Chapter VI: Book I (4)

It was some little time before I could prevail upon them to lay down their spears: this, at last, one of them did, and met me with a grass plant in his hand, one end of which he gave me to hold, while he held the other: standing in this manner, he began a speech, not one word of which I understood; and made some long pauses; waiting, as I thought, for me to answer; for when I spoke, he proceeded. As soon as this ceremony was over, which was not long, we saluted each other. He then took his hahou, or coat, from off his own back, and put it upon mine; after which, peace seemed firmly established. More people joining us did not in the least alarm them; on the contrary, they saluted every one as he came up.

I gave to each a hatchet and a knife, having nothing else with me: perhaps these were the most valuable things I could give them; at least they were the most useful. They wanted us to go to their habitation, telling us they would give us something to eat; and I was sorry that the tide, and other circumstances, would not permit me to accept of their invitation. More people were seen in the skirts of the wood, but none of them joined us; probably these were their wives and children. When we took leave they followed us to our boat, and seeing the muskets lying across the stern, they made signs for them to be taken away; which being done, they came along side, and assisted us to launch her. At this time, it was necessary for us to look well after them, for they wanted to take away every thing they could lay their hands upon, except the muskets; these they took care not to touch, being taught by the slaughter they had seen us make among the wild fowl, to look upon them as instruments of death.

We saw no canoes or other boats with them; two or three logs of wood tied together served the same purpose; and were indeed sufficient for the navigation of the river, on the banks of which they lived. There fish and fowl were in such plenty, that they had no occasion to go far for food; and they have but few neighbours to disturb them. The whole number at this place, I believe, does not exceed three families.

It was noon when we took leave of these two men, and proceeded down the north side of the bay; which I explored in my way, and the isles that lie in the middle; night, however, overtook us, and obliged me to leave one arm unlooked into, and hasten to the ship, which we reached by eight o’clock. I then learnt that the man and his daughter stayed on board the day before till noon; and that, having understood from our people what things were left in Cascade Cove, the place where they were first seen, he sent and took them away. He and his family remained near us till to-day, when they all went away, and we saw them no more; which was the more extraordinary, as he never left us empty-handed. From one or another he did not get less than nine or ten hatchets, three or four times that number of large spike nails, besides many other articles. So far as these things may be counted riches in New Zealand, he exceeds every man there; being at this time possessed of more hatchets and axes than are in the whole country besides.

In the afternoon of the 21st, I went with a party out to the isles on seal-hunting. The surf ran so high that we could only land in one place, where we killed ten. These animals served us for three purposes; the skins we made use of for our rigging; the fat gave oil for our lamps; and the flesh we ate. Their harslets are equal to that of a hog, and the flesh of some of them eats little inferior to beef steaks. The following day nothing worthy of notice was done.

In the morning of the 23d, Mr. Pickersgill, Mr. Gilbert, and two others, went to the Cascade Cove, in order to ascend one of the mountains, the summit of which they reached by two o’clock in the afternoon, as we could see by the fire they made. In the evening they returned on board, and reported, that inland nothing was to be seen but barren mountains, with huge craggy precipices, disjoined by valleys, or rather chasms, frightful to behold. On the S. E. side of Cape West, four miles out at sea, they discovered a ridge of rocks, on which the waves broke very high. I believe these rocks to be the same we saw the evening we first fell in with the land.

Having five geese left out of those we brought from the Cape of Good Hope, I went with them next morning to Goose Cove (named so on this account), where I left them. I chose this place for two reasons; first, here are no inhabitants to disturb them; and secondly, here being the most food. I make no doubt but that they will breed, and may in time spread over the whole country, and fully answer my intention in leaving them. We spent the day shooting in and about the Cove, and returned aboard about ten o’clock in the evening. One of the party shot a white hern, which agreed exactly with Mr. Pennant’s description, in his British Zoology, of the white herns that either now are, or were formerly, in England.

The 25th was the eighth fair day we had had successively; a circumstance, I believe, very uncommon in this place, especially at this season of the year. This fair weather gave us an opportunity to complete our wood and water, to overhaul the rigging, calk the ship, and put her in a condition for sea. Fair weather was, however, now at an end; for it began to rain this evening, and continued, without intermission, till noon the next day, when we cast off the shore fasts, hove the ship out of the creek to her anchor, and steadied her with an hawser to the shore.

On the 27th, hazy weather, with showers of rain. In the morning I set out, accompanied by Mr. Pickersgill and the two Mr. Forsters, to explore the arm or inlet I discovered the day I returned from the head of the bay. After rowing about two leagues up it, or rather down, I found it to communicate with the sea, and to afford a better outlet for ships bound to the north, than the one I came in by. After making this discovery, and refreshing ourselves on broiled fish and wild fowl, we set out for the ship, and got on board at eleven o’clock at night; leaving two arms we had discovered, and which run in the east, unexplored. In this expedition we shot forty-four birds, sea-pies, ducks, &c., without going one foot out of our way, or causing any other delay than picking them up.

Having got the tents and every other article on board on the 28th, we only now waited for a wind to carry us out of the harbour, and through New Passage, the way I proposed to go to sea. Every thing being removed from the shore, I set fire to the top-wood, &c., in order to dry a piece of the ground we had occupied, which, next morning, I dug up, and sowed with several sorts of garden seeds. The soil was such as did not promise success to the planter; it was, however, the best we could find. At two o’clock in the afternoon, we weighed with a light breeze, at S. W., and stood up the bay for the new passage. Soon after we had got through, between the east end of Indian Island and the west end of Long Island, it fell calm, which obliged us to anchor in forty-three fathom water, under the north side of the latter island.

In the morning of the 30th we weighed again with a light breeze at west, which, together with all our boats a-head towing, was hardly sufficient to stem the current; for, after struggling till six o’clock in the evening, and not getting more than five miles from our last anchoring place, we anchored under the north side of Long Island, not more than one hundred yards from the shore, to which we fastened a hawser.

At day-light next morning, May 1st, we got again under sail, and attempted to work to windward, having a light breeze down the bay. At first we gained ground; but at last the breeze died away; when we soon lost more than we had got, and were obliged to bear up for a cove on the north side of Long Island, where we anchored in nineteen fathom water, a muddy bottom; in this cove we found two huts not long since inhabited; and near them two very large fire-places or ovens, such as they have in the Society Isles. In this cove we were detained by calms, attended with continual rain, till the 4th, in the afternoon, when, with the assistance of a small breeze at S. W., we got the length of the reach or passage leading to sea. The breeze then left us, and we anchored under the east point, before a sandy beach, in thirty fathoms’ water; but this anchoring place hath nothing to recommend it like the one we came from, which hath every thing in its favour.

In the night we had some very heavy squalls of wind, attended with rain, hail, and snow, and some thunder. Day-light exhibited to our view all the hills and mountains covered with snow. At two o’clock in the afternoon, a light breeze sprung up at S. S. W., which, with the help of our boats, carried us down the passage to our intended anchoring place, where, at eight o’clock, we anchored in sixteen fathoms’ water, and moored, with a hawser to the shore, under the first point on the starboard side, as you come in from sea; from which we were covered by the point.

In the morning of the 6th, I sent Lieutenant Pickersgill, accompanied by the two Mr. Forsters, to explore the second arm which turns into the east, myself being confined on board by a cold. At the same time, I had every thing got up from between decks, the decks well cleaned and well aired with fires; a thing that ought never to be long neglected in wet moist weather. The fair weather which had continued all this day, was succeeded in the night by a storm from N. W., which blew in hard squalls, attended with rain, and obliged us to strike top-gallant and lower yards, and to carry out another hawser to the shore. The bad weather continued the whole day and the succeeding night, after which it fell calm with fair weather.

At seven in the morning, on the 8th, Mr. Pickersgill returned, together with his companions, in no very good plight; having been at the head of the arm he was sent to explore, which he judged to extend into the eastward about eight miles; in it is a good anchoring-place, wood, fresh water, wild fowl, and fish. At nine o’clock I set out to explore the other inlet, or the one next the sea; and ordered Mr. Gilbert, the master, to go and examine the passage out to sea, while those on board were getting every thing in readiness to depart. I proceeded up the inlet till five o’clock in the afternoon, when bad weather obliged me to return, before I had seen the end of it. As this inlet lay nearly parallel with the sea-coast, I was of opinion that it might communicate with Doubtful Harbour, or some other inlet to the northward; appearances were, however, against this opinion, and the bad weather hindered me from determining the point, although a few hours would have done it: I was about ten miles up, and thought I saw the end of it: I found on the north side three coves, in which, as also on the south side, between the main and the isles that lie about four miles up the inlet, is good anchorage, wood, water, and what else can be expected, such as fish and wild fowl; of the latter we killed, in this excursion, three dozen. After a very hard row, against both wind and rain, we got on board about nine o’clock at night, without a dry thread on our backs.

This bad weather continued no longer than till the next morning, when it became fair, and the sky cleared up; but as we had not wind to carry us to sea, we made up two shooting parties; myself, accompanied by the two Mr. Forsters and some others, went to the arm I was in the day before; and the other party to the coves and isles Mr. Gilbert had discovered, when he was out, and where he found many wild fowl. We had a pleasant day, and the evening brought us all on board; myself and party met with good sport; but the other party found little.

All the forenoon of the 10th, we had strong gales from the west, attended with heavy showers of rain, and blowing in such flurries over high land, as made it unsafe for us to get under sail. The afternoon was more moderate, and became fair; when myself, Mr. Cooper, and some others, went out in the boats to the rocks, which lie at this entrance of the bay, to kill seals: the weather was rather unfavourable for this sport, and the sea ran high, so as to make landing difficult; we, however, killed ten; but could only wait to bring away five, with which we returned on board.

In the morning of the 11th, while we were getting under sail, I sent a boat for the other five seals. At nine o’clock we weighed, with a light breeze at S. E., and stood out to sea, taking up the boat in our way. It was noon before we got clear of the land; at which time we observed in 45° 34ʹ 30ʺ south; the entrance of the bay bore S. E. by E., and Break-sea isles (the outermost isles that lie at the south point of the entrance of the bay) bore S. S. E. distant three miles; the southernmost point, or that of Five Fingers’ Point, bore south 42° west; and the northernmost land N. N. E.; in this situation we had a prodigious swell from S. W., which broke with great violence on all the shores that were exposed to it.

CHAP. V.

DIRECTIONS FOR SAILING IN AND OUT OF DUSKY BAY, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE
ADJACENT COUNTRY, ITS PRODUCE, AND INHABITANTS: ASTRONOMICAL AND
NAUTICAL OBSERVATIONS.

As there are few places where I have been in New Zealand that afford the necessary refreshments in such plenty as Dusky Bay, a short description of it, and of the adjacent country, may prove of use to some future navigators, as well as acceptable to the curious reader. For although this country be far remote from the present trading part of the world, we can by no means tell what use future ages may make of the discoveries made in the present. The reader of this journal must already know that there are two entrances to this bay. The south entrance is situated on the north side of Cape West, in latitude 45° 48ʹ south. It is formed by the land of the Cape to the south, and Five Fingers’ Point to the north. This point is made remarkable by several pointed rocks lying off it, which when viewed from certain situations, have some resemblance to the five fingers of a man’s hand; from whence it takes its name. The land of this point is still more remarkable by the little similarity it bears to any other of the lands adjacent; being a narrow peninsula lying north and south, of a moderate and equal height, and all covered with wood.

To sail into the bay by this entrance is by no means difficult, as I know of no danger but what shows itself. The worst that attends it, is the depth of water, which is too great to admit of anchorage, except in the coves and harbours, and very near the shores; and even, in many places, this last cannot be done. The anchoring-places are, however, numerous enough, and equally safe and commodious. Pickersgill Harbour, where we lay, is not inferior to any other bay, for two or three ships; it is situated on the south shore abreast of the west end of Indian Island; which island may be known from the others by its greater proximity to that shore. There is a passage into the harbour on both sides of the isle, which lies before it. The most room is on the upper or east side, having regard to a sunken rock near the main, abreast this end of the isle. Keep the isle close aboard, and you will not only avoid the rock, but keep in anchoring ground. The next place, on this side, is Cascade Cove; where there is room for a fleet of ships, and also a passage in on either side of the isle which lies in the entrance; taking care to avoid a sunken rock which lies near the S. E. shore, a little above the isle. This rock, as well as the one in Pickersgill Harbour, may be seen at half ebb.

It must be needless to enumerate all the anchoring-places in this capacious bay; one or two, on each side, will be quite sufficient. Those who want to be acquainted with more, need only consult the annexed chart; which they may depend upon as being without any material error. To such as put into this bay, and are afterwards bound to the south, I would recommend Facile Harbour. To sail into this harbour, keep the inside of the land of Five Fingers’ Point aboard, until you are the length of the isles, which lie abreast the middle of that land. Haul round the north point of these isles, and you will have the harbour before you bearing east. But the chart will be a sufficient guide, not only to sail into this, but into all the other anchoring places, as well as to sail quite through, from the south to the north entrance. However, I shall give some directions for this navigation. In coming in at the south entrance keep the south shore aboard, until you approach the west end of Indian Island, which you will know not only by its apparent, but real nearness to the shore. From this situation, it will appear as a point dividing the bay into two arms. Leave this isle on your starboard side, and continue your course up the bay, which is E. by N. 1/2 N. without turning either to the right or left. When you are abreast, or above the east end of this isle, you will find the bay of a considerable breadth; and, higher up, to be contracted by two projecting points. Three miles above the one, on the north side, and abreast of two small isles, is the passage out to sea, or to the north entrance; and this lies nearly in the direction of N. by W. and S. by E.

The north entrance lies in the latitude of 45° 38ʹ south, and five leagues to the north of Five Fingers’ Point. To make this entrance plain, it will be necessary to approach the shore within a few miles; as all the land within, and on each side, is of considerable height. Its situation may, however, be known at a greater distance; as it lies under the first craggy mountains which rise to the north of the land of Five Fingers’ Point. The southernmost of these mountains is remarkable; having at its summit two small hillocks. When this mountain bears S. S. E. you will be before the entrance, on the south side of which are several isles. The westernmost and outermost is the most considerable, both for height and circuit; and this I have called Break-sea Isle, because it effectually covers this entrance from the violence of the S. W. swell, which the other entrance is so much exposed to. In sailing in you leave this isle, as well as all the others, to the south. The best anchorage is in the first or north arm, which is on the larboard hand going in, either in one of the coves, or behind the isles that lie under the S. E. shore.

The country is exceedingly mountainous; not only about Dusky Bay, but through all the southern part of this western coast of Tavia Poenammoo. A prospect more rude and craggy is rarely to be met with; for inland appears nothing but the summits of mountains of a stupendous height, and consisting of rocks that are totally barren and naked, except where they are covered with snow. But the land bordering on the sea coast, and all the islands, are thickly clothed with wood, almost down to the water’s edge. The trees are of various kinds, such as are common to other parts of this country, and are fit for the shipwright, house-carpenter, cabinet-maker, and many other uses. Except in the river Thames I have not seen finer timber in all New Zealand: both here and in that river, the most considerable for size is the spruce tree, as we called it, from the similarity of its foliage to the American spruce, though the wood is more ponderous and bears a greater resemblance to the pitch pine. Many of these trees are from six to eight, and ten feet in girt, and from sixty to eighty or one hundred feet in length; large enough to make a main-mast for a fifty-gun ship.

Here are, as well as in all other parts of New Zealand, a great number of aromatic trees and shrubs, most of the myrtle kind; but amidst all this variety we met with none which bore fruit fit to eat.

In many parts the woods are so over-run with supple-jacks, that it is scarcely possible to force one’s way amongst them. I have seen several which were fifty or sixty fathoms long.

The soil is a deep black mould, evidently composed of decayed vegetables, and so loose that it sinks under you at every step; and this may be the reason why we meet with so many large trees as we do, blown down by the wind, even in the thickest part of the woods. All the ground amongst the trees is covered with moss and fern, of both which there is great variety; but except the flax or hemp plant, and a few other plants, there is very little herbage of any sort, and none that was eatable that we found, except about a handful of water-cresses, and about the same quantity of cellery. What Dusky Bay most abounds with is fish: a boat with six or eight men with hooks and lines, caught daily sufficient to serve the whole ship’s company: of this article the variety is almost equal to the plenty; and of such kinds as are common to the more northern coast; but some are superior; and in particular the cole fish, as we called it, which is both larger and finer flavoured than any I had seen before, and was, in the opinion of most on board, the highest luxury the sea afforded us. The shell-fish are muscles, cockles, scallops, cray-fish, and many other sorts; all such as are to be found in every other part of the coast. The only amphibious animals are seals; these are to be found in great numbers about this bay, on the small rocks and isles near the sea coast.

We found here five different kinds of ducks, some of which I do not recollect to have any where seen before; the largest are as big as a Muscovy duck, with a very beautiful variegated plumage, on which account we called it the painted duck: both male and female have a large white spot on each wing; the head and neck of the latter is white, but all the other feathers, as well as those on the head and neck of the drake, are of a dark variegated colour. The second sort have a brown plumage, with bright green feathers in their wings, and are about the size of an English tame duck. The third sort is the blue-grey duck before mentioned, or the whistling duck, as some called them, from the whistling noise they made. What is most remarkable in these is, that the end of their beaks is soft, and of a skinny, or more properly, cartilaginous substance. The fourth sort is something bigger than teal, and all black except the drake, which has some white feathers in his wing. There are but few of this sort; and we saw them no where but in the river at the head of the bay. The last sort is a good deal like a teal, and very common I am told in England. The other fowls, whether belonging to the sea or land, are the same that are to be found in common in other parts of this country, except the blue peterel, before mentioned, and the water or wood hens: these last, although they are numerous enough here, are so scarce in other parts, that I never saw but one. The reason may be, that, as they cannot fly, they inhabit the skirts of the woods, and feed on the sea beach; and are so very tame or foolish, as to stand and stare at us till we knocked them down with a stick. The natives may have in a manner wholly destroyed them; they are a sort of rail, about the size, and a good deal like a common dunghill hen; most of them are of a dirty black or dark brown colour, and eat very well in a pie or fricassee. Amongst the small birds I must not omit to particularise the wattle-bird, poy-bird, and fan-tail, on account of their singularity, especially as I find they are not mentioned in the narrative of my former voyage.

The wattle-bird, so called because it has two wattles under its beak, as large as those of a small dunghill cock, is larger, particularly in length, than an English black-bird; its bill is short and thick, and its feathers of a dark lead colour; the colour of its wattles is a dull yellow, almost an orange colour.

The poy-bird is less than the wattle-bird; the feathers of a fine mazarine blue, except those of its neck, which are of a most beautiful silver-grey, and two or three short white ones, which are on the pinion-joint of the wing; under its throat hang two little tufts of curled snow-white feathers, called its _poies_, which being the Otaheitean word for ear-rings, occasioned our giving that name to the bird; which is not more remarkable for the beauty of its plumage than for the sweetness of its note; the flesh is also most delicious, and was the greatest luxury the woods afforded us.

Of the fan-tail, there are different sorts, but the body of the most remarkable one is scarcely larger than a good filbert, yet it spreads a tail of most beautiful plumage, full three-quarters of a semicircle, of at least four or five inches radius.

For three or four days after we arrived in Pickersgill Harbour, and as we were clearing the woods to set up our tents, &c., a four-footed animal was seen by three or four of our people; but as no two gave the same description of it, I cannot say of what kind it is; all, however, agreed, that it was about the size of a cat, with short legs, and of mouse colour: one of the seamen, and he who had the best view of it, said it had a bushy tail, and was the most like a jackall of any animal he knew. The most probable conjecture is, that it is of a new species; be this as it may, we are now certain, that this country is not so destitute of quadrupeds as was once thought.

The most mischievous animals here, are the small black sand flies, which are very numerous, and so troublesome, that they exceed every thing of the kind I ever met with; wherever they bite they cause a swelling, and such an intolerable itching, that it is not possible to refrain from scratching, which at last brings on ulcers like the small-pox.

The almost continual rains may be reckoned another evil attending this bay; though, perhaps, this may only happen at this season of the year. Nevertheless, the situation of the country, the vast height, and nearness of the mountains, seem to subject it to much rain at all times. Our people, who were daily exposed to the rain, felt no ill effects from it; on the contrary, such as were sick and ailing when we came in, recovered daily, and the whole crew soon became strong and vigorous; which can only be attributed to the healthiness of the place, and the fresh provisions it afforded. The beer certainly contributed not a little: as I have already observed, we at first made it of a decoction of the spruce leaves; but finding that this alone made the beer too astringent, we afterwards mixed with it an equal quantity of the tea plant (a name it obtained in my former voyage, from our using it as tea then, as we also did now,) which partly destroyed the astringency of the other, and made the beer exceedingly palatable, and esteemed by every one on board. We brewed it in the same manner as spruce beer, and the process is as follows: first make a strong decoction of the small branches of the spruce and tea plants, by boiling them three or four hours, or until the bark will strip with ease from off the branches; then take them out of the copper, and put in the proper quantity of melasses; ten gallons of which is sufficient to make a ton or two hundred and forty gallons of beer; let this mixture just boil; then put it into the casks; and, to it, add an equal quantity of cold water, more or less according to the strength of the decoction, or your taste: when the whole is milk-warm, put in a little grounds of beer, or yeast, if you have it, or any thing else that will cause fermentation, and in a few days the beer will be fit to drink. After the casks have been brewed in two or three times, the beer will generally ferment itself, especially if the weather is warm. As I had inspissated juice of wort on board, and could not apply it to a better purpose, we used it together with melasses or sugar, to make these two articles go farther; for of the former I had but one cask, and of the latter little to spare for this brewing. Had I known how well this beer would have succeeded, and the great use it was of to the people, I should have come better provided; indeed I was partly discouraged by an experiment made during my former voyage; which did not succeed, then, owing, as I now believe, to some mismanagement.

Any one who is in the least acquainted with spruce pines, will find the tree which I have distinguished by that name. There are three sorts of it; that which has the smallest leaves and deepest colour, is the sort we brewed with, but doubtless all three might safely serve that purpose. The tea plant is a small tree or shrub, with five white petals, or flower-leaves, shaped like those of a rose, having smaller ones of the same figure in the intermediate spaces, and twenty or more filaments or threads. The tree sometimes grows to a moderate height, and is generally bare on the lower part, with a number of small branches growing close together towards the top. The leaves are small and pointed, like those of the myrtle; it bears a dry roundish seed-case, and grows commonly in dry places near the shores. The leaves, as I have already observed, were used by many of us as tea, which has a very agreeable bitter and flavour, when they are recent, but loses some of both when they are dried. When the infusion was made strong, it proved emetic to some, in the same manner as green tea.

The inhabitants of this bay are of the same race of people with those in the other parts of this country, speak the same language, and observe nearly the same customs. These, indeed, seem to have a custom of making presents before they receive any, in which they come nearer to the Otaheiteans than the rest of their countrymen. What could induce three or four families (for I believe there are not more) to separate themselves so far from the society of the rest of their fellow-creatures, is not easy to guess. By our meeting with inhabitants in this place, it seems probable, that there are people scattered over all this southern island. But the many vestiges of them in different parts of this bay, compared with the number that we actually saw, indicates that they live a wandering life; and, if one may judge from appearances and circumstances, few as they are, they live not in perfect amity one family with another. For, if they did, why do they not form themselves into some society? a thing not only natural to man, but observed even by the brute creation.

I shall conclude this account of Dusky Bay with some observations made and communicated to me by Mr. Wales. He found, by a great variety of observations, that the latitude of his observatory at Pickersgill Harbour, was 45° 47ʹ 26-1/2ʺ south; and by the mean of several distances of the moon from the sun, that its longitude was 166° 18ʹ east; which is about half a degree less than it is laid down in my chart constructed in my former voyage. He found the variation of the needle or compass by the mean of three different needles, to be 13° 49ʹ east, and the dip of the south end 70° 5-3/4ʹ. The times of high water on the full and change days, he found to be at 10^h 57ʹ, and the tide to rise and fall at the former eight feet, at the latter five feet eight inches. This difference in the rise of the tides between the new and full moon is a little extraordinary, and was probably occasioned, at this time, by some accidental cause, such as winds, &c. but be it as it will, I am well assured there was no error in the observations.

Supposing the longitude of the observatory to be as above, the error of Mr. Kendal’s watch, in longitude, will be 1° 48ʹ, minus, and that of Mr. Arnold’s 39° 25ʺ. The former was found to be gaining 6ʺ, 461 a-day, on mean time, and the latter losing 99ʺ, 361. Agreeably to these rates, the longitude by them was not to be determined until an opportunity of trying them again.

I must observe, that in finding the longitude by Mr. Kendal’s watch, we supposed it to have gone mean time from the Cape of Good Hope. Had its Cape rate been allowed, the error would not have been so great.

CHAP. VI.

PASSAGE FROM DUSKY BAY TO QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND, WITH AN ACCOUNT OF
SOME WATER-SPOUTS, AND OF OUR JOINING THE ADVENTURE.

After leaving Dusky Bay, as hath been already mentioned, I directed my course along shore for Queen Charlotte’s Sound, where I expected to find the Adventure. In this passage we met with nothing remarkable or worthy of notice till the 17th, at four o’clock in the afternoon. Being then about three leagues to the westward of Cape Stephens, having a gentle gale at west by south, and clear weather, the wind at once flattened to a calm, the sky became suddenly obscured by dark, dense clouds, and seemed to forebode much wind. This occasioned us to clew up all our sails, and presently after six water-spouts were seen. Four rose and spent themselves between us and the land; that is to the S. W. of us; the fifth was without us; the sixth first appeared in the S. W. at the distance of two or three miles at least from us. Its progressive motion was to the N. E. not in a strait, but in a crooked line, and passed within fifty yards of our stern, without our feeling any of its effects. The diameter of the base of this spout I judged to be about fifty or sixty feet; that is, the sea within this space was much agitated, and foamed up to a great height. From this a tube or round body was formed, by which the water or air, or both, was carried in a spiral stream up to the clouds. Some of our people said they saw a bird in the one near us; which was whirled round like the fly of a jack as it was carried upwards. During the time these spouts lasted, we had, now and then, light puffs of wind from all points of the compass; with some few slight showers of rain, which generally fell in large drops; and the weather continued thick and hazy, for some hours after, with variable light breezes of wind. At length the wind fixed in its old point, and the sky resumed its former serenity. Some of these spouts appeared, at times, to be stationary; and, at other times, to have a quick, but very unequal, progressive motion, and always in a crooked line, sometimes one way, and sometimes another; so that, once or twice, we observed them to cross one another. From the ascending motion of the bird, and several other circumstances, it was very plain to us that these spouts were caused by whirlwinds, and that the water in them was violently hurried upwards, and did not descend from the clouds, as I have heard some assert. The first appearance of them is by the violent agitation and rising up of the water; and, presently after, you see a round column or tube forming from the clouds above, which apparently descends till it joins the agitated water below. I say apparently, because I believe it not to be so in reality, but that the tube is already formed from the agitated water below, and ascends, though at first it is either too small or too thin to be seen. When the tube is formed, or becomes visible, its apparent diameter increaseth, until it is pretty large; after that, it decreaseth, and, at last, it breaks or becomes invisible towards the lower part. Soon after the sea below resumes its natural state, and the tube is drawn, by little and little, up to the clouds, where it is dissipated. The same tube would sometimes have a vertical, and sometimes a crooked or inclined direction. The most rational account I have read of water-spouts is in Mr. Falconer’s Marine Dictionary, which is chiefly collected from the philosophical writings of the ingenious Dr. Franklin. I have been told that the firing of a gun will dissipate them, and I am very sorry I did not try the experiment, as we were near enough, and had a gun ready for the purpose; but, as soon as the danger was past, I thought no more about it, being too attentive in viewing these extraordinary meteors. At the time this happened the barometer stood at 29, 75, and the thermometer at 56.

In coming from Cape Farewell to Cape Stephens, I had a better view of the coast than I had when I passed in my former voyage, and observed that, about six leagues to the east of the first-mentioned cape, is a spacious bay, which is covered from the sea by a low point of land. This is, I believe, the same that Captain Tasman anchored in on the 18th of December 1642, and by him called Murderer’s Bay, by reason of some of his men being killed by the natives. Blind Bay, so named by me in my former voyage, lies to the S. E. of this, and seems to run a long way in-land to the south; the sight in this direction, not being bounded by any land. The wind having returned to the west, as already mentioned, we resumed our course to the east; and at day-light the next morning, (being the 18th) we appeared off Queen Charlotte’s Sound, where we discovered our consort the Adventure, by the signals which she made to us; an event which every one felt with an agreeable satisfaction. The fresh westerly wind now died away, and was succeeded by light airs from the south and S. W. so that we had to work in, with our boats a-head towing. In the doing of this, we discovered a rock, which we did not see in my former voyage. It lies in the direction of S. by E. 1/2 E. distant four miles from the outermost of the Two Brothers, and in a line with the White Rocks, on with the middle of Long Island. It is just even with the surface of the sea, and hath deep water all round it. At noon, Lieutenant Kempe of the Adventure came on board; from whom I learnt that their ship had been here about six weeks. With the assistance of a light breeze, our boats, and the tides, we, at six o’clock in the evening, got to an anchor in Ship Cove near the Adventure; when Captain Furneaux came on board, and gave me the following account of his proceedings, from the time we parted, to my arrival here.

CHAP. VII.

CAPTAIN FURNEAUX’S NARRATIVE, FROM THE TIME THE TWO SHIPS WERE
SEPARATED, TO THEIR JOINING AGAIN IN QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S SOUND, WITH SOME
ACCOUNT OF VAN DIEMEN’S LAND.

On the 7th of February, 1773, in the morning, the Resolution being then about two miles a head, the wind shifting then to the westward, brought on a very thick fog, so that we lost sight of her. We soon after heard a gun, the report of which we imagined to be on the larboard beam; we then hauled up S. E. and kept firing a four pounder every half hour; but had no answer, nor further sight of her; then we kept the course we steered on before the fog came on. In the evening it began to blow hard, and was, at intervals, more clear; but could see nothing of her, which gave us much uneasiness. We then tacked and stood to the westward, to cruize in the place where we last saw her, according to agreement in case of separation; but, next day, came on a very heavy gale of wind and thick weather, that obliged us to bring to, and thereby prevented us reaching the intended spot. However, the wind coming more moderate, and the fog in some measure clearing away, we cruized as near the place as we could get, for three days; when giving over all hopes of joining company again, we bore away for winter quarters, distant fourteen hundred leagues, through a sea entirely unknown, and reduced the allowance of water to one quart per day.

We kept between the latitude of 52 and 53 south; had much westerly wind, hard gales with squalls, snow and sleet, with a long hollow sea from the S. W. so that we judged there is no land in that quarter. After we reached the longitude of 95° east, we found the variation decrease very fast; but for a more perfect account, I refer you to the table at the end of this book.

On the 26th at night, we saw a meteor of uncommon brightness in the N. N. W. It directed its course to the S. W. with a very great light in the southern sky, such as is known to the northward by the name of Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights. We saw the light for several nights running; and, what is remarkable, we saw but one ice island after we parted company with the Resolution, till our making land, though we were most of the time two or three degrees to the southward of the latitude we first saw it in. We were daily attended by great numbers of sea birds, and frequently saw porpoises curiously spotted white and black.

On the first of March we were alarmed with the cry of land by the man at the mast head, on the larboard beam; which gave us great joy. We immediately hauled our wind and stood for it, but to our mortification were disappointed in a few hours; for what we took to be land, proved no more than clouds, which disappeared as we sailed towards them. We then bore away and directed our course toward the land laid down in the charts by the name of Van Diemen’s Land, discovered by Tasman in 1642, and laid down in the latitude 44° south, and longitude 140° east, and supposed to join to New Holland.

On the 9th of March, having little wind and pleasant weather, about nine A. M. being then in the latitude 43° 37ʹ south longitude, by lunar observation, 145° 36ʹ east, and by account, 143° 10ʹ east, from Greenwich, we saw the land bearing N. N. E. about eight or nine leagues distance. It appeared moderately high, and uneven near the sea; the hills further back formed a double land and much higher. There seemed to be several islands, or broken land, to the N. W. as the shore trenched; but by reason of clouds that hung over them, we could not be certain whether they did not join to the main. We hauled immediately up for it, and by noon were within three or four leagues of it. A point, much like the Ramhead, off Plymouth, which I take to be the same that Tasman calls South Cape, bore north four leagues off us. The land from this cape runs directly to the eastward; about four leagues along shore are three islands about two miles long, and several rocks, resembling the Mewstone (particularly one which we so named) about four or five leagues E. S. E. 1/2 E. off the above Cape, which Tasman has not mentioned, or laid down in his drafts. After you pass these islands the land lies E. by N. and W. by S. by the compass nearly. It is a bold shore, and seems to afford several bays or anchoring places, but believe deep water. From the S. W. cape, which is in the latitude of 43° 39ʹ south, and longitude 145° 50ʹ east, to the S. E. cape, in the latitude 43° 36ʹ south, longitude 147° east, is nearly sixteen leagues, and sounding from forty-eight to seventy fathoms, sand and broken shells, three or four leagues off shore. Here the country is hilly and full of trees, the shore rocky and difficult landing, occasioned by the wind blowing here continually from the westward, which occasions such a surf that the sand cannot lie on the shore. We saw no inhabitants here.

The morning on the 10th of March being calm, the ship then about four miles from the land, sent the great cutter on shore with the second lieutenant, to find if there was any harbour or good bay. Soon after, it beginning to blow very hard, made the signal for the boat to return several times, but they did not see or hear any thing of it; the ship then three or four leagues off, that we could not see any thing of the boat, which gave us great uneasiness, as there was a very great sea. At half past one P. M. to our great satisfaction, the boat returned on board safe. They landed, but with much difficulty, and saw several places where the Indians had been, and one they lately had left, where they had a fire, with a great number of pearl scallop shells round it, which shells they brought on board, with some burnt sticks and green boughs. There was a path from this place, through the woods, which in all probability leads to their habitations; but, by reason of the weather, had not time to pursue it. The soil seems to be very rich; the country well clothed with wood, particularly on the lee side of the hills; plenty of water, which falls from the rocks in beautiful cascades for two or three hundred feet perpendicular into the sea; but they did not see the least sign of any place to anchor in with safety. Hoisted in the boat, and made sail for Frederick Henry Bay. From noon to three P. M. running along shore E. by N. at which time we were abreast of the westernmost point of a very deep bay, called by Tasman, Stormy Bay. From the west to the east point of this bay, there are several small islands, and black rocks which we called the Fryars. While crossing this bay we had very heavy squalls and thick weather; at times, when it cleared up, I saw several fires in the bottom of the bay, which is near two or three leagues deep, and has, I doubt not, good places for anchoring, but the weather being so bad, did not think it safe to stand into it. From the Fryars the land trenches away about N. by E. four leagues. We had smooth water, and kept in shore, having regular soundings from twenty to fifteen fathoms’ water. At half past six we hauled round a high bluff point, the rocks whereof were like so many fluted pillars, and had ten fathoms water, fine sand, within half a mile of the shore. At seven, being abreast of a fine bay, and having little wind, we came to, with the small bower, in twenty-four fathoms, sandy bottom. Just after we anchored, being a fine clear evening, had a good observation of the star Antares and the moon, which gave the longitude of 147° 34ʹ east, being in the latitude of 43° 20ʹ south. We first took this bay to be that which Tasman called Frederick Henry Bay; but afterwards found that his is laid down five leagues to the northward of this.

At day-break the next morning, I sent the master in shore to sound the bay, and to find out a watering place; at eight he returned, having found a most excellent harbour, clear ground from side to side, from eighteen to five fathom water all over the bay, gradually decreasing as you go in shore. We weighed and turned up into the bay; the wind being westerly, and very little of it, which baffled us much in getting in. At seven o’clock in the evening, we anchored in seven fathoms water, with the small bower, and moored with the coasting anchor to the westward, the north point of the bay N. N. E. 1/2 E. (which we take to be Tasman’s Head,) and the easternmost point (which we named Penguin Island, from a curious one we caught there) N. E. by E. 3/4 E. the watering place W. 1/2 N. about one mile from the shore on each side; Maria’s Island, which is about five or six leagues off, shut in with both points; so that you are quite land-locked in a most spacious harbour.