He Saluted Them As He Came Up, By Stretching Out
His Arms, With Both Hands Clenched, Lifting Them Over His Head, Opening
Them Wide, And Then Letting Them Fall Gradually Down To His Sides.
To this
man, whom they understood to be chief of the island, their other friend
gave his white flag, and he gave him another, who carried it before them
the remainder of the day.
Towards the eastern end of the island, they met with a well whose water was
perfectly fresh, being considerably above the level of the sea; but it was
dirty, owing to the filthiness or cleanliness (call it which you will) of
the natives, who never go to drink without washing themselves all over as
soon as they have done; and if ever so many of them are together, the first
leaps right into the middle of the hole, drinks, and washes himself without
the least ceremony; after which another takes his place and does the same.
They observed that this side of the island was full of those gigantic
statues so often mentioned; some placed in groupes on platforms of masonry,
others single, fixed only in the earth, and that not deep; and these latter
are, in general, much larger than the others. Having measured one, which
had fallen down, they found it very near twenty-seven feet long, and
upwards of eight feet over the breast or shoulders; and yet this appeared
considerably short of the size of one they saw standing; its shade, a
little past two o'clock, being sufficient to shelter all the party,
consisting of near thirty persons, from the rays of the sun. Here they
stopped to dine; after which they repaired to a hill, from whence they saw
all the east and north shores of the isle, on which they could not see
either bay or creek fit even for a boat to land in; nor the least signs of
fresh water. What the natives brought them here was real salt water; but
they observed that some of them drank pretty plentifully of it, so far will
necessity and custom get the better of nature! On this account they were
obliged to return to the last-mentioned well, where, after having quenched
their thirst, they directed their route across the island towards the ship,
as it was now four o'clock.
In a small hollow, on the highest part of the island, they met with several
such cylinders as are placed on the heads of the statues. Some of these
appeared larger than any they had seen before; but it was now too late to
stop to measure any of them. Mr Wales, from whom I had this information, is
of opinion that there had been a quarry here, whence these stones had
formerly been dug; and that it would have been no difficult matter to roll
them down the hill after they were formed. I think this a very reasonable
conjecture, and have no doubt that it has been so.
On the declivity of the mountain towards the west, they met with another
well, but the water was a very strong mineral, had a thick green scum on
the top, and stunk intolerably. Necessity, however, obliged some to drink
of it; but it soon made them so sick, that they threw it up the same way
that it went down.
In all this excursion, as well as the one made the preceding day, only two
or three shrubs were seen. The leaf and seed of one (called by the natives
Torromedo) were not much unlike those of the common vetch; but the
pod was more like that of a tamarind in its size and shape. The seeds have
a disagreeable bitter taste; and the natives, when they saw our people chew
them, made signs to spit them out; from whence it was concluded that they
think them poisonous. The wood is of a reddish colour, and pretty hard and
heavy, but very crooked, small, and short, not exceeding six or seven feet
in height. At the S.W. corner of the island, they found another small
shrub, whose wood was white and brittle, and in some measure, as also its
leaf, resembling the ash. They also saw in several places the Otaheitean
cloth plant, but it was poor and weak, and not above two and a half feet
high at most.
They saw not an animal of any sort, and but very few birds; nor indeed any
thing which can induce ships that are not in the utmost distress, to touch
at this island.
This account of the excursion I had from Mr Pickersgill and Mr Wales, men
on whose veracity I could depend; and therefore I determined to leave the
island the next morning, since nothing was to be obtained that could make
it worth my while to stay longer; for the water which we had sent on board,
was not much better than if it had been taken up out of the sea.[6]
We had a calm till ten o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when a breeze
sprung up at west, accompanied with heavy showers of rain, which lasted
about an hour. The weather then clearing up, we got under sail, stood to
sea, and kept plying to and fro, while an officer was sent on shore with
two boats, to purchase such refreshments as the natives might have brought
down; for I judged this would be the case, as they knew nothing of our
sailing. The event proved that I was not mistaken; for the boats made two
trips before night, when we hoisted them in, and made sail to the N.W.,
with a light breeze at N.N.E.
[1] "The joy which this fortunate event spread on every countenance,
is scarcely to be described. We had been one hundred and three days
out of sight of land; and the rigorous weather to the south, the
fatigues of continual attendance during storms, or amidst dangerous
masses of ice, the sudden changes of climate, and the long continuance
of a noxious diet, all together had emaciated and worn out our crew.
The expectation of a speedy end to their sufferings, and the hope of
finding the land stocked with abundance of fowls and planted with
fruits, according to the accounts of the Dutch navigator, now filled
them with uncommon alacrity and cheerfulness." - G.F.
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