their weapons. One native was killed, a second severely wounded, and
the rest jumped into the water. Seeing that they were not pursued, and
conscious that they themselves had been the aggressors, they returned
to traffic with the _Dauphin_ as if nothing had happened. Upon
returning on board, the officers reported that the natives had invited
them to land, more especially the women, with unequivocal gestures,
and that moreover, there was excellent anchorage near the shore within
reach of water.

The only inconvenience arose from a considerable swell. The _Dauphin_
accordingly weighed anchor and proceeded into the open sea to run with
the wind, when all at once Wallis perceived a bay seven or eight miles
distant, which he determined to reach. The captain was soon to
experience the truth of the proverb which asserts that one had better
leave well alone.

Although soundings were taken by the boats as they advanced, the
_Dauphin_ struck on a rock and damaged her forepart. The usual
measures in such a case were taken immediately, but outside the chain
of madreporic rocks no depth could be sounded. It was consequently
impossible to cast anchor, or to use the capstan. What course had best
be pursued in this critical situation? The vessel beat violently
against the rocks, and a host of pirogues waited in expectation of a
shipwreck, eager to clutch their prey. Fortunately at the end of an
hour a favourable breeze rising, disengaged the _Dauphin_, and wafted
her into good anchorage. The damage done was not serious, and was as
easily repaired as forgotten.

Wallis, rendered prudent by the constant efforts of the natives,
divided his men into four parties, one of which was always to be armed.
And he ordered guns to be fired. But after one or two rounds the
number of pirogues increased, and no longer laden with poultry, they
appeared to be filled with stones. The crews of the larger vessels
also were augmented.

All at once upon a given signal a storm of pebbles fell upon the ship.
Wallis ordered a general discharge, and had two guns loaded with fine
shot. The natives, after some slight hesitation and disorder, returned
to the attack with great bravery; and the captain, noticing the
constantly increasing numbers of the assailants, was not without
anxiety as to the result, when an unexpected event put an end to the
contest.

Among the pirogues which attacked the _Dauphin_ most energetically,
was one which appeared to contain a chief, as from it the signal of
attack was given. A well-directed shot cut this double pirogue in two.

This was enough to decide the natives upon retreat. They set about it
so precipitately that in less than half an hour not a single boat
remained in sight. The vessel was then towed into port, and so placed
as to protect the disembarkation. Lieutenant Furneaux landed at the
head of a strong detachment of sailors and marines, and planting the
English flag, took possession of the island in the name of the King of
England, in whose honour it was named George the Third. The natives
called it Tahiti.

After prostrating themselves, and offering various marks of repentance,
the natives appeared anxious to commence friendly and honest business
with the English, but fortunately Wallis, who was detained on board by
severe illness, perceived preparations for a simultaneous attack by
land and sea upon the men sent to find water. The shorter the struggle
the less the loss! Acting upon which principle, directly the natives
came within gunshot range, a few discharges dispersed their fleet.

To put a stop to these attempts, it was necessary to make an example.
Wallis decided with regret that it was so. He accordingly sent a
detachment on shore at once with his carpenters, ordering them to
destroy every pirogue which was hauled up on the beach. More than
fifty, many of them sixty feet long, were hacked to pieces. Upon this
the Tahitians decided to give in. They brought pigs, dogs, stuffs, and
fruits to the shore, placed them there, and then withdrew. The English
left in exchange hatchets and toys which were carried off to the
forest with many delighted gestures.

Peace was established, and from the morrow a regular and abundant
traffic commenced, which supplied the ships with the fresh provisions
needed by the crews. There was ground for hope that these amicable
relations would continue during their stay in the island, now that the
natives had once realized the power and effect of the strangers'
weapons. Wallis, therefore, ordered a tent to be prepared near the
water supply, and disembarked all the sufferers from scurvy, whilst
the healthy members of his company were engaged in repairing the
rigging, mending the sails, and calking and repainting the vessel,
putting her, in short, in a condition fitted for the long journey
which was to take her to England.

[Illustration: Polynesia. Gravé par E. Morieu.]

At this juncture Wallis's illness assumed an alarming character. The
first lieutenant was in hardly better health. All the responsibility
of the expedition fell upon Furneaux, who was quite equal to the task.
After a rest of fifteen days, during which the peace had not been
disturbed, Wallis found all his invalids restored to health.

Provisions, however, became less plentiful. The natives, spoilt by the
abundance of nails and hatchets, became more exacting.

Upon the 15th of July, a tall woman, apparently some forty-five years
of age, of majestic appearance, and who seemed to be much respected by
the natives, came on board the _Dauphin_. Wallis at once perceived by
the dignity of her deportment, and the freedom of her manner, peculiar
to persons habituated to command, that she was of high station. He
presented her with a blue mantle, a looking-glass, and other gewgaws,
which she received with an expression of profound contentment. Upon
leaving the vessel she invited the captain to land, and to pay her a
visit. Wallis, although still very weak, did not fail to comply with
this request next day. He was conducted to a large hut, which covered
about 327 feet in length, and 42 in width. The roof was constructed of
palm leaves and was supported by fifty-three pillars.

A considerable crowd, collected together by the event, lined the
approach, and received him respectfully. The visit was enlivened by a
comical incident. The surgeon of the vessel, who perspired greatly
from the effects of the walk, to relieve himself took off his wig. A
sudden exclamation from one of the Indians at this sight, drew general
attention to the prodigy, and all fixed their eyes upon it. The whole
assemblage remained perfectly still for some moments, in the silence
of astonishment, which could not have been greater if they had seen
one of our company decapitated.

Next day, a messenger, sent to convey a present to Queen Oberoa, in
acknowledgment of her gracious reception, found her giving a feast to
several hundred persons.

Her servants carried the dishes to her already prepared, the meat in
cocoa-nut shells, and the shell fish in a sort of wooden trough,
similar to those used by our butchers. She herself distributed them
with her own hands to each of her guests, who were sitting and
standing all round the house. When this was over, she seated herself
upon a sort of raised dais, and two women beside her gave her her food.
They offered the viands to her in their fingers; and she had only to
take the trouble to open her mouth.

The consequences of this exchange of civilities were speedily felt.
The market was once more fully supplied with provisions, although no
longer at the same low price as upon the first arrival of the English.

Lieutenant Furneaux reconnoitred the length of the coast westward, to
gain an idea of the island, and to see what it was possible to obtain
from it. The English were everywhere well received. They found a
pleasant country, densely populated, whose inhabitants appeared in no
hurry to sell their commodities. All their working implements were
either of stone or of bone, which led Lieutenant Furneaux to infer
that the Tahitians possess no metals.

As they had no earthenware vessels, they had no idea that water could
be heated. They discovered it one day when the queen dined on board.
One of the principal members of her suite, having seen the surgeon
pour water from the boiler into the teapot, turned the tap and
received the scalding liquor upon his hand. Finding himself burnt, he
uttered most frightful screams, and ran round the cabin making most
extravagant gestures. His companions, unable to imagine what had
happened to him, stared at him with mingled astonishment and fear. The
surgeon hastened to interfere, but for a long time the poor Tahitian
refused to be comforted.

Some days later, Wallis discovered that his sailors stole nails to
give them to the native women. They even went so far as to raise the
planks of the ship to obtain screws, nails, bolts, and all the bits of
iron which united them to the timbers. Wallis treated the offence
rigorously, but nothing availed, and in spite of the precaution he
took, of allowing no one to leave the vessel without being searched,
these robberies constantly occurred.

An expedition, undertaken into the interior, discovered a large valley
watered by a beautiful river. Everywhere the soil was carefully
cultivated, and arrangements had been made for watering the gardens
and the fruit plantations. Farther penetrations into the interior
proved the capacious windings of the river; the valley narrowed, the
hills were succeeded by mountains, at every step the way became more
difficult. A peak, distant about six miles from the place of landing,
was climbed, in the hope of thus discovering the entire island, even
to its smallest recesses. But the view was intercepted by yet higher
mountains. On the side towards the sea, however, nothing interfered
with the magnificent view which stretched before their gaze,
everywhere hills, covered with magnificent woods, upon whose verdant
slopes the huts of the natives stood out clearly, and in the valleys
with their numberless cabins, and gardens surrounded by hedges, the
scenes were still more enchanting. The sugar cane, ginger plant,
tamarind and tree ferns, with cocoanut-trees, furnished the principal
resources of this fertile country.

Wallis, wishing to enrich it still more with the productions of our
own climate, caused peach, cherry, and plum stones to be planted, as
well as lemon, orange and lime pips, and sowed quantities of vegetable
seeds. At the same time he gave the queen a present of a cat about to
kitten, of two cocks, fowls, geese, and other domestic animals, which
he hoped might breed well.

However, time pressed, and Wallis decided to leave. When he announced
his intention to the queen, she threw herself upon a seat and cried
for a long time, with so much grief that it was impossible to comfort
her. She remained upon the vessel up to the last moment, and as it set
sail "embraced us," says Wallis, "in the tenderest way, weeping
plenteously, and our friends the Tahitians bade us farewell, with so
much sorrow, and in so touching a manner, that I felt heavy-hearted,
and my eyes filled with tears." The uncourteous reception of the
English, and the repeated attempts made by the natives to seize the
vessel, would hardly have led to the idea of a painful separation!
However, as the proverb has it, All's well that ends well!

Of Wallis' observations of the manners and customs of the island, we
shall only enumerate the few following, as we shall have occasion to
return to them again in relating the voyages undertaken by
Bougainville and Cook.

Tall, well built, active, slightly dark in complexion, the natives
were clothed in a species of white stuff made from the bark of trees.
Two pieces of stuff completed their costume, one was square and looked
like a blanket. The head was thrust through a hole in the centre, and
it recalled the "zarapo" of the Mexicans, and the "poncho" of the
South American Indian. The second piece was rolled round the body,
without being tightened. Almost all, men and women, tattoo their
bodies with black lines close together, representing different figures.
The operation was thus performed: the pattern was pricked in the skin,
and the holes filled with a sort of paste composed of oil and grease,
which left an indelible mark.

[Illustration: Head-dresses of natives of Tahiti. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]

Civilization has little advanced. We have already stated that the
Tahitians did not understand earthenware vessels. Wallis, therefore,
presented the queen with a saucepan, which everybody flocked to
inspect with extreme curiosity.

As to religion, the captain found no trace of that! He only noticed
that upon entering certain places, which he took to be cemeteries,
they maintained a respectful appearance, and wore mourning apparel.

One of the natives, more disposed than his companions to adopt English
manners, was presented with a complete suit of clothes, which became
him very well. Jonathan--so they had named him, was quite proud of his
new outfit. To put the finishing touch to his manners, he desired to
learn the use of a fork. But habit was too strong for him! his hands
always went to his mouth! and the bit of meat at the end of the fork,
found its way to his ear.

It was the 27th of July, when Wallis left the George III. Island.
After coasting Duke of York Island, he discovered several islands or
islets in succession, upon which he did not touch. For example,
Charles Saunders, Lord Howe, Scilly, Boscawen, and Keppel Islands,
where the hostile character of the natives, and the difficulty of
disembarkation prevented his landing.

Winter was now to begin in the southern region. The vessel leaked in
all directions, the stern especially was much strained by the rudder.
Was it wise, under such circumstances, to sail for Cape Horn or the
Straits of Magellan? Would it not be running the risk of certain
shipwreck? Would it not be better to reach Tinian or Batavia, where
repairs were possible, and to return to Europe by the Cape of Good
Hope?

Wallis decided upon the latter course. He steered for the north-west,
and upon the 19th of September, after a voyage which was too fortunate
to supply any incidents, he cast anchor in the Tinian harbour.

The incidents which marked Byron's stay in this place were repeated,
with far too much regularity. Wallis could not rejoice over its
facilities for provisioning, or the temperature of the country, any
more than his predecessors. But the sufferers from scurvy recovered in
a short time, the sails were mended, and the vessel calked and
repaired, and the crew had the unexpected good fortune of catching no
fever.

On the 16th October, 1769, the _Dauphin_ returned to sea, but this
time, she encountered a succession of frightful storms, which tore the
sails, reopened the leakage, broke the rudder, and carried away the
poop with all that was to be found on the forecastle.

However, the Bashees were rounded, and Formosa Strait crossed, Sandy
Isle, Small Key, Long Island, and New Island were recognized, as also,
Condor, Timor, Aros, and Pisang, Pulo-Taya, Pulo-Toté, and Sumatra,
before the arrival at Batavia, which took place upon the 30th of
November.

We have already had occasion to mention the localities which witnessed
the completion of the voyage. It is enough to state that from Batavia,
where the crews took the fever, Wallis proceeded by the Cape, thence
to St. Helena, and finally arrived in the Downs, on the 20th of May,
1768, after six hundred and thirty-seven days' voyage.

It is to be regretted that Hawkesworth has not reproduced the
instructions Wallis received from the Admiralty. Without knowing what
they were, we cannot decide whether this brave sailor carried out the
orders he had received _au pied de la lettre_. We have seen that he
followed with little variation the route traced by his predecessors,
in the Pacific Ocean. In fact, nearly all had approached by the
dangerous archipelago, leaving unexplored that portion of Oceania,
where islands are most numerous, and where Cook was later to make such
important discoveries.

Clever as a navigator, Wallis understood how to obtain from a hasty
and incomplete equipment unexpected resources, which enabled him to
bring an adventurous enterprise to a successful close. He is equally
to be honoured for his humanity and the efforts he made to collect
reliable information of the countries he visited. Had he only been
accompanied by special men of science, there is no doubt that their
scientific harvest would have been abundant.

The fault lay with the Admiralty.

We have related how, on the 10th of April, 1767, as the _Dauphin_ and
the _Swallow_ entered the Pacific, the former, carried away by a
strong breeze, had lost sight of the latter, and had been unable to
follow her. This separation was most unfortunate for Captain Carteret.
He knew better than any of his crew the dilapidated condition of his
vessel and the insufficiency of his provisions. In short, he was well
aware that he could only hope to meet the _Dauphin_ in England, as no
plan of operation had been arranged, and no rendezvous had been
named--a grave omission on Wallis' part, who was aware of the
condition of his consort.

Nevertheless, Carteret allowed none of his apprehensions to come to
the knowledge of the crew. At first the detestable weather experienced
by the _Swallow_ upon the Pacific Ocean (most misleading name),
allowed no time for reflection. The dangers of the passing moment, in
which there was every prospect of their being engulfed, hid from them
the perils of the future.

Carteret steered for the north, by the coast of Chili. Upon
investigating the quantity of soft water which he had on board, he
found it quite insufficient for the voyage he had undertaken. He
determined therefore, before setting sail for the west, to take in
water at Juan Fernandez, or at Mas-a-Fuero.

The weather continued wretched. Upon the evening of the 27th a sudden
squall was followed by a rising wind, which carried the vessel
straight to the Cape. The violence of the storm failed to carry away
the masts or to founder the ship. The tempest continued in all its
fury, and the sails being extremely wet, clung round the masts and
rigging so closely, that it was impossible to work them. Next day a
sudden wave broke the mizen-mast, just where there was a flaw in the
sail, and submerged the vessels for a few moments. The storm only
abated sufficiently to allow the crew of the _Swallow_ time to recover
a little, and to repair the worst damage; then recommenced, and
continued with violent squalls until the 7th of May. The wind then
became favourable, and three days later Juan Fernandez was reached.

Carteret was not aware that the Spaniards had fortified this island.
He was, therefore, extremely surprised at seeing a large number of men
upon the shore, and at perceiving a battery of four pieces on the
beach, and a fort, pierced with twenty embrasures and surmounted by
the Spanish flag, upon a hill.

The rising wind prevented an entrance into Cumberland Bay, and after
cruising about for an entire day, Carteret was obliged to content
himself with reaching Mas-a-Fuero. But he met the same obstacles, and
the surge which broke upon the shore interfered with his operations,
and it was only with the utmost difficulty that he succeeded in
shipping a few casks of water. Some of the crew, who had been forced
by the state of the sea to remain on land, killed guinea fowls enough
to feed the entire crew. These, with the exception of some seals and
plenty of fish, were the sole result of a stay, marked by a succession
of squalls and storms, which constantly placed the ship in danger.

Carteret, who, owing to unfavourable winds, had had several
opportunities of noticing Mas-a-Fuero, corrected many of the errors in
the account of Lord Anson's voyage, and furnished many details of
inestimable use to navigators.

On leaving Mas-a-Fuero, Carteret steered northward in the hope of
meeting the south-eastern trade wind. Carried farther than he had
counted upon, he determined to seek St. Ambrose, and St. Felix Island,
or the island of St. Paul. Now that the Spaniards had taken possession
of and fortified Juan Fernandez, those islands might be of great value
to the English in the event of war.

But Mr. Green's charts and the "Elements of Navigation" by Robertson
did not tally as to their situation. Carteret, having most confidence
in the latter work, sought for them in the north, and failed to find
them. In re-reading the description given by Waser, Davis' surgeon, he
thought these two islands were identical with the land met with by
that filibuster, in his route to the south of the Galapagos Islands,
and that Davis' Land did not exist. This caused a double error, that
of identifying St. Felix Island with Davis' Land, and of denying the
existence of the latter, which is in reality Easter Island.

"At this parallel," says Carteret, that is in 18 degrees west from his
point of departure, "we had fresh breezes, and a strong northerly
current, and other reasons for conjecturing that we were near Davis'
Land, which we were seeking so carefully. But a stiff breeze rising
again, we steered quarter S.W. and reached 28-1/2 degrees southern
latitude, from which it follows that if this land or anything
answering to it exists, I must infallibly have fallen in with it, or
at least have seen it. I afterwards remained in 28 degrees south
latitude, and 40 degrees west of my point of departure, and as far as
I can conjecture 121 degrees west London."

All the navigators combined in insisting upon the existence of a
southern continent. Carteret could not conceive that Davis' Land was
but a small island, a spot lost in the immensity of the ocean. As he
found no continent, he decided upon the non-existence of Davis' Land.
It was precisely in this way that he was misled.

Carteret continued his search until the 7th of June. He was in 28
degrees south latitude and 112 degrees west longitude, that is to say,
he was in the immediate neighbourhood of Easter Island. It was still
the depth of winter. The sea ran continually high, violent and
variable winds, dull, foggy, and cold weather was accompanied by
thunder, rain, and snow. No doubt it was owing to the great darkness,
and to the thick fog, which hid the sun for several days, that
Carteret failed to perceive Easter Island, for many signs, such as the
number of birds, floating seaweeds, &c., announced the neighbourhood
of land.

These atmospheric troubles again retarded the voyage, in addition to
which the _Swallow_ was as bad a sailer as possible, and one may guess
at the weariness, the preoccupation, even the mental suffering of the
captain, who saw his crew on the point of starvation. But in spite of
all, the voyage was continued by day and night in a westerly direction
until the 2nd of July. Upon this day land was discovered to the north,
and on the morrow, Carteret was sufficiently close to recognize it. It
was only a great rock five miles in circumference, covered with trees,
which appeared uninhabited, but the swell, so prevalent at this time
of year, prevented the vessel coming alongside. It was named Pitcairn,
after the first discoverer. In these latitudes, the sailors,
previously in good health, felt the first attacks of scurvy.

Upon the 11th, a new land was seen in 22 degrees southern latitude,
and 145 degrees 34 minutes longitude. It received the name of
Osnaburgh in honour of the king's second son.

Next day Carteret sent an expedition to two more islands, where
neither eatables nor water were found. The sailors caught many birds
in their hands, as they were so tame that they did not fly at the
approach of man.

All these islands belonged to the Dangerous group, a long chain of low
islands, clusters of which were the despair of all navigators, for the
few resources they offered. Carteret thought he recognized Quiros in
the land discovered, but this place, which is called by the natives
Tahiti, is situated more to the north.

Sickness, however, increased daily. The adverse winds, but especially
the damage the ship had sustained, made her progress very slow.
Carteret thought it necessary to follow the route upon which he was
most likely to obtain provisions and the needful repairs.

"My intention in the event of my ship being repaired," says Carteret,
"was to continue my voyage to the south upon the return of a
favourable season, with a view to new discoveries in that quarter of
the world. In fact, I had settled in my own mind, if I could find a
continent where sufficient provisions were procurable, to remain near
its coast until the sun had passed the Equator, then to gain a distant
southern latitude and to proceed westward towards the Cape of Good
Hope, and to return eastward after touching at the Falkland Islands,
should it be necessary, and thence to proceed quickly to Europe."

These laudable intentions show Carteret to have been a true explorer,
rather stimulated than intimidated by danger, but it proved impossible
to carry them into execution.

The trade wind was only met on the 16th, and the weather remained
detestable. Above all, although Carteret navigated in the
neighbourhood of Danger Island, discovered in 1765 by Byron, and by
others, he saw no land.

"We probably were close by land," he says, "which the fog prevented
our seeing, for in these waters numbers of birds constantly flew round
the ship. Commodore Byron in his last voyage had passed the northern
limits of this portion of the ocean, in which the Solomon Islands are
said to be situated, and as I have been myself beyond the southern
limit without seeing them, I have good reasons for thinking, that if
these islands exist they have been badly marked on all the charts."

This last supposition is correct, but the Solomon Islands do exist,
and Carteret stopped there a few days later without recognizing them.
The victuals were now all but consumed or tainted, the rigging and the
sails torn by the tempest, half the crew on the sick list, when a
fresh alarm for the captain arose. A leak was reported, just below the
load water-line; it was impossible to stop it, as long as they were in
the open sea. By unexpected good fortune land was seen on the morrow.
Needless to say what cries of delight, what acclamations followed this
discovery. To use Carteret's own comparison, the feelings of surprise
and comfort experienced by the crew can only be likened to those of a
criminal, who at the last moment on the scaffold receives a reprieve!
It was Nitendit Island, already discovered by Mendana.

No sooner was the anchor cast than landing was hurried, in search of
water supply. The natives were black, with woolly hair, and perfectly
naked. They appeared upon the shore, but fled again before the boat
could come up with them.

The leader of the landing-party described the country as wild,
bristling with mountains and impenetrable forests of trees and shrubs
reaching to the shore itself, through which ran a fine current of
fresh water.

The following day, the master was sent in search of an easier
landing-place, with orders to propitiate the natives, if possible, by
presents. He was expressly enjoined not to expose himself to danger,
to return if several pirogues advanced against him, not to leave the
boat himself, and not to allow more than two men to land at once,
whilst the remainder held themselves on the defensive.

Carteret, at the same time, sent his ship's boat on shore for water.
Some natives attacked it with arrows, which fortunately hit no one.

Meantime, the sloop regained the _Swallow_, the master had three
arrows in his body, and half his crew were so dangerously wounded that
three sailors and he himself died a few days later.

This is what had happened. Landing the fifth in succession, in a spot
where he had noticed huts, he entered into friendly traffic with the
natives. The latter soon increased in numbers, and several large
pirogues advanced towards his sloop, and he was unable to rejoin it
until the very moment when the attack commenced. Pursued by the arrows
of the natives, who waded up to their shoulders into the water, chased
by pirogues, he only succeeded in escaping after having killed several
natives and foundered one of their boats.

[Illustration: "Pursued by the arrows of the natives."]

This effort to find a more favourable spot where he might run the
_Swallow_ ashore, having ended so unfortunately, Carteret heaved his
ship down where he was, and efforts were made to stop the leak. If the
carpenter, the only healthy man on board, did not succeed in perfectly
stopping it, he at least considerably diminished it.

Whilst a fresh landing for water was sought, the fire of the guns was
directed upon the woods as well as volleys of musketry from the sloop.
Still the sailors worked for a quarter of an hour, when they were
attacked by a shower of arrows which grievously wounded one or two in
the breast. The same measures were necessary each time they fetched
water.

At this juncture, thirty of the crew became incapable of performing
their duty. The master died of his wounds. Lieutenant Gower was very
ill. Carteret himself, attacked by a bilious and inflammatory illness,
was forced to keep his bed.

These three were the only officers capable of navigating the _Swallow_
to England, and they were on the point of succumbing.

To stay the ravages of disease, it was necessary to procure provisions
at all costs, and this was utterly impossible in this spot. Carteret
weighed anchor on the 17th of August, after calling the island Egmont,
in honour of the Lord of the Admiralty, and the bay where he had
anchored, Swallow. Although convinced that it was identical with the
land named Santa Cruz by the Spaniards, the navigator nevertheless
followed the prevailing mania of giving new appellations to all the
places he visited. He then coasted the shore for a short distance, and
ascertained that the population was large. He had many a crow to pick
with the natives. These obstacles, and moreover the impossibility of
procuring provisions, prevented Carteret's reconnoitring the other
islands of this group, upon which he bestowed the name of Queen
Charlotte.

[Illustration: Map of Queen Charlotte Islands. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]

"The inhabitants of Egmont Isle," he says, "are extremely agile,
active, and vigorous. They appear to live as well in water as on land,
for they are continually jumping from their pirogues into the sea. One
of the arrows which they sent passed through the planks of the boat,
and dangerously wounded the officer at the poop in the thigh.

"Their arrows are tipped with stone, and we saw no metal of any kind
in their possession. The country in general is covered with woods and
mountains and interspersed with a great number of valleys."

On the 18th of August, 1767, Carteret left this group with the
intention of regaining Great Britain. He fully expected to meet with
an island on his passage, where he might be more fortunate. And on the
20th, he actually did so, discovering a little low island, which he
named Gower, where cocoa-nuts were procurable. Next day he encountered
Simpson and Carteret Islands, and a group of new islands which he took
to be the Ohang Java, discovered by Tasman; then successively Sir
Charles Hardy and Winchelsea Islands, which he did not consider as
belonging to the Solomon Archipelago, the Island of St. John,
so-called by Schouten, and finally that of New Britain, which he
gained on the 28th of August.

Carteret coasted this island, in search of a safe and convenient port,
and stopped in various bays, where he obtained water, wood, cocoa,
nutmegs, aloes, sugar-canes, bamboos, and palm-cabbages.

"This cabbage," he says, "is white, crisp, of a substance filled with
sugar. Eaten raw, the flavour resembles that of a chestnut, and boiled
it is superior to the best parsnip. We cut it into small strips, and
boiled it in the broth made from our cakes, and this broth, afterwards
thickened with oatmeal furnished us with a good meal."

The wood was all alive with pigeons, turtle-doves, parroquets, and
other unknown birds. The English visited several deserted huts.

If an idea of the civilization of a people can be drawn from their
dwellings, these islanders were on the lowest rung of the social
ladder, for their huts were the most miserable Carteret had ever seen.

The commander profited by his stay in this place, by once more
overhauling the _Swallow_, and attending to the leak, which the
carpenters doctored as well as they could. The sheathing was greatly
worn, and the keel quite gnawed away by worms; they coated it with
pitch and warm tar mixed together.

On the 7th of September, Carteret accomplished the ridiculous ceremony
of taking possession of the country in the name of George III., he
then despatched one of his boats upon a reconnoitring expedition,
which returned with a quantity of cocoa and palm-cabbages, most
precious provision for the sick on board.

In spite of the fact that the monsoon would soon blow from the east
for a long time, Carteret, alive to the dilapidated condition of his
ship, determined to start for Batavia, where he hoped to make up his
crew, and to repair the _Swallow_.

Upon the 9th September, therefore, he left Carteret harbour, the best
which he had met with since leaving the Straits of Magellan.

He soon penetrated to a gulf to which Dampier had given the name of St.
George Bay, and was not long in reconnoitring for a strait which
separated New Britain and New Ireland. This passage he found and named
St. George. He describes it in his narrative with a care which should
certainly have earned for him the thanks of all his contemporary
navigators. He then followed the coast of New Ireland to its southern
extremity. Near a little island, which he named Sandwich, Carteret had
some dealings with the natives.

"These natives," he says "are black, and have woolly hair like negroes,
but they have not flat noses or large lips. We imagine them to be of
the same race as the inhabitants of Egmont Island. Like them they are
entirely naked, if we except some ornaments of shells which they
attach to their arms and legs. At the same time, they have adopted a
fashion, without which our fashionable men and women are not supposed
to be perfectly dressed. They powder their hair or rather the wool on
their heads white, from which it follows that the fashion of wearing
powder is probably of greater antiquity and of more extended fashion
than we would have generally supposed. They are armed with spears and
large sticks in the shape of clubs, but we perceived neither bows nor
arrows."

At the south-western extremity of New Ireland Carteret found another
land, to which he gave the name of New Hanover, and shortly afterwards
the group of the Duke of Portland.

Although all this portion of the narrative of his voyage, in countries
unknown before his time, abounds in precious details, Carteret, a far
more able and zealous navigator than his predecessors Byron and Wallis,
makes excuses for not having collected more facts.

"The description of the country," he says, "and of its productions and
inhabitants, would have been far more complete and detailed had I not
been so weakened and overcome by the illness to which I had succumbed
through the duties which devolved upon me from want of officers. When
I could scarcely drag myself along, I was obliged to take watch after
watch and to share in other labours with my lieutenant, who was also
in a bad state of health."

After leaving St. George's Strait, the route was westward. Carteret
discovered several other islands, but illness for several days
prevented his coming on deck, and therefore he could not determine
their position. He named them Admiralty Islands, and after two attacks,
found himself forced to employ fire-arms to repulse the natives.

He afterwards reconnoitred Durour and Matty Islands and the Cuedes,
whose inhabitants were quite delighted at receiving bits of an iron
hoop. Carteret affirms, that he might have bought all the productions
of this country for a few iron instruments. Although they are the
neighbours of New Guinea, and of the groups they had just explored,
these natives were not black, but copper coloured. They had very long
black hair, regular features, and brilliantly white teeth. Of medium
height, strong and active, they were cheerful and friendly, and came
on board fearlessly. One of them even asked permission to accompany
Carteret upon his voyage, and in spite of all the representations of
his countrymen and even of the captain, he refused to leave the
_Swallow_. Carteret, meeting with so decided a will, consented, but
the poor Indian, who had received the name of Joseph Freewill, soon
faded away and died at Celebes.

On the 29th October, the English reached the north-eastern portion of
Mindanao. Always on the look-out for fresh water and provisions,
Carteret in vain looked for the bay which Dampier had spoken of as
abounding in game. A little farther off he found a watering-place, but
the hostile demonstrations of the inhabitants forced him to re-embark.

After leaving Mindanao, the captain sailed for the Straits of Macassar,
between the islands of Borneo and Celebes. They entered it on the 14th
of November. The vessel then proceeded with so much difficulty that
she only accomplished twenty-eight leagues in fifteen days.

"Ill," he says, "weakened, dying, tortured by the sight of lands which
we could not reach, exposed to tempests which we found it impossible
to overcome, we were attacked by a pirate!"

The latter, hoping to find the English crew asleep, attacked the
_Swallow_ in the middle of the night. But far from allowing themselves
to be cowed by this new danger, the sailors defended themselves with
so much courage and skill, that they succeeded in foundering the Malay
prah.

[Illustration: A struggle between the _Swallow_ and a Malay prah.]

On the 12th of December Carteret sorrowfully perceived that the
western monsoon had commenced. The _Swallow_ was in no condition to
struggle against this wind and current to reach Batavia by the west.
He must then content himself with gaining Macassar, then the principal
colony of the Dutch in the Celebes Islands.

When the English arrived, it was thirty-five weeks since they left the
Straits of Magellan.

Anchor was scarcely cast, when a Dutchman, sent by the governor, came
on board the _Swallow_. He appeared much alarmed on finding that the
vessel belonged to the English marine service. In the morning,
therefore, when Carteret sent his lieutenant, Mr. Gower, to ask for
access to the port in order to secure provisions for his dying crew,
and to repair his dilapidated ship, and await the return of the
monsoon, not only could he not obtain permission to land, but the
Dutch hastened to collect their forces and arm their vessels. Finally,
after five hours, the governor's reply was brought on board. It was a
refusal couched in terms as little polite as they were equivocal. The
English were simultaneously forbidden to land at any port under Dutch
government.

All Carteret's representations, his remarks upon the inhumanity of the
refusal, even his hostile demonstrations, had no other result than the
sale of a few provisions, and permission to proceed to a small
neighbouring bay.

He would find there, he was told, certain shelter from the monsoon,
and might set up a hospital for his sick, that indeed he could procure
more plentiful provisions there than in Macassar, from whence they
would send him all that he could need. Fearing death by starvation and
foundering, it was necessary to overlook these exactions, and Carteret
proceeded to the roadstead of Bonthain.

There the sick, installed in a house, found themselves prohibited from
going more than thirty roods from their hospital.

They were kept under guard, and could not communicate with the natives.
Lastly they were forbidden to buy anything excepting through the
agency of the Dutch soldiers, who strangely abused their power, often
making more than a thousand per cent. profit. All the complaints of
the English were useless. They were forced to submit during their stay,
to a surveillance to the last degree humiliating. It was only on the
22nd of May, 1768, on the return of the monsoon, that Captain Carteret
was able to leave Bonthain, after a long series of annoyances,
vexations, and alarms, which it is impossible to give in detail and
which had sorely tried his patience.

"Celebes," he says, "is the key to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands,
which are necessarily under the power of the people who are masters of
this island. The town of Macassar is built upon a promontory, and is
watered by one or two rivers which cross it or flow in its vicinity.
The ground is even and beautiful in appearance. There are many
plantations and cocoa-nut woods, interspersed with houses, which
convey the idea that it is well populated.

"At Bonthain the beef is excellent, but it is difficult to procure
enough of it to feed a fleet. Fowls, and as much rice and fruits as
can be wished, are procurable. The woods abound with wild pigs, which
are to be had cheap, because the natives, being Mohamedans, do not eat
them."

These details, however incomplete, had great interest at the time they
were collected, and we go so far as to believe, that even now, some
hundred years since they were first written, they yet contain a
certain amount of truth. No incident marked the voyage to Batavia.
After several delays, caused by the desire of the Dutch Company to
make Carteret give them a testimonial as to the treatment he had met
with from the government of Macassar, and which he steadily refused,
Carteret at last obtained permission to repair his vessel.

On the 15th of September, the _Swallow_, partially refitted, set sail.
She was reinforced with a supplementary number of English sailors,
without which it would have been impossible to regain Europe. Eighty
of her original crew were dead, and eighty more were so reduced that
seven of their number died before they reached the Cape.

After a stay in this port, a most salutary one for the crew, which
lasted until the 6th of January, 1769, Carteret set out once more, and
a little beyond Ascension Island, at which he had touched, he met a
French vessel. It was the frigate, _La Boudeuse_, with which
Bougainville had just been round the world.

On the 20th of March the _Swallow_ anchored in Spithead roadstead,
after thirty-one months of a voyage as painful as it had been
dangerous.

All Carteret's nautical ability, all his _sang-froid_, all his
enthusiasm were needed to save so inefficient a vessel from
destruction, and to make important discoveries, under such conditions.
If the perils of the voyage, add lustre to his renown, the shame of
such a miserable equipment falls upon the English Admiralty, who,
despising the representations of an able captain, risked his life and
the lives of his crew upon so long a voyage.

III.

Bougainville--A notary's son metamorphosed--Colonization of the
Malouine Islands--Buenos Ayres and Rio Janeiro--The Malouines
relinquished to the Spaniards--Hydrography of the Strait of Magellan--
The Pecherais--The Quatre Facardius--Tahiti--Incidents of the stay
there--Productions of the country and manners of the inhabitants--
Samoa Islands--The Land of the Holy Spirit or the New Hebrides--The
Louisiade--The Anchorite Isles--New Guinea--Boutan--From Batavia to St.
Malo.

Whilst Wallis completed his voyage round the world, and Carteret
continued his long and hazardous circumnavigation, a fresh expedition
was organized for the purpose of prosecuting new discoveries in the
Southern Seas.

Under the old régime, when all was arbitrary, titles, rank, and places
were obtained by interest. It was therefore not surprising that a
military officer, who left the army scarcely four years before with
the rank of colonel, to enter the navy as a captain, should obtain
this important command.

Strangely enough, this singular measure was amply justified, thanks to
the talents possessed by the favoured recipient.

Louis Antoine de Bougainville was born at Paris, on the 13th of
November, 1729. The son of a notary, he was destined for the bar, and
was already an advocate. But having no taste for his father's
profession, he devoted himself to the sciences, and published a
Treatise on the Integral Calculus, whilst he obtained a commission in
the Black Musqueteers.

Of the three careers he thus entered upon, he entirely abandoned the
two first, slightly neglected the third, for the sake of a
fourth--diplomacy, and finally left it entirely for a fifth--the naval
service. He was destined to die a member of the senate after a sixth
metamorphosis.

[Illustration: Portrait of Bougainville. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]

First aide-de-camp to Chevret, then Secretary of the Embassy in London,
where he was made a member of the Royal Society, he left Brest in 1756,
with the rank of captain of Dragoons, to rejoin Montcalm in Canada.
Becoming aide-de-camp to this general, he distinguished himself on
various occasions, and obtained the confidence of his chief, who sent
him to France to ask for reinforcements.

That unhappy country was just then overwhelmed with reverses in Europe,
and had need of all her resources. Therefore, when young Bougainville
entered upon the object of his mission to M. de Choiseul, the minister
answered brusquely,--

"When the house is on fire, one does not worry oneself about the
stables!"

"At least," replied Bougainville, "no one can say that you speak like
a horse!"

This sally was too witty and too stinging to conciliate the minister.
Ultimately Madame de Pompadour, who appreciated witty people,
introduced Bougainville to the king, and although he did not succeed
in obtaining much for his general, he gained a colonelcy, and the
order of St. Louis for himself, although he had only seen seven years'
service. Returning to Canada he was anxious to justify Louis XIV.'s
confidence, and distinguished himself in various matters. After the
loss of the colony he served in Germany under M. de
Choiseul-Stainville.

His military career was cut short by the peace of 1763. His active
spirit and love of movement rebelled against a garrison life. He
conceived the strange idea of colonizing the Falkland Islands in the
extreme south of South America, and of conveying there free of expense
the emigrants from Canada who had settled in France to escape the
tyrannous yoke of England. Carried away by this idea, he addressed
himself to certain privateers at St. Malo, who, from the commencement
of the century, had been in the habit of visiting the group, and who
had named them Malouine Islands.

Having gained their confidence, Bougainville brought the advantages
(however problematical) of this colony to the minister's notice,
maintaining that the fortunate situation of the island, would secure a
good resting-place for ships going to the Southern Seas. Having high
interest, he obtained the authority he desired, and received his
nomination as ship-captain.

It was the year 1763. There is little reason to suppose, that marine
officers, who had passed all the grades of the service, looked with
gratification upon an appointment which no past event justified. But
that mattered little to the Minister of Marine, M. de
Choiseul-Stainville. Bougainville had served under him, and was far
too grand a personage to trouble himself about the grumbling of the
ship's officers.

Bougainville having brought his uncle and cousin, MM. de Nerville and
d'Arboulin, to look favourably upon his venture, caused the _Eagle_ of
twenty guns, and the _Sphinx_ of twelve, to be built at St. Malo,
under the auspices of M. Guzot Duclos. Upon these he embarked several
Canadian families.

Leaving St. Malo on the 15th of September, 1763, he rested at St.
Catherine's Island, on the coast of Brazil, and at Montevideo, where
he took horses and cattle, and landed at the Malouines in a large bay,
which appeared to him wholly suited to his purpose, but he was not
long in discovering that what had been taken by preceding navigators
for woods of moderate height, were only reeds. Not a tree, not a shrub
grew in the islands. Fortunately an excellent turf did for fuel in
their stead, whilst fish and game offered good resources.

The colony consisted at first of only twenty-nine persons, for whom
huts were built and also a provision warehouse. At the same time a
fort, capable of holding fourteen guns, was planned and commenced. M.
de Nerville agreed to remain at the head of the establishment, whilst
Bougainville returned to France on the 5th of April. There he
recruited some more colonists, and took a considerable cargo of
provisions of every kind, which he disembarked on the 5th of January,
1765. He then went to the Strait of Magellan in search of a cargo of
wood, and having, as we have already narrated, met Commodore Byron's
squadron, followed it to Port Famine.

There he took in more than ten thousand saplings of different growths,
which he intended to transport to the Malouines. When he left the
group on the 27th of April following, the colony already numbered
eighty persons, comprising a staff paid by the king. Towards the end
of 1765, the same two vessels were sent back with provisions and new
colonists.

The colony was beginning to make a show, when the English settled
themselves in Port Egmont, reconnoitred by Byron. At the same time
Captain Macbride attempted to obtain possession of the colony, on the
ground that the land belonged to the English king, although Byron had
not recognized the Malouines in 1765, and the French had then been
settled there two years.

In the meantime Spain laid claim to it in her turn, as a dependency of
Southern America. England and France were equally adverse to a breach
of the peace, for the sake of this archipelago, which was of so little
commercial value, and Bougainville was forced to relinquish his
undertaking on condition that the Spanish Government indemnified him
for his expenses. In addition, he was ordered by the French Government
to facilitate the restoration of the Malouines to the Spanish
Commissioners.

This foolish attempt at colonization was the origin and groundwork of
Bougainville's good fortune, for in order to make use of the last
equipment, the minister ordered Bougainville to return by the South
Sea, and to make discoveries.

In the early days of November, 1766, Bougainville repaired to Nantes,
where his second in command, M. Duclos-Guiyot, captain of the
fire-ship, and an able and veteran sailor, who grew grey in the
inferior rank because he was not noble, superintended the equipment of
the frigate _La Boudeuse_, of twenty-six guns.

Bougainville left the roadstead of Minden at the mouth of the Loire,
on the 15th of November, for the La Plata river, where he hoped to
find two Spanish vessels, the _Esmeralda_ and the _Liebre_. But
scarcely had the _Boudeuse_ gained the open sea when a furious tempest
arose. The frigate, the rigging of which was new, sustained such
serious damages that it was necessary to put for repairs into Brest,
which she entered on the 21st November. This experience sufficed to
convince the captain that the _Boudeuse_ was but little fitted for the
voyage he had before him. He therefore had the masts shortened, and
changed his artillery for less heavy pieces, but in spite of these
modifications, the _Boudeuse_ was not fit for the heavy seas and
storms of Cape Horn. However, the rendezvous with the Spaniards was
arranged, and Bougainville was obliged to put to sea. The staff of the
frigate consisted of eleven officers and three volunteers, among whom
was the Prince of Nassau-Sieghen. The crew comprised 203 sailors, boys,
and servants.

As far as La Plata the sea was calm enough to allow of Bougainville's
making many observations on the currents, a frequent source of the
errors made by navigators in their reckonings.

On the 31st of January, _La Boudeuse_ anchored in Montevideo Bay,
where the two Spanish frigates had been awaiting her for a month,
under the command of Don Philippe Pelicis Puente.

The long stay Bougainville made in this part, and also at Buenos Ayres,
enabled him to collect facts about the city, and the manners of the
inhabitants, which are too curious to be passed over in silence.
Buenos Ayres appeared to them too large for its population, which
amounted only to 20,000, the reason being that the houses are of only
one story, and have large courts or gardens. Not only has this town no
fort, but it has not even a jetty. Thus ships are forced to discharge
their cargoes on to lighters, which convey them to the little river,
where carts come to take the bales and convey them to the town.

The number of religious communities, both male and female, in Buenos
Ayres, adds to the originality of its character.

Bougainville says, "The year is full of Saint days, which are
celebrated by processions and fireworks. Religious ceremonies supply
the place of theatres. The Jesuits incite the women to greater
austerity in their piety than any other order. Attached to their
convent they have an institution intitled, _Casa de los egericios de
las mugeres_, that is, 'house for the devotion of women.' Women and
girls, without the permission of husbands or fathers, enter the
retreat for twelve days, to increase their sanctity."

They were lodged and boarded at the expense of the company. No man
ever set foot in this sanctuary unless in the cowl of St. Ignatius.
Servants even of the female sex were not allowed to accompany their
mistresses. The devotional services consisted of meditation, prayer,
catechizings, confession, and flagellation. "We were shown the stains
on the walls of the chapel, made by the blood which flowed under the
hands of these Magdalens as they did penance."

The environs of the town were well cultivated and brightened by a
large number of country houses named "quentas," but scarcely two or at
most three leagues from Buenos Ayres were immense plains, with
scarcely a single undulation, given up to bulls and horses, which are
almost the only inhabitants. Bougainville says,--

"These animals were so abundant, that travellers, when they needed
food, would kill a bull, consume what they could eat, and leave the
rest to be devoured by wild dogs and tigers."

The Spaniards had not yet succeeded in subduing the Indian tribes on
the two shores of the La Plata River. They were called "Indios
bravos."

"They are of medium height, very ugly, and almost all infected with
the itch. Their complexions are very dark, and the grease with which
they perpetually rub themselves, makes them even blacker. Their sole
garment is the skin of the roe-buck, which reaches to the heels, and
in which they wrap themselves.

"These Indians pass their lives on horseback, at least near the
Spanish settlement. They occasionally come there with their wives to
buy eau de cologne, and they never cease drinking until drunkenness
literally deprives them of the power to move. Sometimes they assemble
in droves of two or three hundred to carry off the cattle from the
Spanish lands, or to attack the caravans of travellers.

"They pillaged, massacred, and carried off slaves. It was an evil
without remedy. How was it possible to subdue a wandering nation in a
vast and uncultivated country where it was difficult even to meet with
them?

"Commerce was far from flourishing, as no European merchandise was
allowed to pass by land to Peru or Chili."

Nevertheless Bougainville saw a vessel leaving Buenos Ayres carrying a
million piastres, "And if," adds he, "all the inhabitants of this
country had the traffic of their hides in Europe, that of itself would
be enough to enrich them."

The anchorage of Montevideo was safe, although several times they were
visited by "pamperos," a scourge of the South-West, accompanied by
violent tempests. The town offered nothing of interest. The environs
are so uncultivated that it is necessary to import flour, biscuits,
and everything necessary for the boats. But fruits, such as figs,
peaches, apples, lemons, &c., are plentiful, as well as the same
quantity of butcher's meat as in the rest of the country.

These documents, which are a hundred years old, are curious when
compared with those furnished by contemporary navigators, especially
by M. Emile Daireaux, in his work on La Plata. In many respects this
picture is still correct, but there are other details (such for
instance as regards instruction, of which Bougainville could not speak,
as it did not exist) in which it has made immense progress. When the
victuals, the provision of water, and the cattle were embarked, the
three vessels set sail on the 28th of February, 1767, for the
Malouines. The voyage was not fortunate. Variable winds, heavy weather,
and a running sea, caused much damage to the _Boudeuse_. On the 23rd
of March she cast anchor in French Bay, where she was joined on the
morrow by the two Spanish vessels, which had been much tried by the
tempest.

Upon the 1st of April the restitution of the colony to the Spaniards
was solemnized. Very few French profited by their king's permission to
remain in the Malouines; almost all preferred to embark upon the
Spanish frigates upon their leaving Montevideo. As for Bougainville,
he was forced to await the provisions, which the fly-boat _Etoile_ was
to bring him, and which was to accompany him upon his voyage round the
world.

However, the months of March, April, and May passed, and no _Etoile_
appeared. It was impossible to cross the Pacific with only six months'
provisions, which was all the _Boudeuse_ carried.

Bougainville decided at last, on the 2nd of June, to reach Rio Janeiro,
which he had mentioned to M. de la Gerandais, the commander of the
_Etoile_ as a rendezvous, should unforeseen circumstances prevent his
reaching the Malouines.

The crossing was made with such favourable weather, that only eighteen
days were needed to reach the Portuguese Colony. The _Etoile_, which
had been awaiting her for four days, had left France later than was
expected. She had been forced to seek shelter from the tempest at
Montevideo, from whence, following her instructions she gained Rio.

Well received by the Count of Acunha, Viceroy of Brazil, the French
had opportunities of seeing the comedies of Metastasio given at the
opera by a Mulatto troupe, and of hearing the works of the great
Italian masters executed by a bad orchestra, conducted by a deformed
abbé in ecclesiastical dress.

But the cordial relations with the viceroy were not lasting.
Bougainville, who with the viceroy's permission had made some purchase,
found the delivery of it refused for no reason. He was forbidden to
take wood he needed from the royal timber-yard, although he had
concluded a contract for it, and lastly, he was prevented from lodging
with his staff, during the repairs of the _Boudeuse_, in a house near
the town, placed at his disposal by a friend. To avoid altercation,
Bougainville hurried the preparations for departure.

Before leaving the capital of Brazil, the French commander entered
into various details of the beauty of the port, and the picturesque
nature of its surroundings, and finished by a very curious digression
upon the prodigious riches of the country, of which the port was the
emporium.

"The mines called 'general,'" he says, "are the nearest to the town,
although they are seventy-five leagues away from it. They yield the
king a yearly revenue by his right to a fifth share of at least a
hundred and twelve arobas of gold. In 1762, they brought him in a
hundred and nineteen. Under the captaincy of the 'general' mines,
those of the 'Rio des Morts,' Sabara, and Sero Frio were included--the
last named, in addition to all the gold it produces, yields all the
diamonds which come from the Brazils. No precious stones, except
diamonds, are contraband. They belonged to the speculators, who were
obliged to keep an exact account of the diamonds they find and to
restore them to the possession of an intendant named by the king for
this purpose. He immediately places them in a casket bound with iron,
and fastened with three locks. He retains one key, the king has
another, and the 'Provedor de hacienda reale' the third. This casket
is enclosed in a second, stamped with the seals of the three persons
named, and containing the three keys of the smaller one."

But in spite of all these precautions, and the severe punishment
visited upon diamond robberies, an enormous contraband trade was
carried on. It was, however, not the only source of revenue; and
Bougainville calculated, that deducting the maintenance of troops, the
pay of the civil officers, and all the expenses of the administration,
the King of Portugal drew no less than ten million francs from the
Brazils.

From Rio to Montevideo no incident occurred, but upon the Plata,
during a storm, the _Etoile_ was run down by a Spanish vessel, which
broke her bowsprit, her beak head, and much of her rigging. The
damages and the shock increased the leak of the ship, and forced her
to return to Encenada de Baragan, where repairs were more easily
managed than at Montevideo. It was impossible therefore to leave the
river until the 14th of November.

[Illustration: New Zealand. Gravé par E. Morieu.]

Thirteen days later, both ships came in sight of Virgin Cape at the
entrance to the Strait of Magellan, which they hastened to enter.

Possession Bay, the first they met with, is a large space, open to all
winds and offering very bad anchorage. From Virgin Cape to Orange Cape
is about fifteen leagues, and the strait is throughout seven or eight
leagues wide. The first narrow entrance was easily passed, and anchor
cast in Boucault Bay, where half a score of officers and men landed.

They soon made acquaintance with the Patagonians, and exchanged a few
trifles, precious to the natives, for swansdown and gunaco skins.

The inhabitants were tall, but none of them reached six feet.

"What struck me as gigantic in their proportions," says Bougainville,
"was their enormous breadth of shoulder, the size of their heads, and
the thickness of their limbs. They are robust and well-nourished,
their muscles are sinewy, their flesh firm, and in fact they are men
who, having lived in the open air and drawn their nourishment from
juicy aliments, have reached their highest point of development."

The distance from the first to the second opening may have been six or
seven leagues, and was passed without accident. This opening is only
one and a half leagues in width, and four in length. In this part of
the strait the ships easily reconnoitred St. Bartholomew and St.
Elizabeth Islands.

At the latter the French landed. They found neither wood nor water. It
was an absolutely desert land.

Leaving this place, the American side of the strait is amply furnished
with wood. But although the first advances had been fortunate,
Bougainville was to find plenty to try his patience.

The distinctive character of the climate lies in the rapid atmospheric
changes, which succeeded each other so quickly that it is quite
impossible to forecast their sudden and dangerous variations. Hence
the damages which it is impossible to foresee, which retard the
passage of the ships, even if they do not force them to seek shelter
for repairs.

Guyot-Duclos Bay provides an excellent anchorage, with six or eight
fathoms of water and sound bottom. Bougainville remained there long
enough to fill several casks, and endeavoured to procure fresh meat,
but he only met with a few wild animals. St. Anne's point was reached.
At that place Sarmiento had founded the colony of Philippeville in
1581.

In a preceding volume we have narrated the fearful catastrophe which
procured the name of Port Famine for this spot.

The French reconnoitred several bays, capes, and harbours at which
they touched. They were Bougainville Bay, where the _Etoile_ was
repainted, Port Beau Bassin, Cormadière Bay, off the coast of Tierra
del Fuego, and Cape Forward, which forms the most southerly point of
the strait and of Patagonia, Cascade Bay in Tierra del Fuego, the
safety, easy anchorage, and facilities for procuring water and wood of
which, render it a most desirable haven for navigators.

The various ports which Bougainville discovered are particularly
valuable, as they offer favourable points for doubling Cape Forward,
one of the most difficult routes for sailors on account of the violent
and contrary winds which prevail there.

The year 1768 opened for the adventurers in Fortescue Bay, below which
is Port Galant, the plan of which had been taken with great exactitude
by M. de Gennes. Detestable weather, of which the worst winter in
Paris can give no idea, detained the French expedition for three weeks.
It was visited by a band of Pecheians, the inhabitants of Tierra del
Fuego, who boarded the ship.

"We made them sing," says the narrative, "dance, listen to instruments,
and above all eat. Everything was pleasant to them, bread, salt meat,
tallow, they devoured everything that was given them. They showed no
surprise either at the sight of the vessels or that of the various
objects which were shown to them, no doubt because to feel surprise at
works of art, one must have elementary ideas. These men, akin to
brutes, treated _chef-d'oeuvres_ of human industry as they treated the
laws and phenomena of nature.

"These savages are small, ugly, thin, and smell abominably. They are
all but naked, having only clothing of seal-skin too small to cover
them.

"These women are hideous, and the men appear to care little for them.
They live all together, men and women and children, in one hut, in the
centre of which a fire is lighted.

"Their food is chiefly shell-fish. Still they have dogs and snares set
with whalebone. On the whole they appear to be a good sort of people,
but so weak that one overlooks their faults.

"Of all the savages I have met with, the Pecherais are the most
destitute."

[Illustration: "We made them sing."]

A painful event occurred whilst the crew were in this port. A child of
about twelve years of age came on board, and glass beads and bits of
glass were given to it, with no suspicion of the use to which they
would be put. It would appear that these savages are in the habit of
stuffing pieces of talc down their throats as talismans. This boy no
doubt meant to do the same with the glass, for when they landed they
found him vomiting violently and spitting blood. His throat and gums
were lacerated and bleeding. In spite of the enchantments and violent
rubbings of a juggler, or perhaps on account of this not too effective
treatment, the poor child suffered dreadfully, and died shortly
afterwards. This was the signal for a precipitate flight of the
Pecherais. They no doubt entertained a fear that the French had cast a
spell upon them, and that they would all die in a similar manner.

On the 16th of January, in endeavouring to reach Rupert Isle, the
_Boudeuse_ was driven by the currents half a cable's length from the
shore. The anchor which was then heaved, gave way, and without the
least land-breeze the vessel stranded.

It was necessary to regain Galant Harbour. It was just time, for next
day a fearful storm was raging.

"After experiencing constantly adverse and variable winds for
twenty-six days in Port Galant, thirty-six hours favourable breeze,
for which we had not dared to hope, sufficed to take us into the
Pacific Ocean. This I believe to be a solitary instance of a voyage
without anchorage from Port Galant to the narrow channel. I estimate
the entire length of this strait, from Virgin Cape to Cape Peliers, at
about 114 leagues.

"We took fifty-two days to accomplish it. In spite of the difficulties
we met with in the passage of the Straits of Magellan" (and in this
Bougainville entirely agrees with Byron), "I should advise this route,
in preference to that by Cape Horn from September to the end of March.
During the remaining months of the year I should prefer the open sea.

"Contrary winds and heavy seas are not dangerous, whilst it is not
wise to grope one's way between two coasts. One is sure to be detained
for some time in the strait, but this delay is not time wholly lost.
One meets with water in abundance, wood and shell-fish, and
occasionally very good fish. And I am decidedly of opinion that a crew
reaching the Pacific by doubling Cape Horn suffers more from the
ravages of scurvy than that which proceeds by the Straits of
Magellan."

Bougainville's opinion has met with many opposers up to the present
time, and the route which he lauds so highly has been almost abandoned
by navigators. One strong reason for which is that steam has
completely transformed maritime experience, and entirely changed
nautical science.

Scarcely had he entered the Southern Sea, when Bougainville, to his
intense surprise, found the winds southerly. He was therefore obliged
to relinquish his intention of reaching Juan Fernandez.

Bougainville had agreed with M. de la Giraudais, captain of the
_Etoile_, that if a larger stretch of sea was discovered, the two
vessels should separate, but not lose sight of each other, and that
every evening the bugle should recall them within half a league of
each other, so that, in the event of the _Boudeuse_ encountering
danger, the _Etoile_ might avoid it.

Bougainville for some time sought Easter Island in vain. At last he
fell in during the month of March with the lands and islands
erroneously marked upon M. Bellin's chart as Quiros Islands. On the
22nd of the same month he met with four islets, to which he gave the
name of Quatre Facardins, which belonged to the Dangerous group, a set
of madreporic islets, low and damp, which all navigators who have
visited the Pacific Ocean by way of the Straits of Magellan appear to
have noticed.

A little further discovery was made, of a fertile island inhabited by
entirely naked savages, who were armed with long spears, which they
brandished with menacing gestures, and thus it obtained the name of
Lancers Island.

[Illustration: Lancer's Island.]

We need not refer to what we have already repeatedly said of the
nature of these islands, the difficulty of access to them, their wild
and inhospitable inhabitants. Cook calls this very Lancers Island,
Thrum Cape, and the island of La Harpe, which Bougainville found on
the 24th, is identical with Cook's Bow Island.

The captain, knowing that Roggewein had nearly perished in these
latitudes, and thinking the interest of their exploration not worth
the risk to be run, proceeded southward and soon lost sight of this
immense archipelago, which extends in length 500 leagues, and contains
at least sixty islands or groups.

Upon the 2nd of April Bougainville perceived a high and steep mountain,
to which he gave the name of La Boudeuse. It was Maïtea Island,
already called La Dezana by Quiros. On the 4th at sunrise the vessel
reached Tahiti, a long island consisting of two peninsulas, united by
a tongue of land no more than a mile in width.

More than 100 pirogues hastened to surround the two vessels. They were
laden with cocoa-nuts and many delicious fruits which were readily
exchanged for all sorts of trifles.

When night fell, the shore was illuminated by a thousand fires, to
which the crew responded by throwing rockets.

"The appearance of this shore," says Bougainville, "raised like an
amphitheatre, offered a most attractive picture. Although the
mountains are high, the land nowhere shows its nakedness, being
covered with wood. We could scarcely credit our sight, when we
perceived a peak, covered with trees, which rose above the level of
the mountains in the southern portion of the island. It appeared only
thirty fathoms in diameter, and decreased in size at its summit. At a
distance it might have been taken for an immense pyramid, adorned with
foliage by a clever decorator. The least elevated portions of the
country are intersected by fields and groves. And the entire length of
the coast, upon the shore below the higher level, is a stretch of low
land, unbroken and covered by plantations. There, amid the bananas,
cocoa-nut and other fruit-trees we saw the huts of the natives."

The whole of the morrow was spent in barter. The natives, in addition
to fruits, offered fowls, pigeons, fishing instruments, working
implements, stuffs, and shells, for which they asked nails and
earrings.

Upon the morning of the 6th, after three days devoted to tacking about
and reconnoitring the coast in search of a roadstead, Bougainville
decided to cast anchor in the bay he had seen the first day of his
arrival.

"The number of pirogues round our vessels," he says, "was so great,
that we had immense trouble in making way through the crowd and noise.
All approached crying, 'Tayo,' _friend_, and offering a thousand marks
of friendship. The pirogues were full of women, who might vie with
most Europeans in pleasant features, and who certainly excelled them
in beauty of form."

Bougainville's cook managed to escape, in spite of all prohibitions,
and gained the shore. But he had no sooner landed, than he was
surrounded by a vast crowd, who entirely undressed him to investigate
his body. Not knowing what they were going to do with him, he thought
himself lost, when the natives restored his clothes, and conducted him
to the vessel more dead than alive. Bougainville wished to reprimand
him, but the poor fellow assured him, that however he might threaten
him, he could never equal the terrors of his visit on shore.

As soon as the ship could heave to, Bougainville landed with some of
his officers to reconnoitre the watering-place. An enormous crowd
immediately surrounded him, and examined him with great curiosity, all
the time crying "Tayo! Tayo!" One of the natives received them in his
house, and served them with fruits, grilled fish, and water. As they
regained the shore, a native of fine appearance, lying under a tree,
offered them a share of the shade.

"We accepted it," says Bougainville, "and the man at once bent towards
us, and in a gentle way, sung, to the sound of a flute which another
Indian blew with his nose, a song which was no doubt anacreontic. It
was a charming scene, worthy of the pencil of Boucher. Four natives
came with great confidence to sup and sleep on board. We had the flute,
bassoon, and violin played for them, and treated them to fireworks
composed of rockets and serpents. This display excited both surprise
and fear."

Before giving further extracts from Bougainville's narrative, it
appears _apropos_ to warn the reader not to accept these descriptions
_au pied de la lettre_. The fertile imagination of the narrator
embellished everything. Not content with the ravishing scenes under
his eyes, the picturesque reality is not enough for him, and he adds
new delights to the picture, which only overload it. He does this
almost unconsciously. None the less, his descriptions should be
received with great caution. We find a strange example of this
tendency of the age, in the narrative of Cook's second voyage. Mr.
Hodges, the painter who was attached to the expedition, wishing to
reproduce the disembarkation of the English on the island of
Middleburgh, paints personages who have not the smallest resemblance
to the dwellers in the ocean regions, and whose togas give them the
appearance of being contemporaries of Cæsar or of Augustus. Yet he had
the originals before his eyes, and nothing could have been easier to
him than to depict the scene as it really was.

We know better how to respect truth in these days. No additions, no
embellishments are found in the narratives of _our_ navigators. And if
sometimes they prove but dry accounts, which give little pleasure to
the general public, they are sure to contain the elements of earnest
study for the scientific man, and the basis of works for the
advancement of science.

With this preamble, let us follow the narrator.

Bougainville established his sick and his water-casks upon the shore
of a small river which ran at the bottom of the bay, under a guard for
their security. These precautions were not taken without arousing the
susceptibility and distrust of the natives. They had no objection to
seeing the strangers walk about their island all day, but they
expected them to return on board at night. Bougainville persisted, and
at last he was obliged to fix the length of his stay.

At this juncture, harmony was restored. A large shed was prepared for
the sufferers from scurvy, in number thirty-four, and for their guard,
which consisted of thirty men. The shed was closed on all sides and
only one opening left, to which the natives crowded with the wares
they wished to exchange. The only trouble they had was in keeping an
eye upon everything that was brought on shore, for "there are no more
adroit sharpers in Europe than these folks." Following a laudable
custom, now becoming general, Bougainville presented the chief of this
settlement with a pair of turkeys, and ducks and drakes, and then
cleared a piece of land, where he sowed corn, wheat, rice, maize,
onions, &c.

On the 10th, a native was killed by a gunshot. All Bougainville's
inquiries failed to find out the perpetrator of this abominable
assassination. Apparently the natives thought the victim in the wrong,
for they continued to frequent the market with their former confidence.

The captain, however, knew that the harbour was not well-sheltered,
and the bottom was entirely coral.

On the 12th, during a storm of wind, the _Boudeuse_, whose anchor
cable had been cut by the coral, caused great injuries to the _Etoile_,
upon which she was driven. Whilst all on board were busily occupied in
repairing these injuries, and a boat had been despatched in search of
a second passage, by means of which the ships might have left with any
wind, Bougainville learned that three natives had been killed or
wounded in their cabins by bayonets, and that owing to the general
alarm all the inhabitants had hurried to the interior.

In spite of the risk run by his ships, the captain at once landed, and
put the supposed perpetrators of this outrage (which might have
brought the entire population upon the French) into irons. Thanks to
these rigorous measures the natives calmed down, and the night passed
without incident.

Still, Bougainville's worst apprehensions were not upon this score. He
returned on board as soon as possible. But for a breeze which
opportunely sprang up, both vessels would have been driven on shore by
a strong squall, accompanied by a swell and thunder. The anchor cables
broke, and the vessels had a narrow escape of striking on the breakers,
where they must speedily have been demolished. Fortunately the
_Etoile_ was able to gain the open, and was soon followed by the
_Boudeuse_, leaving in this foreign roadstead six anchors, which might
have been of great use during the rest of the voyage.

So soon as they perceived the approaching departure of the French, the
natives came in crowds with provisions of every variety. One of them,
named Aotourou, asked, and finally obtained, permission to accompany
Bougainville on his voyage. After his arrival in Europe, Aotourou
lived eleven months in Paris, where he was received with cordiality
and welcome in the highest society. In 1770, when he returned to his
native land, the government took an opportunity of conveying him to
the Isle of France. He was to return to Tahiti as soon as the weather
permitted, but he died in the island without having been able to
convey to his land the useful implements, grains, and cattle, which
had been given to him by the French Government.

Tahiti, which was named Nouvelle Cythère by Bougainville, on account
of the beauty of the women, is the largest of the Society's group.
Although it was visited, as we have already narrated, by Wallis, we
will give a little information which we owe to Bougainville.

The principal productions were cocoas, bananas, bread fruits, yams,
sugar cane, &c. M. de Commerson, naturalist, who was on board the
_Etoile_, recognized the Indian flora. The only quadrupeds were pigs,
dogs, and rats, who multiplied rapidly.

Bougainville says, "The climate is so healthy that in spite of our
fatigues, although our people were perpetually in the water, and under
a burning sun, sleeping on the naked soil under the stars, no one was
ill. The sufferers from scurvy whom we disembarked, and who had not
enjoyed a single night's sleep, regained their strength, and were so
soon restored, that some of them were completely cured on board."

In addition to this, the health and strength of the natives, who live
in cabins open to every wind, and who scarcely cover the ground, which
serves them as a bed, with a few leaves, the happy old age to which
they easily attain, the sharpness of all their senses, and the
singular beauty of their teeth, which they preserve to the greatest
age, all testify to the salubrity of the climate, and the efficiency
of the rules followed by the inhabitants.

In character the people seem gentle and good. It would not appear that
they have civil wars among themselves, although the country is divided
into little portions under independent chiefs. They are constantly at
war with the inhabitants of the neighbouring islands. Not satisfied
with massacring the men and male children taken in arms, they skin
their chins with the beard, and keep this hideous trophy. Bougainville
could only obtain very vague information of their ceremonies and
religion. But he could at least assert the reverence they pay their
dead. They preserve the corpses for a long time in the open air, on a
sort of scaffold sheltered by a shed. In spite of the odour of
decomposition, the women go every day to weep near the monuments, and
bedew the sad relics of their beloved ones with their tears and with
cocoa-nut oil.

The soil is so productive, and requires so little cultivation, that
men and women live in a state of almost entire idleness. Therefore it
is not astonishing that the sole care of the latter is to be pleasing.
Dancing, singing, long conversations, teeming with gaiety, have
developed a mobility of expression among the Tahitans, surprising even
to the French, a people who themselves have not the reputation of
being serious, possibly because they are more lively than those who
reproach them with levity.

It is impossible to fix a native's attention. A trifle strikes them,
but nothing occupies them. In spite of their want of reflection they
were clever and industrious. Their pirogues were constructed after a
fashion equally ingenious and solid. Their fish-hooks and all their
fishing implements were of delicate workmanship. Their nets were like
those of Europeans. Their stuffs manufactured of the bark of a tree,
were generally woven and dyed of various colours.

In fact Bougainville's impression of the Tahitan people was that they
were "lazzaroni."

At eight o'clock on the 16th of April, Bougainville was about ten
leagues north of Tahiti, when he perceived land to windward. Although
it had the appearance of three islands, it was in reality but one. It
was named Oumaita after Aotourou. The captain, not thinking it wise to
stop there, steered so as to avoid the Pernicious Islands, of which
Roggewein's disaster had made him afraid. During the remainder of the
month of April the weather was fine, with little wind.

On the 3rd of May, Bougainville bore down towards a new land, which he
had just discovered, and was not long in finding others on the same
day. The coasts of the largest one were steep; in point of fact, it
was simply a mountain covered with trees to its summit, with neither
valley nor sea coast. Some fires were seen there, cabins built under
the shade of the cocoanut-trees, and some thirty men running on the
shore. In the evening, several pirogues approached the vessels, and
after a little natural hesitation, exchanges commenced. The natives
demanded pieces of red cloth in exchange for cocoa-nuts, yams, and far
less beautiful stuffs than those of the Tahitans; they disdainfully
refused iron, nails, and earrings, which had been so appreciated
elsewhere in the Bourbon Archipelago, as Bougainville had named the
Tahitan group. The natives had their breasts and thighs painted dark
blue; they wore no beards; their hair was drawn into tufts on the top
of their heads.

[Illustration: Pirogue of the Marquesas islanders.]

Next day, fresh islands belonging to the archipelago were seen. The
natives, who appeared very savage, would not approach the vessels.

"The longitude of these islands," says the narrative, "is pretty
nearly similar to that which Abel Tasman reckoned it when he
discovered Amsterdam and Rotterdam Islands, the Pilstaars, Prince
William Island, and the low lands of Fleemskerk. It is also
approximate to that assigned for the Solomon Islands. Besides the
pirogues which we have seen rowing in the open sea, and to the south,
indicate other islands in this locality. Thus it appears likely that
these lands form an extended chain in the same parallel. The islands
comprising the Navigator Archipelago, lie below the fourteenth
southern parallel, between 170 degrees and 172 degrees west longitude
from Paris."

As fresh victuals diminished, scurvy again began to appear. It was
necessary to think of putting into a port again. On the 22nd and the
following days of the same month, Pentecost Island, Aurora and Leper
Islands, which belong to the archipelago of New Hebrides, were
reconnoitred. They had been discovered by Quiros in 1606. The landing
appearing easy, the captain determined to send an expedition on shore,
which would bring back cocoa-nuts and other antiscorbutic fruits.
Bougainville joined them during the day. The sailors cut wood, and the
natives aided in shipping it. But in spite of this apparent good
feeling, the natives were still distrustful, and carried their weapons
in their hands. Those who possessed none, held large stones, all ready
to throw.

As soon as the boats were laden with fruit and wood, Bougainville
re-embarked his men. The natives then approached in great numbers, and
discharged a shower of arrows, lances, and javelins, some even entered
the water, the better to aim at the French. Several gunshots, fired
into the air, having no effect, a well-directed general volley soon
put the natives to flight.

A few days later, a boat seeking anchorage upon the coast of the Leper
Islands, was in danger of attack. Two arrows aimed at them served as a
pretext for the first discharge, which was speedily followed by a fire
so well directed, that Bougainville believed his crew in danger. The
number of victims was very large, the natives uttered piercing cries
as they fled to the woods. It was a regular massacre. The captain,
uneasy at the prolonged firing, sent another boat to the help of the
first, when he saw it doubling a point, He therefore signalled for
their return. "I took measures," he said, "that we should never again
be dishonoured by such an abuse of our superior forces."

The easy abuse of their powers by captains is truly sad! The mania for
destroying life needlessly, even without any object, raises one's
indignation! To whatever nation explorers belong we find them guilty
of the same acts. The reproach, therefore, belongs not to a particular
nation, but to humanity at large.

Having obtained the commodities he needed, Bougainville regained the
sea.

It would appear that the navigator aimed at making many discoveries,
for he only reconnoitred the lands he found very superficially and
hastily, and of all the charts which accompany the narrative, and
there are many of them, not one gives an entire archipelago, or
settles the various questions to which a new discovery gives rise.
Captain Cook did not proceed in this way. His explorations, always
conducted with care, and with rare perseverance, are for that very
reason far superior in value to those of the French explorer.

The lands which the French now encountered, were no other than St.
Esprit, Mallicolo, and St. Bartholomew, and the islets belonging to
the latter. Although he was perfectly aware that these islands were
identical with the _Tierra del Espiritu Santo_ of Quiros, Bougainville
could not refrain from bestowing a new name upon them, and called them
the Archipelago des "Grandes Cyclades," to which however, the name of
New Hebrides has been given in preference. "I readily believed," he
says, "that it was its extreme southern point which Roggewein saw
under the eleventh parallel, and which he named _Tienhoven_ and
_Groningue_. But when we arrived there everything led us to believe
that we were in the southern land of Espiritu Santo. Every appearance
seemed to coincide with Quiros's narrative, and the discoveries we
made every day encouraged us in our search. It is singular that
precisely in the same latitude and longitude as that which Quiros
gives to his St. Philip and St. James' Bays, upon a shore which at
first sight appeared like a continent, we found a passage equal in
size to that which he gives to the opening of his bays. Did the
Spanish navigator see badly, or did he wish to hide his discoveries?

"Had geographers merely guessed in making the Tierra del Espiritu
Santo identical with New Guinea? To ascertain the truth, we must
follow the same parallel for over 350 leagues. I resolved upon doing
so, although the state and quantity of our provisions warned us to
seek a European settlement as soon as possible. It will be seen that
we narrowly escaped being the victims of our own persistance."

Whilst Bougainville was in these latitudes certain business matters
required his presence on board the _Etoile_, and he there found out a
singular fact, which had already been largely discussed by his crew. M.
de Commerson had a servant named Barré. Indefatigable, intelligent,
and already an experienced botanist, Barré had been seen taking an
active part in the herborising excursions, carrying boxes, provisions,
the weapons, and books of plants, with endurance which obtained from
the botanist, the nickname of his beast of burden. For some time past
Barré had been supposed to be a woman. His smooth face, the tone of
his voice, his reserve, and certain other signs, appeared to justify
the supposition, when on arriving at Tahiti suspicions were changed
into certainty. M. de Commerson landed to botanize, and according to
custom Barré followed him with the boxes, when he was surrounded by
natives, who, exclaiming that it was a woman, were disposed to verify
their opinion. A midshipman, M. Bommand, had the greatest trouble in
rescuing her from the natives, and escorting her back to the ship.
When Bougainville visited the _Etoile_, he received Barré's confession.
In tears, the assistant botanist confessed her sex, and excused
herself for having deceived her master, by presenting herself in man's
clothes, at the very moment of embarkation. Having no family, and
having been ruined by a law-suit, this girl had donned man's clothes
to insure respect. She was aware, before she embarked, that she was
going on a voyage round the world, and the prospect, far from
frightening her, only confirmed her in her resolution.

[Illustration: Mdlle. Barré's adventure.]

"She will be the first woman who has been round the world," says
Bougainville, "and I must do her the justice to admit that she has
conducted herself with the most scrupulous discretion. She is neither
ugly nor pretty, and at most is only twenty-six or twenty-seven years
old. It must be admitted that had the two vessels suffered shipwreck
upon a desert island, it would have been a singular experience for
Barré."

The expedition lost sight of land on the 29th of May. The route was
directed westward. On the 4th of June, a very dangerous rock, so
slightly above water that at two leagues' distant it was not visible
from the look-out, was discovered in latitude 15 degrees 50 minutes,
and 148 degrees 10 minutes longitude. The constant recurrence of
breakers, trunks of trees in large quantities, fruits and sea wrack,
and the smoothness of the sea, all indicated the neighbourhood of
extensive land to the south-east. It was New Holland. Bougainville
determined to leave these dangerous latitudes, where he was likely to
meet with nothing but barren lands, and a sea strewn with rocks and
full of shallows. There were other urgent reasons for changing the
route, provisions were getting low, the salt meat was so tainted, that
the rats caught on board were eaten in preference. Bread enough for
two months, and vegetables for forty days alone remained. All
clamoured for a return to the north.

Unfortunately the south winds had ceased, and when they re-commenced,
they brought the expedition within an inch of destruction.

On the 10th of June land was seen to the north. It was the bottom of
the Gulf of the Louisiade, which had received the name of Cul-de-sac
de l'Orangerie. The country was magnificent. On the sea shore, a low
land covered with trees and shrubs, the balmy odours of which reached
the ships, rose like an amphitheatre towards the mountains, whose
summits were lost in the skies. However, it was impossible to visit
this rich and fertile country, but, on the other hand, desirable to
find to the east a passage to the south of New Guinea, which, by way
of the Gulf of Carpentaria, would have led direct to the Moluccas. Did
such a passage exist? Nothing was more problematic, for the notion was
that land had been seen extending far to the westward. It was needful
to hurry as fast as possible from the gulf where the ships had so
incautiously involved themselves.

[Illustration: Louisiade Archipelago. (Fac-simile of early
engraving.)]

But there is a wide difference between a wish and its fulfilment! The
two vessels strove in vain up to the 21st of June to transport
themselves to the west, from this coast, which was so full of rocks
and breakers, and upon which the wind and currents bade fair to
swallow them up. The fog and rain continued so closely with them, that
the frigate could only proceed in company with the _Etoile_ by a
constant firing of guns. When the wind changed, they profited by it,
and immediately proceeded to the open sea--but it soon veered again,
and continued east-south-east, and thus they speedily lost the ground
they had gained.

During this terrible cruise, the rations of bread and vegetables were
obliged to be reduced, consumption of old leather was threatened with
severe punishment, and the last goat on board was sacrificed.

It is difficult for the reader, tranquilly sitting in his
chimney-corner, to imagine the anxiety of a voyage in these unknown
seas,--threatened with the unexpected appearance of rocks and breakers,
with contrary winds, unknown currents, and a fog which concealed all
dangers. Cape Deliverance was only rounded on the 26th. It was now
possible to start for the north-north-east.

Two days later, when they had made about sixty leagues northward, some
islands were perceived ahead. Bougainville imagined they were a part
of the Louisiade group, but they are more generally accepted as
belonging to the Solomon Archipelago, which Carteret, who saw them the
preceding year, as little imagined that he had reached, as the French
navigator.

Several pirogues speedily surrounded the two ships. They were manned
by natives, blacker than Africans, with long curling red hair. Armed
with javelins, they uttered shrill cries, and showed dispositions far
from peaceful. It was useless to attempt to reach them. The surge
broke violently, and the coast was so narrow that it scarcely seemed
as if there were one at all.

Surrounded on all sides by islands, and in a thick fog, Bougainville
steered by instinct in a passage only four or five leagues in width,
and with a sea so rough that the _Etoile_ was forced to close her
hatchways.

Upon the eastern coast a pretty bay was perceived, which promised good
anchorage. Boats were told off to sound it. Whilst they were thus
engaged, ten or more pirogues, upon which some hundred and fifty men
armed with bucklers, lances, and bows, were embarked, advanced against
them. The pirogues divided into two parties to surround the French
boats. As soon as they were within sufficient reach, the natives
showered a storm of arrows and javelins upon the boats. The first
discharge failed to stop them. A second was necessary to disperse them.
Two pirogues, the crews of which had jumped into the sea, were
captured. Of great length and well made, these boats were decorated in
front with a man's head carved, the eyes of which were formed of
mother of pearl, the ears of tortoise-shell, and the lips painted red.

The water in which this combat took place was called the Warrior River,
and the island received the name of Choiseul, in honour of the French
Minister of Marine.

On leaving this strait a new land was discovered--Bougainville Island,
the southern extremity of which, called Laverdy Cape, appears to join
Bouka Island. The latter, which Carteret had seen the preceding year,
and which he named Winchelsea, appeared densely populated--if the
cabins which abounded were any criterion.

The inhabitants, whom Bougainville classifies as Negroes, probably to
distinguish them from the Polynesians and Malays, are Papuans, of the
same race as the inhabitants of New Guinea. Their short curly hair was
painted red, and the betel-nut, which they perpetually chewed, had
communicated the same colour to their teeth. The coast with its
cocoanut and other trees, promised plentiful refreshments, but
contrary winds and currents quickly drew the ships away.

On the 6th of July Bougainville cast anchor on the southern coast of
New Ireland, which had been discovered by Schouten, in Port Praslin,
at the very point where Carteret had stopped.

"We sent our casks on shore," says the narrative, "and began to
collect water and wood, and commence washing, all of which was most
necessary. The disembarkation was splendid--upon fine sand, with
neither rock nor wave.

"Four streams flowed into the harbour in a space measuring four
hundred paces. We selected three, according to custom; one to supply
water for _La Boudeuse_, one for the _Etoile_, and one for washing
purposes. Wood was plentiful on the shore, and there were various
kinds of it, all good for burning, and several first-rate for
carpentery, joinery, and even toy-making.

"The two vessels were in hearing of each other and close to the shore.
Again this part and its neighbourhood to a great distance were
uninhabited--a fact which secured us precious peace and liberty. We
could not have hoped for a surer anchorage, or a more convenient spot
for water, wood, or the various repairs needed by the vessels. We were
able to send the sufferers from scurvy to range the woods. But with
all these advantages, the port had a few inconveniences. In spite of
active search, neither cocoanut-trees nor bananas were to be found,
nor any of the resources which either by consent or by force, could
have been gained in an inhabited country. Fish was not abundant, and
we could expect only safety and strictly necessary things. There was
every fear that the sick would not re-establish their health. We had
indeed no serious cases, but several were infected, and no improvement
took place, and their malady could not have increased more rapidly."

They had been only a few days in port, when a sailor found a leaden
plate upon which was an inscription in English. It was easy to guess
that they had found the very spot where Carteret had made a stay the
preceding year.

The resources offered by this country to sportsmen were mediocre in
the extreme. They did indeed catch sight of a few boars or wild pigs,
but it was impossible to hit them. To make up for this they shot most
beautiful pigeons, the bodies and necks of grey-white, and of golden
green plumage, turtle-doves, parroquets, crested birds, and a species
of crow, whose cry was so like the baying of a dog, as to be mistaken
for it. The trees were large and magnificent, amongst them the betel,
the areca, and the pepper-tree. Malignant reptiles swarm in these
marshy lands, and in the ancient forests, serpents, scorpions, and
other venomous reptiles abounded. Unfortunately, they were not only to
be found on land. A sailor in search of _marteaux_, a very rare kind
of bivalve mussel, was stung by a serpent. The fearful suffering and
violent convulsions which followed only subsided at the expiration of
five or six hours, and at last, the theriac which was administered to
him after the bite, effected a cure. This accident was a sad damper to
conchological enthusiasm. Upon the 22nd, after a severe storm, the
ships were sensible of several slight earthquakes, the sea rose and
fell several times in succession, which greatly alarmed the sailors
who were occupied in fishing.

In spite of the rain and ceaseless storms which continued daily, a
detachment started to search the interior for Bourbon palms,
palm-trees, and turtle-doves. They expected to find wonders, but
returned oftenest empty-handed and with the one result of being wet to
the skin. A natural curiosity at some distance from the anchorage, a
thousand times more beautiful than the wonders invented for the
ornament of kingly palaces, attracted numberless visitors, who could
never tire of admiring it. It was a waterfall, too beautiful for
description! To form any idea of its beauty, it would be necessary to
reproduce by the brush the sparkling gleam of the spray lit up by the
rays of the sun, the vaporous shade of the tropical trees which dipped
their branches into the water, and the fantastic display of light over
a magnificent country, not yet spoiled by the hand of man!

As soon as the weather changed, the ships left Port Praslin, to follow
the coast of New Guinea, until the 3rd of August. The _Etoile_ was
attacked by hundreds of pirogues, and forced to return the stones and
arrows that assailed her by a few gunshots, which put the assailants
to flight. On the 4th the islands named Matthias and Stormy by Dampier
were sighted. Three days later Anchorite Island was recognized, so
called because a number of pirogues occupied in fishing, took no
notice of the _Etoile_ and _Boudeuse_, disdaining to enter into
relations with the strangers. After passing a series of islets half
under water, upon which the vessels nearly struck, and which were
named the Echiquiers by Bougainville, the coast of New Guinea appeared.
Steep and mountainous, it ran west-north-west. On the 12th a large bay
was discovered, but the currents, which so far had been unfavourable,
were equally so in carrying the boats far from it. It was visible at a
distance of twenty leagues from two gigantic mountains, Cyclops and
Bougainville.

The Arimoa Islands, the largest of which is only four miles in length,
were next seen, but the bad weather and the currents forced the two
vessels to remain in the open sea and relinquish all exploration. It
was necessary, however, to maintain a close watch in order to avoid
missing the outlet into the Indian Ocean. Mispulu and Waigiou, the
last at the extreme north of New Guinea, were passed in succession.

The "Canal des Français," the outlet for ships from this mass of
little islands and rocks, was passed without mishap. From thence
Bougainville penetrated to the Molucca Archipelago, where he reckoned
upon finding the fresh provisions requisite for the forty-five
sufferers from scurvy on board.

In absolute ignorance of the events which had occurred in Europe since
he left it, Bougainville would not run the risk of visiting a colony
in which he was not the strongest power. The small Dutch establishment,
Boeton or Bourou Island, suited him perfectly, all the more that
provisions were easily obtained there. The crew received orders to
enter the Gulf of Cajeti with the greatest delight. No one on board
had escaped scurvy, and half the crew, Bougainville says, were quite
unfit for duty.

"The victuals remaining to us were so tainted and ill-smelling, that
the worst moments of our sad days were those when we were obliged to
partake of such disgusting and unwholesome viands.

"The charms of Boeton Island were enhanced by our wretched situation.

"About midnight a delicious odour, emanating from the aromatic plants
with which the Molucca Islands are covered, had been wafted several
leagues out to sea, and was hailed by us as a forerunner of the end of
our woes.

"The appearance of the moderately sized town, situated below the gulf,
with vessels at anchor, and cattle grazing in the pastures that
surrounded it, caused pleasure in which I participated, but which I
cannot describe."

Scarcely had the _Boudeuse_ and the _Etoile_ cast anchor, than the
resident governor sent two soldiers to inquire of the French captain
what reason he could assign for stopping at this place, when he must
be aware that entrance was permitted to the ships of the India Company
only. Bougainville immediately sent an officer to explain that hunger
and sickness forced him to enter the first port which presented itself
in his route. Also, that he would leave Boeton as soon as he had
received the aid of which he had urgent need. The resident at once
sent him the order of the Governor of Amboyna, which expressly forbade
his receiving any strange ship in his harbour, and begged Bougainville
to make a written declaration of the reason for his putting into port,
in order that he might prove to his superior that he had not infringed
his orders except under paramount necessity.

As soon as Bougainville had signed a certificate to this effect,
cordiality was established with the Dutch. The resident entertained
the officers at his own table, and a contract was concluded for
provisions and fresh meat. Bread gave place to rice, the usual food of
the Dutch, and fresh vegetables which are not usually cultivated in
the island, were provided for the crews by the resident, who obtained
them from the Company's gardens. It would have been desirable for the
re-establishment of the health of the crew, that the stay at this port
could have been prolonged, but the end of the monsoon warned
Bougainville to set out for Batavia.

The captain left Boeton on the 7th of September, convinced that
navigation in the Molucca Archipelago was not so difficult as it
suited the Dutch to affirm. As for trusting to French charts, they
were of no use, being more qualified to mislead vessels than to guide
them.

Bougainville therefore directed his course through the Straits of
Button and Saleyer; a route which, though commonly used by the Dutch,
is but little known to other nations. The narrative therefore
carefully describes, with mention of every cape, the course he took.
We will not dwell upon this part of the voyage, although it is very
instructive, and on that account interesting to seafaring men.

On the 28th of September, ten months and a half after leaving
Montevideo, the _Etoile_ and the _Boudeuse_ arrived at Batavia, one of
the finest colonies in the world. After touching at the Isle of France,
the Cape of Good Hope, and Ascension Island, near which he met
Carteret, Bougainville entered St. Malo on the 16th of February, 1769,
having lost only seven men, in the two years and four months which had
elapsed since he left Nantes.

The remaining particulars of the career of this fortunate navigator do
not concern our purpose, and may be dismissed briefly.

He took part in the American war, and in 1781 participated in an
honourable combat before Port Royal off Martinique. Made Chief of the
fleet in 1780, he, ten years later, received a commission to
re-establish order in the mutinous fleet of M. d'Albert de Rions.
Created vice-admiral in 1792, he did not think it right to accept a
high rank, which was, to use his own words, "a title without duties."

Nominated first to the Bureau of Longitudes, and then to the Institute,
raised to the rank of senator, created a count by Napoleon I.,
Bougainville died full of years and honours, on the 31st of August,
1811.

Bougainville acquired popularity as the first Frenchman who
accomplished a voyage round the world. Though the merit of discovering
and reconnoitring, if not of exploring, many groups of islands little
known and quite neglected before his time, has been ascribed to him,
he owes his reputation rather to the charm and easy animation of his
narrative, than to his labours. If he is better known than many other
French naval officers, his competitors, it is not so much because he
accomplished more than they, as because his style of narrating his
adventures charmed his contemporaries.

As for Guyot Duclos, his secondary share in the enterprise, and his
plebeian rank, excluded him from reward. He was afterwards given the
cross of St. Louis, but he earned the title by his rescue of the
_Belle Poule_. Although he was born in 1722, and had been in the navy
since the year 1734, he was still only lieutenant in 1791. A
succession of ministers of new views was needed to obtain the rank of
ship-captain for him: a tardy recompense of long and signal services.
Guyot Duclos died at St. Servan on the 10th March, 1794.

CHAPTER III.
CAPTAIN COOK'S FIRST VOYAGE.

I.

The beginning of his maritime career--The command of the _Adventure_
entrusted to him--Tierra del Fuego--Discovery of some islands in the
Pomotou Archipelago--Arrival at Tahiti--Manners and customs of the
inhabitants--Discovery of other islands in the Society group--Arrival
at New Zealand--Interview with the natives--Discovery of Cook's
Strait--Circumnavigation of two large islands--Manners and productions
of the country.

In narrating the career of a distinguished man, it is well to neglect
none of those details which may appear of but slight importance. They
acquire significance as indications of a vocation unknown even to its
subject, and throw a light upon the character under consideration. For
these reasons we shall dwell a little upon the humble beginning of the
career of one of the most illustrious navigators whom England boasts.

James Cook was born at Marton, in Yorkshire, on the 27th of October,
1728. He was the ninth child of a farm servant, and a peasant woman
named Grace. When scarcely eight years of age little James assisted
his father in the rough toil of the farm of Airy Holme, near Ayton.
His amiability, and love of work, attracted the interest of the farmer,
who had him taught to read.

When he was thirteen years of age, he was apprenticed to William
Sanderson, a linendraper at Snaith, a fishing-hamlet of some
importance. But young Cook found little pleasure in an employment
which kept him behind a counter, and he spent every leisure moment in
chatting with the sailors who visited the port. Gaining his father's
consent, James soon left the linendraper's, to engage himself as
ship-boy, to Messrs. Walker, whose boats carried coal from England to
Ireland.

Successively ship-lad, sailor, and master, Cook rapidly learned all
the details of his profession.

In the spring of 1755, as the first hostilities between England and
France broke out, the boat upon which Cook served was anchored in the
Thames. The navy was recruited in those days by means of pressgangs.
At first Cook hid himself, but afterwards, urged no doubt by a
presentiment, he engaged himself on board the _Eagle_, a vessel of
sixty guns, to the command of which Sir Hugh Palliser was soon
appointed.

Intelligent, active, thoroughly at home in all the details of the
service, Cook was noticed by the officers, and attracted the attention
of his captain, who in a short time received a letter of warm
recommendation from the member for Scarborough, sent in accordance
with the pressing solicitations of all the inhabitants of Ayton, for
young Cook, who shortly afterwards received a warrant as boatswain. He
embarked upon the _Mercury_, bound for Canada, upon the 15th of May,
1759, and joined the fleet of Sir Charles Saunders, who, in
conjunction with General Wolfe, conducted the siege of Quebec.

In that campaign Cook found the first opportunity of distinguishing
himself. Ordered off to sound the St. Lawrence between Orleans Island
and the northern shore of the river, he executed his task with much
skill, and drew up a chart of the channel in spite of the difficulties
and dangers of the enterprise. His hydrographical sketch was
acknowledged to be so exact and complete that he received orders to
examine the channels of the river below Quebec. This duty he performed
so well that his chart of the St. Lawrence was published by the
English Admiralty. After the capture of Quebec, Cook passed on to the
_Northumberland_, under command of Lord Colville, and profited by his
stay on the shores of Newfoundland to devote himself to astronomy.
Important operations were now entrusted to him. He drew up the plan of
Placentia, and took the bearings of St. Peter and Miquelon.

In 1764 he was made naval engineer for Newfoundland and Labrador, and
was employed for three consecutive years in hydrographical tasks,
which obtained for him the notice of the ministry, and helped to
correct innumerable errors in the maps of America.

At the same time he addressed a treatise to the Royal Society of
London, upon an eclipse of the sun, which he had observed in
Newfoundland in 1766.

This document appeared in the "Philosophical Transactions." Cook was
not long in receiving a due reward for so much, and such successful
labour, and for his patient studies, the more meritorious, as he had
had few opportunities, and was self-taught.

A scientific question of the highest importance, viz., the transit of
Venus across the sun's disc, which had been announced for 1769, was
eagerly discussed by all the scientists of the day. The English
Government, confident that this observation could only be effectually
made in the Pacific Sea, resolved to send a scientific expedition
thither.

The command was offered to the famous hydrographer A. Dalrymple,
equally celebrated for his astronomical investigations, and his
geographical discoveries in the southern seas. But he was so exacting
in his demands, and so persevering in his request for a commission as
ship's captain, which Sir Edward Hawker as obstinately refused, that
the Secretary of the Admiralty proposed another commander for the
projected enterprise.

His choice fell upon James Cook, who was cordially recommended by Sir
Hugh Palliser, and to him therefore the command of the _Endeavour_ was
given, whilst he was at the same time raised to the rank of ship's
lieutenant.

Cook was now forty years of age. This was his first appointment in the
Royal Navy. The mission entrusted to him called for varied
qualifications, rarely to be met with in a sailor. For, although the
observation of the transit of Venus was the principal object of the
voyage, it was by no means the only one. Cook was also to make a
voyage of discovery in the Pacific Ocean. But the humbly born
Yorkshire lad was destined to prove himself equal to his task.

Whilst the _Endeavour_ was being equipped, her crew of eighty-four men
chosen, her store of eighteen months' provision embarked, her ten guns
and twelve swivel guns, with the needful ammunition, shipped, Captain
Wallis arrived in England. He had accomplished his voyage round the
world. He was consulted as to the best spot for the observation of the
transit of Venus, and he selected an island which he had discovered,
and which was named by him after George III. It was later known by its
native name of Tahiti. From this spot therefore Cook was to take
observations.

Charles Green, assistant to Dr. Bradley, of Greenwich Observatory,
embarked with him. To Green was entrusted the astronomical department,
Doctor Solander, a Swedish doctor of medicine, a disciple of Linnæus,
and professor at the British Museum, undertook the botanical part.
Finally, Sir Joseph Banks joined the expedition, out of simple
interest, anxious to employ his energy and fortune. After leaving
Oxford, Sir Joseph Banks had visited the Newfoundland coast and
Labrador, and had there acquired a taste for botany. Two painters
accompanied the expedition, one a landscape and portrait painter, the
other a scientific draughtsman. In addition to these persons, the
company comprised a secretary and four servants, two of whom were
negroes.

The _Endeavour_ left Plymouth upon the 26th of August, 1768, and put
into port at Funchal, in the island of Madeira, on the 13th of
September, to obtain fresh fruit and make discoveries. The expedition
met with a cordial reception.

During their visit to a convent, the staff of the _Endeavour_ were
entreated by the poor immured recluses to let them know when it would
thunder, and to find a spring of fresh water for them, which they
sorely needed, in the interior of the convent. With all their learning,
Banks, Solander, and Cook found it impossible to satisfy these demands.

From Madeira to Rio de Janeiro, where the expedition arrived on the
13th of November, no incident interrupted the voyage, but Cook's
reception by the Portuguese was hardly what he expected. The whole
time of his stay in port was spent in disputes with the viceroy, a man
of little knowledge, and quite incapable of understanding the
scientific aspect of the expedition. However, he could not well refuse
to supply the English with fresh provisions, of which they had
absolutely none left. As, however, Cook was passing Fort Santa Cruz on
leaving the bay, two shots were fired after him, whereupon he
immediately cast anchor, and demanded the meaning of the insult. The
viceroy replied that the commandant of the Fort had orders to allow no
vessel to leave the bay without his having received notice, and
although Captain Cook had notified his intention to the viceroy, it
had, by pure neglect, not been communicated to the Commandant of the
Fort. Was this an intentional act of discourtesy on the part of the
viceroy? or was it simple heedlessness?

If the viceroy was equally negligent in all the details of his
administration, the Portuguese colony must have been well regulated!

Cook entered the Straits of Lemaire on the 14th of January, 1769.
Kippis, in his Life of Captain Cook, gives the following account:--

"The sea ran so high, that the water was above Cape San Diego, and the
vessel was so driven by the wind that her bowsprit was constantly
under water. Next day anchor was cast in a small harbour, which was
recognized as Port Maurice, and soon afterwards they anchored in the
Bay of Good Success. Whilst the _Endeavour_ remained off this spot a
strange and untoward adventure befell Banks, Solander, Dr. Green, and
Monkhouse, the surgeon of the vessel, and their attendants. They were
proceeding towards a mountain in search of plants, and as they climbed
it they were surprised by cold, so penetrating and sudden, that they
were all in danger of perishing. Dr. Solander was seized with vertigo,
two negro servants died on the spot, finally the gentlemen were only
able to regain the vessel after a lapse of two days. They rejoiced in
their deliverance, with a joy which can only be estimated by those who
have escaped similar dangers, whilst Cook showed a lively pleasure in
the cessation of the anxiety their absence had caused him. This event
gave them a proof of the severity of the climate."

It was the middle of summer in this part of the world, and the day,
when the cold surprised them, had begun as warmly as an ordinary May
morning in England.

James Cook was enabled to make some curious observations upon the
savage inhabitants of those desolate regions. Destitute of the
necessaries of life, without clothes, without efficient shelter from
the almost perpetual severity of this glacial latitude, unarmed, and
unlearned in any industrial art which would enable them to construct
the more necessary utensils, they passed a miserable life, and could
only exist with difficulty. In spite of these facts, of all the
articles offered in exchange they invariably chose the least useful.
They joyfully accepted bracelets and necklaces, and rejected hatchets,
knives, and fish-hooks. Careless of what we consider valuables, our
superfluities were their necessaries.

Cook had reason to congratulate himself upon the selection of this
route. He took thirty days to double Tierra del Fuego, from the date
of his entrance into the Straits of Lemaire to his arrival, three
degrees north of Magellan. No doubt a much longer time would have been
needed, if he had followed the winding course of the Strait of
Magellan. His very exact astronomical observations, in which Green
joined him, and the directions he gave for this dangerous navigation,
smoothed the difficulties of his successors, and rectified the charts
of L'Hermite, Lemaire, and Schouten.

[Illustration: Captain James Cook. (Fac-simile of early engraving.)]

Cook noticed no current of any importance from the 21st January, the
day upon which he doubled Cape Horn, to the 1st of March, in a
distance of one hundred and sixty leagues of sea. He discovered a good
many islands in the Dangerous Archipelago, which he respectively named,
Lagoon, Arch, Groups, Birds, and Chain Islands. The greater number
were inhabited and were covered with vegetation, which to sailors who
for three months had seen only sea and sky, and the frozen rocks of
Tierra del Fuego, appeared luxuriant. Soon they found Martea Island,
which Wallis had named Osnaburgh, and on the next day, 11th of June,
the island of Tahiti was reached.

Two days later, the _Endeavour_ cast anchor in Port Matavai, called
Port Royal by Wallis, and where that captain had had a struggle with
the natives, over whom, however, he had triumphed without much
difficulty. Cook, aware of the incidents of his predecessor's stay in
this port, wished above all to avoid similar scenes. Moreover, it was
essential to the success of his observations that no interruption or
distraction should occur. His first care was to read out standing
orders to his crew, which they were forbidden under heavy penalties to
infringe. He first declared that he intended in every possible way to
cultivate friendly relations with the natives, then he selected those
who were to buy the needed provisions, and forbade all others to
attempt any sort of traffic without special permission. Finally, the
men who landed were on no pretext to leave their posts, and if any
soldier or workman parted with his arms or implements, not only would
the price be deducted from his wages, but he would be punished in
proportion to the exigency of the case.

In addition to this, to guard the observers from attack, Cook decided
on constructing a sort of fort, in which they might be sheltered
within gun range of the _Endeavour_. He then landed with Messrs. Banks,
Solander, and Green, soon found a favourable spot, and in presence of
the natives immediately traced out the extent of land he intended to
occupy. One of them, named Owhaw, who had had friendly intercourse
with Wallis, was particularly profuse in his protestations of
friendship.

As soon as the plan of the fort was fixed, Cook left thirteen men and
an officer in charge of the tents, and accompanied his associates into
the interior of the island. But he was speedily recalled by the sound
of firing.

A very painful incident, the consequences of which might have been
serious, had occasioned this.

One of the natives had surprised a sentinel near the tents, and had
possessed himself of his gun. A general discharge was immediately
directed upon the inoffensive crowd, but fortunately no one was
injured. The robber meantime was pursued and killed.

A great commotion ensued, and Cook was profuse in his protestations,
to pacify the natives. He promised payment for all that he required
for the construction of his fort, and would not allow a tree to be
felled without their sanction. Finally, he had the butcher of the
_Endeavour_ mast-headed and flogged, for threatening the wife of one
of the chiefs with death.

This proceeding effaced the recollection of the painful antecedents,
and with the exception of some thieving by the natives, the friendly
relations remained undisturbed.

And now the moment for the execution of the primary object of the
voyage approached. Cook accordingly took steps for putting the
instructions he had received into effect. With this view, he
despatched observers with Sir Joseph Banks to Eimeo, one of the
neighbouring isles.

Four others proceeded to a favourable distance from the fort, where
Cook himself proposed to await the transit of the planet. Hence the
point of observation was called Point Venus.

The night preceding the observation passed with many fears of
unfavourable weather, but on the 3rd of June, the sun rose in all its
glory, and not a cloud troubled the observers throughout the day.

The observations, according to W. de Tonnelle's article in "Nature,"
for the 28th of March, 1874, were most fatiguing for the astronomers,
for they began at twenty-one minutes after nine in the morning, and
only terminated at ten minutes after three in the afternoon, at which
moment the heat was stifling. The thermometer registered 120 degrees
Fahrenheit. Cook assures us, and we can readily believe it, that he
himself was not certain of the end of his observation. In such
thermetrical conditions, the human organism, admirable instrument as
it is, loses its powers.

On passing the sun, the rim of Venus was elongated as though attracted.
A black point or dark ligament, a little less dark than the body of
the star, was formed; the same phenomenon occurred upon the second
interior contact.

"The observation," says Cook, "was made with equal success at the fort,
and by those I had sent to the east of the island. From the rising to
the setting of the sun, not a single cloud obscured the sky, and Mr.
Green, Dr. Solander, and myself, observed the entire transit of Venus
with the greatest ease. Mr. Green's telescope and mine were of equal
power, and that of Dr. Solander still stronger. We noted a luminous
atmosphere or fog surrounding the planet, which rendered the actual
moment of contact and especially of interior contacts somewhat
indistinct. To this fact it is owing that our observations varied
somewhat one from the other."

Whilst the officers and _savants_ were engaged in this important
observation, some of the crew, forcing an entrance into the storeroom,
stole a hundredweight of nails. This was a grave offence, and one
which might have had disastrous results for the expedition. The market
was at once glutted with that one article of traffic, and as the
natives testified an immoderate desire to possess it, there was every
reason to anticipate an increase in their demands. One of the thieves
was detected, but only seventy nails were found in his possession, and
the application of eighty lashes failed to make him betray his
accomplices.

Other incidents of this kind constantly occurred, but friendly
relations were not seriously disturbed. The officers were free to make
incursions into the interior of the island to prosecute scientific
investigations, and to inquire into the manners of the inhabitants.

In one of these excursions, Sir Joseph Banks met a band of itinerant
musicians and _improvisatori_. They were somewhat surprised to find
that the arrival of the English, and the various incidents of their
stay formed the subjects of native songs. Banks followed the river
which flows into the sea at Matavai, some distance into the interior,
and found traces of a long extinct volcano. He planted, and also
distributed among the population a large number of kitchen-garden
seeds, such as water-melons, oranges, lemons, &c., and planned a