Having Gone Over To Long Island,
To Look For The Hog Which Had Been Seen There, I Found It To Be One Of The
Sows Left By Captain Furneaux; The Same That Was In The Possession Of The
Natives When We Were Last Here.
From the supposition of its being a boar, I
had carried over a sow to leave with him; but on seeing my mistake, brought
her back, as the leaving her there would answer no end.
Early in the morning of the 5th, our old friends made us a visit, and
brought a seasonable supply of fish. At the same time I embarked in the
pinnace, with Messrs Forsters and Sparrman, in order to proceed up the
sound. I was desirous of finding the termination of it; or rather of seeing
if I could find any passage out to sea by the S.E., as I suspected from
some discoveries I had made when first here. In our way up, we met with
some fishers, of whom we made the necessary enquiry; and they all agreed
that there was no passage to the sea by the head of the sound. As we
proceeded, we, some time after, met a canoe conducted by four men coming
down the sound. These confirmed what the others had said, in regard to
there being no passage to the sea the way we were going; but gave us to
understand that there was one to the east, in the very place where I
expected to find it. I now laid aside the scheme of going to the head of
the sound, and proceeded to this arm, which is on the S.E. side, about four
or five leagues above the isle of Motuara.
A little within the entrance on the S.E. side, at a place called
Kotieghenooee, we found a large settlement of the natives., The chief,
whose name was Tringo-boohee, and his people, whom we found to be some of
those who had lately been on board the ship, received us with great
courtesy. They seemed to be pretty numerous both here and in the
neighbourhood. Our stay with them was short, as the information they gave
us encouraged us to pursue the object we had in view.[5] Accordingly, we
proceeded down the arm E.N.E. and E. by N., leaving several fine coves on
both sides, and at last found it to open into the strait by a channel about
a mile wide, in which ran out a strong tide; having also observed one
setting down the arm, all the time we had been in it. It was now about four
o'clock in the afternoon, and in less than an hour after, this tide ceased,
and was succeeded by the flood, which came in with equal strength.
The outlet lies S.E. by E. and N.W. by W. and nearly in the direction of
E.S.E. and W.N.W. from Cape Terrawhitte. We found thirteen fathoms water a
little within the entrance, clear ground. It seemed to me that a leading
wind was necessary to go in and out of this passage, on account of the
rapidity of the tides. I, however, had but little time to make observations
of this nature, as night was at hand, and I had resolved to return on
board. On that account I omitted visiting a large hippa, or strong-
hold, built on an elevation on the north side, and about a mile or two
within the entrance, The inhabitants of it, by signs, invited us to go to
them; but, without paying any regard to them, we proceeded directly for the
ship, which we reached by ten o'clock, bringing with us some fish we had
got from the natives, and a few birds we had shot. Amongst the latter were
some of the same kinds of ducks we found in Dusky Bay, and we have reason
to believe that they are all to be met with here. For the natives knew them
all by the drawings, and had a particular name for each.
On the 6th, wind at N.E., gloomy weather with rain. Our old friends having
taken up their abode near us, one of them, whose name was Pedero, (a man of
some note,) made me a present of a staff of honour, such as the chiefs
generally carry. In return, I dressed him in a suit of old clothes, of
which he was not a little proud. He had a fine person, and a good presence,
and nothing but his colour distinguished him from an European. Having got
him, and another, into a communicative mood, we began to enquire of them if
the Adventure had been there during my absence; and they gave us to
understand, in a manner which admitted of no doubt, that, soon after we
were gone, she arrived; that she staid between ten and twenty days, and had
been gone ten months. They likewise asserted that neither she, nor any
other ship, had been stranded on the coast, as had been reported. This
assertion, and the manner in which they related the coming and going of the
Adventure, made me easy about her; but did not wholly set aside our
suspicions of a disaster having happened to some other strangers. Besides
what has been already related, we had been told that a ship had lately been
here, and was gone to a place called Terato, which is on the north side of
the strait. Whether this story related to the former or no, I cannot say.
Whenever I questioned the natives about it, they always denied all
knowledge of it, and for some time past, had avoided mentioning it. It was
but a few days before, that one man received a box on the ear for naming it
to some of our people.
After breakfast I took a number of hands over to Long Island, in order to
catch the sow, to put her to the boar and remove her to some other place;
but we returned without seeing her.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 224 of 235
Words from 227391 to 228411
of 239428
