Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara Volume Ii Part 1

Narrative of the Circ.u.mnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara.

Volume II.

by Karl Ritter von Scherzer.

X.

The Nicobar Islands.

Stay from 23rd February to 26th March, 1858.

Historical details respecting this Archipelago.--Arrival at Kar-Nicobar.--Communication with the Aborigines.--Village of Saoui and "Captain John."--Meet with two white men.--Journey to the south side of the island.--Village of Komios.--Forest Scenery.--Batte-Malve.--Tillangschong.--Arrival and stay at Nangkauri Harbour.--Village of Itoe.--Peak Mongkata on Kamorta.-- Villages of Enuang and Malacca.--Tripjet, the first settlement of the Moravian Brothers.--Ulala Cove.--Voyage through the Archipelago.--The Island of Treis.--Pulo Milu--Panda.n.u.s Forest.-- St. George's Channel.--Island of Kondul.--Departure for the northern coast of Great Nicobar.--Mangrove Swamp.--Malay traders.--Remarks upon the natives of Great Nicobar.--Disaster to a boat dispatched to make Geodetical observations.--Visit to the Southern Bay of Great Nicobar.--General results obtained during the stay of the Expedition in this Archipelago.-- Nautical, Climatic, and Geognostic observations.--Vegetation.-- Animal Life.--Ethnography.--Prospects of this group of Islands in the way of settlement and cultivation.--Voyage to the Straits of Malacca.--Arrival at Singapore.

The earliest visitants of whom we have any certain information to this cl.u.s.ter of islands (situated in the Bay of Bengal, between 6 50' and 9 10' N., and 93 and 94 E.), appear to have been Arabian traders, who, on their voyages to Southern China, landed on these islands, then known as Megabalu and Legabalu, on the first occasion in 851, and on the second in 877 of the Christian era. Abu-Zeyd-Ha.s.san, one of these adventurers, gave a circ.u.mstantial account of these voyages, which has been translated into French, and published by Eusebius Renaudot.[1]

After the Cape of Good Hope was doubled in 1497, the Nicobars were chiefly frequented by voyagers in East Indian seas, but without any such visits having in the least contributed to enlarge our information respecting a group so important by geographical position.

In 1602, Captain Lancaster, commander of an English s.h.i.+p, pa.s.sed ten days on the Nicobars, during which he hardly visited the southern islands, Great and Little Nicobar, but kept to the small island of Sombrero, of the northern cl.u.s.ter, now called Bampoka. He there found trees of such circ.u.mference and height, as would serve for the construction of the largest s.h.i.+ps. Towards the middle of the seventeenth century, Koeping, a Swede, made his appearance at the Nicobars. Happening to be on board a Dutch vessel, which touched in 1647 at one of the islands, he thought he perceived among the inhabitants certain men furnished with caudal appendages, whereas it was their peculiar clothing, which consists of a long narrow piece of woven stuff, wound round the body and then left to hang loosely, which gave rise to such a report. With the arrival in Indian waters of Dampier, that daring but most trustworthy of navigators, the information respecting these islands first becomes more definite. He landed in the north-western Bay of the largest of these, to which he a.s.signed the lat.i.tude 7 30' N., and gave a most extensive narrative of his adventurous career from the moment he abandoned the corsair-craft he had brought from Europe to seek for a.s.sistance on the Nicobars, to the period when, after braving a tremendous storm in a canoe, along with seven of his companions in misfortune he landed half dead on the northernmost point of Sumatra about 1706.

In 1708, Captain Owen, another English s.h.i.+pmaster, paid an involuntary visit to this Archipelago, his s.h.i.+p having been stranded on the uninhabited island of Tillangschong, whence he escaped with his crew to the islands Ning and Souri, only four miles to the westward, apparently what is now known as Nangkauri. For the first time history now records an outrage of which the natives were guilty towards the strangers.

It would appear that the captain, after having experienced an exceedingly friendly reception, laid down his knife, upon which one of the islanders, very possibly out of curiosity, laid hold of it, pushed the owner aside, and ultimately possessed himself of the knife. On the following day, as Owen was taking his mid-day meal under a tree, he was set upon and killed by several of the natives, who shot him down with their arrows; on the other hand the crew, consisting of sixteen persons, were furnished with canoes and provisions, so that without experiencing any further ill-treatment they were so fortunate as to reach Junkseilan.

The first essay towards a settlement of the Nicobar Islands was made by the Jesuits in 1711, upon the most northerly island of the group, Kar-Nicobar. They succ.u.mbed however to the noxious influences of the climate, and the few neophytes speedily sank back into heathendom.

The second attempt at colonization by Europeans took place in 1756, when Lieutenant Tanck, a Dane, after taking possession of the entire group in the name of his sovereign, the King of Denmark, named the islands "_Frederiks Oerne_" (Frederick Islands), and founded the first colony on the northern side of Great Nicobar, or Sambellong. In the year 1760 this was transferred by the followers of Tanck to the island of Kamorta, but here too after a short time the experiment failed, owing to the unhealthiness of the climate.

In 1766, fourteen Moravian Brethren were settled on Nangkauri, with the view of extending the influence of the Danish East India Company. The want of information respecting the necessary conditions under which this colony was called into existence, was in all probability the cause of its speedy declension. Within less than two decades the majority of these settlers had fallen under the baneful influence of the climate.

On 1st April, 1778, the Austrian vessel _Joseph and Theresa_, commanded by Captain Bennet, landed on the N.E. side of Kar-Nicobar, or New Denmark.

This vessel had been commissioned by the Imperial Government to select, in the name of H.M. Joseph II., Austrian plantations and commercial stations on the farther side of the Cape of Good Hope. Of this remarkable expedition nothing more has been handed down to us than is related by excellent Nicolas Fontana, who accompanied the expedition as surgeon, in his book of travels, which was published at Leipzig in 1782.[2]

Neither the libraries nor the archives of the empire seem capable of furnis.h.i.+ng more definite information respecting this interesting undertaking. However, on the other hand, through the kind offices of H.I.H. the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian with the Government of H.M. the King of the Belgians, there have been found in the Royal Archives at Brussels several highly important doc.u.ments, bearing upon this expedition, of which M. Gachard, keeper of the State Archives in that country, had the kindness to furnish us with copies; and while we propose in the following remarks to avail ourselves of the most interesting data, the more particular consideration of this circ.u.mstance, so interesting in the history of the development of our trade, will be deferred till the appearance of the commercial section of the Novara publications.

A Dutchman, named William Bolts, formerly in the service of the British East India Company, in the year 1774 made to Count Belgiojoso, at that period Amba.s.sador in London of the Empress Maria Theresa, proposals for direct commercial intercourse between the Netherlands and Trieste and Persia, the East Indies, China, and Africa, with the object of supplying the harbours of the Austrian dominions with the products of India and China, without the costly intervention of other countries. This proposition having been brought under the notice of the Imperial Chancellor, Prince Kaunitz, at Vienna, was so cordially received by that minister, that Bolts received an invitation to present himself at the Empress's palace, in order to develope his plans more fully in person in that august presence. Bolts arrived in Vienna in April, 1775, and very shortly afterwards was invested by the Empress with all the requisite privileges for facilitating the prosecution of his great project. The imperial officials at Trieste were entrusted with the equipment and arming of the vessel, the supreme military council were required to provide the necessary pay for the soldiers and subaltern officers, and Bolts by special commission was formally empowered in the name of the Empress Queen, as also in that of her successors upon the throne, to take possession of all the territories which he might succeed in getting ceded by the princes of India, for the behoof of such of Her Imperial Majesty's subjects as should purpose trading with the Indies.

It was the wish of the Government that the first expedition should take its departure from Trieste; Bolts however opposed this, for the reason that his vessel must take part of its lading from London, but declared himself prepared to make the most strenuous efforts to found a mercantile house in Trieste, and to take such precautions as should result in the second and all future expeditions being dispatched from Trieste.

Bolts hereupon first proceeded to Amsterdam with his newly acquired privileges, and thence to London, as yet without being more fortunate in his attempt to set on foot the proposed a.s.sociation in the one locality than in the other. At last, at Antwerp in the Netherlands, he succeeded in interesting in his project a certain Baron von Proli, and two merchants, by the name of Borrekens and Nageles, and with these three persons he entered into a contract of a.s.sociation, on 20th Sept. 1775. At the same time a fund of 90,000 was raised for the armament of a second trading vessel to the East Indies and China, and out of the same amount to establish a mercantile house in Trieste.

In possession of 25,000 sterling, which he had procured from his a.s.sociates, Bolts proceeded to London, where he purchased a vessel, which he named the _Joseph and Theresa_, put a portion of her cargo on board, and on 14th March, 1776, set sail thence for Leghorn. Here certain articles were to be taken on board, which the Government had promised to have ready, and which consisted of copper, iron, steel, and tools. Before Bolts left harbour on his voyage to the Indies he was invested by the Empress with the grade of Lieutenant-Colonel in their service, and for the better prosecution of his objects was provided by the State Chancery with comprehensive powers,[3] and a pa.s.s for barbarous countries, called a "_Scontrino_."[4] The Empress at the same time provided the daring adventurer with letters of introduction under her own hand to the Emperor of China, the "King" of Persia, and the Indian satraps whose dominions he was to visit.

Baron Proli, one of the chief partners, went first of all to Vienna, and thence to Leghorn, and concluded an agreement with Bolts to dispatch a s.h.i.+p to the Indies in each of the years 1777, 1778, 1779, the cargoes of which should be worth at least 30,000 each, while Bolts, on his part, engaged to remain in the Indies three and a half years from the day of his departure, there to found factories, and to lay out to the best advantage the money realized by the sale of the merchandise consigned to him. The Empress Maria Theresa rewarded Proli for services already rendered, as also for those which he undertook to perform in the establishment of trading-exchanges in Trieste and Bruges, for the support of the oversea commerce of the Austrian and Belgian provinces, by raising him to the dignity of Count.

The s.h.i.+p _Joseph and Theresa_, bound for the east coast of Africa, as also for the sh.o.r.es of Malabar, Coromandel, and Bengal, set sail from Leghorn in September, 1776, with a crew of 155 men. Unfavourable winds compelled Bolts to make the Brazilian coast, in order to take in fresh stores.

Thence he lay a course for Delagoa Bay, on the S.E. coast of Africa, opposite the island of Madagascar, on which, on 30th March, 1777, he was so unfortunate as to get stranded, when he was compelled to start a portion of his cargo overboard. Bolts, however, turned to excellent account his stay on this coast, having purchased from two African kings, named Mohaar Capell, and Chibauraan Matola, a site of ground on both banks of the river Masoumo, and, at a total expenditure of 126,267 florins (about 12,600), in which was included the cost of constructing the necessary vessels, founded a factory, for whose protection he also erected two small forts, which he furnished with cannon, and named after his two ill.u.s.trious patrons, Joseph and Theresa.

After a more protracted stay on the coast of Malabar, where he purchased from the Nabob, the celebrated Hyder Ali Khan, a number of plots of ground in the vicinity of Mangalore, Carwar, and Balliapatam, the very centre of the pepper trade, and erected a factory at an expense of 28,074 florins (2800), this enterprising man set sail for the Coromandel Coast and the Bay of Bengal, and about the commencement of 1778 visited the Nicobar Islands, in order there also to found a factory. Unfortunately, of this visit there nowhere survive any detailed particulars, and the only doc.u.ment extant under Bolts' hand, which can throw any light on the subject, is a statement of the expenditure incurred in erecting a fort on the Nicobars, which, together with the purchase of a _goelette_, and a snow, or two-masted vessel, for the coasting trade between Madras, Pegu, and the group of islands, amounted to 47,659 fl. 48 kr. (about 4760).

At the close of 1780 Bolts returned to Europe, and in May, 1781, cast anchor in the harbour of Leghorn. His exertions and his speculation had not been attended with the success antic.i.p.ated, and despite fresh a.s.sistance afforded by the Austrian Government to the a.s.sociation, which at first seemed to promise a more auspicious future for the undertaking, yet the political complications of the period, and especially the sudden, totally unlooked-for rupture of peace between France, England, and Holland, ere long entailed utter ruin on the trading company, which, in the year 1785, found itself compelled to stop payment.[5] Bolts died at Paris in April, 1808, in utter dest.i.tution, and Michaud, in his _Biographie Universelle_, dedicated an article to this hardy and enterprising, rather than shrewd and prudent, adventurer.[6]

About two years after the appearance of the Austrian s.h.i.+p in the Nicobar Archipelago, the Danes endeavoured to found there a missionary station of Moravian Brothers. Towards the close of 1778 the missionaries, Hansel and w.a.n.gemann, sailed from Tranquebar to Nangkauri, where they arrived in January, 1779. In 1787 the mission at Nangkauri was once more abandoned, when the only surviving Moravian Brother returned to Tranquebar, and shortly after to Europe.

In 1795 an Englishman, Major Symes, touched at Kar-Nicobar, while on his voyage as Envoy to Ava and Burmah. His observations there may be found in the second volume of "Asiatic Researches," p. 344, in an article ent.i.tled "Description of Carnicobar."

In 1831, Denmark once more made an attempt to colonize, by means of a missionary enterprise, the group formerly known as New Denmark, and occasionally as Frederick Islands. Pastor Rosen landed in August of that year on the island of Kamorta, and first set up his establishment on the so-called Frederick Hill, then on the adjoining Mongkata Hill; somewhat later on the island of Trinkut, and lastly on the sh.o.r.e immediately beneath the Mongkata Hill. In December, 1834, after about a four years'

stay, Pastor Rosen left the islands, and in 1839 published, at Copenhagen, his own experiences and personal observations, under the t.i.tle: "_Erindringen om mit Ophold paa de Nikobariske Oerne_" (Recollections of my Residence on the Nicobar Islands).

In 1835, the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Straits of Malacca dispatched to Kar-Nicobar two French missionaries, the Fathers Chopard and Borie. But after a certain lapse of time, during which their missionary efforts gave promise of the most pleasing results, and when they had lived about a year on the island, the pious work fell through, owing to the credulity and prejudices of the natives, to whom the two missionaries were represented by the crew of a s.h.i.+p from the adjacent sh.o.r.es of the continent as English spies, whose object probably was to ascertain the products of the country, which thereupon would speedily be annexed by the English Government. The missionaries had to flee, and Borie expired in the arms of his companion before he could get off the island. Chopard afterwards, in the year 1849, published his adventures in this group of islands in the "Asiatic Journal of the Indian Archipelago," under the t.i.tle, "_A few Particulars respecting the Nicobar Islands._"

In March, 1845, Mr. Mackey, Danish Consul in Calcutta, set on foot a small expedition to the Nicobar Archipelago. That gentleman hoped to find amongst the southern islands strata of coal, and made a voyage thither in prosecution of that object, on board the schooner _Espiegle_, commanded by an Englishman named Lewis, and accompanied by two Danes, Mr. Busch, the sole commander of the expedition, and a certain Mr. Lowert. By the end of May the adventurers were once more in Calcutta. With the exception of a few lumps they had not found coal-beds on any part of the island, while they lacked the physical strength requisite for founding the agricultural colony, which it had been intended to set on foot at the same time. The scientific results of this voyage are comprised in a small _brochure_, "H.

Busch's Journal of a Cruise amongst the Nicobar Islands," (Calcutta, 1845).

A further scientific exploration of the Nicobar group was made by the naturalists attached to the Danish corvette _Galatea_ in the course of their voyage round the world in the years 1845-7. A thorough examination of the Nicobars was one of the chief objects of the expedition set on foot under the auspices of the Danish Government. On the 25th January, 1846, at Nangkauri, Captain Steen Bille took formal possession of this group of islands in the name of H.M. the King of Denmark. Two natives, father and son, named respectively Luha and Angre, the former resident in Malacca, and the latter in Enuang, were on that occasion installed as chief magistrates; each being at the same time provided with a staff bearing the cypher of Christian VIII., and instructed, by means of a doc.u.ment drawn up in the English and Danish languages, on the subject of their duties, which consisted princ.i.p.ally in hoisting the Danish Standard on the arrival of foreign s.h.i.+ps in the harbour of Nangkauri.[7]

After the decease of Christian VIII., the Danish Government, in consequence of the violent political agitations of the period, did not show itself disposed to make practical use of their possession of the Nicobar Islands by any lasting colonization, but on the contrary in the year 1848 dispatched the royal corvette _Valkyrien_ to the Archipelago, to bring away the flag and batons.[8]

In consequence of this, according to "Thornton's Gazetteer of India," the chiefs of the island of Kar-Nicobar hoisted the English flag, and through certain English merchants resident in Moulmein, expressed a wish to be permitted to place themselves under the protection of the British Crown.

This information, however, seems to be inaccurate, in so far as it professes to describe the conduct of the native chiefs. The inhabitants, it is true, hoist any flag given to them, because they are fond of imitating European customs, and by so doing believe they secure themselves against the pretensions of other nations; but there is nothing they so much dread as a regular occupation of the islands, and on every appearance of a war-s.h.i.+p are forthwith filled with alarm lest they should be about to be deprived of their liberty, and--their cocoa-nuts. Indeed they have a saying widely diffused among them, probably through the craft of some smart chiefs, that whenever a European should settle among them all the cocoa-nuts will drop from the trees, and they will thus see themselves deprived for ever of their most important means of subsistence. It is, on the contrary, more probable that the English s.h.i.+p captains, who trade with these islands in order the better to secure their highly profitable trade in cocoa-nuts, made some propositions to the East Indian Government to take possession of this important group, by a similar procedure as that by which the Andaman islands were annexed somewhat later.

Since the unsuccessful attempt at the end of last century to extend Austrian commerce with the Indies and the coast of Africa, by founding a few colonies in those places, no vessel sailing under the Austrian flag had again visited the Nicobar Islands, and accordingly, on the dispatch of an Imperial s.h.i.+p-of-war to those waters, it was naturally wished that she should on her voyage to China visit this group, on whose sh.o.r.es the Austrian flag had once been unfurled as a symbol of possession. On this occasion, however, the object was rather scientific than political. It was intended, so far as the time allotted for visiting these islands and the appliances at hand admitted, to undertake inquiries as to the most important geodetical points, together with astronomical, magnetic, and meteorological observations, and at the same time to make investigations and collections of the various objects of natural science, and thus to complete as it were the valuable labours carried out in 1846 by the Danish Expedition to the Nicobar Islands. The following pages are simply limited to giving a popular narrative of our own stay on this interesting island group, while more circ.u.mstantial information of the various scientific results obtained there will be deferred till the appearance of the special works being drawn up by the members, each in his own special section.

On 25th February, at 10 A.M., the naturalists, accompanied by the officers in charge of the scientific apparatus, and the mids.h.i.+pmen, after very considerable difficulty, succeeded in effecting a landing on the island of Kar-Nicobar, in a bay protected by a coral reef (by observation 9 14' 8"

N., and 92 44' 46" E.), between the villages of Moose and Saoui. At this point the surf beats incessantly over the huge reefs of coral upon a waste of gleaming white sand, which stretches in graceful curves from one point of rock to that next adjoining. The few fruits which have been thrown up, or been carried hither, probably from some distant sh.o.r.e, have struck root in this coral sand, and a coronal of luxuriant palms, with their slim stems, and loaded with thousands of nuts, serves as food for man.

In the vicinity of the spot where we disembarked was anch.o.r.ed a barque from Moulmein, with a Malay crew, the majority of whom were tattooed on the thigh with extraordinary skill. They had been for a considerable period taking in a cargo of cocoa-nuts, which the natives had been exchanging against various merchandise. About thirty dusky natives, almost entirely naked, and for the most part without any head covering beyond the splendid raven locks which hung down over their shoulders, some carrying in their hands cutla.s.ses, others long wooden lances tipped with bone, stood near the beach, and while we were yet a little distance off, called out to us in broken English, and with visible anxiety, "Good friend? No fear!" apparently anxious, in the first place, to have confirmation from us that we were really "good friends," and that they had nothing to dread, before they ventured quite close to us. When they were no more than twenty paces distant, they suddenly came to a halt, upon which some of their number, who appeared to be chiefs, gave their spears and cutla.s.ses to those around, and advanced to us with a tolerably friendly air, at the same time stretching out their hands by way of salutation. They were for the most part large, well-proportioned men, of a dark bronze colour of skin.

The most disagreeable feature is the mouth, which, in consequence of the loathsome custom of incessantly chewing the betel-nut, seems to have become utterly distorted in shape. In a few cases this filthy habit had resulted in such deformity among the teeth, that these were barely visible between the thick swollen lips, like a malignant tumour! The apparel of the natives is pretty universally entirely primitive, consisting of nothing but a long very narrow strip of dark blue linen, which they wind round the body, bringing it from the front between the legs backwards, when it is made fast to the girdle, and the ends left to hang loosely down. Some of the natives make a very singular use of the different articles of old clothes which they receive in exchange from the s.h.i.+p captains, or have had given as a present, as they appear now in a black hat, now in a coat or a s.h.i.+rt, without a vestige of other clothing!

Almost every native we saw brought to us a soiled, crumpled-up testimonial, setting forth his good character, and his honesty in the cocoa-nut trade, which he had received from various s.h.i.+p captains, who bartered their merchandise for ripe cocoa-nuts, which they afterwards sold in the East Indies or Ceylon at an immense profit. The greater number of these testimonials were written in English; we found only one in German from the skipper of a Bremen s.h.i.+p, and one in Dutch. In these certificates are set forth the objects best worth enquiring for, as also a statement of the articles bartered in the course of exchange for cocoa-nuts, a practice which is not alone of the utmost utility for those who may afterwards visit the islands for purposes of commerce, but also throw a most interesting light upon the evidences of civilization among the natives.[9]

These testimonials also frequently contain very humorous remarks about the unsuspecting natives, who a.s.suredly would be less eager in producing them if they were acquainted with the contents. One of the earliest to extend to us the hand of welcome was a native who called himself Captain d.i.c.kson, a handsome, slim, dark brown figure, with very long, fine, glossy hair hanging over his shoulders, and neatly gathered together with a bark ribbon. In the doc.u.ment presented to us, which was dated 15th January, and bore the signature of the captain of the s.h.i.+p _Arracan_, there was written beneath, "d.i.c.kson, though a shabby-looking fellow, is a man of substance." In a second testimonial, it was said of a native: "He will do honour to England when she comes!" a remark which leaves plainly apparent the hope of the s.h.i.+p captain that these islands will speedily be occupied by the English. These certificates likewise contain a variety of important hints, especially with reference to the method of dealing with the natives, the most commodious anchorage, the difficulty encountered in landing, &c.[10]

Thus the most cursory communication with the natives convinced us that they must already have repeatedly done business with English s.h.i.+p captains, who had imparted to them a slight knowledge of the English language, and a few of the simpler principles of humanity and religion.

When we gave them to understand that we visited them as friends, they replied in their broken English: "Not merely friends--brothers! all brothers! all only one father and one mother!" Hereupon each proceeded to light one of the cigars that had been presented to them, while, for want of any other receptacle, they secreted the remainder in the wide holes transpiercing the lobes of the ears, after which they with the most frank munificence, and in token of their hospitality, pulled a number of young cocoa-nuts from the tree, and gave us their fluid contents to drink. Very singular was the method in which this was effected. They tie their feet together by the ankles with a loop of the same bast, or bark rope, which, when employed in fastening their long black locks, usually forms such a picturesque frontlet, and then clamber with the agility of cats to the summit of the palm, throw to the bottom the separated fruit, and slide swiftly down to the ground again. Holding in one hand a tolerably heavy young nut, in the other a sharp cutla.s.s, they proceed at one sure blow to open the nut, in such manner that a small orifice is made, through which the refres.h.i.+ng liquid contents can be conveniently quaffed. When this has been evacuated the nut is usually split in half, in which form it serves as a most nutritious food for the fowls and hogs. Despite their hospitality, there was perceptible in all of them great anxiety, and the upshot of all their conversation always resolved itself into the stereotyped questions, "What did we really require? whether we wished to purchase cocoa-nuts, and would soon be leaving?"

Great and natural as our desire was to penetrate from the sh.o.r.e, thickly covered with its belt of cocoa-nut palms, into the rather flat interior, and thus obtain a nearer view of the hive-shaped, basket-formed huts which were visible under the forest trees, we judged it much the better course to endeavour first of all to make the natives more confiding, and for that purpose invited them to accompany us on board. Eight of their number were finally induced to follow us, and came alongside in their elegant canoes, formed of the wood of the _Calophyllum inophyllum_, one of the most splendid trees of the primeval forest of the islands. As soon as we reached the frigate, only a single one, Captain d.i.c.kson, could be induced to clamber up of the man-ropes; the rest did not venture to leave their canoes, and one, who called himself Captain Charlie, a short, lank little fellow of boyish appearance, who for all apparel wore a dirty cloth cap on his head, trembled with terror through his whole frame when he saw our big guns. Captain d.i.c.kson, too, did not seem to feel himself altogether comfortable while on board, and although there was much to excite his curiosity, he soon longed to get out of the large s.h.i.+p, back again into his own frail skiff. Quite peculiar was the impression made upon him by a pair of live cows; such large animals he gave us to understand were not found upon his island.

Meanwhile a number of natives had approached the frigate in their canoes, bringing swine, fowls, plantains, yams, and eggs in hollowed-out cocoa-nut sh.e.l.ls, which they offered as presents, but at the same time inquired what we intended giving them in return. They greatly wished for biscuit, brandy, medicines, clothes, but above all else for black hats, which most probably results from their having occasionally seen the captains of English s.h.i.+ps wearing round hats, whence they now seem to imagine that such a head-gear is the insignia of captain's rank, or of a chief.

Their knowledge of money was confined to Rupees, which they discriminated into two sorts, viz. the ordinary East Indian coin, and the English sixpenny-piece, which they called "small Rupees," covering with them, by way of ornament, the ends of the small bits of bamboo which they usually wear through the hole that transpierces the greatly distended lobe of the ear.

Of the two Catholic missionaries, Borie and Chopard, who in 1835 had remained a short time on the island, not one of the natives could give us any particulars; and likewise of the Danish corvette _Galatea_, which visited the group in 1846, they had but a dim remembrance, and even this of a far from complimentary character; the poor people having been overwhelmed with the apprehensions that their island was about to be taken possession of, and themselves exposed to a lingering death by hunger.

"Danish bad people," they exclaimed, "wanted to take our island. Suppose I could come to your island and take it? Not good! no good people!"

We returned on sh.o.r.e with the natives, who, in consequence of their friendly reception on board, had already become somewhat more tranquil and trustful. Tents were now pitched, the astronomical and geodetical instruments, together with the barometer and thermometer, were adjusted, the tide-gauge fixed at the most suitable point, and the island traversed in all directions for scientific purposes, so far at least as the density of the forest and the mistrust of the natives would permit.