Joseph Banks

“ We then walkd into the woods followd by the whole train to whoom we gave beads and small presents. In this manner we walkd for 4 or 5 miles under groves of Cocoa nut and bread fruit trees loaded with a profusion of fruit and giving the most gratefull shade I have ever experienced, under these were the habitations of the people most of them without walls: in short the scene we saw was the truest picture of an arcadia of which we were going to be kings that the imagination can form. ”

“ In pursuing a valley bounded on each side by steep hills, we suddenly saw a most noble arch or cavern through the face of a rock leading directly to the sea, so that through it we had not only a view of the bay and hills on the other side, but an opportunity of imagining a ship or any other grand object opposite to it. It was certainly the most magnificent surprise I have ever met with; so much is pure nature superior to art in these cases. I have seen such places made by art, where from an inland view you were led through an arch 6 feet wide, and 7 feet high, to a prospect of the sea ”

“ Satisfaction was clearly painted in every mans face: the day was fine and the trade wind brisk before which we steerd to the Northward; the well grown waves which followd the ship, sure sign of no land being in our neighbourhood, were contemplated with the greatest satisfaction, notwithstanding we plainly felt the effect of the blows they gave to our crazy ship, increasing her leaks considerably so that she made now 9 inches water every hour. ”

“ In the morn a breeze of fair wind put us all into high spirits. The countrey we passd by appeard fertile, more so I think than any part of this countrey I have seen, rising in gentle slopes not over wooded but what trees there were well grown. Few signs of inhabitants were seen, a fire and a very few houses. About noon we passd between the main and a small Island or rock which seemd almost totaly coverd with birds probably Gannets; towards evening a very high hill was in sight but very distant. ”

“ No country can boast such delightful walks as this; for the whole plains where the people live are covered with groves of bread-fruit and cocoanut trees without underwood. These are intersected in all directions by the paths which go from one house to the other, so that the whole country is one shade, than which nothing can be more grateful in a climate where the sun has so powerful an influence. The houses are built without walls, so that the air, cooled by the shade of the trees, has free access in whatever direction it happens to blow. ”

“ This immense tract of Land, the largest known which does not bear the name of a continent, as it is considerably larger than all Europe, is thinly inhabited even to admiration, at least that part of it that we saw: we never but once saw so many as thirty Indians together and that was a family, Men women and children, assembled upon a rock to see the ship pass by. ”

“ Weighd and stood along shore with a gentle breeze, the main still 7 or 8 Leagues from us. In the even many shoals were ahead; we were however fortunate enough to find our way through them and at night anchord under an Island. The tide here ran immensely strong which we lookd upon as a good omen: so strong a stream must in all probability have an outlet by which we could get out either on the South or North side of New Guinea. The smoothness of the water however plainly indicated that the reef continued between us and the Ocean. ”

“ Myself in the afternoon ashore on the NW side of the bay, where we went a good way into the countrey which in this place is very sandy and resembles something our Moors in England, as no trees grow upon it but every thing is coverd with a thin brush of plants about as high as the knees. The hills are low and rise one above another a long way into the countrey by a very gradual ascent, appearing in every respect like those we were upon. While we were employd in this walk the people hawld the Seine upon a sandy beach and caught great plenty of small fish. ”

“ Sundal Malam, the same as our English Tuberose, this flower is less in size considerably as well as more mildly fragrant than ours in Europe. The Malay name signifies intriguer of the night, from an Idea rather pretty: the heat of the climate here allows few or no flowers to smell in the day, and this especialy from its want of smell and modest white array seems not at all desirous of admirers, but when night comes its fragrance is diffusd around and attracts the attention as well as gains the admiration of every passer by. ”

“ Saild this morn, the wind Foul, but our keeping boxes being full of new plants we little regarded any wind provided it was but moderate enough to let the draughtsmen work, who to do them justice are now so used to the sea that it must blow a gale of wind before they leave off. ”

“ Just without us as we lay at an anchor was a small sandy Island laying upon a large Coral shoal, much resembling the low Islands to the eastward of us but the first of the kind we had met with in this part of the South Sea. Early in the morn we weighd and saild as usual with a fine breeze along shore, the Countrey hilly and stoney. At night fall rocks and sholes were seen ahead, on which the ship was put upon a wind off shore. ”

“ The land on both sides appeared most miserably barren, till we got some way up the harbour, when it began to mend gradually. Here we saw some canoes, which, instead of coming towards us, went to an Indian town or fort built upon an island nearly in the middle of the passage, which appeared crowded with people, as if they had flocked to it from all parts. As the ship approached it they waved to us as if inviting us to come to them, but the moment we had passed, they set up a loud shout, and every man brandished his weapons. ”

“ Several of our freinds at the tents this morn, one whoom from his grim countenance we have calld Ajax and at one time thought to be a great king. He had on his canoe a hog but he chose rather to sell it at the market than give it to us as a present; which we account for by his having in the morning receivd a shirt in return for a peice of cloth, which made him fear that had he given the hog it might have been taken into the bargain--a conduct very different from that of our freind Lycurgus who seems in every instance to place a most unbounded confidence in us. ”

“ Strange and unheard of as it must appear to a European, to draw nourishment from a class of plant which in Europe no animal, hardly even insects, will taste, I am much inclined to think that it affords a nourishing and wholesome diet. These people eat but little, and this is the foundation of their meals all summer, at least from the time that their roots are planted, till the season for digging them up. Among them I have seen several very healthy old men, and in general the whole of them are as vigorous a race as can be imagined. ”

“ We often admired a man running along shore and apparently carrying nothing in his hand, yet as he ran along just stooping down every 50 or 100 yards; smoke and fire were seen among the drift-wood and dirt at that place almost the instant he had left it. This we afterwards found was done by the infinite readiness every kind of rubbish, sticks, withered leaves, or dry grass, already almost like tinder by the heat of the sun and dryness of the season, would take fire. ”

“ When the women have been employed in dyeing cloth, they industriously preserve the colour upon their fingers and nails, upon which it shows with its greatest beauty; they look upon this as no small ornament, and I have been sometimes inclined to believe that they even borrow the dye of each other, merely for the purpose of colouring their fingers. Whether it is esteemed as a beauty, or a mark of their housewifery in being able to dye, or of their riches in having cloth to dye, I know not. ”

“ The harbour of Rio de Janeiro is certainly a very good one: the entrance is not wide, but the sea breeze which blows every morning makes it easy for any ship to go in before the wind, and when you get abreast of the town it increases in breadth prodigiously, so that almost any number of ships might lie in five or six fathoms of water with an oozy bottom. It is defended by many works, especially the entrance, where it is narrow, and where is their strongest fortification, Santa Cruz, and another opposite it. ”

“ In short, the contrast between the Cape of Good Hope, which, though by nature a mere desert, supplies abundantly refreshments to all nations who touch there, and this island highly favoured by nature, shows not unaptly the genius of the two nations for making colonies. Nor do I think I go too far in asserting that were the Cape now in the hands of the English it would be a desert, as St. Helena in the hands of the Dutch would as infallibly become a paradise.
Small as the island is, and not raised very much above the surface of the sea, it enjoys a variety of climates hardly to be believed. ”

“ They have, however, some horses and mules wonderfully clever in travelling upon these roads, notwithstanding which they bring every drop of wine to town upon men's heads in vessels made of goat-skins. The only imitation of a carriage which they have is a board slightly hollowed in the middle, to one end of which a pole is tied by a strap of white leather, the whole machine coming about as near the perfection of an European cart as an Indian canoe does to a boat; with this they move the pipes of wine about the town. ”

“ During this time they brandish their spears, hack the air with their patoo-patoos, and shake their darts as if they meant every moment to begin the attack, singing all the while in a wild but not disagreeable manner, ending every strain with a loud and deep-drawn sigh, in which they all join in concert. The whole is accompanied by strokes struck against the sides of the boats with their feet, paddles, and arms; the whole in such excellent time, that though the crews of several canoes join in concert, you rarely or never heard a single stroke wrongly placed. ”

“ I have seen fifteen paddles of a side in one of their canoes move with immensely quick strokes, and at the same time as much justness as if the rowers were animated by one soul, not the fraction of a second could be observed between the dipping and raising any two of them, the canoe all the while moving with incredible swiftness. ”

“ How vain are the hopes of man! Whilst the whole botanical world, like myself, has been looking for the most transcendent benefits to our science, from the unrivalled exertions of your countrymen, all their matchless and truly astonishing collection, such as has never been seen before, nor may ever be seen again, is to be put aside untouched, to be thrust into some corner, to become perhaps the prey of insects and of destruction. ”

“ How beautiful it must appear when covered with its springing crops of maize, millet, indigo, etc., which cover almost every foot of ground in the cultivated parts of the island, imagination can hardly conceive. The verdure of Europe, set off by those stately pillars of India, palms—I mean especially the fan-palm, which for straightness and proportion, both of the stem itself and of the head to the stem, far excels all the palms that I have seen—requires a poetical imagination to describe, and a mind not unacquainted with such sights to conceive. ”

“ Yesterday and to-day the Heiva no Metua, or chief mourner, walked. My curiosity was raised by his most singular dress, and being desirous of knowing what he did during his walk, I asked Tubourai, at the same time desiring leave to attend him to-morrow, which was readily granted upon my consenting to act a character.
Bread-fruit has for some time been scarce with us; about ten days ago, when there had been a great show of fruit, the trees were thinned all at once, and every one was employed in making mahie for about a week. ”

“ Tools among these people we saw almost none, indeed, having no arts which require any, it is not to be expected that they should have many. A stone sharpened at the edge and a wooden mallet were the only ones that we saw formed by art: the use of these we supposed to be to make the notches in the bark of high trees by which they climb them for purposes unknown to us; and for cutting and perhaps driving in wedges to take off the bark which they must have in large pieces for making canoes, shields, and water-buckets, and also for covering their houses. ”

“ The sea, in the neighbourhood of which they always live, supplies them with vast variety of fish, better than is generally met with between the tropics, but these they get not without some trouble. Every one desires to have them, and there is not enough for all, though while we remained in these seas we saw more species perhaps than our island can boast of. I speak now only of what is more properly called fish, but almost everything which comes out of the sea is eaten and esteemed by these people. ”