[Footnote 102: An interesting enough subject for enquiry is here started. We shall, in another part of our work, have to give it some attention.—E.]

SECTION XXXV.

The Passage from New Guinea to the Island of Semau, and the Transactions there.[103]

[Footnote 103: It is quite unnecessary, and would answer no good purpose, to occupy the reader's attention with any geographical notes respecting the islands mentioned in this section. Subsequent voyages, and other publications, have greatly enriched our acquaintance with this subject; but it would make sad patch-work to detail it here. The reader will do better to amuse himself with the narrative for the present, and to reserve study for a future occasion.—E.]

We made sail, from noon on Monday the 3d, to noon on Tuesday the 4th, standing to the westward, and all the time kept in soundings, having from fourteen to thirty fathom; not regular, but sometimes more, sometimes less. At noon on the 4th, we were in fourteen fathom, and latitude 6 deg. 44' S., longitude 223 deg. 51' W.; our course and distance since the 3d, at noon, were S. 76 W., one hundred and twenty miles to the westward. At noon on the 5th of September, we were in latitude 7 deg. 25' S., longitude 225 deg. 41' W., having been in soundings the whole time from ten to twenty fathom.

At half an hour after one in the morning of the next day, we passed a small island which bore from us N.N.W., distant between three and four miles; and at day-light we discovered another low island, extending from N.N.W. to N.N.E., distant about two or three leagues. Upon this island, which did not appear to be very small, I believe I should have landed to examine its produce, if the wind had not blown too fresh to admit of it. When we passed this island we had only ten fathom water, with a rocky bottom, and therefore I was afraid of running down to leeward, lest I should meet with shoal water and foul ground. These islands have no place in the charts except they are the Arrou islands; and if these, they are laid down much too far from New Guinea. I found the south part of them to lie in latitude 7 deg. 6' S., longitude 225 deg. W.

We continued to steer W.S.W., at the rate of four miles and a half an hour, till ten o'clock at night, when we had forty-two fathom, at eleven we had thirty-seven, at twelve forty-five, at one in the morning, forty-nine, and at three, 120, after which we had no ground. At day-light we made all the sail we could, and at ten o'clock saw land extending from N.N.W. to W. by N., distant between five and six leagues: At noon it bore from N. to W., and at about the same distance: It appeared to be level, and of a moderate height; by our distance from New Guinea, it ought to have been part of the Arrou Islands, but it lies a degree farther to the south than any of these islands are laid down in the charts; and, by the latitude, should be Timor Laoet: We sounded, but had no ground with fifty fathom.

As I was not able to satisfy myself from any chart, what land it was that I saw to leeward, and fearing that it might trend away more southerly, the weather also being so hazy that we could not see far, I steered S.W., and by four had lost sight of the island. I was now sure that no part of it lay to the southward of 8 deg. 15' S., and continued standing to the S.W. with an easy sail, and a fresh breeze at S.E. by E. and E.S.E.: We sounded every hour, but had no bottom with 120 fathom.

At day-break in the morning, we steered W.S.W., and afterwards W. by S., which by noon brought us into the latitude of 9 deg. 30' S., longitude 229 deg. 34' W., and by our run from New Guinea, we ought to have been within sight of Weasel Isles, which in the charts are laid down at the distance of twenty or twenty-five leagues from the coast of New Holland; we however saw nothing, and therefore they must have been placed erroneously; nor can this be thought strange, when it is considered that not only these islands, but the coast which bounds this sea, have been discovered and explored by different people, and at different times, and the charts upon which they are delineated, put together by others, perhaps at the distance of more than a century after the discoveries had been made; not to mention that the discoverers themselves had not all the requisites for keeping an accurate journal, of which those of the present age are possessed.

We continued our course, steering W. till the evening of the 8th, when the variation of the compass, by several azimuths, was 12' W., and by the amplitude 5' W. At noon, on the 9th, our latitude, by observation, was 9 deg. 46' S., longitude 232 deg. 7' W. For the last two days we had steered due W., yet, by observation, we made sixteen miles southing, six miles from noon on the 6th to noon on the 7th, and ten miles from noon on the 7th to noon on the 8th, by which it appeared that there was a current setting to the southward. At sun-set, we found the variation to be 2 W., and at the same time, saw an appearance of very high land bearing N.W.

In the morning of the 10th, we saw clearly that what had appeared to be land the night before, was Timor. At noon, our latitude, by observation, was 10 deg. 1' S., which was fifteen miles to the southward of that given by the log; our longitude, by observation, was 233 deg. 27' W. We steered N.W. in order to obtain a more distinct view of the land in sight, till four o'clock in the morning of the 11th, when the wind came to the N.W. and W., with which we stood to the southward till nine, when we tacked and stood N.W., having the wind now at W.S.W. At sun-rise the land had appeared to extend from W.N.W. to N.E., and at noon, we could see it extend to the westward as far as W. by S. 1/2 S. but no farther to the eastward than N. by E. We were now well assured, that as the first land we had seen was Timor, the last island we had passed was Timor Laoet, or Laut.[104] Laoet, is a word in the language of Malaca, signifying Sea, and this island was named by the inhabitants of that country. The south part of it lies in latitude 8 deg. 15' S., longitude 228 deg. 10' W., but in the charts the south point is laid down in various latitudes, from 8 deg. 30' to 9 deg. 30': It is indeed possible that the land we saw might be some other island, but the presumption to the contrary is very strong, for if Timor Laut had lain where it is placed in the charts, we must have seen it there. We were now in latitude 9 deg. 37' S.; longitude, by an observation of the sun and moon, 233 deg. 54' W.; we were the day before in 233 deg. 27'; the difference is 27', exactly the same that was given by the log: This, however, is a degree of accuracy in observation that is seldom to be expected. In the afternoon, we stood in shore till eight in the evening; when we tacked and stood off, being at the distance of about three leagues from the land, which at sun-set extended from S.W. 1/2 W. to N.E.: At this time we sounded, and had no ground with 140 fathom. At midnight, having but little wind, we tacked and stood in, and at noon the next day, our latitude, by observation, was 9 deg. 36' S. This day, we saw smoke on shore in several places, and had seen many fires during the night. The land appeared to be very high, rising in gradual slopes one above another: The hills were in general covered with thick woods, but among them we could distinguish naked spots of a considerable extent, which had the appearance of having been cleared by art. At five o'clock in the afternoon, we were within a mile and a half of the shore, in sixteen fathom water, and abreast of a small inlet into the low land, which lies in latitude 9 deg. 34 S., and probably is the same that Dampier entered with his boat, for it did not seem to have sufficient depth of water for a ship. The land here answered well to the description that he has given of it: close to the beach it was covered with high spiry trees, which he mentions as having the appearance of pines; behind these there seemed to be salt-water creeks, and many mangroves, interspersed however with cocoa-nut trees: The flat land at the beach appeared in some places to extend inward two or three miles before the rise of the first hill; in this part, however, we saw no appearance of plantations or houses, but great fertility, and from the number of fires, we judged that the place most be well peopled.

[Footnote 104: Little is known of this island. Timor is said to have been discovered by the companions of Magellan in 1522, when it was found full of white sandal wood. The Portuguese very early settled in it as a place of refuge from the Dutch, who however soon followed them, and in 1613, drove them from Cupan, their principal town, at the west end of the island. The possession of this island might be made more valuable than it seems as yet to have been. With scarcely any help from human industry, its products in useful articles are considerable. We shall have to treat of it hereafter.—E.]

When we had approached within a mile and a half of the shore, we tacked and stood off, and the extremes of the coast then extended from N.E. by E. to W. by S. 1/2 S. The south-westerly extremity was a low point, distant from us about three leagues. While we were standing in for the shore, we sounded several times, but had no ground till we came within about two miles and a half, and then we had five-and-twenty fathom, with a soft-bottom. After we had tacked, we stood off till midnight, with the wind at S.; we then tacked and stood two hours to the westward, when the wind veered to S.W. and W.S.W., and we then stood to the southward again. In the morning, we found the variation to be 1 deg. 10' W. by the amplitude, and by the azimuth 1 deg. 27'. At noon, our latitude was, by observation, 9 deg. 45' S., our longitude 234 deg. 12' W.; we were then about seven leagues distant from the land, which extended from N. 31 E. to W.S.W. 1/2 W.

With light land-breezes from W. by N. for a few hours in a morning, and sea-breezes from S.S.W. and S. we advanced to the westward but slowly. At noon on the 14th, we were between six and seven leagues from the land, which extended from N. by E. to S. 78 W.; we still saw smoke in many places by day, and fire by night, both upon the low land and the mountains beyond it. We continued steering along the shore, till the morning of the 15th, the land still appearing hilly, but not so high as it had been: The hills in general came quite down to the sea, and where they did not, we saw instead of flats and mangrove land, immense groves of cocoa-nut trees, reaching about a mile up from the beach: There the plantations and houses commenced, and appeared to be innumerable. The houses were shaded by groves of the fan-palm, or borassus, and the plantations, which were inclosed by a fence, reached almost to the tops of the highest hills. We saw however neither people nor cattle, though our glasses were continually employed, at which we were not a little surprised.

We continued our course, with little variation, till nine o'clock in the morning of the 16th, when we saw the small island called Rotte; and at noon the island Semau, lying off the south end of Timor, bore N.W.

Dampier, who has given a large description of the island of Timor, says, that it is seventy leagues long, and sixteen broad, and that it lies nearly N E. and S.W. I found the east side of it to lie nearest N.E. by E. and S.W. by W., and the south end to lie in latitude 10 deg. 23' S., longitude 236 deg. 5' W. We ran about forty-five leagues along the east side, and found the navigation altogether free from danger. The land which is bounded by the sea, except near the south end, is low for two or three miles within the beach, and in general intersected by salt creeks: Behind the low land are mountains, which rise one above another to a considerable height. We steered W.N.W. till two in the afternoon, when, being within a small distance of the north end of Rotte, we hauled up N.N.W. in order to go between it and Semau: After steering three leagues upon this coarse, we edged away N.W. and W., and by six, we were clear of all the islands. At this time, the south part of Semau, which lies in latitude 10 deg. 15' S., bore N.E. distant four leagues, and the island of Rotte extended as far to the southward as S. 36 W. The north end of this island, and the south end of Timor, lie N. 1/2 E. and S. 1/4 W., and are about three or four leagues distant from each other. At the west end of the passage between Rotte and Semau, are two small islands, one of which lies near the Rotte shore, and the other off the south-west point of Semau: There is a good channel between them, about six miles broad, through which we passed. The isle of Rotte has not so lofty and mountainous an appearance as Timor, though it is agreeably diversified by hill and valley: On the north side, there are many sandy beaches, near which grew some trees of the fan-palm, but the far greater part was covered with a kind of brushy wood, that was without leaves. The appearance of Semau was nearly the same with that of Timor, but not quite so high. About ten o'clock at night, we observed a phaenomenon in the heavens, which in many particulars resembled the aurora borealis, and in others, was very different: It consisted of a dull reddish light, and reached about twenty degrees above the horizon: Its extent was very different at different times, but it was never less than eight or ten points of the compass: Through and out of this passed rays of light of a brighter colour, which vanished, and were renewed nearly in the same time as those of the aurora borealis, but had no degree of the tremulous or vibratory motion which is observed in that phaenomenon: The body of it bore S.S.E. from the ship, and it continued, without any diminution of its brightness, till twelve o'clock, when we retired to sleep, but how long afterwards, I cannot tell.

Being clear of all the islands, which are laid down in the maps we had on board, between Timor and Java, we steered a west course till six o'clock the next morning, when we unexpectedly saw an island bearing W.S.W., and at first I thought we had made a new discovery. We steered directly for it, and by ten o'clock were close in with the north side of it, where we saw houses, cocoa-nut trees, and to our very agreeable surprise, numerous flocks of sheep. This was a temptation not to be resisted by people in our situation, especially as many of us were in a bad state of health, and many still repining at my not having touched at Timor: It was, therefore soon determined to attempt a commerce with people who appeared to be so well able to supply our many necessities, and remove at once the sickness and discontent that had got footing among us. The pinnace was hoisted out, and Mr Gore, the second lieutenant, sent to see if there was any convenient place to land, taking with him some trifles, as presents to the natives, if any of them should appear. While he was gone, we saw from the ship two men on horseback, who seemed to be riding upon the hills for their amusement, and often stopped to look at the ship. By this we knew that the place had been settled by Europeans, and hoped, that the many disagreeable circumstances which always attend the first establishment of commerce with savages, would be avoided. In the mean time, Mr Gore landed in a small sandy cove near some houses, and was met by eight or ten of the natives, who, as well in their dress as their persons, very much resembled the Malays; They were without arms, except the knives which it is their custom to wear in their girdles, and one of them had a jack-ass with him: They courteously invited him ashore, and conversed with him by signs, but very little of the meaning of either party could be understood by the other. In a short time he returned with this report, and, to our great mortification, added, that there was no anchorage for the ship. I sent him however a second time, with both money and goods, that he might, if possible, purchase some refreshments, at least for the sick; and Dr Solander went in the boat with him. In the mean time I kept standing on and off with the ship, which at this time was within about a mile of the shore. Before the boat could land, we saw two other horsemen, one of whom was in a complete European dress, consisting of a blue coat, a white waistcoat, and a laced hat: These people, when the boat came to the shore, took little notice of her, but sauntered about, and seemed to look with great curiosity at the ship. We saw however other horsemen, and a great number of persons on foot, gather round our people, and, to our great satisfaction, perceived several cocoa-nuts carried into the boat, from which we concluded that peace and commerce were established between us.

After the boat had been ashore about an hour and a half, she made the signal for having intelligence that there was a bay to leeward, where we might anchor: We stood away directly for it, and the boat following, soon came on board. The lieutenant told us, that he had seen some of the principal people, who were dressed in fine linen, and had chains of gold round their necks: He said, that he had not been able to trade, because the owner of the cocoa-nuts was absent, but that about two dozen had been sent to the boat as a present, and that some linen had been accepted in return. The people, to give him the information that he wanted, drew a map upon the sand, in which they made a rude representation of a harbour to leeward, and a town near it: They also gave him to understand, that sheep, hogs, fowls, and fruit might there be procured in great plenty. Some of them frequently pronounced the word Portuguese, and said something of Larntuca upon the island of Ende: From this circumstance, we conjectured that there were Portuguese somewhere upon the island, and a Portugueze, who was in our boat, attempted to converse with the Indians in that language, but soon found that they knew only a word or two of it by rote: One of them however, when they were giving our people to understand that there was a town near the harbour to which they had directed us, intimated, that, as a token of going right, we should see somewhat, which he expressed by crossing his fingers, and the Portuguese instantly conceived that he meant to express a cross. Just as our people were putting off, the horsemen in the European dress came up, but the officer not having his commission about him, thought it best to decline a conference.

At seven o'clock in the evening, we came to an anchor in the bay to which we had been directed, at about the distance of a mile from the shore, in thirty-eight fathom water, with a clear sandy bottom. The north point of the bay bore N. 30 E., distant two miles and a half, and the south point, or west end of the island, bore S. 63 W. Just as we got round the north point, and entered the bay, we discovered a large Indian town or village, upon which we stood on, hoisting a jack on the fore top-mast head: Soon after, to our great surprise, Dutch colours were hoisted in the town, and three guns fired; we stood on, however, till we had soundings and then anchored.

As soon as it was light in the morning, we saw the same colours hoisted upon the beach, abreast of the ship; supposing therefore that the Dutch had a settlement here, I sent Lieutenant Gore ashore, to wait upon the governor, or the chief person residing upon the spot, and acquaint him who we were, and for what purpose we had touched upon the coast. As soon as he came ashore, he was received by a guard of between twenty and thirty Indians, armed with musquets, who conducted him to the town, where the colours had been hoisted the night before, carrying with them those that had been hoisted upon the beach, and marching without any military regularity. As soon as he arrived, he was introduced to the Raja, or king of the island, and by a Portuguese interpreter told him, that the ship was a man-of-war belonging to the king of Great Britain, and that she had many sick on board, for whom we wanted to purchase such refreshments as the island afforded. His majesty replied, that he was willing to supply us with whatever we wanted, but, that being in alliance with the Dutch East India Company, he was not at liberty to trade with any other people, without having first procured their consent, for which, however, he said he would immediately apply to a Dutchman who belonged to the Company, and who was the only white man upon the island. To this man, who resided at some distance, a letter was immediately dispatched, acquainting him with our arrival and request: In the mean time, Mr Gore dispatched a messenger to me, with an account of his situation, and the state of the treaty. In about three hours, the Dutch resident answered the letter that had been sent him, in person: He proved to be a native of Saxony, and his name was Johan Christopher Lange, and the same person whom we had seen on horseback in a European dress: He behaved with great civility to Mr Gore, and assured him, that we were at liberty to purchase of the natives whatever we pleased. After a short time, he expressed a desire of coming on board, as did the king also, and several of his attendants: Mr Gore intimated that he was ready to attend them, but they desired that two of our people might be left ashore as hostages, and in this also they were indulged.

About two o'clock, they all came aboard the ship, and our dinner being ready, they accepted our invitation to partake of it: I expected them immediately to sit down, but the king seemed to hesitate, and at last, with some confusion, said, he did not imagine that we, who were white men, would suffer him, who was of a different colour, to sit down in our company; a compliment soon removed his scruples, and we all sat down together with great cheerfulness and cordiality: Happily we were at no loss for interpreters, both Dr Solander and Mr Sporing understanding Dutch enough to keep up a conversation with Mr Lange, and several of the seamen were able to converse with such of the natives as spoke Portuguese. Our dinner happened to be mutton, and the king expressed a desire of having an English sheep; we had but one left, however that was presented to him: The facility with which this was procured, encouraged him to ask for an English dog, and Mr Banks politely gave up his greyhound: Mr Lange then intimated that a spying-glass would be acceptable, and one was immediately put into his hand. Our guests then told us, that the island abounded with buffaloes, sheep, hogs, and fowls, plenty of which should be driven down to the beach the next day, that we might purchase as many of them as we should think fit: This put us all into high spirits, and the liquor circulated rather faster than either the Indians or the Saxon could bear; they intimated their desire to go away, however, before they were quite drunk, and were received upon deck, as they had been when they came aboard, by the marines under arms. The king expressed a curiosity to see them exercise, in which he was gratified, and they fired three rounds: He looked at them with great attention, and was much surprised at their regularity and expedition, especially in cocking their pieces; the first time they did it, he struck the side of the ship with a stick that he had in his hand, and cried out with great vehemence, that all the locks made but one clink. They were dismissed with many presents, and when they went away saluted with nine guns: Mr Banks and Dr Solander went ashore with them; and as soon as they put off they gave us three cheers.

Our gentlemen, when they came ashore, walked up with them to the town, which consists of many houses, and some of them are large; they are however nothing more than a thatched roof, supported over a boarded floor, by pillars about four feet high. They produced some of their palm-wine, which was the fresh unfermented juice of the tree; it had a sweet, but not a disagreeable taste; and hopes were conceived that it might contribute to recover our sick from the scurvy. Soon after it was dark, Mr Banks and Dr Solander returned on board.

In the morning of the 19th I went ashore with Mr Banks, and several of the officers and gentlemen, to return the king's visit; but my chief business was to procure some of the buffaloes, sheep, and fowls, which we had been told should be driven down to the beach. We were greatly mortified to find that no steps had been taken to fulfil this promise; however, we proceeded to the house of assembly, which, with two or three more, had been erected by the Dutch East India Company, and are distinguished from the rest by two pieces of wood resembling a pair of cow's horns, one of which is set up at each end of the ridge that terminates the roof; and these were certainly what the Indian intended to represent by crossing his fingers, though our Portuguese, who was a good catholic, construed the sign into a cross, which had persuaded us that the settlement belonged to his countrymen. In this place we met Mr Lange, and the king, whose name was A. Madocho Lomi Djara, attended by many of the principal people. We told them that we had in the boat goods of various kinds, which we proposed to barter for such refreshments as they would give us in exchange, and desired leave to bring them on shore; which being granted, they were brought ashore accordingly. We then attempted to settle the price of the buffaloes, sheep, hogs, and other commodities which we proposed to purchase, and for which we were to pay in money; but as soon as this was mentioned, Mr Lange left us, telling us that these preliminaries must be settled with the natives: He said, however, that he had received a letter from the governor of Concordia in Timor, the purport of which he would communicate to us when he returned.

As the morning was now far advanced, and we were very unwilling to return on board and eat salt provisions, when so many delicacies surrounded us ashore, we petitioned his majesty for liberty to purchase a small hog and some rice, and to employ his subjects to dress them for us. He answered very graciously, that if we could eat victuals dressed by his subjects, which he could scarcely suppose, he would do himself the honour of entertaining us. We expressed our gratitude, and immediately sent on board for liquors.

About five o'clock dinner was ready; it was served in six-and-thirty dishes, or rather baskets, containing alternately rice and pork; and three bowls of earthenware, filled with the liquor in which the pork had been boiled: These were ranged upon the floor, and mats laid round them for us to sit upon. We were then conducted by turns to a hole in the floor, near which stood a man with water in a vessel, made of the leaves of the fan-palm, who assisted us in washing our hands. When this was done, we placed ourselves round the victuals, and waited for the king. As he did not come, we enquired for him, and were told that the custom of the country did not permit the person who gave the entertainment to sit down with his guests; but that, if we suspected the victuals to be poisoned, he would come and taste it. We immediately declared that we had no such suspicion, and desired that none of the rituals of hospitality might be violated on our account. The prime minister and Mr Lange were of our party, and we made a most luxurious meal: We thought the pork and rice excellent, and the broth not to be despised; but the spoons, which were made of leaves, were so small, that few of us had patience to use them. After dinner, our wine passed briskly about, and we again enquired for our royal host, thinking that though the custom of his country would not allow him to eat with us, he might at least share in the jollity of one bottle; but he again excused himself, saying, that the master of a feast should never be drunk, which there was no certain way to avoid but by not tasting the liquor. We did not, however, drink our wine where we had eaten our victuals; but as soon as we had dined, made room for the seamen and servants, who immediately took our places: They could not dispatch all that we had left, but the women who came to clear away the bowls and baskets, obliged them to carry away with them what they had not eaten. As wine generally warms and opens the heart, we took an opportunity, when we thought its influence began to be felt, to revive the subject of the buffaloes and sheep, of which we had not in all this time heard a syllable, though they were to have been brought down early in the morning. But our Saxon Dutchman, with great phlegm, began to communicate to us the contents of the letter which he pretended to have received from the governor of Concordia. He said, that after acquainting him that a vessel had steered from thence towards the island where we were now ashore, it required him, if such ship should apply for provisions in distress, to relieve her; but not to suffer her to stay longer than was absolutely necessary, nor to make any large presents to the inferior people, or to leave any with those of superior rank to be afterwards distributed among them; but he was graciously pleased to add, that we were at liberty to give beads and other trifles in exchange for petty civilities, and palm-wine.

It was the general opinion that this letter was a fiction; that the prohibitory orders were feigned with a view to get money from us for breaking them; and that by precluding our liberality to the natives, this man hoped more easily to turn it into another channel.

In the evening, we received intelligence from our trading-place that no buffaloes or hogs had been brought down, and only a few sheep, which had been taken away before our people, who had sent for money, could procure it. Some fowls, however, had been bought, and a large quantity of a kind of syrup made of the juice of the palm-tree, which, though infinitely superior to molasses or treacle, sold at a very low price. We complained of our disappointment to Mr Lange, who had now another subterfuge; he said, that if we had gone down to the beach ourselves, we might have purchased what we pleased, but that the natives were afraid to take money of our people, lest it should be counterfeit. We could not but feel some indignation against a man who had concealed this, being true; or alleged it, being false. I started up, however, and went immediately to the beach, but no cattle or sheep were to be seen, nor were any at hand to be produced. While I was gone, Lange, who knew well enough that I should succeed no better than my people, told Mr Banks that the natives were displeased at our not having offered them gold for their stock; and that if gold was not offered, nothing would be bought. Mr Banks did not think it worth his while to reply, but soon after rose up, and we all returned on board, very much dissatisfied with the issue of our negociations. During the course of the day, the king had promised that some cattle and sheep should be brought down in the morning, and had given a reason for our disappointment somewhat more plausible; he said that the buffaloes were far up the country, and that there had not been time to bring them down to the beach.

The next morning we went ashore again: Dr Solander went up to the town to speak to Lange, and I remained upon the beach, to see what could be done in the purchase of provisions. I found here an old Indian, who, as he appeared to have some authority, we had among ourselves called the prime minister; to engage this man in our interest, I presented him with a spying-glass, but I saw nothing at market except one small buffalo. I enquired the price of it, and was told five guineas: This was twice as much as it was worth; however, I offered three, which I could perceive the man who treated with me thought a good price; but he said he must acquaint the king with what I had offered before he could take it. A messenger was immediately dispatched to his majesty, who soon returned, and said that the buffaloe would not be sold for any thing less than five guineas. This price I absolutely refused to give; and another messenger was sent away with an account of my refusal: This messenger was longer absent than the other, and while I was waiting for his return, I saw, to my great astonishment, Dr Solander coming from the town, followed by above a hundred men, some armed with muskets and some with lances. When I enquired the meaning of this hostile appearance, the Doctor told me that Mr Lange had interpreted to him a message from the king, purporting that the people would not trade with us, because we had refused to give them more than half the value of what they had to sell; and that we should not be permitted to trade upon any terms longer than this day. Besides the officers who commanded the party, there came with it a man who was born at Timor; of Portuguese parents, and who, as we afterwards discovered, was a kind of colleague to the Dutch factor; by this man, what they pretended to be the king's order was delivered to me, of the same purport with that which Dr Solander had received from Lange. We were all clearly of opinion that this was a mere artifice of the factors to extort money from us, for which we had been prepared by the account of a letter from Concordia; and while we were hesitating what step to take, the Portuguese, that he might the sooner accomplish his purpose, began to drive away the people who had brought down poultry and syrup, and others that were now coming in with buffaloes and sheep. At this time I glanced my eye upon the old man whom I had complimented in the morning with the spying-glass, and I thought, by his looks, that he did not heartily approve of what was doing; I therefore took him by the hand, and presented him with an old broad-sword. This instantly turned the scale in our favour; he received the sword with a transport of joy, and flourishing it over the busy Portuguese, who crouched like a fox to a lion, he made him, and the officer who commanded the party, sit down upon the ground behind him. The people, who, whatever were the crafty pretences of these iniquitous factors for a Dutch company, were eager to supply us with whatever we wanted, and seemed also to be more desirous of goods than money, instantly improved the advantage that had been procured them, and the market was stocked almost in an instant. To establish a trade for buffaloes, however, which I most wanted, I found it necessary to give ten guineas for two, one of which weighed no more than a hundred and sixty pounds; but I bought seven more much cheaper, and might afterwards have purchased as many as I pleased almost upon my own terms, for they were now driven down to the water-side in herds. In the first two that I bought so dear, Lange had certainly a share, and it was in hopes to obtain part of the price of others, that he had pretended that we must pay for them in gold. The natives, however, sold what they afterwards brought down much to their satisfaction, without paying part of the price to him as a reward for exacting money from us. Most of the buffaloes that we bought, after our friend, the prime minister, had procured us a fair market, were sold for a musket a-piece, and at this price we might have bought as many as would have freighted our ship.

The refreshments which we procured here consisted of nine buffaloes, six sheep, three hogs, thirty dozen of fowls, a few limes, and some cocoa-nuts; many dozen of eggs, half of which, however, proved to be rotten; a little garlic, and several hundred gallons of palm syrup.

SECTION XXXVI.

A particular Description of the Island of Savu, its Produce, and Inhabitants, with a Specimen of their Language.

This island is called by the natives Savu; the middle of it lies in about the latitude 10 deg. 35' S., longitude 237 deg. 30' W.; and has in general been so little known, that I never saw a map or chart in which it is clearly or accurately laid down. I have seen a very old one, in which it is called Sou, and confounded with Sandel Bosch. Rumphius mentions an island by the name of Saow, and he also says that it is the same which the Dutch call Sandel Bosch: But neither is this island, nor Timor, nor Rotte, nor indeed any one of the islands that we have seen in these seas, placed within a reasonable distance of its true situation.[105] It is about eight leagues long from east to west; but what is its breadth, I do not know, as I saw only the north side. The harbour in which we lay is called Seba, from the district in which it lies: It is on the north-west side of the island, and well sheltered from the south-west trade-wind, but it lies open to the north-west. We were told that there were two other bays where ships might anchor; that the best, called Timo, was on the south-west side of the south-east point: Of the third we learnt neither the name nor situation. The sea-coast, in general, is low; but in the middle of the island there are hills of a considerable height. We were upon the coast at the latter end of the dry season, when there had been no rain for seven months; and we were told that when the dry season continues so long, there is no running stream of fresh water upon the whole island, but only small springs, which are at a considerable distance from the sea-side; yet nothing can be imagined so beautiful as the prospect of the country from the ship. The level ground next to the sea-side was covered with cocoa-nut trees, and a kind of palm called arecas; and beyond them the hills, which rose in a gentle and regular ascent, were richly clothed, quite to the summit, with plantations of the fan-palm, forming an almost impenetrable grove. How much even this prospect must be improved, when every foot of ground between the trees is covered with verdure, by maize, and millet, and indigo, can scarcely be conceived but by a powerful imagination, not unacquainted with the stateliness and beauty of the trees that adorn this part of the earth. The dry season commences in March or April, and ends in October or November.

[Footnote 105: These islands are far from being well known to Europeans; The policy of both Portuguese and Dutch has ever been unfavourable to the communication, whatever it may have been to the commercial extension, of geographical science. Pinkerton has laid down (in his map of East India isles) Sou, as he has chosen to call it, in 10 S. lat., and 121 deg. 30' E. long., but on what authority does not appear. He does not, however, confound it with Sandle-Wood Island.—E.]

The principal trees of this island are the fan-palm, the cocoa-nut, tamarind, limes, oranges, and mangoes; and other vegetable productions are maize, Guinea-corn, rice, millet, callevances, and water-melons. We saw also one sugar-cane, and a few kinds of European garden-stuff, particularly cellery, marjoram, fennel, and garlic. For the supply of luxury, it has betel, areca, tobacco, cotton, indigo, and a small quantity of cinnamon, which seems to be planted here only for curiosity; and indeed we doubted whether it was the genuine plant, knowing that the Dutch are very careful not to trust the spices out of their proper islands. There are, however, several kinds of fruit besides those which have been already mentioned; particularly the sweet-sop, which is well known to the West Indians, and a small oval fruit, called the blimbi, both of which grow upon trees. The blimbi is about three or four inches long, and in the middle about as thick as a man's finger, tapering towards each end: It is covered with a very thin skin of a light green colour, and in the inside are a few seeds disposed in the form of a star: Its flavour is a light, clean, pleasant acid, but it cannot be eaten raw; it is said to be excellent as a pickle; and stewed, it made a most agreeable sour sauce to our boiled dishes.

The tame animals are buffaloes, sheep, goats, hogs, fowls, pigeons, horses, asses, dogs, and cats; and of all these there is great plenty. The buffaloes differ very considerably from the horned cattle of Europe in several particulars; their ears are much larger, their skins are almost without hair, their horns are curved towards each other, but together bend directly backwards, and they have no dewlaps. We saw several that were as big as a well-grown European ox, and there must be some much larger; for Mr Banks saw a pair of horns which measured, from tip to tip, three feet nine inches and a half, across their widest diameter, four feet one inch and a half, and in the whole sweep of their semicircle in front, seven feet six inches and a half. It must, however, be observed, that a buffalo here of any given size, does not weigh above half as much as an ox of the same size in England: Those that we guessed to weigh four hundred weight, did not weigh more than two hundred and fifty; the reason is, that so late in the dry season the bones are very thinly covered with flesh: There is not an ounce of fat in a whole carcase, and the flanks are literally nothing but skin and bone: The flesh, however, is well tasted and juicy, and I suppose better than the flesh of an English ox would be if he was to starve in this sun-burnt country.

The horses are from eleven to twelve hands high, but though they are small, they are spirited and nimble, especially in pacing, which is their common step: The inhabitants generally ride them without a saddle, and with no better bridle than a halter. The sheep are of the kind which in England are called Bengal sheep, and differ from ours in many particulars. They are covered with hair instead of wool; their ears are very large, and hang down under their horns, and their noses are arched; they are thought to have a general resemblance to a goat, and for that reason are frequently called cabritos: Their flesh we thought the worst mutton we had ever eaten, being as lean as that of the buffaloes, and without flavour. The hogs, however, were some of the fattest we had ever seen, though, as we were told, their principal food is the outside husks of rice, and a palm syrup dissolved in water.[106] The fowls are chiefly of the game breed, and large, but the eggs are remarkably small.

[Footnote 106: The reader will please remember this evidence of the nutritious quality of the palm-syrup. He will find it useful very shortly, when the value of sugar as an article of diet is mentioned.—E]

Of the fish which the sea produces here, we know but little: Turtles are sometimes found upon the coast, and are by these people, as well as all others, considered as a dainty.

The people are rather under than over the middling size; the women especially are remarkably short and squat built: Their complexion is a dark brown, and their hair universally black and lank. We saw no difference in the colour of rich and poor, though in the South-Sea islands those that were exposed to the weather were almost as brown as the New Hollanders, and the better sort nearly as fair as the natives of Europe. The men are in general well-made, vigorous, and active, and have a greater variety in the make and disposition of their features than usual: The countenances of the women, on the contrary, are all alike.

The men fasten their hair up to the top of their heads with a comb, the women tie it behind in a club, which is very far from becoming. Both sexes eradicate the hair from under the arm, and the men do the same by their beards, for which purpose, the better sort always carry a pair of silver pincers hanging by a string round their necks; some, however, suffer a very little hair to remain upon their upper-lips, but this is always kept short.

The dress of both sexes consists of cotton cloth, which being dyed blue in the yarn, and not uniformly of the same shade, is in clouds or waves of that colour, and even in our eye had not an inelegant appearance. This cloth they manufacture themselves, and two pieces, each about two yards long, and a yard and a half wide, make a dress: One of them is worn round the middle, and the other covers the upper part of the body: The lower edge of the piece that goes round the middle, the men draw pretty tight just below the fork, the upper edge of it is left loose, so as to form a kind of hollow belt, which serves them as a pocket to carry their knives, and other little implements which it is convenient to have about them. The other piece of cloth is passed through this girdle behind, and one end of it being brought over the left shoulder, and the other over the right, they fall down over the breast, and are tucked into the girdle before, so that by opening or closing the plaits, they can cover more or less of their bodies as they please; the arms, legs, and feet are always naked. The difference between the dress of the two sexes consists principally in the manner of wearing the waist-piece; for the women, instead of drawing the lower edge tight, and leaving the upper edge loose for a pocket, draw the upper edge tight, and let the lower edge fall as low as the knees, so as to form a petticoat; the body-piece, instead of being passed through the girdle, is fastened under the arms, and cross the breast with the utmost decency. I have already observed that the men fastened the hair upon the top of the head, and the women tie it in a club behind, but there is another difference in the head-dress, by which the sexes are distinguished: The women wear nothing as a succedaneum for a cap, but the men constantly wrap something round their heads in the manner of a fillet; it is small, but generally of the finest materials that can be procured: We saw some who applied silk handkerchiefs to this purpose, and others that wore fine cotton, or muslin, in the manner of a small turban.

These people bore their testimony that the love of finery is a universal passion, for their ornaments were very numerous. Some of the better sort wore chains of gold round their necks, but they were made of plaited wire, and consequently were light and of little value; others had rings, which were so much worn that they seemed to have descended through many generations; and one person had a silver-headed cane, marked with a kind of cypher, consisting of the Roman letters, V, O, C, and therefore probably a present from the Dutch East India Company, whose mark it is: They have also ornaments made of beads, which some wear round their necks as a solitaire, and others as bracelets, upon their wrists: These are common to both sexes, but the women have, besides, strings or girdles of beads, which they wear round their waists, and which serve to keep up their petticoat. Both sexes had their ears bored, nor was there a single exception that fell under our notice, yet we never saw an ornament in any of them; we never, indeed, saw either man or woman in any thing but what appeared to be their ordinary dress, except the king and his minister, who in general wore a kind of night-gown of coarse chintz, and one of whom once received us in a black robe, which appeared to be made of what is called prince's stuff. We saw some boys, about twelve or fourteen years old, who had spiral circles of thick brass-wire passed three or four times round their arms, above the elbow, and some men wore rings of ivory, two inches in breadth, and above an inch in thickness, upon the same part of the arm; these, we were told, were the sons of the rajas, or chiefs, who wore those cumbrous ornaments as badges of their high birth.

Almost all the men had their names traced upon their arms, in indelible characters of a black colour, and the women had a square ornament of flourished lines, impressed in the same manner, just under the bend of the elbow. We were struck with the similitude between these marks and those made by tattowing in the South-Sea islands, and upon enquiring into its origin, we learnt that it had been practised by the natives long before any Europeans came among them, and that in the neighbouring islands the inhabitants were marked with circles upon their necks and breasts. The universality of this practice, which prevails among savages in all parts of the world, from the remotest limits of North America, to the islands in the South-Seas, and which probably differs but little from the method of staining the body that was in use among the ancient inhabitants of Britain, is a curious subject of speculation.[107]

[Footnote 107: In the account which Mr Bossu has given of some Indians who inhabit the banks of the Akanza, a river of North America, which rises in New Mexico, and falls into the Mississippi, he relates the following incident: "The Akanzas," says he, "have adopted me, and as a mark of my privilege, have imprinted the figure of a roebuck upon my thigh, which was done in this manner: An Indian having burnt some straw, diluted the ashes with water, and with this mixture drew the figure upon my skin; he then retraced it, by pricking the lines with needles, so as at every puncture just to draw the blood, and the blood mixing with the ashes of the straw, forms a figure which can never be effaced." See Travels through Louisiana, vol. i, p. 107.

So far this note is by Dr Hawkesworth. Some observations on the practice of staining or tattowing the body, have been offered in another part of this work. It may be worth while to add here the account which Krustenstern has given of the mode adopted in Nukahiwa, one of the Washington Islands: "As soon as a Nukahiewer arrives at the age of puberty, his whole body is tatooed; an art carried to a much greater perfection in this island than in any other, as they paint, in fact, their bodies with different figures, rubbing a pleasing colour into the skin, which is first scratched until it bleeds. Black is the colour generally used for this purpose, which, after some time, takes a bluish tinge. The king, his father, and the high-priest, were the only persons who were coloured quite black, nor was any part of their bodies left unadorned; the face, eye-lids, and even a part of their heads, from which the hair had been shaved, being tatooed. Neither in the Society nor the Friendly Islands is this customary. In the latter, the king alone is not tatooed; and it is only in New Zealand, and the Sandwich Islands, as Captain King relates, where the face is tatooed. The New Zealander and the Nukahiwer have a similar mode of performing this operation; for instance, they not only mark the body with single upright figures, or animals, as in the Sandwich Islands, but represent upon it, in the most perfect symmetry, connected ornaments in concentric rings and knots, which added greatly to the beauty of its appearance. The women only tatoo their hands and arms, the ends of their ears, and their lips. The lower classes are less tatooed, and many of them not at all; and it is therefore not improbable that this ornament serves to point out a noble, or, at any rate, a distinguished personage. There are some among them who have particularly acquired this art; one of whom took up his residence on board the ship, where he found sufficient employment, as almost all the sailors underwent the operation." Figures of animals are favourite decorations for the skin with some people. Hutchinson, in his History of Massachusets Bay, second edition, tells of the natives,—"Upon their cheeks, and in many parts of their bodies, some of them, by incisions, into which they convey a black unchangeable ink, make the figures of bears, deer, moose, wolves, eagles, hawks, &c, which were indelible, and generally lasted as long as they lived." Not content with their own art of embellishment, however, he says, in a note, "Since they have been furnished with paints from Europe, they daub their faces with vermillion, and sometimes with blue, green, and other colours." Colden observes of the five nations of Canada, that their faces were always painted in a frightful manner when they went out to war, "to make themselves terrible to their enemies." Neal, speaking of the New Englanders, says,—"They grease their bodies and hair very often, and paint themselves all over; their faces and shoulders with a deep red, and their bodies with a variety of ugly mishapen figures; and he is the bravest fellow that has the most frightful forms drawn upon him, and looks most terrible." Again, describing their diversions, "If the dancers or actors are to shew warlike postures, then they come in painted for war, some with their faces red, and some black; some black and red, with streaks of white; under their eyes, as they imagine will appear most terrible." Captain Carver gives a similar account of the tribes he saw.—E.]

The houses of Savu are all built upon the same plan, and differ only in size, being large in proportion to the rank and riches of the proprietor. Some are four hundred feet long, and some are not more than twenty: They are all raised upon posts, or piles, about four feet high, one end of which is driven into the ground, and upon the other end is laid a substantial floor of wood, so that there is a vacant space of four feet between the floor of the house and the ground. Upon this floor are placed other posts or pillars, that Support a roof of sloping sides, which meet in a ridge at the top, like those of our barns: The eaves of this roof, which is thatched with palm-leaves, reach within two feet of the floor, and overhang it as much: The space within is generally divided lengthwise into three equal parts; the middle part, or centre, is enclosed by a partition of four sides, reaching about six feet above the floor, and one or two small rooms are also sometimes taken off from the sides, the rest of the space under the roof is open, so as freely to admit the air and the light: The particular uses of these different apartments, our short stay would not permit us to learn, except that the close room in the centre was appropriated to the women.

The food of these people consists of every tame animal in the country, of which the hog holds the first place in their estimation, and the horse the second; next to the horse is the buffalo, next to the buffalo their poultry, and they prefer dogs and cats to sheep and goats. They are not fond of fish, and, I believe, it is never eaten but by the poor people, nor by them except when their duty or business requires them to be upon the beach, and then every man is furnished with a light casting-net, which is girt round him, and makes part of his dress; and with this he takes any small fish which happen to come in his way.

The esculent vegetables and fruits have been mentioned already, but the fan-palm requires more particular notice, for at certain times it is a succedaneum for all other food both to man and beast. A kind of wine, called toddy, is procured from this tree, by cutting the buds which are to produce flowers, soon after their appearance, and tying under them small baskets, made of the leaves, which are so close as to hold liquids without leaking. The juice which trickles into these vessels is collected by persons who climb the trees for that purpose, morning and evening, and is the common drink of every individual upon the island; yet a much greater quantity is drawn off than is consumed in this use, and of the surplus they make both a syrup and coarse sugar. The liquor is called dua, or duac, and both the syrup and sugar, gula. The syrup is prepared by boiling the liquor down in pots of earthen-ware, till it is sufficiently inspissated; it is not unlike treacle in appearance, but is somewhat thicker, and has a much more agreeable taste: The sugar is of a reddish brown, perhaps the same with the Jugata sugar upon the continent of India, and it was more agreeable to our palates than any cane-sugar, unrefined, that we had ever tasted. We were at first afraid that the syrup, of which some of our people eat very great quantities, would have brought on fluxes, but its aperient quality was so very slight, that what effect it produced was rather salutary than hurtful. I have already observed, that it is given with the husks of rice to the hogs, and that they grow enormously fat without taking any other food: We were told also, that this syrup is used to fatten their dogs and their fowls, and that the inhabitants themselves have subsisted upon this alone for several months, when other crops have failed, and animal food has been scarce.[108] The leaves of this tree are also put to various uses, they thatch houses, and make baskets, cups, umbrellas, and tobacco-pipes. The fruit is least esteemed, and as the blossoms are wounded for the tuac or toddy, there is not much of it: It is about as big as a large turnip, and covered, like the cocoa-nut, with a fibrous coat, under which are three kernels, that must be eaten before they are ripe, for afterwards they become so hard that they cannot be chewed; in their eatable state they taste not unlike a green cocoa-nut, and, like them, probably they yield a nutriment that is watery and unsubstantial.

[Footnote 108: Few things are so nutritious to animals as sugar; and vegetable substances, in general, are nutritious in proportion to the quantity of it they contain. How it can be pernicious, then, as an ingredient in diet, it would be very difficult to show, without disparaging the wisdom and goodness by which the world is supported. But in fact there is not the least reason for such an opinion; and if the strongest assertions of most respectable men are at all to be regarded, a very different one, indeed, must be maintained. A few quotations may satisfy the reader on the subject, and dispossess him of unfounded prejudices reluctantly imbibed in the nursery. "So palatable, salutary, and nourishing is the juice of the cane, that every individual of the animal creation drinking freely of it, derives health and vigour from its use. The meagre and sickly among the negroes exhibit a surprising alteration in a few weeks after the mill is set in action. The labouring horses, oxen, and mules, though almost constantly at work during this season, yet being indulged with plenty of the green tops of this noble plant, and some of the scummings from the boiling-house, improve more than at any one period of the year. Even the pigs and poultry fatten on the refuse." So says Mr Edwards. Two physicians quoted by him speak to the same effect,—take the words of one of them; Dr Rush, of Philadelphia,—"Sugar affords the greatest quantity of nourishment in a given quantity of matter, of any substance in nature. Used alone, it has fattened horses and cattle in St Domingo, for a period of several months. The plentiful use of sugar in diet is one of the best preventatives that ever has been discovered, of the diseases which are produced by worms. The plague has never been known in this country, where sugar composes a material part of the diet of the inhabitants." Dr Mosely, in his Treatise on Sugar, speaks equally confidently of the nutritious and beneficial effects of this substance. Now, indeed, the concurrent testimony and opinions of medical men are so decided on the subject, that it seems impossible to entertain any other sentiment. The principal objection to the use of sugar in diet, is what applies to certain cases only, when the stomach and bowels are particularly disordered, or where there is a strong tendency to an over full state of the blood-vessels, tending to the production of palsy or apoplexy, which this article, from its very nutritious properties, and because also it perhaps undergoes a sort of fermentation in the stomach, by which something of the nature of wine may be produced, would be apt rather to augment.—E.]

The common method of dressing food here is by boiling, and as fire-wood is very scarce, and the inhabitants have no other fuel, they make use of a contrivance to save it, that is not wholly unknown in Europe, but is seldom practised, except in camps. They dig a hollow under ground, in a horizontal direction, like a rabbit-burrow, about two yards long, and opening into a hole at each end, one of which is large, and the other small: By the large hole the fire is put in, and the small one serves for a draught. The earth over this burrow is perforated by circular holes, which communicate with the cavity below; and in these holes are set earthen pots, generally about three to each fire, which are large in the middle, and taper towards the bottom, so that the fire acts upon a large part of their surface. Each of these pots generally contains about eight or ten gallons, and it is surprising to see with how small a quantity of fire they may be kept boiling; a palm-leaf, or a dry stalk thrust in now and then, is sufficient: In this manner they boil all their victuals, and make all their syrup and sugar. It appears by Frazier's account of his voyage to the South-Sea, that the Peruvian Indians have a contrivance of the same kind, and perhaps it might be adopted with advantage by the poor people even of this country, where fuel is very dear.

Both sexes are enslaved by the hateful and pernicious habit of chewing betel and areca, which they contract even while they are children, and practise incessantly from morning till night. With these they always mix a kind of white lime, made of coral stone and shells, and frequently a small quantity of tobacco, so that their mouths are disgustful in the highest degree both to the smell and the sight: The tobacco taints their breath, and the betel and lime make the teeth not only as black as charcoal, but as rotten too. I have seen men between twenty and thirty, whose fore-teeth have been consumed almost down to the gums, though no two of them were exactly of the same length or thickness, but irregularly corroded, like iron by rust. The loss of teeth is, I think, by all who have written upon the subject, imputed to the tough and stringy coat of the areca-nut; but I impute it wholly to the lime: They are not loosened, or broken, or forced out, as might be expected if they were injured by the continual chewing of hard and rough substances, but they are gradually wasted like metals that are exposed to the action of powerful acids; the stumps always adhering firmly to the socket in the jaw, when there is no part of the tooth above the gums: And possibly those who suppose that sugar has a bad effect upon the teeth of Europeans, may not be mistaken, for it is well known that refined loaf-sugar contains a considerable quantity of lime; and he that doubts whether lime will destroy bone of any kind, may easily ascertain the fact by experiment.[109]

[Footnote 109: The injurious effect of sugar on the teeth, it is believed, is not now seriously contended for by any persons who think and make observations on the matter, though, undoubtedly, the assertion respecting it holds its place as strongly as ever, among the economical maxims of prudent matrons. A word or two as to lime. When this is spoken of, let it be understood always what is meant; whether pure lime, that is what is called burnt lime, or the same substance in combination with fixed air, or carbonic acid, of which the process of burning deprives it. The effects of these two preparations are exceedingly different on animal bodies; the former causing rapid decomposition and consumption; the latter being, on the contrary, quite inert. Loaf-sugar, though prepared by means of lime, ought never to contain a particle of it, and scarcely ever does. So that, on the whole, the remarks in the text are totally incorrect. As a matter of fact, again, the writer, from his own experience, and as what he has often occasion to recommend to others, takes the liberty of prescribing a tooth-powder, equal in comfort, efficacy, and safety, to any sold in the shops under such pompous and imposing titles. It consists of equal parts of lump-sugar, (the finer the better) Spanish or French chalk, (which is in fact lime) rose-pink, (for the purpose of colouring, and also as an absorbent) and oris-root, (remarkable for its pleasant smell, and to be had in the perfumers' or druggists' shops, ready powdered) all in very fine powder, and properly mixed together. A box of this never-to-be-excelled dentifrice, may cost two-pence, or so, for which, however, or for something else not a whit better, if as good, they who choose may give half-a-crown. When the teeth are already tolerably clean, and not encrusted with what is called tartar, a soft brush is always to be preferred, as risking the enamel less. Hard brushes and gritty powders ruin more teeth than all the sugar and lime in the world. Charcoal is undoubtedly a good substitute for a tooth-powder; but it is to be objected to as leaving black furrows in the gums, which even much washing fails to remove in any reasonable time. This is a good deal obviated when it forms but a part of the article used. It may be mixed with the powder recommended.—E.]

If the people here are at any time without this odious mouthful, they are smoking. This operation they perform by rolling up a small quantity of tobacco, and putting it into one end of a tube about six inches long, and as thick as a goose-quill, which they make of a palm leaf. As the quantity of tobacco in these pipes is very small, the effect of it is increased, especially among the women, by swallowing the smoke.

When the natives of this island were first formed into civil society, is not certainly known, but at present it is divided into five principalities or nigrees: Laai, Seba, Regeeua, Timo, and Massara, each of which is governed by its respective raja or king. The raja of Seba, the principality in which we were ashore, seemed to have great authority, without much external parade or show, or much appearance of personal respect. He was about five-and-thirty years of age, and the fattest man we saw upon the whole island; he appeared to be of a dull phlegmatic disposition, and to be directed almost implicitly by the old man who, upon my presenting him with a sword, had procured us a fair market, in spite of the craft and avarice of the Dutch-factors. The name of this person was Mannu Djarme, and it may reasonably be supposed that he was a man of uncommon integrity and abilities, as, notwithstanding his possession of power in the character of a favourite, he was beloved by the whole principality. If any difference arises among the people, it is settled by the raja and his counsellors, without delay or appeal, and, as we were told, with the most solemn deliberation and impartial justice.

We were informed by Mr Lange, that the chiefs who had successively presided over the five principalities of this island, had lived for time immemorial in the strictest alliance and most cordial friendship with each other; yet he said the people were of a warlike disposition, and had always courageously defended themselves against foreign invaders. We were told also that the island was able to raise, upon very short notice, 7300 fighting men, armed with muskets, spears, lances, and targets. Of this force, Laai was said to furnish 2600; Seba, 2000; Regeeua, 1500; Timo, 800; and Massara, 400. Besides the arms that have been already mentioned, each man is furnished with a large pole-ax, resembling a wood-bill, except that it has a straight edge, and is much heavier: This, in the hands of people who have courage to come to close quarters with an enemy, must be a dreadful weapon; and we were told that they were so dexterous with their lances, that at the distance of sixty feet they would throw them with such exactness as to pierce a man's heart, and such force as to go quite through his body.

How far this account of the martial prowess of the inhabitants of Savu may be true, we cannot take upon us to determine; but during our stay, we saw no appearance of it. We saw indeed in the town-house, or house of assembly, about one hundred spears and targets, which served to arm the people who were sent down to intimidate us at the trading place; but they seemed to be the refuse of old armories, no two being of the same make or length, for some were six, and some sixteen feet long: We saw no lance among them, and as to the muskets, though they were clean on the outside, they were eaten into holes by the rust within; and the people themselves appeared to be so little acquainted with military discipline, that they marched like a disorderly rabble, every one having, instead of his target, a cock, some tobacco, or other merchandise of the like kind, which he took that opportunity to bring down to sell, and few or none of their cartridge-boxes were furnished with either powder or ball, though a piece of paper was thrust into the hole to save appearances. We saw a few swivel guns and pateraros at the town-house, and a great gun before it; but the swivels and pateraros lay out of their carriages, and the great gun lay upon a heap of stones, almost consumed with rust, with the touch-hole downwards, possibly to conceal its size, which might perhaps be little less than that of the bore.

We could not discover that among these people there was any rank of distinction between the raja and the landowners: The land-owners were respectable in proportion to their possessions; the inferior ranks consist of manufacturers, labouring poor, and slaves. The slaves, like the peasants in some parts of Europe, are connected with the estate, and both descend together: But though the landowner can sell his slave, he has no other power over his person, not even to correct him, without the privity and approbation of the raja. Some have five hundred of these slaves, and some not half a dozen: The common price of them is a fat hog. When a great man goes out, he is constantly attended by two or more of them: One of them carries a sword or hanger, the hilt of which is commonly of silver, and adorned with large tassels of horse hair; and another carries a bag which contains betel, areca, lime, and tobacco. In these attendants consists all their magnificence, for the raja himself has no other mark of distinction.

The chief object of pride among these people, like that of a Welchman, is a long pedigree of respectable ancestors, and indeed a veneration for antiquity seems to be carried farther here than in any other country: Even a house that has been well inhabited for many generations, becomes almost sacred, and few articles either of use or luxury bear so high a price as stones, which having been long sat upon, are become even and smooth: Those who can purchase such stones, or are possessed of them by inheritance, place them round their houses, where they serve as seats for their dependants.[110]

[Footnote 110: The specification of the Welch here is very vulgar, and the more so, as obviously sarcastic. Deeper or more scientific observation would have led Dr Hawkesworth to some general principle which produces a love of ancestry in all our species. Mr Gibbon has very expressively described it, in the beginning of the memoirs of his own life, to which the reader is referred. Nothing is less becoming a philosopher, than wittily pointing out national peculiarities, without taking the least pains to discover the foundations on which they are built, or connecting them with circumstances and principles common to mankind. Every thing, in fact, will seem anomalous and insulated in the history of different nations, if it is not distinctly recollected that human nature is the same throughout the globe which it inhabits, and is merely modified by external causes.—E.]

Every Raja sets up in the principal town of his province, or nigree, a large stone, which serves as a memorial of his reign. In the principal town of Seba, where we lay, there are thirteen such stones, besides many fragments of others, which had been set up in earlier times, and are now mouldering away: These monuments seem to prove that some kind of civil establishment here is of considerable antiquity. The last thirteen reigns in England make something more than 276 years.

Many of these stones are so large, that it is difficult to conceive by what means they were brought to their present station, especially as it is the summit of a hill; but the world is full of memorials of human strength, in which the mechanical powers that have been since added by mathematical science, seem to be surpassed; and of such monuments there are not a few among the remains of barbarous antiquity in our own country, besides those upon Salisbury plain.

These stones not only record the reigns of successive princes, but serve for a purpose much more extraordinary, and probably altogether peculiar to this country. When a raja dies, a general feast is proclaimed throughout his dominions, and all his subjects assemble round these stones: Almost every living creature that can be caught is then killed, and the feast lasts for a less or greater number of weeks or months, as the kingdom happens to be more or lets furnished with live stock at the time; the stones serve for tables. When this madness is over, a fast must necessarily ensue, and the whole kingdom is obliged to subsist upon syrup and water, if it happens in the dry season, when no vegetables can be procured, till a new stock of animals can be raised from the few that have escaped by chance, or been preserved by policy from the general massacre, or can be procured from the neighbouring kingdoms. Such, however, is the account that we received from Mr Lange.

We had no opportunity to examine any of their manufactures, except that of their cloth, which they spin, weave, and dye; we did not indeed see them employed, but many of the instruments which they use fell in our way. We saw their machine for clearing cotton of its seeds, which is made upon the same principles as those in Europe, but is so small that it might be taken for a model, or a toy: It consists of two cylinders, like our round rulers, somewhat less than an inch in diameter, one of which, being turned round by a plain winch, turns the other by means of an endless worm; and the whole machine is not more than fourteen inches long, and seven high: That which we saw had been much used, and many pieces of cotton were hanging about it, so that there is no reason to doubt its being a fair specimen of the rest. We also once saw their apparatus for spinning; it consisted of a bobbin, on which was wound a small quantity of thread, and a kind of distaff filled with cotton; we conjectured therefore that they spin by hand, as the women of Europe did before the introduction of wheels; and I am told that they have not yet found their way into some parts of it. Their loom seemed to be in one respect preferable to ours, for the web was not stretched upon a frame, but extended by a piece of wood at each end, round one of which the cloth was rolled, and round the other the threads: The web was about half a yard broad, and the length of the shuttle was equal to the breadth of the web, so that probably their work goes on but slowly. That they dyed this cloth we first guessed from its colour, and from the indigo which we saw in their plantations; and our conjecture was afterwards confirmed by Mr Lange's account. I have already observed, that it is dyed in the yarn, and we once saw them dying what was said to be girdles for the women, of a dirty red, but with what drug we did not think it worth while to enquire.

The religion of these people, according to Mr Lange's information, is an absurd kind of paganism, every man chusing his own god, and determining for himself how he should be worshipped; so that there are almost as many gods and modes of worship as people. In their morals, however, they are said to be irreproachable, even upon the principles of Christianity: No man is allowed more than one wife; yet an illicit commerce between the sexes is in a manner unknown among them: Instances of theft are very rare; and they are so far from revenging a supposed injury by murder, that if any difference arises between them, they will not so much as make it the subject of debate, lest they should be provoked to resentment and ill-will, but immediately and implicitly refer it to the determination of their king.

They appeared to be a healthy and long-lived people; yet some of them were marked with the small-pox, which Mr Lange told us had several times made its appearance among them, and was treated with the same precaution as the plague. As soon as a person was seized with the distemper, he was removed to some solitary place, very remote from any habitation, where the disease was left to take its course, and the patient supplied with daily food by reaching it to him at the end of a long pole.

Of their domestic economy we could learn but little: In one instance, however, their delicacy and cleanliness are very remarkable. Many of us were ashore here three successive days, from a very early hour in the morning till it was dark; yet we never saw the least trace of an offering to Cloacina, nor could we so much as guess where they were made. In a country so populous this is very difficult to be accounted for, and perhaps there is no other country in the world where the secret is so effectually kept.

The boats in use here are a kind of proa.

This island was settled by the Portugueze almost as soon as they first found their way into this part of the ocean; but they were in a short time supplanted by the Dutch. The Dutch however did not take possession of it, but only sent sloops to trade with the natives, probably for provisions to support the inhabitants of their spice islands, who, applying themselves wholly to the cultivation of that important article of trade, and laying out all their ground in plantations, can breed few animals: Possibly their supplies by this occasional traffic were precarious; possibly they were jealous of being supplanted in their turn; but however that be, their East India Company, about ten years before, entered into a treaty with the rajas, by which the Company stipulated to furnish each of them with a certain quantity of silk, fine linen, cutlery ware, arrack, and other articles, every year; and the rajas engaged that neither they nor their subjects should trade with any person except the Company, without having first obtained their consent, and that they would admit a resident on behalf of the Company, to reside upon the island, and see that their part of the treaty was fulfilled: They also engaged to supply annually a certain quantity of rice, maize, and calevances. The maize and calevances are sent to Timor in sloops, which are kept there for that purpose, each of which is navigated by ten Indians; and the rice is fetched away annually by a ship which brings the Company's returns, and anchors alternately in each of the three bays. These returns are delivered to the rajas in the form of a present, and the cask of arrack they and their principal people never cease to drink, as long as a drop of it remains. In consequence of this treaty, the Dutch placed three persons upon the island: Mr Lange, his colleague, the native of Timor, the son of an Indian woman by a Portuguese, and one Frederick Craig, the son of an Indian woman by a Dutchman. Lange visited each of the rajas once in two months, when he made the tour of the island, attended by fifty slaves on horseback. He exhorted these chiefs to plant, if it appeared that they had been remiss, and observed where the crops were got in, that he might order sloops to fetch it; so that it passed immediately from the ground to the Dutch store-houses at Timor. In these excursions he always carried with him some bottles of arrack, which he found of great use in opening the hearts of the rajas, with whom he had to deal.

During the ten years that he had resided upon this island he had never seen a European besides ourselves, except at the arrival of the Dutch ship, which had sailed about two months before we arrived; and he was to be distinguished from the natives only by his colour and his dress, for he sate upon the ground, chewed his betel, and in every respect adopted their character and manners: He had married an Indian woman of the island of Timor, who kept his house after the fashion of her country; and he gave that as a reason for not inviting us to visit him, saying, that he could entertain us in no other manner than the Indians had done, and he spoke no language readily but that of the country.

The office of Mr Frederick Craig was to instruct the youth of the country in reading and writing, and the principles of the Christian religion; the Dutch having printed versions of the New Testament, a catechism, and several other tracts, in the language of this and the neighbouring islands. Dr Solander, who was at his house, saw the books, and the copy-books also, of his scholars, many of whom wrote a very fair hand. He boasted that there were no less than six hundred Christians in the township of Seba; but what the Dutch Christianity of these Indians may be, it is not perhaps very easy to guess, for there was not a church, nor even a priest, in the whole island.

While we were at this place, we made several enquiries concerning the neighbouring islands, and the intelligence which we received is to the following effect:—

A small island to the westward of Savu, the name of which we did not learn, produces nothing of any consequence but areca-nuts, of which the Dutch receive annually the freight of two sloops, in return for presents that they make to the islanders.

Timor is the chief, and the Dutch residents on the other islands go thither once a-year to pass their accounts. The place was nearly in the same state as in Dampier's time, the Dutch having there a fort and storehouses; and by Lange's account we might there have been supplied with every necessary that we expected to procure at Batavia, salt provisions and arrack not excepted. But the Portuguese were still in possession of several towns on the north side of the island, particularly Laphao and Sesial.

About two years before our arrival, a French ship was wrecked upon the east coast of Timor; and after she had lain some days upon the shoal, a sudden gale broke her up at once, and drowned the captain, with the greatest part of the crew: Those who got ashore, among whom was one of the lieutenants, made the best of their way to Concordia; they were four days upon the road, where they were obliged to leave part of their company through fatigue, and the rest, to the number of about eighty, arrived at the town. They were supplied with every necessary, and sent back to the wreck, with proper assistance, for recovering what could be fished up: They fortunately got up all their bullion, which was in chests, and several of their guns, which were very large. They then returned to the town, but their companions who had been left upon the road were missing, having, as it was supposed, been kept among the Indians, either by persuasion or force; for they are very desirous of having Europeans among them, to instruct them in the art of war. After a stay of more than two months at Concordia, their number was diminished nearly one half by sickness, in consequence of the fatigue and hardship which they had suffered by the shipwreck, and the survivors were sent in a small vessel to Europe.

Rotte was in much the same situation as Savu; a Dutch factor resided upon it to manage the natives, and look after its produce, which consists, among other articles, of sugar. Formerly it was made only by bruising the canes, and boiling the juice to a syrup, in the same manner as toddy; but great improvements have lately been made in preparing this valuable commodity. The three little islands called the Solars were also under the influence of the Dutch settlement at Concordia: They are flat and low, but abound with provisions of every kind, and the middlemost is said to have a good harbour for shipping. Ende, another little island to the westward of the Solars, was still in the hands of the Portuguese, who had a good town and harbour on the north-east corner of it called Larntuca: They had formerly an harbour on the south side of it, but that, being much inferior to Larntuca, had for some time been altogether neglected.

The inhabitants of each of these little islands speak a language peculiar to themselves, and it is an object of Dutch policy to prevent, as much as possible, their learning the language of each other. If they spoke a common language, they would learn, by a mutual intercourse with each other, to plant such things as would be of more value to themselves than their present produce, though of less advantage to the Dutch; but their languages being different, they can communicate no such knowledge to each other, and the Dutch secure to themselves the benefit of supplying their several necessities upon their own terms, which it is reasonable to suppose are not very moderate. It is probably with a view to this advantage that the Dutch never teach their own language to the natives of these islands, and have been at the expence of translating the Testament and catechisms into the different languages of each; for in proportion as Dutch had become the language of their religion, it would have become the common language of them all.[111]

[Footnote 111: The Dutch in all their transactions abroad seem to have invariably minded the main chance, the one thing needful; and to this consideration, as a fundamental principle in their character, they never scrupled to sacrifice every and any matter of religion, policy or humanity,—as if the love of money was (to reverse the language of an apostle) the root of all virtue, and alone worthy of cultivation in the breasts of mankind. Whether their contempt of other people were greater than their indifference to the real interests which necessary connexion with them recommended, it is impossible to ascertain in some cases. It is on either supposition, to their indelible disgrace, that not the least pains were almost at any time bestowed by them, to acquire a knowledge of the languages of the people whom they had subdued. The Javanese, a language venerable from its antiquity, as certainly connected with the Sanscrit or sacred dialect of the Hindus, and important from its own excellence, as well as because spoken by some millions of people with whom the Dutch had very long intercourse, was so completely neglected, that till very lately not a single individual among them could write or converse in it. Of the Malayan tongue, which is quite distinct, though it has borrowed much from it, in consequence of certain commercial and even religious intercourse, a little knowledge had been acquired, and plainly for this reason, that without it no communication could have been carried on with the people inhabiting the sea-coasts and islands of the eastern parts of India. But even this knowledge, it is probable, extended no farther than to the names of substances imperatively alluring to the cupidity of Dutch merchants. What, alas! could be expected of intellectual energy or enterprize, from men who had surrendered their souls to mammon, and whose only remaining care it was, to guzzle gin and devour enough of victuals?—E.]

To this account of Savu, I shall only add a small specimen of its language, by which it will appear to have some affinity with that of the South-Sea islands, many of the words being exactly the same, and the numbers manifestly derived from the same source.

A man, Momonne. A sheep, Doomba. A woman, Mobunne. A goat, Kesavoo. The head, Catoo. A dog, Guaca. The hair, Row catoo. A cat, Maio. The eyes, Matta. A fowl, Mannu. The eye } Rowna matta. The tail, Carow. lashes, } The beak, Pangoutoo. The nose, Swanga. A fish, Ica. The cheeks, Cavaranga. A turtle, Unjoo. The ears, Wodeeloo. A cocoa-nut, Nieu. The tongue, Vaio. Fan-palm, Boaceree. The neck, Lacoco. Areca, Calella. The breasts, Soosoo. Betele, Canana. The nipples, Caboo soosoo. Lime, Aou. The belly, Dulloo. A fish-hook, Maaenadoo. The navel, Assoo. Tattow, the} Tata. The thighs, Tooga. marks on } The knees, Rootoo. the skin, } The legs, Baibo. The sun, Lodo. The feet, Dunceala. The moon, Wurroo. The toes, Kissovei yilla. The sea, Aidassee. The arms, Camacoo. Water, Ailea. The hand, Wulaba. Fire, Aee. A buffalo, Cabaou. To die, Maate. A horse, Djara. To sleep, Tabudge. A hog, Vavee. To rise, Tateetoo.

One, Usse. Two, Lhua. Three, Tullu. Four, Uppah. Five, Lumme. Six, Unna. Seven, Pedu. Eight, Arru. Nine, Saou. Ten, Singooroo. Eleven Singurung usse. 20, Lhuangooroo. 100, Sing assu. 1000, Setuppah. 10,000, Selacussa. 100,000, Serata. 1,000,000, Sereboo.

In this account of the island of Savu it must be remembered, that, except the facts in which we were parties, and the account of the objects which we had an opportunity to examine, the whole is founded merely upon the report of Mr Lange, upon whose authority alone therefore it most rest.

SECTION XXXVII.

The Run from the Island of Savu to Batavia, and an Account of the Transactions there while the Ship was refitting.

In the morning of Friday the 21st of September, 1770, we got under sail, and stood away to the westward, along the north side of the island of Savu, and of the smaller that lies to the westward of it, which at noon bore from us S.S.E. distant two leagues. At four o'clock in the afternoon, we discovered a small low island, bearing S.S.W. distant three leagues, which has no place in any chart now extant, at least in none that I have been able to procure: It lies in latitude 10 deg. 47' S., longitude 238 deg. 28' W.