Jacques Labillardière

“ The breeze continuing all the day at south-east, we kept close to the wind, on the larboard-tack.
One of the boys of the large Dutch East-Indiaman, which had just sailed for Batavia, had hid himself on board the Recherche, and made his appearance at the very instant when the Captain of the Esperance, acquainted the General, that he had discovered, on board his ship, six fugitives from Amboyna, namely, three of the Company's soldiers, a sailor and two negro slaves. Those unhappy men had made their escape from a country, where they groaned under an almost equal state of servitude! ”

“ A looking-glass having been given to one of those savages, he contemplated his image with surprize; but immediately broke the glass, hoping, no doubt, to find in it the objects which it reflected.
The complexion of those islanders is black, but not very deep. Their physiognomy is agreeable, and not very different from that of the Europeans. Born in a fine climate, and a fertile island, they seem to be happy, if one may judge from the air of satisfaction, which is expressed in all their features. ”

“ We rowed along the shore, beyond Port Dentrecasteaux, for some time, when a fire we perceived not far from the sea-side induced us to land.
Some of the natives soon came to meet us, expressing by their cries the pleasure they felt at seeing us again.
Our musician had brought on shore his violin, imagining that he should excite as much enthusiasm among them by some noisy tunes, as we had observed in the islanders at Bouka; but his self-love was truly mortified, at the indifference shown to his performance here. Savages, in general, are not very sensible to the tones of stringed instruments. ”

“ Near the north shore of this bay we landed a young he-goat, and a she-goat big with kid, putting up our prayers that the savages might allow them to propagate their breed in this island. Perhaps they may multiply in it to such a degree, as to occasion a total change in the manner of life of the inhabitants, who may then become a pastoral people, quit without regret the borders of the sea, and taste the pleasure of not being obliged to dive in search of their food, at the risk of being devoured by sharks. ”

“ As we ascended the heights that skirt the sea, we soon found a party of those natives, by whom we had been so civilly received the day before. A lively joy was depicted on all their features, when they saw us drawing near. There were nineteen of them round three small fires, making their meal on bernacles, which they roasted on the coals, and ate as fast as they were ready. Every now and then some of the women went to pick these shell-fish from under the neighbouring rocks, and did not return till they had filled their baskets with them. ”

“ Night overtook us before we had finished more than half our journey, and to add to our misfortunes, a very high wind from the west brought with it such a heavy rain, that we were obliged, like the savages of New Holland, to seek for shelter in hollow trunks of trees. We had reason to apprehend that the signals we made for a boat to come to fetch us, would be rendered useless by the rainy weather, and were beginning to make preparations for passing a very unpleasant night in the midst of the forest ”

“ However, at break of day we had the satisfaction of finding ourselves in the open sea, extricated from all our dangers. Our situation had undoubtedly been a very hazardous one; but since we had already traversed seas full of shoals, we were become so accustomed to danger, that myself, as well as several others of our company, went to bed at our usual hour, and slept as soundly as if we had been in a state of the most perfect security. ”

“ A small breeze at south-east, succeeded the tempest. As the moment was favourable, we warped, early in the morning, nearer to the shore, from whence we were then distant but about 150 toises.
I landed on the little island on the south-west of us. It is mountainous, and not more than 2,050 toises in length, and 1,025 in breadth.
The swell was not yet sufficiently abated to allow us to land with facility. It was necessary for us to seize the moment of the highest surge for allowing our wherry, kept fast by a small painter, to come close to the beach, and each time one of us leapt on shore. ”

“ It was now night, and the Esperance was so far distant as to be out of sight; accordingly we let off a few small quantities of powder, to induce her to make known to us her situation: but we observed with surprise, that the natives, far from displaying any dread of the effects of gunpowder, continued their barter nevertheless. It had been dark for more than an hour, when they paddled away to the shore.
As we lay to, we hove the lead several times, and always found a bottom of fine sand, and from thirty-six to fifty fathoms water. ”

“ If a calm take place, and a ship be carried towards them by the currents, her loss is almost inevitable. Vain would be the attempt to save her by the anchor, for it would not reach the bottom, even close to those walls of coral, which rise perpendicularly from the depths of the sea. These works of the polypus, which, by continually increasing, obstruct more and more the bed of the ocean, may well be supposed, dreadful to navigators; and many shoals which now allow a vessel to pass over them, will, at no very distant period; be converted into reefs extremely dangerous to ships. ”

“ If, as some natural philosophers alledge, a water-spout carried up the sea-water, in a great body, it ought to be as salt in the moment of its descent, as in that of its ascent, which does not seem to accord with observation. ”

“ The island of Savu presents an enchanting prospect; being intersected, especially towards the south-west, by very beautiful hills, whose gentle declivity seems to offer to the natives a soil of easy and favourable cultivation.
Groups of cocoa-nut trees scattered on the shore, afford shelter to some cottages, which additionally embellish those charming plantations. That island, on which the Dutch have a small settlement, is in 10° 25′ 48′′ S. lat. and 119° 45′ 19′′ E. longitude. ”

“ When the boats came within about fifty toises of the shore, they found no bottom with thirty-three fathoms of line; and the reefs, with which the island is bordered, prevented them from approaching nearer.
A great number of natives advanced to the beach. We counted more than an hundred and fifty, who practised every mean in their power, to induce us to land on their island; but the reefs were an obstacle which we could not surmount. They threw our people some cocoa-nuts, and were pleased and astonished to see with what facility they were opened with an axe. ”

“ I was far from foreseeing the intention of those people, who, like the greatest savages, took pleasure in seeing the flames devour the dry plants in the clear spots. Presently one of my guides had the imprudence to set fire to a large bush. The air was then very calm; but a light breeze soon after springing up, drove the flames towards the garden, and I had the mortification to see a part of its paling consumed, without being able to stop the progress of the conflagration.
The manner in which those natives produce fire, well deserves to be described. ”

“ At six this evening, being then 102,000 toises from the land, a line of seventy-two fathoms indicated a bottom of very fine sand mixed with gravel; and from that moment, no bottom was found, though we sounded at different times. This gradual augmentation of the depth of the sea near that coast, proves that the land subsides under the water by an almost insensible declivity, and gives us reason to believe, that it rises in the interior by an acclivity equally gentle, so that those heights are too distant to be perceived from the coast. ”

“ We slept in the open air, for we should have found it difficult, to construct a shelter in a short time among the large trees, as their branches were mostly near the summit, and this part of the forest was destitute of shrubs. We looked in vain for some large trunks hollowed by fire; these are to be found only in places frequented by the natives. We had seen a great number on the borders of the sea, where we had observed many paths, which the natives had cleared; but nothing gave us any intimation that they had ever come into the midst of these thick forests. ”

“ Bending our course toward our anchoring-place, we found two large pools to the east-north-east of South Cape; and as we went round them, we saw on their borders several burrows of kangarous. A new species of utricularia displayed its beautiful flowers on the surface of their tranquil waters. I was astonished that these stagnant pools did not exhale a fetid smell, as is usually the case; but it is probable, that the water is speedily renewed by filtering through the ground. ”

“ We returned towards the landing place, lamenting the fate of our unfortunate mess-mate, and had very nearly reached the shore, in a hopeless state of mind, when we saw one of those who had been left to take care of the boat, running to meet us with the pleasing intelligence, that Riche was still alive, and that he had just arrived at the landing-place, extenuated with hunger and fatigue. ”

“ I had not as yet been able to procure any of the flowers of a new species of the eucalyptus, remarkable by its fruit, which very much resembles a coat-button in shape.
This tree, which is one of the tallest in nature, as it grows sometimes to the height of 150 feet, blossoms only near its summit. Its trunk exactly resembles that of the eucalyptus resinifera, when its spongy bark has been peeled off. ”

“ We immediately hove to in order to receive them; but they stopped within three hundred toises of the ship, and showing us their island, made signs to invite us on shore. There were but seven paddlers in the canoe; two other natives seemed wholly occupied in baling out the water, which beat over the sides of the canoe, and in observing our movements.
A native put off alone from the beach, on a catimarran, and paddling with the greatest celerity, came and joined the canoe, which kept always to the windward of us. Though a very old man, he appeared to be still very robust. ”

“ It was a point of the greatest utility to know exactly the harbours in which ships might find shelter from the heavy gales and impetuous storms, which prevail at this extremity of New Holland. A road, which is not less than 22,000 toises in extent, in that particular situation, might present great advantages to a commercial nation. Throughout the whole road, a ship may cast anchor with the certainty of finding a good bottom, the depth being from 6 to 25 fathoms, and no danger to be dreaded. At an equal distance between its two extremities, the bottom is of coarse sand, and not so good. ”

“ Those rocks, like the reefs of New Caledonia, are the work of polypi; like those reefs they are built perpendicularly, and quite close to them, no bottom can be found with one hundred fathoms of line. They rise, like so many columns, from the bottom of the sea, and their progressive augmentation daily increases the danger of navigating those parts of the ocean. ”

“ The mercury in the barometer, which had sunk to 27 inches 81⁄2 lines, sensibly rose, as soon as day light appeared, and announced to us the termination of the tempest.
The surge having considerably abated, Captain Huon sent his boat to tell us, that on the preceding day, the Esperance was driving towards the land so rapidly, that she was on the point of being stranded, when Citizen Legrand, an officer of distinguished merit, went to the mast-head, in the very midst of the tempest, and almost immediately came down, exclaiming with enthusiasm, that the ship was out of danger! ”

“ When we had reached the shore, one of us fired his piece as a signal to the ship's company, that a boat might be sent off for us; the noise of the explosion collected above eighty of the natives around us. We invited them to sit down as fast as they arrived, in order to prevent them from coming too close, and notwithstanding the disproportion of our number, (for we were only eight,) they all agreed to our request. One of these savages had a few tolerably sweet oranges, which he consented to sell to me for a pair of scissars. ”

“ This is an immense voyage for people, who, having no instruments, steer only by observing the sun and stars with the naked eye, as soon as they are out of sight of land: but it is still more difficult to conceive, how they can reach Tongataboo from such a distance, when they have to work up against the south-east winds; and they must be very sure of their marks in the heavens, not to miss the land, after being obliged to ply to windward, as they are sometimes, for more than a month. ”

“ We had scarcely advanced more than 10,000 toises to the N.E. since the preceding evening, when we found ourselves surrounded with low islands connected by shoals, amongst which we were obliged to beat even during the night. We several times passed over flats, which we could distinguish by the dim light of the moon, and often found ourselves in less than ten fathoms water.
A calm coming on about midnight, left us at the mercy of the current, which carried us towards the coast where the savages had lighted several fires. ”

“ Redoubling our attention, we advanced a few steps, when a sudden cry, arising from several voices united, issued from one spot, and we perceived through the trees a number of the natives, most of whom appeared to be fishing on the borders of the lake. As we were unarmed, and ignorant of their intentions, we did not hesitate to return to our companions, each of whom had a musket; and immediately crossed through the wood, that the savages might not see us, lest they should be tempted to pursue us, on perceiving our flight. ”

“ Amongst a variety of other beautiful plants, I found a very remarkable one of the composite tribe; which had never before been discovered. It constitutes a new genus, which I named richea, after Citizen Riche, one of the naturalists to our expedition. This philosopher fell a victim to his love for science, having made, when already in a very advanced stage of consumption, a long and fatiguing journey, in which he had more consulted his scientific zeal than the state of his health. ”