The Voyages Of Pedro Fernandez De Quiros Part 32

"We recruited four men to go with us to Fiji for three years. They were all adults of about 20 to 24 years, tall, black, and athletic young men, much above the average stature of New Hebrideans anywhere north of Eromango; and the other people of the locality appeared to me equally well-built, and some 5 ft. 10 in. or 5 ft. 11 in. in height. I cannot say whether they were the true inhabitants of the place, as we saw no village nor huts: they may have been mountaineers from the interior on an excursion to the coast, the mountaineers in these islands being as a rule blacker, and I think taller (with exceptions), than the coast people.

"They had no canoes--at least I saw none--except two small catamarans; and the timber they took alongside the s.h.i.+p was floated off by means of bamboos.

"It is doubtful whether mountaineers would have possession of catamarans on the coast, or trust themselves to bamboo rafts.

"The west sh.o.r.e of this bay rises steeply from the water throughout most of its extent: but there are narrow strips of low-lying flat land between the beach and the mountain side at intervals, continuous with the small valleys, where creeks or torrents, of which there are several, have deposited silt and boulders, and rocky debris from the higher slopes. But, in so far as I remember, they are all insignificant in extent, as the mountain ridge which forms this large promontory and ends abruptly in Cape c.u.mberland, rises, as already mentioned, steeply from the sea, which is deep all along and around it, with only here and there even a fringing sh.o.r.e reef. There is no barrier reef whatever, and consequently no lagoon.

"As to size of the 'Big Bay,' I should say that the distance from Cape c.u.mberland to the 'Jordan' is something like 30 miles. The head of the bay runs from the river mouth in an easterly direction for 3 or perhaps 4 miles, being mostly flat, low-lying alluvium, and then sweeps round towards the N.E. and N., being more elevated and undulating, and ends in Cape Quiros. This land, forming the eastern horn of the bay, does not project so far seaward as the western promontory, and is neither so high nor so steep, nor so heavily timbered as the latter, which is in fact a continuation of the backbone of the island, as far out as Cape c.u.mberland. The eastern horn extends northward perhaps 10 or 12 miles only.

"The depth or extent of the bay itself, from its chord formed by an imaginary E. and W. line drawn through Cape Quiros, seemed to me about a dozen miles, and it is of similar width. It may, therefore, contain nearly 150 square miles in area.

"The anchorage is well protected from the prevailing trade-wind, which blows from E.S.E., and is sheltered from that point round by S. to N.W. It is not exposed either from E.N.E. to E.S.E., but from N.W. to N. and N.E. it is unsafe."

[114] Probably Vanua Lava.

[115] Ureparopara, or islands to N.W.

[116] Vendavales.

[117] An arroba=25 lbs.

[118] Wooded islands, off the port of San Blas, on the west coast of Mexico.

[119] 6,000 quintals in the second Order.

[120] In the second Order:--"In this kingdom I have ordered 6,000 ducats in aid of expenses on the way out, and 3,000 quintals of iron to be bought at Seville, and sent out."

[121] Same as the former Order, except that 6,000 ducats are granted for expenses on the way out; and the quant.i.ty of sheet iron is specified and ordered to be bought at Seville.

[122] Months (?).