T^f'TY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL H7 I ®fje Utinrarp of ttie Unibergttp of JSortfj Carolina linn 00022230578 tKfjte fcoofe toa£ pre£enteb T\\e P^xxn\y UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA School of Library Science Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill http://www.archive.org/details/storyoflapeyrousOOgood J $*f*^ &/£**+-. -\ . . . J * 4 *•**♦•**;£ c X? K^ La Peyrouse and De L' Angle in the house uf the Portuguese Governor. THE STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. * aatt WITH ENGRAVINGS. NEW YORK: J. P. PEASLEE. 1835. Entered, according to act of Congress, in the year J835, by J. P. PEASLEE, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of New York. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. Address to the reader. Birth and early propensities of La Peyrouse. He goes to sea. Is taken prisoner by the English. Is liberated, and recaptured. His enterprise in America. .... 9 CHAPTER II. La Peyrouse returns to France. Goes to India. Marries. Captain Cook. A voyage of discovery planned. La Peyrouse is to conduct it. Sails. Goes to Madeira, TenerifFe, and reaches La Trinidada. 21 CHAPTER III. Visit at Trinidada. The island and its inhabitants. Anecdote of Ran- dolph. A tempest. Arrival and stay at St. Catharine. Departure. A storm. Search for the Isle Grande given up. 32 CHAPTER IV. The weather. Birds shot. They pass the Straits of Magellan. Arrival at the harbor near the city of Conception. An account of their visit at this place; its inhabitants, &c. Departure from the city. - 44 CHAPTER V. Sport of the whales. Easter island. The natives. The place. Thefts of the Indians. Vegetable productions. Statues. The burying- ground. A native's belief. Departure from the island. - 54 CHAPTER VI. Passage to the Sandwich Islands. Arrival. The hogs thrown into the water. The Indians. The island. Departure from Moree. - 67 b CONTENTS. CHAPTER VII. The ships steer northward. A mill made. Signs of the N. W. coast appear. The arrival. View of the coast. The ships anchor near the coast. Adventures here. Natives seen. - - - -78 CHAPTER VIII. The ships pass Cape Fairweather. They enter a bay. Landing on the island. The natives. A tomb. Thefts of the Indians. One of their games. Vegetable, animal and mineral productions of the region. 88 CHAPTER IX. The mountains. The artful Indians steal the officers' clothing, &c. The island purchased. The bottle and medal buried. Description of the bay. 101 CHAPTER X. Three boats go out. Two are lost, and all the men in them drowned. A cenotaph erected. The frigates leave the place. - - 110 CHAPTER XI. Cross Sound. Cape Enganno. Ischirikow Bay named. Islands named. Birds seen. Cape Hector named. Nootka Sound passed. Neckar's Isles named. M on terry. The Pelican. Condition of the Californias. 120 CHAPTER XII. Mode of government and living of the Californians. Their worship. Punishment. Dress. Hunting. Burials. Fighting. Games. 132 CHAPTER XIII. Natural productions of California. Gifts of the French. Departure from Monterry. Birds. Isle Neckar. - 142 CHAPTER XIV. The weather. Birds. A reef of rocks. Assumption island. A leak in the ship. The Chinese coast. Arrival at Macao; reception; the place. - 151 CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XV. Macao. Its inhabitants, government, &c. A Chinese cheat detected. Departure from Macao. Marivelle. Its odd looking village. Con- dition of the place. Antelopes, birds, &c. Departure. A bad pilot. Arrival at Cavite. 162 CHAPTER XVI. Visit to Manilla. Cavite. Manilla. Luconia. Several other islands. Sickness of the French at Manilla. Chinese sailors shipped. De- parture from Cavite. Approach to Formosa. The bay of Fort Zealand seen. 173 CHAPTER XVII. War at Formosa. Chinese fishermen hailed. They cannot make them- selves understood. The armies and the Chinese fleet seen. The Pescadore isles passed. A thunder storm. Approach to the Bashee isles. Other isles seen. A visit from Indians at the Kumi islands. Quulpeart. Story of a wreck near it. Straits of Corea entered. 183 CHAPTER XVIII. Aspect of Corea. Boats with matting sails. Isle Dagelet. Japanese vessels seen. Joosti-Simi seen. Approach to the coast of Tartary. Appearance of the coast. The sea looks like land. Table Mountain named. A bay discovered and named. The ships anchor in it. Des- cription of this place. Wild beasts seen. Trees and flowers. 194 CHAPTER XIX. Adventures at Bay of Terni. Interesting discoveries. Ruined huts. A Tartarian tomb found, and examined. Its contents. Animals of the place. Burying the bottle. Departure from the bay. Running along the coast. Another bay visited. The hut of hunters. An exchange, no robbery. The dredge. A great island discovered. Its natives seen. -" - - - - 203 CHAPTER XX. Visit to the island. Scene at the huts. An interview with the islanders. A description of them. A second interview. The island called Tchoka. Kindness of the natives, &c. Description of a dwelling. Two Tartars. The frigates leave the bay, after calling it Baie de L'Angle. Another island visited. - 214 3 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XX T. A remarkable peak. A fishing excursion. Landing at a Tartar village; the place; the people. Their treatment. Houses of the Orchys; their tombs. Personal description ; dress; religion. Receiving and bestowing gifts. Things found. Departure from the Orchys' town. Cape Crillon. 225 CHAPTER XXII. Mareckan isle seen. Channel between the Kuriles. Remarks and a review of the voyage. Course to Kamscbatka. Arrival, entertain- ment and adventures at Kamscbatka. A ball given. Letters re- ceived. Story of an exile. Papers sent to France. Departure from Kamschatka. 238 CHAPTER XXIII. The Navigator's Isles seen. Visit from the natives. Their traffic. A beautiful dove. Maouna. The natives. Scenes at the island. An affray with the Indians. A second visit from the islanders. - 251 CHAPTER XXIV. The French revisit the island. Are attacked, and many of them killed by the Indians. Two boats seized and kept. The frigates sail. Oyalava. The town and the people. Many isles and the natives seen. Storms. Tongataboo, Course to Botany Bay. Arrival. Last accounts of the ships. ------- 263 CHAPTER XXV. Search made for the ships. The probable place where they were lost discovered. Concluding remarks. 278 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE CHAPTER I. Address to the reader. Birth and early propensities of La Peyrouse. He goes to sea. Is taken prisoner by the English. Is liberated, and recaptured. His en- terprise in America. John Francis Galoupe De La Peyrouse was born at. Albi, in France, May, 1741. His father was a wealthy and respectable mer- chant in that place. From early childhood, the little La Peyrouse manifested a great spirit of adventure and en- terprise; and as he grew older, it was plainly seen, that the whole bent of his inclinations was towards the sea. His father, therefore, seeing that his son's heart was fixed on the ocean, and that his 10 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. desires were for roaming to foreign climes, directed his education so as to fit him for a nautical life, in case of his wishing to pursue it, after he had drank the first cup of bitters which old Neptune never fails to administer, sooner or later, to those who entrust them- selves to his power. La Peyrouse entered, at the early age of fifteen, as midshipman, in the French navy. He was active and energetic in the service; and showed great fortitude and presence of mind in the engagements with the British, then at war with France. In consequence of the refusal of the French commander to salute the British flag, La Belle Poule, the ship in which our young hero sailed, was captured, and he carried a prisoner of war, to England. Here he remained a year and a half, which time he employed in acquiring the English STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 11 Capture of La Belle Poule 12 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. language, and such other knowledge as the situation gave him the opportunity of obtaining. For, he was strongly impressed with the feeling that his time must all be made use of in such a way, as to turn to some good account, either to himself or some of the rest of man- kind. On an exchange cf prisoners, La Peyrouse returned to his country, and afterwards engag- ed in its service, on board the French admiral's flag ship, La Ville de Paris. In this he was re-captured, on the memorable 12th of April, 1782. But, these misfortunes, though they re- tarded the promotion of La Peyrouse, could not crush his spirit. His mind was like the ball, which, the harder it is thrown upon the earth, is sure to rebound the higher. There was a buoyancy in it, that kept it swimming when others would have sunk; and STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 13 the more it was tried, the more it was strength- ened to bear trials. It will be borne in mind, that, during our revolutionary war, France, as our ally against Great Britain, sent out her forces to help us. It is from that time, that the name of La Fay- ette is rendered hallowed to every American and philanthropic ear. I have said that our hero, La Peyrouse, was also here, doing what he could to serve us, against the English at Hudson's Bay. He came out in a ship of war, called the Sceptre, of seventy-four guns, accompanied by two other frigates of thirty-six guns each. This little squadron contained about two hundred and ninety men, two eight-inch mor- tars, three hundred bombs, and four cannon. On the 31st of May, 1782, they sailed from Cape Francois, and entered Hudson's Bay on the 17th of June, with the purpose of attack- ing the British settlement, in that place. 14 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. The Hudson's Bay Company had taken much care to have their factories well fortified and supplied with stores, artillery, &c, but they were poorly garrisoned. Their governor might, however, have stood out much longer than he did, had he considered the difficulties the French had to encounter, in a strange land, on perilous waters; and in an inhospita- ble climate, with so small forces. Perhaps I cannot give an account of their proceedings, or finish this chapter so well in my own words, as by a quotation from an old English work, entitled " Naval and Military Memoirs," which speaks of the event thus: "The French commodore had great merit in persevering in his design, and overcoming so many obstacles as daily presented them- selves. " His squadron was without a pilot, in a very intricate navigation, in which the ships STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 15 were often in great danger of being crushed by the floating ice, and frequently enveloped in such dense fogs, that they were obliged to anchor. "Nor did they escape without injury. The ice had greatly injured the bows of the frigate, and nearly deprived the Sceptre of her rudder. "After many hair-breadth escapes, they at length got sight of Churchill, or Prince of Wales 7 Fort, in the evening of the 8th of August. " The next day, they approached within a mile and a half of the fort, sounding all the way. Early on the morning of the 10th they landed their troops, marched towards the fort, and sent an officer with a flag of truce, re- quiring the commandant to surrender. "It would appear from his conduct, that he was panic-struck ; for he made no terms, but immediately surrendered at discretion. 16 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. " Here La Peyrouse got ample information of the weak state of the garrison, at York fort. The commandant of Prince of Wales' fort, had not even the precaution to destroy his papers, or to despatch an express through the woods, to inform him that the enemy was at hand ; though he might have easily done this by the Indians, who were strongly attached to the British. " The French plundered the place, demol- ished the works, set fire to the houses, and sailed, on the 11th, for Nelson's river. " After a fatiguing and dangerous voyage, they got sight of the entrance of the river, on the 20th, and came to anchor, about five miles from the land. "By means of boats, which La Peyrouse had brought from Prince of Wales' fort, he was enabled to sound the river, on an island of which York fort was built ; and as soon as the STORY OF LA rEYROUSE. 17 tide favored, he weighed anchor, and entered Port Nelson. " The weather on the 21st being favorable, he landed his troops, who began their route for York fort, before which they appeared on the 23d, much fatigued and exhausted by their march. The whole country through which they had passed, was very rough, being inter- spersed with woods, thickets and bogs. The way had been so difficult to pass, that a whole day was spent in going seven miles ; and nei- ther mortars nor cannon could be transported with them. " This body of troops, when before the fort, were twenty-seven miles from their ships, that were anchored in a place which would not afford them much shelter from a boisterous sea, at a dangerous season of the year. " Their ships could not, therefore, easily co- operate with them, unless the weather should 2 18 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. prove extremely favorable, and they could re- ceive no supplies, except what came from their vessels. " Cold, hunger and fatigue, would, of course, be working hourly in favor of the garrison, which consisted of sixty British and twelve Indians, who, though few in number, were, nevertheless, in good spirits, and amply sup- plied with every necessary, while the fort was capable of defence, and the approaches to it extremely difficult. "The governor, notwithstanding all these circumstances in his favor, resolved not to de- fend the place. He would not even permit the guns on the ramparts to be fired, when the enemy's troops were quite exposed to them, as they advanced towards the fort. "Without waiting for a summons from the enemy, he held out a white flag with his own hand, which was answered by a French offi- cer, showing his pocket handkerchief. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 19 "Under the sanction of this flag of truce, a parley took place ; and the governor received a summons written in English. " In this summons, two hours were granted him to consult about his situation. But he made no use of this indulgence ; and the place was most ingloriously given up, in about ten minutes, without one officer being consulted, or a council assembled. " So, this fort, which might have withstood the united efforts of double the number of those by whom it was assailed, in an attack with small arms, was surrendered to a half- starved, wretched group of Frenchmen, worn out with fatigue and hard labor, and in a country where they were entire strangers. " La Peyrouse treated his prisoners with the greatest politeness and attention, and made large presents to the Indians, of fire- arms and ammunition^ and such stores as w r ould be of use to them. 20 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. " He took on board what peltry he found in the fort ; and as his men were turning very sickly, he set the factory on fire, destroy- ed the cannon, blew up the fortifications, and sailed clown the river on the 31st of August, the weather being extremely stormy. "The first intelligence of this enterprise that reached Britain, was, by one of the Hud- son's Bay Company's ships, which was lying in Port Nelson, when the French ships ap- peared off the mouth of that river. " The captain of this ship put to sea in the night, and arrived at one of the Orkney Isl- ands, on the 19th of October." STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 21 CHAPTER II. La Peyrouse returns to France. Goes to India. Marries. Captain Cook. A voyage of discovery planned. La Peyrouse is to conduct it. Sails. Goes to Madeiras Tencriffe, and reaches La Trinidada. We will now follow our valiant friend La Peyrouse from this country to his own, to which he proceeded, after the exploits and adventures narrated in the first chapter. At the conclusion of the war, during which he had greatly honored himself, both by his valor, as a naval officer, and his kindness to those who had fallen into his power, he en- gaged as commander of a trade ship, and made a prosperous voyage to India. On his return from this voyage, he took to himself a wife ; and, Leonora Montmorenci, the daughter of a rich banker of Toulon, was the object of his choice. 22 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Leonora was wealthy, accomplished, lovely in her disposition, and beautiful in her person. But sensible as her husband was of all these attractions, they were not sufficient to master his love of adventure, or to keep him at home. We must, however, give La Peyrouse the credit of being actuated less by a romantic wish to rove, than by the hope of making re- searches and discoveries for the benefit of others ; and on such a principle, he felt willing to sacrifice the quiet enjoyment of domestic and private life, to the public good. Before this era in the history of Europe, avarice, ambition, curiosity and the love of glory, had induced many adventurers to go abroad to the distant regions of the earth; but little had been done in this way, from really benevolent motives towards mankind in gen- eral. But now, England had sent out her courageous and persevering, vet, unfortunate STORY OF LA FEYROUSE. 23 navigator, Captain Cook, who took his life in his hands, to lose it by those of the savage islanders of the Pacific Ocean, and went out with the hope, not only of bringing home use- ful knowledge, but also of carrying it abroad to other portions of the earth, and other tribes of his fellow men. Cook had been cut off in the midst of his usefulness, and France, endeavoring to outdo England, formed the plan, under the reign and the auspices of Lewis XVI, of sending out a navigator on a voyage of discovery round the world, who should complete what Cook had left undone ; he having been launched by the barbarian assassins, upon the ocean of eter- nity, to make the solemn discovery of another world, from which none can return to tell us what is there. Lewis, that unfortunate French king, with much benevolence, great deliberation, and 24 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. sage counsel, planned the expedition, and La Peyrouse was fixed on as the hero who should win the glory of the achievement for himself, and bring it home, to shed it upon his country. The chief object of the expedition was, an interchange of the knowledge of arts, science, trade, &c. between the known and the un- known parts of the world ; that it might thus be rendered useful to mankind at large, and to present and future generations. Two frigates, one called La Boussale, (the Compass,) and the other, UAstrolobe, (the Cross-staff.) were selected by the government of France, to perform the expedition; and La Peyrouse was to conduct it. While preparations w r ere making for the voyage, all France seemed to be interested in the object ; and every one who had any thing useful to contribute, either by way of know- ledge, or of wealth, seemed desirous of doing his part towards its promotion. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. c 25 Many who had nothing else to bestow, were very liberal in giving their gratuitous advice : which is not an uncommon kind of generosity even among those who have the more weighty matter locked up in their coffers. Some people are exceedingly liberal, in giv- ing their soft, kind words to those who are destitute, while they seem to forget that the gentle, undulating air that forms the sound of their speech, can neither clothe the naked, feed the hungry, nor shelter the homeless wanderer. But, our adventurers took every thing be- stowed on them, in kindness, and with true French politeness ; and many were the gifts and the attentions which they had, to draw forth their gratitude and put their graces in motion. The skilful navigator prepared notes ; the philosopher brought his books of philosophy 26 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. and natural history ; geographical sketches, charts, observations, &c. were collected and bestowed; the botanist collected his plants and seeds, to be spread on distant shores ; the astronomer brought his observations and appa- ratus ; — in short, all sorts of books, implements of art, articles of clothing, and stores for the body, as well as for the mind, were collected together. When all was in readiness, and a good sup- ply of such articles for trade and presents, as might please the savage tribes on whose shores they might touch, La Peyrouse took the im- mediate command of the frigate called La Boussale, and his friend M. De L' Angle, that of L'Astrolobe. Each vessel, fitted out thus with its ample supplies, contained about one hundred and twenty men, among whom was the astrono- mer, the draughtsman, the engineer, the min- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 27 eralogist, the botanist, the physician, the clock-maker, and many other persons skilled in various arts and sciences, all flushed with the hope of gaining knowledge or imparting it, and of satisfying the desire of their eyes to see remote regions of the globe, from which they might bring, home true tales of the won- ders they had witnessed. On the 1st day of August, 1785, they sailed from the Road of Brest, and nothing of con- sequence took place till they reached the Island of Madeira, on the 15th. What most attracted their notice during this sail, was, the uncommonly luminous appear- ance of the sea, which shone, as the waves dashed round them by night, like tossing sheets of fire. This phosphoric light is supposed by phi- losophers, or naturalists, to be occasioned by innumerable hosts of minute animal bodies, 28 STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. either animate or inanimate, that are diffused in infinite multitudes over the waters. But, be the cause of this phenomenon what it may, it is a very beautiful sight to those who are in a vessel that goes ploughing along the deep, to throw up such a sparkling path- way. I forgot to mention, that among other con- tributors to our voyagers, the British Board of Longitude had lent for their use, two dipping compasses, that had been used by Captain Cook, in his last expedition. At Madeira they stopped for the purpose of obtaining wine for their voyage. Here they were entertained sumptuously, by some Eng- lish gentlemen who were living on the Island, and who gave them, at their departure, after a visit of three days, a handsome present of fruits, lemon-juice, wine, &c. Their next course was to Teneriffe, where STORY OF LA PEYROT7SE. 29 they found that their wines could be bought at a better rate than at Madeira. They sailed for this place on the 16th, and on the 19th, anchored before the island, on the road to Santa Cruz. They were detained at this island about ten days ; and while some were employed in purchasing and taking in wines, with which thej T filled about sixty pipes, which they had brought for the purpose, others erected an observatory, from which they made several observations, to ascertain the exact movement of their different timekeepers, and the bear- ings of the place. But, the experiments made here with the dipping compass did not succeed at all, owing to the attraction of the iron ore, with which Teneriffe abounds. The naturalists and bot- anists made their excursions, and procured some valuable specimens of vegetable and mineral kinds. 30 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. The engineer endeavored to measure the height of the famous Peak ; but the obstinate muleteers whom he had engaged to assist him and convey his instruments, baggage, &c. frustrated his plan, by refusing to go on, and he was obliged to abandon the object, which he had nearly gained. This was playing the Frenchman rather a serious trick, and in a bad and conspicuous place. A jest of this sort could not have been borne very comfortably by one who was toiling to climb and measure the height of the Peak of Teneriffe. On the 30th of August, the frigates sailed again. La Peyrouse, intending not to touch at the Cape de Verds, on account of their un- nealthy state, aimed at making next for the Isle of La Trinidada. Soon after they left Teneriffe, the beauti- ful, clear azure of the sky seemed hid from STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 31 view by a dull, hazy whiteness, between a fog and a cloud, which puzzled them somewhat about the way ; and the trade winds obliged them to run along, a much greater distance than they had intended, parallel to the coast of Africa. The nights during this time were clear and serene, the fog^y appearance continuing only from the rising to the setting sun. On the 29th of September they crossed the equinoctial line, in the 18th degree of western longitude. Here, for some time, they were followed by man-of-war birds, in great numbers. About sunset, on the 16th of October, they came in sight of the Isle of La Trinidada. The next morning, La Peyrouse was surprised to dis- cover the Portuguese flag floating over a small fort that lay at the bottom of an inlet formed by the southeast point of the Island. 32 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER III. Visit at Trinidada. The island and its inhabitants. An- ecdote of Randolph. A tempest. Arrival and stay at St. Catharine. Departure. A storm. Search for the Isle Grande given up. On the morning of the 18th, two of the officers and a priest took the pinnace, from L'Astrolabe, and tried to go on shore ; but the surf ran so high, and the boat tossed round so helplessly, that its men must have been thrown into the sea, had it not been for the aid of the Portuguese, who, beholding their danger, from the shore, came out to their relief. x4bout two hundred men comprised this Portuguese establishment. They had come out about a year before, from Rio Janeiro, to plant themselves here ; and they still received their supplies of provisions from that place. They had formed their settlement in a hoi- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 33 low between two mountains, that spreads off into a vale about three hundred fathoms wide, on the southeast part of the island. i The object of these people seemed more a desire to keep others from occupying the spot, than any hope of reaping enjoyment? from it, for themselves; for, the soil was barren, rocky and forbidding in its aspect ; without vegeta- tion, excepting here and there a clump of shrubs, and a small patch of verdure. The Portuguese, though they had saved the lives of their visitants, did not much relish their curiosity. They would not permit them to go beyond the beach; and they were very ready to lend their assistance to the Frenchmen in getting off their boat, and in helping them safely and speedily to return to their vessel. Thus, they at once manifested their hu- manity, and their aversion to be approached, 3 34 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. and having their affairs pried into by inquisi- tive strangers. Somewhat such a spirit was once shown by the late John Randolph, of Roanoake, when a gentleman meeting him at a hotel, and wish- ing, probably, from motives of curiosity, to make his acquaintance, said to him, by way of introduction, " Sir, I have passed your fine plantation in Virginia." " Sir," replied the indignant and haughty descendant of Pocha- hontas, " You are welcome to pass it as often as you please." After this kind repulse at La Trinidada, the frigates sailed the same day to the westward, in search of the Isle of Ascension. But not being able to find the island, La Peyrouse concluded it was not in existence, yet had he taken a little different direction, he would soon have found the object of his search. On the evening of October 25th, a violent STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 35 thunder storm came on. The skies were veiled in blackness, and the atmosphere sur- rounding the frigates, seemed turned to sheets of fire to envelope them. While the thunder pealed, the lightning streamed from every point of the horizon, and the lambent flame of the will-o'-the-wisp settled on the point of the electrical con- ductor of La Bousrale, and on the mast-head of L'Astrolabe. But amid all this terrible display of the power of Him who "sitteth upon the circle of the heavens," his goodness and protection were also made manifest to those who wit- nessed it, among the restless billows, on which their ships were tossed like egg-shells to and fro, without receiving much injury, or any life being lost. After this violent tempest subsided, the weather continued stormy, and foggy till the 36 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE, The two vessels in a storm. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 37 voyagers reached St. Catharine's, near the coast of Brazil, on the 6th of November. Here they anchored in a depth of about seven fathoms of water, over a bottom of mud- dy sand, between the island and the main land. My readers must all be so familiar with the situation, form, and extent of the island of St. Catharine, as laid down in the popular geographies of the day, that it is not needful for me to go into particulars on these points. Our adventurers found the surface of the interior of the island overspread with forests of lofty evergreens, between whose trunks briars and creeping plants were thickly inter- woven with the underwood; and among these were lurking a race of serpents whose bite was certain death. In other parts of the island, fruits, corn and other vegetables were growing with great STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. luxury and abundance, almost without cultiva- tion, owing to the natural fertility of the soil. The habitations bordered the sea shore, and were surrounded by orange groves, and fra- grant shrubs of various kinds, whose golden fruits, shining blossoms, and glossy, green leaves, of a variety of forms and textures, de- lighted the eyes of the newly-come beholders, while they breathed in their balmy odors, and tasted the variety of the fruits. The first inhabitants of this island were fugitives from the Brazils. About the year 1740, the court of Lisbon formed for it a reg- ular government under which was included, also, a part of the adjacent continent. Among other novelties, our voyagers found many beautiful, and musical birds at St. Cath- arine, of which they had never heard, or seen any account. The waters around the island were thickly STORY OF LA FEYROUSE. 39 peopled with whales, and afforded an oppor- tunity of great gain to those who could have the freedom of fishing " on their own hook" But, as the whale-fishery belonged to the crown, though about four hundred whales were annually taken in these waters, the inhabitants of the island reaped little or no advantage from it. The oil, spermaceti and whalebone were all transported to Lisbon. While nature was so busy and so bountiful, on the island, man, as it is too often the case, under such circumstances, became indolent, and, of course, poor and miserable. The people of this place, finding that the generous earth would produce almost sponta- neously, wherewith to supply their wants, at least, so far as eating and drinking were con- cerned, felt little call for their own exertions ; and, consequently, sunk into that state of ease and inactivity, which is sure to paralyse the 40 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. energies of both body and mind, becoming, thereby, the mother of poverty, uselessness and unhappiness. But our adventurers were received and en- tertained with much kindness and politeness, by the governor of this place, and his people. Their stay here was prolonged beyond their expectations, on account of adverse winds ; and as all were in good health and spirits, they amused themselves by going on fowling excursions, and making observations of various kinds during the day ; and at evening they usually joined in a dance, for the sake of ex- ercise. A Frenchman, we all know, will for- sake even his country, before he will give up his dance. Provisions at St. Catharine, were found very cheap ; and the visiters availed them- selves of the opportunity of laying in a fresh store of them. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 41 A large ox might be bought for eight dollars, a stout hog for four, a pair of noble turkeys for one, and five hundred bright golden or- anges for three shillings. Before they left the island, as there was a prospect of dark, foggy weather, and a bois- terous sea to traverse, La Peyrouse gave the commander of L 9 Astrolabe a new set of sig- nals, and fixed on a certain place where they should both direct their course, so as to meet, in case of their getting separated and driven from each other on the way. Before their departure, they made up a packet of papers, letters, &c, and left them with the governor, who promised to have them forwarded to the French consul, at Lisbon, for him to send them to their home. At day-break, on the 19th of November, they weighed anchor, and bade adieu to St. Catharine, which, with all her attendant train 42 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. of islets, was far behind them, and out of sight, before the evening. For several days they had good weather; but on the 28th a violent storm came on, and the ocean threw itself up into mountains on every side. But these were far from being steadfast. They showed that He was among them, who says He will thresh the mountains till He beats them small, and make the hills fly as chaff before Him. They rolled and tumbled and dashed to- gether, only to re-collect themselves, and swell and rise with greater pride and fury. The ships were not swift sailers, to outride the storm ; but they were stanch, and they bore their beating nobly. In this instance the battle was to the strong, though the race was not to the swift. The storm abated ; and the sea, grown wea- ry with raging, became calmer. The object STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 43 of La Peyrouse was now to find the Isle Grande, of his maps ; and for some time he felt that they might be near it, as they were in the parallel of latitude wherein the isle was said to lie, and there were seen floating about the vessels, masses of sea-weed and other things, while many birds of the Albatros and Petrel kind pursued them. After standing upon different tacks, till the 24th of December, without finding the isle, they were obliged to give up the search, for fear of being too late in passing the dreaded Cape Horn. 44 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER IV. The weather. Birds shot. They pass the Straits of Magellan. Arrival at the harbor near the city of Coil' ception. Jin account of their visit at this place; its inhabitants, fyc. Departure from the city. When January came on, the weather was much like that of July, on the coast of Eu- rope. The winds, for several days, were north-east and south-west. These changes were foretold by the appearance of the sky, that looked cloudy; or the air, that became foggy, when the wind was about to veer from south-west, to west. In about two hours, the wind usually went to the north-west. For sixty-six days, there were not more than eighteen hours of easterly wind. The weather was fine and the sea smooth, and the officers, for several days in succession, sailed out in the boats, and shot STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 45 great numbers of albatrosses and petrels of various species. On the 14th of January 1786, they struck ground on the coast of Patagonia. But as the Island of Juan Fernandez was the first place at which La Peyrouse proposed stop- ping, they passed on with all possible despatch, to the Straits of Magellan ; through which they drifted on before a fresh current of wind, while they saw fires kindled on the shore by the savages, to invite them to land ; and on the 9th of February, they found themselves opposite to the western entrance of the straits, on the way to Juan Fernandez, in the South Sea. But, on looking to the state of their stores, they found it expedient to give up visiting the Island, and concluded to make for the Spanish settlement of Conception, on the coast of Chili. On the 26th, they saw the Island of Mocha, about fifty leagues from Conception, in a south- 46 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. em direction. The wind now grew adverse, strong and fickle; and, afraid of being made too much its sport, and drifted where they did not wish to be, they made for the land. They were now obliged to keep tacking, and heaving the lead, while they looked in vain through their glasses to discover the city where they wished to go. But it was not long before pilots came on board and explained the reason why they could not discover the city of Con- ception. They said the old city had been laid in ruins by an earthquake, in 1751, and that the new one was built about three leagues inland, on the banks of the river Biobio. The ruins of the old town were still to be seen, as they entered the bay, which they found a very fine harbor. The new town contained about ten thou- sand inhabitants, and was the seat of the STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 47 Bishop, and of the Major-general, commander of all the forces of the colony. It contained the Episcopal cathedral, and all the other houses for religious purposes. Except the Island of Chiloe, and a small district round Vaklivia, all the country south, from the Biobio, was inhabited by Indians, who were always at war with the Spaniards. The soil of the territory surrounding the settlement was exceedingly fertile. The plains were covered with luxurious herbage, upon which innumerable flocks and herds were feasting ; and the vineyards were fair and flourishing. The climate was found to be very healthy, and many people lived to extreme old age. In the rivers in the bishoprick of Concep- tion, small particles of gold were found. This the people obtained by taking the sand and sifting and washing it. 48 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. About two hundred thousand dollars, was the total amount of the gold, then gathered annually from the rivers within this bishoprick. The houses of the city were very simply furnished. The most valuable and splendid article of a lady's dress, here, was a plaited petticoat of gold or silver stuff, of the old- fashioned manufacture of Lyons. The city was well peopled with monks and nuns, whose religion, it would seem, did not do much towards purifying the moral atmos- phere of the place, particularly among the lower classes, as these people were dishonest, and otherwise habitually immoral. The higher classes, were more virtuous. They were fond of dancing and entertainments. Like the Chinese, the women cramped their feet with little shoes, to stint their growth. Their hair was platted in small braids, and hung down upon the back. A bodice of the STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 49 same shining stuff of the petticoat, was worn with it, and over this, a muslin cloak. On going into the streets or the fields, a woollen cloak was superadded. The females were pretty and polite. Our adventurers found that the Indians of Chili had become far more formidable foes to the Spaniards than they were, when they first planted their colony ; for the horses, sheep, oxen and other animals introduced into the country by them, had multiplied till the In- dians had become masters of them in innume- rable flocks and herds ; and they were now for ever ranging the country on horse-back, armed like the ancient Tartars, of Northern Asia, for war. On their arrival at Conception, La Pey- rouse and his band were treated with great kindness and politeness by the principal men in the place. They had scarcely anchored, 4 50 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. when they had a polite letter of welcome, ac- companied by refreshments, from M. Quexanda, who commanded the place, in the absence of the Major-general, Higgins, who was now gone out on an expedition against the Indians. The next day, the two French commanders, with several of their officers, and scientific friends, set out to visit this polite gentleman, at his house, to which they were escorted by a detachment of dragoons. As they had received invitations from oth- ers, also, they made their first stop at the house of M. Sabatero, where they found a fine dinner awaiting them, and saying as plainly as tempting looks and delicious odors could speak, "Come eat me!" In the evening they had a ball, to which all the finest ladies of the place were invited; and they danced till midnight. After this, as many of the French visiters as STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 51 the house could accommodate, went to rest in it ; and what it could not, were provided with lodging places, among the polite neighbors, where they slept, probably, as hard as they had danced ; and dreamed as fast as they slept. But they never told their dreams ; or if they did, they are not recorded ; so I cannot tell them to my readers, who can, no doubt, dream for themselves, though they may be as wise as our heroes were, and keep what they have dreamed, a secret, from the ears of others, who might not be very much entertained with the vagaries of unguided fancy, were they made known. »\ The following day, La Peyrouse visited the Bishop, and several others, with whom he was much pleased ; and soon after, when the Major- general had returned, he gave an entertain- ment, in a tent pitched by the sea side, to about a hundred and fifty gentlemen of the city 52 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. All the feasters sat at one table, and ate from wooden dishes. Messrs. La Peyrouse and De L'Angle took the head of the board, and all the others took their seats according to their rank, down to the lowest sailor. The scene was one of much merriment. All were in a full flow of spirits, and the voyagers owned themselves to feel happier, than on the day when they left Brest. The sounds of laughter and of song were wafted off by the air of the ocean, to be drowned amid the louder noise of the billows that had borne the strangers to the enjoyment of this festivity, with hearts as light as the zephyrs that fanned the canvass of their tent. The ladies were all in their best, and glit- tering dresses, on this occasion. The amuse- ment ended with a ball in the evening, at which several of the French officers appeared in masks. STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 53 Meantime, the refitting of the vessels was going on diligently ; and provisions, wood, water, and all necessaries were conveyed on board. When these preparations were all made, the crews of the two ships, asked liberty to have their day of amusement on shore, too ; a re- quest that was readily granted ; and they probably, were not less loud in their mirth, or high in the enjoyment of it, than their masters had been in theirs. Perfect harmony reigned between the colo- nists and the French, during their stay in this place, which, all being in readiness, the ships prepared to leave on the 17th of March. About noon on this day, they left the har- bor, with a light breeze, and bid good-by to the city of Conception, 54 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER V. Sport of the whales. Easter Island. The natives. The place. Thefts of the Indians. Vegetable productions. Statues. The buryitig-ground. Jl native's belief. Departure from the Island. They had not sailed many leagues, before they were becalmed ; and at night they were surrounded by a troop of whales, who finding the frigates rolling idly in their element, came round them and gave them a shower-bath, by throwing water all over them, through their spiracles. But, whether this sprinkling was an act of honor or of insult, has never yet been made known. At any rate, it was as good sport for these huge children of the sea, as the ballet- dance had been for the light-hearted', light- footed Frenchmen in their masks. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 55 For several days, the wind shifted and whiffled about incessantly, so that there was little headway made by the vessels. On the 8th of April, they came within sight of Easter Island ; but the winds worked against them, so that they could not make the island till early the next day, when they steered for Cook's Bay, — the best shelter from the east winds, which the island afforded. The islanders saw their approach, and came out in their canoes to meet them. The harbor, though a good one when gained, was very difficult of access. The ships, after doubling two large rocks at the southern point of the island, coasted along not within a mile of the shore, till they came in sight of a sandy creek for which they made, and found a good anchorage. The next morning, the people of the fri- gates made as much parade as possible, in 56 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. order to awe the natives, and make them afraid of practising any hostilities, should they have any intentions of committing violence, on their landing ; for they came flocking to the shore in such crowds to meet them, that the Frenchmen began to doubt a little con- cerning their own safety. The throng of Indians that came to the beach to meet the visiters, amounted, at first, to four or five hundred ; and the number kept constantly increasing. Some of them were dressed in a kind of bark cloth, of a yellowish color, some were half naked, and others wholly unclad. Their faces were tattooed, and painted in various colors and figures ; and all, as far as their expression could be discerned through this disguise, seemed lighted with savage joy at the approach of the strangers. But, this joy was far from being the off- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 57 spring of any feeling of hospitality, or bro- therly love. It sprang from the hope of an opportunity to better themselves, by robbing, or pilfering from the visiters. La Pey rouse and his company did not in- tend passing more than eight or ten hours on the island ; so they pitched their tent on the first good spot they came to, and some stayed to guard it, while others went farther into the interior of the isle, to see what was to be found there. But scarcely had they arrived on shore, before they learned that they had got among as artful and thievish a race as ever existed in any country. The tent was guarded by armed soldiers, but even these could not keep the natives from pillaging many things ; and so artful were they, that they would set their women and children to caressing and amusing the 58 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Frenchmen, while the men robbed them of their hats, handkerchiefs, and whatever they could lay their hands on. Those who went to visit the interior were obliged to make themselves the centre of a circle of armed men, who, as they had been directed not to fire, except to save life, found it impossible to keep the crowd of surrounding savages off, notwithstanding the use they made of the butt end of their muskets, in trying to repel them. The Indians had, too, a very laughable way of doing their thefts and robbery. There were among them, certain men who appeared to be chiefs ; and, when one of the inferiors had stolen, or taken an article openly from the French, these chiefs would start off, pretending to call the offender back, to restore what had been seized, to its owner ; but in reality, only to give him a chance of escape. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 59 La Peyrouse made them many presents, with which they seemed delighted; but while in the act of receiving them, they were con- triving some way to steal more. Yet they wore the appearance of great kindness; and tried to assist the adventurers, as far as possible, in their researches. While one of them was helping La Peyrouse down from a terrace, he stole the hat from his head and made away with it. They seemed to be a perfect band of Judases, in many respects. The island was found to have no wood- land, and to be destitute of springs of fresh water. The outskirts were overspread with good herbage ; but the other parts seemed to be hills of volcanic matter, which showed that in other days there had been frequent and violent eruptions, though they now seemed to have ceased. There was but very little cultivated land, 60 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. and the rest of the earth was overspread with volcanic stones. A few mulberry trees were growing here and there, in a stinted state, and not more than three or four feet high. Of the bark of this tree, the natives made their cloth. The vegetables which they cultivated for their support, were yams, bananas, and pota- toes ; but, as they had no utensils for cooking, the way in which they made these eatable, was, to put them in an enclosure, or cell, lined with stones in the earth, which was heated, and the vegetables put in, and covered with heated stones, till they were roasted. The islanders, about two thousand in num- ber, appeared to be separated into small com- munities, each company occupying one habi- tation, and cultivating their own patch of ground. Their houses were formed like an inverted STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 61 canoe ; and measured, some of them, three hundred and ten feet in length, only ten feet in width, and, at the highest part, the middle, about ten feet in height. The pillars and supporters of these dwel- lings were lava, cut out and fashioned so as to form the sides of the house, and support the roof. The open parts in the sides were niied up with reeds, so closely interwoven as to keep out the rain ; and holes were bored in the pillars, where poles were inserted, to form the roof. Then, a thick thatch of reeds was laid on, to form the covering. The canoes of the Ester islanders were, in consequence of the scarcity of trees, and their stinted growth, very small and few in number. But the natives, who seemed to have learned well the way of making shift, dexterously, had a manner of transporting themselves great distances, independently of sail or skiff. 62 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. They loved the water, and were great swimmers. They would dash themselves into the sea, for a frolic, when the surf ran the highest, and play about like fishes, after swimming miles, with great ease. For want of fresh water to slake their thirst, they would sometimes, like the alba- tross, drink that of the ocean. At the south end of the island, our adven- turers found an extinguished volcano, of very curious appearance. It was in form, a trun- cated cone, inverted ; its top being wider than the lower part. One side of the cone, from the top down- wards, to a considerable length, was broken away ; and the stones, lava, &c. intermixed with particles of earth, as they fell towards the sea, were overgrown with grass, up to the cone, which had become almost covered by it. The base of this cone formed a perfect STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 63 circle. The ground was marshy, and had many large pools of fresh water around it. The earth of the island sloped up from the sea-beach in a gradual acclivity, to the height of about eight hundred feet, to the base of the interior hills. All the earth, even to the hill-tops, was covered with a coarse kind of grass, but no wild shrub except the mimosa was inter- spersed with it. Sugar-cane, and a small kind of grape that ran upon the rocks, were raised, in addition to the produce already mentioned. The banana and mulberry plantations were on the borders of the marshy ground. The fields were of an oblong square. The way in which the islanders planted, was by making holes in the earth with a stake, and dropping in the seed-fruits. They had no domestic animals, and did not 64 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. seem to need any, as their way of cultivating whereon to subsist, was very easy and simple; and this appeared to be the chief end for which they lived. The island manifested strong marks of hav- ing been once inhabited by a more numerous race of people, and one which was skilled in the works of art, and capable of great designs. There were remains of strong terraces, on which were supported huge statues, and gi- gantic busts of human figures, which seemed to be either the monuments of ancestors, or statues of some heathen deities. One of these statues measured fourteen feet in height, over seven in breadth, across the shoulders, and so on in proportion, through all its parts. Whatever might have been the object for which these statues were raised, whether in honor of the dead, or of their gods, they could STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 65 not have been erected by the people then on the island ; for, they, having their dead all deposited in one common burying-ground, were contented with erecting small pyramids of stone over the deceased, which being white-washed at its top, seemed to satisfy the people as well as the most costly monument. In a walk to this cemetery, with some of the natives, La Peyrouse was surprised at the sudden gesticulations of one of them, who, throwing himself upon the earth, and stretch- ing himself out, as dead, pointed to the skies, and tried to express as well as he could by signs, his belief that when the body should be dead, the soul would rise and live in a higher and happier world. Before they left the island, the French visiters gave several sorts of animals, such as goats, sheep, hogs and fowls to the natives ; and planted many kinds of seeds and fruits to 66 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. spring up and flourish, if they could, when the planters should be far away. In the evening of the same day in which they landed, the 9th of April, 1786, they returned on board their ships. The next morning, they sailed, and before afternoon, they were out of sight of Easter island and its strange inhabitants ; leaving time to prove whether the seeds they had planted should spring up, or not, and how the different races of the animals they had left might flourish. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 67 CHAPTER VI. Passage to the Sandwich Islands. Arrival. The hogs thrown into the water. The Indians. The island. Departure from Moree. The next direct object which the voyagers had in view, was, to explore the northwest coast of America, intending, meantime, to make all the discoveries, and spy out what they could, on the way. A particular detail of all the shifting of the winds, and tacking of the vessels, till they reached the Sandwich Islands, would not be of much interest or importance here ; so we will pass them over. But the kind-hearted reader will be gratified to learn, that all hands on board both vessels continued in perfect health ; and that they were surrounded, oftentimes, by shoals of bonetas, 68 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. of which they caught enough to supply tnem- selves with fresh food, most of the way, on their six-weeks' run. A great many man-of-war birds, petrels, and other sea-birds, also hovered round them, as they traversed these unknown seas, till on a certain day, when these feathered children of the tropical clime suddenly took their leave. It was supposed that the vessels had come near some rocky uninhabited island that might be their haunt, or dwelling-place, without noticing it. On the 28th of May, they came in sight of Owyhee, with the tops of its mountains capped with snow. The hills of Moree soon after appeared in view, rising and looking grand in their own sphere, but shrinking and diminutive when beheld by the same eye, that reached to the tops of the neighboring mountains on the other island. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 69 Just so it is with the things of this world in general. Greatness is relative or compara- tive in all persons, places and things. If any of my young friends chance to meet with some disappointment or cross to their wishes and hopes, and think it a very great one, let them fancy to themselves some other loss, cross or affliction, and see if the present one will not diminish in magnitude, and seem to be very slight, compared to what might have befallen them. And if they would have some image by which to foster the idea in their minds, let them think of the hills of Moree, that would have seemed great and majestic to the approaching strangers, had not the mountains of Owyhee stood up beside them. It was the intention of La Peyrouse to an- chor near Morokinne, to the leeward of Mo- ree ; and as they ran along with this purpose, 70 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. between the two islands, the Indians, who had already marked the approach of the ves- sels, manned about an hundred and fifty ca- noes, and came out to meet them, with fruits and hogs, to traffic with the Europeans, for iron. But a sad disappointment awaited both Frenchman and Indian, at this moment; the former in securing their pork, the latter in his purchase of iron. The frigates could not shorten sail so as to be reached by the canoes, so soon as to prevent their being tossed about and upset by the surf ; and, out went Indians, pigs, fruits and all, into the sea, which boiled like a pot. It is probable that a greater number of swine were, on this occasion, cast into the deep, than of old, ran down the hill of Pales- tine into the sea, when the demons that had been dispelled from man, took upon them- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 71 selves the less dignified forms of that race, whose unrefined practice it is, to return, after being washed, to their " wallowing in the mire ; " for of all the quadrupeds that peopled the hundred and fifty canoes, only about fif- teen reached the frigates. But the Indians had no idea of letting their hogs go at such a market as this. Each man dashed about in the water, till he caught a pig, which he hugged with one arm, while he man- aged to get an empty canoe tipped bottom up- wards, over his shoulders, and in this way, swam, like a fish, to the shore, conveying both his vessel and its freight, to the land they had a short time before left, with quite a different mode of navigation. The frigates made sure of a comfortable harbor, and anchored near the island : but it was by this time too near night for the people to go on shore from them. 72 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE Canoes overset round the vessels. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 73 The appearance of the Island of Moree, as the strangers approached it, and landed on it, on the 22d of May, 1786, was very delightful. From the sea-beach, an inclined plain cov- ered with verdure, stretched gradually to the base of the interior hills, that towering one above another, showed their green sides, spark- ling with the pure crystal streams of fresh water that gushed from them in various di- rections ; and which, after leaping over the barriers, they met in shining cascades, flow T ed down to water the plantations, and then took their leave of the earth, to mingle with the waves of the ocean. It was early in the morning when the French landed, going on shore in boats. About an hundred and twenty of the na- tives, of both sexes, awaited their approach, on the beach ; and though the strangers made much parade in forming a guard of soldiers, 74 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. with bayonets and other arms made ready to protect them, these unsuspecting and gentle savages manifested neither fear, surprise or suspicion. Two of them, who appeared to be chiefs, addressed the strangers in a long, grave speech (which they, of course, understood about as well as they would have understood the chattering of the monkeys in the forest), and then offered each a present of a hog. The squealing gifts were graciously accept- ed by the polite sons of France, and liberal bestowments of medals, hatchets, and other pieces of iron, made in return. The Frenchmen showed off, I suppose, many of their polite airs and graces in accept- ing these living donations, which, however, they only received for the purpose of putting them to death. The habitations on the island were very STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 75 thick and numerous, and surrounded with banana trees of a most luxurious growth. These houses were low, straw r -built huts, similar to those of the poorest peasants in France. The roof sloped down on each side, the door was in the gable end, and the floor was formed of kind of curiously woven mat- ting. The door was so low that one must stoop to enter it. The calabash shell was one of the principal articles of kitchen furniture, in these simple dwellings. Hogs, bananas and potatoes were the chief articles which the husbandmen cultivated for their subsistence. Of the bark of the mul- bery tree they manufactured their cloth. By the kindness of European visiters, who had from time to time come to this island, many domestic animals, such as cattle, goats and sheep had been introduced, and several 76 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. sorts of trees and plants scattered abroad in the land. In their intercourse with the French, the islanders manifested much gentleness, good nature, honesty, and sagacious caution. La Peyrouse, during his short stay among them, could hardly believe them capable of what they have been accused of doing, by other travellers ; though it has been but too clearly proved, that they were in the habit of making human sacrifices to their gods, and of feeding on the flesh of man. But the acquaintance of La Peyrouse with these people was very short. He and his com- pany, after spending but a few hours among them, returned in their boats to the ships. They found, that, during their absence, an Indian chief had visited the vessels, and sold to those on board, a cloak and helmet gaily decorated with red feathers, and several STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 77 kinds of provisions, and implements of the island. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the ships weighed anchor, and bore away the four-footed natives of the island, who, from that moment might have said, with the late celebrated British poet, " My native land, good night ! " for it was not long, before the want of water and other suitable provisions, obliged their owners to kill them, and put them in a less copious,, but a stronger pickle than the one they had fallen into from the canoes. 78 STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER VII. The ships steer northward. A mill made. Signs of the JY. W. coast appear. The arrival. View of the coast. The ships anchor near the coast. Adventures here. JYatives seen. The prows of our gallant frigates were now pointed northward; but the winds seemed to be in a chase from one direction to another, and owing to their inconstancy, the weather was, of course, very fickle in its appearance, and the manifestations of its favors. Thick fogs began to envelop the vessels ; and long, drizzling rains came down upon them ; so that La Peyrouse began to fear for the health of his men, confined as they were, in constantly wet vessels. He therefore had stoves set under the half- decks and between the decks of the ships, STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. 79 which he ordered to be kept filled with live coals, to counteract the dampness ; and he also gave to each sailor and soldier, a new pair of boots, and the flannels that he had made them put off, after leaving the seas in the neighborhood of old Cape Horn. At the suggestion of the physician, he had the additional preventive of a slight infusion of Peruvian bark secretly mingled with the drink which the men took with their break- fast ; and all these precautions had a very salutary effect. They had now to undertake a new kind of business, for all hands on board the frigates, except one, who had once been a miller's boy ; and this was, converting grain into meal, after a suitable mill had been erected for the purpose. In taking in their stores, instead of furnish- ing themselves with flour and biscuit, they 80 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. had only laid in a supply of grain which they had hitherto ground into a coarse meal, by an instrument similar to that called the quern, which the Scotch Highlanders use, for the same purpose. But this was too slow and laborious a way for the quick-motioned Frenchmen to get their grists ground ; so, one, more full of mechan- ical ingenuity than the rest, set himself about inventing, and erecting, with suitable aid, a kind of windmill, on deck, which succeeded admirably ; and the grain ground in it, became quite a delicate kind of flour, compared to the coarse, branny stuff they had hitherto had to eat. The sun now began to dispel the mistiness in the atmosphere, after having absented his cheering face so long, that the voyagers had ample opportunity of remarking, what fogs, fickle winds, and drizzling rains were to be STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 81 met with by the navigator of the waters they were crossing, on the road to the north-west coast of America, which they were now ap- proaching. They advanced to that part of the coast, which, with the exception of Nootka, had merely been seen, but not explored, by Com- modore Cook ; and the first, and most useful enterprise, they felt, was, to explore the tract between Mount St. Elias, and Port Monteroy. As they proceeded northward, the first sign of the coast being near, was given them by a variety of weeds and grass, floating on the surface of the water. Many of these welcome members of the vegetable family, were entire strangers to their beholders. One among them had a stalk of immense length, topped off with a seed-vessel, somewhat like the head of an onion, and as large as a full-grown orange. 6 82 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Whales, divers, and flocks of wild geese also came around the vessels; and on the fol- lowing morning, the fog was so far cleared away, that the eyes of the adventurers were greeted by the view of a long range of snow- capped mountains rising towards the clouds ; and among them, the lofty head of Mount St. Elias stood pre-eminent, with its summit lost in a mass of clouds, above whose appointed place in the regions of air, it had proudly aspired to rise. The joy which must, in ordinary cases, fill the breast of every one, on the first view of land, after having been so long as these men had, tossing on the open ocean, was in this instance damped by the cheerless, barren and rugged appearance of the coast before them. The land, as they beheld it in the distance, presented, fi/st, these snowy mountains, and then, a gradual slope, to the sea-side, where STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 83 it was bordered by immense piles of black rocks, against which the waves dashed and foamed with great fury. But approaching nearer, the voyagers dis- covered many islands, rising like hills, and covered with green trees. The wind, how- ever, by suddenly changing and bringing on thick, dark weather, prevented their taking so good a survey of the coast in this part, as they intended. On the morning of the 26th, they had fair skies again, and saw with a clear view, the coast, as it lay before them in all its irregu- larities and windings. In front of the moun- tains was a broad tract of land, a point of which was covered with trees, thickly set, and extended so far into the sea, that it was at first taken for an island, cut off from the main land, by some narrow arm of the ocean ; but on nearer inspection, it was discovered to belong to the main land. 84 STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. They made for this point, and after sound- ing for some time, came to anchor. After this, they sent out men in the boats, to try to discover the channel that they supposed di- vided this point from the continent. It was afternoon when these men went out, and as the weather grew thick, they were for some time so far from sight, that fears were enter- tained for their safety. They soon returned, however, without any disaster, and reported that there was no sepa- ration between the woody point and the main land. They had found the wood drifting about so thick along the shore as to make it difficult to land. A formidable army these innumerable logs of all sizes must have made, when tossed and rolled to and fro, by the billows, that raged with great violence. The people in the boats, surrounded by such a restless thicket STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 85 of trees, on so treacherous a foundation as the heaving ocean, must have felt no small alarm, lest some unfortunate dash against their light barks, should make them feel worse than the frogs in the fable did, when they asked for another king, and a log was sent to rule over them. The French officer who had taken the lead and the command of the boats in this enter- prise, was M. De Monti ; La Peyrouse, there- fore, in compliment to him, named the creek where he had been in such peril from the logs, "De MontPs Bay." It was evening when the boats returned. The frigates then weighed anchor, and ran along to the south-east, before a brisk breeze. For twenty-four hours, the wind was strong and steady. After this, the coast was overhung by a dense fog. On the 28th of June, they were 86 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. about three leagues from land, and over a muddy bottom. They now supposed themselves to be about five or six leagues to the south from Bhering's Bay, and set sail for the land. But they soon perceived, that what they had taken for a bay, was only an abrupt meeting of high and l^v lands on the coast, which was made visible by their nearer ap- proach. Here they cast anchor, and prepared the two boats of the frigates, to go out under the command of Messrs. De Clonard and Mar- chainville, to explore the coast, and see what discoveries they could make. They soon returned, and said they had found what seemed to them to be the mouth of an immensely wide river, which emptied itself into the ocean by two channels ; but at this mouth was a high sand-bank which STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. ?7 prevented them from passing up into the river. Beyond the sandy barrier, they saw a smooth basin of water, for some distance, and by a smoke that rose here and there, on the shore, beyond the bar, they presumed the land was inhabited by human beings. But what they took for a river, La Pey- rouse afterwards perceived to be a bay, and he supposed it to be the Bhering's Bay, of Cook. To take a nearer view of this scene, the two frigates sailed along to the distance of three leagues from it ; and with the aid of their glasses, the voyagers could plainly see people on shore, though the place rendered it impossible for them to land. 88 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER VIII. The ships pass Cape Fairweather. They enter a bay. Landing on the island. The natives. A tomb. Thefts of the Indians. One of their games. Vegetable, ani- mal and mineral productions of the region. On the 2d of July, our adventurers found themselves opposite Mount Fairweather, at two leagues distance from the land. The same day, they discovered a place where the coast receded eastward from Cape Fairweath- er, so as to form a quiet bay of the waters that were shut in by large reefs of rocks, and lay calmly sleeping, while the tumultous billows of the ocean were raging and foaming without the barrier. The inlet to this bay was by a break in the reefs near the sea. The bay was of a depth of 10 or 12 fathoms, and it had a safe bottom. So, into it did La Peyrouse resolve to conduct the frigates. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 89 At seven o'clock in the evening, the ships were before the inlet, but an ebbing tide and a strong current opposing them, overcame their efforts, and they could not advance ; neither did they anchor during the night. In the morning they renewed their attempts to enter the bay. A flowing tide now carried them at full speed, into the basin; and forced them on, till both frigates were within half a pistol-shot of the reef of rocks, on which, had they gone a little farther, they must have struck, and been dashed in pieces " like a potter's vessel." 9 One of the ships just grazed some of the rocks with her keel, but without injury. La Peyrouse said, that in all his thirty years of experience, in navigation, he had never known vessels in so great danger, and escape from it so well. At the bottom of the bay the adventurers 90 STORY OF LA PEYEOUSE. discovered an island, near which they anchored upon a muddy bottom. On the island they found a large quantity of wood, cut and carelessly scattered along the ground. Beyond the island, they saw the sur- face of the sea overspread with large blocks of ice, and the entrances of the two channels were seen at a distance. L'Astrolabe went into this port very smooth- ly, but La Boussole was warped in upon the sand-bed. This term, which seems to belong- to the sailor as well as the weaver, is an ex- pression of the former, meaning that the ves- sel is forced out of her course, against the will and efforts of the steersman. As these adventurers were the first discov- erers of this bay, La Peyrouse gave it the name of Port de Frangois, On the adjacent continent they found many savage tribes, whose novel appearance, and STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 91 untutored ways afforded the visiters much amusement, and opportunity of speculation. They seemed to be worshippers of the sun, by what the strangers could learn from their tones and gestures ; and in all their most solemn transactions they mingled with their long, grave speeches, short and melancholy strains of vocal music, similar to the sweet and plaintive sounds which Christians employ in singing psalms. But, as the manners, personal appearance, and mode of living of the native tribes in this region, have been particularly described in another work belonging to the Parley Li- brary, I will refer my young readers to that book, which is "The Captive of Nootka," and only detain them to state a few things which John R. Jewitt did not relate in his narrative, or which belonged to some tribe which he did not meet with ; and to tell how 92 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. these savages treated their benevolent visiters, the Frenchmen. The savages had on this part of the coast a few half-covered sheds, which were under- stood by their visiters to be a temporary resi- dence, while their more permanent one was farther into the interior of the continent. One tomb was here seen, which showed that these natives were in the habit of burn- ing their dead, all except the head, which was carefully wrapt in skins and placed within a rude box or coffin, with the ashes of the body to which it had belonged. As a monument, a small wooden chamber was raised on four poles, and in this chamber the coffin, with the remains, was deposited. The Frenchmen found these native Ameri- cans not very polite, or honest people ; for, while in the act of bestowing presents, and showing kindness to them, they were robbed STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 93 by the ungrateful savages of every thing it was possible to take. If they went on shore, whole throngs would beset and surround them, taking from them every valuable article they had about them. They found themselves among a people who could behold distress without pity, and com- mit robbery without remorse. Every thing within and about the dwellings of these natives was unclean and disgusting to the sight of the new comers ; and their odd fancies about dress, particularly that of the head, often made their appearance shockingly grotesque. Instead of the hat of plaited matting which they usually wore, they sometimes put on a two-horned cap of eagle's feathers ; and some- times a whole bear's head, with a sort of skull- cap of wood fastened to it, and made to fit on the head of the wearer. 94 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Frenchmen among the natives. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 161 the country around, appeared to have had a strong fortress once built upon it. But this fortress had sunk in ruins, and a church had been erected in its stead. The land-side of the Portuguese possession here, was defended by two citadels, the one of forty, the other of thirty guns. 11 162 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER XV. Macao. Its inhabitants, government, fye. A Chinese cheat detected. Departure from Macao. Marivelle. Its odd looking village. Condition of the place. An- telopes, birds, fyc. Departure. Ji bad pilot. Arrival at Cavite. The whole population of Macao was about twenty thousand souls. Of these, about one hundred were of Portuguese birth ; about two thousand Portuguese Indians, two thousand Caffre slaves, domestic servants of the Por- tuguese ; and the rest, Chinese artisans and merchants. The artisans were rendered necessary by a strange kind of pride which prevailed among the Portuguese, teaching them rather to be willing to starve or to beg, than to employ themselves at any mechanic's business. The extent of the Portuguese domain, here, STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 163 did not reach a league from the city. It was bounded at a distance by a wall, guarded by a Chinese mandarin, and a band of soldiers. Macao was honored with occasional visits from his Eminence, the mandarin, who ex- pected the Portuguese to hail his approach with a stout firing of guns. But he would never sleep within the walls of the city. The Portuguese garrison consisted of about one hundred and eighty sea-poys, and a hun- dred and twenty militia. The soldiers were armed with staves, and the officers wore swords ; yet they did not dare to draw upon a Chinese ; for had they found one, even breaking into their houses, and given him a fatal thrust, the man who did it would have been taken without an opportunity of defence, and carried before the Chinese governor, who would have caused him to be hanged in the market place. 164 STORY OF LA FEYROUSE. The city of Macao was pleasant in its ap- pearance, having a great many fine houses, the handsomest of which were occupied by Euro- pean gentlemen, who were there for business. The French adventurers found that the price of furs had greatly fallen in this place, and that some shrewd Portuguese merchants wished to take advantage of them, in a bar- gain for what they had brought ; so they de- termined to deposit them under the care of their Portuguese friend, to be sold, and the avails remitted to them, when a better price might be offered. The Chinese mandarin charged nothing for the frigates lying in his waters, in the road of Typa, but he resolved to get his pay in another and a more artful way. He conspired with the purveyor, who was engaged to supply the French with provisions, to charge them three times as much as they cost; and the profits STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 165 were to be equally divided between himself and the government. This cheat was carried on for about a week, when the French, detecting the imposture, dismissed the Chinese purveyor, not much to the satisfaction of the mandarin, and his fel- low knave ; and sent their own commissary to market daily, for their provisions, which, pro- cured in this way, made their expenses, for a month, not so great as they had been for the first week. Having fulfilled all the purposes of their visit at Macao, they took on board six Chi- nese sailors, to fill the places of the unfor- tunate men who had been lost with the boats, and on the 8th of February, set sail from the road of Typa. Variable winds caused their course and their speed to be variable for some days. On the 15th they reached the island of Laconia; but 166 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. did not here fall in with the monsoons, as they had expected. They came in sight of many places, and missed many that were laid down upon their maps. Sailing along the coast, they saw some vessels in the port of Santa Cruz, which they supposed were taking in rice for China. On the 21 st they tried to enter the channel between Marivelle and Monta, bat they failed in this attempt and were obliged to anchor in the port of Marivelle. Their short stay in this port, for replenishing their stock of wood and water, gave them an opportunity of seeing what was on and about the island. Among the rocks along the shore, they picked up a great many curious shells, and among them some fine specimens of a kind which is called thorny ivood-cock. They tried to fish, but found the coast too rocky to be able to haul in their lines. STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 167 The village, as they went on shore, pre- sented a picture very odd, and altogether novel in its appearance. It consisted of about forty houses, that looked more like large bird cages than human habitations. They were raised on a foundation that rose four or five feet above the ground; the sides were constructed with bamboo, the roofs were covered with leaves. So very light were these materials, that a whole house was supposed to weigh not more than two hundred pounds. Their floors, like their walls, were of bamboo. These buildings, that seemed suspended in the air, were entered by ladders. How they might be able to stand a high gust of wind, we have not been informed ; but it seems very clear that had one of them been puffed from off its foundation by a strong breeze, its in- habitants, though they might be thrown into higher regions, would have no broken bones 168 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. from the timber of their houses falling on them. In front of the principal street, there stood a large but ruined edifice of hewn stone, with two brass guns at its windows. This build- ing had formerly been appropriated to the several purposes of, a dwelling for the curate, a church for his parishioners, and a fort for the defence of the town. But in the year 1780, the place was in- vaded by the Moors from the isles south of the Philippines, who had sacked the town, burning the buildings, demolishing the fortress, and carrying away the inhabitants to be sold for slaves. The small number who now composed the whole population were kept constantly in fear of the Moorish pirates, who terrified them so much at their approach, that they would fly from their homes in great trepidation, and hide themselves in the woods. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 1G9 Their trading boats were ever in danger of being seized by the Moors, whose piratical skiffs were so light and so fleet, that no fu- gitive could outsail, and no enemy overtake them. The only inhabitant of the large build- ing was now, the curate, a young mulatto Indian, whose whole household furniture con- sisted in a few earthen pots and a paltry bed, and whose parish comprised about two hun- dred people. The officer next in authority, among these Indian villages, was one called alcalde ; and he was the only man who had the privilege of carrying a silver-headed cane. With this shining signal of his power, the Indian officer walked with great dignity among his inferiors, who held him in such respect that they did not dare to sell even the smallest article to the French, without first asking, and gaining his consent. He was also the sole vender of 170 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. tobacco, which he sold for the benefit of the government. Owing to the ravages of the Moors, and the constant awe in which they kept the people of this place, the whole colony was in a decayed and impoverished condition. One young ox, a small hog, and about a dozen fowls, were the only provisions the French were able to obtain here. The Indian curate showed them some beau- tiful antelopes, which he said were to be sent as a present to the governor of Manilla. They were about as large as rabbits, and the male and female were perfect miniatures of the stag and hind. The voyagers spent nearly a day on the island, during which time they examined some parts of the interior, and made their observa- tions on whatever met their view. They saw in the woods many very beautiful STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 171 birds, whose shining plumage and brilliant colors filled them with admiration. But they could not go far into the forests on account of the tangled twining shrubs that filled the spaces between the trunks of the trees ; and showed them, that though these wilds might be accessible to the hardy Indian, they were yet forbidden ground to the tutored foot of the polished Frenchman. They purchased at the village some turtle- doves of a very curious kind, called the stabbed turtle-dove, in consequence of a spot upon the breast of each, which looked exactly like the mark of a cut from a knife. When their researches on the island were finished, they returned to their ships. They then engaged an old Indian pilot whom they found on board a Spanish vessel, then lying in the port ; and agreed with him to conduct them to Cavite, for the price of fifteen piastres. 172 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. At daybreak on the 25th, they sailed, but they soon found that their new pilot was run- ning them very wide of their intended course, and that their wisest way was to dismiss him, and trust to their own charts, as he had nearly caused them to run aground on St. Nicholas' Bank, and they had come very nigh suffering the fatal consequences of having the blind lead the blind, before they found out what sort of a guide they had employed. With their own skilful management, they found themselves on the 28th, in the Bay of Manilla, and anchored in the port of Cavite, at about two cables' length from the town. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 173 CHAPTER XVI. Visit to Manilla. Cavite. Manilla. Luconia. Several other islands. Sickness of the French at Manilla. Chinese sailors shipped. Departure from Cavite. Ap- proach to Formosa. The bay of Fort Zealand seen. Our French friends had been but a very short time in the port, when an officer of high rank came to invite them to Manilla. But the good situation of the ships in the harbor, induced La Pey rouse to decline the invitation to remove them. He soon went with some of his company to Manilla, to visit the governor, who received them with great hospitality, and sent orders to Cavite, to have every liberty granted to the French, in coming on shore, and to have them supplied with all the things they should wish to obtain, without any restrictions. 174 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. He entertained them with a sumptuous dinner, and sent the captain of his guards to conduct them to the houses of the archbishop and other principal officers of the government whose places of residence were all at Manilla. The weather was now extremely hot, but the politeness of a French merchant who re- sided in the place, induced him to send his carriage for the use of the strangers in making their several visits, and thus saved them from being sun-struck ; or, as the French express it, from un coup de soliel. As they had now an open intercourse with the shore, they found the inhabitants of Cavite very obliging and hospitable ; and had houses offered for their use, while they repaired their rigging, built two boats, and carried on all the business necessary for effecting their object while in port, and for their convenience and comfort when they should sail again. They STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 175 had good lodgings offered for their people who wished to remain on shore, and all sorts of provisions furnished with great readiness. Cavite, though the capital of the Spanish province, looked to the visiters in a ruinous state. Its inhabitants were now, three or four principal officers, and about one hundred and fifty soldiers, with officers to command them as a garrison ; and all the rest, to the amount of four thousand, were made up of mulattoes and Indians, who lived partly in the city, and partly in the suburbs of St. Roch. There were here, three convents, each oc- cupied by two Roman Catholic priests. The abundance with which the country yielded its fruits almost spontaneously, led many to in- dulge in extreme indolence ; and making their piety an excuse for this indulgence, they re- paired in great numbers to the convents, to 176 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. waste away their lives in uselessness and in- activity. The city of Manilla, lying about three leagues from Cavite, and very large in its extent, contained about thirty-eight thousand inhabitants. Of these, not more than twelve thousand were Spaniards, the others were mulattoes, Chinese, and Indians. Among the Spanish, even the poorest family kept a car- riage. The city of Manilla stands on the border of the bay which bears its name. A beautiful river which flows by it, and empties into the bay, is navigable up as far as the lake of Bahia. Upon the borders of this river which sends out its arms in several directions, before its two principal channels reach the bay, the habitations of the peasantry were seen em- bosomed in trees, where all was luxuriance STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 177 and fertility ; while their owners had an air of careless ease which showed that but very little of the sweat of the brow was spent in earning their bread. Yet, notwithstanding all the liberality of nature, here, the Spanish did not seem to un- derstand how to turn her gifts to the best advantage. Their government was not such as to incite its subjects to activity, by reward- ing them with a generous profit for their labors. Even the very vices of the enslaved Indians, seemed to result from the ill-judged proceedings of their Spanish lords. The hope of gaining gold, first led the Spaniards to plant themselves on the Philip- pine isles, and to seek the subjugation of the natives, to new lords and new laws. But as they succeeded much sooner in gain- ing power, than in gathering gold, superstition next came in for her reign ; and their attention 12 178 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. was turned to the conversion of the native In- dians to the Catholic faith. Hosts of them were then brought in, under the ecclesiastical sway, and the temporal con- sequences were such as have already been alluded to ; but how much better they were fitted for eternity, by this conversion ; how much better they were fitted to do good on earth, and to work out their own salva- tion with fear and trembling, eternity will prove. The people of Manilla, and all the Philip- pine isles showed such an immoderate love of tobacco, that scarcely a man, woman or child was to be seen without a leading-star of fire upon a cigar that projected from the mouth. La Peyrouse and his company explored the neighboring isles, and found many curiosities, and made many useful observations. At Lu- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 179 conia they found that cotton, indigo and sugar- cane grew in great abundance, spontaneously. Many spices were cultivated here. But neither spice, nor any other production could rival the darling plant, tobacco, in the estimation of the islanders. Every peasant cultivated this favorite, about his habitation, and great exports were made of it, through the market of Manilla, to every part of India. Some scattering Spanish settlements were found on the islands that lie to the south of Luconia, but these were far from being opu- lent or flourishing. The inhabitants of the islands of Mindanao, Panay, and Mindooro, were Malays, whose piracies were extremely troublesome to the Spaniards and their Indian subjects. A band of piratical savages must be no very desirable neighbors to any people, especially, 180 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. when their robberies are committed as these were, by taking human captives and selling them for slaves. The climate of Manilla was by far less kind to the strangers than the inhabitants were, for a great many of the men fell sick, and one died when he had been there about twenty- five days. One gentleman suffered so much from illness, that he left the frigate and em- barked on board an armed ship that arrived just before in company with another, destined to the Isle of France, just as the frigates were in readiness to sail. From these vessels La Peyrouse received several officers and men, who engaged to sup- ply the places of those who had perished off Port de Frangais. When the frigates were near their depart- ure, the gentlemen at Manilla with whom La Peyrouse and his company had made acquaint- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 181 ance, bestowed on them many valuable pres- ents, and added many things to their cabinet of curiosities. They exchanged mutual good wishes, and when an affectionate farewell had been taken, the French left the port of Cavite, and put to sea again, on the 9th of April, with a fine breeze, which soon helped them on to the northward of the island of Luconia. On the 21st, they reached the island of Formosa. The next day, they were about three leagues distant from Lamay island, which is at the south-west point of Formosa. The sea here rolled very high, and the billows were in great commotion. La Peyrouse thought they could more easily steer north- ward, by approaching a little nearer to the Chinese coast. In attempting to do this, they got upon so shallow a water that they feared sand-banks 182 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. would next arrest them ; so they tacked and made again towards Formosa. This was in the night ; and finding that the soundings still indicated an irregular bottom, they thought the safest way to avoid the humps and bumps, and not to get into a worse condition, would be to anchor till morning. In the morning, they saw no breakers around them, and again took the course towards the continent of China. The water was some- times deep and sometimes shallow, as they proceeded for a great distance, and they found it was an immense sand-bank over which they were trying to pass, and which they at length made out to clear. They were now carried towards the bay of old Fort Zealand, on which at this time stood the city of Taywan, capital of the island. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 183 CHAPTER XVII. War at Formosa. Chinese fishermen hailed. They can- not make themselves understood. The armies and the Chinese fleet seen. The Pescadore isles passed. A thunder storm. Approach to the Bashee isles. Other isles seen. Jl visit from Indians at the Kumi islands. Quelpeart. Stoi-y of a wreck near it. Straits of Corea entered. The Chinese colony of Formosa, was at this time, in a state of rebellion against the government; and an army of twenty thousand men, had been sent out under command of the Santoq of Canton, to reduce them to order and subjection. La Peyrouse was very desirous to learn some news of this war ; and he at first re- solved to anchor, and send the boats on shore to bring him some tidings of the state of things there. But thinking this would not be safe, 184 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. while the ships were so far out at sea, he gave up the thought of obtaining information in this way, and hailed some Chinese fishing boats, to make inquiries. But the men in these boats seemed very suspicious, and it was with great difficulty that one of them was prevailed upon to come on board the ship, and sell some fish at what- ever price he pleased to ask- When he did come, it was impossible to make him understand by words or signs, what was the subject on which he was questioned, or to get any thing intelligible from him. So they paid him for his fish and let him depart in peace, being just as well acquainted with the war and the rumors of war, as they were before they saw him. Meantime, fires were seen on shore, which might be signals of alarm ; but the Chinese army and the rebels were, probably, in different parts of the island. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 135 As the navigators were sailing along, the next day, they came in sight of the armies, at the mouth of a great river, in which the Chi- nese fleet lay. This fleet comprised a great number of Chinese vessels ; and La Pey rouse, thinking that he should like to take a peep at them, drew up with his frigates, and anchored close by them. Here he obtained such information respect- ing the warfare, as he had been disappointed of drawing forth from the unintelligible fish- ermen, and the next morning, sailed again, intending to double the Pescadore isles. But the billows were in a great tumult and the breakers were so violent that they were obliged to stand off and only sail along, par- allel to the isles and at the distance of two leagues from them. These islands seemed to be merely heaps 186 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. of rocks of every shape, size and hue, that could be imagined. They appeared of vast extent. One of them, was thought by the voyagers, exactly to resemble the tower of Cordouan, at the mouth of Bourdeaux river and looked as if hewn out by human hands. The next day, the voyagers entered the channel between the Bashee islands and For- mosa. It was now that a most terrible thun- der storm came on, veiling the heavens with the deepest gloom, while incessant lightning flashed from every point in the horizon, and the thunder seemed to come in one long, tre- mendous peal, which lasted during the whole night. The winds blew furiously, while a dense fog, which seemed only to dwell in the under current of air, wrapped the ships on every side. It seemed as if some terrible revolution in nature was about to take place, and the STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 137 voyagers, thinking it wise to get as far as pos- sible from the land, stood off; and the follow- ing day, found them becalmed in the channel between the Bashee, and Botel-Tabaco-Xima islands. On one of the latter isles, they could dis- cern three villages ; and they saw that the whole land was interspersed with alternate spots of cleared and cultivated ground, and thick, wild woods, with many bright streams of water running through it. On the 5th of May, they came within sight of an island belonging to a group of isles, called anciently Kumi islands. They saw many fires on the land, and herds of oxen grazing along the shore. Soon after, they perceived a number of canoes coming towards them. The people in these canoes were Indians ; and as they drew near enough to see what 188 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. sort of men were on board the vessels, they seemed fearful, and unwilling to approach a company of people that looked so unlike themselves. The French made many signs to invite them to come on board the great ships, at the sight of which they seemed much intimidated; and the French at length succeeded in over- coming their fears by holding up pieces of cloth, medals and other things, which they offered as presents to those who would come and receive them. The Indians, who at first, would only come within gun-shot of the vessels, catch a peep, and then, flee away with great speed, now, placed their hands on their breasts, and then, lifted them, and their eyes towards the sky ; and finding their motions, indicative of peace and trust in God, answered by the strangers, they came on board the ships, but with much distrust expressed in their countenances. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 189 Natives of the Kumi Islands going on board the French vessels. 190 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. They were a race of men, partaking the character and looks of the Chinese and the Japanese, but not belonging to either. Their dress was, a shirt and a pair of cotton draw- ers. They had their hair brought up and fastened in a knot on the top of the head, with a large gold pin ; and each man had a golden- handled dagger slung at his side. They appeared highly delighted, and very grateful, to find, that, instead of any hostile intentions, the strangers only wished to be- stow marks of kindness upon them. They wished, in their turn, to do some good deed, and left the vessel, to go on shore, promising by signs, to come back and bring some fresh provisions. But the breeze blew fresh, and the French- men, wishing to avail themselves of its favors, set sail, and soon lost sight of the islands of Kumi. To this cluster of islands, La Pey- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 191 rouse gave the name of Tiaoyu-su, and to another group that they passed the next day, that of Haapinsu. In their course along the north coast of China, the voyagers had now, bad weather, strong currents, and so thick a fog hanging about them, that for ten or twelve days, they scarcely saw any thing, relative to the position of the continent, or the isles of the surround- ing sea. After nearly a fortnight of calms, the winds sprang up, the fogs were dispersed, and they saw before them the clear horizon stretching all around. On the 21st of May, they beheld the island of Quelpeart, with its middle towering up into a lofty peak that could be seen at the distance of twenty leagues. With the help of their glasses, they could distinctly see the land divided and subdivided 192 STORY OF LA PEYE.OUSE. into inclosures, whose varying hues showed the different crops that were growing upon them apparently in great luxuriance. But they had no desire to visit this place, or to go very near to it, though they saw many of its inhabitants coming out in canoes towards them, for they knew the character of its people too well to trust themselves in their power. In the year 1637, a Dutch ship called the Sparrow-hawk, was wrecked on this island, at that time, under the government of the king of Corea. The unfortunate crew were saved from sud- den death in the raging billows, to drag out a miserable existence in servitude among the inhuman natives, on whose shore they had been cast. After remaining eighteen years in w 7 retchedness and captivity, some of them contrived to seize a bark, in which they STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 193 escaped to Japan ; and found there, means to go to Batavia, and thence to Amsterdam. The French frigates passed this isle, and gave the go-by to its rapacious inhabitants who had come off in their canoes, to see what they could spy out and what new chance there might be of robbery and plunder. The next day, Corea appeared in view, with a range of rocky islets running along before it. On the night of the 25th, the ships were in the straits of Corea, and within two leagues of the coast. 13 194 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER XVIII. Aspect of Corea. Boats with matting sails. Isle Dage- let. Japanese vessels seen. Joosti-Simi seen. Ap- proach to the coast of Tartary. Appearance of the coast. The sea looks like land. Table Mountain named. A bay discovered and named. The ships an- chor in it. Description of this place. Wild beasts seen. Trees and flowers. It will be understood, without a particular mention made at every place, that our voy- agers were constantly engaged in taking ob- servations, charts, soundings, &c. so as to ascertain, for the good of future navigators and adventurers, the precise situation of the lands they saw and explored, and the rocks, currents, and other fatal impediments that were scattered abroad on the seas ; and which might cause the destruction of those who should ignorantly run upon them at an un- favorable moment. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 195 The channel which separates Corea from Japan, where it is not narrowed by reefs of rocks, is about fifteen leagues wide. Our voyagers now ran along in this channel par- allel to Corea, and saw its mountains with their strong fortresses upon them, in some places, and in others high masses of snow, which the sun had never softened so as to enable them to run, even down hill. The country adjacent looked barren and hilly, with immense gullies cut down between the heights, where they met to frown upon each other. Yet the dwellings here were numerous, and many boats or cha??ipcms, with matting sails, like those of China, were scat- tered upon the waters. Some of these came out towards the frigates, with apparent motives of curiosity, but did not approach near enough for the men to converse together. The weather now became so threatening 196 STORY OF LA FEYIiGUSE. that the voyagers went farther from the land, and bore away towards the isle of Niphon. On the 28th, they came in view of Isle Dagelet, which took its name from the as- tronomer who discovered it. They sailed all round the island within a mile of the land, sounding all the way and finding no bottom. A boat then went out to sound even to the edge of the beach. But the breakers ran high, and an approach seemed hazardous. The isle, about three leagues in circumference, is hedged in by a high and abrupt fence of rocks that rise far above the billows, on every side. Its whole outline showed only seven small sandy creeks, that were accessible to boats. From the very border of the sea, up to its centre, the whole island was covered with forest trees that would make fine timber. Some Chinese vessels were on the stocks STORY OF LA. PEYROUSE. 197 in these creeks, and many people at work upon them, who, as soon as they saw the ap- proach of the frigates, and the boat coming out, fled into the woods and hid themselves, as if in great terror, without giving the visiters an opportunity to prove that their intentions were only benevolent. When La Peyrouse saw the people in the second dock-yard, turning round in alarm, and dropping their tools, to flee away, he would gladly have gone on shore to prove the kind- ness of bis intentions, but the rocky rampart, and the watery hills forbade his approach. On the second day of June, the frigates were passed by two Japanese vessels that came near enough to be distinctly seen. One of them drew up so close that the French could mark even the expression of the faces of her crew. Her number of men was about twenty. They were dressed in blue gar- ments made like cassocks. 198 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. The vessel appeared too frail for anything but a light runner along the coast, for she could not have been made to stand a long voyage, on a stormy sea, or to brave the rough- ness of winter weather. She had but one mast, and this, instead of being formed of one tree, was composed of a number of small trees, bound together with copper hoops. Her sails were very large, and made of breadths of linen, not sewed, but laced together. The boat placed across her bows, extended some feet on each side, beyond the width of the vessel. She had a white flag, with some words written vertically upon it. Her name was on a sort of drum, which stood before the ensign-staff. The French hailed her, and were answered by her men ; but each speaking to the other in an unknown tongue, they were left about as wise respecting their several intentions, STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 199 and the ports to which they were bound, as if they had past each other in silence. On the 6th of June, our friends were in sight of Cape Noto, and the island of Joosti- Simi. They ran along by this island, which is separated from the cape on the coast of Japan, by a channel five leagues in width. As they sailed by, the island presented an agreeable aspect. Its surface was nearly level, and had some fine woodlands, as well as other pleasant looking grounds and streams. Some of its buildings were small, others were on a more magnificent scale of structure, and there was one large edifice that had the appearance of a castle. The navigators soon passed by this isle, and bent their way towards the coast of Tartary. On the 19th of July they had reached this coast, which presented no vestige of a human habitation. The sides of the mountains dis- 200 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. played a beautiful view of verdure, and their tops were crowned with snow. So, with a fine wind, and a serene sky, the voyagers held on their course in quest of a better place to anchor. After several days the weather grew foggy again, and the vapors in the air wrought such an illusion, that the voyagers thought they saw the land directly before them, with its hills and valleys clearly defined. But this fancied land soon began to melt away before the sunbeams, as they pierced its most solid parts ; and all was turned to a water prospect on one hand, while on the other, nothing appeared of sufficient attraction to in- duce the voyagers, who had not set their feet on land since they left Manilla, to go on shore. One mountain, which they saw on the coast, with a flat top, La Peyrouse named Table Mountain. The land all along the coast was STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 201 overspread with a rich verdure, that bespoke great fertility of soil. On the 23d, our voyagers entered on a delightful scene. They found a fine bay, to which they gave the name of Bay de Terni. Five small creeks formed the outlet of this bay. The water was low, over a sandy bot- tom, and they soon drew up very near the shore, impatient to land, for the double pur- pose of refreshment and observation. As they approached the shore, the prospect before them was grand and beautifully wild. High hills stood up, looking down upon the waters, with their sides and summits covered with bright green trees, among which the solemn bear and the stately stag, could be seen from the ships, wandering in untamed and fearless dignity, the undisputed lords of the soil. In the forest, and along the margin of the 202 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. water, every shade of green was at once pre- sented to the eye, in the foliage and the her- bage ; and all the meadow flowers of France enamelled the earth. After the navigators landed, they found themselves among red and yellow lilies, roses, and a great variety of flowers in the low lands, while the lofty pines stood up in an evergreen crest on the heads of the hills and mountains, and the strong-armed oak stood firm upon their sides to bid defiance to the tempest and the neighboring ocean ; declaring in silence, that none of these things should move it, or undermine its base. In the lower ground, willows, maples and birches bordered the water-courses. On the skirts of the forests, apple trees, medlar trees, and clumps of hazels were in luxuriant growth. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 203 CHAPTER XIX. Adventures at Bay de Terni. Interesting discoveries. Ruined huts. A Tartarian tomb found, and examined. Its contents. Animals of the place. Burying the bottle. Departure from the bay. Running along the coast. Another bay visited. The hut of hunters. An ex- change, no robbery. The dredge. A great island dis- covered. Its natives seen. Our adventurers continued their researches in the place where they had landed. Some formed themselves into a hunting party, some into one for botanizing, some into one for conchology, and some made up one for min- eralogy. But the bear and the stag looked well to their ways, and would not be approached by the French gunners, who only brought in three small fawns, as trophies of victory in their warfare with the quadrupeds of the coast of Tartary. 204 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. The thick underwood in the forests, pre- vented the foot of the hunter from invading the ground, where that of the bear was wont to tread ; and the long grass in the lowlands, that might conceal serpents whose sting would be death, made him doubtful of the safety of venturing among it. The morasses, too, look- ed a little treacherous, and as if they might prove an uncertain foundation to him who should pursue his game over them. Finding themselves unsuccessful in hunting, a large party betook themselves to fishing in the rivers and brooks, that ran through the grounds. In this attempt they were very for- tunate. Cod-fish, salmon, trout, herring and many other finny Tartars, were the fruit of their experiments in these foreign waters. In their researches, they discovered the traces of human visiters, if not of the perma- nent residence of men. Some places seemed STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 205 marked as if a fire had been built upon them ; and in one corner of a wood, several huts were seen which appeared to have been erected by hunters. Around these sheds, or huts, were seen lying here and there, some baskets made of the birch-tree bark, and snow-shoes, that be- spoke their owners to have taken their walks through the forest in the winter. In one of their fishing excursions, the ad- venturers discovered the ruins of a small house, and a Tartarian tomb, on the bank of a rivulet, where they were nearly overgrown with grass and vines. Prompted by curiosity to look into the re- ceptacle of the human clay, in this wild and strange place, they opened the tomb, and visited the dead. Here, lay two human forms, side by side, and wrapped in the slumber that shall only be 206 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. broken when the trump of the archangel shall summon the people of all nations, kindreds and tongues, to come to judgment; and ac- count for the use thej made of the light that was bestowed on them, and the privileges the j enjoyed in this world, to prepare them for an existence beyond the scenes of time. The heads of these inmates of the solitary tomb were covered with under caps of taffeta, and their bodies wrapped in bear-skins, fast- ened round them with girdles of the same. At these girdles, a variety of copper trinkets and Chinese coins were suspended; and beside them, lay several different sorts of silver brace- lets, ear-pendants and other ornaments. The tomb was strewed within, with blue beads, and furnished with a bag of rice, a wooden spoon, a knife, an axe, an iron hatch- et, and a comb. By this furniture, the visitants judged that STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 207 the dead to whom they belonged, must have been of a race who believed in the existence of such wants as the living have, among those who had entered the world of spirits. The tomb was constructed as a sort of hut built with the trunks of trees for its walls, and covered all over with birch-bark. Nothing within it had yet gone through the process of decomposition. Meeting with the only hu- man inhabitants which they saw in the w 7 ild spot they had landed upon, in such an abode, and such a state as this, must have filled the bosoms of the adventurers with a variety of strange emotions. The plants which the botanists found on this shore, were similar to those of their own country. The mineralogists found specimens of slate, quartz, jasper, violet, porphyry, amygdaloid and crystals, in the beds of the rivers. 208 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. The land and sea-fowls discovered by the ornithologists, were, ravens, turtle-doves, quails, wag-tails, swallows, wild ducks, fly- catchers, albatrosses, gulls, puffins, and bit- terns. A few barnacles, muscle-shells, and snail- shells were all w r hich the conchologists col- lected to reward their toils, upon this Tartarian beach. As our adventurers were the first Europeans who had visited this coast, they prepared a suitable inscription, containing their names, the date, &c, which they put into a bottle, sealed up, and buried, with several medals, brought with them for such purposes. Not that they expected the bottle or the medals to spring up and grow, like the seeds which from time to time, they scattered here and there, thus, to bring forth from the soil a crop of bottles and medals, though in truth, STORY OF LA PEVROUSE. 209 these bottles and medals had originally come from the earth and her mines, before they were fashioned to their present forms ; but they wished to leave some lasting proof, which chance might disclose to the future adven- turer, that this ground had before been trodden by other feet than those of the stag, the bear, and the untutored human native of the wild. This farewell ceremony over, the voyagers returned to their ships and sailed, keeping for some time so near the coast, that they could see even the small rivulet that glided through the earth between its verdant borders, as they passed. On the morning of July 4th, they saw a broad bay, into which a large river was pour- ing itself; and some of the men took a boat, and went out to examine into the state of things on the shore that edged it. Here they found the hut of hunters, who it 14 210 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. seemed could not have been long absent, as there were branches of trees scattered about, that appeared to have been cut with sharp instruments, so recently that the leaves had not wilted nor the cuts dried. Over the hut, two elk-skins were stretched to dry ; and our company, going upon the principle of the maxim, "exchange is no rob- bery," took one of these skins, leaving in its stead, some hatchets and other instruments, which they felt would be of much greater value to the owner, than the skin which, without his leave, they saw fit to bear away, while he was in the forest, little dreaming that his absent elk-skin had found legs on which to move off, notwithstanding his having emptied it of all its bones and sinews. This bay received from La Peyrouse the name of Bale de Suffrein. From this place, the navigators went on, with a variety of STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 211 La Peyrouse taking the elk skin from the hunter's hut. 212 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. changes in the weather ; after bringing up a greater variety, of things from under the waters, in a kind of net called the dredge, with which they fished. On drawing this up, they often found it to contain the miscel- laneous company, of whelks, sea-hedgehogs, oysters with small shell fish attached to them, star-fishes, halotharia, and beautiful pieces of coral. As they proceeded, they came in sight of an immensely large and high island, which on a nearer approach, seemed to be nothing but a huge mass of rocks, rising up into peaks, mingled with volcanic matter, and surrounded with heaps and pits of snow. In honor of his chief mineralogist, M. Lamanon, La Peyrouse gave to the highest peak, the name of Peak Lamanon. On entering the channel between the coast of Tartary and this island, they sailed along STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 213 so near to the island as to get a clear view of another part of it, and saw the habitations of the islanders, who at the sight of the frigates, fled from them, to hide themselves among the woods and the rocks. The French commanders, on beholding this fear of the islanders, immediately took some of the principal men of their company, and went on shore with the boats. 214 STORY OF LA FEYROUSE. CHAPTER XX. Visit to the island. Scene at the huts. Jin interview with the islanders. A description of them. A second inter- mew. The island called Tchoka. Kindness of the natives, fyc Description of a dwelling. Two Tartars. The frigates leave the bay, after calling it Baie de L 'Angle. Another island visited. On reaching the shore, the French soon came to two small houses, that seemed to have been suddenly, and just forsaken. The fires were still burning, and the furniture all in its place. But the only living inhabitants of these dwellings, to be found at home, were a litter of blind puppies, whose mother ran out and barked with all her might at the strangers, as they approached ; and they understood enough of her Tartarian language, to perceive that she was not at all pleased at their intrusion upon her premises. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 215 Wishing to conciliate the human fugitives, and to assure them, at their return, that their visiters had no unkind intentions towards them, La Peyrouse and his company left within the houses some hatchets, glass beads and various iron instruments. Meantime, the net had been spread in the water, and when it was drawn up, it was found to contain a fine draught of salmon, which promised enough to supply the ship's companies, for, at least, a week to come. Just as the adventurers were preparing to return to the ships, seven of the natives landed from a canoe, and came up into their midst, without fear or surprise. Among them were two old men with long white beards, and clad in stuff made of the bark of trees. Two wore dresses of quilted blue Nankin. The others wore long robes, fastened with a few buttons and a girdle. 216 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Their heads were shaved on the top, and the hair that remained was cut to the length of ten or twelve inches. They wore no head- dress, except a small strip of bearskin, that went round the heads of a few of them like a fillet. Their arms were pikes, bows, and ar- rows tipped with iron. Their demeanor was very solemn and dignified; and the eldest seemed to be held in great reverence by the others. An engagement was entered into by these men and the French, to meet the next day; and the latter took the way to their ships. The following day La Peyrouse headed his com- pany, and went on shore, according to ap- pointment, where they were soon met by twenty-one of the natives, some of whom were adorned with silver ear-rings and blue glass beads, like those seen at the Bay of Terni, STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 217 At their first meeting, the French made them many presents, and they seemed to un- derstand well the value of the different metals, selecting with much shrewdness, and preferring the silver to copper, and copper to iron. They had about them many copper ornaments, pipes, and steels to strike fire ; and it was seen that they were very fond of tobacco for smoking, while they showed a great aversion to snuff. They were a little over five feet in height, well made, and of pleasing countenances, with much gentleness and great dignity of manners; and so far were they from committing any dishonest or inhospitable act, that they would not even pick up, or take a salmon on the beach, among the hundreds that were drawn in by the net, till it was given them by the French. The old men among them seemed to be held in great honor, like patriarchs, which 218 . STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. was most that could be learned of their gov- ernment. They seemed very grateful for the hatchets, stuffs, &x. that were given them ; and in return tried to give, as well as they could by signs, such information as their visiters appeared to want, respecting their island and adjacent country. They called their island Tchoka, and said they obtained their beads, steel and Nankin from the Mantchou Tartars, whose territory lay at several days' sail from them, beyond the strait, and on the continent. They paid great attention to all the inquiries of the French ; and when they saw them with pencils and paper in their hands, they under- stood what they were about, and either marked out upon the sand, or with the pencils which they took from their owners, the shape of their island, and many other things, such as rivers, capes, bays, &c. in the region. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 219 They stood still and let their own likenesses be drawn, but they could not be prevailed on to have the dimensions of their bodies taken ; and seemed to think that those who were approaching for this purpose, were going to perform some magical work upon them. Their women were all this time kept out of sight within their dwellings, so that the French had no opportunity of seeing them. They had looms in which they wove their cloth with shuttles, and threads from the bark of the willow ; and when a piece of European cloth was given them, they would examine it very curiously, and compare it with their own, to see wherein they differed. The hut, or small house, which the visiters described as a specimen of the dwellings on the island, was embosomed in a thicket of rose-trees, then in full bloom. It was built with timber and covered with bark, over 220 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. which was laid a straw thatching. The door was very low, and in the gable end ; the fire- place was in the centre of the building, with a hole directly over it, to emit the smoke. Directly round the hearth were little banks, or floors of earth, rising eight or ten inches. These were covered with mats, on which the islanders sat cross-legged, after the manner of the Chinese. Like that nation, they also had very long nails, and each wore on his thumb a ring of ivory, horn or lead. Like them too, they made their salutations by kneeling, and prostrating themselves on the earth. Indeed, it seemed not unlikely that they might have been the lingering remnant of some Chinese colony that had, in other days, planted them- selves on this island. While the roses were shedding their sweet odors without the cabin, the interior was filled with the strong, disgusting smell of fish-oil STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 221 and other things equally offensive to the del- icate olfactory organs of the Frenchmen, who offered a bottle of sweet-scented water to one of the old men, signifying, at the same time, that it would correct the bad influences of the fish-oil, and other disagreeable odors in his cabin. The old man smelt of it, turned up his nose, and with a face expressive of the greatest dis- gust, desired them to put it away from him, manifesting by his looks and gestures, that it was as disagreeable to him as any thing they had found could possibly be to them. Among these people were two Mantchou Tartars, who had come hither for traffic. They were dressed in gray nankin, of a similar style to the dress of the street porters of Ma- cao, and their hair was left in a tuft on the crown, like that of a Chinese. The Chinese sailors of the frigates con- 222 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. versed with them with much ease. Their place of residence, they said was about eight days' journey up the river Segalien. All the purchases which the French were able to make at Tchoka, were only two marten-skins. Before they left the bay, they named it Baie deU Angle; and on the 14th, they bade it good-by. They ran along enveloped in a thick fog, till afternoon, when the fog cleared away and showed them the island which the people at Tchoka had drawn as one they would find in that direction. The houses here were larger than those they had just left, and on going ashore, they found them divided into two apartments each, one of which seemed to be appropriated to the use of the owners, and the other reserved as a room for the use of strangers. The latter was unfurnished, but the former contained the household affairs. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 223 When the French first landed, the islanders were assembled round several canoes that were laden with smoke-dried fish. These, as it was soon ascertained, belonged to some Mant- chou Tartars, who had come to the place from the river Segalien, for purchasing fish. At a short distance from the houses, w T as a sort of circus, formed by a palisade of rude pales ; and on the top of each pale was the skeleton of a bear's head, while innumerable bones of the animal whose head was thus elevated, lay strewed about the circus. This place was probably intended by the natives to commemorate their victories. over the bear, which, as they had no fire-arms, they must have met in close combat. In their walks, the French officers acci- dentally met two women of this place, who seemed greatly alarmed, but did not flee from their presence, till one of the gentlemen had 224 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. time to sketch their pictures. Their dress was a long loose garment of linen, that reach- ed nearly to the ankle. Their heads were not shaved like those of the men. Their hair was long and lank; their eyes were small and very black, and the upper lip which was very large, was painted blue, or tattooed. The French left many presents with these people, and returned to their ships in the eve- ning. The next day they resumed their voyage, and running along for some time through a dense fog, they at length anchored, where the country on the coast was moun- tainous, and not a fire or a sign of a human habitation was to be seen. STORY OF LA TEYROUSE. 225 CHAPTER XXL Jl remarkable peak. A fishing excursion. Landing at a Tartar village; the place; the people. Their treat- ment. Houses of the Orchys ; their tombs. Personal description; dress; religion. Receiving and bestowing gifts. Things found. Departure from the Orchys' town. Cape Crillon. The object of La Pey rouse, was now, to find the land of Jesso and Okn Jesso, which geographers had taught him to look for, by gaining the channel which he soon hoped to reach, and which the islanders had given him reason to think he might find without diffi- culty. So he hoisted sail again in the morning and proceeded. Towards evening, on the 22nd, the voya- gers found the way between the continent and the island narrowing, and soon anchored near the mouth of a small river, north of 15 226 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. which, at the distance of about three leagues, a very remarkable peak rose up to view, regu- larly formed on every side, and with its base at the edge of the sea. The sides of this peak were covered with beautiful green trees ; and in compliment to his master botanist, M. La Martiniere, La Peyrouse named it Peak La Martiniere. Four armed boats under the direction of M. Clonard now went out to see if the land here w r as inhabited. In a short time they return- ed, with their boats filled with salmon, which they found so thick in a small stream of shal- low water, that the sailors had killed more than a thousand with sticks, in the course of an hour. They had seen only a few deserted huts ; and found cresses and celery growing in abundance on the borders of the stream, which they named Salmon Brook. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 227 Juniper-berries, strawberries, raspberries and gooseberries they had here found in great profusion ; and the botanist made many addi- tions of rare plants, to his collection. Firs, oaks, willows, maples, birches and medlar- trees filled the forest ; and some crystallized spars and other curious stones were here picked up by the mineralogists. The frigates soon sailed again, and as they passed along the shore, a hut would here and there appear in sight. After sounding about, and sending out boats, for several days, in the channel between the island of Tchoka and the coast of Tartary, the navigators found themselves in great danger from the strong winds and stormy weather that came on ; and three of the hands were severely wounded by the breaking of a capstan, in weighing anchor. In the evening of the 28th, they found 223 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. themselves opposite a bay, on the coast of Tartar y, and the want of wood and water in- duced them to make for the harbor. The boats were sent out, and returned, bringing information that a Tartar village had been descried, and a good anchorage for the ships found, beyond four small islets that were covered with wood and sparkled with streams of water, between the ships and the bottom of the bay, where they would be protected from the winds, and lie in safety. And into this place the frigates were soon conducted. As soon as they were well moored, at three cables' length from the shore, the people took to their boats in order to land and proceed to business, such as getting wood and water, searching for curiosities, and taking obser- vations. But they found the business of landing no very easy thing to effect. A broad flat that STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 229 ran up from the bay, was overspread with sea- weeds, and among it the sunken tide had left about three feet of water, so that it was alike difficult and laborious to go in a boat, and to advance on foot. When they had reached the shore, they were met by the chief of the horde, a venera- ble old savage, and some of his train, who came down to the beach to meet them, and saluted them by prostrating themselves on the earth. The old man then invited the strangers to go into his hut, to see his wife, his children, his daughters-in-law and his grandaughters. When they had entered the hut, the venerable host made his guests seat themselves on mats that were kindly spread for them, and had a dish of grain and salmon set before them for their refreshment. He then made them to understand that he 230 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. and his people were of a nation called Orchys, and that the stranger Tartars who had then come to their town in canoes, were of the Bjchies. The houses of the Orchys were four in number, composed of logs and bark, and so large that several families inhabited each, keeping up the most perfect peace and harmony among the several members. They were so inoffensive and honest in their appearance and conduct, that the French, while among them, exposed their goods with- out the least fear of theft, and they were never known to take without leave, even the small- est, or the most tempting article. But they had one practice which was to the visiters most revolting. They cut off the snout, gills, skin and small bones of the salmon, when fishing, and devoured them raw, when just from the water. In this way, the salmon was cleared of these parts before they were brought home. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 231 Around the houses great numbers of salmon were hung to dry, and many were dried and laid away. On the other side of the bay, which La Peyrouse had named Bale de Castries, was another village, and three yourts, or subterra- nean houses, like those of Kamschatka, des- cribed by Captain Cook. It seemed to be the custom of these people to place in the tombs of their dead, whatever articles they had owned, of the greatest value, and also their bows, arrows and fishing-lines. Within each monument were three or four biers of not inelegant workmanship, and cov- ered with brocade or Chinese stuff. The people of the village were so unsus- picious and noble-minded, that they felt no alarm when the French landed from their ships, came into their dwellings, and even en- tered the abode of their dead. 232 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. These natives like those of Tchoka, wore the ring upon their thumbs, and the design of it was here discovered. It was to guard the thumb against the knife used in dressing the fish they caught, and as a protection from the bones. They had many roots pulled up and dried, to help out their stock of winter provision. In their stature, the people of this village were not above mediocrity. Their hair was long and full, their cheek-bones high ; their eyes, small, bleared and standing diagonally in their sockets, where they pointed down- ward to a flat nose, large mouth, and a short, beardless chin. Their complexion was of an olive hue, to which a thick coating of smoke and oil was superadded. The men had their hair confin- ed ; the women wore theirs loose upon their necks and shoulders. Their bodies were lank, and their voices faint and thin as a child's. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 233 The dress of the men and boys, was a gar- ment of dog-skin or tanned fish-skin, made somewhat like a wagoner's frock ; beneath this a pair of drawers, and in the winter, seal- skin boots. To a girdle of skin worn about the waist were hung a pouch of tobacco, a pipe, a steel to strike fire, and a knife in a sheath. The women wrapped themselves in a robe of nankin, or a robe of salmon-skins, taken from the fish caught in the winter, and skil- fully tanned for the purpose. The bottom of this dress which reached to the ankle-bone, was trimmed with a fringe of copper orna- ments. The religion of these savages could not be ascertained. The only indications of it, were seen in the rudely carved figures of children, arms, hands, legs, &c. which hung from the roofs of their huts, and somewhat resembled the votive offerings in Catholic churches. But they seemed to have some idea of su- 234 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. pernatural power having been communicated to their French visiters, for they regarded them all as sorcerers. Their manner of receiving a gift was digni- fied ; and showed a high spirit, and a delicate reluctance to accept it, which made the giver feel as if the favor was rather coming on him ; and imposed on him the necessity of bestow- ing his present with the utmost respect in his demeanor. La Peyrouse gave one of the children a piece of rose-colored nankin, in the presence of his father, which greatly delighted the pa- rent, for it pleased all these generous-minded savages much more to have presents given to their children, than to themselves. The father went directly out, and returned in a moment, bringing in a beautiful little dog, which he entreated La Peyrouse to receive. Upon his declining to take the gift, the father made his child, who had received the nankin, STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 235 Native presenting La Peyrouse with the dog. 236 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. put his hands on the dog, and beg the visiter to accept it from him. The dogs in this place were of the wolf-dog kind, and their masters often joked them together to draw small sledges, like the dogs of Kamschatka. While at this place the gentlemen of the various professions w r ere busy, in their several researches on the little islands in the bay, as well as about the villages. Among the many kinds of birds which they shot, there was one which had not been de- scribed. It was a fly-catcher of a bright azure color; and of a solitary, mournful appearance. The minerals, shrubs, shells, flowers, land birds, sea-fowls and fishes were similar to those before found on this part of the coast. On the 2nd of August, the frigates left the bay, and steered to the direction of Peak La Mananon. But strong winds, high, tempes- tuous billows, and a thousand other circum- STOIlY OF LA PEYROUSE. 237 stances conspired to render their progress on this untried deep, difficult and dangerous. The island of Tchoka was still kept in view, and though it had on first sight, seemed like a mass of rocks, from the point where it was seen, it now proved itself diversified in its scenery, and one of the largest islands in the world. The navigators soon beheld its southern point; and found it to be the same isle that had otherwise borne the name of Oka- J es so. At Cape Crillon, the Tchoka islanders first ventured to visit the French on board their ships, and this was done with much ap- parent fear and diffidence, at first, but they soon became more at ease, and seemed to feel themselves among their friends ; as the treat- ment they met with, won their confidence, and the gifts they received called forth their gratitude. 238 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. CHAPTER XXII. JWareckan isle seen. Channel between the Kuriles. Re- marks and a review of the voyage. Course to Kam- schatha. Arrival, entertainment and adventures at Kamschatka. A ball given. Letters received. Story of an exile. Papers sent to France. Departure from Kamschatka. After doubling Cape Crillon, and crossing a strait, which was very properly called, La Peyrouse^s Strait, the navigators made a little tack to the south, and on the 17th, had a view of Staten island. On the 29th, they saw mountains, and came in sight of Mareckan isle, the most southern of the Kuriles. This island terminating at each extremity, by a high, jutting rock, rose in the middle to a peak that, at a distance appeared to contain the orifice of a volcano. The voyagers at length entered a beautiful STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. c 239 channel, by moonlight ; and thinking it tne finest channel between the Kurile isles, thev named it Canal de la Boussole. About midnight, thick fogs came on. In the morning, the sun only peeped out twice, and then hid his face in a dense mass of vapor. The fogs for two or three days hung so thick in the air, that La Peyrouse, in view of the dark prospect before him, and the lateness of the season, gave up the plan of exploring the northern Kuriles, and resolved to bend his course towards Kamschatka. The horizon was hid from view by thick fogs until the 5th of September. During this time the voyagers had an opportunity of re- viewing the observations they had made con- cerning the new lands, and the new society they had visited. The seas of Tartary which they had ex- plored, had never before been crossed by 240 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Europeans, though they laved the borders of the oldest inhabited continent. The Jesuits who had been in the Chinese empire, and travelled into Tartary, had never been able to give any correct accounts of the eastern parts of the empire, as they were not allowed to approach the sea-shore. The emperor forbade all strangers to sail to the north of his dominions ; and it was sup- posed that the northern regions of Asia con- tained riches which its avaricious lords wished to keep hidden from the researches of stran- gers, and reserved for themselves. From their observations, the adventurers concluded that the northern coast of East Tartary, was about as thinly peopled as the northern coast of America. Its mountains, and the river Segalien have cut it off from being explored by the Chinese, or the Japanese, except by the sea-coast. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 241 111 the evening of September 5th, our gal- lant frigates came in sight of Kamschatka, and the mountains first beheld by the voy- agers, were those of the volcano to the northward of the settlement of St. Peter and St. Paul. The first aspect of the coast was hideous and forbidding ; presenting, as it did, its huge piles of rocks, on whose summits the unthaw- ed snow lay in heaps, that bid defiance to the sun, to soften, and the winds to scatter them. The following day, the ships entered the bay of Avatscha, or St. Peter and St. Paul. The governor of the place took his canoe and came out five leagues, to welcome the visiters, telling them that he had been long expecting them ; and that the governor-general of all Kamschatka, had letters for them and would be at this settlement in a few days. As they entered the bay, a more inviting 16 242 STORY OF LA FEYROUSE. prospect than the one first seen, appeared before them. The bases of the mountains whose heads were crowned with eternal snow and ice, were overspread with a beautiful verdure, and dotted with tufts and thickets of bright green trees. Scarcely had the frigates anchored in the bay, when the good vicar of Paratounka, with his wife and children who had already been heard of, as the kind friends of the illustrious Cook, came on board to express their joy at their arrival. The Toyan, or native chief, of the village, with many other people, also came on board, and every thing in their power which could render the visit of the French agreeable, was kindly and readily offered ; an interpreter was provided, and promises to convey des- patches from La Peyrouse and his company wherever they wished them to go, were rea- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 243 dily made. A Russian letter was written in the name of La Peyrouse, and sent to the governor-general, by a Cossack messenger, and many Russian gentlemen and their ladies treated the visiters with great hospitality at their houses, and bestowed on them presents of skins of sables, rein-deer, and foxes ; and such other valuable articles as the place af- forded. The most commodious house in the village, for the purposes of the French astronomers, w r as immediately offered for their use, at the slightest hint ; and guards and guides were appointed to accompany the naturalists into the interior of the country. Two of the French undertook an excursion to the volcanic mountain whose smoke and flame they had seen from the entrance to the harbor. But the guides would not agree to go beyond the base of the mountain, affirming 244 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE that no human being could go to the crater and return alive. When they had nearly reached the moun- tain, it was so late in the afternoon, that they pitched their tent for the night, where the grounds all around them, were overgrown with pines, birches, and other trees ; and va- rious shrubs, whose branches were laden with delicious berries of several colors. Here they struck a fire, and made preparations for their supper, which they ate, and then laid them- selves down to repose till morning. After a morning meal, they struck their tent and proceeded, till they reached the foot of the mountain, when the guides, adhering to their agreement, halted, and left the French- men to climb the height, and gratify their curiosity, alone. The indefatigable adventurers gained the summit in safety; and when they found them- STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 245 selves on it, its whole horizon did not seem more than a musket shot, in circumference, except at one little opening, where they had a view of the harbor of Avatscha, with the frigates, looking like two small canoes, in its water. A thick fog intervening between the adven- turers and the crater, disappointed them of getting a clear view of it ; and they returned, bringing back several minerals to add to their collection. When they reached the place where they had left their guides, they found they had given them over as dead men, said prayers for them, and helped themselves to a great portion of the brandy that had been left in their keeping. Shortly after their return to the settlement, Mr. KaslofT, the governor-general arrived. He was a polite, gentlemanly man and told 246 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. La Peyrouse that he was disappointed, of getting the letters he had expected to receive for him, before he left his residence. He offered every thing at his command, for the accommodation of the French, and gave them, with other things, a Kamschadale sledge, two royal eagles, a large number of sable-skins, and seven black oxen. He also made an entertainment for them, and gave a ball, to which all the ladies, both Russian and Kamschatkan, were invited. These ladies were dressed in silk stuffs, with silk handkerchiefs on their heads for turbans. La Peyrouse thought the wife and daughters of the pious vicar, the best dancers of the company. The Russians were graceful and dignified in their dancing ; but the Kamschadales seem- ed to be writhing in convulsions, while the only music to which they moved, w T as a sort STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 247 of low cry sent forth from each performer. While in the midst of their hilarity, the ball was suddenly interrupted by the arrival of a courier, who brought a trunk for Mr. Kasloff, which being opened was found to contain a package for La Peyrouse, and in this were papers from France, informing him of his pro- motion to a Commodore's rank. In honor of this promotion, Mr. Kasloff occasioned a round of artillery to be fired. While at this place, La Peyrouse saw the unfortunate Russian, Ivaschkin, of whom Cook had spoken with so much compassion for his sufferings. This man was of a noble family, handsome in his person, pleasing in his man- ners, and an officer of the guards, under Elizabeth, then Empress of Russia. With all these attractions he enjoyed a fine flow of spirits. When about the age of twenty-one, he happened, at a convivial party to get a 248 STORY 'OF LA PEYROUSE. little warmed with wine, and in the exu- berance of his spirits, uttered some expression in jest, that was thought derogatory to the Empress. When she heard of this remark, she caused him to be stripped of all his honors, to un- dergo severe corporal punishment, to have his nostrils slit, and then to be banished for life, to the extremities of Kamschatka. After an exile of fifty years, a pardon was bestowed on him by the Empress Catharine. But he had been too long in his wretched state of banish- ment, to wish to return to the scenes of his early happiness, and misfortune, where most of his friends had either forgotten him, or gone to their long homes ; and where he should only be regarded as an object of curiosity, and have the melancholy story of his afflictions rehearsed. He had received his early education at STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 249 Paris, and though very reluctant at first, to be seen in his unfortunate condition, by La Pey- rouse, he was at length prevailed on, and conversed with the French with great fluency. The gifts and attentions of the visiters seemed to please him ; and he became fond of their society, and pointed out to them the grave of their countryman, M. De La Croyere, a member of the French academy, who had died there ; and that of the English navigator, Clarke, who had also found a final resting place on this shore. La Peyrouse caused a copper plate, bearing a suitable inscription, to be placed over each of these graves, before he left the place. He found that the Kamschadales, and the Russians who were mingled with them, were so much more inclined to fishing and hunting, than to cultivating the soil, that they had not taken care to enrich themselves with many 250 STORY OF hk PEYROUSE. valuable vegetable treasures. So he gave them some choice seeds as well as other valuable articles ; and having obtained a pretty good history of the place to record in his papers, and a draught of the bay, &c. with all his other objects accomplished, he prepared to depart. But, before the frigates sailed, it was agreed that one of the French gentlemen should re- main, and go home to France, through Russia, to carry the whole accounts of the voyage up to that date, with all the draughts, observa- tions, &x. which had been taken. On the 29th of September, the formal thanks and adieus were exchanged, and a mutual discharge of cannon from the frigates and the batteries, were the last sounds that greeted at once the ears of the adventurers, and their hospitable entertainers. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 251 CHAPTER XXIII. The Navigator's Isles seen. Visit from the natives. Their traffic. A beautiful dove. Maouna. The na- tives. Scenes at the island. An affray with the In- dians. A second visit from the islanders. From the time of their sailing, nothing of particular interest was, for some weeks, met with by our navigators ; and nothing happened worth recording. In a tract of ocean where the isles were scattered like the stars in the sky, they went on, sometimes with good winds and sometimes with tempestuous ones, till, in a storm, they lost one man, who was washed overboard by a violent swell of the sea, that came booming over the ships with terrible power. On the 21st of November they passed the equator, having before, on the 5th, crossed STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. their own track from Monterrj, after reaching the tropic. Many birds frequently came and hovered round the ships, which indicated land to be near, when it was not visible to the eyes of the adventurers, who at length sought to find the Navigators' Islands. On the 6th of December the most eastern of these isles appeared in view. The frigates soon entered a channel between the isles, and on one of them was seen the dwellings of the natives, as they stood on the slope that went up from the sea; and not far off a company of Indians seated in a circle under the cocoa-nut trees. Some small plantations, that looked like yams, were near the habitations. At length about sixteen canoes started from the shore, in various places, and made their way to the ships. The Indians paddled round the frigates several times, as if doubting the safety of venturing too near. But they finally STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 2^3 offered some cocoa-nuts for sale, and came up to trade. They soon discovered their taste for theft and fraud, as they would take whatever they could steal, and some of them recovered the articles for which they were to give their nuts, and scampered off to their canoes, keeping the goods, and the nuts too, for which they were offered. Passing down the channel, and trying to double the point of one of these islands, the frigates came very near running against each other. The canoes kept coming round them, and seemed so frail, and dipped so often, that the life of any one who could not swim like a fish, as these Indians could, would have seemed every moment in danger of being lost. An aged Indian chief at length approached the ships, and held out in his hand, a branch of kava plant, which the French had heard 254 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. from other navigators, was a signal of peace. They pronounced the word of tayo (friend,) and threw out to him some pieces of cloth. Many of these people had ulcers on their limbs, so that they were swollen to an enor- mous size ; and they seemed to be smitten with a sort of leprosy, that appeared on many parts of the body. When they went away from the frigates, it was thought they would not return ; but in the afternoon they came back bringing a hog, some fowls and other things for traffic. But they did not seem to want hatchets, or any useful instruments. Their great desire was to obtain finery, and more especially, blue glass beads, for which they would reject any thing else offered them. A beautiful turtle dove was one thing which they sold to La Peyrouse for beads. It was alive and tame, and fed from the hand of its STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 255 new master with perfect confidence. Its body was white, its head of a vivid purple, its breast was checkered like the leaves of the anemone, with red and black spots, and its wings were of a lively green. But this beautiful bird could not, in its new condition, live long. When it died, its beauty was like human beauty, and it faded away at the touch of death. The skin, when stuffed, gave no idea of what the living bird had been. The hues of the plumage all changed and faded. As there was not much to invite a longer pause near these islands, the frigates passed on, till they came in sight of the coast of the island of Maouna. Approaching near the shore, the voyagers saw the billows bounding merrily over a reef of coral that surrounded it ; but several small creeks showed themselves sufficient for the reception of their long boats and barges. 256 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. At the bottom of the isle stood the village. A great number of canoes soon came out with hogs, cocoa-nuts and other fruits, which the Indians sold for a few glass toys, till quite a liberal store of provisions were taken into the ships. Beautiful cascades of water were seen descending the mountains, to pass in shining streams through the villages, and then escape into the channel. Allured by all the advantages which this isle offered, the voyagers brought their ships to an anchor, about a mile from the shore, where there were thirty fathoms of water, over a bed of rotten shells, with very little coral among them. But the ships, though protected from the east winds, to the great anxiety of their masters, rolled as if they had been far at sea, and the commanders resolved to take in what they might need, as soon as possible, and to STORY OF LA. PEYROUSE. 257 sail the next day. Early the next morning they found themselves surrounded by no less than two hundred canoes, all laden with provisions, for which the owners would take nothing but glass beads ; while axes, cloths, and other articles were rejected by them with great disdain. They then prepared to go on shore, to fill their casks with water, and to see what the condition of the island might be, and while some of their people were carrying on the traffic with the natives, and some watching, to detect their thefts, others got the boats ready, and when they were well manned with officers and soldiers, they went to the shore, about the time when the Indians were re- turning. As they landed, an immense crowd of men, women and children flocked to meet and surround them, bringing hogs, fruits, parrots, 17 258 STORY OP LA PET ROUSE. and other things, which they offered for glass beads. The French formed a line of soldiers, to keep order, and found it easy to prevail on the natives to sit down, under a grove of cocoa-nut trees, and let them pass. La Peyrouse then bought three pigeons, and ordered them to be thrown into the air, while he fired, to show the natives how quick was the power of his arms to take life ; hoping by this to give them an idea of the danger they would bring upon themselves by any hostilities offered to him and his men. When the casks were filling with water, he proceeded to visit a delightful village, that stood a short distance from the shore, in the midst of a spacious grove of fruit-trees. The houses were ranged in a circle, and the area they enclosed was carpeted with a rich growth of verdure, and shadowed with trees. The walls of the buildings were formed STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 259 La Peyrouse shooting the pigeons. 260 STORY OF LA PEYROU5E. of a colonnade of pillars, made of the trunks of trees, and the spaces between them filled with matting, suspended so as to form a hang- ing within. The roofs were covered with the leaves of the cocoa-palm tree. The mats that hung between the pillars, were so fastened to cords that they could be raised, or lowered at will, and the spaces between the pillars were about five feet wide. Old men, women and children gathered round La Peyrouse, and invited him to enter their dwellings. He accepted their invita- tions, and found the floors, that were raised about two feet above the level of the earth, and formed of pebbles, overspread with soft, fresh mats, upon which he sat down and rested. The form of the house was oval, and the curve was finely fashioned. The one first entered was that of a chief. The bread-fruit, the cocoa-nut, the banana. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 261 the guava, and the orange tree were growing spontaneously, and with great luxuriance, in the groves, where wood-pigeons, turtle doves, paroquets, and many fowls of a very tame ap- pearance, made themselves happy and merry, among the branches. The climate was so mild as to render clothing of very little neces- sity among these Indians. While on shore, the French soldiery and sailors suffered some little acts of insult and dishonesty from the natives, who tried to rob them of their beads, &c. This they resented, and showed some signs of anger ; upon which the islanders began to pelt them with stones, and strike at them with sticks, which they managed with great dexterity. But this affray La Pey rouse soon quelled, by making his men suppress their feelings, and give up the ground, to return to the ships. The next day, when the frigates were ready 262 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. to sail r the islanders thronged round them again, in their canoes, with things for sale, and appeared so good-natured that the people suspected they had forgotten the quarrel, and that they had no bad intentions; nor did thej now, offer any incivilities. STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. 263 CHAPTER XXIV. The French revisit the island. Are attacked, and many of them killed by the Indians. Two boats seized and kept. The frigates sail. Oyalava. The toivn and the people. Many isles and the natives seen. Storms. Tongataboo. Course to Botany Bay. Arrival. Last accounts of the ships. When about to set sail, M. De L'Angle, finding the water that had been obtained, so fresh and sweet, thought it a pity not to add a few casks more to their store ; and looking on the island that he was sorry to leave without one more walk in its beautiful, enchanting groves, felt disposed to take a few casks, and go on shore again, to fill them. With several officers, the botanist, and about sixty men, he peopled the barge, a long-boat, and two smaller boats, and providing them well with fire-arms, proceeded to the shore, 264 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. and sent the men to fill the casks. While they were engaged in this work, some of the natives flocked round them for beads, and their number kept increasing till the French were entirely overwhelmed by their immense throng. They soon began to pilfer, and then, to rob ; and at length grew so outrageous, that the French had to make their way to the boats as well as they could, with the Indians attacking them on every side. But the tide had gone down and left the boats a-ground, so that it must take some time and much labor to shove them off. They were at length got clear, into the water, and M. De L'Angle was in one of them, making ready to fire upon the enemy, which he did not wish to do, till he should see them attempt to kill his men, who were still on shore ; as hitherto, they had not aimed at STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 265 their lives, but had only robbed, insulted, and abused them. At length, the men all succeeded in getting into the boats ; and shoved off. When the islanders saw them going away, before they had got all their beads, they flew into a great rage ; and some rushed into the water, while others hurled stones with such violence that they came into the boats among the men, like cannon balls. The assailants stayed the boats, and came on them in such numbers as to put the French in perfect consternation. M. De L'Angle, with the master of arms and the carpenter of his ship, were beaten down from the bow of the long boat, and were the first who perished by the blows of the enemy. The French fired, and some of the natives fell, but their numbers were so overpowering, and their hands so dextrous with the club and 266 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Attack of the natives of Maouna upon the long boata. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 267 the stone, which they hurled with sure aim, and resistless force, that in a few minutes they made themselves masters of the two long boats nearest the shore; and began to tear up the seats to find the treasures, which they supposed were secreted there. The men in the other boats made their way in sadness to the ships, many of them bearing deep wounds, to tell the mournful tale. Twelve of the French perished in this skir- mish, nor could their unhappy survivors pay the last offices of respect to their departed friends, by committing them, with suitable services, to the earth, or the deep. With sickening hearts La Peyrouse and his men now hoisted sail, and turned from the scene of their misfortune, leaving on the edge of this inhospitable shore, the mangled remains of their friends, and the wrecks of their long boats. 268 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Departing from the fatal coast of Maouna, on the 14th of December, La Peyrouse next directed his course across the channel, to the island of Oyolava. The productions of this large and fertile island were very similar to those of Maouna ; and the people who came round the ships in canoes for traffic, so ex- actly resembled its inhabitants, in outward appearance, that some of the French could hardly suppress their indignation at sight of them, while they felt a strong inclination to avenge on them the death of their unfortunate companions. As the frigates approached the shore, they had a view of a village, which was probably the largest then to be found among all the islands of the South Sea. Here they kept more on the alert for the natives, and looked to every proceeding with greater caution than they had done on the other island. STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 269 The smoke that rose over this village looked as if it came from a great city. The natives were gentle and kind in their manners. They wore the hair tied with a kind of green rib- bon, and ornamented with flowers. They seemed wholly ignorant of the use of iron, and would prefer a single glass bead to a long nail or a hatchet. After trading with them awhile, the French continued their course, across the channel to Pola, in the afternoon. It was likely that the people of both these isles received news, that day, of the unfor- tunate affair at Maouna, for, none of "the islanders of Pola came out to the ships. The island was pleasant and fertile in its appearance, as were most of the others of this cluster of isles, named by M. Boagainville, a former adventurer, the Navigators' Islands, from the habit which all the natives have of transporting themselves almost wherever they go, by water. 270 STORY OF LA PEYROUSS. The navigators continued to move on, pass- ing here and there an isle, till they came in sight of Cocoa Island, towering up from the sea in the form of a sugar-loaf, and covered to its summit with bright green trees. Next in view came Traitors Island, low, flat, and with only one hill, rising out of its centre. The frigates drew up to this isle, towards evening. In the morning, about twenty canoes came out to visit them, bring- ing cocoa-nuts, yams, bananas and one hog, for sale. The Indians of this isle appeared never to have seen an European before ; and they seemed wholly destitute of suspicion and fear. Every one of them had had two joints cut from the little finger of his left hand ; but why, or to what deity this sacrifice was made, could not be ascertained. While engaged in their traffic, a sudden flaw came up, which dispersed the canoes, STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 271 and upset many of them in a moment ; but the Indians were expert swimmers, and they soon righted themselves. The next object of our navigators was, to make for such of the Friendly Isles, to the north of Jamooka, as had not been explored by Cook. Bad, stormy weather now came on; many of the men fell sick, and one died. The hogs obtained at Maouna could neither be main- tained alive nor salted, so the crew fed on fresh pork twice a day, while they lasted, which had a good effect on their health. The north-west winds which followed the frigates beyond the Friendly Isles, were accompanied by rain, and blew with violence. On the 27th of December, they approached Vavao, which, with its surrounding islets, had been called by their Spanish discoverer, Majorca. Fear of the rapacious natives prevented La 272 STORY OP LA PEYROUSE. Peyrouse from landing on Vavao, and he bore away for the island of Latte, at twenty leagues distance. The night came on with thick darkness, and the storm beat furiously round the ships. In the morning it was found im- possible to stand the blast, so as to approach Latte, and they bore away towards Koa and Too/a. On the 31st, the voyagers saw Tongataboo, and steered for its southern coast. But the breakers beat round the shore, so that it was thought dangerous to draw very near the land. Beautiful orchards, and trees skirting fields of bright verdure, were to be seen all over the island, and the huts of the natives, instead of being assembled in villages, were scattered here and there, in every direction. Not a hill was to be seen ; the whole surface of the isle looked smooth as the sea in a calm. Some of the natives came out in canoes, STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 273 but not being able to get them near the ships, on account of the billows, they abandoned them, and leaping into the sea, with cocoa- nuts in their hands, came into the ships and offered them for sale, for hatchets, bits of iron, or whatever the buyers pleased to give. - They staid some time and seemed very friendly, promising that if the French would go on shore, they should have good usage and a plenty of provisions. They, like the Traitor islanders, had the joints cut from the little finger, and it was now ascertained to be a sign of mourning for the death of relations. On the first of January, 1788, as there of- fered no way of obtaining fresh provisions, La Peyrouse resolved to steer, without delay, for Botany Bay. For many days, contrary winds, and stormy seas and skies marked the course of the voyagers, till they came near Norfolk Island, The interior of this isle presented a 18 274 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. view of verdant trees and grass, while its bor- ders were hemmed in by reefs of rocks, and the lava from a volcanic mountain had poured down towards the sea, and cooled in its pas- sage, so as to form a perfect roof, several feet wide, over the water. Many beautiful birds were hovering round this isle, and several kinds of fishes were caught upon its coast. As the frigates were passing it, an alarm of fire was given from L'Astrolobe, and a cry that the ship was on fire was heard at the other vessel. But the fire was soon over. It had proceeded from a box of acids and other chemical fluids taking fire spontaneously. But the box was cast into the sea, and the fire soon over, without doing any damage. On the 23d of January the frigates arrived within sight of Botany Bay. At nine o'clock in the morning of the 26th, they dropped anchor in the bay, where the English fleet STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 275 lay, with their colors and pennants sporting in the air. Captain Hunter, commander of a British frigate, sent to offer La Peyrouse every thing in his power to accommodate him during his visit. A sort of intrenchment with palisades was formed on shore to protect the French from the mischievous attacks of the natives, whose savage nature allowed them to receive their presents, and then to throw spears at the giver. At this place M. De Clonade was promoted to the command of L'Astrolobe, in place of its murdered commander, M. De L'Angle. But his season as commander must have been short, as we are now to bring our interesting narrative to a melancholy close. It was the intention of La Peyrouse to sail from Botany Bay, on the 15th of March, and to reach the isle of France in December. At 276 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. this station, he sealed up all his journals, with letters, and transmitted them to his home ; and these were the last papers ever received from him and his company. No authentic accounts could from that time be obtained of the illustrious La Peyrouse, and every thing concurred to enforce the belief that he and his gallant company had perished in the ocean; till in the year 1791, when Captain Bo wen, returning from Port Jackson to Bombay, perceived on the coast of New Georgia, the wreck of a ship afloat upon the waters. By the construction of the wreck, he con- cluded the ship to have been a French built one ; and as no ships had been known to nav- igate these seas, except those of La Peyrouse, and those of Bougainville, those of the latter not having been missing, he thought this must have belonged to La Peyrouse. STORY OF LA PETROUSE. 277 Captain Bowen found by the natives on the coast, that European ships had touched there, and they had articles of glass and iron ware, which led him to believe that La Pey- rouse and his unfortunate companions had lost their lives near this place. 278 STORY OF LA PEYRQUSE. CHAPTER XXV. Search made for the ships. The probable place where they were lost discovered. Concluding remarks. The interest which every reader, (especial- ly, every American one,) of the foregoing pages, must feel in the fate of the noble La Peyrouse and his gallant companions, demands that something be said to answer the question which must naturally arise in the mind, whether no vessels were sent out and searches made, to discover where they might have been cast, and with what catastrophe their voyage was ended. In the same year in which Captain Bowen had seen the wreck, 1791, the French govern- ment sent out M. d'Entrecasteaux on an ex- pedition of research, to see if any thing could be learned respecting the lost frigates and STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 279 their men. But all his researches proved in vain, and he returned, leaving every thing concerning them in as much uncertainty and darkness, as before. In 1825, the French Minister of the Marine published a notice of a report given by an American captain, of his having seen in pos- session of some of the natives of an island between Louisiade and New Caladonia, some medals which appeared to be such as had been in the ships of La Pey rouse. In consequence of this report, a ship from Toulon, sent on a voyage of discovery, was ordered to direct her course in the tract of the island whose situation had been given, that some clue might be found, if possible, to the fate of La Peyrouse. Other information was also gathered, res- pecting the wrecks of two large vessels, on two islands of the New Hebrides, by Captain 280 STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. Dillon, commander of an English vessel at Tucopia, on his passage from Valparaiso to Pondicherry, in May, 1826. Captain Dillon was afterwards sent back to ascertain the truth of what he had heard. The information he gathered amounted to the following facts. Two ships, supposed to be those of La Peyrouse, had struck on a reef at Mallicolo. One of them immediately went down, and all the men on board, were lost with her, in the deep. Some of the crew of the other ship perish- ed, also, in the ocean. Of those who escaped a watery grave, a part were murdered by the natives of the island. The others built a small vessel, from what had been washed up from the mangled ships. In this frail bark, they had committed them- selves to the surface of the boiling deep ; but how long they were able to struggle with the STORY OF LA PEYROUSE. 281 billows, or how soon they might have been swallowed up by them, has ever since been unknown. Some romantic stories have recently been told and written, about La Peyrouse and some of his men having been thrown upon a certain island, where they lived a long time, and met with many adventures : but these are all fic- titious, and wholly groundless. If any thing existed in truth, or probability, to relieve the mind of the melancholy impres- sion caused by the sad termination of the interesting voyage on which we have been accompanying our adventurous friends, it should certainly be given to the reader. But, as a devotee to the truth, I am con- strained, with sorrow to say, that the accounts here given, are the last that have been re- ceived, respecting La Peyrouse ; and they will probably remain the last, until the ocean shall 23£ STOUT OF LA PEYROUSE. be called to render up her dead, and all that has been hidden shall be revealed. Those who shall prize the knowledge they may have gained from this little narrative of the voyage and turn it to its right account, will, no doubt, cherish with fondness and ven- eration, the memory of La Peyrouse. END.