Basil Hall

“ Mádera, by his liveliness and his propriety of manners, has made himself a great favourite; he adopts our customs with a sort of intuitive readiness, sits down to table, uses a knife and fork, converses, and walks with us, in short, does every thing that we do, quite as a matter of course, without any apparent effort or study. He is further recommended to us by the free way in which he communicates every thing relating to his country; so that as he advances in English, and we in Loo-choo, he may be the means of giving us much information. ”

“ There is a neat low seat, made of rattans, for each person in the canoe. As the day closed, the fishing canoes came in great numbers from sea, and all came on board the ships on their way; some of the fishermen pulled up our lines and baited the hooks. The whole shore abreast of the ships was covered with people, but the crowd was greatest on two pier-heads, forming the entrance to the harbour; and the variety of colour in their dresses made this a very lively exhibition. In the evening, Captain Maxwell and I rowed round to examine the anchorage, which we found tolerably clear of rocks. ”

“ He sometimes asks us to read English aloud to him, to which he always listens with the deepest attention. One day, on shore, he saw me with a book in my hand: he begged me to sit down under a tree, and read: Jeeroo was the only chief present, but there were several of the peasants in attendance upon him; they all lay down on the grass, and listened with an attention and interest which are natural enough: every one expressed himself pleased and satisfied except Mádera, whose anxiety was to read in the same manner himself. ”

“ They have quite forgotten their promise to send a pilot for the harbour to the northward: they wish also that we should forget it, since they change the subject whenever it is spoken of, and affect total ignorance of our meaning. The government probably think it best to keep us where we are, and therefore discourage our investigating the island any further.
Jeeroo, who begins to get quite familiar with us all, is a laughing good-humoured man, about thirty: he shakes every one cordially by the hand when he comes on board, and engages in all our amusements with great cheerfulness. ”

“ By sunset we were clear of all the islands, and could just distinguish the island of Quelpaert in the south-east quarter.
The shortness of our stay on this coast, and the difficulty we experienced in communicating with the inhabitants, will account for the scanty and disjointed nature of the information obtained. A future voyager would do well to be accompanied by a person who can write the Chinese character, and should have full leisure to overcome, by patient management, the distrust of strangers evinced by this unsociable people. ”

“ Loy was employed at the well to-day washing clothes, at a moment when every body else was out of the way, she was visited by a Loo-choo lady, accompanied by a numerous guard of men. She describes her as being about eighteen years of age, well dressed, fair in complexion, with small dark eyes, and not without beauty; her hair was of a glossy jet black, made up into a knot on one side of the head. She wore a girdle tied at the side, and had on sandals like the men. Mrs. Loy wished to touch her, but she shrunk back in alarm. ”

“ A range of hills of a semicircular form embraces the village, and limits its extent: at most places it is steep, but at the point where the north end joins the harbour, there is an overhanging cliff about eighty feet high, the upper part of which extends considerably beyond the base; at eight or ten yards from the ground on this inclined face, a long horizontal gallery has been hewn out of the solid rock: it communicates with a number of small square excavations still deeper in the rock, for the reception of the vases containing the bones of the dead. ”

“ It blew hard this morning, so that there was little intercourse with the shore; but towards sunset it moderated, and Ookooma, Jeema, and four other Chiefs, came on board, bringing with them a present of a bullock, two hogs, goats, and vegetables. The Chief whose name is Shayoon is the most clever of them all; he is next in rank to Ookooma, but he generally takes the lead in discussion; he has a quick intelligent look, with more determination in his manner than any of the others. ”

“ We all think kindly of Jeeroo, and shake him cordially by the hand when we meet him; but Mádera is admired and respected, as well as esteemed, and his society is courted for his own sake.
Mádera is about twenty-eight years of age, of a slender figure, and very active; his upper teeth project in front over the lower ones, giving his face a remarkable, but not a disagreeable expression. He is always cheerful, and often lively and playful, but his good sense prevents his ever going beyond the line of strict propriety. ”

“ We found a field of coral about half a mile square, dry at low water, with the surf breaking very high on the outer edge, which lies exposed to the waves from the north. The surface of the rock is every where worn into small holes, which being left full of water as the tide goes out, are occupied by a number of beautiful blue fish. The coral is exceedingly hard, and though at many places it sticks up in sharp points, it requires a hammer of considerable weight to break it, and emits sparks like flint when struck; in a short time it entirely defaces the hammer. ”

“ Whatever may be Mádera's rank in his own society, it is highly curious to discover in a country so circumstanced, the same politeness, self-denial, and gracefulness of behaviour which the experience of civilized nations has pointed out as constituting the most pleasing and advantageous form of intercourse. ”

“ The deep indenture about the middle of the east side of the island is unsafe to enter during the north-east monsoon: as the wind, however, had westing in it, we sailed up to within three or four miles of the top, carrying from thirty to twenty fathoms water; but when about to haul in for the north side, where there appeared to be a bay, we shoaled suddenly from twenty-four to eight fathoms: the helm was instantly put down, and when head to wind, we had only five fathoms. ”

“ From thence the alarm spread along the lower deck, to the midshipmen's berth, where another party was carousing. The grog and wine with which they had been entertained was too potent for this party, as they did not seem to care much for the old Chief, who, posting himself at the hatchway, ascertained, by personal examination, who the offenders were. On this occasion, his little rod of office was of much use; he pushed the people about with it to make them speak, and used it to turn them round, in order to discover their faces. ”

“ Thus, if the east and west parts of the horizon be observed, and that the index glass be uppermost, and telescope pointing to the west, the observer is on the south side, and his face must be turned to the north. When the instrument is inverted, if the observer turn himself round at the same time, so as to face the south, then the telescope will be pointed as before to the west; but since the index glass is now undermost, the inferior arc will now be measured precisely as if his face were to the north, but with the advantage of the same lights seen in the erect position of the instrument. ”

“ On the coast of Corea, the still greater jealousy of the natives rendered it impossible to prosecute geological investigations beyond the beach. Both in China and on the coast of Corea our stay at each place was very short, and our time being often necessarily occupied by avocations foreign to such enquiries, many opportunities were lost merely for want of time. Even at the Great Loo-choo Island, where we remained much longer, our researches were confined to a coast which offered nothing interesting. ”

“ It was now our turn not to comprehend signs, and thinking it would be idle to lose so favourable an opportunity, spared no pains to reconcile the old man to our landing. In this, however, we did not succeed, for, as we approached the shore, his anxiety increased, and he frequently drew his hand across his neck, as if to shew that he would lose his head if we persisted. We again tried to re-assure him, by explaining that we had no intention of going near the village, but merely desired to walk about for a short time, and then to go to the frigate to dine. ”

“ One came to superintend the measurement of the Lyra, and the other, who seemed of inferior rank, to explain why some poultry, only then sent, had not come on the preceding night, along with the other presents. I forgot to mention, that a bullock, two hogs, two goats, a dozen and a half of fowls, some candles, wood, and water, were sent to each of the ships. I asked them to sit down, and they were so well satisfied with the Constantia which I gave them, that they remained for some time; owing to which delay, I did not reach the shore till the time for observing the sun had gone by. ”

“ On coming from the southward the only danger that lies in the way is a coral reef even with the water's edge; it is of a circular form, and at low water several rocks shew on it. On every occasion that we passed the sea broke high upon it; but from what we saw of other similar reefs, it seems very probable that when the water is smooth it will give no warning: it is about eight miles west, 15o north of the extreme south point of the island, and lies in latitude 26o 7' north, and longitude 127o 26' east of Greenwich. ”

“ In the afternoon a number of boats left the shore and proceeded to the Alceste in procession. In the foremost boat there seemed to be a person of consequence, whom we immediately conjectured to be the Great Man alluded to by the people yesterday. He got on board the Alceste before us, and the natives also had left their canoes, so that we found the ship's decks crowded with people. The Chief, whom we found seated in the cabin, was clothed in purple silk, with a light purple hatchee matchee. ”

“ The place selected for these pic-nics is commonly under the trees, in a cool spot, where a mat is spread on the grass; and every thing being laid out in great order, the party lies down in a circle, and seldom breaks up till the sackee pot is empty.
An artist of the island brought a drawing of the Alceste on board to-day for Captain Maxwell: it is about two feet by one and a half, and is altogether a most extraordinary production, in which perspective and proportion are curiously disregarded. ”

“ On returning to the lower harbour of all, we went to the large village before spoken of, which is by far the most finished of any that we have seen on this island. The streets are regular and clean swept; each house has a neat cane wall, as well as a screen before the door; plantain and other trees are growing so thickly in the inside of the fence, that they completely shade the house. Near the beach were several large houses, in which a number of people were seated writing: on going up to them they gave us tea and cakes, and afterwards allowed us to go over the village without restraint ”

“ But they guessed that we had been round the island, from seeing that we returned by the south, though we had sailed to the north; they said repeatedly, that the island was very small, appearing to be anxious to depreciate it; our reply of course was, that it was very large and beautiful.
Mádera has made great improvement in English, and his character is altogether more developed. He is quite at his ease in our company, and seems to take the most extraordinary interest in every thing belonging to us; but his ardent desire to inform himself on all subjects sometimes distresses him a good deal ”

“ Ships might ride in any part of this extraordinary harbour, in perfect safety during the most violent tempests: and the shores are so varied, that every purpose of re-equipment might be served. At some places natural wharfs are formed by the rocks, and eight and ten fathoms water close to them. Ships might lie alongside these places, or might heave down by them: there are also shallow spots on which ships might be careened. Many of the cliffs are hollowed into caves, which would answer for storehouses; and in the numerous lawns on both sides encampments might be formed of any number of people. ”

“ A number of flags and streamers are displayed on the masts of the vessels in the inner harbour, and there seems to be something going on on shore; no boats have come to us, and we have no occupation but looking through the glass, which, however, affords a good deal of entertainment, particularly as the people whom we see with it act in the usual way, being unconscious of our scrutiny. ”

“ They are observant, and not without curiosity, but they require encouragement to induce them to come forward, being restrained, it would seem, by a genteel self-denial, from gratifying curiosity, lest it might be thought obtrusive. Their dress is singularly graceful; it consists of a loose flowing robe, with very wide sleeves, tied round the middle by a broad rich belt or girdle of wrought silk, a yellow cylindrical cap, and a neat straw sandal, over a short cotton boot or stocking. Two of the chiefs wore light yellow robes, the other dark blue streaked with white, all of cotton. ”

“ During this visit we saw no women; but the children came round us without shewing any symptoms of fear. The people, upon the whole, are more free, and not so surly as our acquaintance on Sir James Hall's group. They have a singular custom of speaking with a loud tone, amounting almost to a shout. Captain Maxwell named this island after Dr. Hutton the geologist.
4th of September.—During all last night it remained perfectly calm. At nine o'clock in the morning we got under weigh with a fine sea breeze, and stood in for the land, leaving on either hand many well cultivated islands. ”