A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels Volume Xv Part 34

"Two other small plants were found near the brooks and boggy places, which were eaten as sallad; the one almost like garden cresses, and very fiery, and the other very mild. This last, though but small, is in itself a curiosity; having not only male and female, but what the botanists call _androgynous_ plants."

"A coa.r.s.e gra.s.s, which we cut down for the cattle, grows pretty plentifully in a few small spots about the sides of the harbour, with a smaller sort, which is rarer; and upon the flat ground a sort of goose-gra.s.s, and another small plant much like it. In short, the whole catalogue of plants does not exceed sixteen or eighteen, including some sorts of moss, and a beautiful species of _lichen_, which grows upon the rocks, higher up than the rest of the vegetable productions. Nor is there even the least appearance of a shrub in the whole country."

"Nature has rather been more bountiful in furnis.h.i.+ng it with animals, though, strictly speaking, they are not inhabitants of the place, being all of the marine kind; and, in general, only using the land for breeding and for a resting-place. The most considerable are seals, or (as we used to call them) sea-bears, being that sort called the ursine seal. These come ash.o.r.e to rest or breed; but they were not very numerous, which is not to be wondered at, as it is known that these animals rather frequent out-rocks, and little islands lying off coasts, than bays or inlets. They were, at this time, shedding their hair, and so tame, that we killed what number we chose."

"No other quadruped, either of the sea or of the land kind, was seen; but a great number of birds, viz. ducks, petrels, albatrosses, s.h.a.gs, gulls, and sea-swallows."

"The ducks are about the size of a teal or widgeon, but somewhat different in colour from either. They were in tolerable plenty about the sides of the hills, or even lower; and we killed a considerable number, which were good, and without the least fishy taste. We met with some of the same sort at the island of Georgia in our late voyage."

"The cape petrel, or pintado bird; the small blue one, which is always seen at sea, and the small black one, or Mother Carey's chicken, are not here in great numbers. But we found a nest of the first with an egg in it, about the size of a pullet's; and the second, though scarce, was met with in some holes like rabbit-burrows."

"Another sort, which is the largest of all the petrels, and called by the seamen Mother Carey's goose, is in greater numbers, and so tame, that at first we could kill them with a stick upon the beach. They are not inferior in size to an albatross, and are carnivorous, feeding on the dead carca.s.ses of seals or birds that were thrown into the sea.

Their colour is a sooty brown, with a greenish bill and feet; and, doubtless, they are the same that the Spaniards call _quebrantahuessos_, whose head is figured in Pernetty's Voyage to Falkland Islands."[125]

[Footnote 125: Fig. 3, plate viii.]

"Of the albatrosses, none were found on sh.o.r.e except the grey one, which is commonly met with at sea in the higher southern lat.i.tudes. Once I saw one of these sitting in the cliff of a rock, but they were frequently flying about the harbour; and the common large sort, as well as the smaller with a black face, were seen farther out."

"Penguins form, by far, the greatest number of birds here, and are of three sorts; the first, or largest, I have seen formerly at the island of Georgia.[126] It is also mentioned by Bougainville;[127] but it does not seem to be so solitary as he represents it, for we found considerable numbers flocking together. The head is black, the upper part of the body a leaden grey, and the under part white, with black feet. It has two broad stripes of fine yellow, that begin on the sides of the head, and, descending by each side of the neck, meet above its breast. The bill is partly reddish, and longer than in the other sorts."

[Footnote 126: Pennant's Patagonian penguin. See his Genera of Birds, tab. 14, p. 66.]

[Footnote 127: Voyage autour du Monde, p. 69.]

"The second sort of penguins scarcely exceeds half the size of the former. The upper part of the body is a blackish grey, with a white spot on the upper part of the head, growing broader at each side. The bill and feet are yellowish. A very accurate figure and description, both of this and of the preceding, is given by Mr Sonnerat."[128]

[Footnote 128: Voyage a la Nouvelle Guinee, p. 181, 182. Tab. 113, 115.]

"The third sort of penguin met with here, had never been seen by any of us before. Its length is twenty-four inches, and its breadth twenty. The upper part of the body and throat are black, the rest white, except the upper part of the head, which has a fine yellow arch, looking backward, and ending on each side in long soft feathers, which it can erect as two crests."

"The two first sorts were found together on the beach; the large ones keeping by themselves, and walking in small flocks amongst the others, which were more numerous, and were sometimes seen a considerable way up the sides of the hills. The third sort were only found by themselves, but in great numbers, on the outer sh.o.r.es of the harbour. They were breeding at this time; and they lay on the bare stones only one white egg, larger than that of a duck. All the three sorts of penguins were so tame, that we took as many as we pleased with our hands."

"The s.h.a.gs of this place are of two sorts; the lesser cormorant or water-crow, and another, which is black above, with a white belly, the same that is found in New Zealand, Terra del Fuego, and the island of Georgia."

"We also met with here the common sea-gull, sea-swallow, tern, and Port Egmont hen; the last of which were tame and numerous."

"Another sort of white bird, flocks of which flew about the bay, is very singular, having the base of the bill covered with a h.o.r.n.y crust.[129]

It is larger than a pigeon, with the bill black and the feet white, made like those of a curlew. Some of our people put it in compet.i.tion with the duck as food."

[Footnote 129: The sheath-bill. See Pennant's Genera of Birds, p. 43.]

"The seine was hauled once, but we found only a few fish about the size of a small haddock, though quite different from any we knew. The snout is lengthened, the head armed with some strong spines, the rays of the back-fin long, and very strong, the belly is large, and the body without scales. The only sh.e.l.l-fish are a few limpets and muscles; and amongst the stones a few small star-fish and sea-anemonies were found."

"The hills are of a moderate height; yet many of their tops were covered with snow at this time, though answering to our June. Some of them have large quant.i.ties of stones, irregularly heaped together at their root, or on their sides. The sides of others, which form steep cliffs toward the sea, are rent from the top downward, and seem ready to fall off, having stones of a considerable size lying in the fissures. Some were of opinion that frost might be the cause of these fissures, which I shall not dispute; but how others of the appearances could be effected, but by earthquakes, or some such severe shocks, I cannot say."

"It appears that rain must be almost constant here, not only from the marks of large torrents having rushed down, but from the disposition of the country, which, even on the hills, is almost an entire bog or swamp, the ground sinking at every step."

"The rocks, or foundations of the hills, are composed chiefly of a dark blue, and very hard, stone; intermixed with small particles of glimmer or quartz. This seems to be one of the most universal productions of nature, as it const.i.tutes whole mountains in Sweden, in Scotland, at the Canary Islands, the Cape of Good Hope, and at this place. Another brownish brittle stone forms here some considerable rocks; and one which is blacker, and found in detached pieces, incloses bits of coa.r.s.e quartz. A red, a dull yellow, and a purplish sand-stone, are also found in small pieces; and pretty large lumps of semi-transparent quartz, disposed irregularly in polyedral pyramidal crystals of long s.h.i.+ning fibres. Some small pieces of the common sort are met with in the brooks, made round by attrition; but none hard enough to resist a file. Nor were any of the other stones acted on by aquafortis, or attracted by the magnet."

"Nothing, that had the least appearance of an ore or metal, was seen."

SECTION VI.

_Pa.s.sage from Kerguelen's to Van Diemen's Land.--Arrival in Adventure Bay.--Incidents there.--Interviews with the Natives.--Their Persons and Dress described.--Account of their Behaviour.--Table of the Longitude, Lat.i.tude, and Variation.--Mr Anderson's Observations on the Natural Productions of the Country, on the Inhabitants, and their Language_.

After leaving Kerguelen's Land, I steered E. by N. intending, in obedience to my instructions, to touch next at New Zealand, to recruit our water, to take in wood, and to make hay for the cattle. Their number, by this time, had been considerably diminished; two young bulls, one of the heifers, two rams, and several of the goats, having of late died, while we were employed in exploring this desolate coast.

The 31st in the morning, being the day after we stood out to sea, we had several observations of the sun and moon. Their results gave the longitude 72 33' 36" E. The timekeeper, in this situation, gave 72 38'

15". These observations were the more useful, as we had not been able to get any for some time before, and they now served to a.s.sure us that no material error had crept into the time-keeper.

On the 1st of January, being then in the lat.i.tude of 48 41' S.

longitude 76 50' E., the variation was 30 39' W.; and in the next day, in the lat.i.tude of 48 22' S. longitude 80 22' E., it was 30 47' 18"

W. This was the greatest variation we found in this pa.s.sage; for afterward it began to decrease, but so slowly, that on the 3d, in the evening, being then in the lat.i.tude of 48 16' S. longitude 85 E., it was 29 38' W.

Thus far we had fresh gales from the W. and S.W., and tolerably clear weather. But now the wind veered to the N. where it continued eight days, and was attended with a thick fog. During this time we ran above 300 leagues in the dark. Now and then the weather would clear up, and give us a sight of the sun; but this happened very seldom, and was always of short continuance. On the 7th I hoisted out a boat, and sent an order to Captain Clerke, appointing Adventure Bay, in Van Diemen's Land, as our place of rendezvous, in case of separation before we arrived in the meridian of that land. But we were fortunate enough, amidst all this foggy weather, by frequently firing guns as signals, though we seldom saw each other, not to lose company.

On the 12th, being in the lat.i.tude of 48 40' S. longitude 110 26' E.

the northerly winds ended in a calm; which, after a few hours, was succeeded by a wind from the southward. This, with rain, continued for twenty-four hours, when it freshened, and veered to the W. and N.W., and brought on fair and clear weather.

We continued our course to the eastward, without meeting with any thing worthy of notice, till four o'clock in the morning of the 19th, when, in a sudden squall of wind, though the Discovery received no damage, our fore-top-mast went by the board, and carried the main-top-gallant-mast with it. This occasioned some delay, as it took up the whole day to clear the wreck, and fit another top-mast. The former was accomplished without losing any part of it, except a few fathoms of small rope. Not having a spare main-top-gallant-mast on board, the fore-top-gallant-mast was converted into one for our immediate use.

The wind continued westerly, blew a fresh gale, and was attended with clear weather, so that scarcely a day pa.s.sed without being able to get observations for fixing the longitude, and the variation of the compa.s.s.

The latter decreased in such a manner, that in the lat.i.tude of 44 18'

S. longitude 132 2' E., it was no more than 5 34' 18" W.; and on the 22d, being then in the lat.i.tude of 43 27' S. longitude 141 50' E., it was 1 24' 15" E. So that we had crossed the Line where the compa.s.s has no variation.

On the 24th, at three o'clock in the morning, we discovered the coast of Van Diemen's Land, bearing N. 1/2 W. At four o'clock the S.W. cape bore N.N.W. 1/2 W., and the Mewstone N.E. by E. three leagues distant. There are several islands and high rocks lying scattered along this part of the coast, the southernmost of which is the Mewstone. It is a round elevated rock, five or six leagues distant from the S.W. cape, in the direction of S. 55 E.

At noon, our lat.i.tude was 43 47' S. longitude 147 E., and the situation of the lands round us as follows: An elevated round-topped hill bore N. 17 W.; the S.W. cape N. 74 W.; the Mewstone W. 1/2 N.; Sw.i.l.l.y Isle, or Rock, S. 49 E.; and the S.E. of S. cape N. 40 E.

distant near three leagues. The land between the S.W. and S. capes is broken and hilly, the coast winding, with points shooting out from it; but we were too far off to be able to judge whether the bays formed by these points were sheltered from the sea-winds. The bay which appeared to be the largest and deepest, lies to the westward of the peaked hill above mentioned. The variation of the compa.s.s here was 5 15' E.

At six o'clock in the afternoon we sounded, and found sixty fathoms water, over a bottom of broken coral and sh.e.l.ls. The S. cape then bore N. 75 W. two or three leagues distant; Tasman's Head N.E.; and Sw.i.l.l.y Rock S. by W 1/2 W. About a league to the eastward of Sw.i.l.l.y is another elevated rock, that is not taken notice of by Captain Furneaux. I called it the Eddystone, from its very great resemblance to that light-house.

Nature seems to have left these two rocks here for the same purpose that the Eddystone light-house was built by man, viz. to give navigators notice of the dangers around them; for they are the conspicuous summits of a ledge of rocks under water, on which the sea, in many places, breaks very high. Their surface is white with the dung of sea-fowls; so that they may be seen at some distance even in the night. On the N.E.

side of Storm Bay, which lies between the S. cape and Tasman's Head, there are some coves or creeks, that seemed to be sheltered from the sea-winds; and I am of opinion, that, were this coast examined, there would be found some good harbours.

Soon after we had sight of land the westerly winds left us, and were succeeded by variable light airs and alternate calms, till the 26th at noon. At that time a breeze sprung up and freshened at S.E. which put it in my power to carry into execution the design I had, upon due consideration, formed, of carrying the s.h.i.+ps into Adventure Bay, where I might expect to get a supply of wood and of gra.s.s for the cattle; of both which articles we should, as I now found, have been in great want if I had waited till our arrival in New Zealand. We therefore stood for the bay, and anch.o.r.ed in it at four o'clock in the afternoon, at twelve fathoms water, over a bottom of sand and ooze. Penguin Island, which lies close to the E. point of the bay, bore N. 84 E.; the southernmost point of Maria's Islands bore N. 76 1/2 E.; and Cape Frederick Henry, or the N. point of the bay, bore N. 33 E. Our distance from the nearest sh.o.r.e was about three quarters of a mile.

As soon as we had anch.o.r.ed, I ordered the boats to be hoisted out. In one of them I went myself to look for the most commodious place for furnis.h.i.+ng ourselves with the necessary supplies; and Captain Clerke went in his boat upon the same service. Wood and water we found in plenty, and in situations convenient enough, especially the first. But gra.s.s, of which we stood most in need, was scarce, and also very coa.r.s.e.

Necessity, however, obliged us to take such as we could get.

Next morning early, I sent Lieutenant King to the E. side of the bay with two parties, one to cut wood, and the other to cut gra.s.s, under the protection of the marines, whom I judged it prudent to land as a guard.

For although, as yet, none of the natives had appeared, there could be no doubt that some were in our neighbourhood, as we had seen columns of smoke from the time of our approaching the coast, and some now was observed at no great distance up in the woods, I also sent the launch for water; and afterward visited all the parties myself. In the evening, we drew the seine at the head of the bay, and, at one haul, caught a great quant.i.ty of fish. We should have got many more, had not the net broken in drawing it ash.o.r.e. Most of them were of that sort known to seamen by the name of elephant fish. After this, every one repaired on board with what wood and gra.s.s we had cut, that we might be ready to sail whenever the wind should serve.

This not happening next morning, the people were sent on sh.o.r.e again on the same duty as the day before. I also employed the carpenter, with part of his crew, to cut some spars for the use of the s.h.i.+p; and dispatched Mr Roberts, one of the mates, in a small boat to survey the bay.

In the afternoon, we were agreeably surprised, at the place where we were cutting wood, with a visit from some of the natives, eight men and a boy. They approached as from the woods, without betraying any marks of fear, or rather with the greatest confidence imaginable; for none of them, had any weapons, except one who held in his hand a stick about two feet long, and pointed at one end.