Voyage in Search of La Pérouse

Front matter

IN SEARCH OF

PERFORMED BY ORDER OF

THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY,

Chapter I

In Search Of

Departure from Brest—Arrival at St. Croix, in the Island of Teneriffe—Journey to the Peak of Teneriffe—Resuscitation of a Sailor who had been drowned—Some daring Robbers carry off his Clothes—Two of our Naturalists are attacked with a Spitting of Blood, which obliges them to give up their Design of Proceeding to the Summit of the Peak—English Vessels in the Road of St. Croix—Different Results from the Observations made in Order to determine the Variations of the Needle—New Eruption of a Volcano to the South-east of the Peak.

August, 1791.

The equipment of the two vessels appointed for the voyage which we were about to undertake being already in a state of great forwardness, towards the close of the month of August, we received orders from General Dentrecasteaux to repair to Brest. I had the pleasure of travelling thither in the company of three persons engaged in the same expedition, namely, the Citizens Riche, Beaupré, and Pierson.

We arrived at Brest on the 10th of September. Some of the finest ships in the French navy, such as the Majestueux, the Etats de Bourgogne, the America, &c. were then in the harbour.

While our astronomers were engaged in making the observations necessary for determining the movements of our time-keepers, those who designed to make Natural History the principal object of their attention were employed in furnishing themselves with all the requisites for preparing the collections, which they purposed to make in the unknown countries we were about to visit.

As it was my intention to devote myself chiefly to the observation of the vegetable kingdom, I stood in need of a great quantity of paper, and wished to provide myself with some of a very large size. It was, however, not without great difficulty that I was able to procure twenty-two reams; almost all that remained in the warehouses having been lately appropriated to the service of the artillery.

I employed a part of the time that I had at my own disposal in examining the botanical garden, which is kept in very good order. There is also, in this place, a small cabinet of natural history, which contains everal anatomical preparations preented to it by Citizen Joannet, urgeon of the Eperance.

The muter of our crews took place in the harbour on the 21t of September.

The veels went into the road-tead on the 25th. There were then no foreign hips there, and very few French.

We were very heavily laden, o that when we et ail our draught was thirteen feet nine inches at the tern, and twelve feet ten inches at the head.

There were on board the Recherche: 6 eight pounders; 2 carronades of thirty-fix; 6 pedereroes of half a pound; 12 pedereroes of ix ounces; 45 mukets; 35 pitols; 50 abres: 30 battle-axes, and 10 epingoles.

The Eperance was provided with nearly the ame means of defence, which were ufficient to ecure us againt any violence that might be attempted by avages.

Both veels were furnihed with a great tore of commodities intended to be ditributed amongt the natives of the South-eas. Iron tools, and tuffs of different colours, epecially red, formed the bais of our bartering tock.

Each of the veels was tored with proviions ufficient for the conumption of eighteen months, We now only waited for a favourable wind to et ail. A pretty freh breeze pringing up from the eat, enabled us to get under way about one o'clock in the afternoon of the 28th of September. Soon after we had left the roads, we dicovered two ailors and a cabin-boy, who being very deirous of going on this expedition, and having been diappointed in their wih to be included in our crew, had concealed themelves in the hip. As we had carcely room ufficient for the men already on board, our Commander gave orders to tack about and make for the roads of Bertheaume, where our three unbidden guets were et on hore.

The Eperance, having met with no uch interruption, had got coniderably a-head of us, but we came up with her before night, as our veel was a much better ailer.

At taking our departure at ix in the evening, we found our place to be 48° 13′ N. lat. 7° 16′ E. long.

We et the oueant at N. 2° W. of the compas.

The bec de la chevre at S.E. 4° E.

The bec du raz at S. 2° E.

Point Mathieu was then at the ditance of 2,505 toies.

We now teered our coure E.N.E. till towards midnight, when we directed it right eat.

On the 29th, our Commander Dentrecateaux was informed, by dipatches which he had orders not to open before we were in the main ea, that Major Huon Kermandec, Commander of the Eperance, was advanced to the rank of pot-captain (capitaine de vaieau), and himelf to that of rear-admiral (contre-amiral). This intelligence was immediately conveyed by the peaking-trumpet to the Eperance, and our flags were hoited with the ditinctive enigns of the rank conferred upon the Commander.

We again dicovered two marines, and a cabin-boy, who were not inrolled among our crew, and had kept themelves till now concealed in the hip. As we were already too far from the land to et them on hore, the Commander permitted them to accompany us on our expedition.

Having made everal ea-voyages before the preent, I had flattered myelf that I was too eaoned a ailor to be any more incommoded by the motion of the veel; but I found that I had already entirely lot this qualification, for I was ea-ick during the firt three days after our ailing from Bret. I have had frequent opportunities in the coure of this voyage of remarking, that a very hort tay upon hore is ufficient to render me anew uceptible of icknes from the mo- tion of the veel; for whenever we have put out to ea, after having lain a hort time at anchor, I have always been diordered for two or three days as much as I was after our departure from Bret. The ailors advie one, in thee caes, to endeavour to eat, notwithtanding the loathing of food that always accompanies this diorder. But this piece of advice it is very difficult to follow; for beides the pain produced by the action of wallowing, the preence of food in the tomach increaes the nauea, and the vomiting that upervenes is till more ditreing.

Diluting liquors, taken in mall quantities at a time, o as not to burden the tomach, have always afforded me the mot relief. Lukewarm water, nightly weetened with ugar, is the drink which I have generally ued, as it is the eaiet to be procured at ea.

We had, however, everal perons on board, who, though they had never been at ea before, experienced not the mallet inconvenience from the toing of the hip. Such a contitution is very deirable for thoe who undertake long voyages; for it is impoible to decribe the diagreeable enations that attend this pamodic affection, which, as it operates upon every part of the frame, produces uch a general depreion of its powers, that life would be inupportable, were it not for the hope of a peedy termination of the diorder.

From the day of our etting ail, to the 5th of October, we had light breezes, that varied between the north and eat points of the compas. From that time to our arrival at Teneriffe, they blew pretty freh, varying between the north and north-eat. This alteration in the tate of the wind gave us no mall uneaines, as in our ituation it might become productive of the mot fatal conequences. Lumbered as we were in every part of the veel, and drawing coniderably above the load-water line, we ran the rik of being overet by a udden quall: beides, the towage had been very negligently performed. In this diorderly tate we had ailed from France, although the expedition had been decreed by the National Aembly almot eight months before it took place.

On the 11th of October, about fifty-five minutes after ten o'clock, we oberved an eclipe of the moon. The obervations that can be taken at ea, lead to no very accurate reults. Citizen Willaumez, however, concluded, from one which he took, that we were now in the longitude of 18° 19′ 45″ W. On the 12th, about eight in the morning, the Eperance intimated to us by a ignal, that land was epied.

Towards noon we reckoned ourelves to be at the ditance of about 71,800 toies from the peak of Teneriffe, which bore S.E.S. raiing its head majetically above the clouds.

At the cloe of the evening we were not more than about 10,260 toies ditant from the north-eat point of the iland. We hifted with the fore and main top-fails every three hours, whilt we expected the dawn. As oon as it appeared, we made towards the iland, coating along at the ditance of 500 toies.

About half an hour after nine in the morning, we cat anchor in the road of St. Croix, in a muddy bottom of black and, about fifteen toies in depth.

The French Conul, Citizen Fontpertuis, waited immediately upon our Commander, with an offer of his ervices in furnihing us with whatever we might want for the proecution of our expedition.

I went on hore in the afternoon, to take a view of the environs of the town. Although the eaon was coniderably advanced, the reflection of the rays of the un from the volcanic tones, produced a degree of heat that was the more oppreive as the air was perfectly calm.

I oberved among the plants that grow in the neighbourhood of St. Croix, a woody pecies of balm, known by botanits under the name of melia fruticoa, alo the accharum teneriffæ, the cacalia kleinia, the datura metel, the chryanthemum frutecens, &c. Some of the gardens were ornamented with the beautiful tree termed poinciana pulcherrima.

In the evening, Citizen Ely, being truck with the groteque appearance of ome of the women in the town, who, even during the greatet heat of the eaon, wear long cloaks of very coare woollen tuffs, was employed in drawing a ketch of one of them, when he was uddenly interrupted by a entinel, who imagined him to be taking a plan of the harbour. It was in vain that he attempted to explain to him what his draught was intended to repreent: the oldier would not uffer him to finih it.

As we had anchored too cloe to another mall veel, we cat an anchor in the afternoon nearer to the hore, by which we kept ourelves at a convenient ditance.

The bearings we took at this place gave us the following reults:

The redoubt on the north ide of the town, N.N.E. 4° E.

The great tower ituated about the middle of the town, E.S.E.

At un-rie each of the forts returned our alute of nine guns with an equal number. On the noon of the preceding day, we had aluted the town with fifteen, as it returned us gun for gun.

A packet-boat from Spain cat anchor to-day in the road-tead.

We had agreed to take a journey to the peak on the morrow, and ubequently to viit the other high mountains of the iland in ucceion. The French Conul very obligingly did all that was in his power, to facilitate the execution of our deign, and gave us letters of recommendation to M. de Cologant, a very repectable merchant, reident at Orotava.

About four o'clock the next morning, our party aembled upon the Mole to the number of eight; namely, Develle, one of the officers of our hip, Piron, Dechamps, Lahaye, and myelf, with three ervants, one of whom undertood the Spanih language, and erved as our interpreter. We found the mules that were to carry us at the ea-ide; but it was more than an hour before we could et out upon our journey, it being no eay matter to aemble our guides, ome of whom, knowing that we could not et off without them, made no cruple of letting us wait till they choe to make their appearance. When they had arrived we thought we hould be able immediately to proceed, but we were obliged to expotulate with them a long time, before they could be induced to carry the mall tock of necearies that we took with us upon our expedition.

The reader will recollect that our hips were o plentifully tored with proviions, that one might have thought we were going to ail to ome deert country. Roel, who had the charge of the officers' table, had given orders to the cook to end us an excellent almon-pie for our journey. I hould not have mentioned o trivial a circumtance, had it not been for the ake of the contrat which it affords with the worm-eaten bicuits and cheee, that were our uual regale whilt we remained on hore, in the ubequent part of our expedition.

Mon. de Cologant having been informed by the French Conul of our intended journey, invited us to come to his houe at the harbour of Orotava. This port, which is not more than about 15,390 toies ditant from St. Croix, is a very convenient baiting-place for thoe who viit the peak; it being ituated at the foot of the nearet mountains of the chain to which it belongs.

We were three hours before we arrived at Laguna. This town is only 5,130 toies ditant from St. Croix; but the road thither is very fatiguing, as it acends for the greater part of the way. The place is meanly built, and very thinly inhabited. We were informed that at leat one half of its inhabitants conits of monks.

On our way to Laguna we paed over ome barren mountains, which were covered with a variety of plants of a luxurious growth. Amongt others we noticed the euphorbia canarienis, the euphorbia dendroides, the cacalia kleinia, the cachis opuntia, &c. Thee plants, as they derive their nourihment almot entirely from the atmophere, thrive very well in pite of the terility of the abrupt precipices on which they grow. When we decended into the mall plain on which the town tands, we remarked that the mould produced from the corruption of the vegetables, and wahed down from the urrounding mountains by the rain, anwers a very ueful purpoe in fertilizing this little pot of ground, o that it yields abundance of corn, Indian wheat, millet, and other eculent plants.

I here oberved a pecies of the periploca, which I had formerly dicovered during my travels in the Levant. I have given an account of it in the econd decade of my decription of the plants of Syria, under the appellation of periploca angutifolia. Citizen Desfontaines has likewie collected ome of the ame pecies upon the coats of Barbary.

All the tones that we had hitherto een in thee regions appeared to have undergone the action of fire. As the mountains of this chain that are of the mean elevation conit of large maes, that after being fued mut have retained a great degree of heat for a coniderable length of time; I expected to find the lavas very compact in their texture. My conjecture was confirmed. Their grain is very fine, and their colour for the mot part a deep brown.

Surrounded with thee volcanic remains, we found the heat very oppreive, which appeared to incommode our guides much more than ourelves; o that they exerted all their powers of peruaion in order to prevail upon us to make halt during the day, and only travel in the night-time. They probably imagined that our ole aim was to ee the ummit of the peak, and everal of our company would have had no very great objections againt our journey being conducted upon that plan. But it is eay to uppoe that uch a nocturnal ramble could not promie much advantage to thoe whoe object of puruit was the tudy of natural hitory.

The inhabitants of the iland are beet with religious prejudices from their earliet infancy. The children came running out of their habitations to enquire if we were of their religion; and we contented ourelves with commierating the unfortunate beings, upon whom monkih bigotry and intolerance exert with unbounded rigour their pernicious way.

Mot of the garden-walls in the country beyond Laguna, are ornamented with the beautiful plant called trichomanes canariene.

As we approached Orotava, our road led us down a very gentle declivity. We aw no more uch barren mountains as in the vicinity of St. Croix, where the luxuriance of the vegetable kingdom is only an indication of the terility of the oil; but verdant banks covered with vineyards, the produce of which contitutes the chief wealth of the iland. The hrub termed boca yervamora grows here in low ituations.

At five o'clock in the evening we arrived at Orotava, where we were received by M. de Cologant, in the mot hopitable manner.

Two veels, an Englih and a Dutch, were then at anchor in the road-tead, in order to take in a cargo of wine. The landing-place here is much more difficult of acces than that at St. Croix, on which account this harbour is les frequented.

M. de Cologant's wine-vaults were an object well worthy of our attention; as the wines of the iland are the principal commodity in which this opulent merchant trades.

Amongt the different kinds of wine which they contain, there are two orts that have qualities very ditinct from each other; namely, the ack, or dry wine, and that which is commonly known by the name of malmey. In the preparation of the latter, care is taken to concentrate its accharine principle as much as poible.

The price of the bet wine was then 120 piatres per pipe, and that of the inferior ort 60 piatres. It is neceary however to remark, that I here peak only of the price at which it is old to trangers; for the ame wine which they buy at 60 piatres the pipe, is old to the inhabitants of the iland for ix and thirty.

When the fermentation of thee wines has proceeded to a certain length, it is the cutom to mix with them a coniderable quantity of brandy, which renders them o heady, that many perons are unable to drink them, even in very moderate quantity, without feeling diagreeable effects upon the nervous ytem from this admixture.

We were aured that the iland generally yields thirty thouand pipes of wine in a year. As it does not produce a ufficient quantity of corn for the conumption of the inhabitants, a part of the produce of the wines, which are old to trangers as Madeira wine (and indeed they differ very little from it in quality), is expended in the purchae of this indipenably neceary article of utenance.

Although the olive thrives very well in this iland, it is very little cultivated. The different pecies of the palm-tree that are to be met with in ome of the gardens, are cultivated only for curioity.

We had been aured, before our departure from St. Croix, that we hould find the ummit of the peak already covered with now. I had not thought it neceary to take a barometer with me at etting out; but I found at Orotava that I had been led into a mitake; and there I was unable to procure this intrument of obervation.

We purpoed to proceed very early the next morning on our journey. But that happened to be a fetival day, and our guides could not be peruaded to et out before they had heard mas; ome of them had even heard three already: as for us, we waited for them with the mot impatient olicitude, when our uneaine was redoubled by being informed that we ought to conider it as a very great indulgence if they would agree to travel at all on o high a fetival. They were, however, at length ready to accompany us, about nine o'clock in the forenoon.

Having left the town, we purued a track that often led us up very teep acents, from whence we oberved enormous maes of mountains piled one upon the other, and forming a ort of amphitheatre round the bae of the peak. On their brows we frequently met with level pots that erved us for reting-places, where, after having fatigued ourelves with climbing up the rugged paths, we topped for a hort time to take breath, and acquire freh courage for acending the higher mountains.

Our guides were atonihed to oberve that ome of us choe to go on foot, contrary to the cutom of the greater part of thoe who make the tour of the peak; and inceantly admonihed us to ride upon the mules which they led along with them.

After having paed through ome fine planta- tions of vines, we found ourelves urrounded with chenut-trees, which cover the mot elevated regions of thee mountains.

In the clefts between the mountains, I oberved the polipodium virginicum, and everal pecies of the laurel that were new to me, amongt the ret the laura indica of Linnæus.

Although we purpoed to perform our journey within a pace of not many days, we ought to have provided ourelves with a larger tock of hoes; for even the tronget oles were oon ground to pieces by the lava on which we walked.

It was near noon when we arrived at the height of the clouds, which pread a thick dew over the bruh-wood through which our road led us.

One hould think that the abundance of rain which falls upon thee heights, in conequence of the natural propenity of the atmophere, mut give rie to a great number of prings. They are, nevertheles, very rare; as the earth is not ufficiently attenuated to retain the water, which filtrating through the volcanic oil, dicharges itelf, for the greater part, into the ocean, without collecting into regular treams.

As oon as we had urmounted thee thick clouds, we enjoyed a pectacle beautiful beyond conception. The clouds heaped up below us appeared blended with the ditant ocean, and concealed the iland from our ight. The ky above us formed a vault of the mot tranparent azure, whilt the peak appeared like an inulated mountain placed in the midt of a vat expane of waters.

Soon after we had left the clouds beneath us, I oberved a phenomenon, which I had formerly had occaion to remark, during my tay amongt the high mountains of Keroan in Natolia. It was with new urprie that I aw the outlines of my figure, delineated in all the beautiful tints of the rainbow, upon the clouds below me, ituated oppoite to the un.

The decompoition of the rays of the un, by contact with the urfaces of bodies, affords a very atisfactory explanation of this plendid phenomenon. It exemplifies, upon a large cale, a fact well known to natural philoophers; namely, that when the rays of the un are made to pas through a mall hole in the window-hutter of a darkened chamber, o as to fall upon any object within it, they repreent the outlines of the object in all the various colours of the rainbow, by being collected with a prim and thrown upon a white heet of paper.

We now had to cros a prodigious heap of pumice-tones, amongt which we oberved very few vegetables, and thoe in a very languihing condition. The partium was the only hrub that could upport itelf in thee elevated regions. It was very troubleome walking upon this volcanic oil, as we unk into it up to the middle of the leg. We found ome blocks of pozzolana paringly cattered among the pumice-earth.

At nine o'clock in the evening we took up our abode for the night in the midt of the lava. Some large fragments that we found, were our only helter againt the eat wind, which blew with coniderable violence. The cold was very intene at this height, where nature has not conulted the convenience of travellers, as very little wood is found here; o that the canty fuel that we were able to collect, was not ufficient to prevent us from paing a very unpleaant night.

The day at length began to dawn. We left ome of our guides with their mules at the place where we had pent the night, and proceeded on our journey to the peak, which we were now in hate to accomplih.

We continued, for the pace of an hour, to travel over large heaps of fragments of a greyih coloured lava, amongt which ome blocks of pozzolana were cattered, as alo huge maes of a very compact blackih glas, which bore a great reemblance to the coare glas of bottles. This glas, though formed in the vat crucibles of the mountains at the time of their combution, might become very ueful in the arts; for being already completely manufactured by the hand of nature, it would only require to be expoed to the action of the fire in order to fue it anew, and render it uceptible of being moulded into all the forms that the hand of man is able to give to it.

We arrived at the mouth of a cavern called la queve del ana, the orifice of which is full four feet and a half in diameter. As its cavity runs for a length of more than ix feet in an almot horizontal direction, we were not able to reach the bottom otherwie than by decending into it with the help of a rope. We found that it contained water, the urface of which, as was to have been expected at this height, was covered with ice about an inch and a half thick. We immediately made a hole in the ice, and regaled ourelves with ome excellent water. I did not feel any of thoe diagreeable enations in the throat, which I have often experienced on the French Alps, from drinking the water which iues from the foot of the Glaciers; although the cold of the water in this cavern was one degree lower than that generally indicated by the water of the Glaciers, for upon plunging a thermometer into it, it fell to the freezing point. It eems that the diagreeable pricking enation occaioned by the water of the Glaciers in the internal fauces, aries from its being deprived of its atmopherical air.

The roof of the cavern was covered with crytals of altpetre.

Piron, who had been indipoed for everal days, found himelf o overcome with fatigue as to be unable to proceed any further. Dechamps alo choe to remain with him at the cavern: as for the ret of us, we et forward on our acent to the ummit of the peak.

Having reached its bae, we aw it elevate itelf before us in the hape of a cone, to a prodigious height, forming the crown of the highet of thee mountains. From this pot our view extended over all the ret of the mountains, which eemed to form o many gradations, that mut firt be urmounted before we can arrive at this commanding eminence.

At the place called La Ramblette, ituated on the north-eat ide of the peak, our curioity was excited by ome clefts made in the rock, a few of which were three inches wide; the ret were merely cracks, from which iued an aqueous vapour that had no mell, although the ides of the chinks were covered with crytals of ulphur, hooting out from a very white earth, which appeared to be of an argillaceous nature.

A mercurial thermometer being introduced into one of the clefts, the quickilver roe, in the pace of a minute, to 43° above 0 of Reaumur's cale. In everal of the others it did not rie higher than 30°.

We were now engaged in the mot toilome part of our journey, the acclivity of the peak being exceedingly teep. When we had urmounted about a third part of the acent, I made a hole about three inches deep into the earth, from whence an aqueous inodorous vapour iued, and though the heat of the urface of the earth was not greater than it uually is at an equal elevation, upon plunging a thermometer into it the mercury roe to 51° above 0.

The partium upra nubium was the lat hrub that I noticed before we arrived at the foot of the cone; but there is an herbaceous plant which, notwithtanding its apparent delicacy, vegetates even in till higher ituations. I mean a pecies of violet with leaves omewhat elongated, and lightly indented at the edges; its flowering time was already pat. We oberved it to grow quite near to the ummit of the peak.

The vapours of the atmophere not being able to rie to this height, the ky preents itelf in the puret azure, which is more bright and dazzling than what we can ee in the clearet weather of our climates. Though ome cattered clouds hung in the atmophere far below our feet, we had till a very perfect view of the neighbouring ilands.

The cone is terminated by a crater, the greatet elevation of which is on the north-eat ide. Its outh-wet ide has a deep depreion, which eems to have been produced by the inking of the ground.

Near to the top are everal orifices about three inches in diameter, from which a very hot vapour iues, that made Reaumur's thermometer rie to 67° above 0, emitting a ound very like that of the humming of bees. When the now begins to fall on the ummit of the peak in the latter part of the year, that which falls upon thee orifices is oon melted by the heat. The ides of thee holes are adorned with beautiful crytals of ulphur, motly of the form of needles, and ome of them arranged into very regular figures. The action of the ulphuric acid combined with the water, effects uch a change upon the volcanic products of this place, that at firt ight one might mitake them for very white argillaceous earth, that has acquired a high degree of ductility from the moiture contantly iuing from the above-mentioned apertures. It is in this kind of earth that the ulphuric crytals which I have poken of are found.