The Story of Captain Cook's three Voyages round the World ... With ... illustrations

Preface

. The narrative of Captain Cook's discoveries is one full of interest, not only as revealing what at that time were new lands and new people, but as showing with transparent clearness the character of him who accomplished the great work which it records. It is, however, very long ; and its length is in part made up of matter not very attractive, either to the general reader or to young folks. I have, therefore, for the latter more especially, prepared from it this simple story of what the great Captain saw and did in his Three Voyages Round the World. M. J. Heston, jfuly 2-]th, 1870. CONTENTS. PAGE Chap. I. — First Voyage. — From England to Tahiti — Life in the Island ...... i Chap. II. — Tahiti, and its People . .... 13 Chap. III. — Huaheine, Ulietea, and other of the Society Islands — New Zealand ..... 24 Chap. IV. — Explorations of New Zealand — Its People . 33 Chap. V — New South Wales — Narrow Escape from Wreck — Natives ...... 49 Chap. VI. — New Guinea — Savu — Batavia — The Cape — Home . . . . . . . -67 Chap. VII. — Second Voyage. — Objects of the Voyage — In the Ice — Cross the Antarctic Circle — Lose sight of the " Adventure " . . . . .81 Chap. VIII. — New Zealand, Queen Charlotte's Sound — The Society Islands again ..... 96 Chap. IX. — Friendly Islands — New Zealand again — Sail to the South — Turned back by Ice — Easter Island — The Marquesas — Society Islands — A Review of War Canoes . . . . . . .110 Chap. X. — New Hebrides — New Caledonia — Leave the South Pacific Ocean . . . . . .129 Chap. XI. — Christmas Sound, Tierra del Fuego — Sea Lions — Discoveries in the South Atlantic — Again turned back by Ice — Murder of Furneaux's Boat's Crew — Home VI CONTENTS.

PAGE Chap. XII. — Third Voyage. — Search for a Short Passage between the North Pacific and the North Atlantic — Van Diemen's Land — Third Visit to New Zealand — Islands Discovered and Revisited — Games and Entertainments — King of the Friendly Islands . . . . . . . 155 Chap. XIII. — Omai at Tahiti — Human Sacrifices in the Society Islands — Cockroaches — Dealings with the Natives . . . . . . . .178 Chap. XIV. — Discovery of the Sandwich Islands — North-west Coast of North America — Natives . .188 Chap. XV — Anchor on the Coast of Asia — Natives — Arctic Ice — Sea Horses — Russian Traders — Sandwich Islands — Owhyhee (Hawaii) Discovered . 207 Chap. XVI. — Ceremonies at the Morai — The Taboo — State Visit of the King — Funeral of a Sailor — Leave the Island, but compelled to Return . . 221 Chap. XVII. — Karakakooa Bay — Natives Troublesome — Attack on the English — Captain Cook Slain . 232 Chap. XVIII. — Leave Karakakooa Bay — Harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul — Russian Hospitality — Dog Sledges — The Capital of Kamschatka — Generous Kindness of the Russian Governor — Try again for the North West Passage, and again Foiled — Walrus and White Bears — Death of Captain Clerke — Return to St. Peter and St. Paul — China — Home .

ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Cook Landing at Mallicollo, New Hebrides Frontispiece. View of Cape Horn ....... 4 View in Tahiti ........ 9 View of Tahiti . . . . . . . .13 Arms and Instruments, Society Islands. . . .21 House of Worship, Huaheine . . . . .25 Patoo-patoos ......... 35 New Zealand Pah ....... 39 Interior of Pah . . . . ... . .41 New Zealand Flax . . . . . . .47 Australian Natives and Hut . . . . .51 Port Jackson ........ 54 Kangaroos ......... 60 Natives of New South Wales . . . . .62 Natives of New Guinea ...... 68 Boobies .......... 77 Table Mountain, Cape of Good Hope .... 84 Man and Woman of New Zealand . . . .91 Water Spout ........ 94 Matavai Bay, Tahiti ....... 100 Bay of Huaheine, Society Islands .... 103 Statues, Easter Island . . . . . . .119 Tattooed Marquesan . . . . . . .121 Double Canoe, Society Islands . . . . .123 illustrations.

PAGE View in the Isle of Tanna . . . . . .136 Man and Woman of Tanna . . . . . .138 View in New Caledonia . . . . . .139 Man and Woman of New Caledonia . . . .141 Double Canoe, New Caledonia . . . . .142 Native of Tierra del Fuego . . . . .145 Fuegian Wigwams . . . . . . . .146 Ice off Cape Horn . . . . . . 14S Seals .......... 158 Tahiti . . . . . . . . . .178 Otoo, King of Tahiti . . . . . . . 1S0 Valley in the Island of Huaheine .... 185 Canadian Pine ........ 197 Karakakooa Bay, Owhyhee (Hawaii) . . .219 Polar Bear ......... 256 Albatross .........

Chapter I

First Voyage Round the World, in 1768, 1769, 1770, and 1771. — From England to Tahiti. — Life in the Island. IN the year 1768, it was determined by the English Government to send an expedition into the Southern Seas, not only for the purpose of making an important astronomical observation, but for that of exploring those waters, which were little known at the time. The commander of this expedition was one of England's great men — good, as well as great. He was of humble birth. He first learned his letters from an old woman who kept the little village school of Marton, in Yorkshire, where he was born in 1728. Whilst a mere child he was appren ticed to a shopkeeper, not far from Whitby. But shop keeping he did not like, so was not long in getting rid of all ties to the counter and yardstick : giving himself up instead to the hard life of a common sailor on board a B collier.

It was a hard life ; but it was a good school for him : the navigation of that part of the British seas that lies between the north and south of England being reckoned intricate and hazardous. And in this humble service, James Cook, the future circumnavigator of the globe — for it is he of whom we are writing — acquitted himself so well as to rise to the rank of mate. At the age of twenty-seven, when war with France was hot, and good seamen much needed, he found himself in no little danger of being " pressed," as the phrase then was ; that is, of being seized by Government, and compelled to serve in the Navy, whether he liked it or not. He took a perfectly novel way of avoiding the risk — he went and offered himself as a volunteer ; and this wise step was the making of the man. His skill, his untiring industry, his genius and good conduct, rapidly raised him from his first rating as " able seaman " to that of lieutenant in the Royal Navy, an appointment to which he was gazetted May 25th, 1768, and for the express purpose of commanding the projected expedition.

The delicate astronomical observation, which was also an object of the undertaking, was that of the passing of the planet Venus over the sun's face ; and Otaheite, or, as it is now called, Tahiti, one of the Society Islands, was the spot fixed upon for the purpose. This island was discovered by a Spaniard in 1606, and had been visited by the English under Captain Wallis, a short time before Cook's going thither. The ship commanded by Cook on this occasion was named the " Endeavour." She had been originally built for the coal trade, and was of only 370 tons burden — a FIRST VOYAGE. 3 small vessel for such great work ; but it is said only bad workmen quarrel with their tools. She had ten swivel and ten carriage guns — the former, as their name imports, being so mounted as to enable them to be pointed in any required direction ; together with ammunition, and stores of various kinds, to trade with the natives in those distant seas, as well as to supply the wants of those on board.

The ship was victualled for eighteen months, and had a crew of eighty-five persons, including the commander, Mr. Banks (afterwards Sir Joseph), Dr. Solander, and Mr. Green : these latter gentlemen being concerned only in the scientific part of the expedition. Cook hoisted his pennant on board on the 25th of May ; but it was not until the 26th of August that the " Endeavour" sailed from Plymouth, right into a hard gale, which, heralded — as sailors suppose — by birds called Mother Cary's chickens, knocked her about to good purpose before she was far from English shores. The rich and beautiful island of Madeira was first touched at, affording them water, and good fresh provisions, at rather a high price. Next came Rio, where Cook was not very civilly treated by the ignorant viceroy ; then a landing on the wretched coast of Tierra del Fuego, where Banks and Solander, out botanising, nearly lost their lives from the cold.

Five minutes' sleep there so shrunk the muscles of Dr. Solander's feet, that when he awoke his shoes fell off; and two of their black servants, who had also given way to the stupefying influence of extreme cold, could not be aroused at all. The poor creatures were obliged to be left to their fate, with branches of trees spread under and heaped above them, in the forlorn B hope of imparting a little warmth to their bodies. And this was summer in that part of the world. Finally, after doubling, or sailing round, the long-dreaded Cape Horn, which, like many other things much feared, did not turn out half as bad as was expected, the " Endeavour" reached her destination, in the lovely island of Tahiti, on the 13th of April, 1769. Many beautiful little specks of land, amid the wide waste of ocean waters, had been discovered during the run from Cape Horn to Tahiti, and to these names were given by Cook.

In approaching the island, numerous canoes were seen paddling to meet them, bringing young plantains and branches of trees, which some of the natives caused our people to understand were signs of friendship. They were accordingly received, and placed about in the rigging of the vessel, to the evident pleasure of those who had brought them. No sooner had the ship cast anchor in Port Royal Bay — called by the natives Matavai Bay — than she was sur rounded by canoes, laden with fruits and various kinds of small fish, which their owners were eager to exchange for beads and other trinkets. They had with them a pig ; but the prudent commander knew better than to buy that at the price demanded — a hatchet — seeing that at that rate all the hatchets he possessed would never have bought pork enough for his ship's company ; and it could not be expected that the poor creatures would afterwards lower their terms to suit his convenience.

So pig had to wait until the owners were content with something less costly than hatchet in exchange. As the stay of the expedition upon this — at that time — CAl'E HOKN. wild spot, with half-naked and entirely uncivilised savages around them, was likely to be prolonged, great precautions were needed to prevent dissensions, which might end in bloodshed, arising between the English crew and their native visitors. Cook's sagacity and goodness were quite equal to this ; he laid it down as a law in his small domain — the little 370-ton brig, with its living cargo of less than eighty souls, under his command — that all humanity and kindliness should be shown towards the scrambling horde of savages by which they were surrounded ; that trafficking for provisions between the ship's crew and the islanders should be managed solely by one person, appointed by himself; and that the usual strict, wholesome naval discipline should extend to this out-of-the-way corner of the earth.

As soon as the "Endeavour" was fairly secured in her moorings, a party, under the commander, went ashore, and were received by hundreds of awe-stricken natives, carrying their symbols of peace and good will — green branches of trees. The first of these who ventured near the strangers, crawling almost on all fours, handed his branch to them, who, to show equal kindliness, after accepting it, gathered boughs for themselves, and, each man bearing one, accompanied their new friends to a spot where the natives first threw their branches on the ground, and then desired the English to do the same with theirs. A little procession of marines and gentlemen was accordingly formed, and, marching along, each one with great solemnity dropped his branch on those that already strewed the place. Next day another visit was made on shore, when presents were exchanged between our people and the natives ; a couple of fowls and some perfumed native cloth were given to the captain and Mr. Banks, the chief Tootahah getting in return a laced cravat and pocket kerchief, with which he seemed highly delighted.

All were exceedingly friendly ; food was offered to the English, and they made a very tolerable dinner on fish, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, and plantains, dressed in the country fashion — their hosts eating some of their fish raw. Whilst they were enjoying them selves in this amicable manner, however, two of the gentle men suddenly announced that their pockets had been picked ; and Mr. Banks, by way of giving emphasis to the complaint, struck the butt-end of his musket smartly on the ground. Instantly all was uproar : the house was cleared in a trice, not more than the chief and four or five others venturing to remain after this, presumed, warlike demonstration. In this difficulty the chief, Toubourai Tamaide, with whom they had previously made friends, behaved like an honest man and a gentleman.

Leading Mr. Banks by the hand to a large quantity of native cloth that lay there, he made signs that he was welcome to any or all of it as com pensation for the loss ; and when this was rejected — the restitution of the stolen articles being alone required- — he hastened away, returning presently with a portion of them, nor did he rest until the whole had been restored to the owners. This good fellow was on another occasion himself sus pected — unjustly, as it turned out — of thieving; and the expression of his strong, honest indignation at the shabby charge was worthy of a civilised good Christian — passionately intimating by signs that he would be willing to have his throat cut, if he were ever guilty of such a thing. It cost Mr. Banks some petting and soothing before he had smoothed down the justly-ruffled feelings of his indignant acquaintance.

The precautions taken against offending their outlandish friends were most thoughtful and excellent, and at first appeared successful ; but, alas ! head and hands do not always agree. The cautious and admirable commander, having made arrangements for taking his astronomical observations, went off with a small party to examine the interior of this new and beautiful country. No sooner was his back turned than mischief began. One of the natives, to whom thieving came by nature — they stole right and left, men, women, and children, chiefs and common people, and, poor wretches, had had no instruction to modify their evil instincts — laid quick hands upon the musket of the sentry at the little camp left behind, and made off with it. Thehasty lad, a midshipman, who commanded the guard, had no more sense than to order the marines to fire on the naked savages thronging around ; and as this foolish, wicked volley had no apparent effect upon the startled crowd, one of the chiefs was picked out and shot dead.

Cook would never have done that, and he was justly indignant that things could not be kept proper and right if his back were turned for never so short a time. The natives — and no wonder — were slow in becoming friendly again after this, but at last they came to. Peace-offerings of two young trees were brought to the ship by two of the chiefs, and when these had been graciously accepted, they ventured on board with a most welcome gift of baked pig and bread-fruit, in return for which each of them received a hatchet and a nail, and things went on as comfortably as before : the more so that the natives were reassured by the scrupulous honesty of the commander, who would not cut even a stake without their consent, and also paying for it. Indeed, so determined was he that right should be done to these simple specimens of mankind, that he had the butcher of the vessel tied up and soundly flogged for threatening the life of one of the Tahitian women, because she would not make a bargain with him to his mind on some paltry matter.

The natives, in their good nature, tried to beg the rascal off, and when they found it was of no use, fairly cried for disappointment ; tears, however, were plentiful with them on the slightest occasion, and, as is usual in such cases, " forgot as soon as shed." With regard to the native tendency to " picking and stealing," it must be owned there was much in excuse of these poor pagans : nails and beads, and such like objects of admiration, not to mention iron hatchets, and, in due time, a quadrant and the ship's anchor, presented to them precisely the same amount of temptation that jewels and untold silver and gold would to a civilised person ; and we know that many such — aye, and called Christians to boot — cannot withstand this temptation. It had been determined to erect a small fort on shore, as a protection for those engaged either in the astronomical observations, or in the general examination of this part of the island.

A spot was, in the first place, selected for its site, and around this lines were drawn within which no VIEW IN TAHITI. natives, save the two friendly chiefs, who appeared to be important personages, were allowed to enter. To the wondering crowd, who looked on whilst these mysterious lines were being drawn, it was intimated that the ground within them was wanted, for a time, as a sleeping place for the strangers ; and to this no objection was made. The islanders themselves willingly assisted in the work of construction, acting as beasts of burden with much cheer fulness. The commencement of this important undertaking was signalised by serving out pork for dinner ; and the kindly natives brought them more bread-fruit and cocoa nuts than they could possibly eat. Beads were the purchase-money, in which transaction one thinks the vendors must have come off " second best," seeing they only got one bead, the size of a pea, for half-a-dozen cocoa-nuts or bread-fruits.

But value is a thing difficult to determine all the world over. Mr. Banks slept on shore that night, and the next morn ing the friendly chief with the long name, Toubourai Tamaide, paid him a visit with a bag-and-baggage party, consisting of himself, his wife and children, and the frame work and furnishing of a house which he signified his inten tion to set up near the English quarters. This, of course, was a valuable neighbour ; and the friendship was cemented by his clothing Mr. Banks with two native garments, one of red cloth, the other of matting. This done, he breakfasted on pork and bread-fruit, with salt water for seasoning ; after which, lying down on Mr. Banks's bed, he got a sound nap. Toubourai liked to imitate English manners, and in due time got to use a knife and fork at meals with great dexterity.

How often, in process of learning to deal with such dangerous weapons, he cut his fingers and pricked his mouth, we are not told. Soon after this, the body of the poor fellow who had been shot by the hasty midshipman was found, wrapped in his mat and white cloth, laid upon a kind of bier, beneath a shed, about fifteen feet long, eleven broad, and high in proportion, close to his house. Near his head were two cocoa-nut shells, used by the people as cups ; at his feet, a bunch of green leaves and dry twigs, stuck in the ground. A young plantain tree — emblem of peace — lay near at hand. At one end of the shed hung strings of palm-nuts ; outside it, the stem of a plantain, about five feet in height, supported a cocoa-nut shell of water ; roasted bread-fruit was placed in a bag hung on one of the posts of the shed.

The natives about did not seem much to like the examination of this simple funeral pile. Perhaps they remembered how cruelly he who lay there had been slaughtered by the friends of those now looking upon his lifeless form. Of the funeral ceremonies of these people, Mr. Banks was afterwards a spectator, nay, an actor in them ; for, in order to gratify his scientific curiosity on the subject, he was obliged to take his part in the solemnities. His mourning dress for the occasion — native fashion — was a small bit of cloth around his waist, and a more ample suit of charcoal and water, so liberally applied, that a con siderable portion of his person was as black as a sweep. Others were " got up " in the same manner : one of them, a boy, being blacked all over. Then a procession was formed, from which, as it drew near, the natives fled in wild haste.

And no wonder, seeing it was one of the functions of the chief mourner to strike at every one who came near him, with a formidable implement, set with sharks' teeth, inflicting very severe wounds. At the end of its circuit, which lasted half-an-hour, the mourners washed off their black, and there was an end of it. The bones of their dead, after being wasted by wind and weather, in such exposure as that of the slaughtered man, were consigned to mother earth, in places called Morai, which were also used for the worship of their gods. Some of these were on a surprisingly large scale, and of work manship to excite wonder as well as admiration. One is described as being a vast pile of stone and coral, pyramid shaped, with a base of 267 feet by 87. It was built in steps, each step being a course of coral stone picked up from the bed of the sea, well worked and polished ; with a foun dation of rock stone, also wrought.

The interior of the mass was filled up with boulders, which appeared to have undergone some shaping process. The whole, though there was no mortar to join the blocks, was compact and firm. The figure of a bird, carved in wood, crowned the top of the pyramid, which was ridged like the roof of a house. Near it lay part of a stone carving of a fish. This pile formed only part of the side of a large square, walled and paved with stone. Near to it were several smaller erections, on wooden pillars, which were supposed to be altars, as offer ings of provisions to their gods were placed upon them. This magnificent Morai belonged to Oberea, one of the chief women of the island, whom previous visitors had taken for its queen. Poor Oberea, who showed kindly attentions to our explorers, had, it seems, " come down in the world : " an invasion of her territories by neighbouring savages having despoiled her of her goods, and thereby injured her position in the country as to rank ; just as, some centuries ago, there was in England a duke — George Nevill, Duke of Bedford — who was ?««-duked on account of his poverty.

Towards the end of April the fort, at which English and natives had wrought with such good will, was completed, and, for its purpose, was a place of considerable strength. On two sides there was an earthwork, four and a-half feet high, with a ditch at foot, towards the country, ten feet broad and six deep. To the west, an earthwork, four feet high, with strong stakes driven in at top, sufficed, as the tide flowed up to its base. The east, as the weakest point, had, in addition to two rows of water-casks full of water, a couple of four-pounders ; whilst six swivel guns were placed so as to oppose all attack from the direction of the woods in that quarter. The ship's guns commanded the whole. Five-and-forty men garrisoned the entrenchments, which were guarded, in regular military fashion, with sen tries, formally " relieved " from time to time.

The shore life of the little party would have been veiy pleasant but for the flies, of which there was a very " plague," blessed with such appetites that, in addition to feasting upon the persons of our navigators, which ought to have satisfied moderate flies, they act"-*lly ate the colours off" the draughtsman's drawings ?s fa^c as he laid them on. VIEW OF TAHITI.

Chapter II

Tahiti and its People. THE island of Otaheite, or Tahiti, where Cook and his companions remained three months, is the largest of the group known as the Society Islands, lying in about the centre of the South Pacific Ocean. It is hilly, and well wooded ; the soil fertile, and well watered. Its produce was found to be bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, excellent bananas, plantains, sweet potatoes, yams, sugar-cane, with many other vegetables and fruits, which, growing of themselves, or with the least possible trouble on the part of the natives, rendered the inhabitants very lazy. Dogs, which they ate, pigs, and poultry, were among their possessions ; they could have very good fish for the catching ; and in this art their adroitness was remarkable, their implements singularly effective. The inhabitants were tall, and well-made, with olive complexions, dark hair, rather flat noses, and, generally, beautiful, expressive eyes.

Possessing, like the rest of the world, a fair share of personal vanity, some of the more aristocratic among the men would shut themselves up for a month or two, eating bread-fruit only, and perspiring, in that hot climate, beneath a great heap of clothing, solely for the purpose of making themselves fair. The men wore their hair long, either flowing, or tied in a bunch on the top of the head, with a feather stuck upright in it. At times the hair was supplemented by a rather ludicrous wig. The women had theirs cut short. The dress of both consisted of a scanty allow ance of cloth or matting of their own manufacture : the former too fragile to bear rain. For head gear, little bonnets of matting or cocoa-nut leaves were worn, made in a few minutes, as wanted, and then thrown away. The women had turbans, and head-dresses of human hair, plaited in fine strands, and wound thickly around the head.

Ear-rings were used both by men and women, but in one ear only. They consisted of stone, berries, shells, pearls ; but the beads of the new-comers soon drove native ornaments of this kind out of fashion. Their bodies — men and women alike — were abundantly tattooed. And, for this special decoration, " Pride must abide " might well have been taken as a motto : the various lines and devices indelibly traced upon their much-enduring skins being produced by striking into them a little instru ment, shaped something like a hoe, and having teeth like a saw (only straight instead of slanting), charged with home made lamp-black. This process of beautifying was, un luckily for the patient, a very slow one. But then the satisfaction arising from it afterwards ! The simple dwellings of these people were erected in the grateful shade of their groves of bread-fruit and cocoa nuts ; the absence of underwood in the forests rendering them airy as well as cool.

A native house of those days formed an oblong square, its ridged roof, with projecting eaves to within a few feet of the ground, being supported upon three rows of posts, one on each side, the third in the middle of the building. Palm leaves served for thatch, and the floor, strewn some inches deep with hay, over which mats were laid, was their seat by day, and their bed by night ; though in some houses the master of the family had the distinguished honour of a stool all to himself. Small hollowed blocks of wood were used to support the head, as we see them in Egyptian antiquities. Dwellings on a less scale, for the sole use of a chief and his wife, were made so that they could be carried about like tents ; and, instead of being open to all the breezes of heaven, were walled with cocoa-nut leaves.

As is always the case in hot countries, vegetable food was chiefly eaten by the people of Tahiti. Pork was the dish of honour here, and when a chief killed a hog, it was duly shared among his numerous attendants, whose portions were at times but small ones, by reason of the meat having to be divided among so many. The mode of dressing hog or dog was appetising. The roast, first prepared by singe ing and scraping off the bristles or hair with a shell, was placed in a shallow pit, previously heated with burning wood, with which stones were placed in layers, in order to retain the heat. Some of the stones were laid beneath, others over the meat, green leaves being placed between it and them ; and the whole, covered close with earth, was left for between three and four hours, when the oven was opened, and the food found excellently cooked, even to a European palate.