On The 13th, About Eight O'clock In The Morning, The Wind, Which Had Been
Variable Most Part Of The Night,
Fixed at S.E., and blew in squalls,
accompanied with rain; but it was not long before the weather became
Fair.
As the wind now blew right to the S.E. shore, which does not afford that
shelter I at first thought, I resolved to look for anchorage on the west
and N.W. sides of the island. With this view I bore up round the south
point, off which lie two small islets, the one nearest the point high and
peaked, and the other low and flattish. After getting round the point, and
coming before a sandy beach, we found soundings thirty and forty fathoms,
sandy ground, and about one mile from the shore. Here a canoe, conducted by
two men, came off to us. They brought with them a bunch of plantains, which
they sent into the ship by a rope, and then they returned ashore. This gave
us a good opinion of the islanders, and inspired us with hopes of getting
some refreshments, which we were in great want of.
I continued to range along the coast, till we opened the northern point of
the isle, without seeing a better anchoring-place than the one we had
passed. We therefore tacked, and plied back to it; and, in the mean time,
sent away the master in a boat to sound the coast. He returned about five
o'clock in the evening; and soon after we came to an anchor in thirty-six
fathoms water, before the sandy beach above mentioned. As the master drew
near the shore with the boat, one of the natives swam off to her, and
insisted on coming a-board the ship, where he remained two nights and a
day. The first thing he did after coming a-board, was to measure the length
of the ship, by fathoming her from the tafferel to the stern, and as he
counted the fathoms, we observed that he called the numbers by the same
names that they do at Otaheite; nevertheless his language was in a manner
wholly unintelligible to all of us.[3]
Having anchored too near the edge of a bank, a fresh breeze from the land,
about three o'clock the next morning, drove us off it; on which the anchor
was heaved up, and sail made to regain the bank again. While the ship was
plying in, I went ashore, accompanied by some of the gentlemen, to see what
the island was likely to afford us. We landed at the sandy beach, where
some hundreds of the natives were assembled, and who were so impatient to
see us, that many of them swam off to meet the boats. Not one of them had
so much as a stick or weapon of any sort in their hands. After distributing
a few trinkets amongst them, we made signs for something to eat, on which
they brought down a few potatoes, plantains, and sugar canes, and exchanged
them for nails, looking-glasses, and pieces of cloth.[4]
We presently discovered that they were as expert thieves and as tricking in
their exchanges, as any people we had yet met with. It was with some
difficulty we could keep the hats on our heads; but hardly possible to keep
any thing in our pockets, not even what themselves had sold us; for they
would watch every opportunity to snatch it from us, so that we sometimes
bought the same thing two or three times over, and after all did not get
it.
Before I sailed from England, I was informed that a Spanish ship had
visited this isle in 1769. Some signs of it were seen among the people now
about us; one man had a pretty good broad-brimmed European hat on, another
had a grego jacket, and another a red silk handkerchief. They also seemed
to know the use of a musquet, and to stand in much awe of it; but this they
probably learnt from Roggewein, who, if we are to believe the authors of
that voyage, left them sufficient tokens.
Near the place where we landed, were some of those statues before
mentioned, which I shall describe in another place. The country appeared
barren and without wood; there were, nevertheless, several plantations of
potatoes, plantains, and sugar-canes; we also saw some fowls, and found a
well of brackish water. As these were articles we were in want of, and as
the natives seemed not unwilling to part with them, I resolved to stay a
day or two. With this view I repaired on board, and brought the ship to an
anchor in thirty-two fathoms water; the bottom a fine dark sand. Our
station was about a mile from the nearest shore, the south point of a small
bay, in the bottom of which is the sandy beach before mentioned, being
E.S.E., distant one mile and a-half. The two rocky islets lying off the
south point of the island, were just shut behind a point to the north of
them; they bore south 3/4 west, four miles distant; and the other extreme
of the island bore north 25 deg. E., distant about six miles. But the best mark
for this anchoring-place is the beach, because it is the only one on this
side of the island. In the afternoon, we got on board a few casks of water,
and opened a trade with the natives for such things as they had to dispose
of. Some of the gentlemen also made an excursion into the country to see
what it produced; and returned again in the evening, with the loss only of
a hat, which one of the natives snatched off the head of one of the
party.[5]
Early next morning, I sent Lieutenants Pickersgill and Edgecumbe with a
party of men, accompanied by several of the gentlemen, to examine the
country.
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