^
'm
I VOYAGERS AND DISCOVERERS.
_.- LIVl:S AND EXPLOITS
MOST DISTINGUISHED
VOYAGERS, ADVENTURERS AND
DISCOVERERS,
EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AMERICA, THE SOUTH
SEAS, AND POLAR REGIONS.
AMJNG WHICH ARE THOSE OF
COOKE, CAVENDISH, CLAPPERTON, MACKENZIE, PARK,
PARRY, ROSS, FRANKLIN, LANDER, DENHAM, DAM-
PIER, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, DELLA VALLE,
NIEBUHR, SIR JOHN CHARDIN, &c.
COMPRISING
AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR VOYAGES, JOURNIES, PERILS, SUFFERINGS AND REMARKA-
BLE ESCAPES, A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR MODE OF TRAVELLING, A HIS-
TORY OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES, AND OF THE
MOST INTERESTING OBJECTS WHICH CAME UNDER
THEIR OBSERVATION IN EVERY COUNTRY.
ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS.
BY J. A. St. JOHN, SIR HUGH MURRAY, AND OTHERS.
HARTFORD:
H, HUNTINGTON, JUN.
NEW YORK: F. J. HUNTINGTON AND COMPANY,
174 PEARL STREET.
1840.
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1840, by
H. HUNTINGTON Jun.
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut.
L. Skinner, Printer, Haitford.
G:z.oo
5zi-
CONTENTS.
CIRCUMNAVIGATORS.
PAGE.
Sir Francis Drake, 9
Thomas Cavendish, -72
William Dampier, _- . 105
James Cook, - - - - 196
VOYAGERS AND DISCOVERERS.
[ASIA.]
Sir John Chardin, 253
Pietro Delia Valle, 281
Carsten Niebuhr, - - 305
John Bell, 344
[AFRICA.]
MungoPark, 371
Dixon Denham, 411
Hugh Clapperton, - - - . 412
Richard and John Lander, 463
;*:3»^ «n>« r\r^
[NORTH AMERICA.] '^^^-^'ts,.^^
Samuel Hearne, - - 56g.
Sir Alexander Mackenzie, , 580
William Edward Parry, 594
Sir John Ross, 621
Sir John Franklin, - - . . 628
The Great Arctic Problem Solved, 659
PREFACE
The ol)ject of the present work is to acquaint the Reader
with the eventful lives and arduous labors of those Adventu-
rers, who, regardless of toil and peril, have penetrated into un-
known countries, traversing ocean, and gea, and continent, to
explore the condition of the earth and its inhabitants. The
names of Cook, Park, Parry, Denham, Clapperton, Ross,
Franklin, the Landers, and others, are inseparably connected
with dangers, vicissitudes, new scenes, and striking incidents.
And if an exhibition of boldness and fortitude in braving dan-
gers and vanquishing obstacles can enlist the attention, the
work cannot fail to interest.
Whoever accompanies the Adventurer in his journies and
voyages, as delineated in the following pages, will be greeted
by a constant succession of remarkable exploits, and new and
striking objects. He will see him encountering the most
dreadful extremeties of cold amid the dreary but stupendous
and sublime scenery of the arctic regions; the scorching heat
and pestilential vapors of tropical chmates; the fury of oceans
and tempests, and the merciless barbarity of savages. In a
word, he will be found braving almost every species of danger
by which the patience and courage of man can be tried. By
thus accompanying him through his distant enterprises, often
far more useful than any undertaken by king or conqueror, we
acquire an affection for his person, and regard his toils and
perils as something which nearly concern ourselves.
VIII. PREFACE.
From the nature of the subject, the present work will con-
vey much important and useful information. Adventurers in
the same country are classed together and arranged in the or-
der of time. Thus, those who gave the first impulse to the
spirit of discovery, by circumnavigating the globe and explor-
ing the great Southern Ocean, occupy the first part of the
book ; then follow several romantic and adventurous travel-
lers in different parts of Asia; and finally Park, Denham,
Clapperton, the Landers, afford us a succinct history of the
progress of discovery in Africa; and Hearne, Mackenzie,
Parry, Ross, and Franklin, in the regions of the Northern
Polar Sea.
It has been justly remarked by Dr. Southey, that of books
of travels we cannot have too many, and that because they
contribute to the instruction of the learned, their reputation
suflfers no diminution by the course of time, but age rather
enhances their value; and, adds another distinguished writer,
every man whose comprehensive mind enables him to sympa-
thize with human nature under all its various aspects, and to
detect, through the endless disguises superinduced by strange
religions, pohcies, manners, or climate, passions^ weaknesses,
and virtues akin to his own, must peruse the relations of ve-
racious travellers with pecuhar satisfaction and delight. In
the spirit of sentiments like these the Pubhsher of this work
commends it to public consideration and patronage.
'f^
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE,
THE FIRST ENGLISH CIRC UMNAVKJATOR.
Sir Francis Drake, son of Mr. Edmund Drake, of
Tavistock in Devonshire, was born in 1545. Being
early destined for the sea, he received that kind of edu-
cation which was best adapted to the object of his pur-
suits. Sir John Hawkins, his kinsman, a celebrated
navigator, is said to have early taken him under his pro-
tection. At the age of eighteen he was purser of a ship
trading to Biscay. At twenty he made a voyage to
tjuinea, and at twenty-two he was promoted to the
command of the Judith, In 1570 and 1572 he was
2
10 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
engaged in expeditions against the Spaniards in the
West Indies. While prosecuting these enterprises he
was assisted by an Indian nation, equally hostile with
himself to the Spanish name. The prince of this na-
tion was named Pedro, to whom Drake made a fine
present of a cutlass from his side, which he perceived
the Indian greatly admired. Pedro, in return, gave
him four large wedges of gold, which Drake threw
into the common stock, with this emphatic observa-
tion, "that he thought it just that such as bore the
charge of such uncertain undertakings on his credit,
should share the utmost advantages they produced."
Then embarking his men, with all the wealth he had
obtained, he bore away for England, where he arrived
in 1573.
This success in this expedition, joined to his honor-
able conduct towards the owners and towards his men,
gained him a high reputation, and the application of his
newly acquired riches, still greater. For, fitting out
three stout frigates at his own expense, he sailed to
Ireland, and serving as a volunteer, under Walter, Earl
of Essex, performed some prodigies of valour. After
the death of this noble patron, he returned to England,
where Sir Christopher Hatton, a mighty favourite with
the queen, introduced him to her majesty, and procured
him countenance and protection at court. Thus bask-
ing in the beams of royal favour, his views expanded to
nobler aims than he had yet attempted ; and he project-
ed that expedition to the Great South Sea, which will
render his name immortal. This expedition we are
about to relate.
When a man once gives up the reins of imagination
to views of interest or ambition, nothing will appear dif-
ficult which gives him a chance of gratifying his fa-
vorite passion. Such was the case with Drake. Hav-
ing once had a prospect of the Great South Sea, he was
determined that no human obstacle should deter him
from endeavouring to revisit America, and from spread-
ing his sails on that ocean. But indefatigable as he
was in the pursuit of this design, it was not until the
year 1577, that he had collected a force sufficient to
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 11
man five vessels, and by a pretended royal authority,
appeared as admiral, or as the phrase then was, gene-
ral of the squadron.
The fleet, equipped for this new expedition, consist-
ed of the Pelican, the flag ship ; the Elizabeth, John
Winter, vice admiral ; the Marygold, commanded by
captain Thomas ; the Swan, captain John Chester ;
and the Christopher, of fifteen tons, which was commit-
ted to the charge of one of his carpenters.
These ships were fitted out, partly at his own risk,
and partly at the expense of others ; and were manned
with one hundred and sixty-four chosen seamen. They
were well stored with all necessary provisions ; and at
the same time, were furnished with whatever could
contribute to ornament or delight ; carrying expert mu-
sicians, rich furniture, and choice productions of the
country. Not only the admiral's table, but the cook-
room was provided with silver utensils ; partly to com-
mand a higher degree of respect, and perhaps, partly to
gratify personal vanity.
This cautious commander, reflecting on the difficul-
ties to which his men had been exposed in former expe-
ditions, which might have deterred the less resolute ;
or, more probably, to conceal his real designs from the
enemy, had engaged his crews for a voyage to Alexan-
dria; nor was the real destination known till they
reached the coast of Brazil.
Every thing being ready, Drake sailed from Plymouth
on the 15th of November 1577, but soon after was
forced by stress of weather into Falmouth, where he
w-as detained till the 13th of December, when he took
his final departure, with all the auspices of a favourable
voyage. On the 27th of the month, the squadron
anchored off Mogadore, an island about a mile from the
continent of Barbary. Here having got ready the
frames of his pinnaces, which he had carried out with
him, he began to put them together. The Moors ob-
serving these proceedings, sent two of their chiefs on
boardof the admiral's ship, receiving two Englishmen
as hostages. These Moors were handsomely entertain-
ed by Drake, that they might form a favourable opinion
12 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE.
of the English nation. Next day, however, this friend-
ly intercourse was at an end. One John Fry leaping on
shore from the ship's boat, was immediately mounted
on horseback, and conveyed up the country. Though
this man, after being closely interrogated, was dismissed
with apologies and assurances, that the natives had
mistaken this squadron for the Portuguese, from whom
they expected an invasion, the admiral resolved not to
protract his stay in that place. Accordingly he depart-
ed on the last of December, and on the 17th of Januar}-,
1578, reached Cape Blanco, having on the cruise cap-
tured three caunters, as the Spanish fishing-boats were
called, and two, or else three, caravels, — the accounts
on this, as on several other minor points, being often
contradictory. A ship which was surprised in the har-
bour with only two men on board shared the same fate.
At Cape Blanco they halted for five days, fishing ; while
on shore, Drake exercised his company in arms, thus
studying both their health and the maintenance of good
discipline. From the stores of the fishermen they help-
ed themselves to such commodities as they wanted, and
sailed on the 22d, carrying off also a caunter of 'forty
tons burthen, for which the owner received, as a slight
indemnification, the pinnace Christopher. At Cape
Blanco fresh water was at this season so scarce, that in-
stead of obtaining a supply, Drake, compassionating the
condition of the natives, who came down from the
heights, offering ambergris and gums in exchange for it,
generally filled their leathern bags without accepting
any recompense, and otherwise treated them humanely
and hospitably. Four of the prizes were released here.
After six days' sailing they came to anchor on the 2Sth
at the west part of Mayo, — an island where, according
to the information of the master of the caravel, dried
goat's flesh might be had in plenty, the inhabitants pre-
paring a store annually for the use of the king's ships.
The people on tlie island, mostly herdsmen and hus-
bandmen, belonging to the Portuguese of the island of
St. Jago, would have no intercourse with tl;ie ships,
having probably been warned of danger. Next day a
party of sixty men landed, commanded by Captain
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 13
Winter and Mr. Doughty, — a name with which, in the
sequel, the reader will become but too familiar. They
repaired to what was described as the capital of the
island, by which must be understood the principal col-
lection of cabins or huts, but found it deserted. The
inhabitants had fled, and had previously salted the
springs. The countr}^ appeared fertile, especially in
the valle3^s ; and in the depth of the winter of Great
Britain, they feasted on ripe and delicious grapes. The
island also produced cocoanuts, and they saw abun-
dance of goats and wild hens ; though these good things,
and the fresh springs, were unfortunately too far distant
from the ships to be available. Salt produced by the
heat of the sun formed here an article of commerce ;
and one of the prizes made was a caravel bound to St.
Jago for salt.
Leaving Mayo on the 30th, on the south-west side of
St. Jago, they fell in with a prize of more value, — a Por-
tuguese ship bound to Brazil, laden with wine, cloth,
and general merchandise, and having a good many pas-
sengers on board. The command of this prize was
given to Bought}^, who was however soon afterward
superseded by Mr. Thomas Drake, the brother of the
general. This is the first time we hear of offences being
charged against the unfortunate Doughty. It is said he
appropriated to his own use presents, probably given as
bribes to obtain good usage, by the Portuguese prison-
ers. These captives Drake generously dismissed at
the first safe and convenient place, giving every passen-
ger his wearing apparel, and presenting them with a
butt of wine, provisions, and the pinnace he had set
up at Mogadore. Only the pilot was detained, Nuno
de Silva, who w^as acquainted with the coast of Brazil,
and who afterward published a minute and accurate ac-
count of Drake's vo3^age.
Here, near the island named by the Portuguese Isla
del Fogo, or the Burning Island, where, says the Famous
Voyage, "on the north side is a consuming fire, the
matter whereof is said to be sulphur," lies Brava, de-
scribed in the early narratives as a terrestrial paradise ;
*'a most sweet and pleasant island, the trees whereof
2*
14 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE.
are always green, and fair to look upon ; in respect of
which they call it Isla Brava, that is, The Brave Island."
The " soil was almost full of trees; so that it was a
storehouse of many fruits and commodities, as figs al-
ways ripe, cocoas, plantains, oranges, lemons, citrons,
and cotton. From the brooks into the sea do run in
many places silver streams of sweet and wholesome
water," with which ships may easily be supplied.
There was, however, no convenient harbour nor anchor-
ing found at this " sweet and pleasant" island, — the
volcanic tops of Del Fogo *' not burning higher in the
air" than the foundations of Brava dipped sheer into the
sea.
The squadron now approached the equinoctial line,
sometimes becalmed, and at other times beaten about
with tempests and heavy seas. In their progress they
were indebted to the copious rains for a seasonable sup-
ply of water. They also caught dolphins, bonitos, and
tiying-fish, which fell on the decks, and could not rise
again "for lack of moisture on their wungs." They had
left the shore of Brava on the 2d February. On the
28th March their valuable Portuguese prize, which was
their wine-cellar and store, was separated in a tempest,
but afterward rejoined at a place which, in commemo-
ration of the event, was called Cape Joy. The coast of
Brazil was now seen in 31 J"^ south. On the 5th April,
the natives, having discovered the ships on the coast,
made great fires, went through various incantations, and
ofl^ered sacrifices, as was imagined, to the Devil, that
the prince of the powers of the air might raise storms
to sink the strangers. To these diabolical arts the
mariners doubtless attributed the violent lightning,
thunder, and rain, which they encountered in this lati-
tude.
About Cape Joy the air was mild and salubrious, the
soil rich and fertile. Troops of wild deer, *' large and
mighty," were the only living creatures seen on this part
of the coast, though the footprints of men of large sta-
ture were traced on the ground. Some seals were
killed here, fresh provisions of any kind never being
neglected. On the 14th of April, Drake anchored
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 15
within the entrance of Rio de la Plata, where he had
appointed a rendezvous in case of a separation after
leaving the Cape de Verd Islands ; and here the caunter,
which had separated in a gale on the 7th, rejoined,
when the expedition sailed eighteen leagues farther into
the river, where they killed sea-wolves (seals,) —
*' wholesome but not pleasant food." Still farther in,
they rode in fresh water ; but finding no good harbour,
and having taken in water, the fleet, on the 27th, stood
out, and afterward southward. The Swan lost them on
the first night, and the caunter, ever apt to go astray,
was separated ten days afterward. In 47° south a
headland was seen, within which was a bay that pro-
mised safe harbourage ; and having, on the 12th May,
entered and anchored, Drake, who seldom devolved
tlie duty of an examination on an inferior officer, went
off in the boat next morning to explore the bay. Be-
fore he made land, a thick fog came on, and was follow-
ed by bad weather, which took from him the sight of
the fleet. The company became alarmed for their pro-
tector and general, in whom all their hopes of fortune,
fame, and even of preservation, were placed. The
Marigold, a bark of light weight, stood in for the bay,
picked up the captain-general, and came to anchor. In
the meanwhile the other ships, as the gale increased,
had been compelled to stand out to sea. The fog which
had fallen between Drake and the fleet also took from
his sight an Indian, who, loudly shaking a rattle, danced
in time to the discordant music he made, and by his
gestures seemed to invite the strangers on shore. Next
day Drake landed, and several Indians came in sight,
to whom a w^hite flag was waved in token of amity,
and as a signal to approach. , The natives acknowledg-
ed the symbol of peace, but stiU kept at a wary dis-
tance.
Drake now ordered fires to be lighted as signals to
the ships ; and they all rejoined, save the two vessels
formerly separated.
In a sort of storehouse here, above fifty dried ostriches
were found, besides other birds laid up, dry or drying
for provision, by the Indians. It was believed by some
16 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
of the English that these had been left as a present ; and
Drake, whether believing or not in so rare an instance
of hospitality, appropriated the dried birds to the use of
his company. It is a charitable conjecture that some of
his own wares were left in return. The manner in
which these ostriches, whose flesh supplied food, while
their feathers furnished ornaments, were snared, de-
serves notice. Plumes of feathers were affixed to a
stick, made to resemble the head and neck of the bird.
Behind these decoys the hunter concealed himself, and,
moving onwards, drove the ostriches into some narrow
tongue of land, across which strong nets were placed to
intercept the return of the bird, which runs, but cannot
fl}^ Dogs were then set upon the prey, which was thus
taken.
The choice of the place in which the fleet now lay
had been dictated by necessity alone. On the 15th it
was abandoned, and on the 17th they anchored in a
good port, in 47J'^ south. Here seals were so plentiful
that upwards of two hundred were killed in an hour.
While the crews were tillins^ the water-butts, killinsr
seals, and salting birds for future provision, Drake in
the Pelican, and Captain Winter in the Elizabeth, set
out on diflerent courses in quest of the Swan and the
Portuguese prize. On the same day Drake fell in with
the Swan, and, before attempting the straits, formed the
prudent resolution of diminishing the cares and hazards
of the voyage by reducing the number of his ships.
The Swan was accordingly broken up for firewood,
after all her materials and stores had been removed.
When the ships had lain here a few days, a party of
the natives came to the shore, dancing, leaping, and
making signs of invitation to a few of the seamen then
on a small island, which at low water communicated
with the main land. They were a handsome, strong,
agile race, lively and alert. Their only covering was
the skin of an animal, which, worn about their middle
when walking, was wrapped round their shoulders while
they squatted or lay on the ground. They were paint-
ed over the whole body after a grotesque fashion.
Though fancy and ingenuity were displayed in the
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 17
figures and patterns, and in the contrast and variety of
colours, it is reasonable to conclude that the practice had
its origin in utilit}^, and was adopted as a defence
against cold, ornament being at first only a secondary
consideration, though, as in more refined regions, it
sometimes usurped the place of the principal object.
These Indians being first painted all over, on this
groundwork many freaks of fancy were displayed :
white full moons were exhibited to advantage on a black
ground, and black suns on a white one. Some had one
shoulder black and the other white ; but these were
probably persons who carried the mode to the extreme.
On seeing that the signals made were interpreted in
a friendly wa}'-, Drake sent a boat to the shore with bells,
cutlery, and such small wares as were likely to be at-
tractive and acceptable to the tastes of the natives. As
the boat neared the shore, two of the group, who had
been standing on a height, moved swiftly down, but
stopped short at a little distance. The presents were
fastened to a pole, and left on the beach ; and after the
boat put off they were removed, and in return such
feathers as the natives wore, and the carved bones
which they used as ornaments, were deposited near or
fastened to the same pole. Thus a friendly, if not
profitable or useful, traffic was established. For such
trifles as the English bestowed they gave in return the
only articles they possessed to which value was attached.
These were bows, arrows made of reeds and pointed
with flint, feathers, and carved bones. Their mode of
exchange was to have every thing placed on the ground,
from whence the goods were removed, and the article
bartered for substituted. By some of the voyagers
these people are described as of gigantic stature. They
were of a gay and cheerful disposition; the sound of
the trumpets delighted them ; and they danced merrily
with the sailors. One of their number, who had tasted
wine, and became, it is stated, intoxicated with the
mere smell before the glass reached his lips, always
afterward approached the tents crying, "Wine, wine!"
Their principal article of food was seals, and sometimes
the flesh of other animals ; all of which they roasted, or
18 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
rather scorched for a few minutes, in large lumps of six
pounds' weight, and then devoured nearly raw, — '*men
and women tearing it with their teeth like lions."
The fleet sailed from Seal Bay, as this place was
named, on the 3d of June, and on the 12th came to an-
chor in a bay where they remained for two days, during
which they stripped the caunter, and allowed it to drift.
Drake had thus reduced his force to a more compact
and manageable form. The place from which this ves-
sel was sent adrift is sometimes called the Cape of Good
Hope, but seems to have been named Cape Hope.
From the 14th to the 17th of May, the fleet cruised
about in search of the Mary, the Portuguese prize, and
then came to anchor in a bay 50^ 20' south. On the
19th the missing vessel was found, and next day the
whole squadron anchored in the Port St. Julian of Ma-
gellan in 40^ 30' south; where, says one relation, "we
found the gibbet still standing on the main where Ma-
gellan did execute justice upon some of his rebellious
and discontented company." So soon as the ships
were safely moored, Drake and some of his officers went
off in a boat to examine the capabilities of this part of
the coast, and on landing met two men of immense
stature, who appeared to give them welcome. These
were of the Patagonian trribes of Magellan. A few
trifles presented to them were accepted with pleasure,
and they were apparently delighted by the dexterity
with which the gunner used the EngUsh bow in a trial
of skiU, sending his arrow so far beyond their best aim.
Nothing, however, can be more fickle and capricious
than the friendship of most savage tribes. An Indian
of less amiable disposition than his companions ap-
proached, and with menacing gestures signified to the
crew to be gone. Mr. Winter, an English gentleman,
displeased with the interruption given to their pastime
by this churlish fellow, between jest and earnest drew
a shaft, partly in intimidation, but also to prove the su-
periority of the English bow and skill. The bowstring
unfortunately snapped ; and while he was repairing it a
sudden shower of arrows wounded him in the shoulder
and the side. Oliver, the gunner, instantly levelled his
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 19
piece ; but it missed fire, and the attempt proved the
signal for his destruction. He was pierced through
with an arrow, and immediately dropped. At this
critical moment Drake ordered the rest of the party to
cover themselves with their targets and advance upon
the Indians, who were fast mustering. With ready
presence of mind, he directed his men, at the same time,
to break every arrow aimed at them, as the assailants
must thus soon expend their stock. The captain-gene-
ral might at this juncture have remembered that in the
affray where Magellan lost his life the same arrows were
picked up by the people of Matan, and repeatedly shot,
as they drove the Spaniards into the water. At the
same instant in which he gave the order, Drake seized
the gunner's piece, and taking aim at the man who had
killed Oliver and begun the affray, he shot him in the
belly. This turned the fate of the hour, and probably
prevented the massacre of the whole party of English ;
for many more of the Patagonians were seen hastening
from the woods to support their countrymen, when the
hideous bellowing of the wounded man struck wdth
panic those already engaged, and the whole fled. It
was not thought prudent to pursue them, nor even to
tarry on shore ; Mr. Winter was therefore borne off to
the shipTs ; but in the haste of embarkation the body of
the gunner was left. Next day, when looked after, the
body was found uninjured, save that an English arrow
had been thrust into the left eye. The clothes were in
part stripped off, and formed into a pillow or truss,
which was placed under the head of the corpse. Win-
ter soon afterward died of his wounds.
This unfortunate affray appears to have been more
the consequence of misunderstanding than design ; and
the usage of the dead body and subsequent conduct of
the natives evince a less revengeful and ferocious dis-
position than is usually displayed even among the
mildest savage tribes when inflamed by recent battle.
During the remainder of the time that the fleet lay here
110 further molestation was offered to the English.
The stature of these tribes, and of those in the straits,
has been the subject of dispute among navigators from
20 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
the voyage of Magellan to our own times, each succeed-
ing band being unwilling to yield an inch to their pre-
cursors, or to meet with "giants less formidable than
those which had been previously seen. ClifFe, however,
says, "they were of ordinary height, and that he had
seen Englishmen taller than any of them ;" and then,
like a true seaman of the period, he imputes their ex-
aggerated stature to the "lies" of the Spaniards, from
whom no good thing could come ; and who, in the ima-
ginary impunity of escaping detection from the naviga-
tors of other nations, related these marvellous tales.
" The World Encompassed" makes the height of these
people seven feet and a half. It is not unlikely that the
mists, haze, and storms through which the natives were
often partially seen in the straits, or on those wild
coasts, perched on a rock or grovelling on the ground,
may be the origin of the pigmies and giants of the early
navigators ; but that tribes of tall though not gigantic
stature were seen in the South Sea islands, and also on
the western coasts of the continent of America, from its
southern extremity as far north as was then explored,
does not admit of doubt.*
While the fleet lay at Port St. Julian an event occur-
red, which, as the contradictory evidence is viewed,
must either be termed the most heroic or the most ques-
tionable act in the life of Admiral Drake. Mr. Thomas
Doughty, a man of talent, and too probably of ill-regu-
* The Patagonian race is still among the least known of all the South
American tribes. There is no doubt, however, of its existence, nor of the
fact that it is characterized by proportions exceeding tlie ordinary dimensions
of mankind. The Patagonian people are of limited numbers, and inhabit
the eastern shores of the most southern point of tlie New World, under a
cold and steril clime. They wander about from one district to another, and
are but imperfectly civilized. Their dispositions, however, are peaceable,
although their great bodily strength would seem to fit them for warlike en-
terprise ; but it sometimes happens that gigantic forms are not accompanied
by a corresponding increase of physical energy. The average height of
these people is about six feet, which height is also extremely frequent among
the chiefs and nobles of the South Sea islands. The complexion of the
Patagonians is tawny; their hair, of which tlie colour is black or brown, is
lank, and for the most part very long. It appears that this tribe have suc-
ceeded in the training of horses, — an unusual accomplishment in a tribe
otherwise so uncivilized ; but this, of course, must have been a comparative-
ly modem exercise of their ingenuity, as horses were unknown in America
prior to the period of the Spanish conquest.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 21
lated ambition, had served as an officer in the fleet, and
it is said enjo5^ed in a high degree the afFection and con-
fidence of the captain-general, who must voluntarily
have selected him as one of his company. Doughty
was at this place accused of conspiracy and mutiny ;
of a plan to massacre Drake and the principal officers,
and thus defeat the whole expedition ; as if the first-
imagined crime did not constitute sufficient guilt. The
details of this singular affair are scanty, obscure, and
perplexed ; and no contemporary writer notices any
specific fact or ground of charge. The offence of
Doughty is purely constructive. Cliffe dismisses the
subject in one seaman-like sentence, merely saying,
" Mr. Thomas Doughty was brought to his answer, —
accused, convicted, and beheaded." The account in
" The World Encompassed" is more elaborate, but not
much more satisfactory. It contains strong general
charges, but no record of facts, nor a shadow of proof
of the general allegations. These early chroniclers ap-
pear either thoroughly convinced of the guilt of the cul-
prit, or indifferent to the propriety of convincing others
of the justice and necessity of their captain's sentence,
or they were fully convinced that the accused merited
his fate. Doughty had previously been called in ques-
tion for his conduct in accepting gifts or bribes while in
the Portuguese prize, and he had afterward strayed
once or twice with the same vessel, which was burnt to
prevent like accidents. According to one account his
treason was of old date ; and before the fleet left Ply-
mouth he had been hatching plots against his com-
mander, who refused to believe " that one he so dearly
loved would conceive evil against him, till perceiving
that lenity and favour did little good, he thought it high
time to call those practices in question, and, therefore,
setting good watch over him, and assembling all his cap-
tains and gentlemen of his company together, he pro-
pounded to them the good parts that were in this gen-
tleman, and the great good will and inward affection,
more than brotherly, which he had, ever since his first
acquaintance, borne him, and afterward delivered the
letters which were written to him (Drake,) with the par-
3
22 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
ticulars from time to time, which had been observed
not so much by himself as by his good friends ; not only
at sea, but even at Ptymouth ; not bare words, but wri-
tings; not writings, but actions, tending to the over-
throw of the service in hand, and making away his per-
son. Proofs were required, and alleged so many and
so evident, that the gentleman himself, stricken with
remorse, acknowledged himself to have deserved death,
yea, many deaths ; for that he conspired, not only the
overthrow of the action, but of the principal actor also."
The account continues in the same strain, asserting that
forty of the principal men of Drake's band adjudged tlK^
culprit to deserve death, and gave this judgment under
their hand and seal, leaving the manner to the general,
who allowed the unfortunate man the choice of being
either abandoned on the coast, taken back to England
to answer to the lords of the queen's council, or execu-
ted here. He chose the latter, requesting, it is said,
that he might "once more receive the holy communion
with the captain-general before his death, and that he
might not die other than the death of a gentleman."
The circumstances of the execution are striking. Mr.
Fletcher celebrated the communion on the next day.
Drake received the sacrament with the condemned
man, and afterward they dined together *'at the same
table, as cheerfully in sobriety as ever in their lives they
had done ; and taking their leaves, by drinking to each
other, as if some short journey only had been in hand."
Without further delay, all things being in readiness.
Doughty walked forth, requested the bystanders to pray
for him, and submitted his neck to the executioner.
Camden's version of this transaction does not differ
materially from the above. The chaplain of the fleet,
Mr. Francis Fletcher, left a manuscript journal of the
voyage, now deposited in the British Museum, which
contradicts many of the important statements in the
other relations. He asserts that the criminal utterly
denied the truth of the charges against him, upon his
salvation, at the time of communicating, and at the hour
and moment of his death. Mr. Fletcher likewise affirms
that no choice of life or death was given him upon any
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 23
conditions. It is evident, that in the opinion of the;
chaplain, Doughty was an innocent and a murdered
man ; the victim of a conspiracy not rigidly sifted by
the general, and in which the actors too probably con-
sulted his secret wishes.
The fleet had not long left England when the affair
of the Portuguese prisoners, in which there might be
dishonour, but no crime deserving severity of punish-
ment, and still less death, was brought against him.
But in Port St. Julian, Fletcher remarks, "more dan-
gerous matter is laid to his cliarge, and b}^ the same per-
sons (John Brewer, Edward Bright, and others of their
friends,) namely, for words spoken by him to them in
the general's garden at Plymouth, which it had been
their part and duty to have discovered them at the time,
and not have concealed them for a time and place not
so fitting." Besides the vague charges made of plots
and mutinous conduct, and the anomalous offence of
being "an emulator of the glory of his commander,"
another cause is assigned for the death of Doughty,
which, if it were supported by reasonable proof, would
fix a deeper stigma on the character of Drake than all
his other questionable deeds put together. In England
the age of dark iniquitous intrigue had succeeded the
times of ferocity and open violence ; but the dependants
and partisans of the leading men in the state were still
as criminally subservient to the flagitious designs of
their patrons as when their daggers had been freeh^
drawn in their service. It was alleged that Captain
Drake had carried this man to sea to rid the powerful
Earl of Leicester of a dangerous prater, and in time
and place convenient to revenge his quarrel.
It is probable that the intimacy of Doughty with cap-
tain Drake had commenced in Ireland, as both had
served under Essex ; and it is affirmed that the real
crime of the former was accusing Leicester of plotting
the secret murder of his noble rival, of which few men
in England believed him wholly guiltless. On the other
hand, Essex was the patron of Drake, who, it is reason-
ably urged, was thus much more likely to protect than
punish a friend brought into trouble for freedom of
24 SIR FRA^XIS DRAKE.
speech on an occasion that would have moved stocks or
stones. It may be further pleaded in behalf of Drake,
that, with the exception of the chaplain, whose relation
has however ever}^ mark of sincerity and good faith, no
man nor officer in the fleet has left any record or sur-
mise of objection to the justice of the execution, though
the affair, after the return of the expedition, was keenly
canvassed in England.* In his whole course of life,
Drake maintained the character of integrity and hu-
manity ; nor did he lack generosity in fitting season.
He at all times discovered a strong sense of religion,
and of moral obhgation, save in the case of the Span-
iards and "Portagals," for which, however, " sea-divin-
ity" afforded an espe.cial exception. That he could
have put an innocent man to death to conceal the crimes,
or execute the vengeance of Leicester, is too monstrous
for belief; and that, conscious of the deepest injustice,
he should have gone through the solemn religious ob-
servances which preceded the perpetration of his crime,
presents a picture of odious hypocrisy and cold-blooded
cruelty more worthy of a demon than a brave man.
The case resolves itself into the simple necessity of
maintaining disciphne in the fleet, and sustaining that
personal authority which, in a commander, is a duty
even more important than self-preservation. Drake's
notions of authority might have been somewhat over-
strained ; nor is it unhkely that he unconsciously im-
bibed sHght feelings of jealousy of " this emulator of his
glory." Every one who mentions Doughty speaks of
him as a man of great endowments. Mr. Fletcher is
warm in his praise. " An industrious and stout man,"
says Camden, even when relating his crimes, and one,
it appears, of sufficient consequence to be imagined the
cause of disquiet to the still all-powerful Leicester.
Immediately after the execution, Drake, who to his
*Inan old relation (written by himself) of the adventures of "Peter
Carder, a shipwrecked Seaman," belonging to Drake's fleet, we find that
when, after his long detention and miraculous escape from the savages and
the "Portugals," he returned to England, on being examined before the
queen, and relating his marvellous haps, she questioned hun "of the manner
of Master Doughty 's execution."
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ^5
Other qualities added the gift of a bold natural eloquence,
addressed his whole company, " persuading us to uni-
tv^, obedience, love, and regard of our voyage ; and for
the better confirmation thereof, wished every man the
next Sunday following, to prepare himself to receive the
communion as Christian brethren and friends ought to
do ; which was done in very reverent sort, and so with
good contentment every man went about his business."
Doubt and darkness will, however, always hang over
this transaction, though probably onty from the simple
reason of no formal record being kept of the proceed-
ings. Doughty was buried with Mr. Winter and the
gunner on an island in the harbour, and the chaplain
relates that he erected a stone, and on it cut the names
of these unfortunate Englishmen, and the date of their
burial.
The ships, by the breaking up of the Portuguese
prize, were now reduced to three; and being "trim-
med" and supplied with wood and water, and such
other necessaries as could be obtained, the}^ sailed from
this "port accursed" on the 17th of August. ClifFe re-
lates, that while they lay here, the weather, though in
.1 uty and August, was as cold as at mid-winter in Eng-
land. On the 20th the}^ made Cape de las Virgines,
entered the strait, and on the 24th anchored thirty
leagues within it.
There is a considerable variation in the accounts of
Drake's passage of the straits. The statements are
even absolutely contradictoiy on some points, though
the disagreements, when the facts are sifted, are more
apparent than real, every narrator noting only what he
had himself witnessed or casually gathered from the in-
formation of others. The original narrative of the pas-
sage by the Portuguese pilot, Nuno de Silva, is among
the most interesting and accurate ; but in the present
account an attempt is made to combine whatever ap-
pears most striking and important in the different rela-
tions. The eastern mouth of the strait was found about
a league broad ; the land bare and flat. On the north
side Indians were seen making great fires ; but on the
»outh no inhabitants appeared. The length was corn-
s'
26 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
puted at one hundred and ten leagues. The tide was
seen to rise (setting in from both sides) about fifteen
feet. It met about the middle, or rather nearer the
western entrance. The medium breadth was one
league. Where the ships came to anchor on the 24th
were three small islands, on which they killed three
thousand "of birds (penguins) having no wings, but
short pinions which serve their turn in swimming."
They were as "fat as an English goose."
" The land on both sides was very huge and moun-
tainous ; the lower mountains whereof, although they
be very monstrous to look upon for their height, yet
there are others which in height exceed them in a
strange manner, reaching themselves above their follow-
ers so high that between them did appear three regions
of clouds. These mountains are covered with snow at
both the southerly and easterly parts of the strait.
There are islands among which the sea hath his in-
draught into the straits even as it hath at the main en-
trance. The strait is extreme cold, with frost and snow
continually. The trees seem to stoop with the burden
of the weather, and yet are green continually, and many
good and sweet herbs do very plentifully increase and
grow under them."
Such are the natural appearances described. Near
the western entrance a number of narrow channels, with
which the whole of that side abounds, occasioned some
difficulty in the navigation ; and Drake, with his usual
caution, brought the fleet to anchor near an island,
while he went out in his boat to explore these various
openings to the South Sea. In this expedition, Indians
of the pigmy race, attributed to a region abounding in
all monstrous things, were seen; though both the
gigantic and diminutive size of these tribes are brought
in question even by contemporary writers. Yet these
pigmy Indians were seen close at hand, in a canoe in-
geniously constructed of the bark of trees, of which ma-
terial the people also formed vessels for domestic use.
The canoes were semicircular, being high in the prow
and stern. The seams were secured by a lacing of
thongs of sealskin, and fitted so nicely that there was
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 27
little leakage. The tools of these ingenious small folks
were formed of the shell of a very large species of mus-
cle, containing seed-pearls, which was found in the
straits. These shells they tempered, if the word may
be used, so skilfully that they cut the hardest wood, and
even bone. One of their dwellings, which might, how-
ever, be but a fishing-hut, was seen rudely formed of
sticks stuck in the ground, over which skins were
stretched.
Early in September the western entrance was reach-
ed ; and, on the 6th of the same month, Drake attained
the long-desired happiness of sailing an English ship on
the South Sea.
The passage of Drake was the quickest and easiest
that had yet been made, fortune favouring him here as
at every other point of this voyage. The temperature
was also much milder than had been experienced by
former navigators, or the English seamen might proba-
bly be more hardy and enduring than those of Spain.
One main object of Drake in leaving England was
undoubtedly the discovery of a north-west passage, by
Ibllowing the bold and novel track his genius chalked
out, and in which he might still hope to anticipate all
other adventurers, whether their career commenced
from the east or the west. On clearing the straits he
accordingly held a north-west course, and in two days
the fleet had advanced seventy leagues. Here it was
overtaken by a violent and steady gale from the north-
east, which drove them into 57^ south latitude, and two
hundred leagues to the west of Magellan's Straits.
While still driving before the wind under bare poles,
the moon was eclipsed at five o'clock in the afternoon of
the 15th, but produced neither abatement nor change of
the wind. "Neither did the ecliptical conflict of the
moon improve our state, nor her clearing again mend us
a whit, but the accustomed eclipse of the sea continued
in his force, we being darkened more than the moon
sevenfold."
On the 24th the weather became more moderate, the
wind shifted, and they partly retraced their course, for
seven days standing to the north-east, during which land
28 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
was seen, near which a vain attempt was made to an-
chor. Their troubles did not end here, — once more the
wind got back to its old quarter, and with great violence ;
and on the 30th the Marigold was separated from the
Elizabeth and the Golden Hind, as Drake on entering
the South Sea had named his ship, in compliment it is
said to his patron Sir Christopher Hatton. They made
the land ; but the Marigold was borne to sea by the
stress of the gale, and was never heard of more ! We
do not even find a conjecture breathed about the fate of
this ship. On the evening of the 7th of October, the
Golden Hind and Elizabeth made a bay near the west-
ern entrance of Magellan's Straits, which was afterv/ard
named the Bay of Parting Friends ; and here they in-
tended to lie by till the weather improved. During the
night the cable of the Hind broke, and she drove to sea ;
nor did Captain Winter, in the Elizabeth, make any at-
tempt to follow liis commander. Heartily tired of a
vo3^age of which he had just had so unpleasant a speci-
men, he next da}^ entered the straits, secretly purposing
to return home. Edward Cliffe, who sailed in the Eliz-
abeth, and whose relation stops with her return to Eng-
land, stoullv denies for the seamen the craven intention
of abandoning their commander. Captain Drake ; and
even asserts that some efforts were made to find the
admiral's ship, though of a very passive kind. Anchor-
ing in a bay within the straits, fires were kindled on the
shore ; so that, if Drake sought them in this direction
and on that day, there was a chance of his finding them.
This duty discharged, they went into secure harbourage
in a place which they named Port Health, from the
rapid recovery of the crew, who had lately suffered so
much from cold, wet, and fatigue. In the large muscles
and other shellfish found here they obtained pleasant
and restorative food ; and remained till the beginning of
November, when the voyage was formally abandoned,
"on Mr. Winter's compulsion, and full sore against the
mariners' minds." Winter alleged that he now despair-
ed of the captain-general's safety, or of being able to
hold his course with the Elizabeth for the imagined
Ophir of New Spain.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 29
It was the 11th of November before the Elizabeth got
clear of the straits, — an eastward voyage that had only
been once performed, and by a Spanish navigator, La-
drilleros, twenty years before, and believed to be next
to impossible, — and June in the following year before
Winter returned to England, with the credit of having
made the passage of the straits eastward, and the shame
of having deserted his commander, while his company,
with nobler spirit, showed unshaken fidelity and unaba-
ted ardour.
There is more interest in following the fortunes of the
Hind, which we left tossed about in the misnamed Pa-
cific. Drake was once more carried back to 55° south,
when he judged it expedient to run in among the islands
or broken land of Terra del Fuego ; where, together
with a supply of seals and fresh water, a season of re-
pose was found from the continual fatigues of the last
month. But this interval of ease was of short duration ;
they were once more driven to sea in a gale, and suffer-
ed the further calamity of being parted from the shallop,
in which were eight seamen with almost no provisions.
While the Hind drove farther and farther south, the
shallop was in the first instance so far fortunate as to
regain the straits, where the men salted and stored
penguins for future supply. They soon lost all hope of
rejoining the captain-general ; so, passing the straits,
they contrived to make, in their frail bark, first for Port
St. Julian, and afterward Rio de la Plata, where six of
them, wandering into the woods in quest of food, were
attacked by a party of Indians. All were wounded
with arrows ; but, while four were made prisoners, two
escaped, and joined their two comrades left in charge of
the boat. The Indians pursued, and the whole four
■were wounded before the natives were beaten back and
the shallop got off. The Englishmen made for a small
island at three leagues' distance, where two of their
number died of their wounds : — nor was this the last
calamity they were to endure ; the shallop was dashed
to pieces in a storm.
A melancholy interest is connected with this frag-
ment of Drake's original company. On the desolate
30 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
island in which they remained for two months, no fresh
water was to be found ; and though they obtained food
from eels, small crabs, and a species of fruit resembling
an oranofe, their sufferinofs from intense thirst came to an
extremity too painful and revolting to be made the sub-
ject of narrative. At the end of two months a plank ten
feet long, which had drifted from Rio de la Plata, was
picked up, smaller sticks were fastened to it, and a store
of provision was laid in ; then committing themselves
to God, paddling and clinging to this ark, they in three
days and two nights made the mainland, which had so
long tantalized their sight. In relating the issue of this
adventure, the words of Peter Carder, the survivor, are
adopted : — " At our first coming on land we found a little
river of sweet and pleasant water, where William
Pitcher, my only comfort and companion, although I
dissuaded him to the contrary, overdrank himself, being
perished before with extreme thirst; and, to my un-
speakable grief and discomfort, died half an hour after
in my presence, whom I buried as well as I could in
the sand."
The subsequent adventures of Peter Carder among
the savages on the coast of Brazil, and his captivity
among the Portuguese of Bahia de Todos los Santos,
Ibrm an amusing and interesting section of Purchas'
Pilgrims. After a nine years' absence he got back to
England, and had the honour of relating his adventures
before Queen Elizabeth, who presented him withtwent}^-
two angels, and recommended him to her lord high ad-
miral, Howard.
To return to Drake. His ship, now driven southward
flirther than before, again ran in among the islands.
This is an important stage in the navigation of Drake as
a voyage of discovery. He had reached the southern
extremity of the American continent, and been driven
round it; for "here no land was seen, but the Atlantic
and South Sea meeting in a large free scope."
On the 28th of October, the weather, which since the
6th of September, wlien they entered the Pacific, had
been nearly one continued hurricane, became moderate,
and the Golden Hind came to anchor in twenty fathoms
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 31
Water, though within a gunshot of the land, in a harbour
of an island of which the southern point has long been
known as Cape Horn.
Sir Richard Hawkins, the son of Sir John, and the
reputed kinsman of Admiral Drake, relates that he was
informed by the navigator himself that *'at the end of
the great storm he found himself in 50° S.," which w^as
sufficient proof that he had been beaten round without
the strait; and, moreover, that from the change of the
wind not being able to double the southernmost island,
he anchored under the lee of it, cast himself down upon
the extreme point, and reached over as far as was safe ;
and after the ship sailed, told his company that he had
been " upon the southernmost point of land in the world
known or likely to be known, and farther than any man
had ever before ventured."
Mr. Fletcher, the chaplain, also landed here. He
found this island three parts of a degree farther south
than any of the other islands.
To all the islands discovered here Drake gave the
general name of the Elizabethides, in compliment to his
royal mistress. They were inhabited, and the natives
were frequently seen, though little appears to have been
learned of their character or customs.
Having thus discovered and landed on the southern-
most part of the continent, Drake changed the Terra
Incognita* of the Spanish geographers into the Terra
bene nunc Cognitai of his chaplain, and on the 30th of Oc-
ber, with a fair wind from the south, he held a course
north-west ; but being bent on exploring, afterward
kept east, not to lose the coast. On the 25th of November
they anchored at the island of Mocha, oif the coast of
Chili, where the captain-general landed. Cattle and
sheep were seen here, and also maize and potatoes.
Presents were exchanged with the Indians, and next
day a watering party, which Drake accompanied, row-
ed towards the shore, in full security of their pacific
dispositions. Two seamen who landed to fill the water-
casks were instantly killed, and the rest of the party
* Land unknown. t Land now well known.
fSSi SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
narrowly escaped an ambush laid for them in case they
should come to the assistance of their countrymen.
They were fiercely assailed with arrows and stones,
and every one was wounded more or less severely.
The general was wounded both in the face and on the
head, and the attack was continued so warmly and
close that the Indians seized four of the oars. This un-
provoked attack was imputed by the ship's company to
the hatred which the inhabitants of Chili bore the Span-
iards, whom, it was presumed, they had not yet learned
to distinguish from other Europeans. In this view, it
was forgiven by men whose prejudices and animosity
w^ere equally strong with those of the Indians.
Sailing along the coast, with the wind at south, on
the 30th of November they anchored in a bay about 32°
S., and sent out a boat to examine the shores, which
captured and brought before the captain an Indian
found fishing in his canoe. This man was kindly treat-
ed. A present of linen and a chopping-knife gained
his affections, and he bore the message of Drake to his
countrymen, who, induced by the hope of hke gifts,
brought to the ship's side a fat hog and poultry. It was
at this time of more consequence to one main object of
the voyagers, who, doing much for the glor}^ of England
and Elizabeth, wished at the same time to do a little for
themselves, that an intelligent Indian repaired to the
ship who spoke the Spanish language, and, beheving
them mariners of that nation, unwittingly gave them
much valuable information. From him they learned
that they had by six leagues oversailed Valparaiso, the
port of St. Jago, where a Spanish vessel then lay at
anchor. The innocent offer of Felipe, when he saw
their disappointment, to pilot them back, was eagerly
accepted. On the 4th of December they sailed from
Philip's Bay, as they named this harbour, in honour of
their Indian pilot, and next day, without any difficulty,
captured the ship, the Grand Captain of the South Seas,
in which were found 60,000 pesos of gold, besides jew-
els, merchandise, and 1770 jars of Chili wine. This
was a joyful beginning ; each peso was reckoned worth
eight shillings. The people of the town, which con-
SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. 33
sisted of only nine families, fled ; and Drake's followers
revelled in the unforbidden luxury of a general pillage
of wine, bread, bacon, and other things most acceptable
to men who had been so long at sea, both for present re-
freshment and also for storing the ship. In every new
Spanish settlement, however small, a church rose as it
were simultaneously. The small chapel of Valparaiso
was plundered of a silver chalice, two cruets, and its
altar-cloth, which, to prevent their desecration, and to
obtain a blessing on the voyage, were presented to
Fletcher, the pastor of this ocean-flock. They sailed
on the 8th with their prize, taking, however, only one of
the crew, a Greek, named Juan Griego, who was capa-
ble of piloting them to Lima. Their Indian guide Fe-
lipe was rewarded, and sent on shore near his own
home. From the most southern point of this coasting
voyage, Drake had been continually on the outlook for
the Marigold and the Elizabeth ; and the Hind being too
unwieldly to keep in near the coast in the search, a pin-
nace was intended to be built for this duty, as well as
lor other operations which the captain-general kept in
view. A convenient place for this purpose had been
found at Coquimbo. Near the spot selected the Span-
iards had raised or collected a considerable force ;
and a watering party of fourteen of the English was
here surprised, and with some difficulty escaped from a
body of three hundred horse and two hundred foot. One
seaman was killed, owing, however, to his own braggart
temerity.
In a quieter and safer bay the pinnace was set up,
and Drake himself embarked in it to look after the
strayed ships ; but the wind becoming adverse he soon
returned. They quitted this harbour on the 19th of Janu-
ary, 1579, invigorated by a season of repose, by the re-
freshments and booty obtained, and by the hopes of
richer plunder and more glorious conquest. With few
adventures they sailed along the coast, till accidentally
landing at Tarapaza they found a Spaniard asleep on
the shore, with thirteen bars of silver lying beside him,
as if waiting their arrival. Advancing a little farther,
on landing to procure water, they fell in with a Span-
4
Si SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
iard and an Indian boy driving eight lamas, each of
which was laden with two leathern bags containing
fifty pounds of silver, or eight hundred pounds in all.
The lamas, or Peruvian sheep, are described by the old
voyagers as of the size of an ass, with a neck like a
camel, and of great strength and steadiness, forming
the beast of burden of these countries. They were
indeed the mules of the New World, but a much more
valuable animal, as the wool is fine and the flesh good.
The credulity of the most credulous of the family of John
Bull — his sons of the ocean — was here amusingly dis-
played. If the coast of Peru was not literally strewed
with gold, pure silver was found so richly mixed with
the soil that every hundred weight of common earth
yielded, on a moderate calculation, five ounces.
The eight lamas and their precious burden being
brought on board, the Golden Hind next entered the
port of Arica, where two or three small barks then lay.
These, when rifled, were found perfectly unprotected,
the crews being on shore, unable to imagine danger on
this coast. Arica is described as a beautiful and fertile
valley. The town contained about twenty houses,
which, the Famous Voyage states, "we would have
ransacked if our company had been better and more
numerous ; but our general, contented with the spoil of
the ships, put to sea, and sailed for Lima," in pursuit of
a vessel very richly laden, of which they had obtained
intelligence. The ship, of which they were now in hot
pursuit, got notice of her danger in time to land the
treasure with which she was freighted, — eight hundred
bars of silver, the property of the King of Spain. Drake,
now preparing for active measures, rid himself of every
encumbrance, by setting all the sails of his prizes, and
turning them adrift whithersoever the winds might carry
them. The arrival of these tenantless barks on some
wild coast or lonely island, may yet form the theme of
Indian tradition, though more probably they must all
have been dashed to pieces.
Tidings of the English being upon the coast had by
this time been dispatched over land to the governor at
Lima; but the difficulty of travelling in these stiU
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 35
tangled and trackless regions, enabled Drake to outstrip
the messenger, and on the 13th of September to surprise
the Spanish ships lying in Callao, the port of Lima. The
spoil was trifling for the number of vessels. In board-
ing a ship from Panama, which was just then entering
the port, an Englishman was killed. Another account
says he was shot from a boat while pursuing the crew,
who were abandoning the vessel. In one ship a chest
of ryals of plate and a considerable store of linens,
silks, and general merchandise were obtained. From
the prisoners Drake learned that ten days before, the
Cacafuego, laden with treasure, had sailed for Panama,
the point from whence all goods were carried across the
isthmus. This information at once determined the
course of our navigator ; and as ships from Callao to
Panama were in the habit of touching at intermediate
places, he reckoned the Cacafuego already his prize.
As a measure of precaution the mainmasts of the two
largest prizes found here were cut away, the cables of
the smaller ones were severed, and, the goods and peo-
ple being previously removed, the whole were abandon-
ed to the mercy of the winds and waves ; while Drake
bore northward in full sail, or when the wind slackened
was towed on by the boats, each man straining to reach
the golden goal. But this rather anticipates the course
of the narrative.
When intelligence of Drake's ship at last reached
Lima, it was presumed that some of the Spanish crews
had mutinied, and that the Golden Hind was a Spanish
vessel turned pirate, so little was an attack by the Eng-
lish, on this side of the continent deemed possible, or
that the ships of any nation save Spain could pass the
intricate and fatal Straits of Magellan. On being ap-
prized of the real fact and of the danger impending,
Don Francisco de Toledo, the viceroy at Lima, imme-
diately repaired to the port with a force estimated by
Lopez Vaz at two thousand horse and foot. The Golden
Hind still remained in sight of the port, and nearly be-
calmed. Two vessels, in each of which two hundred
. fighting men were embarked, were equipped in all haste,
and the capture of Drake, the pirate-heretic, was al-
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
ready confidently reckoned upon. At the same hour
in which they left the port to make the attack a fresh
gale sprung up, and the English ship pressed onward.
The flight and pursuit were continued for some time,
as it was not tlie policy of Drake, with his very inferior
force, to risk an action. By an oversight, most fortu-
nate for the English, the Spaniards, in their eagerness
and confidence of an easy conquest, had neglected to
take provisions on board. Famine compelled them to
abandon the pursuit ; but Don Francisco lost no time in
remedying this inadvertence. A force of three ships,
fully equipped, was despatched under the command of
Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, but arrived too late.
The same commander afterward long watched, and
w^aited in vain, the return of Drake by the straits. On
his recommendation they were afterwards fortified and
a colony planted, — an abortive attempt, which cost
Spain much treasure and many lives.
Near Payti, a small vessel, in which some silver or-
naments were found, was rifled and dismissed ; and on
passing Payti, from the crew of a vessel w^hich was
searched they learned that the Cacafuego had the start
of them now only by two days. Every nerv^e was fresh
braced for pursuit ; but the future advantage hoped for
did not lead them in the mean time to despise present
small gains. Two more vessels were intercepted,
rifled, and turned adrift, the crews being first landed.
In one of these some silver and eighty pounds of gold
were found, and a golden crucifix, in which was set "a
goodly and great emerald." They also found a good
supply of useful stores and a large quantity of cordage,
which made most part of the cargo. On the 24th Feb-
ruary they crossed the line, the Cacafuego still ahead
and unseen ; and Drake, to animate the hopes and
quicken the vigilance of his company, offered as a re-
ward to whoever should first descry the prize the gold
chain which he usually wore. The reward was gained
by Mr. Johrx Drake, who at three o'clock in the after-
noon of the 1st of March, from the mast-head, discerned
the prize, which by six o'clock was boarded and taken.
This capture was made off' Cape Francisco. The cap-
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. St
tain, a Biscayan, named Juan de Anton, was so little
aware of his danger, that seeing a vessel coming up to
him under a press of sail, he concluded that the viceroy
had sent some important message, and struck his sails
to await tlie approach of the Golden Hind. When
aware from closer inspection of his mistal^e, he tried to
escape; but he was already within reach of Drake's
guns, and possessed no defensive weapons of any kind.
Yet, with the brave spirit of his province, the Biscayan
refused to strike till his mizzenmast was shot away and
he himself wounded by an arrow.
This ship proved to be a prize worth gaining. It
contained twenty-six tons of silver, thirteen chests of
ryals of plate, and eighty pounds of gold, besides dia-
monds and inferior gems, — the whole estimated at three
hundred and sixty thousand pesos.
Among the spoils were two very handsome silver
gilt bowls belonging to the pilot, of which Drake de-
manded one ; which the doughty Spaniard surrender-
ing, presented the other to the steward, as if he dis-
dained to hold any thing by the favour of the English.
Had Drake, thus richly laden, now been assured of
a safe and an easy passage to England, it is probable
that the Golden Hind might not on this voyage have en-
compassed the globe. The advanced season, however,
and the outlook which he was aware the Spaniards
would keep for his return, forbade the attempt of re-
passing the straits ; while the glory of discovery, and
the hope of taking his immense treasure safely to Eng-
land, determined him in the resolution of seeking a
north-west passage homeward. Though not in general
communicative, his plans were no sooner formed than
he unfolded them to the ship's company, with the per-
suasive eloquence of a man eminently fitted for com-
mand. The crew were now in high spirits, and full of
confidence in their skilful, bold, and successful leader.
His counsel, which carried all the weight of command,
was " to seek out some convenient place to trim the ship,
and store it with wood, water, and such provisions as
could be found, and thenceforward to hasten our in-
tended journey for the discovery of the said passage,
4*
WB SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
through which we might with joy return to our longed-
for homes.
With this resolution they steered for Nicaragua, and
on the 16th March anchored in a small bay of the island
of Canno, which proved a good station to water and
refit. The pinnace was once more on active duty, and
a prize was brought in laden with honey, butter, sarsa-
parilla, and other commodities. Among the papers of
the prize were letters from the King of Spain to the
governor of the Philippines, and sea-charts, which after-
ward proved of use to the English. While Drake lay
here a violent shock of an earthquake was felt. From
Canno they sailed on the 24th March, the captain-gene-
ral never loitering in any port beyond the time abso-
lutely necessary to repair the ship and take in water.
On the 6th of April they made another valuable prize.
Being already well supplied with stores, their choice
was become more nice and difficult ; and selecting Tonly
silks, linen, delicate porcelain, and a falcon of finely
wrought gold, in the breast of which a large emerald
was set, the vessel was dismissed, and of her crew only
a negro and the pilot detained, who steered them into
the harbour of Guatalco. Landing, according to their
approved good practice, to ransack the town, it is re-
lated in the Famous Voyage that they surprised a
council then holding on certain negroes* accused of a
plot to burn the place. To their mutual astonishment,
judges and culprits were hurried on board in company,
and the chief men were compelled to write to the towns-
people to make no resistance to the English. The only
plunder found in ransacking this small place, in which
there were but fourteen persons belonging to Old Spain,
consisted of about a bushel of ryals of plate. One of
the party, Mr. John Winter, seeing a Spaniard taking
flight, pursued and took from the fugitive a chain of
gold and some jewels. This is related with great exulta-
tion, as a feat of peculiar dexterity and merit. All the
Spaniards on board the Golden Hind were now set at
* Probably Indians, tlie name Negro or Indian being used indiscriminately
by tlie early voyagers.
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 39
liberty. The Portuguese pilot, Nuno Silva, who had
been brought from the Cape de Verd Islands, was also
dismissed, and probably at this place wrote the relation
of the voyage from which quotations have been made in
this memoir. Silva' s account was sent to the Portu-
guese viceroy in India, and long afterward fell into the
hands of the English.
Satiated with plunder on sea and shore, Drake, on the
16th of April, sailed on that bold project of discovery for-
merly communicated to his company, and by the 3d of
June had gone over fourteen hundred leagues, in differ-
ent courses, without seeing land. They had now reach-
^ ed 43° north, the cold was becoming very severe, and,
in advancing two or three degrees farther, so intense,
that meat froze the instant it was removed from the
fire, and the ropes and tackling of the ship became
rigid from the influence of the frost. On the 5th, being
driven in by the winds, laild was seen, and they anchor-
ed in a small bay, too unsheltered, however, to admit of
their remaining. Drake had not expected to find the
coast stretching so far westward. The wind was now
become adverse to holding a northerly course, although
the extreme cold, and the chill, raw, unwholesome fogs
which surrounded them had made such a track de-
sirable. The land seen here was in general low ; but
wherever a height appeared it was found covered with
snow, though now almost midsummer. The land seen
was the western coast of California. On the 17th of June
they anchored in a good harbour, on an inhabited coast.
As the Hind drew near the shore the natives approach-
ed, and an ambassador or spokesman put off in a canoe,
who made a formal harangue, accompanied with much
gesticulation. When the oration was concluded, he
made a profound obeisance and retired to the land. A
second and a third tim^he returned in the same man-
ner, bringing, as a gift or tribute, a bunch of feathers
neatly trimmed and stuck together, and a basket made
of rushes. Of these rushes it was afterward found that
the natives fabricated several useful and pretty things.
The females, though the men were entirely naked, wore
a sort of petticoat composed of rushes, previously
40 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
Stripped into long threads resembling hemp. They
also wore deer skins round their shoulders ; and some
of the men occasionally used furs as a covering. It
was remarked, that the Indians appeared as sensible to
the extreme severity of the weather as the English sea-
men, — cowering, shivering, and keeping huddled to-
gether, even when wrapped up in their furs. The
basket brought by the Indian ambassador or orator was
filled with an herb which, in some of the original rela-
tions of the voyage is called tabah^ the native name, and
in others tobacco. The Indian was either afraid or un-
willing to accept of any present from the English in re-
turn for this simple tribute, but picked up a hat which
was sent afloat towards him. The kindness of Drake
ultimately gained the confidence of these people.
The ship had some time before sprung a leak, and it
was here found necessary to land the goods and stores
that she might be repaired. ' On the 21st this was done,
though the natives appeared to view the movement
with suspicion and dissatisfaction. They, however,
laid aside their bows and arrows, when requested to do
so, and an exchange of presents further cemented the
growing friendship. They retired apparently satisfied ;
but had no sooner reached their huts, which stood at a
considerable distance, than a general howling and
lamentation commenced, which lasted all night. The
females especially continued shrieking in a wild and
doleful manner, which, if not absolutely appalhng to the
English, was yet to the last degree painful. Drake,
whose presence of mind never forsook him, and who
was seldom lulled into false security by appearances of
friendship, mistrusting the state of excitement into
which the Indians were raised, took the precaution of
intrenching the tents, into which the goods and the
crew had been removed while the repairs of the ship
were in progress. For the two days following " the
night of lamentation," no native appeared. At the
end of that time a great number seemed to have
joined the party first seen ; and the whole assembled
on a height overlooking the fortified station of the ship's
company, and appeared desirous of approaching the
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 41
Strangers. The ceremonies were opened by an orator
or herald making a long speech or proclamation, with
which the audience were understood to express assent
by bowing their bodies at the conclusion, and groaning
in chorus — oh ! or oh ! oh ! After this friendly demon-
stration, for as such it was intended, a deputation of the
assembly stuck their bows into the earth, and, bearing
gifts of feathers and rush baskets with tabah, descended
towards the fort. While this was passing below, the
women, mixed with the group on the height, began to
shriek and howl, as on the " night of lamentation," to
tear their flesh with their nails, and dash themselves on
the ground, till the blood sprung from their bodies. This
is said, in the Famous Voyage, to have been part of the
orgies of their idol or demon worship. Drake, it is
said, struck with grief and horror, and probably not
without a tincture of superstition, ordered divine service
to be solemnized. The natives sat silent and attentive,
at proper pauses breathing their expressive "o/i/" in
token of assent or approbation. With the psalms, sung
probably to one of the simple solemn chants of the old
church, they appeared affected and charmed ; and they
repeatedly afterward requested their visiters to sing.
On taking leave they declined the gifts tendered, either
from superstitious dread, or as probably on the same
principle which makes a clown at a fair afraid to accept
the tempting shilling offered by a recruiting sergeant, —
from no dislike to the coin, or reluctance to drink the
king's health, but from great distrust of the motives of
the giver. The voyagers, with amusing self-complai-
sance, ascribe this fear or delicacy to the deep venera-
tion of the natives, and to their thinking *' themselves
sufficiently enriched and happy that they had free ac-
cess to see us."
The Indians here managed their foreign relations with
a ceremonial that might have sufficed for more refined
societies. The news of the arrival of the English having
spread, on the 26th two heralds or pursuivants arrived
at head-quarters, craving an audience of the captain-
general on the part of their hioh or king. The precursor
of majesty harangued a full half-hour, his associate die-
1^ SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
tating to, or prompting him, and concluded by demand-
ing tokens of friendship and safe conduct for the chief.
These were cheerfully given.
The approach of the Jdoh was well arranged, and im-
posing in effect. First came the sceptre or mace-bear-
er as he is called, though club-bearer would be the more
correct phrase. This officer was a tall and handsome
man, of noble presence. His staffer club of office was
about five feet in length, and made of a dark wood. To
this were attached two pieces of net- work or chain- work,
curiously and delicately wrought, of a bony substance,
minute, thin, and burnished ; and consisting of innumer-
able links. He had also a basket of tabah. These net-
cauls or chains were supposed to be the insignia of per-
sonal rank and dignity, akin to the crosses, stars, and
ribands of civilized nations, the number of them worn de-
noting the degree of consequence, as the importance of a
pasha is signified by the number of his tails. The king
followed his minister, and in his turn was succeeded by
a man of tall stature, with an air of natural grandeur and
majesty which struck the English visiters. The royal
guard came next in order. It was formed of one hun-
dred picked men, tall and martial-looking, and clothed
in skins. Some of them wore ornamental head-dresses
made of feathers, or of a feathery down which grew upon
a plant of the country. The king wore about his shoul-
ders a robe made of the skins of the species of marmot
afterward described. Next in place in this national
procession came the common people, every one painted,
though in a variety of patterns, and with feathers stuck
in the club of hair drawn up at the crown of their heads.
The women and children brought up the rear, carrying
each, as a propitiatory gift, a basket, in which was
either tahah^ broiled fish, or a root that the natives ate
both raw and baked.
Drake, seeing them so numerous, drew up his men in
order, and under arms, within his fortification or block-
house. At a few paces' distance the procession halted,
and deep silence was observed, while the sceptre-bear-
er, prompted as before by another official, harangued for
a full half-hour. His eloquent address, whatever it
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 43
might import, receiving the concurrent "oA/" of the na-
tional assembly, the same orator commenced a song or
chant, keeping time in a slow, solemn dance, performed
with a stately air, the king and all the warriors joining
both in the measure and the chorus. The females also
moved in the dance, but silently. Drake could no
longer doubt of their amicable feelings and peaceful in-
tentions. They were admitted, still singing and moving
in a choral dance, within the fort. The orations and
songs were renewed and prolonged ; and the chief,
placing one of his crowns upon the head of the captain-
general, and investing him with the other imagined in-
signia of royalty, courteously tendered him his whole
dominions, and hailed him king! Songs of triumph
were raised, as if in confirmation of this solemn cession
of territory and sovereignty. Such is the interpretation
which the old voyagers put upon a ceremony that has
been more rationally conjectured to resemble the inter-
change or exchange of names, which in the South Sea
islands seals the bonds of friendship; or as something
equivalent to a European host telling his visiter that he
is master of the house. " The admiral," it is shrewdly
observed, "accepted of this new-offered dignity in her
majesty's name, and for her use; it being probable that,
from this donation, whether made in jest or earnest by
these Indians, some real advantage might hereafter re-
dound to the English nation and interest in these parts."
We are expressly informed that the natives afterward
actually worshipped their guests ; and that it was ne-
cessary to check their idolatrous homage. They roam-
ed about among the tents, admiring all they saw, and
expressing their attachment to the English in their own
peculiar fashion. It was for the youngest of the com-
pany these fondnesses were imbibed. To express afFec-
lion, the Indians surrounded and gazed upon them, and
then began to howl and tear their flesh till they stream-
ed in their own blood, to demonstrate the liveliness and
strength of their affection. The same unnatural and
uncouth shows of regard continued to be made while the
English remained on the coast; and obeisances and
homage were rendered, which, being considered as ap-
44 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
preaching to sacrifice or worship, were strenuously and
piously disclaimed. These people are described as an
amiable race ; of a free, tractable, kindly nature, with-
out guile or treachery. To mark their esteem of the
English, and confidence in their skill and superiority, it
may be noticed that they applied for medicaments for
their wounds and sores.
The men, as has been noticed, were generally naked ;
but the women, besides the short petticoat woven of
peeled bulrushes, wore deer skins, with the hair on,
round their shoulders. They were remarked to be good
wives, — very obedient and serviceable to their hus-
bands. The men were so robust and powerful that a
burden which could hardly be borne by two of the sea-
men, a single native would with ease carry up and
down hill for a mile together. Their weapons were
bows and arrows, but of a feeble, useless kind. Their
dwellings were constructed in a round form, built of
earth, and roofed with pieces of wood joined together at
a common centre, somev/hat in form of a spire. Being
partly under ground, they were close and warm. The
fire was placed in the middle, and beds of rushes were
spread on the floor.
Before sailing, Drake made an excursion into the in-
terior. Immense herds of deer were seen, large and
fat ; and the country seemed one immense warren of a
species of cony of the size of a Barbary rat, " their heads
and faces like rabbits in England ; their paws like a
mole, their tails like a rat. Under their chin on each
side was a pouch, into which they gathered meat to feed
their young, or serve themselves another time." The
natives ate the flesh of those animals, and greatly prized
their skins, of which the state-robes worn by the king
at his interview with Drake were made.
The admiral named this fair and fertile country New
Albion, and erected a monument of his discovery, to
which was nailed a brass plate bearing the name, effigy,
and arms of her majesty, and asserting her territorial
rights, and the date of possession being taken.
Drake had spent thirty-six days at this place, — a long
but necessary sojourn; but the repairs of the ship being
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 45
completed, on the 23d of July he bore away from Port
Drake, the kind-hearted natives deeply bewailing the
departure of their new friends. The regret, good-will,
and respect were indeed mutual. The Indians entreat-
ed the English to remember them, and as a farewell
offering or homage secretly provided what is called a
sacrifice. While the ship remained in sight, they kept
fires burning on the heights. It is delightful at this time
to hear of Europeans leaving grateful remembrances
of their visits on any coast, and the pleasure is enhan-
ced by being able to claim this honour for our country-
men. It was from some fancied resemblance to the
white cliffs of England that Drake bestowed on the coast
he had surveyed, the name of New Albion.*
Next day a store of seals and birds were caught at
some small islands which are now supposed to be the
Farellones of modern charts.
Thus far had Drake boldly explored in search of a
passage homeward, either through an undiscovered
strait, or around the northern extremity of the continent
of America; but now this design, so honourable to his
enterprise and even to his sagacity, was for the present
abandoned ; the winds being adverse, and the season
too much advanced to prosecute farther so perilous an
adventure. Leaving the scene of his discoveries on the
western coast of America, which are reckoned to begin
immediately to the north of Cape Mendocino and to ex-
tend to 48'^ N., Drake, with the unanimous consent of
his company, having formed the design of returning
home by India and the Cape of Good Hope, sailed west-
ward for sixty-eight days without coming in sight of
land. On the 13th of September he fell in with some
islands in 8° N. As soon as the Golden Hind appeared,
the natives came off in canoes, each containing from
four to fourteen men, bringing cocoanuts, fish, and fruits.
Their canoes were ingeniously formed and prettily or-
* After passing Punta de los Reyes, Captain Beechey awaited the return
of day, off some white cUiFs, which he believed must be those which made
Sir Francis Drake bestow on this tract of country the name of New Albion,
i
46 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
namented, hollowed out of a single tree, and so high at
the stern and prow as to be nearly semicircular. The
islanders were not yet sufficiently enlightened in mer-
cantile affairs to have learned that honesty is the deal-
er's best policy. Drake, however, instead of imitating
the conduct of Magellan, and instantly shooting them
for thieving, or burning their houses, endeavoured to
bring them to a sense of propriety merely by refusing to
traffic with those w^ho w^cre found dishonest. This ex-
cited their displeasure, and a general attack of stones
was commenced. A cannon, not shotted, fired over
their heads to scare them away had only this effect for a
short time. The general was at last compelled to adopt
more severe measures of retaliation, and we are told in
vague terms that "smart was necessaiy as well as ter-
ror." The natives of those Islands of Thieves, as they
were named by the English, had the lobes of their ears
cut out into a circle, which hung down on their cheeks.
Their teeth were black as jet, from the use of a powder
which they constantly employed for the purpose of
staining them. This powder they carried about witli
them in a hollow cane. Another peculiarity observed
was the length of their nails, which was above an inch.
It has been conjectured, with every mark of probability,
that Drake's Islands of Thieves are the islands named
De Sequeira, discovered by Diego da Rocha, and the
Pelew Islands of our own times ; if so, the morals of
the inhabitants must have improved greatly in the long
interval which elapsed between this first visit of the
English and that made by Captain Wilson in the Duffl
The wind coming fair, on the 3d of October the Golden
Hind stood westward, and on the 16th of the month
made the Philippines in 7° 5' north of the fine. They
first fell in with four islands having a thick population,
or the appearance of it. These they visited, and after-
ward anchored in Mindanao. Sailing hence on the
22d, they kept a southerly course, and passed between
two islands about six or eight leagues south of Minda-
nao, supposed to be the Sarangan and Candigar.
On the 3d of November the Moluccas were seen, and
they steered for Tidore ; but in coasting along Motir a
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 4^
boat came off, from which Drake learned that the Por-
tuguese, expelled from Terrenate, or Ternate, by tb
king of that island, had fixed their head-quarters at Ti-
dore. In this boat was the Viceroy of Motir, whicl
island was under the sovereignty of the powerful anc
warlike king of Ternate. As soon as the viceroy under-
stood that Drake had no reason either to love or trus'
the Portuguese, he entreated him to change his destina-
tion ; and the ship accordingly steered for the port ol
Ternate.
Previous to coming to an anchor before the town, a
courteous offer of friendship was made by the general
through a messenger whom he sent on shore with a vel-
vet cloak as a present to the king, and who was instruct^
ed to say that the English came hither only to trade and
to procure refreshments. The viceroy of Motir had
previously disposed the king to give Drake a favourable
reception. To the general's message a gracious answei*
was returned. All that the territories of the King of
Ternate afforded, were at the disposal of the English,
and that prince was ready to lay himself and his whole
dominions at the feet of so glorious a princess as the
Queen of England. By some of the voyagers this flour-
ish of oriental hyperbole is most literally interpreted.
The English envoy was received with great pomp ; and
as credentials, or safe-conduct, a signet (we are not told
in what form) was transmitted through him to the cap-
tain-general. Before the ship came to anchor the king
put off* to pay it a visit of welcome and ceremony. The
royal equipment consisted of three state barges, or ca-
noes, filled with the most distinguished persons of hit!
retinue. They wore dresses of white muslin, — "white
lawn, of cloth of Calicut." Over their heads w^as a
canop3^ or awning of perfumed mats, supported on a
framework of reeds. Their personal attendants, also
dressed in w^hite, stood next them ; and beyond these
were ranks of warriors armed with dirks and daggers.,.
These again were encircled by the rowers, of which
there were eighty to each barge, placed in galleries
raised above the other seats, three on each side. They
rowed, or rather paddled, in cadence to the clashing of
48 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
cymbals, and altogether made a gallant show. The
king, who advanced in the last barge, was saluted with
a discharge of all the great guns, and the martial music
which Drake employed on occasions of ceremonial,
struck up. The canoes paddled round and round the
ship, the king appearing delighted with the music, and
gratified by the signs of wealth and magnificence ex-
hibited by his visiters. He was himself a tall, stout,
graceful man, and celebrated as a conqueror and war-
rior. B}^ policy and force of arms he had not only ex-
pelled the Portuguese from this island, but subdued
many others, so that seventy islands now owned his
sway. He professed the faith of Mohammed, which
was now become the religion of all his dominions. It is
worthy of remark, that in the ceremonies and external
observances of royalty the native princes of these Indian
islands might have vied with the most polished courts
of Europe. Elizabeth, whose board was daily spread
with lowly bends and reverences, was not more punc-
tilious in ceremonial and etiquette than the sovereign of
Ternate. His courtiers and attendants approached the
royal presence with the most profound respect, no one
speaking to the king save in a kneeling posture. As
soon as the ship came to an anchor the king took leave,
promising another visit on the following da}^
That same evening a present of fowls, rice, sugar,
cloves, and frigo was received, and " a sort of fruit,"
says the Famous Voyage, **they call sago, which is a
meal made out of the tops of trees, melting in the mouth
like sugar, but eating like sour curd; but yet when
made into cakes will keep so as to be very fit for eating
at the end of ten years." It is pleasant to come thus
upon the first simple notice of those productions of other
climes which have so long contributed to the comfort,
variety, or luxury of European communities.
Instead of coming on board next day the king sent his
brother to bear his excuses, and to remain as a hostage
for the safe return of the captain-general, who was in-
vited to land. The invitation was not accepted, the
English having some doubts of the good faith of the
fair-promising sovereign of Ternate. But some of the
SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. 49
gentlemen went on shore ; their first acquaintance, the
Viceroy of Motir, remaining as a hostage, as well as the
king's brother. On landing, they were received with
the pomp which had been intended to grace the entrance
of Drake into the capital; another brother of the king
and a party of the nobles conducted them to the palace,
which stood near the dismantled fort of the expelled
Portuguese. There they found an assembly of at least
a thousand persons, sixty of them being courtiers or
privy-counsellors, "very grave persons," and four Turk-
ish envoys, in robes of scarlet and turbans, who were
then at the court of Ternate concluding a treaty of com-
merce. The king was guarded by twelve lances. "A
glorious canopy embroidered with gold was carried over
his head." His garb was a robe ofclothof gold, hang-
ing loose about his person ; his legs were bare, but on
his feet he wore slippers of Cordovan leather. Around
his neck hung a weighty chain of gold, and fillets of the
same metal were wreathed through his hair. On his
fingers "w^ere many fair jewels." At the right side of
his chair of state stood a page cooling him with a fan
two feet in length and one in breadth, embroidered and
adorned with sapphires, and fastened to a staff three
feet long, by which it was moved. His voice was low,
and his aspect benign.
Drake did not afterward land ; and the offers made
of exclusive traffic with the English were, it appears,
received by him with indifference.
Having procured a supply of provisions and a consid-
erable quantity of cloves, the Golden Hind left the Mo-
luccas on the 9th of November, and on the 14th anchor-
ed at a small island near the eastern part of Celebes,
which they named Crab Island. This place being un-
inhabited and affording abundance of wood, though no
water was found, tents were erected on shore, and
fences formed around them ; and here they resolved
effectually to repair the ship for her homeward voyage.
This proved a pleasant sojourn. The island was one
continued forest of a kind of trees, large, lofty, and
straight in the stem, nor branching out till near the top ;
the leaves resembling the broom of England. About
50 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
these trees flicker innumerable bats "as big as hens."
There were also multitudes of shining flies no bigger
than the common fly in England, which, skimming up
and down in the air, between the trees and bushes,
made them appear "as if they were burning." There
were also great numbers of land-crabs, described as a
sort of crayflsh, "which dig holes in the earth like co-
nies, and are so large that one of them will dine four
persons, and very good meat."
At a small neighbouring island water was procured,
and on the 12th of December, having lain at Crab Island
about a month, the Hind sailed for the west, and soon
got entangled among islets and shoals, which induced
them to steer for the south, to get free of such dangerous
ground. At this time occurred the most imminent peril
and providential escape that attended this remarkable
voyage, — an incident as much resembling a visible in-
terposition of Divine aid where human hope had perish-
ed as any to be found among the almost miraculous
records of preservation contained in the relations of
maritime adventure.
After being teased for many days, on the 9th of Janu-
ary' they flattered themselves that the shoals were at last
cleared. On that same evening, early in the first watch,
while the Golden Hind with all her sails set was run-
ning before a fair wind, she came suddenly upon a
shelving rock, and stuck fast. Violent as was the shock
she had sprung no leak, and the boats were immediate-
ly lowered to sound, and ascertain if an anchor could
be placed in such a situation as would permit the ship to
be drawn ofl* into deep water. But the rock in which
she was as it were jammed, shelved so abruptly that at
the distance of only a few yards no bottom could be
Ibund. A night of great anxiety was passed ; and wlicn
the dawn permitted a second search for anchorage-
ground, it only ended in more confirmed and bitter dis-
appointment. There seemed no help of man ; yet in
the midst of their calamity several fortunate, or more
properly providential, circumstances intervened. No
leak had been sprung ; and though the ebb-tide left the
ship in only six feet of water, while, so deeply was she
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 51
treasure-laden, thirteen were required to float her, a
strong and steady gale blowing from the side to which
she must have reeled as the tide gradually receded,
supported her in this dangerous position. In this dread-
ful situation, instead of giving themselves up to despair
or apathy, Drake and his company behaved with the
manliness, coolness, and resolution which have ever in
the greatest perils characterized British seamen. The
crew were summoned to prayers, and, this solemn duty
fulfilled, a last united effort was made for the common
safet}^ A quantity of meal, eight of the guns, and three
tons of cloves were thrown overboard. This partial
lightening produced no visible effect ; the ship stuck as
fast as before. The simple language of the original
narrative is so much more forcible and touching than
any modern paraphrase, that we at once adopt it. In
a single sentence it displays the manly and self-depend-
ing character of Drake, and the veneration and implicit
confidence with which his crew regarded him : — " Of all
other days," says one old relation, "on the 9th of Jan-
uary, in the yeere 1579 (1580,) we ranne upon a rocke,
where we stuck fast from eight of the clocke at nighte
till four of the clocke in the afternoon of next day, being,
indeed, out of all hope to escape the danger ; but our
generall, as hee had alwayes shown himself couragious,
and of a good confidence in the mercie and protection of
God, so now he continued in the same ; and lest he
should seem to perish wilfully, both hee and wee did our
best endevour to save ourselves, which it pleased God
so to bless that in the ende we cleared ourselves most
happily of the danger." It was, however, by no effort
of their own that they were finally extricated, though
nothing that skill and courage could suggest or accom-
phsh was wanting. The wind slackened and fell with
the tide, and at the lowest of the ebb veered to the op-
posite point, when the vessel suddenly reeled to her
side. The shock loosened her keel, and at the moment
of what appeared inevitable destruction she plunged
into the deep water once more as freely- afloat as when
first launched into the ocean. The thankfulness of the
52 • SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
ship's company may be imagined.* This dangerous
shoal or reef is not far from the coast of Celebes, in 1^
56' S.
Their perilous adventure made them afterward very
wary ; and it was not till some weeks had elapsed that,
cautiously exploring their way, they finally extricated
themselves from this entangled coast.
On the 8th of February they fell in with the island of
Baratane, probably the island now called Booton, a
pleasant and fruitful place. It afforded gold, silver,
copper, and sulphur. The fruits and other natural pro-
ductions were ginger, long pepper, lemons, cocoas, cu-
cumbers, nutmegs, frigo, sago, &c. &c. Ternate ex-
cepted, this island afforded better and greater variety of
refreshments for the mariner than any land at which our
navigators had touched since they had left England.
The inhabitants were worthy of the fertile region they
inhabited. In form and features they were a handsome
people; in disposition and manners, mild and friendly;
fair in their dealings, and obliging in their behaviour.
The men were naked, save a small turban and a piece
of cloth about their waists ; but the women were clothed
from the middle to the feet, and had their arms loaded
with bracelets fashioned of bone, horn, and brass. The
men universally wore ornaments in their ears. These
islanders received the English with kindness and civili-
ty, and gladly supplied their wants.
Leaving Baratane with very favourable impressions
of the country and the people, they made sail for Java,
which was reached on the 12th of March. Here the
navigators remained for twelve days in a course of con-
^ It has been shrewdly remarked, that these pious seamen never for one
moment seem to have entertained the idea of throwing any part of their
immense treasure overboard, which would have materially lightened tho
ship. The accoHnt of the escape given in "the Famous Voyage" differs
from the above, which is, however, regarded as the most authentic relation
of this almost miraculous preservation. It states, that after the ship was
lightened, "the wind (as it were in a moment by the special grace of God,)
changing from the starboard to the larboard side, we hoisted our sails, and
the happy gale drove our ship off the rocks into the sea again, to the no sn)all
comfort of all our hearts; for which we gave God such praise and tlianks as
so great a benefit required."
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 53
stant festivity. The island was at this time governed
by five independent chiefs or rajahs, who lived in per-
fect amity, and vied with each other in showing hospi-
tality and courtesy to their English visiters.
The social condition of the Javans at this compara-
tively early period exhibits a pleasing and attractive
picture of semi-barbarous life, if a state of society may
be thus termed, which appears to realize many of our
late Utopian schemes of visionary perfection. The Ja-
vans were of good size and well-formed, bold, and war-
like. Their weapons and armour were swords, buck-
lers, and daggers of their own manufacture, the blades
admirably tempered, the handles highly ornamented.
The upper part of their bodies was entirely naked, but
from the waist downwards they wore a flowing garment
of silk of some gay and favourite colour. In ever}^ vil-
lage there was a house of assembly, or public hall,
where these social and cheerful people, whom we may
call the French of the Indian islands, met twice a day
to partake of a kind of picnic meal and enjoy the plea-
sures of conversation. To this common festival every
one contributed at his pleasure or convenience, bringing
fruits, boiled rice,* roast fowls, and sago. On a table
raised three feet the feast was spread, and the party
gathered round, "every one delighting in the company
of another." While the Hind lay here a constant in-
tercourse and interchange of kindnesses and civilities
were maintained between the sea and shore ; the rajahs
coming frequently on board either singly or together.
But the delights of Java could not long banish the
remembrance of England, to which every wish was now
directed. Making sail from Java, the first land seen
was the Cape of Good Hope, which they passed on the
15th of June. The Spaniards had not more studiously
magnified the real dangers of Magellan's Straits than
* The Javan cookery of rice, as described by Drake's crew, is worthy of
a place in English cookery books. An earthen vessel of a conical form,
open at the widest end, and perforated with holes, was filled with rice, and
plunged into a larger vessel of boiling water. The rice, swelling, sooji
stopped the holes, and the mass was steamed till it became firm and hard
like bread, when it was eaten with spices, fruit, sugar, moat, oil, &c. &e.
54 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE.
the Portuguese had exaggerated and misrepresented the
storms and perils which surround the Cape ; and it re-
quired the characteristic intrepidity and consummate
skill of Drake to venture with his single bark on this
doubtful and almost untried navigation. It is, however,
probable that he suspected the craft which suggested
this attempt to hoodwink and delude all other maritime
nations, that Portugal might long retain a monopoly of
her important discovery. Certain it is, that the ship's
company were surprised that close by the Cape — "the
most stately thing and goodliest cape seen in the circum-
ference of the whole earth" — no violent tempests or
awful perils were encountered ; and they accordingly
shrewdly concluded the report of the " Portugals most
false."
Deeming it unsafe or inexpedient to halt here, Drake
stood for land of which he had better knowledge, and
on the 22d of July arrived at Sierra Leone. Water
was obtained, and the refreshment of fruits and oysters,
of which, we are told, " one kind was found on trees
spawning and increasing wonderfully, — the oyster suf-
fering no bud to grow." It was imagined the 26th of
September, 1580, when, without touching at other land.
Captain Drake, after a voyage of two years and ten
months, came to anchor, whence he had set out, in the
harbour of Plymouth. The day of the week was INIon-
day, though by the reckoning kept by the voyagers
Sunday, and the 27th the true time ; the same loss of a
day having befallen them which had puzzled Magellan's
crew, — a myster}^ now clear to the most juvenile student
in geography.
The safe return of the expedition, the glory attending
so magnificent an enterprise, and the immense mass of
w^ealth brought home, made the arrival of Drake be hail-
ed throughout England as an event of great national
importance. Such in fact it was, as his success gave
an incalculable impetus to the rapidly-increasing mari-
time spirit of the country.
The bravery, the exploits, and the wonderful adven-
tures of Drake, immediately became the theme of every
tongue. Courtiers patronised and poets praised him ;
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 55
mid, to complete his celebrity, envious detractors were
not wanting, who with some plausibility, represented
that England and Spain, though cherishing the bitterest
national antipathy, being still nominally at peace, his
enterprises were at best but those of a splendid corsair ;
and that his spoliation of the subjects of Spain must
provoke reprisal on such merchants as had goods and
dealings in that country. It was urged that, of all
countries, a trading nation like England, should care-
fully avoid offending in a kind which laid her open to
speedy punishment, and must frustrate the advance-
ment of her maritime prosperity. On the other hand,
the friends and admirers of the navigator contended,
that he of all men, who had been so deep a sufferer
from their perfidy, was entitled to take the punishment
of the Spaniards into his own hands; and that his gal-
lant enterprise, while it inspired foreign nations with a
high opinion of the maritime talent and power of Eng-
land, would at home excite the noblest emulation, — an
effect which it already had, the island, from the one
•extreme to the other, being now inflamed with the ar-
dour that his splendid achievements had kindled, and
which was soon to be manifested in a series of actions
emanating directly from his expedition.
In the mean while Drake lost no time in repairing to
court. Elizabeth, who with all her faults, never favour-
ed the despicable, was more purely the fountain of all
favour and honour than any preceding sovereign, and
her personal regard more the object of ambition. Drake
was graciously received, but not yet openly counte-
nanced. The queen permitted the first fervours of
both his admirers and enemies to abate before she
openly declared her own sentiments. A show of cold-
ness was also a necessary part of the subtle game she
was still playing with Spain.
The complaints of the Spaniards were violent and
loud ; and the queen deemed it prudent to place the
wealth brought home under sequestration till their
claims should be investigated ; or, more correctly, till
the complainers could be either baffled or wearied out
56 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
in solicitation. It was the policy of Elizabeth to pro-
tract the long-impending hostilities between the coun-
tries, and among other means the plundered gold was
employed. As a foretaste, or a bribe to purchase peace
a little longer, several small sums were paid to the
agent for Spanish claims ; but, when tired of the game
of diplomacy, which the queen relished as much for
the enjoyment of the play as the value of the stakes, she
suddenly took the resolution of openly countenancing
the daring navigator, whose boldness, discretion, and
brilliant success, were so happily adapted to gain her
favour.
On the 4th of April, 1581, the queen went in state to
dine on board the Golden Hind, now lying at Deptford ;
and Drake, who naturally loved show and magnificence,
spared no pains in furnishing a banquet worthy of his
royal guest. After dinner the queen conferred upon
him the honor of knighthood, — enhancing the value of
the distinction by politely saying, " that his actions did
him more honor than the title which she conferred."
The queen also gave orders that his ship should be pre-
served as a monument of the glory of the nation and of
the illustrious commander. This was done, and when
it would no longer hold together, a chair was made of
one of the planks, and presented as a relic to the Univer-
sity of Oxford.* On the day of the queen's visit, in
compliment to her majesty's scholarship, a variety of
Latin verses, composed by the scholars of Winchester
College, were nailed to the mainmast, in which the
praises of the ship and the queen were alternated and
intermingled. The Golden Hind afterward became
the theme of the muse of Cowley. One translation of
a Latin epigram on the ship, we select from a multitude
* The particulars of this " stately visit," would unduly swell the narrative.
On this day Elizabeth, who, like King William IV., loved to be surrounded
by her subjects, was attended in her progress to Deptford by an immense
concourse of people, who crowded so tliickly upon the temporary bridge,
or planks placed between the river's bank and the ship, that it gave way, and
some hundreds fell into the water, This was an unlucky adventure, but no
one was either killed or hurt, which the ready-witted princess attributed sole-
ly to the good fortune of Drake,
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 57
of verses, as its quaintness is redeemed by its ele-
The stars above will make thee known,
If man were silent here ;
The Snn himself cannot forget
His fellow-traveller.
The reputation of Sir Francis Drake had now ob-
tained that court-stamp which, without increasing value,
gives currency. Though EHzabeth had so far tempo-
rized as to sequestrate for a time the wealth brought
home, the Spanish complaints of the English sailing in
the South Sea, she scornfully dismissed, — denying
" that, b}^ the Bishop of Rome's donation, or any other
right, the Spaniards were entitled to debar the subjects
ofent ser-
vices to his country limited to warlike operations. In
the short interval of leisure which followed this expedi-
tion, he brought water into the town of Plymouth, of which
it was in great want, from springs eight miles distant,
and by a course measuring more than twenty miles.
In the following year his distinguished services re-
ceived the reward to which they were fully entitled, in
his appointment of vice-admiral under Lord Charles
Howard, of Effingham, high-admiral of England. '
* So keenly were the deeds of Drake resented by the court of Spain, even
before this great stroke at the maritime power and strength of that country,
that, when terror was presumed to be struck into the very heart of the na-
tion, and the queen quailing in dismay, expecting the formidable armament
every day to put to sea, the Spanish ambassador had the temerity to pro-
pound terms for her acceptance, wrapped up, in the pedantic fashion of the
time, in Latin verses, which are thus translated : —
" These to you are our commands :
Send no help to the Netherlands.
Of the treasure took by Drake,
Restitution you must make ;
And those abbeys build anew
Which your father overthrew."
To this insolent demand the lion-hearted Protestant princess replied in
the same vein :
" Worthy king, know this your will
At Lattar Lammas we'll fulfil."
- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 65
Drake had hitherto been accustomed to give orders,
not to obey them ; and his vivacity under command had
nearly been productive of serious consequences. Pos-
itive information had been received of the saihng of the
Invincible Armada, but it was likewise known that the
fleet had been dispersed in a violent tempest ; and, be-
lieving that the attempt would be abandoned at this
time, orders were despatched to the lord-high-admiral
to send four of his best ships back to Chatham, as the
frugal government of Elizabeth grudged the expense of
keeping them afloat an hour longer than they were pos-
itively required. This order had hardly been given,
when Howard was made aware by the information of
Thomas Fleming, the captain of an English pinnace, of
the close approach of the fleet ; and it soon after passed
Plymouth, where he lay taking in supplies after cruising
on the Spanish coasts looking out for it. It was four in
the afternoon of the 19th of July, 15S8, when the intelli-
gence of Fleming put the lord-high-admiral upon the
alert ; and by next day at noon his ships were manned,
warped out, and in fighting trim. At the same hour the
Spanish fleet came in sight; and on the 21st, Howard,
with his greatly inferior force, ventured the attack
which, by the blessing of Heaven on the valour and skill
of the Enghsh, was continued from day to day in vari-
ous quarters, till the proud Armada was swept from the
English channel. On the night of the 21st, Drake, who
had been appointed to carry the lantern, forgot this duty,
and gave chase to several hulks which were separated
from the fleet, and thus so far misled the high-admiral,
that, following the Spanish lantern under the idea that
it was carried by his own vice-admiral, when day
dawned he found himself in the midst of the enemy's
ships. The high-admiral instantly extricated himself;
and Drake amply atoned for this oversight by the dis-
tinguished service performed by his squadron in har-
rassing, capturing, and destroying the Spaniards. On
the day following this erring night he performed a me-
morable action. Among the fleet was a large galleon
commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, a man of illustri-
ous family and high official rank, with whom nearly fifty
66 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. >»
noblemen and gentlemen sailed. His ship had been
crippled and separated from the fleet, and Howard, in
hot pursuit, had passed it, imagining that it was aban-
doned. There was on board a crew of four hundred
and fifty persons ; who, when summoned to surrender
in the formidable name of Drake, attempted no resist-
ance. Kissing the hand of his conqueror, Don Pedro
said, they had resolved to die in battle, had they not ex-
perienced the good fortune of falling into the hands of
one courteous and gentle, and generous to the vanquish-
ed foe ; one whom it was doubtful whether his enemies
had greater cause to admire and love for his valiant and
prosperous exploits, or dread for his great wisdom and
good fortune ; whom Mars, the god of war, and Nep-
tune, the god of the sea, alike favoured. To merit this
high eulogium, Drake behaved with the utmost kindness
and politeness to his involuntary guests, who were sent
prisoners to England. Two years after^vard he receiv-
ed ^3500 for their ransom. In the ship 55,000 ducats
were found, and liberally divided among the crew. The
broken running fight between the fleets was renewed
from day to day, and from hour to hour, as the superior
saihng of the light English vessels promised advantage,
till the Spaniards were driven on that fine of conduct
which ended in the complete destruction of their mighty
armament. In the fight of the 29th, which was despe-
rate on both sides, Drake's ship was pierced with forty
shot, two of which passed through his cabin. Of one
hundred and thirty-four ships which left the coast of
Spain only fifty-three returned.
In the following year Drake, as admiral, commanded
the fleet sent to restore Don Antonio of Portugal, while
Sir John Norris led the land-forces. Differences arose
between the commanders about the best mode of prose-
cuting their joint enterprise. The failure of Norris'
scheme gives probability to the assertion that the plan
of operations suggested by Drake would, if followed,
have been successful. It is at least certain that the ex-
pedition miscarried, which had never happened to any
single-handed undertaking in which Drake engaged.
Don Antonio, taken out to be made a king by the prow-
I
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 67
€ss of the English, returned as he went. Before the
queen and council Drake fully justified hi^ own share
of the affair, and the confidence placed in his ability and
skill remained undiminished. This was the first check
that the fortunes of Drake had ever received, — and it
would have been happy for him, it has been said, had
he now withdrawn his stake. The principal and fatal
error of his succeeding expedition was once more under-
taking a joint command.
The war in 1595, though it languished for want of
fuel to feed the flame, was not yet giving any prospect
of drawing to a conclusion ; and, in conjunction with
Sir John Hawkins, Drake offered his services in an ex-
pedition to the West Indies, to be undertaken on a scale
of magnificence which must at once crush the Spanish
power in that quarter, where the enemy had already
been so often and effectually galled by the same com-
manders. Elizabeth and her ministers received the
proposal with every mark of satisfaction. The fleet
consisted of six of the queen's ships and twenty-one
private vessels, with a crew, in seamen and soldiers,
amounting to 2500 men and boys. They sailed from
Plymouth in August, having been detained for some
time by the reports of another armada being about to
invade England. This rumour was artfully spread to
delay the fleet, of which one object was known to be
the destruction of Nombre de Dios and the plunder of
Panama. They had hardly put to sea when the demon
of discord, which ever attends conjunct expeditions,
appeared in their councils. Sir John Hawkins wished
at once to accomplish an object recommended by the
queen ; but time was lost in an attempt, suggested by
Sir Thomas Baskerville, to invade or capture the Ca-
naries, and again at Dominica. All these delays were
improved by the enemy in the colonies, in preparing
for the reception of the English. A few days before
sailing, information had been sent to the fleet of a Span-
ish galleon richly laden, that had been disabled and
separated from those ships which annually brought
plate and treasure from the Indies to Spain ; and the
capture of this vessel was recommended to the com-
68 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
manders by the English government as an especial
service. The galleon now lay at Porto Rico ; but be-
fore this time five frigates had been sent by the Span-
iards to convey it away in safety. On the 30th of Oc-
tober, Sir John Hawkins made sail from the coast of
Dominica where the ships had been careened, and had
taken in water ; and on the same evening he sustained
the misfortune of having the Francis, one of his vessels,
captured by the enemy's frigates. This stroke, which
appeared fatal to the enterprise, by informing the Span-
iards of his approach and putting them on their guard,
gave him inexpressible chagrin. He immediately fell
sick, and on the 12th of November, when the fleet had
got before Porto Rico, died of combined disease and
grief He w^as succeeded by Sir Thomas Baskerville,
who took command in the Garland, the queen's ship in
which Hawds:ins had sailed. The English fleet, medita-
ting an instant attack, now lay within reach of the guns
of Porto Rico ; and while the officers, on the night of
Sir John Hawkins's death, were at supper together, a
shot penetrated to the great cabin, drove the stool on
which Drake sat from under him, killed Sir Nicolas
Clifford, and mortally wounded Mr. Brute Browne and
some other officers. An attack, this night decided up-
on, was attempted next day, with the desperate valour
which has ever characterized the maritime assaults of
the English. But the enemy were fully prepared ; the
treasure had been carefully conveyed away, and also
the women and children. The fortifications had been
repaired and placed in good order ; and though the hot
impetuous attack of the English inflicted great suffering
on the Spaniards, to themselves there remained but a
barren victory. After lying two or three days before
the place, it was judged expedient to bear off' and aban-
don this enterprise. They stood for the main, where
Rio de la Hacha, La Rancheria, and some other places
were taken, and, negotiations for their ransom laihng,
burnt to the ground. The same course was followed
with other petty places; but Drake began seriously to
find, that while giving the enemy this trifling annoyance,
he was gradually reducing his own force without gain-
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
69
ing any substantial advantage. His health was injured
by this series of disappointments, and from the first
misunderstanding with Hawkins his spirits had been
affected. On the morning of the assault on Porto Rico,
in taking leave of Mr. Brute Browne, then breathing his
last, he exclaimed, '* Brute, Brute, how heartily could
I lament thy fate, but that I dare not suffer my spirits to
sink now."
DEATH OF SIR NICOLAS CLIFFORD.
The Spanish towns, from which every thing of value
was taken away, were rather abandoned to the occupa-
tion than taken by the arms of the English. In, this
way Santa Martha and Nombre de Dios fell into their
hands with scarce a show of resistance. They werq
7
70 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE.
both burnt. On the 29th of December, two days after
the capture of Nombre de Dios, Sir Thomas Baskerville,
with seven hundred and fifty soldiers, attempted to
make his way to Panama through the fatiguing and dan-
gerous passes of the Isthmus of Darien, the Spaniards
annoying his whole line of march by a desultory fire of
musketry from the woods. At certain passes fortifica-
tions had been thrown up to impede their progress ; and
coming upon these unexpectedly, they were exposed to
a sudden fire, by which many fell. About midway the
design was abandoned, and the party turned back, still
exposed in the retreat to the fire of the Spaniards from
the woods. Destitute of provisions, and suffering great
privation and fatigue, they returned to the ships depres-
sed and disheartened. This last and most grievous of
the train of disappointments that had followed Drake
throughout an expedition from which the nation expect-
ed so much, and wherein he had embarked much of his
fortune and risked his high reputation, threw the admi-
ral into a lingering fever, accompanied by a flux, under
which he languished for three weeks. He expired
while the fleet lay off" Porto Bello. The death of Ad-
miral Drake took place on the 28th of January, 1596,
and in his fifty-first year. His remains were placed in
a leaden coffin, and committed to the deep with all the
pomp attending naval obsequies. Unsuccessful as his
latest enterprises had been, his death was universally
lamented by the nation. The tenderness of pity was
now mingled with admiration of the genius and valour
of this great man, ** whose memory will survive as long
as the world lasts, which he first surrounded."
Drake is described as low in stature, but extremely
well made ; with a broad chest and a round compact
head. His complexion was fair and sanguine ; his
countenance open and cheerful, with large and lively
eyes ; his beard full, and his hair of a light brown.
The portrait prefixed to this fife gives the idea of a man
of that prompt and decided character which Sir Francis
Drake discovered in every action of his life. From the
lowest point and rudiments of his art, Drake was a
thorough-bred seaman, able in his own person to dis-
SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 71
charge every duty of a ship, even to attending the sick
and dressing the wounded. In repairing and watering
his ships, as readily as in what are esteemed higher
offices, he at all times bore an active part ; and to his
zealous superintendence and co-operation in these sub-
ordinate duties, much of the facility and celerity of his
movements, and of his consequent success, is to be at-
tributed. The sciences connected with navigation, as
they were then known, he thoroughly understood, and
particularly that of astronomy. Whatever he attempt-
ed on his own judgment, without being controlled b}^
the opinions of others, he accomplished with success.
He has been charged with ambition ; but it is well re-
marked, that no man's ambition ever took a happier
direction for his country. His example did more to ad-
vance the maritime power and reputation of England
than that of all the navigators who preceded him. He
indicated or led the way to several new sources of trade,
and opened the career of commercial prosperity which
his countrymen are still pursuing. Among the many
natural gifts of this lowly-born seaman, was a ready and
graceful eloquence. He was fond of amassing wealth,
but in its distribution was liberal and bountiful. Among
other deeds of enlightened benevolence was his estab-
lishment, in conjunction with Sir John Hawkins, of the
CHEST at Chatham for the relief of aged or sick seamen,
by the honourable means of their own early providence.
Drake sat in two parliaments, — in the first for a Cornish
borough, and in the next for the town of Plymouth in
the thirty-fifth of Elizabeth. Though often described
as a bachelor, it is ascertained that he married the
daughter and sole heiress of Sir George Sydenham, of
Coombe Sydenham in Devonshire, who survived him.
He left no children, but bequeathed his landed estate to
his nephew Francis Drake, afterward created a baronet
by James the First.
THOMAS CAVENDISH,
THE SECOND ENGLISH CIRCUMNAVIGATOR.
Thomas Cavendish the second Englishman that circum-
navigated the globe, was of an ancient and honourable family
of Suffolk, the ancestor of which had come into England with
the Conqueror. From his residence near a maritime town he
is said to have imbibed an early inclination to the sea.
His father died while Cavendish was still a minor; and
coming early into the possession of his patrimony he is report-
ed to have squandered it "in gallantry, and following the
court," and to have been compelled to embrace the nobler pur-
suits to which his subseq^uent years were devoted to redeem
his shattered fortunes,
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 73
Though the relations of liis voyages are ample and complete,
very little is known of his personal history. In the year 1585,
he accompanied Sir Richard Grenville's expedition to Vir-
ginia, in a vessel equipped at his own expense. This voyage,
undertaken to plant the unfortunate colony which was brought
home by Sir Francis Drake in 1586, was both profitless and
difficult; but it enabled Cavendish to obtain nautical experi-
ence, and in its progress he had seen the Spanish West India
settlements, and conversed with some of those who had ac-
companied Drake into the South Sea. The youthful ambi-
tion of Cavendish was thus roused to emulate the glory of so
eminent a navigator in this rich and newly-opened field of en-
terprise.
Grenville's fleet, which sailed for Virginia in April, returned
in October, and from the wrecks of his fortune, and the remains
of his credit, Mr. Cavendish, in six months afterward, had
equipped a small squadron for his projected voyage. W^hile
the carpenters were at work he procured every draught, map,
chart, and history of former navigations that might be useful
to him ; and having, through the patronage or recommenda-
tion of Lord Hunsdon, procured the queen's commission, he
sailed from Plymouth on the 21st of July, 1586. His light
squadron consisted of the Desire, a vessel of one hundred and
twenty tons burthen, in which he sailed himself as admiral
and commander of the expedition ; the Content of sixty tons ;
and the Hugh Gallant, a light bark of forty tons. A crew of
one hundred and twenty-three soldiers, seamen, and officers
manned this little fleet, which was provided with every requisite
for a long voyage, in latitudes with which the navigation of
Drake had now made the English somewhat familiar.
If so much interest is still awakened by the maritime under-
takings of contemporary navigators, who set out in a famihar
track under the guidance of former experience and observation,
with the advantage of instruments nearly perfect, and with all
appliances and means to boot, how much more must attach to
the relation of the adventures of one who, like Cavendish,
could have no hope or dependence save in his own capacity
and courage !
The squadron first touched at Sierra Leone, where the con-
duct of the young commander was not wholly blameless. On
a Sunday part of the ships' company went on shore, and spent
the day in dancing and amusing themselves with the friendly
negroes, their secret object being to gain intelhgence of a Por-
tuguese vessel that lay in the harbour, and which Cavendish
intended to capture. This was found impracticable, and next
day the Enghsh landed to the number of seventy, and made
7*
74 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
an attack on the town, of which they burnt one hundred and
fifty houses, almost the whole number, and plundered ri^ht
and left. It was but little that they found. The negroes fled
at their landing, but on their retreat shot poisoned arrows at
the marauders from the shelter of the woods. This African
village is described as neatly built, enclosed by mud walls, antl
kept, both houses and streets, in the cleanest manner. The
yards were paled in, and the town was altogether trim and
comfortable, exhibiting signs of civilization, of which at this
point the slave-trade subsequently destroyed every trace. A
few days afterward a party of the sailors landed to wash linen ;
and repeating the visit next day, a number of negroes lying in
ambush in the woods nearly surprised and cut them off. A
soldier died of a shot from a poisoned arrow ; though the case ,
as described appears more like mortification of the parts than
the effects of poison. Several of the men were wounded, but
none mortally save the soldier. On the 3d of September, a
party went some miles up the river in a boat, caught a store of
fish, and gathered a supply of lemons for the fleet, which sailed
on the 6th. No reason is assigned for the unprovoked de-
vastation on this coast, save " the bad dealing of negroes with
all Christians."
On the 16th of December the squadron made the coast of
America, in 47^° S. The land, stretching west, was seen at
the distance of six leagues, and next day the fleet anchored in
a harbour in 48° S. This harbour they named Port Desire,
in honour of the admiral's ship. Seals were found here of
enormous size, which in the forepart of their body resembled
lions ; their young was found delicate food, equal, to the taste
of the seamen, to lamb or mutton. Sea-birds were also found
in great plenty, of which the description given seems to apply
to the penguin. In this excellent harbour the ships' bottoms
were careened. On the 24th of December, Christmas-eve, a
man and boy belonging to the Content went on shore to wash
thir hnen, when they were suddenly surrounded and shot at by
fifty or more Indians. Cavendish pursued with a small party,
but the natives escaped. " They are as wild as ever was a
buck," says an old voyager, " as they seldom or ever see any
Christians." Their footprints were measured, and found to
be eighteen inches in length. The squadron left Port Desire
on the 28th, and halted at an island three leagues off, to cure
and store the penguins that had been taken. On the 30th,
standing to sea, they passed a rock about fifty miles from the
harbour they had left, which resembled the Eddystone Rock
near Plymouth. About the first day of the year they saw sev-
eral capes, to which no names are given, and on the 6tli, with-
THaMAS CAVENDISH. 75»
out further preparation, entered Magellan's Straits, which the
Spaniards had lately attempted to fortify and colonize. At
twilight the squadron anchored near the first Angostura ; and
in the night lights were observed on the north side of the strait,,
which were supposed to be signals. Recognition was made
by lights from the ships, and a boat was sent off in the morn-
ing, to which three men on the shore made signs by waving a
handkerchief. These were part of the survivors of a wretched
Spanish colony.
The history of the misfortunes and sufferings of the first set-
tlers in different parts of America would make one of the most
melancholy volumes that ever was penned ; nor could any
portion of it prove more heart-rending than that which should
record the miseries of this colony, left by Pedro Sarmiento in
the Straits of Magellan. It may be recollected, that on the
appearance of Drake on the coast of Peru, this commander
was despatched by the viceroy to intercept the daring interlo-
per on his return by the straits. Sarmiento afterward bestow-
ed much pains in examining the western shores of Patagonia
and the coast of Chili, and the many inlets, labyrinths, and in-
tricate channels of the islands and broken lands of Terra del
Fuego, which, as he conjectured, must communicate with the
Straits of Magellan by one or more passages. After a long
time had thus been consumed fruitlessly he entered the straits^
and passed through eastward in about a month, minutely ex-
amining the coast on both sides. When this discoverer reach-
ed Spain, his exaggerated statements, the desire of checking
the progress of the English in this quarter, and an apprehen-
sion that they were preparing to seize this master-key to the
South Seas (the passage by the Cape of Good Hope being
still monopolized by the Portuguese, and that by Cape Horn
not yet discovered,) induced Philip to listen to the proposals of
Sarmiento, an enthusiast in the cause, and to colonize and
fortify this important outlet of his American dominions. A
powerful armament of twenty-three ships, with thirty -five hun-
dred men, destined for different points of South America, was
in the first place to estabUsh the new colony. This expedi-
tion, undertaken on so magnificent a scale, was from first to
last unfortunate. While still on the coast of Spain, from which
the fleet sailed on the 25th of September, 1581, five of the ships
were wrecked in a violent gale, and eight hundred men per-
ished. The whole fleet put back, and sailed a second time in
December. Misfortunes followed in a thick train. Sickness
thinned their numbers ; and at Rio Janeiro, where they win-
tered, many of the intended settlers deserted. Some of the
ships became leaky, the bottoms of others were attacked by
76 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
worms, and a large vessel, containing most of the stores of the
colonists of the straits, sprung aleak at sea, and before assist-
ance could be obtained went down, three hundred and thirty
men and twenty of the settlers perishing in her. Three times
was Sarmiento driven back to the Brazils before he was able
to accompUshhis purpose; and it was February, 1584, before
he at last arrived in the strait and was able to land the colo-
nists. Nor did his ill fortune close here. His consort, Riviera,
either wilfully abandoned him, or was forced from his anchor-
age by stress of weather. He stood for Spain, carrying away
the greater part of the remaining stores which were to sustain
the people through the rigour of the winter of the south, which
was now commencing, and until they were able to raise crops
and obtain provisions. The foundation of a town was laid,
which was named San Felipe ; and bastions and wooden edi-
fices were constructed. Another city, named Nombre de Jesus,
was commenced. These stations were in favourable points of
the straits, and at the distance of about seventy miles from
each other. In the mean while the southern winter set in with
uncommon severity. In April snow fell incessantly for fifteen
days. Sarmiento, who, after establishing the colonists at these
two points, intended to go to Chili for provisions, was driven
from his anchors in a gale, and forced to seek his own safety
in the Brazils, leaving the settlers without a ship. He has
been accused of intentionally abandoning this helpless colony,
which he was the instrument of establishing, and of which he
was also the governor. The accusation appears unjust, as he
made many subsequent efforts for its rehef, which his ill for-
tune rendered abortive. The governors at the different settle-
ments at length refused to afford further assistance to a project
which had lost the royal favour; and in returning to Spain to
solicit aid, Sarmiento was captured by three ships belonging to
Sir Walter Raleigh, — luckily, in all probability, for himself, as
the indignation of King Philip at the failure of so expensive
and powerful an expedition, and at the misrepresentations of
this officer, might not have been easily appeased. Of the
wretched colonists, about whom neither old Spain nor her
American settlements gave themselves any further trouble,
many died of famine and cold during the first winter. The
milder weather of the spring and summer allowed a short re-
spite of misery, and afforded the hope of the return of Sarmien-
to, or some ship with provisions and clothing. But the year
wore away, and no vessel appeared, and the colonists at San
Felipe, in their despair, contrived to build two boats, in which
all that remained alive, fifty men and five women, embarked,
with the hope of getting out of the straits. One of their boats
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 77
was wrecked, and the design was abandoned, as there were no
seamen among their number, nor any one capable of conduct-
ing the perilous navigation. Their crops all failed ; the na-
tives molested them ; and out of four hundred men and thirty
women landed by Sarmiento, only fifteen men and three wo-
men survived when Mr. Cavendish entered the straits. In San
Felipe many lay dead in their houses and in their clothes, the
survivors not having strength to bury them ; and along the
shores, where these miserable beings wandered, trying to pick
up a few shellfish or herbs, they often came upon the body of
a deceased companion who had perished of famine, or of the
diseases caused by extreme want.
It was, as has been said, part of these forlorn wanderers
whom Cavendish saw on the morning after he entered the
straits. A passage to Peru was offered them, but they at first
hesitated to trust the English heretics ; though afterward, when
willing to accept the generous offer, their resolution came too
late ; and before they could be mustered, a fair wind offering.
Cavendish sailed on, having tantalized these wretched Span-
iards with hopes which the safety of his own crew in this pre-
carious navigation, and the success of his expedition, did not
permit him to fulfil. The offer had likewise been made in
ignorance of their numbers. If Cavendish be blamed for
abandoning these wretched victims to their fate, what shall be
said of the nation which, having sent out this colony, left it to
perish of famine and cold ! One Spaniard was brought off*,
named Tome' Hernandez, who became the historian of the
miserable colony of the straits.
The squadron of Cavendish, after passing both the Angos-
turas, as the Spaniards named the narrowest points of the
straits, anchored first at the island of Santa Magdalena, where
in two hours they killed and salted two pipes full of penguins ;
and afterward at San Felipe, the now desolate station of the
Spanish colonists, some of whom the English found still lying
in their houses, "where they had died hke dogs." Here they
brought on board six pieces of ordnance which the settlers had
buried. This place Cavendish named Port Famine ; it was
fonnd to be in 53^ S. On the 22d a few natives were seen ;
but the Spaniard, Hernandez, cautioned the Enghsh against
all intercourse, representing them as a treacherous people, — a
character which European knives and swords seen in their
possession, converted into darts, confirmed ; and when they
again approached. Cavendish carried his precautions to so ex-
travagant a length as to order a discharge of muskets, by
which many of them were killed, and the rest took to flight,
certainly not corrected of their bad propensities by this harsh
78 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
discipline. They were represented as cannibals, who had
preyed upon the Spanish colonists, and this excused all wrong.
For the next three weeks the fleet lay in a sheltered port,
unable to enter the South Sea from a continuance of strong
westerly wind ; but on the 24th of February, after a favourable
though a tedious passage, they finally emerged from the straits.
To the south was a fair high cape with a point of low land ad-
joining it, — on the other side several islands with much broken
ground around them, at about six leagues off from the main-
land. On the 1st of March the stormy Spirit of the Straits,
which no fleet ever wholly escaped, overtook Cavendish ; and
the Hugh Gallant was separated from the larger vessels, one
of which was found so leaky that the crew were completely ex-
hausted in working the pumps for three days and nights with-
out ceasing. On the 15th the Hugh Gallant rejoined her
consorts at the Isle of Mocha, on the coast of Chili : they were
here taken for Spaniards, and landing on the main experienced
but a rough reception from the Indians, who bore no good-will
to the natives of Spain. But a similar mistake sometimes
operated to their advantage ; and next day, when the captain
with a party of seventy men landed at the island of Santa Ma-
ria, they were received as Spaniards, with all kindness and
humility, by the principal people of the island ; and a store of
wheat, barley, and potatoes, ready prepared, and presumed by
the voyagers to be a tribute to the conquerors, was unscrupu-
lously appropriated. To this the islanders added presents of
hogs, dried dogfish, fowls, and maize, and received in return
an entertainment on board the captain's ship. These Indians
are represented as being in such subjection, that not one of
them durst eat a hen or hog of his own rearing, aU being sa-
cred to their taskmasters, who had, however, made the whole
of the islanders Christians. When they came to understand
that their guests were not Spaniards, it was believed that they
attempted to invite them to an assault upon their enslavers ;
but for want of an interpreter their meaning was imperfectly
comprehended. The squadron, thus refreshed at the expense
of the Spaniards, sailed on the 18th, but overshot Valparaiso,
at which place they intended to halt. On the 30th they an-
chored in the Bay of Quintero, seven leagues to the north of
Valparaiso. A herdsman asleep on a hill-side awaking, and
perceiving three strange ships in the bay, caught a horse gra-
zing beside him, and fled to spread the alarm. Cavendish,
unable to prevent this untoward movement, landed with a
party of thirty men, and Hernandez, the Spaniard whom he
had brought from the straits, and who made strong protesta-
tion of fidelity. Three armed horsemen appeared, as if come
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 79
to reconnoitre. With these Hernandez conferred, and report-
ed that they agreed to furnish as much provision as the Eng-
hsh required. A second time the interpreter was despatched
to a conference ; but on this occasion, forgetting all his vows
of fidelity to his benefactors, he leaped up behind one of his
countrymen, and they sat off at a round gallop, leaving Cav-
endish to execrate Spanish bad faith. The English filled
some of their water casks, and attempted in vain to obtain a
shot at the wild cattle, which were seen grazing in great herds.
Next day a party of from fifty to sixty marched into the interi-
or in the hope of discovering some Spanish settlement. They
did not see one human being, native nor European, though
they travelled till arrested by the mountains. The country
was fruitful and well watered with rivulets, and abounded in
herds of cattle and horses, and with hares, rabbits, and many
kinds of wild-fowl. They also saw numerous wild dogs. The
party did not sleep on shore. The boats were sent next day
for water, which was found a quarter of a mile from the beach.
While the seamen were employed in filling the casks, they
were suddenly surprised by a party of two hundred horsemen,
who came pouncing down upon them from the heights, and
cut off" twelve of the party, some of whom were killed, and the
rest made prisoners. The remainder were rescued by the
soldiers, who ran from the rocks to support their unsuspecting
comrades, and killed twenty-four of the Spaniards. Notwith-
standing this serious misadventure. Cavendish, keeping strict
watch and ward, remained here till the watering was comple-
ted. Of the nine prisoners snatched off" in this affray, it was
afterward learned that six were executed at Santiago as pirates,
though they sailed with the queen's commission, and though
the nation to which they belonged was at open war with Spain.
The disciphne which the Spaniards had taught the natives
was again found of use to our navigators, who, after leaving
Quintero, came on the 15th to Morro Moreno, or the Brown
Mountain, where the Indians, on their landing, met them with
loads of wood and water, which they had carried on their
backs down the rocks. These slaves of the Spaniards were
found to be a very degraded race, almost at the lowest point in
the scale of civihzation. Their dwelhngs consisted of a few
sticks placed across two stakes stuck in the ground, on which
a few boughs were laid. Skins spread on the floor gave a
higher idea of comfort. Their food consisted of raw putrid
fish ; yet their fishing-canoes were constructed with consider-
able ingenuity. They were made of skins "like bladders."
Each boat consisted of two of these skins, which were inflated
by means of quills, and sewed or laced together with gut, so
80 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
as to be perfectly water-tight. In these they fished, paying
large tribute of their spoils to their conquerors. When any
one died, his bows and arrows, canoes, and all his personal
property, were buried along with him, as the English verified
by opening a grave.
On the 23d a vessel, with a cargo of Spanish ^vine, was
captured near Arica, and also a small bark, the crew of which
escaped in their boat. This vessel was permanently added to
the squadron, and named the George. Another large ship,
captured in the road of Arica, proved but a worthless prize,
the cargo having been previously taken away, and the ship de-
serted by the crew. A design of landing and storming the
town was abandoned, as, before the squadron could be mus-
tered, the Spaniards were apprized of their danger, and pre-
pared to stand on the defensive. A third vessel was taken
close by the town ; and the English squadron and the batte-
ries even exchanged a few harmless shots; after which Caven-
dish, in hopes of relieving some of the English prisoners made
at Quintero, sent in a flag of truce inviting the Spaniards to
redeem their vessels ; but proposals of this nature were, by
order of the viceroy at Lima, in all cases rejected.
On the 25th, while the squadron still rode before the town,
a vessel from the southward was perceived coming into the
port. Cavendish sent out his pinnace to seize this bark, while
the townspeople endeavored from the shore to make the crew
sensible of their danger. They understood the signals, and
rowed in among the rocks, while a party of horsemen ad-
vanced from the town to protect the crew and passengers.
Among these were several monks, who had a very narrow
escape. The deserted vessel, when searched, aftbrded
nothing of value; and, burning their prizes, early on the 26th
they bore away northward from Arica. Next day a small
vessel, despatched from Santiago, with intelligence to the
viceroy that an Enghsh squadron, — probably Drake himself, —
was upon the coast, was captured. Great severity was used
to make the crew reveal the nature of their despatches, which
were thrown overboard while the Enghsh gave chase. They
had solemnly sworn not to tell their errand ; but their fidelity
was barely proof against the torture to which Cavendish
thought it necessary to subject them to extort their secret. An
old Fleming, whom he threatened to hang, and actually caus-
ed to be hoisted up, stood the test, and chose rather to die
than to perjure himself by betraying his trust. At last one of
the Spaniards confessed : and, burning the vessel, Cavendish
carried the crew along with him, as the safest way to prevent
tale-telling. In this vessel was found a Greek pilot well ac-
quainted with the coast of Chili.
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 81
On the 3d of May they landed at a small Spanish town,
where they obtained a supply of bread, wine, figs, and fowls.
This cruise was continued for a fortnight, and several prizes
were made, from which needful supplies were obtained ; but
none that aiforded the species of wealth which the captors
valued. On the 20th they landed at Paita, to the amount of
seventy men, took the town, drove out the inhabitants, and
continued the pursuit till they came to the place whither the
townspeople had conveyed their most valuable goods. Here
they found twenty -five pounds of silver, with other costly com-
modities. Cavendish, however, expecting an attack, had the
prudence not to allow his men to encumber themselves with
much spoil on their return to the ships. The town, which was
regularly built and very clean, consisted of two hundred houses.
It was burnt to the ground, with goods to the value of five or
six thousand pounds. A ship in the harbour was also burnt,
and the fleet held a course northward, and anchored at the
island of Puna, in a good harbour. A Spanish sloop of two
hundred and fifty tons burthen, which they found here, was
sunk. They landed forthwith at the dwelling of the cacique,
who was found living in a style of elegance and even magnifi-
cence rarely seen among the native chiefs. His house stood
near the town, by the water's edge, and contained many hand-
some apartments, with verandas commanding fine prospects
seaward and landward. The chief had married a beautiful
Spanish woman, who was regarded as the queen of the island.
She never set her foot upon the ground, holding it " too
low a thing for her," but was carried abroad on men's shoul-
ders in a sort of palanquin, with a canopy to shelter her from
the sun and wind, and attended by native ladies and the prin-
cipal men of the island. The cacique and his lady fled on the
first approach of the English, carrying with them 100,000
crowns, which, from the information of a captive scout, were
ascertained to have been in their possession. Induced by the
information of the Indian captive. Cavendish landed on the
main with an armed party, intending to surprise the fugitives ;
but they once more fled, leaving the meat roasting at their fires,
and their treasures could not be discovered. In a small
neighbouring island the cacique had previously for safety de-
posited his most valuable furniture and goods, consisting of
hangings of Cordovan leather, richly painted and gilded, with
the tackling of ships, nails, spikes, <fec., of which the English
took a large supply. At Puna sail-cloth from sea-grass was
manufactured for the use of the ships in the South Sea. The
island was about the size of the Isle of Wight, and contained
several towns, — the principal one, near which was the cacique's
8
83 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
palace, consisted of two hundred houses, with a large church.
This the English burnt down, carrying away the bells.
The Indian chief of Puna had been baptized previous to
his marriage, and the Indians were all obliged to attend mass.
Adjoining the dwelling of the cacique was a fine garden laid
out in the European style, with a fountain. In it were cotton-
plants, fig-trees, pomegranates, and many varieties of herbs
and fruits. An orchard, with lemons, oranges, &.C., ornament-
ed the other side of this pleasant dwelling, the under part of
which consisted of a large hall, in which goods of all kinds
were promiscuously stored. Cattle and poultry were seen in
great abundance, with pigeons, turkeys, and ducks of unusual
size. Though the general, both from personal observation
and report, was aware that a force was to be sent against him
from Guayaquil, he hauled up his ship to have lier bottom
cleaned, keeping vigilant watch in the chief's house, where the
English had estabhshed their head-quarters.
The ship was again afloat, and the squadron about to sail,
when, by one of those mischances which prove the danger of
indulging for a single moment in false security, the English
sufi*ered a severe loss. On the 2d of June, before weighing
anchor, a party were permitted to straggle about the town to
amuse themselves and forage for provisions. Thus scattered,
they were suddenly assailed in detached groups by a hundred
armed Spaniards ; and of the twenty thus dispersed, seven
were killed, three made prisoners, and two drowned, while
eight escaped. Forty-six Spaniards and Indians fell in this
skirmish. Cavendish immediately landed with an armed
band, drove the Spanish soldiers from the town, and burnt it
completely down, together with four ships then building. He
also destroyed the gardens and orchards. Persisting in main-
taining his ground, Cavendish next day laid up the other ship
to be careened, and did not sail till the 5th, when they went to
Rio Dolce, where they watered. Here they sunk the Hugh
Gallant, all the hands being now required for the other vessels.
They also sent on shore their Indian prisoners, and, without
touching at any other land, held a northerly course for nearly
a month. On the 9th of July, they captured a new ship of
one hundred and twenty tons, which, first taking away her
ropes and sails, they immediately burnt. In this vessel was
a Frenchman, Michael Sancius, who gave mformation of the
Manilla ship then expected from the Philippines. This was a
prize worth looking after ; and they were so far fortunate as
to intercept a small bark sent to give her warning. On the
27th, by daybreak, they entered the harbour of Guatuico, and
burnt the town, the church, and custom-house, in which was
THOMAS CAVENDISH. ««J
found a quantity of die-stuffs and cocoas. Some trifling ad-
ventures marked the following day, in which they by mistake
over-sailed Acapulco. Landing at Puerto de Navidad, they
burnt two ships, each of two hundred tons, then on the stocks,
and made prisoner of a mulatto who carried letters of advice
of their progress along the coast of New Gallicia. In this
manner they proceeded northward, often landing small detach-
ments, and spreading alarm along the shores. On the 8th they
came into the bay of Chacalla, (supposed Compostella,) de-
scribed as being eighteen leagues from Cape de los Corrientes,
and to a harbour presumed to be that known in modern ge-
ography as San Bias. Next morning an officer with forty
men, and Michael Sancius as their conductor, marched two
leagues into the interior, by "a most villanous and desert path
through the woods and wilderness," and came to a place where
they found three Spanish families, a carpenter of the same
nation, a Portuguese, and a few Indians. Their ordinary
mode of proceeding on such occasions is told in few words: —
*' We bound them all, and made them to come to the seaside
with us." The general, however, set the women free ; and
on their bringing to the ships a supply of pine-apples, lemons,
and oranges, allowed their husbands to depart, as there was
nothing to be obtained from them. The carpenter and the
Portuguese were kept, and next day the fleet sailed. On the
12th of September they reached the isle of St. Andrew, where
they laid in a store of wood and of dried and salted wild-fowl.
Seals were also found, and iguanas, — a species " of serpent
with four feet and a long sharp tail, strange to them who have
not seen them," but which, nevertheless, made very palatable
food to the keen appetites of seamen. In their frequent exi-
gencies these hardy voyagers never scrupled to act upon the
opinion of the old Symeron chief in the Isthmus of Darien.
When Drake, with the natural disgust of an Englishman,
showed some tokens of aversion to otter's flesh, the Indian is
reported to have thus addressed him : — " Are you a warrior,
and in want, and yet doubt if that be food which hath blood
in it!"
On the 24th of September they put into the Bay of Mazat-
lan, and at an island a league to the northward careened the
ships, new-built the pinnace, and by digging deep in the sands
found water, of which they stood much in need ; as without
this seasonable supply they must have been compelled to turn
back, and thus might have missed their prey.
The squadron sailed from this island on the night of the 9th
of October for the Cape of St. Lucas, which was made on the
14th. Here they lay in wait for the anticipated prize, cruising
84 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
about the headland, without going far off, till the 4th of No-
vember, on the morning of which day the trumpeter from the
masthead descried a sail bearing in for the cape. Chase was
immediately given, and continued for some hours, when the
English came up with the Santa Anna, gave her a broadside,
poured in a volley of musketry, and prepared to board. The
attempt was bravely repelled by the Spaniards, who courage-
ously repulsed the assailants with the loss of two men killed
and five wounded. The most formidable weapons of the
Spaniards were stones, which, from behind their protecting
barricades, they hurled upon the boarders. " But we new-
trimmed our sails," says the early relation, " and fitted every
man his furniture, and gave them a fresh encounter with our
great ordnance, and also with our small shot, raking them
through and through, to the kilhng and wounding many of
their men. Their captain still, like a valiant man, with his
company stood very stoutly into his close fights, not yielding
as yet. Our general, encouraging his men afresh with the
whole voice of trumpets, gave them the other encounter with
our great ordnance and all our small shot, to the great discour-
agement of our enemies, raking them through in divers places,
kilhng and wounding many of their men. They being thus
discouraged and spoiled, and their ship being in hazard of
sinking by reason of the great shot which were made, whereof
some were under water, within five or six hours' fight sent out
a flag of truce and parleyed for mercy, desiring our general to
save their lives and to take their goods, and that they would
presently yield. Our general of his goodness promised them
mercy, and called them to strike their sails, and to hoise out
their boat, and come on board ; which news they were full glad
to hear of, and presently struck their sails, hoisted out their
boat, and one of their chief merchants came on board unto our
general, and, falling down upon his knees, offered to have
kissed our general's feet, and craved mercy. Our general
graciously pardoned both him and the rest, upon promise of
their true dealing with him and his company concerning such
riches as were in the ship ; and sent for their captain and
pilot, who at their coming used the hke duty and reverence as
the former did. The general, out of his great mercy and hu-
manity, promised their lives and good usage."
The Santa Anna was a prize worth the trouble bestowed in
securing her. She was of seven hundred tons burden, and the
property of the King of Spain. Besides a rich cargo of silks,
satins, damasks, wine, preserved fruit, musk, &c., there were
on board 122,000 pesos in gold. The provison made for the
passengers was also of the best kind, and afforded luxuries to
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 85
the English ships' companies to which they had hitherto been
strangers. Cavendish carried his prize into a bay within Cape
Lucas, named by the Spaniards Aguada Segura, or The Safe
Watering-place, where he landed the crew and passengers to
the number of a hundred and ninety persons, among whom
were some females.
The captain-general deemed it impolitic to allow these per-
sons to proceed direct to New Spain, and the place on which
he landed them afforded water, wood, fish, fowl, and abun-
dance of hares and rabbits. He presented them with part of
the ship's stores, with wine, and with the sails of their dis-
mantled vessel, to construct tents for their shelter. He also
gave the seamen weapons for their defence against the natives,
and planks, of which they might build a bark to convey the
whole party to the settlements.
Among the passengers by the Santa Anna were two lads,
natives of Japan, who could both read and write their own
language, and three boys from Manilla. These, with a Por-
tuguese who had been in Canton, the Philippines, and the
islands of Japan, Cavendish carried with him, and also a
Spanish pilot.
The division of the spoils occasioned great discontent, par-
ticularly among the crew of the vice-admiral's ship, who im-
agined that Cavendish favoured the company of the Desire.
But the dissatisfaction was apparently suppressed, and by the
17th of November, "the queen's day," all business being com-
pleted, a few hours were devoted by the loyal EngUsh to
gayety and festivity ; and a discharge of the great guns and a
display of fireworks proclaimed to these lonely shores the glory
of JElizabeth of England. As the completion of their rejoic-
ing, the Santa Anna, with all of her goods that could not be
stowed into the English ships, was set on fire, and left burn-
ing ; and firing a parting salute to the deserted Spaniards, the
Desire and the Content bore away for England, which, before
they could again arrive at, so much of the circumference of
the globe must be traversed. Before coming to St. Lucas, the
George, the Spanish prize, had been abandoned ; and now, in
coming out of the bay, the Content lagged astern, and was
never again seen by her consort.
The Desire, thus left alone, as the Golden Hind had been
before her, holding her solitary course across the Pacific, on
the 3d of January, 1588, came in sight of Guahan, one of the
Ladrones. For forty-five days the English had enjoyed fair
winds, and had sailed a distance roughly estimated at between
JBeventeen'and eighteen hundred leagues. When within five or
or six miles of Guahan, fifty or more canoes full of people came
8*
8^" THOMAS CAVENDISH.
oiFto meet the ship, brinofinj^the commodities with which they
were now in the habit of supplying the Spaniards, namely, fish,
potatoes,plantains, and cocoas, which were exchanged for pieces
of iron. This traffic was phed so eagerly that it became trouble-
some ; and Cavendish, who was never distinguished for pa-
tience or forbearance, with five of his men, fired to drive the
natives back from the ship. They dived so nimbly to evade
the shot, that it could not be ascertained what execution was
done. The people here were of tawny complexion, corpulent,
and of taller stature than ordinary-sized Englishmen. Their
hair was long, but some wore it tied up in one or two knots on
the crown of the head. The construction of their canoes
greatly excited the admiration of the Enghsh seamen, formed,
as they were, without any " edge-tool." These canoes were
from six to seven yards in length, but very narrow, and
moulded in the same way at prow and stern. They had
square and triangular sails of cloth made of bulrushes, and
were ornamented with head figures carved in wood, " like unto
images of the Devil." They appeared in the canoes entirely
naked, and were dexterous divers and excellent swimmers.
On the 14th of January the Desire made Gape Spirito Santo,
the first point of the Phihppines which was seen ; and on the
same night entered the strait now named the Strait of San
Bernardino. Next morning they came to anchor in a fine bay
and safe harbour in the island then named Capul. Though
the Spanish settlement at Manilla was still comparatively re-
Cent, it had risen and flourished so rapidly that it was already
become a place of great wealth and commercial importance.
Besides the annual fleet to New Spain, it possessed a very
considerable trade with China and the Indian islands in the
most valuable commodities. The people with whom Manilla
enjoyed this trade, and particularly a people they name the
Sanguelos, are described by {he voyagers as " of great genius
and invention in handicrafts and sciences; every one so ex-
pert, perfect, and skilful in his faculty, as few or no Christians
are able to go beyond them in that they take in hand. For
drawing and embroidery upon satin, silk, or lawn, either beast,
fowl, fish, or worm; for livehness and perfectness, both in silk,
silver, gold, and pearl, they excel."
As soon as the Desire came to anchor off^ Capul, one of the
chiefs, of whom there were seven in the island, came on board,
presuming the ship to be Spanish. His people brought a
supply of potatoes, which they called camotaes, and green
cocoas. The rate of exchange, or the prices, would now be
thought high. A yard of linen was given for four cocoas,
and the same quantity for about a quart of potatoes. These
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 87
roots were thought good either boiled or roasted, and were
much reUshed by the crew. The cacique was "carved"
(tatooed) in various streaks and devices. He was requested
to remain on board, and a message of invitation being sent to
the other chiefs, they also repaired to the ship, bringing hogs
and hens to exchange. The rate which was uniform was,
for a hog eight ryals of plate, and for a fowl one. This trade
went on all day, and the ship, after her long run, was well sup-
pUed with refreshments. On the same night a fortunate dis-
covery was made by the Portuguese taken out of the Santa
Anna on account of his knowledge of the Philippines and of
China. The Spanish Pilot had, it appeared, prepared a letter,
which he hoped secretly to convey to the governor at Manilla,
informing him of the English ship, which it would not be diffi-
cult to surprise and overpower. If this vessel was allowed to
escape with impunity, he pointed out that the settlement might
next year be taken by those who had now the audacity with so
small a force to approach its vicinity. He described in what
manner the English ship might be taken where she now rode*
This crime, or act of patriotism, was clearly brought home to
the pilot, who was next morning hanged for doing his duty to
his native country and sovereign.
Cavendish remained here nine days for the refreshment of
the ship's company, and to obtain a store of provisions. Some
singular customs are ascribed to the natives of Capul. They
practised circumcision. By an opinion, not rare "of the
heathen" in those days, nor yet altogether exploded among
persons better instructed than the early navigators, the island-
ers are alleged to have "wholly worshipped the Devil, and
oftentimes to have conference with him, who appeareth unto
them in a most ugly, monstrous shape." On the 23d of Janu-
ary the captain-general caused the seven chiefs of this island,
" and of a hundred islands more," to appear before him, and
pay him tribute in hogs, poultry, cocoas, and potatoes ; at
which ceremony he informed them of his country, spread the
banner of England from his masthead, and sounded the
drums and trumpets. Due homage and submission were
made to the representative of England, and the enemy of
Spain ; and this being all that was required, the value of the
tribute was paid back to the natives in money. The Indians,
at parting, promised to assist the English in conquering the
Spaniards at any future time ; and, to amuse their new
friends, showed feats of swift rowing round the ship. The
general fired off a piece of ordnance as a farewell, and the
new tributaries went away contented and pleased. The " hun-
dred islands more" look like a flourish of the narrator, thickly
8& THOMAS CAVENDISH.
as islands are clustered to£rether at this place. Next day they
ran along the coast of Manilla, and on the 28th chased a
frigate, which escaped into some inlet. Chase was given by
the boat in those places which were so shallow that the ship
could not approach. The crew was afterward shot at by a
party of Spanish soldiers from the shore ; and a frigate was
manned by them and sent in pursuit, which chased the English
boat till within reach of the guns of the Desire. The boat's
crew had previously made a Spaniard prisoner, whom they
found in a canoe from which the natives escaped ; and next
day Cavendish sent a message by him to the captain of the
Spanish party, who at different stations kept watch along the
coast, desiring that officer to provide a good store of gold, as
he intended to visit him at Manilla in a few years, and, if his
boat had been larger, would have visited him then.
About the middle of February Mr. Cavendish passed near
the Moluccas, but did not touch at these islands. Fever now
visited the ship's company, which had hitherto been very
healthy; but only two of the men died, and one of these had
long been sick, so that his death could not be attributed to the
climate and the excessive heat which occasioned the illness of
the others. On the 1st of March the Desire passed through
the straits at the west end of Java Minor, and on the 5th an-
chored in a bay at the west end of Java Major. A negro
found in the Santa Anna was able to converse with some na-
tives who were here found fishing. Through this interpreter,
who spoke the Morisco or Arabic language, they were inform-
ed that provisions might be obtained ; and in a few days after-
ward two or three canoes arrived laden with fowls, eggs, fresh
fish, oranges, and limes. That the ship might be more con-
veniently victualled they stood in nearer the town, and were
visited by the king's secretary, who brought the general a pres-
ent, including, among other things, "wine as strong as aqua-
vitfe, and as clear as rock-water." This distinguished official,
who promised that the ship should be supplied in four days,
was treated with all the magnificence that Cavendish could
command. The wines and preserves of the Spanish prize
were produced for his entertainment ; and the English musi-
cians exerted their skill. The secretary, who remained on
board all night, saw the watch set and the guns fired off, and
was informed that the ship's company were Englishmen, na-
tives of a country which already traded with China, and that
they were come hither for discovery and traffic. The Portu-
guese had already established a factory on the island, where
they traded in cloves, pepper, sugar, slaves, and other mer-
chandize of the East. Two of these Portuguese merchants
THOMAS CAVENDISH.
89
afterward visited the ship, eager to obtain news of their coun-
try and of Don Antonio their prince. They were informed
that he was then in England, honourably entertained by the
queen ; and were dehghted to hear of the havoc Cavendish
had made among the Spanish shipping in the South Sea, as
he told them that he was " warring upon them (the Spaniards,)
under the Ring of Portugal." The Europeans who met on
this distant coast were mutually delighted with their short in-
tercourse. Cavendish banqueted the Portuguese merchants,
and entertained them with music as well as with pohtical in-
telhgence ; and to him they described the riches of Java, and
the most remarkable customs observed by the natives. The
reigning king or rajah was named Bolamboam, and was re-
ported to be one hundred and fifty years of age. He was held
in great veneration by his subjects, none of whom durst trade
with any nation without his license under pain of death. The
old king had a hundred wives ; and his son fifty. In Bolam-
boam the old voyagers give a perfect picture of an absolute
prince. The Javans paid him unlimited obedience. What-
ever he commanded, be the undertaking ever so dangerous or
desperate, no one durst shrink from executing it; and their
heads were the forfeit of their failure. They were " the bravest
race in the south-eastern parts of the globe, never fearing
death." The men were naked, and dark in colour; but the
women were partly clothed, and in complexion much fairer.
When the king died his body was burned, and the ashes were
preserved. Five days afterward his queen, or principal wife,
threw a ball from her with which she was provided, and
wherever it ran thither all the wives repaired. Each turned
her face eastward, — and, with a dagger as sharp as a razor,
stabbed herself to the heart, and, bathed in her own blood, fell
upon her face, and thus died. " This thing," we are assured,
"is as true as it may seem to any hearer to be strange." The
Portuguese factors, before parting with Cavendish, proposed
that their acknowledged king, Don Antonio, should come out,
and here found an empire, which should comprehend the Mo-
luccas, Ceylon, China, and the Phihppines. They were as-
sured that all the natives of these countries would declare for
him. A kind reception was also promised to the English at
their return ; and Cavendish, having fully satisfied them for
the supplies furnished to his ship, fired a parting salute of
three guns, and on the 16th of March sailed for the Cape of
Good Hope.
The rest of this month and the month of April were spent
" in traversing that mighty and vast sea between the island of
Java and the main of Africa, observing the heavens, the Cro-
9B THOMAS CAVENDISH.
siers or South Pole, the other stars, and the fowls, which are .
marks unto seamen ; fair weather, foul weather, approaching
of lands or islands, the winds, tempests, the rains and thun-
ders, with the alteration of the tides and currents." On the
10th of May a storm arose, and they were afterward becalmed;
and, in the thick hazy weather of the calm, mistook Cape
False for the Cape of Good Hope, which they passed on the
16th, having run eighteen hundred and fifty leagues in nine
weeks.
On the 8th of June the island of St. Helena was seen, and
on the 9th they anchored in the harbour. The description of
this station, so important to navigators, would apply with per-
fect accuracy even at this day, so far as regards external ap- -^i
pearance or the natural productions of that delicious resting- i
place, of which at that time the Portuguese still enjoyed sole
possession. They had now held this island for upwards of
eighty years; and, though it had never been regularly coloni-
zed, they had done much to store it with every thing necessa-
ry to the refreshment of seamen on a long voyage. Already it
abounded in all sorts of herbs, and in delicious fruits. Par-
tridges, pheasants, turkeys, goats, and wild hogs were also ob-
tained in abundance.
At St. Helena Cavendish remained till the 20th, cleaning
the ship, and obtaining refreshments, when the Desire once
more got under way for England. About the end of August
they passed the Azores, and on the 3d of September met a
Flemish hulk from Lisbon, which informed them of the defeat
of the Spanish Armada, to their " great rejoicing." In the
channel they were overtaken by the same terrible tempest that
made such havoc among the Spanish ships which were driven
round the coast of Ireland and to the north of Scotland ; but
were so fortunate as to complete the third circumnavigation of
the globe at Plymouth on the 9th of September, 1588, — two
years and fifty days from the time they had left the same har-
b9ur, and in a considerably shorter time than either Drake or
Magellan had made the same voyage.
Very copious nautical notes and remarks on this voyage
were published by Mr. Thomas Fuller of Ipswich, the sailing-
master of the Desire. They must have been of great value at
the time, but have been superseded by more modern charts, in
forming which, though the observations may not be more ac-
curate, the navigators have had the advcmtage of more perfect
instruments. The only geographical discovery made by Cav-
endish in this navigation was Port Desire, on the Patagonian
coast, the landmarks of which Fuller has accurately described,
THOMAS CAVENDISH, 91>
though it has frequently been made the subject of dispute
among modern voyagers.
The fame of the exploits of Cavendish, and of the great
wealth which he had brought home, *' enough to buy a fair
earldom," almost rivalled the accounts of Drake's wonderful
voyage. Among other rumours it was said, that when he en-
tered the harbour of Plymouth his sails were all of silk. In
the tempest which overtook them in the channel the sails were
lost; and it is probable that Cavendish might have been com-
pelled to employ some of his rich Indian damasks in the home-
ly office of rigging his vessel; though it is conjectured, with
more feasibility, that his new suit of sails were canvass fabrica-
ted of the silk-grass used in the South Seas, which, being very
lustrous, might easily be mistaken for silk.
The earliest leisure of Cavendish was employed in writing
to his patron. Lord Hunsdon, giving an account of his pros-
perous expedition. Whatever blame may in a more enhght-
ened age be imputed to this navigator for the wanton outrages
committed on the Spanish settlements and on the subjects of
Spain, he appears to have thought himself entitled to credit for
their performance. Instead, therefore, of trying to conceal
these deeds, in setting forth his services for her majesty, he
makes them his boast ; and doubtless they were highly esteem-
ed. No better recapitulation of the events of this celebrated
voyage can be found than that contained in his letter to Lord
Hunsdon. " It hath pleased Almighty God," says the writer,
" to suffer me to circumpass the whole globe of the world, en-
tering in at the Strait of Magellan, and returning by the Cape
de Buena Esperan9a* ; in which voyage I have either discov-
ered or brought certain intelligence of all the rich places of
the world which were ever discovered by any Christian. I
navigated along the coast of Chili, Peru, and New Spain,
where I made great spoils. I burnt and sunk nineteen sails of
ships small and great. All the villages and towns that ever I
landed at I burned and spoiled. And had I not been discov-
ered upon the coast, I had taken great quantity of treasure.
The matter of most profit unto me was a great ship of the king's
which I took at California ; which ship came from the Phihp-
pines, being one of the richest of merchandise that ever passed
those seas From the Cape of California, being the utter-
most part of all New Spain, I navigated to the islands of the
Philippines, hard upon the coast of China, of which country I
have brought such intelligence as hath not been heard of in
* Cape of Good Hope.
92 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
these parts : the stateliness and riches of which I fear to make
report of, lest I should not be credited I found out by the
way homeward the island of Santa Helena, where the Portu-
guese used to relieve themselves ; and from that island God
hath suffered me to return into England. All which services,
with myself, I humbly prostrate at her majesty's feet, desiring
the Almighty long to continue her reign among us ; for at this
day she is the most famous and victorious princess that liveth
in the world."
The second and final expedition of Cavendish to the South
Seas was as remarkable for ill fortune as his first voyage had
been distinguished by uninterrupted prosperity. This fortu-
nate voyage, however, which gave such strong confirmation to
the hopes excited by the adventure of Drake, encouraged many
to a similar attempt, and during the two years following his
return several expeditions were fitted out from England, though
none of them proved successful.
In three years after his return. Cavendish, having, accord-
ing to some accounts, spent the greater part of the riches he
had acquired in the South Sea, planned an expedition for
China, by Magellan's Stiaits, and upon an extensive scale.
It is asserted, with as much probability, that his wealth was
laid out in equipping the new squadron, with which he put to
sea on the 26th of August, 1591. It consisted of " three tall
ships" and two barks. As admiral of the fleet. Cavendish
sailed in the Leicester galleon ; and his old ship, the Desire,
was commanded by the celebrated pilot, navigator, and fortu-
nate discoverer. Captain John Davis. The Roebuck, com-
manded by Mr. Cook, the Black Pinnace, and a small bark
named the Dainty, which belonged to Mr. Adrian Gilbert, a
gentleman of Devonshire, who had been among the promoters
of the discovery of the North-west Passage, completed the
fleet. The two Japanese youths captured in the Acapulco
ship on the former voyage accompanied Cavendish in this.
tJnder the equinoctial line they were becalmed for twenty-
seven days, burning beneath a hot sun, and exposed to the
deadly night vapours, which threw many of the men into the
scurvy. Their first capture was a Portuguese vessel, on the
2d of December, off the coast of Brazil. It was laden with
sugar, small wares, and slaves.
On the 5th they pillaged Placenzia, a small Portuguese set-
tlement ; and on the 16th surprised the town of Santos, where
the inhabitants were at mass when the party landed. Though
Cavendish, both from principle and from natural disposition,
never lost an opportunity of spoiling the enemy, the object of
this attack was to obtain provisions ; but this design, from the
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 9S
negligence of the captain of the Roebuck was completely frus-
trated. The Indians carried every thing away ; and next day
the prisoners in the church were either set free or contrived to
escape, four old men being retained as hostages till the sup-
plies came in. They never appeared ; and the consequence
of mismanagement and delay was, that in lying five weeks be-
fore this place the provisions were wasted which should have
sustained them in passing the straits, and the voyage was de-
layed, by this and other causes, till they found themselves, in
the beginning of the southern winter, distant from the straits,
and short of stores.
On the 22d of January they left Santos, burnt St. Vincent
on the 23d, and next day bore for the Straits of Magellan ;
Port Desire, which Cavendish had discovered on his former
voyage, being appointed as a rendezvous in case of separation.
On the 7th of February the fleet was overtaken by a violent
gale, and next day they were separated. Davis, in the Desire,
made for the appointed harbour, and in the way fell in with the
Roebuck, which had suffered dreadfully. On the 6th of March
these two ships reached Port Desire together, and in ten days
afterward were joined by the Black Pinnace. The Dainty,
the volunteer bark, returned to England, having stored herself
with sugar at Santos while the other ships lay idle ; her cap-
tain was in the mean while on board the Roebuck, and was
left without any thing save the clothes which he wore.
In the gale, which scarcely abated from the 7th of February
to the middle of March, Cavendish suffered severely, and his
officers and men had shown a disposition to mutiny ; so that,
on rejoining the other ships on the I8th, he left the Leicester
galleon in displeasure, and remained in the Desire, with Cap-
tain Davis. Cavendish did not at this time complain more
bitterly of the gentlemen of his own ship than he afterward
violently accused Davis of having betrayed and abandoned
him. His subsequent misfortunes affected his temper, and, it
may be presumed, perverted his sense of justice. Though his
company had not recovered the excessive fatigue and exhaus-
tion caused by the late continued tempest, the galleon sailed
with the fleet on the 20th, and after enduring fresh storms, all
the ships made the straits on the 8th of April, and on the 14th
passed in. In two days they had beat inward only ten leagues.
An account is given in Purchas' Pilgrims of this most dis-
astrous voyage, drawn up at sea by Cavendish, in his last ill-
ness. It is addressed to Sir Tristram Gorges, whom the un-
fortunate navigator appointed his executor, and is one of the
most affecting narratives that ever was written, — the confes-
sion, wrung in bitterness of heart, from a high-spirited, proud,
9
94 THOMAS CAVENDISH*
and headstrong man, who, having set his all upon a cast, and
finding himself undone, endured the deeper mortification of
believing he had been the dupe of those he imphcitly trusted.
Though we cannot admit the force of many of his allegations,
nor the justice of his unmeasured invective, it is impossible to
withhold sympathy from his extreme distress. *' We had been
almost four months," says this melancholy relation, "between
the coast of Brazil and the straits, being in distance not above
six hundred leagues ; which is commonly run in twenty or
thirty days ; but such was the adverseness of our fortune, that
in coming thither we spent the summer, and found the straits,
in the beginning of a most extreme winter, not durable for
Christians After the month of May was come in, nothing
but such flights of snow, and extremity of frosts, as in all my
life I never saw any to be compared with them. This ex-
tremity caused the weak men (in my ship only) to decay; for,
in seven or eight days, in this extremity, there died forty men
and sickened seventy, so that there were not fifteen men able
to stand upon the hatches." Another relation of the voyage
written by Mr. John Jane, a friend of Captain Davis, even
deepens this picture of distress. The squadron, beating for
above a week against the wind into the straits, and in all that
time advancing only fifty leagues, now lay in a sheltered cove
on the south side of the passage, and nearly opposite Cape
Froward, where they remained till the 15th of May, a period
of extreme suff*ering. " In this time," says Jane, "we endur-
ed extreme storms with perpetual snow, where many of our
men died of cursed famine and miserable cold,* not having
* Purchas' Pilgrims comprehends " The admirable and strange adventures
of Master Anthony Knyvet, who went with Master Cavendish in his second
voyage," which for marvels, if not for invention and imagination, may rival
the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. Knyvet wandered from the ship on
the coast of Brazil, and was for many years among the " Cannibals." Many
is the wonderful escape from death which he makes. In the straits, pulling
off his stockings One night, all his toes came with them; but this is not so
bad as the fortune of one Harris, who, blowing his nose with his fingers,
throws it into the fire, and never recovers it again, as Knyvet seems to have
done his toes by the good offices of a surgeon whom Cavendish employed,
and who cured with muttering words. In the straits he saw both giants and
pigmies. The footmarks of the giants at Port Desire were four times the
length of an Englishman's foot. In the straits their stature was fifteen and
sixteen spans long ; and at Port Famine, or San Felipe, the desolate station
of the Spanish colony, four or five thousand pigmies, with mouths reaching
from ear to ear, were seen at one time, whose height was from four to five
spans. Some of Kny vet's marvels relate to the singular subject of demoni-
ac possession and satanic influence among the tribes with whom he sojourn-
ed. These accounts, and others of tlie elder voyagers are not materially
different from those which we receive of the South Sea islanders at tlie
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 95
wherewith to cover their bodies, nor to fill their belly, but liv-
ing by muscles, water, and weeds of the sea, with a small relief
from the ship's stores of meal sometimes." Nor was this the
worst; " All the sick men in the galleon were most uncharita-
bly put on shore into the woods, in the snow, wind, and cold,
when men of good health could scarcely endure it, where they
ended their lives in the highest degree of misery." Though
Cavendish was still on board the Desire, it is impossible to
free him of the blame of this inhuman abandonment of the
sick. A consultation was now held, at which Davis, who had
had great experience of the severities of the seasons in the
north-west voyages, declared for pushing forward, as the
weather must speedily improve ; while Cavendish preferred
the attempt of reaching China by doubling the Cape of Good
Hope. For this voyage, however, the other commanders
thought there were neither provisions nor equipments. At
length, on a petition by the whole company being presented to
Cavendish, he agreed to return to the coast of Brazil for sup-
plies, and, thus furnished, again to attempt the straits.
On the 15th of May they accordingly sailed eastward, and
on the midnight of the 20th, Davis in the Desire, and the Black
Pinnace, were separated from the galleon, to which Cavendish
had now returned. They never met again, and Cavendish, to
the last moment of his unhappy life, accused Davis of having
wilfully abandoned him. This treacherous desertion, if such
it was, — and by the friends of Davis it is strenuously denied,
took place in the latitude of Port Desire, for which harbour
Davis stood in, and also the Black Pinnace, expecting, as they
at least pretended, to find the general. Here they took in
water, and obtained at ebb-tide muscles, and with hooks made
of pins caught smelts, and thus spared their slender stock of
provisions.
An effort made by Davis to go in search of the captain-
general in the pinnace was overruled, it is alleged, by the ship's
company, who would not permit its departure. They are
even charged with open mutiny, and two ringleaders are
named.
To clear himself of all suspicion, Davis, on the 2d of June,
drew up a relation of the voyage, of the separation, and of the
f^tate of the two ships lying here, which all the men subscribed.
present time, and which we are assured by Ellis some of the early missiona-
ries were disposed to believe. On his return to England, Master Knyvet
told Purchas, that he once heard an Indian conferring with the Spirit which
possessed him, and threatening that, if it did not use him better, he would
turn Christian; the Spirit took the hint and left hinj.
'0S THOMAS CAVENDISH.
It certainly goes far to exonerate him. They remained in Port
Desire till the 6th of August, keeping watch on the hills for the
galleon ancj the Roebuck ; one part of the company foraging
for provisions of any kind that could be obtained, while others
made nails, bolts, and ropes from an old cable, and thus sup-
plied their wants in the best manner they could devise. There
are, however, surmises, that all this labour was undertaken
that Davis might be able to accomplish his great object of
passing the straits, whatever became of the general, and what-
ever might have been his wishes or orders. After this refitting
was accomplished, it was accordingly resolved to await the
coming of Cavendish in the straits, for which, having at Pen-
guin Isle salted twenty hogsheads of seals, they sailed on the
night of the 7th of August, " the poorest wretches that ever
were created."
Several times they obtained a sight of the South Sea, and
were driven back into the straits. While tossed about, they
were on the 14th driven in " among certain islands never be-
fore discovered by any known relation, lying fifty leagues or
better off the shore, east and northerly from the straits."
These were the Falkland Islands, of which Captain Davis
certainly has the honour of being the original discoverer, as he
had already been of the straits which still go by his name, and
of other ports in the north seas. This discovery was shortly
afterward claimed by Sir Richard Hawkins, who gave these
islands the name of Hawkins' Maiden Land, "for that it was
discovered in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, my sovereign lady,
and a maiden queen." The discovery of these islands has
been claimed by the navigators of other countries, and a varie-
ty of names have been imposed upon them. Burney christens
them anew " Davis' Southern Islands," a distinction to which
that celebrated navigator is fully entitled, though it will not be
easy to change a name so established as that of the Falkland
Islands. On the 2d of October they got into the South Sea
once more, and in the same night encountered a severe gale,
which continued with unabated violence for many days. On
the 4th the pinnace was lost: on the 5th the foresail was split
and all torn ; " and the mizzen was brought to the foremast to
make our ship work, the storm continuing beyond all descrip-
tion in fury, with hail, snow, rain, and wind, such and so
mighty as that in nature it could not possibly be more ; the sea
such and so lofty with continual breach, that many times we
were doubtful whetlier our ship did sink or swim." The rela-
tion proceeds thus, with earnest pathetic simplicity : — " The
10th of October, being, by the account of our captain and mas-
ter, very near the shore, the vreather dark, the storm furious,
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 97
and most of our men having given over to travail, we yielded
ourselves to death without farther hope of succour. Our cap-
lain (Davis) sitting in the gallery very pensive, I came and
brought him some Rosa Solis to comfort him, for he was so
cold he was scarce able to move a joint. After he had drunk,
and was comforted in heart, he began for the ease of his con-
science to make a large repetition of his forepassed time, and
with many grievous sighs he concluded in these words : — ' Oh
most glorious God, with whose power the mightiest things
among men are matters of no moment, I most humbly beseech
thee, that the intolerable burden of my sins may through the
blood of Jesus Christ be taken from me ; and end our days
with speed, or show us some merciful sign of thy love and our
preservation.'* Having thus ended, he desired me not to
make known to the company his intolerable grief and anguish
of mind, because they should not thereby be dismayed; and
suddenly, before I went from him, the sun sliined clear; so
that he and the master both observed the true elevation of
the Pole, whereby they knew by what course to recover the
strait." The narrative goes on to relate a wonderful instance
of preservation in doubling a cape at the mouth of the strait on
the 11th of October.
They at last put back into the strait in a most pitiable con-
dition, the men " with their sinews stiff, their flesh dead," and
in a state too horrible to be described. They found shelter
and rest in a cove for a few days, but famine urged them on,
and the weather, after a short interval of calm, became as
stormy as before. " The storm growing outrageous, our men
could scarcely stand by their labour; and the straits being full
of turning reaches, we were constrained, by the discretion of
the captain and master in their accounts, to guide the ship in
the hell-dark night when we could not see any shore." In
this extremity they got back to Port Desire, and obtained wood
and water ; and in Penguin Island found abundance of birds.
One day, while most of the men were absent on their several
duties, a multitude of the natives showed themselves, throwing
dust upon their heads, " leaping and running like brute beasts,
having vizards on their faces, like dogs' faces, or else their
faces are dogs' faces indeed. We greatly feared lest they
should set the ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire,
whereat we much marvelled.t They came to windward of our
* Our readers will remember the admirable use which De Foe has made
of this scene.
tin New Guinea Captain Cook saw a peculiar mode of "suddenly ma-
king fire," probably, however, very different from this. "Three Indians
9*
9S
THOMAS CAVENDISH.
ship, and set the bushes on fire, so that we were in a very
stinking smoke ; but as soon as tliey came within reacli of our
shot we shot at them, and striking one of them in the thigh
they all presently fled, and we never saw them more." At
this place a party of nine men were killed by the Indians, or
were presumed to be so, as they went on shore, and were nev-
er again heard of. The relation points out, that " these were
the mutineers, and this the place at which they had formerly
devised mischief" against Davis and his officers. Here they
made salt by pouring salt-water in the hollows of the rocks,
which in six days was granulated from evaporation by the
heat of the sun. They found abundance of food, in eggs, pen-
guins, seals, and young gulls; and with train-oil fried scurvy-
grass with eggs, "which (herb) took away all kinds of swell-
ings, whereof many had died, and restored us to perfect health
of body, so that we were in as good case as when we left Eng-
land." " Thus God did feed us, as it were, with manna from
heaven."
On the 22d of December they sailed for Brazil with a stock
of fourteen thousand dried penguins, of which they had an
ample allowance, though their other provision was scantily
dealt out. In the beginning of February, in attempting by
violence to obtain some provisions at the Isle of Placenzia, on
the coast of Brazil, thirteen of the men were killed by the In-
dians and Portuguese ; and of an original company of seventy
only twenty-seven were now left in the Desire. They were
again the sport of baffling winds ; the water ran short, and in
the warm latitudes the penguins, their sole dependence for
food, began to corrupt, " and ugly loathsome worms of an inch
long were bred in them." The account of this plague is pain-
fully striking. " This worm did so mightily increase and de-
vour our victuals, that there was in reason no hope how we
should avoid famine, but be devoured of the wicked creatures.
There was nothing that they did not devour, iron only except-
ed, — our clothes, hats, boots, shirts, and stockings. And for
the ship, they did eat the timbers ; so that we greatly feared
they would undo us by eating through the ship's side. Great
was the care and dihgence of our captain, master, and compa-
ny to consume these vermin; but the more we laboured to kill
them, the more they increased upon us ; so that at last we
rushed out of a wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance of one
hundred yards ; and as they ran towards us the foremost threw sonietliing
out of l)is hand, whicii burnt exactly Hke gunpowder, but made no report.
What these fires were we could not imagine." "We saw fire and smoke
resembling those of a musket, and of no longer duration."
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 99
could not sleep for them, for they would eat our flesh like mos-
quitoes." The men now fell into strange and horrible diseases,
and some became raging mad. A supply of water was, how-
ever, obtained from the heavy rains which fell ; and this was
the only solace of this most miserable voyage. Eleven died
between the coast of Brazil and Bear Haven in Ireland ; and
of the sixteen that survived only five were able to work the
ship. If the design of Davis had been treacherously to aban-
don Mr. Cavendish, he was subjected to speedy and severe
retribution.
To this unfortunate commander we must now return ; and
brief space may suffice to relate a series of calamities which
might weary the attention and exhaust the sympathies of even
the most compassionate reader. The conjecture which Caven-
dish formed of the proceedings of Davis and the captain of the
Black Pinnace was perfectly correct. He states in his letter
that he believed they would return to Port Desire, — a safe
place of anchorage for ships of small burthen, though not
such as he could safely approach, — and there refresh them-
selves, lay in a store of seals and birds, and seize a favourable
season to pass the straits. And they did so. In speaking of
Davis and of his conduct. Cavendish exclaims, " And now to
come to that villian that hath been the death of me and the
decay of this whole action, — I mean Davis, — whose only
treachery in running from me hath been utter ruin of all, if any
good return by him, as ever you love me, make such friends
as he, least of all others, may reap least gain. I assure my-
self you will be careful in all friendship of my last requests.
My debts which be owing be not much ; but I (most unfortu-
nate villain!) was matched with the most abject-minded and
mutinous company that ever was carried out of England by
any man living." — " The short of all is this, — Davis' only
intent was utterly to overthrow me, which he hath well per-
formed."
After the Desire and the Black Pinnace separated from the
fleet, the Leicester galleon and Roebuck shaped their course
for Brazil, keeping sight of each other. In 36^ S. they en-
countered a dreadful storm, and were parted. For some time
the galleon lay at anchor in the Bay of St. Vincent's ; and
while here a party, almost in open defiance of the orders of
Cavendish, landed to forage for provisions, and plunder the
houses of the Portuguese farmers on the coast. They were
wholly cut off*, to the number of twenty-four men and an offi-
cer ; and the only boat which Cavendish had now left was
thus lost.
100 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
The Roebuck about this time returned without masts or
sails, and " in the most miserable case ever ship was in."
The captain-general felt the want of the boats and pinnace
doubly severe, from being unable in the larger ships to enter
the harbours, which were often barred, to be revenged on the
" base dogs" who had killed his men. At some risk he made
an attempt to go up the river before the town, that he might
have the gratification of razing it ; but was compelled by his
company to desist from an attempt which " was both desperate
and most dangerous." With some difficulty they got back
into deep water, and with the boat of the Roebuck and a crazy
boat seized from the Portuguese, a party landed, which de-
stroyed a few of the farm-houses, and got some provisions.
It was now the intention of Cavendish to break up the Roe-
buck, and with the Leicester galleon, as Davis never appeared,
return to the straits alone. But of this purpose he did not
venture to inform his company, lest they might have broken
out into open mutiny. So great was their horror of returning,
"that all of the better sort," he says, " had taken an oath upon
the Bible to die rather than go back." St. Helena was there-
fore the point now talked of; and in the mean while an at-
tempt was made to seize three Portuguese ships in the harbour
of Spirito Santo. The plan of attack was unsuccessful. Of
eighty armed men who left the ship on this ill-starred expedi-
tion, about thirty-eight were killed and forty wounded. Among
the killed was Captain Morgan, an officer whom Cavendish
highly esteemed, who in this expedition was taunted into the
commission of acts of foolhardy daring by the insulting
speeches of those whom he led ; a weakness which, despite of
their better judgment, has often proved fatal to brave men, as
well as to the rash persons themselves whose ignorance and
vanity tempt them to become the critics and censors of enter-
prises of which they cannot comprehend the danger. Inabili-
ty to endure the imputation of cowardice is indeed one of the
most lamentable infirmities of noble minds. On the present
occasion some of the seamen swore, " that they never thought
other than that Morgan was a coward that durst not land upon
a bauble ditch ;" upon which, willfully running upon what he
saw to be certain destruction, he declared that he would land
happen what would, and though against the counsel of his
commander, who remained in the ship. The consequences
have been told.
One circumstance strongly moved the generous indignation
of Cavendish. A party with the great boat called to another,
which were attempting to storm a fort, to come and help them
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 101
to hasten off, as they were exposed to a galling fire. The
numbers that rushed into the boat ran her aground, and ten
men were obhged to leave her, who, to save themselves from
the Indian arrows which flew thick, again ran in under the
fort, and poured in a volley of musketry. Meiwiwhile the boat
was got afloat, " and one that was master of the Roebuck
(the most cowardly villain that ever was born of a woman !)
caused them in the boat to row away, and so left those brave
men a spoil to the Portugals. Yet they waded up to their
necks in the water to them ; but those merciless villains in the
boat would have no pity on them. Their excuse was, that
the boat was so full of water that had they come in she would
have sunk with them all in her. Thus vilely were those poor
men lost."
By the fatal adventure which he has thus narrated. Caven-
dish, already in want of every necessary, was left with hardly
as many efficient men as could raise the anchor. To add to
his already accumulated misfortunes the Roebuck forsook him,
the company of that ship being resolved to return home ; and
though the wounded lay in his vessel, they carried off the two
surgeons and a great part of the common stores. In these dis-
tressing circumstances he got to the small uninhabited island
of St. Sebastian, where he mended the old boats, and obtained
a seasonable supply of water, of which they were in great
want. Again Cavendish spoke of returning to the straits,
and used all the arts of persuasion with his company, but in
vain. He showed them that they could " relieve themselves
by salting seals and birds, &.c. ; and further, should they get
through the straits, (which they might easily perform, con-
sidering they had the chiefest part of the summer before them,)
they could not but make a most rich voyage ; and that we
should be the most infamous in the world, being within six
hundred leagues of the place where we so much desired, — to
return home again so far being most infamous and beggarly.
These persuasions," continues Cavendish, " took no place
with them ; but most boldly they aU affirmed that they had
sworn they would never again go to the straits ; neither by no
means would they. And one of the chiefest of tins faction
most proudly and stubbornly uttered these words to my face,
in presence of all the rest ; which I seeing, and finding mine
own faction to be so weak, (for there were not any favoured
my side but my poor cousin Locke, and the master of the
ship,) I took this bold companion by the bosom, and with mine
own hands put a rope about his neck, meaning resolutely to
strangle him, for weapon about me I had none. His com-
panions, seeing one of their chief champions in this case,.
10i THOMAS CAVENDISH.
and perceiving me go roundly to work with him, they all came
to the master and desired him to speak, affirming, they would
all be ready to take any course I thought good of; so I, hear-
ing this, stayed myself, and let the fellow go."
Having now,boldly avowed his intention of returning to the
straits. Cavendish landed on the island with a party of his
soldiers and the carpenters, to new-build the boat, while the
sailors on board mended and patched up the rigging and
tackle of the ship. But he still suspected his men of treache-
ry, and of tlie intention of deserting, and was in constant anx-
iety to get them once more on board, that the ship might depart
for the straits. Before this could be accomplished, Cavendish,
whom Fortune never wearied of persecuting, sustained another
severe mischance. The wounded men were on shore on the
island, which lay about a mile from the mainland, from
whence the Portuguese watched all the proceedings of the
ship's company during the building of the boat. Before all
the wood and water were got in, and while some soldiers and
seamen were still on the island, an Irishman, " a noble villain,"
contrived to go over to the continent upon a raft, and betray
his defenceless comrades to the Portuguese. This was done
in the night-time ; and besides those employed on the island,
and the sick, there chanced to be several men ashore, who
frequently stole away from the ship at night to enjoy the free-
dom of the land. AH were indiscriminately butchered. One
of the few remaining sails which lay here was also seized, and
in their distressed circumstances proved another serious loss.
" Thus," says the luckless adventurer, " I was forced to de-
part. Fortune never ceasing to lay her greatest adversities upon
me. And now I am grown so weak that I am scarce able to
hold the pen in my hand ; wherefore I must leave you to in-
quire of the rest of our most unhappy proceedings. But know
this, that for the strait I could by no means get my company
to give their consent to go. In truth, I desired nothing more
than to attempt that course, rather desiring to die in gomg for-
ward than basely in returning back again ; but God would not
suffer me to die so happy a man." These " unhappy pro-
ceedings" to which he refers, may, so far as they are known,
be very briefly noticed. An attempt was made to reach the
island of St. Helena, for which the company had reluctantly
consented to steer only on Cavendish solemnly declaring that
to England he would never go ; and that, if they refused to
take such courses as he intended, the *' ship and all should
sink in the seas together." This for a time made them more
tractable ; but having beat to 20° S. they refused to proceed
farther, choosing rather to die where they were, "than be
THOMAS CAVENDISH. 103
Starved in searching for an island which could never be found
again." They were, however, once more induced to proceed
southward, and in dreadful weather beat back to 28° S., and
stood for St. Helena, which was most unhappily missed, owing
to contrary winds and the unskilfulness of the sailing-master.
One more effort this unfortunate commander made to induce
his mutinous crew to regain the island, alarming them with
the scarcity of provisions ; but they unanimously replied,
" that they would be perished to death rather than not make
for England."
It is believed that Mr. Cavendish did not long survive the
events recorded above ; and it is certain that he died before
the ship reached England. His letter, from which we have
quoted, was not closed when the galleon reached 8^ N. From
its commencement, — and it must have been written at many
different sittings, — Cavendish had considered himself a dying
man. It opens with great tenderness : — " Most loving friend,
there is nothing in this world that makes a truer trial of friend-
ship, than at death to show mindfulness of love and friendship,
which now you shall make a perfect experience of; desiring
you to hold my love as dear, dying poor, as if I had been
most infinitely rich. The success of this most unfortunate
action, the bitter torments whereof lie so heavy upon me, as
with much pain am I able to write these few lines, much less
to make discourse to you of all the adverse haps that have be-
fallen me in this voyage, the least whereof is my death." He
adverts to the illness of" a most true friend, whom to name my
heart bleeds," who, like himself became the victim of the com-
plicated distresses of this voyage. After the crowning misfor-
tune of missing St. Helena, he says, " And now to tell you of
my greatest grief, which was the sickness of my dear kinsman
John Locke, who by this time was grown in great weakness,
by reason whereof he desired rather quietness and contented-
ness in our course, than such continual disquietness as never
ceased me. And now by this, what with grief for him and
the continual trouble I endured among such hellhounds, my
spirits were clean spent, wishing myself upon any desert place
in the world, there to die, rather than thus basely return home
again. Which course, I swear to you, I had put in execution,
had I found an island which the cards (charts) make to be in
8° S. of the line. I swear to you I sought it with all diligence,
meaning there to have ended my most unfortunate life. But
God suffered not such happiness to light upon me, for I could
by no means find it ; so, as I was forced to go towards Eng-
land, and having got eight degrees by the north of the line, I
lost my most dearest cousin. And now consider, whether a
101 THOMAS CAVENDISH.
heart made of flesh be able to endure so many misfortunes, all
falling upon me without intermission. And I thank my God,
that in ending me he hath pleased to rid me of all farther
troubles and mishaps." The rest of the letter refers to his pri-
vate concerns, and especially to the discharge of his debts and
the arrangement of his affairs for this purpose, — an act of
friendship which he expected from the kindness of the gentle-
man he addressed. It then takes an affecting farewell of life,
and of the friend for whom he cherished so warm an aff'ection.
In his two voyages. Cavendish experienced the greatest ex-
tremes of fortune ; his first adventure being even more brilhant
and successful than the last — chiefly through the bad disci-
pline and evil dispositions of his company — was disastrous and
unhappy. Cavendish was still very young when he died. No
naval commander ever more certainly sunk under the disease
to which so many brave men have fallen victims, — a broken
heart. In many things his conduct discovered the rashness
and impetuosity of youth, and the want of that temper and
self-command which are among the first qualities of a naval
chief. The reproach of cruelty, or at least of culpable indif-
ference to the claims of humanity, which, from transactions
in both voyages, and especially in the first, must rest upon his
memory, ought in justice to be shared with the age in which
he lived, and the state of moral feelmg among the class to
which he belonged by birth. By the aristocracy " the vulgar,"
" the common sort," were still regarded as creatures of a dif-
ferent and inferior species ; while among seamen the destruc-
tion of Spaniards and " Portugals" was regarded as a positive
virtue. By all classes, negroes, Indians, and gentiles were
held in no more esteem than brute animals, — human life as
existing in beings so abject being regarded as of no value what-
ever. But if Cavendish was tinged with the faults of his class,
he partook largely of its virtues, — high spirit, courage, and in-
trepidity. Those who might be led to judge of some points
of his conduct with strictness, will be disposed to lenity by the
recollection of his suff*erings. As an English navigator his
name is imperishable.
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
Captain William Dampier, whose eventful life forms the
next subject of our work, was so long and so intimately asso-
ciated with the Bucaniers of America, that a brief account of
this extraordinary brotherhood is almost indispensably neces-
sary as an introduction to the adventures and discoveries of
this eminent navigator.
The term Bucanier is said to be derived from boucan, a
word employed by the €arib Indians to designate meat taken
in hunting; the first bucaniers having been eminently devoted
to the pursuits of the chase.
The association which was distinguished by this name, owed
its origin to the selfish and monopolizing policy of the Span-
iards, who desirous of appropriating the commerce with their
West India colonies, entirely to themselves, adopted a system
of interference with the vessels of every other nation that
ventured near the tropic, thus giving rise to the well known
106 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
maxim of the Bucaniers, "No peace beyond the Line." The
Bucaniers consisted chiefly of French and Enghsh traders,
who smuggled goods into the Spanish possessions in Soutli
America and the West Indies, and who from trafficking on the
coast, and occasionally foraging for provisions for their vessels
on these uninhabited shores, from time to time adopted the
hunter's life, and ranged at will throughout the forests and
wilds of the New World. In time of peace this assemblage of
bold and dissolute men followed their occupation of hunters,
smugglers, and pirates, and in time of war held commissions
as privateers from the governments of their respective coun-
tries; indeed Dampier and others always spoke of the indi-
vidual members of the brotherhood as privateers, while they
named their vocation of piracy privateering. The Bucaniers,
from individual efforts of hostility to Spain, and from acts of
single commanders with a few volunteers under their control,
at length attained to such a system of organization, as to form
distinct settlements in the West India islands, and became dis-
tinguished by laws, manners, and customs, peculiar to tliem-
selves, originating in the necessities and exigencies of their
condition. They held their property in common, and as they
had no domestic ties, neither wife, nor child, nor sister, nor
brother, being known among them, the want of family relations
was supplied by strict comradeship, one partner attending to
household duties while the other was engaged in the peculiar
duties of their vocation. Their chief virtue was courage ; the
fear of the gallows which had frequently converted the thief
into a murderer, made the Bucanier a hero and a savage.
They were remarkable for extraordinary hardihood, and the
habit and power of extreme endurance, but their long seasons
of entire privation were always followed by scenes of the most
brutal excess. Their grand principle was fidelity ; and the
maxim of "honour among thieves," was never more scrupu-
lously observed than among them. The most able and brave
was chosen their commander, but all the fighting men assisted
at their councils. The same power which chose their leader
could displace him, and this was frequently done. They
sometimes settled personal quarrels by duels, but offences
against the fraternity were visited by different punishments, as
death, abandonment on a desert island, and simple expulsion
from the fraternity.
A party being agreed upon for a cruise, the day and place
of embarkation was fixed, and every man repaired on board
the ship with a specified quantity of powder and shot. The
next concern was to procure provisions, which consisted
chiefly of pork. Many of the Spaniards raised large herds of
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 107
swine for the supply of the planters, and from their yards
abundance was procured, with no trouble save that in which
the ferocious Bucaniers dehghted— robbery often accompanied
with murder. Turtle slightly salted, was another article of
the food which they stored, and for beeves and wild hogs they
trusted to their fire-arms. Bread they seldom tasted, and at
sea never thought about, though in later periods they some-
times procured supplies of cassada, maize and potatoes. Of
this food every man ate generally twice a day, or at his own
pleasure, and without limitation ; there being in this respect
no distinction between the commander and the meanest sea-
man. The vessel fairly victualled, a final council was held
which determined the destination of the cruise and the plan of
operations ; and articles were generally drawn up and sub-
scribed which regulated the division of the spoils. The car-
penter, the sail-maker, the surgeon, were in the first place paid
out of the common stock. Wounds were next considered ;
the value of the right arm, the most useful member of the
Bucanier's body, being reckoned equal to six slaves, and the
eye and fingers to one slave. The remainder was equally
shared, save that the captain besides his specific agreement,
had five shares and his mate two. Boys had half a share.
The first maxim in the code of the Bucanier, dictated by neces-
sity was, " no prey, no pay." The dress of these rufiians was
well suited to their ferocious and brutal character. It consist-
ed of a shirt dipped in the blood of the cattle hunted and kill-
ed; trousers prepared in the same rude manner; buskins
without stockings, a cape with a small front, and a leathern
girdle, into which were stuck knives, sabres, and pistols.
Such was the bloody and complete equipment of a Bucanier.
Among the most distinguished of these merciless villains,
w^ere Pierre Francois, Pierre Legrand, Bartholomew Portu-
gues, Lewis Scot, the first land-pirate, Mansvelt, John Davies,
Lolonnois, and Montbar, distinguished among the fraternity
by pre-eminence in crime, and the infamous Captain Sir Hen-
ry Morgan.
Pierre Legrand with a boat carrying four small pieces, and
twenty men captured a Spanish galleon, the vice-admiral of the
fleet. The manner in which the capture was made affords a
fair specimen of bucaniering daring and warfare. The boat,
in which the men lay concealed, had been seen by the galleon
all day, and one of the men had warned the captain of his
suspicion of a nest of pirates lurking in the distant speck.
The Spaniard haughtily and carelessly replied, "And what
then? shall I be afraid of so pitiful a thing? no, though she
were as good a ship as my own." He probably thought no
108
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
more of the circumstance till seated at cards with his friend*
the same evening, he saw the Bucaniers rush into his cabin,
having already overpowered the crew. Nor had the task
proved difficult.
Pierre and his company had kept aloof till dusk, when they
made for the galleon with all the force of oars. The game wa»
for death, ignominious death, slavery in the mines, or for vic-
tory and fortune. To render their courage desperate, Pierre
had ordered the surgeon to bore holes in the side of the boat,,
that no other footing might he left to hi& men than the decks
of the Spaniard. This was directly performed while each
man armed with a sword and pistols, climbed the sides of the
ship. While one party rushed into the cabin, and presented
their pistols to the officers, who sat at cards, another seized
the gun room, cutting down whoever stood in their way. As
the Spaniards had been completely surprised, but little opposi-
tion was offered ; the ship surrendered and was carried into
France.
Bartholomew Portugues, cruising from Jamaica, with a boat
carrying four small pieces and thirty men, captured a ship of
twenty great guns, with a crew of seventy men.
Mansvelt conceived the design of forming an independent
Bucanier establishment, holding neither of France, England,
nor Holland, which should afford a place of safe retreat to the
freebooters of every nation, but he died before he could carry
his design into effect.
But in the annals of the sea-rovers no names are to be found
more terrible than those of Lolonnois and Montbar. The
former was a monster in human form, rather than a merely
cruel man. This Bucanier commander of whom almost in-
credible atrocities are related, is said to have frequently thrown
overboard the crews of the ships which he took. He is said
to have struck off the heads of eighty prisoners with his own
hand, refreshing himself by sucking the blood of the victims
as it trickled down his sabre. It is even related, that in trans-
ports of frantic cruelty, he has been known to tear out and de-
vour the hearts of those who fell by his hand, and to pluck out
the tongues of others. To this monster cruelty was an affair of
calculation as weU as of delight. At length after experiencing
a train of disasters, this infamous wretch fell into the hands of
certain Indians of the Darien, a fierce and cruel tribe, who
were not unacquainted with the atrocities of the Bucaniers.
By them he was torn alive limb from limb, — his body con-
sumed, and the ashes scattered abroad, to the intent that
no trace, nor memory might remain of such an infamous
creature.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 109
The character of Montbar is more romantic if not more
humane. Montbar was a native of Languedoc, in France,
who from reading in his youth of the horrible cruehies of the
Spaniards upon the Mexicans and Caribs, imbibed a hatred
of the whole Spanish nation, which possessed him like a frensy.
It is however somewhat strange that the impulse which led
this singular person to join the ranks of the Bucaniers urged
him to the commission of worse cruelties than those which he
reprobated. His comrades were often merciless from the lust
of gold ; but Spanish blood was the sole passion of Montbar.
It is related by Raynal, that while at college, in acting the
part of a Frenchman who quarrels with a Spaniard, he assault-
ed the youth who personated an individual of that hated na-
tion with such fury that he had well nigh strangled him. His
imagination was perpetually haunted by the shapes of multi-
tudes of persons butchered by monsters from Spain, who called
upon him to revenge them. While on his passage outward
to league himself with the brethren of the coast, the inveterate
enemies of Spain, the vessel in which he sailed fell in with a
Spanish ship, and captured it. No sooner had the French-
men boarded the vessel, than Montbar, with his sabre drawn,
twice rushed along the decks, cutting his frantic way through
the ranks of Spaniards, whom he swept down. While his
comrades divided the booty acquired by his prowess, Montbar
gloated over the mangled limbs of the detested people against
whom he had vowed everlasting and deadly hate. From this
and similar actions he acquired the name of the Exterminator.
Captain Sir Henry Morgan, as he is called, was of a most
sordid and brutal character, selfish and cunning without any
spark of the reckless generosity which sometimes graced the
freebooter and contrasted with his crimes. The enterprises of
Morgan, who was at once ambitious and greedy, display ca-
pacity, coolness and daring. His next attempt combined all
these quahties in a remarkable degree. With nine ships and
boats and four hundred and sixty of his countrymen, he re-
solved to assault Porto Bello ; but did not venture to disclose
so bold a design till it was no longer advisable to conceal it.
To those who then objected that their force was inadequate to
the attack, Morgan boldly replied, " That though their num-
bers were small, their hearts were good ; and the fewer the
warriors the larger the shares of plunder." This last was an
irresistible argument ; and this strongly -fortified city was car-
ried by a handful of resolute men, who never scrupled at cru-
elty needful to the accomphshment of their object, and often
revelled in the wantonness of unnecessary crime. The first
fort or castle was deliberately blown up by fire being set to the
10*
110 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
powder magazine, after* many miserable prisoners, whose
mangled limbs soon darkened the air, had been huddled inta
one room. Resistance was still attempted by the Spaniards,
which greatly exasperated the besiegers, as it was into the
forts which held out, that the wealthy inhabitants had retired
with their treasures and valuables. One strong fort it was ne-
cessary to carry without delay ; and bioad scaling-ladders be-
ing constructed, Morgan compelled his prisoners to fix them
to the walls. Many of those employed in this office were
priests and nuns dragged for this purpose from the cloisters.
These, it was thought, their countrymen would spare ; while
under their protection the Bucaniers might advance without
being exposed to the fire of the castle. In these trying cir-
cumstances, forgetting the claims of country, and the sacred
character of the innocent persons exposed to sufferings so un-
merited, the Spanish governor consulted only his official duty ;
and while the unhappy prisoners of the Bucaniers implored
his mercy, continued to pour shot upon all who approached
the walls, whether pirates, or the late peaceful inhabitants of
the cloisters, his stem answer being that he would never sur-
render alive. Many of the friars and nuns were killed before
the scaling-ladders could be fixed; but that done, the Buca-
niers, carrying with them fire balls and pots full of gunpowder^
boldly mounted the walls, poured in their combustibles, and
speedily effected an entrance. All the Spaniards demanded
quarter except the governor, who died fighting, in presence of
his wife and daughter, declaring that he chose rather to die a*
a brave soldier, than be hanged like a coward. The next act
in the horrid drama of bucaniering conquest, followed rapidly ;
pillage, cruelty, brutal license, — ^the freebooters giving them-
selves up to so mad a course of riot and debauchery that fifty
resolute men might have cut them off and regained the town^
had the panic struck Spaniards been able to form any rational
plan of action, or to muster a force. During these fifteen days
of demoniac revel, interrupted only by torturing the prisoners
to make them give up treasures which they did not possess,
many of the Bucaniers died from the consequences of their own
brutal excesses, and Morgan deemed it expedient to draw off
his force. Information had by this time reached the Governor
of Panama ; and though aid was distant from the miserable
inhabitants of Porto Bello, it might still come. Morgan,
therefore, carried off a good many of the guns, spiked the rest,
fully supplied his ships with every necessary store, and having
already plundered all that was possible, insolently demanded
an exhorbitant ransom for the preservation of the city and for
his prisoners, and prepared to depart from the coast. These
I
WILLIAM DAMPIER. Ill
terms he even sent to the Governor of Panama, who was ap-
proachmg the place, and whose force the Biicaniers intercept-
ed in a narrow pass, and compelled to retreat. The inhabi-
tants collected among themselves a hundred thousand pieces
of eight, which Morgan graciously accepted, and retired to hi&
ships.
The astonishment of the Governor of Panama at so small
a force carrying the town and the forts, and holding them so
long, induced him, it is said, to send a message to the Buca-
nier leader, requesting a specimen of the arms which he used.
Morgan received the messenger with civility, gave him a pis-
tol and a few bullets, and ordered him to bid the president to
accept of so slender a pattern of the weapons with which he
had taken Porto Bello, and to keep it for a twelvemonth, at the
end of which time he (Morgan) proposed to come to Panama
to fetch it away. The governor returned the loan with a gold
ring, and requested Morgan not to give himself the trouble of
travelling so far, certifying to him that he would not fare so'
well as he had done at Porto Bello,
On this subject Morgan formed and afterward acted upon
his own opinions. In the mean while the spoils were divided
at the Keys of Cuba. The booty amounted to 250,000 pieces
of eight, besides goods of all kinds, including silks, linen, cloth,
and many things that found a ready market in Jamaica, for
which Bucaniers' paradise the fleet next sailed, to fit them-
selves for a fresh expedition by a month's carousing, and the
prodigal expenditure of the fruits of their toils and crimes.
This exploit, in which so few men, and those armed only
with pistols and sabres, had taken a large fortified city, raised
the character of Morgan as a commander higher than ever ;
and his invitation to the Brethren of the Coast to meet him at
the Isla de la Vaca, or Cow Island, which was appointed as a
rendezvous preparatory to another cruise, was so eagerly ac-
cepted that he found himself at the head of a considerable
force. A large French bucaniering vessel, which refused to
join this expedition, he obtained by fraud. Inviting the com-
mander and several of the best men to dine with him, under
some frivolous pretext he made them prisoners. But Morgan
did not reap much advantage from this act of treachery.
While the men whom he had placed in the ship were carous-
ing, celebrating the commencement of another cruise, it sud-
denly blew up, and three hundred and fifty Enghshmen and
the French prisoners perished together. This accident, so
disastrous to Morgan, was imputed to the revengeful spirit of
the Frenchmen confined in the hold. The true character of
the sordid Bucanier was never more strongly displayed than in
lid WILLIAM DAiMPIER.
the way which Morgan tried to make the best for himself of
this mischance. When eight days of mourning had elapsed,
he made the dead bodies be fished up, stripped of clothes,
linen, and of the gold rings which Bucaniers often wore, and
then be thrown back into the sea to feed the sharks.
Morgan had now a fleet of fifteen ships, some of which he
owed to the kindness of the Governor of Jamaica, who conni-
ved at, or took a share in, such adventures. His force consist-
ed of 1000 fighting-men. Several of his vessels were armed,
and his own carried 14 guns. With these, which, however,
through discontent, diminished a full half on the way, he sha-
ped his course for the devoted cities of Gibralter and Maracai-
bo, formerly visited by Lolonnois, which were once more ta-
ken and plundered. At the former place the cruelties of Mor-
gan exceeded, if that were possible, the enormities of the
French pirate. Such of the inhabitants as fled to the woods
and were retaken, were tortured with fiendlike ingenuity to
make them discover their wealth. It would be painful and
revolting to dwell upon the black record of the atrocities per-
petrated here.
So much time had been consumed at Gibraltar, that Mor-
gan, when about to withdraw, found himself in a snare, from
which it required all his talent and presence of mind to extri-
cate the Bucanier fleet. Coolness and readiness were, how-
ever, the famiUar qualities of men whose lives were a series of
perils and escapes, and whose natural element was danger ;
and they never were more admirably displayed than by Mor-
gan and his men at this time.
In the interval spent by the Bucaniers in pillage and debau-
chery at Gibraltar, the Spaniards had repaired the fort which
protected the passage of the lake or lagune of Maracaibo, and
stationed three men of war at the entrance, whose vigilance it
was conceived impossible the pirates could escape. These
vessels carried, one twenty, another thirty, and the third forty
guns. Putting a bold face upon his embarassing situation,
Morgan, with the audacity natural to him, and which was one
of his instruments of success, sent a message to the Spanish
admiral, demanding a ransom as the only condition on which
the city could be preserved. To this insolent vaunt the Span-
iard replied, that though the Bucanier commander had taken
the castle from a set of cowards, it was now in a good state of
defence ; and that he not only intended to dispute the egress
from the lagune, but to pursue the pirates everywhere. If,
however, they chose to give up the prisoners and the slaves
they had taken, they would be permitted to pass forth unmo-
lested. This reply was as usual submitted to a full council of
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 113
Bucaiiiers, and at this assembly one of their number suggested
the stratagem by which Morgan in the first place destroyed the
Spanish men of war. One of the Bucanier vessels was pre-
pared as a fireship, and at the same time was made to wear
the appearance of a vessel ready for action. Logs were pla-
ced in rows on the decks, on which clothes, hats, and Montero
caps were placed ; and these decoy-figures were also armed
with swords and muskets. When this was done, the plate,
jewels, female prisoners, and whatever was of most value to
the Bucaniers, were placed in their large boats, each of which
carried twelve armed men. These boats were to follow the
fireship, which led the van ; an oath was exacted from each
Bucanier of resistance to the last, and the refusal of quarter
from the Spaniards ; and ample rewards were promised for
valour and firmness. Next evening the fleet sailed, and about
dusk came up with the Spanish ships riding at anchor in the
middle of the lagune. The Bucanier vessels also anchored,
resolved to await here the eff'ect of their stratagem, and either
to fight, escape, or perish. No attack was offered that night,
and they lay in quiet till dawn, when the anchors were weigh-
ed, and they steered directly towards the Spanish ships, which
advanced as if to meet them. The fireship, still in advance,
with all her decoys of armed men as before, came up with the
largest of the Spanish vessels and grapled to her, — then the
deception was first discovered, but too late for escape. The
conflagration commenced. The Spanish ship caught fire in
the tackhng and timbers, and the forepart of her hull soon went
down. The second Spanish vessel escaped under the guns of
the castle, and was sunk by her own company as a fate pre-
ferable to falling a prey to the Bucaniers. The third vessel
was taken. The crew of the burning ship endeavored to es-
cape to the shore, and all chose rather to perish in the sea
than accept of the quarter offered by the pirates. The tri-
umphant Bucaniers, without losing a moment, gave chase,
and immediately landed, resolving forthwith to attempt the
castle ; but as they were ill armed for such an assault, and
the place was well fortified and manned, they desisted from
the attempt, and returned to their ships, having lost in that
day's work thirty men killed and many more wounded.
Though the Spanish ships were destroyed, the castle still
remained to be passed ; and the Spaniards had laboured all
night in completing its defences. Morgan again had recourse
to stratagem. All day long, in sight of the garrison, he affect-
ed to be sending boats filled with men to a point of the shore
concealed from view of the castle by trees. These men re-
ii4 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
turned on board lying flat in the boats, where, in going back,
only the rowers were visible. They mounted their ships at a
side on which the Spaniards could not perceive their return.
This manoeuvre was repeated, till the Spaniards believed that
from the number of men landed, an attack upon the castle was
meditated. This seemed the more probable, as Morgan, who
had now hoisted his flag in their captured war-ship, again sent
a message demanding a ransom for Maracaibo as the condi-
tion of his departure. To meet the presumed movement of
the Bucaniers, the guns of the castle were changed from a po-
sition which commanded the lagune, and pointed to landward.
As soon as he was aware of this arrangement, Morgan raised
his anchors by moonlight, and favoured by the ebb tide, the
wind also being favourable, pressed past the castle ; the morti-
fied Spaniards trying in vain to hasten back with their pieces
to bear upon him. He gave them a parting volley from his
great guns, so lately their own ; and bore away for Jamaica,
exulting in good fortune, enhanced likewise by what he learn-
ed of the misadventures of those who had forsaken liim in the
early part of the cruise.
Money and credit were, as usual, quickly outrun in the
taverns of Port Royal by the dissolute companions of Morgan ;
and another expedition was concerted, which was to exceed
all the former achievements of the sea-rovers. And no time
was to be lost, as a pending treaty between Great Britain and
Spain threatened forever to put an end to what their admiring
countrymen termed the " unparalleled exploits of the Buca-
niers." Letters were despatched by the commander to every
noted Bucanier, and the south side of the island of Tortuga
was named as the rendezvous. Early in October, 1670, Mor-
gan found himself surrounded by pirates, hunters, cultivators,
English, French, and Dutch, who, from land and sea, the
plantation and the wilderness, had flocked to the standard of
him who was to lead them to fortune and victory. The first
duty was to victual the fleet, and this was done by pillaging
tlie hog-yards, and with the houcan sent in by hunters who
either joined in the expedition or traded with the pirates. The
Bucanier fleet, consisting of thirty-seven vessels fully pro-
visioned, next sailed for Cape Tiburon, on the west coast of
Hispaniola, — the fighting men amounting to two thousand.
At the general council now held, three places of attack were
deliberated upon, — Vera Cruz, Carthagena, and Panama.
The last and most difficult was that which was chosen, recom-
mended by the extravagant notions entertained in Europe and
the West Indies of its amazing wealth, and of the great riches
of Peru.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 115
Morgan had never renounced the idea, which originated
with Mansvelt, of a Bucanier settlement on the conveniently-
situated island of Providence. Once more it was captured
on his way, the Spanish governor making a farce of resistance.
From this point , Morgan detached a force of four hundred
men to attack the castle of Chagre, the possession of which he
judged necessary to the success of his future operations against
Panama. It was eventually carried by the accident of fire
communicating with the powder magazine, which blew up part
of the defences.*
While the Spaniards were occupied in suppressing the con-
flagration, the Bucaniers laboured hard to increase the confu-
sion, by setting fire to the palisadoes in several places. At
last they effected a breach, in defiance of the liquid combusti-
bles which the Spaniards poured down among them, and
which occasioned considerable loss of their numbers. But the
attack and resistance were still continued throughout the
whole night, the Bucaniers directing an incessant fire towards
the breaches, which the Spanish governor pertinaciously de-
fended.
By noon the next day the Bucaniers had gained a breach,
which was defended by the governor himself and twenty-five
soldiers. The Spanish soldiers fought with desperate valour,
despair lending them supernatural courage ; but nothing could
resist the impetuosity of the pirates ; they burst their way
through every obstacle, and the unfortunate Spaniards who
sui*vived, preferring death to the dishonour of either falhng
into the hands of these infuriated ruffians or of begging quar-
ter, precipitated themselves into the sea. The governor had
retired into the corps du garde, before which he planted two
pieces of cannon, and bravely maintained the hopeless and
unequal conflict till he fell by a musket shot which entered the
brain. Of the garrison of three hundred and fourteen men
only thirty remained alive, and of these few twenty were
wounded. Not a single officer escaped.
From the survivors of the siege, the Bucanier party learned
that the Governor of Panama was already apprized of their
* The manner in which the fire was imagined to be communicated is not
a little singular. A Bucanier was pierced through by an arrow from the
fort. He drew it forth from his body, wound a Uttle cotton round it, and
shot it from his musket against the castle. The cotton kindled by the pow-
der set fire to the palm-leaf roofs of some sheds within the castle, and the
flames caught at the gunpowder, which produced the breach in the walls.
At the same instant the Bucaniers set fire to the palisadoes : the Spaniards,
though unwavering in courage and undaunted in resolution, became dis-
tracted in the midst of so many dangers.
116 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
design against that place, that all along the course of the
Chagre ambuscades were laid, and that a force of three thou-
sand six hundred men awaited their arrival. But this did not
deter Morgan, who pressed forward for Chagre the instant
that he received intelhgence of the capture of the castle, car-
rying with him all the provisions that could be obtained m
Santa Ratalina, to which island he intended to return after
the capture of Panama.
The English colours flying upon the castle of Chagre was
a sight of joy to the main body of the Bucaniers upon their
arrival. Morgan was admitted within the fort by the triumph-
ant advanced troop with all the honours of conquest. Before
his arrival, the wounded, the widows of the soldiers killed in
the siege, and the other women of the place, had been shut up
in the church, and subjected to the most brutal treatment. To
their fate Morgan was entirely callous ; but he lost no time in
setting the prisoners to work in repairing the defences and
forming new palisadoes ; he also seized all the craft in the
river, many of which carried from two to four small pieces.
These arrangements concluded, Morgan left a garrison of
live hundred men in his castle of Chagre, and in the ships one
hundred and fifty ; while at the head of twelve hundred Buca-
niers, he, on the 18th of January, 1671, commenced his inland
voyage to Panama, indifferent about or determined to brave
the Spanish ambuscades. His artillery was carried by five
large boats, and thirty-two canoes were filled with part of the
men. Anxious to push forward, Morgan committed one capi-
tal blunder in carrying almost no provisions, calculating upon
a shorter period being consumed on the march than it actually
required, and on foraging upon the Spaniards. Even on the
first day their provisions failed, and on the second they were
compelled to leave the canoes, the lowness of the river and the
fallen trees lying across it making this mode of travelhng
tedious and nearly impracticable. Their progress was now
continued by land and water alternately, and was attended
with great inconvenience, the extremity of famine being of
the number of their hardships. Their best hopes were now
placed in falling in with the threatened ambuscades, as there
they might find a store of provisions. So extremely were
they pinched with hunger, that the leathern bags found at a
deserted Spanish station formed a delicious meal. About this
delicacy they even quarreled, and it is said openly regretted
that no Spaniards were found, as, faihng provisions, they had
resolved to have roasted or boiled a few of the enemy to satisfy
their ravening appetites.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 117
Throughout the whole track to Panama the Spaniards had
taken care not to leave the smallest quantity of provisions, and
any other soldiers than the Bucaniers must have perished long
before even a distant view was obtained of the city; but their
powers of endurance, from their hardy modes of life, were be-
come almost superhuman. At nightfall, when they reached
their halting-place, " happy was he who had reserved since
morn any small piece of leather whereof to make his supper,
drinking after it a good draught of water for his greatest com-
fort." Their mode of preparing this tough meal deserves to
be noticed. The skins were first sliced, then alternately dipped
in water and beat between two stones to render them tender ;
lastly, the remaining hair was scraped off, and the morsel
broiled, cut into small bits, and deliberately chewed, with fre-
quent mouthfuls of water to eke out and lengthen the repast.
On the fifth day, at another deserted ambuscade, a little
maize was found, and also some wheat, wine, and plantains.
This, scanty as it was, proved a seasonable supply to those
who drooped, and it was thriftily dealt out among them. Next
day a barn full of maize was discovered, which, beating down
the door, the famished Bucaniers rushed upon and devoured
without any preparation. Yet all this hardship could not turn
them aside from the scent of prey, though symptoms of dis-
content became visible in their ranks. At a village called Cruz,
perceiving from a distance a great smoke, they joyfully prom-
ised themselves rest and refreshments; but on reaching it
found no inhabitant, and every house either burnt down or in
flames, so determined were the Spaniards to oppose the on-
ward march of the terrible beings, presented to their imagina-
tions under every shape of horror. The only animals remain-
ing, the dogs and cats of the village, fell an immediate sacrifice
to the wolfish hunger of the Bucaniers.
Morgan had now some difficulty in preserving disciphne,
and in keeping his companions or followers from falling into
the hands of the Spaniards or Indians when stragghng about
in search of any thing they could devour. In this way one
man was lost.
They were now within eight leagues of Panama, and the
nearer they approached, the more anxious and vigilant was
Morgan in looking out for the threatened ambuscades of the
enemy, who, he naturally conjectured, might have retired to
consohdate his forces. On the eighth day, they were surpri-
sed by a shower of Indian arrows poured upon them from
some unseen quarter, and advancing into the woods, main-
tained a sharp short contest with a party of Indians, many of
whom fell, offering a brave though vain resistance. Ten of
11
118 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
the freebooters were killed in this skirmish. The Bucaniers,
who had already three Indian guides, run-aways found in
Santa Katalina, endeavoured at this place to make some pris-
oners for the purpose of procuring intelligence ; but the In-
dians were too swift of foot.
After another twenty-four hours of suffering, under which
only freebooters or Indians could have borne up, on the morn-
ing of the ninth day of the march, from a high mountain, the
majestic South Sea was joyfully descried, with ships and boats
sailing upon its bosom, and peacefully setting out from the
concealed port of Panama. Herds of cattle, horses, and
asses, feeding in the valley below the eminence on which they
stood, formed a sight not less welcome. They rushed to the
feast ; and, cutting up the animals, devoured their flesh half-
raw, " more resembling cannibals than Europeans at this ban-
quet, the blood many times running down from their beards
unto the middle of their bodies."
This savage meal being ended the journey was resumed,
Morgan still endeavouring to gain information by taking pris-
oners, as on his whole line of march he had obtained speech of
neither Spaniard nor Indian.
In the same evening the steeple of Panama was beheld at a
distance; and, forgetting all their suiferings, the Bucaniers
gave way to the most rapturous exultation, tossing their caps
into the air, leaping, shouting, beating their drums, and sound-
ing their trumpets at the sight of ^o glorious a plunder, and as
if victory were already consummated. They encamped for
the night near the city, intending to make the assault early in
the morning. The same night a party of fifty Spanish horse-
men came out as if to reconnoitre, advanced within musket-
shot of the pirates, scornfully challenged "the dogs" to come
on, and then retired, leaving six or eight of their number to
watch the enemy's motions. Upon this the great guns of the
town began to play on the camp, but were too distant, or ill
directed, to do any execution ; and instead of betraying alarm,
the Bucaniers, having placed sentinels around their camp,
made another voracious meal preparatory to the next day's
business, threw themselves upon the grass, and, lulled by the
Spanish artillery, slept soundly till the dawn.
The camp was astir betimes, and the men being mustered
and arrayed, with drums and trumpets sounding they advanced
towards the city ; but instead of taking the ordinary route,
which the Spaniards were prepared to defend, by the advice
of one of the Indian guides they struck through a wood, by a
tangled and difficult path, in which, however, immediate ob-
struction could not be apprehended. Before the Spaniards
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 119
could counteract this unexpected movement, the Bucaniers
had advanced some way. The Governor of Panama, who led
the forces commanded two hundred cavalry and four regi-
ments of infantry; and a number of Indian auxiliaries con-
ducted an immense herd of wild bulls, to be driven among the
ranks of the Bucaniers, and which were expected to throw
them into disorder. This extraordinary arm of war was view-
ed by the hunters of Hispaniola and Campeachy with indiffer-
ence ; but they were somewhat alarmed at the regular and
imposing array of the troops drawn up to receive them. It
was, however, too late to retreat. They divided into three de-
tachments, two hundred dexterous marksmen leading the ad-
vance. They now stood on the top of a little eminence,
whence the whole Spanish force, the city, and the champaign
country around were distinctly seen. As they moved down-
ward the Spanish cavalry, shouting Viva el -Key, immedia-ely
advanced to meet them ; but the ground happened to be soft
and marshy, which greatly obstructed the manoeuvres of the
horsemen. The advance of the Bucaniers, all picked marks-
men, knelt and received them with a volley, and the conflipt
instantly became close and hot. The Bucaniers, throwing
themselves between the Spanish horse and foot, succeeded in
separating them, and the wild bulls, taking fright from the tu-
mult and the noise of the guns, ran away, or were shot by the
Bucaniers before they could effect any mischief.
After a contest of two hours the Spanish cavalry gave way.
Many were killed, and the rest fled; which the foot-soldiers
perceiving, fired their last charge, threw down their muskets,
and followed the example of the cavaliers. Some of them
took refuge in the adjoining thickets ; and though the Buca-
niers did not continue the pursuit, they took a savage pleasure
in shooting without mercy all who accidentally fell into their
hands. In this way several priests and friars who were made
prisoners were pistolled by the orders of Morgan. A Spanish
officer who was made prisoner gave the Bucaniers minute in-
telligence of thQ force of the enemy and the plan of defence,
which enabled them to approach the town from the safest
point ; but the advance was still attended with difficulty.
After the rout which had taken place in the open field, and
the slaughter which followed, the Bucaniers rested for a little
space, and during this pause solemnly phghted their honour,
by oaths to each other, never to yield while a single man re-
mained alive. This done, carrying their prisoners with them,
they advanced upon the great guns planted in the streets and
the hasty defences thrown up to repel them. In this renewed
assault the Bucaniers suffered severely before they could make
1^
WILLIAM DAMPIEB.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 121
good those close quarters in which they ever maintained a de-
cided superiority in fighting. Still they resolutely advanced to
the final grapple, the Spaniards keeping up an incessant fire.
The town was gained after a desperate conflict of three hours
maintained in its open streets.
In this assault the Bucaniers neither gave nor accepted
quarter, and the carnage on both sides was great. Six hun-
dred Spaniards fell on that day, nor was the number of the
Bucaniers who perished much less ; but to those who survived
a double share of plunder was at all times ample consolation
for the loss of companions whose services were no longer re-
quired in its acquisition. The city was no sooner gained than
Morgan, who saw the temper of the inhabitants in the obsti-
nate nature of the resistance they had offered, and who well
knew the besetting sins of his followers, prudently prohibited
them from tasting wine ; and aware that such an order would
be very httle regarded were it enforced by nothing save a sim-
ple command, he affirmed that he had received private intelli-
gence that all the wine had been poisoned. They were there-
fore enjoined not to touch it under the dread of poisoning and
the penalties of discipline. Neither of these motives were
sufficient to enforce rigid abstinence among the Bucaniers,
though they operated till indulgence became more safe.
As soon as possession of the city was gained guards were
placed, and at the same time fires broke out simultaneously in
different quarters, which were attributed by the Spaniards to
the pirates, and by them to the inhabitants. Both assisted in
endeavouring to extinguish the dreadful conflagration, which
raged with fury ; but the houses, being built of cedar, caught
the flames like tinder, and were consumed in a very short time.
The inhabitants had previously removed or concealed the most
valuable part of their goods and furniture.
The city of Panama consisted of about twelve thousand
houses, many of them large and magnificent. It contained
also eight monasteries and two churches, all richly furnished.
The concealment of the church-plate drew upon the ecclesias-
tics the pecuhar vengeance of the heretical Bucaniers, who,
however, spared no one. The conflagration which they could
not arrest, they seemed at last to take a savage delight in
spreading. A slave factory belonging to the Genoese was
burnt to the ground, together with many warehouses stored
with meal. Many of the miserable Africans whom the Geno-
ese brought for sale to Peru, perished in the flames, which
raged or smouldered for nearly four weeks.
For some time the Bucaniers, afraid of being surprised and
overpowered by the Spaniards, who still reckoned ten for one
11*
m^ WILLIAM DAMPICR.
of their numbers, encamped without the town^ Morgan had
also weakened his force by sending a hundred and fifty men
back to Chagre with news of his victory. Yet by this handful
of men the panic-struck Spaniards were held in check and
subjection while theBucaniers either raged hke demons through
the burning town or prowled among the ruins and ashes in
search of plate and other valuable articles.
The property which the Spaniards had concealed in deep
wells and cisterns was nearly all discovered, and tlie most ac-
tive of the Bucaniers were sent out to the woods and heights
to search for and drive back the miserable inhabitants who had
fled from the city with their effects. In two days they brought
in about two hundred of the fugitives as prisoners. Of those
unhappy persons many were females, who found the merciless
Bucaniers no better than their fears had painted them.
In plundering the land Morgan had not neglected the sea.
By sea many of the principal inhabitants had escaped, and a
boat was immediately sent in pursuit, which brought in three
prizes ; though a galleon, in which \vas embarked all the plate
and jewels belonging to the King of Spain, and the wealth of
the principal nunnery of the town, escaped, from the Bucaniers
indulging in a brutal revel in their own bark till it was too late
to follow and capture the ship. The pursuit was afterward
continued for four days, at the end of which the Bucaniers
returned to Panama with another prize, worth twenty thou-
sand pieces of eight in goods, from Paita.
Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the ships' companies left
at Chagre were exercising their vocation, and had captured
one large Spanish vessel, which, unaware of the hands into
Miiich the castle had fallen, ran in under it for protection.
Nothing more was to be wrung forth from Panama, which,
after a destructive sojourn of four weeks, Morgan resolved to
leave. Beasts of burden were therefore collected from all
quarters to convey the spoils to the opposite coast. The can-
non were spiked, and scouts sent out to learn what measures
had been taken by the Governor of Panama to intercept the
return to Chagre. The Spaniards were too much depressed
to have made any preparation either to annoy or cut off the
retreat of their inveterate enemies ; and on the 24th of Febru-
ary the Bucaniers, apprehensive of no opposition, left the
ruins of Panama, with a hundred and seventy-five mules la-
den with their spoils, and above six hundred prisoners, includ-
ing women, children, and slaves. The misery of these wretch-
ed captives, driven on in the midst of the armed Bucaniers,
exceeds description. They believed that they were all to be
carried to Jamaica, England, or some equally wild, distant,
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 123
and savage country, to be sold for slaves ; and the cruel craft
of Morgan heightened these fears, the more readily to extort
the ransom he demanded for the freedom of his unhappy pris-
oners. In vain the women threw themselves at his feet sup-
plicating for the mercy of being allowed to remain amid the
ruins of their former homes, or in the woods in huts with their
husbands and children. His answer was, " that he came not
here to listen to cries and lamentations, but to get money, which
unless he obtained he would assuredly carry them all where
they would little like to go." Three days were granted, in
wliich they might avail themselves of the conditions of ransom.
Several were happy enough to be able to redeem themselves,
or were rescued by the contributions sent in ; and with the re-
maining captives the pirates pushed onward, making new
prisoners and gathering fresh spoils on their way.
The conduct of Morgan at this time disproves many of the
extravagant notions propagated about the high honour of the
Bucaniers in their dealings with each other. Halting at a
convenient place for his purpose, in the midst of the wilder-
ness, and about half-way to Chagre, he drew up his comrades,
and insisted that, besides taking an oath declaring that all
plunder had been surrendered to the common stock, each man
should be searched, he himself submitting in the first place to
the degrading scrutiny, though it was suspected that the lead-
ing motive of the whole manoeuvre was the desire of conceal-
ing his own peculation and fraudulent dealing with his asso-
ciates. The French Bucaniers who accompanied the expedi-
tion were indignant at treatment so much at variance with the
maxims and usages of the gentlemen rovers ; but being the
weaker party they were compelled to submit.
The Bucaniers and their prisoners performed the remainder
of the journey by water ; and when arrived at Chagre, Morgan,
who knew not how to dispose of his unredeemed prisoners,
shipped them all off for Porto Bello, making them the bearers
of his demand of ransom from the governor of that city for the
castle of Chagre. To this insolent message the Governor of
Porto Bello replied, that Morgan might make of the castle
what he pleased ; not a ducat should be given for its ransom.
There was thus no immediate prospect of any.more plunder
in this quarter, and nothing remained to be done but to divide
the spoils already acquired. The individual shares fell so far
short of the expectations of the Bucaniers that they openly
grumbled, and accused their chief of the worst crime of which
in their eyes he could be guilty, — secreting the richest of the
jewels for himself. Two hundred pieces of eight to each man
was thought a very small return for the plunder of so wealthy
124 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
a city, and a very trifling reward for the toil and danger that
had been undergone in assaulting it. Matters were assuming
so serious an aspect among the fraternity that Morgan, who
knew the temper of his friends, deemed it advisable to steal
away with what he had obtained. He immediately made the
walls of Chagre be destroyed, carried the guns on board his
own ship, and, followed by one or two vessels commanded by
persons in his confidence, sailed for Jamaica, leaving his en-
raged associates in want of every necessary. Those who fol-
lowed him were all Englishmen, who, as the French Bucaniers
fully believed, connived at the frauds and shared in the gains
of Morgan. They would instantly have pursued him to sea,
and the Spaniards might have enjoyed the satisfaction of see-
ing the Bucanier fleet divided and fighting against itself, had
they with a force so much weaker, dared to venture so un-
equal an encounter. The vessels deserted by Morgan sepa-
rated here, and the companies sought their fortunes in different
quarters, none of them much the richer for the misery and
devastation they had carried to Panama.
Morgan, on arriving at Jamaica laden with plunder, and ex-
ulting in his late exploit, endeavoured once more to levy re-
cruits for the independent state he still longed to establish at
Santa Katalina, and of which he himself, already admiral and
generalissimo of the Bucaniers, was to be the prince or gov-
ernor. But circumstances were still unfavourable. Lord John
Vaughan, the newly-appointed Governor of Jamaica, had or-
ders strictly to enforce the treaty with Spain, formed in the
previous year, but to proclaim pardon and indemnity, and offer
a grant of lands to such of the Bucaniers, as chose to become
peaceful cultivators. Future depredations on the trade or
settlements of Spain were forbidden by the royal proclamation,
and under severe penalties. But it was not a proclamation,
however strongly worded, that could at once tame down the
lawless Bucanier into a planter, or confine to thirty-seven
acres of ground him who had for years freely roamed through
sea and land, with his sword reaping his harvest wherever men
of greater industry had sown it. To adopting the habits of
peaceful life many of the English Bucaniers preferred joining
the Flibustiers at Tortuga, or becoming logwood-cutters in the
Bay of Campeachy ; and, luckily for the remainder, in the
next year a war broke out between Great Britain and Holland,
which enabled some of them to follow their old vocation as
privateers ; Bucaniers and Flibustiers alike exercising their
industry for a short time against the Dutch instead of their old
enemies the Spaniards.
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
125
Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be proper to
notice the conclusion of the adventures of the notorious Mor-
gan. In the year which elapsed between the plunder of Pana-
ma and 1680, he had sufficient address and interest, or, more
probably, skill in the appliance of his ill-gotten wealth, to
obtain from Charles II. the honour of knighthood, and after-
ward to be appointed deputy-governor of Jamaica. Though
it was believed that he still secretly shared in the plundering
adventures of the Bucaniers, Morgan treated many of his old
comrades with very great severity. Several of them were hang-
ed under his administration, and others he delivered up to the
Spaniards at Carthagena, as was beheved, for the price of
blood ; nor does the character of Morgan make this suspicion
improbable. The strict justice and severity exercised by the
deputy-governor on his old friends and countrymen, did not,
however, dispose the Spaniards to unlimited confidence in
Morgan ; and suspecting him of secretly favouring the Buca-
niers, who had once more increased, they were able, after the
accession of James II., to get him removed from his office and
committed for a time to prison in England.
In 1683, the Bucaniers, led by three noted chiefs. Van Horn,
Grammont, and Laurent de Graff, by a stratagem took the
city of Vera Cruz in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the English
Bucaniers were engaged in this expedition, though none of
them held high command. This was reckoned the mostbrill-
iant exploit that had yet been achieved by the Flibustiers.
Their mode of attack was similar to that which had been
practised by Drake a century before. In the darkness of night
a sufficient force was landed, which marched three leagues
over land, and before dawn sui-prised and captured the city.
The inhabitants were shut up in the churches, the usual prison
of the Bucaniers, at the door of each ©f which barrels of gun-
powder were placed, and sentinels beside them holding a light-
ed match, ready to produce an explosion at a moment's notice,
or on the slightest symptom of revolt. The city was thus pil-
laged without molestation from the inhabitants ; and the fam-
ished prisoners in the churches were afterward glad to pur-
chase their freedom on any terms their conquerers chose to
dictate. Ten millions of livres were demanded as a ransom,
and the half of it had been raised and paid in, when the ap-
pearance of a body of troops and a fleet of seventeen ships
caused the freebooters to make a precipitate but well-ordered
retreat, carrying off 1500 slaves. Loaded with their booty
and prisoners, they boldly sailed through the fleet sent to at-
tack them, which did not venture to fire a single gun. They
might probably have roused the Spaniards from their fear or
126 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
lethargy by an assault, had they not been more careful to pre-
serve the plunder they had obtained, than desirous of a barren
naval victory over ships carrying no cargoes.
Fortunately for the freedom and repose of the Spanish colo-
nists, no Bucanier corps ever agreed, or acted in harmony,
for any length of time. Their lawless unions fell to pieces
even more rapidly than they were formed ; and those of the
French and Enghsh seldom adhered even to the conclusion of
a joint expedition. On the present occasion they separated in
wrath, the Frenchmen employing the pretext of the quarrel
they artfully fomented to withhold the Englishmen's share of
the pillage. The latter cruises of the Bucaniers were in few
respects distinguished by the honour and integrity among
themselves which were said to have marked their first exploits.
The French Flibustier now sought but a shallow excuse to
plunder the English Bucanier, who, on the other side, lost no
opportunity of retaliation.
The tardy though now earnest efforts of France and Brit-
ain to crush the brethren of the coast, the increasing military
and maritime strength of the Spanish colonists, and above all
a field too narrow and exhausted for the numerous labourers,
together with wild and magnificent ideas of the wealth of Peru>
were so many powerful motives urging the Bucaniers, whether
French or English, upon enterprises in a new and wider region.
Among them an estimate was formed of the riches of the west-
ern shores, from the single circumstance, that in a few years
after the visit of Morgan, a new city of Panama had arisen,
which in splendour and wealth eclipsed the desolated town.
The Peruvian coast and the South Sea, in all their riches and
extent, presented a field which neither thelona^ arm of France,
nor the powerful hand of England could reach ; and of the
opposition to be feared from the indolent and effeminate in-
habitants the expedition of Morgan had afforded a very satis-
factory specimen. In the new design of crossing the conti-
nent, and searching for untried regions of conquest and spoha-
tion, the Bucaniers were rather urged by personal motives of
rapacity, and the desire of escaping from the colonial officials
of the West India islands — who latterly either shared their
booty or treated them with great severity, and not unfrequent-
ly did both — than influenced by any enlightened or compre-
hensive plan of operations. The wealth of this new region
and the ease with which it might be acquired were primary
reasons ; personal security was merely secondary ; and be-
yond these motives this chaotic banditti never once looked ;
all their ideas of conquest being limited to the plunder of a city
or a ship, to plate, silks, and pieces of eight; nor were their
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 127
enjoyments and pleasures of a more liberal or elevated kind.
We may therefore without much regret here close this general
sketch of the Bucaniers. All that is interesting in their subse-
quent career, from the plundering of Vera Cruz in the Bay of
Mexico to their decay and suppression, is closely interwoven
with the personal adventures of Dampier, on which we are now
to enter.
Captain Dampier was born about 1652, at East Coker,
near Yeovil, a considerable market-town in Somersetshire.
His father was probably a farmer ; and we learn incidentally
that his mother, when a widow, along with whatever other
property she might possess, held the lease of a small farm at
East Coker from Colonel Hellier, the lord of the manor.
Before the death of his parents, which happened while he
was very young, Dampier had begun to receive the elements
of a classical education ; but on this event taking place his
studies were suspended, and he was sent to acquire writing
and arithmetic, to qualify him for some humbler employment
than might have been originally designed ; and in a short time
after the death of his mother, he was placed with a shipmaster
belonging to Weymouth. Slender as his advantages of early
education appear to have been, he profited so largely by them
as to afford one more proof that the best part of a man's learn-
ing is that which he acquires by himself.
William Dampier's first voyage was to France, his next to
Newfoundland, in which he suffered so severely from the cli-
mate, that he almost resolved against returning to sea; but
this determination was changed into a resolution not to try the
same ungenial quarter. Dampier, now about eighteen, was
already animated by the restless activity, the curiosity, love of
vicissitude, adventure, and peril, which form the strong and
marking characteristics of the youth who is born a seaman.
" The offer," he says, " of a long voyage and a warm one soon
carried me to sea again." He entered as a foremast-man on
board the Martha, East Indiaman, which sailed direct from
London to Bantam; from whence, after a stay of two months,
he returned within Uttle more than the year. From his early
childhood Dampier had been a keen observer. On his former
voyages he had gained some nautical experience, which he en-
larged during the present, diligently studying the practical
part of his profession, though he had not yet commenced a
journal, the keeping of which came to be the solace of his
roaming unconnected hfe, and the means of great mental im-
provement.
128 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
The summer after his return from India, Dampier spent
with his brother in Somersetshire, whose house in early hfe
seems to have been his home while on shore. His next service
was on board the Royal Prince^ in which he enhsted, England
being then at war with Holland. He was in two engage-
ments ; but of a third fought by the ship, in which the com-
mander, Sir Edward Sprague, was killed, he was not a wit-
ness, having previously fallen into bad health. From the ship
he was sent to Harwich hospital, and finally to his brother's,
where he slowly recovered.
With returning health the love of the sea recurred; but
Dampier meanwhile accepted the offer of Colonel Hellier, and
went to Jamaica as imder-manager of a plantation belonging
to that gentleman, forming a special agreement with the cap-
tain to protect himself from the frauds of the kidnappers. The
ship went " merrily along," steering for Barbadoes, which was
the first of the islands that Dampier beheld. He was at this
time twenty-two years of age, active, intelligent, and full of an
instinctive curiosity, already under the guidance of a strong,
clear, and prompt understanding.
As a planter Dampier was " clearly out of his element ;"
and after spending some time in this ungenial occupation, he
engaged with different traders belonging to Port Royal, who
coasted round Jamaica, carrying goods from the plantations to
that port. In these coasting voyages he became thoroughly
acquainted with all the harbours and bays of the island, and
with the land and sea winds and currents. Avaihng himself
of every opportunity and means of acquiring knowledge, Dam-
pier appears through life to have become wearied of every
scene the moment he had exhausted the information it afford-
ed, and to have longed for change as soon as he had over-mas-
tered its difficulties. His next voyage, undertaken in August,
1675, was to the island of Trist, in the Bay of Campeachy, for
a cargo of logwood. In these late voyages he acted in the
capacity of a common sailor in a small vessel; but he now
kept a regular journal, and was no common observer. On
this voyage to Campeachy his nautical remarks and observa-
tions on the appearances and bearings of the coasts, the head-
lands, bays, and islands, are ample and exact, — distinguished
by the clearness and perspicuity which are visible in all his
subsequent relations. They anchored at One-Bush-Key, an
islet about a mile from the shore, and so named from having a
single stunted tree.
The life of the logwood-cutters of the Bay of Campeachy,
free and unrestrained, had many charms for the young adven-
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 129
turer, and their jovial manners and frank hospitality, with the
lucrative nature of the occupation of these merry foresters,
made him resolve to return and join their ranks as soon as his
present engagement terminated.
Logwood-cutting had now in many instances taken place of
the hunting of wild cattle, which were become scarce. Some
adventurers pursued both vocations, and others were wood-
cutters alone. A third class occasionally added the variety
and profit of a privateering cruise to their quieter employments.
The logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campeachy at this time
amounted to about two hundred and fifty men, mostly natives
of England, though there were also Scotchmen and Irishmen
among their number. By Spain they were considered inter-
lopers, and the trade contraband ; but this did not much disturb
their consciences. Their general practice was to make up a
cargo in joint stock companies, the partnership lasting till the
contract for the number of tons agreed on was completed.
The traders who bought the dye-wood carried the wood-
cutters rum, sugar, tobacco, and other things necessary to
them. The trade was usually opened by a solemn drinking-
match on board the ships, where healths were pledged, and
salvoes fired in honour of each pledge, with all the customary
demonstrations of Bucanier banqueting. The trader who was
the most liberal of his rum-punch on such festive occasions
might assure himself of the best bargain of logwood; the cut-
ters priding themselves upon cheating those they thought nig-
gardly of their liquor and good cheer.
While taking in the cargo Dampier was often on shore, and
frequently visited the cabins of the woodmen, who hospitably
entertained him with the rough substantial fare which abound-
ed among them, — pork and pease, — or beef, for which they
hunted in the savannas, — with doughboys, a kind of thick un-
leavened cake, which, when on shore, the Bucaniers and hunt-
ers often kneaded for themselves. They were equally profuse
of their liquor while the supply lasted.
The returning voyage of Dampier to Jamaica was singular-
ly disastrous, and between Trist and Port-Royal the passage
occupied thirteen weeks. Of the adventures and perils of this
voyage he has left a very hvely account. A passenger who
returned with them to Jamaica — a prisoner who had escaped
from the Spaniards — from his experience of this coast, was
the means of saving them from being captured by a Spanish
vessel, which gave chase to their bark. Though the crew had
both fished and hunted at several places before they reached
Jamaica, they were during most part of the passage greatly
pinched for provisions ; and on coming to anchor after so many
12
130 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
hardships, they sent ashore for a supply, made a feast, and
were just compounding a flowing bowl of punch, when the
captain of a New-England trader came on board to visit them,
and was invited to share in the carouse. What follows is an
amusing trait of the nautical manners of the place and time : —
" Mr. Hooker, being drank to by Captain Rawlins, who pledg-
ed Captain Hudswell, and having the bowl in his hands, said
that he was under an oath to drink but three draughts of strong
liquor in one day, and putting the bowl to his head turned it
off at one draught, and so making himself drunk, disappointed
our expectations till we made another bowl. I think it might
contain six quarts."
As soon as he was discharged, Dampier returned to the Bay
of Campeachy, to try his fortunes among the logwood-cutters.
Preparatory to this voyage he had provided himself with
hatchets, knives, axes, saws, wedges, the sleeping-pavilion ne-
cessary for defence against the insects in this climate, and a
gun, with a supply of powder and shot. A power of attorney,
lodged with a merchant who acted as factor for the logwood-
cutters, completed his arrangements.
The logwood forest in which the men laboured who were
joined by Dampier was on the west lagune of Trist Island, in
the Bay of Campeachy.
The first wood-cutters were men who had adopted this oc-
cupation when bucaniering was overdone from the number of
competitors, and become dangerous from prohibitory edicts.
They originally settled near the forests of the dye-wood at Cape
Catoch. When these were exhausted they had removed to
the Isle of Trist; — the first intimation to the Spaniards of
their arrival on a new point being the strokes of their axes on
the trees, or the report of their guns in the woods and savan-
nas. These wood-cutters were divided into parties of from
three to ten or twelve. The company which consented to re-
ceive Dampier as a helper, ignorant as he still was of their em-
ployment, consisted of six individuals, who had a cargo of
logwood of a hundred tons already felled and chipped, and
ready to be brought to the creek, whence it was to be shipped
for New England. His wages were to be the price of a ton
of wood per month.
The wood-cutters had constructed their cabins close by the
sides of the creeks of the east and west lagunes of Trist, for
the enjoyment of the refreshing sea-breezes, and to be as near
the dyewood-groves as was found convenient. As the nearest
trees gradually fell beneath their axes, they frequently, instead
of abandoning a favourite habitation, repaired to the scene of
their daily labours in their canoes. To each company belong-
WILLIAM DAMPIER.' 131
ed a canoe, pirogue, or large boat, which was necessary in
conveying their lading to the traders, and also in the chase ;
for they hunted cattle by water as well as land, for this purpose
driving them into narrow creeks. Their cabins were of fra-
gile construction, but thickly thatched with palm-leaves, to
shelter the inmates from the violent rains of the wet season.
Above the floor a wooden frame was raised three or four feet,
and this barbecue, with the pavilion or mosquito-curtains
stretched and supported over it, formed the sleeping-place of
the wood-cutters ; another, equal in height, covered with earth,
formed the domestic hearth ; and a third served as seats.
The logwood-groves were near the sea, — this wood grow-
ing and thriving best in low wet ground, and among timber of
a lower growth. The trees were from two to six feet in cir-
cumference. They resembled the white thorn of England,
save in size. The heart of the trunk, which is red, is alone
used as a dye-stuff, the spongy outer part being chipped away.
It is a heavy wood, and burns well; and for this reason the
hunters, wood-cutters, and Bucaniers always, when it could be
obtained, preferred it for hardening the steel of their fire-arms.
Bloodwood, another dye-stuff* much esteemed, was found in
the Gulf of Nicaragua, and sold at double the price of the
logwood, — ^the latter selling at fifteen pounds* per ton, when
the bloodwood cost thirty pounds.
In these savannas and primeval forests an endless variety
of birds and insects engaged the attention of the young sea-
man, to which we cannot now advert. The creeks, rivers,
and lagunes, as well as the open shores, were equally prolific
of fishes unknown in the English waters. No place in the
world was better stored with alhgators than the Bay of Cam-
peachy. These the Bucaniers, who scrupled at no sort of
food, never ate, save in cases of great necessity, as even their
intrepid stomachs were oflfended by the strong musky flavour
of the flesh of this hideous creature. The alhgators of the bay
were generally harmless when not molested ; though accidents
sometimes occurred, of which one is recorded by Dampier
that merits notice. In the height of the dry season, when in
those torrid regions all animated nature pants with consuming
thirst, a party of the wood-cutters, English and Irish, went to
hunt in the neighbourhood of a lake called Pies Pond, in Beef
Island, one of the smaller islands of the bay. To this pond
* Valuable as this wood was, the French Bucaniers who captured Cam-
peachy, on one occasion, displayed their enthusiastic loyalty by burning
£42,000 worth in celebrating the birthday of their king, or the festival of St,
Louis.
133 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
the wild cattle repaired in herds to drink, and here the hunter*
lay in wait for them. The chase had been prosecuted with
great success for a week, when an Irishman of the party, go-
ing into the water during the day, stumbled upon an alligator,,
which seized him by the knee. His cries alarmed his com-
panions, who, fearing that he had been seized by the Spaniards,
to whom the island belonged, and who chose the dry season
to hunt, and repel their unwelcome neighbours, instead of
affording assistance, fled from the huts which they had erect-
ed. The Irishman, seeing no appearance of help, with happy
presence of mind quietly waited till the alligator loosened its
teeth to take a new and surer hold; and when it did so,
snatched away his knee, interposing the butt-end of his gun in
its stead, which the animal seized so firmly that it was jerked
out of the man's hand and carried off. He then crawled up a
neighbouring tree, again shouting after his comrades, who now
found courage to return. His gun was found next day, drag-
ged ten or twelve paces from the place where it had been seiz-
ed by the alligator.
At the same place. Pies Pond in Beef Island, Dampier had
a remarkable escape from an alligator. Passing with some of
his comrades through a small savanna, where the water lay
two or three feet deep, in search of a bullock to shoot for sup-
per, a strong scent of an aUigator was perceived, and presently
Dampier stumbled over one and fell down. He cried out for
help, but his companions ran towards the woods to save them-
selves. No sooner had he scrambled up to follow them, than
in the agitation of the moment he fell a second and even a third
time, expecting every instant to be devoured, and yet escaped
untouched ; but he candidly says, "I was so frighted, that I
never cared to go through the water again as long as I was in
Uie Bay."
On the first Saturday after he commenced wood-cutter,
Dampier followed his employers in the humble capacity of
raising and driving the cattle out of the savannas into the
woods, where the hunters lay in wait to shoot them. The
following Saturday his ambition took a higher flight. He
thought it more honourable to have a shot himself than to
drive the game for others; and, after going five miles by wa-
ter and one by land, to the hunting-ground, he gave his com-
panions the slip, and rambled so far into the woods that he lost
himself, going at every step farther astray through small strips
of savanna and skirts of woodland — a maze of plain and forest
which seemed interminable. The rest of this youthful adven-
ture, from which Dampier drew a beneficial lesson for the
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 133
regulation of his future life, cannot be better narrated than in
his own words.
" This was in May (the dry season,) and it was between ten
o'clock and one when I began to find that I was, as we call it,
marooned^ or lost, and quite out of the hearing of my comrades'
guns. I was somewhat surprised at this; but, however, I
knew that I should find my way out as soon as the sun was a
little lower. So 1 sat down to rest myself, resolving, however,
to run no farther out of my way, for the sun being so near the
zenith I could not distinguish how to direct my course. Being
weary, and almost faint for want of water, I was forced to have
recourse to the wild pines, and was by them supplied, or else I
must have perished with thirst. About three o'clock I went
due north, or as near as I could judge, for the savanna lay east
and west, and 1 was on the south side of it.
" At sunset I got out into the clear open savanna, being
about two leagues wide in most places, but how long I know
not. It is well stored with bullocks, but by frequent hunting
they grow shy, and remove farther up into the country. There
I found myself four or five miles to the west of the place where
I had straggled from my companions. I made homeward
with all the speed I could; but being overtaken by the night, I
lay down on the grass a good distance from the woods, for the
benefit of the wind to keep the mosquitoes from me ; but in
vain, for in less than an hour's time I was so persecuted, that
though I endeavoured to keep them off by fanning myself with
boughs, and shifting my quarters three or four times, yet still
they so haunted me that I could get no sleep. At daybreak I
got up and directed my course to the creek where we landed,
from which I was then about two leagues. I did not see one
beast of any sort whatever in all the way, though the day be-
fore I saw several young calves that could not follow their
dams ; but even these were now gone away, to my great vexa-
tion and disappointment, for I was very hungry. But, about a
mile farther, I espied ten or twelve quaums perching on the
boughs of a cotton-tree. These were not shy: therefore I got
well under them, and having a single bullet, but no shot, about
me, fired at one of them and missed it, though I had often be-
fore killed them so. Then I came up with and fired at five or
six turkeys with no better success, so that I was forced to
march forward, still in the savanna, towards the creek; and
when I came to the path that led to it through the woods, I
found to my great joy a hat stuck upon a pole, and when I
came to the creek another. These were set up by my con-
sorts, who had gone home in the evening, as signals that they
would come and fetch me. Therefore I sat down and waited
12*
134 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
for them ; for although I had not above three leagues home by
water, yet it would have been very difficult, if not impossible,
for me to have got thither overland, by reason of those vast
impassable thickets abounding every where along the creek's
side, wherein I have known some puzzled for two or three
days, and have not advanced half a mile, although they la-
boured extremely every day. Neither was I disappointed of
my hopes, for within half an hour after my arrival in the
creek my consorts came, bringing every man his bottle of water
and his gun, both to hunt for game and to give me notice by
firing, that I might hear them ; for I have known several men
lost in the like manner, and never heard of afterward."
When his first month's service was ended, Dampier re-
ceived as pay the price of a ton of wood, with which he bought
provisions, and entered into a new engagement, on the footing
of comradeship, but with other partners. Of the former com-
pany to which he had been attached, some went to Beef
Island to hunt bullocks for their skins, which they prepared for
sale by pegging them strongly down to the ground, turning
first the fleshy and then the hairy side uppermost, till they were
perfectly dry. It required thirty -two pegs, each as thick as a
man's arm, to stretch one hide ; afterward they were hung in
heaps upon a pole, that they might not touch the ground, and
from time to time well beat with sticks to drive out the worms
which bred in the skins and spoiled them. Before being
shipped off they were soaked in salt water to kill the remain-
ing worms. While still wet they were folded up, left thus for
a time, and once more thoroughly dried and packed for ex-
portation.
To this trade Dampier preferred wood-cutting. His part-
ners were three Scotchmen, Price Morrice, Duncan Campbell,
and a third, who is called by his Christian-name of George
only. The two latter were persons of education, who had been
bred merchants, and liked neither the employment nor the
society of the bay ; they therefore only waited the first oppor-
tunity of getting away by a logwood-ship. The first vessel
that arrived was from Boston, and this they freighted with forty
tons of diewood, which it was agreed Duiican Campbell should
go to New-England to sell, bringing back flour and other
things suited to the market of the bay, to exchange for hicjles
and logwood ; while George remained making up a fresh
cargo against Campbell's return. And here Dampier makes
an observation on the character of his associates which de-
serves to be noticed as the result of the experience of a man
who had seen and reflected much upon life and manners.
" This/' he says, " retarded our business, for I did not find
WILLIAM DAMPIEK» 135
Price Morrice very intent on work ; for 'tis like he thought he
had logwood enough. And I have particularly observed there,
and in other places, that such as had been well-bred were
generally most careful to improve their time, and would be
very industrious and frugal when there was any probability of
considerable gain. But, on the contrary, such as had been
inured to hard labour, and got their living by the sweat of their
brows, when they came to have plenty, would extravagantly
squander away their time and money in drinking and making
a bluster."
To make up for the indolence of his comrade Dampier kept
the closer to work himself till attacked by a very singular dis-
ease. A red and ill-conditioned swelling or bile broke out
upon his right leg, which he was directed to poultice with the
roasted roots of the white lily. This he persisted in doing for
some days, " when two white specs appeared in the centre of
the bile, and on squeezing it two small white worms spurted
out, about the thickness of a hen^s quill, and three or four
inches long." These were quite different from the Guinea-
worm, common in some of the West India islands, and in the
time of Dampier very common in Curagao., From these last
he afterward suffered severely.
Shortly after his recovery from this attack the bay was visit-
ed by one of those tremendous hurricanes known only in tropi-
cal countries, which raged for twenty-four hours without
intermission. This was in June, 1676. Two days before the
storm came on, the wind " whiffled" about to the south and
back again to the east, but blew faintly, while the weather
continued very fair, though it was remarked that the men-of-
war birds came trooping towards the shore in great numbers,
and hovered over the land. The hunters and logwood-cutters,
among their numerous superstitions, augured the arrival of
ships from the appearance of those birds, and imagined that as
many birds as hovered over-head so many vessels might be
expected. At this time there appeared whole flocks.
It was noticed by Dampier, that for two days the tide kept
ebbing, till the creek by which the woodmen's huts stood was
left nearly dry. In it there was commonly at ebb-tide seven
or eight feet of water, but now scarcely three remained even in
the deepest places. At four o'clock in the afternoon following
this strange ebbing of the waters, the sky looked very black,
the wind sprung up at S. E., fresh and rapidly increasing, and
in less than two hours blew down all the cabins of the wood-
men save one : this they propped with posts, and, as it were,
anchored by casting ropes over the roof, which were then
made fast on both sides to the stumps of trees. In this frail
136 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
shed they all huddled together while the hurricane raged abroad.
It rained in torrents during the whole period of the tempest ;
and in two hours after the wind had risen the water flowed so
fast into the creek that it was as high as the banks. Though
the wind now blew oft' shore, the waters continued to rush in,
nor did the rain abate ; and by ten o'clock next morning the
banks of the creek were overflowed.
The situation of the woodmen now became perilous. They
brought their canoe to the side of the hut, and fastened it to
the stump of a tree as a means of escape ; this being their
only hope of safety, as beyond the banks which edged the
creek the land fell, and there " was now no walking through the
woods because of the water. Besides, the trees were torn up
by the roots, and tumbled down so strangely across each other,
that it was almost impossible to pass through them." In this
violent tempest many fish were either cast ahve upon the shore
or found floating dead in the lagunes. It was remarkable that
the hurricane, as was afterward ascertained, did not extend
ninety miles to windward.
Of four ships riding at anchor at One-Bush-Key, three were
driven from their moorings, and one of them was carried up
into the woods of Beef Island.
The wood-cutters suftlBred in many ways. The whole coun-
try was laid under water to a considerable depth, there being
three feet even on the highest land ; so that they could not for
some time prosecute their labours. Much of their provision
was destroyed, and what remained they had no way of cook-
ing save in their canoes.
As soon as the storm abated, Dampier's company embarked
in the canoe, and made for One-Bush-Key, about four leagues
distant, hoping to procure assistance from the ships there.
These, as has been noticed, had all been driven from their
anchors save one ; and the kindness of the crew of this fortu-
nate vessel had already been severely taxed by an influx of the
flooded wood-cutters from different points. Dampier and his
companions could get "neither bread nor punch, nor so much
as a dram of rum, though they offered to pay for it." From
this inhospitable quarter, they rowed for Beef Island, their
singular land-mark being the flag of a ship displayed in the
woods. The vessel herself was found two hundred yards from
the sea, from which she had cut her way in the storm, levelling
the trees on each side, and making a clear path before her
through the forest. In this transit the stumps had gone through
her bottom, and there was noway of saving her. Meanwhile
she held together, and the forlorn woodmen were well enter-
tained with victuals and punch, and invited to remain for the
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 137
night ; but, hearing a signal-gun fired from a distant lagune,
they concluded that one of the ships was driven in there by
distress and rowed off to her assistance. With a Captain
Chandler, whom they found here greatly in want of their ser-
vices, Dampier and his partners laboured for two days, and
then went to Beef Island to hunt for cattle. This island is
about seven leagues long, and in breadth from three to four :
at the east end " low drowned land:" the middle is one large
savanna, bordered with trees ; the south side, between the
savannas and the mangrove-belt or swampy ground, is very
rich.
The hurricane had deprived Dampier of his slender stock
of provisions ; and having neither money nor credit to obtain
a fresh supply from the traders who arrived from Jamaica, he
was forced for immediate subsistence to join a company of
"privateers" then in the bay. With these Bucaniers he con-
tinued for nearly a year, rambling about the Bay of Campea-
chy, visiting its numerous creeks, islands, and rivers, and
making with them frequent descents upon Indian villages and
Spanish settlements. At these places they obtained supplies
of Indian corn, which, with the beef for which they hunted,
turtle, and manatee, formed their principal subsistence ; Dam-
pier in every passing hour adding to his stores of knowledge.
The manatee, or sea-cow, as seen by Dampier in the Bay
of Campeachy, the river Darien, at Mandanao, and on the
coast of New Holland, he describes as of the thickness of a
horse, and in length ten or twelve feet. The mouth is like
that of a cow, the lips are very thick, the eyes no bigger than
a pea, and the ears two small holes. It frequents creeks, inlets,
and mouths of rivers, and never leaves the water for any
length of time. It lives on a sort of grass which grows in the
sea. The flesh is white, sweet and wholesome. The tail of a
young cow was esteemed a delicate morsel by the Bucaniers,
and so was a sucking-calf, which they cooked by roasting.
The tough, thick skin of the manatee they applied to various
uses.
The Mosquito Indians were peculiarly dexterous in fishing,
and also in striking manatee and catching turtle ; for which
purpose the Bucaniers always tried to have one or two natives
of the Mosquito shore attached to their company as purveyors
on their cruises.
The Indians of the villages on the Tobasco lived chiefly on
maize, which they baked into cakes, and from which they also
made a sort of liquor, which, when allowed to sour, afforded a
pleasant, refreshing draught. When a beverage for company
was wanted, a little honey was mixed with this drink. A
1^
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
Stronger liquor was made of parched maize and anotta, which
was drunk without straining. The Indians reared abundance
of turkeys, ducks, and fowls, — the padre taking such strict ac-
count of the tithe that it was necessary to procure his license
before they durst kill one. They also raised cotton, and man-
ufactured their own clothing, which for both sexes was decent
and becoming.
Under the sanction of the village priest all marriages were
contracted ; the men marrying at fourteen, the women at
twelve. If at this early age they had made no choice, then
the padre selected for them. These early marriages were one
means of securing the power and increasing the gains of the
priest ; and the young couples themselves were contented,
happy, and affectionate. They inhabited good houses, lived
comfortably by the sweat of their brows, and on holy eves and
saints' days enjoyed themselves under the direction of their
spiritual guides, who permitted them the recreation of pipe
and tabor, hautboys and drums, and lent them vizards and
ornaments for the mummings and other amusements which
they practised. The village churches were lofty compared
with the ordinary dwelling-houses, and ornamented with coarse
pictures of tawny or bronze-coloured saints and madonnas,
recommended to the Indians by the tint of the native com-
plexion. To their good padres, notwithstanding the tithe-
fowls, the Indian flocks Avere submissive and affectionate.
We cannot here follow the minute account which Dampier
has given of all the rivers of Campeachy during his cruise of
eleven months around this rich country. The farthest west
point which he visited was Alvarado, to which the Bucaniers
with whom he sailed went in two barks, thirty men in each.
The river flows through a fertile country, thickly planted with
Spanish towns and Indian villages. At its mouth was a small
fort placed on the declivity of a sandbank, and mounted with
six guns. The sandbanks are here about two hundred feet
high on both sides.
This fort the Bucaniers attacked ; but it held out stoutly for
five hours, during which time the country was alarmed, and
the inhabitants of the adjoining town got off in their boats,
carrying away all their money and valuables and the best part
of their goods. The Bucaniers lost ten men killed or despe-
rately wounded ; and when they landed next morning to pil-
lage, it being dark before the fort yielded, little booty was found.
Twenty or thirty bullocks they killed, salted, and sent on
board, with salt fish, Indian corn, and abundance of poultry.
They also found and brought away many tame parrots of a
very beautiful kind, yellow and scarlet curiously blended, — the
r
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 139
fairest and largest birds of their kind Dampier ever saw in the
West Indies. " They prated very prettily."
Though httle sohd booty was obtained, what with provis-
ions, chests, hencoops and parrots' cages, the ships were filled
and lumbered ; and while in this state seven Spanish armadil-
loes from Vera Cruz, detached in pursuit of the Bucaniers,
appeared, coming full sail over the bar into the river. Not a
moment was to be lost. Clearing their decks of lumber by
throwing all overboard, the Bucaniers got under full sail, and
drove over the bar at the river's mouth, before the enemy, who
could with difficulty stem the current, had scarcely reached it.
The Spanish vessels were to windward, and a few shots were
of necessity exchanged ; and now commenced one of those
singular escapes from tremendous odds of strength of which
Bucanier history is so full. The Toro, the admiral of the
Spanish barks, was of itself more than a match for the free-
booters. It carried 10 guns and 100 men, while their whole
force was now diminished to 50 men in both ships, one of
which carried 6, and the other 2 guns. Another of the Span-
ish vessels carried 4 guns with 80 men ; and the remaining five
though not mounted with great guns, had each 60 or 70 men
armed with muskets. " As soon," says Dampier's journal,
*' as we were over the bar, we got our larboard tacks aboard,
^nd stood to the eastward as nigh the wind as we could lie.
The Spaniards came quartering on us; and our ship bemg the
headmost, the Toro came directly towards us, designing to
board us. We kept firing at her, in hopes to have lamed
either a mast or a yard ; but failing, just as she was sheering
aboard we gave her a good volley, and presently clapped the
helm aweather, wore our ship, and got our starboard tacks
aboard, and stood to the westward, and so left the Toro ; but
were saluted by all the small craft as we passed them, who
stood to the eastward after the Toro, that was now in pursuit
and close to our consort. We stood to the westward till we
were against the river's mouth, then we tacked, and by the
help of the current that came out of the river we were near a
mile to windward of them all. Then we made sail to assist
our consort, who was hard put to it ; but on our approach
the Toro edged away towards the shore, as did all the rest,
and stood away for Alvarado ; and we, glad of the dehver-
ance, went away to the eastward, and visited all the rivers in
our return again to Trist."
These visits produced little booty. They also searched the
bays for mutijack, " a sort of bitumen which we find in a lump,
washed up by the sea, and left dry on all the sandy bays of
:the coast." This substance the Bucaniers, who were com-
140 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
pelled to find substitutes for many necessary things, tempered
with tallow or oil, and employed as pitch in repairing their
ships and canoes.
On the return of Dampier to the Island of Trist, the effects
of the dismal hurricane of the former year had disappeared,
and he resumed his labours among the woodmen. This em-
ployment was probably more profitable than his bucaniering
cruise ; as in the course of the following season he was able
to visit England, intending to return to the bay when he had
seen his friends. He sailed for Jamaica in April 1678, and
in the beginning of August reached London.
Cutting diewood was still a profitable though a laborious
trade ; and Dampier shrewdly remarks, " that though it is not
his business to say how far the English had a right to follow
it, yet he was sure the Spaniards never received less damage
from the persons who usually followed that trade than when
they had exchanged the musket for the axe, and the deck of
the privateer for the logwood-groves."
During his short residence in England at this time, Dam-
pier must have married ; for, though a trifling matter of this
kind is too unimportant to be entered in a seaman's journal,
we long afterward, while he lay off the Bashee or Five Islands,
learn that he had left a wife in England, as, in comphment to
the Dake of Grafton, he named the northernmost of the Ba-
shee group Grafton's Isle, " having," as he says, " married my
wife out of his dutchess' family, and leaving her at Arlington
House at my going abroad."
After spending five or six months with his wife and his
friends, Dampier, in the beginning of 1679, sailed as a pas-
senger for Jamaica, intending immediately to return to his old
trade and companions in the Bay of Campeachy. He took
out goods from England, which he meant to exchange at Ja-
maica for the commodities in request among the wood-cutters.
Instead, however, of prosecuting this design, he remained in
Jamaica all that year, and by some means was enabled to pur-
chase a small estate in Dorsetshire. This new possession he
was about to visit, when induced to engage in a trading voy-
age to the Mosquito Shore. It promised to be profitable, and
he was anxious to reahze a little more ready money, before
returning to England to settle for life. He accordingly sent
home the title-deeds of his estate, and embarked with a Mr.
Hobby.
Soon after leaving Port Royal, they came to anchor in a bay
in the west end of the island, in which they found Captains
Coxon, Sawkins, Sharp and " other privateers," as Dampier
gently terms the most noted Bucanier commanders of the
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 14i
period. Hobby's crew deserted him to a man to join the Bu-
canier squadron ; and the Mosquito voyage being thus frus-
trated, Dampier " was the more easily persuaded to go with
them too."
Their first attempt was on Porto Bello, of which assault
Dampier gives no account, and he might not have been pres-
ent at the capture. Two hundred men were landed ; and, the
better to prevent alarm, at such a distance from the town that
it took them three days to march upon it, as during daylight
they lay concealed in the woods. A negro gave the alarm, but
not before the Bucaniers were so close upon his heels that the
inhabitants were completely taken by surprise, and fled in
every direction. The Bucaniers plundered for two days and
two nights, in momentary expectation of the country rising
upon them, and overpowering their small number ; but, from
avarice and rapacity, they were unable to tear themselves away.
To the shame of the Spaniards they got clear off, and divi-
ded shares of one hundred and sixty pieces of eight a head.
Inspired by this success, they resolved immediately to march
across the isthmus. They knew that such strokes of good
fortune as this at Porto Bello could not longer be looked for on
the eastern shores of America, and for some time their imagin-
ations had been running upon the endless wealth to be found
in the South Seas. They remained for about a fortnight at the
Samballas Isles, and during this time, preparatory to their
grand attempt, endeavoured to conciliate the Indians of the
Darien, by gifts of toys and trinkets, and many fair promises.
They also persuaded some of the Mosquito-men to join them,
who, on account of their expertness in fishing, and striking
turtle and manatee^ besides their warlike qualities, were useful
auxiliaries either in peace or war. Of this tribe, so long the
friends, and, as they named themselves, the subjects of Britain,
Dampier has given an exceedingly interesting account. In
his time the clan or sept properly called Mosquito-men must
have been very small, as he says the fighting-men did not
amount to one hundred. They inhabited a tract on the coast
near Cape Gracios Dios, stretching between Cape Honduras
and Nicaragua. " They are," says our navigator, who appears
partial to these Indians, "very ingenious at throwing the lance,
Jisgig, harpoon, or any manner of dart, being bred to it from
their infancy ; for the children, imitating their parents, never
go abroad without a lance in their hands, which they throw at
any object till use hath made them masters of the art. Then
they learn to put by a lance, arrow, or dart ; the manner is
thus : — Two boys stand at a small distance, and dart a blunt
stick at one another, each of them holding a small stick in his
13
142 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
right hand, with which he strikes away that which is darted at
him. As they grow in years they become more dexterous and
courageous ; and then they will stand a fair mark to any one
that will shoot arrows at them, which they will put by with a
very small stick no bigger than the rod of a fowling-piece ;
and when they are grown to be men they will guard them-
selves from arrows though they come very thick at them, pro-
vided they do not happen to come two at once. They have
extraordinary good eyes, and will descry a sail at sea, and see
any thing better than we. Their chiefest employment in their
own country is to strike fish, turtle, or manatee. For this they
are esteemed and coveted by all privateers, for one or two of
them in a ship will maintain one hundred men ; so that when
we careen our ships we choose commonly such places where
there is plenty of turtle or manatee for these Mosquito-men to
strike, and it is very rare to find a privateer destitute of one or
more of them, when the commander a;nd most of the crew are
Enghsh; but they do not love the French, and the Spaniards
they hate mortally.
"They are tall, well-made, raw-boned, lusty, strong, and
nimble of foot, long-visaged, lank black hair, look stern, hard-
favoured, and of a dark copper complexion. When they
come among the privateers they get the use of fire-arms, and
are very good marksmen. They behave themselves very bold
in fight, and never seem to flinch nor hang back ; for they
think that the white men with whom they are know better than
they do when it is best to fight, and, let the disadvantage of
their party be never so great, they will never yield nor give
back while any of their party stand. I could never perceive
any religion nor any ceremonies or superstitious observations
among them, being ready to imitate us in whatsoever they
saw us do at any time. Only they seem to fear the Devil,
whom they call Willesaw ; and they say he often appears to
some among them, whom our men commonly call their priests,
when they desire to speak with him on urgent business. They
all say they must not anger him, for then he will beat them;
and he sometimes carries away these their priests. They
marry but one wife, with whom they live till death separates
them. At their first coming together the man makes a \Qry
small plantation They delight to settle near the sea, or
by some river, for the sake of striking fish, their beloved em-
ployment ; for within land there are other Indians with whom
they are always at war. After the man hath cleared a spot of
land, and hath planted it, he seldom minds it afterward, but
leaves the managing of it to his wife, and he goes out a-striking.
Sometimes he seeks only for fish, at other times for turtle or
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 143
manatee^ and whatever he gets he brings home to his wife, and
never stirs out to seek for more till it is eaten. When hunger
begins to bite, he either takes his canoe and seeks for more
game at sea, or walks out into the woods and hunts for pecaree
and waree, each a sort of wild hogs, or deer, and seldom re-
turns empty-handed, nor seeks any more as long as it lasts.
Their plantations have not above twenty or thirty plantain-
trees, a bed of yams and potatoes, a bush of pimento, and a
small spot of pine-apples, from which they make a sort of
drink, to which they invite each other to be merry. Whoever
of them makes pine-drink treats his neighbours, providing fish
and flesh also."
At their drinking-matches they often quarrelled, but the
women prevented mischief by hiding their weapons. The
Mosquito-men were kind and civil to the English, who en-
deavoured to retain the regard of such useful allies. For this
purpose it was necessary to let them have their own way in
every thing, and to return home the moment they desired it,
for if contradicted there was an end of their services ; and
though turtle and fish abounded, they would manage to kill
nothing. They called themselves, as has been noticed, sub-
jects of the King of England, and liked to have their chiefs
nominated by the Governor of Jamaica, which island they
often visited. Pity that in subsequent periods the fidelity and
regard of this brave and ingenious tribe were so ill and un-
gratefully requited by their powerful and ungenerous allies.
The Bucaniers commenced their march across the isthmus
on the 5th of April, 1680, about three hundred and thirty strong,
each man armed with a hanger, fusil, and pistol, and provided
with four cakes of the bread which they called doughboys.
Their generalissimo was Captain Sharp ; and the men, mar-
shalled in divisions, marched in something like military order,
with flags and leaders. They were accompanied by those In-
dians of Darien who were the hereditary enemies of the Span-
iards, whom they had subsidized with the hatchets, knives,
beads, and toys with which they provided themselves at Porto
Bello. These auxiharies furnished them with plantains, ven-
ison, and fruit, in exchange for European commodities. The
march was easily performed, and in nine days' journey they
reached Santa Maria, which was taken without opposition,
though this did not prevent the exercise of cruelty. The In-
dians cruelly and deliberately butchered many of the inhabit-
ants. The plunder obtained falling far short of the expecta-
tions of the Bucaniers made them the more desirous to push
forward. They accordingly embarked on the river of Santa
Maria, which falls into the Gulf of St. Michael, in Indian ca-
144 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
noes and pirogues, having previously, in their summary way,
deposed Captain Sharp, and chosen Captain Coxon com-
mander.
On the same day that they reached the bay, whither some of
the Darien chiefs still accompanied them, they captured a
Spanish vessel of thirty tons burthen, on board of which a
large party planted themselves, happy after the march, and
being cramped and huddled up in the canoes, again to tread
the deck of a ship of any size. At this time they divided into
small parties, first appointing a rendezvous at the island of
Chepillo, in the mouth of the river Cheapo. Dampier was
with Captain Sharp, who went to the Pearl Islands in search
of provisions.
In a few days the Bucaniers mustered for the attack of Pa-
nama, and on the 23d of April did battle for the whole day
with three Spanish ships in the road, of which two were cap-
tured by boarding, while the third got off. The action was
fierce and sanguinary; of the Bucaniers eighteen men were
killed, and thirty wounded. The resistance was vigorous and
brave ; and the Spanish commander with many of his people
fell before the action terminated. Even after this victory the
Bucaniers did not consider themselves strong enough to attack
the new city of Panama, but they continued to cruise in the
bay, making valuable prizes. In the action with the Spanish
ships Captain Sawkins had greatly distinguished himself by
courage and conduct; and a quarrel breaking out among the
Bucaniers while Coxon returned to the North Seas, he was
chosen commander. He had not many days enjoyed this
office, when, in an attack on Puebla Nueva, he was killed,
leading on his men to the assault of a breastwork; and on his
death Sharp, the second in command, showing faint heart,
the Bucaniers retreated. New discontents broke out, and the
party once more divided, not being able to agree in the choice
of a leader; of those who remained in the So»th Sea, among
whom was Dampier, Sharp was chosen commander. For
some months he cruised on the coast of Peru, occasionally
landing to pillage small towns and villages; and on Christmas-
day anchored in a harbour of the Island of Juan Fernandez to
rest and refit. Here they obtained abundance of crayfish,
lobsters, and wild goats, which were numerous.
Sharp, who had always been unpopular, was once more for-
mally deposed, and Captain Watling elected in his stead.
Having enjoyed themselves till the 12th of January, the
Bucaniers were alarmed by the appearance of three vessels,
which they concluded to be Spanish ships of war in pursuit of
them. They put off to sea in all haste, in the hurry leaving
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 145
one of their Mosquito Indians, named William, upon the
Island.
They again cruised along the coast, and the attack of the
Spanish settlements by hasty descent was resumed. In at-
tempting to capture Arica, Captain AVathng was killed, and
the Bucaniers were repulsed, having had a narrow escape
from being all made prisoners. For want of any more com-
petent leader. Sharp was once more raised to the command,
and the South Sea had so greatly disappointed their hopes,
that it was now agreed to return eastwani by recrossing the
isthmus. But another quarrel broke out, one party would not
continue under Sharp, and another wished to try their for-
tunes farther on the South Sea. It was therefore agreed that
the majority should retain the ship, the other party taking the
long-boat and canoes. Sharp's party proved the most numer-
ous. They cruised in the South Sea, on the coast of Patago-
nia and Chili, for the remainder of the season of 1681, and
early in the following year returned to the West Indies by
doubling Cape Horn, but durst not land at any of the English
settlements. Sharp, soon afterward going home, was tried in
England with several of his men for piracy, but escaped con-
viction.
In the minority which broke off from Sharp was William
Dampier, who appears at this time to have been little distin-
guished among his companions. The party consisted of forty-
four Europeans and two Mosquito Indians. Their object was
to recross the isthmus, — an undertaking of no small difficulty,
from the nature of the country and the hostility of the Span-
iards. Before they left the ship they sifted a large quantity of
flour, prepared chocolate with sugar, as provision, and entered
into a mutual engagement, that if any man sank on the jour-
ney he should be shot by his comrades, as but one man falling
into the hands of the Spaniards must betray the others to cer-
tain destruction. In a fortnight after leaving the ship near the
Island of Plata, they landed at the mouth of a river in the Bay
of St. Michael, where, taking out all their provisions, arms,
and clothing, they sank their boat. While they spent a few
hours in preparing for the inland march, the Mosquito-men
caught fish, which afforded one plentiful meal to the whole
party; after which they commenced their journey late in the
afternoon of the 1st of May. At night they constructed huts,
in which they slept. On the 2d they struck into an Indian
path, and reached an Indian village, where they obtained re-
freshments; but were uneasy on understanding the closeness
of their vicinity to the Spaniards, who had placed ships at the
mouths of the navigable rivers to look out for them, and inter-
13*
140 WILLIAM DAMPICR.
cept their return eastward. Next day, with a hired Indian
guide, they proceeded, and reached the dweUing of a native,
who received them with sullen churhshness, which in ordinary
times the Bucaniers would ill have brooked ; " though this,'*
says Dampier, " was neither a time nor place to be angry with
the Indians, all our lives lying at their hands." Neither the
temptation of dollars, hatchets, nor long knives would operate
on this intractable Indian, till one of the seamen, taking a sky-
coloured petticoat from his bag, threw it over the lady of the
house, who was so much delighted with the gift, that she soon
wheedled her husband into better humour; and he now not
only gave them information, but found them a guide. It
rained hard and frequently on both days, but they were still
too near the Spanish garrisons and guard ships to mind the
weather or to dally by the way. The country was found diffi-
cult and fatiguing, without any trace of a path, the Indians
guiding themselves by the rivers, which they were sometimes
compelled to cross twenty or thirty times in a day. Rainy
weather, hardship, and hunger soon expelled all fear of the
Spaniards, who were, besides, not likely to follow their foes
into these intricate solitudes.
On the 5th day they reached the dwelling of a young Span-
ish Indian, — a civilized person, who had lived with the Bishop
of Panama, and spoke the Spanish language fluently. He
received them kindly, and though unable to provide for the
wants of so many men, freely gave what he had. At this
place they rested to dry their clothes and ammunition, and to
clean their fire-arms. While thus employed Mr. Wafer, the
surgeon of the Bucaniers, who had been among the malcon-
tents, had his knee so much scorched by an accidental explo-
sion of gunpowder, that, after dragging himself forward during
another day, he was forced to remain behind his companions,
together with one or two more who had been exhausted by the
march. Among the Indians of the Darien, Wafer remained
for three months, and he has left an account, which is consid-
ered the best we yet possess, of those tribes.
The march was continued in very bad weather, this being
the commencement of the rainy season, and thunder and
lightning frequent and violent. As the bottoms of the valleys
and the rivers' banks were now overflowed, instead of con-
structing huts every night for their repose, the travellers were
often obliged to seek for a resting-place, and to sleep under
trees. To add to their hardships their slaves deserted, carry-
ing off" whatever they could lay their hands upon.
Before leaving the ship, foreseeing the difficulties of the
journey, and the necessity of perpetually fording the rivers,
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 147
Dampier had taken the precaution to deposite his journal in a
bamboo, closed at both ends with wax. In this way his pa-
pers were secured from wet, while the journalist frequently
swam across the rivers which so greatly impeded the progress
of the march. In crossing a river where the current ran very
strong, one man, who carried his fortune of three hundred
dollars on his back, was swept down the stieam and drowned ;
and so worn out were his comrades, that, fond as they were of
gold, they would not at this time take the trouble to look for or
burden themselves with his. It was the eighteenth day of the
march before the Bucaniers reached the river Conception,
where they obtained Indian canoes, in which they proceeded
to La Sound's Key, one of the Samballas Islands, which were
much frequented by the Bucaniers. Here they entered a
French privateer, commanded by Captain Tristian; and, with
better faith than Bucaniers usually displayed, generously re-
warded their Indian guides with money, toys, and hatchets,
and dismissed them. The Bucaniers of this time were some-
what less ferocious in manners than those under Morgan and
Lolonnois, though it never entered into their thoughts that
there could be any wrong in robbing the Spaniards. Sawkins
and Watling maintained stricter discipline than had been cus-
tomary in former periods, approximating their discipline and
regulations to those of privateers, or ships of war. They even
made the Sabbath be observed with outward signs of respect.
On one occasion, when Sawkins' men, who like all Bucaniers
were inveterate gamblers, played on Sunday, the captain flung
the dice overboard.
In two days after Dampier and his friends had gone on
board the French vessel, it left La Sound's for Springer's Key,
another of the Samballas Islands, where eight Bucanier ves-
sels then lay, of which the companies had formed the design
of crossing to Panama. From tliis expedition they were,
however, diverted by the dismal report of the newly-arrived
travellers ; and the assault of other places was taken into con-
sideration. From Trinidad to Vera Cruz the Bucaniers had
now an intimate knowledge of every town upon the coast, and
for twenty leagues into the interior; and acquaintance with
the strength and wealth of each, and with the number and
quality of the inhabitants. The preliminary consultations now
held lasted for a week, the French and Enghsh not agreeing;
but at last they sailed for Carpenter's River, going first towards
the Isle of St. Andreas. In a gale the ships were separated;
and Dampier, being left with a French captain, conceived such
a dislike to his shipmates, that he and his fellow-travellers in
crossing the isthmus induced a countryman of their own,
148 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
named Captain Wriglit, to fit up and arm a small vessel, with
which they cruised about the coast in search of provisions,
still, hoAvever, keeping their jackals, the Mosquito-men, who
caught turtle while the Bucaniers hunted in the woods for pec-
aree^ waree, deer, quaums, parrots, pigeons, and curassow
birds, and also monkeys, which in times of hardship they es-
teemed a dehcate morsel. At one place several of the men
were suddenly taken ill from eating land-crabs which had fed
upon the fruit of the manchineel-tree. All animals that fed on
this fruit were avoided by the freebooters as unwholesome, if
not poisonous. In selecting unknown wild fruits the Buca-
niers were guided by the birds, freely eating whatever kind had
been pecked, but no bird touched the fruit of the manchineel.
On returning to La Sound's Key from this cruise, they were
joined by Mr. Wafer. He had been for three months kindly
entertained by an Indian Chief, who had offered him his daugh-
ter in marriage, and grudged him nothing save the liberty of
going away. From this kind but exacting chief he escaped
under pretence of going in search of English dogs to be em-
ployed in hunting, the Indian being aware of the superiority
which dogs gave the Spaniards in the chase. Mr. Wafer had
been painted by the women of the Darien, and his own clothes
being worn out, he was now dressed, or rather undressed, like
the natives ; whom, under this disguise, he resembled so much,
that it was sometime before Dampier recognized his old ac-
quaintance the surgeon.
- From the Samballas they cruised towards Carthagena, which
they passed, having a fair view of the city, and casting longing
eyes upon the rich monastery on the steep hill rising behind it.
This monastery, dedicated to the Virgin, is, says Dampier, " a
place of incredible wealth, by reason of the offerings made
here continually ; and for this reason often in danger of being
visited by the privateers, did not the neighbourhood of Cartha-
gena keep them in awe. 'Tis, in short, the very Loretto of
the West Indies, and hath innumerable miracles related of it.
Any misfortune that befalls the privateers is attributed to this
lady's doing ; and the Spaniards report, that she was abroad
that night the Oxford man-of-war was blown up at the Isle of
Vaca, and that she came home all wet ; as belike she often
returns with her clothes dirty and torn with passing through
woods and bad ways when she has been upon an expedition,
deserving, doubtless, a new suit for such eminent pieces of
service."
The company of Captain Wright pillaged several small pla-
ces about Rio de la Haclia and the Rancheries, which was
the head-quarters of a small Spanish pearl-fishery. The peari-
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 149
banks lay about four or five leagues off the shore. In prose-
cuting this fishery, the Indian divers, first anchoring their boats,
dived, and brought up full the baskets previously let down ;
and when their barks were filled, they went ashore, and the
oysters were opened by the old men, women, and children,
under the inspection of a Spanish overseer.
In a short time afterward, the Bucaniers captured, after a
smart engagement, an armed ship of twelve guns and forty
men, laden with sugar, tobacco, and marmalade, bound to
Carthagena from St. Jago in Cuba. From the disposal of this
cargo, some insight is afforded into the mysteries of bucanier-
ing. It was offered first to the Dutch governor of Curacao,
who having, as he said, a great trade with the Spaniards, could
not openly admit the freebooters to this island, though he di-
rected them to go to St. Thomas, which belonged to the Danes,
whither he would send a sloop with such commodities as the
Bucaniers required, and take the sugar off their hands. The
rovers, however, declined the terms offered by the cautious
Dutchman, and sailed from St. Thomas to another Dutch
colony, where they found a better merchant. From hence
they sailed for the Isle of Aves, which, as its name imports,
abounded in birds, especially boobies and men-of-war birds.
The latter bird was about the size of a kite, black, with a red
throat. It lives on fish, yet never lights in the water ; but soar-
ing aloft like the kite, " when it sees its prey, darts down,
snatches it, and mounts, never once touching the water."
On a coral reef off the south side of this island the Count
d'Estrees had shortly before lost the French fleet. Firing
guns in the darkness, to warn the ships that followed him to
avoid the danger on which he had run, they imagined that he
was engaged with the enemy, and crowding all sail, ran upon
destruction. The ships lield together next day till part of the
men got on shore, though many perished in the wreck. Dam-
pier relates, that those of the ordinary seamen who got to land
died of fatigue and famine, while those who had been Buca-
niers and were wrecked here, " being used to such accidents,
lived merrily ; and if they had gone to Jamaica with thirty
pounds in their pockets, could not have enjoyed themselves
more ; for they kept a gang by themselves, and watched when
the ships broke up to get the goods that came out of them ; and
though much was staved against the rocks, yet abundance of
wine and brandy floated over the reef, where they waited to
take it up." The following anecdote of the wrecked crew is
horribly striking: — " There were about forty Frenchmen on
board one of the ships, in which was good store of liquor, till
the after-part of her broke, and floated over the reef, and was
15$
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
carried away to sea, with all the men drinking and singing,
who, being in drink, did not mind the danger, but were never
heard of afterward."
In a short time after, this island was the scene of a buca-
niering trick, which Dampier relates with some glee. The
wreck of the French fleet had left Aves Island a perfect arse-
nal of masts, yards, timbers, and so forth, and hither the Buca-
niers repaired to careen and refit their ships, and among others
Captain Pain, a Frenchman. A Dutch vessel of twenty guns,
despatched from Curasao to fish up the guns lo.^t on the reef,
descried the privateer, which she resolved to capture before
engaging in the business of her voyage. The Frenchman
abandoned his ship, which he saw no chance of preserving,
but brought ashore some of his guns, and resolved to defend
himself as long as possible. While his men were landing the
guns, he perceived at a distance a Dutch sloop entering the
road, and at evening found her at anchor at the west end of
the island. During the night, with two canoes, he boarded
and took this sloop, found considerable booty, and made off
with her, leaving his empty vessel as a prize to the Dutch
man-of-war.
At this island Dampier saw, besides men-of-war birds, boo-
bies, and noddies, numbers of the tropic-bird. It was as big
as a pigeon, and round and plump as a partridge, all white,
save two or three light-gray feathers in the wing. One long
feather or quill, about seven inches in length, growing out of
the rump, is all the tail these birds have. They are never
seen far without the tropics, but are met with at a great dis-
tance from land. After taking in what water could be obtain-
ed, they left Rocas, and went to Salt Tortuga, so called to
distinguish it from Dry Tortuga near Cape Florida, and from
the Tortuga of the first Bucaniers near Hispaniola, which
place was now, however, better known as Petit Guaves. They
expected to sell the remainder of their sugar to the English
vessels which came here for salt ; but not succeeding, they
sailed for Blanco, an island north of Margarita, and thirty
leagues from the main. It was an uninhabited island, flat and
low, being mostly savanna, with a few wooded spots, in which
flourished the lignum vitcB. Iguanas, or guanoes, as they were
commonly called in the West Indies, abounded on Blanco.
They resembled the lizard species, but were bigger, about the
size of the small of a man's leg. From the hind-quarter the
tail tapers to the point. If seized by the tail near the extremi-
ty, it broke off at a joint, and the animal escaped. They are
amphibious creatures. Both their eggs and flesh were highly
esteemed by the Bucaniers, who made soup of the latter for
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 151
their sick. There were many species found here Hving on
land or water, in the swamps, among bushes, or on trees.
Green turtle frequented this island in numbers.
From Blanco they returned to Salt Tortuga, and went from
thence after four days to the coast of the Caraccas on the main.
While cruising on this coast, they landed in some of the
bays, and took seven or eight tons of cocoa, and afterward
three barks, — one laden with hides,' another with brandy and
earthenware, and a third with European goods. With these
prizes they returned to the Rocas to divide the spoil ; after
which Dampier and other nineteen out of a company of sixty
took one of the captured vessels, and with their share of the
plunder, held their course direct for Virginia, which was reach-
ed in July, 1682.
Of the thirteen months which our navigator spent in Virgi-
nia he has left no record ; but from another portion of his
memoirs it may be gathered that he suffered from sickness
during most of the time. His disease was not more singular
than was the mode of cure practised by a negro Esculapius,
whose appropriate fee was a white cock. The disease was
what is called the Guinta-worm. " These worms," says Dam-
pier, " are no bigger than a large brown thread, but, as I have
heard, five or six yards long; and if it break in drawing out,
that part which remains in the flesh will putrify, and endan-
ger the patient's life, and be very painful. I was in great
torment before it came out. My leg and ankle swelled, and
looked very red and angry, and I kept a plaster to it to bring
it to a head. Drawing off" my plaster, out came about three
inches of the worm, and my pain abated presently. Till then
I was ignorant of my malady, and the gentlewoman at whose
house I lodged took it (the worm) for a nerve ; but I knew well
enough what it was, and presently rolled it upon a small stick.
After that I opened it every morning and evening, and strained
it out gently, about two inches at a time, not without pain."
The negro doctor first stroked the place affected, then applied
some rough powder to it like tobacco leaves crumbled, next
muttered a spell, blew upon the part three times, waved his
hands as often, and said that in three days it would be well.
It proved so, and the stipulated fee of the white cock was
gladly paid.
The next adventure of Dampier was the circumnavigation
of the globe, — a voyage and ramble extending to about eight
years, which in point of interest and variety has never yet
been surpassed. This we will now describe.
Among the companions of Dampier in his journey across
the isthmus, and in his subsequent cruise, was Mr. John Cook,
152 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
a Creole, born in St. Christopher's, and a man of good capa-
city. He had acted as quarter-master, or second in command,
under Captain Yanky, a French Fhbustier, who at this time
held a commission as a privateer. By the ordinary laws of
the Bucaniers, when a prize fit for a piratical cruise was taken,
the second in command was promoted to it ; and in virtue of
this title, Cook obtained an excellent Spanish ship. At this,
however, the French commanders were secretly discontented,
and on the first opportunity they seized the ship, plundered the
crew, who were Englishmen, of their arms and goods, and
turned them ashore. The French captain, Tristian, either
took compassion on some of the number, or hoped to find them
serviceable ; for he carried eight or ten of them with him to
Petit Guaves, among whom were Cook and Davis. They had
not lain long here when Captain Tristian and part of his men
being one day on shore, the English party, in revenge of the
late spoliation overmastered the rest of the crew, took the ship,
and, sending the Frenchmen ashore, sailed for Isle a la Vache,
where they picked up a straggling crew of English Bucaniers,
and before they could be overtaken sailed for Virginia, where
Dampier now was, taking two prizes by the way, one of which
was a French ship laden with wine. Having thus dexterously
swindled Tristian out of his ship, which might, however, be
considered as but a fair act of reprisal, and having afterward
committed open piracy on the French commerce, the West
Indies was no longer a safe latitude for these English Buca-
niers. The wines were therefore sold with the other goods
and two of the ships ; and the largest prize, which carried
eighteen guns, was new-named the Revenge, and equipped
and provisioned for a long voyage. Among her crew of seventy
men were almost all the late fellow-travellers across the isthmus,
including William Dampier, Lionel Wafer, the surgeon, Am-
brose Cowley, who has left an account of the voyage, and the
commander. Captain John Cook. Before embarking on this
new piratical expedition, they all subscribed certain rules for
maintaining discipline and due subordination, and for the ob-
servance of sobriety on their long voyage.
They sailed from the Chesapeake on the 23d of August,
1683; captured a Dutch vessel, in which they found six casks
of wine and a quantity of provisions ; and near the Cape de
Verd Islands encountered a storm which raged for a week,
"drenching them all like so many drowned rats." After this
gale they had the winds and weather both favourable, and an-
chored at the Isle of Sal, one of the Cape de Verd group, so
named from its numerous salt-ponds.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 153
Ffom the Cape de Verd Isles the Revenge intended to keep
a direct course to the Straits of Magellan ; but by adverse
weather was compelled to steer for the Guinea coast, which
was made in November, near Sierra Leone. They anchored
in the mouth of the river Sherborough, near a large Danish
ship, which they afterward took by stratagem. While in sight
of the Dane, which felt no alarm at the appearance of a ship
of the size of the Revenge, most of the Bucanier crew remain-
ed under deck, no more of the hands appearing above than
were necessary to manage the sails. Their bold design was
to board the ship without discovering any sign of their inten-
tion ; and the Revenge advanced closely, still wearing the re-
semblance of a weakly-manned merchant-vessel. When quite
close, Captain Cook in a loud voice commanded the helm to
be put one way, while by previous orders and a preconcerted
plan the steersman shifted it into a quite opposite direction ;
and the Revenge, as if by accident, suddenly fell on board the
Dane, which by this dexterous manoeuvre was captured with
only the loss of five men, though a ship of double their whole
force. She carried thirty-six guns, and was equipped and vic-
tualled for a long voyage.
This fine vessel was by the exulting Bucaniers named the
Bachelor's Dehght ; and they immediately burnt the Revenge
that she "might tell no tales," sent their prisoners on shore,
and steered for Magellan's Straits.
On the voyage to the straits the Bachelor's Delight encoun-
tered frequent tornadoes, accompanied by thunder, lightning,
and rain. Many of the men were seized with fever, and one
man died. Having little fresh animal food of any kind, they
caught sharks during the calms between the gusts of the torna-
does, which they prepared by first boiling, and afterward stew-
ing them with pepper and vinegar. About the middle of Jan-
uary they lost one of the surgeons, who was greatly lamented,
as there now remained but one for the long voyage which was
meditated. On the 28th they made John Davis' Southern
Islands, or the Falkland Isles, — then, however, more generally
known as the Sebald de Weert Islands.
In the course of their voyage Dampier, who possessed more
geographical and nautical knowledge than his companions,
had been persuading Captain Cook to stop here to water, and
afterward to prosecute the voyage to Juan Fernandez by doub-
ling Cape Horn, avoiding the straits altogether, which, he ju-
diciously says, " I knew would prove very dangerous to us, the
rather because our men being privateers, and so more wilful
and less under command, would not be so ready to give a
watchful attendance in a passage so little known.
14
164 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
The advice of Dampier was not taken, but westerly winds
prevented Cook from making the entrance of the straits, and
on the 6th of February they fell in with the Straits of Le Maire,
high land on both sides, and the passage very narrow. They
ran in for four miles, when a strong tide setting in northward
" made such a short cockling sea," which ran every way, as if
in a place where two opposing tides meet, sometimes break-
ing over the poop, sometimes over the waist and the bow, and
tossing the Bachelor's Delight " like an egg-shell."
In the same evening they had a breeze from W. N. W.,
bore away eastward, and, having the wind fresh all night,
passed the east end of Staten Island next day. The next
night, they lost sight of Terra del Fuego, and saw no other
land till they entered the South Sea. In doubling Cape Horn
they were so fortunate as to catch twenty-three barrels of rain-
water, besides an abundant supply for present consumption.
On the 3d of March they entered the South Sea with a fair
fresh breeze, which from the south had shifted to the eastward.
On the 19th a strange sail was seen to the southward bearing
full upon them, which was mistaken for a Spaniard, but proved
to be the Nicholas of London, commanded by Captain Eaton,
fitted out as a trader, but in reality a Bucanier ship. Captain
Eaton came on board the Bachelor's Dehght, related his ad-
ventures, and, like a true brother, gave the company water,
while they spared him a supply of bread and beef Together
they now steered for Juan Fernandez, and on the 23d anchor-
ed in a bay at the south end of the island, in twenty-five
fathoms water.
It may be remembered, that when Captain Watling and his
company escaped from Juan Fernandez three years before,
they had left a Mosquito Indian on the island, who was out
hunting goats when the alarm came. This Mosquito-man,
named Wilham, was the first and the true Robinson Crusoe,
the original hermit of this romantic solitude. Immediately on
approaching the island, Dampier and a few of "William's old
friends, together with a Mosquito-man named Robin, put oft*
for the shore, where they soon perceived Wilham standing
ready to give them welcome. From the heights he had seen
the ships on the preceding day, and knowing them to be Eng-
lish vessels by the way they were worked, he had killed three
goats, and dressed them with cabbage of the cabbage-tree, to
have a feast ready on the arrival of the ships. How great was
his delight, as the boat ncared the shore, when Robin leaped
to the land, and running up to him, fell flat on his face at his
feet. William raised up his countryman, embraced him, and
in turn prostrated himself at Robin's feet, who lifted him up.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 155
and they renewed their embraces. " We stood with pleasure,"
says Dampier, " to beliold the surprise, tenderness, and solem-
nity of their interview, which was exceedingly affecting on
both sides ; and when these their ceremonies of civility were
over, we also that stood gazing at them drew near, each of us
embracing him we had found here, who was overjoyed to see
so many of his old friends, come hither, as he thought, pur-
posely to fetch him."
At the time William was abandoned, he had with him in the
woods his gun and knife, and a small quantity of powder and
shot. As soon as his ammunition was expended, by notching
his knife into a saw, he cut up the barrel of his gun into pieces,
which he converted into harpoons, lances, and a long knife.
To accomplish this he struck fire with his gun-flint and a piece
of the barrel of his gun, which he hardened for this purpose in
a way he had seen practised by the Bucaniers. In this fire he
heated his pieces of iron, hammered them out with stones,
sawed them with his jagged knife, or grinded them to an edge,
and tempered them ; " which was no more than these Mos-
quito-men were accustomed to do in their own country, where
they make their own fishing and striking instruments without
either forge or anvil, though they spend a great deal of time
about them." Thus furnished, William supplied himself with
goats' flesh and fish, though, till his instruments were formed,
he had been compelled to eat seal. He built his house about
a half-mile from the shore, and lined it snugly with goat-skins,
with which he also spread his couch or barbecue, which was
raised two feet from the floor. As his clothes wore out, he
supplied this want also with goat-skins, and when first seen he
wore nothing save a goat-skin about his waist. Though the
Spaniards, who had learned that a Mosquito-man was left
here, had looked for William several times, he had always, by
retiring to a secret place, contrived to elude their search.
The island of Juan Fernandez was hilly, and intersected by
small pleasant valleys ; the mountains were partly savanna
and partly woodland ; tlie grass of the flat places being deli-
cate and kindly, of a short thick growth, unlike the coarse
sedgy grass of the savannas of the West Indies. The cab-
bage-tree was found here, and well-grown timber of different
kinds, though none that was fit for masts. There were in the
island two bays, both at the east end, where ships might an-
chor, and into each of them flowed a rivulet of good water.
Water was also found in every valley. Goats, which accord-
ing to Dampier were originally brought to the island by the
discoverer, were now found in large flocks, and seals swarm-
ed about the island " as if they had no other place in the world
156 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
to five in, every bay and rock being fnll of them." Sea-lions
were also numerous, and different kinds of fish were found.
The seals were of different colours, — black, gray, and dun,
with a fine thick short fur. Milhons of them were seen sitting
in the bays, going or coming into the sea, or, as they lay at the
top of the waves, sporting and sunning themselves, covering
the water for a mile or two from the shore. When they come
out of the sea "they bleat like sheep for their young; and
though they pass through hundreds of others' young, yet they
will not suffer any of them to suck." The sea-lion is shaped
hke a seal, but is six times as big, with " great goggle eyes,"
and teeth three inches long, of which the Bucaniers sometimes
made dice.
The Bucaniers remained for sixteen days at this island get-
ting in provisions, and for the recovery of the sick and those
affected with scurvy, who were placed on shore, and fed with
vegetables and fresh goats' flesh, which regimen was found
beneficial. On the 8th of April they sailed for the American
coast, which they approached in 24^ S. ; but stood off at the
distance of fourteen or fifteen leagues, that they might not be
observed from the high grounds by the Spaniards.
The first capture of the Bucaniers, made on the 3d of May,
was a Spanish ship bound to Lima, laden with timber from
Guayaquil; from which they learned that it was known in the
settlements that pirates were on the coast.
On the 9th they anchored at the isle of Lobos de la Mar
with their prize. At this place the ships were scrubbed, and
the prisoners rigidly examined, that from their information the
voyagers might guide their future proceedings. Truxillo was
the town at last fixed upon for making a descent. The com-
panies of both ships were mustered, for Eaton and Cook had
now agreed to hunt in couples, and the arms were proved.
The men amounted to one hundred and eight fit to bear arms,
besides the sick. Before they sailed on this expedition three
ships were seen steering northward. Cook stood after one of
them, which made for the land, and Eaton pursued the other
two to sea, and captured them on the same day. They con-
tained cargoes of flour from Lima for the city of Panama,
whither they carried intelligence from the governor of the for-
midable Bucanier force which now threatened the coast. One
of the ships carried eight tons of quince-marmalade. The
Bucaniers were deeply mortified to learn that they had nar-
rowly missed a prize containing eight hundred thousand pieces
of eight, which liad been landed at an intermediate port, upon
a rumour of Enghsh ships being cruising off the coast of
Peru,
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 157
The design against Truxillo was now abandoned, as they
learned that it had lately been fortified, and a Spanish garrison
established for its defence ; and on the evening of the 19th they
sailed with their flour-prizes for the Galapagos Islands, which
they descried on the 31st, " some appearing on the lee-bow,
some on the weather-bow, and others right ahead."
At the Galapagos Isles the Bucaniers remained for ten days,
and deposited a store of their prize-flour against future neces-
sity. Salt was found here, pigeons abounded, the sea teemed
with fish, and the leaves of the mammce-tree furnished them
with vegetables ; so that the Galapagos were in all respects
well adapted for a Bucanier station.
By the advice of an Indian, one of their prisoners, the Buc-
aniers were induced to visit Ria Lexa, his native place, where
he promised them a rich harvest in plunder.
At Juan Fernandez Captain Cook had been taken ill ; he
now died somewhat suddenly as they stood off Cape Blanco,
and, as a mark of respect, was buried on shore. While his
men were digging the grave they were seen by three Spanish
Indians, who held aloof, but asked them many questions ;
"and one man," says Dampier, "did not stick to sooth them
up with as many falsehoods, purposely to draw them into our
clutches ; and at length drilled them by discourse so near, that
our men laid hold on all three at once." One escaped before
the burial of Cook was over, and the other two were taken on
ship-board. When examined, notwithstanding their pretend-
ed simplicity, they confessed that they had been sent out as
spies by the Governor of Panama, who had received intelli-
gence of the Bucanier squadron.
The voyagers were informed by these prisoners that large
herds of cattle were reared in this neighbourhood, which was
welcome news to seamen who had seen no fresh meat since
their run from the Galapagos. Two boats were immediately
sent to the shore with an Indian guide to bring oft' cattle; but
the enterprise appeared dangerous, and Dampier with twelve
men returned on board. Those who were more foolhardy,
and who even slept on shore, found themselves next morning
watched by forty or fifty armed Spaniards, and their boat burnt.
The cowardly Spaniards, afraid to come forward, still lurked
in their ambush, and one of the seamen on landing, having no-
ticed an insulated rock which just appeared above water, they
made off for this fortress, and holding fast by each other, and
wading to the neck, they reached the rock, while the Spanish
shot whistled after them. In this perilous condition they had
remained for seven hours, the tide, which was at the ebb when
they took refuge here, rising around them, and gaining on
14*
158 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
the rock so rapidly, that had not help come from the ships, in
another hour thej must have heen swept away. The Span-
iards, who rehshed bush-fighting better than the open field,
meanwhile lay in wait for the catastrophe ; but when the canoe
from the English ships bore off the men, they oiFered no re-
sistance.
The quarter-master, Edward Davis, was now elected com-
mander in the room of Captain Cook ; and after taking in
water, and cutting lancewood for handles to their oars, they
bore away for Ria Lexa, and on the 23d of July were opposite
the harbour. The situation of the town is known by a high-
peaked volcanic mountain, which rises within three leagues of
the harbour, but may be seen at the distance of twenty leagues.
A small flat island, about a mile long and a quarter of a mile
broad, forms the harbour, in which two hundred sail can ride.
It may be entered by a channel at each end.
The Spaniards had here also got the start of the enemy.
They had thrown up a breastwork on a strong position, and
stationed sentinels to give instant alarm ; and the Bucaniers,
who wished to surpise and plunder, and not to fight against
great odds, deemed it prudent to steer for the Gulf of Amapal-
la, an arm of the sea running inland eight or ten leagues, and
made remarkable by two headlands at the entrance. Point
Casivina on the south side, in latitude 12° 40" N., and on the
north-west Mount St. Michael.
At a previous consultation, it had been agreed that Captain
Davis should advance first, in two canoes, and endeavour to
seize some Indians to labour at careening the ships, and also
a prisoner of better condition, from whom intelligence might
be obtained. On the Island of Mangera the padre of a village,
from which all the other inhabitants had fled, was caught while
endeavouring to escape, and with him two Indian boys. With
these Davis proceeded to Amapalla, where, having previously
gained over or frightened the priest, he told the Indians drawn
up to receive him, that he and his company were Biscayners,
sent by the King of Spain to clear the seas of pirates, and that
his business in the bay of this island was only to careen his
ships. On this assurance Davis and his men were well re-
ceived, and they all marched together, strangers and natives,
to church, which was the usual place of public assembly,
whether for business or amusement. The images in the
churches here, like those in the Bay of Campeachy, were
painted of the Indian complexion ; and the people, under the
sway of their padres, lived in much the same condition as the
tribes described on the banks of the Tobasco, cultivating maize,
rearing poultry, and duly paying the priest his tithe. Here,
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 159
too, they were indulged in masks and other pastimes, with
abundance of music on saints' eves and holydays. " Their
mirth," says Dampier, " consists in singing, dancing, and
using many antic gestures. If the moon shine they use but
few torches ; if not, the church is full of hght. They meet at
these times all sorts of both sexes. All the Indians that I have
been acquainted with who are under the Spaniards seem to be
more melancholy than other Indians who are free ; and at
these public meetings, when they are in the greatest of their
jollity, their mirth seems to be rather forced than real. Their
songs are very melancholy and doleful ; so is their music."
In attending them to the church under the guise of friend-
ship, Davis intended to ensnare these unsuspecting people,
and make them all his prisoners till he had dictated his own
terms of ransom, the padre having, probably from compulsion,
promised his aid in entrapping his flock. This hopeful project
was frustrated by one of the Bucaniers rashly and rudely push-
ing a man into the church before him. The alarm was given,
the Indian fled, and his countrymen " sprung out of the
church like deer." Davis and his men immediately fired, and
killed a leading man among the natives.
The Bucaniers were, however, afterward assisted by several
of the natives in storing the ships with cattle plundered from
an island in the gulf, belonging to a nunnery in some distant
place ; and from some feelings of remorse, on leaving this
quarter Davis presented the islanders of Amapalla with one of
his prize-ships, and a considerable part of the cargo of flour
which it contained. The ships here broke off" consortship.
The crews had quarrelled, — Davis' party, in right of priority
in marauding, claiming the largest share of the spoils. Eaton
left the gulf on the 2d of September, and Davis, with whom
Dampier continued, on the day following, having previously
set the padre on shore. They stood for the coast of Peru,
having almost every day tornadoes accompanied with thunder
and lightning, — weather of this kind generally prevailing in
these latitudes from June to November. When these gusts
were over the wind generally shifted to the west. Near Cape
St. Francisco they had settled weather, and the wind at south.
About this place they again fell in with Eaton, who had en-
countered terrible storms. " Such tornadoes as he and his
men had never before seen, — the air smelling very much of
sulphur, and they fancying themselves in great danger of being
burnt by the lightning." Captain Eaton had touched at Cocos
Island, where he laid up a store of flour, and took in water and
cocoanuts. Cocos Island, as described by Eaton, is nearly
surrounded by rocks ; but at the north-east end there is one
160 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
small and secure harbour, — a brook of fresh water flowing
into it. The middle of the island is high, and though destitute
of trees, looks verdant and pleasant from the abundance of an
herb, which the Spaniards called gramadiel, growing upon the
high grounds. Near the shore all round the island were groves
of cocoas.
At the Island of La Plata, so named, according to Dampier,
from Sir Francis Drake having divided upon it the plunder of
the plate-ship the Cacafuego, the Bucaniers found water,
though but a scanty rivulet, and plenty of small sea-turtle.
Captain Eaton's company would again have joined their for-
mer consorts ; but Dampier relates that Davis' men, his own
comrades, were still so unreasonable that they would not con-
sent to new-comers having an equal share of what they pil-
laged; so the Nicholas held southward, while the Bachelor's
Delight steered for Point Santa Elena, in 2^ 15' S., pretty
high but flat land, naked of trees and overgrown with thistles.
There was no fresh water on the point, and this article the
inhabitants brought from four leagues' distance, from the river
Colanche, the innermost part of the bay. Watermelons,
large and very sweet, were the only things cultivated on the
point. Pitch was the principal commodity of the inhabitants.
It boiled out of a hole in the earth at five paces above high-
water mark, and was found plentifully at flood-tide ; when first
obtained it was like thin tar, but was boiled down to the con-
sistence of pitch.
Davis' men landed at Manta, a village on the mainland,
about three leagues to the east of Cape San Lorenzo, where
they made two old women prisoners, from whom they learned
that many Bucaniers had lately crossed the isthmus from the
West Indies, and were cruising on the coast in canoes and
pirogues. The viceroy had taken every precaution against
this new incursion. On all the uninhabited islands the goats
had been destroyed ; ships were burned to save them from the
Bucaniers, and no provisions were allowed to remain at any
place on the coast, but such as miglit be required for the imme-
diate supply of the inhabitants. Davis returned to La Plata,
At a loss what course to take ; when, on the 2d of October, he
was joined by the Cygnet of London, commanded by Captain
Swan, who, ill treated by the Spaniards, and disappointed of
peaceful traffic, for which he had come prepared with an ex-
pensive cargo, had been compelled by his men to receive on
board a party of Bucaniers, and in self-defence to commence
freebooter. Before he had adopted this course some of his
men had been killed by the Spaniards at Baldivia, where he
had attempted to open a trade. With this small Bucanier
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 161
party, which had come by the Darien, plundering by the way,
Swan fell in near the Gulf of Nicoya. It was led by Peter
Harris, the nephew of a Bucanier commander of the same
name who had been killed in the battle with the Spanish
ships in the Bay of Panama three years before. Harris took
command under Swan, in a small bark wholly manned by
Bucaniers.
This was a joyful meeting of old associates ; and the de-
parture of Eaton was now deeply regretted, as their united
force might have ensured success to more important under-
takings than any they had yet ventured to contemplate.
While the ships were refitting at La Plata, a small bark, which
Davis had taken after the Spaniards had set it on fire, was
sent out to cruise, and soon brought in a prize of four hundred
tons burthen, laden with timber, and gave intelligence that the
viceroy was fitting out a fleet of ten frigates to sweep them from
the South Seas. Again the loss of Eaton was felt, and this
bark was dispatched to search for him on the coast of Lima.
It went as far as the Isle of Lobos. Meanwhile Swan's ship,
which was still full of English goods, was put in better fighting
trim, and made fit to accommodate her additional crew. The
supercargo sold his goods on credit to every Bucanier who
would purchase, taking his chance of payment, and the bulky
commodities which remained were pitched overboard, — silks,
muslins, and finer goods, and iron bars which were kept for
ballast, being alone retained. In lieu of these sacrifices, the
whole Bucaniers on board the Cygnet agreed that ten shares
of all booty should be set aside for Swan's owners.
The men-of-war were now scrubbed and cleaned, a small
bark was equipped as a fire-ship ; and the vessel which had
been cruising after Eaton not having returned, the squadron
sailed without it on the 20th of October, and on the 3d of No-
vember landed at Paita, which was found nearly abandoned,
and left without " money, goods, or a meal of victuals of any
kind." They anchored before the place, and demanded ran-
som for its safety, ordering in the meanwhile three hundred
pecks of flour, three thousand pounds of sugar, twenty-five
jars of wine, and one thousand of water to be brought off" to
the ships ; but, after wasting six days, they obtained nothing,
and in revenge burnt the town. The road of Paita was one
of the best in Peru, roomy, and sheltered from the south-west
by a point of land. The town had no water except what was
carried thither from Colan, from whence the place was also
supplied with fruits, hogs, plantains, and maize. Dampier
says, that on this coast, from about " Cape Blanco to 30° S.,
no rain ever falls that he ever observed or heard of." He calls
l62 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
this range " the dry country." Wafer states that heavy nightly
dews fertihze the valleys. The country around it was moun-
tainous and sterile.
From information obtained here it was gathered that Cap-
tain Eaton had been before them, and had burned a large ship
in the road, and landed all his prisoners. They also learned
that a small vessel, which they concluded to be their own bark,
had approached the harbour, and made same fishermen bring
out water.
Harris' small vessel being found a heavy sailer, was burned
before leaving Paita, from which the squadron steered for
Lobos de Tierra, and on the 14th anchored near the east end
of the island, and took in a supply of seals, penguins, and
boobies, of which they ate " very heartily, not having tasted
flesh in a great while before." To reconcile his men to what
had been the best fare of the crews of Drake, Cavendish, and
the earlier navigators. Captain Swan commended this food as
of extraordinary delicacy and rarity, comparing the seals to
roasted pigs, the boobies to pullets, and the penguins to ducks.
On the 19th the fleet reached Lobos de la Mar, where a letter
was found deposited at the rendezvous by the bark, which was
still in search of Eaton. It was now feared that he had sailed
for the East Indies, which turned out to be the fact.
Here the Mosquito-men supplied the companies of both
ships with turtle ; while the seamen laboured to clean and re-
pair, and provide them with firewood, preparatory to an at-
tempt upon Guayaquil. For this place they sailed on the
morning of the 29tli. According to Dampier, Guayaquil was
then one of the chief ports of the South Seas. The commodi-
ties it exported were hides, tallow, cocoa, sarsaparilla, and a
woollen fabric named Quito cloth, generally used by the com-
mon people throughout all Peru. The Bucaniers left the
ships anchored off" Cape Blanco, and entered the bay with
their canoes and a bark. They captured a small vessel laden
with Quito cloth, the master of which informed them of a look-
out being kept at Puna, which lay in their way, and that three
vessels with negro slaves were then about to sail from Guaya-
quil. One of these vessels they took shortly afterward, cut
down her mainmast, and left her at anchor, and next morning
captured the other two, though only a few negroes were picked
out of this to them useless cargo.
From mismanagement, and disagreement between the
commanders and the men in the two ships, the expedition
against Guayaquil misgave. It was imagined that the town
was alarmed and prepared to receive them warmly ; and after
having landed, lain in the woods all night, and made their way
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 168
with considerable difficulty, they abandoned the design before
one shot had been fired, and while the place lay full in view of
them at a mile's distance, without manifesting any appearance
of opposition being intended.
Dampier, whose ideas took a wider and bolder range than
those of his companions, deeply lamented their ill conduct
upon the fair occasion which offered at this time of enriching
themselves at less expense of crime than in their ordinary
pursuits. " Never," he says, " was there put into the hands
of men a greater opportunity to enrich themselves." His
bold and comprehensive plan was, with the one thousand ne-
groes found in the three ships, to have gone to St. Martha,
and worked the gold mines there. In the Indians he reckoned
upon finding friends, as they mortally hated the Spaniards, —
for present sustenance they had two hundred tons of flour
laid up at the Galapagos Islands, — the North Sea would have
been open to them, — thousands of Bucaniers would have join-
ed them from all parts of the West Indies, and united they
might have been a match for all the force Peru could muster,
masters of the richest mines in this quarter, and of all the west
coast as high as Quito. Whether Dampier unfolded this
** golden dream" at the time does not appear. The Bucaniers,
at all events, sailed to La Plata, where they found the bark,
and divided the cloth of Quito equally between thfe companies
of Swan and Davis, converting the vessel in which it had been
taken into a tender for the Cygnet.
This ship had since joining depended almost wholly upon
the Bachelor's Delight for provisions, as it had neither Mos-
quito-purveyors nor a store of flour ; and the original Buca-
nier company of Davis now murmured loudly at feeding the
cowards who they alleged had balked the attempt on Guaya-
quil. But neither could afford to part consortship, and they
sailed in company on the 23d of December to attack Lavelia
in the Bay of Panama. In this cruise, from the charts and
books found in their prizes, they supplied the ignorance and
deficiencies of the Indians and Spanish pilots whom they had
as prisoners on board ; these drafts being found surer guides.
Their object was in the first place to search for canoes, — the
want of boats being greatly felt, — in rivers where the Spaniards
had no trade with the natives, nor settlements of any kind, as
concealment was most important to the success of their opera-
tions. In unfrequented rivers where boats might be found,
the coast abounded from the equinoctial line to the Gulf of St.
Michael. When five days out from La Plata, they made a
sudden descent upon a village named Tomaco, where they
captured a vessel laden with timber, in which was a Spanish
164 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
knight with a crew of eight Spaniards, and also took what the
Bucaniers valued much more, a canoe with twelve jars of good
old wine. A canoe with a party that rowed six leagues farther
up the river, which Dampier named St. Jago, came to a house
belonging to a Spanish lady of Lima, whose servants at this
remote station traded with the natives for gold. They fled ;
but the Bucaniers found several ounces of gold left in their
calabashes. The land on the banks of this river was a rich
black mould, producing tall trees. The cotton and cabbage-
trees flourished here on the banks ; and a good way into the
interior, Indian settlements were seen, with plantations of
maize, plantain-walks, hogs, and poultry. At Tomaco a
canoe with three natives visited the strangers, whom they did
not distinguish from Spaniards. They were of middhng
stature, straight, and well-limbed, " long-visaged, thin-faced,
with black hair, ill-looked men, of a \erj dark copper com-
plexion." The Bucaniers presented them with wine, which
they drank freely.
On the 1st of January the Cygnet and Bachelor's Dehght
sailed for the Island of Gallo, carrying with them the Spanish
knight Don Pinas, and two canoes. On the way one of their
boats captured the packet-boat from Lima, and fished up the
letters which the Spaniards when pursued had thrown over-
board attached to a hne and buoy. From these despatches
they learned the welcome and important fact of the Governor
of Panama hasteninsf the sailing of the triennial Plate-fleet
from Callao to Panama, previous to the treasure being con-
veyed across the isthmus to Porto Bello on mules. To inter-
cept this fleet would enrich every man among them at one
stroke ; and to this single object every faculty was now bent.
As a fit place to careen their ships, and at the same time he in
wait for their prey, they fixed upon the Pearl Islands in the
Bay of Panama, for which they sailed from Gallo on the morn-
ing of the 7th ; — two ships, three barks, a fireship, and two
email tenders, one attached to each ship.
On the 8th they opportunely captured a bark with flour, and
then "jogged on with a gentle gale" to Gorgona, an uninhab-
ited island, well wooded, and watered with brooklets issuing
from the high grounds. Pearl-oysters abounded here. They
were found in from four to six fathoms water, and seemed
flatter in the shell than the ordinary eating oyster. The
pearl was found at the head of the oyster, between the shell
and the meat, sometimes one or two pretty large in size, and
at other times, twenty or thirty seed-pearls. The inside of the
ehell was *' more glorious than the pearl itself."
r-
WILLIAM DAMPIER. Xf^
Landing most of their prisoners at Gorgona, the squadron,
now consisting of six sail, steered for the Bay of Panama, and
anchored at Galera, a small, barren, uninhabited island, from
whence they again sailed on the 25th to one of the southern
Pearl Islands, as a place more suitable to hale up and clean
the ships. While this was in progress, the small barks cruised,
and brought in a prize laden with beef, Indian corn, and
fowls, which were all highly acceptable. They next took in
water and firewood, and were at last in fit order to fight as
well as to watch the Plate-fleet, which they did cruising before
Panama, between the Pearl Islands and the main; where,
says Dampier, " it was veiy pleasant sailing, having the main
on one side, which appears in divers forms. It is beautified
with many small hills, clothed with wood of divers sorts of
trees, which are always green and flourishing. There are
some few small high islands within a league of the main, scat-
tered here and there one, partly woody partly bare, and they
as well as the main appear very pleasant." Most of the Pearl
Islands were wooded and fertile ; and from them were drawn
the rice, plantains, and bananas which supplied the city of
New Panama, " a fair city standing close by the sea, about
four miles from the ruins of the old town," — encompassed be-
hind with a fine country of hill and valley, beautified with
groves and spots of trees, appearing like islands in the savan-
nas. The new city had been walled in since the late visit
which Dampier had made it with Sawkins, Coxon, and Sharp,
and the walls were now mounted with guns pointing seaward.
As Davis lay nearly opposite the city, its supplies from the
islands were completely cut off"; while his people every day
fished, hunted, or pillaged among them. At this time Davis
negotiated for an exchange of prisoners, giving up forty, of
whom he was very glad to be rid, in return for one of Harris'
band, and a man who had been surprised by the Spaniards
while hunting in the islands. Attention to the safety of the
meanest individual of their company was at all times one of
the fundamental principles of the Bucaniers ; and it is stated
on good authority, that when they first hunted in the wilds of
Hispaniola, if at nightfall one comrade was missing, all busi-
ness was suspended till he was either found or his disappear-
ance satisfactorily accounted for.
The Lima fleet proved tardy in making its appearance, and
the Bucaniers again moved, and came to anchor near Tabago,
an island of the bay abounding in cocoa and mammee, and
having fine brooks of pure water ghding through groves of
fruit-trees. About this time they were nearly ensnared by the
stratagem of a Spaniard, who, under pretence of clandestine
15
166 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
traffic, sent a fireship among them at midnight; but the
treachery was suspected in time, and avoided. This fireship
had been fitted up by the same Captain Bond of whom they
had heard at the Cape de Verd Islands. He was an Enghsh
pirate who had deserted to the Spaniards.
The squadron, which had been scattered through the night
from alarm of the fireship, had scarcely returned to its station,
and looked about for the cut anchors, when the freebooters
were thrown into fresh consternation by seeing many canoes
full of armed men passing through an island-channel and
steering direct for them. They also bore up ; but the strangers
proved to be a party of two hundred and eighty Bucaniers,
French and English, in twenty-eight canoes, who had just
crossed the isthmus on an expedition to the South Sea. The
English seamen, eighty in number, entered with Swan and
Davis ; and the flour-prize was given to the French Flibustiers,
who entered it under the command of Captain Groignet, their
countryman. These strangers announced another party of
one hundred and eighty, under Captain Townley, all English,
who were at this time constructing canoes to bring them down
the rivers into the South Sea; and on the 30th of March these
joined the fleet, not, however, in canoes, but in two ships
which they had taken as soon as they entered the bay, laden
with flour, wine, brandy, and sugar. The squadron was fur-
ther increased by the arrival of a vessel under the command of
Mr. William Knight ; and the Indians of Santa Martha
brought intelligence that yet another strong party, French and
English, were on the way. These also arrived, to the number
of two hundred and sixty-four men, with three commanders ;
one of whom, Le Picard, was a veteran who had served under
Lolonnois and Morgan at Porto Bello.
The Bucanier force now amounted to about one thousand
men ; and the greatest want was coppers to cook provisions for
so many. The few kettles which they had were kept at work
day and night, and a foraging-party sent out to bring in
coppers.
From intercepted letters it was ascertained that the Lima
fleet was now at sea ; and the design upon the city was sus-
pended till the plate-ships were first secured, though, as it
chanced, in counting on their easy capture, the Bucaniers
reckoned without their host.
It was now the latter end of May, and for six months the
Bucaniers had concentrated their attention on this single en-
terprise. Their fleet now consisted of ten sail; but, save the
Bachclor^s Delight, which carried thirty-six guns, and the
Cygnet, which was armed, none were of force, though all were
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 167
fully manned. The Spanish fleet, it was afterward learned,
mustered fourteen sail; two of forty guns, one of thirty-six,
another of eighteen, and one of eight guns, with large compa-
nies to each ship. Two fire-ships attended the Spanish fleet.
Before the Bucaniers had finished consultation on their plan
of operation, the Spanish fleet advanced upon them, and battle
was resolved on. And, "lying to windward of the enemy, we
had it," says Dampier, " in our choice whether to fight or not.
It was three o'clock in the afternoon when we weighed, and
being all under sail, we bore down right afore the wind on our
enemies, who kept close on a wind to come to us; but night
came on without any thing besides the exchanging of a few
shot on each side. When it grew dark the Spanish admiral
put out a light as a signal for his fleet to come to an anchor.
We saw this light at the admiral's top for about half an hour,
and then it was taken down. In a short time after we saw the
light again, and being to windward, we kept under sail, sup-
posing the light had been in the admiral's top ; but, as it proved,
this was only a stratagem of theirs, for this light was put out
the second time at one of the barks' topmast-head, and then
she was sent to leeward, which deceived us, for we thought
still the light was in the admiral's top, and by that means our-
selves to windward of them." At daybreak the Bucaniers
found that by this stratagem the Spaniards had got the weath-
er-gage of them, and were bearing down full sail, which com-
pelled them to run for it; and a running fight was maintained
all day, till, having made a turn almost round the bay, they
anchored at night whence they had set out in the morning.
Thus terminated their hopes of the treasure-ships, though it
was afterward learned that the plate had been previously land-
ed. The French captain, Groignet, had kept out of the ac-
tion, for which he and his crew were afterward cashiered by
their Enghsh associates. The common accusation which the
English Bucaniers brought against their allies was reluctance
to fight ; while the latter blamed their indecent contetnpt of
the Catholic religion, displayed as often as they entered the
Spanish churches, by hacking and mutilating every thing with
their cutlasses, and firing their pistols at the images of the
saints. Next morning the Spanish fleet was seen at anchor
three leagues to leeward, and as the breeze sprung up it stood
away for Panama, contented with safety and the small advan-
tage obtained on the former day. The Bucaniers were equally
well satisfied to escape a renewed engagement, and after con-
sultation they bore away for the Keys of Quibo to seek Harris,
who had been separated from them in the battle or flight. At
this appointed rendezvous they met their consort, and a fresh
m
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
consultation made them resolve to march inland and assault
Leon, first securing the port of Ria Lexa.
The assault and conquest of these places offers nothing of
interest or novelty ; they were carried by the united Bucanier
force, amounting to six hundred and forty men, with 6ight
vessels, three of them being tenders, and one a fireship. In
this assault Dampier was left with sixty men to guard the ca-
noes in which the party had been landed. At Leon they lost
a veteran Bucanier of the original breed, whom Dampier thus
eulogizes: "He was a stout old gray-headed man, aged about
eighty-four, who had served under Oliver (Cromwell) in the
Irish rebelhon ; after which he was at Jamaica, and had fol-
lowed privateering ever since. He would not accept the offer
our men made him to tarry ashore, but said he would venture
as far as the best of them; and when surrounded by the Span-
iards, he refused to take quarter, but discharged his gun among
them, keeping a pistol still charged; so they shot him dead at
a distance. His name was Swan. He was a very merry,
hearty old man, and always used to declare he would never
take quarter.'*
A Mr. Smith, a merchant or supercargo, who had sailed
with Captain Swan from London to trade in the South Sea,
was made prisoner on the march to Leon. This city, situated
near the Lake of Nicaragua, Dampier describes as one of the
most healthy and pleasant in all South America. No sooner
were the Bucaniers masters of it than they demanded a ransom
of three hundred thousand dollars, which was promised but
never paid ; and becoming suspicious that the Spaniards were
dallying with them merely to gain time and draw their force
to a head, the town was set on fire, and they returned to the
coast, first supplying themselves with beef, flour, pitch, tar,
cordage, and whatever Leon or Ria Lexa afforded. One
Spanish gentleman, who had been released on engaging to
send in one hundred and fifty head of cattle, redeemed his
parole* with scrupulous honour. Mr. Smith was exchanged
for a female prisoner, and Ria Lexa was left burning.
The Bucanier squadron now separated, and the fraternity
broke into several small detachments, Dampier choosing to
follow Captain Swan, who intended first to cruise along the
shores of Mexico, the country of the mines, and then, saihng
as high as the south-west point of California, cross the Pacific,
and return to England by India. This plan presented many
temptations to Dampier, whose curiosity and thirst of know-
ledge were insatiable; and he might also have shared in the
hopes of his comrades, who promised themselves a rich booty
in the towns in the neighbourhood of the mines before they
WILLIAM DAMPIER. ^ 169
turned their faces westward. Captain Townley had kept by
Swan when they separated from Eaton, and each ship had
now a tender belonging to it. They put to sea on the 3d of
September, and encountered frequent and fierce tornadoes till
near the end of the month. Early in October they were off
the excellent harbour of Gautalco, the mouth of which may be
known by a great hollow rock, from a hole in which every
surge makes the water spout up to a considerable height, like
the blowing of a whale.
Froni the sea the neighbouring country looked beautiful.
Here they found some provisions, and landed their sick for a
few days.
The Cygnet and her consort advanced slowly along the
coast, landed near Acapulco, plundered a carrier who con-
ducted sixty laden mules, and killed eighteen beeves. They
next passed on to Colima, their object being that tempting
prize which for generations had quickened the avarice of mar-
itime adventurers — the Manilla ship, — for which they kept
watch at Cape Corientes. After quitting Ria Lexa, many
of the men had been seized with a malignant fever; and as
the same kind of disease broke out in Davis' squadron, it was
with some feasibility imputed to infection caught at the place
mentioned, where many of the inhabitants had been carried
off by a disorder of the same kind some months before the
Bucaniers visited the town.
To victual the ship for the long voyage in view was one
main object of the continued cruise of Captain Swan on this
coast ; but the attempts made for this purpose were often baf-
fled with loss ; and so much time had now elapsed, that it was
concluded the Manilla ship had eluded their vigilance. About
the beginning of January, Townley left them in the Bay of
Vanderas, and returned towards Panama, carrying home a
few Indians of the Darien who had accompanied Swan thus
far. The Mosquito-men remained in the Cygnet.
To obtain provisions, Swan captured the town of St. Pe-
caque, on the coast of New Gallicia, where large stores were
kept for supplying the slaves who worked in the neighbouring
mines. He brought off on the first day a considerable quanti-
ty of provisions on horseback, and on the shoulders of his
men. These visits were repeated, a party of Bucaniers keep-
ing the town, till the Spaniards had collected a force. Of this
Captain Swan gave his men due warning, exhorting them on
their way to the canoes with the burdens of maize and other
provisions which they carried, to keep together in a compact
body; but they chose to follow their own course, every man
straggling singly, while leading his horse, or carrying a load
15*
170 WILLIAM DAMPlEir^
on his shoulders. They accordingly fell into the ambush the
Spaniards had laid for them, and to the amount of fifty were
surprised, and mercilessly butchered. The Spaniards, seizing
their arms and loaded horses, fled with them before Swan, who
heard the distant firings could come to the assistance of his
men. Fifty-four Englishmen and nine blacks fell in this
affair, which was the most severe the Bucaniers had encoun-
tered in the South Sea. It is in consonance with the spirit of
that age to find Dampier relating that Captain Swan had been
warned of this disaster by his astrologer.* Many of the men
had also, he states in his manuscript journal, foreboded this
misfortune, and in the previous night, while lying in the church
of St. Pecaque, " had been disturbed by grievous groanings,
which kept them from sleeping."
This disheartening affair determined Swan and his dimin-
ished company to quit this coast; and they accordingly steered
for Cape St. Lucas, the south point of California, to careen,
and to refresh themselves before crossing the Pacific; but by
adverse winds were compelled to put into a bay at the east end
of the middle island of the Tres Marias, where they found
iguanas, rackoons, rabbits, pigeons, and deer, fish of various
kinds, turtle, and seals. There they careened the ship, divi-
ded and stowed the provisions between it and the tender, and
went over to the mainland for water, having previously landed
the prisoners and pilots, who were now of no use, save to con-
sume provisions. That they were abandoned on an uninhab-
ited island is said to have been in revenge of the fatal affair of
St. Pecaque.
While they lay here, Dampier, who had escaped the conta-
gious fever, languished under a dropsical complaint, of which
several of the men had died. The method of cure was singu-
lar, but the patient believed it successful. " I was," he says,
"laid and covered all but my head in the hot sand: I endured
it near half an hour, and was then taken out, and laid to sweat
in a tent: I did sweat exceedingly while I was in the sand^
and I do believe it did me much good, for I grew well soon
after."
While careening the ship. Swan had more fully laid before
his company his plan of going to the East Indies, holding out
to them hopes of plunder in a cruise among the Philippines.
Dampier describes many of them as so ignorant that they ima-
gined it impossible to reach India from California; otjiers en-
* It was tlien customary before undertaking a voyage to consult an as-
trologer.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 171
tertained more reasonable fears of their provisions failing be-
fore they could reach the Ladrones. Maize, and the fish
which the Mosquito-men caught, some of which were salted for
store, now constituted the whole provision of above one hun-
dred and fifty men, and of this but a short allowance could be
aftbrded daily, calculating on a run of at least sixty days.
On the 31st of March, having all agreed to attempt the
voyage, and consented to the straitened allowance, the Cygnet
and the tender commanded by Captain Teat sailed from the
American coast, steering south-west till she arrived at 13^ N.,
in which parallel she held due west for the Ladrones. The
men received but one meal a day, and there was no occasion,
Dampier says, to call them to their victuals, which were serv-
ed out by the quarter-master with the exactness of gold. Two
dogs and two cats which were on board soon learned to attend
daily for their respective shares.
The Cygnet enjoyed a fair fresh-blowing trade-wind, and
went on briskly, which was some consolation for scanty fare.
At the end of twenty days they had made so much progress
that the men began to murmur at being still kept upon such
short allowance ; and by the time they reached Guahan they
were almost in open mutiny, and had, it was said, resolved to
kill and eat Swan in the first place, and afterward in regular
order all who had promoted this voyage ! In the long run of
five thousand miles they had seen no living thing, whether
bird, fish, or insect, save in longitude 18^ a flock of boobies,
presumed to be the denizens of some cliffs or islands, though
none were seen. On the 21st of May, near midnight, they
had the happiness of coming to anchor on the west side of
Guahan, about a mile from the shore, after a run which Dam-
pier calculated at seven thousand three hundred and two miles.
At this island the Spaniards had a small fort and a garrison of
thirty men. Presuming that the Cygnet was a Spanish vessel
from Acapulco, a priest came off', and was detained as a host-
age till terms of obtaining provisions were arranged; and, as
these were dictated by fair principles of exchange, no difficulty
was experienced, both the Spaniards and the few natives on
the island gladly bringing their goods to a safe and profitable
market.
The natives and the Spaniards here lived in a state of con-
stant hatred if not in open hostility ; and Captain Eaton, who
had touched at Guahan on his voyage to India, after parting
with Davis on the coast of Peru, had been instigated by the
governor to plunder and practise every cruelty upon the
islanders. ' This advice neither himself nor his men were slow
to follow. *' He gave us leave," says Cowley's manuscript
172 WILLIAM DAMPIEIl.
narrative of the voyage, "to kill and take whatever we could
find in one-half of the island where the rebels lived. We then
made wars," as Cowley chooses to term wanton unprovoked
aggression, "with these infidels, and went on shore every day,
fetching provisions, and firing among them wherever we saw
them ; so that the greater part of them left the island. The
Indians sent two of their captains to treat with us, but we
would not treat with them. The whole land is a garden.'*
Dampier reckons that at this time there were not above one
hundred Indians on the whole island, as most of those who had
escaped slaughter destroyed their plantations, and went to
other islands, remote from the tender mercies of the Spaniards
and their new allies the Bucaniers. While a friendly and
brisk trade was going on between the shore and the Cygnet,
the Acapulco vessel came in sight of the island, but was warn-
ed off in time by the governor, without, luckily for herself,
liaving been descried by the Bucaniers. In the eagerness of
flight she ran upon a shoal, where her rudder was struck off,
nor did she get clear for three days. As soon as the natives
informed the Bucaniers of this prize, they " were in a great
heat to be after her;" but Swan, who dishked his present vo-
cation, and still hoped to open an honest traffic at Manilla,
though he found it prudent under present circumstances to
keep this design secret, persuaded, or as probably frightened,
his wild crew out of this humour by representing the dangers of
the chase.
Suitable presents were exchanged between the governor and
the priest and the English captain, and preparations made to
depart. Here Dampier first saw the bread-fruit, — the staff of
life of so many of the insulated tribes of Polynesia. Of the
jlying-proas^ or sailing canoes of these islands, so often describ-
ed, he expresses the highest admiration. "I believe," he says,
" they sail the best of any boats in the world ;" one that he
tried would, he believed, "run twenty-four miles an hour;"
and one had been known to go from Guahan to Manilla, a
distance of four hundred and eighty leagues, in four days.
It took the Cygnet nineteen days to reach the coast of Min-
danao, for which she sailed on the 2d of June ; and after beat-
ing about through several channels and islands, she came to
anchor on the 18th of July opposite the river's mouth, and be-
fore the city of Mindanao. They hoisted English colours, and
fired a salute of seven or eight guns, which was returned from
the shore by three.
Captain Swan had many reasons for desiring to cultivate
tlie friendship of the ruling powers at Mindanao. Immedi-
ately after the Cygnet came to anchor, Rajah Laut, the brother
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 173
and prime minister of the sultan, and the second man in the
state, came off in a canoe, rowed with ten oars, to demand
whence they were. One of the sultan's sons, who spoke the
Spanish language, accompanied his uncle. When informed
that the strangers were English they were welcomed, though
Rajah Laut appeared disappointed that they were not come to
establish a factory, for which proposals had already been made
to him by the East India Company. The conversation was
carried on by Mr. Smith, the late prisoner at Ria Lexa, and
the sultan's son, who with his uncle remained all ,the while in
the canoe. They promised to assist the English in procuring
provisions, and were rowed off without more passing at this
time.
Dampier regrets that the offer of a settlement here was not
accepted, " by which," he says, " we might better have con-
sulted our own profit and satisfaction than by the other roving
loose way of life ; so it might probably have proved of public
benefit to our nation, and been the means of introducing an
English settlement and trade, not only here, but through
several of the Spice Islands which lie in its neighbourhood."
They had not lain long here when they received another in-
vitation to settle in a different island, the sultan of which sent
his nephew to Mindanao to negotiate secretly with Captain
Swan. ^
The Cygnet's cdmpany had not been aware of the dignity
of their first visiters till they were gone, when the government-
officer informed them; who, according to the customs of the
ports of China and other parts in the East, came on board ta
measure the ship, — a practice of which Dampier could not
conceive the reason, unless the natives wished to improve their
knowledge of ship-building.
In the same afternoon Captain Swan sent Mr. More, one of
the supercargoes, to the city with a present for the sultan, con-
sisting of three yards of scarlet cloth, three yards of broad
gold-lace, a Turkish scimitar, and a pair of pistols ; and to the
Rajah Laut, the dignitary they had already seen, three yards
of the same cloth with silver-lace. After some preliminary
ceremonies, the English envoy was at night admitted to an
audience, to which he was conducted by armed men, accom-
panied by servants bearing torches. The sultan, with ten
privy-counsellors all seated on carpets, awaited his arrival.
The present was graciously accepted, a conference took place
in Spanish, after which Mr. More and his attendants, being
first treated with supper, returned on board. Next day Cap-
tain Swan was invited on shore, whither he went, preceded by
two trumpeters. He was conducted to an audience, and en-
174 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
tertained with betel and tobacco. Two letters were shown
him, sent by East India merchants to the suUan, demanding
hberty to build a factory and fort, and specifying the terms of
traffic, rates of exchange, and of weights and measures. One
letter was beautifully written, and between each line there was
drawn a line of gold. Another letter, left by a Captain Good-
lud, who had lately visited Mindanao, and directed generally
to any of the English who might touch there, concluded,
" Trust none of them, for they are all thieves ; but tace is Latin
for a candle."
After the interview with the sultan. Captain Swan visited
Rajah Laut, who, being rather in disgrace with his brother at
this time, had not been present at the audience. He entertain-
ed the English captain with boiled fowls and rice, and strongly
urged him to bring the ship into the river, as stormy weather
was at this season to be expected. He also advised him to
warn his men against offending the natives by infringing
their customs, and altogether appeared very familiar and
friendly. To impress Swan with an idea of his justice, he
ordered a man who had formerly robbed Captain Goodlud to
be now punished ; and the miserable wretch was accordingly
publicly exposed bound to a post, and stripped naked with his
face opposite the scorching sun, while he was shifted round and
kept in torture, following its course all day, stung by the gnats
and mosquitoes. This was a usual mode of punishment.
His life was at night fall left at the mercy of the English cap-
tain, who informed Rajah Laut that he had no right to take
cognizance of any crime which had not been committed by his
own men and in his own ship.
The letters from the company's agents, by convincing Swan
that there was a serious intention of establishing a factory at
this place, gave him confidence to enter the river, trusting also
to the friendly professions of Rajah Laut. The Cygnet was
accordingly lighted of part of her cargo, and, with tlie help of
sixty native fishermen, Rajah Laut directing their operations
in person, she crossed the bar with the first springtide, and
was moored within the mouth of the river. The Bucaniers
remained here so long upon a footing of daily intimate inter-
course with the townspeople, that Dampier has been enabled
to give a very full and minute account of the Mindanaians.
A singular custom of the country facilitated easy intercourse
with the natives ; though seamen, having their pockets stored
with gold and their ships with desirable commodities, who are
neither suspected of any sinister intention by the people nor
viewed with jealousy by the government, have rarely found the
half-civilized tribes of the Indian islands difficult of access.
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 175
The custom common in the South Sea Islands of exchang-
ing names and forming a comradeship with a native, whose
house is henceforward considered the home of the stranger,
extended in Mindanao to the other sex, and " an innocent
platonic female friend, named ^pagally^'' was offered to each
of the Enghshmen, besides his male comrade. These friend-
ships were, however, not so perfectly disinterested as not to
require the cement of presents on the one side and flatteries
on the other. In Mindanao, as in more refined parts of the
world, those who were best dressed and furnished with gold
the most readily obtained companions and pagallies. Under
the sanction of this singular national custom the wives of the
greatest men might choose friends among the strangers, or be
selected as pagallies, and allowed to converse in public with
the persons who distinguished them by their choice.
On their first arrival, — for they soon declined in favour,
owing probably to their own reckless and dissolute manners, —
the seamen could not pass along the streets without being com-
pelled to enter the houses, where they were presented with
betel and tobacco, the cordial hospitality of the givers atoning
for the scantiness of this oriental entertainment. To express
the vivacity and degree of their affection, the natives would
place the forefingers of both hands close together, saying the
English and themselves were like this ; the Dutch were signifi-
ed by holding the same fingers six inches apart, and the Span-
iards at double that distance. Captain Swan, who still had a
large quantity of iron and lead, as well as other goods belong-
ing to his owners, meanwhile traded with Rajah Laut, at whose
house he dined every day till he established himself at a dwell-
ing which he hired in the town. Those of the Bucanierswho
had money also took houses on shore, lived a jovial life among
their comrades and pagallies, and hired female servants from
their masters as temporary housekeepers.
Besides being the wet season, it was Ramadan time when
the Cygnet came to anchor in the river, and amusement and
pleasure were nearly suspended in Mindanao ; but as soon as
this solemn period was passed, the Rajah Laut entertained his
friend Captain Swan every night with dances, those bands of
regularly trained dancing-women being seen here which are
common over all India. But all the females of Mindanao were
fond of dancing, which they practised in a ring of forty or fifty,
who joined hand-in-hand, singing in chorus, and keeping
time ; and though they never moved from the same spot, making
various gestures, throwing forward one leg, and clapping their
hands at the close of the verse. The Rajah Laut was in re-
turn entertained by Captain Swan's men, who performed Eng-
176 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
lish dances to the music of violins, in a ball-room fitted up
with gold and silver lace and illuminated by a profusion of
wax candles. Dampier relates the very natural mistake into
which the rajah fell regarding one of these quarter-deck per-
formers. John Thacker, a common Bucanier, though he
could neither read nor write, had acquired the accomphshment
of dancing about some " of the music houses of Wapping,"
and coming into the South Sea with Captain Harris, had been
so fortunate in acquiring booty, that he now wore fine clothes,
and by his superior dress and dancing, was supposed by the
natives to be a person of noble extraction. When the rajah,
to satisfy his curiosity on this important point, put the question
to one of the company, the seaman replied humorously that
the conjecture as to Jack's quality was quite correct ; and that
most of the ship's company were of like extraction, at least all
who wore good clothes and had money, those meanly clad
being but common seamen. The rajah from this time por-
tioned out his civilities according to the garb of his new
friends.
Captain Swan was by this time deeply chagrined at the re-
sult of his voyage. Most of his crew were turbulent and law-
less ; those who had money revelling on shore, and continu-
ally involving themselves in quarrels with the natives, — while
those who were poor were growling on board at the privations
they suffered, and the time wasted in inaction. In the num-
ber of the penniless was Dampier, who had no means of recre-
ation and no source of enjoyment save the faculty of a power-
ful and quick observation, and the delight of entering his
remarks in his journal. The single and undivided object of
the rest of the crew of the Cygnet was gold — the plunder of
the Manilla ship ; nor durst the commander reveal his dislike
to their project. About the same time that his crew grew vio-
lently discontented, he became himself suspicious of the good
faith of his friend Rajah Laut, who for the iron and lead which
he had procured continued to pay with fair promises.
Beef was one of the articles which the rajah had promised
to the English, and a party went a hunting with him, but found
no prey. Dampier, a practised hunter, was always of these
parties, and used the opportunities they aflforded to extend his
knowledge of the country. In these distant hunting excursions
the rajah carried his wives, children, and servants along with
him in the proas of the countiy, which were fitted up with
rooms. They settled at some village in the neighbourhood
of the hunting-ground, the chief and his family occupying one
end of the house and the Englishmen the other. While he
and his men, who always hunted fi-om dawn till late in tlie
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 177
afternoon, were abroad, the Englishmen were frequently left
at home with the women and children. Though these ladies
never quitted their own apartments while the chief remained
at home, he was no sooner gone than they usually flocked to
the strangers' room, asking a thousand questions about the
condition of the women, and the fashions and customs of Eng-
land. These were the subject of long and earnest argument
among themselves, some condemning and others applauding
the custom, which all allowed to be singular, of even the king
and chiefs having but one wife. Among the proselytes to mo-
nogamy was the war-queen or wife, the lady who enjoyed the
privilege of attending the rajah to battle ; and her reasons, if
they did not convince, at least silenced her opponents.
During this excursion. Dumpier, from the conversation of
the women, considerably increased his acquaintance with the
character and customs of the people. They bathed daily, and
washed after every meal ; and if they became unclean from
touching accidentally any forbidden thing, underwent scrupu-
lous purification. Though associating so intimately with the
English, they did not like to drink with nor after them. Wild
hogs abounded, but swine's flesh, and every part of that filthy
animal, was held iu the utmost abhorrence by the Mindanai-
ans ; and though they invited the seamen to destroy the ani-
mals that came to the city during the night to feed on garbage
under the houses, they were ordered to take the swine on
board, and those who had touched these abominable creatures
were ever afterward loathed and avoided by the natives, and
forbidden their houses. This superstitious dislike was carried
to so great a length, that the Rajah Laut returned in a rage a
pair of shoes made in the English fashion, of leather he had
furnished, and in which he tiad taken great pride, till he
learned that the thread with which they were sewed had been
pointed with hog's bristles. The shoemaker got more leather,
and made a quite unexceptionable pair, with which the chief
was satisfied.
At this hunting village, in the evenings, the women danced
before the rajah ; and before the party broke up to return to
Mindanao, he entertained the English with a jar of " rice
drink," a fermented liquor, on which he and his attendants got
very merry. He drank first himself, and then his men ; " and
they all," says Dampier, " were as drunk as swine before they
suffered us to drink."
That balance in human affairs which pervades all conditions
was now turning the scale in favour of the less fortunate por-
tion of the Cygnet's crew. The Mindanaians, though hospit-
able and kind, were, when offended, vindictive and deadly in
16
178 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
their resentments ; the conduct of these dissolute and openly
profligate seamen had given them great oftence ; and sixteen
of the Bucaniers were in a short time taken ofi* by poison, to
which more afterward fell victims. The islanders were skilled
in subtle poisons, which had not their full operation till a long
while after they were administered. Some of the men, after
they were conscious of having been poisoned, lingered on for
months. When they died their livers were found black, dry,
and shrivelled '- like cork."
The ship had not lain long in the river when it had been dis-
covered that her bottom was eaten with worms, which bred in
such great numbers in this place, that shortly before a Dutch
vessel had been destroyed by them in two months, while the
Rajah Laut became heir to her great guns. It began to be
suspected that he entertained the hope of being equally fortu-
nate in a legacy from the Cygnet, as he had given no intima-
tion of a danger which the Mindanaians always avoided by
placing their barks and boats in a dry-dock the moment they
came into port, even when only returned from fishing. He
shook his head and seemed displeased when he saw that the
sheathing of the vessel had prevented serious damage, and
gravely remarked, " that he never did see a ship with the
cunning device of two bottoms before." Dampier had seen
the same kind of worms in myriads in the Bay of Campeachy,
and in the Bay of Panama, and in smaller numbers in Vir-
ginia. They are never seen far at sea.
This alarming damage was rep.iired in time, though, taken
with other circumstances, it strengthened the suspicions of
Captain Svran, and excited the discontent of the men by in-
creasing their alarm. Rajah Laut also, if he did not absolute-
ly refuse, still delayed to furnish the beef and rice necessary
to their subsistence, and which were to be the price of the
commodities with which Captain Swan had so largely furnished
him. His English friend had also lent the rajah twenty ounces
of gold, to defray the expenses of a solemn ceremonial observed
shortly before, when his son had been circumcised. This
splendid ceremony, at which the English assisted, had been
celebrated with music, dances, the singular war-dance of the
country, banquets, pageants, and processions by torchhght.
The Rajah, in a manner not uncommon in eastern countries,
.not only refused to repay the gold, but when urged, insisted
that it had been a present, and finally demanded payment for
all the victuals Swan and his men had consumed at his hos-
pitable board.
While the rajah thus refused to discharge his debts, the
Bucanier crew clamoured to be gone, and, becoming openly
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 179
mutinous, a party of them resolved to carry off the ship.
Neither Dampier, who happened to be on board, nor the sur-
geon's mate, approved of this treacherous design, but they
were reluctantly compelled to go with the rest, leaving Captain
Swan and thirty-six men at Mindanao, from whence the
Cygnet sailed on the 14th of January, 1687, intending to cruise
off Manilla. A Bucanier of Jamaica, named Read was chosen
commander. The first intimation Swan had of his abandon-
ment was the gun which was fired as the ship got under way.
To his own irresolution, bad temper, and want of firmness,
Dampier imputes this misfortune. If, when apprized of the
design of the mutineers, he had come on board and behaved
with prudence and courage, he might have brought back the
greater part of the men to their duty, and taken his own
measures with the ringleaders, to some of whom he had cer-
tainly given just cause of discontent.
After leaving at Mindanao, the Cygnet, with a crew now
reduced by various causes to eighty men, coasted to the west-
ward. They fell in with a great many Keys, or small low
islets, between which and Mindanao there was a good chan-
nel. On the east of these Keys they anchored and obtained
green-turtle. At different places they cut ratans, such as were
used in England for walking-canes. They saw here large
bats, " seven or eight feet from tip to tip" of the extended
wings, which regularly at dusk took their flight from the
smaller islands to the main island in swarms like bees, and re-
turned like a cloud before sunrise. On the 23d they reached
Luconia, having captured a Spanish vessel laden with rice and
cotton cloth, bound for Manilla. The master had been boat-
swain of the Acapulco ship which had escaped them at
Guahan, and which now lay safe in port. Nothing, therefore,
of consequence could be hoped for this season, and to beguile
the time, and wait a more favourable opportunity, they resolv-
ed to sail for the Pulo Condore or " Islands of Calabashes,"
a group of small islands on the coast of Cambodia, They an-
chored at Condore on the 14th of March.
At this place the Bucaniers remained for a month; after
which they cruised in the G ulf of Siam and in several parts of
the China seas, taking all barks that fell in their way, whether
Spanish, Portuguese, or native vessels. From the crew of a
junk belonging to the Island of Sumatra, they learned that the
English had estabhshed a factory on that island. The sur-
geon and Dampier, who had accompanied "this mad crew"
against their inclination, "and were sufficiently weary of
them," would have escaped here, and taken their chance of
180 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
getting to this or some other English factory; but they were
constrained to remain in the Cygnet.
The next destination of the Bucaniers was the Ponghou Isl-
ands, which in no respect answered their purpose of quiet and
security. At the place where they anchored there was a large
town and a Tartar garrison.
In the charts which they possessed there were laid down,
marked by the figure 5, a group of islands situated between
Luconia (the cynosure of their hopes) and Formosa; and
these, which offered a tolerably convenient station, they hoped
might be either uninhabited or only peopled by tribes from
whom they might with impunity plunder provisions, without
danger of the outrage being heard of in the Philippines.
They steered for them, and upon the 6th of August reached
the interesting group now known as the Bashee Islands.
These five islands were more particularly named, 1. Orange
Island, so called by the Dutchmen among the crew in honour
of their native prince. It is the largest and most westerly ot*
the group, and was uninhabited. 2. Grafton Island was so
named by Dampier in compliment to the noble family in
whose household he had, as has been mentioned, left his wife.
3. Monmouth Island was named by the seamen after the un-
fortunate Duke of Monmouth, the son of Charles II. The
other two were called the Goat and the Bashee Island, from
the number of goats seen on the one, and the abundance of the
beverage which gained the approbation of the seamen that
was made on the other. The two latter are small islands,
lying to the south, in the channel which divides Orange Island
from Grafton and Monmouth Islands. Monmouth Island is
high, and so fenced with steep rocks and precipitous cliffs, that
the Bucaniers did not land upon it as they did upon all the
other islands. Grafton and Monmouth Islands were thickly
inhabited, and on Bashee there was one village.
The natives were "short squat people, generally round-
visaged, with low foreheads and thick eye-brows ; their eyes
small and hazel-coloured, yet bigger than those of the Chinese ;
short low noses, their lips and mouths middle-proportioned;
ther teeth white, their hair black, thick, and lank, which they
wore cut short ; it will just cover their ears, and so is cut
round very even," says Dampier, and to this fashion they
seemed to attach great importance. Their skins are a dark
copper-colour. They wear neither hat, cap, turban, nor any
thing to keep off the heat of the sun. The men had a cloth
about their middle, and some wore jackets of plantain-leaves,
** as rough and bristly as a bear's skin." The women were
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 181
clothed with a short cotton petticoat, which fell below the
knees; of " a thick, stubborn" cloth that they manufactured
themselves. Both men and women wore large earrings of a
yellow glistering metal, found in the mines in their own moun-
tains, rcsembhng gold, but paler in colour.
No foreign commodities of any kind were seen amono- the
Basheeans, nor any thing that could have been introduced by
sea, save a few bits of iron and pieces of buffalo-hides. In all
points they appeared an unmixed race, in their dispositions
singularly mild, amiable, and peaceful. Their islands produ-
ced plantains, bananas, pumpkins, and plenty of yams, which
made the principal part of their food. They had no grain of
any kind, and consequently but few fowls, which Dampier
never saw in plenty where there was not either maize, rice, or
grain of some sort.
The dwellings of the islanders, and the places upon which
they had perched them, were among the most singular features
of their social condition. In describing them we adopt the
words of Dampier : — " These people made but low, small
houses. The sides, which were made of small posts, wattled
with boughs, and not above four feet and a half high: the
ridge pole is about seven or eight feet high. They have a
fireplace at one end of their houses, and boards placed on the
ground to lie on. They inhabit together in small villages built
on the sides and tops of rocky hills, three or four rows of
houses one above another, under such steep precipices that
they go up to the first row with a wooden ladder, and so with
a ladder still from every story up to that above it, there being
no other way to ascend. The plain on the first precipice may
be so wide as to have room both for a row of houses, which
stand all along the edge or brink of it, and a very narrow street
running along before their doors, between the row of houses
and the foot of the next precipice, the plain of which is in a
manner level with the roofs of the houses below, and so for the
rest. The common ladder to each row, or street, comes up at
a narrow passage, left purposely about the middle of it, and the
street being bounded with a precipice also at each end, 'tis
but drawing up the ladder if they be assaulted, and then there
is no coming at them from below but by climbing a perpendicu-
lar wall. And that they may not be assaulted from above they
take care to build on the side of such a hill whose back hangs
over the sea, or is some high, steep, perpendicular precipice,
altogether inaccessible." These precipices and regular ter-
races appeared quite natural. Grafton and Monmouth Islands
abounded in these rocky fortresses, in which the natives felt
16*
183 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
themselves secure from pirates, and from enemies whether
foreign or domestic.
The men of the Bashee Islands, while the Cygnet lay there,
were generally employed in fishing, leaving the plantations to
the care of the women. Their weapons were wooden lances,
of which only a few were headed with iron ; their armour a
buffalo's hide, as thick as a board, wliich covered them to the
knees, having holes for the head and arms. No form of wor-
ship was observed among this tribe, nor did any one seem to
have more authority than another. Every man had one wife,
and ruled his own household, — the single wife appearing affec-
tionate and happy, and the children respecting and honouring
their parents. The boys went out to fish with their fathers,
while the girls attended to domestic duties with their mothers.
Their plantations were in the valleys, where each family had
one ; and thither the young girls, as soon as they were able for
the task, descended every day from their rocky abodes to dig
yams and potatoes, which they carried home on theh* heads for
the use of the family.
In no part of the world had Dampier seen people so per-
fectly quiet and civil as these islanders. " They dealt justly
and with great sincerity," he says, " and made us very wel-
come to their houses with Bashee-drink."
Meanwhile the cruise off Manilla was not forgotten. Eighty
hogs were salted, and yams and potatoes laid up for sea-store.
The crew had taken in water, and now only waited the settling
of the eastern monsoon to take their departure. On the 24th
of September the wind shifted to the east, and by midnight
blew so fiercely that they were driven to sea, leaving six of
their men on the island. It was the 1st of October before they
were able to recover their anchoring ground. The natives
immediately rowed their comrades on board. As soon as the
ship was out of sight, the islanders increased in hospitality
and kindness to the strangers left among them. They only
stipulated that the Bucaniers should cut their hair in the Ba-
shee fashion; and on this condition offered each of them a
wife, and, as a dowry, a plantation and implements of labour.
The late storm, their long and profitless cruise, now extend-
ing with some of them to years, and the penalties to which
their criminal acts made them all alike liable in every civilized
country, combined to depress the spirits of the crew of the
Cygnet; and once more every man heartily wished himself at
home, " as they had done a hundred times before.'* They
were, however, persuaded by the captain and master to try
one more chance, and agreed to steer for Cape Comorin, for
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 183
ever renouncing the long^-indulged dream of capturing the
Manilla ship. Dampier beUeved that the ultimate object of
the pirate commanders was to cruise in the Red Sea, and by
one more desperate effort to make or for ever mar their for-
tunes. Of all the company none was more heartily tired than
our navigator, who had been betrayed into this voyage, and
whose thoughts, since leaving Mindanao, had run continually
on making his escape to some Enghsh settlement. To avoid
the danger of meeting English or Dutch ships, with which, in
taking the best and most direct course, they were in danger of
falling in, they agreed, instead of steering for the Straits of
Malacca, to go round the east side of the Philippines, and,
keeping south to the Spice Islands, pass these, and enter the
Indian Ocean about Timor. To Dampier all routes were
alike. "I was well enough satisfied," he says, "knowing
that the farther we went the more knowledge and experience I
should get, which was the main thing I regarded, and should
also have the more variety of places to attempt an escape from
them.
On the 3d of October they sailed from the Bashee Isles,
leaving, for the first time, a somewhat favourable impression
of their characters, and bearing away grateful and affectionate
remembrances of this gentle and amiable tribe. They steered
S. S. W., with the wind at W. and fair weather; and passed
certain islands which lie by the north end of Luconia. Leav-
ing the coast of this island, and with it " all their golden pros-
pects," they steered southward, keeping to the east of the
Philippines, and on the 15th anchored between the two small
islands named Candigar and Sarangan, near the south-east
end of Mindanao; and next day, at the north-west end of the
most easterly of the islands, found a fit place to careen and refit
the ship. While they lay here the nephew of the sultan, who>
in name of his uncle, had formerly been treating with Captain
Swan to visit and garrison his island, and take in a cargo of
spice, came on board and requested a passage home, as they
were understood to be going southward. From him they ob-
tained intelligence of Captain Swan and their deserted com-
rades, who had been fighting under Rajah Laut with a hostile
tribe in the interior. The Englishmen had conducted them-
selves so bravely in fight, that they were now in high favour
at Mindanao ; though it was feared they had been found too
powerful and useful as allies to be permitted easily to leave
their new service. Swan had for some time been attempting,
unsuccessfully, to hire a vessel to convey him to Fort St.
George.
184 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
At this time Dampicr took an opportunity of persuading the
men to return to their duty, to carry the ship back to the river
of Mindanao, and give her up to the true commander; but
before this could be effected, one man, who seemed the most
zealously to embrace the proposal, gave information, and
Captain Read deemed it prudent to weigh anchor with all ex-
pedition, and without waiting the arrival of the prince, to whom
a passage had been promised. Read held a course south-west,
and once more disappointed the hopes of Dampier, who be-
lieved that, by carrying home the young chief, they might, at
his uncle's island, establish a factory and a lawful traffic.
The ultimate fate of Captain Swan, of whom we are now
to lose .sight, was not a little painful. Two supercargoes or
merchants of the ship, Harthop and Smith, died at Mindanao;
and when the commander, after a series of vexations and dis-
appointments, was going out to a Dutch vessel which lay in
tlie river, hoping to get away at last, the boat was run down
by the emissaries of Rajah Laut, and Swan and the surgeon
were either drowned or killed in the water. The property of
the English captain was immediately seized by the perfidious
chief, who justified his conduct by imputing as crimes to the
unfortunate Englishman the idle impotent threats wrung from
him by hope deferred, irritation, and grief.
The Cygnet continued her bootless voyage among the isl-
ands and channels of the Philippines on to the Spice Isles,
and anchored off Celebes, where the seamen obtained a supply
of turtle, and found, among other shellfish, cockles of so mon-
strous a size that the meat of one of them made a meal for
seven or eight persons. It was palatable and wholesome.
Here they also found a vine, of which the leaves, pounded
and boiled with lard, made an infallible sea-salve. One of the
company had formerly learned its uses from the Indians of the
Darien; and most of the seamen now laid up a store, such as
had ulcers finding great benefit from its healing properties.
On the 29th of November they left this place ; and after en-
countering the dangers of the shoals which surround Celebes,
and experiencing fierce tornadoes, on the 1st of December
saw, and on the 5th approached, the north-west end of the
island of Bouton. On the evening of the 30th they had seen
at a distance two or three water-spouts, but escaped them all.
An Indian mIio spoke the Malay tongue came on board at
this time with some of the turtle-strikers, and informed them
of a good harbour on the east side of Bouton, for which they
sailed. They came to anchor within a league of CaUasusung^
a clean and handsome town, situated upon a hill in the middle
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 185
of a fertile plain, surrounded with cocoa-trees. The people
resembled the inhabitants of Mindanao, and their houses were
built in the same style ; but they appeared in all respects more
*'neat and tight." They were Mohammedans, and spoke the
Malay language. The same description seems to fit every
sultan whom the voyagers saw, — " a little man about forty or
fifty, with a great many wives and children." Unaware of the
exact character of his visiters, the Sukan of Boulonwas pleas-
ed to hear that they were English, and made them a visit in a
handsomely ornamented proa, with a white silk flag displayed
at the masthead, edged with red, and having in the centre,
neatly painted, the device of the prince, — a green griffin
trampling upon a dragon or winged serpent.
They had no object in remaining here ; and as a forlorn
hope, or from curiosity, resolved to steer for New-Holland,
"to see what that country could afford them." In leaving
Bouton they got among shoals, and it was about three weeks
before they passed Timor, and got clear of all the dangers of
this chain. They stood off south, and on the 4th of January
fell in with the north-west coast of New-Holland in 16^ 50".
They ran close in, but found no safe anchoring-ground, as the
coast lay open to the N. E. They steered for about twelve
leagues N. E. by E., keeping close in by the shore, and reach-
ed a point, three leagues to the eastward of which they found
a deep bay with many islets, and finally anchored at about a
mile from the land. Seeing people walking on the shore, a
canoe was sent off, but the natives ran away and hid them-
selves; and though traces of fires were seen, no habitation
could be discovered. Toys and trinkets were left on the shore
at such places as the people were likely to find them.
The coast here was low and level, with sandbanks. No
water could be found, though at several places old wells were
seen dry in the sandy bays. Having failed of their object on
the mainland, neither provisions nor water being found, nor a
hope of them, some of the boats visited the islands in the bay,
and surprised a party of the natives. The men at first threat-
ened the intruders, and showed their lances and swords; but
the noise of a single gun frightened them, and the women
seemed in very great alarm. Screaming, they ran away with
their children, while the men stood to parley. Those who
from sickness or feebleness were unable to follow, lay still by
their fires uttering doleful lamentations ; but when it was seen
that no harm was intended them, they became tranquil, and
many of the fugitives returned.
The Bucaniers had entertained no design against these
wretched people more flagitious than to make them labour in
tm
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
carrying the water-casks to the boats. To this they tried to
bribe them with ragged shirts and old breeches, finery which
could have charmed some of the insular families of the Pacific,
though they were totally disregarded by the inert natives of
New-Holland, whose first associations with European finery
were connected with hard and compulsory labour. " We put
them on them," says Dampier, speaking of the tattered rags
of the Bucaniers, " thinking this finery would make them work
heartily for us ; and our water being filled in barrels of about
six gallons, we brought these new servants to the wells, and
put a barrel on each of their shoulders to carry to the canoe.
But all the signs we could make were to no purpose ; for they
stood like statues without motion, but grinned like so many
monkeys, staring upon one another." It was found that they
had not even strength sufficient for the task of being carriers
of water ; and Dampier believed that an Enghsh ship boy of
ten years old would have been able to bear heavier burdens
than these feeble savages. " So we were forced," he says, "to
carry our water ourselves ; and they very fairly put the clothes
off* again, and laid them down, as if clothes were only to work
in. I did not perceive," he adds, " that they had any great
liking to them at first; neither did they seem to admire any
thing we had."
The Mosquito-men were busily employed during the time
that the ship was cleaned and the sails repaired; nor did
Dampier miss the opportunity of once again persuading his
messmates to go to some English factory and surrender the
vessel and themselves. The threat of being left on this bar-
ren and melancholy coast, among the most wretched of the
human race, compelled him to consult his prudence rather than
his duty, and to wait a fairer chance of escape.
The destination of the Cygnet was still CapeComorin; and
on the 4th of May they made the Nicobar Islands, the chief
commodities of which were ambergris and fruits, which the
inhabitants disposed of to any European vessels that chanced
to visit them. Dampier now openly expressed his intention
of leaving the ship; and Captain Read, believing that he could
not more effectually punish his refractory shipmate than by
granting his wish, and leaving him at this island, at once gave
him leave to go on shore. Lest Read might change his mind,
Dampier immediately lowered his bedding and chest, and got
some one to row him to the land. He had not been long on
shore when a party were sent from the ship to bring him back,
and he complied, aware that if he persisted in going away
against their will, the Bucaniers would not hesitate to make a
descent on the coast and kill some of the natives, who would
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 187
in turn revenge themselves on him. On returning to the ship,
he found that his spirited example had moved some of the
other persons who had long entertained a similar design of
effecting their escape, and three of them now joined his party,
of whom the surgeon was one. The captain and crew refu-
sed on any terms to let the surgeon depart ; but after some
altercation Dampier and his two companions, on a fine clear
moonlight night, were landed and left in a sandy bay of this
unknown island. One of the seamen who rowed them ashore
stole an axe and gave it to them, as the means of propitiating
the natives, or of buying provisions. They were speedily
joined by four Acheenese previously found in a captured proa,
whom Captain Read released before setting sail; and now they
fancied themselves strong enough to row to Sumatra. A Por-
tuguese, taken prisoner by the Bucaniers long before, was also
landed, and the party of eight considered itself able for de-
fence if attacked by the natives, though no one offered to dis-
turb them.
From the owner of an empty hut in which they slept they
bought a canoe with the stolen axe, and, placing their goods in
it, embarked for Acheen. It upset as soon as under way,
and though no life was lost their clothes were wetted, and what
to Dampier was of far greater importance, the journals of
many years and his drafts were damaged. Three days were
spent in drying their things, and altering their canoe into a
saihng boat, which was expertly done by the Acheenese, who
fitted her with a mast, outriggers, and suit of mat-sails. With
the natives, who watched all their movements, though more
from curiosity than suspicion, they bartered rags and strips* of
cloth for mellory, — a fruit the size of the bread-fruit, shaped
like a pear with a tough, smooth, light-green rind, which
Dampier asserts is confined to these islands. They also ob-
tained cocoanuts, which the Acheenese gathered, and might
have had hogs, but that they did not choose to disgust their
Malayan friends, who were Mahommedans. Once more they
embarked in their frail vessel, their only guides a pocket com-
pass, with which Dampier had provided himself, and a sketch
of the Indian Seas, which, contemplating escape, he had pre-
viously from a chart in the ship, copied into his pocket-book.
They had been out three days when the weather became
threatening and soon rose to a tempest. We shall employ the
striking language of Dampier himself to describe what follow-
* A strip of cloth which those islanders wear attached to their slight cover-
ing led Linseus into the ludicrous mistake of asserting, on the authority of
an ignorant Swedish saDor, that here existed a race of men with tails.
188 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
ed, nor, while it reveals so much of his true character and
feelings, could a better specimen of his more elevated and
earnest style be easily selected : —
" The wind continued increasing all the afternoon, and the
sea still swelled higher and often broke, but did us no damage ;
for the ends of the vessel being very narrow, he that steered
received and broke the sea on his back, and so kept it from
coming in, which we were forced to keep heaving out contin-
ually. The evening of this day was very dismal. The sky
looked very black, being covered with dark clouds. The wind
blew hard, and the seas ran high. The sea was already roar-
ing in a white foam about us; a dark night coming on, no
land to shelter us, and our little bark in danger to be swallow-
ed by every wave ; and, what was worst of all, none of us
thought ourselves prepared for another world. I had been in
many imminent dangers before now, but the Avorst of them all
was but play-game in comparison with this. I had^long before
this repented me of that roving course of life, but never with
such concern as now. I did also call to mind the many mira-
culous acts of God's providence towards me in the whole
course of my life, of which kind, 1 believe few men have met
the hke. And for all these I returned thanks in a pecuhar
manner, and once more desired God's assistance, and com-
posed my mind as well as I could in the hopes of it, and, as
the event showed, I was not disappointed of my hopes. Sub-
mitting ourselves therefore to God's good providence, and
taking all the care we could to preserve our lives, Mr. Hall and
I took turns to steer, and the rest to heave out the water ; and
thus we provided to spend the most doleful night I ever
was in."
The pious trust of Dampier and his companions did not fail
them. After enduring great hardship, they reached a small
fishing village in a river's mouth, of the Island of Sumatra, at
which their companions, the Malays of Acheen, were previ-
ously acquainted. They were so much exhausted when they
arrived here as to be unable to row their canoe to the village, —
another example of the sudden prostration of strength to which
persons who have been in imminent jeopardy are liable as
soon as the danger appears to be past. The people of the
place assisted them in, and a chief who came to see them,
being given to understand that they were prisoners escaped
like the Acheenese from the pirates, treated them with great
kindness. A house was provided for their reception, and far
more provisions sent to it than they could use, as they were
all sick from excessive fatigue, and the cold and heat to which
thej had alternately been exposed, now scorching unsheltered
WILLIAM DAMPIER* 189
in the noontide sun, and again bleaching in the chill rains of
midnight. After resting for ten days, though not yet restored
to health, they entreated to be allowed to proceed to Acheen to
their countrymen ; and they were provided with a large proa,
and permitted to depart. On their arrival at Acheen they were
strictly examined by the native magistrate, and then given up
to the care of an Irish gentleman connected with the factory.
The Portuguese died, and Ambrose, one of the Englishmen
who left the Cygnet did not long survive him. Dampier,
originally robust, and whose constitution was now by his hardy
mode of life almost invincible, recovered, though slowly ; the
remedies of a Malay doctor, to whose care he was committed,
having proved worse than the original disease.
We may here take a farewell glance of the Bucaniers, and
especially of those left by Dampier in the South Sea. In pur-
suing their old vocation they became more successful after the
Cygnet crossed the Pacific They captured many vessels,
and revelled in the plunder of several towns ; sometimes
cruising together, but as often in detached bands. Townley
was so far fortunate as to obtain with ease at Laveha the trea-
sure and merchandise landed from the Lima ship on the for-
mer year, for which Swan had watched so long in vain, and
for which the whole Bucanier force had battled in the Bay of
Panama. Townley afterward died of wounds received in
another attack. The French party stormed Granada; and
Groignet, dying of his wounds, was succeeded by Le Picard.
Harris followed Swan across the Pacific ; and Knight, satiated
with plunder, returned by Cape Horn to the West Indies.
The French Flibustiers countenanced by their government,
continued to flourish during the war which followed the ac-
cession of William III. to the throne of England. At length
Bucaniering having been severely checked, changed into the
more legitimate channel of privateering ; yet for more than
twenty years, a few desperate characters, English, or English
Creoles, outlaws or deserters, pretending to be the true suc-
cessors of the old Rovers, who had strictly limited their depre-
dations to the Spanish West Indies, continued to infest the
commerce of every nation, and haunted every sea from Cape
Wrath to the islands of the Indian Ocean, wherever robbery
could be practised with impunity either by land or water.
As to Dampier, want of room forbids us to describe minute-
ly the further progress of this voyage in all its details ; suffice
it to say that after some time spent at Fort St. George on the
island of Bencoolen, an English vessel arrived from Mindanao,
laden with clove bark, and having on board an Indian prince
by the name of Jeoly, whom Dampier had formerly seen as a
17
I9(^ WILLIAM DAMPIER.
slave at that place, and whom Mr. Moody, the supercargo of
the ship, had purchased from his owner on a speculation. In
this speculation Dampier now became interested, and con-
cluded to return home in the ship. The voyage from the ill-
ness of the crew proved tedious and troublesome, but it was
completed at last ; though the same bad fortune which had
attended Dampier at so many turns of life deprived him of all
advantage from l)ringing home Jeoly. He arrived in the
Thames in utter poverty, and was compelled by necessity to
sell his share of the " painted prince ;" thus forever renounc-
ing the project of carrying him back to Meangis, which poor
Jeoly was destined never again to revisit. After being seen
by many " eminent persons,'* he caught the small-pox at Ox-
ford, and died.
Of Dampier at this time we hear no more. The narrative
of his eight years' ramble around the globe breaks off abruptly
by saying, " We luffed in for the Downs, where we anchored,
Sept. 16th, 1691."
In 1699, under the patronage of the Earl of Pembroke,
Dampier undertook a voyage of discovery to New-Holland,
which terminated in several important geographical results.
In this voyage Dampier gave name to islands, capes, promon-
tories, straits, and so forth, in the South Seas, of which Euro-
peans had before but little if any knowledge. On the return
home from this voyage, while near the island of Ascension, the
ship being old and damaged, sprung a leak, and was obhged
to be abandoned. Dampier remained on board to the very
last. He had to regret the loss of many of his books and pa-
pers, and a collection of shells gathered at New-Holland.
After remaining at Ascension about five weeks, an Indiaman
and three Enghsh ships of war came into the bay. In these
Dampier and his crew took passage home.
Captain Dampier had not been long at home when the death
of King William III. took place, and was followed by the war
of the Succession. Among the private enterprises attendin^^
this war with France and Spain was extensive privateering;
and he obtained the command of the St. George and Cinque
Ports, two vessels equipped by a company of English mer-
chants, and intended to cruise against the Spaniards in the
South Seas. The St. George left the Downs in April, 1703,
with Captain Dampier on board ; but it was September before
both vessels left Kmsale. The basis of the expedition was the
old Bucanier maxim, no prey ^ no pay, — a principle ill-adapted
to the maintenance of discipline or order in a ship. In this
voyage Dampier had in view three special objects, — namely,
the capture of the Spanish galleons that sailed from Buenos
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 191
Ayres; and, failing that, to pass the Straits of Magellan, or
double Cape Horn, and lie in wait for the ship that carried
gold from Baldivia to Lima; or, finally, the oft-attempted ex-
ploit of the seizure of the Manilla galleon. The St. George
carried twenty-six guns, and a crew of one hundred and twenty.
Before the voyage was well begun quarrels broke out among
these irresponsible officers, and some of them quitted the ship,
while the commander, without being invested with salutary
power to restrain them, was left to bear the blame of the mis-
cx)nduct of the whole company.
The ships doubled Cape Horn, and reached Juan Fernan'
dez without any remarkable adventure. While lying here a
strange sail was. seen, to which both ships gave chase. She
proved to be a French ship cruising in these seas, and so
strongly did the old Bucanier associations influence Dampier,
that he acknowledged it was with reluctance he attacked a
European vessel of whatever nation. He however engaged,
and after a fight of seven hours, in which both ships suffered
considerably, they parted.
Before the proper latitude was reached, the Baldivia treasure-
ships had sailed. Though Dampier was the nominal com-
mander, Stradling, in the Cinque Ports, acted independently;
and as they differed about their future operations, the ships
parted company. A design to surprise Santa Maria in the
Bay of Panama failed; and though Dampier captured a few
small vessels, he obtained no prize of any value.
While lying in the Gulf of Nicoya, the commander and his
chief mate, John Clipperton, quarrelled, and the latter, with
twenty-one of the crew, seized the tender, in which were most
of the ammunition and stores, and put out to sea. It is alleged
that Clipperton at this time stole his commander's commission.
No captain ever sailed with a worse-disposed and more turbu'-
lent set of men and officers than those whom Dampier now
commanded. They had all the bad qualities of Bucaniers,
without their bravery, experience, and hardihood.
The St. George bore northward, and on the 6th of Decem-
ber, while only a short way beyond Port de Navidad, descried
a sail, which proved to be the Manilla galleon. The Manilla
ship had no suspicion of any enemy being on this coast, and
she received several broadsides from the St. George before be-
ing cleared for action. Even taken thus at disadvantage, when
her guns, which were of far heavier metal, were brought into
play, they at once drove in the rotten planks of the St. George,
and obliged Dampier to sheer oft*. The galleon also held on.
It is presumed that the number of her men quadrupled those
of the English ship, and her guns were eighteen and twenty-
192
WILLIAM DAMPIER.
four pounders, while those of the St, George were only fire-
pounders.
This proved a bitter disappointment, and the men became
more and more impatient to end so profitless and fatiguing: a
voyage. In hopes of better fortune, they were, however, indu-
ced to continue the cruise for a few weeks longer on the coast
of New Spain ; but this produced nothing, and it was agreed
to part company. One party, instigated by Funnel, the men-
dacious historian of the voyage, resolved to sail for India, and
by this route return home. A brigantine of seventy tons whicli
had been captured was given up to him, and the thirty-four
men who chose to follow his counsels; and the stores, small
arms, and ammunition were divided, four of the St. George's
guns being also given to this party. Dampier's crew was thus
left reduced to twenty-nine. After refitting his crazy disabled
ship he returned to the coast of Peru. They plundered the
town of Puna, and cruised along tilltheir ship was no longer
fit to keep the sea, when they abandoned her riding at anchor
at Lobos de la Mar, and embarking in a brigantine which they
had captured from the Spaniards, crossed the Pacific.
Of this voyage, and of the subsequent misfortunes of Dam-
pier in India, there remain no certain or distinct accounts. It
is however known, that, not having a commission to show, he
was thrown into prison by the Dutch, but was at length libera-
ted and returned home.
The fortunes of Dampier must have been at a very low ebb
when he returned to England after this disastrous voyage ; and
it is with pain we find this veteran navigator, as much distin-
guished by superiority of understanding as by nautical skill
and experience, obhged, in 1708, to act as a pilot under
younger and very inferior commanders. This, which was
Dampier's last voyage, again proved to be one round the world,
and was undertaken in the Duke and Duchess, two privateers
fitted out by several Bristol merchants.
Copious narratives of this voyage are written by the com-
manders, Woodes Rogers and Cook, but it is only incidentally
that we learn any thing from them of their distinguished pilot.
At Juan Fernandez, Woodes Rogers, on this voyage,
brought off* the celebrated Alexander Selkirk, who had been
left or rather abandoned here by Dampier's violent and tyran-
nical consort, Captain Stradling, four years previously. On
the recommendation of Dampier, Selkirk was made second
mate of the Duke.
The cruise of the privateers was successful. After captur-
ing several rich prizes, they turned their thoughts homeward,
and keeping the usual track of the galleons, reached Guahan
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 198
on the 10th of March, after a run of exactly two months, and
anchored under Spanish colours. Apart from this venial de-
ception, employed to facilitate the purchase of supplies, the
conduct of the English privateers was unexceptionable. They
rested for ten days, and made the north of Gilolo in about a
month afterward. At Bouton they stopped to take in provis-
ions and water, and next sailed for Batavia, where they expe-
rienced those noxious effects of climate from which hardly any
ship's company escapes at that most unhealthy station.
They sailed from Batavia in the end of October, waited long
at the Cape for a homeward-bound fleet, and coming round
the north of Scotland, five-and-twenty sail, Dutch and Eng-
lish, anchored in the Texel in July of the following year, and
in October, 1711, came to the Thames with booty in money
and merchandize valued at £150,000. From this date we
hear no more of Captain Dampier, whose name appears less
frequently in the narrative of Rogers than, from the eminent
nautical abihties of the man who bore it, it ought to have done.
In dithculties he was, it appears, constantly applied to, and his
former knowledge and experience taken as guides. At Bou-
ton, where he had been in the Cygnet, he was intrusted to carry
the present to the sultan; and, from respect to his judgment
and integrity, he was also chosen umpire in the very delicate
affair of deciding what was plunder for immediate division,
and in allotting the respective shares.
Dampier was of the number of those men distinguished
above their fellows, "who are not without honour save in their
own country;" or if at home his merits were appreciated,
wanting the most worthless quality of success, the glare and
show, they failed of their reward. By French and Dutch nav-
igators and men of science he has been uniformly regarded
with the warmest admiration, as a man to whose professional
eminence his own country has scarce done justice. They de-
light to style him the "eminent," the "skilful," the "exact,"
the "incomparable Dampier." Humboldt has borne testimo-
ny to his merits, placing the Bucanier seaman above those
men of science who afterward went over the same ground;
Make Brun terms him "the learned Dampier; and the author
of the voyages to Australia inquires, " 3fais ou trouve-t-on des
Navigatcurs comparahles a DampierV* The acuteness, ac-
curacy, and clearness of his nautical observations, and of his
descriptions and general remarks, have made his voyages be
ittssumed by foreign navigators as unerring guides and authori-
* But where shall we find navigators to be compareel with Dampiet I
17*
194 WILLIAM DAMPIER.
ties in all subsequent expeditions ; and his rapidity and power
of observation are fully as remarkable as his accuracy. His
hasty glance at the places of New-Holland where he touched,
has left subsequent voyagers little to do save to verify his de-
scriptions. Dampier's veracity has in no instance been ques-
tioned, even by those the most disposed to cavil at facts which,
being remote from their limited experience, appear extraor-
dinary or impossible. Other writers, combining into one the
relations of many different travellers, have amplified his de-
scriptions; but there is no detached account of the countries
he visited more full of vital interest and exact information than
the voyages of this wandering seaman.
The succession of brilliant discoveries which illustrated the
early part of the reign of George III. for a time threw the ad-
ventures of Dampier, and of every previous navigator, into the
shade, but they are again emerging into popularity. Compar-
ed with the voyages of recent navigators, his long solitary
rambles are as the emprises of the single knightly combatant,
bearing no proportion to the magnitude and splendour of regu--
lar battle-field, but, from their individuality, aften commanding
a more intense and powerful, because a more concentrated,
interest.
The cloud which rested on the personal character of Dam-
pier from the ignorance or misrepresentations of envious con-
temporaries, and the carelessness and haste with which writers
for the press copy from each other and adopt current state-
ments, is fast clearing away.
" It is not easy to name another voyager or traveller who has
given more useful information to the world, or to whom the
merchant and the mariner are more indebted." The philoso-
pher and the naturalist, have rarely been so much indebted to
any adventurer whose pursuits were so entirely remote from
their subjects of speculation.
Though the life of this navigator was spent in incessant ac-
tion, his natural genius appears to have been rather speculative
than enterprising. He liked to reason and to scheme, and lost
sight of present small but certain advantage in extensive and
brilhant plans for the future, which his evil fortune forbade him
to realize. If, indeed, there be such things as good and bad
fortune in human affairs independent of skill and exertion,
Dampier may be pointed out as an example of what the world
calls an unlucky man, — one to whom every event proves ad-
verse, — who seems singled out for misfortune. Except the
capital error of the mode of life upon which he entered, none
of his misadventures can be traced to himself; and this law-
less life enriched many of his contemporaries, while it kept
WILLIAM DAMPIER. 195
him in poverty and left him a beggar. In relating its inci-
dents, he has never once attempted to justify or palliate his
manner of existence for so many years. Amid the vicissi-
tudes and temptations to which it exposed him, his excellent
understanding and the principles he had imbibed in the vir-
tuous household of a Somersetshire yeoman preserved him, if
not entirely spotless from evil contagion, yet from that decay
and deadness of moral feeling which are of the worst conse-
quences of vicious companionship. He was humane, just in
the most strict and also in the most liberal sense, candid and
charitable in his judgments, and (rare virtues in a Bucanier!)
orderly and temperate, detesting the riotous excess of his asso-
ciates. Get over the stumbling-block of his early life being
squared by " the good old rule," and Dampier the Bucanier
was a virtuous man. In the South Sea, and afterward in the
Cygnet, he might have obtained command, such was the re-
spect his shipmates entertamed for his abihties; but the love of
adventure was his strongest passion, and his sole ambition the
acquisition of knowledge.
He appears latterly to have deeply felt the disgrace and
galling servitude of his lawless life, and serious reflection and
remorseful feelings pressed upon his mind with great force
long before he was able to get free of his wild associates in the
Cygnet.
By the time that Dampier returned to England with Woodes
Rogers he was far advanced in life, and his career for forty
years had been one of unremitting hardihood and professional
exertion. It is therefore probable that he never embarked in
any subsequent voyage ; and as the remaining part of his life,
whether long or short, is involved in complete obscurity, there
is but too much reason to believe that it was passed in neglect,
if not in poverty. Of this eminent seaman and traveller, though
little more than a century can have elapsed since his death, no
one is able now to tell how the evening of his life was spent,
when he died, or where he was buried. Had he expired in
some remote island of the Pacific, or perished in the element
on which so great a portion of his life was passed, some im-
perfect record might have remained to satisfy our natural desire
to knowthe last of the worn-out and veteran navigator; but it
was his fate to sink unheeded amid the conflicting waves and
tides of society ; and no memorial or tradition remains of his
death, in whose remarkable life the adventures of Selkirk,
Wafer, and the Bucanier commanders of the South Sea ap*
pear but as episodes. So much for human fame !
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK.
The first expedition of importance, fitted out wholly for
scientific objects, was that intrusted to the command of the
celebrated Captain James Cook. This great navigator was
born of humble parents : his father was an agricultural la-
bourer, whose steady conduct was at length rewarded by his
employer with the situation of hind or under steward. As
he had nine children, and his means were slender, he was
unable to assist materially their individual exertions to procure
a livelihood. James, when thirteen years of age, was appren-
ticed to a shopkeeper at Straiths, a fishing town not far from
Whitby ; but the predilection of young Cook for the sea was
soon manifested with that strength of inchnation which is sure
JAMES COOK. 197
to accompany peculiar talents. He engaged himself for seven
years with the owners of some ships employed in the coal
trade ; and, when the period of his engagement was expired,
he was promoted by his employers to the rank of mate of one
of their vessels. The coal trade of England, being chiefly
carried on near a singularly dangerous coast, where unceasing
vigilance is required on the part of the seamen, constitutes the
best school of practical mariners in the world. Cook, who
obeyed his own inclinations when he turned sailor, profited,
no doubt, in the highest degree, from the opportunities which
his coasting voyages afforded him of becoming acquainted
with the practical part of navigation. At length, being in the
Thames, in 1755, when impressments were carried on to a
great extent, he resolved to anticipate the impending neces-
sity, and offered himself to serve on board the Eagle, a man-
of-war of sixty guns. Shortly after, the friends and patrons
of his family in Yorkshire having warmly recommended his
interests to the care of Mr.Osbaldiston,the member for Scarbo-
rough, and captain (afterwards Sir Hugh) Palhser, who com-
manded the Eagle, reporting well of his conduct and capacity,
he was appointed master of the Mercury, a small vessel which
soon afterwards joined the fleet of Sir Charles Saunders in the
Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here the talents and resolution of
Cook soon became conspicuous.
It was found necessary, in order that the fleet might co-
operate with the army under General Wolfe, that it should take
up a position along the shore in front of the French encamp-
ments ; but before this manoeuvre could be put in execution,
the channel of the river was to be sounded. This diflScult task
required the union of more than ordinary intelligence and in-
trepidity, and Cook was the person selected for the purpose.
For several nights he carried on his operations unperceived ;
but at length the enemy discovered his movements, and, send-
ing out a great number of boats after it grew dark, attempted
to surround and cut him off. Cook pushed for the Isle of Or-
leans ; and so narrowly did he escape being captured, that as
he stepped on shore from the bow of his boat, the Indians in
pursuit of him entered at the stern ; and the boat itself, which
was a pinnace belonging to a man-of-war, was carried off by
the enemy. Cook, however, had accomplished his task, and
laid before the admiral of the fleet a survey of the chunnel,
which was found to be both full and accurate. After the con-
quest of Quebec he was appointed to examine the more diffi-
cult portions of the river St. Lawrence, with the navigation of
which the English had but little acquaintance. His zeal and
abihties soon after procured him an appointment as master to
198
JAMES COOK.
the Northumberland, which bore the commodore's flag atHali*
fax. Here he found leisure to apply himself to the study of
elementary mathematics, and to improve those talents as a
practical hydrographer of which he had given such ample
proofs in his first rude essays. An opportunity also soon oc-
curred of displaying his improvement by surveying a part of the
coast of Newfoundland. This island had lately fallen into the
power of the Enghsh ; and its importance as a fishing station
being fully appreciated by Sir Hugh Palliser, who was ap-
pointed governor in the year 1764, he strongly represented to
government the necessity of making an accurate survey of
its coasts ; and, accordingly, by his recommendation. Cook
was appointed marine surveyor of Newfoundland and Labra-
dor, and the Grenville schooner was placed under his com-
mand for this purpose. The manner in which Cook executed
this task confirmed the high opinion already entertained of his
zeal and ability. A short paper which he communicated to
the Royal Society on an eclipse of the sun observed in New-
foundland, and the longitude of the place as calculated from
it, procured him the character of a respectable mathematician.
But still higher honours awaited him. The transit of the
planet Venus over the sun's disc, calculated to take place in
1769, was looked forward to by the scientific world with much
anxious interest ; and it was earnestly desired that all the ad'-
vantage which could be derived to science from so rare a phe-
nomenon might be secured by observing it in distant quarters
of the globe. In accordance with this view, the Royal So-
ciety presented an address to the king, setting forth the advan-
tage of observing the transit in the opposite hemisphere, their
inability to fit out an expedition for the purpose, and praying
his majesty to equip a vessel to be despatched to the South
Sea under their direction. This petition was at once complied
with. The person at first designed to command the expedi-
tion was Mr. Dalrymple, chief hydrographer to the Admiralty,
and no less celebrated for his geographical knowledge than for
his zeal in maintaining the existence of an Australian conti-
nent. Dalrymple had never held a commission in his majes-
ty's navy ; and the experience of Dr. Halley had proved that
one so circumstanced cannot expect obedience from a crew
subjected to the discipline of the navy. The pride of the pro-
fession scorns to submit to those who have not acquired their
authority by passing through the ordinary routine of promo-
tion. Dalrymple, however, refused to engage in the expedition
unless with the amplest powers of a commander. The admi-
ralty, on the other hand, were unwilling to intrust him with
powers which might embroil him with his officers. Neither
JAMES COOK. 199^
party would yield ; and, while the affair thus remained in sus-
pense, Cook was proposed. Enquiries were then made as to
his abilities ; and, as all who knew him spoke favourably of
him, and great confidence is usually felt in the steady and con-
centrated talents of the self-taught, he was chosen to command
the expedition, being first promoted to the rank of lieutenant.
It is a proof of Cook's natural strength of understanding,
that his mind was not enslaved by habit, but that he was
always ready to introduce innovations into his practice when-
ever they were recommended by common sense and experi-
ence. Instead of selecting a frigate, or vessel of that descrip-
tion, for his voyage, he chose a vessel built for the coal trade,
with the sailing qualities of which he was well acquainted.
He justly represented, that a ship of this kind was more capa-
ble of carrying the stores requisite for a long voyage; was ex-
posed to less hazard in running near coasts — an object of great
importance in a voyage of discovery ; was less affected by
currents; and, in case of any accident, might, without much
difficulty or danger, be laid on shore to undergo repairs. The
ship which he chose was of three hundred and sixty tons bur-
den, and named the Endeavour. No pains were spared by
the Admiralty in fitting her out for the voyage; and, as the
improvement of science was its main object, persons qualified
to attain the desired end were appointed to accompany the ex-
pedition. Mr. Green was named by the Royal Society as the
astronomer; Dr. Solander, a learned Swede and pupil of Lin-
naeus, went as naturalist; Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks,
a gentleman of large fortune, and at that time very young, who
afterwards reflected so much lustre on his country by devoting
a long life and ample means to the interests of learning, re-
nounced the ease to which his affluence entitled him, and
commenced his active and honourable career by a voyage
round the world. Being accompanied by able draftsmen, and
being himself zealously attached to the study of natural histo-
ry, and amply provided with every thing conducive to the
gratification of his favourite pursuit; being at the same time
of a lively, open, liberal, and courageous temper, his company
was no less agreeable than it was advantageous. Before the
preparations were completed. Captain Walhs returned from
his voyage round the world ; and having been advised to fix
on some spot in the South Sea conveniently situated for the
erection of an observatory, he named Port Royal in King
George the Third's Island as a place well adapted for that
purpose.
Every thing being now prepared. Lieutenant Cook sailed
from Plymouth on the 26th of August, 1768. He touched at
200 JAMES COOK-
Rio Janeiro, where the Portuguese governor, no less ignorant
than suspicious, was much at a loss to comprehend the object
of the expedition; nor, after much trouble, was he able to form
a juster idea of it, than that it was intended to observe the
north star passing through the south pole. It was only by
stealth that Mr. Banks could go ashore, though nature seemed
here to teem with tiie objects of his research, and brilliant
butterflies flew round the ship to the height of the mast. In
leaving this port. Cook, after the example of Byron, sailed
over the position which had been assigned by Cowley to
Pepys' Island, and finally dispelled all belief in its existence.
He then directed his course through the Straits of Le Maire,
to pass round Cape Horn.
The naturahsts of the expedition landed pn Terra del Fuego,
and, crossing a morass and some low woods, ascended the
highest eminence they could descry. It was now midsummer
in this region, and the temperature during the day was mod-
erately warm, but as night approached snow fell in great quan-
tities, and the cold became excessive. The exploring party,
who had incautiously advanced too far, were unable to efiect
their return to the shore before sunset, and were obhged to
spend the night exposed to all the inclemency of the weather,
in a singularly desolate and unsheltered region. Dr. Solander,
who, having travelled in the north of Europe, was well ac-
quainted with the fatal effects of cold on the constitution,
repeatedly admonished his companions to resist the first ap-
proach of drowsiness, as the sleep superinduced by cold is
sure to prove fatal; but he was the first to feel the dangerous
torpor he predicted, and entreated his companions to allow
him to lie down and take his rest; but they, fortunately in-
structed by his lessons, persisted in dragging him along, and
thus saved his life. On reaching the woods in their descent,
they kindled a fire, round which they spent the night, and
when the sun rose they made their way to the ships ; but two
of the party, servants of Mr. Banks, who lay down to rest in
the snow, were found dead the next morning.
The voyage round Cape Horn into the Pacific occupied
thirty-four days; and Cook, who was rather fortunate in his
weather, seems to think it preferable to the passage through
the Straits of Magellan. In his voyage through the ocean, he
descried some small islands, of the group which had been pre-
viously visited by Wallis and Bougainville. He proceeded,
however, direct to the place of his destination, not allowing
himself to be detained by unimportant discoveries. At length
he arrived at King George the Third's Island, to which he
found that the natives gave the name of Otaheite, and anchored
JAMES COOK. 2^1
in Matavai, or Port Royal Bay. From the inhabitants he met
with the most friendly reception, and being instructed by the
errors of his predecessors, he drew up a set of regulations to
guide his people in their intercourse with the natives, which
reflect the highest honour on his good sense and humanity.
He changed names with the chief of the island ; thus solemnly
professing friendship according to the custom of the South Sea
islanders. Permission was easily obtained to erect tents on
shore for the sick ; a small fort was constructed, and the ob-
servatory set up. As the time approached for the observation
of the transit, the greatest anxiety existed among the officers
respecting the result, as a temporary cloudiness or unfavoura-
ble change of weather might totally frustrate the grand object
of the expedition. A party, however, was prudently sent to
Eimeo,a small island about twenty leagues distant, and another
was stationed in Otahcite, considerably to the west of Matavai
Bay, in order to lessen, by the number of observers, the chances
of a total failure. At length the important day, the 3d of June,
arrived, and the sun rose without a cloud. The observation
was made successfully by all the parties, and the minds of our
voyagers were relieved, the chief object of their mission being
thus happily fulfilled.
The mild and judicious conduct of Cook completely won the
confidence of the Otaheitans, and enabled him to form a more
accurate opinion of their character than the voyagers who had
previously visited their island. They were remarkably friend-
ly and affectionate, and indeed their attachments alone seem-
ed exempted from the characteristic levity which prevented
them from fixing their attention on the same object for any
length of time. They are a handsome people, finely made,
and with open vivacious countenances : their ingenuity was in
nothing more conspicuous than in the fine cloth, or rather
paper, which they made of the inner bark of a tree. The
garments of this material, which they wore, were becoming,
and even elegant, and were arranged by the women so as to
produce an effect little short of the classic draperies of anti-
quity. Their houses were little more than sheds, erected in
the neighbourhood of the trees under which they reclined and
took their meals during the day. These habitations stood very
thick in the groves which cover the low margin of the island.
High mountains rose behind, and a number of small streams
stole down the declivities to the sea-shore ; the whole present-
ing, from a distance, a most enchanting picture.
It was conjectured by M. de Bougainville that the inhabit-
ants of Otaheite were composed of two different races, and that
one of these was in a servile condition : Cook also notices the
18
302 JAMES COOK.
Buperiority of the chiefs in figure and appearance, but does not
venture to ascribe this difference to any circumstances of origin
or descent. He does not seem to have observed the power
which the chiefs usually exercised over their retainers, and
which the French navigator, with perhaps too httle reason,
seems to have considered as absolutely despotic. But the
king, it was evident, though treated with respect by all, pos-
sessed no power but what was derived from the voluntary at-
tachment of the chiefs, whose obedience or support in every
enterprise could be secured only by consulting them. The
rule of succession among these islanders is singular in the ex-
treme. The son, as soon as he is born, succeeds to the au-
thority of his father, who at once becomes only a regent in-
stead of king, if he be fitted for that office. Associations of a
licentious character existed among the chief persons in these
islands ; and, among other bad effects, tended to encourage
the crime of infanticide; a crime to which the law of inherit-
ance just mentioned may have held out some inducement, as
the ambition of the parent was at once blighted by the birth of
a son.
At the time of Cook's visit, the sovereignty had devolved on
a boy only seven years old, the son of Homai and Oberea, the
latter of whom had figured so conspicuously in Captain Walhs'
narrative as queen of the island. She lived separate from her
husband, and though still treated as a noble, no longer enjoyed
the same degree of power and consideration which had ren-
dered her friendship so valuable to the commander of the
Dolphin. As a further proof of the progress made by these
islanders towards civilization, it deserves to be remarked, that
their women were not condemned to labour, as is usually the
case amongst rude nations. They had, indeed, abundance of
domestic occupation, in making and dyeing their cloth, pre-
paring the meals, and similar offices ; but though they were
not permitted to eat with the men, they were in general treated
with respect and attention.
When M. de Bougainville arrived here, he found the island-
ers already acquainted with the use of iron, which they called
aouri, a name which he supposed them to have learned from
the Enghsh, who had preceded him ; but Captain Wallis ob-
served that they were not wholly ignorant of that metal in his
time, though he does not mention by what name they called it;
for as soon as they were presented with iron nails, they began
to sharpen them, while they took no such pains with pieces of
brass and copper. Cook circumnavigated and surveyed the
coasts of Otaheite, which he found to have a circumference of
about thirty leagues ; and after a stay of about three months
JAMES COOK. 36t
he prepared to depart. In leaving the affectionate islanders,
he remarks, " that, allowing for their theft, they need not fear
a comparison with any people on earth." A native named
Tupia, one of Oberea's ministers, and well instructed in all
the learning of his countrymen, offered to accompany the
Enghsh, and the proposal was readily accepted. The Ota-
heitans, it appeared, sometimes ventured two or three hundred
miles through the ocean in their open canoes ; and Tupia had
a vague knowledge of above eighty islands, the position of
many of which he attempted to describe. He was well ac-
quainted with the heavens ; and, in every part of the subse-
quent voyage in the Endeavour, he was enabled to point out
the direction of his native island.
Preparations were now made for departing ; and Captain
Cook hoped to quit the island without any misunderstanding
with the natives, but in this he was mistaken. Two foreign
sailors having been out, one of them was robbed of his knife,
and striving to recover it, the Indians attacked and wounded
him in a dangerous manner with a stone; his companion also
received a slight wound in the head. As Captain Cook would
have been unwilhng to have taken farther notice of the trans-
action he was not sorry the offenders had made their escape.
Another affair equally disagreeable, soon after happened.
In the evening two young mariners retired secretly from the
fort, and in the morning were not to be met with. Notice
having been given for all the company to go on board the next
day, and that the ship would sail that day or the day ensuing,
Captain Cook began to fear that the mariners intended to re-
main on shore. He was apprized, that no effectual steps
could be taken to recover them, without risking the harmony
and good fellowship which, at present subsisted between the
English and the natives, and therefore resolved to wait a day
in hopes of their returning.
The mariners not having returned the following morning,
an inquiry was made after them, when the Indians declared
they did not propose returning, having taken refuge in the
mountains where it was impossible to discover them ; and that
each had taken a wife. In consequence of which it was inti-
mated to several chiefs, who were in the fort with their women,
that they would not be suffered to quit it till the deserters were
produced. They received the intimation with very little signs
either of fear or discontent, assuring the captain that the mari-
ners should be sent back; but night coming on, Captain Cook
judged it was not prudent to let the hostages remain in the
fort ; and he therefore ordered them to be brought on board.
This gave an unusual alarm ; and several of them, especially
204
JAMES COOK.
the females, testified their apprehensions with great ablation of
mind, and floods of tears when they were coming on board.
One of the mariners was brought back in the evening by-
some of the Indians, who reported that the other, and the two
people who were sent to fetch them back, would be detained
till Tootahah, one of the confined should be liberated. Mr.
Hicks was immediately despatched in the long boat, with sev-
eral men to rescue the English prisoners ; at the same time,
Captain Cook told Tootahah that it was incumbent on him to
assist them with some of his people, and to give orders in his
name, that the men should be set at liberty ; for that he should
expect him to answer for the event. Tootahah immediately
complied, and this party recovered the men without any oppo-
sition.
When the deserters were examined, it was discovered that
the account which the Indians had given was no way false.
They had become fond of two females, and it was their design
to keep themselves concealed till the ship had set sail, and
continue upon the island.
Tupia, who had been prime minister of Oberea, and was
also the principal priest of the island, having often testified a
desire to go with them, on Wednesday morning the 12th, came
on board with a boy about twelve years of age, his servant,
named Tuyota, and finally requested the captain to receive
them. As it was thought he would be useful to them in many
ways, his request was complied with. Tupia then went on
shore, for the last time to see his friends, and took with him
several baubles to give them as parting tokens of remembrance.
On leaving Otaheite, Lieutenant Cook visited the neigh-
bouring islands of Ulietea, Borabora, Otahah, Huaheine, and
Raiataia. Tupia related, that in the time of his grandfather a
friendly ship had called at the last named island, and he also
stated that a ship had been wrecked on a low island called
Oanna. These ships were, probably, those of admiral Rogge-
wein's squadron, and Oanna may have been the Schadelyk,
or Pernicious Island of that navigator. At Huaheine, Cook
contracted a friendship with Oree, the old chief of the island,
from whom he experienced unremitting kindness, and to whom,
at his departure, he gave, along with some valuable presents, a
small bag containing coins and medals, and a pewter plate
with an inscription, as a memorial of his visit to this part of
the world. These gifts the old chief promised to keep in safe-
ty. The people of Borabora had invaded some of the islands
in the neigbourhood, and with such success that they were
looked upon as invincible, and were become objects of dread
to the simple islanders. Tupia was anxious that the English
JAMES COOK. 205
should terrify those haughty conquerors, and exhibit their su-
periority by firing great guns at Borabora ; and at length, to
calm his importunity, a ball was fired towards the island when
the ship was at least seven leagues distant from shore. To
the group of islands, which Lieutenant Cook now quitted, he
gave the collective name of the Society Islands.
After sailing four days to the west and south-west, an island
was discovered to which Tupia gave the name of Oheteroa,
The natives crowded on the shore to resist the landing of the
strangers : they were a handsome vigorous people, and seem-
ed far to excel the natives of the Society Islands in the beauty
of their dress. The cloth was dyed in various patterns, and of
several colours, though bright yellow seemed to predominate.
Their robes being collected round their waist by a belt of red
cloth, gave them a gay and warlike appearance. Some had
caps made of the feathers of the tropic bird, while others wore
small turbans of a very elegant appearance. Their canoes
were well constructed; and, as well as the javelins, were carved
in a manner highly creditable to their taste and ingenuity.
But no anchorage could be found near the island ; and as the
natives seemed bent on hostility, our navigators gave up all
thoughts of cultivating an acquaintance with them, and pur-
sued their voyage.
On the 15th of August they sailed from Oheteroa, and in
the beginning of October perceived, in the colour of the sea,
in the weeds with which it was covered, and the birds which
flew around them, unequivocal signs of the proximity of land.
At length, on the 6th of that month, land was distinctly seen
stretching to a great extent in the horizon ; several ranges of
hills were distinguished rising one above another, and a chain
of mountains of an enormous height terminated the picture in
the rear. The general opinion was, that they had discovered
the Terra Australis Incognita, but it was soon perceived that
this must be a part of New Zealand or Staaten Land, discov-
ered by Abel Tasman in 1642.
A party who went on shore in order to open an intercourse
with the natives met with no success. They were fierce, and
obstinately hostile ; but it was discovered, to the surprise and
pleasure of our navigators, that when Tupia spoke to them in
his native language, he was perfectly understood. In a quar-
rel which ensued, one of them was killed, and his dress ap-
peared, on examination, to correspond exactly with the draw-
ing appended to Tasman's voyage. As it was found impossi-
ble to commence an amicable correspondence with them by
gentle means, it was determined to resort to force, and, accord-
ing to the method followed by the first Spanish navigators, to
18*
206 JAMES COOK.
capture the Indians first, in order to have an opportunity of
treating them with kindness. This plan of proceeding can
hardly be justified upon principles of reason or morality, and
it has never been attended vrith such unequivocal success as
to palliate its demerits. Two canoes were seen entering the
bay, and the ship's boats proceeded immediately to intercept
them : in one, the natives escaped by paddling ; but those in
the other, which was a sailing canoe, finding it impossible to
get off, boldly prepared for battle. Of seven Indians who
were in the canoe, four were killed on the first discharge of
musketry, and the other three, who were all young, immediate-
ly jumped overboard, and attempted to save themselves by
swimming : they were, however, overtaken and picked up by
the boat, though not without some difficulty. They expected
to be put to death at once ; but as the studious kindness with
which they were treated soon convinced them of their error,
their consternation gave way to transports of joy. They con-
versed freely with Tupia ; and after having been kept a day
on board the ship, were again sent ashore.
The account which the boys gave to their countrymen of
their treatment on board the ship led to a correspondence,
which did not, however, bear the appearance of confirmed
friendship. The New Zealanders still maintained a fierce
and independent carriage, and acted so little in concert, that
the behaviour of different individuals was often of a totally
opposite character: but their distrust could not be generally
overcome, nor an intercourse established which was likely to
prove safe and advantageous. An attempt was made by them
to carry off*Tayeto, Tupia's boy, and they nearly succeeded;
but guns being fired at the canoe as it paddled off, the natives,
in a moment of fear, let go their hold, and the boy leaped into
the water. The New Zealanders made great exertions to se-
cure their prize, but the ships' boats finally succeeded in pick-
ing up the youth, whose terror at the violent conduct of these
savages was increased by the conviction which our navigators
had obtained, that they were cannibals, and even that they re-
garded human flesh as a dainty.
This bay, in which no provisions could be procured, was
named Poverty Bay ; and our voyagers, on leaving it, pro-
ceeded along the coast towards the north. They gave the
name of Mercury Bay to the inlet in which they anchored
while observing a transit of that planet over the sun. They
were surprised to find that the natives, notwithstanding their
ferocity, were not unacquainted with the art of cultivating the
ground. They had gardens, in which they reared gourds
and several kinds of fruits. A decked canoe also was found
JAMES COOK. 207
on this shore, which indicated their proficiency in maritime
affairs. Their heppahs or hamlets were forts neatly construct-
ed on elevated situations, defended by lines and trenches, and
accessible only by a steep and narrow entrance. They had
no knowledge of iron when our voyagers first touched here,
although iron sand was found in the beds of several streams.
The women were thickly painted with oil and red ochre, and
the men were tattooed after the usual fashion of the South
Seas. They were strong and active, not deficient in intelli-
gence, or in sentiments of generosity, notwithstanding the
cruelty of disposition engendered by their habits of continual
warfare. Tupia conversed much with their priests ; and from
the superiority of his knowledge and the variety of his super-
stitious lore, he was regarded by them with peculiar respect
and veneration.
In prosecuting his examination of the coast towards the
north, Cook entered a deep inlet terminating in a large river,
which he explored to the distance of fourteen miles: from the
magnitude of this river, and the general appearance of the
country round it, he named it the Thames. The timber
which grewhere was of enormous size, trees being seen nearly
twenty feet in girth six feet from the ground, and above eighty
feet in height to the branches.
Having finished the examination of the north-western shore
of New Zealand, Cook experienced such severe gales, though
it was now midsummer in these latitudes, that in five weeks he
did not advance above fifty leagues in his course along the
western shore. He at length reached a secure and capacious
harbour, which he named Queen Charlotte^s Sound. The
country was here taken possession of, and the sound carefully
surveyed. Wood, water, and fish, were in the greatest abun-
dance, the natives friendly, and plants of an antiscorbutic
quality were gathered on the shore, which soon restored the
crew to perfect health. Here our voyagers were particularly
struck with the exquisite warbling of the birds, which, like our
nightingales, sing only during the night.
On ascending a height in the neighbourhood of the sound,
Cook was surprised on descrying the sea to the south-east, and
thus found that the land, the continuity of which he had not
before suspected, was divided by a strait. Passing through
this strait, to which geographers have unanimously given the
name of its discoverer, he directed his course towards the north
till he arrived near the point where his examination of this
country had commenced. He then resumed his course to the
eouth-east, and followed the coast of the southernmost of the
two islands comprised under the name of New Zealand,, re-
208 JAMES COOK.
turning again from the south to Queen Charlotte's Sound,
The southern island, or as the natives call it, Tavai Poenam-
moo, is a rugged country, with mountains of prodigious height,
and covered with snow the greater part of the year. The in-
habitants also, though not more fierce, are ruder than their
northern neighbours. They differ likewise in dialect from the
inhabitants of Eaheinomauwe, as the northern island is called,
where, as the climate is more genial and the soil more luxuri-
ant, the population is considerably greater, and the arts as well
as the institutions of rude society much more advanced.
Of the natives of New Zealand, Cook entertained a highly
favourable opinion, notwithstanding their cannibalism, of
which he saw numerous incontestible proofs. He could not
collect from them any tradition respecting the arrival of Tas-
man on their shores ; but they heard of a country called Uli-
maroa, situated N. W. by W., where the people eat hogs, and
whence some canoes seemed to have accidentally arrived in
their country. The circumnavigation of New Zealand was
the first grand discovery of Cook. When Tasman touched on
that country, he imagined it to be a part of the great Terra
Australis, or continent supposed to extend to the south pole.
Our navigator was satisfied with having disproved this suppo-
sition ; and as the lateness of the season would not permit him
to continue his researches in higher latitudes, he determined
to direct his course to the eastern coast of New Holland, re-
specting which the learned world was still in total ignorance.
He took leave of New Zealand on the 31st of March, 1770,
and in twenty days discovered the coast of New Holland at no
great distance from the point where the survey of Tasman had
terminated. In proceeding to the north, an inlet was entered,
in which the ship rode securely for some days. Inhabitants
were seen, but, from their shyness and timidity, they could
not be induced to approach the strangers : they seemed to be
sunk ill that brutal condition which is insensible even to the
promptings of curiosity. From the variety of new plants col-
lected here by the naturalists of the expedition, this inlet re-
ceived the name of Botany Bay. No rivers were discovered
by Cook in his voyage along this coast, which has since been
found abundantly supplied with fine streams. The natives,
wherever they were seen, manifested the same repugnance to
the strangers, and the same indifference to the trinkets pre-
sented to them. Towards the north, the country grew more
hilly, and the navigation of the coast became more dangerous
and intricate.
No accident had yet occurred in a voyage of two thousand
miles along a coast hitherto unexplored ; but in latitude 16*^ S.
JAMES COOK. 209
a high headland being in sight, which from the circumstance
was afterwards named Cape Tribulation^ the ship during the
night struck on some coral rocks with so much force that there
seemed imminent danger of her going to pieces. The planks
which formed her sheathing were seen floating off, and the
water rushed in with such impetuosity, that, though all the
pumps were manned, the leak could hardly be kept under.
As day broke, land was descried eight leagues distant, without
an island between, to which the boats might convey the crew
in case of the ship's foundering. The guns and all the stores
that could be spared were thrown overboard, and preparations
were made to heave the ship off the rocks, although it was
thought probable that she would sink soon after. On the fol-
lowing night, however, she was got afloat, and, to the surprise
of all, it was found that the leakage did not increase. By con-
stant exertion and cool perseverance, the ship was navigated
to a small harbour opportunely discovered on the coast, and
the only harbour, indeed, seen by our people during the whole
voyage, which could have afforded them the same relief. On
examining the injury done to the vessel, it was found that a
large piece of the coral rock, having forced its way through
the timbers, had remained fixed in the aperture ; and but for
this providential circumstance the ship must have sunk the
moment she was got off the reef.
The cove in which our navigators found shelter is situated
at the mouth of a small stream, to which was given the name
of the Endeavour River. Here the natives appeared rather
more familiar ; but they set little value on anything offered to
them, except food. When some turtle, which they coveted,
was refused them, they avenged the affront by setting fire to
the long grass near the tents ; an action which had nearly
been attended with disagreeable consequences. Mr. Banks
and Dr. Solander found here abundance of employment; al-
most every thing connected with the animal and vegetable
kingdoms being absolutely new. Our naturalists were partic-
ularly pleased with the animal called by the natives kangaroo ;
they saw several at a distance, but a long time elapsed before
they could succeed in shooting one.
When the natives had become familiar with the ship's crew,
one of them was desired to throw his lance, which he did with
such dexterity and force, that though it was not above four feet
from the ground at the highest, it penetrated deeply into a tree
at the distance of fifty yards. On the 19th they saw several of
the women, who as well as the men were quite naked. They
were one day visited by ten of the natives, who seemed resolved
to have one of the turtle that was on board, which being refused,
210 JAMES COOK.
they expressed the utmost rage and resentment. At length
they laid hands on two of the turtles, and drew them to the
side of the ship where the canoe lay ; but the sailors took them
away. They made several similar attempts, but being equally
unsuccessful they leaped into their canoe and rowed off. At
this instant the captain with Mr. Banks and five or six seamen,
went ashore, where they arrived before the Indians. As soon
as the Indians landed, one of them snatched a fire-brand from
under a pitch-kettle, and running to the windward of what
effects were on shore, set fire to the dry grass, which rapidly
spread and endangered one of the tents. Appearing deter-
mined on further mischief, a musket loaded with small shot,
was now fired, and one of them being wounded they ran off.
The natives continuing still in sight a musket charged with
balls was fired near them, upon hearing which they soon got
out of sight ; but their voices being soon heard in the woods,
the captain, with a few of the men, went to meet them. When
they were in sight of each other, both parties stopped, except
an old Indian, who advanced before the rest a little way, and
speaking a few words, retreated to his brethren. The English
having seized some of their darts, followed them about a mile,
and then sat down ; the Indians sitting about a hundred yards
from them. The old man again came forward, having in his
hand a lance with a point. He stopped and spoke several
times; on which the captain made signs of friendship. The
old Indian now turned to his companions, and having spoken
to them, they placed their lances against a tree, and came
forward as in friendship; whereupon their darts which had
been taken were returned, and the whole quarrel seemed to be
at an end. When Captain Cook got on board, he saw the
woods burning at the distance of two miles from the fire thus
kindled by the native. By the night of the 20th, the fire had
extended many miles round them on the hills. The next day
one of the seamen who had strayed from his company, met
with four Indians at dinner : he was alarmed at this unexpect-
ed meeting, but had prudence enough to conceal his appre-
hensions, and sitting down gave them his knife, which having
all looked at, they returned. He would have left them, but
they chose to detain him, till, by feeling his hands and face,
they were convinced he was made of flesh and blood like
themselves. They then dismissed him, and directed him the
nearest way to the ship.
The ship being repaired, our voyagers left the harbour, and,
after much patient labour and anxiety, at length gained the
deep sea, having been three months entangled within the reefs.
They now prosecuted their voyage to the north, flattering
JAMES COOK. 211
themselves that the danger was gone by, when the wind abated,
and the ship was found to be drifting fast towards the reefs
which hned this coast nearly in its whole extent, and on which
the great waves of the Southern Ocean break with a tremend-
ous surf. Her destruction seemed inevitable, when a narrow
channel through the reefs was descried at no great distance;
and although the attempt was attended with great risk, yet the
ship was steered to run through it. Having thus entered from
necessity a second time within the reef. Cook resolved to perse-
vere through all difficulties in following the coast, lest he might
lose the strait that separates New Holland from New Guinea;
"if," as he doubtfully expresses it, "such a strait there be."
He at length reached a point of land from which he could dis-
cern an open sea to the south-west, and was thus convinced
that he had found the strait in question. He then landed, and
in the name of his sovereign took possession of the immense
hue of coast that he had discovered, and to which he gave the
name of New South Wales. The little island on which the
ceremony was performed received the name of Possession
Island.
The crew of the Endeavour had suffered so much from
sickness and fatigue, that it was not deemed advisable to pro-
long the voyage by an examination of the coasts of New
Guinea. Our navigator, therefore, held his course for Bata-
via, where he wished to refit his vessel.
On the 10th of October the captain went on shore and visit-
ed the only En'glish gentleman then resident at Batavia. This
gentleman whose name was Leith, received his countryman
in the politest manner and entertained him with hospitality.
On the evening of the same day, there happened a most
terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with
very heavy rain, by which a Dutch East Indiaman was great-
ly damaged both in her masts and rigging. The Endeavour,
though near this Dutch ship, escaped without damage, owing
in Captain Cook's opinion, to an electrical chain, which con-
ducted the lightning over the side of the vessel. A sentinel on
board the Endeavour, who was charging his musket at the
time of the storm, had it shaken out of his band, and the ram-
rod was broken to pieces : the electrical chain looked like a
streak of fire, and the ship sustained a very violent shock.
Next day Captain Cook waited on the council, who inform-
ed him that all his requests should be comphed with. In the
interim, a contract was made with the master of a hotel to
furnish them with as much tea, coffee, punch and tobacco, as
they might have occasion for.
212 ' JAMES COOK.
Tupia in the mean lime had been on board dangerously ill,
yet persisted to refuse every medicine that was offered him.
He was now removed to the town, and soon his whole frame
appeared as if reanimated. The houses, carriages, people,
and many other objects were totally new to him and filled him
with astonishment.
Captain Cook now applied to several persons to advance
him money sufficient to defray the expense of repairing the
ship, but not one could be found who had the requisite sum in
his possession, or, if he had, was willing to advance it; he
therefore made application to the governor, who issued his
orders that he should be supplied out of the treasury of the
Dutch East India Company.
After little more than a week spent at Batavia,the ill effects
of the climate began to be severely felt. By the twenty-fifth
of the month very few of the crew were well enough to do duty.
By the fifth of November, death was advancing with rapid
strides. Several Malay servants were engaged to wait on
those who were ill, but these people were so remiss in their
duty, that it was no uncommon thing for the sick man to leave
his bed in search of his attendant. By the twentieth, not above
ten men out of the whole ship's crew, were able to do duty,
and these were employed in getting the water and stores
aboard, and in putting up the rigging. The ship at length
being repaired, and the sick taken on board, they set sail on
the morning of the 25th.
On the 10th of June, land, which proved to be the Lizard,
was discovered by the same boy who had first seen New Zeal-
and ; and on the 12th, Cook came to an anchor in the Downs,
having been employed two years and eleven months in his
voyage round the earth.
The first important discovery made by Cook was effected
by the circumnavigation of New Zealand. When Tasman
described that country, he supposed it to be a part of the
great Terra Australis Incognita, extending probably across the
southern Pacific Ocean ; but Cook's voyage at once overturn-
ed this theory. An opinion, however, which has long existed,
cannot be at once dispelled, although utterly groundless, and
many still continued to believe in the existence of a southern
continent, although Cook's discoveries had cut off the connec-
tion between their theory and the facts which hitherto had
been adduced in its support: but to set the question of a south-
ern continent completely at rest, another expedition was ne-
cessary, and the Enghsli government, having now made the
advancement of science the object of national exertions, re-
JAMES COOK. 213
solved to continue their laudable researches. The king was
partial to tlie scheme; and the earl of Sandwich, who was at
the head of the admiralty, possessed a mind sufficiently liberal
and comprehensive to second effectively the wishes of his
sovereign.
Captain Cook was named at once as the fittest person to
command the new expedition. Two ships, the Resolution
and the Adventure, the former of four hundred and sixty-two,
the latter of three hundred and thirty-six tons burden, were
fitted out for the voyage ; and, that no opportunities might be
lost to science from the want of persons capable of observing
nature under every aspect, astronomers and naturalists of
eminent ability were engaged to accompany the expedition;
Messrs. Wales and Bayley proceeding in the former. Rein-
hold Forster and his son in the latter capacity. The ships
were amply stored and provided for a long and difficult voyage,
particularly with antiscorbutics, and whatever was thought
likely to preserve the health of the crews.
Cook sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of July, 1772, on
his second voyage of discovery. On his arrival at the Cape of
Good Hope, he was induced, by the entreaties of Mr. Forster,
to allow the celebrated naturahst Sparmann to join the expe-
dition. He now directed his course to the south, in search of
the land said to have been discovered by the French navigator
Bouvet, but violent gales drove him far to the east of the me-
ridian in which it was supposed to lie. After long struggling
with adverse winds, he at length reached the same meridian,
some leagues to the south of the latitude assigned to Cape
Circumcision. Having thus proved that the land said to have
been seen by Bouvet, if it existed at all, was certainly no part
of a southern continent, he continued his course to the south
and east.
On the 10th of December our navigators first met with
islands of ice, and on the following days these occurred in
greater numbers and of larger size : some of them were nearly
two miles in circuit, and sixty feet high ; yet such was the
force of the waves, that the sea broke quite over them. This
was at first view a gratifying spectacle, but the sentiment of
pleasure was soon swallowed up in the horror which seized on
the mind from the contemplation of danger; for a ship ap-
proaching these islands on the weather side would be dashed
to pieces in a moment. Amidst the obstructions to which our
navigators were exposed from the ice islands continually suc-
ceeding one another, they derived the advantage of having an
abundant supply of fresh water ; large masses of ice were
19
214 JAMES COOK.
carried off, and stowed on deck, and the water produced from
its melting was found perfectly sweet and well tasted.
On the 17th of January, 1773, our navigators had reached
the latitude of 67° 15' S., and they saw the ice extending from
east to west-south-west, without the least appearance of an
opening. It was vain, therefore, to persist any longer in a
southerly course ; and as there was some danger of being sur-
rounded by the ice, prudence dictated a retreat to the north.
On the 8th of February, the weather beng extremely thick and
hazy, it was found that the Adventure had parted company :
the rendezvous appointed in case of this accident was Queen
Charlotte's Sound, in New Zealand; and thither Cook direct-
ed his course. In the latitude of 62° S., on the 17th of the
same month, between midnight and three o'clock in the morn-
ing, lights were seen in the heavens, similar to those that are
known in the northern hemisphere by the name of the Aurora
Borealis. Captain Cook had never heard that the Aurora
Australis had been seen before, but the same phenomenon
was witnessed repeatedly in the sequel of this voyage. During
his run to the eastward in this high latitude, he had ample
reason to conclude that no land lay to the south, unless at a
very great distance. At length, after having been one hun-
dred and seventeen days at sea, during which time he hsid
sailed three thousand six hundred and sixty leagues without
having come once within sight of land, he saw the shores of
New Zealand on the 25tli of March, and on the following day
came to an anchor in Dusky Bay. Notwithstanding the
length and hardships of his voyage, there was no sickness in
the ship; the attention which he paid to the health of the men,
by enforcing cleanliness, by keeping the vessel dry and well
ventilated, and by the judicious use of antiscorbutic diet, being
attended with complete success. Having surveyed Dusky
Bay, he proceeded to Queen Charlotte's Sound, where Cap-
tain Furneaux had arrived before him.
The Adventure, after parting company with the Resolution,
had followed a more northerly course, and traced the coasts of
Van Dieman's Land along the southern and eastern shores.
Captain Furneaux reported, "that in his opinion there arc no
straits between this land and New Holland, but a very deep
bay." Cook had intended to investigate this point, but, con-
sidering it to be now settled by the judgment of his colleague,
he resolved to prosecute his researches to the east, between the
latitudes of 41° and 46°. But before he left Queen Charlotte's
Sound he succeeded in establishing a friendly and mutually
advantageous intercourse with the natives. He endeavoured
JAMES COOK. 216
to give them substantial proofs of his kind intentions, by making
an addition to their stock of useful animals. He put on shore
a ewe and ram, and also two goats, a male and female. A
garden also was dug, and a variety of seeds of culinary veget-
ables, adapted to the climate, were sown in it.
Although it was the winter season. Cook determined not to
lose his time in utter inactivity. His ships being sound, and
his crews healthy, he thought that he might safely proceed to
examine the Southern Ocean within the latitude of 46^ ; and
then, refreshing at some of the islands between the tropics, re-
turn in the summer season to carry his researches to a higher
latitude. His voyage from 'New Zealand towards the east was
not productive of any interesting discoveries, nor diversified by
any but the ordinary details of navigation. He felt convinced,
from the great sea that rolled from the south, that no land of
any extent could lie near him in that direction. When he had
advanced so far as to find himself to the north of Carteret's
track, he could no longer entertain any hope of finding a con-
tinent ; and this circumstance, with the sickly state of the Ad-
venture's crew, induced him to direct his course to the Society
Islands. During this part of his voyage, he saw a number of
tliose small low islands which compose the Dangerous Archi-
pelago of Bougainville.
The ships narrowly escaped destruction by drifting on the
coral reefs at Otaheite : they were saved only by the prompt-
ness of their commander and the unremitting exertions of the
crew. On the 24tli of August they anchored in their old sta-
tion in Matavai Bay. The men on board the Resolution were
at this time in perfect health ; but the crew of the Adventure,
on the other hand, suffered dreadfully from the scurvy, though
the two ships were equipped alike, and the same precautiona-
ry system to preserve the health of the men was prescribed to
both ; but zeal on the part of the officers was requisite to give
efficacy to the orders, and their example was necessary to en-
courage the men to sacrifice old habits in order to preserve their
constitutions.
During this visit to Otaheite, our navigators obtained a more
intimate acquaintance with the manners and character of the
natives. Of their religious doctrines they were unable to ac-
quire a distinct knowledge ; but they ascertained that human
victims were often sacrificed to their gods. They also wit-
nessed the Heavas or dramatic representations of the people,
and found them not devoid of archness and ingenuity. The
performance was generally extemporaneous, founded upon
some incidents presented at the moment, and in which our
navigators usually made a prominent figure. Otoo, the pres-
216 JAMES COOK.
ent king of Otaheite, a man of fine figure but of remarkably
timid disposition, contracted an intimate friendship with Cap-
tain Oook. Oberea, who, when the island was first visited by
Captain WaJlis, was so conspicuous a character, was now re-
duced to an humble station, and had declined as much in per-
sonal appearance as in rank. It is remarkal)le that few inqui-
ries were made after Tupia, who had accompanied Cook in
his former voyage, or after Aootooroo, the native of Otaheite
who had accompanied Bougainville to Europe; but,, though
the islanders were neglectful of their own countrymen, they
were uniformly sohcitous in inquiring after Mr. Banks.
On leaving Otaheite, Cook visited the other islands of the
group, where he found provisions in greater abundance. Oree,
the chief of Huaheine, evinced towards him the most affec-
tionate regard. Omai, a native of Ulietea, being desirous to
accompany the English, was admitted by Captain Furneaux
on board the Adventure: Captain Cook wonderc'd that Cap-
tain Furneaux would encumber himself with this man, who in
his opinion, was not a proper sample of the inhabitants of these
happy islands, not having any advantage of birth or acquired
rank, nor being eminent in shape, figure or complexion. After
his arrival in England, however. Cook changed his opinion,
and doubted whether any other of the natives would have
given more general satisfaction, by his behaviour among them.
"Omai," he observes, "has certainly a very good understand-
ing, quick parts and honest principles. He is of good natural
behaviour, which rendered him acceptable to the best compa-
ny, and a proper degree of pride, which taught him to avoid
the society of persons of inferior rank. He has passions of
the same kind with other young men, but has judgment enough
not to indulge them in any improper degree. I do ifot ima-
gine that he has any dishke to liquor, and if he had fallen into
company where the person who drank the most met with the
most approbation, I have no doubt but he would have endeav-
oured to gain the applause of those with whom he associated,
but fortunately for him, he perceived that drinking was very
little in use but among the inferior people, and as he was very
watchful into the manners and conduct of the persons of rank
who honoured him with their protection, he was sober and
modest, and I never heard that during the whole time of his
stay in England, which was two years, he ever once was dis-
guised with wine, or ever showed an incUnation to go beyond
the strictest rules of moderation.
" During his stay in England, he was caressed by the princi-
pal nobility, and did nothing to forfeit the esteem of any one
of them; but his principal patrons were the Earl of Sandwich,
JAMES COOK. 217
Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. It is to be observed that though
Omai lived in the midst of amusements during his residence in
England, his return to his native country was always in his
thoughts, and though he was not impatient to go he expressed
a satisfaction as the time of his return approached. He em-
barked with me in the Resolution, when she fitted out for
another voyage, loaded with presents from his several friends,
and full of gratitude for the kind reception and treatment he
had experienced among us." A young native of Borabora,
named Hete-Hete or Oedidee (as our great navigator named
him,) was at the same time allowed by Captain Cook to em-
bark in the Resolution.
On quitting the Society Islands, Cook directed his course
to the west, where he had reason to believe, from the accounts
of the natives, that much yet remained to be explored. At the
island named Middleburg by Roggewein, he was well treated
by a chief called Tioony : at Amsterdam Island his reception
was equally favourable. The language of these islanders dif-
fered but little from that of Otaheite, and they were evidently of
the same race. Some of our navigators thought them much
handsomer ; but others, and among these Cook himself, were
of a different opinion. The men were grave and stately; but
the women, on the contrary, were remarkably vivacious, and
prattled unceasingly to the strangers, regardless of the morti-
fying fact that the latter could not understand them. But these
people were chiefly distinguished from the natives of the Soci-
ety Islands by their superior industry. On the Island of Am-
sterdam Captain Cook was struck with admiration ; when he
surveyed the cultivation and the beauty of the scene, he
thought himself transported into the most fertile plains of
Europe : there was not an inch of waste ground. The roads
or paths occupied no more space than was absolutely necessa-
ry, and the fences did not take up above four inches each; nor
was this small portion of ground wholly lost, for the fences
themselves contained in general useful trees or plants. The
scene was every where the same ; and nature, assisted by a
little art, no where assumed a more splendid appearance than
in these islands.
Cook now directed his course again to New Zealand ; but,
on approaching that country, the ships had to encounter a suc-
cession of severe gales and continued bad weather, during
which the Adventure was again lost sight of and never after-
wards rejoined. ^On the 3d of November the Resolution an-
chored in Queen Charlotte's Sound. The winter had been
spent not unprofitably in revictualling the ships, restoring the
health of the crews, and obtaining a more accurate knowledge
19*
218 JAMES COOK.
of the islands between the tropics. And now, as summer ap-
proached, it was Cook's intention to run from New Zealand,
where wood and water were to be procured in abundance,
and to explore the high southern latitudes from west to east,
in which course he might reckon upon having the winds and
currents in his favour. While the Resolution lay in Queen
Charlotte's Sound, indubitable proofs presented themselves
that cannibalism was common among the natives: one of them
who carried some human flesh in his canoe, was allowed to
broil and eat it on board the Resolution, in order to satisfy the
doubts of some of the officers. Oedidee, who witnessed all
this, was shocked beyond measure at the spectacle : at first he
stood motionless as a statue, but his horror at length gave
way to rage, which vented itself not only on the New Zealand-
er, but on the officers who had encouraged him ; and he could
not be induced even to touch the knife which had been employ-
ed to cut the human flesh.
On the 26th of November, Cook sailed to prosecute his ex-
amination of the antarctic seas. His crew were in good health
and high spirits, not at all dejected by the arduous task which
was before them. In a few days they crossed the antipodes of
London, and were thus on the point of the globe which was
most distant from their home. The first ice island was seen
on the 12th of December ; and, on the 30th of that month,
our navigators had reached the seventy-first degree of south-
ern latitude : but here the ice was so compact that it was im-
possible to proceed any farther towards the south ; and it was
also obvious that no continent existed in that direction but
what must be inaccessible from the ice. It was Cook's inten-
tion to winter again within the tropic; but, in proceeding
thither, he wished to satisfy himself as to the southern land
said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez. He sailed
sufficiently near the position assigned to that supposed conti-
nent to assure himself that it could not have been any thing
more than an island of moderate size. He now directed his
course in search of Davis' Land or Easter Island, which had
been sought in vain by Byron, Carteret, and Bougainville:
Cook, however, succeeded better, and made the island on the
11th of March, 1774. The natives were found to speak a lan-
guage radically the same with that of Otaheite, and which thus
reaches across the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to the
sequestered islands in the East. Easter Island was found to
be remarkably barren, ill supplied with water, and wholly
without wood. But the attention of the Enghsh was forcibly
attracted by the great statues seen on the island by Roggewein.
About fifteen yards from the landing place was found a per-
JAMES COOK. 219
pendicular wall of square hewn stones, about eight feet in
height, and nearly sixty in length ; another wall parallel to
die first, and about forty feet distant from it, was raised to the
same height ; the whole area between the walls was filled up
and paved with square stones of blackish lava. The stones of
the walls were so carefully fitted as to make a durable piece
of architecture. In the midst of the area was a pillar consist-
ing of a single stone, about twenty feet high and about five feet
wide, representing the human figure down to the waist. The
workmanship was rude but not bad ; nor were the features of
the face ill formed, but the ears were long beyond proportion.
On the top of the head was placed upright a huge round
cylinder of stone, above five feet in height and in diameter;
this cap, which resembled the head-dress of an Egyptian
divinity, was formed of a kind of stone different from that
which composed the rest of the pillar, and had a hole on each
side, as if it had been made round by turning. It appeared
as difficult to explain how the natives of this island, who were
but few in number, could carve such huge statues with no
better tools than those made of bones or shells, or how they
raised them on their pedestals when finished, as to divine for
what purpose they undertook such gigantic labours; for it did
not appear that the statues were objects of worship ; yet on
the eastern side of the island they were numerous enough to
employ the male population of the island for many centuries in
their construction. The skill of this people in carving was
still more manifest in the ornaments of their canoes, and in
small wooden figures, of which the English brought home
many curious specimens.
From Easter Island Cook directed his course to the Mar-
quesas, discovered by Mendana in 1595 ; and on the 6th of
April he got sight of one island of the group which was, how-
ever, a new discovery, and received, from the gentleman who
first descried it, the name oi Hoodh Island. The other islands
seen by Mendana, St. Pedro, Dominica, and St. Christiana,
were afterwards discovered in succession. The ship with
much difficulty anchored in Mendana's Port, in the last men-
tioned island. Magdalena, the fifth island of the group, was
seen only at a distance. Of the inhabitants of these islands
Captain Cook tells us, that collectively they are without ex-
ception the finest race of people in this sea ; for fine shape and
regular features they perhaps surpass all other nations. Nev-
ertheless the affinity of their language to that spoken in Ota-
heite and the Society Islands shows that they are originally of
the same nation. Oedidee could converse with them tolerably
well, though the English could not, and it was obvious that
220 JAMES COOK. '
their languages were nearly the same. In their manners and
arts the people resembled the natives of Otaheite, but appeared
to be rather less ingenious and refined. Forts, or strong
holds, were seen on the summits of the highest hills ; but they
were not visited by the English, who had not become suffi-
ciently acquainted with the natives to venture into the interior.
Cook, having rediscovered the Marquesas of Mendana, pro-
ceeded to Otaheite, and passing by a group, to which he gave
the name of Palhser's Islands, and some others which had
been seen by Byron, he anchored in Matavai Bay on the 22d
of April. At this time there were no sick on board ; but as
the island seemed to abound with provisions, our navigator
was willing to prolong his stay here. His original stock in
trade was, indeed, now exhausted; but he found that the peo-
ple of Otaheite set a great value on the red parrot feathers, of
which he had brought a considerable supply from Amsterdam
and Middleburg Islands. He thus accidentally learned an
advantageous and easy course of traffic in the South Sea.
Among other entertainments with which our navigators
were treated during this visit to Otaheite was a grand naval
review. The vessels of war consisted of one hundred and
sixty great canoes, from fifty to ninety feet in length ; they
were decorated with flags and streamers ; and the chiefs, to-
gether with all those who were on the fighting stages, were
dressed in their war habits. The whole fleet made a noble
appearance, such as our voyagors had never before seen, and
could not have expected in this part of the world. Besides
the vessels of war, there were one hundred and seventy sail of
smaller double canoes, which seemed to be designed for trans-
ports and victuallers. Upon each of them was a small house
or shed ; and they were rigged with a mast and sail, which
was not the case with the war canoes. Captain Cook estima-
ted, at a moderate computation, that there could not be less
than seven thousand seven hundred and sixty men in the fleet;
but the immense number of natives assembled as spectators
astonished the English more than the splendour of the arma-
ment, and they were still farther surprised to learn that this
fleet was the naval force of only one of the twenty districts
into which the island is divided. On these equivocal grounds
they were led to form an extremely exaggerated calcuhition of
the population of Otaheite, which they estimated to be at least
two hundred thousand souls ; a number exceeding the truth,
perhaps, in the proportion of ten to one.
From Otaheite our navigators proceeded to visit the Society
Islands, at Huaheine. Cook was affectionately received by
the old chief Orce, who still carefully preserved the medals.
JAMES COOK. 221
coins, and pewter plate with an inscription commemorating
the voyage, which our commander had given him on a former
visit. Odidee, who for seven months had been the faithful
companion of our voyagers, and had made with them the tour
of the Pacific, was put on shore at Ulietea. He left the Eng-
lish with regret demonstrative of a strong attachment to
them ; and nothing could have torn him from them but the fear
of never returning to his native country. He was a fine young
man, of a docile and humane disposition, and of the better
class of natives, being nearly related to Opoony,the formidable
chief of Borabora. But from his inexperience and imperfect
acquaintance with the traditionary knowledge of his country-
men, but httle could be learned from him respecting their
history.
Cook again directed his course to the Avest, and repeated his
visit to the Friendly Islands. This name he gave to a group
extending through about three degrees of latituda and two
degrees of longitude, and comprising Anamooka, which Tas-
man, who first discovered it, named Rotterdam, Tonga-taboo
or Amsterdam, Eaoowee or Middleburg, and Pylstart Islands.
But this appellation, to which these islands were entitled by
the firm alliance and friendship which seemed to exist among
their inhabitants, and their courteous behaviour to strangers,
might perhaps be extended much farther, so as to include the
Boscawen and Keppel Isles, discovered by Captain Wallis,
and inhabited by people of the same friendly manners.
Pursuing their course to the west, our navigators discover-
ed, on the 16th of July, land, which was justly conjectured to
be the Terra Austrialis del Espirito Santo of Quiros. After
exploring the coast for a few days. Cook came to an anchor in
a harbour in the island of Mallicolo. The inhtibitants of this
island were the most ugly and deformed race which our navi-
gators had yet seen, and differed in every- respect from the
other inhabitants of the Southern Ocean : they were dark
coloured, of small stature, with long heads, flat faces, and
countenances resembhng that of a monkey. Their language,
also, was found not to have any discoverable affinity with that
prevailing through the islands with which the English had any
acquaintance. This people differed, likewise, from the great
Polynesian race not more by their language and figure than
by their scrupulous honesty. As our navigators proceeded
towards the south from Mallicolo, they passed by a group
which Cook named Skepkerd^s Isles, Farther to the south
was discovered a large island agreeably diversified with woods
and lawns over the whole surface, and exhibiting a most
beautiful and dehghtful prospect. This our navigator named
222 JAMES COOK.
Sandwich Island^ in compliment to his friend and patron, the
Earl of Sandwich. Still farther to the south was seen another
large island, called by the natives Erromango, which he coast-
ed for three days, and then came to an anchor in the intention
of procuring a supply of wood and water. This, however,
could not be effected without a violent conflict with the na-
tives, who were both fierce and treacherous. It was observed
that they differed from the inhabitants of Mallicolo both in
language and physical conformation ; they were well shaped
and had tolerable features, but dark coloured, and with hair
crisp and somewhat woolly. From this place Cook sailed for
an island which had been descried some time before at a dis-
tance. He found that it was called Tanna by the inhabitants,
from whom also he learned the names of three other islands in
its neighbourhood — Immer, Erronan, and Anaton. Two lan-
guages were found to be spoken in Tanna ; one of them,
which was said to have been introduced from Erronan, was
nearly the same with that of the Friendly Islands. The other,
which our navigators considered peculiar to Tanna, Erroman-
go, and Anaton, was difl^'erent from any they had hitherto met
with in the course of their researches. The people at Tanna
were well proportioned, but not robust. They had good fea-
tures and agreeable countenances. Though active, and fond
of martial exercise, they seemed incapable of patient labour.
It appeared that they practised circumcision, and that they
were eaters of human flesh ; though, as their island abounded
with hogs and fowls, and a variety of fruits, they could not be
driven by necessity to adopt this horrid practice.
Captain Cook devoted above a month to the survey of this
archipelago, with which previous navigators had made but a
superficial acquaintance. The northern islands were discov-
ered, in 1606, by Quiros, who supposed them to be portions
of the great southern continent. Bougainville, in 1768, dis-
pelled this idea, though he did not proceed to examine the
islands near which he sailed ; but Captain Cook, besides as-
certaining the extent and situation of the islands already
known, explored the whole group; and, conceiving that in
consequence he had a right to name them, bestowed on them
tiie appellation of the New Hebrides.
The season was now approaching, when it would be neces-
sary to resume his researches in a high southern latitude, and
he hastened therefore to New Zealand, where he intended to
refresh his people and prepare for a navigation of considerable
length. He sailed from the New Hebrides on the 1st of Sep-
tember, and on the 4th discovered land, near which the Reso-
lution came to anchor the next day. The inhabitants were a
JAMES COOK. 223
strong, active, and handsome race, bearing some resemblance
to the people of Tanna, and those of the Friendly Isles. The
same mixed character was observed in their language : they
had never seen Europeans before, but were friendly and obhg-
ingin their behaviour; and, what is still more remarkable in
the South Seas, strictly honest in all their deahngs. To this
island Captain Cook gave the name of New Caledonia : and
though compelled by necessity to leave it before it M^as fully
surveyed, he had nevertheless examined it sufficiently to prove,
that, excepting New Zealand, it is perhaps the largest island
in the South Pacific Ocean. As the Resolution pursued her
course from New Caledonia, land was discovered, which, on a
nearer approach, was found to be an island of good height, and
about five leagues in circuit. It was uninhabited, and proba-
bly our Enghsh navigators were the first persons who had ever
set foot on it. In its vegetable productions it bore a close re-
semblance to New Zealand: the flax plant of that country was
here particularly luxuriant; but the chief produce of the island
was a majestic species of pine, of such a size that, breast high,
two men could scarcely clasp the trunk. This little spot was
named Norfolk Island. Its fine woods and fertile soil allured,
some years later, a party of British settlers ; who finally
abandoned it, however, from the inaccessible nature of its
coast.
On the 18th of October the Resolution came to anchor in
Queen Charlotte's Sound. This was the third time of touching
at New Zealand during this voyage. On searching for the
bottle which Cook had left behind on his last visit, containing
the particulars of his arrival, it was found to have been taken
away ; and from other circumstances it was evident that the
Adventure had visit«d the harbour after the Resolution had left
it. While the Resolution remained here, the intercourse main-
tained with the natives was of the most friendly description;
Captain Cook continued his efibrts to stock the island with
useful animals, and for that purpose ordered a boar and sow
to be put on shore.
On the 10th of November he left New Zealand, to pursue
his voyage to the east. Towards the close of that month, he
had reached the latitude of 55^ 40' S., when, deeming it use-
less to search any longer for a continent in that direction, he
bore away for Cape Horn; and on the 17th of December, had
sight of Tierra del Fuego. This is the first instance of a run
quite across the Southern Pacific. It now only remained for
our navigator to cross the Southern Atlantic to the point
whence he had commenced his explorations. Having com-
pleted his examination of Tierra del Fuego and Staaten Land,
224 JAMES COOK.
he proceeded towards the east ; and, after a voyage of ten days,
land was seen at a distance nearly covered with snow. On
approaching the shore, it was found to be terminated in many
places by perpendicular ice cliffs of considerable height.
Pieces continually broke off with a noise like the report of
cannon, and floated out to sea. The general aspect of the
country was savage and horrid in the extreme. The wild
rocks raised their lofty summits till they were lost in the clouds,
and the valleys lay covered with everlasting snow. Our navi-
gator, who at first view of this land supposed that it might be
a continent, confesses that he was not much disappointed on
discovering his error; " for to judge of the bulk by the sample
it would not be worth discovering." In latitude 59°, and
about 8° to the east of Ncio Georgia, as this inhospitable
shore was named, land was again seen, presenting an elevated
coast, whose lofty snow-clad summits reached above the clouds.
To this bleak region Cook gave the name of the Southern Thule,
as it was the most southern land which had yet been discover-
ed ; but on leaving the coast he gave to the whole country the
general appellation of Sandwich Land, which he concluded
to be either a group of islands or the southern continent. But
the great quantities of ice which he met with led him to infer
the existence of a large tract of land near the south pole. He
now sailed as far as the latitude assigned to Bouvet's supposed
discovery; but no indications of land occurred, nor was it pos-
sible to believe any longer in the existence of Cape Circum-
cision.
On the 3d of August, they found themselves abreast a lofty
promontory; and early the next morning, the captain went
with two boats, to examine the coast, to look for a proper land-
ing place, wood and water. At this time the natives began to
assemble on the shore, and by signs invited them to land. The
captain went first to a small beach, where he found no good
landing. Some of the natives who were there offered to haul
the boat over the breakers to the sandy beach, which was
thought a friendly offer ; but they had reason afterwards to
alter their opinion. They put into the shore in two or three
places, but not liking the situation did not land. By this time
the natives conceived what they wanted, as they directed the
boat round the rocky point, where, on a fine sandy beach, the
captain stept out of the boat without wetting a foot, in the face
of a great multitude, with only a green branch in his hand.
They received him with great courtesy and politeness; and
would retire back from the boat on his making the least motion
with his hand. A man, whom he took to be a chief, seeing
this, made them form a semicircle round the boat's bow, and
JAMES COOK. 225
beat such as attempted to break through this order. This
man he loaded with presents, giving Hkewise to others, and
asked by signs for fresh water, in hopes of seeing where they
got it. The chief immediately sent a man for some, who ran
to a house, and presently returned with a little in a bamboo ;
so that he gained but little information by this. He next asked
by the same means for something to eat; and they as readily
brought him a yam and some cocoa-nuts.
In short, he was charmed with their behaviour ; and the
only thing which could give the least suspicion was, that most
of them were armed with clubs, spears, darts, bows and ar-
rows. For this reason the captain kept his eye continually
upon the chief, and watched his looks as well as his actions.
He made many signs to haul the boat upon the shore, and at
last slipped into the crowd, where the captain observed him
speak to several people, and then return, repeating signs to
haul the boat up, and hesitating a good deal before he would
receive some spike nails which were then offered him. This
made him suspect something was intended, and immediately
he stepped into the boat, telling them by signs that he should
soon return. But they were not for parting so soon, and now
attempted by force, what they could not obtain by gentler
means.
As they were putting off the boat, they laid hold of the gang-
board, and unhooked it off the boat's stern ; but as they did
not take it away, it was thought this had been done by acci-
dent, and he ordered the boat in again to take it up. Then
the natives hooked it over the boat's stern, and attempted to
haul her ashore ; others at the same time, snatched the oars
out of the people's hands. On pointing a musket at them,
they in some measure desisted, but returned in an instant,
seemingly determined to effect their purpose. At the head of
this party was the chief. Signs and threats having no effect,
their own safety became the only consideration ; and yet the
captain was unwilling to fire on the multitude, and resolved to
make the chief alone fall a victim to his own treachery ; but
his musket, at this critical moment, missed fire. Whatever
idea they might have formed of their arms, the natives must
now have looked upon them "as childish weapons, and began
to let them see how much better theirs were, by throwing
stones and darts, and by shooting arrows. This made it ab-
solutely necessary to give orders to fire. The first discharge
threw them into confusion ; but a second was hardly sufficient
to drive them off the beach. Four lay, to all appearance, dead
on the shore; but two afterwards crawled into the bushes.
Happy it was for these people, that not half the muskets would
20
296 JAMES COOK*
go off, otherwise many more must have fallen. One sailor
was wounded in the cheek with a dart, the point of which was
as thick as a httle finger, and yet it entered above two inches ;
which shows that it must have come with great force.
As soon as they got on board, the captain ordered the anchor
to be weighed. While this was doing, several people appeared
on the rocky point, displaying two oars which had been lost
in the scuffle. This they supposed was a sign of submission,
and of their wanting to give them the oars. He nevertheless
fired a four pound shot at them, to ht them see the effects of
their great guns. The ball fell short, but frightened them so
much, that none were seen afterwards; and they left the oars
standing up against the bushes.
In the night of the 5th of August, they saw a volcano, which
they observed to throw up vast quantities of fire and smoke
with a rumbling noise. They now made sail for the island
whence it seemed to proceed, and presently after discovered
a small inlet, which had the appearance of being a good har-
bour. Towards evening the captain landed at the head of the
harbour, with a strong party of men, without any opposition
being made by a great number of natives, who were assembled
in two parties, the one on the right and the other on the left,
all armed. After distributing to the old people and some
others, presents of cloth, medals, &c., he ordered two casks to
be filled with water out of a pond, about twenty paces behind
the landing place, giving the natives to understand that this
was one of the articles which they wanted. Besides water
they got from them a few cocoa nuts, which seemed to be in
plenty on the trees ; but they could not be prevailed upon to
part with any of their weapons. These they held in constant
readiness and in the proper attitudes of offence and defence,
so that little was wanting to make them attack them. Their
early re-embarking probably disconcerted their scheme, and
after that they all retired.
While they were bringing the ship nearer the shore, to wood
and water, they observed the natives assembling from all parts,
and forming themselves into two parties, as they did the pre-
ceding evening, one on each side the landing place, to the
amount of some thousands, armed as before. A canoe now
and then came ofl^, bringing a few cocoa-nuts and plantains.
The captain made an old man, who seemed well disposed,
understand by signs that they were to lay aside their weapons,
and throwing those which were in the canoe overboard, made
him a present of a large piece of cloth. There was no doubt
that he understood him, and made this request known to his
countrymen; for as soon as he landed, they observed he went
JAMES COOK. 227
first to one party and then to the otlier ; nor was he ever after
seen with any thing like a weapon in his hand. After this,
three fellows came in a canoe under the stern, one of them
brandishing a club with which he struck the ship's side, and
committed other acts of defiance, but at last offered to ex-
change it for a string of beads and some other trifles. These
were sent down to him by a line ; but the moment they were
in his possession, he and his companions paddled off in all
haste without giving the club in return. This was what the
captain expected, and indeed what he was not sorry for, as he
wanted an opportunity to show the multitude on shore the
effect of their fire-arms, without materially hurting them.
Having a fowling-piece with small shot he gave the fellow the
contents ; and when they were above musket shot off, he or-
dered some of the musketoons to be fired, which alarmed them
much. This transaction, however, seemed to make little or
no impression on the people there ; on the contrary, they be-
gan to halloo and make sport of it.
After mooring the ship, and placing the artillery in such a
manner as to command the whole harbour, he embarked with
the marines and a party of seamen, in three boats, and rowed
in for the shore. It has been already mentioned, that the two
divisions of the natives were drawn up on each side the land-
ing place. They had left a space between them of about
thirty or forty yards, in which were laid to the most advantage,
a few large bunches of plantains, a yam, and two or three
roots. The old man before mentioned, and two or three more,
invited them, by signs, to land; but the former trap was still
in their memory, Avhich they were so near being caught in at
the last island, and this looked something like it. In short
every thing conspired to make them believe they meant to
attack them as soon as they should be on shore. To prevent
this, the captain ordered a musket to be fired over the party
on the right, which was by far the strongest body ; but the
alarm it gave them was momentary. In an instant they re-
covered themselves, and began to display their weapons. The
ship now fired a few guns, which presently dispersed them,
when the party landed and marked out the limits, on the right
and left, by a line. The natives came gradually to them,
seemingly in a more friendly manner, some even without their
weapons ; but far the greatest part brought them, and when
they made signs to lay them down, they gave the English to
understand thdt they must lay down theirs first. Thus all
parties stood armed. Many seemed afraid to touch what be-
longed to the visitors, and they seemed to have no notion of eX'
changing one thing for another.
298 JAMES COOK.
Cook had now made a circuit of the Southern Ocean in a
high latitude, and traversed it in such a manner as to demon-
strate that no southern continent existed, unless near the pole,
and beyond the reach of navigation. During this circumnavi-
gation of the globe, from the time of his leaving the Cape of
Good Hope, to his return to it again, he had sailed no less
than twenty thousand leagues. On the 13th of July, 1775, he
landed at Portsmouth, having been absent from Great Britain
three years and eighteen days ; during which time, and under
all changes of climate, he had lost but four men, and only one
of them by sickness.
It has been related above, that Captain Cook, on approach-
ing New Zealand for the second time in the course of this voy-
age, lost sight of the Adventure, and never joined company
with that ship again. Captain Furneaux was long baffled by
adverse winds in his attempt to reach Queen Charlotte's Sound,
which was appointed the rendezvous for the ships in case of
separation. At length, on the 30th of November, the Adven-
ture got safe into the desired port. The Resolution not being
there, Captain Furneaux and his company began to entertain
doubts of her safety ; but, on going ashore, they observed on
an old stump of a tree these words cut out — " Look under-
neath." They dug accordingly, and soon found a bottle
corked and waxed down, with a letter in it from Captain Cook,
signifying his arrival on the 3d, and departure on the 24th.
Great exertions were now made to get the Adventure ready
for sea, and on the 17th of December, the preparations being
completed, Mr. Rowe, a midshipman, with nine men, were
sent in the large cutter to gather a stock of wild greens for the
ship's company. As the boat did not return the same evening
nor the next morning, and the ship was now ready for sea, Mr.
Burney, the second heutenant, proceeded in search of her, in
the launch, manned with the boat's crew and ten marines.
The launch proceeded, firing guns into all the coves by way
of signals, but no traces of the cutter were found till they
reached Grass Cove : here a great many baskets were seen
lying on the beach tied up ; when cut open, some of them wero
found to be full of roasted flesh, and some of fern root, which
served the natives for bread. On further search, some shoes
were picked up, and a hand, which was immediately known
to have belonged to Thomas Hill, one of the forecastle men,
the initials of his name being marked on it with an Otaheitan
tatooing instrument. The natives were collected in considera-
ble numbers round Grass Cove, shouting and inviting the
English to land, but evidently with no friendly intentions.
From their numbers, and the suspicion which their conduct
JAMES COOK.
2dd
excited in our people, Lieutenant Burney did not deem it pru-
dent to trust himself among them, but he pursued his examin-
ation far enough to obtain a melancholy certainty as to the fate
of his unfortunate companions. " On the beach," he says,
*' were two bundles of celery, which had been gathered for
loading the cutter ; a broken oar was stuck upright in the
ground, to which the natives had tied their canoes, a proof
that the attack had been made here. I then searched all
along at the back of the beach to see if the cutter was there.
We found no boat, but instead of her such a shocking scene of
carnage and barbarity as can never be mentioned nor thought
of but with horror; for the heads, hearts, and lungs of several
of our people were seen lying on the beach ; and, at a little dis-
tance, the dogs gnawing their entrails." The men who had
thus fiilleu victims to the barbarity of the natives were among
the healthiest and best of the ship's crew.
The Adventure was detained in the sound four days after
this lamentable occurrence; during which time no natives
were seen. On the 23d of December, however, she got to
sea, and in little more than a month reached Cape Horn, being
favoured by a strong current running to the east, and by west-
erly winds which blow continually in the summer season in
the great ocean. Captain Furneaux continued his course east-
ward to the Cape of Good Hope, where he refitted his ship
and refreshed his people. He then sailed for England, and
anchored at Spithead on the 14th of July, 1774.
In 1769 some discoveries of importance were made in the
South Seas by a French mercantile adventurer. Two ships
were fitted out in Bengal by MM. Law and Chevalier, for a
trading voyage to Peru, and were placed under the command
of M. ds Surville. While he was preparing to embark, news
arrived in India that the English had discovered in the South
Sea, seven hundred leagues from Peru, and in latitude 27^ S.,
an island exceedingly rich, and inhabited by Jews. This story
gained credit, being congenial to the avaricious cravings of
mankind ; and even those who suspected fiction in the men-
tion of Jews were still willing to believe that the newly discov-
ered country was eminently rich. Surville, touching at the
Bashee Islands, carried off three of the natives to supply the
deficiencies of his crew ; thiis furnishing a conspicuous exam-
ple of that overbearing violence which has almost universally
forced weak and uncivilized nations to regard Europeans as
their natural enemies. In running to the south-east from New
Guinea he discovered land, to which he gave the name of the
Land of the Arsacides, and which was, in fact, a part of that
long chain of islands that had already been seen by Bougain-
20*
230 JAMES COOK.
ville, who gave the name of Louisiade to the portion which he
had examined. Surville, in his intercourse with the natives,
found them to be of a fierce, intractable, and treacherous dis-
position, and chose to desij^nate them Arsacides, a name which
he supposed to be equivalent to the word assassins. Surville
afterwards visited New Zealand, and anchored in a bay, to
which he gave the name of Lauriston. Captain Cook, who
named it Double Bay, was at the same time employed in sur-
veying its shores, yet these two navigators did not meet nor
descry each other. The French commander, having lost his
boat while anchoring here, went on shore with an armed party
to punish the natives, whom he supposed to have stolen it. In
a short time he burned several villages, and carried off a native
chief. This outrage, perpetrated by some of the first Europe-
ans who visited them, was soon afterwards repaid with cruel
reprisals by the New Zealanders. The chief died at Juan
Fernandez, and Surville was drowned while going on shore at
Valparaiso.
The Land of the Arsacides, which Surville had coasted on
the north-eastern side, was again discovered in 1789, by Lieu-
tenant Shortland, of the British navy, on his voyage from Port
Jackson to the East Indies: he followed its southern shores,
to which he gave the name of New Georgia, and passed
through the straits of Bougainville, which he named from him-
self, being apparently ignorant of the discoveries of the French
navigators. The chain of large islands thus seen successively
and partially by Bougainville, Surville, and Shortland, and
which stretch from north-west to south-east, between New
Guinea and the New Hebrides, are unquestionably the Salo-
mon Islands of the early Spanish navigators. The Egmont
Island of Carteret, who sought the Salomon Islands, and who
approached them very closely without being aware of it, may
be considered as belonging to the archipelago.
It has been already mentioned that Bougainville brought
home with him to France a native of Otaheite named Aootoo-
roo. When the fame of Cook's discoveries began to excite a
general interest in Europe, Captain Marion du Frcsne, anima-
ted with a desire to emulate the glory of the English navigator,
offered to take back the Otaheitean to his native land from the
Isle of France at his own expense : the offer was accepted ;
and Kerguelen, a navigator of some note, was commissioned
to carry Aootooroo to the Isle of France, and then to proceed
to examine more carefully the southern part of the Atlantic
Ocean. The Otaheitean died at Madagascar ; but Marion
did not on that account relinquish his plans, but proceeded, in
the ardent hope of making some important discoveries. He
JAMES COOK. S^
arrived at New Zealand without any accident, and anchored
in the Bay of Islands, where his people lived on terms of
famiharity, and apparently of cordial friendship with the na-
tives; but some offence was given unawares to the passionate
and capricious savages: Marion was murdered, with sixteen
officers and men who had accompanied him on shore. Anoth-
er party of eleven men, who were employed cutting wood in a
different quarter, were at the same time set upon suddenly, and
only one escaped to the ships to relate the dismal fate of his
companions. When the French landed to seek the remains
of their unfortunate commander, the natives insultingly cried
to them from their fastnesses, " Tacowry (the chief of the dis-
trict) has killed and eaten Marion." After this melancholy
accident the ships returned to the Isle of France under the
command of M. Duclesmeur, all plans of discovery being aban-
doned.
Kerguelen in the mean time sailed from the Isle of France
in January, 1772; and, on the 12th of February, discovered,
in latitude 50^ 5' S., high land, near the coast of which he re-
mained six days; during this time he was separated from the
corvette which accompanied him. To the bleak and sterile
shores which he had discovered he gave his own name ; took
formal possession of them for his sovereign ; and, on his return
to France, described their appearance in such glowing terms,
that Louis XV., deceived by his representations, hung to his
button-hole, with his own hand, the cross of St. Louis. Ker-
guelen's enemies, however, insisted that he had seen ice at a
distance, and mistaken it for land ; they called on him to show
some of the productions of the country as a proof of his dis-
covery, and insinuated that he had purposely got rid of his
comrade that he might be at liberty to indulge in gross fictions.
The king, however, afforded him the means of refuting these
aspersions: Kerguelen sailed again to the Southern Atlantic;
and, in December, 1773, again discovered land : by the 6th of
January following he had traced its coasts above eighty leagues.
It was, however, a barren, inhospitable, and, in general, an
unapproachable shore, affording nothing that could satisfy the
French nation of the importance of his discoveries. On his
return he was accused of culpable indifference to the safety of
his men and officers, or rather of purposely exposing those
whom he disliked to dangers which eventually proved fatal.
Being unable to exculpate himself, he was deprived of his
rank and thrown into prison.
No expedition, fitted out for the purpose of maritime discov-
ery, had ever equalled that from which Captain Cook had now
returned, in the magnitude and arduous nature of its peculiar
232 JAMES COOK.
object; and none had ever so completely answered its inten-
tions, and performed its task with so httle loss of life or injury
to the ships. The success of CookVvoyage was gratifying- in
the highest degree to those who had patronized the undertaking.
The F^arl of Sandwich was still at the head of the admiralty,
and felt naturally disposed to reward liberally one whose cour-
age and skill had so well justified his expectations. Cook was
immediately raised to the rank of post captain, and obtained
a more substantial mark of favour, being appointed one of the
captains of Greenwich hospital^ which fvfforded him a liberal
maintenance and repose from his professional labours. In
February, 1776, only a hw months after his return, he was
elected a fellow of the Royal Society; and on the evening of
his first appearance there, a paper was read containing an ac-
count of the method he had taken to preserve the health of the
crew of his majesty's ship the Resolution, during her voyage
round the world. The humane and successful attention which
Cook bestowed on his ship's company was soon after reward-
ed by the Copley medal, a prize annually bestowed by the
Royal Society on the author of the best experimental paper of
the year. In the discourse which the President, Sir John
Pringle, delivered on the occasion of bestowing the medal, he
uses the following emphatic expressions : —
"What inquiry can be so useful as that which has for its
object the saving the lives of menl and where shall we find
one more successful than that before us? Here are no vain
boastings of the empiric, nor ingenious and delusive theories of
the dogmatist; but a concise and artless, and an uncontested,
relation of the means by which, under divine favour. Captain
Cook with a company of one hundred and eighteen men per-
formed a voyage of three years and eighteen days throughout
all the climates from fifty -two degrees north to seventy-one de-
grees south latitude, with the loss ^only one man by sickness.
I would now inquire of the most conversant with the bills of
mortality, whether, in the most healthy climate, and the best
condition of life, they have ever found so small a number of
deaths within that space of time 1 How great and agreeable,
then, must our surprise be, after purusing the histories of long
navigations in former days, when so many perished by marine
diseases, to find the air of the sea acquitted of all malignity ;
and, in fine, that a voyage round the world may be undertaken
with less danger, perhaps, to health, than a common tour in
Europe!"
The great question, as to the existence of a southern conti-
nent, was finally set at rest by the result of this voyage ; not
but that immense tracts of land might eidst in the neighbour-
JAMES COOK. 233
hood of the south pole. But Cook's researches reduced the
hmits of the southern continent, if it exist at all, within such
high latitudes, as completely to dispel all those hopes of un-
bounded wealth and fertihty with which imagination had hith-
erto graced that undiscovered country. One grand problem
still divided the opinions of speculative geographers, and eluded
every attempt made at a practical solution. The English na-
tion had always felt a pecuUar interest in the question of a
north-west passage. Their earliest and most constant efforts
in the career of discovery were directed towards Hudson's and
Baffin's Bays in search of a communication with the Pacific
Ocean, so that they might sail by a shorter navigation to China
and Japan. In consequence of the disputes between Mr.
Dobbs and Captain Middleton, respecting the feasibility of the
scheme, the agitation of the question was tolerably recent in
the public mind, and government adopting the views of the
former gentleman, a reward of twenty thousand pounds was
offered by act of parliament to those who should discover the
desired passage.
The British government, captivated with the glory that
might result from expeditions destined for the improvement of
science, resolved now to direct its exertions towards the north-
west ; and, as a preliminary measure. Captain Phipps, (after-
wards lord Mulgrave,) was despatched towards the north pole,
to ascertain how far navigation was practicable in that quar-
ter. After struggling obstinately with innumerable difficulties
and dangers, arising from the quantity of ice that beset him,
he was obliged to return, after having penetrated to the lati-
tude of 80'' 30', or within 9J° of the terrestrial pole.
The hope of finding a passage between the Atlantic and Pa-
cific Oceans was not, however, abandoned; and consultations
were held by lord Sandwich with Sir Hugh Palliser, and other
experienced officers, relative to the plan which should be
adopted in the expedition, and to the choice of a commander.
Captain Cook had earned, by his eminent services, the privi-
lege of honourable repose ; and no one thought of imposing
on him, for the third time, the dangers and hardships of a
voyage of discovery round the world : but being invited to dine
with lord Sandwich, in order that he might lend the light of
his valuable experience to the various particulars under dis-
cussion, he was so fired with the observations that were made
on the benefits likely to redound to science, to navigation, and
the intercourse of mankind, from the projected expedition, that
he voluntarily offered to take the command of it himself. This
proposal was too much in accordance with the wishes of lord
Sandwich to be rejected through motives of mere delicacy;
234 JAMES COOK.
and Captain Cook was appointed accordingly to the command
of the expedition in February, 1776. The act of parhament,
passed in 1745, which secured a reward of twenty thousand
pounds to ships belonging to any of his majesty'' s subjects,
which should make the proposed discovery, was now also
amended so as to include ships belonging to his majesty, and
proceeding in any direction, for the old act referred only to
ships which should find a passage through Hudson's Bay ;
whereas Cook was directed by his instructions to proceed into
the Pacific Ocean, and to commence his researches on the
north-west coast of America, in the latitude of 65^ ; and not
to lose time in exploring rivers or inlets until he had reached
that latitude.
The vessels fitted out for this voyage were the Resolution
and Discovery, the latter under the command of Captain Ed-
ward Clerke. Messrs. Bay ley and Anderson, who had both
accompanied Captain Cook in his preceding voyage, now
embarked with him a second time, the former in the capacity
of astronomer, the latter in that of naturalist. Omai, who,
during his residence in England, had been treated with great
kindness, and loaded with presents from all quarters, now
prepared to return to his native country ; but the joy which he
felt at the idea of returning to his relations in possession of
inestimable riches, (for such the gifts with which he was loaded
appeared to him to be,) scarcely equalled his regret at quitting
shores where he experienced so much kindness and attention,
and where the multiplicity of strange objects presented to his
view, awakened him as it were to a new existence.
On the 12th of July, 1776, Captain Cook sailed from Ply-
mouth Sound on his third voyage of discovery. In Table
Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope, he was joined by Captain
Clerke, whose departure had been unavoidably retarded.
Here both the ships increased their freight of live stock, con-
sisting of cows, horses, sheep, and goats, which were destined
for the supply of the islands in the South Seas. On the 30th
of November our navigators left the Cape of Good Hope ; and,
on the 12th of the following month, two small islands were
descried : they had been previously discovered by Marion and
Crozet ; but not having received any name from them. Captain
Cook called them Prince Edward's Islands. They appeared
to be bleak and desolate, with bold rocky shores, and moun-
tains in the rear, the sides and summits of which were covered
with snow. Though it was now summer in the southern
liemisphere, the weather was as severe as it usually is in Eng-
land in the depth of winter.
JAMES COOK. 235
On the 24th high land was again seen, which proved to be
that discovered not long before by the French navigator, Ker-
guelen. A bottle was found on shore containing a piece of
parchment, with an inscription written by him, intimating that
he had visited this country in 1772 and 1773. Cook wrote
the names of his ships and the date of his voyage on the other
side of the parchment, which he then replaced in the bottle.
This country appeared, as far as the eye could reach, to be
little better than a huge assemblage of bare rocks ; it had a
little herbage, but not a single shrub or tree. Some verdure,
which from the sea had an enticing appearance, was found, on
nearer approach, to be occasioned by a small plant resembling
saxifrage, which, with a few species of mosses and lichens,
constituted the whole vegetable productions of this inhospitable
shore. Fresh w ter, however, was abundant, and the rocks
were covered with penguins and with seals: the latter so un-
used to be disturbed, that they evinced no timidity ; and as
many as were wanted for their oil or skins were killed with-
out difficulty. Cook found that Kerguelen's Land, instead of
being a continent, as its first discoverer had supposed, was
only an island, extending in breadth from north to south not
more than one hundred miles. He did not wish to change the
name which it had received from its first discoverer, but that
which he suggested as extremely applicable to it — The Island
of Desolation, — has since been generally adopted in English
maps. Soon after leaving this desolate coast, our navigators
fell in with winds from the north, which brought on so dense a
fog that the ships ran above three hundred leagues in the dark :
they could rarely descry each other, and it was necessarjr to
fire guns continually to prevent the inconvenience of a separa-
tion. At length, on the 26th of January, 1777, the ships
anchored in Adventure Bay, on the southern coast of Van
Dieman's Land. Here their first care was to collect grass for
the cattle, which had suffered much from the severity of the
weather and the distresses of a long sea passage. Two young
bulls, one heifer, two rams, and several of the goats, had died
while the ships were employed in the survey of Kerguelen's
Land.
While the English remained here they were agreeably sur-
prised by a visit from some of the natives, who in their abject
misery, rooted indolence, and stupidity, appeared to be on an
equality with the wretched inhabitants of Terra del Fuego.
Their most comfortable dwellings were the trunks of large
trees hollowed out by fire. They appeared to be ignorant of
the art of fishing ; not a single canoe was seen on their whole
236 JAMES COOK.
coast. Their chief subsistence was derived from small birds
and shell-fish, which they collected along the shore.
A sufficient supply of fodder being procured for the cattle,
Captain Cook left Van Dieman's Land, of which, relying on
the erroneous conclusions of Captain Furneaux, he observes,
"It is well known to be the southern part of New Holland."
The ships anchored on the 12th of February in their old
station in Queen Charlotte's Sound. On their arrival in New
Zealand there were but two invalids in both the crews. Cap-
tain Cook was not a little surprised at the shyness and mistrust
of the natives, most of whom were known to him, and had ex-
perienced his kindness on his former voyages ; but he soon
discovered the cause of their timidity. Omai was on board
the Adventure with Captain Furneaux on the former voyage,
when ten of the crew of that vessel, as above related, fell vic-
tims to the ferocity of the natives. Seeing Omai now on board
the Resolution, they judged that Captain Cook could not be
ignorant of the affair, and dreaded his vengeance in conse-
quence ; but as soon as he understood the cause of their mis-
trust, he laboured to convince them of his friendly intentions,
assuring them that he had no design of retaliating on them for
the consequences of an affray to which he was a stranger ; and
that so long as they conducted themselves peaceably they
might consider him as their friend. A chief named Kahoora
frankly avowed that he had acted a principal part in cutting
off Captain Furneaux's people, and that he had himself killed
Mr. Rowe their commander. The attack was not, it appears,
premeditated, but had its origin in a theft committed by one
parfy and resented with hasty violence by the other ; but when
Captain Cook declared his willingness to forgive, he soon re-
gained the confidence of the natives. To one chief he gave
two goats, a male and a female, with a kid; and to another,
two pigs. It was his intention at first to have left here some
sheep also, along with a bull and two heifers ; but fearing that
the chiefs whom he found on this part of the coast were not
powerful enough to protect the cattle from those who might
ignorantly aim at destroying them, he changed his plan. He
learned from the natives that the poultry which on former occa-
sions he had left on the island had increased, the garden vege-
tables, though neglected, yet multiplied naturally, and some
of them, as the potatoe, were greatly improved by the richness
of the soil. At the request of Omai he consented to take with
him two youths from New Zealand, who seemed at first delight-
ed with the change ; but when they completely lost sight of
their native country, they were overwhelmed with violent grief,
which continued for many days.
JAMES COOK. 237
On the 25tK of February the ships sailed from Queen Char-
lotte's Sound, and nothing remarkable occurred till the 29th of
tlie following month, when land was discovered, which proved
to be an inhabited island, called by the natives Mangeea. It
was found impossible to land upon it for the surf The natives
spoke a language diff'ering but little from that of the Society
Islands, and were a handsome, vigorous people, resembling
Spaniards in complexion. They wore white turbans on their
heads, made of cloih like that of Otaheite ; they also wore
sandals, woven apparently with a strong grassy substance.
One of them who ventured on board the ship happened to
stumble over one of the goats, and immediately asked Omai
whet bird it was. This apparent blunder of the simple island-
er will appear less surprising when we reflect, that the name
of a bird was perhaps the only genciral term for animals in his
language ; and therefore the only one applicable to a creature
like a goat, not belonging to any of the species with which he
was already acquainted.
Some leagues to the north of Mangeea another island was
discovered, which the natives called Wateeo. Here our navi-
gators went on shore, and were conducted by crowds of ad-
miring natives to the chief, who hospitably entertained them.
Some plan, however, seemed to be concerted to separate the
English, and to cut them off from their retreat to the ships;
and perhaps the Indians were chiefly deterred from the execu-
tion of this plot by the exaggerations of Omai, who relating the
wonders he had seen in England, described guns or instru-
ments of war so large, that many men could sit within them,
and which at one discharge could sink the island in the ocean.
When questioned respecting the guns on board the ship, he
said that they were capable of destroying immediately all the
people on the island, though the ships were at that time a con-
siderable distance from the shore. His story was not at first
implicitly believed; but as he took dehght in exciting the
wonder of those who were simpler than himself, he heaped
together a few cartridges, which he carried in his pocket, and
then throwing on them some red hot embers, the conflagration
and report that ensued appeared to the natives so astonishing,
as sufficiently to confirm all that he had related. They were
consequently more cautious of giving offence to the Enghsh,
who on the approach of evening were allowed to return to the
ships.
On this island Omai met with three of his countrymen,
whose surprising adventure most happily illustrates the man-
ner in which the scattered islands of the great ocean might
have been originallv peopled. About twenty persons of both
21
238 JAMES COOK.
sexes had embarked in a canoe at Otaheite, to cross over to the
neighbouring island of Ulietea. For this short passage they
had taken but a moderate stock of provisions. A violent tem-
pest arose, which drove them they knew not whither for many
days. They had nothing to eat or drink, and their numbers
daily diminished, worn out by hunger and fatigue. At length
the canoe overset, when four only remained ahve, and the de-
struction of this small remnant seemed now inevitable. They
clung, however, to the sides of their vessel for some days, and
providentially drifted towards this island, when the natives im-
mediately sent out canoes and brought them ashore. Of the
four who were thus saved one had since died ; the remaining
three were so well satisfied with the kind treatment they had
received, that they rejected the offer made to them at Omai's
request of a passage to their native island. As the inhabitants
of the archipelagoes in the great ocean are frequently at sea,
crossing from one island to another with their wives and fami-
lies, accidents like this, which transported four individuals a
distance of two hundred leagues, are likely to be of frequent
occurrence. At all the islands which our navigators had dis-
covered since their departure from New Zealand, they had
been disappointed from the want of good anchorage and other
circumstances, in their hope of finding water and provisions.
The season was now far advanced, and large supplies of pro-
visions would be necessary before proceeding into high north-
ern latitudes. The prosecution of discoveries, therefore, in
that direction was unavoidably postponed till the following
year, as it was now much too late to venture into unknown
seas with the prospect of achieving any thing important.
Captain Cook determined to employ the intervening time in
examining more minutely the seas between the tropics.
He accordingly directed his course to the Friendly Islands,
and on the 1st of May arrived at Anamooka. Here he expe-
rienced the kindest treatment from a chief named Fenou, by
whose persuasions he was induced to go to Hepaee, a large
island, or rather a cluster of islands, .connected together by
reefs passable at low water, and situated towards the north of
this archipelago. The abundance of provisions which he found
at Hepaee justified the representations of his friend Fenou.
Here also he met with Poulaho, the king of the Friendly
Islands, who treated our navigators with a lavish generosity
worthy of a sovereign. Tongataboo, or Amsterdam Island, is
the centre of his insular dominions, which extends, according
to the natives, over one hundred and fifty islands. Several
of these, indeed, are low rocky islets, without any inhabitants.
About thirty-five of them are said to be larger, and must con-
JAMES COOK. 239
sequently be of much greater extent than Anamooka, which is
ranked among the smaller isles. It is probable that the Prince
William's Islands of Tasman, and the Reppel's and Bosca-
wen's Islands of Captain Wallis, are comprehended in this list
of islands subject to Tongataboo.
When Poulaho was asked in what manner the inhabitants
of this latter island had acquired the knowledge of iron, he re-
plied that they had at first received it from a neighbouring
island called Neeootabootaboo. A ship had touched at that
island a few years before, and had purchased a club from one
of the natives for five nails which were afterwards sent to Ton-
gataboo. This was the first iron known among them, and
there can be little doubt that the ship from which it was pro-
cured was the Dolphin. If Poulaho's description of this island
be compared with Captain Wallis' narrative, it will appear
evident that Neeootabootaboo is the same as Keppel's Island.
But the most considerable islands within the knowledge of
these people are Hamoa, Vavaoo, and Feejee. The two for-
mer are the largest islands under the dominion of Tongataboo;
and from the information which Captain Cook received, it
would appear that the inhabitants of Hamoa had outstripped
the other islanders in arts and refinement. Feejee was hostile
to Tongataboo, and its inhabitants were regarded w^itli dread
by the natives of the Friendly Islands for their fierceness in
battle, and their savage practice of devouring their enemies.
The men of Feejee, while they retain this barbarous custom,
are not inferior to their neighbours in art and ingenuity. Be-
fore Captain Cook left the Friendly Islands he repaid the kind-
ness of Poulaho by a gift of inestimable value, consisting of
live stock, horses, cows, sheep, and goats. The islanders
seemed gratified with the gift, and promised not to kill any of
the animals until they had multiplied to a considerable num'
ber. On touching at Eooa our navigators were supplied with
turnips, the produce of some seed scattered by them here on a
former voyage.
After remaining at the Friendly Islands between two and
three months, during which time he became minutely ac-
quainted with their geography, and the character of their in-
habitants. Captain Cook at length took his departure from
them, and on the 12th of August arrived at Otaheite. He
found that a Spanish ship had touched here in the mean time,
and had put on shore some cattle, of which a bull alone re-
mained alive. He felt great pleasure, therefore, in augment-
ing the stock of the island with three or four heifers, besides
a horse and mare, which were intended as a present to the
king, Otoo. Two days after their arrival here Captains Cook
2^
JAMES COOK.
and Gierke mounted on horseback, and took a ride round the
plain of Matavai ; to the great surprise of a multitude of the
natives who attended upon the occasion, and gazed upon the
horsemen with as much astonishment as if they had been cen-
taurs. What the two captains had begun was afterwards re-
peated every day by the other ship's officers, notwithstanding
which the curiosity of the Otaheiteans still continued unaba-
ted. They were exceedingly delighted with these animals
when they saw the use that was made of them. Not all the
novelties put together which European visiters had carried
among the inhabitants, had inspired them with so high an idea
of the greatness of distant nations. Otoo was by no means
ungrateful for the benefits conferred on him ; he offered a
small double canoe, very elegantly finished, as a present to
king George ; and he manifested his sense of respect still more
strongly in expressing a wish that the English would estabhsh
a permanent settlement on the island. During this visit to
Otaheite Captain Cook had an opportunity of witnessing the
fearful excesses to which these social islanders are hurried by
superstition, and of observing the number of human sacrifices
offered to their idols, on every occasion of war or other general
excitement.
It only remained now to settle Omai in the island of Hua-
heine, which had been chosen as his residence. A piece of
ground was alotted to him by the chiefs of the island ; a com-
fortable wooden house was erected for him by the carpenters
of the ships. All the treasures which he had brought from
England were landed, and the two young men from New Zea-
land, though reluctant, were prevailed upon to remain with
him, so that his family consisted altogether of twelve or thir-
teen persons. In order to deter the natives from treating him
with injustice or violence, Captain Cook spoke of returning at
no great distance of time. Omai did not live long to enjoy his
good fortune ; it does not appear that he had any reason to
complain of the rapacity or covetousness of his neighbours.
The numerous articles of European maMufacture which were
in his possession, rendered his house a spcndid museum in the
eyes of a South Sea islander ; and it is possible that his pride
felt gratified in being thus able to minister to their wonder and
admiration. lie conducted himself prudently, and gained the
esteem of his neighbours, by the aftability with which he re-
counted his voyages and adventures. About two years and a
half after Captain Cook's departure, Omai died a natural
death ; nor did the New Zealanders survive him long enough
to furnish European navigators with an ample account of the
JAMES COOK. 24|.
influence which his experience and observations abroad may-
have exerted on his countrymen.
On the 8th of December our voyagers left Borabora, and
lost sight of the Society Islands ; their course was towards the
north, and, on the 18th of January, in latitude 21° N., land
was discovered, which proved to be an island of considerable
size, and beyond it two others successively became visible. As
the ships approached the second island, a number of canoes
came off from the shore, and the English were no less pleased
than surprised to hear the natives speak the language of Ota-
heite. \Vhen they came on board they expressed their aston-
ishment at the numerous strange objects that met their eyes,
with more lively emotions than Captain Cook had ever yet
witnessed among savage nations. They did not appear to be
quite ignorant of iron, yet the wonder and surprise they dis-
played at every thing they saw, left little room to doubt that
they were wholly unacquainted with Europeans. When Cap-
tain Cook went on shore, the people fell flat on their faces be-
fore him, as if rendering homage to a superior being. The
island was amply provided with the necessaries of life ; pigs,
fowls, and fruits were purchased advantageously: and Captain
Cook made an important addition to the natural wealth of the
island, by putting on shore some of his live stock. Among
other articles brought by the natives for trade were cloaks and
helmets, beautifully made with red and yellow feathers. These
islanders were not inferior to the inhabitants of the more south-
erly groups in ingenuity or friendliness of disposition. They
seemed to Captain Cook to be less fickle and voluptuous than
the natives of Otaheite, and less sullenly grave than those of
Tongataboo ; but his growing partiality to them was checked
on discovering that they occasionally banqueted on human
flesh. Of the group now for the first time visited, only five
islands were seen by Captain Cook, and to these, in compliment
to his noble patron, the first lord of the admiralty, he gave col-
lectively the name of the Sandwich Islands.
It only remained now to accomplish the specific object of
the voyage, by examining the north-west coast of America,
and particularly by trying to effect a passage into the Atlantic
Ocean, round the northern extremity of that continent. On
the 7th of March our navigators made the coast of New Albion
in latitude 44^ 33'. The inhabitants of this country were clad
in furs which they offered for sale; they conducted themselves
civilly towards the English, but were remarkably tenacious of
the rights of property, and expected payment for every thing,
even the wood and water which the strangers took from the
shore. They displayed considerable ingenuity, and were
^ 21*
242 JAMES COOK.
acquainted with iron, although in all their dealings they gave
the preference to brass, in consequence of which the sailors,
in bartering for furs parted with all their buttons. Among
other articles procured from these people by exchange, were
two silver spoons, which, as well as the iron, were supposed bj
Captain Cook to have been obtained by a circuitous inland
trade, either from the Spaniards in Mexico, or the Enghsh
factories in Hudson's Bay. He was not aware that this coast
had been surveyed by the Spaniards four years previously ;
and that while the Spanish vessels lay here, the natives had
exercised with great success their thieving propensities: to
this part of the coast he gave the name of King George^s
Sound, but the native name of Nootka has since prevailed.
On leaving Nootka Sound, the violence of the wind com-
pelled him to keep at a distance from the shore, so that for
some degrees he was foiled in his intention of surveying it; but,
in latitude 59° he entered another wide inlet, to which he gave
the name of Prince William^s Sound, and here was surprised
to find that the natives, in dress, language, and physical pecu-
liarities, were exactly like the Esquimaux of Hudson's Bay.
Beautiful skins were obtained in plenty from these people for
a very moderate price. On proceeding to the north-west, a
wide inlet was discovered, which some conjectured might be
a strait communicating with, the Northern Ocean. It was
deemed, therefore, advisable to explore it ; but when the boats
had proceeded as high as latitude 61° 34' or about seventy
leagues from the entrance, the inlet appeared to terminate in a
small river. The ships now proceeded to the west, and
doubled the great promontory of Alashka; and on the 9th of
August, they reached the most western point of the American
continent, distant only thirteen leagues from the opposite
shores of Asia. To this headland Cook gave the name of
Cape Prince of Wales. Crossing the strait to the western
shores, he anchored near the coast of the Tshuktzki, which he
found to extend many degrees farther to the east than the po-
sition assigned to them in the maps of that day. He thus
ascertained distinctly the width of the strait that separates Asia
from America; for though Behring had sailed through it be-
fore, he had not descried the shores of the latter continent,
and, consequently, remained ignorant of the importance of his
discoveries. Our navigators now pushed forward into the
Northern Ocean, when they soon fell in with ice, which gave
them reason to suspect the impossibility of continuing their
voyage much farther. At length, on the 18th of August, when
after repeated struggles they had attained the latitude of 70^
44', they suw the ice before them, extending as far as the eye
JAMES COOK. 243
could reach, forming a compact wall about six feet high : it
was covered with a multitude of walruses or sea-horses, which,
though coarse food, were preferred by the sailors to salt pro-
visions.
It was now obviously impossible to advance, and Cook there-
fore resolved to employ the winter in completing the survey
of the Sandwich Islands, and to renew his attempts in the
Northern Ocean in the course of the following summer. On
his arrival at Oonalashka he received, through the hands of the
natives, a salmon pie, and a note which, though unintelligible,
was known to be Russian. Corporal Ledyard, of the marines,
who afterwards became so distinguished as an enterprising
traveller, now for the first time figured on the scene, and vol-
unteered to go in search of the hospitable Russians. He was
accordingly packed between the legs of two Esquimaux in a
kajak or covered canoe, and in this uncomfortable state was
rowed a distance of fourteen miles. In two days he returned
with three Russian furriers ; and shortly after a Russian mer-
chant, named IsmilofF, arrived, who showed Captain Cook two
charts, which satisfied our great navigator as to the limited
acquaintance which the Russians had with the north-west
coast of America, and the undisputed merit of his own dis-
coveries.
On the 26th of November, in latitude 20^ 55', our naviga-
tors discovered Mowee, one of the Sandwich Islands which
they had not visited; and on the last day of the month another
great island, called Owhyhee, was discovered, which, as it ap-
peared to exceed very far in magnitude and importance the
other islands of the group, engaged a proportionate share of
attention, and Captain Cook employed seven weeks in sailing
round and surveying its coasts. At length the ships came to
an anchor in KarakahooaBay, on the south side of the island.
The natives came off to the vessels in canoes laden with pro-
visions, and in such multitudes, that Captain Cook in the whole
course of his voyages had never seen so numerous a I)ody of
people assembled in one place. Many hundreds of them were
swimming round the shijis like shoals of fishes. The interest-
ing novelty of this scene compensated our voyagers, in some
degree, for the disappointment tliey had experienced in their
expedition to the north. " To this disappointment," says
Captain Cook, "we owed our having it in our power to revisit
the Sandwich Islands, and to enrich our voyage with a dis-
covery, which, though the last, seemed in many respects to be
the most important that had hitherto been made by Europeans
throughout the extent of the Pacific Ocean." Such is the
concluding sentence of our great navigator's journah
244 JAMES COOK.
The intercourse of our people with the islanders was an un-
interrupted series of acts of kindness on both sides, the mutual
harmony being only momentarily disturbed by the thieving
propensitiesof the natives. Provisions were procured in the
greatest abundance, and Captain Cook made the experiment
of salting a quantity of pork for sea stores; and he succeeded
so completely, that when the ships returned to Europe, some
of the pork cured in the Sandwich Islands was found to be
still in good order. A society of priests on the island were
particularly active in forwarding the views of the English, and
procuring them the sort of provisions they required. They
even sent a large quantity to the ships as a present. The
king of Owhyhee, Tereeoboo, was actuated by the same
friendly zeal as his subjects; and in his dealings with Captain
Cook evinced sincere attachment, as well as the liberality be-
fitting a prince. The islanders had conceived a particular
liking for Lieutenant King, and warmly solicted him to re-
main among them." When the day of departure arrived, they
seemed inconsolable at their loss, and heaped whatever pre-
sents their island afforded on Cook and his companions.
Such were the friendly sentiments of the natives when the
ships sailed out of KarakakooaBay,on the 4th of September.
It was Captain Cook's intention to make a complete survey
of the islands; but before he had proceeded far a gale came
on, in the course of which the Resolution sprung her foremast
in so dangerous a manner, that it was deemed necessary to
return to Rarakakooa Bay in order to repair it.
When the ships arrived at their old anchorage, the bay was
found to be nearly deserted. The crowds who had been
drawn together by the traffic opened with the ships, had now
returned to their habitations through the country ; and it was,
perhaps, owing to the absence of the chiefs, that the natives,
who now came on board, carried on their depredations with
much greater boldness than formerly. The punishment of the
thieves gave rise to quarrels; and the intercourse with the
islanders, though it had not altogether lost an amicable char-
acter, was embittered by constant jarring and complaint. A
boat wa%sent m pursuit of a native who had stolen the tongs
from the smith's forge ; but the crew and the officer who com-
manded them, were disarmed, and roughly handled by the
islanders. Soon after, a party of the natives took away in the
night the Discovery's large cutter, which lay swamped at the
buoy of one of her anchors. This was a matter of too much
importance to be overlooked, and Captain Cook was resolved
to have recourse to decisive measures to recover the boat. He
had often found the advantage in the South Sea Islands of seiz-
'' JAMES COOK. 245
ing some of the principal people as hostages on such occa-
sions, and he determined in this instance to make Tereeoboo
himself answerable for the recovery of the cutter. Armed
boats were stationed at each end of the bay to intercept all
canoes that might attempt to get out, while Captain Cook him-
self proceeded to land with a party of marines, his crew being
also armed.
When he went on shore, the natives flocked around him as
usual, prostrating themselves, and showing the customary
marks of respect. He proceeded to the habitation of the
king, whom, after some trouble, he persuaded to go on board.
To this movement, however, the natives were generally averse;
yet they offered no violence to Captain Cook as he led the
king, with his two sons, through the crowd to the water side,
w^here the marines were drawn up in case of attack. The
old king followed with submission and apparent indifference ;
but when he came near the water's edge, his wives and rela-
tions became so importunate to prevent his entering the boat,
that he sat down on the ground, and Captain Cook was
obliged to relinquish the idea of making himself master of his
person. There was now a great ferment among the natives,
who were gathered in immense multitudes along the shore.
Their alarm at the attempt made to entrap their king was
heightened by an unfortunate occurrence that took place at a
little distance ; the boat stationed at the west end of the bay,
seeing a large boat put off from shore, fired a gun ahead of it
to stay its progress, and the shot accidentally killed Kareemoo,
a chief of distinction. When this intelhgence reached them,
the agitation of the crowds at the landing-place rose into fury.
They put on their war-mats, gathered large stones, brandished
their knives, and exhibited in every way an insulting and
menacing attitude. Notwithstanding the imminence of the
danger. Captain Cook would not allow the marines to fire,
still hoping that the affair might terminate without shedding
of blood. lie discharged his musket, indeed, loaded with
small shot, at a chief who approached him with threatening
gestures ; but the shot rattling harmlessly off the thick matting,
served only to embolden the infuriated savage. The marines
as well as the crew of the pinnace now fired upon the crowd;
but the multitude of the islanders was so great, that they
could not easily retreat when daunted by the firing; and,
rushing upon the marines, forced them into the water, where
four of them were killed. The pinnace was so crowded by
those who had been saved from the shore, that her crew were
in a great measure prevented from using their fire-arms, and
thus afforded little protection to Captain Cook, who now re-
246
JAMES COOK.
mained alone upon the rock. "He was observed making
for the pinnace, holding his left hand against the back of his
head to guard it from the stones, and carrying his musket un-
der the other arm ; an Indian was seen following him, but
with caution and timidity, as if undetermined to proceed; at
last he advanced upon him unawares, gave him a blow on the
back of the head with a large club, and then precipitately re-
treated. The stroke seemed to stun Captain Cook ; he stag-
gered a few paces, then fell on his hand and one knee, and
dropped his musket. As he was rising, and before he could
recover his feet, another Indian stabbed him in the back of
the neck with an iron dagger. He then fell into the water,
DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK.
about knee deep, where others crowded upon him and en-
deavoured to keep him under; but struggling very strongly
with them, he got his head up, and casting his eyes towards
the pinnace, seemed to solicit assistance. Though the boat
was not above five or six yards distant from him, yet, from the
crowded and confused state of the crew, it seems, it was not
in their power to save him. The Indians got him under again,
but in deeper water: he was, however, able to get his head up
once more; and being almost spent in the struggle, he natu-
rally turned to the rock, and was endeavouring to support him-
self by it, when a savage gave him a blow with a club, and he
was seen alive no more. They hauled him up hfeless on the
rocks, where they took a savage pleasure in using every bar-
JAMES COOK. 24T
barity to his dead body ; snatching the daggers out of each
other's hands, to have the horrid satisfaction of piercing the
fallen victim of their barbarous rage."
The lieutenant who commanded in the launch was at no
great distance during the whole of this affray, of which he re-
mained an unconcerned spectator. To his want of intelh-
gence or of courage the fatal events of the day may, in a great
measure, be attributed. But what seems more remarkable,
although the fire from the boats at length succeeded in putting
the Indians to flight, and the remains of Captain Cook lay for
some time deserted on the beach, yet the lieutenant returned
to the ships without making any attempt to recover the dead
body of his unfortunate commander. It was not without ex-
treme difficulty, and until after repeated negotiations and
threatening, that Captain Clerke could succeed in recovering
the principal part of Captain Cook's bones, which were com-
mitted to the deep with the usual naval honours amidst the
sincere lamentations of the afflicted crews.
As soon as the Resolution had undergone the necessary re-
pairs, the ships hastened to leave a scene which recalled to the
recollection of every one on board a calamity outweighing all
the satisfaction that could result from the success of the expe-
dition. Captain Clerke now took the place of the lamented
Cook, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Gore in the command
of the Discovery. After leaving Owhyhee, the ships touched
at the island of Atooe, which was found desolated by a war
originating in the claims of different chiefs to the goats which
Captain Cook had put on shore. These animals had increas-
ed to six when the war broke out on their account, in the
course of which they were all destroyed. The history of the
introduction of useful animals into the South Sea Islands
affords many parallel instances of human blindness, and of
that barbarous degree of envy and rapacity which destroys a
treasure rather than leave it in the possession of a rival.
Captain Clerke proceeded now to execute the intentions of
his late commander, by repeating the attempt to find a passage
through the Northern Ocean. He touched at the harbour of
St. Peter and St. Paul in Awatska Bay, where he was treated
by the Russians with unbounded hospitality ; and then passing
Behring's Strait a second time, penetrated as far as 70° 33^'
N., where the same obstacle which had prevented the progress
of the ships the preceding year forbade him to advance any
further. He met here with a firm barrier of ice, seven leagues
farther to the south than that which had stopped the progress
of Captain Cook. The impossibility of a passage by the north
was now thought to be sufficiently proved, and it was resolved
248 JAMES COOK.
to proceed homewards ; the chief purpose of the expedition
having been thus answered. This resolution of the officers
diffused among the crews, who were now heartily tired of the
length of the voyage, as hvely a joy as if the ships, instead of
having nearly the whole earth to compass, were already arrived
in the British Channel. When the ships had just reached
Kamtschatka, Captain Clerke died of a decline : he had already
circumnavigated the globe three times, having sailed first with
Commodore Byron, and afterwards with Captain Cook. Mr.
Anderson, the talented physician and naturahst of the expedi-
tion, had expired at Oonalashka, the preceding year, of the
same complaint. Captain Gore now succeeded to the com-
mand of the expedition, and Lieutenant King took the com-
mand of the Discovery. Their voyage to China was not pro-
ductive of any important geographical results. In navigating
those stormy seas they found it necessary to keep at a distance
from land, and were thus baffled, by constant tempestuous
weather, in their attempt to survey the coasts of Japan.
On the 3d of December our navigators arrived at Macao,
where they first became acquainted with the events which had
taken place in Europe since their departure, and of the war
which had broken out between Great Britain and France. A
rumour of the generous conduct of the latter government at the
same time reached them : an order had been issued in March,
1779, by the minister of the marine at Paris, to all the com-
manders of French ships, acquainting them with the expedi-
tion and destination of Captain Cook, and instructing them to
treat that celebrated navigator, wherever they should meet him,
as a commander of a neutral and allied power. This measure,
so honourable to the nation which adopted it, is said to have
originated in the enlightened mind of the celebrated Turgot.
Dr. Franklin, who at that time resided at Paris as ambassador
from the United States, had, a short time before, issued a re-
quisition, in which he earnestly recommended the command-
ers of American armed vessels not to consider Captain Cook
as an enemy.
While the ships lay in the river of Canton, the sailors car-
ried on a brisk trade with the Chinese for the sea otter sking
which they had brought with them from the^north-west coast
of America, and which were every day rising in their value.
" One of our seamen," says Lieutenant King, " sold his stock
alone for eight hundred dollars ; and a few prime skins, which
were clean and had been well preserved, were sold for one
hundred and twenty dollars each. The whole amount of the
value, in specie and goods, that was got for the furs in both
ships, I am confident did not fall short of two thousand pounds
MMES COOK. 249
sterling ; and it was generally supposed that at least two thirds
of the quantity we had originally got from the Americans
were spoiled and worn out, or had been given away, or other-
wise disposed of in Kamtschatka. When, in addition to these
facts, it is remembered that the furs were at first collected
without our having any idea of their real value; that the
greatest part had been worn by the Indians from whom we
purchased them ; that they were afterwards preserved with
little care, and frequently used for bedclothes and other pur-
poses; and that probably we had not got the full value for
them in China ; the advantages that might be derived from a
voyage to that part of the American coast, undertaken with
commercial views, appeared to me of a degree of importance
sufficient to call for the attention of the public." These ob-
servations of Lieutenant Ring point to that which eventually
proved to be the most important result of this expedition. A
great branch of trade in the Pacific Ocean, which had hitherto
escaped the notice of the nations most interested in its devel-
opement, and possessing establishments most conveniently
situated for carrying it on, was suddenly discovered, and soon
after vigorously prosecuted by a maritime people from the op-
posite side of the globe. The crews of both ships were aston-
ished, as well as overjoyed, at the price paid them for their
furs by the Chinese ; and their rage to return to Cook's River,
in order to procure a cargo of skins, proceeded at one time
almost to mutiny. A few, indeed, contrived to desert, and
were among the first adventurers who crossed the Pacific
Ocean in the newly discovered fur trade. The seamen thus
unexpectedly enriched soon underwent a total metamorphosis :
they arrived at Macao in rags, many of them having incon-
siderately sold their clothing in the South Sea Islands ; but,
before they left that harbour, they were decked out in gaudy
silks and other Chinese finery. Nothing of importance occur-
red during the remainder of their voyage home ; and, on the
4th of October, the ships arrived safe at the Nore, after an ab-
sence of four years two months and twenty-two days. In the
whole course of the voyage the Resolution lost but five men
by sickness, of whom three were in a precarious state of health
when the expedition left England : the Discovery did not lose
a man.
In order to estimate the merits of Captain Cook, it will be
only necessary to survey generally the extent and nature of
his discoveries, and to examine what influence they exerted
immediately on the commercial enterprise of nations. In the
€xtent of the coasts which he surveyed or discovered, he far
other navigator. The eastern coast of New
22
250 JAMES COOK.
Holland, two thousand miles in extent, was totally unknown
till he traced it; escaping from the dangers of that intricate
navigation solely by ]»is cool intrepidity and the resources of
his skill. He also circumnavigated New Zealand, the eastern
and southern parts of which were quite unknown, and suppo-
sed by many to be united to the Terra Australis Incognita.
New Caledonia and Norfolk Island were both discovered by
him ; and the New Hebrides, from his labours, lirst assumed
a definite shape in our maps. He rendered an essential ser-
vice to geography also by his circumnavigating the globe in a
high southern latitude ; for, though the exertions and dangers
of that difficult navigation were not repaid by any brilliant dif -
coveries, it set at rest a question which had for ages dividcil
the opinions of speculative geographers. Sandwich Land, or
Southern Thule, may be numbered among his discoveries, al-
though it is probably the land which Gerritz had descried a
century before.
His discoveries on the north-west coast of America were
still more important and more extensive. In one voyage he
effected more than the Spanish navigators had been able to
accomplish in the course of two centuries. In sailing through
Behring's Strait, he determined the proximity of Asia and
America, which Behring himself had failed to perceive; and
he assigned the coast of the Tshuktzki to its true place ;.
which, in many maps of his time, was placed some degrees
too far to the westward.
It is needless to recapitulate here the large additions which
he made to our knowledge of the groups of islands scattered
through the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Society and Friend-
ly Islands were known before his time ; but he carefully sur-
veyed those archipelagoes, and fixed the positions of the chief
islands, such as Otaheite and Tongataboo, with an accuracy
equal to that of a European observatory. He prided himself
especially on having discovered the Sandwich Islands; and
there is no good reason to refuse him that honour ; for, even if
it be true that a Spanish navigator, named Gali, discovered
those islands in 1576 ; and that he gave to Owhyhee the name
of Mesa or Table Mountain, which is marked in old Spanish
charts twenty-two degrees to the west of the Sandwich Islands,
but in the same latitude with them ; yet no stress can be laid
on a discovery from which mankind derived no knowledge.
The Spaniards seem soon to have totally forgotten the Sand-
wich Islands, if they ever knew them, notwithstanding the ad-
vantages which they might have derived from those islands in
their frequent voyages from New Spain to Manilla. Anson
and many other navigators might have been spared infinittt
JAMES COOK. 251
distress and suffering in their voyages across the Pacific, had
any thing certain heen known of the existence and situation of
the Sandwich Islands.
But Cook's merit is not more conspicuous in the extent of
his discoveries, than in the correctness with w^hich he laid
down the position of every coast of which he caught a glimpse.
His surveys afford the materials of accurate geography. He
adopted in practice every improvement suggested by the pro-
gress of science; and, instead of committing errors amounting
10 two or three degrees of longitude, like most of his predeces-
sors, his determinations were such as to be considered accu-
rate even at the present day ; nor was this the merit of the
nstronomers who accompanied him on his expeditions. He
was himself a skilful observer, and at the same time so vigilant
and indefatigable, that no opportunity ever escaped him of as-
^•.ertaininghis true place. He possessed in an eminent degree
the sagacity peculiar to seamen ; and in his conjectures re-
specting the configurations of coasts he very rarely erred. La
Perouse, who was a highly accomplished seaman, always
mentions the name of Cook with the warmest admiration, and
frequently alludes to the remarkable correctness of his surveys.
Crozet, also, who wrote the narrative of Marion's voyage,
speaking of Cook's survey of the shores of New Zealand says —
*' That its exactness and minuteness of detail astonished him
beyond expression ;" but Cook's skill as a marine surveyor
may be still better estimated from the chart which, at the com-
mencement of his career, he constructed of the coasts of New-
foundland ; and of that chart. Captain Frederick Bullock, the
able officer who has recently completed the survey of New-
foundland, speaks in those terms of warm commendation which
a man of abihty naturally bestows on whatever is excellent.
From the second expedition of Cook may be dated the art
of preserving the health of the seaman in long voyages : before
that time, navigators who crossed the Pacific, hurried precipi-
tately by the shortest course to the Ladrones or the Phihppine
Islands ; and yet they rarely reached home without the loss of
a large proportion of their crew. Cook, on the other hand,
felt himself perfectly at home on the ocean ; he did not care
to limit his voyages, either in space of time or of distance; he
sailed through every climate, crossing both the arctic and ant-
arctic circles; and proved that a voyage of four years duration
does not necessarily affect the health of seamen. This was a
discovery of far greater importance than that of a new continent
could have been : by his banishing the terror that arose from
the frightful mortaUty that previously attended on long voyages,
252 JAMES COOK.
he has mainly contributed to the boldness of navigation which
distinguishes the present day.
Among the immediate effects of Captain Cook's voyages,
the most important was the estabhshment of a colony at Bota-
ny Bay. That great navigator seems to have contracted a
partiality towards the New Zealanders ; he admired their gen-
erosity, their manly carriage, and their intelligence. Their
country appeared to him fertile ; abounding in commodities
which might become valuable in commerce ; and he hints,
though with diffidence, to the possibility of a trade being carri-
ed on between Europe and New Zealand. His observations
on this subject had influence, no doubt, on the minds of the
English ministers, and they resolved on establishing a colony
at New Holland ; and the result has justified Cook's sanguine
anticipations. The fur trade also, which soon caused such a
concourse of European shipping in the Pacific Ocean, origin-
ated with his third voyage ; but his familiarity with the South
Sea islanders, the trade which he established with them, and
the practice which he commenced of purchasing sea stores
from them, have had, perhaps, a still stronger influence on
navigation in the Pacific.
Finally, to complete the eulogium on this great navigator, it
will be sufficient to enumerate some of the distinguished sea-
men who served under him, such as Vancouver, Broughton,
Bhgh, Burney, Colnett, Portlock, Dixon, &c. : these men
learned under Cook the arduous duties of their profession, and
they always spoke of him with unqualified admiration and
respect.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN
Sir John Chardin was born in Paris on the 16th of No-
vember, 1643. He was the son of a rich Protestant jeweller,
who, as soon as his education, which appears to have been
carefully conducted and liberal, was completed, intrusted him
with the management of a commercial speculation in the East,
and thus at once gratified and influenced the passion for visit-
ing new and remote regions which had already taken posses-
sion of the mind of our traveller. Leaving Paris at the age of
twenty-two, he visited Hindostan and Persia, where he remain-
ed several years, and was appointed merchant to the king.
His manly but shrewd character, united with extensive knowl-
edge and great sauvity of manners, procured him numerous
friends at the court of Ispahan, some of whom filled important
offices in the government, and were thus enabled to lay open
to him the interior movements of the great political machine
22*
254 SIR JOHN CHARDm.
which he afterwards described with so much vigour and per-
spicuity. He accompanied the shah on his visits to various
portions of his dominions, and in tliis way was enabled to
traverse with pleasure and advantage the wilder and least
accessible districts of Persia, such as Mazenderan, Ghilan,
and the other provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea. Of
this portion of his life, however, he did not judge it necessary
to give any detailed account ; perhaps because he had after-
ward occasion to visit the same scenes, when his mind was
riper, his views more enlarged, and his powers of observation
and description sharpened and invigorated by experience and
habit.
Returning to France in 1670, be remained fifteen months in
the bosom of his family, and employed this period of tranquili-
ty and leisure in the composition of his " History of the Coro-
nation of Solyman IH., King of Persia ;" a small work usu-
ally appended to his account of his travels. The desire of
fame and distinction, however, which in youthful and ardent
minds is generally the ruling passion, urged him once more to
quit his native country, where, as he himself observes, the
religion in which he was educated excluded him from all hope
of advancement or honours, in order to revisit those regions of
the East where his faith would be no bar to his ambition, and
where commerce was not thought to degrade even the majesty
of kings.
Having collected together the jewels, gems, and curious
clocks and watches which he had been commissioned to pur-
chase for the king of Persia, he repaired to Leghorn, where
he embarked with his mercantile companion for Smyrna.
Owing to the unskilfulness of the mariners, the variableness
of the winds, and the badness of the weather, this short voyage
was not performed in less than three months, during which the
passengers endured all the privation and misery which such a
voyage could inflict. From Smyrna he proceeded to Con-
stantinople, where, through the aid of M. de Nointel, the am-
bassador of France, he was initiated in all the mysteries of
diplomacy, which he unveils in his travels with infinite skill
and naivete, for the amusement of his readers.
In other respects his connexion with the French ambassa-
dor was rather prejudicial than useful to him; for M. de
Nointel having conducted himself in all his negotiations with
the Turks in a puerile and fluctuating manner, passing by
turns from extreme haughtiness to extreme cringing and ser-
vility, the anger of the Porte was roused and directed against
the whole French nation ; and Chardin, when he became de-
sirous of departing, was denied a passport. From this diffi-
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 255
cult and somewhat dangerous position he was delivered by the
ingenuity of a Greek, who contrived to procure him a passage
to Azoph, on the Pains Mseotis, on board of a Turkish vessel
then about to set sail with the new commandant and fresh
troops which the Porte sent every year to that remote fortress.
The Black Sea, which receives its appellation from the
gloomy clouds and tempestuous winds which hover over and
vex its waters in almost every season of the year, was now to
be traversed: and considering the unskilfulness and apathy of
Turkish sailors, who creep timidly along the shore, and have
little knowledge of the use of the compass, our traveller was
not without his apprehensions. After a voyage of eight days,
however, they arrived at Caffa, in the Crimea, where, by the
help of the Greek friend who had enabled him to laugh at the
sultan's beard and embark without a passport, he eluded the
exorbitant demands of the custom-house, and transported his
merchandise on board another vessel bound for Mingrelia.
Setting sail from CafFa, where there was little to be seen but
stinking Tartars and caviare, they arrived in twenty-four hours
at Touzlah, or the Salt Marshes, a vast sweep of low shore,
alternately covered by the waters of the sea, artificially intro-
duced, and a white sahne crust, looking like a sheet of snow
from a distance. Here upwards of two hundred ships are an-
nually freighted with salt ; and it was for the purpose of taking
on board a cargo of this useful merchandise that the vessel in
which Chardin and his companion were embarked now touch-
ed at the place. On landing, the village was found to consist
often or twelve houses, with a small mosque, and a consider-
able number of felt-covered tents, which served for stables,
kitchens, and dormitories for the slaves. Salt was by no
means the only article of commerce obtained at this place.
Every morning fires were observed lighted along the shore, as
signals that the brigands of the country had laid violent hands
upon a number of their fellow creatures, and had them con-
veyed thither, chained together like cattle, for sale. These
fires being observed, boats were immediately sent on shore ;
and when they returned, crowds of women and children, half-
naked, or covered with rags and filth, but resplendent with
beauty, were hoisted on board, where their wretched apparel
was exchanged for clean neat garments, and where, perhaps,
for the first time in their lives they tasted bread. The men
and boys were chained two and two every night ; the women,
from whom no danger was apprehended, were permitted the
free use of their limbs. These Circassians did not fetch a
great price. A Greek merchant, whose cabin was contiguous
to that of Chardin, purchased for twelve crowns a woman of
256 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
extraordinary beauty, with an infant at the breast. What chief-
ly surprised our traveller in the circumstances of this affair
was, the coolness and serenity Avith which these honest people
submitted to their fate. Had not the women, much against
their will, been compelled to occupy themselves with needle-
work, and the men with such little matters as they could per-
form on board, they would have been perfectly happy. Idle-
ness was their summum bonum; and this the most beautiful
among the women knew they were about to enjoy in the ha-
rems of Turkey.
On arriving at Isgaour, in Mingrelia, the place where the
general market of the country is held, Chardin naturally ex-
pected to find human dwellings, with provisions, and such
other necessaries as in civihzed countries are everywhere at-
tainable for money. In this hope he went on shore with the
Greek merchant, who had hitherto been in a manner his guar-
dian angel ; but on entering the place, they indeed found two
long rows of huts formed of the branches of trees, where mer-
chandise and provisions had once been exposed for sale, but
now empty and deserted. In the vicinity of the place neither
house nor habitation appeared as far as the eye could reach.
Two or three peasants, however, who flitted about like spectres
among the deserted huts, engaged to bring on the morrow a
quantity of that species of grain called gom^ which is bruised,
V)oiled, and eaten instead of bread, together with wine and
other provisions. There being no alternative, they were com-
pelled to rely on the promises of these men, as they were near-
ly in want of every necessary of life ; but their presents failing
them, it became necessary to dissemble with his servants, who
already began to murmur aloud and curse the persons by
whose advice he had taken the route of the Black Sea, relying
for the future upon the bounty of Providence. The reason
why the market of Isgaour was thus deserted was, that the
Abcas, a neighbouring people of savage character and barba-
rous manners, having made an irruption into the country, were
now ravaging it with fire and sword, while the peasantry and
their lords were flying before them in dismay, or plunging for
refuge into the deepest recesses of their forests. Ten days
after their arrival these savages passed along the shore in search
of plunder; and finding none in this celebrated market, set
the huts on fire and reduced them to ashes.
In this dilemma, Chardin had much difficulty in determining
what course to take. He had immediately on landing applied
for aid to the Catholic missionaries of Colchis, the chief of
whom promised in reply to be with him by a certain day, but
failed in his engagement; and when after a second application
JBIR JOHN CHARDIN. 257
he repaired to the place of rendezvous, it was less with the de-
sign of forwarding our traveller's views than of dissuading him
from attempting the journey at all. Perceiving, however, that
his advice could not be followed, he rendered the travellers
everv service in his power with alacrity, but without in the least
concealing the magnitude of the danger they were about to
incur.
It was now the beginning of October, and Chardin, irritated
at the numerous obstacles and hindrances which had impeded
his progress, was so extremely impatient to be in Persia, that
no dangers appeared to him so terrible as delay. He had
very soon cause to repent his impetuosity. The evils he had
hitherto endured dwindled to nothing when compared with
those which now rushed upon him hke a torrent, and threaten-
ed to swallow up in a moment his^^ealth, his ambitious pro-
jects, and his life. Nevertheless, with thai unshrinking courage
which his total ignorance of the future and the pressure of
present evils bestows upon man, he hastened to put his foot
upon the shores of Mingrelia ; and embarking with all his
merchandise on board the felucca in which the monk had
arrived, set sail for Anarghia, where they next day arrived.
Here his followers made themselves ample amends for the
scarcity they had endured at Isgaour ; for poultry, wild pige-
ons, pork, goats' flesh, wine, and other provisions were abun-
dant and cheap.
After remaining nine days at Anarghia, they departed on the
14th, two hours before day, and having sailed about six miles
up the river, disembarked their merchandize and provisions,
with which they loaded eight small vehicles, and proceeded on
their journey by land. The report that a party of Europeans
were passing with incalculable riches through the country was
soon spread ; and as few rich travellers ever traversed Mingre-
lia, this rumour immediately inflamed to the highest degree
the cupidity of the hungry prince and his feudatories, who
forthwith formed the design of appropriating these treasures
to themselves. They arrived, however, on the evening of the
same day at Sipias, the residence of the missionaries, where
they proposed to remain a few days in order to prepare them-
selves by a little repose for the fatigues which were to come, as
well as to deliberate with the monks respecting the means of
escaping from the rapacity of the rulers of Mingrelia.
Four days after his arrival, the princess or queen, as she
termed herself, of Mingrelia, came to Sipias to visit our travel-
ler, attracted by the rumours of his wealth, as vultures are
attracted by the scent of a carcass. Her majesty was follow-
ed by a train of eight women and ten men, to all of whom a
258
SIR JOHN C HARDIN.
decent suit of clothes and a tolerable beast to ride on would
have been a welcome present, for they were very badly mount-
ed and meanly clad. In order to ward off, as far as possible,
the dangerous reputation of being rich, which is elsewhere so
much coveted, our travellers endeavoured to pass for Capu-
chin friars, and pretended that the baggage with which their
vehicles Avere loaded consisted entirely of books. The prin-
cess believed neither of these stories. Being informed that
Chardin understood Turkish and Persian, she tormented him,
by means of a slave who could speak the former language,
with a thousand questions, of which the greater number turned
upon the subject of love. After pushing these questions be-
yond the verge of decency, to the great amusement of her
suite, who appeared to be more delighted in proportion as her
majesty became more obscene, slie suddenly turned to a still
more embarrassing topic — demanding to examine the effects
of our traveller, and the stores of the monks. They all now
trembled for their property. Whatever she should have seeu
would have been lost. To allay her cupidity, therefore, and
at least put ofi* the evil day, the principal monk humbly in-
formed her that the usual present should be sent on the mor-
row, accompanied by another from the travellers. With this
assurance she appeared to be satisfied, and departed.
On the next day our traveller and two of the monks were
invited to dine with the princess, and were of course careful
not to present themselves before her empty-handed, it being a
crime in the East for an inferior to come into the presence of
his superior without some gift, in token of dependence and
homage. Her highness of Mingrelia, who had painted her face
and adorned her person to the best of her ability, in order to
appear to advantage in the eyes of the traveller, seemed to be
highly gratified with his present, which, though tasteful and
elegant, was of small value, the better to maintain a show of
poverty. Some ten or twelve ragged but merry-looking
wenches, and a crowd of half-naked ragamuffins, constituted
the court of this princess, her maids of honour having, as she
assured the traveller, taken refuge in a neighbouring fortress
on account of the war! The better to enjoy the pleasure of
tormenting M. Chardin, she caused him to sit near her, and
commenced her attack by observing, that it Mas her will and
pleasure that he should marry one of her friends, and settle in
the country, when she promised to bestow on him houses,
lands, slaves, and subjects. From all he had heard and seen
of the women of Mingreha, our traveller would have felt less
repugnance to marrying a vampire than one of them, beautiful,
as they were; so that the hare possibility of the thing made.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 259
him shudder. He was for the present delivered from the dis-
cussion of this painful topic by the appearance of dinner,
during which the princess inflamed her naturally ardent tem-
perament by copious libations of wine, which stifled whatever
remains of shame might have lingered in her soul, and im-
pelled her to exhibit all the importunity and efli-ontery of a
courtezan.
The menaces of this princess, who gave them clearly to un-
derstand that she had determined upon visiting the monastery,
for the purpose of examining their treasures, caused them to
return dejected and melancholy from the castle, the monks
apprehending new extortions and vexations, and Chardin the
loss of all he possessed. The remainder of the day was passed
in deliberating upon the present posture of aflairs, and it was
at length resolved, that as soon as it was night, pits should be
dug, and the most valuable portion of their merchandize buried-
in the earth. Accordingly, the sun had no sooner set behind
the mountains, than they commenced operations, first digging
a pit five feet deep in the apartments of one of the monks,
where they buried a large chest filled with watches and clocks
set with jewels. When this had been done, and the earth
smoothed over, and made to appear as before, they repaired
under cover of the darkness to the church, where the principal
monk advised our traveller to open the grave of one of the
brotherhood, who had been interred there some six years be-
fore, and deposite among his ashes a small casket filled with
the most costly gems of the East, designed for the princesses
and great ladies of Persia. A secret presentiment prevented
Chardin from following this advice, who selected in prefer-
ence an obscure corner of the church, where accordingly a pit
was sunk, and the casket carefully interred. Other costly ar-
ticles, as a sabre and poniard set with jewels, were concealed
in the roof of the monastery ; and such articles of great value
as were small and portable our travellers retained about their
persons.
Many days had not elapsed before they were convinced that
their fears were not without foundation. It was now Sunday,
and Chardin, in off*ering up his prayers to God, according to
custom, would not presume, he says, to petition his Maker for
freedom, so persuaded was he that slavery was to be his fate ;
he merely prayed for a mild master, and to be delivered from;
a Mingrelian wife. While the classical idea of Medea was
haunting his imagination, and disturbing his devotion, a person
came running in, exclaiming that two neighbouring chiefs,
with a band of followers, armed to the teeth, were knocking at
the outer gate, and demanding admittance. There being no
260 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
alternative, they were allowed to enter, which they had no
sooner done tlian they seized and bound the travellers, com-
manded the monks to retire, and threatened to put to death
the first person who should make the least stir or resistance.
The principal friar was terrified and fled ; but the rest stood
firmly by their guests, particularly the lay-brother, whom not
even a naked sword pointed at his throat could induce to
abandon them. When the bandits proceeded to bind their
servants, one of the latter, who had a large knife in his hand,
endeavouring to defend himself, was instantaneously struck to
the earth with a lance, bound hand and foot, and fastened to a
tree. This being done, the ruffians informed the travellers
that they wished to examine their effects. Chardin replied
that it was within their power; that they were but poor monks,
whose whole wealth consisted in books, papers, and a few
wretched garments, the whole of which, if they would abstain
from violence, should be shown them. Upon this he was un-
bound, and commanded to open the door of their apartment,
where their books, papers, and wardrobe were kept. Char-
din's companion had sewn the inost valuable of his jewels in
the collar of his coat; but our traveller himself had made two
small packets of his, which were sealed, and put among his
books, not daring to carry them about him lest he should be
assassinated, stripped, or sold for a slave. In order to gain a
moment to withdraw these packets, he requested his compan-
ion and the lay-brother to hold the chiefs in conversation, by
pretending to negotiate with them, and offering them a small
sum of money. The stratagem succeeding for an instant, he
darted up stairs, their apartment being on the first floor, entered
the chamber, and locked the door. His design was suspected,
and the whole band of ruflSans rushed up after him ; but the
door being somewhat difficult to be broken open, he had time
to take out his packets and conceal them in the roof of the
house. His companion, however, who was in the room be-
low, called out to him that he ought to be on his guard, for
that he was observed through the cracks in the floor. Upon
hearing this, and seeing that the door was giving way, he be-
came confused, and scarcely knowing what he did, took down
the jewels out of the roof, thrust them into his pocket, and
opening the window of the apartment, jumped out into the
garden. Without noticing whether he was watched or not,
he threw the packets into a thicket, and then hastened back
to the room, now filled with robbers, some of whom were
maltreating his companion, while others were battermg his
coffers with their spears or lances, in order to break them
open.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 261
He now plucked up his courage, imagining that the greater
part of his wealth was out of their reach, and bid them take
heed of what they did; that he was the envoy of the King of
Persia ; and that the Prince of Georgia would take ample ven-
geance for whatever violence might be offered to his person.
He then showed them his passport from the king. One of the
chiefs snatched it out of his hand, and was about to tear it in
pieces, saying that he neither feared nor regarded any man
upon earth ; but the other, awed by the royal seal and letters
of gold, restrained him. They now said, that if he would open
his coffers and allow them to examine his effects, no violence
should be offered him ; but that if he refused any longer, they
would strike off his head from his shoulders. He was still
proceeding to contest the point, when one of the soldiers, im-
patient to proceed to business, drew his sword, and aimed a
blow at his head, which would have cleft it in twain, had not
the villain's arm been instantaneously arrested by the lay-
brother. Perceiving the kind of arguments they were disposed
to employ, he unlocked his chests, which in the twinkling of
an eye were rummaged to the bottom, while every thing which
appeared to possess any value was taken away. Turning his
eyes from this painful scene towards the garden, he perceived
two soldiers searching among the bushes in the very spot
where he had thrown his jewels ; and rushing towards them,
followed by one of the monks, they retired. He then, without
reflecting upon the extreme imprudence of his conduct, began
himself to search about for the packets, but not being able to
discover them, he supposed the soldiers had found and carried
them off. As their value was little less than ten thousand
pounds, the loss fell upon him like a thunderbolt. Neverthe-
less, there was no time for sorrowing. His companion and
the lay-brother were loudly calling him from the house. He
therefore tore himself away from the spot. In returning to-
wards the house, two soldiers fell upon him, dragged him up
into a corner, and after clearing his pockets of all they con-
tained, were about to bind him and hurry him off; but after
much resistance and expostulation, they released him, and
shortly afterward the whole troop retired from the monastery.
The robber chiefs and their followers had no sooner depart-
ed, than Chardin again repaired to the garden, and was sor-
rowfully prying about the thickets where he had concealed his
jewels, when a man cast his arms about his neck, and threw
him into more violent terror than ever. He had no doubt it
was a Mingrelian, who was about to cut his throat. The next
moment, however, he recognized the voice of his taithlul Ar-
menian valet, who, in accents broken by sobs, and with eyes
23
262 SIR JOHN CHARDm.
overflowing with tears, exclaimed, "Ah, sir, we are ruined!"
Chardin, strongly moved by this proof of his affection, bade
him restrain his tears. " But, sir," said he, " have you search-
ed the place carefully ?" " So carefully," replied the travel-
ler, "that I am convinced all further search would be so much
labour lost." This did not satisfy the Armenian. He wished
to be informed exactly respecting the spot where the traveller
had thrown the jewels ; the manner in which he had cast them
into the thicket ; and the way in which he had sought for
them. To obhge him, Chardin did what he desired, but was
so thoroughly persuaded that all further search was useless,
that he refused to remain upon the spot, and went away, over-
whelmed with grief and vexation. How long he remained in
this state of stupefaction he could not tell; he was roused from
it, however, by the presence of the Armenian, who, approach-
ing him in the dark, for it was now night, once more threw
himself about his neck, and thrust the two packets of jewels
into his bosom.
By the advice of the monks, Chardin next morning pro-
ceeded to the prince's castle, to relate his griefs, and demand
justice ; but all he gained by this expedition was, the thorough
conviction that his highness was as arrant a thief as his sub-
jects, and had shared the fruits of the robbery which was ap-
parently undertaken by his orders. This discovery, however,
was important ; it opened his eyes to the true character of the
country ; and taught him that in Mingrelia, at least, the man
who put his trust in princes was a fool. In the course of two
days, to give the finishing stroke to their misfortune, they
learned that the Turks, irritated at the insolence and rapacity
of its chief, had made an irruption into the country, were lay-
ing it waste with fire and sword on all sides, and had already
approached to within a short distance of Sipias. At midnight,
two cannon-shots from the neighbouring fortress of Ruchs an-
nounced the approach of the enemy, and the peasants, with
their wives, children, and flocks, immediately took to flight,
and before dawn the whole population was in motion. Our
traveller, whose companion, excited and irritated by the prece-
ding untoward events, was now ill, fled among the rest, leaving
behind him his books, papers, and mathematical instruments,
which he hoped the ignorance of both Turks and Mingrelians
would protect. His buried M^ealth he also left where it was,
and, considering the complexion of events, regarded as much
safer thai\ what he carried with him.
The sight of this whole people, suddenly thrown into rapid
flight, was sufficiently melancholy. The women bore along
their children in their arms, the men carried the baggage.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 263
Some drove along their cattle before them, while others yoked
themselves like oxen to the carts in which their furniture was
loaded, and being unable long to continue their extraordinary
exertions, sunk down exhausted and dying on the road. Here
and there, along the wayside, groups of old people, or very
young children, implored the aid of those whose strength had
not yet failed, with the most heart-rending cries and groans.
At another moment the spectacle would have caused the most
painful emotions, but it was now beheld with the utmost in-
difference. The idea of danger having swallowed up every
other, they hurried by these miserable deserted creatures with-
out pity or commiseration.
The castle in which they now took refuge belonged to a
chief who had been a double renegade, having deserted Chris-
tianity for Mohammedanism, and Mohammedanism for Chris-
tianity; notwithstanding which, he was supposed to be a less
atrocious brigand than his neighbours. He received the fugi-
tives politely, and assigned them for their lodgings an apart-
ment where they were somewhat less exposed to the weather
than in the woods, though the rain found its way in on all
sides. The castle, however, was already crowded with people,
eight hundred persons, of whom the majority were women
and children, having taken refuge in it, and others still more
destitute and miserable arriving every moment.
Next day one of the missionaries returned to the monastery,
for the purpose of bringing away, if possible, such plate and
provisions as had been left behind: but he found that place in.
possession of the Turks, who beat him severely, and carried
away whatever was portable in the house. The night follow-
ing, a Mingrelian chief, more barbarous and destructive than
the Turks, sacked the monastery a third time, and having no
torches or flambeaux to light him in his depredations, made a
bonfire of our traveller's books and papers, and reduced the
whole to ashes. The chief in whose castle they had taken
refuge, being summoned to surrender by the Turkish pasha,
and perceiving the absurdity of pretending to measure his
strength with that of the enemy, consented to take the oath of
allegiance to the Porte, and, what was equally important, to
make a handsome present to its agent. This present was to
consist of three hundred crowns in money, and twenty young
slaves, which the wretch determined to levy from the unfortu-
nate creatures who had thrown themselves upon his protection,
confiding in the sacred laws of hospitality. Among Mingre-
lians, however, there is nothing sacred. Every family pos-
sessing four children was compelled to give up one of the
number to be transported into Turkey as a slave; but it was
264 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
found necessary to tear away the children from the arms of
their mothers, who grasped them convulsively, pressed them
to their bosoms, and yielded only to irresistible violence. In-
stead of twenty children, the chief forced away twenty-five,
selHng the additional number for his own profit ; and instead
of three hundred crowns, he extorted five hundred. Provi-
dence, however, compelled him and his family to devour their
share of grief The pasha peremptorily demanded one of his
sons as a hostage, and as he and his wives beheld the youngest
of their boys depart into endless captivity for the hostage, de-
livered up to the Porte never to return, they had an opportuni-
ty of tasting a sample of the bitterness they had administered
to others. Chardin, who had neither wife nor children to lose,
was taxed at twenty crowns.
Perceiving that the state of the country verged more and
more every day upon utter anarchy and confusion, our trav-
eller came to the resolution of departing at all hazards for
Georgia, to demand its prince's aid in withdrawing his prop-
erty from Mingrelia. His companion remained to watch over
ij; in his absence. Not being able to procure either guards or
guides from among the natives, for with all their misery there
is no people who fear death or danger more than the Mingre-
lians, he was constrained to set out with a single domestic,
who, as fate would have it, was the most consummate scoun-
drel in his service. On the way to Anarghia, where he was
once more to embark on the Black Sea, he learned that the
church in which he had deposited his wealth had been sacked
and stripped to the bare walls, that the very graves had been
Opened, and every vestige of property removed. Here was a
new source of anguish. It was now a question whether he
was a rich or a poor man. He paused in his journey — sent
off an express to his companion — the ruins of the church were
visited — and their money found to be untouched. This cir-
cumstance, he informs us, marvellotisly exalted his courage,
and he proceeded with fresh vigour on his new enterprise.
Embarking in a felucca at Anarghia, in company with sev-
eral Turks and their slaves, he sailed along the south-eastern
coast of the Black Sea, passed by the mouth of the Phasis,
the site of Sebaste, and many other spots redolent of classical
fame, and in three days arrived at Gonia in the country of the
Lazii. Here the character of his valet began to develop itself.
Repairing as soon as they had landed to the custom-house,
leaving his master to manage for himself, the vagabond im-
parted to the authorities his conjectures respecting the real
condition of the traveller, and thus at once awakened their
vigilance and cupidity. His effects were in consequence
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 96i
rigorously examined, and the dues exacted from him, which
were heavy, perhaps extortionate, no doubt enabled the cus-
tom-house officers to reward the treachery of his servant.
When these matters had been settled, the principal officer,
who, after all, was a man of humane disposition and tolerably
just principles, made Chardin an offer of an apartment in his
house, where he invited, nay, even entreated him to pass the
night ; but having already suffered from what he regarded as
his rapacity, the traveller dreaded some new act of extortion,
and obstinately refused his hospitality. He very soon repented
this false step. It being nearly night, he proceeded, on quit-
ting the custom-house, to the inn, or rather hovel, whither his
valet had directed his effects to be conveyed after examination.
Here he was sitting down, fatigued and dejected, disgusted
with dirt and stench, and listening to the condolences of his
Turkish travelling companions, when a janizary from the
lieutenant of the commandant, the chief being absent, entered
in search of his valet, with whom that important personage
was desirous of holding a conference. In another hour the
presence of the traveller himself was required ; and when, in
obedience to authority, he repaired to the fort, he found both
the lieutenant and his own graceless servant drunk, and began
to perceive that a plan for pillaging him had been concerted.
The lieutenant now informed him, with as much gravity as
the prodigious quantity of wine he had taken would permit,
that all ecclesiastics who passed through Gonia were accustom-
ed to pay two hundred ducats to his superior ; and that he,
therefore, as a member of that profession, for Chardin had
thought proper to pass for a Capuchin, must deposite that sum
in his hands for the commandant. It was in vain that the
traveller now denied all claim to the clerical character, and
acknowledged himself to be a merchant; merchant or priest,
it was all the same to the lieutenant ; what he wanted was the
two hundred ducats, which, after much altercation, were redu-
ced to one hundred ; but this M. Chardin was compelled to
pay, or submit to the punishment of the carcan^ a species of
portable stocks, through which the offender's head is put in-
stead of his feet. The worst feature, however, of the whole
affair was, that the drunken officer took it into his head to
cause the present thus extorted to appear to be a voluntary
gift ; and again having recourse to menaces, which he was
prepared to execute upon the spot, he forced the traveller to
make oath on the Gospel that he bestowed the money freely,
and would disclose the real nature of the transaction to no
one. This being done, he was allowed to retire.
J23*
266 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
Next morning the custom-house officer, who, in inviting
him to pass the night in his house, had intended to protect hira
from this species of robbery, furnished him with a guide, and
two men to carry his luggage; and with this escort, in addition
to his hopeful valet, he departed for Akalzike'. The road at
first lay through a plain, but at length began to ascend, and
pierce the defiles of the Caucasus; and as he climbed higher
and higher among the precipitous and dizzy heights of this
sublime mountain, among whose many peaks the ark is sup-
posed to have first taken ground after the deluge, and from
whence the stream of population flowed forth and overspread
the world with a flood of life, he felt the cares, solicitudes, and
sorrows which for many months had fed, as it were, upon his
heart, take wing, and a healing and invigorating influence
spread an exquisite calm over his sensations. This singular
tranquilhty, which he experienced on first reaching these lofty
regions, stifl continued as he advanced, notwithstanding the
rain, the hail, and the snow which were poured on him by the
tempest as he passed ; and in such a frame of mind he attain-
ed the opposite side of the mountain, upon whose folding
slopes he beheld numerous villages, castles, and churches,
picturesquely scattered about, and at length descended into a
broad and beautiful valley, cultivated with the greatest care,
and fertihzed by the waters of the Kur.
Arriving without accident or adventure at Akalzike', and
remaining there four days to repose himself, he departed for
Georgia. The route now presented nothing extraordinary.
A castle or a ruin, picturesquely perched upon the crest of a
rocky eminence, a church, or a village, or a forest — such were
the objects which met the eye. He at length reached the
Capuchin convent in the vicinity of Cory, whence, after ma-
ture consultation with the monks, who, for strangers, entered
with extraordinary earnestness into his views, he set out, ac-
companied by a lay-brother of the order, for Tiflis, partly with
the design of demanding aid from the Prince of Georgia, and
partly to obtain the advice of the principal missionary respect-
ing the steps he ought to take in order to deliver his partner
and property from the avaricious hands of the Mingrelians.
The opinion of the monks was, tliat since the Prince of Geor-
gia entertained rather loose notions respecting his allegiance
to the King of Persia, whose servant Chardin was to be con-
sidered, and, like all petty potentates, was possessed by ex-
treme cupidity and laxity of principle, there would in all
probability be as much danger in being aided by him, as in
depending on the uncertain will of fortune and his own pru-
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 267
dence and ingenuitj ; that he ought to return secretly to Min-
grelia ; and that, for the greater chance of success, he should
take with him one of the brotherhood, who was deeply versed
in the small politics of those countries; and a native depend-
ent on the monastery, who had been a thousand times in Min-
grelia.
With these able coadjutors he returned once more into the
country of Media, whence, after incredible difficulties and very
considerable danger, he succeeded in rescuing his property.
On his return to Tiflis he calculated, with the aid of his com-
panion, the losses they had sustained during the journey from
Constantinople to Georgia, and found that, by great good for-
tune, it did not exceed one per cent, upon the merchandize they
had succeeded in conveying safe and entire to that city. He
now tasted of that delight which springs up in the mind after
dangers escaped and difficulties overcome ; and commenced
the pleasing task of studying the manners of a people among
whom, however impure and depraved might be their morals, a
stranger had little to fear. The beauty of the women, he
found, was so irresistible in Georgia, and their manners so
graceful and bewitching, that it was impossible to behold them
without love ; but the depravity of their morals, and the black-
ness and perfidy of their souls, exceeded, if possible, the per-
fection of their forms, and rendered them as odious to the
mind as they were pleasing to the eye.
After remaining a short time at Tiflis, and going through
the usual routine of giving and receiving presents, &c., he de-
parted for Armenia. Being now accompanied by a mehman-
dar, or guest-guard, he proceeded without obstacle or extor-
tion; this officer taking upon himself the care of adjusting
matters with the custom-houses, and of providing horses, car-
riages, and provisions on the way. Though in so low a
latitude, the whole face of the country was still covered with
snow in March, and it was with much difficulty that they pro-
ceeded over the narrow pathways made by the few travellers
who were compelled to traverse the country at such a season.
To guard against the reflection of thp sun's rays from the snow,
which weakened the sight, and caused a burning heat in the
face, our traveller wore a handkerchief of green or black silk
tied across the eyes, after the manner of the inhabitants,
though this merely diminished, but could not altogether prevent
the evil. Whenever they met any travellers moving in a con-
trary direction, they had to dispute who should yield up the
narrow path, upon which two horses could not pass each
other, and go out into the soft snow, in which the animals
instantly sunk up to their bellies ; but in the end every one
268 SIR JOHN CUARDIN.
yielded the preference to the mehmandar. Creeping along in
this manner through the cold, they arrived at Eryvan on the
7th of March.
Being now in a country where civilization had made some
progress, Chardin took lodgings in a caravansary, and was
provided abundantly with the necessaries of hfe by the bounty
of the governor, who, no doubt, expected that his civilities
would be remembered when he should come in the sequel to
bargain for a portion of the traveller's jewels. In the East it
is an established rule that the natives shall always take ad-
vantage of a stranger, sometimes by force, at other times by
cunning, but invariably in some way or another. In Mingrelia
our traveller had to guard against force and violence ; here
against wheedling, deceit, flattery, double-dealing, hypocrisy,
and meanness. In the former case, hovever, being weak, it
was necessary to evade or succumb; but in the present, since in-
genuity was the weapon on both sides, there were more chances
of success, though it often appeared that plain honest good
sense is not always a match for practised cunning. In the in-
tervals of business the time was passed in parties, dinners, and
visits, which at least furnished opportunities of studying the
manners of the people.
Perceiving that the time of his departure was drawing nigh,
the governor came to the point at which he had been steadily
aiming all the while, under cover of his hospitality and cares-
ses, which were put forward as so many stalking-horses, to en-
able him to bring down his game with greater certainty. Send-
ing for Chardin to the palace, he proceeded warily and steal-
thily to business, occasionally shaking the dust of compliments
and flattery in the traveller's eyes as he went along. He first
lamented the actual state of Persia, in which, reduced by bad
government and the malignant inclemency of the seasons to a
state bordering upon famine and anarchy, there was of course
little or no demand for expensive articles of luxury; besides,
even if public afi'airs had been flourishing, and the royal re-
sources abundant, the present king had no taste for jewelry;
and that, therefore there was no hope of disposing of costly
precious stones at the court of Ispahan. From this prehmi-
nary discourse, which was meant to diminish in the traveller's
eyes the value of his merchandise, though in reahty the picture
was correct, the governor passed at once to the genuine object
of his oration, and made an offer to purchase a part of the
jewels. His conduct on this occasion was a masterpiece of
mercantile skill, and he succeeded, by holding out the hope
of more important purchases in the sequel, in getting every
tiling that he reaily intended to buy, at a yery cheap rate*
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 269
When his object was gained, he closed the negotiation in the
coolest manner in the world, by returning the large quantity
of jewels which he had caused to be sent to his palace, as if he
had intended to bargain for them all ; and the traveller now
perceived that the wily Persian had made a dupe of him. As
all manifestations of discontent, however, would have been
altogether useless, he affected to be extremely well pleased
at his bad luck, and retired to his caravansary, cursing all the
way the talents and aptitude of the governor of Eryvan for
business and cheating.
On the 8th of April he departed from the capital of Arme-
nia, and travelling for several days through level and fertile
plains, interspersed with churches and villages, arrived at Nac-
chivan, a city formerly celebrated, and of great antiquity, but
now in ruins. From hence he proceeded, etymologizing and
making researches as he moved along, towards Tabriz, where
he arrived on the 17th. At this city, then the second in Persia
in rank, riches, and population, he took up his quarters at the
Capuchin convent, where he was visited by several of the nobles
of the place, on account of his jewelry, the fame of which flew
before him on the road, and like a pioneer smoothed and laid
level his passage into Persia. In proceeding southward from
Tabriz he had to traverse the plains of Aderbijan, the ancient
Media, which being covered at this season of the year by
tribes of Koords, Saraneshins, and Turcomans, all striking
their tents, and putting themselves in motion for their summer
emigration to the mountains, could not be crossed by a stran-
ger without considerable danger. He was therefore counselled
to defer his departure for a few days, when he would have the
advantage of travelling in the company of a Persian noble-
man, Avhose presence would be a suflicient protection. He
adopted this advice, and in less than a week set out under
the safeguard of his noble escort, and crossed those rich and
beautiful plains, which afford the best pasturage in the world,
and where, accordingly, the ancient kings of Media kept their
prodigious studs, which sometimes consisted of fifty thousand
horses. The ancients relate, that the horses of Nysa, which
must be sought for in these plains, were all cream-coloured ;
but the nobleman who accompanied Chardin had never read
or heard of any part of Persia where horses of that colour
were produced.
In his journey through Media he saw on the side of the road
circles of huge stones, like those of Stonehenge, and the Dol-
mens of Normandy and Brittany, which, according to the
traditions of the Persians, were placed there by the Kaous, or
giants, who formerly held possession of those regions. The
270 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
same superstitions, the same fables, the same wild belief in the
enormous strength and stature of past generations, prevailed,
we see, throughout the world, because the desires, faculties,
and passions of the mind are everywhere the same.
It was now June, and instead of disputing with those they
met, the possession of a narrow snow-track, they were com-
pelled to travel by night to avoid the scorching heat of the sun.
They usually set out about two hours before sunset, and when
day had entirely disappeared, the stars, which in the clear blue
atmosphere of Persia yielded a strong brilliant hght, agreeably
supplied its place, and enabled them to proceed from caravan-
sary to caravansary with facility. At every step historical
associations crowded upon the traveller's mind. The dust
which was thrown up into a cloud by the hoof of his camel,
and the stones over which he stumbled in the darkness, were
the dust and the wrecks of heroes and mighty cities, crumbled
by time, and whirled about by the breath of oblivion. Cyruar
and Alexander, khahfs, khans, and sultans, had fought, con-
quered, or perished on those plains. Vast cities had risen,
flourished, and vanished like a dream. A few days before his
arrival at Kom, he passed at a little distance the ruins of Rhe,
a city scarcely less vast in its dimensions, or less magnificent
or populous than Babylon, but now deserted, and become so
unhealthy in consequence, that, according to a Persian poet,
the very angel of death retired from it on account of the bad-
ness of the air.
On his arrival at Koms, after escaping from the storms of
the Black Sea and the Mingrelians, Chardin was nearly killed
by the kick of a horse. He escaped, however, and set out
two days afterward for Kashan, traversing fine fertile plains,
covered with villages. In this city, celebrated for its burning
climate and scorpions, he merely remained one day to allow
his horses a little repose, and then departed and pushed on to
Ispahan, where he arrived on the 23d of June.
Chardin was faithful to the Capuchin friars; for whenever he
passed through or visited a city in which they possessed a con-
vent, it was the first place to which he repaired, and the last
he quitted. On the present occasion he took up his residence,
as usual, with these monks, at whose convent he found on his
arrival a bag of letters addressed to him from various parts of
the world: before he could read the half of which, many of
his Persian and Armenian friends, whom he had known dur-
ing his former residence, and all the Europeans of the city,
came to welcome him on his return to Ispahan. From these
he learned that the court, which had undergone innumerable
changes during his absence, the greater number of those great
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 27Jf
men who had distinguished themselves, or held any offices of
trust under the late king, being either dead or in disgrace,
was now in the utmost confusion, the persons who exercised
most influence in it being a set of young noblemen, without
virtue, talents, or experience. And what was still worse for
Chardin, though not for Persia, it was secretly whispered about
that Sheikh Ali Khan, formerly prime minister, but now in dis-
grace, was about to be restored to favour ; in which case our
traveller anticipated great losses, as this virtuous and inflexible
man, whose great talents had always been employed in the
service of his country, was an enemy to all lavish expenditure,
and regarded jewels and other costly toys as mere dross, un-
worthy the attention of a sovereign prince.
Chardin perceived, therefore, that he had not a moment to
lose, it being of the highest importance that his business with
the king should be transacted before Sheikh Ali Khan should
again be prime vizier; but by whom he was to be introduced
at court was the question. The persons to whom he applied
in the first instance, at the same time that they willingly con-
sented to use their best efforts in his favour, and counselled
him not to despair, yet gave so sombre a picture of the state
of the court, and threw out so many insinuations, indicating
their belief that the future would be still more unpropitious
than the present, that they succeeded in casting a damp over
his energies, and in dissipating, or at least blighting his hopes.
Nevertheless, something was to be done, and that quickly ;
and he determined, that what ever might be the result, he
would at all events not fail through inattention or indolence.
While Chardin was labouring to put those springs in motion,
the harmonious action of which was to produce the fulfilment
of his hopes, Sheikh Ali Khan suddenly entered into office.
This event was brought about in a strange manner. The
king, during one of those violent fits of intoxication to which
he was hable, and during which he acted more hke a wilcj
beast than a man, had commanded the right hand of a musi-
cian who was playing before him to be struck off*, and imme-
diately fell asleep. The person to whom the barbarous order
was given, imagining that all recollection of the matter would
pass away with the fumes of sleep, ventured to disobey; but
the king awaking, and finding the musician, whom he expected
to find mutilated and bleeding, still touching the instrument,
became so enraged, that he gave orders for inflicting the same
punishment upon the disobedient favourite and the musician ;
and finding that those around him still hesitated to execute
his brutal commands, his madness rose to so ungovernable a
pitch that he would probably have had the arms and legs of
272 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
all the court cut off, had not Sheikh AH Khan, who fortunately
happened to be present, thrown himself at his feet, and im-
plored him to pardon the offenders. The tyrant, now begin-
ning to cool a little, replied, "You are a bold man, to expect
that I shall grant your request, while you constantly refuse to
resume, at my most earnest entreaties, the office of prime min-
ister !" " Sire," replied Ali, " 1 am your slave, and will do
whatever your majesty shall command." The king was paci-
fied, the culprits pardoned, and next morning Sheikh Ali
Khan reassumed the government of Persia.
The event dreaded by our traveller had now arrived, and
therefore the aspect of affairs was changed. Nevertheless,
not many days after this event, he received an intimation from
one of his court friends, that is, persons purchased over by
presents, that the nazir, or chief intendant of the king's house-
hold, having been informed of his arrival, was desirous of see-
ing him, and had warmly expressed his inclination to serve
him with the shah. Chardin, who understood from what
motives courtiers usually perform services, laid but small stress
upon his promises, but still hastened to present himself at his
levee, with a list of all the articles of jewelry he had brought
with him from Europe, which the nazir immediately ordered
to be sent to him for the inspection of the king. A few days
afterward he was introduced to the terrible grand vizier. Sheikh
Ali Khan himself, who, from the mild and pohshed manner in
which he received our traveller, appeared extremely different
from the portraits which the courtiers and common fame had
drawn of him.
His whole fortune being now at stake, and depending in a
great measure upon the disposition of the nazir and the con-
duct of the shah, Chardin was unavoidably agitated by very
painful and powerful feelings, when he was suddenly sum-
moned to repair to the intendant's palace, where the principal
jewellers of the city, Mohammedan, Armenian, and Hindoo,
had been assembled to pronounce upon the real value of the
various articles he had offered to the king. He had not long
entered before the nazir ordered the whole of his jewels to be
brought forth, those which his majesty intended to purchase
being set apart in a large golden bowl of Chinese workman-
ship. Chardin, observing that notwithstanding the whole had
been purchased or made by order of the late king, not a fourth
part had been selected by his present majesty, felt as if he had
been stricken by a thunderbolt, and became pale and rooted,
as it were to the spot. The nazir, though a selfish and rapa-
cious man, was touched by his appearance, and leaning his
liead towards him, observed, in a low voice, "You are vexed
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 273
that the king should have selected so small a portion of your
jewels. I protest to you that I have taken more pains than I
ought to induce him to purchase the whole, or at least the half
of them ; but 1 have not been able to succeed, because the
larger articles, such as the sabre, the poniard, and the mirror,
are not made in the fashion which prevails in this country.
But keep up your spirits ; you will still dispose of them, if it
please God." The traveller, who felt doubly vexed that his
chagrin had been perceived, made an effort to recover his
composure, but could not so completely succeed but that the
shadow, as it were, of his emotion still remained upon his
countenance.
However, pleased or displeased, it was necessary to proceed
to business. The shah's principal jeweller now placed before
him the golden bowl containing the articles selected by his
majesty, and beginning with the smaller pieces, asked the
price of them in a whisper ; and then caused them to be esti-
mated by the other jewellers present, beginning with the
Mohammedans, and then passing on to the Armenians and
Hindoos. The merchants of Persia, when conducting any
bargain before company, never make use of any words in
stating tiie price to each other ; they make themselves under-
stood with their fingers, their hands meeting under a corner of
their robe, or a thick handkerchief, so that their movements
may be concealed. To close the hand of the person with
whom business is thus transacted means a thousand; to take
one finger of the open hand, a hundred; to bend the finger in
the m\M\c^ fifty ; and so on. This mode of bargaining is in
use throughout the East, and more particularly in India,
where no other is employed.
The value of the jewels being thus estimated, the appraisers
were dismissed, and the nazir, coming to treat tete-a-tete with
Chardin, succeeded so completely in throwing a mist over his
imagination, by pretending to take a deep interest in his
welfare, that he drew him into a snare, and in the course of
the negotiation, which lasted long, and was conducted with
infinite cunning on the part of the Persian, caused him to lose
a large portion of the fruits of his courage and enterprise.
Other negotiations with various individuals followed, and in
the end Chardin succeeded in disposing of the whole of his
jewels.
These transactions closed with the year 1673. In the be-
ginning of the following year, which was passed in a devotional
manner among the Protestants of Ispahan, the traveller began
to feel his locomotive propensities revive ; and an ambassador
from Balkh, then in the capital, happening to pay him a visit,
24
274 SIR JOHN CHAROIN.
SO wrought upon his imagination by his description of his wild
country, and gave him so many pressing invitations to accom-
pany him on his return, that, had it not been for the counter-
persuasion of friends, Chardin would undoubtedly liave ex-
tended his travels to Tartary. This idea being relinquished,
however, he departed for the shores of the Persian Gulf, a
journey of some kind or other being necessary to keep up the
activity of both body and mind.
He accordingly departed from Ispahan in the beginning of
February, all the Europeans in the city accompanying him as
far as Bagh Koolloo, where they ate a farewell dinner together.
He then proceeded on his journey, and in eleven days arrived
at the ruins of Persepolis, which he had twice before visited,
in order once more to compare his ideas with the realities, and
complete his description of this celebrated spot. These mag-
nificent ruins are situated in one of the finest plains in the
world ; and as you enter this plain from the north through
narrow gayas or between conical hills of vast height and singu-
lar shape, you behold them standing in front of a lofty ridge
of mountains, v/hich sweep round in the form of a half-moon,
flanking them on both sides with its mighty horns. On two
of these lofty eminences which protected the approaches to the
city, and which, when Persepolis was in all its glory, so long
resisted the fierce, impatient attacks of Alexander, the ruins of
ancient forts still subsisted when Chardin was there ; but, after
having travelled so far, principally for the purpose of examin-
ing the ruins scattered around, he found the hills too steep and
lofty, and refused to ascend them !
Having occupied several days in contemplating the enor-
mous ruins of temples and palaces existing on the plain, our
traveller descended into what is called the Subterranean Tem-
ple ; that is, a labyrinth of canals or passages, hewn out in the
solid rock, turning, winding, and crossing each other in a
thousand places, and extending to an unknown distance be-
neath the bases of the mountains. The entrances and the
exits of these dismal vaults are unknown; but travellers and
other curious persons find their way in through rents made by
time or by earthquakes in the rock. Lighted candles, which
burned with difiiculty in the heavy, humid air, were placed at
the distance of every fifty yards, as Chardin and his compan-
ions advanced, particularly at those points where numerous
passages met, and where, should a wrong path be taken, they
might have lost themselves for ever. Here and there they ob-
served heaps of bones or horns of animals ; the damp trickled
down the sides of the rocks ; the bottom of the passages was
^loist and cold ; respiration grew more and more difficult
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 275
every step ; they became giddy ; an unaccountable horror
seized upon their minds ; the attendant first, and then the
traveller himself, experienced a kind of panic terror; and fear-
ing that, should they much longer continue to advance, they
might never be able to return, they hastened back towards the
fissures through which they had entered ; and without having
discovered any thing but vaults which appeared to have no
end, they emerged into daylight, like iEneas and his compan-
ion from the mouth of hell.
Departing from the ruins of Persepolis on the 19tli of Feb-
ruary, he next day arrived at Shiraz, where he amused himself
for three days in contemplating the waters of the Roknebad
and the bowers of Mosellay. In proceeding from this city to
Bander-Abassi, on the Persian Gulf, he had to pass over
Mount Jarron by the most difficult and dangerous road in all
Persia. At every step the travellers found themselves sus-
pended, as it w^ere, over tremendous precipices, divided from
the abyss by a low Avail of loose stones, which every moment
seemed ready to roll of their own accord into the depths below.
The narrow road was blocked up at short intervals by large
fragments of rock, between which it was necessary to squeeze
themselves with much pains and caution. However, they
passed the mountain without accident, and on the 12tli of
March arrived at Bander-Abassi.
This celebrated port, from which insufferable heat and a
pestilential atmosphere banish the whole population during
summer, is at all times excessively insalubrious, all strangers
who settle there dying in the course of a few years, and the
inhabitants themselves being already old at thirty. The few
persons who remain to keep guard over the city during sum-
mer, at the risk of their lives, are rcheved every ten days ;
during which they suffer sufficiently from the heat, the deluges
of rain, and the black and furious tempests which plough up
the waters of the gulf, and blow with irresistible fury along
the coast.
Though the eve of the season of death was drawing near,
Chardin found the inhabitants of Bander in a gay humour,
feasting, drinking, and elevating their sentiments and re-
joicing their hearts with the heroic songs of Firdoosi. Into
these amusements our traveller entered with all his heart — the
time flew by rapidly — the advent of fever and death was
come — and the ship which he expected from Surat had not
yet arrived. Talents and experience are not always accom-
panied by prudence. Chardin saw the whole population de-
serting the city; yet he lingered, detained by the «wn sacra
276 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
fames* until far in the month of May, and until, in fact, the
seeds of a malignant fever had been sown in his constitution.
Those uneasy sensations which are jrenerally tiie forerunners
of sickness and death, united with the representations of the
physicians, at length induced Jiim to quit the place, his attend-
ants being already ill ; but he had not proceeded many leagues
before a giddiness in the head and general debihty of !)ody
informed him that he had remained somewhat tco long at
Bander.
Arriving on the 24th of May at Tangnedelan, a place wiicre
there was not a single human being to be found, he became
delirious, and at last fell into a fit from which his attendants
had much difficulty in recovering him. There happened, by
great good fortune, to be a French surgeon in his suite. This
surgeon, who was an able man in his profession, not only took
all possible care of our traveller during his moments of deliri-
um, but, what was of infinitely greater importance, had the
good sense to hurry his departure from those deserted and
fatal regions, procuring from the neighbouring villages eight
men, who carried him in a litter made with canes and branch-
es of trees to Lar. As soon as they had reached this city,
Chardin sent for the governor's physician, who, understand-
ing that he was the shah's merchant, came to him immediate-
ly. Our traveller was by this time so weak tliat he could
scarcely describe his feelings ; and, as well as the French
surgeon, began to believe that his life was near its close. The
Persian Esculapius, however, who discovered the nature of
the disorder at a glance, assured him it was a mere trifle; that
he needed by no means be uneasy ; and that, in fact, be
would, with God's blessing, restore him to health that very
day, nay, in a very few hours.
This dashing mode of dealing with disorders produced an
excellent ef^'ect upon the traveller's mind. The hakim seetned
to hold Death by the beard, to keep him in his toils, to curb
him, or let him have his way at pleasure. Chardin's whole
frame trembled with joy. He took the physician by the hand,
squeezed it as well as his strength would permit, and looked
up in his face as he would have looked upon his guardian-
angel. The hakim, to whom these things were no novelties,
proceeded, without question or remark, to prescribe for his
patient ; and having done this, he was about to retire, when
the traveller cried out, " Sir, I am consumed with heat !" " I
know that very well," replied the hakim ; " but you shall be
* Love of gain.
SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 277
cooled presently !" and with the word both he and his apoth-
ecary disappeared.
About nine o'clock the young apothecary returned, bring-
ing with him a basketful of drugs, enough, to all appearance,
to kill or cure a regiment of patients. " For whom," inquired
Chardin, " are all those medicines 1" " For you," replied the
young man ; "these are what the hakim has ordered you to
take this morning, and you must swallow them as quickly as
possible." Fevers make men docile. The travelfer immedi-
ately began to do as he was commanded ; but when he came
to one of the large bottles, his "gorge," as Shakspeare phrases
it, began to rise at it, and he observed that it would be impos-
sible to swallow that at a draught. "Never mind," said the
young man, " you can take it at several draughts." Obedi-
ence followed, and the basketful of physic disappeared. " You
will presently," observed the apothecary, "experience the most
furious thirst ; and I would willingly give you ices to take, but
there is neither ice nor snow in the city except at the govern-
or's. As his thirst would not allow him to be punctihous,
Chardin at once apphed to the governor ; and succeeding in
his enterprise, quenched his burning thirst with the most deli-
cious drinks in the world.
To render him as cool as possible his bed was spread upon
the floor in an open parlour, and so frequently sprinkled with
water that the room might almost be said to be flooded ; but the
fever still continuing, the bed was exchanged for a mat, upon
which he was extended in his shirt, and fanned by two men.
The disorder being still unsubdued, the patient was placed
upon a chair, where cold water was poured over him in profu-
sion, while the French surgeon, who was constantly by his
side, and could not restrain his indignation at seeing the ordi-
nary rules of his practice thus set at naught, exclaimed, " They
are killing you, sir ! Depend upon tt, that it is by killing you
the hakim means to remove your fever !" The traveller, how-
ever, maintained his confidence in the Persian, and had very
soon the satisfaction of being informed that the fever had
already abated, and of perceiving that, instead of killing, the
hakim had actually cured him. In one word, the disorder de-
parted more rapidly than it had come on, and in a few days he
was enabled to continue his journey.
Remaining quietly at Ispahan during the space of a whole
year after this unfortunate excursion, he then departed from
the capital for the court, which still lingered at Casbin, in
company with Mohammed Hussein Beg, son of the governor
of the island of Bahreint. This young man was conducting
from his father to the king a present, consisting of two wild
24*
278 SIR JOHN CIIARDIN.
bulls, with long, black, sharp horns, an ostrich, and a number
of rich Indian stuffs ; and bein*^ hj no means a strict Mussul-
man, drinking wine and eating heartily of a good dinner,
whether cooked by Mohammedan or Christian, was a very
excellent travelling companion. On his arrival at Casbin,
Chardin, who was now extremely well known to all the gran-
dees of the kingdom, was agreeably and hospitably received
by the courtiers, particularly by the wife of the grand pontiff,
who was the king's aunt. This lady, in order to manifest the
friendship she entertained for him, though in consequence of
the peculiar manners of the country their souls only had met,
made him a present of eight chests of dried sweetmeats, scented
with amber and the richest perfumes of the East. Her husband
was no less distinguished by his friendship for our traveller,
who no where in Persia experienced more genuine kindnss or
generosity than from this noble family.
During this visit to Casbin, Chardin had the honour, as it is
vulgarly termed, of presenting two of his countrymen to the
shah; and so powerful is the force of habit and prejudice, that
this able, learned, and virtuous man really imagined it an
honour to approach and converse familiarly with an opium-
eating, cruel, and unprincipled sot, merely because he wore a»
tiara and could sport with the destinies of a great empire !
The nazir, in introducing the traveller, observed, " Sire, this is
Chardin, your merchant." To which the shah replied, with a
smile, "He is a very dear merchant." "Your majesty is
right," added the nazir; "he is a politic man; he has over-
reached the whole court." This the minister uttered with a
smile ; and he had aright to smile, says Chardin, for he took
especial care that quite the contrary should happen.
Chardin soon after this took his fmal leave of the court of
Persia, and returned by way of Ispahan to Bander-Abassi,
whence; he purposed sailing by an English ship for Surat.
The fear of falhng into the hands of the Dutch, then at war
with France, prevented him, however, from putting his design
into execution ; and relinquishing the idea of again visiting
Hindostan, he returned to Europe in 1677. Of the latter part
of his life few particulars arc known. Prevented by religious
considerations from residing in his own country, where free-
dom of conscience was not to be enjoyed, he selected England
for his Ijonie, where, in all probability, he became acquainted
with many of the illustrious men who shed a glory over that
epoch of her history. It was in London, also, that he first met
with tlie lady whom he immediately afterward made his wife.
Like himself, she was a native of France and a Protestant,
forced into banishment by the apprehension of religious perse-
SIR JOHN CHARD IN. 279
cution. On the very day of his marriage Chardiii received
the honour of knighthood from the hand of the gay and profli-
gate Charles II.
Having now recovered from the fever of travelhng, the beau-
tiful Rouennaise in all probability aiding the cure, Chardin
devoted his leisure to the composition of his " Travels' Histo-
ry," of which the first volume appeared in London in 1686.
While he was employed in preparing the remainder of his
works for the press, he was appointed the king's minister
plenipotentiary or ambassador to the States of Holland, being
at the same time intrusted with the management of the East
India Company's affairs in that country. His public duties,
however, which could not entirely occupy his mind, by no
means prevented, though they considerably delayed, the publi-
cation of the remainder of his travels ; the whole of which '
appeared, both in quarto and duodecimo, in 1711. Shortly
after this he returned to England, where he died in the
neighbourhood of London, 1713, in the sixty-ninth year of his
age.
The reputation of Chardin, which even before his death ex-
tended throughout Europe and shed a lustre over his old age,
is still on the increase, and must be as durable as literature
and civilization ; his merit not consisting in splendour of de-
scription or in erudite research, though in these he is by no
means deficient, but in that singular sagacity which enabled
him to penetrate into the heart and characters of men, and to
descend with almost unerring precision to the roots of institu-
tions and manners. No European seems to have compre-
hended the Persians so completely ; and no one has hitherto
described them so well. Religion, government, morals, hian-
ners, ccstume — every thing in which one nation can differ
from another — Chardin had studied in that bold and original
manner which characterizes the efforts of genius. His style,
though careless, and sometimes quaint, is not destitute of that
naivete and ease which result from much experience and the
consciousness of intellectual power; and if occasionally it
appear heavy and cumbrous in its march, it Inore frequently
quickens its movements, and hurries along with natural grace-
fulness and facility. Without appearing desirous of intro-
ducing himself to the reader further than the necessities of
the case require, he allows us to take so many ghmpses of
his character and opinions, that by the time we arrive at the
termination of his travels we seem to be perfectly acquaint-
ed with both ; and unless all these indications be fallacious,
so much talent, probity, and elegance of manners has sel-
dom been possessed by any traveller. Marco Polo was gifted
280 SIR JOHN CHARDIN.
with a more exalted enthusiasm, and acquired a more ex-
tensive acquaintance with the material phenomena of nature ;
Pietro della Valle amuses the reader by wilder and more
romantic adventures ; but for good sense, acuteness of ob-
servation, suavity of manner, and scrupulous adherence to
truth, no traveller, whether ancient or modern, is superior to
Chardin.
PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
PiETRO DELLA Valle, "the Dfiost Fomantic in his adven-
tures of all true travellers," was descended from an ancient
and noble family, and born at Rome on the 11th of April,
1586. When his education, which appears to have been care-
fully conducted and liberal, was completed, he devoted him-
self, with that passionate .ardour which characterized all the
actions of his life, to the study of literature, and particularly
poetry; but the effervescence of his animal spirits requiring
some other vent, he shortly afterward exchanged the closet
for the camp, in the hope that the quarrel between the pope
and the Venetians, and the troubles which ^ensued upon the
death of Henry IV. of France, would afford him some oppor-
tunity of distinguishing himself. His expectation being dis-
appointed, however, he in 1611 embarked on board the Spanish
fieet, then about to make a descent on the coast of Barbary ;
but nothing beyond a few skirmishes taking place, he again
beheld his desire of glory frustrated, and returned to Rome.
Here vexations of another kind awaited him. Relinquish-
ing the services of Fame for that of an earthly mistress, he
found himself no less unsuccessful, the lady preferring some
illustrious unknown, whose name, like her own, is now over-
whelmed with "the husks and formless ruin of oblivion."
Pietro, however, severely felt the sting of such a rejection ;
and in the gloomy meditations which it gave birth to, con-
ceived a plan which, as he foresaw, fulfilled his most ambi-
tious wishes, and attached an imperishable reputation to his
name. The idea was no sooner conceived than he proceeded
to put it in execution, and taking leave of his friends and of
Rome, repaired to Naples, in order to consult with his friend,
Mario Schipano, a physician of that city, distinguished for his
oriental learning and abilities, concerning the best means of
conducting his hazardous enterprise. Fortunately he pos-
sessed sufficient wealth to spurn the counsel of sloth and
timidity, which, when any act of daring is proposed, are
282 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
always at hand, disguised as prudence and good sense, to
cast a damp upon the springs of energy, or to travesty and
misrepresent the purposes of the bold. Pietro, however, was
not to be intimidated. The wonders and glories of the East
were for ever present to his imagination, and having heard
mass, and been solemnly clothed by the priest with the habit
of a pilgrim, he proceeded to Venice in order to embark for
Constantinople. The ship in which he sailed left the port on
the Gth of June, 1614. No event of peculiar interest occurred
during the voyage, which, lying along the romantic shores and
beautiful islands of Greece, merely served to nourish and
strengthen Pietro's enthusiasm. On drawing near the Dar-
danelles the sight of the coast of Troy, with its uncertain ruins
and heroic tombs, over which poetry has spread an atmosphere
brighter than any thing belonging to mere physical nature,
awoke all the bright dreams of boyhood, and hurrying on
shore, his heart overflowing with rapture, he kissed the earth
from which, according to tradition, the Roman race originally
sprung.
From the Troad to Constantinople the road lies over a tract
hallowed by the footsteps of antiquity, and at every step Pietro
felt his imagination excited by some memorial of the great of
other days. On arriving ,at the Ottoman capital, where he
purposed making a long stay, one of his first cares was to ac-
quire a competent knowledge of the language of the country,
which he did as much for the vanity, as he himself acknow-
ledges, of exhibiting his accomplishments on his return to
Italy, where the knowledge of that language was rare, as for
the incalculable benefit which must accrue from it during his
travels. Here he for the first time tasted coffee, at that time
totally unknown in Italy. He was likewise led to entertain
hopes of being able to olDtain from the sultan's hbrary a com-
plete copy of the Decades of Livy ; but after flitting before him
some time like a phantom, the manuscript vanished, and the
greater portion of the mighty Paduan remained veiled as be-
fore. While he was busily engaged in these researches, the
plague broke out, every house in Galata, excepting that of the
French ambassador, in which he resided, was infected ; corpses
and coffins met the sickened eye wherever it turned ; the chief
of his attendants pined away through terror ; and, although at
first he affected to laugh and make merry with his fears, they
every day fed so abundantly upon horrors and rumours of
horrors, that they at length became an overmatch for his phi-
losophy, and startled him with the statement that one hundred
and forty thousand victims had already perished, and that per-
adventure Pietro della Valle might be the next.
PIETRO BELLA VALLE. 28$-
This consideration caused him to turn his eye towards
Egypt ; and although the plague shortly afterward abated, his
love of motion having been once more awakened, he bade
adieu to Constantinople, and sailed for Alexandria. Arriving
in Egypt, he ascended the Nile to Cairo, viewed the pyramids,
examined the mummy-pits ; and then, with a select number
of friends and attendants, departed across the desert to visit
Horeb and Sinai, the wells of Moses, and other places celebra-
ted in the Bible. This journey being performed in the heart
of winter, he found Mount Sinai covered with snow, which
did not, however, prevent his rambling about among its wild
ravines, precipices, and chasms; when, his pious curiosity be-
ing gratified, he visited JElau or Ailoth, the modern Akaba,
and returned by Suez to Cairo. Among the very extraordin-
ary things he beheld in this country were a man and woman
upwards of eight feet in height, natives of Upper Egypt, whom
he measured himself: and tortoises as large as the body of a
carriage !
His stay in Egypt was not of long continuance, the longing
to visit the Holy Land causing him to regard every other
country with a kind of disdain ; and accordingly, joining a
small caravan which was proceeding thither across the desert,
he journeyed by El Arish and Gaza to Jerusalem. After wit-
nessing the various mummeries practised in the Holy City at
Easter by the Roman Catholics, and making an excursion to
the banks of the Jordan, where he saw a number of female
pilgrims plunging naked into the sacred stream in the view of
an immense multitude, he bent his steps towards Northern
Syria, and hurried forward by the way of Damascus to Aleppo.
In this city he remained some time, his body requiring some
repose, though the ardour and activity of his mind appeared
to be every day increasing. The journey which he now medi-
tated across the Arabian Desert into Mesopotamia required
considerable preparation. The mode of travelling was new.
Horses were to be exchanged for camels ; the European dress
for that of the East ; and instead of the sun, the stars and the
moon were to light them over the waste.
He was now unconsciously touching upon the most impor- "
tant point of his career. In the caravan with which he depart-
ed from Aleppo, September 16, 1616, there was a young mer-
chant of Bagdad, with whom, during the journey he formed a
close intimacy. This young man was constantly in the habit
of entertaining him, as they rode along side by side through
the moonhght, or when they sat down in their tent during the
heat of the day, with the praises of a young lady of Bagdad,
who, according to his description, to every charm of person
384 PIETIIO DELLA VALLE.
which could (IcUght the eye united all those quaHties of heart
and mind which render the conquests of beauty durable. It
was clear to Pietro from the beginning that the youtiiful mer-
chant was in love, and therefore he at first paid but little regard
to his extravagant panegyrics ; but by degrees the conversa-
tion of his companion produced a sensible eifect upon his own
mind, so that his curiosity to behold the object of so much
praise, accompanied, perhaps, by a slight feeling of another
kind, at length grew intense, and he every day looked upon the
slow march of the camels, and the surface of the boundless
plain before him, with more and more impatience. The wan-
dering Turcoman with his flocks and herds, rude tent, and
ruder manners, commanded much less attention than he would
have done at any other period ; and even the Bedouins, whose
sharp lances and keen scimitars kept awake the attention of
the rest of the caravan, were almost forgotten by Pietro. How-
ever, trusting to the information of his interested guide, he
represents them as having filled up the greater number of the
wells in the desert, so that there remained but a very few open,
find these were known to those persons only whose profession
it was to pilot caravans across this ocean of sand. The saga-
city with Avliich these men performed their duty was wonder-
ful. By night the stars served them for guides ; but w^heu
these brilhant signals were swallowed up in the liglit of the
sun, they then had recourse to the slight variations in the sur-
face of the plain, imperceptible to other eyes, to the appe.ir-
ance or absence of certain plants, and even to the smell of the
soil, by all which signs they always knew exactly where they
were.
At length, after a toilsome and dangerous march of fifteen
days, they arrived upon the banks of the Euphrates, a little
after sunrise, and pitched their tents in the midst of clumps of
cypress and small cedar-trees. On the following night, as
soon as the moon began to silver over the \vaters of the Eu-
phrates, the caravan again put itself in motion; and, descend-
ing along the course of the stream, in six days arrived at
Anah, a city of the Arabs, lying on both sides of the river,
whose broad surRice is here dotted Avith numerous small
islands covered with fruit-trees. They now crossed the river;
and the merchants of the caravan, avoiding the safe and com-
modious road which lay through towns in which custom-house
officers were found, struck off into a desolate and dangerous
route, traversing Mesopotamia nearly in a right line, and on
the 19th of October reached the banks of the Tigris, a larger
and more rapid river than the Euphrates, though on this occa-
sion Pietro thought its current less impetuous. The night be-
PIETRO BELLA VALLE. 285
fore they entered Bagdad the caravan was robbed m a very
dexterous manner. Their tents were pitched in the plain, the
officers of the custom-house posted around to prevent smug-
ghng ; the merchants, congratulating themselves that they had
already succeeded in eluding the duties almost to the extent of
their desires, had fallen into the ?ound sleep which attends on
a clear conscience ; and Pietro, his domestics, and the other
inmates of the caravan had followed their example. In the
dead of the night the camp was entered by stealth, the tents
rummaged, and considerable booty carried off. The banditti,
entering Pietro's tent, and finding all asleep, opened the trunk
in which were all the manuscripts, designs, and plans he had
made during his travels, carefully packed up, as if for the
convenience of robbers, in a small portable escrutoire ; but by
an instinct which was no less fortunate for them than for the
traveller and posterity, since such spoil could have been of no
value to them, they rejected the escrutoire, and selected all our
traveller's fine linen, the very articles in which he hoped to
have captivated the beauty whose eulogies had so highly in-
flamed his imagination. A Venetian, who happened to be in
the camp, had his arquebuse stolen from under his head, and
this little incident, as it tended to show that the robbers had
made still more free with others than with him, somewhat con-
soled Pietro for the loss of his linen. As the traveller does
not himself attach any suspicion to the military gentlemen
of the custom-hou^e, it might, perhaps, be uncharitable to
deposite the burden of this theft upon their shoulders ; but in
examining all the circumstances of the transaction, I confess
the idea that their ingenuity was concerned did present itself
to me.
Next morning the beams of the rising sun, gleaming upon a
thousand slender minarets and lofty-swelling domes surmount-
ed by gilded crescents, discovered to him the ancient city of
the califs stretching away right and left to a vast distance over
the plain, while the Tigris, like a huge serpent, rolled along,
cutting the city into two parts, and losing itself among the
sombre buildings which seemed to tremble over its waters.
The camels were once more loaded, and the caravan, stretch-
ing itself out into one long, narrow column, toiled along over
the plain, and soon entered the dusty, winding streets of Bag-
dad. Here Pietro, whose coming had been announced the:
evening before by his young commercial companion, was met
by the father of the Assyrian beauty, a fine patriarchal-looking
old man, who entreated him to be his guest during his stay in
Mesopotamia. This favour Pietro declined, but at the same
time he eagerly accepted of the permission to visit at his house ;
25
286 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
and was no sooner completely established in his own dwelling
than he fully availed himself of this permission.
The family to which he became thus suddenly known was
originally of Mardin, but about fourteen years previously had
been driven from thence by the Kurds, who sacked and plun-
dered the city, and reduced such of the inhabitants as they
could capture to slavery. They were Christians of the Nes-
torian sect; but Delia Valle, who was a bigot in his way,
seems to have regarded them as ahens from the church of
Christ. However, this circumstance did not prevent the image
of Sitti Maani, the eldest of the old man's daughters, and the
beauty of whom he had heard so glowing a description in the
desert, from finding its way into his heart, though the idea of
marrying having occurred to him at Aleppo, he had written
home to his relations to provide him with a suitable w^ife
against his return to Italy. Maani was now in her eighteenth
year. Her mind had been as highly cultivated as the circum-
stances of the times and the country would allow ; and her
junderstanding enabled her to turn all her accomplishments to
advantage. In person, she was a perfect oriental beauty ;
dark, even in the eyes of an Italian, with hair nearly black,
and eyes of the same colour, shaded by lashes of unusual
length, she possessed something of an imperial air. Pietro
was completely smitten, and for the present every image but
that of Maani seemed to be obliterated from his mind.
His knowledge of the Turkish language was now of the
greatest service to him ; for, possessing but a very few words
of Arabic, this was the only medium by which he could make
known the colour of his thoughts either to his mistress or her
mother. His passion, however, supphed him with eloquence,
and by dint of vehement protestations, in this instance the off-
spring of genuine affection, he at length succeeded in his en-
terprise, and Maani became his wife. But in the midst of
these transactions, when it most Imported him to remain at
Bagdad, an event occurred in his own house which not only
exposed him to the risk of being driven with disgrace from the
.city, but extremely endangered his life and that of all those
who were connected with him. His secretary and valet having
for some time entertained a grudge against each other, the
former, one day seizing the khanjar, or dagger, of Pietro,
stabbed his adversary to the heart, and the poor fellow dropped
down dead in the arms of his master. The murderer fled.
"What course to pursue under such circumstances it was diffi-
cult to determine. Should the event come to the knowledge
of the pasha, both master and servants might, perhaps, be
tliought equally guilty, and be impaled alive ; or, if matter*
PIETRO DELLA YALLE. SSSJ
were not pushed to such extremities, it might at least be pre-
tended that the deceased was the real owner of whatever
property they possessed, in order to confiscate the whole for
the benefit of the state. As neither of these results was de-
sirable, the safest course appeared to be to prevent, if possible,
the knowledge of the tragedy from transpiring; a task of some
difficulty, as all the domestics of the household were acquaint-
ed with what had passed. The only individual with whom
Pietro could safely consult upon this occasion (for he was un-
willing to disclose so horrible a transaction to Maani's rela-
tions) was a Maltese renegade, a man of some consideration iu
the city ; and for him, therefore, he immediately despatched a
messenger. This man, when he had heard what had happen-
ed, was of opinion that the body should be interred in a corner
of the house ; but Pietro, who had no desire that so bloody a
memorial of the Italian temperament should remain in his im-
mediate neighbourhood, and moreover considered it unsafe,
thought it would be much better at the bottom of the Tigris.
The Maltese, most fortunately, possessed a house and garden
on the edge of the river, and thither the body, packed up care-
fully in a chest, was quickly conveyed, though there was much
difficulty in preventing the blood from oozing out, and betray-
ing to its bearers the nature of their burden. When it was
dark the chest was put on board a boat, and, dropping down
the river, the renegade and two of his soldiers cautiously lower-
ed it into the water ; and thus no material proof of the murder
remained. The assassin, who had taken refuge at the house
pf the Maltese, was enabled to return to Italy ; and the event,^
strange to say, was kept secret, though so many persons were
privy to it.
When this danger was over, and the beautiful Maani irre-
vocably his, Pietro began once more to feel the passion of
the traveller revive, and commenced those little excursions
through Mesopotamia which afterward enabled Gibbon to pro-
nounce him the person who had best observed that province.
His first visit, as might be expected, was to the ruins of Baby-
lon. The party with which he left Bagdad consisted of Maani,
a Venetian, a Dutch painter, Ibrahim a native of Aleppo, and
two Turkish soldiers. For the first time since the commence-
ment of his travels, Pietro now selected the longest and least
dangerous road, taking care, moreover, to keep as near as
possible to the farms and villages, in order, in case of necessi-
ty, to derive provisions and succour from their inhabitants.
Maani, who appears to have had a dash of Kurdish blood in
her, rode astride like a man, and kept her saddle as firmly as
any son of the desert could have done ; and Pietro constantly
388 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
moved along by her side. AVhen they had performed a con-
siderable portion of their journey, and, rejoicing in their good
fortune, were already drawing near Babylon, eight or ten
horsemen armed with muskets and bows and arrows suddenly
appeared in the distance, making towards them with all speed.
Pietro imagined that the day for trying his courage was now
come ; and he and his companions, having cocked their pieces
and prepared to offer a desperate resistance, pushed on towards
the enemy. However, their chivalric spirit was not doomed
to be here put to the test ; for, upon drawing near, the horse-
men were found to belong to Bagdad, and the adventure con-
cluded in civility and mutual congratulations.
Having carefully examined the ruins of Babylon, the cit}' of
Hillah, and the other celebrated spots in that neighbourhood,
the party returned to Bagdad, from whence he again departed
in a few days for Modain, the site of the ancient Ctesiphon,
near which he had the satisfaction of observing the interior of
an Arab encampment.
His curiosity respecting Mesopotamia was now satisfied ;
and as every day's residence among the Ottomans only seem-
ed more and more to inflame his hatred of that brutal race, he
as much as possible hastened his departure from Bagdad,
having now conceived the design of serving as a volunteer in
the armies of Persia, at that period at war with Turkey, and of
thus wreaking his vengeance upon the Osmanlees for the
tyranny they exercised on all Christians within their power.
Notwithstanding that war between the two countries had long
been declared, the Pasha of Bagdad and the Persian authori-
ties on the frontier continued openly to permit the passage of
caravans ; and thus, were he once safe out of Bagdad with his
wife and treasures, there would be no difficulty in entering
Persia. To effect this purpose he entered into an arrange-
ment with a Persian muleteer, who was directed to obtain
from the Pasha a passport for himself and followers, with a
charosh to conduct them to the extremity of the Turkish do-
minions. This being done, the Persian, according to agree-
ment, left the city, and encamped at a short distance from the
walls, where, as is the custom, he was visited by the officers
of the custom-house ; after which, Pietro caused the various
individuals of his own small party to issue forth by various
streets into the plain, while he himself, dressed as he used to
be when riding out for amusement on the banks of the Tigris,
quitted the town after sunset, and gained the place of encamp-
ment in safety.
When the night had now completely descended upon the
earth, and all around was still, the little caravan put itself in
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 399
motion ; and being mounted, some on good sturdy mules, and
others on the horses of the country, they advanced at a rapid
rate, fearing all the way that the pasha might repent of hia
civihty towards the Persian, and send an order to bring them
back to the city. By break of day they arrived on the banks
of the Diala, a river which discharges itself into the Tigris ;
and here, in spite of their impatience, they were detained till
noon, there being but one boat at the ferry. In six days they
reached the southern branches of the mountains of Kurdistan,
and found themselves suddenly in the midst of that wild and
hardy race, v/hich, from the remotest ages, has maintained
possession of these inexpugnable fastnesses, which harrassed
the ten thousand in their retreat, and still enact a conspicuous
pan in all the border wars between the Persians and Turks.
Living for the most part in a dangerous independence, fiercely
spurning the yoke of its powerful neighbours, though continu-
ally embroiled in their interminable quarrels, speaking a dis-
tinct language, and having a peculiar system of manners,
which does not greatly differ from that of the feudal times,
they may justly be regarded as one of the most extraordinary
races of the Asiatic continent. Some of them, spellbound by
the allurements of weahh and ease, have erected cities and
towns, and addicted themselves to agriculture and the gainful
arts. Others, preferring that entire liberty which of all earthly
blessins^s is the greatest in the estimation of ardent and
haughty minds, and regarding luxury as a species of Circean
cup, in its effects debasing and destructive, covet no wealth
but their herds and flocks, around which they erect no fortifica-
tions but their swords. These are attracted hither and thither
over the wilds by the richness of the pasturage, and dwell in
tents.
In Kur(?istan, as elsewhere, the winning manners of Delia
Valle procured him a hospitable reception. The presence of
Maani, too, whose youth and beauty served as an inviolable
wall of protection among brave men, increased his claims to
their hospitality; so that these savage mountaineers, upon
whom the majority of travellers concur in heaping the most
angry maledictions, obtained from the warm-hearted, grateful
Pietro the character of a kind and gentle people. On the 20th
of January, 1617, he quitted Kurdistan, and entered Persia.
The change was striking. A purer atmosphere, a more pro-
ductive and better-cultivated soil, and a far more dense popu-
lation than in Turkey, caused him, from the suddenness of the
transition, somewhat to exaggerate, perhaps, the advantages of
this country. It is certain tliat the eyes of the traveller,, hke
the fabled gems of antiquity, carry about the light by which he
25*
290 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
views the objects which come before him ; and that the condi-
tion of this hght is greatly affected by the state of his animal
spirits. Pietro was now in that tranquil and serene mode of
being consequent upon that enjoyment which conscience ap-
proves ; and having passed from a place where dangers, real
or imaginary, surrounded him, into a country where he at
least anticipated safety, if not distinction, it was natural that
his fancy should paint the landscape with delusive colours.
Besides, many real advantages existed ; tents were no longer
necessary, there being at every halting-place a spacious cara-
vansary, where the traveller could obtain gratis lodgings for
himself and attendants, and shelter for his beasts and baggage.
Fruits, likewise, such as pomegranates, apples, and grapes,
abounded, though the earth was still deeply covered with
snow. If we add to this that the Persians are a people who
pique themselves upon their urbanity, and, whatever may be
the basis of their character, with which the passing traveller
has little to do, really conduct themselves politely towards
strangers, it will not appear very surprising that Delia Valle,
who had just escaped from the boorish Ottomans, should have
been charmed with Persia.
Arriving at Ispahan, at that period the capital of the empire,
that is, the habitual place of residence of the shah, his first
care, of course, was to taste a little repose; after which, he re-
sumed his usual custom of strolling about the city and its en-
virons, observing the manners, and sketching whatever was
curious in costume and scenery. Here be remained for several
months ; but growing tired, as usual, of calm inactivity, the
more particularly as the court was absent, he now prepared to
present himself before the shah, then in Mazenderan. Ac-
cordmgly, having provided a splendid litter for his wife and
her sister, who, like genuine amazons, determined to accom-
pany him to the wars should he eventually take up arms in
the service of Persia, and provided every other necessary for
the journey, he quitted Ispahan, and proceeded northward
towards the shores of the Caspian Sea. The journey \vas
performed in the most agreeable manner imaginable. When-
ever they came up to a pleasant grove, a shady fountain, or
any romantic spot where the greensward was sprinkled with
flowers or commanded a beautiful prospect, the whole party
made a h;Ut; and the ladies, descending from their litter,
•which was bonie by two camels, and Pietro from his barb, they
sat down like luxurious gipsies to their breakfast or dinner,
while the nightingales in the dusky recesses of the grovea
served them instead of a musician.
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 291
Proceeding slowly, on account of his harem, as he terms it,
they arrived in seven days at Cashan, where the imprudence
of Maani nearly involved him in a very serious affair. Being
insulted on her way to the bezestein by an officer, she gave the
signal to her attendants to chastise the drunkard, and, a battle
ensuing, the unhappy man lost his life. When the news was
brought to Pietro he was considerably alarmed ; but on pro-
ceeding to the house of the principal magistrate, he very for-
tunately found that the affair had been properly represented to
him, and that his people were not considered to have exceeded
their duty. His wife, not reflecting that her masculine habits
and fiery temperament were quite sufficient to account for the
circumstance, now began to torment both herself and her hus-
band because she had not yet become a mother; and supposing
that in such cases wine was a sovereign remedy, she endeav-
oured to prevail upon Pietro, who was a water-drinker, to have
recourse to a more generous beverage, offering to join with
him, if he would comply, in the worship of Bacchus. Our
traveller, who had already, as he candidly informs us, a small
family in Italy, could not be brought to believe that the fault
lay in his sober potations, and firmly resisted the temptations
of his wife. With friendly arguments upon this and other
topics they beguiled the length of the way, and at length arri-
ved at Mazenderan, though Maani's passion for horsemanship
more than once put her neck in jeopardy on the road. The
scene which now presented itself was extremely different from
that through which they had hitherto generally passed. In-
stead of the treeless plains or unfertile deserts which they had
traversed in the northern parts of Irak, they saw before them
a country strongly resembling Europe ; mountams, deep well-
wooded valleys, or rich green plains rapidly alternating with
each other, and the whole, watered by abundant streams and
fountains, refreshed and delighted the eye ; and he was as yet
unconscious of the insalubrity of the atmosphere.
Pietro greatly admired the beauty and graceful figures of the
women of this province, — a fiict which makes strongly against
the idea of its being unhealthy ; for it may generally be infer-
red, that wherever the women are handsome the air is good.
Here and there they observed, as they moved along, the ruins
of castles and fortresses on the acclivities and projections of
the mountains, wliich had formerly served as retreats to nu-
merous chiefs who had there aimed at independence. A
grotto, which they discovered in a nearly inaccessible position
in the face of a mountain, was pointed out to them as the resi-
dence of a viririn of gigantic stature, who, without associates
I or followers, like the virago who obstructed the passage of
292 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
Theseus from TrcEzene to Athens, formerly ravaged and de-
populated that part of the country. This and similar legends
of giants, which resemble those which prevail among all rude
nations, were related to our traveller, who rejected them with
disdain as utterly fabulous and contemptible, though not muck
more so, perhaps, than some which, as a true son of the Ro-
man church, he no doubt held in reverence.
At length, after considerable fatigue, they arrived at Ferha-
bad, a small port built by the Shah Abbas on the Caspian Sea.
Here the governor of the city, when informed of his arrival,
assigned him a house in the eastern quarter of the city, the
rooms of which, says Pietro, were so low, that although by no
means a tall man, he could touch the ceiling with his hand.
If the house, however, reminded him of the huts erected by
Romulus on the Capitoline, the garden, on the other hand,
was delightful, being a large space of ground thickly planted
with white mulberry-trees, and lying close upon the bank of
the river. Here he passed the greater portion of his time with
Actius Sincerus, or Marcus Aurelius, or Ferrari's Geographi-
cal Epitome in his hand, now offering sacrifices to the Muses,
and now running over with his eye the various countries and
provinces which he was proud to have travelled over. One of
his favourite occupations was the putting of his own adven-
tures into verse, under a feigned name. This he did in that
kind of rhyme which Dante's example had made respectable,
but not popular, in Italy; and as he was not of the humour to
hide his talent under a bushel, his brain was no sooner deliver-
ed of this conceit than he despatched it to Rome for the amuse-
ment of his friends.
Being now placed upon the margin of the Caspian, he very
naturally desired to examine the appearance of its shores and •
waters ; but embarking for this purpose in a fishing-boat with
Maani, who, having passed her life in Mesopotamia, had never
before seen the sea, her sickness and the fears produced in her
mind by tlie tossing and rolling of the bark among the waves
quickly put an end to the voyage. He ascertained, however,
from the pilots of tlie coast, that tlie waters of this sea were not
deep ; immense banks of sand and mud, borne down into this
vast basin by the numerous river:* which discharge themselves
into it, being met with on all sides ; though it is probable, that
had they ventured far from shore they would have found the
case different. Fish of many kinds were plentiful; but owing,
perhaps, to the fat and slimy nature of the bottom, they were
all large, gross, and insipid.
The shah was just then at Asshralf, a new city which he
bad caused to be erected, and was then enlarging, about six
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 293
parasangs, or leagues, to the east of Ferhabad. Pietro, anx-
ious to be introduced to the monarch, soon after his arrival
MTote letters to the principal minister, which, together with
others from the vicar-general of the Carmelite monks at Ispa-
han, he despatched by two of his domestics; and the minis-
ters, according to his desire, informed the shah of his presence
at Ferhabad. Abbas, who apparently had no desire that he
should witness the state of things at Asshraff, not as yet com-
prehending either his character or his motives, observed, that
the roads being extremely bad, the traveller had better remain
at Ferhabad, whither he himself was about to proceed on horse-
back in a day or two. Pietro, whose vanity prevented his
perceiving the shah's motives, supposed in good earnest that
Abbas was chary of his guest's e'ase; and, to crown the ab-
surdity, swallowed another monstrous fiction invented by the
courtiers, who, as Hajji Baba would say, were all the while
laughing at his beard, — namely, that the monarch was so over-
joyed at his arrival, that, hud he not been annoyed by the
number of soldiers who followed him against his will, he would
next morning have ridden to Ferhabad to bid him welcome !
However, when he actually arrived in that city, he did not,
as our worthy pilgrim expected, immediately admit him to an
audience. In the mean while an agent from the Cossacks in-
habiting the north-eastern shores of the Black Sea arrived, and
Delia Valle who neglected no occasion of forwarding his own
views, in the shaping of which he exhibited remarkable skill,
at once connected himself with this stranger, whom he enga-
ged to aid and assist by every means in his power, receiving
from the barbarian the same assurances in return. The Cos-
sack had come to tender the shah his nation's services against
the Turks ; notwithstanding wliich, the business of his pre-
sentation had been negligently or purposely delayed, probably
that he might understand, when his proposal should be after-
ward received, that, although the aid he promised was accept-
able, it was by no means necessary, nor so considered.
At length the long-anticipated audience arrived, and Delia
Valle, when presented, was well received by the shah ; who,
not being accustomed, however, to the crusading spirit or the
romance of chivalry, could not very readily believe that the
real motives which urged him to join the Persian armies were
precisely those which he professed. Nevertheless, his offers
of service were accepted, and the provisions which he had
already received rendered permanent. He was, moreover,
sumptuously entertained at the royal table, and had frequently
the honour of being consulted upon affairs of importance by
the shah.
294 PIETRO BELLA VALLE.
Abbas soon afterward removing with his court into Ghilan^
without inviting Delia Valie to accompany him, the latter de-
parted for Casbin, there to await the marching of the army
against the Turks, in which enterprise he was still mad enough
to desire to engage. On reaching this city he found that Abbas
had been more expeditious than he, and was already there,
actively preparing for the war. All the military officers of the
kingdom now received orders to repair with all possible de-
spatch to Sultanieh, a city three days' journey west of Casbin ;
and Pietro, who had voluntarily become a member of this
martial class, hurried on among the foremost, in the hope of
acquiring glory of a new kind.
The shah and his army had not been many days encamped
in the plains of Sultanieh, when a courier from the general,
who had already proceeded towards the frontiers, arrived with
the news that the Turkish army was advancing, although
slowly. This news allowed the troops, who had been fatigued
with forced marches, a short repose ; after which they pushed
on vigorously towards Ardebil and Tabriz, Pietro and his he-
roic wife keeping pace with the foremost. In this critical
juncture. Abbas, though in some respects a man of strong
mind, did not consider it prudent to trust altogether to corpo-
real armies ; but, having in his dominions certain individuals
who pretended to have some influence over the infernal powers,
sought to interest hell also in his favour; and for this purpose
carried a renowned sorceress from Zunjan along with him to
the wars, in the same spirit as Charles the First, and the Par-
liament shortly afterward, employed Lily to prophesy for them.
Their route now lay through the ancient Media, over narrow
plains or hills covered with verdure but bare of trees, some-
times traversing tremendous chasms, spanned by bridges of
fearful height, at others winding along the acclivities of moun-
tains, or upon the edge of precipices.
Notwithstanding his seeming ardour to engage with the
Turks, Pietro, for some cause or another, did not join the
fighting part of the army, but remained with the shah's suite
at Ardebil. This circumstance seems to have lowered him
considerably in the estimation of the court. A battle, howev-
er, was fought, in which the Persians were victorious; but the
Turkish sultan dying at this juncture, his successor com-
manded his general to negotiate for peace, which, after the
usual intrigues and delays, was at length concluded. Abbas
now returned to Casbin, where the victory and the peace
was celebrated with great rejoicings; and here Delia Valle,
who seems to have begun to perceive that he was not likely
to make any great figure in war, took his leave of the court
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 295
in extremely bad health and low spirits, and returned to Is-
pahan.
Here repose, and the conversation of the friends he had
made in this city, once more put him in good liumour with
himself and with Persia; and being of an exceedingly hasty
and inconsiderate disposition, he no sooner began to experi-
ence a little tranquilhty, than he exerted the influence he had
acquired over the parents ot his wife to induce them, right or
wrong, to leave Bagdad, where they hved contentedly and in
comfort, and to settle at Ispahan, where they were in a great
measure strangers, notwithstanding that one of their younger
daughters was married to an Armenian of that city. The
principal members of the family, no less imprudent than their
adviser, accordingly quitted Mesopotamia with their treasures
and effects, and established themselves in the capital of
Persia.
This measure was productive of nothing but disappointment
and vexation. One of Maani's sisters, who had remained with
her mother at Bagdad, while the father and brothers were at
Ispahan, died suddenly ; and the mother, inconsolable for her
loss, entreated her husband to return to her with her other
children. Then followed the pangs of parting, rendered
doubly bitter by the reflection that it was for ever. Pietro be-
came ill and melancholy, having now turned his thoughts, like
the prodigal in the parable, towards his country and his father's
house, and determined shortly to commence his journey home-
ward. Obtaining without difliculty his dismission from the
shah, and winding up his affairs, which were neither intricate
nor embarrassed, at Ispahan, he set out on a visit to Shiraz,
intending, when he should have examined Persepolis and its
environs, to bid an eternal adieu to Persia.
With this view, having remained some time at Shiraz, ad-
miring but not enjoying the pure stream of the Rocnabad, the
bowers of Mesellay, and the briglit atmosphere which shed
glory on all around, he proceeded to Mineb, a small town on
the river Ibrahim, a little to the south of Gombroon and Ormus»
on the shore of the Persian G ulf. Maani, whose desire to
become a mother had been an unceasing source of unhappi-
ness to her ever since her marriage, being now pregnant,
nothing could have been more ifl-judged in her husband than
to approach those pestilential coasts; especially at such a
season of the year. lie quickly discovered his error, but it
was too late. The fever which rages with unremitting vio-
lence throughout all that part of the country during six
months in the year had now seized not only upon Maani, but
on himself likewise, and upon every other member of his
296 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
family. Instant flight might, perhaps, have rescued them
from danger, as it afterward did Chardin, but a fatal lethargy
seems to have seized upon the mind of Pietro. He trembled
at the destiny which menaced him, he saw death, as it were,
C3ntering his house, and approach gradually the individual
whom he cherished beyond all others ; time was allowed him
by Providence for escape, yet he stood still, as if spellbound,
and suffered the victim to be seized without a struggle. His
wife, whose condition I have alluded to above, affected at once
by the fever, and apprehensive of its consequences, was terri-
fied into premature labour, and a son dead-born considerably
before its time put the finishing stroke, as it were, to the aflBic-
tion of her mind. Her fever increased in violence — medical
aid was vain — death triumphed — and Maani sunk into the
grave at the age of twenty-three.
A total change now came over the mind of Delia Valle,
which not only affected the actions of his life, but communica-
ted itself to his writings, depriving them of that dashing quix-
otism which up to this point constitutes their greatest charm.
A cloud, black as Erebus, descended upon his soul, and nine
months elapsed before he could again command sufficient
spirits or energy to announce the melancholy event to his
friend Schipano. He, however, resolved that the body of his
beloved wife should not be consigned to the earth in Persia,
where he should never more come to visit or shed a tear over
her grave. He therefore contrived to have it embalmed, and
then, enclosing it in a coffin adapted to the purpose, placed it
in a travelling trunk, in order that, wherever his good or bad
fortune should conduct him, the dear remains of his Maani
might accompany him to the grave. Certain circumstances
attending this transaction strongly serve to illustrate the char-
acter of Delia Valle, and while they tell in favour of his affec-
tion, and paint the melancholy condition to which his bereave-
ment had reduced him, likewise throw some light upon the
manners and state of the country. Dead bodies being re-
garded as unclean by the Mohammedans, as they were in old
Greece and Rome, and most other nations of antiquity, no
persons could be found to undertake the task of embalming
but a few old women, whom the auri sacra fames reconciled
to the pollution. These, wrapping thick bandages over their
mouths and nostrils, to. prevent the powerful odour of the gum
from penetrating into their lungs and brain, after having dis-
€mboweJled the corpse, filled its cavities with camphor, and
with the «ame ingredient, which was of the most pungent and
desiccating nature, rubbed all its limbs and surface until the
perfume had penetrated to the very bones. Pietro, at all
METRO DELLA VALLE. 29^1
times superstitious, was now rendered doubly so by sorrow.
Having somewhere heard or read that the bodies of men will
be reanimated at the general resurrection, wherever their
heads happen to be deposited, while, according to another the-
ory, it was the resting-place of the heart which was to deter-
mine the point, and being desirous, according to either view of
the matter, that Maani and himself should rise on that awful
day together, he gave orders that the heart of his beloved
should be carefully embalmed with the rest of the body. It
never once occurred to him that the pollinctores (or underta-
kers) might neglect his commands, and therefore he omitted
to overlook this part of the operation ; indeed his feelings
would not allow him to be present, and while it was going on
he sat retired, hushing the tempest of his soul in the best man-
ner he could. While he was in this state of agony, he observ-
ed the embalmers approaching him with something in their
hands, and on casting his eyes upon it he beheld the heart of
Maani in a saucer ! An unspeakable horror shot through his
whole frame as he gazed upon the heart which, but a few days
before, had bounded with delight and joy to meet his own ;
and he turned away his head with a shudder.
When the operation was completed, the mummy was laid
out upon a board, and placed under a tent in the garden, in
order to be still further desiccated by the action of the air.
Here it remained seven days and nights, and the walls being
low, it was necessary to keep a strict and perpetual watch over
it, lest the hyenas should enter and devour it. Worn down as
he was by fever, by watching, and by sorrow, Pietro would
intrust this sacred duty to no vulgar guardian during the night,
but, with his loaded musket in his hand, paced to and fro be-
fore the tent through the darkness, while the howls of the
hyenas, bursting forth suddenly quite near him, as it were,
frequently startled his ear and increased his vigilance. By
day he took a few hours' repose, while his domestics kept
watch.
When this melancholy task had been duly performed, he
departed, in sickness and dejection, for the city of Lar, where
the air being somewhat cooler and more pure, he entertained
some hopes of a recovery. Not many days after his arrival, a
Syrian whom he had known at Ispahan brought him news
from Bagdad which were any thing but calculated to cheer or
console his mind. He learned that another sister of Maani
had died on the road in returning from Persia; that the
father, stricken to the soul by this new calamity, had likewise
died a few days after reaching home; and that the widow,
thus bereaved of the better part of her family, and feeling the
26
/
982
PIETRO BELLA VALLE.
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 0^
decrepitude of old age coming apace, was inconsolable. Oor
traveller was thunderstruck. Death seemed to have put his
mark on all those whom he loved. Persia now became hate-
ful to him. Its verj atmosphere appeared to teem with mis-
fortunes as with clouds. Nothing, therefore, seemed left him
but to quit it with all possible celerity.
Pietfo's desire to return to Italy was now abated, and trav-
elling more desirable than home ; motion, the presence of
strange objects, the surmounting of difficulties and dangers,
being better adapted than ease and leisure for the dissipating
of sharp grief. For this reason he returned to the shore of the
Persian (iulf, and embarked at Gombroon on board of an
English ship for India, taking along Avith him the body of his
wife, and a little orphan Georgian girl whom he and Maani
had adopted at Ispahan. As even a father cannot remove his
daughter, or a husband his Avife, from the shah's dominions
without an especial permission, which might not be granted
without considerable delay, Pietro determined to elude the
laws, and disguising the Georgian in the dress of a boy, con-
trived to get her on board among the ship's crew in the dusk
of the evening, on the 19th of January, 1623.
Traversing the Indian Ocean with favourable winds, he arri-
ved on the 10th of February at Surat, where he was hospitably
entertained by the English and Dutch residents. He found
Ouzerat a pleasant country, consisting, as far as his experience
extended, of rich, green plains, well watered, and thickly in-
terspersed with trees. From Surat he proceeded to Cambay,
a large city, situated upon the extremity of a fine plain at the
bottom of the gulf of the same name. Here he adopted the
dress, and as far as possible the manners of the Hindoos, and
then, striking off a little from the coast, visited Ahmedabad,
travelling thither with a small cafila or caravan, the roads being
considered dangerous for solitary individuals. At a small vil-
lage on the road he observed an immense number of beautiful
yellow squirrels, with fine large tails, leaping from tree to tree;
and a little farther on met with a great number of beggars arm-
ed with bows and arrows, who demanded charity with sound of
trumpet. His observations in this country, though sufficiently
curious occasionally, were the fruit of a too hasty survey,
which could not enable him to pierce deeply below the exte-
rior crust of manners. Indeed, he seems rather to have amu-
sed himself with strange sights, than sought to philosophize
upon the circumstances of humanity. In a temple of Mahades
in this city, where numerous Yoghees, the Gymnosophists of
antiquity, were standing like so many statues behind the sacred
lamps, he observed an image of the god entirely of crystal.
300 PIETBO DELLA VALLE.
On the banks of the Sabermati, which ran close beneath the
walls of the city, numerous Yoghees, as naked as at the mo-
ment of their birth, were seated, with matted hair, and wild
looks, and powdered all over with the ashes of the dead bodies
which they had aided in burning.
Returning to Cambay, he embarked in a Portuguese ship
for Goa, a city chiefly remarkable for the number of monks
that flocked thither, and for the atrocities which they there
perpetrated in the name of the Church of Rome. Delia Valle
soon found that there was more security and pleasure in living
among pagans "suckled in a creed outworn," or even among
heretics, than in this Portuguese city, where all strangers were
regarded with horror, and met with nothing but baseness and
treachery. Leaving this den of monks and traitors, he pro-
ceeded southward along the coast, and in a few days arrived
at Onore, where he went to pay a visit to a native of distinc-
tion, whom they found upon the shore, seated berteath the
shade of some fine trees, flanked and overshadowed, as it were,
by a range of small hills. Being in the company of a Portu-
guese ambassador from Goa to a rajah of the Sadasiva race,
who then held his court at Ikery, he regarded the opportunity
of observing something of the interior of the peninsula as too
favourable to be rejected, and obtained permission to form a
part of the ambassador's suite. They set out from Onore in
boats, but the current of the river they were ascending was so
rapid and powerful, that with the aid of both sails and oars they
were unable to push on that day beyond Garsopa, formerly a
large and flourishing city, but now inconsiderable and neglect-
ed. Here the scenery, a point which seldom commanded
much of Delia Valle's attention, however picturesque or beau-
tiful it might be, was of so exquisite a character, so rich, so
glowing, so variable, so full of contrasts, that indifferent as he
was on that head, his imagination was kindled, and he con-
fessed, that turn which way soever he might, the face of na-
ture was marvellously delightful. A succession of hills of all
forms, and of every shade of verdure, between which valleys,
now deep and umbrageous, now presenting broad, green, sunny
slopes to the eye, branched about in every direction ; lofty
forests of incomparable beauty, among which the most magni-
ficent fruit-trees, such as the Indian walnut, the fawfel, and the
amba, were interspersed ; small winding streams, now glancing
and quivering and rippling in the sun, and now plunging into
the deep shades of the woods ; while vast flights of gay tropical
birds were perched upon the branches, or skimming over the
waters ; all these combined certainly formed a glorious picture,
and justified the admiration of Pietro when he exclaimed that
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 90§,
nothing to equal it had ever met his eye. On entering the
Ghauts he perceived in them some resemblance to the Apen-
nines, though they were more beautiful ; and to enjoy so
splendid a prospect he travelled part of the way on foot. The
Western Ghauts, which divide the vast plateau of Mysore
from Blalabar, Canasen, and the other maritime provinces of
the Deccan, are in most parts covered with forests of prodi-
gious grandeur, and in one of these Pietro and his party were
overtaken by the niglit. Though "overhead the moon hung
imminent, and shed her silver light," not a ray could descend
to them through the impenetrable canopy of the wood, so that
they were compelled to kindle torches, notwithstanding which
they failed to find their way, and contented themselves with
kindling a fire and passing the night under a tree.
Ikery, the bourn beyond which they were not to proceed
towards the interior, was then an extensive but thinly-peopled
city, though according to the Hindoos it once contained a
hundred thousand mhabitants. Around it extended three
lines of fortifications, of which the exterior was a row of bam-
boos, thickly planted, and of enormous height, whose lifted
heads, with the beautiful flowering parasites which crept round
their stems to the summit, yielded a grateful shade. Here he
beheld a suttee, visited various temples, and saw the celebra-
ted dancing girls of Hindostan perform their graceful but vo-
luptuous postures. He examined likewise the ceremonial of
the rajah's court, and instituted numerous inquiries into the
religion and manners of the country, upon all which points he
obtained information curious enough for that age, but now,
from the more extensive and exact researches of later travel-
lers, of little value. Returning to the seacoast, he proceeded
southward as far as Calicut, the extreme point of his travels.
Here he faced about, as it were, turned his eyes towards home,
and began to experience a desire to be at rest. Still, at Ca-
nanou, at Salsette, and the other parts of India at which he
touched on his return, he continued assiduously to observe
and describe, though rather from habit than any delight which
it afforded him.
On tlie 15th of November, 1624, he embarked at Goa in a
ship bound for Muskat, from whence he proceeded up the
Persian Gulf to Bassorah. Here he hired mules and camels,
and provided all things necessary for crossing the desert ; and
on the 21st of May, 1625, departed, being accompanied by an
Italian friar, Marian, the Georgian girl, and the corpse of
Maani. During this journey he observed the sand in many
places strewed with seashells, bright and glittering as mother-
of-pearl, and in others with bitumen, Occasionallv their road
26*
302 PIETBO DELL A VALLE.
lay over extensive marshes, covered thickly with reeds or
brushwood, or white with salt ; but at this season of the year
every thing was so dry that a spark falling from the pipe of a
muleteer upon the parched grass nearly produced a conflagra-
tion in the desert. When they had advanced many days'
journey into the waste, and belield on all sides nothing but
sand and sky, a troop of Arab robbers, who came scouring
along the desert upon their fleet barbs, attacked and rifled their
little caravan ; and Delia Valle saw himself about to be de-
prived of his wife's body, after having preserved it so long,
and conveyed it safely over so many seas and mountains. In
this fear he addressed himself to the banditti, describing the
contents of the chest, and the motives which urged him so
vehemently to desire its preservation. The Arabs were touch-
ed with compassion. The sight of the coffin, enforcing the
effect of his eloquence, interested their hearts ; so that not only
did they respect the dead, and praise the aff*ectionate and
pious motives of the traveller, but also narrowed their de-
mands, for they pretended to exact dues, not to rob, and
allowed the caravan to proceed with the greater part of its
wealth.
On arriving at the port of Alexandretta another difficulty
arose. The Turks would never have allowed a corpse to pass
through the cus^tom-house, nor would the sailors of the ship in
which he desired to embark for Cyprus on any account have
suff*ered it to come on board. To overreach both parties,
Pietro had the body enveloped in bales of spun cotton, upon
which he paid the regular duty, and thus one further step was
gained. After visiting Cyprus, Malta, and Sicily, where he
remained some short time, he set sail for Naples. Here he
found his old friend Schipano still living, and after describing
to him the various scenes and dangers tlirough which he had
passed, moved forward towards Rome, where he arrived on
the 28th of March, 1626, after an absence of more than twelve
years.
His return was no sooner made known in the city than nu-
merous friends and relations and the greater number of the
nobility crowded to his house, to bid him welcome and con-
gratulate him upon the successful termination of his travels.
His presentation to the pope took place a few days afterward,
when Urban VHI. was so charmed with his conversation and
manners, that, without application or intrigue on the part of
the traveller, he was appointed his holiness' honorary cham-
berlain, — a compliment regarded at Rome as highly flattering.
In order to induce the pope to send out missionaries to Geor-
gia, Pietro now presented him with a short account of that
PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 303
country, which he had formerly written ; and the affair being
seriously taken into consideration, it was determined by the
society De Propaganda Fide that the proposed measure
should be carried into effect, and that Pietro should be regu-
larly consulted respecting the business of the Levant missions
in general.
Early in the spring of 1627, he caused the funeral obsequies
of his wife to be celebrated with extraordinary magnificence
in the church of Aracoeli at Rome. The funeral oration he
himself pronounced ; and when, after describing the various
circumstances of her life, and the happiness of their union,
he came to expatiate upon her beauty, his emotions became
so violent that tears and sobs choked his utterance, and he
failed to proceed. His auditors, according to some accounts,
were likewise affected even unto tears ; while others relate
that they burst into a fit of laughter. If they did, the fault
was in their own hearts ; for, however extravagant the manner
of Delia Valle may have been, death is a solemn thing, and
can never fail properly to affect all well-constituted minds.
However, though his love for Maani's memory seems never
to have abated, the vanity of keeping up the illustrious name
of Delia Valle, and the consequent wish of leaving a legitimate
offspring behind him, reconciled a second marriage to his
mind, and Marian Tinatin, the Georgian girl whom he had
brought with him from the East, appears to have been the per-
son selected for his second wife. M. Eyries asserts, but I
know not upon what authority, that it was a relation of Maani
whom he married ; but this seems to be extremely improbable,
since, so far as can be discovered from his travels, no relation
of hers ever accompanied him, excepting the brother and sister
who spent some time with him in Persia.
Though he had exhausted a large portion of his patrimony
in his numerous and long-continued journeys, sufficient seems
to have remained to enable him to spend the remainder of his
life in splendour and affluence. He had established himself
in the mansion of his ancestors at Rome, and the locomotive
propensity having entirely deserted him, would probably never
have quitted the city, but that one day, while the pope was
pronouncing his solemn benediction in St. Peter's, he fell into
a violent passion, during which he killed his coachman in the
area before the church. This obliged him once more to fly to
Naples ; but murder not being regarded as a very heinous
offence at Rome, and the pope, moreover, entertaining a warm
friendship for Pietro, he was soon recalled. After this nothing
remarkable occurred to him until his death, which took place
on the 20th of April, 1652. Soon after his death, his widow
1
304 PIETRO DELLA VALLE.
retired to Urbino ; and his children, exhibiting a fierce and
turbulent character, were banished the city.
As a traveller, Delia Valle possessed very distinguished
qualities. He was enthusiastic, romantic, enterprising. He
had read, if not studied, the histories of the various countries
through which he afterward travelled ; and there were few
dangers which he was not ready cheerfully to encounter for
the gratification of his curiosity. It is impossible to peruse his
works without great instruction and delight ; for his active,
and vigorous, and observant mind continually gives birth to
sagacious and profound remarks ; and his adventures, though
undoubtedly true, are full of interest and the spirit of romance.
CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
Carsten Niebuhr was born on the 17th of March, 1733, in
the province of Friesland, in the kingdom of Hanover. It
would be to mislead the reader to represent him, as some of
his biographers have done, as the son of a peasant, in the
sense in which that term is apphed in England. His father
and his ancestors, for several generations, had been small
landed proprietors ; he himself received an education, and in-
herited a property, which, however small, served as an incen-
tive to ambition ; and though, like many others, he found the
entrance of the road to fame rugged and hard to tread, it must
not be dissembled that his prudence and perseverance were
singularly aided by good fortune.
Having lost his mother before he was six weeks old, the
care of his infancy was intrusted to a step-mother; and he was
still a lad when his father likewise died. The guardians upan
whom the superintendence of his youth at first devolved, en-
tertaining, apparently, but little respect for intellectual pur-
suits, interrupted his studies ; and his maternal uncle, who
succeeded them in this important trust, would seem to have
wanted the means, if he possessed the will, to direct the course
of a young man. Niebuhr was therefore left very much to his
own guidance, which, to a man of vigorous intellect, I am far
from regarding as a misfortune. The beginnings of life, how-
ever, like the beginnings of day, are generally accompanied
by mists which obscure the view, and render it absolutely im-
possible to determine with precision the character of the vari-
ous paths which present themselves before us ; and thus it was
that our traveller, who, knowing not that Providence was
about to conduct him to a brilHant destiny in the East, at one
time studied music, with the intention of becoming an organ-
ist, and was afterward led, through accidental circumstances,
to apply himself to geometry, for the purpose of practising as
a land-surveyor.
306 CARSTEN NlEBUHR.
With this design he repaired, in his twenty-third year, to
Bremen, where he discovered a person from whom he might
have derived the necessary instruction ; but finding that this
individual's domestic economy was under the superintendence
of two youthful sisters, whose behaviour towards himself Nie-
buhr seems to have regarded as forward and indecorous, he
immediately quitted this city and proceeded to Hamburgh.
It will easily be conceived that the studies of a young man
who voluntarily cultivated his intellect as the only means by
which he could arrive at distinction, were pursued with ardent
enthusiasm. Niebuhr, in fact, considered labour and toil as
the only guides to genuine glory, and was content to tolerate
on the way the rude fierceness of their manners.
When he had studied the mathematics, during two years,
under Busch, he removed to Gottingen, where he continued
another year. At this period the Danish ministry, at the
suggestion of Michaelis, had projected a scientific expedition
into Arabia, which was at first designed, at least by its origina-
tor, merely to throw some light upon certain passages of the
Old Testament, but which afterward embraced a much wider
field. Michaelis, to whom the choice of the individuals who
were to form this mission had been intrusted, betrayed the
narrowness or malignity of his mind, by neglecting the cele-
brated Reiske, who was then well known to be struggling with
starvation, in order to thrust forward Von Haven, a pupil of
his own, who, but for this partial choice, would probably have
lived and died in obscurity. Niebuhr himself was recommend-
ed to Michaelis by Kastner, whose pupil he had for some time
been. The proposal was abruptly made, and as suddenly ac-
cepted. "Have you a mind," said Kastner, "to go into Ara-
bia]" "Why notl" replied Niebuhr, "if anybody will pay
my expenses." "The King of Denmark," said Kastner,
" will pay your expenses." He then entered into the history
of the Danish ministry's project, and Niebuhr, whose genuine
ambition was most ardent, and who, though in manners
modest and unassuming, could not but entertain a favourable
opinion of his own capacity, at once engaged to form a mem-
ber of the mission. It was agreed, on the part of his Danish
majesty, that he should be allowed a year and a half for pre-
paration, with a salary sufficient for his maintenance.
Niebuhr had now a definite object. The East, with all its
barbaric pomp and historical glory, which in preceding and
succeeding days have kindled enthusiasm in so many bosoms,
appeared to court his examination ; and, like a lover who ap-
preciates at their highest value the accomphshments of his
mistress, and is bent on rendering himself worthy of her, he
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 90^
thenceforward studied, with vehement earnestness, all those
branches of knowledge which he regarded as necessary to a
traveller in the East; and Latin, Arabic, the mathematics,
drawing, practical mechanics, together with the history of the
countries he was about to visit, amply occupied his hours.
An additional half-year being granted him, it was not until
the Michaelmas of 1760 that he quitted Gottingen for Copen-
hagen.
Here he was received in the most flattering manner by Count
Bernstorf, the Danish minister, by whom he was appointed
lieutenant of engineers. The rank of captain he modestly re-
fused. Niebuhr was never possessed by an immoderate desire
for wealth, and a trait of unpresuming disinterestedness which
escaped him during his preparatory studies is at once illustra-
tive of this fact, and of another equally important, — that wealth
no less than fame is frequently best won by carefully abstaining
from grasping at it too eagerly. The salary granted him by
the King of Denmark was probably small, but our traveller,
with that repugnance to sohcit which is characteristic of supe-
rior minds, not only contrived to reduce his wants within the
limits of his means, but by rigid economy enabled himself,
moreover, to purchase at his own expense whatever instru-
ments he needed. The knowledge of this fact coming to the
ears of the minister, he not only reimbursed the young travel-
ler the sum he had expended, but, as a mark of the high satis-
faction he derived from so striking an evidence of honest inde-
pendence, committed to his charge the travelling-chest of the
mission.
Niebuhr's companions were four in number : Von Haven,
the linguist, a person of mean capacity ; Forskaal, the natu-
rahst, distinguished for his numerous and profound acquire-
ments ; Cramer, a physician, devoid even of professional
knowledge ; and Bauranfeiud, an artist, not destitute of talent,
but ignorant, full of prejudices, and addicted to the vulgar
habit of drinking. Von Haven, to whom a long sea-voyage
was disagreeable, obtained permission to proceed to Marseilles
by land ; and the ship in which the other members of the ex-
pedition embarked was directed to take him on board at that
port. They left the Sound on the 7th of January, 1761, but
were three times driven back by contrary winds ; so that it
was not until the 10th of March that they were enabled fairiy
to put to sea, and continue their voyage.
Niebuhr describes, among the singular things observed
during this voyage, a white rainbow, which only differed from
the common rainbow in being destitute of colours. This, I
beUeve, is a phenomenon not often witnessed; but on the 31st
308 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
of May, 1830, which succeeded a day and night of tremend-
ous thunder, lightning, and rain, a similar rainbow was seen
in Normandy. It was much thicker, but greatly inferior in
span, and less sharply defined at the edges than the ordinary
bow; and, as the morning mist upon which it was painted
grew thinner, the arch decreased in span, until it at length
vanished entirely.
Our traveller amused himself while on board in observing
the manners of the crew, which he considered manly though
unpolished. He likewise exercised himself daily in nautical
and astronomical observations ; and by his affability and the
extent of his knowledge, acquired and preserved the- respect
of both officers and men. They discovered Cape St. Vincent
on the 21st of April, and a few days afterward entered the
Mediterranean, where their course was considerably retarded
by calms and contrary winds. Meanwhile the weather was
beautiful, and their eyes were refreshed with the most lovely
prospects, now on the African shores, and now on those of
Europe. On the 14th of May they cast anchor in the port of
Marseilles, which was at that time crowded by Swedish,
Danish, Dutch, Spanish, and French ships, the greater num-
ber of which were prevented from putting to sea by fear of the
English fleets, which scoured the Mediterranean, diffusing
consternation and terror on all sides.
From the agreeable society of Marseilles, rendered doubly
charming in their estimation by their previous privation, they
were soon compelled to snatch themselves away. On the 6th
of June Niebuhr observed at sea the transit of Venus, and on
the 14th reached Malta. This little island enjoys, like Ire-
land, the privilege of being free from serpents, which it is sup-
posed to owe to the interference of St. Paul ; though Niebuhr
imagines that the dry and rocky nature of the soil is sufficient,
without a miracle, to account for the circumstance. The
knights observing, perhaps, a peculiar absence of bigotry in our
traveller, imagined that this indicated a leaning towards Ca-
tholicism, and appear to have been desirous of tempting him
by magnificent promises to desert the creed of his forefathers.
Though his stay in Malta was very short, Niebuhr was careful
to observe whatever curiosities the island aflbrded : the great
church of St. John, enriched, it is said, by sharing the plunder
of the knights, with innumerable ornaments, and a prodigious
candlestick of gold ; the hospital, where the sick, whatever
might be their medical treatment, were served with vessels of
silver ; the immense corn-magazines, hewn out in the rock ;
the salt-mines ; and the catacombs.
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 309
In sailing from Malta to Smyrna he was attacked with
dysentery, and began to fear that his travels were to terminate
there ; but the disorder was less serious than he imagined, and
having reached Tenedos, he embarked in a Turkish boat, and
proceeded up the Dardanelles to Constantinople. Here,
though slowly, he recovered his health, and having remained
quiet two months, and provided oriental dresses, not choosing
to expose himself in the paltry costume of Europe to the laugh-
ter of the populace, he set sail with his companions for Egypt.
On the way they landed at Rhodes, where, for the first time
they visited a Turkish eating-house. The dinner, though
dear, was good, but was served up in common earthen platters,
in the open street. They next visited a Jew, who kept wine
for the accommodation of Europeans ; and had in his house
two young women, whom he called his daughters, who were
probably designed for the same purpose. Their reception
here cost them still dearer than their Turkish dinner ; and as
Jews, wine, and the drinkers of wine are held in contempt by *
all sincere and respectable Mohammedans, this must be con-
sidered a highly injudicious step in Niebuhr. The ship in
which they sailed had on board a number of female slaves, the
principal of whom were lodged in a large chamber directly
over their cabin, from which we may infer that the Turks do
not, like the Burmese, consider it a disgrace to have women
walking over their heads. As there were tolerably wide cracks
in the ceiling, our travellers frequently enjoyed the pleasure of
viewing these ladies, who, though a little terrified at first, soon
became accustomed to their faces, and notwithstanding that
neither party at all understood the language of the other, many
little presents of fruit and other trifles were given and returned.
The mode in which this aflfair was conducted was ingenious.
As soon as the Mohammedans collected together for prayer,
the girls gently tapped at their windows, and Niebuhr and
Forskaal, looking out of the cabin, beheld the handkerchiefs
of the fair held out for fruit. When filled, they were drawn
up, and the presents they chose to make in return were then
lowered down in the same way. During the voyage, six or
eight persons having died suddenly, it was suspected that they
had the plague on board; but Niebuhr imagined that other
causes might have hastened the end of those who died ; at all
events, none of the members of the expedition were infected,
though their physician had often, visited the sick.
The land of Egypt at length appeared on the 26th of Sep-
tember, and on the same day, late in the evening, they cast
anchor in the port of Alexandria. Norden, a scientific, but an
uninteresting traveller, having recently constructed a plan of
27 ' '
310 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
the city, Niebuhr judged that he might spare himself the pains
of repeating the process, more especially as the Arabs, hovering
in troops in the vicinity, rendered him apprehensive that he
might be robbed. However, as the eminence on which Pom-
pey's pillar stands overlooks a large portion of the city, he
amused himself with taking several angles from thence, in-
tending to follow this up by taking others from some other po-
sitions. While he was thus engaged, one of the Turkish mer-
chants, who happened to be present, observing his telescope
pointed towards the city, had the curiosity to look through it,
and was not a little alarmed at perceiving a tower upside down.
" This," says he, *' gave occasion to a rumour, that I was
come to Alexandria to turn the whole city topsyturvy. The
report reached the governor's house. My janizary refused to
accompany me when I took out my instrument ; and as I
then supposed that a European could not venture to appear in
an Eastern city without a janizary, I relinquished the idea of
•making any further geometrical measurements there." "On
another occasion," he continues, "when I was making an as-
tronomical observation on the southern point of the Delta, a
very civil and sensible peasant, from the village of Daraue,
happened to be present. As I wished to show him something
he had never seen before, I pointed the telescope of the quad-
rant towards his village, on which he was extremely terrified
i at seeing all the houses upside down. He asked my servant
v' what could be the cause of this. The man replied, that the
government, being extremely dissatisfied with the inhabitants
of that village, had sent me to overthrow it entirely. The poor
peasant was greatly afflicted, and entreated me to wait long
enough for him to take his wife, his children, and his cow to
some place of safety. My servant assured him he had two
hours good. He immediately ran home, and as soon as the
* sun had passed the meridian, I took my quadrant on board
, again."
Niebuhr found a number of Mohammedans at Alexandria
who understood French, Swedish, and Danish as completely
as if they had been born in the countries where those languages
are spoken. As most European travellers proceed up the
Nile from this city to Cairo, the members of the expedition
were desirous of performing the journey by land, but were re-
strained by fear of the Arabs ; and M. Forskaal, who after-
ward ventured upon this hardy enterprise, was actually strip-
ped to the skin, and with great difficulty obtained back his
breeches. Niebuhr now hired a small ship, and embarked on
the 31st of October, but was detained in the Gulf of Aboukir
by contrary winds. Impatient of delay, his companions pro-
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 3ll
.cce<1ed thence to Rosetta by land, with a company of Turks ;
but our traveller continued his voyage, and reached the city
very shortly after them. Though the inhabitants of Rosetta
enjoyed the reputation of being peculiarly pohte towards
strangers, Niebuhr was too impatient to behold the capital of
modern Egypt to linger long in any provincial city ; he there-
fore hastened to ascend the Nile, and enjoyed the romantic
prospect of fertility, villages peeping through groves of date-
trees, and here and there vast wrecks of ancient cities, which
all travellers in that extraordinary country have admired*
They arrived at Cairo on the 10th of November.
The Nile, like the Ganges, has long been renowned for the
daring race of pirates who infest it. Bruce, and many other
travellers, have celebrated their ingenuity ; but the lollowing
anecdote, related by Niebuhr, exhibits their exquisite skill in a
still more favourable point of view : A pasha, recently arrived
in Egypt, happening to be encamped on the banks of the river,
his servants, aware of the dexterity of their countrymen, kept
so strict a watch during the night, that they detected one of
the pirates, and brought him before the pasha, who threatened
to put him to death on the spot. The prisoner, however, en-
treated permission to show the pasha one of the extraordinary
tricks of his art, in the hope of thereby inducing him to spare
his life. The permission was granted. The man then took
up the pasha's garments, and whatever else he found in the
tent, and having tied them up into a packet, as the Egyptians
do when they are about to swim across a river, made several
turns before the company to amuse them. He then insensibly
approached the Nile, and darting into the water like lightning,
had already 'reached the opposite shore, with the pasha's gar-
ments upon his head, before the Turks could get ready their
muskets to fire at him.
Niebuhr was exceedingly desirous, soon after his arrival at
Cairo, of descending the eastern branch of the Nile to Damiet-
ta ; but the sky during the whole winter and spring was so
overcast with clouds, and the rain fell so frequently, that it
was impossible to take astronomical observations. On the 1st
of May, however, the weather having cleared up, he left Cairo.
The wind blowing from the north, their progress was slow,
and he had therefore considerable leisure for observation.
The Coptic churches amused him much. In one of these he
saw pictures representing Christ, the Virgin, and several saints,
on horseback ; intended, perhaps, to insinuate to their Mo-
hammedan masters, that the founder of their religion and his
followers had not been compelled, as Christians then were in
Egypt, to ride upon asses. These churches, moreover, were
312 ' CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
strewed with so many crutches, that a stranger might con-
clude, upon observing them, that the whole Coptic community
had lost the use of their limbs; however, upon inquiry, our
traveller discovered that it was the custom among them to
stand in church, which many persons found so wearisome that
they resolved to aid their piety with crutches. The floors
were covered with mats, which, not being changed very fre-
quently, swarmed with fleas, numbers of which did our traveller
the honour to prefer him before any of their ancient patrons.
In approaching Damietta he saw about twenty large boats
loaded with bees : each of these boats carried two hundred
hives; the number, therefore, of the hives here assembled in
one spot, was four thousand; and when the inhabitants of this
floating city issued forth to visit the flowers of the neighbour-
hood, they must ha^e appeared like a locust cloud.
His stay at Damietta, which is about four miles above the
mouth of the Nile, was short. Europeans are nowhere in the
East so much detested, on account, chiefly, of the profligate
character of the French formerly settled there, who, having
debauched several Mohammedan women, were nearly all
massacred by the infuriated populace. Niebuhr's fancy that
they still remember the crusades, and hate the Franks for the
evils those insane expeditions inflicted on their ancestors, is
just as rational as if the English people were to be supposed
to nourish resentment against all the northern nations, because
their barbarous ancestors made piratical descents upon the
English coasts.
While at Cairo he could not, of course, resist the desire of
visiting the Pyramids. He therefore hired two Bedouin
guides, and proceeded with his friend Forskaal towards the
desert, where they were encountered by a young sheikh, who,
by dint of bravado and insolence, succeeded in extorting from
them a small sum of money ; but had they, when he first oflTer-
ed his services, bestowed upon him half a crown, he would nor
only have given them no further molestation, but would have
constituted himself their protector against all other importu-
nates. Niebuhr afterward returned under more favourable
auspices, and completed the measurement of the two great
pyramids, the loftier of which he found to be four hundred and
forty-three feet, and the second to be four hundred and three
feet high. I shall hereafter, perhaps, have occasion to remark
upon the strange discrepancies which are found between the
measurements of various travellers, which are, in fact, so great,
that we must suspect some of them, at least, of having wanted
the knowledge required for such an undertaking. From con-
sidering the petrifactions and the nature of the rocks in this
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 313
neighbourhood, Niebuhr was led to infer the prodigious anti-
quity of Egypt: "Supposing the whole of the rocks in the
northern portions of the country to be composed of petrifac-
tions of a certain kind of shell, how many years," says he,
" must have elapsed before a sufficient number of little snails
to raise mountains to their present height could have been born
and died ! How many other years before Egypt could have
been drained and become solid, supposing that, in those re-
mote ages, the waters retired from the shore as slowly as they
have during the last ten centuries I How many years still,
before the country was sufficiently peopled to think of erecting
the first pyramid! How many more years, before that vast
multitude of pyramids which are still found in the country
could have been constructed ! Considering that at the present
day we are ignorant of when, and by whom, even the most
modern of them was built."
On the 20th of August, 1762, Niebuhr and his companions
set out with the caravan going from Cairo to Suez : the rest of
the party, in spite of the Mohammedans, mounted on horse-
back, and Niebuhr himself on a dromedary. By this means
he avoided several evils to which the others were lial>le. Seat-
ed on his mattress he could turn his face now on one side, now
on another, to avoid the heat of the sun ; and, after having
travelled all day, was no more fatigued in the evening than if
he had been all the while reposing in a chair ; while the horse-
men, compelled to remain perpetually in the same posture,
were well-nigh exhausted. On the 30ih they encamped near
a well of good water, mentioned by Belin, Pietro Delia Valle,
and Pococke, close to which the Turks formerly erected a cas-
tle, which was now in ruins, and in three hours more arrived
at the wells of Suez, which were surrounded by a strong wall,
to keep out the Arabs, and entered by a door fastened with
enormous clumps of iron. The water here was drawn up
with buckets or sacks of leather.
Suez, from its fortunate position on the Red Sea, carried on
a considerable trade. Numbers of ships were built there an-
nually, the materials of which were transported thither on the
backs of camels from Cairo. The environs consist of naked
rocks, or beds of loose sand, in which nothing but brambles
and a few dry stunted plants, among others the rose of Jericho,
are found to grow. This rose is employed by the women of
the East in various superstitious practices, and is therefore to
be found for sale in all cities. When pregnant, they gather
one of the buds, and putting its stem in water, foretel whether
their pains will be severe or slight from the greater or smaller
development of the flower.
27*
3t4 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
Niebuhr*s first inquiry on arriving at Suez was concerning
the " Mountains of Inscriptions," about which so much had
been said in Europe. Tl)e individuals to whom his first
questions were put had never even heard of it; others, who
were exactly in the same predicament, but desired to possess
themselves of ahttle of their European gold, professed a most
accurate knowledge of the spot, but upon inquiry were de-
tected. At length, however, an Arab was discovered, from
whose replies it was clear, that whether he had seen the real
Gebtlel Mokatteb or not, some mountain or another he had
beheld, ujJon which inscriptions in an unknown language were
to be found. Under this man's guidance, therefore, they
placed themselves, — Thatis, Niebuhr and Von Haven, for the
rest were, from various causes, detained at Suez; and leaving
the Red Sea on their right hand they struck off into the desert.
Niebuhr found that the Arabs, whose profession it is to serve
as guides, were distinguished, like all other persons of that
class, for their extravagant cupidity. So long as they could
live at the expense of strangers, their own provisions and
means were assiduously spared ; but on other occasions they
exhibited various symptoms that the old national virtue of
hospitality was not wholly banished from their minds. The
women in this part of Arabia are not in the habit of conceal-
ing their faces from strangers, as is the fashion in Egypt.
Niebuhr, in his solitary rambles through the country, discovered
the wife and sister of a sheikh grinding corn beside their tent;
who, instead of flying and concealing themselves at his ap-
proach, as he seems to have expected, came forward, accord-
ing to the good old custom of the East, with a present in their
hands.
On arriving at what his guides called the " Mountain of In-
scriptions," a lofty rugged eminence, which it cost them much
time and toil to chmb, he found — not what he had expected —
but a vast Egyptian cemetery, in which were a great number of
sepulchral monuments covered with hieroglyphics. These
inscriptions he was not permitted to copy at the time, because
the sheikh of the moimtain apprehended he might thereby
gain possession of the immense treasures concealed beneath ;
but one of his guides, who probably had little faith in that point
of the sheikh's creed, afterward, on his return from Mount
Sinai, enabled him to copy whatever he pleased. On his arri-
val at the convent of St. Catherine the monks politely refused
to admit him, alleging, as their excuse, that he had not brought
along with him a letter from their bishop. The patriarch's
letter, which he presented to them, they returned unopened.
He was, in fact, destined to meet with nothing but disappoint-
CARSTEN NIEBUIIR. 315
ment in these celebrated regions ; for his Arabs, having con-
ducted him up to a certain height on Mount Sinai, refused to
proceed any fartlier, and he was not possessed of sufficient
resolution to ascend the remainder alone.
Niebuhr now hastened back to Suez, and on his return
forded the Red Sea on his dromedary, a thing which no Euro-
pean had done before, though the guides, who were on foot,
did not find the water above knee deep. Being desirous of
surveying the extremity of the Arabian Gulf, he procured a
guide soon after his return from Mount Sinai, with whom he
set out upon this expedition. They travelled, however, in con-
stant fear; and the sight of a stranger in the distance increas-
ed the terrors of the guide to so extraordinary a pitch, that it
may be suspected he had blood upon his hands, and dreaded
the hour of retribution.
The constant arrival of pilgrims from Egypt had now ren-
dered Suez, in proportion to its extent, more populous than
Cairo. These holy men, being on their way to the city of
their prophet, regarded Christians with an evil eye, just as a
bigoted Franciscan travelling to Jerusalem would regard a
heretic or an unbeliever; and on this account Niebuhr greatly
dreaded the voyage lie was about to perform in their company
from Suez to Jidda. To avoid, as far as possible, all causes
of dispute with their fellow-passengers, they embarked several
days before the rest, paid their passage, stowed away their
luggage, and then amused themselves with observing the
strange characters by which they were surrounded, not the
least extraordinary of which was a rich black eunuch, who
in imitation of the great Turkish lords, travelled with his
harem.
All the passengers having at length repaired on board, they
set sail on the 9th of October, and sailing along coral reefs,
which in bad weather are highly dangerous, they arrived next
day at Tor. Near this town is a small village inhabited by
Christians, to which Forskaal went alone, for the purpose of
visiting what is supposed to be the site of ancient Elim. While
he was absent, it was rumoured on board that the Arabs had
formed the intention of pursuing and arresting the Frank, who
had landed with the design of sketching their mountains;
upon which a number of janizaries from Cairo, who happened
to be on board, immediately set out for the village, and having
met with M. Forskaal, conducted him back in safety to the
vessel. "Are there many Christians," inquires Niebuhr,
" who, under similar circumstances, would do as much for a
Jewr»
\
316 CAKSTEN NIEBUHR.
On the evening of the 16th of October they discovered,
about sunset, the Emerald Mountains on the coast of Egypt,
called Gebel Zumrud by the Arabs. Next day there happened
an echpse of the sun. In Mohammedan countries persons
who are able to calculate an eclipse are regarded as consum-
mate physicians. Forskaal had informed Xhe, reis, or captain,
that an eclipse was about to take place ; and to amuse him
and keep him from interrupting his astronomical observations,
Niebuhr had smoked several glasses, through which he, as
well as the principal ipercliants, might contemplate the phe-
nomenon. They were all greatly amused, and from that
moment Forskaal enjoyed the reputation of being a second
Avicenna. From a spirit of humane complaisance, which in-
duces us to allow every one an opportunity of exhibiting his
pecuhar talents, men are exceedingly apt to fall ill when they
come in contact with a physician. Our traveller's Moham-
medan companions were particularly polite in this way; for,
no sooner had they persuaded themselves that there was a
physician on board, than they all discovered that they were
attacked by diseases which had previously lain dormant, and
confidingly demanded medicines and advice. Forskaal pre-
scribed for all. To the majority he recommended more or
less sleep, and a careful attention to their diet. A pilgrim at
length presented himself, who complained that he was unable
to see during the night. The physician advised him to light
a candle. This was excellent. The Arabs, who are naturally
lively, burst into a loud laugh, and all their diseases were for-
gotten in a moment.
Between Ras Mohammed and Hassani the ship was twice
in danger of being set on fire by the negligence of the women ;
but at length they reached this small island in safety, and the
Mohammedans believing the principal danger to be now over,
exhibited various tokens of joy, firing muskets and pistols,
illuminating the ship with lamps and lanterns, and uttering the
triumphant cry of Be, be, he! so commonly used by the orien-
tals. The sailors and the pilot petitioned for a present, the
former coming round to each passenger with a little boat in
their hands, which, when the collecti )n was over, was thrown
into the sea. During this passage Niebuhr, who, up to his
arrival at Suez, had scarcely seen the face of a Mohammedan
woman, had an opportunity of viewing three or four of them
naked in a bath; and his indiscreet curiosity very fortunately
entailed upon him no evil consequences.
On the 29th of October they arrived at Jidda, where the
usual attempts were made to defraud the custom-house. In
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 3if
this praiseworthy design some succeeded to the extent of their
desires ; but others, less adroit, or more unfortunate, were de-
tected and compelled to pay the duties, no such atrocity as the
confiscation of the whole property being ever practised. A
duty of two or two and a half per cent, being levied upon all
specie, people were most anxious to conceal their wealth: but
by endeavouring to effect this, one of Niebuhr's companions
suffered severely ; for in stepping from the ship into the boat,
his purse, which he had tied round his body, opened accident-
ally, and about a hundred crowns fell into the sea. The com-
mon cash of the expedition was conveyed on shore in the
bottoms of their boxes of drugs, which were not searched, it
being in Arabia a general opinion that physicians, having no
need of money, seldom carry any about with them.
Niebuhr had observed in Egypt that the populace looked
with inexpressible contempt upon Christians, and thence in-
ferred that in proportion as they approached the Holy City
they should find this inhospital bigotry on the increase ; but his
apprehensions were unfounded, for the people of Jidda, long
accustomed to the sight of Europeans, and constantly experi-
encing the humanizing influence of commerce, were peculiarly
refined, allowing strangers to do almost what they pleased. It
was merely forbidden them to approach the Mecca gate ;
which, like the city to which it leads, is reputed holy. Our
traveller, during his residence at Cairo, had formed an ac-
quaintance with a poor sheikh, who, for a Mohammedan,
might be said to be as highly favoured by science as he was
neglected by fortune; and this man, in gratitude for -the
knowledge he had derived from him, besides furnishing him
with letters of recommendation to the Kihaya and Pasha of
Jidda, had privately written to those important personages,
who had honoured him for his knowledge, earnestly requestmg
them to show every possible mark of kindness and attention
to his European friends. These were the letters from which
they had least expectations, and presented last; nevertheless,
when the recommendations of all their other friends had failed
even to procure them a lodging, those of the poor sheikh intro-
duced them to powerful protectors. Niebuhr was here witness
of the curious mode of catching wild ducks noticed by Po-
cocke in Upper Egypt, and by another English traveller in
China. When a number of these birds were observed in the
water, the sportsman undressed, covered his head with sea-
weed, and then crept quietly into the water. By this means
the ducks were deceived, so that they allowed the man to come
near and catch them by the legs.
318 CAESTEN NIEBUUR.
They remained at Jidda until the 14th of December, when
they embarked in one of the country vessels for Loheia. Nie-
buhr was not possessed of the art of painting what he saw with
the fine colours of language. His narrative is frequently dry
even to insipidity. He was observant, he was calm, he was
judicious, but he was destitute of eloquence, and this deficien-
cy is nowhere in his works more strongly felt than in his ac-
count of his various voyages through the Red Sea. On the
22d they landed on the coast of Yemen, near Fej el Jelbe,
inhabited by Bedouins, who are suspected of being pagans.
A few tents were discovered on the shore, and as soon as the
travellers had landed, which they did unarmed lest they should
be taken for enemies, several of the wild natives came down to
meet them. Their appearance and dress were extraordinary.
Their dark hair descended in profusion to their shoulders ;
and instead of a turban, several of them had merely a cord
tied round the head, intended, I imagine, to keep their tresses
in order. Others, more careful and industrious, had woven
themselves a kind of bonnet with green palm-leaves. A
miserable waist-cloth constituted the whole of their dress.
From the eagerness of the sailors to get their lances out of
their hands they immediately discovered that they were sus-
pected ; upon which they cast the weapons on the ground,
assuring the strangers that they had nothing to fear. Not-
withstanding that tiiey had landed in search of provisions the
Bedouins conducted them to their tents, where two women
came out to meet them. Their salutation was curious. The
women, who were unveiled, kissed the arm of the sheikh, who,
m return, pressed their heads with his lips. The ladies then
advanced towards the strangers. Their complexion was
sallow brown, they had blackened their eyelids with surme,
and died their nails with henne; and, like the lower ranks of
women in Egypt, exhibited marks of tattooing on the chin,
cheeks and forehead. Cosmetics being rare in those countries,
they requested our travellers to favour them with a small quan-
tity of kohol and al henne; but they had injudiciously neg-
lected to provide themselves with any thing of the kind, and
consequently saw themselves in the disagreeable predicament
of being compelled to refuse.
On their arrival at Loheia they were received with remark-
able politeness by the emir and the chief merchants of the city.
They had taken the small vessel in which they performed the
voyage for a longer passage as far as Hodeida; and the cap-
tain, understanding that they had some intention of remaining
at Loheia, secretly applied to the emir with a request that he
would compel them to complete their engagement, either by
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 319
proceeding all the way to Hodeida, or by paying the whole
sum agreed upon. With a generosity not often displayed
towards utter strangers by men in office, the emir replied, that
should the travellers refuse payment of the sum in question,
he himself would satisfy his demands; and the principal
merchant to whom the suspicious navigator also applied enter-
ed into the same engagement. Of course they were not al-
lowed to suffer by their grateful and astonished guests.
The above merchant in his eastern style of hospitality, gave
them a house to live in during their stay. In return the travel-
lers amused him and the emir with the effects of their micro-
scopes, telescopes, &c. These things filled them with won-
der; crowds of people, curious but well-behaved, thronged
their court from morning till night, examining with attention
whatever they saw, and expressing their astonishment at every
thing. This was too much for Danish politeness. They
hired a porter, and stationing him at their door, gave strict or-
ders that none but professional men should be admitted. But
the curiosity of the Arabs was not to be subdued so easily; for,
when all other excuses failed, they feigned illness, and gained
admittance under pretence of coming to consult the physician.
Sometimes Dr. Cramer, who appears to have been an uncouth
creature, was requested to favour sick persons with a visit at
their own houses, and one day received a pressing entreaty to
repair without delay to the emir el bahr, or captain of the port,
who had need of consulting him. Cramer, not attending to
this summons immediately, was shortly afterward informed
that the emir el bahr^s saddle-horse was at the door waiting for
him. This piece of attention was too flattering to be resisted ;
he therefore descended immediately, and was about to put his
foot into the stirrup, when he was interrupted with the infor-
mation that the horse was unwell, and had been brought there
as a patient! Physicians in Arabia prescribe for horses as
well as men; this, therefore was not meant as an insult ; but
Cramer, who felt all his Danish blood curdle in his veins at the
bare idea of prescribing for a Mohammedan horse, and was,
moreover, mortified at not being allowed to mount his patient^
indignantly refused to exercise the functions of a horse-doctor.
Luckily, however, their European servant, who had served in
a dragoon regiment, understood something of the veterinary
art, and undertook the cure of the emir's horse; which suc-
ceedingly happily, he also was regarded as an eminent physi-
cian, and was allowed to elevate his ambition to the treatment
of men.
As our travellers continued, as far as possible, to live after
the European fashion, their manners were necessarily as much
v320 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
an object of curiosity to the Arabs as those of the Arabs were
to them. One day two young men came to see them eat. Of
these, one was a young nobleman from Sana, whose gentle
manners announced a superior education; the other, a young
chief from the mountains, whose country was seldom visited
by strangers. This the naivete and simplicity of his manners
soon rendered manifest. Upon being invited to eat, he replied,
•^'God preserve me from eating with infidels, who have no be-
lief in God !" Niebuhr then demanded the name of his coun-
try ; " What," said he, " can my country concern thee? Hast
thou formed the design of going thither to subdue it T' He
afterward made several remarks upon their manners, the sim-
plicity of which excited their laughter; at which the Arab felt
ashamed, and ran away in confusion. His companion fetched
liim back, however, and he returned, wondering at the amaz-
ing quantity of food which they devoured. Fowl after fowl
disappeared before these mighty eaters ; the poor Arab, who
began to entertain awful ideas of the capacity of a German
stomach, and apprehending that they might bring about a
famine in the land, for a while looked on in silent amazement;
but w^hen they had already eaten as much as would, perhaps,
have satisfied a whole tribe of Bedouins, he started up, upon
seeing Von Haven preparing to carve yet another fowl, and
seizing him by the arm, exclaimed, "How much then, dost
thou intend to eat V This sally produced still louder peals of
laughter than ever, and the poor Arab, who probably appre-
hended that they might finish by eating him, rushed out of the
house and disappeared.
Having sufficiently observed whatever was interesting or
new at Loheia, they departed thence on the 20th of February,
1763, their servants and baggage mounted on camels, and
themselves on asses. Not that Europeans were here, as at
Cairo, prohibited from riding on horseback, but that horses
were dear and not easily to be hired, while the asses, though
comparatively cheap, were large fine animals, of easy gait.
Arabia, it is well known, is surrounded by a belt of burning
sand, which has in all ages aided in protecting it from inva-
sion. This our travellers had now to traverse, but they sutfer-
ed no particular inconvenience from the heat, and in four days
arrived at Beit el Fakih^ the greatest coffee emporium in the
world.
Niebuhr, being now in a country where travelling was at-
tended with no risk, and desiring, apparently, to escape from
the society of his companions, hired an ass, and set out alone
on an excursion to several neighbouring towns. This was
flucceeded by several other excursions, and at length he pro-
CARSTEX NIEBUHR. 32^1
ceeded to the Coffee Mountains, a district which offers, per-
haps, as many curious particulars to the observation of a trav-
eller as any spot in Asia. These mountains could be ascend-
ed only on foot. The road, though rugged and broken, lay
through coffee plantations and gardens, and to Niebuhr, vi^lio
had just quitted the burning plains of the Tehama, afforded
the most exquisite gratification. The prospects, moreover,
which here meet the eye on ail sides are rich and beautiful.
They are precisely what the hills of Judea must have been be-
fore Sion had been profaned by the heathen, when every man,
confident in the protection of the Lord, sat down tranquilly
under his vine or under his fig-tree. These mountains are
covered with vineyarJs to the summit, have a woody appear-
ance, and are beautified by numerous mountain streams,
which frequently leap in long cascades from the rocks. The
coffee-tree, which was at this time in full flower in many places,
diffuses around an agreeable odour, and somewhat resembles
the Spanish jasmin. The Arabs plant these trees so close
that the rays of the sun can scarcely find their way between
them, which prevents the necessity of frequent watering ; but
they have reservoirs on the heights from which they can, vvhen
necessary, turn numerous streamlets into the plantations.
From the Coffee Mountains they returned to Beit el Fakih,
whence they shortly afterward departed on another short ex-
cursion. The natives, who carefully abstained from exposing
themselves to the sun during the heat of the day, expressed
their well-grounded astonishment that Europeans should be
imprudent enough to hazard so dangerous a step; and our
travellers were, in reality, at this very time laying the founda-
tion of those fatal diseases which shortly afcerward swept them
away, Niebuhr only excepted ; for I am persuaded that they
might have returned, even in spite of their execrable diet and
destructive habits of drinking, to brave the climate of Yemen,
had they timed their journeys more judiciously.
By this time their appearance was tolerably oriental ; the
gun had bronzed their countenances, their beards had acquir-
ed a respectable length, their dress was exactly that of the
country, and they had, moreover, adopted Arabic names.
Even their guides no longer took them for Europeans but
supposed them to be members of the eastern church, who by
forbidden studies had succeeded in discovering the art of
making golJ, and were searching among the lonely recesses
of their mountains for some rare plant whose juices were re-
quisite in their alchymical processes. Niebuhr's assiduous
observation of the stars considerably aided in strengthening
23
322 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
this delusion, which upon the whole, perhaps, was rathet*
beneficial to them than otherwise.
In the hilly districts of Yemen our traveller observed among
the Arabs a peculiar mode of passing the night. Instead of
making use of a bed, each individual crept entirely naked into
a sack, where, without closing the mouth of it, the breath and
transpiration kept him sufficiently warm. Niebuhr himself
never tried the sack, but veiy soon acquired the habit, which
is universal among the Arabs of Yemen, of sleeping with the
face covered, to guard against the malignant ellects of the
dews and poisonous winds. Here, M. Forskaal discovered
the small tree that produces the balm of Mecca, which hap-
pening to be in flower at the time enabled him to write a com-
plete description of it, which he did seated under its branches.
The inhabitants, who knew nothing of its value, merely made
use of it as firewood, on account of its agreeable odour.
Upon descending from these mountainous countries, where
the climate is as cool and salubrious as in most parts of Eu-
rope, Niebuhr found the heat of the Tehama almost insupport-
able, and entering a little coffee-house, overwhelmed with
fatigue, threw himself on his mat in a current of air, and fell
asleep. This heedless action nearly cost him his life. He
awoke in a violent fever, which hung about him for a consid-
erable time, and reduced his frame to such an extreme state of
weakness that the shghtest exertion became painful. Von
Haven, too, whose supreme delight consisted in brandy, wine,
and good eating, and who seldom quitted his sofa, except for
the purpose of placing himself before his gods at the dinner-
table, now began to experience the impolicy of feeding like an
ogre in the deserts of the Tehama, and very quickly fell a
victim to his imprudence.
From Beit el Fakih they proceeded to Mokha, where, as at
Cairo, Europeans were compelled to enter the city by a par-
ticular gate, on foot, as a mark of humiliation. Niebuhr found
that he and his companions were here taken for Turks, and
they were accordingly directed to the khan, or inn, where the
Osmanlis usually took up their abode. Though they under-
stood that there was an English merchant at Mokha, they
judged it unnecessary, in the first instance, to make applica-
tion to him, as they had everyM'here else in Yemen been re-
ceived with politeness and hospitality; and besides, they were
somewhat apprehensive that, from their dress and appearance,
he might be led to regard them as vagabonds or renegades.
They therefore addressed themselves to an Arab merchant, by
whom they were well received.
CARSTEN NIEBUHll»> 32?*
The people of Mokha made some pretensions to civilizationt
which is unfortunate, as the term, at least in the East, means
custom-house officers, and insolence towards strangers. Our
travellers, though no merchants, had large quantities of bag-
gage, which, of course, was taken to the custom-house, before
they could be allowed to enjoy the use of it. I have already
observed, that although Niebuhr himself was a temperate, per-
haps even an abstemious man, his companions set a high
value on the gratification of their senses. Von Haven himself,
who, as I have already observed, shortly afterward fell a vic-
tim to his indiscretion, was still among them, and it may
therefore be easily imagined that the first articles they were
desirous of obtaining from the custom-house were their cook-
ing utensils and their beds. The Arabs, however, were differ-
ently minded. They allowed their curiosity to fasten upon
the cases in which the natural history specimens were packed,
and resolved to begin with them. Among these, unfortunate-
ly, there was a small barrel containing various fish of the Red
Sea, preserved in spirits of wine. This M. Forskaal, who had
collected these fishes himself, injudiciously requested the officers
to allow to pass unopened. The request immediately roused
all their suspicions. He might, for aught they knew, be
a magician, who had confined the Red Sea itself in that barrel,
for the purpose of carrying it off, with all its fishes, into Eu-
rope. It behooved them, therefore, to bestir themselves. Ac-
cordingly the barrel was the first thing opened ; but when the
operation had been performed, the result anticipated by the
naturalist was produced, for so pungent, so atrocious a stink
was emitted from the half-putrefied fish, that the authorities
very probably apprehended them to be a troop of assassins,
commissioned by the devil to administer perdition through the
nostrils to all true believers. The custom-house officer, how-
ever, confiding in the protection of the Prophet, determined to
brave the infernal odour, and in order to explore the abomina-
tion to the bottom, took out the horrid remains of the fish, and
stirred up the liquor with a piece of iron. The entreaties of
the travellers to have it put on one side probably caused them
to be regarded as ghouls, who made their odious repasts upon
such foul preparations. The Arab still stirred and stirred,
and at length in an inauspicious moment upset the cask, and
deluged the whole custom-house with its contents. Had Mo-
hammed himself been boiled in this hquid, it could not have
smelt more execrably ; we may therefore easily imagine the
disgust with which the grave assembly beheld it flowing under
their beards, infecting them with a scent which it would take
several dirrhems* worth of perfume to remove. Their ill-
324 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
hHmour was increased when, on opening another cask, con-
taining insects, their nostrils were again saluted with a fresh
variety of stink, wliich they inferred must possess pecuHar
charms for the nose of a Frank, since he wouKl travel so far to
procure himself the enjoyment of its savour. An idea now
began to suggest itself to the Arahs, which still further irritated
them, which was, that the insolent Franks had packed up
these odious things in order to insult the governor of the city,
at the expense of whose beard, it was not doubted, they in-
tended to amuse themselves. This persuasion was fatal to
many a cockleshell. They mercilessly thrust down a pointed
iron bar through the collections, crushing shells, and beetles,
and spiders. The worst stroke of all, however, was yet to
come. This was the opening of a small cask, in which several
kinds of serpents were preserved in spirits. Everybody was
now terrified. It was suggested that the Franks had no doubt
come to the city for the purpose of poisoning the inhabitants,
and had represented themselves as physicians in order to com-
mit their horrid crimes the more effectually. Even the gov-
ernor was now moved. In fact, his anger was roused to such
a pitch, that, though a grave and pious man, he exclaimed,
"By God, these people shall not pass the night in our city!"
The custom-house was then closed.
While they were in this perplexity, one of their servants
arrived in great hurry and confusion, with the news that their
books and clothes had been thrown out through the window
at their lodgings, and the door shut against them. They
moreover found, upon inquiry, thnt it would be difficult to dis-
cover any person who would receive into his house individuals
suspected of meditating the poisoning of the city ; but at
length a man bold enough to undertake this was found. Such
was their position when they received from the English mer-
chant above alluded to an invitation to dinner. "Never,'*
says Niebuhr, " was an invitation more gladly accepted ; for
we not only found at his house a dinner such as we had never
seen since our departure from Cairo, but had at the same time
the good fortune to meet with a man who became our sincere
and faithful friend. The affair of the custom-liouse was long
and tedious; but at length, by dint of bribery and perseverance,
their baggage, snakes and all, was delivered to them, and they
even rose, in consequence of a cure attempted by M. Cramer
on the governor's leg, into high consideration and favour.
Niebuhr was here again attacked by dysentery, and Von
Haven died. This event inspired the whole party with terror,
and having with much difficulty obtained the governor's per-
mission, they shortly afterward departed for the interior.
CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
They travelled by night, to escape the extreme heat of the sun,
but soon found the roads so bad as to render this mode of
journeying impracticable. The country during the early part
of their route was barren, and but thinly inhabited; but in
proportion as tliey departed from the shore the landscape im-
proved in beauty and fertility. At the small city of Jerim, on
the road to Sana, Niebuhr had the misfortune to lose his friend
Forskaal, the best Arabic scholar of the whole party, and a
man who looked forward with enthusiasm to the glory to be
derived from the successful termination of their travels. The
bigotry of the Mohammedans rendered it difficult to obtain a
place of burial for tlie dead, who was interred in the European
fashion ; which, immediately after their departure, caused the
Arabs, who imagine that the Europeans bury treasures with
their dead, to exhume the body. Finding nothing to reward
their pains, they compelled the Jews to reinter him ; and as
these honest people complained that they were likely to have
no remuneration for their labour, the governor allowed them
to take the coffin in payment, and restore the body naked to
the earth.
On the 17th of July, 1763, they arrived in the environs of
Sana, and sent forward a servant with a letter, announcing
their arrival to the chief minister of the imam. This states-
man, however, who had previously received tidings of their
approach, and was desirous of receiving them with true Arab
politeness, had already despatched one of his secretaries to
meet them at the distance of half a league from the city.
This gentleman informed them that they had been longexpect-
tid at Sana, and that, in order to render their stay agreeable,
the imam liad assigned them a country-house at Bir el Assab.
While they were conversing with the secretary, and secretly
congratulating themselves on their good fortune, they arrived
at the entrance into their garden, where the Arab desired them
to alight. They of course obeyed, but soon discovered that
their guide had played them a trick in the mannc^r of the
people of Cairo, for he remained on his ass during the rest of
the way, which was considerable, enjoying the pleasure of
beholding a number of Franks toiling along on foot beside his
beast. This put them out of humour, and their spleen was
increased when, on arriving at their villa, they found that,
however elegant or agreeable it might be, it did not contain a
single article of furniture, or a person who would provide them
even with bread and water.
Next day, however, they received from the imam a present
of five sheep, three camel-loads of wood, a large quantity of
wax-tapers, rice, and spices. At the same time they were in-
28*
326 OABSTEN NIEBUHR.
formed that two days at least would elapse before tliey could
obtain an audience, a matter about which they were indifferent;
but that they could not in the mean time quit tlieir house.
Though considerably chagrined at the latter circumstance,
they hoped in some measure to neutralize its effects, by receiv-
ing the visits of such natives as curiosity, or any other motive,
might allure to the house ; and accordingly were very much
gratified at the appearance of a Jew, who had performed in
their company the journey from Cairo to Loheia. This young
Israelite, delighted to spend a few moments in the company of
persons who received him without any demonstrations of con-
tempt, appeared to experience a gratification in obliging them;
and came on the second day accompanied by one of tlie most
celebrated astrologers of his sect, from whom Niebuhr learned
the Hebrew appellations of several stars. While he was yet
conversing with this learned descendant of Abraham, the
secretary of the imam arrived. They were ignorant of the
etiquette of the court of Sana, according to which they should
have abstained from receiving as well as from paying visits ;
but the secretary, whose business it was to have instructed
them on these points, doubly enraged by their infraction of the
rules of decorum, and by a sense of his own negligence, direct-
ed all the violence of his fury against the unfortunate Jews,
whose society he imagined must have been equally disagreea-
ble to the travellers as it would have been to him. He there-
fore not oidy expelled them from the house, but, in order to
protect the imam's guests from a repetition of the same intru-
sion, gave peremptory orders to their Moliammedan attendant
to admit no person whatever until they should liave obtained
their audience.
Two days after their arrival they were admitted into the
presence of the imam. It is probable that, having previously
formed an exalted idea of the splendour of oriental princes, the
reader will be liable to disappo!n ment on the present occasion.
The riches and magnificence of the califs, however, of which
we find so many jrlowing descriptions in the Thousand and
One Nights, in D'Herbelot, and many other writers, have long
passed away, leaving to the successors of those religious mon-
archs notliing but remembrance of ancient glory, which gleams
like a meteoric light about their throne and diadem. Niebuhr,
arriving at Sana from the sandy deserts of the Tehama, where
poverty reigns paramount over every thing, enjoyed the ad-
vantage of possessing an imagination sobered by stern reali-
ties. His fancy depicted the court of the imam in the livery
of the desert. He expected little. If he was disappointed*
therefore, it was not disagreeably. v;
CARSTEN NTEBUHR. 327 '
|6^ The imam, with a vanity pardonable enough in a prince
who learns from his cradle to estimate his own greatness by
the pomp and glitter which surround him, had in fact employ-
ed the two days elapsed since the arrival of his guests in active
preparations for their reception ; and the rules of etiquette
forbidding strangers to pay or receive visits during the interval,
were originally intended to conceal this circumstance, and
create the belief that the holyday appearance of the court was
its ordinary costume. Our travellers were conducted to the
palace by the minister's secretary, who here performed what
is called the mehmaudar's office in Persia. They found the
great court of the edifice thronged with horses, officers, and
other Arabs of various grades ; so that it required the ministry
of the imam's grand equerry to open them a way through the
crowd. The hall of audience was a spacious square apart-
ment, vaulted above, and having on its centre several fountains
of water, which, gushing aloft to a considerable height, and
falling again incessantly, maintained a refreshing coolness in
the air. A broad divan, adornpd with fine Persian carpets,
occupied the extremity of the hall, and flanked the throne,
which was merely covered with silken stuffs, and rich cush-
ions. Here the imam sat cross-legged, according to the cus-
tom of the East. He received the travellers graciously, allow-
ed them to kiss the hem of his garment, and the back and
palm of his hand — an honour which is but sparingly granted
to strangers. At the conclusion of this ceremony a herald
cried aloud, "God save the imam !" and all the people repeat-
ed the same words. As their knowledge of Arabic was stiH
very limited, they conversed with the imam by means of an
interpreter, a. contrivance admiraLly adapted for shortening
public conferences, since there are £tw persons who, under
such circumstances, would be disposed to indulge in useless
circumlocution.
The result of this audience was, that they obtained the
prince's permission to remain in the country as long as they
desired ; and on their retiring, a small present in money was
sent them, which they judiciously determined to accept. In
the afternoon of the same day they were invited to the minis-
ter's villa, where Niebuhr exhibited his mathematical instru-
ments, his microscopes, books, engravings, <fcc. ; at the sight
of which Fakih Achmed expressed the highest satisfaction.
From the various questions which he put to them, they dis-
covered, moreover, that he himself was a man of very con-
siderable knowledge, particularly in geography ; while from
his constant intercourse with foreigners his manners had ac-
quired an ease and gracefulness which rendered his company
32S CARSTEN NtEBUHR.
highly pleasing. Nevertheless, Niebuhr, who feared that the
cupidity of this minister, or of some other courtier, might be
excited by the sight of his instruments, regretted to perceive
these tokens of curiosity, and the necessity iie was under of
satisfying it ; but his suspicions, which appear to have been
as unfounded as they were illiberal, were not of long duration,
for no man demanded of him any part of his property, or
seemed to regard it with covetousness. He, in fact, learned
shortly afterward that even the presents which it was judged
necessary to make both to the imam and his minister were
altogether unexpected, since they were not merchants, and
demanded no favours of prince or courtiers.
Niebuhr confesses that the reception which he and his com-
panions met with at Sana was marked by a degree of civility
and friendsliip that far surpassed their expecta'ions. The
Arabs would seem, indeed, to have derived so much gratifica*
tion from their society, that it is more than probable they would
willingly have made some sacrifice to retain them ; but the
death of Von Hnven and For^kaal had cast a damp over their
imaginations; they apprehended that disease might even then
be uodermining tlieir constitutions, and were therefore more
desirous of flying from the country than of studying its produc-
tions or its inhabitants. When they departed from Mokha
several English ships were lying there, taking in cargoes of
coffee for India; and this circumstance, by promising to facil-
itate their progress farther towards the east, operated strongly
upon their determination to quit Arabia, the original object of
their mission, for other regions wliicli appeared more agreea-
ble. One of Niebuhr's biographers appears to think that it
was mere solicitude to transmit to Europe an account of what
had been performed by the expedition, and not any apprehen-
sion of danger, which rendered him so exceedingly desirous of
quitting Yemen, for that jje never clung to life with any great
eagerness. I have by no means an unfavourable opinion of
Niebuhr's courage, which, on the contrary, I consider to have
been in general equal to the dangers to which he was exposed;
but I nowhere find any traces of that stoical indifference about
life and death which his biographer seems to attribute to hira ;
and am persuaded, that on the occasion of his departure from
Sana, it was the apprehension of death, united, perhaps, with
a longing for European society, which actuated his move-
ments. At the same time 1 acknowledge that his fears were
natural, and that most travellers under similar circumstances
would have acted much the same way. We miss, however, in
Niebuhr, both on this and on all other occasions, the chival-
rous spirit of Marco Polo, Pietro della Valle, Chardiu, and
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 329
Bruce, as we miss in his writings the enthusiasm which casts
80 powerful a charm over the records of their adventures.
' The same reasons which induce me to acknowledge the ra-
tional nature of Niebuhr's apology for suddenly qultiing Yemen
long before he had completed his examination and description
of it, incline me likewise to accept his reasons for avoiding the
road by Jerim and Taas, which would have led him by Had-
dafa and Dhafar, where Hamyaric inscriptions were said to
exist. He had already been frequently deceived by the mis-
representations of Arabic ignorance, and therefore doubted
the accuracy of his informants. The three remaining mem-
bers of the mission set out from Sana on the26tli of July, and
arriving at Mokha on the 5th of August, found that their ap-
prehensions of danger at Sana, which, thougli excusable, were
not well founded, had precipitated them into real peril; for
the English ship in which they intended to embark was by no
means ready to sail, so that they had to remain in that burning
climate nearly a whole month, during which almost every indi-
vidual of the party, servants and all, fell sick.
The ship in which Niebulir at length set sail for India be-
longed to Mr. Francis Scott, a youftger son of the Scotts of
Harden, a Jacobite Aimily of Roxburgshire. With this gentle-
man Niebulir ever after lived on terms of intimate friendship;
and " five-and-thirty years afterward," says our traveller's son,
the historian of the Roman republic, " when I studied in Ed-
inburgh, I was received in all respects as one of the family in
the house of this venerable man, who then lived at his ease in
the Scottish capital on the fortune he had acquired by honor-
able industry."
On his arrival at Bombay he met with the most cordial re-
ception from the English, in whose society he had first learned
to delight while in Egypt. Here he spent a considerable time
in studying the manners and customs of the Hindoos, and his
observations though now destitute of value, must at that time
have possessed considerable interest, above all on the Conti-
nent. He here lost Cramer, the last of his companions;
Raurenfeind, the artist, having died on the voyage During
his stay at Bombay he made a voyage to Surat, famous in the
history of oriental commerce and in the Arabian Nights ; but
his stay was short, and he returned to Bombay without push-
ing his researches any farther into the interior. The passion
for travelhng was certainly never very powerful in Niebuhr;
but he was possessed by considerable curiosity,* and this pas-
sion induced him to form the design of proceeding in an Eng-
lish ship to China ; but being unwell at the time of the ship**
330 CARSTEN NIEBUHR*
departure, he relinquished the design, which he never after-
ward resumed.
His residence at Bombay, a much less healthy place than
Sana, was continued so long* thf^t I am strongly inclined to
suspect the want of European society may, after all, have
numbered among his most powerful reasons for hurrying from
Yemen. From this city he forwarded the manuscripts of his
deceased companions as well as his own papers, by way of
London, to Copenhagen ; and at length, on the 8th of Decem-
ber, 1764, set sail in one of the company's ships of war,
bound for Muskat and the Persian Gulf. During this voyage
he beheld the surface of the sea for half a German mile in ex-
tent covered at night with that luminous appearance which we
denominate "phosphoric fires;" and which, according to his
opinion, arises entirely from shoals of medusas, which by the
English sailors are called "blubbers." A few days afterward,
as they approached the shore of Oman, they were accompanied
for a considerable distance by a troop of dolphins, which, by the
persevering manner in which they followed the ship, seemed,
as Lucian jocularly observes, to be animated by a kind of phi-
lanthropy, as when they bore Melicerta and Arion to the shore
on their backs.
They arrived at Muskat on the 3d of January, 1765 ; and
here Nicbuhr, had the interior of Arabia possessed any at-
tractions for him, had once more an opportunity of indulging
his curiosity, and fulfilling the original design of the expedi-
tion; for, from the humane and polished manners of the peo-
ple of Oman, travelling was here, he enys, attended with no
more danger than in Yemen. He preferred, however, as-
cending the Persian Gulf in an English ship; and therefore,
after a stay of a few days, set sail for Abusheher, where he
arrived on the 4th of February.
Here Niebuhr, who had learned the Enghsh language at
Bombay, found himself still in the company of an English-
man, from whom he obtained a plan of the city, together with
much curious and valuable information respecting the country
and its inhabitants. This Englishman, whose name was Jervis,
spoke, read, and wrote the Persian with fluency, and amused
himself with making a collection of manuscripts in that lan-
guage; among which was the "Life of Nadir Shah," by his
own private secretary, Mohammed Mahadi Khan. The
authenticity of this work was so highly spoken of in Persia,
that Niebuhr w*s at some pains to procure a copy of it for the
King of Denmark's library; and it was from this copy that
Sir William Jones afterwards compiled his " History of Nadir-
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 331
Sfiah," once celebrated but now sunk into oblivion. At Abu-
tsheher our traveller saw several of that species of cat, numbers
of which are now brought into Europe from Angola. They
were procured from Kerman, and it was said that they would
nowhere breed except in those countries in which the shawl
goat was found-7-an opinion which has long" been proved to
have been erroneous.
Shortly after Niebuhr's arrival at Abusheher, Mr. Jervis
determined upon sending a quantity of merchandise to Shiraz ;
and his intention was no sooner made public, than a number
of petty merchants, together with several flimilies from the in-
terior, who had been expelled from their homes by the troubles
consequent upon the deith of Nadir Shah, desired to unite
themselves to his party; and thus a small kafilah was at once
formed. So excellent an opportunity of visiting the most
beautiful city of Persia, as well as the famous ruins of Persc-
polis, was not to be overlooked. Our traveller therefore joined
the trading caravan, and on the 15th of February set out for
the interior.
For this journey, however, he was but badly prepared. He
was wholly ignorant of the Persian language, and therefore,
had he not by great good fortune, found some persons among
the party who spoke Arabic, as well as an Armenian who was
a tolerable master of the Italian, he must have been reduced to
depend upon the universal but scanty language of signs.
Strange to say, likewise, he had abandoned the oriental cos-
tume, though fully aware, by his own account, of the advan-
tao-es to be derived from it by a traveller. In other respects
he conducted himself judiciously ; for, understanding that the
Enghsh, notwithstanding the troubled state of Persia, had no-
where any thing to fear, he represented himself as an English-
man; and thus, without passport or formal permission, he
travelled with perfect freedom and safety. He observed dur-
ing this journey a curious superstition among the Armenians,
of which he had nowhere else discovered any traces : having
despatched his servant upon some business at a distance from
the encampment, he was one day compelled to act as his own
cook, and was about to cut off the head of a fowl. His face
at that moment happening to be turned towards the west, an
Armenian who was present informed him that a Christian
should turn his face to the east when he killed a fowl, no less
than when he prayed. Others (as the affair was a serious
business) conjectured that he turned towards Mecca, either
that his servant, who was a Mohammedan, might conscien-
tiously partake cf the food, or fce:;ause that in reality was his
kehlek. Seeing, however, that people endeavoured to decide
332 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
respecting his religion by the mode in which he slaughtered a
hen, he tor the future relinquished to his servant the art and
mystery of cookery.
Our traveller had an opportunity, near Firashbend, of visit-
ing a Turkoman camp. He found them rich in camels,
horses, asses, cows, and sheep. Their ^^^omen, like those of
the Bedouins, enjoyed the most perfect liberty, and wore no
veils. These Turkoman women were said to be exceedingly
laborious, and the small carpets so universal in Persia were
of their workmanship, lie likewise beheld a Kurdish family.
Farther on he had a very laughable adventure with a troop of
Armenian woman, which, as characteristic at once of the Ar-
menians and cf liimseir, merits some attention. Having
travelled for some time through rain and hail, the kafilah at
length halted, near the village of jRoms/mw, in which Niebuhr
hired a house for a day, and purchased a quantity of wood, in
the hope of enjoying a good lire until bedtime. Not desiring,
however, to taste of these blessings alone, he invited several
Armenians to share the advantage of his apartments, which
they most readily accepted. Presently, however a number of
women and children presented themselves for admission, and
appeared extremely well satisfied when he granted them per-
mission to place themselves inside of tiie door. He had short-
ly afterward occasion to leave the house for a moment. Upon
his return, he found the husbands of the wonien^eated near
the entrance of the house, while the whole harem had estab-
lished itself round the fire ! and conceiving that it might be im-
prudent to sit down by the fire among the women, or to drive
them away from it, he allowed them, though certainly not from
politeness, to dry tiiemselves first. Here he was detained for
twenty four hours by bad weather. The apartments which
he occupied were on the second story, and his horse, which
had its quarters in the adjoining chamber, being somewhat
restless in the night, broke through the floor, and fell down
into the landlord's apartment below! '
The kafilah reached Shirezon the 4th of March. Here he
was hospitably received and entertained by the only European
in the city, a young English merchant, whose name he shouId#
have been at the pains to learn, for assuredly it was not, as he
imagined, J/r. //crcw/cs. His stay at Shirez was rendered
agreeable by the politeness of the governor, who, at his first
audience, informed him that he would decapitate the first per-
son who should offer him any injury in his territories. The
audience being over one of the governor's friends undertook to
show them the palace. Several of the apartments were coat-
ed with beautiful Tabriz marble, and covered with magnificent
CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
m.
carpets; and among the ornaments of the palace were numer-
ous European mirrors, and pictures of Persian workmanship,
among which was one representing a woman bathing, almost
wholly naked. Niebuhr was greatly surprised to find pictures
of this kind in the house of a Mohammedan ; but, in fact, the
Sbiaks are far less rigid on this point than the Soarmees ; and
we learn from the Arabian Nights, that even so early as the
time of Haroon al Rashid, painting was encouraged in Persia
and Mesopotamia, since that celebrated prince is said to have
adorned his palace with the performances of the principal
Persian artists.
From Shiraz he proceeded to the ruins of Persepolis, the
site and nature of which is described in the life of Chardin.
His head-quarters during his stay was at the small village of
Merdast. From thence, as well as from the other villages, the
peasants frequently came to observe him during his examina-
tion of the ruins, in which he constantly employed the whole
day, from eight o'clock in the morning until five in the after-
noon. The majority of these visiters were women and young
girls, who were curious to see a European; and the whole of
the population were so entirely harmless, that the traveller felt
himself as safe in their company as he could have been in any
village in Europe. He here received a visit from an Arab
sheikh, a learned, polished, and agreeable man, who had
passed thirty years in Persia, during which time he had
amassed considerable wealth, and now lived in independence
and ease.
From Persepolis he returned by the way of Shiraz to Abu-
sheher, where he embarked in one of the country vessels for
the island of Karak, where he was hospitably received and
entertained by the Dutch merchants settled there ; and after a
short stay, proceeded to Bassorah. Here he embarked in a
small vessel which was about to sail up the Euphrates to
Hillah. His companion, during this voyage, was an officer of
the janizary corps, who lay in a small chamber close to Nie-
buhr's cabin, and appeared to be at the point of death. In
other respects, this little voyage, which occupied twenty-one
days, was sufficiently agreeable. The passengers were re-
markable for their good-humour and obliging disposition ; and
often, when our traveller set up his quadrant on the banks of
the stream, they stood around him in a circle, while he was
making his observations, to screen him from the wmd with
their long flowing dresses.
At Rumahia, a small village on the Euphrates, he lodged
with two of his Mohammedan companions at the house of a
Soonnee, who happened to be the moollah of a mosque. Soon
29
334 CARSTRN NIERCHR.
after their arrival, our traveller entered into conversation with
his host, and their discourse turning on the subject of mar-
riage, he observed, among other things, that in Europe, a man,
when he gives his daughter to any one in wedlock, is generally
accustomed to add a considerable sum of money. This cus-
tom greatly delighted the moollalu "Do you hear," says he
to his mother-in-law, who was sitting near him, while the
daughter was preparing ihe'ir pilaUy — "do you hear what thie
stranger is saying? It was not thus that you acted towards
me, my mother; I was compelled to pay you a sum of money
before you would give me your daughter!" The mother-in-
law, after patiently hearing him to the end, replied, "Ah ! my
son, upon what should I and my daughter have subsisted, had
1 given thee my field and my date trees t" This slight inter-
ruption in the conversation having ceased, Niebuhr, resuming
the thread of the discourse, remarked, that in Europe no man
could possess more than one wife, under pain of death; that
married persons enjoyed everything in common; and that
their property descended to their children. It was now the
old lady's turn to be eloquent. "Well, my son," says she,
have you marked what the gentleman has just related ? Ah!
what justice prevails in those countries ! Ah ! had you no
other wife than my daughter, and could I be sure you would
never divorce her, how willingly would I relinquish to you my
house, and all I possess !" The young woman, who had hith-
erto seemed to pay no attention to what was said, now likewise
joined in the discussion. "Alas! my husband!" said sho,
"how can you desire that my mother should give you her
house? You would soon bestow it upon your other wives,
ou love them better than me. I see you so seldom!"
The mother and daughter proceeded in this way for some
time, and at length Niebuhr, turning to the moollah, demanded
how many wives he had. " Four," replied the man. This
was the highest number permitted by the law. He had, there-
fore, indulged his affections to the utmost; and as each of his
spouses had a separate house and garden, he flitted cii pleasure
from wife to wife, and was everywhere received as a man re-
turning home from a long journey. Our traveller inquired of
this 'zenlous polygamist whether his private happiness had been
increased or diminished by his having availed himself of the
privilege of a Mohammedan ; but, because his reply was con-
trary to his own European views, as that of every other Mus-
sulman, whom he had questioned on the subject, had been, he
absurdly accused him of insincerity.
From this place he proceeded to Meshed Alt, wliere he was
deterred from entering the mosque, by the fear that he might,
CAR8TEN NIEBUUR. 335
as a punishment for his presumption, be compelled to profesu
Mohfimmedanism ; but he admired the exterior of its gilded
dome, which ghttercd like a globe of flame in the sun. The
riches of this mosque, allowing much for the exaggeration of
the Shiaks, must still be immense. The interior of the dome
is no less superbly gilt than the exterior, and is adorned with
Arabic inscriptions in rich enamel ; other inscriptions, in let-
ters of gold, glitter alotig the walls ; while enormous candela-
bra, in silver and fine gold, set with jewels, support the
tapers which afibrd light to the pious during the darkness of
the night. This accumulation of gorgeous ornaments, though
supplied from a commendable motive, affects the worshippers
injuriously, and once occasioned a pious Arab to exclaim,
*' Verily, the treasures lavished upon this tomb have made me
forget God!"
Niebuhr next visited the ruins of Kufa, and Meshed Hus-
sein, and then returned to Hillah, near which are found the
misshapen ruins of Babylon. We must not, as he justly ob-
serves, expect to find among the remains of this city any thing
resembling the sublime magnificence which cast a halo over
the ruins of Persian and Egyptian cities. Babylon, like
modern London, was a city of bricks, prodigious in extent,
mighty in appearance, but calculated, from the nature of its
materials, to give way, when war or time laid its giant hands
upon its towers. Its very site is now become an enigma, "a
place for the bittern, and pools of water." Modern travellers,
however, have since visited this celebrated spot, and described
it so frequently, that it is unnecessary to pause and repeat
what they have written, particularly as no two agree upon any
one point.
His stay at Babylon was brief, and on the 5th of January,
t766, he left it to proceed towards Bagdad, where he remain-
ed until the 3d of March, awaiting the departure of a caravan
for Syria. At length, finding no better companions, he de-
parted with a kafilah composed wholly of Jews, from one of
whom who had travelled much in the country, he expected to
derive considerable information. He still possessed the sul-
tan's firman, which he had procured at Constantinople, and
had likewise provided himself with a passport from the Pasha
of Bagdad. He therefore anticipated no interruption on the
way. In proceeding from Bagdad to Mousul, he traversed
the plain on which the great battle of Arbela, which reduced
Persia to a Macedonian province, was gained by Alexander.
Ruin and desolation have since that day been busily at work
in these countries. Among the vagabonds who now roam
over or vegetate upon these renowned scenes, are a strange
336 CARSTEN NIEBUHB.
people, accused by many writers of worshipinj» the devil ; I
mean the Yezeedis, who, though suspected by Niebuhr of be-
ing an offshoot from the Beyazi sect of Oman, appear to be
rather tlie descendants of the ancient Manichaeans, or a rem-
nant of the Hindoo population, worshippers of Siva^ hurled
into this obscure liaunt by the storms of war.
At Mousul, where he found numerous Catholic and Nesto-
rian Christians, he was received with extreme scorn, because
his worthy corehgionists learned that he did not fast during
Lent. However, by allowing himself to be defrauded a little
by a Dominican father, a dealer in coins and physic, he quick-
ly regained his character, and, during the remainder of his
stay, was reputed a very good Christian. From this city he
departed with a numerous caravan, bound partly for Aleppo,
partly for Mardin, Orfah, or Armenia. The whole number of
the travellers, including a guard of fifty soldiers, and about
three or four hundred Arabs, amounted to little less than a
thousand men. Yet, notwithstanding their numbers, the
slightest report of there being a horde of Kurds in their neigh-
bourhood threw these gallant warriors into consternation, and,
upon one particular occasion, their confusion was so extreme
that, like the honest knight of La Mancha, they mistook a
flock of sheep for an army. The robbers on this road are
exceedingly expert in their vocation ; and one of the mer-
chants of the caravan, who had often travelled by this route,
amused Niebuhr with an anecdote illustrative of their skill,
which deserves to be repeated : — He was one night encamped,
he said, on the summit of a steep hill, and for the greater secu-
rity had pitched his tent on the edge of the precipice. He
himself kept watch until midnight, at which time he was re-
lieved by his servant, who, as it would appear, soon fell asleep.
On awaking about daybreak, he observed a robber in the tent.
He had already flistened the hook, with which he meant to
perform his feat, in a bale of merchandise; but sprang out of
the tent, upon perceiving he was discovered, still holding fast
the cord of his hook. The merchant, however, immediately
detached the hook from the bale, and fastened it in the clothes
of his slumbenng domestic, who, as the robber continued
tugging violently at the cord, was soon roused. The robber
pulled, the servant rolled along like a woolsack, and the master
had the satisfaction of seeing him tumble down to the bottom
of the hill, that he might in future be somewhat more careful
of his master's property.
Niebuhr himself, whose cautious temper generally defended
him from danger, had on this journey a trifling adventure with
an Arab sheikh. It entered into the head of this fiery young
CARSTEN NIEBUIIR. 337
Islamite that it would be amusing to have a frolic with a Giaour,
and for this purpose he deprived our traveller of his bed and
counterpanes. Niebuhr complained to the caravan bashi, but
could only get a portion of his property restored. Next day,
therefore he applied to the sheikh himself, who, instead of re-
turning the articles, only jested with him upon his uncharitable
disposition, which would not allow him to share his luxuries,
even for a few days, with a true believer, who was willing to be
condescending enough to sleep on the bed of an infidel. Our
traveller, hoping to terrify the Arab, now produced the sultan's
firman, and the Pasha of Bagdad's passport; but this only
rendered matters worse. " Here in the desert," said the sheikh,
" /am thy sultan and thy pasha. Thy papers have no au-
thority with me!" Some days afterward, however, the Arab
returned him his effects, from fear, according to Niebuhr, of
the Governor of Mardin ; but more probably because he had
never intended to retain them.
From this point of his travels he proceeded by way of Mar-
din, Diarbekr, and Orfah, to Aleppo, where he arrived on the
6th of June. Here he remained some time, during which he
acquired the friendship of the celebrated Dr. Patrick Russel,
from whom he received much information respecting the
Kurds and Turkomans, whose principal chiefs frequently
visited Russel at his house. His inquiries likewise extended
to the Nassaireah and Ismaeleah., who, from the accounts of
the Moliammedans and oriental Christians, would appear to
have preserved among them the rites and ceremonies of the
ancient worshippers of Venus. Nocturnal orgies, in which
every man chose his mistress in the dark, and the adoration
of the Yoni, in a young woman who exposed herself naked
for the purpose of receiving this extravagant reverence, were
likewise attributed to them ; but, as Niebuhr observes, there is
nothing too absurd or abominable to be related by the orthodox
and dominant party of a persecuted and heretical sect. He,
in fact, found that the Roman Catholics everywhere in the
East represented their Protestant brethren as persons who liv-
ed without hope and without God in the world ; while we, on
the otlier hand, look upon them as idolaters, as far removed as
the pagans of old from the pure religion of Christ.
After the death of his companions, Niebuhr had applied to
the Danish government for permission to extend his journey in
the East, and, through the benevolence of Count Bernstorff, his
wishes had been readily complied with. He therefore passed
from Syria into Cyprus, for the purpose of copying certain
Phenician inscriptions at Cittium, the birth-place of Zeno,
which had, it was suspected, been incorrectly copied by Po-
29*
338 CAR8TEN NIEBUHR.
cocke. Finding no inscriptions of the kind on the spot to
which he had been directed, he, with an iJhberality which was
not common with him, imputed to Pococke tlie gross absurdity
of having confounded Armenian with Phenician characters;
but, as his recent biographer remarks,* it is more probable
that the stones had, in the interval, been removed.
From Cyprus he passed over into Palestine, visited Jerusa-
lem, Sidon, Mount Lebanon, and Damascus, and then return-
ed to Aleppo. Here he continued until the 20th of November,
1766, when he set out with a caravan for Brusa, in Asia Minor ;
and in traversing the table-land of Mount Taurus, sufl'ered,
says one of his biographers, as mucJi from frosts, piercing
winds, and snow-drifts, as he could have done in a winter
journey in northern regions. Lofty mountains are every-
where cold. Chardin nearly perished among the snows of
Mount Caucasus; Don Ulloa suffered severely from the same
cause in the Andes, almost directly under the equator ; and
the lofty range of the Himmalaya, which divides Hindostan
from Tibet, is so excessively cold, that Baber Khan, though a
soldier and a Tartar, beheld with terror the obstacle wliich
these mountains presented to his ambition ; and their summits
have hitherto been protected by cold from human intrusion.
Upon reaching Brusa, however, he reposed himself for some
time, and then set out for Constantinople, where he arrived on
the 20th of February, 1767.
Here he remained three or four months, studying the insti-
tutions of the empire, civil and mihtary. He then directed his
course through Roumeha, Bulgaria, Waliachia, and Molda-
via, towards Poland, and on arriving at Warsaw was received
with extraordinary politeness by King Stanislaus Poniatowsky,
with whom he afterward corresponded for many years. From
Warsaw he continued his journey towards Copenhagen, and
visited on the way Cottingen and his beloved native place,
when the death of his mother's brother, during his absence,
had left him in possession of a considerable marsh-farm. He
arrived at Copenhagen in November, and was received in the
most flattering manner by the court, the ministers, and men of
science.
Niebuhr now employed himself in preparing his various
works for publication. The "Description of Arabia" was
published in 1772, and although it must unquestionably be re-
garded as one of the most exact and copious works of ihe kind
ever composed on any Asiatic country, it met with but a cold
reception from the public. This, however, is not at all surpri-
smg. Written in the old style of books of travels, which ap-
pear to have aimed at imparting instruction without at all in-
CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
teresting the imagination, it can never be relished by the gene-
rality of readers, who at all times, and especially in these latter
ages, have required to be cheated into knowledge by the secret
but irresistible charms of composition. Niebulir, unfortunate-
ly, possessed in a very limited degree the art of an author.
His style has nothing of that life and vivacity which compen-
sates, in many writers, for the want of method. But those who
neglect his works on these accounts are to be pitied ; for they
abound with information, and everywhere exhibit marks of a
remarkable power of penetrating into the character and motives
of men, and a noble, manly benevolence, which generally in-
clines to a favourable, but just interpretation. He understood
the Arabs better than almost any other traveller, and his opin-
ion of them upon the whole was remarkably favourable. It is
to him, therefore, that in an attempt to appreciate the charac-
ter of this extraordinary people, I would resort, in preference
even to Volney, who, whatever might be the perspicuity of his
mind, had far fewer data whereon to found his conclusions.
In 1773 he married, and his wife bore him two children, a
daughter and B. G. Niebuhr, the author of the " Roman His-
tory." Next year the first volume of his "Travels" appeared,
and was received by the public no less coldly than the " De-
scription of Arabia ;" which was, perhaps, the cause why the
second volume was not published until 1778; and why the
third, which would have completed his "Travels'" history,
was never laid before the world, or even prepared for publica-
tion. This is exceedingly to be regretted, as, whatever may
be the defects of Niebuhr as an author, he was, as an observer,
highly distinguished for sagacity; and his account of Asia
Minor would have been still valuable, notwithstanding all that
has since been written on that country.
He continued to live at Copenhagen for ten years ; but at
length the retirement of Count Bernstorf from the ministry, and
a report that General Huth designed to despatch him into
Norway for the purpose of making a geographical survey of
that country, disgusted him with the capital. He therefore
demanded of the government permission to exchange his mili-
tary for a civil appointment, and accordingly obtained the
situation of secretary of the district of Meldorf, whither he re-
moved his family in the year 1778. This town afforded Nie-
buhr few opportunities of entering into society. He conse-
quently endeavoured to extract from solitude and Irom study
the pleasures which he could not take in the company of man-
kind, and addicted himself to gardening and bcoks. When
his children had reached an age to require instruction, he un-
dertook to conduct their education himself. "He iLs:ructed
I
340 CAR8TEN NIEBUHR.
US," says his son, "in geography, and related to us many pas-
sages of history. He taught me Enghsh and French — better,
at any rate, than they would have been taught by anybody
else in such a phice; and something of mathematics, in which
he would have proceeded much further, had not want of zeal
and desire in me unfortunately destroyed all his pleasure in the
occupation. One thing, indeed, was characteristic of his whole
system of teaching: as he had no idea how anybody could
have knowledge of any kind placed before him, and not seize
it with the greatest avidity, and hold to it with the steadiest
perseverance, he became disinclined to teach whenever we
appeared inattentive or reluctant to learn. As the first in-
struction I received in Latin, before I had the good fortune to
become a scholar of the learned and excellent Jager, was very
defective, he helped me, and read with me " Ciesar's Com-
mentaries." Here again, the peculiar bent of his mind show-
ed itself: he always called my attention much more strongly
to the geography than the history. The map of Ancient Gaul
by D'Anville, for whom he had the greatest reverence, always
lay before us. I was obhged to look out every place as it oc-
curred, and to tell its exact situation. His instruction had no
pretensions to be grammatical ; his knowledge of the lan-
guage, so far as it went, was gained entirely by reading, and
by looking at it as a whole. He was of opinion that a man
did not deserve to learn what he had not principally worked
out for himself; and that a teacher should be only a helper to
assist the pupil out of otherwise inexplicable difficulties. From
these causes his attempts to teach me Arabic, when he had
already lost that facility in speaking it without which it is im-
possible to dispense with grammatical instruction, to his disap-
pointment and my shame, did not succeed. When I afterward
taught it myself, and sent him translations from it, he was
greatly deligiited.
"I have the most lively recollection of many descriptions of
the structure of the universe, and accounts of eastern coun-
tries, which he used to tell me instead of fairy tales, when he
took me on his knee before I went to bed. The history of
Mohammed; of the first califs, particularly of Omar and Ah,
for whom he had the deepest veneration ; of the conquests and
spread of Islimism; of the virtues of the heroes of the new
faith, and of the Turkish converts, were imprinted on my
childish imagination in the liveliest coIoim's. Historical works
on these same subjects were nearly the first books that fell into
my hands.
"I recollect, too, that on the Christmas-eve of my tenth year,
by way of making the day one of peculiar solemnity and re-
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 34^
joicing to me, he went to a beautiful chest containing his man-
uscripts, which was regarded by us children, and indeed by
the whole household, as a kind of ark of the covenant ; took
out the papers relating to Africa, and read to me from them.
He had taught me to draw maps, and with his encouragement
and assistance I soon produced maps of Habbesh and Soudan.
"I could not make him a more welcome birthday present
than a sketch of the geography of eastern countries, or transla-
tions from voyages and travels, executed as might be expect-
ed from a child. He had originally no stronger desire than
that I might be his successor as a traveller in the East. But
the influence of a very tender and anxious mother upon my
physical training and constitution, thwarted his plan, almost
as soon as it was formed. In consequence of her opposition,
my father afterward gave up all thoughts of it.
"The distinguished kindness he had experienced from the
English, and the services which he had been able to render to
the East India Company, by throwing light upon the higher
part of the Red Sea, led him to entertain the idea of sending
me, as soon as I was old enough, to India. With this scheme,
which, plausible as it was, he was afterward as glad to see
frustrated as I was myself, many things, in the education he
gave me, were intimately connected. He taught me, by pre-
ference, out of English books, and put EngUsh works, of all
sorts, into my hands. At a very early age he gave me a regu-
lar supply of English newspapers : circumstances which I re-
cord here, not on account of the powerful influence they have
had on my maturer life, but as indications of his character.'*
In the winter of 1788 he received from Herder a copy of his
" Persepolis," which afforded him one proof that he was not
forgotten by his countrymen. He took a deep interest in the
war which was then raging against Turkey ; for, in proportion
to his love for the Arabs, was his hatred of the Turks, whom
he cordially desired to see expelled from Europe. The French
expedition to Egypt, however, was no object of gratification
to him ; for his dislike of the French was as strong as his dis-
like of the Turks, convinced that their absurd vanity and want
of faith would infallibly neutralize the good effects even of the
revolution itself.
The account given by his distinguished son of the latter
days of this meritorious traveller is worthy of finding a place
here. " His appearance," says he, " was calculated to leave
a delightful picture in the mind. All his features, as well as
his extinguished eyes, wore the expression of the extreme and
the exhausted old age of an extraordinarily robust nature. It
was impossible to behold a more venerable sight. So venera-
342 CARSTEN NIEBUHR.
ble was it, that a Cossack who entered an unbidden guest into
the chamber where he sat with his silver locks uncovered^ was
so struck with it, that he manifested the greatest reverence for
him, and a sincere and cordial interest for the whole house-
hold. His sweetness of temper was unalterable, though he
often expressed his desire to go to his final home, since all
which he had desired to live for had been accomplished.
" A numerous, and as yet unbroken, family circle was as-
sembled around him ; and every day in which he was not
assailed by some peculiar indisposition he conversed with
cheerfulness and cordial enjoyment on the happy change
which had taken place in public affairs. We found it very
dehghtful to engage in continued recitals of his travels, which
he now related with peculiar fulness and vivacity. In this
manner he once spoke much and in great detail of Persepolis,
and described the walls on which he had found the inscriptions
and bas-reliefs, exactly as one would describe those of a build-
ing visited within a few days and familiarly known. We could
not conceal our astonishment. He replied, that as he lay in
bed, all visible objects shut out, the pictures of what he had
beheld in the East continually floated before his mine's eye,
so that it was no wonder he could speak of them as if he had
seen them yesterday. With hke vividness was the deep in-
tense sky of Asia, with its brilliant and twinkling host of stars,
which he had so often gazed at by night, or its lofty vault of
blue by day, reflected in the hours of stillness and darkness on
his inmost soul ; and this was his greatest enjoyment. In the
beginning of winter he had another bleeding at the nose, so
violent that the bystanders expected his death ; but this also
he withstood.
"About the end of April, 1815, the long obstruction in his
chest grew much worse ; but his friendly physician alleviated
the symptoms, which to those around him appeared rather
painful than dangerous. Towards evening on the 26th of
April, 1815, he was read to as usual, and asked questions
which showed perfect apprehension and intelhgence ; he then
sunk into a sluml)er, and departed without a struggle."
Niebuhr had attained his eighty-second year. He was a
man rather below than above the middle size, but robust in
make, and exceedingly oriental in air and gestures. As might
be clearly enough inferred from his works, he was no lover of
poetry; for, though he is said to have admired Homer in the
German translation of Voss, together with the Herman and
Dorothea of Goethe, this might be accounted for upon a differ-
ent principle. His imagination, however, was liable to be
sometimes excited in a very peculiar way. " It is extraordina-
CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 343
ry," says his son, "that this man, so remarkably devoid of
imagination, so exempt from illusion, waked us on the night
in which his brother died, though he was at such a distance
that he knew not even of his illness, and told us that his brother
was dead. What had appeared to him, waking or dreaming,
he never told us."
JOHN BELL.
Bell seems to have been born about the year 1690, at
Antermony, in Scotland. He was possessed, even from his
earliest years, by a strong passion forjtravel; but his passion,
together with a large portion of shrewdness and sagacity, con-
stituting the better part of his inheritance, he judiciously ap-
plied himself to the study of medicine and surgery, a know-
ledge of which, in all semi-barbarous countries, is frequently
of more avail to the traveller even than wealth. It does not
appear whether Bell was directed in the choice of his scene by
preference or by chance. However, as all Europe was at that
period filled with admiration of the projects of Peter the First,
whose reputation for munificence drew crowds of adventurers
by a species of magnetic attraction towards the north, it is
probable that a desire of personal aggrandizement united
with a thirst of knowledge in urging our traveller in the direc-
tion of Petersburg. Put be this as it may, having obtained
from several respectable persons recommendatory letters to
Dr. Areskine, chief physician and privy counsellor to the czar
Peter the First, he embarked at London in July, 1714, for St.
Petersburg. On his arrival he was received in a very friendly
manner by Dr. Areskine, to whom he communicated his inten-
tions of availing himself of the first opportunity which should
offer of visiting some portions of Asia. The desired occasion
soon presented itself. The czar, preparing at this period to
send an embassy into Persia, appointed Aremy Petrovich
Valensky, a captain of the guards, to conduct the mission ;
and this gentleman applying to Dr. Areskine to recommend
him a medical attendant, Bell was immediately brought for-
ward by his countryman, and received, on his favourable tes-
timony, into the ambassador's suite. Through the same in-
terest, he was likewise at once formally introduced into the
fiervice of the czar.
JOHN BELL. 345
Bell set out from Petersburg on the 15th of July, 1715, ac-
companied hy a part of the ambassador's suite, and for some
time directing his course along the western bank of the Neva,
encamped in the evening on a small stream which falls into
that river, and passed the night in a wagon. Next day they
embarked on the Volchovu, the banks of which were covered
with villages and fruitful cornfields, interspersed with woods,
and continued their journey by water until they approached
Novogorod, where they quitted their "moving road," as Pascal
terms a river, and proceeded on horseback. At Iver, Bell be-
held the mighty stream of the Volga, the navigation of which
from this town to the Caspian Sea is interrupted by no cataract,
and whose waters abound with an extraordinary variety of the
finest fish in the world.
From this place they proceeded towards the ancient capital
of the empire, through a plain but agreeable country, covered
with rich harvests, which infallibly produce a pleasing effect
upon the mind, and dotted with small tufted groves, the ver-
dure of which contrasted admirably with the yellow grain
waving at their feet. On reaching the village from which the
first view of Moscow was obtained. Bell observes, that " at this
distance few cities in the world make a finer appearance, for
it stands on a rising ground, and contains many stately churches
and monasteries, whose steeples and cupolas are generally
covered either with copper gilt or tin plates, which shine like
gold and silver in the sun."
The Kremlin, to which Bishop Heber was fond of comparing
some of the old Mohammedan edifices of Hindostan, appears
to have excited no very particular admiration in Bell, who
merely observes that it was compounded of a number of build-
ings added to one another at diff'erent times, and that some of
the apartments were remarkably spacious. Here they em-
barked on the Moskwa, and dropping slowly down the stream,
entered the Volga a little below Nishna. The river at this
place is of very great breadth, and, the wind blowing from the
north, they were driven along with prodigious velocity. Signs
of the approach of winter now began to appear, for it was the
latter end of October; the Volga was suddenly filled with
floating ice, which, united with its powerful current, and the
force of the wind, rendered their position exceedingly danger-
ous. They, however, continued their voyage, and arrived on
the 3d of November at Zabackzar, a considerable town on the
right bank of the river, a little above Kazen.
In this part of Russia, according to Bell, the best and largest
falcons in the world are caught, which being highly valued for
their strength and beauty, particularly by the Turks and Per-
30
346 JOHN BELL.
sians, are sold to those nations at extravagant prices. They
are not, as might have been expected, taken from the nest;
but after they are full grown, when their natural instincts have
been developed by exercise, and their physical powers have
acquired, by strugghng witli storms and tempests, their utmost
maturity and vigour. They are then taught to fly at swans,
geese, herons, hares, and even antelopes ; and our traveller
saw one of them take a wild duck out of the water when nothing
but her bill, which she had put up for air, could be perceived.
Many of these falcons are as white as doves. Bell afterward
saw in Kudistan the beautiful species of hawk called ckerJck,
which the Persians and Arabs train for antelope hunting. This
is done by stuffing the skin of one of these animals, and placing
the food of the hawk between its horns, which afterward, when
the bird comes to be employed in the chase, induces it to
pounce upon the head of the antelope, and either strike it to
the ground, or retard its movements until the greyhounds
come up. Sir John Malcolm, who witnessed this singular
sport at Abusheher, observes that "the huntsmen proceed to a
large plain, or rather desert, near the seaside; they have
hawks and greyhounds, the former carried in the usual man-
ner on the hand of the huntsman, the latter led in a leash by a
horseman, generally the same who carries the hawk. When
the antelope is seen they endeavour to get as near as possible ;
but the animal, the moment it observes them, goes off at a
rate that seems swifter than the wind; the horses are instantly
at full speed, having slipped the dogs. If it is a single deer
they at the same time fly the hawks; but if a herd, they wait
till the dogs have fixed upon a particular antelope. The
hawks, skimming along near the ground, soon reach the deer,
at whose head they pounce in succession, and sometimes with
a violence that knocks it over."
The Persian style of hare hunting, which few travellers
have noticed, is scarcely less interesting, and is thus described
by Sir John Malcolm. "When at Shirez the elchee (ambas-
sador) had received a present of a very fine shah-baz, or royal
falcon. Before going out I had been amused at seeing Nuttee
Beg, our head falconer, a man of great experience in his de-
partment, put upon this bird a pair of leathers, which he fitted
to its thighs with as much care as if he had been the tailor of a
fashionable horseman. I inquired the reason of so unusual
a proceeding. * You will learn that,' said the consequential
master of the hawks, *when you see our sport;' and I was
convinced, at the period he predicted, of the old fellow's know-
ledge of his business. The first hare seized by the falcon was
very strong, and the ground rough. While the bird kept tlie
JOHN BELL.
claws of one foot fastened in the back of its prey, the other
was dragged along the ground, till it had an opportunity to
lay hold of a tuft of grass, by which it was enabled to stop the
course of the hare, whose efforts to escape, I do think, would
have torn the hawk asunder, if it had not been provided with
the leathern defences which have been mentioned. The next
time the falcon was flown gave us proof of that extraordinary
courage which its whole appearance, and particularly its eye,
denoted. It had stopped and quite disabled the second hare
by the first pounce, when two greyhounds, which had been
slipped by mistake, came up, and endeavoured to seize it.
They were, however, repulsed by the falcon, whose boldness
and celerity in attacking the dogs, and securing its prey, ex-
cited our admiration and astonishment." Bell was informed
of a circumstance, while travelling in Kurdistan, which raises
still higher our admiration of the falcon's courage ; for it is
trained by the Tartars to fly at foxes and even wolves.
But to return to the Volga : On arriving on the 5th of No-
vember at Kazan, they found that the winter had set in, that
the Volga was filled with floating ice, and that, therefore, since
the nations inhabiting both banks of the river were hostile to
Russia, or extremely barbarous in their manners, it would be
necessary to defer the prosecution of their journey until the
following spring. This aflforded Bell ample leisure for the
conducting of his researches into the manners, character, and
rehgion of the neighbouring tribes. Here he found two Swe-
dish generals, Hamilton and Rosen, taken prisoners at the
battle of Pultowa, and exiled by the barbarous policy of the
czar to these remote regions ; but, excepting that they were
exiles, they had no great reason to complain of their treatment,
for they were allowed to share in whatever amusements and
pleasures the place afforded, and were by no means subjected
to a rigorous confinement.
It was not until the beginning of June that they were enabled
to continue their voyage. They then began once more to de-
scend the stream, which they did with great velocity; and
making a short stay at Samara and Astrakhan, proceeded on
their voyage, entered the Caspian, and on the 30th of August
arrived at Niezabad, where, there being neither harbour nor
creek, they hauled up their flat-bottomed vessels on the beach.
Here an accident occurred to one of Bell's companions, which
strikingly illustrates the facility with which the imagination,
when strongly excited, overthrows the other faculties of the
mind. The ship in which the secretary of the embassy was
embarked did not arrive until several hours after the others
had been drawn on shore, by which time the wind had begun
348 JOHN BELL.
to blow with great violence, while the sea broke tremendously
upon the beach. Not being able under such circumstances,
to reach the land, they at first cast anchor in the open road ;
but the gale increasing, even this position was considered dan-
gerous, so that they quickly shpped their cable and put out to
sea. The secretary and the other gentlemen on board, how-
ever, not greatly admiring their situation, and willing, from
their extreme impatience to be once more on terra firma, to
run even a considerable risk in endeavouring to effect their
purpose, ordered the master of the ship, a Dutchman in the
service of the czar, to run her ashore at all hazards, engaging
themselves to be accountable for the consequences. But when
the ship had approached within a certain distance of the land,
the sea ran so high that no boat could be hoisted out. The
secretary's fear of the sea increasing with the obstacles to his
landing, he at length prevailed upon a sailor, at the peril of
his life, to carry him ashore on his back, which, in spite of all
difficulties, the man actually performed ; "but his clothes being
drenched with salt-water, and the road lying through deep
sands, he was soon fatigued, and therefore retired nearer to
the woods, in hopes of finding a more smooth and easy path.
He discovered what he sought ; but instead of leading him to
the ships, it carried him away from the shore, and the right
course, into thick encumbered wood ; and in these circum-
stances night overtook him, utterly ignorant of the dismal and
dangerous wild into which he had wandered. Thus destitute
of all assistance, he chmbed a tree to save himself from the
wild beasts with which these woods abound; and in this situa-
tion continued all the night, and till noon the next day ; for
the people in his own ship never doubted of his having safely
reached our tents ; while we, on the contrary, had not the
least suspicion of his having come on shore. At last, however^
about noon, his servant came, inquiring for his master, who,
he told us, left the ship the night before. This account filled
us all with anxiety and apprehension ; as we certainly conclu-
ded he would be torn to pieces by the wild beasts, or murdered
by the savages who inhabit this coast. Immediate order was
given for all our people to repair to the woods in searcli of
him. He was at last found wandering from path to path,
without knowing one direction from another. When he came
to the tents he looked ghastly and wild, and related many
strange stories of what he had heard in the night. All possi-
ble care was taken to alleviate his distress. During his sleep,
which was very discomposed, he often started, groaned, and
spoke; and even after he awaked, he persisted in affirming
that there were numbers of people round the tree in the night,
JOHN BELL. 349
talking different languages. The imagination, no doubt, will
natuniily have a strong effect on any man in such uncommon
circumstances ; for, though the secretary was a man of pene-
tration and sound judgment, in vain did we endeavour to un-
deceive him, by representing that it was nothing but the jackals
whicli made the noise he had 'heard." In fact, he never re-
covered liis former sagacity and soundness of mind : and the
accident may even be supposed to have hastened his death,
which took place not long afterward.
From Niezabad they proceeded to Shamakia, where the in-
habitants, to whom the Muscovites were novelties at that time,
crowded the tops of their houses to behold them. The time
of their stay was spent in the way usual with ambassadors;
that is, in attempts of politeness, affecting state, and in disputes
with the Khan of Shamakia. At length, however, all these
were ended, and they departed. The suite of the ambassador
was numerous; for in the East a man's dignity is estimated
by the camel-loads of people at his heels : one hundred and
sixty camels, nearly two hundred horses and mules, which, if
common sense were constituted judge of the matter, would be
thought amply sufficient to bear the czar's compliments and a
letter to the shah.
On entering Kurdistan, Bell, from whose mind the " rugged
Russian bears," jackals, and other nuisances, had not chased
away all classical reminiscences, seems to have experienced
some pleasure at the idea of traversing, though in a contrary
direction, the same track which was pursued by Xenophon
and the Ten Thousand in their retreat from Babylonia. The
Kurds, the ancient Karduchi, were still, he says, reckoned a
brave people ; and, in fact, would be extremely disposed, if
any thing were to be gained by it, to harass any body of men,
whether small or great, who passed through their country.
On the day before they arrived at Tabriz they crossed a ridge
of mountains, from which, as he was infonned by an Armeni-
an, the snowy peaks of Ararat, or Agri Dag, might be seen in
clear weather.
From Tabriz they set out in the heart of winter, the country
being covered with deep snow, and the roads, in consequence,
almost impassable. The bright reflection of the sunbeams
from the snow produced an extraordinary effect upon the Rus-
sians. Their faces swelled, and many of them were afflicted
with ophthalmia. But the Persians themselves are liable to
the latter inconvenience, and, in order to guard against it,
wear a network fillet of black horsehair over the eyes ; which
Bell found, upon trial, to be an effectual preventive. This
30*
350 JOHN BELL.
contrivance, I imagine, might be made use of with equal suc-
cess in traversing the sands of Egypt or Arabia.
As they proceeded southward they quickly escaped from the
regions of snow, and on reaching Sarva, a small town a little
to the north of Room, found the pomegranate-trees already in
blossom on the 22d of February. The Persians, at least that
part of them who make any claim to civilization, are a pleasant
people to travel among. For if, in classic lands.
Not a mountain reared its head unsung,
no mountain, no, nor valley neither, rears or lowers its head
without having some particular legend attached to it. Near
Room you are shown a hill from which no one who has been
mad enough to reach the top ever descended ; and are told a
lamentable story of a young page sent up with a hghted torch
in his hand by Shah Abbas, who, of course, never returned,
but may yet perhaps come down with his torch unconsumed,
upon the re-advent of the Twelfth Imam. At Rashan your
imagination is excited by being placed in apartments, the floors
of which are almost paved with scorpions, the sting of every
one of which is more deadly than the sword of Rustam, or the
lance of Afrasiab. But these reptiles, like the spear of Achil-
les, undo, as it were, with one hand what they perform with
the other ; for when they have darted their poison into the
frame, they yield, on being caught and fried, though not alive,
I hope, an oil which the Persians reckon an infalhble antidote
to their venom. The only advantage which seems to be de-
rived from this energetic little reptile is, that it enriches the
Persian language with a new variety of that rhetorical figure
of speech called commination, or cursing; for when any per-
son is desirous of concentrating his wrath in a single impreca-
tion, instead of having recourse to that convenient but vulgar
demon who takes our enemies oft* our hands in Europe, he
arms his wishes with the sting of a Rashan scorpion, and flings
that at the head of his adversaries.
The embassy arrived at Ispahan on the I4th of March ;
and the shah's court immediately put itself in training for a
grand theatrical exhibition, in order to impress the barbarians
with a favourable idea of the greatness of the Asylum of the
Universe. While the stage decorations were preparing, our
traveller, who entertained a reasonable respect for royal pomp
and magnificence, employed himself in observing the city and
its environs ; and when the important day came, accompanied
the ambassador into the presence of the shah. Every thing
passed oft" in the usual style. Exhibitions of elephants capar-
JOHN BELL. 351
isoned with gold and silver stuffs ; lions led in massive chains
of gold; twenty horses superbly caparisoned, having all their
saddles and bridles ornamented with gold and silver, and set
with sapphires, emeralds, and other precious stones, while the
stakes by which they were fastened, and the mallets with which
those stakes were driven into the earth, were of sohd gold :
such were the siglits beheld within the precincts of the palace.
On the outside, however, poverty, ignorance, and starvation
exhibited their gaunt, phantom visages among the crowd,
scaring the eyeballs of those who were not too much dazzled
by the gorgeous apparatus of tyranny, to discover the real na-
ture of the materials out of which they were forgedv
When the ambassador was presented to the shah, he made
a speech to him in Russian; the "Asylum of the Ifni-
verse" replied in Persian; and since neither of them under-
stood one word of what was sai^d to him by the other, their
speeches must have been exceedingly interesting. However,.
a third person, " doctus utriusque lingure," clothed the shah's
ideas in Russian for the benefit of the ambassador, while he
presented the thoughts of the latter, or at least something like
them, to the shah, in the mellifluous language of Persia. All
this while music, which the traveller did not find inharmoni-
ous, was played in the audience-chamber, and the mufti was
reading aloud various portions of the Koran. Whether this
was intended to show how indiflerent, respecting all secular
concerns, the holy men of Persia were, or to throw an air of
religion over the transaction, or, finally, to exorcise all such
devils as might be supposed to accompany such a rabble of
Franks, Bell did not inquire; which, I think, was a great
oversight. An entertainment, which all parties thought more
agreeable than the speeches, followed next. The shah him-
self, according to ancient usage, was served before his guests ;
but the ambassador had the honor of being next attended to.
Every article of the feast was served up in large gold or china
dishes, but, according to the custom of the East, fingers were
substituted for knives and forks, and these, as among the an-
cient Greeks, were wiped with large thin cakes of bread, in-
stead of napkins.
The dmner to which they were shortly after invited by the
keeper of the great seal, was more magnificent than that given
them by the shah. " Soon after we entered," says Bell, "there
were served up a great variety of sweetmeats, and all kinds
of fruit that the climate afforded. Coffee and sherbet were
carried about by turns. We were placed cross-legged upon
the carpets, except the ambassador, who had a seat. During
this part of the feast we were entertained with vocal and in-
352 JOHxV BELL.
strumerital music, dancing boys, tumblers, puppets, and jug-
glers. All the performers executed their parts with great dex-
terity. Two of them counterfeited a quarrel, one beat off the
other's turban with his foot, out of which dropped about fifteen
or twenty large serpents, which ran or crawled about the room.
One of them came towards me with great speed, which soon
obliged me to quit my place. On seeing us alarmed, they
told us the creatures were altogether inoffensive, as their teeth
had been all drawn out. The fellow went about the room and
gathered them again into his turban, like so many eels. The
victuals were now served in a neat and elegant manner.
Every thing was well dressed in the Persian fashion. Our
host was very cheerful, and contributed every thing in his
power to please his guests. He excused himself handsomely
enough for not having wine, as it was not then used at court.
Two days after this the ambassador received intimation, that
the business of the embassy being concluded, he might depart
when he pleased ; but the Russ, who seems to have relished
the pilaus of Ispahan, would have been better pleased to re-
main where he was the whole year. However, it being clear
that the disciples of Ali by no means participated in his feel-
ings, he unwillingly prepared to encounter once more his
native fogs and snows. They left Ispahan on the 1st of Sep-
tember, and proceeded through Kasbin and Ghilan towards
Shamakia. At Kasbin many of the ambassador's suit, and
Bell among the number, were attacked by a pestilential fever,
which appears to have been the plague ; but they all, except-
ing one person, recovered. They, however, lost twenty-two
of their number before they finally quitted the Persian do-
minions.
It being the depth of winter when the ambassador arrived
at Shamakia, he resolved to remain there until the following
summer; time, in his opinion, being of little value. Accord-
ingly, it was not until the 26th of June that they embarked oA
the Caspian. Their journey homewards was long and tedi*
ous ; but they at length reached Petersburg on the 30th of
December, 1718; having consumed nearly three years and a
half in going to and returning from Ispahan.
Bell observes that Peter, who was in the capital when t!iey
arrived, was said to be well satisfied with the conduct of his
ambassador, whose principal business was to cultivate and
cement amity and a good understanding between the two
crowns of Russia and Persia. The city, notwithstanding the
Swedish war, which had lasted nearly twenty yeai-s, had been
greatly improved and adorned during his short absence ; and
its appearance had been so greatly changed, that he could
JOHN BELL.
353
scarcely imagine himself, he says, in the same place. Other
changes had likewise taken place in that short interval. His
friend Dr. Areskine was, he found, no more, having died
about six weeks previous to his arrival. However, he was
kindly received by his other friends, as well Russian as Eng-
lish ; and he mentions it as a circumstance worthy of remark,
that he met among the former with many persons of much
worth and honour.
Captain Valensky, the Persian ambassador, having con-
tracted a friendship for him during their journey, continued
to regard him with the same feelings after their return; and
when, on hearing that the czar was about to despatch an em-
bassy to China, Bell expressed an ardent desire to accompany
it, recommended him in such a manner to the ambassador.
Captain IsmailofF, as not only procured his reception into the
suite of the mission, but the friendship of that worthy man for
the remainder of his life.
Our traveller set out from Petersburg on his way to C]iina
on the 14th of July, 1719, and proceeded through Moscow to
Kazan, where he awaited the setting in of winter, the journey
through Siberia being to be performed in sledges. The poor
Swedish generals who had been taken prisoners at Pultowa
were still here, regretting, naturally enough, but unavailingly,
their long detention from their native land. On the 24th of
November, the snow having fallen sufficiently to smooth the
roads, Bell and a portion of the ambassador's suit departed
from Kazan. Their road lay through a fertile country, pro-
ducing abundance of cattle, corn, and honey, and covered, in
many places, by vast woods of tall oaks, fir, and birch. The
beehives used here were of a remarkable form. The inhabi-
tants, says Bell, take the trunk of a lime-tree, aspen, or any
soft wood, of about five or six feet long ; having scooped it
hollow, they make a large aperture in one side, about a foot
in length and four inches broad ; they then fix cross rods with-
in the trunk for the bees to build upon, and having done this,
close up the place carefully with a board, leaving small notch-
es for the bees to go in and out. These hives are planted in
proper places at the side of a wood, and tied to a tree with
strong withes, to prevent their being destroyed by the bears,
who are great devourers of honey. Bell learned, moreover,
that the peasantry in these parts had a method of extracting
the honey without destroying the bees; but the persons who
gave him the information, described the process so indistinctly
that he could not understand it.
Their road now lay for many days through dark woods,
interspersed at wide intervals with villages and cornfields.
354
JOHN BELL.
The cold daily became more and more intense ; thick fojp
hung upon the ground ; the frost penetrated everywhere. The
fingers and toes of those most exposed were frozen, and could
only be restored to animation by being rubbed with snow. At
length, on the 9th of December, they arrived at Solehampsky,
famous for its great salt-works, which, if necessary, could not
only have furnished all Russia, but several other countries also,
with salt. Vast strata of salt-rocks seem here to extend on all
sides at a certain distance from the surface. Pits are sunk to
these rocks, and are quickly filled with water, which, being
drawn off and boiled in large caldrons, the salt is deposited at
the bottom. The vein of salt-rock sometimes runs under the
river Kama, in which case it is reached by sinking wooden
t.owers in the stream, as ihey do when building the piers of a
bridge, and piercing through these to the necessary depth.
The salt water then springs up, fills the wooden tower, and is
pumped off as before. Prodigious strata of this kind of rock
traversing the bed of the ocean, may, perhaps, be the cause of
the saltness of its waters.
There are extensive mines of excellent iron-ore in the same
neighbourhood ; where is likewise found the asbestos fossil,
from which the incombustible linen is manufactured. The
value of this laniferous stone is said to have been dis-
covered by a sportsman, who, happening one day to be in
want of wadding in the woods, and observing the threadlike
fibres of this fossil, plucked some of them off for that use; and
finding that the gunpowder had no effect upon them, commu-
nicated the fact to others, which led to those inquiries and
experiments by which its extraordinary properties were dis-
covered.
From Solekampsky they proceeded to theOural Mountains,
which divide Russia from Siberia. These are covered in all
directions by vast forests, excepting in a fewva'Ieys where they
have been felled by man, where our traveller found the land-
scape beautiful even in the depth of winter. On descending
their eastern slope into the plains, a milder prospect, woods, vil-
lages, cornfields, and meadows, met the eye : but winter still
reigned over all, binding up the streams, whirling his snow-drifts
oyerthe plain, or clothing the forests with frost and icicles. The
fogs, however, had disappeared ; and as far as the eye could
reach, all was snow below and sunshine above. On the 16th
of December the gilded crosses and cupolas of Tobolsk were
discovered, rising in the distance above the snowy plain ; and
in the evening of the same day they found themselves agree-
ably lodged within its walls.
JOHN BELL. 355
.^ Here, as well as in most of the towns through which they had
passed, they found a nunnber of Swedish officers of distinc-
tion; among the rest Dittmar, secretary to Charles XII.; and
Bell observes that they were permitted to enjoy a considerable
share of liberty. They could walk about where they pleased,
hunt in the woods, and even make long journeys to visit their
countrymen at distant places. He, in fact, so indulgent to
tyranny had his residence in Russia rendered him, thought
**his majesty" was showing them an especial favour by can-
toning them in those parts where they could live well at a small
expense, and enjoy all the liberty which persons in their cir-
cumstances could expect.
Whatever may be our opinion of the conduct of Peter,
whom the childish folly of some writers has denominated the
Great, it must be confessed, that as far as his own interests
were concerned, the exiling of these officers into Siberia was
a judicious step, as it tended powerfully to civilize, that is, to
render more taxable, the wild and ignorant inhabitants of that
vast country. Several of the Swedish exiles were persons
who had received a superior education. Not being able
quickly to conform to the gross tastes of those who surrounded
them, they therefore laboured by every means in their power
to diffuse a relish for their own more liberal preferences ; and
as they very fortunately reckoned painting and music, — arts
which, addressing themselves partly to the senses, possess a
certain charm even for savages, — among their accomplish-
ments, they succeeded by their pictures and concerts in sub-
duing the ferocity of their masters. Still further to extend
their influence, they sometimes amused themselves with teach-
ing a select portion of the youth of both sexes the French and
German languages ; and as ingenuous youth has all the world
over, a reverence for those who introduce it into the paths of
knowledge, the purpose of the Swedes was amply accom-
plished, and they enjoyed the affection of powerful and hon-
orable friends.
To a sportsman the neighbourhood of Tobolsk affbrds end-
less amusement. Here are found every species of game
compatible with the nature of the climate: the urban, the
heathcock,the partridge, which in winter turns white as a dove,
woodcocks, snipes, and a prodigious variety of water-fowl.
Vast flights of snowbirds which are about the size of a
lark, come to Siberia in autumn, and disappear in spring. In
colour many of these birds are as white as snow, while others
are speckled or brown. Bears, wolves, lynxes, several kinds
of foxes, squirrels, ermines, sables, and martins, abound in
the woods. The ermines generally burrow in the open field,
I
356 JOHN BELL.
where they are caught in traps baited with a morsel of flesh.
These animals are caught only in winter,, when their fur is
white and most valuable. They turn brown in summer. The
hares, likewise, and the foxes of these northern regions, imi-
tate the changes of mother earth ; and in winter are clad in
furs resembling in colour the snows over which they run.
During his stay at Tobolsk, Bell made numerous inquiries
respecting the religion and manners of the Tartars inhabiting
the region lying between the Caspian and Mongolia; and
learned, among other particulars, that in an ancient palace,
the construction of which some attributed to Timour, others to
Genghis Khan, there were preserved numerous scrolls of
glazed paper, fairly written in many instances in gilt charac-
ters. Some of these scrolls were said to be black, though the
far greater number were white. They were written in the
Kalmuck language. While our traveller was busy in these
inquiries, a soldier suddenly presented himself before him in
the street with a bundle of these scrolls in his hand ; which,
as the man offered them for a small sum, he pujchased, and
brought to England. They were here distributed among our
traveller's learned friends ; and as Sir Hans Sloane was reck-
oned among the number, they will eventually find their way to
the British Museum. But whether or not any of them have
as yet been translated, I have not been able to discover. Two
similar scrolls sent by Peter I. to Paris, were immediately
turned into French by the savans of tliat capital, to whom no
language comes amiss, from that of the ancient Egyptians and
Parsees to that of modern sparrows, and were said to be mere-
ly a commission to a lama, or priest, and a form of prayer.
Whether this interpretation may be depended on, says Bell, I
shall not determine.
On the 9lh of January, 1720, they set out from Tobo'sk.
Their road now led them through numerous Tartar villages,
where the houses were constructed of wood and moss, with
thin pieces of ice fixed in holes in the walls instead of win-
dows. The whole country, as far as the eye could reach,
consisted of level marshy grounds, sprinkled with lakes, and
overgrown with tall woods of aspen, alder, willows, and other
aquatic trees, among which our traveller remarked a species
of large birch, with a bark as smooth and white as paper.
Pursuing their journey with the utmost rapidity, they arrived
on the 4th of February at Tomsk, where Bell, as usual, im-
mediately set on foot the most active inquiries respecting the
neighbouring regions and their inhabitants. From the citadel
of Tomsk, which is situated on an eminence, a chain of hills
is discovered towards the south, beyond which, our traveller
JOHN BELL. 357
was informed, in a vast plain, many tombs and burying-
places were found. His information throws much interesting
light on a passage of Herodotus. This great historian relates,
in his fourth book, that when the ancient Scythians interred
their king, they were accustomed to strangle upon his body
his favourite concubines, his cupbearer, his cook, and other
favourite personages; and we learn from other authors, that
together with the bones of these, cups, vases, and other vessels
of gold were deposited with the royal corpse in the tomb.
The tombs discovered in the great plains south of Tomsk
in all probability were those of ancient Scythian chiefs and
kings; but if so, the spot must have been regarded as the com-
mon cemetery of the race, to which the bodies of all persons
above a certain rank were to be borne, for the number of bar-
rows found there was immense. Numerous individuals annu-
ally resorted hither from Tomsk and other places to search for
treasure among these ancient graves, and they constantly
found among the ashes of the dead large quantities of gold,
silver, brass, and occasionally precious stones ; hilts of swords,
armour, saddle-ornaments, bits, and horse-trappings, together
with the bones of horses and elephants, were sometimes met
with. From which Bell infers, that when any general or per-
son of distmction was interred, it was customary to bury all
his arms, his favourite horse, and servant with him in the same
grave ; and this practice prevails to this day, he adds, among
the Kalmucks and other Tartars. He was shown several
pieces of armour and other curiosities which were dug out of
these tombs, particularly a small equestrian statue of brass or
bronze of no mean design or workmanship; together with
figures of deer cast in pure gold, which were divided in the
middle, and pierced by small holes, as if intended to be used
as ornaments to a quiver, or to the furniture of a horse.
In the woods of this part of Siberia there is a species of wild
ass, strikingly resembling the African zebra, having their hair
waved white and brown, like that of a tiger. Bell saw several
of their skins. Numerous wild horses of a fine chesnut colour
were likewise found, but could not, he says be tamed, even if
taken when foals. The Kalmucks, however, continued to
make some use of them ; for, not being able to ride, they
killed and ate them, and used their skins as couches to sleep
upon.
Proceeding eastward from Tomsk they arrived in about a
fortnight on the banks of the river Tongusta, where the coun-
try on both sides being covered with impenetrable woods, it
was necessary to make their way along the frozen stream,
while the biting winds continued to whirl and drift about the
31
i
358 JOHN BELL.
gnow in their path. Occasionally single houses or small villa-
ges were found upon the banks. One day, during their pro-
gress along this river, they met a prodigious flock of hares, all
as white as the snow on which they walked, slowly descending
the stream ; and Bell was informed that these animals are
frequently seen travelling south in much greater numbers.
They were now in the country of the Tonguses, a people
who have no fixed dwelhngs, but roam at pleasure through the
woods, erecting where they make any stay a few spars, in-
clining to each other above, and covering them with pieces of
birchen bark sewed together, with a small hole at the -top.
The men, however, are brave, and the women virtuous. They
practise tattooing. Their religion consists in the worship of
the sun and moon. Their dress is of fur. Their arms, the
bow and arrow, the lance, and a species of hatchet. In winter
they travel over the frozen snow with shoes, the soles of which
are of wood, and about five feet in length, and five or six
inches broad, inclining to a point before and square behind.
The feet are slipped into a thong fastened in the middle ; and
with these they can move over the deepest snow without sink-
ing. But as these are suited only to the plains, they have a
different kind for ascending the hills, with the skins of seals
glued to the boards, having the hair inclining backwards,
which prevents the sliding of the slioes. With these they
climb hills with the greatest facility, and having reached the
summit, dart down the opposite slope with astonishing ra-
pidity.
Such are the great sable hunters of Siberia, who feed indif-
ferently on the bear, the fox, and the wolf. The sables, says
Bell, are not caught in the same manner as other animals.
The fur is so tender, that the least mark of an arrow, or ruffling
of the hair, spoils the sale of the skin. In hunting them they
only use a little dog and a net. When a hunter discovers the
track of a sable upon the snow, he follows it sometimes for
several days unintermittingly, until the poor animal, quite tired,
takes refuge in some tall tree, for it can climb like a cat. The
hunter then spreads his net round the tree, and kindles a fire,
when the sable, unable to endure the smoke, immediately de-
scends, and is caught in the net. These hunters, when hard
pressed by hunger, have recourse to a practice analogous to
that of many South Sea islanders under similar circumstances:
taking two thin pieces of board, they place one on the pit of
the stomach, the other on the back, ynd gradually drawing
together the extremities, allay in some degree the cravings of
appetite. The winters here are long, and the cold so intense,
that the earth never thaws, even in summer, beyond two feet
j6HN BfiLL.
and a half below the surface. When they dig to the depth of
three feet for the purpose of burying their dead, they find the
earth frozen ; and in these graves the bodies remain uncon-
sumed, and will do so, says the traveller, to the day of judg-
ment.
On the 17th of March, the weather, as they began to ap-
proach the Baikal lake, changed so suddenly from winter to
spring that they almost imagined themselves dropped imper-
ceptibly into another chmate. They therefore abandoned
their sledges, which, as the snow was gone, were now become
useless, and proceeded on horseback. Next day they arrived
at Irkutsk on the river Angara. Here they remained until the
15th of May, waiting for the melting of the ice on the lake ;
and amusing themselves in the meanwhile with hunting, and
observing the country and its inhabitants.
When the season was thought to be sufficiently far advanced,
they proceeded up the banks of the river, until they discovered
the lake burstinor out between two high rocks, and tumbling
down over enormous stones, which lie quite across the channel
of the river, which is here a mile in breadth. The subhmity
of the scene, which is magnificent beyond description, is
heightened exceedingly by the dashing and roaring of the
waters, which impress the beholder with ideas of the irresistible
power and grandeur of nature, the privilege to contemplate
which elevates and enobles him in his own estimation. And
this, in reality, is the principal source of the pleasure we de-
rive from the view of stupendous mountains, the tempestuous
ocean, cataracts, volcanoes, or conflagrations.
They now embarked on the Baikal, which, as Gibbon face-
tiously observes, disdains the modest appellation of a lake,
and on receding from the land enjoyed a full prospect of its
western shores, rising abruptly into rocky pinnacles capped
with snow, and towering far above every thing around them.
These stretched away immeasurably towards the north, until
they were lost in the distance. On the south the view was
bounded by hills of gentler elevation, whose tops, for the most
part, were covered with wood. Their passage was tedious,
for on approaching the mouth of the Sehnga they found the
whole shore skirted by long reefs of floating icebergs, between
which they forced their way with considerable difficulty. How-
ever, they at length entered the Selinga, and ascending partly
in their boats and partly on horseback along its banks, arrived
safely at Selinguisky on the 29th of May.
At this town, which, hke the ancient Chalcedony on the
Bosphorus, may be termed the " City of the Bhnd," being
built upon an inconvenient spot in the neighbourhood of an
360 JOHN BELL.
excellent one, they were to remain until the court of Pekin,
which had been informed of their approach, should send an
officer to conduct them over the frontiers. In the mean time
every person amused himself according to his taste. Our
honest and intelligent traveller, as he is very properly denomi-
nated by Gibbon, whose chief pleasure consisted in observing
the manners of mankind, had here an ample field before him,
in a variety of characters affording the most striking moral
contrasts, from the Hindoo Yoghee, who bought live fishes on
the banks of a stream in order to enjoy the pleasure of setting
them swimming again, to the fierce, tough-nerved Mongol, who
could view death, whether inflicted on man or beast, without
exhibiting the least horror or emotion. With one of the chiefs
of this warlike nation, who, by temperance and exercise, had
contrived to reach his eightieth year with much of the vigour
and energy of youth about him, they had a splendid hunting
match, which, as conducted by the Tartars, may justly, as our
great historian remarks, be considered as the image and the
school of war.
The Chinese, who are as dilatory in their movements as the
ancient Spartans, allowed them ample time to amuse them-
sdycs, for it ^as not until the 24th of August that their con-
ductor arrived. On the 8th of September they departed, and
arriving in a few days on the banks of the Saratzyn, the small
rivulet which divides the Russian empire from Chinese Mon-
goha,
But these between a silver streamlet glides,
And scarce a name distinguisheth the brook,
Though rival kingdoms press its verdant sides,
they crossed over, and found themselves in the "Celestial Em-
pire !" Previously, however, a little incident occurred perfect-
ly characteristic of the Chinese. Their conductor, observing
some women walking in the fields, and fearing, apparently,
that their petticoats would set all Pekin on fire, inquired with
alarm to whom they belonged, and whither they were travelhng.
" To China," replied the ambassador. At this the worship-
per of Fo's terrors were increased: he rephed that they had
women enough in Pekin already, and that, as there never had
been a European woman in China, he would not, without a
special order from the emperor, be answerable for introducing
the first ; but that, if his excellency desired it, he would des-
patch a courier to learn the emperor's pleasure. As this would
have retarded their movements another six weeks, tlie ambas-
sador, who had not the wit to disguise the ladies in men's
apparel, sent them back to Selinguisky, and continued his
journey without them.
JOHN BELL. 361
They now entered upon that vast table-land which was found
by the Jesuits to be three thousand geometrical paces above
the level of the sea, from which the mountains forming its
southern boundary serve but as steps by wliich the traveller
may descend to the low plains of China. The small undula-
tions or eminences which break the uniformity of these vast
steppes are covered with the rhubarb plant, which grows there
spontaneously, and is propagated more rapidly by the aid of
the marmot, which, burrowing in prodigious numbers at its
roots, loosens the mould, and prepares it for the reception of
the seeds. The roots are dug up for exportation by the Mon-
gols, who carelessly bore holes through them, and hang them
about their tents or on the horns of their sheep to dry.
Afcer passing the Tula, no river again occurred north of the
Great Wall. The mode of travelhng here resembles, in some
degree, that which prevails in thetleserts of Arabia and Afiica,
except that the walls are more frequent, and the danger from
marauders little or none. Their food, after the first few days,
consisted of mutton only ; but as this was of an excellent
quality, the circumstance was not considered as a great hard-
ship. In the course of their journey they traversed a large
plain, thickly strewed with transparent red and yellow pebbles,
which glittered beautifully in the sun, and were said to be cor-
nelians and yellow sapphires, being hard, and taking a fine
polish. The few Mongols whom they found wandering with
their flocks and herds over the waste, appeared more content-
ed and happy than the possessors of the most fertile soil ; and
this being the primitive, the freest, and perhaps the most natu-
ral condition of man, the cir/3umstance ought not to excite our
astonishment. The mere art of locomotion is pleasant to man,
and in pastoral tribes, accustomed to wandering from their
infancy, it becomes a passion, the gratification of v/hich is
happiness.
" On the 2d of November, about noon," says Bell, " we
could perceive the famous wall, running along the tops of the
mountains, towards the north-east. One of our people cried
out 'land!' as if we had been all this while at sea. It was
now, as nearly as I can compute, about forty English miles
from us, and appeared white at this distance." The nearer
they approached the mountains, the more were they astonished
at the grandeur of this wall, which, as Voltaire very justly ob-
serves, makes no inconsiderable figure even upon the map of
the world. "The appearance of it," says our traveller, "run-
ning from one high rock to another, with square towers at cer-
tain intervals, even at this distance, is most magnificent." In
two days they arrived at the foot of this mighty barrier, and
31*
362 JOHX BELL.
entered through a great gate into China. Here a thousand
men were perpetually on guard, by the officers commanding
whom they were received with much pohteness, and invited
to tea.
"The long, or endless wall, as it is commonly called," says
our traveller, who has given the best account I have yet met
with of this prodigious undertaking, "encompasses all the
north and west parts of China. It was built about six hun-
dred years ago by one of the emperors, to prevent the frequent
incursions of the Mongols, and other western Tartars, who
made a practice of assembling numerous troops of horse, and
invading the country in different places. The Chinese fron-
tiers were too extensive to be guarded against such bold and
numerous enemies, who, after plundering and destroying a
wealthy country, returned to their own loaded with spoils.
" The Chinese, finding all precautions ineffectual to put a
stop to the inroads of such barbarians, at last resolved to build
this famous wall. It begins in the province of Leotong, at
the bottom of the bay of Nankin, and proceeds across rivers
and over the tops of the highest mountains without interrup-
tion, keeping nearly along the circular ridge of barren rocks
that surround the country to the north and west; and after
running southward about twelve hundred Enghsh miles, ends
in impassable mountains and sandy deserts.
" The foundation consists of large blocks of square stones
laid in mortar ; but the rest of the wall is built of brick. The
whole is so strong and well built as to need almost no repair,
and in such a dry climate may remain in this condition for
many ages. Its height and breadth are not equal in every
place ; nor, indeed, is it necessary they should. When carried
over steep rocks, where no horse can pass, it is about fifteen
or twenty feet high, and broad in proportion ; but when run-
ning through a valley, or crossing a river, there you see a
strong wall, about thirty feet high, with square towers at the
distance of a bowshot from one another, and embrasures at
equal distances. The top of the wall is flat, and paved with
broad freestones j and where it rises over a rock, or any emi-
nence, you ascend by a fine easy stone stair. The bridges
over rivers and torrents are exceedingly neat, being both well
contrived and executed. They have two stories of arches,
one above another, to afford sufficient passage for the waters
on sudden rains and floods."
Bell was, moreover, informed by the Chinese that this wall
was completed within the space of five years, every sixth man
in the empire having been compelled to work at it or find a
substitute. But if the date of its erection is altogether uncer*
JOHN BELL. 363
tain, we may very well be permitted to indulge our skepticism
respecting such circumstances as tend to increase the marvel-
lousness of the undertaking. It is far more probable that it is
the work of ages, and that numerous and long interruption oc-
curred in the prosecution of the design. With respect to its
utility, I likewise dissent altogether from the opinion of our
traveller, who, in comparing it with the pyramids, styles the
latter "a work of vanity." Had Bell believed, as I do, that
the pyramids were temples, he would, however, have been the
last man in the world to have thus characterized them ; but
with respect to the long wall, it may be proved to have been
not only useless, but pernicious, since the imaginary security
it afforded encouraged tliose unwarlike habits to which the
Chinese are naturally addicted ; and thus, when the Tartars
overleaped this contemptible obstacle to valour, and challenged
them to defend their empire by arms, they discovered that
soldiers are the only wall which a wise people should oppose
to its enemies, all other defences being found upon trial to be
utterly vain. No country, no, not even Hindostan itself, has
been more frequently conquered than China ; nor has any re-
gion of the earth been more frequently desolated and drenched
with blood by civil wars and rebellions ; and if ever circum-
stances should render it necessary for England to extend her
conquests in Asia beyond the Burrampooter on the north-east,
it would be seen with what ease the Hindoo Sipahees, who
subdued Tippoo Sultan, the Rohillas, Rajpoots, Patans, and
Burmese, would rout and subdue the feeble and inefficient
troops of China.
But to proceed with our traveller. All the way to Pekin
they observed terrible marks of the destructive power of earth-
quakes in these countries ; many of the towns having been
half-destroyed by one which had happened the preceding year,
when great numbers of people were buried beneath the ruins.
The country appeared to be well cultivated, and the towns
and villages numerous, but not in any remarkable degree.
They reached Pekin on the 18th of November.
Bell had now reached the goal of his wishes, and upon the
whole was not disappointed. Long accustomed to the sight
of savages immersed in ignorance and barbarism, he found the
Chinese, by comparison, highly civilized. They drank tea,
cultivated fine fruits, manufactured excellent silks, paper, and
porcelain, and accumulated considerable wealth ; but, before
they were taught by the Jesuits, scarcely understood sufficient
astronomy to enable them to calculate an echpse, were ignor-
ant of the art of founding cannon, of building chimneys, of
making clocks and watches; and, what was infinitely worse
364 JOHN BELL.
than all this, they were under so little moral restraint that men
incapable of maintaining a family married several wives with
the execrable design of exposing or murdering their offspring.
The existence of foundhng hospitals in civilized countries
proves that there everywhere exist individuals to whom the
offshoots of their own being are objects of no solicitude; an-
cient nations, too, sometimes exposed weak or deformed chil-
dren ; but no people, as far as I have been able to discover,
ever arrived at that pitch of depravity which distinguishes the
Chinese, " among whom," says Sir George Staunton, "habit
seems to have familiarized a notion that life only becomes
truly precious, and inattention to it criminal, after it has con-
tinued long enough to be endowed with a mind and sentiment;
but that mere dawning existence may be suffered to be lost
without scruple, though it cunnot without reluctance."
In the fine arts the Chinese have made but little progress,
having no knowledge of sculpture, and very little of painting.
Their literature, it is very clear, contains none of those splen-
did creations of genius which we might expect to find among
a people partly civilized during so many ages, and which ac-
tually exist in the languages of Persia and Hindostan. Their
popular religion is the grossest and most corrupt form of
Buddhism ; and even this, as well as their philosophy and
arts, such as they are, they originally borrowed from Hindos-
tan, which seems in antiquity to have been the great workshop
where all the fantastic systems, religious and philosophical,
which were current among the heathen were fabricated.
Captain Ismailoff seems, like Lord Amherst, to have felt a
peculiar antipathy to the practice of bowing nine times before
the Chinese emperor; but at length, after many struggles
with their prejudices, consented to conform to ancient usage.
The first audience was granted him at one of the emperor's
country palaces, where, when he arrived, though the morning
was cold and frosty, he found all the ministers of state and offi-
cers belonging to the court seated cross-legged upon their fur
cushions in the open air, — an exhibition probably intended to
serve as a reproof to the insolent barbarian who could object
to bow nine times before a prince at whose door the greatest
men in the Celestial Empire were contented to sit cross-legged
in the frost ! Nothing of^ that magnificence which Marco Polo
found at the court of Kublai Khan was discoverable in that of
Kamhi, whore, on the contrary, the only circumstances truly
remarkable wore the extreme plainness of every thing and the
affability and calm good sense of the aged monarch, who, in
insisting on the observance of ancient forms and ceremonies,
was actuated, it was clear, by no motives of paltry vanity.
JOHN BELL, 365
Though Gibbon, with all his disposition to skepticism,
allowed to Pekin a population of two millions, it would appear
from Bell's account, who says he rode round it at an easy trot
in four hours, to be inferior to London in size ; and no one
who is acquainted with the form of Chinese houses, which are
never more than one story high, and who reflects upon the
extent of the imperial gardens, together with all the other gar-
dens included within the walls, will doubt for a moment that it
is vastly less populous. Upon the accounts of the Chinese
themselves no reliance whatever can be placed. They are
greater proficients in lying than the ancient Cretans ; and on
the subject of population have deluded European travellers
with falDles so monstrous, that there is nothing in Gulliver
more repugnant to common sense. To maintain the one-half
of the population to which their empire makes pretensions
would demand a progress in civihzation and the arts of life of
which hitherto they have not even dreamed ; but a paper
population costs nothing. Three hundred and thirty-three
millions are as easily written as one hundred and nineteen
millions. But if we reflect for a moment on the vast deserts,
the barren mountains, the impenetrable woods which the
Jesuits, when scattered and terrified into their senses by per-
secution, found in almost every part of this richly-cultivated
country, and were enabled to conceal themselves in for months,
we shall perhaps be disposed to conclude, that in proportion to
its extent China is less populous than Hindostan, which yet
does not, in all probability, contain one-fourth of the popula-
tion it might be made to support if properly cultivated.
The object of the mission, which indeed seems to have been
of little importance, having been accomplished, the ambassa-
dor prepared to depart. The aged emperor, however, who
appears to have possessed a thoroughly benevolent and pohshed
mind, was desirous of presenting them before they took their
leave with the splendid spectacle of a Mongol hunt, of such a
one at least as could be represented in a park of two or three
days' journey in extent. On the 21st of February, therefore,
the day appointed for the hunt, horses were brought them at
one o'clock in the morning, the Chinese resolving that no time
should be lost. They reached the royal park about daybreak,
where, in a summer-house erected in the forest, they found the
emperor, who had risen long before their arrival. Here they
breakfasted. Before the south front of the summer-house
there was a large canal, with several fish-ponds filled with
clear water, which greatly beautified the scene ; and all around,
at convenient distances, stood a thousand tents in which the
courtiers had slept.
366 JOHN BKLL.
"The signal was then given," says Bell, "that the enoperof
was coming ; upon which all the great men drew up in lines,
from the bottom of the stairs to the road leading to the forest,
all on foot, dressed in their hunting-habits, the same with those
used by the officers and cavalry of the army when in the field,
and armed with bows and arrows. We had a proper place
assigned us, and made our bows to his majesty, who returned
a gracious smde, with signs to follow him. He was seated
cross-legged in an open machine carried by four men with
long poles rested on their shoulders. Before him lay a fowl-
ing-piece, a bow, and a sheaf of arrows. This has been his
hunting equipage for some years, since he left off riding. . . .
As soon as the emperor had passed, the company mounted
and followed him at some distance till we came into the open
forest, where all formed into a semicircle, in the centre of
which was the emperor, having on his left-hand, (the place of
honour in China) about eight or ten of his sons and grandsons,
and the ambassador on his right, about fifty paces distant.
Close by him were the master of the chase with some grey-
hounds and the grand falconer with his hawks. I could not
but admire the beauty of these fine birds. Many of them were
as white as doves, having one or two black feathers in their
wings or tails. They are brought from Siberia, or places to
the north of the river Amoor.
"Our wings being extended, there were many hares started,
which the company endeavoured to drive towards the emperor,
who killed many of them with arrows as they passed ; those
he missed he made a sign to some of the princes to pursue,
who also killed several of them with arrows ; but no other
person was permitted to draw a bow or stir from the line.
"From the open field we continued our route westward to
a place among thickets and tall reeds, where we sprung a
number of pheasants, partridges, and quails. His majesty
then laid aside his bow and arrows, and carried a hawk on his
hand, which he flew as occasion ofi'ered. The hawks gener-
ally raked in the pheasants while flying ; but if they took to the
reeds or bushes they soon caught them.
" After proceeding about two or three miles farther into the
forest we came to a tall wood, where we found several sorts of
deer. The young men went in and beat the woods, while the
rest of the company remained without. We saw much game
pass us, but nobody drew a bow until the emperor had killed
a stag, which he did very dexterously with a broad-headed
arrow ; after which the princes had leave to kill several bucks,
among wliich was one of that species that bears the musk,
called kaherda in Siberia.
JOHN BELL. 36T
** We had now been six hours on horseback, and I reckon
had travelled about fifteen English miles, but no end of the
forest yet appeared. We turned short from this wood south-
ward, till coming to some marshes overgrown with tall reeds
we roused a great many wild boars ; but as it was not the sea-
son for killing them they all escaped. The hunting of these
fierce animals is reckoned the most dangerous of all kinds of
sport except the chase of lions and tigers. Every one en-
deavoured to avoid them, and several of them ran furiously
through the thickest troops of horse. The emperor was so
cautious as to have a company of men armed with lances to
guard his machine.
"We continued the sport till about four o'clock, when we
came to a high artificial mount of a square figure, raised in
the middle of a plain, on the top of which were pitched about
ten or twelve tents for the imperial family. This mount had
several winding paths leading to the top, planted on each side
with rows of trees in imitation of nature. To the south was a
large basin of water with a boat upon it, from whence, I sup-
pose, the earth has been taken that formed this mount. At
some distance from the mount tents were erected for the peo-
ple of distinction and ofl^icers of the court. About two hun-
dred yards from it we were lodged in some clean huts covered
with reedsy — [No mark that Kamhi held the czar's ambassa-
<Jor in very high estimation.] — " The emperor, from his situa-
tion, had a view of all the tents and a great way farther into
the forest. The whole scene made a very pretty appearance,"
When they liad dined and been interrogated respecting the
degree of admiration with which they had beheld the figats of
the emperor and his sons, which was of course superlative,
the ambassador was informed that he was to be entertained
with a tiger-hunt, or rather " baiting," as our traveller terms
it; three animals of that species having been kept for some
time in a cage for that purpose. "The hill where the empe-
ror's tent stood was surrounded with several ranks of guards
armed with long spears. A guard also was placed before the
ambassador's and the rest of the tents, to secure the whole en-
campment from the fury of these fierce animals. The first
was let out by a person mounted on a fleet horse, who opened
the door of the coop by means of a rope tied to it. The tiger
immediately left his cage, and seemed much pleased to find
himself at liberty. The horseman rode off* at full speed, while
the tiger (poor fellow!) was rolling himself upon the grass.
At last he rose, growled, and walked about. The emperor
fired twice at him with bullets, but the distance being consid-
erable missed him, though the pieces were well pointed. Upon
368 JOHN BELL.
which his majesty sent to the ambassador to try his piece upon
him; which being charged with a single ball, he walked to-
wards the animal, accompanied by ten men armed with spears,
in case of accidents, till, being at a convenient distance, he
took his aim and killed him on the spot."
The second and third tigers were despatched in a short
time ; and the sportsmen, pluming themselves upon their
magnificent achievements, sat down in great good-humour to
supper, as men always do when they have performed any
glorious action. The skin of the tiger slain by the ambassa-
dor was sent him by the emperor, who observed, that by the
laws of hunting he had a right to it. The sport of the next
day differed very little from the preceding. They continued,
however, advancing through the forest without discovering any
end to it, and passed the night in a temple near another impe-
rial summer-house. The extent of this immense park, which
was all enclosed by a high wall, may enable us to form some
idea of the quantity of useless land in China ; for besides the
number of similar enclosures belonging to the imperial family,
we may be sure that, as far as possible, all the rich and great
imitate the example of the sovereign.
The ambassador now received his audience of leave, and,
after making several visits of ceremony, and receiving the cu-
rious but not valuable presents intended for the czar, departed
from Pekin. Their route from the capital to the Great Wall,
and thence across the deserts of Mongolia to Selinguisky,
though not precisely the same as that by which they had come,
afforded but few new objects, and was rendered interesting by
no striking incidents. The Baikal Lake being still frozen
when they reached it, they traversed it on light sledges upon
the ice. ThGy then embarked upon the Angara, and descend-
ed by water to Yeniseisk. Proceeding thence by land, they
soon arrived upon the banks of the river Ket, where they again
took to their boats ; and sailing down this melancholy stream,
bordered on both sides by the most gloomy forests, immerged
into the mighty stream of the Obe. They now sailed down
this river to its confluence with the Irtish, another noble
stream, against the current of which they made their way with
much difficulty to Tobolsk. Here they quitted their boats,
and continued their journey on sledges. Winter was rapidly
invading the country. Snow, cold winds, frost, and short days
conspired to render their movements irksome; but they still
pushed on rapidly, and on the 5th of January, 1722, arrived
at Moscow, where they found the czar and all his court, who
had recently removed thither from Petersburg.
JOHN BELL.
36^
Peter, surrounded by his courtiers, the general officers, and
the nobility and gentry from all parts of the empire, was making
great preparations for the celebration of the festivals appointed
to be solemnized in commemoration of the peace concluded at
Aland in 1721, between Russia and Sweden, after a war of
more than twenty years, when our traveller arrived ; and as
he appears greatly to have admired the policy of Peter on
most occasions, he was particularly gratified at the present ex-
hibition. He observes that Peter, even in his amusements
and times of diversion, made use of all possible means of in-
spiring his people with a love of what was useful ; and as the
Russians had a peculiar aversion to shipping, his principal
aim in the shows exhibited at Moscow was to dispel that pre-
judice, by impressing upon their minds that it was owing to his
naval power that the peace had been obtained.
"The triumphant entry," says Bell, "was made from a
village about seven miles from Moscow, called Seswedsky.
The first of the cavalcade was a galley finely carved and gilt,
in which the rowers plied their oars as on the water. The
galley was commanded by the high-admiral of Russia. Then
came a frigate of sixteen small brass guns, with three masts,
completely rigged, manned with twelve or fourteen youths
habited like Dutch skippers, in black velvet, who trimmed the
sails, and performed all the manoeuvres of a ship at sea. Then
came most richly-decorated barges, wherein sat the empress
and the ladies of the court. There were also pilot-boats heav-
ing the lead, and above thirty other vessels, pinnaces, wherries,
&c., each filled with masqueraders in the dresses of different
nations. It was in the month of February, at which time all
the ground was covered with snow, and all the rivers frozen.
All these machines were placed on sledges, and were drawn
by horses through all the principal streets of Moscow. The
ship required above forty horses to draw it. In order to its
passing under the gates the topmasts were struck, and, when
passed, set up again ; besides which, the gateway was dug as
low as was necessary for admitting it to pass."
As soon as these festivals were concluded, Peter, who had
been invited into Persia with an army by the shah, who re-
quired his aid against the rebellious Afghans, prepared to
march southward ; and Bell, who was thought to understand
something of Persian manners, having spent some time in the
country, was engaged by the czar's chief physician to accom-
pany the expedition. Accordingly, the troops having been em-
barked on the Moskwa, they descended by water to the Cas-
pian Sea, and made for the shores of Daghestan, where they
landed and encamped. They then proceeded along the sea-
32
370
JOHN BELL.
shore to Derbend, where the fleet containing the provisions,
stores, &c. for the army was wrecked upon the beach. This
gave Peter a plausible excuse for returning home without
affording the shah the desired aid. Indeed, the whole expedi-
tion appears to have been a mere piece of treachery got up for
the purpose of obtaining possession of Derbend ; for, " the em-
peror determined," says Bell, " to leave things in the state they
were in, and to return again to Astrakhan by the same way we
came, leaving a garrison at Derbend sufficient to secure the
advantage he had gained.''^
We now lose sight of our traveller for fifteen years, the
whole of which, however, he spent in Russia. In 1737 the
war with Turkey, which had begun in 1734, began to grow
disagreeable to the Russian court, the Ottomites, in spite of
their barbarism, being more obstinate in the field than their
polished enemies of the north had anticipated. Under these
circumstances, it was thought advisable to negotiate a peace;
but as the Turks made no proposals, and as in time of war no
subject of Russia, or Germany, the ally of Russia, was admit-
ted into the dominions of the sultan, Bell, who appears to have
been greatly respected both for his character and abilities, was
prevailed upon, " at the earnest desires of Count Osterman, the
chancellor of Russia, and of Mr. Rondeau, his Britanic ma-
jesty's minister at the court of Russia," to undertake the jour-
ney. He departed from Petersburg on the 6th of December,
1737, and arrived at Constantinople on the 29th of the next
month. With respect to his commission, he merely observes
that he punctually conformed to the terms of his instructions.
His negotiations did not detain him long. He left Constanti-
nople on the 8th of April, and on the 17th of May arrived at
Petersburg. Here he concludes his account of himself and
his travels. In the decline of his life he returned to Scotland,
where he resided at Antermony, his native place ; and it was
there that, surrounded apparently by affluence, and enjoying
the most ample leisure, he wrote his excellent an«l interesting
account of his travels, the first edition of which appeared in
1762. His death took place in 1780.
tt'.«<
MUNGO PARK.
This enterprising and distinguished traveller vvas born on
the 10th of September, 1771, at Fowlshields, a farm occupied
by his father, on the banks of the Yarrow, near Selkirk. In
common with the greater number of the sons of Scottish yeo-
men, Mungo Park, notwithstanding that the number of his
brothers and sisters amounted to no less than thirteen, receiv-
ed a respectable education, and at the age of fifteen was bound
apprentice to a surgeon at Selkirk. At the close of this ap-
prenticeship, in 1789, Park continued his medical studies at
the University of Edinburgh, where, though nothing remark-
able is recorded of him, he seems to have applied with great
assiduity to his professional studies. His summer vacations,
during one of which he made a tour to the highlands, were de-
voted to botany.
Having completed his education, Park removed to London
in search of professional employment. Here, through the
kindness of Mr. Dickson, his brother-in-law, he had the good
fortune to become known to Sir Joseph Banks, to whom so
many other distinguished travellers had been indebted ; and
through whose recommendation he was appointed surgeon to
the Worcester East Indiaman. In this capacity he made a
voyage to Bencoolen, in Sumatra, the only fruits of which
were a paper containing descriptions of eight new fishes from
Sumatra, published in the third volume of the LinrKBan
Transactions.
vShortly after his return from this voyage. Park, learning
that the African Association, of which his friend Sir Joseph
Banks was a very active and zealous member, were desirous
of engaging a person to replace Major Houghton, who, it was
feared, had fallen a sacrifice to the climate, or perished in
some contest with the natives, eagerly offered his services,
which after due deliberation were accepted. The association,
372 MUNGO PARK. ,
he observes, conducted itself with great HberaHty towards him.
He forthwith prepared himself for the voyage, and on the 22d
of May, 1795, sailed from Portsmouth in the brig Endeavour.
His instructions, he says were very plain and concise. He
was directed, on his arrival in Africa, " to pass on to the river
Niger, either by the way of Bambouk or by such other route
as should be found most convenient ; that I should ascertain
the course, and, if possible, the rise and termination of the
river. That I should use my utmost exertions to visit the
principal towns or cities in its neighbourhood, particularly
Timbuctoo and Houssa; and that I should afterw^ard be at
liberty to return to Europe, either by the way of the Gambia,
or by such other route as under all the then existing circum-
stances of my situation and prospects should appear to me to
be most advisable.'*
On the 21st of June, after an agreeable voyage of thirty
days, he arrived at Jillifica, a town on the northern bank of the
Gambia, in the kingdom of Barra. From this place after a
stay of two days he proceeded up the Gambia, in the waters
of which were found prodigious numbers of fish of unknown
species, together with alligators and hippopotami, whose teeth
furnish excellent ivory. Park, having quitted the Endeavour
at Jonkakonda, proceeded thence by land ; and reaching
Pisania, a small British factory in the King of Yam's domin-
ions, on the 5th of July took up his residence at the house of
Dr. Laidley, until he should be able to prosecute his journey
into the interior.
Our traveller's first care now was to render himself master
of the Mandingo language, which in this part of Africa is in
general use; and to collect from every source within his power
information respecting the countries he was about to visit. In
the language his progress depended on his own application ;
but he soon found that little or no reliance could be placed on
the accounts of the interior furnislied him by the natives, who
on the most material points were frequently in direct contra-
diction with each other. His anxiety to examine and judge
fpf" himself was therefore increased. However, besides that
the raih V season, which had now commenced, rendered travel-
ling impracticable, another equally insuperable bar to the
speedy prosecution of his journey quickly presented itself. In
observing on the SUt of July an eclipse of the moon, he im-
prudently exposed himself to the night dew, and next day he
found himself attacked by fe\er and delirium, which were the
commencement of an illness that with a very trifling intermis-
sion confined him during two n^onths within doors. " The
care and a^ention of Dr^ Laidley contributed greatly," says
MUNGO PARK. 373
Park, "to alleviate my sufterings; his company and conversa-
tion beguiled the tedious hours during that gloomy season
when the rain falls in torrents ; when suffocating heats op-
press by day, and when the night is spent by the terrified
traveller in listening to the croaking of frogs, (of which the
numbers are beyond imagination,) the shrill cry of the jackal,
and the deep howling of the hyena ; a dismal concert, inter-
rupted only by the roar of such tremendous thunder as no per-
son can form a conception of but those who have heard it."
Having been disappointed in his expectations of proceeding
with a slave caravan towards Bambarra, Park departed from
Pisania on the 2d of December, 1795. He had been provided
with a negro servant named Johnson, who had been many
years in Great Britain, and understood both the English and
Mandingo languages; and with a negro boy, named Demba,
the property of Dr. Laidley, who, as the highest inducement
of good behaviour, promised him his freedom on his return.
Besides these, Park was accompanied by four other persons,
who, though independent of his control, were made to under-
stand that their safe return to the countries on the Gambia
would depend on our traveller's preservation. His equipment
was by no means magnificent: a horse for himself, two asses
for his servants, provisions for two days, a small assortment of
beads, ambre, and tobacco, a few changes of linen and other
apparel, an umbrella, a pocket sextant, a magnetic compass, a
thermometer, two fowling-pieces, two pair of pistols, and some
other small articles. His friends at Pisania accompanied him
4iuring the first two days, and then, dismissing him on his
way, took their leave, secretly persuaded they should never
see him more.
He had scarcely lost sight of his European friends, and rid-
den off" musing and somewhat melancholy into the wood, when
a body of black people presented themselves in a clamorous
manner before him, demanding custom-dues, in default of
which they threatened to carry him before their king. To es-
cape from this honour, which might have proved a costly one.
Park presented them with a little tobacco, upon which they
were of course contented, and he was allowed to proceed On
reaching Medina, the capital of Woolh, he judged it prudent,
or perhaps absolutely necessary, to present himself at the
king's levee, when the venerable benevolent old chief not only
granted him permission to traverse his dominions, but assured
him he would offer up prayers for his safety, partly to secure
which he furnished him with a trusty guide.
Having safely reached the frontiers of the Woolli dominions,
Park dismissed his guide ; and being about to enter a country
33*
374 MUNGO PARK.
interspersed with deserts, in which water is frequently not to
be procured, he hired three negroes, experienced elephant-
hunters, who were at once to serve as guides and water-bearers.
While he was preparing to depart, however one of these ne-
groes, who had all received a part of their pay in advance,
made his escape ; and lest the remaining two should be dispos-
ed to follow his example, he immediately gave orders to fill
their calabashes, or gourds, with water, and struck off into the
wilderness, just as the sun was appearing above the horizon.
Through this desert they proceeded until they reached Tallika,
the frontier town of Bondou towards Woolli, where Park en-
gaged a kind of custom-house officer to accompany Iiim for a
trifling present to Fatteconda, the residence of the king. In
his company our traveller accordingly performed the journey
to that city. On his arrival at Fatteconda, he was received by
the black chief with much apparent kindness, though Major
Houghton, he had heard, in his passage through the country,
had been both insulted and plundered by this same man.
However, he soon discovered that the manifestation of a hos-
pitable disposition observable in the king's manner was not
deceptive. It is true he was so completely captivated by our
traveller's best blue coat and gilt bottons, that he could not
resist the temptation to beg it; but he endeavoured in some
measure to remunerate him for the loss by a present of five
drachms of gold, and by altogether abstaining from examin-
ing his baggage, or exacting uny other present than what was
voluntarily bestowed.
Mr. Park, desirous of preserving this coat, had deemed it
the wisest plan to wear it on his person, fondly hoping that
it would not be actually stripped off his back. However,
after the introductory ceremonial, the king began a warm
panegyric on the wealth and generosity of the whites, whence
he proceeded to the praises of the coat and its yellow buttons,
concluding with expressing the delight with which he should
wear it for the sake of his guest. He did not add, that if
these hints were disregarded, it would be seized by force ; but
our traveller, being thoroughly convinced that such was his
intention, pulled off the coat, of which he humbly requested
his majesty's acceptance. The king then abstained from
farther spoil, and introduced him as a curiosity to his female
circle. The ladies, after a careful survey, approved of his ex-
ternal appearance, with the exception of the two deformities of
a white skin and a high nose ; but for these they made am-
ple allowance, being blemishes produced by the false taste of
his mother, who had bathed him in milk when young, and by
pinching his nose elevated it into its present absurd height.
MUNGO PARK. 375
Park flattered them on their jet-black skins and beautifully
flattened noses ; but was modestly warned that flattery, or
honey -mouth, as they termed it, was not esteemed in Bondou.
The territories of these petty African chiefs, whom we com-
placently denominate kings, are exceedingly limited in extent.
Your road conducts you to-day through one kingdom, to-
morrow through another, and the next day through a third ;
which, of all those circumstances that obstruct the movements
of the traveller in Africa, is, perhaps, the most vexatious and
the most difficult to overcome ; as the rapacity of the first
chiefs who lie in his way deprives him of the power of satisfy-
ing the equal rapacity of the remainder. This consideration
alone would suffice to convince us that if ever Africa is to be
properly explored, it must be by an armed force sufficiently
powerful to carry terror through the country, and not by a
solitary traveller, who, whatever may be his perseverance or
courage, must either fall in the attempt, or return with notions
hastily formed, picked up at random, or borrowed from the
ignorant credulous natives. The perpetual state of captivity
in which Park moved is a strong proof of this. He was never,
unless when far removed from human society by woods or
deserts, completely master of his own actions, or sufficiently
respected to render it possible for him to contemplate the su-
perior classes, even of these savages, from a proper level. To
judge with impartiality, a man must neither be under the in-
fluence of fear nor of contempt, of anger nor of gratitude<r
He must feel himself perfectly on a level with those abcmt liim^
To proceed, however, with Park : — " In the afternoon,"^
says he, "my fellow-travellers informed me, that as this was
the boundary between Bondou and Kajaaga, and dangerous
for travellers, it would be necessary to continue our journey by
night, until we should reach a more hospitable part of the
country. 1 agreed to the proposal, tind hired two people for
guides through the woods, and as scon as the people of the
village were gone to sleep, (the moon shining bright.) we set
out. The stillness of the air, the howling of the wild beasts,
and the deep sohtude of the forest made the scene solemn and
impressive. Not a word was uttered by any of us but in a
whisper; all were attentive, and every one anxious to show his
sagacity by pointing out to me the wolves and hyenas as they
glided like shadows from one thicket to another. Towards
morning we arrived at a village called Rimmoo, when our
guides awakened one of their acquaintance, and we stopped
to give our asses some corn, and roast a few ground-nuts
for ourselves. At daylight we resumed our journey, and in
the afternoon arrived at Joag in the kingdom of Kajaaga."
376 MUNGO PARK.
On arriving at Joag, the frontier town of the kingdom of
Kajaaga, our traveller (who had taken up his residence at the
house of the dooty, or chief man of the town, a rigid but hos-
pitable Mohammedan) was favoured with an opportunity of
observing the genuine character of the negro. " The same
evening," says he, " Madiboo, the bushreen who had accom-
panied me from Pisania, went to pay a visit to his father and
mother, who dwelt at a neighbouring town called Drarnanet.
He was joined by my other attendant the blacksmith ; and as
soon as it was dark, I was invited to see tlie sports of the in-
habitants, it being their custom on the arrival of strangers to
welcome them by diversions of different kinds. I found a
great crowd surrounding a party who were dancing by the
light of some large fires to the music of four drums, which
were beat with great exactness and uniformity. The dances,
however, consisted more in wanton gestures than in muscular
exertion or graceful attitudes. The ladies vied with each
other in displaying the most voluptuous movements imagin-
able."
At Joag, while preparing to advance on his journey, he was
suddenly honoured with a visit from the king's son, accompa-
nied by a troop of horse, who, pretending that by entering his
father's dominions he had forfeited the whole of his property,
insisted upon examining his merchandise, of which he seized
upon the moiety. Of the remnant that remained, particularly
a little amber and a few beads, which he had succeeded in
concealing, he was now so fearful of producing any portion,
even for the purchase of food, lest he should once more awaken
the cupidity of the authorities, that both he and his attendants
determined on combating hunger for the day, "and wait some
opportunity of purchasing or begging provisions." In this
extremity, while he was sitting down chewing straws, a female
slave, who observed him in passing by, was moved with com-
passion, and presented him with a quantity of ground-nuts,
which was a very seasonable supply. Scarcely had the old
woman left him, before he received information that the ne-
phew of the King of Kasson, who had been sent by his uncle
on an embassy to the King of Kajaaga, and was now return-
ing to his own country, was about to pay him a visit. He
came accordingly, and upon Park's representing to him his
situation and distresses, kindly offered to be his guide and pro-
tector as far as Kasson. With him, therefore, our traveller
now continued his route to the banks of the Senegal, upon
crossing wliich, his royal guide, who, like other guides, re-
quired a present for his services, informed him they were in
his uncle's dominions, and in complete safety.
MUNGO PARK. 377
Safe or not safe, however, Park soon found that the stranger
and the traveller were nowhere beyond the reach of extortion*
Half of the little property which had escaped the fangs of the
Kajaaga people, was here taken from him. He was then
permitted to depart. Among the honest negroes with whom
he had set out from Pisania, on the Gambia, there was a
blacksmith from the interior, who, having amassed some little
money upon the coast, was now returning to spend the re-
mainder of his days in his native land. Shortly after quitting
Teesee, the last place where our traveller had submitted to
legal robbery, he and his companions came within sight of the
blacksmith's village. The news of his return had, it seems,
preceded him. His brother, accompanied by a singing-man,
came forth to welcome the wanderer home, and brought along
with him a horse, that the blacksmith "might enter his native
town in a dignified manner." Park and his companions were
desired to put a good charge of powder into their guns. The
singing-man led the way ; the two brothers followed ; and the
cavalcade was quickly joined by a considerable number of the
inhabitants, who, by extravagant gestures and songs of triumph,
testified their joy at the return of their townsman. " When
we arrived at the blacksmith's place of residence, we dismount-
ed, and fired our muskets. The meeting between him and hi*
relations was \erj tender ; for these rude children of nature,,
freed from restraint, display their emotions in the strongest
and most expressive manner. Amid these transports, the
blacksmith's aged mother was led forth, leaning upon a staffs
Every one made way for her ; and she stretched out her hand
to bid her son welcome. Being totally blind, she stroked his
hands, and arms, and face with great care, and seemed highly
delighted that her latter days were blessed by his return, and
that her ears once more heard the music of his voice. From
this interview, I was convinced, that whatever difference there
is between the Negro and European in the conformation of the
nose, and the colour of their skin, there is none in the genuine
sympathies and characteristic feelings of our common nature^
During the tumult of these congratulations, I had seated
myself apart, by the side of one of the huts, being unwilhng ta
interrupt the flow of filial and parental tenderness ; and the
attention of the company was so entirely taken up with the
blacksmith, that I believe none of his friends had observed me^
When all the people present had seated themselves, the black-
smith was desired by his father to give some account of his
adventures ; and silence being commanded he began ; and
afteif repeatedly thanking God for the success that had attend-
ed him, related every material occurrence that had happened
37S MVNGO PARIC.
to him from his leaving Kasson to his arrival at the Gambia J
his employment and success in those parts ; and the danger^
he had escaped in returning to his native country. In the
latter part of his narration, he had frequent occasion to men-
tion me ; and after many strong expressions concerning my
kindness to him, he pointed to the place where I sat, and ex-
claimed, Affille ibi siring (see him sitting there.) In a mo-
ment all eyes were turned upon me. I appeared like a being
dropped from the clouds, every one was surprised that they
had not observed me before ; and a few women and children
expressed great uneasiness at being so near a man of such an
uncommon appearance. By degrees, however, their appre-
hensions subsided, and when the blacksmith assured them I
was perfectly inoffensive, some of them ventured so far as to
examine the texture of my clothes ; but many of them were
still very suspicious, and when by accident I happened to
move myself, or look at the young children, "their mothers
would scamper off with them with the greatest precipitation.
In a few hours, however, they all became reconciled to me."
With these honest people Park remained during the whole
of that day and the next, and then, accompanied by the wor-
thy blacksmith, who declared he would not quit him during
his stay in that part of the country, set forward towards Koo-
niakary. On his arrival at this city he obtained an audience
of the king, a fine old man, who, for his conduct both in peace
and war, was greatly beloved by his subjects. His behaviour
towards the stranger was not inconsistent with this character.
He informed him with apparent regret, that the direct route to
Bambarra was about to be closed by war, but, after vainly ad-
vising his guest to retrace his footsteps, added, that there yet
remained some hopes of peace, respecting the vahdity of which
he should be able to pronounce an opinion in the course of
four or five days. In the meanwhile he invited Park to remain
in the neighbourhood.
On the 1st of February, 1796, the king's messenger return-
ed from the contiguous kingdom of Kaarta, bringing intelli-
gence that the Bambarra army had not yet entered the coun-
try, and that it was possible the traveller might be enabled to
traverse it before the invasion should take place. Accordingly,
being provided with two guides by the king, Park took leave
of his friend the blacksmith, and set forward on his dangerous
journey. The country, at all times thickly peopled, now
swarmed with fugitives, whom the fear of the Bambarrans
had terrified from their homes. The scenery in many places
was romantically wild. " On coming within sight of the moun-
tains of Foolado, we travelled," says Park, " with great diffi-
, MUNGO PARK. 379
culty down a stony and abrupt precipice, and continued our
way in the bed of a dried river-course, where the trees meet-
ing over our heads, made the place dark and cool. In a little
time we reached the bottom of this romantic glen ; and about
ten o'clock emerged from between two rocky hills, and found
ourselves on the level and sandy plains of Kaarta. At noon
we arrived at a korree, or watering-place, where, for a few
strings of beads, I purchased as much milk and corn-meal as
we could eat ; and indeed provisions are here so cheap, and
the shepherds live in such affluence, that they seldom ask any
return for what refreshment a traveller receives from them."
From this place, having prevailed upon his landlord, a Mo-
hammedan negro, to accompany him as a guide to Remmoo,
our traveller set forward on the 11th of February. He ob-
serves, " We had no sooner got into a dark and lonely part of
the first wood, than he made a sign for us to stop ; and taking
hold of a hollow piece of bamboo that hung as an amulet
round his neck, whistled very loud three times. I confess I
was somewhat startled, thinking it was a signal for some of his
companions to come and attack us ; but he assured me it was
done merely with a view to ascertain what success we were
likely to meet with on our present journey. He then dis-
mounted, laid his spear across the road, and having said a
number of short prayers, concluded with three loud whistles ;
after which he listened for some time, as if in expectation of
an answer, and receiving none, told us we might proceed
without fear, for there was no danger."
Adventures now appeared to crowd upon our traveller.
The country through which their road lay being thickly
sprinkled with wild fruit-trees, they amused themselves as
they rode slowly along with picking and eating the fruit. "In
this pursuit," says Park, " I had wandered a little from my
people, and being uncertain whether they were before or be-
hind me, I hastened to a rising ground to look about me. As
I was proceeding towards this eminence, two negro horsemen,
armed with muskets, came galloping from among the bushes.
On seeing them I made a full stop ; the horsemen did the
same ; and all three of us seemed equally surprised and con-
founded at this interview. As I approached them their fears
increased, and one of them, after casting on me a look of
horror, rode off at full speed ; the other, in a panic of fear,
put his hand over his eyes, and continued muttering prayers
until his horse, seemingly without his rider's knowledge, con-
veyed him slowly after his companion. About a mile to the
westward they fell in with my attendants, to whom they related
a frightful story; it seems their fears had dressed me in the
380 MUNGO PARK.
flowing robes of a tremendous spirit ; and one of them affirm-
ed, that when I made my appearance, a cold blast of wi»d
came pouring down upon him from the sky, hke so much cold
water."
Shortly after this they arrived at the capital of Kaarla,
where he was an object of such extraordinary curiosity to the
populace, the majority of whom had never before seen a white
man, that they burst forcibly into his hut, crowd after crowd.
Those who had beheld the monster giving way to those who
had not, until, as he observes, the hut was filled and emptied
thirteen different times. Here he found that the war with
Bambarra had actually commenced; that all communication
between the countries had consequently ceased ; and that, if
it was his determination to persevere, it would be necessary to
take a circuitous route through the Moorish kingdom of Luda-
mar. The people of Kaarta were Mohammedans ; but there
is a variety in church discipline even among these inflexible
fanatics; for, instead of the fine sonorous voice of the muezzin,
by which the fiiithful are elsewhere summoned to their devo-
tions, the hour of prayer was here announced by the beating
of drums, and blowing through large elephant's teeth, hollowed
out in such a manner as to resemble buglehorns. The sound
of these horns our traveller thought melodious, and approach-
ing nearer to the human voice than any other artificial sound.
Being very desirous to depart from the seat of war, Park pre-
sented his horse-pistols and holsters to the king; and on
pressing to be dismissed, received in return an escort of eight
horsemen to conduct him to Jarra. Three of the king's sons,
with two hundred horsemen, kindly undertook to accompany
him a little way on his journey.
On his arrival at Jarra, in the kingdom of Ludamar, he
despatched a messenger to Ali, who was then encamped near
Benown, soliciting permision to pass unmolested through his
territories ; and having waited fourteen days for his reply, a
slave at length arrived from the chief, affirming that he had
been instructed to conduct the traveller in safety as far as
Goomba. His negro, Johnson, here refused to follow h'mi
any further; and signified his intention of pushing back with-
out delay to Gambia; upon which Park, fearful of the success
of his enterprise, intrusted him with a copy of his journal, re-
serving another for himself, directing him to deliver the papers
to the English on the coast. A portion of his baggage and
apparel he committed to the care of a slave-merchant at Jarra,
who was known to Dr. Laidley. He then departed with his
slave-boy, accompanied by the chief's messenger. On the
road our traveller was robbed once more by the Moors, who
MUNGO PARK. 381
added insult to violence ; and when he was nearly perishing
for thirst, beat away his faithful slave from the wells without
permitting him to draw water.
However, after much fatigue and extraordinary privations,
they arrived in Ali's camp at Beriowm, where Park was imme-
diately surrounded by crowds of fanatical Moors, attracted
partly by curiosity, partly from a desire to vent tlieir fierce
zeal against a Christian. "My arrival," says he, "was no
sooner observed than the people, who drew water at the wells,
threw down their buckets ; those in the tents mounted their
horses, and men, women, and children came running or gal-
loping towards me. I soon found myself surrounded by such
a crowd, that I could scarcely move; one pulled my clothes,
another took off my hat ; a third stopped me to examine my
waistcoat buttons, and a fourth called out 'La illah el allah
Mahamet rasowl allahi,' and signified, in a threatening man-
ner, that I must repeat those words. We reached at length
the king's tent, where we found a great number of people,
men, women, and children, assembled. Ali was sitting on a
black leathern cushion, chpping a few hairs from his upper
lip — a female attendant holding up a looking-glass before him.
He appeared to be an old man of the Arab cast, with a long
white beard, and he had a sullen and indignant aspect. He
surveyed me with attention, and inquired of the Moors if I
could speak Arabic; being answered in the negative, he ap-
peared much surprised, and continued silent. The surround-
ing attendants, and particularly the ladies, were abundantly
more inquisitive ; they asked a thousand questions, inspected
every part of my apparel, searched my pockets, and obliged
me to unbutton my waistcoat and display the whiteness of my
skin ; they even counted my toes and fingers, as if they doubt-
ed whether I was in truth a human being."
Ali now, with the base idea of insulting an unprotected
stranger, ordered a wild boar to be brought in, which he signi-
fied his desire that Park should kill and eat. This, well know-
ing their religious prejudices, he of course refused to do ; upon
which the boys who led in the boar were commanded to let it
loose upon him, the Moors supposing that there exists an in-
veterate feud between pigs<and Christians, and that it would
immediately run upon and gore him. The boar, however,
was more magnanimous. Scorning to attack a defenceless
foreigner, he no sooner found himself at liberty than, brandish-
ing his tusks at the natives, he rushed at them indiscriminate-
ly, and then, to complete the consternation, took shelter under
the very couch upon which the tyrant was sitting. This bold
proceeding of the unclean beast dissolved the assembly, and
33
9&i MUNGO PARK.
the traveller was led away to the tent of a slave, in front of
which, not being permitted to enter, he received a little food.
Here he likewise passed the night lying upon the sand, sur-
rounded by the curious multitude. Next day, a hut, con-
structed with corn-stalks, was given him ; but the abovemen-
tioned boar, which had been recaptured, was tied to a stake in
the corner of it, as his fittest companion.
By degrees, however, the Moor» began to conceive that the
Christian might in one way or another be rendered useful, but
could think of no better employment for him than that of a
barber. In this capacity he made his first attempt, in the
royal presence, on the head of the young prince of Ludamar,
This dignified oflSce he had no great desire to monopolize, and
his unskilfulness in performing the operation, for he almost at
the outset made an incision in the young prince's head, quick-
ly reduced him once more to the rank of a common mortal,
Ali seemed by no means desirous, however, of dispensing
altogether with his services, wishing perhaps to preserve him
from the same motives which induce us to preserve a wild
beast ; and therefore, to render his escape the more impracti-
cable, took possession of the whole of his baggage, including
his gold, amber, watch, and one of his pocket compasses ; the
other he had fortunately buried in the sand composing the floor
of his hut. The gold and amber were highly gratifying to
Moorish avarice, but the pocket compass soon became an ob-
ject of superstitious curiosity. "Ali was very desirous to be
informed, why that small piece of iron, the needle, always
pointed to the Great Desert, and I found myself somewhat
puzzled to answer the question. To have pleaded my ignor-
ance, would have created a suspicion that I wished to conceal
the real truth from him ; I therefore told him that my mother
resided far beyond the sands of Sahara, and that while she was
alive, the piece of iron would always point that way, and serve
as a guide to conduct me to her ; and that if she was dead, it
would point to her grave. Ali now looked at the compass
with redoubled amazement ; turned it round and round re-
peatedly, but observing that it always pointed the same way,
he took it up with great caution, and returned it to mo, mani-
festing that he thought there was something of magic in it, and
that he was afraid of keeping so dangerous an instrument in
his possession."
It now began to be debated between Ah and his advisers
what should be done with their prisoner. Their decisions
were very dissimilar. Some were of opinion that he should
be put to death ; others that he should merely lose his right
hand ; while a third party thought that his eyes ought to be
MUNGO PARK. 383
put out. AH himself, however, determined that matters should
remain as they were until his queen Fatima, then in the north,
had seen him. Meanwhile all these reports were related to
our traveller, and tended not a little to distress and agitate his
mind. His demand to be permitted to depart was formally
refused. The accumulated horrors of his situation, united
with the want of food and sleep, at length brought on a fever,
by which his life was endangered. But his persecution from
the Moors did not therefore cease. They plucked his cloak
from him ; they overwhelmed him with insults ; they tortured
him like some ferocious animal, for their amusement ; and
when, to escape from this detestable thraldom, he crawled
away to a short distance from the camp, he was forced back
by menaces and violence.
At length, after more than a month's detention at Benowm,
he was commanded to follow Ali to the northern encampment
of Bubaker, on the skirts of the Great Desert, and on the way
endured the extremity of hunger, thirst, and fatigue. Upon
arriving at Bubaker, the residence of Fatima, Park was in-
troduced to that favourite princess. The beauty of a Moorish
female is measured entirely by her circumference ; and to be-
stow this grace on their daughters, the mothers stuff them
with enormous quantities of milk and koiiskous, the swallow-
ing of which is enforced even with blows, till they attain that
acme of beauty which renders them a load for a camel. The
dimensions by which Fatima had captivated her royal lover
were very enormous ; she added to them Arab features and
long black hair. This queen at first shrunk back with horror
at seeing before her that monster, a Christian ; but after put-
ting various questions, began to see in him nothing so wholly
diflerent from the rest of mankind. She presented to him a
bowl of milk, and continued to show him the only kindness he
met with during this dreadful captivity. Upon the departure
of her husband for Jarra, she not only obtained him permission
to join the party, but prevailed upon .the tyrant to restore him
his horse, saddle, and bridle, together with a part of his ap-
parel. His faithful black boy Demba, however, was taken
from him, notwithstanding his animated remonstrances to AH,
who, upon his pressing the point mther warmly, only replied,
that if he did not instantly mount his horse and depart, he
should share the fate of his slave. "There is something in
the frown of a tyrant," says Park, "which rouses the most
secret emotions of the heart; I could not suppress my feelings;
and for once entertained an indignant wish to rid the world of
such a monster. Poor Demba was not less affected than my-
self; he had formed a strong attachment towards me, and had
394 MUNGO PARIC.
a cheerfulness of disposition which often beguiled the tedious
hours of captivity ; he was likewise a proficient in the Bam-
barra tongue, and promised, on that account, to be of great use
to me in future. But it was in vain to expect any thing fa-
vourable to humanity from a people who are strangers to its
dictates. So having shaken hands with this unfortunate boy,
and blended my tears with his, assuring him, however, I would
do the best to redeem him, I saw him led oiF by three of Ali's
slaves towards the camp at Bubaker."
Upon his arrival at Jarra, where he was shortly afterward
transferred by Ali to tyrants of a lower grade, his condition,
far from being improved, was only rendered the more intoler-
able. The city itself, moreover, was in a state of the utmost
confusion. Malcontents from Kaarta havinj? taken refucfe
here, had recently made an incursion into their native coun-
try, carried off a large quantity of plunder, and thus drawn
the vengeance of their king against the city. All those who
had reason to dread his resentment were now, therefore, pre-
paring to fly into Bambarra ; and Park, whose route lay in
the same direction, became exceedingly desirous of effecting
his escape from the Moors, that he might seize upon this fortu-
nate occasion of fulfilling- the object of his mission. "Their
departure," says he, speaking of the black fugitives, " was
very affecting : the women and children crying, the men sul-
len and dejected, and all of them looking back with regret on
their native town ; and on the wells and rocks beyond which
their ambition had never tempted them to stray, and where
they had laid all their plans of future happiness ; all of which
they were now forced to abandon, and to seek shelter among
strangers."
Hoping to escape in this confused throng, he mounted his
horse; and taking a bag of corn before him, rode slowly off
along with the townspeople. On their arrival at Queira, a
village at no great distance from the city. Park began to flatter
himself that he had really eluded the vigilance of his persecu-
tors; but before the agreeable idea had got a firm footing in
his mind, he saw Ah's chief slave, accompanied by four Moors,
arrive, and take up their lodgings with the dooty. Johnson,
our traveller's interpreter, Suspecting the design of this visit,
sent two boys to overhear their conversation, by which means
he learned that it was their intention to carry Park back to
Bubaker. Upon this he at once came to the desperate resolu-
tion to effect his deliverance that very night from his pursuers,
or to perish in the attempt. Johnson, who applauded this de-
termination, but wanted the courage to imitate it, was never-
theless exceedingly well disposed to aid in effecting his mas-
MUNGO PARK. 385
ter's escape. He therefore undertook to keep watch upon the
movements of the enemy, vrhile Park vras preparing for flight.
About midnight he got all his apparel in readiness, which
consisted of two shirts, two pair of trousers, two pocket-hand-
kerchiefs, an upper and under waistcoat, a hat, a pair of half-
boots, and a cloak. Besides these things he had not in his
possession a single bead, or any other article, with which to
purchase food for himself, or provender for his horse : — "About
daybreak, .Johnson, who had been 'listening to the Moors all
night, came," says he, " and whispered to me that they were
all asleep. The awful crisis was now arrived when I was
again either to taste the blessings of freedom, or languish out
my days in captivity. A cold sweat moistened my forehead
as I thought of the dreadful alternative, and reflected that one
way or the other, my fate must be decided in the course of the
ensuing day. But to deliberate was to lose the only chance
of escaping. So taking up my bundle, I stepped gently over
the negroes who were sleeping in the open air ; and, having
mounted my horse, I bade Johnson farewell, desiring him to
take particular care of the papers I had intrusted him with, and
inform my friends in Gambia that he had left me in good
health on my way to Bambarra. I proceeded with great cau-
tion, surveying each bush, and frequently listening and look-
ing behind me for the Moorish horsemen, until I was about a
mile from the town, when I was surprised to find myself in the
neighbourhood of a korree, belonging to the Moors. The
shepherds followed me for about a mile, hooting and throwing
stones after me ; and when I was out of their reach, and had
begun to indulge the pleasing hope of escaping, I was again
greatly alarmed to hear somebody halloo behind me ; and
looking back I saw three Moors on horseback, coming after
me at full speed, whooping and brandishing their double-barrel
guns : I knew it was in vain to think of escaping, and there-
fore turned back and met them ; when two of them caught
hold of my bridle, one on each side, and the third, presenting
his musket, told me I must go back to Ah."
It soon appeared, however, that these gentlemen were mere-
ly private robbers, who were fearful that their master had not
sufficiently pillaged the stranger ; for, after examining his
bundle, and plundering him of his cloak, they bade him be-
gone, and follow them no further. Too happy to be rid of the
villains at any rate, he immediately struck into the w^oods, and
continued his journey. His joy at thus escaping from the
Moors was quickly damped by the consideration that he must
very soon be in want of both food and water, neither of which
could he procure without approaching villages or wells, where
33*
i-'^^
386 MUNGO PARK.
he would almost inevitably encounter liis old enemies. He*
therefore pushed on with all the vigour of which he was pos-
sessed, in the hope of reaching some town or village of the
kingdom of Bambarra. But he already began to experience
the tortures of thirst. His mouth was parched and inflamed;
a sudden dimness, accompanied by symptoms of fainting,
would frequently come over his eyes ; and as his horse also
was exceedingly fatigued, he began to apprehend that he
should perish of thirst. Some shrubs, the leaves of which he
chewed to relieve the burning pain in his mouth and throat,
were all found to be bitter and of no service. "A little before
sunset, having reached the top of a gentle rising," says Parl^,
*' I climbed a high tree, from the topmost branches of which I
cast a melancholy look over the barren wilderness, but with-
out discovering the most distant trace of a human dwelling.
The same dismal uniformity of shrubs and sand every where
presented itself, and the horizon was level and uninterrupted
as that of the sea.
" Descending from the tree, I found my horse devouring the
stubble and brushwood with great avidity ; and as I Mas now
too faint to attempt walking, and my horse too much fatigued
to carry me, I thought it but an act of humanity, and perhaps
the last I should ever have it in my power to perform, to take
off his bridle and let him shift for himself; in doing which, I
was affected with sickness and giddiness ; and, falling upon
the sand, felt as if the hour of death ,was fast approaching.
Here then (thought I,) after a short but ineffectual struggle,
terminate all my hopes of being useful in my day and genera-
tion — here must the short span of my life come to an end. I
cast, as I beheved, a last look on the surrounding scene, and
while I reflected on the awful change that was about to take
place, this world and its enjoyments seemed to vanish from my
recollection. Nature, however, at length resumed its func-
tions ; and on recovering my senses I found myself stretched
upon the sand, with the bridle still in my hand, and the sun just
sinking behind the trees. I now summoned all my resolution,
and determined to make another effort to prolong my exist-
ence : and, as the evening Avas somewhat cool, I resolved to
travel as far as my limbs would carry me, in hopes of reaching
(my only resource) a watering-place. With this view I put
the bridle upon my horse, and driving him before me, went
slowly along for about an hour, when I perceived some light-
ning from tlie north-east — a most delightful sight, for it prom-
ised rain. The darkness and lightning increased very rapidly ;
and in less than an hour I heard the wind roaring behind the
bushes. I had already opened my mouth to receive the re-
MUNGO PARK, 38t
freshing drops which I expected : but I was in&tantly covered
with a cloud of sand, driven with such force by the wind as to
give a very disagreeable sensation to my face and arms ; and
I was obliged to mount my horse and stop under a bu&h to
prevent being suffocated. The sand continued to fly for near
an hour in amazing quantities, after which I again set forward^
and travelled with much difficulty until ten o'clock. About
this time I was agreeably surprised by some very vivid flashes
of lightning, followed by a few heavy drops of rain. In a little
time the sand ceased to fly, and I ahghted and spread out all
my clean clothes to collect the rain, which at length I saw
would certainly fall. For more than an hour it rained plenti-
fully, and I quenched my thirst by wringing and sucking my
clothes.
"There being no moon, it was remarkably dark ; so that I
was obliged to lead my horse, and direct my way by the com-
pass, which the lightning enabled me to observe. In this
manner I travelled with tolerable expedition until past mid-
night ; when the lightning became more distant, and I wa&
under the necessity of groping along, to the no small danger of
my hands and eyes. About two o'clock my horse started at
something ; and, looking round, I was not a little surprised ta
see a light at a short distance among the trees, and supposing
it to be a town, I grouped along the sand in hopes of finding
corn-stalks, cotton, or other appearances of cultivation, but
found none. As I approached, 1 perceived anumberof othei:
lights in diflerent places, and began to suspect that I had fallen
upon a party of Moors. However, in my present situation,
I was resolved to see who they were, if I could do it with safe-
ty. I accordingly led my horse cautiously towards the light,
and heard by the lowing of the cattle, and the clamorous
fbngues of the herdsmen, that it was a watering-place, and
most likely belonged to the Moors. Dehghtful as the sound
of the human voice was to me, I resolved once more to strike
into the woods, and rather run the risk of perishing with hun-
ger, than trust myself again in their hands ; but being still
thirsty, and dteading the approach of the burning day, I
thought it prudent to search for the wells, which I expected to
find at no great distance. In this pursuit I inadvertently ap-
proached so near one of the tents as to be perceived by a wo-
wan, who immediately screamed out. The people came
running to her assistance from some of the neighbouring tents,
and passed so very near me that I thought I was discovered,
and hastened again into the woods.
"About a mile from this place I heard a loud and confused
noise, somewhere to the right of my course, and in a short
388 MUNGO PARK.
time was happy to find it was the croaking of frogs, which
was heavenly music to my ears. I followed the sound, and at
daybreak arrived at some shallow muddy pools, so full of
frogs that is was difficult to discern the water. The noise they
made frightened my horse, and I was obliged to keep
them quiet by beating the water with a branch until he had
drunk. Having here quenched my thirst, I ascended a tree,
and the morning being clear, I soon perceived the smoke of
the watering place which I had passed in the night, and ob-
served another pillar of smoke, east-southeast, distant twelve
or fourteen miles."
Towards this column of smoke, which, as he was informed,
arose from a Foulah village, he now directed his course ; but
on arriving at the place, was inhospitably driven from every
x3oor, except that of an old woman, who kindly received hira
into her dwelhng, and furnished him with food for himself
and with provender for his horse. Even here, however, the
influence of Ali pursued him like his evil genius. The peo-
ple who had collected round him while he was eating, began,
as he clearly discovered from their expressions, to form the
design of carrying him back once more to Benowm or Euba-
ker. He therefore hastened his departure, and having wan-
dered among the woods all day, passed the night under a tree.
In this way he continued his journey, sometimes meeting with
hospitality, but more frequently avoiding the dwelhngs of man,
and subsisting upon the wild produce of the woods, and the
water of a few pools, to Avhich the croaking of the frogs di-
rected him.
At length he entered the kingdom of Bambarra, where he
found the people more hospitable in proportion as they were
more opulent than their neighbours. Cultivation was here
carried on in a spirited manner and on an extensive scale, and
"hunger," as the natives expressed it, "was never known."
The country itself was beautiful, intersected on all sides by
rivulets, which, after a rain-storm, were swelled into rapid
streams. Park's horse was now so attenuated by fatigue that
it appeared like a mere skeleton, which the traveller, fearing
to mount, drove before him as if to scare away the crows.
The Bambarrans, whose hospitable disposition was accompa-
nied by but little delicacy, were infinitely amused at this droll
spectacle. Taking him for a Moor, they supposed from his
appearance that he must be one of those religious mendicants
who, having performed the pilgrimage to the holy cities,
thenceforward consider themselves fully entitled to subsist
upon the labours of their industrious coreligionists. " 'He
has been at Mecca,' said one; *you may see that by his
MUNGO PARK. 389^
clothes.' Another asked if my horse was sick ; a third wished
to purchase it, &c. So that I beheve the very slaves were
ashamed to be seen in my company."
However, in spite of all this laughter and ^^'idicule, he pro-
ceeded on his way, and at length had the satisfaction to be in-
formed that on the morrow he should see the Niger, denomi-
nated Joliba, or the " Great Water," by the natives. Next
morning, the 21st of July, after passing through several large
villages, he saw the smoke ascend over Sego, the capital of
Bambarra, and felt elated with joy at the thought of drawing
near so important an object of his mission. " As we ap-
proached the town," says Park, " I was fortunate enough to
overtake the fugitive Kaartans, to whose kindness I had been
so much indebted in my journey through Bambarra. They
readily agreed to introduce me to the king, and we rode to-
gether through some marshy ground, where, as 1 anxiously
looked around for the river, one of them called out Geo affilli
(see the water); and, looking forward, I saw with infinite
pleasure the great object of my mission, — the long sought for,
majestic Niger, glittering to the morning sun, as broad as the
Thames at Westminster, and flowing slowly to the eastward,
I hastened to the brink, and having drunk of the water, lifted
up my fervent thanks in prayer to the Great Ruler of all things
for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success."
Sego, the capital of Bambarra, consisted of four distinct
towns, two on the northern and two on the southern bank of
the Niger. The king at this period resided on the southern
bank, while Park arrived on the opposite side. The commu-
nication between the different quarters of the city was kept up
by means of large canoes, which were constantly passing and
repassing; notwithstanding which, so great was the pressure
of passengers, that Park was compelled to wait upwards of
two hours before he could obtain even a chance of being fer-
ried over. Meanwhile, the prospect before him was novel and
striking in the highest degree. " The view of this extensive
city," he observes, "the numerous canoes on the river, the
crowded population, and the cultivated state of the surround-
ing country formed altogether a prospect of civilization and
magnificence which I little expected to find in the 'bosom of
Africa."
While he was thus waiting for a passage, the news was con-
veyed to Mansongthat a white man was on the banks of the
river coming to see him. The king, who seems to have been
alarmed at this intelligence, immediately despatched a mes-
senger, who was directed to inform the stranger that he would
not be admitted into the royal presence until the purport of his
390 MUNGO PARK.
mission were made known ; and that, in the mean while, he
was prohibited from passing the river. He was likewise told
that the king desired him to seek lodgings in one of the villa-
ges in the vicini%- of the capital. As there was no alternative,
he at once set out for the village, where, to his great mortifica-
tion, he found that no person would admit him into his house.
'^ I was regarded with astonis-iment and fear," he observes,
" and was obliged to sit all day without victuals in the shade
of a tree ; and the night threatened to be very uncomfortable,
for the wind rose, and there was great appearance of a heavy
rain; and the wild beasts were so very numerous in the neigh-
bourhood, that I should have been under the necessity of
climbing up a tree, and resting among the branches. About
sunset, however, as I was preparing to pass the night in this
manner, and had turned my horse loose that he might graze
at liberty, a woman returning from the labours of the field
stopped to observe me, and, perceiving that I was weary and
dejected, inquired into my situation, which I briefly explained
to her; whereupon, with looks of great compassion, she took
up my saddle and bridle, and told me to follow her. Having
conducted me into her hut, she hghted up a lamp, spread a
mat upon the floor, and told me I might remain there for the
night. Finding that I was very hungry, she said she would
procure me something to eat ; she accordingly went out, and
returned in a short time with a very fine fish, which, having
caused to be half-broiled upon some embers, she gave me for
supper. The rites of hospitality being thus performed towards
a stranger in distress, my worthy benefactress, pointing to the
mat, and telling me I might sleep there without apprehension,
called to the female part of her family, who had stood gazing
on me all the while in fixed astonishment, to resume their task
of spinning cotton, in which they continued to employ them-
selves great part of the night. They lightened their labour by
songs, one of which was composed extempore, for I was my-
self the subject of it : it was sung by one of the young women,
the rest joining in a sort of chorus. The air was sweet and
plaintive, and the words literally translated were these: — 'The
winds roared, and the rains fell ; the poor white man, faint and
weary, came and sat under our tree ; he has no mother to
bring him milk, no wife to grind his corn.' Chorus: — 'Let
us pity the white man, no mother has he,' &.c. Trifling as
this recital may appear to the reader, to a person in my situa-
tion the circumstance was affecting in the highest degree. I
was oppressed by such unexpected kindness that sleep fled
my eyes. In the morning I presented my compassionate land-
MUNGO PARK.
iady with two of the four brass buttons which remained on my
waistcoat, the only recompense I could make her."
Although Mansong refused to admit our traveller into his
presence, and seemed at first to neglect him, it soon appeared
that his conduct did not arise from any churlish or inhospitable
feehngs ; for while he persisted in his refusal to see him, and
signified his pleasure that he should forthwith depart from the
city, he sent him a present of five thousand cowries and a
guide to Sansanding. Park immediately obeyed the royal
command, and learned from the conversation of his guide on
the way, that the king's motives for thus dismissing him with-
out an audience were at once prudent and liberal, since he
feared that by the least show of favour he should excite the
jealousy and envy of the Moorish inhabitants, from whose in-
veterate malice he might be unable to protect him.
With this guide he proceeded to Sansanding, where he was
hospitably received by the doot^, and would, as the king's
stranger, have enjoyed much quiet and consideration, had he
not had the misfortune to meet with some of his old enemies
the Moors, who insisted on accompaiiying him to the mosque,
and converting him into a Mohammedan at once. However,
the dooty, by exerting his authority, freed him from these
fanatics, and ordered a sheep to be killed, and part of it to be
dressed for his supper. " About midnight, when the Moors
had left me," says Park, "he paid me a visit, and with much
earnestness desired me to write him a saphie. ' If a Moor's
saphie is good,' said this hospitable old man, ' a white man's
must needs be better.' I readily furnished him with one pos-
sessed of all the virtues I could concentrate, for it contained
the Lord's Prayer. The pen with which it was written was
made of a reed, a little charcoal and gum-water made very
tolerable ink, and a thin board answered the purpose of
paper."
From Sansanding he departed early in the morning, before
the Moors were stirring. The road now lay through the
woods, and the guide, who understood the dangers of the way,
moved forward with the greatest circumspection, frequently
stopping and looking under the bushes. Upon observing this,
Park inquired the reason, and was told that lions were very
plenty in that part of the country, and very often attacked
travellers in the woods. While they were conversing on this
subject. Park discovered a camelopard at a little distance,
the fore-legs of which, from a hasty glance, appeared much
longer than the hinder. " Shortly after this," says he, " as
we were crossing a large open plain where there were a few
scattered bushes, my guide, who was a Uttle way before me,
393 MUNGO PARK.
wheeled his horse round in a moment, calling out something
in theFouluh language which I did not understand. I inquired
in Mandingo what he meant. ^Wara bili bilV (a very large
lion) ! said he, and made signs for me to ride away. But my
horse was too much fatigued ; so we rode slowly past the bush
from which the animal had given us the alarm. Not seeing any
thing myself, however, I thought my guide had been mistaken,
when the Foulah suddenly put his hand to his mouth, exclaim-
ing, ' Souhah an allulii' (God preserve us)! and to my great
surprise, I then perceived a large red lion at a short distance
from the bush, with his head couched between his fore-paws.
I expected he would instantly spring upon me, and instinctive-
ly pulled my feet from my stirrups to throw myself on the
ground, that my horse might become the victim rather than
myself. But it is probable that the lion was not hungry ; for
he quietly suffered us to pass though we were fairly within his
reach."
About sunset they arrived at Moodiboo, " a delightful village
on the banks of the Niger, commanding a view of the river for
many miles, both to the east and west. The small green
islands, the peaceful retreat of some industrious Foulahs,
whose cattle were here secure from the attacks of wild beasts,
and the majestic breadth of the river, which is here much
larger than at Sego, render the situation one of the most en-
chanting in the world." Park was now so worn out with fa-
tigue and suffering, that his landlord, fearing he might die in
his house, hurried him away, though he was scarcely able to
walk, and his horse still less able to carry him. In fact, they
had not proceeded far before the poor beast fell down, and
could no more be made to rise ; so that, taking off his saddle
and bridle, our traveller with extreme reluctance abandoned
him to his fate, and began to toil along on foot after his guide.
In this way they reached Rea, a small fishing village on the
Niger, where Park embarked in a fisherman's canoe which
was going down the stream, while the guide returned to Sego.
In this canoe our traveller reached Moorzan, whence he was
conveyed across the river to Silla, a large town on the opposite
shore. It was with great difficulty -that he here obtained ad-
mission into the strangers' room of the dooty's house, a damp,
uncomfortable place, where he had a severe paroxysm of fever
during the night. Here his resolution and energy, of which
no traveller ever possessed a larger share, began at length to
fail. No hope of success remained. He therefore, with ex-
treme sorrow and anguish of mind, determined on returning
whence he had come ; but let me lay before the reader his
own simple and manly account of the matter, which cannot
MUxVGO PARK. 393
fail to impress even the most insensible with veneration for a
degree of courage and intrepidity amounting to heroism.
" Worn down by sickness, exhausted by hunger and fatigue,
half-naked, and without any article of value by which I might
procure provisions, clothes, or lodging, I began," says Park,
"to reflect seriously on my situation. I was now convinced
by painful experience that the obstacles to my further progress
were insurmountable. The tropical rains had already set in
with all their violence ; the rice-grounds and swamps were
already overflowed; and in a few days more, travelling of every
kind except by water would be completely obstructed. The
cowries which remained of the King of Bambarra's present
were not sufficient to hire a canoe for any great distance ; and
I had but little hopes of subsisting by charity in a country
where the Moors have such influence. But, above all, I per-
ceived I was advancing more and more within the power of
those merciless fanatics ; and from my reception both at Sego
and Sansanding, I was apprehensive that, in attempting to
reach even Jeune, (unless under the protection of some man
of consequence among them, which I had no means of obtain-
ing,) I should sacrifice my life to no purpose ; for my discove-
ries would perish with me. The prospect either way was
gloomy. In returning to the Gambia, a journey on foot of
many hundred miles presented itself to my contemplation,
through regions and countries unknown. Nevertheless, this
seemed to be the only alternative ; for I saw inevitable destruc-
tion in attempting to proceed to the eastward. With this con-
viction on my mind, I hope my readers will acknowledge I
did right in going no farther. I had made every exertion to
execute my mission in its fullest extent which prudence could
justify. Had there been the most distant prospect of a
successful termination, neither the unavoidable hardships of
the journey nor the dangers of a second captivity should have
forced me to desist. This, however, necessity compelled me
to do."
When he had come to this resolution, he thought it incum-
bent upon him before he left Silla to collect whatever informa-
tion might be within his reach respecting the further course of
the Niger, and the situation and extent of the various king-
doms in its vicinity. Subsequent travellers have solved the
problem, the honour of explaining which was denied to Park.
We now know that this great river, after having flowed to a
considerable distance eastward of Timbuctoo, makes a bend
or elbow like the Burrampooter, and after pursuing a south-
westerly course, falls into the Atlantic Ocean on the coast of
Benin.
34
394' MUNGO PARK.
On the 30th of July our traveller commenced his return
westward, by the same route through which he had reached
Silla. In a few days he recovered his horse, which had in
some measure regained its strength, though it was still too
weak to be ridden. The rainy season having now set in, the
whole of the plain country was quickly inundated ; so that
our traveller was often in danger of losing his way while tra-
versing savannahs many miles in extent, knee-deep in water.
In several places he waded breast-deep across the swamps,
the huts of the villages in which he passed the night, being
undermined or softened by the rain, often fell in ; and the
noise of their fall sometimes kept him awake, expecting that
his own might be the next. His situation was now even worse
than during his progress eastward. A report had been widely
circulated that he was a spy, in consequence of which he was
in some places civilly refused admittance into the towns, in
others repulsed from the gates with violence ; so that he now
appeared inevitably doomed to perish of hunger. However,
when the fatal hour seemed at hand, some charitable being
always appeared with a poor but seasonable supply, such, per-
haps, as a little raw corn, which prolonged his life, and suppli-
ed him with strength to achieve his memorable journey. "On
the evening of the 15th of August I arrived," says Park, " at
a small village called Song, the surly inhabitants of which
would not receive me, nor so much as permit me to enter the
gate ; but as lions were very numerous in this neighbourhood,
and I had frequently in the course of the day seen the impres-
sion of their feet upon the road, I resolved to stay in the vicini-
ty of the village. Having collected some grass for my horse,
I accordingly laid down under a tree by the gate. About ten
o'clock I heard the hollow roar of a lion at no great distance,
and attempted to open the gate ; but the people from within
told me that no person must attempt to enter the gate without
the dooty's permission. I begged them to inform the dooty
that a lion was approaching the village, and I hoped he would
allow me to come within the gate. I waited for an answer to
this message with great anxiety ; for the lion kept prowling
round the village, and once advanced so very hear me that I
heard him rustling among the grass, and climbed the tree for
safety. About midnight the dooty with some of his people
opened the gate and desired me to come in. They were con-
vinced, they said, I was not a Moor ; for no Moor ever waited
any time at the gate of a village without cursing the inhabi-
tants."
The history of this journey now becomes nothing more than
a repetition of similar sufferings. Hunger, fatigue, and de-
MUNGO PARK.
pression of spirits attack the traveller by turns. Nothing, how-
ever, subdues his courage. Obstacle after obstacle yields to
bis persevering intrepidity, and he pushes forward with invin-
cible ardour towards the coast. In one place, at the request
of a native who had grown opulent by industrious application
to commerce, he wrote charms for a good supper ; and, find-
ing the contrivance productive, continued the practice next
day for small presents of various kinds. On other occasions,
where superstition did not come to his aid, humanity inter-
posed, and snatched him from starvation. At Bammakoo he
was hospitably treated, even by a Moor, who, having travelled
to Rio Grande, had conversed with Christians, and conceived
a favourable idea of their character. The rains had now in-
creased the Niger to a vast size, and rendered impassable
almost every road ; but as our traveller's finances had long
been exhausted, he found himself compelled to proceed, the
charity of the natives not extending so far as to the maintain-
ing of a stranger for several months. The ordinary roads
being obstructed by the rains, the only practicable route, wild,
dreary, and desolate, lay over steril rocky mountains, over
which, it was feared, a horse could not pass.
Finding that a singing-man was about to proceed by this
road to Sibidooloo, Park placed himself under his guidance,
and quitted Bammakoo. He had not proceeded far, however,
before his companion, finding that he had taken the wrong path,
escaped among the rocks, and left him to find his way how he
might. He soon arrived at a village, where he was entertain-
ed with hospitality, and where he passed the night. Next day,
as he was quietly pursuing his course, a troop of peasants pre-
sented themselves, whom he at first took for elephant-hunters,
but who very shortly proved themselves to be banditti. Pre-
tending to arrest him in the name of the King of the Foulahs,
they commanded him to follow them, until, having reached a
dark lonely part of a wood, one of them exdaimed in the
Mandingo language, " This place will do!" and immediately
snatched his hat from his head. " Though I was by no means
free from apprehension," says Park, "yet I was resolved to
show as few signs of fear as possible ; and therefore told them,
that unless my hat was returned to me I should proceed no
farther. But before I had time to receive an answer, another
drew a knife, and, seizing upon a metal button which remain-
ed upon my waistcoat, cut it off", and put it into his pocket.
Their intentions were now obvious; and I thought that the
easier they were permitted to rob me of every thing, the less I
had to fear. I therefore allowed them to search my pockets
without resistance, and examine every part of my apparel.
396
MUNGO PARK.
which they did with the most scrupulous exactness. But, ob-
serving that I had one waistcoat under another, they insisted
that I should cast them both off; and at last, to make sure
work, stripped me quite naked. Even my half-boots, though
the sole of one of them was tied on to my foot with a broken
bridle-rein, were minutely inspected. While they were ex-
amining the plunder, I begged them with great earnestness to
return my .pocket-compass ; but when I pointed it out to tliem,
as it was lying on the ground, one of the banditti, tliinking I
was about to take it up, cocked his musket, and swore he would
lay me dead upon the spot if I presumed to put my hand upon
it. And after this, some of them went away with my horse,
and the remainder stood considering whether they should leave
me quite naked, or allow me something to shelter me from the
sun. Humanity at last prevailed ; they returned me the worst
of the two shirts and a pair of trowsers; and, as they went
away, one of them threw back my hat, in the crown of which
I kept my memorandums; and this was probably the reason
why they did not wish to keep it."
This was the most terrible misfortune that had hitherto be-
fallen him, and at first, his mind appeared to sink under the
united influence of grief and terror. For a while he sat in
sullen dejection, half-persuaded that he had no alternative but
to lie down and perish. Presently, however, thoughts of reli-
gion, and a reliance upon Providence, succeeding this extreme
dejection, his mind gradually regained its fervent tone: — •
"I was, indeed, a stranger," he thought, "in a strange land;
yet I was still under the protecting eye of that Providence, who
has condescended to call himself the stranger's friend. At
this moment, painful as my reflections were, the ex raordinary
beauty of a small moss in fructification, irresistibly caught my
eye. I mention this to show from what trifling circumstances
the mind will sometimes derive consolation ; for though the
whole plant was not larger than the top of one of my lingers,
I could not contemplate the delicate conformation of its roots,
leaves, and capsula without admiration. Can that Being
(thought I) who planted, watered, and brought to perfection, in
this obscure part of the world, a thing which appenrs of so
small importance, look with unconcern upon tlio situation and
sufferinjTs of creatures formed after his own image ? ^urely
not ! Reflections like these would not allow me to despair ;
I started up, and, disregarding both danger and fatiirue, tra-
velled forwards, assured that relief was at hand; and I was
not disappointed."
On arriving at Sibidooloo, Park related to the mansa, or
chief of the town, the misfortune which had befallen him.
MUNGO PARK. B&f
This humane and excellent man, having heard him patiently
to an end, took the pipe from his mouth, and tossing up the
sleeve of his coat with an indignant air, "Sit down," said he,
"you shall have every thing restored to you ; I have sworn it."
He then took the^ necessary measures for the recovery of the
traveller's property, and invited him to partake of his hospita-
ble fare until this should have been effected. After spending a
few days at this place, without hearing any news of his horse
or other property, our traveller removed to a distant village,
where he remained until the whole was discovered and restor-
ed to him^ with the exception of his pocket compass, which
had been broken to pieces. Having nothing else to bestow
upon his hospitable landlords, he gave his horse to one, and his
saddle and bridle to the other : and then taking his leave, pro-
ceeded on foot to Ramaha. At this town, romantically situa-
ted at the foot of a lofty mountain, he found a slave-merchant,
who, intending to descend to the coast with a small caravan
in the beginning of the dry season, offered our traveller an
asylum until he should set out. Conceiving that it would be
impossible to proceed during the rains. Park accepted his kind
proposal, and promised in return to give him the price of a
slave upon their arrival on the coast. Here a fever, which had
for some time menaced him, manifested itself with great vio-
lence, and continued to torment him during the whole season
of the rains. His landlord, meanwhile, exerted himself to
keep up his hopes, and having by some means or another ob-
tained possession of an English Common Prayer Book, he
communicated the use of it to Park, who was thus enabled to
beguile the gloomy hours of his solitude and sickness. At
length the rains became less frequent, and the fever abated, so
that he could move out to enjoy the fresh air in the fields.
On the 19ih of April, Karfa, the slave-merchant, having
collected his slaves, and completed all necessary preparations,
set out towards the coast, taking our traveller, to whom his be-
haviour had always been marked by the greatest kindness,
along with him. He no longer encountered those difficulties
and vicissitudes which had rendered the former part of his
journey so full of interest and adventure. In traversing the
high countries of Manding, Konkodoo, and Dindikoo, the
chief object which attracted his attention was the mode of ex-
tracting gold. This precious metal did not occur in the form
of ore, or in large masses, but its grains were mingled with a
species of dust or sand. This golden earth appears to be
chiefly washed down by torrents from the neighbouring chain
of mountains; but it is collected with most advantage after
the ground is dry and the harvest removed. Being indicated
34*
393 MUN'GO PARK.
by its reddish tinge, it is put into large baskets called calabash-
es, and agitated with a rotatory motion, so that at every turn a
portion of light sand mixed with water flies over the brim.
The weightier parts then remaining are mixed with pure
water, stirred and carefully examined ; and it is considered
satisfactory if three or four grains are found in the whole bask-
et. The dust is preserved in quills which are often stuck in
the hair as ornaments. Their road led them across a vast wil-
derness, where the sufferings of every member of the caravan,
and more particularly of the slaves, were most exquisite ; but
affliction was far from having taught them commiseration, for
a fine young female slave, fainting from fatigue, had no soon-
er signified her inability to go on, than the universal cry of the
caravan was, "cut her throat, cut her throat." By the inter-
position of Karfa her life was spared, but she was abandoned
on the road, where she was no doubt soon devoured by wild
beasts. At length, after a long, toilsome journey, Karfa suc-
ceeded in fulfilling his promise, and conducted our traveller
safe to Pisania, where the good old man was overwhelmed
with the gratitude of his guest. Park now took his passage
in an American vessel, and on arriving in the West Indies,
quitted this ship for a packet bound for Falmouth, where he
arrived on the 22d of December, 1797, after an absence of two
years and seven months.
Immediately on his landing he hastened to London, where
he arrived before daylight on the morning of Christmas-day.
It being too early an hour to call on his brother-in-law, Mr.
Dickson, he strolled about for some time in the neighbouring
streets. At length, finding one of the entrances into the gar-
dens of the British Museum accidentally open, he went in and
walked about there for some. time. It happened that Mr.
Dickson, who had the care of those gardens, went there early
that morning on some trifling business. What must have
been his emotions on beholding, at that extraordinary time
and place, the vision, as it must at first have appeared, of his
long lost friend, the object of so many anxious reflections, and
whom he had long numbered with the dead.
He was now received with distinguished honour by the Afri-
can Association, and the various literary men whom he met
with in London. In the mean time his travels, which the As-
sociation permitted him to publish on his own account, were
announced ; and both during his stay in London, and the
visit which he paid to his friends in Scotland, all his leisure
hours were devoted to the compiling and arranging of the ma-
terials for the work. It appeared in the spring of 1799, and
iiagimediately acquired that degree of popularity which it has
MUNGO PARK. 399
ever since maintained. In the composition of his travels,
however, he was assisted by Bryan Edwards, author of a
"History of the West Indies," an advocate of the slave-trade,
in deference to whom Park is said to have suppressed his own
opinions, which had a contrary tendency. The apology oiFer-^
ed for this mean compliance is, thaf Bryan IMwards, being
secretary to the African Association, had it in his power great-
ly to influence the future fortunes of our traveller. I should
prefer supposing that his arguments produced a temporary
conviction upon Park's mind, unless some more convincing
proof than has yet been brought forward could be adduced to
substantiate the accusation of so remarkable a deficiency of
moral courage in a man in whom, on all other occasions,
courage seemed to be the prevailing virtue.
However this may be. Park again returned to Scotland soon
after the publication of his travels, where, on the 2d of August,
1799, he married one of the daughters of Mr. Anderson, of
Selkirk, with whom he had served his apprenticeship. He
now seemed to have forgotten his ambitious feelings, and for
more than two years resided on the farm at Fowlshiels, with
his mother and one of his brothers. He then removed to the
town of Peebles, where he resumed the practice of his profes-
sion, and seems, in a short time, to have acquired a good share
of the business of the place. But it will easily be imagined
that the quiet obscure life of a country surgeon could possess
no charms for an ardent ambitious mind like Park's. He
longed to be performing upon some more stirring scene. In
this dreary solitude, therefore, where the indulgence of day-
dreams would appear to have been his principal amusement,
scheme after scheme seems to have presented itself to his
mind, each giving way in its turn to another equally impracti-
cable. At length he received, througli the medium of Sir Jo-
seph Banks, intelligence that the African Association were
once more about to send a mission into the interior of Africa,
for the purpose of penetrating to and navigating the Niger ;
and that, in case government should enter into the plan, he
himself would certainly be recommended as the person proper
to be employed for carrying it into execution.
Dilatoriness is too frequently the characteristic of the pro-
ceedings of great public bodies. The first idea of this new
mission was conceived in 1801, but it was not until tlie begin-
ning of 1805 that the expedition was ultimately determined
on, when Park received from Lord Camden his appointment
as its chief conductor. "For the better enabling you to exe-
cute this service," says his lordship, " his majesty has granted
you the brevet commission of captain in Africa, and has also
400 MUNGO PARK.
granted a similar commission of lieutenant to Mr. Alexander
Anderson, whom you have recommended as a proper person
to accompany you. Mr. Scott has also been selected to attend
you as drau^iitsman. You are hereby empowered to enlist
with you lor this expedition any number you think proper of
the garrison at Goree, not'exceeding forty-tive, which the com-
mandant of that island will be ordered to place under your
command, giving tiiom sucii bounties or encouragement as
may be necessary to induce them cheerfully to join with you in
the expedition."
Five thousand pounds were at the same time placed at
Park's disposal, and further directions given him respecting
the course and line of conduct he was expected to pursue.
With these instructions Park and his companions proceeded
to Portsmouth, where they were joined by four or five artificers,
appointed for the service from the dock-yards. They sailed
on the 30th of January, and on the 28th of April arrived at
Pisania. Here they made preparations for entering the in-
terior. The party consisted of forty men, two lieutenants, a
draughtsman, a guide, and Park himself. Their provisions
and merchandise were carried by asses, and they had horses
for themselves. Thus appointed, they left Pisania on the 4th
of May. It was very quickly discove/ed, however, that their
asses were unequal to the task imposed upon them; some lay
down, others kicked oft' their burdens, and it became necessa-
ry to increase the number of these vicious animals.
At Bady, a town in the interior frontier of Woolh, they were
led into a quarrel with the farauba, or chief of the town, re-
specting the amount of duties to be paid by their caravan, in
which, though the conduct of the African was rude and per-
emptory, the travellers were clearly in the wrong. A few days
after this affiiir the caravan had an adventure with a new spe-
cies of enemy. On the 24th of May they reached a place
which they denominated Bee's Creek, where they halted with
the intention of encamping there. " We had no sooner un-
loaded the asses at the creek," says Park, "than some of
Isaaco's people, being in search of honey, unfortunately dis-
turbed a large swarm of bees near where the cofile had halted.
The bees came out in immense numbers, and attacked men
and beasts at the same time. Luckily, most of the asses were
loose, and galloped up the valley ; but the horses and people
were very much stung, and obliged to scamper in all direc-
tions. The fire which had been kindled for cooking, having
been deserted, spread and set fire to the bamboos ; and our
baggage had like to have been burnt. In fact, for half an
hour the bees seemed to have put an end to our journey.
MUNGO PARK. 401
" In the evening, when the bees became less troublesome,
and we could venture to collect our cattle, we found that many
of them were very much stung and swelled about the head.
Three asses were missing ; one died in the evening and one
next morning, and we were compelled to leave one at Sibikil-
hn; in all six: besides which, our guide lost his horse, and
many of the people were very much stung about the face and
hands."
About the middle of June the rains began to set in, accom-
panied by violent tornadoes. The earth was quickly covered
with water. The soldiers were affected with vomiting, or with
an irresistible inclination to sleep. Our traveller himself was
affected in a similar manner during the storm, and, notwith-
standing that he used every exertion to keep away heaviness,
at length fell asleep on the damp ground. The soldiers did
the same thing. In the morning twelve of them were sick.
In this vicinity he saw many pits, from which gold was obtain-
ed in large quantities by Washing. As the caravan proceeded^
many of the soldiers growing delirious, or too weak to con-
tinue the march, were left behind to the care of the natives ;
while others died on the road, or were drowned in the rivers.
Some, still more unfortunate if possible, were lost in the woods,
where they were no doubt devoured by wild beasts. Mean-
while the natives, who imagined that the caravan contained
prodigious wealth, hung upon their march, plundered them at
every turn, and as often as they appeared too weak to resist,
endeavoured to extort presents from them.
The condition of the men now became desperate. Day
after day some poor wretch was abandoned to his fate, some
in one way, some in another. I give one example which may
serve for tlie whole. "Three miles east of the village of
Koombandi," says Park," "William Alston, one of the seamen
whom I received from his majesty's ship Squirrel, became so
faint that he fell from his ass, and allowed the ass to run away.
Set him on my horse, but found he could not sit without hold-
ing him. Replaced him on the ass, but he still tumbled off.
Put him again on the horse, and made one man hold him up-
right while I led the horse ; but, as he made no exertion ta
hold himself erect, it was impossible to keep him on the horse,
and after repeated tumbles he begged to be left in the woods
till morning. I left a loaded pistol with him, and put some
cartridges into the crown of his hat."
In crossing the Wondu the caravan was nearly deprived of
its guide in the following manner : "Our guide, Isaaco, was
very active in pushing the asses into the water, and shoving
along the canoe ; but as he was afraid that we could not have
402 BIUNGO PARK.
them all carried over in the course of the day, he attempted to
drive six of the asses across the river farther down, where the
water was shallower. When he had reached the middle of the
river, a crocodile rose close to him, and instantly seizing him
by the left thigh, pulled him under water. With wonderful
presence of mind he felt the head of the animal, and thrust his
finger into its eye, on which it quitted its hold, and Isaaco at-
tempted to reach the farther shore, calling loudly for a knife.
But the crocodile returned and seized him by the other thigh,
and again pulled him under water ; he had recourse to the
same expedient, and thrust his fingers into its eyes with such
violence that it again quitted him ; when it arose, flounced
about on the surface of the water as if stupid, and then swam
down the middle of the river. Isaaco proceeded to the other
side, bleeding very much."
This event retarded for several days the march of the cara-
van. Besides, Park himself was attacked with fever, and their
provisions, moreover, were now reduced to so low an ebb, that
upon examination it was found that no mo^e than rice for two
days remained in their possession. This deficiency was, there-
fore, to be immediately supplied. Two persons were sent
away with an ass to a distant village for rice, and in the mean
time our traveller devoted his attentions to the wounds of the
guide. The sailor who had been abandoned in the woods
here rejoined the caravan quite naked, having been robbed of
his clothes by the natives. The audacity of these thieves was
extraordinary. In ascending an eminence two miles from
Maniakono, Park himself was robbed in a very characteristic
manner: — "As 1 was holding my musket carelessly in my
hand, and looking round," says he, "two of Numma's sons
came up to me ; one of them requested me to give him some
snuft'; at this instant the other (called Woosaba,) coming up
behind me, snatched the musket from my hand, and ran off"
with it. I instantly sprung from the saddle and followed him
with my sword, calling to Mr. Anderson to ride back, and tell
some of the people to look after my horse. Mr. Anderson got
within musket-shot of him; but, seeing it was Numma's son,
had some doubts about shooting him, and called to me if he
should fire. Luckily I did not hear him, or I might possibly
have recovered my musket at the risk of a long palaver, and
perhaps the loss of half our baggage. The thief accordingly
made his escape among the rocks ; and when I returned to
my horse, I found the other of the royal descendants had stolen
my coat."
Their condition was now exceedingl}^distressing. Not only
the soldiers and sailors, but Scott and Anderson began to lag
MUNGO PARK. 40^
behind, being attacked by fever, the first effect of which in
those countries is to deprive tlie sufferer of his energies.
Having remained for some time by the wayside with his dying
friend, he placed him, when his strength appeared for a mo-
ment to return, upon his horse, and pushed forward towards
their proposed halting-place, leading the horse by the bridle.
"We had not proceeded above a mile," says Park, "before
we heard on our left a noise very much like the barking of a
large mastiff, but ending in a hiss like the fuff* of a cat. I
thought it must be some large monkey ; and was observing to
Mr. Anderson, 'What a bouncing fellow that must be,' when
we heard another bark nearer to us, and presently a third still
nearer, accompanied with a growl. I now suspected some
wild beast meant to attack us, but could not conjecture of
what species it was likely to be. We had not proceeded a
hundred yards farther, when, coming to an opening in the
bushes, I was not a little surprised to see three lions coming
towards us. They were not so red as the lion I had formerly
seen in Bambarra, but of a dusky colour, like that of an ass.
They were very large, and came bounding over the long grass,
not one after another, but all abreast of each other. I was
afraid, if I allowed them to come too near us, and my piece
should miss fire, that we should all be devoured by them. I
therefore let go the bridle, and walked forwards to meet them.
As soon as they were within a long shot of me, I fired at the
centre one. I do not think I hit him ; but they all stopped,
looked at each other, and then bounded away a few paces,
when one of them stopped and looked back at me. I was too
busy in loading my piece to observe their motions as they went
away, and was very happy to see the last of them march slow-
ly off among the bushes. We had not proceeded above half a
mile farther when we heard another bark and growl close to us
among the bushes. This was, doubtless, one of the lions be-
fore seen ; and I was afraid they would follow us till dark,
when they would have too many opportunities of springing on
us unawares. We however heard no more of them."
At length, from the brow of a hill. Park had once more the
satisfaction of beholding the Niger, rolling its immense stream
along the plain. But he was in no mood of mind to triumph
at the sight. The majority of his companions had fallen on
the way; of thirty-four soldiers and four carpenters who left
the Gambia, only six soldiers and one carpenter reached the
* Fuffh an expressive Scotch word, applicable in its original sense to the
explosive noise which a cat makes in flying at a dog.
404 MUNGO PARK.
Niger. With this miserable remnant of his original force he
descended the hill, and pitched his tents near the town of
Bambakoo. Here some of the party embarked in canoes on
the Niger, while others proceeded by land to the neighbour-
hood of Sego, which they reached on the 19th of September.
Mansonff was still king of Bambarra ; and being highly grat-
ified with their presents, not only gave them permission to
build a boat on the Niger at whatever town they pleased, but
engaged to protect, as far as his power extended, the trade of
the whites in the interior. Park selected Sansanding as the
place most ehgible for building the boat, and removed thither
as quickly as possible. Here immediately on his arrival he
opened a shop, exhibitinga choice assortment of European
goods, which sold so well among the natives that his success
excited the envy ofthe Jinnic people, the Moors, and the other
merchants of the place, who offered Mansong merchandise to
a much greater value than the presents made him by Park, if
he would either kill the strangers or drive them out of the
country. Mansong, however, rejected the offer. " From the
8th to the 16th nothing of consequence occurred; I found my
shop every day more and more crowded with customers ; and
such was my run of business, that I was sometimes forced to
employ three tellers at once to count my cash. I turned one
market-day twenty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty-six
pieces of money (cowries.")
Park now received intelhgence of the death of Mr. Scott,
who had been left behind near Bambakoo. Mansong very
soon convinced the traveller that he understood the art of re-
ceiving presents much better than that of returning them ; for
upon being requested to furnish a canoe in which the mission,
now reduced to a very small number, might embark on the
Niger, he sent one after another several half-rotten barks ; two
of which Park, seeing no hope of getting better, was at length
compelled to accept, and with these he constructed what he
termed a schooner. Shortly after this he lost his friend An-
derson, upon whose death " I felt myself," says he, "as if left
a second time lonely and friendless amid the wilds of Africa.'*
Dreary and perilous as was his position, however, he still de-
termined to persevere. His companions were now reduced to
four, Lieutenant Martyn and three soldiers, one of whom was
deranged in his mind; yet with this wretched remnant of a
detachment which, it must be confessed, had been thus thinned,
or rather annihilated, by his own ill management and want of
foresiglit, he purposed following the course of the Niger to its
termination, whether that should prove to be in some great lake
MUNGO PARK. 405
or inland sea, or, as he rather believed, in the Atlantic Ocean.
And this voyage, says one of his biographers, one of the most
formidable ever attempted, was to be undertaken in a crazy
and ill-appointed vessel, manned by a few negroes and a few
Europeans !
On the 16th of November, having completed all the neces-
sary preparations for his voyage, our traveller put the finishing
hand to his journal ; and in the interval between that and his
embarkation, which seems to have taken place on the 19th,
wrote several letters to England. These letters, together with
the journal, were then delivered to his guide Isaaco, by whom
they were conveyed to the Gambia, from whence they were
transmitted to England ; after which nothing certain or au-
thentic can be said to have been heard either of Park or the
expedition. In 1806, however, vague accounts of the death of
Park and his companions were brought to the British settle-
ments on the coast by the native traders from the interior ;
but several years elapsed without any further intelligence be-
ing obtained. At length, in 1810, Colonel Maxwell, governor
of Senegal, despatched Park's guide, Isaaco, into the interior,
for the purpose of ascertaining the truth or falsehood of the
reports which prevailed, and, should they prove correct, of
collecting information respecting the place and manner of the
catastrophe.
After an absence of one year and eight months Isaaco re-
turned to Senegal, and delivered to the governor a journal of
proceedings, including a narrative which he had received from
Amadi Fatouma, the guide who accompanied Park from San-
sanding down the Niger. The particulars of Isaaco's adven-
tures it is altogether unnecessary to describe. He found
Amadi Fatouma at Madina, a village distant a few hours from
Sansanding. On seeing Isaaco, and hearing the name of
Park, he began to weep ; and his first words were, " They are
all dead." The recollection of the melancholy transaction ap-
peared to aff*ect him in an extraordinary manner, and it was
with the utmost reluctance that he at length consented to re-
call to memory an event which he seemed peculiarly desirous
of delivering over to oblivion. However, upon the pressing
entreaties of Isaaco, he narrated circumstantially what had
taken place. Upon leaving Sansanding, there were, he said,
nine persons in the canoe ; Park, Martyn, three other white
men, three slaves, and himself as their guide and interpreter.
They had proceeded but a very little way down the river be-
fore they were pursued and attacked by the Africans in ca-
noes, particularly in passing Timbuctoo, where a great number
of the natives were killed. Shortly after passing Goronmo^
35
106 MUNGO PARK.
they lost one white man by sickness. They were now, there-
fore, reduced to eight ; but as each person had always fifteen
muskets loaded and ready for action, they were still formida-
ble to their enemies.
As Park had laid in a considerable quantity of provisions
previous to his leaving Sansanding, he was enabled to proceed
for several days without stopping at any place, which is the
only circumstance that can account for his passing in safety
through the country of so many hostile nations. At length,
however, their wants compelled them to have some communi-
cation with the shore. " We came," says Amadi Fatouma,
" near a small island, and saw some of the natives ; I was
sent on shore to buy some milk. When I got among them, I
saw two canoes go on board to sell fresh provisions, such as
fowls, rice, &c. One of the natives wanted to kdl me, and at
last he took hold of me, and said I was his prisoner. Mr. Park ,
seeing what was passing on shore, suspected the truth. He
stopped the two canoes and people ; telling the latter, that if
they should kill me, or keep me prisoner on shore, he would
kill them all, and carry their canoes away with him. Those
on shore, suspecting Mr. Park's intentions, sent me off in
another canoe on board ; they were then released : after which
we bought some provisions from them, and made them some
presents. A short time after our departure twenty canoes
came after us from the same place ; on coming near, they
hailed, and said, 'Amadi Fatouma, how can you pass through
our country without giving us any thing V I mentioned what
they had said to Mr. Park, and he gave them a few grains of
amber and some trinkets, and they went back peaceably. On
coming to a narrow part of the river, we saw on the shore a
great many men sitting down ; coming nearer to them they
stood up; we presented our muskets to them, which made
them run off into the interior. A little farther on we came to
a very difficult passage. The rocks had barred the river, but
three passages were still open between them. On coming
near one of them, we discovered the same people again, stand-
ing on the top of a large rock; which caused great uneasiness
to us, especially to me, and I seriously promised never to pass
there again without making considerable charitable donations
to the poor. We returned, and went to a pass of less danger,
where we passed unmolested.
"We came-to before Carmassee, and gave the chief one
piece of baft. We went on, and anchored before Gourman.
Mr. Park sent me on shore with forty thousand cowries to buy
provisions. I went and bought rice, onions, fowls, milk, &c.,
and departed late in the evening. The chief of the village
MUNGO PARK. 4()7
sent a canoe after us, to let us know of a large army encamp-
ed on the top of a very high mountain, waiting for us ; and
that we had better return, or be on our guard. We immedi-
ately came to an anchor, and spent there the rest of the day
and all the night. We started in the morning; on passing the
above mentioned mountain we saw the array, composed of
Moors with horses and camels, but without any firearms. As
they said nothing to us we passed on quietly, and entered the
country of Ilaoussa, and came to an anchor. Mr. Park said
to rae, * Now, Amadi, you are at the end of your journey : I
engaged you to conduct me here ; you are going to leave me ;
but before you go you must give me the names of the necessa-
ries of life, &.C., in the language of the countries through which
1 am going to pass ;' to which 1 agreed, and we spent two
days together about it without landing. During our voyage I
was the only one who had landed. We departed, and arrived
at Yaour. I was sent on shore the next morning with a musket
and a sabre to carry to the chief of the village ; also with three
pieces of white baft for distribution. I went and gave the
chief his present : I also gave one to Alhagi, one to Alhagibi-
ron, and the other to a person whose name I forget ; all Mar-
abous. The chief gave us a bullock, a sheep, three jars of
honey, and four men's loads of rice. Mr. Park gave me seven
thousand cowries, and ordered me to buy provisions, which I
did ; he told me to go to the chief, and give him five silver
rings, some powder and flints and tell him that these presents
were given to the king by the white men, who were taking
leave of him before they went away. After the chief had re-
ceived these things, he inquired if the white men intended to
come back. Mr. Park, being informed of this inquiry, replied
that he could not return any more.* Mr, Park had paid me
for my voyage before we left Sansanding : I said to him, *I
agreed to carry you into the kingdom of Haoussa ; we are
now in Haoussa. I have fulfilled my engagement with you ;
I am therefore going to leave you here and return.'"
On the next day Park departed, leaving the guide at the
village of Yaour, where he vv^as put in irons by order of the
king, from a supposition that he had aided the white men in
defrauding him of the customary presents, which the chief of
Yaour had in fact received, but retained for himself. "The
next morning, early," continues the guide, "the king sent an
armv to a viliaoe called Boussa, near the river-side. There
* These v/ords occasioned his deatli; for the certainty of Mr. Park not re-*
turning induced the chief to withhold the presents from the kin^.
408 MUNGO PARK. *
is before this village a rock across the whole breadth of the
river. One part of the rock is very high ; there is a large
opening in that rock in the form of a door, which is the only
passage for the water to pass through ; the tide current is here
very strong. This army went and took possession of the top
of this opening. Mr. Park came there after the army had
posted itself; he nevertheless attempted to pass. The people
began to attack him, throwing lances, pikes, arrows, and
stones. Mr. Park defended himself for a long time ; two of
his slaves at the stern of the canoe were killed ; they threw
every thing they had in the canoe into the river, and keptfiring;
but being overpowered by numbers, and fatigued, and unable
to keep up the canoe against the current, and no probability of
escaping, Mr. Park took hold of one of the white men and
jumped into the water; Martyn did the same, and they were
drowned in the stream in attempting to escape. The only
slave remaining in the boat, seeing the natives persist in throw-
ing weapons at the canoe without ceasing, stood up and said
to them, ' Stop throwing now, you see nothing in the canoe,
and nobody but myself; therefore cease. Take me and the
canoe, but don't kill me.' They took possession of the canoe
and the man, and carried them to the king.
*'I was kept in irons three months ; the king released me,
and gave me a slave (woman.) I immediately went to the
slave taken in the canoe, who told me in what manner Mr.
Park and all of them had died, and what I have related above.
I asked him if he was sure nothing had been found in the
canoe after its capture ; he said nothing remained in the canoe
but himself and a sword-belt. I asked him where the sword-
belt was ; he said the king took it, and had made a girth for
his horse with it."
Such is the narrative of Amadi Fatouma ; and the inform-
ation since obtained in the country by Captain Clapperton cor-
roborates almost every important circumstance which it de-
scribes. It appears, however, that certain books (whether
printed or manuscript does not appear) were found in Park's
canoe, some of which were still in the possession of the chief of
Yaour when Clapperton made his inquiries ; but the wily
African, who no doubt expected a valuable present for these
relics, refused to deliver them to our traveller's messenger,
and Clapperton himself, for some reason or another not stated,
neglected to visit this chief in person. It should be remarked,
that the Africans who were questioned by Clapperton seemed
all exceedingly desirous of exculpating their countrymen, per-
haps their own friends and relations, from the charge of having
MUNGO PARK.
409
3o*
410 MUNGO PARK.
murdered Park and his companions ; according to one narra-
tor, the canoe was caught between two rocks, where the river,
being obstructed in its course, rushed through its narrow chan-
nel with prodigious rapidity. Here the travellers, in attempt-
ing to disembark, were drowned in the sight of an immense
multitude who had assembled to see them pass, and were too
timid to attack or assist them. On another occasion, howev-
er, the same person confessed that his countrymen did indeed
discharge their arrows at the travellers, but not until they had
been fired upon from the canoe. Butthesheriff of Bokhary,
whose letter was found among the MSS. of Clapperton, asserts
that the inhabitants of Boussa went out against the white men
in great numbers, and attacked them during three successive
days ; after which Park and Martyn, who from this account
would appear to have been the only European survivors, threw
their papers and baggage into the water, and leaping in after
them were drowned in the stream. It would answer no use-
ful purpose to push these inquiries any further at present, as
we in reality possess no sufficient materials for coming to any
definite conclusion. There can be no doubt that Mungo Park
perished on the Niger, near Boussa, or that the Africans were
the cause, mediate or immediate, of his death. His character
will be best understood by a careful examination of his life ;
but it may be useful to remark, in conclusion, that, although
his natural prudence seems partly to have forsaken him during
his second journey, few men have possessed in a higher degree
the virtues of a traveller — intrepidity, enthusiasm, persever-
ance, veracity, prudence ; his manners, likewise, though some-
what too stiff and reserved, must upon the whole have been
agreeable, since he was able both in civilized and savage
countries to gain and preserve many friends ; among whom
by far the most distinguished was Sir Walter Scott, with whom,
during the interval between his two journeys, he lived on
terms of the greatest intimacy.
DIXON DENHAM,
Colonel Dixon Denham, well known by his expedition
into Central Africa, was born at London, in 1786, and after
finishing his studies at school, was placed with a solictor, but
in 1811, entered the army as a volunteer, and served in the
peninsular campaigns. After the general peace, he was re-
duced to half-pay on the peace estabhshment, and, in 1819,
was admitted into the senior department of the Royal Mihtary
College at Farnham. His courage, address, firmness, perse-
verance, and moderation, his bold, frank, energetic disposi-
tion, and his conciliating manners, peculiarly fitted him for the
enterprize which in company with Captain Clapperton, he un-
dertook in the years 1823-4. We allude to the enterprize of
exploring Central Africa.
HUGH CLAPPERTON
Captain Hugh Clapperton, the African traveller, was
born in Annan, in Dumfries-shire, in 1788. After some ele-
mentary instruction in practical mathematics, he was bound
apprentice, at the age of 13, to the owner of a vessel trading
between Liverpool and North America, in which he made
several voyages. He was then impressed into his Brittannic
majesty's service, was soon after made a midshipman, served
on the American lakes in 1815, and, in 1816 received the
commission of lieutenant. Having retired to Scotland, he
became acquainted with Dr. Oudney, who was about to em-
bark for Africa, and requested permission to accompany him.
Lieutenant (since Colonel) Denham having volunteered his
services, and it being intended that researches should be made,
to the east and west, from Bornou, where Dr. Oudney was to
reside as British consul, his name was added to the expedition
by lord Bathursr.
J
DENHAM AND OLAPPERTON. 413
Nothing could shake the determination of the British go-
vernment to obtain, by some means or other, a competent
degree of information respecting the unknown countries of
Africa. The great favour and influence enjoyed at the court
of Tripoli was still regarded as a favourable circumstance. It
was chiefly due to the prudence and ability of Mr. Warring-
ton, without whose advice scarcely any thing of importance
was transacted. The bashaw was therefore disposed to renew
his protection to any mission which Britain might send. Nor
could the protection of any sovereign have been more effi-
cient ; for the influence of this petty prince and the terror of
his name are almost unbounded in the greatest kingdoms of
Central Africa. One weapon, the gun, in the hands of his
troops, gives him all this superiority ; for the remoter nations,
from the Nile to the Atlantic, scarcely know any other arms
besides the spear, the bow, and the javelin. A musket among
those tribes is an object of almost supernatural dread ; indi-
viduals have been seen kneeling down before it, speaking to
it in whispers, and addressing to it earnest supplications.
With troops thus armed, the bashaw of Tripoli is esteemed in
North Africa the most potent monarch on earth ; and it is a
matter of surprise among the natives that he has not ere now
compelled all Europe to embrace the Mohammedan faith. He
could therefore assure the English, that for any but physical
obstacles, they might travel as safely from Tripoli to Bornou,
as from Edinburgh to London.
Under the confidence inspired by these circumstances, the
British government prepared an expedition, and without diffi-
culty procured a band of adventurers, who undertook to brave
all its perils. Major Denham, Lieutenant Clapperton, and
Dr. Oudney, were appointed to this service. Without delay
they proceeded to Tripoli, where they arrived on the 18th of
November, 1821. They were immediately introduced to the
bashaw, whom they found sitting cross-legged on a carpet, at-
tended by armed negroes. After treating them to sherbet and
coffee, he invited them to a hawking party, where he appeared
mounted on a milk-white Arabian steed superbly caparisoned,
having a saddle of crimson velvet richly studded with gold
nails, and with embroidered trappings. He was preceded by
six chaoushes, or officers, in white silk robes ; while two fa-
vourite negro slaves, in glittering vest, light burnouse, and
white turban, supported him on each side. The hunt began
on the borders of the Desert, where parties of six or eight
Arabs dashed forwards quick as lightning, fired suddenly, and
rushed back with loud cries. The skill with which they ma-
414 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
noeuvred their steeds, whirling the long- musket OFer their heads
as they rode at full gallop, appeared quite surprising.
Although the English were personally well treated at Tri-
poli, they could not shut their eyes to the reigning barbarism.
The sheik, Belgassum Khalifa, a fine old Arab, understood to
be high in the favour of the bashaw, had been one evening at
an elegant entertainment in the palace, when on reaching his
own door, a- pistol-shot wounded him in the arm, and on his
entering the passage another penetrated his body. He stag-
gered into the house, denouncing his own nephew as the
author of the assassination. The murderers rushed in, and
completed their crime by stabbing him seven times with their
daggers, while his wife received two wounds in endeavouring
to save him. The three actors in this tragedy instantly fled
for protection to the British consulate ; but Mr. Warrington
sent notice to the bashaw, "that the murderers of Khalifa
would find no protection under the flag of England." That
chief, however, either privy to the crime, or disposed to wink
at its commission, expressed his regret that the guilty persons
had found shelter in the consulate ; but added, that he could
not think of violating such a sanctuary. Repeated assurance
was given that he might send any force, or use any means, to
drag them from beneath a banner that never was disgraced by
giving protection to assassins. The bashaw at length, ashamed
of his apathy, sent sixteen stout fellows, by whom the ruffians
were seized ; and in less than an hour the murderers were
seen hanging from the castle-walls.
The mission, fortified with recommendations to the sultan
of Fezzan, now entered upon their long and dreary pilgrimage
to Mourzouk, where they arrived on the 8th of April, 1822.
This prince received them with courtesy and affiibility, but
gave himself very little trouble in making provision for the
continuance of their journey. He even intimated his inten-
tion of visiting Tripoh, and the necessity of their remaining
till his return. This arrangement was most disheartening ;
nor did they know what reliance to place in the sincerity of
Boo Khalloom, a great merchant, who invited them to accom-
pany an expedition which he was preparing for Soudan. The
sultan and he soon after departed, each with large presents
for the bashaw, to intrigue against one another at the court of
Tripoli. After this there was scarcely a camel left in Fezzan,
or any other means of prosecuting discovery. Major Denham
then saw no alternative but that he himself should hasten
back to Tripoli, and remonstrate with the bashaw on the appa-
rent violation of his promise. After a tedious Journey of
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 415
twenty days, with only three attendants, he arrived, and wait-
ed on the barbarian, who received him with his usual courtesy;
but, not giving that full satisfaction which was expected, the
Major lost no time in setting sail for England, to lodge a com-
plaint with his own court. This step was painfully felt by the
bashaw, who sent vessel after vessel, one of which at last over-
took Major Denham while performing quarantine at Marseilles,
and announced that arrangements were actually made with
Boo Rhalloom for escorting him to the capital of Bornou.
Accordingly, on the Major's return to Tripoli, he found the
Arab chief already on the borders of the Desert.
This trader, who was now to be a guide to the English into
the immense regions of the south, was a personage of a very
different character from what we in this country can form any
idea of. The African caravan-merchant has nothing in com-
mon with that respectable class of men who, seated in count-
ing houses at London or Amsterdam, direct the movement of
their ships over the ocean, and count the silent accumulation
of their profits. He, on the contrary, must accompany his
merchandise from one extremity to the other of a great conti-
nent, and across its immense deserts, the scene of much suffer'
ing, and frequently of death itself. Nor is it from a parched
wilderness and a burning climate that he has most to appre-
hend. His path is every where beset by bands whose trade is
plunder, and who find amusement in assassination. He must
therefore have his property guarded by armed men, ready to
defend with their blood what his money has purchased. These
followers, being in continual service, and exposed to frequent
fighting, become practised soldiers, and are more than a match
for the roving barbarians who infest the Sahara. Even the
greatest princes view these merchant-chiefs with fear and
jealousy ; and though they contrive to draw considerable ad-
V£^ntage from their trade, scarcely consider the kingdom as
their own while their troops are within its boundaries. The
merchants, unhappily, do not confine themselves to self-
defence ; but, seeing robbery practised on every side against
themselves, begin to retaliate, and soon find it cheaper, and,
according to African ideas, not less honourable, to replenish
their stores by plunder than by purchase. Slaves, the staple
of their trade, are generally obtained by the most atrocious
violence, in expeditions called ghrazzies or felateas^ underta-
ken solely for that guilty purpose ; but, by engaging in such
enterprises themselves, the merchants enjoy the benefit, since
they reckon it such, of paying in blood instead of money.
Provided tliey can escape the dangers and casualties to which
they are exposed, their profits are immense, the value of raer-
416 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
chandise being somewhat more than tripled by its conveyance
across the Desert. Thus a few successful journeys enable a
man to acquire a fortune almost princely, and a high degree of
influence in the Barbary States. In short, the merchant, the
warrior, the prince, the thief, are united in this extraordinary
character ; and he is prepared, according to circumstances, to
act in one or in all bf these capacities. Yet Boo Khalloom
might be reckoned a good specimen of this evil race. He
possessed an enlarged and liberal mind, and was honourable,
and even humane, so far as a slave-merchant could retain these
qualities ; he was dragged, too, with reluctance into the most
odious parts of his vocation, — while at home his generosity
was such as to make him almost idohzed.
Under the guidance of this remarkable personage Major
Denham set forth, with almost the full assurance of reaching
those depths of Africa from which no European had ever yet
returned. Little occurred to diversify the usual monotony of
a desert route, till they arrived at Sockna, where Boo Khal-
loom, who was fond of display, determined to make his en-
trance with almost kingly pomp. He rode a white Tunisian
horse, with gilded saddle and trappings of scarlet cloth border-
ed with gold ; his dress consisted of various caftans and robes
of the richest silks, adorned with gold buttons, lace, and em-
broidery : the burnouse, a present from the bashaw, had cost
four hundred dollars. The citizens meeting the party with
shouts and guns, and the females with singing and dancing,
formed a species of triumphal procession. Several days were
spent at Sockna, Boo Khalloom being ill, and wishing to try
the effect of various charms and superstitious remedies. The
EngUsh, meantime, witnessed a great marriage ceremony, the
chief pomp of which consisted in placing the bride in a basket
on the back of a camel and leading her round the town, while
numerous horsemen galloped up and discharged their muskets
quite close to her head ; the honour of which compliment was
understood to compensate for the fear which it could not fail to
occasion.
In journeying onwards to Mourzouk the travellers passed
along the naked sides of the Gebel Assoud, which the Major
crossed now for the third time ; but no familiarity could relieve
the sense of dreariness and misery which its aspect occasioned.
A rainy day came as a blessing to the whole party, especially
to the poor slaves, on whom Boo Khalloom had only in special
kindness bestowed one draught of water in the day to cool
their burning thirst. On the 30th of October the caravan
made its entry into Mourzouk with similar pomp as into Sock-
na, amid the shouts of the inhabitants, whom the chief, by his
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 417
liberality, had inspired with the warmest attachment. The
Major, however, was much disheartened by not seeing any of
his countrymen amid the joyous crowd ; and his fears were
confirmed by finding Dr. Oudney just recovering from a severe
attack in the chest, and Mr. Clapperton in bed the fifteenth
day with ague, — facts which, combined with the unfortunate
result of the last expedition, and the sickly look of the natives
themselves, indicated some peculiarly baneful influence, with-
out any visible cause, in the climate of Mourzouk.
Invalids so severely afflicted were not very fit to begin a long
and laborious journey ; but their ardour was extreme, and
imagining that a change of air would be beneficial, they con-
trived, even before Boo Khalloom was ready to set out, to
move forward to Gatrone, leaving Major Denham behind at
Mourzouk. On the 29th of November the whole caravan
broke up from that city, and began their journey through the
Desert. They were escorted by nearly every inhabitant who
could muster a horse. The expedition, besides the English,
comprised two hundred and ten Arabs, ranged in tens and
twenties, under different chiefs. The most numerous were the
M'Garha, who, to the amount of seventy, came from the barren
shore of the Syrtes. These barbarians enlivened the route by
their traditionary tales, their songs, their extemporary poems,
in which all the incidents of the journey itself were narrated ;
in short, by an inexhaustible fund of wit and vivacity. Their
pride, their revenge, their robberies, did not come into view in
their intercourse with the English, who, being received into
their camp, having eaten of their bread and salt, and being
bound in the cord of friendship, were entitled to all the rights
of hospitahty, and would have been protected even at the
hazard of life.
The caravan arrived in due time at Traghan, a small town
containing a fine carpet-manufactory, and ruled by a mara-
bout, who used the sanctity of his character to maintain order
and promote the prosperity of the place. Passing that station
they were soon in the heart of the Desert, where they spent
whole days without seeing a living thing, even a bird or an in-
sect, that did not belong to the caravan itself. After painful
marches under the direct action of the solar rays, they were
delighted by the stillness and beauty of the night. The moon
and stars shone with peculiar brilliancy ; cool breezes suc-
ceeded to the burning heat of the day ; and on removing a
few inches of the loose hot soil, a soft and refreshing bed was
obtained. Even the ripple of the blowing sand sounded like a
gentle and murmuring stream. Every noise was rendered
doubly impressive by the deep stillness, as well as by an echo
36
418 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
from the surface of the surrounding waste. The road derived
a very peculiar aspect from the quantity of salt with which the
soil was impregnated ; the clods were often cracked so as to
resemble a ploughed field ; and from the sides of cavities were
hanging beautiful crystals of that mineral like the finest frost-
work. , Sometimes the ground for several miles was glazed
over, resembhng a sheet of ice ; but though the surface was
very hard, the interior was brittle, and the salt fell away in
flakes.
The travellers had not proceeded far when the melancholy
aspect of the Desert was heightened by a succession of objects
which could not be viewed without the deepest horror. The
ground was strewed with the skeletons of former travellers,
who had perished in the attempt to cross this extensive wilder-
ness. These at first appeared singly, but afterwards increased
till they amounted to fifty or sixty in a day. At Meshroo a
hundred were seen together; and near the wells at El Hammar
they were found lying in countless multitudes. One forenoon,
as Major Denham was dozing on horseback, he was awaken-
ed by the sound of something crashing under his horse's feet,
and on looking down, saw the animal trampling on two per-
fect human skeletons. A movement of one of the feet had
separated the scull from the trunk, and driven it forward like
a ball. In some of these remains portions of the flesh and
hair were left, and even the features were still distinguishable.
Two female skeletons lay closely twined together, having evi-
dently been faithful friends, who had died in each other's
arms. The Arabs gave little proof of their boasted sensibihty
in the utter indiflerence with which they viewed these dismal
objects, driving about the limbs with their firelocks, passing
coarse jests upon the dead, and deriding the sympathy mani-
fested by their English companions. They told them these
were only blacks, "damn their fathers," — the barbarous pre-
judices arising from difference of religion and lineage having
thus extinguished in their breasts every touch of human sym-
pathy. Major Denham appears in one place to countenance
the popular belief that these bodies were the remains of cara-
vans buried beneath tempests of moving sand ; but none of his
facts support this conclusion, or contradict the opinion of
Browne, that such victims have in most instances perished
from other causes. They were lying open and exposed, with-
out even a covering of dust; and the catastrophe of the largest
group was too well known, having been a body of slaves, the
chief booty obtained by the sultan of Fezzan during his last
expedition into Soudan. The troop had left Bornou without
an adequate supply of provisions, which failed entirely before
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTOX. 41^
they approached Mourzouk. That want, or perhaps fatigue,
was the real cause of this destruction was manifest from the
fact that the sufferers were all negroes, while their Arab mas-
ters had taken care to reserve for themselves the means of
reaching home.
In this route the travellers had on one side the Tibboos, on
the other the Tuaricks, two native tribes, probably of great an-
tiquity, and having no alliance with the Arab race, now so
widely spread over the continent. The Tibboos were on the
left, and it was through their villages that the caravan passed.
These people hve partly on the milk of their camels, which
pick up a scanty subsistence on the few verdant spots that rise
amid the Desert, partly by carrying on a small trade between
Mourzouk and Bornou, in which they are so busily employed
that many do not spend at home more than four months in the
year. They are black, though without the negro features ;
the men ugly, but the young females possessed of some beau-
ty, not wholly obscured by the embelhshments of coral stuck
in the nose, and of oil streaming over the face. They are be-
sides a gay, good-humoured, thoughtless race, with all the
African passion for the song and the dance ; which last they
practise gracefully, and with movements somewhat analogous
to the Grecian. This cheerfulness appears wonderful, con-
sidering the dreadful calamity with which they are threatened
every day. Once a year, or oftener, an inroad is made by
their fierce neighbours, the Tuaricks, who spare neither age
nor sex, and sweep away all that comes within their reach.
The cowardly Tibboos dare not even look them in the face ;
they can only mount to the top of certain steep rocks with flat
summits and perpendicular sides, near one of which every
village is built. They carry up with them every thing that can
be removed, and this rude defence avails against still ruder as-
sailants. The savage Tuaricks, again, were observed by
CJlapperton and Oudney in a journey to the westward from
Mourzouk, and were found in their private character to be
frank, honest, and hospitable. The females are neither im-
mured nor oppressed, as is usual among rude and Mohamme-
dan tribes, but meet with notice and respect; indeed, the
domestic habits of this nation have much resemblance to the
European. They are a completely wandering race of shep-
herds and robbers, holding in contempt all who live in houses
and cultivate the ground ; yet they are, perhaps, the only na-
tive Africans who have letters and an alphabet, which they in-
scribe, not on books and parchments indeed, but on the dark
rocks that checker the surface of their territory ; and in places
420 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
where they have long resided every stone is seen covered with
their writings.
Bilma, the capital of the Tibboos, was found a mean town
with walls of earth, but surrounded by numerous lakes con-
taining the purest salt, the most valuable of all articles for the
commerce of Soudan. The inhabitants, however, though
deeply mortified, durst not prevent the powerful Tuaricks
from lading their caravans with it, and underselling them in
all the markets. About a mile beyond Bilma was a fine
spring, spreading around, and forming a little circle of the
richest verdure. This was the last vegetable life that the dis-
coverers were to see during a long march of thirteen days. In
these wilds, where the constant drift causes hills to rise or dis-
appear in the course of a night, all traces of a road are soon
obliterated, and the eye of the traveller is guided only by dark
rocks which at certain intervals raise their heads amid the
sterile waste. Sometimes the sand is formed into hills with
perpendicular sides, from twenty to sixty feet high. These
the camels are made to slide down ; in which operation they
can only be kept steady by the driver hanging with all his
weight on the tail, otherwise they would tumble forward, and
throw the load over their heads. " Tremendously dreary are
these marches ; as far as the eye can reach, billows of sand
bound the prospect." Whenever the wind was high, volumes
of this substance darkened the air, through which it was
sometimes impossible to attempt a passage.
After a fortnight spent in the Desert, the expedition saw
symptoms of a return to the region of life. There appeared
scattered spots of thin herbage ; little valleys watered by
springs were filled with the shrub called suag, on which grew
delicate berries ; small herds of gazelles fed in these retreats ;
even the droves of hyenas indicated the revival of animal na-
ture. As the travellers advanced, the country improved ; at
every mile the valleys became more gay and verdant ; and the
creeping vines of the colocynth in full bloom, with the red
flowers of the Jcossom, converted many of these spots into a little
Arcadia. The freshness of the air, with the melody of the
hundred songsters that were perched among the creeping
plants, whose flowers difl'used an aromatic odour, formed the
most dehghtful contrast to the desolate region through which
they had passed. Here again were found Tibboos, of the tribe
called Gunda, a more alert and active people than the former ;
the men still uglier, the girls still handsomer and more delicate-
ly formed. This sept have about five thousand camels, on
whose milk alone they support themselves for half the year,
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 421
and tlieir horses for the wliole year; the little crop of gussub
and millet being too precious for these animals, which drink
camel's milk, sweet or sour, and by this strange diet are kept
in the highest health and condition. The chief, Mina Tahr,
or the Black Bird, waited upon the party, and was presented
by Boo Rhalloom with a coarse scarlet burnouse and a tawdry
silk caftan : these paltry dresses, being the finest that had ever
invested the person of this chieftain, threw him into ecstasies
of delight, which he continued for hours to testify by joyful
shouts and high leaps into the air. Major Denham's watch
singularly delighted him ; but solely, as soon appeared, from
the pleasure of seeing his own person in the bright metallic
case ; so that a very small mirror was deemed still more
precious.
In this approach to the territory of Soudan the English be-
gan to witness the exercise of mutual plunder between the
caravan and the natives. Every animal which straggled from
the main body was instantly carried off; even a dog had been
eaten up, and only the bones left. A herald, handsomely
equipped, who had been sent forward to the sultan of Bornou,
was found stripped, and tied naked to a tree. On the other
hand, no sooner did the caravan come in view of any village
than the inhabitants were descried on the plain beyond in full
flight with all their effects. The Arabs pursued, in indigna-
tion only, as they pretended, at not being allowed to purchase
what they wanted ; but the conduct of the poor natives was
evidently the result of long experience ; and Major Denham
saw executed on one party the most rapid process of plunder
he ever witnessed. In a few seconds the camels were eased of
their loads, and the poor women and girls stripped to the skin.
Boo Khalloom, on this and other occasions, interposed, and
insisted on restitution ; but whether he would equally have
done so without the urgent remonstrances of the English ap-
pears to be doubtful.
The expedition, now advancing rapidly, entered Kanem,
the most northern province of Bornou, and soon arrived at
Lari, a town of two thousand inhabitants, composed of clusters
of rush-huts, conical at top, and looking like well-thatched
corn-stacks. This place formed a remarkable stage in their
progress ; for, from the rising ground in front of it was seen
stretching out the boundless expanse of the great interior sea of
Africa, the lake Tchad, " glowing with the golden rays of the
sun." Major Denham, who saw here the key to his grand
scheme of discovery, hastened down to the shores of this
mighty water. These were darkened with the varied and
beautiful plumage of ducks, geese, pelicans, and cranes four or
36*
422 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
five feet high, immense spoonbills of snowy whiteness, yellow-
legged plovers, with numerous unknown waterfowl, sporting
around, and quietly feeding at half pistol-shot. It is not to be
wondered at, that Major Denham should have felt reluctant to
invade the profound tranquillity of these feathered tribes, and
betray the confidence with which they received him. At last,
overcoming his scruples, he took up his gun, and soon filled a
large basket. It was evident here, that remarkable changes in
the bed of the Tchad had recently taken place; for, though
this was not the rainy season, long stalks of the grain called
gussub were growing amid the waters on ground formerly dry.
The caravan now marched along the shores of the lake, and
arrived in two days at Woodie, a large town, the first which
was found thoroughly negro. The inhabitants lived in slug-
gish plenty, on the produce of a fertile country, without any
attempt to obtain either elegancies or luxuries. It was resolv-
ed that the caravan should pause here, till a messenger could
be sent forward to obtain for them invitation, or permission, to
present themselves before the sheik of Bornou. The political
state of that country was at this time somewhat singular.
Twenty years before it had been overrun and completely con-
quered, with the most dreadful devastation, by the Fellatas, a
western people, to whose empire Bornou seemed to have been
finally annexed. There still remained, however, a spirit in the
people which spurned at a foreign yoke. The present sheik,
a native of Ranem, of humble birth, but of superior talents
and energy, rallied round him a band of bold spearmen, and,
animating them by a pretended vision of the prophet, hoisted
the green flag, and attacked the invaders. His success was
such, that in ten months the Fellatas were completely driven
out of Bornou, which they had never since re-entered, though
desultory hostilities were still waged between the two nations.
This leader, idolized by the army who had conquered under
him, was now the real master of the country, yet the reverence
of the nation for their ancient line of kings was too deep to
allow the legitimate heir to be wholly superseded. He was
drawn forth from obscurity, received the title of sultan, and
was established in empty pomp at the city of Birnie ; while
the successful soldier, under an humbler name, retained in his
own hands all the real power of the kingdom.
After five days an invitation arrived from the sheik to visit
him at Kouka, for which city the travellers immediately de-
parted. In their way they passed the Yeou, the first river of
any description which had crossed their path in this long
journey, exciting considerable interest from being for a mo-
ment supposed to be the Niger flowing from Timbuctoo. The
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 423
Stream was fifty yards broad, and proceeded with some rapid-
ity eastward into the Tchad : in the wet season its breadth
became twice as great. On the bank, for the convenience of
passengers, lay two large canoes, rudely put together, con-
structed of planks fastened by cords, and having the openings
stuffed with straw. The men and goods were ferried over on
these rafts, while the horses and camels, having their heads
fastened to them, swam across.
In approaching Kouka, Major Denham experienced con-
siderable emotion, in consequence of the contradictory reports
which he heard respecting the array and aspect of this great
central court of Africa. Some told him that the sheik was
surrounded by a mere handful of half-armed, half-naked ne-
groes, fit only for plunder ; while, according to others, he was
at the head of a numerous cavalry, highly equipped and well-
disciplined. The Major pressed eagerly forward before the
main body, and, emerging from the forest, had his curiosity
gratified by seeing a body of several thousand horse drawn up
in line, and extending on each side as far as the eye could
reach. He now awaited the coming up of the Arabs ; at sight
of whom the Bornou troops, who had previously stood im-
moveable, raised a mighty shout or yell, which rent the air,
followed by a sound equally loud of rude martial music.
Then, forming detached parties, they galloped up full speed
to the strangers, never pausing till they almost touched the
horses' heads, when they suddenly wheeled round and return-
ed, exclaiming, "Blessing! blessing ! sons of your country !
sons of your country!" They had soon completely surround-
ed the party, and wedged them in so close, waving their
spears over their heads, that it was impossible for the strangers
to move. Boo Khalloom had nearly lost all patience at this
vehement and incommodious welcome ; but at length Barca
Gana, the commander-in-chief, made his appearance, restored
order, and caused a way to be opened, by which the caravan,
though somewhat slowly, at length made its way to the city.
But, after their arrival at Kouka, symptoms of jealousy ap-
peared, and only twelve of the principal persons, the English
included, were allowed to enter. They were led through a
wide street lined with spearmen, to the door of the sheik's
residence. Here the principal courtiers came out in succes-
sion, and welcomed the party with cries of " Barca ! Barca!"
but as no one invited them to go in, the wrath of Boo Khal-
loom, who held himself scarcely inferior to the sheik, was
kindled, and he declared that, unless immediately admitted, he
would return to his tent. A chief merely waved his hand as
a signal for patience ; but at last Barca Gana appeared, and
424 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
invited the Arab leader to enter alone. Another half-hour
elapsed ere the gates were again opened, and the four Enghsh-
men were called. They found, on the present, as well as on
other occasions, the etiquette of this barbarian court extremely
rigid, and enforced too in a manner the most rough and un-
ceremonious. They were allowed to walk only one by one,
and, when thought to be going too fast, the guards grasped
them by the leg so abruptly that they could with difficulty avoid
falling flat forward ; and when it was time to stop, instead of
their being told so, spears were crossed before them, and the
palm of the hand applied to their breast. At the close of all
this ceremony, they found the sheik quietly seated on a car-
pet, plainly dressed, in a small dark room, ornamented solely
with guns and pistols, which he had received in presents from
crowned heads, and esteemed the most rare and precious of
decorations. He appeared about forty, or forty-five years of
age, and his countenance was pleasing and expressive. He
inquired their object in visiting Bornou ; when, being informed
that they had come merely to see the country, and to give an
account of its appearance, produce, and people, he engaged to
forward their views, and even to gratify their wishes to the
utmost of his power. Such motives, however, afterward
proved entirely incomprehensible to his illiterate mind.
Major Denham next day waited again on the sheik and
delivered his presents. A double-barrelled gun and two pis-
tols, with powder-flask, and shot-cases, were examined by the
chief with the most minute attention ; the other gifts, consist-
ing of fine cloths, spices, and porcelain, were no sooner pro- ,
duced than the slaves carried them ofl*. The African was par-
ticularly gratified on being told that the king of England had
heard of him, and said, turning to his captains, " This must
be in consequence of our having defeated the Begharmis;"
upon which Bagah Furby, a grim old soldier, who had made
a figure in that war, came forward and asked, " Did he ever
hear of me?" Major Denham scrupled not to answer, " Cer-
tainly;" when the whole party instantly called out, "Oh! the
king of England must be a great man."
The Major, in the course of his residence at Kouka, had
frequent opportunities of visiting the sheik. One day he re-
ceived a message that he must come instantly and exhibit a
musical box playing tunes by itself, which the other understood
to be in his possession. This great warrior, who had never
before shown any interest unless about grave concerns, was
quite enchanted on hearing its performance, and raised shouts
of delight and astonishment. He examined minutely the
difiV;rent parts of the mechanism, declaring he would willingly
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 425
give a thousand dollars in exchange for it. The Major, un-
able to misunderstand so broad a hint, presented the box to
his highness. The display of sky-rockets also caused the ut-
most amazement and joy, and was even employed to strike
the enemies of the sheik with superstitious awe. Finding
that our traveller could speak Arabic, and give much informa-
tion not attainable from any other quarter, Barca Gana be-
came fond of his conversation, and invited him to pay frequent
visits.
It remained that Major Denham should be introduced to the
sultan in his royal residence at Birnie, where all the state and
pomp of the kingdom, with none of its real power, were con-
centrated. On the 2d of March, the English accompanied
Boo Khalloom to that city, and, on their arrival there, the fol-
lowing morning was fixed for the interview. Fashion, even
in the most refined European courts, does not always follow
the absolute guidance of reason or taste, and her magic power
is often displayed in converting deformities into beauties ; but
there is certainly no court of which the taste is so absurd,
grotesque, or monstrous, as that to which Major Denham was
now introduced. An enormous protruding belly and a huge
misshapen head, are the two features without which it is vain
to aspire to the rank of a courtier or of a fine gentleman. This
form, valued probably as a type of abundance and luxury, is
esteemed so essential, that, where nature has not bestowed,
and the most excessive feeding and cramming cannot produce
it, wadding is employed, and a false belly produced, which, in
riding, appears to hang over the pummel of the saddle. Tur-
bans also are wrapped round the head, in fold after fold, til!
it appears swelled on one side to the most unnatural dimen-
sions, and only one-half of the face remains visible. The fac-
titious bulk of the lords of Bornou is still farther augmented by
drawing round them, even in this burning climate, ten or
twelve successive robes of cotton or silk, while the whole is
covered over with numberless charms enclosed in green leather
cases. Yet under all these encumbrances they do sometimes
mount and take the field ; but the idea of such unwieldy hogs-
heads being of any avail in the day of battle appeared alto-
gether ridiculous, — and it proved accordingly, that, on such
high occasions, they merely exhibited themselves as orna-
ments, without making even a show of encountering the
enemy.
With about three hundred of this puissant chivalry before
and around him, the sultan was himself seated near the garden-
door in a sort of cane basket covered with silk, and his face
entirely shaded beneath a turban of more than the usual mag-
426 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
nitude. The presents were silently deposited ; nothing passed ;
and the courtiers, tottering beneath the weight of their turbans^
and their bellies, could not display that punctilious activity
which had been so annoying at the palace of the sheik. This
was all that was ever seen of the sultan of Bornou. The par-
ty then set out for Kouka, passing, on their way, through An-
gornou, the largest city in the kingdom, containing at least ^
30,000 inhabitants.
Bornou, taken altogether, forms an extensive plain, stretch-
ing two hundred miles along the western shore of the immense
lake already mentioned, and nearly the same distance inland.
This sea periodically changes its bed in an extraordinary
manner. During the rains, when its tributary rivers pour in
thrice the usual quantity of water, it inundates an extensive
tract of country, from which it retires in the dry season. This
space, then overgrown with dense underwood, and with grass
double the height of a man, contains a motly assemblage of
wild beasts, — lions, panthers, hyenas, elephants, and serpents
of extraordinary form and bulk. These monsters, while un-
disturbed in thi^ mighty den, remain tranquil, or war only
with each other ; but when the lake swells, and its waters
rush in, they of necessity seek refuge among the abodes of
men, to whom they prove the most dreadful scourge. Not
only the cattle, but the slaves tending the grain, often fall vic-
tims ; they even rush in large bodies into the towns. The
rest of the country, placed beyond the reach of this annual in-
undation, is in many places very fertile ; and cultivation is so
limited that land may always be had in any quantity by him
who has slaves to employ upon it. This service is performed
by female captives from Musgow, who, aiding their native ugli-
ness by the insertion of a large piece of silver into the upper-
lip, which throws it entirely out of shape, are coveted in no
other view than for the quantity of hard work which they can
execute. The processes of agriculture are extremely simple.
Their only fine manufacture is that of tobes, or vestments of
cotton skilfully woven and beautifully died, but still not equal
to those of Soudan. In every other handicraft they are very
inexpert, — even in works of iron, which are of the greatest use
to a martial people.
The Bornouese have, however, an ingenious mode of fish-
ing with a very simple apparatus. They take two large gourds,
and fasten them at each end to a stem of bamboo. The fish-
erman seats himself upon this machine, floats with the current,
and throws his net. On drawing it up, he lays it before him,
stuns the fish with a species of mace, and piles them into the
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 427
gourds. They are afterwards dried, and conveyed over the
country to a considerable distance.
The Bornouese are complete negroes both in form and
feature ; they are ugly, simple, and good-natured, but desti-
tute of all intellectual culture. Only a few of the great Jigkis,
or doctors, of whom the sheik was one, can read the Koran.
A " great writer," indeed, is held in still higher estimation
than with us ; but his compositions consist only of words
written on scraps of paper, to be enclosed in cases, and worn
as amulets. They are then supposed to defend their possessor
against every danger, to act as charms to destroy his enemies,
and to be the main instrument in the cure of all diseases. For
this last purpose they are aided only by a few simple apphca-
tions; yet the Bornou practice is said to be very successful,
either through the power of imagination, or owing to their
excellent constitutions. In the absence of all refined plea-
sures, various rude sports are pursued with eagerness, and
almost with fury. The most favourite is wrestling, which the
chiefs do not practise in person, but train their slaves to ex-
hibit in it as our jockeys do game-cocks, taking the same pride
in their prowess and victory. Nations are often pitched
against each other, the Musgowy and the Begharmi being the
most powerful. Many of them are extremely handsome and
of gigantic size, and hence the contests between them are truly
terrible. Their masters loudly cheer them on, offering high
premiums for victory, and sometimes threatening instant death
in case of defeat. They place their trust, not in science, but
in main strength and rapid movements. Occasionally the
wrestler, eluding his adversary's vigilance, seizes him by the
thigh, lifts him up into the air, and dashes him against the
ground. When the match is decided, the victor is greeted with
loud plaudits by the spectators, some of whom even testify
their admiration by throwing to him presents of fine cloth.
He then kneels before his master, who not unfrcquently be-
stowed upon him a robe worth thirty or forty dollars, taken
perhaps from his own person. Death or maiming, however, is
no unfrequent result of these encounters. The ladies, even
of rank, engage in another very odd species of contest. Plac-
ing themselves back to back, they cause particular parts to
strike together with the most violent collision, when she who
maintains her equihbrium, while the other lies stretched on the
ground, is proclaimed victor with loud cheers. In this conflict
the girdle of beads worn by the more opulent females very
frequently burst, when these ornaments are seen flying about
in every direction. To these elegant recreations is added
gaming, always the rage of uncultivated minds. Their fa-
428 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
vourite game is one rudely played with beans, by means of
holes made in the sand.
Boo Khalloom, having despatched his affairs in Bornou,
wished to turn his journey to some farther account, and pro-
posed an expedition into the more wealthy and commercial
region of Houssa or Soudan ; but the eager wishes of his fol-
lowers pointed to a different object. They called upon him to
lead them into the mountains of Mandara in the south, to at-
tack a village of the kerdies, or unbelievers, and carry off the
people as slaves to Fezzan. He long stood out against this
nefarious proposal; but the sheik, who also ha<l his own views,
took part against him; even his own brother joined the mal-
contents, and at length there appeared no other mode in which
he could return with equal credit and profit. Influenced by
these inducements, he suffered his better judgment to be over-
powered, and determined to conduct his troop upon this peril-
ous and guilty excursion. Major Denham, allowing his zeal
for discovery to overcome other considerations, contrived, not-
withstanding the prohibition of the sheik, to be one of the par-
ty. They were accompanied by Barca Gana, the principal
general, a negro of huge strength and great courage, along
with other warriors, and a large body of Bornou cavalry.
These last are a fine military body in point of external appear-
ance. Their persons are covered with iron plate and mail,
and they manage, with surprising dexterity, their little active
steeds, which are also supplied with defensive armour. They
have one fault only, but that a serious one, — they cannot stand
the shock of an enemy. While the contest continues doubtful,
they hover round as spectators, ready, should the tide turn
against them, to spur on their coursers to a rapid flight ; but
if they see their friends victorious, and the enemy turning their
backs, they come forward and display no small vigour in pur-
suit and plunder.
The road that led to Mandara formed a continued ascent
through a fertile country which contained some populous
towns. The path being quite overgrown with thick and prick-
ly underwood, twelve pioneers went forward with long poles,
opening a track, pushing back the branches, and giving warn-
ing to beware of holes. These operations they accompanied
with loud praises of Barca Gana, calling out, — " Who is in
battle hke the rolling of thunder? Barca Gana. In battle,
who spreads terror around him like the buffalo in his rage?
Barca Gana." Even the chiefs on this expedition carried no
provisions except a paste of rice, flour, and honey, with which
they contented themselves, unless when sheep could be pro-
cured ; in which case half the animal, roasted over a frame-
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 4"29
work of wood, was placed on the table, and the sharpest dag-
ger present was employed in cutting it into large pieces, to be
eaten without bread or salt. At length they approached Mora,
the capital of Mandara. This was another kingdom which
the energy of its present sultan had rescued from the yoke of
the Fellata empire ; and the strong position of its capital, en-
closed by lofty ridges of hills, had enabled it to defy repeated
attacks. It consists of a fine plain, bordered on the south by
an immense and almost interminable range of mountains.
The eminences directly in front were not quite so lofty as the
hills of Cumberland, but bold, rocky and precipitous, and dis-
tant summits appeared towering much higher, and shooting up
a line of sharp pinnacles resembling the needles of Mont
Blanc. It was reported, that two months were required to
cross their greatest breadth and reach the other side, where
they rose ten times higher, and were called large moon moun-
tains. They there overlooked the plain of Adamowa, through
which the Quorra (or Niger) was said to flow from the west-
ward. The hills immediately in view were thickly clustered
with villages perched on their sides, and even on their tops,
and were distinctly seen from the plain of Mandara. They
were occupied by half-savage tribes, whom the ferocious bigo-
try of the nations occupying the low country branded as pa-
gans, and whom they claimed a right to plunder, seize, and
drive in crowds for sale to the markets of Fezzan and Bornou.
" The fires, which were visible in the different nests of these
unfortunate beings, threw a glare upon the bold rocks and
blunt promontories of granite by which they were surrounded,
and produced a picturesque and somewhat awful appearance."
A baleful joy gleamed in the visage of the Arabs as they eyed
these abodes of their future victims, whom they already fanci-
ed themselves driving in bands across the Desert. A kerdy
village to plunder was all their cry, and Boo Khalloom doubt-
ed not that he would be able to gratify their wishes. Their
common fear of the Fellatas had united the sultan of Man-
dara in close alliance with the sheik, to whom he had lately
married his daughter ; and the nuptials had been celebrated
by a great slave-hunt among the mountains, when, after a
dreadful struggle, three thousand captives, by their tears and
bondage, furnished out the materials of a magnificent mar-
riage-festival.
The expedition obtained a reception quite as favourable as
had been expected. In approaching the capital they were met
by the sultan with five hundred Mandara horse, who, charging
full speed, wheeled round them with the same threatening
movements which had been exhibited at Bornou. The horses
37
430 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
were of a superior breed, most skillfully managed, and covered
with cloths of various colours, as well as with the skins of the
leopard and tiger-cat. This cavalry made of course a very
brilhant appearance ; but the Major did not yet know that
their valour was exactly on a level with that of their Bornou
allies. The party were then escorted to the capital, amid the
music of long pipes like clarionets, and of two immense trum-
pets. They were introduced next day. The mode of ap-
proaching the royal residence is to gallop up to the gate with a
furious speed, which often causes fatal accidents; and on this
occasion a man was ridden down and killed on the spot. The
sultan was found in a dark-blue tent, sitting on a mud-bench,
surrounded by about two hundred attendants, handsomely
arayed in silk and cotton robes. He was an intelligent little
man, about fifty years old, with a beard dyed sky-blue. Cour-
teous salutations were exchanged ; during which he steadily
eyed Major Denham, concerning whom he at last enquired ;
'and the traveller was advantageously introduced as belonging
to a powerful distant nation, allies of the bashaw of Tripoli.
At last, however, came the fatal question, — " Is he Moslem 1 —
La! la! — no! no! — What! has the great bashaw Caffre-
friends?" Every eye was instantly averted; the sun of Major
Denham's favour was set ; and he was never more allowed to
enter the palace.
The bigotry of this court seems to have surpassed even the
usual bitterness of the African tribes, and our traveller had to
undergo a regular persecution, carried on especially by Ma-
lem Chadily, the leading fighi or doctor of the court. As
Major Denham was showing to the admiring chiefs the mode
of writing with a pencil, and effacing it with Indian rubber,
Malem wrote some words of the Koran with such force that
the rubber could not wholly remove the traces of them. He
then exclaimed with triumph, " They are the words of God,
delivered to his prophet; I defy you to erase them." The
Major was then called upon to acknowledge this great mir-
acle; and, as his countenance still expressed increduhty, he
was viewed with looks of such mingled contempt and indig-
nation as induced him to retire. Malem, however, again
assailed him with the assurance that this was only one of the
many miracles which he could show as wrought by the Ko-
ran; imploring him to turn, and paradise would be his, other-
wise nothing could save him from eternal fire. *'Oh!" said
he, " while sitting in the third heaven I shall see you fn tlic
midst of the flames, crying out to your friend Barca Gana
and myself for a drop of water ; but the gulf will be between
us :" his tears then flowed profusely. The Major, taking the
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 431
general aside, entreated to be relieved from this incessant per-
secution ; but Gana assured him that the fighi was a great and
holy man, to whom he ought to listen. He then held out not
only paradise, but honours, slaves, and wives of the first fami-
lies, as gifts to be lavished on him by the sheik if he would
renounce his unbelief. Major Denham asked the commander,
what would be thought of himself if he should go to England
and turn Christian 1 " God forbid !" exclaimed he ; " but
how can you compare our faiths ; mine would lead you to
paradise, while yours would bring me to hell. Not a word
more." Nothing appears to have annoyed the stranger more
than to be told that he was of the same faith with the kerdies
or savages^ little distinction being made between any who de-
nied the Koran. After a long discussion of this question, he
thought the validity of his reasoning would be admitted, when
he could point to a party of those wretches devouring a dead
horse, and appealed to Boo Khalloom if he had ever seen the
English do the same ; but to this, which was not after all a
very deep theological argument, the Arab replied, — " I know
they eat the flesh of swine, and, God knows, that is worse."
" Grant me patience," exclaimed I to myself, — " this is almost
too much to bear and to remain silent."
The unfortunate kerdies, from the moment that they saw
Arab tents in the valley of Mandara, knew the dreadful ca-
lamity which awaited them. To avert it, and to propitiate the
sultan, numerous parties came down with presents of honey,
asses, and slaves. Finally appeared the Musgow, a more
distant and savage race, mounted on small fiery steeds, covered
only with the skin of a goat or leopard, and with necklaces
made of the teeth of their enemies. They threw themselves
at the feet of the sultan, casting sand on their heads, and
uttering the most piteous cries. The monarch, apparently
moved by these gifts and entreaties, began to intimate to Boo
Khalloom his hopes that these savages might by gentle means
be reclaimed and led to embrace the true faith. These hopes
w^ere held by the latter in the utmost derision ; and he private-
ly assured Major Denham that nothing would more annoy this
devout Mussulman than to see them fulfilled, whereby he must
have forfeited all right to drive these unhappy creatures in
crowds to the markets of Soudan and Bornou. In fact, both
the sultan and the sheik had a much deeper aim. Every effort
was used to induce Boo Khalloom to engage in the attack of
some strong Fellata post, by which the country was hemmed
in ; and as the two monarchs viewed the Arabs with extreme
jealousy, it was strongly suspected that their defeat would not
haye been regarded as a pubhc calamity. The royal councils
432
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
were secret and profound, and it was not known what influ-
ences worked upon Boo Khalloom. On this occasion unfor-
tunately he was mastered by liis evil ^enius, and consented to
the proposed attack; but as he came out and ordered his troops
to prepare for marching, his countenance bore such marks of
trouble that the Major asked if all went well 1 to which he
hurriedly answered, " Please God." The Arabs, however,
who at all events expected plunder, proceeded with alacrity.
The expedition set out next morning, and, after passing
through a beautiful plain, began to penetrate the mighty chain
of mountains which form the southern border of the kingdom.
Alpine heights, rising around them in rugged magnificence
and gigantic grandeur, presented a scenery whiclT our travel-
ler had never seen surpassed. The passes of Hairey and
of Horza, amid a superb amphitheatre of hills, closely shut in
by overhanging cliffs, more tlian two thousand feet high, were
truly striking. Here, for the first time in Africa, did nature
appear to the Enghsh to revel in the production of vegetable
life. The trees were covered with luxuriant and bright green
foliage ; and their trunks were hidden by a crowd of parasitical
plants, whose aromatic blossoms perfumed the air. There
was also an abundance of animal life of a less agreeable de-
scription : three scorpions were killed in the tent ; and a
fierce but beautiful panther, more than eight feet long, just as
he had gorged himself by sucking the blood of a newly-killed
negro, was attacked and speared. The sultan and Barca Gana
were attended by a considerable body of Bornou and Man-
dar cavalry, whose brilhant armour, martial aspect, and skilful
horsemanship gave confidence to the European officer, who
had not yet seen them put to the proof.
It was the third day when the expedition came in view of
the Fellata town of Dirkulla. The Arabs, supported by Barca
Gana and about a hundred spearmen, marched instantly to
the attack, and carried first that place, and then a smaller
town beyond it, kilhng all who had not time to escape. The
enemy, however, then entrenched themselves in a third and
stronger position, called Musfeia, enclosed by high hills, and
fortified in front by numerous swamps and palisades. This
was likewise attacked, and all its defences forced. The guns
of the Arabs spread terror, while Barca Gana threw eight
spears with his own hand, every one of which took eff*ect. It
was thought, that had the two bodies of cavalry made even a
show of advancing, the victory would have been at once de-
cided ; but Major Denham was much surprised to see those
puissant warriors keeping carefully under cover behind a hill
on the opposite side of the stream, where not an arrow could
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
433
reach them. The Fellatas, seeing that their antagonists were
only a handful, ralhed on the tops of the hills, were joined by-
new troops, and turned round. Their women behind, cheer-
ing them on, continually supplied fresh arrows, and rolled
down fragments of rock on the assailants. These arrows
were fatal; they were tipped with poison, and. wherever they
pierced, the body in a few hours became black, blood gushed
from eveiy orifice, and the victim expired in agony. The
condition of the Arabs soon became alarming ; scarcely a
man was left unhurt, and their horses were dying under them.
Boo Rhalloom and his charger were both wounded with poi-
soned arrows. As soon as the Fellatas saw the' Arabs waver,
they dashed in with their horse ; at sight of which all the he-
roic squadrons of Bornou and Mandara put spurs to their
steeds, the sultan at their head, and the whole became one
mass of confused and tumultuous flight. Major Denham saw
too late the peril into which he had wantonly plunged. His
horse, pierced to the shoulder-bone, could scarcely support his
weight; but the cries of the pursuing Fellatas still urged him
forward. At last the animal fell twice, and the second time
threw him against a tree, then, frightened by the noise behind,
started up and ran off. The Fellatas were instantly up, when
four of his companions were stabbed beside him, uttering the
most frightful cries. He himself was fully prepared for the
same fate ; but happily his clothes formed a valuable booty,
through which the savages were loth to run their spears. After
inflicting some slight wounds, therefore, they stripped him to
the skin, and forthwith began to quarrel about the plunder.
While they were thus busied, he contrived to slip away, and
though hotly pursued, and nearly overtaken, succeeded in
reaching a mountain-stream gliding at the bottom of a deep
and precipitous ravine. Here he had snatched the young
branches issuing from the stump of a large over-hanging tree,
in order to let himself down into the water, when, beneath his
hand, a large liffa, the most dangerous serpent in this country,
rose from its coil, as in the very act of darting upon him.
Struck with horror. Major Denham lost all recollection, and
fell headlong into the water; but the shock revived him, and,
with three strokes of his arm he reached the opposite bank,
and felt himself for the moment in safety. Running forward,
he was dehghted to see his friends Barca Gana and Boo Khal-
loom ; but amid the cheers with which they were endeavour-
ing to rally their troops, and the cries of those who were falhng
under the Fellata spears, he could not for some time make him-
self heard. Then Maramy, a negro appointed by the sheik to
attend on him, rode up and took him on his own horse. Boo
37*
434 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
Khalioom ordered a burnouse to be thrown over him, — very
seasonably, for the burning sun had begun to bhster his nakeil
body. Suddenly, however, Maramy called out, "See, see!
Boo Khalioom is dead !" and that spirited chief, overpowered
by the wound of a poisoned arrow, dropped from his horse, and
spoke no more. The others now thought only of pressing
their flight, and soon reached a stream, where they refreshecl
themselves by copious draughts, and a halt was made to col-
lect the stragglers. Major Denham here fell into a swoon ;
during which, as he afterwards learned, Maramy complained
that the jaded horse could scarcely carry the stranger forward,
when Barca Gana said, — " By the beard of the prophet ! be-
lievers enough have breathed their last to-day ; why should we
concern ourselves about a Christian's death?" Malem Cha-
dily, however, so bitter as a theological op}^oneniJ showed now
the influence of a milder spirit, and said, — " No, God has pre-
served him ; let us not abandon him;" and Maramy declared,
"His heart told him what to do." They therefore moved on
slowly till about midnight, when they passed the Mandara
frontier in a state of severe suff'ering ; but the Major met with
much kindness from a dethroned prince, Mai Meegamy, who,
seeing his wounds festering under the rough woollen cloak
which formed his only covering, took off" his own trowsers and
gave them to him.
The Arabs had lost forty-five of their number, besides their
chief; the rest were in a miserable plight, most of them wound-
ed, some mortally, and all having lost their camels and the
rest of their property. Renouncing their pride, they were
obliged to supplicate from Barca (^ana a handful of corn to
keep them from starving. The sultan of Mandara, in whose
cause they had suffered, treated them with the utmost con-
tumely, which perhaps they might deserve, but certainly not
from him. Deep sorrow was afterward felt in Fezzan when
they arrived in this deplorable condition and reported the fall
of their chief, who was there almost idohzed. A national song
Was composed on the occasion, which the following extract
will show to be marked by great depth of feeling, and not al-
together devoid of poetical beauty : —
"Oh ! trust not to the gun and tlie sword ! The spear of the unbeliever |
prevails ! -
" Boo I^alloom, the good and the brave, has fallen ! Who shall now be
safe ? Even as the moon among the little stars, so was Boo Khalioom
among men ! Whore shall Fezzan now look for her protector ? Men
hang their heads in sorrow, while women wring their hands, rending the air
with their cries ! As a shepherd is to his flock, so was Boo Ivliallom to
Fezzan !
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 435
"Give him songs ! Give him music ! What words can equal his praise?
His heart was as large as the desert ! His coffers were like the rich over-
flowings from the udder of the she-camel, comforthig and nourishing those
around him !
" Even as the flowers without rain perish in the fields, so will die Fezzan-
ers droop ; for Boo I^alloom returns no more !
''His body lies in the land of the heathen! The poisoned arrow of the
unbehever prevails !
"Oh! trust not to the gun and the sword! The spear of the heathen
conquers ! Boo Khalloom, the good and the brave, has fallen! Who shall
now be safe?"
The sheik of Bornou was considerably mortified by the re-
sult of this expedition, and the miserable figure made by his
troops, though he sought to throw the chief blame ontheMan-
dara part of the armament. He now invited the Major to ac-
company an expedition against the Mungas, a rebel tribe on
his outer border, on which occasion he was to employ his na-
tive band of Kanemboo spearmen, who, he trusted, would re-
deem the military reputation of the monarchy. Major Denham
was always ready to go wherever he had a chance of seeing
the manners and scenery of Africa. The sheik took the field,
attended by his armour-bearer, his drummer fantastically dress-
ed in a straw hat with ostrich feathers, and followed by three
wives, whose heads and persons were wrapped up in brown
silk robes, and each led by a eunuch. He was preceded by
five green and red flags, on each of which were extracts from
the Koran, written in letters of gold. Etiquette even required
that the sultan should follow with his unwieldly pomp, having
a harem, and attendance much more numerous ; while frum-
frums, or wooden trumpets, were continually sounded before
him. This monarch is too dignified to fight in person ; but
his guards, the swollen and overloaded figures formerly de-
scribed, enveloped in multiplied folds, and groaning beneath
the weight of ponderous amulets, produced themselves as war-
riors, though manifestly unfit to face any real danger.
The route lay along the banks of the river Yeou, called also
Gambarou, through a country naturally fertile and delightful,
but presenting a dismal picture of the desolation occasioned by
African warfare. The expedition passed through upwards of
thirty towns, completely destroyed by the Fellatas in their last
inroad, and of which all the inhabitants were either killed or
carried into slavery. These fine plains were now overgrown
with forests and thickets, in which grew tamarind and other
trees, producing delicatefruits ; while lar^e bands of monkeys,
called by the Arabs "enchanted men," filled the woods with
their cries. Here, too, was found Old Birnie, the ancient but
now desolate capital, evidently much larger than any of the
436 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON",
present cities, covering five or six miles with its ruins. They
passed also Gambarou, formerly the favourite residence of the
sultans, where the remains of a palace and of two mosques
gave an idea of civilization superior to any thing that had yet
been seen in Interior Africa. There were left in this country
only small detached villages, the inhabitants of which remain-
ed :hxed to them by local attachment, in spite of constant pre-
datory inroads by the Tuaricks, who carried off their friends,
their children, and cattle. They have recourse to one mode of
defence, which consists in digging a number of blaquas^ or
large pits : these they cover with a false surface of sods and
grass, into which the Tuarick, with his horse, plunges before
he is aware, and is received at the bottom upon sharp-pointed
stakes, which often kill the one and the other on the spot.
Unluckily, hamiless travellers are equally liable to fall into
these living g^jpes. Major Denham was petrified with horror
to find how near' he had approached to several of them ; in-
deed, one of his servants fell in, and was saved only by an
almost miraculous spring. It seems wonderful that the sheik
should not have endeavoured to restore some kind of security
to this portion of his subjects, and to repeople those fine but
deserted regions.
The troops, which had been seen hastening in parties to the
scene of action, were mustered at Kabshary, a toAvn which
the Mungas had nearly destroyed. The sheik made a review
of his ftivourite forces, the Kanemboo spearmen, nine thou-
sand strong. They were really a very savage and military-
looking host, perfectly naked, except a girdle of goatskin, with
the hair hanging down, and a piece of cloth wrapped round
the head. They carried large wooden shields, shaped like a
Gothic window, with which they warded off the arrows of the
enemy, while they pressed forward to attack with their spears.
Unhke almost all other barbarous armies, they kept a regular
night-watch, passing the cry every half hour along the line,
and at any alarm raising a united yell, which was truly
frightful. At the review they passed in tribes before the
sheik, to whom they showed the most enthusiastic attachment,
kneeling on the ground and kissing his feet. The Mungas,
again, were described as terrible antagonists, hardened by
conflict with the Tuaricks, fighting on foot with poisoned
arrows longer and more deadly than those of the Fellatas.
The sultan, however, contemplated other means of securing
success, placing his main reliance on his powers as a Moham-
medan doctor and writer. Three successive nights were spent
in inscribing upon little scraps of paper figures or words, des-
tined to exercise a magical influence upon the rebel host ; and
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
43^
BODY GUARD OF THE SHEIK OF BORNOU.
their effect was heightened by the display of sky-rockets, sup-
pUed by Major Denham. Tidings of his being thus employed
were conveyed to the camp, when the Mungas, stout and fierce
warriors who never shrunk from an enemy, yielded to the
power of superstition, and felt all their strength withered. It
seemed to them that their arrows were blunted, their quivers
broken, their hearts struck with sickness and fear ; in short,
that to oppose a sheik of the Koran who could accomplish
such wonders was alike vain and impious. They came in by
hundreds, bowing themselves to the ground, and casting sand
on their heads in token of the most abject submission. At
length, Malem Fanamy himself, the leader of the rebellion,
saw that resistance was hopeless. After vain overtures of
conditional submission, he appeared in person, mounted on a
438
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
white horse, with a thousand followers. He was himself in
rags, and, having fallen prostrate on the ground, was about to
pour sand on his head, when the sultan, instead of permitting
this humiliation, caused eight robes of fine cotton cloth, one
after another, to be thrown over him, and his head to be wrap-
ped in Egyptian turbans till it was swelled to six times its natu-
ral size, and no longer resembled any thing human. By such
signal honours the sheik gained the hearts of those whom his
pen had subdued; and this wise pohcy enabled him, not only
to overcome the resistance of this formidable tribe, but to con-
vert them into supporters and bulwarks of his power.
Major Denham, who always sought with laudable zeal to
penetrate into every corner of Africa, now found his way in
another direction. He had heard much of the Shary, a great
river flowing into the lake Tchad, and on whose banks the
kingdom of Loggun was situated. After several delays, he set
out on the 23d of January, 1824, in company with Mr. Toole,
a spirited young volunteer, who, journeying by way of Tripoli
and Mourzouk, had thence crossed the Desert to join him.
The travellers passed through Angornou and Angala, and
arrived at Showy, where they saw the river, which really
proved to be a magnificent stream, fully half a mile broad, and
flowing at the rate of two or three miles an hour. They de-
scended it through a succession of noble reaches, bordered
with fine woods, and a profusion of variously-tinted and aro-
matic plants. At length it opened into the wide expanse of
the Tchad ; after viewing which, they again ascended and
reached the capital of Loggun, beneath whose high walls the
river was seen flowing in majestic beauty. Major Denham
entered, and found a handsome city, with a street as wide as
Pall-Mall, and bordered by large dwellings, having spacious
areas in front. He was led through several dark rooms into
a wide and crowded court, at one end of which a lattice open-
ed, and showed a pile of silk robes stretched on a carpet, amid
which two eyes became gradually visible : this was the sultan.
On his appearance there arose a tumult of horns and frum-
frums ; while all the attendants threw themselves prostrate,
casting sand on their heads. In a voice which the court-
fashion of Loggun required to be scarcely audible, the monarch
inquired Major Denham's object in coming to this country,
observing that if it was to purchase handsome female slaves,
he need go no farther, since he himself had . hundreds who
could be aflbrded at a very easy rate. This overture was re-
jected on other grounds than the price ; yet, notwithstanding
so decided a proof of barbarism, the Loggunese were found a
people more advanced in the arts of peace than any hitherto
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 439
seen in Africa. By a studied neutrality, they had avoided in-
\"olving themselves in the dreadful wars which had desolated
the neighbouring countries. Manufacturing industry was
honoured, and the cloths woven here were superior to those of
Bornou, being finely died with indigo and beautifully glazed.
There was even a current coin made of iron, somewhat in the
form of a horse-shoe ; and rude as this was, none of their
neighbours possessed any thing similar. The ladies were
handsome, intelligent, and of a lively air and carriage ; but,
besides pushing their frankness to excess, their general de-
meanour was by no means scrupulous. They used, in partic-
ular, the utmost diligence in stealing from Major Denham's
person every thing that could be reached, even searching the
pockets of his trousers; and, when detected, only laughing,
and calling to each other how sharp he had shown himself.
But the darkest feature of savage life was disclosed, Avhen the
sultan and his son each sent to solicit poison " that would not
lie," to be used against the other. The latter even accom-
panied the request with a bribe of three lovely black damsels,
and laughed at the horror which was expressed at the proposal.
The Loggunese live in a rich country, abounding in grain
and cattle, and diversified with forests of lofty acacias and
many beautiful shrubs. Its chief scourge consists in the mil-
lions of tormenting insects which fill the atmosphere, making
it scarcely possible to go into the open air at midday without
being thrown into a fever ; indeed, children have been known
to be killed by their stings. The natives have a mode of build-
ing one house within another to protect themselves against
this scourge ; while some kindle a large fire of wet straw and
sit in the smoke : but this remedy, if it be possible, seems
worse than the evil which it is meant to obviate.
Major Denham was much distressed on this journey by the
death of his companion Mr. Toole ; and he could no longer
delay his return when he learned that the Begharmis, with a
large army, were crossing the Shary to attack Bornou. Soon
after his arrival at Kouka the sheik led out his troops, which
he mustered on the plain of Angala, and was there furiously
attacked by five thousand Begharmis, led by two hundred
chiefs. The Begharmi cavalry are individually strong and
fierce, and both riders and horses still more thoroughly cased
in mail than those of Bornou; but their courage, when brought
to the proof, is nearly on a level. The sheik encountered
them with his Kanemboo spearmen and a small band of
musketeers, when, after a short conflict, the whole of this
mighty host was thrown into the most disorderly flight ; even
the Bornou cavalry joined in the pursuit. Seven sons of the
440 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
sultan and almost all the chiefs fell ; two hundred of their
favourite wives were taken, many of whom were of exquisite
beauty.
Mr. Tyrwhit, a gentleman whom his majesty's government
had sent out to strengthen the party, arrived on the 20th of
May, and on the 22d, delivered to the sheik a number of
presents, which were received with the highest satisfaction.
In company with this gentleman. Major Denham, eager to ex-
plore Africa still further, took advantage of another expedition
undertaken against the tribe of Shouaa Arabs, distinguished
by the name of La Sala, — a race of amphibious shepherds
who inhabit certain islands that extend along the south-eastern
shores of the Tchad. These spots aftbrd rich pasture ; while
the water is so shallow, that, by knowing the channels, the
natives can ride without difficulty from one island to the other.
Barca Gana led a thousand men on this expedition, and was
joined by four hundred of a Shouaa tribe, called Dugganahs,
enemies to the La Salas. These allies presented human na-
ture under a more pleasing aspect than it had yet been seen in
any part of Central Africa. They despise the negro nations,
and all who live in houses, and still more in cities ; while they
themselves reside in tents made t)f skin, collected into circular
camps, which they move periodically from place to place.
They live in simple plenty on the produce of their flocks and
herds, celebrate their joys and sorrows in extemporary poetry,
and seem to be united by the strongest ties of domestic affec-
tion. Tahr, their chief, having closely examined our traveller
as to the motives of his journey, said, " And have you been three
years from your home? Are not your eyes dimmed with
straining to the north, where all your thoughts must ever be ?
If my eyes do not see the wife and children of my heart for ten
days, they are flowing widi tears when they should be closed
in sleep." On taking leave, Tahr's parting wish was,* "May
you die at your own tents, and in the arms of your wife and
family." This chief, it is said, might have sat for the picture
of a patriarch : his fine, serious, expressive countenance, large
features, and long bushy beard afforded a favourable specimen
of the general aspect of his tribe.
The united forces now marched to the shores of the lake,
and began to reconnoitre the islands on which the Shouaas
with their catde and cavalry were stationed ; but the experi-
enced eye of Barca Gana soon discerned that the channel,
though shallow, was full of holes, and had a muddy, deceitful
appearance. He proposed, therefore, to delay the attack tifl a
resolute band of Kanemboo spearmen should arrive and lead the
way. The lowing, however, of the numerous herds, and the
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 441
bleating of the flocks on the green islands which lay before
them, excited in the troops a degree of hunger as well as of
military ardour that was quite irrepressible. They called out,
"What ! be so near them and not eat them? No, no, let us
on ; this night these flocks and women shall be ours !" Barca
Gana suffered himself to be hurried away, and plunged in
among the foremost. Soon, however, the troops began to sink
into the holes or stick in the mud ; their guns and powder
were wetted, and became useless ; while the enemy, who knew
every step, and could ride through the water as quickly as on
land, at once charged the invaders in front, and sent round a
detachment to take them in the rear. The assault was ac-
cordingly soon changed into a disgraceful flight, in which
those who had been the most loud in urging to this rash onset
set the example. Barca Gana, who had boasted himself in-
vulnerable, was deeply wounded through his coat-of-mail and
four cotton tohes, and was with difficulty rescued by his chiefs
out of the hands of five La Sala horsemen who had vowed his
death. The army returned to their quarters in disappointment
and dismay, and with a severe loss. During the whole night
the Dugganah women were heard bewailing their husbands
■who had fallen, in dirges composed for the occasion, and with
plaintive notes, which could not be listened to without the deep-
est sympathy. Major Denham was deterred by this disaster
from making any farther attempt to penetrate to the eastern
shores of the Tchad.
The Biddoomahs are another tribe who inhabit extensive
and rugged islands in the interior of the lake, amid its deep
waters, which they navigate with nearly a thousand large
boats. They neither cultivate the ground nor rear flocks or
herds, while their manners appeared to our traveller the rudest
and most savage even of Africans, those of the Musgow always
excepted. They are said to have adopted as a religious creed,
that God, having withheld from them corn and cattle, which
the nations around enjoy, has given in their stead strength
and courage, to be employed in taking these good things from
all in whose possession they may be found. To this belief
they act up in the most devout manner, spreading terror and
desolation over all the shores of this inland sea ; no part of
which, even in the immediate vicinity of the great capitals, is
for a moment secure from their ravages. The most powerful
and warlike of the Bornou sovereigns, finding among their
subjects neither the requisite skill nor experience in naviga-
tion, do not attempt to cope with the Biddoomahs on their
watery domains ; and thus gave up the lake to their undispu-
ted sway.
38
44*2 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON,
While Major Denham was thus traversing, in every direc-
tion, Bornou and the surrounding countries, Mr. Clapperton
and Dr. Oudney were proceeding through Houssa, by a route
less varied and hazardous indeed, but disclosing forms both of
nature and of society fully as interesting. They departed
from Kouka on the 14th of December, 1823, and, after passing
the site of Old Birnie, they found the banks of the Yeou fer-
tile, and diversified with towns and villages. On entering
Katagura, the most easterly Fellata province, they observed a
superior style of culture ; two crops of wheat being raised in
one season by irrigation, and the grain stored in covered sheds
elevated from the ground on posts. The country to the south
was covered with extensive swamps and mountains, tenanted
by rude and Pagan races, who furnish to the faithful an inex-
haustable supply of slaves. The practice of travelling with a
caravan was found very advantageous, from the mutual help
afforded, as well as from the good reports spread by the mer-
chants respecting their European companions. In Bornou
these last had been viewed with almost unmingled horror; and,
for having eaten their bread under the extremest necessity, a
man had his testimony rejected in a court of justice. Some
young Bornouese ladies, who accosted Major Denham, having
ventured to say a word in his favour, an attendant matron ex-
claimed, — " Be silent; he is an uncircumcised CafTre, — neither
washes nor prays, eats pork, and will go to hell ;" upon which
the others screamed out and ran off. But in Houssa this hor-
ror was not so extreme, and was mingled with the behef that
they possessed surprising and supernatural powers. Not only
did the sick come in crowds expecting the cure of every dis-
ease, but the ladies solicited amulets to restore their beauty, to
preserve the affections of their lovers, and even to destroy a
hated rival. The son of the governor of Kano, having called
upon Mr. Clapperton, stated it as the conviction of the whole
city and his own, that the English had the power of converting
men into asses, goats, and monkeys, and likewise that by
reading in his book he could at any time commute a handful of
earth into gold. The traveller, having argued with him upon
the difficulty he often found in procuring both asses and gold,
induced him, with trembhng hands, to taste a cup of tea; when
he became more composed, and made a soit of recantation of
his errors.
As the caravan proceeded they met many other travellers,
and found sitting along the road numerous females, selling
potatoes, beans, bits of roasted meat, and water with an infu-
sion of gussub grains; and when they stopped at any place
for the night, the people crowded in such numbers as to form
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON. 443
a little fair. Mr. Clapperton attracted the notice of many of
the Fellata ladies, who, after examining him closely, declared,
that had he only been less white, his external appearance
might have merited approbation.
The travellers passed through Sansan, a great market-place
divided into three distinct towns, and Katagum, the strongly-
fortified capital of the province, containing about eight thou-
sand inhabitants. Thence they- proceeded to Murmur, where
the severe illness under which Dr. Oudney had long laboured
came to a crisis. Though now in the last stage of consump-
tion, he insisted on continuing his journey, and with the aid
of his servant had been supported to his camel, when Mr.
Clapperton, seeing the ghastliness of death on his counten-
ance, insisted on replacing him in his tent ; where soon after,
without a groan, he breathed his last. His companion caused
him to be buried with the honours of the country. The body
was washed, wrapped in turban-shawls, and a wall of clay
built round the grave to protect it from wild beasts ; two sheep
also were killed and distributed among the poor.
Proceeding onwards, the traveller came to Katungwa, the
first town of Houssa Proper, in a country well enclosed and
under high cultivatioi;. To the south was an extensive range
of rocky hills, amid which was the town of Zangeia, with its
buildings picturesquely scattered over masses of rock. He
passed also Girkwa, near a river of the same name, which ap-
pears to come from these hills, and to fall into the Yeou.
Two days after, he entered Rano, which is now, as it was
six hundred years ago, the chief commercial city of Houssa
and of all Central Africa. Yet it disappointed our traveller on
his first entry, and for a quarter of a mile scarcely appeared a
city at all. Even in its more crowded quarters the houses
rose generally in clusters, only separated by large stagnant
pools. The inhabited part, on the whole, did not appear to
comprise more than a fourth of the space enclosed by the
walls, while the rest consisted of fields, gardens, and swamps;
however, as the whole circuit is fifteen miles, there is space for
a population moderately estimated to be between thirty and
forty thousand. Its market, the greatest scene of commercial
transactions in Africa, is held on a neck of land between two
swamps, by which, during the rains, it is entirely overflowed ;
but in the dry season it is covered with sheds, or stalls of bam-
boo, arranged into regular streets. Different quarters are
allotted for the several kinds of goods ; some for cattle, others
for vegetables ; while fruits of various descriptions, so much
neglected in Bornou, are here displayed in profusion. The
fine cotton fabrics of the country are sold either in webs, or in
444
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
what are called tohes and turJcadees, with rich silken stripes or
borders ready to be added. Among the favourite articles are
goora or kolla nuts, which are called African coffee, being
supposed to give a peculiar relish to the water drunk after
them ; and crude antimony, with whose black tint every eye-
brow in Houssa must be dyed. The Arabs also dispose here
of sundry commodities that have become obsolete in the north ;
the cast-off dresses of the Mamelukes and other great men,
and old sword-blades from Malta. But the busiest scene is
the slave-market, composed of two long ranges of sheds, one
for males and another for females. These poor creatures are
seated in rows, decked out for exhibition ; the buyer scrutini-
zes them as nicely as a purchaser with us does a horse, in-
specting the tongue, teeth, eyes, and limbs, making them
cough and perform various movements, to ascertain if there be
any thing unsound ; and in case of a blemish appearing, or
even without assigning a reason, he may return them within
three days. As soon as the slaves are sold, the exposer gets
back their finery, to be employed in ornamenting others.
Most of the captives purchased at Rano are conveyed across
the Desert, during which their masters endeavour to keep up
their spirits by an assurance that, on passing its boundary,
they will be set free and dressed in red, which they account
the gayest of colours. Supplies, however, often fail in this
dreary journey, — a want felt first by the slaves, many of whom
perish with hunger and fatigue. Mr. Clapperton heard the
doleful tale of a mother who had seen her child dashed to the
ground, while she herself was compelled by the lash to drag
on an exhausted frame. Yet when at all tolerably treated,
they are very gay, — an observation generally made in regard
to slaves ; but this gayety, arising only from the absence of
thought, probably conceals much secret wretchedness.
Boxing in Houssa, like wresthng in Bornou, forms a favour-
ite exercise, and the grand national spectacle. Mr. Clapper-
ton, having heard much of the fanci/ of Kano, intimated his
willingness to pay for a performance, which was forthwith
arranged. The whole body of butchers attended, and acted
as masters of the ceremonies ; while, as soon as the tidings
spread, girls left their pitchers at the wells, the market people
threw down their baskets, and an immense crowd was assem-
bled. The ring being formed, and drums beat, the performers
first came forward singly, plying their muscles like a musician
tuning his instrument, and each calling out to the bystanders,
"I am a hyena ; I am a lion ; I can kill all that oppose me."
After about twenty had shown oft' in this manner, they came
forward in pairs, wearing only a leathern girdle, and with their
DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
445
hands muffled up in numerous folds of country cloth. It was
iirst ascertained that they were not mutual friends ; after
which, they closed with the utmost fury, aiming their blows at
the most mortal parts, as the pit of the stomach, beneath the
ribs, or under the ear : they even endeavoured to scoop out
the eyes ; so that, in spite of every precaution, the match often
terminated in the death of one of the combatants. Whenever
Mr. Clapperton saw the affair verging to such an issue, he gave
orders to stop ; and, after seeing six pairs exhibit, paid the
hire and broke up the meeting.
From Kano he set out under the guidance of Mohammed
Jollie, leader of an extensive caravan intended for Sackatoo,
capital of the sultan of the Fellatas. The country was per-
haps the finest in Africa, being under high cultivation, diversi-
fied with groves of noble trees, and traversed in a picturesque
manner by ridges of granite. The manners of the people, too,
were pleasing and pastoral. At many clear springs gushing
from the rocks young women were drawing water. As an ex-
cuse for engaging in talk, our traveller asked several times for
the means of quenching his thirst. " Bending gracefully on
one knee, and displaying at the same time teeth of pearly
whiteness, and eyes of the blackest lustre, they presented a
gourd, and appeared highly delighted when I thanked them
for their civility, remarking to one another, * Did you hear the
white man thank meT" But the scene was changed when
the traveller reached the borders of the provinces of Goober
and Zamfra, which were in a state of rebellion against Sacka-
too. The utmost alarm at that moment prevailed ; men and
women, with their bullocks, asses, and camels, all struggled
to be foremost, every one crying out, " Wo to the wretch that
falls behind ! he will be sure to meet an unhappy end at the
hands of the Gboberites." There was danger even of being
thrown down and trampled to death by the bullocks, which
were furiously rushing backward and forward ; however,
through the unremitting care of the escort, Clapperton made
his way safely, though not without much fatigue and annoy-
ance, along this perilous frontier.
On the 16th of March, 1824, after passing through the hilly
district of Kamoon, the valleys began to open, and crowds of
people were seen thronging to market with wood, onions, indi-
go, and other commodities. This indicated the approach to
Sackatoo, which they soon saw from the top of a hill, and en-
tered about noon. A muhitude flocked to see the white stran-
ger, and received him with cheers of welcome. The sultan
was not yet returned from a ghrazzie or slave-hunt ; but the
gadado, or minister, performed handsomely the honours of the
38*
446 DENHAM AND CLAPPERTON.
place. Next day the chief arrived, and instantly sent for
Clapperton. The palace, as usual in Africa, consisted of a
sort of enclosed town, with an open quadrangle in front. The
stranger, on entering the gate, was conducted through three
huts serving as guard-houses, after which he found Sultan
Bello seated on a small carpet in a sort of painted and orna-
mented cottage. Bello had a noble and commanding figure,
with a high forehead and large black eyes. He gave the trav-
eller a hearty welcome, and, after inquiring the particulars of
his journey, proceeded to serious affairs. He produced books
belonging to Major Denham, which had been taken in the
disastrous battle of DirkuUah ; and, though he expressed a
feeling of dissatisfaction at the Major's presence on that occa-
sion, readily accepted an apology, and restored the volumes.
He only asked to have the subject of each explained, and to
hear the sound of the language, which he declared to be beau-
tiful. He then began to press his visiter with theological ques-
tions, and showed himself not wholly unacquainted with the
controversies which have agitated the Christian world ; indeed
he soon went beyond the depth of his visiter, who was obliged
to own that he was not versant in the abstruser mysteries of
divinity.
The sultan now opened a frequent and famihar communi-
cation with the English envoy, in which he showed himself
possessed of a good deal of information. The astronomical
instruments, from which, as from implements of magic, many
of his attendants started with horror, were examined by the
monarch with an intelligent eye. On being shown the plani-
sphere, he proved his knowledge of the planets, and even of
many of the constellations, by repeating their Arabic names.
The telescope, which presented objects inverted — the compass,
by which he could always turn to the east in praying — and the
sextant, which he called "the looking-glass of the sun," exci-
ted peculiar interest. Being desirous to see an observation
performed with the latter instrument, Clapperton, who had lost
the key of the artificial horizon, asked a dagger to break it
open ; upon which the sultan started, and half-drew his sword,
trembling like an aspen leaf. The other very prudently took
no notice of this excitement, but quietly opened his box, when
the exhibition soon dispelled all unfavourable impressions.
The sultan, however, inquired with evident jealousy into some
points of Enghsh history that had come to his knowledge; as,
the conquest of India, which the traveller endeavoured to re-
present as a mere arrangement to protect the natives, and par-
ticularly the Moslem population. The attack on Algiers, be-
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 447
ing also alluded to, was justly declared to have been made
solely on account of her atrocious piracies.
Sackatoo appeared to Mr. Clapperton the most populous
city he had seen in the interior of Africa. The houses stand
more closely together than in most other towqs of Houssa,
and are laid out in regularly well-built streets. It is surround-
ed by a wall between twenty and thirty feet high, with twelve
gates, which are punctually shut at sunset. The dwellings of
the principal inhabitants consist of clusters of cottages and
flat-roofed houses, in the Moorish style, enclosed by high walls.
There are two mosques, one of which, then in progress of
building, was eight hundred feet long, adorned with numerous
pillars of wood plastered with clay, and highly ornamented.
At Sackatoo, the traveller obtained an account of Mr. Park's
death, very closely corresponding with the statement given by
Amadi Fatonma. The Niger, it appears, called here the
Quorra, after passing Timbuctoo, turns to the south, and con-
tinues to flow in that direction till it crosses the parallel of
Sackatoo, at only a few days' journey to the westward ; but
whether it reaches the sea, or, making an immense circuit,
becomes the Shary, and pours itself into the immense basin of
the Tchad, are points on which his informants varied greatly.
Returning by a different route, Mr. Clapperton visited Zir-
mie, the capital of Zamfra, a kind of outlawed city, the inhab-
itants of which are esteemed the greatest rogues in Houssa,
and where all runaway slaves find protection. He passed also
through Kashna or Cassina, the metropolis of a kingdom
which, till the late rise of the Fellata power, had ruled over all
Africa from Bornou to the Niger.
Mr. Clapperton rejoined Major Denham at Kouka, whence
they set out, and recrossed the Desert together in the latter
part of the year 1824. They reached Tripoli in January,
1825, and soon after embarked for Leghorn ; but being de-
tained by contrary winds and quarantine regulations, did not
reach London till the month of June.
CLAPPERTON'S SECOND JOURNEY.
It has appeared, that in spite of some occasional symptoms
of jealousy, and even of alarm, the sultan of the Fellatas had
manifested a very considerable inclination to cultivate inter-
course with the Enghsh. He was even understood to have
promised that messengers should be kept in waiting at Rakah
and Fundah, or at some port on the coast, to conduct a new
448 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
mission to Sackatoo. These promises, it is extremely proba-
ble, were mere inferences drawn from the empty boasts of the
sultan ; he being master neither of Rakah nor Fundah, nor of
any place within a great distance of the Gulf of Benin. Be
this as it may, there seemed good ground to expect a welcome
for the British envoys when they should reach his capital ; and
in that direction, it was conjectured, were to be found the ter-
mination of the Niger, and also the most direct channel of trade
with regions already ascertained to be the finest in Africa.
These were views to which the enterprising statesmen who
conducted the naval government at home were never insensi-
ble. They equipped afresh Mr. Clapperton, now promoted to
the rank of captain, and sent him to the Gulf of Benin; naming
as his associates, Captain Pearce, an excellent draftsman, and
Mr. Morrison, a naval surgeon of some experience, whose skill,
it was hoped, might be of great avail in preserving the health
of the whole expedition.
The mission, in the end of 1825, reached its destination ;
but, as might perhaps have been anticipated, they could hear
nothing of Rakah or of Fundah, of any messengers sent by
Bello, nor of any town that was subject to him on this coast.
They were not, however, discouraged; and having consulted
Mr. Houtson, whom a long residence had made thoroughly
acquainted with the country, they were advised not to attempt
ascending the banks of the river, — a circuitous track, and cov-
ered with pestilential swamps, — but to take the route from Ba-
dagry as the most direct and commodious, and by which, in
fact, almost all the caravans from Houssa come down to the
coast.
On the 7th of December, 1825, the mission set out from
Badagry on this grand journey into Interior Africa. But at
the very first they were guilty of a fatal imprudence. During
the nights of the 7th and 9th they slept in the open air, and on
the last occasion in the public market-place of Dagmoo, with-
out even their beds, which had been sent away by mistake.
The consequence was, that in a day or two Morrison and
Pearce were attacked with a dangerous fever, and Clapperton
with fits of ague. It does not appear why they did not stop
in one of the towns, and endeavour by rest to recruit their
strength ; on the contrary, they pushed on till the 22d, when
Captain Clapperton, seeing the illness of his companions in-
crease, urged them either to remain behind or return to Bada-
gry. They insisted on proceeding ; but next day Dr. Morri-
son could struggle no longer, and departed for the coast : he
died before reaching it. Captain Pearce persevered to the
last, and sunk on the road, breathing his last at nine in the
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 44^
evening of the 27th. Clapperton was thus left to pursue his
long and adventurous journey in very painful and desolate
circumstances. He had only a faithful servant, Richard
Lander, v^^ho stood by him in all his fortunes, with Pascoe, a
not very trusty African, whom he had hired at Badagry.
After a journey of sixty miles, the travellers entered the
kingdom of Yarriba, called also from its capital Eyeo. This
country had long been reported on the coast as the most popu-
lous, powerful; and flourishing of all Western Africa, holding
even Dahomey in vassalage. It answered the most favoura-
ble descriptions given of it; the fields were extensively cleared,
and covered with thriving plantations of Indian corn, millet,
yams, and cotton. A loom nearly similar to that used in
England was busily plied ; the women were spinning and
dyeing the cloths with their fine indigo. These African dames
were also seen going from town to town bearing large burdens
on their heads, — an employment shared by the numerous
wives of the king of Eyeo ; their majesties having nothing to
distinguish them from the humblest of their fellow-country-
women. Amid these laudable occupations, they exercised
their powers of speech with such incessant perseverance as to
confirm the Captain in what appears to have been with him an
old maxim, that no power on earth, not even African despot-
ism, can silence a woman's tongue ; yet, as this loquacity
seems to have been always exerted in kindness, he need not,
we think, have groaned quite so heavily under its stunning in-
fluence.
The Enghsh travellers were agreeably surprised by the re-
ception which they experienced during this journey. In
Houssa they had laboured under the most dire proscription as
Caffres, enemies of the prophet, and foredoomed to hell ; and,
as black is there the standard of beauty, their colour was con-
sidered by the ladies a deep leprous deformity, detracting from
every quality that might otherwise have been agreeable in
their persons. With the negro and pagan Eyeos there was no
religious enmity ; and having understood, by reports from the
coast, the superiority of Europeans in arts and wealth, this
people viewed them almost as beings of a superior order, to
see whom they felt an eager and friendly curiosity. A rumour
had also spread that they came to do good, and to make peace
wherever there was war. On entering any town they were
soon encircled by thousands, all desirous to see white men,
and testifying respect, — the males by taking off" their caps, the
women by bending on their knees and one elbow. In some
places singing and dancing were kept up through the whole
night in celebration of their arrival.
450 HUGH CLAPPERTOHr.
The mission had now to cross a range of hiUs about eighty
miles broad, reported to reach the whole way from behind
Ashantee to Benin. The highest pinnacle was not supposed
to exceed two thousand five hundred feet, which is a good deal
lower than Skiddaw; but its passes were peculiarly narrow
and rugged, hemmed in by gigantic blocks of granite six hun-
dred or seven hundred feet high, sometimes fearfully overhang-
ing the road. Thejalley varied iu breadth from one hundred
yards to half a mile; but every level spot, extending along the
foot of these mountains, or even suspended amid their cliffs,
was covered with fine crops of yams, millet, and cotton. A
large population thus filled these alpine recesses, all animated
with the most friendly spirit. Parties met the travellers on the
road, or were stationed on the rocks and heights above, which
echoed with choral songs and sounds of welcome. After as-
cending hill over hill they came toChaki,a large and populous
town, situated on the very summit of the ridge. Here the
caboceer had a house and a large stock of provisions ready
for them ; he put many questions, and earnestly pleaded for a
stay of two or three days.
After descending to the plain and passing through a number
of other towns, the party came to Tshow, where a caboceer ar-
rived from the king of Yarriba, with a numerous train of attend-
ants both on foot and horseback. This chief, having shaken
hands with them, immediately rubbed his whole body, that the
blessing of their touch might be spread all over him. His peo-
ple kept up through the night a constant hubbub, — singing,
drumming, dancing, and firing; and, claiming free quarters,
they devoured such a quantity of provisions that the party
fared worse than in any other place. Next morning they set
out with a crowded escort of bawmen on foot, and of horse-
men ill-mounted but active, dressed in the most grotesque
manner, and covered with charms. On reaching the brow of
a hill, the great capital of Eyeo opened to the view, on the
opposite side of a vast plain bordered by a ridge of granite
hills and surrounded by a brilliant belt of verdure. On reach-
ing the gate they entered the house of a caboceer, till notice was
sent to the king, who immediately invited them to his palace.
They had five miles to march through this spacious capital,
during which the muUitude collected was so immense, and
raised such a cloud of dust, that they must have stopped short,
had not their escort, by a gentle but steady application of the
whip and the cane, opened a way, and finally cleared a space
in front of the throne. The king was sitting under a veranda,
dressed in two long cotton robes, and ornamented with three
strings of glass beads, and a pasteboard crown covered with
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 451
blue cotton, which had been procured from the coast. The
mission, instead of the usual prostration, merely took off their
hats, bowed, and presented their hands, which the king lifted
up three times, calling out, " Ako ! ako !" (How do you do 1)
His wives behind, drawn up in a dense body, which the tra-
vellers vainly attempted to number, raised loud cheers, and
smiled in the most gracious manner. After an interview of
half an hour, the chief eunuch showed the party to handsome
and commodious lodgings, where a good dinner was prepared.
In the evening they were surprised by a visit from his majesty
in plain patriarchal style, with a long staff in his hand, saying
that he could not sleep without again inquiring after them.
Eyeo, or Ratunga, capital of the kingdom of Yarriba, is
fifteen miles in circumference, and supplied by seven large
markets ; but there are many open fields and spaces in this
wide circuit, and hence the number of inhabitants could not
even be conjectured. The population of the country must
be very great, the whole being under cultivation, and the towns
large and numerous. The government, in theory, is most
despotic. The greatest chiefs, when they approach the sove-
reign, throw themselves prostrate on the ground, lie flat on
their faces, and heap sand or dust upon their heads ; and the
same degrading homage is paid to the nobles by their inferiors.
Yet the administration seems mild and paternal ; no instances
of wanton cruelty were observed; and the flourishing state of
the people showed clearly the absence of all severe oppression.
The horrid and bloody customs, which produce such dark
scenes in Ashantee and Dahomey, were mentioned here with
detestation. At the death of the king only, a few of his princi-
pal ministers and favourite wives take poison, presented to
them in parrot's eggs, that they may accompany and serve
him in the invisible world. The first question asked by every
caboceer and great man was, how many wives the king of
England had? being prepared, it should seem, to measure his
greatness by that standard; but when told that he had only
one, they gave themselves up to a long and ungovernable fit of
laughter, followed by expressions of pity and wonder how he
could possibly exist in that destitute condition. The king of
Yarriba's boast was, that his wives, hnked hand in hand, would
reach entirely across the kingdom. Queens, however, in
Africa are applied to various uses, of which Europeans have
little idea. They were seen forming a large band of body-
guards ; and their majesties were observed in every part of
the kingdom acting as porters, and bearing on their heads
enormous burdens ; so that whether they should be called
^queens or slaves seems scarcely doubtful.
452 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
The Eyeos, like other nations purely negro, are wholly un-
acquainted with letters or any form of writing ; these are
known only to the Arabs or Fellatas, who penetrate thither in
small numbers ; yet they have a great deal of extemporary
poetry. Every great man has bands of singers of both sexes,
who constantly attend him, and loudly celebrate his achieve-
ments in poems of their own composition. The convivial
meetings of the people, even their labours and journeys, are
cheered by songs composed for the occasion, and sung often
with considerable taste. Their houses are mere clay-built
cottages, yet studiously adorned with carving; the door-posts
and every piece of furniture are covered with well-executed
representations of warlike processions, and of the movements
of huge serpents seizing their prey. They have also public
performances, which do not indeed deserve the name of dra-
matic, as they consist of mere mimicry and buffoonery. The
first act of a piece witnessed by the strangers exhibited men
dancing in sacks, who performed their part to admiration.
One of the bags opened, and there came forth the boa con-
strictor, fourteen feet long, covered with cotton cloth, imitating
the colour and stripes of the original. Though rather full in
the body, it presented very nearly the form, and imitated well
the actions, of that huge animal. The mouth was opened
wide, probably by two hands, to devour a warrior armed with
a sword, who had come forth to contend with this formidable
creature, and who struck it with repeated blows, till it writhed
in agony, and finally expired. Lastly, out of another sack
came the white devil, a meagre, shivering figure, and so paint-
ed as to represent an European. It took snuff*, rubbed its
hands, and attempted, in the most awkward manner, to walk
on its naked feet. The audience, amid shouts of laughter,
called the particular attention of the captain to this perform-
ance ; which being really good, he deemed it advisable to join
in the mirth.
As soon as our traveller was fixed at Eyeo, he began to ne-
gotiate in regard to the means of advancing into Houssa,
anxious to pass through that country and reach Bornou before
the rains should set in. The king had professed a determina-
tion to serve him in every shape ; but this proved to be the very
thing in which he was least incHned to fulfil his promise. All
African princes seek to make a monopoly of the strangers who
enter their territory. It was hinted, that one journey was well
and fully employed in seeing the kingdom of Yarriba and
visiting its great monarch. Captain Clapperton, having
pleaded the positive command of his sovereign, was then in-
formed that the direct route through Nyff*e was much disturbed
HUGH CLAPPEHTON. 453
by civil war, the inroad of the Feilatas, and the insurrection
of a great body of Houssa slaves, — reports suspected at the
time to have been got up merely to detain the travellers, but
afterward found to be correct. The king absolutely refused
permission to proceed to Rakah, though situated on the Niger
at the distance of only three days' journey ; but he undertook
to convey them to Houssa by a safer though somewhat circui-
tous route, through the kingdom of Borgoo.
After passing through a number of smaller places, the mis-
sion arrived at Riama, capital of a district of the same name,
and containing thirty thousand inhabitants. Kiama, Wawa,
Niki, and Boussa are provinces composing the kingdom of
Borgoo, all subject in a certain sense to the sovereign of Bous-
sa ; but the different cities plunder and make war on each
other, without the slightest regard to the supreme authority.
The people of Kiama and of Borgoo in general have the re-
putation of being the greatest thieves and robbers in all Africa ;
a character which nothing in their actual conduct appeared to
confirm. Clapperton was well received at Kiama ; and the
king soon visited him with the most singular train ever seen
by an European. Six young girls, without any apparel ex-
cept a fillet on the forehea^d, and a string of beads round the
waist, carrying each three light spears, ran by the side of his
horse, keeping pace with it at full gallop. " Their light form,
the vivacity of their eyes, and the ease with which they appear-
ed to fly over the ground, made them appear something more
than mortal." On the king's entrance, the young ladies laid
down their spears, wrapped themselves in blue mantles, and
attended on his majesty. On his taking leave, they discarded
their attire ; he mounted his horse, " and away went the most
extraordinary cavalcade I ever saw in my life." Our traveller
was visited by the principal queen, who had lost her youth
and charms ; but a good deal of flirtation passed between him
and the eldest daughter, who, however, being twenty -five,
was considered in Africa as already on the wane. Yarro, the
king, was extremely accommodating, and no difficulty was
found in proceeding onward to Wawa.
Wawa is a large city, containing eighteen thousand inhabi-
tants, enriched by the constant passage of the Houssa cara-
vans. The people spend the wealth thus acquired in dissolute
pleasure, and have been denounced by our traveller as the
most complete set of roaring topers he had ever known. The
festivities were usually prolonged till near morning, and the
town resounded through the whole night with the song, the
dance, the castanet, and the Arab guitar. The Wawa ladies
paid a very particular and rather troublesome attention to the
39
454 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
English party. The Captain complains of being pestered by
the governor's daughter, who came several times a-day, always
half-tipsy, painted and bedizened in the highest style of Afri-
can finery, to make love to him ; and on meeting only with
cold excuses, she departed usually in a flood of tears. But the
most persevering suit was that of Zuma, an Arab widow, pos-
sessor of a thousand slaves, and the second personage in
Wawa. Being turned of twenty, she was considered here as
past her bloom, and a too ample indulgence in the luxuries
which her wealth afforded had enlarged her dimensions till
they could be justly likened to those of a huge water-cask j
yet she had still some beauty, and, being only of a deep-brown
complexion, considered herself white, and was in the most
eager search after a white husband. In this pursuit she cast
her eyes first upon the servant, to whom our traveller hesitates
not to assign the palm of good looks in preference to himself;
and he gave Lander full permission to, follow his fortune. But
that sage person, unmoved by all her charms and possessions,
repelled the overture in so decided a manner, that the widow
soon saw there was nothing to be made of him. She " then
withdrew her artillery from Lander, and directed it entirely
against his master, the Captain, to whom she laid very close
siege. At length, in a frolic, he agreed to visit her. He found
her surrounded by every circumstance of African pomp, seated
cross-legged on a piece of Turkey carpet, with an English
pewter mug for her goora-pot, and dressed in a rich striped
silk and cotton robe of country manufacture. Her eyebrows
were dyed black, her hair blue, her hands and feet red; neck-
laces and girdles of beads, coral, and gold profusely adorned
her person. She made a display of additional finery lodged
in her repositories, leading him through a series of apartments,
one of which was ornamented with a number of pewter dishes
and bright brass pans. After these preliminaries, she at once
declared her wish to accompany him on his journey, and pro-
posed to send forthwith for a malem, or holy man, to read the
fatka, by which their fates would be indissolubly united. Clap-
perton, who seems to have been completely stunned by this
proposal, stammered out the best apology he could, and has-
tened away. His conduct, however, does not appear to have
been so decisive as to deter the lady from the most energetic
perseverance in her suit. She even obtained his permission
for his servant Pascoe to accept a wife from among her slaves;
but he was not aware that, according to African ideas, she had
thus' acquired a sort of claim to himself.
Regardless of all these tender solicitations, our traveller had
no sooner completed his arrangements than he set out for the
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 455
Niger, leaving directions for his baggage to join him at the
ferry of Comie, while he went round by way of Boussa. We
shall follow him at present to the former place, where he did
not find any of his baggage, but learned that the widow,
having placed it under arrest, had left Wawa with drums beat-
ing and a numerous train ; and besides, that she claimed a
full right to his person, because his servant Pascoe had ac-
cepted a wife at her hand. It was whispered, moreover, that
she was meditating to supplant the governor, — a scheme
which, aided by the personal bravery of the strangers, she
might probably realize, — and afterward she meant to invite
the Captain to ascend the throne of Wawa. " It would have
been a fine end to my journey, indeed," says he, "if I had de-
posed old Mohammed, and set up for myself, with a walking
tunbutt for a queen." Scarcely had he received this account
when a present from the widow intimated her arrival in a
neighbouring village. Our author, however, insensible to all
the brilliant hopes thus opened, set off full speed for Wawa to
recover his baggage. On his arrival, the governor refused to
liberate it till Zuma's return, — Clapperton in vain protesting
that his movements and hers had no sort of connexion.
However, next day, the sound of drums was heard, and the
widow made her entree in full pomp, astride on a very fine
horse, with housings of scarlet cloth, trimmed with lace.
The large circumference of her own person was invested in a
red silk mantle, red trowsers, and morocco boots; and numer-
ous spells, sewed variously in coloured leather, were hung all
round her. She was followed by a train of armed attendants,
and preceded by a drummer decked in ostrich feathers. On
the whole, the scene was so splendid, that our hero's resolution
seems fora moment to have wavered. However, his part was
soon taken. Pascoe was directed to return his wife, and thus
extinguish all claim that could be founded upon her ; and
having received his baggage our traveller set forward without
even admitting the fond widow to any further conference.
On his way to Comie, Clapperton had visited Boussa, a
place chiefly interesting as the scene where the career of Park
terminated in a manner so tragical. Every thing tended to
confirm the report of Amadi Fatouma, and to dispel the skep-
ticism with which it had been originally regarded. The king,
however, and all the citizens, spoke of the event with deep
grief and reluctance, and disavowed all personal concern in the
transaction. One man gave as the reason of the attack on the
discoverers, that the English had been mistaken for the ad-
vanced guard of the Fellatas,who were then ravaging Soudan.
It was added, that a number of natives died in consequence,
456 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
as was imagined, of eating the meat found in the boats, which
was supposed to be human flesh. That the Enghsh have no
abode but on the sea, and that they eat the flesh of the negroes
whom they purchase, are it seems, two ideas most widely
prevalent over Africa. Even the king of Boussa could scarcely
be brought to beheve that they had a spot of land to dwell
upon. The Captain and his party were received, however,
with the same kindness and cordiality which they had expe-
rienced ever since they entered the country. Seven boats
were here waiting for them, sent by the sultan of Youri, with
a letter, in which he earnestly solicited a visit, and promised,
on that condition, and on that only, to deliver up the books and
papers of Park. It is deeply to be regretted that our traveller
could not reconcile it with his plans to go to Youri at this time,
proposing to visit it on his return, which, it is well known,
never took place.
On crossing the Niger, Captain Clapperton entered Nyffe,
a country which had always been reported to him as the finest,
most industrious, and most flourishing in Africa; but he found
it, as indeed he had been forewarned by the king of Yarriba,
a prey to the most desolating civil war. The succession being
disputed between two princes, one of them called in the Fella-
tas, and, by giving up his country to their ravages, obtained
the privilege of reigning over its ruins. Our traveller, in his
journey to the sansan or camp, saw only wasted towns, plan-
tations choked with weeds, and a few remnants of a miserable
population. This African camp consisted of a number of huts
like bee-hives, arranged in streets, with men weaving, women
spinning, markets at every green tree, holy men counting their
beads, and dissolute slaves drinking ; so that, but for the num-
ber of horses and armed men, and the drums beating, it might
have been mistaken for a populous village.
Amid this desolation, two towns, Koolfu and Kufu, being
walled and situated on the high road of the Hussa caravans,
had protected themselves in some measure from the common
calamity, and were still flourishing seats of trade. All the
merchants halted for some time at Koolfu, and those from Bor-
nou seldom went farther. The market was crowded with the
same articles as that of Kano. The Moslem religion was the
most prevalent ; but it had not yet moulded society into the
usual gloomy monotony; nor had it succeeded in secluding
or subjecting the female sex, who, on the contrary, were the
most active agents in every mercantile transaction. Our
traveller knew twenty-one female brokers living at the same
time in one house, who went about continually from market to
market. Many had amassed considerable wealth, and were
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 457
persons of great consequence, — quite in their own right.
Elated with this distinction, they claimed considerable latitude
as to their deportment, and spent whole nights with the men
in singing and drinking, — a species of indulgence very preva-
lent in all these entrepots of African trade. The English,
however, experienced here none of the bigoted enmity which
they had encountered in other Moslem cities. On the con-
trary, they were the objects of much kindness ; the principal
people of the place sent presents, and the lower ranks sought
to obtain a sight of them by mounting the trees which over-
looked their residence. The Koran does not seem to have
much embarrassed the Koolfuans. Their only mode of study-
ing it was, to have the characters written with a black sub-
stance on a piece of board, then to wash them off, and drink
the water ; and when asked by our traveller what spiritual
benefit could be derived from the mere swallowing of dirty
water, they indignantly retorted, — "What! do you call the
name of God dirty waterT' This mode of imbibing sacred
truth is indeed extensively pursued throughout the interior of
the African continent.
Captain Clapperton passed next through Kotongkora and
Guari, two states which, united in a league with Cubbi and
Youri, had shaken off the yoke of the Fellatas. Guari,
strongly situated among hills, could bring a thousand horse
into the field. He then entered Zeg-zeg, a Fellata country,
which, especially around Zaria, its capital, seems to be one of
the very finest in all Africa. It was beautifully variegated
with hill and dale, like the finest parts of England, was cov-
ered with plentiful crops and rich pastures, and produced the
finest rice grown in any part of that continent. Rows of tall
trees, resembling gigantic avenues of poplar, extended from
hill to hill. Zaria, like many other African cities, might be
considered as a district of country surrounded with walls.
When the Captain entered, he saw for some time only fields
of grain, with the tops of houses rising behind them ; still such
was its extent, that its population was said to exceed that of
Kano, and to amount to at least fifty thousand. *
Setting out from Zaria, he soon reached his old quarters at
Kano; but he unfortunately found that great city in a state of
dreadful agitation. There was war on every side ; hostilities
had been declared between the king of Bornou and the Fella-
tas ; the provinces of Zamfra and Goobur were in open insur-
rection ; the Tuaricks threatened an inroad ; in short, there
was not a quarter to which the merchants durst send a cara-
van. Kano being nearly midway between Bornou and Sack-
atoo, Clapperton left his baggage there to be conveyed to the
39*
458 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
former on his return, and set out for the capital of Bello, bear-
ing only the presents destined for that prince. On his way he
found numerous bands mustering to form an army destined to
attack Coonia, the rebel metropolis of Goobur. The appear-
ance of these troops was very striking as they passed along the
borders of some beautiful little lakes formed by the riv^r Zir-
mie. These waters were bordered by forests of flowering
acacias, with dark-green leaves, the shadows of which were
reflected on the smooth surface of the lake like sheets of bur-
nished gold and silver. " The smoking fires, the sounding of
horns, the beating of their gongs or drums, the braying of
their brass and tin trumpets, every where the calls on the
names of Mohammed, Abda, Mustapha, with the neighing of
horses and the braying of asses, gave animation to the beau-
tiful scenery of the lake, and its sloping green and woody
banks."
At length the army mustered to the number of fifty or sixty
thousand, chiefly on foot ; a rude feudal host, arranging them-
selves according to their provinces and chiefs, without any
military order. In a short time, they formed a dense circle
around the walls of Coonia. Captain Clapperton expected to
see some brilliant exploit performed by the united force of this
great army, commanded by the sultan and Gadado in person.
The whole, however, both horse and foot, kept carefully out
of the reach of the arrows, which, with a sure and steady aim,
the enemy directed against them. From time to time indeed
a doughty warrior, well covered with armour, rode up, calling,
"Shields to the wall ! Why don't you come on?" but he in-
stantly and quickly rode back, amid the derisive shouts of his
countrymen. The only parties who exposed themselves to
real danger were a few chiefs, in quilted armour, ornamented
with gaudy robes and ostrich plumes, and of such weight that
two men were required to lift them on horseback : several of
them were brought down by the fire of one well-directed
musket from the walls. Evening closed without any thing
being efi^^ected by this band of heroes ; and in the middle of
the night,^n alarm being raised of a sally from the garrison,
the whole besieging army began a tumultuous flight, tumbling
over each other and upsetting every thing in their way, think-
ing only how they might soonest escape from danger. The
retreat was continued through the wliole of the following day
and night, no halt having taken place till ten of the second
morning. Thus closed this memorable campaign.
Clapperton, at the sultan's suggestion, repaired to Sackatoo
(which he now calls Soccatoo ;) the monarch himself remain-
ing behind at Magaria, a neighbouring town, which he was
HUGH CLAPPERTOX. 459
raising into a new capital. The traveller's time was spent be-
tween the two places. He found, however, an entire change
in the feelings of kindness and cordiality towards himself,
which had been so remarkably displayed in the former jour-
ney. Jealousies had begun to fester in the breasts of the
African princes. They dreaded some ambitious design in
those repeated missions sent by England without any conceiv-
able motive; for, that men should undertake such long jour-
neys out of mere curiosity, they could never imagine. The
sultan accordingly had received a letter from the court of
Bornou, warning him that, by this very mode of sending em-
bassies and presents, which the English were now following
towards the states of Central Africa, they had made themselves
masters of India, and trampled on all its native princes. The
writer, therefore, gave it as his opinion that Clapperton should
immediately be put to death. An alarm had, in fact, been
spread throughout Sackatoo that the English were coming to
invade Houssa. The panic was groundless; no European
potentate would at present dream of attempting to conquer
those vast and almost inaccessible regions of Interior Africa.
However, with the imperfect knowledge possessed by these-
chiefs, and the facts before them relative to India, they had
scarcely the means of judging as to the foundation of their ap-
prehensions. The sultan, irritated doubtless .at the shameful
result of his grand expedition against Coonia, felt also another
and more pressing fear. War had just broken out between
himself and the king of Bornou ; Clapperton was on his way
to visit that prince, and had left six muskets at Kano, supposed
to be intended as presents to him ; and six muskets in Central
Africa, where the whole Fellata empire could scarcely muster
forty, were almost enough to turn the scale between these two
great military powers. Under the impulse of these feelings,
Bello proceeded to steps unworthy of a prince and a man of
honour. He demanded a sight of the letter which Clapperton
was conveying to the king of Bornou ; and when this was of
course refused, he seized it by violence. Lander was induced
by false pretences to bring the baggage from Kano to Sacka-
too, when forcible possession was taken of the six muskets.
The Captain loudly exclaimed against these proceedings, de-
claring them to amount to the basest robbery, to a breach of
all faith, and to be the worst actions of which any man could
be guilty. This was rather strong language to be used to a
sovereign, especially to one who could at any moment have
cut off his head ; and the minister even dropped hints as if
matters might come to that issue, though, in point of fact, the
government did not proceed to any personal violence. But^
460 g HUGH CLAPPERTOX.
from other causes, the career of this spirited and hitherto suc-
cessful traveller was now drawinjo^ to a close.
The strong constitution of Clapperton had till this period
enabled him to resist all the baneful influences of an African
climate. He had recovered, though perhaps not completely,
from the effects of the rash exposure which had proved fatal to
his two .companions ; but he had, when overcome with heat
and fatigue, in hunting at Magaria, lain down on a damp spot
in the open air, and was soon after seized with dysentery,
which continued to assume more alarming symptoms. Indeed,
after the seizure of the letter to the sultan of Bornou, he was
never, seen to smile, and in his sleep was heard addressing loud
reproaches to the Arabs. Unable to rise from bed, and de-
serted by all his African friends, who saw him no longer a
favourite at court, he was watched with tender care by his
faithful servant Richard Lander, who devoted his whole time
to attendance on his sick master. At length he called him to
his bedside, and said — " Richard, 1 shall shortly be no more, —
I feel myself dying." Almost choked with grief. Lander re-
plied, " God forbid, my dear master, — you will live many years
yet." But the other replied, "don't be so much affected, my
dear boy, I entreat you ; it is the will of the Almighty, it can-
not be helped." He then gave particular directions as to the
disposal of his papers, and of all that remained of his property;
to which strict attention was promised. "He then," says
Lander, " took my hand within his, and looking me full in the
face, while a tear stood glistening in his eye, said, in a low but
deeply-affecting tone, 'My dear Richard, if you had not been
with me I should have died long ago ; I can only thank you
with my latest breath for your kindness and attachment to me ;
and if I could have lived to return with you, you should have
been placed beyond the reach of want ; but God will reward
yoii.' " He still survived some days, and appeared even to
rally a httle ; but, one morning. Lander was alarmed by a
pecuhar rattling sound in his throat, and, hastening to the bed-
side, found him sitting up, and staring wildly around ; he laid
his head gently on the dying man's shoulder ; some indistinct
words quivered on his lips ; he strove, but ineffectually, to give
them utterance, and expired without a struggle or a sigh.
Bello seems to have repented in some degree of liis harsh
conduct, especially after news arrived of a great victory gained
by his troops over the sultan of Bornou. He allowed Lander
to perform the funeral obsequies with every mark of respect.
He also supplied him with the means of returning home, allow-
ing him to choose his road, though advising him to prefer that
through the Great Desert ; but Lander had already had too
HUGH CLAPPERTON. 461
many dealings with the Arabs, and therefore preferred his old
track through the negro countries.
On his arrival at Kano, Lander formed a spirited and highly-
laudable design, which proved him to be possessed of a mind
much superior to his station. This was nothing less than an
attempt to resolve the great question respecting the termination
of the Niger ; which he hoped to effect by proceeding to Fun-
dah, the place, everyone admits, at which the point may most
easily be determined, — whether it flows onward to the sea or
turns eastward into the interior. Lander, in order to reach that
city, proceeded due south, through a country diversified with
rising ground, but still presenting the same fertile and luxuri-
ant aspect as that through which he had just passed. He was
told, however, that to the south there was a very elevated
mountainous region, inhabited by a savage people called
Yemyems. These are probably the Lamlam of Edrisi, re-
ported to be devourers of human flesh, and who were said to
have lately killed and eaten a whole caravan ; since which
time no one had been much inclined to go near them. The
chief place through which Lander passed was Cuttup, compo-
sed of five hundred little villages, clustered together, and form-
ing the market for a very great extent of country. The king's
wives were vastly delighted to receive one or two gilt buttons
from the traveller's jacket ; and, imagining them to be pure
gold, fastened them to their ears. From Cuttup he proceeded
to Dunrora, where he was informed that about half a days'
journey eastward was the large city of Jacoba, near which
flowed the Shary, in a continuous course between the Tchad
and Fundah ; which last place lay now in the direction of due
west. Lander here promised himself the satisfaction, in ten or
twelve days, of finally solving the grand African problem,
when suddenly four horsemen, with foaming steeds, galloped
into the town. Their leader, followed by an immense multi-
tude, rode up, and told the traveller that he must instantly re-
turn to the king of Zeg-zeg. Lander endeavoured to argue
the point, but could get no answer, except that they must
either bring him with them or lose their heads. It behooved
him then, of necessity, to repair to Zaria, the capital, where,
being introduced to the king, and having delivered his pres-
ents, that prince boasted of having done him the greatest pos-
sible favour, since the people of Fundah, being now at war
with Sultan Bello, would certainly have murdered any one
who had come from visiting and carrying gifts to that monarch.
From this reasoning, sound or otherwise. Lander had no ap-
peal, and found no alternative but to make his way back by his
former path. In all the places through which he passed^
462 HUGH CLAPPERTON.
anxious inquiries were made about "his father," as the peo-
ple called Clapperton ; and when they heard of his death,
they raised loud lamentations. He reached Badagry on the
21st of November, 1827 ; but, being detained some time there
and at Cape Coast Castle, did not reach England till the 30th
of April, 1828.
RICHARD LANDER.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
To these individuals belongs the honour of having been the
first Europeans who discovered the termination of the Niger, a
subject which for more than forty years excited an interest be-
yond any other connected with the knowledge of the earth.
Britain, acting in conformity with a noble and liberal spirit, in
a succession of African expeditions, sacrificed a portion of her
treasure and the lives of some of her citizens. These sacrifi-
ces, as to the main object, were for some time made in vain.
Park, when he was directly on the route which would have led
to the grand discovery, met his premature and tragical fate.
Denham and Clapperton made most important discoveries,
and threw light on many almost unknown regions of interior
Africa ; but they left the grand mystery covered with as thick
a veil as ever. The honour of removing this veil was reserved
for the individuals whose names stand at the head of this
chapter. <i\
464 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
In reviewing the nairative of Clapperton's last expedition,
we had occasion to introduce to the reader Richard Lander,
acting in the humble capacity of servant to that enterprising
traveller. We have seen him, after fulfilling in an exemplary
manner the duties of that situation, and closing his master*s
eyes, become himself inspired with a similar spirit, and make
a considerable progress towards the solution of the grand
problem. The interposition of king Zeg-zeg arrested his
efforts, but his spirit was still unsubdued ; and on his return to
England, he tendered his services to government for a fresh
expedition.
His services were accepted, but on such terms that even in
case of success, he was encouraged to expect only a very
moderate reward. He was to be furnished with the means of
prosecuting his journey, his wife was to receive a support
during his absence, and in the event of being successful he
was to be allowed a gratuity of one hundred pounds — a pitiful
donation from a great nation to one who in pursuit of one of
its favourite objects was to brave all the perils of death and
captivity. His brother, John Lander, was permitted to ac-
company him, but under the express stipulation of looking for
no reward whatever.
JOHN LANDER.
The brothers embarked for Africa on the 9th of January,
1830, and after a passage of forty-two days, arrived, on the
22d of February, at Cape Coast Castle on the African shore.
EICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 465
After remaining on the coast until the 15th of March, enjoy-
ing the hospitahty of the British residents there, our travellers
embarked on board the Clinker, Lieutenant Matson command-
er, and on the 19th arrived at Badagry, on the gulf of Benin.
The account of our travellers' reception here, we give in their
own words.
" Cheered by six hearty huzzas good-naturedly given us by
the crew of the Clinker, at the desire of her gallant command-
er, we sailed towards the beach in one of the brig's boats, in
the earlier part of the afternoon, and having been taken into a
canoe that was waiting at the edge of the breakers to receive
us, we were plied over a tremendous surf, and flung with vio-
lence on the burning sands.
Wet and uncomfortable as this accident had rendered us,
we had no change of linen at hand, and we walked to a small
creek about the distance of a quarter of a mile from the sea-
shore, where we were taken into a native canoe, and conveyed
safely through an extremely narrow channel overhung with
luxuriant vegetation, into the Badagry river, which is a branch
of the Lagos. It is a beautiful body of water, resembling a
lake in miniature; its surface is smooth and transparent as
glass, and its picturesque banks are shaded by trees of a lively
verdure. We were soon landed on the opposite side, when
our road lay over a magnificent plain, on which deer, ante-
lopes, and buffaloes are often observed to feed. Numbers of
men, women, and children followed us to the town of Bada-
gry, and they made the most terrific noises at our heels ; but
whether these were symptoms of satisfaction or displeasure,
admiration or ridicule, we could not at first understand. We
were soon, however, satisfied that the latter feeling was pre-
dominant; and indeed our clothing was exceedingly grotesque,
consisting of a straw hat larger than an umbrella, a scarlet Mo-
hammedan tobe or tunic and belt, with boots and full Turkish
trousers. So unusual a dress might well cause the people to
laugh heartily ; they were all evidently highly amused ; but the
more modest of the females, unwilhng to give us any uneasi-
ness, turned aside to conceal the titter, from which they were
utterly unable to refrain.
On our way we observed various groups of people seated
under the spreading branches of superb trees, vending provis-
ions and country cloth ; and on our approach many of these
arose and bowed, while others fell on their knees before us in
token of respect."
The next day our travellers visited the chief or king of Ba-
dagry at his residence. On our entrance, they say, he was
sitting on a couple of boxes in a small bamboo apartment, from
40
466 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
whose sides were suspended a great quantity of muskets and
swords, with a few pahry umbrellas, and a couple of horses'
tails, which were used for the purpose of brushing away flies
and other insects. Ring Adooley looked up in our faces
without making any observation, and did not rise from his seat
to congratulate us on our arrival. He appeared in deep re-
flection, and thoughtfully rested his elbow on an old wooden
table, pillowing his head on his hand. One of the most vener-
able and ancient of his subjects was squatted at the feet of his
master, smoking from a pipe of extraordinary length ; while
Lantern, his eldest son and heir-apparent, was kneeling at his
side, etiquette not allowing the youth to sit in presence of his
father. Every thing bore an air of gloom and sadness, totally
diff*erent from what we had been led to expect. We shook
hands, but the pressure of the chief was so very faint that it
was scarcely perceptible ; yet notwithstanding this apparent
coldness, we seated ourselves, one on each side, without cere-
mony or embarrassment. The conversation was commenced
on our part by inquiring after the chief's health, which was
answered only by a languid smile, and he again relapsed into
his former thoughtfulness. We then displayed to the greatest
advantage the presents we had brought for him from P^ngland;
they were accepted, it is true, but without the slightest demon-
stration of pleasure or satisfaction ; they were scarcely looked
at, and were carried away by his attendants with real or seem-
ing indifference. This was very mortifying, but we said not a
word, though it was the easiest thing imaginable to perceive
that all was not right. Added to all this, in the midst of the
conversation, Adooley left us abruptly, and did not return for
some time.
Wearied at length with his delay, we dispatched a messen-
ger to acquaint him that we were becoming impatient, and
would feel obliged by his immediate return, in order to put an
end to our conference, or palaver^ as it is emphatically styled,
as speedily as possible. On receiving this message the chief
hastened back, and entered the apartment with a melancholy
countenance, which was partially concealed behind large
volumes of smoke from a tobacco pipe which he was using.
He seated himself between us as before and gave us to under-
stand in a very low tone of voice, that he was but just recover-
ing from a severe illness, and from the effects of a variety of
misfortunes which had rendered him almost broken-hearted.
His generals, Bombanee and Poser, and all his most able war-
riors, had either been slain in battle or fallen by other violent
means. The former, whose loss he more particularly lament-
ed, had been captured by the Lagos people, who were his most
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 467
inveterate enemies. When this unfortunate man was taken
prisoner, his right hand was immediately nailed to his head,
and the other lopped off like a twig. In this manner he was
paraded through the town, and exposed to the view of the
people ; whose curiosity being satiated, Bombanee's head was
at length severed from his shoulders, and being dried in the
sun and beat to dust, was sent in triumph to the chief of Ba-
dagry. To these calamities, others were added, all which
served to account in some measure for the sad and grievous
expression so strongly depicted on the chief's countenance ;
but another and more powerful reason doubtless influenced
him on this occasion.
In returning to our residence, we were introduced to a num-
ber of the principal men, come, professedly, to compliment us
on visiting their coimtry, although their true and only motive
for visiting our quarters was the expectation of obtaining rum,
the great object of attraction to all of them. We were annoy-
ed during the better part of the day by a tribe of ragged beg-
gars, whose importunity was really disgusting ; and the num-
ber of old, fat-headed and pot-bellied men, and skinny flap-
eared women of the last century was immense. To these gar-
rulous ladies and gentlemen we were obliged to laugh and talk,
and shake hands, and crack fingers, and bend our bodies and
bow our heads, and place our hands with solemnity on our
heads and breasts ; make presents, and cringe, fawn, and
flatter up to the time of going to bed. We had not a moment's
relaxation from this excessive fatigue. Had Job, among his
other trials, been exposed to the horrors of an interminable
African palaver^ his patience must have forsaken him. For
my own part, says one of the Landers, I am of opinion that I
shall never be a favourite with this ever grinning and loqua-
cious people. If I laugh, and laugh I most certainly must, it
is done against my inclination, and consequently with a very
bad grace. For the first five years of my fife, I have been told
that I was never even seen to smile ; and since that period my
merriment has been confined to particular and extraordinary
occasions only. How then is it possible that I can be grin-
ning and playing the fool from morning till night, positively
without any just incentive to do so, and sweltering at the same
time under a sun that causes my body to burn with intense
heat, giving it the appearance of shrivelled parchment. For-
tunately, these savages cannot distinguish between real and
fictitious joy ; and although I was vexed at heart, and wished
them all at the bottom of the Red Sea, or somewhere else, I
have every reason to believe that my forced attempts to please
the natives have so far been successful ; and that I have ob--
4b9 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
tained the reputation of being one of the pleasantest and best-
tempered persons in the world.
The next day our travellers received a visit from one of the
chief's messengers, who was a Haussa mallam, or priest. He
came followed by a large and handsome spotted sheep from
his native country, whose neck was adorned with httle bells,
which made a pretty jingling noise. He was dressed in the
Haussa costume, viz. cap, tobe, trousers, and sandals. He
wore four large silver rings on his thumb, and his left wrist
was ornamented with a sohd silver bracelet. His visit appear-
ed to be disinterested, as he did not beg any thing. It is to be
understood, however, that he was a Mussulman, and it being
the fast of the Ramadan, he was forbidden by his creed either
to eat or drink from the rising to the setting of the sun.
A visit from the chief's eldest son who remained with our
travellers nearly an entire day, is thus described. The man-
ners of this young man are reserved, but respectful; he is a
great admirer of the English, and has obtained a smattering
of their language. Although his appearance is extremely
boyish, he has already three wives, and is the father of two
children. His front teeth are filed to a point after the manner
of the Lagos people; but notwithstanding this disadvantage,
his features bear less marks of ferocity than we have observed
in the countenance of any one of his countrymen, while his
general deportment is infinitely more pleasing and humble
than theirs. When asked, whether, if it were in' his power to
do so, he would injure us two, or any European that might
hereafter visit Badagry, he made no reply, but silently ap-
proached our seat, and falling on his knees at our feet, he
pressed me with eagerness to his soft, naked bosom, and affec-
tionately kissed my hand. I thought that language and ex-
pression would not have been half so eloquent as this.
Our travellers remained at Badagry until the 31st of March,
about ten days from the time of their arrival. This whole
time seems to have been employed on the part of the natives
in incessant efforts and artifices to extract presents and money,
and on the part of the travellers in receiving visits, cracking
jfingers, laughing and grinning in order to adapt themselves to
the taste and character of their visiters. Besides the great
king of all, the redoubtable Adooley, four fellows assumed the
title of royalty, namely, the kings of Spanish Town, of Portu-
guese Town, of English Town, and of French Town ; Bada-
gry being divided into four districts, bearing the names of the
European nations just mentioned. Besides these there was a
host of ragged scoundrels who styled themselves great and
powerful, and were styled noblemen and gentlemen. Each
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
of these the travellers were advised to conciliate with presents,
and especially spiriutous liquors, in order to do away any evil,
impression they mi2:ht have received, and thus facilitate their
object, viz. the obtaining leave to pass through the country.
Several considerations conspired to render them anxious to
hasten their departure. The rainy season was fast approach-
ing — and they were told that a sacrifice of no less than three
hundred human beings, of both sexes and all ages, was shortly
to take place. We often hear, they say, the cries of many of
these poor wretches ; and the heart sickens with horror at the
bare contemplation of such a scene as awaits us should we re-
main here much longer. But all their solicitations for leave
to proceed on their journey were evaded by the chief under
the most frivolous and absurd pretences. After visiting the
residence of General Poser, they paid another visit to the
king. General Poser's house was at that time under the su-
perintendence of his head man. Him, we found squatting,
they say, indolently on a mat, and several old people were
holding a conversation with him. As the death of Poser is
not generally known to the people, it being concealed from
them for fear of exciting a commotion in the town, for he was
universally loved and respected, we were not permitted even
to mention his name, and the steward set us the example by
prudently confining the conversation to the necessity of making
him a present suitable to his expectations and the dignity of
his station. Muskets and other warlike instruments were sus-
pended from the sides of the apartment, and its ceiling was
decorated with fetishes and Arab texts in profusion. Gin and
water were produced, and partaken of with avidity by all pres-
ent, more especially by the two mulattoes that had attended
us, which being done, the head man wished the Great Spirit
to prosper us in all our undertakings, and told us not to forget
his present by any means. After taking our leave we repaired
immediately to the residence of Adooley, whom we had not
seen for two days.
The chief was eating an undressed onion, and seated on
an old table, danghng his legs underneath it with a vacant
thoughtlessness of manner, which our abrupt intrusipn some-
what dissipated. He informed us of his intention of sending
us on our journey the day after the next, was full of good na-
ture and promised to make my brother a present of a horse
and to sell rae another, and added that he most particularly
wished to examine the goods we intended staking with us into
the "bush," as the uncleared country is called, in order that
he might satisfy himself we had nothing objectionable among
them. HavinjT expressed our thanks to Adooley for his kind
40*
4W RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
intentions and agreed to his conditions, we all partook of a little
spirit and water which soon made us the best friends in the
universe. During this palaver, the chief's sister and two of
his wives were ogling at us, and gigghng, until the approach
of the chief of English town and the rest of our party put a
sudden stop to the entertainment. These men came to settle a
domestic quarrel, which was soon decided by the chief, who,
after receiving the usual salutation of dropping on the knees,
with the face to the earth, chatted and laughed immoderately.
This was considered by us as a happy omen. Very little cer-
emony is observed by the meanest of the people towards their
sovereign. They converse with him with as little reserve as
if he were no better than themselves, while he pays as much
attention to their complaints as to those of the principal peo-
ple of the country. Adooley seemed not entirely destitute of
the virtues of hospitality, for we observed with pleasure that
the remainder of his onions were divided equally among the
chiefs who had come to visit him, and were received by them
with marks of the highest satisfaction.
A few more pictures of African life and manners will close
the account of our travellers' visit to the king of Badagry.
In the afternoon, after the palaver above described, a herald
proclaimed the approach to our habitation of the venerable
chief of Spanish town, with a long suite of thirsty followers.
The old man's dress was very simple, consisting only of a cap
and turban, with a large piece of Manchester cotton flung over
his right shoulder and held under his left arm. This is infi-
nitely more graceful and becoming in the natives than the most
showy European apparel, in any variety of which, indeed, they
generally look highly ridiculous. After we had made him
and all his attendants nearly tipsy, the old chief began to be
very talkative and amusing, continuing to chat without inter-
mission for a considerable time, not omitting to whisper occa-
sionally to the interpreter, by no means to forget, after his de-
parture, reminding us of the present we had promised him, for
it is considered the height of rudeness to mention any thing of
the kind aloud in his presence. Our rum had operated so
cheerily upon his followers in the yard, that fat and lean, old
and young, commenced dancing, and continued performing
the most laughable antics, till they were no longer able to
stand. It amused us infinitely to observe these creatures, with
their old solemn>, placid-looking chief at their head, staggering
out at the doorway ; we were, in truth, but too happy to get
rid of them at so cheap a rate. Hooper shortly afterward
came with a petition from twelve "gentlemen" of English
Town, for the sum of a hundred and twenty dollars, to be
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 471
divided among them ; and having no resource, we were com-
pelled to submit to the demand of these rapacious scoundrels.
Late in the evening we received the threatened visit from
Adooley, who came to examine the contents of our boxes. He
was borne in a hammock by two men, and was dressed in an
English linen shirt, a Spanish cloak or mantle, with a cap,
turban, and sandals. His attendants were three half-dressed
little boys, who, one by one, placed themselves at their mas-
ter's feet, as they are in the habit of doing. One of them
carried a long sword, another a pistol, and the third a kind of
knapsack, filled with tobacco. We presented the chief with
brandy, equal in strength to spirits of wine ; and he swallow-
ed a large quantity of it with exquisite pleasure. The boys
were permitted to drink a portion of the liquor every time that
it was poured into a glass for Adooley ; but though it was so
very strong, it produced no grimace, nor the slightest distor-
tion of countenance in these little fellows. The fondness of
the natives, or rather their passion, for strong waters is aston-
ishing, and they are valued entirely in proportion to the intoxi-
cating effects they occasion. Adooley smoked nearly all the
while he remained in our house. As each box was opened,
however, he would take the pipe slowly from his mouth, as if
perfectly heedless of what was going forward ; and from the
couch whereon he was reclining, regard with intense curiosity
each article as it was held out to his observation. Every
thing that. in his opinion demanded a closer examination, or,
more properly speaking, every thing he took a fancy to, was
put into his hands at his own request ; but as it would be
grossly impolite to return it after it had been soiled by his
fingers, with the utmost nonchalance the chief delivered it over
to the care of his recumbent pages, who carefully secured it
between their legs. Adooley's good taste could not of course
be questioned ; and it did not much surprise, though it grieved
us, to observe a large portion of almost every article in the
boxes speedily passing through his hands into those of his
juvenile minions. Nothing seemed unworthy his acceptance,
from fine scarlet cloth to a child's fartliing whistle ; in fact, he
requested a couple of these little instruments to amuse him-
self with in retirement ! And although he has received guns,
ammunition, and a variety of goods to the amount of nearly
three hundred ounces* of gold he is so far from being satisfied
that he is continually grumbling forth his discontent. Grati-
* An ounce of gold on this part of the African coast is worth about two
pounds sterling.
472 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
tude is unknown both to him and his subjects; the more one
gives them, the more pressing are their importunities for other
favours. The very food that one eats and the clothes that he
wears are begged in so fawning a tone and manner, as to cre-
ate disgust and contempt at the first interview.
It was nearly midnight before Adooley arose from his seat
to depart, when he took his leave, with broadcloth, and cot-
tons, pipes, snuff-boxes, and knives, paper, ink, whistles, &c.
&c., and even some of our books, so avaricious is this Chief
of Badagry.
We arose early the next morning for the purpose of arrange-
ing some trifling matters, and taking our breakfast in quiet-
ness and comfort; but we had scarcely sat down, when our
half-naked grinning acquaintances entered to pay us the com-
pliments of the day. Notwithstanding our chagrin, so ludi-
crous was the perpetual bowing and scraping of these our
friends, in imitation of Europeans, that we could not forbear
laughing in good earnest. Our rum, which had been kindly
siipphed us by Lieutenant Matson, we are happy to say, is
now nearly all consumed, and the number of our general visi-
ters has diminished in exact proportion to its decrease ; so
that we are beginning to feel the enjoyment of an hour or two's
quiet in the course of a day, which is a luxury we could hardly
have anticipated. The chief sent his son this morning to us,
requesting a few needles and some small shot. We could ill
spare the latter, but it would be impolitic to refuse his urgent
solicitations, whatever may be their tendency.
The horses promised by Adooley have been sent for us to
examine. They appear strong and in good condition; and if
they play us no wicked pranks in the " bush," no doubt they
will be eminently serviceable.
This evening Poser's head-man, who we understand is one
of the chiefs first captains, returned our visit of yesterday,
followed by a multitude of friends and retainers. He had been
determined, I believe, before he left home, to be in an ill-
humour with us, and perhaps he had treated himself with an
extra dram for the occasion. This great bully introduced
himself into our dwelling, — his huge round face inflamed with
scorn, anger, and " potations deep." He drank with even
more avidity than his countrymen, but the liquor produced no
good impression on him, serving rather to increase his dissatis-
faction and choler. He begged every thing he saw, — and
when we had gratified him to the best of our power, he began
to be very abusive and noisy. He said he was convinced we
had come into the country with no good intentions, and ac-
cused us of deceit and insincerity in our professions; or, in
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 475
plainer terms, that we had been guilty of a direct falsehood
in stating that we had no other motive for undertaking the
journey than to recover the papers of Mr. Park at Yaoorie.
He was assured that we were afraid to tell the true reason for
leaving our own country. We withstood his invectives with
tolerable composure, and the disgraceful old fellow left us in a
pet about half an hour after his arrival.
The noise and jargon of our guests pursue us even in sleep,
and our dreams are disturbed by fancied palavers, which are
more unpleasant and vexatious, if possible, in their effects,
than real ones. Eearly in the morning we were roused from
one of these painful slumbers to fisten to the dismal yell of the
hyena, the shrill crowing of cocks, the hum of night-flies and
musquitoes, and the hoarse croaking of frogs, together with
the chirping of myriads of crickets and other insects, which
resounded through the air as though it had been pierced with a
thousand whistles.
Just after sunrise, two Mohammedans arrived at oar house,
with an invitation for us to accompany them to the spot se-
lected for the performance of their religious rites and observ-
ances. This being a novelty, we embraced the proposal with
pleasure, and followed the men to the distance of about a mile
from our house. Here we observed a number of their country-
men sitting in detached groups, actively employed in the duties
of lustration and ablution. It was a bare space of ground,
edged with trees, and covered with sand. The Mussulmans
were obliged to bring water with them in calabashes. Seated
in a convenient situation, underneath the spreading branches
of a myrtle-tree, without being seen, we could observe all
their actions. But a number of boys soon intruded themselves
upon our privacy, and, to say the truth, we were more amused
by the artlessness and playfulness of their manners than with
all the grave mummery of the Mohammedan worshippers-
Groups of people were continually arriving at the spot, and
these were welcomed to it by an occasional flourish of music
from a native clarionet, &c. They were clad in all their finery,
their apparel being as gaudy as it was various. The coup-
d^oeil presented by no means an uninteresting spectacle. Loose
tobes, with caps and turbans, striped and plain, red, blue, and
black, were not unpleasingly contrasted with the original na-
tive costume of figured cotton, thrown loosely over the shoul-
ders, and immense rush hats. Manchester cloths of the most
glaring patterns were conspicuous among the crowd ; but
these were cast in the shade by scarfs of green silk, ornament-
ed with leaves and flowers of gold, and aprons covered with
silver spangles. Very young children appeared bending under
474 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
the weight of clothes and ornaments ; while boys of raaturef
years carried a variety of offensive weapons. The Turkish
scimitar, the French sabre, the Portuguese dagger, confined
in a silver case, all gleamed brightly ; and heavy cutlasses,
with rude native knives were likewise exhibited, half-devoured
by cankering rust. Clumsy muskets and fowling-pieces, as
well as Arab pistols, were also handled with delight by the
joyful Mussulmans. In number the religionists were about a
hundred and fifty. Not long after our arrival they formed
themselves into six lines, and having laid aside many of their
superfluous ornaments, and a portion of their clothing, they
put on the most sedate countenances, and commenced their
devotional exercises in a spirit of seriousness and apparent
fervour worthy a better place and a more amiable creed. In
the exterior forms of their religion, at least, the Mussulmans
here are complete adepts, as this spectacle has convinced us ;
and the little we have seen of them has led us to form a very
fevourable opinion of their general temperance and sobriety.
The ceremony was no sooner concluded, than muskets, car-
bines, and pistols were discharged on all sides ; the clarionet
again struck up a note of joy, and was supported by long Arab
drums, strings of bells, and a solitary kettle-drum. The mu-
sicians, like the ancient minstrels of Europe, were encouraged
by trifling presents from the more charitable of the multitude.
All seemed cheerful and happy; and on leaving them, several,
out of compliment I suppose, discharged their pieces at our
heels ; and were evidently delighted with themselves, with us,
and with the whole world. In the path we met a fellow ap-
proaching the scene of innocent dissipation, clothed most
fantastically in a flannel dress, and riding on the back of what
we were informed was a wooden horse. He was surrounded
by natives of all ages, who were laughing most extravagantly
at the unnatural capering of the thing, and admiring the inge-
nuity of its contrivance. The figure itself was entirely con-
cealed with cloth, which rendered it impossible to discover
by what agency it moved. Some years ago I saw a monster
something similar to it with a company of mountebanks, in a
town in the west of England, which, among its other proper-
ties, used to sw.allow children ; and in all probability this
** wooden horse" is constructed on a similar principle. Its
head was covered with red cloth ; and a pair of sheep's ears
answered the purpose for which they were intended tolerably
well. Yet, on the whole, though it was easy to perceive that
a horse was intended to be represented by it, the figure was
clumsily enough executed. As soon as this party had joined
the individuals assembled near the place of worship, a startling
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 475
shriek of laughter testified the tumultuous joy of the wonder-
ing muhitude. The sun shone out resplendently on the happy
groups of fancifully dressed persons, whose showy, various-
coloured garments and sooty skin, contrasted with the pictur-
esque and lovely appearance of the scenery, produced an
unspeakably charming effect. The foliage exhibited every
variety and tint of green, from the sombre shade of the melan-
choly yew to the lively verdure of the poplar and young oak.
For myself, I was delighted with the agreeable ramble ; and
imagined that I could distinguish from the notes of the song-
sters of the grove, the swelling strains of the English skylark
and thrush, with the more gentle warbling of the finch and
linnet. It was indeed a brilliant morning, teeming with life
and beauty ; and recalled to my memory a thousand affecting
associations of sanguine boyhood, when I was thoughtless
and happy. The barbarians around me were all cheerful and
full of joy. I have heard that, like sorrow, joy is contagious,
and I believe that it is, for it inspired me with a similar gentle
feeling.
The 27th of March in this place is what May-day is in many
country places in England, and it strongly reminded us of it.
But here, unfortunately, there are no white faces to enliven
us: and a want of the lovely complexion of our beautiful
countrywomen, tinged with its " celestial red," is severely felt ;
and so is the total absence here of that golden chain of kind-
ness which links them to the ruder associates of their festive
enjoyments. By-and-by, doubtless, familiarity with black
faces will reconcile me to them ; but at present I am compelled
to own that I cannot help feeling a very considerable share of
aversion towards their jetty complexions, in common, I be-
lieve, with most strangers that visit this place.
Last night, (Monday, March 29th,) a Fantee was plundered
of his effects, and stabbed by an assassin below the ribs, so
that his life is despaired of; and not long after this was dis-
covered, a "fetish" (rehgious rite) was performed over the
remains of a native that had been found dead, but who was in
perfect health a few hours before. The lament of the relatives
of the deceased was doleful in a high degree ; and no sounds
could be more dismally mournful than those shrieked forth by
them on the occasion. The chief summoned us yesterday
to repair to his residence in order finally to settle the business
relative to our journey into the interior ; but we refused to
have any disputes with him on the Sabbath, and promised to
wait on him this morning instead. After breakfast, therefore,
we redeemed our pledge, by paying him the promised visit.
Adooley received us with his accustomed politeness and gra-
476 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
cious smile. He said he wished to inform us of his intention
of detaining us at Badagry a day or two longer, the " path"
not being considered in a fit state for travelling, rather than
his reputation should suffer by leading us into danger, which
would undoubtedly be the case if he had not adopted his pre-
sent resolution. Yet, he continued, we might depend on
his word as a king, that we should have liberty to depart on
Thursday morning next, at the latest. Now we well knew
that the country was never in a more peaceable or quiet state
than at the moment he was speaking ; and are mortified be-
yond measure at the perpetual evasions and contradictions of
this chief. We regret also that the dry season is fast drawing
to a close, and that we shall be obliged to travel in the rainy
months. When Adooley had made this declaration, he re-
quested us to write on paper in his presence for a few things
which he wished to procure either from Cape Coast Castle or
from England, as a return for the protection he had promised
us. Among other articles enumerated are " four regimental
coats, such as are worn by the King of England, for himself,
and forty, less splendid than these, for the use of his captains ;
two long brass guns to run on swivels ; fifty muskets, twenty
barrels of gunpowder, four handsome swords, and forty cut-
lasses ;" to which are added two puncheons of rum, a car-
penter's chest of tools, with oils, paints, and brushes," the
chief himself boasting that he was a blacksmith, carpenter,
painter, and indeed every trade but a tailor. Besides these
trifles he wished to obtain a half-dozen rockets, and a rocket
gun, with a soldier from Cape Coast capable of undertaking
the management of it. And lastly, he modestly ordered two
puncheons of cowries to be sent him, " for the purpose of de-
fraying in part the expenses he had incurred in repelling the
attacks of the men of Porto Novo, Atta, and Juncullee, the
tribes inhabiting those places having made war upon him for
allowing Captain Clapperton's last mission to proceed into the
interior without their consent." We asked, jocosely, whether
Adooley would be satisfied with these various articles ; when,
having considered for a few moments, and conversed aloud to
a few of his chiefs that were in the apartment at the time, he
replied that he had forgotten to mention his want of a large
umbrella, four casks of grape-shot, and a barrel of flints, which
having also inserted in the list, the letter was finally folded and
sealed. It was then delivered into the hands of Adooley, who
said that he should send it by Accra, one of his head-men, to
Cape Coast Castle, and that the man would wait there till all
the articles should be procured for him. If that be the case,
we imagine that Accra will have a very long time to wait.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 477
interpreter, old Hooper, having been suspected by the chief to be in our
t, a young man named Tockwee, that understood a little English, was sent
Tor, and commanded to remain during the whole conference, in order to detect
any error that Hooper might make, and to see that everything enumerated, by
the chief should be written in the list of articles.
During this long and serious conversation we were occasionally enlivened by
the music of three little bells, which were fastened to the tails of the same num-
ber of cats by a long string, and made a jingling noise whenever the animals
thought proper to divert themselves. Besides these, and as an accompaniment
to them, we were favoured witli the strains of an organ, which instrument a
little boy was placed in a corner of the apartment purposely to turn.
A young Jenna woman came to visit us this forenoon, accompanied by a
female friend from Haussa. Her hair was traced with such extraordinary neat-
ness, that we expressed a wish to examine it more minutely. The girl had never
beheld such a thing as a white man before, and permission was granted with a
great deal of coyness, mixed up perhaps with a small portion of fear, which was
apparent as she was slowly untying her turban. No sooner, however, was our
iiriosity gratified, than a demand of two hundred cowries* was insisted on by
ler companion, that, it was alleged, being the price paid in the interior by the
iale sex to scrutinize a lady's hair. We were obliged to conlbrm to the estab-
ished custom, at which the women expressed themselves highly delighted. The
hair which had excited our admiration was made up in the shape of an hussar's
helmet, and very ingeniously traced on the top. Irregular figures were likewise
braided on each side of the head, and a band of worked thread, died in indigo,
encircled it below the natural hair, which seemed by its tightness and closeness
to have been glued fast to the skin. This young Jenna woman is by far the
!ost interesting, both in face and form, of any we have seen since our landing,
i:d her prettiness is rendered more engaging by her retiring modesty and per-
fect artlessness of manners, which, whether observed in black or white, are sure
to command the esteem and reverence of the other sex. Her eyelids were
-t lined with a bluish-black powder, her person was excessively clean, and her
pparel flowing, neat, and graceful.
VVe shot a hawk this evening, which was hovering over our house, at the re-
quest of several of the natives, who ate the body of the bird, but preserved its
head and claws, to render them " keen of eye and swift of loot." The king will
not allow us to go to Jenna by the nearest beaten path, on the plea that as sacred
fetish land would he in our way, we should die the moment we should tread
upon it.
Tuesday, March 30</t. — The occurrencies of this day may be related in very
few words. The pleasantest news we hear is the fact of the King of Jenna
having arrived at that town from Katunga. His messenger arrived here this
morning, and came to see us in the afternoon, accompanied by a friend. We
regaled him with a glass of rum, according to our general custom, the first
moutiiful whereol'he squirted from his own into the mouth of his associate, and
vice versa. This is the first time we have witnessed this dirty and disgusting
practice. The chief sent for us again this afternoon, and summed ap the mea-
sure of his exorbitant demands by requesting a gun-boat, with a hundred men
from England, and a few common tobacco-pipes tor his own private use. We
could easily give a bill for the former, but the latter we dared not part with at
any risk, because, considering the long journey before us, we are convinced we
have nothing to spare ; indeed, it is our opinion that the presents will all be ex-
hausted long before it be completed. With the same facility we have written a
paper for forty ounces of gold, to be distributed among the chiefs of English
Town and the rest of our partisans. We had adjusted these little matters to the
apparent satisfaction of ail parties, when we were most agreeably surprised by
an assurance liom the chief that we shall quit this place to-morrow afternoon
with the newly -arrived Jenna messenger. We are accordingly on tlie qui vive
- — — — — f ^
^ A little Indian shell, the currency of many parts of that country and of the interior of
Africa.
41
478 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
in getting every tiling in a state of forwardness for our departure ; nor can \vc
help wishing, for the sake of our credit, that we may never meet such needy and
importunate friends as have pestered us since our residence in this town.
The soil of Badagry consists of a layer of fine whitish sand, over loam, clay.
and earth. The sand is so soft and deep that no one can walk on it witliout
considerable labour and ditficully. The natives procure the necessaries of life
chiefly by fishing and the cultivation of the yam and Indian corn. In the for-
mer employment they use nets and spears, and likewise earthen pots, which they
bait with palm-nut. These novel instruments are furnished with small apertures,
not unhke those of a common wire mouse-trap. Oranges, limes, cocoanuts,
plantains, and bananas are produced in abundance in the neighbourhood. The
better sort of people are possessed of a small kind of bullock, with sheep, goat^.
and poultry ; the chief himself is a drover and butcher, and when in want ot'
money he orders one of his bullocks to be slaughtered and publicly sold in the
market. The dwellings of the inhabitants are neatly constructed of bambo<j,
and thatched with palm leaves. They contain several apartments, all of them on
the ground-floor. S^ome of the houses or huts are built in the coozie form,
which is nearly round, and others are in the form of an oblong square : all have
excellent yards attached to them, wherein lime-trees and others are planted in
rows, and it gives one pleasure to look at the cleanliness and taste which prevail
in these courts. The land is excessively fertile ; and if the natives could only be
induced to lay aside their habitual indolence, and the sluggishness of their charac-
ters, and devote a httle more attention to the improvement of the soil, the coun-
try might soon be brought to an extraordhiary pitch of beauty and perfection.
As it is, vegetation springs forth spontaneously, is luxuriant even to ranknes;;,
and is ever pleasingly verdant.
A singular custom of administering justice prevails at Badagrj'. It is by means
of a large wooden cap, having three corners, which is placed on the head of a
culprit at the period of his examination. This fantastic work of mechanism, no
doubt, by the structure of internal springs, may be made to move and shake
without any visible agent — on the same principle as tlie enchanted Turk, or any
other figure in our puppet-shows. It is believed the native priests alone are hi
the secret. When this cap is observed to shake while on the head of a suspect-
ed person, he is condemned, without further evidence being required ; but
should it remain without any perceptible motion, his innocence is apparent, and
he is forthwith acquitted. The fame of this wonderful cap makes a great fuss
in the town, and as many marvellous stories are told of it here as were related in
England a century or two ago of the famous brazen head of Roger Bacon.
A respectable man, the chief of French Town, was tried by the ordeal of tlie
cap a short time since, for having, it was alleged, accepted a bribe of the Lagos
chieftain to destroy Adooley by poison. The fatal cap was no sooner put on
his head tlian it was observed to move slightly, and then to become more vio-
lently agitated. The criminal felt its motion, and was terrified to such a degree
that he fell down in a swoon. On awaking, he confessed his guilt, and implored
forgiveness, which was granted him by Adooley, because, it was said, of his sor-
row and contrition, but really, no doubt, of his birth and connexions.
On the morning of the 31st of March our travellers bade adieu to the chief
of Badagry, and between ten and eleven o'clock of the same night set out in
King Adooley's war-canoe (lent them for this purpose) on their way towards tlie
Niger.
The canoe, they say was above forty feet in lengtli ; it was propelled through
the water by poles instead of paddles, and moved slowly and silently along. It
was a clear and lovely night -, tlie moon shone glorious ''as a silver shield;" and
reflecting the starry firmament on the unrullled surface of tlie water, tlie real
concave of heaven with its reflection seemed to form a perfect world. The
scenery on the borders of the river appeared wild and stiiking, though not ma^
nificent. In the delicious moonshine it was far from uninteresting. The banks
were low, and partially covered with stunted tiecs; but a slave factory, and a
fetish hut were the only buildings we observed on them. We could not help
admiring at some distance ahead of our canoe, when the windings of the riv^r
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 479
would permit, a noble and solitary palm-tree, with its lofly branches bending
over the water's edge ; to us it was not unlike a majesiical plume of feathers,
nodding over the head of a beautiful lady. The principal incidents on the pas-
sage were the croaking of myriads of frogs, inhabiting small islands in the river,
and the chattering and noise of monkies and parrots kept up among the branches
of the^trees all day long, until about half past eight in the morning of the first of
April we landed in the sight of a great multitude assembled to gaze at us, and
passing, through a place where a great fair or market is held, and where thou-
sands of people had congregated for the purposes of trade, we entered an exten-
sive and romantic town called Wow. The major part of the inhabitants had
never before had an opportunity of seeing white men, so that their curiosity, as
may be supposed, was excessive.
Two of the principal persons came out to meet us, preceded by men bearing
large silk umbrellas, and another playing a horn, which produced such terrible
sounds, that we gladly took refuge, as soon as we could, in the chief's house.
The apartment into which vi^e were introduced is furnished with a roof precise-
ly like the roof of a common English barn, inverted. In the middle of it, which
reached to within a few inches of the floor, a large square hole had been made,
to admit air and water to a shrub that was growing directly under it. The most
remarkable, if not the only, ornament in the room, was a quantity of human
jaw-bones, hung up on the side of the wall like a stfing of onions. After a
foi'mal and most ceremonious introduction, we were liberally regaled with water
from a calabash, which is a compliment the natives pay to all strangers, and
then shown into a very small apartment. Here my brother endeavoured to pro-
cure a little sleep, having remained awake last night; but we were so annoyed
by perpetual interruptions and intrusions, the firing of muskets, the garruUty
of women, the unceasing squall of children, the drunken petitions of men and
boys; and a laugh (but it is quite out of my power to describe it — one that ap-
proximates more to the nature of a horse-laugh than any tiling I know) — that it
was found impossible to close one's eyes.
The market of this place is supplied abundantly with Indian com, palm oil,
&c. ; togeteer with trona,*' and other articles brought hither from the borders
of the desert of Zaarha, through the medium of the vi^andering Arabs. By the
regulations of the fetish, neither a white man nor a horse is permitted to sleep at
Wow during the night season. We know not what is become of the horses ;
they were to have preceded us to this place by land, but are not yet arrived.
With respect to ourselves we shall be obliged to walk to a neighbouring village,
and spend the night there. Our course to this town through this creek, was
N. by E., and Badagry is distant from it about thirty miles, by the route we have
come.
A violent thunder-storm, which is called a tornado on the coast, visited us this
afternoon, and confined us to the "worst hut's worst room," till it had subsided,
and the weather became fine?. At three P. M. we sallied forth, and presently
were greeted with hootings, gro.ms, andhallooings, from a multitude of people
of all ages — from a child to its grandmother, and they followed close at our heels
as we went along, filling the air v/ith their laughter and raillery. A merry-andrew
at a country town in England, during the Whitsun holydays, never excited so
great a stir as did our departure from Wow this afternoon. But it is " fool's
day," and some allowance ought to be made for that, no doubt. We had not
proceeded more than a dozen paces from the outskirts of the town, when we
were visited by a pelting shower, which wetted us to the skin in a moment. A
gutter or hollow, misnamed a pathway, was soon overflowed; and we had to
wade in it up to our knees in water, and through a most melancholy -looking
forest, before we entered a village. It is called Sagbu, and is about eight miles
from Wow. We were dripping wet on our arrival, and the weather still con-
tinuing unpleasant, it was some time before any one made his appearance to
invite us into a hut. At length the chief came out to welcome us to his village,
and immediately introduced us into a long narrow apartment, wherein we are to
* A vegetable alkali.
480 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
take up our quarters for the night. It is built of clay, and is furnished with two
apertures to admit light and air into the room. One end of it was occupied
with a number of noisy goats, while we took possession of the other. Paskoe'
and his wife are lying on mats at our feet ; and a Toby Philpot, with his rudd ^
cheek and jug of ale, belonging to the chief, separates them from the goats. Tli-
remainder of our people have nowhere to sleep. The walls of our apartment
are ornamented with strings of dry, rattling human bones, written charms, or
fetishes, sheep-skins, and bows and arrows. We did not repose near so com
fortably as could have been desired, owing to the swarms of musquitoes an<l
black ants, which treated us very despitefully till morning.
Friday, April^d. — Between six and seven o'clock A. M., we continued our
route through woods, and large open patches of ground, and at about eleven in
the forenoon, arrived at the borders of a deep glen, more wild, romantic, and
picturesque than can be conceived. It is enclosed and overhung on all sides by
trees of amazing height and dimensions, which hide it in deep shadow. Fancy
might picture a spot so silent and solemn as this as the abode of genii and
fairies; every thing conducing to render it grand, melancholy, and venei
able; and the glen only wants an old dilapidated castle, a rock with a cave in i'
or something of the kind, to render it tlie most interesting place in the universe
There was one beautiful .^ight, however, which we would not omit mentioning
for the world ; — it was that of an incredible number of buttei*flies, fluttering about
us like a swarm of bees. They had chosen this, no doubt, as a place of refuge
against the fury of the elements. They were variegated by the mo.«t brilliant
tints and colourings imaginable — the wings of some were of a shining green,
edged and sprinkled with gold; others were of sky-blue and silver; others of
purple and gold delightfully blending into each other; and the wings of some
were like dark silk velvet, trimmed and braided with lace.
To revert from insects to men : our followers formed a group, at once savage
and imposing. As they winded down the paths of the glen, with their grotesque
clothing a^id arms, bundles, and fierce black coimtenances, they might be mis-
taken lor a strange band of ruffians of the most fearful character. Besides our
own, we had hired twenty men of Adooley to carry the luggage, as there are no
beasts of burden in the country.f Being all assembled ;U the bottom of the glen,
we found that a long and dangerous bog or swamp, filled with putrid water and
the decaying remains of vegetable substances, intersected our path, and must
necessarily be crossed. Boughs of trees h-id been thrown into the swanip by
some good-natured people to Jissist travellers in the attempt, so that our men,
furnishing themselves with long poles, which they used as walking-sticks, with
much difficulty and exertion succeeded in getting over, and fewer accidents oc-
curred to them than could have been supposed possible from the nature of tlu-
slough. For my own part, I was taken on the back of a large and powerful
man, of amazing strength. His brawny shoulders supported me without any
apparent fatigue on his part ; and he carried me through bog and water, and
over branches of trees no bigger than a man's leg, rendered slippery with mud,
in safety to the opposite side. Although he walked as fast and with as nuich
ease as his companions, he did not lay me down for twenty minutes, tlie swamp
being, as nearly as we could guess, a full quarter of a mile in length. We then
walked to a small village called Bnslia; whence without stopping we continued
our journey, and about ibur in the afternoon passed through another village,
somewhat larger than the tbrmer, which is called Soato. Here we found our-
selves 80 nuich exhausted with over-fatigue and want of food, that we Were com-
pelled to sit down and rest awhile, and here —
" Nak(;(l youths and pointed chiefs admire
Our speech, our colour, and our strange attire."
But they are a very uucourteous and clownish race, and teased us so much witli
their rudeness and begging propensities, tliat we were glad to be rid oftliem by
* One of the Landers' attendants.
t Burdens of all kinds are invariably carried on the bead by the people of Yyiba, and the lu-
tivos of various other countries in Africa.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 481
setting out again. Having passed two otiier swamps in tlie same manner aa
we had done before, we were completely tired and could go no farther; for we
had been walking all day, in an intricate, miserable path, sometimes exposed to
the sun, and sometimes threading our way through a tangled wood. It is now
six o'clock in the evening — our people are gone to the next town to fetch the
horses, which Adooley promised should meet us yesterday ; and my brother and
1 are resting by ourselves under a grove of trees, v/hich is in the neighbourhood
of a body of stagnant water, wherein women are bathing and casting sidelong
glances at us. It is a low, marshy, and unwhole^jome spot, and it is extremely
probable that we shall be obliged to sleep here on the grass all night; but what
can we do ? The village, it is true, is not many miles ahead, but then we are
unable to walk.
Saturday, April 3<Z. — We had made fires of dried wood and fallen leaves last
evening, and had prepared to repose for the night under a canopy of trees, and
were in fact actually stretched at full length on the turf for that purpose, when
we were agreeably surprised by the arrival of four of our men from the village
with hammocks; for though sleeping in the open air, with " heaven for one's
canopy," in a dark wood, and all that, may be very pretty in description, yet in
reality nothing can be more disagreeable; for the crawling of ants, black worms,
4&.C. over one's face disperses the mo.'-t enchanting revery. These hammocks
were highly acceptable, and we were lifted into them with very grateful feelings.
It is pleasant, too, after a long day's journey on foot, to be carried along so
easily on one's back, to see parrots and other solemn birds perched on the
branches of very tall trees, while the trees themselves seem capering away from
one most surprisingly ; as well as to gaze on the cheerful moon, and admire all
the host of heaven.
After a charming journey of eight or ten miles, .v? entered the large and
populous town of Bidjie. About a quarter of a mile from the town we were
met by a fellow with a cow's horn, who, chiming in with a trumpeter that had
accompanied us from Wow, produced a harmony surpassing all that had pre-
ceded it. Two men followed the Bidjie musician with umbrellas of variegated
silk, and, thus honoured and escorted, we were set down, amid a crowd of peo-
ple, in tlie centre of the town. As usual, the natives testified the wild delight
ihey felt at our visit by clapping of hands and loud bursts of laughter. Present-
ly, at the noise of three or four drums, which was a signal that the chief was pre-
pared to receive us, the multitude quitted us simultaneously, and rushed to the
spot where he was sitting, and to which also we were desired to proceed. The
chief shook hands with us in great good-humour, and we remarked with plea-
sure, or fancied we could, that not only his laugh, but that of his people, was a
more social and civilized kind of sound than what of late we had been accustom-
ed to hear. Nevertheless, when I shook hands with the chief's son, which act
is not very diverting in itself, the bystanders set up so general a roar of laughter,
that the town rang with the noise ; and when I ventured further to place my hand
on his head, tiiey were yet more amazingly tickled, and actually
" Shriek'd like mandrakes torn out of the earth."
As soon as the ceremony of introduction was over, and tlie admiration of the
people was confined within rational bounds, we wished the chief a pleasant
Kigtit's rest, and were conducted into a comfortable, airy hut, which had a ve-
randah in front. Shortly afterwards he sent us a goat for supper.
We were in momentary •; Jpectation of hearing something from our horses
Irorn Badagry the whole of t'.tvatoming and afternoon, and have indeed waited
he-e at Bidjie lu-d ly lor that purpose. But just about sunset two fellows arrived
from Badagry wiili the mortifying intelligence that our horses would not remain
on the water m canoes, but having upset one of them and kicked out the bottom
of another, had swam on shore and been led back to Badagry. We are per-
suaded that this story has been made up for the occasion, and thus by the bad
faith of Adooley are we deprived of our horses. My brother paid eighty dollars
for one of the animals, but Adocley has forgotten to return the com, and has
likewige kept for his own use a couple of saddles which we purchased at Acer?.
41*
482 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Late in the evening our expected carriers arrived with the luggage, some of
which has been wetted and damaged in the marshes. We are informed that
horses will be sent us from Jerma to-morrow. My brother has been amusing
himself the greater part of this afternoon in teaciiing the simple-hearted chief to
play on a child's penny Jew's-harp, many of which we have brought with us as
presents; but his proficiency, owing to a wonderfully capacious mouth and teeth
of extraordinary size, has not been near so Hattering as could have been wi.shed.
His people, however, who had assembled in great numbers, were of a ditterent
opinion, and when they heard their chief draw the first sound from tlie little in-
strument,
" Shouts of applause ran rattling to the skie.s."
Turnpikes are as common from Badagry to this place as on any public road in
England. Instead of horses, carriages, &c., people carrying burdens alone are
taxed; but as we are under protection of the government, no duty has been ex-
acted for any of our things.
Sunday, April Ath. — We arose at sunrise this morning to make arrangements
for leaving this place, which is no easy task ; and sent to signify our intention to
the chief shortly after. He expressed a desire to see us as soon as we could
conveniently come; and accordingly after breakfast we repaired to his habita-
tion, which is adjoining ours. Led through a number of }a:ds and huts, in-
habited only by goats and sheep, which were tethered to posts, and a quantity of
tame pigeons, we perceived the object of our visit squatting on a leopard's skin
under a decent looking verandah. He was surrounded by his drummers and
other distinguished persons, who made room for us as we drew near. But the
chief arose as soon as he saw us, and beckoning to us to follow him, we were
ushered through a labyrinth of low huts, and still lower doors, till at last we en-
tered the innermost apartment of the whole suit, and here we were requested to
sit down and drink rum. The doors we had seen were carved w-ith figures of
men, which exactly resembled certain nide attempts at portraying the himian
body which may still be observed in several old churches and chapels in the west
of England. The chief informed us that we were at liberty to quit Bidjie as
soon as the heat of the sun should have somewhat abated, but previous to our
departure he promised to return our visit. On leaving the place he followed
us, though without our knowledge ; but finding that we walked faster than he,
and that he could not keep pace with us, ^fbr he is a bulky man,) he hastily des-
patched a messenger to inform us that kings always walk with a slow and
measured step, and that our strides being long and vulgar, he would thark us to
lessen our speed, and stop awhile to enable him to come up with us, which of
course we agreed to with great good-will. A few minutes afcer this he reached
our house, dressed in a tobe of green silk damask, very rich and showy, and a
scull-cap made of purple and crimson velvet. With the exception of strings of
white beads, which encircled his arms, he used no personal ornaments. He re-
mained chatting with us a long time.
Many of the women of Bidjie have the flesh on their foreheads risen in the
shape of marbles, and their cheeks similarly cut up and deformed. The lobes
of their cars are likewise pierced, and the holes made surprisingly large, for the
insertiouof pieces of ivory and wood into then), which is a prevailing tashion
with all ranks. We read the church service this morning, agreeably to our
general custom. The natives, of whose society we have never been able to rid
ourselves, scorned to attach great awe and reverence to our form of worship, for
we had made taom understand what we were going about, which induced them
topay aliigh degree of silent attention to the ceremony, and set at rest, lor the
time, that peculiar continuous laugh by whicli they are distinguished from their
neighbours. In tlie allernoon, or, as the natives express it, " when the sun had
lost ilia strength," we departed from the town of Bidjie, accompanied by its
good-uatmed, happy governor, and reach* d the banks of a rivulet called Vow'm
a very lew minutes. Bulterliies were here more numerous than can be imagin-
ed ; uiill;ous of them fluttered round us, and literally hid from our sight every
Ihing but taeir own variegated and beautiful wings.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 483
Hereon the banks of the Yow we took a last farewell of the affectionate old
chief, who implored the " Great God" to bless us ; and as the canoes in which we
had embarked moved from the spot, a loud long laugh, with clapping of hands
from the lower classes, evinced the satisfaction they lelt at having seen us, and
their hearty wishes for our welfare. The Yow is an extremely narrow rivulet,
not more than a few feet in breadth ; and flows in a serpentine direction through
a flat country, covered with rushes and tall rank grass. Crocodiles are said to
resort here in great numbers ; the low bark or growl of these rapacious animals
we heard distinctly, and almost close to us.
After we had been pushed along against the stream by poles for live or six
miles, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon we landed at a narrow
creek, which ran a little way into a thick and gloomy forest. We had not pro-
ceeded more than two hundred yards on the pathway, when we were met by a
messenger from Jenna, who informed us that the owners of all the horses in the
town had rode out to welcome their chief, and escort him to his residence, so
that we should be obliged to walk the remainder of the way. A lew minutes
only had elapsed, however, from this time, before we descried a horse approach-
ing us in the path. This was a goodly sight to us, who were akeady becommg
wearied and sore with the exertions we had made during the day, for we did not
reflect a moment tliat the animal might not, after all, be for our use. However,
we soon met, and the rider immediately declared that he had left Jenna purpose-
ly on our account. The horse's head was loaded with charpis and ietislies, en-
veloped in pieces of red and blue cloth. His saddle was of Haussa manufacture,
and uncommonly neat ; in the interior such an article is used only by the princi-
pal people ; and his bridle also was of curious workmauihip. The horseman
fiad an extravagant idea of his own consiequence, and seemed a prodigious
boaster. He wore abundance of clothing, most of which was superfluous, but
it made him excessively vain. He informed us that he had been despatched by
the king of Jenna to meet us in the path, and to escort us to the capital ; but un-
derstanding that Adooley had suppUed us with horses, he did not conceive it
necessary to send others. The messenger, however, dismounted and oflered
us his horse ; and my brother and self agreed to ride him in turns. We there-
fore immediately proceeded, and traversed a rich and varied country, abounding
plentifully witli wood and water. A fine red sand covered the pathway, which
we found to be in much better condition than any we had before seen. ' Some-
times it wound through an open, level tract of fine grazing land ; and then again
.it diverged through Ibrestsso thick and deep that the light of the moon, which
had arisen, was unable to penetrate the gloom, and we were frequently left in
midnight darkness. It would require greater powers than we are in possession
of to give an adequate description of the magnificence, solemnity, and desolate
repose of tlie awiul so itudes through which we passed this evening. They
were enlightened, however at times, by the appearance of glowworms, which
were so luminous that one could almost see to read by their golden splendour ;
and somctin.es by the moonbeams, which trembled upon the leaves and branches
of the trees. A fragrance also was exhaled fiom tlie forest, more odorifeious
than the perfume of primroses or violets ; and one might almost fancy, while
threading his way tl*ough scenery which perhaps cannot be surpassed ior beau-
ty in any part ot the world, that he was approaching those eternal shades where
in ancient time the souls of good men were supposed to wander. The woods
rang with the songs of insects and night-birds, wnich saluted us with htfle inter-
mission till about ten o'clock at night, when we entered Laatoo, a large and
pleasant town. Here we were informed that no house would be oflered us, the
fetish-priest having declared that the moment a white man should enter the
dwellings of the inhabitants, they would be seized by their enemies and enslaved.
We arrived thir:^ty and exausted, but lor a long time could not procure even a
drop of water. Uur tent had been left on the road ibr want of carriers, and we
had made up our minds to rest under a tree, when about two hours afterward it
was fortunately brought into the town. We fixed it immediately, and having
Bucceeded in piocuring wood from the unkind inhabitants, whe kindled a fire in
front of it, and otir people laid themselves in groups outside, while we entered,
and attempted vainly to sleep.
484 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Monday, April 5th. — Before sunrise this morning we were all on the alert, and
struck the tent at a very early hour. We then sent the carriers onward v ith the
luggage, and hastily left the town after them, without bidding adieu either to the
chief or any of his people, on account of their inhospitality; and in an hour's
time reached the extensive and important town of Larro. On dismounting, we
were first led to a large, cleanly-swept square, wherein is preserved the fetish
of the place, which is the model of a canoe, having three wooden figures with
paddles in it. After waiting in the shade for an hour, .surrounded by an immense
multiiude of people of all ages, the chief's approach was announced by a gene-
ral rush from our quarters to the other end of the square, where he was walking.
We went towards him in order to pay him the accustomed salutation of shaking
hands, &c. ; but one of his followers, fancying that I kept his master's hand
clasped in mine longer than the occasion might warrant, looked fiercely in my
face, and snatched away my hand, eagerly androughly, without, ho uever, utter-
ing a word. I could have pulled the fellow's ears with the greatest good-wDl
in the world, had not the fear of secret revenge deterred me. As it was, I smoth-
ered my rising choler, and with my brother quietly followed the chief to his prin-
cipal hut, under whose verandah we were served with goora-nuts in a huge
pewter platter. Presently the chief squatted himself down on a handsome rush
mat of native manufacture, and we were desired to sit by him on an elegant
Turkey carpet which had been laid there for the purpose. He was rather fan-
cifully dressed; and wore two tobes, that nearest the skin being of L!; ' "
velvet, and the other crimson velvet lined with sarsenet. His boots wej ■
low leather, neatly worked; and his wrists were loaded with bracelet.-i c. ...
and copper. The chief's countenance betrayed much seriousness and rClidit} •,
and the diverting laugh of his countrymen was superseded by a sober cheerful-
ness. Many of his wiyes sat behinddiim in lines — some of whom were of a
bright copper color ; indeed, great numbers of the inhabitants of Larro have
fairer complexions than mulattoes. The yard of the hut was crammed full of
curious and inquisitive people, who stood with open mouth during the whole of
tjhe audience. The chief wished to imj^ress strongly on our minds his own dig-
nity and power; he said he was greater than the Governor of Jcjma, inasmuch
as the latter was a slave to the King of Katunga, but himself was a freeman. He
would give us permission to depart to-morrow, he continued ; and in the mean-
time would supply us with provisions. Tiie chief was as good as his word, for
shortly after we had quitted the hui; we received a goat and some yams; and he
returned our visit in the cool of the evening. It appears that it is not his gene-
ral practice to drink spirituous liquors in the presence of his people, or it may be
against the law to do so ; for having carefully excluded all prying eyes from our
dwelling, and ordered a mat to be hung over the doorway, he even then turned
his face to the wall, whenever he attempted to swallow the brandy we ottered
him. He remained with us rather better than an hour. We have forgotten to
mention, that ou our presentation to the chief in the morning, a chapter from
the Koran was repeated to him by a Mohammedan priest, to which both he and
his people seemed to pay great respect and attention.
Public schools are established here for the avowed purpose of teaching tlie
rising generation the rudiments of the Mohammedan religion.
A singular custom prevails in the town, of compelling children at the breast to
swallow a quantity of cold water from a calabash. An infant w;is nearly chok-
ed this afternoon by tlie injection of more than a pint of water down its throat.
Whether mothers follow this custom I'or the purpose of curing children of any
imaginary complaints, or, as is more probable, in the hope of rendering tliem
less eager for their natural food, we have not ascertained.
The inhabitants possess horses, asses, and mules, tliough not in considerable
numbers; they have, however, great abundance of sheep and goats, which are
bred in the town; and their yards and huts are the coaunon place of resort for
these animals — indeed they may be said to grow up and live with the children
of their owners.
We have observed the country to be sensibly rising to-day ; and agriculture
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 485
appears to be conducted on a regular system, which is an evident proof of the
active and industrious habits of the people. The gloomy fastnesses and wild-
nesses of nature, such as we passed on the first day or two of our journey from
Badagry, are less common as we advance; and open glades, with plantations of
bananas, and fields of yams and Indian corn, all neatly fenced, met our view
from the path yesterday and this moniing. The inhabitants of Larro also ex-
hibit greater cleanliness of person and tidiness of apparel than the tribes nearer
the sea; and importunate beggars have disappeared entirely.
Tuesday, April 6th. — The sun had scarcely risen above the horizon, and the
mists of the morning yet hung upon the hills, when we quitted the town of Lar-
ro, and pursued our journey on horseback. Three horsemen from Jenna fol-
lowed us on the path, and we were enlivened by the wild jingling of their ani-
mal's bells, till we got within a mile of that town, where we alighted at a kind
of turnpike, and fired a salute of two muskets. Here we were met by a parcel
of fellows with horns, who blew on them with the accustomed energy of the na-
tives : these men preceded us over a bridge, which is thrown across a moat that
surrounds Jenna, into the centre of the town, where we alighted, and waited the
chief's i^leasure in an open shed. We had not been seated many moments be-
fore an immense crowd of people pressed in ui^on us on every side, subjecting
us to the accustomed inconveniences of want of air, strong, unwholesome smells,
and a confused hubbub that defies description. Never were people more eager
to behold us. The litile ones formed tliemselves into a ring close to the shed,
then followed those of maturer age, after them came a still older class, and the
last circle consisted of people as tall as steeples, most of whom held infants in
their arms. Altogether was formed a large ampitheatre of black woolly heads
and teeth set in jetty faces; and although we felt rather annoyed at their inno-
cent curiosity, and were obliged to wait a considerable time for the new chief^
we could noL help being highly diverted with the spectacle^ around us. At lengthy
to our great relief and joy, news was brought that he was ready to receive us.
Such is the etiquette here, that the longer a stranger is compelled to wait to be
introduced, the greater is the honor done him, and the higher is the rink of that
person supposed to be who exacts this unpleasant delay. We discovered the
chief, or rather governor, sitting on a piece of leather, under a large verandah^
at one end of a commodious square yard. He was clad in the prevailing finery
of crimson velvet tobe and cap, both edged \^ith gold lace. At his right hand
sat his wives and women, and we were desired to place ourselves on his left.
The women sang the praises of their master in aloud unpleasant voice, in v/hich
they were assisted by the music (equally unharmonious) of daiuis, fifes, ckrion-
ets, and horrs. On our wishing the c.iief all the 1 appiness in the world, those
that had flocked into the yard after us, and every one near him, prostrated them-
selves on the ground and clapped their hands. Goora-nuts were presented us
in water, and a profusion of compliments passed on both sides; but the dignity
of the newly-made governor seemed to sit rather awkwardly upon him, for he
was shy and bashful as a maiden, and really appeared agitated aid afraid of his
white-faced visitant**. Strange as it may seem, the patience of the most patient
people in the world was completely exhausted, as might be ?een by their deser-
tion of the premises before we quitted them, notwithstanding the few words
that had passed between the chief and ourselves. The ceremony of introduc-
tion being over, we bade adieu to the chief, and having visited the grave of Dr.
Morrison in our way, repaired to a hut which had been got ready for our re-
ception.
The former governor of Jenna, who, it will be recollected, treated the gentle-
men composing the last mission so handsomely, died about fifteen months ago,
and the King of Yarriba those one of the meanest of his slaves as his successor.
This is an invariable rule with the sovereigns of that country of which Jenna is
a province; for they fear that, its distance from the capital being very great, a
person of higher rank, if possessed of talents and spirit, could easily influence
the natives to throw off the yoke, and declare themselves independent of Yarri-
ba. The present governor is a Haussa man, and was raised to the dignity he
now holds, in all probability, on account of his childish simplicity and artlessness;
486 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER,
for a person with a countenance more indicative of innocence, and perhaps stu-
pidity also, we never recollect to have seen. The quahties of his heart, howev-
ea, are said to be excellent, and his manners are mild and amiable. He had been
twelve months in coming from Katunga to this place, being under the necessity
of stopping at every town between Jenna and his capital to receive the applauses
and congratulations of the inhabitants and to join in their festivities and amuse-
ments. He did not make his entry here till yesterday.
It is related in Captain Clapperton's journal than one of old Pascoe's wives
eloped from him in Katunga, while he was asleep, taking with, her the trinkets
Mrs. Belzoni had given him, and that she was never afterwards heard of. This
woman had the effrontery to introduce herself into our house to-day with an in-
fant, whereof she asserted with warmth that Pascoe was the father, and that slie
was detelrmined to leave it upon his hands. She had prevailed upon a number
of Haussa females to accompany her, that they might endeavor to induce her
quondam husband, who is a countryman of theirs, to receive the child, and make
up the breach between them; but the infant not being mcra than nine, or at
most twelve months old, and three or four years having elapsed since the elope-
ment took place, we were convinced, independently of the age and infirmities
of Pascoe, that it could by no rule of law be his. Accordingly, notwithstanding
the uproar occasioned by ihe women's tonarues, (which is no small matter in
any part of the world,) the mother, with her spurious offspring, and the ladies
that came to aid and abet her imposition, were turned out of the yard without
any ceremony, to the great relief of Pascoe and his present rib, who felt rather
uncomfortable while the palaver was carrying on.
The fetish priest of t)>)b town came dancing into our h\\\ this afternoon, (April
7th,) looking exceedingiy wild and roaring as if possessed by an evil spirit. We
paid little attention to the fellows fooleries, who, not liking his reception, left the
hut, after we had given him the accustomed fee of a few cowries. The man's
person and dress, together with its whimsical ornaments, were admirably fitted
to impose on the credulity and superstition of the inhabitants, though many of
the town's people, influenced perhaps by the spreading doctrines of Mahomet,
spoke their minds pretty freely, calling him a scoundrel and a devil. There
was something peculiar in the priest's countenance that we could not define.
On his shoulders he bore a large club, carved at one end with the figure of a
man's head. A vast number of strings of cowries were suspended on this wea-
pon, which were intermixed with bells, broken combs, small pieces of wood,
with rude imitations of men's faces cut on them, large sea-shells, bits of iron and
brass, nut shells, &c. &c. Perhaps the number of cowries on his person did
not fall far short of twenty thousand; and the weight of his various ornaments
almost pressed him to the ground. After this fellow had left our apartment,
three or four others came to torment us with drums, whistles, and horns, and
began and ended the evening's serenade to their own infinite delight and satis-
faction. The native drum answers the purpose of a tambarine and bagpipe as
well, and is of peculiar formation. Its top is encircled with little brass bells, and
is played upon with one hand, while the fingers of the other are employed at
the same time in tapping on its surface. The instrument itself is held under the
lefl arm, but instead of an outer wooden case, strings alone are used from end
to end, which being pressed against the musician's side, sounds somewhat simi-
lar to those of the Scotch bagpipe, but very inferior, are produced. The drum-
mers, with their companions of the horns and whistles, subsist entirely on the
charity of the public, who require tlieir services on all occasions of general
merriment and jollity.
We were witnesses this morning, (April 8th,) to a specimen of native tumbling
and dancing, with the usual accompaniments of vocal and instrumental music.
By far the most diverting part of the entertainment was the dancing; but even
this did not answer the expectations we had formed of it. The performers were
liberally supplied with country beer, and, like most amusements of the kind,
they ended this with wrangling and intoxication. The fellows that accompa-
nied us as guides from Badagry, who in their native place would sell their birth-
right for a glass of rum, have now washed themselves and thrown aside their
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 487
rags, appearing at all public places in borrowed finery. They now never leave
their habitations without Adooley's sword, which they have with them, and a
host of followers. This morning they attended the celebration of the games, in
showy apparel, with silk umbrellas held over their heads, and .imong other
articles of dress, the principal of them wore an immense drab-colored Quaker's
hat, of the coarsest quality. They will scarcely deign to speak to a poor man.
We learn with regret that all the horses of the late governor of Jenna were
interred, according to custom, with the corpse of their master; and we begin to
be apprehensive that we shall be oI)liged to walk the whole of the w^ay to Ka-
tunga, as the present ruler is not the owner of a single beast of burden. This
piece of ill news was carefully withheld from us till after the presents had all
been duly delivered to the governor and his head men ; but the latter alone are
to blame in this instance. Matters being in this unpleasant state, we have sent
a messenger to the chief of Larro, to inform him of the circumstance, and en-
treat him to rec'ejm his promise of lending us a horse or a mule ; and another to
Adooley, requesting him lO despatch immediately one of our horses, at least,
from Badagry, tor that we have found it impossible to do without him. But
w^hether the latter will accede to it or not remains to be seen. We do not think
that he will ; and yet we can hardly imagine he vv'iil carry his chic^lnery so far,
beca'.ise he wnfsf tear that the variety of orders we have given him to receive
valu:'i'>Ig presents from England will never be honored by our countrymen if he
refuses to fulfil his engagements to us.
This evening a corpse was interred at a short distance from our dwelUng, and
the friends of the deceased have been employed more than an hour in bewailing
their loss. The low plaintive noise they make sounds dolefully in our hut, and
it has a very sorrowful and depressing efiect on our spirits.
We have been pretty busily engaged during the whole of the afternoon in
writing letters and despatches for England. They will be forwarded by Adoo-
ley, as soon as possible, to Cape Coast Castle. The Badagrian guides and car-
riers will return home to-morrow, to our great relief, for they have been a con-
stant trouble, and have harrassed us from morning till night.
Friday, April \)th. — Since the demise of the late governor, it is calculated that
Jenna has lost more than five hundred of its population, chiefly by wars, intes-
tine broils, &c., and for want of a ruler. It must not be imagined, however,
that because the people of this country are almost perpetually engaged in con-
flicts with their neighbors, the slaughter of human beings is therefore very .'^reat.
They pursue war, as it is called, partly as an amusement, or to ''keep their
hands in;" and partly to benefit themselves by the capture of slaves. As we
were sailing down the coast, we were told that the natives of Cape La Hoc
and Jack-a-Jack had been warring for three years previously, and were still at
variance ; but, during that long period, only one single decrepit old w oman, who
found it no easy matter to run as fast as her countrymen, was left behind, and be-
came the solitary victim of a hundred engagements. Much after the same fash-
ion are the bloodless wars of Jenna. Success depends much more on the cun-
ning and address of the parties, than on any extraordinary display of intrepidi-
ty ; and living, not dead, subjects are sought after; so that it is their interest to
avoid hard blows, and enrich themselves by the sale of their prisoners. Per-
haps the extraordinary decrease in the population of Jenna has arisen from the
desertion of slaves, who embrace the opportunity, while their masters are from
home engaged in predatory excursions, of running away ; thus the latter fre-
quently become losers, instead of gainers, by their unnatural passion for steal-
ing their fellow-creatures. The individuals captured are sent to the coast, and
the chiefs of those unsettled and barbarous tribes that inhabit it are appointed
agents to regulate the sale of them, for which they receive half the profits.
Late in the evening the youngFalatah, mentioned in yesterday's journal, paid
us a visit, and ottered his horse for sale. He is a Mohammedan priest, and
was accompanied by a countryman of the same persuasion; but neither of the
holy men appeared in their dealing to understand the meaning of truth or jus-
tice. An agreement was made, and we paid thirty dollars. The merchant im-
plored U£ not to tell his father, who was tiie real owner of the horse, that he had
488 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. v^
sold him for less money than he had received; and in this request he was sec-
onded by his more venerable friend ; because, he said, he wanted a small sum
for his private use, which he knew his parent would refuse him. The words
were hardly out of their mouths before tlie two Mussulmans publicly went
through their ablutions in front of our house, turning their faces to the ea^it, they
seemed to pray very devoutly to the founder of their faith. When this was
concluded, they sang us an Arabic hymn with very great solemnity, and the
whole had an immediate and wonderful effect on the feelings of many of their
followers in the yard, who, mistaking loudness of voice for fervor, and hypo-
critical seriousness for piety, made the two worshippers a present of money.
The women of Jenna employ themselves generally in spinning cotton or pre-
paring Indian corn for food. Much of the former material grows in the vicinity
of the town, but the cultivation of the plant is not carried on with the spirit it
deserves. Silk, which is brought over land from Tripoli, the inhabitants some-
times interweave in their cotton garments, but such, being very expensive, are
only worn by the higher class of people. They have abundance of bullocks,
pigs, goats, sheep, and poultry, but they prefer vegetable food to animal; their
diet, indeed, is what we should term poor and watery, consisting chiefly of pre-
parations o#the yam and of Indian corn ; notwithstanding which a stronger or
more athletic race of people is no where to be met with. Burdens with them,
as with the natives of many parts of the continent, are invariably carried on the
head; which, it is more than likely, occasions that dignilied uprightness of form
and stateliness of walk so often spoken of by those acquainted with the pleasing
peculiarities of the African female. The weight of a feaiher is borne on tlie
head in preference to its being carried in the hand; and it not unfrequently re-
quires the united strength of three men to lift a calabash of goods irom the
ground to the shoulder of one ; and then, and not till then, does the amazing
strength of the African appear. The greater part of the inhabitants of Jenna
have the hair of their heads and their eyebrows shaven; but the governor's wiu-
isters and servants wear their hair in the shape of a horse shoe, as a mark of dis-
tinction. It is confined to the crown of tlie head by large daubs of indigo, and,
none of the people presuming to imitate it, answers the purpose of a livery.
It is the custom here, when a governor dies, for two of his favorite wives to
quit the world on the sdme day, in order that he may have a little pleasant social
company in a future state ; but the late governor's devoted wives had no ambi-
tion or inclination to follow their venerable husband to tlie grave, and went and
hid themselves before the funeral ceremonies were performed, and have re-
mained concealed ever since, with the remainder cf his women. To-day, liow-
ever, one of these unfortunates, (she to whom our house belongs,) was discov-
ered in her hiding place at the present governor's, and the alternative of a poi-
soned chalice, or to have her head broken by the club of the fetish priest, was of-
fered her. She has chosen the Ibnner mode of dying, as being the less terrible
of the two, and has come to our yard to spend her last hours in the society of
her faithful slaves. These address their mistress by the endearing name of
mother. Poor creatures! as soon as they learned her misfortune they dropped
their spinning ; tlie grinding of corn was also rehnquished; their sheep, goats,
and poultry, were suffered to roam at large without restraint; and tliey abandon-
ed themselves to tlie most excessive, most poignant grief ; but now the arrival of
tlieir mistress ha:s added, if possible, to then- atiliction. There is not to be found
in the world, perhaps, an object more truly sorrowful than a lonely, del'enceless
woman in tears; and on such an occasion as this it may easily be conceived, the
distress is more peculiarly cutting. A heart that could not be touched at a scene
of this nature, nmst be unfeeling indeed. Females have been coming all day to
condole with the old lady, and to weep with her; so that we have heard
nothing but sobbing and crying from morning till the setting sun. The princi-
pal males in the town have likewise been here to pay tlieir last nspects to their
mistress; and so has her gravedigger, who has just risen from prostrating him-
self on the ground betbre lier. JNoiwithstanding the representaUons and remon-
strances of tlie priest, and the prayers of the venerable victim to her gods for
fortitude to undergo the dreadful ordeal, her resolution has forsaken her more
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 489
than once. She has entered our yard twice to expire in the arms of her women,
and twice has she laid aside the fatal poison in order to take another walk, and
gaze once more on the splendor of the sun and the glory of the heavens; for
she cannot bear the idea of losing sight of them forever. "She is still restless and
uneasy, and would gladly run away from death, if she durst ; for that imaginary
being appears to her in a more terrible light than our pictures represent him,
with his shadowy form and fatal dart. Die she must, and she knows it ; never-
theless she will tenaciously cling to life to the very last moment. Meanwhile
her grave is preparing, and preparations are making for a wake at her funeral.
She is to be buried here in one of her own huts, the moment after the spirit has
quitted her body, which will be ascertained by striking the ground near which it
may be lying at the time ; when, if no motion or struggle ensues, the old woman
will be considered as dead. The poison used by the natives on this occasion
destroys life, it is said, in fifteen minutes.
The reason of our not meeting with a better reception at Laatoo, when we
slept there, was the want of a chief to that town, the last having followed the
old governor of Jenna to the eternal shades, for he was his slave. Widows are
burnt in India, just as they are poisoned or clubbed here ; but in the former coun-
try, I believe, no male victims are destroyed on such occasions. The origin of
this abominable custom is understood to have arisen from a dread on the part
of the chiefs of the country, in olden time, that their principal wives, who alone
were in possession of their confidence, and knew where their money was con-
cealed, might secretly attempt their life, in order at once to establish their own
freedom, and become possessed of the property. That, far from having any
motives to destroy her husband, a woman might, on the contrary, have a strong
inducement to cherish him as long as possible, the existence of the wife was
made to depend entirely on that of her lord ; and this custom has been handed
down from father to son, even to the present time. But why men also, who
can have no interest to gain on the death of their prince, should be obliged to
conform to the same rite is not near so easily accounted for. The present gov-
ernor of Jenna must of necessity go down to the grave on the first intelligence
of the demise of the King of Yarriba; and as that monarch is a very aged man,
the situation of the former is not the most enviable in the world.
Previous to her swallowing the poison, the favorite wife of the deceased chief
or ruler destroys privately all the wealth, or rather money, of her former part-
ner, in order that it may not fall into the hands of his successor. The same cus-
tom is observed at Badagry also ; and although the king's son may be of age at
the period of his father's death, he inherits his authority and influence only. He
is left to his own sagacity and exertions to procure wealth, which can seldom be
obtained without rapine, enslavement, and bloodshed.
Whenever a town is deprived of its chief, the inhabitants acknowledge no
law — anarchy, troubles, and confusion immediately prevail, and till a successor
is appointed, all Jabor is at an end. The stronger oppress the weak, and con-
summate every species of crime, without being amenable to any tribunal for
their actions. Private property is no longer respected ; and thus, before a per-
son arrives to curb its hcentiousness, a town is not unfrequently reduced from
a flourishing state of prosperity and of happiness to all the horrors of desolation.
Sunday, April llth. — This being Easter-day, we have devoted it exclusively
to religious purposes. The messenger whom we sent to Badagry for our horse
is not yet returned, although he promised to be back in four days from the time
of his departure. He has exceeded the given time by a whole day, and as the
man is a native of Badagry, we have given up all hopes of again seeing either
him, or the horse, or the message-sword we lent him as a token that he had been
sent by us. We have received positive assurances that leave will be granted us
to depart hence on Tuesday next ; but as we have one horse only, we shall be
obliged to take it in turns to ride, or procure a hammock, which will be a difli-
cult thing to get, and very expensive.
The old queen-dowager, like Prior's thief,
" Often takes leave, but seems loath to depart."
42
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Although her doom is inevitably sealed, she has been more cheerful to-day than
yesterday, and seems determined to spin out her thread of life to its utmost hmit.
Spies are now set over her, and she is not permited to go out of the yard.
Monday, April 12t/t. — Nothing deserving particular notice has occurred to-
day. We had the customary visit to our yard of a long hue of women, who
come every morning, with rueful countenances and streaming eyes, to lament
the approaching death of the old widow. They weep, they beat their breasts
and tear their hair, they moan, and exhibit all mamier of violent affliction at the
expected deprivation. Perhaps their sorrorw is sincere, perhaps it is feigned.
At all events, their transports are ungoverned and outrageous; the first woman
in the line begins the cry, and it is instantly followed by the other voices ; the
opening notes of the lamentation are rather low and mournful, the last wild and
piercing.
The principal people of the place, finding the old lady still obstinately bent
on deferring her exit, have sent a messenger to her native village to make known
to her relatives that should she make her escape, they will take all of them into
slavery, and burn their town to ashes, in conformity to an established and very
ancient law. They would therefore strongly advise the relatives of the old
woman, for their own sakes, and the sake of the public, to use all their endeav-
ors to prevail upon her to meet her fate honorably and with fortitude. A dep-
utation is expected from the village to-morrow, when, no doubt, after a good
deal of crying, and condohng, and talking, and persuading, the matter will even-
tually be decided against the old lady. It is understood that she has bribed a
few of the most opulent and influential inhabitants of Jenna, with large sums of
money, to induce them to overlook her dereliction from the path of duty, and
that, by their representations, she has obtained the tacit consent of the liing of
Katunga to live out the full term of her natural life. But the people, for many
miles round, horror-struck at such impiety and contempt of ancient customs,
have risen to enforce the laws of the country against her.
Tuesday, April \Wi. — Last night we were visited by one of those terrific thun-
der storms which are so prevalent in these latitudes. Our thatched hut afforded
but an insecure and uncertain asylum against its fury ; part of the roof wa3 swept
away, and the rain admitted freely upon our beds, whence the most awful light-
ning-flashes could be seen, making, as Milton says, " the darkness visible." It
seemed as if the genius of the storm was driving through the murkv clouds in
his chariot of fire, to awaken the slumbering creation, and make them feel and
acknowledge his power. It is indeed a grand lesson to human pride, to con-
template the terrors of a tornado through the trembling walls and roof of a
gloomy, dilapidated hut in Africa. In civihzed coimtries, when men are visited
by an awful calamity of this kind, the distinctions of ranlv are levelled, and num-
bers flock together for the purpose of keeping each other in countenance, and
strengthening each other's nerves ; but here all is naked, lonely, and desolate.
We passed the night, as may be supposed, uncomfortably enough. The roof
of our dwelling had long been infested with numbers of rats and mice, and these
vermin, being dislodged from their haunts by the violence of the wind and rain,
sought immediate shelter between our bedclothes, and to this very serious incon-
venience was added another still greater, viz. the company of lizards, ants, and
mosquitoes, besides worms and centipedes, and otlier crawhng, creeping, and
noxious things, which the tempest seemed to renovate with fresh life and mo-
tion. After a long, long night, the morning at length appeared, and the terrors
of the storm were forgotten.
Not long after sunrise two fresh legions of women entered our yard to mourn
with their old mistress, and the shrieks and lamentations of these visiters were
more violent than any of tlieir predecessors. It made us shudder to hear them.
Their eyes were red with weeping, their hands were clasped on the crown of
the head, their hair was in frightful disorder, and two channels of tears were
plainly seen flowing down over the naked bosom of each of the women. In
this manner they passed before the threshold of our hut, m two close lines, and
in this manner we observed them bend tlie knee to the venerable matron, with-
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 491
out uttering a word. They then rose and departed, and we could hear their
cries long after they had been out of sight.
Matters were arranged for our departure in good time this morning, and after
breakfast we went to pay our last respects to the good governor. Of course
we were obliged to wait a tiresome length of time outside his residence before
admittance could be obtained; but when the doors were opened, the band that
was in attendance inside played a native tune as a token of welcome. We
observed a greater number of drummers assembled than on any former occa-
sion. Some of their instruments were something in the shape of a cone, and
profusely ornamented with plates and figures of brass. On one of these were
represented the busts of two men, with a tortoise eating out of the mouth of one
of them. The tortoise had a cock by its side, and two dogs standing as guardi-
ans of the whole. These figures were all ingeniously carved in solid brass.
Both ends of the larger drums were played on with the palms of the hand ; hun-
dreds of little brass bells were suspended round their edges for ornament rather
than use, for being without clappers they could produce no sound. The com-
mon uStive drum is beaten on one of its ends only, and with a stick shaped like
a bo\^^.
After a little conversation, the chief and his principal people shook us affec-
tionately by the hand, and wished us every blessing, and as soon as we got out-
side the yard we mounted our horses and rode out of town. The chief of Lar-
ro had broken his promise, but we were fortunate enough to meet with and
purchase another horse this morning, so that we cared little about it. Our path-
way lay through a champaign country, partially wooded, and after a pleasant
ride of three-quarters of an hour, we entered the small village of Bidjie.
Hawks and vultures are exceedingly numerous both at Jenna and this place;
the former are bold and disgusting birds, but the latter are so hungry and rapa-
cious, that they pounce fearlessly in the midst of the natives when at their meals.
This evening one of them darted at a piece of meat which one of our men held
between his fingers, and snatched it from him while he was conveying it to his
mouth.
Wednesday, April lAth. — At an early hour this morning, to our infinite sur-
prise and pleasure, the man from Badagry made his appearance with one of our
horses and an EngUsh saddle.
We set of!' from Bidjie while the morning was yet cool and pleasant, and ar-
rived at Chow before eleven o'clock in the forenoon. The natives have an un-
accountable fancy that white men are fond of poultry to excess, insomuch that
whenever we enter a village or town, all the fowls are immediately seized, and
confined in a place of security till our departure.
The chief of Chow who received and entertained the last mission has been,
dead some time, and is succeeded by an humble, good-natured, and active indi-
vidual, who has treated us more like demi-gods than men. At the time of our
arrival he was engaged in superintending the slaves at his corn and yam planta-
tions, but hastened to us the moment he was informed of the circumstance. He
has a number of horses, among which is one of the smallest and most beautiful
we have ever beheld.
In the evening the chief visited us again, with a present of provisions and a
few goora-nuts. My brother took the opportunity of playing on a bugle horn
in his presence, by which he was violently agitated, under the supposition that
the instrument was nothing less than a snake.
For the first time since our landing we have observed the loom inactive ope-
ration. The manufacture of cotton cloth is carried on here exclusively by
women.
Thursday, April IZth. — The path to-day has wound through a country charm-
ingly diversified by hill and dale, woods and open glades, and watered by streeims
flowing over beds of fine white sand. A horseman from Katunga met us about
ten in the morning, whose dress and accoutrements were highly grotesque. He
neither stopped nor spoke, but couched his lance as he galloped past us. We
found numbers of people of both sexes in the path, who were returning from
Egga to Chow, and several nalced boys on their way to the coast, under the care
492 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
of guardians. These are slaves, and will be sold, most likely, at Badagiy.
Women bore burdens on their heads that would tire a mule, and children, not
more than five or six years of age, trudged after them, with loads that would
give a full-grown person in Europe the brain fever.
We departed from Chow before sunrise; a surprising dew had fallen during
the night, and distilled from the leaves and branches in large drops. We pas.s-
ed, during the forenoon, over three or four swampy places covered with reeds,
rushes, and rank grass, which were inhabited by myriads of frogs of prodigious
size. On crossing streams we were invariably saluted by a loud and unaccount-
able hissing, as if from a multitude of serpents. We could not account for this
extraordinary noise in any other way than by supposing it to proceed from some
species of insects whose retreats we had invaded.
Many women with little wooden figures of children on their heads passed us
in the course of the morning — mothers, who, having lost a child, carry such rude
imitations of them about their persons, for an indefinite time, as a symbol of
mourning. None of them could be induced to part with one of these little affec-
tionate memorials.
We enterred Egga, which is a very large town, in the early part of the after-
noon. On our arrival, we were introduced into the house occupied by Captain
Clapperton in the last mission, in the yard of which repose the remains of an
Englishman named Dawson, who died here of a fever, when that officer was
passing through the country. Both hut and yard are filled with people, and are
in a slate of filth which defies description. We cannot rid ourselves of sheep,
goats, and fowls, with their train; they will be our companions in spile of us,
and this grievance, with the tongues of a hundred visiters, makes our situation
all but intolerable.
Egga is the principal market town in this part of Africa, and is attended by
buyers and sellers for many miles round. Women here are the chief, if not the
only, traders ; most of them are of graceful and prepossessing exterior, and they
all practice those petty tricks and artifices in tlieir dealings with which the mar-
ket women in more civilized countries are not unacquainted.
Friday, ApiiL Wth. — Yesterday was comparatively cool, owing to the thick
dark clouds which obscured the sky ; but on our setting out this morning, as if
to make amends for his partial concealment, the sun showed liis broad burning
face with unconunon clearness, and the day was one of the hottest we ever re-
member to have felt. . We found the path in much better condition than those
behind it, and it lay almost entirely through plantations of yams, calavances, and
pumpkins, and three or four difterent varieties of corn, which a number of la-
bourers were employed in weeding, «fec. The hoe is the only implement of
husbandry in use, and indeed they can well dispense with every other, because
the soil, during the rainy months, is so soft and light that but very little manual
exertion in working it is required. Population is abundant; labourers may be
hired to any number ; and, in our opinion, the introduction of the plough would
scarcely be a blessing, but, on the contrary, furnish new encouragement to the
besetting sjn of sloth.
Having crossed, at noon, a small but agreeable river, flowing from ea.st to
west, in which several females were bathing, and washing clothes, we shortly
afterwards entered the capacious and populous town of Jadoo. Here we were
inibrmed that the chief had been in the grave more than a twelvemonth, and
that Ho one having yet been nominated to succeed him, every thing continued
in a state of confusion and misrule. We were conducted, after we had waited
a little, into a large yard belonging to the late governor, and presently received
a visit from his brother, in company with all the elders of tlie place : but their
conversation was unpleasant, and their whole behaviour much cooler than was
agreeable, the more so as such a reception had been entirely unexpected.
The yard wherein we reside is perliectly round, and walled with huts, all ten-
anted by the late chief's widows, who employ their time and earn their liveli-
hood by spiiming and weaving. Not less tlum a hundred of the King of Ka-
tunga's ladies are lodging in the yard with them. They have all passed the
• bloom of life, and arrived here lately with loads of trona and country cloth^ which
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 40?
they barter for salt, and various articles of European manufacture, particular! v
beads; with these they return home, and expose them for sale in the market, anc
afterwards the profits are taken to their husbands. These royal ladies are dis-
tinguished from their countrywomen only by a peculiar species of cloth, whict
is wrapped round their goods, and which no one dares to imitate, on pain a<
perpetual slavery. This severe punishment is often inflicted; for, as the king'i
wives pay no tribute or turnpike dues whatever, and must besides be entertain-
ed by the chiefs of every town through which they pass, strong inducements are
offered for others to attempt to deceive by using the forbidden cloth, and henc«
examples are necessary. As a contrast to the afiiicted females of Jenna, the
wives of the King of Katunga all fell to crying for joy, this evening, on recog-
nizing a few old acquaintances in the yard, who soon joined them in the melan-
choly music. It was laughable enough to see them ; yet after the first burst had
subsided, they began to chat with a garruhty far beyond that of the most talka-
tive of their European sisters. The conversation lasted more than an hour, till
at last it resolved itself into a violent quarrel, which has not yet terminated.
It is now ten o'clock at night, and the women are sitting in groups round the
several wood fires. We ourselves occupy only a verandah, which is simply the
projection of the roof of a thatched hut; our horses are fastened to stakes in
the centre of the yard ; our men lying round them, warming themselves at their
own fires. Sheep, beautiful sheep, with tinkling bells hung round their necks,
are chewing their cud in peace and happiness. But, although it is the hour of
repose, the tongues of our female fellow-travellers are making a clatter which all
the graces of BiUingsgate could not rival, and, together with the squalling of
brats innumerable, it spoils the emotions which the wild and pleasing scene
around us would otherwise awaken in our breasts. Sheep here are regarded
with as much partiality, and treated much in the same manner, as ladies' lapdogs
are in England. Great care is taken to keep them clean and in good condition •
they are washed every morning in soap and water ; and so greatly are they attach-
ed to their masters or mistresses, that they are constantly at their heels, follow-
ing them in-doors and out, from town to town, and in all their peregrinations.
Goats, sheep, swine, and poultry, are in great plenty here, and in every one's
possessiott, notwithstanding which they are always excessively dear, because the
people take a pride in displaying the number and quahty of their domestic
animals.
The inhabitants of Jadoo are, generally speaking,, very tidily clad in cotton
dresses of their own manufacture. , In their persons they are much more agree-
able than those who reside nearer the sea. European goods are brought hither
from Dahomey and Badagry, but more especially from Lagos; and are daily ex-
posed for sale in the markets of Jadoo and Egga. Several chiefs on the road
have asked us why the Portuguese do not purchase as many slaves as former-
ly ; and make very sad complaint -of the stagnation in this branch of traffic.
Hippopotami abound in the rivers in the vicinity of the town; when youn*'
the flesh and skin of these animals is sold as food; and whips and other articles
are made of the skins of the old ones.
Saturday, April 17 th— At the usual hour this morning we quitted Jadoo and
in the middle of the day arrived at a clean, pretty little village called Pooya ' The
appearance of the country between these places is extremely fine, and resembles
a magnificent orchard. On our way we met many hundreds of people of both
sexes and all ages, with vast quantities of bullocks, sheep, and goats to"-ether
with fowls and pigeons, which were carried on the head in neat wicker baskets'
Several of the travellers were loaded with packages of country cloth, and indigo
in large round balls. They are all slaves, and were proceeding to the coast from
the interior, to sell the goods and animals under their charge. One old woman
had the misfortune to let a large calabash of palm oil fall Irom her head: on ar-
riving at the spot we found a party of females, her companions in slavery, wring-
ing their hands and crying ; the old woman's own afiliction was bitter indeed as
she dreaded the punishment which awaited her on her return to her master's
house. I compassionated her distress, and gave her a large clasp knife which
would more than recompense her for the loss of the oil, whereat the women
42*
494 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
wiped away their tears, and fell down on the dust before us, exhibiting counte-
nances more gladsome and animated than can be conceived.
The mortality of children nmst be immense indeed here, for almost every
woman we met with on the road had one or more of those little wooden images
we have before spoken of. Whenever the urt)thers stopped to take refreshment,
a small part of their food was invariably presented to tlie lips of these inanimate
memorials.
Sunday, April 18th. — Our reception had been so truly inhospitable at Engua,
that we arose at a much earlier hour this morning than we generally do, and
proceeded on our way by starlight. In place of the iron-stone of yesterday, the
country over which we have travelled to-day is partially covered with large and
unshapely masses of granite. Mountains and elevated hills were observed to the
right of us, whose sides were thickly wooded, and their summits reaching above
the clouds. At 9 A. M. we passed through a neat and cleanly village, named
Chakka, which has lately lost its chief; and an hour afterward crossed a small
river called Akeeny, which is full of sharp and rugged -granite rocks, and is said
to fall into tlieLagos. We were carried over on men's shoulders witliout much
difficulty, but the horses were a long time in getting across. From hence the
path wound up a high and steep hill, which we ascended, and entered the town
of Afoora about midday. The governor gave us a hearty welcome, and said it
made him extremely happy to see us, which the joy and animation olhis counte-
nance also expressed. The best hut in the town, which is the most airy and
commodious of any we had seen, was presently got ready for us, and shortly
after we had taken possession of it we received a quantity of excellent provisions
from the chief.
This is the first day of his govenwuent. His father, the late chief, has been
dead some time, but from motives of delicacy he refused to Uike upon himself
his authority till this morning. In honour of tlie event, a large number of
women have been dancing, rejoicing, jmd malting merry all the evening outside
our hut. It is somewhat strange tliat tlie chief or governor of almost every
town through which we have passed since leaving Badagry, who was ahve and
well on my return to the coast tliree years ago, has been either slain in war, or
has died from natural causes. Scarcely one of them is now alive.
Monday, April 19th. — An easy pleasant ride of three hours brought us to tlie
first walled town we have seen, wliich is called Assinara.
Tuesday, April '20th. — ^The acting governor visited us to-day with a long fiice,
and entreated us earnestly to discover a certain wizard, whom he imagined to
be concealed somewhere in tlie town. By this sorcerer's influence numbers of
people, it is said, pine away and die ; and women with child are more especially
the objects of his malevolence. These victims drop suddenly, witliout the
slightest warning; and tlie deaths have lately been so numerous tliat the old man
himself is grievously alaimed, and begs a charm to preserve him and his family.
To-day (April 23) we left Assinara, luid after passing through the town of
Accodoo, tiie village of Eddy, we arrived, Saturday, April 24th, at tlie town of
Choucou.
Since leaving Jenna, we have met an incredible number of persons visited
witli the loss of one eye. They assign no other reason for tlieir misfortune than
the heat imd glare of the sun's "rays.
Sunday, April 25//!. — It rained heavily during tlie whole of last uiiriit ; but
our hut, although of tlie very worst description, had a pretty good tliatched roof,
iuid sheltered us much better than we had expected. There are periods and
seasons in our lifetime in which we feel a happy complacency of temper and im
inward satisfaction, cheerfulness, and joy, for which we cannot very well ac-
count, but which constrains us to be Jit peace with ourselves and our neighbours,
and in love with all the works of God. In this truly enviable frame of mind 1
awoke this morning to proceed onward on horseback : it was a morning which
was fairly entitled to tiie epithet of " incense-breathing;" for the v;u-iety of
sweet-smelling perfume whicii exhaled after the rain from forest flowers and
flowering shrubs was delicious and almost overpowering. The scenery of to-day
has been more interesting and lovely than any we have heretofore beheld. The
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 495
path circled round a magnificent cultivated valley, hemmed in almost on every
.side with mountains of granite of the most grotescjue and irregular shapes, the
Hummits of which are covered with stunted trees, and the hollows in their slopes
occupied by clusters of huts, whose inmates have tied thither as a place of secu-
rity against the ravages of the war-men that infest the plains. A number of strange
birds resort to this valley, many of whose notes were rich, full, and melodious,
while others were harsh and disagreeable ; but, generally speaking, the plumage
was various, splendid, and beautiful. The modest partridge appeared in compa-
\iy with the magnificent Balearic crane, with his regal crest ; and delicate hum-
ming-birds hopped from twig to twig with others of an unknown species ; some
of them were of a dark shining green ; some had red silky wings and purple
bodies ; some were variegated with stripes of crimson and gold ; and these chirped
and warbled from among the thick foliage of the trees. It is the contemplation of
such beautiful objects as these, all so playful and so happy — or the more sublime
ones of dark waving forests, plains of vast extent, or stupendous mountains —
that gives the mind the most sensible emotions of deUght and grandeur, leading
it insensibly
•' To look from nature up to nature's God."
For myself, I am passionately fond of them, and have regretted a thousand times
over, that my ignorance incapacitates me from giving a proper representation
of them, or describing the simplest flower that adorns the plains, or the smallest
insect that sparkles in the air. This consideration gives me at times many un-
happy reflections, although my defective education arose from circumstances
over which my boyhood had no control.
Monday, April 2Gth. — A thick mist obscured the horizon this morning, and hid
in deep shade the mountains and hills; every object indeed was invisible except
the pathway, and the trees, &c. growing on each side, which we could barely
distinguish as we passed along. It continued hazy for two hours after leaving
Gwendekki, when the mist dispersed, and the atmosphere became clear. Pre-
paratory to ascending a steep granite hill, we halted to refresh our horses under
the branches of a high spreading tree, near a town called Eco. Here we were
visited by several of the inhabitants, who, as soon as they were informed of our
arrival, came flocking to the spot. They formed themselves into a line to pay
their respects, and entreated us to waita little for the coming of their chief, who
was momentarily expected. But, after staying as long as we conveniently could,
and no chief appearing, we mounted our beasts and began the toilsome ascent.
On attaining the summit of the hill, the coup (Vail was magnificent indeed, and
the fog having been dispersed by the sun, tlie eye was enabled to range round
an extensive horizon, bounded by hills and mountains of wonderful shapes.
Some of them bear a very striking resemblance to the Table Mountain at the
Cape of Good Hope, and another is not unlike the " Lion's Head and Rump,"
of the same place. Our course was north-east, and those two mountains bore
due west of us. There was no continued range of hills, but numbers of single
unconnected ones, with extensive valleys between them. In some places several
were piled behind each other ; and those most distant from us appeared like
dark indistinct clouds. Nothing could surpass the singularity, perhaps I may
say the sublimity, of the whole view from the top of the granite hill which we
had ascended ; and we contemplated it in silence for a few seconds with emo-
tions of astonishment and rapture.
Descending the hill, we continued ouf journey over a noble plain, watered
with springs and rivulets ; and in the afternoon entered Dufo, which is a most
extensive and populous town. The inhabitants appear to be industrious and
very opulent, as far as regards the number and variety of their domestic animals,
having abundance of sheep, goats, swine, pigeons, and poultry ; among the
latter of which we observed, for the first time, turkeys and Guinea fowl. They
have likewise horses and bullocks. The chief did not make his appearance for a
long while; but as .soon as he had introduced himself, he desired us to follow him
into a cleanly-swept square, a house in wliich he desired us to occupy. Present-
496 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
ly after his departure, he sent us a quantity of yams, a basket of ripe bananas,
and a calabash of eggs, which we soon discovered to be good for nothing, al-
though sand had been mixed with them, that they might feel heavier than they
really were.
Tuesday, April 27th. — We were on horseback early this morning, and at six
o'clock, preceded by the carriers of our luggage, we rode out of the town of
Dufo. The country seemed inferior indeed as to the boldness and beauty of its
scenery to that traversed yesterday ; but still it possesses features of no common
interest. Another "Table Mountain" was observed to the left of our path in
the course of the morning, and another " Lion's Head and Rump." Ponderous
maBses of granite rock overhang the roadway ; these were almost black, and
seem to have been washed by the rains of thousands of years; in many of them
were deep and gloomy caverns, which, were they in Cornwall instead of Africa,
would, I am sure, be pointed out as the scenes of dark and bloody stories of the
elder time. Hundreds of the natives followed us a long while, and annoyed us
80 much by their noises and curiosity, that we were compelled to resort to vio-
lent measures to drive them away ; but this is a line of conduct which we rarely
adopt towards them, and never without extreme reluctance. We at length
frightened them away, and we saw them no more. About eight miles from
Dufo, we arrived at a large straggling village, called Elekba, where we halted a
little, as the path had been so stony, rugged', and irregular, that a few minutes'
rest was absolutely necessary to recruit ourselves. From this place the road be-
came excellent, not at all inferior to a drive round a gentleman's park in Eng-
land ; and continued to be good till we came in sight of a capacious walled town
called Chaadoo, which we entered about middaiy. Outside the wall is a litde
Falatah village, the huts of which are constructed in the circular or coozie form.
Its inhabitants employ themselves solely in the breeding of catde — an occupation
to which they are pa.ssionately addicted. They are simple in their manners, and
extremely neat in their dress and appearance.
Not long after our arrival, three or four young Falatah shepherdesses from the
village came to our hut to pay their respects. We felt much pleased with their
society, for they were extremely well behaved and intelligent; but they remained
with us a very little time, their customary avocations not permitting a longer
stay. The hair of these females was braided in a style peculiarly tasteful and be-
coming ; and the contour of their oval faces was very far from disagreeable.
Their manners also were innocent and playful; the imaginary shepherdesses
of Fenton are not more modest, artless, and engaging in description, than these
in reality ; and they left behind them an impression very favourable both as re-
gards their n\on\\», naivete, and rustic simplicity.
On the road from Dufo, my brother unthinkingly fired at and shot a crane,
which fell in an adjoining field. The report of his gun brought out a number
of natives from the ', bush," who, being in continual dread of an attack from the
"war-men of the path," imagined it to be a signal of one of these marauders.
They were all armed, like their countrymen, with bows and arrows ; and with a
threatening aspect, would have lodged a few shafts in the person of my brother,
if it had not been for the timely interference of one of our Jenna messengers
that fortunately happened to be with him at the time, and who gave an immedi-
ate and satisfactory explanation. The head of the party then sought for and
picked up the bird ; but my brother took it from him, after he had rewarded him
liberally tor his trouble. The man, however, was neither satisfied nor pleased,
but roughly denianded the bird Jis his own, because it had fallen on his land. As
there are no game laws here, my brother would not admit his claim, and was
going away, when the fellow begged with much importunity that the head and
legs of the animal at least might be given hinj, to make a fetish of This was
likewise objected to, at which he was out of all patience, and went off foaming
with passion. In the evening the crane was dressed for supper, and a similar
request was made by a eunuch from Katunga, who being a good-natured fellow,
we readily complied with his wish. The chief of Chaadoo, however, presently
sent a messenger to request the said precious head and legs ; and to him tliey
I
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 497
were finally committed by the disappointed eunuch, who could hardly forbear
weeping on the occasion : these relics are extremely valuable as a charm.
The chief sent us a goat and a quantity of bananas, a dish of pounded, or
rather mashed yam with gravy, and a large basket of caffas. These are a kind
of pudding, made into little round balls, from bruised Indian com, which is first
boiled to the consistence of thick paste. From being made entirely of coarse
flour and water, they have an insipid taste when new, but when kept for a day
or two, they become sour, and in this state are eaten by the natives. There are
several deep wells in the town, but most of them are dried up, so that water is
exceedingly scarce, and it is sold in the market-place to the inhabitants. — We are
daily accosted on the road with such salutations as these: "I hope you go well
on the path;" "Success to the king's work;" "God bless you, white men;"
"A blessing on your return," &c.
Wednesday, April 28th. — Being in want of money we sent needles this mor-
ning to the market to sell. It is a custom in Yarriba, that after a buyer has
agreed to pay a certain sum for an article, he retracts his expressions, and affirms
that he only promised to give about half the sum demanded. This has occasion-
ed violent altercations between our people and the natives ; but it is an established
custom, from which there is no appeal. The governor's mother was buried this
afternoon at a neighbouring village, and the funeral was attended by all his wives
or women, as mourners. They were dressed in their holyday attire ; and look-
ed tolerably smart. The mourners exhibited no signs of grief whatever ; on the
contrary, they were as lively as a wedding party. Attended by a drummer, they
passed through our yard four hours ago, on their return to the governor's house,
which is only a few steps from ours, and there they have been singing and danc-
ing to the noise of the drum ever since.
Thursday, April 2^3th. — It commenced raining this morning at a very early
hour, and continued with uncommon violence till between ten and eleven
o'clock, when it suddenly ceased and we quitted Chaadoo. Before this, how-
ever, the credulous governor, who in common with his people imagines that
white men influence the elements, paid us a visit, with a calabash of honey as a
present, to thank us, he said, for the rain that had fallen, of which the country is
greatly in want, and invoked blessings on us. The kindness of this good old
man is remarkable. He never seemed weary of obliging us, regretted his ina-
bility to do more, and sohcited us very pressingly to remain with him another
day.
We traversed a mountainous country, intersected with streams of excellent
water ; and at noon entered a small but pleasant and picturesque village, which
is ornamented with noble, shady trees. Here we waited a very short time, but
continuing our route, arrived towards evening at a capacious walled town called
Row, wherein we shall pass the night.
The governor of the town is a morose, surly, and ill-natured man. He sent
us only a few banan; s this evening, and a calabash of eggs, which were all stale
and unfit to be eaten, so that our people were obliged to go supperless to bed.
He ascribed the badness of his fare to extreme poverty ; yet his vanity exacted
from our Jerma messengers the most abject method of salutation we are ac-
quainted with. These men walked backwards from him several yards, to throw
dirt on their heads, and with the dust and filth stiU clinging to their hair, they
were compelled to address the chief with their faces to the ground. Our apart-
ment unfortunately communicates with his, and the restless tongues of his nu-
merous wives prevented either my brother or self from closing our eyes long
after sunset. In the centre of our yard grows a tree, round which several staves
are driven into the ground. This tree is a fetish-tree, and these staves also fetish,
and therefore we received a strong injunction not to tie our horses to either of
them. Calabashes, common articles of earthenware, and even feathers, egg-
shells, and the bones of animals — indeed, any kind of inanimate substance, is
made fetish by the credulous, stupid natives ; and like the horse-shoe which is still
nailed to the doors of the more superstitious of the peasantry in England, these
fetishes are supposed to preserve tijem from ghosts and evil spirits. It is sacri-
lege to touch them, and to ridicule them would be dangerous.
498 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
After passing through several towns of no very considerable importance and
without any occurrence of much interest, our travellers oh Tuesday the 4th of
May, entered a town of prodigious extent, called Bohoo, which is fortified with a
triple wall and moats. Without being exposed to the customary formalities,
they say, we were immediately conducted to the residence of the governor.
The usual conversation passed between us, and after we had returned to our
hut, a bullock was sent us, with yams, bananas, and a huge calabash of new
milk, which did not contain less than six gallons; and our people sat down to
enjoy themselves in perfect good-humour.
In the afternoon a message was delivered to us, signifying that the governor's
" head minister" would be very glad to see us, and would thank us to visit him
in the course of the day. But having experienced a relapse, my sufferings
were such as to prevent my leaving the hut, and my brother was therefore obli-
ged to go alone. He afterward informed me that a pleasant walk of rather more
than two miles conducted him to the habitation of the minister, by whom he was
very kindly received. The compliments of the day only were exchanged be-
tween them ; and the numerous wives and large family of the master of the
house, who are on these occasions generally exhibited to a stranger, having am-
ply gratified their cliriosity by an examination of his person, the interview ter-
minated ; and he presently returned to our abode, after promising to visit the
minister again to-morrow. Boltoo lies north-east of Acboro, and is built on the
slope of a very gentle and fertile hill, at whose base flows a stream of milk-white
water; and behind which, on a rising ground, is the Falatah hamlet already
mentioned. Its immense triple wall is little short of twenty miles in circuit ; but
besides huts and gardens, it encloses a vast number of acres of excellent meadow
land, on which bullocks, sheep, and goats indiscriminately feed. By the hasty
view obtained of it, the town is not much unlike Kano ; but there is no large
swamp like t hat which intersects the latter city. Bohoo was formerly the metro-
polis of Yarriba; but about half a century ago, the reigning prince preferring
the plain at Katunga, the seat of government was transferred there, since which
time Bohoo has considerably declined in wealth, population, and consequence,
although it is still considered a place of great importance, and the second town in
the kingdom. It is bounded on all sides by hills of gradual ascent, which are
prettily wooded, and commands an extensive horizon. The land in the vicinity
of the town presents a most inviting appearance, by no means inferior to any
part of England in the most favourable season of the year. It seems to be duly
appreciated by the Falatahs, so great a number of whom reside with their flocks
in different parts, that the minister candidly declared he could not inform us of
their amount. These foreigneis sell their rnilk^ butter, and cheese in the market
at a reasonable rate. The latter is made into little cakes of about an inch square,
and when fried in butter is very palatable. It is of the consistence and appear-
ance of the white of an egg boiled hard.
I ha,ve been very ill all the evening with fever, accompanied by excruciating
pains in the bowels, but my spirits are cheerful, and I hope soon to recover. We
are thankful that we have not been both thjis afflicted at tlie same time. As
soon as one of us has in a measure regained his strength, his assistance has been
required to minister to the wants of the other.
Wednesday, May bth. — Agreeably to the promise my brother made yesterday,
he left me to the care of Pascoe and his wife this morning, and hastened to pay
his respects to the chief 's head man, or minister, as he is called. It appears that
this man has been placed in his present situation by the King of Katunga as a
kind of spy on the actions of the governor, who can do nothing of a public na-
ture without in the first place consulting him, and obtaining his consent to the
measure. Yet he conducts himself so well in his disagreeable office, that he has
won the good will, not only of the governor of the town, but also of its inhabitants.
A kind of rivalry exists between the minister and his master ; but then it is a ri-
valry in good and not in bad actions. Hearing that the governor had given us a
bullock, and something besides, he presented my brother with a similar one, and a
large calabash oi' pitta (country beer,) which he distributed among those who had
accompanied him. A bottle of honey completed the list of presents, and they
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 499
were forthwith forwarded to our habitation, but my brother remained a consid-
erable time afterward with the chief He was filled with amazement at the for-
mation and ticking of my brother's watch, which he gazed on and listened to
with transport ; his spurs also excited his eager curiosity, and he examined them
with the minutest attention. He hoped, he said, that God would bless us both,
and that we had his best wishes for our safety. He remarked, further, that white
men worshipped the Great God alone, and so did black men also ; and that every
blessing of lite was derived from thai source.
On my brother's return I was very ill; I had been so faint and sick during his
absence that my recovery seemed doubtful, but a few hours after I became bet-
ter. In the afternoon I sent to the governor and his minister, who had behaved
so handsomely to us, three yards of fine red cloth, a common looking glass, to-
bacco pipe, a pair of scissors, snulFbox, and a large clasp knife. The tobacco
pipe w as much admired, but the red cloth was most valued ; with the whole, how-
ever, they were boih perfectly well pleased, and were extravagant in expressions
of gratiude. One of the bullocks was slaughtered this morning, and about two-
thirds of it distributed by the governor and his chief man to the poor of the town ;
the remainder of the carcass was dividedly equally among our attendants, who
are in no hurry to leave the place while their present unusually good fare is to
be had.
Last evening two female acquaintances, who had been separated from each
other for a short time only, met in the yard adjoining ours, wherein one of
them constantly resides. The women burst into tears directly as they saw each
other, and cried loud enough to be heard distinctly by us during the whole of the
night ; nor did they cease giving vent to their feeUngs till some time after sun-
rise this morning.
Thursday May 6th. — We were visited this morning by a party of Falatahs of
both sexes. They difier but little, either in colour or feature, from the original
natives of the soil. In dress and ornaments, however, there is a slight distinction
between tliem. They display more taste in their apparel, and wear a greater
number of ornaments round the neck and wrists ; they pay greater attention also
to their hair, which tlie women plait with astonishing ingenuity. Like that of
the young woman we met at Jenna, their heads exactly resemble a dragoon's
helmet. Their hair is much longer, of course, than that of the negro, which en-
ables the Falatahs to weave it on both sides of the head into a kind of queue,
which, passing over each cheek, is tied under the chin. Another company of
Falatahs came to us in the evening, for they had never beheld a white man, and
curiosity had led them to our habitation. They brought us a present of a httle
thick milk, which they begged us to accept, and tlien went away highly gratified
with the interview. The behaviour of the whole of them was extremely reserv-
ed and respectful ; nothing in our persons excited their merriment ; on the con-
trary, they seemed silently to admire our dress and complexion ; and having look-
ed well at us, from a little distance, seemed grateful for the treat. The kindness
and generosity of the governor of Bohoo continues unabated; instead of dimin-
ishing, it seems to strengthen ; he literally inundates us with milk, and is equally
lavish with other things.
Friday, May 7th. — After we had retired to rest last night a Falatah woman
came to our dwelling, bringing with her a quantity of eggs of the Guinea-hen,
and a large bowl of milk fresh from the cow, as a return for a lew needles we
had given her in the afternoon. We relate this little circumstance simply to
show the diiFerence between the Falatahs and the Yarribeans, in point of grati-
tude for favours they may have received. The latter are very seldom thankful,
and never acknowledge gratitude as a virtue; the indift'erence, unconcern, and
even contempt which they often evince on receiving our presents, is a proof of
this; and, with very few exceptions, we never observed a Yarribean to be sin-
cerely thankful for any thing.
In the morning I was able to sit on horeback ; and as we were setting off, the
governor came out to wish us farewell, and to present us with two thousand
cowries for the purpose of assisting us on our journey. We have said that
Pohoo is about twenty miles in circumference : perhaps we guessed considera-
500 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
bly within bounds, for as we rode out of the city we were astonished at its vast
extent.
On the 8lh of May our travellers set out from Bohoo on their way towards
Katunga, the metropolis of the kingdom of Yarriba, where they arrived on tlie
13th of the same month. Stopping at the town of Leoquadda, they put up in
a yard in the centre of which was a circular enclosure without a roof, within
which was an alligator which had been confined there keven years. It was fed
with rats only, and generally devoured five a day. On approaching Katunga,
an escort was sent to meet them. As this escort came up, Lander sounded his
bugle, at which the natives were astonished and pleased ; but a black trumpeter,
jealous of the performance, challenged a contest which terminated in his entire
defeat. He was hooted and laughed at by his companions for his presumption,
and gave up the trial in despair. He hung down his head, remained silent, look-
ed extremely silly, and did not venture to put his horn to his mouth agam until
he imagined his defeat was forgotten.
The leader of the escort is described as a strange looking, powerful fellow, of
gigantic stature, with eyes large, keen, piercing, and ever in motion, with broad
nose squatted on both cheeks, his lips immensely large, exposing a fine set of
teeth; the beard was black, thick, grisly, and covering all the lower part of his
face reached to his bosom; the famous Blue Beard was nothing to him ; and in
gazing on his features one would almost be inclined to believe that all the most
iniquitous and depraved passions of human nature were centered in his heart.
Yet with so unlovely and forbidding an appearance, he was in reality as inno-
cent and docile as a lamb. He wore on his head a small rush hat, in shape like
a common earthen ware pan inverted ; liis breast was enveloped in a coarse
piece of blue cloth; from his left shoulder hung a large quiver of arrows; and
in his right hand he held a bow, which he brandished like a lance ; a short pair of
trowsers covered his thighs, and fantastically made leathern boots incased his
feet and legs. His skin was of jetty blackness, his forehead high; but his tre-
mendous beard, which was slightly tinged with gray, contributed, perhaps, more
than any thing else, to impart that wildness and fierceness to his looks which at
first inspired us with a kind of dread of our leader.
Thus escorted, our travellers entered the gates of Katunga. As is the cus-
tom, they staid under a tree just inside the walls, till the king and his eunuchs
were inibrmed of their arrival, and then, after a wearisome delay, rode to the
residence of £60, the chief eunuch, who. next to the king, was the most influen-
tial man in the place.
We found this personage, they say, a great, fat, round, oily man, airing him-
self under the verandah of his dwelling. Other eunuchs of a similar appearance
were sitting on the ground with him. After conversing together for a long
time, we walked together to tlie king's house.
Information of our coming had been previously sent to the monarch, and we
waited with much patience for a considerable period till he had put on his robes
of state. Meantime, to amuse us and beguile the hour away, the head drummer
and his assistants, with the most benevolent intention, commenced a concert of
the most bewitching melody; and long drums, kettle drums, and horns were
played with little intermission till Mansolali made his appearance, when all noises
were suddenly hushed, and we were desired to draw nearer to pay our respects
to his majesty. We did so after the English manner, much to tlie entertainment
and diversion of the king, who endeavoured to imitate us, but it was easy to
perceive that he is but a novice in the European mode of salutation, bowing and
shaking hands. We have no doubt that it was owing to the rusticity and awk-
wardness of our address that Mansolah's risible faculties were so strongly excit-
ed ; but he laughed so long and heartily, and his wives, and eunuchs, and sub-
jects of all sorts, joined him with such good will, and such power of lungs, tliat
we were constrained to unite our voices to die general burst of kindly feeling,
although if we had been asked tlie cause of such jollity and obstreperous mirth,
we should have been at a loss lor an answer.
Mansolah's headpiece was something like a bishop's mitre, profusely orna-
mented with strings of coral, one of wliich answered the purpose of a riband,
for it was tied under the cbiii to prevent the cap from blowing off. His tobe
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 501
was of green silk, crimson silk damask, and green silk velvet, which were all sewn
together like pieces of patchwork. He wore English cotton stockings, and neat
leathern sandals of native workmanship. A large piece of superfine hght blue
cloth, given the chief by Captain Clapperton, he used for a carpet. The eu-
nuchs, and other individuals who were present at the interview, prostrated them-
selves before their prince, agreeably to the custom of the country, and rubbed
their heads with earth two separate times, retreating at some distance to perform
this humiliating and degrading ceremony, and then drawing near the royal per-
son, to lie again with their faces in the dust. They saluted the ground also near
which he was sitting, by kissing it fervently and repeatedly, and by placing each
cheek on it. Then, and not till then, with their heads, and faces, and lips, and
breasts, stained with the damp red soil, which still clung to them, they were al-
lowed to seat themselves near their monarch, and to join in the conversation.
Two or three of the inferior eunuchs, not satisfied with the servile prostration, be-
gan to sport and roll themselves on the ground; but this could not be effected
without immense labour and difficulty, and panting and straining, for, like Sir
John Falstaff", they could be compared to nothing so appropriately as huge hills
of flesh. There they lay wallowing in the mire, like immense turtles flounder-
ing in the sea, till Ebo desired them to rise. We observed, among the individ-
uals present, a very considerable number of bald headed old men, their hair, or
rather wool, having most likely been rubbed off* by repeated applications of
earth, sand, gravel, filth, or whatever else may be at hand, when the prince hap-
pens to make his appearance.
The conference having ended, a kid, a calabash of caffas, and two thousand
cowries in money were presented to us; and, cheered by a flourish of music, we
laughed in concert, and shook hands with the king, and walked away tov.'ards
our own dwelling, which had been repaired and thoroughly cleaned out for our
sole use. Here we lay down to repose our aching limbs. In the evening the
king returned our visit, and immediately took a fancy to my brother's bugle
horn, which was readily given him. He was vastly pleased with the present,
and by smiles and words returned us many thanks for it; said that he was quite
delighted ; and that it made his heart glad to see us; hoped we should make our-
selves comfortable while we remained in Katunga ; shook hands, made a bow,
and, "smiling in heart and soul content," the sovereign departed, followed by a
suite of wives, eunuchs, and other attendants.
The Landers, having advised with Ebo, did not think it best to inform the king
of their intended journey to the Niger, and only stated to him that the King of
England, anxious to procure the restoration of certain papers which belonged to
a countryman of theirs, who perished at Boossa about twenty years before, which
papers were supposed to be in possession of the Sultan of Yaoorie, had de-
spatched them thither for the purpose of obtaining the papers and taking them
back to England. Mansolah, without expressing any surprise at this informa-
tion, very promptly observed that he would send a messenger to Kiama, Wow-
wow, Boossa, and Yaoorie, to acquaint the rulers of those provinces with their
intentions to pay them a visit, and that on the man's return they shoiild have
leave to depart.
Their stay at Katunga was comparatively pleasant : they were not disturbed
by the jarring noise of women's tongues, which had annoyed and followed them
at every stage of their journey from Badagry, since the apartments of the wives
of Ebo, at whose residence they put up, were at some distance from theirs.
Our male visiters too, they say, are few and select, and do not remain with us
any very considerable time together. An order has been issued by the king, that
if any impertinent individual troubles us at any time with his company when it
is not desired, Ebo is at liberty to behead him ; and no one shall have the effront-
ery, says Mansolah, to tax the eunuch with injustice or cruelty in the perform-
ance of his duties. This proclamation has had the desired effect; for dreading
the even-handed Efco, who is public executioner, as well as chief eunuch, the
inhabitants of Katunga have hitherto repressed their curiosity, and have confin-
ed themselves to their own abodes.
The city of Katunga was, at this time, in a declining condition; whole streets
43
502 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
were almost deserted ; the walls were gone to decay ; and every thing portend-
ed approaching ruin. Still it was no inconsiderable city, as tlie following ac-
count of its markets may serve to show.
A market is held daily in different parts of Katunga, but twice a week it is
much larger and better attended tlian on either of the other days. I visited one
of the latter this morning, which is styled the " Queen's market;" but as it is
shifted to another place towards evening, it is then called the " King's market."
The sellers were by far more numerous than the buyers ; and, on the whole, the
articles exposed for sale by no means realized the expectations which we had
formed of them. Among them we observed three or four diflerent kinds of
corn; beans, peas, and vegetables in abundance; the mi-cadania butter ; ground
or Guinea nuts; country cotton cloths, indigo, red clay, salt, and difierent varie-
ties of pepper; besides trona, snuff and tobacco, knives, barbs, hook:*, and nee-
dles, the latter of the rudest native manufacture. There were also finger-rings
of tin and lead ; and iron bracelets and armlets; old shells, old bones, and other
venerable things, which European antiquaries would gaze on with rapture; be-
sides nfitive soap, little cakes of cheese and butter; an English common blue
plate, a great variety of beads both of native and European manufacture, among
the former of which we noticed the famous Agra bead, which at Cape Coast
Castle, Accra, and other places, is sold for its weight in gold, and which has vain-
ly been attempted to be imitated by the Italians and our own countrymen. Pro-
visions also were offered for sale in abundance; and besides beef and mutton,
which were made up into little round balls, weighiirg about an ounce and tivree-
quarters each, and presented not the most delicate or tempting appearance, we
observed an immense quantity of rats, mice, and lizards, dressed and undressed,
all having their skins on, and arranged in rows.
I met with and purchased a very singular kind of stone in the market. Tl.e
na;ivc s ;nf me.; u-s that it was dug from the earth, in a country called Iffie, whkh
is stated m be •' four moons" journey liom Katunga, where, according to their
tradition, their first parents were created, and from whence all Africa has been
peopled. Ignorant of mineralogy, as I am of most other sciences, I am unac-
quainted with the nature and properties of the stone alluded to, and therefore I
grieve to say I am incapable of giving a scientific description of it. It consists
of a variety of little transparent stones, white, green, and every shade of blue,
all imbedded in a species of clayey earth, resembling rough mo.-aic work.
Our travellers remained at Katunga liom the 13th of May until the 21^t of
the same month. During this time they had several interviews with Mansolah.
The object of one of these interviews seems not a little singular.
I was desired by a messenger this morning, says John Lander, to visit the
king at his residence, and on my arrival there, found a great number of people
assembled together. The object of this summons was explained by Lbo, who
said I had been sent for to see tl at the present he (the eunuch) had received
should be shown to the people vvitl out any reservation whatever. It was ac-
cordingly spread out on the Hoor, togelher with the king's. Even a bit of Eng-
glish brown soap, which we had just before given Ebo, was exhibited along with
2ie other things ; for so great a degree of jealousy exists among the eunuchs and
others, arising from the apprehension that one might have received more than
anotlier, tliat Ebo himself, powerful as he is, would dread the effects of it on his
own person, should he be ibund to have concealed a single thing. They all, in
fact, endeavour to disarm censure by an appearance of openness and sincerity.
On Friday, the 21st of May, our travellers visited Mansolah for \he last time.
Instead of a visit from the king (to adopt their own words,) which we were yes-
terday told he was to honour us with, we were requested this morning to repair
to his residence. Accordingly, having first saddled our horses and packed up
tlie luggage, between six and seven o'clock, A. M. we walked together to the
royal premises. On our arrival we were introduced without any ceremony, into
a private yard, wnorein the king had been patiently waiting our coming for
some: time previou.sly. He was rather plainly dressed in the costume of the
country, namely, a tobe, trousers, and sandals, with a cap very nuich resembling
in slK.pe those which were worn by elderly ladies in the time of (.^ujen Eliza-
I
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 503
beth, and still retained by some in the more remote parts of England. On his
right the eunuchs were reposing their huge limbs on the ground, with several
of the elders of the people ; and his left was graced by a circle of his young
wives, behind whom sat the widows of more than one of his predecessors, many
of whom appeared aged. A performer on a whistle was the only musician
present, so that, during a very long interview, a little whistling now and then
was the only amusement which the prince could afford us. A good deal of dis-
cussion ensued, and much serious whispering between the monarch and his
wives, in the course of which both parties quitted the yard two or three times to
hold a private conference, followed by the eunuchs with their hands clasped on
their breasts. Mansolah at length scraped together two thousand cowries (about
three shilhngs and sixpence of our money,) which he presented to the four men
that had accompanied us from Badagry and Jenna, as messengers, guides, &c.,
to enable them to purchase provisions on their journey homeward. This sum
had been collected from the king's wives, each having contributed a portion, be-
cause their lord and master did not happen to be in a liberal mood. Poor souls!
they possess scarcely the shadow of royalty, much less the substance ; the exte-
rior forms of respect which they receive from the male portion of the people
alone distinguishing them from their less illubtrious countrywomen. They are
compelled to work in order to provide themselves food and clothing, and besides
which part of the earnings is apphed to the king's use. To effect these objects
they are necessitated to make long and painful journeys to distant parts of the
empire, for the purpose of trading. They have, however, the privilege of trav-
elling from town to town without being subjected to the usual duty, and can
command the use of the governor's house wherever they go. The boasted in-
dustry of ancient queens and princesses in more classic regions sinks into noth-
ing when compared to the laborious life which is led by the female branch of
the royal family of Yarriba.
Mansolah, after some lime, beckoned us to draw near him, for we were sit-
ting at some distance on a bundle of sticks, and, with a most benevolent smile
playing upon his wrinkled features, placed a goora-nut in the right hand of each
of us, and then asked our Christain names. "Richard and John," we replied.
"Richard-ee and John-ee," said the king, for he was unable to pronounce our
Christian names without affixing a vowel to the end of them, "you may sit
down again." We did so, and remained in that position till we were both com-
pletely wearied, when we desired Ebo to ask the king's permission for us to go
home to breakfast, which was granted without reluctance. So, having shaken
hands heartily with the good old man, and wished him a very long and happy
reign, we bid him farewell for the last time, bowed to the ladies, and retired with
all haste to our hut.
On leaving Katunga, our travellers' route lay through the towns of Lesquad-
da, Atoopa, and Keshee. Besides their own, carriers tj-om Ketunga accompani-
ed them for the purpose of aiding in carrying the luggage. They all suffered
.severely v>'ith the weight of their burden^, particularly their own carriers, who
were more heavily laden than those from Katunga. Our travellers, therefore,
had recourse to an artifice for the more equal distribution of the burdens. We
lightened (they say) the burdens on our own men, and distributed a portion of
what we had taken out of them into the boxes &c. of their already overladen
Katunga associates, without, however, permitting the latter to know any thing of
the circumstance. Among the carriers v/as a very little man called Gazlicrie,
(small man,) on account of his diminutive stature ; he was, notwithstanding, very
muscular,- and possessed uncommon strength, activity, and vigour of body, and
bore a package containing our tent, which, though very heavy, was yet by far
the lightest load of the whole. Conceiving that corporeal strength, rather than
bulk or height, .sliould, in this case, be taken into the account, a bag of shot,
weighing 2S lbs., was extracted from Jowdie's burden, and clandestinely added
to his. The little man trudged along merrily without dreaming of the fraud that
had been practised upon him, till we arrived within a short distance of Les-
quadda, when, imagining that one end of the tent was heavier than the other, he
was induced to take it from his head, and presently discovered the cheat. He
504 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
was much enraged at being thus deceived, and called his companions around
him to witness the fact, and said he was resolved to proceed no farther than
Lesquadda. The consequence of all this was, a combination was formed be-
tween the carriers, and they afler coming at Lesquadda, furiously resolved not
to stir another step. We tried gentle means at first, but these having no effect,
we resorted to their own mode of argument, namely, fierce looks, violent action,
vociferous bawling, and expressive gesture, which intimidated them so much,
that they snatched up their burdens without saying a word, and ran away with
alacrity and good humour.
An extraordinary spectacle presented itself on the way to Atoopa — a middle
aged woman sitting on the road side, the colour of whose skin was naturally as
bright a red as a piece of our own scarlet cloth. We were informed that she
was in good health ; but we were in too great hurry to ask her any questions ; or
take a nearer view ofherj^erson; indeed our guide seemed much disinclined to
go within a hundred yards of her. She was a most singular looking being.
On arriving at Keeshee, the governor .sent us a present of a fine young bullock,
a quantity of yams, and more than a gallon of excellent strong beer. In the
centre of the town there is a high stony hill, almost covered with trees of stunted
growth, to which in case of invasion the inhabitants fly for refuge. As soon an
they have reached its summit, it is borne, say they, by a supernatural power, be-
yond the clouds, where it remains till the danger is over. Some years have
elapsed since this miracle last took place, yet the story is told with a serious belief
of its truth, and with the most amusing gravity.
A great number of emigrants from different countries reside here. In no town
have we seen so many fine tall men and good looking women, as at this place; yet
several individuals of both sexes are to be met with who have lost the sight of one
eye, and others who have unseemly wens on the throat, as large as cocoanuts.
We likewise saw a cripple here for the first time, and a female dwarf whose
height scarcely exceeds thirty inches, and whose appearance bespeaks her to be
between thirty and forty years of age. Her head is disproportionably large to
the size of her body; her features, like her voice, are harsh, masculine, and un-
pleasant in the extreme. It would be ridiculous to be afraid of such a diminutive
thing ; yet tliere was an expression in her countenance, so peculiarly repulsive,
unwomanly, and hideous, that on her approaching our hut, I felt a very unusual
and disagreeable sensation steal over me. Descriptions of an elf, or a black
dwarf in the Arabian Night's Entertainments, or modern European romances,
would serve well to portray the form and lineaments of this singular little being.
This is a market day here, and I took a walk this evening to the place where the
market is held The crowd which gathered around me was very great. If I
happened to stand still even for a moment, the people pressed by thousands to
get close to me ; and if I attempted to go on, they tumbled one over another to
get out of my way, overturned standings and calabashes, threw down their own-
ers and scattered their property about in all directions. Smiths welcomed me by
clashing their iron tools against each other, and drummers by thumping violent-
ly upon one end of their instruments. A few women and children ran from me
in a fright ; but the majority less timid, approached as near as they could to catch
a glimpse of the first white man they had ever seen. My appearance seemed to
interest them amazingly, for they tittered and wished me well, and turned about
to titter again. On returning, the crowd became more dense than ever, and
drove all before them like a torrent Dogs, goats, sheep, and poultry, were
borne along against their will, which terrified them so uuich that notliing could
be heard but noises of the most lamentable description; children screamed, dogs
yelled, sheep and goats bleated most piteously, and fowls cackled and fiiUtercd
from among the crowd. Happy indeed was 1 to shelter myself from all this uj)-
roar in our own yard, whither the nuiltitude dared not follow.
The widows of the deceased chief of Keeshee (this chief had recently died,) set
apart a portion of the twenty-four hours to cry for their bereavement, and pray
to their gods. They began this evening in the same sad, mournful tone which
is commonly heard on similar occasions, all over the country. We asked our
interpreter why the women grieved so bitterly. He answered quickly, '* What
KICIIARD AND JOHN LANDER. 505
matter? they laugh directly." So I suppose they cry from habit rather than
from feeling ; and that they can shed tears and be merry in the same breath
whenever they please.
On one occasion the crowd of visiters, at this place, which thronged upon our
travellei-s, was so great and so irksome that they had recourse to the expedient
of smoking them otF, by kuidling a fire at the door of their hut. It succeeded
agreeably to their wishes.
A party of more agreeable visiters, which came to see them, consisted of Fa-
latah women and girls from the village ofAcba. These females, they say, are so
modest and so retii*ing, and evince so much native delicacy in their whole beha-
viour that they excited in us the highest respect. Their personal attractions are
no less winning. They have fine sparkling jetty eyes, with eyelashes dark and
glossy as the raven's plume. Their features are agreeable although their com-
plexions are tawny. Their general form is elegant; their hands small and deli-
cate ; and the peculiar cleanliness of their persons, and neatness of di-ess added
to these, rendered their society altogether as desirable as that of their neighbours
was disagreeable. On a second visit, these engaging female friends came with
bowls of milk and foorah. This was in the morning. In the evening they came
again with a few of their male companions, and remained a considerable time.
Both sexes deported themselves in the most modest and respectful manner. It
appears that the Falatahs inhabiting Acba, though very numerous are but one
family, for we are told that their ancestor separated himself from his friends,
relatives and acquaintances, and exiling himself forever from his native country,
travelled hither with his wives and children, his flocks and herds. The sons and
daughters of his descendants intermarry only among their own kindred ; and
they are betrothed to each other in infancy and childhood. They appear to be
a superior race.
The governor of Keeshee toM many wonderful stories of the towns under his
sway, his amazing power, great influence, and of the entire subjection in which
his own people were kept by his own good government, of which latter, he gave
. a specimen by bawling to a group of children that had followed our steps into
the yard, to go about their business. Every one in this country displays this
ridiculous vanity; and in most of the towns vve have visited, it was the first great
care of their chiefs to impress on our minds an idea of their vast importance,
which in many instances was refuted by their ragged tobes and squalid appear-
ance. The governor was so old and infirm that he could not have many years to
live. We gave him a lotion for a swelled foot which greatly elated one or two
of his attendants, and their animated looks and gestures bespoke hearts over-
flowing with gratitude. The cau^^e of this was soon explained. The next
morning a young man, one of the number, visited us with a countenance so
rueful, and spoke in a tone so low and melancholy, that his whole appearance
was completely altered, insomuch that we were desirous to learn what evil had
befallen him. He informed us that he would be doomed to die with two com-
panions as soon as their governor's dissolution should take place ; and as the old
man has already one foot in the grave, the poor fellow's sadness was not to be
wondered at. When this same individual and his associates observed me giving
the lotion to their master yesterday they imagined it would prolong his existence,
and consequently their own ; and hence arose that burst of feeling. The people
here imagine we can^o any thing, but more especially that we are acquainted
with and can cure all the complaints and disorders to which man is liable. The
governor solicited a charm of us to preserve his house from the efiTects of fire
and to cause him to become rich.
On the day of departure from Keeshee, May 26th, we arose before sunrise,
and having taken a hasty breakfast, went to pay our respects to the governor,
and thank him for his hospitality and kindness. On returning to our lodgings,
we had the pleasure of receiving the morning salutation of our fair friends the
Falatahs on bended knee. Resolved to have another and a last chat with the
white strangers, these females had come for the purpose of oflering us two cala-
bashes of new milk. This and former little acts of kindness, which we have
received from these dark-eyed maidens, effectually won our regard, because we
43*
506 , RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
knew they were disinterestedly given ; and the few minutes we had the happi-
ness of spending in their company and that of their countrymen, redeemed
many hours of listlessness and melancholy, which absence from our native
country, and thoughts of home and friends, hut too often excite in our breasts.
It was therefore not without a feeling of sorrow that we bade them adieu. For
my own part, (says John Lander,) when they blessed me in the name of Alia
and their prophet, and implored blessings on my head, and when I gazed upon
the faces of the .simple hearted and innocem females who had so piously and
fervently invoked the benediction, with the consciousness of beholding them no
more in this life, my heart was touched with son'ow; for of all reflections, this
is certainly the most melancholy and dispiriting !
"Ye who liavc known what 'tis to doto upon
A few dear objects, will in sadness feel
Such partings break the heart they fondly hoped to heal !"
Although we left Keeshee between six and seven in the morning, vi^e were
obliged to seat ourselves on a green turf in the outskirts of the town, and wait
there till a quarter after nine, before the carriers with the luggage made their
appearance. Here we were joined by the Borgoo fatakie, (a company of mer-
chants,) and our ears were saluted with the hoarse, dull sounds of their drum,
which was played by a ragged one-eyed Yarribean loTig after we were on our
journey. A company of merchants trading through the country has always a
drummer in their pay, who walks at the head of the party, and performs on his
instrument continually, be the journey ever so long, for the purpose of anima-
ting the slaves to quicken their steps.
Our route lay through a vast and lonely forest, infested by bands of robbers,
and in which there is not a single human habitation. My brother went unarmed
before the fatakie, and travelled alone, while I remained behind to defend the
carriers in case of necessity. He had already rode some distance in advance of
us, when about twenty very suspicious looking fellows, armed with lances and
bows and arrows, suddenly made their appearance from behind the trees where
they had concealed themselves, and stood in the middle of the path before the
men with the luggage, who were so terrified, that they were preparing to drop
their burdens and run away. My gun being loaded, I levelled it at them, and
had nearly discharged it at the leader^ which intimidated them all so much, that
they retreated again into the heart of the fore5t. When the people of Yarriba
observe any one approaching tliem on the road whose appearance inspires tliem
with apprehensions as to the honesty of his intentions, they fling off" their loads
without waiting the result of the meeting, and take to their heels without ventur-
ing to look behind them. The robbers, therefore, when they saw our peoplt
no doubt, expected to obtain an easy booty ; not anticipating to find a whii
man among them, nor thinking that our carriers would have made a stand.
We journeyed fifteen miles through this dreaded forest, which occupied us
five hours and three quarters, owing to the weakness of our horses and want
of water, but above all, to the oppressive heat of the weather, from which we
all suflered more or less. We then arrived at the Moussa, which is a rivulet
.separating the kingdom of Yarriba from Borgoo. Having satisfied our thirst
and bathed, v/e crossed the stream, and entered a httle village on the northern
banii, where we halted for the day.
The crossing of the Moussa introduced our travellers into a country very dif-
ferent from Yarriba — inhabited by a diflerent people, who speak a diflerent
language, profess a diflerent rehgion, and whose maimers, customs, amusements,
and pursuits are altogether diflerent. The route now led towards Kiama, which
even in the approach presented a complete change of scene. Instead of smiling
plains and cultivated hills jt consisted of a huge tract of mountain-forest, crowded
with wild animals of every description, and infested with numerous bands of
robbpr/3, Kiama belongs to the Kingdom, or rather cluster of states, called
Borgoo. The former mission had understood Borgoo to comprise also Boussa
and VVavya, This is stated by the Landers to be a mistake ; and indeed these
countries jresemble much more the fertile plain of Eyeo or Yarriba. Borgoo,
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. ' 507
on the contrary, though diversified by beautiful and fertile valleys, is generally
mountainous and rugged, tenanted by a people bold and brave, warm both in
friendship and enmity, and often addicted to lawless and predatory exploits.
The narrative enumerates, as belonging to Borgoo, eight different states, among
which Niki takes the lead. Its capital is described as one of the largest cities in
Central Africa, and the sovereign as having seventy other towns dependant upon
him; which, however, if we may believe the report made to our travellers, pay
no other tribute besides one beautiful maiden during the lifetime of each of their
chiefs.
While resting at a litde village yet at some distance from Kiama, our travellers
were met by an escort sent by the king to conduct them to the city. The musi-
cal jingling of htde bells (they say) announced the approach of a body of horse-
men, who in less than a minute galloped up to our hut, and saluted us one after
another with a martial air, by brandisliing their spears, to our great discomfiture,
within a few feet of our faces. To display their horsemanship the more eftectu-
ally, they caused their spirited steeds to prance and rear in our presence ; and
when they imagined we were convinced of their abilities, they dismounted to
prostrate themselves before us, and acquaint us with the welfare of their prince.
Setting out under the conduct of this escort, the path lay through a forest. At
one place we remarked two immensely large trees, springing up almost close
together ; their mighty trunks and branches were firmly twisted and clasped
round each other, like giants in the act of embracing, and presented an appear-
ance highly novel and singular. Ant-hills were numerous on the road ; and a
few paces from it, we observed, as we rode along, little cone-shaped mud build-
ings, erected by the natives for the purpose of smelting iron ore, which is found
in abundance in different parts of the country. At sunset we arrived at a village
called Benikenny, which means in the language of the people a cunning man ;
and found there three women waiting our arrival, with corn and milk from the
King of Kiama: this was very acceptable, for we had been without food thirteen
hours.
Although the sun had gone down on leaving Benikenny, the moon and stars
supplied us with a cooler and more agreeable light; and we journeyed on
through the forest more slowly than before. In spite of our fatigue, we could
not help admiring the serenity and beauty of the evening, nor be insensible to
the delicious fragrance shed around from trees and shrubs. The appearance of
our warlike and romantic escort was also highly amusing- They were clad in
the fashion of tlie East, and sought their way between the trees on our right and
left ; but sometimes they fell in our rear, and then again dashed suddenly by us
with astonishing swiftness, looking as wild as the scenery through which their
chargers bounded. The effect was rendered more imposing by the reflection of
the moonbeams from their polished spears, and the pieces of silver which are
affixed to their caps, while the luminous firefly appeared in the air hke rising and
falling particles of tlame.
About 8 o'clock Kiama appeared before us, and in a few minutes we entered
the city, and rode directly to the king's house He came out to receive us after
we had been waiting outside a very short time, and welcomed us with much
satisfaction and good-will. He is an elderly man, almost toothless, and has a
beard as white as wool. We observed nothing remarkable in his dress or ap-
pearance. His first question was concerning the health of our sovereign, and
his second and last respecting oUr own welfare. He seemed to be exceedingly
well pleased at seeing me again. We then took our leave, and were conducted
by one of his slaves to a hut, or rather an assemblage of huts, adjoining his own
residence. But they were not entirely to our satisfaction, for many of them had
only one aperture in each, which was scarcely three feet square ; so that we
could not get into them excepting on our hands and knees. They were, besides,
so very close and warm, that we found great difficulty inbreathing; and we
prefered a hut which was cooler and better ventilated, though it had the inconve-
nience of a thoroughfare. No sooner were we securely housed, than half a
dozen of the king's wives introduced themselves with huge calabashes of sour
milk, fried pancakes, and beef stewed in rice, the first we have yet seen. Vari-
508 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
0U3 coloured mats of excellent workmanship were afterward brought for our
use : and with thankful hearts and comfortable feelings we lay down to rest.
The day after their arrival at Kiama, the travellers, having selected a present
for the king, repaired to his residence. The king's name was Yarro. Yarro,
(we again adopt the words of their journal,) professes the Mohammedan faith,
yet it is easy to perceive the very slender acquaintance he has obtained of the
jprecepts of the Koran, by the confidence which he still places in the religion of
his fathers, in placing fetishes to guard the entrance of his houses, and adorn
tlieir half-naked walls. In one of the huts we observed a stool of very curious
workmanship. The form of it is nearly square ; the two principal sides are
each supported by four lilUe wooden figures of men ; and another of large di-
mensions, seated on a clumsy representation of a hippopotamus, is placed be-
tween them. These images were subsequently presented to us by Yarro, and
we learned that the natives, before undertaking any water excursion, applied for
protection from the hippopotami and other dangers of the river to the principal
figure, which is represented as mounted on one of those creatures. This impor-
tant personage is attended by his musicians, and guarded by soldiers, some arm-
ed with muskets, and others with bows and arrows, who formed the legs of the
stool.
In an inner apartment we discovered Yarro sitting alone on buffalo hides ; and
we were desired to place ourselves near him. The walls of this apartment were
adorned with very good prints of our most gracious sovereign George the
Fourth, his late royal brother the Duke of York, Lord Nelson, the Duke of
Wellington on horseback, together with an ofiicerin the light dragoons, in com-
pany with a smartly dressed and happy looking English lady. Opposite to them
were hung horse accoutrements ; and on each side were dirty scraps of paper
containing select sentences from the Koran. On the floor lay muskets, several
handsomely ornamented lances, and other weapons, all confusedly heaped to-
gether by the side of a large granite stone used for pounding pepper. These
were the most striking objects we observed in the king's hut ; adjoining which
were others, through whose diminutive doors Yarro's wives were straining their
eyes to catch a ghmpse of our persons.
The folio whig incidents may serve to illustrate still farther the manners and
habits which prevail at the court of this prhice.
Our travellers' say they were obliged to violate the Sabbath, by cleaning and
polishing a sword and pistol, sent tliem for that purpose by the king, to be used
at the approaching Mohammedan festival. Yarro ishortly afterward sent us
(they say) a turkey, and one of his women presented us with a roasted badger, a
quantity of yams, &:.c., for the use of one of our people. This evening the
king's wives unanimously bestowed a severe reprimand on their husband for
neglecting to ofier them a portion of a bottle of rum which we gave him yester-
day ; and they scolded so lustily tliat the noise was heard outside the wall sur-
rounding their huts, which led us to make the discovery. To appease the indig-
nation of these ladies, and to reconcile them to their loss, I presented them with
a few beads and some other trifles ; but we much doubt their ethcacy.
We receive frequent visits from a number of Mohammedan mallams (priests)
residing at Kiama. This afternoon they sent two young boys to pray for us.
The boys dropped on their knees, and recited the lesson tliat Uiey had been
taught without committing a blunder ; but a few needles was the only recom-
pense we thought proper to make them, so that'it is not likely their masters will
desire any more prayers to be offered at the shrine of tlieir prophet for Christians
so illiberal and irreligious. Of all the vices of which JNIohamuiedan priests are
guilty, (and by all accounts tliey are not a few,) slander and defamation of charac-
ter appear to be by far the most general. Never do we hear a maUam speak of
his neighbours in terms of common respect. By his account they are all tlie
vilest creatures under the sun, not one escaping the lash of his censure. "Avoid
that man," said a complacent and comfortable-looking old Mohammedan last
night, pointing to one of his companions as he quitted the hut, (he had just
blessed him in the name of Alia,) " for, believe me, he will take every opportu-
nity of deceiving you ; and if you go so far as to trust him with any of your
r
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 509
property, he will cheat you of every cowrie." The venerable speaker had a
quantity of gilt buttons, nearly new in his possession, which we had given him
to sell, for we are frequently obliged to make such shifts for a meal, and when his
invective was finished, he arose to take his leave : but the self-righteous priest
had neglected, in the hurry of discourse, to secure a few buttons which he had
purloined, for as he stood up they dropped from the folds of his garment on the
floor. The man's confusion was immediately apparent, but we did not wish to
push him further by increasing his shame, and we suffered him to go about his
business, in the belief that the circumstance had wholly escaped our observation.
Gilt buttons fetch a high price here (from two to three hundred cowries each;)
and as we have a great quantity of them, it is likely from henceforth they will be
of infinite service to us. Women use buttons to ornament their necks, fingers,
and wrists ; and they imagine that the brightest of them are made of gold.
The celebration of the " Bebun Salah," or " Great Prayer day," by the Mus-
sulmans of Kiama took place during our travellers' stay there. All the Mussul-
mans with the king at their head repaired to a convenient spot about a mile
without the city. The custom is to set out about .^uurise, but on this occasion,
owing to the threatening appearance of the weather, they did not assemble until
between nine and ten o'clock. The worshipers arranged themselves in six lines
or rows, the women forming the last, and sat down on as many ridges of earth,
which had apparently been thrown up for the purpose. The chief mallam no
sooner began a prayer, than the talking and noise of the multitude immediately
ceased, and the deepest attention seemed to be paid by every one, though the
substance of what he said could only be guessed at, because it was in Arabic,
which none of them understood. The ceremony much resembled that which
was performed at Badagry ; and the forms which are generally practised, I be-
lieve, on all public religious meetings in Mohammedan countries, such as ablution
prostration, &c., were observed on this occasion. The king, however, did not
rise, as he should have done, when the worshippers stood up, but satisfied himself
by uttering the name of Alia, and by simple prostration only. When the usual
form of prayer had been gone through, the head mallam placed himself on a
hillock, and for about five minutes read to the people a few loose pages of the
Koran, which he held in his hand. While thus engaged, two priests of inferior
order knelt beside him to hold the hem of his tobe, and a third, in the same posi-
tion, held the skirts from behind. After he had finished reading, the priest de-
scended from the hillock, and with the help of his assistants, slaughtered a sheep
which had been bound and brought to him for t^^acrif C3. The blood of the ani-
mal was caught in a calabash ; and the king, and the more devoted of his subjects
washed their hands in it, and sprinkled some of it on the ground. This conclu-
sion of the ceremony was announced by the discharge of a few old muskets ;
and with drums beating and fifes playing, the people returned to their respective
homes. Most of them were smartly dressed in all the finery they could procure.
About a hundred of the men rode on horseback, vvith lances and other weapons
in their hands, which, with the gay trappings of their horses, gave them a respect-
able appearance.
In the afternoon, all the inhabitants of the town, and many from the little
villages in its neighbourhood, assembled to witness the horse-racing, which takes
place always on the amiiversary of the " Bebun Salah," and to which every one
had been looking forward with impatience. Previous to its commencement, the
king, with his principal attendants, rode slowly round the town, more for the
purpose of receiving the admiration and plaudits of his people, than to observe
where distress more particularly prevailed, which was his avowed intention. A
hint from the chief induced us to attend the course with our pistols, to salute
him as he rode by ; and as we felt a strong inclination to witness the amusements
of the day, we were there rather sooner than was necessary, which afibrded us,
however, a fairer opportunity of observing the various groups of people which
were flocking to the scene of amusement.
The race-course was bounded on the north by low granite hills ; on the south
by a forest; and on the east and west by tall shady trees, among which were
habitations of the people. Under the shadow of these magnificent trees the
510 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
spectators were assembled, and testified their happiness by their noisy mirth and
animated gestures. When we arrived the king had not made his appearance on
the course ; but his absence was fully compensated by the pleasure we derived
from watching the anxious and animated countenances of the multitude, and in
passing our opinions upon the t^wte of the women in the choice and adjustment
of their fanciful and many-coloured dres.-;es. The chief's wives and younger
children sat near us in a group by themselves ; and were distinguished from their
companions by their superior dress. Manchester cloths of inferior quality, but
of the most showy patterns, and dresses made of common English bed-furniture,
were fastened round the waist of several sooty maidens, who, for the sake of
fluttering a short hour in the gaze of their countrymen, had sacrificed in clothes
the earnings of a twelvemonth's labour. All the women had ornamented their
necks with strings of beads, and their wrists with bracelets of various patterns,
some made of glass beads, some of brass, others of copper, and some again of a
mixture of both metals: their ankles also were adorned with different sorts of
rings, of neat workmanship.
The distant sound of drums gave notice of the king's approah, and every
eye was immediately directed to the quarter from whence he was expected.
The cavalcade shortly appeared, and four horsemen first drew up in front of the
chief's house, which was near the centre of the course, and close to the spot
where his wives and children and ourselves were sitting. Several men, bearing
on their heads an immense quantity of .arrows in huge quivers of leopard's skin,
came next, followed by two persons, who, by their extraordmary antics and
gestures we concluded to be buffoons. These last two were employed in
throwing sticks into the air as they went on, and adroitly catching them in falling,
besides performing many whimsical and ridiculous feats. Behind these, and
immediately preceding the king, a group of little boys nearly naked, came
dancing merrily along, flourishing cows' tails over their heads in all directions.
The king rode onwards, followed by a number of fine-looking men on handsome
steeds ; and the motley cavalcade all drew up in front of his house, where they
awaited his further orders without dismounting. This we thought was the proper
time to give the first salute, so we accordingly fired three rounds ; and our ex-
ample was iuunediately followed by two soldiers, with muskets which were
made at least a century and a half ago.
Preparations in the mean time had been going on for the race, and the horse.?
with their riders made their appearance. The men were dressed in caps and
loose tobes and trousers of every colour ; boots of red morocco leather, and
turbans of white and blue cotton. The horses were gayly caparisoned : strings
of little brass bells covered their heads ; their breasts were ornamented with
bright red cloth and tassels of silk and cot on ; a large quilted pad of neat em-
broidered patchwork was placed under the saddle of each ; and little charms,
enclosed in red and yellow cloth, were attached to the bridle with bits of tinsel.
The Arab saddle and stirrup were in common use ; and the whole group pre-
sented an imposing appearance.
The signal lor starting was made, and the impatient animals sprang forward
and set off at full gallop. The riders brandished their spears, the little boys
flourished their cows' tails, the buffoons performed their antics, muskets were
discharged, and the chief himself, mounted on the finest horse on the ground,
watched the progress of the race, while tears of delight were starting from his
eyes. The sun shone gloriously on the tobes of green, white, yellow, blue, and
crimson, as they fluttered in the breeze ; and with the fanciful caps, the glittering
spears, the jingling of the horses' bells, the animated looks and warlike bearing
of their riders, presented one of the inost extraordinary and pleasing sights that
we have ever witnessed. The race was well contested, and terminated only by
the horses being fatigued and out of breath ; but though every one was emulous
to outstrip his companion, honour and fame were the only reward of the com-
petitors.
A few naked boys, on ponies without saddles, then rode over the course, after
which the second and last heat commenced. This was not by any means so good
as the first, owing to the greater anxiety which the horsemen evinced to display
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 51 1
their skill iu the use of the spear and the management of their animals. The
king maintained his seat on horseback during these amusements, without even
once dismounting to converse with his wives and children, who were sitting on
each side of him. His dress was showy rather than rich, consisting of a red cap,
enveloped in the large folds of a white muslin tuiban ; two under tobes of blue
and scarlet cloth, and an outer one of white muslin ; red trousers, and boots of
scarlet and yellow leather. His horse seemed distressed by the weight of his
rider, and the various ornaments and trappings with which his head, breast, and
body were bedecked. The chief's eldest and youngest sons were near his
women and other children, mounted on two noble looking horses. The eldest
of these youths was about eleven years of age. The youngest, being not more
than three, was held on the back of his animal by a male attendant, as he was
unable to sit upright; in the saddle without this assistance. The child's dress was
ill suited to his age. He wore on his head a tight cap of Manchester cotton, but
it overhung the upper part of his face, and together with its ends, which flapped
over each cheek, hid nearly the whole of his countenance from view ; his tobe
and trousers were made exactly in the same fashion as those of a man, and two
large belts of blue cotton, which crossed each other, confined the tobe to his body.
The little legs of the child were swallowed up in clumsy yellow boots, big
enough for his father ; and though he was rather pretty, his whimsical dress gave
him altogether so odd an appearance, that he might have been taken for any
thing bui what he really was. A few of the women on the ground by the side
of the king wore large white dresses, which covered their persons like a wind-
ing-sheet. Young virgins, according to custom, appeared in a state of nudity ;
many of them had wild flowers stuck behind their ears, and strings of beads,
&c. round their loins ; but want of clothing did not seem to damp their pleasure
in the entertainment, for they appeared to enter into it with as much zest as any
of their companions. Of the different coloured tobes worn by the men, none
looked so well as those of a deep crimson colour on some of the horsemen ; but
the clean white tobes of the Mohammedan priests, of whom not less than a
hundred were present on the occasion, were extremely neat and becoming. The
sport, terminated without the slightest accident, and the king's dimounting was a
signal for the people to disperse.
We then paid our respects to the chief as usual, but our reception was formal
and chilling, though nothing could have been more gratifying to him than our
attendance on the present occasion. We had l.a'f a mind to be vexed at this
mortifying repulse, but consoled ourselves with the reflection that we had no
right to expect any thing more than common courtesy and politeness. Besides
this, he was surrounded by the loveliest of his women and the most warlilce of
his subjects, and being a rigid Mohammedan when it suits his convenience, he
might have considered us as the enemies of his religion. To have shown, there-
fore too great familiarity with us in the sight of his people would perhaps have
been unbecoming the Chief of Kiama.
We have here endeavoured, to the best of our ability, to describe an African
horse-race ; but it is impossible to convey a correct idea of the singular and fan-
tastic appearance of the numerous groups of people that met our view on all
sides, or to describe their animation and delight ; the martial equipment of the
soldiers and their noble steeds, and the wild, romantic, and overpowering interest
of the whole mass. . Singing and dancing have been kept up all night, and the
revellers will not think of retiring to rest till morning.
The king visited us at our hut the morning before our departure, attended by
three or four of his younger wives. His object was to get something from us;
therefore we considered it no compliment. Like the King of Yarriba, he has
seen all the articles which we ha^^e given to his people, but unhke that monarch,
he has converted to his own use whatever pleased him best. From a present
intended for his son, he took the only piece of cloth which it contained, and
which we are unable to replace. He then begged a httle medicine for weak
eyes ; and was presented with a quantity of Epsom salts and a small syringe.
He immediately began trying experiments on the instrument by spirting water
into the faces of his wives, who did not appear to enjoy the diversion so well as
himself.
512 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
On Saturday June 5th, our travellers bade adieu to Keama, and bent their
course through the towns of Kakafungi, Coobly, and Zalee to Boossa on the
Niger. When they were atout half a mile from Keama, looking behind tliem,
they observed a great fat woman running after them at her full speed. She
soon overtook them, almost breathless with exertion. We then found (they
say,) that the object of her care was to present us with a bowl of new milk,
which she had neglected to bring in time for us to drink before we set out.
From the violence of her exertions, her whole person was thrown into the ut-
most disorder imaghiable. This woman is a favourite singer to the king, and
had supplied us with milk and provisions two or three days before our depart-
ure, for which we gave her a lew triHing articles in payment ; these it appears
had produced so sensible an effect upon her, that when taking leave of us last
evening, she began to shed tears and sobbed aloud. This was now renewed,
and we were obliged to spur on our horses to spare our feehngs. We were
afterwards told that the woman's sorrow was only feigned in our presence for
the purpose of obtaining a reward, and that she always has abundance of tears
at comtnand.
On the way to Coobly, John Lander had a severe attack of fever, and on his
arrival there was exceedmgly ill. His brother Richard administered ten grains
of calomel, after which he fell into a kind of stupor and an insensibility to sur-
rounding objects, and though after a time his reason returned, he again soon be-
came worse, and Richard expected every moment would be his last. He says,
my brother, during the few intervals he had from delirium, seemed to be aware
of his danger, and entered into arrangements respecting his family concerns. At
this moment my feelings were of too painful a nature to be described. The un-
happy fate of my late master, Captain Clapperton, came forcibly to my mind.
I had followed him into this country, where he perished ; I had attended him in
liis parting moments ; I had performed the last mournful office for him which
our nature requires, and the thought that I should have to go through the same
sad ceremonies for my brother overwhelmed me with grief.
These sad ibrebodings, happily, were not realized. The disease took a new
turn, and John was soon well enough to proceed on the journey which now lay
towards Boossa. Before setting out the messengers arrived from Boossa, with
a quantity of onions as a present from tiie queen, and with orders from tlie king
to escort the travellers to the city of Boossa. An old woman applied at their
lodgings for medicine that would produce her an entire new set of teeth; or
said she, " If I can only be supphed with two large and strong ones, I shall be
satisfied with them." She was becoming rather impertinent when Richard
Landar recommended her to procure two iron ones from a blacksmith, which
displeased her so much that she went away in a pet.
The city of Boossa stands on the Niger ; it was supposed by Clapperton to
be situated on an island in this river, but the Landers ascertained this opinion to
be incorrect. On entering the city, they discharged their pieces as a signal of
their arrival, and soon they were introduced to the king, whom they found sit-
ting in an inner apartment in company with the midikie, his principal wife, or
queen. They welcomed them to Boossa with every appearance of cordiality,
and with ruelul countenances, gravely assuring diem, that they had both been
weeping in tlie morning for the death of Captain Clapperton whose untimely
end they would never cease to lament.
This king was regarded as the most powerful chief of Western Africa, as the
Sultan of Bornou was of Northern Africa.
The dress of the king and queen when they returned our travellers' visit at
their hut, is thus described. Tiie king wore a white cotton tobe over another of
blue and white, a cap of red cloth, and leathern sandals of the same colour. The
midikie was clad in a common check shirt; a plain piece of blue cotton was fas-
tened round her head, wholly concealing the hair; a larger piece of tlie same
kind was thrown over the left shoulder, and a tliird lied round her waist, reached
so far as the middle of the leg. Her feet were bare, as were likewise her arms
up to the elbow ; a brass ring ornamented each great toe, and eight silver brace-
lets each wrist, the least of them weighing little less than a quarter of a pound.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER, 513
Besides these ornaments, the queen wore a necklace of coral and bits of gold,
and small pieces of pipe coral were stuck in the lobe of each ear.
Boossa is celebrated as the place near which Park and his companions were
destroyed, while sailing down the Niger. Our tiavellers say, this river, here in
its widest part is not more than a stone's throw across at present. The rock on
which we sat overlooks the spot where Mr. Park and his associates met their un-
happy fate ; we could not help meditating on that circumstance, and on the
immber of valuable lives which have been sacrificed in attempting to explore
this river, and secretly implored the Almighty that we might be the humble
means of setting at rest forever the great question of its course and termination.
While at Boossa the Landers entertained hopes of being able to recover some
of the effects and especially the journal of Park. They were presented with a
tobe, which, it was said, belonged to a white man who came from the north
many years before, and had been purchased by the king's father. It was made
of rich crimson damask, and was very heavy from the immense quantity of
gold embroidery with which it was covered. As the time when the late king
was said to have purchased this tobe corresponded very nearly to the supposed
period of Park's death, and as no other white mail had been known to have come
from the north so far south as Boossa, the Landers believed it to be part of the
spoil obtained from the canoe of that ill-fated traveller. Whether Mr. Park him-
self wore the tobe, or whether he intended it as apresent to a native chief was
uncertain. The chief who presented it to them had never worn the tobe, nor
had his predecessor, from a superstitious feeling ; besides, observed the king, "it
might excite the cupidity of the neighbouring powers."
The king, on application being made to him for any books or papers of Mr.
Park yet in his possession, returned for answer, that when Mr. Park was lost
in the Niger, he was a very little boy, and that he knew not what had become of
his effects ; that the deplorable event occurred in the reign of the late king's pre-
decessor, who died shortly after; and that all traces of the white man had been
lost with him. This reply seemed to end the matter, but by repeating their re-
quest to the king, and by farther inquiries, the Landers at length thought they
had attained the object of their hopes. One afternoon, (they say,) the king
came to see us, followed by a man with a book under his arm, which was said to
have been picked up in the Niger after the loss of our countryman. It was en-
veloped in a large coUon cloth, and our hearts beat high with expectation as the
man was slowly unfolding it, for by its size we guessed it to be Mr. Park's jour-
nal ; but our disappointment and chagrin were great, when, on opening the
book, we discovered it to be an old nautical publication of the last century. The
title-page was missing, but its contents were chiefly tables of logarithms. It was
a thick royal quarto, which led us to conjecture that it was a journal; between
the leaves we found a few loose papers of very little consequence indeed ; one
of them contained two or three observations on the height of the water in the
Gambia ; one was a tailor's bill on a Mr. Anderson ; and another was addressed
to Mr. Mungo Park, and contained an invitation to dinner, — the following is a
copy of it: —
' " Mr. and Mrs. Watson would be happy to have the pleasure of Mr. Park's
company at dinner on Tuesday next, at half-past five o'clock.
" An answer is requested.
" Strand, dth Nov. 1804."
The king, as well as the owner of the book, looked as greatly mortified as oar-
selves, when they were told that the one produced was not that of which we
were in quest, because the reward promised would not of course be obtained.
As soon as our curiosity had been fully satisfied, the papers were carefully col-
lected and placed again between the leaves, and the book as carefully folded in
its envelope as before, and taken away by its owner, who values it as much as a
household god. Thus all our hopes of obtaining Mr. Park's journal or papers,
in this city, are entirely defeated. The inquiry, on our part, has not been pros-
ecuted without much trouble and anxiety, and some Uttle personal sacrifices
44
514 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
likewise, which, had they been ten times as great, we would gladly ha\ e made
while a single hope remained of their being ettectwal.
On the •24th of June, our travellers with their attendants embarked upon the
river the great objectof their perilous adventures, in a canoe, and proceeded up
the stream to Yaoorie, the extreme point of their journey towards the nortti.
Their object seems to have been both to conciliate the king of Yaooiie, and to
obtain intelligence, if possible, of the papers of Mr. Park. The Niger is descri-
bed as widening from half a mile, (its breadth near Boossa.) first to a mile, and at
length to two miles, and passing through a rich and charming country. Beau-
tiful, spreading, and spicy trees, adorned like a park, the scene on each side of
the river ; com, nearly ripe, waved over the water's edge ; large open villages
appeared every half-hour ; and herds of spotted cattle were observed grazing
and enjoying the cool of the shade. The appearance of the river for several
miles was no less enchanting than its borders ; it was as smooth as a lake ; ca-
noes, laden with sheep and goats, were paddled by women down its almost im-
perceptible current; swallows and a variety of aquatic birds were sporting over
its glassy surface, which w as ornamented by a number of pretty islands. The
heat of the weather was veiy distressing until the approach of evening wh.en tiie
travellers landing, fixed their tent on a plot of rising corn, and having nothing to
eat went supperless to rest.
On re-embarking the next day, they again beheld with feelings of admira-
tion, the Niger continuing the same delightful and magnificent appearance.
They say, we had proceeded only a few hundred yards when the n\er gradu-
ally widened to two miles, and continued so as far as tlie eye could reach. It
looked veiy much like an artificial canal ; the banks having tlie appearance
of a dwarf wall, with vegetafion beyond. In most places the water was extreme-
ly shallow, but in others it was deep enough to float a frigate. During the first
two hours of the day the scenery was as interesting and picturesque as cjin be
imagined. The banks were literally covered with hamlets and villages ; fine
trees, bending under the weight of their dark and impenetrable foliage, every-
where reheved the eye fiom the glare of the sun's rays, and, contrasted with the
lively verdure of the little hills and plains, produced the most pleasing efiect.
Afterward, however, there was a decided change ; the banks, which belore con-
sisted of dark earth, clay, or sand, were now composed oi black rigged recks ;
large sandbanks and islands were scattered in the river, which diverted it into a
variety of little channels, and efi"ectually destroyed its appearance.
About eleven o'clock, dark clouds from the west foretold an approaching
storm ; and our boatmen used their utmost exertions in endeavouring to reach a
village, or some place of security, before it should burst upon us; but in this
hope we were disappointed, for in a very few minutes it blew a hurricane, ac-
companied by thunder and lightning of tire most awful description, and the rain
fell in torrents. It became, besides, so dark, that nothing could be clearly dis-
tinguished at the distance of only a few yards. We were wetted to the skin in
a moment; and our canoe was in danger of sinking as we came abreast of a
little fishing village, on an island, close to the water's edge. We jumped on
shore as soon as possible, and ran without shoes or hats into tlie first hut\\.
came to for protection from the storm. Here our unlooked-for intrusion frigl.
ened away a poor woman, who rushed out of the hut as we enieied it ; but v. t
commenced throwing olf our dripping clothes, and displacing a pot ol" fish
which was stewing over a few expiring embers, heaped up all the dry wood we
could find. Not till then did we discover that our situation was little better tlian
it had been in the canoe ; the hut had two large open doorways opposite each
other, through which the wind swept the rain, and filled it w ith pools of water.
This was loo much lor us, and sallying out immediately, half-dressed, we hurri-
ed towards a hut which we perceived at a short distance ; but this was no better
than that which we had left, — all seemed alike ; and rushing back again tlnough
the pelting rain, we regained our deserted hut, and resigned ourf^^eives to all its
incorrveniences. Our people shortly afterward came up to us, quite benumbed
with cold and wet; and, nolwitlistanding their distress and our own ccmlortless
condition, we could not forbear Icugliiug at their comical and ragged appear-
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 515
p.nce. Meantime the hostess and her husband, with several of the other villagers,
summoned up resolution enough to visit us; and by w^ay of a peace-offering,
they brought with them firewood and a small quantity of provisions. This en-
abled us to kindle two large fires in the hut, which, as the storm was abating,
soon dried up the water ; but we were unavoidably obliged to lie down in damp
clothes. My brother and I sat up during the best part of the night, for we found
it impossible to sleep, not only on account of myriads of mosquitoes, but the
groanuig and snoring of inen, the barking and growling of dogs, an incessant
drumming at an adjacent village, and the startUng roar of a lion, which wias
prowhng about our quarters near the whole of the night.
The tempest was succeeded by a cool evening, and a remarkably clear night.
In the morning, on leaving the village, we were followed to the beach by a few
of its iniiabilants, and when the canoe was pushed off at seven o'clock, they
cheered us loudly. These people are harmless and good-naiured, but dirty in
their persons and singular in their manners. Their language is different from
that s^poken at Boossa. Most of the villages on the islands, as far as Yaoorie, it
is said, are inhabited by the same race of people, and they are also scattered on
the banks of the river. The women daub their hair with red clay, but they are
too poor to purchase many personal ornaments, and the men use none whatev*
er. They appear to have the necessaries of life in abundance; they are partial
to agriculture, and cultivate large portions of land wiih corn, rice, and o;iions ;
besides which fishing is carried on by them on an extensive scale, and numbers
of the men go three days' journey up the Niger to catch fish. Most of their huts
are supported on clay pillars, which are wonderfully small ; or on stone slabs
not mo^e tlian an incli in thickness. The walls of the huts are only two or three
inches in thickness; but these have no large doorways like that which we occu-
pied ; and histead of them, they are furnished with a small single aperture near
the roof, to which their owners are obliged to climb ; and even then they can-
not enter without great exertion. These huts approach nearer to the shape of a
common English oven than any thing else we have ever seen.
We had passed the island whereon we slept last night but a few minutes, and
had ju.st entered into the main river, when we came to a spot where it spreads
again into branches, and each channel was literally filled with dangerous rocks,
sandbanks, and low islands covered with tall rank grass. The appearance of
them was extremely disheartening. We were conducted up the main branch of
the river, buc were soon obliged to land with our .people in order to lighten the
canoe, which, after a deal of exerUon, was lifted over a ridge of rocks into deep-
er water. iJuring the greater part of the morning, indeed, our canoe was con-
tinually striking against concealed rocks, or runnmg on hidden sandbanks, but
sustained no apparent damage by the concussion ; the only inconvenience we
experience i irom it was the fatiguing one of being obliged to get out and in
whenever it was tbund necessary. It therefore aftbrded us much pleasure to be
landed, about two o'clock in the afternoon, on the left bank of the river, for we
were heartily tired of our morning's work, and felt highly gratified that it was
over.
At a short distance from the water's edge the country was thickly studded
with clusters of huts, which all together are caUed the village of Sooloo ; and we
took up our quarters in a large one, which is nearest the landing-place. The
inhabitants resenule very much .the islanders already spoken of; they culfivate
much land, and catch vast quantities offish ; but though they live well, tliey are
clothed very indifferently. The only ornaments they wear are made of the
back-bone of a certain species offish, which are tied round the loins and other
parts of the body. Besides corn, &c., the inhabitants also grow immense quan-
tities of onions, and tliey have large storehouses full of these ready to be exported
to difterent parts of the continent. The price of an onion here is two cowries ;
at KaUmga Ibrty, and at Badagry they fetch so high a price as a hundred cow-
ries each.
We were treated this afterrloon with much hospitality by them, and they did
all in their power to render our short stay as agreeable as possible.
516 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Both of us awoke in the morning rather unwell, which was most likely occa-
sioned by our exposure to the tempest of Friday. The old chief of the village
accompanied us to the water's edge when we quitted our hut for the purpose
of embarking, and enjoined the " king of the canoe" to be particularly careful
of his charge. "Careful!" answered the man; "to be sure I will; do I not
know that white men are more precious than a boat-load of eggs, and require as
much care to be taken of them ?" We entreated the same man a short time
afterward to be more active and diligent in the management of his canoe, for he
was rather inclined to be lazy, and suffered every one to go before ours ; but he
replied gravely, " Kings do not travel so fast as common men ; I must convey
you along as slowly as possible."
We had heard so unfiivourable an account of the state of the river at one par-
ticular place which we should have to pass, that our people were compelled to
disembark and walk along the banks a considerable way, till we -had passed it,
when we took them in again. We found the description to be in nowise exag-
gerated ; it presented a most forbidding ajipearance, and yields only to the state
of the Niger near Boossa, in difficulty and danger. On our arrival at this formi-
dable place, we discovered a range of black rocks rurming directly across the
stream, and the water, finding only one narrow passage, rushed through it with
great impetuosity, overturning and carrying away every thing in its course.
Our boatmen, with the assistance of a number of the natives, who planted them-
selves on the rocks on each side of the only channel, and in the stream at the
stern of the canoe, lifted it by main force into smoother and .safer water. The
last difficulty with respect to rocks and sandbanks was now overcome, and in a
very little time we came to the termination of all the islands, after which, it is
said, there is not a single dangerous place up the Niger. The river here pre-
sented its noblest appearance ; not a single rock nor sandbank was anywhere
perceptible ; its borders resumed their beauty, and a strong, refreshing breeze,
which had blown during the whole of the morning, now gave it the motion of a
slightly-agitated sea. In the course of the morning we passed two lovely little
islands, clothed in verdure, which at a short distance looked as charming as the
fabled gardens of Hespena ; indeed no spot on earth can excel them in beauty
of appearance. These islands are inhabited by a few individuals.
About eleven A. M. we landed at the foot of a little village on the east bank of
the river, where our horses and men had arrived before us. Here a httle milk
was presented to us by a Falatah in the service of the Sultan of Yaoorie, and we
rested under a large tree an hour or two, awaiting the arrival of carriers from
the city of Yaoorie, who had been sent for yesterday by one of the messengers
that had charge of our horses. I'hese men arrived at the village between one
and two o'clock in the afternoon, and we immediately mounted and rode on-
wards.
We travelled over a steril country, which was gradually rising at every step,
and abounded plentifully in game. The weather was oppressively warm, and
we were obliged to refresh ourselves by halting occasionally and resting in the
shade. The soil, which at first was so indifierent and barren, improved greatly
as we drew near Yaoorie ; and immense patches of land, cultivated with a vari-
ety of corn, also with rice, indigo, cotton, &c., were visible on every side.
Labourers were employed in these plantations, attended by a dnmimer, that
they might be excited by the sound of his instrument to work well and briskly.
On attaining the summit of a steep hill, we rode over a very narrow pathway,
so much overhung by an impenetrable thorny shrub that there was not rooia
for more than one man to walk. This led us to the wall of Yaoorie, and we en-
tered the city through an amazingly strong p;issage, in which was an immense
door covered with plates of iron, rudely fastened to the wood-work. We were
almost exhau.sted with fiitigue on our arrival, insomuch lliat we excused our-
selves from visiting and paying our respects to the sidum, and we were conduct-
ed to a convenient habitation, which had been prepared for us.
The city of Yaoorie is the capital of Yaoorie, a large, flourishing, and united
kingdom, under tlie dominion of an hereditary monarch, whose govermuent is
I
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 517
an absolute despotism. The city is of prodigious extent, and is supposed to be
as populous <'is any other on the whole continent. Its wall is high and very ex-
cellent, though made of clay alone, and may be between twenty and thirty
miles in circuit; and it has eight vast entrance-gates or doors, well fortified after
the manner of the country. Between the clusters of huts in the city, there is a
considerable quantity of fertile land, wrhich is left for cattle to graze on, or for the
purposes of agriculture. There is a great variety of trees within the walls of
the city, consisting of thehme, the palm, the nii-cadania, and the date ; but the
latter, though it appears very luxuriant, never was known to bear fruit. The
palm tree adorns the banks of the Niger, and increases in quantity the farther
we advance up the river ; yet that variety of it which bears the cocoanut is no
where to be seen, owing most likely to the distance from the sea. No estima-
tion can be formed of the number of inhabitants, but it is surprisingly great.
The sultan's residence, as well as the Ijouses of many of the principal inhabit-
ants of the city, are two stories in height, have thick and clumsy stairs of clay
leading to the upper apartments, which are rather lofty. The principal part of
the houses are built in the circular or coozie fashion. The natives of Western
and Central, and we believe, also of Northern Africa, moisten the floors of their
huts and the inside of their walls with a solution of cow-dung and water, two or
three times a day, or as often as they can find the materials. Though disagreea-
ble to the smell of a European, this keeps the interior of a dwelling as cool as it
is dark.
The inhabitants have some few manufactures, and grov/ indigo, tobacco, on-
ions, different kinds of grain, and rice of a very superior quahty ; have horses,
bullocks, goats, &c., and are industrious, yet they are poorly clad, and discon-
tented with their condition.
The higher class of women wear their hair plaited very ingeniously, and dyed
blue with indigo ; their lips are stained yellow and blue, which gives them an
inexpressibly odd appearance ; and their eyes are blackened with pow^dered an-
timony, or something of ttie same nature and properties. The use ofjiennahis
as general at Yaoorie as elsewhere ; the more opulent females make use of this
most beautiful dye in profusion ; they simply apply the pounded leaves of the
plant to the teeth, and to the finger and toe-nails ; ibr the latter it is made into a
kind of poultice, and in the evening is put on tho>e parts, and remains till next
morning. The poorer sort of females, from necessity probably, make use of
neither of these ornaments, and save tattooing, tliey have no personal embellish-
ments whatever.
Before visiting the sultan, the chief Arab of the city, or the sultan's prime
minister, came to pay his respects to the travellers. »He is described as a very
old man, as dark as a native, and dressed in the costume of the country. His
beard was long, and white as snow, and a singular tuft of hair which was direct-
ly under the lower lip did not look much unlike the tail of a white mouse.
Though toothless, the old man was yet very communicative — and intelligent.
On the evening of the day after their arrival, the sultan sent the travellers a
bullock, a fine large sheep of a peculiar species, the handsomest, they say, we
ever saw ; a great quantity of milk, and several hundred weight of rice ; and
the next evening they received a large turkey and a bowl of rice from the chief
of the Arabs. The following is Lander's description of their first visit to the
sultan, which took place on the second day alter their arrival : —
This evening, by desire, we went to pay our respects to the sultan. We
Koon arrived at the palace, which is a very large buildhig, or rather a group of
buildings enclosed by a high wall ; and dismounting, we were presently coziduct-
ed through a low avenue formed by pillars, which was as dark as a subterraneous
passage. This led to a large square yard, which we entered, and found it to
communicate with the sultan's apartments, by the number of domestics that
were hurrying about. Several people were sitting on the ground, but we were
obliged to stand a long time, during which a prolbund silence was preserved,
and^no one was polite enough to offer us a mat to sit on. At length we receiv-
ed a summons to advance, and were introduced into another square, very much
resembling a clean fiirm-yard. Here we discovered the sultan sitting alone in
44*
518 RICHAKD AND JOHN LANDER.
the centre of the square, on a plain piece of carpeting, with a pillow on each
side of him, and a neat brass pan in front. His appearance v/as not only mean,
but absolutely squalid and dirty. He is a big-headed, corpulent, and jolly-
looking man, well stricken in years ; and though there is something harsh an 1
forbidding in his countenance, yet he was generally smiling duiing the confer-
ence. The conversation commenced in the usual complimentary way; and
then our object in visiting Yaoorie was briefly and indirectly hinted at. When
we asked him whether he did not send a letter to the late Captain Clappertoa
while that officer was at Kooifu, in which he had affirmed that he had certain
books and papers in his possession which belonged to Mr. Park, he appeared
very much confused. After thinking and hesitating a good while, he answered
with an affected laugh. " How do you think that I could have the books of a
person that was lost at Boossa'" anil this was all he said on the subject. Ho
subsequently wished to know the reason that Captain Clapperton refused to
visit him when he passed through the country ; but more especially why, after
his death, I had not paid him that mark of respect on my return to the coast
from Soccatoo. My reply to him was, that I had been told he was the greatest
monarch in the country, and therefore I should have felt ashamed to have visited
him with the trifling present which I had to offer, as he might consider it an in-
sult to his dignity. A frown of disapprobation settled on his countenance at
hearing this, and he sharply rejoined, that he was perfectly well acquainted with
the nature and value of the presents which had been made to, the various chiefs
I had visited ; but that if I had nothing to offer him, it was my duty, and should
have been my first care, to have paid my respects to him at Yaoorie. Here
the conversation was abruptly ended; the sultan was more than half-inclined
to be angry with us ; and we were not at all sorry to be reconducted to the
open air.
The character of the sultan is much like that of most of the chiefs in AfVica.
He manifested the sq,me childish fondness for presents, and resorted to the same
petty stratagems and tricks to obtain them, iie received his presents very cold-
ly, probably, with the view of getting somethmg more, purchased goods of the
travellers, and then neglected payment, under the pretence that they asked too
much for them, and on one occasion when having made application for the sale
of some powder and red cloth, they were sent to him with a message that he was
at liberty to give what he thought proper for them, he kept the goods without
making the slightest acknowledgment, and also sent in the evening of the same
day to beg a few needles. He deferred giving permission for their departure
from day to day and week to week, under a variety of nonsensical excuses,
with the intention of detaining them at Yaoorie, until he had drained them of
every thing they had. One of the inducements urged upon the travellers for
their longer stay, and as related in their own words, was as follows :
He has made us a present of a quantity of worthless feathers, which he had
caused to be plucked from the body of a live ostrich ; and because he entertained
an opinion, that if others were added to them they would altogether form a very
acceptable present to our gracious sovereign, he informed us that it would be
necessary we should wait till such time as the ostrich should regain its plumage,
in order for that part of its body which had not been previously plucked to un-
dergo a similar operation ; for the weather, he asserted, was much too cold for
the bird to lose all its feathers at one and the same time. And further to en-
courage their growth, he would order that two thousand cowries' worth of but-
ter (about twelve pounds weight) should be diligently rubbed into the skin of the
animal. This money has actually been deducted by the sultan for this express
purpose from the sum which lie was indebted to us ; because, he said, he did not
approve of paying for the butter from his own pocket.
The sultan was guilty of similar tricks towards his own subjects, as well as
towards most of the merchants who visit Yaoorie. He however at last, after
complaining .sadly of his poverty, begged our travellers to accept a female slave
in lieu of the money he owed them, and which he declared his inability lo pay.
After a good deal of hesitaiioa, they took the girl, and she beciune the wiJe of
one of their attendants.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER, 519
The sultan's daughters, (say our travellers,) are very numerous; and m Ac-
cordance with the usual custom of the country, we have been obliged to make
them a present of a button, or a string of beads, or some such trifle. Many of
these ladies are not very young, for tliey have passed the meridian of life ; but
notwithstanding their seniority, they have had bitter disputes and quarrels with
their sisters for ihe fancied better place which the latter have in our good graces,
and the consequen. kinder treatment which they have experienced at our hands.
A breach is tuus made in the atiections of the r6yal sisters towards each other,
and it may be years before domestic harmony is re-established among them.
One or otuer of these females complains to us every day of having been enga-
ged in wrangling or fighting with a sister, on the score of jealousy ; and we are
obliged to muster all our patience and condole with them in their little misfor-
tunes, witliout, however, having the ability to relieve them.
Two or three of these daughters are our daily visiters, and they trifle away a
good deal of time in our company. They sometimes bring with them a pleasant
intoxicating liquor called booza, (a kind of beer,) which they ofler us to drink;
but thay contrive to get tipsy with it themselves. These ladies are occasionally
so troublesome that we are obliged to frighten them away with our pistols.
The heir apparent on one occasion paid txie travellers a visit, but the chief of
the Arabs entering, and seeing tne young man in conversation with them,
seemed surprised and displeased, and immediately ordered the young man to
quit the apartment with his suite, which order the prince instantly obeyed, with-
out a syllable of complaint at the peremptory command. The Arab afterwards
on being solicited for an explanation of such arbitrary conduct, said that it was
done in order to prevent the young man from soliciting poison which he might
employ in the destruction of his father's life.
The traveUers used every means while at Yaoorie that might possibly enable
them to discover the papers of Park, or which might disclose additional facts in
regard to his melancholy fate.
Park made his voyage down the Niger at about the same season of the year —
the heat was excessive — the river low, and of course presenting the rocks and
islands in its channel to obstruct his progress. He must have had a thousand
difficulties to encounter ; his canoemen, wiio in all probability were his slaves,
were said to be chained to the canoe, in order to prevent their running away ;
his piiot was unac juainled with the river any farther than Yaoorie, and was
theretbre discharged there, while Park with a companion, imd three white boys,
continued their voyage down the Niger, without any person whatever to point
out the safest channel, or warn them of their danger. When the accident hap-
pened at Boossa by which they lost their hves, it is said they preferred being
drowned to avoid as they imagined,, a more dreadful death.
The chief of the Arabs informed our travellers, that Park did not visit Yaoorie,
but remained in his canoe, and despatched a messenger in his stead to the sultan
with a suitable present. The chief of the Arabs was sent to Park with presents
in return, and by his description of Park's dress, he must have worn the laced
tobe Which the travellers obtained at Boossa. He was said to have been drown-
ed in this same dress. The Arab informed the Landers that he had in his pos-
session a cutlass and a double-ban elled gun which was part of Mr. Park's
present to the sultan. They expressed a wish to look at these weapons, and
they were immediately sent for. The gun was very excellent, and handsomely
mounted ; and we ottered our own fowling-piece in exchange for it, which was
cheerfully agreed to.
After repeated applications to the sultan for the lost papers of Park, without
obtaining any satisiactory reply, the travellers sent one of their attendants with a
message that they wished to receive a final and decisive answer in regard to the
papers, which were the sole object of tlieir visit, and that they wished to quit
Yaoorie immediately. This bold step seemed to startle the sultan, and he in-
stantly despatched tne old Arab to inform them that " he declared to God, in the
most solemn manner, that he had never had in his possession, nor seen, any
books or papers of the white travellers that perished at Boosa." The Arab
likewise assured us that we were at Uberty to proceed on our journey whenever
we should think proper.
520 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Thus, notwithstanding all the false hopes which the sultan artfully held out to
us that Mr. Park's papers were actually in his possession, his letter to Captain
Clapperton, which expressly stated this to be the case, and the pitiful shulfling
which he has displayed to keep us so long in suspense with respect to any true
information, it appears, without doubt, that he has not, and never has had,
a single book or paper in the English language. His only motive for the das-
tardly conduct he has displayed could have been neither more nor less than the
hope of getting us into his power by misrepresentation and falsehood, in order
to obtain some of the European articles which we had in our possession. The
sultan afterwards sent to inform us that he should be occupied three days in
writing to the King of England an explanation of his conduct with respect to
Mr. Park's papers ; and he would therefore thank us to remain in Yaoorie till
the expiration of that period.
At last, on the first of August, after having been detained at Yaoorie about five
weeks, shut up in narrow and gloomy apartment!-', annoyed by night by my-
riads of gnats, cockroaches, black ants, and bats, and vexed by day by human
visiters, whose society was scarcely less tolerable, the travellers received the joy-
ful intelligence that they were at hberty to depart. Accordingly they paid their
respects to the king, took their leave of him, and the next morning were on their
return to Boossa.
On Monday, the 2d of August, our travellers left Yaoorie, and proceeding
through the river Cubbie, returned, down the Niger, by a diff'erent channel, to
Boossa. Their departure from the city is thus described :
All was hurry, bustle, noise, and confusion at a very early hour in the morning,
in getting our things ready for starting ; but in spite of our exertions we had to
wait a lonij time outside our house, after the beasts had been laden, and our peo-
ple had their burdens on tlieir heads, for the sultan's long-expected letter to our
most gracious sovereign. A mallam was ai length perceived hurrying towards
us with it; and after him came, mounted on a large bony horse, and extremely
well dressed in the costume of his country, the venerable Arab chief, to honour
us with his company a little way on our journey. His appearance was stately
and patriarchal in the extreme. But this crafty old man was not our friend, for
he had used us deceitfully, arid misrepresented us and our goods to his master ;
and we had enjoyed an innocent kind of revenge, in administering to him, after
repeated apphcations, a powerful dose of medicine, which, harmless in its effects,
had yet been very troublesome to him. Indeed it was not till we had " jalaped"
the sultan, his sister, and all the royal family, that we were permitted to take our
farewell of Yaoorie. The city was literally covered with water on our passing
through it, and the deep hollows formed by the rains were very numerous, and
dangerous by being invisible ; nevertheless, with care and patience, we all got
outside the gates in safety.
It is pleasant, \ery pleasant, afler an imprisonment of five weeks in a close,
dark, and unwholesome chamber, subject to every kind of inconvenience and
much anxiety, to be set at liberty; to know and feel that one is free; to admire
again the beauties of God's creatiou, and enjoy once more the cheering fresh-
ness of the country. It is only in health that such feelings can either be excited
or indulged. Objects ever so charming are looked on witli indifference by an
'invalid. For our parts, we had entered Yaoorie in sickness, and had suffered
much in that city ; but we left it in all the strength and vigour of health. During
our residence tliere, the growth of vegetation had been astonishingly rapid ; the
face of the country wore an aspect entirely diflerent and improved ;' tiie trees
and shrubs had put on a greener and lovelier "livery;" the grasses, stunted as
they were before lor want of moisture, had sprung up to the surprising height
often or twelve feet ; and the corn and rice had grown up with no less vigour.
Owing to the reputed badness of the path, that by which we had euicred
Yaoorie was rejected for a more northerly one, leading in almost a direct Ime to
tlie river Cubbie. About a mile or two from the walls of Yaoorie the old Arab
stopped suddenly, and we imitating his example, he offered up a short though
animated Moiiammedan prayer ior our success, and bidding us an afiectiouate
farewell, he turned his horse about uud returned to the city.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 521
In the anticipation of journeying to Guarie, we had purchased an ass of Ali,
the Arab ; and this animal, as well as the horses, suffered greatly froiu the attacks
of a species of large fly, which is to them by day what mosquitoes are to man-
kind by night; and this evil, combined with the ruggedness and inequality of the
road, which was intercepted by deep and rapid rivulets, caused us much delay
and annoyance. About mid-day we arrived at the walls of a pretty con:<iderable
town, called Guada, and halted near a small creek of a river flowing from Cub-
bie, and entered the Niger a little lower down. Here, as soon as we had taken
a slight refreshment, we sent our beasts across the Niger to proceed by land to
Boossa, and embarked in two canoes, which were each paddled by i'our men.
These canoes are about eighteen or twenty feet long, and Ibrmed from a single
log of wood, unlike those of Coossa. When we got into the main body of the
Cubbie river, the canoemen kept us exposed to the sun for a considerable time,
waiting the arrival of two companions, because the men with whom we had
been supplied were unable to manage both canoes by themselves. Though we
entreated the four men to go a litdc way with us, or at least to convey us into a
cool and shady place, which we pointed out to them, for protection from the
sun's rayp, they would not learken to us; we found icolding, threats, and suppli-
cation to be all equally unavailing ; they maintained the same calm, yet moitify-
ing placidity of countenance, than which in such a case nothing can be more
vexing. At length we were fain to hold our peace, and patiently resigned our-
selves to the inconvenience.
The Cubbie river falls into the Niger about four miles from the creek where
we had embarked ; and on entering the Niger, we found it running from two to
tliree miles an hour, and with trifling labour on the part of the canoemen, we
could have journeyed very rapidly; but though we had taken on board their two
companions, the whole of them were so obstinately indolent, that we travelled
very slowly indeed, insomuch that we did not expect to arrive at the appointed
halting-place for the night. The canoes, however, were passing along almost
close to the shore, and we saw a woman at the water's edge who had a quantity
of cheap country beer for sale, and thinking it might animate the men to a little
more exertion, we purchased as much as they could drink, which in a few min-
utes completely metamorpho.*ed them. Tlie meekness, innocence, and compo-
sure of their lisdess countenances soon passed away; their heavy eyes sparkled
with fire and animation; they trembled all over with anxiety to display their
strength, dexttr ty, and v-gour ; and each being emulous to rival his companion,
they snatched up their paddles, and by tl eir united efioits the canoes glided
through the water with inconceivable velocity, even to the danger of up.- et ing.
Thus we proceeded down the river till the sun had set, and the moon was shin-
ing beautifully on the water, as we drew near to a small Cumbrie village on the
borders of the river, where we landed and pitched our tent. The thermometer
to-day has varied from7o° to 9^°.
Tuesday, August 'M. — Arising at an early hour, we shot a partridge and
Guinea-fowl, and breakfiisted in the open air, under the intense scrutiny of a
hundred black eyes; then, striking our tent, \ve hastened to the canoes which we
had left secured, and embarked on the river while it was yet nioniing, and the
air cool and pleasant. Though the lowering appearance ot the firmament seem-
ed to betoken a violent storm, the black clouds dispersed as the sun ^'athered
strength, and he burst out on us, an hour after our departure, with peculiar heat
and splendour.
On all the borders of the numerous branches of the river, as well as on its
small islands, vast quantities of corn were growing ; and it being near the Ume of
harvest, it was nearly ripe, and waved over the water's edge very prettily. Plat-
forms were every where erected to the height of, or rather above the corn, which
grows as high as ten or twelve feet. People were stationed on these to scare
away the numerous flights of small birds, which do great mischief, and would,
without this precauhon, destroy the hopes of the cultivator. A boy or girl, and
in many cases a woman with a child at her breast, and even a whole family to-
gether, we observed on the platforms, amusing themselves in this manner, with-
out the slightest shade or covering of any kind to shelter them from the fierceness
522 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
of the sunbeams. Standing erect and motionless, many of them looked like
statues of black marble, rather than living hum in beings; but others, particular-
ly the women, disregarding their duty, were industriously employed in plaiting
straw, supplying the wants of their cliildren, nianufacturing mats, dressing pro-
visions, &,c. In order the more eftectually to frighten away the birds, several
of the watchers were furnished with slings and stones, in the use of which they
seem to be very skilful ; beside these, pieces of rope were fastened from the
platform to a tree at some distance, to which large calabashes were suspended,
with holes in them, through which sticks were passed, so that whenthe rope is
pulled they make aloud clattering noi.-je. The calaba^^hes are sometimes fasten-
ed whole to the rope, containing about a haadful of stones, which answer the
purpose of making a noise when put in motion, as well as the sticks. To this
is often added the hallooing and screaming of the watchers. Which is dismal
eno'igh to frighten an evil spirit, and it rarely fails to produce the desired effect.
The inhabitants of many of the numerous walled towns and open villages on
the banksof the Niger, and al-o of the islands, we find, are for the most part
Cumbrie paople — a poor, despised, abused, but industrious and hard-working
race. T^iey are but too often oppressed and persecuted by their more fortunate
and powerfiil neighbours, who affirm t'lat they are fitted by nature only for slaves,
and are therefore invariably treated by them as such.
The Cumbrie also inhabit many parts of Houssa and other countries; they
speak different languages, but they have all the same pursuits, superstitions,
amusements, and peculiar m inners, to which they firmly and scrupulously ad-
here, both in good and bad fortime, in sickness and in health, in freedom and
slavery, at home and in foreign countries, notwithstanding the scorn and derision
to which it subjects them ; and they arc known to cherish and maintain them to
the end of life, with as much pertinacity as the Hebrew does his faith and na-
tional custonis. Inheriting from their ancestors a peaceful, timid, passionless,
incurious disposition, they fall an easy prey to all who choose to molest them;
they bow their necks to the yoke of slavery without a murmur, and think it a
matter of course; and perhaps no people in the world are to be found who ar0
less susceptible of intense feeling and the finer emotions of the human mind, on
being stolen away fVom their favourite amusements and pursuits, and from the
bosom of t leir Wives and families, than these Cumbrie people, who are held in
such general dises'eem. Thousands of them reside in the kingdom of Yaoorie
and its province of iingarski ; and most of the slaves in the capital have been
taken from among them.
The tribute, or rather rent, which they pay to the sultan for the land they culti-
vate, consists of a quantity of corn, about the size of a bundle as much as a man
can carry, for every plot of land, whether it be large or small. When, however,
the harvest fails, they are at liberty to give a certain number of cowries in lieu
of the accustomed duty of corn. If ttie poor have no means of paying their
rent when it becomes due, ttie sultan immediately despatches a body of horse-
men to their villages, with a commmd to seize and carry away as many of the
people as the/ m ly think proper. It sometimes happens, however, that the sul-
tiin of Yaoorie pulls the reins of oppression with too tight a hand ; aiul ,i > cow-
ards, when driven to desperaLoa. often give specimens of extraontinarv cour-
age and resolution, so the negligent and despised Cumbrie, writhing under the
lash of injuries which they have never deserved, defend themselves with extra-
ordinary determination and bravery, and not unfrequently come oft' victorious
from the conHict. The benefit which results to them from these advantages is
an exemption from the payment of rent for two or three subsequent years.
During our residence at Yaoorie, an expedition despatched by the sultan
for the above purpose, returned unsuccessful from Engarski. The most unfa-
vourable trait in the character of the Cumbrie is the extreme dirtiness they display
in their habits generally, from wliich not one of them appears to be free. They
are generally considered good agriculturists and expert fishermen : they grow
abundance of corn and onions, but a great part of ttie former is disposed of to
the natives of Boossa and Yaoorie, to whose nionarchs they are subject. Most
of them are rather slovenly about their persons, and make use of few orn&»
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 523
Hients, and even these are of the commonest description/ They bore immense
holes in the lobe of the ear for the admission of bits of fine coloured wood ; and
the soft part of the septum of the nose is perforated in hke manner, through
which is thrust a long piece of blue glass. When the females have a mind to
appear with unusual smartness and effect, a crocodile's tooth is inserted dnough
both lips, and projects upwards as far as the nose. These useless, unbecoming,
and singular ornaments, impart to the countenance an unnatural and barbarous
expression, which is very far from agreeable, and produces an unpletisant and
painful emotion in the mind of the beholder. In our intercourse with the Cum-
bria, they appeared mild, innocent, and even amiable m their manners ; and
they behaved to us with all the civility, hospitality, and kindness of their natures,
untinctured by insincerity or lukewarmness.
The door-way to the sleeping huts of these people, to which we alluded on our
passage up the river, is the only opening they have, and is closed by a mat which
is suspended inside. They have no steps to enter by, but scramble into it aa
well as they can. The common coozie hut is ii?el by them for ordin£.r/ pur-
poses, such as cooking, &c., during the dav, but never at night. These sleep-
ing huts are about seven or eight feet wide, they are nearly circular, are made
of clay, and thatched with the palm leaf; they are elevated above the ground so
as to se Mire the inmates from the annoyance of ants, snakes, and the wet ground,
and even for protection from the alligators which prowl about at night in search
of prey. We were informed of instances where these creatures have carried
off the legs and arms of natives, who have incautiously exposed themselves to
their alticks. The huts will hold about half a dozen people. Sometimes tlie
pillars supporting the huts are walled round, but this is not often done.
The natives frequently kill the alligators by means of a heavy spear about ten
feet long. One end is furnished with a heavy piece of iron-wood to give it
force, and the other with a sharp-pointed barbed iron. It is attached to the bow
of their canoe by apiece of grass rope, which is fastened to the upper end, and
is a formidable weapon. A smaller spear of the same description is used by
these people in killing fish, in which occupation they are very expert.
As we proceeded down the Niger by a difierent channel from that by which
we had ascended it to Yaoorie, we had fresh oppcrtiunities of remarking the
more striking features on its banks. The river, as might naturally have been
expected, is niucli swollen, and its current more impetuous than when we pas- ed
up on our voyage to Yaoorie ; and many of the stones and rocks which then
annoyed us are now underwater, and completely hidden. In the earlier part of
the evening we landed at a small Cumbrie village, and our canoes were pulled
upon a sandy beach for the night in security. The thennometer has been at 95°
to-day.
Wednesday, August Ath. — The inhabitants of the village wherein we slept last
night had nothing to offer us to eat, either then or tliis morning ; but we had the
good fortune to shoot a partridge, and we had it dressed for breakfast. But it
was, like many others, a most unsavoury repast, for we had nothing to eat with
it, not even a little salt; the people of the village, as well as most of their country-
men, making use of a quantity of woodashes instead, which contains saluie par-
ticles, because salt is too expensive an article for these simple villagers to pur-
chase for their own consumption. We had every thing conveyed to the canoes
at an early hour, and at seven o'clock, A. M., we were once more upon the
Niger. The canoemen, as well as our own people, had forecast and contrivance
enough to supply themselves with a few ears of Indian corn last night, which
they thought themselves warranted to pluck from a field at no great distance
from their sleeping quarters; yet all of them complained of hunger this morning,
and left the village in a very ill-humour. To satisfy their appetites, our canoes
were pulled on shore repeatedly during the forenoon, for the men to steal some
of the corn which overhung the margin of the river. They were, however,
perceived by the more diligent of the watchers, but they did not take any mea-
sures to prevent them, because they saw that they were the sultan's servants,
■and the whole of these have the privilege of stealing as much corn from the
Cumbrie as tliey have occasion ibr. One poor man had a canoe laden with
524 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
new corn, which was pounced upon by these hungry plunderers, who com-
pelled its reluctant owner to transfer it from his canoe into their own, without
remunerating him in anywise for the loss he thus sustained. Another individual
who happened to be in a canoe was chased a considerable distance down the
river, under the impression that he had likewise corn with him, the robbers en-
deavouring to palliate their conduct by saying, that as the man paid no tribute to
the sultan, his effects were at all times liable to be seized. The man, however,
exerted all his strength, and happily succeeded in making his escape.
About noon we observed a herd of Falatah cows grazing on the banks of the
river ; and in the water a little way from them we saw an immense crocodile
floating on the surface like a long canoe, for which it was at first mistaken, and
watching an opportunity to seize one of them, and destroy it by dragging it into
the river. As soon as he ^vas perceived by the canoemen, they paddled as softly
as possible towards liiiu, inUndmg to wait at a siiort distance till the crocodile
should have accomplished his object, when they agreed to pull rapidly towards
the shore and reap the fruit of the reptile's amazing strength, by scaring him off
from his prey, or destroying him with harpoons, for the skin of a crocodile is not
considered impenetrable here. Their intentions, however, were frustrated by
the sudden disappearance of the crocodile, which dived the moment he perceived
the canoe so near him, making a loud plashing noise, and agitating the water in a
remarkable manner in his descent. We waited in vain for hini to rine again.
A very short time after this tlie canoemen landed at 11 arret, which is the most
celebrated market-town in the dependency of Engarski, and consists, of sever;U
clusters of huts encircled by a dwarf clay v/all. . The market is attended by many
thousands of people from different parts of the countiy, besides Yaoorie, Boossa,
and VVowow, yet nothing pecuhar to Engarski is exposed for sale in it; and the
cheapness at which the productions of the country are disposed of is most likely
the principal inducement for buyers to resort to Warree. Vast numbers of ca-
noes, filled with people and goods, were passing from one side of the IViger to
the other during our limited stay outside the town, and the countenances of both
buyers and sellers betrayed a very anxious and business-like expression. As
soon as our curiosity was fully satisfied, we also crossed over to the Boossa side
of the river, and landed at a small walled town called Garnicussn, which is inhab-
ited by the Cumbrie, and situated about five miles north of the citv of Boossa.
At no great distance from this place and within sight of it, all the brandies of the
Niger meet and form a beautiiul and magnificent body of water, at least seven
or eight miles in width; audit is \xu\y ii-tonishing what becomes of it, for at
Boossa t'.Hi river is not more than astoacs throw across, and its depth is in pro-
portion to its narrowness. But about an hour's walk from thence it again be-
comes a noble river, and maintains its width, it is said, even to Funda. This
singular fact favours the opinion, that a large portion of tlie waters of the Niger
is conveyed by subterraneous passages from the town of Garnicassa to a few
miles below Boossa.
Shortly after our arrival, when we were mtiking some allusion to the river to
one of die inhabitjuiis, a Ealatah hearing us came forward and made the extraor-
dinary assertion, that instead of running to Funda, it took a turn to the east-
ward, and disembogued itself into the lake Tshad in Bornou. But tiieories
respecting the Niger are ev.en more various and contrary in this country than tiie
hypotheses of the learned of Europe on the subject. Scarcely two people are
to be Ibund that agree in tlie same opinion, and their supposifions are not con-
fined to the course and termination, hut iru !u(l(> al.o the souici' of tliis uivste-
rious river; yet, with all their talk, it is easy to pcKrivr that the natives are all
entirely ignorant of the matter.
The earlier part of , the evening, after our arrival at d'aniicassa. was calm,
serene, and delightful ; and the sih ery moon shone with unusual resplendence.
It was a favourable time ibr the inhabitants of the town to enjoy themselves ,
and accordingly they were thus employed in good earnest. Singing, dancing,
and nmsic-playing are the only divertisements with which the generality of the
Cumbrie are acquainted ; and though this people are even more despised than
llifi slothful Hottentots of the southern part of the continent, — though their rights
RICHARD AND JOIIX LANDER. 525
are unheeded and their liberties abused, yet these considerations do not seem to
impress them with gloomy reflections ; and they trifle away their leisure hours
in play, with as much zest and thoughtless jollity as though they were the most
favoured people in the world.
A sudden and confused noise of merriment awoke me from a pleasing kind
of revery in which I was indulging in the moonshine. I went out, instantly to as-
certain the cause of such obstreperous mirth, and discovered a number of young
girls, and married women with children on their backs, dancing, singing, romp-
ing, and clapping their hands, after the manner of the country ; and a group of
their male relatives standing beside them as judges and spectators of their pro-
ceedings. A female would spring suddenly from amid her companions, and
after skipping and dancing with great animation till she became quite exhausted,
would fall backwards into the arms of her associates, who, anxiously watching
her movements, had put themselves into a suitable attitude to receive her. An-
other would then supply her place, and then another, till all the festive party had
danced in turn ; and this anmsement was kept up with so much spirit, that
screams of laughter and other violent tokens of delight continued as long as it
lasted. The dance (if it deserves the name) commenced with the whole of the
females, married and single. They first formed themselves into a circle, holding
fast of each other's arms, and then they moved round very slowly without lifting
their feet from the ground. This exercise seemed to have occasioned them
much exertion and difhculty, if we might be allowed to judge from the violent
and peculiar manner in which they shook and twisted their bodies, as well as
from the failure of several of the younger girls, who were obliged to quit the
ring almost as soon as it was formed. This slowness of motion was gradually
succeeded by a sprightlier movement, till they ran round so swiftly, that the
circle was suddenly broken, and many of the women were thrown with violence
to the ground. The singing, or rather screaming, and clapping of hands, to-
gether with other noises, more vociferous and wild than these, were continued
till the approach of morning, when a heavy shower drove every one home. No-
thing, perhaps, in this country is more capable of producing a wild, romantic,
and pleasing etlect than such a spectacle as this, and at such a time. In front of
us lay the celebrated Niger, reflecting from its unruffled surface the splendid
canopy over our heads, with the radiant clouds of departing day. On each side
of the river Nature had scattered with a lavish hand the most lovely of her gifls ;
and verdant trees cast their tall shadows on the water. Almost close to the place
where we stood was a circle of naked savage women, all black as a coal, who
were performing the oddest antics imaginable ; and still nearer stood a wild-
looking group of their male companions, resting on their tall spears and partici-
pating in the frolic with all their hearts. A three-cornered rush or straw hat,
having a high peak, but without a brim, was the only article of dress worn by
these men. Altogether, as we have already said, the scene was such as to fill the
mind with the highest gratification and delight. To us it was irresistibly charm-
ing, and we contemplated it a long time with emotions of the most pleasing
description.
Thursday, August Zth. — ^It rained incessantly till between eleven and twelve
oclock in the forenoon, when the sun made his appearance at intervals, and the
weather became fine, which we promptly availed ourselves of, in pursuing our
journey along the banks of the Niger to Boossa The path was filled with water,
and broken up by the force of the rains. After an hour's ride we drew near to
the walls of the city, and soon arrived at the drummer's house, which had been
our former residence. Here we found the midiki on her knees to receive and
welcome us back again to Boossa in the name of the king. But we were not
permitted to enter and take possession of our old apartments, for the queen con-
ducted us to other huts, which form part of a cluster inhabited by Falatahs, and
emigrants of both sexes from Yarriba and Nouthe, who are mostly slaves to the
king. A quantity of milk and large calabashes of rice and fish, stewed in palm
oil, were sent us a few minutes after our arrival ; and in the evening we were
visited by the monarch, who said he had been apprehensive that we required a
little repose and quietness after our journey, and therefore he did not like to in-
45
526 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
trude onus before. He expressed the pleasure he felt on seeing us again, and
welcomed us with the utmost cordiaHty. The midiki, who had accompanied
him to our house, paid us a siniilar compliment. It has been told us that the
drummer's wife had excited the envy of the queen by wearing round her neck a
smart gilt button which we had given her; and that this is tiie only reason that
we are not allowed to occupy our former lodgings in her house. Yet, to be
even with her /air rival, the queen had extracted from her little sheepskin box,
wherein they had been confined for a quarter of a century, a small number of
round and flat golden ornaments, with which she has adorned her sable bosom,
and thereby totally eclipsed the transitory splendour of the button belonging to
the drummer's wife.
On our arrival at Boossa, the face and hands of my brother and self were much
swollen and highly inflamed by exposure to the sun, and this circumstance, simple
as it was, excited the queen's sympathy almost to tears.
Friday, August Gth. — In a conversation with the king this morning, he inti-
mated that it would be necessary for us to visit Wowow, previous to our going
to Funda, because the prince of that state, he said had already n)ade war on
Kiama on our account, and captured a few of its people. The king had been
induced, from the representations of the midiki, who is sister to the chief of
Wowow, to urge our taking this step ; and as we dare not raise objections, we
have promised to go thither in a day or two, although we are well aware that the
little present we shall be necessitated to offer him will by no means answer his
expectations. The king has himself repeated to us the promise which he made
to our man, of furnishing us with a canoe sufficiently large to contain the whole
of our people and ourselves, and whatever goods we may have left ; and in order
to bind him to his word, we have given him our tent and the horse which was
lately his own ; so that deprived of these, we shall not have the means of travelling
on land, and shall therefore of necessity be obliged to proceed by water. To
the queen also, whose influence over the mind and actions of her husband is im-
bounded, we have made a present much greater than our means warranted,
with which she is more than pleased. We have further endeavoured to win her
favour by kindness, compliment, and flattery ; and these means are the most
powerful and effective in the world. The simple-hearted females of this country
are quite unable to resist them. Thus far every thing is favourable to our en-
terprise, yet doubts sometimes arise in our minds ; and should a canoe be denied
us after all that the monarch of this place has said, we are determined, when the
time draws near for our departure, to take a canoe of our own accord, and steal
away from Boossa by night. " Falatahs," said the king to-day with much seri-
ousness, " reside on each side of the river in considerable numbers, and I begin
to fear iJiat they will endanger your personal safety." " But," answers Pascoe,
our interpreter, "Englishmen are gods of the waters, and no evil can befall them
in boats, even though all Africa, or the whole world, should fight against them."
"I will, however," said the king in reply, "go down and ask the hecken rouah
(dark or black water, which the JNiger is everywhere emphatically styled)
whether it will be prudent and safe for the white men to embark on it or not,
and I will be sure to acquaint you and them of my success, be it good or bad."
To-morrow morning, we understand, he intends making this singular experi-
ment; and we only hope that the Niger may return him a favourable answer to
his question.
To-day, when we ascertained that it was the actual intention of the king to
supply us with a canoe, we thought proper to present him, in the name of our
sovereign, with one of those beautiful silver medals which were cast during the
American war, for the purpose of distributing among those Indian chiefs who
were favourable to the English interests. A large and valuable chain of the same
metal was attached to it, and nothing which we had previously given the king
seemed to have pleased him so much as this medal and chain ; he regarded it
indeed with childish admiration. We assiired him that he might now consider
himself as the King of England's most particular friend, and that he could not
offer a more grateful return, than by favouring and assisting us in our plan of
journeying to the salt-water by way of the Niger.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 527
Saturday, August 7th. — ^Just after we had arisen this morning, the king came
to us with joy beaming in his countenance, and quickly informed us that, accord-
ing to his promise, he had been down to the Niger, with his mallam or priest, and
that the result of his visit was highly favourable to oar wishes as well as his own;
" the river having promised to conduct us in safety to its termination." One
of our greatest apprehensions is by this means removed.
At length, all things being ready, our travellers departed for Wowow, and the
next day arrived at that city. On entering it, they immediately galloped swiftly
towards the king's residence, and fired off a couple of pistols as a signal of their
arrival. The king, they say, presently came out to see us ; but as the messenger
from Boossa was not at hand, and as it is the custom never to enter into any
kind of conversation without him, the old chief awaited his coming with much
patience for more than half an hour, nor could we approach him during that
time. Indeed, no foreigner is permitted to do so, whatever may be his rank,
unless in presence of the representative of the chief from whom he last came.
A number of well dressed mallams walked before the king on his coming out,
and a man bearing on his shoulder a heavy sword came after them; and last of all
followed along train of his wives and children, who squatted themselves on the
ground, and filled up the doorway. In the wall on each side of the entrance
of the town is a large niche, in one of which the king stood fixed and motionless,
wiih his h:m:ls clasped under his tobe au:l supported on his bosom ; and
round a pole which had been placed erect in the other niche, a naked youth had
entwined his legs, remaining in breathless anxiety to be a spectator of the ap-
proaching interview. No two human beings ever bore a more striking resem-
blance to statues than these; the deception was indeed complete. For ourselves,
we had sent our horses to graze, and sat about a dozen paces from the doorway,
under a large tree ; — the mallams were sprawling on the earth between the king
and us; and at a respectful distance on each side, groups "of the inhabitants had
assembled to gratify their curiosity.
While the king remained in the above position, without moving a single
muscle, and which lasted till our messenger had made his appearance, a singing-
woman drew near the person of her sovereign, und began to exercise her voca-
tion in a tone of voice that displayed any thing but sweetness and melody, and
so loud" and shrill as to frighten away the birds from the trees near the spot.
After this salutation, she fell on her knees, and repeatedly threw handfuls of
earth over her left shoulder down her back. The Boossa messenger who had
been so anxiously expected at length arrived, and the spell which had bound
every one to the spot was dissolved in a moment. We were then conducted to
tlie king, and formally introduced to him ; but the grave, eccentric old man
shoolc hands with us without taking them from the tobe in which they had been
enveloped, or even condescending to look in our faces, for he never makes it a
practice to raise his head above a certain height ; fearing he may discover the
person with whom he may be conversing, gazing full in his countenance, to
which he has a very strange but unconquerable antipathy. The interview
lasted but a moment, and we were hastily conducted to the house which was
occupied by the late Captain Clapperton; and here we were soon visited by a
number of the principal people of the city. In the course of the morning we
received a quantity of eggs, milk, yams, and a fat sheep, as a present from the
king.
Our travellers remained at Wowow until the 20th of August. The incidents
which occurred during their sojourn there were very similar to those already
related as having taken place at other African courts. The Mohammedan Sab-
bath was celebrated, as is usual, by public recreations and festivities, and follow-
ed by the customary horse-race. The race was commenced by eight or ten
ponies, as handsome as they were swift, and the competition between them was
most spirited. After the contest between them had been concluded, the king
made his appearance at the lower end of tlie course, riding slowly towards the
starting place, preceded by singing and dancing women, who bawled and caper-
ed before him. The horses were chiefly rode by little boys, one of whom was
the king's son: when they galloped past their sovereign they invariably defied
528 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
their caps as a mark of respect. As soon as the race was over the king returned
to his residence, and his example was presently followed by the prince and the
other part of his household. But all these were obliged to return by a different
path, because it is against the rules of etiquette for any one of the natives to at-
tend the footsteps of his sovereign on the celebration of any public amusement.
The king received his present with great satisfaction, although he sent a mes-
senger to tiie travellers after its reception to inquire if they had not brought any
coral beads with them from England. The present consisted of two pair of
silver bracelets, apiece of coarse muslin, sufficient for a couple of turbans, a to-
bacco pipe, two razors, a new gilt button, two small and inferior looking-glasses,
a clasp knife, a pair of scissors, and two combs.
The king expressed great satisfaction that the travellers visited him, because
he said it would convince his neighbours that the white men neither disliked nor
despised him. "lam now infinitely happy," said he to them, "for surely I
could not have left the world in peace if you had departed from the country
without having visited the old king of Wowow." Guns were fired off in hon-
our of their arrival ; and the king and his wives, elated with joy, passed the day
in dancing, laughing, and singing. The king informed the travellers that he
would sell them a canoe, and assured them that he was convinced tliat they
would return in safety to their own coimtry by way of the Niger, wiiich, he said,
did not contain a single rock from Jnguazhilligee to Funda.
The following extracts from the journal of the Landers, containing some ac-
couzitof the religion, customs, and condition of the kingdom of Wowow, may
not be uninteresting to the readers of this book^ — The religion is nominally Ma-
hometan ; but still much deference is paid to the ancient religion of the country.
The travellers say :
This day a long and gay procession, formed by the female followers of the an-
cient religion of the country, passed through the town, walking and dancing
alternately, with large spreading branches of trees in their hands. The priestess,
at the time we saw her, had just swallowed fetish-water, and was carried on the
shoulders of one of the devotees, who was assisted by two female companions,
supporting the trembling hands and arms of their mistress. Ker body was con-
vulsed all over, and her features shockingly distorted, while she stared wildly
and vacandy on the troop of enthusiasts and other objects which surrounded
her. The priestess was then believed to be possessed with a denion ; indeed, to
us they all appeared to be so, for not one of them seemed in their sober senses,
so indiscribably fantastic were their actions, and so unseemly did they deport
themselves. A younger woman was hkewise borne on the shoulders of a friend,
and carried along in the same manner as her mistress ; but she was by no means
so uncouth a figure, nor was her agitation so great as that of the priestess, by
whom she was preceded. The whole of the women forming this strange pro-
cession might amount to between ninety and a hundred ; they were clad in tlieir
"holyday best;" their motions were regulated at times by the sound of drums
and fifes, and to this music they joined their wild shrill voices. They were
arranged in couples, and with the branches of trees shaking in tlie air, presented
one of the most extraordinary and grotesque spectacles that the human mind can
conceive.
The King of Wowow is making new roads, and repairing and widening old
ones leading to and from the city. This is the only insttuice we have yet seen
wherein even the slightest attention has been paid by a chief to the state of the
public pathway, during the whole of the journey from Badagry to Yaoorie ; and
the reason urged by the ruler of this place for undertaking the business is some-
what singular, though shrewd and just " If," says he, " an enemy were to
come towards my gates with a hostile intention, and find the roads broken up or
overgrown with weeds, would they not say among themselves, * Oh, tliis King
of Wowow is a careless, slothful, cowardly governor; his town contains but few
inhabitants, for see, the path is green and untrodden by Imman feet ; let us go
and attack it, ior it will eiv-sily fall into our hands /' But," he continued, " should
they find it of convenient width, smooth, and iree from grass, they would imme-
diiitely say, 'Tliis road is trodden by tlie feet of many people ; tlie town must
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 529
be populous, strong, and flourishing, and its monarch watchful and brave ; if we
venture to make an assault, we foresee that we shall be overpowered and slain ;
it is better for us all to turn back while we are yet undiscovered and unharmed,
lest some evil fall upon us when it is too late to retreat.'"
Thus the talkative old king argues with his people, that they may throw off
that laziness which is natural to them, and be animated to industry and labour in
the common cause.
A greater quantity of yams is cultivated in the vicinity of Wowow than is
grown in all the other principalities of Borgoo put together. It is a common
question on the path when the natives meet a stranger, '* What! are you going
to Wowow to eat yams ?" And the King of Boossa jocosely observed to us in
parting, "That after we had tasted the yams of his relative, he was apprehensive
we should be inclined to remain a longer period in Wowow than he had pro-
posed, for that they were a powerful inducement."
Rice and corn are also cultivated to an unlimited extent here, and two species
of beans, so that the necessaries of life are very plentiful and cheap. Reaping
lias commenced, and the wet season, it is said, is nearly over. As in most otlier
places, indigo and cotton are yearly produced at Wowow in abundance.
Sunday, August 16th. — Yesterday and this morning I was seized with giddi-
ness of the head and other symptoms, which are the usual precursors of a fever
in this country. We had left oiir medicine-chest»behind at Boossa, and as I was
apprehensive that I should be laid up in this city, if I remained in it longer, my
brother agreed with me in opinion, that it would be advisable for me to return
without delay to Boossa, and leave him here to settle the business respecting the
canoe, &c. I therefore got on horseback as soon as the vertigo had passed
away, and without stopping to bid adieu to the king, immediately departed on
my journey with two attendants. My brother furnished me afterwards with the
following account of the events which fell under his own observation during the
time we were absent from each other.
'* A very few minutes after my brother had departed from Wowow, the prince
sent me a young bullock and a number of yams ; and his brother likewise pre-
sented me with a quantity of milk, rice, and a fatted goat.
" About mid-day the female worshippers of the ancient gods, who have already-
been alluded to, performed a second mystical ceremony, which is enjoined by
their religion, and afterward paraded the streets in the same order as on the
fonner occasion. When it was over and the procession had dispersed, without
intimating their intention, several of them paid me a visit attended by musicians
with drums, flutes, and guitars, and a great number of little boys and girls. I
was sitting in ashed outside our hut at the time, with a sheet spread betbre me
to keep otF the eyes of the curious; and when it was pulled up by the priestess
herself, who was fantastically dressed in man's apparel, and when, with her large
rolling eyes, and phrensied countenance and manner, she performed her antics
before me, uttering at the same time a piercing yell, more dismal than a dog's at
midnight, I started and shuddered a moment, for I was quite unprepared to wit-
ness such an object. But the poor enthusiast had no evil intention, for she fell
down on her knees, gazed at me with tears in her eyes, and with a look of tender-
ness, held out her hand as a token of friendship, blessed me, and then arose and
went out to make room for her principal attendants, who shrieked like her, and
offered their hands in the same manner. Our Boossa messenger, and other in-
dividuals, who had come in before this most singular method of salutation was
ended, subsequently received the benediction of the devotees, which was bestow-
ed on them by the elder of the females. The method of doing it was novel and
peculiar ; in the first place, the man was placed in a stooping position, the female
then twisted his left arm, and pulled it over the back with all her might ; it was
then let go, to the great relief of the man ; and she placed both her hands on his
.shoulders, which she pressed down with great energy, muttering between her
teeth during the time the blessing which he had sought ; but this was so inaudible
that it could not be understood. It was not the woman, said the bystanders, but
a spirit within her that spoke, and that influenced her and her companions in all
45*
530 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
their actioiiB, So the people went away confirmed in this belief, and quite
happy.
" The religion which these enthusiasts profess, and which was not long since
the prevailing religion of the country, is still held in great reverence here ; so
much so indeed, that the king's daughters were early initiated into its mysteries,
and invariably attend the celebration of all its superstitious rites and ordinances;
in fact, the priestess herself is one of them. Their parent also is still favourable
towards the religion of his fathers, which is blended with Arab fables and tradi-
tions, (for the Mohammedan creed in its purity is unknown here,) and these
form the foundation and superstructure of his fahh.
'* The priestess and her followers believe in the existence of a God, and a
heaven wherein he resides ; that this glorious and almighty Being superintends
the destinies of man in this life, and in a future one rewards or punishes him
according to his deserts. Yet of a hell, or a place of eternal torment, tliey have
no idea whatever. The souls of good men, say they, are translated into a
tranquil, happy, and beautiful region, wherein but one monkey is permitted to
reside, and wherein they reside for ever ; whereas the wicked, before they can
be allowed to participate in so much (ielicity and enjoyment, are forced to en-
dure sorrow, pain, and punishment : — a variety of tortures are in store for them,
such as scourging and beathig, till it is considered sufficient punishment has been
inflicted for their misdeeds, whwi they are exalted to a happier state of being.
" Others, who waver between the Mohammedan religion and the ancient
faith, believe that at the end of the world a voice will sound from heaven to in-
vite all black men to the world of bliss, but that these will be too much uncon-
cerned and too lazy to embrace the offer ; a second voice will then proclaim the
same invitation to white men, who will spring up with alacrity and transport, and
enter the celestial regions before them, with books in their hands. They pro-
fess to believe also, that two men were originally created, one black and the
other white, from whom the whole world is descended.
" The professors of the ancient superstition sacrifice a bullock, a sheep, or a
black goat to their divinities, but they shudder at the very idea of a human offer-
ing. Instead of agreeing with us that the world will be destroyed by fire, they
suppose that its Divine Alaker will roll it up hke a parchment scroll, and put it
aside for a future occasion.
" It is somewhat remarkable that in Haussa they have a tradition that the name
of our gi-eat forefather was Adam (pronounced exactly in the same manner as
we pronounce the word.) Da Adam, in the same language, signifies an object
when observed indistinctly at a distance, bearing the least resemblance to a man.
The mother of the human race is called Avieenatoo in Haussa.
The more respectable classes of society in Wo wow and Boossa, after their
decease, are buried in the yard of the house in which they resided when alive;
while the people in the common walks of life are interred in a spot of ground
selected for the purpose in a thick wood, which is at some distance from the city,
and answering to our own places of burial. The friends of the former, as soon
as they are made acquainted with his dissolution, resort to his house, and make
lamentation for him for the space of seven days, wearing during tliat period their
very worst apparel. But the relatives of a poor man attend his remains to the
burying ground, and abide in the wood till their grief is assuaged and the time
of mourning expired.
" Marriage among free people is exceedingly simple, and is attended with
little mirth or festive recreation of any kind. The intended husband is allowed
to liavG nothing to do in the afl'uir, though it concerns him so nearly, and the pa-
rents of the girl are equally out of the question. When the parties become
attached to each other, the female goes immediately to acquaint hex grand motlier
of tlic circumstance, and coaxes the old woman to give her consent for her to
live henceforward with her suitor, for she alone has the power of giving the
maiden away. If it happens, however that she has no grandmother, the girl is
at liberty to act as she pleases. Several days are always allowed for the old wo-
man to rellect and ponder over the whole matter in her mind ; and this interval
is generally embraced by the man in making her trifling presents, and doing hejc
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 531
Other little acts of kindness, in the hope of gaining her over to his interests.
When a free man forms an affection for a female who is a slave, and he has
money sufficient for the purpose, he goes to her master, whoever he may be,
unbosoms his mind to him, and informs him of his intention of taking the woman
to wife, if he will give him permission. Should the owner of the girl approve
of the connexion, the suitor pays him twenty thousand cowries for his consent to
the match, though a smaller sum is oftentimes offered and accepted ; and the ob-
ject of his affections from that time becomes his spouse. Yet the children which
she may bear him cannot be retained by the father, but are considered the ex-
clusive property of the wife's master, who lays claim to them and takes them
away as soon as they are able to run about. Nor does the marriage ceremony
break the bonds of the woman's slavery, for she is liable to be called upon when-
ever the master thinks proper, when she is obliged to serve him in the same
manner as if she had remained in a single state. The union of slaves among
each other depends entirely upon the will and pleasure of their owners.
" A man is at liberty to return his wife to her parents at any time, and without
adducing any reason for his dislike and dissatisfaction. When this is his inten-
tion, he treats his spouse with disrespect and unkindness, which she soon under-
stands the meaning of, and of her own accord she goes back to her friends, and
tells them of what has occurred. These subsequently repair in a body to the
husband's house, and question him in a formal manner whether it is his desire
that his wife should continue to abide with them. If so, the connexion is forth-
with dissolved, and she is again considered in the hght of an unmarried woman.
The children (if any) the mother is by no means permitted to take along with
her, but they are left behind with their father, who delivers them over to the care
of his other women.
" The King of Wowow daily inquires after my health, and sends me a quan-
tity of yams, milk, and eggs, every morning. Although this old chief has receiv-
ed a present infinitely smaller than we have given any other ruler, yet his treat-
ment of us has been more generous than that of all of them together. His
brother, also, and one or two other respectable individuals, have been equally
kind, and have endeavoured all in their power to render our stay among them
perfectly agreeable. They expect notliing in return for their hospitality, for we
have nothing but a few needles to offer them, and we have told them so again
and again ; nevertheless, their attention and kindness do not diminish,
" Tuesday, August 17th. — I was taken extremely unwell this morning with an
indiscribable and very unpleasant sensation in the head, v/hich made me so life-
less and stupid that 1 could scarcely keep my eyes open lor the remainder of the
day, and obliged me to lie on my mat till evening, where I dozed away the hours
more uncomfortably than I can describe. It is very remarkable that hitherto in
the evening preceding the day on which we have been taken ill we have ever
been surprisingly brisk and hvely , with an unnatural flow of spirits ; and we are
so well aware of this that we always anticipate what is sure to follow, when we
find ourselves in this merry mood, namely, an attack of illness on the ensuing
morning.
*' The messenger sent by the king to procure us a canoe is not yet returned
from Inguazhilhgee ; another was despatched after him yesterday, and this
morning a third, it is said, has left the town on the same errand ; so at least peo-
ple have informed us. The object of the first of these men is not confined to
his visiting the ferry ; but if he could not meet with a canoe to his satisfaction
there, he has been desired to proceed farther down the Q,uorra until he should
see one that should answer our purpose. He is also to examine and report the
appearance of a reef, of rocks like that at Boossa, which runs across the river below
InguaTkiUigee, and collect monies and duties owing to his master. It is therefore
not much to be wondered at that he is not yet returned to Wowow, In the eve-
ning one of our men arrived from my brother at Boossa; he informed me by
letter of his convalescence, and of his intention of returning to this city yesterday,
which however had been frustrated by desire of the king. The letter stated
further that the midiki would settle with her brother, the prince of Wowow, for
the canoe which he has promised to sell us ; and therefore that I was at liberty to
532 aiCHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
take my leave of him whenever I might think proper. Also in the evening I re-
ceived an intimation from the king to remain in the city till his messenger, who
is hourly expected, shall have returned from the banks of the Niger. Indeed it
is more than unlikely, if my present indisposition continue, that I shall be able
to undergo the fatigues of a journey to Boossa, for a day or two at least ; so that
this restraint of the king I shall scarcely feel." ,
At Wowow our travellers gained further intelligence in regard to the books
and papers of Mr. Park, but were not able to recover any thing of value. It ap-
peared that one of the inhabitants had picked up in the Niger several books, at
the period of Mr. Park's death, and that he kept them carefully concealed till the
arrival of Captain Clapperton at Wowow, when, finding that that officer made
no inquiry for such books, he neglected to pay any further attention to them,
and to use his own words, " they dropped or fell to pieces." A young man by
the name of Abba with whom the travellers became acquainted at Wowow, in-
formed them, that the late king of Wowow, father to the then king, became pos-
sessed of much of Mr. Park's property, among which was a great quantity of
guns and ammunition, particularly, musket balls, which they saw. Before this
monarch's dissolution he left them to be divided among his sons, and our travel-
lers were able to recover notliing but a large pillow or cushion, containing an
old Arabic manuscript.
August 20th, John Lander bid farewell to the king of Wowow, and returned
to join his brother, who it will be recollected, had gone to Boossa. On his
journey thither, which required about two days, he encamped at night at a little
village, whose inhabitants entertained the most frightful notions of the character
of white men.
" In the evening, when the sun was going down, and when the birds, recover-
ing from the sultry heat of the day, had begun to warble in the coolness of eve-
ning, the elders of the village assembled under the spreading branches of a noble
tree to spend an hour or two in familiar chat, in pursuance of their common
practice. To promote their cheerfulness and assist their conversation, large
calabashes of strong home-brewed beer were placed by the side of them. Hav-
ing swallowed two or three large draughts, the old men drew close to each other,
and the venerable chronicler olthe hamlet, in an under tone, started a conversa-
tion respecting their guest, the fearful white man of the west; and various and
horrible were the conjectures of each on the cannibalism of his countrymen ;
their mysterious supernatural powers, and tlieir partiality for the blood of black
men in particular. Their conversation became more serious as the beer began
to operate on the old men, and as the dusk of evening came on they drew still
closer together ; their legs, which had before been stretched out carelessly and
comfortably at full length on the ground, were now gathered up under them ;
and every now and then they ventnred to look back over their shoulders to steal
a glance at me, for I wa.s not far off, but tliis only seemed to inspire them with
greater fear than before. The younger natives were about this time returning
to the village from their usual occupations by the river-side and in the fields, and
they stopped to join the company of the old men. The latter were almost na-
ked, and the young men and girls were perfectly so, as well as the children of
both sexes which had been attracted to the party, and stood listening to the tales
of horror which were related. One of our men had been sitting all the wliile
with them, partaking of their beer, and had been silent till he conceived it almost
time to retire, when he endeavoured to undeceive them in regard to their opin-
ion of the unnatural propensities of while men, and to overilnow all the visions
of bloody adventures which they had imbibed in their infancy, and cherished in
their old age, and which had this evening been strengthened almost to realities
by my presence, assisted by the effects of the beer they had drunk. But their
love for the marvellous could not so easily be eradicated fronj their minds, and
they turned a deaf ear to his remarks. The children shunned my hut as if it
contained a serpent or a scorpion, and one or two of them that met me by acci-
dent, started, then looked anxiously, eagerly, and entreatingly at me for a mo-
Bieut^as if overcome by. terror, and then shrieked aloud and ran away."
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 533
At Boossa it was our travellers intention to embark again on the Niger, and
explore that river with a view of finally settling the question of its entrance to
the ocean. To aid ihe travellers in this enterprise, the midiki or queen of Boossa
had undertaken to purchase a canoe of her brother, the king of Wowow, and
now the king of Boossa, despatched a messenger to visit all the towns and villa-
ges on the Nouffie side of the Quorra, or Niger, as far as the Falaiah town of
Rabba, and to request their chiefs and governors, in the name of the King of
Boossa, to suffer them to pass down the river without inquiry or molestation.
It was, therefore, necessary to wait at Boossa until these objects should have
been accomplished. During the time of this detention, another Mohammedan
festival occurred, celebrated with greater pomp and ceremony, and joyous fes-
tivity than even any of the former already described. After races with which
these festivals always end, were concluded, the people, both strangers and in-
habitants, collected together before the king's house, for the purpose of hearing
an oration from their monarch ; for, in pursuance of an ancient and established
practice, the King of Boossa annually harangues his people on the celebration
of this festival. The sovereign is at least a head taller than any of his subjects,
so that he was a remarkable and conspicuous object to every one of his audience.
If such a comparison may be ventured on, the commencement of his speech
was in its nature not unhke that delivered on the opening of parliament by his
majesty of England. The King of Boossa began by assuring his people of the
internal tranquillity of the empire, and of the friendly disposition of foreign
powers towards him. He then exhorted his hearers to attend to the cultivation
of the soil, to work diligently, and live temperately; and concluded with an in-
junction for them all to be abstemious in the use of beer. He declared that too
much indulgence in it was the source of much evil and wretchedness, and the
cause of most of the quarrels and disturbances that had taken place in the city.
" Go ; retire to rest soberly and cheerfully," said the king, "and do as I have re-
quested you, when you will be an example to your neighbours, and win the
good opinion and applause of mankind." The king's speech lasted for three
quarters of an hour. He spoke vehemently and with much eloquence ; his
language was forcible and impressive, and his action appropriate and com-
manding ; and he dismissed the assembly with a graceful and noble air. Instead
of a sceptre, the monarch flourished a hon's tail.
The day after the races wfis devoted almost exclusively to dancing and singing
and other trifling diversions which are more generally relished by people of all
ranks, and of both sexes. At an early hour in the morning, the people of the
city, with musicians in their train, assembled in large groups, and continued
parading the streets all day, an J singing and dancing were kept up without in-
termission till four o'clock in the afternoon. Nothing could surpass the hilarity
and general good-humour which prevailed among the people during the day.
The features of every one were animated with joy. Theirs was no ordinary
mirth ; for being naturally of a warm-hearted, sanguine disposition, they entered
into the sports of the day with a fervency which displayed itself in all manner of
extraordinary tricks, gestures, and movements. iThis was a holy-day for all,
from the king to the meanest of his Subjects. The old seemed to have forgotten
their weight of years, the young knew no restraint, and those who before had
talked of love in secret, now openly exchanged with each other
" Quips and cranks, and wanton wiles,
Nods and becks, and wreathed smiles."
A short relaxation from this tumultuous pastime was now obtained by some in
making preparations for joining the king's party, which was fast collecting at his
house. Such diversions as theirs, so highly exciting and gratifying, are never-
theless wearisome to the strongest frame, and in this sultry climate nmst be par-
ticularly so to them. When they had all assembled, they presented a sirlgularly
grotesque and striking appearance. A cluster of between sixty and seventy
Falatahs, men, women, and children, were some standing and some sitting in
front of Uie doorway leading to the interior apartments. Their dresses were re-
534 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
markably clean, neat, varied, and becoming; the long black hair of the wonieil
was ingeniously and prettily braided, and confined in nets and caps ; and their
flowing garments of striped cotton swept along the ground : the men wore red
caps, loose white tobes, and full trousers ; and their little children were pleasing-
ly clad, and decorated with all the finery and ornaments which their parents had
been able to bestow on them. These well-looking Falatahs formed the most in-
teresting and agreeable assemblage of the whole ; they had likewise more viva-
city in their lopks, and more quickness of action, than any of their companions.
To the right of them, in an enclosure of mud, was seated the Q,ueen of Boossa,
dressed loosely, though not inelegantly, in rich English silks, as spectatress of the
amusements ; behind her were the king's other wives, and her own female
slaves, who were pretty numerous. They formed also a cleanly, decent group,
inferior only to the former. On each side of the Falatahs and behind them was
a great number of other spectators, of all ranks, many of whom were standing,
and many sitting on the turf and reclining against the trunks of trees. Most of
the men were clad in the Mohammedan costume, with cap, tobe, and trousers;
and the majority of the women were dressed in neat and durable country-clothf,
which were carelessly thrown over the left shoulder, and reached to the ground,
leaving the right arm and shoulder, and part ofthe right leg, uncovered. A few
among them, however, wore common Manchester cottons, of a large, showy,
and vulgar pattern, which were infinitely surpassed by their own country cloth.
Although the king had not made his appearance, the amusements were carri-
ed on with much animation ; and the dancers, far from being tired, seemed to
imbibe fresh vigour and renewed activity; while the drummers, eight in num-
ber, with a fifer as an assistant, continued playing to them. A man first started
from the crowd with a bundle of rushes in his hand, like a German broom,
which he flourished over his head with inconceivable dexterity. After dancing
awhile, he was joined by two Falatah women, who imitated his actions, and par-
took of his glee. One of them held a little girl by the hand ; and the whole four
individuals, man, women, and child, continued the dancing till they were com-
pletely fatigued, when they were succeeded by another party of three or four,
and then another in like manner, so that there was not a moment's pause in the
dance at any time. They kept good lime with the music and singing. But in-
.stead of the quick, lively motion which is generally observed on similar occa-
sions, the dancers moved with a slow and measured step, in which there was
nothing unbecoming or improper, and all seemed consistent with the rules of
delicacy. For want of a proper fan, the females used neat round mats of vari-
ous colours; and itaflforded us no httle entertainment to see them placed hefor©
the mouth whenever they wished to hide their faces, or attempt to conceal their
laughter.
Meanwhile the king was expected by every one with much anxiety and im-
patience, for as yet he had not been present to witness the diversions of his
people ; and it was not till past four in the afternoon that he showed himself
from one of his huts. His arrival was welcomed by a spirited rally upon the
drums, while he took his seat on a stool between the queen's station and the
group of Falatahs, and perceiving us among the crowd, he invited us to place
ourselves near his person. Several attendants who had Ibllovved their master
stood on each side of him, forming, if it may so be called, a " guard of honour." i
One of these men held two large bundles of spears, whose points or barbs were |
confined in caps of burnished brass, on which he rested his head with much so-
lemnity, and with a slight inclination of the body ; while from his temples was
suspended a huge and enormous hat, made either of grass or rushes, which
reached to the ground, and covered him like a shield. Others held loose bun-
dles of spears, fans, and arrows, with the two prodigious Arab trumpets which
have belbre been casually alluded to. Thus attended, the king entered into the
spirit ofthe performances with a merry heart, and a determination to be pleased
with them. He appeared to be by far the n)ost delighted spectator ofthe whole,
and signified his approbation by encouraging words and glances to those who
danced or sung to his satisfaction. A cheerful smile animated his countenance
during the whole time, and caused his features to assume an expression of good>
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 535
humour which it is a particular custom in him never to display so fully except
on occasions of public festivity and enjoyment, though he is one of the pleasant-
est and best-tempered men that we have met with in Africa.
There was an elderly female who danced alone before the king, and by the
peculiarity of her looks, and her ludicrous and uncommon gestures, afforded us
very great amusement. This woman is a tall, awkward, masculine, and un-
comely figure ; yet she endeavoured to look so serious, at the same time with so
arch a countenance, and with a half-averted glance smiled with so much artful-
ness and loving-kindness on her sovereign and his attendants, dancing at the
same time with such an extraordinary motion of her person, that she obtained
universal applause. This was a fair challenge to the king ; and as soon as she
had finished, the monarch himself arose and stepped into the ring to display his
acquirements in the art. Every one stood on his legs, out of respect to their
sovereign, as well to applaud his dancing as to obtain a fairer opportunity of
beholding' his person ; and a great press was made by the crowd in consequence,
that they might gain a better view of him. The king moved with much stiftness
and stateliness, which is at all times unbecoming in a dance ; but the populace
expressed their admiration of his abilities in shouts of joy, and certainly his at-
tempts to please and amuse them deserved the full extent of applause. To us,
however, it does nut appear that Nature, which has been so bountiful to this be-
loved monarch in other respects, has fitted him for so active an amusement as
this ; for though his size approaches to the majestic, though he walks and rides
with equal ease, and though the exercise by no means requires the greatest flex-
ibility of body, his dance, to us at least, was a complete failure ; for he has a foot
which may be compared to that of a dromedary in point of size, and his toe is
any thing but '' Ught and fantastic." When his first dance, which was much the
same as that performed by his people, was concluded, the king began a second,
by imitating the canter of a native horse when going to war. This, as may be
supposed, was an inexpressibly odd and whimsical experiment, but it lasted a
short time only ; for in a very few minutes he disappeared from the spectators
by cantering into one of his huts, followed by the cheers of admiration and the
acclamations of every one present.
The sun had now set, and with the departure of the prince the singing and
dancing ceased for the evening ; nevertheless all the people patiently awaited
his return to the spot. Now, of all the celebrated dancers in the country, none
can excel or equal the King of Wowow in grace, elegance, and vivacity ; and
the fame of his skill in this amusement, which is thought so much of in this
country, is gone abroad into all lands ; every one, even his enemies, acknow-
ledge his superiority in this polite accomplishment ; and the envious and mali-
cious are compelled to own that he is without a rival from Bornou to the sea.
Yet, notwithstanding his renown as a dancer, the chief is a very aged man,
having a most solemn and forbidding aspect ; and though he has evidently, to
use a common expression, one foot in the grave, he is as active as a boy, arid in-
dulges largely in this his favourite amusement every Friday. It was in order
for us to witness his elegant dancing, we have been told, that he pressed us with
so much earnestness and importunity to spend the holydays at Wowow, which
we should certainly have consented to but for the discouragement our project
received from the King of Boossa, who was envious of his celebrity, and there-
fore compelled, rather than enticed us to remain here, that we might see his per-
sonal accomplishments to advantage, witness the public gayety and festivities of
his people, and in his imagination be struck with astonishment and admiration at
his own perfection in the art of dancing.
The Boossa people did not wait long for the reappearance of their monarch ;
for shortly after he came out to them, followed by a boy with two calabashes full
of cowries, which were to be distributed among the multitude. But first of all
the king took up a handful, and gave to each of the singers, dancers, and musi-
cians that had contributed so essentially to his entertainment ; nor was the tall old
woman forgotten, who had danced alone before him, for she received a double
allowance. We were rather pleased at this, for she is our next-door neighbour,
& poor old woman, who is very chatty and flippant, and has fallen in love with
536 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
one of our j-'oung men, named Antonio. This having been done to the appar-
ent satisfaction of all parlies, the remainder of the cowries were scattered by the
king's own hand among the crowd to be scrambled for, which occasioned the
most animating and amusing sight" that can be conceived. Parents and children,
brothers and sisters, strangers and friends, were scrambling and tumbling over
«ach other, some on their faces and some on their knees, both giving and re-
ceiving cutfs and kicks in the scutlle to get at the money. This scramble lasted
about ten minutes, when the parcy beibre the king's house broke up ; but the
good-natured monarch, to sijow his atlection for his subjects, whom he indeed
regards with as much tenderness as if they were his children, was unwilling to
send them to their homes without giving them another last treat, so he danced
sideways half-way up the race-course and back again to his residence with much
stateliness. This was indeed a royal attempt ; the midiki smiled w ith delight
that she had sucJi a spouse ; the people were louder than ever in their shouts of
approbation; all was noise, tumult, and confusion; their sovereign was more
beloved than ever he had been; and as the evening closed in, silence was grad-
ually restored, and the people retired to their homes. This was the last of the
holydays, and the proceedings of this day have concluded their festivities.
About ten o'clock at night, when we were sleeping on our mats, we were
suddenly awoke by a great cry of distress from innumerable voices, attended by
a horrid clashing and clattering noise, which the hour of the night tended to
make more terrilic. Before we had time to recover from our surprise, old Pas-
coe rushed breathless into our hut, and informed us with a trembling voice that
^' the sun was dragging the moon across the heavens." Wondering what could
be the meaning of so strange and ridiculous a story, we ran out of the hut half-
dressed, and we discovered that the moon was totally eclipsed. A number of
people were galliered together in our yard, in dreadful apprehension that the
world was at an end, and that this was but the " beginning of sorrows." We
learned from them that the Mohammedan priests residing in the city, having
personified the sun and moon, had told the king and the people that the eclipse
was occasioned through the obstinacy and disobedience of the latter luminar}'.
They said that for a long time previously the moon had been displeased with the
path she had been compelled to take through the heavens, because it was filled
with thorns and briers, and obstructed with a thousand other difticulties ; and
therefore that, having watched for a favourable opportunity, she had this eve-
ning deserted her usual track, and entered into that of the sun. She had not,
however, travelled far up tlie sky, on the forbidden road, before the circumstance
was discovered by tlie sun, who immediately hastened to her in his anger, and
punished her dereliction by clothing her in darkness, forcing her back to her own
territories, and forbidding her to shed her light upon the earth. This story,
whimsical as it may seem, was received with implicit confidence in its truth by
the king and queen, and most of the people of Boossa ; and the cause of tlie
noises which we had heard, and which were still continuing with renewed vehe-
mence, was explained to us by tlie lact that they were all " assembled together
in the hope of being able to frighten away the sun to his proper sphere, and
leave the moon to enlighten the world as at other times." This is much aller
the manner of many savage nations.
While our inlbrmant was yet speaking to us, a messenger arrived at our yard
from the king, to tell us the above tale, and with an invitation to come to see
him immediately. Therefore, slipping on the remainder of our clothes, we fol-
lowed the man to the residence of his sovereign from outside of which the cries
proceeded, and here we found the king and his timid partner sitting on the
ground. Their usual good spirits and cheerful behaviour had forsaken them
entirely ; both appeared overwhelmed with apprehension, and trembled at eve-
ry joint. Like all tlieir subjects, in the hurry of fear and the suddenness of
the alarm, they had come out of their dwellings half dressed, the head and legs,
and the upper part of tlieir persons, being entirely exposed. We soon succeed-
ed in quelling their fears, or at least in diminishing tlieir apprehension. The
king then observed, tliat neitlier himself nor tlie oldest of his subjects recollected
seeing but one eclipse of the moon besides the one be was gazing at ; that it had
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 537
occurred exactly when the Falatahs began to l)e formidable in the country, and
that it had forewarned them of all the wars, disasters, and calanjities which sub-
sequently took place.
We had seated ourselves opposite to the king and queen, and within two or
three feet of them, where we could readily observe the moon and the people
without inconvenience, and carry on the conversation at the same time. If the
royal couple shuddered with terror on beholding the darkened moon, we were
scarcely less atfected by the savage gestures of those within a few yards of us,
and by their repeated cries, so wild, so loud, and so piercing, that an indescriba-
ble sensation of horror stole over us, and rendered us almost as nervous as those
whom we had come to comfort. The earher part of the evening had been mild,
serene, and remarkably pleasant ; the moon had arisen with uncommon lustre,
and being at the full, her appearance was extremely delightful. It was the con-
chision of the holydays, and many of the people were enjoying the delicious
coolness of a serene night, and resting from the laborious exertions of the day ;
but when the moon became gradually obscured, fear overcame every one. As
the eclipse increased, they became n)ore terrified. All ran in great distress to
inform their sovereign of the circumstance, tor there was not a single cloud to
cause so deep a shadow, and they could not comprehend the nature or meaning
of an eclipse. The king was as easily frightened as his people, being equally
simple and ignorant ; he would not therefore sutler them to depart. Numbers
sometimes beget courage and confidence, he thought; so he commanded them
to remain near his person, and to do all in their power to restore the lost glory
of the moon.
In front of the king's house, and almost close to it, are a few magnificent
cotton-trees, round which the soil had been freed from grass, &c., for the cele-
bration of tlie games. On this spot were the terrified people assembled, with
every instrument capable of making a noise which could be procured in the
whole town. They had formed themselves into a large treble circle, and con-
tinued running round with amazing velocity, crying, shouting, and groaning
vviih all their might. They tossed and flung their heads about, twisted iheir
bodies into all manner of contortions, junjped into the air, stamped with their
feet on the ground, and flourished their hands above their heads. No scene in
the romance of Robinson Crusoe was so wild and savage as this; and a large
wood-fire, with a few men spitted and roasting before it, was alone wanting to
render it complete ! Little boys and girls were outside the ring, running to
and fro, clashing empty calabashes against each other,. and crying bitterly;
groups of men were blowing on trumpets, which produced a harsh and dis-
cordant sound ; some were employed in beating old drums ; others again were
blowing on bullocks' horns; and in the short intervals between the rapid suc-
cession of all these fiend-like noises, was heard one more dismal than the rest,
proceeding from an iron tube, accompanied by the clinking of chains. Indeed,
every thing that could increase the uproar was put in requisition on this memo-
rable occasion ; nor did it cease till midnight, when the eclipse had passed away.
Never have we witnessed so extraordmary a scene as this. The diminished
light, when the eclipse was complete, was just sufficient to enable us to distin-
guish the various groups of people, and contributed in no small degree to ren-
der the scene still more imposing. If a European, a stranger to Africa, were to
be placed on a sudden in the midst of the terror-struck people, he would imagine
himself to be among a legion of demons, holding a revel over a fallen spirit; so
peculiarly unearthly, wild, and horrifying was the appearance of the dancing
group, and the clamour which they made. It was perhaps fortunate for us that
we had an almanac with us, which foretold the eclipse ; for although we neg-
lected to inform the king of this circumstance, we were yet. enabled to tell him
and his people the exact time of its disappearance. This succeeded in some
measure in suppressing their fears, for they would beheve any thing we might
tell them ; ana perhaps, also, it has procured for us a lasting reputation "and a
name." "Oh," said the king, "theie will be sorrow and crying this night from
Wowow to Yaoorie. The people will have no one to comfort or condole with
them ; they will fancy this eclipse to be the harbinger of something very dread-
46
I
538 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
fill ; and they will be in distress and trouble till the moon shall have regained her
brightness." It was nearly one o'clock when we left the king and queen, to re-
turn to our hut ; every thing was then calm and silent, and we lay down to
rest in peace.
At length, the messenger sent to explore, returned with favourable intelli-
gence, the canoes were procured, and ail things made ready for our travellers'
departure from Boossa. The omens too were favourable, for one of them hap-
pening to upset a large bowl of milk sent them from the king's house, they ap-
plied to have it replenished. But the king instead of gratifying them, expressed
himself quite overjoyed at the circumstance, and asserted that it was the mos^t
happy omen in the world. So they were obliged to go without their breakfast,
and be content with their portended good fortune.
The travellers provided themselves with provisions enough for three weeks
or a month; they consisted of three large bags of corn, one of beans, two fowls,
two sheep, and rice, honey, corn, onions, and two large pots of vegetable butter
given them by the king and niidiki. It now only remained to tJike their leave
of these royal personages, and just as they were on the point of departure they
arrived at our travellers' hut. They brought with them two pots of honey and a
large quantity ofgorra-nuts, strongly recommending to present the latter to the
Rabba chieftain, lor that nothing could so effectually conciliate his favour, pro-
cure his friendship and command his confidence. When mutual compliment?
were passed, (the travellers say,) we expressed our acknowledgments to both of
them with sincerity and earnestness for the benevolence, hospitality, and atten-
tion with which they had uniformly treated us; and we assured them that
should we be so fortunate as to return to England, it would be our first care to
acquaint our countrymen of all their kindness to us, which we should remember
as long as we lived. We then shook hands heartily, and concluded by wishing
them a continuance of the simple blessings and felicity they enjoyed. They
were both touched with sorrow at our words, for they were the last which they
would hear us utter ; tears were glistening in their eyes, and with mournful
countenances they walked out of our hut, and lepaired to their own abode in
order to make a powerful speilfor our preservation and success.
The travellers then embarked on the Niger in two canoes, and immediately
proceeded down the river. Their canoes proved leaky, and on the same day
they put in at a small island called Melalie, in order to repair them. The chief
of the village, a decent, elderly looking man, came down to salute them at the
water side, and would not suffer them to depart, till he had prevailed on them
to drink beer with him and fire ofi" their guns, when he compelled them to ac-
cept a fine kid, which tliey were too polite to reject.
In about half an hour tlie canoe was repaired, and the travellers were again
on their way. The bed of tlie river was full of rocks, some of which being only
a few inches below tlie surface, caused the water to make a loud rushing noise,
which warned the canoenian of his danger. Owing to the skilfulness of their
canoemen, they succeeded in getting over these rocks in safety. At two o'clock
of the day of tiieir departure, they passed the boundaries of Boossa, and entered
the dominions of the king of Nouffie. Passing an island called " Any Man's
Land," because uninhabited, and the towns of Congie, Inguazhiliigee, they put
into a market town on a large and beautiful island called Patashie. Here, they
say, about twenty or tliirty paces from tlie river, we discovered a great quantity
of huge bones and sculls of hippopotami, piled on a high platform erected for
the purpose. These, we understand, are preserved on much the same princi-
ple as foxes' tails are kept by many country gentlemen in England. Soon they
were introduced to the chief, a little, round, liit, jolly looking old man, who gave
them a hearty welcome, furnished tliera witli comfortable quarters, and with
provihions. Patashie is a large, rich island, unspeakably beautiful, and embel-
lished with groves of palm and other noble trees. Its distance from Boossa is
about fifty miles. It abounds with horses, asses, bullocks, sheep, goats, poultry,
corn, and yams.
Our hut, the travellers say, has this day exhibited a scene of revelry and mirth
more becoming a native inn than a private dwelling. The chief of the island,
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 539
accompanied by our four messengers from Boossa and Nouffie, our canoemen,
and several of his own people, all dressed " in their holyday best," paid us a visit
in the morning, and remained with us till evening, with the exception of a short
space in the middle of the day ; during all which time they were employed in
swallowing palm wine, which is procured in the island in great plenty, and in
telling nonsensical stories. We were glad when they said it was time to depart,
and having shaken hands with the ardour of drunkards, they took their leave,
staggered out of the hut, and all went laughing away.
It is rather singular that though the chief is a sooty black, he has bright, blue
eyes. We received from him about noon a fine goat, and messes of pounded
yam and meat stewed in palm oil. These were brought in well-carved wooden
dishes of huge dimensions.
The chief of the island of Teah which lies near Patashie, came to visit the
travellers. He expressed the utmost delight at having seen white men before
he died, and declared it was a pleasure which neither his father, mother, nor un-
cle had ever enjoyed, and a gratification which his ancestors had never hoped
for, he should therefore cherish the remembrance of it as long as he lived. The
travellers showed the chief a vs^atch and a mariner's compass for his inspection,
and their uses were explained to him. He became at first very uneasy, and
afterward perfectly wild with amazement. No one in the world could express
more naturally or forcibly the emotion of wonder, or the passion of fear, which
the countenance of this old man displayed as he looked at the watch; nor could
he be persuaded for a long time but that it was in possession of life and being,
and had the power of moving.
It will be recollected that the king of Wowow was to furnish our travellers
with a large canoe, in exchange for which they let him have their horses, valued
at sixty pounds. This large canoe he had not furnished ; but only one of very
inferior dimensions and leaky, so that fearing they should be unable to proceed
on their voyage, they despatched a messenger from Patashie to Wowow, to de-
mand the large canoe. The messenger returned with news not at all to their
liking. The king was angry, because they had not returned to visit him agreea-
bly to their promise. The messenger said his sovereign had most certainly pro-
cured for them a canoe which was laid up for them at Lever; but that if they
wished, or rather if they were determined, they might have their horses back
again. The monarch loo wished the travellers to show him the respect of coifn-
ingtotake their leave of him before quitting the country, or if both could not
come, at least one of them. This request was complied with, Richard Lander
accompanying the Wowow messenger on his return to that city.
On arriving at Wowow, Richard felt too much fatigued to wait upon the
king immediately, and desired to be excused from caUing to pay his respects un-
til the next day. On the next day when he had prepared himself to go, he was
informed that the king wished to be excused from seeing him as he had taken a
ride to view his gardens in the morning, and the exercise had so much tired him
that he felt no inclination to receive visiters until the next day.
The next day, says Richard Lander, the king granted me an audience, and
then he said with the greatest indiflierence, " I have not been able to procure you
the canoe which I promised to get ; but I have no doubt that the ruler of Pata-
shie will be able to supply you with one to your satisfaction, for which I will
send an express to that island without delay, whom I will furnish with the neces-
sary instructions to effect an immediate purchase. Thus ended the expedition
to Wowow, and Richard was obliged to return as he went. Before his depart-
ure the king showed him, in compliance with his request, the whole of his col-
lection of charms, which were written on sheets of paper glued or pasted togeth-
er. Among them was a small edition of" Watt's Hymns," on one of the blank
leaves of which was written, '^Alexander Anderson, Royal Military Hospital,
Gosport, 1804." Mr. Anderson was the attendant of Park.
While waiting at Patashie for their canoes to be brought round from another
part of the island, to the place of embarkation, hundreds of people collected to
look at the travellers, as they stood near the water's edge, and among them a
native pagan priest, dressed more fantastically than any »ierry Andrew in Chris.
540 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
tendom. His clothing was manufactured almost solely of fine soft grass. Hh
head and shoulders and part of his body were hid underneath an enormous thing
in shape like the roof ofa hut, with a fringe and tassels of stained grass. A tobe
made also of grass, excellently woven and of various colours, encircled his body,
and reached as far as the knee ; and the man wore likewise trousers of the same
material, and plaited in the same manner, but unstained, and of the colour of
dried grass. They were turned up at the ankles, though a deep fringe hung to
the ground. He approached several individuals that were sitting on the turf,
and stooping over them, enveloped the upper part of their persons in his un-
couth head-dress; shook it over them, which produced a strange rustling noise :
screamed in a most frightful and unearthly tone ; and then arose to perform the
same barbarous ceremony to others.
Proceeding down the river from Patashie, they found it obstructed with rocks,
but the current bore them rapidly along, and contriving to avoid the reefs, in
about three hours, they reached Lever. Our surprise was great, indeed, (say
the travellers,) when instead of the proper person who we expected would have
received us, we were welcomed on shore by a man called Du^oo, a Bornouesr,
who represented himself as the agent and confidential friend of the prince of
Rabba. Ducoo treated us with the courtly politeness of a Frenchman, and
was equally lavish in his compliments and his otiers of service ; he walked with
us to the chief of the town, to whom he took the liberty of introducing us almost
before he himself knew, who or what we were ; went himself and procured ex-
cellent lodgings for us, returned and sat down jn our company to tell us some
droll stones, and impart to us in confidence some very di.sagreeable news ; then
hastily rose up, went out, and came back again with a sheep and other provis-
ions, which he had obtained by compulsion from the chief, and finally remained
with us till long after the moon had risen, when he left us to our repose.
Disappointed in their expectations of obtaining a canoe at Lercr our travellers
found that they had been very prettily cajoled, and out-manoeuvred, by the mon-
archs of Boossa and Wowow. They had lost their horses, were now probably
a subject of mockery and jest, and without any prospect of being able to proceed
on their voyage.
In this exigency, they formed the design of detaining the two canoes lent them
by the chief of Patashie, which they claimed under the pretext of their having
been intended for them by the chief of Wowow, though they well knew, he had
not paid for them and probably never would. The Patashie canoemen stoutly
resisted the claim, but Ducoo soon put them to silence, by threatening to cut off
the head of him who should presume from that time to set foot in either of the
canoes, and to give effect to his menace, he stationed two of his men with drawu
swords to guard the boats.
This same Ducoo, however, soon attempted to carry into execution a plot
which he had formed for carrying away the canoes. One day the travellers were
suddenly informed that the Falatahs were carrying away their largest canoe.
One of them instantly hastened to the water side, where indeed he observed the
canoe filled with Falatahs, who were waiting the signal for starting. He order-
ed them to get out of the canoe immediately or take the consequences. They
were about to obey, when Ducoo stepping up laid his hand on his shoulder, and
desiring him to be cool, said that he had taken the liberty of launching the canoe
for the use of his friends the Falatahs, and that after they had crossed over on the
other side, it should be brought back.
In the mean time the other Lander had also repaired to the water's side with a
pistol which so terrified the Falatahs that those who were on shore jumped has-
tily into another canoe, and all of them stole away as fast as they could, in great
trepidation, for they fancied their end had come.
But the matter of the canoes did not end here. In a few days a messenger
arrived from Teah, claiming them as the property of the chief of that island, who
said that he had lent them to his friend the chief of Patashie. 'J'he messenger
was told to take the canoes if they would, but Ducoo thwarted them in their de-
sign, and ordered the canoes to be pulled up on shore, at the distance of two
hundred yards from the water's edge.
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 541
The travellers having been desired to prepare themselves for their departure
from Lever, had got their baggage ready, and were only waiting to take their
leave of the chief, when one of his messengers entered their hut, and told them
that they would be unable to go until the next day, Ducoo having dissuaded his
master the chief from his original design. They submitted to the disappoint-
ment as well as they could, but obtained a solemn promise that they should not
be detained longer than the next day. The next day, however, they were again
told that they would have to wait yet another day when they should certainly go.
Their patience was now completely exhausted, and repairing in a rage to the
hut of the chief, they found him sitting with Ducoo engaged in high dispute.
The travellers expressed their determination to leave Lever presently, in defi-
ance of them and all their power. Ducoo on hearing this, smiled at them with
the most insolent eftVontery, and informed them that they were entirely in his
power, and that they would quit the town when he thought proper. The travel-
lers quickly undeceived him on this point, declaring that if he or either of his
men should attempt to hinder them, they would feel no more hesitation in shoot-
ing him, than if he had been a partridge, or a Guinea hen. This conduct had
the desired effect; Ducoo became quite crest-fallen, and the travellers were suf-
fered to depart.
In their course down the Niger, they passed through Bajiebo, Leechee, im-
portant towns, but no incident of much interest occurred to them until their
arrival at the island of Belee. They indeed saw at Bajiebo, a curious kind of
canoes which they describe as follows. We have seen to-day several large ca-
noes, the bottom of which is made of a single tree, and built up with planks to a
considerable height. In many of them, sheds, or houses, as they are called,
have been erected, which are thatched with straw, and in which fires are kindled,
food prepared, and people sleep, and indeed live altogether. The roof is circu-
lar, and formed in much the same manner as the upper part of a covered wag-
gon in England. These sheds are of tlie most essential service to the natives, as,
with their assistance, merchants are enabled to travel with some degree of com-
fort, with tlieir wives and household, several days journey up and down the
Niger, without being under the necessity of landing, except to purchase pro-
visions.
The river just below Bajiebo spreads itself into two noble branches, forming
an island in the midst, small but surpassingly beautiful. The banks were embel-
lished with mighty trees and elegant shrubs, which were clad in thick and luxuri-
ant foliage, some ofUvely green and others of darker hues ; and little birds were
singing merrily among their branches. Magnificent festoons of creeping plants,
always green, hung from the tops of the tallest trees, and drooping to the water's
edge, formed immense natural grottoes, pleasing and grateful to the eye and
seemed to be fit abodes for the Naiads of the river.
Further down the river, and soon aller leaving the island of Madje, the travel-
lers suddenly came in sight of an elevated rock, called by the natives Mount
Kesa. It forms a «mall island, and is, probably, not less than three hundred feet
in height. It is excessively steep, and rising out of the river as it does, its ap-
pearance is irresistibly imposing and majestic beyond description. Its base is
fringed by venerable trees and less magnificent vegetation, which also strives to
spring forth from its barren and almost naked sides. The heigfft of Mount
Kesa, its solitary position, and the peculiarity of its form, distinguish it from
every other, and render it an object of more than common interest. It is greatly
venerated by the natives, who believe that a benevolent genius makes it his fa-
vourite abode, and dipenses around him a benign and heavenly influence, alle-
viating misfortune, relieving want, turning mourning into joy, and especially
afFordmg the weary traveller a refuge from the storm, where he reposes in the
delights of security, and revels in the comforts of ease.
At the island of Belee, the travellers were informed that a distinguished per-
sonage, the King of the Dark Water, was intending to pay them a visit there, and
they concluded to await his arrival.
Exposed to a thousand inconveniences and annoyances on the island, they had
stepped into their canoes, and were lying at a little distance from the shore, un-
46*
542 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
der the branches of alar^e tree, when they heard a number of men singing and
keeping time to the motion of the j)addle.s, but could see no one. In a few
minutes a canoe came in sight, propelled by a very few men, and soon another
arger canoe, propelled by about twenty very fine young men, whose voices
hey had heard, and who were still continuing their song. The King of the
Dark Water wvlh with them. The canoe was of extraordinary length and un-
common neatness. In the centre a mat awning was erected, and vaiiously
decorated, and on the front of it hung a large piece of scarlet cloth, ornamented
with bits of gold lace stretched on different parts of it. In the bow were three or
four little boys of equal size, clad with neatness and propriety, and in the stern
sat a company of comely-looking musicians, consisting of several drummers and
a trumpeter.
As soon as this canoe reached the landing place, the Water King came out
from beneath the awning, and, followed by tibe musicians and a suite of attend-
ants, walked to the hut wliere all public business was transacted, and whither, in
a few minutes, we ourselves were desired to repair. The chief of the island,
with his elders and the more respectable of the people, were seated, on our en-
trance, on each side of their important visiter, and my brother and I, as a mark
of distinction, were invited to place ourselves in front of him. When the usual
compliments had passed on both sides, he informed us, with much solemnity, of
his rank and title, said that the cause of his coming was to do us honour, and re-
peated what had been previously told us by the king's son. This done, he pre-
sented us with a pot of excellent honey, two thousand cowries in money, besides
a large quantity of gooranuts. Having nothing further to say or do, we shook
hands with his sable majesty, whose name was SuUken Rouah, expressed our
acknowledgments for his handsome present, and returned to our boats.
The king of the Dark Water was a fine looking man, well stricken in years;
his skin as black as a coal ; his features coarse but benevolent, and his stature
advantageous and commanding. He was dressed in a full Bornouese or Arab
cloak, of inferior blue cloth, underneath which was a variegated tobe of figured
satin, country cloth, and crimson silk damask, all patched together ; he likewise
wore a cap of red cloth, Haussa trousers, and sandals of coloured leather. Two
pretty little boys acted in the capacity of pages, each furnished with an orna-
mented cow's tail, and standing one on his right hand, the other on his lefl, to
brush away flies and other insects from his person, and supply him with goora
nuts and tobacco. The king was also accompanied by six of his wives, fine,
handsome, jet-black girls, dressed in neat country caps edged with red silk.
Native cloths, of cotton and silk, were fastened round their waists, beneath
which they wore a sort of short frock. The usual custom of staining their fin-
gers and toe-nails with henna, appears to be general among tliem ; their wrists
were ornamented with neat silver bracelets, and their necks with coral necklaces.
To such a man as the Water King, with such a suite and such a title, the great-
est honour is expected to be paid, and we therefore showed our respect by sa-
luting him with a discharge from two or three muskets, and by waiting patiently
his return from the council-hut wherein he stayed two whole hours, during
which we were sitting in our canoes, exposed to a very hot sun, for we had re-
moved them IVom under the tree by the side of his own.
It was exactly mid-day when SuUken Rouah re-embarked in his princely ca-
noe, and quitted the island of Belee. Determined for once to make an attempt
at a more respectable appearance, for heretofore it had been extremely mean
and homely, we hastily constructed an awning of our sheets. Above tlie awn-
ing we elevated a slender staff, on the top of which we fastened our national
colours, the union flag, which was kindly given us by a genUeman on the coast,
who was commandant of Anamaboo. When unfurled and waving in the wind,
it looked extremely pretty, and it made our hearts glow with pride and enthusi-
asm, as we looked on this solitary little banner. I put on an old naval uniform
coat which I had with me for state occasions, and my brother also dressed hiro-
self in as grotesque and gaudy a manner as our resources would afford. Our
eight attendants also put on new white Mohammedan tobes, so that our canoe,
with its vvliite awning surmounted by tlie union flag, our cauoemeu in new
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 543
dresses, and ourselves appearing as officers, contributed not a little to the elFect
of the whole scene. The august King of the Dark Water, with his retinue in
twenty canoes, condescendingly gave us the precedence, and ours was the first
that moved off from land, and led the way down the river towards Rabba.
For a little time we continued to take the lead, but the chief soon went before
us, for two reasons: first, that he might have an opportunity of looking at us ;
and secondly, that we might have a fairer chance of seeing him in all his state,
for which purpose he had placed himself outside his awning on an elevated and
conspicuous seat. However, he only wished to get a few yards before us, for
the canoemensoon lifted their paddles out of the water, and the boat fell back to
its former situation. This going before and falling behind was done repeatedly.
The musicians in the large canoe performed merrily on their instruments, and
about twenty persons now sung at intervals in recitative, keeping excellent time
with their paddies,
A brisk wind sprang up the river full in our faces, relieving us from the ex-
treme heat of the weather, which was remarkably fine ; the scene before us was
very animating, and the whole of us were in high glee and spirits. Other canoes
joined us; and never did the British flag lead so extraordinary a squadron. The
King of the Dark Water might be mistaken for a river god ; and his wives, now
and then showing their pretty black faces from under the awning, cast many an
arch look at us with their sparkling, jetty eyes. It was not long before our reve-
ry was interrupted by a great noise from the adjacent band; and on turning we
perceived the banks of an island called Lagozhi, which were lined with numbers
of people admiring our flag, and watching us very earnestly, by which we
guessed that this was the place of our destination. The island is so uncommon-
ly low that the houses and trees appeared as if they were standing in the water,
as indeed many of them actually were. Here we arrived, and landed between
one and two, P. M., having enjoyed a pleasant excursion, of eight or nine miles.
Ours being the first canoe, before we landed on the island We waited for the
king to precede us, and the moment he set his foot on the shore, we fired a
salute of four muskets and three pistols. Suliken Rouah was rather alarmed at
this, and demanded whether we were going to make war on him. He was soon
relieved from his fear, by being told that it was an honour that we had been in
the habit of paying to all the princes we had met in our travels; which he no
sooner understood than he expressed himself much gratified by our attention.
Suliken Rouah went in person in quest of a dwelling house, and led us to one
which, though miserably bad, was one of the best which the island aftbrded. In
the evening four large calabashes of stewed rice, with fowls, and no less than ten
gallons ofpitto, or country beer, were sent us.
Lagozhi, the domain of the King of the Dark Water, is estimated to be about
fifteen miles long and three broad. It is exceedingly low ; the greater part of it
was overflowed at the time of our travellers's visit to it. The inhabitants are of
course much addicted to the water. They exhibit great pride in the care and
management of their canoes ; the Niger is covered with these little vessels, and
to be skilful in the management of them is the greatest boast of the people.
The cliief of the island has about six hundred canoes. The inhabitants are fond
of aquatic occupations to excess ; in fact, they arc almost amphibious, so prone
are they to be continually sporting in bogs or dabbling in water. But they do
not confine themselves to the river the year round ; they cultivate the soil, and
also excel in certain kinds of manufactures. Their cloth, tobes, and trousers,
would not disgrace a European manufiictory ; they are worn and valued by
Ivings, chiefs, and great men, and are the admiration of the neighbouring na-
tions, which vainly attempt to imitate them. The travellers saw there a variety
of caps, worn solely by females, and made of cotton, interwoven with silk, of the
most exquisite workmanship. The people also manufacture wooden bowls and
dishes, mats, shoes, sandals, cotton, brass and iron stirrups, bits for bridles; hoes,
chains, fetters, &c.
The character of the people is excellent. They seem quite independent of
all authority except that of the legitimate King of tJie Dark iVater, and their own
interests induce them to obey him alone. They have liberty stamped on their
544 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
features, and lightness and activity are observable in all their actions. They are
hospitable to strangers, amicable to their neighbours, peaceful and social among
themselves, rendered bold by freedom, affluent by industry and frugality healthy
by exercise and labour, and happy from a combination of all these blessings.
Their numbers cannot well be estimated, but it must be immense.
On the shore opposite Zagozhi, at the distance of about two miles, stands
Rabba, apparently as viewed from that island, an immensely large, populous and
flourishing town. It is the residence of the chief of the Falatahs, and very cele-
brated as a market. Soon after our travellers' arrival at Zagozhi, messengers
arrived from this chief, bringing with them a present of two fine sheep, and a
great quantity of rice. They informed the travellers that the king would not put
them to the trouble of going to see them, as the town was full of Arabs whose
begging propensities would be very inconvenient to them, intelligence at which
they heartily rejoiced. By these messengers the travellers sent in return then'
present to the king, or sultan, Mallam Dendo. The king appeared satisfied
with bis present at first, but suddenly one morning not long after, he sent for
Pascoe, the interpreter and servant of the Landers, in a great hurry, with a mes-
sage that he was impatiently awaiting his arrival at Rabba, having something of
importance to communicate. The travellers were surprized at this unexpected
summons, and waited Pascoe's return with much anxiety. When he came back
he looked very wistfully, and with considerable agitation of voice and manner,
informed them, that Mallam Dendo had expressed the greatest dissatisfaction
with the things sent him as a present, declaring. them, with the exception of tlie
looking-glass, to be perfectly worthless, and fit only for a child ; that he well knew
they could have sent him something better, and that if they persisted in refusing
to do so, he would demand their guns, pistols, and powder, before he would
permit them to leave Zagozhi. To this demand they resolved not to submit ;
ibr, say they, it brought to our recollection the fable of the lion deprived of his
teeth and claws. But having reflected deliberately on their situation, they were
convinced tliat something must be done by way of conciliation, if they had any
thought of leaving that part of the country and prosecuting their enterprize. At
length they bethought themselves of Mr. Park's tobe, given to them by the King
of Boossa, and they resolved to send it. Accordingly, they despatched their
man Ibrahim with it to Rabba. The king received the tobe with the most rap-
turous admiration. It had made him their friend forever. He regretted that
the Falatahs had no canoes, but were tliey possessed of any, he would present
them with as many as they should want, and accelerate their departure from
Zagozhi with all his influence. " Ask the white men," said he, " what they
would desire, and if Rabba can supply them with it, they shall always have it.
Well," he continued, " I must purchase this tobe, I will not accept it as a gift,
that would be against my principles, and besides it would be wrong for me to
be guilty of such injustice. Now, I shall be something like a king," he added,
turning the tobe inside and out ; " let no man know of it ; my neighbours will
behold me with envy; and as for my own people, I will surprise them some
morning by putting it on v/hen they are going to war; it will dazzle tlieir eyes.
How great will be their astonishment!"
Tiie travellers alterwards received from the chief of Rabba the most uniform
kindness ; he exerted himself to obtain for them of the Waaler King, a canoe
sufliciently large to carry their whole company, made them handsome presents,
and on being solicited, by a messenger, sent from the king of Noutfie, to detain
the travellers at Zagozhi until they would consent to make his master a present
of a certain number of dollars, or something equivalent to them in value, he
treated the message and its bearer witli contempt, and answered, energetically,
" Tell your sovereign that I would rebuke him for this expression of his senti-
ments ; tliat I will never consent to his wishes, that I reject his proposal with dis-
dain. What ! shall the white men, who have come from such distant lands to
visit our country, who have spent their substance among us, and made us pre-
sents, before we had leisure to do any good for tliem, shall they be treated so
inhumanly? Never. They have worn their shoes from tlieir feet, and tlieir
clothes from their persons, by their long journeys, they have tlirowu themselvaa i
1
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 545
on otir hospitality ; shall we treat them as robbers, and cast them from us hke
dogs? Surely not.
The Falatahs at Rabba, as well as elsewhere, endeavoured to claim a relation-
ship with Europeans, though the people are either of a swarthy complexion or
as black as soot. White men, how sorry soever their appearance may be, are
considered, not only by the Falatahs, but also by the native blacks, as a superior
order of beings, in every respect more excellent than themselves. "At Yaoorie,"
say our travellers, " we overheard a conversation between two men, who were
quarrelling in the very height of passion. "What!" exclaimed one of them to
his fellow, " thou pitiful son of a black ant ! dost thou presume to say that a
horse was my father? Look at these Christians ! for as they are, I am ; and
such were my ancestors ; answer me not, I say, for I am a white man !" The
speaker was a negro, and his skin the colour of charcoal."
The travellers after experiencing considerable difficulty at length succeeded in
purchasing a larger and more connnodious canoe, though they had been cheated
in the bargain, the canoe being found leaky and patched in a thousand places,
bade farewell to the Water King, and embarked on board the> canoe. The
hundreds of spectators who stood gazing at them, fired two mu?kets, accompa-
nied with three cheers ; and launching out into the river they were soon out of
sight.
Passing by many important towns and Adllages, and beautiful and highly culti-
vated islands, they proceeded on their way without stopping until they reached
the village of Dacannie, a distance of about one hundred miles. Indeed they
were unable to land on account of the marshy nature of the banks of the river.
The men becoming too fatigued to labour any longer, they suffered the canoe
to drift along with the current, when, on a sudden, an incredible number of
hippopotami arose very near them, and came plunging all round the canoe, and
placed them in imminent danger. Thinking to frighten them off, they say, we
fired a shot or two at them, but the noise only called up from the water, and out
of the fens, about as many more of their unwieldy companions, and we were
more closely beset than before. Our people, who had never in all their lives
been exposed in a canoe to such huge and formidable beasts, trembled with fear,
and absolutely wept aloud ; and their terror was not a little increased by the
dreadful peals of thunder which rattled over their heads, and by the awful dark-
ness which prevailed, broken at intervals by flashes of lightning whose glare was
truly awful. Our people told us that these formidable animals frequently upset
canoes in the river, when every one in them is sure to perish. These came so
close to us that we could reach them with the butt-end of a gun. When I fired
at the first, which I must have hit, every one of them came to the surface of the
water, and pursvied us so fast that it was with the greatest diificulty we could
keep before them Having tired a second time, the report of the gun was fol-
lowed by a loud roaring noise, and we seemed to increase our distance from
them. No doubt, at first, when we interrupted them, they were only sporting,
and wallowing in the river for their own amusement, but had they upset our
canoe we should have paid dearly for it.
Finding we could not induce our people to land, we agreed to continue on all
night. The eastern horizon became very dark, and the lightning more and more
vivid ; indeed, we did not recollect ever having seen such strong forked hght-
ning before in our lives. At eleven, P. M., it blew somewhat stronger than a
gale, and at midnight the storm was at its height. The wind swept the water
furiously over the side of the canoe, so that she was in danger of filhng. Driven
about by the wind, our frail bark became unmanageable, but at length we got
near a bank which in some measure protected us, and we were fortunate enough
to lay hold of a thorny tree against which we were driven, and which was grow-
ing nearly in the centre of the stream. Presently we fastened the canoe to its
branches, and wrapping our cloaks round our persons, and with our legs
dangling half over the sides of the little vessel, we lay down to sleep, x^nd
though the thunder continued to roar, and the rain beat in our faces, and our
canoe lay rocking like a cradle, still my brother slept soundly. The wind kept
blowing hard from the eastward till after midnight, when it became calm. The
546 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
rain then descended in torrents, accompanied with thunder and lightning of the
most awful description. We lay in our canoe drenched with rain, and our
little vessel was filling so fast, that two people were obliged to be constantly
baling out the water to keep her afloat. The water elephants, as the natives
term the hippopotami, frequently came snorting near us, but fortunately did not
touch our canoe. The rain continued until three in the morning, when it became
clear, and we saw the stars sparkling hke gems over our heads.
Again getting under way, in about two hours, they put into a small village
called Dacannie. Alter drying their clothes, and partaking of some slight re-
freshments, they again proceeded down the river, until about mid-day, when they
arrived at a small island called Gurigo. The banks now became high and beau-
tifully cultivated, palm trees grew in profusion, and the towns and villages were
not more than two or three miles from each other. We obseiTed, they say,
some hundreds of large canoes, with a hut in their middle, passing along the
river, some crossing and recrosvsing to the opposite banks, while others were
pursuing their course along them. They mostly seemed to consist of famihes
of people, for while the men were paddling, the women and girls were singing
to a guitar with their little delicate voices, and produced a very pretty effect.
When we passed close to any of their canoes, they would suddenly stop their
music, tmdexcAdim, Ki, lii, ma nenec acca cliiken zhilagce '. Oh dear, oh dear !
what do I see in tluit canoe ? at the same time expressing the utmost astonishment
both in their features and gestures.
We had not been on the water more than half an hour after leaving Gungo,
before the wind rose to a gale, causing the river to be agitated like a sea, and
our canoe to be tossed about like a cocoanut shell. It also rained heavily, inso-
much that in a moment we were wetted to the skin, and our canoe soon became
half filled with water. We were then in the middle of the river and in danger
of sinking. Our men struggled hard so pull the canoe among the rushes on the
right bank, for the purpose of holding on by them till the wind and rain should
abate, and the water become smooth. It was not without great exertion that
this was effected, for the wind was against us, the water was in commotion,
and our fragile litde vessel, as a sailor would express it, " shipped several seas."
No sooner had we got into the morass, and were congratulating ourselves oo
our deliverance, than a frightful crocodile, of prodigious size, sprang forth from
his retreat, close to the canoe, and plunged underneath it with extraordinary
violence, to the amazement and terror of us all : we had evidently disturbed him
from his sleep. Had he touched our canoe, he would have upset it. The rain
in addition to the water that washed in frotn the river over the bows of the cjmoe,
employed three persons constantly baling to keep her afloat. The wind and
rain having subsided, we left our retreat about half pait eight, and kept on down
the river.
About ten in the morning we arrived opposite a large village, which is situated
on a low, flat island ; and the current at this place rushing with the impetuosity
of a torrent over a broad sand-bank, and notwithstanding we exerted all our
powers to avoid it, we were completely foiled : the canoe became unmanage^
able ; we were carried along with irresistible velocity ; and in less than two
minutes she struck against the roof of a hut which was covered with water.
By the sudden and forcible shock, one of our men was thrown with violence
overboard, but the others, more fortunate, clung to the boughs of a tree. Though
the current was so exceedingly rapid, the water was very shallow, and the man
was enabled to join his companions shortly afterward: he appeared more fright-
ened than hurt. The village was nearly washed away with the exception of
about a dozen houses, so high were the waters of the river.
The next place at which the travellers touched was the island of Fofo. The
consternation of the people at seeing them was very great, and it was with some
difticulty tliat they could obtain lodgings and food.
Leaving Fofo, they passed the river Coodonia, a stream of considerable size,
which enters the Niger from the northward, and next arrived at Egga, a large
town about three miles from the bank of the river. The travellers proceeded
up to the town through a creek leading to tlie landing place. The town wast
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 547
upwards of two miles in length, and our travellers were struck with the immense
number of large, bulky canoes, which lay off it, filled with trading commodities,
and all kinds of merchandize common to the countiy. They also had huts in
them, and had blood smeared on their sterns, and feathers stuck in it as a charm
or preservative against robbers, and the evil disposed. The town was found to
be of prodigious extent, and the population immense. Like other towns on the
bank of the river, it was frequently inundated, and a large portion of it was at
that time overflowed with water.
The chief received the travellers with great cordiality. He was seated on a
cow's hide spread on the ground, smoking from a pipe about three yards long,
and surrounded by a number of Falatahs, and several old mallams. The travel-
lers were requested to sit near him. He looked at them with surprise, from
head to foot, told them they were strange looking people, and well worth seeing.
They were indeed objects of great curiosity to all the people of Egga, who
came flocking by hundreds to the door of their hut, so that they were obliged to
blockade the door ways, and station a guard to keep them off. The chief paid
them a visit and begged that they would allow his wives and principal people to
come and see them. They could not but comply with the request. The curi-
osity of the people to see them became so intense that they dared not stir out of
doors, and were obliged to take their exercise by walking round and round in
their hut, like wild beasts in a cage. They seemed to be regarded, in fact, in the
same light as the fiercest tigers in England ; for if they approached near the
door, the people would retreat in the greatest trepidation, and on their retiring
to the back of the hut, they would again approach in silence and with caution.
The travellers one day determined to satisly their curiosity, and accordingly
walked about out side their hut for two hours.
The people of Egga endeavoured to persuade them not to proceed on their
way, until tiiey could procure for them a convoy of traders going to attend a
famous market called Bocqua, and under whose protection they might be secure
from the attacks of the bloody and ferocious people who inhabited the banks of
the Niger between Egga and that city. Their representations of the dangers to
which the travellers would be exposed so frightened their attendants, that at first
all but two, refused to accompany them. Finding, however, that they could not
get their wages for their past services, if they stopped here, and seeing the trav-
ellers determined, they concluded to go with them. Bidding farewell to the
chief of Egga, and firing ofl^" three muskets as a parting salute, they proceeded on
their way. A few miles below the town, they saw a sea-gull which flew over
tlieir heads, a most gratifying sight, as it reminded them that they w^ere drawing
near the object of their wishes and their hopes. They also beheld about half a
dozen white pelicans, which were sailing gracefully on the water. As they
passed along, the banks at first appeared like a low swampy country, and then
succeeded a region of great fertihty and beauty, with large open villages on both
banks of the river for many miles. However, they did not stop until reaching a
small hamlet, situated on an island, where as the sun was dechning, and the men
were fatigued, they intended to sleep. The inhabitants, they say, no sooner
saw us than they raised the war cry, and every man and woman armed them-
selves with swords and dirks, bows and arrows, assuming a threatening and
alarming position. We called out lustily to them in the Haussa language, but
they were unable to understand either our words or gestures. Fortunately, in
a few minutes, a woman, who could converse a little in the Haussa tongue,
came down to us at the water-side, and we informed her that we were friends
and Christians, travelling down the river to our native country. This she
repeated to them around her, and partially succeeded in removing their sus-
picions.
The people, however, being either unable or unwilling to accommodate
them with a lodging, they again set out, and continued on their way until they
came to a large town on the western bank, called Kacunda. The people were
at first alarmed at their appearance, but an old Mohammedan priest, relieved
them of their fears, and entertained the travellers in his own hut, with a friendly
hospitality.
548 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Kacunda is the capital of a kingdom of the same name. Its government is
despotic ; it maintains little intercourse with any other considerable nation, but
cordines its trade almost exclusively to divers people inhabiting the banks of the
Niger to the southward. The natives are tall, well-formed, and muscular.
Strings of red cornelian stone cut into something like the shape of a heart and
highly polished, constituted their chief ornaments. Their only dress was a piece
of cotton cloth round the loins.
The chief who resided at some distance from the place where the travellers
landed, did not see them, but sent his brother to welcome them, with presents of
gooranuts, a goat, some yams, and an immense quantity of beer. They in turn
gave him a present for the chief, and also several little things which he fancied,
and which seemed to have the effect of securing for them his friendship. He
gave them a dreadful account of the natives down the river, and, to use their
own words, " would not have us think of going among them, but return by the
way we had come." He said to us, with much emphasis, " If you go down the
river, you will surely fall into their hands and be murdered." " Go, we must,
I said, if we live or die by it, and that also to-morrow."
At Egga, they had heard similar slories in regard to the manners of the people
down the Niger. They were said to be public robbers, living under no king,
acknowledging no human authority, in a word, a community of ferocious out-
laws. But nothing could daunt the resolution of the Landers, or deter them
from the execution of their purpose. But to avoid the danger as far as possible,
they resolved, agreeably to the suggestion of their friend, the brother of the
chiefof Kacunda, to perform the voyage in the night season until they should
have passed the most dangerous town. They loaded their four muskets and
two pistols with ball and slugs, made every possible preparation for their de-
fence, exhorted their men to fidelity and courage, commended themselves to the
keeping of Divine Providence, and at half past four in the afternoon, moved off
from Kacunda, amid the vigorous and animated exertions of their men, in gal-
lant style. They soon passed a large town, Irom which issued a great and con-
fused noise asof a multitude quarreling, and saw other towns on the western
bank, but cautiously avoided them all. The next morning they passed a huge
and naked white rock, in the form of a perfect dome, arising from the centre of
the river, about twenty feet in height, and covered with an immense number of
white birds, in consequence of which they named it Bird Kock. It stands three
or four mites from tiie town of Bocqua. As the travellers passed it, they were
very nearly lost in a whirlpool, and it was with the utmost difficulty they could
prevent the canoe from being carried away and dashed against the rocks.
Shortly alter, seeing a convenient place for landing, the men being languid
and weary with hunger and exertion, they halted on the right bank of the river.
Three ot the meji went in seaich of tire wood, and as they were straggling
about in tlie bush, a village suddenly opened belore them, and they entered one
of the huts to procure a little fire. It happened to contain only women; but
they were terrified beyond measure, at the sudden intrusion of strange looking
men, wliose language they could not undei stand, and whose business they did
not know, and they all ran into the woods. The men very composedly taking
some of tlie burning embers from the fire, returned in a few minutes to their
masters, ajtid related the circumstance of their having discovered a village, and
;dso told them how the women had run away from them as soon as they saw
them. This tliey thought lightly of, and immediately sent Pascoe, Abraham,
and Jowdie, in company, to obtain some fire, and to purchase a few yams. In
about ten minutes they returned in haste, telling us, to use the travellers own
words, *' that they had been to the village, and had asked for some fire, but that
the people did not understand them, and that instead of attending to their wishes,
they looked terrified, and had suddenly disappeared. In consequence of their
threatening attitudes, our people had left the village, and rejoined us with all
the haste they could. We did not, however, tliink tliat they would attack us,
and we proceeded to make our fires and then laid ourselves down.
Totally unconscious of danger, we were reclining on our mats, when in about
twenty minutes after our men had returned, one of them shouted w itli a loud
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 549
voice, ''War is coming ! O, war is coming !" and ran towards us with a scream
of terror, telling us that the natives were hastening to attack us. We started up
at this unusual exclamation, and looking about us, beheld a large party of* men
almost naked, running in a very irregular manner, and with uncouth gestures,
towards our little encampment. They were all variously armed with muskets,
bows and arrows, knives, cutlasses, barbs, long spears, and other instruments of
destruction ; and as we gazed upon this band of wild men, with their ferocious
looks, and hostile appearance, which was not a little heightened on observing
the weapons in their hands.
Our party was much scattered, but fortunately we could see them coming to
us at some distance, and we had time to collect our men. We resolved, how-
ever, to prevent bloodshed if possible, our number were too few to leave us a
chance of escaping by any other way. The natives were approaching us fast,
and had by tliis time arrived almost close to our palm tree. Not a moment was
to be lost. We desired Pascoe and all our people to follow behind us at a short
distance, with the loaded muskets and pistols ; and we enjoined them strictly not
10 lire, unless they first fired at us. One of the natives, who proved to be the
chief, we perceived a litde in advance of his companions ; and throwing down
our pistols, which we had snatched up in the first moment of surprise, my broth-
er and I walked very composedly towards him. As we approached him, we
made all the signs and motions we could with our arms, to deter him and his
people from firing on us. His quiver was dangling at his side ; his bow was
bent, and an arrow which was pointed at our breasts, already trembled on the
string, when we were within a few yards of his person. This was a highly criti-
cal moment — the next might be our last. But the hand of Providence averted
the blow ; for just as the chief was about to pull the fatal cord, a man that was
nearest him rushed forward and stayed his arm. At that instant we stood before
him, and instantly held out our hands ; all of them trembled like aspen leaves ;
the chief looked up full in our faces, kneeling on the ground, light seemed to
flash from his dark, rolling eyes, his body was convulsed all over, as though he
were enduring the utmost torture, and with a timorous, yet undefinable ex-
pression of countenance, in which all the passions of our nature were strangely
blended, he drooped his head, eagerly grasped our proffered hands, and burst
into tears. This was a sign of friendship ; harmony followed, and war and
bloodshed were thought of no more. The following explanation of his conduct
was afterwards given by the chief "A few minutes after you first landed, one
of my people came to me, and said that a number of strange people had arrived
at the market place. I sent him back again to get as near to you as he could, to
hear what you intended doing. He soon after returned to me, and said that
you spoke in a language which he could not understand. Not doubting that it
was your intention to attack my village at night, and carry off my people, I de-
dred them to get ready to fight. We were all prepared and eager to kill you,
and came down breathing vengeance and slaughter, supposing that you were
my enemies, and had landed from the opposite side of the river. But when you
came to meet us unarmed, and we saw your white faces, we were all so fright-
ened that we could not pull our bows, nor move hand or, foot ; and when you
drew near me, and extended your hands towards me, I felt my heart faint within
me, and believed that you were Children of Heaven, and had dropped from the
skies. And now said he, " white men, all I want is your forgiveness." That
you shall have most heartily, we said, as we shook hands with the old chief; and
having taken care to assure him that we had not come from so good a jjlace as
he had imagined, we congratulated ourselves, as well as him that this affair had
so happily ended. For our parts we had reason to feel the most unspeakable
pleasure, and we offered up internally to our merciful Creator, a prayer of
thanksgiving and praise, for the Almighty had indeed, to use the words of the
Psalmist, delivered our souls from death, and our feet from falling, and pre-
served us from any terror by night, and from the arrow that flieth by day ; from
the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and from the destruction that wasteth at
noon day. We were grateful that our blood had not been shed, and that we had
been prevented from spilling the blood of others. Our guns were aU loaded
47
550 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
with balls and slugs, ourmen were ready to present them, and a single arrow
from a bow would have been the signal of immediate destruction. It was a nar-
row escape, and God grant we may never be so near a cruel death again. It
was happy for us that our white faces and calm behaviour produced the effect it
did on these people. In another minute our bodies would have been as full of
arrows as a porcupine's is full of quills.
This place which the travellers had thus accidentally discovered, proved to
be the famous market place, Bocqua, of which they had heard so much before.
During their short stay here they were treated with the greatest hospitality ; and
received from the chief and people valuable presents, both of provisions and
money. The stories which the travellers had heard in regard to the character of
the inhabitants on the Niger below, were here substantially repeated.
The evening of the day after theii departure from Bocqua, they descried a
canoe, and pulled towards it ; but those that were in it, frightened on seeing
them, jumped out and hid themselves in the forest. In two or three minutes
they perceived on the left bank a few dilapidated huts, and pulled their canoe
ashore, intending to remain there for the night. A number of women first ob-
served them, and hurried away to an adjacent village, where they saw them pro-
viding themselves with muskets and other uncivil weapons, and very formidable
Amazons they appeared to be. We did not seem to regard them, but jumping
on shore with our mats, sat down under the branches of a large cocoanut tree.
We had not been long seated before a number of people made their appear-
ance, running hastily towards us with swords and muskets in their hands. See-
ing that we were sitting down quietly, they hesitated, and stopping at a short
distance from us, wished to know what we wanted at their town. We had re-
course to our usual method of expressing ourselves by signs, and the natives
finding that we were really harmless beings, ventured to draw nearer, and very
soon became reconciled to us.
Thechief of this place, which was called Abbazacca, a tall, Herculean, awk-
ward figure, with a sullen and most forbidding countenance, on receiving his
presents began to grumble, and told us plainly that he would not let us leave his
village till something better was given to him. To enforce his threats, fourteen
of his slaves stood around him armed with muskets, whose appearance alone,
he thought would be sufficient to intimidate us into compliance. We by no
means wished to have any disturbance, and therefore endeavoured to persuade
him that we had nothing more to give him. I directed all our travelling things
to be taken out of the boxes before him, and had them put back again and locked
up. This would not satisfy him, and he desired them to be searched again, and
that he himself might be allowed to examine them. Our patience was now
quite exhausted : " Tell the chief," said I to our interpreter, " the boxes shall be
opened no more, and let him stop my people from loading the canoe if he dare."
My brother and I had armed ourselves with the loaded pistols and with the
swords, as well as ail our people, and on telling the chief what we had done, we
ordered them to proceed loading the canoe, which they obeyed directly. The
chief stood amazed and did not oiier to interfere. This old rascal had muttered
and grumbled at every thing which was offered him ; this was of no use, and
that of no value. After having gone the length he did, and having shown his in-
solent airs, without producing the expected impression, he feared that he should
get nothing at all, and tlierefoie accepted the present we had offered him at
first.
This same chief resolved upon accompanying the travellers in his canoe to a
large town about a day's journey from this place, and of which he said, his
brother was governor. Leaving Abbazacca, and proceeding on their voyage,
at two in the allernoon, they came abreast of a village called Danuiggoo. AVe
had no sooner made our appearance, they say, than we were lustily hailed by a
little squinting fellow, dressed in an English soldier's jacket, who kept crying out
as loud as his lungs would permit him, "Holloa, you Englishmen ! you come
here." However, we were not inclined to obey his summons, and as the cur-
rent swept them along past the village, took no notice of the littie man. Short-
ly, however, a dozen cauoes overtook them, and desired ihem to turn back, a^^
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 551
they had forgotten to pay their respects to the king. They complied with the
request.
The man in the red jacket proved to be a messenger from the king of Bonny,
sent here to buy slaves. The king of Damuggoo treated them w^ith great kind-
ness, expressed the greatest satisfaction at liaving been permitted to behold
white men, and being informed that they v/ere ambassadors from the great king
of the white men, resolved to hold a rejoicing in their honour. The ceremonies
commenced by a volley of musketry being tired off by command of the chief,
and the travellers were afterwards saluted by a discharge from the swivels. This
was a signal for the inhabitants to come forward and follow the example of their
monarch, which they did with so much spirit and effect that a continual firing was
kept up till between eleven and twelve o'clock, from which time the people pa-
raded the town for the remainder of the night, dancing, singing, and making
merr;^
Th'religion of Damuggoos is pagan. The people worship fetishes, and sev-
eral fetish ceremonies were performed by the king and his people, to ensure the
safety of the travellers on their passage down the river to the sea. The govern-
ment is despotic. The chief, though benevolent in appearance, was severe ill
his punishments. Our travellers being seriously incommoded by the crowds of
people who thronged their hut, and unable to keep them away, complained to
the king, who told them to cut off their heads. The people carry on a trade
with the Bocqua market, taking thither powder, muskets, soap, Manchester cot-
tons, and other articles of European manufacture, and great quantities of rum,
or rather of rum and water, for not more than one third of it is genuine spirit, and
exchanging them for ivory and slaves which are sold to the European traders.
On their departure from Damuggoo, the king sent a canoe manned with his
own men, which in company with their own canoe, should assist in conveying
them and their attendants to the sea. Every thing being ready, the travellers
were seated in their canoe, waiting for the boatmen and impatient for their arri-
val, when they saw the king coming with a train of followers. The mallam and
all his principal people were with him, bringing numerous jars of palm wine.
A mat was spread near the water side, whereon the chief sat himself, and we
were instantly desired to place ourselves, one on each side of his person. The
palm wine and some rum were then produced ; and as we were about to take a
long farewell of our hospitable host, we drank of his offering, rather than give
offence by a refusal. The palm wine circulated freely in the bowls, and the
natives of the village, who witnessed all proceedings with no little anxiety,
seemed to be greatly delighted at seeing their chief so familiar with white men.
A fatted goat was given us as a parting gift, and a small, decanter of rum was
thrust in my brother's bosom as a cordial during the night. The fetish having
been sufficiently invoked, and all having got into the canoe, we glided down the
stream with delightful rapidity, without stopping any where, or meeting with
further hindrances till midnight. The canoemen entertained us with their na-
tive songs, keeping time with their paddles, and every thing contributed to ren-
der the passage pleasant. But alas ! this happiness was to be of short duration.
The travellers had proceeded down the river about a day's journey, when
they came to a large market town called Kirree. A great number of canoes
were lying near the bank They appeared to be very large, and had flags lying
on long bamboo canes. We took no notice of them, but passed on, and in a
«hort time afterward we saw about fifty canoes before us, coming up the river.
They appeared to be very large and full of men, and the appearance of them at
a distance was very pleasing. They had each three long bamboo canes, with
flags flying from them, one fixed at each end of the canoe, and the other in the
middle. As we approached each other, I observed the British Union flag in
several, while others, which were white, had figures on them of a man's leg,
chairs, tables, decanters, glasses, and all kinds of such devices. The people in
them, who were very numerous, were dressed in European clothing, with the
exception of trousers.
I felt quite overjoyed by the sight of these people, more particularly so when
I saw our flag and European apparel among them, and congratulated myself
552 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
that they were from the sea-coast. But all my fond anticipations vanished in a
moment as the first canoe met us. A great stout fellow, of a most forbidding
countenance, beckoned to me to come to him, but seeing him and all his people
so well armed, I was not much inchned to trust myself among them, and paid
no attention to him. The next moment I heard the sound of a drum, and in an
instant several men mounted a platform and levelled their muskets at us. There
was nothing to be done now but to obey ; as for running away it was out of the
question, our square loaded canoe was incapable of it ; and to fight with fifty war
canoes, for such we found them, containing each above forty people, most of
whom were as well armed as ourselves, would have been throwing away my
own and my canoemen's lives very foolishly. In addition to the muskets, each
canoe had a long gun in its bow that would carry a shot of four or six pounds,
besides being provided with a good slock of swords and boarding pikes.
By this time our canoes were side by side, and with astonishing rapidity our
luggage found its way into those of our opponents. This mode of proceeding
I did not relish at all ; so as my gun was loaded with two balls and four slugs, 1
took deliberate aim at the leader, and he would have paid for his temerity with
his life in one moment more, had not three of his people sprung on me and
forced the gun from my hands. My jacket and shoes were as quickly plunder-
ed from me, and observing some other fellows at the same time taking away
Pascoe's wife, I lost all command over myself, and was determined to sell my lite
as dearly as I could. I encouraged my men to arm themselves with their pad-
dles and defend themselves to the last. I instantly seized hold of Pascoe's wife,
and with the assistance of one of my men dragged her from the fellow's grasp;
Pascoe at the same time levelled a blow at his head with one of our iron-wood
paddles, that sent him reeling backwards, and we saw him no more.
Our canoe having been so completely relieved of her cargo, which had con-
sisted only of our luggage, we had plenty of room in her for battle, and being
each of us provided with a paddle, we determined, as we had got clear of our
adversary, to cut down the first fellow who should dare to board us. This was
not attempted ; and as none of the other canoes had offered to interfere, I was
in hopes of finding some friends among them, but at all events was determined
to follow the people who had plundered us to the market, where they seemed to
be going. We accordingly pulled after them as fast as w« could. My men,
now that the fray was over, began to think of their forlorn condition. Ail their
things were gone, and as they gave up all hopes of regaining them, or being able
to revenge themselves on the robbers, they gave vent to their rage in tears and
execrations. I desired them to be quiet, and endeavoured all in my power to
pacify them by telling them that if we were spared to reach the sea in safety, I
would pay them for every thing they had lost.
We were following the canoe that had attacked us, as fast as we possibly
could to regain our things, if possible, when some people hailed us from a large
canoe, which I ibund afterward belonged to the new Calebar river. One of the
people, who was apparently a person of consequence, called out lustily to me,
" Holloa, white man, you French, you English ?" "Yes, Enghsh," I answered
immediately. ''Come here in my canoe," he said, and our two canoes ap-
proached each other rapidly. I accordingly got into his canoe, and he put three
of his men into mine to assist in pulling her to the market. The people of the
canoe treated me with much kindness, and the chief of her who had hailed me,
gave me a glass of rum. There were several females also in the canoe, who
appeared to take a great deal of interest in my safety.
On looking around me I now observed my brother coming towards us in the
Damuggoo canoe, and the same villain who had plundered me was the first to
pursue him. As we had been absent from each other all the morning, and the
tbregoing transactions relate only to mvself, the following narrative of my broth-
er will give the reader an account of his proceedings to 3ie time I saw him, and
the disaster which soon after followed.
My brother left the village nearly two hours before me, and therefore he was
far in advance when the Damuggoo canoe, in which I had remained, was pushed
off the land. Wishing to overtake him, for he had no guide, the men exerted
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 553
themselves wonderfully, to make amends for the time which they had trifled
away, and it was really astonishing to see the rapidity with which the canoe was
impelled through the water.
The morning was cool, serene, and delightful, and the sun had just emerged
from a mass of dense clouds, which were fringed with a silvery light. On each
side of the river, gentle and undulating hills rose one behind the other, covered
with verdure, and here and there varied by groves of dark, green trees, which
served to render the prospect yet more agreeable. The smooth, transparent
surface of the river, disturbed only by the motions of our paddles, so calm, so
peaceful in its gentle course, reflected with unerring truth the enchanting land-
scape from either side, and lent its friendly aid to hasten us to our long-wished
for destination.
After we had been in the canoe perhaps an hour, one of the men who happen-
ed to be standing in the bow, fancied that he could descry, in another canoe,
then at a considerable distance before us, a sheep and goat which my brother
had taken away with him in the morning. All doubt as to the identity of the
animals having been removed from his own mind, and those of his companions,
though for my own part I must own that my vision was not near keen enough
to allow me to agree with them in opinion, we gave chase to the suspected ca-
noe. The men summoned all their resolution and strength to the task, and,
like an arrow from a bow, our narrow vessel darted through the water. We
gained rapidly on the chase, and the people, perceiving our object, and mis-
trusting our intentions, kept near the shore, and laboured hard to get away from
us. They then entered a branch of the river, and sheltered themselves among
a number of canoes that were lying alongside a large market place, situated on
the right bankc This did not damp the spirit of our men, or deter them from
following the pursued : we succeeded in discovering their hiding place ; and at
length, after much wrangling and many threats, the robbers, (for such they pro-
ved to be,) were compelled to restore the animals. But how my brother could
have suffered two men to plunder his canoe, puzzled me exceedingly, and I was
totally at a loss to account for it. Nothing could exceed my surprise, on ap-
proaching the market, to observe, as I thought, large European flags, aflixed to
poles, and waving over almost every canoe that was there. On a closer exam-
ination, 1 discovered them to be only imitations, though they were executed
with uncommon skill and neatness. British colours apparently were the most
prevalent, and among these the Union flag seemed to be the general favourite.
Nor did my former surprise diminish in the least when I landed, on finding that
the market people were clad in European apparel, though, with the odd fancy
which is remarkable among Indians who have any intercourse with Europeans,
none of them were dressed in a complete suit of clothes. One wore a hat only,
with a Manchester cotton tied round his waist, another a shirt, another a jacket,
&c. As all natives with the exception of kings, are forbidden by law to wear
trousers, a common pocket handkerchief was generally substituted for that arti-
cle of dress. The multitude formed the most motley group that we have ever
seen ; nothing on earth could be more grotesque or ridiculous. Many of the
men had a smattering of the English and French tongues.
The object for which we had stopped at the market, having been effected to
our satisfaction, we pulled out again into the main body of the river, and here
we saw several canoes of amazing size coming towards us from the southward.
Totally unsuspicious of danger of any kind from this quarter, astonishment at
such a sight was the only emotion that entered my mind ; and we resolved to
pass in the midst of these canoes, that we might more conveniently look on each
side of us, for tlie purpose of ascertaining whether they contained any thing be-
longing to us. At the next moment another squadron of the same description
of vessels, came in sight, in one of wliich I could discover my brother by his
white shirt, and I fancied that he was returning to demand restitution of the ani-
mals of which he had been plundered, therefore 1 felt perfecfly easy in my mind.
When we drew nearer, it was apparent that these were all war-canoes, of
prodigious dimensions ; immense flags of various colours were displayed in
ihem, a six-pounder was lashed to the bow of each, and they were filled with
47*
554 RICHARD AND JOITN LANDEB.
women and children, and armed men, whose weapons were in their hands.
8uch was their size, that each of them was paddled by nearly forty people. In
pursuance of our arrangement we passed through the midst of them, but could
see nothing ; and we had advanced a few yards when on looking behind us, we
discovered that the war-canoes had been turned round and were swiftly pursu-
ing us. Appearances were hostile ; the apprehension of danger suddenly flash-
ed across my mind ; we endeavoured and struggled hard to escape ; but fear
had taken possession of the minds of my companions, and as they were unable
to exert themselves we did not get on ; all was vain. Our canoe was overtaken
in a moment, and nearly sent under water by the violence with which her pur-
suer dashed against her ; a second crash threw two or three of the Damuggoo
people overboard, and by the shock of the third, she capsized and sunk. All
this seemed the work of enchantment, so quickly did events succeed each other;
yet in this interval, a couple of ill-looking fellows had jumped into our canoe,
and in the confusion which prevailed, began emptying it of its contents with as-
tonishing celerity.
On finding myself in the water, my first care was, very naturally, to get out
again ; and therefore looking round on a hundred ruffians, in whose counten-
ances I could discover not a single trace of gentleness or pity, I swam to a large
canoe apart from the others, in which I observed two females and some little
ones, for in their breasts, thought I, compassion and tenderness mu.st surely
dwell. Perceiving my design, a sturdy man of gigantic stature, such as little
children dream of, black as a coal, and with a.moslt hideous countenance, sud-
denly sprang towards me, and stooping down, laid hold of my arm, and snatched
me with a violent jerk out of the water, letting me fall like a log into the canoe,
without speaking a word.
I soon recovered, and sat up with my companions, the women and children,
and discovered them wiping tears from their faces. In momentary expectation
of a barbarous and painful death, ' for what else,' said I to myself, ' can all this
lead to?' the scene around me produced little impression on my mind; my
thoughts were wandering far away, and this day I thought was to be my last.
I was meditating in this manner, heedless of all that was going on around me,
and reckless of what came next, when I looked up and saw my brother at a little
distance, gazing steadfastly upon me ; when he saw that I observed him, he held
up his arm with a sorrowful look, and pointed his finger to the skies. O ! how
distinctly and eloquently were all the emotions of his soul at that moment de-
picted in his countenance ! Who could not understand him ? He would have
said, "Trust in God!" I was touched with grief Thoughts of home and
friends rushed upon my mind, and alnJdst overpowered me. My heart hovered
over the scenes of infancy and boyhood. O how vividly did early impressions
return to my soul ! But such feelings could be indulged only for a moment.
Recollecting myself, I bade them, as I thought, an everlasting adieu; and wean-
ing my heart and thoughts from all worldly associations, with fervour I invoked
the God oi" my life, before whose awful throne I imagined we should shortly
appear, for fortitude and consolation in the hour of trial. My heart became
subdued and softened ; my mind regained its serenity and composure ; and
though there was nothing but tumult and distraction without, within all was
tranquillity and resignation.
On account ofthe eagerness and anxiety with which every one endeavoured
to get near us in order to share the expected plunder, and the confusion which
prevailed in consequence, many of the war-canoes clashed against each other
with such violence, that three or four of them were upset at one time, and the
scene which ensued baffles all description. Men, women and children, cling-
ing to their floating property, were struggling in the river, and screaming and
crying out as loud as they were able, to be saved from drowning. Those that
were more fortunate, were beating their countrymen oft" from getting into their
canoes, by striking their heads and hands with paddles, as they laid hold ofthe
sides and nearly upset them. When the noise and disorder had in some measure
ceased, my brother's canoe and that which I was in were by the side of each
otber, and he instantly took his shirt from his back, and threw it over me, for I
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER, 555
was naked. I then stepped into his canoe ; for whatever might be our fate, it
would be a mournful kind of pleasure to comfort and console one another in the
hour of trial and suffering. But I had no sooner done so, than I was dragged
back again by a powerful arm, which I could not resist, and commanded, by
furious gestures, to sit still, on my peril.
Unwilling to aggravate our condition by obstinacy or bravado, which would
have been vain and ridiculous, I made no reply, but did as I was desired, and
silently watched the motions of our keepers. Now there were still other canoes
passing by on their way to the market-place, and among them was one of extra-
ordinary size. Fancying it to be neutral, and hoping to make a diversion in our
favour, I beckoned to those who were in it, and saluted them in the most friend-
ly manner. But their savage bosoms were impenetrable to feeling. Surely,
they are destitute of all the amiable charities of life. I almost doubted whether
they were human beings. Their hideous features were darkened by a terrible
scowl ; they mocked me, clapped their hands, and thumped upon a sullen drum;
then with a loud and scornful laugh, the barbarians dashed their paddles into the
water and went their way. This was a severe mortification ; I felt confused and
abashed ; and my heart seemed to shrink within itself. I made no more such
trials. «
Seeing my brother swimming in the river, and people clinging on to what
they could, I endeavoured all in my power to induce the people of my canoe to
go to him. But all I could do was in vain. Fearing that those in the water
might upset the canoe by getting into her, or that she would be overloaded with
them, they kept aloof, and let them take their chance. My feehngs at that mo-
ment were not to be described ; I saw my brother nearly exhausted, and could
render him no assistance, in addition to our luggage being plundered and sunk,
and I had just formed the resolution of jumping into the water after him when
I saw him picked up.
- . The canoes near me, as well as mine, hastened to a small island in the river,
at a short distance from the market, and my brother arrived soon afterward. In
a short time the Damuggoo people made their appearance, having like our-
selves, lost every thing that they had, of their own property as well as their
master's, this was in consequence of the confusion which had taken place; for
these people, no doubt, had they been recognized, would not have been molested,
We were all obliged to remain in our respective canoes, and made a sorry
appearance in consequence of the treatment we had received, which was in-
creased by the tears and lamentations of our own canoemen, as well as of those
of Damuggoo, and neither my brother nor myself were in a condition to oiFer
them any consolation.
We had been laying at the island ; but now the war-canoes were all formed
into a line, and paddled into tlie market-place before alluded to, which is called
Kirrce, and which was likewise the place of their destination. Here we were
informed that a palaver would be held, to take the whole affair into consideration ;
and about ten in the morning a multitude of men landed from the canoes, to
hold a council of war, if so it may be termed. For our parts we were not suf-
fered to go on shore ; but constrained to remain in the canoes, without a cover-
ing for the head, and exposed to the heat of a burning sun. A person in a Mo-
hammedan dress came to us, and endeavoured to cheer us, by saying that our
hearts must not be sore, — that at the palaver which would be held, we had plenty
of friends to speak for us. That all the people in the Mohammedan dresses,
who had come from Funda to attend the market, were our friends, besides a
great number of females, who were well dressed in silk of different colours.
These women wore large ivory anklets of about four or five^pounds weight, and
bracelets of the same material, but not so large. About twenty canoes full of
Damuggoo people had arrived from the various towns near Damuggoo. These
persons having heard how we had been treated, also became our friends, so that
we now began to think there was a chance of escaping, and this intelligence
put us into better spirits
A short time before noon, the river being pretty clear, several guns were fired
as a signal for ail the canoes to repair to the market and attend the palaver.
556 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Eager to learn the result of the discussion at the assembly, in which we were so
intimately concerned, but without the means of gaining any intelligence, we
passed the hours in fearful suspense, yielding by turns to the pleasing illusion*
of hope, and the gloomy forebodings of despair.
The heat of the sun was excessive, and having no shirt even to protect my
shoulders from the scorching rays, I contrived to borrow an old cloth from one
of the canoemen, who spoke a little English. Some of the market-women came
down to our canoe, and looked on us with much concern and pity, spreading
their hands out, as much as to say, God has saved you from a cruel death. They
then retired, and in a few minutes afterward returned, bringing with them a
bunch of plantains and two cocoanuts. This was an acceptable offering, and we
gladly took it and divided it among our people and ourselves.
A stir was now made in the market place, and a search commenced through
all the canoes for our goods, some of which were found, although the greater
part of them were at the bottom of the river. These were landed and placed
in the middle of the market place. We were now invited by the mallams to
land, and told to look at our goods and see if they were all there. To my great
satisfaction, I immediately recognized the box containing our books, and one
of my brother's journals. The medicine chest was by its side, but both were
filled with water. A large carpet bag, containing all our wearing apparel, was
lying cut open, and deprived of all its contents with the exception of a shirt, a
pair of trousers and a waistcoat. Many valuable articles which it had contained
were gone. The whole of my journal, with the exception of a note book with
remarks from Rabba to this place, was lost. Four guns, one of wliich had been
the property of Mr. Park, four cutlasses and two pistols were gone. Nine ele-
phant's tusks, the finest I had seen in the country, which had been given me by
the kings of Wowow and Boossa, a quantity of ostrich feathers, some handsome
leopard skins, a great variety of seeds, all our buttons, cowries, and needles,
which were necessary for us to purchase provisions with, all were missing, and
said to have been sunk in the river. The two boxes and'the bag were all that
could be found.
We had been desired to seat ourselves, which as soon as we had done, a circle
gathered round us and began questioning us ; but at that moment the sound of
screams and the clashing of arms reached the spot; and the multitude, catching
fire at the noise, drew their swords, and leaving us to ourselves, ran away to the
place whence it proceeded. The poor women were hurrying with their little
property towards the river from all directions, and imagining that we ourselves
might be trampled under foot, were we to remain longer sitting on the ground,
we joined the fiying fugitives and all rushed into the water, jumped into the ca-
noes, and pushed olF the land, whither our pursuers dared not Ibllow us. The
origin of all this was a dessirelfor more plunder on the part of the Eboe people.
Seeing the few things of ours in the market place, which had been taken from
their canoes, they made a rush to the place to recover them. The natives, who
were Kirree people, stood ready for them, armed with swords, daggers, and
guns; and the savage Eboes, finding themselves foiled in the attempt, retreated
to their canoes without risking an attack, although we fully expected to have been
spectators of a furious and bloody battle. The noise and uproar which this pro-
duced were dreadful and beyond all description.
This after all was a fortunate circumstance, inasmuch as my brother and I,
having unconsciously jumped into the same canoe, found ourselves in each
other's company, and were thus afforded, for a short time at least, the pleasure
of conversing without interruption ; and he then related to me all that had hap-
pened to him since the morning. Like me, he had no foresight of mischief, or
apprehensions of danger, and therefore he took no means whatever of shunning
the immense canoes which he perceived were approaching him with their large
flags. But on the contrary, these striking and uncommon appendages, to which
neither of us had been accustomed, served to excite his curiosity and win his ad-
miration rather than awaken any fear or suspicion of danger.
The palaver not having yet concluded, we had full leisure to contemplate the
scene around us. We had moved a httle way from the banks of the river: ia
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
557
front of us was the market-place, which was crammed with people, from all parts
of the neighbouring country, of difierent tribes, a great multitude of wild men,
of ferocious aspect, and savage, uncouth manners. To these belonged the
choice of either giving us hfe and liberty, or dooming us to death or slavel-y. In
the latter determination, their minds might be swayed by suspicion or caprice, or
influenced by hatred ; in the former, they might be guided by the hopes of gain,
or biassed by the lears of punishment, — for many oithem had come from the
sea-coast, and such an adventure as ours could not long remain concealed from
the knowledge of our countrymen. The shore for a long way was lined with
their canoes, having the colours of various European nations waving from long
poles, which were fastened to the seats. Several of these had as many as three
flags in each ; they were all of immense size, and fringed with blue cotton (baft)
cut into scallops. Besides these there were others ol" the straneest and most
tBUE CANOK.
grotesque patterns, such as representations of wild beasts, men's legs, wine-
glasses, decanters, and things of still more whimsical shapes. Whence the bar-
barians procured these emblematical banners we cannot tell; but we understand
that each tribe has its own peculiar flags, which are unfurled whenever they un-
dertake any enterprise of importance. Canoes were likewise stationed near
an island or sand-bank in the middle of the river, which we considered to be
neutral, as their owners did not seem to interfere with the proceedings of the
day. But there happened to be among the savages a few well dressed Moham-
medan priests, who had come late to the market from the northward. These
were decidedly our friends. Many times they blessed us with uplifted hands and
compassionate countenances, exclaiming, '■^ Alia Sullikee!'^ (God is King!)
Nor did they confine themselves to simple expressions of pity or concern ; but
as we subsequently learned, they joined the assembly, and spoke in our favour
with warmth and energy, taxing those who had assaulted us with cowardice,
cruelty, and wrong, and proposing to have them beheaded on the spot as a just
punishment for their crime. This was bold language, but it produced a salutary
effect on the minds of the hearers.
At about three in the afternoon we were ordered to return to the small island
from whence we had come, and the setting of the sun being the signal for the
council to dissolve, we were again sent for to the market. The people had been
558 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
engaged in deliberation and discussion during the whole of the day, and with
throbbing hearts we received their resolution in nearly the following words : —
" That the king of the country being absent, they had taken upon themselves, to
consider the occurrence which had taken place in the morning, and to give judg-
ment accordingly. Those of our things which had been saved from the water
should be returned to us, and the person that had first commenced the attack on
my brother should lose his head, as a just retribution for his oflence, having acted
without his chief's permission ; that with regard to us, we must consider our-
selves prisoners, and consent to be conducted on the following morning to Obie,
king of the Eboe country, before whom we should undergo an examination, and
whose will and pleasure concerning our persons would then be explained."
We received the intelligence with feelings of rapture, and with bursting hearts
we offered up thanks to our Divine Creator for his signal preservation*bf us
throughout this disastrous day.
It was, perhaps, fortunate for us, that we had no article of value which the
natives were at all solicitous about ; and to this circumstance, added to the envy
of those who had joined in the conquest, but who had not shared the plunder,
may chiefly be attributed, under Providence, the preservation of our lives.
The object of the barbarians in coming so far from home was never correctly
explained to us ; but we have no doubt that it was from motives of plunder,
which, had our party been larger, was to have been carried into effect on an ex-
tensive scale. But the capture of two white men, supposed to have valuable
goods with them, seems to have disconcerted all their plans for the present by
producing division and distrust among them. However, it was apparent to us
that all these savage warriors had left their country not only to plunder whatever
might happen to fall in their way, but Ukewise to attend two or three markets
near Kirree, for the purpose of trading with the natives whenever they might
fancy themselves not sufficiently powerful to take away their property without
fighting and bloodshed. It was also evident at Kirree that more than one party
of these robbers had made several attempts at plunder, and it was equally noto-
rious that they had been many times repulsed. Hence the dreadful screaming:
at the market, and the state of hurry, tumult, and alarm, that prevailed therein
during the whole of the day.
In the evening, when every thing was quiet, fires were kindled in all the ca-
noes, for dressing provisions, and there being a vast number of them, the Niger
was illuminated by streams of yellow light, which produced a highly romantic,
but melancholy effect. It was a time fitted for adoration and thanksgiving to the
beneficent Creator and Monarch of all. But, alas! how few here are bending
the knee to him; how few are lifting up their hearts to his mercy seat!
The Kirree people are a savage-looking race. They are amazingly strong and
athletic, and are also well proportioned. Their only clothing is the skin either
of a leopard or tiger fastened round their waist. Their hair is plaited and plas-
tered with red clay in abundance, and their face is full of incisions in every part
of it; these are cut into the flesh so as to produce deep furrows, each incision
being about a quarter of an inch long, and died with indigo. It is scarcely pos-
sible to make out a feature of their faces, and I have never seen Indians more
disfigured. The Eboe women have handsome features, and we could not help
thinking it a pity that such savage looking fellows as the men should be blessed
with so handsome a race of females. The mark of the Eboe people is the point
of an arrow pricked in each temple, the end being next to the eye. We are in-
formed that the leading man who attacked us in the river this morning is confined
in double irons, and condemned to die by the people who are our friends at tliis
place. It is said they have taken our treatment up with so much determination
to do us justice, that if the king of Eboe, whose subject he is, refuses to put him
to death, no more of his canoes will be allowed to come to this country to trade.
His wives have been crying round him, and making great lamentation.
The next morning, agreeable to the decision already related, the Landers bade
adieu to Kirree, the scene of all their sorrows, and accompanied by six large war
canoes, again took their station in the canoe with the Damuggoo people. Their
condition was now very different from what it had ever been before, for they
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 559
Were prisoners — and bound to the court, they had reason to believe, of a most
fierce and savage king, at whose hands they were to receive their sentence of
liberty or slavery, life or death. They had lost their clothing, their money, their
goods, they had not even any thing with which they could purchase a meal, and
their sable guardians knowing this, neglected to take into consideration the state
of their stomachs. A piece of roasted yam to each, washed down with a little
water, was all they could obtain to satisfy their hunger.
They had been on the river about two days and a half, when one of the Eboc
men in their canoe, exclaimed, "There is my country !" pointing to a clump of
very high trees at some distance before them, and after passing a low fertile
island they quickly came to it. The town was yet a good way down the river.
In a short time, however, they came to an extensive morass, intersected by little
channels in every direction, and by one of these got into clear water in front of
the town. Here, they say, we found hundreds of canoes, some of them even
larger than any we had previously met with. They were furnished with sheds
and awnings, and afforded commodious habitations for a vast number of people,
who constantly resided in them. Perhaps, one of these canoes which was made
of a single trunk, afforded accommodations for seventy individuals.
When we came along side these canoes, two or three huge brawny fellows,
in broken English, asked how we did, in a tone which Stentor might have envi-
ed ; and the shaking of hands with our powerful friends was really a punish-
ment on account of the violent squeezes which we were compelled to suffer.
The chief of these men called himself Gun, though Blunderbuss, or Thunder
would have been an appropriate name ; and without solicitation, he informed us
that though he was not a great man, yet he was " a little military king;" that his
brother's name was King Boy, and his father's King Forday, who with King
Jacket governed all the Brass country. But what was infinitely more interesting
to us than this ridiculous list of kings, was the information he gave lis, that, be-
sides a Spanish schooner, an Enghsh vessel called the " Thomas of Liverpool,"
was lying in the first Brass river, which Mr. Gun said was frequented by Liver-
pool traders for palm oil.
On arriving at the palace, and having crossed the yard, in which we saw no-
thing remarkable, we entered by a wooden door into another which was far su-
perior. This formed an oblong square; it was cleanly swept, and each of its
sides was furnished with an excellent portico. Near the door-way we saw with
surprise a large heavy cannon lying on the ground. From this enclosure we
were led into a third. Here we were desired to place ourselves among a crowd
of half dressed armed men, who were huddled together, some sitting and others
standing, and awaiting the coming of the prince. Our friend Gun was among
them, and he immediately claimed priority of acquaintance with us. He chatted
with amazing volubility, and in less than two minutes he was on the most fa-
miliar footing, slapping us, resting his heavy arms on our shoulders, laughing
loud at every word we said, looking luiowingly, and occasionally applying the
palm of his hand to our backs with the most feeling energy, as a token of his
approbation. We wished him to answer questions which concerned us nearly,
but the only satisfaction we received was contained in the expression, " O yes,
to be sure !" and this was repeated so often, with an emphasis so pecuUar, and
with a grin so irresistibly ludicrous, that in spite of our disappoiniment we were
lustily entertained by him.
In this manner was the time beguiled, till we heard a door suddenly open on
our right, and the dreaded Obie, king of the Eboe country, stood before us !
And yet there was nothing so very dreadful in his appearance, after all, for he
was a sprightly young man, with a mild open countenance, and an eye which
indicated quickness, intelligence, and good-nature, rather than the ferocity
which, we had been told, he possessed in an eminent degree. He received us
with a smile of welcome, and shook hands with infinite cordiality, often compli-
menting us with the word "yes!" to which his knowledge of English is confined,
and which, no doubt, he had been tutored to pronounce for the occasion. Seve-
oral attendants followed their sovereign, most of whom were unarmed, atrd
560 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
almost naked ; and three little boys were likewise in attendance, whose office it
was to fan him when desired.
His dress somewhat resembled that which was worn, on state occasions, by
the monarch of Yarriba. Its appearance was altogether brilliavt, and from the
vast profusion of coral ornamenUj with which he was -decorated, Obie might
have been not inappropriately styled, " the coral King." He was seated on a
throne of clay ; a cap shaped like a sugar loaf, and thickly covered with strings
of coral and pieces of broken looking-glass, graced his head; strings of the same
materials encircled his neck, some of" them reaching almost to his knees. He
wore a short Spanish surtout of red cloth, much too small, ornamented with gold
epauletts, and overspread in front with gold lace. Thirteen or fourteen brace-
lets were fastened to each wrist with old copper buttons ; his trousers composed
of the same material as his coat, stuck as closely to the skin, and reached no
lower than the middle part of his legs, were ornamented at the lower part with
precisely the same number of strings of beads as encircled his wrists; besides
which a string of little brass bells encircled each leg above the ankles, but the feet
were naked. Thus splendidly clothed, Obie, smiling at his own magnificence,
shook his feet for the bells to tinkle, sat down widi the utmost self-complacency,
and looked around him.
Our story was related to the king in full by the Bonny messenger who had
occompanied us from Damuggoo, who also dwelt upon the losses which the
people of that place and his own had met with at Kirree. If we may be allowed
to form an opinion, it was a fine piece of savage eloquence. The man's looks
and gestures were natural, animated, forcible, and strictly in keeping with the
feeling, power, and energy with which his expressions were poured forth. The
inflections of his voice, also, were truly admirable. This singular speech lasted,
as nearly as we could guess, two whole hours, and produced a visible efiect upon
all present. As soon as it was over we were invited by Obie to take some re-
freshment ; being in truth extremely hungry, we thankfully accepted the offer,
and fish and yams swimming in oil were forthwith brought us on English plates,
the king retiring in the meanwhile, from motives of delicacy.
The next day, about noon, we were informed that our attendance was re-
quired at the king's house, Obie being fully prepared, it was said, to resume the
hearing of our case. A common English chair placed in the court, and covered
with red cloth, stood ready for the king's use. On the left of the chair stood
about fifty of the king's attendants, and to the right of it Bonny, Brass, and the
Damuggoo people with our own were assembled. In less than half an hour,
the men having in the mean time been regaled with a large quantity of palm
wine, tlie monarch dressed in every respect as the day before, entered the yard.
His fat, round cheeks were swelling with good humour, real or assumed, as» he
shook hands with a sprightly air, and instantly sat himself down to receive the
prostrations and addresses of his subjects.
The business of the day was entered into with spirit, and a violent jUtercation
soon arose between the Brass and Bonny people, but scarcely any part of the
conversation was interpreted to us. Sutiicient, however, was explained to put
us in a very bad humour ; for notwithstanding the opinion we had formed of the
benevolence of the chief, we were assured that we should never leave the coun-
try unless ransomed at a high price ! The discussion was violent and strong,
and the council did not break up till a late hour in the ailernoon. They came to
no decision, but were to meet again tlie next day.
The next day Obie, with a serious countenance, announced his decision. He
said that there w as no necessity for further discussion respecting the white men,
his mind was already made up on the subject ; and for the first time he briefly
explained himself to this effect: — That circumstances having tlirown us in the
way of his subjects, by the laws and usages of the country, he was not only en-
titled to our persons, but had equal right to those of our attendants ; that he
should take no further advantage of his good fortune than by exchanging us for
as much English goods as would amount to twenty slaves ; that he should pre-
vent our leaving 5ie town, till such time as our countrymen at Brass or Bonny
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 561
should pay for our ransom. Concerning the goods of which we had been rob-
bed at Kirree, he would use his utmost exertions to get them restored. He
lamented that circumstance more than any one, but denied that a single subject
of his had any thing to do with it, and attributed it to the rashness and brutaUty
of a certain people who inhabited a country nearly opposite to his own, whose
monarch was his particular friend ; therefore he apprehended little difficulty in
seeing justice done us ; ' but then,' said he, 'it is necessary that you should wait
here for an indefinite time, till a council of that nation be held, when the plun-
derers will be examined and your claims established.'
The king was assured that there was not the slightest necessity for our deten-
tion, that our countrymen would pay the ransom the moment they should see us,
but not before. But it was all in vain ; it was of no use either to implore or re-
monstrate. This determination, however, it will be seen was subsequently
altered.
One evening after this Obie, in his showy coral dress, but barefooted, came to
visit us in our hut, to inspect our books, and examine the contents of our medi-
cine chest. His approach was announced by the jingling of the little bells which
encircled his feet. He appeared greatly pleased with every thing he saw, and
looked aghast when informed of the powerful properties of some of the medi-
cines, whicli ended in a fit of laughter. He expressed a strong desire to have
a little, especially of the purgatives ; and as we treated the Sultan of Yaoorie
and family, so we treated him. Obie was evidently fearful of our books, having
been informed that they could '* tell all things !" and appeared to shrink with
horror at one which was offered him, shaking his head, saying that he must not
accept it, for that it was good only for white men, " whose God was not his
god !"
The next day on being introduced to the palace, we found King Boy in the
inner yard, and from his significant physiognomy, we conjectured that he had
someihing of consequence to communicate. Obie received us with his usual
politeness and jocularity, but instantly directed his attention and discourse to
King Boy, who maintained an earnest and pretty animated conversation with
him for some time. As we were frequently pointed out, and named, we had no
doubt whatever that it was chiefly concerning ourselves, which opinion wag
soon after confirmed.
Shortly after the termination of the palaver how transported we were to hear
King Boy explain himself in broken English to this effect: "In the conversation
which I have just had with Obie, I have been induced to olfer him the goods
,which he demands for your ransom, on the faith that they be hereafter repaid
me by the master of the brig Thomas which is now lying in the first Brass River,
and that the value of fifteen bars, or slaves, be added thereto in Europiean goods,
and likewise a cask of rum, as a remuneration for the hazard and trouble which
I shall inevitably incur in transporting you to Brass. If you consent to these
conditions, and on these only, 1 consent to redeem you ; you will Ibrthwith give
me a bill on Captain Lake for the receipt of the articles to the value of thirty-five
bars, after which, you will be at liberty to leave this place, and go along with me
whenever you may think proper, agreeably to the understanding at present ex-
isting between Obie and myself
This was heavenly news indeed, and we immediately gave the bill on Mr.
Lake, rejoiced at the opportunity which seemed so providentially opened to ua
of getting down to the sea. Obie perceived by the great and sudden change in
our countenances the joy that filled our breasts; and having asked us whether
we were not pleased with his arrangements, in the fullness of our hearts, he ex-
acted from us a promise that on returning to England, we should inform our
countrymen that he was a good man, and that we would pay him a visit when-
ever we should come again into the country.
When King Boy came for his book, I gave it him, and he wished to send it
down to the brig, to know if it was good. This I had expected, so I told him
that the book would be of no use unless we were sent along with it, and that the
captain would not pay it before he had taken us on board the brig, on which he
put it into his pocket-book.
48
562 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
Fearing that something might yet occur to detain us, and ultimately change th<i
king's resolution altogether, we lost not a moment, but hastened to oni lodgings,
and having sent our people on board Boy's ranoe, we hurried after them imme-
diately, and embarked at three in the afternoon. This canoe was extremely
large and heavily laden. It was paddled by i'orty men and boys, in addition to
whom there might have been about twenty individuals, go that the whole number
would amount to at least sixty. At seven in the evening we settled ourselves for
the night.
King Boy slept on shore with his wife Addizetta, Obie's favourite daughter,
and on her account we waited till between seven and eight o'clock in themorn-
ing, when she made her appearance with her husband. On stepping into tlie
canoe, with a spirit of gallantry. Boy handed her to the best seat, on a box close
to which he himself sat, and which we had relinquished in her favour fiom mo-
tives of delicacy. Addizetta might have been between twenty and thirty years
of age; her person was tall, stout, and well proportioned, her countenance
round and open, but dull, and singularly inexpressive, her forehead was smooth,
and shining as politfhed ebony, her eyes full, large, and beautiful, though languid;
her cheeks of a Dutch-like breadth and fulness, her nose finely compressed, her
mouth pretty, and embellished by a set of elegant teeth, perfectly even and regu-
lar, and white as the teeth of a greyhound; her chin — but I cannot describe a
chin ; I only know that it agreed well with the other features of the face. Her
dress consisted of a piece of figured silk encircling the waist and extending as
low as the knees, her woolly hair tastily braided and enclosed in a net, ended
in a peak; the net was adorned with coral beads, strings of which hung from
the crown to the forehead. She wore necklaces of the same costly bead, copper
rings encircled her fingers and great toes, bracelets of ivory her wrists, and enor-
mous rings also of elephant's tusks decorated her legs, near the ankle, by which
she was almost disabled from walking, on account of their prodigious weight
and immense size. Her person was tattooed in various parts, and by the side
of each eye near the temple vein was formed the representation of the point of
an arrow.
About ten in the morning a mess of fish, boiled with yams and plantains, was
provided for breakfast. As King Boy was fearful that our presence might in-
commode his lady, we were desired to move farther back, that she might eat
with additional confidence and comfort, for alas! we were not placed on an
equality with Addizetta and her kingly spouse.
No two individuals in the world have had greater reason (o complain of dis-
turbed slumbers or nightly watching than ourselves. Hitherto it had been occa-
sioned chiefly by exposure to damps, rains, and dews, mosquito attacks, frightful
and piercing noises, or over-fatigue, or anxiety of mind. But now in the ab-
sence of most of these causes, we were cramped for want of room, insomuch
that we found it impossible to place ourselves in a recumbent posture witl.out
having the heavy legs of Mr. and Mrs. Boy, with their prodigious ornaments of
ivory, placed either on our faces or on our breasts. It would Le ridiculous to
suppose that one could enjoy the refreshment of sleep, when two or more un-
covered legs and feet, huge, black, and rough, were traversing one's face and
body, stopping up the passages of respiiaiion, and pressing so heavily as at
times to threaten tufiocation. I could not long cnduie fo serious an inconve-
nience, but preferred last night to sit up in the canoe. My brother was indis-
posed and unable to follow ray example, and therefore I endeavoured, if possi-
ble, to render his situation more tolerable. With this object in view, I pinched
the feet of our snoring companions, Mr. and Mrs. Boy, till the pain caused
them to awake and remove them from his face.
We continued our course down the river until about two houre after mid-
night, when we stopped near a small village, and taking my mat in my hand, I
went on shore determined, if possible, to sleep on the ground. Overccme by
fatigue, and the fJaar of being attacked by alligators, or any thing else, 1 selected
adry place and laid myself down on my mat. fi had nearly dropped asleep when
1 was roused by severv.1 severe stings, and found myself covered with black ants.
Tiicy had £0t up my trpwsers, and were lormeutiug me dreadfully. At first
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 563
1 knew not what to do, and ran about as fast as I could with the idea of shaking
them off, but with all my endeavours, it was long before I could get rid of them.
Our men, Pascoe, Sam, and Jowdie, seeing the condition I was in, landed from
the canoe, and made large fires in the form of a ring. I laid down in the midst
of them and slept till day-light The sting of a black ant is quite as painful as
that of a wasp.
In about four days from the time of leaving the Eboe country, the travellers
under conduct of King Boy and his escort, arrived at Brass town, which stands
about sixty miles ft-om the ocean. It is described as a most wretched, filthy, and
abominable place. Properly speaking, it consisted of two towns, one of them
under the domination of a noted scoundrel called King Jacket, and the other
governed by a rival chief named King Forday, This chief soon sent Richard
Lander a summons to visit him, and he accordingly complied with it. His house
stood about a hundred yards from that of King Boy, with whom the travellers
were lodged. On entering it, Richard Lander says, I found him sitting half-
drunk, with about a dozen of his Wives and a number of dogs in a filthy room.
I was desired to sit down by his side, and to drink a glass of rum. He then gave
me to understand as well as he could that it was customary for every white man
who came to the river, to pay him four bars. I expressed my ignorance and
surprise at this, but was soon silenced by his saying " That is my demand, and I
shall not allow you to leave this town until you give me a. book for that amount."
Seeing that I had nothing to do but to comply with his demand, I gave him a bill
on Lake, the commander of the English vessel, after which he said, "To-morrow
you may go to the brig, and take one servant with you : but your mate," mean-
ing my brother, " must remain here with your seven people, until my son. King
Boy, shall bring the goods for himself and me ; after this they shall be sent on
board without delay." Much as I regretted the necessity of parting with my
brother, I was obliged to agree to this arrangement ; and with the hopes of profit-
ing by it, I told King Forday that we were all very hungry, and begged him to
send us a fowl or two ; which he promised to do.
In order that I might make a decent appearance before my countrymen, I was
obliged to sit all the afternoon with an old cloth wrapped round me, until my
clothes were washed and dried. Six o'clock in the evening came, and the mean
old king sent us neither fowls nor yams. This was the most starving place that
we had yet seen. Mr. Gun gave us two meals, consisting of a Kttle pounded
yam, and fish stewed in palm oil, and for this he had the impudence to demand
two muskets in payment. These fellows, hke the rest on the coast, were a set
of imposing rascals, little better than downright savages. We were told that
they had lately absolutely starved three white men to death, who were wrecked
in a slaving vessel when crossing the bar.
The next day, agreeable to the arrangment imposed upon him by King For-
day, Richard Lander with one attendant, leaving his brother and the others of
his party at Brass town, embarked with King Boy on board his canoe, and the
next morning arrived in the main branch of the Q,uorra river, which is called the
river Nun, or the First "Brass River, having entered it, he says, opposite to a
large branch, which King Boy informed me runs to Benin. The direction of the
river Nun was here nearly north and south, and we kept on our com'se down
the stream.
About a quarter of an hour after we had entered the river Nun, we descried,
at a distance before us two vessels lying at anchor. The emotions of delight
which the sight of them occasioned were quite beyond my powers of description.
The one nearest to us was a schooner, a Spanish slave vessel, whose captain we
had seen at Brass town. Our canoe was quickly by her side, and I went on
board. The captain received me very kindly, and invited me to take some spirits
and water with him.
We next directed our course to the English brig, which was lying about three
hundred yards lower down the river. Having reached her with feelings of de-
light mingled with doubt, I went on board. Here I found every thing in a sad
condition: four of the crew had just died of fever; four more which completed
tbe whole, were lying sick in their hammocks, and the captain appeared to be
564 RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
in the very last stage of illness. I now stated to him who I was, explained my
situation to him as well as I could, and had my instructions read to him hy one
of his own people, that he might see 1 wiis not imposing on him. 1 then re-
quested that he would redeem us by paying what had been demanded hy King
Boy; and assured him that whatever he might give to him on our account, would
certainly be repaid to him by the British government. To my utter surprise
and consternation, he ilatfy refused to give u single thing, and ill and weak as he
was, made use of the most offensive and shameful oaths I ever heard. " If you
think, " said he, "that you have a fool to deal with, you are mistaken: I'll riot
give a b y flint for your bill ; I would not give a for it." Petrified with
amazement, at such conduct, I shrunk iVom him with terror. I could scarcely
believe what I heard till my ears were assailed with a repetition of the same.
Disappointed beyond measure at such brutal conduct from one of my own
countrymen, my feelings totally overpowered me, and I was ready to sink witli
grief and shame.
Returning to the canoe, I told King Boy that he must take us to Bonny, as
plenty of English ships were there. "No, no," .said he, "dis captain no pay,
Bonny captain no pay ; I wont take you any further." As this would not do,
I again had recourse to the captain, and implored him to do something for me,
telling him if he would let me have only ten muskets. Boy might be content with
them, when he found that he could get nothing else. The only reply I received
was, " I have told you already I will not let you have even a flint, so bother me
no more." " But I have a brother and eight people at Brass town," I said to
him ; " and if you do not intend to pay King Boy, ut least persuade him to bring
them heie, or else he will poison or starve my brother before I can get any assis-
tance from a man-of-war, and sell all my people." The only answer I received
was, " If you can get them on board, I will take them away ; but as I have told
you before, you do not get a flint from me." I then endeavoured to persuade
lioy to go back for my people, and that he should be paid some time or other.
"Yes," said the captain, "make haste and brin^ them." Boy very naturally
required some of his goods before he went, and it was with no small difliculty
I prevailed on lum to go without them. He, however, got ready to depart, and
I sent my man in his canoe with a note for my brother. I desired him to give
Antonio a note on any English captain he might find at Bonny for his wages,
and also one for the Damuggoo people, that they might receive tlie small present
I had promised to their good old chief At two in the afternoon. King Boy left
me, promising to return with my brother and people in three days, but grumbhug
at not having been paid his goods.
The next morning Captain Lake seemed to be much better and I ventured to
ask him for a change of linen, of which I was in great want. He readily com-
plied with my request. In the course of the morning I conversed with him
about our travels, related to him the particulars of our conditon, pointed out the
injurious consequences that would result from not keeping our word witli King
Boy, and again asked him to give me ten muskets for my bill on Government.
He had listened to my story with attention, but I no sooner advanced my wants,
than with a furious oath he repeated his refusal, and finding him as deterniined
as ever he had been, I mentioned it no more. He moreover told me, in the
most unkind and petulcnt manner, " If your brother and people are not here
in three days, I go without them."
Fearing he would do this, I took an opportunity of begging him, in the event
of my brother and men not arriving by the 23d, (the expiration of the three
days) to wait a little longer for them, asserting that if he went away without
them, they would be assuredly starved or sold as slaves, but he replied, " I cant
help it, I shall wait no longer."
The 22d I was on the look-out the whole day for him and our men. Lake,
observing the distress I was in, told me not to trouble myself any more about
them ; adding, that he was sure he was dead, and that I need not expect to see
him again. " If he had been alive", said Lake, " he would have been here by
this time ; to-morrow morning I shall leave the river."
The next morning, to my great joy and the mortification of Lake, the sea-
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 565
freeze was so strong as to raise a considerable surf on the bar, and prevented us
from getting out. This was an anxious time, and the whole of the day my eyes
were riveted to the part of the river where I knew my brother must come, with-
out my seeing any thing of him. The day passed away in tedious watching, and
the night was far spent without my seeing him. About midnight, I saw several
large canoes making their way over to the west bank of the river, in one of
which I imagined I could distinguish my brother. I observed them soon after
land, and saw, by the fires which they made, that they had encamped under some
mangrove trees. All my apprehensions vanished in an instant, and I was over-
joyed with the tfioughLs of meeting my brother in the morning.
The Captam of the brig having observed them, suddenly exclaimed: — "Now
we shall have a little fighting to-morrow ; go you and load seventeen muskets,
and put five btick-shot into each. I will take care that the cannon shall be load-
ed to the muzzle with balls and flints, and if there is any row, I will give them
such a scouring as they never had." He then directed me to place the muskets
and cutlasses out of sight, near the stern of the vessel, and said to me ; — The in-
stant your people come on board call them aft, and let them stand by the arms.
Tell them, if there is any row, to arm themselves directly, and drive all the Brass
people overboard." Tnis was summary work, with a vengeance, and every
thing betokened that Lake was in earnest.
In the morning at day-break, I was on the lookout for my brother, and ob-
served him and Uie people get into the canoe. They had no sooner embarked
than they all landed again, which I could account for in no other way than by
supposing that it was the intention of Boy to keep them on shore until he had
received his goodrf. I was not long in this state of anxiety, for at about seven
o'clock they embarked and were brought on board.
My station, during the time the canoe was coming from the shore to the ves-
sel, had been by the cannon ; it was the only one on board, but had been loaded
as Lake had directed, and pointed to the gangway of the brig where the Brass
people must come. The muskets were all ready, lying concealed where Lake
had directed them to be placed, and he repeated the same orders that he had
given me yesterday, respecting the part my people were to take in the business.
Lake received my brother civilly, but immediately expressed his determination
to dismiss Boy without giving him a single article, and to make the best of his
way out of the river.
Meanwhile King Boy, full of gloomy forebodings, had been lingering about
the deck. He had evidently foresight enough to suspect what was to take place,
and he appeared troubled and uneasy, and bewildered in thought. The poor
fellow was quite an altered person ; his habitual haughtiness had entirely forsak-
en him, and given place to an humble and cringing demeanour. A plate of
meat was presented him, of which he ate sparingly, and showed clearly that he
was thinking more of his promised goods than of his appetite, and a quantity of
rum that was given him was drank carelessly, and without affording any appa-
rent satisfaction. Knowing how things were like to terminate, we endeavour-
ed to get Boy into a good humour by telling him he should certainly have his
goods some time or other, but it was all to no purpoae, the present was the only
thing in his mind.
I rummaged over the few things left us from our disaster at Kirrec, and
found, to my suprise, five silver bracelets wrapped up in a piece of flannel. I
was not aware of having these, and immediately offered them to him, along v/ith
a native sword — a great curiosity, which we had brought with us from Yarriba,
with the intention of taking it to England. Boy accepted of these, and my
brother then offered him his watch. This was refused with disdain, for Bo/
knew not its value ; and calling one of his men to look at what he said we wish-
ed to impose on him in lieu of his bars, both of^ them, witli a significant groan,
turned from u;^ with scorn amd indignation, nor would they speak to us or even
look at us again.
Boy now ventured to approach Captain Lake on the quarter deck, and with
an anxious, petitioning countenance, asked for the goods which had been prom-
ised him. Prepared for the desperate game he was about to play, it was the ob-.
46^
566
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER.
ject of Lake to gain as much time as possible that he might get his vessel under
way before he came to an open rupture. Therefore he pretended to be busy
in writing, and desired Boy to wait a moment. Becoming impatient with delay,
Boy repeated his demand a second and a third time, " Give me my bars." "I
NO WILL," said Lake, in a voice of thunder, " I no will, I tell you ; I won't give
you a flint." Terrified by the demeanour of Lake, and the threats and
oaths he made use of, poor King Boy suddenly retreated, and seeing men going
aloft to loosen the sails, apprehensive of being carried off" to sea, he quickly dis-
appeared from the deck, and was soon observed making his way on shore in his
canoe, with the rest of his people ; this was the last we saw of him.
At ten in the morning, the vessel was got under way and we dropped down
the river. At noon the breeze died away, and we were obliged to let go an
anchor to prevent our .drifting on the western breakers at the mouth of the riv-
er. A few minutes more would have been fatal to us, and the vessel was fortu-
nately stopped, although the depth of water where she lay was only five fathoms.
The rollers which came into the river over the bar were so high that they some-
times passed nearly over the bow of the vessel, and caused her to ride very un-
easily by her anchor.
The vessel rode very uneasy all night, in consequence of the long heavy
waves which set in from the bar, and which are called by the sailors ground sicell.
About eleven we got under way, but were obliged to anchor again in the after-
noon, as the water was not deep enough for the vessel to pass the bar. The
next morning, the wind favouring us, we made another attempt at getting out of
the river. We had already made some progress when the wind again died
away, and the current setting us rapidly over to the eastern breakers, we were
obliged to let go an anchor to save us from destruction. Immediately the tide
rushed past the vessel at the rate of eight miles an hour.
We passed a restless and most uneasy night. The Captain and the people
were much alarmed for the safety of the brig. The heavy ground swell which
set in, increased by the strength of the tide, caused her to pitch and labour so
hard that a man was placed to watch the cable, and give notice the moment it
complained. Daylight had scarcely dawned when the pall of the windlass broke.
The chain cable ran out so swiftly that in half a minute the windlass was broken
to atoms. My brother and I, with our people, rendered all the assistance in our
power to prevent the ship from drifting. We succeeded in fastening the cable
to ringbolts, but soon the ringbolts were fairly drawn out of the deck by the strain
on Che cable.
About eight o'clock in the morning, a terrific wave, called by sailors a sea,
struck the vessel with tremendous force and broke the chain cable. " The cable
is gone," shouted a voice, and the next instant the Captain cried out in a firm,
collected tone, " cut away the kedge," which was promptly obeyed, and the ves-
sel was again stopped from drifting among the breakers.
We were riding by the kedge, a small anchor, on which the safety of the brig
now depended. The breakers were close under our stern, and this was not ex-
pected to hold ten minutes — it was a forlorn hope — every eye was fixed on the
raging surf, and every heart thrilled with agitation, expecting every moment that
tlie vessel would be dashed in pieces. A few long and awful minutes were pas-
sed in this state, which have left an indelible impression on our minds. Never
shall I forget the chief mate saying to me, " Now, Sir, every one for himself;
a few minutes will be the last of us." The tumultuous sea was raging in moun-
tainous waves close by us, their foam dashing against the sides of the brig, which
was only prevented fiom being carried among them by a weak anchor and ca-
ble. 'J he natives, from whom we could expect no favours, were busy on shore
making large fires, and other signals for us to desert the vessel and land at cer-
tain places, expecting, no doubt, every moment to see her a prey to tlie waves,
and those who escaped their fury to lall into their hands. Wretched resource !
the eea would have been far more merciful than they.
Such was our perilous situation, when a fine sea-breeze set in which literally
«aved us from destiuction. The sails were loosened to relieve the anchor from
the atrain of the vessel, and she rode out the ebb tide widiout drifting. At ten
RICHARD AND JOHN LANDER. 567
A. M. the tide had nearly ceased running out, and the fury of the sea rather
abated. At half-past ten the wind fell light, and instead of drifting over to the
western breakers as yesterday and the day before, the bi'ig was now set towards
those on the eastern side, and again we had a narrow escape. But with the as-
sistance of the boat, and good management, we at length passed clear over the
bar on the edge of the breakers, in a depth of water less than three fathoms,
and made sail to the eastward. Our troubles were now at an end ; by the pro-
tection of a merciful Providence, we had escaped dangers, the very thoughts of
which had filled our hearts with horror ; and with a grateful heart and tears of
joy for all his mercies, we offered up a silent prayer of thanlts for our dehv-
erance.
The great problem of the termination of the Niger was now solved; Richard
and John Lander, beginning at the point where Park lost his hfe in the attempt,
had the honour of being the first Europeans to traverse it to its termination, and
to behold it, with absolute certainty, minghng its far descending waters with the
waves of the ocean in the bay of Benin.
In two days time. Captain Lake landed them in the island of Fernando Po,
whence they took passage for Rio Janeiro, and thence sailed to England, where
they arrived and landed at Portsmouth, June 9th, 1831, having been absent about
one year and four months. Richard Lander, leaving his brother here, hastened
to London, where he arrived the next morning, and reported their discovery to
Lord Goderich, his Majesty's Colonial Secretary.
SAMUEL HEARNE.
Samuel Hearne was born in London in the year 1742. For a short time
in early life he was a midshipman in the navy. Having entered into the service
of the Hudson's Bay Company, he soon gave proof of his zeal and ability, in ex-
amining the northern coast of Hudson's Bay, and in improving the fishery.
The native Indians, who range over rather than inhabit the large tract of coun-
try north of Churchill river, having repeatedly brought specimens of copper ore
to the company's factory, it was plausibly conjectured that these had been found
not far from the British settlements ; and as the ravages affirmed that the mines
were not very distant from a large river, it was imagined, most erroneously, as
was proved by the result, that this stream must empty itself into Hudson's Bay.
In 1768, the Indians who came to trade at Prince of Wales' Fort brought further
accounts of this river, exhibiting at the same time samples of copper, which they
affirmed to be the produce of a mine in its vicinity. The governor now deter-
mined to despatch an intelligent person across the continent to obtain more pre-
cise information. Samuel Hearne was chosen for this service, a man of great
hardihood and sagacity, bred in the employment of the company, and who, with-
out pretensions to high scientific attainments, possessed sufficient knowledge to
enable him to construct a chart of the country through which he travelled. His
instructionyUirected him to proceed to the borders of the country of the Athabas-
ca Indians,f;vhere it was expected he would meet with a river represented by
the Indians to abound with copper ore, and to be so far nortli that in the middle
of summer the sun did not set. It was called by the natives Neetha-sansan Da-
zey, or the Far-otF Metal River; and Mr. Hearne was directed to explore its
course to the mouth, where he was to determine the latitude and longitude, to
ascertain whether it was navigable, and to judge of the practicability of a settle-
ment. He was enjoined also to examine the mines alleged to exist in that dis-
trict, the nature of the soil and its productions, and to make every inquiry and
observation towards discovering the north-west passage.
On the 6th of November, 1769, he set out from the Prince of Wales' Fort,
Hudson's Bay, upon his perilous journey. He was accompanied by two Eng-
lishmen only — Ilbester, a sailor, and Merriman, a landsman ; by two of the Home
Guard Southern Indians — a name given to those natives residing as servants on
the company's plantation, and employed in hunting ; and by eight Northern In-
dians, under the command of Captain Chawchinahaw and Lieutenant Nabyah.
He was provided with amunition for two years, some necessary iron imple-
ments, a few knives, tobacco, and other useful articles. As to his personal out-
fit, his stock consisted simply of the shirt and clothes he wore, one spare coat, a
pair of drawers, as much cloth as would make two or three pairs of Indian stock-
ings, and a blanket for his bed. " The nature of travelling long journies," he
observes, "in these countries will not admit of carrying even the most common
article of clothing; so that the traveller is obliged to depend on the district he
traverses for his dress as well as his sustenance." The baseness and treachery
of the Indians, however, soon put a period to the first journey, and the desertion
of Chawchinahaw with his whole escort rendered it absolutely necessary for
the little party to make the best of their way back to the fort, where they arrived
SAMUEL IIEARNE. 569
on the 8th of December, after penetrating only two hundred miles into the
interior.
It was now determined to resume the expedition with greater precautions
against failure. The Indian women, who accompanied their husbands in the
first journey, were left behind, as were the two Englishmen, who had been of
Httle service ; and instead of the treacherous Chawchinahaw, Hearne selected
an Indian named Connequeesee, who affirmed he was acquainted with the coun-
try, having once been near the river, the discovery of which formed one great
object of the journey. Attended by this man, along with three Northern In-
dians and two of the Home-guard natives, the traveller once more set out, on
the 23d February, while the snow was so deep on the top of the ramparts of the
fort that few of the cannon could be seen. After undergoing the severest ex-
tremeties from hunger and fatigue, Mr. Hearne reached, in August, the river
Doobaunt, in latitude 63 deg. 10 min. north. The progress thus far, however,
had been painful beyond measure, owing to the difficulty of pushing forward
through a wild unexplored country, intersected with rivers, lakes, and woods,
at the outset thickly covered with snow ; and on the approach of the warmer
months so flooded and marshy as to render travelling on foot inexpressibly fa-
tiguing. To add to this, the voracity, improvidence, and indolence of the In-
dians, subjected the party to repeated distress. If from fishing or hunting a lar-
ger supply than usual was procured, instead of using it with moderation, and
laying up a store for future necessities, all was devoured by the savages, who,
like the boa after he has gorged his prey, coiled themselves up, and remained in
a state of sleepy torpor till the call of hunger again roused them to activity.
At first the party subsisted without difficulty on the fish which abounded in
the lakes and rivers; but in the beginning of April they entirely disappeared;
and as the " goose season," or period when the geese, swans, ducks, and other
migratory birds resort to these latitudes, was yet distant, they began to sufl:er
grievously for want of provisions. Occasionally they were relieved by killing
a few deer or musk-oxen ; but the ground and the brushwood were so saturat-
ed with moisture from the melting of the snow, that to kindle a fire was impos-
sible ; with their clothes drenched in rain, their spirits depressed, they were com-
pelled to eat their meat raw — a necessity grievous at all times, but in the case of
the flesh of the musk-ox. which is rank, tough, and strongly impregnated with
the sickening substance from which it derives its name, peculiarly repulsive and
unwholesome.
The simple and modest manner in which these severe sufferings are describ-
ed by Hearne is peculiarly striking. *' The record," says he, "in detail of each
day's fare since the commencement of this journey would be little more than a
dull repelition of the same circumstances. A sufficient idea of it may be given in
a few words, by observing, that it may justly be said to have been either all
feasting or all famine; sometimes we had too much, seldom just enough, fre-
quently too little, and often none at all. It will be only necessary to say, that we
fasted many t'mes tvvo whole days and nights, twice upwards of three days, and
once, while at Shenanhee, near seven days, during which we tasted not a
mouthful of any thing, except a few cranberries, water, scraps of old leather,
and burnt bones." On these pressing occasions Hearne often saw the Indians
examine their wardrobe, which consisted chiefly of skin clothing, considering
attentively what part could best be spared, when sometimes a piece of half
rotten deer-skin, at others a pair of old shoes would be sacrificed to alleviate ex-
treme hunger. "None of our natural wants," he observes, "if we except thirst,
are so distressing or hard to endure as hunger, and in wandering situations like
that which I now experienced, the hardship is greatly aggravated by the uncer-
tainty with regard to its duration,.and the means most proper to be used to remove
it, as well as by the labour and fatigue we must necessarily undergo for that pur-
pose, and the disappointments which too frequently frustrated our best concert-
ed plans and most strenuous exertions. It not only enfeebles the body, but de-
presses the spirits, in spite of every effort to prevent it. Besides which, for want
of acfion, the stomach so far looses its digestive powers, that after a long fast, it
resumes its office with pain and reluctance. During this journey I have too
570 SAMUEL HEABNB.
frequently experienced the dreadful effects of this calamity, and more than once
been reduced to so low a state by hunger, that when Providence threw any thing
in my way, my stomach has been scarcely able to retain more than two or three
ounces without producing the most oppressive pain."
On the 30th ol' June they arrived at a small river called Cathawhachaga, which
empties itself into White Snow Lake, in 64 deg. north latitude. Here, as the
guide declared they could not that summer reach the Coppermine River, Hearne
determined to pass the winter, with the intention of pushing on to his destina-
tion in 1771. They accordingly ibrsook their northward route, and taking a
westerly course were joined in a few days by many troops of wandering In-
dians; so that by the 30th of July they mustered about seventy tents, contain-
ing nearly six hundred souls, and ou moving in the morning the whole ground
seemed alive with men, women, children, and dogs. The deer were so plenty
that, though lately five or six individuals had almost perished with hunger, this
numerous body supported themselves with great ease, and often killed their
game for the skins, leaving the carcass to be devoured by the foxes. In this
manner, engaged alternately in hunting and fishing, making observations on the
country, and studying the extraordinary manners of his associates, the English
traveller was preparing for his winter sojourn, when an accident rendered his
quadrant useless, and compelled him, on the 13th of August, to set out on his
return to the ibrt.
The hardships he endired on his route homeward were various and accumu-
lated. He was plundered by the Northern Indians, who, adding insult to injury,
entered his tent, smoked a pipe which they filled with the white man's tobacco,
asked to see his luggage, and without waiting for an answer turned the bag inside
out, and spread every article on the ground. The work of appropriation was
equally rapid, and the empty bag was flung to the owner; but a fit of compunc-
tion seizing them, they restored a knife, an awl, and a needle. On begging hard
for his razors, they consented to give up one, and added soap enough to shave
him during the remainder of his journey, making him understand that the sur-
render of these articles called for his warmest gratitude.
As the cold weather approached, the party thus plundered suffered grievous-
ly for want of that warm deer-skin clothing used by the Indians at this season.
A dress of this kind is rather costly, requiring the prime parts of from eight to
eleven skins. These Hearne at last managed to collect ; but as the Indian women
alone could prepare them, he was compelled to carry this load along with him
from day to day, earnestly begging the natives, at each successive resting place,
to permit their wives to dress his skins. He met, however, with a surly and
uniform refusal; and at last, after bearing the burden for several weeks, was
forced to throw it olF, and sustain tlie cold as he best could, without either skin-
clothing or snow-shoes. When, continuirg their course in this forlorn condition
to the southeast, they met with Captain Matonabbee, a powerful and intelligent
chief, who was then on his way to Prince of Wales' Fort, with furs and other
articles of trade. It was this person who brought the accounts of the Copper-
mine River, which induced the company to fit out the expedition, and he was
naturally interested in its success. He evinced the utmost activity in relieving
their wants, furnished them with a warm suit of otter and other skins, and, not
being able to provide them with snow-shoes, directed them to a small range of
woods, where they found materials for both shoes and sledges. Matonabbee
then treated the party to a feast, and took occiision in his conversation with
Hearne to explain the causes of his failure, and to offer his assisiance in a third
expedition. He attiibuted all their misfortunes to the misconduct of the guide,
and to their having no women with them. " In an expedition of this kind," said
he, " when the men are all so heavily laden that they can neither hunt nor trav-
el to any considerable distance, in case they meet with success in hunting who i.s
to carry the produce of their labour? Women were made for labour; one of
them can carry or haul as nmch as two men can do. They also pitch our tents,
make and mend our clothing, keep us warm at night; and, in fact, there is no
such thing as travelling any considerable distance, or for any length of time, in
tliis country, without Uiem; and yet, though they do every thing, they are main•^
SAMUEL HEARNE. 571
tained at a trifling expense ; for, as they always cook, the very licking of their
fingers, in scarce times, is sufficient for their subsistence." Assisted by this friend-
ly chief, the English traveller again set forward, and after experiencing an in-
tense degree of cold, by which the favourite dog in his sledge was frozen to
death, he reached the fort on the 25th of November, having been absent eight
months and twenty-two days. Matonabbee arrived a few days after.
Though twice compelled to return, Hearne, whose spirit was not to be over-
come by fatigue or disappointment, offered his services to proceed on a third
journey, which was ultimately crowned with success. For this he engaged Mat-
onabbee as guide, and declined taking any Home-guard Indians. Their place,
however, was occupied, according to the principles already laid down, by seven
of Matouabbee's wives, who, by the assistance thpy afforded did no disparage-
ment to the singular picture of female activity which he had drawn. They set
out oil the 7th of December, and notwithstanding frequent privations, want of
food, and intense cold, their sufferings were not so aggravated as in the former
attempts. The country through which they passed towards the west was wild
and barren, occasionally covered with thick shrubby woods of stunted pine and
dwarf juniper, studded with frequent lakes and swamps, whose sides were fring-
ed with willows. Through this ground they travelled in high spirits, but on
rather short commons, owing to the scarcity of deer, and the improvidence of the
Indians, who consumed every thing in store during the first days of their march,
trusting to find a stock of provisions which they had hid in a certain spot on
their way to the fort. On reaching the place, however, they discovered that the
provisions had been carried off; and the equanimity with which the Indians bore
the disappointment, and travelled forward under the conjoined miseries of hun-
ger and fatigue, was very striking. At last they succeeded in killing a few deei,
and halted to take some refreshment. For a whole day they never ceased eat-
ing, and an additional repast on two large buck deer, which they killed a few days
after, at last fairly overcame Captain Matonabbee, who, after devouring at one
flitting as much as would have satisfied six moderate men, seemed somewhat un-
reasonably astonished to find himself indisposed.
Having recovered from the eflects of this surfeit, they proceeded from Island
Lake toward the main branch of the Cathawhachaga, which they crossed, and
■directing their course by Patridge Lake, and Snow Bird Lake, arrived on the 2d
•of March at a large tent of Northern Indians, not far from the Doobaunt Whoi«
River. Although these people had remained in the same spot since the begin-
ning of winter, they found a plentiful subsistence by catching deer in a pound.
Their mode of accompUshing this is to select a well frequented deer path, and
enclose with a strong f'ence of twisted trees and brushwood a space of about a
mile in circumference, and sometimes more. The entrance of the pound is not
larger than a common gate, and its inside is crowded with innumerable small
hedges, in the openings of which are fixed snares of strong well twisted thongs.
One end is generally fastened to a growing tree; and as all the wood and jun-
gle within the enclosure is left standing, its interior forms a complete labyrinth.
On each side of the door, a line of small trees, stuck up in the snow fifteen or
twenty yards apart, form two sides of an acute angle, widening gradually from
the entrance, from which they sometimes extend two or three miles. Between
these rows of brushwood runs the path frequented by the deer. When all things
are prepared, the Indians take their station on some eminence commanding
a prospect of this path, and the moment any deer are seen going that way, the
whole encampment, men, women, and children, steal under cover of the woods
till they get behind them. They then show themselves in the open ground, and,
drawing up in the form of a crescent, advance with shouts. The deer, finding
themselves pursued, and at the same time imagining the rows of brushy poles to
be people stationed to pievent their passing en either side, run straight lorward
till they get into the pound. The Indians instantly close in, block up the en-
trance, and while the women and children run round the outside to prevent
them from breaking or leaping the fence, the men enter with their spears and
bows, and speedily dispatch such aa are caught in the snares or are runmng
loose.
572 SAMUEL HEARNE.
On the 8th of April, they reached an island in a small lake named Thelewey-
aza-weth, and pitched their tent; and as the deer were numerous, and the party,
which had been joined by various wandering Indians, now amounted to seventy
persons, they determined to remain (or some time, and make preparations for
their enterprise in the ensuing summer. They were busily employed during
their intervals from hunting, in providing staves of birch about one and a quarter
inch square and seven or eight feet long, which served for tent-poles all the sum-
mer, and were converted into snow-shoes in winter. Birch-rind, with timbers
and other wood for canoes, formed also objects of attention ; and as Clowey,
the place fixed upon for building their canoes, was still many miles distant, all
the wood was reduced to its proper size to make it Ught for carriage. At this
place Matonabbee solaced himself by purchasing of some Northern Indians an-
other wife, who for size and sinews, might have shamed a grenadier. "Take
them in a body," says Hearne, "and the Indian women are as destitute of real
beauty as those of any nation I ever saw, although there are some few of them
when young who are tolerable; but the care of a family, added to their constant
hard labour, soon make the most beautiful among them look old and wrinkled,
even before they are thirty, and several of the more ordinary ones at that age are
perfect antidotes to the tender passion. Ask a Northern Indian, What is beauty ?
he will answer, A broad flat face, small eyes, high cheek-bones, three or four
broad black lines across each cheek, a low forehead, a large broad chin, a hook
nose, and a tawny hide. These beauties are greatly heightened, or at least ren-
dered more valuable, if the possessor is capable of dressing all kinds of skins,
and able to carry eight or ten stone in summer, and to haul a far greater weight in
winter. Such and similar accomplishments are all that are sought after or ex-
pected in an Indian Northern woman. As to their temper, it is of little conse-
quence ; for the men have a wonderful facility in making the most stubborn
comply with as nmch alacrity as could be expected from those of the mildest and
most obliging turn of mind."
Before starting from this station, Matonabbee took the precaution of sending
in advance a small party with tlie wood and birch-rind; they were directed to
press forward to Clowey, a lake near the barren ground, and there build the boat,
to be ready upon their arrival. When the journey was about to be resumed, one
of the women was taken in labour. The moment the poor creature was de-
livered, " which," says Hearne, "was not till she had suffered a severe labour of
fifty-two hours," the signal was made for setting forward; the mother took her
infant on her back, and walked with the rest ; and though another person had
the humanity to haul her sledge lor one day only, she was obliged to carry a con-
siderable load in addition to her little one, and was compelled lirequently to wade
knee-deep in water and wet snow. Amid all this, her looks, pale and emaciated,
and the moans which burst from her, sutiiciently proved the intolerable pain she
endured, but produced no effect upon the hard hearts of her husband and his
companions. When an Indian woman is taken in labour, a small tent is erected
for her, at such a distance from the encampment that her cries cannot be heard,
and the other women are her attendants, no male except children in arms, ever
offering to approach ; and even in the most critical cases no assistance is ever
given, — a conduct arising from the opinion that nature is sufticient to perform
all that is necessary. When Hearne niformed them of the assistance derived by
European women from the skill and attention of regular practitioners, tlieir an-
swer was ironical and characteristic. "No doubt," said they, " the many hump-
backs, bandy-legs, and other deformities so common among you tnglish are
owing to the great skill of the persons who assisted in bringing them into the
world, and to the extraordinary care of tlieir nurses afterward."
In eleven days they travelled a distance of eighty -five miles, and on Uie 3d of
May arrived at Clowey, where they were joined by some t^trange Indians, aiu
commenced the important business of building their canoes. The party ton:
ahead lor this purpose arrived only two days belore, and had made no progress
injoining the timbers they had carried along with them. The whole tools ysed
by an Indian in this operation, in making snow-shoes, and all other kinds of
wood-work, are a hatchet, a knife, a file, and an awl ; but in the use of these tlwOT .
SAMUEL HEARNE. 573
are very dexterous. In shape, their canoes bear some resenibla'nce to a weaver's
shuttle, having flat bottoms, with strait upright sides, and sharp at each end;
The stern is the widest part, being constructed Cor the reception of the baggage;
and occasionally it admits a second person, who hes at full length in the bottom
of the little vessel, which seldom exceeds twelve or thirteen feet in length, and
about two feet in breadth at the widest part. The forepart is unnecessarily long
and narrow, and covered with birch'bark, which adds to the weight without con-
tributing to the burden of the canoev The Indians, for the most part, employ
a single paddle; double ones, like those of the Esquimaux, are seldom used un-
less by hunters, who he in ambush for the purpose of killing deer as they cross
rivers and narrow lakes. Upon the whole, their vessels, though formed of the same
materials as those of the Southern Indians, are much smaller and lighter ; and,
from the extreme simplicity of build, are the best that could be contrived for the
necessities of these poor savages, who are frequently obliged to carry them upon
their back a hundred and sometimes a hundred and fifty miles, without having
occasion to launch them.
At Clowey the expedition was joined by nearly two hundred Indians from
various quarters, most of whom built canoes there ; and on the 23d of May, Mr.
Hearne and Matonabbee, whose character and consequence effectually protected
the white man from plunder, proceeded northward. For some time they met
with no distresses, except those occasioned by the intense cold, which had been
preceded by thunder-storms and torrents of rain. Misfortune, however, now
attacked Matonabbee on the tender side of his eight wives, the handsomest of
whom eloped in the night, accompanied by another woman. Both having been
carried off by force, it was suspected they had fled to the eastward with the plan
of rejoining their former husbands. Scarcely had the savage polygamist recov-
ered from this blow, when he experienced a fresh mortification : an Indian of
great strength, from whom Matonabbee a short time before had purchased a
stout, and therefore valuable wife, insisted on taking her back, unless he instant-
ly surrendered a certain quantity of ammunition, a kettle, some pieces of iron,
and other articles. The hardship of this case arose from an extraordinary custom,
by which the men are permitted to wrestle for any woman to whom they are
attached, the victorious party carrying off the prize. It is for this reason that
the greatest emulation prevails in all the athletic exercises among the young In-
dians ; and the children are perpetually seen trying their powers at wrestling,
under the idea that this is the education which will chiefly benefit them when
they grow up. A weak man seldom long retains a wife whose services another
wants ; for when the helpmates of an able-bodied savage are too heavily laden
with furs or provisions, he makes no scruple in seizing the spouse of his weaker
neighbour, and transferring part of the burden to her back ; while, if the injured
party cannot challenge the aggressor to a wrestling-match, he must not otherwise
complain. The distress, therefore of Matonabbee upon this occasion may be
easily accounted for, as he was wounded in his pride and in his property ii not
in his affections. But a personal contest was out of the question, and he was
obliged to purchase his favourite over again, by yielding up all that was demand-
ed by his antagonist. This affair had nearly proved a serious obstacle to the
expedition ; for so bitterly did the chief resent the affront, entertaining the high-
est ideas of his personal consequence, that he had resolved, like a Coriolanus of
the New World, to renounce all further alliance with his countrymen, and
join the Athabasca Indians, among whom he had formerly resided. But
Hearne strenuously opposed this project, and at last succeeded in dissuading hinj
from it.
Having agreed to proceed, Matonabbee, for the better prosecution of the
enterprise, determined to make some new arrangements : he selected his two
youngest wives, who were unencumbered with children, as alone worthy to ac-
company him, while the remainder, with all their luggage, and a considerable
number of men, were commanded to await the return of the party from the
Coppermine Uiver. This change of plan, however, was not carried through
without difhculty. When the hour of separation came, and Matonabbee and
Hearne set out in the evening of the 31st of May, alow murmur of lamentation
49
574 SAMUEL HEARNE.
proceeded from the tents of the women who were left behind, which, running
through all the notes of increasing grief, at last burst into a loud yell. This con-
tinued as long as the party were in sight; nor was it without much angry ex-
postulation that some of them were prevented from following their husbands.
The Indians, however, regarded all this, which deeply aifected their European
associates, with indifference, walking forward without casting behind them a
single look or word of sympathy, and joyfully congratulating themselves on
getting rid of the women, dogs, children, and other encumbrances, which added
so greatly to the toil of the journey. One article they all carried, although to
Hearne it appeared unnecessary, considering the expedition to be pacific, — this
was a target of thin boards, two feet broad and about three feet long. On in-
quiring for what purpose these shields were to be used, he discovered that the
main consideration which reconciled the Indians to this expedition was the hope
of attacking and murdering the Esquimaux who frequented tlie Coppermine
River, between whom and the other Indian tribes there had long existed a dead-
ly enmity. All the arguments employed by Hearne were insufficient to dissuade
them from these hostile intentions.
The party, having crossed the arctic circle, arrived at Cogead Lake, which
they found frozen over ; so that they traversed its creeks and bays without the
aid of their canoes. Thence they directed their course due north till they met
with a branch of the Congecathawhachaga River, where some Copper Indians
received them with great kindness, and readily sent all their canoes to their as-
sistance,— a piece of courtesy particularly seasonable, as the ice had now broken
up. To these Indians Hearne explained the object of his journey, and his guide
being personally known to them, they treated the party which consisted of one
hundred and fifty persons, with distinguished honour; a feast was given, the
English traveller smoked with them his calumet of peace, and their chiefs ex-
pressed the greatest anxiety that a European settlement should be established in
the neighbourhood of the Coppermine River. They acknowledged they had
never found tlie sea at the mouth of the river free from ice ; but with singular
simplicity seemed to consider this a very trifling objection, observing, that the
water was always so smooth between the ice and the shore, that even small
boats could sail there with great ease ; and inferring that what a canoe could do
a large ship must be sure to accomplish. As Hearne was the first white man they
had seen, he was surrounded by numbers, who examined him with the utmost
minuteness. The result, however, was satisfactory ; for they at last pronounced
him to be a perfect human being, except in the colour of his hair and eyes: the
first they insisted was like the stained hair of a buffalo's tail, and the last, being
light, were compared to those of a gull. The whiteness of his skin, also, was a
circumstance on which they demurred a little, observing, that it looked like
meat which had been sodden in water till all the blood was extracted. He con-
tinued,, however, to be viewed with a mixture of curiosity and admiration, and
at his toilet was generally attended by a body of the Indians, who, when he used
his comb, asked lor the hairs which came ofl^. These they carefully wrapped up,
saying, " When I see you again, you shall again see your hair."
On reaching Congecatliawhachaga in latitude 68° 4G' north, Matonabbee
deemed it expedient to leave all the women, talcing the precaution to kill as
many deer as were necessary for their support during his absence. The flesh
was cut into thin slices, and dried in the sun, — a frequent mode of preserving it
)n these high northern latitudes, by which it is kept palatable and nourishing i'o ■
a twelvemonth. Having completed tl^ese arrangements, the party resumed the
journey on tlie 1st of July, proceeding amid dreadful storms of snow, and occ>.
rtional torrents of rain, which drenched them to the skin, through a biirren an
desolate country, where it was impossible with the wet mos^s and green brush
v/ood to kindle a fire. Compelled to take shelter in caves at night, — for they
had no tents,— obliged to eat their meat raw, with the enjoyment of no higher
luxury than a pipe, they yet pushed forward with unshaken perseverance, and
after a week ot great suffering hiid the comfort to observe a complete change in
the weather, which first became moderate, and soon alter eo sultry that it wa«
sometimes impossible to move at all.
SAMUEL HEARNE. 575
Early on the morning of the 13th of July, the expedition crossed a long chain
of hills, from the top of which they discerned a branch that joins the Copper-
mine, about forty miles from its j^nflux into the sea. Here the Indians killed a
few fine buck-deer, procured so nle excellent firewood, and, as it was not certain
that so favourable an opportunity would soon occur again, they sat dov/n with
appetites sharpened by long privation, spirits raised by the recollection of hard-
ships overcome, and the almost certain prospect of ere long accomplishing the
great object of their expedition, to the most cheerful and comfortable meal they
had enjoyed for a long period. The reader will be amused with Hearne's de-
scription of this delicious repast, and of the mysteries of Indian cookery. "As
such favourable opportunities of indulging the appetite," says he, "happen but
seldom, it is a general rule with the Indians, which we did not neglect, to exert
every art irr dressing their food which the most refined skill in Indian cooking
has been able to invent, and which consists chiefly in boiling, broiling, and roast-
ing; but of all the dishes cooked by these people, a bacate, as it is called in their
language, is certainly the most delicions (at least for a change) which can be pre-
pared from a deer only, without any other ingredient. It is a kind of Scotch
' haggis,' made with the blood, a good quantity of fat shred small, some of the
tenderest of the flesh, together with the heart and lungs, cut, or more commonly
torn into small shivers, — all which is put into the stomach and roasted, by being
suspended over the fire by a string. Care must be taken that it does not get too
much heat at first, as the bag would thereby be liable to be burnt, and the con-
tents let out. When it it is sufficiently done it will emit a rich steam, in the same
manner as a fowl or a joint of meat, which is as much as to sayj 'Come eat me
now !' and if it be taken in time, before the blood or the contents are too much
done, it is certainly a most deUcious morsel, even without pepper, salt, or any
other seasoning."
Having regaled themselves in this sumptuous manner, and taken a few hours'
rest, they once more set out, and after a walk of nine or ten miles, at last arrived
at the Coppermine. Scarcely had Hearne congratulated himself on reaching
the great object of his mission, unpacked his surveying instruments, and pre-
pared to follow its progress to the great Arctic Ocean, when one of those dark
and terrible scenes occurred which are so strikingly characteristic of savage life.
As soon as Matonabbee and his party gained the banks of the river, three spies
were sent out to discover whether any Esquimaux, were in the neighbourhood.
After a short absence they returned with intelligence that they had seen five tents,
about twelve miles distant on the west side of the river. All was now warlike
preparation ; the guns, knives, and spears were carefully examined ; and as they
learned that the nature of the ground would render it easy to advance unper-
ceived, it was determined to steal upon, their victims in this manner, and put
them to death. This plan was executed with the most savage exactness; and
nothing could present amore dreadful view of human nature in its unenlighten-
ed state than the perfect unanimity of purpose which pervaded the whole body
of Indians upon this horrid occasion, although at other times they were in no
respect amenable to discipline.
Each man first painted his target, some with a representation of the sun, others
of the moon, and several with the pictures of beasts and birds of prey, or of ima-
ginary beings, which they atfirmed to be the inhabitants of the elements upon
whose assistance they relied for success in their enterprise. They then moved
with the utmost stealth in the direction of the tents, taking care not to cross any
of the hills which concealed their approach. It was a miserable circumstance
that these poor creatures had taken up their abode in such ground that their ene-
mies, without being observed, formed an ambuscade not two hundred yards
distant, and lay for sometime watching the motions of the Esquimaux, as if
marking their victims Here the last preparations lor the attack were made :
the Indians tied up their long black hair in a knot behind, lest it should be blown
in their eyes ; painted their faces black and red, which gave them a hideous as-
pect; deliberately tucked up the sleeves of their jackets close under the armpits,
and pulled off their stockings; while some, still more eager to render themselves
light for running, threw oft' their jackets, and stood with their weapons in their
570^
SAMUEL HEARNE.
SAMUEL HEARNE. 577
hands quite naked, except their breech-clothes and shoes. By the time all were
ready it was near one o'clock in the morning ; when, finding the Esquimaux
quiet, they rushed from their concealment. In an instant, roused by the shouts
of the savages, the unfortunate wretches, men, women, and children, ran naked
out of the tents, and attempted to escape; but the Indians had surrounded them
on the land side, and as none dared to leap into the river, all were murdered in
cold blood ; vv'hile Hearne, whom a regard for his personal safety had compelled
to accompany the party, stood a short way off rooted to the ground in horror
and agony.
" The shrieks and groans of the poor expiring wretches," says he, in his strik-
ing account of this dreadful episode in savage hfe, " were truly distressing; and
my hori-or was much increased at seeing ayoung girl, about eighteen years of
age, killed so near me that when the first spear was stuck into her side she fell
down at my feet and twisted round my legs, so that it was with difficulty that
I could disengage myself from her dying grasps. As two Indian men pur-
sued this unibrtunate victim, I solicited very hard for her life ; but the mur-
derers made no reply till they had stuck both their spears through her body
and transfixed her to the ground. They then looked me sternly in the
face, and began to ridicule me by asking if 1 wanted an Esquimaux wife, while
they paid not the slightest regard to the shrieks and agony of the poor wretch,
who was turning round their spears hke an eel. Indeed, after receiving from
them much abusive language on the occasion, I was at length obliged to desire
that they would be more expeditious in despatching their victim out of her misery,
otherwise I should be obliged out of pity to assist in the friendly oflice of putting
an end to the existence of a fellow-creature who was so cruelly wounded. On
this request being made, one of the Indians hastily drew his spear from the place
where it was first lodged, and pierced it through her breast near the heart. ' The
love of life, however, even in this most miserable state, was so predominant, that
though this might be justly called the most merciful act which could be done for
the poor creature, it seemed to be unwelcome ; for, though much exhausted by
pain and loss of blood, she made several efibrts to ward ott the friendly blow.
My situation and the terror of my mind at beholding this butchery cannot easily
be conceived, much less described : though I summed up all the fortitude I was
master of on the occasion, it was with difficulty that I could refrain from tears ;
and I am confident that my features must have feelingly expressed how sincerely
I was affected at the barbarous scene I then witnessed. Even at this hour I can-
not reflect on the transactions of that horrid day without shedding tears."
After making an accurate survey of the river till its junction with the sea,
Hearne proceeded to one of the copper-mines, which he found scarcely to de-
serve the name, it being nothing more than a chaotic mass of rocks and gravel,
rent by an earthquake, or some other convulsion, into numerous fissures, through
one of which fllovved a small river. Although the Indians had talked in magnifi-
cent terms of this mine, after a search of four hours a solitary piece of ore was
all that could be discovered ; and instead of pointing out the hills composed en-
tirely of copper, and the quanfity of rich ore with which they had atfirmed it
would be ea^sy to freight a large vessel, they now told a ridiculous story of some
insults offered to the goddess of the mine, who in revenge declared that she
would sit upon it till she and it sunk together into the earth. In consequence
of this threat, they next year found her sunk up to the waist, and the quantity of
copper much decreased, while the following summer she had entirely disappear-
ed, and the whole mine along with her.
In reaching the sea, Hearne had accomplished the great object of his journey,
and his homeward route did not vary materially from his course to the Arctic
Ocean. On the 31st of July, they arrived at the place where the Indians had
left their families, and on the 9th of August resumed their course to the south-
west; travelling with frequent intervals of rest, till,' on the 24th of November,
they reached the northern shore of the great Athabasca L^ke. In this latitude, at
this season, the sun's course formed an extremely small segment of a circle
above the horizon, scarcely rising half-way up the trees ; but the brilliancy of
the stars, and the brilliant and beautiful light emitted by the aurora borealis, even
49*
578 SAMUEL HEARNE.
without the aid of the moon, amply compensated for the want of the sun, so
that at midnight Hearne could see to read very small print. In the deep stillness
of the night, also, these northern meteors were heard to make a rushing and
crackhng noise, like the waving of a large flag in a fresh gale of wind. Accord-
ing to the information of the natives, the Athabasca Lake is nearly one hundred
and twenty leagues long from east to west, and twenty wide from north to south.
It was beautifully studded with islands, covered with tall poplars, birch, and
pines, which were plentifully stocked with deer, and abounded with pike, trout,
and barbel, besides the species known by the Indians under the name of tittameg,
methy, and shees.
The country through which they had hitherto travelled had been extremely
barren and hilly, covered with stunted firs and dwarf willows ; but it now sub-
sided into a fine plain, occasionally varied with tall woods, and well stocked with
buffalo and moose-deer. The party spent some days with much pleasure in
hunting ; and as the flesh of the younger buftaloes was delicious, their exhausted
stock of provisions was seasonably supphed. In one of their excursions an inci-
dent occurred strikingly characteristic of savage life. The Indians came sudden-
ly on the track of a strange snow-shoe, and following it to a wild part of the
country, remote from any human habitation, they discovered a hut, in which a
young Indian woman was sitting alone. She had Uved for the last eight moons
in absolute solitude, and recounted with affecting simplicity the circumstances
by which she had been driven from her own people. She belonged, she said,
to the tribe of the Dog-ribbed Indians, and in an inroad of the Athabasca nation,
in the summer of 1770, had been taken prisoner. The savages, according to
their invariable practice, stole upon the tents in the night, and murdered before
her face her father, mother, and husband, while she and three other young women
were reserved from the slaughter, and made captive. Her child, four or five
months old, she contrived to carry with her, concealed among some clothing;
but on arriving at the place where the party had left their wives, her precious
bundle was examined by the Athabasca women, one of whom tore the infant
from its mother, and killed it on the spot. In Europe, an act so inhuman would,
in all probability, have been instantly followed by the insanity of the parent ; but
in North America, though maternal affection is equally intense, the nerves are
more sternly strung. So horrid a cruelty, however, determined her, though the
man whose property she had become was kind and careful of her, to take the
first opportunity of escaping, with the intention of returning to her own nation;
but the great distance, and the numerous winding rivers and creeks she had to
pass, caused her to lose the way, and winter coming on, she had built a hut in
this, secluded spot. When discovered, she was in good health, well fed, and in
the opinion of Hearne one of the finest Indian women he had ever seen. Five
or six inches of hoop made into a knife, and the iron shank of an arrow-head,
which served as an awl, were the only implements she possessed ; and with
these she mode snow-shoes and other useful articles For subsistence she
snared partridges, rabbits, and squirrels, and had killed two or three beavers and
some porcupines. After the few deer-sinews she had brought with her were
expended in making snares and sewing her clothing, she supplied their place
with the sinews of rabbit's legs, which she twisted together with great dexterity.
Thus occupied, she not only became reconciled to her desolate situation, but had
found time to amuse herself by manufacturing litde pieces of personal orna-
ment. Her clothing was formed of rabbit-skins sewed together; the materials,
though rude, being tastefully disposed so as to make her garb assume a pleasing,
though desert-bred appearance. The singular circumstances under which she
. was I'ound, her beauty and useful accomplishments, occasioned a contest among
the Indians, as to who should have her for a wife ; and the matter being decided,
she accompanied them in their journey. On the 1st of March they left tlie level
country ot the Athabascas, and approached the stony hills bounding the teirito-
ries of the Northern Indians, traversing which, they arrived in safety at Prince :
of Wales' Fort, on the !<J9th of June, 1772, having been absent eighteen monthij
and twenty-three days.
SAMUEL HEARNE. 579
The journey of Kearne must be regarded as forming an important era in the
geography of America. For some time it had been supposed that this vast con-
tinent extended in an almost unbroken mass towards the Pole ; and we find it
thus depicted in the maps of that period. The circumstance oT Hearne having
reached the shore of the great Arctic Ocean at once demonstrated the fallacy of
all such ideas. It threw a new and clear light upon the structure of this portion
of the globe, and resting upon the results thus distinctly ascertained, the human
mind, indefatigable in the pursuit of knowledge, started forward in a career of
still more enlarged and interesting discovery.
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
While the Hudson's Bay Company, by the mission of Mr. Hearne, vindicat-
ed their character from the charge of indifference to the cause of geographical
discovery, anoUier institution had arisen, under the tide of the North West Fur
Company, which although, in its earliest exertions, it experienced many severe
reverses, at last arrived, by the intelligence and perseverance of its partners and
servants, at a degree of prosperity v/hich surpassed the chartered companies of
France and England. In the counting-house of Mr. Gregory, a partner of tliis
company, was bred a native of Inverness, named Alexander Mackenzie. In
conducting the practical details of the fur trade, he had been settled at an early
period of life in the country to the north-west of Lake Superior, and became
animated with the ambition of penetrating across the continent: for this under-
taking he was eminentiy qualified, possessing an inquisitive and enterprising
mind, witli a strong frame of body, and combining the fervid and excursive gen-
ius which has been said to characterize the Scots in general, with that more cau-
tious and enduring temperament which belongs to the northern Highlander,
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 581
On the 3d of June, 1789, Mackenzie set out from Fort Chepewyan, at the
head of the Athabasca Lake, a station nearly central between Hudson's Bay
and the Pacific. He had resided here for eight years, and was familiar with the
difficulties of the journey as well as aware of the most likely methods of sur-
mounting them. He took with him four canoes. In the first he embarked with
a German and four Canadians, two of the latter being accompanied by their
wives. A Northern Indian, called the English Chief, who had been a follower
of Matonabbee, the guide of Mr. Hearne, occupied the second with his two
wives. The third was paddled by two stout young Indians, who acted in the
double capacity of hunters and interpreters; while the fourth was laden with
provisions, clothing, amunition, and various articles intended as presents for
the Indians. This last canoe was committed to the charge of Mr. Le Roux, one
of the company's clerks.
On the 4th of June, the party reached Slave River, which connects the Atha-
ba.sca and Slave Lakes, in a course of about one hundred and seventy miles;
and on the 9th of the same month, they arrived at the Slave Lake, without ex-
periencing any other inconveniences than those arising from the attacks of the
mosquitoes during the heat of the day, and the extreme cold in the morning and
evening. In the river were frequent rapids, which obliged them to land and
transport their (•anoes and luggage over the carrying places, — a toilsome pro-
cess, but attended with no danger, as the path had been cleared by the Indians
trading with the conipany. The banks were covered with various kinds of
trees ; but, owing to its inferior level and its rich black soil, the western side was
more thickly wooded than the other. On the eastern bank, composed of a yel-
low clay mixed with gravel, the trees were smaller, but in full leaf, though the
ground was not thawed above fourteen inches in depth. At a little distance
from the river were extensive plains frequented by herds of buffaloes; the woods
bordering its sides were tenanted by moose and reindeer; and numerous colo-
nies of beavers built their habitations on the small streams which fed the lake.
This large body of water was covered with ice, which had not given way except
in a small strip round tlie shore, where the depth, nowhere exceeding three feet,
was scarcely sufficient to float the canoes. Though now the 9th of June, there
was every appearance that the ice would detain the expedition for a considera-
ble time ; and it was thought necessary to pitch their tents. The nets were now
set; the Indians went off in different directions to hunt; the women gathered
berries of various sorts, which abounded in the neighboring woods ; and their
larder was soon supplied with plenty of geese, ducks, and beaver, excellent
trout, carp, and white fish, and some dozens of swan and duck eggs, which were
picked up on an adjacent island. Their stay, therefore, was far from unpleas-
ant, combining the novelty of a residence in a strange country with the excite-
ment and variety of a hunter's life; and on the 15th, after a rest of six days, as
tlie ice had given way a little, they resumed their journey.
Since leaving Athabasca, the twilight had been so bright, owing to the short
disappearance of the sun below the horizon, that even at midnight not a star
was to be seen ; but as they glided along the lake they were greeted by the
moon, which rose beautifully above the woods, with her lower horn in a state of
eclipse. The obscuration continued for about six minutes in a cloudless sky.
CoEisting along the shore, they came to a lodge of Red Knife Indians, so denom-
inated from their using copper knives. One of these men engaged to conduct
them to the mouth of the river which was the object of their search; but such
were the impediments encountered from drift ice, contrary winds, and the igno-
rance of the guide, whom the English Chief threatened to murder for engaging
in a service for which he was unfit, that it was the 29th of the month before they
embarked upon the river since known by the name of the traveller who now first
ascended it. On leaving the lake, the Mackenzie River was found to run to the
westward, becoming gradually narrower for twenty-four miles, till it diminished
into a stream not more than half a mile wide, with a strong current, and a depth
of three and a half fathoms. A stiff" breeze from the eastward now drove them
on at a great rate, and after a rapid run of ten miles, the channel gradually widen-
ed till It assumed the appearance of a small lake, which proved to be the utmost
582 SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
limit known to their guide. They now came in sight of the chain of the Horn
Mountains, bearing north-west, and had some difiicuhy in recovering the channel
of the river.
Having resumed their course on the Ist of July, they met with no interrup-
tion for five days, when they observed several smokes on the northern bank.
On landing they discovered an encampment of five famiHes of Slave and Dog-
ribbed Indians, who on the first appearance of the party fled into the woods in
consternation. The entreaties of the Knglish Chief,' whose language they un-
derstood, at length dissipated their apprehensions; and the distribution of a few
beads, rings, and' knives, with a supply of grog, reconciled them entirely to the
strangers. Their account of the difficulties in the farther navigation of the river
was not a little appalling; they asserted that it would require several winters to
reach the sea, and that old age would inevitably overtake the party before their
return. Monsters of horrid shapes and malignant disposition were represented
as having their abodes in the rocky caves on the banks, ready to devour the pre-
sumptuous traveller who approached; and the more substantial impediment of
two impassable falls was said to exist about thirty day's march from where they
then were.
Though such tales were treated with contempt by Mackenzie, the Indians, al-
ready tired of the voyage, drank them in with willing ears, and they could scarce-
ly be persuaded to pursue their journey. On consenting to proceed, one of the
Dog-ribbed Indians was induced, by the present of a kettle, an axe, and some
other articles, to accompany them as a guide; but when the time of embarkation
arrived, his love of home came upon him with such violence that he used every
artifice to escape from his agreement, and at last was actually forced on board.
Previous to his departure, a singular ceremony took place: with great solemnity
he cut off a lock of his hair, and dividing it into three parts, fastened one to the
upper part of his wife's head, blowing on it thrice with the utmost violence, and
uttering certain words as a charm. The other two locks he fixed with the same
ceremonies to the heads of his two children. These Indians were, in general,
a meager, ugly, and ill-favoured race, particularly ill-made in their legs. Some
of them wore their hair very long, others allowed a tress to fall behind, cutting
the rest short round their ears. A few old men had beards, while the young
and middle-aged appeared to have pulled out every hair on their chin. Each
cheek was adorned by two double lines tattooed from the ear to the nose, of
which the gristle was perforated so as to admit a goose quill or a small piece of
wood. Their clothing consisted of dressed deer-skins. For winter wear these
were prepared with the fur, and the shirts made of them decorated with a neat
embroidery, composed of porcupine quills and the hair of the moose deer, col-
oured red, black, yellow, or white Their shirts reached to the mid-thigh, while
their upper garments covered the whole body, having a fringe round the bottom.
Their leggins, which were embroidered round the ankle and sewed to their
shoes, reached to mid-thigh. The dress of the women was nearly the same as
that of the men. They wore gorgets of wood or horn, and had bracelets of the
same materials. On their head was placed a fillet or bandeau, formed of strips
of leather, embroidered richly with porcupine quills, and stuck round with bears'
claws or talons of wild fowl. Their belts and garters were neatly constructed
of the ^nevvs of wild animals and porcupine quills. From these belts descended
a long fringe composed of strings of leathei, and worked round witli hair of va-
rious colours, and their mittens hung from their neck in a position convenient
for the reception of their hands. Their arms and weapons for the chase were
bows and arrows, spears, daggers, and a large club formed of the reindeer
horn, called a pogamagan. The bows were about five or six feet long, with
strings of sinews ; and Hint, iron, or copper, supplied barbs to the arrows. Their
spears, nearly six feet long, were pointed with bone, while their stone axes were
fastened with cords of green skin to a wooden handle. Their canoes were light,
and so small as to carry only one person.
On the 5th of July, the party re-embarked. Continuing their course west-
south-west they passed the Great Bear Lake River; and steering tlirough nu-
merous islands, came in sight of a ridge of snowy mountains, frequented, ac~
I
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 583
tjording to their guide, by herds of bears and small white buiTaloes. The banks
of the river appeared to be pretty thickly peopled; and though at first the na-
tives uniformly attempted to escape, the offer of presents generally brought them
back, and procured a seasonable supply of hares, partridges, fish, or reindeer.
The same stories of spirits or manitous which haunted the stream, and of learful
rapids which would dash the canoes to pieces, were repeated by these tribes;
and the guide upon whom such representations had a powerful effect decamped
in the night during a storm of thunder and lightning. His place, however, was
soon supplied ; and, after a short sail they approached an encampment of In-
dians, whose brawny figures, healthy appearance, and great cleanliness, showed
them to be a superior race to those lately passed. From them Mackenzie learn-
ed that he must sleep ten nights before arriving at the sea, and in three nights
would meet the Esquimaux, with whom they had been formerly at war, but
were now in a state of peace. One of these people, whose language was most
intelligible to the interpreter, agreed to accompany the party ; but became dread-
fully alarmed when some of the men discharged their fowhng pieces. It was
evident none of his race had ever heard the report of firearms. To reconcile
him to his departure, his two brothers followed in their canoes, and diverted him
with native songs, and other airs said to be imitations of those of the Esquimaux.
The triumph of music was never more strikingly exhibited; from deep dejection
the Indian at once passed into a state of the highest and most ludicrous excite-
ment, keeping time to the songs by a variety of grotesque gesticulations, per-
formed with such unceasing rapidity and so little regard to the slenderness of the
bark, which quivered under his weight, that they expected every moment to see
it upset. In one of his paroxysms, shooting his canoe along side of Mackenzie's,
he leaped into it, and commenced an Esquimaux dance. At last he was restored
to some degree of composure, which became complete on their passing a hill,
where he informed them that three winters ago the Esquimaux had slain his
grandfather.
Mackenzie soon after reached the tents of a tribe named Deguthee-Dinees, or
Q-uarrellers, who justified their name by the menacing gestures with which they
received the stranger's approach. A few presents, however, reconciled them to
the intrusion ; and they communicated the gratifying intelligence that the distance
overland to the sea, either by an easterly or westerly route was inconsiderable.
The party now pushed on with renewed hopes; and the river soon after sepa-
rating into several streams, they chose the middle and largest, which ran north.
This shortly brought in sight a range of snowy mountains, stretching far to the
northward; and, by an observation, Mackenzie found the latitude to be 67° 47',
which convinced him that the waters on which their frail barks were then gliding
must flow into the great Hyperborean Ocean. At this moment, when within a
few days of accomplishing the great object of their journey, the Indians sank into
a fit of despondency, and hesitated to proceed. The guide pleaded ignorance
of the country, as he had never before penetrated to the shores of the BenahuUa
Toe, or White Man's Lake. Mackenzie assured them he would return if they
did not reach it in seven days, and prevailed on them to continue their course.
It was now the 11th of July, and ihe sun at midnight was considerably above
the horizon, while every thing denoted the proximity of the sea. On landing at
a deserted encampment, still marked by the ashes of some Esquimaux fires, they
observed several pieces of whale bone, and a place where train oil had been
spilt. Soon after they came to three houses recently left by the natives. The
ground-plot of these habitations was oval, about fifteen feet long, ten feet wide
in the middle, and eight feet at either end; the whole was dug about twelve inch-
es below the surface, one half being covered with willow branches, and probably
forming the bed of the whole /amily. In the middle of the other half, a space
of four feet wide, which had been hollowed to the depth of twelve inches, was
the only spot where a grown person could stand upright. One side of it was
covered with willow branches, and the other foruied the hearth. The door, iu
one end of the house, was about two feet and a half high by two feet wide, and
was reached through a covered way about five feet long; so that the only ac-
cess to this curious dwelling wa(j by creeping on all fours. On the top was tin
584 SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
orifice about eighteen inches square which served the triple purpose oi'a window,
a chimney, and an occasional door. The under-ground part of the floor was
lined with split wood, while cross pieces of timber, laid on six or eight upright
stakes, supported an oblong square roof; the whole being formed of drift wood,
and covered with branches and dry grass, over which was spread earth a foot
thick. On either side of these houses were a few square holes, about two feet
deep, covered with split wood and earth, excepting one small place in the mid-
dle, which appeared to be contrived for the preservation of the winter stock of
provisions. In and about the houses lay sled runners, and bones, pieces of
whalebone, and poplar bark cut in circles, used evidently to buoy the nets; and
before each habitation a great number of stumps of trees were driven into
the ground, upon which its late possessors had probably hung their nets and fish
to dry in the sun.
The signs of vegetation were by this time scarcely perceptible ; the trees had
dwindled into a few dwarf willows, not more than three feet high ; and though
the footmarks on the sandy beach of some of the islands showed that the natives
had recently been there, all attempts to obtain a sight of them proved unavail-
ing. The discontent of the guide and of the Indian hunters was now renewed ;
but their assertion that on the morrow they were to reach a large lake in which
the Esquimaux killed a huge fish, and whose shores were inhabited by white
bears, convinced Mackenzie that this description referred to tlie Arctic Sea,
with its mighty denizen the whale. He accordingly pressed forward with fresh
ardour, and the canoes were soon carried by the current to the entrance of the
lake, which, from all the accompanying circumstances, appears to have been an
arm of the Arctic Ocean. It was quite open to the westward, and by an obser-
vation the latitude was found lo be 69°. From the spot where this survey was
taken they now continued their course to the westernmost point of a high isl-
and, which they reached after a run of fifteen miles, and around it the utmost
depth of water was only five feet. The lake appeared to be covered with ice
for about two leagues' distance, no land was seen ahead, and it was found im-
possible to proceed farther. Happily, when they had thus reached the liirthest
point of their progress northward, and were about to return in great disappoint-
ment, two circumstances occurred which rendered it certain that they had pene-
trated to the sea: the first was the appearance of many large floating substances
in the water, believed at first to be masses of ice, which, on being approached,
turned out to be whales ; and the second, the rise and fall of the tide, observed
both at the eastern and western end of the island, which they named Whale Isl-
and. Having, in company with the Enghsh Chief, ascended to its highest
ground, Mackenzie saw the solid ice extending to the east ; and to the west, as
far as the eye could reach, they dimly discerned a chain of mountains, apparent-
ly about twenty leagues' distance, stretching to the northward. Many isl-
ands were seen to the eastward; but though they came to a grave, on which lay
a bow, a paddle, and a spear, they met no living human beings in these arctic
solitudes. The red fox and tlie reindeer, flocks of beautiful plovers, some ven-
erable white owls, and several large white gulls were the only natives. Previous
to setting out on their return, a post was erected close to tlie tents, upon which the
traveller engraved the latitude of the place, his own name, the number of per-
sons by whom he was accompanied, and the time they had spent on the island.
It was now the 16th of July, and they re-embarked on dieir homeward voy-
age. On the 21st the sun, which for some time had never set, descended below
the horizon, and the same day eleven of the natives joined them. They repre-
sented their tribe fis numerous, and perpetually at war with the Esquimaux, who
had broken a treaty into which they had inveigled the Indians, and butchered ma-
ny of them. Occasionally a strong body ascended the river in large canoes, in
search of flints to point their spears and arrows. At present they were on the
banks of a lake to the eastward, hunting reindeer, and would soon begin to catch
big fish (whales) for tlieir winter stock. They had been informed that the same
Esquimaux, eight or ten winters ago, saw to the westward, on White Man's
Lake, several large canoes full of white men who gave iron in exchange for
leather. On landing at a lodge of the natives farther down the river, the Eng-
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 585
lish Chfef obtained some other particulars from a Dog-ribbed Indian, who had
been driven by some private quarrel from his own nation, and lived among the
Hare Indians. According to his information there was a much larger river to
the south-west of the mountains, which fell into White Man's Lake. The peo-
ple on its banks were a gigantic and wicked race, who could kill common men
with their eyes, and sailed in huge canoes. There was, he added, no known
communication by water with this great river; but those who had seen it went
over the mountains and it flowed toward the mid-day sun. This description
proceeded, he acknowledged, not from personal observation, but was taken
from the report of others who inhabited the opposite mountains. Mackenzie,
having fallen in with one of these strangers, by a bribe of some beads prevailed
upon him to dehueate the circumjacent country and the course of the unknown
river upon the sand. The map proved a very rude production. He traced out
a long point of land between the rivers without paying the least attention to
their courses. This isthmus he represented as running into the great lake, at
the extremity of which, as he had been told by Indians of other nations, there
was built a Benabulla Couin, or White Man's Fort. "This," says Mackenzie,
'' I took to be Oonalaska Fort, and consequently the river to the west to be
Cook's River, and that the body of water or sea into which the river discharges
itself at Whale Island communicated with Norton Sound."
Mackenzie now endeavourecl to procure a guide across the mountains, but
the natives steadily refused ; and any additional intelligence which they commu-
nicated regarding the country only consisted of legends concerning the super-
natural power and ferocity of its inhabitants. They were represented as a sort
of monsters with wings, who fed on huge birds, which, though they killed them
with ease, no other mortal would venture to assail. Having gravely stated this,
they began both young and old to jump and dance with astonishing violence and
perseverance, imitating the cries of the reindeer, bear, and wolf, in the hope of
intimidating Mackenzie; but when he threatened with an angry aspect to force
one of them along with him across the mountains, a sudden fit of sickness seized
the whole party, and in a faint tone, which formed a ludicrous contrast to their
former vociferation, they declared they would expire the instant they were taken
from their homes. In the end the traveller was compelled to leave them with-
out accomplishing his object*
On the J St of August, as the expedition approached the river of the Bear
Lake, the stars, which hitherto, from the extreme clearness of the twihght, had
continued invisible, began to twinkle in the sky: and the air, from being oppres-
sively sultry, became so cold that perpetual exercise could scarcely keep the
men warm. The women w^ere now constantly employed in making shoes of
moose skin, as a pair did not last more than a day, while the hunters brought in
supplies of geese, reindeer, and beaver; and on one occasion a wolf was killed,
roasted, and eaten with great satisfaction. On the 22d of August, they reached
the entrance of the Slave Lake, after which their progress homeward presented
no feature of interest, and on the 12th of September they arrived in safety at
Fort Chepewyan, after an absence of 102 days. The importance of this jour-
ney must be apparent, on considering it in connexion with the expedition of
Hearne. Both travellers had succeeded in reaching the shores of an artic sea ;
and it became not only an established fact that there was an ocean of great ex-
tent in the north of America, but it was rendered extremely probable that this
sea formed its continuous boundary.
Mackenzie concluded his first journey in September, 1789, and about three
years afterward undertook a second expedition, which proved still more difficult
and hazardous, and equally important and satisfactory in its results. His object
was to ascend the Peace River, which rises in the Rocky Mountains, and cross-
ing these, to penetrate to that unknown river which in his former journey had
been the subject of his unceasing inquiry. This he conjectured must commu-
nicate with the sea; and, pursuing its course, he hoped to reach the shores of
the Pacific. Setting out accordingly, on the 10th of October, 1792, he pushed
on to the remotest European settlement, where he spent the winter in a traffic
for furs with the Beaver and Rocky Indians. Having despatched six canoes to
50
586 . SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
Fort Chepewyan with the cargo he had collected, he engaged hunters and in-
terpreters, and launched the canoe in which he had determined to prosecute his
discoveries. Her dimensions were twenty-five feet long within, exclusive of the
curves of stem and stem, twenty-six inches hold, and four feet nine inches
beam. She was at the sajne time so light that two men could carry her three or
four miles without resting. In this slender vessel they not only stowed away
their provisions, presents, arms, ammunition, and baggage, to the weight of 3000
pounds, but found room for seven Europeans, two Indians, and the leader him-
self On embarking, the winter interpreter left in charge of the fort could not
refrain from tears when he anticipated the dangers they were about to encoun-
ter, while they themselves offered up their prayers to Almighty God for a safe
return.
The commencement of their voyage was propitious ; and under a serene sky,
with a keen but healthy air, the bark glided through some beautiful scenery.
On the west side of the river the ground rose in a gently-ascending lawn, brok-
en at intervals by abrupt precipices, and extending in a rich woodland perspec-
tive as far as the eye could reach. This magnificent ampitheatre presented
groves of poplar in every direction, whose openings were enlivened with herds
of elks and buffaloes ; the former choosing the steeps and uplands, the latter "
preferring the plains. At this time the buffaloes were attended by their young
ones, which frisked about, while the female elks were great with young. The
whole country displayed an exuberant verdure : the trees which bore blossoms
were rapidly bursting into flower, and the soft velvet rind of the branches re-
flected the oblique rays of a rising or a setting sun, imparting a cheerfulness and
brilliancy to the scene, which gladdened the heart with the buoyant influences
of the season. After a few days the air became colder, the country more deso-
late, the track of the large grisly bear was discerned on the banks, and the weatli-
er was occasionally broken by storms of thunder and lightning.
From this time till the 21st of May, the passage was attended with difficulties
that would have disheartened a less energetic leader. The river being broken
by frequent cascades and dangerous rapids, it was necessary to carry their canoe
and luggage till they could resume their voyage in safety. On their nearer ap-
proach to the Rocky Mountains, the stream, hemmed in between stupendous
rocks, presented a continuance of frightful torrents and impracticable cataracts.
The dangers to which they had already been exposed had greatly disheartened
the men, and they began to murmur audibly, so that no alternative was left but
to return. Indeed there was some reason for this irresolution; by water farther
progress was impossible, and they could only advance over a mountain whose
sides were broken by sharp jagged rocks, and thickly covered with wood. Mac-
kenzie despatched a reconnoitering party, with orders to ascend the mountain,
and proceed in a straight course from its summit, keeping the line of the river
till they ascertained that it was navigable. During their absence his people re-
paired the canoe, while he took an altitude, which ascertained the latitude to be
56° 6'. At sunset the scouts returned by different routes. They had penetrat-
ed through thick woods, ascended hills and dived into valleys, till they got be-
yond the rapids, and agreed, that though the difficulties to be encountered by
land were alarming, it was their only course. Unpromising as the task ai)pear-
ed, their spirits had risen and their murmurs were forgotten; so that a kettle of
wild rice sweetened with sugar, with the usual evening regale of rum, renewed
their courage ; and after a night's rest, they proceeded at break of day on their
laborious journey.
In the first place the men cut a road up the mountain where the trees were
smallest, felling some in such a maimer as to make them fall parallel to the road
without separating them entirely from the stumps, in this way forming a kind of
railing on either side. The baggage and the canoe were then brought from the
water side to the encan)pment, an undertaking exceedingly perilous, as a single
false step must have been followed by immersion into the river, which flowed
here with furious rapidity. Having accomplished this labour, tlie party breathed
a little, and then ascended the mountain with tlie canoe, having the line or rope
by which it was drawn up doubled, and fastened successively to the stiunps leA.
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 587
for this purpose while a man at the end hauled it round a tree, holding it on and
shifting it as they advanced. In this manner the canoe was warped up the steep ;
and by two in the afternoon every thing had been carried to the summit. Men
were then despatched to cut the road onwards : and the incessant labour of an-
other day could only penetrate about three miles, while mountains much more
elevated raised their snowy summits around in every direction. These, howev-
er, were at a distance ; and another day's exertion brought them through a wood
of tall pines to the banks of the river above the rapids. Before again embark-
ing, Mackenzie left attached to a pole a knife, a steel, flint, beads, and other tri-
fles, as a token of amity to the natives: and one of his Indians added a small
round stick of green wood, chewed at one end in the form of a brush, used to
pick marrow out of bones, — an instrument which he explained to be intended as
an emblem to the people of a country abounding in animals.
They now resumed their voyage, enclosed on all sides by mountains whose
summits were covered with snow, and one of which to the south rose to a majes-
tic height. The air became chill; the water, through which they frequently
waded, towing or pushing their bark, was intensely cold ; and on the 31st of
May, they reached a point minutely described to them before setting out by an
old Indian warrior. Here the river separated into two streams, one running
west-north-virest, and the other south-south-east. The first of these they had
been warned to avoid, as it soon lost itself in various smaller currents among the
mountains; and the steersman accordingly proceeded into the eastern branch,
which though not so broad as the other, was far more rapid. The course of
their journey now led them through many populous beaver settlements. In
some places these animals had cut down several acres of large poplars ; and they
saw multitudes busy from sunrise to sunset erecting houses, procuring food, su-
perintending their dikes, and going diligently through all the labours of their lit-
tle commonwealth. Perceiving soon after a smoke in the forest which lined
the banks, and hearing the sounds of human voices in great confusion, they be-
came aware that they were near an Indian encampment from which the inhabi-
tants were retreating. Accordingly, on approaching the shore, two ferocious
looking men sprang from the woods and took their station on a rising ground,
brandishing their spears with loud vociferations. A few words of explanation
from the interpreter, and some presents pacified them, and Mackenzie made
anxious enquiries regarding the nature of the country, and the great river which
formed the object of his search. To his mortification he found that they were
unacquainted with any river to the westward; they had just arrived over a car-
rying place of eleven days from another stream, which was nothing else than a
branch of the one the expedition was then navigating. Their iron, they said,
was procured in exchange for beaver and dress moose skins from the people
there, who travelled during a moon to the country of other tribes Uving in hous-
es, and these in their turn extended their journies to the ocean; or, to use their
disparaging epithet, the Great Stinking Lake, where they traded with white peo-
ple, who came in canoes as large as islands. Their knowledge of the country,
however, appeared so vague, that all hope of procuring a guide was vain, and
the heart of the traveller sank within him a§ he felt that his favorite project was
on the point of being disconcerted.
Amid this despondency a faint hope remained that the natives, under the influ-
ence of superstition, timidity, or from imperfectly understanding the interpre-
ter, had not communicated all they knew; and after a night of sleepless anx-
iety, the traveller rose with the sun to repeat his inquiries. At first nothing
satisfactory could be elicited; but suddenly, Mackenzie, who stood beside the in-
terpreters, understood from the few words he knew of their language, that one
person mentioned a great river, while he pointed significantly to that which lay
before them. On a strict inquiry, the in.erpreter, who had been tired of the voy-
age, and of whose fidelity some suspicion was entertained, acknowledged that
the Indian spoke of a large river whose course was toward the mid-day sun, a
branch of which flowed near the source of the stream they were now navigating.
This branch, he added, it would not be difficult to reach, there being only three
»mall lakes and as many carrying places on the way to it; but he also insisted
588
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENSSTE.
that the great river did not discharge itself into the sea. This last assertion was
imputed to his ignorance of the country, while a rude map, which he delineated
with a piece of coal on a strip of bark, convinced them that his information so far
as it went was to be relied on. A new ray of hope now arose; and having in-
duced an Indian to go forward as a guide to the borders of the small lakes, Mac-
kenzie resumed his journey on the 10th of June, promising, if successful in his
object, to revisit these friendly Indians in two moons.
These people were of low stature and meagre frame, owing probably to the
difficulty of procuring subsistence ; round faces, high cheek bones, black hair
hanging in elf-locks over their shoulders, and a swarthy yellow complexion, com-
bined to give them a forbidding aspect; while their garments of beaver, reindeer,
and ground hog skins, dressed with the hair outward, having the tail of this last
animal hanging down the back, might, when seen at a distance, occasion some
doubt whether they belonged to the human race. Their women were extreme-
ly ugly, lustier and taller than the men, but much inferior in cleanliness. Their
warlike weapons were cedar bows, six feet long, with a short iron pike at one
end, so that they might also be used as spears. The arrows were barbed with
iron, flint, stone, or bone, from two to two feet and a half long, and feathered
with great neatness. They had two kinds of spears, both double-edged, of well
polished iron, and with shafts from six to eight feet long. Their knives were of
iron worked by themselves, and their axes resembled a carpenter's adze. They
used snares of green skin, nets and fis ling lines of willow bark, hooks of small
bones, and kettles oi'watape so closely woven a.< not to leak. Besides these ihey
had various dishes of wood and bark, horn and wooden spoons and buckets, and
leathern and network bags. Their canoes, of spruce bark, calculated to hold
from two to five persons, were propelled by paddles six feet long, with the blade
shaped like a heart.
Pursuing their journey under the direction of the new guide, they reached a
small lake in latitude 54° 24', which Mackenzie considered as the highest or
southernmost source of the Ungigah or Peace River. They passed two other
lakes, and again entered the river, the navigaion of which, from its rapidity and
the trees and rocks in its channel, now became dangerous. The canoe struck
on a sharp rock, which shattered the stern, and drove her to the other side, where
the bow met the same fate ; to complete the disaster, she passed at this moment
over a cascade, which broke several holes in her bottom, and reduced her to a
complete wreck, lying flat upon the water. All hands now jumped out, and
clinging desperately to the sides, were hurried several hundred yards through a
foaming torrent b.eset with sharp rocks, upon which they were every instant in
danger of being dashed to pieces. Being carried, however, into shallow water,
where the canoe rested on the stones, they were relieved from their perilous sit-
uation by their companions on shore.
After this escape a consultation was held regarding their future proceedings.
Benumbed with cold, and intimidated be their recen^. dangers, the Indians pro-
posed an immediate return; but the remonstrances of their leader, enforced by
the usual arguments of a hearty meal and an allowance of rum, banished tjjeir
fears. It was next proposed to abandon the wreck, to carry the ba«fgage to the
river, which the guide alHrmed to be at no great distance, and there to construct
a new vessel. But as it was suspected that this representation was not to be re-
lied on, a party was despatched to reconnoitre, and brought back a very confus-
ed and unpromising account of the country. It was therelbre determined to
repair the canoe and proceed as before. For this purpose bark was collected,
which, with a few pieces of oilcloth and plenty of gum, restored their shattered
boat to something like a sea-worthy condition. Her frail state, however, ren-
dered it necessary to carry part of the lading on meji's shoulders along the banks ;
and as the road had to be opened with hatchets, their progress was extremely
slow.
On the 16th of June, Mr. Mackay ami two Indians were despatched with or-
ders to penetrate if possible to the great river in the direction indicated by the
guide. Tney succeeded ; but returned with a discouraging account of tlie in-,
terminable woods and deep morasses that intervened. Th^se glpomy prospectti
i
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE. 589
were increased by the desertion of their guide ; but nothing could repress Mac-
kenzie's ardour. Cutting a passage through the woods, carrying the canoe
round the rapids and cascades, they held on their slow and toilsome way, till
at last, after passing a swamp, in many places wading to mid-thigh, they en-
joyed the satisfaction of reaching the bank of the great river, which had been the
object of so much anxious expectation and protracted hope.
Embarking anew, they were borne along by a strong current, which, slacken-
ing after a short time, allowed them to glide gently between banks of high white
cliffs, surmounted with grotesque and singularly shaped pinnacles. After some
progress, the party were alarmed by a loud whoop from the thick woods; at the
same moment a canoe guided by a single savage shot out from the mouth of a
small tributary stream, and a number of natives, armed with bows and arrows,
appeared on an adjacent rising ground, uttering loud cries, and manifesting by
their gestures that instant death would be inflicted on any one who landed. Ev-
ery attempt to conciliate them proved unavailing; and a canoe was obsei-ved to
steal swiftly down the river, with the evident design of communicating the alarm
and piocuring assistance. At this critical moment the courage and prudence of
Mackenzie providentially saved his party. He landed alone, with two pistols
stuck in his belt ; having first, however, given orders to one of his Indians to
steal into the woods with a couple of guns, and to keep near him in case of at-
tack. '' I had not been long," says he, " in my station on the bank, with my In-
dian in ambush behind me, when two of the natives came off in a canoe, but
stopped when they got within one hundred yards of me. I made signs to them
to land, and as an inducement displayed looking-glasses, beads, and other allur-
ing trinkets. At length, but with every mark of extreme apprehension, they
approached the shore, taking care to turn their canoe stern foremost, and still
not venturing to land. I now made them a present of some beads, with which
they were going to push off, when I renewed my entreaties, and after some time
prevailed on them to come ashore and sit down by me. My Indian hunter now
thought it right to join me, and created some alarm in my new acquaintance. It
was, however, soon removed, and I had the satisfaction to find that he and these
people perfectly understood each other. I instructed him to say every thing to
them which might tend to sooth their fears and win their confidence. I express-
ed my wish to conduct them to our canoe; but they declined this offer; and
when they observed some of my people coming towards us, they requested me
to let them return, and I was so well satisfied with the progress v^hich I had
made in my intercourse with them, that 1 did not hesitate a moment in comply-
ing with their desire. During their .short stay they observed us, and every thing
about us, with a mixture of admiration and astonishment. We could plainly
perceive that their friends received them with great joy on their return, and that
the articles which they carried back with them were examined with a general and
eager curiosity ; they also appeared to hold a consultation which lasted about a
quarter of an hour, and the result was an invitation to come over to them, which
we cheerfully accepted. Nevertheless, on our landing, they betrayed evident
signs of confusion, which arose probably from the quickness of our movements,
as the prospect of a friendly communication had so cheered the spirits of the peo-
ple that they paddled across the river with the utmost expedition. The two men
who had been with us appeared very naturally to possess the greatest share of
courage on the occasion, and were ready to receive us on our landing ; but our
demeanour soon dispelled their apprehensions, and the most familiar communi-
cation took place between us. Wlien I had secured their confidence by the dis-
tribution of trinkets among them, and had treated the children with sugar, 1 in-
structed my interpreters to collect every necessary information in their power to
afford me."
The intelligence procured from this tribe was discouraging. They stated, in-
deed, that the river ran towards the mid-day sun, and that at its mouth white peo-
ple were building houses ; but that the navigation was dangerous, and in tnree
places absolutely impassable, owing to the falls and rapids. The nations through
whose territories the route lay they represented as ferocious and malignant, es-
pecially tiieir immediate neighbours, who dwelt in subterranean houses. Ua-
*50
690 SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
appalled by this description, Mackenzie re-embarked, and he was accompanied
by a small canoe, with two persona who consented to act as guides. Coming
to a place where some savage looking people were seen on a high ground, it
was thought expedient to land, and an amicable interview took place which led
to important consequences. On explaining the object of the journey, one of the
natives, of superior rank and intelligence, drew a sketch of the country on a
piece of bark, appealing during his labour to his companions, and accompany-
ing the rude but perfectly intelligible map by details as to their lulure voyage.
He described the river as running to the east of south, receiving many tributary
streams, and broken every six or eight leagues by dangerous falls and rapids,
six of which were altogether iu)praeticable. The carrying places he represented
as of great length across mountains. He depicted the lands of three tribes in
succession, who spoke different languages; and concluded by saying that beyond
them he knew nothing of the country, except that it was still a great way to the
sea, and that there was a lake of which the natives did not drink.
While the route by water was thus said to be impracticable, they asserted that
the road across the country to the ocean was short in comparison, and lay along
a valley free from wood, and frequently travelled. Other considerations com-
bined to recommend this latter course to Mackenzie: only thirty days' provis-
ions were left, and the supply procured by hunting was very precarious. The
ammunition was nearly spent; and if the prosecution of the voyaj^e appeared
perilous, a return would have been equally so. Under these circumstiinces, it
was resolved to abandon the canoe, and to penetrate over land to the Western
Ocean.
To arrive at a spot where they were to strike off across the country, it was ne-
cessary to return a considerable way up the river, — a service of great danger,
owing to the shattered condition of the boat and the hostile dispositions of the
natives, who were apt to change in an instant from the greatest friendliness to
unmitigated rage and suspicion. The guides deserted them, and it became ab-
solutely necessary to build a canoe. She proved better than the old one, and
they at last reached the point whence they were to start overland. " We car-
ried on our backs," says Mackenzie, " four bags and a half of pemmican, weigh-
ing from eighty-five to ninety pounds e;;c.i, a case with the instruments, a parcel
of gooJ.5 for presents weighing ninety pounds, and a parcel containing ammuni-
tion of the same weight; each of the Canadians had a burden of about ninety
pounds, with a gun and ammunition, while the Indians had about forty pounds'
weight of Pemmican with their gun, — an obligation with which, owing to their
having been treated with too much indulgence, they expressed themselves much
dissatisfied. My own load and that of Mr. Mackay consisted of tvventy-two'
pounds of pemmican, some rice, sugar, and other small articles, amounting to
about seventy pounds, besides our arms and ammunition. T.ie tube of my tele-
scope wiis a!so slung across my shoulder; and owing to the low slate of our
provisions, it was determined that we should content ourselves vvitli two meals
a day.
'i aus laden they struck into the woods, and travelled along a well beaten
path, arrived before night at some Indian tents, where they were joined by
an elderly man and three other natives. The old man held in his hand a
spear of European manufacture like a sergeants halberd, which he stated he
had lately received from some people on the seacoast, to whom it had ben given
by white men. He added, tliat those heavily laden did not take more tlian six
days to reach the tribes with whom he and his friends bartered their furs and
skin.s ior iron, and tliat thence it was scarcely two days' march to the sea. He
recommended also that, while they retired to sleep, two young Indians be sent
ibrward to warn the ditferent tribes whose territories they were approaching, —
a precaution which had the best effects. Another pleasing distinction between
their present hosts and the other savages whom they had passed soon presented
itself; when the weary travellers lay down to rest, tlie Indians took their station
at a little distance, and began a song in a sweet plaiirtive tone, unaccompanied by
any instrument, but with a modulation of voice exceedingly pleasing and solemn,
not unlike that of church music. The circumstauce may remind the reader of
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE, 591
the descriptions of American music given by Mr. Meares and Capt. Burney^
which it strikingly corroborates.
Having procured two guides, they now proceeded through an open coun-
try, sprinkled with cypresses, and joined a family of the natives. The father,
on hearing of their intention to penetrate to the ocean, pointed to one of his
wives who was a native of the seacoast; her appearance differed from the fe-
males they had hitherto seen. She was of low stature inclined to corpulency,
with an oblong face, gray eyes, and a flattish nose. Her garments consisted of
a tunic covered with a robe of matted bark, fringed round the bottom with the
beautiful fur of the sea otter. She wore bracelets of brass, copper, and horn,
while her hair was braided with large blue beads, and her ears and neck adorn-
ed with the same. With these people age seemed an object of great venera-
tion ; tiiey carried an old woiKKin by turns upon their backs, who was quite
blind and inlirm. The country appeared well peopled, and the natives, though
at first alarmed, were soon conciliated by the guides. In some places they
observed chains of small lakes, the valleys were verdant and watered with pleas-
ant rivulets, and the scenery varied by groves o-f cypress and poplar, in which
they were surprised to see no animals. The inhabitants, indeed, seemed to-
live exclusively on fish; and the people of one settlement, containing thirteen
families, were denominated, in the language of the country, Sloa-cuss Dinais,
or Red Fish Men. They were healthy looking, and more pi evident, cleanly,
and comfortable than the neighboring tribes.
One of Mackenzie's greatest and most frequent perplexities arose out of the
sudden fits of caprice and change of purpose which characterize most savages,
but none more than the Americans. An example of this now occurred : the
guides, upon whose fidelity the success-wof the expedition mainly depended,
were advancing apparently in the most contented and friendly manner, when,
in a moment, without uttering a word, they sprang forward, and disappeared in
the woods, leaving the party, who were utterly unacquainted with the route, in
a state bordering on despair. Pushing forward, however, at a hazard, they
perceived a house situated on a green spot by the edge of a wood, the smoke
of which curled above the trees, intimating that it was inhabited. Mackenzie
advanced alone, as his party were too much alarmed to second his intrepidity ;
and so intent were the inhabitants upon their household labours, that he ap-
proached unperceived. Nothing could exceed the terror and confusion occa-
sioned by his sudden appearance. The women and children uttered piercing
shrieks, and the only man about the place sprang out of a back door with the
rapidity of a wild cat, and fled into the woods. Their dismay arose from the
behef that they were surprised by enemies, and would be instantly put to death;
an atrocity too common among the Indian tribes. The conduct of the man
who had fled was amusing : by degrees he crept sufficiently near to watch the
party; and on observiag the kinJness with which the women and children
were treated, came cautiously within speaking distance. His eyes were still
staring in his head. No assurances of the interpreters or the women could
persuade him to return ; no beads, knives, or presents of any kind, had the
effect of restoring his confidence. On being approached, he kept dodging
about behind large trees, brandishing his bow and arrows, grinning hideously,
and displaying a variety of strange antics, till at last, in one of his paroxysms,
he dived into a thicket and disappeared. As suddenly he emerged in an op-
posite quarter, and, becoming pacified, after a succession of parleys, agreed
to acompany them as guide.
On advancing from this station, they travelled over an elevated tract, and at
length gained the summit oi" a hill, affording a view of a range of mountains
covered with snow ; which, according to the guide, terminated in the ocean.
Passing along the borders of several small lakes, through a swampy country,
they arrived at a lodge of naUves, who received them with hospitality, and mi-
nutely scrutinized their appearance. The hair of the women was tied in large
loose knots over the ears, and plaited with great neatness from the division of
the head, so as to be included in the knots; some had their tresses adorned with
3, prodacing a very graceful efiect ; while the men were clothed in leather,
592 SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE.
their hair nicely combed, their complexion fair, and their skin cleanly. One
young man was at least six feet four inches in height, with a prepossessing
countenance, and affable and dignified manners. All, not excepting the chil-
dren, carried a burden proportioned to their strength, consisting of beaver-coat-
ing and parchment, skins of the otter, marten, deer, and lynx; besides dressed
moose skins These last they procured from the Rocky Mountain Indians;
and for the purposes of trade the people of the seacoast preferred them to any
others.
They now continued their journey through a beautiful valley, watered by a
gentle rivulet, to a range of hills, which they ascended till surrounded by snow
so firm and compact that it crunched under their feet. Before them lay a stu-
pendous mountain, whose summit, clad with the same spotless coronet, was
partly lost in the clouds. Between it and the route they were to follow flowed
a broad river; and descending from their present elevated ground, they plung-
ed into woods of umbrageous cedars and alder trees. As they got lower into
these primeval forests they were sensible of an entire change of climate. The
guides pointed out to them, through the openings in the dark foliage, the river
which flowed in the distance, and a village on its banks, while beneath their
feet the ground was covered with berries of an excellent flavour, and com-
2)letely i-ipe. The effect of sunset upon this noble scenery was strikingly beau-
tiful ; but their admiration was interrupted by the decampment of their guides,
who, as the shades of evening began to fall, pushed forward at such a pace^
that the party were soon left without conductors in darkness and uncertainty.
The men, who were much fatigued, now proposed to take up their quarters for
the night; but their indefatigable leader groped his way forward, and at length,
arriving a,t the edge of the wood, i^erceived the light of several fires. On
coming up he entered a hut where the people were employed in cooking fish,
threw down his burden, and shook hands with the ijunates, who did not show
any surprise, but gave him to understaud by signs that he should go to a large
house, erected on upright posts at some distance from the ground A broad
piece of limber, with steps cut in it, led to a scaffolding on a level with the floor;,
and ascending these the traveller entered an apartment, passed three fires at
equal distances in the middle of the room and was cordially received by several
people seated on a wide board at the upper end. Mackenzie took his place
beside one whom, from his dignified look he took to be the chief Soon after
the rest of the party arrived, and placed themselves near him; upon which the
chief arose and brought a quantity of roasted salmon. Mats were then spread,
and the fish placed beibre them. When the meal was concluded, their host
made signs which they supposed to convey a desire that they should sleep un-
der the same roof with himself; but, as his meaning was not sutKciently plain,
they prepared to bivouac without. Every thing was done to render their re-
pose agaeeable : a tire was kindled, boards placed that they might not sleep on
the bare ground, and two delicate dishes of salmon roes, beat up to the con-
sistency of thick cream, and mixed with gooseberries and wood sorrel, were
brought for supper. On awakening in the morning, they found all their wants
anticipated in tlie same hospitable manner; a fire was already bhizing, a plenti-
ful breakfast of roasted salmon and dried roes was provided, and a regale of
raspberries, whortleberries, and gooseberries finished the meal.
Salmon were so abundant in this river that the people had a constant supply.
They had Ibrmed across the stream an embankment for placing fishing ma-
chines, which were disposed both above and below it. For some reason, how-
ever, they would permit no near inspection of the weir; but it appeared to be
four feet above the water, and was constructed of alternate layers of gravel and
small trees, fixed in a slanting position. Beneath it were placed machines into
which the salmon fell in attempting to leap over; and on either side was a large
timber frame six feet above the water, in which passages were left leading di-
rectly into tlie machines, while at the foot of the fall dripping nets were suc-
cesslully employed. These people were observed to indulge an extreme su-
perstition regarding their fish, refusing to taste flesh, and appearing to con-
sider such an act as pollution. One of tiieir dogs, having swallowed a bon»
SIR ALEXANDER MACKENZIE^ 593
which the travellers left, was beaten by his master till he disgorged it ; and a
bone of a deer being thrown into the river, a native dived, brought it up, con-
signed it to the fire, and carefully washed his hands. They would not lend
their canoes for the use of the party, having observed some venison which
they concluded was to be stowed on board: and they alleged that the fish
would immediately smell it and leave them. Although generous in furnishing
the strangers as much roasted fish as they could consume, they would part
with none in a raw state. They believed salmon to have an invincible antipa-
thy to iron, and were afraid that, if given raw to the white men, they might
take serious offence at being boiled In a vessel of this ominous metal. In
other respects, nothing could exceed their friendliness ; and at a neighbouring
village of the same tribe, the reception of Mackenzie was, if possible still more-
kind. The son of the chief took from his own shoulders a beautiful robe of
sea otter skin, and threw it over the traveller, while the father expressed the
utmost satisfaction in being presented with a pair of scissors to clip his beard —
a purpose to which, with the eager delight of a child he immediately applied them..
The houses in this village were constructed in the same way as those already
described, and remind us of the lively account given by Mr. Mears. At a little
distance, Mackenzie observed some singular wooden buildings, which he con-
jectured to be temples. These consisted of oblong squares, about twenty feet
high by eight broad, formed of cedar planks beautifully joined. Upon these
were painted hieroglyphics and figures of various animals, with a remarkable
degree of correctness. In the midst of the village was a large building, at
first supposed to be the unfinished frame-work of a house. Its dimensions,
however, were far greater than those of an ordinary dwelling, the ground-plot
being fifty feet by forty-five, each end Ibrmed by lour posts, fixed perpendicu-
larly in the earth. The corner posts were ornamented, and supported a beam
of the whole length, having three intermediate props on each side. Two cen-
tre posts at each end, about two feet and a half in diameter, were carved into
colossal human figures> supporting ridge poles on their heads; the hands wexQ
placed on the knees, as if they feltdiificulty in sustaining the weight, while the
figures opposite to them stood in an easy attitude, with ttieir hands resting on
their hips. The posts, poles, and figures were painted red and black, and the
carving was executed with a truth and boldness which bespoke no little ad-
vancement in sculpture. In the mechanical arts they had arrived at consider-
able perfection. The chief's canoe was of cedar, forty -five feet long, four wide,
and three feet and a half deep. It was painted black, and ornamented with
drawings of various kinds of fish in while upon the dark ground, and the gun-
wale, both fore and aft, was neatly inlaid with the teeth of the sea otter. In this
vessel, according to the old chief's account, he undertook, about ten winters
before, a voyage towards the mid-day sun, having with him about forty of his
subjects; on which occasion he met with two large vessels full of white men,
the first he had seen, by whom he was kindly received. Mackenzie very plau-
sibly conjectured that these might be the ships of Captain Cook.
It was now the 18th of July, aud, surrounded by friendly natives, with plen-
ty of provisions, pleasant weather, and the anticipation of speedily reaching
the great object of their wishes, they resumed taeir voyage in a large canoe,
accompanied by four of the Indians. The navigation of the river, as they ap-
proached the ocean, was interrupted by rapids and cascades ; but their skill in
surmounting these impediments was now considerable, and on the 20th, afler
a passage of thirty-six miles, they arrived at the mouth of the river, which
discharges itself by various smaller channels into an arm of the Pacific Ocean.
The purpose of the expedition was now completed, and its indefatigable leader
painted, in large characters, upon the face of the rock under whose shelter
they had slept, this simple memorial :— " Alexander Mackenzie, from Canada
by land, the twenty-second of July, 1793."
The inscription was only written with vermillion, and has probably long ago
been washed away by the fury of the elements ; but the name of Mackenzie is
enduringly consecrated in the annals of discovery, as the first person who pen-
^jtrated from sea tq sea across the immense coa3tin,ent of North America^,
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
Captain William Edward Parry was tlie son of Doctor Parry, of Bath^
England, and was born in 1790. The rudiments of his education he received at
the grammar school of Bath, and, at the age of twelve he was placed on board
the " Ville de Paris;" and from 1803 to 1806 he continued on board the same
ship, employed in blockading the French fleet in Brest. During this time, he
attended closely to geometry, navigation, French, and other useful branches of
learning. Hi.s behaviour was exemplary : Admiral Cornwallis said of him,
'' He has been the pattern of good conduct to all our young people." From tlie
Ville de Paris he removed, in May, to the Tribune frigate, which, during 1806,
1807, and 1808, was constantly blockading or cruising, and encountered some
of the heaviest gales which had been experienced by the oldest seamen. In
January, 1807, he was sent in a boat by his commander, to reconnoitre in Con-
carneau bay, and he executed his commission with such courage as to approach
close to a French line-of-battle ship, and such ability as to reuiain undiscovered
by her. In April, 1808, the Tribune was sent into the Baltic, to which sea she
returned in the following year. This service was a fatiguing and perilous one ;
which, nevertheless, did not acquire for those engaged in it all the credit that tliey
deserved. The swarms of Danish gun-boats which issued from tlie ports of
Denmark were most formidable enemies, being of a low construction, and having
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 595
in action the power of attacking a ship of war in whatever direction they chose,
and with an overwhelming number of guns, while she could reply with only a
few, and those in some instances not capable of carrying a shot so far as the long
guns of the enemy. At the age of nineteen Mr. Parry passed his examination,
and was promoted to the rank of lieutenant, through the interest of lord Low-
ther. He joined the Alexandria frigate in 1810, and served that year in the Bal-
tic, where he was several times engaged with Danish schooners and gun-boals.
In 1811 and 1812, he was on the Leith station, employed in protecting the
Greenland whale fishery. During his leisure moments he was not inactive. He
prepared charts of the Baltic navigation, he spent part of the night in studying
the situation of the principal fixed stars in our hemisphere, and he made a sur-
vey of the Baltic sound and the Voe in Shetland, an excellent harbour which
vvas httie known. In 1813, under a promise of promotion — of which, however,
circumstances prevented the performance — he sailed to Halifax, and was occu-
pied on board the La Hogue, in cruising in pursuit of Rogers. In 1816, he ob-
tained a first lieutenancy in the Niger, which was stationed off Halifax, and the
river St. Lawrence, and Quebec. Early in 1817, he obtained leave to return
to England.
In 1818, the Admiralty fitted out two expeditions; one destined for the dis-
covery of the north-west passage, the other to attempt a voyage across the Pole.
The first, which is the one we are at present to follow, consisted of the Isabella,
of three hundred and eighty-five tons, commanded by Captain John Ross, an
officer of reputation and experience, who had twice w^intered iu the Baltic, had
been employed in surveying the White Sea, and had been as far north as Bear
or Cherie Island. Another vessel, the Alexander, of two hundred and filly-two
tons, was commanded by Lieutenant Parry.
On the 18th of April the vessels dropped down the Thames, and by the end
of the month, were off the Shetland Islands. By the 27th of May they came in
view of Cape Farewell; round which, as usual, were floating numerous and
iofty icebergs of the most varied forms and tints. On the 14th of June they
reached the Whale Islands, where they were informed by the governor of the
Danish settlement that the past winter had been uncommonly severe, the neigh-
bouring bays and straits having been all fiozen two months earlier than usual,
and that some of the channels to the northward of his station were still bound in
with the ice. A curious statement was here made, that the Esquimaux, by their
own account, could see across the whole breadth of the bay, though not less than
two hundred miles, which would be an e.xtraordinary instance of the power of
refraction; but the ice, it may be observed, often presents deceptive appearances
of land. On the ISth of June, in the neighbourhood of Way gat Island, an im-
penetrable barrier obliged the discoverers to stop their course, making them-
selves fast to an iceberg, and having forty-five whale ships in company. Obser-
vations made on land proved this island to be misplaced on the maps by no less
than five degrees of longitude. At length the ice attached to the eastern shore
broke up, though still forming a continuous and impenetrable rampart at some
distance to the westward, in which direction it had drifted ; but in the intermedi-
ate space tliey were enabled to move forward slowly along the coast, labouring
through narrow and intricate channels, amid mountains and loose fragments of
ice. They steered their course, however, to the highest parts of the bay, and in
about latitude 75° came to a coast which had not been visited by former naviga-
tors. They were struck, as Baffin had been, by the great number of whales
which were slumbering securely in these deep recesses, never having been
alarmed by the harpoon. On the 7th of August, in the same latitude, a heavy
gale sprnng up, and driving the ice against the vessels, made a display of its ter-
rible and dangerous power. A trial of strength ensued between the ice and the
ships ; being dashed against each other with such force, that the anchors and
cables were successively broken, and a boat, which could not be withdrawn
from between their sterns, was crushed to pieces. Providentially, when instant
destruction was expected, the icy mass receded, and the ships, owing to the ex-
traordinary strength of their construction, escaped without material injury.
o96 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
Proceeding along a high mountainous coast, the expedition came to a tribe of
Esquimaux, who, of all human beings, seem to exist in a state of the deepest
seclusion. They had never before seen men belonging to the civilized world,
or of a race difterent from their own. The first small party whom the naviga-
tors approached showed every sign of the deepest alarm ; dreading, as we after-
wards understood, a fatal influence from the mere touch of these beings of an
unknown species. Yet they seem to have felt a secret attraction towards the
strangers, and advanced, holding fast the long knives lodged in their boots, and
looking significantly at each other. Having come to a chasm which separated
them from the English, they made earnest signs that only Saccheous, the inter-
preter, who bore a certain resemblance to ihem, should come across. He went
forward and offered his hand. They shrunk back for some time in alarm ; at
length the boldest touched it, and, finding it flesh and blood, setup aloud shout,
which three others joined. The rest of the party then came up, to the number
of eight, with fifty dogs, which joined with their masters in raising a tremendous
clamor. Ross and Parry now thought it time to come forward. This move-
ment excited alarm, and a tendency to retreat ; but Saccheous having taught
these orticers to pull their noses, this sign of amity was graciously accepted. A
mirror was now lield up to them, on seeing their faces in which, they showed
the most extreme astonishment ; they looked round on each other a few mo-
ments in silence, then set up a general shout, succeeded by aloud laugh of delight
and surprise. The ship wis then the next object of their speculation. They
began by endeavouring to ascertain its nature by interrogating itself; for they
conceived it to be a huge bird sjireading its vast wings and endowed wiih reason.
One of them, pulling his nose with the utmost solemniiy, began an address :
" Who are you? Whence come you? Is it from ttie sun or the moon V The
ship remaining silent, they at length applied to Saccheous, who assured them
•thatifwasa frame of timber, the work of human art. To them, however, who
had never seen any wood but slight twigs and stunted heath, its immense planks
and masts were objects of amazement. What animal, they also asked, could
furnish those enormous skins which were spread for the sails. Their admiration
was Eoon followed by a desire to possess some of the objects which met their
eyes, but with httle ceremony or discrimination as to the means of effecting their
end. They attempted first a spare topmast, then an anchor; and these proving
too ponderous, one of them tried the .smith's anvil ; but, finding it fixed, made
off at last with the large hammer. Another wonder was for them to see the
sailors mounting the topmast; nor was it without much hesitation that they
ventured their own feet in the shrouds. A little terrier dog appeared to them
a contemptible object, wholly unfit for drawing burdens or being yoked in a
sledge, while the grunt of a hog filled them with alarm.
This tribe, in ieatures, foruj, and even language, belong evidently to the Es-
quimaux, — a race widely difl'used over all the shores of the Arctic ocean. They
appear to have little or no comnninication with the rest, and amid the general
resemblance have some distinguishing characters. The boat, large or small,
which we almost instinctively associate with our idea of the Greenlander, is here
wholly unknown. Much of their food is found within the deep, but is procured
merely by walking over the icy surface, which incrusts it during the greater part
of the year. Yet tliey have one important advantage, not only over otlier Es-
quimaux, but over the most civilized of the native Americans. The country
aftbrds iron, which, being flattened by sharp stones, and inserted in a handle
made of the horn of the sea-unicorn, forms knives nmch moie ethcient than those
framed of bone by the neighbouring hordes. Again, unhke the other tribes,
they have a king, who rules seemingly with gentle sway ; for they described him
as strong, very good, and very much beloved. The discoverers did not visit tlio
court of this Arctic potentate ; but they understood that he drew a tribute, con-
sisting of train-oil, seal-skins, and the bone of the unicorn. Like other Green-
landers, they had sledges drawn by large and powerful teams of dogs ; their
chase was chiefly confined to hares, foxes of various colours, the seal, and the
nurwal. They rejected with horror tlie perverted luxuries of biscuit, sweet-
WJLLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 597
meats, or spirits? train-oil, as it streamed from the seal and the unicorn, alone
gratified their palate. Captain Ross, swayed by national impressions, gave to
this tribe the name of Arctic Highlanders.
In the northern part of this coast, the navigators observed a remarkable phe-
nomenon, — a range of chfts, the snowy covering of which had exchanged its
native white for a tint of dark crimson. This red snow was'not only examined
on the spot, but a portion of it was brought to England, and was analyzed by the
most learned men both at home and abroad, who have entertained various opin-
ions as to the origin of the colour. The latest observations, as elsewhere ob-
served, have established its vegetable origin.
Having now passed Cape Dudley Digges, Captain Ross found himself among
those spacious sounds which Baffin had named, but so imperfectly described.
He seems, however, to have followed the same hasty method. On looking up
an inlet or opei ing, and seeing it, at whatever distance, apparently closed by
land, he pronounced it at once a bay, and deemed farther investigation super-
fluous. Too much importance seems also to havb been attached to barriers
of ice, which in many cases were only temporary. He sailed past Wolsten-
holme an 1 Whale Sounds very quickly, without approaching even their entrance ;
concluding them to be blocked up with ice, and to aftbrd no hope of a passage.
As these openings stretched towards the north, it must be admitted that they
could not, in this high latitude, be considered very favourable as to a western
route. He came next to Sir Thomas Smith's Sound, which we may recollect
Baffin to have described as the most spacious and promising in the whole circuit
of these coasts. It was viewed with greater attention ; but Captain Ross con-
sidered himself as having distinctly seen it, at the distance of eighteen leagues,
completely enclosed by land. The space appears too great for so positive an
inference, and the belief that ice barred its entrance seems to have been adopted
on very slight grounds. He came next to a spacious bay, which had hitherto
been unknown and unobserved, — afterward to that which Baffin had called
Alderman Jones' Sound ; but in respect to both, the ice at their entrance, and
the apparent boundary of high land in the interior, led, as in the other instances,
to a prompt and unfavourable conclusion.
The season was now somewhat advanced, the end of August approached, the
sun set after a perpetual day of two months and a half, and a thick fog rendered
the lengthening nights more gloomy. The land, seen at some distance, consisted
of very high and steep mountains, presenting, however, some spots fit for human
habitation. An opening, forty-five miles wide, to the southward of a promonto-
ry which was named Cape Charlotte, was decided against in the usual summary
manner. On the 30th of August, the expedition came to a most magnificent
inlet, bordered by lofty mountains of peculiar grandeur, while the water, being
clear and free from ice, presented so tempting an appearance that it was impos-
sible to refrain from entering. This channel, which soon proved to b*^ the
Lancaster Sound of Baffin, was ascended for thirty miles; during which run,
officers and men crowded the topmast, filled with enthusiastic hope, and judging
that it afforded much fairer hopes of success than any of those so hastily passed.
Captain Ross, however, and those whom he consulted, never showed those san-
guine expectations. He soon thought that he discovered a high ridge stretch-
ing directly across the inlet ; and though a great part of it was deeply involved
in mist, yet a passage in this direction was judged to be hopeless. The sea being
open, however, the commander proceeded; but about twelve o'clock Mr. Bever-
•ley, the assistant surgeon, came down from the crow's nest, stating, that he had
seen the land stretching very nearly across the entire bay. Hereupon, it is said,
ail hopes were renounced, even by the most sanguine, and Captain Ross sailed
onward merely lor the purpose of making some magnetical observations.
At three o'clock, the sky having cleared, the commander himself went on
deck, when he states that he distinctly saw across the bottom of the bay a chain
of mountains continuous and connected with those that formed its opposite
shores. The weather then becoming unsettled, he made the signal to steer the
vessel out of Lancaster Sound. Lieutenant Parry, however, declares that to
him, in the Isabella, this signal appeared altogether mysterious, being himself full
51
598 WILLIAM EDWARD PAHRY.
of the most sanguine expectations, and seing no ground whatever for this ab-
rupt retreat; but his duty obliged him to follow.
On regaining the entrance of this great channel, Captain Ross continued to
steer southward along the western shore of Baffin's Bay and Davis' Strait, with-
out seeing any entrance which afforded equal promise. Cumberland Strait
alone was similar in magnitude ; but it could lead only into the higher latitudes
of Hudson's Bay, and afforded thus little chance of a free passage into the Arctic
sea. After surveying, therefore, some of these shores, he returned home early
in October.
The Captain arrived in England under the most decided conviction, that Baf-
fin's observations had been perfectly correct, and that Lancaster Sound was a
bay, affording no entrance into any western sea. If even any strait existed be-
tween the mountain, it must, he conceived, be for ev^r innavigable, on account
of the ice with which it is filled. The intelligent individuals, however, who had
fitted out the expedition with such zeal and on so great a scale, felt deep dissatis-
faction both at this conclusion and at the premises from which it had been drawn.
The grounds, in particular, on which Lancaster Sound, an opening so noble
and so spacious, and in a position so favourable in respect to western discovery,
had been so abruptly quitted, appeared wholly inadmissible. The same opinion
was very decidedly espoused by several of the officers, and especially by Lieu-
tenant Parry, who was second in command, but had never been consulted on the
occasion, and who declared the relinquishment of all attempts at discovery at
that crisis to be in hia eyes completely unaccountable. It was determined, in
short, that afresh expedition should be equipped, and entrusted to Mr. Parry,
that he might fulfil, if possible, his ov/n sanguine hopes, and those of his employ-
ers. He was furnished with the Hecla of three hundred and seventy-five tons,
and a crew of fifty-eight men ; and with the Griper gun-brig of one hundred
and eighty tons, and thirty-six men, commanded by Lieutenant Liddon. These
ships were made as strong and as well-fitted as possible for the navigation of the
Arctic seas ; and were stored with ample provisions for two years, a copious
supply of antiscorbutics, and every thing which could enable the crews to endure
the most extreme rigours of a Polar winter.
Lieutenant Parry, destined to outstrip all his predecessors in the career of
Arctic discovery, weighed anchor from the Nore on the 11th of May, 1819, and
on the 20th rounded the most northerly point of the Orkneys. He endeav-
oured to cross the Atlantic about the parallel of 58°, and though impeded during
the first fortnight of June by a series of unfavourable weather, obtained on the
i5th, from the distance apparently of not less than forty leagues, a view of the
lofty cliffs composing Cape Farewell. On the 18th the ships first fell in with
icebergs, the air being also filled with petrels, kittiwakes, terns, and other winged
inhabitants of the northern sky. Parry now made an effort to push north and
west, through the icy masses, in the direction of Lancaster Sound ; but these
suddenly closed upon him ; and on the 25tli the two ships were so immovably
beset, that no power could turn their heads a single point of the compass. The
vessels remained thus fixed, but safe, when on ^e morning of the second day,
a heavy roll of the sea loosened the ice, and drove its masses against them witli
such violence that only their very strong construction saved them from severe
injury. Tho discoverers therefore were fain to extricate themselves as soon as
possible ; and, resigning the idea of reaching Lancaster Sound by the most di-
rect route, began to coast northward along the border of this great icy field, till
they should find open water. In lliis progress they varied the observation of
Davis, thatin the narrowest part of the great sea, misnamed his Strait, the shores
on each side could be discovered at the same moment. Thus tliey proceeded,
till they reached the Women's Islands, and Hope Sanderson, in about latitude
73°. As every step was now likely to carry them farther from their destination,
Parry determined upon a desperate push to the westward. Favoured with a
moderate breeze, the ships were run into the detached pieces and floes of ice,
through which they were heaved with hawsers ; but the obstacles became always
heavier, till they were completely beset, and a heavy fog coming on, made thei
litde able to talte advantage of any favourable change. Yet in the course ot
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 599
week, though repeatedly and sometimes dangerously beset, they warped their
way from lane to lane of open water, till only one lengthened floe separated them
from a wide open sea to the westward. By laboriously sawing through this ob-
struction, they were able to penetrate finally the great icy barrier, and saw the
western shore, clear of ice, extending before them.
The navigators now bore directly down upon Lancaster Sound, and on the
30th of July found themselves at its entrance. They felt an extraordinary emo-
tion as they recognized this magnificent channel with the lofty cliffs by which it
v/as guarded, aware that a very short time would decide the fate of their grand
undertaking. They were tantalized, however, by a fresh breeze coming directly
down the Sound, which suffered them to make only very slow progress. There
was no appearance, however, of obstruction either from ice or land, and eveti
the heavy swell which came down the inlet, driving the water repeatedly in at
the stern windows, was hailed as an indication of open sea to the westward.
The Hecla left the Griper behind, but still without making any great way herself
till the 3d of August, when an easterly breeze sprung up, carrying both vessels
rapidly forward. A crowd of sail was set, and they pushed triumphantly to the
westward. Their minds were filled with anxious hope and suspense. The
mast-heads were crowded with officers and men, and the successive reports
brought down from the topmast pinnacle, called the crow's nest, were eagerly
listened to. Their course was still unobstructed. They passed various head-
lands, with several wide openings towards the north and south, which they hasti-
ly named Croker Bay, Navy Board Inlet, &c. ; but these it was not their present
object to explore. The wind, freshening more and more, carried them happily
forward, till at midnight they found themselves in longitude 83° 12', nearly a
hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the grand inlet, which still retained a
breadth of fifty miles. The success of the expedition, they fondly hoped, was
now to a great extent decided.
The Hecla, at this time, slackened her course to allow her companion to come
up, which she did in longitude 85°. They together proceeded to longitude 86^
30', and found two other inlets, which they named Burnet and Stratton ; then a
bold cape named Fellfoot, forming apparently the termination of this long fine
of coast. The lengthened swell which still rolled in from the north and west,
with the oceanic colour of the Waters, inspired the flattering hope that they had
already passed the region of straits and inlets, and were now wafted along the
wide expanse of the Polar basin. Nothing, in short, it was hoped, would hence-
forth obstruct their progress to Icy Cape, the western boundary of America.
An alarm of land was given, but it proved to arise only from an island of no great
extent. However, more land was soon discovered beyond Cape Fellfoot, which
was ascertained to be the entrance to a noble bay, extending on their right,
which they named Maxwell Bay. An uninterrupted range of sea still stretched
out before them, though they were somewhat discomposed by seeing on the
south a hne of continuous ice; but it left an open route before them, and they
hoped to find it merely a detached stream. A little space onward, however, they
discovered with deep dismay, this ice to be joined to a compact and impene-
trable body of floes, which completely crossed the channel, and joined the
western point of Maxwell Bay. It behooved them, therefore, immediately to
draw back, to avoid being embayed in ice, along the edges of which a violent
surf was then beating. The officers began to amuse themselves with fruitless
attempts to catch white whales, when the weather cleared, and they saw to the
south an open sea, with a dark water-sky. Parry, hoping that this might lead to
a free passage in a lower latitude, steered in this direction, and found himself at
the mouth of a great inlet, ten leagues broad, with no visible termination ; and to
the two capes at its entrance he gave the names of Clarence and Seppings.
The mariners, finding the western shore of this inlet deeply encumbered with
ice, moved across to the eastern, where they found a broad and open channel.
The coast was the most dreary and desolate they had ever beheld even in the
Arctic world, presenting scarcely a semblance of either animal or vegetable fife.
Navigation was rendered more arduous from the entire irregularity of the com-
pass, now evidently approaching to the magnetic Pole, and showing an ex-
600 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
cess of variation which they vainly attempted to measure, so that the binnacles
were laid aside as useless lumber. They sailed a hundred and twenty miles up
this inlet, and its augmenting width inspired them with corresponding hopes ;
when, with extreme consternation, they suddenly perceived the ice to diverge
from its parallel course, running close in to a point of land which appeared to
form the southern extremity of the eastern shore. To this foreland they gave
the name of Cape Kater. The western horizon also appeared covered with
heavy and extensive floes, a bright and dazzling ice-blink extending from shore
to shore. The name of the Prince Regent was given to this spacious inlet,
which Parry strongly suspected must have a communication with Hudson's
Bay. He now determined to return to the old station, and watch the opportu-
nity when the relenting ice would allow the ships to proceed westward. That
station was reached not without some difficulty, amid ice and fog. At Prince
'Leopold's Islands, on the 15th, the ice was as impenetrable as ever, with a bright
blink, and from a high hill there was no water to be seen ; luckily, also, there
was no land. On the 18th, on getting once more clos'e to the northern shore,
the navigators began to make ahttle way, and some showers of rain and snow,
accompanied with heavy wind, produced such an effect, that on the 21st the
whole ice had disappeared, and they could scarcely believe it to be the same
sea which had just before been covered with floes upon floes, as far as the eye
could reach.
Mr. Parry now crowded all sail to the westward, and, though detained by
want of wind, he passed Radstock Bay, Capes Hurd and Hotham, and Beechy
Island; after which he reached a fine and broad inlet, leading to the north, to
which he assigned Wellington, the greatest name of the age. The sea up to
this inlet being perfectly open, he would not have hesitated to ascend it, had
there not been before him, along the south coast of an island named Cornwallis,
an open channel, leading in a direction, which, being due west, he could have
no hesitation in preferring. WeUington Inlet was now considered by the navi-
gators, so high were their hopes, as forming the western boundary of the land
stretching from Baffin's Bay to the Polar Sea, into which they had little doubt
they were entering. For this reason Captain Parry did not hesitate to give to
the great channel which had effected so desirable a junction the merited appella-
tion of Barrow's Strait, after the much esteemed promoter of the expedition.
A favourable breeze now sprung up, and the adventurers passed gaily and tri-
umphantly along the extensive shore of Cornwallis Island, then coasted a larger
island named Bathurst, and next a smaller one called Byam Martin. At this
place, they judged, by some experiments, that they had passed the magnetic
rueridian, situated, probably, in about 100° west longitude, and where tlie com-
pass would have pointed due south instead of due north. The navigation now
became extremely difficult, in consequence of thick fogs, which not only froze
on the shrouds, but, as the comj)ass was also useless, took away all means of
knowing the direction in which they sailed. They were obliged to trust to the
land and ice preserving the same line, and sometinaes employed the most odd
expedients for ascertaining the precise point. They encountered also a compact
floe of ice, through which they were obliged to bore their way by main force.
Through all these obstacles they reached the coast of an island larger than any
before discovered, to which they gave the name of Melville. The wind now
failed, and they slowly moved forward by towing and warping, till, on the 4th of
September, Mr. Parry could announce to his joyful crew, that, having reached
the longitude of 110^ W. they were become eiititled to tlie reward of £5000,
promised by Parliament to the first crew who should attain tliat meridian. The
mariners pushed forward with redoubled ardour, but soorr found their course
arrested by an impenetrable icy barrier. They waited rrearly a Ibrtrright in
hopes of overconiirrg it ; till about the 20th their situation became alarming.
The young ice began rapidly to form on the surface of the waters, retarded only
by winds and swells; so tliat Captain Parry was corrvinced, in the event of a
single hour's calm, that he would be frozen up in the midst of the sea. No op-
tion was therefore left but to retrrrn, and to choose between two apparently
good harbours, wliich had been recently passed on Melville Island. Not with-
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 601
out difficulty he reached this place by the 24th, and made choice of the most
western harbour, as that alone which afforded full security ; but it was necessary
to cut two miles through a large floe with which it was filled. To effect this ar-
duous operation, the seamen marked with boarding-pikes two parallel lines, at
the distance of somewhat more than the breadth of the larger ship. They sawed
along these two lines, and then by cross-sawings detached large pieces, which
were separated diagonally in order to be floated out; and sometimes boat
sails were fastened to them to take the advantage of a favourable breeze. On
the 26th the ships were established in five fathoms water, at about a cable's length
from the beach. For some time the ice was daily cleared round them ; but this
was soon found an endless and useless labour, and they were allowed to be regu-
larly frozen in for the winter.
Mr. Parry then apphed himself to name the extended group of large islands
along which he had passed. He called them at first New-Georgia ; but, recol-
lecting that this appellation had been pre-occupied by a large island in the Pa-
cific, he gave the name of "■ the North Georgian Islands," after his majesty George
III., whose reign had been so eminently distinguished by the extension of nau-
tical and geographical knowledge.
The commander, finding himself and his ships sliut in for a long and dreary
winter, devoted his attention, with judicious activity, and a mixture of firmness
and kindness, to mitigate those evils, which, even in lower latitudes, had often
rendered an Arctic wintering so fatal. His provisions being very ample, he
allowed the sailors weekly a pound of Donkin's preserved meat, and a pint of
concentrated soup, instead of a pound of salt beef; beer and wine were served
instead of spirits ; and a certain allowance was made of sour-krout, pickles, and
vinegar. The sailors were also called together daily, and made to swallow a
quantity of lime-juice and sugar in presence of the officers, their improvidence
being such as to afford otherwise no hope of their spontaneously imbibing this
salutary draught. Their gums and shins were also regularly examined, in order
to detect scurvy in its earliest symptoms. It was necessary to be very economi-
cal of fuel, the small quantity of moss and turf which could be collected being too
wet to be of any use. By placing the aparatus for baking in a central position,
and by several other arrangements, the cabin was maintained in a very comfort-
able temperature ; but still, around its extremities, and in the bed-places, steam,
vapour, and even the breath settled, first as moisture and then as ice ; to dry and
remove these annoyances became therefore a part of their daily employment.
Mr. Parry was, from the first, aware that nothing acted more strongly as an
antiscorbutic, than to keep the men's minds in a lively and cheerful state. His
plans for this purpose were very original, and proved very effectual. Arrange-
ments were made for the occat-ional performance of a play, in a region very re-
mote certainly from any to which the drama appeared congenial. Lieutenant
Beechy was nominated stage manager, and the officers came forward as amateur
performers. The very expectation thus raised among the seamen, and the
bustle of preparing a room for the purpose, were extremely salutary ; and when
the North Georgian theatre opened with " Miss in her Teens," these hardy tars
were convulsed with laughter, not a little excited, perhaps, by viewing their
officers in so singular and novel a position; at all events, the Arctic management
was extremely popular. As the small stock contained in one or two chance
volumes was exhausted, original compositions were produced, and afterward
fonned into a little collection. The officers had another source of amusement in
the North Georgia Gazette, of which Captain Sabine became editor, and all
were invited to contribute to this chronicle of the frozen regions. Even tliose
who hesitated to appear as writers, enlivened the circle by severe but good-
humoured criticisms.
Thus passed the time,
Till, through the lucid chambers of the south,
Looked out the joyous Sun.
It was on the 4th of November that this great orb ought to have taken his
leave ; but a deep haze prevented them from bidding a formal farewell, and
. *51
602 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
from ascertaining the period down to which refraction would have rendered liim
visible; yet he was reported to be seen from the mast-head on the 11th. Amid
various occupations and amusements, the shortest day came on almost unex-
pected, and the seamen then watched with pleasure the midday twilight gradually
strengthening. On the 28th of January none of the fixed stars could be seen at
noon by the naked eye; and on the 1st and •2d of February the sun was looked
for, but the sky was wrapped in mist; however, on the 3d he was perceived
from the maintop of the Hecla. Through the greatest depth of the Polar night,
the officers, during the brief twilight, had taken a regular walk of two or three
hours ; avoiding only to go farther than a mile, lest they should be overtaken by
snow-drift. There was a want of objects to diversify this walk. A dreary mo-
notonous surface of dazzling white covered land and sea: the view of the ships,
the smoke ascending from them, the sound of human voices, which thiough the
calm and cool air was carried to an extraordinary distance, alone gave any anima-
tion to this winter scene. The otiicers, however, persevered in their daily walk,
and exercise also was enforced upon the men, who, even when prevented by
the weather from leaving the vessel, were made to run round the deck, keeping
time to the tune of an organ. This movement they did not at first entirely
rehsh ; but no plea against it being admitted, they converted it at last into matter
of frolic.
By the above means health was maintained on board the ships to a surprising
degree. Early in January, however, Mr. Scallon, the gunner, felt symptoms,
first in the legs and then in the gums, that decidedly indicated the presence of
scurvy, of which the immediate cause appeared to be the great collection of
damp which had formed around his bed-place. At this first alarm, all the anti-
scorbutics on board, lemon-juice, pickles, spruce-beer, &c. were put into requisi-
tion; a small quantity of mustard and cress was also raised from mould placed
over the stove pipe ; and such was the success of these measures, that in nine
days the patient could walk without pain. Farther on in the season a number
of slighter cases occurred, which were somewhat aggravated by an accident. As
the men were taking their musical perambulation round the deck, a house erect-
ed on shore, and containing a number of the most valuable instruments, was
seen to be on fire. The crew instantly ran, pulled off" the roof with ropes,
knocked down part of the sides, and being thus enabled to throw in large quan-
tities of snow, succeeded in subduing the flames. Now, however, their faces
jiresented a curious spectacle, every nose and cheek being white with frost-
bites, while the medical gentlemen, with their assistants, were obliged to run
iVom one to the other, and rub them with snow, in order to restore animation.
With one man the amputation of several of his fingers became necessary, and
no less than sixteen were added to the sick list.
The animal tribes disappeared early in the winter from this frozen region.
The officers, on the 15th of October, made a shooting excursion, enjoying a
very fine day, though with the thermometer 47° below the freezing point ; but
they did not find a deer, a grouse, or any animal which could be ranked as game.
All of them deserting this wintry realm had crossed the seas to America. There
remained only a pack of wolves, which serenaded the crews nightly, not ventur-
ing to attack, but contriving to avoid being captured. A beautiful white fox was
caught and made a pet of. On the 12tli of May one of the men gave notice that
he had seen a ptarmigan ; and attention being thus excited, Mr. Beverley next
day brought one down, and on the 15th three coveys were discovered. The
footsteps of deer were also seen, which, from the impression made on tlie snow,
seemed to be moving northward. From this time, ptarmigans were supplied ui
tolerable numbers; but they were made strictly a common good, being divided
equally among the crew, with only a preference in favour of the sick. There
was Ibund^also, mixed with moss under the snow, an abundance of tlie horl)
sorrel, a most potent antidote against scurvy. By these supplies, and by the
more genial weather, the health of the crew, which at the end of March had been
in a somewhat alarming state, was completely restored before the beginning of
June. In extending their excursions, however, they were considerably incom-
moded by that distressing inflammation of tlie eyes, produced from the glare ol
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 603
snow, called snow-blindness. It vv^as cured in a few days by cold applications,
and it was prevented in future by covering the eyes, or by wearing spectacles,
in which crape was used instead of glass.
On the 16th of March the North Georgian theatre was closed with an appro-
priate address, and the general attention was now turned to the means of extri-
cation from the ice. By the 17th of May the seamen had so far cut the ice
around the ships as to allow them to float; but in the sea it was still immoveable.
This interval of painful inaction was employed by Captain Parry in an excur-
sion across Melville Island. The ground was still mostly covered with soften-
ed snow, and even the cleared tracts were extremely desolate, though checkered
by intervals of fine verdure. Deer were seen traversing the plains in consider-
able numbers.^ To the north appeared another island to which was given the
name of Sabine, By the middle of June pools were every where formed; the
dissolved water flowed in streams, and even in torrents which rendered hunting
and travelling unsafe. There were also channels of water in which boats could
pass ; yet throughout June and July the great covering of ice in the surrounding
sea remained entire, and kept the ships in harbour. On the 2d of August, how-
ever, the whole mass, by one of those sudden movements to which it is liable,
broke up and floated out; and the explorers had now an open water in which to
prosecute their discovery. It was consolatory to think that this was the very
season at which they had last year entered Lancaster Sound ; and if they could
make as brilliant a voyage this summer, the following one would see them not
far from Behring's Straits. But it was not without some obstructions that on
the 4th they reached the same spot where their progress had been formerly ar-
rested. On the 15th they were enabled to make a certain progress; after which
the frozen surface of the ocean presented a more compact and impenetrable as-
pect than had ever before been witnessed. The officers ascended some of the
lofty heights which bordered the coast ; but, in a long reach of sea to westward,
no boundary was seen to these icy barriers. There appeared only the western
extremity of Melville Island, named Cape Dundas ; and in the distance a bold
liigh coast, which they named Banks's Land. As even a brisk eastern gale did
not produce the slightest movement in this frozen surface, they were led to be-
lieve that on the other side there must be a large barrier of land, by which it was
held in a fixed state. On considering all circumstances, there appeared no alter-
native but to make their way homeward while yet the season permitted. Some
additional observations were made on their return, on the two coasts extending
along Barrow's Strait.
Mr. Parry's arrival in Britain was hailed with the highest exultation. To have
sailed upwards of thirty degrees of longitude beyond the point reached by any
former navigator, — to have discovered so many new lands, islands, and bays, —
to have established the much contested existence of a Polar sea north of Ameri-
ca, — finally, after a wintering of eleven months, to have brought back his crew
in a sound and vigorous state,* — were enough to raise his name above that of
any former Arctic voyager.
No hesitation was felt as to sending out another expedition ; but considering
the strength of the ultimate barriers which had twice arrested the progress of the
last, it became important to consider whether there was not any other channel
by which the Polar sea, now ascertained to exist, might be reached and travers-
eci with greater facility. In Hudson's Bay, neither the great northern sounds of
the Welcome nor of Fox's Channel had been traced to a termination. Mid-
dleton, in the former inlet, had ascended higher than any other navigator ; but a
thick cloud had been raised around his reputation, and his Frozen Strait, after
all, was very likely to be only a temporary barrier. If from either of these
sounds a passage should open into the Polar sea, it might be approached in a
much lower latitude than that in which Parry had wintered, and might perhaps
* Only one man died in the course of their long and perilous voyage, but his dieease was no
way referrable to a connexion with the expedition, the origin of his malady having been of a
date anterior to the jsuiling of the ships.
604 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
be also free from those large insular masses in which he had been entangled.
There was fitted out then a new expedition, in which the Fury, of 327 tons,
was conjoined with the Hecla; the commander conceiving that two vessels of
nearly equal dimensions were best calculated for co-operating with and aiding
each other, while the examination of coasts and inlets could be best carried on
by boats. This officer, now promoted to the rank of Captain, hoisted his flag
on board the Fury; while Captain Lyon, already distinguished by his services
in Africa, received the command of the Hecla, and proved himself fully compe-
tent to the arduous duties of this new service. The equipment, the victualHng,
and the heating of the vessels, were all arranged with the greatest care, and wiOi
various improvements suggested by experience.
The expedition was ready to sail on the 8th of May, 182], and having then
quitted Nore, passed through Pentland Frith and by Cape Farewell, suffering
repeated detention ; but we shall not pause till we find them on the 2d of July
at the mouth of Hudson's Straits. Captain Parry, accustomed as he was to
scenes of Polar desolation, was struck with the peculiarly dreary aspect which
these shores presented. The naked rocks, the snow still covering the valleys,
and the thick fogs that hung over them, rendered the scene indescribably gloomy.
The ships were soon surrounded by icebergs, which in one place amounted to
the number of fifty-four, — one rising 258 feet above the sea. They were at-
tended by large floes, rendered very formidable by their rotatory motion. The
peculiar danger of these straits, often remarked by former navigators, arises
from the strong tides and currents that rush in from the Atlantic, and cause con-
tinual and violent movements among ttie huge icy masses with which the chan-
nels are filled. Captain Lyon had proof of their strength when he had two
hawsers repeatedly carried away, and his best bower anchor, weighing more
than a ton, wrenched from the bows, and broken otF as if it had been crockery
ware. Amid these troubles, the sailors were amused by the sight of three com-
panion-ships, two belonging to the Hudson's Bay Company, and one bringing
out settlers for Lord Selkirk's colony. These last, who were chiefly Dutch and
Germans, were seen waltzing on deck often for hours together, and were only
driven in by a severe fall of snow. Although almost in despair at the numerous
detentions they had experienced, they recrented themselves from time to time by
matrhnonial arrangements, in which they were so diligent, that, it is said, there
was scarcely a ball which did not end in a marriage.
Amid these obstructions, the ships spent nineteen days in maldng seventy
miles; which course, however, brought them, on the 21st, within two leagues of
what are called the Savage Islands. On the following afternoon a loud shouting
was heard over the ice, and soon after there appeared a numerous band of na-
tives, paddling their canoes through the lanes of open water, or, where these
failed, drawing them over the pieces of ice. Among a great number of kayaks,
or boats rowed by a single man, were five oomiaks, or women's boats, construct-
ed of a frame work of wood and whalebone, covered with deer skins, having flat
sides and bottoms, and of considerable size. One of them, 25 feet by 8, contain-
ed women, boys, and children, to the number of twenty-one. Presently began
a wild, merry, noisy scene of frolic and traffic. The natives carried it on with
eagerness and even fury, stripping tliemselves to tlie very skins which formed
their only covering, till they were in a state of total nudity, except tliat tlie ladies
always m;ide a laudable reservation of tlieir breeches. They drove what they
meant should be an excessively hard bargain ; yet, being wholly ignorant of the
value of the rich skins with which nature has invested the animals of this Arctic
climate, they raised shouts of triumph when they obtained in exchange a nail, a
saw, or a razor. Their aspect was wilder and more dishevelled than that of any
other tribe even among this rude race; their character also seems fiercer and
more savage : and indeed it is in this quarter tliat most of the tragical encounters
with Esquimaux have occurred. Some of the ancient dames were pronounced
to be the most hideous objects that mortd eye had ever beheld; inflamed eyes,
wrinkled skin, black teeth, and deformed ieatures, rendered them scarcely hu-
man: hence much apology was found for the dark and dire suspicions cherish-
ed by Forbisher's crew respecting one of these damsels, and the odd iuvestiga-
WILLIAM EDWARD PERRY. 605
lion to which it prompted. The children were rather pretty ; though, from be-
ing thrown carelessly into the bottom of the boats, they had much "the appear-
ance of the young of wild animals. Besides traffic, the natives carried on a
great deal of rather rude frolic, like that of ill regulated school boys. One of
them got behind a sailor, shouted loudly in one ear, and gave him a hearty box
on the other, which was hailed with a loud and general laugh. They also car-
ried on a dance, consisting chiefly of violent leaping and stamping, though in
tolerable time.
In spite of every obstruction, Captain Parry, early in August, reached the en-
trance of Fox's Channel, and came in view of Southampton Island. It was now
the question whether to sail directly up this channel, and reach, by a compara-
tively short route, Repulse Bay and the higher latitudes, or to make the south-
western circuit of Southampton Island, and ascend the beaten track of the Wel-
come. Captain Parry judiciously preferred the former, notwithstanding its un-
certainties, on account of the great tiiue which would be saved should this course
be found practical)le. On the 15th he came to a strait stretching westward, and
apparently separating the island from other land on the north. Hoping to find
this the Frozen Strait of Middleton, he entered it; but it soon proved a spacious
and beautiful basin, enclosed by land on every side. He named it the Duke of
York's Bay, and considered it one of the finest harbors in the world ; but, after
admiring a large floe covered entirely with minerals, shells, and plants, he moved
out of it, and pursued the voyage. On the 21st the navigators found themselves
in another strait, not much encumbered with ice, but darkened by thick fogs ;
and, before they almost knew where they were, a heavy swell from the south-
ward showed that they had passed through the Frozen Strait, and were in the
broad channel of the Welcome. They speedily entered Repulse Bay, in which
modern speculation had cherished the hope of a passage ; but a short investrga-
tion, made by boats in every direction, proved that it was really as Middleton
had described it, completely enclosed. A good deal of time had thus been lost
through the skepticism so unjustly attached to tlie narrative of that eminent navi-
gator.
Captain Parry, having come with all speed out of Repulse Bay, began the ca-
reer of discovery along a coast hitherto unknown. An inlet was soon found,
and called by the name of Gore ; but when ascended a certain length, it was
not found to reach far inland. At the mouth of this opening, the valleys were
richly clad with grass and moss, the birds singing, butterflies and other insects
displaying the most gaudy tints, so that the sailors might have fancied themselves
in a happier climate, had not the mighty piles of ice in the Frozen Strait told a
different tale. Hunting parties traversed the country in various directions, and
the game laws of the preceding year were strictly re-enacted, by which every
beast or bird slain was to be employed for the general good, allowing only the
head and legs as a douceur to the captor. The latter, however, adopted and
made good a theory, agreeably to which the description /tea^i was greatly extend-
ed, so as to include even several joints of the back bone.
Having passed Gore Inlet, the expedition found itself among those numerous
isles described by Middleton, which formed a complete labyrinth of various
shapes and sizes, while strong currents setting between them in various direc-
tions, amid fogs and drifting ice, rendered the navigation truly perilous. The
Fury was assailed by successive masses rushing out from an inlet ; her anchor
was dragged along the rocks with a grinding noise, and on being drawn up, the
two flukes were found to be broken off. The same vessel was afterwards car-
ried along by a violent current, amid thick mist, without there being any means
of guiding or altering its direction; so that Captain Parry considers it altogether
providential that she was not dashed to pieces against the surrounding rocks.
However, one channel, and one only, was found, by which the mariners at last
made their way through this perilous maze. No sqoner had they reached the
open sea, than, being obliged to run before a northerly breeze, they were much
disheartened to find themselves, on the 3d of September, at the very point which
they had left on the preceding 6th of August. All the interval had been era-
ployed in the mere negative discovery, that there was nothing to discover.
606
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
Captain Parry soon reached the northern coast, and resumed his task, which
was rendered \ery tedious by the necessity of examining every opening and
channel, in the hope that each might prove the desired passage into the Polar
ocean. He first explored a large inlet, the name of which he gave to Captain
Lyon, then a smaller one, which was named from Lieutenant Hoppner ; and by
connecting these with Gore Inlet, he completed his delineation of the coast.
The seamen had then the pleasure of opening a traffic with a party of Esqui-
maux, whose first timidity was soon overcome by the hope of being supplied
with some iron tools. In the course of this transaction, the surprise of the crew
was aroused by the conduct of a lady, who had sold one boot, but obstinately re-
tained the other in disregard of the strongest remonstrances as to the ridiculous
figure she in consequence made. At length, 'suspicion rose to such a pitch, that,
all courtesy being set aside, her person was laid hold of and the boot pulled off'.
Then indeed it proved a complete depository of stolen treasure, since no less
than two spoons and a pewter plate were found within this capacious receptacle.
The end of September now approached, and Captain Parry found himself
suddenly in the depth of winter. Snow had been falling during t'.ie whole of the
short summer; but the united warmth of the air and earth had melted it as it fell,
and left the ground still open to the sun's rays. In one moment, as it were, tlie
snow made good its lodgement, and spread its white and dazzling mantle over
land and sea. The rays being then no longer able to reach the soil, the whole
became subject to permanent and impenetrable frost. Some parts of the snow
were indeed dissolved, and then refrozen in varied and beautiful forms of crys-
tallization ; whereas, at Melville Island, the dead white covering once spread
over, nature had never changed its aspect. A more serious symptom existed
in the rapid formation of soft or pancake ice on the surface of the deep. The
obstacle presented by this crust was at first so slight as to be scarcely felt by a
ship before a favoring gale; but it continually increased, till the vessel, rolling
from side to side, and all her resources failing, became, hke Gulliver, bound by
the feeble hands of Lilliputians. At the same time the various pieces of drift
ice, which were tossing in the sea without, had been cemented into one great
field called " the ice," that threatened every moment to bear down upon the ves-
sels, and dash them in pieces. Under this combination of circumstances, the
navigators could no longer even attempt to reach the land, but deteiinined to saw
into the heart of a large adjoining floe, and there take up their winter quarters.
There was about half a mile to penetrate, which, in the present soft state of the
pancake ice, was not very laborious. It was, however, far from pleasant, the ice
bending like leather beneath their feet, and causing them sometimes to sink into
the water, whence they did not escape without a cold bath.
Captain Parry was now frozen up for another winter in the midst of the
northern sea, and he forthwith applied himself to make the necessary arrange-
ments, with that judicious foresight which had been already so conspicuous in
the same trying circumstances. Through lessons taught by experience, and by
several ingenious contrivances, the ships were much more thoroughly heated
than in the former voyage ; the provisioning, too, was more ample, and anti-
dotes against scurvy still more copiously supplied. The Polar tlieatre opened
on the 9th of November with "The Rivals." Captains Parry and Lyon volun-
teered to appear as Sir Anthony and Captain Absolute; while the ladies had
very generously removed an ample growth of beard, disregarding the comfort-
able warmth which it aftbrded in an Arctic climate. The company were well
received, and carried through their performances with unabated spirit; yet this
season does not seem to have gone off with tlie same eclat as the preceding.
Novelty, from the first the chief attraction, had worn off, and the discomfort of
a stage, the exhibitions of which were attended with a cold tliirty degrees under
the freezing point, became rather severe. The sailors found for themselves a
more sober and useful, as well as elficacious, remedy against ennui. They es-
tablished a school, in which the better instructed undertook to revive the know-
ledge of letters among others who had almost entirely lost the slight tincture
which they had once imbibed. These hardy tars applied themselves to their
book with ardent and laudable zeal, and showed a pride in their new attain-
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 607
ments like that of little boys at school. By Christmas sixteen well written cop-
ies were forthcoming from those who, two months before, could scarcely form a
letter. Amid these varied and pleasing occupations, the shortest day passed over
their heads almost unobserved, especially as the sun never entirely left them.
Captain Lyon never saw a merrier Christmas than was celebrated on board.
The sailors, being amply regaled with fresh beef, cranberry pies, and grog, be-
came so extremely elevated, that they insisted on successively drinking, with
three hearty cheers, the health of each officer.
The animal world in this rigorous climate, even though the ground was com-
pletely frozen over, did not disappear so entirely as on Melville Island. A few
solitary hares were caught; but they were in a miserable state of leanness, weigh-
ing only five or six pounds, and had a pure white covering, which resembled
swan's down rather than hair. About a hundred white foxes were found in the
nets during the winter. These beautiful creatures, when first caught, were per-
fectly wild and ungovernable ; but shortly, the young ones at least, threw oft'
this timidity. A delicate little animal found one day in the snare proved to be
an ermine; but it was excessively frightened, and, to the general regret, soon
died.
The winter months were also enlivened by various beautiful appearances
which the sky at that season presented. The northern world, when the sun de-
parts, is by no means involved in that deep, monotonous gloom which such a
privation might indicate. After that luminary has finally quitted the earth, and
the long northern winter has closed in, the heavens become a gay scene, through
which the most brilliant meteors are perpetually playing. Those most singular
and beautiful streams of light, called commonly the Aurora Borcalis, or North-
ern Morning, keep up an almost incessant illumination. They were discerned
in full splendor by Captains Parry and Lyon during their Arctic residence.
The light had a tendency to form an irregular arch, which, in calm weather, was
often very distinct, though its upper boundary was seldom well defined ; but
whenever the air became agitated, showers of rays spread in every direction,
virith the brilliancy and rapidity of lightning. Sometimes long bands of light
were spread out with inconceivable rapidity, but always appearing to move to
and from a fixed point, somewhat like a riband held in the hand and shaken with
an undulatory motion. No rule, however, could be traced in the movements of
those lighter parcels called " the merry dancers," which flew about perpetually
in every direction and towards every quarter. In stormy weather the northern
lights always became more rapid in their motions, sharing all the wildness of the
blast. They gave an indescribable air of magic to the whole scene, and made it
not wonderful that by the untaught Indian they should be viewed as "the spirits
of his fathers roaming through the land of souls."
Several questions have been agitated with respect to the Aurora. It has been
said to be accompanied by a hissing cracking noise; and indeed Captain Lyon
observes, that the sudden glare and rapid bursts of those wondrous showers of
fire make it difficult to fancy their movements wholly without sound. Yet no-
thing was really ever heard. Captain Parry complains that he could not expose
his ears to the cold long enough completely to ascertain the point; but Captain
Lyon declares that he stood for hours on the ice listening, and at a distance from
every sounding body, till he became satisfied that none proceeded from the -4m-
rora. It has been a question whether this meteor hid the stars ; it was generally
decided that it dimmed the lustre of those heavenly bodies, as if a thin gauze
veil had been drawn over them, — an effect which was augmented when several
luminous portions were spread over each other. In a clear atmosphere these
lights shone with a brightness which gave the impression that they were nearer
than the clouds : but whenever these last overspread the sky, the Aurora was
hid by them, and must therefore have been more distant. To Captain Parry
the fight appeared to assume tints of yellow and lilac; but to Captain Lyon its
coJour always resembled that of the Milky Way, or of very vivid sheet lightning.
The present writer saw the Aurora once, and only once, in its utmost brilliancy,
and exhibiting all the phenomena described by these northern observers, — ^his
impressions agreeing particularly with those of Captain Lyon.
608 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
Other luminous meteors, arising apparently from the refraction caused by the
minute spiculae of ice, appear in succession to embellish the northern sky. The
sun and the moon are often surrounded with halos, — concentric circles of vapor^
tinted with the brightest hues of the rainbow. Parhelia, or mock suns, frequent-
ly adorned with these accompaniments, shine at once in different quarters of the
firmament. Ellis, who went with Moor and Smith to Hudson's Bay, has seen
six in one sky. They are most brilliant at day-break, diminish in lustre as the
real sun ascends, but again brighten at his setting. The sun himself, for some
time before he finally departs for the winter, and also after his reappearance in
the spring, tinges the sky with hues of matchless brilliancy. The edges of the
clouds near that luminary often present a fiery or burnished appearance, while
the opposite horizon glows with a deep purple, gradually softening as it ascends
into a delicate rose colour of inconceivable beauty. As the solar orb at periods
never rises more than a few degrees above the horizon, he is, as it were, in a
state of permanent rising and setting, and seems to exhibit longer and more va-
riously the beautiiul appearances rising out of that position. At this time the
nalied eye can view him without being dazzled ; and Captain Lyon considers
' the soflened blush colour, which his rays exhibit tluough frost, as possessing a
charm which surpasses even that of an Italian sky.
Amid all these resources, the monotony of the scene was beginning to be op-,
pressive, when it was relieved by an unexpected incident, which attracted uni-
versal attention. On the morning of the 1st of February, a numbei of distant
figures were seen moving over the ice, and when they were viewed through
glasses, the cry was raised, " Esquimaux, Esquimaux !" As it was of great im-
portance to deal courteously and discreetly with these strangers, the two com-
manders formed a party of six, who walked in files behind each other, that they
might cause no alarm. The Esquimaux then formed themselves into a line of
twenty one, advanced slowly, and at length made a full stop. In this order they
saluted the strangers by the usual movement of bealhigthe breasts. They
were substantially clothed in rich and dark deer skins, and appeared a much
more quiet and orderly race than their rude countrymen of the Savage Islands.
On the Eughsh produchig their precious commodities, knives, nails, and needles,
an active traffic was set on foot; and the females, on seeing that much impor-
tance was attached to the skins which formed their clothing, began immediately
to strip off those with which their fair persons were covered. The captains felt
alarmed for the consequences, under a temperature more than fifty degrees be-
low tlie freezing point; but were soon consoled by observing underneath anoth-
er comfortable suit. They were now cordially invited to enter their habitations,
to which they agreed most readily, only that there appeared no habitations to
enter. However, they were led to a hole in the snow, and instructed to place
themselves on their hands and knees, in which position, having crept through a
long winding passage, they arrived at a little hall with a dome-shaped roof whence
doors opened into three apartments, each occupied by a separate family. These
j)roved to be five distinct mansions, tenanted by sixty-four men, women, and
children. The materials and structure of these abodes was still more singular
than their position. Snow, tlie chief product of the northern tempests, became
here a protection against its own cold. It was formed into curved slabs of about
two feetlongand half a foot thick, put together by a mostjudicious masonry, so as
to present a species of dome shaped structures, rising six or seven feet above the
ground, and about fourteen or sixteen feet in diameter. The mode of inserting
the key slab, which bound the whole together, would, it is said, have been satis-
factory to the eye of a regular bred artist. A plate of ice in tlie roof served as a
window and admitted the light as through ground glass; which, when it shone
•on the interior mansions, in their first state of pure and beautiful transparency,
produced sofl and glittering tints of green and blue. But, alas • ere long, accu-
mulated dirt, smoke, and otial, converted these apartments into a scene of black-
ness and stench. This litUe village appeared at first a cluster of hillocks amid
the snow; but successive falls filled up the vacuities, and converted it almost in-
to a smooth surface, so that even boys and dogs were seen walking and sporting
over the roofs; though, as summer and thaw advanced, a leg sometimes peue-
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
609
trated and appeared to ihe alarmed inhabitants below. Then, too, the ceiling
begins to drip ; and the tenants, after repeatedly endeavouring to patch it with
fresh slabs, and catching, of course some severe colds, are obliged to betake
themselves to a more durable covering. In each room, suspended from the roof,
burns a lamp, with a long wick formed of a peculiar species of moss, fed with the
oil of the seal or the walrus, and serving at once for light, heat, and cookery.
The family sit round the apartment, on a bench formed of snow, strewed with
slender twigs, and covered with skins ; but this part of the dwelling must be
carefully kept a good deal below the freezing point, since a higher temperature
.would speedily dissolve the walls of the frail tenement.
After a cheerful and friendly visit, an invitation was given to the Esquimaux
to repair to the ships, when fifty accepted it with alacrity. Partly walking and
partly dancing, they soon reached the vessels, where a striking congeniality of
spirit was soon found to exist between them aftdthe sailors; boisterous fun form-
ing to each the chief source of enjoyment. A fiddle and drum being produced,
the natives struck up a dance, or rather a succession of vehement leaps, accom-
panied with loud shouts and yells. Seeing the Kabloonas, or Whites, as tliey
called the strangers, engaged in a game of leap frog, they attempted to join; but
not duly understanding how to measure their movements, they made such over-
leaps as sometimes to pitch on the crown of their heads : however, they sprang
up quite unconcerned. Their attention was specially attracted to the effects of
a winch, by which one sailor forcibly drew towards him a party of ten or twelve
of their number, though grinning and straining every nerve in resistance ; but
finding all in vain, they joined in the burst of good humoured laughter till tears
streamed from their eyes. One intelligent old man followed Captain Lyon to
the cabin, and viewed with rational surprise various objects which were present-
ed. The performance of a hand organ and a musical snuff box struck him with
breathless admiration ; and on seeing drawings of the Esquimaux in Hudson's
Strait, he soon understood them, and showed the difference between their dress
and appearance and that of his own tribe. On seeing the sketch of a bear, he
raised a loud cry, drew up his sleeves, and showed the scars of three deep
wounds received in encounters with that terrible animal. The seamen sought
to treat their visiters to such delicacies as their ship afforded, but were some
time^at a loss to discover how their palate might be gratified. Grog, the sea-
man's choicest luxury, only one old woman could be induced to taste. Sugar,
sweetmeats, gingerbread, were accepted only out of complaisance and eaten
with manifest disgust; but train oil, entrails of animals, and any thing consisting
of pure fat or grease, were swallowed in immense quantities, and with symp-
toms of exquisite delight. This taste was first evinced by an old woman, who,
having sold her oil pot, took care previously to empty the contents into her sto-
mach, and lick it clean with her tongue, regardless of her face becoming thus as
black as soot. Captain Lyon being disposed to ingratiate himself with rather a
handsome young damsel, presented her with a good moulded candle, six to the
pound. She immediately began to eat off the tallow with every symptom of the
greatest enjoyment, after which she thrust the wick into her inouth; but the
Captain concerned for the consequences to this delicate virgin, insisted on pull-
ing it out In preference to strong liquors they drank water in most enormous
quantities, by gallons at a time, and two quarts at a draught; a supply of liquid
which is perhaps necessary to dissolve their gross food, and which, being ob-
tained only from snow artificially melted, is a scarce winter article.
The Esquimaux were attended by a large pack of wolves, which seemed to
follow solely to pick up whatever might be found straggling or defenceless about
their habitation. These animals continued through the whole winter ravening
with hunger, and in eager watch for any victim which might come vvithin their
reach. For this purpose they took a station between the huts and the ships,
ready to act against either as circumstances might dictate. They did not attack
the sailors even when unarmed, though they were often seen hovering through
the gloom in search of prey. EvQry stray dog was seized, and in a few minutes
devoured. Two wolves broke into a snow house close to the ship, and carried
off each a dog larger than himself; but, being pursued, one of them was obliged
5/6 •
610 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
to drop his booty. In the extremity of their hunger they hesitated not to tear
and devour the cables and canvass found lying near the vessel. A deadly war
was therefore waged against these fierce animals, of which thirteen were killed
in the course of the season, and sent to be eaten by the Esquimaux, — a present
which was received with much satisfaction.
As spring advanced, the attention of the officers was almost wholly engro?eed
by the prospects of navigation and discovery during the approaching summ^.
Their Esquimaux neighbours, by no means destitute of intelligence, and accus-
tomed to shift continually from place to place, were found to have acquired a
very extensive knowledge of the seas and coasts of this part of America. One •
female, in particular, named Iligliuk, who bore even among her countrymen the
character of a ''wise woman," was, after a little instruction, enabled to convey
to the strangers the outlines of her geographical knowledge, in the fonn of a
rude map. A pencil being put into her hand, she traced the shore from Repulse
Bay with such a tolerable measure of accuracy as inspired great confidence in
what she might farther delineate. Iligliuk then began to exhibit a coast reach-
ing far to the north, being, in fact, the eastern limits of Melville peninsula. Next
her pencil took a westward direction, when her farther progress was watched
with the deepest interest ; upon which she was seen tracing a strait between op-
posite lands, that extended westward till it opened on each side, and spead into
an apparently unbounded ocean. This delineation, which promised to fulfil
their most sanguine hopes, gratified the officers beyond measure, and they load-
ed Iligliuk with attentions which unluckily soon turned her head, and made her
go conceited and disdainful that they were obliged to discontinue their notice
of her.
Captain Lyon, in the middle of March, undertook a journey across a piece of
land lying between the station of the ships and the continent, which had been
named Winter fsland. The party were scarcely gone when they encountered
a heavy gale, bringing with it clouds of drift, with a cold so intense, that they
could not stop for a moment without having their faces covered with frost
bites. After some vain struggles they determined to pitch their tent; but as the
temperature within was at zero, and was continually lowering, they felt that
they could not live through the night under this shelter. They therefore dug a
cave in the eaith, and by huddhng together round a fire, immersed in smoke, to
which no vent was allowed, contrived to keep up a degree of warmth, though
still ten or fifteen degrees below the freezing point. In the morning their sledge
was too deeply buried beneath the drift to leave any hope of digging it out, and
they could reach the ships, now six miles distant, only by proceeding on foot
tiirough a tempest of snow falling so thick that they could not see a yard before
tliem. Finding sometimes no track, sometimes several leading in diflTerent di-
lections, they were soon bewildered and wandered they knew not where among
heavy hummocks of ice. The frostbites were so numerous that they could not
muster hands enough to rub tlie parts affected, and some began to sink into that
dreadful insensibility which is the prelude to death by cold, and to reel about like
drunken men. Thus they had resigned almost every hope of deliverance, when
providentially there appeared a new beaten track, which they determined to fol-
low, and in ten minutes it led them to the ships. Their arrival tiiere caused in-
describable joy, as they had been nearly given up for lost, while no party could
be sent in .search of them without imminent risk of sharing their fate.
On the 8th of May, in a more favorable season, Captain Lyon undertook an-
other journey. In a fev/ hours he crossed Winter Island, and reached the strait
separating it from the continent, covered with heavy grounded ice very difficult
to walk upon. The sun, now powerful, produced such a glare on tlie snow as
aftected several of the party with severe bhndness; while the only means of pro-
curing water was by holding up plates of ice in the solar rays, by which they
were gradually melted. The pany having reached the mainland, proceeded a
considerable way along the coast, crossing several bays upon the ice ; but at last
tiiey cams in view of a bold cape, which they fondly and vainly hoped was the
extreme point of America. Here they were overtaken by a storm of snow, but
not accompanied, like the former, with perilous cold ; it melted as it fell, and
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRV. 611
formed a pulp whieh penetrated into their tents, yet did not dissolve so com-
pletely as to be fit for drinking. This storm kept them imprisoned for sixty-
eight hours ; which dreary interval they enlivened by reading in turn from three
books they chanced to have with them, and as soon as the sun began to gleam
they hastened to return to the ships.
The end of May presented a gloomy aspect, the season being still more back-
ward than in the more northerly and rigorous climate of Melville Island. The
snow was dissolved only on some spots, and hardly any symptoms of vegetation
were yet visible ; but as there was an extent of open water in the sea without,
Captain Parry determined upon sawing his way through to it. This was a most
laborious process, the ice being much thicker and stronger thanat the commence-
ment of the season ; and after the seamen had continued at it more than a fort-
night, and were within forty-eight hours of completing a canal, the body of the
ice made a movement which closed it completely up. As they were looking on
m despair at this disaster, another passage opened which they attempted to ren-
der available. This too closed in the same manner ; but these agitations had at
last the etfect of causing the whole mass to float out into tlie open sea, and thus
leaving them an unobstructed passage.
On the 2d of July the ships began their career of discovery. They had a fa-
vourable run through this sea, which formed a continuation of Fox's Channel;
but a strong current from the north was bringing down the masses of ice with
great force. The Hecla underwent some severe pressures, and, within five or
six hundred yards of the Fury, two large floes dashed against each other with
such a tremendous concussion, that numberless huge masses were thrown fifty
or sixty feel into the air. The vessel, had she come for a moment within the
sphere of these movements, must have been dashed to pieces, — happily she es-
caped. This current, however, was highly promising, since it could not be
traced to the mouth of Hudson's Straits, but must come from the western ocean
which they were so anxious to reach.
The ice passed by, and the ships proceeded with a favouring wind and tide.
The shores began now to put on their summer aspect ; the snow had nearly dis-
appeared ; and the ground was covered with the richest bloom of Arctic vegeta-
tion. The expeditition came to a fine river named Barrow, which formed a
most picturesque fall down rocks richly fringed with very brilliant plants. Here
the reindeer sporting, the eider duck, the golden plover, and the snow bunting,
spreading their wings, produced a gay and delightful scene. On the 14th, the
navigators reached the island of Amitioke, which had been described as situated
near the strait they were then endeavouring to reach. They saw about two
hundred walruses lying piled, as usual, over each other on the loose drift ice.
A boat's crew from each ship proceeded to the attack; but these gallant amphi-
bia, some with their cubs mounted on their backs, made the most desperate re-
sistance, and one of them tore the planks of a boat in two or three places. Three
only were killed, the flesh of which was found tolerable, affording a variety amid
the ordinary sea diet.
The discoverers now proceeded northwards, and saw before them a bold and
high range of coast, separated apparently from that along which they were sail-
ing. This feature agreeing with the indications of the fair Iligliuk, flattered them
that they were approaching the strait exhibited by her as forming the entrance
into the Polar basin. They pushed on full of hope and animation, and were
farther cheered by reaching the small island of Igloolik, which she had described
as situated at the very commencement of the passage. Accordingly they soon saw
the strait stretching westward before them in long perspective; but, alas! they dis.
covered at the same time an unbroken sheet of ice stretching from shore to shore,
crossing and blocking up the passage, and this not a loose accidental floe, but
the ice of the preceding winter, on which the midsummer had not produced the
slightest change. Unable to advance a single step, they amused themselves with
land excursions in diffierent directions; and Captain Parry at length determined,
on the 14th of August, with a party of six, to undertake an expedition along the
frozen surface of the strait. The jouruey was very laborious, the ice being
sometimes thrown up in rugged humraoclcs, and occasionally leaving large apa-
612
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
ces of open water, which it was necessary to cross on a plank, or on pieces of
ice, instead of boats. In four days they came in view of a peninsula terminated
by a bold cape, the approach to whicii was guarded by successive ranges of
strata, resembling the tiers oi galleries of a high and commanding fortification.
The party, however, scrambled to the summit, whence they enjoyed a most
gratifying spectacle. They were at the narrowest part of the strait, here al)out
two miles across, with a tide or current running through it at the rate of two
miles an hour. Westward the shores on each side receded, till, for three points
of the compass, and amid a clear horizon, no land was visible. The captain
doubted not that from this position he beheld the Polar sea; into which, notwith-
standing the formidable barriers of ice which intervened, he cherished the most
sanguine hopes of forcing his way. He named this the strait of tlie Fury and
Hecla, and gave the sailors an extra can of grog, to drink a safe and speedy pas-
sage through its channel.
Captain Parry now lost no time in returning to the ships, where his arrival
was joyful and seasonable ; for the opposing barrier, which had been gradually
softening and breaking into various rents and fissures, at once almost entirely
disappeared, and the vessels next morning were in open water. On the 21st,
they got under way; and, though retarded by fogs and other obstructions, had
arrived on the 26th at that central and narrowest cha:mel wliich the commander
had formerly reached. A brisk breeze now sprung up, the sky cleared, they
dashed across a current of three or four knots an hour, and sanguinely hoped for
an entire success, which would compensate so many delays and disappointments.
Suddenly, from the crows nest above, it was armounced that ice, in a continu-
ous and impenetrable field, unmoved from its winter station, occupied the whole
breadth of the channel. In an hour they reached this barrier, which they found
soft, porous, and what is termed rotten. Spreading all their canvass, they bore
down upon it, and actually forced their way through a space of three or four
I.undred yards; but they were stuck, and found their progress arrested by a fix-
ed and impenetrable mass. From this point, during the whole season, the ships
were unable to advance a single step. Nor had the crews any means of exert-
ing their activity except in land journeys. Captain Lyon undertook an expedi-
tion southward, to ascertain if any inlet from sea to sea in this direction had es-
caped notice. The country, however, was so filled with rugged and rocky hills,
some a thousand feet high, and with chains of lakes in which much ice was
floating, that he could not proceed above seven miles, Though it was the be-
ginning of September, the season was only that of early spring; and the buds
of the poppy and saxifrage were just unfolding, to be prematurely nipped by
the fast approaching winter.
More satisfactory information was derived from an excursion made by Messrs.
Reid and Bushman, who penetrated sixty miles westward along the southeni
coast of Cockburn Island, till they reached a pinnacle, whence they saw, beyond
all doubt, the Polar ocean spreading its boundless expanse before them ; but tre-
mendous barriers of ice filled the strait, and precluded all approach towards that
great and desired object.
It was now the middle of September, and the usual symptoms of deer troop-
ing in herds southward, floating pieces of ice consolidating into masses, and the
thin pancake crust forming on the surface of the waters, reminded the mariners,
not only that they could hope for no farther removal of the obstacles which ar-
rested their progress, but that they must lose no tune in providing winter quar-
ters. The niiddie of the strait, at the spot where they had been first stopped,
occurred as the station whence they would be most likely to push future discov-
ery ; but prudence suggested a doubt, whether the ships, enclosed in this icy
prison witli such strong barriers on each side, might ever be able to efi'ect their
extrication. It appeared, at all events, a serious consideration, tliat they might
be shut up here for elevQ^i months, surrounded by rocks and ice, amid the pri-
vations of an Arctic winter. By returning to Igloolik, they would be ready to
catch the earliest opening, which was expected to take place on the eastern side,
from whence a few days would bring them to their present station.
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 613
On the 30lh of October, by the usual operation of sawing, the ships were estab-
lished in a harbor at Igloohk. The ensuing season was passed with the most
careful attention to the health and comfort of the crews; but though their spirits
did not sink, there appears to have been, on the whole, less of gayety and light-
ness of heart than in the two former winterings. We hear nothing of the drama
or even of the school. In this position, north of Winter Island, they were de-
prived, for about seven weeks, of the sun's cheering beams. On the 2d of De-
cember retraction still showed, from the deck of the Fury, about the sixteenth
part of his disk. About the new year, Arcturus and Capella, stars of the first
magnitude, were visible for half an hour before and after midday. On the 5th
of January, (18i3,) the horizon was so brightly suffused with red, that they
hoped ere long to see the sun's orb burst forth ; but a fortnight of thick fog oc-
casioned a disappointment. On the 19lh, the sky having cleared, they saw him
rise, attended by two parhelia, and both crews turned out to enjoy the novelty
and splendour of this cheering spectacle.
The sailors found at Igloolik a colony of Esquimaux, who received them at
first with surprise and some degree of alarm ; but on learning that they were
fiOm Winter Island and intimate with its tenants of last season, they hailed them
at once as familiar acquaintances. These natives belonged to the same tribe,
and were connected by alliance and close relationship with many individuals of
liie Winter Island party ; of whom, therefore, they were delighted to receive
tidings. The crews spent the winter with them on quite a friendly footing, and
rendered important services to them during a period of severe sickness. This in-
tercourse, however, was not on the whole nearly so satisfactory as in the former
place and season. It began to be observed that their attachment to the Kaliloo-
nas was greatly prompted by interest and by the hope of extracting presents;
that they begged for food and gifls almost without intermission, and yet showed
no gratitude on receiving them; taking much le.3s into consideration what they
themselves got, than what others got more than they. The indifference shown
towards such of their own tribe as were in a debilitated and suffering state was
viewed also with much dissatisfaction. Kagha, a widow, cursed certainly with a
most frightful temper, was found almost perishing through neglect. Captain
Lyon took her into his own cabin, where, however, her filth and scolding made
her a peifect nuisance ; so that, after being recruited and clothed in two folds of
deer skin, she was remanded to the huts. Ten days afler she was found at the
point of death, solely, it appeared, through want of food; and though removed
immediately to the ship's hospital, she died next day. Our people were also
jnuch displeased at the stoical firmness with which the relations received notice
of two of their deceased kindred, whom the dogs had dug up from under the
snow, their only covering, and had devouied. It was indeed very difficult to
find an earthy grave beneath the glebe, now frozen as hard as rock ; but an Es-
quimaux acquaintance having lost his wife, the sailors piled over her such a
heap of stones as might defy the attempts of all the animal?, wild and tame,
which prowl through this dreary region. The man gave thanks, but not cordi-
ally ; he even expressed a dread lest the pressure of this huge pile would be
painfully felt by his deceased spouse ; and soon after, when an infant died, he
declared her wholly incapable of bearing such a burden, and would allow nothing
but snow to be laid over her.
The spring was peculiarly unfavorab^.e. Captain Lyon attempted to pene-
trate across Melville Peninsula, but found the route so rugged and so barred by
steep chains of mountains, that he was obliged to return in nineteen days with-
out any discovery, except of two rapid rivers falling into the sea near Igloolik.
Lieutenant Hoppner accompanied a party of Esquimaux to Cockburn Island,
but could not penetrate to any distance inland. It was the 7th of August before
they were able, by severe sawing, to reach the open sea; by which time Captain
Parry had renounced the hope of efVecting any tiling important during the short
remnant of this season. He formed, however, a very bold plan, which was to
bring all the stores of the other vessel on board the Fu^y, and with it alone to
brave a third winter in the Polar regions, hoping that the succeeding summer
might be more propitious. But as he was preparing to carry tliis too daring
*52
614 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
project into effect, a report was made that symptoms of scurvy had broken ont
on several of the crevir, whose physical strength appeared to be generally im-
paired by the two hard winters through which they had passed. This left no
choice ; and, in compliance with the general opinion of his ofiicers, Captain
Parry began his voyage homeward. The ships were drifted about in a stormy
sea, covered with ice, for twenty-four days; but, being at last favoured with a
westerly breeze, they crossed the Atlantic, and on the 10th of October, 1823,
arrived in Brassa Sound, Shetland. After two successive years thus passed in
the depth of the frozen world, whence not the faintest rumour of the expedition
had reached Britain, its members were viewed almost as men risen from the
dead. The bells of Lerwick were rung, and other extraordinary demonstrations
of joy made on their arrival. In a few days they entered the Thames.
Two attempts had thus been made, each to a certain point successful, but
both arrested much short of the completion of the grand enterprise. The gov-
ernment at home, however, were not willing to stop short in their spirited ca-
reer. The western extremity of Melville Island, and the strait of the Fury
and Hecla, appeared to be both so blocked up as to atibrd little hope ; but
Prince Regent's Inlet, when explored during Captain Parry's voyage, had
presented, indeed, an icy barrier, but such as had so often given away suddenly
and almost instantaneously, that its existence early in the season could not be
considered very alarming. A passage through this channel would bring the
ships to the great sea bounding the northern coast of America, that had been
seen from the strait of the Fury and Hecla, and along which Captain Franklin
had partly sailed, and by which there was the fairest hope of reaching, by the
most direct route, the waters of the great Pacific. To ibllow up these views.
Captain Parry was again fitted out in the Hecla; while, in the accidental ab-
sence of Captain Lyon, the Fury was intrusted to Lieutenant, now Captain,
Hoppner, who had taken an active part in the operations of the last voyage.
The expedition sailed from Northfleet on the 19th of May, 1824, and was in
Davis's Strait by the middle of June. As the season, however, chanced to be
I)eculiarly rigorous, it was not till the 10th of September, that, after repeated re-
pulses and severe straining, they caught a view of the bold and magnificent
shores of Lancaster Sound, in which a few solitary icebergs were floating. Af-
ter this they thought themselves fortunate, when, by pushing their way through
many miles of newly formed ice, they reached Port Bowen in time to make it
their winter quarters.
The provision made during this winter for the physical well-being of the ex-
pedition was still more complete than in the former voyages. The heat of the
cabins was kept up to between 50 and 60 degrees, and the seamen wore next the
skin a clothing of fur, a substance which nature has endowed with a warmth far
surpassing that of any human frabric. Yet the deep monotony produced by the
perfectly uniform aspect of external nature, instead of becoming less sensible by
habit, was only the more painfully felt. As the Arctic theatre had lost its attrac-
tion, Captain Hoppner started the idea of masquerades, which were, perhaps,
still more out of keeping with the place and persons; but the sailors caught at
Jt with pleasure, and on these occasions all of them acted their part with great
spirit, and strict decorum. The salutary and steady influence of the schools was
again revived, and the whole crew gave their presence, either as teachers, schol-
ars, or spectators.
The spring was unusually favourable, and, with comparatively easy sawing of
the ice, the navigators warped out to sea on the 19th of July, 1825. As it ap-
peared most desirable to coast southward along the western shore of the inlet,
ihey stood across tke bay, but were soon arrested by a continuous barrier of ice.
which, however, left an open space on the opposite side. A fruiUess attempt was
now made to penetrate southward, the channel there being found to be equally
Hupeded with ice; hence it was judged advisable, with tlie view of seeking a
UsH encumbered passage along the western shore, to stretch to the northward.
An adverse gale, by wiiich they were overtaken near the mouth of the inlet, now
rlrove them eastward ; but at last they regained their course, and soon came in
view of the bold face ofihe Leopold Isles, tlie rocks of which rise in horizontal
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 615
strata of limestone to the height of 600 or 700 feet, resembling^ a huge and im-
pregnable fortress.
Having touched at Cape Seppings, Captain Parry proceeded down the inlet^
where he was no longer arrested by an unbroken barrier of ice. The sea, how-
ever, was still heavily encumbered by numerous small fragments, that were tos-
sing about in every direction, and pressed upon the ships so hard, that the men'
vvished for a contrary wind ; which, coming from the south, would open and
disperse the masses collected and driven against them by the north wind. In
this anxious and precarious state they worked slowly on till the 1st of August,
when they reached the latitude of 72° 42', longitude 91° 5C'. Here Captain
Parry, from the Hecla, saw the Fury receive a most severe shock by a large
floe, that forced her against the grounded ice of the shore; and tidings soon came
that she was sharply nipped, and was admitting water copiously. The com-
mander trusted that this would prove as harmless as the many shocks which this
vessel had already endured; that the water made its entry by means of the twist-
ed position into which she had been thrown; and that when she was relieved
from pressure, her leaks would close. But the next accounts were that she
could not be kept clear of water except by the action of four pumps, at which
the whole crew, officers and men, were obliged to work. It became evident
that the evils under which she laboured could only be remedied by the operation
ofheacing down, by which her position being reversed, the parts now underwa-
ter would be exposed to view. This expedient required a harbour, and there
HEAVING DOWN THE FURY.
was none at hand; however, something was formed, which resembled one, by
connecting with anchors and bower cables the grounded ice to the shore. Four
days were spent in unlading the Fury of those ample stores with which she had
been provided. The operation was interrupted by a violent storm of snow ;
while the external ice being driven in, demolished, in a great measure, the slen-
der bulwarks by which the vessel was secured. Her holds were filled with v:a-
ter, and every examination proved the damage of her hull to be still more serious
than was at first apprehended. No means or prospect appeared, either of se-
curing her in her present position, or of floating her to any known place of safe-
. ty. In these circumstances, Captain Parry, without expressing an opinion of
ihis own, called for a report from Captain Iloppner and his principal oflicers,
^all of whom agreed "tliatan absolute necessity existed for abandoning the Fu-
616 WILLIAM EDWARD PAKRY.
ry." Signals, therefore, were immediately made to the officers and men to carry
their clothes and effects on board the Hecla.
Tlie stores, for want of room, were necessarily abandoned along with the ship ;
and barrels of beef, beer, biscuit, and other valuable articles of provision, were
left exposed on those savage and desolate shores, where they were unlikely to
afford aid or benefit to any human being. After such a disaster, and the end of
August being arrived, there was just time enough left to bring the Hecla home
with a fair prospect of safety, — an event which was in due time accomplished.
.After a certain interval, a plan was devised to push towards the Pole in vehi-
cles wafted over the frozen surface of the ocean. It was Mr. Scoresby by whom
this scheme was first suggested. In a memoir read to the Wernerian Society,
he endeavored to prove that such a journey was neither so visionary nor so very
perilous as it might appear to those who were unacquainted with the Arctic re-
gions. The Polar Sea in some meridians would, he doubted not, present one
continued sheet of ice ; the inequalities of which, if tolerably smooth, would op-
pose no in^urmoutitable barrier. Intervals of open water would be more
troublesome ; yet the vehicle, being made capable of serving as a boat, might
either sail across, or make a circuit round them. This conveyance, he remark-
ed, ought to be a sledge formed of those light materials used by the Esquimaux
in the construction of their boats, and drawn either by reindeer or dogs. The
former animals are so fleet, that, in favourable circumstances, they might go and
return in a fortnight, while the best dog-team would require five or six weeks;
the latter, however, would be more tractable, and better fitted for skimming over
thin or broken ice. Though the cold would be very severe, yet as no very
alarming increase occurred between the seventieth and eightieth degrees of lati-
tude, there was httle ground to apprehend tliat in the other ten degrees, reaching
to the Pole, it would become insupportable. For provisions were recommend-
ed portable soups, potted meats, and other substances, which, with httle weight,
contained much nourishment.
These suggestions did not, for a considerable time attract attention ; but at
length, Captain Parry, after his three brilliant voyages to the north-west, finding
reason to suspect that his farther progress in thai, direction was hopeless, turned
his enterprising views elsewhere, and conceived the ambition of penetrating
over the frozen sea to the Pole. Combining Mr. Scoresby's ideas with his own
observations, and with a series of reflections derived by Captain Franklin from
his extensive experience, Captain Parry formed and submitted to the Lords of
the Admiralty the plan of an expedition over the Polar ice. Their Lordships,
having referred this proposal to the council and committee of the Royal Societ}-,
and received a favourable report as to the advantages which science might de-
rive from such a journey, applied themselves with tlieir usual alacrity to supply
the Captain with every thing which could assist him in this bold undertaking.
The Hecla was employed to carry him as far as a ship could go, and with her
were sent two boats, to be dragged or navigated, according to circumstances,
along the unknown and desolate expanse between Spitzbergen and the Pole.
These boats, being built of successive thin planks of ash, fir, and oak, with slieets
of water-proof canvass and stout felt, interposed, united the greatest possible
degree of strength and elasticity. The interior was made capacious and flat-
fioored, somewhat as in troop-boats, and a runner attached to each side of the
keel fitted them to be drawn along the ice like a sledge. Wheels were also
taken on board, in case tlieir use should be found practicable.
The adventurers started early. On the 27th of March, 1827, they were towed
down the river by the Comet steamboat, and on the 4th of April weighed from
the Nore. On the 1 Dth they entered the fine harbour of Hammerfest in Norway,
where they remained two or three weeks, and took on board eight reindeer,
with a quantity of picked moss for their provender. Quitting Norway on the
11th of May, tliey soon found themselves among the ice, and met a number of
whale ships. On tlie llUh, they were in view of Hakluyt's Headland, when the
Captain endeavoured to push his way to tlie north-east in the track of Phipps.
The vessel, however, was soon completely beset, and even enclosed in a large
fioe, which carried her slowly eastward along with it. Aa every day was now
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. ^ 617
an irretrievable loss, Captain Parry became impatient in the extreme, and form-
ed a plan to push off northward, leaving the ship to find a harbour for herself,,
where he trusted on his return to trace her out. But the survey of the route in
the proposed direction was most discouraging. In consequence of some violent
agitation in the preceding season, the ice had been piled up in innumerable
hummocks, causing the sea to resemble a stone-mason's yard, except that it con-
tained masses six times larger. This state of the surface, which would have
rendered it impossible to drag the boats more than a mile in the day, was found
to prevail for a considerable space with httle interruption. Tiie current mean-
time continued to carry the ship, with the floe to which it was attached, slowly to
tne eastward, till it brought her into shoals in tlie vicinity of ice, where she
grounded in six fathoms ; alter which Captain Parry felt it quite out of the
question to leave her till she was lodged in a secure harbour. He worked on
gradually, however, to the east and north, passing Waldenlsland, and obtaining
a full view of the Seven Islands; but here the sea was covered with one un-
broken land floe attached to all the shores, which destroyed every hope of finding
a harbour among these islands. No choice was then left but to steer back for
the coast of Spitzbergen, where he unexpectedly hghted on a very excellent
harbour, named by him Hecla Cove, and which proved to be part of the bay ta
which an old Dutch chart had given the name of Treurenberg. It was now the
20th of June, and the best of tiie season had been spent in beating backwards
and forwards on these ice-bound shores; he therefore resolved, without further
delay, to prosecute the main object of his enterprise. Scarcely hoping to reach
the Pole, he determined, at all events, to push as far north as possible. He took
with him seventy-one days' provision, consisting of pemmican, (beef dried and
pounded,) biscuit, cocoa, and rum. Spirits of wine, as the most portable and
concentrated fuel, was alone used for that purpose. There were provided
changes of warm clothing, thick fur dresses for sleeping in, and strong Esqui-
maux boots. The reindeer and also the wheels were given up at once as alto-
gether useless in the present rugged state of the ice ; but four sledges, con-
structed out of the Esquimaux snow-shoes, proved very convenient for dragging
along the baggage.
On the 22d of June the expeditionary party quitted the ship, and betook them-
selves to the boats amid the cheers of their associates. Although all the shores
were still fiozen, they had an open sea, calm and smooth as a mirror, through
which they sailed slowly but agreeably with their loaded vessels. After proceed-
ing thus for about eighty miles, they reached, not as they had hoped, the main
body of the ice, but a surface intermediate between ice and water. This could
neither be walked nor sailed over, but was to be passed by the two methods
alternately. However, on such a strange and perilous plan it behooved them
to land, in order to commence their laborious and monotonous journey towards
the Pole.
Captain Parry describes in an interesting manner the singular mode of travel-
ling to which they were compelled to adhere. The first step was to convert
night into day; to begin their journey in the evening, and end it in tlie morning.
Thus, while they had quite enough of hght, they avoided the snow-glare and the
blindness which it usually produces ; they had the ice drier and harder beneath
them ; and they enjoyed the greatest warmth, when it was most wanted, during
the period of sleep: they were only a httle annoyed by frequent and denser fogs.
Tluis tlieir notions of night and day became inverted. They rose in what they
called the morning, but which was really late in the evening, and having per-
formed their devotions, breakfasted on warm cocoa antf biscuit. They then drew
on their boots usually either wet or hard frozen; and which, though perfectly
dried, would have been equally soaked in fifteen minutes. The paity then
travelled five or six hours, and a little alter midnight stopped to dine. They
now performed an equal jouniey in what they called the afternoon ; and in the
evening, that is, at an advanced morning hour, halted as for the night. They
then applied themselves to obtain rest and comfort, put on dry stockings and fur
boots, cooked something warm for supper, smoked their pipes, told over their
618 . WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
exploits, and, forgetting the toils of the day, enjoyed an interval of ease and
gayety. Then, wrapping themselves in their fur cloaks, they lay down in the
boat, rather too close together perhaps, but with very tolerable comfort. The
sound of a bugle roused them at night to their breakfast of cocoa, and to a repe-
tition of the same round.
The progress for several days was most slow and laborious. The floes were
small, exceedingly rough, and with interposed lanes of water, which could not
be crossed without unloading the boats. It was commonly necessary to convey
these and the stores by two stages, when the sailors, being obliged to return for
the second portion, had to go three times over the same ground ; sometimes
they were obliged to make three stages, and thus to pass over it five times.
There iell as much rain as they had experienced during the whole course of
seven years in a lower latitude. A great deal of the ice over which they travelled
was formed into numberless irregular needle-like crystals, standing upwards,
and pointed at both ends. The horizontal surface of this part had sometimes
the appearance of greenish velvet, while the vertical sections, when in a com-
pact state, resembled the most beautiful satin-spar, and asbestos when going to
pieces. These peculiar wedges, it was supposed, were produced by the drops
of rain piercing through the superficial ice. The needles at first aflforded
tolerably firm footing ; but becouiiug always more loose atid movable as the
summer advanced, they at last cut the boots and feet as if they had been pen-
knives. Sometimes, too, there arose hummocks so elevated and rugged that
the boats could only be borne over them, in a direction almost perpendicular,
by those formidable operations called '* a standing pull and a bowline haul."
The result of all this was, that a severe exertion of five or six hours did not
usually produce a progress of above a mile and a half or two miles, and that in
a winding direction; so that, after having entered upon the ice on the 24th of
June, in latitude 81° 13' they found themselves on the 29th only in 81° 23', hav-
ing thus made only about eight miles of direct nothing. Captain Parry soon
relinquished all hope of reaching the Pole; however, it was resolved to push
onward as far as possible. The party came at length to somewhat smoother ice
and larger floes, and made rather better progress. While the boats were land-
ing on one of these, the commander and Lieutenant Ross usually pushed on to
the other end to ascertain the best course. On reaching the extremity, they
commonly mounted the largest hummock, whence they beheld a scene of which
nothing could exceed the dreariness. The eye rested only upon ice, and a sky
hid in dense and dismal fogs. Amid this scene of inanimate desolation, the view
of a passing bird, or of ice in any peculiar shape, excited an intense interest,
which they smiled to recollect ; but they were principally cheered by viewing
the two boats in the distance, the moving figures of the men winding with their
sledges among the hummocks, and by hearing the sound of human voices,
which broke the silence of this frozen wilderness. The rain, and the increasing
warmth of the season, indeed gradually softened the ice and snow, but this only
caused the travellers to sink deep at every step. At one place they sunk repeat-
edly three leet, and required three hours to make a hundred yards. As they
halted on the 5th of July, the margin of the floe broke, and a bag of cocoa fell
into the sea, but luckily alighted on a tongue of ice and was taken up.* At
tlie same time pools and even lakes were formed on the frozen surface ; and
though the peculiar blue of these superglacial lakes formed one of the most
beautiful tints in nature, this was a poor compensation for being obliged to make
a great detour in order to avoid them. Still, amid all these ditficulties, the floes
became on the whole lar|*er, the lanes of water longer, and the day's journey was
gradually extended. Having attained 82° 40', they began to hold it as a fixed
point that their eflbrts would be crowned with success so far as to reach the
* It may be mentioned, that the contents of the package here alluded to, were found to be
quite uninjured after this rude immeri>ion, a protection luscribed to " Mackintosh's wator-proor
canvass," — a manufacture which, as a security for seu-stores, is mentioned by Captuia Parry in
terms of the highest commendation.
WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY. 619
eighty-third parallel. This hope seemed converted into certainty, when, on the
22d they had travelled seventeen miles, the greater proportion of which was
directly north. But there now occurred an unfavourable change, which baffled
all their toils and hopes. Down to the 19th the wind had blown steadily from
the south, and, without aiding them much, had at least checked the usual move-
ment of the ice in that direction. On this last day, however, a steady breeze
sprung up from the north, which opened, indeed, a few lanes of water; but this
it was feared could not compensate for the degree in which it could not fail to
cause the loosened niaspes of ice, with the travellers upon them, to drift to the
southward. This effect was soon found to take place to an extent still more
alarming than had been at first anticipated. Instead of ten or twelve miles,
which they reckoned themselves to have travelled northward on the 22d, they
were found not to have made quite four. This most discouraging fact was at
first concealed from the sailors, who only remarked, that they were very long
of getting to this 83d degree.
The expedition was now fast approaching the utmost limits of animal life.
During their long journey of the22d they saw only two seals, a fish, and a bird.
On the 24th only one solitary rotge was heard ; and it might be presumed that,
from thence to the Pole, all would be a mighty scene of silence and solitude.
The adventurers pushed on without hesitation beyond the realms of life ; but
now, after three days of bad travelling, when their reckoning gave them ten or
eleven miles of progress, observation showed them to be four miles south of the
position which they occupied on the evening of the 22d. The drifting of the
snow-fields had in that time carried them fourteen miles backward. This vvas
too much. To reach even the 83d degree, though only twenty miles distant,
was now beyond the limits of hope. To ask the men to undergo such unparal-
leled toil and hardship, with the danger of their means being exhausted, while
an invisible power undid what their most strenuous daily labours achieved, was
contrary to the views of their considerate commander. In short, he determined
tliatthey should take a day of rest, and then set out on their return. This reso-
lution was communicated to the crew, who, though deeply disappointed at hav-
ing achieved so little, acquiesced in the necessity, and consoled themselves with
the idea of having gone farther north than any previous expedition of which
there was a well-authenticated record.
The return was equally laborious as the going out, and in some respects more
unpleasant, from the increasing softness of the ice and snow; depriving them
of confidence in any spot on which they could place their boats or persons, and
often sinking two or three feet in an instant. However, the drift southward
made no longer any deduction from their progress, but added to it, every obser-
vation giving them several miles beyond their reckoning. There was more open
water, and it was a relief to them that the sun in their nightly journeying was
lower in the ^horizon ; while, being to the northward, he did not, as lormerly,
glare in their faces. They met several bears, and killed one, which was eagerly
devoured by the hungry crew ; but the meal was followed by such severe symp-
toms of indigestion as inspired an unfavourable opinion regarding the flesh'X)f
this animal. Captain Parry attributed the bad effects to the enormous quantity
eaten. At length, on the 11th of August, they heard the sound of the surge
beating against the exterior margin of the great ice-field. They were soon
launched on the open sea, and reached Table Island, where a supply of bread
had been deposited ; but Bruen had discovered it, and devoured the whole.
They found, however, some accommodations; while the stores left at Walden's
Island were still quite undisturbed. On the 21st the navigators arrived in Hecla
Cove, from whence soon afterward, they sailed for England.
Such was the result of the first and only attempt to penetrate to the Pole over
the frozen surface of the deep. All the prowess, energy, and hardihood of
British seamen were exerted to the utmost, without making even an approach
towards the fulfilment of their object. A failure so complete has suspended for
the present every idea of resuming the project; yet there seems nothing in the
details just giveri to deter from the enterprise as impossible, or even to render it
620 WILLIAM EDWARD PARRY.
very unfeasible. The unfavourable issue seems evidently owing to the advanced
season of the year, when the thaw and consequent dissolution of the ice had
made great progress, and all the materials of the great northern floor were broken
up. The water, in its progressive conversion from solid into fluid, presented
only a treacherous quicksand, in which the travellers sunk at every step, with the
peril of being finally swallowed up. The ice in these intermediate stages of its
transition into water, and in the breaches and pressures to which this gave rise,
assumed a variety of much more rugged forms, than when it was spread and fast
bound over the surface of the ocean. Its tendency also when loosened to float
to the southward, carrying with it whatever is moving along its surface, inevit-
ably defeats every attempt to proceed over it in a contrary direction. We en-
tirely concur, therefore, in Mr. Scoresby's opinion, tliat a departure much earlier
in the season would be quite indispensable to give any chance of success.
SIR JOHN ROSS
The first voyage of this distinguished navigator, in the northern seas, has
already been described in connection with those of Captain Parry. On the 23d
of May, 1829, he again sailed from Wolwich in the Victory, fitted as a steamer,
on a second expedition to the North Pole. By the power of steam, which has
produced such wonders in modern navigation, he hoped to vanquish the ob-
stacles v/hich had arrested the progress of all former navigators. Another vessel,
named the John, was taken up to carry stores and provisions, and to fish by the
way. The two vessels were to meet at Lock Ryan. When the Victory was off
the Mall of Galloway, die principal stroker got his arm entangled in the machine-
ry, and the bone was so splintered, as well as fractured, that amputation was
necessary; but the surgeon had not joined, and Ross was under the necessity
of doing the best he could for the unfortunate suflerer. On the meeting of the
two ships, the crew of the John mutinied, and refused to accompany the Victo-
ry. Three men, however, of the mutineers, entered for the latter, and having
procured an Irish labourer as a fire-stroker, she proceeded alone on her voyage.
On the 23d of July, the party reached Holsteinburg, in Davis' Strait, where
they purchased some stores from a wrecked vessel, and the governor made them
a present of six Esquimaux dogs, which proved to be of essential use in dragging
the sledges. All things being ready, they stood to the northward, along the coast
53
622 SIR JOHN ROSS.
of Baffin's Bay ; and having reached the latitude of 74° 14' on the 3d of Aiigrist,
ran across, and on the 5th reached the entrance of Lancaster Sound. On the
11th of August, they steered direct for the south side of Prince Regent's Inlet;
and having passed Elwin and Batty Bays, saw the spot where the Fury was
wrecked, andthepolesof the tents standing, but could not discern the ship; she
had gone to pieces, or to the bottom. The Victory was moored in a good ice
harbour, within a quarter of a mile of the spot where the Fury's stores were
landed. Here the coast was almost lined with coal. One tent was nearly entire,
but had evidently been visited by bears. Where the preserved meats and veget-
ables had been deposited every thing was found entire. The canisters had been
piled up in two heaps, but though exposed to all the chances of the climate for
four years, they had not suffered in the slightest degree. There had been no
water to rust them, and the security of the joinings had prevented the bears from
smelling their contents. The canisters were large and numerous, and they took
as many as they could, together with whatever they wanted of wine, spirits,
bread, flour, cocoa, sugar, lime-juice, &c., all being in excellent condition. They
uncasked, moreover, ten tons of charcoal. The gun-powder, in patent cas-es--.
was perfectly dry; and of this, what they did not take, they destroyed, — by Sir
E. Parry's request, as it appears, to prevent its falling into the hands of the Es-
quimaux.
Standing along the coast to the southward, they passed Cape Gerry ; and from
hence their progress was slow, and much impeded by snow, icebergs, and con-
trary winds. At the end of September, the Victory being beset with ice, and no
hope of extrication presenting itself for eight successive days, there remained no
doubt of her having reached her winter's home.
The first step tlierefore to be taken, was to lighten the ship, to throw over-
board the steam-engine, and to make such arrangements and regulations for the
long winter, as seemed necessary for their convenience and comfort ; and which
differed but little from those devised by Captain Parry. Ko time was lost in
roofing the ship over, and surrounding her with an embankment of snow as
high up as the gunwale, where it met the canvass roofing, and sheltered tlie
people from all wind ; the upper deck was also covered with snow two feet and
a half thick, and trodden down until it became a solid mass of ice, and then
sprinkled over with sand, so as to present the appearance of a rolled gravel
walk. Though the temperature out of doors was frequently from 30 to 37
degrees below zxto, the system of comfort and economy within was as perfect
as could be desired; but even without, however low the temperature, provided
there was no wind, the men could take exercise and make hunting excursions
without much inconvenience. The men attended schools ; and on Sundays,
divine service was invariably performed. ' In some way or other,' says Captain
Ross, ' the last three months pasted away without weariness, and had, indeed,
been almost unfclt.'
On the 9th of January, 1830, an unexpected source of amusement occurred
in the visit of a tribe of Esquimaux, to the number of about thirty. The village
of the tribe in question consisted of twelve snow huts, which had the appearance
of so many inverted basins ; and a passage leads to each through a long crooked
mound. They are generally about ten feet in diameter, and immediately oppo-
site the door-v.yy is a bank of snow, two feet and a half high, level at lop, and
covered widi various skins, which serves as the general sleeping place of the
whole family. A lamp of moss, and oil supplies both light and heat, so as to
make the apartment perfectly comfortable. But light is admitted also by a larg-
ova! piece of ice fixed in the roof In the crooked passage is a recess for tin
dogs ; the passage appears to be made crooked to enable them to turn the open-
ing to leeward when the wind blows. Being formed entirely of blocks of snow,
the completion of the fabric is the work of a few hours.
Our voyagers soon discovered that these Esquimaux were able to give them
some important geographical information; that they were acquainted with Win-
ter Island and Repulse Bay, and had left Acoolee, a station opposite to tlie latter,
only thirteen days before. One man drew with his pencil several large lakes
close to tliat part of the country where they then were, and marked ^e spots
SIR JOHN ROSS.
where their countrymen were to be found. There was also a female geogra-
pher in the party, who pointed out to them where they must sleep in their future
progress, and where food was to be obtained. These people are provident, and
in the summer season they kill immense quantities of game and fish, which they
bury in the snow, for their winter provision, when land animals are less plenti-
ful, and the weather so severe as to prevent them from making their hunting ex-
cursions. About the month of April, great herds of musk-oxen and rein-deer
make their appearance from the southward: and bears, wolves, gluttons, foxes,
hares, and ermines, are abundant. Among the birds, sv^^ans, grouse, ptarmigaiLs,
partridges, snipes, and sea-guls are met with in considerable numbers. The seal
is one of their most useful animals, both for food and clothing.
But the quantities of salmon that frequent the lakes on the neighbouring isth-
ley I
in the month of July.
They had now passed their first winter, not merely without suftering great in-
convenience, but in comparative comfort ; and as spring advanced they looked
forward to the time when the truth of the Esquimaux geography should be put
to the test by a journey on land. On the 1st of April, Captain Ross set out on
this expedition; and he returned on the 10th. A second and third journey to-
wards the end of April, put him in full possession of the geography of this isth-
mus, which connects the peninsula, named by Ross, Boothia, and the land which,
for the present, we are to consider as pai't of the continent of America ; it also
separates Prince Regent'slnlet from the western sea ; and, by a fourth journey,
was ascertained to be about fifteen miles in width, consisting of a lake ten miles
long in the centre, and five miles of land. This spot, until its geography was
decided, had raised expectations that a passage might be found hereabouts into
the sea to the westward.
But when the hope of a navigable passage into the western sea appeared to be
at an end, and that, according to the Esquimaux geography, the southern, like
the western shore of Prince Regent's Inlet was closed round with land, the next
important point to be ascertained, was, whether the land to the southward of the
isthmus was connected with, or a part of, the mainland of^orth America,— and
this could only be done by tracing the western shore as far as their provisions
would allow them to proceed. Coming to a projecting headland, which the com-
mander named Cape Felix, the land was seen to tend to the south-west. A
fatiguing journey of twenty miles over ice and snow, brought them to another
projecting headland, which they named Victory Point. Finding their stores of
provisions more than half consumed, notwithstanding a reduction of their allow-
ance, they found themselves obliged to return t^ the ship by the shortest route.
On Victory Point our travellers erected a cairn of stones, six feet high, in which
was inclosed a canister containing a brief account of the proceedings of the expe-
dition since its departure from England, — but without the remotest hope that
this little history would ever meet the eye of any European.
Towards the end of June, while the ship was preparing for sea, in prosecu-
tion of further discovery. Sir John Ross went, with a party of iiis people and
some natives, to a river about fifteen miles from the ship, on a fishing excursion,
in which he appears to have been more successful in purchasing than in catching
salmon. For a large knife, an Esquimaux gave him out of one of their frozen
pits, two hundred and twenty fish, averaging five pounds each. The natives
take them by a spear with two divergent barbs of bone or ivory. But they now
learned for the first time the use of the net, and were fully aware of its value,
when they afterwards saw so many thousands taken at a single draught. The
seamen having taught them the art of making them, there is no doubt their skins,
when split into stripes or threads will efiectually serve the purpose, and that
these poor people will thus be able to procure an inexhaustible supply of this
species of food.
It was not until the 19th of August that any attempt was made to get the ship
out of the ice, and even then it was found impossible to move her, ' The third
624 SIR JOHN ROSS«
week in August,' says Captain Rosg, ' found us where we had been since May
in prospect, since September in place ; the ice was still close. The tempera-
ture, however, was particularly favourable.' From the 1st to the 17th of Sep-
tember, the time was chiefly spent in futile attempts to get the ship released, but
on the afternoon of the latter day they succeeded in warping her out into clear wa-
ter, and getting her once more under sail. Their hopes of making progress at so
late a season of the year, were soon at an end; the sea became covered with ice
of the worst kind, and new ice was forming; the weather was most tempestuous.
They were not yet, moreover, in a secure harbour. The whole of October was
employed in the severe labour of cutting away the ice; thus they one day gained
an advance of sixteen feet, on another fifty, another fony ; and after a month's
incessant toil, the amount of their progress was no more than eight hundred and
fifty feet. Here they were doomed to pass another winter, and as much of the
following summer as would expire before favourable circumstances might con-
tribute to their liberation ; here they once more commenced housing the ship,
building the embankments, and levelling the hummocks of ice near them ; and
here tliey resumed their former devices lor passing the long dreary v/inter, which
appeared to have set in already with great severity.
In April, 1831, Captain Ross set out on an expedition towards the isthmus,
with the view of ascertaining, as nearly as the nature of the operation and accu-
racy of his dipping needle would admit, the exact position of the north magnetic
Pole. ' The place of the observatory,' he says, was as near to the magnetic Pole
as the hmited means which I possessed enabled me to determine. The amount
of the dip, as indicated by my dipping needle, was 89° 59', being thus within one
minute of the vertical ; while the proximity at least of this Pole, if not its actual
existence where we stood, was further confirmed by the action, or rather by the
total inaction of the several horizontal needles then in my possession. These
were suspended in the most delicate manner possible, but there was not one
which showed the slightest effort to move from the position in which it was
placed : a fact, which even the most moderately informed of readers must now
know to be one which proves that the centre of attraction lies at a very email
horizontal distance, if at any. The latitude of this place is 70° 5' 17", and its
longitude 96^46' 45" W.'
The party having proceeded to the northward as far as Cape Nicholas, the
coast was seen stretching out due north, to the distance often or twelve miles
farther ; and the commander concluded it preserved, in all probability, the same
direction as far as Cape Walker, in latitude 74° 15'. At this cape there is a
great inlet, leading, no doubt, to the western sea; which washes the western
shore of the Boothian Peninsula, and which, in all probability, extends down to
the western coast of America.
It may well be supposed hd^ slowly the time moved on while shut up, for
the second year, during so many months. About the middle of August, 1831,
the Captain says : We were weary for want of occupation, for want of variety,
for want of the means of external exertion, for want of thought, and for want
of society. To-day was as yesterday — and as was to-day, so would be to-
morrow ; while if there was no variety, as no hope of better, is it wonderful that
even the visits of barbarians were welcome; or can any thing more strongly
show the nature of our pleasures than the confession that these were delightful —
even as the society of London might be amid the business of London ? When
the winter has once in reality set in, our minds become made up on the subject;
like the dormouse we wrap ourselves up in a sort of furry contentment, since
better cannot be, and wait for the times to come : it is a far other thing, to be
ever awake, waiting to rise and become active, yet ever to find tliat all nature
is still asleep, and that we had nothing more to do than to wish, and groan, and
hope as best we might. When snow was our decks, snow our awnings, snow
our observatories, snow our larders, snow our salt ; and when all the other uses
of snow should be at last of no more avail, our colhns and our graves were to be
graves and coffins of snow. Is not this more than enough of snow, than suffices
for admiration ? Is it not worse, that during ten of the months in a year, the
ground is snow, and ice, and *' slush;'' that during the whole year, its tormenting,,
SIR JOHN ROSS. 625
chilling, odious presence is ever before the eye? Who more than I, has admired
the glaziers of the extreme north; who more has loved to contemplate the ice-
bergs sailing from the Pole before the tide and the gale, floating along the ocean,
through calm and through storm, like castles, and towers, and mountains, gorge-
ous in colouring, and magnificent, if often capricious in form? and I have
sought too amid the crashing, and the splitting, and the thundering roarings of a
sea of moving mountains, for the subhrae, and felt that nature could do no more.
In all this there has been beauty, horror, danger, every thing that could excite ;
they would have excited a f)oet even to the verge of madness. But to see, to
have seen, ice and snow, to have felt ice and snow forever, and nothing forever
but snow and ice, during all the months of the year — to have seen and felt but
uninterrupted and unceasing ice and snow, during all the months of four years —
this it is that has made the sight of these most chilling and wearisome objects an
evil which is still one in recollection, as if the remembrance would never cease.'
The ship was loose on the 28th of August, and crept to the northward on her
intended return, about four miles in three days. Up to the ,end of September,
their chance of liberation became less every day — the prospect was a dismal one,
as it suggested the idea that the ship would never be extricated, and that they
would be compelled to abandon her with all that was on board. ' When we
first moved from our late harbour,' says Captain Ross, ' every man looked for-
ward to his three years' wages, his return to England, and his meeting with
friends and family ; the depression of their spirits was now proportionate.'
Fast beset in Victoria Harbour, in October, they began to dismantle the ship,
land the provisions, and place their two boats so as to be able to construct sledges
under them. The winter passed over as usual, except that one case of scurvy
occurred. In February, however, the medical report was less favourable than
it had hitherto been; all were much enfeebled: an old wound which Captain
•Ross had in his side, broke out with bleeding — one of the indications of scurvj^
The cold was intense, and Captain Ross says, ' I do not believe there is another
record of such a continuous low temperature; and it was a state of things most
certainly to confirm us in our resolution of leaving the ship to her helpless fate,
imd attempting to save ourselves in the best manner that we could.' Accord-
ingly, towards the end of April, they commenced carrying forwards a certain
quantity of provisions, and the boats with their sledges, for the purpose of ad-
vancing more easily afterwards. The labour of poceeding over ice and snow
was most severe, and the wind and snow-drift rendered it almost intolerable.
On the 21st of May, all the provisions had been carried forward to the several
deposits, except as much as would serve for about a month. In the process of
forming these depoits, it was found that they had travelled two hundred and
thirty-nine miles to gain about thirty in a direct line. Preparation was now
made for their final departure, which took place on the 29th of May. Every
thing on shore was secured, which could be of use in case they were to return,
or which if they did not, would prove of use to the natives. The colours were
therefore hoisted and nailed to the mast, and a parting glass was drank to the
poor ship. On tlie 1st of July, after a full month's most fatiguing journey, they
encamped on Fury Beach. The first thing to be done, was to construct a house,
which was to be thirty-one by sixteen feet, and seven feet high ; to be covered
with canvass. The next was to set the carpenters to work in repairing the three
boats of the Fury.
On the 1st of August the ice unexpectedly broke up, leaving some navigable
clear water, on which they prepared to embark, in the hope'of reaching Baffin's
Bay before the departure of the whahng vessels. The boats were stored with
two months' provisions, bedding, and other necessary articles ; and each carried
seven liien with an officer. The sudden setting in of ice, however, obliged
them to haul the boats on shorie ; and from this time they crept among rocks, and
ice, and icebergs along shore, on to the last day of August, when they reached
the north-eastern extremity of America ; and here they were stopped by finding
the sea, at the junction of Regent's Inlet with Barrows' Strait, covered with one
solid mass of ice. They remained here three days, when every one agreeing
%'6
626 SIR JOHN ROSS.
that all hope of escape was at an end, and that nothing remained for them but to
return to Fury Beach, they prepared for this retrograde movement.
On the 25th of September th6y determined to commence their return. Their
situation had now become truly serious ; it was even doubtful whether the state
of the ice would allow them to work their boats back to Fury Beach, — they had
but ten days' provisions left, at half allowance, nor fuel enough remaining to
melt the snow for their required consumption of water. They were now also
experiencing the greatest sufferings they had yet endured from the cold. They
were soon convinced that going back in the boats was out of the question ; they
therefore hauled them up on the beach above high-water mark, and the carpenter
set about making sledges out of the empty bread casks.
On the 7th of October, after a most toilsome and harrassing journey, they
reached their house — ' our labours at an end, and ourselves once more at home.'
Here, of the provisions left behind them, flour, sugar, soups, peas, vegetables,
pickles, and lemon-juice were in abundance ; but of preserved meats there re-
mained not more than would suffice for their voyage in the boats during the next
season. The winter at Fury Beach passed away in the same monotonous man-
ner as the preceding had done. The chief event which cast a damp on all, was
the death of the carpenter, on the last day of February,l833. The want of ex-
ercise, of sufficient employment, short allowance of food, lowness of spirits,
produced by the unbroken sight of the dull, uniform, melancholy waste of snow
and ice had the effect of reducing the whole party to a more indifferent state of
health tlian had hitherto been experienced. Two of the seamen were far gone
with the scurvy, and all were weary of their miserable home.
At length tiie long looked for period arrived, when it was deemed necessary
to abandon the house, in search of better fortune ; and on the 7th of July, being
Sunday, the last divine service was performed in their winter habitation. The
following day they bade it adieu forever ! and having been detained a short
time at Batty Bay, and finding the ice to separate, and a lane of water open out,
they succeeded in crossing over to the eastern side of Prince Regent's Inlet.
Standing along the southern shore of Barrows' Strait, on the 26th of August
they discovered a sail, — and, after some tantalizing delays, they succeeded in
making themselves visible to the crew of one of her boats. The account of the
meeting between the crew and our travellers, we give in the language of Cap-
tain Ross. " The vessel was soon along side, when the mate addressed us, by
presuming that we had met with some misfortune and lost our ship. This be-
ing answered in the affirmative, I requested to know the name of his vessel, and
expressed our wish to be taken on board. I was answered tliat it was " the Isa-
bella, of Hull, once commanded by Captain Ross ;" on which I stated that I was
the identical man in question, and my people the crew of the Victory. That
the mate, who commanded this boat, was as much astonished at this information
as he appeared to be, I do not doubt; while with the usual blunderheadedness
of men on such occasions, he assured me that I had been dead two yeais. I
easily convinced him, however, that what ought to have been true according to
his estimate, was a somewhat premature conclusion ; as the bear-like form of the
whole of us might have shown him, had he taken time to consider, that we were
certainly not whaling gentlemen, and that we carried tolerable evidence of our
being " true men and no impostors," on our backs, and in our starven and un-
shaven countenances. A hearty congratulation followed of course, in the true
seaman style, and, after a few natural inquiries, he added that the Isabella was
commanded by Captain Humphreys; when he immediately v^ent off in his boat,
to communicate this information on board — repeating that we had long been
given up as lost, not by them alone, but by all England.
As we approached slowly after him to the ship, he jumped up the side, and in
a minute the rigging was inanned ; while we were saluted witli three cheers as
we came within cable's length, and were not long in getting on board of my
old vessel, where we were all received by Captain Humphreys witli a hearty
seaman's welcome.
Though we had not been supported by our names and our characters, we
should not the less have claimed from charity, the attentions that we received,
SIR JOHN ROSS. 627
for never was seen a more miserable set of wretches ; while, that we were a re-
pulsive looking people, none of us could doubt. If, to be poor, wretchedly
poor, as far as all our present property was concerned, was to have a claim on
charity, no one could well deserve it more; but if to look so, be to frighten away
the so-called charitable, no beggar that wanders in Ireland could have outdone us
in exciting the repugnance of those who have not known what poverty can be.
Unshaven since I know not when, dirty, dressed in the rags of wild beasts instead
of the tatters of civilization, and starved to the very bones, our gaunt and grim
looks, when contrasted with the well-dressed and well-fed men around us, made
us all feel, I believe for the first time, what we really were, a*Well as what we
seemed to oilers. Poverty is without half its mark unless it be contrasted with
wealth; and what we might have known to be true in the past days, we had
forgotten to think of, till we were thus reminded what we truly were, as well as
seemed to be.
But the ludicrous soon took place of all other feelings ; In such a crowd and
such confusion, all serious thought was impossible, while the new buoyancy of
our spirits made us abundantly willing to be amused by the scene which now
opened. Every man was hungry and was to be fed, all were ragged and were
to be clothed, there was no one to whom washing was not indispensible, nor one
whom his beard did not deprive of all English semblance. All, every thing too,
was to be done at once ; it was washing, dressing, shaving, eating, all inter-
mingled ; while, in the midst of all, there were interminable questions to be ask-
ed and answei-ed on all sides ; the adventures of the Victory, our own escapes,
the politics of England, and the news which was now four years old. But all
subsided into peace atljfst. The sick were accommodated, the seamen disposed
of, and all was done, for all of us, which care and kindness could perform.
Night at length brought quiet and serious thought, and I trust there was not one
man among us who did not there express, where it was due, his gratitude for
that interposition which had raised us all from despair, and had brought us from
tiie very borders of a not distant grave, to life, and friends, and civilization.
Long accustomed, however, to a cold bed on the hard snow or the bare rock,
few could sleep amid the comfort of our new accommodations. I was myself
compelled to leave the bed which had been kindly assigned me, and take my
abode in a chair for the night ; nor did it fare much better with the rest. It was
for time to reconcile us to this sudden and violent change, to break through what
had become habit, and to inure us once more to the usages of our former days.'*
After a favourable passage the travellers landed at Hull on the 18th of October,
1833.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
The discoveries of Hearne and Mackenzie established the great fact that there
is a northern coast in America, washed by the Arctic Ocean, which forms, in uU
probabiHty, its continuous boundary; and they demonstrated the practicabihty of
reaching this Umit by passing over the vast plains which stretch northward from
Canada and Hudson's Bay. The voyages of Captain Parry, also, which have
been already detailed, fully corroborated this opinion; and it appeared evident
that another expedition, properly conducted, might reach this shore, and more
fully examine its whole extent. Such an expedition, accordingly, sailed from
England on the 23d of May, 1820, its command being intrusted to Lieutenant,
now Sir John Franklin, assisted by Dr. Richardson, an able mineralogist and
natural historian.
During the first portion of their journey, they followed the chain of the great
lakes, instead of the more eastern track pursued by Hearne, and having descend-
ed the Coppermine River, arrived, on the 21st of July, at the shore of the Arctic
Ocean, where tliey commenced their career of discovery. Important as were
the particulars of this survey, when considered in relation to the furtherance of
geographical science, a minute detail is here unnecessary, and we shall attempt
only a general sketch.
Paddling along the coast to the eastward, on the inside of a crowded range of
islands, they encamped on shore after a run of thirty-seven miles, in which they
experienced little interruption, and saw only a small iceberg in the distance,
though that beautiful luminous effulgence emitted from the congregated ices,
and distinguished by the name of ice-blink, was distinctly visible to the north-
ward. The coast was found of moderate height, easy of access, and cover-
ed with vegetation; but the islands were rocky and barren, presenting high
cliffs of a columnar structure. In continuing their voyage, tlie dangers which
beset a navigator in these dreadful polar solitudes thickened gloomily around
them : the coast became broken and steril, and at length rose into a high and
rugged promontory, against which some large masses of ice had drifted, threat-
ening destruction to their slender canoes. In attempting to round this cape the
wind rose, an awful gloom involved the sky, and the thunder burst over their
heads, compelling them to encamp till the storm subsided. They then, at the
imminent risk of having the canoes crushed by the floating ice, doubled tlie drea-
ry promontory, which they denominated Cape Barrow, and entered Detention
Harbour, where they landed. Around them the land consisted of mountains of
granite, rising abruptly from the water's edge, destitute of vegetation, and at-
taining an elevation of 1400 or 1500 feet; seals and small deer were the only
animals seen, and the former were so shy that all attempts to approach within
shot were unsuccessful. With the deer the hunters were more fortunate ; but
these were not numerous ; and while the ice closed gradually around them, and
their little stock of provisions, consisting of pemmican and cured beef, everyday
diminished, it was impossible not to regard their situation with uneasiness.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 629
Rounding Cape Kater, they entered Arctic Sound, and sent a party to explore
a river upon the banks of which they expected to find an Esquimaux encamp-
ment. All, however, was silent, desolate, and deserted : even these hardy na-
tives, bred amid the polar ices, had removed from so barren a spot, and the hun-
ters returned with two small deer and a brown bear; the latter animal so lean
and sickly looking that the men declined eating it; but the officers boiled its paws,
and found them excellent.
Proceeding along the eastern shore of Arctic Sound, to which they gave the
name of Bankes's Peninsula, the expedition made its painful way along a coast
indented by bays, and in many places studded with islands, till on the 10th of
August they reached the open sea; and sailing, as they imagined, between the
continent and a large island, found to their deep disappointment that, instead of
an open channel, they were in the centre of a vast bay. The state of the expe-
dition now called for the most serious consideration on the part of the command-
er. So much time had already been spent in exploring the sounds and inlets,
that all hope of reaching Repulse Bay was vain; both canoes had sustained ma-
terial injury ; the fuel was expended ; their provisions were sufficient only for
three days; the appearances of the setting in oi'the arctic winter were too une-
quivocal to be mistaken ; the deer, which had hitherto supplied them with fresh
meat, would, it was well known, soon disappear; the geese and other aquatic
birds were already winging their way to the southward; while the men, who
had up to this moment displayed the utmost courage, began to look dishearten-
ed, and to entertain serious apprehensions for their safety. Under these circum-
stances, Franklin, with the concurrence of his officers, determined not to endan-
ger the lives of his people by a farther advance; and, after spending four days
in a minute survey of the bay, it was resolved to return by Hood's River to Fort
Enterprise. Franklin's researches, as far as prosecuted at this time, favoured
the opinion of those who contended for the practicability of a north-west pas-
sage. It appeared probable that the coast ran east and west in the latitude as-
signed to Mackenzie's River, and little doubt could, in his opinion, be entertain-
ed regarding the existence of a continued sea in that direction. The portion
over which they passed was navigable for vessels of any size ; and the ice they
met with, after quitting Detention Harbour, would not have arrested a strong
boat, while the chain of islands afforded shelter from all heavy seas, and there
were good harbours at convenient distances. Having with much severe priva-
tion completed their course from Point Tnrnagain in Melville Bay to the en-
trance of Hood's River, they ascended as high as the first rapid and encamped,
terminating here their voyage on the Arctic Sea, during which they had gone
over 650 geographical miles.
On the prospect of commencing their land journey the Canadians could not
conceal their satisfaction; and the evening previous to their departure was
pas.sed in talking over their past adventures, and congratulating each other in
having at length turned fheir backs upon the sea, — little anticipating that the
most painful and hazardous portion of the expedition was yet to come. Before
setting off, an assortment of iron materials, beads, looking glasses, and other ar-
ticles, were put up in a conspicuous situation for the Esquimaux, and the Eng-
lish union was planted on the loftiest sand hill, where it might be seen by any
ships passing in the offing. Here also was deposited in a tin box a letter con-
taining an outline of the proceedings of the expedition, the latitude and longi-
tude of the principal places, and the course intended to be pursued towards
Slave Lake. They now proceeded up the river in their canoes, and though
upon a short allowance of provisions, the produce of their nets and fowling-
pieces furnished for a few days enough to ward off absolute want, but they were
often on the very brink of it. Their progress was much interrupted by shoals
and rapids, and one evening they encamped at the lower end of a narrow chasm,
the walls of which were upwards of 200 feet high, and in some places only a few
yards apart. Into this the river precipitates itself, forming two magnificent cas-
cades, to which they gave the name of Wilberforce Falls. On taking a survey
of its farther Course, from a neighboring hill, it was discovered to be so rapid and
ghallow that all progress in the large canoes seemed impossible. Two smaller
63>0 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
boats were therefore constructed ; and on the 1st of September, they set off with
the intention of proceeding in as direct a Hne as possible to the part of Point
Lake opposite their spring encampment, — a distance which appeared compara-
tively trifling, being only 149 miles. Their luggage consisted of ammunition,
nets, hatchets, ice chisels, astronomical instruments, clothing blankets, three ket-
tles, and the two canoes, each so light as to be carried easily by a single man.
But disaster attacked them in their veiy first stage. A storm of snow came on,
accompanied by a high wind, against which it was very difficult to carry the ca-
noes, that were damaged by the falls of those who bore them. The ground was
covei"ed with small stones, and much pain was endured by the carriers, whose
soft moose skin shoes were soon cut through. The cold w^as intense; and on
encamping they looked in vain for wood ; a fire of moss was all they could pro-
cure, which served them to cook their supper, but gave so little heat that ihey
were glad to creep under their blankets.
Having ascended next morning one of the highest hills, they ascertained that
the river took a westerly course, and Franklin, thinking that to follow it farther
would lead to a more tedious journey than their exhausted strength could en-
dure, determined to quit its banks and make directly for Point Lake. Emerg-
ing, therefore, from the valley, they crossed a barren country, varied only by
marshy levels and small lakes. The weather was fine, but unfortunately no
berry-bearing plants were found, the surface being covered in the more humid
spots with a few grasses, and in other places with some gray melancholy lichens.
On encamping, the last piece of pemmican, or pounded flesh, was distributed,
with a little arrow root, for supper. The evening was warm ; but dark clouds
overspread the sky, and they experienced those sudden alternations of climate
which occur in the polar latitudes at this season. At midnight it rained in tor-
rents; but towards morning a snow storm arose, accompanied by a violent gale.
During the whole day the storm continued, and not having the comfort of a fire
the men remained in bed, but the tents were frozen ; around them the snow had
drifted to the depth of three feet, and even within lay several inches thick on
their blankets. Though the storm had not abated, any longer delay was impos-
sible, for they knew every hour would increase the intensity of an arctic winter;
and though faint from fasting, and with their clothes stiffened by frost, it was ab-
solutely necessary to push forward. They suffered much in packing the frozen
tents and bedclothes, and could hardly keep their hands out of their fur mittens.
On attempting to move, Franklin was seized with a fainting fit, occasioned by
hunger and exhaustion, and on recovering refused to eat a morsel of portable
soup, which was immediately prepared for him, as it had been drawn from the
only remaining meal of the party. The people, however, kindly crowded round
him, and overcame his reluctance. The effect of eating was his rapid recovery ;
and the expedition moved on.
Disaster now crowded on disaster. The wind rose so high, that those who
carried the canoes were frequently blown down, and one of the boats was so
much shattered as to be rendered unserviceable. The ground was covered
with snow; and though the swamps were frozen, yet the ice was often not suf-
ficiently strong ; so that they plunged in knee deep. A fire, however was made of
the bark and timbers of the broken canoe: and after having fasted three days, their
last meal of portable soup and arrow root was cooked. Each man's allowance
at this melancholy dinner was exceedingly scanty ; but it allayed the pangs of
hunger and encouraged them to press forward at a quicker rate. They had
now reached a more hilly country, strewed with large stones, and covered with
gray lichen, well known to the Canadians by its name tripe de roche. In cases
of extremity, it is boiled and eaten; but its taste is nauseous, its quality purga-
tive, and it sometimes produces an intolerable griping and loathing. The party,
not being aware of this, gathered a considerable quantity. A few partridges also
had been shot; and at night some willows were dug up from under the snow,
with which they lighted a fire and cooked their supper.
Next day they came to Cracrofi's River, flowing to the westward over a chan-
nel of large stones that rendered it impossible to cross in the canoe. No alter-
native was lefl but to attempt a precarious passage over some rocks at a rapid ;
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 631
and in effecting this some of the men, losing their balance, slipped into the water.
They were instantly rescued by their companions; but so intense was the frost,
that their drenched clothes became caked with ice, and they suffered much dur-
ing the remainder of the day's march. The hunters had fallen in with some par-
tridges, which they shot, and they found enough of roots to make a fire; so that
their supper, though scanty, was comparatively comfortable. Next morning
they pushed forward with ardour, and passed the river C ongecathawhachaga of
Mr. Hearne. The country which lay before them was hilly, and covered with
*snow to a great depth. The sides of the hills were traversed by sharp angular
rocks, where the drifted snow, filling up the interstices, presented a smooth but
fallacious surface, which often gave way and precipitated them into the chasms
with their heavy loads. In this painful and arduous manner they struggled for-
ward several days, feeding on tripe de roche, which was so frozen to the rocks
that their hands were benumbed before a meal could be collected, and so desti-
tute of nutritive juices that it allayed hunger only for a very short time. At
length reaching the summit of a hill, they, to their great delight, beheld a herd of
musk oxen feeding in the valley below ; an instant halt was made, the best hunt-
ers were called out, and while they proceeded with extreme caution in a circui-
tous route, their companions watched their proceedings with intense anxiety.
When near enough to open their fire, the report reverberated through the hills,
and one of the largest cows was seen to fall. ''This success," says Franklin, in
that simple and beautiful account of his journey which any change of language
would only weaken, " infused spirit into our starving party. The contents of
its stomach were devoured upon the spot: and the raw intestines, which wer^
next attacked, were pronounced by the most delicate of the party to be excellent.
A few willows, whose tops were seen peeping through the snow in the bottom
of the valley, were quickly grubbed, the tents were pitched, and supper cooked
and devoured with avidity. It was the sixth day since we had had a good meal.
I do not think that we witnessed, through the course of our journey, a more
striking proof of the wise dispensation of the Almighty, and of the weakness of
our own judgment, than on this day. We had considered the dense fog which
prevailed throughout the morning as almost the greatest inconvenience which
could have befallen us, since it rendered the air extremely cold, and prevented
us from distinguishing any distant object towards which our course could be di-
rected. Yet this very darkness enabled the party to get to the top of the hill,
which bounded the valley wherein the musk oxen were grazing, without being
perceived. Had the herd discovered us and taken the alarm, our hunters, in
their present state of debility, would in all probabillity have failed in approaching
them."
On the following day a strong southerly wind blowing with a snow drift, they
took a day's rest, and as only enough remained of the musk ox to serve for two
days, they contented themselves with a single meal. Next morning, though tlie
gale had not diminished, they pushed forward, and notwithstanding their rest
and recent supply of animal food, the whole party felt greater weakness than
they had hitherto experienced. The weather was hazy, but after an hour's
march the sky cleared, and they found themselves on the borders of a lake, of
which they could not discern the termination iii either direction. In these cir-
cumstances they travelled along its banks to the westward in search of a crossing
place. Credit, one of the Canadians, left the party in hopes of falling in with deer ,
but did not return ; and on encamping in the evening, hungry and fatigued, they
had to divide for supper a single partridge and some tripe de roche. This weed
from the first had been unpalatable, but now became insupportably nauseous,
and began in many to produce severe pains and bowel complaints, especially in
Mr. Hood, one of the young officers attached to the expedifion. This solitary
partridge was the last morsel of animal food that remained ; and they turned
with deep anxiety to the hope of catching some fish in the lake, but discovered
that the persons entrusted with them had improvidently thrown av/ay three of
the nets and burnt the floats on leaving Hood's River. Things now began to
look very gloomy; and as the men were daily getting weaker, it was judged ex-
pedient to hghten their burdens of every thing except ammunition, clothing, and
632 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
the instruments necessary to guide them on their way. The dipping needle, tlte
azimuth compass, the magnet, a large thermometer, and the few books they car-
ried, were therefore deposited at this encampment, after having torn out from
these latter the tables necessary for working the latitude and longitude. Re-
wards also were promised by Franklin to such of the party as should kill any
animals, and in the morning they prepared to go forward.
At this moment a fine trait of disinterestedness occurred ; as the officers as-
sembled round a small fire, enduring an intense degree of hunger which they
had no means of satisfying, Perrault, one of the Canadians, presented each of «
them with a piece of meat out of a little store which he had saved from his al-
lowance. " It was received," says Frankhn, " with great thankfulness, and such
an instance of self-denial and kindness filled our eyes with tears." Pressing i'oi-
ward to a river issuing from the lake, they met their comrade Credit, and re-
ceived the joyful intelligence that he had killed two deer. One of these was
immediately cut up and prepared for breakfast ; and having sent some of the
party for the other, the rest proceeded down the river, which was about 3lH)
yards broad, in search of a place to cross. Having chosen a spot where the cur-
rent was smooth, immediately above a rapid, Franklin and two Canadian boat-
men, St. Germain and Belanger, pushed from the shore. The breeze was fresh,
and the current stronger than they imagined, so that they approached the very
edge of the rapid; and Belanger, employing his paddle to steady the canoe, lost
his balance, and overset the bark in the middle of it. The party clung to its
side, and reaching a rock where the stream was but waist deep, kept their foot-
ing till the canoe was emptied of water, after which Belanger held itsteady while
St. Germain replaced Frankhn in it and dexterously leaped in himself. Such
was their situation that if the man who stood on the rock had raised his foot they
would have been lost. His friends therefore were compelled to leave him, and
after a second disaster, in which the canoe struck, and was as expeditiously right-
ed as before, they reached the opposite bank. Meanwhile Belanger suffered
extremely, iunnersed to his middle, and enduring intense cold. He called pite-
ously for relief, and St. Germain, re-embarking, attempted to reach him, but
was hurried; down the rapid, and on coming ashore was so benumbed as to be
incapable of further exertion. A second effort, but equally unsuccessful, wjus
made by Adam : they then tried to carry out a line formed of the slings of the
men's loads, but it broke, and was carried down the stream. At last, when he was
almost exhausted, the canoe reached him with a small cord of one of tlie remain*
ing nets, and he was dragged to shore quite insensible. On being stripped, rol*
led in, blankets, and put to bed between two men, he recovered. Dunng these
operations Franklin was left alone upon the bank, and it seemed a matter of the
utmost doubt whether he should ever be rejoined by his companions. " It is
impossible," says he, " to describe my sensations as I witnessed the various uk"-
successful attempts to relieve Belanger. The distance prevented my seeing
distinctly what was going on, and I continued pacing up and down tlie rock on
which I stood, regardless of the coldness of my drenched and stitlening garments.
The canoe, in every attempt to reach him, was hurried down the rapid, and was
lost to view among the rocky islets with a fury that seemed to threaten instant
destruction ; once indeed I fancied that I saw it overwhelmed in the waves ; such
an event would have been fatal to the whole party. Separated as I was from
my companions, without gun, ammunition, hatchet, or the means of making a
fire, and in wet clothes, my doom would have been speedily sealed. My com-
panions, too, driven to the necessity of coasting the lake, must have sunk under
the fatigue of rounding its innumerable arms and bays, which, as we learned ai-
terward from the Indians, are very extensive. By the goodness of Providence,
however, we were spared at that time and some of us have been permitted to
offer up our thanksgiving in a civilized land for the signal deliverance we then
and afterward experienced.
On setting out next morning, Perrault brought in a fine male deer, which
raised the spirits of the party, as it secured them in provisions for two days ; and
they trusted to support themselves for a third on the skin which they carried with
them. Having ascended the Willingham* Mountains, they entered upon a rug-
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. ' 633
ged country intersected by deep ravines, the passage of which was so difficult
that they could only make ten miles with great fatigue. The deer was now
picked to the last morsel, and they ate pieces of the singed hide with a little tripe
de roche. At other times this meal might have sufficed ; but, exhausted by slen-
der food and continued toil, their appetites had become ravenous. Hitherto
events had been so meicifully ordered that in their utmost need some little sup-
ply in the tripe de roche had never failed them; but it was the will of God that
their confidence should be yet more strongly tried ; for they now entered upon a
level country covered with snow, where even this miserable lichen was no longer
to be found; and a bed of Iceland moss, which was boiled for supper, proved so
bitter that none of the party, though enduring the extremities of hunger, could
taste more than a few spoonfuls. Another distress now attacked them : the in-
tensity of the cold increased, while they became less fit to endure it. Their
blankets did not suffice to keep them warm, and the slightest breeze pierced
through their debilitated frames. " The reader," says Franklin, " will probably
be desirous to know how we passed our time in such a comfortless situation.
The first operation after encamping was to thaw our frozen shoes, if a sufficient
fire could be made ; dry ones were then put on. Each person then wrote his
notes of the daily occurrences, and evening prayers were read. As soon as
supper was prepared it was eaten, generally in the, dark, and we went to bed
and kept up a cheerful conversation until our blankets were thawed by the heat
of our bodies, and we had gathered sufficient warmth to enable us to fall asleep.
On many nights we had not even the luxury of going to bed in dry clothes ; for,
when the fire was insufficient to dry our shoes, we dared not venture to pull
them off, lest they should freeze so hard as to be unfit to put on in the morning,
and therefore inconvenient to carry."
Hunger, fatigue, and disappointment began now to have a calamitous effect
up on the tempers of the men. One, who carried the canoe, after several severe
falls, threw down his burden, and obstinately refused to resume it. It was ac-
cordingly given to another, who proved stronger, and pushed forward at so rap-
id a rate that Mr. Hood, whose weakness was now extreme, could not keep up
with them; and as Franklin attempted to pursue and stop them, the whole party
was separated. Dr. RicHardson, who had remained behind to gather tripe de
roche, joined him, and on advancing they found the men encamped among
some willows, where tliey found some pieces of skin and a few bones of deer
";whicli had been devoured by the wolves. On these they had made a meal, hav-
ing burnt and pounded the bones, boiled the skin, and added their old shoes to
the mess. With this no fault could be found; but on questioning the person
to whom the canoe had been instrusted, it was discovered that he had left the
boat behind, it having, as he said, been broken by a fall and rendered entirely
To the infatuated obstinacy of the men in refusing to retrace their steps
and fetch it, even in its shattered state, is to be ascribed much of the distress of
their subsequent journey. Every argument seemed entirely thrown away;
and they had appaiently lost all hope of being preserved. When the hunters,
who had been out for some time, did not make their appearance, they became
furious at the idea of having been deserted, and throwing down their bundles,
declared they would follow them at all hazards, and leave the weakest to keep
:up as they best could. The remonstrances of the officers at length opened their
minds to the madness of such a scheme ; and on encamping in the evening they
found some pines seven or eight feet high, which furnished a comfortable fire,
when tiiey made their supper of tripe de roche. Next morning a herd of deer
came in sight, and they killed five, — a supply which, considering the extremity
of hunger and despair to which they were reduced, was especially providential.
It was evident that He, without whom not a sparrow falls to the ground, was
with them in their extremity of distress; and casting themselves upon his care,
every heart expanded with hope and gratitude.
The Canadians now earnestly petitioned for a day's rest. They pleaded their
recent sufterings, and that the enjoyment of two substantial meals, after eight
days of famine, would enable them to press forward more vigorously. The
54
634 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
flesh, the skins, and even the stomachs of the deer were accordingly equally di-
vided among the party, and some of them suffered severely from too free an in-
dulgence in the use of this food after so long an abstinence. Next morning the
party resumed their journey, and after a w^alk of three miles came to the Cop-
permine River. Its current was strong, but with a canoe there would have been
no difficulty in crossing; and the reckless folly of the men in abandoning their
only means of transport was now brought strongly to their mind. No ford
could be discovered, and the plan was suggested of framing a vessel of willows,
covered with the canvass of the tent; butthe most experienced boatmen declared
the willows were too small to bear the weight ; and no pines could be found.
Nothing remained but to resume their march along the borders of the lake ; and
looking out eagerly, but in vain, for some fordable place, they encamped at the
east end. Anxious to adopt every possible means for preserving the party,
Franklin sent Mr. Back forward with the interpreters to hunt. He was direct-
ed to halt at the first pines and construct a raft ; and if his hunters had killed ani-
mals sufficient to provision them, he was to cross immediately and send the In-
dians with supplies of meat to the party behind.
At this time it was discovered that two of the men had stolen part of the offi-
cer's provision, though it had been doled out with the strictest impartiality, and
they saw their leaders suffering more acutely than themselves. To punish thig
was impossible, except by the threat that they should forfeit their wages, which
produced little effect. Despondency had deeply seized upon the party, and in
the morning strict orders could not prevent them from straggling in search of
the remains of animals; in consequence of which much time was lost in halting,
and ammunition in firing guns to collect them. The snow, however, had dis-
appeared, and pressing forward with more alacrity they came to an arm of the
lake running north-east. The idea of making the long circuit round it was dis-
tressing, and having halted to consult what was to be done, some one discovered
in a cliff the carcass of a deer which had fallen into a chasm. It was quite putrid,
but even in that state appeared delicious, and a fire being kindled a large portion
was soon devoured ; while the men, cheered by this unexpected breakfast, re-
gained their confidence, and. requested leave to return to the rapid, insisting on
the practicability of constructing a sufficiendy strong rafl of willows, though they
had formerly pronounced it impossible. Their advice was followed ; and hav-
ing sent off Augustus, one of the interpreters, to inform Mr. Back of this change
of plan, they commenced their retrograde movement, and encamped at night ii>
a deep valley among some large willows, vvhere they supped on the remains of
the putrid deer.
Next day they regained the rapids, commenced cutting willows for the raft,
and a reward of 300 livres was promised by Franklin to the person who should
convey a Une across the river strong enough to manage the raft and transport
the party. The willows when cut were bound into fagots, and the work com-
pleted; but the greenness of the wood rendered it heavy, and incapable of sup-
porting more than one man at a time. Still they hoped to be able to cross ; but
all depended on getting a line carried to the opposite bank, through a current
130 yards wide, strong, deep, and intensely cold. Belanger and Benoit, the
two strongest men of the party, repeatedly attempted to take the raft over, but
for want of oars were driven back. The tent staves were then tied together,
and formed a strong pole ; but it was not long enough to reach tlie bottom even
at a short distance from the shore. Dr. Richardson next produced a paddle he
had brought from the coast, but which was found not powerful enough to impel
the raft against a strong breeze. The failure of every attempt occasioned a
deep despondency, which threatened to have the most fatal effects, when Df.
Richardson, with a disinterested courage that made him forget his ov^'n weakness,
threw oti' his upper garments, and attempted to swim widi a rope to the oppo-
site bank. Plunging in with the line round his middle he at first made some
way, but the extreme cold was too much for him, and in a few moments his
arms became powerless; still, being an expert swimmer, he not only kept him-
self afloat; but made way by turning on his back and using his legs, so Uiat he
had nearly reached the other side, when, to tlie inexpressible anguish of those
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 635
who watched his progress, his hmbs became benumbed, and he sank. All hands
now hauled on the line, and drew him ashore almost lifeless ; but placed before
a fire of willows, and stripped of his wet clothes, he gradually revived enough
to give directions as to the mode of treating him. His thin and emaciated limbs,
which were now exposed to view, produced an involuntary exclamation of com-
passion and surprise: — "Ah, que nous sommes maigres!" said the French Ca-
nadians ; but it is probable that few of them would have presented so gaunt
and attenuated an appearance as the brave and excellent man who had" thus
nearly fallen a sacrifice to his humanity, for it was discovered about this time that
the hunters we^-e in the practice of withholding the game which they shot, and
devouring it in secret.
Soon after this the party were joined by Mr. Back, who had traced the lake
about fifteen miles farther up without discovering any place where it was possi-
ble to get across; and towards evening Credit, who had been out hunting, re-
turned without any game of his own killing; but brought the antlers and back-
bone of a deer shot during tlie summer. These relics had already been picked
clean by the wolves and birds of prey, but the marrow remained in the spine ;
and though completely putrid, and so acrid as to excoriate the lips, it was not the
less acceptable. The bones were rendered friable by burning, and the whole
eagerly devoured. St. Germain, one of the voyagers, now suggested that a ca-
noe might be made of the painted canvass used to wrap up the bedding, and of-
fered to construct it upon a frame of willows. For this purpose he and Adam
removed to a clump of willows, while another party proceeded to the spot where
they had encamped on the 25th, to collect pitch among the small pines to pay
over the seams. A snow storm at this moment came on, and the sufferings of
the men hourly increasing, a deep gloom settled upon their spirits. Mr. Hood
was by this time reduced to a perfect shadow; Mr. Back required the support
of a stick; Dr. Richardson was lame ; and Franklin so feeble that, after a strug-
gle of three hours, he found himself utterly unable to reach the spot where St.
Germain was at work, a distance of only three-quarters of a mile, and returned
completely exhausted. The Canadian voyagers had now fallen into a state of
despondency which bordered on despair, and, indifterent to their fate, refused to
make the slightest exertion. The otiicers were unable to undergo the labour of
gathering the tripe de roche, and Samandre, the cook, sullenly declined contin-
uing his labours. At this miserable crisis the conduct of John Hepburn, an
English sailor, was especially admirable, presenting a striking contrast to the
gloomy selfishness of the Canadians. His firm reliance on tlie watchful good-
ness of God, and a cheerful resignation to his will, never for a moment forsook
him; and, animated by this blessed principle, his strength appeared to be pre-
served as the means of saving the party. He collected the tripe de roche for the
officers' mess, cooked and served it out, and showed the most indefatigable zeal
in his efforts to relieve their sufferings.
A gleam of hope at length arose when St. Germain completed the canoe. It
was impossible not to feel that their last chance of escape seemed to hang upon
this little bark; — would it prove sufficient for their purpose? or, constructed of
such wretched materials, would it not at once sink to the bottom 1 Amid this
conflict of contending emotions it was launched on the river, and every heart
bounded with exultation when it floated, and St. Germain transported himself
to the opposite side. It was drawn back, and, one by one, the whole party were
ferried over, though from the leaky state of the little bark, their garments and
bedding were completely drenched. Franklin immediately despatched Mr.
Back and three men to push on to Fort Enterprise in search of the Indians, while
he himself followed with the rest.
Nothing could exceed the joy of the Canadian voyagers at this unlooked for
deliverance. Their spirits rose from the deepest despondency into tumultuous
exultation. They shook the officers by the hand, cried out that their worst diffi-
culties were at an end, and expressed a confident hope of being able to reach
Fort Enterprise in the course of a few days, — a boisterous and sudden confi-
dence, to which the silent gratitude and quiet resolution of the pious Hepburn
presented a striking constrast.
636 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
Their tents and bedclothes were so much frozen, and the men, who had kin-
dled a small fire, so weary, that it was eight in the morning before the bundles
were packed, and the party set forward. They travelled in single files, each at
a small distance from his neighbour. Mr. Hood, who was now nearly exhaust-
ed, was obliged to walk at a gentle pace in the rear. Dr. Richard.son kindly keep-
ing beside him ; while Franklin led the foremost men, that he might make them
halt occasionally till the stragglers came up. Credit, hitherto one of their most
active hunters, became lamentably weak fronj the eflfects of tripe de roche ou
his constitution, and Vaillant, from the same cause was getting daily more ema-
ciated. They only advanced six miles during the day, and at night satisfied the
cravings of hunger by a small quantity of tripe de roche mixed up with some
scraps of roasted leather. During the night the wind increa-sed to a strong gale,
which continuing next day, besides being piercingly cold, filled the atmosphere
with a thick snow drift. Having boiled and eaten the remains of their old shoes,
and every shred of leather which could be picked up, they set forward at nine
over bleak hills separated by equally barren valleys.
In this manner they journeyed till noon, not without much straggling and fre-
quent halts, at which time Samandre came up with the melancholy news that
" Credit and Vaillant had dropped down and were utterly unable to proceed. Dr.
Richardson went back, and discovering Vaillant about a mile and a half in the
rear, assured him that a fire was kindled a little way on, and that he would re-
cover if he could but reach it; the poor fellow struggled up on his feet and fee-
bly tried to advance, but fell down every step in the deep snow. Leaving him,
Dr. Richardson retraced his steps about a mile farther in a fruitless search for
Credit. In returning he passed Vaillant, who had fallen down, utterly unable
to renew his efforts to rejoin the party, Belanger went back to carry his bur-
den and assist him to the fire ; but the cold had produced such a numbness that
he could not speak or make the slightest exertion. The stoutest of the party
were nov/ implored to make a last effort to transport him to the fire, but declar-
ed themselves utterly unable for the task. They eagerly requested leave to
thro'^ down their loads, and proceed with the utmost speed to Fort Enterprise:
a scheme projected in the despair of the moment, and w^hich must have brought
destmction upon the whole.
Matters had now reached a dreadful crisis ; it was necessary to come to an
immediate decision regarding their ultimate measures, and a plan proposed by
Mr. Hood and Dr. Richardson was adopted. These gentlemen consented to
remain, with a single attendant, at the first spot where there was sutficient fire-
wood and tripe de roche for ten days' consumption, while Franklin and the rest
were to proceed with all expedition to Fbrt Enterprise, and send immediate as-
sistance. This scheme promised to relieve them of a considerable portion of
their burdens: for one of the tents and various other articles were to be left;
and it gave poor Credit and Vaillant a fairer opportunity, should tliey revive, of
regaining their companions. On the resolution being communcated to tiie men,
they were cheered with the prospect of an alleviation of their misery, and premis-
ed forward in search of a convenient spot for tlie proposed separation. Near
nightfall they encamped under the lee of a hill among some willows, which fur-
nished a small fire, but not sufficient to thaw tlieir frozen clothes ; and no tripe
de roche having been found during the day, they lay down hungr>', cold, and
full of the gloomiest apprehensions, while sleep fled from their eyelids, and the
images of their dying companions rose beibre their imagination in colours whicli^
made them shudder Ibr a fate that might soon become their own. Next morn-
ing the weather, providentially, was mild, and setting out at nine they arrived
towards noon at a thicket of willows in the neighbourhood of some rocks bear-
ing a pretty full supply of tripe de roche. Here Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood
determined to remain. The tent was pitched, a barrel of ammunition and other
articles were deposited, and Hepburn, who volunteered the service, was ap-
pointed to continue with them. The rest of the party now had only to carry a
single tent, the ammunition, and die officers' journals, in addition to their own
clothes and a single blanket for Captain Franklin. When all was ready, the
whole party united in thanksgiving and prayers to Almighty God for their mU'
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 637
tual preservation, and separated with the melancholy reflection that it might iri
all probability be the last time they should ever again meet in this world.
On leaving their friends, Captain Franklin and his party descended into a more
level conntry ; but the snow lay so deep, and they were so little able to wade
through it, that they encamped after a painful march of only four miles and a
half, in which Belanger and Michel, an Iroquois, were left far behind, yet still
strugghng forward. In the evening they came in dreadfully exhausted, and
Belanger, till now one of the strongest of the party, could not refrain from tears
as he declared he was totally unable to proceed, and implored permission to re-
turn to Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood. Michel made the same request, and it
was agreed that they should do so. The cold of the night was excessive, and
the men were so weak that they could not raise the tent; from its weight it was
impossible to transport it from place to place, and it was cut up, the canvass
serving them for a covering ; but, though they lay close together, the intense
frost deprived them of sleep. Having no tripe de roche, they had supped on an
infusion of the Labrador tea plant, with a few morsels of burnt leather. Mi-
chel and Belanger, being apparently more exhausted in the morning than over
night, were left, while the rest moved forward. After a very short progress Per-
rault was attacked with a fit of dizziness, but, on halting a little, again proposed
to proceed. In ten minutes, however, he sank down, and weeping aloud, de-
clared his total inability to go on. He was accordingly advised to join Michel
and Belanger, — a proposal in which he acquiesced. These examples of the to-
tal failure of the strongest in the party, had a very unfavorable effect on the spir-
its of the rest, and the exertion of wading through the snow and crossing a lake
on the ice, where they were frequently blown down, was so severe that Fontano,
after having repeatedly fallen, piteously complained that he was utterly unable to
go farther. Being not two miles from the others it was thought best that he
should attempt to rejoin them, and as he was much beloved, the parting was
very distressing. They watched him for some time, and were comforted by
seeing that, though his progress was very slow, he kept his feet better than
before.
The whole party was now reduced to five persons. Captain Franklin, Adam,
Peltier, Benoit, and Samandre, the interpreter Augustus having pressed forward
by himself during the late frequent halts. They made that day only four miles
and a half, and encamped for the night under a rock, supping again on the Lab-
rador tea plant and some shreds of burnt leather. The evening was compara-
tively mild, the breeze hght, and having the comfort of a fire, they enjoyed some
sleep. This was of infinite advantage; it gave them new spirits, which were
furtlier invigorated by a breakfast of tripe de roche, this being the fourth day
since they had a regular meal. On reaching Marten Lake they found it frozen
over, — a circumstance which they knew would enable them to walk upon the
ice straight to Fort Enterprise.
It may be easily imagined what were the sensations of the party in approach-
ing the spot which they trusted would be the end of all their toils and privations.
From the arrangements previously made it was judged certain that they would
here find relief, and be able to send assistance to their unfortunate companions.
It was a spot where they had enjoyed, at a former period of the expedition, the
greatest comfort; but it was possible, though they scarcely permitted themselves
to contemplate so dreadful an idea, that circumstances might have occurred to
defeat their present expectations. On approaching the house their minds were
strongly agitated between hope and fear, and contrary to their usual custom,
they advanced in silence. At length they reached it, and their worst apprehen-
sions were realized. Ic was completely desolate. No provisions had been de-
posited ; no trace of Indians could be discovered ; no letter lay there from Mr.
Wentzel to inform them where the Indians might be found. On entering, a
mute despair seized the party. They gazed on the cold hearth, comfortless
walls, and broken sashes, through which the wind and snow penetrated, and,
awakening to a full sense of the horrors of their situation, burst into tears. On
recovering a little, and lookmg round with more attention, a note was found
from Mr. Back, stating that having two days before this reached the house, he
54*
638 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
had proceeded in search of the Indians ; but it described his party as so debili-
tated that it was doubtful whether they would be able to reach Fort Providence.
The sufferings endured by this meritorious officer and his little party, one of
whom was frozen to death, were equally dreadful with those which fell to the
share of his excellent commander.
The poor sufferers, thus grievously disappointed, now examined the deserted
habitation for the means of subsistence, and found several deer- skins thrown
away during their former residence at the fort. The heaps of ashes were care-
fully raked, and a considerable collection of bones discovered, which were hoard-
ed up for the purpose of being pounded and manufactured into soup. The
parchment originally employed instead of glass had been torn from the win-
dows, and the place was exposed to all the inclemency of an arctic winter ; but
they succeeded in filling the sashes with loose boards, and as the temperature of
the outer air was now from 15° to 20° below zero, this precaution was especially
necessary. To procure water they melted the frozen lumps of snow, and the
flooring of the neighbouring apartment was broken up for fuel.
Having completed these arrangements, they assembled round the fire, and
were busy singing the hair off a deer skin, when they were cheered by the en-
trance of the interpreter, who had made his way to the' fort by a different route,
through a country he had never traversed before. Though by far the strongest
of the party, he was now so enfeebled by famine that he could not follow two
deer which he had seen on his way. Next morning there was a heavy gale from
the south-east, and the snow drifted so thick that no one ventured abroad. On
the evening of the succeeding day, a figure covered with ice, benumbed with
cold, and almost speechless, staggered into the house ; it was one of the Cana-
dians, who had been despatched with a note by Mr. Back, and having fallen into
a rapid narrowly escaped being drowned. To change his dress, wrap him in
warm blankets, and pour some soup over his throat, was their first care ; and
after a little he revived enough to answer the anxious questions with which he
was assailed. From his replies but little comfort was derived, Mr. Back had
seen no trace of the Indians, and the messenger's recollection appeared confused
with regard to the part of the country where he had left his ofhcer, who, as he
stated, intended to proceed to the spot where the Indian chief Akaitcho had en-
camped last summer, — a distance of about thirty miles. Thither he proposed to
follow when he was a little recruited; and, though dissuaded from the attempt,
persisted that as the track was beaten he would be able to make it out, and to
convey intelligence of the situation of Captain Franklin's party. Accordingly,
the fifth day after his arrival, he departed from the fort with a small supply of
singed hide.
Not long after, Adam, one of the five men who now remained with Captain
Franklin, became so ill that he was utterly incapable of moving, and it was dis-
covered that he had been for some time afflicted with osdematous swellings in va-
rious parts of his body, which he had hitherto generously concealed, from a wish
not to impede the movements of his companions. As it was impossible for this
poor man to travel, it was necessary to abandon the original intention of pro-
ceeding with the whole party to Fort Providence, and Peltier and Samandre,
who were in almost as weak a state, having expressed a wish to remain with
Adam, Captain Franklin, along with Augustus and Benoit, determined to press
on to Fort Providence, and to send relief to their companions by the first party
of Indians they sliould meet.
Having accordingly given directions regarding tlie journals and charts which
were left in their custody, and the best mode of Ibrwading succour to Mr. Hood
and Dr. Richardson, Franklin set forward with his two attendants ; but so feeble
had tliey become that the distance accomplished in six hours was only four miles.
They encamped on the borders of Round Rock Lake, and, unable to find any
tripe de roche, made their supper on fried deer skin. The night proved intensely
cold, and although they crept as close to each other as possible, they sliivered in
every limb, and the wind pierced through their famislied frames. Next morn-
ing was mild, and they set out early, but had scarce proceeded a few yards when
Franklin fell between two rocks and broke his snow shoes, an accident which
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 63^
incapacitated him from keeping up with Benoit and Augustus. In a very short
time his attempt to press forward completely exhausted him ; and as the only
hope of preserving the lives of the party appeared to rest on their speedily reach-
ing Fort Providence, he determined, rather than retard them, to retrace his steps
to the house, while they proceeded for assistance. Calling a moment's halt, he
addressed one note to Mr. Back, requesting an immediate supply of meat from
Reindeer Lake, and another to the commandant of Fort Providence, with ur-
gent entreaties for assistance. This done, Augustus and Benoit resumed their
journey and Farnklin returned to the house.
On arriving he found Adam, Samandre, and Peltier still alive ; but the two>
first, whose minds seemed quite enfeebled, could not be prevailed on to leave
their bed, and their nervous weakness was so great that they scarcely ceased
shedding tears all day. It was even with difficulty that they were prevailed on
to take any nourishment; and the labour of cutting and carrying fuel, gathering
the tripe de roche, and cooking fell entirely upon Franklin and Peltier. The
frost was now so severe that it was evident this lichen would soon be bound up
in ice, and as their strength daily dechned every exertion became irksome. When
once seated, it required a painful effort to rise up, and not unfrequently they had
to lift each other from their chairs. This miserable condition could not last long-
Peltier soon became almost incapable of holding the hatchet; the bone soup had
become so acrid as to corrode the inside of their mouths ; the tripe de roche, cov'
ered with ice, defied all eftorts to detach it from the rock; and though the reindeer
sported on the banks of the river, no one had strength enough to go after them,
or to hold a gun so steadily as to secure an aim.
Still the hopes and cheerfulness of Franklin did not desert him. From his
knowledge of the places mostly frequented by the Indians, he was sanguine as
to the likelihood of their being found ; and their speedy arrival formed a con-
stant subject of conversation. At length, on the evening of the 29th, when talk-
ing of this long looked for relief, and silting round the fire, Peltier suddenly-
leaped up and uttered a joyful exclamation, imagining he heard the bustle of the
Indians in the adjoining room. It was not the Indians, however, but Dr. Rich-
ardson and Hepburn, who came in each carrying his bundle. The meeting was
one of mingled joy and sorrow. Poor Hood's absence was instantly perceived,
and their saddest anticipations were confirmed by Dr. Richardson declaring that
this young officer and Michel were dead, and that neither Perrault nor Fontano
had reached the tent or been heard of Such news could not fail to create de-
spondency. All were shocked at the emaciated countenances and hollow voices
of Dr. Richardson and his companion, while Captain Franklin and his fellow-
sufferers, having become gradually accustomed to the dreadful effects of famine
upon each other, were not aware that, to the eyes of their friends who had just
arrived, the alteration upon themselves was equally melancholy. " The doc-
tor,', says Franklin, "particularly remarked the sepulchral tone of our voices,
which he requested us to make more cheerful if possible, not aware that his own
partook of the same key.
The arrival of these friends, however, was soon attended with a favourable
change. Though greatiy reduced, they were still in a better condition than their
unfortunate companions, and it was not long till Hepburn shot a partridge. Dr.
Richardson speedily tore oft' the feathers, and having held it a few minutes at the
fire divided it into six pieces : Franklin and his companions ravenously devour-
ed their portions, " being the first morsel of flesh that any of them had tasted for
thirty-one days," and Dr. Richardson cheered them with the prospect that Hep-
burn might possibly bring in a deer in his next expedition. The counsels and
example of this pious and intelligent man produced the best effects on the spirits
of the party. He had brought with him his Testament and Prayer Book; and
by reading portions of Scripture appropriate to their situation, and encouraging
ihem to join in prayer and thanksgiving, he led them to the only Source whence,
under the awful circumstances in which they were placed, they could derive
hope or consolation. He taught them the necessity of exertion, whatever pam
it might at first cost ; roused them to pay some attention to the cleanliness of
their apartment; and insisted particularly that during the day they should roll up
640 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
their blankets, which they had been in the practice of leaving beside the fire
where they slept.
Their several tasks were now alloted to each ; Hepburn and Richardson went
out in search of deer, while Franklin, being unable to walk far, remained nearer
the house, and digged under the snow for skins, which, during their former hap-
py winter residence at this station, when they killed and ate abundance of game,
were thrown away as useless, but now, in their almost putrid state, formed their
principal support. The cutting of firewood was intrusted to Peltier and Sa-
mandre ; but both were so weak and dispirited that it was geneially performed
by Hepburn on his return from hunting ; as for Adam, his legs were still so se-
verely swollen that he kept his bed, though an operation performed by Dr,
Richardson gave him some ease. In the midst of these necessary cares, all
seemed for a while to dread approaching the subject of Hood and and Michel's
death; but at length, one evening, on the return of the doctor from hunting, and
after having despatched their usual supper* of singed skin and bone-soup, they
requested him to relate the particulars; and a more afflicting, or in some respects
a more terrific story, as it appears in his published narrative, could not well be
conceived.
He stated, that after being left by Captain Franklin, they remained bcaide the
fire as long as it lasted. Having no tripe de roche, they supped on an infusion
of tlie country tea-plant, which was grateful from its warmth, but afforded no
nourishment, and retired to rest. Next day proved stormy, and the snow being
so deep that a fire could not be kindled with the green willows, they lay in bed
reading some religious books, with which the party had been furnished before
leaving England, by the affectionate and pious care of a lady. " They proved,"
says Richardson, " of incalculable value to us. We read portions of them to
each other as we lay in bed, in addition to the morning and evening service, and
found that they inspired us on each perusal with so strong a sense of the omni-
presence of a beneficent God, that our situation in these wilds appeared no longer
destitute ; and we conversed not oiily with calmness, but with cheerfulness, de-
taihng with unrestrained confidence the past events of our lives, and dwelling
with hope upon our future prospects."
'f'he weather clearing up, Dr. Richardson went out in search of tripe de roche,
leaving Mr. Hood in bed and Hepburn cutting willows for a fire ; but the rocks
were covered with ice and snow, and he was unsuccessful. On liis return he
found Michel the Iroquois, who delivered the note from Franldin. All were
surprised to see him alone ; but he stated that Belanger had separated from him,
and, as he supposed, lost his way, he himself having wandered far from the
straight road. They had afterward good reason to suspect the truth of this stor}',
but believed it at that moment, and were rejoiced to see him produce a hare and
a partridge, — an unlooked-for supply, which they received with humble thankful-
ness to the Giver of all good. Franklin's note advised them to advance to a
little wood of pines, which would afford better fuel; and to this tliey removed
under the guidance of Michel, who led them straight to the spot.
As he had declared himself so little acquainted with the country as to lose his
way, it seemed strange that he should at once conduct them to the thicket. This
roused their attention, and made them feel rather uneasy as to his honesty ; and
various circumstances occurred to increase their suspicion. He requested the
loan of a hatchet, when any other hunter would have, taken only his knife. He
remained abroad all day without any definite employment. He brought them
some raw meat, saying that it was part of the carcass of a wolf; but which they
had afterward reason to believe was a portion of the bodies of Belanger and
Perrault, whom they suspected him to have murdered. He shunned the society
of Dr. Richardson and Mr. Hood, refusing to sleep in tlie tent, and preferring
to lie alone at the fire. On going out with the purpose of remaining a whole
day, he often returned abruptly, and when questioned gave vague answers. In
a few days he began to regret that he had left Captain Franklin's party, re-
fused to take any share in the labour of cutting wood, talked in a surly and inso-
sent manner, and could scarcely be prevailed upon to go out and hunt at all.
These symptoms of gloomy dissatisfaction increased ; he resisted all entreaties^
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 641
and when Mr. Hood, who was now reduced by famine to the last extremity, re-
monstrated with him, he flew into a violent passion, and exclaimed, " It is of no
use hunting, there are no animals; you had better kill and eat me.'' He after-
ward, however consented to go out, but returned upon some frivolous pretence ;
and on the second day that dreadful catastrophe took place which will be best
given in the words of Dr. Richardson's Journal.
" In the morning," says he, " being Sunday, October 20th, we again urged
Michel to go a-hunting, that he might, if possible, leave us some provision, to-
morrow being the day for his quitting us ; but he showed great unwillingness
to go out, and lingered about the fire under the pretence of cleaning his gun.
After we had read the morning service, I went about noon to gather some tripe
de roche, leaving Mr. Hood sitting before the tent at the fireside, arguing with
Michel. Hepburn was employed in cutting down a tree at a small distance
from the tent, being desirous of accumulating a quantity of firewood. A short
time after I went out I heard the report of a gun, and about ten minutes after-
ward, Hepburn called to me in a voice of great alarm, to come directly. When
I arrived I found poor Hood lying hfeless at the fireside, a ball having apparent-
ly entered his forehead. . I was at first horror-struck with the idea that in a fit
of despondency he had hurried himself into the presence of his Almighty Judge
by an act of his own hand ; but the conduct of Michel soon gave rise to other
thoughts, and excited suspicions which were confirmed, when, upon examining
the body, I found that the shot had entered the back part of the head and had
passed out at the forehead, while the muzzle of tbe gun had been applied so
close as to set fire to the niglitcap behind. The gun, which was of the longest
kind supplied to the Indians, could not have been placed in the position to in-
flict such a wound, except by a second person. Upon inquiring of Michel how
it happened, He replied that Mr. Hood had sent him into the lent for the short
gun, and that during his absence the long gun had gone oflf, he did not know
whether by accident or not. He held the short gun in his hand at the time he
was speaking. Hepburn afterwards asserted, that previous to the report of the
gun, Mr. Hood and Michel were speaking to each other, in an elevated angry
tone : he added, that Mr. Hood, being seated at the fireside, was hid from him
by intervening willows ; but that on hearing the report he looked up, and saw
Michel rising up from before the tent door, or just behind where Mr. Hood was
seated, and then going into the tent. Thinking that the gun had been discharg-
ed for the purpose of cleaning it, he did not go to the fire at first; and when Mi-
chel called to him that Mr. Hood was dead, a considerable time had elapsed. * * *■
Bickersteth's Scripture Help was lying open beside the body, as if it had fallen
from his Iiand, and it is probable that he was reading it at the instant 6f his
death."
Such was the melancholy fate of Mr. Hood, a young officer of die highest
promise, w^ho by his conduct had endeared himself to every member of the expe-
dition, and whose sufterings, as they were more intense from the peculidrity of
his constitution, were borne with a placid and unpretending fortitude which it
was impossible to contemplate without emotion. Both Dr. Richardson and
Hepburn were convinced he had met his death from tlie hands of Michel ; but
to have accused him at that moment would have been the extremity of rashness.
They were so reduced by famine that he could easily have overpowered both.
His appearance showed that he possessed secret supplies of food ; he was of
great bodily strength, and was armed to the teeth, carrying, besides his gun, a
brace of pistols, an Indian bayonet, and a knife. To have hinted a suspicion,
therefore, might have been instantly fatal, and they affected to consider the death^
of their companion entirely accidental. As his weakness had been the chief
cause of delaying their journey, they now set out for the fort, having first paid
the last rites to the dead in the only way which their situation would permit.
The ground was so hard and their strength so exhausted, that to dig a grave was
impossible ; so they carried the body into the willow grove behind the tent, and
returning to the fire, read the funeral service in addition to their evening de-
votions.
642
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
In the morning, having singed the hair off a portion of Mr. Hood's buffalo
robe, they boiled and ate it for breakfast. Meanwhile, the conduct of Michel
was so extraordinary, that had they not been already convinced of his guilt, no
doubt of it could have remained. Though not a breath of their suspicions reach-
ed his ears, he repeatedly protested that he was incapable of committing such
an act; he kept constantly on his guard; appeared fearful of leaving Dr. Rich-
ardson and Hepburn alone even for the shortest time : and when Hepburn spoke
he listened anxiously, though very imperfectly acquainted with the English lan-
guage, fixed his eyes keenly upon him, and asked fiercely if he accused him of
the murder. He evinced great unwillingness to set out for the fort, and wished
Dr. Richardson to proceed to the Coppermine River, where he said the woods
would supply plenty of deer. On finding this advice disregarded, his conduct
became more and more alarming ; he muttered to himself, fell into sullen fits of
abstraction, and used those convulsive and abrupt gestures often involuntarily
exhibited by a person whose mind is full of some dreadful purpose. Suddenly
awakening from this re very, he again expressed his unwillingness to return
to the fort, and renewed his solicitations to Dr. Richardson to repair to the
southernwoods, where they would find ample subsistence. On being requested
to pursue his own plan alone,and leave them to continue their journey, he broke
into an ungovernable fury, accused Hepburn of having told stories against him,
and assumed such airs of superiority as showed that he knew they were both in
his power, at the same time giving vent to expressions of hatred against the
white people, calling them deadly enemies, and affirming they had killed and
eaten his uncle and two of his relations.
DR. RICHARDSON SHOOTING MICHEL.
None of these menaces were lost upon Richardson and Hepburn; both felt
-they were not safe in this man's company ; and these dreadful surmises rose into
certainty when he threw out hints that he would free himself from all restraint
on the morrow. Being now convinced that, as he had cruelly murdered Hood,
he was resolved also to sacrifice them, they ascribed his not having already done
so to the circumstance of his not knowing the way to the fort, and requiring their
guidance. They came to this conclusion without any comnninication with each
other; for their fierce companion would not leave them a moment, watching
them with a malignant look, and frequently nmttering threats against Hepburn.
Towards evening, as they approached the spot where it would be necessary to
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 643
stop for the night, Michel halted to gather tripe de roche, and to their surprise
bade them walk on, and he would soon overtake them. Hepburn and Dr.
Richardson, now left alone together for the first time since Mr. Hood's death,
rapidly opened their minds to each other. In addition to the facts already men-
tioned, others came to light which left not the slightest doubt as to Michel's guilt ;
and so convinced was Hepburn of there being no safety for them but in his
death, that, though a man of extreme benevolence and deep religious principle,
he offered to be the instrument of it himself " Had my own Hfe," says Dr.
Richardson, " alone been threatened, I would not have purchased it by such a
measure ; but I considered myself also as intrusted with that of Hepburn's, a
man who, by his humane attentions and devotedness had so endeared himself to
me, that I felt more anxiety for his safety than for my own." Animated by such
feeUngs, and convinced that Michel's death was necessary to self-preservation,
he determined that it ought to be by his own, and not by Hepburn's hand ; and
on his coming up, shot him through the head with a pistol.
It appeared that he had gathered no tripe de roche, and had halted to put his
gun in order, no doubt with the intention of attacking them when in the act of
encamping.
Dr. Richardson and Hepburn now pursued their way to the fort; but fatigue,
and want of food and fuel, had nearly proved fatal to them. They remarked,
however, that repeatedly when death appeared inevitable, an unexpected supply
of provisions again restored them ; and the confidence that, when no human help
was nigh, they were supported by a merciful God, inspired them with renewed
hope. At last they had the delight of beholding from an eminence the smoke
issuing from the chimney of the fort, and immediately after embracing those
friends for whose fate they had entertained so many melancholy forebodings. So
ended this interesting narrative.
The whole party was now once more united, but under circumstances of the
most distressing privation ; all emaciated to such a degree as to look like living
skeletons ; their hands shook from weakness, so that to take an aim was impos-
sible ; and the rein-deer, partridges, and other game flew or bounded past in
joyousness and security, while the unhappy beings who beheld them were gaunt
with hunger. The winter was closing in with all its horrors ; it became daily
more difhcult to procure fuel, the labour of cutting and carrying the logs being
so grievous that only Dr. Richardson and Hepburn could undertake it; and to
scrape the ground for bones, and to cook this miserable meal, was all Captain
Franklin could accomplish. On the 1st of November the doctor obtained some
tripe de roche ; and as Peltier and Samandre were in the last stage of exhaustion,
it was hoped a little of the soup might revive them. All was in vain ; they tast-
ed a few spoonfuls, but soon coinplained of a soreness in their throats, and both
died in the course of the night, apparently without pain. To inter the bodies,
or even carry them to the river, was a task for which the united strength of the
survivors was inadequate ; all they could do was to remove them into an opposite
part of the house ; and the living and the dead remained in awful contiguity
under the same roof
The party was now reduced to four, — Franklin, Richardson, Hepburn, and
Adam. The last had become dreadfully low since the death of his companions,
and could not bear to be left alone for a moment. Their stock of bones was
exhausted, and in a short time it was evident that the severity of the frost would
render the gathering of the tripe de roche impossible. Under these circumstan-
ces, with death by famine approaching every hour, this little band of pious and
brave men were supported by an unwavering reliance On the mercy of God.
" We read prayers," says Captain Franklin, " and a portion of the New Testa-
ment in the morning and evening, as had been our practice since Dr. Richard-
son's arrival ; and I may remark, that the performance of these duties always
afforded us the greatest consolation, serving to reanimate our hope in the mercy
of the Omnipotent, who alone could save and deliver us." It seemed as if it
were the mysterious design of the Almighty to permit them to be reduced to the
lowest depth of suffering, that his power might be magnified at the very moment
when every human effort appeared utterly impotent. Hitherto Dr. Richardson
644 Sm JOHN FRANKLIN.
and Hepburn had been the healthiest of the party, but they had overwrought
themselves and had sunk rapidly. Owing to their loss of flesh, the hard-
ness of the floor, from which they were only protected by a single blanket,
rendered the whole surface of their bodies sore ; yet the labour of turning from
one side to the other, was too much for them. As their strength sank, their
mental faculties partook of the weakness of their frame ; and, to employ the can-
did and simple expressions of the excellent leader, " an unreasonable pettishness
with each other began to manifest itself, each believing the other weaker in intel-
lect than himself, and more in need of advice and assistance." During this
gloomy period, after the first acute pains of hunger (which lasted but for three or
four days) had subsided, they generally enjoyed the refreshment of sleep, accom-
panied by dreams which, for the most part, partook of a pleasant character, and
very often related to the pleasures of feasting.
Help, however, was now near at hand, and we shall not impair the afi'ecting
description of their deliverance by giving it in any other than Captain Franklin's
own words. " On November the 7th, Adam had passed a restless night, being
disquieted by gloomy apprehensions of approaching death, which they tried in
vain to dispel. He was so low in the morning as scarcely to be able to speak,
and Captain Franklin remained by his bedside to cheer him as much as possible,
while the doctor and Hepburn went out to cut wood. They had hardly begun
their labour when they were amazed at hearing the report of a musket, and could
scarcely believe that there was any one near till they heard a shout, and espied
three Indians close to the house. Adam and Franklin heard the latter noise, and
were fearful that some part of the house had fallen upon one of their compan-
ions, — a disaster which had been thought not unlikely. The alarm was only
momentary; for Dr. Richardson came in to communicate the joyful intelligence
that relief had arrived. He and Captain Franklin immediately addressed their
thanksgivings to the Throne of Mercy for this deliverance ; but poor Adam was
in so low a state that he could scarcely comprehend the information. When the
Indians entered he attempted to rise, but immedifitely sunk down again. But
for this seosonable interposition of Providence, his existence must have termi-
nated in a few hours, and that of the rest probably in not many days."
The Indians, who had been despatched by Mr. Back, had tiavelled with great
expedition, and brought a smafl supply of provisions. TMey imprudently pre-
sented too much food at first; and though aware of the efiects which might arise
from a surfeit, and warned by Dr. Richardson to eat very sparingly, the sight of
the venison was irresistible : and it was devoured by tiiem all, not;, excluding the
doctor himself, with an avidity that soon produced the most acnte pains, which
during the night deprived them of rest. Adam, whose weakness rendered him
unable to feed himself, was not subjected to the*same incoavenience, and taking
moderate meals revived hourly. AH now was thankfulness and cheerful activi-
ty. Boudel-kell, the youngest Indian, after an hour's rest, returned lo the en-
campment of Akaitcho, the Dog-rib chief, carrying a note from Captain Frank-
lin, and a request for another supply of provisions. The two others, named in "
tlieir familiar manner. Crooked Foot, and the Rat, remained to nurse the white"
juen. Under their care the apartment, lately so desolate, and something between
a sepulchj-e and a lazar-house, assumed a gladdened look, which had the best
effect. The dead bodes were removed, tlie room cleared of it^^ filth and frag-
ments of pounded bones, and large cheerful fires produced a sensation of com-
fort to which they had long been strangers. The poor suflferers ha<l often cast a
yjrishful eye on a pile of dried wood near the river, but were utterly unable to
carry it up the bank. When pointed .out to the Indians, they fetched it home
with a rapidity which astonished our feeble friends. "They set about every
thing," says Franklin, " with an avidity which amazed us. Indeed, contrasted
with our emaciated figures and extreme debility, their frames appeared gigantic,
and their strength supernatural."
Under the care of the Indians, and the blessing of wholesome and regu-
lar meals, tlie strength of the party was so far restored, that, altliough still
feeble, on the IGth, after having united in prayer and thanlisgiving to Cod for
their dehverance, they left Fort Enterprise,— a spot where, aa they had formerly
SIU JOHN FRANKLIN. 64S
enjoyed much comfort, if not happiness, they had latterly experienced a degree
of misery scarcely to be paralleled. The Indians treated them with unremitted
kindness, gave them their own snow-shoes, and walked by their side to be ready
to pick Ihein up when they fell. In this manner they pushed forward to the
abode of Akaitcho, the Indian chief, who welcomed them with the utmost hos*
pitality. Soon after they received letters from their friends at Fort Providence,
and the messenger also brought two trains of dogs, a package of spirits and to-
bacco for the Indians, and a supply of shirts and clothes for Captain Franklin and
his companions. The gratification of changing their linen, which had been un-
interruptedly worn ever since their departure from the seacoast, is described as
conveying an intensity of comfort to which no words can do justice. From this
spot their progress to Fort Providence, and thence to Montreal, was prosperous
and easy ; and thus terminated their long, fatiguing, and disastrous travels in
North America, having journeyed by water and by land, including their naviga-
tion of ihe Polar Sea, 5550 miles.
So disastrous had been the result of his first expedition, and so appalling the
sufferings with which it was accompanied, that nothing assuredly can convey a
more honorable testimony to the enthusiastic zeal and unshaken perseverance
of Captain Franklin, than the statement of the simple fact, that towards the close
of 1823, having learned the determination of government to make another at-
tempt to effect a northern passage by sea between the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans, he, to use his own words, "ventured to lay before his majesty's govern-
ment a plan for an expedition over land to the mouth of the Mackenzie River,
and thence by sea to the nortli-western extremity of America, with the combined
objects also of surveying the coasts between the Mackenzie and the Coppermine
Rivers."
It was the opinion of this able officer, that in the course he now proposed to
follow, reverses similar to those which had surrounded his first journey were
scarcely to be apprehended ; and his views having met the approbation of gov-
ernment, he received directions for the equipment of the expedition, and was
nominated its commander. He had the satisfaction also of being once more
accompanied by his valued friend Dr. Richardson ; who, unappalled by his for-
mer dreadful sufferings, again offered his services as naturalist and surgeon,
and volunteered to undertake the survey of the coast between the Mackenzie
and Coppermine Rivers, while Captain Franklin was occupied in an attempt to
reach Icy Cape. Previous to the departure of the ships a correspondence was
opened with the governor and directors of the Hudson's Bay Company ; who
transmitted injunctions to their officers in the fur countries to provide depots of
provisions at the stations pointed out by Franklin.
The building of proper boats for the navigation of the Arctic Sea, as* well as
the passage of the rapids between York Factory and Mackenzie River, formed
the next object of attention. It was evident that the canoes of birch bark em-
ployed by Sir A. Mackenzie, and by Captain Franklin in his first journey,
though excellently adapted for the American rivers, uniting hghtness and facility
of repair with speed, were yet, from the tenderness of the bark, little fitted to re-
sist the force of the arctic waves, or the collision of the sharp-pointed masses of
ice. Captain Franklin accordingly obtained the Admiralty's permission to have
three boats constructed at Woolwich, under his own superintendence. " They
were built," says he, " of mahogany, with timbers of ash, both ends exactly alike,
and fitted to be steered either with a ship-oar or a rudder. The largest, being
twenty-six feet long and five feet four inches broad, was adapted for six rowers,
a steersman, and an officer; it was found to be capable of carrying three tons
weight in addition to the crew, and could be transported with ease on the shoul-
ders of six men. The other two boats were twenty -four feet in length, four feet
ten inches broad, and held a crew of five men, besides a steersman and an officer,
with an extra weight of two and a half tons. In addition to these, another little
vessel was constructed, at Woolwich, which reflected great credit upon its in-
ventor, Lieutenant-colonel Pasley, of the Royal Engineers. Its shape was ex-
actly tliat of one of the valves of a walnut-shell, and it was framed of well season-
ed planks of ash, fastened together with thongs, and covered with Mackintosh'*
55
6# SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
prepared canvass. It weighed only eighty-five pounds, and when taken to
pieces could be made up in five or six parcels, and again put together in less
than twenty minutes, although it was nine feet long by lour feet lour inches in
breadth." Each person on board was provided with two suits of water-proof
dresses, prepared by Mr. Mackintosh, of Glasgow ; the guns, which were of the
same bore as the fowling-pieces furnished by the Hudson's Bay Company to the
Indian hunters, had their locks tempered to resist the cold ; each being fitted
with a broad Indian dagger, similar to a bpyonet, which, on being disjoined,
could be used as a knife. Ammunition of the best quality, and a store of provi-
sions sufficient for two years, were also supplied.
The expedition sailed from Liverpool on the 16th of February, 1825, and after
a favourable passage to New- York, proceeded to Albany, travelled through
Utica, Rochester, and Geneva, crossed the Niagara and Lake Ontario, coasted
the northern shore of Lake Superior, and thence pushed forward through Rainy
Lake, the Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, Saskatchawan River, and arrived
at Cumberland House on the 15th of June. From this station, proceeding
northward to Isle a !a Crosse, and passing through Deep River, and Clear and
Buffalo Lakes, they overtook their boats in Methye River, on the morning of the
29th of June. The advanced period of the season rendered it impossible to em-
bark on the Mackenzie before the middle of August, so that it became necessary
to postpone the great expedition till the ensuing summer. They accordingly
established their winter quarters on the banks, erecting a habitation and a store,
which they named Fort Franklin. The superintendence of these buildings was
committed to Lieutenant Back, while Captain Franklin determined to descend
the river, take a view of the Polar Sea, and return to winter quarters before the
extreme cold should set in.
In this voyage there occurred nothing worthy of particular notice till the arri-
val at Whale Island, where, though Mackenzie had the strongest reasons to
conclude that he had reached the sea, he appears not to have been completely
satisfied on that point. Probably his doubts arose from the fresh taste of the
water. Franklin, however, proceeded beyond W hale Island, and reached the
shore of the great Arctic Ocean. " Embarking," says he, " at eleven A. M., we
continued our course along the shore of Ellice Island, until we found its coast
tending southward of east. There we landed, and were rejoiced at the sea-like
appearance to the northward. An Island was now discovered to the north-east,
looking blue from its distance, towards which the boat was immediately directed.
The water, which for the last eight miles had been very shallow, became gradu-
ally deeper, and of a more green colour, though still fres^h, even when we had
entirely lost sight of the eastern land. In the middle of the traverse we were
caught by a strong contrary wind, against which our crews cheerfully contended
for five hours. Unwilling to return without attaining the object of our search,
when the strength of the rowers was nearly exhausted, the sails were set double
reefed, and our excellent boat mounted over the waves in a most buoyant man-
ner, while an opportune alteration of the wind enabled us in the course of an-
other hour to letch into smoother water, under the shelter of the island. We
then pulled across aline of strong ripple, which marked the termination of the
fresh water, that on the seaward side being brackish ; and in the further progress
of three miles to the island, we had the indescribable pleasure of finding the
water decidedly salt. The sun was setting as the boat touched the beach ; we
hastened to the most elevated part of the island, about two hundred and fifty
feet higlj, to look around ; and never was a prospect more gratifying than that
whicli lay open to us. The Rocky Mountams were seen from SrW. to W.
half N., and from the latter point, round by tlie north, the sea appeared in all its
majesty, entirely free from ice, and without any visible obstruction to its naviga-
tion. Many seals and black and white whales were seen sporting on its waves,
and the whole scene was calculated to excite in our minds the most flattering ex-
pectations of our own success, and that of our friends in the Hecla and tiie Fury."
Franklin pronounces a high encomium on the accuracy of Mackenzie, and con-
siders him as completely entitled to the praise of having reached the Arctic Sea,
although, owing to tlie frail construction of the Indian canoes, it was impoissible
for him to sail to the point where the water became salt.
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 64V
Having accomplished his design in this preliminary journey, Franklin returned
on the 5th of September to his winter quarters on Great Bear Lake. About the
same time Dr. Richardson returned from his excursion to the north-eastern shores
of the same extensive sheet of water, having completed his survey as far as the
influx of Dease's River, and ascertained that the first rapid was the best point to
which the eastern detachment of the expedition should direct its course on their
return from the Coppermine in the following season. Meantime the people
w^ere so busily employed that time never hung heavy on their hands, and the
shortest day came almost unexpectedly upon them. The Canadians and Indians
were engaged in fishing and hunting for the whole party, and during the autumn
the nets yielded daily eight hundred fish of the kitid called herring-salmon.
Four Dog-rib Indians, along with the two interpreters, Augustus and Ooligbuck,
were employed in hunting reindeer, and the sailors were divided into different
parties to whom separate duties were allotted; such as attending on the nets,
bringing home the venison killed by the hunters, felling, carrying, and splitting
wood, running as letter carriers on snow shoes between Fort Franklin and two
other small posts established on the Mackenzie and Slave Lake. A school also
was opened, in which, during the long winter evenings, the officers instructed
the sailors in reading, writing, and arithmetic ; and during the hours of relaxation
the hall was given up to the men to divert themselves with any game they chose;
on which occasion they were always joined by the officers. Sunday was inva-
riably a day of rest, and the whole parly attended divine service morning and
evening. Besides this, the officers had ample employment in noting down the
therniometrical, magnetical,and atmospherical observations, in writing their jour-
nals, finishing their charts and drawings, and arranging the objects of natural
history which had been collected. They were amused by occasional visits of the
Dog-rib Indians and various other tribes ; and Chn'stmasday falling on a Sunday,
they on the succeeding evening gave a dance and supper, which was attended
by sixty persons, including savages. " Seldom," says Franklin, " in such a con-
fined space as our hall, or among the same number of persons, was there a
greater variety of character or greater confusion of tongues. The party con-
sisted of Englishmen, Highlanders, (who mostly conversed with each other in
Gaelic,) Canadians, (who spoke French,) Esquimaux, Chipewyans, Dog-ribs
Hare Indians, Cree women and children, all mingled together in perfect harmo'
ny, while the amusements were varied by English, Gaelic, and French songs." -
The spring now approached, and the migratory animals, which observe with
beautiful exactness their periods of departure and arrival began to appear, glad-
dening the yet wintry face of nature. On the 5th of October the last swan had
passed to the southward, and on the 11th the last brown duck was noticed. On
the 6th of May the first swan was seen, and on the 8th the brown ducks reap-
peared on the lake. The mosses began to sprout, and various singing birds and
orioles, along with some swifts and white geese, arrived soon after. It is re-
marked by Dr. Richardson, that the singing birds, which were silent on the banks
of the Bear Lake during the day, serenaded their mates at midnight ; at which
time, however, it was quite light. On the 20th of May, the little stream which
flowed past ihe fort burst its icy chains, and the laughing geese arrived to give
renewed cheerfulness to the lake. Soon after this, the winter-green began to
push forth its flowers; and under the increasing warmth of the sun's rays, the
whole face of nature underwent a delightful change. The snow gradually melt-
ed, the ice broke up from the shores of the lake, the northen sky became red
and luminous at midnight, the dwarf birch and willows expanded their leaves,
and by the 3d of June the anemones, the tussilago, the Lapland rose, and other
early plants, were in full flower.
Admonished by these pleasing changes. Captain Franklin prepared to set out,
and on the 15th of June the equipments for the boats were completed. Four-
teen men, including Augustus the Esquimaux interpreter, accompanied the
commander-in-chief and Lieutenant Back in the two larger boats, the Lion and
the Reliance ; while nine men, and Oolinbuck, another interpreter, attended
Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendall in the Dolphin and the Unicorn. Spare
blankets, and ail that could be useful for the voyage, or as presents to the Esqui-
648
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
maux, were divided between the eastern and the western parties. On the Sun-
day before their departure, the officers and men assembled at divine worship,
and, in addition to the usual service, the special protection of the Almighty was
implored for the enterprise upon which they were about to be engaged. All
was now ready, and on Tuesday, the 28th of June, they embarked upon the Mac-
kenzie, with the navigation of which the reader is already familiar. On the 4th
of July, they reached that part where the river divides into various channels, and
the two parties had determined to pursue different directions. The expedition
which was to follow the western branch, commanded by Captain Franklin, em-
barked first, at Dr. Richardson's desire, with a salute of three hearty cheers from
their companions, and as they dropped down the river and passed round a point
of land they perceived their friends who were to follow the eastern branch em-
ployed in the bustle of embarkation. All were in high spirits, and it was impos-
sible not to contrast their present complete state of equipment with the circum-
stances of their former disastrous journey.
On reaching the mouth of the Mackenzie, the western expedition came almost
immediately into contact with the Esquimaux. Captain Franklin observed an
encampment upon a neighbouring island, and instantly proceeded to open a
communication. A selection of presents was made, and at the same time every
man was directed to have his gun ready for use. Having adopted these precau-
tions, they steered direct for the island with their ensigns tiying. The boats
touched ground when about a mile from the beach. Signs were made to the
Esquimaux to come off, and the Enghsh pulled back a httie to await their arrival
in deeper water. Three canoes, carrying only a single person, pushed off, and
these v/ere followed rapidly by others ; so that in a few minutes the whole space
between the boats and the shore was ahve with those litde vessels, which they
name kayaks . An attempt was at first made to count them, and the sailors got
the length of seventy; but they increased in such quick succession as to bafile
their further efforts.
KSiil IM VU\ PILLAGING THK BOATS.
At first every thing proceeded in a friendly manner. Augustus, after deliver-
ing a present, infonned them, that if the Enghsh succeeded in finding a navigable
channel for large ships, an advantageous trade would be opened. This infor-
mation was received with a deafening shout, and the sight of the presentij which
had been carried away by the tliree foremost kayaks inflamed the cupidity of
their companions ; so that the boats were in a moment surrounded by nearly
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 649
three hundred persons, offering for sale their bows, arrows, and spears, with a
violence and perseverance which became at last exceedingly troublesome, and
Captain Franklin directed the boats to be put to seaward. At this moment a
hayakwas upset by one of the oars of the Lion, and its unhappy possessor was
stuck by the accident with his head in the mud and his heels in the air. He was
instantly extricated, wrapped in a warm great-coat, and placed in the boat, where,
although at first excessively frightened and angry, he soon became reconciled to
his situation, and looking about, discovered many bales and other articles which
had hitherto been carefully concealed. His first impulse was to ask for every
thing he saw, his next to be indignant that his requests were not granted ; and
enjoining his companions, as they afterwards learned, he harangued on the in-
exhaustible riches of the Lion, and proposed a plan for a general attack and
pillage of both the boats. This scheme was immediately carried into execution ;
and although the plunderers at first afiected to be partly in sport, matters soon
assumed a serious complexion. Two of the most powerful men, leaping on
board, seized Captain Franklin, forced him to sit between them, and when he
shook them off, a third took his station in front to catch his arm whenever he
attempted to raise his gun or lay his hand on the broad dagger which hung by his
side. Diu-iug this assault the two boats were violently dragged to the shore, and
a numerous party, stripping to the waist and brandishing their long sharp knives,
ran to the Reliance, and commenced a regular pillage, handing the articles to
the women, who, ranged in a row behind, quickly conveyed them out of sight.
No sooner was the bow cleared of one set of marauders than another party com-
menced their operations at the stern. The Lion was beset by smaller numbers,
and her crew, by firmly keeping their seats on the canvass-cover spread over
the cargo, and beating of the natives with the butt end of their muskets, succeed-
in preventing any article of importance from being carried away. Irritated, at
length, by their frequent failure, the Esquimaux made a simultaneous charge,
and, leaping on board, began to wrest the daggers and shot belts from the sailors,
and to strike with their knives. In the midst of this attack, when the crew in the
Lion were nearly overpowered, and their commander disarmed, all at once the
natives took to their heels, and concealed themselves behind the drift timber and
canoes on the beach. This sudden panic was occasioned by Captain Back,
whose boat at this time had been got afioat, commanding his crew to level their
muskets, — a proceeding which was immediately observed by the Esquimaux,
though not noticed by Captain Franklin's men, who were wholly occupied in
defending themselves. The Lion happily floated soon after ; and as both boats
pulled off, Captain Franklin desired Augustus to inform some of the Esquimaux,
who manifested a disposifion to follow and renew the attack, that he would shoot
the first man who ventured to approach within musket range.
In the evening, Augustus anxiously entreated permission to attend a confer-
ence of his countrymen on the shore, to which he had been formally invited.
The courage and fidelity of this person had much endeared himself to the Eng-
lish, and it was not without much hesitation that Captain Franklin agreed to his
request, as he stated his determination to reprove the natives for their disgraceful
conduct. He was at length allowed to go, and by the time he reached the shore
the number of Esquimaux amounted to forty, all of them armed. On landing,
he walked undauntedly into the middle of the assembly, and addressed them in
the following animated speech, which he afterwards repeated to his English
friends :
" Your conduct," said he, " has been very bad, and unlike all other Esqui-
maux. Some of you even stole from me, your countryman — but that I do not
mind. I only regret that you should have treated in this vile manner the white
people, who came solely to do you kindness. My tribe were in the same unhap-
py state in which you now are before the white people came to Churchill; but
at present they are supplied with every thing they need ; and you see that I am
well clothed, 1 get every thing I want, and am very comfortable. You cannot
expect, after the transactians of this day, that these people will ever bring any
articles to your country again, unless you show your contrition by returning the
stolen goodd. The white people love the Esquimaux, and wish to show thera
*55
650 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
the same kindness that they bestow upon the Indians. Do not deceive your-
selves, and suppose that they are afraid of you ; I tell you they are not, and that
it is entirely owing to their humanity that many of you were not killed to-day,
for they have all guns with which they can destroy you either near or at a dis-
tance. I also have a gun, and can assure you that if a white man had fallen, I
would have been the first to have revenged his death."
During this speech, which was delivered, as they perceived from the boat",
with much energy and spirited gesticulation, the Esquimaux expressed their ap-
probation by frequent shouts, and on its conclusion made a very penitent, though
somewhat singular apology : " They had never seen white men before," they
said, *' and really all the things in the boat were so beautiful and desirable that
it was impossible not to steal them. As they were very anxious, however,
for the friendship and trade of the white men, they solemnly promised never to
repeat such conduct, and at the request of Augustus, sent back the large kettle,
the tent, and some pairs of shoes which they had carried off. The interpreter
was afterward invited to a dance, and a friendly understanding seemed to be es-
tablished; but Captain Franldin soon discovered that the professions of the na-
tives were hollaw and treacherous; and nothing but his jealous precautions
saved him and his companioiis from massacre, in which it had been resolved to
include the faithful Augustus.
Their voyage along the coast in the direction of west-north-west, after a pro-
gress of twelve miles, was impeded by the ice stretching from the shore far to
seaward. The boats were in consequence hauled up ; and as the frozen masses
were piled round to the height of thirty feet, it became necessary to await the
breaking up of this formidable barrier. Having gone to sleep, the officers were
startled at midnight by the guard calling to arms : three Esquimaux, belonging
to a large party encamped at some distance, had stolen forward, and been only
discovered when close at hand. Alarmed at the appearance of the men, who
stood to their arms, the strangers were on the point of discharging their arrows,
when they were arrested by the loud voice of Augustus, who explained the ob-
ject of the expedition, and dilated upon the advantages which they would derive
from it. A present confirmed his statement, and an amicable intercourse was
opened, — a line, however, being first drawn at a certain distance from the tents,
across which no Esquimaux was to pass under the penalty of being instantly
shot. Against this they made no remonstrance, only remarking, when informed
of the treacherous conduct of the natives at the mouth of Mackenzie River, that
" these were bad men, altogether different from them, and never failed either to
steal or quarrel whenever an opportunity was offered." The delight exhibited
by these people, hicluding the most elderly among them, on receiving any little
present, was exactly similar to that of children when they get hold of toys. They
ran from one thing to another; examined with restless curiosity every part of
Augustus's dress, who, to gratify his vanity, had put on his gaye.st apparel; and,
ignorant of the uses of the articles presented to them, they walked about witli
cod fish hooks and awls dangling from the nose, and copper tliimbles strung to
their trowsers or reindeer jackets. The men were robust, and taller llian those
seen on the east coast by Captain Parry, though their manner of life appeared to
be nearly the same. With the broad nose and small eyes, which peculiarly dis-
tinguish the whole Esquimaux tribes, they had the cheek bones less projecting
than those of the eastern coast. From a constant exposure to the glare of the
ice and snow, the whole party were afflicted with sore eyes, and two of the old
men seemed nearly blind. They wore the hair on the upper lip and chin, and
every man had pieces of bone or shells thrust through the septum of the nose,
while holes were pierced on each side of the under lip, in vvhich were placed
circular pieces of ivory with a large blue bead in the centre, — ornaments which
they valued highly, and declined selling. Their clothes consisted of a jacket
of reindeer skin, with a skirt behind and before, and a small hood ; breeches of
the same material, and large seal skin boots. The dress of the females differed
from that of the men only in their wearing wide trousers, and in the size of their
hoods, which did not fit close to their heads, but were made large for the purpose
of receiving their children: these were ornamented witli stripes of diflerent co-
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 651
loured skins, and round the top was fastened a band of wolf's hair, made to stand
erect. The women were from four feet and a half to four feet three-quarters
high, and some of the younger, though too corpulent, were pretty; their black
hair was tastefully turned up from behind to the top of the head, and braided
with strings of white and blue beads and cords of white deer skin. Both men
and women were much pleased by having their portraits sketched by Captain
Back; and one young lady, who sat for a full length, and chose the extraordina-
ry attitude of stuffing both hands into her breeches pockets, interrupted the la-
bours of the draughtsman by repeatedly jumping into the air, and f-miling in a
very ludicrous and irresistible manner. The men were armed with bows and
arrows, long knives, which they concealed in the shirt sleeve, and spears tipped
with bone.
The Esquimaux had predicted that as soon as a strong wind began to blow
from the land it would loosen the ice ; and on the r2th of July a heavy rain with
a pretty high gale set in and opened a passage. The boats accordingly were
launched; and, passing by a wide bay named by the commander after his friends
Captains Sabine and Kay, they were suddenly arrested by a compact body of
ice, and enveloped at the same time in a dense fog. On attempting to pull back
for the purpose of landing, they discovered that the ice had closed between them
and the shore. In this situation only one alternative was left, which was to pull
to seaward and trace the outer border of the ice. This they at last eftect-
ed; though a sudden change of wind brought on a heavy swell, and surrounded
them with floating masses of ice, which threatened to crush the boats to pieces.
They succeeded, however, after five hours employed in sailing in and out be-
tween these floating icebergs, in reaching the shore and landing a little to the
west of Point Sabine. After a detention of two days tliey proceeded as far as
Point Kay: but being here again impeded by a compact body of ice, which ex-
tended to seaward as far as the eye could reach, they were obliged to encamp
and wait patiently for the first strong breeze from the land.
The time of their sojourn in these arctic solitudes was pleasantly occupied in
making astronomical observations, collecting specimens of the plants in flower,
sketching scenery, and completing charts of the coast. Augustus went in search
of his countrymen, and returned at night with a young Esquimaux and his wife,
who, after a few presents, became loquacious, and informed them that the ice
would soon break up. Symptoms of this desirable change were observed next
day, and with great labour they reached Ilerschel Island. At the moment they
made the shore a herd of reindeer came bounding down to the beach, pursued
by three Esquimaux hunters, and immediately took the water, while the natives,
startled at sight of the strangers, gazed for a moment, consulted among them-
selves, changed the heads of their arrows, and prepared their bows. Their hos-
tile intentions, however, were laid aside when they were addressed by Augus-
tus; and in the evening a large party arrived, bringing dried meat, fish, and
game, for which they received presents in exchange, which set them singing and
dancing round the encampment for the greater part of the night.
From these people was collected some curious information. They stated that
they procured beads, knives, and iron, principally from Esquimaux residing far
away to the west, and also from Indians who came annually from the interior by
a river directly opposite the encampment, to which Captain Franklin gave the
name of Mountain Indian River. Whence the Indians or the Esquimaux ob-
tained these goods they could not tell, but supposed it was from Kabloonacht or
white men, at a great distance to the west. The articles were not of British
manufacture, from which Captain Franklin concluded that the Kabloonacht must
be the Russian fur-traders.
It was with great difticulty that the boats made even a short di^ance from
Herschel Island. The ice repeatedly closed in upon them, leaving only a nar-
row channel, often too shallow to float the boats, and dense fogs now became
frequent, rendering their navigation peculiarly hazardous. These dreary cur-
tains hanging over the ice gave it the appearance of water, .and exposed them to
the danger of being shut in by an impenetrable barrier when they expected an
open 8ea. They continued their course, however, till they came abreast of
652 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
Mount Conybeare, when they encamped, and crossing a swampy level ascend-
ed to the summit, from which they enjoyed a striking view into the interior.
Three noble range.? of mountains were seen parallel to the Buckland chain, but
of less altitude, while the prospect was bounded by a fourth range, mingling
their pyramidal summits with the clouds, and covered with snow. From this
last encampment their advance was extremely slow. The boats were pushed
forward through small lanes, the utmost vigilance being necessary to prevent
their being entirely shut in, as a few hours often made essential changes, and
their frail craft could only be saved by being frequently hauled upon the beach.
The calm weather also retarded them, and they earnestly longed for a strong
gale to break up the compacted fields of ice, and permit them to continue their
voyage.
After a detention of som3 days their wishes seemed about to be gratified; at
midnight, on the 25th of July, a strong south-westerly breeze sprang up, accom-
panied by thunder and lightning ; but in the morning an impenetrable fog hung
over the sea. On the land side the prospect was equally dreary ; an extensive
swamp, in which they sank ankle deep at every step, prevented any excursions
into the interior, and the clouds of mosquitoes which forever buzzed around them
kept them in a perpetual irritation. At length, however, the fog dispersed, dis-
closing an open lane of water about half a mile from shore ; following its course
for eight miles they came to the moutli of a wide river, which had its rise in the
British range of mountains. Its course approached near the line of demarca-
tion between the American dominions of Great Britain and Russia, and Captain
Franklin named it Clarence River, after the Duke of Clarence, then lord high
admiral, and subsequently King William IV. On the most elevated part of the
coast near its mouth they erected a pile of drift wood, under which they depos-
ited a tin box containing, a royal silver medal, and an account of the proceedings
of the expedition; after which the union flag was hoisted with three hearty
cheers.
They now continued their voyage, though often beset by ice and interrupted
by fogs, and, passing the boundary between Russian and British America, de-
scried an encampment of natives on a low island, surrounded by many oomiaks
and kayaks guarded by Esquimaux dogs, while their masters were fast asleep in
the tents. The interpreter being despatched to arouse them, a singular scene
took place. At his first call a little squabby woman rushed out in a state of per-
fect nudity, uttered a loud yell, and instantly ran back again to rouse her hus-
band, who, shouting out that strangers were at hand, awoke the whole band.
In a moment all seized their arms, and, without waiting to put on their deer
skin breeches or jackets, swarmed out upon the beach, which in an instant was
covered with fifty-four grown up persons completely naked, very outrageous,
dirty, and ugly. A short parley quieted their fears, an interchange of presents
took place, and the boats crossed Camden Bay, having in view the noble range
of the Romanzott' Mountains, whose peaks were covered with snow.
Soon after they arrived at the mouth of a river which discharged into the sea
so great a volume of water that even threeytniles from land the taste was perfect-
ly fresh ; and having reached latitude 70° 7', further progress was prevented by
ice closely packed on the outer border of a reef, and they discovered that the
great chain of the Rocky Mountains either terminated abreast of their present
situation, or receded so far to the southward as to fade away in the distance.
During their detention. Captain Back, to whose pencil we are indebted for many
admiral)le drawings of arctic scenery, made a sketch of the most western moun-
tain, which they named Mount Copleston. Various circumstances now warned
them that much further progress along this inhospitable coast was impracticable.
The fogs became more frequent and perilous, the water was often so shallow
that even two miles from shore the boats grounded, and on getting into deeper
soundings, the repeated shocks received from masses of floating ice severely in-
jured their timbers, especially those of the Lion, which was very leaky. Still
they struggled on from B^laxman Island along a low, desolate shore, rendered
more dreary by the stormy weather, till on the 10th a gale brought along with it
a thick fog, and tliey hauled up the boats, encamping on a low spot which tliey
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 653
named Foggy Island. Here they kindled fires, dried their clothes, which were
completely wet with the moisture of the atmosphere, and amused themselves in
their murky prison by proceeding in search of reindeer. The fog caused fre-
quent and sometimes ludicrous mistakes; and on one occasion, after the men
had spent a long time in steahng upon some deer, and were congratulating them-
selves on coming within shot, to their amazement the animals took wing and
disappeared in the fog, with a scream and a cackle which at once declared their
genus, and seemed to deride the credulity of their pursuers. "We witnessed
with regret," says Captain Franklin, " in these short rambles, the havoc which
this dreary weather made among the flowers. Many which had been blooming
upon our arrival were now lying prostrate and withered, and these symptoms of
decay could not fail painfully to remind us that the end of our operations was
fast approaching. Often at this time did every one express a wish that we had
some decked vessel, in which the provisions could be secured from the injury of
salt-water, and the crew sheltered when they required rest, that we might quit
this shallow coast and steer at once towards Icy Cape." So frequently did they
attempt to fulfil this desire, and so perpetually were they driven back by the fog
closing upon them, that the sailors declared the island was enchanted. Indeed,
to a superstitious mind the appearances furnished some ground for believing it.
The fog would often disperse, and permit a short glimpse of a point about three
miles distant, bearing north-west by west; and in a moment every hand was at
work, the boats were launched, the crews embarked; but before they could be
dragged into deep water the spirit of the mist once more drew his impenetrable
curtain round them, and after resting a while on their oars, they were compelled
to pull back to their old quarters. Scarcely had they kindled a fire and begun
to dry their clothes, soaked with wading over the flats, when the fog again open-
ed, the boats were launched, and the desired point almost gained; but their tor-
mentor once more enveloped earth and ocean in a thicker gloom than before.
" Fog is, of all others," says Captain Franklin, " the most hazardous state of the
atmosphere for navigation in an icy sea, especially where it is accompanied by
strong breezes; but particularly so for boats where the shore is unapproachable.
If caught by a gale, a heavy swell, or drifting ice, the result must be their wreck,
or the throwing their provisions overboard to lighten them, so as to proceed in
shoal water. Many large pieces of ice were seen on the border of the shallow
water, and from the lowness of the temperature we concluded that the main body
was at no great distance."
The nights were now lengthening; the grasses and the whole aspect of the
vegetation was autumnal ; their stores of drift wood had been so much drawn
upon that, though the tents were wet through, and they were for warmth obliged
to wrap tlieir feet in blankets, no fire was allowed except to cook the victuals.
The provisions were barely sufficient for the support of the party on their re-
turn, while the frequency of the logs, the shallowness which prevented the boats
from floating, the heavy swell that, as the wind freshened, rose upon the flats,
compelled them to haul farther from the land, and the danger which in doing so
they necessarily incurred from drift ice, formed an accumulation of difliculties
which rendered their progress from Point Anxiety across Pudhoe Bay to Return
Reef the most discouraging and painful part of the whole voyage. It was now
the 19th of August, and the boats, though the exertions of the crew had been un-
wearied, were only halfway between the mouth of Mackenzie's River and Icy
Cape. The young ice had already begun to form at night on die pools of fresh
water, and the mind of the commander recurred naturally and wisely to his for-
mer experience. He recollected that only one day later, and in a latitude two
degrees southerly, he had in his first voyage encountered severe storms of wind
and snow, and that in a fortnight the winter would set in with all its horrors.
Already the sun began to sink below the horizon, and with this change the mean
temperature of the atmosphere rapidly decreased; the deer were hastening from
the coast; the Esquimaux had ceased to appear; no winter houses gave indica-
tions that this remote coast was inhabited; and the autumnal parties of geese
hourly winging their flight to the westward, indicated that winter had already
surprised them in their polar solitudes. It had been Franklin's great object to
654 SIR JOH^ FRAxVKLIN.
double Icy Cape, and meet the expedition under Captain Beechey in Kot/.ebue's
Inlet, but from the distance and the advanced season this was now impracticable.
On the other hand, his instructions directed him, " if, in consequence of slow
progress, or other unforeseen accident, it should remain doubtful whether the ex-
pedition should be able to reach Kotzebue's Inlet the same season, to commence
their return on the 15th or ^Oth of August." To relinquish the great object of
his ambition; and to disappoint the confidence reposed in his exertions, was a
sacrifice which cost him no ordinary pain ; and had he been aware of the fact,
(with which the reader will be immediately acquainted,) that the barge of the
Blossom was at that moment only 146 miles distant, we have his own authority
for stating that no difficulties or dangers would have prevailed on him to return;
but, under the circumstances in which he was placed, to make any further ettbrt
in advance was incompatible with the higher duties which he owed to his officers
and crew. After a mature consideration of every thing, h^ formed the reluctant
conclusion that they had readied the point where perseverance would have been
rashness, and their best efforts must have only led to a more calamitous failure.
It was resolved therelbre to return; and on the morning of the 18th of August
they began their retreat to the Mackenzie River, which, without any material
danger, with the exception of a severe gale encountered off Point Kay, they
reached on the 4th of September. Thence they proceeded to Fort Franklin,
where they met Dr. Richardson, Mr. Kendall, and thpir friends of the eastern
expedition, who, after a prosperous and interesting voyage to the mouth of the
Coppermine, had returned to the Fort on the 1st of September.
Of this interesting journey our limits will only permit a very cursory glance.
Fortunately for the eastern expedition, the coast between the mouths of Macken-
zie and Coppermine Rivers presented none of those serious obstacles which at
every step were starting up in the dreary and protracted route of the western
party; and they consequently accomplished a voyage of about 500 miles, be-
tween the 4th of July and the Sth of August. It was eminently successful in the
accurate survey of this hitherto unexplored coast, but unvaried by any remark-
able incidents. The Esquimaux, on various parts of the coast, were more nu-
merous, pacific, comfortable, and vvealthy than the western tribes ; but their civ-
ilization had not eradicated the propensity for thieving. On one occasion the
boats were surrounded by a fleet of about fiily kayaks, and an attack was made
exactly similar to that upon Franklin; but though their object was the same, it
was pursued with less vigour, and the momerrt the sailors levelled their muskets
the whole party dispersed with precipitation.
On arriving at x\tkinson Island they discovered, under shelter of a chain of
sand hills drifted by the wind to the height of thirty feet, a small Esquimaux town,
consisting of seventeen winter houses, besides a larger building, which Dr.
Richardson at first conjectured to be a house of assembly for the tribe. Oolig-
buck the interpreter, however, whoiie ideas were more gross and coumionplace,
pronounced it to be a general eating room. "This large buildiirg," says Dr.
Richardson, " was in the interior a square of twenty-seven feet, having die roof
supported on two strong ridge poles two feet apart, and resting on four upright
posts. The floor in the centre formed of split logs, dressed and laid with great
care, was surrounded by a raised border about three feet wide, which was no
doubt meant for seats. The walls, three feet high, were inclined outwards, for
the convenience of leaning the back against them, and the ascent to the door,
which was on the south side, was formed of logs. The outside, which was cov-
ered with earth, had nearly a hemispherical form, and round its base were rang-
ed the sculls of twenty-one whales. There was a square hole in the roof,
and the central log of the Hoor had a basin shaped-cavity one foot in diameter,
which was perhaps intended for a lamp. The general attention to comfort in
the construction of the village, and the erection of a building of such magnitude,
requiring a union of purpose in a considerable number of people, were eviden-
ces of a more advanced progress towards civilization than had yet been found
among the Esquiuiaux. Whale sculls were confined to the large building, and
to one of the dwelling houses, which had three or four placed round it. Many
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 6lw5
wooden trays and handbarrows for carrying whale blubber were lying on the
ground, most of them in a state of decay."
On making the traverse of Harrovvby Bay, land was seen round the bottom;
and on nearing the shore twelve tents were distinguished on an adjoining erai-*
nence. When the boats appeared, a woman, who was walking along the beach,
gave the alarm, and the men rushed out, brandishing their knives, and employ-
ing the mostfurtous expressions. In vain Ooligbuck endeavoured to calm their
apprehensions, explaining that the strangers were friends ; they only replied by
shouts, leaps, or hideous grimaces, intended to inspire terror, and displayed great
agility, frequently standing on one foot and throwing the other nearly as high as
their head. Dr. Richardson, nothing intimidated by these gesticulations, be-
thought himself of enouncing, at the highest key he could reach, the word '* Noo-
wcerlawgo," meaning " I wish to barter," and the sound operated like a spell.
The savages instandy became quiet; one of them ran to his kayak, paddled off
to the boats, and was followed by crowds, who fearlessly came alongside, readi-,
ly exchanging bows, arrows, spears, and dressed seal skins, for bits of old iron
hoop, files and beads. "The females," says Dr. Richardson, " unlike those of
other Indian tribes, had much handsomer features than the men; and one young
woman of the party would have been deemed pretty even in Europe. Our
presents seemed to render them perfectly happy, and they danced with such ec-
stacy in their slender boats as to incur more than once great hazard of being
overset. A bundle of strings of beads being thrown into an oomiak, it was
caught by an old woman, who hugged the treasure to her breast with the strong-
est expression of rapture ; while another elderly dame, who had stretched out
her arms in vain, became the very picture of despair. On its being explained,
however, that the present was intended for the whole party, an amicable division
took place ; and to show their gratitude, they sang a song to a pleasing air, keep-
ing time with their oars. They gave us many presssng invitations to pass the
night at their tents, in which they were joined by the men; and to excite our
liberality the mothers drew their children out of their wide boots, where they
were accustomed to carry them naked, and holding them up begged beads for
them. For a time their entreaties were successful ; but being desirous of getting
clear of our visiters befoie breakfast time, we at length told them the stock was
exhausted, and they took leave."
" The voyage, owing to the clear atmosphere, the unencumbered state of the
coast, and the abundant supply of provisions, was pursued with ease and com-
fort; and on the 8th of August, having made a bold cape, rising precipitously
from the sea to the height of 350 feet. Dr. Richardson and Mr. Kendall chmbed
the promontory, and descried in the distance the gap in the hills at Bloody Falls,
through which the Coppermine holds its course. Delighted with the prospect
of so near a termination of their labours, they communicated the intelligence to
the crew, who received it with expressions of profound gratitude to the Divine
Being for his protection during the voyage. On reaching the river the men
were in excellent condition, fresh and vigorous, (or the march across the barren
grounds on their return to Fort Franktin, which, as already mentioned, they
reached in safety on the 1st of September. On approaching within a few days'
journey of the tort, a pleasant adventure occurred, characteristic of Indian grati-
tude and friendship. The party had supped, and most of the men had retired to
rest, when Mr. Kendall, in sweeping the horizon with his telescope, descried
three Indians coming down a hill towards the encampment. More moss was
thrown on the fire, and the St. George's ensign hoisted on the end of a musket,
to show the comers that they were approaching friends; but they hid the young-
est of their number in a ravine, and approached slowly and with suspicion. Mr.
Kendall and Dr. Richardson immediately went unarmed to meet them, and as
they came up one held his bow and arrows ready in his hand, and the other
cocked his gun; but as soon as they recognised the doctor's dress, — the same
he had worn the preceding autumn in his voyage round Bear Lake, and which
was familiar to most of the Hare Indians, they shouted in an ecstacy of joy,
shook hands most cordially, and called loudly for the young lad whom they had
hid to come up. " The meeting," says Dr. Richardson, " was highly gratifying
656 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
to ourselves as well as to the kind natives : for they seemed to be friends come
to rejoice with us on the happy termination of our voyage."
It had naturally occurred to Government, that if the expeditions under Cap-
tains Pai-ry and Franklin should be successful, their stores would be exhausted
by the time they reached Behring's Strait. It was certain also that Franklin
would be destitute of any means of conveyance to Europe; and to supply these
wants Government resolved that a vessel should be sent out to await their arrival
in Behring's Strait. For this purpose, accordingly, Captain F. W. Beechey
sailed in the Blossom from Spithead on the 19th of May, 1824. The vessel was
a twenty-six gun ship, but on this occasion mounted only sixteen. She wa.s
partially strengthened, and adapted to this peculiar service by increasing her
stowage. A boat was also supplied to be used as a tender, built as large as the
space on her decks would allow, schooner-rigged, decked, and fitted up in the
most complete manner. Cloths, beads, cutlery, and various other articles of
traffic, were put on board, and a variety of antiscorbutics were added to the
usual allowance of provision. Aware that he must traverse a large portion of
the globe hitheito little explored, and that a considerable period would elapse be-
fore his presence would be required on the coast of America, Captain Beechey
was instructed to survey the parts of the Pacific within his reach, of which it was
important to navigators that a more correct delineation should be laid down.
These observations were not, however, to retard his arrival at the appointed
rendezvous later than the 10th of July, 1826; and he was directed to remain
at Behring's Strait to the end of October, or to as late a period as the season
would admit, without incurring the risk of spending the winter there. During
this interval he was to navigate from Kotzebue's Sound northward, and after-
ward to continue in an easterly course along the main shore as far as the ice
would allow.
On the 2d of June, having left the Sandwich Isles, he shaped his course for
Kamtschatka, and on the 27th was becalmed within six miles of Petropalauski,
The best guides to this harbour are a range of high mountains, on one of which,
upwards of 11,000 feet in height, a volcano is in constant action. It was a se-
rene and beautiful evening when they approached this remote quarter of the
world, and all were struck with the magnificence of the mountains capped with
perennial snow, and rising in solemn grandeur one above the other. At inter-
vals the volcano emitted dark columns of smoke; and from a sprinkling of black
spots upon the snow to the leeward it was conjectured there had been a recent
eruption. From Petropalauski Captain Beechey sailed on the 1st of July for
Kotzebue's Sound. " We approached," says he, *' the strait which separates the
two great continents of Asia and America, on one of those beautiful still nights
well known to all who have visited the arctic regions, when the sky is without a
cloud, and when the midnight sun, scarcely his own diameter below the horizon,
tinges with a bright hue all the northern circle. Our ship, propelled by an m-
creasing breeze, glided rapidly along a smooth sea, startling from her path flocks
of aquatic birds, whose flight in the deep silence of the scene could be traced by
the ear to a great distance." Having closed in with the American shore some •
miles to the northward of Cape Prince of Wales, they were visited by a little
Esquimaux squadron belonging to a village situated on a low sandy Island. The
natives readily sold every thing they possessed, and were cheerful and good hu-
moured, though exceedingly noisy and energetic. Their bows were more slen-
der than those of the islanders to the southward, but made on the same principle,
with drift pine, assisted with thongs of hide or pieces ol' whalebone placed at the
back, and neatly bound with small cord. The points of their arrows were of
bone, flint or iron, and their spears headed with the same materials. Their dress
was similar to that of the other tribes on the coast. It consisted of a shirt which
reached halfway down the thigh, with long sleeves and a hood of reindeer skin,
and edged with gray or while fox fur. Besides this they had a jacket of eider
drake skins sewed together, which, when engaged in war tl,rv wore l)elow their
other dress, reckoning it a tolerably eflicient protection :iy;iiii>t ;iii arrow or a
spear thrust. In wet weather they threw over the fur dress a shut made of the
entrails of the whale, which, being well saturated with oil and grease, was water-
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, 6^
tight; and they also used breeches of deer's hide and seal skin boots, to the up-,
per end of which were fixed strings of sea horse hide. It was the fashion to tie
one of these strings round the waist, and attach to it a long tuft of hair, the wing
of a bird or sometimes a fox's tail, which, dangling behind as they walked, gave
thein a ridiculous appearance, and may probably have occasioned the report of
the Tschuktschi, recorded in MuUer, that the people of this country have tails
like dogs.
On the 22d of July, the ship anchored in Kotzebue's Sound, and after explor-
ing a deep inlel on its northern shore, which they named Hotham Inlet, proceed-
ed to Chamisso Island, where tiie Blossom was to await Captain Franklin. A
discretionary power had, however, been permitted to Captain Beechey, of em-
ploying the period of his stay in surveying the coast, provided this could be done
without the risk of missing Captain Franklin. Having accordingly directed the
barge to keep in shore on the look out for the land party, he sailed to the north-
ward, and doubling Cape Krusenstern, completed an examination of the coast
by Cape Thomson,, Point Hope, Cape Lisburn, Cape Beaufort, and Icy Cape,
the farthest point reached by Captain Cook. As there were here strong indica-
tions of the ice closing in, and his instructions were positive to keep in open
water if possible, he determined to return to Kotzebue's Sound, while he de-
spatched the barge under Mr. Elson and Mr. Smyth to trace the coast to the
north-eastward, as far as they could navigate.
On this interesting service the barge set out on the 17th of August, while Bee-
chey returned towards Kotzebue's Sound. On the night of the 25th they be-
held for the first time in these northern latitudes, a brilliant display of the Aurora
BoreaUs. "It appeared first," says Captain Beechey, "in an arch extending
from west-by-north to north-east; but the arch, shortly after its first appearance,
broke up and entirely disappeared. Soon after this, however, a new display
began in the direction of the western foot of the first arch, preceded by a bright
flame, from which emanated coruscations of a pale straw colour. An almost
simultaneous movement occurred at both extremities of the arch, until a com-
plete segment was formed of wavering perpendicular radii. As soon as the
arch was complete, the light became greatly increased, and the prismatic colours,
which had before been faint, now shone forth in a very brilliant manner. The
strongest colours, which were also the outside ones, were pink and green, on
the green side purple and pink, all of which were as imperceptibly blended as in
the rainbow. The green was the colour nearest the zenith. This magnificent
display lasted a few minutes ; and the light had nearly vanished, when the north-
east quarter sent forth a vigorous display, and nearly at the same time a corres-
ponding coruscation emanated from the opposite extremity. The western foot
of the arch then disengaged itself from the horizon, crooked to the northward,
and the whole retired to the north-east quarter, where a bright spot blazed for a
moment and all was darkness. There was no noise audible during any part of
our observations, nor were the compasses perceptibly affected.
During the voyage back to Chamisso Island, where they arrived on the 27th
of August, they had repeated interviews with the Esquimaux, whose habits and
disposition were in no respect different from those of the natives already describ-
ed. They found them uniformly friendly, sociable, devotedly fond of tobacco,
eager to engage in traffic, and upon the whole honest, though disposed to drive
a hard bargain. On some occasions they attempted to impose upon their cus-
tomers by skins artfully put together so as to represent an entire fish ; but it was
difficult to determine whether they intended a serious fraud or only a piece of
humour, for they laughed heartily when detected, and appeared to consider it a
good joke. Their persons, houses, and cookery were all exceedingly dirty, and
their mode of salutation was by a mutual contact of noses; sometimes licking
their hands and stroking first their own faces, and afterward those of the strang-
ers. The rapidity with which these people migrated from place to place was
remarkable. On one occasion the motions of two baidars under sail were
watched by the crew of the Blossom. The people landed at a spot near Choris
Peninsula, drew up their boats on the beach, turning them bottom upwards,
pitched tents, and in an incredible short time transferred to them the whole con-
56
000 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.
tents of their little vessels. On visiting the encampment an hour ader, every
thing was found in as complete order as if they had been domiciliated on the spot
for months; and the surprise of the sailors was raised to the highest by the va-
riety of articles which, in almost endless succession, they produced from their
Httle boats. " From the two baidars they landed fourteen persons, eight tent-
poles, fort^ deer skins, two kayaks, many hundred weight of fish, numerous
skins of oil, earthern jars for cooking, two living foxes, ten large dogs, bundles
of lances, harpoons, bows and arrows, a quantity of whalebone, skins full of
clothing, some immense nets made of hide for taking small whale and porpoises,
eight broad planks, masts, sails, paddles, &c., besides sea horse hides and teeth,
and a variety of nameless articles always to be found among the Esquimaux."
In the mean time, Mr. Elson in the barge proceeded along the shore for sev-
enty miles, to a promontory, denominated by Beechey Cape Bariow, which was
afterwards discovered to be only distant 146 miles from the extreme point of
Franklin's discoveries. Upon this new line of coast posts were erected at va-
rious distances, with directions for Captain Franklin, should he succeed in push-
ing so far to the westward. A frequent communication was opened with the
inhabitants, who were found to resemble the other Esquimaux, with the un-
pleasant difference that their manners were more rude and boisterous, and their
conduct in some instances decidedly hostile. Point Barrow, the most northerly
part of America yet discovered, formed the termination to a spit of land jutting
out several miles from the more regular coast line. The width of the neck did
not exceed a mile and a half; on the extremity were several small lakes, and on
its eastern side a village. The danger of being shut in by the ice was now great,
and Mr. Elson determined to land, obtain the necessary observations, erect a post,
and deposit instructions for Franklin. This plan, however, was frustrated by
the violent conduct of the natives, who assembled in formidable numbers, and
threatened to attack the crew of the barge, which consisted only of eight men.
It was therefore judged prudent to proceed as speedily as possible to the rendez-
vous at Chamisso Island, which they reached on the 9th of September, not with-
out considerable difficulty, having been obliged to track the barge round Cape
Smyth, through a sea thickly beset with ice, that threatened every moment to
close its impenetrable walls, and cut off" their return. The result of Captain
Beechey's voyage, and of the expedition undertaken under his orders by Mr.
Elson and Mr. Smyth, was the addition of a new and extensive line of coast to
the geography of the polar regions. The actual difference between the extreme
points reached by Captain Franklin and Mr. Elson being so small, there is rea*
son to believe that the navigation of this remaining portion will not be attended
with any very formidable or insurmountable obstacles.
^■^■
THE GREAT ARCTIC PROBLEM SOLVED,
The most western point reached by Sir John Franklin, in his survey of the
shores of the Arctic Sea, as our readers have seen, was denominated "Return
Reef," situated at some distance west of the mouth of Mackenzie's River. From
this point westward remained a region yet unexplored by the footsteps of civil-
ized man. So late as the summer of 1833, it was unknown to the civiUzed world,
whether or not the Arctic Ocean extended westward until its icy waters mingled
with the great Pacific Sea, but in the Spring of this year an expedition was fit-
ted out, which solving this great problem, acquired to themselves the honour of
crowning the unexampled enterprises of Parry, Ross, Franklin, and other in-
trepid adventurers in the polar seas and regions, with the successful results of
complete discovery. The following is a briel' account of the expedition.
The lively interest which the British public, for such a length of time, mani-
fested in the further discovery of the Arctic regions, induced the Hudson's Bay
Company to determine on equipping an expedition, solely at their own expense,
and composed of their own odicers and servants, with the view of endeavouring
to complete the survey of the northern shores of the American continent.
The formation and eqiiipment of the expedition were entrusted to Mr. George
Simpson, the resident governor of the Company.
That gentleman, on his arrival from England at Norway House, Lake Winni-
peg, in June 1838, beat up for volunteers for this arduous service. Two enter-
prising and active leaders, Messrs. P. W. Dease, and Thomas Simpson, and
twelve men, were immediately.selected, and forwarded with the necessary sup-
plies to Fort Chipewayan, Athabasca Lake, where they passed the winter of
1836-7.
On the 1st of June, 1837, immediately after the opening of navigation, the par-
ty started from Fort Chipewayan in two small boats, descended the Slave River,
passed the western end of the Great Slave Lake, and desended Mackenzie's
River to Fort Norman, where they arrived on the 1st of July. From Fort Nor-
man two of the party, in connection with two men from the fort, were despatch-
ed to the eastern end of Great Bears Lake for the purpose of erecting a small es-
tablishment in which the party might pass the winter of 1837, and whence they
might extend their survey in the summer of 1838.
Messrs. Dease and Simpson, with the remainder of the party continuing their
route down Mackenzie's River, on the 9th of July reached the great Arctic Ocean
by the most westerly mouth df that river.
From this point, they prosecuted their voyage westward along the coast,
through many obstacles and perils, now enclosed by ice, obstructed by logs and
strong head winds, and now obliged to carry their canoes over unbroken masses
of ice, until the 23d of July, when they reached Point Anxiety, and had the satis-
faction of discovering a range of the Rocky Mountains not seen by Sir John
Franldin, but being within the limits of his survey, they called it the Franklin
Range, as a just tribute to his character and merits. The evening of the same
day they reached the westernmost pohit of Sir John Frankhn's survey, called
Return Reef Beyond this point no adventurer had ever advanced, and from
this point their exploration commenced. Continuing their way amid the usual
660 THE GREAT ARCTIC PROBLEM SOLVED.
obstacles of ice, cold, fog, and contrary winds, they beheld at one point another
picturesque branch of the Rocky Mountains rearing its lofty peaks above the flat
shores, which were covered with short grass and moss — the favorite resort of
reindeer, of which they saw numerous herds. Farther on in their voyage, the
coast presented to the eye nothing but a succession of low banks of frozen mud ;
the weather was dismally cold and foggy, the wild fowl passed in long flights to
the westward, and at length there remained no prospect of their being able to
prosecute their journey by water.
Accordingly, on the 1st of August, Mr. Thomas Simpson undertook to com-
plete the journey on foot, and started with five men, Mr. Dease, and the other
five remaining in charge of the boats. The pedestrians carrying with them their
arms, some ammunition, pemmican, a small oiled canvass canoe for crossing riv-
ers, and a few trinkets for the natives, prosecuted their perilous and difficult way
westward, sometimes on foot, and sometimes in an oomiak or skin canoe which
they obtained of the Esquimaux, until at length they had the satisfaction of behold-
ing the great Arctic Sea extending away to the southward to unite with the Pa-
cific Ocean. Our happy adventurers, on beholding this spectacle, never before
seen by the eye of civilized man, hoisted their flag, and with three cheers, took
possession of their discoveries in his Majesty's name. Thus the problem which
has been the object of so many perilous enterprises and anxious researches, has
at last been solved, it being satisfactorily ascertained that the Arctic Sea, extend-
ing from the Atlantic Ocean on the east to the Pacific on the west, separates the
American Continent from the pole.
(H
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