CHAP. I.

THE SHIPS ENTER THE SOUND, AND MOOR IN A HARBOUR.—INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES.—ARTICLES BROUGHT TO BARTER.—THEFTS COMMITTED.—THE OBSERVATORIES ERECTED, AND CARPENTERS SET TO WORK.—JEALOUSY OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE SOUND TO PREVENT OTHER TRIBES HAVING INTERCOURSE WITH THE SHIPS.—STORMY AND RAINY WEATHER.—PROGRESS ROUND THE SOUND.—BEHAVIOUR OF THE NATIVES AT THEIR VILLAGES.—THEIR MANNER OF DRYING FISH, &C.—REMARKABLE VISIT FROM STRANGERS, AND INTRODUCTORY CEREMONIES.—A SECOND VISIT TO ONE OF THE VILLAGES.—LEAVE TO CUT GRASS, PURCHASED.—THE SHIPS SAIL.—PRESENTS GIVEN AND RECEIVED AT PARTING.

The ships having happily found so excellent shelter in an inlet, the coasts of which appeared to be inhabited by a race of people, whose inoffensive behaviour promised a friendly intercourse, the next morning, after coming to anchor, I lost no time in endeavouring to find a commodious harbour, where we might station ourselves during our continuance in the sound. Accordingly, I sent three armed boats, under the command of Mr. King, upon this service; and soon after I went myself, in a small boat, on the same search. I had very little trouble in finding what we wanted. On the north-west of the arm we were now in, and not far from the ships, I met with a convenient snug cove well suited to our purpose. Mr. King was equally successful; for he returned about noon, with an account of a still better harbour, which he had seen and examined, lying on the north-west side of the land. But as it would have required more time to carry the ships thither than to the cove, where I had been, which was immediately within our reach; this reason operated to determine my choice in favour of the latter situation. But being apprehensive that we should not be able to transport our ships to it, and to moor them properly, before night came on, I thought it best to remain where we were till next morning; and, that no time might be lost, I employed the remainder of the day to some useful purposes, ordering the sails to be unbent, the topmasts to be struck, and the foremast of the Resolution to be unrigged, in order to fix a new bib, one of the old ones being decayed.

A great many canoes, filled with the natives, were about the ships all day; and a trade commenced betwixt us and them, which was carried on with the strictest honesty on both sides. The articles which they offered to sale were skins of various animals, such as bears, wolves, foxes, deer, racoons, polecats, martins; and, in particular, of the sea otters, which are found at the islands east of Kamtschatka. Besides the skins in their native shape, they also brought garments made of them, and another sort of clothing made of the bark of a tree, or some plant like hemp; weapons, such as bows, arrows, and spears; fish-hooks, and instruments of various kinds; wooden vizors of many different monstrous figures; a sort of woollen stuff, or blanketing; bags filled with red ochre; pieces of carved work; beads; and several other little ornaments of thin brass and iron, shaped like a horse-shoe, which they hang at their noses; and several chissels, or pieces of iron, fixed to handles. From their possessing which metals, we could infer that they had either been visited before by some civilized nation, or had connections with tribes on their continent, who had communication with them. But the most extraordinary of all the articles which they brought to the ships for sale were human skulls, and hands not yet quite stripped of the flesh, which they made our people plainly understand they had eaten; and, indeed, some of them had evident marks that they had been upon the fire. We had but too much reason to suspect, from this circumstance, that the horrid practice of feeding on their enemies is as prevalent here as we had found it to be at New Zealand and other South Sea islands. For the various articles which they brought, they took in exchange knives, chissels, pieces of iron and tin, nails, looking-glasses, buttons, or any kind of metal. Glass beads they were not fond of; and cloth of every sort they rejected.

We employed the next day in hauling our ships into the cove, where they were moored head and stern, fastening our hawsers to the trees on shore. On heaving up the anchor of the Resolution, we found, notwithstanding the great depth of water in which it was let go, that there were rocks at the bottom. These had done some considerable damage to the cable; and the hawsers that were carried out, to warp the ship into the cove, also got foul of rocks; from which it appeared that the whole bottom was strewed with them. The ship being again very leaky in her upper works, I ordered the carpenters to go to work to calk her, and to repair such other defects, as on examination we might discover.

The fame of our arrival brought a great concourse of the natives to our ships in the course of this day. We counted above a hundred canoes at one time, which might be supposed to contain, at an average, five persons each; for few of them had less than three on board; great numbers had seven, eight, or nine; and one was manned with no less than seventeen. Amongst these visitors, many now favoured us with their company for the first time, which we could guess from their approaching the ships with their orations and other ceremonies. If they had any distrust or fear of us at first, they now appeared to have laid it aside; for they came on board the ships, and mixed with our people with the greatest freedom. We soon discovered, by this nearer intercourse, that they were as light-fingered as any of our friends in the islands we had visited in the course of the voyage. And they were far more dangerous thieves; for, possessing sharp iron instruments, they could cut a hook from a tackle, or any other piece of iron from a rope, the instant that our backs were turned. A large hook, weighing between twenty and thirty pounds, several smaller ones, and other articles of iron, were lost in this manner. And, as to our boats, they stripped them of every bit of iron that was worth carrying away, though we had always men left in them as a guard. They were dexterous enough in effecting their purposes; for one fellow would contrive to amuse the boat-keeper, at one end of a boat, while another was pulling out the iron work at the other. If we missed a thing immediately after it had been stolen, we found little difficulty in detecting the thief, as they were ready enough to impeach one another. But the guilty person generally relinquished his prize with reluctance; and sometimes we found it necessary to have recourse to force.

The ships being securely moored, we began our other necessary business the next day. The observatories were carried ashore, and placed upon an elevated rock on one side of the cove, close to the Resolution. A party of men, with an officer, was sent to cut wood, and to clear a place for the conveniency of watering. Others were employed to brew spruce-beer, as pine trees abounded here. The forge was also set up, to make the iron-work wanting for the repairs of the foremast. But, besides one of the bibs being defective, the larboard trestle-tree, and one of the cross-trees were sprung.

A considerable number of the natives visited us daily; and every now and then we saw new faces. On their first coming, they generally went through a singular mode of introducing themselves. They would paddle, with all their strength, quite round both ships, a chief, or other principal person, in the canoe, standing up with a spear, or some other weapon, in his hand, and speaking, or rather hollowing, all the time. Sometimes the orator of the canoe would have his face covered with a mask, representing either a human visage, or that of some animal; and, instead of a weapon, would hold a rattle in his hand, as before described. After making this circuit round the ships, they would come alongside, and begin to trade without further ceremony. Very often, indeed, they would first give us a song, in which all in the canoe joined, with a very pleasing harmony.

During these visits they gave us no other trouble than to guard against their thievish tricks. But, in the morning of the 4th, we had a serious alarm. Our party on shore, who were employed in cutting wood and filling water, observed that the natives all around them were arming themselves in the best manner they could; those who were not possessed of proper weapons, preparing sticks and collecting stones. On hearing this, I thought it prudent to arm also; but being determined to act upon the defensive, I ordered all our workmen to retreat to the rock, upon which we had placed our observatories; leaving the natives in quiet possession of the ground where they had assembled, which was within a stone’s throw of the Resolution’s stern. Our fears were ill-grounded: these hostile preparations were not directed against us, but against a body of their own countrymen, who were coming to fight them; and our friends of the Sound, on observing our apprehensions, used their best endeavours to convince us that this was the case. We could see that they had people looking out, on each point of the cove, and canoes frequently passed between them and the main body assembled near the ships. At length the adverse party, in about a dozen large canoes, appeared off the south point of the cove, where they stopped, and lay drawn up in line of battle, a negociation having commenced. Some people in canoes, in conducting the treaty, passed between the two parties, and there was some speaking on both sides. At length, the difference, whatever it was, seemed to be compromised; but the strangers were not allowed to come along-side the ships, nor to have any trade or intercourse with us. Probably we were the cause of the quarrel; the strangers, perhaps, being desirous to share in the advantages of a trade with us; and our first friends, the inhabitants of the Sound, being determined to engross us entirely to themselves. We had proofs of this on several other occasions; nay, it appeared that even those who lived in the Sound were not united in the same cause; for the weaker were frequently obliged to give way to the stronger party, and plundered of every thing, without attempting to make the least resistance.

We resumed our work in the afternoon, and the next day, rigged the foremast; the head of which being rather too small for the cap, the carpenter went to work to fix a piece on one side, to fill up the vacant space. In cutting into the mast-head for this purpose, and examining the state of it, both cheeks were found to be so rotten that there was no possibility of repairing them; and it became necessary to get the mast out, and to fix new ones upon it. It was evident that one of the cheeks had been defective at the first, and that the unsound part had been cut out, and a piece put in, which had not only weakened the mast-head, but had, in a great measure, been the occasion of rotting every other part of both cheeks. Thus, when we were almost ready to put to sea, we had all our work to do over again; and, what was still more provoking, an additional repair was to be undertaken, which would require some time to be completed. But, as there was no remedy, we immediately set about it. It was fortunate for the voyage that these defects were discovered, when we were in a place where the materials requisite were to be procured. For, amongst the drift-wood in the cove where the ships lay, were some small seasoned trees very fit for our purpose. One of these was pitched upon; and the carpenters began, without loss of time, to make out of it two new cheeks.

In the morning of the 7th, we got the foremast out, and hauled it ashore; and the carpenters of the ships were set to work upon it. Some parts of the lower standing rigging having been found to be very much decayed, as we had time now to put them in order, while the carpenters were repairing the foremast, I ordered a new set of main-rigging to be fitted, and a more perfect set of fore-rigging to be selected out of the best parts of the old.

From the time of our putting into the Sound till now, the weather had been exceedingly fine, without either wind or rain. That comfort, at the very moment when the continuance of it would have been of most service, was withdrawn. In the morning of the 8th, the wind freshened at south-east, attended with thick hazy weather and rain. In the afternoon the wind increased; and toward the evening it blew very hard indeed. It came, in excessively heavy squalls, from over the high land on the opposite shore, right into the cove; and, though the ships were very well moored, put them in some danger. These tempestuous blasts succeeded each other pretty quick; but they were of short duration; and in the intervals between them we had a perfect calm. According to the old proverb, “misfortunes seldom come single;” the mizen was now the only mast on board the Resolution that remained rigged, with its top-mast up. The former was so defective that it could not support the latter during the violence of the squalls, but gave way at the head under the rigging. About eight o’clock the gale abated; but the rain continued with very little intermission for several days; and, that the carpenters might be enabled to proceed in their labours, while it prevailed, a tent was erected over the foremast, where they could work with some degree of convenience.

The bad weather which now came on, did not, however, hinder the natives from visiting us daily; and, in such circumstances, their visits were very advantageous to us. For they frequently brought us a tolerable supply of fish, when we could not catch any ourselves with hook and line; and there was not a proper place near us where we could draw a net. The fish which they brought us were either sardines, or what resembled them much, a small kind of bream, and sometimes small cod.

On the 11th, notwithstanding the rainy weather, the main-rigging was fixed and got over head; and our employment, the day after, was to take down the mizen-mast, the head of which proved to be so rotten that it dropped off while in the slings. In the evening we were visited by a tribe of natives whom we had never seen before; and who, in general, were better looking people than most of our old friends, some of whom attended them. I prevailed upon these visitors to go down into the cabin for the first time; and observed, that there was not a single object that fixed the attention of most of them for a moment; their countenances marking that they looked upon all our novelties with the utmost indifference. This, however, was not without exception; for a few of the company showed a certain degree of curiosity.

In the afternoon of the next day I went into the woods with a party of our men, and cut down a tree for a mizen-mast. On the day following, it was brought to the place where the carpenters were employed upon the foremast. In the evening the wind, which had been for some time westerly, veered to the south-east, and increased to a very hard gale, with rain, which continued till eight o’clock the next morning, when it abated, and veered again to the west.

The fore-mast being, by this time, finished, we hauled it along-side; but the bad weather prevented our getting it in till the afternoon; and we set about rigging it with the greatest expedition, while the carpenters were going on with the mizen-mast on shore. They had made very considerable progress in it on the 16th, when they discovered that the stick upon which they were at work was sprung, or wounded, owing, as supposed, to some accident in cutting it down. So that all their labour was thrown away; and it became necessary to get another tree out of the woods, which employed all hands above half a day. During these various operations, several of the natives, who were about the ships, looked on with an expressive silent surprize, which we did not expect, from their general indifference and inattention.

On the 18th a party of strangers, in six or eight canoes, came into the cove, where they remained, looking at us, for some time; and then retired, without coming alongside either ship. We supposed that our old friends, who were more numerous at this time about us than these new visitors, would not permit them to have an intercourse with us. It was evident, upon this and several other occasions, that the inhabitants of the adjoining parts of the Sound engrossed us entirely to themselves; or if, at any time, they did not hinder strangers from trading with us, they contrived to manage the trade for them in such a manner that the price of their commodities was always kept up, while the value of ours was lessening every day. We also found that many of the principal natives who lived near us, carried on a trade with more distant tribes, in the articles they had procured from us. For we observed that they would frequently disappear for four or five days at a time, and then return with fresh cargoes of skins and curiosities, which our people were so passionately fond of that they always came to a good market. But we received most benefit from such of the natives as visited us daily. These, after disposing of all their little trifles, turned their attention to fishing, and we never failed to partake of what they caught. We also got from these people a considerable quantity of very good animal oil, which they had reserved in bladders. In this traffic some would attempt to cheat us, by mixing water with the oil; and, once or twice, they had the address to carry their imposition so far as to fill their bladders with mere water, without a single drop of oil. It was always better to bear with these tricks than to make them the foundation of a quarrel; for our articles of traffic consisted, for the most part, of mere trifles; and yet we were put to our shifts to find a constant supply even of these. Beads, and such other toys, of which I had some left, were in little estimation. Nothing would go down with our visitors but metal; and brass had, by this time supplanted iron, being so eagerly sought after, that before we left this place, hardly a bit of it was left in the ships except what belonged to our necessary instruments. Whole suits of clothes were stripped of every button; bureaus of their furniture; and copper kettles, tin cannisters, candlesticks, and the like, all went to wreck; so that our American friends here got a greater medley and variety of things from us than any other nation whom we had visited in the course of the voyage.

After a fortnight’s bad weather, the 19th proving a fair day, we availed ourselves of it, to get up the top-masts and yards, and to fix up the rigging. And, having now finished most of our heavy work, I set out the next morning to take a view of the Sound. I first went to the west point, where I found a large village, and before it a very snug harbour, in which was from nine to four fathoms’ water, over a bottom of fine sand. The people of this village, who were numerous, and to most of whom I was well known, received me very courteously, every one pressing me to go into his house, or rather his apartment; for several families live under the same roof. I did not decline the invitations; and my hospitable friends, whom I visited, spread a mat for me to sit upon, and showed me every other mark of civility. In most of the houses were women at work, making dresses of the plant or bark before mentioned, which they executed exactly in the same manner that the New Zealanders manufacture their cloth. Others were occupied in opening sardines. I had seen a large quantity of them brought on shore from canoes, and divided by measure amongst several people, who carried them up to their houses, where the operation of curing them by smoke-drying is performed. They hang them on small rods; at first, about a foot from the fire; afterward they remove them higher and higher, to make room for others, till the rods, on which the fish hang, reach the top of the house. When they are completely dried, they are taken down and packed close in bales, which they cover with mats. Thus they are kept till wanted; and they are not a disagreeable article of food. Cod, and other large fish, are also cured in the same manner by them; though they sometimes dry these in the open air, without fire.

From this village I proceeded up the west side of the Sound. For about three miles I found the shore covered with small islands, which are so situated as to form several convenient harbours, having various depths of water, from thirty to seven fathoms, with a good bottom. Two leagues within the Sound, on this west side, there runs in an arm in the direction of north north-west; and two miles farther is another nearly in the same direction, with a pretty large island before it. I had no time to examine either of these arms; but have reason to believe that they do not extend far inland, as the water was no more than brackish at their entrances. A mile above the second arm, I found the remains of a village. The logs or framings of the houses were standing; but the boards that had composed their sides and roofs did not exist. Before this village were some large fishing weirs; but I saw nobody attending them. These weirs were composed of pieces of wicker-work made of small rods, some closer than others, according to the size of the fish intended to be caught in them. These pieces of wicker-work (some of whose superfices are, at least, twenty feet by twelve), are fixed up edgewise in shallow water, by strong poles or pickets, that stand firm in the ground. Behind this ruined village is a plain of a few hours’ extent, covered with the largest pine-trees that I ever saw. This was the more remarkable, as the elevated ground, most other parts of this west side of the Sound, was rather naked.

From this place I crossed over to the other, or east side of the Sound, passing an arm of it that runs in north north-east, to appearance not far. I now found what I had before conjectured, that the land, under which the ships lay, was an island; and that there were many smaller ones lying scattered in the Sound on the west side of it. Opposite the north end of our large island, upon the main land, I observed a village, and there I landed. The inhabitants of it were not so polite as those of the other I had just visited. But this cold reception seemed, in a great measure, if not entirely, owing to one surly chief, who would not let me enter their houses, following me wherever I went; and several times, by expressive signs, marking his impatience that I should be gone. I attempted in vain to sooth him by presents; but though he did not refuse them, they did not alter his behaviour. Some of the young women, better pleased with us than was their inhospitable chief; dressed themselves expeditiously in their best apparel, and assembling in a body, welcomed us to their village, by joining in a song, which was far from harsh or disagreeable.

The day being now far spent, I proceeded for the ships, round the north end of the large island; meeting, in my way, with several canoes laden with sardines, which had been just caught, somewhere in the east corner of the Sound. When I got on board, I was informed, that while I was absent the ships had been visited by some strangers, in two or three large canoes, who by signs made our people understand that they had come from the south-east, beyond the bay. They brought several skins, garments, and other articles, which they bartered. But what was most singular, two silver table spoons were purchased from them, which, from their peculiar shape, we supposed to be of Spanish manufacture. One of these strangers wore them round his neck, by way of ornament. These visitors also appeared to be more plentifully supplied with iron than the inhabitants of the Sound.

The mizen-mast being finished, it was got in, and rigged, on the 21st; and the carpenters were set to work to make a new fore-top mast, to replace the one that had been carried away some time before.

Next morning, about eight o’clock, we were visited by a number of strangers in twelve or fourteen canoes. They came into the cove from the southward; and as soon as they had turned the point of it, they stopped, and lay drawn up in a body above half an hour, about two or three hundred yards from the ships. At first we thought that they were afraid to come nearer; but we were mistaken in this, and they were only preparing an introductory ceremony. On advancing toward the ships, they all stood up in their canoes, and began to sing. Some of their songs, in which the whole body joined, were in a slow, and others in quicker time; and they accompanied their notes with the most regular motions of their hands; or beating in concert, with their paddles, on the sides of the canoes; and making other very expressive gestures. At the end of each song they remained silent a few seconds, and then began again, sometimes pronouncing the word hooee! forcibly, as a chorus. After entertaining us with this specimen of their music, which we listened to with admiration, for above half an hour, they came alongside the ships and bartered what they had to dispose of. Some of our old friends of the Sound were now found to be amongst them; and they took the whole management of the traffic between us and the strangers, much to the advantage of the latter.

Our attendance on these visitors being finished, Captain Clerke and I went in the forenoon with two boats to the village at the west point of the sound. When I was there the day before, I had observed that plenty of grass grew near it, and it was necessary to lay in a quantity of this as food for the few goats and sheep which were still left on board. The inhabitants received us with the same demonstrations of friendship which I had experienced before; and the moment we landed, I ordered some of my people to begin their operation of cutting. I had not the least imagination, that the natives could make any objection to our furnishing ourselves with what seemed to be of no use to them, but was necessary for us. However, I was mistaken, for the moment that our men began to cut, some of the inhabitants interposed and would not permit them to proceed, saying they must “makook;” that is, must first buy it. I was now in one of the houses, but as soon as I heard of this, I went to the field, where I found, about a dozen of the natives, each of whom laid claim to some part of the grass that grew in this place. I bargained with them for it, and having completed the purchase, thought we were now at liberty to cut wherever we pleased; but here, again, it appeared that I was under a mistake, for the liberal manner in which I had paid the first pretended proprietors, brought fresh demands upon me from others, so that there did not seem to be a single blade of grass that had not a separate owner; and so many of them were to be satisfied, that I very soon emptied my pockets. When they found that I really had nothing more to give, their importunities ceased, and we were permitted to cut wherever we pleased, and as much as we chose to carry away.

Here I must observe, that I have no where in my several voyages met with any uncivilized nation or tribe, who had such strict notions of their having a right to the exclusive property of every thing that their country produces, as the inhabitants of this sound. At first they wanted our people to pay for the wood and water that they carried on board, and had I been upon the spot when these demands were made, I should certainly have complied with them. Our workmen, in my absence, thought differently, for they took but little notice of such claims, and the natives, when they found that we were determined to pay nothing, at last ceased to apply. But they made a merit of necessity, and frequently afterward took occasion to remind us, that they had given us wood and water out of friendship. [39]

During the time I was at this village, Mr. Webber, who had attended me thither, made drawings of every thing that was curious, both within and without doors. I had also an opportunity of inspecting more narrowly the construction of the houses, household furniture and utensils, and the striking peculiarities of the customs and modes of living of the inhabitants. These shall be described in another place in the best manner I can, calling in to my assistance the observations of Mr. Anderson. When we had completed all our operations at this village, the natives and we parted very good friends, and we got back to the ships in the afternoon.

The three following days were employed in getting ready to put to sea, the sails were bent, the observatories and instruments, brewing vessels, and other things were moved from the shore; some small spars for different uses, and pieces of timber which might be occasionally sawn into boards, were prepared and put on board, and both ships were cleared and put into a sailing condition.

Every thing being now ready in the morning of the 26th, I intended to have put to sea, but both wind and tide being against us, was obliged to wait till noon, when the S. W. wind was succeeded by a calm; and the tide turning in our favour, we cast off the moorings, and with our boats towed the ships out of the cove. After this, we had variable light airs and calms till four in the afternoon, when a breeze sprung up northerly with very thick, hazy weather. The mercury in the barometer fell unusually low; and we had every other fore-runner of an approaching storm, which we had reason to expect would be from the southward; this made me hesitate a little, as night was at hand, whether I should venture to sail or wait till the next morning. But my anxious impatience to proceed upon the voyage, and the fear of losing this opportunity of getting out of the sound, making a greater impression on my mind than any apprehension of immediate danger, I determined to put to sea at all events.

Our friends, the natives, attended us till we were almost out of the sound, some on board the ships, and others in their canoes. One of their chiefs who had some time before attached himself to me, was amongst the last who left us. Having, before he went, bestowed upon him a small present, I received in return a beaver skin of much greater value. This called upon me to make some addition to my present, which pleased him so much, that he insisted upon my acceptance of the beaver skin cloak which he then wore, and of which I knew he was particularly fond. Struck with this instance of generosity, and desirous that he should be no sufferer by his friendship to me, I presented to him a new broad-sword with a brass hilt, the possession of which made him completely happy. He, and also many others of his countrymen, importuned us much to pay them another visit, and, by way of encouragement, promised to lay in a good stock of skins. I make no doubt, that whoever comes after me to this place, will find the natives prepared accordingly, with no inconsiderably supply of an article of trade, which they could observe we were eager to possess, and which we found could be purchased to great advantage.

Such particulars about the country and its inhabitants as came to our knowledge during our short stay, and have not been mentioned in the course of the narrative, will furnish materials for the two following chapters.