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diff --git a/25815-h/25815-h.htm b/25815-h/25815-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cef860b --- /dev/null +++ b/25815-h/25815-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7002 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of A New Voyage Round the World + in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Volume 2, by Otto von Kotzebue. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- +p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + text-indent: 1.25em; + } + p.t1 {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 135%;} + p.t2 {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 150%;} + p.t5 {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-size: 150%; + margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 4em; letter-spacing: 2px;} + + h1 {letter-spacing: 2px; text-align: center; clear: both; + font-size: 250%; font-weight: normal;} + h2 {letter-spacing: 2px; text-align: center; clear: both; + font-weight: normal; margin-top: 4em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + h3 {text-align: center; clear: both; letter-spacing: 2px;} + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + hr.short {width: 10%;} + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .td1 {text-align: left; padding-right: 3em;} + .td2 {text-align: right;} + .td3 {text-align: left; padding-left: 2em;} + .td4 {text-align: left; padding-left: 4em;} + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + a {text-decoration: none;} + img {border: 0} + .pagenum {display: inline; font-size: 0.6em; text-align: right; + position: absolute; right: 2%; text-indent: 0em; + padding: 1px 3px; font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; + color: #444; background-color: #FF99CC;} + + .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .caption {font-weight: normal; font-size: 90%;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of A New Voyage Round the World, in the years +1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2, by Otto von Kotzebue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2 + +Author: Otto von Kotzebue + +Release Date: June 17, 2008 [EBook #25815] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD VOL 2 *** + + + + +Produced by Julia Miller, Greg Bergquist, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> +<img src="images/image1.jpg" width="500" height="448" alt="NOMAHANNA, + +QUEEN OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS." title="" /> +<span class="caption">NOMAHANNA, + +QUEEN OF THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.</span> +</div> + +<p class="center"><small><i>London. Published by Henry Colburn & Richard Bentley. 1839.</i></small></p> +<hr /> + + + + +<h1><small>A</small> +<br /><br /> +NEW VOYAGE + +<br /><br /> +<small>ROUND</small> +<br /><br /> +THE WORLD, +<br /><br /> +<small>IN THE YEARS 1823, 24, 25, AND 26.</small></h1> + + +<p class="t2"><br />BY OTTO VON KOTZEBUE,<br /> + +<small>POST CAPTAIN IN THE RUSSIAN IMPERIAL NAVY.</small><br /> +<br /> +<br /></p> +<p class="t1">IN TWO VOLUMES.<br /> +<br /> +<big>VOL. II.</big><br /> +<br /></p> +<hr class="short" /> +<p class="t2">LONDON:<br /> +HENRY COLBURN AND RICHARD BENTLEY,<br /> +NEW BURLINGTON STREET.<br /> +1830.<br /> +</p> +<hr /> + + + +<p class="center"> +<small>LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY.<br /> +Dorset Street, Fleet Street.<br /> +</small></p> +<hr /> + + + +<h2>CONTENTS<br /><br /> + +<small>OF</small><br /><br /> + +THE SECOND VOLUME</h2> +<hr class="short" /> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td class="td1"> </td><td class="td2">Page.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">KAMTSCHATKA</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">NEW-ARCHANGEL</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">CALIFORNIA, AND THE NEW RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT, ROSS</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_69">69</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">THE SANDWICH ISLANDS</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">THE PESCADORES, RIMSKI-KORSAKOFF, ESCHSCHOLTZ, AND BRONUS ISLANDS</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">THE LADRONES AND PHILIPPINES</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_279">279</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">ST. HELENA</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_305">305</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">ZOOLOGICAL APPENDIX BY PROFESSOR ESCHSCHOLTZ</td><td class="td2"><a href="#Page_323">323</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr /> +<h2>LIST OF PLATES.</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="List of Plates"> +<tr><td class="td1"> </td><td class="td2">Page.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Reception of Captain Kotzebue at the Island of Otdia,</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">To face Title of Vol. I.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Plan of Mattaway Bay and Village</td><td align='right'><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25693/25693-h/25693-h.htm#Page_200">200</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Chart of the Navigators' Islands</td><td align='right'><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25693/25693-h/25693-h.htm#Page_250">250</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Chart of the Islands of Radak and Ralik</td><td align='right'><a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25693/25693-h/25693-h.htm#Page_288">288</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Nomahanna, Queen of the Sandwich Islands,</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">To face Title of Vol. II.</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1-2]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">KAMTSCHATKA.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> +<h2>KAMTSCHATKA.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> wind, which continued favourable to us as far as the Northern +Tropic, was succeeded by a calm that lasted twelve days. The ocean, as +far as the eye could reach, was as smooth as a mirror, and the heat +almost insupportable. Sailors only can fully understand the +disagreeableness of this situation. The activity usual on shipboard gave +place to the most wearisome idleness. Every one was impatient; some of +the men felt assured that we should never have a wind again, and wished +for the most violent storm as a change.</p> + +<p>One morning we had the amusement of watching two great sword-fish +sunning themselves on the surface of the water. I sent out a boat, in +the hope that the powerful creatures would, in complaisance, allow us +the sport of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> harpooning them, but they would not wait; they plunged +again into the depths of the sea, and we had disturbed their enjoyments +in vain.</p> + +<p>Our water-machine was several times let down, even to the depth of a +thousand fathoms: on the surface, the temperature was 24°, and at this +depth, only 2° of Reaumur.</p> + +<p>On the 22nd of May, the anniversary of our frigate's leaving Stopel, we +got a fresh easterly wind, which carried us forward pretty quickly on +the still smooth surface of the sea.</p> + +<p>On the 1st of June, when in latitude 42° and longitude 201°, and +consequently opposite the coast of Japan, we descried a red stripe in +the water, about a mile long and a fathom broad. In passing over it we +drew up a pail-full, and found that its colour was occasioned by an +infinite number of crabs, so small as to be scarcely distinguishable by +the naked eye.</p> + +<p>We now began daily to experience increasing inconveniences from the +Northern climate. The sky, hitherto so serene, became gloomy and covered +with storm-clouds, which seldom threatened in vain; we were, besides, +enveloped in almost perpetual mists, bounding our prospect to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> few +fathoms. In a short time, the temperature of the air had fallen from 24° +to 3°. So sudden a change is always disagreeable, and often dangerous. +We had to thank the skill and attention of our physician, Dr. Siegwald, +that it did not prove so to us. Such rough weather is not common to the +latitude we were in at that season; but it is peculiar to the Japanese +coast even in summer. Whales and storm-birds showed themselves in great +numbers, reminding us that we were hastening to the North, and were +already far from the luxuriant groves of the South-Sea islands.</p> + +<p>The wind continued so favourable, that on the 7th of June we could +already see the high mountains of Kamtschatka in their winter clothing. +Their jagged summits reaching to the heavens, crested with everlasting +snow, which glitters in the sunbeams, while their declivities are begirt +with clouds, give a magnificent aspect to this coast. On the following +day, we reached Awatscha Bay, and in the evening anchored in the harbour +of St. Peter and St. Paul.</p> + +<p>The great peninsula of Kamtschatka, stretching to the river Anadir on +the North, and South<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> to the Kurilian Islands, bathed on the east by the +ocean, and on the west by the sea of Ochotsk, is, like many men, better +than its reputation. It is supposed to be the roughest and most desolate +corner of the world, and yet it lies under the same latitude as England +and Scotland, and is equal in size to both. The summer is indeed much +shorter, but it is also much finer; and the vegetation is more luxuriant +than in Great Britain. The winter lasts long, and its discomforts are +increased by the quantity of snow that falls; but in the southern parts +the cold is moderate; and experience has repeatedly refuted the +erroneous opinion, that on account of its long duration, and the +consequent curtailment of the summer season, corn cannot be +efficaciously cultivated here.</p> + +<p>Although the snow lies in some of the valleys till the end of May, +because the high, over-shadowing mountains intercept the warm sunbeams, +yet garden-plants prosper. Potatoes generally yield a triple crop, and +would perfectly supply the want of bread, if the inhabitants cultivated +them more diligently: but the easier mode of providing fish in +super-abundance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> as winter food, has induced them to neglect the labour +of raising potatoes, although they have known years when the fishery has +barely protected them from famine.</p> + +<p>The winter, as I have already said, is very unpleasant, from the heavy +snows, which, drifting from the mountains, often bury the houses, so +that the inhabitants are compelled to dig a passage out, while the +cattle walk on its frozen surface over their roofs.</p> + +<p>Travelling in this season is very rapid and convenient. The usual mode +is in sledges drawn by six or more dogs. The only danger is from +snow-storms. The traveller, surprised by this sudden visitation, has no +chance for safety except in quietly allowing himself and his dogs to be +buried in the snow, and relieving himself from his covering when the +storm is past. This, however, is not always practicable; should the +storm, or, as it is called here, "purga," overtake him in the ravine of +a mountain, such an immense quantity of snow becomes heaped upon him, +that he has no power to extricate himself from his tomb. These +accidents, however, seldom occur; for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span>Kamtschatkans have acquired +of necessity great foresight in meteorology, and of course never +undertake a journey when they do not consider themselves sure of the +weather.</p> + +<p>The principal reason why the climate of Kamtschatka is inferior to that +of other places under the same latitude, is to be found in the +configuration of the country. The mountains of England, for instance, +are of a very moderate height, and broken by extensive plains; here, on +the contrary, intersected only by a few valleys of small extent, a +single chain of mountains, its broken snow-crowned summits reaching to +the clouds, and in many parts far beyond them, stretches the whole +length of the Peninsula, and is based upon its breadth.</p> + +<p>The panorama of Kamtschatka is a confused heap of granite blocks of +various heights, thickly piled together, whose pointed, jagged forms +bear testimony to the tremendous war of elements amidst which they must +have burst from the bowels of the earth. The struggle is even now +scarcely ended, as the smoking and burning of volcanoes, and frequent +shocks of earthquake, sufficiently intimate. One of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span>mountains, +called Kamtschatka Mountain, rivalling in height the loftiest in the +world, often vomits forth streams of lava on the surrounding country. +These mountains with their glaciers, and volcanoes emitting columns of +fire and smoke from amidst fields of ice, afford a picturesque contrast +with the beautiful green of the valleys. The most singular and +indescribably-splendid effect is produced by the crystal rocks on the +western coast, when illuminated by the sun; their whole refulgent +surface reflecting his rays in every various tint of the most brilliant +colours, resembles the diamond mountains of fairy-land, while the +neighbouring rocks of quartz shine like masses of solid gold.</p> + +<p>Kamtschatka is a most interesting country to the professor of the +natural sciences. Great mineral treasures will certainly be one day +discovered here; the number and diversity of its stones is striking even +to the most uninitiated. It abounds in hot and salutary springs. To the +botanist it offers great varieties of plants, little if at all known; +and the zoologist would find here, amongst the animal tribes deserving +his attention, besides several kinds of bears,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> wolves and foxes, the +celebrated sable whose skin is sold for so great a price, and the native +wild sheep, which inhabits the tops of the highest mountains. It attains +the size of a large goat; the head resembles that of an ordinary sheep, +but is furnished with strong, crooked horns: the skin and form of the +body are like the reindeer, and it feeds chiefly on moss. It is fleet +and active, achieving, like the chamois, prodigious springs among the +rocks and precipices, and is, consequently, with difficulty killed or +taken. In preparing for these leaps, its eye measures the distance with +surprising accuracy; the animal then contracts its legs, and darts +forward head-foremost to the destined spot, where it alights upon its +feet, nor is it ever known to miss, although the point may be so small +as to admit its four feet only by their being closely pressed together. +The manner in which it balances itself after such leaps is also +admirable: our ballet-dancers would consider it a model of a perfect <i>à +plomb</i>. The monster of the antediluvian world, the mammoth, must have +been an inhabitant of this country, since many of its bones have been +found here.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p><p>The forests of Kamtschatka are not enlivened by singing-birds; indeed +land-birds are all scarce; but there are infinite numbers of waterfowl +of many species. Immense flocks of them are to be seen upon the lakes, +rivers, morasses, and even the sea itself, in the vicinity of the shore. +Fish is abundant, especially in the months of June and July. A single +draught of the net provided us with as many as the whole crew could +consume in several days. A sort of salmon, ling, and herrings, are +preferred for winter stock; the latter, dried in the air, supply food +for the dogs.</p> + +<p>Kamtschatka was discovered in the year 1696, by a Cossack of Yakutsh, by +name Luca Semenoff, who, on a report being spread of the existence of +this country, set out with sixteen companions to make a journey hither. +In the following years, similar expeditions were repeated in greater +force, till Kamtschatka was subjected and made tributary to the Russian +crown. The conquest of this country cost many Russian lives; and from +the ferocity of the conquerors, and the difficulty of maintaining +discipline amongst troops so scattered, ended<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> in nearly exterminating +the Kamtschatkans. Although subsequent regulations restrained the +disorders of the wild Cossacks, the population is still very thin; but +under a wise and careful government it will certainly increase.</p> + +<p>The name of Kamtschatka, pronounced Kantschatka, conferred by the +Russians, was adopted from the native appellation of the great river +flowing through the country. This river derived its name, according to +tradition, from Kontschat, a warrior of former times, who had a +stronghold on its banks. It is strange that the Kamtschatkans had no +designation either for themselves or their country. They called +themselves simply men, as considering themselves either the only +inhabitants of the earth, or so far surpassing all others, as to be +alone worthy of this title. On the southern side of the peninsula, the +aborigines are believed to have been distinguished by the name of +Itelmen; but the signification of this word remains uncertain.</p> + +<p>The Kamtschatkans acknowledged an Almighty Creator of the world, whom +they called Kutka. They supposed that he inhabited the heavens; but had +at one time dwelt in human<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> form in Kamtschatka, and was the original +parent of their race. Even here the tradition of a universal deluge +prevails, and a spot is still shown, on the top of a mountain where +Kutka landed from a boat, in order to replenish the world with men. The +proverbial phrase current in Kamtschatka, to express a period long past, +is, "that was in Kutka's days."</p> + +<p>Before the expeditions of the Russians to Kamtschatka, the inhabitants +were acquainted only with the neighbouring Koriacks and Tchuktchi.</p> + +<p>They had also acquired some knowledge of Japan, from a Japanese ship +wrecked on their coast. They acknowledged no chief, but lived in perfect +independence, which they considered as their highest good.</p> + +<p>Besides the supreme God Kutka, they had a host of inferior deities, +installed by their imaginations in the forests, the mountains, and the +floods. They adored them when their wishes were fulfilled, and insulted +them when their affairs went amiss; like the lower class of Italians, +who, when any disaster befalls them, take off their cap, enumerate into +it as many saints'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> names as they can call to mind, and then trample it +under foot. Two wooden household deities, Aschuschok and Hontai, were +held in particular estimation. The former, in the figure of a man, +officiated in scaring away the forest spirits from the house; for which +service he was remunerated in food, his head being daily anointed with +fish-soup. Hontai was half man, half fish, and on every anniversary of +the purification from sin, a new one was introduced and placed beside +his predecessors, so that the accumulated number of Hontais showed how +many years the inhabitants had occupied their house.</p> + +<p>The Kamtschatkans believed in their own immortality, and in that of the +brute creation; but they expected in a future state to depend upon their +labour for subsistence, as in the present life; they only hoped that the +toil would be lightened, and its reward more abundant, that they might +never suffer hunger. This idea of itself sufficiently proves, that the +fisheries sometimes fail in their produce.</p> + +<p>The several races of Kamtschatkans frequently waged war with each other; +caused<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> either by the forcible abduction of the women, or a deficiency +in hospitality on their occasional interchange of visits, which was +considered an insult to the guest, demanding a bloody revenge.</p> + +<p>Their wars were seldom carried on openly; they preferred stratagem and +artifice; and the conquerors practised the greatest cruelties on the +conquered. If a party was so beleaguered as to lose all hope of +effectual resistance, or of securing their safety by flight, knowing +that no mercy would await a surrender, their warlike spirit did not +desert them; they first murdered their women and children, and then +rushed furiously on the enemy, to sell their lives as dearly as +possible. Their weapons were lances, and bows and poisoned arrows.</p> + +<p>To treat a guest with the utmost politeness, and leave no cause for +hostility, the host was expected to heat his subterranean dwelling till +it became almost insupportable: both parties then cast off all their +attire, an enormous quantity of food was placed before the guest, and +the fire was continually fed. When the visitor declared that he could no +longer eat, or endure the heat of the place, all that courtesy required<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +had been done, and the host expected a present in return for his +hospitality.</p> + +<p>At such entertainments the moucho-more, a deleterious species of +mushroom, was usually introduced, as a mode of intoxication. Taken in +small quantities, it is said to excite an agreeable hilarity of spirits; +but if immoderately used, it will produce insanity of several days' +duration. Animated by these enjoyments, the host and guests found mutual +amusement in the exercise of their peculiar talent of mimicking men and +animals.</p> + +<p>The children when grown up showed little affection for their parents, +neglected them in old age, and did not even consider it a violation of +filial duty to kill them when they became burdensome. They also murdered +their defective or weakly children, to spare them the misery of a +languishing existence. They did not bury their dead, but dragged the +corpse into the open air, by a thong tied about the neck, and left it a +prey to dogs; under the belief, that those devoured by these animals, +would in another world be drawn by the best dogs.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p><p>The mode of solemnizing marriages among the Kamtschatkans was tedious, +and, on the part of the bridegroom, attended with many difficulties. A +man who wished to marry a girl went to the house of her parents, and +without farther declaration took his share in the domestic labours. He +thus became the servant of the family, and was obliged to obey all their +behests, till he succeeded in winning the favour of the girl and her +parents. This might continue for years, and even in the end he was +liable to be dismissed, without any compensation for his trouble. If, +however, the maiden was pleased, and the parents were satisfied with +him, they gave him permission to catch his beloved; from this moment the +girl took all possible pains to avoid being alone with him, defended +herself with a fishing-net and numerous girdles, all which were to be +cut through with a stone knife, while all the family were upon the watch +to rescue her at the first outcry: the unfortunate lover had probably no +sooner laid hands upon his bride than he was seized by her relations, +beaten, and dragged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> away by his hair; yet was he compelled to conquer +and overpower her resistance, or to continue in unrewarded servitude. +When, however, the catching was accomplished, the fair one herself +proclaimed the victory, and the marriage was celebrated.</p> + +<p>The present Kamtschatkans are an extremely good-natured, hospitable, +timid people; in colour and features nearly resembling the Chinese and +Japanese. They all profess the Christian religion; but secretly retain +many of their heathen customs, particularly that of killing their +deformed children.</p> + +<p>The town, or rather village, adjoining the harbour of St. Peter and St. +Paul, where the present Governor of Kamtschatka, Captain Stanizky, +resides, though the principal place in the peninsula, contains but few +convenient houses. The rest, about fifty in number, are mere huts, +irregularly scattered up the side of a mountain. The inhabitants of this +place, which bears the same name as the harbour, are all Russians, +officers of the crown, sailors, disbanded soldiers, and some +insignificant traders.</p> + +<p>The Kamtschatkans live inland in little <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span>villages on the banks of the +rivers, but seldom on the sea-coast.</p> + +<p>From Krusenstern's representation, Kamtschatka appears very little +altered in five-and-twenty years. The only advance made in that period, +consists in the cultivation of potatoes by the inhabitants of St. Peter +and St. Paul, and the entire water-carriage of various goods and +necessaries of life, which were formerly needlessly enhanced in price by +being brought overland, through Siberia to Ochotsk.</p> + +<p>The northern part of the peninsula and the adjoining country, even to +the icy sea, is inhabited by the Tschuktschi, a warlike nomad tribe, +removing with celerity from place to place by means of their reindeer. +They were not so easily conquered as the Kamtschatkans, and for +five-and-thirty years incessantly annoyed the Russians, to whom they now +only pay a small tribute in skins. Our cannon at length forced a peace +upon them, which had not been long concluded, before there was reason to +apprehend a breach of its conditions on their part, and an ambassador +was sent to their Tajon, or chief, to discover their intentions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> The +chief drew a long knife from a sheath at his side, presented it to the +ambassador, making him observe that it had a broken point, and addressed +him as follows: "When my father died he gave me this knife, saying, 'My +son, I received this broken knife from my uncle, whom I succeeded in the +dignity of Tajon, and I promised him never to sharpen it against the +Russians, because we never prosper in our combats with them; I therefore +enjoin thee also to enter into no strife with them till this knife shall +of itself renew its point.' You see that the knife is still edgeless, +and my father's last will is sacred to me."</p> + +<p>According to an accurate census taken of the population of Kamtschatka +in the year 1822, it amounts, with the exception of the Tschuktschi, who +cannot be computed, to two thousand four hundred and fifty-seven persons +of the male, and one thousand nine hundred and forty-one of the female +sex. Of these, the native Kamtschatkans were only one thousand four +hundred and twenty-eight males, and one thousand three hundred and +thirty females; the rest were Koriaks and Russians. They possessed +ninety-one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> horses, seven hundred and eighteen head of cattle, three +thousand eight hundred and forty-one dogs, and twelve thousand reindeer, +the latter belonging exclusively to the Koriaks.</p> + +<p>Unimportant as was the place where we now landed, a change is always +agreeable after a long voyage; and the kind and hospitable reception we +met with from the commander as well as the inhabitants, contributed +greatly to our enjoyments.</p> + +<p>We were gratified with a bear-hunt, which produced much sport, and gave +us the satisfaction of killing a large and powerful bear. This animal is +very numerous here, and is consequently easily met with by a +hunting-party. The usually timid Kamtschatkan attacks them with the +greatest courage. Often armed only with a lance and a knife, he +endeavours to provoke the bear to the combat; and when it rises on its +hind legs for defence or attack, the hunter rushes forward, and, resting +one end of the lance on the ground, plunges the other into its breast, +finally dispatching it with his knife. Sometimes, however, he fails in +the attempt, and pays for his temerity with his life.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span></p><p>The following anecdote evinces the hardihood of the bears. Fish, which +forms their chief nourishment, and which they procure for themselves +from the rivers, was last year excessively scarce. A great famine +consequently existed among them, and instead of retiring to their dens, +they wandered about the whole winter through, even in the streets of St. +Peter and St. Paul. One of them finding the outer gate of a house open, +entered, and the gate accidentally closed after him. The woman of the +house had just placed a large tea-machine,<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> full of boiling water, in +the court, the bear smelt to it and burned his nose; provoked at the +pain, he vented all his fury upon the kettle, folded his fore-paws round +it, pressed it with his whole strength against his breast to crush it, +and burnt himself, of course, still more and more. The horrible growl +which rage and pain forced from him, brought all the inhabitants of the +house and neighbourhood to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> spot, and poor bruin was soon dispatched +by shots from the windows. He has, however, immortalized his memory, and +become a proverb amongst the town's people, for when any one injures +himself by his own violence, they call him "the bear with the +tea-kettle."</p> + +<p>On the 14th of July, M. Preuss observed an eclipse of the sun, from +which he determined the geographical longitude of St. Peter and St. Paul +to be 201° 10' 31". On the same day Dr. Siegwald and Messrs. Lenz and +Hoffman happily achieved the Herculean task of climbing the Owatscha +Mountain, which lies near the harbour. Its height, according to +barometrical measurement, is seven thousand two hundred feet. An +intermittent smoke arose from its crater, and a cap let down a few feet +within it was drawn up burnt. The gentlemen brought back with them some +pieces of crystallized sulphur, as evidence of their having really +pursued their examination quite into the mouth of the crater.</p> + +<p>After having delivered all the articles which we had taken in for +Kamtschatka, we left the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul on the +morning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> of the 20th of July, and with favouring breezes sailed for the +Russian settlement of New Archangel, on the north-west coast of America.</p> + +<p>At sunset the majestic mountains of Kamtschatka appeared for the last +time within our horizon, and at a vast distance. This despised and +desolate country may perhaps one day become a Russian Mexico. The only +treasure of which we robbed it was, a swallow's nest! I mention it, +because it long supplied the whole ship's company with amusement.</p> + +<p>In the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul, there is sufficient depth of +water close to the shore to admit of landing by means of a plank only. +This proximity led a pair of swallows to mistake our frigate for a +building upon terra-firma, and to the infinite delight of the sailors, +who regarded it as a lucky omen, they deliberately built themselves a +nest close to my cabin. Undisturbed by the noise in the ship, the loving +pair hatched their brood in safety, fed their young ones with the +tenderest care, and cheered them with joyous songs. But when on a +sudden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> they saw their peaceful dwelling removing from the land, they +seemed astonished, and hovered anxiously about the ship, yet still +fetched food for their young from the shore, till the distance became +too great.</p> + +<p>The struggle between the instincts of self-preservation and parental +love then became perceptible. They flew round the vessel, then vanished +for awhile, then suddenly returned to their hungry family, and +stretching their open beaks towards them, seemed to lament that no food +was to be found. This alternate disappearing and returning continued +some time, and terminated in the parents returning no more; the sailors +then took on themselves the care of the deserted orphans. They removed +them from the nest where the parents warmth was necessary, to another +lined with cotton, and fixed in a warm place, and fed them with flies, +which seemed to please their palates very well. The system at first +appeared to have perfectly succeeded, and we were in hopes of carrying +them safely to America; when, in spite of the most careful attention, +they fell sick, and on the eighth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> day, to the general sorrow, not one +of our nurslings remained alive.</p> + +<p>They however afforded an additional proof how kindly the common people +of Russia are interested in all that is helpless.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27-28]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">NEW ARCHANGEL.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> +<h2>NEW ARCHANGEL.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">The</span> swallows brought us no good fortune. The very day after we left +Kamtschatka, one of our best sailors fell from the mast-head into the +scuttle, and immediately expired. He had climbed thither in safety in +the most violent storms, and executed the most difficult tasks with +ease; now, in fine weather, on a tranquil sea, he met this fate.</p> + +<p>These accidents happen most frequently to the best and cleverest +sailors: they confide too much in their own ability, and consider too +little the risks they run. It is impossible to warn them sufficiently.</p> + +<p>This fatal accident produced a general melancholy among us, which the +cloudy, wet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> cold weather we soon encountered perpetually increased, +till we reached the coast of America. Fortunately, we had all the time a +strong west wind; by its help we passed the southern coasts of the +Aleutian Islands, and on the 7th of August already approached the +American coast. On this day the sun once more smiled on us; the sky +afterwards continued clear, and the air became milder and pleasanter as +we neared the land.</p> + +<p>From our noon observation we were in latitude 55° 36', and longitude +140° 56'. In this region, some navigators have imagined they observed a +regular current to the north; but our experience does not confirm the +remark. A current carried us from twenty to thirty miles in twenty-four +hours, setting sometimes north, and sometimes south, according to the +impulse of the wind; close to shore only the current is regularly to the +north. The inhabitants concurred in this observation.</p> + +<p>We now steered direct for the bay called by the English Norfolk Sound, +and by the Russians Sitka Bay, and the island at its back, which the +natives call Sitchachan, whence the Russian<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> Sitka. This island, called +by the Russians New Archangel, is at present the principal settlement of +the Russian-American company.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 9th of August, we were, according to my +calculation, near land; but a thick fog concealed us from every object +so much as fifty fathoms distant. At length the mid-day sun burst forth, +and rapidly dispelling the curtain of cloud and fog, surprised us with a +view of the American coast. We were standing right for the mouth of the +above-mentioned bay, at a small distance from the Edgecumbe promontory; +a table-land so elevated, that in clear weather it serves for a safe +landmark at a distance of fifty miles.</p> + +<p>We were all day prevented by a calm from making the bay, and were +obliged to content ourselves with admiring the wild high rocky coast, +with its fir forests. Though now in a much higher latitude than in +Kamtschatka, we yet saw no snow, even on the summits of the highest +mountains; a proof of the superior mildness of the climate on the +American, compared with the Asiatic coast.</p> + +<p>The next day we took advantage of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> light wind blowing towards the bay; +but so gloomy was the weather, that we could scarcely see land, and not +one of our crew had ever been in the bay before. It stretches from the +entrance to New Archangel twenty-five miles in length, and is full of +small islands and shallows; a pilot was not to be thought of; but we +happily overcame all our difficulties. We tacked through all the +intricacies of this navigation amidst heavy rain and a thick gloom, till +we dropped the anchor within musket-shot of the fortress.</p> + +<p>We here found the frigate Kreissac, under the command of Captain +Lasaref, sent here by Government for the protection of trade, and whom +we were destined to succeed.</p> + +<p>The appearance of a vessel of our native country, in so distant and +desolate a corner of the earth, naturally produced much joy amongst our +people. I immediately paid a visit to Captain Lasaref, and then to the +Governor of the Colony, Captain Murawief, an old acquaintance, whom I +had not seen for many years. At so great a distance from home, +friendships are quickly formed between compatriots, even if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> previously +unknown to each other,—how much then must their interest increase, when +long ago cemented in the native land! My intercourse with this +gentleman, equally distinguished for his noble character and cultivated +mind, conduced much to the comfort of a tedious residence in this +desert.</p> + +<p>To my enquiry, whether my vessel must now remain stationary at the +colony, he replied, that until the first of March of the following year +(1825), my time was at my own disposal, but that after that period my +presence could not be dispensed with. I therefore proceeded to visit +California and the Sandwich Islands, and returned to New Archangel on +the 23rd of February 1825.</p> + +<p>The nearer we drew to the land the milder the weather became, and we +were astonished, in so northern a country, to see the mountains at this +season of the year entirely free from snow to a considerable height. +Throughout this winter, however, which had been particularly mild, the +snow in many of the vallies had never lain above a few hours together. +Here, under fifty-seven degrees north latitude,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> the climate is much +milder than in European countries similarly situated; as again the +north-east coast of Asia is much colder than countries of an equal +latitude in Europe.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 24th, after passing a stormy night on this +dangerous coast, we happily succeeded in reaching the harbour, and +anchoring before the fortress, just before another and most violent +tempest set in.</p> + +<p>We were received with great rejoicing; and on the following day placed +the frigate in such a position, and at such a distance from the +fortress, as was most convenient to accomplish the purpose of our +mission. To explain this, we must take a short review of the Russian +settlement here, and of the affairs of the original inhabitants.</p> + +<p>From the highest antiquity to the present day, examples are not wanting +of men trusting themselves in small and frail vessels to the perils of +the ocean, and performing astonishing voyages, without any of those aids +which the improvements in science and mechanical art place within our +reach. The children of the Sun in Peru, and the founders of the regular<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +political constitution which existed in Mexico before its invasion by +the Spaniards, probably floated in little canoes over the trackless +surface of the ocean, as the inhabitants of the South Sea Islands do to +this day.</p> + +<p>The voyages of the Phœnicians and Romans are sufficiently known; as +are those of the Norman heroes who discovered Greenland, Iceland, and +even North America.</p> + +<p>In vessels just as defective, destitute of the instruments requisite for +observing their course, and of any fixed notion concerning the +conformation or extent of the earth, often even without a compass, +ignorant Russian adventurers have embarked from Ochotsk, and rounding +Kamtschatka, have discovered the Aleutian Islands, and attained to the +north-west coast of America. Year after year, in more numerous parties, +they repeated these expeditions, tempted by the beautiful furs which +were procured in the newly-discovered countries. Many of their vessels +were lost,—many of those who ventured in them were attacked and +murdered by savages; yet still new adventurers were found yearly +encountering all these risks, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> the sake of the profitable traffic in +these furs, especially that of the sea-otter. By degrees they formed +themselves into commercial societies, which obtained a firmer footing on +the Aleutian Islands, and even on the northern parts of the western +coast of America, carried on a regular trade to Siberia, but lived in a +state of continual violence and dissensions.</p> + +<p>Superior to the natives by the possession of fire-arms, they became +overbearing, treated the timid Aleutians in the most cruel manner, and +would perhaps have quite exterminated them, had not the Emperor Paul +interposed. By his order, in 1797, a Russian-American mercantile company +was established, which was to supersede the trading societies hitherto +existing, and possess the exclusive privilege of carrying on trade and +founding settlements in these regions. The directors, in whose hands was +vested the administration of the affairs and appointment of the governor +of these settlements, were to reside in Petersburg, under the control of +the government, to which they were responsible.</p> + +<p>At first the sea-otters were plentiful, even on the coast of +Kamtschatka; but the unlimited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> pursuit of them diminished their numbers +so rapidly, that the Company was obliged to extend their search for them +over the Aleutian Islands, and even to the island of Kodiack, lying on +the American coast, where they had fixed their chief settlement.</p> + +<p>From thence the chase was continued to the bay of Tschugatsk and Cook's +river. The poor otters were severe sufferers, for the beauty of the skin +nature had bestowed on them. They were pursued in every possible +direction, and such numbers annually killed, that at length they became +scarce, even in these quarters, having already almost wholly disappeared +from Kamtschatka and the Aleutian Islands.</p> + +<p>The Company therefore resolved to extend their settlements farther +south; and thus, in the year 1804, arose the colony on the island of +Sitka, whose natives call themselves after their island, but are styled +by the Russians Kalushes.</p> + +<p>The island is only separated from the mainland by a narrow inlet of the +sea. It extends over three degrees and a half of latitude; and, in fact, +consists of three islands, as I <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>ascertained by personal examination in +boats. The channels, however, which separate them are so narrow, that +the three might easily pass for one. The coast of Sitka Bay is +intersected by many deep creeks, and the neighbouring waters thickly +sprinkled with little rocky islands overgrown with wood, which are a +protection against storms, and present a strong wall of defence against +the waves.</p> + +<p>The harbour of New Archangel is equally well defended by nature, and +needs no assistance from art.</p> + +<p>A bold enterprising man of the name of Baronof, long superintended the +Company's establishments. Peculiarly adapted by nature for the task of +contending with a wild people, he seemed to find a pleasure in the +occupation. Although the conquest of the Sitkaens, or Kalushes, was not +so easily achieved as that of the more timid Aleutians and Kodiacks, he +finally accomplished it. A warlike, courageous, and cruel race, provided +with fire-arms by the ships of the North American United States, in +exchange for otters' skins, maintained an obstinate struggle against the +invaders. But Baronof at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> length obtained a decisive superiority over +them. What he could not obtain by presents, he took by force, and, in +spite of all opposition, succeeded in founding the settlement on this +island. He built some dwelling-houses, made an entrenchment, and having, +in his own opinion, appeased the Kalushes by profuse presents, confided +the new conquest to a small number of Russians and Aleutians. For a +short time matters went on prosperously, when suddenly, the garrison +left by Baronof, believing itself in perfect safety, was attacked one +night by great numbers of Kalushes, who entered the entrenchments +without opposition, and murdered all they met there with circumstances +of atrocious cruelty. A few Aleutians only, who happened to be out in +their little baidars,<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> escaped<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> by standing out to sea, and brought to +Kodiack the news of the annihilation of the settlement at Sitka.</p> + +<p>This occurrence took place in the year 1804, when the present Admiral +Krusenstern made his voyage round the world, and his second ship, the +Neva, was bound for this colony. Baronof immediately seized so excellent +an opportunity for revenging himself on the Kalushes. He armed three +vessels, and sailed in company with the Neva to Sitka. When the Kalushes +heard that the warrior Nonok, as they called Baronof, had returned, +terror prevented their attempting to oppose his landing; and they +retired in great haste to their fortification, consisting of a great +quadrangle closely set round with thick, high beams, broken only by one +very small and strong door. The pallisadoes were furnished with +loop-holes, for the firing of muskets and falconets, with which the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +besieged were amply supplied. This wooden fortress, enclosing about +three hundred fighting men with their families, held out several days; +but no sooner had the heavy guns of the Russians effected a breach, than +the besieged, finding their position no longer tenable, surrendered at +discretion, and delivered over the sons of their chiefs as hostages for +their submission.</p> + +<p>Though peace was now established, and they were allowed to retire +unmolested, yet, mistrusting the Russians, they stole away secretly in a +dark night, having first murdered all who, whether from age or infancy, +might be burdensome to them in their flight. Morning discovered the +cruelty perpetrated by these barbarians, who, in their fears, judged the +Russians by themselves. From this time Baronof remained nominally in +possession of the island, and actually of a hill upon it forming a +natural fortification, and formerly inhabited by a chief of the Kalushes +called Katelan.</p> + +<p>The savages thirsted for revenge; and, notwithstanding the treaties +concluded with them, unceasingly sought to gratify it by secret arts and +ambushes; so that the Russians, unless well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> armed, and in considerable +numbers, could not venture beyond the shelter of their fortress without +the most imminent danger of being murdered.</p> + +<p>Baronof re-founded the settlement, and having strengthened by scientific +defences the high hill, which falls on every side in abrupt precipices, +has rendered it perfectly safe from every attack. The necessary +dwelling-houses were soon erected; and this place, under the name of New +Archangel, became the capital of the Russian possessions in America, +stretching from 52° of latitude to the Icy Sea, and including also two +settlements lying farther south, of which I shall hereafter have +occasion to speak.</p> + +<p>Baronof himself resided from this time in New Archangel, and the chase +of the sea-otters proved very advantageous to the Company; but so scarce +are these animals now become, even here, that the numbers caught only +suffice to cover the expenses of maintaining a force sufficient for +protection against the savages. For this reason, the Company have +contemplated the necessity of entirely abandoning the settlement at New +Archangel, and making Kodiack<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> once more their capital. It were, +however, a pity this plan should be adopted, as it would afford +facilities to other nations, by settling in these regions, to disturb +the trade of the Company. But the Company may possibly be compelled to +give up New Archangel, by their resources not permitting them to retain +it, unless they should receive some assistance from Government.</p> + +<p>The climate of Sitka is not so severe as might have been expected from +its latitude. In the middle of winter the cold is not excessive, and +never lasts long. Agriculture notwithstanding does not appear to be +successful here. There is not perhaps a spot in the world where so much +rain falls; a dry day is a perfect rarity, and this would itself account +for the failure of corn; the nature of the ground is however equally +inimical to it.</p> + +<p>There are no plains of any extent; the small valleys being every where +surrounded by high steep rocks of granite, and consequently overshadowed +the greater part of the day. Some vegetables, such as cabbages, turnips, +and potatoes, prosper very well: the latter are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> raised even by the +Kalushes, who have learned from the Russians the manner of cultivating +them, and consider them as a great delicacy. Upon the continent of +America, the climate, under the same latitude, is said to be +incomparably better than on this island, although the cold is rather +more severe. Great plains are there to be met with, where wheat could +probably be successfully cultivated.</p> + +<p>The forests of Sitka, consisting principally of fir and beech, are lofty +and thick. Some of their trees are a hundred and sixty feet in height, +and from six to seven feet in diameter. From these noble trunks the +Kalushes form their large canoes, which sometimes carry from twenty-five +to thirty men. They are laboriously and skilfully constructed; but the +credit their builders may claim for this one branch of industry is +nearly all that belongs to a barbarous and worthless race of men.</p> + +<p>Wild and unfruitful as this country appears, the soil is rich, so that +its indigenous plants, of which there are no great variety, attain a +very large growth. Several kinds of berries, particularly raspberries +and black currants, of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> enormous size but watery taste, are met with +in considerable quantities.</p> + +<p>The sea, near the coast and in the bays, abounds in fish and in +mammalia. Whales, sea-hogs, seals, sea-lions, &c. are very numerous; but +of the fish, which chiefly afford subsistence both to the natives and +the Russians, the best are herrings, salmon, and cod, of which there is +a superfluity. There is no great variety of birds native to this coast; +but the beautiful white-headed eagle, and several sorts of pretty +humming-birds, migrate from warmer climates to build their nests in +Sitka. It is extraordinary that these tender little creatures, always +inhabiting hot countries, should venture thus far northwards.</p> + +<p>Among the quadrupeds frequenting the forests is the black bear, whose +skin fetches so high a price in Russia, and a species of wild sheep +known to us only by the descriptions of the Kalushes, and in which our +natural histories are still deficient. It differs greatly from that of +Kamtschatka: its wool rivals silk in the delicacy and softness of its +texture. The most remarkable animal, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>however, is the sea-otter, that +which has allured merchants hither from distant countries, and which, if +such intercourse should improve the morals and intellects of the +natives, may be considered as their benefactor. This animal inhabits +only the north-west coast of America, between the latitudes of 30° and +60°, in smaller numbers the Aleutian islands, and formerly the coast of +Kamtschatka and the Kurile islands. Its skin makes the finest fur in the +world, and is as highly prized by the Chinese as by the Europeans. Its +value advances yearly, with the increasing scarceness of the animal; it +will soon entirely disappear, and exist only in description to decorate +our zoological works.</p> + +<p>Attempts have been made to identify the sea and river otter, because +there is a considerable resemblance in their form; but the skin of the +former is without comparison finer than the latter, which inhabits only +lakes and rivers, where the sea-otter is never found.</p> + +<p>They are often seen on the surface of the water, many miles from land, +lying asleep on their backs, with their young, of which only two are +produced at a birth, lying over them sucking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> The young cannot swim +till they are some months old; but the mother, when she goes out to sea +in search of food, carries them on her back and brings them back to her +hole in the rocks, when she has satisfied her hunger. If seen by the +hunter during these excursions, she is a certain prey, for she never +forsakes her offspring however they embarrass her swimming, but, in +common with the male, defends them courageously against every attack.</p> + +<p>The lungs of these animals are so constructed that they cannot subsist +for more than a few minutes under water, but are necessitated to +re-ascend to the surface for breath. These opportunities are seized by +the hunters, who would seldom succeed, if the otter could remain long +under water, where it swims with great rapidity and skill. Even with the +above advantage, the chase is very toilsome, and sometimes dangerous. It +is carried on in the following manner.</p> + +<p>The hunters row in the little Aleutian baidars round the coast, and for +some miles out to sea, provided with bows, arrows, and short javelins. +As soon as they see an otter they throw their javelins, or shoot their +arrows. The animal<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> is seldom struck; it immediately dives, and as it +swims very rapidly, the skill of the hunter is displayed in giving the +baidar the same direction as that taken by the animal. As soon as the +otter re-appears on the water, it is again fired at, when it dives +again; and the pursuit is continued in the same way till the creature +becomes so weary that it is easily struck.</p> + +<p>They tear out with their teeth the arrows which wound them; and often, +especially if their young are with them, boldly fall upon the canoes and +attack their persecutors with teeth and claws; these conflicts however +uniformly end in the defeat and death of the otter. The more baidars are +in company, the safer is the hunt, but with experienced hunters two are +enough. They often encounter great perils by venturing out too far to +sea, and being overtaken by storms.</p> + +<p>I now proceed, though with some reluctance, to the description of the +natives, the Kalushes. They are, as I have already said, the most +worthless people on the face of the earth, and disgusting to such a +degree that I must beg fastidious readers to pass over a few pages. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +truth of my narrative makes it necessary for me to submit to the +revolting task of showing to what point of degradation human nature may +sink.</p> + +<p>The Sitka Islanders, as well as their neighbours on the continent, are +large and strongly built, but have their limbs so ill-proportioned, that +they all appear deformed. Their black, straight hair hangs dishevelled +over their broad faces, their cheek-bones stand out, their noses are +wide and flat, their mouths large, their lips thick, their eyes small, +black, and fiery, and their teeth strikingly white.</p> + +<p>Their natural colour is not very dark; but they appear much more so than +is natural to them, from the custom of smearing themselves daily over +the face and body with ochre and a sort of black earth. Immediately +after the birth, the head of the child is compressed, to give it what +they consider a fine form, in which the eyebrows are drawn up, and the +nostrils stretched asunder. In common with many other nations, they tear +the beard out by the roots as soon as it appears. This is the business +of the women. Their usual clothing consists of a little apron;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> but the +rich wear blankets, purchased from the Russians, or from the American +ships, and tied by two corners round the neck, so that they hang down +and cover the back. Some of them wear bear-skins in a similar manner. +The most opulent possess some European garments, which they wear on +great occasions, and which would have an absurd effect were they not so +disgusting as to extinguish all inclination to laugh. They never cover +the head but in heavy rain, and then protect it by round caps of grass, +so ingeniously and closely plaited as to exclude every drop of water.</p> + +<p>Whatever the degree of heat or cold, they never vary their costume; and +I believe there is not a people in the world so hardened against the +weather. In the winter, during a cold of 10° of Reaumur, the Kalushes +walk about naked, and jump into the water as the best method of warming +themselves. At night they lie without any covering, under the open sky, +near a great fire, so near indeed as to be sometimes covered by the hot +ashes. The women whom I have seen were either dressed in linen shifts +reaching to their feet, or in plaited mats.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span></p><p>The custom common to both sexes, of painting their faces in broad, +black, white, and red stripes crossed in all directions, gives them a +peculiarly wild and savage appearance. Although this painting is quite +arbitrary, and subject to no exact rules, the different races +distinguish each other by it. To give the face a yet more insane cast, +their long, hanging, tangled hair is mixed with the feathers of the +white eagle. When powdered and painted in this way, the repulsiveness of +the Kalush women, by nature excessively ugly, may be imagined; but they +have a method of still farther disfiguring themselves. As soon as they +are nearly marriageable, an incision is made in the under-lip, and a +bone passed through it, which is exchanged from time to time for a +thicker one, that the opening may be continually widened. At length a +sort of double button, of an oval form, called a kaluga, which, among +the people of rank, is often four inches long, and three broad, is +forced in so as to make the under lip stand forward thus much in a +horizontal direction, and leave the lower teeth quite bare. The outer +rim of the lip surrounding the wooden button becomes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> by the violent +stretching as thin as a packthread, and of a dark blue colour.</p> + +<p>In running, the lip flaps up and down so as to knock sometimes against +the chin and sometimes against the nose. Upon the continent, the kaluga +is worn still larger; and the female who can cover her whole face with +her under-lip passes for the most perfect beauty. Men and women pierce +the gristle of the nose, and stick quills, iron rings, and all kinds of +ornaments, through it. In their ears, which are also pierced in many +places, they wear strings of bones, muscle-shells, and beads.</p> + +<p>It would be difficult to convey an adequate idea of the hideousness of +these people when their costume is thus complete; but the lips of the +women, held out like a trough, and always filled with saliva stained +with tobacco-juice, of which they are immoderately fond, is the most +abominably revolting part of the spectacle.</p> + +<p>The Kalushes have no fixed residence, but hover round the coast in their +large canoes, which they call the women's, carrying all their property +with them. When they fix upon any spot for their temporary +establishment, they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> build a hut with great celerity, having all the +materials at hand. They drive a number of stakes into the ground in a +quadrangular form, fill the interstices with thin planks, and roof in +the whole with the bark of trees. With such a dwelling they are +satisfied; in the severest winter the family sit in a circle, carrying +on their several employments round a fire in the centre. The interior +displays as much filthiness as if the inhabitants belonged to the +dirtiest class of the brute creation. The smoke; the stench of bad fish, +and blubber; the repulsive figures of the women, disgustingly occupied +in seeking for vermin on the heads or skins of the men, and actually +<i>eating them</i> when found; the great utensil for the service of the whole +family, which is also the only vessel capable of containing water to +wash with; all this soon drives the most inquisitive European out of so +detestable a den.</p> + +<p>Their food, sufficiently disgusting in itself, is rendered still more so +by their manner of eating. It consists almost exclusively of fish, of +which the whale is the chief favourite, and its blubber an especial +dainty. This is sometimes cooked upon red-hot stones, but more commonly +eaten<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> raw. The skins of the sea-otters form their principal wealth, and +are a substitute for money; these they barter with the ships which trade +with them, to the prejudice of the Russian Company, for muskets, powder, +and lead. No Kalush is without one musket at least, of which he +perfectly understands the use. The richer a Kalush is, the more powerful +he becomes; he has a multitude of wives who bring him a numerous family, +and he purchases male and female slaves who must labour and fish for +him, and strengthen his force when engaged in warfare. These slaves are +prisoners of war, and their descendants; the master's power over them is +unlimited, and he even puts them to death without scruple. When the +master dies, two of his slaves are murdered on his grave, that he may +not want attendance in the other world; these are chosen long before the +event occurs, but meet the destiny that awaits them, very +philosophically. The continual wars which the different races carry on +against each other, with a ferocious cruelty uncommon even among +savages, may account for the scanty population of this district; the +fire-arms with which, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> their own misfortune, they have been furnished +by the American ships, have contributed to render their combats more +bloody, and consequently to cause renewed and increased irritation. Bows +and arrows were formerly their only weapons; now, besides their muskets, +they have daggers, and knives half a yard long; they never attack their +enemies openly, but fall suddenly upon them in moments of the utmost +fancied security. The hope of booty, or of taking a prisoner, is a +sufficient motive for one of these treacherous attacks, in which they +practise the greatest barbarities; hence the Kalushes, even in time of +peace, are always on their guard. They establish their temporary abodes +on spots in some measure fortified by nature, and commanding an +extensive view on all sides. During the night, the watch is confided to +women, who, assembled round a fire outside the hut, amuse themselves by +recounting the warlike deeds of their husbands and sons.</p> + +<p>Domestic occupations, even the most laborious, are also left to females; +the men employing themselves only in hunting, and building their canoes. +The slaves are required<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> to assist the women, who often treat them in a +most merciless manner. The females take an active part in the wars; they +not only stimulate the valour of the men, but even support them in the +battle.</p> + +<p>Besides the desire of booty, the most frequent occasion of warfare is +revenge. One murder can only be atoned by another; but it is indifferent +whether the murderer or one of his relations fall,—the custom merely +requires a man for a man; should the murdered person be a female, a +female is required in return. A case which would appear inconceivable +has actually occurred,—that one of these most disgusting creatures has +occasioned a struggle similar to that of Troy for the fair Helen, and an +advantageous peace has been obtained by the cession of one of these +monsters. The Kalush, who would probably look coldly on our most lovely +females, finds his filthy countrywomen, with their lip-troughs, so +charming, that they often awaken in him the most vehement passion. In +proof of this, I remember an occurrence which took place during our +residence in Sitka, among a horde of Kalushes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> who had encamped in the +vicinity of the fortress. A girl had four lovers, whose jealousy +produced the most violent quarrels: after fighting a long time without +any result, they determined to end the strife by murdering the object of +their love, and the resolution was immediately executed with their +lances. The whole horde assembled round the funeral pile, and chanted a +song, a part of which was interpreted by one of our countrymen, who had +been long resident here. "Thou wast too beautiful—thou couldst not +live—men looked on thee, and madness fired their hearts!"</p> + +<p>Savage as this action was, another exceeded it in ferocity. A father, +irritated by the cries of his child, an infant in the cradle, snatched +it up, and threw it into a vessel full of boiling whale-oil. These +examples are sufficient to characterise this hateful people, who appear +to be in every respect the very refuse of human nature.</p> + +<p>Their weddings are celebrated merely by a feast given to the relatives +of the bride. The dead are burned, and their ashes preserved in small +wooden boxes, in buildings appropriated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> to that purpose. They have a +confused notion of immortality, and this is the only trace of religion +which appears amongst them. They have neither priests, idols, nor any +description of worship, but they place great faith in witchcraft; and +the sorcerers, who are also their physicians, are held in high +estimation, though more feared than loved. These sorcerers profess to +heal the sick by conjurations of the Wicked Spirit; they are, however, +acquainted with the medicinal properties of many herbs, but carefully +conceal their knowledge as a profitable mystery.</p> + +<p>We often received visits on board from chiefs of the Kalushes, generally +with their whole family and attendants, who came to examine the ship, +receive presents, and eat their fill, expressing their gratitude for +these civilities by attempting to entertain us with their horrid +national dance. Before coming on board, they usually rowed several times +round the ship, howling a song to the following effect: "We come to you +as friends, and have really no evil intention. Our fathers lived in +strife with you, but let peace be between us. Receive us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> with +hospitality, and expect the same from us." This song was accompanied by +a sort of tambourine, which did not improve its harmony. They would not +climb the ship's side till we had several times repeated our invitation, +as it is not their custom to accept the first offer of hospitality, +probably from a feeling of distrust. On these visits, the Kalushes were +more than usually particular in the decoration of their persons. Their +faces were so thickly smeared with stripes of red, black, and white +paint, that their natural colour could not be known. Their bodies were +painted with black stripes, and their hair covered with a quantity of +white down and feathers, which were scattered around with every motion +of their heads. Ermine-skins are also frequently fastened into the hair. +A wolf or bear-skin, or a blanket, tied round the neck, covers their +bodies, and they use an eagle's wing or tail as a fan. Their feet are +always bare.</p> + +<p>When on such occasions they had seen all they wished of the ship, except +the cabins, (for these I would not suffer them to enter, on account of +the abominable stench left behind by<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> the rancid oil and blubber, which +they used as perfumes,) they assembled upon deck to dance. The women did +not dance, but assisted as musicians. Their song, accompanied by the +dull music of the tambourine, consisted of a few hollow and unconnected +tones, sent forth at intervals to keep time with the stamping of their +feet. The men made the most extraordinary motions with their arms and +bodies, varying them by high leaps into the air, while showers of +feathers fell from their heads. Every dancer retained his own place, but +turning continually round and round, gave the spectators an opportunity +of admiring him on all sides. One only stood a little apart; he was +particularly decorated with ermine-skins and feathers, and beat time for +the dancing with a staff ornamented with the teeth of the sea-otter. He +appeared to be the director of all the movements.</p> + +<p>At every pause we offered tobacco-leaves to the dancers and musical +ladies: both sexes eagerly seized the favourite refreshment, and crammed +their mouths with it, then recommencing the music and dancing with +renewed alacrity. When at length downright exhaustion put an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> end to the +spectacle, the Kalushes were entertained with a favourite mess of rice +boiled with treacle. They lay down round the wooden dishes, and helped +themselves greedily with their dirty hands. During the meal, the women +were much inconvenienced by their lip-troughs; the weight of the rice +made them hang over the whole chin, and the mouth could not contain all +that was intended for it.</p> + +<p>During one of these repasts, the Kalushes were much terrified by a young +bear which we had brought from Kamtschatka: breaking loose from his +chain, he sprang over their heads, and seizing on the wooden vessel that +contained the rice, carried it off in triumph. At parting we always gave +them a dram of brandy, which they are very fond of, and can drink in +considerable quantities without injury.</p> + +<p>That no vice may be wanting to complete their characters, the Kalushes +are great gamblers. Their common game is played with little wooden +sticks painted of various colours, and called by several names, such as, +crab, whale, duck, &c., which are mingled promiscuously together, and +placed in heaps covered with moss;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> the players being then required to +tell in which heap the crab, the whale, &c. lies. They lose at this game +all their possessions, and even their wives and children, who then +become the property of the winner.</p> + +<p>During the whole of our residence at Sitka, we maintained peace with the +Kalushes, which may be entirely attributed to the moderation and +intrepidity of our sailors.</p> + +<p>Opposite our frigate, on the shore, the ship's cooper had settled under +a tent, almost all our casks being in want of repair; and I allowed him +three armed sailors as assistants and protectors against the Kalushes.</p> + +<p>One day ten of these savages armed with long knives came into the tent; +having sat for some time contemplating the work, they became very +troublesome, and, on being forbidden to pass the bounds previously +prescribed, drew their knives and attacked the cooper, who would have +been severely wounded had he not by good fortune parried a dangerous +thrust. The three sailors now sprang forward with their loaded muskets; +but as they had received the strictest injunctions not to shed blood, +except in the most<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> extreme necessity, they contented themselves with +standing before the Kalushes and keeping them off with their bayonets. +The savages at first continued to threaten the sailors, but on finding +they were not to be intimidated, thought proper to retire to the forest. +Had a skirmish really ensued, the consequences might have been serious. +The Kalushes would all have united against us, and by rushing upon us +from their hiding-places, whenever we left the protection of the ship or +the fortress, might have done us much mischief. For this reason, Captain +Murawieff, the governor of the settlement, had always exerted himself to +the utmost to prevent any disputes. By his judicious regulations, he had +acquired great influence over the natives, and had effected considerable +improvement in their behaviour. In every respect, indeed, the +administration of this excellent man has been such as to promote the +true welfare of the colonies; and if the plans laid down by him for the +future be adhered to, the trade of the Company will be materially +benefited, and new sources of profit opened to them.</p> + +<p>I have already mentioned that no people in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> the world surpass the +citizens of the United States in the boldness, activity, and +perseverance of their mercantile speculations. This observation was +confirmed by an instance we met with here.</p> + +<p>On the 16th of April 1825, a two-masted ship ran into this harbour from +Boston. It had performed the voyage by Cape Horn in a hundred and +sixty-six days, without having put into any intermediate port. Captain +Blanchard, proprietor both of the ship, and of the whole cargo, had, +upon the strength of a mere report, expended his whole capital upon +certain articles of which he had heard that New Archangel was in need; +and now, at the close of his immense voyage, found with dismay that not +only was the colony well provided for the present, but that a ship was +also daily expected from St. Petersburg laden with every thing it could +desire. As, however, his offers were very reasonable, the ship and cargo +were subsequently purchased of him for twenty-one thousand skins of +sea-cats, (not otters) with the stipulation on his part, that he, his +crew, and his skins, should be transported to the Sandwich Islands, +whence he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> hoped to procure a passage for Canton, and there to dispose +of his merchandise to advantage. These skins are usually sold in China +for two Spanish dollars each.</p> + +<p>On the arrival of Captain Blanchard's ship in port, the whole crew, he +himself not excepted, were in a state of intoxication; and it appeared +to be mere good luck that they had escaped the dangers of so many rocks +and shallows; but the North Americans are such clever sailors, that even +when drunk they are capable of managing a ship. It is also probable, +that these had lived more soberly during the voyage, and had been +tempted by the joy of completing it, to extraordinary indulgence. On my +visit to the ship, I could not help remarking the great economy of all +its arrangements: no such thing, for instance, as a looking-glass was to +be seen, except the one kept for measuring the angle of the sextant, and +that, small as it was, assisted the whole crew in the operation of +shaving.</p> + +<p>On the 30th of July, the ship Helena, belonging to the Company, arrived +in New Archangel from Petersburg, bringing an ample provision of +necessaries for the colony. To us this ship<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> was particularly welcome, +as the bearer of permission to leave our station and return to Russia. +We immediately set to work to get our vessel in sailing order; and the +11th of August was the long wished-for day, when, favoured by a fresh +north wind, we bade adieu to New Archangel, where we had passed five +months and a-half surrounded by a people calculated only to inspire +aversion, and without relief to the wearisomeness of our mode of life, +except in the society of Captain Murawieff and the few Russian +inhabitants of the fortress.</p> + +<p>I determined to return to Kronstadt by the Chinese Sea and the Cape of +Good Hope. But having no intention of following Captain Blanchard's +example, in wearing out my crew by a voyage of unreasonable length +without any relaxation, I appointed Manilla, in the Philippine island of +Luçon, for their resting-place, after having made another attempt to +find the Ralik chain of islands.</p> + +<p>The medium of the astronomical observations made during these five +months, gave, as the geographical longitude of New Archangel, 135° 33' +18", and the latitude as 57° 2' 57";<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> the declination of the needle as +27° 30' east. According to this, the promontory of Mount Edgecumbe is in +the longitude 136° 1' 49"; consequently about 20' more westerly than +appears on Vancouver's map.</p> + +<p>We found a similar difference between our observation of St. Francisco +and his; I therefore believe that his whole survey of the north-west +coast of America represents it more easterly than it really is. Our +longitudes have the greater claim to confidence, as they were the +results of repeated observations on land, while his were merely taken on +shipboard <i>en passant</i>.</p> + +<p>The medium of our observations at New Archangel upon the difference in +high tides at the new and full moon, gave thirty minutes for the time, +and sixteen feet for the greatest difference in the height of the +water.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69-70]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">CALIFORNIA,<br /> + +AND THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT OF<br /> + +ROSS.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p> +<h2>CALIFORNIA, AND THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT OF ROSS.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">I have</span> already mentioned, in the foregoing chapter, that I was allowed +to pass the winter of 1824 in California and the Sandwich Islands. +Captain Lasaref also, whom I relieved on the station, proposed to run +into St. Francisco on the coast of California, on his return, in order +there to lay in fresh provisions for his passage round Cape Horn. He +first awaited, however, the arrival of the post from St. Petersburg, +which passes between these distant points of our far-spreading monarchy +only once in the year, arriving in the spring at Ochotsk by the way of +Siberia, and reaching New Archangel in the autumn by sea.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p>It was on the 10th of September 1824, that after having made the +necessary preparations for our subsequent residence in New Archangel, +and having properly equipped the ship, we again put to sea, and a brisk +north wind soon carried us in a southerly direction towards the fertile +peninsula of California. Our voyage was safe, and varied by no +remarkable occurrence, except that under forty degrees of latitude we +were indulged with the spectacle of a most extraordinary struggle +between two opposing winds.</p> + +<p>After a few days' pretty fresh breezes from the south, clouds suddenly +appeared in the north, and, by the motion of the water, we perceived +that an equally strong wind was rising in that direction. The waves from +the opposite regions foamed and raged against each other like hostile +forces; but between them lay a path some fathoms broad, and stretching +from east to west to an immeasurable length, which appeared perfectly +neutral ground, and enjoyed all the repose of the most profound peace, +not a single breath troubling the glassy smoothness of its surface. +After a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> time, victory declared for Boreas, and he drove the smooth +strip towards our vessel, which had hitherto been sailing in the +territory of the south wind. We presently entered the calm region; and +while we had not a puff to swell our sails, the wind raged with +undiminished fury on both sides. This strange spectacle lasted for about +a quarter of an hour; when the north wind, which had been continually +advancing, reached us, and carried us quickly forward towards the point +of our destination.</p> + +<p>On the 25th of September we found ourselves, by observations, in the +neighbourhood of the promontory called by the Spaniards "the King," not +far from the bay of St. Francisco; but a thick fog, which at this season +always reigns over the coast of California, veiled the wished-for land +till the 27th. At ten o'clock in the morning of this day, at a distance +of only three miles, we doubled his rocky majesty, a high bold hill +terminating towards the sea in a steep wall of black rock, and having +nothing at all regal in its appearance,—and perceived in his +neighbourhood a very strong surf, occasioned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> by two contrary and +violent currents raging, with the vain fury of insurrection, against the +tranquillity of his immoveable throne.</p> + +<p>The channel leading into the beautiful basin of St. Francisco is only +half gun-shot wide, and commanded by a fortress situated on its left +bank, on a high rock, named after St. Joachim. We could distinguish the +republican flag, the waving signal, that even this most northern colony +of Spain no longer acknowledges the authority of the mother country; we +also remarked a few cavalry and a crowd of people who were watching our +swiftly sailing vessel with the most eager attention. As we drew nearer, +a sentinel grasped with both hands a long speaking trumpet, and enquired +our nation and from whence we came. This sharp interrogatory, the sight +of the cannon pointed upon our track, and the military, few indeed, but +ready for battle, might have induced an opinion that the fortress had +power to refuse entrance even to a ship of war, had we not been +acquainted with the true state of affairs. St. Joachim, on his rocky +throne, is truly a very peaceable and well-disposed saint; no one of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +his cannon is in condition to fire a single shot, and his troops are +cautious of venturing into actual conflict: he fights with words only. I +would not therefore refuse to his fortress the courtesy of a salute, but +was much astonished at not finding my guns returned. An ambassador from +shore soon solved the mystery, by coming to beg so much powder as would +serve to answer my civility with becoming respect.</p> + +<p>As soon as we had dropped anchor, the whole of the military left the +fortress without a garrison, to mingle with the assemblage of curious +gazers on the shore, where the apparition of our ship seemed to excite +as much astonishment as in the South Sea Islands. I now sent Lieutenant +Pfeifer ashore, to notify our arrival in due form to the commandant, and +to request his assistance in furnishing our vessel with fresh +provisions. The commandant himself, Don Martinez Ignatio, lieutenant of +cavalry, had been summoned to the capital Monterey, to attend Congress, +and was absent; his deputy, the second lieutenant, Don Joseph Sanchez, +received my envoy with much cordiality, and referred in a very +flattering manner<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> to my former visit to this port, in the ship Rurik. +Don Sanchez was at that time a brave subaltern; but had since, under +republican colours, risen in the service. He promised to lend us every +assistance in his power, and proved his friendly intentions by an +immediate present of fruits, vegetables, and fresh meats.</p> + +<p>As our accounts of California are few and defective, a rapid glance at +the history and constitution of this unknown but beautiful country, +richly endowed by Nature with all that an industrious population could +require to furnish the comforts and enjoyments of life, but hitherto +sadly neglected under Spanish mis-government, will probably not be +unwelcome to the readers who have accompanied me thus far: I will +therefore, on its behalf, defer, for a short space, the account of our +residence here.</p> + +<p>The narrow peninsula on the north-west coast of America, beginning at +St. Diego's Point, under thirty-two degrees of latitude, and ending with +the promontory of St. Lucas, under twenty-two degrees, was first +exclusively called California; but the Spaniards extended this +appellation to their more recent discoveries<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> on this coast towards the +north; since which, the peninsula has been named Old, and the more +northern coast to the Bay of St. Francisco, in thirty-seven degrees +latitude, New California; from thence begins the so-called New Albion.</p> + +<p>Mexico did not suffice to the ambition of its restless conqueror Cortez. +To extend still farther the dominion of Spain, he directed the building +of large vessels on the western coast of Mexico; and thus, in the year +1534, was California first seen by Spanish navigators, and in 1537 +visited by Francisco de Ulloa. When information of the new discoveries +reached the Spanish government, they resolved, contrary to their +proceedings in the cases of Mexico and Peru, to gain peaceable +possession of the new country by converting the inhabitants to the +Christian religion, and declared that this pious object was all they had +in view.</p> + +<p>Only a small military force was, in fact, dispatched with a body of +Jesuits, who established a settlement and began the trade of conversion. +Disinterested as this rather expensive expedition appeared, its secret +motive might <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span>probably be found in the fear that any other nation should +establish itself in the neighbourhood of Mexico and the Spanish +gold-mines.</p> + +<p>The Jesuits came and made converts. These were followed by the +Dominicans, who still have settlements, called here missions, in Old +California; and subsequently by the Franciscans, who have established +themselves in the New. They all convert away at a great rate,—we shall +soon find how.</p> + +<p>The first missions were seated on the coast of Old California, for the +convenience of communication by sea with Mexico, and because the country +was favourable to agriculture. The military who accompanied the monks, +selected for their residence a situation from whence they could overlook +several missions, and be always ready for their defence. These military +posts are here called Presidios.</p> + +<p>As it was not possible to make the savage natives comprehend the +doctrines of Christianity, their inculcation was out of the question; +and all that these religionists thought necessary to be done with this +simple, timid race,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> scarcely superior to the animals by whom they were +surrounded, was to introduce the Catholic worship, or, more properly, +the dominion of the monks, by force of arms. The missions multiplied +rapidly. In New California, where we now were, the first of these, that +of St. Diego, was established in 1769; now there are twenty-one in this +country. Twenty-five thousand baptized Indians belong at present to +these missions, and a military force of five hundred dragoons is found +sufficient to keep them in obedience, to prevent their escape, or, if +they should elude the vigilance of their guards, to bring them from the +midst of their numerous tribes, improving the favourable opportunity of +making new converts by the power of the sword.</p> + +<p>The fate of these so called Christian Indians is not preferable even to +that of negro slaves. Abandoned to the despotism of tyrannical monks, +Heaven itself offers no refuge from their sufferings; for their +spiritual masters stand as porters at the gate, and refuse entrance to +whom they please. These unfortunate beings pass their lives in prayer, +and in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> toiling for the monks, without possessing any property of their +own. Thrice a day they are driven to church, to hear a mass in the Latin +language; the rest of their time is employed in labouring in the fields +and gardens with coarse, clumsy implements, and in the evening they are +locked up in over-crowded barracks, which, unboarded, and without +windows or beds, rather resemble cows' stalls than habitations for men. +A coarse woollen shirt which they make themselves, and then receive as a +present from the missionaries, constitutes their only clothing. Such is +the happiness which the Catholic religion has brought to the +uncultivated Indian; and this is the Paradise which he must not presume +to undervalue by attempting a return to freedom in the society of his +unconverted countrymen, under penalty of imprisonment in fetters.</p> + +<p>The large tract of arable land which these pious shepherds of souls have +appropriated to themselves, and which is cultivated by their flocks, is +for the most part sown with wheat and pulse. The harvest is laid up in +store; and what is not necessary for immediate consumption<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> is shipped +for Mexico, and there either exchanged for articles required by the +missions, or sold for hard piastres to fill the coffers of the monks.</p> + +<p>In this way were the missionaries, and the military who depended upon +them, living quietly enough in California, when the other Spanish +colonies threw off their allegiance to the mother country. The +insurrection having spread as far as Mexico, they were invited by the +new governments, under advantageous conditions, to make common cause +with them, but they remained true to their King; nor was their fidelity +shaken by the total neglect of the Spaniards, who for many years +appeared to have forgotten their very existence, and had not even +troubled themselves to make the ordinary remittances for the pay of the +military, or the support of the monks. Still their loyalty remained +unshaken; they implicitly obeyed even that command of the King which +closed their ports against all foreign vessels; and as the republicans +were considered as foreigners, and no ships arrived from Spain, the +missions, as well as the Presidios, soon began to suffer the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> greatest +scarcity of many necessaries which the country did not produce. The +soldiery, even to the commander himself, were in rags, without pay, and +deriving a mendicant subsistence from the monks. The want which pressed +most heavily on the latter was that of the implements of agriculture and +other labour; having, with true Spanish indolence, forborne any attempt +to manufacture them in the country. The very source of all their +acquisitions was thus threatened with extinction; yet still they adhered +to their King, with a fidelity truly honourable had it been more +disinterested:—but what could they expect from a change of government, +except the limitations of their hitherto unbounded power?</p> + +<p>In the discontent of the soldiers, however, smouldered a spark, +dangerous to the power of the monks, which was suddenly blown into a +flame by a circumstance that occurred a few years before our arrival.</p> + +<p>The only pleasure for which the baptized Indians had ever been indebted +to the monks was the possession of such baubles as our sailors use in +traffic with the South Sea islanders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> These things of course could no +longer be obtained, and their loss was regarded by the new Christians as +a heavy misfortune. Their despair at length broke out into insurrection: +they burst their prisons, and attacked the dwellings of the monks, but +retired before the fire of musketry. The military, with very little loss +on their side, defeated great numbers of the natives, and brought them +again into their previous subjection.</p> + +<p>A new light dawned on the minds of the dragoons. What would have become +of the monks without their valiant support? Elated by victory, and +disregarding all the protestations of the ghostly fathers, whose +feebleness and helplessness were now apparent, they declared themselves +the first class in the country, and independent of Spain, which for so +many years had abandoned them to their fate.</p> + +<p>Similar causes produced similar effects in Old California, and each +country now forms a separate republic.</p> + +<p>Spain might with ease have retained these fertile provinces under +allegiance. Had their fidelity received the smallest encouragement, it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +would probably never have been shaken; and California would have proved +a most convenient support for the claims of the mother country on the +revolutionized colonies, especially on Mexico, formerly the fertile +source of Spanish wealth. The Philippines have not rebelled, and these +rich islands could have afforded all the assistance the missions +required. The neglect of California by Spain would almost seem to have +been appointed by Providence, that the prosperity of the new States +might suffer no interruption.</p> + +<p>One immediate result of the independence of this colony is the opening +of her ports to all nations, and the consequent impetus given to +commerce. The North American States have been the first to make use of +the privilege.</p> + +<p>The exports of California now consist of corn, ox-hides, tallow, and the +costly skins of the sea-otter. Some speculators have attempted a trade +with China, but hitherto without success. A richly laden ship was +entrusted to a North American captain for this purpose, who disposed of +the cargo in China; but found it more convenient<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> to retain both the +money and ship for his own use, than to return to the owners.</p> + +<p>The government of New California was on our present visit administered +by Don Louis Arguello, the same young man with whom I became acquainted +on my voyage in the Rurik, when he was commandant of the Presidio of St. +Francisco. He resided at this time in Monterey, and employed himself in +devising systems of government which should bring the heterogeneous +ingredients of the new republic, dragoons, monks, and Indians, into +order and unity.</p> + +<p>May the destiny of the latter be ameliorated by the change! No +Constitution has yet been established here; and Arguello's power, or +perhaps ability, was inadequate to introducing that which he had +proposed. Many changes are still necessary in the Californias before +they can become the happy and flourishing countries for which Nature +intended them.</p> + +<p>On the morning after our arrival, I visited old Sanchez in the Presidio. +He received me with unfeigned cordiality, and related to me many things +which had taken place since my visit in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> the Rurik eight years ago. Don +Louis, he said, had become a great man, and he himself a lieutenant, +which here imports a considerable rank. Nevertheless, he disapproved of +all the proceedings, and felt assured that no good could accrue from +them. He would rather, he said, be a petty Spanish subject, than a +republican officer of state.</p> + +<p>The Presidio was in the same state in which I found it eight years +before; and, except the republican flag, no trace of the important +changes which had taken place was perceptible. Every thing was going on +in the old, easy, careless way.</p> + +<p>Sanchez at once promised to provide the ship daily with fresh meat, but +advised me to send a boat to the mission of Santa Clara for a supply of +vegetables, which were there to be had in superfluity. The Presidio had, +with a negligence which would be inconceivable in any other country, +omitted to cultivate even sufficient for their own consumption.</p> + +<p>As I had not visited the mission of Santa Clara during my first visit to +California, I now determined to proceed thither on the following day, in +the long-boat. Sanchez provided a good pilot, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> sent a courier +overland to announce my arrival at the mission.</p> + +<p>The bay of St. Francisco is full ninety miles in circuit: it is divided +by islands into two pretty equally sized basins, a northern and a +southern. On the banks of the southern, which takes an easterly +direction, lie the three missions, St. Francisco, Santa Clara, and St. +José. Of the northern half of the bay I will speak hereafter.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 28th of September, the Barcasse was ready, and +equipped with every thing necessary for our little voyage. Favoured both +by wind and tide, we sailed eastward past many charming islands and +promontories, to the mission of Santa Clara, which lay at a distance of +five-and-twenty miles, in a straight line from the ship. The country +presented on all sides a picture of beauty and fertility: the shores are +of a moderate elevation, and covered with a brilliant verdure; the +hills, towards the interior, swell gently into an amphitheatre, and the +background is formed by high thick woods. Groves of oaks are scattered +upon the slopes, separated by lovely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> meadows, and forming more graceful +and picturesque groups than I have ever seen as the produce of art. With +very little trouble, the most luxuriant harvests might be reaped from +this soil; but a happy and industrious population has not yet been +established here, to profit from the prodigality of Nature. The +death-like stillness of these beautiful fields is broken only by the +wild animals which inhabit them; and as far as the eye can reach, it +perceives no trace of human existence; not even a canoe is to be seen +upon the surrounding waters, which are navigable for large vessels, and +boast many excellent harbours;—the large white pelican with the bag +under his bill, is the only gainer by the abundance of fish they +produce. During the centuries of Spanish supremacy in California, even +the exertion of procuring a net has been deemed too great. How +abundantly and happily might thousands of families subsist here! and how +advantageously might the emigrants to Brazil have preferred this spot +for colonization! There, they have to struggle with many difficulties, +are often oppressed by the government, and always suffer under a +scorching<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> sun. Here, they would have found the climate of the South of +Germany, and a luxuriant soil, that would have yielded an ample +recompense for the slightest pains bestowed upon it.</p> + +<p>After a few hours' sail, we came to a deep creek opening to the right, +and on its shores we perceived the mission of St. Francisco rising among +wooded hills. The tide by this time had ebbed, the wind had died away, +and we proceeded slowly by the aid of oars: this induced us, after +rowing about fifteen miles, to land, at noon, on a pleasant little +island. We made a blazing fire; and as every sailor understands +something of cookery, a dinner was soon dressed, which eaten in the open +air in beautiful weather, under the shade of spreading oaks, appeared +excellent.</p> + +<p>While the sailors were reposing, we examined the island. Its northern +shore was tolerably high, and rose almost perpendicularly from the sea. +Its soil, as that of all the country about the bay of St. Francisco, +consists, under the upper mould, of a variegated slate; probably the +foot of man had never before trodden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> it. But a short time since, no +boat was to be found in the neighbourhood, and now each mission +possesses only one large barge in which the reverend Fathers pass up and +down the rivers that discharge themselves into the northern half of the +bay, to seek among the Indians who are occasionally seen on their banks, +for proselytes to recruit the ranks of their laborious subjects. The +only canoes of the Indians are made of plaited reeds, in which they sit +up to their hips in water. That no one has yet attempted to build even +the simplest canoe in a country which produces a super-abundance of the +finest wood for the purpose, is a striking proof of the indolence of the +Spaniards, and the stupidity of the Indians.</p> + +<p>Our island was surrounded by wild ducks and other sea-fowl; the +white-headed eagle hovered too over the oaks, and seemed to be pursuing +a very small species of hare, and a pretty partridge, of which there are +great numbers.</p> + +<p>We enjoyed for a few hours the recreation of the land, so welcome to +sailors, and then continued our voyage with a favourable wind.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p><p>The sun was near the horizon when we approached the eastern shore of +the bay. Here the water is no longer of sufficient depth to admit large +vessels, and the face of the country assumes a different character. The +mountains retire to a greater distance; extensive plains slope from the +hills towards the water's edge, where they become mere swamps, +intersected however by a variety of natural channels, by means of which, +boats may run some distance inland. It was already growing dark as we +entered these channels, where, even during daylight, the assistance of a +good pilot is requisite to thread the intricacies of a navigation among +thick reeds that grow to such a height in the marshes on both sides, as +to exclude from view every object but the sky. Our sailors plied their +oars vigorously; the channels became gradually narrower, and the banks +drier; at length we heard human voices behind the reeds, and at midnight +we reached the landing-place. A large fire had been lighted. Two +dragoons and a few half-naked Indians, sent from the mission, were +waiting our arrival, with saddle-horses intended for our use. As the +mission was at the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>distance of a good hour's ride, the night was dark, +and I was not inclined to trouble the repose of the monks, I determined +to await the dawn of morning. Our small tents were presently pitched, +several fires lighted, and the cooks set to work.</p> + +<p>After our tedious row, (for, owing to the zigzag course we had been +compelled to steer, we had passed over a distance of at least forty +miles,) the camping out, in a beautiful night, was quite delightful. +Although it was now the latter end of September, the air was as mild as +with us during the warmest summer nights. Round our little encampment we +heard an incessant barking, as of young dogs, proceeding from a species +of wolf, which abounds throughout California; it is not larger than the +fox; but is so daring and dexterous, that it makes no scruple of +entering human habitations in the night, and rarely fails to appropriate +whatever happens to suit it. This we ourselves experienced; for our +provision of meat had not been sufficiently secured, and we found +nothing in the morning but a gnawed and empty bag.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span></p><p>The rising sun announced the approach of a fine day, and gave us a view +of the extensive plains which formed the surrounding country. The +missionaries cultivated wheat upon them, which had been already +harvested, and large flocks of cattle, horses, and sheep, were seen +pasturing among the stubble. The mission of Santa Clara possesses +fourteen thousand head of cattle, one thousand horses, and ten thousand +sheep. The greater part of these animals being left to roam undisturbed +about the woods, they multiply with amazing rapidity.</p> + +<p>I now ordered the horses to be saddled, and we set off for the mission, +the buildings and woods of which bounded the view over these prodigious +corn-fields. Our way lay through the stubble, amongst flocks of wild +geese, ducks, and snipes, so tame that we might have killed great +numbers with our sticks. These are all birds of passage, spending the +winter here, and the summer farther north. We fired a few shots among +the geese, and brought down about a dozen: they differ but little in +size from our domestic goose, and some of them are quite white. A ride +of an hour and a half brought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> us to Santa Clara, where the monks +received us in the most friendly manner, and exerted themselves most +hospitably, to make our visit agreeable.</p> + +<p>The mission, which was founded in the year 1777, is situated beside a +stream of the most pure and delicious water, in a large and extremely +fertile plain. The buildings of Santa Clara, overshadowed by thick +groves of oaks, and surrounded by gardens which, though carelessly +cultivated, produce an abundance of vegetables, the finest grapes, and +fruits of all kinds, are in the same style as at all the other missions. +They consist of a large stone church, a spacious dwelling-house for the +monks, a large magazine for the preservation of corn, and the +Rancherios, or barracks, for the Indians, of which mention has already +been made. These are divided into long rows of houses, or rather stalls, +where each family is allowed a space scarcely large enough to enable +them to lie down to repose. We were struck by the appearance of a large +quadrangular building, which having no windows on the outside, and only +one carefully secured door, resembled a prison for <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span>state-criminals. It +proved to be the residence appropriated by the monks, the severe +guardians of chastity, to the young unmarried Indian women, whom they +keep under their particular superintendence, making their time useful to +the community by spinning, weaving, and similar occupations. These +dungeons are opened two or three times a-day, but only to allow the +prisoners to pass to and from the church. I have occasionally seen the +poor girls rushing out eagerly to breathe the fresh air, and driven +immediately into the church like a flock of sheep, by an old ragged +Spaniard armed with a stick. After mass, they are in the same manner +hurried back to their prisons. Yet, notwithstanding all the care of the +ghostly fathers, the feet of some of these uninviting fair ones were +cumbered with bars of iron, the penal consequence, as I was informed, of +detected transgression. Only on their marriage are these cloistered +virgins allowed to issue from their confinement and associate with their +own people in the barracks.</p> + +<p>Three times a-day a bell summons the Indians to their meals, which are +prepared in large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> kettles, and served out in portions to each family. +They are seldom allowed meat; their ordinary, and not very wholesome +food, consisting of wheaten flour, maize, peas and beans, mixed +together, and boiled to a thick soup.</p> + +<p>The mission of Santa Clara contains fifteen hundred male Indians, of +whom about one-half are married. All these men are governed by three +monks, and guarded by four soldiers and a subaltern officer. Since this +force is found sufficient, it follows either that the Indians of the +mission are happier than their free countrymen, or that, no way superior +to the domestic animals, they are chained by their instincts to the +place where their food is provided. The first supposition can hardly be +well founded. Hard labour every day, Sundays only excepted, when labour +is superseded by prayer; corporal chastisement, imprisonment, and +fetters on the slightest demonstration of disobedience; unwholesome +nourishment, miserable lodging, deprivation of all property, and of all +the enjoyments of life:—these are not boons which diffuse content. Many +indeed of these unfortunate victims prove, by their attempts to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> escape, +that their submission is involuntary; but the soldiers, as I have before +observed, generally hunt them from their place of refuge, and bring them +back to undergo the severe punishment their transgression has incurred. +To the most stupid apathy, then, must the patience of these Indians be +ascribed; and in this, their distinguishing characteristic, they exceed +every race of men I have ever known, not excepting the degraded natives +of Terra del Fuego, or Van Diemen's Land.</p> + +<p>The Christian religion, or what the monks are pleased to call by that +name, has given no beneficial spur to their minds. How indeed could it +act upon their confined understandings, when their teachers were almost +wholly deficient in the necessary means of communicating knowledge,—an +acquaintance with their language? I have since had opportunities of +observing the free Indians, who appear less stupid, and in many respects +more civilized, than the proselytes of the <i>gente rationale</i>, as the +Spaniards here call themselves; and I am convinced that the system of +instruction and discipline adopted by the monks, has certainly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> tended +to degrade even these step-children of Nature. If to raise them to the +rank of intellectual beings had been really the object in view, rather +than making them the mock professors of a religion they are incapable of +understanding, they should have been taught the arts of agriculture and +architecture, and the method of breeding cattle; they should have been +made proprietors of the land they cultivated, and should have freely +enjoyed its produce. Had this been done, <i>los barbaros</i> might soon have +stood on a level with the <i>gente rationale</i>.</p> + +<p>There are in California many different races of Indians, whose languages +vary so much from each other, as sometimes to have scarcely any +resemblance; in the single mission of Santa Clara more than twenty +languages are spoken. These races are all alike ugly, stupid, dirty, and +disgusting: they are of a middle size, weak, and of a blackish colour; +they have flat faces, thick lips, broad negro-noses, scarcely any +foreheads, and black, coarse, straight hair. The powers of their mind +lie yet profoundly dormant; and La Pérouse does not perhaps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> exaggerate +when he affirms, that if any one among them can be made to comprehend +that twice two make four, he may pass, in comparison with his +countrymen, for a Descartes or a Newton. To most of them, this important +arithmetical proposition would certainly be perfectly incomprehensible.</p> + +<p>In their wild state, all these Indians lead a wandering life. It is only +recently that they have begun to build huts of underwood, which they +burn whenever they remove from the spot. The chase is their sole +occupation and means of subsistence. Hence their skill in shooting with +arrows has cost many Spanish lives. They lie in wait at night, in the +forests and mountains, watching for game.</p> + +<p>Agriculture, as I have before observed, is the copious source of revenue +to the monks, and they farm on an extensive scale. The yearly crop of +wheat at Santa Clara alone, produces three thousand fanegos, about six +hundred and twenty English quarters, or three thousand four hundred +Berlin bushels; and from the extraordinary fertility of the soil, the +harvest, on an average, is forty-fold, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span>notwithstanding the roughness of +their mode of cultivation. The field is first broken up with a very +clumsy plough, then sown, and a second ploughing completes the work. +Under the hard clods of earth thus left undisturbed, a great part of the +seed perishes of course. How unexampled would be the harvest, if +assisted by the capital and industry of an European farmer!</p> + +<p>The monks themselves confess that they are not good agriculturists; but +they are content with their harvests. Their carelessness is however +unpardonable, in having never yet erected a mill. There is not one in +all California; and the poor Indians are obliged to grind their corn by +manual labour between two large, flat stones.</p> + +<p>From the mission we took half an hour's walk to a <i>Pueblo</i>. This word +signifies, in California, a village, inhabited by married invalids, +disbanded soldiers from the Presidio, and their progeny. This Pueblo +lies in a beautiful spot. The houses are pleasant, built of stone, and +stand in the midst of orchards, and hedges of vines bearing luxuriant +clusters of the richest grapes. The inhabitants came out to meet us,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +and with much courteousness, blended with the ceremonious politeness of +the Spaniards, invited us to enter their simple but cleanly dwellings. +All their countenances bespoke health and contentment, and they have +good cause to rejoice in their lot. Unburthened by taxes of any kind, +and in possession of as much land as they choose to cultivate, they live +free from care on the rich produce of their fields and herds.</p> + +<p>The population of these Pueblos is every year on the increase; while, on +the contrary, the numbers of the Indians dependent on the missions are +continually decreasing. The mortality amongst the latter is so great, +that the establishments could not continue, if their spiritual +conductors did not constantly procure fresh recruits from amongst the +free Indians, to fill the thinning ranks of their labourers.</p> + +<p>In Old California, many of the missions have gone to decay on account of +the total extermination of the savages. The north still affords an +abundant supply to New California; but if the missionaries do not +economize the lives of their men more than they have hitherto done, this +source also will in time be exhausted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> Meanwhile the Pueblos will +continue to multiply, and will become the origins of a new and improved +population.</p> + +<p>After passing three days with the monks of Santa Clara, who at least +possess the virtue of hospitality, we set out on our return with a +provision of fruit and vegetables, purchased for very fair prices. They +were carried to the place of embarkation on heavy and very badly +constructed cars drawn by oxen: the wheels were made of thick planks +nailed together, without any regard to mechanical science either in +their form or poizing; and the machine slowly advanced with a difficult +jolting motion very prejudicial to our fine melons, peaches, grapes, and +figs, and to the magnificent apples, which have no equals in Europe. On +reaching our Barcasse, we found all in readiness to receive ourselves +and cargo. The sailors had been much disturbed in the night by the +wolves.</p> + +<p>The ebb-tide favoured our navigation, and soon brought us within sight +of an arm of the sea, stretching eastward, at the extremity of which the +mission of St. José was built in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> year 1797, on a very fertile spot. +It is already one of the richest in California, and a Pueblo has arisen +in its neighbourhood; the only Pueblo on the Bay of St. Francisco, +except that near Santa Clara. Between St. José and Santa Clara a road +has lately been made which may be traversed on horseback in about two +hours.</p> + +<p>Soon after our return to the ship, a monk was observed riding along the +shore in company with a dragoon, and making signs with his large hat, +that he wished to come on board. We sent the boat for him, and a little, +thin, lively, and loquacious Spaniard introduced himself as the Padre +Thomas of the mission of St. Francisco, and offered, for a good +remuneration, to furnish us daily with fresh provisions, besides two +bottles of milk. He boasted not a little of being the only man in the +whole Bay of St. Francisco who had succeeded, after overcoming many +difficulties and obstacles, in obtaining milk from cows, of which he had +a numerous herd. As the Presidio could not supply our wants, and the +mission of Santa Clara lay too far<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> off, we were very willing to accede +to Padre Thomas's wish; and he left us with an invitation to visit him +the following noon.</p> + +<p>Accordingly, several of my officers and myself rode the next day to the +mission of St. Francisco, which I have described in the account of my +former voyage, and which has remained pretty much in the same state ever +since. The jovial Father Thomas was now the only monk in the mission, +and, consequently, at its head; he entertained us in a very friendly +manner, and with considerable expense.</p> + +<p>The repast consisted of a great number of dishes, strongly seasoned with +garlic and pepper, and plenty of very tolerable wine of the Padre's own +vintage; it was animated by music, partly the performance of some little +naked Indian boys, upon bad fiddles, and partly of the venerable father +himself on a barrel organ which stood near him. The fruits for the +dessert were procured from the mission of Santa Clara, as the mists from +the sea prevent their ripening at St. Francisco.</p> + +<p>Some guns from the Presidio, fired with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> powder that remained after +returning our salute, one morning announced the arrival of Don Ignatio +Martinez, the commandant, who, after the breaking up of the congress at +Monterey, had returned to his post. With him came also the commandant of +the Presidio St. Diego, Don José Maria Estudillo, whom I had before +known. They visited me, accompanied by Sanchez, dined with me on board, +and were so well entertained, that they did not take leave of us till +late at night.</p> + +<p>Indispensable business now summoned me to the establishment of the +Russian-American Company called Ross, which lies about eighty miles +north of St. Francisco. I had for some time been desirous of performing +the journey by land, but the difficulties had appeared insurmountable. +Without the assistance of the commandant, it certainly could not have +been accomplished; I was therefore glad to avail myself of his friendly +disposition towards me to make the attempt. We required a number of +horses and a military escort; the latter to serve us at once as guides, +and as a protection<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> against the savages. Both these requests were +immediately granted; and Don Estudillo himself offered to command our +escort.</p> + +<p>My companions on this journey were Dr. Eschscholz, Mr. Hoffman, two of +my officers, two sailors, Don Estudillo, and four dragoons, making +altogether a party of twelve. On the evening previous to the day for our +departure, Estudillo came to the ship with his four dragoons, the latter +well armed, and accoutred in a panoply of leather. He himself, in the +old Spanish costume, with a heavy sword, still heavier spurs, a dagger +and pistols in his belt, and a staff in his hand, was a good +personification of an adventurer of the olden time. He assured us that +we could not be too cautious, since we should pass through a part of the +country inhabited by "<i>los Indianos bravos</i>:" we therefore also made a +plentiful provision of arms, and were ready, as soon as the first beams +of morning glimmered on the tops of the mountains, to set forward in our +barcasse for the mission of St. Gabriel, lying on the northern shore of +the bay, whence our land journey was to commence.</p> + +<p>The weather was beautiful, the wind <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span>perfectly still, and the air +enchantingly mild. An Indian named Marco, whom Estudillo had brought +with him, served us as pilot; for the Spaniards here, incapable, either +through indolence or ignorance, of discharging that office, always +employ an experienced Indian at the helm.</p> + +<p>Don Estudillo, although advanced in life, was a very cheerful companion, +and one of the most enlightened Spaniards I have met with in California. +He piqued himself a little on his literary acquirements, and mentioned +having read three books besides Don Quixote and Gil Blas, whilst, as he +assured me in confidence, the rest of his countrymen here had hardly +ever seen any other book than the Bible. Marco had grown grey in the +mission: on account of his usefulness, he had been in many respects +better treated than most of the Indians: he spoke Spanish with tolerable +fluency; and when Estudillo endeavoured to exercise his wit upon him, +often embarrassed him not a little by his repartees. This Marco affords +a proof that, under favourable circumstances, the minds even of the +Indians of California are susceptible of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> improvement; but these +examples are rare in the missions.</p> + +<p>Don Estudillo spoke with much freedom of the affairs of California, +where he had resided thirty years: like most of his comrades, he was no +friend to the clergy. He accused them of consulting only their own +interest, and of employing their proselytes as a means of laying up +wealth for themselves, with which, when acquired, they return to Spain. +He described to us their method of conversion. The monks, he said, send +dragoons into the mountains to catch the free heathens, that they may +convert them into Christian slaves. For this species of chase, the +huntsman is provided with a strong leathern noose fastened to his +saddle, long enough to throw to a great distance, and acquires such +dexterity in the practice as seldom to miss his aim. As soon as he +perceives a troop of Indians, he throws his noose over one of them +before he has time to defend himself, then setting spurs to his horse, +rides back to the mission with his prisoner, and is fortunate if he +bring him there alive. I can myself bear witness to the skill and +boldness of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> dragoons, in the management of their horses, and in the +use of the noose, with which two or three of them in conjunction will +catch even bears and wild bulls; a single man is sufficient to capture +an Indian.</p> + +<p>Estudillo declared that no Indian ever presents himself voluntarily at +the missions, but that they are all either hunted in the manner above +described, or tricked out of their liberty by some artifice of the +monks. For this purpose, some few in every mission are extremely well +treated, as for instance our pilot Marco. These are from time to time +sent into distant parts of the country to exert their eloquence on their +countrymen, and entice them to the missions. Once there, they are +immediately baptized, and they then become for ever the property of the +monks.</p> + +<p>To my observation, that affairs would now probably assume a different +aspect, as the arbitrary dominion of the clergy, and the dependence of +the military upon them were equally terminated, Estudillo replied, that +California might certainly become a powerful state,—that she was +abundantly provided by nature with all that was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> requisite to her +political aggrandizement, but that she needed a man of ability in her +councils. "Don Louis Arguello," said he, "is not the man to +re-invigorate our radically disordered finances, to introduce a +wholesome subordination, without which no government can flourish, and +to establish a constitution upon which our future tranquillity and +improvement may be founded. Our soldiers are all of one mind; whoever +pays them the arrears due from the Spanish government is their master; +he purchases them, and to him they belong. Induced by a knowledge of +this disposition, Mexico has entered into negotiations with us; and the +question whether California shall exist as an independent state, or +place herself under the protection of another power, has been +particularly discussed at the late congress at Monterey, and is still +undecided."</p> + +<p>I confess I could not help speculating upon the benefit this country +would derive from becoming a province of our powerful empire, and how +useful it would prove to Russia. An inexhaustible granary for +Kamtschatka, Ochotsk, and all the settlements of the American Company; +these regions, so often afflicted with a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> scarcity of corn, would derive +new life from a close connection with California.</p> + +<p>The sun rose in full magnificence from behind the mountain, at the +moment when, emerging from between the islands which divide the northern +from the southern half of the bay, an extensive mirror of water opened +upon our view. The mission of St. Gabriel, the first stage of our +journey, formed a distinguished object in the background of the +prospect, sloping up the sides of the hills, the intervening flat land +lying so low that it was not yet within our horizon. We had also a +distant view towards the north-west of another newly founded mission, +that of St. Francisco Salona, the only one situated on the northern +shore of the bay except St. Gabriel.</p> + +<p>The country at this side of the bay, chiefly characterised by gently +swelling hills, the park-like grouping of the trees, and the lively +verdure of the meadows, is as agreeable to the eye as that of the +southern coast. The water is pure and wholesome, which that at the +Presidio is not; we therefore laid in our ship's store here.</p> + +<p>The whole Bay of St. Francisco, in which thousands of ships might lie at +anchor, is formed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> by nature for an excellent harbour; but the little +creeks about the north-west coast, now lying to our left, and which I +have since frequently visited, are especially advantageous for repairs, +being so deep that the largest vessels can lie conveniently close to the +land; and an abundance of the finest wood for ship-building, even for +the tallest masts, is found in the immediate neighbourhood. The whole of +the northern part of the bay, which does not properly belong to +California, but is assigned by geographers to New Albion, has hitherto +remained unvisited by voyagers, and little known even to the Spaniards +residing in the country. Two large navigable rivers, which I afterwards +surveyed, empty themselves into it, one from the north, the other from +the east. The land is extremely fruitful, and the climate is perhaps the +finest and most healthy in the world. It has hitherto been the fate of +these regions, like that of modest merit or humble virtue, to remain +unnoticed; but posterity will do them justice; towns and cities will +hereafter flourish where all is now desert; the waters, over which +scarcely a solitary boat is yet seen to glide, will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> reflect the flags +of all nations; and a happy, prosperous people receiving with +thankfulness what prodigal Nature bestows for their use, will disperse +her treasures over every part of the world.</p> + +<p>A fresh and favourable wind brought us, without much delay from the +opposing ebb-tide, to the northern shore. We left the common embouchure +of its two principal rivers, distinguished by the steepness of their +banks to the right, and rowing up the narrow channel which has formed +itself through the marsh land, reached our landing-place just as the +sun's disk touched the blue summits of the mountains in the west.</p> + +<p>We were still distant a good nautical mile from the mission of St. +Gabriel, which peeped from amongst the foliage of its ancient oaks. Many +horses belonging to the mission were grazing on a beautiful meadow by +the water-side, in perfect harmony with a herd of small deer, which are +very numerous in this country. Our dragoons, who had no inclination for +a long walk, took their <i>lassos</i> in hand, and soon caught us as many +horses as we wanted. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> had brought our saddles with us, and a +delightful gallop across the plain carried us to St. Gabriel, where we +were received in a very hospitable manner by the only monk in residence.</p> + +<p>The locality of this mission, founded in 1816, is still better chosen +than that of the celebrated Santa Clara. A mountain shelters it from the +injurious north-wind; but the same mountain serves also as a +hiding-place and bulwark for the <i>Indianos bravos</i>, who have already +once succeeded in burning the buildings of the mission, and still keep +the monks continually on the watch against similar depredations. In +fact, St. Gabriel has quite the appearance of an outpost for the defence +of the other missions.</p> + +<p>The garrison, <i>six men</i> strong, is always ready for service on the +slightest alarm. Having been driven from my bed at night by the vermin, +I saw two sentinels, fully armed, keeping guard towards the mountain, +each of them beside a large fire; every two minutes they rang a bell +which was hung between two pillars, and were regularly answered by the +howling of the little wolf I have before spoken of, as often lurking in +the vicinity of the missions. That there is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> not much to fear from other +enemies, is sufficiently proved by the small number of soldiers kept, +and the total neglect of all regular means of defence. The courage of +these <i>bravos</i> seems indeed principally to consist in unwillingness to +be caught, in flying with all speed to their hiding-places when pursued, +and in setting fire to any property of the missions when they can find +an opportunity of doing so unobserved. We saw here several of these +heroes working patiently enough with irons on their feet, and in no way +distinguishable in manners or appearance from their brethren of St. +Francisco or Santa Clara.</p> + +<p>With the first rays of the sun we mounted our horses, and having passed +the valley of St. Gabriel, and the hill which bounds it, our guide led +us in a north-westerly direction further into the interior. The fine, +light, and fertile soil we rode upon was thickly covered with rich +herbage, and the luxuriant trees stood in groups as picturesque as if +they had been disposed by the hand of taste. We met with numerous herds +of small stags, so fearless, that they suffered us to ride fairly into +the midst of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> them, but then indeed darted away with the swiftness of an +arrow. We sometimes also, but less frequently, saw another species of +stag, as large as a horse, with branching antlers; these generally graze +on hills, from whence they can see round them on all sides, and appear +much more cautious than the small ones. The Indians, however, have their +contrivances to take them. They fasten a pair of the stag's antlers on +their heads, and cover their bodies with his skin; then crawling on +all-fours among the high grass, they imitate the movements of the +creature while grazing; the herd, mistaking them for their fellows, +suffer them to approach without suspicion, and are not aware of the +treachery till the arrows of the disguised foes have thinned their +number.</p> + +<p>Towards noon the heat became so oppressive, that we were obliged to halt +on the summit of a hill: we reposed under the shade of some thick and +spreading oaks, while our horses grazed and our meal was preparing. +During our rest, we caught a glimpse of a troop of Indians skulking +behind some bushes at a distance; our dragoons immediately seized their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +arms, but the savages disappeared without attempting to approach us. In +a few hours we proceeded on our journey, through a country, which +presenting no remarkable object to direct our course, excited my +astonishment at the local memory of our guide, who had traversed it but +once before. Two great shaggy white wolves, hunting a herd of small +deer, fled in terror on our appearance, and we had the gratification of +saving the pretty animals for this time. In several places we saw little +cylindrically-shaped huts of underwood, which appeared to have been +recently quitted by Indians, and sometimes we even found the still +glimmering embers of a fire; it is therefore probable that the savages +were often close to us when we were not aware of it; but they always +took care to conceal themselves from the much dreaded dragoons and their +lassos.</p> + +<p>In the evening we reached a little mountain brook, which, after winding +through a ravine, falls into the sea at Port Romanzow, or Bodega. It was +already dark, and though but ten miles distance from Ross, we were +obliged to pass the chill and foggy night not very agreeably on this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> +spot. In the morning we forded the shallow stream, and as we proceeded, +found in the bold, wild features of the scene a striking difference from +the smiling valleys through which we had travelled on the preceding day. +The nearer we drew to the coast, the more abrupt became the precipices +and the higher the rocks, which were overgrown with larch even to their +peaked summits.</p> + +<p>We wound round the bases of some hills, and having with much fatigue +climbed other very steep ascents, reached towards noon a considerable +height, which rewarded us with a magnificent prospect. Amongst the +remarkable objects before us, the ocean stretched to the west, with the +harbour of Romanzow, which unfortunately will only afford admission to +small vessels; the Russian settlement here, can therefore never be as +prosperous as it might have been, had circumstances permitted its +establishment on the bay of St. Francisco. To the east, extending far +inland, lay a valley, called by the Indians the Valley of the White Men. +There is a tradition among them, that a ship was once wrecked on this +coast; that the white<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> men chose this valley for their residence, and +lived there in great harmony with the Indians. What afterwards became of +them is not recorded. On the north-east was a high mountain thickly +covered with fir trees, from amongst which rose dark columns of smoke, +giving evidence of Indian habitations. Our soldiers said that it was the +abode of a chief and his tribe, whose valour had won the respect of the +Spaniards; that they were of a distinct class from the common race of +Indians; had fixed their dwellings on this mountain on account of its +supposed inaccessibility; were distinguished for their courage, and +preferred death to the dominion of the Missionaries, into whose power no +one of them has ever yet been entrapped. Is it not possible that they +may owe their superiority to having mingled their race with that of the +shipwrecked whites?</p> + +<p>Our road now lay sometimes across hills and meadows, and sometimes along +the sands so near the ocean that we were sprinkled by its spray. We +passed Port Romanzow, and soon after forded the bed of another shallow +river to which the Russians have given the name of Slavianka.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> Farther +inland it is said to be deeper, and even navigable for ships; its banks +are extremely fertile, but peopled by numerous warlike hordes. It flows +hither from the north-east; and the Russians have proceeded up it a +distance of a hundred wersts, or about sixty-seven English miles.</p> + +<p>The region we now passed through was of a very romantic though wild +character; and the luxuriant growth of the grass proved that the soil +was rich. From the summit of a high hill, we at length, to our great +joy, perceived beneath us the fortress of Ross, to which we descended by +a tolerably convenient road. We spurred our tired horses, and excited no +small astonishment as we passed through the gate at a gallop. M. Von +Schmidt, the governor of the establishment, received us in the kindest +manner, fired some guns to greet our arrival on Russian-American ground, +and conducted us into his commodious and orderly mansion, built in the +European fashion with thick beams.</p> + +<p>The settlement of Ross, situated on the sea-shore, in latitude 38° 33', +and on an insignificant stream, was founded in the year 1812, with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +free consent of the natives, who were very useful in furnishing +materials for the buildings and even in their erection.</p> + +<p>The intention in forming this settlement was to pursue the chase of the +sea-otter on the coast of California, where the animal was then +numerous, as it had become extremely scarce in the more northern +establishments. The Spaniards who did not hunt them, willingly took a +small compensation for their acquiescence in the views of the Russians; +and the sea-otter, though at present scarce even here, is more +frequently caught along the Californian coast, southward from Ross, than +in any other quarter. The fortress is a quadrangle, palisaded with tall, +thick beams, and defended by two towers which mount fifteen cannons. The +garrison consisted, on my arrival, of a hundred and thirty men, of whom +a small number only were Russians, the rest Aleutians.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards lived at first on the best terms with the new settlers, +and provided them with oxen, cows, horses, and sheep; but when in +process of time they began to remark that, notwithstanding the +inferiority of soil and climate, the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> Russian establishment became more +flourishing than theirs, envy, and apprehension of future danger, took +possession of their minds: they then required that the settlement should +be abandoned,—asserted that their rights of dominion extended northward +quite to the Icy Sea, and threatened to support their claims by force of +arms.</p> + +<p>The founder and then commander of the fortress of Ross, a man of +penetration, and one not easily frightened, gave a very decided answer. +He had, he said, at the command of his superiors, settled in this +region, which had not previously been in the possession of any other +power, and over which, consequently, none had a right but the natives; +that these latter had freely consented to his occupation of the land, +and therefore that he would yield to no such unfounded pretension as +that now advanced by the Spaniards, but should be always ready to resist +force by force.</p> + +<p>Perceiving that the Russians would not comply with their absurd +requisitions, and considering that they were likely to be worsted in an +appeal to arms, the Spaniards quietly gave<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> up all further thought of +hostilities, and entered again into friendly communications with our +people; since which the greatest unity has subsisted between the two +nations. The Spaniards often find Ross very serviceable to them. For +instance, there is no such thing as a smith in all California; +consequently the making and repairing of all manner of iron implements +here is a great accommodation to them, and affords lucrative employment +to the Russians. The dragoons who accompanied us, had brought a number +of old gunlocks to be repaired.</p> + +<p>In order that the Russians might not extend their dominion to the +northern shore of the Bay of St. Francisco, the Spaniards immediately +founded the missions of St. Gabriel and St. Francisco Salona. It is a +great pity that we were not beforehand with them. The advantages of +possessing this beautiful bay are incalculable, especially as we have no +harbour but the bad one of Bodega or Port Romanzow.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of Ross live in the greatest concord with the Indians, +who repair, in considerable numbers, to the fortress, and work as +day-labourers, for wages. At night they <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span>usually remain outside the +palisades. They willingly give their daughters in marriage to Russians +and Aleutians; and from these unions ties of relationship have arisen +which strengthen the good understanding between them. The inhabitants of +Ross have often penetrated singly far into the interior, when engaged in +the pursuit of deer or other game, and have passed whole nights among +different Indian tribes, without ever having experienced any +inconvenience. This the Spaniards dare not venture upon. The more +striking the contrast between the two nations in their treatment of the +savages, the more ardently must every friend to humanity rejoice on +entering the Russian territory.</p> + +<p>The Greek Church does not make converts by force. Free from fanaticism, +she preaches only toleration and love. She does not even admit of +persuasion, but trusts wholly to conviction for proselytes, who, when +once they enter her communion, will always find her a loving mother. How +different has been the conduct both of Catholic priests and Protestant +missionaries!</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p><p>The climate at Ross is mild. Reaumur's thermometer seldom falls to the +freezing point; yet gardens cannot flourish, on account of the frequent +fogs. Some wersts farther inland, beyond the injurious influence of the +fog, plants of the warmest climates prosper surprisingly. Cucumbers of +fifty pounds' weight, gourds of sixty-five, and other fruits in +proportion, are produced in them. Potatoes yield a hundred or two +hundred fold, and, as they will produce two crops in a year, are an +effectual security against famine. The fortress is surrounded by wheat +and barley fields, which, on account of the fogs, are less productive +than those of Santa Clara, but which still supply sufficient corn for +the inhabitants of Ross. The Aleutians find their abode here so +agreeable, that although very unwilling to leave their islands, they are +seldom inclined to return to them.</p> + +<p>The Spaniards should take a lesson in husbandry from M. Von Schmidt, who +has brought it to an admirable degree of perfection. Implements, equal +to the best we have in Europe, are made here under his direction. Our +Spanish<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> companions were struck with admiration at what he had done; but +what astonished them most, was the effect of a windmill; they had never +before seen a machine so ingenious, and so well adapted to its purpose.</p> + +<p>Ross is blest with an abundance of the finest wood for building. The sea +provides it with the most delicious fish, the land with an inexhaustible +quantity of the best kinds of game; and, notwithstanding the want of a +good harbour, the northern settlements might easily find in this a +plentiful magazine for the supply of all their wants. Two ships had +already run in here from Stapel.</p> + +<p>The Indians of Ross are so much like those of the missions, that they +may well be supposed to belong to the same race, however different their +language. They appear indeed by no means so stupid, and are much more +cheerful and contented than at the missions, where a deep melancholy +always clouds their faces, and their eyes are constantly fixed upon the +ground; but this difference is only the natural result of the different +treatment they experience. They have no permanent residence, but wander<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +about naked, and, when not employed by the Russians as day-labourers, +follow no occupation but the chase. They are not difficult in the choice +of their food, but consume the most disgusting things, not excepting all +kinds of worms and insects, with good appetite, only avoiding poisonous +snakes. For the winter they lay up a provision of acorns and wild rye: +the latter grows here very abundantly. When it is ripe, they burn the +straw away from it, and thus roast the corn, which is then raked +together, mixed with acorns, and eaten without any farther preparation. +The Indians here have invented several games of chance: they are +passionately fond of gaming, and often play away every thing they +possess. Should the blessing of civilization ever be extended to the +rude inhabitants of these regions, the merit will be due to the Russian +settlements, certainly not to the Spanish missions.</p> + +<p>After a stay of two days, we took leave of the estimable M. Von Schmidt, +and returned by the same way that we came, without meeting with any +remarkable occurrence. Professor Eschscholtz remained at Ross, in order +to <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span>prosecute some botanical researches, intending to rejoin us by means +of an Aleutian baidar, several of which were shortly to proceed to St. +Francisco in search of otters. This promised chase was a gratifying +circumstance to me, as I had it in contemplation to examine several of +the rivers that fall into the Bay of St. Francisco, for which purpose +the small Aleutian vessels would probably prove extremely serviceable. +The north-west wind is prevalent here during summer, and rain is unknown +in that season: it was now, however, the latter end of October, and +southerly gales began to blow, accompanied by frequent showers; we had +therefore to wait some time for the baidars and Professor Eschscholtz. +Meanwhile, to our great surprise, a boat with six oars, one day, entered +the bay from the open sea, and lay to beside our ship. It belonged to an +English whaler, which had been tacking about for some days, and was +prevented by the contrary wind from getting into the bay. The greater +part of his crew being sick of the scurvy, the captain at length +resolved on sending his boat ashore, in hopes of being able to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> get some +fresh provisions for his patients. I immediately furnished the boat with +an ample supply both of fresh meat and vegetables, and having completed +its little cargo, it proceeded again to sea forthwith. The next day the +whaler succeeded in getting into the bay, and came to anchor close +alongside. It was evident, from their manner of working the vessel, that +she had but few hands on board capable of labour. The captain, who +shortly afterwards visited me, was himself suffering severely, and his +mates were all confined to their beds; seven months the vessel had been +at sea off the Japanese coast, holding no communication with the shore; +and this without having succeeded in the capture of a single whale, +though numbers of them had been seen on the coast. The scurvy with which +the crew was afflicted, was mainly attributable to unwholesome food, +selected on a principle of unpardonable economy, and to the want of +cleanliness; a vice not usual among the English, but which, during so +long an absence from land, is scarcely to be avoided; not the slightest +symptom of this fearful malady, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>formerly so fatal to seamen, manifested +itself on board my vessel throughout the whole course of our tedious +voyage.</p> + +<p>The captain informed me that a number of whalers frequented the Japanese +coast, and often obtained rich cargoes in a short period: the principal +disadvantages with which they had to contend were violent storms, and a +strict prohibition against landing. The Japanese, as is well known, +refuse to have any foreign intercourse except with the Chinese and +Dutch, and treat all other nations as if they carried contagion with +them; hoping thus to preserve their ancient manners unchanged. During my +first voyage with Admiral Krusenstern, I spent seven months in Japan, +and may venture to assert, that whoever has an opportunity of becoming +acquainted with the people, cannot but respect them for the high degree +of intellectual development to which they have attained, through their +own efforts, unassisted by foreign influence. Their total isolation is +probably owing to the timid policy of a despotic government, anxious to +prevent the introduction of ideas<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> that might possibly exercise a +hostile influence upon the existing institutions.</p> + +<p>A whaler that had exceeded his appointed stay on the coast, had +completely exhausted his stock of water and provisions. In this +distress, although fully aware of the severe prohibition, the captain +resolved to pay a visit to the Emperor in his capital, and accordingly, +without ceremony, sailed into the Bay of Jeddo, where he cast anchor +within gun-shot of the city. The hubbub among the inhabitants, who had +never seen an European vessel before, may be imagined. The shore +immediately swarmed with soldiers, and armed boats surrounded the ship. +From these martial preparations, the crew apprehended that it was +intended to make them pay for their temerity with their lives; but their +fears proved unfounded. As soon as the Japanese had taken the necessary +precautions to prevent the vessel either from leaving the spot where she +had first anchored, or from sending a boat on shore, a handsome barge +came alongside, from which two Bonjoses, dressed in silk, and each armed +with two sabres, stepped on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> board: they were accompanied by an +interpreter who spoke a little broken Dutch. They saluted the captain +politely, inquiring the object of his visit, and whether he was not +aware that the coast of Japan was not accessible under pain of death? +The captain acknowledged himself aware of the prohibition, but stated +that the emergency of the case had left him no choice: the Bonjoses +thereupon searched the vessel, and having satisfied themselves that she +was really destitute of provisions and water, they took leave of the +captain with the same civility they had shown him on their arrival. A +multitude of boats with persons of both sexes now issued from the city, +to feast their eyes upon the novel spectacle, but they were not allowed +to approach within the circle marked by the watch-boats. The same day, +the interpreter returned, bringing water and every species of +provisions, sufficient for several weeks, declaring that the Emperor +furnished every thing gratuitously, as the government would deem it a +disgrace to accept payment from those whom distress had driven to their +shore; but as the captain's necessities were now provided for, he was +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span>ordered immediately to put to sea, and to inform his countrymen, that +except in cases of the most urgent necessity, they were not permitted to +approach the Japanese coast under pain of death; nor was it at all just +to carry on a fishery on their coast, without the permission of the +Emperor. The interpreter had brought a number of people with him, who +assisted in shipping the provisions and water: the captain was then +immediately obliged to weigh anchor, and the Japanese boats towed the +vessel out to sea, after she had been scarcely twelve hours in the bay. +On taking leave, the captain wished to make a present to the +interpreter, but he hastened out of the vessel in alarm, declaring that +his acceptance of the smallest trifle would cost him his head. Europeans +are not so scrupulous.</p> + +<p>Soon after this, another whaler, knowing nothing about the affair in +Jeddo, sent a boat ashore, a hundred miles farther south, to a little +village on the coast, to try and purchase some fresh provisions. The +sailors, on landing, were immediately seized and imprisoned, and their +boat placed under arrest. The ship, having waited a long time in vain +for the return of her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> boat, was at length driven by a violent storm to +a distance from the coast. The prisoners were well treated; their prison +was commodious, and their food excellent. In fourteen days, sentence was +pronounced on them, probably at Jeddo, and proved less mild than might +have been expected in Japan:—they were ordered to be replaced in their +boat, and immediately sent to sea without any provisions, let the +weather be what it might. After wandering on the trackless ocean for +eight-and-forty hours, they had the good fortune to meet with a whaler, +which took them in. These examples may serve as a warning to all +navigators who may be desirous of effecting a landing in Japan.</p> + +<p>The Californian winter being now fairly set in, we had much rain and +frequent storms. On the 9th of October the south-west wind blew with the +violence of the West-Indian tornado, rooted up the strongest trees, tore +off the roofs of the houses, and occasioned great devastation in the +cultivated lands. One of our thickest cables broke; and if the second +had given way, we would have been driven on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> the rocky shore of the +channel which unites the bay with the sea, where a powerful current +struggling with the tempest produced a frightful surf. Fortunately, the +extreme violence of the storm lasted only a few hours, but in that short +time it caused a destructive inundation: the water spread so rapidly +over the low lands, that our people had scarcely time to secure the +tent, with the astronomical apparatus. On comparing the time of day at +St. Petersburg and St. Francisco, by means of the difference of +longitude, it appears that the tremendous inundation at the former city +took place not only on the same day, but even began in the same hour as +that in California. Several hundred miles westward, on the Sandwich +Islands, the wind raged with similar fury at the same time, as it did +also still farther off, upon the Philippine Islands, where it was +accompanied by an earthquake. So violent was the storm in the Bay of +Manilla, (usually so safe a harbour,) that a French corvette, at anchor +there, under the command of Captain Bougainville, a son of the +celebrated navigator, was entirely dismasted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> as we afterwards heard, +on the Sandwich Islands, and at Manilla itself. This hurricane, +therefore, raged at the same time over the greatest part of the northern +hemisphere; the causes which produced it may possibly have originated +beyond our atmosphere.</p> + +<p>Finding that our anchorage would not be secure during the winter, if we +should be exposed to storms of this kind, we took advantage of the fine +weather on the following day, to sail some miles farther eastward, into +a little bay surrounded by a romantic landscape, where Vancouver +formerly lay, and which is perfectly safe at all seasons: the Spaniards +have named this bay <i>Herba buena</i>, after a sweet-smelling herb which +grows on its shores.</p> + +<p>The arrival of Dr. Eschscholtz and the baidars from Ross was still +delayed, and I really began to fear that some misfortune had befallen +them in the tempest: my joy therefore was extreme, when at last, on the +12th of October, the baidars, twenty in number, entered the harbour +undamaged, and we received our friend again safe and well. The little +flotilla had indeed left Ross before the commencement of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span>hurricane, +but had fortunately escaped any injury from it, by taking refuge at a +place called <i>Cap de los Reges</i>, till its fury was expended; but the +voyagers had been obliged to bivouack on the naked rock, without shelter +from the weather, and with very scanty provisions. Dr. Eschscholtz, +however, not in the slightest degree disheartened by the difficulties he +had undergone, was quite ready to join the voyage I had meditated for +the examination of the adjacent rivers.</p> + +<p>All our preparations were now completed; we again took on board our +pilot Marco, and a soldier from the Presidio, who offered to accompany +us. On the 18th of November the weather was favourable, and we set out +with a barcasse and a shallop, both well manned and provided with every +necessary, in company with the Aleutian flotilla. At first we took the +same course I have before described, towards the mission of St. Gabriel; +cutting through the waters of the southern basin, and working our way +between the islands into the northern portion of the bay; then adopting +an easterly course, so that St. Gabriel remained at a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>considerable +distance to the left in the north-east. We reached towards noon, at a +distance of thirty miles from our ship, the common mouth of the two +before-mentioned rivers, which here fall into the bay.</p> + +<p>The breadth of this embouchure is a mile and a half, and the banks on +both sides are high, steep, and little wooded. It is crossed by a +shallow, not above two or three feet deep; but on its east side the +channel will admit ships of a middling size fully laden. The current was +so strong against us, that it was with much exertion our rowers +accomplished crossing the shallow. We landed on the left bank in order +to determine the geographical position of the mouth, and found the +latitude 38° 2' 4", and the longitude 122° 4'. After finishing this +task, I ascended the highest hillock on the shore, which consisted of +strata of slate and quartz, to admire the beauty of the prospect. On the +south lay the enviable and important Bay of St. Francisco with its many +islands and creeks; to the north flowed the broad beautiful river formed +by the junction of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> two, sometimes winding between high, steep +rocks, sometimes gliding among smiling meadows, where numerous herds of +deer were grazing. In every direction the landscape was charming and +luxuriant. Our Aleutians here straggled about in their little baidars, +and pursued the game with which land and water were stocked: they had +never seen it in such plenty; and being passionately fond of the chase, +they fired away without ceasing, and even brought down some of the game +with a javelin. The Aleutians are as much at home in their little +leathern canoes, as our Cossacks on horseback. They follow their prey +with the greatest rapidity in all directions, and it seldom escapes +them. White and grey pelicans about twice the size of our geese were +here in great numbers. An Aleutian followed a flock of these birds, and +killed one of them with his javelin; the rest of the flock took this so +ill, that they attacked the murderer and beat him severely with their +wings, before other baidars could come to his assistance. The frequent +appearance of the pelican on this river, proves that it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> abounds in +fish; a remark that our pilot Marco confirmed; and we ourselves saw many +large fish leap to the surface of the water.</p> + +<p>When the sailors had rested some hours, we continued our voyage up the +stream; but it was ebb-tide, and both currents united allowed us to make +but little progress. We landed therefore at six o'clock, after working +only a few miles, and pitched our tents for the night in a pretty +meadow. The river flowing as before, from the north, was here a mile +broad, and deep enough for the largest ships.</p> + +<p>On the following morning we broke up our camp at break of day, and, +favoured by wind and tide, sailed swiftly forward in a direction almost +due north. The aspect of the river now frequently changed: its breadth +varied from one to two and three miles. We often came into large reaches +many miles in circumference, and surrounded by magnificent scenery. We +sailed past pretty hilly islands adorned with lofty spreading trees, and +every where found a sufficient depth of water to admit the largest +ships. The steep banks sometimes opened to delightful plains, where the +deer were grazing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> under the shadow of luxuriant oaks. The voyage was in +fact, even at this time of year, a most agreeable excursion.</p> + +<p>When we had proceeded eighteen miles from our night camp, and +twenty-three from the river's mouth, we reached the confluence of the +two streams. One flows from the east, and the other from the north. The +Spaniards call the first Pescadores; farther inland it receives two +other rivers, which, according to our pilot, are equally broad and deep +as itself: the missionaries have given them the names of St. Joachim, +and Jesus Maria. Some way up these rivers, whose banks are said to have +been uncommonly fertile and thickly peopled, the pious fathers have +journeyed to convert the Indians and procure labourers for the missions. +Now that a part of the natives have yielded to conversion, and others +have fled farther into the interior to escape it, no human being is to +be found in the tract of land which we were surveying; no trace remains +of a numerous race called Korekines, by whom it was once inhabited. +Since the river Pescadores was already known, I chose the other, which +flows from the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> north, and is called Sacramento. Towards noon, after we +had ascended it some miles, a violent contrary wind forced us ashore; +latitude 38° 22'.</p> + +<p>The wind increasing every moment in strength, we were obliged to give up +for this day all thoughts of making farther progress; and resolving to +pass the night here, pitched our tents in a pleasant meadow on the west +side of the river. I then climbed a hill, to enjoy a more extensive +prospect; and observed that the country to the west swelled into hills +of a moderate height, besprinkled with trees growing singly. In the east +and south-east the horizon was bounded by icy mountains, the Sierra +Nevada, part of the immense chain which divides America from north to +south: they appeared to be covered more than half-way down with ice and +snow. The distance of these mountains from my present station could not +be less than forty miles. Between them and the river the country is low, +flat, thickly wooded, and crossed by an infinite number of streams, +which divide the whole of it into islands. We had not yet met a single +Indian; but the columns<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> of smoke which rose from this abundantly +irrigated tract of land, showed that they had taken refuge where the +dragoons and their lassos could not follow to convert them.</p> + +<p>It seems certain that the river Pescadores, as well as those of St. +Joachim and Jesus Maria, which fall into it, take their rise in the icy +mountains, since they flow from the east, and pass through the low +lands, where they receive a multitude of smaller streams. On the +contrary, the river Sacramento flowing from the north, from quite +another region, has its source, according to the Indians of the mission, +in a great lake. I myself conjecture, that the Slavianka, which falls +into the sea near Ross, is an arm of it.</p> + +<p>The many rivers flowing through this fruitful country will be of the +greatest use to future settlers. The low ground is exactly adapted to +the cultivation of rice; and the higher, from the extraordinary strength +of the soil, would yield the finest wheat-harvests. The vine might be +cultivated here to great advantage. All along the banks of the river +grapes grow wild, in as much profusion as the rankest weeds: the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +clusters were large; and the grapes, though small, very sweet, and +agreeably flavoured. We often ate them in considerable quantities, and +sustained no inconvenience from them. The Indians also eat them very +voraciously.</p> + +<p>The chase furnished us with ample and profitable amusement. An abundance +of deer, large and small, are to be met with all over the country, and +geese, ducks, and cranes, on the banks of the rivers. There was such a +superfluity of game, that even those among us who had never been +sportsmen before, when once they took the gun in their hands, became as +eager as the rest. The sailors chased the deer very successfully.</p> + +<p>When it grew dark, we kindled a large fire, that our hunters, some of +whom had lost their way, might recover the camp. In the night we were +much disturbed by bears, which pursued the deer quite close to our +tents; and by the clear moonlight we plainly saw a stag spring into the +river to escape the bear; the latter, however, jumped after him, and +both swam down the stream till they were out of sight.</p> + +<p>At sunrise, as the wind had fallen a little,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> we continued our voyage. +On the shore we met with a small rattlesnake, which might have been a +dangerous neighbour. It was, however, his destiny to become our prize, +and enrich the collection of Dr. Eschscholtz. The river now took a +north-westerly direction. Its breadth was from two hundred and fifty to +three hundred fathoms, independently of numerous branches on the east +side, flowing between various small islands. The country on the west +bank was of a moderate height; that on the east was low. The power of +the current impeded our progress, though our rowers exerted all their +strength. As the sun advanced towards the meridian, the north wind also +rose again; so that with our utmost efforts we could advance but little, +and at noon we were obliged to lay-to again, having proceeded only ten +miles the whole day. The latitude on the western shore, where we now +landed, was 38° 27', and the longitude 122° 10'.</p> + +<p>Here we had reached what proved the termination of our little voyage. +The unfavourable state of the weather would not allow of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> making any +farther progress; and our pilot assured us that at this season the +quantity of rain that falls, so much swells the river and strengthens +the currents, as to make it impossible to contend with the continually +increasing force of the stream. We were therefore compelled to abandon +the farther prosecution of these inquiries to some future traveller, +whose fate shall lead him hither in summer time, when these obstacles do +not exist.</p> + +<p>The neighbourhood of our landing-place seemed to have been recently the +abode of some Indians. We found a stake driven into the earth, to which +a bunch of feathers was attached for a weather-cock; in several places +fire had been kindled, as some burning embers still attested. There were +also two Indian canoes made of reeds. The pilot gave me the names of two +tribes who had formerly dwelt in this region, and probably still +wandered in its vicinity—the Tschupukanes, and Hulpunes. We could now +see the smoke of their fires rising from the marshy islands, the higher +parts of which they inhabit.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p><p>The majestic chain of mountains of the Sierra Nevada looked most +beautiful from this spot. The whole eastern horizon was bounded by these +masses of ice, and before them the low land lay spread out like a +verdant sea. From the Bay of St. Francisco, the Sierra Nevada are +nowhere visible; but they first come in sight after having passed the +point where the Pescadores and the Sacramento unite.</p> + +<p>The day was again passed in sport, and we shot many stags, the meat of +which proved extremely good. During the night we were again disturbed by +the little wolves so common here: they stole some pieces of our venison. +Early the next morning we prepared for our return, and soon quitted +these lovely and fertile plains, where many thousand families might live +in plenty and comfort, but which now, from their utter loneliness, leave +a mournful impression on the mind, increased by the reflection that the +native Indians have been nearly exterminated. During our return voyage, +we were very diligent in taking soundings, and found the water in the +middle of the river always as much as from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> fifteen to seventeen and +twenty fathoms; but at its mouth not more than four or five fathoms +deep.</p> + +<p>On the 23rd of November we again reached our vessel, laden with venison +for the whole crew. Captain Lasaref had arrived during our absence with +his frigate; having struggled with storms almost the whole way from New +Archangel to St. Francisco. With the intention of sending letters home +by him, I had waited for his arrival to leave California. Our vessel was +therefore now immediately prepared for sailing, our camp on shore broken +up, and all the instruments brought on board. During the last night our +people passed on land, they killed a polecat which had slunk into the +tent. This animal, of the size and form of an ordinary cat, has so +abominable a smell, that its vicinity is insupportable. Dogs, when they +sometimes attack and bite these creatures, cannot relieve themselves +from the stench, but continue to rub their noses so violently against +the ground as they run, that they leave a stream of blood on their +track. Polecats may be <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span>considered in the brute creation what the +Kalushes are among men.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 25th of November, as soon as the tide ebbed, we +towed out of the Bay of St. Francisco with a north-west wind, which here +regularly brings fine weather. The sea was still so much agitated by the +recent south-west storms, that it rolled large billows into the channel +which unites it with the bay. Our vessel being dashed against these +breakers by the force of the current from the channel, would no longer +obey the helm, and we narrowly escaped being cast against a rock. I +would therefore recommend others of my profession only to sail out of +this bay when the water in the channel is tranquil, which usually +happens after the wind has blown for several days from the north-west.</p> + +<p>According to repeated observations, we found the latitude of the +Presidio of St. Francisco to be 37° 48' 33", and the longitude 122° 22' +30". The declination of the needle was 16° east.</p> + +<p>The medium of our observations in the bay gave us the time for high +water, at the new and full moon, 11 hours and 20 minutes.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p><p>The greatest difference in the height of the water was seven feet. The +rivers which fall into the bay have a great influence on the times of +ebb and flow, so that the ebb lasts eight hours, and the flood only +four.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151-52]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE SANDWICH ISLANDS.</h2> + + +<p>On losing sight of the Californian coast, we steered southwards, to take +advantage as soon as possible of the trade-wind, proposing by its means +to sail direct for the Sandwich Islands. A strong and lasting +north-wester favoured our intention, and on the 3rd of December we +crossed the tropic of Cancer in the latitude 133° 58', gained the +trade-wind, and began our run westward, supposing ourselves secure from +storms in this tropical region; we were, however, mistaken: already on +the 5th a high wind from the south-east compelled us to take in all +sail; on the 6th it shifted to the west, and on the 7th to the north. We +experienced from this quarter some violent gusts, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> which the +heavens cleared, the storm abated, and towards evening on the 8th, we +regained the ordinary trade-wind. I mention these storms, only because +they are almost unexampled at so great a distance from land, between the +tropics, and especially as coming from the west; but it appears that +this year was quite out of the ordinary course, and produced a number of +strange phenomena of which we heard complaints wherever we went.</p> + +<p>The weather, after treating us so ill, again became friendly, and the +remainder of our voyage proceeded swiftly and favourably under the +magnificent tropical sky: agreeable it was sure to be; for the peculiar +charm of a sail between the tropics is appreciated by all seamen. An old +English captain, with whom I became acquainted during this voyage, +assured me that he could imagine no greater luxury for the remainder of +his life, than to possess a good quick-sailing ship, to keep a good +table, and to sail between the tropics, without ever making land. I +cannot, I confess, altogether participate in this true seaman-like +taste: on my voyages, the mere sight of land has always<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> been my great +source of pleasure. The conduct of a vessel through distant seas, and +through its conflicts with the variable element, is not indeed an +uninteresting occupation; but the object which has always chiefly +attracted my inclinations, is an intimate knowledge of various countries +and their inhabitants; and I have always considered the time spent at +sea, as a necessary hardship submitted to with this reward in view. +Perhaps I was not born for a sailor: an accident, by no means calculated +upon in my previous education, made me such in my fifteenth year.</p> + +<p>We sailed in the night past O Wahi, the principal of the Sandwich group, +with its celebrated giant mountain Mou-na-roa. At break of day on the +13th, we saw in the west the elevated island of Muwe, and continued our +course along the northern shore of this and its neighbour Morotai, to +Wahu, where we intended to land. The landscape of a tropical country is +always pleasing, even when, as here, high lava hills, and masses of +sometimes naked rocks piled like towers upon each other, form the +principal features of the coast, at first <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span>inspiring the navigator with +doubts of its fertility. But how agreeably is he surprised, on reaching +the southern shores of these islands, to meet with the most smiling +scenery, and most luxuriant vegetation. In the middle of the channel, +between the islands Muwe and Morotai, lie two small uninhabited islands, +which, strange to say, are not marked on Vancouver's map. We took some +pains to ascertain their exact situation.</p> + +<p>At four o'clock in the afternoon, the high yellow rock which forms the +eastern point of the island of Wahu, became plainly visible above our +horizon. We could not reach the secure harbour of Hanaruro, which lies +on the southern side of this promontory, before nightfall, and therefore +thought it advisable to lay-to between the islands Wahu and Morotai. In +the morning, after doubling the conical mountain called the Diamond +Mountain, we suddenly came in sight of the harbour, containing a number +of ships decorated with the flags of various nations.</p> + +<p>I must here make a few remarks for the benefit of such navigators as are +not well <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span>acquainted with these waters. Whoever wishes to sail in +between the islands of Wahu and Morotai, must remember, that throughout +the year a strong current always sets here towards the north-west; and +that the eastern point of Wahu should be doubled within the distance of +three miles from the coast; as farther out to sea, calms are very +prevalent here, whilst in the neighbourhood of the land, a fresh breeze +regularly sets, in the morning, from the land, and from noon till +evening from the sea.</p> + +<p>Behind its harbour, safely sheltered by the coral reefs, lies the town +of Hanaruro, consisting of irregular rows of dwellings scattered over an +open plain. Here and there among the huts are seen houses built of stone +in the European fashion. The former lie modestly concealed, under the +cooling shade of palm-trees; the latter stand boldly forward, braving +the burning sunbeams and dazzling the eye by their overpowering +whiteness. Close to the shore the fortress rears its strong turreted +walls in a quadrangular form, planted with cannon, and bearing the +striped national flag of the Sandwich Islands. The country above the +town<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> rises in an amphitheatre, planted with tarro-root, sugar-cane, and +banana, and the view to landward is bounded by precipitous mountains +invading the clouds, and thickly overgrown with fine trees. In this +beautiful panorama we see at once that the island of Wahu deserves the +appellation it has acquired,—of the garden of the Sandwich Islands.</p> + +<p>As we approached the harbour, I made the usual signal for a pilot, and +we soon after saw a boat of European construction making towards us; it +was rowed by two naked <i>Kanachas</i>, as the lower class of people are here +called, the pilot sitting at the rudder in an European dress. When he +came on board, I recognised him for the Englishman, Alexander Adams, who +on my former voyage in the Rurik had commanded the ship Kahumanna, +belonging to King Tameamea; he was now chief pilot. The wind did not +immediately allow us to run into the harbour, but in a few hours it +became favourable, and our skilful pilot guided us safely through the +intricacies of its narrow entrance. Our ship was the largest that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> had +ever passed through this channel, which would be impracticable for +first-rate vessels.</p> + +<p>Some of the ships we found in the harbour were English and American +whalers, which had put in here for provisions; others were on trading +voyages to the north-west coast of America for skins, or returning +thence with their cargoes. Some were from Canton, laden with Chinese +produce, which finds a good market in the Sandwich Islands; and one was +a French ship from Bordeaux, which having carried a cargo of iron wares +to Chili, Peru, and Mexico, had brought the remains of it here. All the +captains visited me in the hope of hearing news from Europe; but many of +them had left it later than we had, and accommodated us with their +London newspapers.</p> + +<p>If we consider that scarcely fifty years have elapsed since these +islands were first introduced by Captain Cook to the knowledge of the +European public, and that the inhabitants were then completely what we +call savages, that is, that they were wholly destitute of any conception +of the arts, sciences, or habits of civilized<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> life, we shall find with +surprise that the harbour of Hanaruro already bears a character almost +entirely European, reminding us only by the somewhat scanty clothing of +the natives, of the briefness of their acquaintance with our customs.</p> + +<p>My readers, I think, will take some interest in a short account of this +people, whose rapid progress in civilization would perhaps by this time +have placed them on a level with Europeans, if unfavourable +circumstances had not thrown obstacles in the way of their improvement, +which it will require another such governor as Tameamea to overcome.</p> + +<p>The eleven islands named by Cook after his patron, the Earl of Sandwich, +but for which the natives have no common appellation, lie between the +nineteenth and twenty-second degrees of north latitude. They are all +high and volcanic. O Wahi, the most easterly, and by much the largest, +is eighty-seven miles long and seventy-five broad: it has three +mountains, which may well bear a comparison with the highest in the +world. The climate of these islands is particularly beautiful and +healthy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Their population is estimated by Captain King at four hundred +thousand; whose colour, form, language, and manners, testify their +relationship with the other islanders of this great ocean, though they +have very little knowledge of them. Their earliest history consists of +traditions of truths interwoven with fables, which ascend to the first +peopling of the islands, and are not yet embodied in the relation of any +voyage. I have collected them carefully from the accounts of the most +distinguished and intelligent man in Hanaruro, my friend Karemaku, a +Spaniard named Marini, who had long resided here, assisting as +interpreter.</p> + +<p>According to a belief not long ago universally prevalent, the mighty +spirit Etua-Rono reigned over these islands before they were inhabited +by men. Ardently desirous of seeing his country peopled, he was +melancholy, and shed torrents of tears on the mountain Mou-na-roa, +because he had no offspring; and his loving wife, the beautiful goddess +Opuna, was not in a situation to console him. At length Fate heard his +prayers. On the south-east point of the island of O Wahi two boats were +stranded,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> having on board some families, who brought with them hogs, +fowls, dogs, and several edible roots. To the present day are the first +footsteps of man on this land to be seen. Rono was at that time absent, +catching fish on the northern islands for his wife. The fire-god, his +subject, unpropitious to man, taking advantage of this circumstance, +made an effort to repulse the new-comers. He approached them with +terrible gestures, and asked whence they came. They answered—"We come +from a country which abounds in hogs, dogs, cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit. +We were overtaken by a violent storm when on a voyage to visit some +neighbours; and the moon changed five times before we reached this +land." They then begged permission to remain, which the fire-god cruelly +refused, and continued inexorable, although they offered to sacrifice a +hog to him.</p> + +<p>Rono, however, observing that a strange smell proceeded from O Wahi, +suddenly returned, and was greatly surprised at the sight of the men. +Encouraged by his friendly deportment, they made their petition to him, +relating<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> the harsh treatment they had endured from the fire-god. Rono, +enraged at this intelligence, threw the fire-god into the crater Kairuo, +on the side of the mountain Mou-na-roa, where he still chafes in vain. +The men now lived tranquilly on O Wahi, increased in numbers, and +sought, by great sacrifices, to prove their love and thankfulness to +their protector, Etua-Rono. To his honour were established the solemn +yearly games called Makahiti, in which whoever obtained the victory in +running, wrestling, and warlike evolutions, was crowned with a verdant +wreath and presided as king over the ensuing feast.</p> + +<p>The other islands were gradually peopled from O Wahi; the number of the +gods also increased; but they all remained subject to Etua-Rono.</p> + +<p>Mankind had enjoyed a long period of peace and content under the +beneficent protection of Rono, when their happiness was suddenly +disturbed by a distressing occurrence. The goddess Opuna, the beautiful +consort of Rono, degraded herself by a clandestine connexion with a man +of O Wahi. Her husband, furious on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> discovery of his wrongs, +precipitated her from the top of a high rock, and dashed her to pieces; +but had scarcely committed this act of violence when, in an agony of +repentance, he ran wildly about the islands, bestowing blows and kicks +on every one he met. The people, astonished at this frantic behaviour of +the god, enquired the reason of it; on which, with the bitterest +expression of grief, he exclaimed, "I have murdered her who was dearest +to me!" He bore the remains of Opuna into the Marai on the Bay of +Karekakua, and there remained a long time sunk in the deepest grief. At +length he determined to quit the islands, where every thing reminded him +of the happiness he had enjoyed with his beloved wife. The people were +overwhelmed with sorrow by the communication of his intention; and he +endeavoured to console them with the promise that he would one day +return on a floating island, furnished with all that man could desire, +and make his favourite people happy. He then embarked in a vessel of +peculiar construction, and set sail for a distant country.</p> + +<p>With Rono's departure terminated the Golden<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> Age of this island. Wars +and tumults arose; the gods still increased in number; but their +influence was no longer so friendly to man as when they were under the +superintendence of the revered Rono. Now also commenced many evil +customs, such as human sacrifices, which had been unknown in the good +old time: cannibalism, however, does not appear ever to have disgraced +them. A long period elapsed, of which no record remains; and the story +is resumed at the landing of five white men in Karekakua Bay, near to +the Marai, where the body of the goddess Opuna reposed. The inhabitants +supposed them to be superior beings, and offered no opposition when they +proceeded to take possession of the Marai, on which holy place they were +not only exempted from persecution, but also by the offerings daily +placed there before the images of the gods, from any danger of suffering +a scarcity of food. Here, then, they lived very comfortably; and from +their having, immediately on their arrival, taken up their abode in the +Marai, the people, who were all acquainted with the story of Opuna, +concluded they were sent thither by Rono, to watch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span> over the grave of +his beloved consort. To this opinion they were indebted for a veneration +greater than that entertained for the gods themselves. The priests alone +had the privilege of providing for their wants, which they did with the +utmost care: the people were not even allowed to approach the +neighbourhood of the Marai.</p> + +<p>The white men, however, soon found their time hang heavy in this entire +seclusion, and formed a more intimate connexion with the priests, whom +they assisted in the holy rites and ceremonies, and at length even made +their appearance among the people: the latter then discovered them to be +mortals like themselves, differing only in colour, but still retained a +high respect for their superior knowledge and good deportment. Maidens +of the highest rank were given to them for wives; and each of them was +installed governor of an island. "The descendants of these strangers," +said Karemaku, "may still be distinguished by their whiter colour." +Here, as at Tahaiti, the Yeris differ from the lower classes in their +superior size, and some also by a greater degree of fairness.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span></p><p>The helmets and short mantles which Cook and King have described as +worn by this people, were introduced by these white strangers. At first, +the kings only appeared in this costume; but in Cook's time it was +common also among the Yeris. Now that European fashions have quite +banished those of the original inhabitants, it is only preserved and +shown to strangers as a relic of the past. The helmet, of wood covered +with small red and yellow feathers, and adorned with a plume, perfectly +resembles those of the chivalrous knights of yore; and the short mantle, +also most ingeniously made with feathers to supply the want of woven +stuff, forms a complete representation of the mantles worn by those +ancient heroes: hence it is sufficiently evident that the white men who +landed on O Wahi were Europeans; and that we are therefore more nearly +connected with, at least, a part of the inhabitants of the Sandwich +Islands, than with the other South Sea islanders.</p> + +<p>With the arrival of the white men begins the chronology of O Wahi, from +the first white king to Tameamea, making seven successive reigns.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +During this period, but long before Cook's time, two vessels are said to +have been wrecked on the north-east side of O Wahi. Tradition is not +unanimous in the account of what became of the crews. According to some, +they were lost in the wreck, but others say they were murdered by the +natives. My informant, Karemaku, mentioned only one ship, which was seen +at a distance; and although the iron anchors found at O Wahi and at Muwe +prove that they must have been there, he could give no account of them. +It is very probable that the Spaniards, who often made a mystery of +their discoveries in the South Seas, already knew of the existence of +these islands before their discovery by Cook.</p> + +<p>Their authentic history begins with this event, in 1778, when, as has +already been mentioned, Cook bestowed on them the name of the First Lord +of the Admiralty at that period. They were not then, as now, united +under one King; but each island had its particular sovereign, called +Yeri-Rahi, who possessed full power over the lives of his subjects, and +to whom the proprietors of land paid tribute.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> The name of the monarch +of O Wahi, on Cook's arrival, was Teraiopu, or, as he writes it, +Terreobu.</p> + +<p>Captain King, the companion of Cook, gives the following description of +the Sandwich Islanders:—</p> + +<p>"They are in general of the middle size,<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> and well-proportioned. Their +movements are graceful, they run swiftly, and are able to carry great +weights. The men, however, are inferior to the Friendly Islanders, in +strength and activity; and the women are not so delicately formed as +those of Tahaiti: their colour is also a little browner, and they are +not so handsome, but the features of both sexes are open and agreeable; +the females especially have beautiful eyes and teeth, and a sweet +expression of countenance. Their hair is dark-brown, not so smooth as +that of the American Indians, nor so woolly as that of the negroes of +Africa, but between the two.</p> + +<p>"Here, as on the other South Sea Islands, the Yeris are advantageously +distinguished in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> form from the lower classes, and are seldom disfigured +by the swellings and ulcers frequent among the latter, which we ascribed +to the great use of salt in their preparations of meat and fish; the +former, however, are much injured by immoderate indulgence in the Ava +drink. Those who suffered most from it had their whole bodies covered +with a white eruption: their eyes were red and inflamed, they trembled +much, and could scarcely hold up their heads. This beverage does not +shorten the lives of all who use it too freely, as Teraiopu, Kau, and +several other chiefs addicted to it, were old men; but it brings on +premature and diseased old age. Fortunately, this luxury is the +exclusive privilege of the chiefs. The son of Teraiopu, a boy of twelve +years old, often boasted of having obtained the right of drinking Ava, +and showed with much complacency a spot on his loins where the eruption +was already visible.</p> + +<p>"Notwithstanding the great and irreparable loss which the sudden +violence of these Sandwich Islanders has occasioned us," (in the death<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +of Cook,) "I must in justice declare, that they are usually gentle and +kind, and by no means so changeable and volatile as the Tahaitians, nor +so reserved and melancholy as the Friendly Islanders: they live on the +best possible terms with each other, and in peace and kindness in their +families. We have often admired the care and tenderness with which the +women treated their children, while the men assisted them in their +domestic occupations with a readiness and good-will which did them great +credit.</p> + +<p>"If however we should pronounce on the degree of civilization to which +they have attained by the estimation the female sex enjoys among them, +they would rank but low in the scale. The women are not only forbidden +to eat with the men, but the best kinds of food are denied them. They +are not allowed to eat pork, turtle, or several kinds of fish and +bananas; and we were informed that a poor girl had been severely beaten +for having tasted of these prohibited viands on board our ship. The +females seemed indeed almost to live in a state of separation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> from +their lords; and although we never perceived that they were ill treated, +it is certain they are held in little respect.</p> + +<p>"We were always received when we came ashore with the greatest +friendliness and hospitality. As soon as we landed, the inhabitants vied +with each other in bringing us presents, preparing food for us, and +showing us every mark of kindness. The old people were much pleased when +they obtained permission to touch us; and they showed much modesty and +humility in the comparisons they made between us and themselves.</p> + +<p>"In mental capacity, the Sandwich Islanders do not appear at all +inferior to any other people. Their progress in agriculture, and their +skill in handicrafts, is fully proportionate to their means and +situation. The earnest attention which they paid to the work of our +smiths, and the various means they devised, even before our departure, +to give any required form to the iron they obtained from us, convinced +us at once of their industry and ingenuity.</p> + +<p>"Our unfortunate friend Kancena, (he was shot by one of the Englishmen +whom he had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> always treated with the greatest friendship) had a great +desire for knowledge, an admirable natural understanding and a vivacity +of mind seldom met with amongst uncultivated nations. He made +innumerable inquiries concerning our manners and customs, our King, our +form of government, the population and produce of our country, and the +manner in which our ships and houses were built. He wished to know if we +waged wars, with whom, and for what cause, what God we worshipped, and +many other things; which showed an extensive range of thought."</p> + +<p>This testimony of Captain King to the good disposition of the Sandwich +Islanders becomes the more worthy of credit, when we consider that the +English always treated them with great severity, and that Captain Cook +only fell a sacrifice to his own error. King has also defended them from +the imputation of being cannibals, of which Anderson and several of +Cook's companions had accused them.</p> + +<p>The propensity to theft was as common among the lower classes here, as +on the other South Sea islands; and this it was which occasioned the +thoughtless severity of Cook, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> was always judge in his own cause, +and suffered himself to be hurried into unjustifiable acts of violence. +Had he been a philanthropist, as well as a great navigator, he would not +have lost his life at O Wahi.</p> + +<p>The custom of tattooing existed also among the Sandwich Islanders; their +faces were frequently marked with lines crossing each other at right +angles, and some even had their tongues tattooed; pretty drawings were +frequently seen on the hands and arms of the women. The ordinary dress +of both sexes was nothing more than a piece of stuff folded round their +bodies. The females adorned themselves besides with necklaces of +muscle-shells, or little red shining beans, and with bracelets of +various ornamental materials; they sometimes wore collars of beautiful +feathers ingeniously blended together; their hair was also decorated +with feathers and with garlands of flowers.</p> + +<p>The Sandwich Islanders lived in villages or little hamlets of from one +to two hundred dwellings, standing irregularly, pretty near each other, +and communicating by a winding path. Some of them were surrounded by +gardens, enclosed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> with hedges. The food of the lower classes consisted +chiefly of fish, yams, sweet potatoes, tarro-root, bananas, sugar-canes, +and bread-fruit. Those of higher rank also indulged in pork, and the +flesh of dogs, prepared in the same manner as on the Society Islands. +The tame poultry of Europe was also found here, but it was scarce, and +not very much prized. These people were particularly clean, and their +cookery was preferred by Englishmen to that of their own country.</p> + +<p>The Yeris were chiefly employed in the building of vessels and the +manufacture of mats; the females prepared a stuff of the paper kind, +which was so pressed and coloured as to resemble our calico; and fishing +or agriculture was the chief business of the servants. These +occupations, however, left leisure for various pastimes, particularly +dancing, which the young people of both sexes delighted in. Drums of +several sorts were their only musical instruments, but their songs were +very pleasing. They often played at a game much resembling our draughts; +it is played with black and white stones on a piece of board, and from +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> great number of pieces, seems to require much attention. In another +game, a stone was hidden under a large piece of stuff, and the player +was to point out the precise spot in which it lay. Running races, in +which the girls took part, and apparently dangerous exercises in +swimming amidst the surf, were also among their amusements. In wrestling +and boxing, they did not display so much strength and skill as the +Friendly Islanders. The children often handled their balls with great +dexterity, throwing several at once into the air and catching them +again.</p> + +<p>Their vessels were very well built; the largest, a double one, seventy +feet long, twelve broad, and three and a half deep, belonged to +Teraiopu. The most remarkable of their utensils were the vessels +appropriated to drinking Ava; they were usually eight or ten inches in +diameter, perfectly round and very well polished, and were supported by +three or four little images of men in various attitudes, sometimes +bearing the vessel on their heads, sometimes on their shoulders, or on +their hands raised above their heads. These figures were very well<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +executed, the proportions correctly preserved, and even the proper +action of the muscles well defined.</p> + +<p>Among the arts in which the Sandwich Islanders excelled, was that of +preparing salt: the English obtained from them a large quantity of the +best kind. Their arms consisted of clubs, lances, and daggers, made of +hard wood. War was of frequent occurrence amongst the inhabitants of the +several islands; the battles were often very bloody, and usually at sea, +the vessels grappling. The Yeris, when they went to battle, wore the +decorated helmets already described, and the mantles covered with black, +red, and yellow feathers: those of the Yerirahis, or kings, were of +yellow only. Images of the god of war, cut in wood; dreadful caricatures +of the human figure in a threatening posture, the mouth open and armed +with dogs' teeth, were always carried before the kings into battle; and +the chief aim of the enemy was to capture them, as this achievement +usually put an end to the war. A part of the prisoners were sacrificed +to the gods; but as the shedding of blood in this rite was forbidden, +they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> strangled, and laid down before the images of the gods in the +Marai, with their faces turned to the earth.</p> + +<p>The burial of the dead was a very sacred ceremony, and accompanied with +many forms. The corpse was laid in a pit till the flesh decayed, the +bones were then cleaned, and a part of them distributed among the +relations and friends to be preserved as relics, part laid in +consecrated ground. Dying persons sometimes desired that their bones +should be thrown into the crater of the volcano at O Wahi, which was +inhabited by the revered god Pelai. It has already been mentioned, that +the women were prohibited from eating many kinds of food; they were also +forbidden, under pain of death, to enter a house where the men were +eating, and they were entirely secluded from the Marais; with these +exceptions, they enjoyed great freedom, and even had a voice in the +deliberations concerning war and peace.</p> + +<p>The religious regulation of the Tabu, or interdict, existed here as well +as on many other of the South Sea islands. A person declared under a +Tabu was inviolable; a piece of land under a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> Tabu must not be trodden +by any one; nor must a species of animal so declared, be injured or shot +until the Tabu was again taken off. Thus Tameamea declared the diamond +mountain under the Tabu, because an Englishman, finding there a piece of +quartz-crystal, considered it to be diamond; and the King, finding these +were of great value, supposed he possessed in the mountain an +inexhaustible treasure, till he discovered his mistake, and the Tabu was +taken off.</p> + +<p>The vessels first seen by the Sandwich Islanders must have been very +small, for when Cook's appeared, they took her for a swimming island, +and believed that Etua-Rono, for whom they always retained the most +profound veneration, had at length fulfilled his promise and returned to +them. The joy was universal; and it was determined to receive the +beneficent god, so long absent, who was to restore the Golden Age upon +the island, with all possible honours. Neither Cook nor his companion +seemed to have had any notion that they were saluted with divine +honours; but they considered the ceremonies enacted by the rejoicing +people as marks of distinction commonly bestowed on persons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> of +importance. His being called by them "O Rono," (the Rono) did not +enlighten him on the subject, as he was unacquainted with the tradition; +but he contented himself with the conjecture, that the appellation was a +title of honour, signifying chief or priest. Had the conduct of Cook +made it possible for the islanders to retain their beneficial error, the +good understanding between them and the English would never have been +interrupted; but he himself was the first to convince them that he could +not be their divine benefactor.</p> + +<p>Some of the populace conceived themselves entitled to appropriate a +portion of the presents which Rono, according to his promise, had +brought them—a licence which was immediately punished by Cook with +great severity: the offenders taken in the fact were whipped; those who +fled were fired upon; and several persons, some of whom were innocent, +lost their lives. Rono could not be so cruel and unjust; and <i>Tute</i>, as +they called Cook, immediately sunk in their estimation to the rank of +ordinary mortals. He was henceforth feared as a mighty chief, but +venerated no longer. This change of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span>sentiment was very evident when he +returned hither from his voyage northward. The islanders met the ship as +before, with hogs and fruits; but they set a price upon them, instead of +presenting them, as formerly, in the character of offerings, and +accepting the returns made them as gratuitous gifts. Finding that they +obtained what appeared to them an exorbitant price for their provisions, +they supposed the strangers to come from a land of scarcity for the mere +purpose of satisfying their appetites; and the common people wholly +ceasing to regard them with reverence, became bolder in their +depredations. The King, the Priests, and many of the principal Yeris, +still however continued firm in their attachment to the English. A Yeri, +named Parea, gave a striking proof of this kindly disposition, which +Captain King has thus related:—Some Kanackas, having stolen certain +articles, were pursued with muskets; and though every thing was +recovered, an English officer thought himself justified in taking +possession of a canoe lying on the shore belonging to Parea, who, being +perfectly innocent of the theft, reclaimed his property. The officer +refused to surrender<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> it; and in the subsequent contest, Parea received +so violent a blow on the head with an oar, that he fell senseless to the +ground. In the mean time the islanders had assembled, and, irritated at +this undeserved outrage on a chief, began to throw stones at the +English, who were obliged to swim to a neighbouring rock for safety. The +victorious people, thus left in possession of the field of battle, fell +upon the English boat, which they would have destroyed but for the +interposition of Parea, who had now recovered his senses. He dispersed +the crowd, made a signal to the English that they might return, restored +their boat, and sent them back in it to their ship. Parea afterwards +followed them, taking with him a midshipman's hat, and some other +trifles which were missing; expressed his sorrow for the dispute that +had arisen, and inquired whether O Rono desired his death, or whether he +might come again to the ship.—(It appeared from this that he still +looked upon Cook as the deity, or at least affected this belief to +propitiate the English.)—He was assured that he had nothing to fear, +and would always be welcome; he then touched the nose of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> officers, +in sign of amity and reconciliation, and returned to land.</p> + +<p>Since Parea had hindered his countrymen from wreaking their vengeance on +one boat, they indemnified themselves by stealing another, and in the +night cut through the rope which fastened it to the ship. Cook, enraged +at this occurrence, determined to bring the King himself on board his +ship, and detain him there as a hostage till the boat should be +restored; a measure which on another island he had already successfully +adopted on a similar occasion. He therefore went ashore with a party of +soldiers well armed, having given orders that none of the boats +belonging to the natives should be suffered to leave the bay, as it was +his determination, in case gentler measures should prove ineffectual, to +destroy them all. All the boats of both ships, well manned and armed, +were therefore so placed as to enforce obedience to this command.</p> + +<p>Cook was received, according to King's account, with the greatest +respect: the people prostrated themselves before him. He proceeded +direct to the old King, and invited him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> on board his ship. The King +immediately consented; but some of the Yeris endeavoured to dissuade +him; and the more earnestly Cook pressed his going, the more strenuously +they endeavoured to prevent it. Cook, at length, seized the King by the +arm, and would have carried him off by force; which in the highest +degree irritated the assembled multitudes. At this moment a Yeri, who in +crossing the bay from the opposite side had been fired upon by the +English boats, rushed with blood streaming from his wound into the +presence of the King, and cried aloud to him to remain where he was, or +he would certainly receive similar treatment; this incident wound up the +rage of the people to its utmost pitch, and the conflict commenced, in +which Cook lost his life.</p> + +<p>Karemaku, who, when a young man, had witnessed these circumstances, +related them to me; and the accounts of Cook's companions upon the whole +agree with his. Some isolated facts are differently stated by them; but +I was assured by all the natives of Wahu, that Karemaku had strictly +adhered to the truth. Even if we give entire credit to the English<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +narrative, we shall find that they were the aggressors,—that the +islanders acted only on the defensive, and that Cook's fate, however +lamentable, was not entirely undeserved.</p> + +<p>John Reinhold Forster, in his preface to a journal of a voyage of +discovery to the South Sea, in the years 1776 to 1780, gives an extract +from a letter written to him by an Englishman in a responsible +situation, in which he says of Cook—"The Captain's character is not the +same now as formerly: his head seems to have been turned." Forster gives +the same account concerning the change in Cook, when he says—</p> + +<p>"Cook, on his first voyage, had with him Messrs. Banks and Solander, +both lovers of art and science. On the second, I and my son were his +companions, enjoying daily and familiar intercourse with him. In our +presence, respect for his own character restrained him; our mode of +thinking, our principles and manners influenced his, and prevented his +treating the poor harmless South Sea Islanders with cruelty. The only +instance of undue severity we ever witnessed in his behaviour, was when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +on account of some petty theft he once allowed his cannon to be fired +upon the fugitive offenders; fortunately, however, no one was injured by +this rash act. But having in his last voyage no other witnesses of his +actions, than such as were entirely under his command, he forgot what he +owed to his own great name, and was guilty in many instances of extreme +cruelty. I am therefore convinced, that if Messrs. Banks and Solander, +Dr. Spaarmann, or I and my son, had been with him on the last voyage, +his life would not have been lost in the manner it was."</p> + +<p>The first ships which visited the Sandwich Islands after Cook's death +were those of Meeres, Dickson, and Coke, in the years 1786–9. They +traded in skins between China and the North-west Coast of America, and +found these islands very convenient to touch at. They were well +received; and some of the islanders made the voyage to America with +them. Tianna, one of the first Yeris of O Wahi, went with Meeres to +China. These voyages, and the continual intercourse with Europeans, +which their increasing trade in fur produced, necessarily enlarged the +ideas of these children of Nature; and as they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> were not under the +dominion of that folly which, in common with the Greenlanders, possesses +some of the most civilized nations in Europe, of considering themselves +the first people upon earth, they soon acquired our manners, and derived +all the advantage that could be expected from the opportunities of +improvement thus afforded them. Vancouver found, in 1792, that many +remarkable changes had taken place on these islands since Cook's time.</p> + +<p>King Teraiopu did not long survive that eminent navigator. His son +Kawarao succeeded to the government of the greater part of the island of +O Wahi; the rest fell to his relation Tameamea. Kawarao was a tyrant, +and governed with unexampled cruelty. At certain periods of the moon, he +declared himself holy, or under a Tabu: the priests alone had then the +privilege of seeing him so long as the sun was above the horizon; and an +immediate death of the severest torture was the melancholy lot of any +individual not belonging to this sacred order, who by whatever accident +should cast but a momentary glance upon the voluntarily secluded +monarch. To this cruelty of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span>disposition, Kawarao united an unbounded +ambition, which prompted him to make war on his kinsman Tameamea. This +young and powerful chief early distinguished himself, and soon became +celebrated throughout these islands for superiority of intellect and +skill in arms. Kawarao, although he had greatly the advantage in +numbers, could never obtain a victory; fire-arms were not then in use +here, and success long vibrated between the contending rivals. Both +parties at length determined to put the final issue of the war to the +test of a single combat, stipulating that the conqueror should acquire +the sovereignty of the whole island. The two kings armed; their +respective priests carried the images of their gods to the field, and +the fight commenced. Kawarao trusted to his skill in throwing the +javelin; but Tameamea could defend himself from several antagonists at +once, and scarcely ever missed his aim. After some fruitless efforts of +both combatants, Tameamea's spear pierced the side of his bloodthirsty +enemy, who fell dead on the field.</p> + +<p>This duel, by which Tameamea became King of O Wahi and of Muwe, which +had also belonged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> to Kawarao, took place in the year 1781. To establish +his dominion on a firmer basis, Tameamea married the daughter of the +vanquished monarch, and acquired the love of his subjects by his wise +and moderate government. Himself endowed with uncommon powers of mind, +he entrusted the important offices of state only to such as were capable +of discharging them efficiently. He made a very fortunate choice in +Karemaku, who, while quite a young man, entered into all the enlightened +and comprehensive views of his master, forwarded them with ability and +energy, and continued his faithful servant till the death of Tameamea. +The English called him the Pitt of the Sandwich Islands.</p> + +<p>Several Europeans now established themselves at O Wahi; among whom Davis +and John Young have been the most useful to the rising nation. Under +their direction, houses and ships have been constructed in the European +fashion; the island has been enriched with many useful plants; and their +advice has been successfully followed in the affairs of government.</p> + +<p>With the appearance of Vancouver, arose the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> fortunate star of these +islands. Among the innumerable benefits he conferred upon them, they are +indebted to him for the possession of sheep and cattle. Tameamea +declared these animals under a Tabu for ten years, which allowed time +for so large an increase, that they now run wild in the forests. Had +Vancouver enjoyed Cook's advantages, the islanders might still have +believed him their Rono.</p> + +<p>Tameamea, during Vancouver's visit, swayed the sceptre only over the +islands of O Wahi and Muwe, and was engaged in wars with his neighbour +kings, whom he fought with the assistance of cannon purchased from +European ships. He commanded in every battle, both by sea and land; and +Karemaku, as first in authority under him, was his constant companion. +The O Wahians, however, could not have well understood the use of their +cannons and other fire-arms, as, after Vancouver's departure, the war +was maintained for ten years. O Tuai, the most north-westerly island, +even then held out, though the others had submitted. In the year 1817, +Tameamea conquered this also, after many <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span>unsuccessful attempts, and +thus became the supreme governor of the whole Archipelago.</p> + +<p>From this time all his efforts were directed to the education of his +people, and the improvement of their trade. Salt and sandal-wood were +the chief articles of exportation. The latter, though bought at rather a +high price by the North-American ships, which almost exclusively +monopolized this trade, sold for a large profit at Canton.</p> + +<p>I have been told, that the Americans have purchased sandal-wood here to +the amount of three hundred thousand Spanish dollars a-year. Tameamea +bartered this wood for some large American merchant-ships, manned them, +and other ships built in the Sandwich Islands, partly with his own +subjects, and partly with Europeans, and traded on his own account. He +had even found means to create a small fleet of ships of war; and his +warehouses, built of stone, were filled with European and American +merchandise. He possessed a considerable treasure in silver money and +utensils; his fortresses were planted with cannon of a large calibre, +and he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> maintained a force of fifteen thousand men, all armed with +muskets, in the use of which they had been carefully exercised. He took +much pains, assisted by the Spaniard Marini, to introduce the +cotton-tree, which answered very well, and yielded fine cotton; and +endeavoured to improve the native flax, already much superior to that of +New Zealand, and to profit by it as an article of commerce. Nothing +which promised advantage to his country escaped his penetrating mind; he +exerted, in short, every faculty of his mind to place the Sandwich +Islands in a state of progressive assimilation to the most prosperous +nations. Vessels of every nation were as secure from injustice or insult +in his ports, as in those of Europe, if not more so. As soon as a +strange ship arrived, criers were employed to give notice that the new +comers were friends, and must be hospitably received, and that any +incivility shown them would be severely punished.</p> + +<p>When Tameamea first sent a ship to Canton with sandal-wood, he was +obliged to pay a considerable duty for anchorage; whereupon he argued, +that what was exacted from himself, he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> might with a safe conscience +demand from others; and every ship is now required to pay forty Spanish +dollars for anchorage in the outer, and eighty in the inner harbour of +Hanaruro.</p> + +<p>Wahu is the most fertile of all the islands, and the only one enjoying a +secure harbour; it therefore naturally advances the most rapidly in +civilization. Several European and American traders have settled in +Hanaruro; shops have been opened, and houses built in the European +style, of wood and stone; some of the former were made in America, and +brought here to be put together. The exertions of Marini introduced here +many European vegetables, the vine and other fruits, which are all in a +flourishing state. He collected and tamed a herd of cows. Goats, sheep, +and poultry of all kinds are common. The frequent voyages which the +Sandwich islanders now made, partly in Tameamea's vessels, partly +foreign ones, on board which they served as sailors, gradually +familiarised them with the manners of more civilized nations. They +adopted our costume, but after the Tahaitian fashion; considering a +complete suit as an unnecessary luxury. Even Tameamea <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span>himself, for his +usual attire, wore only a shirt, trowsers, and red waistcoat, without a +coat; he possessed, however, many richly embroidered uniforms, but kept +them for grand occasions.</p> + +<p>These islanders had made great progress in the English language: many of +them could speak it very tolerably. Tameamea understood, but did not +speak it. If any of my readers should wish for a farther acquaintance +with the character of this distinguished sovereign, I must refer them to +Vancouver, and to my former voyage; but for the benefit of those who may +not be disposed to take this trouble, I cannot forbear repeating from +the latter some of his remarks to myself. He presented me with a collar +most ingeniously worked with coloured feathers, which he had sometimes +worn in war, and on solemn occasions, saying, "I have heard that your +monarch is a great warrior, and I love him, because I am a warrior +myself; bear to him this collar, which I send as a token of my regard." +Once as he embraced an image in his Marai, he said, "These are our Gods +whom I adore; whether in so doing I am right or wrong, I know not, but I +follow the religion of my country,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> which cannot be a bad one, since it +commands me to be just in all my actions."</p> + +<p>On the 8th of May, in the year 1819, Tameamea terminated his meritorious +career, to the great sorrow as well of the foreign settlers as of his +native subjects. His remains were disposed of according to the rites of +the religion he professed. After they had remained some time in the +Marai, the bones were cleaned, and divided among his relatives and the +most distinguished of his attendants. According to the custom of this +country, two persons had long before been destined for interment with +him at his death; but by his express desire this ceremony was dispensed +with.</p> + +<p>His eldest son and legitimate successor, Lio Lio, or, as the English +call it, <i>Rio Rio</i>,—for there is some difficulty in distinguishing +between the L and the R of the Sandwich Islanders,—now assumed the +government, under the name of Tameamea the Second. Unhappily, the +father's talents were not hereditary; and the son's passion for liquor +incapacitated him for ruling with the same splendid reputation an infant +state, which, having already received so strong an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> impulse towards +civilization, required a skilful guide to preserve it from degeneracy +and error.</p> + +<p>The chiefs of some of the islands, and especially of O Tuai, had, even +in Tameamea's lifetime, founded a hope of future independence, on the +weakness of his successor, and immediately upon his death proceeded to +attempt the accomplishment of their desires. But Karemaku, the faithful +friend and counsellor of the deceased King, to whom the whole nation +looked up with affection, and whose penetration easily discerned the +evil consequences that would ensue from a political disunion of the +islands, devoted to the son all the zeal and patriotism with which he +had served the father. By the influence of his eloquence, and the force +of his arms, he quelled the insurrection, and re-established peace and +order; but to enthrone the new monarch in the hearts of his people +exceeded his ability; and their disaffection proved that the germ of +future disorders was not wholly extinct. The King chose Wahu for his +residence, because this island was in the best state for defence; and +giving himself up entirely to dissipation, sunk lower and lower in the +estimation of his subjects.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> Karemaku was the good genius who watched +over the welfare of the country, while its monarch was wasting his hours +and his health in orgies, at which he was frequently known to empty a +bottle of rum at a draught. It was not to be supposed that a king +addicted to such habits should conceive any projects of utility or +advantage for his people; he wished, however, to distinguish himself by +some effort in their favour, or at least to relieve them from the +trammels of superstition. He was a freethinker in a bad sense. He hated +the religion of his country, because it laid some restraints upon his +inclinations, and he determined to overthrow it; not for the purpose of +introducing a better, a task to which his feeble mind was unequal, but +for that of at once relieving himself and his subjects from ceremonies +which he considered useless, because he undervalued the precepts of +morality interwoven with them, and for the sake of which his father had +always conscientiously observed them.</p> + +<p>In the fifth month of his reign, he proceeded in a violent and brutal +manner, notwithstanding all the remonstrances of Karemaku, to the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>execution of his design. Having previously arranged his plans with some +chiefs, the companions of his excesses, he invited the principal +inhabitants of the islands to a sumptuous banquet. After the wine and +rum had produced their wonted effects, females were introduced, and +compelled to partake of the feast. These poor creatures, having no +suspicion of the King's intentions, shrunk with terror from a +profanation punishable with death. But their resistance was unavailing: +they were not only constrained to sit down to the repast in company with +the men, but even to eat pork; and thus, to the great astonishment of +such guests as were not in the secret, to violate, at the royal command, +a double Tabu. A murmur arose; but the greater part of the company were +under the influence of liquor, and the King now openly proclaimed his +intentions. His auditors inquired in alarm what crime the Gods had +committed, that they should be thus unceremoniously dismissed; and +besought him not to occasion his own destruction and that of the +country, by provoking their indignation. The King started from his seat, +and exclaimed with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span>violent gestures, "You see we have already violated +the strongest Tabus, and yet the Gods inflict no punishment, because +they have no power; neither have they power to do us good. Our faith was +erroneous and worthless. Come, let us destroy the Marais, and from +henceforth acknowledge no religion!" The immediate dependents of the +King rose to second him: the inhabitants of Hanaruro had been depraved +by their intercourse with foreign sailors, and a tumultuous crowd, who +held nothing sacred, soon followed the revellers. Arrived at the royal +Marai, some of them, terrified by the aspect of their idols, would have +receded; but when the King himself, and his friends and followers, began +to maltreat them, and no divine vengeance followed, the courage of the +multitude revived, and the Marais were soon utterly destroyed. This +outrage to what the people at large most venerated, introduced a scene +of confusion and violence, and would indeed have entailed destruction +both on the King and the country, had not Karemaku again stood forward +in their defence. Several Yeris who, disapproving the sentiments of the +King, had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span>retired privately from the banquet, joined the priests in +exciting the people to defend their gods by force of arms. An army was +raised, and, animated by the presence of the war-god, commenced +hostilities against his sacrilegious opponents. When the news of the +destruction of the Marais reached the other islands, insurrections also +broke out in each of them. Karemaku had condemned the sacrilege, and +abstained from any part in it; but as it could not now be prevented, and +he foresaw the mischievous consequences of civil commotions, he +assembled an army, and, victorious wherever he appeared, succeeded in +restoring tranquillity. On the large island O Wahi, however, he +encountered a formidable resistance; but at length, after several bloody +contests, he captured the war-god: the insurgents, who had also lost +their leaders in the last battle, believing themselves quite abandoned +by the gods, now dispersed, and Karemaku, on the restoration of +tranquillity, returned to Wahu.</p> + +<p>It is a remarkable fact, that a people who regarded their faith and +their priests with so much reverence, as I had myself witnessed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +previously to this occurrence, should in so short a period, acquiescing +in the decree which denounced their creed as error, and consigned their +sanctuaries to demolition, contentedly submit to the total deprivation +of all external signs of religion. Karemaku had judgment enough to +perceive that this state of things would not endure, and that a religion +of some kind was indispensable to the people; he therefore resolved to +set his countrymen a good example, and yielding to an inclination he had +long entertained, to declare himself publicly a convert to Christianity. +In the same year, 1819, Captain Freycinet, on his voyage round the +world, landed at Hanaruro, and a clergyman accompanying him, Karemaku +and his brother Boki received the sacrament of baptism according to the +forms of the Catholic Church.</p> + +<p>At this time, a society of missionaries was formed in the United States +of America, for the purpose of introducing Christianity into the +Sandwich Islands. Of the extinction of the ancient faith, which must of +course facilitate their undertaking, they had as yet received no +information. Six families of these missionaries arrived<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> at Wahu in +1820, bringing with them two young Sandwich Islanders, who had been +previously prepared in their schools. The King, hearing of their +intention, would not allow them to land, but commanded them immediately +to depart from his shores. Here, again, Karemaku interposed, and +endeavoured to convince the King that the Christian religion would be +one of the greatest benefits he could confer on his subjects. The King +then assembled the most distinguished Yeris, and after fourteen days' +deliberation, decreed that a piece of land should be granted to the +missionaries, with permission to build a church, and to preach their +doctrines, under the condition that they should immediately leave the +island if the experiment should be found to have a prejudicial influence +on the people. The missionaries agreed to the terms, took up their +residence on Wahu, and from thence extended settlements over the other +islands. Their first efforts were successfully directed to the +conversion of the King, his family, and the most distinguished Yeris. +When these personages had openly professed the new faith, the +Missionaries considered themselves firmly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> established, and proceeded +with more confidence to the full execution of their plan. They quickly +acquired the language of the islands, which from the largest of them +they called the O Wahi language, printed the first book in it, (a +collection of Hymns,) in the year 1822, and instructed the natives, who +proved apt scholars, in reading and writing. These missionaries were +Protestants; but the Catholic Karemaku, having no notion of the points +of doctrine in dispute between the Churches, joined without hesitation +in communion with them; and the Christian religion spreading rapidly +among the Sandwich Islanders, without any of the constraint or +persecution which had disgraced it at O Tahaiti, promised the happiest +effects.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding, however, all the efforts of Karemaku, the people were +not yet entirely pacified. The former faith had still many secret +adherents, and the King was unable to acquire either the esteem or +affection of his subjects. Insurrections were continually dreaded; and +Rio Rio, not feeling sufficiently secure even in his entrenchments at +Wahu, determined, by the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span>advice of some Europeans, to make a voyage to +England, in the hope that these discontents would subside during his +absence. He confided the administration of the government to the +faithful Karemaku, and Kahumanna, the favourite wife of his father, and +in the year 1824 sailed for England in a North American ship, +accompanied by his consort, Karemaku's brother Boki, and some other +persons of rank; taking with him twenty-five thousand Spanish piastres +from the treasure amassed by his father.</p> + +<p>Soon after the King's departure, a regular rebellion broke out in the +island of O Tuai. Its former ruler, Tamari, was dead, and his son, a +young man who had been brought up in the United States of America, and +had unfortunately fallen into bad company, was desirous to recover for +himself the independent dominion of the island. Karemaku and Kahumanna +immediately hastened thither with an army, and on our arrival at +Hanaruro we found the war still raging at O Tuai, though it was supposed +to be near its close. The government of Wahu was entrusted, during the +absence of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>Regents, to another wife of Tameamea, named Nomahanna, +conjointly with a Yeri called Chinau.</p> + +<p>On the morning after our arrival, I rowed ashore with some of my +officers, to pay my respects to the Queen Nomahanna, and on landing was +met by the Spaniard Marini, who accompanied us to her Majesty as +interpreter. On the way I was recognised by several old friends, with +whom I had become acquainted on my former visit. They saluted me with a +friendly "<i>Aroha</i>." I cannot say there was much room for compliment on +any visible improvement in their costume; for they still wore with much +self-complacency some ill-assorted portions of European attire.</p> + +<p>The residence of Nomahanna lay near the fortress on the sea-shore: it +was a pretty little wooden house of two stories, built in the European +style, with handsome large windows, and a balcony very neatly painted. +We were received on the stairs by Chinau, the governor of Wahu, in a +curious dishabille. He could hardly walk from the confinement his feet +suffered in a pair of fisherman's shoes, and his red cloth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> waistcoat +would not submit to be buttoned, because it had never been intended for +so colossal a frame. He welcomed me with repeated "<i>Arohas</i>," and led me +up to the second floor, where all the arrangements had a pleasing and +even elegant appearance. The stairs were occupied from the bottom to the +door of the Queen's apartments, by children, adults, and even old +people, of both sexes, who, under her Majesty's own superintendence, +were reading from spelling-books, and writing on slates—a spectacle +very honourable to her philanthropy. The Governor himself had a +spelling-book in one hand, and in the other a very ornamental little +instrument made of bone, which he used for pointing to the letters. Some +of the old people appeared to have joined the assembly rather for +example's sake, than from a desire to learn, as they were studying, with +an affectation of extreme diligence, books held upside down.</p> + +<p>The spectacle of these scholars and their whimsical and scanty attire, +nearly upset the gravity with which I had prepared for my presentation +to the Queen. The doors were, however, thrown open and I entered, Chinau +introducing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> me as the captain of the newly-arrived Russian frigate. The +apartment was furnished in the European fashion, with chairs, tables, +and looking-glasses. In one corner stood an immensely large bed with +silk curtains; the floor was covered with fine mats, and on these, in +the middle of the room, lay Nomahanna, extended on her stomach, her head +turned towards the door, and her arms supported on a silk pillow. Two +young girls lightly dressed, sat cross-legged by the side of the Queen, +flapping away the flies with bunches of feathers. Nomahanna, who +appeared at the utmost not more than forty years old, was exactly six +feet two inches high, and rather more than two ells in circumference. +She wore an old-fashioned European dress of blue silk; her coal-black +hair was neatly plaited, at the top of a head as round as a ball; her +flat nose and thick projecting lips were certainly not very handsome, +yet was her countenance on the whole prepossessing and agreeable. On +seeing me, she laid down the psalm-book in which she had been reading, +and having, with the help of her attendants, changed her lying for a +sitting posture, she held out her hand to me in a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> friendly manner, +with many "<i>Arohas!</i>" and invited me to take a seat on a chair by her +side. Her memory was better than my own; she recognised me as the +Russian officer who had visited the deceased monarch Tameamea, on the +island of O Wahi. On that occasion I had been presented to the Queens; +but since that time Nomahanna had so much increased in size, that I did +not know her again. She was aware how highly I esteemed her departed +consort; my appearance brought him vividly to her remembrance, and she +could not restrain her tears, in speaking of his death. "The people," +said she, "have lost in him a protector and a father. What will now be +the fate of these islands, the God of the Christians only knows." She +now informed me with much self-gratulation that she was a Christian, and +attended the prayer-meeting several times every day. Desirous to know +how far she had been instructed in the religion she professed, I +inquired through Marini the grounds of her conversion. She replied that +she could not exactly describe them, but that the missionary Bengham, +who understood reading and writing perfectly well, had assured her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> that +the Christian faith was the best; and that, seeing how far the Europeans +and Americans, who were all Christians, surpassed her compatriots in +knowledge, she concluded that their belief must be the most reasonable. +"If, however," she added, "it should be found unsuited to our people, we +will reject it, and adopt another."</p> + +<p>Hence it appears that the christianity of the missionaries is not +regarded with the reverence which, in its purity, it is calculated to +inspire in the most uncultivated minds. In conclusion, Nomahanna +triumphantly informed me, that the women might now eat as much pork as +they pleased, instead of being, as formerly, limited to dog's flesh. At +this observation, an intrusive idea suddenly changed her tone and the +expression of her features. With a deep sigh, she exclaimed—"What would +Tameamea say if he could behold the changes which have taken place here? +No more Gods—no more Marais: all are destroyed! It was not so in his +time:—we shall never have such another king!" Then, while the tears +trickled down her cheeks, she bared her right arm, and showed me, +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>tattooed on it in the O Wahi language—"Our good King Tameamea died on +the 8th of May 1819." This sign of mourning for the beloved monarch, +which cannot be laid aside like our pieces of crape, but accompanies the +mourner to the grave, is very frequent on the Sandwich Islands, and +testifies the esteem in which his memory is held: but it is a still more +striking proof of the universal grief for his loss, that on the +anniversary of his death, all his subjects struck out one of their front +teeth; and the whole nation have in consequence acquired a sort of +whistle in speaking. Chinau had even had the above words tattooed on his +tongue, of which he gave me ocular demonstration; nor was he singular in +this mode of testifying his attachment. It is surprising that an +operation so painful, and which occasions a considerable swelling, +should not be attended with worse consequences.</p> + +<p>Nomahanna spoke with enthusiasm on the subject of writing. Formerly, she +said, she could only converse with persons who were present; now, let +them be ever so far distant, she could whisper her thoughts softly to +them alone. She promised to write me a letter, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> order, she said, that +I might prove to every one in Russia that Nomahanna was able to write.</p> + +<p>Our conversation was interrupted by the rattling of wheels, and the +sound of many voices. I looked from the window, and saw a little cart to +which a number of active young men had harnessed themselves with the +greatest complacency. I inquired of Marini what this meant, and was +informed that the Queen was about to drive to church: an attendant soon +after entered, and announced that the equipage was ready. Nomahanna +graciously proposed my accompanying her; and rather than risk her +displeasure by a refusal, I accepted the invitation with many thanks, +though I foresaw that I should thus be drawn in as a party to a very +absurd spectacle.</p> + +<p>The Queen now put on a white calico hat decorated with Chinese flowers, +took a large Chinese fan in her hand, and, having completed her toilette +by drawing on a pair of clumsy sailor's boots, we set out. In descending +the stairs, she made a sign that the school was over for the present; an +announcement that seemed very agreeable to the scholars, to the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> old +ones especially. At the door below, a crowd had assembled, attracted by +curiosity to see me and their Queen drive out together. The young men in +harness shouted for joy, and patiently waited the signal for the race. +Some delay, however, occurred in taking our seats with suitable dignity. +The carriage was very small, and my companion very large, so that I was +fain to be content with a seat upon the edge, with a very good chance of +losing my balance, had not her Majesty, to obviate the danger, encircled +my waist with her stout and powerful arm, and thus secured me on my +seat; our position, and the contrast presented by our figures, had no +doubt a sufficiently comical effect. When we were at length comfortably +settled, the Governor Chinau came forth, and with no other addition than +a round hat to the costume already described, mounted a meagre unsaddled +steed, and off we all went at full gallop, the Queen taking infinite +pains to avoid losing me by the way. The people came streaming from all +sides, shouting "<i>Aroha maita!</i>"—our team continually increasing, while +a crowd behind contended for the honour of helping to push us forward. +In this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> style we drove the whole length of Hanaruro, and in about a +quarter of an hour reached the church, which lies on an ugly flat, and +exactly resembles that at O Tahaiti both in external and internal +appearance.</p> + +<p>The congregation was very small. Nomahanna and an old lady were the only +individuals of their sex; and Chinau, myself, and a few others, the only +males present. Even the people who had drawn us did not enter the +church; from which I infer, that the influence of the missionaries is by +no means so considerable as at O Tahaiti; and certainly the converts are +not yet driven with a stick into the house of prayer: nor would it be +easy to fasten on the minds of the people the fetters so patiently +endured on the Society Islands, where the labours of the missionaries +are seldom interrupted by the intervention of strangers. The Sandwich +Islanders are engaged in constant intercourse with foreign sailors, +mostly of licentious characters, who indeed profess the Christian +religion; but brought hither by the desire of gain, or the necessity of +laying in provisions for their ships, are generally wholly occupied<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> in +driving crafty bargains, and certainly are no way instrumental in +inspiring the islanders with ideas of religion or morality, but on the +contrary, set them examples which have a direct tendency to deprave +their minds. Such among these crews as have been guilty of offences on +board ship, frequently run away and settle on the islands. This was +severely prohibited in Tameamea's time, but is now permitted, from +Christian charity. Such characters as these, reckless of every thing +sacred, do not hesitate to make a jest of the missionaries, whose +extraordinary plans and regulations offer many weak points to the shafts +of ridicule.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Bengham had concluded a discourse in the O Wahi language, which +might possibly have been highly edifying, but that it was addressed to +little else than empty benches,—for I did not understand him, and the +minds of the few other persons present were evidently occupied with very +different matters,—we returned to the palace in the same style that we +had left it. I then took my leave, having received a promise of being +amply supplied with provisions: the Queen also, at my request, ordered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +a small house near her own to be prepared for our astronomical +observations, and our astronomer, M. Preus, took possession of it on the +following day.</p> + +<p>Our arrival had created a great sensation on the island. A foreign ship +of war is an uncommon spectacle here—one from Russia more especially, +as the attempt of the insane Dr. Scheffer, in 1816, to raise the island +of O Tuai against Tameamea, in the hope of annexing it to the empire of +Russia, had naturally introduced a fear of similar projects, although +the absurd design was entirely discountenanced by the Emperor Alexander. +The English also, even in their writings, have contributed to spread the +ridiculous idea, that Russia entertained views against the independence +of the Sandwich Islands; and that Rio Rio's voyage was only undertaken +for the purpose of imploring the assistance of England against our +government. From the air of protection which England has for some time +past assumed towards these islands, it is probable that she herself +secretly harbours such a design, and only waits a favourable opportunity +for its <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span>execution; although the English always profess to acknowledge +the sovereignty of the native monarch, and the King of England, in +writing to Tameamea, calls him, "Your Majesty."</p> + +<p>I am, however, far from desiring to maintain this opinion as founded on +any sufficient grounds. The alarm of the islanders, on the present +occasion, had been in great measure excited by a paragraph in a Mexican +newspaper, recently imported, which contained a new version of the +English fiction. The mistrust, however, did not long subsist. My +assurances of friendship, and the particularly good behaviour of the +whole crew, by which they were advantageously distinguished from those +of the other ships lying here, soon attracted towards us the confidence +and esteem of the natives and their governors. During the whole of my +stay on the island, I had not the slightest cause to be dissatisfied +with the conduct of my men, notwithstanding the temptations to which +they were exposed, from the example of other sailors. All that could be +spared from the ship were, every Sunday, allowed to go ashore; this +being generally known<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> in Hanaruro, a crowd of Wahuaners were always in +waiting to welcome the arrival of our boat. The friendly intercourse +which at all times subsisted between our people and the islanders was +truly gratifying.</p> + +<p>I observed with regret, in my daily visits to Hanaruro, that the +Wahuaners had lost the simplicity and innocence of character which +formerly distinguished them. The profligate habits of the settlers of +all nations among them, and of the numerous foreign sailors with whom +they constantly associate, have most prejudicially affected their +morals. Fraud, theft, and burglary, never heard of in Tameamea's time, +are now frequent. Murder implies a degree of wickedness to which they +have not yet attained; but a circumstance that occurred shortly before +our arrival, may perhaps become an example even for this worst of +crimes. The crew of an English whaler, in which much drinking had been +permitted, mutinied, and the Captain received a blow on the head, which, +though it did not destroy life, produced insanity; nor could all the +efforts of our physician wholly restore his reason. He had <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span>indeed lucid +intervals, during which he became reconciled to his crew, and at length +sailed for England; but I have reason to believe the vessel never +reached its destination.</p> + +<p>One very unpleasant consequence has attended progressive civilization in +Hanaruro:—painted signs, that the means of intoxication might be +purchased within, hang from many of the houses: their keepers are +runaway sailors, who, to increase their own profit, naturally have +recourse to every means that may tempt the people to excess; and these +liquor-shops accordingly enjoy a constant overflow of visitors. Others +are fitted up in a superior style, for the exclusive accommodation of +Yeris and ships' officers, admission being refused to Kanackas and +sailors. Carousing is here also the order of the day, but billiards and +whist form part of the entertainments; the latter game especially is a +great favourite with the Wahuaners, who play it well. Whist parties may +be seen every where seated on the ground, in the streets or in open +fields, among whom large sums of money and valuable goods are at stake. +The players are always surrounded by <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span>spectators, who pronounce their +opinions very volubly at the close of every game. The parties themselves +are extremely animated, and the affair seldom terminates without a +quarrel. Many other games are also in favour; and through the prevalence +of a custom which cannot be observed without regret, this once +industrious and flourishing people are rapidly acquiring confirmed +habits of idleness and dissipation. A great part of the well cultivated +tarro-fields, which formerly surrounded Hanaruro, now lie waste. On the +great market-place, horse and foot races are proceeding all day long, +and give occasion to extensive gambling. The Wahuaners have as great a +passion for horse-racing, as the Malays for cock-fighting, and without +hesitation venture their whole stock of wealth on a race. The purchase +of a horse is, indeed, the great object of their ambition; and little +attention having hitherto been directed to the breeding of these +animals, they are imported from California, at an expense of from two to +three, or even five hundred piastres; so that many a Wahuaner is obliged +to hoard his whole earnings for years<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> together, to raise the means of +indulging in this luxury. In these races the horse is not saddled, and a +string supplies the place of a bit; the rider is usually quite naked, +but very skilful in the management even of the wildest horse; but, as +the treatment is injudicious, they are soon worn out.</p> + +<p>Large sums are also staked at the <i>ship-games</i>, as they are called, in +which the islanders display their seaman-like tastes. The players are +usually clever ship-builders. They build pretty little vessels, in +conformity with the rules of art, and, by their good management of the +keel, make them good sailers; they rig them completely, and decorate +them with flags and streamers. Then assembling on the banks of some +large pond, the owners spread the sails, make the helm fast, and launch +the little fleet. The ship which is best built and rigged, first gains +the opposite shore, and wins the prize. The spectators take great +interest in the game, and a loud shout announces the victory. The +children also, in imitation of their fathers, make little ships, and +have sailing-matches on the smaller pieces of water.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p><p>From the partiality of the Sandwich Islanders for a sea-life, and from +their geographical situation, it is probable that, in time, they will +become powerful at sea. Tameamea left to his successor above a dozen +good ships, all manned with natives. They obtain excellent nautical +educations on board the United States' vessels trading between America +and Canton; and the Americans, who are equal to the English as seamen, +bear witness to the abilities of the islanders.</p> + +<p>Luxury has made great advances in Wahu. Even among the lowest class of +the people, some article of European clothing is universal. The females +especially set their hearts upon the most fashionable mode of dress: +whatever the Queen wears is their model, which they imitate to the +utmost of their power. The men are importuned to gratify this feminine +vanity; and if their means will not enable them to do so fairly, they +will often have recourse to fraud. The love of foreign wares, and +especially of such as serve for dress and ornament, is by far the most +fertile source of crime. The shopkeepers are emulous to make their +assortment of goods as attractive as possible, and <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span>sometimes allow +their customers credit, in which case they never fail to charge double, +though their profits are at all times enormous. I have myself seen young +girls paying two Spanish dollars for a string of common glass-beads +which would scarcely reach round the throat. The tradespeople practise +every species of deception with impunity, for the laws are not yet +sufficiently civilized to meet offences of this description; which +therefore inflict a double injury on their dupe, by robbing him of his +property, and affording him an example of successful fraud, which he +will generally at least endeavour to imitate. On Sunday, the inhabitants +of Wahu make their appearance at church in full dress to be admired; and +if the spectacle on these occasions is not so thoroughly laughable as at +O Tahaiti, it is certainly sufficiently comic.</p> + +<p>The domestic utensils, formerly in use here, have entirely disappeared +even from the poorest huts; and Chinese porcelain has superseded the +manufactures from the gourd or the cocoa-nut.</p> + +<p>Fourteen days after our arrival, I received a message from Karemaku, who +was still at O Tuai. He assured me that he was rejoiced at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> my coming, +stated that he had sent orders to Chinau to supply my ship with the best +provisions, and added, that having happily concluded the expedition, he +should soon return to Hanaruro.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, we had no cause to complain of our situation: every thing was +to be had for money; and Nomahanna overwhelmed us with presents of fat +hogs and the finest fish, putting all the fishermen into requisition to +provide abundantly for our table. We had all reason to be grateful for +her attention and kindness, and are all therefore ready to maintain that +she is not only the cleverest and the most learned, but also the best +woman in Wahu, as indeed she is considered both by the natives and +settlers. But I can also bear testimony to another qualification, of +equal importance in her estimation—she has certainly the greatest +appetite that ever came under my observation. I usually visited her in +the morning, and was in the habit of finding her extended at full length +upon the floor, employed in inditing her letter to me, which appeared to +occasion her many a head-ache. Once, however, I called<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> exactly at +dinner-time, and was shown into the eating-room. She was lying on fine +mats before a large looking-glass, stretched as usual on her prodigious +stomach: a number of Chinese porcelain dishes, containing food of +various kinds, were ranged in a semicircle before her, and the +attendants were busily employed in handing first one and then another to +her Majesty. She helped herself with her fingers from each in its turn, +and ate most voraciously, whilst two boys flapped away the flies with +large bunches of feathers. My appearance did not at all disturb her: she +greeted me with her mouth full, and graciously nodded her desire that I +should take my seat in a chair by her side, when I witnessed, I think, +the most extraordinary meal upon record. How much had passed the royal +mouth before my entrance, I will not undertake to affirm; but it took in +enough in my presence to have satisfied six men! Great as was my +admiration at the quantity of food thus consumed, the scene which +followed was calculated to increase it. Her appetite appearing satisfied +at length, the Queen drew her breath with difficulty two or three times, +then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span> exclaimed, "I have eaten famously!" These were the first words her +important business had allowed her time to utter. By the assistance of +her attendants, she then turned upon her back, and made a sign with her +hand to a tall, strong fellow, who seemed well practised in his office; +he immediately sprang upon her body, and kneaded her as unmercifully +with his knees and fists as if she had been a trough of bread. This was +done to favour digestion; and her Majesty, after groaning a little at +this ungentle treatment, and taking a short time to recover herself, +ordered her royal person to be again turned on the stomach, and +recommenced her meal. This account, whatever appearance of exaggeration +it may bear, is literally true, as all my officers, and the other +gentlemen who accompanied me, will witness.</p> + +<p>M. Preuss, who lived in the neighbourhood of the lady, frequently +witnessed similar meals, and maintains that Nomahanna and her fat hog +were the greatest curiosities in Wahu. The latter is in particular +favour with the Queen, who feeds him almost to death: he is black, and +of extraordinary size and fatness: two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> Kanackas are appointed to attend +him, and he can hardly move without their assistance.</p> + +<p>Nomahanna is vain of her tremendous appetite. She considers most people +too thin, and recommends inaction as an accelerator of her admired +<i>embonpoint</i>—so various are the notions of beauty. On the Sandwich +Islands, a female figure a fathom long, and of immeasurable +circumference, is charming; whilst the European lady laces tightly, and +sometimes drinks vinegar, in order to touch our hearts by her slender +and delicate symmetry.</p> + +<p>One of our officers obtained the Queen's permission to take her +portrait. The limner's art is still almost a novelty here; and many +persons of rank solicited permission to witness the operation. With the +greatest attention, they watched every stroke of the outline, and loudly +expressed their admiration as each feature appeared upon the paper. The +nose was no sooner traced, than they exclaimed—"Now Nomahanna can +smell!" When the eyes were finished—"Now she can see!" They expressed +especial satisfaction at the sight of the mouth, because it would enable +her to eat; and they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span> seemed to have some apprehension that she might +suffer from hunger. At this point, Nomahanna became so much interested, +that she requested to see the picture also: she thought the mouth much +too small, and begged that it might be enlarged. The portrait, however, +when finished, did not please her; and she remarked rather peevishly—"I +am surely much handsomer than that!"</p> + +<p>On the 17th of January, Karemaku arrived with a squadron of two and +three-masted ships, and many soldiers, before the harbour of Hanaruro, +after having terminated the war at O Tuai quite to his satisfaction. The +fleet being unable to enter the harbour, on account of a contrary wind, +was obliged to cast anchor outside. I immediately sent off an officer +with my shallop, to convey to the King's deputy my congratulations on +his arrival; he and his young wife (his wife, of whom I spoke in my +former voyage, was since dead,) returned in the shallop, and came on +board my ship. I fired a salute as he approached, which pleased him +much, as he said this compliment from a Russian ship of war would tend +to remove from the minds of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> his countrymen their injurious suspicions +of the intentions of Russia.</p> + +<p>Karemaku seemed sincerely glad to see me again, and, after a most +cordial embrace, presented his young and pretty wife to me. He minutely +examined all parts of the ship, expressed his approbation of much that +was new to him, and at length exclaimed—"How wide a difference there +still is between this ship and ours!—would that they could be made to +resemble it! O, Tameamea, thou wast taken from us too soon!" In my +cabin, he spoke of the death of his royal friend in terms which Marini +declared it impossible to translate, as no other language would express +such depth of thought united with such ardent feeling. I rather +apprehend that Marini, who is not a man of much education, was not +competent to give effect to powerful emotion in any language: but the +missionaries also declare that there is considerable difficulty in +translating from the O Wahi language, which is particularly adapted to +poetry.</p> + +<p>Karemaku touched also on the change that had taken place in the religion +of the country.—"Our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> present belief," said he, "is preferable to that +which it has supplanted; but the inhabitants of the mountains cannot +understand its superiority; and strong measures are necessary to prevent +their relapsing into idolatry. The King should not have so suddenly +annihilated all that they held sacred. As a first consequence, he has +been obliged to seek for safety in a foreign country. How all will end, +I cannot foresee; but I look forward with fear. The people are attached +to me, and I have influence over them; but my health declines, and the +Government, which I have scarcely been able to keep together, will +probably not survive me. Blood will be spilt, and anarchy will prevail. +Already the island of O Tuai has revolted, even during my life." These +fears are not without foundation: they are shared by the natives and the +foreign settlers; and many of the Yeris seem persuaded that the monarchy +will be dismembered on Karemaku's death. Some have already fixed upon +the districts they mean to appropriate, and do not even take any pains +to conceal their intentions. Yet has the aged and infirm Karemaku +hitherto maintained order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span> among these turbulent spirits, permitting no +one to disturb the general tranquillity with impunity.</p> + +<p>During my former visit here, the painter Choris, who made the voyage +with me, and was afterwards murdered in Mexico, took an excellent +likeness of Tameamea. I now presented to the venerable Karemaku a +copper-plate engraving from this picture. The joy with which he received +it was really affecting; he gazed on the picture with delight, and +kissed it several times, while the tears rolled down his cheeks. On +taking leave, he begged that he might have the medical assistance from +our physician, as he had been long indisposed. He pressed my hand, +saying, "I too am a Christian, and can read and write." That a warrior, +and a statesman, should pride himself on such advantages as these above +all others, proves the estimation in which they are held. The Sandwich +Islanders know that these are the ties which connect them with civilized +nations.</p> + +<p>Karemaku and his wife were, notwithstanding the extreme heat, dressed +entirely in the European fashion. He wore a dark surtout, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> black +waistcoat, and pantaloons, both of very fine cloth. He was still in +mourning for his beloved Tameamea, and his hat was bound with crape. The +lady's dress was of black silk. A crowd of people of both sexes +assembled to welcome the Regent. His foot had scarcely touched the +shore, when they all began to rub each other's noses, and at a given +signal, to weep aloud. This is the established etiquette in welcoming a +great chief. Some of the old women of rank surrounded Karemaku, under +Chinau's direction, and rubbing each other's noses, sang in a plaintive +tone a song to the following effect:</p> + +<p>"Where hast thou stayed so long, beloved ruler? We have wept for thee +every day. Heaven be praised that thou art here again! Dost thou feel +how the earth rejoices under thy footsteps? Dost thou hear how the pigs +which scent thee, joyfully grunt their welcome? Dost thou smell the +roasted fish that waits thy eating? Come, we will cherish thee, that +thou mayest take comfort among us." It must be confessed, that if the O +Wahi language be peculiarly adapted for poetry, this composition does +not do it justice. Karemaku laughed at this reception, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> allowed +himself to be conducted in grand procession to Nomahanna, who had not +condescended to meet him. The excitement lasted the whole day. Nothing +was spoken of but Karemaku's heroism, and the rebel son of Tamaris, whom +he had brought with him a prisoner. This young man is called Prince +George; he is about five-and-twenty, and not of a prepossessing +appearance. He dresses like a European; but although educated in the +United States of America, he scarcely equals a common sailor in moral +attainments, and is remarkable only for his vices. Karemaku never loses +sight of him. Two Yeris are appointed for his keepers; and he knows that +he should be strangled if he attempted to escape.</p> + +<p>Kahumanna still remained in O Tuai, to maintain the newly-restored +tranquillity. This female, who had already distinguished herself in +Vancouver's time, unites a clear understanding with a masculine spirit, +and seems to have been born for dominion.</p> + +<p>Karemaku's arrival proved extremely useful to us. We had made the +disagreeable discovery that a great part of the copper with which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> the +ship was bottomed had become loose, and the hull thereby liable to +injury from worms. To repair this damage in the ordinary way, the +laborious task of unlading and keel-hauling must have been undertaken; +but our noble friend, on hearing of our difficulties, put us upon an +easier method of managing the business. He sent me three very clever +divers, who worked under the water, and fastened new plates of copper on +the hull, two of them provided with hammers to drive in the nails, while +the third held the materials. We found that these men could remain at +work forty-eight seconds at a time. When they emerged, their eyes were +always red and starting; the effect of the violent strain upon the optic +nerve which the use of the sight under water produces. We had some +skilful divers among our own sailors, who, although they could not have +attempted this work, were able to inspect what was done by the +Wahuaners, and to report that it was properly executed.</p> + +<p>Some days after Karemaku's arrival, came an ambassador from Nomahanna, +with instructions to demand an audience of me. I received him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> in the +cabin. His only clothing, except a pocket of plaited reeds that hung +round his neck, was a shirt, and a very broad-brimmed straw hat. The +fellow looked important and mysterious, as if he had a mighty secret to +impart; but converse with each other we could not, for he understood +only his mother-tongue, of which I was entirely ignorant; he therefore +informed me by signs that his pocket contained something for me, and +drew from it a packet. One by one, a multitude of envelopes of the paper +manufactory of the country were removed, till at length a letter came to +light, which he handed to me with the words, "Aroha Nomahanna!" a +salutation from Nomahanna. He then explained to me, in pantomime, that +it was the Queen's intention to visit me to-day, and that she requested +I would send my boat to fetch her. After saying a great deal about "Pala +pala," he left me, and I summoned Marini, who gave me the following +translation of the letter.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>"I salute thee, Russian! I love thee with my whole heart, and more than +myself. I feel, therefore, on seeing thee again in my country,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> a joy +which our poor language is unequal to express. Thou wilt find all here +much changed. While Tameamea lived, the country flourished; but since +his death, all has gone to ruin. The young King is in London. Karemaku +and Kahumanna are absent; and Chinau, who fills their place, has too +little power over the people to receive thee as becomes thy rank. He +cannot procure for thee as many hogs and sweet potatoes, and as much +tarro as thou hast need of. How sincerely do I regret that my great +possessions lie upon the Island of Muwe, so far away across the sea! +Were they nearer, thou shouldst daily be surrounded by hogs. As soon as +Karemaku and Kahumanna return, all thy wants shall be provided for. The +King's brother comes with them; but he is yet only an inexperienced boy, +and does not know how to distinguish good from evil.</p> + +<p>"I beg thee to embrace thine Emperor in my name. Tell him, that I would +willingly do so myself, but for the wide sea that lies between us. Do +not forget to carry my salutations to thy whole nation. Since I am a +Christian, and that thou art also such, thou wilt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> excuse my indifferent +writing. Hunger compels me to close my letter. I wish that thou also +mayst eat thy hog's head with appetite and pleasure.</p> + +<p class="center"> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">I am,</span><br /> +With royal constancy<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And endless love, thine,</span><br /> +<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 6em;"><span class="smcap">Nomahanna</span>."</span><br /> +</p> + +<hr /> + +<p>This curious epistle is very neatly written in a firm hand. The letters +are large, well-formed, and very intelligible. The superscription bears +only the words with which the letter begins—"Aroha Rukkini!" The +composition had taken her many weeks to complete; she made some progress +in it every day; but what was once inserted she never altered; the same +clean page that had been transmitted to me, being the identical one on +which the letter was commenced.</p> + +<p>It was soon known in Hanaruro that the Queen had written to me; and as +all she did was imitated, I was presently in a fair way for being +honoured with many similar letters. All my intended correspondents, +however, would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span> require at least as much time to express their thoughts +on paper, as Nomahanna had taken; I must therefore have waited for their +favours much longer than would have been convenient.</p> + +<p>According to Nomahanna's request, I sent off an officer with the shallop +to fetch her: some hours, however, elapsed before she came, her +Majesty's toilette having, said my officer, occupied all this time. When +at length it was completed, she desired him to give her his arm and +conduct her to the shallop. This is another imitation of European +customs.</p> + +<p>For a lady of the Sandwich Islands, Nomahanna was this day very +elegantly attired. A peach-coloured dress of good silk, trimmed at the +bottom with black lace, covered her Majesty's immense figure, which a +very broad many-coloured sash, with a large bow in the front, divided +exactly into two halves. She had a collar round her neck of native +manufacture, made of beautiful red and yellow feathers; and on her head +a very fine Leghorn hat, ornamented with artificial flowers from Canton, +and trimmed round the edge with a pendant flounce of black lace; her +chin lying modestly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> hidden behind a whole bed of flowers that bloomed +on her mountain bosom. In somewhat striking contrast to all this finery +were the clumsily accoutred feet, and stout, ill-shaped, brown, +unstockinged legs, which the shortness of her Majesty's petticoats, +proportioned originally to the stature of a European belle, displayed to +a rather unsightly extent.</p> + +<p>As yet, the shoemaker's craft does not flourish in the Sandwich Islands; +so that all the shoes and boots worn there are imported from Europe and +America. But as neither of these Continents can produce such a pair of +feet as those of Queen Nomahanna, the attempt to force them into any +ready-made shoes would be hopeless; and her Majesty is therefore +obliged, if she would not go bare-foot, which she does not consider +altogether decorous, to content herself with a pair of men's galloshes. +Such trifles as these were, however, beneath her notice, and she +contemplated her dress with infinite complacency, as a pattern of +princely magnificence. In these splendid habiliments, with a parasol in +her hand, slowly and with difficulty, she climbed the ship's stairs, on +which, with some of my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> officers, I was in waiting to receive her; on +the highest step she endeavoured already to give us a proof of her +acquaintance with our customs, by making a courtesy, which was intended +to accord with the most approved rules of the art of dancing, though the +feet, not perfectly tutored in their parts, performed in rather a comic +style. In attempting this feat, she lost her balance, and would have +fallen into the water, if a couple of strong sailors had not caught her +illustrious person in their arms.</p> + +<p>She was much delighted with all that she saw on board, especially with +my cabin, where the sofa paid dearly for the honour of her +approbation,—she sat upon it, and broke it down. The portrait of the +Emperor Alexander attracted her particular attention; she sat down +opposite to it upon the floor, where she could cause no farther +destruction, and said, after gazing upon it for some minutes with much +interest, "Maitai, Yeri nue Rukkini!" (the great Governor of the +Russians is beautiful!) She told me, that she knew a great deal about +Russia. A Sandwich Islander, named Lauri, who, in 1819, had made the +voyage thither, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> the Russian ship Kamtschatka, with Captain Golowin, +and had afterwards returned to his own country, had told her many things +concerning Petersburg and the Emperor. She said she would have liked to +make the voyage herself, but that Lauri's fearful description of the +cold had terrified her. He had told her, that it was necessary to +envelope the body entirely in fur, and that even this would not obviate +all danger of losing the nose and ears; that the cold changed the water +into a solid substance, resembling glass in appearance, but of so much +strength that it was used for a high road, people passing over it in +huge chests drawn by horses, without breaking it; that the houses were +as high as mountains, and so large, that he had walked three days in one +of them without coming to the end of it. It was evident that Lauri had +stretched a little; but Nomahanna had no notion of incredulity. She +approved of our inventions for warming the inside of our houses, and +thought, that if she were at Petersburg, she would not go out at all +during the cold weather, but would drive her carriage about the house. +She inquired how it could<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> possibly be so warm at one season of the +year, and so cold at another. I endeavoured to accommodate my answer to +her powers of comprehension, and she seemed satisfied.</p> + +<p>"Lauri was in the right," she observed; "there are very clever people in +Russia." Her acknowledgment of my abilities, however, proved rather +inconvenient, for she now overwhelmed me with a host of questions, some +of them very absurd, and which to have answered with methodical +precision, would have required much time and consideration. For +instance, she desired me to tell her how much wood must be burnt, every +year, to warm all the countries of the earth? Whether rain enough might +not fall, at some time or other, to extinguish all the fires? And +whether, by means of such a rain, Wahu might not become as cold as +Russia? I endeavoured to cut the matter as short as possible; and, in +order to divert her thoughts to other subjects, set wine before her; she +liked it very much, and I therefore presented her with a bottle; but her +thirst for knowledge was not thus to be quenched, and during a visit of +two hours, she asked<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> such incessant questions, that I was not a little +relieved when, at length, she proposed to depart. In taking leave, she +observed, "If I have wine, I must have glasses, or how can I drink it?" +So saying, she took the bottle that had been given her, in one hand, +and, with the other, seizing without ceremony the glasses that stood on +the table, she went upon deck. There she made a profound courtesy to all +present, and again took her seat in the shallop. Thus ended this +condescending visit, with the royal appropriation of my wine glasses. +Nomahanna had, however, been so liberal to us, that she had a right to +suppose she would be welcome to them.</p> + +<p>The illness of Karemaku had very much increased since his arrival in +Wahu; he had every symptom of dropsy. Our physician, however, succeeded, +in a great measure, in restoring him to health, and when I paid him a +congratulatory visit, I found him very grateful for the benefit he had +received, full of spirits, and very facetious. I adopted his tone, and +jestingly told him, that we would certainly complete his cure, even if +we should be obliged<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> to rip open his stomach, take out the bowels, +clean them, and replace them. Karemaku laughed, and said he would submit +to the operation, if it was necessary to his perfect recovery. Some old +women, however, who were present, took the matter in sober seriousness, +and spread among the people a report of the dreadful treatment their +beloved Karemaku was threatened with; a terrible disturbance in Hanaruro +was the consequence. The people believed I intended to kill him, and +were excessively irritated against me. Karemaku himself sent me this +intelligence through Marini; adding a request, that I would not come +ashore again till he had overcome this foolish idea, which was +accomplished in a few days. The feeling manifested on this occasion was +certainly honourable both to the governor and the governed.</p> + +<p>An epidemic disease prevailed this year throughout the Sandwich Islands. +It produced a great mortality, death generally following the attack +within a few days. In Hanaruro I saw many corpses daily carried to their +burial; but nowhere is recovery from serious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> illness so improbable as +here. As soon as the patient is obliged to take to his bed, he is +immediately surrounded by his nearest relations, especially of the +female sex, who, weeping, and singing mournful songs in a most +lamentable tone, propose to themselves, by this means, to effect his +recovery, or at least to procure him some relief from his sufferings. +The worse he grows, the larger the assembly, and the louder the noise +becomes; even his friends and acquaintances come flocking in: when there +is no more room within the house, they congregate round the door, and +continue mourning, crying, and howling, inside and outside, till the +sufferer expires. This perpetual disturbance, the constant remembrance +of death it occasions, and the infection of the air from the number of +breaths in the crowded apartment, naturally produce a very prejudicial +effect, and no doubt many die rather in consequence of these proofs of +sympathy than of their disease.</p> + +<p>Kahumanna, having concluded her business in O Tuai, arrived at length in +Hanaruro with the King's brother, a handsome boy of thirteen. I paid her +a visit, and was very graciously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span> received. She is considerably older +than Nomahanna; but, though large and corpulent enough, not by much such +a prodigy of size. Her countenance bears traces of former beauty; she +dresses entirely like a European, and has a more intimate knowledge of +our customs and manners than Nomahanna. Her house, built partly of wood +and partly of stone, is larger than the one I have described as the +habitation of the other Queen; like that, it has two stories and a +balcony, and it is similarly furnished. Near it is the abode of the +missionary Bengham. Kahumanna, as well as Nomahanna, has the date of +Tameamea's death marked upon her arm; otherwise they are not tattooed, +which indeed few are, and those only the most aged people.</p> + +<p>Kahumanna honoured me several times with visits on board, and +condescended to write me a letter, which, Marini assured me, contained +nothing but expressions so inflated and pompous that he could not +understand, and therefore could not translate them.</p> + +<p>The appointed time for our return to New Archangel now approached. Our +vessel had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> been fully prepared for encountering the violent and +continued storms of the North, and I waited the return of our +mineralogist, M. Hoffman, who had gone to O Wahi, for the purpose of +climbing the mountain Mou-na-roa, in which however he did not succeed. +By command of Queen Nomahanna, assistance had indeed been afforded him; +but the two Kanackas, who accompanied him as guides, refused to proceed +farther than seven thousand feet above the level of the sea, or about +half-way up the mountain; a height to which the most courageous O Wahian +will scarcely venture, from fear partly of the spirits which haunt the +summit of the mountain, partly of the cold, which is almost too severe +for an inhabitant of the tropics to endure. At this point the Kanackas +threw themselves flat upon the earth, nor would they stir another step, +although certain of punishment for their refusal. In vain M. Hoffman +tried to shake their resolution, first by offering them large presents, +and then by threatening them with a loaded pistol; they were immoveable, +and he was forced to return. His expedition, however, was not altogether +fruitless:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> besides his mineralogical observations, he discovered an +extraordinary cave, running at an acute angle several hundred feet deep +into the mountain, where he found a sheet of water, which stretched as +far as the light of the torches permitted the light to reach through the +fearful darkness. It would have been interesting to have traversed this +subterranean sea in a boat. It is most remarkable, that the water of +this lake is salt, and that the alternate ebb and flow of the tide is as +perceptible here as on the coast. M. Hoffman will probably publish other +particulars respecting this natural curiosity.</p> + +<p>On the 31st of January 1825, we left the harbour of Hanaruro, having the +pleasure to be accompanied by our friend Karemaku, who, by the help of +our physicians, felt himself well enough to venture thus far. He brought +with him several double canoes, which, as there was no wind, towed the +ship quite out of the harbour, and far enough to sea to obviate any +danger from the reefs; Karemaku then took leave of us with the most +cordial expressions of friendship, wishing us a prosperous voyage and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +speedy return. On a signal from him, the fortress fired five guns, which +salute we immediately returned. Karemaku waved his hat from his boat, +and continuing his "Arohas" so long as we were within hearing, was rowed +back to the harbour. A fresh wind at this moment springing up, we lost +sight of the beautiful island where we had passed our time so agreeably, +and prepared, with far less prospect of satisfaction, to encounter the +wintry storms of the North. I chose the channel between the islands of +Wahu and O Tuai, as the most convenient outlet into the open ocean, for +ships going northward from Hanaruro. We passed through it on the +following day, and sailed direct for New Archangel.</p> + +<p>The reader will willingly spare me any particular description of this +troublesome voyage: I must only mention that, on the 14th of February, +in latitude 35° and 155° longitude, we sailed over a point where, +according to the assertion of some whale-fishers in Wahu, an island +lies; but though the horizon was perfectly clear, we could discover no +sign of land. Our voyage proved safer and more expeditious than is usual +at this season.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p><p>Our astronomical observations on the Sandwich Islands gave the +following results:—</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Sandwich Islands"> +<tr><td class="td1">Latitude of Hanaruro</td><td class="td2">21° 17' 57"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Longitude</td><td class="td2">158° 00' 30"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Longitude of the Eastern point of the</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">island Muwe</td><td class="td2">156° 13' 10"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Longitude of the Western point</td><td class="td2">156° 48' 11"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Latitude of one of the small islands</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">East of Maratai, which are not</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">given in Vancouver's map</td><td class="td2">21° 13' 30"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Longitude</td><td class="td2">156° 49' 12".</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>The account of our residence at New Archangel is contained in the tenth +Chapter.</p> + +<p>On our return voyage to Wahu, we had constantly fine weather, though but +little wind, so that it was not till the 29th of August we found +ourselves in latitude 34°, where we first, in a clear star-light night, +saw the comet which was then visible in the neighbourhood of Aldebaran; +it had a tail four degrees and a half long. On the 4th of September we +sailed over a point, occupied in Arrowsmith's chart by the island +Laxara, without perceiving the smallest trace of it; the existence +therefore of this island, which is said to have been early discovered by +the Spanish navigators, remains doubtful.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p><p>When we reached the tropic, a brisk trade-wind carried us quickly to +the Sandwich Islands, and on the 12th of September we already saw the +Mou-na-roa quite clearly, at a distance of a hundred and twenty-four +miles, rising high above the horizon. On the following morning, we again +dropped anchor before the harbour of Hanaruro, after a sail of +thirty-five days from New Archangel.</p> + +<p>As I only intended to take in a supply of fresh provisions and water, +and then continue my voyage without farther delay, I considered it +unnecessary to run into the harbour, and remained in the roads, although +the south-wind to which they are exposed is sometimes dangerous to ships +riding there. This wind, however, blows only at certain seasons, and is +always announced by an over-clouded sky, long enough to afford time for +taking shelter or standing out to sea.</p> + +<p>On the morning after our arrival, a remarkable phenomenon occurred, of +which we were witnesses throughout its duration. While the heavens were +quite clear, a thick, black cloud formed itself over the island, resting +its lower<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> verge on the summits of the mountains, the densest portion of +the cloud hanging over the little town of Hanaruro. The wind was +perfectly calm, till on a sudden a violent gust blew from the +north-east, and at the same time a crashing noise proceeded from the +cloud, as if many ships were firing their guns; the resemblance was so +perfect, that we might have supposed we heard alternately the individual +shots of the opposing broadsides. The concussion lasted some minutes; +and when it ceased, two stones shot from the cloud into the street of +Hanaruro, and from the violence of the fall broke into several pieces. +The inhabitants collected the still warm fragments, and judging by +these, the stones must have weighed full fifteen pounds each. They were +grey inside, and were externally surrounded by a black burnt crust. On a +chemical analysis, they appeared to resemble the meteoric stones which +have fallen in many countries.</p> + +<p>In the short period of our absence, some important events had taken +place. My readers will remember that the King and Queen of the Sandwich +Islands arrived safely in London, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> were there treated with +particular attention by the English Court; and that they both died in +that country, having previously expressed their desire to be buried in +their native land. This wish was fulfilled by the English Government. +The bodies, having been embalmed, were laid in magnificent coffins +decorated with gold, and Lord Byron was appointed to carry them and the +royal suite, back to Wahu. When he arrived there, and the news of the +deaths of the King and Queen transpired, it produced a great but varying +sensation. Some of the people lamented the loss, but the greater number +rejoiced to be relieved of a ruler in whom they had no confidence; our +friend Karemaku seemed much grieved, possibly from old attachment to the +royal family, or from patriotism, as he had hoped that the King's visit +to England would have been very advantageous to him, and no one was at +the moment qualified to assume the reins of government as his successor.</p> + +<p>On the 11th of May, both coffins were carried in solemn procession to +the church, the fortress and the English frigate firing their guns. The +people cried and howled, as custom requires on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> these occasions, but all +the while greatly admiring the magnificence of the coffins; some +remarked that it must be a pleasure to die in England, where people were +laid in such beautiful boxes. The following inscriptions in the English +language were on the coffin-lids:</p> + +<p>"Tameamea II., King of the Sandwich Islands, died in London on the 24th +of July 1824, in the 28th year of his age. Respected be the memory of +our beloved King Jolani."</p> + +<p>(The King was sometimes known by this appellation.)</p> + +<p>"Tamehamelu, Queen of the Sandwich Islands, died in London, on the 8th +of July 1824, in the 22nd year of her age."</p> + +<p>The funeral procession was arranged in the following order: Twelve +Yeris, in the national costume, with beautiful coloured feather mantles +and helmets, walked first; they were followed by a band of musicians +playing the dead-march, and a company of soldiers from the frigate +Blond. Then came the chaplain of the frigate, and with him the +missionaries, immediately followed by the coffins in hearses, each drawn +by forty Yeris. Directly behind the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> coffins came the heir to the +throne, the brother of the King, a boy about thirteen, dressed in +European uniform. Lord Byron, his officers, and the royal family, +followed, the procession being closed by the people, who, attracted by +the novelty of the spectacle, assembled in great multitudes. All wore +crape as a sign of mourning, or, if they could not procure this, Tapa. +In the church, which was entirely hung with black, the chaplain of the +English frigate read the funeral-service, and the procession afterwards +repaired, in the order above described, to a small stone chapel, where +the coffins were deposited, and where they still remain.</p> + +<p>Soon after the funeral, the new King was proclaimed by the title of +Tameamea the Third, at the command of Karemaku, who retained the regency +during the minority, in conjunction with the Queen Kahumanna. The +regents were thus nominally the same; but Karemaku was too ill to take +an active share in the government, and the missionary Bengham found +means to obtain such an acendency over the imperious Kahumanna, and, +through her, over the nation, that in the course of only seven months an +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span>entire change had taken place:—we might have imagined ourselves in a +different country. Bengham had undertaken the education of the young +monarch, and was keeping him under the strictest <i>surveillance</i>. He +meddles in all the affairs of government, and makes Kahumanna, and even +sometimes Karemaku, the instrument of his will; pays particular +attention to commercial concerns, in which he appears to take great +interest; and seems to have quite forgotten his original situation and +the object of his residence in the islands, finding the avocations of a +ruler more to his taste than those of a preacher. This would be +excusable, if his talents were of a nature to contribute to the +instruction and happiness of the people; if he understood the art of +polishing the rough diamond, to which the uncorrupted Sandwich Islander +may aptly be compared, so as to bring out its intrinsic value, and to +increase its external splendour. But the fact is widely different; and +one cannot see without deep regret the spiritual and temporal weal of a +well-disposed people committed to the guidance of an unenlightened +enthusiast, whose ill-directed and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> ill-arranged designs are inimical to +their true and permanent interests.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stewart, also a missionary, but more recently settled here than +Bengham, is a judicious and well-informed man, and would remedy many of +the evils incident to the present state of affairs; but Bengham, who has +usurped the absolute control of the spiritual administration, will have +every thing accommodated to his whims. Stewart therefore, finding +himself unable to follow the course prescribed by his active zeal and +strong understanding, for the benefit of the islanders, proposes to +leave the country.</p> + +<p>That Bengham's private views may not be too easily penetrated, religion +is made the cloak of all his designs, and the greatest activity and +strictness prevail in its propagation, and in the maintenance of church +discipline. The inhabitants of every house or hut in Hanaruro are +compelled by authority to an almost endless routine of prayers; and even +the often dishonest intentions of the foreign settlers must be concealed +under the veil of devotion. The streets, formerly so full of life and +animation, are now deserted; games of all kinds, even the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> most +innocent, are sternly prohibited; singing is a punishable offence; and +the consummate profligacy of attempting to dance would certainly find no +mercy. On Sundays, no cooking is permitted, nor must even a fire be +kindled: nothing, in short, must be done; the whole day is devoted to +prayer, with how much real piety may be easily imagined. Some of the +royal attendants, on their return from London, at first opposed these +regulations, and maintained that the English, though good Christians, +submit to no such restraint. Kahumanna, however, infatuated by her +counsellor, will hear of no opposition; and as her power extends to life +and death, those who would willingly resist are compelled to bend under +the iron sceptre of this arbitrary old woman.</p> + +<p>A short time before our return, a command had issued, that all persons +who had attained the age of eight years should be brought to Hanaruro, +to be taught reading and writing. The poor country people, though much +discontented, did not venture to disobey, but patiently abandoning their +labour in the fields, flocked to Hanaruro, where we saw many families +bivouacking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> in the streets, in little huts hastily put together, with +the spelling-books in their hands. Such as could already read were made +to learn passages from the Bible by heart. Every street in Hanaruro has +more than one school-house: they are long huts, built of reeds, without +any division. In each of these, about a hundred scholars, of both sexes, +are instructed by a single native teacher, who, standing on a raised +platform, names aloud every single letter, which is repeated in a scream +by the whole assembly. These establishments, it may be supposed, are +easily recognised afar off; no other sounds are heard in the streets; +and the human figure is seldom to be seen amidst this melancholy +stillness, except when the scholars, conducted by their teachers, repair +to the church. Every sort of gaiety is forbidden.</p> + +<p>Lord Byron had brought with him from England a variety of magic +lanterns, puppet-shows, and such like toys, and was making preparations +to exhibit them in public, for the entertainment of the people, when an +order arrived from Bengham to prevent the representation, because it did +not become God-fearing Christians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span> to take pleasure in such vain +amusements. The nobleman, not wishing to dispute the point, gave up his +good-natured intentions.</p> + +<p>That a people naturally so lively, should readily submit to such gloomy +restrictions at the command of their rulers, proves how easily a wise +government might introduce among them the blessings of rational +civilization. Well might Karemaku exclaim, "Tameamea, thou hast died too +soon!" Had this monarch doubled the usual age of man, and accorded his +protection to such a reformer as Stewart, the Sandwich Islanders might +by this time have acquired the respect of all other nations, instead of +retrograding in the arts of civilization, and assuming under compulsion +the hypocritical appearance of an affected devotion.</p> + +<p>In taking a walk with an American merchant established here, I met a +naked old man with a book in his hand, whom my companion addressed, and +knowing him for a determined opponent of the new system, expressed his +surprise at his occupation, and enquired how long he had been studying +his alphabet. With a roguish laugh which seemed intended to conceal a +more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> bitter feeling, first looking round to make sure that he should +not be overheard, he replied, "Don't think that I am learning to read. I +have only bought the book to look into it, that Kahumanna may think I am +following the general example; she would not otherwise suffer me to +approach her, and what would then become of a poor, miserable, old man +like me? What is the use of the odious B A, Ba? Will it make our yams +and potatoes grow? No such thing; our country people are obliged to +neglect their fields for it, and scarcely half the land is tilled. What +will be the consequence? There will be a famine by and by, and "Pala, +Pala" will not fill a hungry man."</p> + +<p>It is doubtless praiseworthy in a government to provide for the +instruction of the people, but to force it upon them by such +unreasonable measures as those adopted by Kahumanna and her counsellor +must have a prejudicial effect: so far the old man was right.</p> + +<p>A striking instance of the severity with which the Queen sometimes +prosecutes her purpose, fell under our observation. An old man of +seventy, who rented a piece of land belonging<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> to her, many miles +distant from Hanaruro, had always paid his taxes with regularity, and +hoping that the distance, and his advanced age, might dispense with his +attendance at the church and the school, acted accordingly; but for this +neglect, Kahumanna drove him from his home. He sought her presence, +implored her compassion for his destitute condition, and represented the +impossibility of learning to read at his age. But in vain! The Queen +replied with an angry gesture, "If you will not learn to read, you may +go and drown yourself."</p> + +<p>To such tyranny as this, has Bengham urged the Queen, and perhaps +already esteems himself absolute sovereign of these islands. But he +reckons without his host. He pulls the cord so tightly, that the bow +must break; and I forewarn him, that his authority will, one day, +suddenly vanish: already the cloud is gathering; much discontent exists. +The injudicious summons of country people to Hanaruro has enhanced the +price of provisions, partly on account of the increased consumption, +partly because so much time spent in study and prayer leaves but little +for the labours of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span>agriculture. Thus will the approaching pressure of +want be added to the slavery of the mind, and probably urge the +islanders to burst their fetters. I have myself heard many of the Yeris +express their displeasure, and the country people, who consider +Bengham's religion as the source of all their sufferings, one night set +fire to the church: the damage sustained was trifling, and the flames +were soon extinguished; but the incendiaries were not discovered.</p> + +<p>Karemaku is suffering under a confirmed dropsy. Lord Byron's surgeon +tapped him; but, by the time we arrived, the increase of his disorder +required a repetition of the operation; it was performed with great +success by our surgeon. But it is impossible he can survive long, and +his death will be the signal of a general insurrection, which Bengham's +folly will certainly have accelerated.</p> + +<p>Our second visit to Hanaruro was as disagreeable as the first had been +pleasant: even our best friend, Nomahanna, was quite altered, and +received us with coldness and taciturnity, we therefore laid in our +stock of provisions and fresh water as quickly as possible, and +rejoiced<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> in being at liberty to take leave of a country from whence one +wrong-headed man has banished cheerfulness and content.</p> + +<p>Several whalers were lying in the harbour, and among them the Englishman +we had met with in St. Francisco, and who had then been so unsuccessful. +Fortune had since been more propitious to him, and he was now returning +from the coast of Japan with a rich cargo of spermaceti valued at +twenty-five thousand pounds sterling: he had touched here to take in +provisions for his voyage homewards.</p> + +<p>I learnt from another captain the particulars of an accident that had +happened to one of his companions, which shows the dangers whale-fishers +are exposed to, and is a singular example of a providential escape.</p> + +<p>A North American, Captain Smith, sailed in the year 1820 in a +three-masted ship, the Albatross, for the South Sea, in pursuit of the +spermaceti whale. When nearly under the Line, west of Washington's +Island, they perceived a whale of an extraordinary size. The boats were +all immediately lowered, and, to make the capture more sure, they were +manned with the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> whole crew: the cook's mate alone remained at the helm, +and the ship lay-to. The monster, as it peaceably floated on the surface +of the water, was eagerly followed, and harpooned. On feeling the stroke +of the weapon, it lashed its powerful tail with fury, and the boat +nearest it was obliged to dart with all speed out of the way, to avoid +instant destruction. The whale then turned its vengeance on the ship, +swam several times round her with prodigious noise, and then struck her +so violently on the bows, that the cook's mate could compare the effect +of the blow only to the shock of an earthquake. The fish disappeared, +but the tremendous leak the ship had sprung sank her in five minutes +with all that she contained. Her solitary guardian was with difficulty +saved.</p> + +<p>The crew were now left in four open boats, several weeks' voyage from +the nearest land, and with no provision but the little biscuit they +happened to have with them. After a long discussion upon the best course +to pursue, they separated: two of the boats steered for the Washington +or Marquesas Isles; and the other two, with the Captain in one of them, +towards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span> the south, for the island of Juan Fernandez. The former have +not since been heard of; but the latter were, a fortnight afterwards, +picked up by a vessel, when the captain and four only of his men were +found alive: the other ten had died of hunger, and their corpses had +afforded nourishment to the survivors.</p> + +<p>On the 19th of September, when the first rays of the sun were gilding +the romantic mountains of Wahu, we spread our sails, and bade adieu to +the Sandwich Islands, heartily wishing them what they so greatly +want—another Tameamea, not in name only, but in spirit and in deed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + + + +<hr /> +<p> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267-68]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">THE PESCADORES,<br /> +THE RIMSKI-KORSAKOFF,<br /> +THE ESCHSCHOLTZ,<br /> +AND THE<br /> +BRONUS ISLES.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PESCADORES, THE RIMSKI-KORSAKOFF, THE ESCHSCHOLTZ, AND THE BRONUS +ISLES.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">On</span> leaving the Sandwich Isles, we steered southward, it being my +intention to sail by a track not hitherto pursued by navigators who have +left us records of their voyages, to the Radack chain of islands. At +Hanaruro, several captains had mentioned to me an island situated in 17° +32' latitude, and 163° 52' longitude. On the 23rd of September we +crossed this point, and saw indeed birds of a description that rarely +fly to any great distance from land; but the reported island itself we +were unable to descry even from the mast-head, although the atmosphere +was perfectly clear:—so little is the intelligence of masters of +trading-vessels to be relied on.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p><p>On the 26th, we were, by observation, in 14° 32' latitude, and 169° 38' +longitude. During the whole of the day, large flights of such sea-birds +were seen as indicate the neighbourhood of land, and even some +land-birds; so that no doubt remained of our having sailed at no great +distance from an island hitherto unknown, the discovery of which is +reserved for some future voyager. During the whole of this course, we +had frequent signs of the vicinity of land, but never to the same extent +as on this day.</p> + +<p>A captain, who had frequently made the voyage from the Sandwich Isles to +Canton, asserts his having discovered a shoal in 14° 42' latitude, and +170° 30' longitude. I can neither confirm nor confute this assertion; +and my only motive for repeating it here is, that vessels passing near +that point may be put upon their guard.</p> + +<p>On the 5th of October we reached the Udirik group, the most northern of +the islands belonging to the Radack chain. We sailed past its southern +point, at a distance of only three miles, for the purpose of rectifying +our longitude, that, in case of discovering the Ralik chain, we might be +enabled to ascertain the exact <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span>difference between that and Radack. We +therefore continued our course due west, in the direction of the +Pescadore Islands, to obtain ocular demonstration that these and the +Udirik group are not one and the same; an opinion which is still +entertained by some persons, on the ground that the discoverers of the +former have mistaken their longitude.</p> + +<p>We continued our course due west throughout the day, with very fine +weather, and having a man constantly upon the look-out from the +mast-head. During the night we had the benefit of the full moon; we then +carried but little sail; but at break of day we again set all our +top-sails.</p> + +<p>At noon, the watch called from the tops that land was right ahead of us. +It soon came in sight, and proved to be a group of low, thickly-wooded +coral islands, forming, as usual, a circle round a basin. At one o'clock +in the afternoon we reached within three miles of them, and had, from +the mast-head, a clear view of their whole extent. While occupied in +surveying them, we doubled their most southern point, at a distance of +only half a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> mile from the reefs, and perceived that their greatest +length is from east to west, in which direction they take in a space of +ten miles. The aspect of these green islands is pleasing to the eye, +and, according to appearance, they would amply supply the necessities of +a population not superabundant; but though we sailed very near them, and +used our telescopes, we could discover no trace of human habitation.</p> + +<p>According to accurate astronomical observations, the middle of this +group lies under 11° 19' 21" latitude, and 192° 25' 3" longitude. In +comparing the situation of the Pescadores, as given by Captain Wallis, +their discoverer, with this observation, it is scarcely possible to +believe in the identity of the groups. I have, however, left them the +name of Pescadores, because the two observations nearly correspond. +After having sailed round the whole group, we came, at four o'clock in +the afternoon, so close to their north-western point, that every +movement on land might have been distinctly seen with the naked eye; yet +even here there was nothing to indicate the presence of man, though +Wallis communicated with the inhabitants,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span> if, indeed, these islands be +really the Pescadores. If so, these people must have become extinct long +ago, as no monument of their former existence is now visible. When we +had completed our survey, we again proceeded westward, and, within half +an hour, the watch again announced land in sight. The evening was now so +far advanced, that we determined to lay-to, in order to avoid the danger +of too near an approach to the coral reefs during the night, and +deferred our survey till the following morning. At break of day we saw +the islands which we have called the Pescadores, lying six miles to the +eastward; whilst those which had risen on our horizon the preceding +evening had wholly disappeared. We had diverged from them in the night; +but, with a brisk trade-wind, we regained the sight of them in an hour. +At eight o'clock in the morning we came within three miles of the +nearest island, and running parallel with the land, began our +examination. It was another group of coral islands connected by reefs +round a basin. Here also vegetation was luxuriant, and the cocoa-trees +rose to a towering height, but not a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> trace of man could be discerned; +and we therefore concluded they were uninhabited, as we were near enough +to distinguish any object with the naked eye. Favoured by a fresh +breeze, we sailed westward along the islands, till nightfall, without +reaching the end of this long group. During the night we had much +difficulty in keeping our position, owing to a tolerably smart gale, +which, in these unknown waters, would have been attended by no +inconsiderable danger, but that the land lay to windward of us; and were +therefore well pleased in the morning to find that the different +landmarks by which we had been guided overnight, were still visible, so +that we were enabled to pursue our observations without interruption.</p> + +<p>The greatest length of this group, which I named, after our second +lieutenant, Rimski-Korsakoff, is from east-north-east to +west-south-west, in which direction it is, fifty-four miles long. Its +greatest breadth is ten miles. As we were sailing along the islands to +windward of us, we could plainly distinguish from the mast-head those +which lay at the other side of the basin.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p><p>After having terminated our observations, we pursued a southerly +course, in hopes of discovering more land, and sailed at a great rate +during the whole of the day, without seeing any thing. At night we +lay-to; but the following morning, the 9th of October, we had scarcely +spread our sails, before the man at the mast-head discovered some low +islands to the north, which we had already past, and which now lay to +windward of us. I immediately changed our course, and endeavoured to +approach them by dint of tacking, but a strong easterly current, which +increased as we drew nearer to the land, almost baffled our efforts. We +succeeded with much difficulty in getting within eleven miles and a half +of the western extremity of the group, distinguished by a small round +hill, which at noon lay due east, our latitude by observation being 11° +30' 32", and our longitude 194° 34'. From this point we could see the +group, stretching to the verge of the horizon, in a south-easterly and +north-easterly direction. We again attempted to approach them nearer; +but not succeeding, we were obliged to continue our course to the +westward, contenting ourselves with <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span>determining the position of the +western extremity, 11° 40' 11" latitude, and 194° 37' 35" longitude, +from which point they must stretch considerably to the east. These, like +other coral islands, probably lie round a basin: of population we could +see no trace, though there was every appearance of their being +habitable. I named them, after our worthy Doctor and Professor, +Eschscholtz, who was now making the second voyage with me.</p> + +<p>It is unnecessary to add any thing here respecting the situations of +these three groups of isles, which have been laid down, with the +greatest possible accuracy, in the chart accompanying this volume; one +thing only I beg to observe, that they bear not the slightest +resemblance to the Pescadores described by Wallis. He did not possess +the facilities for ascertaining the longitude, which have been invented +since his time. His Pescadores may be situated elsewhere; but even if +one of these groups should be the Pescadores, we may justly claim the +discovery of the other two. This discovery is of some value, inasmuch as +these groups are no doubt the northern extremity of the Ralik<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span> chain; +and their position and distance from Radak being now ascertained, there +will hereafter be little difficulty in discovering the remaining groups +of the chain.</p> + +<p>From the Eschscholtz Isles we steered for the Bronus Isles, it being my +wish to try the accuracy of their geographical position, and to +ascertain whether the interval between the two groups was wholly free of +islands. On the 11th of October, at noon, being in latitude 11° 21' 39", +and longitude 196° 35', the Bronus Isles were descried from the +mast-head, at a distance of twenty miles. We approached within a mile +and a half of the southern extremity of the group, from which point we +were able to survey the whole, which we found, like other coral groups, +to consist of a circle of islands connected by a reef. The Bronus Isles, +however, appeared of more ancient formation than any we had yet seen; +the land was somewhat more elevated, and the trees were larger and +stronger. Here also we saw no appearance of inhabitants.</p> + +<p>A calm which suddenly set in exposed us to the danger of being driven by +a powerful current upon the reef; but when we were already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> very near +the breakers, the direction of the current varied, running southward +parallel with the coast. By this means we were enabled to double the +southern extremity of the group, and a gentle breeze soon after +springing up, conveyed us to a safe distance from the land. According to +our observation, this southern extremity lies in latitude 11° 20' 50", +and longitude 197° 28' 30". It was my intention to have noted the +position of the whole group, for which purpose I endeavoured during the +night to keep the ship in its vicinity; but at daybreak the current had +carried us so far to leeward, that land could scarcely be perceived from +the mast-head. As it was utterly impossible to make any way against the +united force of the current and trade-wind, I was obliged to abandon my +design, upon which we steered for the Ladrones, or Mariana Isles, where +I intended to take in fresh provisions.</p> + +<p>It is a striking phenomenon, and one not easily accounted for, that in +11° north latitude, from the Radak chain to the Bronus Isles, there +should be a current of a mile and a half per hour.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279-80]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">THE LADRONES,<br /> + +AND THE<br /> + +PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE LADRONES, AND THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">Having</span>, in my former voyage, given a detailed account of these islands, +I need not here add much concerning them. A fresh breeze, and fine +weather, made our voyage agreeable and rapid. On the morning of the 25th +of October, we saw the island Sarpani, which belongs to the Ladrones, +lying before us at the distance of twenty-five miles, and soon after +distinguished the principal island, Guaham, whither we were bound. The +longitude of the eastern point of Sarpani was found to be 214° 38'.</p> + +<p>The aspect of the eastern point of Guaham, which is exposed to a +constant trade-wind, does not suggest an idea of the fertility of the +island; but the traveller is agreeably surprised at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span> sight of its +western coast, where Nature has been most prodigal; and cannot but +remember with sorrow the extermination of the natives by the Spaniards, +on their taking possession of the islands and forcibly introducing the +Catholic religion.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable that the soil of Guaham, under the first stratum of +earth, consists of coral blocks not yet quite dissolved; from which it +may be conjectured, that a former group of low coral islands, as well as +the basin which they enclosed, were forced upwards by the power of +subterranean fire; and in this manner the island of Guaham has been +formed. This hypothesis is confirmed by Mr. Hoffman's discovery of a +crater on the island, with a fire still burning in its abyss.</p> + +<p>The fortress, standing on what is called the Devil's Point, intended for +the defence of the town of Agadna, was so peacefully disposed, that not +one of its cannons was fit for use. I saw, to my great astonishment, in +the harbour Caldera de Apra, ships bearing the English and North +American flags. The Spaniards do not usually permit the entrance of +foreign vessels; but I was informed by the captains of these,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> that the +whalers who pursue their occupations on the coast of Japan, now +frequently choose Guaham for refitting and victualling their ships. I +also heard, with much pleasure, that they exclusively use our Admiral +Krusenstern's chart of the Japanese coast; and they assured me, that +objects even of minor importance are laid down in it with the greatest +accuracy. How much cause have seamen for thankfulness to one who has +provided them with such a chart! their lives frequently depend on the +correctness of these guides; and an erroneous one may be worse than none +at all.</p> + +<p>As I only intended stopping here a few days, and the harbour is by no +means safe, I determined not to enter it, but sent an officer to the +Governor, with a list of fresh provisions which I requested his +assistance in procuring. On the following morning, I rowed with some of +my officers ashore, and we were received by the Governor, Don Gango +Errero, who had already taken measures for supplying our wants, with +great civility, though not without some degree of Spanish stateliness.</p> + +<p>His government here confirms an observation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> repeatedly made, that a few +years of a bad administration are sufficient to undo all that a good one +may have effected by a long series of exertions. Eight years ago, when +Medenilla was governor, the most perfect content, and prosperity to a +certain extent, existed in Guaham; and now, by the fault of one man, +every thing bears a totally different aspect. So much depends on the +choice of the person to whom power is delegated, at such a distance from +the seat of sovereignty as that the complaints of the oppressed can +seldom reach it. Errero is even accused of the murder of some English +and American sailors; and, on this occasion, Spanish justice has not +been in vain appealed to by their comrades; for, as I afterwards +learned, the order for Errero's arrest was already made out at the +moment when, in perfect self-confidence and enjoyment, he was +entertaining me with lively songs, accompanied by himself on the guitar; +and Medenilla has been again appointed to the command, that he may +endeavour to repair the evils Errero had occasioned.</p> + +<p>Of my earlier acquaintances, I now met only the estimable Don Louis de +Torres, the friend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> of the Carolinas, who communicated to M. De Chamisso +many interesting particulars respecting these amiable islanders. After +our departure in the Rurik, he had again made a voyage to the Carolinas, +and had persuaded several families to come and settle at Guaham. The +yearly visits of these islanders to Guaham are still regularly +continued; and at the time of our stay, one of their little flotillas +was in the harbour. Being clever seamen, they are much employed by the +Spaniards, who are very ignorant in this respect, in their voyages to +the other Marian Islands, with which, unassisted by their friends of +Carolina, these would hold but little communication. We had an +opportunity of seeing two of their canoes come in from Sarpani, when the +sea ran high, and the wind was very strong, and greatly admired the +skill with which they were managed.</p> + +<p>The revolt of the Spanish colonies has not extended itself to these +islands. The inhabitants of Guaham have maintained their loyalty, +notwithstanding the tyranny of their governor, and unseduced by an +example recently given them. A Spanish ship of the line and a frigate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span> +with fugitive loyalists from Peru, lately touched here; they were bound +for Manilla; but the crews of both ships mutinied, put the officers and +passengers ashore, and returned to Peru to make common cause with the +insurgents.</p> + +<p>After remaining four days before Agadna, we took in our provisions, for +which ten times the price was demanded that we had paid here eight years +ago, and left Guaham on the 22nd of October, directing our course for +the Bashi Islands, as I intended to pass through their straits into the +Chinese Sea, and then sail direct to Manilla. On the 1st of November, +our noon observation gave 20° 15' latitude, and 236° 42' longitude, so +that we were already in the neighbourhood of the Bashi and Babuyan +Islands. We continued to sail so briskly till sunset, that we could not +be then far from land; but black clouds had gathered over it, concealing +it from our view, and presaging stormy weather; we did not venture +therefore to advance during the night, but tacked with sails reefed, +waiting the break of day. At midnight we had some violent squalls from +the north with a ruffled sea, but not amounting to a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span> storm. The rising +sun discovered to us the three high Richmond rocks, rising in the middle +of the strait, between the Bashi and Babuyan Islands. Soon after the +island of Bantan appeared, with heavy clouds still lingering behind its +cliffs. The weather was, however, at present fine, the wind blowing +strongly from the north; we therefore set as much sail as the gale would +permit us to carry, and pursued our course through the strait formed by +the Richmond rocks, and the southern Bashi Islands. In clearing these +straits, we had reason to apprehend serious damage to our rigging, or +even the loss of a mast. A heavy squall from the north-east put the sea +in great commotion. The billows chafed and roared as they broke over +each other, and were met in the narrow channel by a current, driving +from the Chinese Sea into the ocean. This furious encounter of the +contending waves produced the appearance of breakers, through which we +were compelled to work our dangerous way; the ship, sometimes tossed to +their utmost summit, then, without the power of resistance, suddenly +precipitated into the yawning<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> gulf between them, wore, however, through +all her trials, and gave me cause for exultation in the strength of her +masts, and the goodness of her tackling. We passed two hours in this +anxious and critical condition, but at length emerged into the Chinese +Sea; where the comparative peacefulness of the waves allowed us to +repose after our fatigues, and even afforded us an opportunity of +ascertaining our longitudes.</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Philippine Islands"> +<tr><td class="td1">We found the longitude of the most</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">easterly of the Richmond rocks</td><td class="td2">237° 50' 2"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">most westerly</td><td class="td2">237° 52' 0"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">the eastern point</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">of the Island of Bantan</td><td class="td2">237° 55' 32"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">the western point</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">of Babuyan</td><td class="td2">238° 00' 56"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">the western point</td><td class="td2"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="td3">of the Bashi Island</td><td class="td2">238° 4' 47"</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td4">latitude of the eastern point</td><td class="td2">20° 15' 47".</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<p>All these longitudes are determined according to our chronometers, which +were tried immediately after our arrival in Manilla. They differ from +those on Horsbourg's new chart by three minutes and a half, ours being +so much more westerly.</p> + +<p>With a favourable wind we now sailed <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span>southwards, in sight of the +western coast of Luçon, till we reached the promontory of Bajador, where +we were detained some days by calms, therefore did not come in sight of +Manilla bay till the 7th of November. Here the wind was violent and +contrary; but as it blew from the land, could not materially swell the +waves: we were therefore enabled, by tacking, to advance considerably +forward; and at length contrived to run into the bay, by the southern +entrance, between its shores and the island of Corregidor. A Spanish +brig, which was tacking at the same time, lost both her top-masts in a +sudden gust.</p> + +<p>On the morning of the 8th of November we anchored before the town of +Manilla. I immediately waited on Don Mariano Ricofort, the Governor of +the Philippines. He gave me a friendly reception, and granted the +permission I requested, to sail to Cavite, a hamlet lying on the bay, +within a few miles of the town, and possessing the advantage of a +convenient dock. Our ship being greatly in want of repair, we removed +thither on the following day, and immediately commenced our labours.</p> + +<p>We spent our time very pleasantly in this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> lovely tropical country. How +richly has Nature endowed it, and how little is her bounty appreciated +by the Spaniards! The whole world does not offer a more advantageous +station for commerce than the town of Manilla, situated as it is in the +neighbourhood of the richest countries of Asia, and almost midway +between Europe and America. Spanish jealousy had formerly closed her +port; but since the revolt of the American colonies, it has been opened +to all nations, and the Philippines are consequently rising rapidly to +importance. As yet, their export trade has been chiefly confined to +sugar and indigo for Europe, and the costly Indian bird's-nest, and +<i>Trepangs</i>, for China. The latter is a kind of sea-snail without a +shell, which not only here, but on the Ladrones, Carolinas, and Pelew +Islands, even as far as New Holland, is as eagerly sought after as the +sea-otter on the north-west coast of America. The luxurious Chinese +consider them a powerful restorative of strength, and purchase them as +such at an exorbitant price. But what an inexhaustible store of +commercial articles might not these islands export! Coffee of the best +quality, cocoa, and two sorts<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291">[Pg 291]</a></span> of cotton, the one remarkably fine, the +produce of a shrub, the other of a tree, all grow wild here, and with +very little cultivation might be made to yield a prodigious increase of +wealth. These productions of Nature are, however, so much neglected, +that at present no regular trade is carried on in them. A great +abundance of the finest sago trees, and whole woods of cinnamon, grow +wild and unnoticed in Luçon. Nutmegs, cloves, and all the produce of the +Moluccas, are also indigenous on these islands, and industry only (a +commodity which, unfortunately, does not flourish here,) is wanting to +make them a copious source of revenue. Pearls, amber, and cochineal, +abound in the Philippines; and the bosom of the earth contains gold, +silver, and other metals. For centuries past, have the Spaniards +suffered all these treasures to lie neglected, and are even now sending +out gold to maintain their establishments.</p> + +<p>The regular troops here, as well as the militia, are natives. The +officers are Spaniards, though many of them are born here, and all, at +least with few exceptions, are extremely ignorant. It is said that the +soldiers are brave, especially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292">[Pg 292]</a></span> when blessed, and encouraged by the +priests. As far, however, as I have had an opportunity of observing the +military force, I cannot think it would ever make a stand against an +European army. Not only are the troops badly armed, but even the +officers, who are in fact distinguished from the privates only by their +uniforms, have no idea of discipline; any sort of precision in their +manœuvres is out of the question; and to find a sentinel comfortably +asleep with his musket on his shoulder, is by no means an uncommon +occurrence.</p> + +<p>I was told that Luçon contained eight thousand regular troops, and that +by summoning the militia, twenty thousand could be assembled.</p> + +<p>The field of honour where the heroes of Luçon distinguish themselves is +on the southern Philippine Islands, which are not yet subdued; they are +inhabited by Mahommedan Indians, who are constantly at war with the +Spaniards, and who, ranging as pirates over all the coasts inhabited by +Christians, spread terror and desolation wherever they appear. From time +to time some well manned gun-boats are sent in pursuit of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293">[Pg 293]</a></span> these +robbers; which expend plenty of ammunition with very little effect.</p> + +<p>It is said that six thousand Chinese inhabit the suburbs of Manilla, to +which they are restricted. The greater part of them are clever and +industrious mechanics; the rest are merchants, and some of them very +rich: they are the Jews of Luçon, but even more given to cheating and +all kinds of meanness than are the Israelites, and with fewer, or rather +with no exceptions. They enjoy no privileges above the lowest of the +people, but are despised, oppressed, and often unjustly treated. Their +covetousness induces them to submit to all this; and as they are +entirely divested of any feeling of honour, a small profit will console +them for a great insult. The yearly tax paid by every Chinese for +liberty to breathe the air in Manilla, is six piastres; and if he wishes +to carry on any sort of trade, five more; while the native Indian pays +no more than five reals.</p> + +<p>The Philippines also did not follow the example of the American +colonies; for some disturbances among the Indians here, were not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294">[Pg 294]</a></span> +directed against the government, and an insurrection soon after +attempted proved unsuccessful. The former were occasioned by a few +innocent botanists wandering through the island in search of plants; and +an epidemic disease breaking out among the Indians about the same time, +of which many died, a report suddenly spread among them, that the +foreign collectors of plants had poisoned the springs in order to +exterminate them. Enraged at this idea, they assembled in great numbers, +murdered several strangers, and even plundered and destroyed the houses +of some of the old settlers in the town of Manilla. It has been supposed +that the Spaniards themselves really excited these riots, that they +might fish in the troubled waters.</p> + +<p>The late governor, Fulgeros, is accused of not having adopted measures +sufficiently active for repressing the insurrection. This judicious and +amiable man, who was perhaps too mild a governor for so rude a people, +was murdered in his bed a year after by a native, of Spanish blood, an +officer in one of the regiments here, who followed up this crime by +heading a mutiny of the troops. The insurgents assembled in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295">[Pg 295]</a></span> +market-place, but were soon dispersed by a regiment which remained +faithful, and in a few hours peace was re-established, and has not since +been disturbed. The present governor, Ricofort, was sent out to succeed +the unfortunate Fulgeros.</p> + +<p>The King, affected by the loyalty displayed by the town of Manilla, at a +time when the other colonies had thrown off their allegiance, presented +it with a portrait of himself, in token of his especial favour. The +picture was brought out by the new governor, and received with a degree +of veneration which satisfactorily evinced the high value set by the +faithful colony on the royal present. It was first deposited in a house +in the suburb belonging to the Crown, and then made its entry into the +town in grand procession, and was carried to the station of honour +appointed for it in the castle. This important ceremony took place +during our residence here, on the 6th of December; and three days +previously, the King in effigy had held a court in the suburb. The house +was splendidly illuminated: in front of it stood a piquet of +well-dressed soldiers; sentinels were placed at all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296">[Pg 296]</a></span> doors; the +apartments were filled with attendants, pages, and officers of every +rank in gala uniforms; and the etiquette of the Spanish court was as +much as possible adhered to throughout the proceedings. Persons whose +rank entitled them to the honour of a presentation to the King, were +conducted into the audience-chamber, which was splendidly adorned with +hangings of Chinese silk: here the picture, concealed by a silk curtain, +was placed on a platform raised a few steps from the floor, under a +canopy of silk overhanging two gilded pillars. The colonel on duty +acting as Lord Chamberlain, conducted the person to be presented before +the picture, and raised the curtain. The King then appeared in a mantle +lined with ermine, and with a crown upon his head; the honoured +individual made a low bow; the King looked in gracious silence upon him; +the curtain was again lowered, and the audience closed.</p> + +<p>On the 6th of December, the immense multitudes that had assembled from +the different provinces, to celebrate the solemn entry of the portrait +into the capital of the islands, were in motion at daybreak. The lower +classes were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297">[Pg 297]</a></span> seen in all kinds of singular costumes, some of them most +laughable caricatures, and some even wearing masks. Rockets and Chinese +fireworks saluted the rising sun, producing of course, by daylight, no +other effects than noise, smoke, and confusion, while elegant equipages +rolled along the streets, scarcely able to make their way through the +crowd. At nine o'clock, a royal salute thundered from the cannon of the +fortress; and at twelve the procession began to move, displaying a +rather ludicrous mixture of Spanish and Asiatic taste. I saw it from the +windows of a house on its route, which commanded a very extensive view +of the line of march. The cortège was led by the Chinese. First came a +body of twenty-four musicians, some striking with sticks upon large +round plates of copper, producing an effect not unlike the jingling of +bells, and others performing most execrably upon instruments resembling +clarionets. The sound of the copper plates was too confused to allow us +to distinguish either time or tune—points of no great consequence +perhaps; the choir, at least, did not trouble much about them. The +musicians<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298">[Pg 298]</a></span> were followed by a troop of Chinese bearing silken banners, +upon which were represented their idols, and dragons of all sorts and +sizes, surrounded by hieroglyphical devices. Next followed, in a kind of +litter richly ornamented, a young Chinese girl with a pair of scales in +her hand, and intended, as I was told, to represent Justice, a virtue +for which her country-people, in these parts, have not much cause to +applaud themselves. Another set of musicians surrounded the goddess, +making din enough with their copper plates to drown every complaint that +might endeavour to reach her ear. Then came the rest of the Chinese, in +different bands, with the symbols of their respective trades represented +upon banners. Four Bacchantes, somewhat advanced in age, and in an +attire more loose than was consistent with modesty, followed next: from +their long, black, dishevelled hair, they might have been taken for +Furies; and it was only their crowns of vine-leaves, and the goblets in +their hands, that enabled us to guess what they were intended to +represent. Bacchus, very much resembling a Harlequin, followed with his +tambourine;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299">[Pg 299]</a></span> and after him, a body of very immodest dancers: these, as +the procession moved but slowly, halting frequently, had abundant +opportunities of displaying their shameless talent, for the benefit of +the shouting rabble. Why the procession should be disgraced by such an +exhibition, it was not easy to conceive; but there were many other +inconceivable matters connected with it. A troop of Indians followed, in +motley and grotesque attire, intended to represent savages: they were +armed with spears and shields, and kept up a continual skirmish as they +marched. Next in procession was a battalion of infantry, composed of +boys armed with wooden muskets and pasteboard cartridge-boxes, and +followed by a squadron of hussars, also boys, with drawn sabres of wood, +not riding, but carrying pasteboard horses: each of these had a hole cut +in its saddle, through which the hussar thrust his feet, relieving the +charger from any actual necessity of making use of his own—though, to +show its high blood and mettlesome quality, each emulated his fellow in +prancing, rearing, and kicking with front and hind-legs, to the no small +danger of discomfiting the parade order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300">[Pg 300]</a></span> of the squadron. To this +redoubtable army succeeded a party of giants two fathoms high, dressed +in the very extremity of fashion, the upper part of their bodies being +represented in pasteboard, accompanied by ladies elegantly attired, and +of nearly equal dimensions, and by some very small dwarfs: the business +of this whole group was to entertain the populace with pantomimic +gestures, and comic dances. Next came all sorts of animals, lions, +bears, oxen, &c. of a size sufficiently gigantic to conceal a man in +each leg. Then, with grave and dignified deportment, marched Don Quixote +and his faithful Sancho. To the question, what the honourable Knight of +the Rueful Countenance was doing there, somebody replied that he +represented the inhabitants of Manilla, who were just then mistaking a +windmill for a giant. The hero of Cervantes was followed by a body of +military, seemingly marching under his command; and after them came two +hundred young girls from the different provinces of the Philippine +Islands, richly and tastefully attired in their various local costumes. +Fifty of these young graces drew the triumphal car, richly gilt, and +hung<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301">[Pg 301]</a></span> with scarlet velvet, which contained the picture of Ferdinand. Not +content with the mantle the painter had given him, they had hung round +him a real mantle of purple velvet embroidered with gold. By his side, +and seated on a globe, was a tall female form dressed in white, with an +open book in one hand, and in the other a wand, pointing towards the +portrait. This figure was to represent the Muse of History:—may she one +day cast a glance of friendly retrospection on the prototype of her +pictured companion! A body of cavalry followed the car, and the +carriages of the most distinguished inhabitants of the place closed the +procession. Several Chinese triumphal arches crossed the streets, +through which the retinue passed; they were temporary erections of wood, +occupying the whole breadth of the street, and were decorated in the +gayest and most showy manner by the Chinese, who, on this occasion, +seemed to have spared no expense in order to flatter the vanity of the +Spaniards.</p> + +<p>When the royal effigy entered the town, it was received by the Governor +and the whole clergy of Manilla, and the young girls were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302">[Pg 302]</a></span> superseded by +the townspeople, who had now the honour to draw the car amidst the +incessant cry of "<i>Viva el Rey Fernando!</i>" The cannon thundered from the +ramparts; the military bands played airs of triumph; and the troops, +which were ranged in two files from the gate of the town to the church, +presented arms, and joined their "Vivas" to those of the populace. The +procession halted at the church; and the picture being carried in, the +bishop performed the service; after which, the King was replaced on his +car, and conducted to the residence of the Governor, where, at length, +he was installed in peace.</p> + +<p>Three days longer the rejoicings continued: bells were rung, guns were +fired, and each evening the town and suburbs were magnificently +illuminated: many houses exhibiting allegorical transparencies which +occupied their whole front. But the illumination of the Chinese +triumphal arches in the suburbs surpassed all the show: the dragons +which ornamented them spat fire; flames of various colours played around +them; and large fire-balls discharged from them emulated the moon in +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303">[Pg 303]</a></span> heavens, till, from their increasing height, they seemed to +disappear among the stars. Each of these edifices was of three stories, +surrounded by galleries, on which, during the day, the Chinese performed +various feats for the amusement of the people: there were conjurors, +rope-dancers, magic lanterns, and even dramatic representations, the +multitude eagerly flocking to the sight, and expressing their +satisfaction in loud huzzas! I saw a tragedy performed on one of these +galleries, in which a fat Mandarin, exhibiting a comic variety of +grimaces and strange capers which would have done credit to Punchinello, +submitted to strangulation at the command of his sovereign. At night, +the people went about the streets masked, and letting off sky-rockets +and Chinese fireworks. In several parts of the town, various kinds of +spectacles were exhibited for the popular amusement: the air resounded +with music, and public balls were gratuitously given.</p> + +<p>This unexampled rejoicing for the reception of a testimonial of royal +approbation, seems sufficiently to prove the loyalty of the Philippines, +and the little probability of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304">[Pg 304]</a></span> revolting, especially if the +mother-country does not show herself wholly a stepmother to her dutiful +children.</p> + +<p>On the 10th of January our frigate was ready to sail, and we left +Manilla, the whole crew being in perfect health.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305">[Pg 305-06]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">ST. HELENA.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_307" id="Page_307">[Pg 307]</a></span></p> +<h2>ST. HELENA.</h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">A fresh</span> north-east monsoon expedited our voyage, and we cut the equator +on the 21st of January, in the longitude 253° 38'; then passing between +the islands of Sumatra and Java, we reached the ocean, after having +safely traversed the Chinese Sea from its northern to its southern +boundary, and directed our course towards the Cape of Good Hope, where +we intended staying to refresh. When we had reached to longitude 256°, +12° south latitude, the east wind, contrary to all rules at this season, +changed for a westerly one, and blew a strong gale; the sky was covered +with black clouds, and the rain fell in torrents. At midnight, while the +storm was still raging, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_308" id="Page_308">[Pg 308]</a></span> darkness complete, we witnessed the +phenomenon known by the name of Castor and Pollux, and which originates +in the electricity of the atmosphere; these were two bright balls of the +size which the planet Venus appears to us, and of the same clear light; +we saw them at two distinct periods, which followed quickly upon each +other in the same place, that is, some inches below the extreme point of +our main-yard, and at about half a foot distance asunder. Their +appearance lasted some minutes, and made a great impression on the crew, +who did not understand its cause. I must confess, that in the utter +darkness, amidst the howling of the storm and the roaring of the water, +there was something awful in the sight.</p> + +<p>Our passage was rendered tedious by contrary winds. On the 22nd of +February, we crossed the meridian of the Isle of France, three hundred +and forty miles off the island, in very stormy weather, and heard +afterwards at St. Helena, that a hurricane raged at this time near the +Isle of France, causing great damage to many vessels, and to some of +them the loss of their masts. We should have probably<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_309" id="Page_309">[Pg 309]</a></span> shared in this +danger had we been a hundred miles nearer the coast. I must here +recommend every navigator, if possible, to keep clear of the two isles +of France and Bourbon, from the middle of January till the middle of +March, as, during that season, violent hurricanes continually rage +there, which are very destructive even on shore.</p> + +<p>On the following day we passed the large frigate Bombay, belonging to +the English East India Company, having on board, as passengers, the +Governor of Batavia, Baron vander Kapellen, and his lady, with whom we +afterwards had the pleasure of forming an acquaintance in St. Helena. On +the 15th of March we doubled the Cape of Good Hope. It had been my +intention to anchor in Table Bay, but a storm from the north-west came +just in time to remind us how dangerous the bay is at this season, and +we prosecuted our voyage to St. Helena. On the 25th of the same month, +having traversed 360 degrees of longitude from east to west, we had lost +a day, and were therefore compelled to change our Friday into a +Saturday.</p> + +<p>On the 29th we anchored at St. Helena, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_310" id="Page_310">[Pg 310]</a></span>before the little town of St. +James, the whole crew being cheerful and healthy; but our spirits were +soon damped by the news of the death of the Emperor Alexander, which we +now received. I must here not omit to express my most cordial thanks to +the Governor of St. Helena, for his very kind reception of myself and +companions, and for his constant endeavours to make our stay on the +island agreeable; he gave dinners and balls for our entertainment, and +was always ready to comply with our wishes; hence he granted us what it +is usually difficult to obtain—permission to visit the celebrated +estate of Longwood, where Napoleon closed his splendid career, in +powerless and desolate loneliness. We rode thither one fine morning, on +horseback. The little town of St. James lies in a ravine between two +high, steep, barren lava-rocks; its pleasant situation and cheerful +aspect presenting a striking contrast with the gloom of its immediate +environs. By a serpentine road cut through the rock, we climbed an +ascent, by nature inaccessible; this path, in some parts not three +fathoms in breadth, is bounded on one side by the perpendicular rock,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_311" id="Page_311">[Pg 311]</a></span> +and on the other overlooks an abrupt precipice, from which however it is +defended by a strong stone balustrade, so that however fearful in +appearance, its only real danger lies in an accident which sometimes +happens, that large fragments detach themselves from the superincumbent +rock, and roll down the precipice, carrying before them every thing that +might obstruct their passage to the bottom.</p> + +<p>Having with some difficulty reached the highest ground on the island, we +found the tropical heat changed into a refreshing coolness, and enjoyed +an extensive prospect over the island, which presented a totally +different aspect from that under which it is viewed by passing vessels. +The sailor sees only high, black, jagged, and desolate rocks, rising +perpendicularly from the sea, and every where washed by a tremendous +surf, prohibiting all attempts to land except at the single point of St. +James: his eye vainly seeks round the adamant wall, the relief of one +sprig of green; not a trace of vegetation appears, and Nature herself +seems to have destined the spot for a gloomy and infrangible prison. +From these heights,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_312" id="Page_312">[Pg 312]</a></span> on the contrary, the picturesque and smiling +landscape of the interior forms the most striking contrast to its +external sternness, and suggests the idea of a gifted mind, compelled by +painful experience to shroud its charms under a forbidding veil of +coldness and reserve.</p> + +<p>This remark only, however, applies to the western part of the island, +which is protected from the trade-wind. The higher eastern part, where +Napoleon lived, is as dead and barren as its rocky boundary. The +trade-wind to which this district is constantly exposed, brings a +perpetual fog, and drives the clouds in congregated heaps to the summits +of the mountain, where they frequently burst in sudden and violent +showers, often producing inundations, and rendering the air damp and +unwholesome for the greater part of the year. The ground is for this +reason incapable of cultivation; and a species of gum-tree, the only one +to be seen in the neighbourhood of Longwood, by its stunted growth of +hardly six feet, and its universal bend in one direction, proves how +destructive is the effect of the trade-wind to all vegetable life. The +nearer we approached the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_313" id="Page_313">[Pg 313]</a></span> boundaries of the circle within which alone +the renowned prisoner was permitted to move, the less pleasant became +the country and the more raw the climate, till about a German mile from +the town we found ourselves on the barren spot I have already described. +Here a narrow path leads down an abrupt descent into a small valley, or +basin, surrounded by hills, sheltered from the wind, and offering in its +verdant foliage and cheerful vegetation, a refreshing and agreeable +retreat. "There rest the remains of Napoleon," said the guide given us +by the governor. We dismounted, and proceeded to the grave on foot. An +old invalid who watches it, and lives in a lonely hut in its vicinity, +now came towards us, and conducted us to a flat, tasteless grave-stone +surrounded by an iron railing, and shaded by fine willows, planted +probably by the last dependents of the unfortunate prisoner. It is a +melancholy thing to tread this simple grave of him who once shook all +Europe with his name, and here at last closed his too eventful life on a +lonely rock in a distant ocean. The stone bears no inscription, but all +who behold it may imagine one. Posterity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_314" id="Page_314">[Pg 314]</a></span> alone can pronounce a correct +judgment on the man who so powerfully influenced the destinies of +nations. Honesty may perhaps have been the only quality wanting to have +made him the greatest man of his age.</p> + +<p>The invalid filled a common earthen jug with clear delicious water from +a neighbouring spring, and handed it to us with the remark, that +Napoleon, in his walks hither, was accustomed to refresh himself with +cold water from the same vessel. This little valley being the only spot +where he could breathe a wholesome air, and enjoy the country, he often +visited it, and once expressed a wish that he might be buried there. +Little as his wishes were usually attended to, this was fulfilled.</p> + +<p>After spending some time in contemplating this remarkable memorial of +the vicissitudes of fortune, we inscribed our names in a book kept for +the purpose, and again mounting our horses, rode to what had formerly +been the abode of the deceased; where, deprived of all power, the +deposed Emperor to the last permitted the voluntary companions of his +exile to address him by the titles of "Sire," and "Your <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_315" id="Page_315">[Pg 315]</a></span>Majesty." On +quitting the garden scenery of the pretty little valley, the country +resumed its dreary and sterile character. A ride of about a German mile +through this inhospitable region, uncheered either by the fragrance of +flowers or the melody of birds, brought us within sight of an +inconsiderable level, or table land, perfectly barren, crowning the +summit of one of the highest hillocks into which this huge rock is +divided. In the centre of the plain, and enveloped in so thick a fog +that it was scarcely perceptible, stood a small unpretending mansion. +"That," said our guide, "is Longwood, late the residence of Napoleon." +We soon reached the house, expecting to find it as left at the death of +its illustrious occupant; with how much interest should we not have +visited it, if nothing had been changed or removed! But the English +authorities had not taken our gratification into their consideration. +The house is divided into two distinct portions; the smaller half, or +Napoleon's sleeping apartment, has been converted into a stable, and the +larger into a warehouse for sheep-skins, fat, and other produce of the +island.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_316" id="Page_316">[Pg 316]</a></span></p><p>We had been informed that Napoleon had laid out a little garden near +his dwelling, in which he often worked, assisted by Madame Bertrand; +and, after many fruitless attempts, had been at length rewarded by the +blossoming of a few hardy flowers, and the successful plantation of some +young oaks; that one of the latter was set by the hand of Napoleon +himself, another by that of Madame Bertrand.</p> + +<p>As we could see nothing resembling a garden, I enquired of our guide +where it lay; he pointed, with a sarcastic smile, to a spot which had +been routed up by hogs, saying, "Here Napoleon was as successful in +rearing flowers as he had once been in founding empires, and both have +equally vanished." Some oaks are still standing beside a broken hedge, +but whether planted by Napoleon or not, no one can tell. We were also +shown a pretty house, which had been built for Napoleon by the King's +command, but which was not complete till a very short time before his +death. Though much better and more convenient than the one he inhabited, +he never could be induced to remove to it; perhaps already conscious of +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_317" id="Page_317">[Pg 317]</a></span> approach of death, he felt no farther concern for the +accommodations of life.</p> + +<p>Strongly contrasted with the gloom and sterility of Longwood, is the +summer residence of the Governor of St. Helena, lying on Sandy Bay, on +the western shore of the island, and about half a German mile from the +town. In this beautiful and healthful climate, every tropical plant +flourishes in the greatest luxuriance. We were hospitably received at +Plantation-house, a handsome, spacious, and convenient building, +surrounded by an extensive park. In this delightful spot nature and art +have combined at once to charm and to surprise; yet while breathing its +pure and fragrant air, would our thoughts unconsciously revert with +sympathy to the melancholy fate of the exile of Longwood.</p> + +<p>The environs of Sandy Bay would be a perfect little Switzerland, but +that the glaciers are wanting to complete the resemblance. Scattered +amongst the enormous masses of rock which lie confusedly heaped upon +each other, a frightful wilderness and most smilingly picturesque +landscape alternately present their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_318" id="Page_318">[Pg 318]</a></span> contrasted images to the eye. Such +are the traits which the hand of Nature has impressed upon the scenery +in this fortunate portion of the island; while that of man, busily +engaged in adding to her charms, and in correcting her ruggedness, +throws an appearance of life, comfort, and civilization over the +picture. Convenient roads wind up the steep ascents, and frequent +openings in the cliff, present vistas of fruitful fields, tastefully +built mansions surrounded by parks and plantations, and snug farm-houses +embosomed in their pretty gardens. Every thing bespeaks industry and +comfort. The inhabitants are all well-dressed, healthy, and contented.</p> + +<p>Of their hospitality we had the most agreeable evidences. Invited with +friendly cordiality into their houses, we were entertained with the best +they had, and with the kindest expressions of pleasure in welcoming the +first Russians who had ever visited their country.</p> + +<p>We were invited to dinner by one of the richest land proprietors of the +island, who, although considerably more than seventy years old, still +retained the animation and vigour of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_319" id="Page_319">[Pg 319]</a></span> youth. This intelligent and +well-educated man had never, till his sixty-ninth year, left his +beautiful home, except for an occasional and short visit to the town. +Through the medium of books, and conversation with the strangers +visiting St. Helena, he was well versed in the customs and localities of +Europe, and felt the highest respect for the perfection to which the +arts and sciences of civilized life had been carried in that quarter of +the world, but without experiencing any desire to see it; suddenly, +however, at this advanced period of his life, curiosity got the better +of his love of ease; his wish to become personally and more accurately +acquainted with the much-praised institutions, and the wonderful capital +of England, was no longer to be repressed, and he determined to +undertake the voyage. On landing in London, he was, as he expressed +himself, astonished and dazzled by the extent and magnificence of the +city. The throng in the streets, which he compared to ant-hills, far +exceeded the ideas he had formed; he visited the manufactories, and +observed with wonder the perfection of their machinery; the theatres +enchanted him,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_320" id="Page_320">[Pg 320]</a></span> and the succession of new sights and impressions +produced an effect resembling a perpetual intoxication. After a time, +however, he experienced the fatigue incident to an extreme tension of +mind, and began to sigh for the calm retirement of Sandy Bay, to which +he took the first opportunity of returning, never to leave it more.</p> + +<p>We passed nine very agreeable days at St. Helena, and shall always +retain the liveliest remembrance of the kindness shown us by its amiable +inhabitants. My crew, though healthy, had in some degree suffered from +the effects of a nearly three years' voyage, and I was anxious during +our stay here to strengthen them by a regimen of fresh provisions, +(which, however, are very dear upon the island,) particularly as we had +again to cross the line, and that in a region often considered +unhealthy.</p> + +<p>On the 7th of April we sailed from St. Helena, and cut the equator on +the 16th in the longitude 22° 37'. Here, delayed by calms, and oppressed +by the heat and damps, notwithstanding all my precautions, a nervous +fever broke out among the men; and, after<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_321" id="Page_321">[Pg 321]</a></span> having escaped so many +dangers, we began to apprehend a melancholy conclusion to our voyage.</p> + +<p>This misfortune had probably been communicated to us by contagion. The +homeward-bound ships of the English East India Company, which almost all +touch at St. Helena, having nothing in view but a quick passage, and the +profit resulting from it, do not generally, as I have myself had +opportunities of observing, pay that proper attention to cleanliness and +wholesome diet which is absolutely necessary to health. During our +residence at St. Helena, several of these ships were lying in the roads +with sick on board. It is true that, according to a standing order, no +vessel is allowed anchorage there till a surgeon has examined into the +state of health of her crew; but the captains find means to evade the +investigation, and thus are the healthy liable to become infected by +association with the diseased.</p> + +<p>Half our crew lay sick, and our skilful and active surgeon was +unfortunately of the number. A favouring gale, however, sprang up, which +carried us into a cooler and drier climate,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_322" id="Page_322">[Pg 322]</a></span> our invalids quickly +recovered, and we escaped with the loss of one sailor only. By the 12th +of March, when we passed the Azore Islands, the crew was again in +perfect health. On the 3rd of June we reached Portsmouth, where we +stopped some days. On the 29th we touched at Copenhagen, and on the 10th +of July joyfully dropped our anchor in the roads of Cronstadt, from +whence we had sailed nearly three years before.</p> + +<p>If my readers have by this time become sufficiently acquainted with me +to interest themselves in my affairs, they will not learn with +indifference, that my most gracious Sovereign the Emperor has honoured +me by the most condescending testimonials of his satisfaction, and that +after our long separation, I had the gratification of finding my wife +and children well and happy.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_323" id="Page_323">[Pg 323-24]</a></span></p> +<p class="t5">APPENDIX.</p> + + + +<hr /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325">[Pg 325]</a></span></p> +<h2>REVIEW<br /> + +<small>OF</small><br /> + +THE ZOOLOGICAL COLLECTION<br /> + +<small>OF</small><br /> + +FR. ESCHSCHOLTZ,<br /> + +<small>PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DORPAT.</small></h2> + + +<p><span class="smcap">It</span> may easily be conceived, that in a sea-voyage a naturalist has fewer +opportunities of enriching his collection, than when travelling by land; +particularly if the vessel is obliged to pass hastily from one place to +another, with a view to her arriving at her destination within a limited +period. During our three years' voyage, little more than the third of +our time was spent on shore. It is true, that curious animals are +occasionally found in the open sea, and that a day may be pleasantly +passed in examining them; but it is also true, that certain parts of the +ocean appear, near the surface, to be almost wholly untenanted; and +accordingly a passage of eleven weeks produced only ten species of +animals: these, however, being met with only at sea, are still but +partially known to the naturalist, and were the more interesting to me, +as, during<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326">[Pg 326]</a></span> the preceding voyage, I had become acquainted with many +remarkable productions of the ocean. My best plan will be, to arrange in +a chronological order all the zoological observations which offered in +the course of this voyage. The first, then, was the result of a contrary +wind, by which we were detained much longer than we intended in the +Baltic, and thus enabled to use our deep fishing-nets upon the great +banks: these brought to light a considerable number of marine animals. +Upon the branches of the <i>spongia dichotoma</i>, some of which were twelve +inches in length, sat swarms of <i>Ophiura fragilis</i>, <i>Asterias rubens</i>, +<i>Inachus araneus</i>, <i>I. Phalangium</i>, <i>I. Scorpio</i>, <i>Galathea strigosa</i>, +and <i>Caprella scolopendroides Lam.</i> We obtained, at the same time, large +pieces of <i>Labularia digitata</i>, <i>Sertularia abietina</i>, upon which +nothing of the animal kind was to be seen, but attached to which was +frequently found <i>Flustra dentata</i>; also <i>Pagurus Bernhardus</i>, <i>Fusus +antiquus</i>, <i>Rostellaria pes pelecani</i>, <i>Cardium echinatum</i>, <i>Ascidia +Prunum</i>, <i>Balanus sulcatus</i>, <i>Echinus saxatilis</i>, and <i>Spatangus +flavescens</i>. Two different species of <i>Actiniæ</i>, seated on stones, were +brought up, which were not to be found either in <i>Pennant's British +Zoology</i>, or in the <i>Fauna danica</i>.</p> + +<p>During a calm, by which we were detained two days on the Portuguese +coast, <i>Janthina fragilis</i> and <i>exigua</i>, <i>Rhizophysa filiformis</i>, and +another species, were brought up. Many specimens of the <i>Janthina +exigua</i> were found, the bladder-like mass of which<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327">[Pg 327]</a></span> was stretched out to +a great length, and bent into the form of a hook at the end. On the +outer side was observed a fleshy streak, bordered by a close row of +small paunches: these paunches, which were externally open, contained a +great quantity of brown atoms, apparently spawn, and evidently in +motion. With respect to the <i>Rhizophysæ</i>, it has been discovered that +they are of the same genus as the <i>Physsophora</i>, the hard part being +torn away in the act of catching them; upon this occasion also, several +of these separated parts, still in motion, and bearing some resemblance +to salpas, were brought up, and accurately examined.</p> + +<p>Off the Cape de Verd Islands, in addition to the <i>Exocœtus volitans</i>, +which abounds there, various specimens of the much larger <i>Exocœtus +exsiliens</i> of Cuvier alighted on board our vessel. The latter species is +distinguished by the long black fins of the belly, and by its remarkably +large eyes, differing greatly from the species described by Gmelin under +the same denomination.</p> + +<p>The calms near the Equator afford an abundant harvest to the zoologist, +the tranquil water presenting an immense variety of marine animals to +his view, and allowing him to take them with little trouble in a net. +The open woollen stuff used for flags offers the most convenient +material for making these nets, as it allows the water to run through +very quickly, and does not stick together. A short, wide bag should be +made of this stuff, which may<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328">[Pg 328]</a></span> be stretched upon the hoop of a cask, and +the whole fastened to a long, light pole. From the height on which we +stand above the water, it is impossible to perceive the smaller animals; +the best way therefore to catch these is, to hold the net half in the +water, as if to skim off the bubbles of foam from the surface; then, +after a few minutes, if the net is drawn out, and the interior rinsed in +a glass of fresh sea-water, one may frequently have the pleasure of +seeing little animals of strange forms swimming in the glass. In the +course of ten days, I obtained, in this way, thirty-one different +species of animals, among which was a small <i>Diodon</i>, eight small +crustacea of forms almost wholly unknown; a sea-bug (<i>Halobates +micans</i>); three species of Pteropodes, closely allied to the <i>Cliodora</i>; +a small and remarkable Hyalœa; two new <i>Janthinæ</i>; <i>Firola hyalina</i>, +<i>Pyrosoma atlanticum</i>, <i>Salpa cœrulescens</i>, and another unknown; +<i>Porpita glandifera</i>, and a new species of globular form; a <i>Velella</i>; +two new species of Acalephes, of the same family as the <i>Diphyes</i>; and +further <i>Pelagia panopyra</i>, and two other very small species. When the +sea was a little agitated on the Brazilian coast, we frequently saw the +large sea-bladder floating on the surface; here we also caught with our +net a new species of small <i>Hyalœa</i>, and of the fin-footed <i>Steira</i>, +which approaches the nearest to the <i>Limacina</i>.</p> + +<p>Brazil has lately been visited by eminent <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329">[Pg 329]</a></span>naturalists, who have spent +years in the country, and have travelled through it in every direction; +we are therefore bound to suppress the few detached observations we were +able to make during the short space of four weeks.</p> + +<p>Captain Von Kotzebue having frequently sent his people to fish in the +Bay of Boto Fogo, we enriched our collection by thirty-two kinds of +fish, the greater part of which were very similar to those already +described as tenants of the Atlantic, but still differing from them in +some respects.</p> + +<p>How abundant the insects of Brazil are is generally known, particularly +in the warm and moist lands along the coast, in the vicinity of Rio +Janeiro. Few of them crawl on the ground; the greater part of them live +on the leaves and fruits, or under the bark of trees, in flowers, and in +the spongy excrescences of the trees. Among the coleoptera, the +<i>Stachylinus</i> is a rarity: the white-winged <i>Cicindela nivea</i> of Kirby +is to be found in great abundance on the sand of the beach, which is of +the same colour as itself; the <i>Cic. nodicornis</i> and <i>angusticollis +Dej.</i> on the other hand, frequent the paths in the forests. <i>Cosnania</i>, +which supplies the place of our <i>Elaphrus</i>, is found among the grass by +the side of brooks. The little animals of the <i>Plochionus</i> and +<i>Coptodera</i> species climb, by means of their indented claws, along the +moss on the trunks of the trees: their numbers, in these extensive +forests, must be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_330" id="Page_330">[Pg 330]</a></span> immense. Of the <i>Cantharis</i>, the number is small; the +strongest of which is the <i>Cantharis flavipes</i> F. the descriptions of +which vary, so that it may still be doubted whether we have a correct +account of it. To show the proportion of the numerous subdivisions which +we observed in the different genera, it will be sufficient to give the +numbers of those which we were able to collect during the short period +of our stay:—these were, <i>Elater</i>, 37; <i>Lampyris</i>, 17; <i>Ateuchus</i>, 14 +(including the <i>Deltachilum</i> and <i>Eurysternus</i>); <i>Passalus</i>, 13; +<i>Anoplognathidæ</i>, 14; <i>Helops</i>, (including <i>Stenochia</i> and <i>Statira</i>) +17; <i>Curculionidæ</i>, 108; <i>Cerambycidæ</i>, 101; <i>Cassida</i>, 24; <i>Haltica</i>, +26; <i>Doryphora</i>, 12; <i>Colaspis</i>, 15; and <i>Erotylus</i>, 12. The <i>Phanæus</i>, +according to MacLeay, distinguished by the total absence of claws from +the feet, is peculiar to the warmer parts of America: <i>Onthophagus</i> is +not met with along the shore, but is found in the interior. Such large +<i>Copris</i> as are seen in the old world, (<i>Isidis</i>, <i>Hamadrias</i>, +<i>Bucephalus</i>,) have not been discovered here: their place is supplied by +the large <i>Phanæi</i>, <i>Faunus</i>, <i>bellicosus</i>, <i>lancifer</i>, &c. A +golden-green <i>Copris</i> is a great rarity. <i>Onitis</i> seems to be quite +wanting in America: all the specimens, in this part of the world, that +have been placed in that class, belong partly to the <i>Phanæus</i>, and +partly to the <i>Eurysternus</i> Dalm. a remarkable species of the genus +Ateuchus.</p> + +<p>The <i>Ateuchi</i> are not less numerous in South<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_331" id="Page_331">[Pg 331]</a></span> America than in Africa; +and here is found what may be looked upon as the intermediate link +between <i>Copris</i> and <i>Onitis</i>. No part of the world is so rich in +<i>Rutelides</i> as trophical America; and according to the narrow limits +within which Mac Leay confines this family, it would seem to be +exclusively restricted to this continent. The greater part have not the +head divided from the head-shield by a line, and the breast is +lengthened in front into a spine: this extensive division is peculiar to +America. In the second division, the head-shield of which is bounded by +a strongly marked line, those which are provided with a breast-bone are +American. South America possesses also the intermediate genus between +the <i>Rutelides</i> and <i>Scarabæi</i>, in the genus <i>Cyclocephala</i>, +<i>Anoplognathidæ</i> were hitherto known to us from New Holland, Asia, South +Africa, and South America, and are characterised by the drooping form of +the upper-lip, falling lowest in the middle, and by the inequality of +their claws; the under-lip, at the same time, has either a projection in +the centre, or consists of two parts lapping over one another. In the +same way that the <i>Anoplognathidæ</i> of New Holland have the appearance of +<i>Rutelides</i> proper, are the South American <i>Anoplognathidæ</i> +distinguished by their resemblance to <i>Melolonthidæ</i>: those of Brazil +have no breast-bone, and at least one claw to each foot is cloven, which +distinguishes them from those of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_332" id="Page_332">[Pg 332]</a></span> Asia. <i>Chelonarium</i> and <i>Atractocerus</i> +fly about in the evening, and are attracted by a light. The Brazilian +jumping beetles differ, almost all of them, in their form, from those of +Europe. Among the <i>Heteromerides</i>, in the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro, +owing to the dampness of the soil, no unwinged beetle is to be met with; +a few varieties of the species <i>Scotinus</i> have been found upon the Organ +mountains only.</p> + +<p>Owing to the excessive roughness of the weather, our passage from Rio +Janeiro to the Bay of Conception afforded us but few opportunities to +add to our collections. A snipe blown out to sea from the Rio de la +Plata, a specimen of <i>Diomedea Albatros</i> at Terra del Fuego, a large +<i>Salpa</i>, and a <i>Lepas</i>, were all we were able to obtain. The Bay of +Conception presents a rich field to the ornithologist. A kind of parrot, +with a long tail, and naked round the eyes, flies about in swarms; and a +smaller kind from the interior, is to be found tame in the houses; our +guns frequently brought down two small kinds of doves. Of <i>Ambulatores</i> +we met some, of the genera <i>Cassicus</i>, <i>Motacilla</i>, <i>Muscicapa</i>, +<i>Pyrgita</i>, <i>Saxicola</i>, <i>Cotile</i>; of birds of prey, <i>Percnopterus Jota +Mol.</i>, and two buzzards; of <i>Grallatores</i>, two kinds of <i>Hæmatopus</i>, +both with white legs, the one with a black body, as <i>H. niger</i> is +described by Quoy and Gaimard, the other more similar to the European; a +<i>Vanellus</i> with spurs<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_333" id="Page_333">[Pg 333]</a></span> to the wings, <i>Numenius</i>, <i>Scolopax</i>, +<i>Phalaropus</i>, <i>Ardea Nycticorax</i>; and lastly a small bird with +remarkably short legs, digitated, and with a short thick bill, +frequenting the sea-shore, and feeding on seeds of <i>Rumex</i> and +<i>Polygonum</i>, and constituting a new species, which may be called +<i>Thinocorus</i>. Of aquatic birds, there were two kinds of <i>Sterna</i> and +<i>Larus</i>; many thousands of <i>Rynchops nigra</i>, which were so numerous as +to appear like clouds when they rose into the air; a <i>Procellaria</i> of +the variety <i>Nectris</i>; two kinds of <i>Podiceps</i>, and an <i>Aptenodytes</i> of +the variety <i>Spheniscus</i>. The upper part of the latter was of a lead +colour, and the lower part white, with a line of dullish grey running +from the bill to the belly, and forming a boundary between the two +colours; the bill and legs quite black. The animal was alive when +brought to us. When resting, it lay upon its belly and stretched out its +head. In the water it appeared unable to maintain itself afloat except +by incessant paddling, the whole of the body being meanwhile under +water.</p> + +<p>Of amphibia, only five kinds can be distinctly named; a brown <i>Coluber</i>, +two small lizards of the family of <i>Scincoidea</i>, a small <i>Rana</i>, with a +spot like an eye on the belly, and a small <i>Bufo</i>. Of fishes, the most +remarkable was a <i>Torpedo</i>, with the back of a reddish brown, and +smooth; and a <i>Callorhynchus antarcticus</i>: the latter may very well +remain in the class of <i>Chimæra</i>. Of crustaceæ, we collected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_334" id="Page_334">[Pg 334]</a></span> three +<i>Canceres</i>, a <i>Portunus</i>, a <i>Porcellana</i>, a <i>Sphæroma</i>, and a <i>Ligia</i>.</p> + +<p>The dry land along the coast is extremely poor in insects. The number of +beetles collected in 1816, together with those taken on the present +occasion, amounted only to sixty seven, but they are altogether peculiar +to the country. The most remarkable are a <i>Carabus</i> of the beautiful +colours of the <i>hispanus</i>, but with narrow striped cases to the wings, +and a large <i>Prionus</i>: the joints of the feet, in this latter, are short +and cylindrical, constituting a distinction from the whole family of the +<i>Cerambycinæ</i>; in every other respect it is unquestionably a <i>Prionus</i>, +and may be called <i>Pr. Mercurius</i>, on account of two wing-shaped +appendages, attached to the neck-corselet. Sixteen Carabicides were +found belonging to the <i>Calosoma</i>, <i>Pæcilus</i>, <i>Harpalus</i>, <i>Trechus</i>, +<i>Dromius</i>, and <i>Peryphus</i>. We were surprised at finding so few +dung-beetles. We met with only two large ones, namely, the <i>Megathopa +villosa</i> of <i>Esch</i>. Entomography, forming a species of the <i>Ateuchus</i>, +and a <i>Copris torulosa</i>, described in the same work; this, however, is +owing to the very little moisture in the atmosphere, which dries the +dung almost immediately. It is curious, that all the seventeen kinds of +<i>Copris</i> of South America known to us, have but seven stripes upon each +wing-case; whereas those of the Old World have eight: the larger kinds, +<i>Hamadrias</i>, <i>Bucephalus</i>, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_335" id="Page_335">[Pg 335]</a></span> <i>Isidis</i>,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> alone agree with the South +American in the number of stripes. Of the Americans, the <i>C. Hesperus +Oliv.</i> is the only one with a border to the seventh stripe, and the <i>C. +Actæon Klug</i> of Mexico is the only one that has eight stripes.</p> + +<p>Various kinds of beetles in Chili seek a shelter from the rays of the +sun in the dry cow-dung: almost all the Heteromerides with wings grown +together, the greater part of the beetles armed with trunks, and several +Carabides, were found there. The ten kinds of Heteromerides, with +distorted wings, found here, belong to five new classes: the other +Heteromerides consist of a <i>Helops</i> and a black <i>Lytta</i> with red thighs. +Of beetles furnished with a proboscis, we met with four kinds of +<i>Listroderes</i>, two remarkable <i>Cryptorhynchi</i>, and a few others of the +shape of a <i>Rhigus</i>. Lastly are to be noticed, a <i>Lucanus</i> of the form +of the <i>femoratus</i>, a large <i>Stenopterus</i>, and a large black <i>Psoa</i>. We +found very few other species of insects, but several kinds of +<i>Pompilus</i>, one two inches long, and a curious <i>Castnia</i>, were the most +remarkable.</p> + +<p>Of marine animals there remain to be noticed—a small <i>Octopus</i>, a +<i>Loligo</i>, two <i>Chiton</i>, <i>Patella</i>, <i>Crepidula</i>, <i>Pilcopsis</i>, +<i>Fissurella</i>, <i>Calyptræa</i>; of <i>Concholepas</i>, only<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_336" id="Page_336">[Pg 336]</a></span> empty shells; a large +<i>Mytilus</i>, a small <i>Modiola</i>, <i>Turritella</i>, <i>Turbo</i>, <i>Balanus</i>; and a +Holothuria of the variety <i>Psolus</i>.</p> + +<p>In the vast sea between the coast of Chili and the Low Islands or the +dangerous Archipelago, very few animals appear to live near the surface, +at least we saw none; a quantity of flying-fish were seen, resembling +the <i>Exocœtus volitans</i>, but having the rays of the breast-fins +parted towards the end. During the short space of ten days that we +stayed at O Tahaiti, the inhabitants, who for a trifling remuneration +brought us all sorts of marine animals, enabled us to make acquaintance +with all the natural productions of this much praised country. Birds are +scarce in the lowlands along the coast. The little blue <i>Psittacus +Taitianus</i> frequents the top of the cocoa-palm; the <i>Ardea sacra</i> walks +along the coral reefs; but it is seldom that a tropical bird is seen on +the wing. A <i>Gecko</i> of the species <i>Hemidactylus</i> lives about old +houses; a small lizard of the family of <i>Scincoidea</i>, with a +copper-coloured body and a blue tail, and a striped <i>Ablepharus</i>, are +met with frequently among the rocks. Of fishes, the variety is great, +many of them of splendid colours, particularly the small ones, which +feed upon the coral, and seek shelter among its branches. The same place +of refuge is chosen by numbers of variegated crabs, more particularly +the <i>Grapsus</i>, <i>Portunus</i>, and <i>Galathea</i>. Three kinds of <i>Canceres</i> +already known were brought us, the <i>maculatus</i>, <i>corallinus</i>, and +<i>floridus</i>; the two<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_337" id="Page_337">[Pg 337]</a></span> former move but little, and their shells are as +hard as stones. A small <i>Gelasimus</i> burrows under the ground, and makes +himself a subterranean passage from the water to the dry land. The +female has very small claws, but the male has always one very large pink +claw, which is sometimes the right and sometimes the left.</p> + +<p>A large brownish <i>Gecarcinus</i> lives entirely on the land, in holes of +his own making; his gills accordingly are not open combs, but consist of +rows of bags closely pressed together, and somewhat resembling bladders. +<i>Hippa adactyla</i> F. is very frequent here, and keeps itself concealed +under the sands on the sea-shore. It was from these that Fabricius, who +has given a wrong description of their legs, formed his species <i>Hippa</i>; +Latreille mentions them by the name of <i>Remipes testudinarius</i>. Six +kinds of <i>Pagurus</i>. Of Crustacea already described, <i>Palæmon +longimanus</i>, <i>Alphæus marmoratus</i>, and <i>Squilla chiragra</i>; the legs of +the last are red, and formed like a club; it uses them as weapons of +offence or defence, and inflicts wounds in striking them out by a +mechanism peculiar to itself. The number of insects collected on the low +land was very small; among them the <i>Staphylinus erytrocephalus</i>, also a +native of New Holland; an <i>Aphodius</i>, scarcely to be distinguished from +the <i>limbatus Wiedem.</i> of the Cape of Good Hope; an <i>Elater</i> of the +species <i>Monocrepis</i>; of <i>Oedemera</i>, three varieties of the species +<i>Dytilus</i>, to which belong the <i>Dryops livida</i> and <i>lineata</i> F.; two +small<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_338" id="Page_338">[Pg 338]</a></span> varieties of <i>Apate</i>; <i>Anthribus</i>, <i>Cossonnus</i>, <i>Lamia</i>, <i>Sphinx +pungens</i>, and a large <i>Phasma</i>.</p> + +<p>No place could be more convenient for the observation of the Mollusca +and Radiata than Cape Venus. At a few hundred paces from the shore is a +coral reef, which at low water is completely dry. In the shoal water, +between the reef and the shore, is found the greatest variety of the +more brittle kinds of coral, and among their sometimes thick bushes, +mollusca and echinodermes lie concealed. The rapid movements of a small +<i>Strombus</i>, which, when taken, beat about it with its shell, formed like +a thin plate of horn, and armed with sharp teeth, were very curious. On +breaking the stone which is formed by fragments of coral, a <i>Sternaspis</i> +was found burrowing in the interior. Seven classes of Holothuria were +examined; three belonged to the species of <i>Holothuria</i>, called by +Lamarck <i>Fistularia</i>, but which name had already been given by Linnæus +to the tobacco-pipe fish; the fourth was a species newly discovered, and +to which we appropriated the name of <i>Odontopyga</i>, because the fundament +is armed with five calcareous teeth; the belly is furnished with small +tubes, and the back covered with bumps. Two more belong to the species +<i>Thyone</i>; and the seventh kind of Holothuria ought, properly speaking, +to form a class apart, not having tubular feet, but adhering, by means +of their sharp skin, to extraneous objects, on which account they might +be called <i>Sinapta</i>; their feelers are fringed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_339" id="Page_339">[Pg 339]</a></span> and they live concealed +among stones. We found five small kinds of sea-leeches; and among three +kinds of star-fish, the <i>Asterias Echinites</i>, the large radii of which +easily inflict a severe wound; another had the form of the <i>Asterias +Luna</i>, was eight inches in diameter, without radii, and had more the +appearance of a round loaf of bread somewhat flattened. Of corals, the +variety was very great, as may be judged from the circumstance of our +having collected twenty-four kinds within so short a space of time. +<i>Fungia</i> is quite at home here; for, independently of <i>F. +agariciformis</i>, <i>scutaria</i>, and <i>limacina</i>, a long kind was also found, +having, like the two former, only one central cavity; they are found in +shallow water among other corals. Of tabular corals already known, there +remain to be mentioned, <i>Pavonia boletiformis</i>, <i>Madrepora prolifera +abrotanoides</i>, <i>corymbosa</i>, <i>plantaginea</i>, and <i>pocillifera</i>.</p> + +<p>The inhabitants of the Navigator Isles brought us the little <i>Psittacus +australis</i>, <i>Columba australis</i>, and another very prettily marked dove, +having green plumage, ornamented with a dark violet line across the +breast, and the feet and head of a reddish purple. It climbed about the +sides and roof of its cage, did not leave its perch when it wanted to +drink, but stooped down so low as merely to hang by its legs; it would +not eat seed, but lived principally on fruit, particularly bananas, all +which closely agreed with the habits of parrots.</p> + +<p>During our passage to the equator, <i>Sterna solida</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_340" id="Page_340">[Pg 340]</a></span> and <i>Dysporus Sula</i> +alighted frequently on our vessel, and allowed themselves to be taken. +The latter, when old, has a blue beak and red feet; when young, a red +bill and flesh-coloured legs. The exterior nostrils are entirely +wanting; but in every part are air-cells between the skin and the +muscles.</p> + +<p>Besides these animals, six varieties of <i>Pteropodes</i> were caught; also a +<i>Glaucus</i>, differing from that of the Atlantic <i>Janthina penicephala +Per.</i>, a <i>Planaria</i>, <i>Salpa vivipara Per.</i>, a <i>Pyrosoma</i>, resembling +that of the Atlantic, and a <i>Lepas</i>, attached to the shell of the +<i>Janthina</i>. Our collection of Acalephi was extremely rich; of fourteen +kinds taken, only one, <i>Physalia Lamartinieri</i>, was known to us.</p> + +<p>Our eight days' stay at the coral island Otdia, afforded us an +opportunity to observe or collect about one hundred different kinds of +marine animals. It has already been mentioned elsewhere, that the only +kind of mammalia found upon this island is a middling-sized cat, which +feeds on the fruit of the pandanus tree, and makes its nest in the dead +branches, which it easily hollows out. Several lizards have also been +found in these islands, such as the striped <i>Ablepharus</i> of O Tahaiti, +and a small <i>Gecko</i>; a large coal-black lizard was several times seen, +but always escaped among the dry pandanus leaves. The fishes are +remarkable for the singularity of their form, and the beauty of their +colours; those brought to us by the inhabitants belonged to the +<i>Holocentrus</i>, <i>Scarus</i>, <i>Mullus</i>, <i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_341" id="Page_341">[Pg 341]</a></span>Chætodon</i>, <i>Heniochus</i>, +<i>Amphacanthus</i>, <i>Theutis</i>, and <i>Fistularia</i>.</p> + +<p>Of Crustacea we saw twenty different kinds; among them a <i>Gonoplax</i> of +the middling size, and as white as the coral-sand, among which it lives, +on the shore. The <i>Hippopus</i> found here differs from the <i>maculatus</i> +already known by the much greater elevation of its shell. The large +<i>Tridachna</i> is the <i>Tr. squamosa Lam.</i> It is very unusual to meet with +an animal belonging to the family of Lepades in tubular holes made in +the coral rocks, as is the case with the <i>Lithonaetta N.</i> Among the +twenty kinds of tabular coral here observed, there was not one of those +collected at O Tahaiti; there were three new <i>Distichoporæ</i>, +<i>Seriatipora</i>, six kinds of <i>Madrepora</i>, two <i>Porites</i>, four <i>Astrea</i>, +<i>Pocillopora cærulea</i>, and another kind, forming broad, yellow, leafy +masses, the slime of which stings like a nettle; <i>Cariophyllæa +glabrescens Cham.</i>, and <i>Tubipora</i>, with red animalculæ.</p> + +<p>A calm of several days, between eighteen and twenty degrees of north +latitude, during our passage to Kamtschatka, afforded opportunities for +the observation of several remarkable animals. A small animal of +Lamarck's family of Heteropodes, with two rows of separate fins, +received the name <i>Tomopteris</i>. Secondly, a <i>Salpa</i>, of the class which +lives apart and has fine long fibres projecting from the hinder part of +the body. Thirdly, a small animal, nearly allied to the <i>Diphyes</i>, the +soft part of the body,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_342" id="Page_342">[Pg 342]</a></span> which contains the tube for receiving +nourishment, having no air-bladder. Fourthly, a small <i>Beroe</i>, having +the power of drawing in its fins. Fifthly, a very small <i>Porpita</i>. The +sixth animal was a very remarkable crab, the triangular shell on the +back, only two lines in length, provided with a spike from eight to ten +lines long, (<i>Lonchophorus anceps</i>,) projecting both before and behind. +Professor Germar has given to a species of beetle the name +<i>Lonchophorus</i>, but the same had already been described by Mac Leay, +under the name of <i>Phanæus</i>. Seventhly, an animal belonging to the class +<i>Arthrodiæ</i>, (<i>Arthronema N.</i>) the exterior consisting of stiff tubes, +in the interior of which is afterwards found a skin, which eventually +divides into separate parts. Eighthly, a <i>Clio</i>, about a line in length, +with a projection from the globular part of the body. Ninthly, a second +variety of <i>Appendicularia</i>, described by my friend and companion, on +board the Rurik, A. von Chamisso, in the tenth volume of the <i>N. Acta +Acad. Leop. Car.</i>, which proved to be a species of Mollusca belonging to +the Heteropodes of Lamarck. Tenthly, a <i>Pelagia</i>, scarcely, if at all, +to be distinguished from the <i>Panopyra Per.</i> Lastly, a new kind of +<i>Cestum</i>, <i>C. Najadis N.</i></p> + +<p>In the thirty-fourth degree of latitude, renewed calms again enabled us +to add to our collection, firstly, a new species of Physsophorides +(<i>Agalma N.</i>); secondly, a new <i>Diphyes</i>; thirdly, a new <i>Pelagia</i>, with +a yellow skin on the belly, attached to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_343" id="Page_343">[Pg 343]</a></span> which was a small Cirrhipede of +the class <i>Cineras</i>; fourthly, a Medusa, with broad belly-bags, and four +strong fins; fifthly, a Medusa of the same species, with five and six +fins; sixthly, a very small Entomostracea of a flat form, and +distinguished by its blue glossy colour, similar to that of the <i>Hoplia +farinosa</i>; seventhly, a <i>Loligo</i>, probably <i>cardioptera Per.</i>, +remarkable on account of the largeness of its eyes; eighthly, a second +species of <i>Phyllirhoe</i>, placed by Lamarck among the Heteropodes, to +which class it does not, however, belong. The species found in the South +Sea has no eyes, and plain feelers; on which account it was formerly +considered by us as forming a distinct class, and called <i>Eurydice</i>. +But, although the <i>Phyllirhoe</i> is found to vary so remarkably in its +formation, owing to the want of feet, still I consider it as nearly +allied to the <i>Eolidia</i>. Ninthly, a new <i>Glaucus</i>, of a remarkably slim +body, with short fins, and of a blackish-blue colour. Tenthly, a +<i>Eucharis N.</i> In addition to these, no less than eight Crustacea were +taken in the net. In the vicinity of Kamtschatka, the vessel sailed +daily through red masses floating on the surface; on drawing up some of +the water, the pail was found full of red <i>Calanus</i>, a line and a half +long, with rough feelers of the same length as the body.</p> + +<p>In Kamtschatka we found the Bay of Awatscha poor in Mollusca and +radiated animals, owing probably to the inconsiderable ebb and flood. +The objects most frequently met with, were an ugly little <i>Turbo</i>,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_344" id="Page_344">[Pg 344]</a></span> the +empty shell of which was tenanted by a black <i>Pagurus</i> and a <i>Balanus</i>. +A large <i>Cyanea</i> differs from the European <i>C. ciliata</i>, in the form of +the stomach. Another Medusa, constituting a new kind of <i>Sthenonia N.</i>, +was observed; its digestive organs resemble those of the Aurelia; and +about the edge, eight bunches of very long fibres project, provided, +like those of the Physaliæ, with two rows of suckers.</p> + +<p>The environs of St. Peter and St. Paul, lying under fifty-three degrees +of north latitude, possess an insect Fauna, such as is in Europe only +found in sixty and seventy degrees of latitude; as for instance, in +Lapland and Finland. A great number of species are exactly similar in +both regions; others of the Kamtschatkan insects have been met with +nowhere else, except in Siberia, and a small number is quite peculiar to +the former country. All have not yet been subjected to a diligent +examination, and only the following can be with certainty mentioned.</p> + +<p>Firstly, in the North of Europe also, are found: <i>Pteroloma Forstroemii +Gyllh.</i>, <i>Nebria arctica Dej.</i> (<i>hyperborea Schoenh.</i>), <i>Blethisa +multipunctata</i>, <i>Pelophila borealis</i>, <i>Elaphrus lapponicus</i> and +<i>riparius</i>, <i>Notiophilus aquaticus</i>, <i>Loricera pilicornis</i>, <i>Poecilus +lepidus</i>, <i>Dyticus circumcinctus</i>, <i>Staphylinus maxillosus</i>, <i>Buprestis +appendiculata</i>, <i>Elater holosericeus</i>, <i>Ptilinus pectinicornis</i>, +<i>Necrophorus mortuorum</i>; <i>Silpha thoracica</i>, <i>lapponica</i>, <i>opaca</i>, and +<i>atrata</i>; <i>Strongylus colon</i>, <i>Byrrhus albo-punctatus</i>, <i>dorsalis</i>, +<i>varius</i> and <i>aeneus</i>; <i>Hydrophilus <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_345" id="Page_345">[Pg 345]</a></span>scarabæoides</i> and <i>melanocephalus</i>; +<i>Cercyon aquaticum</i>, <i>Hister carbonarius</i>, <i>Psammodius sabuleti</i>, +<i>Trichus fasciatus</i>, <i>Oedemera virescens</i>, <i>Apoderus Coryli</i>, <i>Leptura +trifasciata</i>, <i>atra</i> and <i>sanguinosa</i>, <i>Lema brunnea</i>, <i>Cassida +rubiginosa</i>, <i>Chrysomela staphylæa</i>, <i>lapponica</i>, <i>ænea</i>, <i>viminalis</i>, +<i>armoracea</i> and <i>vitellinæ</i>; <i>Eumolpus obscurus</i>, <i>Cryptocephalus +variegatus</i>, <i>Coccinella</i> 7 <i>punctata</i>, 13 <i>punctata</i>, <i>mutabilis</i>, and +16 <i>guttata</i>. Secondly, such as have been hitherto found only in +Siberia, though their number is but small: <i>Cantharis annulata Fisch.</i>, +<i>Dermestes domesticus Gebl.</i>, <i>Aphodius ursinus N.</i>, and <i>A. maurus +Gebl.</i>, and <i>Leptura sibirica</i>.</p> + +<p>Among the beetles which have as yet been met with nowhere else, and are +therefore considered peculiar to the country, may be named: a +<i>Cicindela</i>, between <i>hybrida</i> and <i>maritima</i>; a <i>Carabus</i> of the form +of the <i>cancellatus Illig.</i>, with black feelers and legs; <i>C. Clerkii +N.</i>, and another, green, with gold border, of the form of the +<i>catenulatus</i>, caught near the line of perpetual snow on the volcano +Awatscha: <i>C. Hoffmanni N.</i>, <i>Nebria nitidula</i>, which is the same as the +<i>Carabus nitidulus Fabr.</i>, as appears by that preserved in Banks's +Museum, hitherto the only specimen in Europe; great numbers of these are +found in the valleys: a second black sort was caught on the volcano. +Further, a small bright yellow <i>Pteroloma</i>, an <i>Elaphrus</i>, <i>Bembidia</i> +six kinds, <i>Agonum</i> four kinds, an <i>Omaseus</i>, an <i>Amara</i>, <i>Elater +scabricollis Esch. Entomogr.</i>; an <i>Elater</i>, like <i>undulatus</i> P., three<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_346" id="Page_346">[Pg 346]</a></span> +kinds, which like <i>Bructeri</i>, live among stones; a wingless kind which +is found buried in the sea-sand, and a perfectly black <i>Campylus</i>.</p> + +<p>Besides these, a beetle forming a peculiar species between <i>Atopa</i> and +<i>Cyphon</i>; <i>Cantharis cembricola Esch.</i>, and one resembling the +<i>testacea</i>; a <i>Hylecoetus</i>, scarcely differing from <i>dermestoides</i>; +<i>Catops</i>; a <i>Heterocerus</i>, broad and covered with whitish scales; an +<i>Elophorus</i>; two <i>Phaleriæ</i> with a black ground; two kinds of +<i>Stenotrachelis</i>, both larger than the European, which has hitherto +borne the name of <i>Dryops ænea</i>; and in fact, the beetle in Banks's +Museum, so called by Fabricius, is either the same, or a species very +nearly resembling it, and it may therefore be conjectured that some +mistake has accidentally occurred in the designation of its native +country in that Museum. There still remain to be mentioned a Chrysomela, +like the <i>pyritosa</i>, and a <i>Coccinella</i> with five very large spots upon +both wing-covers, found on the line of perpetual snow on the volcano. It +is also probable that the valley of the Kamtschatka river, although +lying farther north than the environs of the Awatscha, yet possesses a +richer in sect Fauna, as the climate there is much milder, and adapted +to agriculture.</p> + +<p>From Kamtschatka our course lay mostly eastward. At first the sea was +strongly luminous every night; but when in the midst of this immense +ocean, it one night happened, that while the ship was as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_347" id="Page_347">[Pg 347]</a></span> usual +surrounded by brilliant waves, a dark precipice seemed to open before +it. On reaching this part of the water, it appeared that all the +luminous matters, such as Zoophytes and Mollusca with their spawn, were +entirely wanting, and from this point to the American coast the sea +remained dark.</p> + +<p>We remarked generally of this great ocean, that on the Asiatic coast, +even at a considerable distance from land, (as much as thirty degrees +west from Japan,) the water is always muddy; it is made so, partly by +the great numbers of small Crustacea, Zoophytes, and Mollusca, partly by +the impurities of the whales and dolphins, which latter especially, as +well as many other kinds of fish, are very numerous here from the +abundance of food to be found. On the contrary, the sea in the +neighbourhood of the north-west coast of America is clear and +transparent, and nothing is found in it except here and there a single +Medusa.</p> + +<p>In the principal settlement of the Russian-American Trading Company on +the island of Sitcha, in Norfolk Sound, we had better opportunities of +becoming acquainted with natural productions than elsewhere, as, during +our stay there, in the year 1825, from March to the middle of August, we +had an almost uninterrupted continuation of fine weather: we were in +this respect peculiarly favoured, as in most years this island does not +enjoy above one fine day to fourteen cloudy or wet ones. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_348" id="Page_348">[Pg 348]</a></span> ourselves +experienced this sort of weather in 1824, when we passed the latter part +of August and the beginning of September there.</p> + +<p>Of the Fauna of this island, about two hundred and sixty species came +under our notice: from its immediate vicinity to the continent, it is +not wonderful that several large <i>mammalia</i> are to be found. Among these +is the <i>Ursus Americanus</i>, of the black race; a fox; a stag, which +perhaps does not differ from the <i>Cervus virginianus</i>, and the common +beaver, which feeds on the large leaves of a <i>Pothos</i>, said by the +inhabitants to be injurious to man. Besides these are observed a small +<i>Vespertilio</i> with short ears, a <i>Mustela</i>, and a <i>Phoca</i>.</p> + +<p>Of birds we remarked: the <i>Aquila leucocephala</i>, <i>Astur</i>, <i>Corvus +Corone</i> and <i>Stelleri</i>, and some varieties of the species <i>Turdus</i>, +<i>Sylvia</i>, <i>Troglodytes</i>, <i>Parus</i>, <i>Alcedo</i>, <i>Picus</i>, <i>Ardea</i>, +<i>Hæmatopus</i>, <i>Scolopax</i>, <i>Charadrius</i>, <i>Anas</i>, and <i>Colymbus</i>. +<i>Trochilus rufus</i> is not only often found here, but also under sixty +degrees of latitude. A small shoal of <i>Procellaria furcata</i> was once +driven into the Bay by stormy weather. Of Amphibia, only a small kind of +toad is met with. There is no great variety in the kinds of fish, but +the individuals are numerous, especially a well-flavoured sort of +salmon, and herrings; a <i>Pleuronectes</i> several feet long, and a reddish +yellow <i>Perca</i> two feet long and very thick, are extremely abundant.</p> + +<p>The number of accurately examined <i>Annulides</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_349" id="Page_349">[Pg 349]</a></span> amounts to sixteen, among +which are found some of very fine and unknown forms. Most of them belong +to the well-known species <i>Cirrhatulus</i>, <i>Arenicola</i>, <i>Aceronereis</i>, +<i>Nereis</i>, <i>Aphrodita</i>, <i>Serpula</i>, <i>Amphitrite</i>. A <i>Nereis</i> was found +swimming on the surface of the water in the middle of the bay, which +measured two feet in length, and one inch in thickness; the appendages +at its sides resemble round leaves. An <i>Aphrodita</i> several inches long, +and very narrow, was not rare. An animal resembling the Amphitrite kind +is found enveloped in a transparent mass like jelly.</p> + +<p>Of Mollusca we observed, a <i>Limacina</i>; two <i>Eolidiæ</i>, some of which have +very beautiful colours; a <i>Laniogerus</i>; a <i>Polycera</i>; four kinds of +<i>Doris</i>; a <i>Scyllæa</i>; an animal which deserves the name of <i>Planaria</i>, +it was three inches long, two broad, and only half a line thick; on the +upper surface, half an inch from the edge, are two projecting eyes; and +in the same part, on the surface beneath, the mouth may be perceived; in +the middle of this under surface is another aperture, from which the +animal, when in a tranquil state, frequently strecthes out four small +folds of skin; this creature, like the <i>Planariæ</i>, crawls very nimbly. +Besides these, a small <i>Onichidium</i>, and a new kind of shelled snail.</p> + +<p>In the mossy woods live a large, yellowish, black-spotted <i>Limax</i>, and +two Helices of middling size. In the bay itself are found a few of the +gilled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_350" id="Page_350">[Pg 350]</a></span> snails with spiral shells; and a considerable number on the +outward coast, which is washed by the ocean. Here are several species of +the genera <i>Murex</i>, <i>Fusus</i>, <i>Buccinum</i>, <i>Mitra</i>, <i>Trochus</i>, and +<i>Turbo</i>. Further, there are found here a large <i>Fissurella</i>, and six +species of a genus which, from its simple, unwound shell, would be +immediately taken for a <i>Patella</i>; the creature, however, closely +resembles the <i>Fissurella</i>, with the difference that only one gill is +visible in the fissure over the neck. It is remarkable, that on the +whole north-west coast of America down to California, no <i>Patella</i>, only +animals of the genus <i>Acmæa</i>, were to be met with. Of the <i>Chiton</i> +genus, six species were observed; in one, the side skin covers the edges +of the shell so far as to leave only a narrow strip of it visible down +the back; in others, the shell is entirely concealed under the external +skin. It is worthy of remark, that these latter, as well as one +similarly formed, found in California, attain the considerable length of +eight inches. A third kind, to be reckoned among this subdivision, +Pallas obtained from the Kurile Islands, and has described it as <i>Chiton +amiculatus</i>.</p> + +<p>Among the Acephala are to be named a large <i>Cardium</i>, also found on the +Californian coast; <i>Modiolus</i>, two species; <i>Mytilus</i>; <i>Mya</i>, two +species; and <i>Teredo palmulatus</i>: the latter, which is brought here by +the ships, is very mischievous in the harbour, and attains to the length +of two feet. In this species are comprehended three <i>Ascidiæ</i>, of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_351" id="Page_351">[Pg 351]</a></span>different forms; one <i>Anomia</i>, one <i>Terebratula</i> attached to a <i>Fusus</i>, +two <i>Lepas</i>, and a <i>Balanus</i>. Six <i>Holothuria</i>, belonging to three +different species, were observed: a large <i>Thalassema</i> gave us a +long-wished for opportunity of observing, that this species belongs to +the Holothuria, and not to the Annulides. Eight species of star-fish are +found here, partly on the rocks, and partly at the bottom of the sea: +among them, four are furnished with five <i>radii</i>, and the rest with six, +ten, eleven, and eighteen: the latter sort, which is the largest, lives +at the bottom of the sea, and the number of its <i>radii</i> varies from +eighteen to twenty-one. Only one <i>Ophiura</i> was seen. Several kinds of +very large <i>Actinia</i> inhabit the rocks: all that we examined belonged to +the species which is externally provided with rows of teats. A <i>Velella</i> +also was caught in the open bay: this is the first which has been +observed in so high a latitude.</p> + +<p>Of <i>Zoophytes</i>, some presented themselves of the genera <i>Antipathes</i>, +<i>Millepora</i>; <i>Cellaria</i>, <i>Flustra</i> two species, <i>Melobesia</i>, <i>Retepora</i>, +<i>Acamarchis</i>, <i>Lafœa</i>, <i>Aglaophenia</i>, <i>Dynamena</i> fives species, +<i>Clytia</i> four species, and <i>Folliculina</i>, two species. The <i>Antipathes</i> +consists of a simple stem resembling wood, which grows to the length of +ten feet: it grows at a great depth in the open bay, and is often +accidentally drawn up in fishing.</p> + +<p>Although of all insects of this island the beetle is the most numerous, +yet during the whole spring<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_352" id="Page_352">[Pg 352]</a></span> and summer, in almost daily excursions, +with constant fine weather, only one hundred and six kinds were found. +On the whole, it may be observed, that none among them belong to any of +the species which have been hitherto considered as peculiar to America; +yet there are some of them which form entirely distinct classes, and +must therefore be natives of the north-west coast of America. The result +of close examination was, that none of those found here are to be met +with either in the north of Asia or in Europe, and only seven species +are to be found even in Unalashka.</p> + +<p>The Fauna is adapted to the climate and the soil; <i>Nebria</i>, <i>Patrobus</i> +and other Carabides, find a cool abode among the stones on the banks of +the ice-cold brooks which fall from the snowy summits of the mountains; +in the fir-woods, live several kinds of <i>Xylophagi</i> and some +<i>Cerambycides</i>; the old mossy trunks of fallen trees afford +hiding-places for several kinds of Carabides, as two <i>Cychrus</i>, +<i>Leistus</i>, <i>Platysma</i>; and for <i>Nitidula</i>, <i>Scaphidium</i>, <i>Agyrtes</i>, and +<i>Boros</i>. On the skirts of the woods, shrubs and tall plants nourish some +insects belonging to various families; as two <i>Homalisus</i>, <i>Omalium</i>, +and <i>Anthophagus</i>, <i>Anaspis</i>, <i>Cantharis</i>, and <i>Silis</i>; besides <i>Elater</i> +of eight kinds, and a ninth living under stones.</p> + +<p>The small standing waters, formed by single cavities, are proportionably +rich in water-beetles, among which is found a <i>Dyticus</i> of the form of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_353" id="Page_353">[Pg 353]</a></span> +the <i>sulcatus</i>, seven <i>Colymbetes</i>, <i>Hydroporus</i> two species, and a +<i>Gyrinus</i>. The Carabides are: <i>Cychrus angusticollis</i> and <i>marginatus</i>, +<i>Nebria metallica</i> and three new species, <i>Leistus</i>, <i>Poecilus</i> two, +<i>Patrobus</i>, <i>Omaseus adstrictus</i>, <i>Platysma</i> two, <i>Loricera</i> plainly +distinguished from the <i>pilicornis</i>, <i>Amara</i>, <i>Trechus</i> three, +<i>Bembidium</i> two, and <i>Leja</i> three species. Thirteen species of +<i>Brachelytra</i> have been found; of carrion-beetles, a <i>Necrophorus</i>, a +<i>Silpha</i>, quite of the figure of the <i>subterranea</i>, and a <i>Catops</i>. Of +Pentamerides are still to be mentioned the <i>Scydmaenus</i>, <i>Cryptophagus</i>, +<i>Byrrhus</i>, <i>Cercyon</i>, <i>Psammodius</i>, and <i>Aphodius</i>. The number of +Heteromerides amounts only to four; namely, one <i>Boros</i> of the arched +form of the <i>elongatus</i>, a small <i>Phaleria</i>, a pale yellow <i>Anaspis</i>, +and a small black, flat beetle with overgrown wing-cases of a new form, +which must be reckoned among the family of the Blapides. Of beetles with +probosces only six were found, of Xylophagi seven, of the species +<i>Hylurgus</i> two, <i>Bostrichus</i> three, one <i>Rhyzophagus</i>, and a larger +quite red <i>Cucujus</i>. The three stag-beetles were a <i>Sphondylis</i>, a +<i>Lamia</i> with excrescences upon the sharply pointed cases of its wings, +and a beetle of the flat form of a <i>Callidium</i>. Of the large class of +Chrysomelides, only five varieties were to be met with; namely, two +sorts of <i>Donacia</i>, a beetle of the form of a <i>Lema</i>, and two varieties, +of the form of Eumolpes. Lastly, three Trimerides were discovered, +namely, two <i>Latridii</i> and a <i>Pselaphus</i>.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_354" id="Page_354">[Pg 354]</a></span></p><p>Our stay in the Bay of St. Francisco, in California, during the months +of October and November, was unfavourable to the observations of a +naturalist. A perfect drought prevails during those months; vegetation +appears completely dead; and all birds of passage abandon the country. +The landscape along the coast is alternately formed of naked hills, of a +rocky or clayey soil, and low sandy levels, covered with stunted bushes. +Further inland, the soil is more fertile, but still deficient in wood. +The background every where presents lofty mountains; we visited only +those to the north, at the foot of which the Russian settlement Ross is +situated. Here a fine forest of lofty pines, mingled with oak and horse +chesnut-trees, charms the eye. Of the mammalia of this hitherto +unexplored country, only a few can be cited. The light grey American +bear, with a small head, abounds in unfrequented districts, but brown +bears are also occasionally killed. We nearly ascertained the existence +of two sorts of polecats, and succeeded in getting a skin of one; its +fur is brown below, and black above: from the forehead a white stripe +runs to the middle of the back, and then divides into two, which extend +to the extremity of the tail. The feet of the animal show that it treads +upon its entire sole, and lives in holes like a badger. The second sort +is said to have three white stripes: our sailors caught one, but it got +away again. The mole here is<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_355" id="Page_355">[Pg 355]</a></span> larger than in Europe; the upper part of +the body is of a greyish brown, the lower part an ash grey; the legs are +covered with a white fur, and the taper tail is one-fifth of the length +of the body. A shrew-mouse also was caught. Two or three kinds of large +cats are said to have been seen; a <i>mustela</i>, something of the nature of +the <i>Lutreola</i>, was shot near the Rio Sacramento. The sea-otter still +abounds here, but its hair is brownish, and not black. The <i>Cervus +Wapiti</i> is found in great numbers in hilly districts; and there are deer +in all unfrequented places. The back and sides of the latter are of a +reddish brown in summer, in winter of a blackish brown; the belly, +breast, and inside of the legs are white; the mouth, forehead, and the +exterior of the ears are black. The antlers (of the male) divide into a +fork, with round smooth branches. The animal grows to the height of two +feet and a half. Near the Rio Sacramento, and in the vicinity of the +Russian settlement, we saw herds of animals of the shape of goats, with +long hair hanging from their legs, and short straight horns; we were +unfortunately unable to obtain a specimen; we saw the animal only +through a telescope, and judged it to be the <i>Capra Columbiana</i>, or +<i>Rupicapra Americana Blainville</i>, so often spoken of. Lastly, we have to +mention a small kind of hare, not so large as a rabbit, found in great +abundance among the bushes, and a dormouse seen in the southern plains.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_356" id="Page_356">[Pg 356]</a></span></p><p>In consequence of the lateness of the season, most of the birds that +breed here had already left the neighbourhood; we therefore saw only +such birds as pass the winter here, and also a number of aquatic birds +that were daily arriving from the north. Of the former we met with five +kinds of <i>Icterus</i>; one quite black, except the shoulders, which were +red; these were extremely numerous, and sleep, like the <i>Icterus +phœnicius</i>, among rushes. The <i>Sturnus ludovicianus</i> and <i>Picus +auratus</i> of the United States, are also found in California; the +<i>Percnopterus californicus</i>, <i>Corvus mexicanus</i>, and <i>Perdix +californica</i>, are already known. A large grey crane, probably from the +north, remained here: upon the whole, the number of birds observed, +amounted to forty.</p> + +<p>A few Amphibia were found concealed under stones; namely, a large +<i>Tachydromus</i>, a <i>Tropydurus</i>, a <i>Crotalus</i>, a <i>Coluber</i>, and four +<i>Salamandrides</i>: among the latter was one with the body covered with +warts, and a narrow compressed tail, the glands of the ear wholly +wanting; the others had long narrow bodies of about the thickness of a +common earth-worm, with short legs, standing far apart, and toes +scarcely perceptible to the naked eye.</p> + +<p>Nearly two hundred kinds of beetles were collected: with the exception +of the <i>Lampyris corrusca Fabr.</i>, which, according to Banks, is found on +the Columbia river, all are as yet undescribed. Upon the dry ground, +under stones, many Heteromerides,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_357" id="Page_357">[Pg 357]</a></span> with distorted wing-cases, were +found, and among them six new species. A large <i>Cychrus</i> was also found, +and a species closely resembling the <i>Manticora</i>, together with many +other Carabides, of which we collected, in all, fifty different species.</p> + +<p>It was at the Sandwich Isles that the greatest number of fishes and +Crustacea were collected: of the former the greatest variety, and the +most remarkable, were kept in the fish preserves of the royal family. Of +other classes of animals, but few are to be met with. Among the dense +woods that cover the backs of the mountains, there must be a number of +land-birds, but we met only <i>Melithreptus vestiarius</i>, and two sorts of +the <i>Dicæum</i>; in the fields laid under water were the <i>Gallinula +chloropus</i> and a <i>Fulica</i>. Of corals there is but little variety; these +islands being situated nearly in the highest latitude in which coral is +ever found. In the vicinity of the harbour are two sorts of <i>Astræa</i>, +two <i>Porites</i>, a <i>Pavonia</i>, and a <i>Hornera</i>. The number of insects is +small, as is indeed the case with all land animals; it is therefore +creditable to our industry, that we are able to muster twenty sorts of +beetles. A small <i>Platynus</i> is the only Carabide; in the water, two +<i>Colymbetes</i> and a <i>Hydrophilus</i> were found. The only <i>Elater</i> belongs +to a species (<i>Agrypnus N.</i>) in which we reckon various specimens found +only in the Old World, such as <i>Elater tomentosus</i>, <i>fuscipes</i>, +<i>senegalensis</i>, &c.; beetles which have two deep furrows in the lower +part of the neck-shield, to receive<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_358" id="Page_358">[Pg 358]</a></span> the feelers, and which go in search +of their food at night. They resemble many of the European springing +beetles covered with scales, and included by Megerle under the name +Lepidotus; such are <i>fasciatus</i>, <i>murinus</i>, <i>varius</i>. Two Aphodii were +found; one, of the size of the <i>Psammodius porcatus</i>, but very flat, +lives under the bark of a decayed tree, the wood of which has become +soft. Another has the almost prickly shoulders of the <i>Aphodius +stercorator</i> and <i>asper</i>; of these we form the species <i>Stenocnemis</i>, +and include therein four new varieties found in Brazil and Luçon. It may +be here observed, that <i>Psammodius sabuleti</i> and <i>cylindricus N.</i>, must +be classed with <i>Ægialia</i>, which, on account of the horny nature of +their jaws, and the projection of the upper lip, enter into the same +class with <i>Trox</i>; the remaining kinds of <i>Psammodius</i>, however, do not +at all agree with the character given them by Gyllenhal, and ought in +their turn to be classed with <i>Aphodius</i>. Among the remaining beetles, +all of which dwell under the bark of trees, a <i>Parandra</i> was the +largest.</p> + +<p>During our two months' stay in the Bay of Manilla, we could only become +acquainted with a small part of the natural productions, in which the +large island of Luçon appears extremely rich, because it is difficult to +procure them without travelling far into the interior; but the country +round Manilla and Cavite being cultivated to the distance of several +days' journey, the woods of the mountains alone remain in a state of +nature. There dwell the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_359" id="Page_359">[Pg 359]</a></span> gigantic snakes and crocodiles, of which every +one has some tale to relate. A small <i>Cercopithecus</i> is found in great +abundance; but we were not able to meet with a good drawing, or even a +tolerable description of it. Skins of <i>Galeopithecus</i> were brought us; +and we were assured that the animal allowed itself to be tamed, and +would sit like a monkey, and take its food with the fore-feet. Two kinds +of flying dogs, one of them apparently a <i>Pteropus edulis</i>, were shot +and eaten in the neighbourhood. Two other animals, of the bat kind, +belonged to the classes <i>Hypexodon</i> and <i>Nycticejus</i>. A <i>Chelone</i>, three +feet long, was brought us, remarkable for seven shields on the middle of +its back. <i>Terrapene tricarinata</i> is abundant. We obtained also a +<i>Basilicus</i>, a large <i>Tupinambis</i>, and two <i>Geckos</i>, which do not as yet +appear to have been described. <i>Achrochordus fasciatus</i> lives in the +sea, and is frequently brought up in the nets of the fishermen; on land, +it is unable to move from the spot on which it is placed.</p> + +<p>In November and December, the months we passed at Manilla, all the +insects had concealed themselves; and it was only by the assistance of +several active Malays, who were all day long hunting them, that we were +able to collect upwards of two hundred beetles. Upon the whole, the +beetle Fauna agrees with that of Java, of which island many have already +been made known. A <i>Tricondyla</i> we had ourselves the pleasure of +catching on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_360" id="Page_360">[Pg 360]</a></span> trunk of a tree: the inhabitants did not bring them to +us, as they suppose them to be large ants, and are apprehensive of being +stung by them. We obtained three sorts of <i>Catascopus</i>, nineteen aquatic +<i>Scarabæus</i>, six <i>Hydrophilus</i>, five <i>Buprestis</i>, five <i>Melolontha</i>, +four <i>Anomala</i>. <i>Scarabæus Gideon</i> is found in great abundance in the +thick bushes, where it climbs up the branches by means of its long legs +and large claws. Of <i>Oryctes nasicornis</i>, a Malay one day brought us no +less than sixty, taken out of some decayed wood. A green <i>Cetonia</i>, of +the size and form of the <i>chinensis</i>, of a coppery brightness, is rare. +Three small Lucanides, of those called by Mac Leay <i>Nigidius</i> and +<i>Figulus</i>, are found in the wood of living trees.</p> + +<p>Of wingless Heteromerides, we found only one <i>Tagenia</i>, and that under +the dry bark of a tree. For Pimeliades the soil is unfavourable, there +not being, as far as we could learn, in the country round Manilla, +either stones, or low, broad-leafed plants, under which these animals +can find shelter from the burning rays of the sun: they are found only +under dry bark, and about the root of the <i>Opatrum</i>, <i>Uloma</i>, and +similar plants. The Helopides, on the other hand, must be looked for on +the dry branches in the tops of trees, but we obtained only six +varieties. Of the twenty-six stag-beetles collected here, it is +necessary to observe, that they are all essentially different from those +found in South America.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_361" id="Page_361">[Pg 361]</a></span></p><p>Our passage through the Chinese Sea was rapid; and as we had constantly +stormy weather in the Indian Ocean, we had no opportunities of observing +marine animals. In the vicinity of the Cape, we caught some Salpæ, +Physaliæ, and Velellæ; but in the Northern Atlantic, after reaching the +region of the <i>Sargassum natans</i>, daily opportunities for interesting +observations presented themselves. From the point at which the floating +sea-weed was first noticed, (eighteen degrees north latitude, and about +thirty degrees of longitude west of Greenwich,) to the coast of England, +forty-three kinds of animals were observed, not noticed on our outward +voyage. We were able to make a very exact examination of the whole +system of the <i>Beroe punctata</i>. Three new varieties of Medusa were +discovered, and an animal (<i>Rataria N.</i>) between <i>Velella</i> and +<i>Porpita</i>: it has the flat form of the latter, but is provided with a +sail, which it can draw in at will. We also caught the animal which Le +Sueur has called <i>Stephanomia uvæformis</i>. Lastly, we had the good +fortune to procure a specimen of an animal which appears to form a link +between the <i>Salpa</i> and <i>Pyrosoma</i>. This species (called <i>Anchinia</i>) +consists of a number of animalculæ of the Salpa form, which, by means of +a stalk, are attached to a common body, all of them being turned to the +same side.</p> + +<p>In the course of less than three years, 2400 kinds<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_362" id="Page_362">[Pg 362]</a></span> of animals were +either examined, or only collected, consisting of the following +classes:—</p> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="td1"> </td><td class="td2">Species.</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Mammalia</td><td class="td2">28</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Birds</td><td class="td2">165</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Amphibia</td><td class="td2">33</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Fishes</td><td class="td2">90</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Annulides</td><td class="td2">40</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Crustacea</td><td class="td2">127</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Insects</td><td class="td2">1400</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Arachnides</td><td class="td2">28</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Cephalopodes</td><td class="td2">20</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Gasteropodes</td><td class="td2">162</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Acephali</td><td class="td2">45</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Tunicati</td><td class="td2">28</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Cirrhipedes</td><td class="td2">21</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Echinodermates</td><td class="td2">60</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Acalephi</td><td class="td2">63</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1">Zoophytes</td><td class="td2">90</td></tr> +<tr><td class="td1"> </td><td class="td2"><span class="smcap">Fr. Eschscholtz.</span></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<p>Dorpat, 7th January, 1828.<br /> +</p> + + +<p class="center"><small>THE END.</small></p> + +<p class="center"><small> +LONDON:<br /> +PRINTED BY SAMUEL BENTLEY,<br /> +Dorset Street, Fleet Street.<br /> +</small></p> +<hr /> + +<div class="footnotes"><h3>FOOTNOTES:</h3> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> A kind of urn in use throughout all Russia, called a +Samowar, or self-boiler. It generally stands in the middle of the +tea-table, and is furnished with a large kettle for water, and a space +filled with fire to keep it boiling.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> The baidars, or canoes of the Aleutians, are generally +twelve feet long and twenty inches deep, the same breadth in the middle, +and pointed at each end. The smaller are suited only for one man, the +larger for two or three. The skeleton and the keel are made of very thin +deal planks, fastened together with the sinews of the whale, and covered +with the skin of the sea-horse cleared of the hair. It has a kind of +deck made of this skin, but leaving an aperture for each person the +canoe is intended to carry. These sit in the bottom with their legs +stretched out, and their bodies rising through the apertures, which are +but just large enough to allow them to move and row conveniently. The +space between their bodies and the deck being so well fitted with +bladders, that no drop of water can enter. +</p><p> +These baidars are moved very rapidly by oars, and the Aleutians put to +sea with them in all weathers.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> This applies only to the lower classes; the Yeris are +nearly all as large as at Tahaiti.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> This kind was known to Fabricius, for <i>Copris Midas</i> is a +variety of the male, and <i>Gigas</i> is the female. The former has +erroneously been deemed a native of America.</p></div> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A New Voyage Round the World, in the +years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2, by Otto von Kotzebue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK NEW VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD VOL 2 *** + +***** This file should be named 25815-h.htm or 25815-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/5/8/1/25815/ + +Produced by Julia Miller, Greg Bergquist, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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