Louis-Antoine de Bougainville

“ I have here been in search of vestiges of men, but found none, for the savages of this part seldom or never quit the sea-shores, where they get their subsistence. Upon the whole, all that part of Terra del Fuego, reckoning from opposite Elizabeth island, seems to me, to be a mere cluster of great, unequal, high and mountainous islands, whose tops are covered with eternal snow. I make no doubt but there are many channels between them into the sea. The trees and the plants are the same here as on the coast of Patagonia; and, the trees excepted, the country much resembles the Malouines. ”

“ As we were forced to sail through an unknown ocean, and sure to owe all the assistance and refreshments on which our life depended, to the humanity of the people we should meet with, it was of great consequence to us to take a man on board from one of the most considerable islands in this ocean. ”

“ I only found, and in great quantity too, an exceeding good turf, which might supply the defect of wood, both for fuel, and for the forge; and I passed through immense plains, every where intersected by little rivulets, with very good water. Nature offered no other subsistence for men than fish and several sorts of land and water fowl. It was very singular, on our arrival, to see all the animals, which had hitherto been the only inhabitants of the island, come near us without fear, and shew no other emotions than those which curiosity inspires at the sight of an unknown object. ”

“ Has this Spanish navigator seen things in a wrong light? Or, has he been willing to disguise his discoveries? Was it by guess that the geographers made this Tierra del Espiritu Santo the same continent with New Guinea? To resolve this problem, it was necessary to keep in the same latitude for the space of three hundred and fifty leagues further. I resolved to do it, though the condition and the quantity of our provisions seemed to give us reason to make the best of our way to some European settlement. The event has shewn that little was wanting to make us the victims of our own perseverance. ”

“ They took up what was thrown into the water, and by way of thanks one of them with a sling flung a stone, which did not quite reach on board; we would not return them evil for evil, so they retired, striking all together on their canoes, and setting up loud shouts. They without doubt carried their hostilities farther on board the Etoile, for we saw our people fire several muskets, which put them to flight. Their periaguas are long, narrow, and with out-riggers; they all have their heads and sterns more or less ornamented with sculptures, painted red, which does honour to their skill. ”

“ Though Mr. de Bougainville is a man of undoubted veracity and abilities, he has, however, in a few instances, been misled by false reports, or prejudiced in favour of his nation: we have, in some additional notes, corrected as far as it was in our power these mistakes, and impartially vindicated the British nation, where we thought the author had been unjustly partial; for the love of one's country is, in our opinion, very consistent with common justice and good breeding; qualities which never should be wanting in a philosopher. ”

“ The greatest safety of the Dutch consists in the ignorance of the rest of Europe concerning the true state of these isles, and in the mysterious clouds which wrap this garden of the Hesperides in darkness. But there are difficulties which the force of man cannot overcome, and inconveniencies for which all his wisdom cannot find a remedy. The Dutch may construct respectable fortifications at Amboina and Banda ”

“ I know not whether there is still any nation where they leave the art of piloting, that essential part of navigation, to those subaltern people. In our ships, the business of the pilot is to take care that the helmsman exactly follows the course, for which the captain alone gives the orders, to mark down all the alterations of the course that happen, either in consequence of the changes of winds, or of the orders of the commander, and likewise to observe the signals ”

“ In the morning several periaguas came alongside, one among them displaying Dutch colours at her poop. At her approach, all the others retired to make way for her. She had on board one of their orencaies or chiefs. The company allow them their colours, and the right to carry them. At one o’clock in the afternoon we set sail again, with a view to gain some leagues farther; but this was impossible, the wind being too light and scant; we lost about half a league, and at half past three o’clock we let go our anchor again, in thirteen fathom bottom of sand, ooze, shells, and coral. ”

“ The coast of Pangasani here rises like an amphitheatre, with a low land at bottom, which I believe is often overflowed. I conclude it from seeing the islanders always fix their habitations upon the sides of the mountains. Perhaps too, as they are almost always at war with their neighbours, they choose to leave an interval of wood between their huts and the enemies who should attempt the landing. It seems even that they are dreaded by the inhabitants of Button, who consider them as pirates, upon whom no reliance can be had. ”

“ Of all the savages I ever saw, the Pecherais are those who are most deprived of every convenience; they are exactly, in what may be called, a state of nature; and, indeed, if any pity is due to the fate of a man, who is his own master, has no duties or business to attend, is content with what he has, because he knows no better, I should pity these men; who, besides being deprived of what renders life convenient, must suffer the extreme roughness of the most dreadful climate in the world. These Pecherais, likewise, are the least numerous society of men I have met with in any part of the world ”

“ Polygamy seems established amongst them; at least it is so amongst the chief people. As love is their only passion, the great number of women is the only luxury of the opulent. Their children are taken care of, both by their fathers and their mothers. It is not the custom at Taiti, that the men occupied only with their fishery and their wars, leave to the weaker sex the toilsome works of husbandry and agriculture. ”

“ As soon as that chief knew the prince again, he came up to him with an air of consternation.
The women, who were all in tears, fell at his feet, kissed his hands, weeping and repeating several times, Tayo, maté, you are our friends, and you kill us. By his caresses and demonstrations of friendship, he at last succeeded in regaining their confidence. I saw from on board a croud of people running to our quarters: fowls, cocoa-nuts, and branches full of bananas, embellished this procession, and promised a peace. ”

“ Circumnavigations of the globe have been of late the universal topics of all companies: every one takes upon him to be a competent judge in matters which very few understand, mostly for want of good and authentic information: this work will enable the reader to judge with greater precision of the vague discourses held on this subject. ”

“ Those of our men who were sent on shore because they were afflicted with the scurvy, have not passed one night there quietly, yet they regained their strength, and were so far recovered in the short space of time they staid on shore, that some of them were afterwards perfectly cured on board. In short, what better proofs can we desire of the salubrity of the air, and the good regimen which the inhabitants observe, than the health and strength of these same islanders, who inhabit huts exposed to all the winds, and hardly cover the earth which serves them as a bed with a few leaves ”

“ It shelters you against all dangerous winds. Its easterly point may be known by a very large cape, which we called the Dome. To the westward is a little isle, between which and the shore, no ship can go out of the bay; you come into the port by a very narrow pass, and in it you find ten, eight, six, five, and four fathoms, oozy bottom; you must keep in the middle, or rather come nearer the east side, where the greatest depth is. The beauty of this anchoring place determined us to give it the name of bay and port of Beaubassin. If a ship waits for a fair wind, she need anchor only in the bay. ”

“ From thence spring a vast number of little rivulets, which greatly contribute to the fertility of the country, and serve no less to supply the wants of the inhabitants than to adorn and heighten the charms of the plains. All the flat country, from the sea-shore to the foot of the mountains, is destined for the fruit-trees, under which, as I have already observed before, the houses of the people of Taiti are built, without order, and without forming any villages. ”

“ M. de Commerçon, and some of our gentlemen, were busy in picking up plants: several Patagonians immediately began to search for them too, and brought what species they saw us take up. One of them seeing the chevalier du Bouchage occupied in this manner, came to shew him his eye, which was very visibly affected; and asked him by signs, to point out to him some simple, by which he could be cured. This shews that they have an idea, and make use of that sort of medicine, which requires the knowledge of simples, and applies them for the cure of mankind. ”

“ Commerce of Batavia. Batavia is the emporium or staple of all the productions of the Moluccas. The whole crop of spices is carried thither: the ships are annually laden with as much as is necessary for the consumption in Europe, and what remains is burnt. This commerce alone forms the riches, and I may say assures the existence of the Dutch East India Company; it enables them to bear, not only the immense expences, which they must incur, but likewise the depredations of the people whom they employ, and which often come to as much as the expences themselves. ”

“ Their skill and ingenuity in the few necessary instances of industry, which notwithstanding the abundance of the country, and the temperature of the climate they cannot dispense with, would be sufficient to destroy such assertion. It is amazing with how much art their fishing tackle is contrived; their hooks are made of mother-of-pearl, as neatly wrought as if they were made by the help of our tools; their nets are exactly like ours ”

“ The glances which they gave us from their periaguas, seemed to discover some degree of uneasiness, notwithstanding the innocent manner in which they were given; perhaps, because nature has every where embellished their sex with a natural timidity; or because even in those countries, where the ease of the golden age is still in use, women seem least to desire what they most wish for. The men, who were more plain, or rather more free, soon explained their meaning very clearly. They pressed us to choose a woman, and to come on shore with her ”

“ But time and experience taught us, that labour and constancy would not be without success even there. The resources with which nature presented us, were immense bays, sheltered from the violence of the winds by mountains, which poured forth cascades and rivulets ”

“ Nothing is shut up in their houses, every piece of furniture lies on the ground, or is hung up, without being under locks, or under any person’s care. Doubtless their curiosity for new objects excited violent desires in them; and besides that, there are always base-minded people every where. ”

“ Far from making its aspect gloomy and wild, they serve only to embellish it, offering to the eye many prospects and beautiful landscapes, covered with the richest productions of nature, in that beautiful disorder which it was never in the power of art to imitate. ”

“ The Boudeuse sets sail; runs new dangers. On the 15th, at six o’clock in the morning, the wind blowing off shore, and the sky looking stormy, we weighed our anchor, veered away the cable of that which belonged to the Etoile, cut one of the hawsers, and veered out the other two, setting sail under our fore-sail and top-sails, in order to go out by the eastern passage. We left the two long-boats to weigh the anchors; and as soon as we were got out of the reefs, I sent the two barges armed, under the command of ensign the chevalier de Suzannet, to protect the work of the long-boats. ”

“ These propositions are so evidently founded on truth, that they want no further confirmation: and every true Englishman will congratulate himself on the happiness to live under a government which thinks it a necessary duty to reward zeal, courage, and virtue, in a set of men who go through their duty with spirit and chearfulness ”

“ However, the chief people among them generally wrap themselves in a great piece of cloth, which hangs down to their knees. This is likewise the only dress of the women; and they know how to place it so artfully, as to make this simple dress susceptible of coquetry. As the women of Taiti never go out into the sun, without being covered; and always have a little hat, made of canes, and adorned with flowers, to defend their faces against its rays; their complexions are, of course, much fairer than those of the men. ”

“ But it is common in a capital to meet with people who ask questions, not from an impulse of curiosity, or from a desire of acquiring knowledge, but as judges who are preparing to pronounce their judgment ”

“ The whole harbour is covered with sea weeds, especially near the shore, by which means the boats found it difficult to land; they are of no other service than to break the force of the waters when the sea runs very high. We hoped to make a good use of them by employing them for a manure. The tides brought us several species of coralines, which were very much varied, and of the finest colours; these, together with the spunges and shells, have deserved places in the cabinets of the curious. ”