which are but few, and, from their foul- feeding, held in little esteem.

Amongst the more remarkable quadrupeds, /era naturce, that obtain on this coast, we find the puma, or American lion ; the only large

FEROCITY OF THE PUMA. 13

feline animal the New World affords. It is seldom this creature visits the settlement at Cape St. Lucas, though he holds his lair in its immediate neighbourhood, amidst the bush of the plains, or, more commonly, on the surrounding heights. The residents relate many instances of his at- tacking man, and even human dwellings. But a short time before our visit to this place, a wo- man, residing in the settlement, had left her house at night to draw water from a well, when finding in her path a deer, which had been re- cently killed by a puma, she imprudently took possession of the carcase and drew it into her hut. The puma returned soon after to his prey, and scenting the spot to which it had been con- veyed, broke through the thatch roof of the dwelling, and before he could be put to flight destroyed two children and lacerated the woman severely. An Indian, also, employed on a farm, distant about fifteen miles from the bay-settle- ment, had recently been attacked by a puma while he was at work in the jungle. The man defended himself courageously with a knife and succeeded in destroying the savage beast, but subsequently fell a victim to the injuries he re- ceived in the conflict. Notwithstanding these accidents, the people have but little dread of this creature ; and pursue their journeys through

14 DEER. — HARES.

the country both by day and night, often sleep- ing in the bush in the wildest districts, without any apprehension of its attacks : they describe it, indeed, as pusillanimous — more prone to shun than attack mankind — and ascribe its oc- casional attacks to a state allied to madness. The strong dogs of the country attack the puma with much animosity, and when the latter ani- mal finds his affairs in an unfavourable condi- tion, he ascends a tree, and from its height watches his yelling foes beneath. While his at- tention is thus directed, an Indian will some- times contrive to cast a lasso round his neck, and, fastening an end of the thong to the tree, twitch him from the bough, and leave him hanging, strangled by the noose.

Several kinds of deer frequent the dense and more sequestered thickets. One of these, which we encountered in the depth of the jungle, was a beautiful creature ; in size rather larger than the fallow deer ; the livery a pale iron-gray ; the face marked with black spots on a pale ground ; the head adorned with a noble pair of tall and spreading antlers. Many young fawns, also, which had been captured, were running about the houses of the settlement, perfectly tame. The hares we noticed here were much larger than those of England ; their ears are of

TURKEY-BUZZARDS. 15

extraordinary length and breadth, and their livery gray, like that of our common wild rabbit. The skunk, fViverra putorius,) is commonly found in the vicinity of the settlement ; squirrels frolic in the highest trees ; and many bats, of small size, flit in the evening twilight.

The birds most conspicuous near the settle- ment are vultures, or " turkey-buzzards." One of the two most common species has the general plumage brown-black; the under surface of the wings silver-gray ; the head and upper half of the neck are naked, and of a bright scarlet colour ; the head bears a resemblance to that of the domestic turkey, and the legs and feet (which are white) approach nearer in appear- ance to those of the gallinaceous than predaceou3 tribes of birds. The other, and more numerous species of vulture, is much larger than the last- described. Its plumage is brown and white, and with the exception of a naked and scarlet space on each cheek, its head and neck are entirely clothed with feathers. These birds are usually perched on commanding heights, watch- ing for prey ; and during the butchering of an ox attend in vast flocks to devour the offal : their utility as scavengers (in which duty they are assisted by some carrion-crows) amply com- pensating for their foul habits and disgusting

16 TURTLE. — EAR-SHELLS.

familiarity. Wild pigeons, of the ordinary blue colour, are also abundant. At certain seasons of the year they resort to the sea-side in large flights to drink the salt water, and at any time a little grain, sprinkled on the soil, brings them together in sufficient numbers to afford the sportsman a massacre upon an extensive scale.

The amphibia of the jungle are lizards, and many kinds of snakes, some of which are in- nocuous, and others highly venomous ; of the latter, rattle-snakes are particularly numerous. The most valuable fish in the waters around the coast is the rock-cod, which at particular seasons arrives in large shoals. From amongst the turtle that float to these shores, the re- sidents occasionally capture the hawkVbill species, (testudo caretta,) from which they pro- cure some good tortoise-shell.

On the rocks in the vicinity of the Cape we find a great abundance of those elegant univalves, the California- or ear-shells, Chaliotis.) The fish they contain have the habits of a limpet, (patella,) and are a very palatable food.

Although the soil of this bay-settlement bears from the sea a desolate and barren aspect, and is, in an agricultural point of view, literally sterile, yet in none of the more luxuriantly wooded lands we had before visited had we

VEGETATION. I/

found a spot which for variety and beauty of vegetation could compete with this. Foliage is certainly not profuse ; and the style of vegeta- tion is nearly allied to that which obtains at the Cape of Good Hope ; but the abundance and beauty of its flowering plants, the novel forms of growth they often assume, and above all, the active juices and rich aroma possessed by almost every herb and tree, present a perfect picture of tropical botany. I could not but ask, if such was the desert — the mere land's end — the beach of the country — what must be the botanical productions of the inland and more fertile districts ? Truly we might say to this spot—

"Thy very weeds are beautiful, thy waste More rich than other climes' fertility."

That any vegetation should exist on a plain of parched and dusty sand is remarkable ; yet not only do trees of respectable height and girth, and often of luxuriant foliage, flourish on this tract, and a dense brushwood occupy the intervening space, but even the lowly and moisture-loving mushroom occurs in more than one spot, rearing its head, in full and juicy flesh, above the arid soil. On the whole it was evident that, notwithstanding the dryness of their surface, the sands had absorbed a great

VOL. II. C

18 TREE-CACTUS.

quantity of water during the annual rains, and which they return hy evaporation from their depths, in the drier seasons of the year — scantily, it is true, hut yet in sufficient quantity to support vegetation ; while the succulent character of the leaves, and bulbous form of the roots of the greater number of the plants, tend much to economise their supply of moisture. To the botanist this spot alone offers a rich field for useful exertion : amongst more than seventy plants collected during our short stay, the majority prove to be new species, and several must be regarded as new genera.

The more abundant, or conspicuous vegeta- tion includes some splendid examples of the Cactus family. One of these is peculiarly con- spicuous on the plains, rising in an erect and columnar form to the height of fifteen or twenty feet ; its sides deeply fluted, (the angles armed with clusters of black thorns,) and its summit ramifying scantily. Some of the more aged examples have a bole four feet in circumference, destitute of thorns, and covered with a smooth white bark — the leaf in this stage of growth as- suming the decided character of a caulis, or trunk. We observed neither flower nor fruit in this species. A vegetable column of this de- scription, rising isolated in the midst of the

THE PRICKLY PLUM. 19

plain, with a vulture perched motionless on its summit, had much the appearance of a highly- wrought zoophoric. A second many-sided cactus resembles that last described, in the form of its stem or leaf, but has a procumbent and diffused growth, and bears a profusion of flowers with broad and elegant rays of white petals, succeeded by fruit the size and shape of a large orange, green when immature, and when ripe of a bright crimson colour. Within the rind, (which is dense and leathery,) is contained a red, juicy, and farinaceous pulp, studded with small black seeds. This berry is caUed by Europeans the " prickly plum." It is produced in great abun- dance, and its pulp (which has a cool, sweet, and subacid taste, not unlike that of a raspberry preserve) is an exceedingly wholesome and delicious food. A third species, resembling Cactus tuna,, is the most common in the jungle, where its long and rigid thorns prove very troublesome to the traveller, penetrating his flesh, and resisting extraction by the barbed structure of their points. The species with broad and spinous leaves, (the " prickly pear" of other tropical lands,) we noticed but rarely here and never with either flower or fruit.

Amongst the sea-weeds floating close in with the land, we found several examples of the

c 2

20 SARGASSO WEED.

Sargasso- or gulf-weed, usually noticed in such extensive banks in the Atlantic Ocean. I re- gretted that we had not an opportunity of ex- amining minutely the weeds growing on the rocks around the Cape, as it was probable that we should have found this species in its rooted state. But the fact of its appearance here in any form is interesting, inasmuch as it proves that this mysterious fucus inhabits the waters of the western, as well as the eastern side of the American continent.

CRUISE TO THE SOUTHWARD. 21

CHAPTER II.

Leave Cape St. Lucas and proceed to the southward — A false alarm — Cross the Equator, and cruise to the westward — Second visit to Santa Christina, Marquesas — Unfavourable prospects of the missionaries there — Selfish policy of the chief, Eutiti — War averted by the interference of the missionaries — Distillation of ardent spirits by the natives — Its dreaded effects — Endeavours to introduce a breed of ducks on the island — Departure — Visit Huahine — Description of the island — Settle- ment at Fare — Mr. Barff — Success of the coffee-plant grown on this soil — Captain Cook's Shaddock-tree — Third visit to Raiatea — Improved condition of the people — Their versatile character— Vigilance of the native police — Passage to Tahiti — Sir Charles Saunders Island — Eimeo — Domestic state of Tahiti — Laws pro- hibitory of the use of ardent spirits — Improved state of commerce — . Meet with natives of the Palisser Islands — Journey to Mairipehe — Battle-field near Bunaauia — Morai of Paea — Remarkable caverns in the S.W. coast — Their probable origin— Curios suub-marine springs — Tati, governor of Papara — Great Morai of Maihatea — Excursion to the celebrated mountain-lake at Vaihirea — Village and harbour of Mairipehe — Atinua.

ON the 17th of December we made sail from Cape St. Lucas and steered to the S.E., with

22 A FALSE ALARM.

winds from N.W., and a strong current setting to the eastward.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, when we were far distant from any land, a strong sensation was produced amongst our ship's company by the watch at the mast-head reporting the approach of a solitary boat, filled with human beings. On closer investigation, however, the object seen proved to be a log of drift wood, with several boobies perched upon it : the timber, undulating with the waves, and the actions of the birds to preserve their balance, presenting, in the distance, a very deceptive resemblance to a boat, with her crew pulling hard at their oars.

On the 17th of January, 1836, we crossed the equator in long. 112°W., and dropped to the westward with the line current. The Cachalots we found here were chiefly small parties of half- grown males, journeying to the eastward. They were so active and shy that our average success amongst them was much less than we had experienced in the previous year.

Early in the month of February we shaped a course for the Marquesas group. In lat. 6° S., long. 134° W., the easterly winds began to freshen every night, in the manner of a " land turn ;" small white noddies came about the ship ; and frequent squalls, with thunder, light-

RETURN TO SANTA CHRISTINA. 23

ning, and rain, denoted our approach to an insular mountain-land.

On the 19th of February, La Dominica and Santa Christina were in sight. We sailed through the narrow channel which separates these two islands, and on the following morning cast anchor in Resolution Bay, Santa Christina. The ship was scarcely moored, before Eutiti, and several other principal chiefs of the island visited us in their canoes ; whilst crowds of inferior natives flocked on board, and continued to be our daily visitors. They informed us that seven sail, British and American, had touched at this port since our last visit.

We found our missionary friends zealously occupied ; but no alteration had taken place in their professional prospects. The natives con- tinued to behave towards them with propriety, and to a certain extent with kindness, but had not as yet manifested any disposition to receive instruction, or to abolish any further their heathen prejudices. A congregation of fifteen or twenty persons, including Eutiti and his family, assem- bled in the valley of Vaitahu for Christian wor- ship on the Sabbath morning ; but their attend- ance was capricious, and more the result of persuasion, or intended as a compliment to the missionaries, (who addressed them in the Mar-

24 STATE OF THE ISLAND.

quesan tongue,) than from any desire to profit by the good counsel offered to them. Eutiti expressed much anxiety to retain the missionaries in his territory, and was at little pains to conceal the selfish policy that influenced him. He per- sists in regarding their interests as identical with those of the shipping frequenting the surround- ing seas, and in some measure with the British government; from which last he entertains great hopes of receiving a valuable present of cannon and ammunition.

The entire island continued to be in a state of profound peace, and since our last visit its tran- quillity had been interrupted only on one occa- sion, when a woman from the weather valley, Mutabu, having hung her cloth upon a sacred edifice at Vaitahu, the people of the latter village armed themselves to avenge the sacrilege by the slaughter of the offending tribe. Their angry feelings were calmed, however, by the remon- strances of the missionaries ; and the feud was at length amicably settled, by the inhabitants of Mutabu paying the offended party a number of hogs, as an atonement for the offence of their countrywoman. The only advance these island- ers had made in civilized arts was an attempt to distil an ardent spirit from fermented bananas, under the tuition of some Society and Sandwich

VISIT HUAH1NE. 25

Islanders resident among them. The liquor they produced was but little better than vinegar. Nevertheless, several of the natives had indulged in it to the extent of intoxication, and had proved riotous and quarrelsome. We observed with regret this growing desire for ardent spirits, since, should it become as great here as at the Society Islands, the disunited form of the govern- ment will tend to perpetuate the vice, and foster its most destructive effects.

Of the pair of Moscovy-ducks we had left on this island, the drake only remained, his mate having been stolen and eaten by the natives, who had previously taken the same liberty with her eggs. Captain Stavers kindly repaired this loss to the missionaries by presenting them with another duck of the same breed; and at the same time gave some admonitory hints to Eutiti on the propriety of encouraging the propagation of the bird, as a mean of increasing his commerce with shipping — the only topic on which his sen- sibility could be excited.

After remaining five days in Resolution Bay we continued our cruise to the westward and S. of W. until the llth of March, when we made the Society Islands, and hove to off the harbour of Fare, Huahine.

Upon landing at the settlement we were re-

26 FARE BAY.

ceived by a crowd of stout, orderly, and well- attired natives, who, at our request, conducted us to the residence of their worthy missionary, Mr. Barff, from whom we received many polite attentions.

This island, (which is the easternmost of the Society group,) is composed of two insular mountain lands, closely approximated to each other. The northern and largest section is called Huahine nue ; the southern and smallest, Hua- hine itl. Both are nearly surrounded hy a com- mon barrier -reef ; and the tranquil water it encloses is studded with numerous verdant motus. The bay of Fare (Owharre of Cook) is in the N.W. side of Huahine nue. It is pro- tected from the ocean by a barrier coral-reef, which has a broad and deep aperture that per- mits shipping an easy access to the Bay, unless the trade winds should blow strongly from S.E., when ingress would of course be denied. Not- withstanding some defects in its anchorage, and a natural impediment to ships obtaining a con- venient supply of fresh water on its shores, this harbour has been more commonly the resort of South-Seamen than any other of the leeward cluster: supplies of live-stock and vegetables being abundant, and the natives friendly and anxious for traffic.

MISSIONARY SETTLEMENT. 27

The settlement at Fare occupies a tract of level land, of crescentic form, and about two miles in length — its southern extremity bounded by a bluff cliff ; its northern, stretching into the sea in the form of a low and extensive tract of sandy soil, picturesquely clothed with dense groves of cocoa-nut trees. The lowlands are well watered and exceedingly fertile : in no other spot of similar extent had I seen so profuse a display of cocoa-nut, orange, and lime trees, as was here exhibited. The dwellings of the resi- dents are scattered far asunder, but respectably built. Convenient paths intersect the land in every direction, and conduct to the adjoining districts ; some excellent causeways, constructed of block-coral, shorten the road where creeks or inlets of the sea intervene ; and several small rus- ticbridges facilitate the passage over as manynar- row but deep rivers. The Christian church of this settlement is a large and handsome edifice, erected close to the sea- side.

The residence of the missionary is situated more remote from the coast. It presents traces of former value, but is at present suffi- ciently dilapidated and modestly furnished to acquit its apostolic occupant of any overween- ing attention to his personal comfort. There are, indeed, but few missionaries in Polynesia

28 POPULATION. — NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.

more respected by natives and foreigners than Mr. Barff; and there are also but few, who, from the even tenour of their course in active and useful benevolence, have better deserved that tribute. He has resided for more than twenty years amongst these islands ; has been indefatigable in labouring for the cause he advocates ; and though himself little prone to display, his patient and intelligent researches have proved a valuable fund to his many more literary colleagues.

The population of Huahine amounts to about 2000 persons, of which the greatest proportion resides at Huahine nue, and chiefly at Fare, or the adjacent districts. The supreme authority of the government is vested in the person of the royal chief ess Ariipaea, sister to Tamatoa. king of Raiatea.

Oxen, ducks, and pigeons are the most use- ful exotic animals introduced to this island. Amongst the indigenous fruit-trees, the moun- tain-plantain (fei) obtains on the elevated lands, but is so scarce that its fruit is eaten only by the chiefs. In the garden attached to the missionary's house at Fare, we noticed a plantation of tall and vigorous coffee -shrubs, at this season covered with a profusion of ripe and scarlet fruit. Mr. Barff kindly presented

COOK'S SHADDOCK TREE. 29

to us several pounds of their recent berries, which, when prepared for the table, aiforded a strong and well-flavoured beverage. It was only at Oahu that we had hitherto seen any at- tempt to introduce the coffee-plant into Poly- nesia ; though Mr. Barff informed me, that he had planted it on several islands ; and, where proper attention had been paid to its culture, the result had been always satisfactory.

Near the northern extremity of the settle- ment I remarked a tall and venerable Shaddock- tree, (Citrus decumana,) loaded with large and ripe fruit. This is the only tree of its kind that exists on any of the Society Islands, and it bears th e reputation of having been planted by Cap- tain Cook, when he visited this island to restore Omai, the Society Islander, who, on a former voyage, had accompanied him to England. The spot on which the tree flourishes is a portion of the land obtained for Omai by Captain Cook, and hence named Beritani, or Britain, by the natives. Ever anxious to compare foreign pro- ductions with those indigenous to then* own soil, the Huahine people name this tree (from a similarity in its fruit and growth) uru papa, or the white man's bread-fruit tree. They do not eat the fruit, but betray a partiality for its odour by wearing fragments of the rind and

30 RAIATEA IN 1836.

pulp as necklaces. Every effort to propagate this Shaddock-tree by its seed has failed ; and I am not aware that any other method has been tried. It certainly affords as interesting and authentic a relic of our great navigator as any Polynesian island can produce.

Quitting Huahine, we made sail for Raiatea, and, on the 12th of March, brought up at our former anchorage off Utumaoro. The state of this settlement had very materially improved since our last visit. Its inhabitants were more numerous and cheerful, more orderly and better clothed, than we had seen them at any former period. Their dwellings, also, though still dirty, had a somewhat more comfortable and respectable appearance. The royal chief, Ta- matoa, whom we had last seen so lost to all sense of propriety, and plunged in degrading debauch, was now an altered man, healthy and robust, correct in his conduct, and residing in a neat hut, until a wooden house, now build- ing in the best style of architecture in these islands, should be completed for his use.

The pleasing improvement a few months had wrought in this community was chiefly to be attributed to a voluntary and rigorous abolition of the use of ardent spirits, as well as to the re- establishment of a missionary authority on the

INSTANCE OF NATIVE EQUITY. 31

island : Mr. Platt having relinquished the cure of Borabora, (where the natives are reported as " too bad,") and fixed his residence at Utu- maoro. Mr. Platt was at this time absent on a visit to the Navigator Islands ; yet the pre- sence of his family alone, at Raiatea, appeared sufficient to keep the natives in their line of duty.

It required as many visits as we had paid to this island to enable us to form any correct estimate of the character of a people so versa- tile in their conduct. From what I observed, it is evident that they hold any one moral cha- racter upon a very frail tenure ; and as they are influenced by good or bad example, and con- trolled by wholesome authority or left to the sway of their passions, they are ever ready to pass rapidly to the extremes of good and bad ; and afford at short intervals, and often in the same persons, striking examples of saintly vir- tues, or of the most degrading vices.

A circumstance occurred, during our present visit, which reflected great credit upon the state of the laws at this island. A few hours after our arrival at the port, a knife was missed from one of the boats ; and as no natives excepting the pilot and his boat's crew had been on board the ship, suspicion naturally fell upon that

32 STATE OF THE SETTLEMENT.

party ; but as the loss was trifling, the fact was casually mentioned to one of the chiefs and we thought no more about it. On the following morning, however, one of the native judges came off to the ship in his canoe, bringing with him the stolen knife and a hog. He informed us, that the thief had been detected in one of the pilot's crew, as had been suspected, and that having been tried by the judges and convicted, he had been sentenced to restore the knife and give a large hog as an atonement for his of- fence.

The local defects in the settlement remained unremedied — swamps were as numerous, and bridges and clear runs of water as scarce as heretofore. Disease also, (and perhaps as a consequence,) had in no degree diminished, and the number and distressing character of the maladies of the people, unpitied and un- aided, were truly appalling to humanity.

On the 15th of March we made sail for the windward, or Georgian Islands. The winds were at first favourable to our progress, but ultimately returned to the trade quarter and compelled us to beat the greater part of the passage.

At noon on the 17th we were detained by a calm, about eight miles due east of Sir Charles

SIR C. SAUNDERS' ISLAND. 33

Saunders' Island, Tabuaemanu, or Maiaoiti, (one of the Georgian cluster, and discovered by Captain Wallis, in 1/67;) the islands Eimeo and Tahiti being at the same time visible to us, distant forty or fifty miles to the S. E.

When approached from the S. W., and while yet distant, Tabuaemanu appears elevated, cir- cumscribed, and not unlike a distant sail. It is a small, though fertile island, of moderate ele- vation, and wooded to its topmost heights. Its longest diameter extends in a N. E. and S. W. direction, its each extremity stretching into the ocean as a long and low spit, or promontory, covered with cocoa-nut trees. It was formerly celebrated for the excellence and abundance of its yams. It is now employed as a penal settle- ment from Tahiti. No European missionary resides on its shores : the pastoral charge of the people being included in the duties of the missionary at Huahine, who pays an occasional visit to this spot to superintend the labours of native teachers.

On the 19th of March we approached closely the shores of Eimeo, or Moor£a ;* and on the

* An island situated to the westward of Tahiti, from which last it is separated by a navigable strait, fourteen miles in breadth. It is encircled by a distinct coral reef, is nearly thirty miles in circumference, elevated, pecu-

VOL. II. D

34 REVISIT TAHITI.

following day cast anchor in the harbour of Taone, Tahiti.

The moral improvement, so evident in the Raiateans, we found equally great amongst the Tahitians, — by whom indeed the example had been set. Missionary influence now prepon- derated in this island ; and the laws inculcating temperance, soberness, and chastity, were con- sequently strictly enforced. The distillation and importation of ardent spirits were prohi- bited, and intoxication severely punished. It is true that this, like all other legal enactments of the same government, was carried to an oppres- sive extreme ; since every private residence in the settlement was liable to an occasional search by the native authorities, when all the prohibited liquor they contained (above a certain quantity, warranted for medicinal purposes) was seized, and the owner subjected to a pecuniary fine ; — the odour of the breath of a native, who had in- dulged in private, was alone considered evi-

liarly wild, mountainous, and rugged in aspect ; but ex- ceedingly fertile, and abounding in picturesque scenery. The missionary settlement on its shores is chiefly remark- able for a public school, established for the education of the missionaries' children of both sexes ; and also for a stone church, (a rare edifice in these islands,) constructed with the coral blocks of ancient morais.

POLITICS AND COMMERCE. 35

dence sufficient to convict him before his judges. Nevertheless, it is unquestionable, that feeble measures, or any indulgence to individuals, would open a path for evasion, and destroy the effect of what has been, for this people, a very salutary and requisite law. The shores of Tahiti now no longer exhibited the revolting scenes of debauchery that disgraced them during our visit in the year 1834.

The practice, so prevalent with Asiatic and other semi-civilized governments, of pandering to the indolence and cupidity of the higher classes by oppressing the inferior and more in- dustrious grades of society, was but too evident here. The farmers complained loudly of the heavy duties the chiefs had imposed upon the sale of their produce, and which compelled them either to increase their price, and hence diminish the demand for their commodities, or to relin- quish a just remuneration for their toil.

We found upwards of twelve sail, chiefly American South-Seamen, at anchor in Papeete harbour ; and during our stay, a schooner, be- longing to an English resident here, reached the same port, with a cargo consisting of twenty- four tons of pearl-shell and many valuable pearls, the result of four months fishing amongst the islands of the Dangerous Archipelago.

D 2

36 PALLISER ISLANDERS.

Some other small vessels, belonging to this island, were absent on distant voyages — a schooner was on the stocks — a fine brig had been recently added, by purchase, to the mer- chant-navy of the foreign residents — and, upon the whole, the commercial state of Tahiti of- fered a fair prospect of improvement.

A party of natives of the Palliser Islands * had lately arrived here in three large sailing canoes, bearing a customary present, or tribute, of pearls, mats, and cinnet, for the queen of Tahiti. They resided in temporary huts erected upon the beach at Papeete, where their canoes were drawn up, and presented an interesting gipsy-like group of men, women, and children. In personal appearance they resemble the Tahi- tians ; though their complexion is some shades darker, and their features harsher and less agreeable. Their canoes are superior in size and construction to those in general use amongst the Society Islands, and the paddle with which they are steered has the part corresponding to the blade shaped as a vertical crescent, or tail- fin of a fish ; from which last, it is more than probable the idea of its form was originally derived.

* Situated to the eastward of Tahiti, and now included amongst the Paumotu, or Pearl Islands.

BATTLE-FIELD, NEAR BUNAAUIA. 37

On the 27th of March I accompanied Mr. S. Henry (the son of the worthy and venerable missionary of that name) to his estate near Mairipehe,* with the intention of proceeding from thence to visit the celebrated mountain- lake at Vaihiria. From Papeete we journeyed on horseback along the west coast, by a road which was good for a short distance beyond Bunaauia, but which ultimately became rocky, or encumbered by brushwood, and occasionally lost on the sands of the sea-shore. Its winding course, however, unfolding to our view a con- stant succession of opening valleys^ or towering and verdant heights, afforded scenes of extreme beauty; while many of the spots we passed possessed a local interest which the kindness and intelligence of my companion did not permit me to disregard.

A short distance beyond Bunaauia, we crossed a plain, memorable, in the history of the civil wars of this island, as having been the scene of the decisive battle, fought in the year 1815, be- tween the idolatrous and Christian Tahitians ; when the latter, under the command of Pomare II., drove their adversaries from the field with great slaughter, and the loss of their leader Upu-

* A district on the S. E. side of Tahiti, and distant about thirty miles from the settlement at Papeete.

38 REMARKABLE CAVERNS.

fara, the chief of Papara, and brother to Tati, the present chief of that district. In the vicinity of the battle-field, on a spot named Paea, in the district Teoropaa, there stands, close to the sea, an ancient morai, — a colossal pile of coral blocks, originally of square form, but now ruinous, and almost concealed by the spontaneous vegetation that clothes its surface.

On the S. W. side of the island, I noticed, with interest, the numerous caverns which perforate the precipitous cliffs that form this portion of the coast. One of the most remarkable of these, opened at the base of a mural cliff, about two hundred feet in height, and its face covered with ferns and other elegant verdure. The cavern, (which at its mouth formed a very large and per- fect arch,) diminished in size as it receded into the cliff; but to what extent it penetrated we could not ascertain, as its floor was occupied by a sheet of fresh water of considerable depth, produced by infiltration through the rocks above. The land intervening between the sea and this capacious cave, rises gradually as an amphithea- tre, enlivened by rills of water, and mantled with a profuse vegetation, including some splendid varieties of the fern tribe ; and were it cleared from brushwood, would display, together with the verdant cliff and cavern entrance in the back-

SUBMARINE SPRINGS. 39

ground,, a magnificent view from the lagoon-sea that bathes its shores. But two causes can be assigned for the existence of these mysterious caves ; namely, lava-currents, or the inroads of a turbulent sea, previous to the growth of a pro- tecting reef ; and of these, the latter appears the more probable cause, since we find on the ex- posed coast of Matavai Bay some similar caverns, filled with sea-water, and invaded by a heavy surf.

We also noticed on this coast many subterra- nean streams, rising as springs of fresh water from the midst of the sea, at various distances from the shore. Their situation is marked by small eddies, or whirls, on the smooth sea over the coral reef ; and upon some of these the na- tives have placed bamboos, with apertures in their sides, through which the fresh water flows as from a pump. When fishing on the coast, in their canoes, it is not unusual for the natives to dive beneath the surface of the sea and quench their thirst at these fresh-water springs.

In the afternoon we entered Papara ; a large and fertile district, containing a missionary resi- dence, and a Christian church of vast dimen- sions. The missionary at this station is Mr. Davies, whose pastoral charge (including the population of Papara and some adjoining dis-

40 TATI, CHIEF OF PAPARA.

trict) cannot be estimated at less than two thou- sand souls.

Tati, the governor of this district, is a member of the royal family of Tahiti ; and, owing to his rank and possessions, bears considerable sway in the politics of the island. In passing, we paid a visit to this chief at his residence, — a large and very superior wooden building, newly erected, and provided with an unusual quantity of Euro- pean furniture. He received us cordially, and produced a bottle of wine for our refreshment. He is an elderly man, of tall stature, and very corpulent. His features, which are coarse, heavy, and by no means prepossessing, bear some resemblance to the extant portraits of Pomare II., to whom he is nearly related. In his youth, Tati had been " educated for the church ;" or, in other words, initiated in the mysteries of heathen rites, to qualify him to act as a priest amongst his idolatrous countrymen : though, in his maturer years, he has proved him- self a warm advocate for the Christian cause, and a tried friend to the European missionaries.

A short distance further on our journey, we passed a dense plantation of venerable trees — one of the sacred groves of ancient idolatry — and without deviating greatly from our route, approached the sea- side to visit the celebrated

GREAT MORAI OF PAPARA. 41

" Great Moral of Papara," so ably described and delineated by Captain Cook, when it was in the zenith of its popularity. This morai is not,, cor- rectly speaking, in the district of Papara ; but on a spot named Mahiatea, in the district of Tevauta. It is now much ruined and diminished in height ; and vast quantities of the coral-blocks of which it is composed, are scattered on the surrounding soil, and occasionally carried away by the natives for other and more useful purposes. Nevertheless, what remains of the edifice is strongly expressive of its original gigantic and not unornamental structure; and while it excites our wonder, as a monument of the almost in- credible energy a naturally-indolent people can display when stimulated by superstitious zeal, it equally claims our regret that so interesting an antiquity should suffer from other devastations than those of time. Its height, though abridged, is yet above forty feet; the base retains its original size and form, and the summit its pyramidal character ; the compartments between the terraces are alternately composed of square, and apparently hewn, blocks of coral, and paral- lel horizontal rows of globular stones, resembling cannon-balls.

Unlike the impressive grove of Tamanu and Casuarina trees that surrounds the great morai

42 EXCURSION TO VAIHIRIA.

at Opoa, the ancient thicket around this edifice is chiefly composed of Purau and tangled brush- wood, and contains but few of the more funereal trees.

In the evening we reached Mr. Henry's resi- dence at Atinua, where the kindest hospitality obliterated the fatigues, and enhanced the plea- sures, of the past day.

At day-break on the following morning I quitted Atinua, in company with a native guide, and rode four miles further along the coast, to Mairipehe, whence we proceeded on foot, inland and to the northward, for the lake of Vaihiria.

For a short distance, our route lay over an extensive tract of fertile land, in some parts thinly strewn with the cultivated plots and modest huts of the natives, though more gene- rally overrun by a rank vegetation and inter- sected by streams, which compelled us to take to the water and practise those aquatic exercises which we had afterwards so frequently to repeat. As we advanced inland the country assumed a wilder and more romantic character. An occa- sional hut, erected as a temporary shelter for the fruit-gatherer, was the only trace of hu- man occupation ; and a river of respectable size, arising inland, near Vaihiria, flowed through the land with a winding and impetuous course, to

HIGHLAND VEGETATION. 43

empty itself into the sea on the coast of Mairi- pehe.

The road to the lake follows closely the chan- nel of this river, or only departs from it to evade circuitous bends, rapids, or unfordable depths. In our journey to Vaihiria and back we crossed this stream one hundred and eighteen times. It was often both broad and deep at the fords, and its current so strong as to require some exertion to stem it. The dry and detached paths, trodden by former visitors, were narrow, often concealed by vegetation, and covered with loose and rugged stones that rendered travelling painfully laborious.

Midway between the coast and Vaihiria, a solitary cocoa-nut tree, serving as an index to this distance, was the last of its family we passed. The Guava-shrub, also, became more scarce, and gradually disappeared, although it is making vigorous and promising efforts to accom- pany man to the borders of the lake. The ordi- nary vegetation of the coast was now exchanged for groves of the mountain- plantain, covering the neighbouring heights with their palmy foliage, crowned with erect clusters of scarlet fruit ; elegant arborescent ferns and many varieties of club -mosses clothed the banks of the river ; and several continuous acres of land were

44 THE MOUNTAIN-LAKE,

covered solely with thickets of a species of Amo- mum, called Obuhl by the natives, its pinnated leaves rising to the height of eight feet above the soil, and emitting, when crushed, a powerful and agreeable odour, not unlike that of pimento.

The towering heights on either side of our route frequently presented the deceptive appear- ance of closing upon our path, and as often led me to anticipate the task of ascending them. We continued, however, along the torrent, with- out surmounting any abrupt eminence, until in the vicinity of the lake, when a steep and rugged hill rose before us, covered with vegetation, and bounded on our left by a lofty cliff, from the summit of which a broad cascade sprung majes- tically over a verdant precipice, with a fall of more than two hundred feet, and contributed its waters to the river we had tracked. On the summit of this hill, the valley and lake of Vai- hiria burst impressively^upon our view, spreading at our feet an enchanting scene of placid and picturesque beauty, for which no description had prepared me, since none could do justice to its merits. A short and abrupt descent con- ducted us into a level valley, bounded on all sides by rocky heights, luxuriantly wooded, and inaccessible, except at the spot where we entered, or over a similar hill on the opposite side.

AND ITS PECULIAR BEAUTIES. 45

The lake occupies one extremity, and a great portion of the valley. It is nearly circular in form, and about one mile in circumference ; its surface tranquil, or ruffled but for a moment by the passing breeze ; its waters fresh, and of a dull-green colour. Its greatest depth, as ascertained by sounding, does not exceed four- teen fathoms. Two spiry cliffs, conspicuous for their majestic height and uniform appearance, bound the lake on opposite sides, many small and silvery waterfalls pouring from their crests, and stealing silently over the short and bright verdure of their precipitous faces into the basin beneath. Its shores are formed in part by the bases of these cliffs ; but chiefly by a beach of soft black sand, strewn with cellular boulders, and by low ledges of breccia, or volcanic rock of a very friable character. Some black and rugged rocks, also, rear their heads above the smooth surface of the lake, presenting a gloomy but powerful contrast to the mild and reposing cha- racter of the surrounding landscape.

An extensive plain, stretching from the border of the lake to the foot of the more remote hills, is almost entirely covered with a species of Polygonum, very closely resembling the land variety of P. amphibium. Eels are the only fish known to inhabit the lake, and the privilege of

46 NATIVE AND FOREIGN VISITERS.

capturing them is the hereditary right of a native family residing at Mairipehe. A flight of wild- ducks rose from the water on our approach ; and the plaintive note of a bird, not unlike the cooing of a dove, was the only sound that inter- rupted the death-like tranquillity of this secluded spot.

A few rafts, made with the stalks of the mountain-plantain, lying on the borders of the lake, and some temporary huts, covered with the leaves of the same tree, betrayed that other visiters than ourselves had recently intruded upon this scene. They might, probably, have been a native party which, a few weeks before, had escorted the queen, Aimata, on her first visit to Vaihiria ; or the officers of H. B. M. S. Challenger, 28, who had made an excursion to this spot in the previous year. The Tahitians, ever fond of the marvellous, assert that the waters of the lake are unfathomable ; but a cir- cumstance which occurred to the Challenger's party, and which was related to me by Mr. Henry, proves, how much easier it is to find the bottom of the lake than to fathom the duplicity of the Tahitian character. One of the officers, when crossing the lake on a raft, for the purpose of shooting wild-ducks, found his frail craft in danger of upsetting, and^ in order to save him-

VOLCANIC TRAITS. 47

self, allowed a valuable double-barreled fowling piece to fall from his hands into the depths be- low. A native attendant was set to dive for the lost property, which he did, and declared it was not to be found ; and it was not until he had been urged to repeated attempts by Mr. Henry, that he at length produced it. This man after- wards confessed, that he had found the gun when he first dived, and had concealed it in a spot, under water, where he could readily obtain it for himself, at another and more favour- able opportunity ; and that he had no intention whatever of restoring it to the rightful owner, if Mr. Henry had not been so angry and pe- remptory on the subject.

The geological character of the surrounding land strengthens the opinion that this lake is the crater of an extinct volcano, filled with water by cascades and rivulets, as well as by subterranean streams, that open perceptibly on many parts of its surface. That there may be some exit for its waters is probable, though at present destitute of proof. The height of the spot it occupies is estimated, by Captain Beechey, at 1,500 feet above the level of the sea. The ascent from the coast, however, is made by a circuitous route, and is so gradual as to be almost imperceptible : the direct dis-

48 PORT OF MAIRIPEHE.

tance from Mairipehe to the lake does not exceed eight miles.

It was noon when we reached Vaihiria. The sky was clouded, the temperature low, and every thing around us saturated with moisture. The morning dew on the thickets, the river- fords, and subsequently, some heavy showers of rain, had wetted us thoroughly ; but this was only a temporary inconvenience to my native companion, who, on starting, had taken the precaution to roll his body-cloth into a small and compact form, and now invested himself in its dry folds, with something, I thought, like satirical satisfaction. But I had my revenge ; for the dampness of the spot defied all his efforts to produce fire by rubbing two pieces of wood to- gether, in the usual Polynesian manner, and en- abled me to display the superiority of civilized over savage expedients, by immediately produ- cing the desired element with a Lucifer-match.

Returning by the same route, we reached Mairipehe* by six o'clock in the evening. This district includes a wide extent of fertile plain,

* A name compounded of two Tahitian words, signify- ing " to finish a song ;" the minstrels, who formerly strolled round the island, having been in the habit of com- mencing their performances at Papara, and finishing them at this place.

VILLAGE OF ATINUA. 49

and its population presents a healthy rustic ap- pearance, which we look for in vain amongst the dissipated natives of the more commercial ports. Its coast is well protected by the bar- rier coral reef ; and the tranquil water within the latter, affords good anchorage for shipping, off a native village where every essential supply can be obtained.

Previous to my return to Papeete, on the morning of the 29th, I devoted a few leisure hours to viewing the beauties of Atinua. The principal building on this spot is Mr. Henry's residence, a neat and convenient dwelling, erected at the foot of some pastured hills, and surrounded by cultivated lands, which include the largest sugar plantation on the island. Na- tive huts, grouped around, were mingled with superior habitations occupied by foreigners, (En- glish and Americans,) pursuing employments as respectable mechanics. The refreshing coolness of the morning air, passing through a dense foliage ; the appearance of cattle, swine, and poultry, strolling about, orderly and domesti- cated ; together with the general aspect of rural comfort this estate presented, would have in- duced me to fancy myself in a respectable En- glish farm, had not the plumy cocoa-nut palms and broad-leaved bananas destroyed the illusion.

VOL. II. E

50 CRUISE TO THE NORTHWARD.

CHAPTER III.

Cruise to the northward — Tetuaroa — Return to Tahiti to repair a leak — Native worship — Observance of the Sabbath — The Ofai-marama or moon-stone — Visit of the Zebra — Remarks on missionary labours in Polynesia — Sail for England, by way of the Cape of Good Hope — Rotch Island — Remarkable effects of a current — Capture Sperm Whales — Tench's Island — See other islands — Enter the Indian Archi- pelago— Floating pumice-stone — Capture a water- snake, Hydrophis bicolor — Spirula Australis — Take a large Whale in Pitt's Passage— Curious effects of re- fraction— Speak the Soubrou, Bombay trader — Ap- proach the Island of Timor — Its coast scenery.

ON the morning of the 31st of March, we took advantage of the land breeze to sail from Tahiti^ on a cruise to the northward. On the following day we passed close to Tetuaroa, a low and extensive coral-island, belonging to the crown of Tahiti, and much frequented by the Tahitians for purposes of health or pleasure. Its structure is analogous to that of Caroline Island, which I have already described.

On the 4th of April we again visited Maurua, for the purpose of renewing our stock of yams ;

SPRING A LEAK. 51

and in the following evening sailed from that island, with winds from N. W. and very bois- terous weather. The same contrary winds op- posed our progress to the northward for several days ; and we had not proceeded beyond the six- teenth degree of south latitude, when it was dis- covered that a leak in the bow of the ship, two feet below water-mark, * and which had for some time required a frequent use of the pumps, was now so much increased as to require our imme- diate return to Tahiti for its repair. We conse- quently tacked to the S. E., and the wind being favourable to our reversed course, reached Tahiti on Saturday, the 22d of April, and cast anchor in the tranquil harbour of Papeete Bay.

The day of our arrival being the Sabbath at this island, I landed in time to attend divine service at Papeete Church, where Mr. G. Prit- chard, the indefatigable missionary of this dis- trict, officiated to a large congregation of na- tives, including the queen, Aimata, and her hus- band. The conduct of the two latter personages was not, on this occasion, calculated to set a good example to their subjects. The queen was

* The precise situation of this leak was detected by the use of a long bamboo, applied in the manner, and on the principles, of the stethescope.

E 2

o2 THE NATIVES SABBATH.

playful and inattentive ; and her husband did not even enter the church, but, seated on the thres- hold, amused himself during the time of service with cutting sticks, playing with children, or in the enjoyment of passing events in the road without — pastimes for which he was occasionally rebuked by an elderly chief who stood near him. It was pleasing, however, to notice the manner in which this day was preserved by the mass of the population. No canoes were to be seen on the water, nor any natives occupied with traffic or manual labour ; their food, pro- cured and cooked on the previous day, is of better quality and more abundant than ordinary ; the floors of their huts are usually strewn with a fresh layer of grass ; and natives of every grade, attired in their best apparel, may be seen hastening to church at the sound of the sum- moning bell, and returning an orderly, if not an edified, train. To the stranger, these public demonstrations of piety convey an opinion highly flattering to the native character, and lead him to infer, that if the Tahitians do not possess a true religious sentiment, they at least contrive to ape that virtue exceedingly well, and deserve to be praised for their docile obedience to the wholesome laws enacted for them.

THE MOON-STONE. 53

I availed myself of our return to this island, to visit the Ofai mamma (moon-stone) of the natives ; a natural curiosity, second only to the lake of Vaihiria. It is situated on a spot named Puna-ru, about two miles and a half inland from the west coast. The road to it, as pursued by my native guide, penetrated the country imme- diately behind the village of Bunaauia, and tra- versed a valley, covered with luxuriant herbage, and enlivened by a broad stream, winding through its centre ; whilst oxen and horses, grazing on the rich pasturage, and occasional groupes of native huts, helped to form a very pretty rural landscape. At the head of this valley, in a narrow rocky defile, bounded on either side by precipices, we found the object of our curiosity — a prostrate basaltic column, half-imbedded in the soil, and lying in a cave, excavated as it were for its reception, at the base of a mural cliff of considerable height. Its position is horizontal, and nearly parallel to the sides of the cave ; its length about seven feet, its height three and a half, and its breadth nearly six feet ; its surface is dark and polished, and marked with a few vertical fissures, so regularly disposed as to convey an impression that the column is composed of several blocks, united by human ingenuity. It is connected in

54

VISIT OF THE ZEBRA.

some parts with the rock of the cliff, and its extremity, that presents at the mouth of the cave, has a smooth surface, resembling the half- risen moon in shape, whence its native name. It offers, on the whole, an interesting example of a basaltic column, which originally formed a por- tion of the surrounding cliff ; but whose more compact structure has retained its integrity, while the rock around has separated in slaty exfoliations.

The British man-of-war brig Zebra, which now lay at anchor in Papeete harbour, was the only ship -of- war we met with during the voyage. Her trim and well-disciplined appearance recalled many agreeable thoughts

INDUSTRY DISPLAYED. 55

of our native land, and from her commander and officers we received many polite and valuable attentions. The presence of a man- of-war in their port, seemed to produce any thing but a joyous effect on the natives ; since they derive but little amusement or profit from a ship of this character, and the rigour of her discipline is not at all adapted to their taste.

There was at this time, however, an unusual degree of bustle and activity amongst the natives on the coast, the greater number being em- ployed in gathering bark for the manufacture of native cloth ; while, in a large shed at Papeete, more than fifty young females, their heads be- decked with flowers, assembled daily to make the welkin ring with the sound of then* cloth mallets. They all told me that they were work- ing for the queen ; and I imagined they were preparing some customary tribute, until I was informed by the European residents, that such display invariably attends the presence of a foreign ship-of-war in the port, and is intended to impress the naval officers with a favourable opinion of native industry.

Previous to taking leave of this island, which must be deemed the head-quarters of British

56 POLYNESIAN MISSIONARIES :

missionaries in Polynesia, I may with propriety hazard a few remarks upon the apparent extent and effects of missionary exertions ; although, from the conflicting opinions existing on this topic, the task becomes one of extreme delicacy. I have been led by personal observation to believe, that while the missionaries at these islands have been libelled by one party, they have been too highly lauded by another ; and that the strictures of Kotzebue are not more unworthy of implicit belief than the flowery and exaggerated tone of description adopted by the missionary party. From the statement of the one, we should judge that missionaries were tyrannical, ignorant, bigotted, avaricious, and almost the cause of every vice perceptible in the native character, and that the natives themselves are in a more degraded state than at the period of their most barbarous idolatry. From the other, we are to believe, that the missionaries are universally beloved ; that the natives are saints, martyrs, and primitive apostles ; that their churches are cathedrals, and their grouped huts cities. But with whichsoever of these party im- pressions the voyager visits the debatable land, he will find himself disappointed; and by ob- serving calmly and unprejudiced, will doubt-

THEIR LABOURS AND PROSPECTS. 57

less determine, that the truth rests in the medium.

It cannot be denied, that from the landing of the first party of British missionaries, in 1797, to the present time, a constant tendency to a fixed point of improvement has been evident in the more favoured Polynesian nations. — I say a fixed point, because I believe, that after idolatry has been supplanted by the Christian religion, and the elements of education introduced, the work will remain stationary for a time ; and that a nobler superstructure can only be raised by the maturing influence of many years' inter- course with civilized nations. The first steps have been successfully attained by the mis- sionaries, at both the Society and Sandwich groups, after many years of anxious toil and dangerous re-action ; and their chief duty at present consists in retaining the ground they have gained, and in giving such intellectual im- provement to the rising generation of natives as circumstances may permit. And it will be no- ticed, in the accounts I have given of distinct islands, how soon the absence, or loss of in- fluence, on the part of then* missionary in- structors, causes the capricious natives to revert to then* former excesses, and indifference to

58 MISSIONARY INFLUENCE,

moral laws. A missionary, resident amongst these newly-converted people, has almost a regal influence ; for however passive he may be, his presence alone has the effect of stimulating the chiefs and church party to enforce the observance of religious law amongst the people ; whilst the latter, from a feeling of decorum, and a love of approbation, (peculiar to their character,) act with much show of propriety; since no native, however depraved in principle, will act in open violation of morality under the eye of his missionary, whom he always regards with a kind of innate respect, although professing, to his party, that he holds both the man and his precepts in contempt.

It may be asked, how far has commercial in- tercourse alone, with civilized nations, tended to the improvement of these islanders ? I would answer, that the effect of commercial intercourse can extend but little farther than to make the natives acquainted with civilized habits, (and bad habits they too frequently are,) and by the introduction of foreign manufactures, to increase their comforts, and afford them the means of imitation. But it would be absurd to assume, that the transient visits of shipping, or even the residence amongst them of foreign merchants,

AS COMPARED WITH COMMERCIAL. 59

with minds engrossed by mercantile speculations, and destitute of all responsibility, would go far to correct or educate these people. The press, also, (that mighty engine for the development of the human intellect,) as well as the reduction of the Polynesian languages to a standard rule, would have long remained absent from these nations, had their introduction depended solely upon commercial relations with their protecting countries.

Since some few errors and abuses are in- separable from human nature, we may admit that the missionaries perform their duties with great moderation and purity. The principal faults laid to their charge, are too great an in- terference in the political and domestic affairs of the natives, and too keen a participation in commercial transactions. Nor are these charges altogether groundless ; although more frequently applicable to individuals than to the collective body. The missionaries shield themselves from the blame of political interference, by attributing all legal enactments, at their stations, to the will of the principal natives ; but the influence they exercise over the minds of the chiefs, and the frequency with which the latter consult them upon all important affairs, are too well known,

60 SECURITY FOR SHIPPING.

to permit the administration of the one party to be unassociated with the wish of the other. Commercial dealings, although irrelevant,, may not, perhaps, be deemed strictly opposed to their spiritual profession, unless permitted to interfere with the due performance of their pastoral duties ; and, when conducted in a liberal and upright manner, may afford useful instruction to the natives ; but it is not considered just, that, as salaried officers for the performance of a distinct duty, they should present themselves as competitors with the increasing number of merchants, resident on the islands, and depen- dent for their support solely upon their com- mercial success ; and hence embroilments ensue, which should with propriety be avoided.

If shipping experience any inconvenience from missionary supremacy in these islands, it is in some measure repaid to them, by the comparative security with which they may approach the shores of a land where they see the dwelling of the missionary erected as a beacon of peace ; and this the more especially, as the missionary is usually the first to quit the spot, when the natives are insensible to control, or involved in the turmoil of war. On the whole, we have much reason to be satisfied with the conduct of

CROSS THE MERIDIAN. 61

our Polynesian missionaries, and to admit that they have done all in their power to improve the natives, and to implant in their minds respect and esteem for the British character.

Leaving Tahiti on the 2nd of May, on our return to England by the way of the Cape of Good Hope, we steered to the N. W., until near the equator, in long. 166° W. ; and then shaped a westerly course between the parallels of 2° and 3° S. lat, with winds chiefly from N. E., and a current setting to the westward at the rate of one mile an hour.

Crossing the meridian of 180', on the 22nd of May, we commenced reckoning east longitude, and noted the following day as the 24th of the month, (thus reducing our current week to six days,) in order to reconcile our time with the apparent loss we should sustain of twenty-four hours, upon our return to the meridian of Green- wich by this, the western circuit of the globe.

May 26, 1836.— In lat. 2° 30' S., long. 175° 10' E., discovered a low and extensive island, covered with trees, and surrounded by a sandy beach, with moderate surf; some smoke seen rising from the land, led us to believe that it was inhabited. Allowing for a difference of one degree in longitude, this would appear to be

62 EXTENSIVE FROTH-LINE :

Rotch Island, discovered by Capt. Clerk, of the John Palmer, in 1 826, and laid down by Krusen- stern, in lat. 2° 30' S., long. 176° 10' E. A current, setting strongly to the N. W., caused us to pass its shores with a rapidity, by no means consistent with the light airs, approaching to a calm, which prevailed at the time.

In lat. 2° 53' S., long. 174° 55' E., a remarkable white line was observed on the surface of the ocean, about two miles a-head of the ship, and bearing the appearance of a low surf, breaking on a sand-bank, or reef. The ship's course was altered, until a boat, lowered to ascertain the true character of the water, displayed a signal that no danger was to be apprehended, when we resumed our course, and soon after passed through the ob- ject of alarm. It proved to be an undulated line of froth) or scum, several yards in width, extend- ing on either side as far as was visible with the naked eye, and accompanied by a heterogeneous assemblage of floating mollusks, small fish, crabs, and other marine animals, drift-wood, and oceanic birds. The birds formed the most mysterious feature of the phenomenon : they were chiefly of the noddy and petrel families; and whilst some of them appeared but recently dead, others lay in a torpid and helpless state on the surface

ITS COMPOSITION AND CAUSE. 63

of the sea. A black petrel, (Procellaria fu- liginosa,) in this latter condition, was taken by our boat's crew and brought to the ship. It was sufficiently lively when on board ; and the state in which it was found could scarcely be at- tributed to repletion, for, on dissection, I found its stomach perfectly empty. Janthinae, or sea- snails, were the most abundant of the floating rnollusks. Their number was immense ; and their floats contributed greatly to the white, appearance of the froth-line. One species of this family, which I obtained here, was new to me ; and is certainly very rare : its shell was yellow ; rather smaller and more elongated than J. communis ; and the whirl more prominent and spiral. The contained animal was also of a yellow colour ; but in the form of its float, and other respects, it closely resembled the ordinary blue-shelled species.

This line of miscellanies on the ocean, denoted the termination of a current,* which, in its

* Immediately after passing this spot, we lost the strong N. W. current that had hitherto accompanied us ; and it is worthy of remark, as associated with the limits of currents, (which are often capricious,) that some of our older navigators have recorded the existence of a current- ripple, and others that of a froth, in nearly this precise place.

64 SPERM WHALES.

progress, had swept the surrounding waters of their passive, or feeble denizens, and had borne them thus far in a dense and confused mass. Rising and falling with the swell, and its white hue conspicuous above the blue surface of a calm sea, it had much the appearance of surf, and if it had been seen only in the distance by a passing ship, might have added a " suspected shoal" to our charts.

On the same day we noticed many kinds of cetaceans, including a school of Sperm Whales, which our boats pursued with success. As we sailed to the westward, also, in the parallel of 3J S. lat., Cachalots were frequently observed ; and the produce of several was added to our cargo. They were for the most part shy and mischievous, and were seldom destroyed without some injury to the boats. From a school, at- tacked by our boats in long. 158°E., four whales were obtained ; three of these were adult females, whilst the fourth, a male calf, the offspring of one of the former, did not exceed sixteen feet in length, and produced but three barrels of oil.

June 13. — Tench's Island bore S. W., distant seven miles. This is a low and small island, (not exceeding three miles in circumference,) mar- gined by a sandy beach, well wooded, and indeed

TENCH'S, AND OTHER ISLANDS. 65

chiefly conspicuous from its tall trees, rising as it were from the surface of the sea. It is situated in lat. 1° 39' S., long. 151° 31' E., and was discovered in 1790, by Lieut. Ball, who states that it is inhabited by a stout and healthy race of people. On the evening of the same day, (Tench's Island being still visible,) Kerue's Island, and Mathias, or Prince William Henry's, Island, were seen in the N. W. The latter, which is the westernmost of the two islands, is large, elevated, and covered with verdure ; its western extremity terminating as a long, low, and well-wooded point. The three islands last mentioned, appear to have been laid down with extreme accuracy by Lieut. Ball. On the 16th, we saw the Anchorite Islands, bearing S. W., distant fifteen miles ; and found in their vicinity a current, setting to the S. W.

During a calm, in lat. 0° 66' S., long. 140° E., several logs of drift-wood were seen floating within a short distance of the ship. We went in a boat to the largest, and found it an entire tree, more than sixty feet in length, covered with weeds, barnacles, Unices, and crabs, and much perforated by the ship-borer (Teredo navalis.) In the water around was assembled a vast number of fish, chiefly yellow-tails, (Elaga-

VOL. II. F

66 THE YOEL GROUP.

tis,) rudder-fish, (Caranx antilliarumj file- fish, (Balistes,) some albacore, brown sharks, and many other kinds, of grotesque forms and gaudy hues, for which even the sailors had no names ; the whole presenting a marine spectacle of a highly novel and animated character. The timber was towed to the ship, and a part of it taken on board for fire-wood, and upon making sail, a large proportion of the fish accompanied the ship, and continued to do so for several weeks.

After crossing the equator in long. 137° E.,* we renewed a course to the westward, within the parallel of 1° N. lat., and nearly in Bougain- ville's track of 1768.

On the 27th of June, the elevated land of New Guinea was in sight ; and on the following day we entered a strait, twenty-four miles in breadth, bounded on the one side by the moun- tainous island of Wageeoo, and on the opposite, by the Yoel group — a cluster of small islands, the greater number but little raised above the level of the sea, and richly vegetated. One of

* On the evening of the day we crossed the line, a frigate-bird alighted on the spanker- gaff, and permitted itself to be captured by hand — an occurrence so unusual at aea, as to be almost unprecedented.

FLOATING PUMICE-STONE. 67

them, remarkable for its more limited cir- cumference but greater elevation, is shaped like a gunner's quoin, and rises as an amphitheatre, luxuriantly wooded to the water's edge.

The surface of the sea in this strait, was covered with vast quantities of pumice-stone, floating in small pieces, rounded by attrition. Some of them were black, others of an olive-gray colour ; and it is remarkable, that the specific gravity of many of them was so nicely balanced, that although they floated in the sea, they sank when placed in fresh water. Their origin is due to the volcanic islands of this Archipelago : the volcanic mountain of Ternate is often in action ; and as late as the year 1836, South- Seamen cruising in the straits of Timor, were compelled to keep their decks wet, on account of the showers of hot ashes thrown upon them during a volcanic eruption on the Island of Flores.* Such collections of pumice-stone on the surface of these seas are not uncommon ; and are oc- casionally so great, that ships have had their copper brightly polished by passing through them.

* To the same cause may be attributed, the origin of those large porous stones occasionally found floating on the sea, to the great surprise of navigators.

F 2

68 ACCOUNT OF A WATER-SNAKE.

While we were yet engaged in this strait, my tow-net captured a water-snake. (Hydrophis bicolor.)* It was two feet in length; the upper surface of the body uniformly black ; the inferior of a bright-yellow colour ; the tail vandyked with black and white. It had the ordinary form of a land snake, with the exception that the belly was keel-shaped, and the tail compressed, (to facilitate swimming,) and blunt at the extremity. The teeth were similar to those of innocuous land snakes.-}* It did not appear much inconvenienced by being removed from its natural element, and when taken on board the ship, resembled the terrestrial snakes in its modes of rearing the head, gazing fixedly, and rapidly protruding and retracting a cloven tongue. It did not appear, however, to possess any power of progressing on land ; since, when placed on the deck of the ship, it made the lateral motions usual with land snakes, but could not advance. It uttered no sound, nor did it make any attempt to bite. On dissection after death, I found several small fish in its stomach.

* Delineated in Russell's India Serpents, Vol. II., Plate XLIL

f It should be remembered, tbat some sea-snakes have tubular or poisonous teeth mingled with the true teeth.

CURRENT-RIPPLES. 69

Upon entering the Gilolo passage,* the view commanded from the deck of the ship included, in addition to some of those we had passed, the islands Een, Rab, Wihang, Sihang, Hi, and Gaby. Indeed, the sea we were now sailing upon presented a perfect garden of islands; some of them lofty and mountainous ; others, as Sihang, low, and resembling the coral for- mations of the Pacific ; whilst all were clothed with a dense and brilliant verdure, and afforded a picturesque scene, heightened in beauty by the serenity of the sky, and by the wide ex- panse of blue ocean that surrounds their shores, and bathes the feet of their wooded amphi- theatres.

An anchor was now got over the bows, as a precaution against the calms and currents, so much to be dreaded amongst these islands, and which here began to beset us with greater frequency — the currents often approaching as a long line of rolling surf, breaking against the ship with a loud, confused, rippling sound, and bearing large quantities of vegetable refuse of the land, shoals of fish, marine mollusks, and a great number of the elegant shells (for- merly named CrozlersJ contained in the body

* A strait, between the islands of Gilolo and Wageeoo.

70 PULO P1SANG, AND OTHER ISLANDS.

of that curious nondescript animal, the Spirula Australis.*

When in the longitude of about 130° E., we recrossed the equator during a severe gale, and steered south and west courses, in sight of the islands Otah, Gagie, Pulo-f- Moar, and Joyie ; the sea occasionally assuming a green hue, with turbulent currents setting to both the east and west.

In the morning of the 3d of July we passed close to an extensive chain of small and beau- tiful islands, formed by the Weeda group, Pulo Roa, Lapar-dammar, Little-dammar, Lookisong, three others, whose names were unknown, or not noted on our charts, and Pulo Pisang. The last-named island is small though lofty, and in the aspect we viewed it, appeared wholly com- posed of two high mammillary-shaped moun- tains. In the afternoon of the same day we passed close to Maccluer's rock, or " danger- stone," (a naked vlgia, resembling the hull of a ship,) and entered Gasses-straits, a channel

* The nearest approach we made to the possession of this rare animal, was by taking, in a towing-net, the inferior portion of the body, with the camerated shell in situ, and protruding through the soft parts in the normal manner. This fragment was of a bright orange- colour.

f Pulo, in the Malay language, signifies an island.

EFFECTS OF REFRACTION. 7l

eighteen miles in breadth, bounded on either side by the islands Fulo Pisang, Lawn, the Button, Kekik, and Pulo Gasses.

When in Pitt's Passage, with the islands Go- mona and Oby-major in sight, a large body of Sperm Whales was seen moving quickly. Our boats pursued them, and, when close in with the shores of Oby-major, succeeded in killing a male Cachalot, of the largest size. The first boat that fastened had its entire line taken out ; the second was more successful; and by the united efforts of all the boats, the whale was at length despatched and brought to the ship. When in his " flurry," the creature descended, and died beneath the surface of the sea, so that it required the combined exertions of all the boats' crews to raise the carcase from the depth of forty fathoms ; but when this was effected, it floated buoyantly. Some extraordinary effects of refraction had been often visible to us since we en- tered this Archipelago, but were never so strongly marked as on the present occasion : the boats, floating on a calm sea, at a distance from the ship, were magnified to a great size ; the crew, standing up in them, appeared as masts or trees, and their arms, in motion, as the wings of wind- mills ; while the surrounding islands (especially at their low and tapered extremities,) seemed

72 EXTRAORDINARY WINDS.

to be suspended in the air, some feet above the ocean's level.*

A continued course to the southward of west brought us in sight of the islands Oby Latta and Ceram, and close to the low but picturesque island of Gomona. At night, the breeze from off the land wafted to us a sweet odour, like that of flowers ; and the surrounding waters con- tained such vast numbers of that curious fish, the Leptocephalus, or " small-head,"-}- that my tow-net was constantly filled with them.

On the following day, when in sight of the islands Booro, Xully Bissy, and Lassamatula, a bark was seen standing towards us, with Eng- lish colours flying. Extraordinary as it may appear, although the strange sail was steering due west, and the Tuscan due east, both ships approached with the wind "dead aft" and stud- ding sails set, until within two miles of each other, when they were alike baffled by calms and light airs. The stranger proved to be the Bombay bark Soubrou, Captain Smith, bound to Lombock and Bally, for a cargo of rice for the China market.

* On a previous occasion, and owing to the same cause, we had seen the setting sun assume the form of the hull of a ship, and change, in a few moments, to a perfectly square shape.

f See Illustrations of Natural History, — Fish.

TIMOR. COAST SCENERY. 73

Entering the Banda sea by Pitt's Passage, on the 16th July, we got sight of the Wetter, Ombay, Dog, and Cambing (Goat) islands ; and on the following morning were engaged in the straits of Timor, or Ombay Passage. * Current ripples were here as numerous and forcible as we had experienced them in any part of the Archipelago. On one occasion, the ship was turned completely round by the sudden eddy of waves they produced.

The island of Timor, as seen from this chan- nel, has not a very inviting aspect. Its general features are mountainous, wild, and arid ; the lofty hills, rising from the coast, are thinly strewn with trees, and covered with a coarse and seared pasturage ; whilst occasionally, herds of buffalo may be seen grazing on their acclivities. On many parts of the coast, extensive valleys, occupied by native villages, open upon the sea ; and here, thickets of spontaneous vegetation, and groves of palm-trees, surrounding the dwellings, present a much more verdant and pleasing appearance.

* A broad channel, lying in a direction nearly N. E. and S. W., and bounded on either side by the weathered and lofty coasts of the islands Ombay and Timor. Its waters are deep and its shores so abrupt that soundings can be obtained in but few spots, however close to the land.

74 ARRIVAL AT SOUTRANHA.

CHAPTER IV.

Anchor in Soutranha Bay, Timor — Visit the rajah — The ship visited by the rajah, his family, and suite — De- scription of the country and its inhabitants — Village of Soutranha— Physical character of the natives— Their clothing — Ornaments and food — The Betel masti- catory— Despotism of the rajah — His warriors and wars — Religion of the people — Malay and aboriginal languages — Commerce and manufactures — Chinese re- sidents— Proas and canoes — Climate — Natural produc- tions— Reflections on the probable Asiatic origin of Polynesian Islanders — Natural History corroborative of that opinion.

AT noon, on the 18th of July, we entered Soutranha Bay, on the western side of Timor, and cast anchor off a Malay settlement, where the Dutch flag was hoisted in front of the principal residence. Soon after our arrival we received a visit from Don Simon De Cruz, the son of the rajah of this district, and his friend Mr. Brown, (a half-caste, between Dutch and Malay,) who had arrived here from Coupang, to collect sandal-wood. The latter was an intelligent young man, and, as he spoke the English and Malay languages fluently,

VISIT THE RAJAH. 75

proved a valuable associate to us in our inter- course with this people.

On landing for the purpose of paying our respects to the rajah, Don Domingos Santa Cruz, we were conducted to the residence of that personage, a large wooden edifice, erected close to the beach, enclosed by lofty palisades, and embowered in a plantation of cocoa-nut trees. After waiting in a kind of guard-room for a time which, although tedious to us, was considered by the native party as consistent with etiquette, we ascended by a ladder to an elevated apartment, where we found the rajah seated on a mat, surrounded by pillows and cushions. He was indisposed, but rose to re- ceive us, and invited us to be seated on some chairs, that formed a part of the furniture of the room. He is an elderly man, of short stature, and by no means well-formed. His features, broad, harsh, and truly Malay, were not improved by a pair of bright ferocious eyes, and a mouth broad to deformity, and stained with the san- guineous hue of the betel-nut. His counte- nance expressed an austere dignity, which, com- bined with a manner peculiarly his own, was repulsive of any approach to familiarity. He spoke with a shrill, querulous voice, but slowly, with much emphasis, and with very impressive

76 ARISTOCRATIC GUESTS.

gesticulation ; his remarks were shrewd, and gave us a favourable opinion of his intellectual powers. We acquitted his toilet of having oc- casioned any delay in our reception ; for his only vesture was a scanty cloth, covering the hips, and a cotton handkerchief, folded as a turban on the head. In one corner of the apartment, a tall and delicately-formed female was engaged in bruising betel-nut in a small silver mortar, and in preparing relays of this luxury for the rajah, whom she occasionally approached, to present her offering, with a timid supplicating look, and a crouching attitude, highly expres- sive of slavish awe.

After a short conversation on general topics, during which arrack and cocoa-nut milk were offered for our refreshment, we took our leave of the rajah, and were conducted by Don Simon to his own residence, a very modest dwelling, surrounded by a garden, neatly planted with Eu- ropean and other exotic vegetables. Tea, tur- tle-eggs, honey, and fruits, were here spread for our evening meal ; and a ramble through the village concluded the day.

On the 21st, the rajah and his grandson dined on board the Tuscan, by invitation. They came attended by a large suite of slaves and followers, bearing umbrellas, betel-nut, the apparatus for

DESCRIPTION OF TIMOR. 77

preparing the latter, and many minor comforts, which denoted that the Rajah was no practised traveller. The old gentleman had added little to his ordinary costume, heyond a larger and more gaudy cloth, a silk waistcoat, made in the ancient Dutch fashion, and a profusion of cotton hand- kerchiefs distributed about his person. His grand-child, an interesting little boy about five years old, was more completely clothed, in a dress partly Asiatic and partly European, and was suf- ficiently bedizened with tinsel to do credit to a stage at Bartholomew Fair. Don Simon was also of the party, but proved un de trop : etiquette forbade him to be seated in the presence of his father, or to partake of food in the same apart- ment, unless expressly invited to do so by the rajah — a condescension which, unfortunately, was not extended to him on this occasion.

Timor, one of the Sunda Isles, is about 240 miles in length, (from N.E. to S.W.,) and sixty miles broad. Lying within the limits of the mon- soons, it is subject to the seasonable vicissitudes of climate they produce ; the S.E. monsoon, of the winter months, bringing fair and dry weather; while the N.W. is the harbinger of rain, tem- pests, and an unwholesome atmosphere. Local peculiarities, rather than the climate, (which is also common to many salubrious lands,) render

78 POPULATION, GOVERNMENT, &C.

this island injurious, and often destructive, to European constitutions.

The native population consists of Malays, occupying the lowlands or coast, (and who must be regarded as ancient colonists,) and Harraforas, or tribes inhabiting the interior and mountainous parts of the island, a people distinct from the Malays in person, language, and customs, and who are, in fact, the aborigines of the soil.

The native government is feudal : many chiefs, of various grades of rank and power, holding territories independent of each other, with the liabilities to frequent aggressions and wars de- pendent on such a system. They are all, however, subservient to either the Dutch or Portuguese, who have divided the dominion of the country between them ; the greater share being retained by the Dutch.

The principal European settlement is Coupang, (on the S.W. extremity of the island,) possessed and fortified by the Dutch. On the western coast there are several bays, off Malay villages, as Baraca, Delhi, A^ntecoupar, Coushay, and Soutranha, which offer anchorage, and abun- dant supplies for shipping. The most valuable exports Timor is capable of affording, are sandal- wood, bees-wax, horses, and cotton. Its com- mercial intercourse is chiefly with China, Java,

BAY AND VILLAGE OF SOUTRANHA. 79

Macassar, and other islands of the Indian Archi- pelago, and occasionally with vessels from the Isle of France, calling here for horses.

The bay of Soutranha is capacious, but affords anchorage only on one bank, or shoal, of limited extent. From its waters, a view is commanded of the island of Pantar, on the opposite side of the strait ; as well as of a small, elevated, and picturesque islet, named Pulo Batta, or " Batta rock," distant about nine miles to the S.W.

The Malay village on its shores occupies a level plain, some miles in extent, covered with jungle from the sea to the foot of the enclosing hills, and abounding, near the coast, in swamps, overgrown with lofty mangroves, and retaining, not only the waters of the land, but much also of those from the sea, forming brackish marshes, which are of all others the most pernicious to the health of man. Many chasms, or gulches, torn through the soil, strewn with rolled boulders, and resembling broad and deep roads, intersect the coast, marking the progress of torrents during the rainy season ; but rivers, or any permanent streams of pure water, are rare.

The dwellings of the natives are scattered over the plain in detached groups, surrounded by cultivated enclosures, or embowered in groves of the Palmyra,, cocoa-nut, and Areka palms. They

80 NATIVE DWELLINGS.

vary much in material, size, and form. The re- sidence of the rajah (which is the largest build- ing in the settlement, and the most characteristic of native architecture,) is constructed with wood, and thatched with the leaves of the Screw- pine. Its only two habitable apartments are raised by posts to the height of eight feet above the ground, and are surrounded by a covered balcony, to which we ascend by a broad ladder. The outer or largest apartment is open on three sides, to admit the breeze, or may be closed, at will, by blinds composed of light mats ; its floor is formed of split bamboos, arranged as an open or trellis-work, exceedingly cool and neat in appearance, as well as strong and durable, but which gives, to the unaccustomed tread of the stranger, a sensation of elasticity and frailty, by no means agreeable or easily overcome. The ground-floor is enclosed with boards, and used only as a store-room. The inferior huts are mostly erected in the same elevated manner as the royal-lodge, though but few have their apart- ments raised to a greater height than four feet above the ground. Some of them are so densely covered with leaves as to be impervious to light or air, except at the entrance ; whilst others are simply wattled with bamboo. They have each but two apartments, which, as they con-

APPEARANCE OF THE INHABITANTS. 81

tain but few auxiliaries to domestic comfort, present a naked and gloomy appearance.

The population is a very unprepossessing Ma- lay race, with a dingy soot-black complexion. The men are short in stature, small-boned, and meagre ; their countenances, naturally haggard and ferocious, being rendered yet more unsightly by long and tangled locks of coarse black hair, and mouths stained red with the betel-nut. We found them reserved and apathetic, and, although avaricious, honest and punctual in their dealings. The women are but little superior to the men in personal attractions, and, preserving the usual inferiority in size which characterises the female sex, are almost infantine in stature, and re- markably slender-limbed. They are laborious, very subservient to the men, decorous and re- tiring in their behaviour to strangers, and main- tain a proper moral distinction between the virtuous and profligate of their sex.

The ordinary male dress seldom exceeds a piece of cloth worn round the loins, and a hand- kerchief covering the head. On ceremonial occasions, however, the higher ranks assume an attire composed of a kind of petticoat, (sarong,) fastened by a girdle or sash ; a tight vest (budju) ; and a scarf (llpa) ; the whole con- structed of a strong, neatly-woven cloth, varie-

VOL. II. G

82 PERSONAL ORNAMENTS.

gated with black, red, blue, and white. The rajah and his sons wear their hair short ; the lowest class of men permit it to flow wildly over their shoulders ; but the most national, or cha- racteristic mode, and that adopted by the more punctilious natives, (and especially by the mili- tary attendants on the rajah,) is to have the hair of great length, and secured at the crown of the head, where it towers, as an immense bush, to a considerable height. The ornamental combs, occasionally worn in this toupet, are made with the ribs of the cocoa-nut leaf, and bear a striking resemblance to those in common use amongst the natives of the Tonga Isles.

Silver, or ivory rings, (the bangles of Asia- tics,) encircling the arms, as well as necklaces and bracelets, composed of coloured beads, or of small, fragrant, black-and-yellow seeds, indi- genous to the island, are the favourite ornaments of both sexes ; parrots' feathers, tied to a slip of bamboo, are occasionally worn in the ears, and bangles of long white hair around the ancles. A long European knife, contained in a sheath, is the more common substitute for the kris, or native dagger. Tatooing the person is but little practised, and seldom extends beyond a few small devices on the arms.

The most remarkable mode of decorating the

SINGULAR DECORATION. 83

person we observed here, was that of covering the front teeth with plates of silver ; when the gleam of the polished metal, displayed within the parted lips, added to the natural ferocity of the Malayan features, produced an extraordinary and almost diabolical effect. We noticed that but few of the natives, and those only men, assumed this decoration; and I was informed, that it is an order of military merit, conferred by the rajah upon those of his warriors who had dis- tinguished themselves in the field.

The diet of this race is exceedingly frugal. Maize and rice, together with some coarser ve- getables, constitute their ordinary sustenance ; and spring-water, or toddy, obtained from the Palmyra and cocoa-nut palms, are almost then* only drink. Although they have easy access to arrack, the vice of intoxication is scarcely known to exist amongst them. Notwithstand- ing, however, the extreme simplicity of their own meals, we found them accomplished cooks, when catering for Europeans. On several oc- casions, when we were entertained at the re- sidence of Don Simou, the ceremonies of Eu- ropean etiquette which were preserved, the com- plete, and even refined style in which the table was laid, the (excellence and profusion of the dishes and liquors, together with the se-

G2

84 THE BETEL MASTICATORY.

dulous attendance of numerous servants, were sources of considerable surprise to us, when contrasted with the half-naked, unsophisticated appearance of our host, and the shed-like aspect of the dwelling in which these entertainments were spread.

The practice of chewing the betel, so preva- lent throughout the continent of India, is here adopted by both sexes, and by every individual above the age of puberty. The ingredients of this favourite masticatory are the leaves and fruit of the betel-pepper, the nut of the Areka- palm, (commonly called betel-nut,) and chunam, or quick-lime, produced by burning sea-shells and coral. The whole are placed in the mouth and chewed together for some minutes. The betel-leaf has a pungent aromatic taste, and excites a very copious flow of saliva. It ranks with the narcotic inebrients, and is, in fact, nearly allied both in family and effects to the Kava-pepper of Polynesia. The fruit is pre- ferred to the leaves, and is mostly reserved for the use of the highest rank of natives. The areka-nut is astringent and slightly bitter, and stains the saliva of a brown colour, which is changed to bright-red by the alkaline quality of the lime. The betel-leaf and nuts, (the latter cut into thin slices,) are carried by the natives

DON DOMINGOS SANTA CRUZ. 85

in cases, neatly manufactured from the split leaves of the fan-palm, and stained with many bright colours ; while the chunam is contained in small gourds, or bamboo boxes, elaborately carved. Nutmegs are highly esteemed as an addition to the betel masticatory, but are rare and expensive, even on this, their chosen soil, where the jealous policy of the Dutch will nei- ther permit them to grow wild nor to be cul- tivated. Both sexes almost invariably carry a quid of tobacco-leaf beneath the upper lip, where it is retained by a groove, filed through the surface of the front teeth. They also smoke the same weed in the form of cigars, (rocos,) prepared by enclosing the cut leaf in the de- licate husk of the Indian-corn, or in the leaf of the fan-palm ; both agreeably scented. Opium, in the form of an extract, is also smoked for its sedative and intoxicating effects, but is a luxury in which but few indulge, as it is not only expensive but prohibited by the laws.

Don Domingos Santa Cruz, the present rajah of Soutranha, holds his territory under the Dutch, as he formerly did under the Portuguese, flag. He possesses a perfect knowledge of the elements of European education, and speaks the Portuguese, as well as the aboriginal and Malayan languages. He has also acquired repu-

86 DESPOTISM OF THE RAJAH.

tation as a warrior, and bears on his person the scars of many wounds. He governs his people with absolute sway, and requires the most prompt and abject obedience : none of his subjects, including his own children, presume to sit, eat, or chew the betel in his presence ; nor do any approach to address him without first bowing low and kissing his hand. Similar marks of respect are paid by the inferior peo- ple to the rajah's sons, and by the latter to each other, in proportion to their seniority ; so that a foreigner finds it difficult to reconcile this formal and aristocratic state of society, with the equality in dress and habits which appears to prevail throughout all classes of the community. The impetuous despotism of the old rajah, the "sic volo, sic jubeO) stet pro ratione voluntas" of his rule, has the effect of keeping his people in a state of strict discipline, the slightest deviation from which, exposes the offending party to the punishments of heavy pecuniary fines — flogging, (from which even the ladies are not exempt,) and protracted durance in the stocks.*

* The place where criminals are confined and pun- ished is an enclosed court, adjoining the rajah's residence. Here we noticed several natives, of either sex, seated on mats in the open air, some of them with their legs in the stocks, and their heads shaved, and all encumbered with

MILITARY AND WARS. 87

The entire adult male population are soldiers, by necessity ; but the " standing army" consists of only a few picked men, employed as atten- dants on the rajah, or as guards to his residence. They are distinguished from the civilians by possessing a musket, and wearing, in front of their girdle, a cartouche -box, highly carved, de- corated with silver, and containing musket-balls and rows of bamboo cartridges.

Although Soutranha was in a state of pro- found peace at the time of our visit, wars with neighbouring independent states, and more es- pecially with the inhabitants of the hills, are not unfrequent; but the result of these conflicts has been usually in favour of the Soutranha people, owing, probably, to the superiority in the munitions of war their coast position affords

a heavy log of wood, from five to eight feet long, its one extremity resting on the ground, while the opposite re- ceived the neck of the criminal through a groove in its centre, and rested on his shoulders. A system of " prison discipline" which renders every movement of the pri- soner difficult, and escape impossible. One roguish- looking fellow thus situated, and who spoke a little Eng- lish, (which, by the way, went far to prove that he de- served his post,) told us that he had been " at anchor" for ten days, and expected to remain so ten days longer. We had no reason to doubt the correctness of his reckon « ing, as he evidently kept a very steady log.

88 SPIRITUAL STATE OF THE PEOPLE.

them. A young shrub of Jatropha curcas, planted within the precincts of the royal-lodge, marks the spot where the rajah had buried the head of a rival chief, who, while invading Sou- tranha with his tribe, had been defeated and slain. A second hostile rajah, subdued by Don Domingos, was for some time kept as a state- prisoner on Batta rock, in humble imitation of a similar line of policy adopted by the po- tentates of Europe. A low stone wall, pierced for cannon, protects the rear of the village, but its guns were now removed to the sea-side, as a precaution against some threatened piratical descents by the natives of the islands Pantar and Ombay, who had already plundered much of the adjacent coast, and even carried away a proa from Soutranha Bay.

The professed religion of this people is the Roman Catholic, which they have received from Portuguese missionaries, formerly resident amongst them. A large hut, at the north ex- tremity of the settlement, was originally in- tended for a chapel ; but the people at large are without education, have no priest, pre- serve neither the Sabbath nor any of the sacra- ments of the church, and, with the exception of the cross that usually decorates their person, have nothing to indicate their religion. They

MALAYAN AND ABORIGINAL DIALECTS. 89

appear, however, to have retrograded from a very fair state of missionary training, are anxious for education and a pastoral adviser, and, were an opportunity offered them, would doubtless do credit to their teachers.

The Malayan language, as spoken here, is certainly so exceedingly harmonious, that to call it " the Italian of the East" would be a com- pliment to the European tongue. It is less in single words than in sentences, that the liquid melody of the language is heard ; and when recited by a good, and especially by a female voice, it is perfect music to the ear. I could glean from its vocabulary but few words that bore any resemblance to those in use amongst the Polynesian islands we had visited. In euphony there was a general similitude ; as also in the reduplication of words ; and some few words were actually the same; but on the whole, the alliance between the languages did not appear to be very close. The Harra- foras, or mountaineers, speak a language dis- tinct from the Malayan ; and it would appear, that the aboriginal tribes of the Indian Archi- pelago possess languages not only differing from the Malayan, but also essentially distinct from each other. We found amongst the in- habitants of Soutranha, a slave, obtained by

90 COMMERCE OF THE PORT.

purchase from a neighbouring island, whose language was unintelligible to all the residents on Timor. His history was unknown ; but he was evidently a native of one of the islands of this Archipelago.

A large proportion of the commerce of this port is derived from the visits of English South- Seamen, which call here during the " Timor- season" to procure refreshments. No pilotage or harbour-dues are demanded, permission to take wood and water is freely bestowed, and every essential supply may be readily obtained. Provisions are dear, if purchased with specie, but as the natives prefer barter, and chiefly require European manufactures, such as mus- kets, ammunition, and cutlery, in exchange for then: commodities, the balance of trade is much in favour of shipping. The current coins are principally dollars, and the rupees of India.

The price of a buffalo (without regard to size) is five dollars, or two may be purchased for a musket ; sheep are sold at one dollar a-head ; a hog at two dollars, and fowls at one dollar the couple. Vegetables are sold by weight, (by the picul, or 136lbs.,) as in China. Teeth of the Sperm Whale, when solid and of large size, are eagerly purchased by the natives, both for home consumption, (in the manufacture of ivory

DOMESTIC MANUFACTURES. 91

ornaments, sheaths for krises, &c.,) and for exportation to other of the Malay islands, and China. The teeth of the largest male Cachalots bear an average value of two dollars each, those of adult females, three dollars the dozen. The surplus European commodities, received by the natives on the coast, are rapidly absorbed by the inland tribes, or by exportation to other islands, not frequented by shipping. In return for such exportations, the Soutranha people receive slaves, and some kinds of cotton cloth, superior in texture and pattern to any they can themselves construct.

Their domestic manufactures are chiefly Cotton-cloth, mats, and fancy works, executed with the split leaves of the fan-palm, and prettily stained. Weaving cloth (the occupation only of the women) is performed with the most primitive simplicity. The loom is a mere wooden frame, fastened at one extremity to the ground, and at the opposite to the person of the operative; the woof being passed across the warp by hand, and beaten close with a thin lath, or " sword," like the method employed in ships, to make what is termed a " sword-mat." It is a tedious labour; for a scarf, or lipa, cannot be com- pleted with less than a week's diligent work. The cloth, consequently, bears a proportionate

92 CHINESE EMIGRANTS.

value. Its texture is strong and neat ; its colours are fast, and usually red, blue, white, and yellow, blended with tasteful effect* The finer kinds possess qualities which recommend them strongly to Europeans. I am informed, that English weavers have endeavoured in vain to imitate them — nor is this improbable — the patient toil and care which the Malay woman devotes to her web can be but badly represented by the rapid evolutions of machinery, or by the manual labour of the busy workman of highly civilized lands, whose time is so precious, that he too often depends for his daily bread, less upon the ex- cellence than upon the quick dispatch of his work.

There were no foreign residents at this place, except a few Chinamen, employed in collecting sandal- wood, bees-wax, or any commodities which would turn to profitable account in their commerce with China and Java. It is true, that there are but few countries which have not Chinese amongst then* residents. From the thrifty, and (notwithstanding the opposition of their national laws) the migratory disposition of

* The red yarn is stained with the bark of the mangrove- tree (Rhizophora mangle) ; the blue, with the berries of a species of Phyllanthus ; the yellow, with the root of the Morinda umbellata.

NAVY. CLIMATE. 93

these people, they have been designated "the Scotsmen of the East," and between the tropics, at least, they verify the voyager's axiom, that " a Chinaman, an English musket, and a Spanish dollar, are to be found in ever}7 land."

The entire navy of Soutranha was comprised in two or three small proas, drawn up on the beach, and one similar vessel on the stocks. The canoes, in common use, differ much in form. Some are sharp at either end, without outriggers, and in shape and construction inter- mediate to a boat and canoe ; others have an outrigger, and resemble the Polynesian canoe. A third variety which we noticed, with an out- rigger on either side, had a complicated and very awkward appearance.

Notwithstanding the insalubrious character of this soil, its population, although an attenuated, appeared a very healthy race, not a single instance of serious disease being evident amongst them.* Our crew also enjoyed perfect health, as regards any influence of the land. The un- healthy season of the " wet monsoon" would no doubt produce a very different scene, but during our stay, the S. E. winds of the winter months prevailed, the land was comparatively dry, the

* Small-pox is endemic on this island, and many of the natives are much disfigured by its eruption.

94 NATURAL PRODUCTIONS.

weather delightfully serene, no rain fell, and the barometer seldom varied from 30*0, or the ther- mometer from 82° in the shade.

It is evident, (and commanders of ships are well aware of the fact,) that a large proportion of the fatal maladies which attack the crews of shipping, employed on the unhealthy coasts of India or the Oriental isles, find an active auxiliary in the potent, and almost poisonous spirit of those countries — a kind of whiskey, distilled from rice, and sold at a cheap price under the name of arrack. This liquor our sailors obtain with facility, use with imprudence, and often, when under its influence, expose themselves to the unwholesome breeze and heavy dews of the night, in direct violation of physical laws, whose penalty is suffering and death. The rajah of Soutranha, with a policy worthy of imitation, forbids his people to supply this ardent spirit to the crew of a vessel at anchor in his port, if such prohibition is desired by the commander.

The natural history of Soutranha is interest- ing in some points, and especially so when com- pared with the natural productions of the Asiatic continent and Polynesia.

The horses, so numerous on this, as well as on other parts of the coast of Timor, are stout,

BREED OF HORSES. 95

docile, and active ; though not remarkable for symmetry or other beauty. They are used for riding and burden, and great numbers of fine colts are reared for exportation. The natives seldom go any distance from home but on horse- back, and nothing can exceed the simplicity with which some of these people ride : without any gear on the head or body of their steed, and seated on its bare back, they guide the animal in any required direction, by merely applying to its head a pole, which they carry in their hands. This is not, however, an elegant mode of riding; since the unfurnished condition of both horse and rider exhibits neither to advant- age. The superior equestrian equipment consists of a rude bridle, and a broad band, or girth, encircling the body of the horse, and to which wooden stirrups are attached. As an aristocratic distinction, the bridles used by the rajah and his sons are decorated with a light fabric, rising, in branches, high above the horse's head, and profusely covered with tufts of white and crimson hair, parrots' feathers, and small bells.

The buffalo found here is a very pure breed of this elder branch of the ox family. It is dis- tinguished by a short and rotund body, a full front, armed with strong and very divergent horns of a dark colour, and by short clumsy

96 THE TIMOR BUFFALO.

legs. Its hide is like that of a hog, a red and chapped skin appearing through a thin covering of rigid hairs, of a dark-gray colour. The cry this animal makes is peculiarly shrill, resembling that of an infant in distress ; and is altogether different from the lowing of the ordinary European ox. The flesh is well developed, and of good flavour ; hut it is a curious fact, that however well conditioned it may be, the carcase never affords tallow, and but little fat of any de- scription. A few buffaloes, chiefly cows with their calves, are domesticated in the settlement ; while vast herds roam over the country, grazing on the coarse pasturage that clothes the de- clivities of the hills. In this state of freedom they are often so mischievous, that the natives seldom visit their more secluded haunts without the protection of a musket. When captured for the use of shipping, they are brought to the coast in a very excited state, and taken on board by swimming ; and it is remarkable, that however savage the buffalo may be when on land, he is no sooner placed on the novel or in- secure footing of a ship's deck, than he becomes quiet and docile, and may be approached and handled with impunity. The stalk of the plantain- tree is the best provision that can be made for their support at sea, since they eat it with

MONKEYS.— FLYING FOXES. 9/

avidity, and the quantity of fluid it contains obviates the necessity of supplying the animal with water.

The sheep are of that gaunt, hairy, and goat- like species (Ovis aries Africana) common to the continents of India and Africa. Goats are also denizens of the soil ; as well as swine, which are of the ordinary mixed breed. Dogs, of mongrel race, and cats conclude the list of domestic quadrupeds.

The only mammalia, feres natures, that came under our notice, were monkeys and bats. The former are of a dull-yellow colour, and in size and appearance bear a close resemblance to the common Barbary, or Gibraltar-monkey, of itinerant notoriety. An infant example of the species, which we obtained, was covered with down of a glossy-black colour. During the day they may be seen in the jungle, playing their antics upon the boughs of trees, and as night advances they approach the settlement, and fill the air with their querulous cries, as they arrange their roosts on the surrounding palms, or quarrel for the inside places. Some of these grotesque creatures, tamed by the natives, were sold to our crew at the rate of a rupee each.

The bats are of that large kind which sailors call "flying-foxes." When our wood-cutters

VOL. II. H

98 MALAY FOWLS.

commenced their labours in the forests, the first blow of the axe caused a large flock of these creatures to mount in the air, and wing their way to a less precarious retreat. They flew in a body to the distance of more than two hundred yards, then returned as simultaneously to the vicinity of the spot they had quitted, and ultimately settled in the depths of the jungle. Considering how little their vision is adapted for day-duty, it was interesting to notice the systematic manner in which they directed their flight ; one, which arose some time after the others, taking immediately the right di- rection to follow and join the main body of fu- gitives.

Sperm Whales frequent the abrupt coast of this, in common with other of the Malay Islands, probably attracted by the animated currents that prevail in their vicinity. Many English South-Seamen cruise, during the winter months, in the Straits of Ombay and adjacent seas, and usually with success. It is somewhat remarkable, that American whalers, though seldom behind the English in enterprise, have not as yet ventured their barks in these waters.

The domestic fowls are of the Malay breed, so superior to every other for size and courage — qualities which the natives devote much at-

COCK-FIGHTING. 99

tention to improve; since cock-fighting,* and the gambling it implies, is here as enthusiastically enjoyed as amongst other of the Malay people. The steel spurs, with which they arm the heels of their game-cocks for the combat, are murder- ous weapons, nearly four inches in length, broad, flat, and both pointed and edged. Only one leg of the bird is thus artificially armed, and the spur is fixed under the sole of the foot, in a very complicated manner. The rajah has many of these fighting birds, which he keeps fastened by the leg to the balcony of his house. It is the sole duty of one slave to attend upon them, and certainly, in size, plumage, and noble bearing, they afford the finest models of game-cocks it is possible to conceive. For the table, however, they do not maintain the same superiority over

* The Malays, throughout Asia, pursue this barbarous amusement with extreme ardour. Their fowls are bred, selected, and trained with great care. A losing cock is not allowed to live ; and an amateur will often stake the liberty of himself, his wife, and children, upon the success of his favourite bird. The punctilio of the game is, conse- quently, somewhat great. Should one of the two conflicting cocks be slain, the victory is not given to the survivor, unless he exhibits sufficient vigour to peck his dead foe, plucked and otherwise disfigured, a stated number of times, before a cocoa-nut shell, perforated with holes and floating on water, has time to fill and sink

H 2

100 THE SULPHUR CRESTED COCKATOO.

the domestic fowls of other lands. We thought them, indeed, inferior in this respect to any we had obtained amongst the islands of the Pacific. Domestic ducks have been but recently in- troduced, and are not as yet numerous.

Wild pigeons abound in the jungle. Those we shot had the plumage of the back, and outer surface of the wings, of a light-olive colour, transversely barred with a darker shade ; the throat and breast white, elegantly barred with black ; the interior of the wings bright-cin- namon ; the beak and legs blue ; and a yellow circle of naked skin around each eye.

The only species of the parrot tribe we noticed on this coast, was the " Lesser Sulphur-crested Cockatoo." (Plyctolophus sulphureusj Some examples of this bird have the eyes entirely black, whilst others have a black pupil and red iris. I have reason to believe, that the latter colour is characteristic of the female. Those we obtained from the natives talked well, and were apt at their learning, but when newly purchased, their communications were made only in the Malayan tongue ; hence, with the exception of the word "cockatoa," the pith of their discourse was lost to their European possessors.

The fishing-eagle, called, in India, the Brahmin Kite, is seen hovering over the waters of this

AMPHIBIOUS FROG-FISH. 101

coast, and frequently descending to seize, with a sudden dipping-action of its claws, any offal floating on the surface of the sea. It utters a whistling cry when engaged with food, and in habits and diet is closer allied to the vulture than to the falcon family.

A harmless snake, four feet long, and elegantly variegated with black and white, was the only land reptile we noticed. Turtle are numerous in the surrounding waters, and from Pulo Batta, which is their principal breeding resort, the natives of Soutranha obtain an abundant supply of their eggs.

Sea and river fish are also numerous. A species of frog-fish, (probably Lophius histrio,) its colour yellow, with brown spots and stripes, floats in great numbers on the surface of the straits ; and a second species, not exceeding two inches in length, its colour gray spotted with black, and remarkable for very prominent black eyes, swarms in incredible numbers on the muddy banks at the mouth of a Soutranha river. Supporting themselves upon their brachiated pectoral fins, they hop about the land with much activity, and on the slightest alarm, hasten to the water ; so that it is with the utmost diffi- culty any of them can be captured.

Prawns, the size of small lobsters, are also

102 CORALLINES. — THE TEREDO.

found on this coast ; as well as many shell-fish., common to both the Indian and Pacific Ocean. Empty shells of the giant-clam (Tridacne gigasj are usually seen amongst the refuse of dwellings : the bulky animals they contained having been eaten by the natives. The sandy beach of the bay is strewn with dead shells, occupied by hermit-crabs ; bunches of an elegant jointed coralline, (FlabellariaJ the organ-pipe coralline. (Tubipora musicaj sponges, sea-pens, and in- credible quantities of croziers, or shells of the Spirula cephalopod. Ship-borers (Teredo navalis)* infest the waters of the bay to a very troublesome extent.

* While in this port, we took on board part of a man- grove tree, which was found lying inland, but in a marshy soil to which salt water had access, either by infiltration or by occasional encroachments of the sea. Upon the log being chopped for fire-wood, eleven days after we left Soutranha, it was found to contain several ship-borers, either alive or but very recently dead. The largest of these worms was 10^ inches long by 2£ in circumference. In all the examples, the tail, armed with the auger or boring- shells, presented towards the heart of the log ; whilst the head protruded its two de icate double-penniform shelly appendages (resembling plumy corallines) through a minute orifice in the surface of the timber. The body of the worm was, as usual, white, soft, and elastic ; and con- tained a muddy fluid.

WILD BEES.— EDIBLE GRUB. 103

Wild bees are the most valuable insects this island possesses. The natives keep no hives, but collect vast quantities of honey and wax from the hollow trees in the jungle. Some winged insects, which I found enclosed in the fruit of a wild fig-tree, bore a very close re- semblance, both in appearance and habitat, to the Cynips Pscenes, (or Cynips ficus caric&J of the Mediterranean islands. Large locusts, brilliantly coloured, ants, domestic flies, and many kinds of cockroach, were common ; but strange, though agreeable, to say, no mosquitoes made their appearance. Our wooding party brought me the larva of a gigantic beetle — which had been found in the trunk of a tree. It was of that kind usually eaten by the Malays, and which, when preserved in sugar, is also esteemed a delicacy by the Chinese. Its body is soft, of a delicate whiteness, and, in addition to the normal members, has on the back a series of false feet, similar to those that obtain in the Cerambyx family of beetles. Lepidoptera, chiefly gaudy butterflies, were numerous and ac- cessible ; and, on the whole, it appeared that a large and valuable entomological collection might be made on this spot.

Vegetation does not here assume that lux- uriant character which we had been accustomed

104 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS.

to behold in fertile Polynesia ; and is, generally speaking, more remarkable for variety than pro- fusion. The higher lands are but thinly tim- bered, and pastured with a tall coarse grass. The lowlands possess some tall well-grown trees, very eligible for ships' spars ; and, in addition to a wild jungle, are covered for many continuous acres, with dense thickets of wild mint. The more valuable vegetable productions, (chiefly cultivated,) are cocoa-nuts, bread-fruit, bananas, jacca, or "jack-fruit," oranges,* limes, pome- granates, tamarinds, papaws, guavas, custard- apples, areka-nuts, betel-leaf, sandal-wood, cotton, candle-nuts, castor-oil- nuts, maize, rice, yams, pumpkins, sweet-potatoes, tomatos, capsicums, and gourds; together with some of the more common esculents of Europe, as onions, radishes, and cabbages.

In more particularly noticing the botany of this island, it will be interesting to observe, how closely its prominent features (especially as re- gards littoral vegetation,) accord with those visible in the more remote Polynesian islands.

* One variety of this fruit, common here, is the " her- maphrodite orange/' which resembles the ordinary orange in colour and flavour, but the lemon in form. A second variety, equally common, is the " Mandarin orange," of very diminutive size, and lusciously sweet.

ORIGIN OF POLYNESIAN NATIONS. 105

It is impossible to follow the route we had taken, from the American, to the vicinity of the Asiatic continent, and to view the many insular lands scattered on the way, like as many links of communication between the two most ex- tensive portions of the habitable globe, without indulging in some reflections upon the cor- respondence which exists between the Asiatic and Polynesian countries, in regard to geological character, population, and natural productions.

Both the Indian and Polynesian islands bear indubitable traces of being the offspring of vol- canic action. Some of them may be fairly sup- posed to derive their volcanic origin and com- motions from their vicinity to their respective continents ; but there are others, so remote from continents, and apparently so independent in their existence, which still exhibit similar phenomena, (as the earthquakes at Tahiti, the active volcanoes at the Sandwich Isles and New Hebrides, and the many extinct craters on several other islands of the Pacific,) that we are called upon to admit the existence of a distinct Plu- tonic action in the centre, and at the bottom, of a vast and fathomless ocean.

Facts are in favour of the opinion, that the current of population has flowed to Polynesia from the westward ; or, in other words, that

106 EMIGRATION TO THE EASTWARD.

the South-Sea Islanders have chiefly emanated from Asiatic nations. The strongest argument advanced against this opinion is, that the S.E. perennial, or trade winds, would ever be opposed to the nautical progress of the human species to the eastward, within the tropics. The season- able accessions of the N. W. monsoon, however, do not permit this objection to apply to the space intervening between intertropical Asia and the 145th degree of east longitude, and I have already had occasion to remark, that westerly winds, (probably an extension of the N. W. mon- soon,) will often prevail from that longitude to the easternmost of the Polynesian islands, for a very protracted period. Such winds are the better calculated, also, to extend population in the di- rection to which they propel, from the circum- stance of their usually blowing in sudden and violent gales, and from their being diametrically opposed to the normal trade-winds, on which Polynesian natives are accustomed to depend for their safe conduct, in canoes, from one to another, and more leewardly, island. These unsophisticated voyagers, upon encountering a contrary and boisterous wind, are unable to make their intended haven ; become confused in their local knowledge; and may thus be driven, in distress, to any remote land to which chance may direct them.

NATIONAL DIALECTS. 107

The occasional occurrence of such accidents, during a lapse of centuries, together with an ad- venturous spirit and other causes, which often actuate these islanders, of both sexes, to proceed in quest of uncertain lands, may be deemed sufficient to account for a gradual advance of population to the easternmost islands of the Pacific, or even to the shores of America. The Papuan races, inhabiting the New Hebrides, New Caledonia, &c., maybe cited as conclusive evidence, that a portion, at least, of the Polyne- sian islanders can claim an origin from lands more westerly than those they now inhabit.

As regards an identity in language between the Oriental and Polynesian nations, I can assert but little from personal knowledge. At Timor, as I have elsewhere noticed, we found the Malayan dialect accord but little with that we had been accustomed to hear spoken amongst the natives of the Pacific. Nevertheless, there are many facts on record, proving that such identity does exist ;* and, perhaps, the strongest of these

* Mr. Marsden states, that the Tahitian words wai, water ; and mata, the eyes ; are employed by the Lampoons, a native tribe on the southern extremity of Sumatra. The words which we found commonly used by the Malays at Soutranha, and by the South-Sea Islanders, were mate, to die ; niu, a cocoa-nut ; manu, a fowl ; and, (as a near approach,) tana, a man.

108 CORROBORATIVE FACTS.

is that advanced by M. de la Perouse, namely, that the Malayan language, as spoken by a native of the province of Tagayan, island of Luconia, whom he had on board his ship, and the language spoken by the people of the Na- vigators Islands, (and which is a dialect of the Tahitian,) were mutually intelligible to the re- spective parties. The people, also, of Freewill' s Islands {placed but little to the eastward of Gilolo Island,) speak a language which is per- fectly intelligible to the natives of the Sandwich group.

Although the majority of Polynesian nations exhibit the prominent characteristics of the Ma- layan variety of man, they are, on the whole, a taller and handsomer race than the Malays of the Asiatic Islands. This may partly depend upon the greater luxuries they enjoy, in climate, food, and habits ; but here, as well as with regard to language, a wide vista of speculation is before us ; since the Malays cannot be regarded as a type of the aborigines of the Eastern Archipe- lago, of whom, comparatively speaking, we as yet know little or nothing.

Some manners and customs common to the Indian and Pacific Islanders, afford strong proofs in favour of an identity of people. Amongst these, we may briefly notice the practice of ta-

EVIDENCE OF NATURAL HISTORY. 109

tooing the skin, (so prevalent amongst the na- tives of the Indian island, Pulo Pogy, in parti- cular) ; the manufacture of cloth from the bark of trees, and the use of wooden pillows, by the people of Sumatra; circumcision, the use of the rume, the employment of oil-nuts, skewered on a stick, for the purpose of illumination, and the outriggers and general form of the primi- tive canoes, which we noticed at Soutranha. The use of bangles of hair around the ancles ; the length to which the nails of the hands are allowed to grow, as a symbol of rank ; and the peculiar form of some edifices ; which we noticed at Santa Christina, Marquesas, accord strictly, also, with similar facts noticeable amongst the islanders of the Eastern Archipelago.

The natural productions, and more especially the aboriginal domestic quadrupeds, of a newly- discovered insular land, should aiford us a good, if not the best clue to the probable origin of its population. The swine, dogs, and domestic fowls, found on all the Polynesian groups, and apparently coeval with man in then: existence on those lands, betray much of an Asiatic origin. Domestic swine, in particular, were unknown to the natives of America until their intercourse with Europeans ; hence, if the Po- lynesian islands drew their supply of those ani-

110 BOTANICAL COINCIDENCES.

mals from the American continent, it must have been at a period subsequent to that when the American coasts on the Pacific were first vi- sited by the Spaniards.

Vegetation, also, (and we may notice in proof, the bread-fruit, candle-nut, sandal-wood, iron-wood, (CasuarlnaJ arrow-root, (TaccaJ and turmeric,) offers much that is common only to Polynesian and Asiatic lands. The fan- palms of Santa Christina, Marquesas, give to that island a peculiarly oriental aspect.

Arguments in support of the eastern side of this question, must be gleaned from the histo- ries of American nations on the verge of the Pacific — the only other quarter whence the po- pulation of Polynesia can have sprung, unless we are to entertain the startling theory, that the islands of the Pacific Ocean are but the scat- tered ruins of a former vast continent.

DEPARTURE FROM TIMOR. Ill

CHAPTER V.

Quit Soutranha— Enter the Indian Ocean — Relinquish whaling — Passage round the Cape of Good Hope — Complete the circuit of the Globe — Arrival at St. Helena — Its coast scenery — Account of the Island — Visits to Longwood and the tomb of Napoleon — Remarks on a rumoured intention to remove the remains of Napoleon to Europe — Population of the island — Soil and climate — Effects of the recent change of government — Geological remarks — Natural produc- tions of the island — Departure — See a Sperm Whale — The Sargasso- or Gulf-weed — Return to the port of London.

ON the morning of the 23d of July we sailed from Soutranha with the land-breeze, and steered to the S. W., along the coast of Timor. On the 25th we passed the island of Savu, (at the S. W. extremity of Timor Straits,) and, en- tering the Indian Ocean, continued on the same course, crossing the ordinary track of out- ward-hound ships from Europe to India.

When in lat. 26° S., long. 50° E., the oc- casional appearance of pintado-petrels and al- batross, and gales from N. W., with long and heavy seas, denoted our approach to the Cape of Good Hope, and made us feel the necessity

112 APPROACH THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.

of preparing for the boisterous weather we might soon encounter. Hitherto, the mast-heads had been regularly manned, and the boats kept in readiness for immediate service ; but as the idea of adding any further to our cargo was now relinquished, the look-out for whales was discontinued, the platform on the deck, and " fenders" on the side of the ship, were re- moved, the heavy masonry of the " try -works" was broken up and thrown over-board, the whaling gear stowed away, and the routine of duties of the crew, and the appearance of the ship, reduced to those of an ordinary mer- chantman, bearing a cargo to her destined port.

Upon nearing the Cape, the weather became as turbulent and treacherous as is proverbial to this region ; the gales we experienced being chiefly from the north or south of west, but the most severe from N. E. During changes of wind from north to south, the barometer almost appeared to talk, and often put us on our guard against very distressing weather.

In lat. 34° S., long. 27° E., we entered the green, or discoloured, water which marks the extent of LTAgulhas Bank ; sighted for a short time the South African coast, bearing N. by W., 35 miles ; and experienced a powerful current

COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT OF THE GLOBE. 113

setting to the S. W , attended by many ripples, or lines of broken water. At night, when the wind blew off the shore, the odour of land was very perceptible, and a large quantity of fine sand was deposited on our sails. While yet on this Bank, we obtained soundings in fifty-four and forty fathoms water. A hook and line, lowered to the latter depth, brought up a large fish, a species of Spams, or gilt-head, (the " snapper," of sailors.) Its colour was red ; the back ele- gantly marked with longitudinal lines of gold and purple.

We rounded the Cape of Good Hope on the 12th of September ; but it was not until the 1 5th that the winds permitted us to shape a direct course for St. Helena — a time when the voyager hails with delight, the certainty of exchanging the comfortless weather, as well as the toil and anxiety of Cape navigation, for a warmer climate, and uninterrupted fair winds to the equator.

September 22, 1836. — Crossed the meridian of Greenwich, in lat. 20° S., (thus completing the circuit of the Globe by a westward route,) and again entered the western hemisphere.

On the evening of the 25th September, St. Helena was in sight, bearing N. W. by N., dis- tant twenty-five miles. We approached this island early on the following morning, and sailed

VOL. II. I

114 ST. HELENA. — COAST VIEW.

close to its majestic, gloomy, barren, and inac- cessible cliffs, washed at their base by a fathom- less ocean. The entire coast, indeed, presents a rampart of weathered and iron-bound cliffs, of a sombre, burned hue — scarce a trace of ve- getation is visible — a line of low surf frets at the foot of the steeps — a few sea-fowl skim the water, or fly from the hollows of the rocks — while some solitary signal-houses, perched on the topmost heights, or a conspicuous magazine and battery, on the summit of a mountain called High Knoll, are the only indications of human occupants. The scene it offers is novel and grand, — even " sublime in barrenness," — but melancholy in the extreme, — and well adapted to elicit the remark made by Napoleon, when he gained the first view of the land of his exile : " Is this the Pro- methean rock to which I am to be chained for life ?" To him it was indeed a Promethean rock, where the vulture of Disappointment never ceased to prey upon his heart.

We had felt some surprise, when approaching this island, at receiving none of the usual inter- rogatory signals from the look-out houses ; and not less, when a boat, despatched (in conformity with ancient custom) to a powerful battery on Sugar-loaf Point, to report the ship, and request permission to proceed to the anchorage, returned

DESCRIPTION OF THE ISLAND. 115

with the intelligence that the fort was unoccu- pied ; one of the boat's crew having scaled the rock,, and looked over the walls,, to satisfy his officer of the fact. Towards noon we opened the more lively scenery of James' Valley, and cast anchor in St. Helena Roads ; when the ap- pearance of the union-jack, floating on the bat- teries, and the uniforms of the 91st regiment and Royal Artillery corps, informed us that this island had recently passed from the possession of the Honourable East India Company, and was now in the custody of the British crown.

On landing at James' Town, the English as- pect which everywhere prevailed, seemed to unite us once more to civilized life, and to the national attractions of our native land ; whilst the ex- treme kindness we experienced from the inha- bitants, and more especially in the domestic circle of Carrol, Esquire, the American Con- sul at this port, rendered our stay agreeable, and to be remembered only with the most grate- ful and pleasurable emotions.

Rising from the bosom of the broad Atlantic, to a sudden elevation of 2,697 feet, with a cir- cumference not exceeding thirty miles, and far remote from any other land, St. Helena forms a conspicuous and interesting island on our charts. In a commercial point of view, it offers some ad-

I 2

116 CAPABILITIES OF THE SOIL.

vantages to fleets returning from the eastern hemisphere, as a spot for rendezvous, supplies, or departure ; although, in a political light, the necessity for preserving this speck of land, at no inconsiderable expense, as an important key to our eastern territories, should cause the British to regret that it had ever emerged from the ocean.

To call this island a " rock," is libellous, and by no means descriptive ; for notwithstanding the desolate and repulsive appearance of its coast, the interior of the country is sufficiently well vegetated and watered, possesses extensive valleys of verdant and arable soil, and offers numberless scenes of the most picturesque and romantic beauty. With due allowance, also, for the demands of an over-grown population, and of many shipping, the fertility of the soil is not to be despised : more than 8000 acres of land are now successfully cultivated ; and of potatoes alone, upwards of 6,000 bushels are annually produced.

All accessible parts of the coast are very strongly fortified, but more especially the en- trance to James' Valley, and the cliffs that com- mand the anchorage. Many of the inland mountains, also, whose pinnacled heights ap- pear inaccessible, are defended by pieces of ord-

LADDER-HILL. — JAMES* TOWN. 117

nance, slung in chains, or carriaged on their rocky summits. Telegraphs, communicating from hill to hill, convey intelligence over the island with extreme rapidity. One strong fort, peculiarly commanding the offing, is erected on the crest of " Ladder-hill," an eminence bounding one side of the mouth of James' Valley, and terminating as a bluff at the sea-side. A steep and circuit- ous path conducts from the town to the summit of this hill ; but the more direct communication is by a broad ladder, erected against the face of a precipice, with a railway on either side of it, on which smaU carriages, for the conveyance of stores, are lowered and drawn up by machinery. The ladder is built of wood, strongly secured by iron bolts, and has three hundred and sixty-five steps. It is safe to ascend ; but, notwithstand- ing the conveniences of balustrades and many seats for repose, its top cannot be gained with- out considerable fatigue.

James' Town, (the only settlement and port this island can boast,) occupies a long narrow valley, or ravine, opening upon the roadstead, and bounded on three sides by rocky and arid hills. It consists of one principal, and several smaller streets, built in the English style, and containing many respectable shops, as well as large and elegant private dwellings. The chief

118 JAMES' TOWN.

public buildings are " the Castle/' or governor's town residence, with a garden or public prome- nade attached ; an excellent church ; a barrack, and military hospital ; officers' mess-house ; post-office ; and infant-school ; together with a few good boarding-houses and taverns* A thea- tre formerly existed, but it is now in ruins. A small plot of ground, near the centre of the valley, is devoted to the purpose of a Botanic- garden. When viewed from its surrounding heights, and its size reduced by vertical dis- tance, the town has a novel appearance ; not un- like that of a deep channel of a mountain tor- rent, densely covered with pigmy dwellings ; while the light construction of many of the houses, and the diversity of colours, as red, yel- low, blue, or white, with which they are painted, convey the gaudy and fantastic effect of a toy- village.

Rows of shady trees, chiefly of the Banian family, planted on the esplanade, as well as in the principal streets, tend to relieve the sterile appearance of the soil near the coast, and to communicate an air of verdure which it does not naturally possess. Some scattered ornamental villas, more remote from the sea, are surrounded by gardens, tastefully disposed, and containing a few plantain, cocoa-nut, date, and other orien-

EXCURSION TO LONGWOOD. 119

tal palms, which flourish in native vigour, and afford the only vegetation that brings to mind the intertropical situation of this island ; unless we except the extensive hedge-rows of Agaves, and Cactus, (the former bearing tall wooden scapes, covered with scarlet blossoms ; and the latter a small but edible fruit,) which surround the more elevated plantations and cultivated lands. A rivulet of pure water, crossed by some neat bridges, flows through the town; and derives its origin from a cascade of great beauty, falling over a verdant steep at the top of the valley.

I could not again visit St. Helena, although for the third time, without paying yet another visit to its greatest popular attractions, namely, the tomb, and former residence of Napoleon Buonaparte ; respectively situated at the distance of four and six miles from the coast at James' Valley. And to this I was actuated, not more by the intense interest such objects must ever excite, than by the opportunity the excursion affords, of enjoying the delightful scenery so abundantly commanded from the elevated centre of the island.

A carriage -road winding over the western, and a second, commencing on the eastern hill that bounds James' Valley, equally conduct to Longwood. The latter is the more direct route,

120 INLAND SCENERY.

but the former includes the greatest proportion of impressive scenery ; while the one being chosen for departure, and the other for return, a visit to Longwood and the Tomb may be made to comprise a tour of nearly half the island, and a distinct prospect of the whole. The western road passes close to the well-timbered and orna- mental grounds of Plantation House, (the coun- try residence of the governor of the island,) and from one point, commands a view of "Lot's Wife/' a remarkable column of basaltic rock, based on the summit of an isolated hill, picturesquely placed in the midst of a deep glen, covered with flowering gorse and abounding with game. On every side, dark ravines, naked columnar rocks, and broken mountains, (their summits capped with clouds,) contrast forcibly with thick planta- tions of Pine and Acacia trees, mantling the de- clivities of distant hills ; amphitheatres covered with pasturage, and watered by rivulets or small cascades ; and smiling valleys, sprinkled with cottages, specks of cultivated land, and grazing cattle ; the whole presenting a landscape which at every turn of the road unfolds some new and beautiful feature — characteristically wild, it is true, yet such as cannot be viewed without plea- surable and almost enthusiastic emotions.

Approached from this direction, the vicinity of

LONGWOOD ESTATE. 121

Longwood has a rocky, convulsed appearance. Heavy clouds or mists, floating beneath, and casting their shadows on the face of gloomy mountains, together with a profound silence, but occasionally interrupted by startling gusts of eddying wind, rushing through the chasms of the hills, give a peculiar character to the scene, too well in keeping, to be unassociated, with the memory of the Master- Spirit of his age, whose fate is so closely identified with the spot.

Longwood estate is situated on an extensive and level range of mountain land, which although lofty, is not so elevated but that it is commanded by other, and more distant heights. A broad and excellent carriage-road conducts to a lodge, or entrance to the grounds, from whence a long and level drive through a verdant lawn, planted with an avenue of aged gum-wood trees, is con- tinued to the dwelling last occupied by Napo- leon.

The house in which the chosen Emperor of the French lived and breathed his last, is now in the possession of a St. Helena farmer, who treats the building with respect, in an inverse propor- tion to the extent of his agricultural improve- ments. When I visited this venerated edifice in the early part of the year 1833, it bore the appearance of a respectable cottage. A small

122 PRESENT CONDITION OF THE HOUSE.

plot of gar den -ground, enclosed by a wooden fence, and a few steps, conducting to a portico covered by a light veranda, occupied the front of the dwelling ; while the interior consisted of a billiard-room and drawing-room, consecutively disposed, and a third, and more interior apart- ment, communicating on either side with a small closet, one of which had served as Napoleon's study, the other as his bed-room. The sacra auri fames had then spared the first apartment, or billiard-room, which, furnished with a table and chairs, was employed as a refreshment-room for visitors ; the drawing-room, in which Napo- leon expired, was more dilapidated, and con- tained a threshing and winnowing machine, pro- fusely pencilled and chalked with names of persons. Now, alas ! the floors of all the rooms were broken, decayed, and scarce safe to tread ; the drawing-room was filled with manure ; and the rest of the building devoted to stabling, or something worse ; — the whole presenting a scene of filth and ruin that would scarcely bear in- vestigation. Many rustic impediments, also, cast in the way of easy access to the building, sufficiently evinced that visitors to the spot were rather tolerated than desired. But few relics of the garden behind the house now remained, beyond a portion of the quick-turf enclosure, a

SANE VALLEY. 123

tank or fish-pond, and a solitary peach-tree ; which last was at this time covered with its de- licate blossoms, as if in mockery of the sur- rounding desolation.

The " new-house/' erected for Napoleon, but which he did not live to occupy, is a large and handsome building, placed but a short distance from the old residence, and so sunk in a vale, as to leave little more than its roof visible from the approaches. It was, until recently, the go- vernor's country residence ; but is now occupied by a chaplain, and partly employed as a church.

Although the situation of Longwood is bleak, and exposed to melancholy mists or profuse rains, the temperate, and even cold climate which belongs to its elevation of nearly 2000 feet above the sea, will not permit its inter- tropical position to be included in the charges brought against its salubrity. The mountain- soil it occupies is highly fertile, well covered with timber, (chiefly indigenous trees,) and is now converted into a valuable farm, abounding with pasture-lands, vegetable gardens, and fields of oats.

About a mile and a half from Longwood, as we return to James' Town, the high road overlooks the tomb of Napoleon, placed con- spicuously in the bosom of Sane Valley, or, as it

124 TOMB OF NAPOLEON.

is now called, Napoleon Vale ; — a lovely spot, luxuriantly vegetated, and bounded on every side by hills, clad with a cheerful verdure. A steep and winding path, branching from the road at Huyt's gate, conducts to the immediate vici- nity of the spot, where the mortal remains of

" The last single captive to millions in war "

occupy but a scanty space of soil. The tomb is of square form ; raised, by masonry, a few inches above the ground ; and covered by three stone slabs, placed transversely, and destitute of any in- scription or sculptural embellishment. A square iron railing immediately protects the tomb, and around this again, there is an extensive enclosure of verdant sward, encircled bylowwooden palings. Some flowers, planted by Madame Bertrand, bloom at the head of the grave ; and close to the iron rails, but without them, stand Napoleon's favourite willows.* The latter have an ancient appearance and are hastening to decay : of five, the original number, only three now remain ; but it is pleasing to observe, that on the opposite side of the sepulchre, many young willows, scions of the original stock, have been planted ; together

* A cutting from this stock is now flourishing as a tree in the Royal Gardens at Kew. In leaf and flower it is distinct from every European species, and has been named

Salic Napoleonensis.

THE SERJEANT'S TALE. 125

with some ornamental shrubs of a species of China-cypress.

At the base of a hill, and but a few feet from the tomb enclosure., is Napoleon's spring, — a small basin, over-arched by the bank above, and overgrown by luxuriant herbage. The water it supplies exudes from a compact red rock, at the rate of two gallons per minute ; the superfluous quantity running off, through narrow channels, to water the valley. It is exceedingly transpa- rent and cool, and is supposed to be identical with the water at Sandy Bay. By Napoleon's express desire, all the water he drank was ob- tained from this source.

The guardian and cicerone of the tomb is an old English sergeant, with a fine rubicund face, and who carries a stick of ample dimensions, to assist a limping gait. He goes through his evo- lutions as showman with great precision. After entertaining the visitor with "a taste of his quality," by recounting some of the more remark- able events of his own life, he will, as a subject of secondary importance, undertake to say some- thing of Napoleon, and informs us, that this was "the General's" favourite resort, where, seated beneath the shade of the willows, he read, while Madam Bertrand's children played around him, — that after his decease, the body lay in state at

126 THE ALBUM.

Longwood ; — the funeral procession from Long- wood to Sane Valley, when winding over the road on the brow of the mountain, was received hy the military of the island, c*with all reversed;" — the body, clothed in a field-marshal's uniform, and enclosed in four coffins, rests in the tomb with the head to the west and the feet to the east. The veteran concludes his statement of facts, by expressing his admiration of the de- parted hero, as "the bravest man that ever drew a sword." Nor will he refuse some twigs from the willows, (although he declares that to give them is contrary to orders,) if, by " backing his friend," he does not see them gathered; thus adhering to the letter, but departing sadly from the spirit of his instructions.

An album is deposited in a sentry-box, near the tomb enclosure, to receive the names and sentiments of visitors. It contains amongst others, many grandiloquent effusions in the French language, a few of which are in poetry, others in prose, and a great number in " prose run mad ;" but all of them abounding in bitter tirades against the British government, and the line of policy adopted towards the illustrious exile of the Great Nation.

Constant rumours are afloat in St. Helena, of an intention to remove the remains of Buo-

REMARKS ON THE SPOT OF SEPULTURE. 127

naparte to Europe. Should such an event ever occur, it must prove a source of deep regret to all lovers of the poetry of history, if not a decided act of injustice to the memory of the deceased Emperor. Setting aside Napoleon's dying re- quest that he should be entombed in this fa- vourite and sequestered spot, as being secon- dary to a wish to be interred on the banks of the Seine, I cannot believe but that the situa- tion his mortal remains now occupy, is pre- cisely that which an ambitious man would desire. An entire island is his monument, rising from the bosom of the Atlantic, a solitary, majestic, and imperishable mausoleum. Here crowds of visitors from all nations, endure a fatiguing pilgrimage to do homage to his re- mains ; while the spot of his sepulture is dis- tinguished by a simple and natural beauty, an air of melancholy repose, but too well calculated to extract the tear of sympathy, even from those who have the least cause to regret his fate. It is a spot indeed, so complete and cha- racteristic in itself, that the addition of any sculptured pile, or effigy, would appear but intrusive. Nor do the masterly fortifications by which this island is girt, and the military precautions preserved on its shores, accord ill with the resting-place of a warrior, so terrible

128 POPULATION.

in life, and, politically speaking, even in death to be feared. If removed to France, what would be the fate of his remains ? To-day, probably, adored by an admiring but capricious multitude, and to-morrow outraged by an op- posing and triumphant faction ; or, at best, shrouded in a marble mausoleum, (that divides honours between the deceased it celebrates and the artist who decorates,) to be lost in an over- adorned city. It is better as it is : —

" He joy'd in battles, and the breath Of stormy war and violent death ; And should, methinks, when all was past, Have rightfully been laid at last, Where rocks were rudely heap'd and rent, As by a spirit turbulent ;

Where sights were rough and sounds were wild, And every thing unreconciled."

The population of St. Helena, (including the military,) was, in the year 1834, estimated at 6000 souls. It contains, in addition to Eu- ropeans, people of many Asiatic nations ; but Mulattoes, of many grades from the negro, and called in this country " yam-stalks," form by far the most numerous and conspicuous class. Negro-slaves have been hitherto pos- sessed by the white residents, but their ma- numission is now secured by an economical and effective arrangement.

DISEASES. CLIMATE. 129

The British, born and bred on this island, have a robust, healthy appearance, and are ge- nerally well-educated. The ladies may compete for the palm of beauty with those of their mo- ther-land, and are accomplished to a degree, far beyond that which might be expected from their secluded position, but which is chiefly attributable to a spirit of emulation that is strong amongst them.

Diseases are rare amongst every class of the population. There are none strictly endemic ; and although epidemics, as influenza, measles, hooping-cough, and small-pox have prevailed here, in spite of a very rigorous enforcement of quarantine laws, they were blown off the island, (to use an expression apparently metaphorical, but probably literally correct,) very soon after their invasion, and have never again appeared. Both the soil and climate are peculiarly salu- brious. The sterile and rocky lowlands, as at James' Valley, attract the sun's rays and are oppressively sultry, unless refreshed by the pe- rennial S. E. breeze, blowing in gusts from the mountains ; but the ascent of the higher lands conducts to many lower grades of temperature, and even to those which are unpleasantly cold when the sun is absent or obscured. Tran- sient rains are frequent, though there is,

VOL. II. K

130 RECENT CHANGES.

fortunately, an immunity from the periodic inter- tropical deluges, which would be attended with the worst effects in a land so mountainous as this. But a short time before our arrival, a heavy cloud, which some believed to be a water- spout, burst over a mountain in the vicinity of James' Town, and occasioned considerable in- jury to person and property. Rupert's Valley, and Sandy-Bay, are the two principal outlets for the waters cast on this island by heavy rains.

The change of government which St. Helena had recently experienced, had not, as might be anticipated, given very general satisfaction to the residents, or improved their interests. The employment of signal-houses, to telegraph the arrival of shipping, was abolished, or only re- tained at the expense of the resident mer- chants ; the formidable batteries were for the most part deserted, or left in charge of an invalid, residing on the spot with his family ; the St. Helena corps, the former guardians of the land, were disbanded ; the resident Ho- nourable Company's officers, their " occupation gone," had mostly retired to England, the Cape, or elsewhere. Commerce was in a depressed state: the poorer classes of people suffered much from the scarcity and dearness of provi-

MILITARY PRECAUTIONS. 131

sions ; while the novel and strict enforcement of a custom-house duty, of five per cent, upon British, (or " home,") and ten per cent, on foreign importations, adds greatly to the poverty of a people who depend almost solely on exotic produce for the most common necessaries of life.

The garrison was at this time composed of the 91st Regiment of Foot, and a detachment of one hundred of the Royal Artillery corps. A transport at anchor in the harbour, how- ever, was about to convey a large proportion of the infantry to the Cape of Good Hope ; and it was anticipated, that St. Helena would be shortly held upon the same lax tenure as the Island of Ascension.

Amongst the former defensive precautions, yet preserved, a large proportion of the Eu- ropean male population are trained as sol- diers, and serve in a volunteer corps ; no shore-boat is permitted to go off to a ship after sunset, unless by express permission from the island authorities ; and the draw-bridge, com- municating between the landing-quay and the town, is raised at 9^ p. m., and neither ingress nor egress permitted, except upon emergencies, which must be duly represented to the officer of the guard.

K 2

132 GEOLOGICAL APPEARANCES.

The most prominent features in the geolo- gical structure * of St. Helena, as well as the presence of some extinct craters, offer indubi- table evidence that this island is of volcanic origin. The prevailing form of the land, es- pecially as regards an alternate arrangement of its valleys and hills, radiating from the interior and descending to the coast, reminded me for- cibly of the similar construction that obtains in the principal volcanic islands of the Pacific Ocean.

The arable soil is chiefly composed of a red argillaceous earth. The composition of the mountains is for the most part a blue or dark- gray basaltic rock, occasionally exhibiting sulphur in its fissures. In some parts of the island, as at Stone Top, there are cliffs which present a vertical arrangement of basaltic co- lumns, equally elegant and interesting with those of the Giant's Causeway ; although they are on a much less gigantic scale. Some of the naked hills,

* Robert Scale, Esq. F. R.S., resident at St. Helena, has published some beautiful drawings, illustrative of the geology of this island ; and has, after many years patient labour, perfected a most complete model of the country in plaster of Paris, and which is now in the possession of the Honourable East India Company.

FOSSIL SHELLS. 133

rising from the interior, near Longwood, obtain a lively and variegated hue from an almost alter- nate deposition of chalk and red- clay strata on their exposed surfaces. Rocks of breccia also obtain ; and the more arid hills on the coast are covered with so much small cinders, clinkers, lavas, &c., as renders the ascent of their acclivi- ties not only difficult and fatiguing, but often somewhat dangerous. On these rocky heights I have frequently found large boulders of basalt, which, on their exterior, present tokens of having been exposed to an intense heat ; while their in- terior contains vast numbers of small cells, each containing a spherical, colourless, and transpa- rent spar, apparently vitreous felspar.

Amongst the most curious geological pheno- mena this island affords, we may notice the existence of the fossil shells of Helix dextra, on the summit of a hill, and at the height of 1,900 feet above the level of the sea ; and the presence of salt-water pools, and salt contained in caves, at an elevation of more than seven hundred feet above the ocean's level.

The more valuable mineral productions are several kinds of jasper, capable of being applied to ornamental uses ; excellent gypsum, or plaster of Paris ; rock-crystal ; and limestone ; which last abounds in many parts, but chiefly at Sandy Bay.

134 BIRDS.

No kind of human food is indigenous to this soil ; and the greater number of its natural pro- ductions are exotics. The only wild quadrupeds are hares, rabbits, and numerous rats and mice, which dwell in the crevices of the rocks. Horses, oxen, sheep, and poultry, are chiefly imported from the Cape ; but a deficiency of pasturage and grain keeps their number within small limits. The wild-birds are pheasants and par- tridges, the latter of the red-legged East Indian species ; (Tetrao rufus -J and a small but ele- gant species of wax-bill, or amaduvade, about the size of a wren ; the beak rose-colour ; the plumage barred with gray and brown ; a dash of red over the throat and abdomen, and a line of scarlet extending across each eye. It is a kind common also to the Cape of Good Hope. They are taken in great numbers by the island- ers, and are sold at the rate of about two shil- lings the dozen ; they do not sing, and badly bear removal to a colder climate. A small bird, of melodious song, and known to the residents as the " Canary-bird," is also abundant in the inland thickets, although less so than the former species. Crows were at one time introduced, to clear the land of worms, but they disappeared very soon after their importation.

The most remarkable insects that came under

FISHES. 135

my observation here, were some centipedes, adorned with brilliant hues, and two butterflies, too closely resembling the Venessa cardui and V. urtica, of England, to be easily separated from those species.

The fish around this coast are somewhat nu- merous, and form the chief dependence of the bulk of the population. The principal varieties are coal-fish, which bear a high price in the market ; cavalloes ; bonita ; albacore ; (called St. Helena beef, by sailors ;) mackarel, (Scomber scomber J very abundant, and constantly in the anchorage ; and conger-eels. A great number of boats are daily employed in fishing, either with hook and line, or by a process termed "jigging," and which consists in sprinkling some bait on the sea to attract the fish to the surface, when they are swept out of the water by a stick, armed with many hooks. Flying-fish, of very large size, are often driven on the beach in front of the town ; but, although their flavour is very delicious, the islanders have an inveterate pre- judice against using them as food. The porcu- pine-fish, (Diodon hystrioc,) or " lanthorn-fish" of the residents, is also common on the coast.

Until very recently, a Horticultural Society existed on this island ; and many private indivi- duals still continue to exert themselves in a

136 EXOTIC VEGETATION.

highly praiseworthy manner, to encourage the culture of the soil to its most complete and useful extent. The principal Oriental and Eu- ropean fruits now cultivated here, are plantains, guavas, pomegranates, the China loquats, (Eryobotrya Japonica,) an agreeable subacid fruit, the size and form of a plum, of a yellow colour, and the pulp enclosing three oblong seeds ; the Cape-mulberry, rose-apples, peaches, pears, apples, figs, and grapes. It is worthy of remark, that the cherry-tree and gooseberry- bush, introduced to this island from Europe, become evergreens, and do not produce fruit. The cocoa-nut, date, and sago-palms, though they grow with vigour, are not prolific on this soil. The list of culinary vegetables includes many of the most valuable European kinds. Those most abundant, and serviceable to the island, are potatoes and yams. Flowers and ornamental plants are also cultivated with much success, and give a lively, and, to the European, a very homely, effect to the gardens of the inha- bitants. The grains are chiefly maize, barley, oats, and wheat. Many hardy trees, as oaks, firs, willows, acacias, and coral-trees, have been planted on exposed hills, and are now of sufficient size to furnish valuable shelter to the more tender vegetation ; while it is the opinion of the inha-

PROCEED FOR ENGLAND. 137

bitants, that they have caused a greater quan- tity of rain to fall upon the land. Mr. Pritchard, an English resident here, has published a de- tailed catalogue of the wild and cultivated plants of the island, distinguishing the truly indigenous from the naturalized exotic : an example worthy of imitation in all, and especially in our more extensive colonies.

After a stay of ten days in this port, two of which were spent in a futile attempt to recover a lost anchor by sweeping, we sailed for England with a moderate trade-wind ; * sighted Ascen- sion ; and on the 14th of October entered the N. Atlantic Ocean — crossing our outward-bound track of 1833.

On the equator, the sea was covered with vast quantities of Velella mutica ; nor did the number of these mollusks materially diminish until we reached the latitude of 3° N. ; — a space in which we suspected the existence of a N. W. current.

* A few pintado-petrels, or Cape-pigeons, had accom- panied the Tuscan from the Cape of Good Hope to St. Helena roads ; and as we left the latter anchorage, several of these birds were visible in the offing. They are seduced by ships thus far beyond their natural climate, but do not remain long in so low a latitude. We lost every appear- ance of the albatross after passing the twenty-first degree of S. latitude, west of the Cape.

138 THE GULF-WEED :

Within the limits of a current setting to the S. W., between the latitudes of 12° and 14° N., the sea was strewn with much vegetable refuse of the land, probably derived from the Cape de Verd group. A Sperm Whale was also noticed, spouting and moving leisurely at a short distance from the ship, and our crew, in conformity with an inveterate habit, could not avoid shouting after it ; although, under existing circumstances, the whale had nothing to dread from their clamour.

It was not until we were in lat. 33° N., long. 37° W., that we noticed any of the gulf-weed, (Sargassum vulgare*) so abundantly spread

* A sea- weed too well known, even on the western coasts of England, to need much description here. It will be sufficient, therefore, to observe, that on this ocean it occurs in floating banks, or fields, of very great extent ; and usually in large bunches, irregularly branched. It has a green-yellow or lemon-colour, (changed to red by drying,) a strong healthy texture, a recent odour, and in- variably presents a broken and decayed stalk ; but never any trace of a root. Its leaves are narrow, and toothed at the margins ; its vesicles, or " berries," are numerous, small, globular, supported on short foot-stalks, and have often a leaf-like appendage at their summit. A delicate parasitic conferva usually encircles the stalks of this fucus, and ramifies so minutely over its leaves as scarcely to be detected, except by the many erect, bright-yellow, and

ITS GEOGRAPHICAL RANGE. 139

over a wide extent of the Atlantic. The polar limits, commonly assigned to this weed, are 22° N., (noted as its southern boundary in 1790,) arid 40° N. Its eastern limit is uncertain, but probably about 34° W. ; and a ship meets with it sooner, and in larger quantities, as she sails most to the eastward, within those prescribed boundaries. During a voyage from Bengal to England, in the year 1832, I had this fucus in sight from lat. 19° N., long. 38° W., to lat. 38° N.

The vast collections of Sargasso-weed, seen on the Atlantic, are supposed to be borne by a circuitous current from the Gulf of Florida, or the Bahama Isles. I have already noticed the existence of the same species on the coast of California. M. Bonnet believes, that it grows at the bottom of the ocean it covers, and asserts,

jointed tufts its fructification affords. But few examples, also, are free from a coralline incrustation, which mostly covers the vesicles, and which, when the latter are dried and shrunk, continues to surround them with a minute and elegant lace- or basket-work. Pelagic crabs, shrimps, scilloeae, and barnacles, adhere to the weed in great num- bers ; and amongst its fields we have occasionally taken pipe-fish, (Syngnathus acus,) frog-fish, (Lophius histrio,) dolphin, (Coryphcena,) sepiae of many kinds, and most of the marine mollusks that infest the currents of tropical seas.

140 RE-ENTER THE BRITISH CHANNEL.

in proof, that he has seen recent portions of it rise to the surface of the sea ! The vesicular floats or berries the plant bears, cannot be re- garded as a proof of its pelagic origin ; since manyfuci, as F. vesiculosus, F. gigantea, &c., are equally provided to attain the surface of the sea, although they are firmly rooted to rocks. But if there is reason to believe that the gulf-weed has been originally rent from some terrestrial attachment, we must yet admit that it has the power of maintaining a vigorous vitality while it floats free on the ocean ; as very few exam- ples, thus circumstanced, exhibit traces of de- cay, though all bear tokens of having been long the sport of the currents.

On the 1 1th of November we saw Flores, one of the Western Isles ; on the 20th, entered the green water that denotes the commencement of soundings at the mouth of the British Channel, and got sight of the Lizard ; but it was not until we perceived the white cliffs of Dover, which to the wearied voyager,

" Bring all the comforts of that home to mind, He scorns in youth, but longs in age to find,"

that we felt the reality of being again restored to our native land.

On the morning of the 27th of November, 1836, we arrived at Gravesend ; and were truly

CONCLUSION OF THE VOYAGE. 141

thankful to an Almighty Providence, which had permitted us thus happily to complete a voyage of three years and twenty-four days, without the loss of one of our crew either by disease or acci- dent.

END OF THE NARRATIVE.

APPENDIX.

ILLUSTRATIONS

OF THE

NATURAL HISTORY

OF THE

TUSCAN'S VOYAGE.

ZOOLOGY.

CHAPTER I. GENERAL, REMARKS ON WHALES.

Their title to rank with quadrupeds — Skeleton — Pseudo-fins — Condition of the vital organs and senses — Provisional uses of the fat or blubber — Animal heat — Locomotive organs — Peculiarities in respi- ration— Absence of voice — Nature of the spout — Points of distinction between whales and land mammals — Whales divided into three natural tribes or families.

THE Cetaceans, or Whale-tribe, class in zoology with animals of the highest order ; namely, the mammiferous, or those that produce their young alive, and nourish them with milk from their mammae or teats; and notwithstanding the resemblance to fish which obtains in their external configuration, there is nothing in their more essential anatomical structure that denies their title to rank with mammiferous animals in general.

Their skeleton is but a modification of that of quad- rupeds : the vertebrae of the neck are as complete in number as in the latter animals ; though they are but small or rudimental, and for the most part consolidated

VOL. II. L

146 ZOOLOGY.

together ; consistently with the short and fixed condi- tion of this part in all the whale tribe. The remainder of the spinal column is strongly and perfectly formed, flexible, and continued as a tail through the centre of the terminal fin, or " flukes." The ribs and breast- bone are as perfect as in quadrupeds ; but collar-bones are wanting ; as occurs also in a large proportion of land mammals, where the presence of these bones is not essential to the functions of the anterior extremities. The bones of the arms coincide with those of digitated quadrupeds : they have, however, no movement on each other, excepting at the shoulder-joint, and their form is compressed, and concealed beneath a continuous sur- face of dense skin, which gives them the appearance of fins, and admirably adapts them for their function as paddles, or swimming-paws. It is in the posterior part of the skeleton that the most remarkable deficiency is perceptible ; for not a vestige exists of posterior ex- tremities ; nor more than small and rudimental bones of the firm bony fabric, or pelvis, to which they should be attached.

The vital organs and their functions, in cetacea, bear a close analogy to those of quadrupeds ; or depart from the resemblance, only in such points as may distinguish one from another order of mammiferous animals. The organs of the senses are so little developed in this family, as to lead to the belief that their functions are feeble. The nerves of smell are absent in all the known kinds, excepting the true Whales, or Rorquals ; and in these latter genera they are of diminutive size. The eyes, though well constructed for aquatic vision, are invariably small, deeply planted in the head, and can command but little oblique vision. The ear opens ex- ternally as a very minute orifice, and has no external

CETACEANS. 147

appendage to collect or concentrate sound. Nor have the researches of comparative anatomists tended to prove, that whales possess the sense of taste in any perfection. To this apparent obtuseness of the senses, touch may perhaps be made an exception ; as I shall have occasion to notice more particularly, when on the subject of the structure and function of the skin in the Cachalot, or Sperm Whale.

Buoyancy in the element they inhabit, is secured to whales by the dense layer of lard, or blubber, deposited in the skin of every species ; as well as by deposits of oil in other parts of their frame, wherever it can be of use to increase surface, and (by its low specific gravity) to diminish proportionate weight; thus en- abling the creature to rise in the water with facility, and to float on the surface without any expenditure of muscular power.*

A second use, very rationally assigned to the fatty envelope of the whale, is that of protecting the animal from the coldness of the medium it inhabits ; but we must feel satisfied that this is not its only, or its principal use, when we contemplate the large quantity of oily matter which pervades the skeleton of every species of cetacean ; (and which is often deposited in cells, in the heavier or larger bones;) the internal reservoirs of the same light material in the head of the Sperm Whale and Dolphin ; and the solid bulk of fat which forms so large a portion of the head of the first- named cetacean, as well as the lips of the Greenland

* An economy very similar to this, obtains also in birds. The greater number have air diffused within their bones and soft parts, in sufficient quantity to enable them to support themselves, with but little muscular effort, in the light element through which they soar ; whilst others, as penguins, of aquatic habits, and which do not fly, have their bones solid, or loaded with oil.

L 2

148 ZOOLOGY.

right- Whale ; and which should convince us, that there is a design in these fatty accumulations, far beyond that of merely preserving an equal temperature.*

The principal locomotive organ of whales is a broad and powerful tail-fin, which expands horizontally, and has a vertical action ; in contradistinction to the cor- responding member in fish, which has a vertical position, and a lateral motion. The anterior u fins," or swimming-paws, are diminutive, and have a very secondary use in progression ; probably little exceeding that of preserving the equipoise of the body, or to assist in the slighter deviations from a straight course. In some herbivorous whales, these anterior members are employed as legs, to assist their progress on the bottom of shallow waters. The pseudo-fin on the back of many species of whale, and which tends so much to increase their resemblance to fish, has no motive power, — is merely composed of an indurated fatty structure, — and is in no way connected with either the bony or muscular system.

There is a peculiarity in the respiration of cetaceans which alone distinguishes them from all inferior in- habitants of the deep. It is true that fish, like terrestrial animals, require a certain quantity of atmospheric air, to support their existence by oxygenating their blood ; and this they obtain from the proportion of air at all times combined with the waters they inhabit, and which they appropriate by means of gills, corresponding to the lungs of mammals. But, since whales are not fish,f

* From observations made upon living dolphins, (Delphinus delphis,) and cachalots recently dead, I am inclined to believe that the natural standard of animal heat in the whale-tribe exceeds that of most land animals, and is probably never less than 100°.

t " A few years ago, there was a trial at NewYork, upon this subject :

CETACEANS. 149

but rank with a higher grade of the animal kingdom, they are, as it were by a penalty, compelled to respire atmospheric air in its free state, and to conduct it to their lungs through nostrils, or spiracles, provided them for this purpose.

They are, consequently, obliged to ascend to the surface of the water for the purpose of respiration; and it is curious to reflect, how greatly such necessity tends to their destruction, by exposing them to the attacks of their chief, and perhaps only enemy, man. Without this high pulmonary organization, the visits of whales to the surface of the sea would not be com- pulsory, or indicated by the treacherous spout; nor could human arts then, as now, avail for their destruc- tion. This part of the economy of cetaceans, therefore, accords well with many other provisions of a wise Providence, by which the animal is indirectly applied to the use of man, through an organization directly essential to its own existence.

By a peculiar modification of the air-passages, in whales, the larynx, (or aperture of the wind-pipe,) in- stead of opening behind the tongue, as in land mam- mals, is continued to the spouting-canal, and deeply inserted, and closely embraced, within its tube. Hence,

the payment of duty upon whale-oil being resisted, on the ground that the words of the law were confined to oils produced from fish, and as whale was not fish, the oil from that animal, it was contended, did not come within the letter of the law. To support the allegation, naturalists of ability and professors of the university gave it in evidence that whales were not fish; but the jury would not be convinced by the learned distinctions of science, and gave a verdict according to what they con- ceived to be the meaning, though it was not the letter, of the law.

" The church of Rome regards coot as fish, and why should seal-oil not be the produce of fish in a legal view, since whale is classed with them ?" — Note to Griffiths' Translation of Cuvier's Animal Kingdom.

150 ZOOLOGY.

respiration cannot be performed through the mouth, but only through the spiracles, or nostrils; nor can any tones, approaching to a voice, be emitted, excepting through the spiracles, which are encumbered with valves, and evidently badly adapted for the transmission of sound. Scoresby assures us that the Greenland Whale has no voice ; and I have frequently noticed the Sperm Whale, Black-fish, and many kinds of Dolphin, suffering from extreme alarm and injury, (and when it might reasonably be expected they would utter cries if they had the power to do so,) but have never heard any sound proceed from their lungs, beyond that attending on ordinary respiration.

It is yet an unsettled point, whether the spiracles of spouting- whales have an office solely respiratory, or if they are also of use to eject the water received into the mouth together with food. In favour of the opinion that the spout is nothing more than the vapour of the breath, we may advance, — the uniform appearance^ of the jets, and regularity of their repetition, corresponding with the ordinary rhyme of respiration; — their being always present, and successively continued, as long as the whale remains on the surface of the water ; although the animal may be at this time unoccupied with food, or even swimming with velocity, its head raised above the surface of a calm sea, and its mouth shut ; — the character of the spout, which resembles a cloud, or mist, and can in no way be compared to a volume of water; — the fact, that seals, and other aquatic mammalia, as well as the herbivorous cetaceans, seize and devour their food in the water, and rise to the surface to breathe ; yet do not spout, and have no peculiar pro- vision for freeing their mouth from water, if any water be received. In the case, also, of many spouting-

CETACEANS. 151

whales, a necessity for casting water from their spiracles should rather exist in the profound depths, where they feed, than on the surface, where their business is chiefly to respire.

In support of the opinion that water is ejected from the spiracles, it may be suggested, that although in size, capacity of lungs, and in habits, herbivorous cetacea, and some seals, accord with many spouting- whales, they do not, nevertheless, exhibit the pheno- menon of visible respiration ; (if spouting be such ;> and also, that the complex arrangement of muscles, valves, cavities, and tubes, in the spiracular canals of spouting- whales, would imply that their function exceeds that of simply receiving and emitting air. Although from this we may reserve, how far such complex organization may be essential to expand the spiracles for the re- ception of air, or to obstruct and eject any quantity of water which may be accidentally received into the nostrils during the act of inspiration.

The entire question is involved in much perplexity ; but it is probable, that the spouting-canal may perform both the offices attributed to it, at distinct times, and in a distinct manner — a conclusion to which I have been led by observing the common Dolphin (Delphinus delphis). It is very usual to hear these small whales blow with a short puffing sound, without any attendant spout being perceptible ; whilst, at other times, I have seen them cast distinct but irregular jets of water from their spiracle. One of this species, moreover, which was harpooned from the bows of the Tuscan, and taken on board alive, expanded its spout-hole, and produced a sucking sound on inspiration, and emitted a low explosive sound on expiration; but no exhalation of vapour was visible.

152 ZOOLOGY.

The essential points in which cetaceans differ from quadrupeds, may be thus briefly enumerated : — an ab- sence of cylindrical and hollow bones — a rudimental and anchylosed state of the bones of the neck — a modification of the anterior extremities and tail, by which these members are adapted to the office of fins — deficiency in posterior extremities and perfect pelvis — inability to respire through the mouth, or utter vocal sounds — copulation more humano — and, probably, a higher standard of animal heat.

Cetaceans are naturally divided into three distinct tribes, or families. The first of these is composed of whales which feed on the vegetable productions of the sea or rivers, and which are provided with teeth adapted to the nature of their food. They may be regarded as representing the herbivorous class of quadrupeds. They include in their number, the Lamantins and Dugongs. These whales do not blow or spout.

The second family is formed by spouting-whales, of predatory habits. They subsist chiefly on fish and sepise ; have teeth adapted only for the prehension, or coarse division, of their food ; and may be said to represent the carnivorous quadrupeds of the land. They are exemplified in the Cachalots, Porpoises, and Dolphins.

The third division comprises the Whalebone Whales, as the Rorquals and Mysticetes (true or right Whales). In the place of teeth, their jaws are provided with plates and filaments of whalebone, (baleen,} which are moveable, extensile, and adapted to retain, as in a net, the medusae, or small marine animals which form the only food of this colossal family. In habits they will bear comparison with the insectivorous class of terrestrial quadrupeds.

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CHAPTER II.

WHALES OF THE SOUTHERN OCEANS.

The Cachalot, or Sperm Whale (Catodon macrocephalus, Lacep. Physeter macrocephalus, Shaw) — General and anatomical description of the species — Dissection of & foetus — Diseases and deformities — Parasitic occupants.

THE Sperm Whale, or Cachalot, is the largest, as well as the most valuable of the southern whales ; and has many points of interest in its structure and economy. It is known to the English as the Sperm- or Anvil- headed Whale ; the French name it the cachalot ; and the Germans, the pottfisch.

It affords us the valuable commodities sperm-oil, spermaceti, and ambergris. This is the only species of cachalot with which southern whalers are acquainted ; and, in the opinion of the accurate Cuvier, is the only one that exists — certainly, of the many kinds distin- guished by the names round-headed or lesser cachalot,

154 ZOOLOGY.

(Physeter catodon,) cylindrical cachalot, (Physalus cy- lindricus,) sharp-nosed cachalot, (Physeter microps,) and high-finned cachalot, (Physeter tursioy) none but the last, (which is said to be an inhabitant of the North Seas, having a tall dorsal fin, and attaining the length of 100 feet,) differ, in the descriptions given of them by authors, from the ordinary Sperm Whale of the South Seas; their specific distinctions having, apparently, been drawn from peculiarities, which are commonly observed to attend upon age or sex in the latter species, and which I shall have occasion to notice more particularly.

In size, the Sperm Whale equals, and occasionally surpasses the Greenland Whale, (Balcena mysticetus,) with which it is most open to comparison. The ex- perience of Captain Scoresby does not enable him to assign to the Greenland Whale a greater magnitude than sixty feet in length, and forty in circumference ; nor have we any evidence that this species ever ex- ceeds the length of seventy feet. The largest size authentically recorded of the Sperm Whale is seventy- six feet in length, by thirty-eight in girth ; but whalers are well contented to consider sixty feet the average length of the largest examples they commonly obtain.* A mature foetal Cachalot, which I examined, was four- teen feet in length by six in girth, which must be

* It has been asserted, that cetacea were formerly of much greater magnitude than at present ; that their being now more frequently de- stroyed, precludes the possibility of their reaching a full growth. This opinion is probably fallacious; or suggested by the exaggerations in natural history with which the ancients have so liberally supplied us. The Sperm Whale, when much inferior to its maximum size, often bears an appearance of great age. The largest cetacean, with which modern naturalists are acquainted, is the Razor-back Whale, (Rorqualis Jiorealis, Cuv.,) which acquires the length of 100 or 110 feet.

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regarded as the minimum dimensions of the breathing whale.

It is the male animal only which attains to the full magnitude of his species: the adult female does not exceed the length of thirty, or at most thirty-five feet — a greater disproportion existing between the sexes in this, than in any other known species of cetacean.*

Whalers technically express the size of a Cachalot by the number of barrels of oil it is calculated to produce. A large male has occasionally produced one hundred barrels of oil, and a female fifty ; but both these quan- tities are deemed extraordinary ; and from seventy to ninety barrels from the adult male, and twenty to thirty from the female, is the usual average.

The form of this whale is colossal, without symmetry, and, from the general absence of other prominent organs than the tail and pectoral fins, can be compared to little else than a dark rock, or the bole of some giant tree.

The prevailing colour of the skin is a dull-black. In some parts, and especially on the abdomen and tail, it is occasionally marked with white; and this as fre- quently obtains in the youngest as in the most aged examples. Some individuals have their sides covered with short and rounded elevations, or ridges, chiefly arranged longitudinally, and passing into each other like the convolutions on the surface of a brain — an appearance which is not retained in the integuments when they are removed from the carcase.

The enormous head, which has obtained for this whale its specific name, constitutes full one-third of the entire animal, in magnitude, and much exceeds that proportion in weight. It approaches to a square form ;

* If any disparity in size exists between the sexes of the Greenland Whale, it is found to be rather in favour of the female.

156 ZOOLOGY.

the snout being remarkably blunt, and either perpen- dicular, or more or less convex in different individuals. The body is nearly cylindrical, protrudes on either side of the abdomen, and tapers finely at the tail. The summit of the head and trunk presents a plane surface, until about the posterior third of the back, whence arises a hump, or spurious fin, of pyramidal form, and entirely composed of fat. From this embossed ap- pendage, an undulating series of six or eight similar