The life of John Ledyard, the American traveller; comprising selections from his journals and correspondence

Front matter

M

M mil usrary

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Preface

Soon after the death of John Ledyard, the subject of the following memoir, some progress was made in collecting materials for an account of his life, by Dr Isaac Ledyard, then of New York. The biographer's task was never begun, however, and the project was abandoned ; but the papers procured for the purpose have been preserved by the family of Dr Ledyard, and have furnished the facts for much the larger portion of the present narrative. Researches have also been made in other quarters, and important original letters obtained. Particular acknowledgment is due to Mr Henry Seymour, of Hartford, Connecticut, for the aid he has rendered in this respect. All the papers that have been used are entitled to the credit of unquestionable authenticity.

Wherever it could be done, without deviating too much from a regular and proportionate train of events, the traveller has been allowed to speak for himself. His manner of thinking, as well as of acting, was so peculiar, that a true picture of his mind and genius, his motives and feelings, could with difficulty be exhibited in any other way with so much distinctness, as through the medium of his own language. Free and full selections from his letters and journals are interspersed. His

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IV PREFACE.

incessant activity, want of leisure, and few opportunities of practising composition as an art, afford an apology for the imperfections of his style, which the candid -reader will regard in the favorable light it deserves. His diction is never polished, and his words are not always well chosen ; but his ideas are often original, copious, well combined, and forcibly expressed.

In executing this work, the only aim has been to bring together a series of facts which should do justice to the fame and character of a man, who possessed qualities and performed deeds, that rendered him remarkable, and are worthy of being remembered. If the author has been successful in this attempt, he is rewarded for the labor it has cost him.

Chapter I

Birth and parentage. — Early education. — Begins the study of the law. — Enters Dartmouth College with a view to qualify himself to be a missionary among the Indians. — State of the Indian missions at that time. — His fondness for theatrical exhibitions while at College. — Travels among the Indians of the Six Nations. — His return to College, and adventure in visiting a mountain. — Constructs a canoe at Dartmouth College with his own hands, and descends the Connecticut river in it alone to Hartford. — Dangers of the passage. — His singular appearance when he met his friends. — His enterprise compared to that of Mungo Park on the Niger.

Chapter II

Ledyard's singular letter to President Wheelock. — Commences the study of theology. — His embarrassments on this occasion. — Visits several clergymen on Long Island, and pursues Ms studies there for a short time. — Proposes teaching a school. — Returns to Connecticut, and meets with disappointment in his hopes of being settled as a clergyman. — Abandons his purpose of studying divinity. — Sails from New London on a voyage to Gibraltar. — Enlists there as a soldier in the regular service. — Released at the solicitation of the captain of the vessel in which he sailed. — Returns home by way of the Barbary Coast and the West Indies. — Resolves to visit England, and seek for his wealthy family connexions in that country. — Sails from New York to Plymouth. — Travels thence to London in extreme poverty. — Realizes none of his expectations. — Enlists in the naval service. — Gains an acquaintance with Captain Cook, and embarks with him on his last voyage round the world, in the capacity of corporal of marines. . . . . . lt>

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VI CONTENTS.

Chapter III

Ledyard's journal of his voyage with Captain Cook. — Testimony in his favor by Captain Burney. — Sails for the Cape of Good Hope. — Thence to Kerguelen's Islands and the south of New Holland. — Character of the people on Van Diemen's Land. — Present state of the colony there. — Arrives in New Zealand. — Account of the people, their manners and peculiarities. — Remarkable contrasts exhibited in their character. — Love adventure between an English sailor and a New Zealand girl. — Omai, the Otaheitan. — Vessels depart from New Zealand, and fall in with newly discovered islands. — Affecting story of three Otaheitans found on one of them. — Arrival at the Friendly Islands. — People of Tongataboo; — Their condition, mode of living, and amusements. — Ledyard passes a night with the King. — Wrestling and other athletic exercises described. — Fireworks exhibited by Cook. — Propensity of the natives to thieving. — An instance in a chief called Feenou, and the extraordinary measures used to recover the stolen property. — Departure from Tongataboo. 35.

Chapter IV

Society Islands. — Otaheite.— Ledyard's description of the language, customs, religion, laws, and government of the natives. — Their probable faith in the doctrine of transmigration. — Remarks on his mode of reasoning on this subject. — His theory of the origin of customs and superstitions. — Notions of a Deity among the Otaheitans. — Conduct of Omai. — Difficulties attending the efforts to civilize savages. — Sandwich Islands discovered. — The vessels proceed to the American continent, and anchor in Nootka Sound. — Appearance and manners of the people. — Indian wampum. — .The abundance of furs.— Cannibalism. — Curious digression on the origin and practice of sacrifices. — Captain Cook passes Bering's Strait, explores the northern ocean till stopped by the ice, and returns to the island of Onalaska. — Sends Ledyard with two Indians in search of a Russian establishment on the coast. — His account of this adventure. — In what manner he was transported in a canoe. — Village of Russians and Indians. — Hot baths. — Their habitations and manner of living described. — Bering's vessel. — Ledyard returns to the ships, and reports to Captain Cook. — Expedition returns to the Sandwich Islands. 58

CONTENTS. VU

Chapter V

The ships anchored in Kearakekua bay. — 'First interview with the natives. — Reverence with which they regarded Cook. — Tents erected for astronomical observations. — Ceremonies at the meeting of Cook with the old king. — Ledyard forms the project of ascending the high mountain in Hawaii, called by the natives Mouna JRoa. — Description of his ascent, and cause of his ultimate failure. — The natives begin to show symptoms of uneasiness at the presence of the strangers, and to treat them with disrespect. — Offended at the encroachment made on their Morai. — Cook departs from Kearakekua bay, but is compelled to return by a heavy storm, that overtakes him, and injures his ships. — Natives receive him coldly. — They steal one of the ship's boats, which Cook endeavours to recover. — Goes on shore for the purpose. — Is there attacked by the natives and slain. — Ledyard accompanied him on shore, and was near his person when killed. — His description of the event. — Expedition sails for Kamtschatka, explores again the Polar seas, and returns to England. — Ledyard's opinions respecting the first peopling of the South Sea Islands. — Other remarks relating to this subject, founded on the analogy of languages and manners of the people. — Characteristics of Ledyard's journal. — Estimation in which he held Captain Cook, , .87

Chapter VI

Ledyard returns to America. — Interview with his mother after an absence of eight years. — Passes the winter in Hartford, and writes his Journal of Cook's Voyage. — Visits New York and Philadelphia to concert with the merchants a plan of a commercial expedition. — Robert Morris agrees to engage in a trading voyage, under his direction, to the Northwest Coast. — Proceeds to Boston, and afterwards to New London and New York, to procure a vessel for the purpose. — Failure of the enterprise, after a year had been spent in fruitless attempts to carry it into effect. — Letters to his mother. — Makes a trial in New London to enlist the merchants of that place in his scheme. — Was the first to propose a voyage for a mercantile adventure to the Northwest Coast. — Sails for Cadiz. — Letters from that city containing political remarks. — Sails for L'Oiient. — Makes an agreement with a company of merchants there to aid him in such a voyage as he had proposed in America. — After eight months' preparation it is given up.— Goes to Paris. 121

Vlll CONTENTS.

Chapter VII

Meets with Mr. Jefferson at Paris. — Project of a voyage to the Northwest Coast with Paul Jones, for the purpose of establishing a trading factoiy there. — Proposes travelling across the continent from Nootka Sound to the United States. — Thinks of going to Africa with Mr Lamb. — Remarks on Paris, and various objects that came under his notice.— The King at Versailles. — Mr Jefferson and Lafayette.— The Queen at St Cloud. — Application through Baron Grimm to the Empress of Russia, to obtain permission for him to travel across her dominions to Bering's Strait. — Colonel Humphreys. — Contemplates going to Petersburg, before the Empress' answer is received. — Curious anecdote of Sir James Hall. — Visit to the hospitals in Paris. — Tour in Normandy. — Proceeds to London, where he engages a passage on board a vessel just ready to sail for the Northwest Coast. — Colonel Smith's letter to Mr Jay. — The voyage defeated.— r-Resolves anew to go to Russia. — Sir Joseph Banks and other gentlemen contribute funds to aid him in his travels. . 147

Chapter VIII

Ledyard proceeds to Hamburg. — Goes to Copenhagen, where he meets Major Langborn, another American traveller. — Endeavours to persuade Langborn to accompany him in his tour, but in vain. — Continues his route to Sweden, and is disappointed in not being able to cross the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice. — Journey round the Gulf into the Arctic Circle on foot, through Sweden, Lapland, and Finland. — Maupertuis's description of the cold at Tornea.— Arrives at Petersburg, where he is befriended by Professor Pallas and others. — Procures a passport from the Empress, through the agency of Count Segur, the French ambassador. — Sets out for Siberia, and travels by way of Moscow to Kazan, a town on the river Wolga. — Crosses the Uralian Mountains. — Some account of the city of Tobolsk. — Proceeds to Barnaoul and Tomsk. — Descriptions of the country and the inhabitants. — Character and condition of the exiles at Tomsk. — Fossil Bones. — Curious mounds and tombs of the ancient natives. — Arrives at Irkutsk. . . . .171

Chapter IX

Residence at Irkutsk. — Miscellaneous remarks on the inhabitants, and the productions of the country. — Accounts of the Tartars. — Unsuccessful attempts to civilize them. — Fur

CONTENTS. IX

s

trade on the American coast. — Visit to the Lake Baikal. — Further remarks on the character and manners of the Kalmuks and other Tartars. — Leaves Irkutsk for the river Lena. — Scenery around the Baikal. — Rivers flowing into it. — Extraordinary depth of its waters. — They are fresh, but s contain seals, and fish, peculiar to the ocean. — Estimate of the number of rivers in Siberia, and of the quantity of water they pour into the Frozen Ocean. — Ledyard proceeds down the Lena in a bateau. — Romantic scenery along the margin of the river. — Hospitality of the inhabitants. — Ends his voyage at Yakutsk 199

Chapter X

Interview with the Commandant of Yakutsk. — Stopped at this place on account of the advanced state of the season. — His severe disappointment at this event. — Detained under false pretences. — Takes up his residence in Yakutsk for the winter. — Elephants' bones on the banks of the L en a, and in other parts of the country. — General remarks on the various tribes of Tartars in Siberia. — Characteristics of savages in cold and warm climates. — Kalmuks have two modes of writing. — Their manner of living. — The Yakuti Tartars. — Influence of religion upon them. — The love of freedom common to all the Tartars. — Their dwellings. — intermarriages between the Russians and Tartars. — In what degree the color of descendants is affected by such intermarriages. — Peculiarities of features in the Tartar countenance. — Form and use of the Tartar pipe. — Dress. — Difficulty of taking vocabularies of unknown languages. — Marriage ceremonies. — Notions of theology. — Practice cf scalping. — Wampum. — Classification of the Tartars and North American Indians. — Language a criterion forjudging of the affinity between the different races of men. — Causes of the difference of color in the human race. — Tartars and American Indians the same people. . . . . 217

CHAPTER XL

Climate in Siberia. — Extreme cold. — Congelation of quicksilver. — Images in Russian houses. — Attention paid to dogs. — Ice windows. — Jealousy of the Russians. — Moral condition of the Russians in Siberia. — Ledyard's celebrated eulogy on women. — Captain Billings meets him at Yakutsk, on his return from the Frozen Ocean. — Bering's discovery of the strait called after his name — Russian voyages of discovery. — Bering's death. — Russian fur trade. — Billings's expedi-

CONTENTS.

tion. — His incompetency to the undertaking. — His instructions nearly the same as those drawn up by Peter the Great for Bering. — Some of their principal features enumerated. 245

Chapter XII

Ledyard departs from Yakutsk, and returns to Irkutsk up the Lena on the ice. — Is seized by order of the Empress, and hurried off in the charge of two guards. — Returns through Siberia to Kazan. His remarks on the peculiarity of his fate. — Further observations on the Tartars. — No good account of them has ever been written. — Passes Moscow and arrives in Poland. — Left by his guards, with an injunction never to appear again in Russia. — Health much impaired by his sufferings. — Proceeds to Konigsberg, and thence to London. — Inquiry into the motives of the Empress for her cruel treatment of him. — Her pretences of humanity not to be credited. — Her declaration to Count Segur on the subject. — Dr Clarke's explanation incorrect. — The true cause was the jealousy of the Russian American Fur Company, by whose influence his recall was procured from the Empress. — Lafayette's remark on her conduct in this particular 261

CHAPTER XIIL

Interview with Sir Joseph Banks in London. — Engages to travel in Africa under the auspices of the African Association. — Remarkable instance of decision of character. — Letter to Dr Ledyard, containing miscellaneous particulars respecting his travels and circumstances. — Description of his Siberian dresses. — Origin and purposes of the African Association. — Ancient and present state of Africa. — Benefits of discoveries in that continent. — Letter from Ledyard to his mother. — His remarks to Mr Beaufoy on his departure for Egypt. — Visits Mr Jefferson and Lafayette in Paris. — Sails from Marseilles to Alexandria in Egypt. — Description of Alexandria, in a letter to Mr Jefferson. — Arrives in Cairo. — Description of the city, and of his passage up the Nile 276

Chapter XIV

Remarks on the appearance of the countiy in passing up the Nile. — Condition of a Christian at Cairo. — Interview with the Aga. — Miscellaneous observations on the customs of

CONTENTS. XI

the Arabs, and other races of people found in Cairo. — Information respecting the interior of Africa. — Visit to the caravans and slave markets. — The traveller's reflections on his condition and prospects. — His last letter to Mr Jefferson. — Joins a caravan and prepares to, depart for Sennaar. — He is taken suddenly ill. — His death. — Account of his person and character. . 294

THE

LIFE AND TRAVELS

OF

JOHN LEDYARD.

Chapter I

Birth and parentage.— Early education. — Begins the study of the l aw . — Enters Dartmouth College with a view to qualify himself to he a missionary among the Indians. — State of the Indian missions at that time. — His fondness for theatrical exhibitions while at College. — Travels among the Indians of the Six Nations. — His return to College, and adventure in visiting a mountain. Constructs a canoe at Dartmouth College with his own hands, and descends the Connecticut river in it alone to Hartford. — Dangers of the passage. — His singular appearance when he met his friends. — His enterprise compared to that of Mungo Park on the Niger.

John Ledyard, the celebrated traveller, was born in the year 1751, at Groton, in Connecticut, a small village on the bank of the river Thames, opposite to New London. The place of his birth is but a few hundred yards from Fort Griswold, so well known in the history of the American revolution.

His grandfather, named also John Ledyard, came in early life to America, and settled at Southold, Long Island, as a small trader in dry goods. He was a native of Bristol, England, and had been bred a merchant in London. Being prosperous in business at Southold, he was soon married to a lady of 1 amiable qualities and good fortune, the daughter of Judge Young, a gentleman of character and influence in that place. From Southold he removed to Groton, where he purchased an estate, and resided many years. He had ten children, and after the death of his wife he removed to Hartford, in Connecticut, and there spent the remainder of his life. For his second wife he married Mrs Ellery, a respectable widow lady of Boston.

To his eldest son, who had the same name as himself, he gave the estate at Groton. He was a sea captain, engaged in the West India trade, a man of sound understanding, vigorous constitution, and industrious habits. But he died at the age of thirty-five, leaving a widow and four children, three sons and one daughter, of whom the subject of this memoir was the eldest. Colonel William Ledyard, the brave commander in the memorable action of Fort Griswold, who was slain after the capitulation, was the second son.

It thus appears, that John Ledyard, the traveller, was the third of that name in lineal descent. His mother, who was the daughter of Robert Hempsted of Southold, has been described as a lady of many excellencies of mind and character, beautiful in person, well informed, resolute, generous, amiable, kind, and above all eminent for piety and the religious virtues. Such a mother is the best gift of Heaven to a family of helpless young children. In the present instance all her courage and all her strength of character were necessary, to carry her through the duties and trials, which devolved upon her. The small estate, which had belonged to her husband in Groton, was, by some strange neglect of her friends, or criminal fraud never yet explained, taken from her soon after his death. During a visit to Long Island, the deed, which she had left with a confidential person, disappeared. As this deed was the only evidence of her title to the property, and her claim could not he substantiated without it, the whole reverted to its former owner, her husband's father, who was still living. The particulars of this transaction are not now known, nor is it necessary to inquire into them. It is enough to state the fact, that such an event occurred, -and that the widowed mother with four infant children was thus thrown destitute upon the world. In this condition she and her children repaired to the house of her father in Southold, where they found protection and support. The estate at Groton afterwards fell into the hands of Colonel William Ledyard.

It may be supposed, that misfortune did not weaken her parental solicitude, nor make her neglectful of her high trust. The education of her children was the absorbing object of her thoughts and exertions. Her eldest son was now of an age to receive impressions, that would become deeply wrought into his mind, and give a decided bias to his future character. In the marked features of his eventful life, eccentric and extraordinary as it was, full of temptations, crosses, and sufferings, may often be traced lineaments of virtues, and good impulses, justly referred to such a source, to the early cares and counsels of a judicious, sensible, and pious mother. Nor were these counsels scattered in a vacant mind, nor these cares wasted on a cold heart ; in his severest disappointments and privations, in whatever clime or among whatever people, whether contending with the fierce snows of Siberia, or the burning sands of Africa, the image of his mother always came with a beam of joy to his soul, and was cherished there with delight. Such of his letters to her, as have been preserved, are written with a tenderness of filial affection, that could flow only from an acute sensibility and a good heart.

A few years after leaving Groton, and settling at Southold, Mrs Ledyard was married to a second husband, Dr Moore of the latter place. At this time her son John was taken into the family of his grandfather at Hartford, who, from that period, seems to have considered him as wholly under his charge. Tradition tells of peculiarities in his manners and habits at this early age, of acts indicating the bent of his genius, and the romantic disposition, that gave celebrity to his after life. But no record of his schoolboy adventures has come down to us, and we are left to conjecture in what manner the wild spirits of a youth like his would exhibit themselves. He attended the grammar school in Hartford, it is to be presumed, with commendable proficiency, since he was at first designed for the profession of the law. Several months were passed by him as a student in the office of Mr Thomas Seymour, a respectable lawyer of that place, who had married his aunt. Meantime his grandfather died, and Mr Seymour became his guardian, and took him to his own house. Whether Ledyard turned his thoughts to the law by his voluntary choice, or by the advice and wishes of his friends, who desired to quiet his temper, by fixing him in some settled pursuit, is not related ; most probably the latter, for it was soon manifest, that neither the profound wisdom, the abstruse learning, nor the golden promises of the law, had any charms for him. It was decided without reluctance on his part, therefore, that he should leave the path, which he had found so intricate, and in which he had made so little progress, and enter upon one more congenial to his inclination, and presenting objects more attractive to his taste and fancy- Here was a difficult point to be determined.

The pursuit, which would accord best with the propensities, temperament, and wishes of John Ledyard, and best promote his future usefulness and success, was a thing not to be decided, even at that time of his life, by the common rules of judging in such cases; it was a preliminary, which no one probably would have been more perplexed than himself to establish- Never was he accustomed to look forward with unwavering predilections, to prepare for contingencies, or to mark out a course from which he would not stray. To be seeking some distant object, imposing and attractive in his own conceptions, and to move towards it on the tide of circumstances, through perils and difficulties, were among the chief pleasures of his existence. On enterprises, in which no obstacles were to be encountered, no chances to be run, no disappointments to be apprehended, no rewards of hazardous adventure to be looked for, he bestowed not a thought ; but let a project be started, thickly beset with dangers, and promising success only through toils and sufferings, deeds of courage, and the resolute efforts of an untiring spirit, and not a man would grasp at it so eagerly, or pursue it with so much intenseness of purpose. The wholesome maxim of providing for the morrow rarely found a place in his ethics or his practice ; and as he never allowed himself to anticipate misfortunes, so he never took any pains to guard against them.

He was now at the age of nineteen, with very 1*

6 LIFE OF JOHN LEDYAK0.

narrow means, few friends, and no definite prospects. In this state of his affairs, as it was necessary for something to be done, he was compelled to look around him, and for a moment to exercise that foresight, which the tenor of his life proves him to have been so reluctant on most occasions to call to his aid. And, after all, he was more indebted to accident, than to his own deliberations, for the immediate events, that awaited him. Dr Wheelock, the amiable and pious founder of Dartmouth College, had been the intimate friend of his grandfather, and prompted by the remembrance of this tie, he invited Ledyard to enter his institution, recently established at Hanover, New Hampshire, amidst the forests on the banks of the Connecticut river. This offer was accepted, and in the spring of 1772, he took up his residence at this new seat of learning, with the apparent intention of qualifying himself to become a missionary among the Indians.

His mother's wishes and advice had probably much influence in guiding him to this resolution. In accordance with the religious spirit of that day, she felt a strong compassion for the deplorable state of the Indians, and it was among her earliest and fondest hopes of this her favorite son, that he would be educated as a missionary, and become an approved instrument in the hands of Providence to bring these degraded and suffering heathen to the knowledge of a pure religion, and the blessings of civilized life. When she saw this door opened for the realizing of her hopes, and her son placed under the charge of the most eminent laborer of his clay in the cause of the Indians, her joy was complete.

From the first settlement of the country, much zeal and much disinterested philanthropy have been

LIFE OF JOHN LEDYAED. 7

exercised, in attempts to convert the Indians to Christianity, and induce them to adopt the manners and participate the comforts of civilized men. Eliot (rightly named the Apostle of the Indians), and the Mayhews, are entitled to the praises, which succeeding times have bestowed upon them ; and the efforts of the Society in Great Britain for propagating the Gospel in foreign parts, were prompted by motives of the noblest kind, and were bestowed with an ardor and with sacrifices, that demand a generous tribute from the pen of history, and the grateful remembrance of posterity. For many years little had been done, however, till the popular talents and fervent zeal of David Brainerd caused the journals of his missionary tours to be read throughout the country, his labors applauded, and his success regarded as an evidence of the great work, that, might be wrought by the use of proper means.

About this time the Reverend Eleazer Wheelock, who was then a settled clergyman in Lebanon, Connecticut, formed the scheme of an Indian School, which should have the double object of preparing young preachers for the missionary field, and of educating Indian youth, who should return to their tribes, and become teachers among their own people. Without show or ostentation Dr Wheelock commenced the school at his own house, and almost at his own charge. He began with two pupils, one of whom was Sampson Occum, an Indian of the Mohegan tribe, afterwards so much celebrated as a preacher, and for his instructions to the Indians. The school gradually increased, and so benevolent an undertaking, pursued with such singleness of purpose, could not fail to attract public notice and approbation. He was aided by contributions from g LIFE OF JOHN LEDYARD.

individuals, and the province of Massachusetts voted to pay, for a certain time, the expense of educating six Indian children. Mr Joshua Moor, who owned lands in Lebanon, gave a portion of them for the benefit of this school, and from this circumstance, the seminary for the education of Indian boys, afterwards attached to Dartmouth College, was called. Moor's Indian School.

But Dr Wheelock still found, that pupils from the forest flocked- to him faster, than he could provide for them. He thought it now time to adopt the expedient of sending to England, and soliciting assistance from the wealthy and charitable on the other side of the water. For this object Sampson Occum, and another clergyman, were sent out as agents, furnished with testimonials of their character, and certificates of approbation from eminent persons in the colonies. Occum was looked upon as a wonder in England. He was the first Indian preacher from North America, that ever had been seen in the Old World ; wherever he went, crowds gathered around him, and it has been the lot of few speakers to address audiences so thronged. A North American Indian in a pulpit, eloquently preaching in the English tongue, was a phenomenon too nearly miraculous to pass unseen or unheard. It was said, moreover, that he exhibited in his person and character, a practical example of what might be done with Indians, when fairly brought under the influence of instruction. All this was highly favorable to the great ends of the mission, and in a few months a subscription was obtained, and money paid to the amount of nearly ten thousand pounds. The king gave two hundred pounds, and several gentlemen one hundred each. The money was deposited in the hands of trustees in England, and drawn out as occasion required.. With this addition to his resources, Dr Wheelock began to think of enlarging the plan of his school, and removing nearer to the frontiers, both to diminish the expense of living, and to be nearer the Indians. After examining several situations, he selected Hanover, then almost a wilderness, to which place he removed in 1770, cut away the trees, and erected the institution^ which he called Dartmouth College, in honor of Lord Dartmouth, who had manifested zeal and liberality in collecting the Indian fund in England.