DEPARTURE FROM KARAKAKOOA IN SEARCH OF AN HARBOUR ON THE SOUTH-EAST SIDE OF MOWEE.—DRIVEN TO LEEWARD BY THE EASTERLY WINDS AND CURRENT.—PASS THE ISLAND OF TAHOOROWA—DESCRIPTION OF THE SOUTH-WEST SIDE OF MOWEE.—RUN ALONG THE COASTS OF RANAI AND MOROTOI TO WOAHOO.—DESCRIPTION OF THE NORTH-EAST COAST OF WOAHOO.—UNSUCCESSFUL ATTEMPT TO WATER.—PASSAGE TO ATOOI.—ANCHOR IN WYMOA BAY.—DANGEROUS SITUATION OF THE WATERING PARTY ON SHORE.—CIVIL DISSENSIONS IN THE ISLANDS.—VISIT FROM THE CONTENDING CHIEFS.—ANCHOR OFF ONEEHEOW.—FINAL DEPARTURE FROM THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. We got clear of the land about ten; and, hoisting in the boats, stood to the northward, with an intention of searching for an harbour on the south-east side of Mowee, which we had heard frequently mentioned by the natives. The next morning we found ourselves driven to the leeward by a heavy swell from the north-east; and a fresh gale springing up from the same quarter carried us still farther to the westward. At midnight we tacked, and stood to the south for four hours, in order to keep clear of the land; and, at day-break, we found ourselves standing toward a small barren island, called Tahoorowa, which lies seven or eight miles to the south-west of Mowee. All prospect of examining more nearly the south-east parts of Mowee being now destroyed, we bore away, and ran along the south-east side of Tahoorowa. As we were steering close round its western extremity, with an intention of fetching the west side of Mowee, we suddenly shoaled our water, and observed the sea breaking on some detached rocks, almost right a-head. This obliged us to keep In the afternoon, the weather being calm, with light airs from the west, we stood on to the north north-west; but, at sun-set, observing a shoal, which appeared to stretch to a considerable distance from the west point of Mowee, toward the middle of the passage, and the weather being unsettled, we tacked, and stood toward the south. The south-west side of this island, which we now had passed without being able to get near the shore, forms the same distant view with the north-east, as seen on our return from the north, in November 1778; the mountainous parts, which are connected by a low, flat isthmus, appearing at first like two separate islands. This deception continued on the south-west side, till we approached within eight or ten leagues of the coast, which, bending inward, to a great depth, formed a fine capacious bay. The westernmost point, off which the shoal we have just mentioned runs, is made remarkable by a small hillock, to the southward of which there is a fine sandy bay, with several huts on the shore, and a number of cocoa-nut trees growing about them. During the course of the day, we were visited by The weather continued variable during the night; but in the morning of the 25th, having the wind at east, we ran along the south side of Ranai, till near noon; after which, we had calms and baffling winds till evening, when we steered, with a light easterly breeze, for the west part of Morotoi. In the course of the day, the current, which, from the time we left Karakakooa Bay, had set from the north-east, changed its direction to the south-east. During the night the wind was again variable; but early next morning, it settled at east, and blew so fresh as to oblige us to double-reef the topsails. At seven, on hauling round the west point of Morotoi, we opened a small bay, at the distance of about two leagues, with a fine sandy beach; but seeing no appearance of fresh water, we stood on to the north, in order to get to the windward of Woahoo, an island which we had seen at our first visit, in January 1778. At two in the afternoon, we saw the land, bearing west by north, eight leagues distant; and having tacked as soon as it was dark, we again bore away at day-light on the 27th; and at half past ten, were within a league of the shore, near the middle of the north-east side of the island. The coast, to the northward, is formed of detached As the wind continued to blow very fresh, we thought it dangerous to entangle ourselves with a lee-shore; and therefore did not attempt to examine the bay, but hauled up, and steered to the northward, in the direction of the coast. At noon, we were abreast of the north point of the island, about two leagues from the land, which is low and flat, and has a reef stretching off it to the distance of near a mile and a half. The latitude, by observation, 21° 50' north, longitude 202° 15' east; the extreme parts of the island in sight, bearing south south-east, quarter east, and south-west by south, three-quarters west. Between the north point and a distant headland, which we saw to the south-west, the land bends inward considerably, and appeared likely to afford a good road. We therefore directed our course along the shore, at the distance of about a mile, carrying regular soundings from twenty to thirteen fathoms. At a quarter past two, the sight of a fine river, running through a deep valley, induced us to come to an anchor in thirteen fathoms water, with a sandy bottom; the extreme points of the bay bearing south-west by west half west, and north-east by east three-quarters east; and the mouth of the river south-east half east, one mile distant. In the afternoon, I attended the two captains on shore, where we found but few of the natives, and those mostly We were much disappointed to find the water had a brackish taste for two hundred yards up the river, owing to the marshy ground through which it empties itself into the sea. Beyond this, it was perfectly fresh, and formed a fine running stream, along the side of which I walked, till I came to the conflux of two small rivulets, that branched off to the right and left of a remarkably steep and romantic mountain. The banks of this river, and indeed the whole we saw of the north-west part of Woahoo, are well cultivated, and full of villages; and the face of the country is uncommonly beautiful and picturesque. As the watering at this place would have been attended with great labour, I was sent to examine the coast to leeward; but not being able to land, on account of a reef of coral, which stretched along the shore to the distance of half a mile, Captain Clerke determined, without farther loss of time, to proceed to Atooi. At eight in the morning we weighed, and stood to the northward, till day-light on the 28th, when we bore away for that island, which we were in sight of by noon; and about sunset, were off its eastern extremity, which shews itself in a fine, green, flat point. It being too late to run for the road, on the south-west side of the island, where we had been the last year, we passed the night in plying on and off, and at nine the next morning, came to an anchor in twenty-five fathoms water, and moored with the best bower in thirty-eight fathoms, the bluff-head, on the west side of the village, bearing north-east by north three-quarters east, two miles distant; the extremes of the island, north-west by west three-quarters west, and south-east by east half east; the island of Oneheow west by south half west. In running We had no sooner anchored in our old station, than several canoes came along side of us; but we could observe, that they did not welcome us with the same cordiality in their manner, and satisfaction in their countenances, as when we were here before. As soon as they got on board, one of the men began to tell us, that we had left a disorder amongst their women, of which several persons of both sexes had died. He was himself afflicted with the venereal disease, and gave a very full and minute account of the various symptoms with which it had been attended. As there was not the slightest appearance of that disorder amongst them on our first arrival, I am afraid it is not to be denied, that we were the authors of this irreparable mischief. Our principal object here was to water the ships with the utmost expedition; and I was sent on shore early in the afternoon, with the pinnace and launch laden with casks. The gunner of the Resolution accompanied me to trade for provisions; and we had a guard of five marines. We found a considerable number of people collected upon the beach, who received us at first with great kindness; but as soon as we had got the casks on shore, began to be exceedingly troublesome. Former experience having taught me how difficult it was to repress this disposition, without having recourse to the authority of their chiefs, I was very sorry to find, that they were all at another part of the island. Indeed we soon felt the want of their assistance; for it was with great difficulty I was able to form a circle, according to our I now perceived, that our situation required great circumspection and management; and accordingly gave the strictest orders, that no one should fire, nor have recourse to any other act of violence, without positive commands. As soon as I had given these directions, I was called to the assistance of the watering party, where I found the natives equally inclined to mischief. They had demanded from our people a large hatchet for every cask of water; and this not being complied with, they would not suffer the sailors to roll them down to the boats. I had no sooner joined them, than one of the natives advanced up to me, with great insolence, and made the same claim. I told him, that, as a friend, I was very willing to present him with a hatchet, but that I should certainly carry off the water without paying any thing for it; and I immediately ordered the pinnace men to proceed in their business, and called three marines from the traders to protect them. Though this shew of spirit succeeded so far as to make the natives desist from any open attempt to interrupt us, they still continued to behave in the most teasing and provoking manner. Whilst some of them, under pretence of assisting the men in rolling down the casks, turned them out of their course, and gave It was in vain to think of repelling this insolence by force; guarding therefore against its effects, in the best manner we were able, we had nothing to do but to submit patiently to it. My apprehensions were, however, a little alarmed, by the information I soon after received from the serjeant of marines, who told me, that, turning suddenly round, he saw a man behind me holding a dagger in the position of striking. In this he might possibly be mistaken; yet our situation was certainly alarming and critical, and the smallest error on our side might have been fatal to us. As our people were separated into three small parties, one at the lake, filling casks, another rolling them down to the shore, and the third, at some distance, purchasing provisions, it had once occurred to me, that it might be proper to collect them all together, and to execute and protect one duty at a time. But on second thoughts, I judged it more advisable to let them continue as they were. In case of a real attack, our whole force, however It is probable that their dread of the effects of our arms, was the principal cause of their backwardness in attacking us; and indeed the confidence we appeared to place in this advantage, by opposing only five marines to their whole force, must have raised in them a very high idea of our superiority. It was our business to keep up this opinion as much as possible; and in justice to the whole party, I must observe, that no men could possibly behave better, for the purpose of strengthening these impressions. Whatever could be taken in jest, they bore with the utmost temper and patience; and whenever any serious attempt was made to interrupt them, they opposed it with bold looks and menaces. By this management, we succeeded so far, as to get all the casks down to the water side, without any material accident. While we were getting them into the launch, the natives, perceiving the opportunity of plundering would soon be over, became every moment more daring and insolent. On this occasion, I was indebted to the serjeant of marines for suggesting to me, the advantage that would arise from sending off his party first into the boats; by which means, the muskets of the soldiers, which, as I have already mentioned, were the objects the islanders had principally in view, would be removed out of their reach; and in case of an attack, the marines themselves might be employed more effectually in our defence, than if they were on shore. We had now got every thing into the boats, and only Mr. Anderson the gunner, a seaman of the boat’s With this order I was During our absence, Captain Clerke had been under the greatest anxiety for our safety. And these apprehensions were considerably increased, from his having entirely mistaken the drift of the conversation he had held with some natives who had been on board. The next morning I was again ordered on shore with the watering party. The risk we had run the preceding day, determined Captain Clerke to send a considerable force from both ships for our guard, amounting in all to forty men under arms. This precaution, however, was now unnecessary; for we found the beach left entirely to ourselves, and the ground between the landing place and the lake, tabooed, with small white flags. We concluded, from this appearance, that some of the chiefs had certainly visited this quarter; and that, not being able to stay, they had kindly and considerately taken this step, for our greater security and convenience. We saw several men armed with long spears and daggers on the other side of the river, on our right; but they did not offer to give us the least molestation. Their women came over, and sat down on the banks close by us, and at noon we prevailed on some of the men to bring hogs and roots for our people, and to dress them for us. As soon as we had left the beach, they came down to the sea side, and one of them threw a stone The next day we completed our watering without meeting with any material difficulty. On our return to the ships, we found that several chiefs had been on board, and had made excuses for the behaviour of their countrymen, attributing their riotous conduct to the quarrels which subsisted at that time amongst the principal people of the island, and which had occasioned a general want of order and subordination amongst them. The government of Atooi was in dispute between Toneoneo, who had the supreme power when we were here last year, and a boy named Teavee. They are both, by different fathers, the grandsons of Pereeorannee, king of Woahoo, who had given the government of Atooi to the former, and that of Oneeheow to the latter. The quarrel had arisen about the goats we had left at Oneeheow the last year: the right of property in which was claimed by Toneoneo, on the pretence of that island’s being a dependency of his. The friends of Teavee insisting on the right of possession, both parties prepared to maintain their pretensions by force; and a few days before our arrival, a battle had been fought, in which Toneoneo had been worsted. The consequence of this victory was likely to affect Toneoneo in a much deeper manner than by the mere loss of the objects in dispute; for the mother of Teavee, having married a second husband, who was a chief of Atooi, and at the head of a powerful faction there, he thought that the present opportunity was not to be neglected of driving Toneoneo entirely out of the island, and of advancing his son-in-law to the government. I have already had occasion to mention that the goats, which had increased to the number of six, and would probably in a few years have stocked all these islands, were destroyed in the contest. On the 4th, the mother and sister of the young This and the two following days were employed on shore in completing the Discovery’s water; and the carpenters were busy on board, in caulking the ships, and in making other preparations for our next cruise. The natives desisted from giving us any further disturbance; and we procured from them a plentiful supply of pork and vegetables. At this time, an Indian brought a piece of iron on board the Discovery, to be fashioned into the shape of pahooa. It was carefully examined both by the officers and men, and appeared to be the bolt of some large ship timbers. They were not able to discover to what nation it belonged; but from the pale colour On the 8th, at nine in the morning, we weighed, and sailed toward Oneeheow; and at three in the afternoon, anchored in twenty fathoms water, nearly on the same spot as in the year 1778. We moored with the other anchor in twenty-six fathoms’ water. The high bluff, on the south end of the island, bore east south-east; the north point of the road, north half east; and a bluff head to the south of it, north-east by north. During the night we had a strong gale from the eastward; and, in the morning of the 9th, found the ship had driven a whole cable’s length, and On the 12th, the weather being moderate, the master was sent to the north-west side of the island to look for a more convenient place for anchoring. He returned in the evening, having found, close round the west point of the road where we now lay, which is also the westernmost point of the island, a fine bay, with good anchorage, in eighteen fathoms’ water, a clear sandy bottom, not a mile from the beach, on which the surf beats, but not so as to hinder landing. The direction of the points of the bay were north by east, and south by west; and, in that line, the soundings seven, eight, and nine fathoms. On the north side of the bay was a small village; and a quarter of a mile to the eastward, were four small wells of good water; the road to them level, and fit for rolling casks. Mr. Bligh went afterward so far to the north as to satisfy himself, that Oreehoua was a separate island from Oneeheow; and that there was a passage between them; which, before, we only conjectured to exist. In the afternoon we hoisted in all the boats, and made ready for going to sea in the morning. |