OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, O N PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, NATURAL HISTORY, and ETHIC PHILOSOPHY. especially o n 1. The EARTH and its STRATA, 2. WATER and the OCEAN, 3. The ATMOSPHERE, 4. The CHANGES of the GLOBE, 5. ORGANIC BODIES, and 6. The HUMAN SPECIES. By JOHN REINOLD FORSTER, LLD, F. R. S. and S. A. And a MEMBER of several LEARNED ACADEMIES in EUROPE. Totum igitur illud Philosophise Studium, mihi qijidem ipse sumo, & ad vitjk consuetudinem & constantiam ojjantum tossum & ad delectation em animi : nec ullum ar8itror aut majus aut melius a dlis datum munus homini. M. Tullius Ckm* Acad, %utjl. lib. i. LONDON: Printed for G. ROBINSON, in Pater-noster-Row. M DCC LXXVIII. ■j T O The PRESIDENT, COUNCIL, and FELLOWS of the ROYAL SOCIETY OF LONDON, INSTITUTED for PROMOTING NATURAL KNOWLEDGE, THE FOLLOWING SHEETS, as the RESULT of ENQUIRIES made in t jie course of a VOYAGE round the WORLD, By a FELLOW of the SOCIETY, who was appointed naturalist on that VOYAGE, at thk recommendation of Several MEMBERS of their COUNCIL in 1772, are with profound respect and gratitude in scribed by their most humble and most obedient servant JOHN REINOLD FORSTER. PREFACE. fJ,HE prefent performance has undergone fo many changes in its form fince my return from my voyage, that the public will excufe my delay in publifhing it, and fome of my friends, will I flatter myfelf, be able to judge, what confiderable improvements it has received both from their friendly ftrictures, and my own meditation and reading. The fubject I have treated is fo varied, that I have been obliged to have recourfe in many points to the Sages of every age: and I have either been inftructed by them, or led by their hints to fome new obfcrvations, or obliged to diffent from their opinions. In regard to the Phyfical Geography of our Globe I am much indebted to the Count de Buff on, and to the ingenious Chevalier Tor Bern Bergman j in regard to the Philofophical Hiftory of the Human Species, I have been often delighted with the ideas of that excellent Philofopher of Baile Mr. Jsaac Iselin. And the works of Dr. Blumenbach and i Dr. ( » ) Dr. John Hunter ( the author of a Differtation, de homlnum varietatibus ) have furnifhed me with fome anatomical facts. Befides thefe works I have confulted many others, and transferred into thefe observations feveral ideas which though ana-logous to mine, were however new to me, and fome of my own I was much pleafed to find had been already adopted by the mod ingenious men of the age. My object was nature in its greatefl extent; the Earth, the Sea, the Air, the Organic and Animated Creation, and more particularly that clafs of Beings to which we ourftlves belong. The Hiftory of Mankind has often been attempted ; many writers have defcribed the manners and characters of individuals, but few have traced the hiitory of men in general, confidcred as one large body. What is extant on that head in the French and Englifh languages, contains either flight iketcbes and fragments, or fyflems formed in the clofct or at leafl in the bofom of a nation highly civilized, and therefore in many refpedts degenerated from its original iimplicity. None of thefe authors ever had the opportunity of contemplating mankind in this (late, and its various flages from that of the moil wretched favages, removed but in the firft degree from abfolute animality, to the more polifhed and civilized inhabitants of the Friendly and Society Iflcs. Facts are the bafis of the whole ftructure ; a few fiir inferences enabled me to finifh the whole. My aim has been inftruction, and ( ai ) and the investigation of truth, as far as lies in my power. I cannot expect to have fatisfted every body. To receive the approbation of the good and learned will be my ambition. If proofs be brought that my opinions are not admimble, and if thefe arguments be communicated without rancour, I am open to conviction, and (hall think myfelf much indebted to the man, who will be kind enough to convince me of my miff ake in a friendly manner :. if on the contrary, fcurrility and abufe ferve inffead of arguments,, the public will not, I hope, have a worfe opinion of me for thinking fuch treatment beneath any refentment and unworthy of reply. London, May the \Qtk, 1778,. LIST of SUBSCRIBERS. REV. Dr. Adams, Mailer of Pembroke College, Oxford. Wcllborc Ellis Agar, Efoj Agriculture Society, at Manchefrer. Mr- William Allin, of Newark, Bookfellcr. All Souls College Library, Oxford. Mr. Alitroemcr. Mr, Thomas Armigcr, Surgeon, Alexander Aubert, Efq; F. U.S. Rev. Dr. Bagot, Dean of C. C. Oxford, jofeph Batiks, Efq; F. R. S. Rev. Dr. Barton, Warden of Merton College, Oxford. T. Butterworth Bayley, Efq; F. R. S. T. Beauclerk. Efq; Count dc Belgioioib. Rich. Henry Alex. Bennet, Efq; Rev. Mr. Beuzeville. Mr. Birt, Hertford College, Oxford. John Blanket, Efq; R. Wilbraham Booth, Efq; F. R.S. 2 Copies. Rev, Dr. Brown, Canon of C. C. and Prof, of Hebrew, Oxford. Count de Bruhl. Paul Jacob Bruns, M. A. Oxford. Anthony Champion, Efq; Rev. Mr. Eufebius Cleaver. William Conftable, Efq; F. R.S. Thomas Cornewall. Efq: Alexander Dalrymplc, Efq; F. R. S. Edward Delaval, Efq; Sir Francis Drake, Bart. Matthew Duane, Efq; F. R. S. Rev. Mr. Erclcigh, M. A. Fell, of Oriel Col- lege, Oxford. Exeter College Library, Oxford. Thomas Falconer, Efq; Cheiter. Signor Paolo Greppy, of Milano. Dr. Heberden. Rev. Mr. Hornfby, F. R. S. Prof, of Aftronomy, Oxford. Mr. William Hudfon, F. R. S. Rev. Mr. Hughes, Fel. of Jefus Col, Oxford. John Huffcy, Efq; Hertford College, Oxford, F.S. A. Benjamin Hyatt, Efq; Rev. Mr. Cyril Jackfon, B. D. C.C. C. Oxford WiUiam jackfon, Efq; C. C. C, Oxford. Rev. Dr. Jeffreys, Canon of C. C. Oxford. Rev. Dr. Benjamin Kennicott, Canon of C.C. Oxford, F.R.S, Edward Leeds, Efq; Right Rev. Shutc, Lord Biftiop of Llandaff. j.hn Lloyd, Efq; F. R. S, Right Rev, Robert, Lord Bilhop of London, F.R.S. Rev. Dr. Long, All Souls Coll. Oxford. Rev. Mr. Lucas, M. A. Winchclter Coll. Ox~ ford Mr. Mainftone, Samuel Martin, Efq; Rev, Dr. Jeremiah Milles, Dean of Exeter. Mrs. Dc Miify. Dr. John Hoard. Paul Panton, Efq; General Pafcal Paoli, F.R.S. John Peachey, Efq; VV. P. Perrm, Efq; F, R. S. Jofeph Plymlcy, Efq; Pembroke Coll. Oxford, Mr. Daniel Prince, Bookfeller, at Oxford, 7 Copies. Sir John Pringle, Bart. Pref. R.S, Rev. Mr. Proffer, M, A. Fell, of Baliol Coll. Oxford. Rev. Mr. Putman, F. R. S. Rev. Mr. Richards, M, A. Fell, of Exeter Coil. Oxford. Mr. Riollay, M. A. Fell, of Hertford Coll, Oxford. Mr. Roide, C.C.C. Oxford. Right Hon. Earl of Shelburne. Henry Allured Shore, Efq; Hertford Coll. Ox. -— Shuttlcworth, Efq; F.R.S. Rev. Dr. Smallwell, Canon of C.C. Oxford, Philip Stephens, Efq; Sec. of the Admiralty. Rev. Mr. Stinton, M. A. Fell, of Exeter. Coll, Oxford. Rev. Dr. Stonehoufe, Hadley, in Berks, Rev. Mr. Tilfon. Thomas Tyrwhitt, Efq; Benjamin Vaughan, Efq; William Vaughan, Efq; Warrington Academy, Library. Rev. Dr. Wheeler, Regius Prof, of Divinity, and Canon of C. C. Oxford. Rev. Mr. White, Laudian Prof, of Arab:Cj Oxford. Thomas White, Efq; F. R. S. Rc . Mr. Williams. Rev. Mr. Winttanley, M. A, Fell, of Hertford C, Oxford, Edward Wynne, Efq;, CONTENTS OF THE OBSERVATION S. Page JOURNAL of the Voyage round the World- — . — I 16* CHAPTER I. Remarks on the Earth and Lands, their Inequalities, Strata, and Con- ftituent Parts — . .- % Sect. i. Large Lands — ^ 2. Iflands — — — — »■ - 14. 4. Mountains . _ *** — —• ——. 29 5. Formation of Soil — — — — 36, CHAPTER IL Remarks on Water and the Ocean. Sett. 1. Springs — _ ^_ _ ,- 43 2. Rivulets —r — — ■-• £i 3. Ocean — — — — - 52 i. Depth of the Ocean — —»■ — .- 53 *• Its Colour — — —• •—- 55. 3< Saltnefs — — — —- 56 b 4, Warmth, CONTENTS. Page 4- Warmth or Temperature — —■ 59 5. The Phofphoreal light of the Sea — — '-' 61 *■ On the Queftion concerning the Exigence of a Southern Land 67 4,. Ice and its Formation — — — — 69 CHAPTER III. Remarks on the Atmofphere and its Changes, Meteors, and Phcenomena. Seel. 1. Aqueous Meteors , . — . — — — p_ *• Dew — — —' '- ibid. *> Rains — — — — <- 104 3. Fogs — — — — -. 108 4- Snow, Sleet, and Hail — —• —— 109 5* Warerfpouts — — — N-Mwi ibid, Seel. 2. Aerial Phcenomena — — — ■■ »• Colour of the Sky — —1 -— 115 Rainbows, Solar, and Lunar — — *-1 116 3- Halos — — — 1 117 Seel. 3. Fiery Meteors — -— —• •-- 1. Lightning — — —* —■ 118 Fiery Globes, &c. — —■ •—— J19 3- Auftral Lights — — — — 120 "Seel. 4. Winds — — — —— ill 1. Regular Winds —- — -- 122 *• Variable Winds — ! — > —-- 129 3« Storms — ; **- — '- *3° CHAPTER IV. Remarks on the Changes of the Globe. Seel. I. Regular Changes — — — —- r3* 2. Accidental Changes — — *.....f h Artificial Changes — ***** *35 r 2. Natural CONTENTS. iii Page *• Natural Changes, efpecially from Volcanoes —— 137 3. On the Dimunition of Sea and Water — »- 145 4. Theory of the Formation of Illes r— -• 148 1* Of the Low Ifles — — - 149 *• Of the High IHands — — - 151 CHAPTER V. Remarks on the Organic Bodies — -- 160 Seel, x. Vegetable Kingdom — — —■ —— 1. Numbers *™" — — ■ ■> ■ 169 %> Stations — — — - 174 2- Varieties — — — -- 176 4« Cultivation — -— — —• 177 Si Clafies and Sexes — — — 179 Seel. 2. Animal Kingdom — — — 184 1. Number — — — -- 198 2- Station — — . —— ibid. 2- Variety — — — ■-- 2C0 4« Clarification — — —- - 301 CHAPTER VI. Remarks on the Human Species — — —— 212 Seel. 1. On the Numbers of the Inhabitants in the South Sea Ifles, and their Population — — —— 214 2. On the Varieties of the Human Species, relative to Colour, Size, Form, Habit, and naturalTurnof Mind in the Natives of the South Sea Ifles — — —— 227 3. On the Caufes of Difference in the Races of Men in the Soutli Seas; their Origin and Migration — —— 252 4. Various Progrefs which the Nations wc faw have made from the Savage State towards Civilization — -- 285 Sea. 5. IV O N T E N T S. Page €ecl. 5. Food, and the Method of procuring it, by Fiming, Fowling, Hunting, and the wild fpontaneous Fruits—Savage or barbarous State of a fmall Number of Men—Origin of Cannibalifm— Means employed by Providence of improving human Societies 307 6. General Principles of national Happinefs—Increafe of Population— Caufes of Union—Cultivation—Property—Society—Government — — — ' 1-> 336 7. On the Principles, moral Ideas, Manners, Refinement, Luxury, and the Condition of Women among the Natives of the South Sea Ifles — — — !—.L 382 8. Inftruftion, Private and Public : Origin and Progrefs of Manu- factures, Arts, and Sciences — —■ ■--435 9. Religion, Mythology, Cofmogony, Worfhip, Origin of Mankind, future State, "Rites Genethliac, Nuptial, Sepulchral —— 533 10. Recapitulation ; general View of the Happinefs of the Iflanders in the South Sea. Short comparative View of various Manners and Cuftoms ufual in the South Sea Ifles, with thofe of other Nations <— — — - 572 11, On the Prefervation of Health in long Voyages—Account of our Difeafes, and the Remedies and Preventatives ufed on our Voyage 610 JOURNAL JOURNAL OF THE VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. IN THE RESOLUTION. Jut.y. 13. TT IS Majefty's floops Refolution and Adventure failed from Plymouth. XT. 20. Made the coaft of Gallicia in Spain, between the Capes Prior and Ortl* gncra, 22. Saw the light-houfe of Corunna. 23. Paflcd three Spanifli men of war, one of which infultcd the Britifli flag. 28. Saw Porto-Santo in Madeira.—Anchored in the road of Funchal. August i, In the evening', failed from Madeira. 4. Saw the Ifland of Palma, one of the Canaries. 5. Saw the Iilc of Fcrro, another of the Canaries. 11, Paflcd Bonaviila, one of the Cape Vcrd Wands. is. Saw Mayo and San Jago, two of the Cape Vcrd I Hands.—In the afternoon anchored in Porto-Praya, on the latter. 14. Sailed from San Jago. St ptember. 0, Crofled the equinoctial line. octobi-r. ay. Made the Cape of Good Hope. 30. Anchored in Titbit Bay. Novii mber. 12. Sailed from the Cape of Good Hope for the South, B December, JOURNAL. December. 10, Saw ice floating in the ocean the firfttime, being in 510 rfc S. lat. and 21* ±»E. long from Greenwich, 14. Saw great fields of ice, nearly in 55° S. and between 220 and 240 E. January. 2, Our latitude about 590 S. and long. 90 30' E. We turn, back to the Eaftward. 17. Crofled the antarctic circle the firix time, and advanced to 67° 10' S. in 39°4o' E. Fheruar y. 3. In fcarch of M, dc Kerguclen's Land, we reach 480 36' S. and 60 d: E. 8. Lot company of the Adventure, for the rirlt time, in a fog. ^4. Saw field ice in about 620 S. and 9c0 E. March. 25. Saw the coaftof New Zccland, to the fouth of Weft Cape. 26. Anchored in Dufky Kay. 27. Removed into a cove called PUkerfgill Harbour. , April. 39. Sailed out of that cove. May. 11. Cleared the North entrance of Dufky Bay. 17. Saw feveral water fpouts in Cook's Strait. 18. Anchored in Queen Charlotte's Sound, where we rejoined the Adventure. June, 7, Sailed from Queen Charlotte's Sound. July. 9. In hit. 430 =£ S. and long. 1460 z±z W. August. 11. Difcovcrcd a new low ifland, which we called Refolution, in 17° 24'S. and 141" 30/ W.—In the evening difcovcrcd another, which received the name of Doubtful Ifland, in 1 70 20' S. and 1420 38' W. 12. Difcovered a low ifland, which we named Furneaux Ifland, in 170 5'S. and 143* 16' W. 13. Difcovered a fourth, which wc named Adventure Ifland, in 17" 4'S. and 1440 3c/ W.—Parted Chain Ifland in the afternoon, jc. Saw Maatca, which captain Wallis calls Ofnabruck Ifland, in 17° 48'S. and 1480 ior W.—In the evening faw Taheitee. 16. The Refolution flruck on the coat of Taheitee, but was got off again, j 7. Both fhips anchored in Aitepeha harbour, in the lcfler pcninfula of Taheitee, named Tiarraboo. 44. Sailed from Aiteplha harbour. 2$. Anchored in Matavai Bay, on the greater pcninfula of Taheitee, named Tobreonoo. Its North point, called Point Venus, is fituated in 170 29' i$'r S. and 1490 35' W. SfcJ'TEMBl.;Rr J O U R N A L, SerTEMr.r.r. 1. Sailed frotn Taheitee. 2. Saw Huahine, one of the Society I (lands. 3. Saw Raiercn, Tahu, and Borabora, three of the Society Iflands ; and anchored in Whan-e-h arbour, on Huahine, in i6°44' S. and 151° / W. 7, Sailed from Huahine. 8. Anchored in Hamancno harbour, on Raictca, fituated in 16° 45' S. and i'JI* Hi' W. j 4. Two boats were fent to the Ifle of Taha. 17. Wc failed from Raietea.—Paflcd by Borabora, in 160 27' S. and icr° 50' W. alfo paflcd t# the Southward of Mowrua, in 160 25' S. and 152° 8' W* 23. Difcovered alow ifland, which we named Hcrvcy's Ifland in 19° 18' S. and 158* 54' w. OcTOBiiB, . z. In the evening faw Eaoowhe, which Tafman calls Middkburg Ifland, which is about four leagues long ; its middle lying in 210 22' S. and 174° 42' W. 3. Anchored in the road off its N. W. end. 4. Sailed, and in the evening came to an anchor in Van Dicmcn's road, at the N.W. end of Tonga-Tabboo, the Amftcrdam Ifland of Tafman, which is nearly twenty leagues in circuit, its middle being in zi° iV S. and 175° W. • 7. Sailed from Tonga-Tabboo. 8. 1 !• Saw Pylftaert Ifland in 220 26' S. 175" 59' W. 21. Made the coaft of New-Zecland near Portland Ifland. 29. Loft company of the Adventure a fecond time, and never rejoined her afterwards. November , 2. Anchored in a bay under Cape Tra-Whittce on the North fide of Cook's Strait. 3. Anchored in Queen Charlotte's Sound the fecond time. 25. Sailed from New Zceland. i December. 6. In the evening eroded the point of the Antipodes of London. 12. Saw the firit ice this feafon in 620 ± S. and between 1720 and 1730 W. IC. Saw field-ice in 66° S. and 158° W. 20. Croflcd the antarctic circle, advancing a fecond time into the frigid zone in 14.7^ 30' W. 2.v Left the frigid zone in 135° W. after failing upwards of 1 z° of longitude within it. January. 11. Reached the latitude of 470 $1' S. and longitude 122° 30' sfc XV. s6. Croflcd the antarctic circle again, and entered the frigid zone the third time in ic^^o'W. -,o. We were flopped by immenfe ice-fields in 710 10' 30" S. and 1070 jfc W. that being the furtheff pu(h toward* the South Pole which has hitherto been made. February, J O V R.N A L, FEBRUARY. 21. , Went in (inert of the fuppofed continent of Juan Fernandez., without finding it, be-to < tween 36" and 38° S, and between 940 and 101" Wi H* ^ March. 11. Saw Eafler Ifland, or Waihu, fituatcd in 27° 5' 307 S. and in 109° 46' 45" W. 14. Anchored at its S. W. end. 16. Sailed from Eafler Ifland. April. ,4>. Difcovered Hood's I (land, a rock hitherto unknown, belonging to the clufler of iflands called the Manpiefas. 7. Saw Hcevarou, (la Dominica) Onateyo, (St. Pedro) and Waitahu, (St, Chriftma) thre« of the Marque fas.-In the evening anchored at Waitahu in Madre-de-Dios harbour otherwife called Kefolution-Bay, fituatcd in 90 5<;'3o''S. and t39°8'4o" W. 10. Sailed from the Mar«\ucf.is. Saw Mr. Byron's King George's Iflands.—Landed on the Eafternmoit, called Tcoukea fituatcd in 140 28' S, and 144° 56' W. Fell in with four low iflands, which were named Paitifer's Iflands, their middle being in 1 50 36' S. and 1460 30' W. 21. Saw the ifland Taheitee the fecond time. Anchored at Matavai Bay. May. 14. Sailed from Taheitee. 1 5. In the afternoon we anchored at Huahine, in Wliarrc-harbour. 33. Sailod from Huahine towards Raictea. 34. Anchored in Hamaneno harbour. JUNE. v " 4, Sailed from the Society Iflands, 6. Paflcd by Howe's Ifland, or Mopechah, in i6°46'S. and iC4°8'W. 16. Pafled a low ifland, unknown before, in 180 4'S. and 1630 io' W. and called it Palmer- Hone's Ifland. 30. Saw an ifland in 190 \r S. and 1690 37' W. Si. Landed upon it, and left it, calling it Savage Ifland. a £. Saw fome of the iflands belonging to the Archipelago of Namocka. 26, Anchored on the lee-fule of Namocka, (Rotterdam Ifland of Talinan) which is about £ leagues in circuit, fituatcd in 20p 17' S. and 174° 32' W, 29. Set fail from Namocka, and pafled by the Friendly Iflands adjacent, 30. Pafled through the flrait between two high iflands of fmall fi/.e, one called 0-Gh;m, and the other Tofooa. The latter has a volcano, and lies in- 1-9° 45' S. and 174° 48' W. July, 3, Saw an ifland, and flood towards it. 3. Pafled by it, finding no anchorage, and called it Turtle Ifland. It lies in 19" 48' S. and 17 8" si WV i(x. Saw JO U R N A L> 16, Saw the iflamU ofWhitfuntide and Aurora, difcovcrcd by Capt. Qujros, and vilited by M. dc Bougainville. <8. Palled between M. dc Bougainville's Pic dc PA vcrdi (orPicdel'Etoile) and Aurora Ifland, The latter is about I 2 leagues long, and 4 or 5 miles broad. Its middle lies nearly in 15" 06' S. and i6SJ 24' E. Came in light of the Itle of Lepers, fo called by M. de Bougainville. 20, Palled between the Iflc of Lepers and Aurora, towards Whitfuntidc Ifland. The I lie of Lepers is found to be about 20 leagues in circuit, its middle lying in iq' 20' S. and 168" 03' E. "Wh'nfuntide Ifland is about 12 leagues long, and about 6 miles broad, in the broaden" part ; the middle in 15° 45' S. and 1680 28' E. 41. Saw an illand to the South of Whitfuntide Ifland, which (as we afterwards learnt) the natives call Ambrrym. Its extent E. and W. or thereabouts is 7 leagues, and its circuit near 20. Its middle lic» in 16" 15' S. and 168° 20' E. Soon after difcovered another ifland to the Weft, of considerable extent, named Mallicol-lo, two others to the S. E. named Pa-oom and A pee, and another to the South, which was called Three-Hills Ifle. In the afternoon anchored in Port Sandwich, on the ifle-of Mallicollo. 23. Sailed from Mallicollo, in the morning. This illand lies about N. N, W. and S. S. E. 20 leagues long, and about 55 in circuit. Irs North point is in 150 co' S. and 167° 23' E. and Port Sandwich near the S. E. end, is in 16° 28' S. and 1670 56' E. Left the Ifle of Pa-ooin to the N. E. of us in the afternoon ; wc remained dubious whether it does not conlift of two iflands, of which the Eatfernmoit rs a high peak, fituatcd in 16" 25'S. and 168' 30' E. The whole circumference of the ifland docs not exceed 5 leagues. The ifland of Apee, a little to the Southward of it, is about 7 leagues long, and its middle is in 16° 42' S. and 1680 36' E* 24. In the m rning ran dole up to the Three-Hills Ifland, which i3 not above two leagvtes long, and lies in 170 04' S. and 1680 32'E. In the afternoon examined fome fmall ifles oft" the S. E. end of Apee, which were called Shepherd's Illes. 25. Paired by a fmall ifland, which we called Two-Hills Ifland, to the South of Three-Hills, and faw a rock near it, which received the name of the Monument. In the evening we were becalmed near a large ifland, which wc had difcovered the dav before. 46. Palfed the new ifland in the afternoon, and called it Sandwich Ifland. Its middle is it? if 45' S. and 168° 30'E. It lies nearly S. E. and N. W. a;ul may meafure 25 leagues in circuit. Two fmall iflands, one to the Eatl, the other to the North or it, were called Montagu and Hinchingbrook. 27. At day-break we difcovered another new illand to ihe S. S. E. 28. Difcovered another ftill more to the S. E. and a great way further ofF, August. 1. Kan along the Weilern fl.orc of the ifland difcovered on the 47th, where wc faw a har-bpftK* 3. Anchored J 0. U R N A L, 1774' August. 3. Anchored on the North ftde of this ifland, of which the middle lies in (8« 48' S. and 169° 20' E. Its circumference appears to be above 30 leagues. 4. Sailed from this ifland, which (as we afterward* learnt) the natives call Irromanga, and advanced towards the more Southerly one. 5. Anchored in a port on the new i!!:m..i, which has a vol-aro. The natives call their ifland Tanna ; it lies in 19" 30' S. and 169" 38' E. Its circuit appears to be about 24 leagues. 20. Sailed from Tanna. A fmall low ifland, named Immer, dies a few leagues to the North of it ; a high ifland, called Irronan, lies about 12 leagues to the Eaftward of it j and another, called Anattom, to the South-Eaifward. This laft is fituatcd in 200 3' S. aid 1700 r/ E. Wc flood to the North Weftward, along the lec-fule of the clufter of illes we had hitherto difcovcrcc!, which v.ee r,,;med the New Hebrides. 24, Hiving coafted the W. fhore of Mallicollo, wc failed round its North point, through a pafl'age already, difeb+rred by M. de Bougainville, and formed by another great illand to the Northward, near which wc faw feveral fmall illes, along the S. and E. coaits. 25. We entered a vaft bay about 8 leagues deep, on the North end of the great ifland. It appeared to Captain Cook to be the fame which Capt. Quiros has-dedicatcd to St. Philip and St. James, Its Weft point, which wc called Cape Cumberland, lies in 140 38' S. and. 166° 5.2'E. and the'Eaft point, named Cape Quiros, in 14" 55' S. and 167" aV'JS.^: In.-: ,k"2z'ot uod latus mundi, nebula, malujquc Jupiter urget, Hor. lib. i. Od. XXII. Sect. EARTH and LA N D. SECTION III. l7 STRATA. TVTO foil appears on Southern Georgia, except in a few strata. crevices of the rocks all the reft is a ponderous Hate which contains fome irony particles, lies in horizontal flrata or nearly fo, and is here and there perpendicularly interfcdted by veins of quartz. The rocks of Tierra del Fuego near the fea, are of the fame nature and have on the higher parts, coarfe granite rocks. fSaxumJ The Southern ifle of New Zeeland which we vilited in two different places, is on its furface covered with a ftratum of fine black light mould, formed of putrined moflcs, deciduous leaves, and rotten trees [humus dcedalea & ruralis, Linnaei.) This ftratum is in fome places about ten or twelve inches thick, but in general not fo deep; under it we found an argillaceous fubftance nearly related to the clafs of talcous flones, which is turned into a kind of earth, by being expofed to the action of the fun, air, rain and froft, and is of various thicknefs: frill deeper the fame is indurated into flone, running in oblique flrata dipping generally to the South: their hardnefs varies confiderably, for fome of the moft indurated and compact will ilrike fire with fteel. Their colour is generally a pale yellow, fome- D times strata, times with a greenifh hue. Thefe ftrata are interfered perpendicularly or nearly fo, by veins of white quartz (quarzum lacteum Linn.) and fometimes contain a green kind of fbone of a lamellated ftructurc, and nearly related to the talcous ftones. On fhingly beaches I have, though feldom, found a few black fmooth ftones of the flinty order, and fome large detached pieces of a folid, ponderous, fpeckled grey or blackifh green lava, employed by the natives to form their emit-tees, or weapons for clofc engagement. a few pumice-ilones (pu-friex imlcani Linn.) were likewife collected on the fliingly beaches of this ifle: but whether they were thrown up by a volcano in the neighbourhood, or carried there from remote parts by the fea, I cannot determine. Among the foffil productions of this country, we muft likewife reckon a green ftone, which fometimes is opaque, and fometimes quite tranfparent, manufactured by the natives into hatchets, chiifels, and ornaments, and feems to be of the nephritic kind {talcum ncphritkum Linn.) This ftone is commonly brought by the natives from the interior parts of Queen Charlotte's Sound to the South Weft, in which direction they pointed. We afked for its native place, and they called it Poenamoo, from whence probably the abovementioned part of the country obtained the denomination of Tavai Poenamoo: but next to Motoo-aroo, on the little iflet, where the natives formerly had one of their hippa's or ftrong holds, this ftone is found in perpendicular or fomcwhat oblique veins, 6 of LAND anp EARTH. 19 of about two inches thicknefs, in the above-mentioned ftrata of strata. talcous greyifh ftone. The nephritic is feldom folid or in large pieces, for the greateft fragments we faw, never exceeded twelve or fifteen inches in breadth, and about two inches in thicknefs. On the ihores we commonly met with a blueifh grey, argillaceous ftate of alamellated ftru&ure, eafily crumbling to pieces, when ex* pofed to the weather: fometimes this flate is more folid, ponderous, and of a darker colour, probably on account of fome metallic irony particles, which I fuppofe it to contain. The fragments of this ilate fcattered on the beach our feamen call jlsingle. We found in Norfolk Island almoft the fame ftrata as in New Zeeland, and alio red and yellow fragments of a fpungy lava: this illand likewife contains the fame plants and birds. Easter Island has ftrongly the appearance of a land that has lately undergone a great alteration by fire. All its rocks look black, burnt and cavernous, refembling flags or drofs. The foil is a red-* brown, dufty mould, as if it had been burnt, and might with juftice be deemed a kind of Puzzolana, * fpread with innumerable fragments of tarrasJlonc, fome rocks which I law were of a brown or reddifh ochreous volcanic tufa, -|- {tophus tubakamiLinn.) full of caverns, and fome ferrugineous particles. Of this fubftance the D 2 gigantick * Sec Vcvhrs ti-aveh through Italy, tranflatcd by Mr. Rafpc, p. ijo. -j- Sec Ferfor's travels p. 128. .strata, gigantic flatues of Eaflcr Ifland arc formed, and therefore they cannot be of very remote antiquity, as the ftone is of an extremely perifhable nature. On the South fide of the ifle, the whole cliff towards the fea for more than a quarter of a mile confifts of folid ponderous rock of a honeycombed flag or lava, which may be expected to yield fome portions of iron. Befides thefe, we faw feveral black glairy ftones, which to mineralogifts are known by the name of black agate (pu-mex vitreus Linn.) found in Iceland, \ near the Vefuvio in Italy, § the Mongibello in Sicily, and on the ifle of i\fcenfion; || in fhort in all the neighbourhoods of volcanos. We obferved likewife a ftonv> light, fpungy kind of lava, of a whitifh grey colour. The Marquesas have a rocky fliore, confifling of indurated clay; a ponderous, folid flate, of a blueifh grey colour, containing fome iron particles; and laftiy a ftony lava, which is either grey, fpungy with lamellate.d, vitreous, pentagonal or hexagonal fherl, of a brownifh and in fome of a greeniih, or of a blackifh colour, with brownifh and fometimes white ftarlike or radiated fherl. The furface of the foil is a clay mixed with mould, which the natives manure with fhells. Under this mould is an earthy argillaceous fub-flance, mixed with tarras and puzzolana. As we flaid but a few days here, we had not much time to examine the higher parts of the ifle. 0-Taheitee t Ferltrs travels, p. X58. Mr. Rafpe's note, il Cronlted's mineralogy, fed. 295. p. 269. I Ferbers travel^ p. 157. O-Taheitee and all the Society Ifles are no doubt of the fame na- strata* ture. Their fhores are coral rock extending from the reef encircling thefe ifles to the very high-water mark. There begins the find,, formed in fome places from fmall fhells, and rubbed pieces of coral rock; but in others the fhores are covered by a blackifn kind of fand? confifting of the former fort mixed with black, fometimes mining and glittering particles of coarfe dftsse or glift (Mica) and here and there fome particles of refractory iron ores called In England Shim (ferrum micaceum, Linn.)and Kall (molybdenumJpumalupi, Linn.) The plains from the fhores to the foot of the hills, are covered with a very fine thick ftratum of black mould, mixed with the above-mentioned kind of fand,. and when the natives cultivate fome fpots for raifmg the inebriating pepper plant (piper methyjliaim) or the cloth plant (morns papyri/era J they often ufe- fhells as a kind of manure. The firfl and lower range of hills are commonly formed of a red ochreous earth (ochra martis Linn.) fometimes fo intenfely red, that the natives ufe it to paint their canoes and cloth: and in this earth I found here and there pieces, as I believe of the ofleoeolla (tophus ofleoeolla Linn.) The higher hills confift of a hard, comparand ftiff clayey fubftance, which in the ftrata that are out of ths reach of fun, air and rain, are hardened into a ftone. There are at the top of the valleys, along the banks of the rivers, large manes ©f coarfe granite ftones (faxum) of various mixtures,, and at a pkc£ strata, of the fame nature, near a cafcadc formed by the river Matavai, there are pillars of a grey, folid bafaltes, (nitrum bafalthum Linn.) and here and there I faw fragments of black folid bafaltes or para-gone, which the natives commonly employ to make their pause heaters, hatchets, duffels and cutting tools. At Q-AJte-peba the lives brought me on board a kind of pyrites having the exact form of a /lalactitc, or of a fubftance that had been melted and congealed while running down. The exiftence of fulphureous pyrites confirms the account I was favoured with by the learned and ingenious Dr. Cafimiro Gomez Ortega, F.R.S. the King of Spain's Botanift, and In-tendant of the botanical garden at Madrid, intimating that the Spanifh men of war, which had been at O-Taheitee, brought from thence a large mafs of the fined cryftalline tranfparent native fulphur, now placed in the royal cabinet of natural hiftory at Madrid. At the top of the numerous valleys, which interfect thefe ifles, are large, rocky mafTes, black and cavernous, full of various white and other fpecks of fherl, in a word, real lava. There is likewife a grey, flalac-titic, porous lava to be met with, which contains black fherls; and daftly we found an argillaceous, lamcl iated iron ftone of a dull red-difh brown colour. The Friendly Islands have, in my opinion, the fame foil as the Society Ifles; with this difference only, that they are not fo high or fo rocky as the latter. When wc came to A-Namocka in the the year 1774, we faw on the ifle of Tofoba a fmoke in the morning, strata.. which appeared fiery at night. When we pafled between it and O-. Ohio, we obferved great clouds of fmoke riling from the. middle of the ifle, attended with a fmell iimilar to that produced by burnt turf; fome particles filled the atmofphere, and fell down on the fliip, and coming in contact with the eye, ogcafioned an acute pain.. On the North fide of the ifle we faw a large place with the evident appearance of being lately burnt by fire. On the fhores of A-Na- mocka, pumice-flones were frequently thrown up by the fea. The natives of all thefe ifles ufed likewife pieces of black, folid befaltes for hatchets and tools, as in the Society Ifles. Among the fifhing implements of thefe iflaiiders, we found conic pieces of a. calcareous. &$ *e; but we could not determine whether they were made of fpar, or of coral-rock : though I am inclined to believe thefe cones to be a kind of fparry fubftance. The foil of the Njsw-Hebrides feems to be very much of the fame kind with that in the above iflands. At Mallicollo, it appeared to confift rather of a yellowifli clay, mixed with common find. The rocks along the fea-fliore, are formed of corals and madrepores j and higher up cf an indurated clay. The ifle of Ambrrym has certainly one, if not two, volcanos y and we found pumice-ftones on the oppofite flicres of Mallicollc. Irromanga we faw only at a diilan.ee> and it fcemed to be much of STRATA, of the fame nature with the former ifles. T/,Ilii \ has on its iliores coral rocks and madrepores : the '>:~ches are covered with a blackifh fand, confifting of minute pieces of ilicri and-pumicc-ftonc, which are formed by the allies conftantly thrown up by a volcano, and fcattered over the whole furface of the ifland. (Vumex cinerarius, Linn.) The furface of the whole ifle conflrb therefore of tins pumice-fand mixed with a black mould formed by the ■ putrified vegetables. The pumice-fand is very abraittarrr , for there is at certain times, feveral leagues diftant from the volcano, not a leaf of any tree or plant, nor any grafs, which is not entirely covered with aihes, which I examined, and found to be this very pumice-fand : however, this forms a moft admirable afhy, fertile foil, in which all vegetables thrive with the grcateft luxuriance. We found a few Angle detached rock-ftones • being a mixture of quartz and black daze or mica ; nay, one of thefe pieces was a coarfe diflblved granite, covered with black button-ore, which is a fort of iron-ore. The chief ftrata of the ifle, as far as I could form a judgment of them, from the various cliffs furrounding the harbour, are of a clay mixed with aluminous earth, interfperfed with lumps of pure chalk. The ftrata of the clay are about fix inches more or lefs, deviating very little from the horizontal line. In a few places I found a (ofty blackifh fand-ftone, compofed of the afhes fpread by the volcano, and fome parts of clay. Here and there I obferved a fubftance commonly E A R T.H and LAN D S. 25 monly called rotten-ftone> which is a brown clayey tripoli; and, strata, between the rotten-flone and the above-mentioned fand-ftone, is a ftratum containing both mixed together. High on the fides of the hills towards the volcano, I found a whitiih, argillaceous fubftance, through which aqueous and fulphureous fleams, from the very neighbourhood of the volcano, were continually rifing, and made the place intenfely hot: its tafte is flyptic, and I believe aluminous*. Some native fulphur was to be feen in this earth, together with feveral green fpecks or marks of copper. Under thefe folfataras, (which, at each eruption from the volcano, emitted greater quantities of hot fteams)- are feveral hot wells, clofe to the high-water mark, which, however, feem not to be in the leaft ftilphureous. I E found * All the neighbourhood of the folfataras in Tanna contains volcanic productions. The ftones near it are lavas; the fand confifts of volcanic afhes, and the foil is clay mixed with this fand. It is therefore beyond any doubt, that the clayey white fubftance, found in the very fpiraculum, is nothing but a new modification of the volcanic productions. The firft who ever had this idea, that clays arc produced by an operation of the vitriolic acid upon vi-trefcent or vitrified fubftanccs, is the ingenious Mr. Beaumt, who founded it on a ferie.i of experiments. But the very firft, who applied this idea to the great operations of nature in the folfataras, is Mr. Ferher% the moft intelligent, and moft accurate mineralogical writer of this age, which maybe feen more at large in his xith letter, dated February 17, 1772, Pub" lifhed in his Travels through Italy, tranflatcd by Mr. Rafpe. Sir William Hamilton, that; in-defatlgable obferver of volcanos, had already examined the folfatara in 1771 ; but he feems, at that time, not to have had the leaft intimation of this remarkable procefs ; liivce, in his letter to Dr. Maty, dated March 5,- 177he calls the operation going-forward at the: folfatara a calcination: and hementions to have feen half of 0 large piece of lama pcrfeHly <.-m.c:[m.iv, *'.-/'///? the other half pat of the reach of the vapours', has 'been untouched; aid in fome pieces, th- ■ — tee feem to be-already converted into -th.uje masble. Thefe whitiih clays might, cvai by their appearance, fays Mr. Ferbcr, p. 165, be miftalen for lime-flanc; no wonder, therefore, that they (hould fuggeft the idea of calcination and of true marble. strata, found likewife, in the vicinity of the hot {learning places or folfataras, a red ochre,, or vitriolic earth, fimilar to the colcothar vi'tri-ch\ ufed by the natives for painting their faces. Every where in the ifle we met with pumice-ftones of purple, black, and white colour, and of different fpecific gravity. On the South-fide of the ifle is a cliff, in which I found feveral pieces of lava, fome of which were black and folid, others porous and filled with greenifh and white iherl cryftals ; others were grey and poroua, containing yellow and black fherl.. Befides thefe, we found a reddifh lava or tarras, very light and fimilar to a pumice-ftone. On the fhores were calcareous tophi to be met with, containing feveral nidi of pholades. The neighbouring ifle of Anattom, I fuppofe to contain like-wife volcanic productions, as well as Tanna, becaufe the natives of the latter had hatchets of black, folid bafaltes or paragone, and faid they came from Anattom> to diftinguifh them from hatchets made of a white fhell, and which came from the ill® of Immer: the firft kind they called Paha-bittqf, and the latter Paha-bujhan. To our iron hatchets they gave the firft name, New-Caledonia, and its adjacent ifles, are furrounded by a reef of coral rocks and madrepores. The fhores confift of fhell* fand and particles of quartz. The foil is, in the plains, a black mould mixed with the above {and, and when watered and cultivat-6 *d, ed, very fertile. The fides of the hills, which I vifited, are com- strata, pofed of a yellow ochreous clay, richly fpangled with fmall particles of cat-lilver, or a whitifh kind of daze. (Mica argentea. Linn,) The higher parts of the hills confift of a ftone, called by the German miners geftell-ftein, compofed of quartz and great lumps of the above cat-filver. (Saxum quarzo £? mica argentea compofitum.) The cat-filver is fometimes of an intenfely red or orange colour, by means of an iron-ochre. To the Weft of our anchoring-place, near the fliore, are large, extremely hard maffes of a blackifh-green horn-ftone, (talcum corneum* Linn.) full of fmall pieces of garnets, of the fize of a pin's head. (Saxum corneum, granatis mix-turn.J In feveral places, fragments of white and very transparent quartz, fometimes tinged red in the cracks, are found fcattered; thefe ftones the natives contrive to break in fuch a manner, that a fharp edge is produced, and ufe them to cut their hair. The natives carry ftones for their flings in fmall bags, Thefe ftones are of an oblong roundifli figure, and pointed at both ends, confifting of a kind of foapTrock or fmedites. Befides thefe, we met with fome coarfe, fibrous, greenifh afbeftos. If I except the coral rocks and madrepores, which form the ihores of a great many of thefe iiles, I cannot fay, that I met with -a fingle petrefaction of any denomination, in all the ifles we vifited in the courfe of our expedition. E z From strata. From the above account it appears, I think, evidently, that all the tropical high ifles of the South-Sea have been fubject to the action of volcanos. This is ftrongly confirmed by the actual ignivo-mous mountains, which we obferved at Tofoba, Ambrrym, and Tanna. * " * : srtttip.lo I- i:d »t: _ ■• Pyritical and fulphureous fubftances, together with a few iron-ftones and fome veitiges of copper, are no doubt found in feveral of them but the mountains of New-Caledonia are the moil likely to contain the richefl metallic veins ; and the fame opinion, I fufpect, may be formed of the mountains in New Zeeland. For the metallic fubftances, in all the other volcanic ifles are probably deftroyed and fcorified by the violence of the fubterraneous fire: thofe in New-Caledonia and New-Zeeland feem to be as yet undifturbed, as the fpecies of foffils prevailing in thefe two ifles are fubftances, which mineralogies have hitherto looked upon as primogenial, in which all the metallic veins * on our globe are conflantly found. We can offer nothing befides this general, but probable, conjecture; as our fliort flay, and the multiplicity of other bufinefs, prevented us from enquiring more minutely into the nature of the foffil productions'of thefe ifles. * i fpeak of veins only, and not of flan-work or floors, which contain likewife fometimC3 metallic ores, but Inve an origin different from that of the primogenial mountains. IV. MOUN, EARTH and LANDS. SECT. IV. MOUNTAINS. JF we examine the illes, vifited by us in the different fe-as, which we navigated, it will appear, that they all ought to be confi-dered as a range of fubmarine mountains : for, if the bottom of the fea is to be looked upon as land, thefe illes certainly are elevations or rifing grounds; and therefore, as they are fo near one another, and lying in the fame direction, they can be nothing but chains of mountains. I will at prefent, therefore, only give an idea of the various ranges of thefe fubmarine elevations, which fall under the above defcription. . When we were at the Cape of Good Hope, in November, 1772, we were informed, that the French had difcovered fome land in the Southern Indian ocean, about the meridian of Mauritius, and the latitude of 480 South. After having gone beyond the antarctic circle, we hauled up towards the above fituation, and found no land; but, from all concurring circumftances, it was highly probable, that we had been at no great diftance from it. At our return to the Cape in March, 1775, we found there Capt. Crozet, who had made a voyage Ofi difcovery with the unfortunate Capt. Marion, and had found 30. K E M; ARKS on the moun— found feveral fmall ifles and a large one, all lying in a direction tains. from Weft to Eafl:, or nearly fo : thefe ifles, and thofe feen by Mr. de Kirguelen, are expreffed in a chart published under the patronage of the Due de Croy, by Robert de Vaugondy. Though we had not the good luck to fall in with them, we have, however, no reafons to difbelieve their exiftence ; and probably their ftuation will be afcertained by that able and indefatigable navigator, Capt. Cook, in the expedition in which he at prcfent is employed. Thefe illes feem to be a feries or chain of fubmarine mountains, running nearly from Weft to Eafl. The lands, vifited by us and others, in the Southern parts of the Atlantic ocean, arc Sandwich Land, South-Georgia, Falkland Iflands, and Staten Land, together with the broken lauds belonging to Tierra del Fuego, and thefe form another chain of fubmarine mountains, lying almoft in the. fame direction with the former. The low ifles to the Eaft of O-Taheitee, with the Society Ifles, the Friendly Ifles, the New-Hebrides, and New-Caledonia, together with the intermediate ifles of Stilly, Howe, Pallifer, Palmerftone, Savage, and Turtle-Ifland, as well as the ifles of Hope and Cocos, Capt. Carteret's Queen Charlotte's-Ifles, and feveral more, as far as New-Hibernia, New-Britain, and New-Guinea, are one great chain of fubmarine mountains; extending through an Immenfe fpace, or three-fourths of the whole South-Sea. Nor- Norfolk-Iiland, and New-Zeeland, feem to belong to a range of moun-mountains branching out from the great chain, and running from North to South. If we confider this direction of ifles or fubmarine mountains, it mould feem they were defigned to give greater foli-dity and ftrength to the compages of our globe. The next circumftance relative to the mountains is their height. The higheft of all the mountains, which we few in the courfe o this voyage, is, in my opinion, Mount Egmont, on the Northern ifle of New-Zeeland, whofe fummit was covered with fnow a great way down, and almoft conltantly capt with clouds; though at intervals we faw its top very diftinctly. In France, in about 46 ° of North latitude, the line of eternal fnow is found at the height of about 3280 or 3400 yards above the level of the fea. On the Pico de Teyde, on the ifle of Teneriffe, in about 28° of North latitude, the fnow is to be met with at the height of 4472 yards. Mount Egmont is very nearly in 39° of South latitude : but, as we conltantly found, that in Southern latitudes the cold is much more intenfe than in the corresponding degrees of the Northern hemifphere, I will fuppofe the climate of Mount Egmont equal to that of France, and therefore the line of fnow to be at the height of 3280 yardsand, as the fnow feemed to occupy one third of its height, the mountain will be 4920 yards high, or 14,760 feet, which is fomewhat lefs than Dr. Heberden found REMARKS on t ii e •found the Pico of the file of Teneriffe * to be. The fummits of the other mountains, in the interior parts of New-Zeeland, both in Queen Charlotte's Sound and in Dufky Bay we found conflantly covered a good way down with eternal fnow. We obferved thefe fnow capt heads all the way along, when we failed from Dufky Bay to Queen Charlotte's Sound in May, in the year 1773, and we took notice of the fame circumflance in the fame year in October, on thc other fide of the Southern ifle, when contrary florms brought us a good way along its South Eafl fliore, almofl as far as Banks's Illand. This I believe, fufficiently proves, that thefe mountains form, as it were, one continued chain, running throughout the whole Southern Ifle, and that they are little inferior in height to twelve or fourteen thoufand feet. This long feries of mountains, running in the fame direction, gives room for a probable conjecture, that the metallic veins, which in all likelihood are to be met with in the mountains of New Zeeland, are of a very rich and valuable nature. The * The Chevalier de Borda has in Augult, 1776, menfured the height of the Peak of Teneriffe, and found it to be 1931 French toifes = 12,3.10 English feet, and very near the fame quantity he obtained by trigonometrical meafurcmcnt. Dr. Hebcrdcn's operations gave 15,396 Englifh feet as the height of the Peak of Teflertftb. Phil, Trait/, vol. xlvii. p. 356. T*hc fame Dr. Hebcrdcn remarks there, that the Sugar-loaf, or la Pericq/a, is an eighthpart of a league to the top, and that it is covered ivitb /novo the great eft part of the year. Dedu&ing, therefore, 1980 feet = to one eighth part of a league, from 15,396 feet, the total for the 'height of tlut Peak according to Dr. Hcberden, there remain 13,416 feet » 4473 yards, to the line of fnow. Or, if thefe 1980 feet he deducted from 12,340, or the height according to the Cher. Borda, there remain 10,360 feet = 3453 yards, as the line of fnow in about 280 and fome odd minutes North latitude, EAR T H and LAND S. The hills of Tierra del Fuego, Stat en Land, South Georgia, and Sandwich Land are conflantly covered with fnow; however, in the two firft only the fummits of the hills had fnow, but in the latter the fnow and ice reached in'moft places to the very edge of the fea, in the midft of their fummerj which certainly proves the extreme rigour of the climate, as the line of eternal fnow comes down fo low. What is ftill more remarkable, this happened in ifles furrounded by the moift and therefore mild fea air, which undoubtedly weakens the intenfenefs of the froft, and commonly mitigates the rigour of the climate* The mountain in the middle of the great pcninfula of O-Taheitec or of Tobreonoo, is as far as I can form any idea, the higheft of all the mountains in the Tropical Ifles: it is in fome places of an eafy and gentle flope, and interfered by numerous and very deep valleys, converging towards the middle of the ifle, where its fummits are to be met with. The higheft point of this hill is at a very juft eftimate, about feven miles from Point Venus. According to Captain Cook's map, it feems to be nine miles diftant from thence j but as I have been twice up to this hill, I rather think the diftance in the map to be too great; and the more fo, as the valley, wherein Matavai-river runs, fcarcely extends at its very extremity to more than fix miles, and this valley is almoft at the fame diftance from the fea, with the higheft part of the hill. Mr. Wales our Aftronomer F took took from his obfervatory on Point Venus the. height of the hllF, by the aflronomical quadrants, and found it to be exactly 15." above the level of the fea; for the obfervatory is but a few feet above that lewl. If we allow thefe premifes to be right, it will follow from a trigonometrical calculation, that this hill is 9565 feet high *. The little Peninfula of Q-Taheitec or Tearraboo, has likewife hills towards its centre, but their fummits are lo lleep, fo. craggy and fo like fpires in fome inilanccs, tfoat the fight of thefe convinces the beholder, that they have undergone a great con-vulfion from violent caufes, and efpecially fubterraneous fire. The hills in all the other Tropical Ifles are very moderate, and at leail one third lefs than thofe of Tobreonoo, Though they be-high enough to attract the clouds, and often to have their fummits involved in them, they are however far removed from the line of eternal fnow, which in Peru under the line, was found to be at 5,340 yards above the ocean, Thefe obfervations on the difference of the line of eternal fnow, give us an opportunity of communicating fome hints or conjectures on the caufes of this difference. Firft it appears that the beams of the fun falling more vertical on the earth, caufe a greater degree of heat, and in proportion as they fall In a more oblique direction, they produce lefs. warmth: fecondly the * If the effeft of refraction be taken into the account, then the height will be 9530 ice. 1 If nine miles dillant, then the hill is 12,25* feet the nearer to the general level of the earth, the more is the atmo-fphere heated, probably the beams being there reflected from the unequal furface of the earth, and eroding one another in various directions caufe greater warmth; and moreover the atmofphcre being denfer and more filled with vapours near the common level of the earth, when once warmed to a certain degree, preferves the heat for a longer time The contrary muff, take place in a fituation more remote from the common level of the earth, where the atmo-fphere is thinner and lefs capable of retaining the warmth. Thefe two principles will contribute to explain the phenomenon. Under the tropicks, the atmofphcre and furface of the earth is more heated than towards the poles, becaufe the fun operates at the firfl place more vertically, and at the other more obliquely, and therefore lefs effectually: the hills being under the line in a more heated atmo-fphere, the line of eternal fnow, is there naturally more removed from the common level of the earth, than towards the poles, where the air is neither fo intenfely nor fo conflantly heated, which con-fequently brings the line of eternal fnow much lower. The atmofphere being a fluid environing our globe, muft consequently be fubject to all the laws of nature to which the whole F 2 globe * Inferior* quooue repent, primum terrarum halittt. qui multum tecum e.ilidi affcrt, drmdc quia radii folis rcplicantur & quoufquc rcdiic potuerunt, rcplicato calorc BefrigftflH Ibvent. Senna Nat. $>u*jl, I. 2. c. X. REMARKS on t ir b globe is fubjcct. As the power of gravity near the equinoctial I'ins. is known to be lefs than towards the poles, the atmofphcre natu-rally mull be lefs attracted between the tropicks than beyond thenv; and confequently being befides more heated and therefore mors rarefied, it mult extend to-a greater height between the tropicks; and probably this may contribute, with the before mentioned caufes, towards removing there the line of eternal fnow to a greater diftance from the common level of the earth. The probable caufes, of the Southern hemifphere being colder in correfponding degrees of latitude, than the Northern hemifphere, ihall be explained in the fection, wherein we fpeak of the formation of ice. SECTION V. FORMATION of SOIL. /TM1E Tropical Isles have all the appearance of a long exigence and fertility. But the Southernmofl parts of New-Zeeland, Tierra del Fuego, Staten-Land, Southern-Georgia and Sandwich-Land are flill unimproved, and in that rude flate in which they fprung up from the rirfl chaos; with this-diflinction, that the farther you proceed towards the line and. the climates climates capable of being aflifted by the benevolent influence of formation of the fun, the greater advances you difcover towards improvement and sou,. fertility. All the various particles of mineral bodies whatsoever are dead; and only the organic bcdies of vegetables and animals are capable of life. Wherever we meet the firft only, there nature has all the appearance of barrennefs, the horrors of defolation and filence of death. But the leaft addition of vegetation enlivens the fcene, and even the flow motions of unwieldy and torpid feals and grave pin-guins on the fhores, infufe life and chearfulnefs into the beholder. But when the furface of a land is clad, with plants and diverfiiied with birds and animals, then firft we have an idea of the vivifying powers of nature and its great Lord. This previous obfervation therefore, will enable us to form a juit. idea of each of the above unimproved, rude lands. The barren bleak rocks of Sandw.ich-Land feem not to.be covered by the leaft atom of mould, nor is there any veftige of vegetation to be. feen: immenfe loads of eternal fnow, bury thefe. barren rocks, as if doomed to b>s under the curfe of nature, and continual fogs, involve it in perpetual darknefs *. Southern-Georgia has on its North Weft point a little ifle, which is covered with greens, and in Poffehjon Bay we. faw two rock?(, * Pliny* words, Hift. Nat. 1. 4. feem therefore to be beft applicable to this irtifcrabli land: pars mutuh dtmiUtta a rerun natnta (S a'tana mwfa caliglne.. h% R 32 MARKS on the yoR'M a- rocks, where nature has juft begun her great work, in producing ? 10N ° orp-anic vegetable bodies, and in f rminp- a thin coat of foil, on the soil- ° ° ° the tops of barren cliffs; and fo fparing was me of thefe her pre-fents, that no more than two plants would vegetate here, the one a grafs (Dactylis glomcrata) and the other a kind of burnet (Sau- guiforba^J To Tierra del Fuego, the next land ,to the Weftward, I will join &taten-hand on account of the great iimilarity they bear to » each other, in the general face of the country. In the cavities and crevices of the huge piles of rocks forming thefe lands, where a little moifture is prefcrved by its fituation, and where from the continued friction of the loofe pieces of rocks, waflied and hurried down the fteep fides of the rocky mafTes, a few minute particles, form a kind of find; there in the ftagnant water gradually fpring up, a few algaceous plants from feeds carried thither on the feet, plumage, and bills of birds; thefe plants form at the end of each feafon a few atoms of mould, which yearly increafes: the birds, the fea, or the wind carries from a neighbouring ifle, the feeds of fome of the molly plants to this little mould, and they vegetate in it during the proper feafon. Though thefe plants be not abfolute mones, they arc however nearly related to them in their habit: we reckon among them the Ixia pumiia; a new plant which we called Don at i a, a fmall Melanthium, a minute 6 Oxalis Oxalis and Calendula, another little dioicous plant, called forma-by us Phyllachne, together with the Mniarum *. Thefe ^ plants, or the greater part of them, have a peculiar growth, particularly adapted to thefe regions, and fit for forming foil and mould on barren rocks. In proportion as they grow up, they fpread into various items and branches,, which lie as clofe together as pofTible: they fpread new feeds, and at laft a large lpot is covered ;, the lowermoft fibres, roots, ftalks and leaves gradually decay and pufh forth on the top new verdant leaves: the decaying lower parts form a kind of peat or turf, which gradually changes into mould, and foil. The clofe texture of thefe plants, hinders the moifture below from evaporating, and thus furnifties nutriment to the vegetation above, and clothes at laft whole hills and illes with; a con- . ftant verdure. Among thefe pumilous plants, fome of a greater ftature begip to thrive, without in the leaft prejudicing the growth, ©f thefe creators of mould and foil. Among thefe plants we reckon, a fmall Arbutus, a diminutive myrtle, a little dandelion, a fmalL creeping Crassula, the common Pinguicula alpina, a yellow variety of the Vio^a pahtflris, the Stat ice armeria, or fea pink,, a kind of bumet, the Ranunculus lapponicus, the IIolcus qdo-rat us y the common celery, with the Arab is hetcrophylla* Soon; after we obferved in places that are ftill covered with the above-mentioned *■ % * See Forjkr, Nova Genera Plantarunw 40 - fc E M ARKS o n the tor ma- mentioned moffy plant, a new rulli (Juncus triglumis) a fine a soil°F Amellus, a moll: beautiful fcarlet Chelone, and laflly, even fhrubby plants, viz. a fcarlet flowered, fhrubby plant of a new genus, which we called Embothrium coccineum \ two new kinds ©fberberis, (Berber is iiicifolia & mkior\) an arbutus with cuf-pidated leaves (Arbutus mucronata) and laftly the tree bearing the Winter's bark (Drimys winteri) which however in thefe rocky barren parts of Tierra del Fuego never exceeds the iize of tolerable fhrub; whereas in Succefs Bay, on a gentle Hoping ground, in a rich and deep foil it grows to the fize of the largefl timber. The falling leaves, the rotting molTy plants, and various other circumllances increafe the mould and form a deeper foil, more and more capable of bearing larger plants. Thus they all enlarge the vegetable fyftem and refcue new animated parts of the creation from their inactive, chaotic ftate. I cannot pafs over in filence the peculiar growth of one fpecies of grafs on New Year's Ifle, near Staten Land, and which we likewife obferved at South-Georgia: it is the well-known Daclylis glomerata, or one of its varieties. This grafs is perennial, and bears the rigours of the coldeft winters: it grows always in tufts or bunches, at fome diftance from each other. Every year the fhoots form, as it were, a new head, and enlarge the growth of the bunch, till at laft you fee thefe bunches of the height of four or five feet, and at the the top two or three times broader than at the bottom. The leaves forma-and milks of the grafs are ftroTig, and often three or four feet long. T*°^, °F Under thefe tufts the urline feals and pinguins take melter ; and, as they come fo often dripping out of the fea, they make the lanes between the tufts extremely dirty and muddy, fo that a man cannot walk, except on the tops of the tufts. In other places the fhags (Pekcanus carunculatus) take poilcfiion of thefe tufts, and make their nefts on them ; fo that by this grafs, and the excrements of feals, pinguins, and mags, the foil of the country gradually becomes more and more elevated. In the Southern parts of New Zeeland we find the formation of mould and foil much more forward, becaufe its climate is milder, the fummer longer, and vegetation more quick and flrong : but, upon the whole, we obferve the fame analogy in its origin. All forts of ferns and of fmall moffy plants, efpecially the mniarum, occupy large fpots; which, by their continual fpreading and yearly decay, increafe the mould, and thus form a foil for the reception of numerous fhrubs. Their foliage every year putrihes, and accumulates the precious trcafure of fertile mould, in which at laft the largefl trees grow to an immenfe extent and bulk ; till, decaying by old age, a violent, impetuous ftorm breaks them down j and they, in their fall, crufh numberlefs bullies and fhrubs, that pafs together into a ftate of putrefaction, and afford fpacc and nutriment for a * G whole forma- whole generation of young trees, which mult in their turn decayi tion of r i All t * r soil. t0 make room for others. All this feeming fcene of deftrudion and confufiou is one of the ceconomical actions of nature, thus hoarding up a precious quantity of the richefb mould, for a future generation of men, who, one day or other,, will live upon the rich products of this treafured foiL 1 ' Terra, nos nafecntes ex'dpi'/, nates alit, feme I que editos fujiinet Jem* per: novijime complexa gremio, jam a reliyua natura abdicates., turn maxime ut m,ater operiens—Benign a, mil is, indulgens ujufque mart a* Hum femper ancilla, qua? coatla generat, qua fponte fundit ! quos odo-, res, faporejque ! quos fuccosl quos tatlus ! quos colores / quam bona Jide credit urn fvnus reddit ! qua; nofiri Ciiujli alit I Pi. in. Hut, Nat. lib. 2. c. lxiii. C II A P* WATER and the OCEAN. 43 CHAP. II. Remarks on Water and the Ocean * [ AOJ7A. ] HOC ELEMINTUM CETERIS OMNIBUS IMPERAT. Plin. lltjl, Nat. lib. 31, c. 5. r B E G T. L • -u^^!'«* ' ;/ SPRINGS. IN the Society Isles we found very copious fprings, of the springs, moft limpid, cool, and fine water ; one of them elpecially, in O-Rayetea, might vie with Horace's Fons Blandujia. The natives had enlarged it to a fine refervoir, furrounded by large ftones, in a ruftic manner, blended with pleafmg fimplicity. Some groups of the finefl trees and flowering fhrubs, together with the ■impending venerable rocks from whence the water iffued, involved it in a conffant fhade, and preferved a delicious coolnefs. The chry-ftalline ftream, conflantly running from the refervoir, the verdure of the trees and environs, invited the traveller, in thefe hot regions, -to a refreshing ablution of his wearied limbs, from which he rofe with new vigour to fupport the fultrinefs of the climate, and to go dfoearfully through the duties of life. G 2 In M K E M A R K 5 o n the springs. In Tann a wc difcovcrcd 011 the fide of the harbour towards the Volcano, feveral hot fprings, called by the natives Doogoos. The water came out of the black ftratum of fmd-ftone mentioned before, clofe to the edge of the fea; and at high-water the wells were fometimes covered by the lea. We faw feveral of thefe hot fprings near each other; and, as there were little cavities under them, we cleared them of the rub-bilh, and after the water had filled the cavities and overflowed for fome time, I took my portable thermometer, with Fahrenheit's fcale, made by Mr. Ramfdcn, (which had been that day, in my cabin, at 78° and which, having been carried clofe to my body in a pocket, I found at 800,) and having placed it in the hot well, fo that the whole bulb and tube were covered, the quickhlver rofe foon to 191°, but after having been for five minutes in the well, it did not rife above that degree. I took the thermometer out, and cleared the well flill better, and made the excavation of the ftone below deeper, and then immerfed it again during ten minutes, but found it all the time at 1910. This was done Auguft the 17th, 1774, at 4h 30' P. M. at high-water. We returned the next morning about nine o'clock, when the water was low ; and, upon immerfing the thermometer as before, we obferved the quickfilvcr to rife to 1870 in the fpace of one minute and a half; at which degree it remained, though die thermometer continued feveral mi-6 nutes nutes longer in the water. I threw fome fmall fifh, and fome springs. mufcles, into the hot water, and they were boiled in a few minutes. The water is clear and limpid, and has no peculiar tafle, except that I thought it to have a very faint aft.ringen.cy. I put a piece of fine and bright filver into it, which having lain for more than am hour in it, came out untarnifhed. I put a fmall quantity of folu- tion of fait of tartar in it, but it did not precipitate any thing,, though I increafed the quantity of the tartar. I had no other fub~- ftances with me to try the water by other methods. On the fame cliff, but clofe to the fandy beach, at the bottom of" the harbour, there are two other hot fprings. We came on the fame morning, Aug. the iSth, half an hour later, to thefe fprings. I hollowed out the fand to gather fome of the hot water, and irii-merfed my thermometer juit at the place where the water bubbles up, and in about two minutes time the quickfilver rofe to 202%. and remained for feveral minutes in the water without riling higher. On the fame cliff, on a brow about 60 or 80 fathoms higher, we found a place clear of trees, where in cool weather, efpecially after rain, we could difcover from the fliip, fleams riling* which, were flill more diftinctly obferved when we came clofe to the place. We found ourfelves, after a few minutes flay, in a profufe perforation, occalioned by the hot fleams, and the heat of the ground we flood on, which in fome places was intolerable. When the volcano made an || . R E M A R K S o n t h e strings, an expiofion, we always law a new quantity of vapours and fleams pierce thefe fpiracula, which are apparently fliut up, but feem to have a cavity underneath; for the whole mountain gave a hollow found, when we were walking on the footpath leading to thefe folfataras ; and I likewife traced a train of thefe fpiracula, both above and below on the fides of this hill, as far as within a few yards, of the hot wells. I faw the folfataras three times. The fecond time I took my thermometer with me, and having dug a hole about a foot deep, I hung the thermometer in it by the ribbon on its top, to a flick laid acrofs the hole ; and I faw it rife from 80" in a few fe-conds to 170": having left the thermometer for four minutes in the hole, I found it flill at 1700, and though I repeated this at one minute's interval, three times, the mercury was flill at the fame degree. When I took it out, it fell in afecond's time to 1600, and gradually lower. In my cabin on board the fliip, it flood at 780 9 having been carried clofe to my body up the hill, by a long afcent, it rofe to 87"; I hung it therefore in the open air, in the fhade of a tree on the hill, about twenty yards from the fmoaking place, for about five minutes, and found it to fland at 80", and to remain at the fame height for a long while after. When I was digging the hole for the reception of the thermometer, the natives feemed uneafy, and were apprehenfive the place would be on fire, This happened on Augufl the 12th at about teu o'clock in the morning. I went > I went up again on Augufl the 14th in the forenoon, and re- springs* peatcd the experiment with this difference only, that we entirely buried the thermometer in the hole, by putting loofe earth round it. It had flood that day in my cabin at 78', on the hill at 8o°; but after having been buried a minute, it rofe to 210" and there it remained flationary for five minutes. As- I could trace the fpiracula of hot fleams, blended with fome fulphureous fmell, all along the fide of the hill, down to the hot wells; it is probable, that a flream of water, in a fubterraneous chafm or crevice, coming too near one of the places, that are violently heated by the neighbouring volcano, is refolved into fleams, and forced through the earth and Hones; parts of it however feem again to gather fonie-where in fmall flreams, oozing out at the hot wells, clofe to the fea-fide. I am even apt to believe, that this chafm or crevice is connected with the crater of the volcano: for on Augufl the 11th, when the volcano was heard making great explofions, and feen throwing up very large maifes of ftones, ignited afhes, and immenfe clouds o\ tick fmoke, we obferved on the hill, that at each expl'oiion* there came new quantities of fleam through th* fpiracula. At the bottom of the harbour near the beach, is a fmall pond containing fome frefh and palatable water; it is tinged fomcwhat brownifh and though perfectly good when frefh, it.foon contracted in springs, in the cafks a much greater degree of putrefaction and foetid fmell, than had been obferved of any other water during the whole voyage, which I believe proves that fome foreign, perhaps inflammable particles are contained in this water. This pond was connected, within the bufhes, with a range of itagnant, muddy waters, for more than a mile or two, along the plain oppolite the harbour. Thefe waters, are it feems gathered here during the rainy feafon; and as they have no vifible drain, they collect in the loweft parts and ftagnate, and as the whole furface of the foil of the ifle is formed of volcanic afhes, containing all more or lefs faline or fulphureous particles, the water may difTolve them, and ftrike the brown colour by extracting the vegetable fubftances gradually falling into or coming into contact with it. In the reft of the ifles belonging to the New Hebrides, we frequently obferved large flreams of water forming cafcades on the fleep defcents of hills, and thus precipitating themfelves down and foon mixing with the briny fluid of the ocean. The Friendly Isles feem to be deflitute of fprings: for though on fome of them, as Eaoc-w.be and Namocka, there are fmall hills and rifing grounds, they are however fir from being fo high as to attract the clouds or to caufe from their perpetual moifture a continual flow of fpring-water. The natives have ponds, fome of which are large, wherein they collect the rain-water; but it is fome- fomewhat brackifh from the vicinity of the fea. Befides thefe springs. ponds of frefh water, there is in Namocka a large lagoon of fait water about three miles long, full of fmall ifles, beautifully ornamented with cluflers of trees, crowded with wild ducks, and furrounded by bullies of mangroves and hills forming a romantic landfcape. In Huaheine, one of the Society Ifles, there are on its North point likewife two large fait water lagoons, with a very muddy bottom; as they are fhallow, confiderably within the land, furrounded by thick bullies and large trees, and therefore very little agitated by winds, they flink moft immoderately, and muft I fup-pofe, fpread noxious effluvia; and I muft confefs, I faw only a few habitations on its South fide near the hills, and thofe were not quite contiguous to the lagoons. In Norfolk Island we found a fmall fpring, and I believe if we had fearched the whole ifle over, we fhould have found more. Easter Island has no other water, but what is found in fome refervoirs in forms of wells or ponds, collected I fuppofe from rain. It is ftagnant, bad and fomewhat brackifh. The Marquesas have abundance of the fineft fprings, forming many beautiful flreams and cafcades: for their cloud capt hills, are conflantly moiftened from the vapour of the clouds, and therefore yield plentiful fupplies for the fprings in this hot climate. II New- s i'r i n g s. Ne w-Ze e l an d no doubt has abundunce of fprings and rivulets> and there is hardly an illet or rock, which is not bleffed with a fpringof frelh water. In Dujky Bay there are feveral rich fprings; but all the water running and being drained through a rich,, fpungy, loofe mould formed from putrefied vegetables, has acquired a deep brown colour; it is neverthelefs free from foulnefs, has no peculiar tafle and keeps at fea remarkably well. Tierra dki. Fuego is richly provided with the fineft fprings and large ponds of frefh water, from the melted fnow, on its high and barren rocks. In fome places we obferved large and high cafcades, which greatly contribute to foften the harfhnefs of its wild feencry. In South-Georgia and Sandwich-Land, we met with no fprings: but as there is ice enough in its vicinity and even as far as the parallel of 510 South latitude, in their fpring feafon, and in the depth of fummer and autumn higher up in 6y° and 70°, a navigator cannot be at a lofs for frefh water in high Southern latitudes. If I except the water at Tanna in the hot wells, which perhaps may contain fome faline particles on account of a faint aflringency I tailed, we did not meet with any other medicated water whatfoever in the courfe of our expedition. Sect, W A T E R a n d the O C E A N. 5* S E C T I O N It RIVULETS. ALL the fprings of the Society Ifles, Marquefas, and New- RlvU_ Zeeland form rivulets; but none of them are fo conliderable lets. as to deferve a particular notice. In Dufky Bay where all the inlets of the fea are very deep, we always found, that wherever the bottoms of bays or creeks have a ftream of water coming down, the water gradually fhoaled, fo that at a good diftance from the bottom of the bay, the boats ran aground; which I think confirms the opinion, that thefe ftreams having by their impetuofity after a heavy rain or melting of fnow from the fides of the fteep hills, carried a great many earthy particles down to the very mouth of the rivulet, they depofit them there gradually: being, as I fup-pofe, necefutated to this depofit by the refiftance of the briny and therefore heavier fluid of the ocean, by the winds and tides meeting the ftream, and other fuch caufes. We obferved, in the feveral inlets and arms forming this fpaci-ous bay, fometimes cafcades rufhing rapidly down, and falling from vaft heights before they met with another rock. Some of thefe .cafcades with their neighbouring fcenery, require the pencil and H z genius 52 REMARK Son the rtvu- genius of a Salvator Rosa to do them juflicc: however the in-lets. genious artift, who went with us on this expedition has great merit* in having executed fome of thefe romantic landfcapes in a mafterly manner. The upper parts of all the rivulets in the Society Ifles, are not fo ufelefs or neglected, as might be imagined. Wherever the natives obferve that the valley between the fteep fides enlarges, there they form a wear, by piling large ftones fo high, that the water is raifed on a level with or even higher than the plain; which they furround with a fmall bank, make it level and plant it with eddoes or arum efculentum, a plant which likes to be under water and thus grows into large tuberous roots; they then admit the water into thefe plantations from above the wear and difcharge it at the oppo-fite end. The wears ferve the natives at the fame time for a bridge, they being extremely fkilful in jumping from one large ftone to another, and fometimes carrying at the fame time a burthen on their backs Sect. III. O C E A N. ocean, rjpiIE laft and moft considerable body of water is the ocean. It highly deferves to be examined on many accounts, and though the remarks we have to make on it are but few and perhaps trivial, 1 we VV A T K R and the O C E A N. wc will venture to communicate them, as they may ferve to confirm fome known pofitions. 53 ocean. The Depth of the Ocean. The Depth of the ocean is certainly one of the moft remarkable circumflances. We now and then even out of fight of any land, tried to meafure this depth; for inft'ance in the year 1772 Sept. 5th. being near the line in ooa 52 North latitude, we could find no ground with 250 fathom. On February 8th. 1773, when we were in fomething more than 480 South latitude, a little to the Eafl of the meridian of the ifle of Mauritius, we had 210 fathom line out, but found no ground. On November the 22d. 1774 being in the middle of the pacific ocean, we founded with 150 fathom and found no ground. It has been laid down as a maxim by the learned and ingenious Count de Buffon * ** that the depth of the fea along <* the coafls is commonly fo much greater as thefe coafls are more ** elevated, and again fo much lefs as they are lower,, and that the " inequality of the bottom of the fea generally correfponds with ** the inequality of the furfice of the foil of the coafl;" and Dam-pier is quoted in confirmation of this affertion. Though the learned author * Iliftoric naturclJe tcm ad p. j99 & 200, Edit, in izmoi R E M A R K S ox the author certainly merits the applaufe of the world, it has however been the fate of his work to have the common (tamp of all human productions; viz. to have fome imperfections, and even to recount fome falfe affertions upon the faith of other authors and travellers : the illuilrious author, is fo well known for his love of truth, and for the variety of his erudition, that he will no doubt find it juit to give his work all that perfection, which it is capable of, by correcting whatfoever is not flrictly conformable to truth and nature. I will therefore, on the itrength of this fuppofition and the encouragement perfonally given me by himfelf, remark that his observation will hold in regard to large lands; it is however equally true, that in regard to all the low ifles in the South feas, and even in regard to the low reefs furrounding the Society Illes, this rule admits of many exceptions. In New Zeeland, Tierra del Fuego, New Caledonia and all the New Hebrides, I believe the rule to be true; for all thefe lands are high and have generally bold coafls i and the foundings are deep clofe into the fliore without decreafing. I have however in fome inflances obferved juft the contrary; as off the South entrance of Dufky Bay wc had about 45 fathoms water; but in the bay itfelf we had no ground with 80 fathom line. Off the South coafl of Tierra del Fuego between Cape Noir and Chriflmas Bay, we had 45 and 50 fathom water, which increafed to 60 or 70; but when we flood in for Chriflmas Bay we had no no ground with 80 fathom of line, in the very entrance. When we were off the coaft of South Georgia we had regular foundings, but in the entrance of Poffeflion Bay wo had no ground with 54 fathoms. According to the above rule of Mr. de- Buffon, the low ifles in the South-Seas fhould have gradual foundings; but we found the contrary to be true: for clofe to the reef forming thefe ifles, the water is almoft unfathomable. The fame may be faid of O-Taheitee and all the Society Ifles, which are furrounded by a fertile plain extending from the hills to the fea, and then included in a reef, beyond which the fea immediately becomes exceflivdy deep. Near Turtle-Ifland we faw an oblong reef, which was no where free from water, had a deep fea included, and on its outfides there was a great depth clofe to the reef. All thefe inftances here enumerated, feem to be exceptions to Mr, de Buffon's rule. The Colour of the Ocean. Wherever there is an extenfive bank or a flioal, there the colour of the-fea-water is changed; but even this is fubjecT: to many exceptions : fometimes we find places which arc amazingly clear, and the ground, at the depth of feveral fathoms, may be feen as plainly as if it were within a few yards of the furface; fometimes 6 the o££an- the fea afliimes a grey hue, and feems turbid, as if it had loft its limpidity. But often you are deceived by the htuation of the fky and clouds. Dark, cloudy weather involves likewife the whole ocean in a grey hue. A ferene and clear fky tinges the waves with the fineft berylline or blueifh-green colour. If a cloud appears, it gives to a fpot of the fea a hue quite different from the reft; and, if not well attended to, often alarms the navigator with the fear of foundings, or even flioals. A judicious eye, conducted by long experience, can alone diftinguifh properly in thefe cafes. But, upon the whole, it cannot be too much recommended to navigators, efpecially in unexplored feas, to make life, of the lead in every doubtful fituation *, Of the Saltness of the Ocean. It has been fufpected, that the faltnefs of the ocean is not every where equal. Some affert the fea to be falter under the Line than towards the Poles -j-; that the great oceans are falter than the fmaller feas, which are almoft included by land, viz. the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the White Sea near Archangel, the Perfian and the Arabic Gulphs, &c. ; that its faltnefs increafes with its large * See Mr. Dalrymplcs Memoir of a Chart of the Southern Oaan, p. 7. •j- Buffon's Hiftoirc Naturelle. torn. 2, p. 79. edit, in ismo. depth; and laftly, that the high fea, at a great diftance from ocean. land, is fdter than near it, and efpecially near places where large rivers fall into the fea. I had no opportunity to make the neceifary experiments to afcertain or to refute thefe affertions, as I was obliged to fet out upon this expedition almoft at a moment's warning, and could not therefore provide any apparatus ne-ceffary for that purpofe. The above remarks may, however, ferve to future navigators, as a hint of what is ftill wanted to be obferved, relative to the faltnefs of the ocean. I fliould therefore pro-pofe to them, to procure the apparatus defcribed by Mr. Wilke, in the Memoirs of the Swediffj Academy, vol. 33, n. 6 of the ift quarter, which ferves to bring the water of the ocean up from any given depth : they ought alfo to be provided with an accurate and nice hydroftatical balance, in order to afcertain the fpecific gravity of any water or liquid; or they may make ufe, for convenience-fake, of a halofcopium, confiding of a hollow globe of ivory, into which a tube of about five or fix inches muft be inferted, on which the different fpecific weights of pure water, and its various mixtures with certain quantities of common fait, are marked in degrees ; fo that, by imrnerfing this fimple machine into fea-water, it would be eafy to afcertain the degrees of its faltnefs. This machine would likewife ferve to afcertain the comparative purity and weight of every water found in rivers, wells, 6cc. &c. I It It has likewife formerly been believed, that, befides the common faltnefs, the water of the ocean contained particles, which communicated to it a kind of bitternefs, that made it next to impomble to diltil drinkable water from fea-water.. The ingenious Dr. Lind* of Hallar-hofpital, near Portfmouth, has long ago fhewn how little foundation there is in this prejudice, and has likewife taught the Britifh nation, without any public reward or encouragement* aneafy and approved method for obtaining, by didillation, potable water from fea-water *.. When we made ufe of Dr. Irving's diddling machine, wc likewife found, that the water thus diddled was not only entirely freed from its fait, but, befides this, we never, could difcover the lead bitter particle in the drinkable water. But it mud not by any means be concluded from hence, that there are no fuch bitter particles contained in the.fea-water; for every one know a too well, that, after the frefh water has been evaporated from fji-water, and fait has been thereby formed, there remains always a thick, gelatinous lie, which cannot be crydallized, and which is nothing but a mixture, containing marine acid and magiiejia alba; and, befides thefe ingredients, the fea-brine always contains fome Glauber's fait and fome felenitic particles fo that it feems as if the whole were a mixture of frefh water, marine acid, vitriolic acid, fixed mineral alkali, magnefia, and lime. However, though fe-5 vera! * Lfind's Eilay on Difcnfcs incidental to Europeans in hot climates. Appendix, p. ttt9 veral of thefe fubftances form a bitter filt by their mixture, they ocean4 neverthelefs will not hinder the fea-water from affording a clear, limpid, potable water by diflillation, becaufe the particles being all fixed, remain in the falt-brine, which is left in the copper; and the water being alone volatile, rifes in fleams, and is diflilled. Or even if, by diflillation, a few acid or faline particles mould be volatilized, and mix with the difliJlcd water, their proportion is certainly fo fmall and infignificant, that no detriment can be derived from thence. On the ufefulnefs and practicability of the method of diflilling water, I can fay nothing, as it is not my province, and as a report h proper bufmefs i ias been t was. made to the Adm iralty by perfons, whofe The Warmth, or Temper at u 1 ie Of tl ae Ocean, To afcertain the degree of warmth of the fea-water, at a certain depth, feveral experiments were made by us. The thermometer made ufe of, is of Fahrenheit's conflruclion, made by Mr. Ramf-den, and furnifhed with an ivory fcale : it was, on thefe occafions, always put into a cylindrical tin cafe, which had at each end a Vulvc, admitting the water as long as the inllrument was going I 2 dov. •• ocean. down, and {hutting while it was hawling up again. The annexed table will at once mew the refivlt of the experiments. Date. Latitude. Degrees of Fahrenheit's Thermometer. Depth in fathoms. Sjt»J f|f the rhermpmeter in the deep. Time in battling the Thermometer up. In the air. On the luriace or the lVs-wat. At a certain depth inthefea. 1772. September g. oo° 52' N. hi* • 74° 85 F. 30' 27, 240 44r S- 7*1° «8» 80 f. t Oi%bcr 12. 34° 4«' S. 6o° 59° 100 F. 2( December 15. 550 00' S. 5<>l0 30' 3+° 100 F.. *f 550 26's. ; 33° 3 2° 341° 100 F. I 6' 1773. January 13. 640 00's. 37° 331° 32° 100 F. 2C/ From this table it appears, that under the Line, and near die Tropics, the water is cooler at a great depth than at its furface.. In high latitudes, the air is colder fometimes, fometimes very near upon a par, and fometimes warmer than the fea-water at the depth of about 100 fathoms 3 according as the preceding changes of the-temperature o f the air, or the direction and violence of the wind 6 hap~ happen to fall out. For it is to be obferved, that thefe experi- ocean* ments were always made when we had a calm, or at lean: very little wind; bccaufe, in a gale of wind, we could not have been able to make them in a boat. Another probable caufe of the difference in the temperature of the fea-water, in the fame high latitude* undoubtedly mufl be fought in the ice; in a fea covered with high and extenfive ice iflands, the water fhould be colder than in a fea. which is at a great diftance from any ice% The Phosfhoreal Light of the Sea-Water. It is very well known, that the fea-water has fometimes a lu*» minous appearance, or, to life a more philofophical word, a phof-phorical light. Many have endeavoured to give us the real caufes of this phenomenon * ; and, in confequence,, fome have brought us the drawing of a curious fubmarine infect, related to the mrimp. kind, which had a peculiar luminous appearance, and afferted this, to be the caufe of the phofphoreal light of the fea -fv Others again afcribe. it to the great number of animals of the mollufca-tribe,. fwimming * The Father Bourzes, in the Lettres Edifiantcs, torn. ix. Par. 1730s fpeaHof the-phofphoreal light of the fea with judgment; and Hill more fo, the late ingenious philofophcr, Mr. Canton, Phil. Tranf. vol. ix. p. 446, in his paper on the luminous appearance of the fea. f See the Gentleman's Magazine, for 177 1 ; and Baiteri Opufc. fubfec. Tom. i,.Pm». p. 31. Tab, iv.J%. 62 REMARKS -on t h r ocean.- fwimming every where in the fea. The above-mentioned mrimps, as well as the mollufca, may contribute to make the fea appear luminous ; but I would not venture to affert thefe to be the only caufes of -the phofphorcal light, after the obfervation of the various phenomena I made in the courfe of this long voyage. Firft, I found reafon to doubt, whether all the luminous appearances in the fea are of the fame nature j for one kind of thefe phenomena never extend to a greatdiftance from the fhip ; that part of the fea only appears luminous which is clofe to the fhip, and the light is likewife communieated only to the top of the next waves, that break obliquely from it; and this happens commonly in a frefh gale. Another kind of phofphoreal light I obferved commonly in, or immediately fucceeding a long calm, after hot weather; it fpread more over, and even mixed with the body of the fea, than the former. When we took the fea-water in this condition into a tub, it there became dark as foon as it was free from motion : but, at each violent agitation of the water, it appeared luminous, where the motion was produced, and feemed to ftick for a moment only to the linger or hand, which agitated the water, but difappeared as inftantaneoufly. The The third kind of phofphoreal light is no doubt caufed by mol- OCEAN* lufca*, whofe whole figure may be diftinguifhed in the water by their own luminous appearance, I have obferved, though rarely, the fame effect to be occafioned by nfh and fhell-fim -j-; and there may be likewife fome ihrimps and other infects J, that are phofphorefcent, though I have never feen them. But the moil fmgular and furprizlng appearance of this nature, I-obferved in the night preceding Oct. 30, 1772, when we were off the Cape of Good Hope, at the diftance of a few miles from the fhore, and had a frefh gale. Scarcely had night fpread its veil over the furface of the ocean, when it had the appearance of being all over on fire. Every wave that broke had a luminous margin or top j wherever the iides of the ifiip came in contact with the fea, there appeared a line of phofphoreal light. The eye difcovered this luminous appearance every where on the ocean ; nay, the very bofom of this immenfe element feemed to be pregnant with this mining appearance. Wc faw great bodies illuminated * The genus of Sfoij or-cuttle-filh, and that of MtAufa or blubber, fhine in the water in the dark. See among others Lhmi.8$ft, Nut. cJ.^n. p. 1095. Alfo, Hawkefworth's Coin-pilation.of Voyages, vol. ii. p. \ -. -f- Daftyli. (IMioIiidis.) His natura in tcnebris rcmoto Iuminc, alio furgcre claro. P//a. ffij. Nat. liU 9, c 87. (61.) X Some of the genus of Scolopeitdra or Ccntipcs, fhine during the darknefs of the night, viz. the fpecics Called electrica and pbnfpbcrva, and perhaps fome other fpecies, or even genus. The lalt-named fpecics fell on board of a (hip feveral hundred miles from any land, and has, perhaps, wings liko the- water-beetle (Bytifm), which, ai certain times leaves the water, and takes a flight through the air, which may account Ebic the above filet. Sec Linne, Stfft, Nat. «ft xii. 1064. 6* REMARKS o n t h 1 O-cean.. ruinated moving in the fea,; fome came along-fideof the fhip, and flood on along with her \ others moved off from her with a velocity almoft equal to lightning. The fhape of thefe illuminated bodies difcovered them to be fillies. Some approached near one another, and when a fmall one came near a larger, it made all poffible hafte to fly from the danger. I had a bucket full of this luminous fea-water drawn up for examination. We found, that an infinite number of little round luminous bodies were moving in the water with amazing quicknefs. After the water had been ftanding for a little while, the fmall fparkling objects feemed to decreafe in quantity, but, by ftirring the water again, we obferved the whole to be again entirely luminous j and leaving the water undifturbed, we faw the little fparks moving very briikly in different directions. Though the bucket with the water was fufpended, that it might be lefs affected by the motion of the fliip, the fparkling objects flill moved to and fro', fo that this firft convinced me, that thefe luminous atoms had a voluntary motion, quite independent of the agitation of the water or fliip ; but, at each agitation of the water by a flick or the hand, we plainly perceived the fparkling to increafe. Sometimes, by ftirring the water, one of thefe phofphoreal fparks would flick to the hand or finger. They were fcarcely of the fize of the fmalleft pin's head. The leaft magnifier of my micro-fcope difcovered thefe little atoms to be globular, gelatinous, tranf- tranfparent, and fomewhat brownifh. By putting one under the ocean. microfcope'i we obferved firft a kind of thin tube going into the fubftance of this little globule, from a round orifice on its furface. The infide was filled with four or five oblong inteftine bags, connected with the tube juft mentioned. The fame appearances were obferved by the "greateft magnifier, and were only more diftindt. I wanted to examine one in the water, and then bring it under the microfcope, but I could not provide a live animalcule: they were all dead, on account of their tender ftructure, before I could fepa-rate them from the finger to which they were flicking. This attempt was accordingly fruft rated. When we left the Cape of Good Hope, on November the 22d, we had that very night the fame luminous appearance of the fea, and a very hard gale. Thus we have again a new caufe of the phofphoreal light. But, before wc proceed with our remarks, let us only follow the idea arifing from this phenomenon. The immenfe ocean, filled with myriads of animalcules, which have life, loco-motion, and a power of finning in the dark, of laying that power afide at pleafure, and illuminating all bodies coming in contact with them; this is a wonder which fills the mind with greater aftonifhment and reverential awe, than it is in my power juftly and properly to defcribe. If I were new to fay fomething on the different fpecies of phofphoreal light, I could by no means give my affertion, that degree K of R E M* ARKS ox t ft f of certainty which philofophers would require. I will therefore confine myfelf to feme probable hints concerning their real caufes. The firft fpecies of luminous appearance feems to be produced by a caufe altogether different from the reft, and if I may venture to declare my opinion on the fubject, I mould think, that this light is owing to electricity. We know very well, that the motion of a fliip through the water in a gale, is extremely fwift, and the friction caufed by this motion very great: for we find that the fea agitated by a gale of wind is remarkably warmer, than the air *'. The bituminous fubftances, which cover the fides of fhips, the nails flicking in the bottom, and the conducting power of wafer will equally ferve to explain the pofllbility of fuch an electricity. The fecond fpecies of luminous appearance in fea water feems to be a real phofphoreal light. It is very well known, that many animal bodies putrify and are diffolved in the fea, and that almoft every part of animal and many mineral bodies, and the air itfelf,. contains the acid of phofphorus as an integrant part f. The addition of any inflammable principle to this acid, will produce the fubftance we call phofphorus. Every one who has feen faltcd nth drying, muft know that many of them become phofphoreal. It is likewife a well eftablifhcd fact, that the ocean, itfelf after a long 5 continued * See a voyage towards the North Pole, by dipt. Phpps. appendix, p. \\ y. Sec Elcmcns de MineralogU docimaftkpie par M. Sage. Paris 1777, 8vo. Preface p. xi. vol. II. p. 376, 377, 378. continued calm, becomes (linking and highly putrid •f, arifing pro- ocean. bably from the putrefaction of a great many animal fubftances, that die in the ocean, float in it, and in hot calm days frequently and fuddenly putrefy. That fifties and mollufca contain oily and inflammable particles is equally v/ell known. The acid of phofpho-rus difengaged by putrefaction from its original mixture in animal bodies, may eafily combine with fome of the juft mentioned inflammables, and thus produce a phofphorus floating on the top of the ocean, and caufing that luminous appearance, which we fb much admire. Laftly the third kind of phofphoreal light no doubt arifes from live animals floating in the fea and is owing to their peculiar ftructure or rather the nature of their integrant parts, which perhaps might be invefligated, by analyzing chemically fome of the mollufca, which have a luminous appearance. ■Cn the Question concerning the Existence of a Southern Land. ^n«.Ci * C _L . "BiWS'^ll W't> jjj ^ 1 'T^'J r\ "' -j j;, ■"if[Prjr Offi it!k JOS''" \:> * A Suspicion was long fince entertained by the author of the Univerfal Hiftory, and by the learned and ingenious Prefldent des K 2 Brosses, I Sec Boyle. T. III. p. 222, he relates that fome .navigators in a cahfi which Iaftcd thirteen days, found the fea becoming putrid. Brossee, * of a great Southern continent, founded on the argument, that in cafe there mould be no more land in the Southern, hemifphere, than what we knew before, it would be infufficient to counterpoife the weight of lands in the Northern. An ingenious author, whofe difinterefted zeal for the promotion of geography, navigation and difcovcries is not lefs confpicuous, than his many virtues as a man, a citizen and a friend, has lately -j- endeavoured to fet thefe arguments in a flronger light. Our prefent circumnavigation has,. I believe, put it beyond doubt, that there is no land on this fide of 6o° in the Southern hemifphere, if we except the few inconfiderablc fragments we found in the Southern atlantic ocean. If therefore we mould even fuppofe, that the whole fpace from 6o° and upwards, where we have not been, be intirely occupied by land, this would be ftill too inconfiderablc to counterpoife the lands of the Northern hemifphere. I am therefore apt to fuf-pecr, that nature has provided againft this defect, by placing perhaps at the bottom of the Southern ocean fuch bodies as by their fpecific weight will compenfate the deficiency of lands; if this fyftem of the wanted, counterpoife be at all neceflary. But there may perhaps be other methods to obviate this defect, of which our narrow knowledge and experience have not yet informed us. Sect. * Modem Uxiwfal Hijlory, Folio Edit, vol, V. p. z. note c, or 8vo edit. vol. XI. p. 275. troVages aux Term Aujlralcs, T< I. I. p. 13. f Balrympltscolkftim of voyages to the South-Sect, vol. p. Water and t h e ocean. Sect. IV. ICE and its FORMATION. ■jVTOTHING appeared more ftrange to the feveral navigators in high latitudes, than the firft fight of the immenfe maftes of ice which are found floating in the ocean ; and I muft confers, that though I had read a great many accounts on their nature, figure,, formation and magnitude, I was however very much ftruck by their firft appearance. The real grandeur of the fight by far furpaffed any thing I could expect; for we faw fometimes iflands of ice of one or two miles extent, and at the fame time a hundred feet or upwards above water. We will fuppofe, that ice of parallel dimenfions fwimming in fea-water, only fhews one part out of ten above water -j-; which is a moderate fuppofition, becaufe according to Mai ran % ice fwimming in frefh water had one fourteenth part of the whole above its furface; nay, Dr. Irving § plunged a piece of the moft folid ice in melted fnow water and fourteen fifteenth parts funk under its level. A piece therefore of only one mile in length, a quarter of a mile in breadth, and ioo feet above water contains 696-960,000 cubic feet of folid ice; but as the 100 feet, are only the contents of the ice above water, the fame muft be taken nine times more for the contents under water, f Boyle Pbilof. Tratf. No 62.-I Half** fur la glace p. 264. . § A voyage towards the North Pole by Capt, Phpps. Appendix, p. M1* I_l v R E MARKS o N t h e water • and the whole will then amount to 6,969/600,000 cubic feet of folid ice, which muft of courfe be a ftupendous mafs. But the enormous fize of thefe icy mafies is not the only object of our aftonifhment, for the great number of them is equally furprizing. In the year, 1773 on the 26th, of December, we counted 186 mattes of ice all in fiiht from the ma ft head, whereof none was lefs than o the hull of a (hip. At other times wc were every where furrounded by ice iflands, or obliged to alter our courfe, becaufe it was ob-ft rutted by an immenfc' field of ice. On thefe occafions we faw firft fmall pieces of loofe, broken ice, full of holes and pores like a fpunge, thus wafted by the continual agitation of the waves; behind them appeared large fiat and folid maifes. of an immenfe extent. Between them we obferved ftupendous large and high ice iflands, likewife folid but formed in the moft ftrange manner into points, fpires and broken rocks. All this fcene of ice extended as far as'the eye could reach. However, it is likewife remarkable, that in different years, feafons and places of the fea, we found the ice differently fituatcd. In the year 1772, December the 10th, we faw the ice between 500 and 510 of Southern latitude. In 1773 on December the 12th, we found the firft ice in 620 South latitude. In 1775, in January the 27th, we faw ice in about 6o° South latitude. On February the 24th, we came to the fame place, where about 26 months before, we had met with fuch an impenetrable body body of ice, as had obliged us to run to the Eafl; but where at, this laft time no veftige of it appeared no more than at the place, where Bouvet had placed his Cape Circumcifion, we having failed over the whole tract, which he fufpected to be land; nor could we bemiftaken in its fituation, as we had been on the fame parallel for a confidcrable time: fo that it is im'poffible to have mined the land, if any had exifted, as wc had frequent opportunities to afcertain our latitude. Another circumftance worthy of notice is, that all ice floating in the fea yields frefh water when melted. However care muft be. taken never to collect fuch ice which is fpungy and honeycombed from the agitation of the waves, as this kind of ice always contained confiderable quantity of brine in the interftices and fpungy cavities' which does net entirely drain from it by fuffcring it to lie on the ' deck of the fliip, and therefore is lefs fit for yielding good potable water. This kind of. ice may well be diftinguifhed from the more folid forts both by its appearance and by its fituation, as it commonly is the outermoft at the approach of any large quantity of ice, and therefore more expofed to the agitation of the waves. To leeward of large ice maffes, commonly loofe pieces of ice are drifting of various fizesj thofe that are neareft the large mafs, are commonly the moft folid, and therefore the moft proper for fupplying the fliip with water. Of this ice, fuch pieces are taken up as can be conveniently •veniently lifted into the boat ■ and then they are piled up on the quarter-deck, where the falt-water, adhering to its outfide, foon drains away • and, as the contact of the deck and warmer atmosphere contributes to dilToIve fome part of the ice, the reft becomes [quite frefh. With this ice the boiler is filled, that it may the more readily be diiTolved. Other ice is broken into fuch pieces as will go through the bung-holes into the water-cafks; and when there is not room for more, the interftices are filled up, with the water from the boiler, which foon melts the fmall pieces of ice in the cafk. When we came to leeward of extenfive portions of fmall drifting ice, or fuch as the Greenlandmen call packed, i. e. on the edges of which, by the fea and preffure of the ice, fmall pieces are forced up, we always found the fea fmooth; and this was the appearance, -when we entered the loofe ice on January the 17th, 1773, in 670 1 r' South latitude; but, on the weather-fide of the ice, there was a great fwell and high furf. Whenever we approached large tracts .•of folid ice, we obferved, on the horizon, a white reflexion from the ■fnow and ice, which the Greenlandmen call the blink of the ice: fo that feeing this phenomenon appear, we were fure to be within a few leagues of the ice ; and it was at that time likewife, that we .commonly noticed flights of white petrels of the iize of pigeons, which we called fnowy petrels, the common fore-runners of the ice. It It has been obferved, that the large mafTes of ice floating in the ocean, cool the air confiderably; fo that, upon approaching them, the change may be fenfibly felt. On the nth of December, 1772, on a clear mild day, before we reached a large mafs of ice, of about half a mik in length, and a hundred feet high, the thermometer on deck, fixed on the cap-ilan, was at 41°. When we were to leeward of it, the thermometer funk to 371° 3 and when we had paffed it, which was at about five o'clock in the afternoon, it had rifen again to 41On December the 13th, 1772, in the morning early, the thermometer was at about 32% and it had continued to fnow all the night and morning. In the morning, between feven and eight o'clock, we approached a great many ice-iflands, fome of which were of vafl. extent. At eight o'clock the thermometer pointed at 31 r> it remained there when we were jufl to leeward of the largefl of them j and, after we had palled it, the thermometer did not rife higher than 31 $!• I believe the cold was not leffened, becaufe the deck being wet from the fnow, caufed a great evaporation, which cooled the air: and we were likewife every where furrounded by large ice-mafles, which had fo much cooled the atmofphcre all round, that it remained in the fame temperature. Both thefe inflances feem therefore to prove, that the ice-manes contribute confiderably towards cooling the atmofphcre, L The The ice floats in an ocean, which in the fummer of the Southern hemifphere was obferved to- be many degrees above the freezing point; it mull therefore continually melt and decay; and, as the difference of the fpecific gravity of common air to frefh water is nearly as o.ooi oro.ooo| to r.ooo; fuppofing both of the fame temperature; it is evident that frefh water muft melt the ice, more than common air, as the particles of water in contact with the ice are fo much heavier; and, for the fame reafon as fea-water is to frefh water as 1.030 to 1.000, fea-water muft act flill more upon the ice than frefh - water *. We had frequent opportunities of feeing the effect of the fea-water upon the ice, in diflblving and crumbling large maffes to pieces, with a crafh not inferior to the explofion of guns ; and fometimes we were at fo fmall a diftance from them, that we were fcarce out of the reach of the danger of being cruflied by an ice-rock fplitting in pieces, which were o\-er-fetting, each of them having gotten new centers of gravity. The water melted from the ice, and mixed with the ocean, muft like-wife cool the temperature of the fea-water in the latitudes between 50 and 6o° South, where thefe particulars were chiefly obferved by us. It * However large muffes of ice require a lon% time and a warm climate entirely to diflblve them. Sometimes in 40° North latitude, icc-iflands have been met with in the Atlantic: and I have been told by an officer, who fpent feveral years at and about Newfoundland, that a very bulky icc-iflaml was driven into the Strcigks of Bdleifc, where it was grounded, and continued a whole fun>:ner, and was riot entirety diUbivcd before the fummer of the next year, It feems to be undeniable, that the ice we met with in the open ocean, in 500 and 6j\ or even 710 South latitude, is formed flill farther to the South. For it had its origin either near fome land, or in the open ocean. In the nrfl cafe it muil evidently come from regions lying beyond the tracks of our mips, i. c. beyond 60 , 670, and 71" South latitude, as we found no lands, where thefe enormous quantities of ice could poiTibly have been generated. Or, in the fecond cafe, if the ice be formed far from any land, this climate muil likewife be farther to the South than our tracks, as we never fell in with ice, which we could with certainty confider as flatio-nary, but, on the contrary, found it commonly in motion. At leafl, the loofe ice between 710 and 50° South latitude, muft have come from the fad, folid ice beyond 71" or fome higher latitude. Other navigators *, as well as ourfelves, have met with ice in low Southern latitudes, i. e. 49°, 50", §t% and 521, early in the fpring and fummer ; confequently it is evident, that it mull have drifted to thefe low latitudes from beyond 60 , 671, and 71'' South latitude. In the Northern feas, it is a common and obvious phenomenon, obferved almofl every year, that the ice moves towards warmer climates. Thefe inftanccs, therefore, feem to prove, that there is -either a ftrong current, an attraction, or fome other caufe acting L 2 regli- ft Dairymplc's Coltttftonoffcyages, ch-efij hi the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Cap.llatiefsjow* aw axosit itesi U Jon umj* X Mullet's RufTifchc Samlungen, vol. III. p. 41. Markoff with ionic other perfons was fent by the Ruffian. Go-\ eminent to explore the North Sea, but rinding it next to impof-(ible to make any progrefs during fummer, on account of the vail quantities of ice commonly filling this ocean, he at laft determined to try the experiment during winter; he therefore took feveral fledges drawn according to the cuffom of the country by dogs,, which commonly go about 80 or 100 werfts per day, 105, of which make a degree. And on March the 15th, Old Style, with this caravan of nine perfons, he left the fhores of Sibiria at the mouth of the river Yana, under the 710 of North latitude, and proceeded for feven days together Northward, fo that he had reached at leaft the 770 or 780 North latitude, when he was flopped by the ice, which there began to appear in the fhape of prodigious mountains. He climbed up to the top of fome of thefe ice mountains, but feeing from thence no land, nor any thing except ice, as far as the eye could reach, and having befides no more food for his dogs left, he thought it very neceffary to return, which he with great difficulty performed, on April the 3d, as feveral of the dogs which had perifhed for want, were employed to fupport thofe that remained alive. Thefe facts, I believe,, will convince the unprejudiced reader, that there are other fea& befides the Black Sea,, which really do freeze in winter, and that the ice carried down the rivers, could not at leaft freeze the German Ocean between Norway and 1 Denmark,, Denmark, becaufe the rivers there are fo fmall, and bear a very incon-fiderable proportion to the immenfe ocean, which according to experiments made by Mr. Wilke * is very fait, though near the land, in the Swedifh harbour of Landfcrona. Now, if fix or feven degrees of latitude, containing from 360 to 420 fea miles, are not to be reckoned a great diftance from the land, I do not know in what manner to argue, becaufe no diftance whatsoever will be reckoned far from any land. Nay, if the Coffack Mark-off, being mounted on one of the higheft ice-mountains, may be allowed to fee at leaft to the diftance of 20 leagues, the extent alluded to above, muft then be increafed to 480 Englifti fea-miles; which certainly is very confiderable, and makes it more than probable, that the ocean is frozen in winter, in high Northern latitudes, even as far as the Pole. Befides, it invalidates the argument, which thefe gentlemen wifti to infer from thence, that the ocean does not freeze in high latitudes, efpecially where there is a conjider-ably broadfea: for we have fliewn inftanccs to the contrary. But M. de Buffon fpeaks of ice carried down the rivers into the Northern ocean, and forming there thefe immenfe quantities of ice; " and in cafe, fayshe-f, we would fuppofe, againft all proba-6f bility, that at the Pole it could be fo cold as to congeal the fur- M 2 « face * Memoirs of the Swedilh Academy, vol. 33. p. 66, 4 Buffon Hift. Nat. torn. 1. p. 313. REM A- R K S on the " face of the fea, it would remain equally incomprehenfible, how " thefe enorinous floating iee-maffes could be formed, if they had " not land for a point to fix on, and from whence they are fevered " by the heat of the fun. The two mips, which the India Com-" pany fent in 1739, upon the difcovery of the Auftral lands, " found ice in 47 or 48° South latitude, but at no great diftance " from land ; which they difcovered, without being able to ap-** proach it. This ice, therefore, muft have come from the trite* " rior parts of the lands near the South Pole, and we muft conjec-** ture, that it follows the courfe of feveral large rivers, warning n thefe unknown lands, in the fame manner ^as the rivers Oby, the " Yenifea, and the other great rivers which fall into the Northern " fea, carry the ice-malfcs, which flop up the ftreights of Wa>-" gats for the greater part of the year, and render the Tartarean *' fea inacceuible upon this courfe." Before we can allow the analogy between the rivers Oby, Yenifea, and the reft which fall into the Northern ocean, and thofe coming from the interior parts of the Auftral lands, let us compare the fituation of both countries, fuppofing the Auftral lands really to exift. The Oby, Yenifea, and the reft of the Sibirian rivers, falling down into the Northern ocean, have their fources in 480 and 50° North latitude, where the climate is mild and capable of producing corn of all kinds. All the rivers of this great continent increaling thefe great 5 rivers, rivers, have likewife their fources in mild and temperate climates, and the main direction of their courfe is from South to North ; and the coaft of the Northern ocean, not reckoning its fmuofities, runs in general Weft and Eaft. The fmall rivers, which are formed in high latitudes, have, properly fpeaking, no fources, no fprings, but carry off only the waters generated by the melting of fnow in fpring, and by the fall of rain in the fhort fummer, and are for the greateft part dry in autumn. And the reafon of this phenomenon is obvious, after confidering the conftitution of the earth in thofe high. Northern climates. At Yakutfk, in about 62" North latitude, the foil is eternally frozen, even in, the height of fummer, at the depth of three feet from the furface. In the years 1685 and 1686, an attempt was made to dig a well; and a man, by great and indefatigable labour, continued during two fummer-feafon s, fucceeded fo far in this laborious tafk, that he at laft reached the depth of 91 feet; but the whole earth at this depth was frozen, and he met with no water, which forced him to defift from fo fruitlefs an attempt *. And it is eafy to infer from hence, how impoffible it is, that fprings mould be formed in the womb of an eternally frozen foil. But let us now compare with this, the iituation of the. pretended unknown Auftral lands. The coaft of this * Gmcl'm's Voyage to Sibiria. vol. 2. p. 520—523. this land muft be to the South of our navigation, rn 6o°, 67*, and 710 South latitude; and its direction we will allow to be Eaft and Weft ; the courfe, therefore, of the rivers muft be from South to North, i. e. from the interior parts of the land towards the ocean. When we came towards the 540 South latitude, we found a fmall ifle of about 80 leagues in circumference; the thermometer continued at about 300, 32°, and 340, in its neighbourhood, inthemidft of fummer ; though ifles have in general a milder climate than continents, we found, however, all this country entirely covered with immenfe loads of fnow, the bottoms of its bays were choaked up with folid malfes of ice, of 60 or 80 feet above water, and we faw no veftiges either of rivers or of fprings. If this be the cafe in 540 South latitude, how can we then expect: any fprings or rivers in 60" or 710 South latitude, or rather ftill higher up to the South, where the fources of thefe imaginary rivers of the pretended Auftral land, muft be removed ? It is therefore impoffible to fay, that the rivers of the Auftral land carried thofe ice-maffes into the ocean, which we met with in fuch ftupendous quantities. • There is one circumftance more, which furely moft evidently proves, that there is no land in thofe latitudes, which are ftill capable of vegetation. In all the high Northern feas, there is conflantly fuch a prodigious quantity of wood thrown on the fhores of all the lands, lands, viz. Nova Zemla, Spitsbergen, Greenland, Beering's-Illand, &c. &c. that though none is growing there, the unfortunate individuals, that are obliged to fpend a winter there, however, are fuf-fkiently provided with this moft neceflary commodity. In all the Southern feas, there is no drifting wood to be met with. The, French fearched a great extent of the fhores of the Falkland Iflands., with great care, but found not above one or two pieces of wood thrown up by the fea; nor did we fee any on the illand of South-Georgia : all'which fufficiently evinces the truth of the above af-fertion. The argument, therefore, is now reduced to this, " That falt~ <% water does not freeze at all, or, if it does, the ice contains briny " particles" But we have already before produced numberlefs in-ftances, that the fea does freeze ; nay, Crantz * allows, that the flat pieces of ice are fait, becaufe they were congealedfrom fea-water. We beg leave to add a few decifive facts relative to the freezing of the fea. Barentz -f obferves in the year 1596, September the 16th,. the fea froze two fingers thick, and next night the ice was as thick, again. This happened in the middle of September; what effect then muft the intenfe froft of a night in January not produce ? When • Crantz. p. 31. f Recucil des Voyages qui ont fcrvi a l'EtabliiTement dc la Compagnie des Indes Orlea-tales, vol. 1. REMARKS on t H f When Capt. James -f wintered in Charleton's Ifle, the fea froze in the middle of December 1631 : it remains therefore only to examine, whether the ice formed in the fea muft neceffarily contain briny particles. And here I find myfelf in a very difagreeable dilemma, for during the intenfe froft of the winter, in 1776, two fets of experiments were made on the freezing -of fea-water, and published contradicting one another almoft in every material point. The one by Mr. Edward Nairnc F. R. S. an ingenious and accurate obferver; the other by Dr. Higgins, who reads Lectures on Chemiftry and Natural Philofophy, and confequently muft be fup-pofed to be well acquainted with the fubject. I will therefore ftill venture to conlidcr the queftion as undecided by thefe experiments, and content myfelf with-making a few obfervations on them; but previously I beg leave to make this general remark, that thofe, who are well acquainted with Mechanics, Chemiftry, Natural Philofophy and the various Arts which require a nice obfervation of minute cnVcumfiances, need not be informed, that an experiment or machine, fucceeds often very well, when made upon a fmaller fcale, but will not anfwer if undertaken at large; and vice verfa machines and experiments executed upon a fmall fcale will not produce the effect, ■(■ Hiftoirc des Voyages, vol. LVII. edit, in umo. p. 421. j Mr. Nairne's experiments are found in the Philof. Tranf. vol. LXVI. p. 1. and Dr. tfiUins** in a fechna*fappkmint to the Probability of reaching the North Pole. p. 121, 142. -effect., which they certainly have when made in a more enlarged manner. A few years ago an experiment made on the dying of fcarlet, did not fucceed when undertaken on a fmall fcale, whereas it produced the defired effect, when tried at a dyer's houfe with the large apparatus ; and it evidently confirms the above affertion, which I think I have a right to apply to the freezing of fait-water. It is therefore probable, that the ice formed in the ocean at large, in a higher latitude, and in a more intenfe degree of cold, whereof we have no idea here, may become folid, and free from any briny particles, though a few experiments made by Dr. Higgins, in his houfe, on the freezing of falt-water produced only a loofe, fpungy ice, filled with briny particles. ■« The ice formed of fea-water by Mr. Nairne, was very hard, j>\ inches long, and 2 inches in diameter; it follows from thence, that the warning the outfide of this ice in frefh water, could not affect the iniide of a hard piece of ice. This ice when melted, yielded frefh water, which was fpecifically lighter than water, which was a mixture of rain and fnow water; and next in lightnefs to diflilled water. Had the ice thus obtained, not been frefh, the refiduum of the fea water, after this ice had been taken out, could not have been fpecifically heavier than fea-water, which however was the cafe in Mr. Nairne's experiment. It feems therefore, in my opinion, evident from hence, that fait-water does freeze, and has no other N brinv R E M ARKS on t h e briny particles, than what adhere to its outiide. All this perfectly agrees with the curious fact related by Mr. Ad an son % who had brought to France two bottles of fea-water, taken up in different parts of the ocean, in order to examine it and to compare its faltnefs, when more at leifure; but both the bottles containing the filt-watcr were burfl by being frozen, and the water produced from melting the ice, proved perfectly frefh. This fact is fo fairly ftated, and fo very natural, that I cannot conceive it is neceflary to fuppofe -j", without the leaft foundation for it, that the bottles were changed, or that Mr. Adanjbn does not mention the circumjlance by which the fea-water was-thus altered upon its being diffbhed: for as he exprefsly obferves the bottles to have been bunt, it is obvious that the concentrated briny parts ran out and were entirely drained from the ice, which was formed of the frefh water only. The ice formed by Dr. Higgins from fea-water, confjled of thin lamina, adhering to each other weakly. Dr. Higgins took out the frozen ice from the veffels, wherein he cxpofed the fea-water, and continued to do fo till the remaining concentrated fea-water began to form cryfials of fea fait. Both thefe experiments therefore by no means prove what the Dr. intended to infer from thence; for it was wrong to take out fuch ice, which only confjled oj thin lamina', adhering to each other weakly. Had he waited with patience, he would f Adanfon Hilloirc naturelle du Senegal. Paris 1757, 4to. p. 190. * Second fiipjdemeiit, to the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 119, would have obtained a hard ice as well as Mr. Nairne, which, by a more perfect congelation, would have excluded the briny particles intercepted between the thin lamina, adhering to each other weakly ; and would have connected the lamina?, by others formed by frefh water. The Dr. found afterwards, it is true, thicker and fomewhat more folid ice, in the veffel B: but the fea-water had already been fo much concentrated by repeated congelations, that it is no wonder the ice formed in it, became at laft brackifh : it fhould feem then, that no conclufive arguments can be drawn from thefe experiments. There are two other objections again it the formation of the ice in the great ocean; thefirjl is taken from the immenfe bulk and fizeof the ice mafTes formed in the ocean, which is the decpejl mafs of water we know of*. But the reader is referred to the table communicated above, where it appears, that in the midff. of fummer, in the latitudes of 55", 550 26', and 640 South, at 100 fathoms depth, the thermometer was at 34°, 34!° and 32"; and that in all initances, the difference between the temperature at top and at 100 fathoms depth, never exceeded 4 degrees, of Fahrenheit's thermometer, or that the temperature of the air did not differ five degrees from that of the ocean at 100 fathom deep. If we now add to this, that beyond N 2 the * Dr. Higgins's cxpcriircnts, in the fecond Supplement to the Probability, &:c. p. 141. the yi° South, the temperature of the air and ocean muft be flill colder, and that the rigours of an antarctic winter are certainly more than fuflicient to cool the ocean to 28/, which is requifite for congealing the aqueous particles in it; if we moreover confider, that thefe fevere frofts are continued during fix or eight months of the year, we may eafily conceive that there is time enough to congeal large and extenfive manes of ice. But it is likewife certain, that there is more than one way, by which thofe immenfe ice mafTes are formed. We fuppofe very juftly, that the ocean does freeze, having produced fo many inftances of it j wc allow likewife that the ice thus formed in a calm, perhaps does not exceed three or four yards in thicknefs *; a ftorm probably often breaks fuch an icefield, which Crantz allows to be 200 leagues one way, and eighty the other; the prefTure of the broken fragments againft one another, frequently fets one upon the other piece, and they freeze in that manner together; feveral fuch double pieces, thrown by another prefTure upon one another, form at laft large mafTes of miles extent, and of twenty, forty, fixty and more fathoms thicknefs, or of a great bulk and height. Martens ~\- in his defcription of Spitsbergen, remarks that the pieces of ice caufe fo great a noife by their {hack, that the navigator in thofe regions, can only, with difficulty hear * Crantz, p. 31. t Martens Voyages au Nord. torn. II. p, 6i, hear the words of thofe that fpeak -} and as the ice-pieces are thrown one upon another, ice-mountains are formed by it. And I obferved very frequently,, in the years 1772 and 1773, when we were amongft the ice, mafTes which had the moft. evident marks of fuch a formation, being compofed of ftrata of fome feet in thicknefs. This is in fome meafure confirmed by the flate in which the Co^ fack Markoff found the ice at the diftance of 420 miles from the Sibirian coafls. The high mafTes were not found formed, as is fufpected in the Second^Supplement to the Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. 143-145, near the land, under the high cliffs, but far out at fea; and when thefe ice-mountains were climbed by Markoff, nothing but ice, and no veftiges of land appeared as far as the eye could reach. The high climates near the Poles, are likewife fubject to heavy fills of fnow, of feveral yards in thicknefs, which grow more and more compact, and by thaws and rain, are formed into folid ice, which increafe the ftupendous fize of the floating ice-mountains. The fecond objection againft the freezing of the ocean into fuch iccas is found floating in it, is taken from the opacity of ice formed in falt-water; becaufe the largefl: mafTes are commonly tranfparent like cryftal, with a fine blue tinct, caufed by the reflection of the fea. This argument is very fpecious, and might be deemed unanswerable to thofe, who are not ufed to cold winters, and their ef-r fects j R E M ARKS on t ii e fects; but vvhofoever has fpent feveral winters in countries, which are fubject to intenfe frofls, will find nothing extraordinary or difficult in this argument: for it is a well-known fact in cold countries, that the ice, which covers their lakes and rivers, is often opaque, efpeciall'y when the fro ft: fets in, accompanied by a fill of fnow.; for, in thofe inftances, the ice looks, before it hardens, like a dough or parte, and when congealed it is opaque and white; however in fpring, a rain and the thaw, followed by frorty nights, change the opacity and colour of the ice, and make it quite tranfparent and colourlefs like a cryftal; but, in cafe the thaw continues, and it ceafes entirely to freeze, the fame tranfparent ice becomes foftand porous, and turns again entirely opaque*. This, I believe, may be applicable to the ice feen by us in the ocean. The hcld-ice was commonly opaque ; fome of the large mafTes, probably drenched by rain, and frozen again, were tranfparent and pellucid; but the fmall fragments of loofe ice, formed by the decay of the large manes, and foaked by long continued rains, we found to he porous, foft, and opaque. It is likewife urged as an argument again ft the formation of ice .in the ocean, that it always requires land, in order to have a point upon which it may be fixed f. Firft, I obferve, that in Mr. NairneV * Marten's Rccucil des Voyages au'Nord, torn. 2. p. 62, pf .Buffon, Hift. Nat. vol. 1. p. 34. W A T E R and t ii e OCEAN. Nairne's experiments, the ice was generated on the furface, and was feen (hooting cryftals downwards ; which evidently evinces, in my opinion, that ice is there formed or generated where the intenfefr, cold is; as the air fooner cools the furface, than the depth of the ocean, the ice moots naturally downwards, and cools the ocean', more and more, by which it is prepared for further congelation. I, fuppofe, however, that this happens always during calms, which, are not uncommon in high latitudes, as we experienced in the late expedition. Nor docs land feem abfolutely necerTary in order to fix the ice ; for this may be done with as much eafe and propriety to the large ice-mountains, which remain undiiTolvcd floating in the ocean in high latitudes : or it may, perhaps, not be improper to fuppofe, that the whole Polar region, from.Scp and upwards, in the Southern hemifphere, remains a folid ice for feveral years together, to which yearly a new circle of ice is added, and of which, however, part is broken off by the winds, and the return of the mild feafon. Wherever the ice floats in large mafTes, and fometimes in compact bodies formed of an infinite number of fmall pieces, there it is by no means difficult to freeze the whole into one piece, for, amongft the ice, the wind has not a power of railing high and great waves. This circumftance was not entirely unknown to the ancients; and it is probable they acquired this information from the natives of ancient Gaul, and from the Britons, and and other Northern nations, who fometimes undertook long voyages. The Northern ocean was called by the ancients the frozen, the dead, the lazy, and immoveable fea: fometimes they gave it the name mare cronium, the concrete fea, and morimarnfi, the dead fea *. And, what is very remarkable, in all the Northern cold countries, the frort fometimes is fo intenfe, that all the waters become fuddenly coagulated into a kind of parte or dough, and thus at * Dionys. Periegetes. v. 32. 33, llonoy [Atv xca««<™ nEriHTOTA ft, KPONION rt' A\Xo* S'uv xat) NEK.PON spMpaan, tWMC uQxv^h Orvheus Argonautic. v. 1079. 1080. E^7T£3-£ y fimaw, KPONION h tXWMjMlTi TlotTov YnEPBOPEHN pipffif, NEKPHN jt %%\x riget ardua month Mtheriifacie•s, furgentique obvia Phcebo, Duratas nefcit jiammis mollire pruinas. Silius Italicus lib. III. v. 480. I might have been lefs prolix in regard to the obfervations on the ice, its formation and caufes of the cold, had I not thought, that by collecting here as it were every material circumflance, relative to the ice in the Southern hemifphere, into one chapter, and examining what has been faid on both fides of the queftion, fome future navigators might be better enabled to judge, how fur the obferved fadts correfpond with the affigned caufes. If they fhould find reafons to be of a contrary opinion, they will certainly be induced to publifh the facts, upon which that opinion was founded; they will point out my miftakes, and fticw the caufes of my error; in fhort they will ic: . will inert truth, by which Science will be benefited and human knowledge enlarged. If on the contrary, the arguments allcdged in behalf of my allertions are found incontrovertible, they probably will give my arguments new fupport and ftrcngth, and place beyond the reach of doubt, what I have endeavoured to hint at, as the only truth. In either cafe, I have endeavoured to do my part, I have repre- fented facts as they really occured to me, and on that account I hope my prolixity will be lefs offenfive. I might here have fubjoined many other particulars relative to the ocean; I might have given fome account of its currents, and of the different conflitution of its bottom, where we had any foundings; i of the various tides; and of the dipping and variation of the magnetical • needle; but I forbear to fpeak on thefe fubjecls, as they are partly the objects of the nautical obfervations, made by the officers of fhips fent on this expedition, which have been prefented to the Lords Commif-iionersof the Admiralty, and by their command are publifhed in Captain Cook's nautical account; and as the board of longitude, had likewife charged two aflronomers, to make accurate obfervations on magnetifm and the tides, it would therefore be very improper, to attempt a bulinefs fo ably difcharged by others,; who with proper inftrumcnts for that purpofe, more leifure, and with more command of affiftance, had better opportunities of making more perfect: obfervations on thefe fubjects. c C II A P. ATMOSPHERE. CHAP. III. Remarks on the Aimofpherc, afid its Changes, Meteors^ aitd Phenomena, KURD I pars est aer QJUDEM necessari a» SEItECA. SECT. I. A QJJ EOUS METEORS. WE proceed now to the confidcration of a lefs denfe element, atmosphere. and its various changes and phenomena, and fhall treat ftrft, of the aqueous meteors; becaufe more clofely--connected with the former fection. Firft, The climate within the tropics being very warm, and the nights rather long, the vapours raifed in the day time by the heat of the fun, are condenfed towards night, and fall frequently, as a dew on every part of the fliip: and this we fometimes obferved in the midft of the atlantic ocean, though at a great diftance from any land. We had a few inftanccs of a ftrong dew filling in the higher latitudes, of which Twill only felect one on January 8th, at to P. M. 1775; when we were failing between 500 and 6o° and fir enough from land, we found the whole deck and all the rigging moiilened by .REMARKS on t i e by a copious dew. I am therefore inclined to believe, that a heavy fall of dew, cannot any longer be confidered as a certain or infallible fign of the neighbourhood of lands. Secondly, The Tropical ifles having been vifited by us at two different times, viz. once from Augufl to October, in 1773, and again from March to September, 1774, we can hardly from thence form an idea of the changes and the returns of the feafons, as, each time, during our whole flay, the fun was in the Northern hemjfphere : however, if we confider that we were at O-Taheitee at the latter end of Augufl, and again in April and the beginning of May, and that we found a very material difference in the external appearance of vegetation, we may be allowed to conclude, that this was owing to the difference of feafons; for, in countries between the tropics, Nature feems to be more uniform and conflant in the fetting in of winds and rains, than without the tropics. The difference was too ftriking not to be noticed; and, if it were not caufed by the natural return of the feafons, it muft have been produced by a very extraordinary deviation from the uniform tenor of the changes produced within the tropics; which may be poniblc, but hardly probable. The hills in O-Taheitee were covered in Auguft with dry and dead herbage, a great part of it had been burnt by the natives, and gave the country a barren and dreary look. The ifle had very I little ATMOSPHERE. 105 little bread-fruit, few or no apples, and the bannanas were fcarce: at mo- s p H F k. B and if we except the eddoes, the greater part of vegetables were but moderately plentiful, and hogs fcarcely to be had at all. But when we arrived eight months after, in April, the hills as far as their very fummits, were clad with the moft agreeable verdure; the trees on the plains were bending under the weight of bread-fruit; in the valleys the largefl apple-trees were loaded with their excellent fruit; all the fhores fringed by innumerable coco-nut trees, offered a vafl profufion of thefe ufeful nuts; nay the valleys between the higher hills, were entirely covered with immenfe cluflers of the horfe-plantain, while each cottage was furrounded with confiderable plantain-walks of the better fort, richly providing a more delicious food: we obtained in a little time a great quantity of large and well tailed hogs from the natives, and faw every where, more left. This fo material difference was, in my opinion, caufed by the natural change of feafons. When we came there the laft time, the fun had then jure left the Southern hemifphere; and it has been generally obferved, that wherever the fun is vertical within the tropics, there its powerful beams accelerate the riling of the vapours, and • caufe a profufion of rain; which together with the vivifying in- fluence of the fun, of courfe refrefhes and quickens vegetation, in-fufes new life in all the animated part of nature, and produces plenty every where. P But / atmo- But this very idea leads me to another view of nature. O-Ta- sphere ' a heitee and all the high iflands, are in general more happy and more fertile, than the low iflands, and thofe of a moderate height. The high hills in the middle of the firft, attract by their fituation, all the vapours and clouds that pafs near them; there are but few days, on which their fummits are not involved in fogs and clouds; and though it does not conflantly rain there, yet fuch a regular fup-ply of moifture is derived from thefe hills, that their very tops are crowned with lofty trees, and their fides fringed with fhrubs and agreeable plants during the whole year; and all the furrounding valleys collect in their bofom the falutary humidity, which is not abforbed by thefe plants, and which is generoufly fcrcencd by them againft the fun's power; fo that in every one a gentle ftream is collected from the fmaller rills, which unite into one bed. This rivulet the natives item here and there by wears, made of large ftones, in order to water the plantations of eddoes; the frequent trees that are growing along the banks of the fweet purling ftream, extend their lhady branchs, give a coolncfs to the virgin-water, and thus bring refrefh-ment, and the principles of life into the plains, where the rivulet begins to meander between the rich plantations of bread-fruit,, apple and cloth trees, and bannana's, and fpreads happinefs and plenty. Thefe rivers become the fountains and chief caufes of the great variety of fruit, which grow every where; they enliven the pictu- refque refquefcenery, and afford a cooling liquor for the inhabitants. Where- atmo-as the natives of the lower ifles, have no other but coco-nut trees J,PHj'kL round their habitations, which thrive well in a fandy foil, and clofe to the fea-fhore often within the reach of the fpray ; and the rain water preferved in deep filthy pits and ponds, full of green, flimy, aquatic plants, and ftinking from its fbgnation, is the only refreshing liquor they enjoy after they have been expofed on the reef (where they muft refort for the fifliery) to the parching fun and. fpray of the feas. Such is the difference in the difpenfation of the falutary rains, caufed by the different flructure of the ifles. Though the high hills conflantly attract the moifture of the clouds and caufe many rains during the whole year, there is however a feafon, when the rains are more copious; and this wasjufl palled, when we came the fecond time to O-Taheitee ; for all the flreams and rivulets were full of water, whereas before, they had hardly water enough to moiften the ground. The very hills which are the caufe of the fertility and happinefs of thefe ifles, produce likewife another phenomenon, viz. as they attract the rifing vapours, and pafling clouds of the atmofphere: the temperature of the air is thereby frequently changed, and con-fequently fudden gufts of winds are produced by this change, with concomitant fqualls of rain; this is an intimation to navigators of the vicinity of land, as we feveral times experienced. We had fqualls P 2 and a i mo- and lightning on the 23d, of September 1773, when we difcovered sphere Harvey's Ifle. The fame happened after we had pafled Mopeeha or Howe's Ifle on June 7th, 1774; when we fell in with the Mar-quefas and O-Taheitee, we had fome fudden gufls of wind with rain; when we came to Tofooa one of the Friendly Ifles,. when we came into the vicinity of Whitfuntide ifle, and during a good while, that we were about the New-Hebrides; when, we came to Norfolk-Iile, and near Ncw-Zeeland, we experienced the fame fudr den gufls of wind with fhowers of rain; all which feems to have been likewife noticed by that intelligent obferver, Mr. de Bougainville *. Thirdly, that in the courfe of our voyage, we ihould efpecially to the South have Fogs is very natural, from the nature of the climate, and the analogy in the Northern hemifphere; nor would it cleferve any further notice, was it not for a very curious,, and as far as I know, quite new obfervation, firft kindly communicated by that great and experienced navigator, Capt. Cook, and which I afterwards had frequent opportunities of feeing confirmed, by my own experience If after a hard gale, with a high fea and a fwell, we met with a calm, and a fog fell in at the lame time, we obferved that the fwell, inftcad of gradually abating, as mould be the natural confe- quencs * Sec his voyage, p. 278. and 284 of. the fcngltfh edition,. A T M O S P II E R E. sequence of a calm, always increafed; which feems to be caufed by at mo- s p h f k. j" the preffure of the atmofphcre, loaded with fuch a quantity of aqueous particles, as is always the cafe in a fog. Fourthly, The repeated approach of our fliip to the Antarctic circle, was often announced by the fall of snow, sleet, and hail : but the firft year in 1772^ we had fnow very early in the latitude of $\ on December nth. In the courfe of the following years, we never had fnow, except when we. came into, the neighbourhood of that circle. However, it muft be obferved, this happened during the height of fummer: what weather then muft not the winter-feafon afford ? We were happy enough to meet with no land to the South 1 which might have feduced us to fpend a cold feafon fomewhere on it, and to experience the rigors of an Antarctic winter. Fifthly, When we were going into Queen Charlotte's Sound, in the year 1773, May 17th, we found ourfelves nearly abreaft of Cape Stephens, between three and four o'clock in the afternoon : the wind abated gradually, and we had almoft a calm. It had rained the day before, and blew hard all the night; and in the morning the weather had been mild, plea font, and warm, the thermometer ftanding at 56I0. At a quarter after four o'clock, we ohferved to the South-Weft fome thick clouds; and to all appearance it rained on the Southern partf of the Cape. Immediately v/e faw a whitifh fpot on the furface of the. fea, from whence a firing or column rofe upwards • no A T M O S P II E R E. at mo- wards, while another foon after came down from the clouds, and sphere joined the former. A little while after, we faw three more of thefe columns forming, the nearefl of which was at the diftance of about three miles; at its bafe, where it was confiderably the largefl, (its diameter appearing at that diftance to be of 70 or 80 fathom in extent) the water of the fea was violently agitated, rofe in vapours and fleam, and, being illuminated by the fun, looked bright and vellowifh, efpecially againft the black clouds behind; but, before the fun fhone out, it looked white. As thefe columns came nearer towards us down the flreights, we had an opportunity of examining them more particularly. Their diameter above, towards the clouds, was larger than that in their middle, which latter feemed not to exceed two or three feet. The water was whirled upwards in a fpiral: fometimes it feemed that there was a hollow fpace within the column, and that the water formed only a cylinder; for the body of the column had, towards its axis, a hue different from the reft, and much the appearance of a hollow glafs tube. As thefe columns moved forwards on the furface of the fea, the clouds did not follow them equally fuffc; and this circumflance gave them an oblique pofition, and fometimes a curved fhape. Their motions feemed not to be of equal velocity, nor apparently in the fame direction ; one feemed therefore to pafs the others, and they were viewed acrofs one another. In proportion as they came nearer to us, us, the fea appeared more and more agitated, by fhort, broken at mo- sphere, waves. We had then fome wind, but by no means fettled, for it blew in one quarter of an hour, almoft from all points of the com-pafs. The firft of thefe four columns was the Southernmofl:, and lafted the longeft j the Northernmoft of them was the neareft to us, and moved apparently Southward, and likewife towards us ,* and, aa the clouds, with which the upper parts of the columns were connected, did not follow with the fame velocity, with which the lower parts moved on the furface of the water, they disappeared foon after; becaufe the columns being drawn out, as it were, to too great a length, were neceftarily broken. Whilft we were flill obferving thefe four water-fpouts, we re-* marked, not above half a mile from the ihip, on its ftarboard quarter, a fpot on the fea of about 50 or 60 fathoms in diameter, more agitated than the reft. The water moved quick towards the center, in fhort and broken waves, and there beinp- refolved in fleam, rofe up in fpirals towards the clouds -y but we could not fo well diftin-guilh the pillar, while it rofe in this water-fpout, as in the others, becaufe the fleam raifed from the fea, obftruded the fight. The noife it caufed, was like that of a cafcade rolling down a deep glen. As this fpout moved along towards the Ihip, it came abreaft of it, and was, when neareft, within two cables length. A few hail-ftones fell during this time on deck. Soon after, another water-1 fpout j i % REMARKS on the at mo- fpout was difcovered behind this laft. A cloud of fleam formed sphere below, and moved upwards in a fpiral, in a fhape gradually decreaf-ing towards the fummit. Another cloud of a long fiender form, tapering towards its lower extremity, feemed to defcend towards the riling fpout, and both ends united and became cylindrical and erect; but in time moving to the South-Eaft, it affumed an oblique and curved form; and at laft, when it broke, we obferved in its neighbourhood, a flafti of lightning, but heard no explofion. The fpout next us had difappeared a fhort time before. It was then jufl five o'clock, and the thermometer was at 540. We had feveral fhowers during the time of the appearance of the water-fpouts, and had hauled up the courfes, and clued up the top-fails. After the hard gale, which had blown the fame year, from the 2 2d of October, at noon, till we were off Cape Pallifer on the 29th, the gale ftill continuing flrong, and the fea turbulent, I was told by the officers of our fliip, that in the morning-watch feveral water-fpouts had been feen. At eight o'clock we had a flight mower of rain, and immediately after the wind changed, the thermometer being at 5H0. From thefe facts, I beg leave to draw the following corollaries. Firft, Water-fpouts feem to be formed by eddies of winds, which, in their conflict, caufe a circular motion of the air, contributing towards the raifing of the fea-water in fleam, and the vacuum, caufed s p h e r e. caufed by the rarefied air in the midfl of the column, feems to at- atmo-tract the clouds, and to give them a conic fhape, whofe point (lands downwards. Secondly, From the flam of lightning, it mould feem, that the clouds were then electric and that therefore the coalition of the two tubes from the fea and the clouds, may be owing to electric attraction *". Thirdly, Water-fpouts are commonly formed near lands having projecting promontories, within narrow feas, flraits, and other places where the winds form currents and eddies, and coming in conflict: with other winds, take a contrary direction from the portion of fome promontory or ftrait. Thofe water-fpouts, which Thevenot has defcribed, were obferved in the Pcriian Gulph, between the ifles of Guefomo, Lareca, and Ormus,^ A friend of mine faw feveral in the inundated rice-fields along Canton river in China. Dr. Shaw obferved fome in the Mediterranean, near the Capes * In the Phibf. Tranpcllon^ vol. xlvii. n. Go. p. 478. it is £;ld, that a water-fpout in Lincolnfhire ended in a fiery ftream. The fpout, which made fo great a havock at Rome, June 11 th, 1749, obferved by Father Bofcowich, was continually Hmttirig flnlhes of Imbruing on all fides. The fpout alfo defcribed by Dami-ier, vol. iii. p, 182, came out of a black cloud, that yielded great (lore of rain, thunder, and lightning. See Dr/PRAhK-lin's Experiments and Obfervations on Electricity, 5th edit. London, 410. 1774. p. 2292nd 280. Mr. Adanfon likewife obferved awatcr-fpout preceded by a tbunder-ftorm, and found the fpout extremely hot, which may be chiefly owitlg to the inflamed air, conveyed in this (pout-by an Eafterly wind from the inland parrs of Africa. Aj>anso>'s Voyagt to Senr»aL at mo- Capes Carmcl, Grecgo, and Laodicea. Both our water-fpouts si here. formed within, or near the entrance of Cook's Straits, between the two illes of New Zeeland, among many projecting head-lands, at the mouth of founds and bays, extending feveral leagues up the country, and forming remarkable windings *. Fourthly, Water-fpouts are commonly obferved in-a calm, after hard gales, and fometimes after warm, mild weather, efpecially when the upper region of the air is remarkably cooler ; for we had met with fmart mowers of rain the preceding day, and it blew hard all the night before : in the morning, the violence of the wind gradually abated, and it became mild; ■ When the water-fpouts were juft forming, the thermometer was at 561% which had been at 5it0 the day before. During the time that one of them approached us, fome hail fell, which proves the upper region of the atmofphcre to have been cooler than the lower, by 20 degrees at leaft; and, after the fpouts had all difappeared, the thermometer was at 540; consequently even the atmofphere below, had been remarkably cooled in three - quarters of an hour. Mr. de Buffon, vol. ii. p. 287. edit, in 12 mo,, finds it neceffary, in order to account for all the phenomena attending water-fpouts, to fuppofe that there is always a place under the fea, where fome fubterraneous * Whoever is dcfirous of meeting with more inftanecs of water-fpouts being formed near hr.ds, or in the eddies between two winds, may have recourfc to the PbilofophicalTranJiiHiojis^ ap.d Dr. Franklin's above-mentioned ingenious book. A T M O S P H E' R K. 115 ATMOSPHERE, Subterraneous fire releafes a great deal of air, which raifes the fea, caufes a bubbling and a fmoke, and unites the clouds with the fea, by a fpout. But we cannot help remarking, that the vapours appeared to all of us, as fleam raifed by violent winds, and by no means as fmoke produced by fire. Nay, had the place been heated by a fubterraneous fire, the thermometer would certainly have rifen higher j but we obferved it to fall, which clearly proved the air to have become cooler. I will only add, that the rarefaction of the air and electricity, are certainly more than fuflicient for the explanation of the various pha>nomcna of this meteor. focalur £s" coJumna, quum Jfiffatus humor rigenfque ipfefe fujlhiet. Ex eoJem gcnere in iottgutn veluti jiftula /tubes anuam trahit, Ylinii Hi/I. Nat. lib, tW c. 49. SECTION II. AERIAL PHENOMENA. j7/^,T7,REZIER obferved under the tropic, at fun-fetting, a aerial green CiouD; and he defcribes it as a thing very fingular. M e n a Thofe who are acquainted with colours, and the various effects of their mixtures, know that green is naturally produced by mixing yellow -and blue. The natural colour of the iky, and of a great many clouds, is blue : the fetting fun commonly gilds all the fky and Q^2 clouds n6 R E M A R K S on the aerial clouds near .the horizon, with a lively gold-ycllow or orange ; it fs* men a therefore, by no means extraordinary to tec, at fun-fetting, a greenifh my or cloud, and it may be obferved frequently in Europe. But, as the fifing and fetting fun caufes, between and about the trcplcs, the tincls of the iky and clouds to be infinitely brighter than any where elfe, it happens now and then, that all the appearances of the fky and clouds, are more ftriking and brilliant, and therefore more noticed. I had an opportunity to obferve, in the ,..t, sni W nOlwEI'DltTI C'ft) 2; i , v. . 1 *i'D I t •>. 1 ,T?!003 5il!Ov - T rfEIT > year 1774, April 2d, in 90 30' South latitude, at fun-fetting, a beautiful green cloud $ fome others at a greater diftance were of an olive-colour, and even part of the fky was tinged with a lively, delicate green. Secondly, The refraction of light through clouds and rains, caufes a Rainbow oppofite to the fun; a phenomenon which, however beautiful and flriking, is fo common, and the manner of its formation fo well known, that it hardly requires here any particular notice : but I cannot pafs by in filcncc, that whilfl we were going, in 1773, from New Zeeland, the firft time, to O-Taheitee, Iliad an opportunity ofobferving, from June 7th to July 12th, every morning conflantly, a rainbow, or part of a rainbow, on the horizon. Though this remark is but trivial, it proves, however, that wc had almoft daily fmall fhowcrs of rain, and that we paid particular attention to every object which deferved obfervation. The fainter light of the moon caufes likewife rainbows, but they aerial.- are lefs noticed on account of their faint and weak colours; I obferv- Phj?e no-men a.- ed one with remarkably bright colours on June 29th, 1773, another on July 6th, the fiime year, and another on March 19th, 1775, when near the Cape of Good Hope. Ariftotle is, I believe, the firft. who obferved this phenomenon. Thirdly, when the air is charged with denfe vapours, and often when they are frozen into fnow or fleet, there appears a Halo about the fun or moon, which is by no means remarkable upon the whole; but it has been obferved that Halos precede high winds, fqualls and often rain and fnow. Though I had frequent opportunities to fee this obfervation confirmed, I did not however always minute it down in my journal; I find only the following memorandums. On February 25th, 1774, we faw a large Halo about the moon, and that very night came on fqualls with rain, and the next morning we had the fame weather, with loud thunder claps. On January 5th, A. M. 1775, a large Halo, occupying more than 440 of the heavens, was feen about the fun, dark in the middle, bright and whitifti with fome colours of the rainbow in the circle* and we had rain, and now and then fqualls. Sect. S E C T I O N III. TIER Y M E T E O R S. fiery F!rj}, r\UR atmofphcre is not only frequently charged with aqueous particles, which are productive of different appearand and various changes of the weather, but there are befides, fo many heterogeneous particles difperfed through the whole mafs of the circumambient air, that we are not yet apprized of the quantity and variety of them. Accurate obfervers difcovcr from time to time fome new ones, and make us acquainted with their effects, when variously combined. The electric matter has been found often to be one of the curious and powerful ingredients, that enter the mixture of the atmofphere. This matter caufes in various inttances different phenomena. Lightning and Thunder arc in all parts of the Globe caufed by it. However we heard from the inhabitants of St. Helena, who were born there, and grown up to a good old age, that they never had obferved a thunder florin on their happy ifle. As the higheft hills on it, and all the rocks furrounding it, are a kind of lava or vitrified flags of drofs, which I fuppofe are, like all vitrefcent bodies, electric perfe, or non-conductors; the electricity of the atmofphere is perhaps not conducted by them, and caufes therefore no explofion. The riles in the South-Sea are, as far as we know, fuhject to light- fiery ning and thunder ftorms; for we experienced fome at different METE0R places and feafons, in the feveral parts of our voyage over this ocean; and we were now andthen obliged to fix the electric chain, to prevent fatal accidents. Once at O-Taheitee, the man who was fent up to the main top-gallant maft head, had fcarcely fixed the chain, and another man was ftill clearing it of the main-chains and fhrouds, when the latter received an electric fhock, and the fire was feen running down the chain into the water, without doing any damage. Secondly, on Auguft the 17th, 1772, after we had left St. Jago, ut eight o'CTock in the evening, we obferved a fiery meteor, of an oblong fhape, a bright but blueiih light-, and defccnding towards the North Weft, and then moving in an oblique direction towards the horizon: its duration was momentaneous. We: had about that time, fre^ quent fhowers of rain, attended with fudden and violent gufts of wind, both before and after its appearance. On the 30th of September, 1774, at half an hour after feven o'clock in the evening, after we had left the South Eaft point of Caledonia and Pine Ifland, all thofe that were on the deck obferved to the Northward, a luminous globe, of the fize and brightnefs of the fun moving downwards with great velocity towards the horizon. Its light was pale,, and it burft without any explofion whatsoever; for all the noife 12o R E M A R K S on the fiery noife which could be heard, feemed to be a loud hilling, fimilar to that ,-m^teors cau£C(J cap;um when fet on fire. After its hurfting, feveral bright fparks flew, as it were from it; the lowermoil of which had the •fhape of a pear, and could be traced by a blueifh light it left behind. We were then becalmed, but as, according to the obfervation of feveral intelligent perfons, the appearance of a fiery globe, has been the forerunner of a frefh gale, I expected one ; and it was really verified that very night by fuch a gale, with fqualls and rain. Though I am far from afferting that this, and perhaps a few more inftances are fuflicient to make this rule general, I think however that if thefe phenomena and the following weather, were by future obferv-crs more carefully noticed, experience might lead us to fome more general and more certain conclufions.. Thirdly, the appearance of Northern Ltgiits (Aurora BorcalisJ in the higher latitudes of our hemifphere, is at prefent a very common phenomenon; and the inhabitants of Sweden, Norway, Ice-Land and Ruffia, have the fight of this meteor in the winter, almoft every clear night; but I never heard or read of any one who had feen the Southern Lights (Aurora Aujlrails) before us; and though we fpent three different feafons in or near the antarctic circle, we however obferved them the firft time only in the year 1773, on feven different nights. Wc were at that time from-58° to 6o° South latitude, and the thermometer at eight o'Clock in 6 the AT M O S P H E R E. i£i the morning, flood from 31° to 330 in the open air, on deck. Their fiery appearance was much the fame as that of the Northern Lights; they METE0RS were obferved mooting up to the zenith in columns or dreams, of a pale light, from a dark fegment as a bafe near the horizon, and often fpread over the whole Southern hemifphere; fometimes thefe lights were fo tranfparent, that ftars could be obferved through them, and at other times the ftream feemed to be white and more denfe or opaque, and would not tranfmit the light of the ftars. We faw the meteors on February the 18th, 19th, 20th, 21ft, 26th, and on March 15th, and 16th. ! ' I Sect. IV. WIND S. jj^OME of the moft remarkable and general changes of our atmo- v fphere are produced by the winds. Their hiftory is as yet very imperfect, and will ftill remain fo, for want of a fufHcient number of accurate and faithful obfervations; and becaufe mankind is ftrongly inclined to reap the benefit of their own labours as foon as poffible, without leaving it to pofterity, to make the conclufion from pre-mifes, for which the prefent, a fecond, and perhaps a third age fhould collect the materials. As foon as we have a tolerable number of facts before us, we begin to build thereon a fy'ftem, filling up from gueffes, furmifes and doubtful inaccurate experiments the R reft » 122 R E M A R K S on the winds. reft of the ftrudturc, which is afterwards found fo tottering, that it foon either falls down, or is by adverfaries torn to pieces. We iliall therefore confine ourfelves to the enumeration of facts,, and leave the coneluiions to others, or at moft, offer them as, wjpflt they really are, conjectures, I. REGULAR WIND S. We found within and near the tropics the regular winds, as other navigators had done before us. In the year 1772, we left England in July,, and at Cape Finifterre, met with a North Eaft wind, which carried us within a few degrees of the line, where, towards the latter end of Auguft, we had rain and a S. S. W. or S. W. wind, which forced us to fail S. E. or S. E. by E. On September 8th, when we were near the line,, the wind came to the South, but in two days more it veered round to S. S. E. fo that we could run S. W. As we approached the tropic, the wind came more round to the Eaft to E. by N. and even N..E. and we flood S. E. about the end of Sept. having juft palled the tropic. On the. nth, of October we could ftand E. by S. or nearly fo, and Eaftward, on the 16th, the wind being N. and N. by W. On the 25th of October, we found the wind coming more Eaftward, though now and then,for a fhort time it blew from the Eaft, fo that we failed brifldy towards the Cape Cape of Good Hope, and had the fatisfadtion to enter Table Bay, winds, having had a frefh gale the preceding night. This view of the winds during our paffage will fhew at once the extent and the changes of the trade winds. Wherever one wind fell and another began, there we had faint breezes and calms, though of fhort duration. in the year 1773, in our run from New-Zeeland to O-Taheiree, we had, on the 20th of July, a S. E. wind in about 36° South latitude, which we thought to be the trade wind, though we were foon undeceived, having many changes of winds after if; and we did not fall in with the true fettled S. E. trade, till Augufl the 7th, in about 190 South latitude; this wind blew fometimes frefher, fometimes fainter, efpecially when we came Hear the ifles, and it carried us to O-Taheitec on Augufl 16th. After we left the Society Ifles, we ran towards the Friendly Ifles by help of the South Eafl trade; though at the approach of a hard fhower of rain and fome lightning it fliifted to various points; but we foon recovered the true trade wind, and perhaps the direction of the wind was likewife altered by the vicinity of fome land; for though we faW no more than one low ifland in the whole run, we might pafs feveral, at no great diftance, without feeing them, cither in the night, or on account of their low fituation; for the next year we ran a little more North of this courfe and fell in with feve- R 2 ral 124 RE M ARKS on the winds, ml illes^ raid this very South Eaft wind brought us to Eaoowhe and> Tonga-tabu. The lame trade wind with very little changes, carried us after leaving Tonga-tabu, out of the tropics and even to about 320 South, latitude. In the year 1774, when we returned from the South to. the illes, we met the South Eafl: trade wind in about 29° South latitude on the 6th of March ; it continued conftant while we failed to. Eafter-Ifland and after we left it. On March 2ill, at three o'clock. P. M. in about 22° 45' South latitude, the wind took us all on a fudden a-head, and we had foon after a fmart fliower of rain, but it was no fooner over than the trade wind returned, and blew-frefh,, and continued fo, except in a fewinflances more, when we had fome mowers of rain. About, the Marquesas- we had rain and. feveral gufls of v/ind. After we left the Marquesas, we flood S. S. W. then S. W. and at laft W» S. and had the fame S. E. trade fetting us forward; now and then changing our courfe, on account of five low illes we fell in. with, till at laft we came a fecond time to O-Taheitee. In our fecond run from the Society to the Friendly Ifles, we had. the fame South-Eaft trade wind, and now and then a foul Weft wind, when we came near land, or while a hard fhower of rain was coming on, and fometimes we were becalmed. Having been a few days at A-Namocka, and paffed between Ogbao and Tofooa, we found a S. a S. E. wind, which hindered us from going to Tonga-tabu as we winds*. originally intended; this breeze continued, with a few changes, till we fell in with the New Hebrides, where we had frequent fqualls and rain, and fometimes. calms:. We had again Eafterly winds in going to New Caledonia, and when near it were often becalmed, with now and then a fquall and a hard mower of rain. After we left New Caledonia we had the wind South, but it veered gradually to W. S. W. and W. by S. and S. on to the Wefterly quarter, where it remained, and brought us to Queen Charlotte's Sound for the third time.. In the year 1775, when we left the Cape of Good Hope, we had a frefh JSouth-Eaft breeze, which now and then became fomewhat more Eafterly, and at laft we were becalmed from May 10th to the night of the 13th, when, the true South-Eaft trade fet in, and carried us to the iflands of. St. Helena, Afcenfion, Fernando' de Noronha, and to the 4th degree North latitude, where we were becalmed. From the time we left St. Helena, we had now and then fqualls and mowers of rain, which were more common about the Line. The calm lafted from June 15th to the 19th, and accompanied with hard lhowers of rain, and fet in with thunder and lightning. After this, we met again a breeze at North, which during the night veered to N. N. E. and N. E.; but, as we advanced farther to the North, the wind became more fettled. Having- "R S M A R K S on the Having paflcd the tropic of Cancer again, we found the wind .became more Eafterly, viz. E. N. E. and even fometimes E. by N. Half E.; till, in if or 28° North latitude, we again met with the variable winds. From this circumftantial account, the following inferences may be drawn. Firf, The trade-winds extend fometimes beyond the tropics into the temperate zones, efpecially when the fun is in the fame hemifphere ; and the extent of the trade-winds within the tropics, feems to be proportionate to the fun's diftance in the oppofite hemifphere. Secondly, The trade-winds in the South-Sea, are fometimes interrupted by calms and contrary Wefterly winds; and in particular, rains and thunder-ftorins are not uncommon at thefe changes. Thirdly, The trade-winds are likewife fometimes interrupted at the approach of land, efpecially if it be of confiderable height. Fourthly, At the intervals, where one wind leaves off and the other fets in, commonly calms, and not feldom rains, are to be met with. It has hitherto been allowed, that, in the fpace within the tropics in large oceans, the regular winds reign, which come from the Eaft; and the caufe of this is thought to be the fun, which, being vertical, or nearly fo, within the tropics at noon, rarefies the air, as his effect, is then moft powerful: but, as the fun is every 6 moment moment advancing to the meridian of fome other place on the globe, winds^ the rarefied part of the atmofphere of courfe moves from Eafl to Weft. As foon as the caufe of the rarefaction ceafes by the removal of the fun, the columns of air in the neighbourhood of the rarefied place, rufh in to caufe an equilibrium. This current forms the trade-wind, and gives it. continuance, within and near the tropics. The caufe, however, is not fo general, as that it may not be altered, by fome more powerful agent ; fuch as the vicinity o£ land, or a. cloud pregnant with vapours and electric matter.. Though the lands in the South-Seas be of no confiderable extent, they have however, generally, the benefit of the fea and land-breezes; fo that the reigning trade-wind only operates in the daytime on the windward-fide of the ifle, and afterwards follows the direction of the fliores, and falls every where perpendicular, or. nearly fo, upon them; nay, on the lee-fide of the ifle, it. becomes, contrary to the trade, but extends only a few miles mpre or lefs out to fea, in proportion, to thefizeof the land and other accidental, caufes. In the night-time, the fame wind, as it .were,, returns and; goes out to fea from the land, keeping within the common limits of. thefe alternate breez.es.. As the Eafterly winds reign with a peculiar conflancy within the: tropics, it has been likewife obferved, that, without them, the,; Wefterly ones are the moft general, but their conflancy, both in flrength: 123 REMARKS on th fi winds., ftrength and direction, muft never be compared with that of the Eaftern trade-winds. When we came far to the South, and were either within or near the antarctic circle, we found again, that the Eaft winds are the moft conftant, and prevail the longeft *. If therefore, there is any dependance on thefe obfervations, it is probable that thefe Eafterly winds are, as it were, only a kind of an eddy-wind, formed by the more general Weftern winds in the temperate zone. So that we might, perhaps, confider the whole in this manner: within the tropics, the great rarefaction of the atmofphcre caufed by the heat of the vertical fun produces the Eaftern trade winds: this conftant motion of the Aerial Fluid to the Eaft, caufes towards the temperate zones a kind of eddy, fo that the winds turn gradually South and North, and laftly Weft, which is the prevailing winds of both the temperate zones. But this ftrcaming of the air to the Eaft, is again in the cold frozen zones counterpoifed by another kind of eddy wind from the Eaft. We have already mentioned, that we wifti that the facts we relate may * Sec the Recucil des Voyages qui ont fcrvi a Pctablifll-mcnt tcm Piogn's de la Compagnie tics i rules Orientates, vol. i. in the Third Voyage of Barentz. See DaliymplSs Collection of Voyages in the Southern Atlantic Ocean, Capt. Hallcy% Journal, p. 32. The fame Eaft wind has been obferved by other Navigators within or near the Polar Ifles. Jitvr!/!«tons Probability of reaching the North Pole, p. r04. Summary Obfervations and Fafts, by Mr. Faltravcrs p. :o. The common current from th*. £aft is ilrong and rapid in thofe feas. A T M O s P IT ERE. izij may be diftinguifhed from our inferences, and guefTes j the former winds. are materials towards the hiilory of the winds on our globe ; the latter are private opinions, which, though they may be condemned, may neverthelefs ferve as hints, towards forming a more perfect, fyftein. IE VARIABLE WINDS. Though we have given a general view of the more prevailing winds in the temperate and frozen zones, we meant not by any means to fay, that there are no other winds blowing in thefe zones; nay, we are fo far from afTerting this, that we will now give an in-ftance to the contrary.. When we crofTed the Pacific Ocean, between 40° and 460 South latitude, in the year 1773, directing our courfe Eaftward, we found in this run, contrary Eaftern winds frequently to prevail; and what is more remarkable, when the winds agam began to change, we obferved four different times, between June 5 th and July 5th, that they gradually went round the compafs, but alway's againft the fun. About New Zeeland, we obferved the winds to be for the mcft part Wefterly, and they are often in the wTinter very furious. In the feas between New Zeeland and Tierra del Fuego, in No- S vcmber i3o REMARKS IN the winds, vember and December, in the year 1774, we found a Weflern wind reigning from 42" to 540 South latitude. The neighbourhood of Tierra del Fuego, has been obferved by other navigators, as the moft tempeftuous; but we found this fea remarkably fmooth, and the weather mild; and though we experienced a few fqualls, they were however, by no means more violent than fome we had met with before in other feas. III. S T O R M S. storms. We met with very little tempeftuous weather, upon the whole, during our three years expedition; and had not any remarkable ftorms, except twice. When we left the Cape of Good Hope, on November the 23d, 1772, and were ftanding to the South, we had during three weeks, very hard gales and a high fea. And the fecond time, when we were running along the Eafl coaft of New Zeeland, towards Queen Charlotte's Sound, in October 1773, we met a hard gale, which gradually increafed into a tem-pefl; we were obliged to hand all our fails, and to lye to under our bare poles. The fea was long; the gale blowing off fhore, tolled our poor fliip flrangely to and from, in a tcmpcfluous ocean. The florm roared in the rigging, and broke the waves againfl the fides 6 - and and over the decks of the fliip, In one moment, being on the top storms,-of a mountainous wave, we could overlook an immenfe trad of this turbulent element; and with awe and terror, we beheld on both fides, the abyffes fcooped out as it were by the enraged winds; another moment hurried us down between the hollow waves, and we were overwhelmed by a deluge of brine. The furious temper! raifes the fea, it breaks on the very fummit of the wave, which by the ftorrn is diifolved into atoms of vapours, involving, the furface of the ocean in clouds of fmoke and fog. Such was our fituation, with very little relaxation for feveral days; and happy did we think ourfelves, after having been difappointed feveral times, when, in a moderate interval, we could take refuge in the defired port. S 2 CHAP, C H A P. IV. Remarks on the Changes of our Globe, IN NOVA FERT animus MtJTATAS DICERE FOR MAS Corpora. Ovin, .changes T T AVING briefly treated of the nature of the land we met with OF THE JUL . - . . oU„ m the courfe of our navigation, of trie waters, and the con- ltitution and changes of the atmofphere, we have flill fome few remarks to make on the changes our globe has undergone, both from caufes which come on in the regular courfe of nature, and likewife from others which are accidental. S E G T. I. REGULAR CHANGES. ^ ^ conmmt fiicceffion of fummer and winter, of heat and cold, is in the temperate zones, in general more flriking and remarkable than in the torrid zone: but I may, perhaps, with equal .truth aflert, that the tropical ifles of the South Sea, enjoy more eminently than any others, an equal temperature and conftant mild weather, by their happy fituation in a great ocean, where conflantly alternating fea and land breeezes., mitigate the violence of a vertical fun. New CHANGES of our GLOBE, 333 .New-Zeeland enjoys, according to the kind informations of Capt. changes of 'f Hf Cook, more fettled and more diftincr. feafons, changing the tern- GIObf perature of the air from warm to cold. This able navigator certainly could give the bell: account of it, having pafled in the Endeavour, about fix months, during their fummer, along the coafls of New-Zeeland. We came afterwards, in March, to the fame ifle, and remained till June; and twice we were there in October, and in November; fo that, by this means, a very good judgment might be formed of the feafons of this ifle. In its Southern parts we found in March flill mild weather, which continued partly in April; but in May, the tempefluous winds, conftant rain, with fleet, hail, and fnow, and very great ftorms of lightning and thunder, began to fet in; the verdure every where faded, many trees flicd their leaves, and the fnowy fummits of hills, attended by a piercing cold, convinced us, that the winter-feafon was begun. In the month of June, in Queen Charlotte's Sound, we found the climate milder than in Dufky-Bay; which, however, changed confiderably during our three weeks flay : but, when Capt. Cook was there in the Endeavour, in 1770, he found the finefl warm, and even hot weather, in the fummer-feafon, and every thing vegetating in the greatefl luxuriance. We, who had fpent our winter in the tropical illes, and the Spring in New-Zeeland, and felt the effects of a moft uncomfortable fum- *34 REMARKS on t h s ( 'I:\nges fummer in Tierra del Fuego and South Georgia, could not but op TIIe GLon/ think ourfelves completely unhappy; and a fingle momentary recollection of the winters of thofe wretched climates, is even now fuflicient to make us lhudder at the very thought of it. However, wc find that thefe changes of the feafon in the tropical and temperate zones, caufe confiderable alterations; which produce likewife, a very confiderable effect, upon our globe, and is infinitely more confpicuous there, than in the more rigid climates. The conflant fucccffion of vegetation within the tropics, infufes every where life, and afford:.; food tox millions of animated beings, of the human and animal kind; the temperate zones have flill vegetation enough to enliven the fcene, and to feed many thoufands; but the whole creation feems lifelcfs and torpid, in the frozen climates of Tierra del Fuego, and Staten Land; and the little life which is left to nature, is confined to a very fhort fpace of time ; and even its greatefl activity, in the motion of whales, feals and pinguins, the only numerous inhabitants of thefe regions, is abfolute torpor, when compared with the agility of the animated beings of warmer and more happy regions. In proportion as places lie nearer to the courfe of the fun ; foil and mould, the great promoters of vegetation are increafed; and in the fame proportion all organic bodies animate the lifelefs, chaotic part of the ftrata of our globe. But as I have already fpoken of thefe changes, it may be fufficient here to hint at them only. SECT- t SECTION IL ACCIDENTAL CHANGES. IF we confider the changes our globe has undergone from acci- changes of the dental caufes, we find the Artificial Changes made on globe. the furface of our globe by mankind, not to be the leaft confiderable. Where man the lord of the creation on this globe, has never attempted any change on it, there nature feems only to thrive; for in reality it languishes, and is deformed by being left to itfelf-f*. Impenetrable woods cover the furface of thefe regions ; its trees are no doubt here and there large and fine, but many are decayed, and ftill more lying on the ground rotting ; here is a tree without its rind, another without a top 3 all the ground below is over-run with briars, and weeds, and climbers, which hinder you from fetting a foot forward : all that feems to vegetate and thrive is fuffocated, and buried under moftes, lichens and muftirooms. The water ftagnates everywhere, and caufes immenfe fwamps, which are unfit to ferve cither the inhabitants of the land, or thofe of the water; being over-run with gigantic but coarfe plants, affording very little food to the more ufeful parts of the animated creation. ■ . r;}7-,jv UariV .i.-oiij^trq - V ' • ... .v r As * Mr,dc Buffon, premiere Vuc dc UN»tu». vol. xxiv. de V Edit, en larao. cii aNGt. s As foon as the lord of the creation appears in thefe regions, he of xhe GLOBE, eradicates all thofe vegetables, which afford no nutriment to him, and to other ufeful animals. lie opens a paffage for himfelf and his affiftants. He preferves thofe plants, and cultivates thofe vege-^ tables, which afford food, and other ufeful productions. All that is broken, decaying, and rotting,- he carefully clears away, pre-ferving the air from putrefaction and noxious effluvia. He opens a channel for the dead, motionlefs, ftagnating waters, which, being endued by motion, with new life and limpidity, become ferviceable to a whole world of creatures, for whom its fluid was originally deftined. The earth becomes dry; its rich foil is foon covered with a new verdure, forming a brilliant fod, enamelled with the moft fragrant flowers. Every where animals feed in thefe new meadows, which are created by the induflry of man, and fupported by his ingenious contrivances. The violence of the vertical fun no fooner begins to fade this new paradife, than man fpreads, for a fhort time, the refrefhing and falutary waters of the purling, limpid ftream over its furface, and rcftores life and vegetation. Here a bread-fruit fpreads its fhady branches, and on their extremities', offers an agreeable food to its planter. The apple-tree, covered ' with its golden fruit, feems to vie with the former, in the number and agreeable tafte of its productions. There the young fhoots of, a mulberry-tree grow up luxuriantly, whofe bark is foon to become. the « the garment of its cultivator, and fcreen him againft the heat of the changes of the fun, and the cold of the nocturnal air. How beautiful, how im- globe. proved, how ufeful docs nature become by the induflry of man ! and what happy changes are produced, by the moderate care of rational beings! Every one muff perceive, though we forbore to name the countries which we have thus compared, that the former is the picture of the wilds of New-Zeeland, in the Southern ifles; and who can fail to difcovcr Taheitee, the happieit ifle of the South-Seas, in the latter rcprefentation ? Among the accidental natural causes of the changes on our globe, the molt remarkable ones are, the winds, the rains, the waters of rivers, the tides of the ocean, the currents therein, fubterraneous fires, and earthquakes : but, as we did not flay long enough in the feveral ifles of the South-Sea, to make accurate obfervations on thefe changes, we can fay nothing on that fubject. But, as we had an opportunity of feeing three different volcanos in the year 1774, and were for feveral weeks, very near to one of them, I will here infert my remarks on that fubject. Two days after our arrival at Namocka, at day-break we were agreeably furprized by the fight of more than 13 low iflands, none of which we had feen before; befides them, we difcovered two high ones, the Weflernmofl of which, conflantly emitted great T quart* changes quantities of fmoke. The natives call this ifle To-fboa. Two days globe. a^"ter» wc wit^ Dtt\vcen It and Oghao, another high- ifle, divided from the former by a narrow channel. To-fooa was covered up to its fummit, with great quantities of clubwood fcafua-rina equtfetifolia J', and we faw many coco-nut trees, and fome plantains. The natives allured us, there grew bread-fruit and yams on it, and that it had a run of frefh water. Its fhores confined of black rocks, that had the appearance of being burnt, and the greater part of them had the form of pillars, and were much honey-combed. The beaches were covered with a black fand ; and wc found, on the fliores of the neighbouring ifle of A-Namocka,, many pumice-Hones. The fmoke rolled out of the fummit of the hill in the middle of the ifle. When we came to the leeward of it, it rained, and our people on deck complained that the drops falling on their eyes produced pain and uneafinefs; they fmelled likewife fomething like the burning of turf, or of fome vegetables and fern; but I did not obferve thefe two latter particulars, though I was likewife all the time on deck. With the rain, fome afhes fell down, which feemed to be pieces of fmall pumice-fbne. On the North-Weft fide of the ifle there was a large part of the hill, from whence the fmoke iffued, which appeared to be lately burnt, for it was all black, and the bullies were without foliage and verdure, and only here and there, in craggy places and crevices, a few greens appeared. As As we found no anchorage near this ifle, and fqually weather was changes coming on, we had no opportunity to make farther obfervations on °^ £^ this volcano. When we were in the midft of the New-Hebrides, having pafled Whitsuntide Isle, we faw a large fine ifland to the South of it, which had all the appearance of the greater! fertility and higheft cultivation. We remarked on its fummit, in two places, a fmoke rifing, of a much greyer hue, than that from ordinary fire, which we could likewife fee rifing here and there on the ifle, where the natives drelfed their victuals. Coming afterwards to Mallicollo, we learned from the natives, that this ifle was called Am-Errym, and that there was a fire coming out from hills. Wc obferved on the South-Eaft fide of the ifle, which is gently floping, and has a very beautiful appearance, white columns of fmoke, rolling with great velocity and ftrength out of the fummit of one of the inland hills, which, however, was not the higheft hill on the ifle. The North fhores of Mallicollo were covered with pumice-ftones of ■various fixes. Thefe obvious remarks on this volcano, were all that pur very fhort flay at Mallicollo, and in its neighbourhood, would permit us to make. The ifle of Tanna was feen by us, after we left Irromanga, The night preceding our arrival, we obferved a very great fire on T 2 this H° R E M ARKS on the changes this ifle, and we few it every now and then blazing up with great of the globe, violence. In the morning we were a few miles diflant from the-ifle, and faw plainly a volcano on its South-Eafl fide, at the end of a low range of hills, not elevated more than 120 or 1 50 yards above the furface of the fea; beyond which there appeared, another ridge,, at leaf! as high again. It feemed not above four miles diflant fronv the fea, and looked like a truncated cone, quite barren, of a reddifh grey, and had the appearance of being formed by afhes, pumice-ftones, and lava. Every four or five minutes we perceived a flrait column of fmoke, of a reddifh grey eafl, rifing with great velocity and violence; and foon after we heard a rumbling noife in the volcano like that of thunder. After the fmoke, or rather mafs of ignited allies, had rifen to a confiderable height, the refiflance of the air, and its own gravitation, brought it down: it varied from the columnar fhape, and branched out into feparate maffes, affuming a furfice and out-line, not unlike a large cauliflower*. Sometimes thefe allies appeared white, fometimes they had a dirty grey, and fometimes a very red eafl, which happened, as I fuppofe, when the hot * Nubos (inccrtum procul intuentibus ex quo monte : Vefuvium fuifle poftea eogni'um eft) oriebatur, cuijus fimilitudincm & forniam non alia magls arbor qaam pinus cxpreffcrU. Nam longifiitno velut trunco data in altum, quibufdam ram is dfrftundebatur. Credo quia reccntl fpiritu eve£ta, deinde fenefecnte eo deftituta, nut etiam pondcretuo vifta, in Iatitu-dinem vanefcebat; Candida intcrdum, intcrdum fordida, prout terram cineremve fuftulerat. Ti.in. Epijl. lib. vi. Ep. xv, CHANGES of our GLOBE. 141 liot ignited afhes were thrown up, or when the fmoak and allies changes OP' TH E v/ere illuminated by the fire at the bottom.of the crater: C/ JL O 49 t. • After we came into the harbour, the volcano feemed to be about. 6 or 8 miles diflant, its explofions continued for feveral days, and lafted fometimes, together with the rumbling noifc, for. about half a. minute : the whole deek was covered with aihes and minute cinders,, which was very hurtful to the eyes. One morning after rain, the. volcano, which had ceafed its loud explofions,. did again now and then blaze up. I obferved. this before 4 o'clock in the morning. The clouds of ftnoak which were emitted, had all the various,hues from yellow, orange, red, and dark purple, dying away into a reddifh. grey, or into a darker hue. When night had fpread its veil over, all the objects furrounding us, the ftars were obferved. to fhine through fome lucid fpots. As often as frefh clouds of fmoak, appeared, they were illuminated from the bottom of the crater. Each neighbouring object, when expofed to this -light, was on its edges tinged- yellow, orange, red, or purple. Some, days after,, the volcano was quiet, and no more noife was heard, and but few clouds of fmoak. appeared,, which however,, during, night were, illuminated. Seven days after our firft arrival, I made an attempt to go to the volcano, in hopes of examining this great object fomewhat nearer j and went therefore on a path up the hill towards it. It had rained the i42 R E M ARKS on the changes the night before, and we were not gone a mile up the fides of the of the _, _ n b» hill from the watering-place, when we came to a foot clear of wood and of reeds, where we faw a fmoak or fleam rifing from the ground: its fmell was flrongly fulphureous; and the earth was fo .intenfely hot, that we could hardly fland on it. The foil about thefe fpiracles looked whitilh like clay : and in other places of its neighbourhood like red ochre. The fumes rifing were real fleams, and in all appearance not noxious to vegetation; for I obferved feveral fig-trees loaded with fruit, within 2 or 3 yards of them. I traced thefe folfataras up the hill, in feveral other places, and as that day the volcano made a great many loud explofions, we could plainly fee, that a new quantity of vapours rofe from thefe fpiracles after each explofion. I traced thefe fpiracles another time likewife, down the hill, within a few yards of the fea, where at high water mark, feveral hot wells were found by us. From the fliip we obferved, that the volcano threw up ignited ftones of an immenfe fize: for as we were about 6 or 8 miles off, the ftones muft be of a confiderable bulk to be vifible at fuch a diflance. When we left the ifland, there appeared on the outride of the volcano, among the allies, a fmoaking ridge, which was not obferved at firft when we came into the harbour. And as I had before feen on a cliff near the fea, fome. pieces of lava, it is probable this fmoaking place, contained a ft 1 earn of ignited flags, forming forming, when cold, the lava. All the environs of the volcano are changes covered with aflies,, the land on the fea more confided of them, $£6j£. and the foil on the hills was mixed with them : which I found to conftft of fmall pieces of pumice-ftone, of fmall portions of mining, irregularly fhaped glaffcs, femitranfparent flags of white, pellucid, irregular pieces like Sherl, or glafs, of mining, fibrous, acerofe particles like afbeft; and laftly, of fome black, opaque, irregular atoms. Thefe afhes fell at the diflance of 8 or 10 miles on one fide or the other, according as the winds blew. From the preceding account I have reafon to draw the following corollaries. I'irjl, Volcanos are not always formed on the higheft mountains, but are fometimes on a lower ridge, in the neighbourhood of ftill higher hills. I. will not deny that there may be inftances, where volcanos occupy the fummits of great, high mountains, but I fuppofe they are found both in high and low hills. Mr, de Buffon in his moft ingenious work, on the Theory of the Earth, pretends that volcanos are never to be met with but in high mountains. This affertion feems not to correfpond with our experience, for a hill of about 1 50 yards at higheft, deferves fcarcely to be called a high mountain, nor are thofe volcanos we faw at To-foba and Ambrrym much higher. Secondly, A great many volcanos, if not the greater part of them, are found on ifles or cm the ccntinent, at no great diftance from the fea. Such are .&tna, Stromboli, Lipari, and Vulcano, 6 Fuogo, 144 R E m ARKS on Tiir, changes Fuogo, the Peak of Teneriffe, Volcano Illand, in the Queen op THE globe Charlotte Iflands, the volcanos near New Guinea, and the Moluccas, .the Manillas, in Japan, Iceland, and the new difcovered iflands between Kamtchatka, and North America: of the latter fort is Vcfuvio, the volcanos in Kamtchatka and California : and the only ones that fhould feem to make an exception, are the volcanos in the Andes, in South America and Mexico; but even there, none is above joo miles in a ftraight line, diflant from the fea. Thofe which we found in To-foba, Ambrrym, and Tanna, belong to the flrft clafs. Thu-dly, Volcanos are to be met with, only in countries containing a good many pyritical, fulphurcous fubflances. The red ochre we found on the fides of the hill in Tanna, where the fpiracles were feen by us, looked exactly like the remains of a pyrites containing fulphur and an iron earth, which had been uflulated and calcined in a flrong fire. Thofe who have vifited the neighbourhood of other volcanos, know very well that fuch red, ochreous ftrata are very common in their neighbourhood. Fourthly, Wc found that after rain, the volcano in Tanna began to rage and blaze more violently than before y which feems to imply, that themoiflure of the rain, infinuating itfclf into the interior parts of the volcano, through various crevices and chinks, and meeting thefe pyritical .ftrata, caufed a new fermentation, followed by new eruptions and violent explofions. Fifthly, C II A N G E S o v o vj r GLOB E. 145 Fifthly. Volcanos, no doubt, caufe great changes on the furface changes * of ou of our globe, by accumulating the allies and pumice ftones, which globe* they continually emit, and by the ftreams of lava, which often are thrown up by them and run a confiderable diftance, caufing great ravages in cultivated regions : we certainly have reafon to believe, that the whole hill where the volcano was at Tanna, had been confiderably enlarged by the allies, pumice ftones, and lava. Nay, the foil of the;whole ifland had been altered by the continued fall of aflies. I obferved befides this, a cliff to the Eaft of the volcano near the fea, at more than ten miles diftance from it, which certainly ■contained veftiges of a great revolution. It conlifled of a black fandy or gritty ftratum, full of pumice ftones, a great many red, .oclircous ftones, and pieces of lava. s E C T I O N. III. On the DIMINUTION of the SEA and WATER. t n ^HIS fubject. has of late been treated in various manners by DIMblithe learned world. Some have endeavoured to prove, that the sea. the fea gradually made a regular receflion from the land, and they have corroborated this opinion, with every argument they could pofftbly devife. In Sweden it has been the favourite opinion of the moft eminent philofophers. But as all opinions may be carried U too DIMINU- too far, fo it has happened in this particular inftance. One- of TION OF THE sea. the hiftorians of that kingdom, Mr. Dalin, pretends that the ocean fidls 45 Swedifh inches = 37 y Englifh inches- in 100 years, and consequently 0,45 = 0,371.1 one year: and by this means proves when Sweden firft became habitable, which he immediately confiders as-the time when it was actually inhabited'. There are others who have oppofed this very opinion; fo that it feems by no means,, to be a point as yet decided ; nor is it yet, as far as I am able to judge, a proper time to-decide the qucftion: we are firft to collect: a great many facts, and by no means to form fyftems from a few particulars, which perhaps may be proved to arife from other caufes, than the receftion of the fea; and if in one place, the fea uncovers fome ground, we ought likewife as carefully and faithfully to record the places where the fea has made encroachments upon the land; which, if rightly compared, might fhew, that what in one place is gained, is loft in another. Nor do thefe gentlemen confidcr, that, fhould the ocean decreafe, nothing but the aqueous particles would naturally be diminifhed, and the faline, as fixed particles would remain, which of courfe muft conflantly incrcafe the faltnefs of the ocean; and fuch nfh and fubmarine animals as can now fubiift in the ocean, would, in courfe of time, find themfelves in an element by no means fuited to their life and necellitics: nay, as their organs for fwimming are by no means adapted CHANGES ok our GLOBE. 147 adapted to fo denfe a fluid, they would laftly die, and the ocean diminu- , . . .... ' r r, /. , ,1 t ion ok would in a little time after, fhoot into cryftals of fait and become TH£ gEA# entirely folid. Rain, dew, and vapours would be formed, every century more and more fparingly, and at laft no vegetation or animal life couId be fupported, and would end with the fubverfion of this our globe. I met with one inflance only, during our expedition, where I could fairly obferve, that the ground had been raifed. It is well known, and often remarked in the South Sea, that the animalcules forming the lithophytes, create in the fea curious flructures: they arc commonly narrow below, and have as it were only one ftalk : the more they grow, the more they fpread above, fo that fome of them ate found above 15 feet high, expanding from a bafe of two or three feet, to 18 or 20 on the top, but as the animalcules inhabiting thefe lithophytes, cannot live out of water, they never extend their ftructure higher than to the waters edge, at low water mark. When we came on the the 3d of July, 1774, to Turtle Ifland, we faw on the reef feveral fuch lithophytes of the abovemcntioned heighth and fize : they were perfectly above water, and on their fpreading tops, fome plants were already growing; which fliews that they are above high water mark : and befides this, fhould they be now again covered by the fea, half of the ifle, which is not vcrj high, would certainly be drowned, with all its trees, and the U 2 habitations piminu- habitations of the natives. It appears therefore evidently, either 1ionc!?a that the water had receded, or that thefe objects had been raifed 'i h l sla. * above water; but what might be the caufe of either, I will not pretend to decide. It might be owing to the receflion of the fea, and its gradual yearly diminution. But an earthquake, and a fubterraneous fire, are molt likely to have raifed thefe lithophytes, and parts of the neighbouring ifle above water. S E C T I O N IV. The THEORY of the FORMATION of ISLES. T TAVING thus offered a few remarks on the various changes of forma- rr-j c tion of thofe parts of the globe, which we vifited during our circum- isles. . . , . navigation, I might here leave the fubjeot, were it not in fome meafure neceifary, to add a few obfervations, which may ferve to eftablifh a theory for the formation of the tropical ifles in the South-Sea. When we firft came within the tropics in 1773, I applied particularly to ftudy the conftitution and nature of the tropical ifles. When we vifited them again in 1774, I added many more obfervations j and, after all, I found the nature of thefe ifles to be j Lift fuch as I reprefented them in the fection, where I defcribed-the lands we had fallen in with. We We found low ifles, connected by reefs of coral rocks; we met forma- . tion of with iflands more elevated, fome without a reef, and others fur- i$LES.. rounded by a reef of lithophytes. All the low ifles feem to me to be a production of the fea, or rather its inhabitants, the polype-like animals forming the lithophytes. Thefe animalcules raife their, habitation gradually from a fmall bafe, always fpreadIng more and more, in proportion as the flructure grows higher. The materials are a kind of lime mixed with fome animal fubftance. I have feen thefe large ftructures in all ftages, and of various extent. Near Turtle-Illand, we found, at a few miles diftance, and to leeward of it, a confiderable large circular reef, over which the fea broke every where, and no part of it was above water; it included a large,, deep lagoon. To the Eaft and North-Eaft of the Society-Ifles, arc a great many ifles, which, in fome parts, arc above water ; in others, the elevated parts are con^ ncctcd by reefs, fome of which are dry at low-water, and others-are conflantly under water. The elevated parts, eonfift of a foil formed by a fand of fhells and coral rocks, mixed with a light black mould, produced from putrefied vegetables, and the dung of fea-fowls and are commonly covered by coco-nut trees and other fhrubs, and a few antifcorbutic plants. The lower parts have only1 a few fhrub?, and the above plants; others ftill lower, are warned by the fea at high-water. All thefe illes are connected, and include a lagoon in the the middle, which is full of the nneit nth ; and fometimes there is an opening, admitting a boat or canoe in the reef, but I never faw or heard of an opening that would admit a ihip. The reef, or the firft origin of thefe ifles, is formed by the animalcules inhabiting the lithophytes. They raife their habitation within a little of the furface of the fea, which gradually throws ihells, weeds, fand, fmall bits of corals, and other things on the tops of-thefe coral rocks, and at laft fairly raifes them above water j where the above things continue to be accumulated by the fea, till by a bird, or by the fea, a few feeds of plants, that commonly grow on the fea-ihorc, are thrown up, and begin to vegetate; and by their annual decay and re-production from feeds, create a little mould, yearly accumulated by the mixture with fand, increafmg the dry fpot on every fide ; till another fea happens to carry a coconut hither, which preferves its vegetative power a long time in the fea, and therefore will foon begin to grow on this foil, efpecially as it thrives equally in all kinds of foil; and thus may all thefe low ifles have become covered with the fineft coco-nut trees. The animalcules forming thefe reefs, want to fhelter their habitation from the impetuofity of the winds, and the power and rage of the ocean ; but as, within the tropics, the winds blow commonly from one quarter, they, by inftincl:, endeavour to flretch only a ledge, within which is a lagoon, which is certainly entirely fcreen- ed cd againfl the power of both : this therefore might account for the forma-method employed by the animalcules in building only narrow ledges nLE8^ of coral rocks, to fecure in their middle a calm and fheltcred place : and this feems to me to be the moil probable caufe of the origin of all the tropical low isles, over the whole South-Sea. We come now to the higher, ones. I muft confefs, therein hardly one of them, which had not one way. or other, flrong marks and vefliges left, of its having undergone fome violent alteration in its furface by fire,, or, as I mould rather fay, by a volcano. It is very well known, that many ifles * have been raifed: out of the fea by the action of a fubterraneous fire; The iflands of San-torin', and the two Kamenis f, in the Greek Archipelago, and the ille formed in 1720, in the. Weflcrn Ifles J,.are inconteflible proofs * Plin. Hift. Nat. lib. ii. c. 88, 89, lib. iv. c. 22.—Seneca Nat. Qua-ft. vi. c. 21, 2$. & lib. ii. c. 26.—Strab. Almeloven. p. 94, 100.—Plutarch, dc Pythias Oraculis, ex edit. Xyland, Frft. 1620. p. 399.— Pa u fan. lib. viii. c. 33,—Juftin. lib. xxx. c. 4—Niccph. Pd-triarch. Brev. Hift. I'aiis, 164S. p. 37. adann. 727, ad eund. Thenphal. Chronogr. refert. —Cedren. & Pauf. Diacon. Coronelli Ifolavio, p. 24.3. edit. Venet. 1696. fol.—Philof. Tranf. vol. xxvii. No. 332.—Dio. Caff. lib. Ix. c. 29.—Aurel; Victor, in Claudio.—Amm. MarcelS. edit. Valef. Paris, j68i. fol. lib. xvii. c. 7.—Pindar. Ol. Ode Diod. Sic. lib. v, c. 5$.—Hcraclid. Pont, de Polit. Grac. ad ealcem Crag-ii, dc Rep. Ljaccd,—Ph'ilo ]ud. de Mundi incorrupt, p. 959. f Nouveaux Memoires des Mifliopi. torn, i.—Philof. Tranf. vol. xxvii, n. 332. t Gaflendi dc Vita Epicuri. vol. ii. p. 1050.—Hift. Se VAcad, de Paris, dc 1721. p. 26. & 1722. p, 12.—Philof. Tranf. abrid-. torn,.v. feci, ii, p. 154, Comment. Bonon. too* i. p. 205. form a - proofs of it. Thefe feem to have been a kind of volcano coming tion of isles. out of the bottom of the fea. We vifited illes that had Hill volcanos ; others, that had only elevation, and marks of being formed in remote ages by a volcano ; and laflly, we found ifles, that had no remains of a volcano, but even ftrongancl undoubted vefliges of having been violently changed, and partly overturned by an earthquake, fubteraneous fire, and a volcano. Tofooa, Ambrrym, Tanna, and.Pico, are of the inil: cLvfs. Maatea, O-Taut, it ee, huaheine, 0-RAEf,ime\, G-'f ati aw, B0LA-B0LA, Mourua, Waitahu, or St. Ciuhlina, and the reft of the Marquesas, with feveral of the New-ITeerides, and Fayal, belong to the fecond; and I cannot help referring Easter-Isl and, St. Helena, and Ascension to the laft. I will not from hence infifl, that all the ifles now enumerated, were originally produced by earthquakes and volcanos, but I may venture to alfert this of feveral, from their external appearance, and of others I am' certain, that they exiited above water, before they had a volcano, and were entirely changed, and partly fubverted by fubterraneous fire. Ascension, in the Atlantic Ocean, an ifle which we faw laft, after all the others, furnifhed me with fome very curious and pertinent remarks on the fubject. We anchored in Crofs-Bay, and faw the higheft hill of the ifle at about five miles diftance from the 5 fliore - I s l e £ . C H A N G E S of our G L O B E. 153 fliore : it con lifts of a gritty lime-tophus, mixed with marie and j orma-Tand. Some parts of this ftone being decayed by length of time, form, together with a little mould, the furface, which is covered with purflane, and fome graffes. The nature of this hill is, in every refpect, different from the reft of the ifle, efpecially about Crofs-Bay. For, as foon as we had reached the elevated plain, fituatcd between the bay and the hill, which is a-breaft of the bay, we found it about two miles in diameter, covered with black, gritty flag-aflies., and in fome places with a dufky yellow ochre. At llxty or eighty yards diftance, the plain is all over incumbered with little hummocks, about ten or twenty feet high, formed of very rugged flags and porous cinders; in fhort, of lava. All this plain is in-clofed by feveral hills, of a conic form, and of a reddifh-brown or rufty-coloured eaft, conflfting entirely of fmall allies, and gritty cliftblved flags; fome of which are black, and others of an ochreous nature, and of a .yellow or red colour. On one fide of the plain is an elevated ridge of rocks of the moft craggy appearance, lying in very irregular mafTes, and terminating in the moft curious manner, in points and fliarp prominencies. Part of this ridge we could trace towards the fea, where the flags, if pofiible, afTumed ftill more horrid fhapes, interfeded by deep gullies, forming a tremendous, inacceflible fliore. The flags or lava ring like bells; and, if a piece of it be broken and thrown down the fides of thefe fteep •craggy mafTes, it produces a fharp clanging found. At the very X fifft forma- firft light of thefe objects, nothing is more obvious to every behold- isles. cr> tnan tnattlie hI£n Peak m tne middle of the ille, is one of the primogenial lands, whereof, perhaps, the whole ille confuted before its prefent defolation. The elevated plain feems to have been the crater of the volcano; the conic hills were probably thrown up by the cinders and allies. The ridge of flags is the ftream of lava, and fome of it ran probably towards the fea. The elevated hummocks in the plain, are the malfes of flags and lava, fuch as they remained after the action of the volcano ceafed. They have gradually decayed, and this, together with the foreign matters, waflied down by violent rains from the hills of allies and cinders, have contributed to fill the crater up, and make its furface level. It feems therefore to follow, that Afcenfton was originally a land or illand , but, when the volcano was formed in its bofom, part of it was entirely changed and deftroyed, and now (hews nothing but nature in ruins : 0 -----nec rejlat in illay S>nod repctas; tantum einis, & fine fern hie terra eft. Corn. Severus. St. Helena has on its outiidc, efpecially where the lhips lye at anchor, an appearance, if pollible, more dreadful and dreary than Afcenfion ; but the farther you advance, the lefs defolate the country appears; and the moft interior parts are always covered with plants, trees, and verdure : however there, are every where the moft evident C II A N G E S of our G L O B E. 155 evident marks, of its having- undergone a great and total change from form a- iitt,, n <~ tion of a volcano and earthquake, which perhaps funk the grcateft part of ISLES. if in the fea. Easter-Island, or Waihu, is another illand of the fame nature. All its rocks are black, burnt, and honey-combed : fome have perfectly the appearance of Hags ; nay, even the foil, which is but thinly fpread over the burnt rocks, has the appearance of a dark yellow ochre. Wc found a great many black glaffy Hones, fcat-tcred among the great quantity wherewith the whole ille is covered, which are known to mineralogifts by the name of Iceland-agate, and are always found near volcanos, or places expofed to their violence : thus, for in fiance, they abound in Italy and Sicily, and in Iceland near the volcanos, and likewife in Afcenfion. We found the whole ille.very poor in vegetables; and, though I walked over a great part of it, I found no more than about twenty plants, including thofe that are cultivated, and no trees at all, which is very remarkable in an ille of this extent, under fo fine a climate, and inhabited for a long time patt: for, when Roggewein firft difcovered it in 1722, he even then found thofe ftone pillars, which we like-wife faw, and which feemed to us to have been erected many years ago. The writers of Roggcwein's voyage faw likewife woods on this ifle ; it fhould therefore feem, that iince that time, fome difafter had befallen this fpot, and ruined the woods, and thrown down many X 2 of 156 , REMARKS on the form a.- of the huge ftone pillars, for we found feveral on the ground. islesV Perhaps thIs ^aPPcned in when Lima and Callao fuffered fo much by an earthquake ; nor is it uncommon for earthquakes to extend their power a great way. Capt. Davis, in the year 16S7, being 450 leagues from the main of America, felt an earthquake very ftrongly, when at the fame time its moft violent effects were obferved at Lima and Callao. But I will, by no means, infiit upon the circumflance, that the ifle was full of woods and forefts in Roggewein's time, upon the mere authority of thefe writers, as a corroborative proof of any changes, which I fuppofe this ifle to have undergone; for one of thefe writers at leaft feems to contradict'his own report, by telling us, that the man who came on board, had a canoe made of fmall pieces, none of which was above half a foot in length , which we found really true, and is very natural, becaufe they have no wood : but unluckily, upon the whole, the hittory of the giant3 twelve feet high, deprived him entirely of the character of a faithful hifto-rian. And, befides this, we found the figures or ftone pillars, ail made of a porous tufa, which had undergone a violent operation by fire. Thefe pillars were already exifcing in Roggewein's time ; con-fcquently the ifle, its ftones, and ftrata, had already undergone the violence of fire; fo that it evidently appears, that whatever changes the ifland has undergone, muft have been anterior to Roggewein's arrival arrival there in 1722. However, it was obvious to every one, that forma-the ifle had been fubject to the violence of a volcano, which had TION OI* isles. perhaps deflroyed a part of it. But the tropical ifles in the South-Seas bear likewife the moft' undeniable marks of violent changes from fire and earthquakes ; though their prefent cultivated flate, the fine mould covering their furface, and the various vegetables on it, partly hide the vefliges of thefe revolutions, and require therefore the eye of a man ufed to thefe enquiries, and acquainted with nature in its various ltates. Thci excavated tops of the peaks of Maiatea, Bola-bola, and M ourua, the fpires and mattered rocks of the interior parts of Te-Arraboo, or the little peninfula of O-Taiieitee, together with the honey-combed black rocks and lava of Tobreonoo and the Marques as, . are fuch proofs-of thefe revolutions, as nobody will, difpute, who is well acquainted with the fubje; • ,\ ■){ j, 'i , ;-"h".-." -.. ;[*\:C. {j The Low Iflands which arc difperfed in the Pacific Ocean between the tropics, are of an inconfiderable fize, and confequently produce few forts of plants: however, the great abundance of coco-nut palms on them, gives them a pleating, afpect at a diftance; fome trees and fhrubs that flourifh on the fhores, a few antiscorbutic fimples, and fome plants which have the quality of intoxicating fifh, compofe their whole Flora. SOCIETY ISLES. But nature and art have united their efforts in the Society Ifles, to ftrike the beholder with the magnificence of profpedts, and to awaken every idea of beauty, by the variety of harmonious forms and colours. They confift of plains, hills, and a high range of Y mountains ve ge- mountains, in each of which, vegetation is different. The plains TABLE kingdom which encircle thefe ifles, give greater room for cultivation than mountainous expofures : in confequence of this, we fee them and the remoteft extremities of the vallies which run between the hills, covered with plantations; we find them inhabited by a numerous race, in a higher flate of civilization than any of their neighbours; we enter a country improved by art, and from the rough walks of uncultivated nature, pafs into the lovely variety of a flourifliing and well kept garden j the ground is no longer loaded with heaps of putrid branches and leaves, that give nourifliment to briars, climbers, ferns, and the whole tribe of parafite plants; but a bed of gralfes adorns the whole furface, and forms that luxuriant fod, which is always the effect of cultivation. The fruit trees rife at proper diftances from each other, and the fhade which their foliage throws, fhelters the green turf below, which the rays of a tropical fun would otherwife foon fcorch and deflroy. The dwellings of the natives have the fame advantage, being generally fituated in the midfb of a group of trees, and frequently furrounded with various fhrubs. The firft range of hills that rife within the plains are entirely deftitute of trees, by which means, the fun having full fcope to operate, permits no graffes or other tender plants to grow there, fo that the whole is covered with a very dry kind of fern, I among among which, two forts of fhrubs are difpcrfed that can equally vege-fupport the utmoft fury of a vertical fun. kTngdom As we advance higher, we find the fides of the hills beginning to be wooded, and at laft arrive at the higher! fummits, which are wholly covered with forefts of very tall trees. As thefe tops are frequently involved in clouds, the temperature of the air is very mild, and caufes all kinds of vegetables to thrive with luxuriance. Among the reft, moffes, ferns, epidendra, and the like, which particularly delight in moifture, cover the trunks and branches of the trees, and over-run the ground. marquesas. To the North Eaftward of the Society Illes, lie thofe iflands which Mendanna named the Marquefas de Mendoza. They might be aptly compared to the Society Ifles, if thefe laft were deftitute of reefs and of plains. The Marquefas are alfo more wooded, though the variety of plants is not, by far, fo great, owing to the room which the plantations take up in the woods themfelves. FRIENDLY ISLES. Next to the Society Ifles for richnefs of productions, and beauty of appearance, we muft place that group difcovered by the Dutch navigator Taefman, and not unaptly to be diftinguifhed by the Y 2 name 164 REMARKS on TitE vege- name of Friendly Ifles, from the peaceable, kind difpofition of table kingdom. t a b l F their inhabitants. They are raifed fo high above the level of the fea, that they can no longer rank with the Low Iflands; and being defti-t.ute of mountains, they are equally diftinct from the High Iflands. They are extremely populous, their uniform furface therefore, gives the people an opportunity of carrying cultivation very far; and from one end to the other, they are interfered by paths and fences, which divide the plantations. At firft one might be apt to think that this high cultivation, would give the botanifl very fcanty fupplies of fpontaneous plants; but it is the peculiar beauty of all thefe elegant ifles to join the ufeful to the agreeable in nature, by which' means a variety of different wild fpecies thrive among thofe that are cultivated, in that pleafing diforder which is fo much admired in the gardens of this kingdom. NEW HEBRIDES. The more Wefliern ifles named the New Hebrides, appear with a very different vegetation. They are high and mountainous, without plains or reefs, though their hills have gentle flopes, and their valleys are extenfive: they are fertile, and almoft totally covered with forefts, in which, the plantations of the natives, are fo many infulated fpots, efpecially as the number of inhabitants is but fmall for the fize of the ifles. The fpontaneous plants there^ * fore fore, occupying the greatefl fpace, the variety of fpccies is alio vegetable greater here, than in the more Eafterly iflands. kingdom NEW CALEDONIA. The arid foil of New .Caledonia, totally diftinct from all others in the South Sea, produces neverthelefs, a variety of plants, moft of which form genera very diftinct from thofe before known. A reef of coral rocks furrounds the fhores here at a confiderable diftance, in the fame manner as at the Society Ifles, and the only cultivated parts of the country, are likewife fome narrow plains. But it feems, that though the natives beftow great labour on them, yet they barely yield them a fcanty fubfiftance, which probably, is the caufe of their very inconfidcrable number. From the unanimous teftimony of feveral gentlemen, who made the voyage in the Endeavour Bark, as well as this laft in the Refolution, we have the grcateft reafon to affert, that the productions of this large ifland, (the plains excepted) entirely refemble thofe of the coafts of New Holland, which are not far diflant. fHttiiSflKl'f < :;o:3fid"io*I Viavo \\\vrsi;\ oiliU/nn ji.'-r^ r.t v-iii .ftluiw NEW ZEELAND. New Zeeland, which lies in the temperate zone, prefents a very different afpecl from any of the tropical countries. Its northern ifle though mountainous, like the other, has however very extensive vege- five flopes, which the natives have known how to turn to table kingdom advantage by culture; but as we never landed on that part, we fliall confine ourfelves to the Southern ifle, at each of whofe extremities we touched. The profpect here confifts of feveral ranges of mountains, one higher than another, the higheft capt with fnow: their fides are fteep, their valleys narrow, and the whole covered with immenfe forefts. The only difference between the Northern and Southern ends of the ifle, confifts in this, that the latter ftill degenerates into ruder rocks; whilft the former in fome places has level fpots, clear of wood, and covered with graffes, rufhes, 6cc. The climate of this ifle isfo temperate, that all forta of European garden plants (which we had fown) vegetated very luxuriantly in the midft of winter : the indigenous Flora is therefore very prolific, and the variety of genera and new fpecies confiderable : but as the country has probably, never fince its firft exiflence, undergone any changes from the hand of induftry: its forefts are perfect: labyrinths, which innumerable climbers, briars, and fhrub-beries, twining together, render almoft wholly impenetrable, whilft they in great meafure prevent every herbaceous plant from coming up : thefe laft therefore, are only found on the beaches, along the edge of the valley, and are almoft entirely compofed of antifcorbutics and pot-herbs. TIERRA I iit TIERRA DEL FUEGO, -kj c* j v^ia eisw Ii vji riJiw qo olob oxoso sv,' sic s-xl i£m;t-ufi Still, as we advance to the South, the appearance of countries vegetable becomes more and more barren. Tierra del Fuego, at the South kingdom extremity of America, always labours under the rigors of cold, and all its Weftern coafls are barren, rocky mountains, whole tops are continually covered with fnow. In a bay where we anchored to the North-Weft of Cape Horn, we found fcarce any traces of vegetation, except on fome low little illes, whofe thin turf, which covered the rock, was quite marfhy; and in the loweil bottoms of vallies, or the crevices of mountains, where fome ill-fhaped, wretched fhrubberies were to be found, fcarce ever growing to fuch a height, as to deferve the name of trees. All the higher parts of the mountains are black rocks, perfectly naked. In the fmall catalogue of plants, we however find the celery, which Providence has diftributed fo univerfally, as one of the beft remedies againft the fcurvy. The North-Eaft fide of Tierra del Fuego, flopes into a kind of plain, and looks more rich in vegetables , but we did not land upon it. NEW GEORGIA. When we faw the barren fide of Tierra del Fuego, we had fcarce an idea of a more wretched country exifting; but after ftanding fometime to the Eaftward, we met with the ifle of New-Georgia, which, x?,i t R E M A Pv K S on the vege- which, though in the fame latitude, appeared fo much more dread- kingdom *"u1, tliat beforc wc came c*°k UP witn it:> it: was fofpedted to he an ifland of ice. The fhapes of its mountains are, perhaps, the molt ragged and pointed on the globe ; they are covered with loads of fnow in the height of fummer, almoft to the water's edge; whilft here and there, the fun fhining on points, which project into the fea, leaves them naked, and fliews them craggy, black and difguft-ful. We landed inPoffeflion-Bay, and found the whole Flora to con-iifl of twofpecies of plants, one a new plant* peculiar to the Southern hemifphere, the other a well-known grafs; both which, by their flarved appearance and low flature, denoted the wretchednefs of the country. However, as if nature meant to convince us of her power of producing fomething flill more wretched, we found land about four degrees to the Southward of this, apparently higher than it, abfolutely covered with ice and fnow (fome detached rocks excepted) and in all probability incapable of producing a Angle plant. Wrapt in almofl continual fogs, we could only now and then have a fight of it, and that only of its lowefk part, an immenfe volume of clouds conflantly refling on the fummits of the mountains, as though the fight of all its horrors would be too tremendous for mortal eyes to behold. The mind indeed, flill fhudders at the idea, and eagerly turns from fo difgufting an object, J. NUM- * Anciflrum. Fojlers Nova Genoa Ptantarum, p. 3-4« ORGANIC B O D I E S. 169 vege- I, NUMBER of SPECIES. table kingdom From what has been faid, it appears, that the rigorous froft in the antarctic regions almoft precludes the germination of plants; that the countries in the temperate zones, being chiefly uncultivated, produce a variety of plants, which only want the affiitance of art to confine them within proper bounds; and lallly, that the tropical ifles derive a luxuriance of vegetation from the advantage of climate and culture. But the number of vegetables is likewife commonly proportioned to the extent of the country. Continents have therefore, at all times, been remarkable for their immenfe botanical trcafurcs ; and, among the reft, that of New-Holland, fo lately examined by Meflrs. Banks and Solander, rewarded their labors fo plentifully, that one of its harbors obtained a name fuit-ble to this circumflance, (Botany Bay.) Iflands only produce a greater or lefs number of fpecies, as their circumference is more or lefs extenfive. In this point of view, I think both New-Zeeland and the tropical illes rich in vegetable productions. It would be difficult to determine the number in the firlt with any degree of precifion,» from the little opportunities we had of examining its riches: our acquisitions of new fpecies from thence amount to 1 20 and upwards; the known ones, recorded already in the works of Linnaeus, are only lix, and confequently bear a trifling proportion Z to 17o REMARKS on t ii b vege- to the new ones; but there is great reafon to fuppofe that, including; kingdom both tlie iflcs °rNcw-Zceland> a Flora of no lefs than 400 or 500 fpecics, on a careful fcrutiny, might, be collected together; efpecially if the botanift fhoukL come at a more advanced feafon than, the beginning of fpring, or not fo late as the beginning of winter;, at which times we had the only opportunities of vifiting this, country. In the tropical iiles, the proportion ©f new and known fpecies is very different. All our acquiiitions of new ones from them amount to about 220 fpecies ; and the collection of the known or Linnaean, to no, which gives the whole number 330; andfhews, that one third were well known before. Cultivation contributes not a little towards this, becaufe it probably contains fuch plants, as the firft fettlers of thefe ifles brought with them from their original Eaft-Indian feats, which of courfe are moft likely to be known; and, with thefe cultivated ones, it is to be fuppofed there might come the feeds of many wild ones, alfo of Eaft-Indiau growth, and confequently known to the botanifts. The new plants, therefore, can only be thofe which originally grew, peculiar to thefe countries, and fuch as have efcaped the vigilance of the Europeans in India. I The number of individual fpecies (330) which we found in the tropical ifles, (old and new) is by no means to be considered as a perfect perfect Flora, for which purpofe, our opportunities of botanizing vege-wcre greatly inefficient. On the contrary, I am rather inclined to KiNG^M think, that our number might almoft be doubled on a more accurate fearch, which muft be the work of years, not of a few days, as was the cafe with us. The greateft expectations are from the New-Hebrides, as they are large, uncultivated, but very fertile iflands. The jealous difpofition of their natives would not permit us to make many difcoveries there j yet, from the out-fkirts of the country, we might form a judgment of the interior parts. As an inftance, that we often have had indications of new plants, though we could never meet with the plants themfelves, I fhall only mention the wild nutmeg of the ille of Tanna, of which we obtained feveral fruits, without ever being able to find the tree. The firft we met with was in the craw of a pigeon, which we had (hot, (of that fort, which, according to Rumphius, difTeminates the true nutmegs in the Eaft-India iflands): it was ftill furrounded by a membrane of bright red, which was its mace; its color was the fame as tkat of the true nutmeg, but its fhape more oblong; its tafte was ftrongly aromatic and pungent, but it had no fmell. . The natives afterwards brought us fome of them. Quiros muft have meant this wild nut, when he enumerates nutmegs among the products of his Tierra del Efpiritu Santo. This circumflance gives a ftrong proof (with many more of another nature) of the veracity of Z 2 this vege- this famous navigator; and, as he likewife mentions Silver, ebony,. T A B J E kingdom PcPPer> and cinnamon among the productions of Tierra del Efpi-ritii Santo, and the illes in the neighbourhood, I am inclined to* •believe, that tliey are really to be met with there. Another material obftaclc to our compleating the Flora of the South-Seas, and which indeed is connected with the former, arifes from the changes of feafons : for though, between the tropics, they be not ftrongly marked with the alternatives of heat and cold, yet,, according to the approach or recefs of the fun, vegetation is more or lefs active. This we experienced, by touching at fome of the ifles,. two different times, after an interval of feven months. The firft was in Augufl: (1773) or the height of the dry feafon; when we found every thing wearing a yellowifh or exhaufted colour; many trees had ftied their leaves, and few plants were in flower. The fecond time, being in April (1774), foon after the rainy, or at the beginning of the dry feafon, we were furprized beyond meafure by the lively hues which now appeared in thofe very objects,, that had feemed as it were dead at our firft vifit : we found many plants which wc had never feen before ; obferved many others in flower, and every thing covered with a thick foliage of a freih and vivid green : and from this circumftance, and the longer time we fpent at the Society Ifles, our collections from thence are the moft perfect. It is true, the difference of dry and rainy feafons is not fo ftrongly ftrongly marked as on continents, or in illes contiguous to them; vege-efpecially as fruits of all kinds chiefly ripen during the wet months, i^^Pl0M which would be impoffible,, were the rains conftant; and fecondly, fince even the dry months are not wholly exempted from iliowers : but the relative diftincfion holds notwithstanding, as the proportion of rain in one, is coniiderably greater than in another. It is owing to the exceeding fmall fize of the low ifles, that their vegetable productions are fo inconfidcrable ; though I muft confefs, we never landed on any one without meeting with fomething new. Savage-Isle, which is in fact no more than a low ifland, raifed feveral feet above water, and clearly manifefts its origin, by the bare coral rocks of which it confifts, has fome new plants, which, in the out-fkirts of the ifle, grew in the cavities of the coral without any the leaft foil.. We might have made feveral acquisitions on this ifland, but the lavage difpofltion of the natives forced us to abandon it. As a contrail: to the tropical ifles, we ought to mention Eafter-Ifland, which lies fo little without the tropic, that it may well be claffed with thofe illes which are actually included in it. This ifle is either groiTly mifreprefented by the Dutch- difeo-verers, or has lince then been almoft totally ruined. Its wretched foil, loaded with innumerable ftones, furniihes a Flora of only 20 fpecies; among thefe, ten are cultivated; not one grows to a tree, and almoft all are low, Shrivelled and dry. In the oppofite, or Weftetn.- i7| R E M A R K S on the y:.ge- Wcfternmoft part of the South-Sea, lies a fmall ifle, which has bb- 'r able kingdom tamec* tne name of Nor^olk-Ifland: almoft its whole vegetation corrcfponds with that of New-Zecland, whofe North end is not far diftant from it, only fome allowances muft be made for the greater mildncfs of the climate, which gives every plant a greater luxuriance of growth. Peculiar to this ifle, and to the Eaftern end of Caledonia, we found a fpecies of coniferous tree, from the cones probably feeming to be a cyprefs : it grows here to a great lizc, and is very heavy but ufeful timber. II. STATIONS. As the South-fea is bounded on one fide by America, on the other by Afia, the plants, which grow in its ifles, partly refemble thofe of the two continents; and the nearer they arc either to the one or the other, the more the vegetation partakes of it. Thus the Eaftcrnmoft ifles contain a greater number of American, than of Indian plants; and again, as wc advance Farther to the Weft, the refcmblance with India becomes more ftrongly difcernible. There are, however, Angular exceptions to this general rule : thus, for inftance, wc find the gardenia and moms papyrifera> both Eaft-In-dian plants, only in the Eafterly groupes of the Friendly and Society Ifles j the Tacca of Rumph, which is likewife an Indian fpecics, is only found in the Society Ifles. On the other hand, fome • fome American fpecics do not appear till we reach the Weftern Ifles, veoe-eallcd the Hebrides, which arc however the far theft removed- from K1*C;D0M that continent. Tart of thefe exceptions are perhaps owing to the inhabitants, who, being of a more civilized nature in the Eafterly* ifles, have brought feveral plants with them from India, for cultivation, which the others have neglected. The fame circumflance alfo, accounts for the arrival of the fpontaneous Indian fpecies in thefe Eaflernmofl ifles; they being probably, as I have already obferved, brought among the feeds of the cultivated forts. In confirmation of which, it may be alledged, that the Indian fpecies are commonly found on the plains in the Society Ifles, and the fpontaneous American fpecies on the mount.. A few plants are common to all the climates of the South Sea-;-among thefe is chiefly the celery, and a fpecies of fcurvy grafs (Arabis) both which are generally found in the low iflands between the tropics, on the beaches of New Zeeland, and on the burnt iflands of Tierra del Fuego. Several- other fpecies feem to have obviated the differences in the climate by a higher or lower fituation : a plant, for inftance, which occupies the higheft fummits of the mountains at O-Taheitee, (or any of the Society Ifles) and grows only as a fhrub, in New Zeeland is found in the valley, and forms a tree of confiderable height; nay the difference is fenfible in different parts of New Zeeland itfelf: thus a fine fhrubby free at Duflcy Bay. vege- Bay or the Southern extremity, which there grows in the loweft kingdjom Part of" the countr>'» dwindles to a fmall inconfidcrable lliriib at Queen Charlotte's Sound, or the Northern end, where it is only feen on the highefl mountains. A fimilarity of fituation and climate fometimes produces a fimilarity of vegetation, and this is the rcafon why the cold mountains of Tierra del Fuego produce feveral plants, which in Europe are the inhabitants of Lapland, the Pyrenees, and the Alps. jil v a r I e T y. The difference of foil and climate, caufes more varieties in the tropical plants of the Southern illes, than in any other. Nothing is more common in the tropical ifles, than two, three, four, or more ■varieties of the fame plant, of which, the extremes fometimes, might have formed new fpecies, if we had not known the intermediate ones, which connected them, and plainly fliewed the gradation. In all thefe circumflances, I have always found that the parts moft fubject to variation, were the leaves, hairs, and number of flower /talks, (pedunculi) and that the fhape and whole contents of the flower ( partes fructificationis ) were always the moft conftant. This however, like all other rules, is not without exceptions, and varieties arifing from foil fometimes caufe differences even there, .hut they are too flight to be noticed. A cold climate, or a high 6 expofure OM ORGANIC BODIES. 177 cxpofure (lirinks a tree into a fhrub, and vice verfa. A fandy or vege- tabi e rocky ground produces fucculent leaves, and gives them to KINGD plants, which, in a rich foil have them thin and flaccid. A plant which is perfectly hairy in a dry foil, lofes all its roughnefs, when it is found in a moifler fituation : and this frequently caufes the •difference between varieties of the fimc fpecies in the Friendly Ifles, and in the hills of the Society Ifles: for the former, not being very high, are lefs moifl than the hills of the latter, which .are frequently covered with milts and clouds. IV. CULTIVATIO N. That cultivation caufes great varieties in plants, has been obferved long fince, and can no where be better feen than in the tropical South Sea illes, where the bread-fruit tree fartocarpus communis) alone, has four or five varieties; and the Drac^enaterminalis Lkvn. two ; the Tagca, in its cultivated flute, has quite a different appearance from the wild one, and the plantane, or mufa paraciijiacay varies almoft in infinitum like our apple. The vegetable kingdom furnifhes the natives of the tropical lands in the South Sea, with the greateft part of their food, their clothing, their dwelling, furniture, and every convenience. In New Zeeland, the natives 'live chiefly on fifh, and the fpontaneous plants furnifh them with A a veftments, vege- veflments, lb that they care not (especially in the Southern ifland)' table to have rccourfe to agriculture. The plant of which they make all kingdom r ' their clothing, fifhing lines, cords, ccc. is a new genus, which we have called Phormium, and properly belongs to the natural ordci of the coronaritfy which it clofely connects with the enfatcc or flags.. But in the tropical ifles, where the climate foftens- what is favage in human nature, and as I may fay naturally leads to the civilization of mankind, the people are fond of variety of food, , ' of conveniencies at home, and of neatnefs and ornament in drefs ;. hence it happens that they cultivate (one ifland with another) almoft fifty, different fpecies, befides making ufe of feveral that are fpontaneous. The little trouble which agriculture is attended with, and' the great advantages which ariie from it in the Society and Friendly Illes, are the reafons why the number of plants cultivated in thofe ifles, fo much exceeds thofe of the others. In the more Wefterly illes of the New Hebrides, the country being very woody every where, it became a more difficult tafk to till the ground; for this reafon, only fome of the moft neccflary plants are felected there for cultivation, and we find the manners of the people, more unpolifhed, and favage. New Caledonia feems to be but a refractory foil, and therefore the few inhabitants on it, can barely procure a fub-liflence at the expence of much toil and labour. V. CLASSES VEGE- V. CLASSES and SEXES. table ' KINGDOM It is an obfervation of a very remote date, that cultivation often takes from plants the power of propagating by feed : this is clearly feen in moll of the plantations of the ifles, and more efpecially in the bread-fruit tree, where the feeds are fhrivelled up, and loft as it were, in a great quantity of farinaceous pulp; * in the fame manner it alfo happens in the plantane, which fometimes hardly preferves the rudiments of feeds, -f The O-Taheitee apple, which contains a hard capfula, commonly has no feeds in the locu-laments or diviflons ; the ^gardenia, hibifcus and rofa finenfis almoft conltantly bring flowers where the number of petals is multiplied, and neither of them have feed. But the cloth tree or morus papy-rifera, is the moft extraordinary of all, inafmuch as it never bloflbms in thefe ifles; the reafon is obvious, for the natives ncver fufTer it to grow till the time of flowering comes on, as the bark would then be unfit for their purpofe. The great fertility and A a 2 exuberance. * Mr. Softnerai found in the Philippines likewife the bread-fruit tree wild, and as this plant had there not undergone fo many changes from cultivation, it bears ripe feeds, of a confiderable fizc, which he has delineated and engraved. f Mr. Banks, it is faid, met with one kind of the mufa.wild in New Holland, which, there bore and perfected its feed*, i3o REMARKS on t h e vege- exuberance of the foil in fome of the tropical ifles, is perhaps one kingdom °^ rea^ons w"y mch a number of their plants belong to the. Linnasan clafles of monoecia, dioccia, and polygamia, and it is remarkable that plants which botanifts have obferved to be hermaphrodites in America, here bear their male and female flowers on two diflinet ihrubs, and this may confirm the opinion, that moft dioicous plants, are fomewhere or other alio found in the hermaphrodite ftate ; which, if it were general, would entirely fet aiide that clafs : it has likewife often been thought that it would be an improvement to the fexual fyftem, if the claffes of monoecia and polygamia were expunged, and their genera placed according to the number of ftamina ; but, if we conflder how many of them would fall to the fliare of fuch clafles as are already numerous, it muft be obvious, that this would only render the fcience more intricate. The number of five, according to the great Linnajus's obfervation, is the moft frequent in nature, (Phil. Bot. 60). Hence the clafs of pentandria is fo crowded with genera; and hence alfo our acquis iitions chiefly belong to it. It was with a kind of regret, that we faw fo many plants accumulating to the increafe of that clafs, which was already too extenfive; as this circumftance feemed to haften the overthrow of the fexual fyftem, it contributed to make us extremely cautious in creating new genera. Thofe clafles, which in Europe are the the moft copious, the umbellated, the Syngencfia, the Papilionacea?, the ve g e-Bicornes, the Siliquofoe, the Perfonata, and the Ver titillate?, king do m have veiy few congeners in the tropical illes; the beautiful clafles of Mnfata, Coronaria?, Sarmentacece, are equally rare. . The grafjes are not numerous,. and are chiefly of ■ the clafs of Polygamia. The Piperita:, Scitaminece, Hefperidea?, JLurida^,. Contort'ce, Column if ljrse9 and Tricoccce, chiefly compofe the Flora of thefe ifles. . Among the Qrchidea, a great variety of Epidendra inhabit the uncultivated parts. Molt of them are new, and their flowers fo very various, that they could be diftinguithed into feveral different genera, with the fame cafe that botanifts have feparated the Convolvulus and Iponnea, or the Ny5lantbcs and y&fminum, only from flight differences in the formation of the flower. The fpecies of Convolvuli are very copious in the South-Sea ifles, and fo clofely connected with each other, that it becomes very difficult to determine them. The genus of peppers ('piper J has been placed among the diandria by Linnaeus ; though he has taken the greater! part of its fpecies upon the authority of Plumper. We had opportunities of examining many fpecies of it, and always found the number of ftamina irregular and indeterminate, and the fhape and number of ftigmata different in almoft every fpecies: it is therefore butjuft, that this genus fhould be reftored to the clafs Gynandria, where it properly belongs, and with which its fructification perfectly agrees. But, allowing 132. R E M A R K S ok t n r v e g k- allowing, even that fome fpecies of pepper regularly have two fta-vuarJ^L niina to each germen, this cannot be furlicient to remove them out fi, 1 N odom of the clafs; fince we fee the Arum figuinum, macrorhvzon, and cfcukntum, the Draccntium, and the Pot/jos, which have all cither four, fix, or feven ftamina regularly round each germen, flill continue in the clafs Gynandria Polyandries This is an abftract of the obfervations, which wc were able to make on the clafTification of plants, and of the clafles which are chiefly found in the ifles of the South-Sea. I fhall only add, concerning the defcriptions or definitions of the known fpecies in Lin-nx'us, that we have found them, in general, very exact, in the American plants, but more inaccurate in thofe of the Eaft-Indies; a circumflance, which I can only attribute to the following caufe : The American plants have had the good fortune to be examined and defcribed in their native foil, by the moft expert botanifls of the prefent age; the late fivourite difciple of Linnaeus, Peter Loef-ling ; -the great and confummate obferver, Jacquin , Dr. P. Browne; Mr. Juffieu, Sec. On the contrary, the Indian plants are chiefly known from hcrbals, and the more inaccurate, unfaithful, and un-Scientific accounts of the botanifls of the laft age; for we can hardly expect much from.the few opportunities, which the difciples of the -great father of botany have had, of fnatching up a few plants, as they have been chiefly confined to the voyage to China; 5 during during which they fclctom go aftiore, and much lefs make any flay in places, which are worthy the attention of the curious obferver. And this circumftance likewife mews, how much that immenfe part of our globe, India, with its ifles, wants the labours of anew, accurate, and modern obferver, accompanied by a faithful draughtf-man, ufed to drawings of natural hiftory, in order to make us better acquainted with the rich treafures of thefe extern!ve regions; and it raifes a with in each patriotic bread, that, as the Britifh empire in India is fo extenhve, fo much refpected, and its lubjedts there fo wealthy and powerful, that fome of them would engage men capable of fearching the treafures of nature, and examining the feveral objects of feiences and arts in thefe climates. Before I conclude this article, I (hall only add a word or two on the received opinion, that fea-weeds are certain indications of land. I mall not need to mention the immenfe beds of weed, which are annually found in the midft of the Atlantic ocean, to difprove this ailertion, fince I .can have recourfe to an ocean infinitely broader, namely, the South-Sea in the temperate zone, which is at leaft i-joo leagues broad from New-Zeeland to America, in which fpace, we are now well aftured, there is no land, though we Law from, time to time bunches of weeds in every part of it. Indeed, nothing is fo probable, as that fome weeds never take root, but grow floating on the water, as other.aquatic plants do. But, fuppofing this were XS4 R E M A R K S on t he . v 1 g e- were not the cafe, nothing is more eafily to be conceived, than that the t a b i f kingdom almoft conftant ftrong Wefterly winds in that part, may detach thefe weeds, and carry them over all the ocean. If this laft circumftance were well afcertained, it is moft likely, that the weeds once torn up, begin from that time to decay, and a kind of random-guefs of the vicinity of land, might be formed upon the bare inflection of the ftate of the weeds. SECTION. II. ammal ANIMAL KINGDOM. kingdom / I ^HE countries of the South Sea, and the Southern cliffs, con-* tain a confiderable variety of animals, though they are confined to a few claffes only. We have feen by what degrees nature defcended from the gay enamel of the plains of the Society Illes, to the horrid barrennefs of the Southern Sandwich Land. In the fame manner the animal world, from being beautiful, rich, enchanting, between the tropics; falls into deformity, poverty, and difguftfulnefs in the Southern coafls. We cannot help being in raptures, when we tread the paths of O-Tahcitean groves, which at each ftep ftrikc us with the moft fimplc, and at the fame time the moft beautiful profpects of rural life; rrefenting fcenes of happinefs and affluence KINGDOM .affluence to our eyes, among a people, which, from our narrow animal .prejudices we are too readily accuftomed to call favage. Herds of fwinc are feen on every fide g by every hut dogs lie flretched out at their eafe, and the cock with his feraglio, flruts about, difplaying his gay plumage, or perches on the fruit trees torch:. An unintcr-initted chorus of fmall birds warbles on the branches all the day long, and from time to time, the pigeons cooe Is heard with the fame pleafure as in our woods. On the fea more, the natives are employed in dragging the net, and taking a variety of beautiful full, whofc dying colours change'every moment: ^©r'they pick fome fhells from the reefs, which, though well known to the na-turalift, yet have a right to the the philofopher's attention, who ad-. mires the wonderful elegance of nature alike, in her moil common .as in her rarefl productions. To enhance the fatisfa&ion we:feel, this happy country is free from all noxious and, troublefome infects; no wafps, nor mofquitocs, infeft the inhabitants, as in other tropical countries ; no bealts of prey, nor poifonous reptiles cver.difturh .their tranquility *., Let us remove from hence to the temperate zone : what a falling .off from the foft fcenes of domeilic quiet, to the wilds of New- B 1> Zeeland ! '* The common flics.are, indeed, at fome feafons troublefome, on.account of their Mr-menfe numbers, but they cannot be called noxiom infects : the only difagrccable animal in Q Taheitee is the common btock rat, which is very numerous there, and often docs mif-' ckief by its voracity. animal Zeeland 1 The rocky mountains, the fore its, yea, human nature kingdom all looK favagc .md forbidding. The animal creation are al- ready lefs happy than between the tropics, and hawks and owls, the tyrants of the wood, prey upon the weak and dcfencelefs: flill however the whole country rings with continual fongs, of which the fweetnefs, emulates that of our firft fongfters. But as we advance to the South, and crofs an immenfe ocean, in the midft of which we fee fome lonely birds, fkimming the waves, and collecting an uncertain fuftenance ; we arrive at the South-end of America, and view a barren coaft, inhabited by the laft and moft mi-ferable of men, and but fcantily clad with low and crooked fhrubs: we find a number of vultures, eagles, and hawks, always* hovering about, upon the watch for prey : and laftly, we obferve that the greateft part of the other birds live gregarious in a few fpots ; whilft the rocks are occupied by a race of feals, which m comparifon with the reft of animals, feem monftrous and mif-fiiapen. The clafles of birds and fiflies, are the only numerous ones in the countries which we have vifited : thofe of quadrupeds and infects are confined to an exceeding fmall number of well known fpecies. 1 hofe of cetacea, amphibia and vermes, - are likewife not numerous, and the two firft epecially contain fcarce any thing new. QUA- ANIMAL (QUADRUPEDS. kingdom In the tropical illes they have but four fpecies of quadrupeds, two of which are domeftic ; and the remaining ones are the vam-pyre and the common rat. This laft inhabits the Marquefas, Society-Ifles, Friendly-Illes, and the New-Hebrides; it is alfo found at New-Zeeland ; but whether it may not have been tranf-ported thither by our mips is uncertain ; at New-Caledonia, however, it has never been feen. Rats are in incredible numbers, at the Society-Ifles, and efpecially at Q-Taheitec, where they live upon the fcraps of meals, which the natives leave in their huts, upon the flowers and pods of the erythrina corallodendron, upon plan-tanes and other fruits, and for want of thefe, on all forts of excrements ; nay, they are fometimes fo bold, as to be faid to attack the toes of the inhabitants whilft they are afleep. They are much fcarcer at the Marquefas and Friendly-Ifles, and feldom feen at the New-Hebrides. The vampyre (vcfpertilio vampyrnsJ which is the largefl known fpecies of bat, is only feen in the more Weflern ifles. At the Friendly-Ifles they live gregarious by feveral hundreds, and fome of them are feen flying about the whole day : I found a large cafu-arina-tree, hung with at leaft 500 of them in various attitudes, fome by the hind and others by the fore-feet. They live chiefly B b 2 on 188 R E MAR K S on this animal on fruits: they ilcim the water with wonderful eafe, and though kingdom ^ ^aw one fwimming, I think this Angle fact, gives me no right to pronounce them expert fwimmers. It is known that they frequent the water, in order to wafh themfelves from any filthinefs or to get rid of vermin which might- accidentally flick to them. Their fmell is, fomewhat offenfive. When irritated they bite hard, but are for the reft quite inoffenfive. In Tanna there are, befides thefe larger bats, myriads of a minute fpecies, which we faw and heard, but never could, obtain for examination. At New-Caledonia thenar tives life the hair of the great bats - in ropes and in the - tafle'ls.to their clubs; and they interweave it among the threads of the grafs, {cyperusJpiarrcfus,) which is made ufeof for. that purpofe.. The two. domeftic. quadrupeds are the hog*,and the dog. Tho Society-Ifles alone are fortunate enough to poifefs them both : New-* Zeeland and the low iflands muft'be content-with dogs alone; tha Marquefas, Friendly-Ifles, and. New-Hebrides have only hogs; and Eafler-Ifland and New-Caledonia are deflitute of both. The hogs are of that breed which we call the Chinefe, having a fhort body, fhort legs, belly hanging down almoft to the ground, the ears erect, and very few thin- hairs on the body : their meat is the moft juicy, and their fat the moft agreeable and the leaft cloying I ever tafled, which can only be attributed to the excellent food they are ufed to; confifling chiefly of the bread-5 fruit fruit or its four parte, yams, eddoes, &c. They are very mime- animal rous at the Society-Iiles, where you hardly pafs a houfe that is KlNGD0M without them, and frequently meet with fome that keep a great number. There is likewife abundance of them at the Marquefas and a confiderable. number at Amfterdam, one of the Friendly-Ifles ; but they are more rare at . the Weftern-ifles of the New-Hebrides. The. dogs of the South Sea illes are of a fmgular race : they molt refemble the.common cur, .but. have a prodigious large head, remarkably little, eyes,, prick-ears, long hair and a fhort bufhy tail. They are chiefly fed with fruit, at the Society Ifles ; but in the low illes and New Zeeland, where they are the only domeftic . animals, they live upon fillu They are exceeding-lyftupid, and feldom or never bark, only howl now and then; have the fenfe of fmelling..in a very low degree, and are lazy beyond meafure : they are kept, by the natives chiefly for the fake of their flefh, .of which they are: very fond, preferring it to pork; they alio make ufe of their hair., in various ornaments, efpecially to fringe their breaft plates in the Society Ifles, and to face or even line the whole garment at New Zeeland. Befides the dog, New-Zeeland boafts four other quadrupeds, one is-the rat, the other a fmall bat, refembliiig that defcribed in Mr. Pennant's Synopfis of Quadrupeds, No. 283, under the name of New-York bat;, the third is the fea-bear, or. urfihe feal, Venn. Syn. Quad, No. 27, .animal No. 27, (Pboca urfina. Linn.) and the fourth* the animal which kingdom konj Anfbn calls a Sea-lion, ( Pboca leonina. Linn, leonine feal, P. S. CQ No. 272 ) Some failors on board the Refolution, affirmed they had feen a little quadruped at Duilcy Bay, in New-Zeeland, of the fhape of a fox or jackal; but as we never on our frequent excurfions in the woods, met with any thing of this kind, nor have, on the moft careful enquiry, found that any gentleman who had vifited New-Zeeland in the Endeavour, had ever feen fuch an animal, wc are of opinion, (efpecially confidering the traniient manner in which, and the time when this was feen, being in the dawn of the morning) that it muft have been a miftake. As the Southern coafls which we faw, have both thefe feals, and another cogeneric animal, befides the feal with a mane, ( Pboca jubata ) all in greater number, and fize, I fhall now mention them together. It is an obfervation of the great naturalift M. de Buffon, that the large animals in the creation, are all to be confidered as fo many genera (efpeces ifolees) to which we can refer no other fpecies, and to prove the truth of this, he mentions the inftancesof the elephant, rhinoceros, tapir, hippopotamus, and giraffe, which are really fo many genera, to which only one fpecies belongs: and adds likewife the cabiai, the beaver, and the lion. We mail mention a circumftance making againft his affertion : the fpecies of feals in the antarctic hemifphere, are as large as moft \ p moft quadrupeds on the globe, except the elephant and rhino- animal k.1 n g do&t ceros. But two of them, which undoubtedly are diftinct fpecies, can hardly be defined, unlefs by the colour and menfural difference. One of thefe is the urfine feal, the other the jubated feal. This laft is mentioned, and defcribed by the great zoologift, the late M. Steller, in his account of the animals of Beering's ifles, near Kamtchatka : there is alfo a tolerably good account of this animal in Don Pernetty's voyage to the Malouines or Falkland Ifles: they both call it the fea lion; a name given to it with the greateft juftice> as its anteriors bear a great refemblance to the lion, which its fhaggy mane and tawny colour helps to ftrengthen;, while Lord Anfon's fea lion with its wrinkled nole, lias not the leaft fimilarity with it. As there is not one animal entirely new, among the eight quadrupeds of the South Sea, it may feem to indicate that this clafs is already more compleat than is generally fuppofed ; but what we. have already obferved in regard to plants, holds good equally in the animal kingdom : for never were fmall iflands known to abound with a great variety of quadrupeds. It is from the interior parts of Africa, India, and perhaps tos if New-Holland, that we muft expect thofe fupplies to the fcien-ce, whenever the munificence 'of princes fhall enable the naturalifts, ever ready to undergo fatigue and hardfhips, for the fake of difcovery, to fearch the hidden treafures of thofe vaft continents. C E T A- ■ AN i MAI. , !V.; kingdom C E T A C E A. The cetaceous animals which we law in the South Sea, are thefm filh, (Balczna pbyfulis, Linn.) the bottle no fed whale, the grampus, theporpeffe, and the dolphin of the antients. The two laft are feen all over the ocean from the line to the antarctic polar circle. We had no opportunity of examining any but a female of the dolphin, ( Delphhius Delpbis, Linn. ) which we found perfectly to anfwer to. the accurate defcriptions-of the various zoologifts. It was ftruck with the harpoon, and wc feafted on it with as much, or perhaps more appetite, than they did in the time of Dr. Caius. (See Mr, Bennanfs Brhijh Zoology, vol. 3. p. 63. edit, in 4*0.) B I R D S. The birds of the South Sea, and of Tierra del Fuego, are numerous, and form a confiderable variety of fpecies, among which arc two genera entirely new, and a third hitherto confounded with feveral others (the pinguin.) They live fecure in every bufli, and on every tree, undifturbed for the greateft part by the inhabitants; they enliven the woods with, their continual fongs, and contribute much to the fplendor of nature by their varied plumage. It is a received notion that birds of many colours do not fing well, but not to mention the common goldfinch, which is perhaps, one of the moft moft beautiful birds in nature, and has a very melodious note, we animal have numerous inftanccs here to the contrary. The wild forefts of KINGD0** New Zeeland, and the cultivated groves of O-Taheitee, refound alike with the harmony of the fhining fongfters. There is only one tame fpecies of birds, properly fpeaking, in the tropical illes of the South Sea, viz. the common cock and hen; they are found numerous at Eafter Ifland, where they are the only domeftic animals : they are likewife in great plenty at the Society Ifles, and Friendly Ifles, at which laft they arc of a prodigious frze : they are alio not uncommon at the Marquefas, Hebrides, and New-Caledonia; but the low ifles, and thofe of the temperate zone, are quite def-titute of them. We can hardly reckon certain parroquets and pigeons among domeftic birds; for though the natives of the Friendly and Society Ifles, fometimes catch and tame them, yet they never have any breeds of them. The number of our new birds from New-Zeeland, is thirty-feven ; that of the tropical ifles, is forty-icven; the fpecies from the ocean, the Southern extremities of America and the Southern lands, are upwards of twenty. The whole number thus amounts to 104; of which one half are aquatic : wc have befides thefe, met with about thirty Liunacan fpecies, of which above twenty are aquatic; and I am well perfuaded that we have not been able to procure every fpecies in the fame manner, as we have not obtained a compleat Flora of every country wc vifited; the number C c of animal of new birds therefore is aftoni filing, when compared to that of KINGDOM A a i o • the known fyftem, and mult prove what great expectations are to, be formed of thofe continents, which have not hitherto been much examined. The aquatic genera are, as we have already obferved,, very numerous, and among them we have the fame remark to make which we have already made on the plants, namely that the moft copious genera have ftill. received the greateft additions. To the genus of Anas we have added nine new fpecies, to that of the Pelecanus five, and to the Procellarlce twelve. In the fame manner among the land birds, we have feven new parrots,, fix pigeons, and eight fly-catchers.. AMPHIBIA. The few amphibia which we met with in the South Sea, are confined to the tropical countries; they are, ift. the caret turtle which gives the tortoife-fhell proper for manufacture, (teftudo imbricata Linn. ) 2d, the green turtle, (teftudo mldas) which is fit for eating, 3d. the common lizard, (lacerta. agilis, Linn.) 4th. the gecko, {iacerta gecko ) 5th. the amphibious fnake, (coluber laticaudatusy Linn,) and 6th. the angulsplatura, Linn, among which, none is poifonous. FISHES. ANIMAL FISH E S. kingdom The South Sea is rich in filli, and lias a great variety of fpecies; for though no branch of natural productions, was attended with more difficulties in the collection to us, not only from our very fhort fbiy in many places, but likewife becaufe we were obliged almoft wholly to depend upon the natives of the feveral countries, for this article, there being no expert fifher-men on board; yet the fea in various places yielded us the number of feventy-four fpecies unknown heretofore -y befides about forty which are defcribed in the Syitem of Nature of the celebrated Linnajus. Among them we have only made one new genus, which till now has lain latent among the chcetodontes, but ought juftly to be feparated from them. The accurate obferver, Prof. Forfkal, whole premature death in .Arabia, every lover of fcience mult fincerely lament, had the fame idea, though I knew nothing of it, as his book was not publifhed till after my return to Europe; he calls the new genus \uanthurusy and I gave it the name of harpurus* The greateft part of the fifli in the South Sea are very good eating, many of them are delicious, and would do honour -to a Roman feaft only a few of •the branchioftegous are noxious, of which we felt the fatal effects, as I ffiall mention in the fequel. M. de Buffon has obferved, that nature feems to pleafe herfelf in calling feveral beings very nearly in Cc 2 the animal the fame mould, as if certain conformations were more eafy to her Cr dom tjlLm Qtjiers . he might have added, perhaps, with great propriety,, becaufe fuch conformations are moft ufeful and neceftary in the -whole fyftem of organic bodies. Hence we have found that certain claries of plants are remarkably copious, likewife, that the moft extenfive genera of birds, have ftill received a greater number of new fpecies; and that in the fifties alfo, the rich genera of gadus blen-nlus, fparus and perca, are moft enlarged in the lame manner we may at the fame time, I think, with the greateft probability fuppofe, that the unknown treafures in this laft clafs are ftill immenfe \ firft, from the great additions which it has been in our power to make, though we laboured under the difficulties aforementioned : and fecondly, from the more imperfect flate of the definitions, which, according to the belt, method extant, muft ftill depend upon the very precarious number of rays in the fins. INSECTS. i No countries in the world produce fewer fpecies of infects than thofe of the South-Sea : it is furprizing how very few we met with, and thofe of the moft common and well-known forts. The only place where we faw them rather more abundant, was in New-Caledonia, and this I fufpect is owing to its proximity to New-Holland j but our fhort ftay there did not allow us to make the leaft acqui- acquiiition in this branch. The moft numerous forts are undoubt- animal edly the cruftaceous; but,, among them, we law none that were K1NGI>0M not well marked in the Linnxan fyftem. Here I muft alio remark, th.it there is a fmall fpecies of fcorpion in the tropical ifles of the South-Sea,, but more common to the Wefternrnoft than the Society files, where I never faw one. The native,, who was with us eight months,, told us they were harmlefs * however, they were armed, exactly as their cogeneric fpecies. It is therefore referved for future enquiry, to determine by what accidental circumftances the virus of the fcorpion's fting becomes more or lefs deleterious; efpecially as the experiments made by Mr. de Maupcrtuis feem to intimate, that even the individuals of the fame fpecies are not all equally poifonous; and that one and the fame individual is, at different times, more or lefs-dangerous. Academic del Sciences, 17. SHELLS, and other V E R M E S. The fhells of the South-Sea are far lefs various than might at firft be expected; and the reefs of the tropical ifles generally yielded the moft common Linnaean fheils, fuch as cowries, epifcopal mitres, murices tritonis, the moft common buccina, turbines, and neritae. A few fpecies at New-Zeeland, are new, though the greateft part of them are minute. In regard to the mollufca, what little r$$ 11 E M A R K S on the animat. little difcoveries wc made, are confined to the Atlantic ocean ; and kingdom . . . . j i - , . . of the remaining orders we no where found any thing new. I. N U M BE R. The whole number of fpecies in the greater claffes of animals, viz. quadrupeds, cetacea, amphibia, birds, and nfh, which we faw in the South-Sea, according to the above enumeration, amounts to between 260 and 270, of which about one third are well known. Let us allow, that this number comprehends two thirds of the animals of thofe clafles, actually rending in the South-Sea, though we have reafon to think, that the fauna is much more extenfive, we fhall have upwards of 400 ; and fuppofing the claffes of infects and vermes to give only 150 fpecies, the whole fauna of the South-Sea ifles will confifl of at leafl 550 fpecies, a prodigious number indeed, when compared with that of the Flora. II. STAT 1 O N. Though many of the birds in New-Zeeland are remarkable for the gay colors of their plumage ; yet we found, when we came toNor-folk-Ifland, (which, as I have obferved in my account of the plants, contains exactly the fame fpecies) that the fame birds appeared there arrayed in fir more vivid and burning tints, which muft prove, that the climate has a confiderable influence on colours. There is alio a fpecies fpecies of king-fifher common to all the South-Sea ifles, of which animal the tropical varieties are much brighter than that of New-Zeeland. 1 G**Q The plumage of birds is likewife adapted to the climate in another refpect; for thofe of warm countries have a moderate covering, whilft. thofe of the cold parts of the world, and fuch efpecially, as are continually fkimming over the fea, have an immenie quantity of leathers, each of which is double ; and the pinguins, which almoft conflantly live in the water, have their fhort, oblong feathers lying as clofe above each other as the fcales of fifties, being at the fame time furnilhed with a thick coat of fat, by which they are enabled to refill; the cold : the cafe is the fame with the feals, the geefe, and all other Southern aquatic animals. The land hirds, both within-and without the tropics, build their ncfts in trees, except only the common quail, which lives in New-Zeeland, and has all the manners of the European one. Of the water-fowl, fome make their nefts on the ground, fuch as the grallae, which breed only in pairs ; whilft feveral fpecies of fliags, (pelccanl) live gregarious in trees, and others in crevices of rocks; and fome petrels (proccUarhv) by thoufands together, burrow in holes under-ground clofe by each other, where they educate their young, and to which they retire every night. The moft prolific fpecies in the South Sea, are the ducks, which hatch feveral eggs at one brood, and though the mags, penguins, and petrels, do not hatch mure than one or two, » or animal or at moft three eggs at a time, yet by being never difliirbed, and kingdom a j, . v - , always keeping together in great flocks, they are become the moft frequent and numerous. The mod palatable fpecies of fifli are like-wife the molt prolific ; but it muff be obferved, that there is no where fuch abundance of fifli in the South-Sea, as at New-Zeeland, by which means they are become the principal nourifhmcnt of the natives, who have found that way of living to be attended with the leafl trouble, and confequently fuited to that indolent dif-pedition which they have in common with all barbarous nations. III. V A R I E T y„ It does not appear, that the individuals of the animal kingdom are fo much fubject to variety in the South-Seas, as thofe of the vegetable. Domefticatlon, the great caufe of degeneracy in fo many .of our animals, in the firft place, is here confined to three fpecies -the hog, dog, and cock: and fecondly, it is in fact next to a flate ■of nature in thefe ifles: the hogs and the fowls run about at their eafe the greateft part of the day , the laft efpecially, which live entirely on what they pick up, without being regularly fed. The ■dog being here merely kept to be eaten, is not obliged to undergo the flavery, to which the varieties of that fpecies are forced to fubmit in our polluted countries, he lies at his eafe all the day long, is fed at certain times, and nothing more is required 6 of of him: he is therefore not altered from his mite of nature in the animal leaft; is probably inferior in all the fenfitive faculties to any wild KINGD0W dog; (which may perhaps be owing to his food) and certainly, in no degree, partakes of the fagacity and quick perception of our refined variety. Among the wild birds, the varieties are very few : two fpecies of pigeons, two of parrots, one of king-fifhers, and one or two of fly-catchers, are the only I know of, that vary any thing in different ifles; and it is much to be doubted, with regard to fome of them, whether what we count varieties are not either diftinct fpecies, or only different fexes of one and the fame; cir-cumftances, which it is well known, require a long feries of obfervations, not to be made on a curfory view. The varieties in other clafles are ftill lefs confiderable. IV. CLASSIFICATION. The animals of the South-Seas, as we have already obferved, are moft of them new fpecies. The known ones between the tropics, are chiefly fuch as are generally found all over the maritime parts of the torrid zone; thofe of the temperate zone being principally aquatic, are common to thofe latitudes in every fea ; or confift of European fpecies. Upon the whole, we found no more than two genera, which are diftinct from thofe already known, and all the remaining fpecies rank under old genera. But it is not poifiblc to 1) d refer 202 REMARKS on x n m animal refer thofe to the two continents of Afia and America, as was done. kingdom ,. . . , r^ with the plants; becauie! tncre are fo very few genera, which are not common to both of them. We mall therefore, at prefent, confine our obfervations on the claries of animals, to the Southern aquatic birds, and the new genus of fifli, which we eftablifhed. The genus of petrels, which contains only fix fpecies according to Linna3us's laft fyftem, has received an addition of twelve new fpecies from the Southern feas. The largefl of them is the bird, which the Spaniards call the Quebrantahuejjbs, or osprey-petrel; the leaft is the common ftormfinch, (Procellaria pelugica) which is feen alike in the North fea and in the South fea, and in almoft every latitude. Mr.de Briffon, whom Mr. de Buffon juftly cenfures-for multiplying fpecies, and fubdividing genera, has divided the few known fpecies into two genera, from fome flight difference in* the bill, which is not even worth remarking here. At the fame time M. Scopoli, with as little propriety, unites the diomedca or albatros, with the procellaria? ; and hath been led to this method of claflihg, by a real fpecies of the laft genus ; which, upon what foundation I cannot imagine, he miftakes for the bird Linnxus calls a diomedea. There are but two circumftances which have occa-fioned the errors of the various naturalifts; the one, that they attached themfelVes too much to the invefligation of individual fpecies, without every now and then flopping to take a view of the general ORGANIC BO D 1 E s. 203 general chain of nature; and, to this we muft afcribe the many mif- animal ... „ _ , , kingdom takes in fubdividmg, or combining genera; the other, that, by continually fixing on the general view of the whole extent of nature, they forget to defcend to the particulars of clamfication, which the imperfect ftate of the fcience requires. It is from keeping a juft medium between thefe extremes, that the illuftrious Linmeus has acquired fo great a fiime in the literary world, and methodized all the productions of nature with fuch judgment, that future ages will ever own him as the father of the fcience. It is from falling into the firft error, that fome untravellcd naturalifts load their books with the enumeration of varieties, inftead of fpecies. On the other hand, the great zoologift, and moft elegant writer of this and many other ages, M. de Buffon, wholly folicitous to view his fubject in all its grandeur, makes light of expofing here and there a neglect. After-ages may bring the fcience nearer to perfection, by combining what is valuable on both fides. Great a^ the lofs of Linnaeus muft certainly be to fcience, it will not be fo feverely felt, whilft we have fo enlightened botanifls, as Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander, and fuch acute zoologifts as M. dc Buffon and Profeffor Pallas. The genus of pinguins Mr. Pennant fet in its proper light, after it had lain loft, as it were, among the genera of diomedea and phaeton, which are utter ftrangers to D d 2 it. animal it- Mi*. Pennant's Magellanicpinguin, the two mifplaced Linnaxin kingdom ppecjes> and our three new fpecies, have increafed it confiderably* The bill, though various in regard to thicknefs, has, however, the fame character in them all, except that fome fpecies have the lowec mandible truncated ; the noltrils are always linear apertures, which further proves their diftinction from the diomedea. The feet are exactly of the fame fhape in them all. They have only the rudiments of wings, enlarged by a membrane into a fin, and covered with a kind of feathers, but fo clofely, that they feem like fcales. It- is this, befides the iiiape of bill and feet, which diftinguifhes the genus of auks or murrs falccej from them; for thefe laft, though fometimes incapable of flying, are only fo on account of the fiort* nefs, not the deficiency of quills. The body of the pinguins is entirely covered with oblong, thick, hard, and gloffy plumes, which form a coat of mail, impenetrable to wet, becaufe they are obliged to live almoft continually in the fea. They are confined to the temperate and frigid zones, at leaft I know of none between the tropics. The genus of pelicans (pelecanus) might perhaps be fepa-rated into three genera with greater juftice, than authors have ufed in many of their dilacerations. The true pelican (onocrotalus) is greatly different from all the reft of the fpecies : the man of war (p. aquilus) , the gannet (p. ba/anus) , and the feveral forts of boobies (p. Jula, fiber & pijcator,) form another divifion ; from which which the cormorant and mag (p. carlo & graculus) and four new animal /• .-ii i>rr , n , " - kingdom fpecies, are again widely different. But the characters of the feet, and the naked fkin in which the eyes are lituated, being common to them all, they may ftill be continued in one common genus.. The gannets and boobies, though they frequent particular places for breeding, are however, not gregarious as the forts of fhags : fome of thefe laft build in vaft numbers on the fame tree 3 others fit by thoufands in the cavities of overhanging cliffs along the fea-fhore, and again, another fort build their elevated nefts on the ground, by whole myriads. Among the fifh we have only feparated a genus from the cbcetodon, which differs from it by having no fcales on the fins, a fpine on each fide of the tail, and a different number of branchio-ftegous rays. Of this genus which has obtained the name of Harpurus, there are feven fpecies, viz, three new ones, (4, the c/j. nigricans, ) ( 5, lineatus) (6, fafciatus of Linnaeus) and 7, one defcribed by Haffelquift, and erroneoufly quoted for the ch. nigricans by Linnaeus. We have augmented the Linnaean genus of sciiENA, with eight new fpecies, which have every one the fame generic characters, fo that this genus now ftands more firmly among the reft, to which it is related. The genera of i'a br us and spar us merit the utmoft attention of the naturalifts, fince every writer gives us different, and often contradictory charade riftics ?o6 - lv E M A..R K S on t u'e . animal racleriflics of them, which may be feen by comparing the deft- kingdom .. r t • /o-^-vt. \ ^> i v nitions of Linnaeus, [byit. JNat. xn.) Gouan, (genera pifcium) Brunniche, (icthyolog mafldienf. ) Pallas, ( fpicilcg. zool. ) and Forfkal, ( Faun. Jiigypt. arab. ) fome of wliich are.certainly found from the examination of a few ipecies only. I fliall now briefly mention the use which is made of the various animal productions in the South Sea ifles. The animal kingdom has at all times furnifhed mankind with a variety of neceifaries, conveniencies, and luxuries; the fn-fl fcept towards the civilization of nations, is the adoption of fuch things as ferve to make life more eafy and comfortable ; and the firft confequence of a civilized fbte, is the introduction of fuch articles as captivate the various ienfes, and flatter the appetites. Hence in the South Sea we find the natives of the Society Ifles in the higheft flate of civilization; they poflefs the comforts and even luxuries of life : the moreWefler-ly nations lofc the luxuries, and retain only the conveniencies : the New-Zeelanders more favage, have even thefe in an inferior degree; and the wretched inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, can hardly be . laid to have more than the bare neceffaries of life, and therefore, of all our brethren, approach the neareft to brutes. Almoft every fpecies of fifli is eaten at the tropical ifles, and generally looked upon by the inhabitants as a dainty, which they prefer to pork and idog's flcfli.' Their birds, on the contrary, are feldom taken for the the fake of any thing elfe than the feathers, (excepting the domeftic animal r ^ 1 .1 1 1 1 \ r i • i kingdom fowls and wild ducks) ot which, they make a variety of ornaments, and upon which, as real luxuries, they fet a very high value : nay, fo far are they from eating all birds, that they have a kind of fuper-ftitious regard for herons and king-filhers, almoft like that which is paid to the ftork, the robin red-breaft, the fwallow, and other familiar harmlefs birds in England. The natives of the Society Illes, have their immenfe helmets and targets covered with the fnining plumes of a pigeon, and edged round with a vaft number of the long white tail feathers of the tropic-bird : but what they value as much as diamonds and pearls are efteemed in Europe, are the crimfon feathers of certain parroquets, of which, they make taffels to ornament the warriors, . We accidentally procured a quantity of thefe feathers at Amftcrdam, one of the Friendly Ifles, where they fivftened them on pieces of their fluffs. Thefe being carried to O-Taheitcey and fliared out in little pieces, procured us a great number of hogs, for a bit of two inches fquare, covered with feathers,, would at any time, be eagerly purchafed with a hog. The reft of the tropical iflanders make a variety of ornaments of Birds feathers, fuch as crefted caps; at Eafter Ifle, and the Marquefas, fly-flaps, &c. The hair of the dog is employed in fringing their targets at O-Taheitee, and nothing is more common than vaft bunches of human hair tied round the knees, ancles, &c„ 5 a-nong- animal among the natives of the Marquefas. The Eafter Iflanders make KINGDOM - ,. , . „, an ornament hanging on the breaft of a porpefle s bone, the O-Taheiteans make faws and various utenfils of bone, mark's teeth, &c. The tails of the fting ray ( raja paftinaca) are univerfally employed to arm the fpears of the nativesthe Mallicolefe point their arrows with bone; and the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego have fifh gigs armed with jagged bones. A variety of fhells are alfo made ufe of in the tropical illes, fome are eaten, fome make necklaces, fome bracelets and fifli hooks, others weights to fink their fifhing lines, and they wear fome mifhapen pearls in their cars. Not even the coral is without its ufe, for it is employed to fmooth and poliih the furface of their canoes. The New-Zee-landers living continually on fifli, are glad when they can get a dog or bird to eat, which with them, always is reckoned a dainty. They employ the fkins of dogs for their cloaths, but. merely for convenience, namely, to keep them warm : their ornaments are however, a comb of the bone of fome cetaceous animal, which is ftuck in the hair ; and feathers of gulls, parrots, &c. the firft they wear on their head, the laft on their battle axes; laftly, they have fome ornaments which are taken from the mineral kingdom. Among the tropical ifles, the natives drefs all their meat over the fire, with as much cleanlinefs and nicety as we could do it ourfelves, fo that the delicate appearance of their victuals often tempted us to yield to their invitations, invitations, which their hofpitable difpofi tion never failed to exprefs anim al in the moft engaging manner. At New-Zeeland too, the inhabi- KINGDoM 1 tants though lefs hofpitable, and more uncleanly, yet drefs their fifli with fo much care, that a man with a good appetite would not refufe to eat with them. But the people of Tierra del Fuego arc not only miferable in their appearance, being fcarce covered with a bit of feal's fkin, but they are likewife highly difguftful in the manner of taking their food, which confifts of raw feals flefh, almoft putrid, and of which the rank fat is to their tafte the moft delicious part: in other places where feals are more fcarce, they derive their fubfiftencc from the mufclc-fhells, which arc common on the rocks. We found vaft refrefhmerit from the animals in the , various countries we met with, and only in a few inftances fuffered by eating fome fpecies of fifli. The one of thefe was a Spams, of which three were caught at Mallicollo, the largefl about fifteen inches long : about flxtecn perfons eat of thefe three fifli, and found themfelves affected with a prodigious numbnefs, which foon made them quite giddy, and incapable of Handing ; they had afterwards excruciating pains in all their bones, which did not go off till ten days afterwards, by the continual ufe of vomits, and fudorifics. A hog that eat part of the entrails, fwelled prodigioufly, and died a few hours after : feveral dogs alio which eat of the offal, lay for a fortnight in the greateft agonies, howling and foaming at the mouth,- utterly incapable of flanding on their legs. A little E e favourite, animal favourite parroquet, which cat a bit of the fifh, likewife died iu kingdom - c I* c r , r i , i "m coniequence of it. uomctime afterwards, I was told that a hih of the lame fpecies was caught at Tanna by fome of the tailors, who falted it and eat it, without any ill effects; from whence it is to be fuppofed that this fpecics is not poifonous in itfelf, but only from the food which it accidentia meets with, in the fame manner as many fifli in the Weft Indies, otherwifb very wholefomc to eat, are laid to become deleterious, by feeding on the manchineel apples. The other fort was a new fpecies of tetrodon, whofe Ugly appearance alone might have prejudiced us againfl it, had we been any ways nice; but fo much is the value of frefh proviiions enhanced by being long at fea, that we were glad of even this opportunity of eating an ill-looking animal. Only three of us eat a very fmall bit of the liver, not above two or three morfels each at fuppcr; before two o'clock the next morning, we were all up, complaining of the effects of the poifon, which operated exactly as that of the fparus had done before : we immediately took vomits, and having evacuated all we had eaten, efcaped with a giddinefs, lafiing only a few days, without any of the acute pain experienced in the other inftance. Another hog then on board, unfortunately tailing the entrails, fwelled as the other had done and died : fometime after, another tetrodon of the fame fpecies, was caught, and being-opened, one of the dogs eat a fmall quantity of the entrails, and lived in the moft dreadful agonies for a fortnight after, fo that he was ORGANIC B O D I E S. 211 Was at length thrown over board as incurable. The fparus feems animal 11 1 l ,a 11 - kingdom to have been mentioned by Quiros, under the name 01 pargos, which he fays at one time poifoned great part of his iliip's company. The tetrodon again is related clofely to the Tetrodon ocellatus, which in Japan is commonly made ufe of in cafes of felf-deftruction, and the virus of which is enhanced by the Ilicium anifatum, an other-wife fdutary plant. (See Kcempfer Hift. Japon.J It remains now that I mould fay fomething on the animals, which are looked on as figns of the approach of land : and I ought here to add, that the fight of birds is not more to be depended on, than that of fea-weeds, unlefs we are well allured that the birds we fee, are land birds, or never range to any diftance from land ; a circumftance not eafily afcertained. Seals, pinguins, petrels, and albatroffes, are feen fix or feven hundred leagues from land, in the very middle of the South Sea, fo that they cannot be depended on. Between the tropics, men of war birds are feen a hundred leagues from land, and as the ifles of the South Sea there, are much nearer together, they cannot be looked upon as figns of land. Boobies and fhags do „ not wander fo fir; and the laft, commonly not out of fight of land ; but one knows not how far accident mny fometimes carry them. Thefe are the few remarks on animals which occurcd to me> ■during the courfe of this expedition. E e 2 C II A P. human CHAP. VI. Remarks on the Human Species in the Souih-Sza Ifles. MlRAN'TUR AI.IQUI AI. TIT UPl NE3 MONTIITM, INGENTES FLUCTUS- MARIS, AI.TISSIM03 LAFSUS FLU MIMUM, et ocean! AMBITUM, et gyros SIDERUM—ET EELI n oyU.N T. SEIPSOS, NEC MIRANTUR, Augufilnus. The proper finely of mankind is MAN. Pope, t i VHOUGH we have many accounts of diflant regions, it has-species. been a general misfortune, that their authors were either too ignorant to collect any valuable and ufeful obfervations, or defirous of making a fhew with a fuperficial knowledge, have given us their opinions, embellifhcd with furmifes, and trite reflections, borrowed from other writers. If they happened to be capable of collecting and communicating ufeful information, relative to the ftudy of nature, they have ufually confined themfelves to the inanimate bodies of the creation j or have principally confidered part of the brute organic while Man, " A creature form'd of earth - - -" Exalted from fo bafe original if With heav'nly fpoils, - - - " Milton., Is entirely neglected and forgotten, amongfl other lefs important purfuits, ,It mull: likewife be acknowledged, that feveral learned and inge- human species. nious works on the human fpecies, have appeared in the prefent age, written by philofophers, whofe names alone mould feem to be a fufficient recommendation. I have, however, early obferved, that, being milled by the vague reports of unphilofophical travellers, which they have fometimes wilfully changed and moulded, to fuit their own opinions their fyflems, though ever fo ingenious,, are feldom agreeable to nature. It appears indeed, to be the general fault of thefe writers, to ftudy mankind only in their cabinets; " or, at heft, to obferve no other than highly civilized nations, who have over-run all parts of the world by the help of navigation, and. from commercial views -y and are more or lefs degenerate and tainted with vices. As we met with many tribes in the courfe of our expedition,, who had never feen any European or other polifhcd nation, I thought it my duty to attend to this branch of the great ftudy of nature, as much as my other occupations would permit. I collected facts, and now communicate them to the impartial and learned world, with a few inferences, as an imperfect efTay. SECT. \ 214 R E M ARKS on t ii e SECTION I. On the Numbers of Inhabitants in the South-Se a-Isles, tind their Population. Kin tmere CS* for.'uito fall <*5) crtatlfuntUS, &profctlo cjl que?Jam vis, qua- gencri confulit human). M. t-ull1us ClCLRO. poPULA- TT7E mail begin with O-Tahcitce, one of thelargeft, moft ticn. v v populous, and beft-cultivated iilands of the Pacific Ocean, The high hills of this happy country are without inhabitants; and, if we except fome fertile well-watered vallies, containing a few cottages, in the midft of the mountains, the whole interior country is ftill unimproved, and fuch as it came out of the hands of nature. The flat grounds, furrounding the ifland towards the fea, contain chiefly the habitations of the natives; and nothing can be feen more beautiful, more cultivated, and more fertile, than thefe extenhve plains. The whole ground is covered with coco-nut and bread-fruit trees, which yield the chief fubliftencc for its inhabitants : all is interfperfed with plantations*of bananas, young mulberry-trees for the manufacture of their cloth, and other ufeful plants; fuch as yams, eddoes, fugar-canes, and many others too tedious to enumerate. Under the made of thefe agreeable groves, we every where beheld numerous houfes, which we fliould have con- H U M AN S P E C I E S, 215 confidercd as mere fheds, were they not fufficient to fcreen the poi'ula- owners from rain, moifture, and the inclemencies of the air, which is always mild and temperate in thefe happy regions. All the houfes are filled with people, and the largefl habitations contain feveral families. Wherever we walked, we found the roads lined with natives, and not one of the houfes was empty, though we had left the fhores oppofite the fliip,. crowded with people. All thefe circumftances indicate,, that there is an extraordinary population in this queen of tropical illes; and we have every neceilary argument to corroborate the afTertion. The mild and temperate climate, under the powerful, benevolent, and congenial influence of the fun, mitigated by alternate fea and land breezes, quickens the growth of the vegetable and animal creation; and therefore, in fome meafure alfo, benefits and improves the human frame, by this happy combination. Such is the great abundance of the fincft fruit, growing, as it were, without cultivation, that none are diflreffed for food. The fea is another great refource for the inhabitants of this and all the Society Ifles. They catch great numbers- of fine and delicious fifli; they colled! number-lefs (hells, cray-nfh, fea-eggs, and feveral kinds of blubbers, along the reefs, both by day and night; and often go to the low iflands a few leagues off, in qucft of cavallas, turtles, and water-fowl. There is not a houfe or cottage, about which you do not obfervc a 2i6. HEMARKS on t h e Torui.A- dog, feveral cocks and hens, and frequently two or three pigs. 1' ION. All this not only affords a fuperfluity, but likewife a great variety of animal and vegetable food. The bark of the morns papyrifera, the bread-fruit tree, and fome others, afford therh materials for an eafy, light, and warm kind of clothing; which they manufacture of various qualities, cut into various fhapes, and dye with various colours. Food and raiment, the two great wants of the human fpecies, are therefore eafily fupplied, and the inhabitants are hitherto fortunate enough to have none of the artificial wants, which luxury, avarice, and ambition have introduced among Europeans. The call of nature is heard at an early age in this genial climate: the inhabitants therefore foon begin to chufe an agreeable partner for life, happy in the pleafing expectation of feeing themfelves re-prefented, and as it were reproduced in a numerous offspring. Thefe circumftances, when compared with the many wants of our civilized flate, the labours we muft undergo in fupplying thefe wants, and efpecially thofe which are moft indifpeniible in our .climates, and the many difficulties preceding and attendant on our marriages, will be fuflicient to prove, that in the natural courfe of things, population muft be great in thefe happy regions. But this rcafoning does not give a clear and precife idea of the fubject, I will therefore attempt to enable the reader to make a near eitimate opula-. we found the inhabitants bufied in making preparations for a great naval expedition againft More a, a diftrict in Eimeo. We law a fleet of their war-canoes collected together, with a great number of fmall craft: we faw the natives preparing the war-canoes in feveral diftricts, and in fome they were already launched; we found them exercifing their rowers and warriors; and the armaments of two diftricts actually appeared in review before the great chiefs houfe, at O-Parre, The diftrict of Atahooroo is one of the greateft, and that of Titt ah aw one of the fmalleft. The firft had equipped 159 war-canoes, and about 70 fmall veffels intended for the chiefs, the fick and wounded, and probably to carry fome provihons. The fecond diftrict font 44 war-canoes, and about 20 •or 30 fmaller ones. That part of O-Taheitee, which is called T-Obreonoo, or the great Weftern peninfula, contains 24 diftricts in all; the leffer Eaftern peninfula, or Te-Arraboo, is divided into 19. Let us fuppofe, that each diftrict of the firft is capable of fending the medium between the largefl and leaft number of war-canoes, as mentioned before, which would amount to 100: nay, to be more moderate, let us fuppofe each diftrict can fend no more than 50 war-canoes, and 25 fmall attending boats ; and we lliall find the war-canoes of T-Obreonoo to amount to 1200, and the finall veffels to 600. We obferved in the large war-canoes 50 per* J« f fons, fopula- Tons, i:\cludingwarriors, paddlers, and fbercrs; and in the fmaller about 30. (We found, indeed, fome war-canoes, that required 144 paddlers, eight men to fleer, one to command the paddlers, and about 30 warriors for the flage; but, as there are only one or two veffels of that fize in each ifland, wc can make no inference from thence.) To be very moderate in our computations, we will fuppofe no more than 20 men in each of thefe war-canoes; and, according to this lafl fuppofition, the men required to defend and navigate 1200 veffels, will amount to 24,000. Each of the fmall attending boats contained at a medium five men ; confequently the Crews of all the fmall canoes of the 24 diflricts, at the rate of 25 vcfieh from each diftrict, forma number of 3000, which, added to the complement of the war-canoes, are 27,000 men. Let us further fuppofe each of thefe men to be married to a woman, and to have one child; and in this cafe, we mail have the number of 81,000 perfons. Everyone will allow, that this is the very lowcfl computation that can be made, and that the number of living inhabitants of T-Obreonoo muft be at leaft double the above number. For all the inhabitants are not warriors ; nor are all employed in navigating the veffels; there remain befides, many old men at home 3 and it is certainly infuflicient to allow a fingle child for every married couple; for marriage here is commonly bleffcd with a numerous offspring, I have feen more than one family, wherein 1 there there were fix or eight children. IIappai, the father of O-Too, population. the prefent king of T-Obreonoo, had eight children, fsven of whom were flill alive, when we came to O-Taheitee. Many other families had from three to five children. But fome will be ready enough to queflion this great population, and to doubt, whether fuch numbers can find food in proportion to fupport them all: it is but jufl to eilablifh the fact on a firm bafis. We have frequently fpoken with warmth of the extraordinary fertility of thefe regions; we are likewife able to demonftrate the truth of what we have advanced. When we vifited the Society-Ifles, the natives often told us, that three large bread-fruit trees were fufficient to feed a full-grown perfon during the bread-fruit feafon, that is, during eight months. The largefl bread-fruit trees, with their branches, occupy a fpace in diameter about forty feet \ confequently every tree occupies 1600 fquare feet, or if round 1256} feet. An Englifh acre contains 43,560 fquare feet; it follows, that above 27 large breadfruit trees in the firfl cafe, and 35 in the fecond, would fland on an acre ; and thefe will feed ten perfons for the fpace of eight months in the firfl cafe, and 12 perfons in the fecond. During the remaining four months of the year, the natives live upon the roots of yams and eddoes, the banana, and the fruit of the horfe-plantancs, of which they have immenfe plantations, in the vallies of the uninhabited mountainous part of the ifle. They likewife make a kind of four- F f z parte 2-2o REMARKS on t he popula- pafle 0f the bread-fruit, by fermentation, which keeps for feveral1 tion. . months, and is both healthy and palatable to thofe who are once- ufed to its acidulated tafte. Now let us compare this to the greateft fertility in known countries. In France*, on a fquare league,. containing about 4867 French acres farpents, J no more than 1390^ perfons can live by agriculture, and 2604.by vintage: in the firft cafe, one perfon requires arpents to live upon, and in the latter nearly two arpents muft be allotted for the fubfiftence of one individual. In O-Taheitee, and the Society-Ifles, about ten or twelve, perfons live eight months on one Englifh acre, which contains 43,560 fquare feet j\ whereas the arpent,, containing 51,550 fquare feet Englifh meafure, feeds but one perfon fix months in France, This calculation proves, that taking fuch parts, as are beft cultivated in both countries, the population of O-Taheitee is to that of France, nearly as 17 to 1. Moreover*, let us fuppofe, that on the whole ifle of O-Taheitee, there are no more than 40 fquare Englifh miles of land planted with bread-fruit trees, which fuppofition. certainly does not err in excefs. Each mile confifts of 640 acres,, and 40 miles muft accordingly contain 25,600 acres. Ten or twelve men live eight months on one acre; confequently thirty or thirty-fix men can fubfift the fame time on three acres,, and,twenty, or twenty-four men find food during a whole year on three acres.5. x 6 con^ * Difcours fur les Vigttea Dijon. 1756. um.o, tt U M A N SPECIES.. 221 confequently, on the whole extent of 25,600 acres, 170,660 per- popula-fons, according to the firft fuppofition, or 204,800 according to the fecond, can be fupported yearly. But we have feen above, that only 44,125 individuals are fuppofed to exift on O-Taheitee, according to our firft calculation, which is nearly lefs by 26,535 perfons in the firft inftance, or 6o,6j$ in the fecond, than the ille can fupport, upon the moft moderate calculation. Having thus fairly ftated the pofhbility of fo great a population, we fliall certainly not be thought unreafonablc in our eftimatc. Te-Arraboo has 19 or 20 diftricrs, and is- equally well cultivated and populous : for its natives not only withftood the whole-power of the inhabitants of T-Obreonoo, but even beat their forces and ravaged their fhores. It might therefore be deemed very little, if at all inferior, in power and in numbers: but we will reckon them to be only one half of the population of T-Obreonoo j and the number of its inhabitants will be 40,500. Imeo is a little, but well-cultivated ifle, fubject to the king of. T-Obreonoo.. According to the accounts of the Taheiteans, itop-pofed and beat, off the whole force of Te-Arraboo ; and the great armaments we obferved going forward in T-Obreonoo, for the reduction of Imeo, prove that- they have no mean idea of their ftrengthj notwithftanding this, wc fliall allow them no more than one * popula- one fourth of the population of T-Obreonoo, /. e. 20,250, which, added to the inhabitants of Te-Arraboo - - 40,500, and of thofe of T-Obreonoo - - . - 81,000, makes the number of inhabitants of all O-Tahcitee, } C 14^750- and of Imeo, amount to - - -) All thefe are fubject to O-Too, king of T-Obreonoo; for though Te-Arraboo has a king of its own, yet that king is a vaflal to O-Too. We conclude therefore, that allowing 150,000 perfons for the population of O-Taheitee and Imeo, the computation mufl be coniidered as very moderate. The ifles of Huahine, O-Raietea, O-Taha, Bola-bola, Mourua, Tabu-a-Manoo, and Maatea, are certainly very populous ; for we faw three of them, and found them all well-cultivated, and equally well-peopled; and, as the king of Bola-bola has fubdued O-Raic-tea, and O-Taha, it is highly probable, that his power, and confequently the population of Bora-bora and Mourua, muff, be nearly upon a par with that of the two conquered iflands. If we allow 200,000 inhabitants for all thefe feven illes, the account will by no means be exaggerated. The five Marquefas are likewife very populous, for the natives cultivate and inhabit all the Hopes of their hills. Between them, and the Society-Ifles, are a vaft number of low ifles full of inhabitants. bitar.ts. To the Eaft. and South-Eaft of O-Tahaitee are ftill more, fopula-Wc faw about five in the year 1773 ; and as many, if not more in 1774. In the Endeavour feveral more were difcovered * and Capts. Wallis and Carteret found many alfo. We cannot think the allowance too great, when we fuppofe all thefe iflands, and the Marquefas to contain 100,000 inhabitants. Farther to the Weft is a clufter of ifles, which we call the Friendly Ifles. Tonga-Tabu the largeft of them, is in every part highly cultivated; the barren fandy outfkirts towards the fea, and the road leading through the ifle alone excepted, all the reft feems to be private property, is fenced in, and inhabited by a numerous, induftrious and friendly people. E-Aoowe is lefs in fize, nor is it wholly cultivated, any more than A-Namocka : neverthelefs there are great numbers of inhabitants in both. About A-Namocka is a collection of fmall ifles, all full of people: and if we confult Tacfman, wc find the fame archipelago continued under the name of Prince William's Ifles. I fuppofe the inhabitants of all thefe ifles amount to about 200,000. Still more to the Weft is that clufter of large iflands, to which we gave the name of the New Hebrides. Thefe, though far from being fo populous as the Society and Friendly Ifles, yet being infinitely larger, contain a ccnfidcrable number of inhabitants. We found a great croud of people on one of them, named Mallicollo, popuia- collo, and if we may form a judgment from the cultivation in 1I0N* Ambrrym it muft be equally, if not better inhabited ; the ifles of Aurora, of Lepers, and Whitfuntide, feem to be lefs populous s Tierra del Efpiritu Santo is large, and perhaps in proportion to its fize, has many inhabitants. The ifles of Pa-oom, A-Pee, Three-hills, Shepherd, Mountague, Hinchinbrook, and Sandwich, are all inhabited, and the latter feemed to be very fertile and populous. Irromanga, and Tanna, from our own obfervations, and the ifles of Irronan, limner, and Anattom according to the informations we received at Tanna, are full of people: all thefe therefore, together may be fuppofed to contain at leaft 200,000, inhabitants. If we fuppofe the number of fouls in New-Caledonia and its adjacent ifles to be 50,000, the allowance, it is apprehended, cannot be deemed very faulty; for though thefe parts be not fo highly populous as fome others; an extent of eighty leagues in length, will juftify the guefs we have made concerning its flate of population. The Southern ifle of New-Zeeland has very few inhabitants .but the Northernmoft, according to the accounts wehad from Capt. -Cook, and from what we faw in fome few places, as we pafled by, is,much betterjpeopled, nay, in fome fpots very populous; therefore fore allowing j00,000 fouls to both illes, wc rather think our popula-eftimate to fall fliort of the true population. If we take the fum r 1 50,000 O-Tahaitee and Imeo. of thefe numbers, we find the whole of the inhabitants of the ifles in the South Sea 200,000 Society Ifles. 100,000 Marquefas and Low Illes, 200,000 Friendly Ifles. 200,000 New Hebrides. 50,000 New Caledonia, 100,000 New Zeeland. Amounting to 1,000,000. The population in Tierra del Fuego is fo thin, and they live m fo fmall tribes, or rather families, that I can hardly believe they exceed in all, two thouiand individuals, fcattered over a furface of land, containing at leaft, as much as would form the half of Ireland. This account of the population of the ifles we vifited, in the South Seas, I will now conclude with the two following remarks. Firft, I do not pretend that my eftimate of the numbers of the inhabitants is perfectly accurate; at heft it is but a guefs approaching as near to truth as the'data which we had opportunities of Collecting would permit; and if upon the whole there is any fault G g in FOPULA- in it, it rather con fifty in having formed too fmall an eftimate, or if any particular account fhould exceed the true number, it muft be in New Caledonia, Secondly, The population of countries encreafes in the fame* proportion with civilization and cultivation. Not that I believe civilization or cultivation to be the true caufes of a greater population; but they are rather, in my opinion, its. effects. As foon as the numbers increase in a confined, place, viz. an ifland, to fuch a degree, that its inhabitants are obliged to cultivate fome plants for their food, becaufe the natural wild productions are no longer fufHcient, they then devife methods for performing this tafk in an eafy and proper manner; they find themfelves obliged to obtain from others, the feeds and roots, to ftipulate among themfelves, not to deftroy each others plantations; to defend them jointly againft the violence of invaders,, and to give each other mutual affiftance. Such are the beginnings of arts and cultivation, fuch is the rife of civil focieties; fooner or later they caufe distinctions of rank, and the various degrees of power, influence, and wealth* which, more or lefs are obferved among mankind. Nay, they often produce a material difference in the colour, habits, and forms of the human fpecies, of which, v/c fliall now treat more at large. SECT. HUMAN SPECIES, SECTION II. On the Varieties of the Human Species, relative to Colour, Size, Form, Habit, and Natural Turn of Mind in the Natives of the South-Sea Isles, E?l d£ Tt KOCi UTOL^OL TCC V.XifJLdTCC * W3"T£ TtX (JLEV (pVfe who dwell in colder regions. varie- are ftrong and active, marked by fine outlines. Their females have 'pies o f .men ^ generally coarfe features, few having any thing agreeable or pleaiing in their round faces, with thick lips and wide mouths. Their teeth arc fine, their eyes lively, the hair finely curled, the body in fuch as have not yet borne children, is well proportioned, with a flowing outline, and fine extremities. The generality are of a mild and good natured temper, ready to pleafe their guefts in every thing in which they can be ferviceable : but the ungrateful foil affording them only a fparing fubfiflencc, and that too, not to be procured without much labour, they could not fupply us with any -oots or vegetables -y and we were obliged to provide them with the firft dog and bitch, and the firfl boar and low, which in time to come may perhaps fupply them with a new and acceptable change of food. Secondly, The inhabitants of Tanna, one cf the New Hebrides, are almofl of the fame fwarthy colour as the former; only a few had a clearer complexion, and in thefe the tips of their hair were of a yellowifh brown : the hair and beards of the reft arc all black and crifp, nay, in fome woolly. The generality of them are tall, flout, and well made, none of them are corpulent or • fat. The features of the greateft part are manly and bold, and but few are difagreeable. Their females are of the fame complexion, have before child-bearing, generally a fine outline, but they are all ill-favoured, Illfavoured, nay, fome are very ugly: I faw but two, who had varie-lefs harm lineaments, and a finite upon their countenance. Both r MEN, fexes have large holes in the lap of their ear, and wear feveral large rings of tortoife-lhell in them; the feptum narium is likewife perforated, and they wear a flick or whitifh cylindrical Hone in it. The hair of thefe people is dreifed in the molt curious and fingular manuer; for they take a fmall parcel of their hair, of the thicknefs of a pigeons quill and queue it up in the outer rind of a convolvulus, and thus they go on till they have finifhed the whole, which grows very copiouily; by this means their heads bear fome refcmblance to a porcupine covered with prickly quills. Their whole body is naked, and the genitals only, are curioully wrapped up in leaves tied by a firing, and then tucked up to a rope which they wear round their waifls. On their breafls and arms are figures cut in, to which they apply fome plant that raifes a fear above the reft of the fkin. They are a good natured, friendly fet of men, cxercifing hofpitality in a high degree. They fcem to be valorous in encountering enemies, who are equal to them in arms; nay, before they perfectly knew how far our arms were fuperior to, and more deftructive than their;-, afingle man with a dart or fling, would often lland in a path, and hinder a party of eight or ten of us from going higher up into the countrv. They were miflrultful and jealous in the beginning; •Ut after we had. learnt a few .words of their language, and con- I i vinced 24-2 REMARKS on tub varie- vinced them that we did not intend to do them any harm, they let us ties' OP men freely pafs and repafs. I have gone accompanied by one or two perfons only, feveral miles up the country. I hardly know an inftance of their ftealing any thing from us. They mewed at times, almoit as much levity as the other nations of the South Seas; though in my opinion they were in.general more grave; however they are lively, brifk, and ready to do any fervice that lies in their power, or to give any information that is wanted, provided the enquirer can make himfelf underfiood. 'Thirdly, The natives of Mallicollo are a fmall, nimble,, flender, black and ill-favoured fet of beings, that of all men I ever faw, border the neareft upon the tribe of monkies. Their fkulls are of a very fingular ftructure, being from the root of the nofe more depreffed backward, than in any of the other races of mankind., . which we had formerly feen. Their women are ugly and deformed* and as I have before remarked in each of the varieties of men of the fecond.race, they were here likewife obliged to act the part of pack-horfes, in carrying provisions for their indolent hufbands, and to do all the moft laborious drudgery in the plantations. The hair is in the greater part of them woolly and frizzled. Their ears and nofes perforated, for the infertion of large rings in the one, and of fticks or ftones in the other. Their complexion is footy, their features harfb, the cheek bone and face broad, and the whole c countc- countenance highly difagreeable. Their limbs are flender, though varte- ti F s o f well fhaped, and the belly conflneled by a firing to fuch a degree, as M'EN# no European could bear without the grcatefl inconvenience. The . genitals are wrapped in and tucked up, in the fame manner as at Tanna and New Caledonia. One of their arms is ornamented by a bracelet fixed on it when young, and which therefore, can never after be removed in grown perfons. I obferved feveral among thefe people, who were very hairy all over the body, the back not excepted; and this circumflance I alfo obferved in Tanna and New Caledonia. They are nimble, lively, and refllefs; fome of them feem to be ill-natured and mifchievous; but the generality, of a friendly and good difpofition. They feem to Jove joy and merriment; mufic, fongs, and dances. Though their poifoned arrows had no effect upon our dogs, I am however, not yet clear that they are entirely harmlefs; if fo the natives would not have fo anxioully withcld our hands, whenever we wanted to try the points of thefe infected arrows with our fingers: nor can I conceive for what reafon they mould take fo much trouble in fmcaring and preferving the refinous fubflance on the honey points of thefe arrows Quiros who faw the fame nation, likewife fufpected their arrows to be poifoned. I am therefore apt to fufpect them to be very •cruel and implacable enemies. I cannot at the fame time omit to ' do them juflice, in obferving that they were not deflitnte of prin- I i 2 ciples men. varie- ciples of humanity and equity. We faw the greater and more ties of rational part of them extremely cautious in giving us any reafon for. complaint, and to fuch a degree were they anxious to prevent hoftilities being commenced by their people, that they feem to have been fenfible of the injuftice of giving the firft provocation, which, might bring on a retaliation on our fide ; nay, they hindered feveral of their people from giving even the leaft umbrage to us. Medio I'ero terra" faluhris utrimque mixtura* fcrtilis ad omnia traftitst magna is in colore tempcrics, ritus modes} fenjus I'njuidus, tngenta ficcunda, tottitfjite naiura capacia. Plinius Hiir. Nat. 1. ii. c, 78- THOUGH the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego belong to neither of the races of men in the South Sea, being moft probably defcended from fome of the natives in South America, yet we cannot entirely pafs them by in filence. But finding at the fame time, that the greater part of voyagers and compilers, and likewife thofe authors who have made ufe of the various accounts of voyagers, frequently confound the different nations on the extremity of South America, I will previoufly endeavour to fix our ideas relative to the various tribes that are to be met with in thefe parts of the world, The people at the entrance of the Magellanic Strait were feen varie-and meafured by Captain Wallis : ** he found the dature of the greater part of them, to be from five feet ten inches to fix feet high.; feveral were fix feet five inches and fix feet fix, and one of the tailed Was fix feet feven inches high. Mr. de Bougainville* found none below five feet five or fix inches French meafure, and none above five feet nine or ten inches : but the crew of the Etoilc had feen feveral in a preceding voyage fix feet high : thefe meafure-ments when reduced to the Englifh dandard, give five feet ten inches and fix feet two inches, but the lad amounts to fix feet 4.728 inches. Mr. de laGiraudais f, of the Pink Etoile, fays, the leaf! of thofe he faw in 1766 was five feet feven inches French meafure, which is above five feet eleven inches Englifh. Mr. Duelos Guyot,| in the Eagle frigate, informs us, that the fhorted of the people feen by him in 1766, meafured five feet feven inches French meafure=5 feet 11.498 inches Englifh: the red wereconiiderably taller. Pigafetta, |] in the fliip Victoria, faw with Magalhaens at Port St. Julian, people, eight Spanifh feet high, which are equal to feven feet four inches Englifh. Knivet, § who went *•* Hawkcfvcorth'a O mpilation, vol. i. p. 374. * Bougainville's Voyage, Englifh tnmflatkm, p. 142. ■j- Pemelly's Hiitory of a Voyage to the Falkland Iflands. .Englifh transition, p. ^SS. I Ibid. p. 273. II Pigafetta, ap. Ramufio. vol. i. p. 353 fol. § Knivct's Voyage. 246 TIE MARKS on the v a r je- went with Sir Thomas Cavendifb, in 1592, into Port Dcfire, fount! ties of men. there, people, that where 16 hands high, which amounts to fix feet, reckoning a hand at 41 inches. Richard Hawkins • likewife fpeaks of tall people at Port St. Julian, in 1593, fo tall that they are often taken by voyagers for.giants. There are feme Spaniards, who pretend that in the back of Chili, are a' people of ten or twelve feet high : but as this account is too vague, and has not authority which may be depended upon, we will make no ufe of it. However, from the above mentioned numerous accounts, it appears, that on the continent of America, near Cape Virgin Mary, there is a nation, whofe individuals undoubtedly are moft remarkably flout and tall, none cf them feem to be below five feet ten inches, feveral are above fix feet, one was meafured fix feet feven inches high; nay, according to Pigafetta, fome are fud to be feven feet four inches ; in the more interior parts of South America, arc tribes of a fize flill greater than thofe who were meafured by Captain Wallis; for Mr. Falkner, -f* who fpent feveral years among thefe nations, defcribes the great Cacique Cangapol, who refided at Huichin upon the Black River, as being feven feet and fome inches high, becaufe on tiptoe, he could not reach to the top of his head : and he adds, that he did not recollect ever to have feen an Indian that was above an inch or two taller than Cangapol; and the brother of this tall Cacique, was about fix feet high: thefe'brethren belonged to the * Hawkins's Voyage to the South Seas. London, 1622, f r.ilkr.ci's Defcription of Patagonia, p. 26, m, 112. ties of men, the tribe of Puelcbes. Thefe nations feldom refort to the fea, or varie-the neighbourhood of the Straits of Magellan, and are therefore little known to fuch navigators as touch at thofe unfrequented places. It will perhaps appear to us a ftrange phenomenon, that a whole nation mould preferve that remarkable tall ftature. But we are United in focieties, where the conftant intercourfc with foreigners, makes it next to impofrible to preferve the purity of races without mixture; and pity it is, that the guiles of art and deceit are fo great in one fex, and curiofity, levity, and lewdnefs, are fo common in the other, in our enlightened and highly-civilized focieties, that they contribute ftill more to make the prefervation of races precarious. This depravation prevailed fo far, that even Omai became the object of concupifccnce of fome.females of rank. The Puelchcs, on the contrary, and the other Patagonian tribes, whatever be their names, live in a country, which is little frequented by nations different from their own \ their neighbours, the Spaniards, in Chili and Rio de la Plata, having very little intercourfc with them, and being happy to live undifturbed from the incurfions and depredations of fuch dangerous enemies. They procure, with great facility, their livelihood by the chacc, and from their own numerous herds, in a country rich in paftures, and of immenfe extent, bounded by the fea, and feparated by high ridges of mountains from all other nations. Thefe are the moil # varie- moft effectual means of preventing the degeneracy and debafe- 'TIES OF ment of their noble and athletic race; and we may conclude from thence, that conftant intermarriages in the fame tall tribes, render the great fize of body more fixed, and invariably fettled; nor muft. it be omitted, that as growth depends on food, climate, and exercife, in thefe nations, all thefe circumftances concur to make them a ftrong, ftout, and tall race of men. The chace provides them plentifully with food, which is both varied and falubri-ous. The climate is moderate, and they have cloth made of the beft fkins and furrs, to ferve them in any feafon. Laftly, they are feldom at reft, they move and roam over all the immenfe parts of America, South of the river of Plate, to the very (traits of Magellan; they hunt, ride, and learn the ufe of their arms, and therefore take the moft falutary exercife, communicating to their body and its parts fumcient ftrcngth and confiftence, without crippling their limbs by too early, too violent, or too long continued labour, or ftarving them into a puny figure, by too clofe application, drudgery, and the exhauftion of their animal and vital fpirits. This argument is likewife confirmed by a curious inftance in our Northern climate. The guards of the late king, Frederick William of Pruflia, and likewife thofe of the prefent monarch, who all are of an uncommon fize, have been ftationed £t P.Qtzdam, for fifty years paft. A great number of the prefent .inha- inhabitants of that place arc of a very high ftature, which is more varieties o men, efpecially flriking in the numerous gigantic figures of women. This certainly is owing to the connections and intermarriages of the tall men with the females of that town.* Having therefore flated both the probability and reality of fuch a tall race of men in Patagonia, from the heft authenticated teflimonies of refpectable writers, and from arguments founded in nature; I fliall take leave of this fubject with the obvious remark, that it is as unjufl as it is illiberal to rail at thofe who are ftill of opinion, that fuch tall people are found on the extremity of South America. To the South of the ftraits of Magalhaens, on Tierra del Fuego, are a tribe of people apparently much debated, or degenerated from thofe nations which live on the continent. Their broad moulders and cherts, large heads, and the general eaft of their features, would prove them to be defcended from the men living next to them, though that faithful and intelligent writer, Mr. I'dkner had not informed us, that they belonged to the Yacana-cunnces. \ But at the fame time I fhall likewife obferve, that it appears from the accounts mentioned before,- that the tall race Kk of * Though I have been myfelf at Totzdam, it is however fo long ago, and at fo early a Period of life, when people arc not mindful enough, or capable of making obfervations, that I never to.)k notice of it; but I owe this information to a gentleman whole tpirit oi ^'bfervation, and literary talents make his authority indifputablc, f Falkner's Defeription of Patagonia, p, 91, m. v.\rie- of men feen by Admiral Byron, Captain Vv'allis, Mr. Bougainville; v,"N Mr. de la Giraudais, and Mr. Du Clos Guyot, were all provided with horfes, of which all the families of the Tacana-cunnecs are deftitute; for which very reafon they derive their name ; Yacana-cunnee, lignifying footmen : and as thofe obferved by Captain Cook in his firft voyage, * and by feveral Dutch, f and French navigators, J had no horfes, and commonly navigated bark canoes-, the above affertion of Mr. Falkner becomes more confirmed'. Neverthelcfs it may be very poffible, that the inhabitants of the more Weftern parts of Tierra del Fuego, may be defcended from fome branches of the Key-yus, a tribe of the Huillicbes, who belong to the nation of the Moluches ;• and are rather of low ftature, but broad and thick- fet.\ And really fomewhat fimilar to them were the few people, whom we met with at Chriftmas Bay. We found them to be a fhort, fquat race, with large heads; their colour yellowifh brown; the features har/h, the face broad, the cheekbones high and prominent,, the nofe flat, the noflrils and mouth large, and the whole countenance without meaning. The hair is black and ftraight, hanging about the head in a mocking manner, their beards thin, and cut fhort. All the upper part of the body is * ITawliefworth's compilation, vol. 2. p. \ Recucil ties Voyages pour l'EtablirTcment de la Cemp, des Indcs Oiicntalcs. v .4 X Bougainville's Voyage. I Falkner's Defer, of Patagonia, p. 112,. HUMAN SPECIES. 251 is flout, the moulders and cheft broad; the belly flraight, but varie- t1 e s of not prominent; and the fcrotum very long. The feet are by no M£N means proportioned to the upper parts ; for the thighs are thin and lean, the legs bent, the knees large, and the toes turned inwards. They are abfolutely naked, and have only a (mall piece of feal-Own hanging down and covering part of their backs. Their women are much of the fame features, colour, and form as the men, and have generally long hanging breads, and befides the feal-fkin on their backs, a fmall patch of the fkin of a bird or feal to cover their privities. All have a countenance announcing nothing but their wretchednefs. They feem to be good-natured, friendly and harmlefs; but remarkably flupid, being incapable of underflanding any of our figns, which, however, were very intelligible to the nations of the South Sea. We could obferve no other word diflindly, than that of pcfjerai, which they frequently repeated, in a manner to make us believe they intended to fignify that they are friends; and that they find a thing good. When they talked, I particularly remarked, that their language included the r, and an /, preceded by an Englifh th, fomething like the LI of the Welfh, and many other lifping founds. They dunk immoderately of train-oil, fo that we might fmell them at a didance; and in the fined days, they were fhivering with cold. Human nature appears flo where info debafed and wretched a condition, as with thefe mifcrable, forlorn, and dupid creatures, Kk 2 I SECT- SECTION III. On the Causes of the Difference in the Races of Men in the South Seas, their Origin and Migrations, Ink Vcnui varia proeheit forte ftguras : Majorumque refert i'oltusy voce/que comafijKC, LUCRETIUS, causes f "JAVING dated the differences of colour, fize, habit, form of vari- ETIES. H *■ of body, and turn of mind, as obferved in the various nations of the South Sea, it remains to aflign the mod probable and the mod reafonable caufes of thefe remarkable differences of the two races. This would be an eafy tafk, by having recourfe to holy writ only, and from thence laying it down as a fundamental polition, that all mankind are defcended from one couple; for it mud then follow that all are of one fpecies : and that all varieties are only accidental. But in this age of refinement and infidelity, fome modern writers ufe every poflible means to invalidate the authority of revealed religion, and though they employ the fcrip-ture, when they endeavour to fupport their own unphilofophic opinions, they never admit arguments taken from thence in others: and if we look around we find fo general a tendency in all ranks of men towards frying and writing new and uncommon tilings, that i the the generality of literary productions teem with the molt eccentric causes and monftrous opinions. ^A eties. Velut cegrifomnia, mma Finguntur fpecics. PIoratius. Some therefore divide mankind according to its colours into various fpecies ; others, inftead of being contented with bringing all men under one kindred, choofe to extend the human fpecies even to ouran-outangs, a kind of well known apes from the Eaft-In-dies.* This certainly enlarges the fubject, and renders the dif-cuflion more intricate, and the arguments more varied and difficult. I could eafily appeal to common fenfe, and to reafon as the great characteristic, exclufive privileges of mankind, which are not found in any of the quadrupeds, though fome of them are mifreprefented as being rational in an eminent degree ; I could from the very help-lefs and defencelefs ftate of children, when they are firft born, from the long duration of that ftate, from the want of inffinct, or connate faculty of defending themfelves again external injuries, or of finding and choofing falubrious food, &cc. &c. infer, that man was originally intended for a being living in fociety, who fhould be taken care of and educated by others, and who has therefore received- the * The author of the Origin and Progrtfs of Language, v. i. p. 289, fays: The. ourau^ •tttangs are proved to be of our fpetica by marks of humanity, that-I think, sure intwUeiabk; and likewife p. 175. causes the embryo of reafon improvable by the various degrees of cduca-EXIB tion. It might be proved from the organs and the gift of fpeech in men, who are alone capable of this language of reafon, that they ought to be wholly diftinguifhed from all animals; as every fpecies of the brute creation is deflitute of the variety, power, and extent of voice and articulation : and though endued with paffions, and pofleiling the advantages of a mechanical fenfation, are flrangers to the exercife of reafon, the formation of ideas, the language of the heart, and the refinement of moral fentimcnt.* I could have re-.courfe to the Mailers, the Hunters, the Daubentons, the Le Cats, the Meckels, the Campers, and all the great anatomifls of this and former ages, and with them prove from the ftrue'ture of the brains and from the fkulls, from the occipital hole, from the connexion, movement, ftrudlure and length of the cervical vertebra?, from the itructure and fhortnefs of the pelvis, the breadth of the ilia, the narrownefs of the ifchia, from the form and ftru&ure of the acetabulum, and the head of the femoral bones, from the ftructure and connexion of the mufculus gluteus with thofe of the legs, from the whole compages and flrudlure of the feet and their parts, from the number and ftructure of our hands, and many other wonders of our frame, that man is the only creature of the clafs which fuckle their young ones, who is intended to walk erccl: : -\- for though, perhaps, apes * Mr. Court it Gebclin, Plan General du Monde Prirnitjf, p. 10. -j- BUimtniaeb dc generis humani varietate nativa. Gotting, 1776, 8ro, and W. Hunter, dc •codem Argumcntc. Edinburg. 1776, Svo. apes and monkies accidentally walk erect; it is not, however, natural causes to them, and they prefer crawling on all fours; and though even . men in a wild ftate, have accuftomed themfelves to walk on all fours, it has been obferved, that this habit caufed a preternatural tumour of the hypochondria. * But I mould be obliged to repeat and to tranfcribe the arguments, fo ably fet forth by the molt learned men, which, though they are known by the ftudious, neverthelefs remain as unknown to the pretenders of learning, as if they never had been publifhed : for it is the fate of fcience to be only fkimmed by the witty fafhionable writers, but never to be thoroughly ftudied and meditated : I cannot therefore enter into any ferious argumentation, with the patrons and advocates of the long exploded opinion, that monkies are of the fame fpecies with mankind. I appeal rather to an argument taken from the better half of our fpecies; the fair fex ; we all affent to the description which Adam gives of his partner ; a creature _ _ _ - - - - So lovely fair,- That what feem'd fair in all the world, feem'd now Mean, or in her fumm'd up, in her contain'd, And in her looks; which from that time infus'd Sweetnefs into his heart, unfelt before,. And into all things from her air infpir'd, I The * Tulpius, obf, IV. io. of vari eties. causes The fpirit of love, and amorous delight. Grace was in all her fteps; heav'n in her eye, In every gefture dignity and love. Milton. I cannot think that a man looking up to this inimitable mafter- whole heavenly fifterhood of Eve's fair daughters ought for ever to exclude him from their bright circles: and in cafe he then perfifts obftinate, may none but ouran-outangs vouchfafe and admit his embraces. The next clafs of writers reprefent the inhabitants of Greenland, and thofe of Senegambia, as beings fpecifically different from thofe of Europe or Tcherkaffia: * and, indeed, if we are at once to make a fudden tranfition from the contemplation of the faireft beauty of Europe to that of a deformed negro; the difference is fo great, and the contraft fo ftrong, that we might be tempted to think them of a diftinct fpecies: but if we examine the infenfible gradations, in the form, habit, fize, colour, and fome external differences, we fliall find that they are by no means fo widely remote from each other in the fcale of beings, as to form feparate fpecies. piece, could be tempted to compare it with an ugly, loath fome puran-outang ! If he ftill in good earneft be of this opinion, the Ana- * Voltaire, Philofophic tie fhiftoirc & and fo cafily evaporates in negroes, contributes towards the dark complexion of the mucous membrane of the cuticle, being fc-cretcd by the cutaneous nerves into the viftous reticular fubftance. But let us now investigate the caufes of this phenomenon in ncr groes; we have already indicated the three moft ftriking caufes; the expojure to the air, is undoubtedly one. of the moft powerful : for do we not fee this daily proved in our own climate; our ladies, and other people who arc little expofed to the action of the air, have a fair complexion; whereas the common labourers are brown and tawny ; nay our bodies furnifh us with fufficient proofs ; thofe parts which are conflantly covered, are fair and delicate, but the hands being conflantly expofed. to the action of the air, acquire a darker hue. The negroes live in a climate which permits them to wear little or no covering at all; accordingly, we really find all the negroes naked, or very (lightly covered, which undoubtedly muft in-crcafe the black colour of their fkin. The Taheitcans, the faireft of all the iflanders in the South Sea, go almoft conflantly dreffed and covered. The inhabitants of Tanna, New Caledonia, and Mallicollo, on the contrary are always naked, and expofed to the air, and therefore infinitely blacker than the firfl. II U M AN SPECIE S. 261 The operation of the Sun is undoubtedly another great caufe of the causes . , . : of vari- dark hue in negroes; we hnd that nations in the fun? proportion, ETIES as they approach the equator, likewife become darker coloured ; however, this observation is not quite univerfal, and ought to be modified under many circumftances. Inhabitants of iflands are fcl-dom fo black as thofe of great continents; in, Africa, between the tropics, the Eafterly winds prevail the moft; and as in Abyfli-nia thefe winds ccme over a large ocean, where they are mitigated and cooled in their paflage, the inhabitants of that country are. not fo block as thofe about Senegal, which is lituated in the broadeft part of Africa, and, where the Eafterly wind having palled over the burning fands of the immenfe continent, is become infinitely more fiery and parching than in any other part. A higher &x+ pofure above, the furface of the fea, makes a great difference in the temperature of the air; the inhabitants of Quito in Peru, though living under the line, are by no means black or fwarthy. The vicinity of the fea,. and its refrefhing and gently fanning breezes, contribute greatly to mitigate the power of a tropical fun. This caufe cannot.be applied to the difference of colour in the Taheiteans and the Mallicolefe, as both nations enjoy the fame advantage. But the peculiar modes of living likewife, ftrongly co-operate with the above caufes, in producing the many changes of colour in the human fpecies. The Taheiteans arc conflantly cleanly, and praa- life causes tile frequent ablutions, encreafing by this limple elegance the of v a r i — eties faimc^s °^ t^cir complexions, though they live within the tropics. The New Zeelantiers living fh the temperate zone from 341 to 470 South latitude, are more tawny, which may be in part afcribed to their uncleanlinefs, abhorrence of bathing, and fitting expofed to fmoak and naftinefs in their dirty cottages. Secondly, The fixe of the natives of Taheitee, and all the ille s peopled by the lame race, certainly diftinguifhes them from the tribes in Mallicollo; however this difference is not fo general in thefe nations, as to extend even to Tanna and New Caledonia, where we found many very tall and athletic perfons. But the chiefs in the Society Illes, again diftinguiih themfelves from the reft of the inhabitants, by their tall ftature and corpulence. According to the doctrines of thofe who are fkilled in philofophy, growth and fize depend chiefly upon climate, food, and exercife. The climate is either warm or cold. Heat adds to the action of the heart a ftimulus, and accelerates its pul fit ion ; and fincein a warm •climate, the folids are more relaxed, than in a cold one, the im~ pulfe of the blood in the arteries finds lefs refiftance, and therefore more powerfully expands the whole frame of the body; becaufe, every function of the parts and fecretion of the liquids, is promoted with greater vigour. This we find conformable to experience, for,in hot climates mankind grows more powerfully, and attains 6 earlier earlier maturity and puberty. On the other hand, cold affuages causes the ftimulus, and conftricts the fibres, which naturally throws the 01eties! whole fyftem into a torpor or languid ftate. The heart does not act powerfully enough to carry on the functions with that vigour which is required, not only to accelerate growth, but likewife to overcome the greater refiftance caufed by the rigid ftate of all the folid parts. We find in confequence of thefe principles, the poor inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, a fmall race of people, though, defcended from tribes, who-, on the continent of South America^ in a milder climate, and more happy circumftances, are very tall, and athletic. Food another great article, both as to quantity and quality, exerts its powerful influence upon fize and growth. The great abundance and excellence of tropical fruits and roots, together with a variety and plenty of fifli, and now and then a fowl, a hog, or a dog, contribute to the luxuries of the table of Arees and other people of rank, in the Society Ifles j and as they are ufed to indulge very rnuch in thefe luxuries, we find them remarkably tall, flout, and athletic. The Towtows have only the bare neceflaries; and we. were informed that now and then there are years of fcarcity,, when the poorer fort of people are driven to great diftrefs j but the Arees feel nothing of thefe inconveniencies. The T.owtows. never, or at leaft very rarely partake of the feafts, where pork is . ■ devoured. e.ttes, 2§4 11 E M ARKS -o n t n e cause's devoured by the chiefs, but muft reft contented with the more homely vegetable fare, and think themfelves fortunate, if they catch fome hih, or collect fome wretched fmall fncll fifli, and even blubbers. In the Marquefas animal food is more fcarce in proportion; nor are the iflands upon the whole, overstocked with other eatables : for which reafon wc found/ that though the natives were not fmall, very few however, if any, were fo tall and fo athletic a6 on the Society Ifles, and above all, the difference between Arees d Towtcws was not fo flriking. In the Friendly Ifles, the abundance of vegetables is great, becaufe private property has been the caufe of a higher degree of cultivation ; and animal food feems likewife to be plentiful: here however, the difparity in the fize of Arees and Towtows is not fo great as in the Society Ifles. In New Zeeland, the inhabitants are in general well provided with fifh, and they are not without cxtenfive plantations of roots in the Northern ifle ; nor do they feem famifhed or Hinted, as the greater part are tall and ftrongly built. The illes of Tanna and New Caledonia have plenty of vegetable food, though little of the animal kind; nay, in New Caledonia, they had before our arrival, neither dogs nor hogs; but the extenfive reefs furrounding their ifle, afford them great plenty of fifh : this circumftance no doubt, contributed to the formation of their strong and tall bodies. Laftly, the Mallicolcfc feem to have plantations of all kinds of fruit II U M AN SPECIE S. 265 fruit in great abundance, fome bogs, fowls, and plenty of fifli, causes 1,1 1 • 1 . ~ , . * . of vari- but they are the only nation who feemed not to be benefited by this ETIES> affluent and excellent food \ nor could we affign the reafon9 of their diminifhed fize. The inhabitants of the Western parts of Tierra del Fuego, have doubtlefs no other food than what the fea affords them, which is very precarious in fo high a latitude, efpecially in stormy weather. Of vegetables, they have only a few berries j which feems to indicate, that from time to time they are diftrefTed, and their wretched appearance does not contradict it; their diminutive fize, and fmall thin legs and thighs rather prove that they are famifhed and {tinted : nor can the . half rotten pieces of raw feals-flefh and fat be very filubrious and nutritive ; which we faw them devour with a voracity that did not indicate either the abundance or the excellence of their provifions. Exercife in a moderate degree, is absolutely necessary to give the various parts of the human frame, ftrength and due confidence. Inactivity hinders the fecretion and circulation of the fluids, necef-lary for the increafe of the body, and therefore caufes in young people a weakly constitution, and flaccid limbs, without stability, coniiftence, or vigour. Violent labour is equally hurtful in regard to the increafe of the body ; for too long an exertion of mufcular »bres in young men caufes a rigidity, and entirely exhausts the Vltal powers. Let us only eaft an eye on the wretched objects, M m ■ who, <. a uses who, from their infancy toil in confinement, and obferve their of vari- . i,Tns diftorted, difproportioned limbs, their ghaftly faces, and their puny Hinted fize. On the contrary, the whole body acquires by a moderate and equal ufe of all our parts, a constitution which is gradually iteeled againft decay and difeafes : an equal fhare of agility is imparted to all the limbs, which knits the joints to their due confidence and liability. The inhabitants of the South Sea illes, are by their lively temper in their early age prevented from being inactive. The happinefs of their climate, the fertility of their foil, the luxuriance of vegetation, and the fewnefs of their wants, alfo make too great an exertion unneceffary : it is therefore moderate exercife which, among many other happy circumftances, contribute to form thefe tall and beautiful figures, which are fo common among them. Thirdly, Form and habit, are likewife fubject to the fame influence ©f climate, food, and exercife; this fpares us the trouble of repeating the above mentioned arguments: for it is evident that heat dries the limbs and whole frame of body in the Mallicolefe, the inhabitants of Eafter-Ifland, the Marquefas, the Low Iflands, the Towtows and lower ranks of people in the Society and Friendly Illes, who all go naked, and are much expofed to air and fun : hence, they become thin and flender; for even their bones are not ftrong, but folid and hard, On the other hand, cold climates give HUMAN SPECIES. 267 give a more foft, fpungy and fucculent habit of body; which is causes >f vari eties. cafily obfervable in the people of Tierra del Fuego, who are a ( thick, fquat, bony race of men. The New-Zeelanders are likewife in a milder climate, flefhy, boney, and fucculent, and the Arees and better fort of people, in the Society and Friendly Illes, who carefully ftudy, and endeavour to keep themfelves cool, and avoid as much as poffible, an expofure to the heat of the fun, are fucculent, flefhy, and fat. Fourthly, The peculiar de/ecls, or exceffes, or modifications of certain parts of the human body have endemial caufes, dependent upon peculiar customs, which fometimes are obvious, but at other times not cafily investigated, efpecially when the obferver has not more time to ftudy them, than we had. However, we will point them out, and leave it to others to make further difcoveries. In Mallicollo, we obferved that the greater part of the fkulls of the inhabitants, had a very singular conformation; for the forehead from the beginning of the nofe, together with the reft of the head, was much depreffed and inclining backward: which caufes an appearance in the looks and countenances of the natives, fimilar to thofe of monkies. Whether the inhabitants ufe fome art to give the heads of their children this figure, or whether it be owing to fome other caufe, or to an original defect of the whole generation, which in the first couple from whom this tribe Mm 2 defcended, -63 R £ M A R K S o n t ii e causes defcended, wis modelled by chance or art into that form, and OF VARI- „ , . , i.i.^. ,ir.. afterwards bourne inherent and natural to their offspring, it IS impoiiible to determine. The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, are all a chubbed race, probably becaufe they are defcended from a let of people of large limbs, living on the continent, but being llintcd by cold, and wants of all kinds, are degenerated into a fhort, and fquat figure, which keeps always the original model, or type, in the fize of the head; a circumflance alraofl generally obferved in dwarfs. The feet are generally thin, and by no means proportioned to the red of the body, in the New-Zeelanders, and the people of Tierra del Fuego, and they likewife have large knees. This may be eaiily accounted for from their general practice of filhing,. which confines them for days together to their canoes, without allowing them theufual exercife; and from their condant fitting upon their hams, which flrctchcs and expands the knees, and prevents the legs from being furnilhed with the fupplics neceffary for the increafe of thofe parts. The people in the illes walk much, but likewife fit on their hams, and we rind their knees alfo, and their whole legs enlarged, from the great exertion of thofe parts, which are net comprelTed and reflrained as ours, by fhoes and other articles of drefs. The faces are in general ftrongly marked with large features, and fomewhat broad, but prominent nofes, in all the iflanders of the the South Seas; and this feems to be, in my opinion, the character causes of the nation, or tribe, from which they arc defcended. The ™x*e ™ JE 1 i- El i) * more Weflern tropical ifles have inhabitants with lefs prominent nofes, larger mouths, and broader lips, which again muft he referred to the original tribe from whence they are derived. The laps of the ears are certainly cut and enlarged by conflantly keeping a fugar-canc leaf fcrolled up in this hole, in Ealter-Ifland, New-Caledonia, and partly in Tanna. The inhabitants of Tonga-Tabu, and the Friendly-Ifles, enlarge the laps of the ears like-wife, but without making an incifion, and have only two perforations in them, through which they thruft horizontally a fmall Hick, of the thicknefs of a ftrong goofe-quill. The greater part of the fame nation want the two firft joints of one, and. fometimes both the little fingers, which they cut off as marks of their grief, for. deceafei parents or relations. ajlil KrtudhJcc? <• . isxto qr.rv The inhabitants of O-Taheitee and the Society-Ifles, are cir-cumcifed ; but properly fpeaking, a part of the prepuce is not cut off, but a round fmooth ftick being thruft into it, it is flit through tike upper part, with a bamboo, to which they have given a fliarp edge; and then the parts are kept divided,, that they may not cover the glans again. The breaifs of the women of O-Taheitee, the Society-Ifles, Marquefas, and Friendly-Ifles, are not fo flaccid and pendulous, as causes as is commonly obferved in negro-women, and as we likewife no-°etiesI ttCOd them in all the Weftern iflands, in New-Zeeland, and fome of the females of the lower fort at the Society-Ifles. This has been lately afcribed to the manner of fuckling the children ; * but I am of opinion that it cannot be folely owing to this; for the women of the Arees never have them fo pendulous and long. I fhould rather afcribe it to the greater relaxation of the body in the women of the lower clafs, who are more expofed to the air and fun, than thofe of the Aree tribe. In the lame manner the negroe-women, as well as thofe in the Weftern Ifles of Mallicollo, Tanna, and New-Caledonia, are for the greater part more expofed to the air and fun, being conftantly naked above the waift. The gentle conft.ricr.ion of the upper part of the body, by the finer forts of cloth in which the O-Taheitean women of quality gracefully wrap themfelves, contributes likewife to keep the breafts high, and to prevent their flaccidity and pendulous ftate. I faw fome very old fat women in the Society-Ifles, whofe breafts were relaxed and enlarged, but by no means long and pendulous, which, however, was a very common circumftance in all the Women of the Weftern-Ifles, who had borne and fuckled children. The f .. * Bluraenbach dc Generis Humani Varie tate Nativa, p. 73. The chiefs in the Society-Iiles value themfelves on having long causes nails on all, or on fome of their fingers; it is an evident proof of ^y^*1 their indolence, and that they are not obliged to work, which would foon deprive them of this diflinguifliing mark of their pre- -eminence; they are, however, very careful in keeping thefe long nails clean, and free from any impurity; the cuftom of tattowing the faces in fpirals and various fcrolls, which prevails in New-Zeeland, and the various figures with which the natives of the Marquefas puncture their faces, naturally deftroys the growth of hair, and to this we muft afcribe it, that in both places, thofe who are much punctured, have very little or no beards at all. Thefe are the moft remarkable particulars which chiefly form the variety of the two great tribes, obferved by us in the South Sea ifles; from whence may be inferred the powerful influence of climate, food, and peculiar cuftoms upon the colour, fize, habit, and form of body, and certain defects, exceifes, or modifications of the parts; but it muft be acknowledged at the fame time, that the caufes here enumerated are not the only ones, and particularly that climate alone does not produce fuch extraordinary effects j, fat we find that the Dutch, who have been fettled at the Cape of Good Hope, during an uninterrupted courfe of 120 years, have conflantly remained fair and fimilar to Europeans in every refpect 3 aotwithftanding, if we compare them with the Hottentots, the nail tivc REMARKS.on the causes tive inhabitants of that part of the world, it appears, that exclufivc 0 f v a r I - eties of the way of living and. food, the climate alone cannot occafion this material and flriking variety j nay, that even thefe caufes, when united, are not fufficient to produce this effect, as fome of the very remote Dutch farmers live almoft in the fune manner as their neighbours the Hottentots; they have wretched huts, inftead of houfes; lead a rambling nomadic life, attend their herds and flocks all day Ibrig, and live upon milk, the produce of the chace, and the rlefh of their cattle ; it is therefore evident, that if climate can work any material alteration, it muft require an immenfe period of time to produce it; and as our lives are fo fhort, our hiflorical accounts fo imperfect, in regard to the migrations of the hunian fpecie-, ar.d our plv.lofophical obfervations on the fubject, all of a very modern date, it cannot be expected we can fpeak with precision on the fubject. odl noqn tcaof\uo lfcito^oq b::z ,Lcol ,31*01 It muft however be obferved, that when the fair Northern nations are removed into the hot tropical climates, they themfelves and their progeny foon change, and gradually become fomewhat more analogous in colour, and other circumftances,, to the former inhabitants, whole migration is'of fo old a date, that no memorial of it is prefented; llill, however, they may be eaf.iy diffin-guiihed from thefe aboriginal tribes : it is likewife true, that nations removed from the vicinity of the line toward, the poles, keep svxi 6 their HUMAN SPECIES. 273 their native colour longer without alteration than any other people causes r u T 1 • 1 ' 0f vari- coming from colder climates, and going to live in hotter regions; ETIFS< but fuch incidents muft always be compared under fimilar circumftances : for if two Europeans, equally fair, are removed to the fame hot climate, and the one is well dreffed, and avoids, as much as potiible, being expofed to the action of the air, and power of the fun ; whilft the other finds himfelf obliged to work in the open air, and has hardly any rags to cover his fkin; they will, of natural confequence, become widely different in colour ; moreover, if this diverfity in the mode of living be kept up for feveral generations, the character of both muft of courfe become more ftrikingly different. If we look upon the inhabitants of Denmark, we find them remarkably fair, and with blue eyes, and red hair. The Bohemians, Poles, Ruffians, and in general all the Slavonian nations, have a brownifh complexion, dark eyes, and black or brown hair, though fome of the latter undoubtedly live in higher latitudes than "the former. The reafon here certainly is not the climate, but the caufe is to be found in their migrations; the Gothic nations arc no *loubt the moft early inhabitants of the North, and therefore have ■had more time to become gradually fairer, than the greater part-of their neighbouring European tribes; and they likewife have had ^fs opportunities of marrying or becoming connected with fuch Southern nations, as had a brown complexion and black hair. N n The causes The Slavonian nations or Sauromata?, are later defcended from the °eties.1 Mcdes, * a nation formerly living in modern Perfias they were long fettled to the North of the Caucafus and Black Sea, a country which is very hot in fummer ; and in the fifth century they were near the Danube, from whence they gradually fpread to the countries, which they now occupy: this account rationally re-folves the ftrange phenomenon, viz. that they ftill keep the national character, of a Southern tribe. They migrated from the South in a later period than the Goths, and other Teutonic tribes; and have had more opportunities of mixing with Afiatic tribes of a brown complexion, than the Northern Danes and Goths. This inftance, I believe, confirms the above affertion ; and it likewife appears from thence, that the fairer nations being expofed to a more powerful fun in hot climates, foon acquire a browner complexion. I Iowever, when they have once attained to a certain ftandard character, they preferve it with very immaterial alterations; but I fuppofe that they make no confiderable change in their food, in their mode of drefling and living, and that they do not promifcuoufly intermarry with negroes, mulattos, or other aboriginal or mixed tribes of hot climates, in which cafes, there are juft reafons to fuf-| eet that their character and complexion muft gradually degenerate, and • Diod. Sicul. lib. ado. & Plin. Hill. Nat. lib. vi. c. 7, and become more and more debafed ; but if negroes, and other causes fwarthy tribes, be tranfplantcd into temperate, or nearly ccld cli- ' g^*?* mates, they do not immediately change, nor do they eaiily become fairer, but preferve their original complexion for a longer fpace of time. When they only intermarry in their own race, the change, if any, is imperceptible in their offspring for many generations. I will here only hint, at the probable caufes of this phenomenon ; the transition, from being brown in complexion to fair, is, it feems, more dillicult, than that from fair to brown ; the Epidermis admits the beams of the fun and the action pf the air, in colouring the reticulum mucofum brown ; but when once it is coloured, nothing is fufHciently powerful to extract the brown colour; and this feems to be founded in daily experience ; a man being perhaps only one day expofed to a powerful fun, fhall become ftrongly tinted with brown; when, to remove this hue, perhaps fix or eight months of clofe confinement, are not fuificient. It feems therefore more and more probable, that the firft flamen of an embryo partakes, much of the colour, fize, form and habit of the parents j apid that two different tribes, having gradually undergone a different round of climates, food, and cuftoms.; and coming after-Wards at different periods of time, and by different ways, into the fame climate, but preserving a different mode of living, and ben)-partly fupported by different food, may nevertheless preferve an N n 2 evident causes evident difference in their character, colour, fize, form, and habit of varieties. ^U^I^ tatf HUMAN SPECIES. 279 If we are defirous of tracing the races of all thefe islanders back causes of vari- to any continent, or its neighbourhood, we mull eaft an eye on EX1ES. a map of the South Sea, where we find it bounded to the Eaft by America, to the Weft by Afia, by the Indian Ifles on its North fide, and by New Holland to the South. At firft fight, it might feem probable, that thefe tropical ifles were originally fettled from America, as the Eafterly winds are the moft prevalent in thefe feas, and as the fmall and wretched embarkations of the natives in the South Seas, can hardly be employed in plying to windward. But if we confider the argument more minutely, we find that America itfelf was not peopled many centuries before its difcovery by the Spaniards. There were but two ftates or kingdoms on this immenfe continent, that had. acquired any degree of population, and made confiderable progrefs in civilization ; and they likewife did not originate earlier, than about 300 or 400 years before the arrival of the Spaniards. The reft was occupied by a few ftraggling families, thinly difperfed over this vaft tract of land, fo that fometimes not more than 30 or 40 perfons, lived in an extent of 100 leagues at very great distances from each other. Again, when the Spaniards difcovered fome of thefe iflands in the South Sea, a few years only after the difcovery of the continent of America, they found them as populous as we have feen them in our days: from whence it appears to be highly improbable, that thefe I ifles illes were peopled from America. If wc moreover confult the Mexican, Peruvian, and Chilefe vocabularies, * and thofe of other American languages, -f we find not the moft diftant, or even accidental fimilarity between any of the American languages, and thofe of the South Sea Ifles. The colour, features, form, habit of body, and cuftoms of the Americans, and thefe iflanders, are totally different; as every one converfant with the fubject, will ealily difcover. Nay, the diftances of 600, 700, 000, or even 1000 leagues between the continent of America and the Eafternmoft of thefe ifles, together with the wretchednefs and fmall fize of their veffels, prove, in my opinion, incontcftably, that thefe iflanders never came from America. We muft therefore go to the Weftward; let us begin with New Holland. All the former navigate rs, and efpecially Capt. Cook, in the Endeavour, found this immenfe continent very thinly inhabited. The diminutive fize of .its inhabitants, the peculiarity of their cuftoms and habits, their total want of coconuts, cultivated plantanes, and hogs, together with the moft miferable condition of their huts and boats, prove beyond all doubt, that the South Sea iflanders, are not defcended from the natives * In RelahctS Dirt". Mifceflan, vol. iii. f A Miinufciipt" Vocabulary of the Bra/.ilian language, ubl'ninvl) cotriiuiniciui by his Excellency the Chevalier I'i.nto. natives of New Holland. But, what is ftill more convincing, their causes language is totally different, as evidently appears from the examination g* * of a vocabulary obligingly communicated to me by Capt. Cook. We have therefore nothing left but to go further to the North, where the South Sea ifles are as it were connected with the Eaft Indian ifles. Many of thefe latter are inhabited by two different races of men. In feveral of the Moluccas is a race of men, who are blacker than the reft, with woolly hair, flender and tall, fpcaking a peculiar language, and inhabiting the interior hilly parts of the countries; in feveral ifles thefe people arc called Alfoories.* The fhores of thefe ifles are peopled by another nation, whofe individuals are fwarthy, of a more agreeable form, with curled and long hair, and of a different language, which is chiefly a branch or dialect of the Malayan. In all the Philippines, the interior moun- * tainous parts, are inhabited by a black fet of people, with frizzled hair, who are tall, 'hilly, and very warlike, and fpeak a peculiar language different from that of their neighbours. But the outskirts towards the fea are peopled with a race infinitely fairer, having long hair, and fpcaking different languages: they are of various denominations, but the Tagalcs, Pnmpa7igost and Biffayas, are O o m the * Franc. Valcntyn Befchryving van Amboina, ii deel. p. 77,-84. tod Dan. Bccckmart Voyage to Borneo, p. 43. who calls the Aboriginal people on Borneo Bj*j*f* 2Ss ft E M A R K S on t he causes the moft celebrated among them. The former are the more A,RI antient Inhabitants, and the latter are certainly related to the various tribes of Malays, who had over-run all the Eaft India iflands before the arrival of the Europeans in thofe feas. Their language fs likewife in many instances related to that of the Malays..* The ifle of Formofa or Tai-ovan has likewife in its interior hilly parts-, a fet of brown, frizzly haired, broad faced inhabitants; but the fhores, efpecially thofe to the North, are occupied by die Chinese, who differ even in language from the former. The ifles of New Guinea, New Britain, and Nova Hibernia have certainly black complexioned inhabitants, whofe manners, cuftoms, habit, form., snd character, correfpond very much with the inhabitants of the South Sea iflands belonging to the fecond race in Nova Caledonia, Tanna, and Mallicollo and thefe blacks in New-Guinea, are probably related to thofe in the Moluccas and Philippines. The Ladrones, and the new difcovered Caroline Iflands, contain a fet of people very much related to our firft race. Their fize, colour, habit, manners, and cuftoms, feem ftrongly to indicate this affinity; and they are according to the account of fome writers, 4* nearly * Hemando los Rl§s Corondy Rclacion de las Idas Malucas. Navarette Trattadosr. Hiftoricos de la Monarchia de China. Gondii Catreri il giro del mondo. Fr. Diego Bergano Bocabulario dc Pampango en Romance, Manila, 1732, fol. P. Juan de Noeula y d P-Pedro de San Lucar Vocabulario de la Lcngua Tagala, Manila 1754, fol. f Pere Gobien Hiftorio des Illes Marianes, Paris, 1700, i2mo, nearly related in every reipect to the Tagales in Lucon or Manilla, causes fo that we may now trace the line of migration by a continued OFvARl~ line of illes, the greater part of which are not above 100 leagues diflant from each other. We likewife find a very remarkable fimilarity between feveral words of the fair tribe of iflanders in the South Sea, and fome of the Malays. But it would be highly inconclufive from the fimilarity of a few words, to infer that thefe iflanders were defcended from the Malays: for as the Malay contains words found in the Perfian, Malabar, Braminic, Cingalefe, Javanefe, and Malegafs, * this mould likewife imply, that the nations fpeaking the above mentioned languages, were the offspring of the Malays, which certainly would be proving too much. I am therefore rather inclined to fuppofe, that all thefe dialects preferve feveral words of a more antient language, which was more univerfal, and was gradually divided into many languages, now remarkably different. Tlie words therefore of the language of the South Sea ifles, which are fimilar to others in the Malay tongue, prove clearly in my opinion, that the Eaftern South Sea illes were originally peopled from the Indian, or Afiatic Northern ifles; and that thofe lying more to the Weflward, received their firfl inhabitants from the neighbourhood of New Guinea. Oo 2 We • Roland'* PitTertanones Mifcellanc;?, vol. Sii. causes We have therefore, I apprehend, probable proofs that thefe | OIETVI^1 iflanders came originally from the Indian Asiatic illes, on which we have pointed out two races of inhabitants, fuch as we found them in the South Sea illes :. it Should feem therefore, that thefe two diftinct. races are defcended from the two distinct. Indian tribes. If we had good vocabularies of the various languages fpoken in thefe illes, we mould then be enabled to trace their original, back to a particular tribe. But as wc labour under a deficiency in this refpect, I have endeavoured in the annexed table to give a general view of many languages, which of courfe, mud confirm my former assertions. I Matter myfelf with having done as much as could be expected in my fituation, and therefore leave the reft to better in-it rutted, and. more enlightened ages. S E C T~ 1 A COMPARATIVE TABLE OF THE VARIOUS LANGUAGES IN THE ISLES OF THE SOUTH-SEA, AND of VARIOUS NATIONS TO THE EAST AND WEST OF IT. Englijh Society-JJh 's. Friendly-Ifles. I\] ew-7.ee land. Eqfter-IJland. Marquefas. New - Caledonia. Tanna. Mallicollo. Malay. Tag alas. Pampangos. New-Holland. | Mexican. Peruvian. Chileefe. i A-Tahiti ' - - a-tahaw - Tahai - - - Ko-tahai bo-dahai parai - - - - Ketiee ... - Tnkai - - - - ba.....- - yfc...... Ha, Metong .-- - ..... ce - - - Qnyn 2 A-R6on - Looa - Rooa - Rooa - bo-hooii pa*rdo - - - - c.:rroo ... - Ei-y - - . Dua...... - dalava, dalova - - - Ad-dua ------ ..... ome - - - - - Eppo 3 a-Toroo - « - Toloo - - Toroo - Toroo - - - bo do-oo - - par-ghen - - - - k:Jhar ... - Erey - - - - Teega..... - tatl, ytlo - - - - at-lo....... ----- Jei - - • - - Quila 4 a-Hia - - . - - va - - - T'fa - - - Hai - - - bo-ha - par-bai - _ - kafl - - - - Eb^ts - - - . Ampat..... - apat - . - - - - - apat Nahuy . - - Meli The Numerals < a-Reema - - - Nee ma - Recma R e( ma - bo-heema • panim - - - - karirrom - Erihm - - * Lima...... • .- - a at •* - Qucchu 6 a-II6no - - - - - Vano - * - Honnoo Mono - - - bo-nii - - panim-gh- c - Me-riddee - - Tfukai - - " - Cuyn 7 a-Hiddoo ■ - - Fidda - Widdoo - - Hiddoo bo-luddoo - paiiim-roo • - Me-carroo - - - Goory - - " . toojoo - - - - pito ------ pitu ..... - - - - Relgi 8 a-Wilrroo • - - Varoo - - - Warroo ■ - Varoo - - - bo-wahoo - panim-gh in - ■ - - Me-kahSr - - - Goo-rey ■ " . d clap an..... - valo ------ valo.....- - ..... - - Puia 9 a-Heeva. ■ - - Heeva - - - Heeva - - - Heeva - bo-hceva - - panim-bsi - - - - Me-kiiia - - - Goodbats - " - fambelan - - - . . - Siyam - - - - - Siam ..... - - - - Ailla a-Hooroo ■ - - Ongofooroo - Angahoroo Anahooroo bo-nahoo - parooneek ■ - karirrom*karirrom SeneSm - - Polo, pobo - - - - Apalo . Chunca - - Ihe arm or hand Recma - - - » - Neema - Ringa. - Rccina. - - - Heema - . - • - x - . _ « - Tangan, Lingan - - - camas - camavo ------ . . - - Maqui - J Puilpa (brachium) \_V Lie (mama) Arum ejlulentum, or eddoes Tarro - - - Tallo - - - Tallo - - - Tarro - . _ - - - Ooba . . - - Na% - - - . - . Kelady] 7, /Tallas - -' Bira - j Au;,'l'/j' [ favauicc TaraC' («»notc grandc) Tngui ...... - - -1 - . - Bananas, jkveet -phntanes Mailt - -. Fch-hcc 1 Foorec -" - " J (have none) f Maiga - - Maia - - - M ii n ghee - - - - Na-eek - - - - Pefang (Rumpb.) - - - - - . - - • < - - A Beard - - - - Oomce - - - - - Oomeemcea. - Goumcc - - Oomce Oomce Poon-wan S m ' ™ - N a - phodmoom . . . - Jangoot ..... - gumi, Baba - - ■ - - Gumi (harlado) Baba - - - Waller - _ - - - - Pajun The Belly - . - - 6b::o - - * - - Fattoo - - - K-6poo oboo - opoo - Ghung - - - D-ooboom - - - ba-Gabrrim - - Proot, Pooroot ... - Tiyan - Attian, Butad - - - - ----- - - - - Pue 7 he Bread-fruit m m Ooroo - - - - - Mice _ - - (have none) (have none) Ooroo, Mace - - - m - Gh-ooroo - • - - ba-rabe - " - Soccim, (Rumtf.) - - ..... . - - - - Maragan r Butawampa (navis) A Canoe - - - - a-Wnha - - - - -W%ga - - te-wagga - - wagga - - - Whua - - - - Andata - atay . - - Praw - - ... - . - Berai (navio pcqucTio) - Pangga, Lunday - - - - < Picfaampo (navicula) L Dolio, (lembus, canoa) 4 Chief - - - - A-Reeh - - • - - Hareekcc - ...... HarcLkee - - A-ka-ai - - Ajeeofhee o - Arcckce . - - - - :V - Raja...... - Hari...... Aii ------- - - - — - - Apu (dominus) J AP° J^Curaca (dominus) Coco-nuts ' - - Ncea - . • - Neeoo - - (have none) (have none) Neeoo - - - Noo - - - - - Neeoo - - Maroo - - ■ - Nccor - - - - Niog, Niyog - - • Dead, to die, kill - . matte - -Oorcc * - - - - matte - - - matte -- gli-oorcc (have none) (have none) halleek - - - "m - - marookee - - - mats - f ca-matayan - - -\ patay, mattee - - - f ca-matayan^hallimolan - \ patay (to kill) - - - \ matai ------ - . m * " - Rotta . - - . • - - • J Lay (mori) \ Langawyn (necare) - -TV' VV tl a * ■ * On-ouicc ■ f l.'OVC 71071C) (have none) (have none) Anjing..... - Darapova - - - Dapur ---«.- - ainoo - hynoo * ainoo - hyridoo - ' -1 - Nooee - - no-ai - - - - - bntun The Ears - - - - Tarreha - - Taringa. - Taren^a Taireeati - - Poneenohoe Galinga i- - - - Fereeling - - - Talingan - - - Tclinga - - Taynga..... Bdhig-bug,Tii\iiig:i, (ioredears) Melea - - - - - - - - Pilutn lii - - - - c-kii - - - ckfii - - - magho - mfa, (viiluals) hoot ■ " * - 3nuee - - Amgam - Macao - - - - - - cain ------ tan, afan, putat - - - - bootina ... - - - - Jen The Eye - . - - Matta - - - - - Matta - - - Matta - - - MiUta - - - Matta - - - Tecwanya - - Namee, nci:me - Mai tang - - - Mita...... - Mata...... Mata - - - - - - - Meul - - . . - - - ■ Ne AFifh - . . Etya - - - - - - Eeka - •- - Ecka - - - Eeka - - - Eeiya - - - Ta-ccka V»" ■ - - - Ta-eeka - ' - . - Eekan - . Yfda...... alan - " ..... - - Challua J Foot - _ _ awai - - awai - Hai-wai awai - - - awai - hca. ... - Nailoo - - - - ReeHn - - - - Cak-kcc - - calis (foot of an animal) JJitis ...... - Edamal . - - Namon A Friend _ Hoa, Taio - - - - Whoa - - - H6a - - - Heeo - _ - - - . alee, muilsc - - - Tomar, tomarro - Sobat, Toolan - r 'Fiap,Lagoyo,Lagoma -J CatOto, Calagoma,Ca "1 Lugud, Paflyag - -■ f Cuiang, Dugo - - :}■--- - - Great - m _ a-rahai, noocc - - - Arahai - - - arahai, nooee - nooee - ..... - faralhoree - - - befarr ------ llagoya, Caffi - " . Daqviila - " J Pagul ------ - Hatun - - buta A Hat het - - .. - Tocc - - - Toghcc - Toghcc Toee - Babbilnew - - - - Piha . - . - balionoL kapak campa . Daras, Pan-daras - - paras - - - A ' (- * Hair - - • - arouroo, hooroo- hodroo Lo-6oroo - - hooroo oowho - Poon 'm' m m - Gvont'om - - Mcmbrum-baitun?: Rambooc - . Bohoc fc .1- h - Lonco The Bead - ■ A Hog - ' ' a-oopo Booa . - - dopo - BooScca - uopo - -(have none) A 6po -(have none) oopo - - -Rouaha - • (have none) - kaiah - - -Booga - - - Ba ecne - Brrrooiis - Capala -- Babbi, Bobbec - . Olo - ....r " . Babuy " Babi....... * ^'agghccgee . (have no7ic) Tzontecontli ' - , f J Lonco } Towongen - Cuchy - - - Efarre - - te-uharre - - - Bahay..... Balay...... Calli - - A Houfe - " - *■ tc-\vharrc - tc-farre te-harrc Ooma ... - Neema. - - - - Nacemo . Rooma - " - • . - . - - - Whcnnooa Whcnnooa - - . . - Land - - - Fannooi - Whcnnooa Ilcnnooa - - halap ... - Feonooft - - - Na-6n - - * . Darat -r Kcchcel 1 in quantity -" \ fedekit J in magnitude Lan - - - Lada - - Tue ccfee - - cetec - onti, bali-balian - intak, lad - - - . . - Pichi Little - ' ■ - - - cLdgcc - - eetec - - - ectcc - ..... . - - * ' ~ - J Met" • - ■ . . . Tahata - TYmjratTi Papa - - - TcLtcc - - - alt - - - Arroman - - - Burling - . Manufia, Orang - - - Tavo..... Tavo...... - Bam ma - - - - Runa - - Wento cfhc Moon . - - - Mara ma - Marama - Murama Maramara - • Mal6k, Maihecna - - Magpo* - Boolan ----- ------ Bulan...... - - - - Cuilla - (jhe Mouth - mm. - Ootoo - Oodoo - Motod - - - _ Taroocc - Bangoon - - Bunganga, Afboc - - . - Ycmbe, Jembi - - Oun Noo-anya - - -Mrmln-ya " ' Chal - The Nofe - - - Ey'hoo - - - Eehoo - - - Ehecoo Eeyoo - Eiyoo - - - - Baflcc-angom - - Nooflun • - - Ju Potatoes (fwect) Goomarro K -..... - Goomalla - - Goomarra - * - - - - - - . - - - _ - - «, The Sea - - Tai - - . - - - Tai - - - Mcninna D.Jlai - Tafl'ec - . - - Naras - - - - L|pot..... fDaggat . - - . \ Laot, (mat aha) - - 1 Dayat..... J Laut (tnar aha) - - - - Louquen The Sun - " Kra - - - - - Elooa - - - hcrit - - - Era - - • . - - - - at " - - - Mery - - - - Ma-Ryo - - - Mata-harree - - Arao - - Aldao ...... - Galan - - - . m - - Inri - Ante Water - - Evai - - - - - - Eviii • - - Evai « - • Evai ■ Evai « - T-evai, ooe - T-avai - - r - Ergour - - - - Ayer r Ttibig..... ■ < 'FanibaangiyJv/'^'.'^/i/ rSabug, Danum - -.' J Tabang (Jrejb water) - - > Poorai - - - - Acl - - - Unuy - - ko - Waheinc - L'FaHik (falt';valcr) LAlat (fait water) - - - J A Woman p . . Wahcinc _ . - Fefcine . Waheinc - Tama - Bran ... - Rabin - - Parampooang • - Babaye - - - - . Babai - - - - - - - Mootjcl - • - - - Domo Oowhoe - - . . Oofec - - (have none) 1 Oofec - - - - - Noo-6ok - - - Nanram - Ooby befarr - - - - - Obi..... - Ubi - -..... SECTION IV. Various Pragrcfsy which the Nations we faw> have made from the Savage State towards Civilization. p Quod cuif^te outulerat tv a:t>m fortuna, kerebat, SrOXTE sua, suj q,yi&qjje Valere, . & V1VERE doctus. Lucretius* REVIOUS to other positions, mankind feem not originally progress j • • of sa- to have lived in the extremities of what we commonly call vages the temperate zones y nor to have chofen thefe cold, inhofpitahle climates for their abode. The mild happy climate in, or near the tropics, the rapid growth of animals and vegetables in thefe places; the facility of. procuring food, and fheiter againil the inclemencies of the weather • the variety and fucccilion of fine and wholefcme ' fpontanous roots and fruit, all lead us to fuppofe that man was originally fettled there. We ought to be confirmed in this idea, by considering that the firfl nakednefs of man in a favage flate, is by no means calculated to bear the viciiTitudes and inclemencies of the Northern and Southern extremities of the temperate, or the Vlgour of the two frozen., zones -y and that if ever men are found 6 fettled progress fettled in thefe unhappy regions, it has been owing either to chance of sa- v ages, or cruel neceiuty. The inhabitants of the iflands in the South Sea, though unconnected with highly civilized nations, are more improved in every refpecl, as they live more and more diflant from the poles. Their food is more varied, and abundant • their habitations more roomy, neat, and adapted to the exigencies of the climate ; their garments more elegan-t, improved, and ingenious; their population is greater ♦ their focietics better regulated; their public fecurity againfl foreign invaders more firmly eftablifhed • their manners more courteous, elegant, and even refined; their principles of morality better underflood, and generally practifed; their minds capable of, and open to instruction • they have ideas of a fupreme being, of a future flate, of the origin of the world; and the whole contributes greatly to increafe their bappinefs, in its natural, moral and focial branches, both as individuals, and as a nation. On the contrary, the -wretched mortals towards the frozen zone, are the moft debafed of all human beings, in every refpeft. Their food is fcanty, loathfome, and precarious; their habitations the moll miferable huts that can be imagined; their garments rough, and by no means fumcierrt to fcreen them rgainft •the rigours of the inhofpitable climate; their focietics thin, and without any mutual ties or aftedion ; expofed to the infults of all . . invaders, HUMAN S P E C I E S. 287 invaders, they retreat to the moil inhofpitable rocks, and appear progress infeniiblc to all that is great and ingenious; a brutifh flupidity is °AGS^~ their general characterillic; and whenever they are the flrongcfl, they are treacherous, and act in oppofition to all the principles of humanity and hofpitality. May we not then infer from the above premifes, that man unconnected with highly civilized nations, approaches in more happy climates, nearer to that flate of civilization, and happinefs, which we enjoy; that human nature is really debafed in the ravages, who inhabit the frozen extremities of our globe, and that their prefent fituation is as it were, a preternatural" flate. I wifh not to be mifunderflood; the happinefs which European nations enjoy, and are capable of, becomes, on account of the degeneracy of a few profligate individuals, very much debafed, and mixed with the miferies, which are entailed upon our civilized focieties, by luxury and vice \ if therefore the felicity of feveral European or Afiatic nations, feem to be inferior to that of fome of the nations in the South Sea, it is owing to the above-nientioned caufes, fince it does not feem to follow, that a high degree of civilization mufl neceffarily lefTen, or deflroy natural, nioral, or focial happinefs. I believe the nations inhabiting the frozen extremities of our globe to be degenerated and debafed from that original happinefs, which the tropical nations more or lefs enjoy. I was firfl perfuaded into progress into this belief, from the flate in which we found the inhabi- o F s A — vAGjis tants- Sierra del Fuego and New Zeeland, and by comparing .their fituation, with that of their neighbours. The people on Tierra del Fuego, about Chriflmas Bay, were not numerous; and if we are to judge from the general appearance of the country, and from the numbers feen by other navigators, there cannot be a great population in thefe inhofpitable climates. Thefe were the Southernmofl lands, wherein we found human creatures, who not only appeared to us to be wretched, but to be themfelves confcio.us of their own mifery, and forlorn fituation ; feveral boats, with natives, came to our fhip, and none of them had any other garment than a piece of Seajikio, which did not reach fo far as to cover half their buttocks, and came barely over the moulders , their head and feet, and whole body, were expofed to a degree of cold in the midfl of fummer, which appeared to us fhajp, though we were well clad, having found the temperature of the air generally from 46° to 500 of Fahrenheits thermometer; neither the men nor the women, had any thing to cover their privities; their bodies fmelled highly ofFenlive from the rancid train oil which they frequently ufe, and the rotten feals flefh which they eat; and I am of opinion, their whole frame of body is thoroughly penetrated with this difagreeable fmcll. Their habitations confiil of a few flicks, tied together, fo as to form a kind of ihell, HUMAN SPECIE S. 289 flicll, for a low, open, roundlfh hut; they join the neighbouring progress of SA- flirubs together, and cover the whole with fome wifps of dry grafs, vAGES. and here and there a few pieces of feals-fkin are tied over ; one fifth or fixth of the whole circumference, is left open for a door, and the fire place; their uteniils and furniture, which we had an opportunity of obferving, confifled of a bafket, a kind of mat-fatchel, a bone-hook, fixed to a long flick of a light kind of wood, for difcngaging the fhell-fifh from the rocks, a rude bow and fome arrows. Their canoes arc made of bark, which is doubled round a pliant piece of wood, by way of gunwale,-and a few flicks, of about the thicknefs of half an inch, arc bent on the whole infidc of the canoe, clofe to one another, fo as to form a kind of ftrong deck, both for expanding the whole frame of the canoe, and preventing its bottom from being broken by walking on it; in one part of thefe poor embarkations, they lay up a little heap of foil, and on it they keep a conftant fire, even in fummer. Their food, befides the abovc-Mentioned feals, are fTiell-fifh, which they broil and devour; they were fhivering, and appeared much affected with the told : they looked at the fliip and all its parts with a ftupidity and indolence, Which we had not hitherto obferved in any of the nations in the South Seas, had all an empty flare in their countenances, and ex-pi'efled hardly any delires or withes to pollers any thing which we Gfiered, and thought it might become dcfirablc to them ; they were P P dcflitutc 290 REMARKS on t 11 k progress deftitute of all convenience or eafe, mewed no figns of joy or happi- OF SA-' vages. ne^s> anc^ feeme^ to De infenfible to all natural, moral, or focial feelings, and enjoyments, and occupied with nothing but their wants and wretchednefs. This little tribe, obferved by us, I fuppofe to be fome outcafts of their brethren; for our officers, who landed in Succefs-Bay, reported, that the people there were much happier than thofe in Chriftmas-llarbour. If we again compare them with their neighbouring tribes on the continent, fuch as they are defcribed by Mr. Thomas Falkner, who refided near 40 years among them, we mull confefs, that thofe arc in every re-(pec"l fuperior ; they have horfes, and a greater variety of food, fupplying themfelves by the chace; their garments are better calculated to defend them againft the injuries of the climate; their arms both often five and defensive, prove genius and an exertion of mind, of which the poor inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego feem. utterly incapable; they have a kind of civil government, fome regulations for the fecurity of their focieties; leaders and chiefs are at the head of their tribes in war, and in peace. Their behaviour is by no means inequitable, harm, or inhumane ; their minds fhew vigour and courage, their language is copious, elegant, and has marks of a peculiar culture. In fhort they are infinitely lefs wretched than their neighbours on Tierra del Fuego, who, to all appearance, arc only degenerated into that forlorn condition in which we found them funk. Dusky II U M A N SPECIES. 291 Dusky Bay is the Southernmofl: place on New-Zeeland, progre an of SA- we touciied at; the latitude of the place where the aflronomers r v a g e s. obfervatory was fixed, being 45" 4/ South. We found this bay, which has feveral leagues of extent branching out into fpacious inlets, flocked with many kinds of fowl, crowded with prodigious quantities of the befl flavoured fifh, and its rocks covered with numerous herds of feals; all which abundance would naturally invite people, who folely fubfifl upon fifli and fowl, to fettle here, and to become very numerous. But we found only three families in all this bay: their habitations confifled of a few flicks flack into the ground, and meanly covered with flags and ruflies : they had no idea of cultivating or planting; their garments were fuch as covered the upper part of the body, and left the legs and part of the thighs expofed, and they fquatted down to flicker them under their clothes, which commonly were remarkably uncleanly ; and the fimilies fettled here, feemed to be independent of each other. When we came to Queen Charlotte's Sound, we found on the fhores of that equally fpacious water, four or five hundred people, and fome of them paid deference to feveral old men, as Trmgoboobce, Goobaya, and Tciratoo, who were it feems their chiefs. Fifh were in this place equally abundant,but of a fort inferior in tafle and goodnefs; wild fowl, efpecially of the aquatic kind, were fcareer, and we faw but one feal, though our two fhips P p 2 refided progress refided here at different times. The people were clad in the fame vages OMUinee as in the former place; their habitations, efpecially on their hippas or ftrong holds, were better, cleanlier, and lined on the inlide with reeds; they had no plantations, but they knew the names of Tarro and Goomalla, which the inhabitants of the tropical ifles give to the Arum efculentum and the Convolvulus Batatas* This, in my opinion, evidently proves that they were defcended from a tribe, who had cultivation, and who had' loft or neglected this way of supporting themfelves, either becaufe they found greater plenty of nth, and animal food ; or becaufe they fled their country in fo precipitate a manner, that they could not take any roots with them; or laftly, from mere fupinenefs and indolence; for we fiw them eat fern roots,, a very infipid, coarfe, and wretched food. Whatever may be the real caufe, the climate would certainly allow of planting eddocs and potatoes,, being in 41°. 5'. South latitude ; and it is evident that the natives were degenerated and debafed from a more perfect and more happy flate. The inhabitants of the Northern ifle, who came off to us, had better boats, and were clad in finer garments ; but we could not make many obfervations on their fituation, as we faw them only in a tranfitory manner; however, the publifhed accounts of the preceding voyage, and thofe which I was favoured with by Capt. Cook, agree in this, that they had very extensive, regular, well-cultivated plantations, inclofed in very firm and neat fences, made of HUMAN SPECIES. 293 of reeds; that they acknowledged the authority of a chief in a progress OF S A. *" dillrict of 80 leagues at lead:, where our people found jufticc ad-miniflcred by inferior chiefs; and that they feemed to live in that diftrict in greater fecurity and more comfortably than in any other part of the ifle. Hawk/worth, vol. 3. p. 470. The natural inferences drawn from thefe data, feem to prove, that mankind being more numerous in or near the tropics, and very thinly fcattered towards the cold extremities of our globe, the human fpecics was originally fettled in or near the tropics, and from thence fpread towards the extremities. Secondly, the inllanccs given here, evince likewife the truth of what we advanced before, viz. that the human fpecies, when unconnected with the highly civilized nations, is always found more debafed in its phyfical, mental, moral and focial capacity, in proportion as it is removed from the tropical regions. It feems therefore probable that favage nations in cold climates, contract a harfhnefs or rigidity in their fibres and frame of body, which caufes fluggifhnefs, indolence and flupidity of mind ; their hearts grow infenlible to the dictates of virtue, honor and confciencc, and they become incapable of any attachment, affection or endearment. Let us now turn our eyes to O-TAHEITEE, the queen of tropical ifles, and its happy inhabitants, and extend our view to all the Society and the Friendly Ifles. Though we found population to 1 be progress be very great in proportion to the extent of country, yet we were vag^s fod to believe that a much greater number of inhabitants might be fupported on thofe illand?, and in ages to come might be found there, if no accidents fliould happen, or unlefs fuch manners and regulations mould be-introduced as tend to check or flop the progress of population. The fertility of the foil on thofe extensive plains, and numerous valleys, the rapid vegetation and conftant fuc-cefiionof coco-nuts, bread-fruit, apples, bananas, pkhtaftes, eddocs, potatoes, yams, and many other sine fruits and roots; the regular division of lands in private property, well and neatly fenced in ; the particular care fhewn by the inhabitants to the dogs, hogs, and fowls, which are their only domeftic animals; the convenience and ncatnefs of their houfes and boats, their ingenious contrivances for fiftiing ; the tafte and elegance (hewn in many of their utcnfils and houfliold furniture; their drefles fo well adapted to the climate, fo curiously varied both in their texture and dyes* their delicacy of manners, true courtefy and politenefs; their cnearful and open behaviour; their goodness of heart, and hofpitality; their knowledge of plants, birds, fifhes, (hells, infects, vermes, and all the branches of animated nature ; their acquaintance with the ftars, and their motion, with the feafons and winds; their poetry, tongs, dances, and dramatic performances ; their theogeny and cofmogonyj the various ranks and regulations of civil fociery; their cftahlish- 4 ments ments for defence, and for repelling and retaliating injuries progress offered to their ftate; all thefe confpire to prove that they are °F SA" infinitely fuperior to the before mentioned tribes; and even point out the true caufes of their greater happinefs. The climate certainly contributes a great deal to their felicity, and might be juftly deemed the main fource of it. However, as we found farther to the Weft, new ifles in the fame happy climate, and in the fame latitude, the inhabitants of which, were nevcrthelefs, infinitely inferior in point of civilization, and more defective in the enjoyments of real happinefs; it feems to follow, that there muft be, befides the above-mentioned, fome other caufe of this remarkable circumflance. All the ideas, all the improvements of mankind relative to fciences, arts, manufactures, focial life, and even morality, ought to be conhdered as the fum total of the efforts of mankind ever fnee its cxijlence. The firft original tribes no doubt kept up connexions with one another, and thus they propagated and hoarded up ufeful knowledge, eftablifhed principles, regulations, and mechanical trades for the benefit of their poflerity. The fciences, the .arts, manufactures, regulations, and principles of Egypt, and of the Eaftern nations, were known, and partly adopted by the Greeks, from whom the Romans received their improvements; and we nave recovered many, which were in ufe among the ancients, after X they 296 REMARK Son the progress they had been long neglected. From Chaldea and from Egypt OF SA- vages. two remarkable fyftems branched out, the one over India, China, and the extremities of the Eaft, and the fecond over the Weft and North. Here and there we are ftill able to difcover fome remains; but in the interior Southern parts of Africa, and over the whole continent of America, few, if any, traces of thofe ancient fyftems, have been difcovered. The more a tribe or nation prefcrved of the ancient fyftems, and modified and adapted them to their particular fituation, climate and other circumftances, or raifed new ideas and principles upon the firft bafe or foundation, the more improved, civilized and happy muft that tribe or nation be. The more a nation or tribe has forgotten or loft of the ancient fyftems ; their fituation, climate, and other circumftances, having obliged them to neglect: or to depart from them without making up the defect by new principles and ideas, founded on the fame plan, the more that nation or tribe is found to be degenerated, debafed, and wretched. Various circumftances may have caufed the lofs and neglect of the ideas and improvements of the fyftem, which their progenitors or motherr-tribe ftill preferved; a number of men are obliged for inftance, on account of interline feuds in a nation, to abandon their native-country, and the climate wherein they were born and educated, in order to place themfelves beyond the reach either of the power or outrage of their enemies 5 they wander over a great HUMAN SPECIES. 297 a great fpace of unoccupied ground, which is fituated in a colder progress of savages. climate, than that which they formerly inhabited; the tropical fruits which grew in their native country fpontaneoufly, are no longer to be met with j the roots, winch there, by flight cultivation, gave them abundance of food, require here a very laborious and toilfome hufbandry, before they yield the bare neceffaries of life; becaufe vegetation is not fo luxuriant, fo rapid, and powerful in climates, remote from the fun. Let us now fuppofe this clan, grown by length of time into a nation ; new divifions fu-pervening, force another portion, flill further from the benevolent influence of the fun, where they find none of the fpontaneous tropical fruits, where even the roots, their former fupport, will not thrive, on account of the rigours of their winters ; they lofe therefore, at once, their fubiiilence; and though they were obliged, in their former country, to toil during a Mated time, they had, however, the fatisfaction of collecting a certain food; but now, unacquainted as they are, with the fpontaneous productions of this new climate, which might, perhaps, fupply them with eatables, they muft roam over their new country in queft of precarious food; they try to kill by force or addrefs, fome animals or birds or to catch fome fifh in the rivers or feas, to procure a fubfiftence; this entirely alters their mode of living; their habits, their language, and I might almoft fay their nature; their ideas are quite changed, Q^q the 2g3 R E M ARKS on the progress the improvements, which they had in their former vfituatiom v\ges~ are neglected and loft; the tree, from which they formerly made their garments, grows not in this new climate ; their retreat was fo precipitate, that they had not time to take fome plants or fhoots with them, nor any of the domcfticated animals, whofe fkins afforded them garments in their former country ; they however, find themfelves under the neccflity of procuring fome covering to fcreen their bodies againft the rigours of the climate, and the inclemencies of wind and rain, to which they muft now be more expofed than in their former fituation, their mode of living beinff quite altered. They find fome grafs, or the filaments of fome other plant, or the ikins of birds and feals, to anlwer this pur-pofc, and they ufe them accordingly; their rambling way of life, in queft of food, obtained by the chace or fifhing, obliges them to change their abode as often as the game becomes fcarce, or the fifh lefs numerous; they think it therefore not worth their while to build neat, large, and convenient houfes; a temporary hut, jiift fufficient to* fcreen them from the keen winds and the frequent mowers of rain, fnow, and hail, is erected by them, in every new place to which they remove. The fathers retain perhaps the names and ideas of things, which they enjoyed in their former fituation ; their children lofe the idea, and the third or fourth generation, forget even the names by which they are called; the new « HUMAN SPECIEs. 299 V new objects, which they find and begin to ufe, oblige them to in- progress of savages* vent new names for them, and for the manner in which they are employed ; and thus even the language becomes altered; nay, their way of fubfifling, by the chace or.fifhing, obliges them to live in fmall tribes, diflant from others, in order to facilitate their fub-fiflence. Formerly, when moderate hufbandry and the fpontaneous growth of fine fruits in a happy climate, enabled numerous tribes to live clofe together, they then enjoyed more leifure for focial life, they had the advantage of being mutually and powerfully afiifled, and they communicated their improvements to each other: now they are deprived of the charms and choice of fociety, which is confined to the few individuals of a family, or a fmall tribe ; they are deflitute of any afliflance or protection from their •friends; expofed to the fierccnefs of rapacious animals, perhaps to the barbarity of fome other tribe of favages ; incapable of undertaking any work which requires the united efforts of a multitude; they make no other improvements, but thofe which their narrow understanding comprehends, and is capable of; there being lefs chance of meeting with a man of genius, in a fmall, than in a greater number -of human beings. Conflantly intent upon the means of procuring 'the necefiarics of life, efpecially food, every other purfuit, p\ other knowledge is neglected, and the ideas therefore, which are not connected with the chace or fifhery, arc abfolutely loft to this Q^q 2 race progress race of men. They muft therefore of courfe, by degrees, degene<-°J- r*.e rate into a debafed forlorn condition, and all the notions of im-provements, the work of ages, and the refult of the reafon and the wits of thousands be forgotten ; their reafon, for want of being ex-ercifed, is at laft brought fo low, that nothing but the mere ideas of animal life, the inftincts of brute creation remain ; flrangers to focial feelings, and ftill more fo to focial virtues, they herd together by cuftom; fenfuality, and the enjoyment of the few wants of nature, make the whole field of their brutifh defires; and of that bright image of divinity, of expanded and fublime knowledge, of the confeioufnefs of good and virtuous actions, of the noble and generous ftruggle in the caufe of virtue and focial happinefs, hardly a few fparks remain. If we were to fum up the arguments, and evidence which we ought to collect from the above facts, it is certain, that on one fide themildnefs of the climate contributes greatly to foften the manners of mankind ; and the rigours of the extremities of our globe, renders the fibres and whole frame of our bodies more harm, rigid, and infenfible, which undoubtedly operates upon the mind, and the heart, and almoft totally deftroys all focial feelings; on the other fide we find, that the influence of the climate far from being the only caufe of the degeneracy of mankind on the extremities of our globe, evidently points us out the fecond great great caufe of degeneracy of the human race, the want of education, progress by which means the moft ufeful notions, tending to improve our OF SA~ ' e r vages. phyfical, mental, moral, and focial faculties, are propagated, perpetuated, and laftly increafed by new additional ideas. Before I conclude this chapter, I beg leave to add a few reflections. We have reprefented the favages living on the frozen extremities of our globe, as moft debafed, degenerated, and wretched : and it is nevcrthelefs certain, that though their condition appear to us forlorn, and they themfeves be in our eyes the outcafl of the human fpecies; they do not think fo meanly of their own fituation; nay, fo far from fuppofing themfelves unhappy; they rather glory in the advantages of their way of living, and none of them would exchange his cold climate for one that is more temperate, his wretched hut for a comfortable European houfe, nay, not even for the molt magnificent palace; he thinks his piece of feals-fkin a more becoming drefs than the beft filks and brocades ; nor would he prefer a well-feafoned ragout to a piece of ftinking feals flefh. To be controuled by wife laws and regulations, is what the fpirit of fome of thefe rambling barbarians could never brook; and independence, licentioufnefs, and revenge their favourite pailions, render them abfolutely unfit for any well-regulated fociety, and caufe in them a general contempt for our way of living, where order and n fubordination. 3o2 k .REMARKS o n tWj. h progress fubordination take place. They think themfelves happy, nay, v 1G Fs happier than the beft regulated nation, and every individual of them is fo perfectly contented with his condition, that not even a wifh is left in his breaft for the leaft alteration. * But a mind accuftomcd to meditation, and able to affix to every thing its true,value, muft certainly perceive, that this fituation of the favage cr barbarian, is nothing more than a ftate of intoxication ; his happineft M contentment founded on mere fenfuality, is tranfitory and debase; the fum of all his enjoyments is fo fmall, fo defective in its partfcellar's, and of fo little yahie, that a man in his fenfes cannot hut think himfelf happy that he was born in a civilized nation, educated in a country where fociety is as much improved as is poffible j that he belongs to a people who are governed by the mil deft laws, and have the happieft conftitntion of government, being under the influence of civil and religious liberty. If therefore the happinefs of the favage is not fo eligible, as fome philofophers will make us believe, who never viewed mankind in Tim's applliable to x\c favages. of Tierra del Fuego, art! 'the barbarians of Netf '.'rcland : but the iuhitbitams ' Vnouledpe, of perfons from the latter iflee, who willingly offered to go wiih us K> Europe, II U M A N S P E C I E S. 303 in tliis debafed fituation it is certainly the wifh of humanity, and progress of real goodnefs, to fee all thefe nations brought nearer to a more .^ improved, more civilized, and more happy {fate, without the addition of thofe evils, which abufes, luxury and vice have introduced among our focietics. Human nature is capable of great improvements, if men only knew how to proceed in order to effectuate this great and noble purpofe. The greater part of them are too unreafonable in their willies, too rapid and violent in their proceedings, and too fmguine in their expectations. They with this change fhould take place immediately, their methods for bringing it about are contrary to human nature* and fometimes they overlook the progrefs of improvement, becaufe it is flew. If wc confider the progrefs of man as an individual, from birth to manhood, we find it very flow and gradual, though ever fo much care be taken to improve the body, as well as the intellectual and the moral faculties, and to inftill early into the mind the feeds of focial virtue. We can never pais over the years of childhood, and youth, and make infants men; not even by the moll accom-plifhed education. Thus likewife, the approach towards civile zation, mtut be left to time ; it is a work of ages to bring the mind of a whole nation to maturity. Nor can it be forced or accelerated by the belt inltructions. From anhiulHy nations ripe: 'vAoJavagt's, from this ftate they enter into that of barbari/hi, before they are z capable progress capable of civilization, and how many degrees of refinement does vages, not cvcn tllis lltuatlon admit? Infancy is in individuals, merely animal life. In the fame manner the lowed degree of degeneration in collective bodies is animality. Childhood is undefigning, harmlefs, and innocent; private property and perfonal fecurity of others, are ideas which the boy is to be taught when he emerges from infancy, for he knows of no other law than that of the ftrongeft. The savage has likewife no idea of the perfonal fecurity of any other befides himfclf, nor thinks better in regard to private property : he kills where he is the ftrongeft, and he robs where he cannot othcrwife obtain the pofleflion of what he covets. Adohfcence is the age of violent paflions, breaking out in outrages againft all the principles of morality; carrying away like an impetuous flood whatever oppofes its defires: the youth has the dawning of understanding and reafon, and if the mental faculties are not improved in this ftage, and the paflions made fubfervient to reafon, he degenerates into profligacy, and brings on his own ruin. The barbarian is likewife fiery and violent, without controul and principles, nay, capable of the moft deteftable outrages: nations in this ftate want education and improvement more than in any other. Manhood and a mature age, are fimilar to the civilized state, and have therefore feveral degrees. H U. M A N ; S P .E. C I E S, 305 ..Theft remarks .will giveta-general outline, of the real condition progress of S aa of. the-&-nations,-! ,4>£-the' improvements which philqfopliers can VAGKS, with propriety'wim for,them, and of the- progrefs 'they may be expected to have made from the little ,intercourfe with Europeans. I have been, frequently afked, what-improvements and progrefs in civilization the inhabitants of the iflands in the South Sea appeared to me to have made fince Europeans came among them, A few years; in regard tb a nation, are a few moments in a man's life* a man may learn Viery ufqful" things materially affecting his fituation irt life in a few hours; but it would be next to importable ,to point out in his character, his mode of living,' his converfation, and lm a#ionsra few hour's after thisiacquiiition, the advantages he can or -will derive from thence; .this lipids likewife in regard to nations ; a few years cannot bring on a material change among them. We carried hogs.iand fowls to New-Zeeland, and dogs and pigs to New,-Caledonia; dogs to Tanna;; Mallicollo, and the Friendly Illes, ' and goats to Q-Taheitcc; 'thefe animals will no -doubt"in time caufe a material change in the way of living of. thefe -nations; but as-.'tve could give no more than, one couple of goats and vv-fevv; of-the other.ippxics of animajs,it wiUl-require it fuccelhon ♦of,-years before they can. multiply, and become fo numer'oiis, 'that £very inhabitant, may have feveral of them* and thus be enabled to 'Cinpjoy them in .food-.-, Thaiufe of iron -toolb' is, another artkle, auilliilni R r which progress which would, in time, become a great improvement to their me- of s a— vaces chanical employments; but as thofe tools which we procured for them were by no means in fuflicient number, that every man might be provided with a compleat fet, the changes which they have produced, are, as yet, very inconfiderable; nay, as thefe ifles have no productions, which might tempt any European nation to fet on foot a regular and conftant navigation to them ; it is probable, that in a few years they will be entirely neglected ; if therefore the iron tools imported, had been fo numerous, that every man could have had his fhare, the natives would have entirely laid afide their own ftone hatchets, ftone chiflels, and other implement?, and would, perhaps, by length of time, have forgotten the manner of making them. This circumftance, muft of courfe, have become very diftrefling to them; ufed to our tools, without porTerl"-ing the art of making them, or the ftill greater art of procuring iron, from whence they might be manufactured, and having laid alide and forgotten the method of forming their fubftitutes of ftone, they would, inftead of being improved> have been thrown back feveral ages in their own improvements. We did not communicate intellectual, moral, or focial improvements to the natives of the ifles; nor could thefe be expected from the crew of a man of war; thofe who might be deemed capable of enlarging their minds with new ideas relative to fcience, arts and manufactures, of inftilling HUMAN SPECIES. 307 inftilllng the principles of true morality and virtue into their progress of savages. breafts, or of communicating to them notions of a well regu- lated government, and diffufing throughout a numerous nation, that fpirit of charity, attachment, and difinterefted love of the community, which ought to glow in the breafl of every reafonable member of fociety, had neither time nor leifure for fuch an undertaking in the few days of our abode among them, efpecially as none had a thorough knowledge of the feveral languages, and as each had a different purfuit to attend, which had been delegated to him by his fuperiors, when this expedition was fet on foot, section V. Food, and the Method of Procuring it, by Fifiing, Fowling, Hunting, and the wild fpontaneous Fruits.—Savage or barbarous State of a fmall Number of Men.—Origin of Cannibalifm.— Means employed by Providence of improving Human Societies. Sctl primum pofitum fit, nofmct ipfos commendatos cfle nobis, primamque ex natflra hanc habere appctitioncm, ut confervemus nofmct ipfo«» M. TuWus Caere Jv Fin. Bon. & Mai. 4. HAVING traced the general outline of the real condition of oRIG1N of soci- the nations we faw in the courfe of our voyage, and en- eties. deavoured to afTigu the true caufes of the remarkable difference Kit in 5o9 ; a Ri E^M3A c& g ol jrfgoo rbirlv/ tvtiaum ' We. obferved in general, that the chief occupation of all-the nations, .^hichdite^towards the: extremities of our rglqjje,- eon-lifts in- procuring their, fubliftence; all their endeavours, contrivances and ingenuity, center in this great and neceffary object: cloathing, habitation, fccurity, liberty, property,, and every Other concern muft give way to the firft. If we compare the iifcuatipn-.of the t inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, and of the FJkimaux, or Greenlanders, every circumftance proves the latter fupCribr to the inhabitants of the South extremity uf America, though thefe have, in many refpecls, the advantage of them' in regard to the gifts which nature has beftowed on their country. The Greenlanders and FJkimaux can procure a variety of food, viC'£A %'i aupntfiijittu ,?f'ion oTlj, toJ^Jflnfii/nos joint sunilon fnt/iitwi woirtn'j 1 * chiefly of the animal kind, from land and fea animals. They hunt equally rein dears and whales; kill feals and fea fowl, and likcwife'catch: fimv efpecially filman : But,the ' wretched. I^erai -ds dbliged to fubldft, chiefly on mufclcs and other fhell fifh, which he collects by means of a bone hook fixed on a long octangular pole, from the bottom of the fea, and from the rocks under water. l We II UMAN SPECIES. 309, ^Vc Civ/ the PefTerais cat rotten Teal's flefh, and they prefcntcd it to origin its'as a great rarity; but though we examined the whole extent of °gT^^ Chriitrnas-ftay in more than one boat, we never law any feals. fVh therefore probable, that they are either very fcarce in this part, or that they occasionally migrate to other places, and return to the found at certain feafons. One man among them had a piece of a guanacoes-fkin for his clothing, but amongft thirty, or forty, whom we faw, he was the only one. Chriftmas-Harbour feems to have none of thefe animals, as its lands coniifl of fmall barren ifles, without any woods or graffy places, which might afford food and melter for thefe animals, and the fummits of the hills were at the end of December entirely covered with immenfe mafTes of fnow. It is therefore highly probable, that thofe Pefferais whom we faw there, remove to other places, where the guanacoes are found. Farther to the Eafl, on Tierra del Fuego which confifts of a large maTs of land, without being divided into fo many fmall iflands; we and other navigators obferved large Woods of fine timber, and exteniive plains covered with grafs, and if any guanacoes are to be met with on Tierra del Fuego, it muft be there; * but perhaps thofe animals are only to be found j t . , on * Thc-Pitrch nayjgajors in the Nuf.au- fleet, found feme animals, on TUrra del F/,egi>} Which they culled a kind of deer; but they are "prob .bly the guanacoc9, co"mmon on the n^^hbauriaT continent* Sec Rtcueildcs Foyages fahs pour V F.tujl;JJcment tk la Cornp. des Ltuei Qncutales, vol. iv, origin on the American continent. Our Pejferais therefore, in one or OF SOCI- - . . - , _ _ c eties the other cafe, go to the continent, or to the Eaftern regions or this great clufter of numerous ifles. This however, proves that they change their abode, and tranfport themfelves to very diftant places, in order to procure their food, and likewife implies that they are much diftrefted for the means of procuring it; for they would certainly not remove, if they could provide at all times and feafons a fufficiency at the place of their abode. We did not obferve that the Pejferais ever ufed the berries of a kind of arbutus, which, in fome places, is found in great abundance; nor can we recollect that they made ufe of any other vegetables by way of food, though it is probable that they do not entirely neglect them. On the contrary, the inhabitants of Greenland gather feveral kinds of berries to live upon, and likewife eat a kind of fea-weed. The Pefferais whom we faw, were without any other covering than that of a fmall piece of feal-fkin, or a part of a guanacoe-fkin, hung over their backs, and feemed not the leaft concerned upon expofing their genitals ; the women had only a piece of white birds fkin about fix inches fquare, hardly fuflicient to be called a badge of modefty; nor was this cuftom univerfal, for fome of them were feen without it. The Greenlanders on the contrary, are all well provided with fcal-fkins, reiu-deer-furrs and fkins of water-3 birds ; birds; and thefe fkins are further improved into a kind of origin convenient drefs, well fuited to the rigours of their winters; nay, °^T^g1"" they ufe the guts of certain fifh and animals for under garments, or as we would call it inftead of fhirts and fhifts; they formerly employed bones of fifli and birds inflead of needles, and they iplit the finews of the rein-deer and whale, in order to ufe them inflead of thread, which they handle with fo much dexterity and ncatnefs, that even our European furriers admire their fkill. They are not contented with one fet of cloaths, but on folemn occafions are pro* vided with new fuits. Their habitations are adapted to each feafon; in winter they oc-» cupy warm and convenient houfes, built of flone, and covered with beams, and a roof, though wood be very fcarce among them, as they have no other than what is drifted to their fliOFes, and thrown up by fea; they have windows for admitting day-light, made very curioufly of feals guts, and maws of fifli; the whole in-fide is hung with fkins, and their elevated bed-places are covered With the finelt furrs; and the entrance is contrived in a convenient and ingenious manner. Their method of dreffmg victuals, over a lamp of train-oil, in a kettle of pot-ftone; and in a word, all their contrivances are proofs of their fkill and ingenuity; their greater happinefs, and their enjoyment of the lowefl degree of conveniencies. The fummer they pafs in neat and convenient tents, regularly r-RiGiN gularly built of poles, and covered with {kins, with a tranfparent OF S O C I - _TIt, ikin hung before the entrance, which admits light, and excludes the wind, rain, and cold. The poor Pcflerais, on the contrary, wherever they are driven by neceffrty and hunger, have no other melter than a few poles {tuck in the ground, or fmall trees * ;which they find on the fpot, tied together by leather {traps or baft, and a few bundles of brufh-wood fixed over them, by way of covering, all which is •encompafied by fome old feals-fkins; this kind of hut is open at lealc one fifth or fixth part of the whole circumference, and in this opening the fire is made, fo that they remain expofed to the inclemencies of the weather, atfid to the rigors of theJcli-mate, which was fir from being mild in the height of their furn> mer. Notwithftanding all this, it appeared to me to be very lingular, that a people, having a great quantity of the finelt wood, fhould be fo much at a lofs, to make their' fituation a little more comfortable, by employing this timber, in building with it more convenient houfes, and ftronger boats. It cannot be faid that they have no contrivance for cutting and iliapingthe wood to various purpofes, becaufe the poles, to which they fix-tfheir'bone fhell-hooks, are ten or twelve feet long; perfectly ltrait, fmooth uid octangular, which, in my opinion, evidently proves their /kill in iliaping wood; the fame obfervation may -be ;applied 'in regard to {heir cloathing; they have feals-ftdos, fox and guariacoc furrs j I favV H U M. AN S P E C I E S. p faw that they had fewed parts of their feal-ikin or guanacoe-fldn origin cloaks, with finews or fmall leather thongs, and yet they were not °F S°CI J * E TT E S # ingenious enough to carry this invention of fewing one ftep farther, by fliaping their fk.ins in fuch a manner, that they might Shelter them againft the inclemencies of their rigorous climate; thefe particulars ftrongly indicate the wretchednefs and debafed condition of thefe people. This miferable and forlorn condition of the poor Pejferais, appeared dreadful to us, who were accuf-tomed to the conveniences of a civilized life : but habit, together with indolence and ftupidity, render thefe hardfhips fupportable; and they have hardly an idea that their fituation can be improved ; unlefs we believe that their indolence alone is fo great, as to check even the leaft progrefs towards the enjoyment of greater and more dcfirablc conveniencies; they feem to be the victims of the revenge or infolence of a more powerful tribe, who drove them to this inhofpitable Southern extremity of the great American continent. All the nations found by the firft European difcovery, on the immenfe continent of America, were lavages, juft removed one decree from animality, rambling in the vaft connected forefts of this land, in fmall tribes: they all had very little clothing, and lived chiefly upon the produce of fifliing, or the chace. Only two nations had a kind of civilization, and they lived within the tropics, and their improvements and progrefs towards a civilized S s ftate, origin flate, were, according to their own hiftorical monuments, of a mo* >F, SOCI dern date, and probably imported by a few families, whom chance, . I ids* or cruel necefiity, had thrown on thefe wild and inhofpitable fhores. Thefe considerations lead us to fome natural inferences, viz. that as the number of inhabitants on the great American continent, was, in general very inconfiderable, their ftate far remote from civilization, and bordering upon animality y the rigors of the climate, on its extremities feverc ; the food for human beings very precarious j thofe men who are found on thefe extremities, certainly came from more happy and more civilized regions, and that only neceflity could make the hardfhips fupportable, which they of courfe muft undergo : that the more wretched and forlorn their fituation is, the ftronger it proves, that the nation or tribe, of which they are defcended, had already, in part, loft the principles of education, common to all happy nations, whom we generally find within the tropics; they muft likewife be few in number, becaufe they are defcended from a ftraggling tribe, and are themfelves not very prolific, owing perhaps to the want of natural heat, the harfhnefs of their fibres, the poverty of their juiees, and other caufes, which are the confequences of their mode of living, and of the conftitution of their climate. The great Mr. de Mon- tcfquicu tefquieu * was of opinion, that the nations feeding chiefly on fifh, origin were the moil: prolific, becaufe the greafy, oily, particles of fifli, \,T!^ * feem to fupply more of that fubftance which nature fecretes for the purpofes of generation, than any other kind of food. This fingular opinion, though retailed by many fenfible copiers, -J- is not founded in nature, or confirmed by experience. In Greenland, j and among the Efkimaux, || where the natives live chiefly on fifh, feals, and oily animal fubftances, the women feldom bear children oftener than three or four times; five or fix births are reckoned a very extraordinary inftance. The Pejferais, whom wc faw, had not above two or three children belonging to each family, though their common food confiftcd of mufcles, fifh and feals-flefli. The New-Zeelanders abfolutely feed on fifli, and yet no more than three or four children were found in the moft prolific families; which feems ftrongly to indicate, that feeding on fifli by no means contributes to the increafe of numbers in a nation, hut that there are other caufes concurring, which promote population. From the preceding arguments, it appears that the PefTerais are wretched on account of the inhofpitality of their climate, and be- S f 2 caufe Montefquieu Efprit de Loix, book 23, chap. xiii. j Dc Saintt'oix Etlais Hirtoriqucs fur Paris, torn. ii. p. i%t. i Oanr/.'s Hiftory of Greenland, vol. i. p. ior. (I Lieut, Curtis, in the Philof. Tranf. vol. Ixiv. part 11. p. 383. 0 R u; t N caufe they are defcended from a degenerated race, and become happy* C ! SU( the remote offspring of fuch tribes as are ftill poileifed of the re-mains of the original fyftem of education, of which little or nothing pafled over with them into Tierra del Fuego. Wherever we find nations or tribes in nearer or more immediate connexion, with thofe who had ftill the fyftem of ufeful ideas, perpetuated by education, we likewife find the human fpecies, as it were, in more vigour, and better civilization. The ancient Mexicans and Peruvians feem to be defcended from thofe nations, whom Kublaikban fent to conquer Japan, and who were difperfed by a dreadful ftorm, and it is probable that fome of them were thrown on the coaft of America, and there formed thefe two great empires. The Greenlanders and Efkimaux, in the very North of America, came later into that continent than any of the other American nations, (the Mexicans and Peruvians excepted,) for they are reckoned to be a foreign tribe, and they appear to be of a. different race of men, by the language, the drefs, the features, fize, form and habit of body, and manners : probably they came from fome of the numerous ifles, which form the connexion between America and Afia. All thefe nations had better regulations and principles than their neighbours, and human nature feems with them to have been in more vigour, than with the reft of the American fiivage tribes; their later connexions with, and defcent from Afiatic nations, tions, accounts for the remaining ideas of arts and principles of fo- origin cial life, and of civilization; and likewife for the laws, regulations °F S0CI' » L. a 1 Ii s « and form of government introduced among them ; but the Pejferais are in a quite different condition : for being defcended from the ftraggling American tribes, who themfelves were much degenerated, they could not derive from them any idea of education, or any principles of focial life, nor any regulations approaching to thofe which arc ufually to be met with, in civilized nations. We may add to this, that their numbers are few, and that though their country be very little inferior in fize to one moiety of Ireland, hardly 2000 inhabitants are found on this great extent of land. In thefe fmall wild tribes, it is almoft. certain, that the flill fmaller focietics, whom navigators have occafionally found, were nearly related to one another; which makes it probable, that they only keep together becaufe they flill find fome benefit from their union and mutual ailiftance; and this makes the Europeans, who are ufed to civil fociety, believe, that the ties of friendfhip and blood flill unite them; but it is quite otherwife, for it is not the intereft of favages to form great bodies, in countries that are not rich in food and animal productions; as foon as they think themfelves ftrong enough to fet up a new family, they feparate and remove to parts unoccupied by other families, where they have a profpect 3i8 REMARKS o n t n e origin of fuppocting their wives and children, and perhaps a few younger ETiEs brethren or filters. This evidently points out the true caufe of the debafement and degeneracy in lavages; they can neither profit by the alliftancc, nor by the inventions and improvements of others, and the fmallnefs of their numbers affords but a bad chance for a multiplicity of inventions or improvements. The inftruclions and good advice of long experience are loft to them, and the conftant necefiity of procuring a precarious food for the family, robs them of that leifure, which is neceffary for inftruction, and a more finifhed education. As foon as their numbers increafe, that the country can no more feed the inhabitants, they muft of courfe either opprefs and expel, or kill others, in order to occupy their fifhing and hunting places ; or they are obliged to migrate to an unoccupied country; or they mult devife new methods of procuring food with eafe for their increafed numbers. Seldom is their indolence conquered to that degree, that they migrate or become induftrious, and find out a new kind of food, and a new way of living. Opprefiion is commonly reprefented to their minds as the eafieft and fureft method, they therefore diflodge their neighbours, or put them to death, and take their wives and children for their flavcs and drudges. Thus grown elated with fuccefs, and powerful by extent of land, and enjoying thofe advantages which fupply them with the means of fupporting 1 themfelves themfelves with greater eafe, and making life fomewhat more origin comfortable; they endeavour to extend their dominion, and every °^ !°CI' j il x IE s, fuccefs enables them to emerge more and more from that Hate of debafement in which they were plunged; or if they mould be oppofed, checked, and even routed in the attempt, they will certainly be prompted to exert themfelves again, that they may not lofe that fuperiority which they had once attained; or they will ftudy to make the misfortunes which their ambition had drawn upon them, lefs confequential, and to avert the miferies which otherwife would fall upon them. All this of courfe roufes their minds from that indolence and inactivity with which they were oppreifed, and they in every refpect conquer 'fomewhat of that degeneracy to which they were reduced: for the human mind, left to itfelf in a continued courfe of uniformity either in happinefs or wretchednefs, has very little exertion; but add to it the fprings of paflions, which are moft powerful in fuch tribes as are leaft improved in their mental faculties, and we fliall find it amazing to what length they may carry a fet of men, who lend no ear. to any principles of morality, and who adjuft their notions of rectitude by the extent of power only. Though naturally this principle cannot carry them very far,, becaufe they muft fooner or later meet with a powerful oppofition, from the united efforts of fuch tribes as will not lofe their liberty ; it has however, in general origin ral the benefit of communicating to all the tribes a willingnefs to of societies. exert themfelves, to unite the intereft of more families againft the oppreffion of others, and to give them that dawning of civil fociety, which is alone the great improver and preserver of human happinefs, in its phyfical, moral, and focial fcnfe. If therefore the fwages by an happy exertion cf their, phyfical and mental powers, rife one flep higher in the clafs of rational beings, their fituation no doubt, becomes upon the whole more improved ; but at the fame time this very ftate, though more vigorous and more active, often breaks out into fuch enormities, as make the heart ache, and are humiliating to human nature. New Zeeland offers us an inftance of this affertion : whofoever cafts an eye upon them with a view to compare their fituation with that of the PelTerais, no doubt will allow that of the New-Zee-landers to be greatly preferable in every refpedl. They inhahit a milder climate both by fituation and temperature, which, has foftened the fibres and organs, and taken ofir that rigour which certainly influences the mental and moral faculties of the Pefferais, by narrowing their minds, and brutalizing their feelings. From this fomewhat lefs conftricted and harlli ftate of their organization, their minds have acquired a larger and more liberal circle of ideas, improved by a greater population, and the advantages arifing from thence by mutual afliftance, improvements, inftruclion, advice, i and and education; their minds are bold and fearlefs. They are not origin without acutenefs to comprehend found reafon, and not without F SOCI" eties, docility in adopting fuch ideas and informations as are neceifary and eligible in their fituation. This has convinced them of the necef-fity and convenience of mutual attachments, and the propriety of forming larger focieties, in order to preferve their liberty and independence; and as their actions are guided by violent palTions, it is no wonder that we find among barbarous nations inftances of fidelity and friendship, carried on with an enthufiafm, which would do honour to the moil civilized nations, nay, which are hardly to be met with in a fuperior degree, in this age of refinement ; unlefs we look for it into poems and romances, in the diftrict of fiction and fable. Their principles of honefty, and public faith are noble, and romantic; but as they are jealous of their liberty and independence, the leaft thing is conftrued by them into offence, and they are too often ready to revenge an imaginary injury. Strangers efpecially are looked upon as perfons to whom lefs forbearance is due than to their own friends. The wild notions of independence degenerated into licentioufnefs, arm their minds with an intrepedity, which would be meritorious, were it ufed only on real provocation ; but they work themfelves up into a frantic madnefs, run into the molt eminent dangers, and fight with a perfeverance, which proves that death is no evil which they T t dread. origin dread. In victory they are infolent, cruel, and vindictive, carrying r Tirs ^ t0 m0^ unnatura^ an^ inhuman degree, viz. that of feafting. upon the victims of their victorious prowefs. They treat their vvomcn in the molt oppreflive manner, like the molt abject drudges, or flaves, and the parents arid relations frequently fold to the Itrangers the favours of the females, even again it their will -y which circumftances certainly proceed from the injurious and overbearing notions entertained in regard to their Women, whom they do not think to be helpmates, but'creatures intended for the fatisfaction of brutifh defires only, and deflined to confirm them in idlenefs and indolence. This idea prevailed lo far, that wc frequently raw the little boys fir ike their mothers, while the fathers Hood by and would not permit the mothers to correct their children. They have all a paflion for ornaments, and drefs; and they decorate the molt common tools of hufbandry or their arms, in a curious manner with volutes and fcrolls, not altogether without taite. They are fond of romantic and fabulous tales, of mufic, fongs and dances j even their fights are begun with a martial cadenced fong and dance. They have fome ideas of religion, and accounts of various invilible divinities, and a belief of the exiltence of the fouls of their friends j but fuperftition feems not to have gained much ground among them, as fir as we could obferve. They have however, rites and cuftoms peculiar to themfelves, which they perform on certain j occafions: occaiions : for inftance, in forming friendfhips and making peace, origin in announcing war and burying their dead, which laft fometimes arc °F S0C1" ETTES. funk, it feems, in the fea. The natives of New-Zeeland, build fome of their houfes and cottages with an elegance and neatnefs, which makes them far fuperior to the wretched hovels ^of the inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego : for they are well covered on all fides with thatch, and the infides we found lined with reeds, fo that they really had an appearance of neatnefs and we fometimes faW feveral huts feparated from the reft by inclofures of thatch, which I fuppofe was done with a view to fcreen them ftill more from the raging winds, and to flicker their fires, which are commonly anade at the entrance of their huts. Their boats are ftronger than thofe .of Tierra del Fuego, and not without tafte in their ornaments, nor without contrivance in their , whole ftrutture and fhape, which, with the dexterous management, of their paddles gives them an eafy and fwift motion. Their drefs not only covers their nudities, but affords them inciter againft the inclemencies of their climate, which is lefs rigorous in winter than that of Tierra del Fuec-o in' fummer: it is likewife woven with neatnefs, encom-paffed with borders, worked into various patterns of. black, brown and. white, ornamented on its corners vith pieces of dogs-fkin, and fometimes covered all over with matches of white and black -dogs-akin, difpofed in regular compai ^ents. They wear.over T t 2 their £$4 REMARKS on tke origin their garments a rug, made of the filaments of the flax-plant worked sties, into a kind of mat, like thatch on its outiide, which they call Kegheea\ fchis is fo very well calculated to keep off" the wind, the rain, and the fpray of the lea, that it is amazing that the poor inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, who mufl depend folely on the fea for their food, in a climate remarkably colder,, and more boifterous than that of New-Zeeland, have not hitherto devifed a-better and more convenient ufe of their feals and. guanacoes fkins. The agriculture which is fo well and fo carefully carried on in many parts of the Northern ifland, inconteftibly proves the fupe-riority of the New-Zeelanders over the inhabitants, of Tierra del: Fuego. So that it might be fuperfluous in me to take up more time in multiplying the proofs of this fo evident truth. It feems likewife equally obvious, that the more improved flate of the New-Zeelanders, is owing to feveral caufes, viz, the mildnefs of the climate, the greater population, and alfo that they are more immediately defcended from fuch tribes as had more remains of the general principles of education. In the extremities of the Southern ifle of New-Zeeland, perhaps the numbers may be only equal to thofe of the Pefferais, but being more happy in regard to the mildnefs of their climate, and the prefervation of fuch ideas and improvements as were handed down to them, by their more happy and lefs degenerated anceflors $ even thefe flraggling draggling families are, in my opinion, to be ranked higher in the origin fcale of human beings. OF S0CI~ ° ETIES. There is however one circumftance already alluded to, which feems to degrade them,, viz.. the odious and cruel cuftom of eating thofe, who are killed in their frequent feuds and petty wars. This has been reprefented by a late ingenious writer, * as originally introduced among the New-Zeelanders, by diftrefs and hunger p but I cannot help diifenting from his opinion: for I did not find that thefe nations ever, are fo much diftrefTed; they have prudence-enough to provide in the proper feafon, ftores of all kinds: when they catch more fifh than they can eat, they carefully dry, and lay them up; their, women go frequently up the hills, which are covered to an immenfe extent with fern, and dig up the roots, which they likewife dry, and. preferve as a food to which they may have recourfe, when neither fifh nor any other kind of eatables are to be procured. We faw great quantities of thefe provifions in their huts, and frequently found them employed in preparing both fifh and fern-roots, for the. bad feafon. We were likewife told by Capt; Crozet, the friend and companion of the brave but: unfortunate Capt. Marion; that when he got poiTeffion of the hippah or fortrefs of the New-Zeelanders, in the Bay of Iflands,. he * Dr. Htwkcfivorth's Compilation, vol.. Hi, book ii. ch. 9. ETIES. origin he found immenfe ftores of d 17 fifli, fern-roots, and other roots, OF SOCI- ' in houfes rilled folely with thefe proviiions. It feems therefore, to me, by no means probable, that a nation perfectly convinced of the neceffity of providing againft the feafon of diftrefs, and fo very careful and active in collecting ftores of eatables, fhould neverthelefs have been induced by necefiity and hunger, to eat the corfes of thofe flain in battle. Nay, we heard from the natives, that they never eat thofe, who die a natural death, but either fink them in the fea, or bury them under ground: were nCceflity the true caufe of this cuftom, why fhould they not feaft upon the dead who formed the fame community with them ? But it will be objected, that hunger may be allowed fo far to ftillc all fentimcntal feelings of humanity, that they might fuffer themfelves to fatisfy its cravings upon the corfe of a flain foe, but that it will never carry them fo far as to feed upon the flefli of thofe who lived in the fame fociety with them. How fpecious foever this objection may be, it never can perfuade me that hunger will make thefe nice diftinctions, in a people, who have not thofe tender, humane feelings and emotions, of which we arc capable, in fo highly civilized a ftate, with a refined education, and principles infinitely fuperior to theirs. * But * If the account given in the life of Pierre Vlaud is to be credited ; for the credibility of which, there are the grcatcit rcafons, founded upon the joint ttil'mionii-s of feveral refpe&abl* perfons, But I had reafon to believe, that all the nations of the South Seas origin were formerly cannibals, even in the moft happy and fertile climates, °^ S0Cl" a T IE s« where they ftill live upon the almoft fpontaneous fruits, though their population be extremely great. The natives of Tanna gave us more than once to underftand, that if we penetrated far into the country againft their will, and without their permiffion, they Would kill us> cut our bodies up, and eat them : when we pur-pofely affected to mifunderftand this laft part of their ftory, and interpreted it, as if they were going to give us fomething good to eat, they convinced us by, figns which could not be mifinter-preted, that they would tear with their teeth the flefti from our arms and legs. In Mallicollo, we had likewife fome intimation that they were cannibals. The Taheiteans frequently enumerated to us illes inhabited ' by I men-eaters: for inftance, they faid, that beyond Tabuamanoo is a high ifland called Manua, whofe inhabitants *' have but very few canoes, are ferocious, have wild and furious eyes, and eat men : " nay, we were at laft told, that they themfelves had formerly been Tahciii, i. e. men-eaters. As the inhabitants perfons, and of torch people who had no inducement to compliment the author with their tclVimonics; it may ferve to prove ftill more the enormities, to which the rage of hunger ni;iy drive fome wretches; and it likewife (hews, how catily the more refined feelings of humanity arc overcome, by the horrors of unconquerable want. 32« ft E MARKS ON THE origin inhabitants of New-Zeeland certainly belong to the fame race of eties people with the Taheiteans, it is evident that this cuftom has been common to the whole tribe. What is ftill more remarkable, it feems from thence to follow, that the want of a fufficiency of food in this ifle, which is lefs fertile than the tropical countries, cannot have occafioned their cannibalifm, fmce even the inhabitants of the happy and fertile tropical ifles were men-eaters, without being forced to it by diftrefs and hunger, and we muft therefore certainly be convinced that there muft be fome other caufe, which originally introduced this unnatural cuftom. If we examine the whole oeconomy of their focieties, we find "that their education is the chief caufe of all thefe enormities. The men train up the boys in a kind of liberty, which at laft degenerates into licentioufnefs: they fufter not the mothers to ftrike their petulant, unruly, and wicked fons, for fear of breaking that Ipirit of independency, which they feem to value above all things, and as the moft neceffary qualification for their focieties; this naturally brings on an irafcibility, which, in the men, cannot brook any controul, action or word, that can be conftrued according to their manners and principles, into an affront, or injury ; inflamed by paffion, they are impatient to wreak their vengeance : wild fancy paints the injury fo atrocious, that it muft be wafhed in blood; they know not where to ftop, and being more and more incenfed by 6 i &e HUMAN S P E C I E S. 32< the power of imagination, they go to battle with a loud and bar- origin barousfong; each feature is distorted, each limb is let in a ca- Ex3^s denced motion ; they brandifh their deflrudlive weapons^ and ftamp upon the ground with their feet, while the whole band join in an awful, tremendous groan ; the fong begins a new, and at lull the whole troop is loir, in frenzy and rage; they fall to, and every one fights as if animated by furies; and dcftruclion and carnage await the routed party : whofoever fills, is murdered without mercy, and the corfes of the flain immediately ferve to glut the inhuman appetites of the conquerors. When the bounds of humanity arc once paffed, and the reverence due to the bright image of divinity, is conquered by frenzy, the practice foon becomes habitual, efpecially as it is reckoned among the honours due to the conqueror, to fealt upon the wretched victims of favage victory ; add to this, that a nation which has no other animal food, than a few ltupid dogs and fifh, will foon reconcile themfelves to human flefb, which, according to feveral known inflances, * is reputed to be one of the molt palatable ditties. U u To * In the province of Matto-grotto, in Brazil, a woman told his Excellency Chevalier Pinto, who was then Governor, that human fleih was extremely palatable, efpecially if taken from a young perfon. And during the laft dearth in Germany, a fbepherd killed firft a young perfon, to fatisfy the cravings of hunger with his fieih, and afterwards feveral mere, in order to pleafe his luxurious palate. origin To us, indeed, who areufed to live in better regulated focieties, where fur many years backwards, anthropophagy has been in ETIES. difufc, it is always.a horrid idea, that men mould eat men. But I cannot help obferving, that this barbarifin is one of the fleps, by which debafed humanity, is gradually prepared, for: a better ftate -of happinefs; in the favage ftate, where man is juft one remove from animality, wherein he has no other impulfe for action, than-want, he foon finks, into ftupid indolence, which more and more debafes all his powers and faculties :. but fcarce have the paflions begun to act as the main fprings of. human actions, when man is carried from the firft excentric action to a fecond, from one enormity to another, and from this or that fhocking fcene of -cruelty, barbarifm and inhumanity to others of a higher degree : thefe would grow to an outrageous height, were it not- for certain circumftances, which at laft' naturally put a total flop to thofe inhuman practices. If therefore barbarians, who ftill preferve the (hocking cuftom of eating men, meet with other tribes that have the fime barbarous cuftom, and are ftrong or active enough, either by chance or bravery, to check their neighbours in their inhuman wrongs, they will foon be fenfible, that their own numbers muft decreafe by thefe loffes; they will therefore grow more cautious in provoking their anger or vengeance by new outrages, and will gradu- 5 «iiy H V M AN S P E C I E S. 33 ally become fober enough *o be convinced, that it is more reafon- origin able to lay aiide the cuftom of eating men, and that a living man ' is more ufeful than one that is dead or roafted; they in consequence change their unnatural cruelty into a more humane behaviour ; though it be not quite free from injufticc and intereft, it is however, lefs deftrudtive to mankind, and prepares the way to a more humane and benevolent fcenc. Or let us on the other hand fuppofe, thefe barbarians meet with unmerited fuccefs, and always •rout their neighbours, as often as they take the field ; thefe humiliated foes, in order to avoid their utter ruin and deftru&ion, will at laft offer terms of accommodation ; and though their condition fhould become as abject as poflible, they will prefer it to a greater and unavoidable evil, involving the whole ruin of --their tribe ; the conquerors will foon difcover, that by preferving the lives of their fu'b-jeeted foes, they may reap confiderable advantages from their labour and united force, which will gradually improve their condition, and render them more and more happy. This idea might be deemed imaginary ; 'but upon examination, it will appear to be eftablifhed in truth. In the Northern Ille of New-Zeeland, in a diftrict of more than 90 miles, Captain Cook, found in his former voyage, the name of a great chief, called Teiratoo, to be generally acknowledged; and it fhould feem from thence, that the fmall tribes under his dominion, were ei- U112 ther okkwn ther fubducd by him and his adherents ; or that they found it their , mtereir, uron their own account, to acknowledge ins authority, to l i i E*S 1 ° J becotjie his fubjects upon certain conditions, and thus to form one large political body, for greater fecurity and defence; the better regulations, a fecurity both of perfon and property, and a more impartial adminitlration of juftice,. mentioned in the fame account, prove beyond difpute, that from the violent ftate of cannibalifm, the New-Zeelanders will foon arrive in their moft populous diftrictsi to a more fettled and more happy ftate. For though the fubjects for Teiratoo ftill eat men, this cuftom is rather kept up on account of the vicinity of fuch tribes as ftill retain the lame cuftom, other-wife their more improved fituation would hardly admit of it. " Denique cat era animantia in fuo genere probe degunt: con-" gregari videmus & Jiare contra dijimitia: Leonum feritas " inter fe non dimicat: ferpentum ?norfus non petit ferpentes ; (l ne maris quidem belluce ac pifces, niji in diver/a genera, " Jti'viunt: at bercule I homini plurima ex homine funt mala" Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. vii. Procemii fine. It is either the fault of fome tribes, who are wanton, quarrelfome, and overbearing, when they are driven by more powerful nations, to fuch a defperate fituation, that they become degenerate, and their offspring finks to the loweft condition that can be intailed on man^ kind; or it is rather owing to cruel chance or accident, that they are II U M A N SPECIE S. 3; 3 arc brought into a forlorn ftate, wherein their progeny lingers for origin of SOCi - fome time: in both cafes Providence has wifely made a provifion ET1LS, for preventing the perpetuity of mifery and wretchednefs in a nation, by infilling; oririnallv, in the human foul, fuch facul-ties and powers, that when unfolded, or fet in motion by unforeseen accidents, fliall at laft invigorate the minds of men, and fup-. ply them with the neceffary means and ftrength for emerging from their debated condition, and enable them to refume gradually a higher rank in the. fcale of rational beings. The poor inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego,. act only by inftinct, by necefiity and want, and in confequencc of the. accidental occurrences, which chance, or the natural changes, of the elements and feafons throw in their way ; but a more frequent intercourfe with Europeans, or fome other unforefeen , accident, for inftance, the fortuitous invention of iron, or fome other ufeful metal, a difcovery of the utility of fome vegetable or tree in their climates; a new devife for catching fifh. biids, and quadrupeds, in-a more ealy and expeditious manner than they have hitherto been accuftomed to, muft doubtiefs, fooner or later, bring on a revolution in their condition ; new- manners, new cuftoms, a change of diet, of drefs, weapons and uteniils, muft gradually produce a total change of their way of thinking and act in g, introduce an alteration in their, temper, facilitate the better regulation and fecurity of their focieties. 334 R E M ARKS o n the origin ties, and deliver them from that flupidity, torpor, and indolence V^tWe'' with which they arc now oppreffed : for when once the mind is ■ enlightened -with new ideas, and new combinations, and a field opened to fancy and imagination in the recital of their actions, >i» their fongs, dances, and various other representations; the paflions, the great fource of action in human life, will kindle in their breafts that Promethean fire, which will infufe Ifrength and vigor into all the tranfactions of the community. Thus ought we to admire and adore"that Providence, which, by the molf iimple means, always effects its intended purpofc, and out of paternal care and tendernefs, leaves the molt degenerated race of men, not altogether deftitute of faculties, powers, and means, by which they may ^emerge from their forlorn condition : nay, the very paflions, which by their abufe and lawlefs condition, but too often become the caufes of dangerous evils in human fociety, are employed by the wife Governor of the world, as fubordinate caufes, to forward the happinefs of mankind, and to bring them gradually to a more mild, virtuous ltate, and to happinefs of every kind. But at the fame time that my moft inward thoughts are proftrate in adoration before the great Maker and Father of the fouls of all fleftYj my heart is filled with the warmcft wifhes that it may pleafe the alwife Providence foon to raife this brave and generous race Of my fellow features from their unnatural flate, to a condition, where humanity H U M A N SPECIE S. 335 * manity may characterife each action; that fellow-feeling, kind- origin >f socr eties* nefs, and univerfal charity may vidlorioully fpread throughout alii ' thefe barbarous nations,, and reftore that reverential awe due to man, the nobleft.work of God on Earth. «. - Dcus ille fuit -Qui princeps vita? rationem invcnit earn, qua Nunc appellatur fapkntia: quippc per art cm Fluclibus e tantls vitam, tantifquc tenebris, In tarn tranquillo, tarn clarii. lute locavit. Lucretius, L. V^. C II A K ples of union. CHAP. V. Genera! Principles' of National Happinefs. —Increafe of Population.—Caufes of Union,—Cultivation,—Property__* Soctet y.—Government, TUM GENUS 1IUMA.NUH PRIMUM MOI.LESCERIi cokpit. LuCrttiliS, 1* ▼« princi- ryMIE odious humiliating fcenes of barbarifm are fo irkfome and fo tedious to the mind of the obferver, that it gives plcafurc to know that they are pafl. It is therefore not a common degree of felfdenial, fortitude, and heroifm, required in a man, to refign his whole life to the education and improvement of barbarians; to have the fcenes of cruelty and of debafement day after day before his eyes, to fee his benevolent intentions oppofed and defeated, and if any improvements take place, to obferve their flow and tardy growth. On the other hand, it is next to impoffible, to defcribe the pleafing fatisfaction, and the agreeable feelings arifing at the fight of happy fcenes, in a nation abounding with benevolence, and fhewing the firfl bloffoms of focial feelings. The palling through the gloomy fcenes of the firfl, is a flight through utter and through middle darknefs. And And now that I am returning to the bright regions of tropical primci-countries, I feel the powerful influence of the great fountain ?LE 8 °F ■ union. of ectherial light, that gladdens every heart. - Thee I revifit fafe, And feel thy fov reign vital lamp, Milton. In order to treat the fubject I have undertaken, with that order, clcarnefs, and conviction, which its extenfive utility, and intereit-ing doctrines require, let us in a fhort excurflon on the general principles of focial life, and on the advantages and happinefs, which reafonably may be expected in civilized focieties, fix fome ideas that may lead to the investigation of this great and interelting doctrine. Man, fuch as he every where is, has a flrong defire of being as happy as his circumftances will admit. The natural and moft prefling wants, foon convince him that he cannot enjoy by him-felf even a moderate fhare of happinefs; and that uniting with other human beings, is the molt effectual means, not only of procuring the greateft degree of happinefs poflible in his fituation ; hut alfo of infuring to him with certainty, an undifturbed enjoyment of it. He will foon be fcnlible that his own happinefs procured by the aflillance of the united efforts of other human beings, depends likewife upon their happinefs; for no one who is X x doomed -8 R fe MARKS on the jo pri-nct- doomed to be under continual pain, or overwhelmed with miferyy pi,tea of will fincerely endeavour to contribute to the fatisfaction of another, \" iN 10 N i if he finds himfelf more wretched upon every effort to increafe the happinefs of his fellow creature. It 'muft therefore be the intereh. of each individual who wifhes to be happy,, to promote the prosperity of the whole community to which he belongs; and from whom he expects acts of reciprocal kindnefs, that may tend to improve his own happinefs. The happinefs of every human being living in a fociety, depends upon the following principles. Firft, Man has an organic body, requiring food, habitation-, and drefs, as means conducive to its fupport; and many other things ■ neceffary, in order to acquire thefe articles without great labour and peril, or in other words, to make life more agreeable andeafy 3 thefe we would call the principles of physical happiness. Secondly, Man is likewife a rational, thinking, and freely acting being; his happinefs therefore requires that he be able to procure the means of improving his intellectual faculties by inftruc-tion, and to preferve the rights and privileges of a free agency, which however, ought to be directed by charity and benevolence towards the promotion of his own happinefs, and that of his fellow creatures. In a word, he ought to be enabled to live in a manner becoming the dignity of a rational and free being ; and from thence we may collect the principles of moral happiness. , Laflly,. Lafily, As he is become together with others, a member princi-of a community, witli a view to the promotion of mutual happi- 11 UNION. nefs; he expects to derive from this union or fociety the means of enjoying with certainty, in a perfect and undifturbed manner his phyfical and moral happinefs. Herein confift the principles of civil or social felicity. From hence it becomes evident, that whenever men are found to live in focieties for the promotion of mutual happinefs, they ought to enjoy phyfical, moral and focial felicity in the higheft degree poflible, in their fituation and circumftances. But befides the abovementioned divifion of happinefs we muft allow, that it naturally muft have many degrees, depending on the following circumftances. Firft, The more various and multiplied the objects of phyfical, moral, and focial enjoyment are, which a man or a whole fociety really can make their own, the greater muft their happinefs be: and on the other hand, the fewer and the lefs varied the enjoyments, and objects of enjoyment are, the more circumfcribed and fmall is their happinefs. Secondly, The longer the duration of enjoyments of a man or fociety of men is, the happier they will find themfelves: and the more fleeting,and tranfitory their enjoyments are, in the fame decree, muft they experience unhappinefs. X x 2 , Thirdly, er inci- Thirdly, The more extenjhe and general the influence of all the SQPIeI* enjoyment of a man or a fociety, is in regard to their phyfical, moral ties. .md focial felicity, die more their happinefs muft be increafed ; and on the contrary, if their enjoyments have no effect or influence upon their own happinefs, or that of others then indeed it hardly deferves the name of happinefs, or it. is at leaft very incor.r fiderable. By thefe few principles are we enabled to judge, with a tolerr able degree of precifion, of the happinefs and civilization of the nar tions we met with in the courfe of our voyage; efpecially if we have a retrofpect to the caufes which promote felicity, and which hinder the fame, or at leaft check, its progrefs and more rapid increafe. For when men live in a genial climate, and enjoy the advantages' of a happy organization, nature feems to do every thing vir goroufly, in promoting their happinefs. Thus we fee the early improvements, grandeur and happinefs of the Aftyrian and Egyptian empires; their climate is one of the. mildeft and moft temperate.; its inhabitants, even in their prefent degenerated, barbarous ftate, are endowed with a lively temper, and quick parts; nor are they deftitute of good-nature and benevolence : no wonder, therefore, that ancient hiftory is fo copious on the ftate of their population, wealth, opulence, and happinefs, which cannot be controverted, a? HUMAN SPECIES. 341 as the vaft monuments and ftupendous buildings- of thefe nations princi- p jl f S o f are flill fubfifling, and witnefs the truth of their, hiflorians. socie-In climates nearly approaching the mild temperature of the for- TIES» mer, the inhabitants are bleffed with an organization proportioned to the foftnefs of their climate,, though probably, defcended from tribes that came from more rigid climates,, and had been lefs happy in the prefervation of the original fyftems of education ; among thefe, national felicity could not. be brought about with fuccefs, without the affiflance of art. Cecrops, Triptolemus, Thefeus, Solon, Pififlratus, Miltiades and Ariftides, were the men, who, by art, aflifled nature in.Attica, and it required the efforts of the. belt and wifefl men, during a fpace of j 1 30 years, before the Athenians could attain that pitch of happinefs under Pericles, which made their empire the moft resectable and happy in the cotemporary civilized part of the world. In climates flill more unfavourable and rigid,' not only the ailiflt-ance of art, but that of creative phyfical power, as well as that of creative genius,, is required to infure the happinefs of the inhabitants, whofe fibres had contracted a congenial roughnefs and rigidity, and who are continually fubject to numberlefs checks and hindrances, to every improvement leading to national felicity. Such was the power and genius of Peter the Great; who, in half a century, raifed his nation from indolence, barbarifm, antd flupidity, princt- flupidity, to that degree of happinefs and grandeur, which it now PLES OF socie- enjoys under the mild and benevolent legiflation of Catharine ties. the Great. Such likewife are the various gradations of the happinefs of the inhabitants of the South-Sea Iflands; fome have attained, in the courfe of nature, a degree of felicity, which is proportioned to their fituation and condition ; others are behind-hand in improvements and happinefs, and can never attain it, unlcfs nature be aflifled by human art; in others, again, a whole new creation is required, to procure and to infure them that happinefs which would fet them upon a level with the firfl mentioned happy tribes. There are befides, fo many concurring circumftances, that either promote or retard national felicity, that it is impoffible, either to enumerate them all, or to defcribe the various hues of happinefs arifing from their different combinations. This, however, may be added to the former obfervations, that too great irritability, or too great rigidity of the human organization, equally oppofe the progrefs of improvements and focial felicity, the one caufes a reftlefs, paffionate temper, in a fervent climate; the other creates flupidity, dullnefs and indolence, in the rigid and cold regions, found at the two polar extremities of our globe : and how difficult it is to conquer either the one or the other, may be eafily proved from the hitherto fruitlefs attempts in civilizing the negroes of our plantations, or 6 the HUMAN S P E C I E S, m tiic Greenlanders and Laplanders of the North. I will not, how- princi-evcr, deny, that perhaps the moil proper means have not hitherto PLLS OF been employed, in bringing this difficult undertaking, even fo far, ties. that a rational probability of a very diflant fuccefs, might be expected. The above-mentioned articles form the point of view, Under which we now would with every body to confider the more civilized flate of the tropical nations in the South-Seas. We found the ifles in the South-Sea very populous; and fronv the accounts of former navigators, they were fo, more than 180 years ago, and in the very condition, in regard to happinefs, in which we ourfelves obferved them; fo that we may be fure, that their civil or focial eftablifhment is of a long {handing. It is hardly credible, that the inhabitants were very numerous when they firft occupied thefe ifles, but the eafe and facility with which they can fupport their lives, and fatisfy the natural and moft prefting wants, the early puberty in fo mild and fo happy a climate, the few difeafes which are obferved in nations ufed to a fimple and Salubrious food, are certainly reafons for fuppofing that they foon increafed, and. gradually filled the iflands which they had occupied.—The firft inhabitants had not the leaft difficulty in procuring their fubfiflence, as the fea and the fruits of various trees, Sufficiently afforded them the neceffary food : but in proportion as their numbers increafed, their fubfiflence of courfe muft become more princi- more precarious in an ifle, which only yields, fpontancoufly, the TLES OF r 60CIE- ueceflarlcs for a certain determined number of inhabitants; they TIES" therefore foon found themfelves under the neceflity of devifing fome method of Supplying the neceifary food, principally by cultivating thofe plants, upon the wild produce of which they formerly lived. They began regularly to plant coco-nut-palms, bananas, South-Sea apples, yamboes, and bread-fruit trees, together with the yam, the fweet potatoe, the two kinds of eddoes, the tacca and the fugar-cane. Thefe plantations being the work of the induflry and forefight of fome individuals, gave them a right to reap their productions 5 and as their example was foon followed by people equally folicitous for their prefervation, this method of raifing a fufficiency of food by induflry and labour, became more univerfal; and when they found that the right of reaping the fruit of their own induflry, was fometimes invaded by the indolent, the powerful, and the defperate, they began to form aflbciations for the defence of their plantations, on which their very exiftence depended ; they confequently flipulated, firfl among themfelves, not to deflroy one anothers plantations, to defend them jointly againft the violence of others, and to give one another mutual afliftance, kx this manner the plantations were increafed, extended, and in a manner furrounded by thofe of others; then every one began to look upon the land occupied by his trees or roots, as having a more more immediate connexion with his perfon, or with the family or princi-fociety to which he belonged; and hence arofe the firft ideas of g^J^ property. Thus were gradually introduced certain regulations, TIES« agreed upon by mutual confent, and thus were foon formed thofe cuflomary laws, which more or lefs take place among the nations that have property. The experience of feveral years foon taught them to diftinguifh the foil and feafon, moft proper "For each of the plants and roots j the moft eafy and ufeful method of pre* paring the foil for the reception and propagation of them, toge-•ther with the means of averting danger from thofe vegetables, which are of fo great confequence to them : the prcfervation of thefe eatables, by way of ftore, again required new efforts of genius and feveral experiments; and laftly, the preparation of them into various dimes, in order to avoid famenefs and uniformity, flill enriched their knowledge, and increafed the flock of their ufeful ideas, and practical operations. Ifles are, on account of their circumfcribed fize, more apt to promote and to accelerate civilization, than large continents; for in thefe, the inhabitants having too much room to roam over the country, and to difperfb, in cafe of a difgufl, or offence, they are prevented from entering into affociations, and from making ufeful regulations relative to mutual afiiftance and mutual defence ; and as they meet either with a Sufficiency of fpontaneous fruits, on a large tract: of unoccu- Y y pied Prixci- pied land, or have opportunities to live by the chace, or by hthing, PLES OF * socie- tney conflantly'refufe to provide for their fubfiflence by a laborious, Ties. toilfome cultivation. However, in. fmall iflands, where the numbers of people are too inconfiderable for affording mutual fecurity and affiftance, or for forming a powerful fociety, and where there is no chance either for cultivation varied according to the difference of foil and expofures, or for extenfive plantations, there likewife, it is in vain to expect fo well regulated focieties, as in ifles of a tolerable fize, and of various expofures and foils. It is therefore in my opinion evident, that tbe largefl: of the tropical ifles, when all the other circumftances concur, muft be the hap-pieft and moft civilized, as none of them is of too great extent. Otahcitee and the neighbouring Society ifles, are in this point nearer to happinefs than any other nations we met with. They have a greater variety of food and in greater abundance, than any ©f the other nations. Their drefs is likewife more varied, a kind of refinement this,, which moft of the other nations either entirely want, or at leaft in a very imperfect manner poffefs. Their habitations are clean and roomy, and thofe of the better fort of people are even neat and elegant, as far as thefe advantages may be carried in its firfl: rude beginning. They have ideas of many things, which never occurred to other nations of the South Sea, their intellectual faculties, enlarged by ! inflruction' instruction and exercife, are capable of comprehending, retaining, princi-rcproducing, and combining ideas, and though extremely quick °F of perception, and lively in their tempers, they are however, ties. equally jealous of their liberty and free agency; and what is flill more happy, the fimple but rational education, the happieft organization and the mildnefs of their climate concur in forming their minds for benevolence, and in filling their hearts with foft and tender feelings, and a charitable difpofition. Any foreigner endeavouring to ingratiate himfelf with thefe generous friendly people, will foon fucceed, though they can reap no benefit or advantage from a connection with him ; and if he fhould happen to be fick, indifpofed, diflreffed, or only tired, or wanting fome refrefhment; they will all vie one with another to afifl, to nurfe and to refrefh him. Their hearts are capable of the warmefl attachment, of the mofl generous friendship, and of the moil tender connexions, of which, in our mixed and degenerating focieties, we have very few inflances; perhaps none at all, where fuch a difinterefled, generous love, or fuch an enthufiafm of pafiion forms the bafis of the tender connexion. Having myfelf felt all the tender emotions of a parent, during the foft moments of filial endearment, I flatter myfelf that I was in this cafe no incompetent judge; however I muft confefs that feveral of their children, and even of their more grown youths, had fuch winning and captivating means of ingra- V y 2 tiating princi- tiating themfelves with me3 they fhewed fuch confidence, opennefs„ l* l e S of soeiE and grateful returns" to the little trifling prefents I ufed to make ET££01 them 3 they became fo attached to me, and were fo fludious of rendering me fome fmall fervices, and of warning me againft the thievifh practices of fome of their countrymen, that my heart could not relift their infinuating and innocently kind behaviour, I felt for many of them emotions, which were not fo far diflant from paternal affection and complacency, as might be expected, when wc recollect the great difference of our manners and our way of thinking. But i found likewife on this occafion, what a great and venerable blefflng benevolence is 3 when it is no longer the fafhionable cant, borrowed from a favourite poet, or a moral romance, and dwelling only on mens lips 3 but when this beft gift, of heaven fits enthroned in the heart, fills the foul with gracious fenfations, and prompts all our faculties to expreflions of goodnature and kindnefs: then only does it connect all mankind as it were into one family 3 youths of diflant nations become brethren, and the older people of one nation, find children in the offspring of the other. All thofe diflinctions which ambition, wealth, and luxury, have introduced, are levelled, and the inhabitant of the polar region, finds a warm and generous friend in the torrid zone or in the oppofite hemifphere. Still my heart was filled with tender affliction, and my eyes overflowed with tears of genuine for row HUMAN SPECIES, forrow, when I perceived that our own civilized countries, notwithstanding the numberlefs improvements they had received from the cftablifhment. of excellent laws, and the cultivation of arts and fciences, notwithstanding the frequent occasions of ftill greater improvement, and the glorious encouragement to virtue and morality, were far outdone in real goodnefs and benevolence by a fet of innocent people, fo much our inferiors in many other refpec~ts; and I could not help repeatedly wiming, that our civilized Europeans might add to their many advantages, that innocence of heart and genuine fimplicity of manners, that fpirit of benevolence, and real goodnefs, which thefe my new acquired friends fo eminently poffeffed. The Taheiteans. as individuals, not only have the feveral good qualities above mentioned, of a domeftic kind, but they are like-wife fenlible of the great advantages of a focial or civil union: and as far as our imperfect, knowledge of their language; our fhort ftay amongft them, and the defultory instruction of Maheine and Q-Mat would permit, I have reafons to think, that the beginning of their civil fociety is founded on paternal authority, and-is of the patriarchal kind. The huiband and the wife of his bofom, whom love unites by the filken ties of matrimony, form the firft fociety. This union is, in thefe happy regions, firft founded on the call of nature, in mutual afliftance, and the fweet hopes of feeing themfelves princt- felves reproduced in a numerous offspring. In more degenerated ples of . . . . socie- nations, matrimonial union takes place from brutal appetite, is ties. grounded upon the Satisfaction of fenfuality, the expectation of affiftance from perfons, whom oppreffion and cuftom has condemned to become drudges, and laftly the idea of gaining more ilrength and power from a numerous family of children. On the contrary, the mildnefs of the climate, the happinefs of organization, and the kind and benevolent temper of this people, together with their more enlightened intellects, contribute very much to refine and to ennoble that foft paffion which is the firft beginning of this congenial harmony; and hence the brutifh inftincts, which were wants of the fame low rank with hunger and thirff, are raifed to a lafting, virtuous paffion. This refinement of mutual love and matrimonial complacency, produces thofe tender regards with which this happy paffion infpires its votaries for the beloved object; and it creates that mutual happinefs, which is the refult of all the more refined manners, and of their more polifhed behaviour towards one another. The offspring of fuch a happy couple early imbibe by the example of their parents, that kindnefs and benevolence, and thofe refined fentiments of love and happinefs which contribute fo much to confirm the felicity of their parents, and wifh to reduce them to practice, as foon as they feel the call of nature and find a partner whole fentiments are in unifon with their own* own; fo that thefe Ample, hut more exalted ideas of matrimonial princi-union, are thus propagated and perpetuated in the progeny of a ^niqn^ virtuous and tender couple. But before they attain that age of difcrction and maturity, the fond parents take peculiar care of their education : they frequently check the wild flights of their unruly paflions, and inflill order, moderate induflry, and the principles of benevolence and gratitude into their tender minds. I have feen mothers punifhing obftinacy and difobedience, and though extremely fond of their children, they neverthelefs are fbnfible enough thus far to do violence to their own feelings, that their children may not acquire a habit of ingratitude, obflinacy, and immorality; I have likewife heard them expostulating with their unruly little ones, and exprefling their difpleafure at their, conduct; all which proves that they have ideas of moral rectitude, of order and filial fubordination, and of the neceflity of inflilling thefe principles early into the minds of their children. Nor is this careful education without the good effects, which ought to be the confequence of it: for we faw many a family, where every individual belonging to it, gave Strong marks of an attachment to the reft of the family, and evident proofs of thofe ties of benevolence which united them all. The younger part of them Shewed reverence and refpect to the older individuals, and at the leuft and moft diftant danger were alarmed and anxious- for the welfare and 9t% R R M ARKS on the princi- and fafety of their parents* The injunctions of the parents were PL E S OF UNION executed, with a readinefs and truly exemplary affection. The father feemed to be the foul which animated the whole body of the family by his fuperior wifdom, benevolence and experience; in a a word, they all affiit one another, and contribute their /hare of offices and labour, towards the Support, fecurity and happinefs of the whole family. If feveral families find the wifdom, experience, valour, and /benevolence of one head of a family to be fuperior to thofe of the rctl, they all look upon him as their common father, they fubmit to his advice as to injunctions, and his councils become as facred and inviolable as laws. This voluntary union into one great family, dirfufes through them all that attachment, and benevolence, that Spirit of order and regularity, which are the true promoters of morality, and univerfal happinefs. If the fon of this chief has fkill, addrefs and benevolence enough to tread in his fathers Soot-fteps, he Succeeds his Sather in authority, and thus a Society gradually accuftom themSelves to look upon their chiefs with reverence, and accept the pofterity of an equitable, benevolent leader, for their hereditary chief. As all the regulations for the weal of the fociety are chiefly iffued by this ruler, as he is foremolt in defending their liberty and property againft any daring invader of their common right, as he decides between man and man in e private HUMAN S P E C I E S. 35-private disagreements, and punifhcs the wanton difturbcrs of princi- • pl £ s of public peace, all the authority of the whole community, centers __ *a " j union, in him; and as many advantages accrue to him on different occa-fions and opportunities offer of making acquifitions of property, either by the voluntary, general contributions, of all the inferior members of the community, or by the administration and distribution of the public property and wealth, it may be expected that he will become poffeffed of a greater fhare of wealth than any of the reft, which muft gradually give him more influence and greater power ; his family no doubt participate of this power, influence and wealth, and confequently form a clafs of people diftinct from the commons. If the fociety is attacked or injured by another fociety, and all unite to avert the injuries, to repel violence, and to retaliate upon the invaders and difturbers of the peace, the fame wrongs which they intended to inflict, it is natural to fuppofe, that upon a very great provocation, and a confequently greater exertion of power, they may become victorious, which muft, of courfe, make the condition of the vanquished tribe, inferior to that of the loweft of the victorious community, and create a new rank of people in their fociety. Thefe feem to be the confequences of matrimonial union, of paternal authority, and the more general authority of a chief of a fociety, and the origin of ranks in O-Taheitee, the Society, and Friendly Ifles, Z z The 354 REMARKS o n t h it union. princi- The great chief is called Aree-rabai; the reft of his family1 are all Arees, and have fome landed property, and among them we obferved men of ftill greater rank and authority, who were' chiefs of the differents diftricts, or Whennuas in the ifle, and were called after the diftrict, which was entrufted to their care and government; thus Hapal O-Tu's father was Aree nO-parre^chiQf of Oparre; O-Retti was chief of O-Hiddea; O-Amo was chief of Papara; T-Owha and Potatou were joint-chiefs of Atahooroo\. Toppere had the direction of Matavai and Toomataroa that of Tittahaw. Befides thefe, is a clafs of people called Manahounes,. who have landed property; and laftly, thofe belonging to the lowed, rank of people are called Toutous. As feveral words of the Malay language, are found in the O-Taheitee tongue, and its various dialects,., they may be confidered as proofs of the origin of thefe iflanders. I am not willing to affirm that they are abfolutely the immediate offspring of the Malays; but it appeared to me very obvious from many concurring circumftances, that they were defcended from fome tribes, that are related to the Malays. The Tagalas and Pampangas are no doubt the off-fpring of the Malays; for Dr. Gemelli Carreri affirms, that they came from the continent of Malacca, and they themfelves allow, that they came from Borneo.* The inhabitants of the Ladrones fpeak * Voyage autour du mondc par Gemelli Carreri, torn. v. p. 64, fpeak a language related to that of the Tagalas.'* The vicinity of origin fome of the New-Caroline iflands, and the fimilarity of their cuf- OF SOC1 ' ties toms and manners, make it highly probable, that the fame nation is fpread all over that great clufter of iflands, extending tor more than 30 degrees of longitude; and from thence to Byrons Ifland, and fome of thofe iflands where the Taheitean dialect is fpoken, i$ not fo great a diftance. By this line I prefume to trace the firft migration of the tribes, who firft peopled the Eaftern South-Sea ifles. If we add to this the great fimilarity between the manners and cuftoms of the inhabitants of the Caroline iflands, and thofe of the Friendly ifles, this line of migration muft appear to be Something more than mere conjecture. The moft authentic accounts of a modern philofophic traveller ~\* inform us, that a kind of feudal fyftem is received by the Malays* which, as fir as we know, admits of feveral ranks of men, very much in the fame manner as we obferved in the Society ifles ; and they poSlefs likewife their lands by a kind of feudal tenure. The great chief or king, grants to the inferior chiefs, a district or province : under them, the reft of the Arees or chiefs have portions of land allotted to them, and the Manahounes, though not of the Z z 2 royal See Hiftoiredcs Ifles Marianes par le P. Gobien, Paris, 1700, i:mo. & the Abftract «f the fecond book ot" Gobien, in des Biofles Hiltoire des Navigations, aux Tone* Antral vol. ii. p. 495. f Mr. le Poivrc. trinci- royal family, have likewife grants of land. The chiefs of the pro- pL ES OF soeie- vinces, as well as the inferior Arees, have their demefnes culti-ties. vated by Toutous, who are obliged to raife fruits and roots, for the neceflary food of their Aree j to nth, to build houfes and canoes, to make cloth, to work their boats in war and peace, and to do every thing they bid them : and for this fervice they have the overplus of fruit and fifh j which latter, the chief commonly distributes among all his vaffals, very impartially, if they catch a confiderable quantity at once. The Manahoune, his brethren,-and offspring, cultivate the ground, which is granted to them ; and I cannot fay, that I ever obferved Toutous attached to them. In war time, the great chief, with the advice of his relations, and of the chiefs of the provinces, who feem to have great influence in public affairs, orders an armament to be prepared j and as the fhores only are inhabited, the attack commonly is made by fea : for that reafon they have numbers of war-canoes, built and laid up under large fheds, which are immediately fitted out upon any fuch re-quifition, from the Lord Paramount; each inferior chief and Manahoune is again either mafler of fuch a war-canoe, or he does fervice on board of one. of them, as a warrior,, and the Toutous are employed in paddling and working them. The chiefs of provinces regulate every thing in their diftricts, and adminifler juf-tice, their authority being as great as that of the king. On extraordinary * H U- M A N SPECIE S. nary occasions,, however, the king interpofes his authority : thus I heard Orec, king of Huaheine, order his Hoa * to go into a diftrict of another chief, and bid him tell fuch were the words of th$ Aree-rahai; to apprehend the thieves, and feize the Stolen good;:, which he enumerated.; the goods were in part reflored the fame day, and the next day he- was ready to punifli the thieves in our prefence, had we not already been too far out at fea, and had we at firfl wellundef flood.his meaning. At O-Taheitee we faw the review of the naval armaments of two districts, which were deflined to fubdue a. great revolted vaflal, or feudal lord, on the ifle of Imeo, in the diftrict of Morea; and we were told, that every chief of a diflricl: mull fend his quota towards this expedition: and even the great chief of O-Taheitec-eetee, or Tiarraboo, would join in it as his duty required. O-Too, perhaps, not being well enough Skilled in the noble art of war, was not intended to command the fleet, and therefore gave the dignity of high-admiral to T-Owha, chief of Atahooroo; though he told us at the fame time, that he would likewife be in. the fleet, in the quality of a warrior, or as we might call it, of a knight. Thefe circumftances fufliciently prove, that their government is a kind of feudal fyftem,; but it has much of that original patriarchal form, blended with it, which rectifies^ the many defects of the feudal government, and for that * lha fignifics a friend, or chief-attendant on the king; we fhould call him a lord in wait*-of which the king of Taheitee has a good number, doing duty in their turns. princi- that very reafon is infinitely fuperior to it, being founded on prin- pL, 1Ls of union cJplcs °f kindnefs and benevolence, and on that primitive fimpli-city, which bears always the Stamp of perfect: undegenerated nature. However, upon comparing every circumftance more minutely, as the Taheiteans allow themfelves to have formerly been cannibals, and likewife as their chiefs, Manahounes and warriors, are all of a fairer colour than the Toutous; it might not perhaps be incon-fiftent to fuppofe, that the firft and aboriginal inhabitants of the South-Sea illes, were of the tribe of the Papuas and people from New-Guinea, and its nighbourhood, and fuch as we found at Mallicollo, Tanna, and the New-Hebrides, and therefore were like them men-eaters. It is probable, that either by accident, or on purpofe, the ancient Malays of the Peninfula, of Malacca, gradually fpread among the illes of the Indian feas; firfl over Borneo, then to the Philippines; from whence they extended over the La-drone iflands, the New-Carolines, and Pefcadores; and laflly, they removed to the Friendly-iflands, the Society-iflands, the Marquefas and Eafler-ifland, to the Eaftward, and to New-Zeeland to the Southward. This migration feems to have been fucceflive, and perhaps feveral centuries elapfed, from the firft removal of the Malays to Borneo, to the arrival of thefe tribes at New-Zeeland, and Eafler-ifland. In each flation they acquired a new tincture of manners human: species. 359 manners and cuftoms varied by climate, and the particular fituation princi- , PI I S OF of each land which they gradually occupied; and being no doubt, SOCIE_ oppofed by the firft aboriginal inhabitants, it coit a great deal of TI£s. bloodihed, labour, and time,, before they could entirely fubdue them. In the large iflands, Borneo, Lucon, Maghindanao, and fome of the Moluccas, they were not conquered, but retired into the interior mountainous parts ; and are ftill exifting and known under the names of Byajos, Negrillos, Zambales, Allfoories, &c. &c. In the Friendly and Society-iflands, the aboriginal inhabitants were fubdued, and became Teutous. Their more polifhed. and more civilized conquerors, eftabli/hed a mild and humane kind, of government, wherein they introduced the oriental or Malay-feudal fyftem, and endeavoured to wean their new fubjects from that cruel cannibalifm, which generally prevailed among all the aboriginal black tribes of the South-Sea. In this benevolent and humane undertaking they at laft fo far fucceeded, that the name Only, and a faint tradition of the exiftence of fuch a cuftom in O-Taheitee, are preferved. This hypothecs likewife accounts for the various traditions of the Taheiteans, who know, for inftance, in their neighbourhood, an ifle called Mannua, occupied by men-waters, which, according to this conjecture, is a proof of its being inhabited by the aboriginal black race of people, who are, as far as know, all cannibals. In New-Zeeland, I am of opinion, that ? 6 the princi- the more civilized Malay tribes, mixed with the aboriginals, and ples of socie- tne nari^inc^s °f tne cliniale^ the roughnefs of the wild woody ties; country, together with its great extent, contributed to preferve cannibalifm, and to form a coalition of cuftoms, wherein many points of civilization were totally loft, though the language was taken from the new-comers, and preferved blended with fome words of the aboriginal tribe. Savage-ijland, whofe inhabitants we found very tawny and ferocious, might perhaps be another illand, which the Malay tribes have not hitherto been able to fubdue; nay, as the inhabitants of Tanna, were likewife acquainted with a language totally different from theirs, called the Footoona language, or that of Irronan, which we found to correfpond with the dialect: fpoken at the Friendly-iflands, it feems from thence to follow, that the Malay tribes ftill endeavour to fpread, and to fubdue the aboriginal tribes in !the various South-Sea ifles. Thefe hints, it is to be hoped, may induce fome future navigators more carefully to examine the languages, manners, cuftoms, temper, habit and colour of body of the inhabitants of the various South-Sea iMes, in order ftill better to trace the origin and migrations of thefe nations; and to throw a ftill greater light on this interefting part of the Hiftory of Man. It is however remarkable, that the nearer we approach to the Weftern or Friendly-iflands, the greater is the reflect, and the more HUMAN S P E C I E S. 361 more numerous are external marks of fubject ion (hewn by the princi-common people to their chiefs and kings. In E after-ill and, and frrLES 0t 0 union. the Marquefas, we obferved hardly any difference between the fubject and chief, if we except a more confpicuous drefs, fome attendants and the name of Arechcc or A-ka-hai. In O-Taheitee, and the Society-ifles, the lower ranks of people, by way of refpect, ftrip off their upper garment, in the prefence of their Arcc-rahai. But at Tonga Tabu and Horn-Island, * the common people (hew their great chief or Latoo the greateft refpect imaginable, by proftrating themfelves before him, and by putting his foot on their necks. In the Ladrone iflands, the Tamolas or nobles are like-wife highly revered, and none of the common people dare come near them, for fear of defiling themvf- Thefe circumftances in my opinion, prove, that the natives of the South-Sea iiles changed fome of their manners, and laid afide part of that ftiffnefs, formality and humiliating refpect paid to their chiefs in proportion, as they removed from the country, which gave birth to their firft anceflors; and it is by this mixture of manners that the inhabitants of Taheitee have arrived at that happy mean which affigns the juft bounds of prerogative to each rank of people, and thus places the true principles of happinefs on a firm and folid bafis. The king has a cer- A a a tain • Sec Mr. Dairymplei Collection of Voyages to the South-Sen, vol. ii. p. 41, 55. t Des Brofles Hiitoirc des Navigations aux Terres auitralcs; torn. ii. p. 484, .199, 362 R E M ARKS on t n e princi* tain refpecl fhewn him, which is decent and neceffary, and he is pees of sociE- mvciled with a degree of authority and power, fufficient to enable eties. ^ to become beneficial to his fubjects, without permitting him to-opprefs them ; and he can acquire the title of father of his people, without ever becoming their tyrant. The chiefs of diftricts are both a fupport and check to the royal dignity: they form the great council of the nation, alfcmbled on important affairs, efpo-ciaily war and peace : without their confent, the king cannot undertake any thing which might influence the public peace or fafety, or puniua any great Lord : without them the king is unable to execute great achievements, for if they fhould find him difpofed to abufe his power, they would either refufe. to aflift him with the force of their diftrict, or they would,, perhaps, affociate with thofe whom the king might be willing to opprefs, and therefore prevent his progrefs towards defpotifm, by balancing his power, or by op-poling his increafe of prerogative. The war againft the chief of Morea, on the ifland of Imeo,, which the Taheiteans propofed to carry on, after our departure, and for which we faw fuch great preparations confirms the truth of this aftertion. The chiefs of each diftrict being fubject to the king, dare not opprefs their own fubjects, who, in that cafe would either bring their complaints before his paramount, or they might form affociations, in order to defend themfelves againft his rapines, oppreflion and defpotifm. The The facility of procuring the ncceifarics of life, and even thofe ar- princi-ticles which are here reckoned to he luxuries: together with the PLES 0F ' ° \socie- humane and benevolent temper of thefe nations have hitherto hap- \xies. pily prevented the oppreflion of the Toutous; and if the morals of thefe people are not influenced and corrupted by the commerce and intercourfe with European profligates, and by the introduction of new luxuries, which can be procured only by hard labour and drudgery, the happinefs of the lowefl clafs of people, will, probably be of long continuance; and forbid it humanity and benevolence, that any on^ of us fhould be wicked enough to form a with or a plan to entail mifery and wretchednefs, on a happy and harmlefs race of men ! They have undoubtedly cuftomary laws and regulations relative to the good order of their focieties, for the fecurity both of their property and of the lives of individuals, and punifhments which are inflicted on thofe who tranfgrefs thefe laws, and diiturb "the public peace. At the time when one of the natives had flolen a mufket from a centry at the tents on Point Venus in O-Taheitee, the centry was carried on board under confinement, and previous to the punifliment inflicted on him for the neglect of his duty, the articles of war were read before the whole fhip's company affembled on deck; during this ceremony, it is cuilomary for every body to be uncovered. The natives, among whom were fome A a a 2 of princi- of the king's relations, obferving that fomething extraordinary was ples of socie- g°inS forward, were particularly curious to know what the long Tlhs' para-parou, or fpeech fignihed; I told them it was the word of the great king of our nation , upon which they all agreed among themr felves that it was Meek a j which I fuppofe from the above circum^ fiances to fignify law, or regulation. They frequently told us that they killed thieves, by hanging a large ftone to their necks and drowning them in the fea : however, in a nation which has fo much innocence and benevolence, andfo few wants, the greater part of which, may very eafily be fatisfied, this crirne muft be rare. Murder feems to be a crime unknown among them ; though we frequently faw fome of them difagree, and fight, yet the byftanders were always ready to part them, in order to prevent further mifchief, and their hearts are not yet degraded to that degree of degeneracy and bafe-nefs, as to permit them to poftpone vengeance to another time, and to lay a plan in cool blood, and in a deliberate manner, to execute it with more certainty and fecurity to themielves. Like true children of nature, their paffions, the great principles of felf-prefervation and defence, prompt them to punim and repel their real or imaginary wrongs, and as foon as they have fhewed that they are not deftitute of a noble refentment, they yield to the endeavours of their brethren to cflablifh peace and harmony, and arc as ealily reconciled to their antngonifls. Among Among the chiefs, instances of matrimonial infidelity are to be princi-met with, which feem therefore, as in Europe, to be the vicious P0^^T,°F oOC iE—■ prerogative attached to rank and dignity. The natives told us, TIES* that adultery is punifhed with death among them, but we faw no instances of It, and thofe on the part of the hufband which came to my knowledge, were no further punimed, than that the juftly exafperated wife, Juno like, treated her hufband, with all the flow of bad language Ihe was miftrefs of, and that flic in great hafle and wrath imparted fome boxes on the ear to the fair one, whom (lie found defirous of encroaching upon her prerogative rights. Thefe happy ifles have almofl: every article necelfary for the fupply of their wants , neverthelefs their manners are already fo far polifhed, that they like to be pofTcfled of fome articles chiefly of ornaments and luxury, which they cannot meet with in their own ifle, or at leafl, not in fuch plenty as in others fituated in the neighbourhood. Bora-bora, and O-Tahaw, arc both well provided with coco-nut-palms, from which they manufacture an oil, well known in the Eafl; Indies, the inhabitants of Taheitee and its neighbourhood, ufe this oil perfumed, by means of various odoriferous plants, and aromatic < woods, as an article of luxury to flain and to perfume their cloth, and even their hair, and fometimes their bodies. As the coco-nut-trees are not fo plentiful in O-Taheitee as to enable the inhabitants to prepare a quantity of oil* » princi- oil, to Satisfy the great demand for it, and as on the contrary, ples of union the natives of Bora-bora, and O-Tahaw, cannot manufacture fuch a profufion and variety of cloth as they do at O-Tahcitee, where the paper-mulberry-tree is much cultivated, there are perfons who every year undertake a voyage from Taheitee to Tahaw and .Bora-bora, in order to barter great quantities of cloth, for joints of thick bamboo-reeds filled with coco-nut oil. The Low-Iflands have a race of dogs with long white hair, which the natives employ in fringing their brealt-plates or war gorgets; and thefe low iflanders cannot cultivate the mulbcrry-trce on their fandy, barren ledges of lands, which includes their fait lagoons ; therefore thefe reciprocal wants, form a kind of commerce between the inhabitants of the high and low iflands, and a mutual exchange of fuperfluities. The red feathers of parrots are employed in ornaments for their warriors, being fixed at the end of the taffels, which they wear like queues, and likewife in fmall bundles tied together with coco-nut-core, which they make ufe of in order to fix their attention during their prayers. The O-Taheitee parrot has but few and very dirty red feathers, but more to the Welt are iflands, which have fine parroquets remarkable for beautiful red feathers. One of thefe illes is low, and deftitute of inhabitants, at about ten days fail from O-Taheitee and is called Whennua-oora the Land of red feathers, to which the people from the 6 Society II U M A N SPECIE S. 367 Society-Ifles fometimes refort, in order to procure fome of thek, princi-red feathers, for they are the moft valuable article of commerce, PLEb 01 socie- and there is nothing which a Taheitean would not give or grant in ties.. order to acquire fome of thefe precious feathers,. We brought fome bright red feathers from England, but they foon found out they Were only cocks feathers, and died red, and for that reafon did not cfteem them; they took them indeed, but refufed to give any thing in return. Whereas, when we came the fecond time, in 1774, to O-Taheitee after we had been to Tonga Tabu, where the natives make various ornaments of red feathers, we procured for them not only numbers of hogs, the moft valuable article of trade, but, likewife mourning dreiles, which the natives- refufed, to part with before, when Mr. Banks was there, and during our firft ftay in their happy ifle. The rage after thefe trifling ornaments was fo great, that Potatoa a chief, whofe magnanimity and noble way of thinking, we never queftioned before, wanted even to proftitute his own wife, for a parcel of thefe baubles. All kinds of iron tools are likewife become great, articles of commerce, fince their connexions with Europeans. The Spaniards firft made the inhabitants of all thefe iflands acquainted with iron; and I am of opinion that even its O-Taheitean name is of Spanifti origin; for when Oliver van Noort came in the year 1600 to Quaham one of the Ladrone Iflands, he faw more than 200 canoes full. 3 thority, and feen to enjoy only an hereditary title; and as to the laws of thefe people, we are not prefumptuous enough to talk of things, which we had neither opportunities, nor time, nor fufrK cient knowledge of the language to obferve. They had plantations in thefe ifles, and" we faw that feveral fmall families cleared fpots of ground for that purpofe, and it is very natural to fuppofe that they likewife reap the fruits of their labours. In general it appeared to us, that O-Taheitee and the clufter of high ifles in its neighbourhood, were the only fpots where civilization had made fome pro<-grefs, and where thefe advantages were not again over-balanced by defects in the constitution or government. I cannot difmifs this fubject without obferving, that though the tropical ifles of the South- South-Sea, never may, perhaps, be fo unhappy, if left to them- princi-felves, as to be again degraded to a more debafed condition \ they PLKS OF * s o ci e - will on the other hand, never be able to make, unaffiited, any great txes* or rapid progrefs towards a higher civilization, or more ixnproved condition, becaufe the fmall fize of their ifles will not admit of thefe improvements : and in cafe they mould attempt to make con-quells and unite feveral fmall iflands into one political body ; many centuries muft elapfe before the little jealoufies between the van-r-quifhed people and the conquerors will wear off, and by a happy coalition one powerful, nation can be eftablifhed; which, however, is abfolutely required, if they are to make large ftrides towards improvement in fcience, morality, arts, manufactures, or hufbandn : and thus together form one great fcene of happinefs. C H A P, CHAP. VI. On the Principles, Moral Ideas, Manners, Refinement, Luxury, and the Condition of Women, among the Nations in the South-Sea-Ifles, PRIM^ DEDEE.UNT SOLATIA DtlLCIA VITAC. LvcVCtUli. manners T^HE happy inhabitants of the tropical iflands in the South-Sea, occupy a rank in the clafs of human beings, which is by no means fo defpicable, as might, at firft fight, be imagined; and the Taheiteans and their neighbours in the Society-iflands, may claim the higheft rank among thefe nations. They are certainly, for many reafons, fuperior to the cannibals in New-Zeeland, and ftill higher above the rambling, poor inhabitants, of New-Holland, and the moft unhappy wretches of Tierra del Fuego. In the fame proportion the people at Tanna, and Mallicollo, exceed thofe at New-Caledonia; the inhabitants of the Marquefas, ftand higher than the people of the Friendly-iflands, and thefe muft yield to the Taheiteans, as every circumftance concurs to to confirm their high rank. The organization of their bodies manner* feems to me to be the moil happy and fufceptible of enjoyment and improvement, of all the other nations before-mentioned • the climate they live in, the vicinity of fo many iflands, peopled by the fame nation, fpeaking the fame language, enjoying the fame kind of government, accuftomed to the fame laws and regulations, inflructed in the fame principles, having the fame ideas in regard to morality and religion, the fame food, drefs, habitations, and general manners; in a word, every thing contributes to connect and to form them for a higher degree of enjoyment. Men, of different inclinations, who are endued with rational fouls, and capable of forming various ideas, are found to make advances to perfection only, when they flrivc to acquire a competent knowledge of a variety of objects, and take care to admit no other ideas among thofe who may ferve them in life, than fuch as are perfectly conformable to truth, and which exprefs to the mind the real qualities and properties of things ; and when their thoughts and actions are directed by the firict rule of right. In this cafe they will foon difcover that though there be a flrong inftinct in their breafts, prompting them to appropriate as much good to themfelves as pof-fible, yet the enjoyment of it will foon become more and more imperfect, and unhappinefs,, in fome meafure, the confequence; but by transferring acts of benevolence to other men, they foon open to themfelves 3S4 Tl E M A R K S on the •, ynners themfelvefi an incxhauflible fource of enjoyment, becaufe benefactions of an incredible variety may be bellowed upon an almofl -infinite number of fellow creatures, and thus we fee the great -principles of all rational human beings, ought to be candour and humanity-; which alone are capable of giving to all their ideas, -defires, and actions, the true direction towards real, lafling happinefs, and raife their nature to that exalted dignity, for which -y were originally intended. The tropical nations of the South-Seas confidered in this point of view, feem to be deficient neither in candour, nor in humanity, Per it is impomhle to deftribe the inquiiitive curiofity of thefe people relative to our country, government, religion, and the •various arts by which our curious manufactures were carried on, I -mean fuch as fell under their eyes, and could be underflood by them. I was obliged to explain to them the difference between our fluffs made of wool, filk, cotton, and linen; .by telling them the firfl was made of the hair of a hog with teeth on the forehead, (for thus they called our fheep when they firfl faw them) the fecond, I explained to be the thread of a caterpillar; tke third, I fhewed to be a fpecies of their cotton called E-Vavai or Gojfypium religiofum, Linn, which is found in their ifles, and the laft I obferved to be a kind of thread of a plant or grafs ; and they were all very attentive when I ufed to draw and twift.fome threads of 2 their their cotton, in order to mew them the poffibility of ufing it for manners that purpofe. They were likewife very attentive while our armourer was forming hatchets on the anvil, or the carpenters grinding their tools; for which reafon, Captain Cook gave them fome grinding ftones, and took care that they mould be inftruded in the proper ufe of thefe inftruments. We were often obliged to.explain to them our belief in the divinity; they ufedtoafk how we called him in the Britifh language, and endeavoured to pronounce the name of God ; they were all attention, when according to their delire God was explained to be without,a maker y invilible, almighty, and infinitely good; they enquired whether we addreffed him iT> prayer, and whether we had priefts and mar-ais, i. c. places of worfhip, ferving at the fame time for burying places. All which, proves their inquifitive mind, and that they endeavour to acquire as many ideas as lye intheir power. Nor were they dcilitute of knowledge-and a fyftem of ufeful ideas, preferved among the wile-men of the nation ; I include in this ftock of ideas, their fkill in cultivating certain plants for food and drefs,' and the choice of % proper foil for each of them, the various operations in preparing-, them for the various purpofes required ; the curious, and often very neat dreffes, utcnfils, arms, and ornanrents manufactured by them, with the fimpleft tools; their knowledge of the birds, nihes, and Plants in-their iflands and their neighbourhood - ihe'.v a.'._p!.u:itanp$ "Odd with MANNERS with the winds and feafons, the names of the ftars,. and their ntinz and fetting, and a knowledge of the fituation of & confiderable number, of iflands in thofe tropical feas ; the art of navigating by the fun in the day time, and by the moon.and. ftars in the night : the number and names of days in a lunation,, and of lunations-in a year. This exercife of their memories in retaining the various names exprefling thefe ideas,, and of other mental faculties confirming by their own experience the truth of the phenomena, communicated to them by their parents and teachers, gives them a turn and as ifi were a predilection for the examination of truth ; which, when applied to the purpofes of common focial life, gives a ftrong tincture of honefty and candour, which is moft particularly neceffary in all human tranfactions. But if we fhould require proofs of their humanity, we need only to quote the navigators in the Refolution, Adventure, Endeavour, Dolphin, and. Mr. de Bougainville, at Taheitee,. as fo many monuments of their humanity and friendly difpofition : they provided us with refrefh-ments and vaft quantities of hogs; they aflifled us when we were often unattended a great way up in their country; they vied with each other in fhewing us marks of their kindnefs and hofpitality., invited us to fit down in the cooling fhade of their houfes> rubbed and chafed our wearied limbs, offered us a delicate dinner, prepared from the beft of their fruits, undertook to become the bearers of' cur •II U M A N SPECIES, 387 ■our victuals and acquisitions of plants, fhells, and 6fb.es, in our manners excurfions, carried us over all waters and rivulets on their backs, and fetched the ducks and other birds which we had (hot; they entertained us with fongs and dances; made us prefents of cloth and proviiions; and fome of them were polite in every acceptation of the word, and treated us in a manner, which cannot but leave in our minds the ■moft lafting imprefilons of their courtefy and benevolence. Thefe great principles of candour and humanity, which are fo well underftood, and fo generally practlfed by thefe nations, ■have no doubt, a great influence on their morals and manners. The firft dawnings of the taiv of nature, taught them to be cautious-, and abftain from doing harm to their fellow creatures * 'but morality gives the great practical leffon to make as many fellow ■creatures happy as poffible. I will not however, maintain that thofe feelings of moral, fenfe are abfolutely the fame at all times, in all climates, and among all nations: for I am well aware, that often the fame nation approves of an a6tion at one period of time, and at another condemns it. I am likewife not Ho ignorant as tc» deny that the fame action is condemned by one people, and approved by another, or at leaft not reckoned to be criminal; becaufe nations are in this refpect. likewife, fimilar to individuals: they gradually *ipen to an age of maturity, and acquire in every age, a more fteady, D d d 2 and 388 REMARKS ctn t¥e manners and more refined moral tafle; and,if ever the bulk of the nation,. or part of it, or even only individuals can difpel the prejudices' furrounding their minds, and conquer the paihons' which influence' their will-s; they are fure to act according to the dictates 6& their confeienee, which is in that cafe common fenfe relative t-r morals, and the voice of the divinity ftrongly admonifhing- them of their duty; they then become fenfible, that the actions of mem living in a fociety, are by no means indifferent to the community, but that every individual is accountable for them to his fellow creatures. Upon the whole, though the actions of tliefe happy people generally have a tendency to humanity and* benevolence, they arc actuated in fome meafure by a fpirit of felfifhnefs, the great root of corruption, and are, therefore fimilar in that refpect' to the reft of mankind, whofe actions are a compound of a felfifh and humane, benevolent behaviour; which is made ufe of according as prejudices, national character, and'other circumftances prompt them to follow either the one or the other impulfe: and evert when felfifhnefs carried away their defires, to covet for inftance, the iron-ware, which we had, and - induced one or more of them to purloin a nail or knife or fome fuch trifle, they were however, not fo abfolutely loft to all moral fenfe, as not to mew by their immediate flight, that they had wronged us : nay, often fome of the natives, who were either attached to us from principles* of n U M A. N SPECIE S. 3S9 af gratitude, or had a more generous and liberal way of thinking, manners and entertained ftrictcr notions of morality,, warned us againft, fome perfons whom they faw in the croud.pi-effing cfliciouily upon US, or whom they had feen once fruftrated in their attempts upon our pockets ; which at leaft proves fo much, that though fome Were now and then tempted to act contrary to the impulfe of confcicncc on account of an irrcfiftible temptation, fuggefting for a moment the principles of fellifhnefs, there were however others, who acted ftrictly conformable to the dictates of morality \ and even the criminals themfelves were not without rcmorfe, or infen- fible that their action was punifhable, being wrong, and that we were able to call tliem to a ilrict account for it, and retaliate the wrongs they had been committing againft us. I cannot leave this fubject without mentioning that I found immorality and feluihnefs,, fcir more prevailing among the great and the. very loweft,. than among the middle ranks of people. King O-Too with his filler, Tourai, being once on a vifit to Captain Cook, were introduced into his ftate-room, where, conflantly a quantity of iron-ware lay expofed, in. order to have as much of it ready, as was required for the trade which was conflantly carried on. The Captain and L were the only perfons who. were, with them. Captain Cook was cafted out by the officer on deck upon fome bufinefs that admitted no delay, he therefore defired me to flay with the royal family.. The r 39$ 'REMARKS on t ii B manners The abfence of the Captain, and the great heaps of iron, fuggeftcii to Tourai the idea of profiting by this opportunity, and prompted her to purloin fome of the fine iron goods; fhe defired her brother ■ to divert my attention ; he called me to the window and wanted to fhew me fomething -in the canoes furrounding our fliip; I fufpected their defign, and went where he called me, but kept an eye on 0-Toors fifter, who immediately feized two large ten inch fpikes and • concealed them ^carefully under her garment. I acquainted Captain Cook at -'his return with the tranfaction, but we agreed to diffembk, and not to alarm their fears, that the brifknefs of the trade might not be interrupted. However, I made the following obfervations, that the fight of fuch treafures of iron, muft have been very great temptations; becaufe Tourai and O-Too might have had two or more fpikes, Upon barely a/king for them, and that therefore the idea of acquiring them by ftealth, fhould ■feem-to be ci -fudden irrefiftible impulfe, capable of overcoming the turpitude of the action, the danger and fhame of being expofed and regarded as thieves, and the king becoming himfelf acceffary to the meaneft tranfaction5 however, the complaifance of the king for his After, was equally evident, and in fome meafure makes his condefcenfion in my opinion, lefs culpable; nor would iwifhbythis obfervation to brand Tourai or O-Too, as people of abandoned morals, and capable of committing -any immoral 2. action j HUM A N' SPECIES. 3^1 action j. for I am perfuaded from other reafons, that O-Too, was manners a well meaning man, inclined to fear that we might abufe the fupe- riority of our power againft him and his people; but at the fame time benevolent, good-natured,, and ftudioufly promoting the wealth, power, and happinefs of his people: though I believe. him incapable of acting in fo noble, difintercfted, and generous a manner as- Towha, who would have fhone as a great character, in whatever nation.he might have happened, to live.. The character of tile filter, is> in my opinion, lefs amiable than that of O-Too., efpecially if it be. true, what:a great many ufed to tell u?„t that Jhe was a kind of a Mejiilina, demeaning herfelf fo low as to admit Toutous to her embraces. Befides this inftance of the immorality and felfifhnefs of the great, I can add another.; Wainee^ou and Potatou her hulband,. were fo greedy after the pofteffion of red parrots feathers, that having fold all the hogs, which they poftibly could fpare, together with a fine helmet, feveral breaft-plates, and a mourning drefs, they agreed to proftitute Wamee-ou, and /he in confequence offered herfelf to Captain Cook, and appeared. as a ready victim. —* .— —• Tunica vdata recincla. Iimuft confefs, having received a favourable and great idea of Botatou's character, this tranfaction made me afhamed of. him; and.being before elated with the thought of having found a nation,, where manners where one might at leaft. find to the honour of humanity, le'fs degeneracy joined to an amiable innocence and primitive fimplicity, my fpirits were damped by this unexpected fcene of immorality and felfifhnefs, in.a.family where I leaft expected to hear of it. The principles of chaftity we found however, in many families, exceedingly well underitood and practiced, to the great fatisfaction of all thofe Europeans in whofe hearts lewdnefs had not yet effaced every notion of purity and morality. I have with tranfport feen many fine women, who with a modefty mixed with politenefs, which would have graced the moft exalted characters of our polite nations, refufe the greateft and moft tempting offers made them by our forward youths.; often they excufed themfelves with a limple tirra-lanc, " I am married," and at other times they fmiled and declined it with eipa, " no." But it is necelfary to obferve that a nation ftill enjoying that juft and noble fimplicity of manners, living in'large houfes with feveral families together, in the midft of their children, cannot conceal certain actions, which none of our Europeans, who have feelings and breeding, wiihed to commit in fo great companies; this naturally makes all their children acquainted with tranfactions of which fome European matrons perhaps may have no ideas, nor has.love, and all its concomitant, and moft myfterious endearments, enjoyments, and confequences, ever been ftamped in thefe happy ifles with a notion of II U M A N SPECIES,' 393 of turpitude. Virtuous women hear a joke without emotion, manners which amongft us might perhaps put fome men to the bluih. Neither auflerity and anger, nor joy and ecflafy is the confequence, but fometimes a modeft, dignified, ferene fmile fpreads itfelt over their faces, and feems gently to rebuke the uncouth jefter, for not being better acquainted with the purer enjoyments of modeft and virtuous love, and with the practice of that refpect which is due to thofe who are its religious votaries. Thus the conftant and excellent principles of candour and humanity teach the better individuals of this happy nation, the diftinction between right and wrong, and fpread, and confirm the notions of virtue and morality among them. But the actions of a people may be likewife confidered, as far as they become cxpreffiveof a character peculiar to them, by which they give us an idea of their manners. There are nations that have fuch ftrong outlines in their characters, forming fo effential a contraft between them and other nations, that it is very eafy to catch them, and to defcribe a picture perfectly rcfembling the original; the warlike inftitutions and laws of Lycurgus gave fijeh a ftrong character to the Spartans, that nothing was more eafy than to give a picture of Spartan manners: but to diftinguifh the inhabitant of Orchomenus from that of Megalopolis or of-Mantinca and Tegen, E e e by 394 REMARKS on t h e manners by thefe characteristics was a more difficult talk, becaufe the features were fo fmall, that the diflinction was, as it were entirely loft. The characteristics of the South-Sea nations, are, upon the whole, very different from ours, and may therefore eafily be traced; how=-ever, the difference between them and all the nations, which arc juft emerging from barbarian, is not fo very confiderable, nor is it poflible to point out fuch features as would at once diftinguifh the inhabitants of each particular illand, from thofe of the others in its neighbourhood, efpecially as our ftay among them was fo fhort, and their language fo little underftood by us : we (hall neverthe-lefs endeavour to give fome faint outlines of their manners. !w ♦ The general external appearance of thefe nations, is, no doubt, very ftrongly contrafted to ours, and we have already mentioned fomething upon that fubject in the feet ion, treating of the colour, fize, habit of body, &c. &c. of thefe nations, which renders it un-necefiary to repeat the fame argument again. Dress characterizes people moft remarkably, nor is this uniform in the South-Sea-Iflands. The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego,. we found deflitute of fuch parts of drefs, which mcdefly would employ, and neceflity enjoin; in the Weftern iflands of the Pacific Ocean, where the climate makes drefs net abfolutdy ne-X ceffary,, ceflary, the nations covered only thofe parts of their body, * which, man by an almofl general agreement, every nation on earth wifhcs to fcreen; but though their males, were, to all appearance, equally anxious in this refpect with their females, this part of their drefs ferved only to make that more confpicuous, which it intended to hide; and this device feems to be invented with as little delicacy and judgment as the famous cod-pieccy which a few centuries ago made part of a man's drefs in Europe ; whether the care of preventing thefe parts from being wounded or hurt by branches of trees, briars* and infects, or real principles of propriety and modefly had firft induced them to ufe fo ftrange a method for covering their genitals, I cannot decide; however, among thefe fame nations we obferved, that only the age of maturity infpired them with thefe ideas of decency and modefly; for their little boys were ftark-naked, and little girls, below the age of eight years,1 had no other cover than a wifp of ftraw before, and another behind, fixed to a firing tied round the waift. But though all thefe nations had no other parts of drefs, to fatisfy neceflity in a cold climate, or mo-deily in a warmer; they found it neverthelefs neceilary to ufe various ornaments: in Tierra del Fuego, they painted their faces red, E e e 2 with * It is thciffi'i'C remarkable, that in the engraved figure of a Mallieolefe, wliich is found in Capt. Cook's Narrative of the voyage, a drapery has been fpread over the body of the figure, in direct oppofirion to the universal cuftom of that country. manners with a kind of ochre > in Tanna they fometimes laid on their faces-black and white paint, in oblique alternating bands, the hair was fometimes divided into a great number of firings, not thicker than a crows-quill, and wrapt in fixings of the bark of a bindweed,, (convolvulus) which gave their heads a very odd appearance; the ears were generally pierced, arid ornamented with rings of Tor-toife-fhell, nay, in New^Caledonia and Eafler-Ifland, we found the hole enlarged to fuch a fize, that four or five fingers might eafily pafs through,, and the under part hung down almofl. to the moulders. Thefe preternatural apertures were commonly diftended by fcrolls of the elaflic fugar-canc-leaves, or loaded with huge earrings, fometimes amounting to eighteen in number. The inhabitants of the Friendly-iflands had the ear perforated by two holes, through which they thruft, horizontally, a piece of bamboo reed,, or a cylinder of tortoife-fhell, or other fhell. In Mallicollo and Tanna,. feveral men had the feptum narjum perforated, and the hole filled with a cylindrical flone 5 the heads of moft of the men were bare y that of women often covered with a leaf of the arum, efculentum, or the dracontium. pert ufurn, or only furrounded by a fillet, or firing. In New-Caledonia, many men had high cylindrical black caps, made of fplit bamboos, and coco-nut-core, which gave them a martial appearance ; nor had feveral of thefe nations forgotten to ornament their, bodies, by puncturing them in various figures, and fil-g linS ET U M A N SPECIES. 397 %>ng the punctures with pounded coals or foot. But the more civi- manners lized inhabitants of Taheitee and the Society-ifles, living in the fame mild tropical climate, have adopted, a convenient, elegant drefs: the lower part of the body is generally wrapt in pieces of this cloth to the middle of the calf of their legs, and the upper part is covered with another piece, having a longitudinal hole cut in the middle of it, through which they thruft their heads, and thus they cover their moulders, half of their arms, their backs and breafts : fometimes thefe parts hang loofe, and at other times they are tied faft to the. body by the lower wrapper. This lower wrapper is likewife adopted by the inhabitants of the Friendly-iilands, with the entire omiffion of the upper-garment, which has the hole in thm middle, and is called by the Taheiteans, teepootiu In the Marquefas and Eafter-Iiland, the fame kind of cloth is ufed by the natives,, though the full drefs feemed to be only a garment of ceremony, when their chiefs and women appeared in ftate ; the reft of the nation being but indifferently covered with fhort wrappers ■ about the loins. Thus may we fee the progrefs in the drefs whicbu originated from a neceffary fhelter againft the inclemencies of the.-climate, and from a fenfe of modefty was improved to a covering, equally fitted for convenience and elegance. The inhabitants of the Society-ifles, are among all the nations-' of the South-Seas, the moft cleanly; and the better fort of them. carry manners carry cleanlincfs to a very great length , they bathe every morning and evening, in a rivulet, or the fea-water, and after they come out of the fea, they conltantly undergo an immerfion of their bodies in frefh water, for the ablution of the briny particles; before and after their meals they warn their hands; and were glad to obtain from us combs of all fizes and kinds, in order to adjuft their hair, and likewife to free them from vermin, which, before the introduction of European combs, they frequently fearched for, rendering this fervice to one another: they likewife anoint their hair, with perfumed coco-nut oil, both to caufe a fine fmell, and to hinder the increafe of vermin, which are inflantly killed, as foon as their fpiracula are ftopt up with the oil. The want or fcarcity of frefli water, in all the Low and Friendly-iflands, makes the natives lefs careful of ablution, and caufes among them, I believe, thefe cutaneous and leperous diforders, which we found fo common among them. But the inhabitants of the New-Hebrides and New-Caledonia, we obferved to be more cleanly, becaufe frefli water is more common, and they were likewife careful in deflroying the vermin. The inhabitants of the Friendly-iflands conflantly clip the hair of their beards, by means of two fharp bivalve fhells and I do not remember to have feen, in all thefe ifles, one Angle man, with a long a long beard. * The hair of the head is commonly black, and manners flowing in beautiful natural ringlets ; the natives, however, generally cut it fhort; and in a few individuals only, from Bokbola* we obferved long hair. Befides thefe articles belonging to the external appearance of the nations in the South-Seas, there are many others, which are equally characteriftic, and the language is none of the leaft flriking, curious and interefting. We acquired only a very imperfect knowledge of the many languages fpoken in the various ifles of the South-Sea 5 we fliall therefore not pretend to be very full upon this fubject, nor can it be expected ; we fliall only offer on that head a few general remarks. The language of the Society-ifles was better underftood by us than any other, becaufe we had made fo-confiderable a flay among them, and had an opportunity of making ufe of the vocabularies collected in former voyages, and of converting with the natives whom we had on board; the other dialects were only imperfectly under- * Wc arc therefore forry, that wc cannot, in this inflance, fay of tho young artiii'a picture, reprcfenting-the landing at the Friendly-ifles, which is engraved for Capt. Cook's voyage,. omnc tulitpanttum qui mifcult Mile dulci, as he niituA.- it a fine compofition at the expence of truth, by giving all the men large bufhy beards, contrary to the cofiume oi the country, and by cloiyh'ng many figures from head to foot, with fine flowing draperies, in the fineft Greek %Ie, though the natives arc conflantly naked from the girdle upwards ; the elegant form °f their uaked bodies would have produced as fine an effect, as the drapery-: and in representations of this kind intended to accompany an hifloryof a voyage, the chief recvuifite and 'Ucrit is truth : which ou'^nt not to be facrificcd to whim and caprice. 400 R E M A R K S on the manners underflood. We found, however, that the language fpoken at: Ealfer illand, the Marquefas, the Low, the Society, and Friendly-iilands, and in New-Zeeland, is the fame, and that the differences are hardly fufficient to conflitute dialects. The languages fpoken at the New-Hebrides, New-Caledonia, and New-Holland, are abfolutely diftinct. from the above general language, and likewife differ among themfelves. From a companion of the vocabularies, in Schouten and le Maire's voyage, with one collected at the Friendly-iflands, it appears, that they fpeak entirely the fame dialect, in the Friendly-iflands, and in thofe of Hope, Coco's, and Traitor s,, to the North of the above iflands, If wc may be allowed, to make an inference from one fingle word, I fhould think that at Chic ay ana, * a low ifland, four days fail from Taumaco, the fame dialect is fpoken, fmce ti-curi or tec-ghooree, is, in both places the name for a dog; nay, even at the Nev/-CAroi.ine-Is lands, they call the plaintive fongs of their women tongner ifaifil; -f and in New-Zeeland, and the Friendly-iflands, the fame would be expreffed by tangheefefeine, which is not fo very different, as to difcourage our guefTmg at the fimilarity of both languages. The language of Chicayana, is likewife, in my opinion, nearly related to that of the Tagrdas, on the ifland of Lucon, becaufe ** Dalfyinple s Collation, vol. i. p. •\ Des Hrofll'S Ilifl, des Navigat. aux Tcrrcs Auftral. vol. ii. p. 486* H U M AN SPECIE S. 401 Caufe, in this tongue, great fignifies daquila, or taquila, * manners and this is the name by which the natives of Chicayana di-ftinguifhed the great cardia, or cockles from thofe which are fmaller and more common.* The language of the Tagalas having an undoubted relation to that of the Malays, as may be eafily collefted from the comparifon of the words of both languages ; it can be no wonder that Malapn words were found in the Taheitean language, and its various dialects. Thefe general obfervations on the language are fo far curious and interefting, as theyafford a farther confirmation of the origin and migration of thefe iflanders. But there are other obfervations, occurring on a more minute confideration of the language itfelf. The jirft is that at Taheitee, and the Society-ifles, the natives have no fibilant in their language; and therefore having no ufe of their organs of fpeech in forming thefe founds, they become at laft utterly incapable of pronouncing any fibilant found whatfoever. Their words, or even fyllables, are never terminated by a confonant; for which reafon the natives, in imitating the names of Europeans, always added a vowel at the end of fuch names as ended in a confonant; and this likewife has made their language foft and agreeable on account of the number *** of * P. JlfM Ac Noceda f cl P. Pedro de San Lueur Vocabulario dc la Lingua Tagala. Manila, 1754, fol. f Dalrymple'8 Collection of Voyages, vol. i. p. 149, manners of vowels\ and wherever they met a fibilant, or confonant, which to their ear was not fufficiently euphonic, they immediately fubfti-tuted another of more eafy pronunciation : Cook was changed into Toote, and George into Teoree. The numerous vowels require a variation of dip thongs and accents, to produce a multiplicity of founds, and a nicety of car to obferve all thefe little diftinctions, which often occafioned a material alteration of the fenfe; as ais to eat 5 eat, to copulate $ eiya, fifli; aiya, to Ileal or rob; oiyo, a noddy 3 e-ivai, water j and avai, the foot 5 a bow, a drefs or cloth j a hoo, a wind from behind ; and eoo, the breafts ; a dog is called ooree a nail or iron yuree; and the male genitals e-oure. The langauge is harmonious, and by no means harfh, when fpoken in a manly manner, at Taheitee ; at Huaheine, feveral people had the habit of pronouncing whatever they fpoke, in a finging manner ; and at the Friendly-iflands, the finging tone of voice, in common convention, was flill more frequent, efpecially amongft women. The language of the Taheiteans, feems not deftitute of fome kind of culture, and fhews a degree of civilization; for they have not only names for conftellations, and fingle ftars, for every plant or graft, but even for every infect, for every worm, every fhell, fifli, and bird, haunting their ifle, and frequenting their fhores; they have names alfo for all the parts of their body, and not only fuch as may be feen, but likewife for fuch as cannot be known but from direction. Like Like the old Britons, and Northern nations, they reckon not by manners days, but number the nights, if they want to exprefs the interval of feveral days. As their minds are moft ufed to things that ftrike the fenfes, they have no proper words for expreiling abftract. ideas; thus for inftance they call the thoughts the words of the belly, " parou no-te-oboo f a covetous man is called tahata pirree-plrre, or piperriee; and it mould feem they had in their minds the idea of narrownefs, or glueing and flicking together, when thev formed the word, for e-pirre has the above fignifications; a generous man is called tabata-oowhoroa, or literally, the man of gifts or prefents; the head of a human creature they call oopo ; that of a quadruped or fifh, bmee; and that of a bird poa-arahou; the tail of a dog is called airo; of a bird, bobe; of a fifh eeterre; this laft name is very remarkable, becaufe it is ex-preifive of the ufe the fifhes make of their tail; for eh*e-wbateerra, fignifies a paddle for fleering a canoe, or great boat; and the eeterre of fifh, ferves likewife for the direction of its courfe in the water. The males of the human fpecies, they exprefs by the word time; and the females, by that of veheine 5 but the males of fifhes, birds, or any animal, are called bnee and the females, bwha ; fo that from thefe few inftances, we may form fome idea of the characler-iftic points in their language. The common occupations of the people of Taheitee, and the Society-ifiands, as well as thofe in all the iflands of the Pacific F f f 2 Ocean manners Ocean arc fo very little varied, that Europeans, ufed both to a variety of occupations, and a round of amufements, would think their way of living highly infipid and uniform; they commonly rife with the fun, and as they have not a variety of garments to put on, they wrap themfelves in the fame clothes which ferved them for a cover during night, then go to the river or fea, and bathe ; after which ablution each follows fome occupation, either to fifli at low water on the reef furrounding the illand, or to dig up fome ground intended for the plantation of the cloth-tree, which is commonly manured with broken lliclls ; or to coll ,ct fome bread-fruit, for making a four pafte, to be laid up for the feafon when none is to be had on the trees; or he climbs up to the elevated vallies between ths mountains, and fetches from thence fome loads of the large horfe* plantanes y or he is occupied in felling large trees for making canoes or building houfesj or his time is taken up in excavating a canoei or fewing the feveral pieces together with cords made of coco-nut core : at other times he plants a young plantane-fhoot, and furrounds it with pegs and flicks, that dogs, fwine, and children, may not hurt or deflroy it: the making of fifh-hooks and of lines, from the filaments of a grafs, or of cordage of various fize and ufe, from coco-nut core, is another employment, or the manufacturing of a lance, a war-club, a breafl-plate, a fcoop for the canoe, a paddle, or fome other fuch inflrument, ufed in war or peace, is either his occupa*- occupation or amufement. About noon, having wafhed his hands, manners he begins his meal of bread-fruit or four-pafle baked by hot ftones under ground, and has perhaps, his brother and fon for companions, whilft his wife and the females of the family, retire with their portion to another part of the houfe, or wait till the males have * finifhed their meal. Clear water is their common drink, and frequently even fea-water. Another ablution of the hands concludes the dinner, and if the occupations in which he is engaged are not preffing, he refts on the ground in his hut, or if he be weary from conftant hard labour, whether from a long walk, or from hard paddling, he refufes not to refrefh his exhaufted fpirits by at feafonable fleep during the heat of the day, and in the cool of the evening returns to his former occupations with renewed vigour,, till the declining fun bids him reft from the toils of the day; when after another flight repaft, and another ablution, he lays down on the ground on a mat, and covers himfelf with his garment, by the fide of his wife; unlefs he finds it more neceffary to go on the reef With lighted links, in queft of a provifion of fifh. The more barbarous, the lefs polifhed the manners of the nation; are, the more marks of cruelty towards flrangers are generally, obferved; and in this refpect, I fhould think, the natives of the tropical iflands fhewed the moft favourable fymptoms of friendfhip< and philanthropy; for as foon as our fhips arrived, they were received 4o6 H E MARKS on the " \ nn£rs received in the mod friendly, generous, and cordial manner: even the attack made upon Captain Wallis, I cannot fuppofe to .have been concerted, unlets fome previous infuk or offence, had 'been given, perhaps unknowingly, by our people, which roufed their revenge, and as they were unacquainted with the effects of our fire-arms, they thought perhaps, they might venture an attack upon a fet of men, who had offended or infulted them ; and as the Britifh people did not then underfland their language, they poflibly might have demanded redrefs and fatisfacfion for it, which, not being complied with, on account of tjie difference and ignorance of the language, they thought themfelves in the right to retaliate the injury upon them; though this unlucky attempt, proved fatal to many of their brethren. Wherever we came, though the inhabitants had not the lean: idea of the execution our fire arms were capable of making, they behaved very friendly towards us: nay, after we had killed a man at the Marquefas, grievoufly wounded one at Eafler-ifland, hooked a third with a boat-hook at Tonga-tabu, wounded one at Namocka, another at Mallicollo, and killed another at Tanna; the feveral inhabitants behaved in a civil and harmlefs manner to us, though they might have taken ample revenge, by cutting off our flragling parties; all which, in my opinion, fufficiently eflablifh the frkndly dif-pofition of thefe feveral nations. 2 We We had no opportunities of feeing their method of puniihing manners criminals, but we were told that thieves were either hanged or drowned with a weight tied to their necks; in either kind of punilhment are no vefliges of cruelty. In their wars all is over after the firfl onfet, and it does not appear that they take any prifoners of war, or if they do, that they treat them in an inhuman or barbarous manner. We found not even the vefliges of making flaves of them in the fenfe that Eaftern nations do, or ftill lefs by employing them to hard and toilfome labour, as we were ufed to do with thofe whom we fend by thoufands to our colonies. All that can be faid againft their friendly difpofitions, is contained in fome relations we heard of the devaluations the people of Tearraboo or the little Peninfula made on O-Parre, after the battle of the Ifthmus: it was reported that they burnt houfes and canoes, and carried off all their hogs : but even this is in ! my opinion, not fufBcient to reprefent them more cruel than the civilized nations of Europe, who plunder, wafle, and burn with fo much eagernefs, and fo little concern, that if we judge from thence, the actions above mentioned, feem by no means to brand the inhabitants of the South Seas with cruelty and barbarifm. The natives of Bora-bora had conquered O-Raiedea and O-Taha, and fome of their chiefs and warriors had occupied the lands of fuch people as had fled the country, but except in this inftance, * the conquerors had left 4o8 REMARKS on t he- manners left every thing in the old fituation; even the kings or chiefs of thefe iflands, were alive and free, had a diftrict to govern, had honours fhewn them, and if we except the fupreme power, they had not much changed their fituation for the worfe. There fs hardly an inftance of fuch moderation to be found in Europe. They had however, it feems, fome notions, that ftrangers might be treated with lefs friendftiip and honefty, than their countrymen, becaufe no one of them hefitated a moment to fteal or pilfer any thing, wherever he could lay his hands upon it, though they allowed it to be wrong, and though theft was punifhed in their country with hanging or drowning. They were, I believe, likewife in fome meafure excufable : for wrhy came a fet of ftrangers there, who had nothing to do on their fhores ? as they have no fhipping or trade, or connexion with foreign nations, or any intercourfe, or any wants making fuch an intercourfe neceffary, they could not forefee that they fhould ever want the protection or favour of any European, and might therefore think it fuperfluoug to gain their favour by honefty: but the generality behaved in fo friendly a manner, as muft endear their tempers and manners to all true lovers and promoters of univerfal philanthropy. However, though we find the iflanders in the South Sea not without hofpitality, they neverthelefs think the ftrangers not quite entitled to all the friendftiip and benevolence which they beftow upon their own brethren, i and and in this refpect they perfectly refemblc all iflanders in a lefs manners civilized fituation, who commonly have a fhy, referved, and inhofpitable character. Nor are the inhabitants of the iflands in the South Sea quite free from a coarfenefs of manners, even to indelicacy in many refpects, efpecially among the lower clafs of people ; which appears from the difputes of many of them, wherein they fall to beating one another with the fift, and pulling one another's hair: and the numerous opprobrious names of touna, ueheine wba-aturee, aiya, tahata-taiva, dooe-doodi, tabata-peepee-ree and others, corroborate this affertion. The more fertile the ifle of Taheitee is, and the more richly it affords all the neceffaries of life, and even thofe things which contribute to make life eafy and comfortable, the more does it contribute to the opulence of the greater part of the inhabitants ; and really but very few are in fuch a fituation, as to be called poor. Whenever we came to this happy ifland, we could evidently perceive the opulence and happinefs of its inhabitants; and thofe people of other South Sea iflands, who accidentally came to O-Taheitee always allowed it to be the richeft land, which they had feen. Opulence never fails to excite the appetite for fenfual pleafure, and if no reftraint is laid on its gratification, it grows flronger and flronger, fo as at laft to extinguish all the notions of propriety or decency. This has been Gg.g the 4io REMARKS on t i-i a manners the cafe in all nations from all times. As long as the chiefs of thefe iflanders were few, the reft of the nation, preferved a kind of refpect: for thefe leaders, who then it feems, were the heroes and heft warriors of the nation. But opulence, the fertility of foil and climate, and idlenefs at laft increafed the race of chiefs to fuch a degree, that the wife men of the nation, the great chiefs of the provinces and the whole nation itfelf, could not but be alarmed at their too great number, and the difturbances which; were doubt lefs too often made by an- idle, athletic-, and numerous fet of men. The refpect which the reft of the nation ftill had for their chiefs, and the great bodily flrength of thefe drones, whofe force was unimpaired, by labour, and daily inflamed by a preternatural indulgence in the choicefl fruit, and the fat of the land, made it more and more difficult to quell the riots of thefe turbulent men. The married women have in all thefe ifles a great refpect fhewn to them, and their influence is great in all public and private affairs; and as foon as the heir of a family is born, the father in a certain manner lofes his importance. Thefe two circumftances made young men of rank and property averfe to tnarriage; and as they felt the ftrong calls of nature under the influence of a powerful fun, they endeavoured to gratify their icnfuality in fuch a manner as was eafy and mofl obvious; and as the other fex was excited by the fame caufes to indulge themfelves felves in fenfual plcafure, the confequencc was natural, that every manners kind of debauchery was introduced. Thefe fcenes of lewdnefs neverthelefs, could not be at firft very common ; but the children who were born in confequence of this practice, became the object of ferious public confideration : they had not been born in regular marriage, nor was it always pofliblc to point out the true father ; they were therefore deprived of the right of inheritance, on account of the uncertainty of their offspring j but continued to be (tiled Arees, and were allowed to belong to the family of chiefs, already grown too numerous, turbulent, and powerful. As thefe chiefs, according to a former obfervation, were the beft warriors of the nations, the great chiefs and fage men thought it prudent to inftitutc an order of men, who fhould have great prerogatives, and great honours paid to them, and who were to be the chief warriors; and that they might not be too much attached to their wives and children, they were forbid marriage ; and in the beginning of the inftitution, they were directed to abftain from all kinds of vencry, as a practice that checked the boldnefs of fpirit, and deprived men of that bodily ftrength fo much required in their warriors. This fociety is called Arreeoy, and is ftill fubfifting j though fomewhat altered from its primitive inftitution. There is.no prerogative which a man likes more to boaft of at the Society-iflands, than G g g 2 that manners that of an Arreeoy ; * they all belong to the clafs of warriors: ar foon as an Arreeoy from another country appears, ho is kindly received by the firfl: Arreeoy, whom he meets; they exchange prefents in cloth and garments, and he is entertained by his new hoff, with all the demonftration of friendfhip, and with the moll unbounded hofpitality. At certain ftated times of the year the Arreeoys of one ifland remove to another, and there the days are fpent in great feafls, wherein a profufion of the dainties of the country are confumed, and the nights are fpent in muflc and dances, which are faid to be remarkably lafcivious, and likewife in the embraces of fome girls, who officiate on thefe occafions like the priefteffes and nymphs of the Paphian and Amathufian Goddefs among the Greeks. We faw above feventy canoes failing in one day from Huaheine to Raietea, with more than feven hundred people of both fexes on board, in order to affift at one of thefe feaflswhen we arrived at Raietea, we found thefe Arreeoys removed from the Eaflern fide of the ifland, where they firfl had landed to its Weflern fhore, and there we faw every houfe and fhed crowded with people, and in every large houfe we obferved heaps of provifions piled up, which were preparing by their women f and fifhes, fowls, hogs, and dogs, were likewife dreffed on this folemn ' 2 * See George Former's Voyage round the World, vol, ii, p. 130. ibl'emn occafion. During the night we could fee thefe houfes manners illuminated, and frequently heard the found of their drums, which are ufed at their dramatic dances. And in a few days afterwards they removed to O-Taha, and we were told, that they Would even go as far as Bora-bora, before they would think of returning. So that feveral weeks muft be fpent in thefe feafts of Arreeoys. It is impoffible that the frequent cohabitation with women, fhould not now and then be productive of an offspring; nay fome of the modern Arreeoys, are fo far degenerated, that they regularly keep a miflrefs, which, to all intents and purpofes, is fimilar to a temporary wife, fuch as Muhammedans are ufed to marry for a certain time only.* But as this cuftom was contrary to the fpirit of the original inftitution of Arreeoys, the Sages of the nation made another law, according to which, all infants, the off-fpring of the connexion of the Arreeoys with women, fhould be in-ftantly killed after their birth ; becaufe, the increafe of the Arees was thought to be detrimental to the ftate, and the original engagements of the Arreeoys, never to cohabit with women, would elfe have been entirely defeated. Boba, the chief of O-Taha, was an Arreeoy, and neverthelefs kept Teinamai, as a miftrefs, who was with child by him, at our fecond return to the Society-iflands, and told * Chardin Voyage, vol, ii. p. 361, 263, del* edit, in ismo. dc 1711. Amfter. 41 -i rR E M ARKS on the man k j-ns told uS the child would be ftifled the moment it was brought forth. Regulation and cuftom have eftablifhcd this inhuman practice; and nations which are not yet acquainted with thofe refined and fublime principles of virtue, which arc eftabliflied by the introduction of chriftianity into Europe, have frequently facrificed the obfervation of a moral or-focial virtue to the greater fecurity of the flate, and even to a device for preventing imaginary evils; nay, which is worfe, to a method of promoting either a martial fpirit, or for teaching the ftratagems of war. Thus for .inftance, the Spartans now and then fent their youths out upon the bufinefs of killing their Helotes; or ordered them to fte.d. However, we found thefe inhuman practices to be the effects of opulence., luxury and sensuality in a nation, which upon the whole, is not deftitute of humanity, but rather inclined to practice kindnefs and goodnature, in a manner which would do honour to a more enlightened and civilized race of men. The great profufion, and variety of choice fruit, delicious fifli, and fine pork and dogs flefh, has likewiie occaiioned in the idle men belonging to the race of arees, a propenfity to indulge themfelves in the pleafures of the table beyond what is ufual. To excite their gluttony and voracioufnefs, they have invented the art of dreffmg thefe fimple gifts of providence in a variety of dimes, nav. fome fauces have been found out for ftimulating appetite, and 11 U M AN. SPECIES. 415 syjd making fome of the infipid victuals more palatable, and the manners Quantities of the various kinds of fruit and meat which thefe drones can habitually fwallow are hardly credible. Nor have they omitted to devife a method for procuring intoxication by the juice and infufion of a kind of pepper-root. This fame opulence has likewife been productive of diftinctions in drefs and ornaments. Their better people wear a variety of cloth diftinct in colour and quality, and ufe it perhaps during a few days only, when they immediately change it. The fine white, and very fuft cloth is the drefs of their chiefs, and their women have a kind of wrapper or petticoat of a thin dark brown cloth, which is perfumed with their odoriferous, coco-nut-oil. Red and yellow cloth, of a very iiy^.Jj'T^,"-"* - wnffr jJJw V»1 ** ^pi-Jill** JilJ x.s«K YliniwI ,£iTJ,~li'0 v\ foft texture, is likewife part of the drefs of the people of quality. Befides the diflinction in drefs, the chiefs are always ferved and attended by fome of the lowed clafs of people, who drefs and prepare their victuals, fetch water, and even cram them like animals that are to be fattened, and do all kind of fervice for them ; while they indulge themfelves in floth and idlenefe, bathe twice a day, repofe on a matt, with a wooden fmall chair under the head in (lead of a pillow; and do no kind of work unlefs they walk to fee a friend or relation, nor are they unlike our grandees, who, from mere opulence, plunge into luxury and fenfuality, and pur-fue the gratification of their brutifh appetites, with the greateft eagernefs,. man'.x'Ers eagernefs, making it a kind of occupation neceflary for their cxiftence ; they like them roam over the fertile plains of their ille, in queft of youth and beauty, and employ all the arts and guiles known in civilized countries, in order to debauch the unwary young females. When we failed from O-Taheitee to Huaheine and Raietea in the year 1774, a female of the laft mentioned ifland embarked with us at Taheitee in order to return to her native ifland. When we approached Raietea, fhe became very apprehenfive, and told me fhe expected to be beaten by her father and mother, having been very naughty, and run away from them about a year and a half before, with a young Arreeoy of the family of the chiefs, who afterwards neglected her: * fhe was at Taheitee in the family of Tootaha's mother, and got her livelihood by working at the manufactory of the Taheitean cloth, 'and at the fame time ferved for the gratification of the young men ; in which profeflion fhe likewife attended our fhip; and having on her return made her peace with her parents, fhe took a trip to O-Taha, when the Arreoys removed to that ifland; * Capt. Cook feems to have cxprefled himfelf in fuch a manner, that his readers muft undcrftand that this girl was a native of o-Taheitee, and had run away from her parents in our fliip ; which could not be the cafe, fince both her parents lived at Raietea; and though the circumftance happened as i related, it is equally probable, that her countrymen aimed a ftroke of fatire at her for running away with an arreeoy. See Cook's Voyage, p. 356. ifland; but returned again in a few days to Raietea : which inftance, manner* in my opinion, clearly proves that luxury and fenfuality naturally lead men to the moft irregular and violent dclires of gratifying their fenfual appetites, ruining innocent young women, and of deftroying the peace and happinefs of families. Among the innocent and harmlefs indulgences may be reckoned, the common practice of thefe iflanders to rub and chafe the wearied limbs of perfons who have walked much, or ufed fome violent exercife. This gentle chafing and preffmg hinders die heated limbs from growing fuddenly cold, and becoming iliff from a too fudden transition from one extreme to the other ; and, as in thefe exertions, commonly a few mufcles have been tod much employed, and others lefs, it cannot but happen, that the equilibrium muft be loft between the parts too much ftrained, and thofe which are fo very little employed, which might caufe dangerous effects, by cramps, con-vulfions, and other fymptoms. The operation likewife invigorat. S the whole frame, and refreshes fo much, that in the beginning I could not perfuade myfelf, that this gentle fqueezing of the tired limbs fhould produce fo falutary an effect, had I not frequently had the experience *. When we had walked a great deal in our excur- H h h flons, * The Chinrfc are equally fond of the fame operation. See Ojbd V$ Ftyitgii vol. £ p. Nor is it unknown, that the oriental nations ufe this rubbing or tfhafljJg in theirpublic ^aths ; which is fuid fometimes to caufe fo txquifitcly agreeable a fenfation, that the op :u.oJ Perfon is very nearly intranccd. Mr. Lockyer, pur la- of the Ceres Eall-IudiAnnn, cuinmu-fcicatcd this circumllancc to mc. manners lions, and fat down in order to take fome refreftiments, the natives of Taheitee and the Society Iflands never omitted to rub our feet and arms, and to add this to the many little acts of kindnefs and hofpitality, which they beflowed upon us with the greateft readinefs and chearfulnefs as they themfelves never failed to perform this, fervice to one another, on fimilar occafions. The rank affigned to women, in domeftic. fociety, among the various nations, has fo great an influence upon their civilization and morality, that I cannot leave this fubject, without adding a few remarks. The more debafed the fituation of a nation is, and of courfe the more remote from civilization, the more harfhly we found the women, treated. In Tierr a del. Fuego women.pick the mufcles from the rocks, which conftitute their chief food. In New-Zeeland, they coiled: the eatable fern-roots (Pteris efculenta, Pofy-podium medullare,) they drefs the victuals, prepare the flax-plant, and manufacture it into garments, knit the nets for their fifhing, and are never without, labour and.employment,, whilft the furly men pafs the greater part of their time in. floth and indolence : however, thefe are the leaft hardfhips of thefe unhappy females; for. they are not only the drudges of the men, but. are not even permitted to punifh their unruly and wanton boys, who often throw ftones at their mothers, or beat them with impunity, under the eyes and fan&ion of their fathers j and they are looked upon as beings calcut-2 lated Jated for the mere fatisfiiction of brutal appetites, nor treated better manners than beads of burden, without being allowed to have the lead will of their own: which incontedibly proves, how much men, in a degenerated and favage date, are inclined to opprefs the weaker party. Et Venus in fylvis jungebat corpora amantum, Conciliabat enim vel mutua quemque cupido, Vel violent a viri vis, at que impenfa libido. Lucret. lib. v. The females at Tanna, Mallicollo, and New-Caledonia, Were not in a much happier condition ; for, though we never knew them to be beaten and abufed by their own offspring, they were however obliged to carry burdens, and to take upon themfelves every laborious and toilfome part of domeftic bufinefs. This unhappy fituation of the females among the favage and barbarous tribes of the South-Sea, has neverthelefs been productive of an advantage, which, in our opinion, mould rate them above their furly lords or oppreftbrs ; for, though the conftant acts of indelicacy, oppreflion, and inhumanity, arc fo far from contributing towards the real contentment of the females, that they on the contrary reduce them to the moft wretched beings; yet this very oppreflion, and the more delicate frame of their bodies, together with the finer and more irritable texture of their nerves, have contributed more towards the II h h 2 improve manners improvement and perfection of their intellectual faculties,, than of thofe of the males. The various objects furrounding them make quicker and more vivid impreffions on the fenfes of the females, becaufe their nerves are finer and more irritable -y this makes them, more inclined to imitation, and more quick in obferving the pro-^ perties and relations of things; their memory is more faithful in retaining them ; and their faculties thereby become more capable of comparing them, and of abflracting general ideas from their perceptions. This facilitates to them the various operations of their toilfome, laborious life, and often leads them towards new improvements. Ufed implicitly to fubmit to the will.of their males, they have been'early taught to fupprefs the flights of paffion ; cooler reflexion, gentlenefs, and every method for obtaining the approbation, and for winning the good-will of others have taken their place, and mult in time naturally contribute to foften that harfhnefs of manners, which is become habitual in the barbarous races of men; and all this may perhaps prepare them for the firft dawnings of civilization. The males in barbarous nations look upon the women as their property, and this went fo far, that in New-Zeeland the fathers and neareft relations were ufed to fell'the favours of their" females to thofe of our fhlp's company, who were irreiiftibly attracted by their charms ; and often were thefe victims of brutality dragged by the fathers into the dark recedes of the fbip, and there left to the 2 beaftly beaftly appetite of their paramours, who did not difdain them, though manners the poor victim flood trembling before them, and was diffolved in a flood of tears. The barbarian knows hardly any law; the fupcri-i ority of power decides every thing ; it is therefore no wonder that he fhould extend his tyrannical fway over tile weaker fex, and being himfelf a flranger to the more tender feelings of love, he is of courfe equally ignorant of the ideas of modefly, bajhfulnefs, or delicacy; and if he forbids to his wife the connexions with others, and pu~ nifhes the tranfgreffion of his commands on that, head with great feverity; it is not from the above principles, but in order to affert his right of property and dominion over her ; for he would freely admit any flranger to his wife's embraces, if the equivalent for it weiv to his liking, or if prompted by fome Other confideration, which could fatisfy Ins caprice or whim. In O-Taheitee, the Society, the Friendly Ifles, and the Marquefas, the fair fex is already raifed to a greater equality with the men; and if, from no other reafon, from this alone we might be allowed to pronounce, that thefe iflanders have emerged from the flate of favages, and ought to be ranked one remove above.barbarians. For the more the women are efleemed in a nation, and enjoy an equality, of rights with the men, the more it appears that the original harfh-nefs of manners is foftened, the more the people are capable of tender feelings, mutual attachment, and focial virtues, which natu/ rally manners rally lead them towards the bleflings of civilization. In O-Taheitee, and its neighbourhood, the women are polfeffed of a delicate organization, a fprightly turn of mind, a lively, fanciful imagination, a wonderful quicknefs of parts and fenfibility, a fweetnefs of temper, and a deflre to pleafe; all which, when found connected with primitive fimplicity of manners, when accompanied with a charming franknefs, a beautifully proportioned fhape, an irrefiflible fmile, a-nd-eyes -full of fweetnefs and fparkling with fire, contribute to captivate the hearts of their men, and to fecure to them ajuft and moderate influence in domeftic and even public affairs. We find the women efteemed at O-Taheitee, and its neighbourhood j they mix in all focieties, and are allowed to converfe freely with every body without reftriction, which enables them to cultivate their minds, and to acquire that polilli, which afterwards contributes to improve the manners of their young men ; for, as it is one of the chief points of female education, in thefe happy ifles, to learn the great art to pleafe, they are inftructed in all the means of gaining the affection of the males, of fludying every winning art, and of habituating themfelves to that fweetnefs of temper which never fails to merit the return of attachment, of friendfhip and love. Their frequent fongs,, their dances, their innocent laughter, and humorous mirth, all confpire to make the moft lafting impreffions upon the youths of the other fex, and to cement an union which, is dif-folved only by death. , , Fifit HUMAN SPECIES* 423 i . _ _ _ Fuit hoec fapientia quondam manners. Concubku prohibere vago; dare jura maritis. Horat. Art. Poet, But it is remarkable, that though the female fex has already fo much foftened the manners of their countrymen, there ftill remain fome itrokes in their cuftoms, which feem to prove, that the fair fex did not always enjoy that efteem and equality, which is now allotted to them. Wherever women in a nation are confidered as the drudges of the family, there they muft be contented to take their victuals feparately from their furly lords and hufbands This inequitable cuftom, however, is univerfally received at Taheitee and its neighbourhood, and I was utterly unable to learn from them the true origin or caufe of it j and in my opinion it is no more than a remainder of that fubjection in which women formerly were held in the Society-Ifles, before they came to their prefent improved condition. The ftate of marriage ought likewife to engage our attention, as we are here treating of women. As far as we could obferve, . * Labat obferved, that a negro-ftave did not cat with his wife and children ; but after he Was fatisfied, he gave them leave to eat likewife ; and Fulaityn found the women in Amboyna fcrving their hufbands at tabic, :md eating afterwards in private. The Guiana-men exclude their women from their meals, and in the Caribbcc Iflands women arc not even permitted to tat in pre fence of their h'jfband*. * " Voyage <•« Ainerique.. 424 | REMARK. S on th'e manners monogamy was moft univerfally introduced among the various nations of the Souih-Sea. There were, I believe, inftances, efpecially among the people of quality, that a man endeavoured to have a love-affair with fome of the many females, who were always ready to gratify fuch votaries on the firft application > but I never heard, that m married woman ever yielded to the embraces of any lover. As polygamy is fo very common in all hot climates, and likewife among all barbarous nations, where women are looked upon as private property; it might appear very remarkable, that in the ifles of the South-Sea, lying in a hot climate, where luxury had made a -confiderable progrefs, and where the inhabitants were remarkably f.ddiclcd to venery y or at New-Zeeland, and in the more Weftern ifles, where women were lefs efteemed, polygamy fhould not have ibeen introduced. The reafons of this extraordinary phenomenon are in my opinion to be looked for, firft, in the more gentle and fweet manners of their females 5 fecondly, in the equal proportion .of females to males exifting in thefe ifles; and laftly, in the great facility of parting with a wife, and taking another in her ftead, of which we had feveral examples. Q-*Amo, the hufband of O-Poorea, had another wife when we came to O-Taheitee; nor was fhe without a perfon who acted the part of a hufband. Potatou had taken WainecQU) and parted with his wife. Polatchcra, who lived with Mahclm a.young Oraiedea Chief. But I find myfelf obliged here ' V , ' .,........... . « ?%s*. 1 * "* , . tO to confefs, that I am not as yet perfuadcd of the great and universal argument for monogamy, viz. the equal proportion of women to men ; as, in my opinion, it is not clearly proved, that this juft proportion takes place in all countries and climates. On the contrary, I am of opinion, that in Africa the constitution of food and climate, and the prevailing cuftom of marrying many wives, have, by length of time, produced a confiderable difparity between the numbers of men and women, fo that now to one man feveral women are to/n. In all kinds of animals, it has been obferved, that in the two fexes when coupled, the moft vigorous and hotteft conftitution always prevails ; fo that if, for inftance, the ftallion be more hot and vigorous than the mares, and not impaired by age and too often repeated covering, the male foals in general will be more numerous; but if, on the contrary, the mares are more vigorous, the ftallion old and exhaufted by many copulations, their offspring will chiefly con-fin: of females. If this be applied to the inhabitants of Africa, it is evident, that the men there, accuftomed to polygamy, are enervated by the ufe of fo many women, and therefore lefs vigorous j the women, on the contrary, are of a hotter conftitution, not only on account of their more irritable nerves, more feniiblc organization, and more lively fancy; but likewife becaufe they are deprived in their matrimony of that (hare of phyfical love, which in a monogamous condition would all be theirs; and thus, for the above rca- I i i fons, manners ions, the generality of children are born females. This obfervatioro is really confirmed by fact; for all the voyagers unanimoufly agree, that among all the African nations polygyny is cuftomary * j nor has any one obferved, that there are many men among thefe nations without wives -j-, for every one is matched to one or more females.. When a polygamous nation lives in the neighbourhood of monogamous nations, there is always a probability, that the women necef-fary for fo many men, who have more than one wife, are obtained by flcalth, by force, or by commerce from the neighbouring nations : but in Africa all the nations are polygamous, every man is married, and has more than one wife; he cannot procure thefe numerous wives from the neighbouring tribes, where the fame cuflom prevails j it is therefore, in my opinion, a clear and fettled point,, that the women born among thefe nations muft be more numerous than the males. Though * Oldendorp, (in his Hifory of the Mrjfion of the Moravian Brethren in the Carihbee I/lcs, St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John. Barby, 1777. 8vo.) fays, vol. i. p. 293, " Polygamy is M introduced among all the tribes of African negroes ; thofe of Congo only, who are ac-" quaintcd with the Chriflian doctrines and are baptized, are monogamous." But Lord Kaime, in his Sketches ofthe lliflory of Man, vol.1, p. 197, fays, " Among the Chriftians of ** Congo, polygamy is in ufe as formerly when they were pagans. To be confined to one *4 wife during life, is held by the molt zealous Chriftians there, to be altogether irrational : ** rather than be fo confined, they would renounce Chriftianity." f Bofman's Defcription of the Coaft of Guinea, p. 180; who likewife p. 181, exprcfiy declares, that '* the number of women much exceeds that of the men." HUMAN SPECIES. 42? Though the colonifts fettled at the Cape of Good Hope are manners monogamous, I obferved in the various families of the town and country the number of females to prevail. The climate and food might influence them in fome meafure; but the chief reafon which may be afiigned for this appearance, is the licentious conduct of the young people there. The numerous female flaves imported from Madagafcar, Bengal, Java, the Moluccas, and the coaft of Papuas, give their young men many opportunities, and fo great a facility of forming early and irregular connexions with thefe lafcivious females, by which the vigour, and ftrength of conftitution is exhaufted in their males before marriage; that it is no wonder that the young women of the colony, born under a genial fun, never ftinted for food, nor fpent by labour, are more hale, vigorous, and bleffed with a warm conftitution j and that they during marriage, bring forth more females than males. It has been obferved that in Sweden more females than males have been born during the latter part of this century. And it is reported that in the kingdom of Bantam * even ten women are born for one man. I wifh therefore, that what I have here obferved, may not be confidered as a decided fact, but rather as reafons for doubting and continuing the enquiry with greater accuracy ; as fuch a hint I i i 2 may * Lord Kaime's Sketches of the Hiftory of Man, vol. i. p. 176, manners may lead to more authenticated facts, and ferve to illuftrate this curious part of the hiftory of mankind. In the greater part cf Europe it has been proved by the moll accurate lifts of mortality, that the proportion of men to women is nearly equal, or if any difference takes place the males born are more numerous, in the proportion of 105 to 100 ; here no doubt, providence has enforced the neceffity of monogamy : how far the argument holds in hot countries, in Afia and Africa, is flill uncertain. Perhaps the vicious habit of polygamy, has in a long fuccemon of time inverted or viciated the general rule of nature, by the gradual enervation and encreafing weaknefs of males. Thus we find polygyny in one part of the globe, monogamy in another,, and we have reafon to fufpect that polyandry is actually eflablifhed at Eafler-ifland. In remote ages the Median women are faid to have had feveral hufbands at a time, and thofe were thought ill provided, who were wedded to no more than five. * Nay, among the antient Britons ten or a dozen men kept but one woman. + The women of quality on the coafl of Malabar are allowed to, marry as many men as they pleafe. % And lately it has been confirmed that in the kingdom of Tibet, feveral men, efpecially if they happen * Stmbo Geogr. lib. xi. p. m. 362.. f Ca?farilc bcllo Gallico, lib. v, \ Dellon'a Voyage, part i. chap, xxxii,. » happen to he brethren or relations, join together in maintaining manners one woman, and they ufed to excufe themfelves that they had not women enough. Strange and unnatural as this cuftom may appear, it is however, not lefs true, and owes its origin undoubtedly to-peculiar caufes. In the vicinity of China, Bukaria, and India, where men are ufed to marry more than one wife, women muft naturally grow fcarce, being taken by main force or addrefs, or by commerce : it is no wonder therefore that feveral men are obliged to maintain but one wife. Eafter-iftand, when it was difcovered in 1722, by Roggewein contained many thoufands of inhabitants.* The Spaniards found in 1770 about 3000 people on it, -f and we in 1774, fcarcely 900. £ This gradual diminution of inhabitants is a fingular appearance; but what is ftill more remarkable, is, that among thefe 900 there were but about 50 women in all: fo that the number of men to that of women was as 17 to. '■ Mr. Dalrymple's Collection of Voyages, vol. ii. p. 91, and 112. f See Mr. Dalrymple's Letter to Dr. Hawkefworth, London, 4t" 1773, page 34. + Captain Cook's Voyage towards the South Pole, and round the World, vol. 1, p. 289. It is faid, " The inhabitants of this-ifland do not feem to exceed fix or feven hundred *4 fouls, and above two thirds of thofe wc faw, were males." The difproportion between men and women is undoubtedly greater. Capt. Cook was fickly, and did not join the expedition over the ifland, being too weak. I am certain their houfes contained no Women concealed : and am equally fure that all the women I faw, did not exceed fifty; nor is it probable that they had rcftraincd theis females from appearing during our flay, as they were by no means of a jealous difpofition. manners 17 to one in this ille. This ftrange proportion of men to women, could not have taken place long before our arrival there; for in a few years the number of men would by death come to a par, or nearly fo, with that of the women. I fuppofe therefore, that as this ille has the ftrongeft mark, of having been once fubject to a violent change from a fubterrancous fire and earthquake, it is highly probably that in a great revolution of this kind, the numerous inhabitants of the ille were deftroyed. Nor is this circumftance very improbable, for Capt. Davis in the year 16S7, felt a violent fhock of an earthquake in this ocean, and not very far from this ifland. In Otaheitee earthquakes are known and are thought to be under the regulation and conduct of Maoowe a peculiar divinity : but this is rendered more probable from the practice of the inhabitants of Eafter-ifland, who to this very day, frequently form their habitations under ground, and fupport the whole fibric by walls of lofe ftones. Now if the difafter befel the nation in the day time, it is probable that a great many men being out of doors upon fome bufinefs, might be preferved, whereas the women keeping more at home, were involved in inftantaneous ruin, by the tumbling of the wretched habitations, and no more than a few only that happened to be out of doors were fpared, to become the mothers of a future and unhappy generation. Thefe women we found ftill living in thefe huts, and they were moft probably en*-j ioyed joyed by many hufbands, nor were they afraid of encountering the embraces of a multitude from our fliip, being accuflomed to thefe rites on account of the reduced numbers of their fex, who were fcarcely able to fatisfy the defires of fo many. If the above mentioned theory were admiflible, and could be confirmed by facts and experience, the far greater proportion of boys, fhould be born in this ifle : but the too numerous embraces of many might perhaps ferve to fruftratethe procreation of children, as is commonly the cafe with thofe unhappy females, who proftitute themfelves to a multitude. Thefe few remarks are offered in hopes of conveying fome ideas of the different manners and cuftoms adopted among the various nations of the South Sea, in regard to their women in general, and during marriage in particular. They lead the thinking mind towards the invefligation of truth, and the wife difpenfations of providence relative to the generation of man; we obferve, that though in a higher refined, more civilized, and more moral nation, monogamy feems to be the true and befl means for perpetuating and encreafing mankind -y yet when man is degenerated and debafed by vicious habits, or involved in great misfortunes, we find polygyny and polyandry likewife employed, though I humbly prefume they may be allowed, as matters now fland. But in cafe wife legiflators had any authority, they could not better employ it, than manners than by perfuading thefe nations to return to monogamy the primitive method ordained by providence for the propagation of mankind ; and every encouragement ought to be given to fo laudable a purpofe. The nations of the South Sea living all in monogamy, though defcended from the nations on the Indian continent, who almofl: all are polygamous, prove indisputably, that perhaps neither wifdom nor virtue prompted them to adopt this meafure, but that in all probability the firft fettlers in thefe ifles brought an equal proportion of men and women witb them, and that accident made it neceflary to continue the meafure, and to lay afide polygamy, the practice of which they had been accuftomed to in the mother country. The moderate fize of thefe ifles made it likewife necef-fary to continue this method; becaufe if in a fmall ifle, one man fhould encroach upon the rights of feveral men, by taking thofe females to himfelf, which originally were defigned to be the wives of feveral, he could not remain unnoticed, and the injury done could not but be felt very grievoufly, and at length be in fome meafure repaired by reftoring to every individual, what mould have been his allotted mare. The young females of O-Taheitee and its neighbourhood, are not over fcrupulous in admitting fome lovers to their embraces 'before marriage. In other countries this would be a fufiicient reafon reafonfor excluding them forever from the married ftate; but thefe manners nations think of fuch favours in a different light. If the birth of a child fhould happen to.be the confequence, the youth is reputed the father, and the parents are entitled to all the privileges of regular marriages ; if they have no iffue, the female is not flamped with ignominy for fuch a trefpafs, but is always reputed capable of joining in matrimony with the belt men of the nation. - - - - - Jam proterva Fronte petet La/age maritum D Heel a Horat. 1. ii. ode After marriage thefe very perfons keep their compact, with a chaility and fidelity which are highly meritorious. When we were the fecond time at O-Raiedea, the chief of O-Taha, called Baba, came frequently to vifit us; one day being on board, he faw his fitters coming towards the fhip in a canoe, and pointing to his younger filter, defired me as foon as fhe came on deck, to fay to hzv ,Veheina-pOQwa ; I did fo, not knowing what would be the confequence, and her elder filter immediately lifted up the garments of the younger, fhewing that fhe had the marks of puberty. When fire had done this two or three times, me refuted to go through the fame ceremony again. I then enquired more carefully into the meaning of this tranfaction, and learnt, that in thefe ifles, it is a kind of reproach, or want of dignity not to be of age, and to be K k k deftitute manners deftitute of the marks of puberty. As foon as they appear, the young women arc obliged to undergo a very painful operation, viz. to have large arched ftripes punctured on their buttocks : thefe curious marks are reputed honourable, and it is thought a mark of pre-eminence to be capable of bearing children. If therefore a man mould reproach the perfon with the deficiency of thefe marks, fhe cannot in honour avoid refuting it by ocular demonftration. * The origin of thefe ftrange cuftoms, it was not in my power to inveftigatc. I contented myfelf therefore with collecting and recording the fact. '* Among the Thracians it was cuftomary not to watch the chafHty of their virgins, who were at liberty to admit any man they chofe to their embraces ; but they kept a Uriel watch over the conduft of their wives, whom they bought at a great price from their parents. To be punctured they thought a mark of nobility, to have no punctures, that of being bafely torn. Heroihtus, lib. v, c, 6, SECTION VII. Instruction, Private and Public Origin and Progress of Manufactures, Arts and Sciences, UfuSy ln(* in Capt. Cook's Voyage, vol. i. plate No. 61, p. 342 : reprefentations ol this helmet may t>c feen ; that in Paikiafon gives by far the bcfl idea of it. the fighting-ftage wear almofl: univerfally the gorget or breaft-plate,. arts called ta-bmee, likewife made of wicker-work, covered with femi- sciences. circular lifts of coco-nut fibres, which again are bedecked with fhining glcffy pigeons feathers, fet off with two or three femi-cir-euLr rows of fharks-teeth, all which are bored and faftened to the breaft-plate by firings ; the whole gorget is fringed with long white dogs huir, imported from the Low-ifles to O-Taheitee, and the Society-ifles; i on the top there are likewife mother of pearl fliells, fringed with pigeons feathers ; this breaft-plate is hung on the neck by a ftring, and defends the breaft againft the thruft of one of their lances, headed with fpines of the fting-ray.* The making thefe war-dreffes requires very curious and dextrous work-* manfhip, and likewife a good deal of time and patience. The manufacturing various bafkets, ftools, cloth-beaters, and other utenfils, tools, and inftruments, in ufe among thefe nations, is fo multifarious, that a minute defcriprion of them would require too much time; we muft not therefore enter upon the detail, but: will confine ourfelves to a brief defcription of the third great branch of mechanical arts, exercifed by thefe people, and relating to * A good and faithful representation of one of thefe breaft-plates may be feen in Hawkcf-' toortK'l Compilation, vol. ii, p. 184, plate No. 8, drawn and engraved by Mr. J-.v.wv, Roberts, arts to the building of their houfes. The materials, fize, and deftination f&fffrbai °^ houfes and buildings, conftitute their difference. The wood of the a-bobdoo, or barringtonia fpeciofa, of the inocarpus cdulis, or rdtta, of the evce, or fpondias pomifera, of the tamdnoo or calo-pbyllum inopbyllum, and of the obroo or artocarpus communis, are the various materials ufed in building their houfes. The natives call in general a houfe te-wharre; fome are fmall and round, and are called tc-nvbdrre-potto ; thofe which are very large and long, are named tewhdrre-tdrra; and befides thefe, they have houfes or fheds to fhelter their large double war-canoes. The common houfes are from 15 to 20 feet long, and 10 or 15 wide, the roof eight or nine feet high in the middle, and about five or fix feet on the fides, though the eves project a good way beyond the fides, or pofts. The houfes are all built with three rows of polls, fupporting the roof (erd-woro) : the middle row of pofls, (epb-oo) is about 16 or 20 feet high in the large houfes, and from eight to ten in the common or fmaller ones; they fupport a beam, forming the ridge of the roof, (tocore-yore) on which they fix the timbers, or fpars of the roof, (aheo) which are again borne by a long beam, called epai, under which a row of fide-pofls (tooto-oroo) is placed, {landing on another beam (too-drroo) that relfs on the ground : fometimes they fill thefe fpaces between the beams and pofls on the fides ;of the houfe with bamboos, and this method of building they call call parooroo, but commonly all the underiide is open. The roof arts itfelf is formed of the leaves of the OtbrodaByUs indiau Now and SC]^^Eg then I obferved the houfe open, but furnifhed below at the height of about one foot, with a fence of bamboos. Some fmall houfes are likewife included in a kind of partition made of fmall ilicks in the manner of "hurdles. The natives commonly keep their hogs during the night, in the houfe, and have in one corner of it contrived an inclofu re (paboba) covered on the top with boards, on which they fleep. The large war-canoes coft the natives infinite labour, and afford the belt ipecimens of their genius, induflry, and mechanical arts; it is therefore no wonder that they mould be very careful in the prefervation of thefe large boats, which are the very means of their prefervation and liberty, againft the invafion of their enemies. Huaheine has in its neighbourhood the ifles of O-Raietea, Taha, Borabora, and Mourooa, all under the dominion of O-Pobncc a powerful chief, who conquered Raietea and O-Taha, and would likewife have extended his dominion over Huaheine; but the inhabitants of this ifland, with their chief Orec, were attentive to their true intereft, and for that purpofe kept conflantly a large fleet in readinefs under the above mentioned fheds. It was here likewife that I obferved a double war-canoe, which required 144 paddles, •and eight or ten fleerfmen to move it forward ; the ftage for fighting N n n was REMARKS on the arts was roomy, and.could.contain about. 30 men. Thefe boat-houfe AND sciences arc hametimes 4° or 5° or more yards long, about ten yards wide, and the eves of the roof are brought down within two or three feci of the ground. Sometimes the fides of the roof are in the fhape. of fegments of a circle meeting at the top. As I have here mentioned the large war-canoes of thefe nations, I will give a few hints relative to the ft,ruc~ture of their boats. The inhabitants of the Society-iiles diftinguifh their fmaller canoes (E-waha) * from the larger ones, fpaljeej and thefe are again different as their ufes, for timing, for long voyages from ille to ifle, and for war. The latter have high Herns, and two of thefe boats being always tied together, towards the head. of them Hands a ftage or platform (Etootee) raifed on fix or eight pillars about four" or five feet high, and proportioned to the fize of the boat. The warriors ftand on thefe flages and fight the enemies who defend the fliore. The boatst are commonly built of the timber of the E-avee or Spondias pomifera or the E-mdrra or Nauclea orientalise The keel is one piece of timber hollowed out, in the fhape of a trough; in very large boats they employ more than one piece for the * The name E-ica'ba is certainly pronounced by the natives of, the rriendly-ifies and l<» New-Zeeland with a ftrongcr founding of the afpiratc b, by faying Tt-wagga. H 'Uc manner the word Teihee is changed into Tttgbtt, the word Tabata into Tangata, E-boe or Eb be is in New-Zeeland Ht£gbt*% Tohee nTo^bee, Tareba \^Taringa, T(id>ana\*Toogbr ant^ me mufic they execute upon this inftrument is but a poor humming : even their vOcal mulic has no greater compafs than three or four notes, however fome of their fongs were not quite disagreeable. The inhabitants of the Friendly Iflands are better verfed in mufic than the Taheiteans, and the tunes of their women had fomething pleafing to our ears when we firft heard them at R-Aoowbc or Middleburgh. The inhabitants of Tanna * and New-Zeeland have in their fongs greater variation and extent, which certainly intimate better and more improved talents for this branch of the polite arts. The verses of the Taheiteans are always delivered by fmglng, in the true antient Greek ftyle, and what is ftill more remarkable, we found that many of thefe verfes were the productions of the moment, for we obferved that their poetry had fome relation to the perfons on. board our fliip, or to fome tranfactions which happened during our ftay: but they had likewife many couplets or fongs which had no reference to the perfons or tranfactions occafioned by the ■ When wc were at Tanna, wc heard every morning at day-break a folcmn fong, ifluing as it were from the point lying to the Eafl of the harbour, and this circumflance feems to prove that the natives of this ifland employ even their Mujtc as part of their folcmn worfhip of their Deity. We were flill more confirmed in our fufpicion, when we two or three times attempted to vifit this Eaftern point, and always found the natives ready to defend the famed place by arms, See likewife George Foriter's Voyage, vol, ii, p. 300, and 362;. the prefcnceof our ihip. Their verfcs feem to be regularly divided arts into feet, and they obferve the quantity and exprefs it in finging. sci^nces As to the beauties of their poetical ftyle, we were not able to judge of them; becaufe we were not furhciently acquainted with their language; thus much however we obferved that many words occurred in their poems which were not ufed in common converfa-tion. The women on board our fliip, feeing in the night the moon fhine, frequently fung the following couplet or pehaL Te oo|wa no | te Ma llama Te oojwii te hetjnaro. The cloud within the moon That cloud I love I We will tranfcribe one couplet from Hawkefworth which tho natives compofed when the Endeavour was at O-Taheitee. % Epaha| tayo| MaTama| taiye. No Taba|ne to) notajwa whanno| maiye. Perhaps with friendly light, this moon we view, Has guided Banks, while to his friends he flew. From the purport of this couplet it appears, that it was made when the moon was mining; and it may likewife be obferved, that f Hawkefworth, vol, ii, p, 205. AND SCIENCES arts that the fyllables at the end of each verfe form rhymes, which cannot be thought to be the effect, of accident, though all the other couplets in Hawkefworth, together with thefe two now before us, are without rhyme. From whence it feems to follow, that their poetry admits both of rhymes and of blank verfe, Another fuch couplet was frequently fung on board the Refolution, in 1774. Awajhee te pahee| no Todte Te nee)a to Tco|ree horo|a - c. We can by no means vouch that this divifioii of the metres and the quantities are perfectly true, but hearing the words, or reading thofe in Hawkefworth, we fuppofed that the quantities were fuch. as we have marked over the words. In their prayers, and likewife in their dramas and oil other folemn occaiions, * the language is different from what we ufed to hear in their common COhverfation* and * When wc were in New-Zeeland and the than in Duil'y B.ly was willing to come on boar'J bur fliip, he pronounced a carmen or fpcech in a very cadenccd and folcmn manner, which lafleri about two minutes, holding at the fame time A grce:i branch in his hand, as foon as ho had finifhed this ceremonious fofmule, he fir licit the (hip with the branch juft as he hail done before be began the ceremony, and then threw the branch into the fhip. In Queen Charlotte's Sound, a party of Indians came on feoard our fliip, whom \ve had not feen before, and one of them held a green flag in his hand, while -another perfon delivered a long* folcmn, and cadcuced fpeech* 'the ceremony and folemn prfcycr of Tapaja oh the firft landing a*t 3 Huabtini and might juftly be ftiled a cadenced metrical performance or a arts and sciences carmen in the acceptation of the word as it is ufed in the formule delivered by the Roman Feciales, Livii. Hill. lib. i. cap. 24. To the laft branch of the liberal and polite arts exercifcd by the natives at Taheitee and its neighbourhood, belong their dramatic performances. Thefe are blended with dances and fongs, with this reftriction, that men only are the acting perfons, in the fame manner as at Rome, where no females were permitted to act. The drama is a fimple representation of the common occurrences of life. A man entrufts his fervants with the care of his goods, they fall afleep, and though they are lying on their mafters property, the thieves are fubtle enough to ileal them away from under the perfons who were appointed to watch them; fometimes the thieves are detected and feverely beaten, and fometimes they' return the blows. In another farce, a man has a daughter, who has a lover; the father diflikes him and refufes his daughter, and being afraid of being deceived he watches her clofely, but in the dead Huabeine feems to have teen of the fame nature, and it was repeated by him on the firft landing mO-Raiedea. See Hawkefworth, vol. ii. p. 2^X, and 256. At our firft landing in New-Caledonia, the Chief Te-ahoma, and another Chief pronounced fome cadenced, folemn fpecches, intermixed with fome fhort refponfes from certain old men. See George Forfter's Voyage, vol. ii. p. 382. All which not only proves that the firft interview and making of peace is a folcmn act obferved by nations of very different origin, and living at a confiderable diftance from one another, but alfo that theij folcmn f'peeches on thefe occufior.s arc a kind of poem or cadencjd metrical performance,. tfji\ • REMARKS on the arts dead of the night, the lover meets the fair one and perfuades her to a \T D run away with him j the confequence of this affair is the birth of a sciences j ■ fine boy; the lady is in labour on the theatre and at lafl a Large boy is exhibited, who immediately runs about the ftagc with the placenta and long funis umbilicalis ; which is here not confidered as indelicate, becaufe every body is acquainted with the incident, the children of four or five years not excepted; and the oddity that the new-born child runs about and efcapes- the midwife, whofe bufmefs it is to catch him, caufes an univerlal and loud peal of laughter. The girls father upon feeing the clevernefs of his grand- fen, is at lafl reconciled to his fon-in-law. Of this turn (though not in every particular) was the little extempore farce feen by fome of our friends at Huaheine, and which feemed to be levelled at a girl, a native of O-Raiedca, who came with us from Taheitee in order to return to her parents, from whom fhe had eloped fome months before with a young Arrcoy. Though the piece was but rudely performed, it however put the girl to fhame, and drew tears from her eyes, which naturally mufl have a good tendency, efpecially with fuch perfons of her fex as might be tempted to follow her example. Upon the whole, this circumflance gives us a very good idea of the nation in every refpedt: If we coniider the poor girl, who was thus expofed, her bafhful behaviour and her tears are certainly irrefragable proofs of her modefly Z and and repentance. In a genial climate, with a warm confutation, a arts feeling heart, and an education which made her acquainted with c^Ji° a SCIENCES all the myflerious parts of love, even though fhe fhould not chufc to put them in practice, it was no wonder fhe yielded to the tender •felicitations of a youthful and vigorous lover, when her own age and the natural levity of the whole nation, contributed to leffen the crime of her inconfiderate ftep, and flill more fo, the poflibility of obtaining a hufband without hurting her character. On the other hand, there is fomething fo generous in her behaviour that I cannot help taking notice of it. She became the object of indelicate, but fharp and falutary fatire, and gave by her tears ample teflimony of the immorality of her behaviour, and that fhe felt herfelf aggrieved under felf-condemnation, and was not unwilling to become a fair warning to a whole croud of young perfons ef her own fex. If again we confider the actors who took the opportunity of expofmg immorality for the inilruction of the rifmg generation ; they mufl be thought highly commendable for having dared to lay afide for fo falutary a purpofe, the refpect due to a lady and a flranger. She was under the protection of a fet of foreigner*, wrhofe fire-arms indeed commanded refpect but thefe cenfbrs were not to be brow-beaten by power, or awed to filence by wealth, as is too often the cafe in Europe; they failed not to point the fhaftp of their fatire at an object deferving cenfure, without regarding the P p p confequences arts confequences which might accrue to themfelves from thence, being and sciences fully convinced.of the rectitude of. their action, and the falutary effects that might be derived for the benefit of the rifing generation* Laftly the whole audience deferved in my opinion, likewife to be commended ,t for when the witty farcafms were falling from the lips of their theatrical heroes, they laughed at their jokes; but when they obferved that thefe fhafts of fatire were not difcharged at random, but made the perfon fmart who was the object of their instructive irony, when they faw the marks of returning modefty, of repentance and felf-condemnation, in the attempts to hide her fhamc, and in the copious tears of the poor girl; many an eye was moiftened, and many a heart fympathized with her y laftly, when the dramatic performance was over, every one was eager to give her the molt unfeigned and unfolicited marks of his efteem and friendfhip, to comfort her in her diftrefs and affliction, to countenance her modefty and return to her duty; and in a manner to thank her for having contributed to the innocent mirth,* as well as to the inftruction and the warning of her country women. If we reflect upon the want of feeling in the frequenters of our theatres, their indolence and inattention, and I may add their fhamelefs * Thanks were returned to Lucius by the magistrates of a town in Theflalia, fa* having contributed to thus mirth in his ftum-tryal. AfidtUu de Ajtno Aur;o> fhamelefs-effrontery,i we mufl give the palm to to the O-Taheiteans, arts who, like the true children of nature, have a fympathising tear, sci*kces and unreflrained feelings, the tribute and glory of humarutv, in readinefs on all proper occafions. . - - . - Mollijjima torda Humano generi dare fe natura fatetar, £>uce lacrymas dedit: hcec nojiri pars optima fenfus. . JuvEN ALIS. Dances, mufic, and poetry, are ufed at O-Taheitee to diffufe chearfulnefs and mirth, the blemngsof a focial life, into the minds of the whole nation, * and the flage is there, the inflruct-or of virtue, and cenfor of immorality and vice ; in a fenfe by far more true than it is at prefent with the refined inhabitants of Europe. When the polite arts become the promoters of fo great and fo univerfally beneficial advantages, even the moft morofe and gloomy philofophers mufl allow them a place among the objects which ought to be communicated in a fyflemof ufeful and moral education. In this light therefore, thefe nations confider thefe arts; every individual delights in the exercife of them, and endeavours to acquire excellence in them. The profeffors of thefe arts are fo far from PPP 2 being * Am I Oft11 3<*V Tf x»8 Geography, Afironomy, Navigation, and Divinity, are almofl the only fciences of which the Taheiteans have fome ideas. The nations of the South-Sea-Ifles generally enjoys perfect flate of health, and we faw many of them, who had attained to old age, for we obferved grey and even white hairs on their heads; and all the fymptoms and attendants of old age ; though I mufl cenfefs, they * Hawkifwortli, y-ol. ii. j>. 146,' t a R E M A R K S on t p e arts they could by no means determine with any degree of certainty, AND , * SCIENCES now many years t,ney ^vec*: f°r tney think it fatisfaction enough to liye long, without minutely keeping an account of their age, by months or years. When Capt. Cook came to O-Taheitee in the year 1769, he faw Toot ah a and calls him a middle aged man ; * h: was no doubt the younger brother of O-Amo and Happai, who both were grey-headed in 1774, when we came to Taheitee \ their mother was flill alive, and in my opinion between 60 and 70, fhe had white hair, and was very corpulent, and feemed flill to retain fo much vigour and ftrength, as to render it probable that lire might live feveral years. They have no doubt, in thefe illes dif.afes, but as far as 1 am able to judge, from what I faw, difeafes are lefs numerous, and lefs common, than in our climates and focieties. And many reafons may be affigncd, which may induce us to believe the inhabitants more happy, and Jefs fubjedl to that •croud of difeafes, infefting our communities, and caufing generally fuch a havock among our Europeans, as mull (hock even the feelings of the moll intrepid philofopher, or the moil; indolent beholder \ for they are nothing lefs than fcenes of death varied in many hundred (napes. They all live in a climate which muff be efteemed excellent; for if you do not ufe immoderate exercife, and purpofely expofe yourfelf ■ 1 * Hawkefworth, vol. Ii. p. 84. H U' M A N SPECIES. 479 yourfelf to the powerful rays of a vertical fUn, you always find it arts furficiently temperate. The mitigating alternate fea and land sci^nces breezes affuage the heat of the climate; and in all parts of the South-Sea which we vifited, we found the inhabitants careful to keep Under ihelter during night, in order to avoid the cool and moift nocturnal air; and we obferved in general, that in all other iflands beyond Taheitee and the Society-ifles, the natives had houfes better calculated to exclude cold and moifture than thofe open fheds:. nay, as the rains often came on in fqualls, attended with cold winds from the cloudy fummits of their hills, they are equally folicitous to take fhelter at the firft appearance of them. Their garments made of the bark of the paper-mulberry (Morns papyri/era Jare at the fame time a warm and a cool drefs j fufficient to fcreen them againft the rays of the fun, and likewife to keep off the noxious effects of cocU ing winds.. The fine tropical fruits, which afford a faiubrious, palatable; . and nourifhing food, contribute likewife to preferve that healthy habit of body which the natives generally enjoy, for they are as yetj ftrangers to the curfe entailed on European focieties, that a man comes into the world with a body, whofe folid s are infirm and relaxed, whofe nerves are tortured by acute pains, whofe fluids are poifoned with a virus which faps his vitals from the very day cf his birth, and who has this wretchednefs fettled on him, as it were 4r:o -REMARKSon the ar rs by. inheritance. Their gluttonous Chiefs and Arees it is true, (luff sc. AND themfelves with immoderate quantities of food, hut it caufes no I l :i C E S * ♦ other inconveniencies than to make them fat and unwieldy. The iineft fiflies, and other marine productions, as cray-fifh, ihells, Tea-eggs, cuttle-fifh, and one kind of blubber, ferve them inftead of food; and though many of the latter are not eaten by us, they .feem not however, to caufe any difeafes; efpecially as the common fort of people cannot have them in great abundance. As to animal food from hogs, dogs, and fowls, I am certain that their meat is but fparingly eaten; however, whenever they kill one of the two firft animals, the chiefs indulge themfelves in devouring the blood,, the fat, the entrails, and fo much of the meat, as few Europeans would be capable of eating at one meal; but as thefe indulgences are not very frequent, and their flomachs prove ftrong and powerful digefters, they are feldom, if ever lick of a furfeit. Their common drink is frefh water, and in fome few cafes even fea-water, neither of which will prove hurtful, But the chiefs and principle people in thefe ifles, ufe themfelves to drink a liquor prepared by chewing the root of a kind of cultivated pepper, (Piper methyjlicum) which they put into a wooden bowl and infufe with common or coco-nut-water, and afterwards ftrain through coco-nut-core; which is then whitifh, infipid, or partaking fomewhat of the tafte of a weak infufion of pepper. This potion when taken in quantities, makes 2 them them drowfy, fhipid, and intoxicated, * and caufes bad con- arts icquences, which I will enumerate hereafter. In Taheitee this ,. root is fcarce and little ufed; in Huahcine and the other Society-ifles they have great plantations of it; in the Fricndly-ifles it is Hill mofe liked and cultivated, and every where is prefented as a fign of friendfhip. However upon the whole, but few perfons ufe it; it cannot therefore influence the health of the nation at large. The frequent ufe of moderate exercife, in walking from one place to another in their fhady cool groves, in felling trees, and flowly excavating, rafping, and piercing their embarkations, or making other utenfils, together with the gentle exercife of leifurely Q^q q paddling ' * It is the general character of all uncivilized nations to be addicted to drunkennefs and inebriation caufed by various vegetables. The antient Scythians procured intoxication by imbibing the fumes of hemp-feed thrown on hot ftones. lleroict. lib. iv. 69, 70, 71. Maximus Tyrius Orat. xiii. § 6. All the tribes of the Celtic luid Teutonic nations brewed beer, ale, and mead; and fo did fome nations bordering upon the former, though greatly different from them. Pelloutier Hift. des Cthts, lib. ii. ch. 18. T-adtus dt mcrib. Germ. c. 22, 23. King Alfred's Olefins in Angle Saxon, p. 26, 27. The Tchuktchi and Yukflghiri on the North-Eaft extremity of Alia, infufe mulhrooms, affording an ineofiating liquor. All the Mungajic nations, and among others, rhe Khalmyks ferment mares-milk till it becomes inebriating, or diltill a kind of fpirituous liquor from it, which they call Kumyfs. The Mohammedans ufe opium and fmoak tobacco, which laft cuftom among the Khalmyks is prnftifed by women and children. The African Negroes are fond of brand/ to excefs, Romir's Defeription of the Coafl of Guinea; and the fame is obferved of the Hottentots by Koibe, Nor is any one Ignorant how fond the American Sav;;. '» hin the North and in the South, are become of brandy, La Hontan, book xi. REMARKS on t he arts paddling their canoes, when they go a filhing, contribute greatfy-AND to their falubrious habit of body. However, as the heat of a sciences ; vertical fun might-caufe too violent, and too general a relaxation of the folids, they prevent- this by frequently bathing in fea* water, after which, they commonly perform an ablution in frefli-water. They generally bathe every evening and morning, or at either time according as they have ufed themfelves to it. But as an infenfiblc. and ftrong perfpiration generally weakens our bodies very much in hot climates, and by carrying off too many liquids, renders them more obnoxious to putrid difeafes, the natives of thefe. ifles would be equally fubject. to this inconvenience, if they had not. a cuftom, which really feems to be intended to obviate the too copious perfpiration,^ for at certain times* they anoint their hair and head and the whole body, with the oil extracted from coco-nuts,, and made odoriferous by adding the wood, the.fruit, the flowers^ and the leaves of feveral fcented plants. * Upon the whole, their chearful temper,,, the abfence of cares, their fimplicity of manners, with the above, enumerated caufes, co-operate ftrongly to prevent-the attacks of many varied difeafes; and as the greater and more fbnfible.part of thefe nations,. adhere to an exemplary fobriety in every *' Francjois Pyrard Voyage, b. i, p, 326. fays the fame-of-the people in the MaledLve Itlauda,. HUMAN S P E C 1 E Ss gjgg every refpect, this evidently contributes much to keep them in arts health, and in the enjoyment of real happinefs, A N J) 1 SCIENCES We'found in the ifles but few .people who were disfigured or maimed, or had any bodily .imperfections: however they were by no means entirely free from them. For I faw fome that fquinted, others that had a film over one eye, and feveral blind of one eye. .in the ifle of Tanna J obferved many who Jiad a kind of weaknefs -in the eyelids* fo that they could not lift them up beyond a limited extent, but were obliged to raife the head in order to fee things that were upon a level with their eye. I have reafon to ^believe that it is not merely an accidental ailment; for I faw a man and his little fon of about five or fix years, both labouring under the fame imperfection, fo that it might perhaps be owing .^to the manner of living in that family, or be caufed by the infa-lubrious fpot their hut flood on, or perhaps it is peculiar to this, and fome other families, and is propagated. * I obferved a few hump-backed, and alfohere and there a crooked perfon, fome had CLq q 2 dittorted "* There are inftanceG that dumbnefs and dcafnefa have been propagated from parents upon children; likewife blindncfs has been entailed upon children-; and people who have cither four or fix fingers on their bunds, have prorrcated children with the fame imperfection : in the tunc manner it is pofGblc, that this defect might be propagated; though Iam rathei induced to fuppofe that this paralyfis of the eye-lids was caufed by the marflvy fituation of. the huti. in which the familied lived, and from the conftant fmoak with which their huts are filled arts diftorted legs, and one man had a leg that was entirely withered sciences and dried up. Among the robuft New-Zeelanders, I faw a man of a fine figure with a lame hand. But as we were, efpecially in the beginning, very little acquainted with their language, and had a great deal of other bufinefs upon our hands, we could not minutely enquire into all the caufes and particulars of thefe imperfections. I faw one man at Huaheine, who had a very great Hernia umbilicalis, and another in the fame place with an immenfe expanfion and fchirrofity of the right telficle, which was grown to the fize of a child's head, fo that all. the fcrotum, and even the membrane over the penis was entirely filled up with it; and the aperture for making water, was driven to one fide, and this man was neverthelefs active, ftrong, and mounted the fides of our fhip, with as great agility and unconcern, as if he were not in the leaft affected by this dreadful accident. Among the difeafes which we had an opportunity of obferving in thefe nations, I mult firft reckon the cough: feveral laboured under it, efpecially towards night and in the morning; owing, a& is probable, to their being too long expofed to cold rains or the cool of filled during night, in order to free the inhabitants of the numerous mofimitocs fwarming hi thefe marfliy woods; there arc likewife fome kinds of wood, whofe fmoak makes people tither entirely blind, or at leaft nearly deprives ihci* of their eye-fight. See Oweokfa voyage, vol, i. p. 320, of the night on the reef, when they are fiming, or perhaps being too arts flighriy covered during night in their own houfes. sciences Another difeafe was more common among the natives of thefe illes, which has various degrees and fladia, but in its utmofl height and inveteracy feems to be a real kind of Leprojy * its flighted degree, is a kind of fcaly exfoliation of the fkin, of a whitifh, or often a white colour. Sometimes the whole body was covered with it, fometimes only one leg, fometimes both or the back only were affected with it; or perhaps only a few detached blotches on the body had this appearance. However we muft diftinguifh from this fymptom, two other appearances -y the one, when we faw the bodies of the natives white and covered with a difagreeable roughnefs; and this being new to us, we imagined it might be fome difeafe, but they foon undeceived us, by faying it was only fea fait, for the moment before they had been fwimming in the fea, which we did not know. The fecond phenomenon is caufed by the too frequent ufe of the before-mentioned inebriating liquor prepared from the pepper-root: in this cafe the fkin looks as if it had been parched and dried by heat and winds,, it has a blackifh appearance, and fcales are even now and then feparated.from it. The eyes of people who ufe this liquor too freely are commonly red, inflamed, and fore, the body grows gradually emaciated, and the inhabitants become ftupid, infirm, and *4&{? remarks on the arts and dwindle away. All thefe fymploms, as we were told, were AND c . sciences the conferences of the too,immoderate ufe of the infufion of the pepper-root. JBut the fcales of the morbous exfoliation, are not fo harm to the touch as thofe caufed by fea-water, and there is r>;ene-rally a kind of tumour or fwelling under it. In a higher degree of the difeafe I obferved fome ulcers in the white blotches, which appeared as if they were extending under the fkin, honey-combed, and were running with red orifices furrounded by a red fungous flefh, fometimes between the white fpots a livid or reddifh hue of the part affected might be obferved. In the fecond kind or fpecies cF this "terrible diforder, I faw feveral roundifh or oblong purple elevations on the fkin, of the fize of a crown piece. Some of .them looked as if a part had been rotten, and fallen out and had turned into an ulcer filled with red fungofities. At E-Aooivc^ or Middleburgh, in the Friendly-ifles, a woman was afflicted with this kind, whofe face fwelled to an extreme degree, was one red, livid, and running fore, the nofe was entirely rotten and had dropped off, ..the cheeks were of a red. fpungy fubftance. The eyes, funk deep in the head, red and fore; in a word, fhe was a moft pitiable and miferable object. I faw ftill another kind of the fame difeafe, in,the fame Ifle of E-Aooue. The back and left fhoulder of a man as: far as his upper arm was covered with a kind of ulcer, which was a quarter 2 of of an inch higher than the reft of the body. The whole was of arts a deep livid red,, and the elevated margins towards the extremities SCIAE^ES were of a nafty yellow colour: it was not a running fore, though it had much the appearance of it. The natives have no peculiar name for this or any other diforders that caufe ulcers, pimples, or eruptions, all are promifcuoufly called e-pbeov fores. I obferved at Tabdy O-Raiedea,. Tonga-Tabbu, and at New-Caledonia men with one or both legs enlarged to a monflrous fize; the limb was entirely livid and.felt hard, and the tumour was confined chiefly to the interval between the knee and inftep, though it extended fomewhat up the thigh, and even to the toes ; however the leg was more fwelled. in proportion, than any other part. Notwithstanding this, I obferved the men could walk floutly,. and did not hefitatv to wade through the fea-water almofl up, to their waiit5 and felt no other inconvenience as far as we could obferve, than that they had a difficulty of breathing. This feems to be a kind of elephantiafis, fuch as fome people have in the Eafl Indies on the . coaft of Malabar. * At New-Caledonia, I faw two men each having an arm enlarged in the fame manner.. When * On fait qu'il y n la maladic appellee pedes Jirumeji parrni lcs Indiens qui fe difent Chretiens lie Sr. Thomas. MijctlL M^die, Piyjic, Deeur- lift torn. iii. Qbjtrvat. 13, Samber. Digirtath* fu*k maladic Fi.ner,cnne, arts When we arrived at O-Taheitee in 1773, we learnt that a 6CiRftc3& Spaniih ihip had been there a few months before us, which the natives called Pahee no Pepe or Peppe's ihip. To whofe commander they gave the name of t'Errire; and by this lhip's crew a dlic2i{c had been introduced among them, which they called e-pie-no-pcppe, Peppe's difeafe or fore. At the Cape of Good Hope, we heard from Mr. Crozet, Captain of a French Eaft-India ihip, and from the officers on board the Frigate Juno, in the Spaniih fervice, under the command of Don Juan Arraos, that in the year 1773, Capt. Don Juan de Langara y Huarte had been with two Spaniih mips upon difcoveries in the South Seas, and had touched at Taheitee. The natives reprefented to us, that the difeafe of o-Plppe caufed ulcers, difficulty of breathing, a falling off of the hah-, and laftly death ; and that it had been communicated by co-habitation with women. We fufpected this at firil to be a venereal difeafe, but upon a further confideration, I am apt to believe, that as this Spaniih ihip came from Lima and Callao, where a great number of negro Haves are kept, who are frequently and chiefly fubject. to the various kinds of leprofis and clephantiafis, it might perhaps have happened that one or more of the crew might be infected with that kind of elephantiafis, which they communicated to the natives of thefe ifles : for it is well known, that fome fpecies of leprofy may be communicated by cohabitation, that that many lepers are very immoderate in venery, even a few arts moments before they expire, and that efpecially the clephantiafis B™ defcribed by Aretams and Paulas iEgineta, had fome fymptoms that are perfectly cofrefponding with thefe pointed out by the natives. We could fee no perfon at the time of our arrival infected with that diflemper, otherwife we fhould have inquired more accurately into its particular fymptoms. And I do not intend to be politive that the difeafe was communicated to the natives by the people in the Spaniih fhip; Tor if an uncommon diflemper mould happen to break out at the time of the arrival, or flay of fome flrangers in a country, the flrangers have often been accufed of having given the infection, though they very little deferved fuch a charge. When Captain Cook came in the year 1769, in the Endeavour to O-Taheitee, he found that half his crew when he left the Society-ifles, were infected with the venereal difeafe, * and it was then fufpected that Mr. Bougainville's fhip's crew had communicated this difeafe. Mr. de Bougainville in his turn fufpects the Englifh in the Dolphin to have firfl introduced it: f and the gentlemen in the Dolphin affcrt they never had one man infected with the leaft venereal fymptom whilft they were at Taheitee or immediatelv R r r afterwards. * See Hawkefworth, vol. ii. p, 233. f See Bougainville's Voyage. Englifh transition, p. 274, and 286. 490 R E M< ARKS on t ii b arts afterwards. * When we came to Queen Charlotte's Sound, in and . sciknces New-Zeeland, in 1773,. we nad been out at fea for at leaft five months; none of our fulors had any fymptom of this difeafe; which could hardly lie dormant for fuch a length of time ; fince from our leaving the Cape of Good Hope, they had been eating falt-meat and falt-pork plentifully, had no greens all that time, had indulged freely in the. ufe of fpirituous liquors, and were during the whole of the intermediate time, expofed to wet and cold, and all the rigours of the climate : circumftances .that would foon, have accelerated the breaking out of the diflemper, and rendered it fo virulent, that they muft have had recourfe to the afliftance of the furgcon : yet, when we went out of Queen Charlotte's Sound, fix months after leaving the Cape, a midfhipman on board the Adventure difcovered that he had been infected by one of the New-Zeeland females. In O-Taheitee, and the Society-ifles, wc found in 1773, the females communicated this difeafe to feveral of our people. From the Friendly-ifles no infection was either received or communicated, becaufe the people who laboured under it were not allowed to have any commerce with the. females of thofe ifles. The crew left the Marquefas and Eafler-ifland without catching, or communicating the evil, becaufe not a fingle perfon was * Hawkehvortt-i, vol. i. p. 489, .490. was infected with it, either before we vifited thofe parts, or for arts fome time after we had left them. At Taheitee and the Society- AND J SCIENCES ifles, the infection came in 1774 again into our ihip; and as we ftaid only a few days at Namocka, I believe none either received or communicated it there. In the more Weftern Ifles of Mallicollo, Tanna, and New-Caledonia our failors had no connection with the females; but in New-Zeeland the diforder was again communicated to our crew. So that there is great reafon to believe that the venereal difeafe has not been lately introduced into thefe ifles, but was known there for a long time; efpecially as Ohedeeddee or Mahaine, the young man of Borabora, who went with us in 1773 from O-Raiedea, told us that this evil was very common in Bora-bora, where however, no European fliip had ever touched \ nay, he informed us that his own mother died of this difeafe before the arrival of Europeans in thefe ifles. It feems to me therefore highly probable, that this infectious evil is of fuch a nature, that by a very libidinous life, and promiscuous cohabitation of males with females, it may very eafily be caught i and we are now certain, that there is hardly a country to be found, where the young unmarried females are allowed fuch a latitude as at O-Taheitee and its neighbourhood in admitting a variety of young males, and abandoning themfelves to various embraces without derogating from their character. Women of all R r r 2 ranks ranks follow thefe practices from the earliefl time, and after having pafled through the embraces of hundreds, are married to the firfl people of the ifle. It is therefore no wonder, that in a hot climate, in a libidinous nations inclined to the leprofy and its various branches, a difeafe fhould pullulate,, which may become contagious only by cohabitation.. We had opportunities of obferving the mofl miferabie objects- in the laft flage of this horrid evil. At Huaheine efpecially, we faw in 1774, a youth with, a cadaverous look and complexion, covered with ulcers, efpecially under the arms, on the groin, and about the genitals, and wherever a congeries of glands is found in the human body. His eyes were almofl extinct, his whole frame greatly reduced and emaciated,, he dragged after him his languid excruciated limbs, the fad victim of brutal appetite and libidinous defire. * Befides * That the venereal difeafe is by no means to he confidered as an evil' imported into Europe from America, has been fufliciently proved by Mr. Sanchez, a very able and learned phyfician, (who has been for fome time in Raffia ) in two little Treat ifes intitlcd: Differtation fur Vorigive de la maladie Ventrienne, Paris, 1752, i2m*. Examen Hifsriquc fur I'apparition de la maladie Venerienne en Europe, hifbonne, (Paris) 1774. It appears from hJ3 inquiries that the venereal difeafe appeared fo early as in March, 1493, ib Italy, and in Auvergne in France ; at the very time when Chriftopher Columbus returned to Spain from America j for he landed at Seville, on the 15th of March, 1493, and in the middle of April in the fame year he arrived at court, which then refided at Barcelona. From a book of Peter Pinter, a Spaniih phyfician it appears, that the venereal difeafe raged at Rome, in jBeiides the above-mentioned difeafes, Towba, then commander arts of the fleet, and one of the chiefs of Atahooroo, had fymptoms ccimqem which every body took for the gout; he was of a ftrong conftitution, a corpulent habit of body, and owed this difeafe no doubt to intemperance, which is common amongft the great and wealthy of all nations. I obferved likewife that the natives had frequently a fty in the eye, and fome fymptoms that ufually attend the dropfy; and there may be fome more difeafes known among them, which: our in March, 1493 ; and it is likewife to be collected from other writers, that about th.it time this evil fpread all over Italy in the form of an epidemical diiuinper. Pucrfcus Maximus,. •a poet, whofe book was printed at Florence, 1489, defcribes lib. iii. ad prlapum, the venereal difeafe in fuch a manner, that ro doufot can be entertained of its Uin- known at that period of time. In the church of St. Maria d.l Pcpolo, at Rome, is a. fepulcral monument, erected to the memory of Mario Albcrti, qui annum agens xxx, pefe inguinaria interiit, Anna. 1485,. about eight years before Chriftopher Columbus returned from his lint voyage. (See Viaggiana, or tUiaJjei Remarks on she "Buildings, PiSlures, Statues, Infri; t:m:t &ic. &c. of antient and modern Rome, London, 1776.) The Jews who were ex pal led from Spain, brought the difeafe into Africa, according to Leo J/ri-anus. Defcriptio Africa, lib. i. p.H6.. edit. ElzrAr. Lugd. Bat. 1632. 16°' and it was there for that reafon called malum H/panicum,. the Spaniih evil. But Mariana, lib. xxxiv. cap. 1. ad annum. 1492. fays cxprclily, that the order for the expulhon of the Jews from Spain, was given in March, 1492, and only four months were allowed them, fo that they were probably gone in June' 1492, before Chriilophcr Columbus failed for the difcovery of America. Nor are there testimonies wanting that in times Hill more remote, fymptoms of the venereal dilVafe were well known : AU'mfus I. King of Naples, died 1458, of the gonorrhoea, or as Triftano Canaeciwlo de Variaat^ Jlttutue, expreifes it : morlo infuper immundo & pertinaci, invcluntario feilUtt infuftbilique, Jper-matis flux*. Ladillas King of Naples, likewife died 1414, of an infedtion. in his geniuli^ comma- ,404 11 E M A R K S on t h e arts our iliort flay made it impoffible for us to difcover. This however is certain, that though thefe nations are not without difeafes, they .sciences 10 c > e J are upon the whole lefs fubje m order to keep the folar and lunar year in harmony; how often they do this, I pretend not to fay. The names of the months are fubjoined for the Hitisfaction of my readers. i. O-porore-o-mooa. * - ~ March. 2. O-porore-o-mobree. - April. 3- Mooreha. - May.. 4* Oohee-elya. - - June. 5- Hooree-ama. (owhiiree-ama) - July- 6. Taowa. - - Auguft. 7- Hooree-erre-erre. (owhirree-erre-erre) - September. S. O-Te-aree - - October. 9- O-Te-tai. - - - November. io. Warehoo. (Owarahew. Hawkefworth, v. ii. p. 168) December. ii. Wae-ahou. - - January. 12. Pipirree. - February. 13- A-oo-noonoo. ■» - » m Each * Some of the months have names, whofe figirification is known ; of the reft i can give no account. i Oporort'0-mo6a% fignifiea the firjl hunger or n\ant\ 2 Opororeo-moort* has the fignification of the Lift hunger; the foregoing obfervatioD on the fcarcity of the breadfruit about the time of its maturity, when it is plucked in quantities for making the mabee or four-pallcj may in fome meafure account for the names of thefe two months. Ihc fourth I Each month contains according to the account given to me, y*RTs twenty nine days, which approaches nearly to the real length of a AND SCIENCES lunation. If their year has but twelve months, it contains only 34S days; but if the thirteenth be added, it confilts of 377 days; in the firft cafe, the year is 17 days too fhort, and in the fecond, it exceeds the folar year by twelve days. This circumflance leads me to fufpect, that they have fome method of harmonizing the folar and lunar year unknown to us. What is more remarkable, I found that every one of the 29 days of the month has a peculiar name, which they have in common with the Perfians, who appropriate to each day of the month a particular name. Their month begins from the firfl appearance of the new moon, and after the 28th and 29th day of the month, they added that the moon was dead, marama-matte, which proves that their months by no means confifl exactly of 29 days, but that they contain fometimes 30,-and fometimes 29 days only, according as the new-moon makes her appearance fooner or later : for if they reckon T t t 2 cxactlv fourth month Ocbee-eija has certainly a reference to angling for. fijh. The eighth month O-Te-dree, is thus callc3 from theyatitig coco-nuts, which probably ;vx then moft plentiful. The ninth month Q-Te-tmalludes to the fea. The eleventh U a-phou, to their cUtby and the twelfth Pipirree, to fome coveteufnefs or fcantintfs, perhaps in food. The Words included in parenthefifs are the various readings of the name, having heard it pronounced by another perfon in a different manner. j.o8 REMARKS ©n the arjs exactly 29 days for a month, they would foon fall ihort of the scien^e^ new-moon, and then it could not be with propriety faid of the two laft days of the month, maranui-nuittc, the moon is dead; by which exprellion they intend to fay, that during thele two days, the moon cannot be feen. Though I could not learn the meaning of any of the names of the days of the month, I will however give them here for the gratification of my readers. i. Tirreo. 16. Otooroo. 2. Tirrohiddee. {Hoee-rohiddcc)* 1.7. Ra-otu 3- O-hatta. {Ha-otta) 18. Ra-bu-hby. {rotto) \l Ammee-amma. 19. Ra-6u haddee. {wbdddee) |f Ammee-amma-hoy.(wfotot') 20. Ororo-tai. (tahai) 6. Orre-orre. 21. Ororo-rbtto. 7- Orre-brre-hoy. {rotto) 22. Ororo-haddee. {wbaddee) 8. Tamatea. 22. Tarrba-tahai. 9- Hobna. 24. Tarrba-rbtto. JO. Oraboo. Tarrba-haddie. {wbdddee) 11. Maharroo. 26. Tane. 12. Ohoba. 27- Oro-mboa. *3- Mahiddoo. Ohbddoo. {owhlddoo) 28. 29. Oro-mooree.l > {matte marama.) Omobddoo. J Marai. Each * The names Included in parenthcfifcs arc the various readings of the preceding name, Each day is divided into fix hours, and the night into the lame arts number; which they can guefs at very nearly during the dav, by 0 J 7 6 /* v sciences the height of the fun : but few can guefs at thefe divisions by the heighth of the ftars during night. Thefe hours, which anfwer to two of ours, have peculiar names, and are in length fimilar to the hours of the Chinefe. Some of them only I could learn: they call midnight Otoo-rabai-pb; from midnight towards day-break is Oetaiyaow} day-break is named Ootaatabeitay and fun rife Era-oodo, when the fun grows hot, the time is called Era-t-oowerra; when he is in the meridian, they fay Era-t-ooaivatca; the part of the evening before funfetting they name ootibvibciand after funfet, Erd-OQ-opa. Thefe diviiions of time enable thefe iflanders to obferve the heavenly bodies with greater accuracy for their feveral purpofes. They know that the fixed ftars do not change their pofition in regard to one another, and have by long experience difcovered which ftars rife and fet at certain feafons of the year ; and by their help they determine the progreffive motion of the planets, and the points of the compafs during night. Tupaia was fo well fkilled in this, that wherever they came with the fhip during the navigation of nearly a year, previous to the arrival of the Endeavour at Batavia, he could always point out the direction in which Taheitee was fituatcd, arts "This attention to the great luminaries and the ftars, rendered it AND sciences nccc^ary to diftinguifh each of them by a peculiar name. The lun has the name of E*v/,and the moon that of Marama, the planet Venus is called Touroda, Jupiter Mataree, and Saturn Na-ta-heea. The feven ftars have the name of E-wbettoo-owhaa,* Sirius or the Dog-ftar Ta-whettoo-rba; the ftars forming the belt of Orion are named E-wbettoo-mahho ; the milky way is known by the denomination of T-ezya, and a comet or blazing ftar by that of E-whettoo-werra; the natives have alfo a name for a mooting ftar and call it Epdo, and think that it is an evil genius palling rapidly through the heavens. They are doubtlefs acquainted with other ftars, than thofe here enumerated, and by their rifing or fetting are enabled to judge of the time of the night, and likewife of the points of the heavens though they have no compafs. It is very well known that their imperfect aftronomical knowledge is only applicable to the parts of the world which are near to -O-Taheitee, as the appearances would * To give the literal fignification of the names of all the ftars, is a talk too difficult for the imperfeft knowledge of the Tahcitcan language I am mailer of, however I'll give here the interpretation of fuch names as arc obvious to me. The feven ftars are called E-ivlettoo-onvbaJ, or the Jiars of the nejt; probably the natives abftrafted from the pofition of the ftars, the figure of a bird's ncft. The Dog-ftar Ta-nubettoo roa is the great J?ar, and this name is very properly given. The milky way or T'eiya feems to fignify a fail. & COfftCt or E-ivhittoo-iverra figuifies the burning ftar. would be greatly altered at a moderate diftance from their ifle, and arts be of no further ufe to them. We found however upon rAND examination, that this moderate fhare of aftronomy and the flightnefs of their embarkations did not hinder them from acquiring a very extenlive knowledge of the iflands in the neighbourhood. Tupaya the moll: intelligent man that ever was met with by any European navigator in thefe illes, had himfelf been ten or twelve days fail to the Welfward of O-Raiedea ; which' according to Capt. Cook's computation, * would make 400 leagues, or about twenty degrees of longitude. This man when on board: the Endeavour, gave an account of his navigations and mentioned the names of more than eighty illes which he knew, together with their fize and.fituation, the greater part of which he had vifited, and having foon perceived the meaning and ufe of charts, he gave directions for making one according to his account, and always pointed to the part of the heavens, where each ille was fituated, mentioning at the fame time that it was either larger or fmaller than Taheitee, and likewife whether it was high or low, whether it was peopled or not, adding now and then fome-curious accounts relative to fome of them. Of this chart a copy was obligingly communicated to me by Mr. Pickerfgill, Lieutenant Hawkefworth, vol. if. p. 278, 512 REMARKS on t h e arts 'Lieutenant on board the Refolution, and who had been before and _ science >nvice at Taheitee, in the Endeavour, and in the Dolphin. Captain Cook was plealed alio to communicate to me, two catalogues of fuch ifles as he had heard named in his firfl voyage at Taheitee, and from Tupaya; I,met with another copy of the chart, drawn after Tu-paya's direction, in the poffeffion of Jofeph Banks, Efq. who, with great politenefs and well known readinefs to promote whatever has a tendency to become fubfervient to fcience, permitted me to take a copy of it. I remarked that the charts both agreed in general, and that the catalogues contained all the names which were found on the charts, and fome few more, not inferted in them. I collected likewife many names and accounts of iflands, when we were at Taheitee and the Society Ifles. Some of the names were llrangely fpelt, as there never were two perfons, in the lafl and former voyages, who fpclt the fame name in the fame manner ; it mufl therefore happen, that fome of the names feemed to be different ; though upon a more critical examination, I found them to agree better than might at firfl light have been expected : this chart I have caufed to be engraved as a monument of the ingenuity and geographical knowledge of the people in the Society- Ifles, and of Tupaya in particular: the ifles are all numbered, that I might luive an opportunity of referring to thefe numbers, and to add a few remarks, which may be thought nccelfary for illuflration. The o names A Chart representing tiie isu;s of the South-Sea, neeordmo' to the . \ y>tklys oft be lxiumtants of o-TAHEITEE (iTiftbe, I '(■/<>•/,)/,f,/fyi/t;i|>:i 66 <> 11 a i lia\ ai jj 0 i> ltiin.-i tara-ayr « 8 $ ft ollaroloa,'>.| t\V,Toill»><>psl,i7 O o-Adfchn |j) 0> <> Ahoua hou ,5o ftUrurutu i« oSmtvM val .'■!> fj oVWelia ,>j q Wouivpo 47 Wlji'iuuui oon Ds ol'Hpatv:! |l> ^ Mo|h'<-li:i (| 1Tainwiia />.<> T.-i-iviii Iool in OLtolOOItla fil "fe- Pahtierstoiie,-- /. olVuiintiMD.'l ,o Hillotoiitou ;i1ii 66 q ollitlotoutou tWi-d-; I) 1'(>[>|).I,| ()'» ^ fftrvfjvf. 'l Tc-Toopntili>:ic;ilioii Moolloluyo $UblL"> & l<> lt,,i„l„„-:i 0 n„ , .1 Worth) //,,-,/.■/ Dnnhii.tt ,,T,,.|„Hi;ii hi 4* o Heeva-roa !•> 8» oNhU'V.-. ."'J'.th-i' CX "■]!«'ova potto 4.} >VaHahuo or Wuiltiiriy oon.;>.o 1 J.iTiiLtina <3VVhaH.111vlo.1l1.16 PoOtto ^Torowha.ty (j ToMmillo.jo 0 N«-«x» hoi-s';i;>.. 11 Hlh'iva •';( \.m.i /W/Z/Ar.,-// oltiiiti.i _'7 111! iimi 10:1 ,-|l' Cj O Hi i'\ a loulouai ,'Vi ,,, i.h.i.,, /.( StlltnJitv, IViilii. ion •( uTwn.m.i: >pa111 j To Erivpoo ojio ji1:i1(t. I,,,;, ;-. ipo 3 o-Ililtotoiilou iviao'o Q oIIilUMaitt'rivo'ij q^Ti' Aiuaixjo-hittp 70 To OjtKjj-o .Vfaiivul«a 74 ftfeAtaa bJtte 71 Ooporroo76 ^ Wouwou 73 1, i, o Ufova 11000a , „ /* utuuHj 1 \,n.ii>rti,,/i r/irttnii'lu/ii>ti'.tl~'J those <•//,-, Wenjtm l>v >'t/ier AWrn/i/A-nf ■ South i 1 t I. .11i i ,, Olu- Tootera. ' 6 Iftmimlf HUMAN SPECIES. 513 names themfelves are fpelt as I found them either in one of the arts and sciences catalogues, or the charts, or in my own regifter of obfervations, a preference being given to the befl authority, and to the analogy of the language fpoken in thefe ifles. The chart includes about 20 degrees of longitude on either fide of the meridian of 150 degrees Weft from Greenwich, or 40 degrees in all, and about 20 degrees of South latitude from about 7 degrees to 27 degrees; the parallel of 17 degrees running in the middle. It cannot be expected that this chart fhould be of fuch accuracy as to enable future navigators to make ufe of it: it is chiefly intended to give fome idea of the geography of the inhabitants of the illes in the South Sea, and it will likewife ferve to make every navigator cautious when he arrives at that part of the ocean comprehended in this chart; and probably may be the means of afcertaining the fituation of thefe numerous and partly undifcovered ifles. 1. O-Taheitee, called by Capt. Wallis King George s IJland, and by Mr. de Bougainville Tazti. Tupaya mentioned that in the life time of his great grandfather (Medoba no the Too-boona) a hoftile fliip (Pahee-tha) had been there. And it is very probable, that Pedro Fernandez de Quiros was in the year 1606, its firft difcoverer, who called it Sagittaria, according to the ingenious conjecture of Mr. Dalrymple in his letter to Dr. Hawkefworth, p. 17, and though tJ u u this this opinion has very lately been attacked; lam ftill of opinion, that Mr. Dalrymple's conjecture has not been invalidated by the flievv of arguments oppofed to it. It is about thirty leagues in circumference, and both Peninfulas are high land, which, efpecially in the Eafternmoft is extremely fpiry, and has the ftrongeft marks of being the work of a violent earthquake and fubterraneous fire. M M a t e a, was called Ofnabruck IJland by Captain Wallis,, and Pic dc la Boudeufc or Boudoir by Mr. de Bougainville. If the conjecture of Taheitee being Sagittaria is right, Mceatca muft be Dczena, feen by Quiros February the 9th, 1606. It is about four or five miles in circuit, is high land, and the fummit of the hill has the appearance of being excavated, as if formerly there had been a volcano, whofe crater is now filled up. O-Heeva-nooe, an ifle to the Eaftward of O-Taheitee, feems to be the fame which Captain Cook called Chain IJland in 1769 ; being a chain of low iflands connected by reefs into an oval fhape, about five leagues in length. Oirotah, is an ifland larger than Taheitee, inhabited. Ouropoe, likewife inhabited, and larger than Taheitee. 6. O-HiT- 6. O-Hitte-t amaro-ei'ree, feems to be Ofnabruck IJland, arts feen by Captain Carteret in the year 1767, is low land, $ci^jce8 and probably not inhabited. 7. Te-newhamme a - t an e, a low ifland. 8. Toometo-roaro, feems to be the duller of low iflands, feen likewife by Captain Carteret, and called, by him the Duke of Gloucejlers I/lands. 9. Moutou, is larger than Taheitee and the Southernmofl illand, which Tupaya had feen ; though his father had told him there were iflands to the Southward of it. 10. Mannua is a high ifland, peopled by ferocious inhabitants, with wild and furious looks, and eating men, but having very little fhipping: its fituation is to the North Eafl of O-Hitte-roa. 11. Eito-nooe. 12. O-Hitte-roa a high illand, feen by Captain Cook in 1769. 13. Tabbu-a-mannoo, a fmall high ifland to the Well of O-Taheitee, feen by Captain Wallis, and called Sir Charles Saunders s IJland, Mr. de Bougainville heard of it, and calls it Tapoua majjbu. It is about fix miles long. The Chief of this ifland in 1774, was called Oopa. lif* E1m k 0, is high land, and was called Tork IJland by Captain Wallis in 1767. Mr. de Bougainville named it Aimeo : It belongs to Taheitee, U u u 2 15. Hu- arts 15, HuAiifeiNE is a high ifland, feen firft by Captain Cook, and . - . _ sciences lts Chief in 1774 was Oree. 16. Ea-wattea, in the middle of the chart, is the name of the Meridian-Line. 17. O-Raiete a is a high ifland, feen firft by Captain Cook j Mr. de Bougainville had heard of it, and calls it Aiatea. It was conquered by Opunee chief or king of Borabira, and the conquered chief is called Oo-obroo : Tupaya faid that in his grandfather's time a friendly ihip had been there, of which wc have no account in Europe, unlcfs one of the fhips of Roggevvein came near this ifland. 18. O-Taha is a high ifland, feen firft by Captain Cook, and likewife conquered by Opunee, the joint chiefs of it were Ota and Bob a, Mr. de Bougainville feems to have heard of it, and called it Otaa* 19. Borabora or Bolabola is a high ifland, governed by Opunee. Captain Cook faw it firft, and it feems Mr. de Bougainville had heard fomething of it and called it Papara. 20. T oop A1 is a low ifland, uninhabited, reforted to by the inhabitants of Borabora for the purpofes of fifhing and fowling: fometimes the inhabitants of an ifland called Papa'd frequent it. 21. Mou- 21. Mourooa is a high ifland, under the dominion of Opunee, arts firft feen by Captain Cook. Mr. de Bougainville probably ENCES heard of it, and names it Toomaraa. 22. O-anna is a low ifland, on which a fliip was wrecked, and fome men perifhed, according to Tupaya's account: it feems to be the fame which Admiral Byron called Prince of Wales's If and-, for though fome iron and brafs, with the head of a rudder of a Dutch longboat, were found at King George's Ifland, it could not be the ifland on which the fliip was loft; for the defcription and fituation prove King George's Ifland to be (26) Teokea and the parts of the fliip found there, might have been carried from O-dnna. The fliip loft here, may, with great probability, be fuppofed to be the African Galley, one of Roggewein's fquadron, which was wrecked upon an ifland, called, for that reafon, Pernicious If and. 23. O-Mateiva, or O-Matea is a low ifland to the North Eaft of Raietea, and to the North Weft of Taheitee : a boat with three men and a woman, arrived from thence, fome months before us, at Huaheine, where I faw the boat, fimilar to thofe at Teokea, and the men were tattowed all over their faces and arms. 24. 0-Wahei feems to anfwer to Waterland, firft feen by Schouten and Le Maire, in 1616. It is low land. l 25. Ou« REMARKS on the Oura, and Teoheow or Teokea, two low iflands, at a few miles diftance from one another, were feen by Admiral Byron, in 7765, and called Georges Iflands; we landed, in 1774, on the latter ifland, and learnt the true name of this ifland from the natives, who called it Teoukea or Teokea. On this ifland Mr. Byron found the carved head of a rudder, probably belonging to a Dutch long-boat, a piece of hammered iron, a piece of brafs, and fome fmall iron tools. He feems to indicate, " that in cafe the fhip to which the long-boat " belonged, failed from this place in fafety, it would not " be eafy to account for her leaving the rudder of her long-*' boat behind; and if fhe was cut off by the natives, there ** muft be much more confiderable remains of her in the u ifland, efpecially of her iron work, upon which all Indian " nations, who have no metal, fet the higheft value." Thefe arguments feem to be very juft, for the fliip was loft on (22) O-anna, the ifland before mentioned, and thefe trifles of iron and brafs, were obtained by the inhabitants of Teokea, either by trading with thofe at O-dnna, or as prefents to the chiefs: for this is very cultomary in all thefe iflands; thus for inftance Opiinee chief of Borabora, r obtained obtained one of Mr. de Bougainville's loft anchors, as a arts prefent from Tootaba, the chief of Taheitee. sciences 27. O-Rai-roa feems to be the ifland of Carlsbof difcovered in 1722 by Roggewein. 28. O-Tah correfponds in fome meafure with the fituation of Adventure s Ifland feen by us in 1773. 29. O-Patai or Oo-rATi, anfwers to the fituation of the group of iflands called by Captain Cook Pallijers Iflands, in 1774. 30. O- W h a r ii v a is probably the Ifle of Furneaux, called thus by us in 1773. 31. O-Whao, muft in all probability be the IJland of Birds, difcovered by Captain Cook in 1769. 32. O-Rima-roa coincides nearly with the fituation of the Ifles of Disappointment, feen by Admiral Byron in 1765. 33. O-HliEVA-TOUTou-Ai, to this ifland Tupaya added the following remark, " that the inhabitants are men-eaters,. *' that their fliips are large, and that the fhip from Britain. " (the Endeavour) was but little in comparifon." 34. HaneanU is a fmall ifland. 3c. N eeo-heeva is likewife fmall. 36. Whatterre-toa, feems to be la Magdalena difcovered by Mendana, 1595. 37.. Terq. arts 37. TeROWHA. and . /» sciences 3^' Teebooai is from its fituation very probably Hoods IJland one of the Marquefas. 39. Wh atarRE-oor a. In Mr. Banks's chart I rind the name written Whatthre-ero, and in two other lifts the laft word was fpelt oora for ero, fo that I think it is plain from the nature of the language that Whatarre-obra is the true writing of the name. The name Wait a boo given to the ifle of Chriftina by the natives themfelves, confirms this ftill more, for we found that the inhabitants of the Marquefas never or at leaft very feldom pronounced the r; this was evident to me from a vocabulary of about eighty words not containing a fingle word with an r, and from the circumftance that all the words in the Taheitee language correfponded with the words of the language of Waitdhooy with this difference only that the canine letter was either omitted or foftened. In O-Taheitee the phrafe come hither is expreffed by barre-mdi, in Waitahoo by banna-mdi; the hand is called rehna, and in the Marquefas bibaai two is expreffed aroba at Taheitee, and bo-hoba at Waitahoo; three is a toroo, and bo-db-00 at the latter place; five is called rchna, but at Waitahoo hehna > great is rba, and at the Marquefas ha. The ifland of Dominica was called Obeeva-oa inftead inftead of Oheeva-rca; and Waitahoo in all probability is arts ufed in lieu of Wattarrc-olra •> for by dropping the r's there SC1^,^FS remain Watdw-ola or Waltd-ooa, in which an h has been inferted to compcnfate the elilion of fo many r\r, and pronounced Watta-booa or Waitd-boo. This is certainly the illand of St. Cbrijlina, one of the Marquefas, difcovered by Mendana, 1595, and is high land, 40. Te-Mann o. 41. O-ott o. 42. O-HkEVA-ROA, is high land, called by the natives G-lIeeva-ca, and is the fame which Mendana called Dominica; feems to be populous, fertile, and the largefl: of the Marqucfis. 43. O-H ee v A - I'O t t o. 44. jMopeV.ha or MoTU-ifEA, is a low illand, but large, not inhabited, abounding however with fifh, coconuts, turtle and pearls:. 45. W n e n n u a - o 6 r a is a low illand, has inhabitants, and has fj^i£.,v the fame productions with the former. 4/7. O-Papatea. 47. W 0 V r e e o is a large ifland, and inhabited. 48. Ururutu, inhabited. X x x 49. O* 522 REMARKS eN. the arts 49. O-A d e e h a is an ifland to which men refort occafiondly for scTe^es fifhing, hut do not live continually on it. 50. O - A h 0 u a - h 6 it, large, and peopled. 51. O-W e eh a. 52. O-R 1 m a -t a r r a, high land and inhabitedv 53. O-R a 1 -11 a v a r. 54. O-Raro-toa has inhabitants. 55. O-Ahourou larger than Taheitee. 56. O-T00moo-papa. 57. Touteep a, a low ifland of no great extent, but is however inhabited. 58. O-ReevA-vaij Tupaya added this remark, M fine " hatchets come from thence to Raiedea: " whether thefe are iron or good ftone hatchets cannot be determined from this account. If they had iron hatchets, they muft have been there ever fince the time of Abel Janfen Tafman, who was in this neighbourhood in 1643, or nnce tne times of Schouten and le Maire, 1616. I obtained at E-Aoo%ve a fmall nail fticking in a kind of handle, which at leaft proves, how carefully the fmalleft pieces of iron are preferved by thefe people.. 59. Tainuna, Go. O-Ri- 60. O-R 1 M a.tema, from its polition it feems to be the low arts ifland feen by us in the year 1774, and called Palmer/Ions IJland. 61. 0-Rotooma is faid to be larger than Taheitee, 62. O-PoPPOA. 63. Moe-no-tayo is a low ifland, and from its fituation feems to be that which we called Herveys IJland in 1773. 64. Te-TOOP A-TU p a-e ahou. 65. O-Hitte -potto correfponds with the fituation of Savage IJland feen by us in 1774. 66. O-Hl tte-toutou-ATU. 67. O-HlTTE-toutou-NEE. 68. O-H i T TE-tou tou - R E r a. 69. O-HlTTE-T ai TE rre, 70. Te-Amaroo-hitte. .71. Te-Atou-hitte, 72. OUOWHE a- 73. O-ToOTOO-e r r e. 74. T E-OROOROO-M a T i v at e a. j$. Wouwbu a fmall low ifland, but inhabited, 76. Ooporroo, a large ifland and well peopled. 77. Te-errepoo-opo-mat te-hEa, X x x 2 78. 0~ 524 REMARKS on t it * arts yS. O-Mf.avai is larger than Taheitee; Tupaya added *' it is seltzers " tllc fat3lcr of al1 the iflands." 79. Tedhu-roa, a fmall illand, a few leagues to- the North* of O-Taheitee, has no other inhabitants than thofe wt*b occalionally refort to it from Taheitee. 50. O-W X n n a, one of the low iilands, Eaft of Taheitee. 51. Tata-iiapai, 82. Tapy-arV, 83. Haeokdf.,, are three other names of iilands which I found mentioned in one of the lilts, without any thing relative to their fituation, 84. Pappaa is a low illand, fomewhat to the Eaft of Toopd?. (20), whofe inhabitants frequently go to this laft mentioned ifland in order to fifh and to catch turtle, but their language is not undcrftood by the people of Borabora, who refort there for the fame purpofe. As I have no account of the particular fituation of the five laft ifles, I omitted the names on the chart. However the number of more than eighty ifles, is abundantly fufficient to prove that the inhabitants of the Society-ifles have a competent and extenfive knowledge of the geography of their neighbourhood, confidering the frnall fize and flight ftructure of their embarkations, and the want of a compafs; and that they cannot like the antient Phoenicians and the Greeks, follow the fhores of an extenfive continent, 5.. in • HUMAN SPECIES. $25 in order to make difcoveries, but are obliged to crofs large tracts of arts the ocean before they arrive at another ifland; and what is more re- oLILNCES markable, having no other provifions for thefe long navigations, than their four pafte,. and fome fruit, which cannot be kept above a few days in an eatable ftate , nor have they any veffels large enough to keep frefh water in for a long time; and yet with all thefe inconveniences, they have difcovered lands at more than 400 leagues diftance round their iilands. The Friendly-ifles are a group whereof Tonga-Tabba, E-Aoowe, and Namocka are the largefl; but we faw afterwards many fmall. ones, and heard a.lfill greater number named. The fmall iflands off the North Eaft point of Tonga-Tabbti, were called VVewegiiei:. When we were failing to Namocka, in 1774, wc faw to the Eafl of it fome iflands, whereof one was called O-Mango-nooe and the other O-Manoo-eetee, i. e. great and little Mango, they lay both to the North of our track ; to the South of it we obferved the ifles of ToNoo-MJiA and Terefetchea. South of Namocka-was Namocka eetee, which lafl, Tafman called Namocaki, on his drawing. To the North Well of Namocka, are two high ifles, the Weflernmofl is called Tofooa, contains a Volcano, and. is defigned by Tafman, under the name Amattafoa, which fpelling Captain Cook has adopted in his chart; the Eaflernmofl of thefe idles is called by the natives Ogh ao, but by Tafman Kaybay. The a r The Wefternmoft of the duller of low ifles, fituated to the North m t?.»o and North Eaft of Namocka, is called Motto-wa. The other BH i E N c e S little keys of this archipelago, were called O-Tooghooa, 0-06a, ■Looghel a-ei, Fonnoo-Acica, Lagholla, Oofanga, and Wofoogee : thefe were all fituated to the North of Namocka, but farther to the North Eaft, the natives told us were the iflands of 0oveea, Wo-alee-ava, oleefanga, Ko-FOO, K.O-e-e- onna, Ko-Naghoon amoo, O-Foolango, Mou-e-e-onne, Toghooroo, Koe-Noogoo, Ko-ogee, Ko-Neemoo, and Tonoo- NOO-OFOOA. Another account of fome iflands, lying flill further to the Weft, is given by Quiros, as it was communicated to him by a native of the ifle of Chicayana, * and as deduced from his own obfervation and difcoveries. 1. Taumaco. Quiros faw in io\ South latitude, 1250 leagues from Mexico, an ifland, eight or nine leagues in circumference, which was high and black, like a volcano, and its name he found to be Taumaco, 2, Chicayana. Four days fail from thence, is a low ifland, larger than Taumaco, and in the language of the country, dogs are named Te-curi, or Tc-ghooree, in the fame manner * See Dalrymple's Collection of Voyages, vol, 1. page 151. manner as they call them at Tonga-Tabbu, and New- arts Zeeland, which may be conftrued into an argument for L#«JLr*2 the identity of the language. 3. Guaytopo, is another illand larger than the two beforc.'-mentioned, at three days fail from Taumaco and two from Chicayana 3 the inhabitants of thefe three illes are friendly, people. 4.. M ec a y R a yl a is in all probability a low ifland, and! inhabited, to which the natives of Guaytopo fail, in fearch of tortoife-fhell, of which they make their ear-rings. 5. Tu c b pi a is a high ifland in twelve Degrees South Latitude,,, five days fail South Wen: from Taumaco. 6. Fonofono is the name of a clufter of fmall flat ifles, three days fail from Taumaco, though the voyage may be performed in two days with a frefh wind j the inhabitants are faid to be very tall. The language differs from that fpoken at. Taumaco. 7. PUen and Nu pan are ifles near the Fonofono ifles. 9. Pouro is a large country very populous; its inhabitants are of a dun colour, at war among themfelves, and have filver-headed arrows. There are accounts in Herrera, Galvano, Argenfola, and De Couto of fome iflands difcovered by Al vara do and Grijalva^ which 528 REMARKS on t h e arts v/b[cb feem to be connected with the new Caroline Iflands to the and sciences g0llt|1 m about 205 degrees Weft longitude from Greenwich, near the line : the names of thefe ifles are given in Mr. Dalrymple's Collection of.Voyages; vol. i. p. 35, 36, 37, 38, and 39; but as they were not mentioned bj the natives, I have forborn to fpeak of theni as proofs of the Geographical knowledge of the natives of thefe parts. The foregoing account of the many iilands mentioned by Tupaya is furhcicnt to prove that the inhabitants of the iilands in the South Sea have made very confiderable navigations in their flight and weak canoes; navigations which many Europeans would think impoffible to be performed, upon a careful view of the veffels themfelves, their rigging, fails, ccc. occ. alio the proviiions of the climate. The arts of dancing, mulic, and poetry, are generally nnderflood by almoft every individual from the higheft to the lowcfl rank, but the fciences of phyfic and its various branches, thofe -of geography, navigation, and aftronomy, are known only to few. This ignorance extends fo far that the greater part of the nation cannot count beyond ten : but thofe who have been inftructed by their teachers can reckon as far. as 200. I could not learn whether they can count beyond that number, but am rather * inclined to believe they cannot. Their way of reckoning is by . enumerating HUMAN SPECIES. 5^ enumerating firfl the digits, 1 a-tahai, 2 a.-roba, 3 a-toroo, arts AND 4 a-hea> 5 ii-reemay 6 a-bono, 7 a-biddoo, 8 a-wdrroo, S C / E N C E S 9 a-beeva, 10 a-hboroo; then they add a fecond ten as far as twenty, in the following manner; 11 ma-tahdi, 12 ma-rooa, 13 ma-tbroo, 14 ma-bca, 15 ma-reemat 16 ma-hbno, 17 ma-hiddoot 18 ?na-warroo, 19 ma-beeva, 20 a-tabdi-taoo,. From thence they count by fcores to 200 j viz. they fay for 21 a-tabdi-tdoo-mdra-tabaiy literally one twenty with one; 30 is called tdhai-taoo-mara-hobroo., 40 a-rooa-tioo, 50 a-rloa-taoo-mbra-booroo, &c. &c. The teachers are men, who have either* from their fathers or other teachers acquired a knowledge, which, they again impart to others. Thefe people are callled Tdbata-orrero, are very much refpecfed, and commonly belong to the tribe of chiefs; which circumflance induces me to believe, that from their eafy and independent circumflances, they arc not under the neceflity of communicating their knowledge to their pupils for any .retribution-; as there is little probability that a chief mould accept of a reward, or even honorary compenfation, having himfelf a competency, viz. land, a houfe, fruits, and trees that bear them ; hogs, dogs, and fowls, and laflly toutous to ferve him. The bulk of their fcience is the work of memory only, and by no means the refult of meditation, reflection, or reafoning. For I met with fome of their chiefs who had attempted to learn the Y y y names arts names of the months and days, but knew them only imperfectly, AND sciences having taken no pains to preferve their knowledge; but thofe pro-feffed teachers, (Tahata-orrero J were more perfect.. However there mufl have been a time when this knowledge was firfl introduced among them, and that man who was its author mufl have had patience to attend with unwearied application to the fludy of the heavens, and the motion of the heavenly bodies, and been endued with fagacity to difcover the true length of the folar or bread-fruit year, and the duration of lunations, together with the beginning of the new moons. The direction in which the remote iflands are fituated, which they know is a bufinefs of the greateft difficulty, and required a remarkable fkill, reflection, and combination of feveral incidental points; which evidently fhews, that this man had very flrong natural parts, and had ufed himfelf to apply them to the various occurrences of his life, and the objects furrounding him. It might perhaps be urged, that this knowledge had been mofl probably carried along with them from. Afia and the more civilized nations of that continent. Though this perhaps might be allowed in regard to other fciences, yet their knowledge of aflronomy and geography, or their fkill in determining with nicety the true fituation of ifles at the diftance of 400 leagues from their own country, and directing the courfe of their boats by the fun and ftars,*- proves evidently that this arts fcience muft have had its rife and progrefs among themfelves; as AND SCIENCES many points could by no means agree, had the Afiatic aftronomy difcovered in the Northern Hemifphere been carried to Taheitee. The points where the fun rifes and fets at different feafons, in countries fituated in the Southern hemifphere, differs from thofe in the Northern, fo that the Afiatic knowledge muft have been in a great meafure ufelefs. The farther the Afiatic country, in which we will fuppofe the Taheitean aftronomy to have originated, is removed from the equinoctial line Northwards, the more fenfible docs this difference become, and renders it more probable that the inhabitants of thefe ifles were the inventors of their own aftronomy and geography : and if they had ftrength of Y v y 2 mind "* The Endeavour, in which fhip Tupaya failed to Batavia, failed firft from Taheitee into forty Degrees South Latitude, then fhe came by a North Weil courfe into twenty-eight Degrees, after this (he came by a South Welt courfe to about thirty-eight Degrees, and by a Weftern run to New Zeeland, which iflands were circumnavigated in runs of various directions to forty-eight Degrees South Latitude, till by another Wefterly courfe the coafls df New Holland were reached, along which flic failed North and North Well, up to about four Degrees North Latitude, and then Weft to Savu, and laftly by the Streighta of Sunda to Batavia. However, Tupaya was ncwr at a lofs to point to Taheitee, at whatever place he came, even at Batavia at more than 2000 Leagues diftance : which evidently "proves that he was perfectly well acquainted with aftronomy and geography, as far il tlf\. *rc neceflary for thefe purpofes. arts mind fufEcient to enable them to invent fciences which require sciences accurate obfervations, and a remarkably ftrong fagacity, why may we not think them equally capable of being the inventors of the whole cyclus of their knowledge. Ma£ii ingenio ejle ceeli interpretest rerumque natures capaccs, argument'} repertores, quo deos hominefque vuijiis. PLin, lib ii. c. iz. SECT, S E C T I O N. IX. Religion, Mythology, Cofmogony, Worjhip, Origin of Mankind, Future State, Rites genethliac, Nuptialr Sepulchral. FRAGIL1S &C LABORIOSA MORTALITAS TNT PARTES ISTA (NUMlNA)' digessit, 1nfirmitatis SUJE 1mmemor, UT PORTIONIBUS OJJISQJJE COLERET, QUO MAXIME 1ndigeret. ItAQUE NOMINA ALIA ALUS GENTIEUS, & NUMINA IN IISOEM IXNUMERABILIA REPERIMUS. Plin. Hift. Nat. lib. ii. c. vii. ' I ^HE Contemplation of the infinite power and wifdom of relic;;,.\ the creator and governor of the world, the fountain of all good, the witnefs to, and judge of all our actions; and on the other hand the fenfe of our own weaknefs and wants, together with the impoffibility of obviating or avoiding many great and remarkable incidents of our lives, imprefs our minds with awe and refpect, with a confidence in, and love towards this friendly diftributor of mercies. If again we examine our faculties both of body and mind, the enjoyments of which we are capable, efpecially of a rational fort, and the thirft after everlaiting lite and happinefs religion, happinefs which every individual feels ftrongly in his breaft, notwithstanding the prejudices of education, and the wiles of vice and predominant luxury ; it becomes more and more evident that the Supreme Being deferves our humble adoration, our warmeft attachment, and our unfeigned love: that we ought to exert our faculties in examining and ftudying the immenfe and infinite powers and perfections of this being; that it fhould be our chief thought and earneft endeavour to imitate, and to approximate the bright virtues of this great prototype of perfection and goodnefs; to behave in a manner becoming the many ties and relations by which the creator has been pleafed to connect us with him and other fubordinate beings. The above ideas or others to the fame purpofe, form the ground work of true religion, of all natural obligations, moral virtues and religious worfhip. The ideas of the inhabitants of the South Sea iflands on this head, are we may fuppofe, lefs clear, perfect and refined : however they acknowledge an almighty invifible lord and creator of the univcrfe, who executed the various parts of his creation by various fubordinate powerful beings. They are of opinion that he is good and omnifcient; that he fees and hears all human actions, and is the giver of all good gifts. They feel their own wants, and therefore apply for redrefs to the Supreme Being, and offer to him, with a grateful heart, the bcft gifts of their lands. They acknowledge to have a being within their their bodies, which fees, hears, fmells, taftes, and feels, which they religion, call E-teehee and they believe, that after the diffolution of the body, it hovers about the corpfe; and laftly, retires into the wooden reprefentations of human bodies, erected near their burying places. They are convinced of the certainty of a happy life in the fun, where they fliall feaft on breadfruit, and meat which requires no drafting; and they think it their duty to direct, their prayers to this Supreme Divinity, or Eatoha-rahai. Thofe who have more leifure among thefe people, are very defirous of learning what is known relative to this and all other inferior divinities, and to prac- tife fuch virtues, as by the general confent of mankind conftitutc good actions ; thefe are briefly the general outlines of their religion and worfhip. Though thefe principles are generally adopted among the greater, part of mankind, provided they are not fo much degraded and debafed as to have loft even thefe univerfally acknowledged notions of, the Deity, and of the duties we owe him ; there is, however, no impropriety in believing that thefe very notions are the venerable remains of a tradition, which may have been brought over from the Afiatic continent. We do not, however, mean to infinuate, as if their notions of the Deity and his worfhip were of fuch a complexion that they could not have been learnt but by tradition ; there are, however, many reafons which confirm me in this opinion 5 JrrJI, as their language, their manners, cuftoms, and many other circumftances, prove the Afiatic origin of the nation, why fhould we not alfo fufpeet. their religious principles to have been derived from the fame fourcc: fecondly, the indolence and fupinenefs of mankind is fo great in moft matters, which require reafoning, attention, and judgment, or which, fuppofe a great many abftract ideas, that we rather choofe to follow a beaten track, than to ftrike out a new one, by dint of argumentation, and by a conftant exertion of attention and judgment. It feems therefore more natural, that thefe nations fhould have adopted the notions of their anceftors or forefathers, than to imagine that they formed the whole fyftem of their religion, by the mere ftrength of their underftandings. Laflfy, there is, beyond all doubt, fo great an agreement between the religions principles of Taheitee, and its neighbourhood, and thofe of the reft of the Eaft, that we cannot hefitate a moment in pronouncing them to have been imported from Afia; nay, if we go one ftep further in our enquiry, we muft foon find, that there is not a country, nor a nation exifting, which has not preferved fome ideas in their religion, which, when attended to, prove that they were handed down to them by tradition : now, by going backward into remote ages, there muft be at laft a place where we muft flop ; tnd this, though everfo remote in antiquity, feems to have obtained thefe notions from the very fourcc. Mankind, collectively in its 2 infant infant if ate, is exactly as the individual in the firft years of his ex- religion. iftence: the ideas of a Supreme Being, and the obligation of wor-fhipping him, are by no means of fuch a clearnefs and evidence, that they fhould be eafily difcovered by a child ; thofe who have the care of his education are therefore folicitous, at this early period, when the faculties of apprehending, judging, and reafoning, are not yet developed or ftrong enough in the child, to treat the great truth of the exiftence of God, and the obligation of wor* fhipping him as a precept, or as an univerfally acknowledged, in-difputable axiom; and inculcate it as fuch into the minds of their children. Afterwards, when they find the faculties, by exercife and education, to be more enlarged, and to have acquired more ftrength, they lead their pupils back, and teach them to invefti-gate the exiftence of God and his attributes, together with the nature and obligation of worshipping him, by arguments and by the force of reafoning. Divine Providence feems then in this rcfpecT:, to have treated mankind like children; and to have given the firft notions of himfelf and his exiftence, as an axiom, and inforccd its worfhip by precept, conforming thefe great and falutary truths to the infant ftate of mankind; as long therefore as the ufe of reafon and of the intellectual faculties is not yet practifed in a nation, thefe religious notions muft be communicated by precept and tradition : hut as foon as men feel themfelves ftrong enough, they will no Z z z longer RELIGION, longer trufl to tradition, the inflrudtor of their childhood, in this-. great and interesting truth, and foon find that it is impofiible to be miflaken in this important argument, as the exiftence of this. Infinite Being is written with fo legible characters in every object furrounding them : they ^ooa go back to themfelves, and invents gate their own mental and fenfual faculties, and from thence are, gradually led to acknowledge the duties they owe to God, themfelves, and all the rational, animated, organic, and inanimated. creation, which they either find co-operating with, or fubordinate to. themfelves. The people at Taheitee preferve their notions relative to the Deity and his worfhip by tradition, and areas yet unable to in*, veftigate the neceffity of the exiftence of God, the nature of his atr tributes, and the duties they owe him by reafon ; they are therefore, ftill in the infant flate of humanity, not yet ripened to the ufe of argument and reafon in religious matters : and, according to the prefent fituation of affairs, a long time mufl pafs, before they will be able to bear the evidence of thefe doctrines, and the radiancy of this truth; we have only therefore to wifh that we may be per-, mitted to fee the minds of thefe excellent people irradiated by the, bright religion taught by nature and reafon ; which may prepare them for a due reception of the doctrines of the Chriflian difpenfa-tion. * Their prefent fyftem of religion is a polytheifm, which may be religion. called one of the beft and lean: exceptionable as yet known. The name Eatooa, admits a very great latitude in its interpretation ; for though it properly fignifies a Divinity, it may likewife be interpreted a Genius. However they admit a Being whom they call Eatoba-rabai, which is the fupreme Deity above all. Each of the ifles furrounding Taheitee, has its peculiar god, or as we may juftly call it, its tutelar Divinity. Taheitee is under the peculiar guidance and government of Orua-hattoo; over Huaheine pre fides T A ne ; over O-Raiedea Oroo : over O-Taha Orra; Borabora has its Taootoo % Maurooa its Otoo; and in Tabua-manoo Taroa is the chief god. This is always the Divinity whom the high prieft of each ifle addreffes in his prayers at the grand Mara! of the prince of that ifland. The great Deity they think to be the prime caufe of all divine and human beings and as this nation has introduced every where the idea of generation, it has applied the fyftem of generation to the origin of their inferior Divinities, and for that purpofe the natives thought it likewife neceffary to attribute to the Eatooa-rahai, a being of the female fex, from whofe conjunction all the inferior Eatooas, and even mankind are defcended ; and in this refpect. they call the great Deity Ta-roa-t'eay-etoomoo the great procreating ftem: but his wife is not of the fame nature with him ; their grofs ideas Z z z 2 imagined 540 R E M ARKS on the relic ion. imagined a coexisting material hard fubftance neceflary, which they call O-Te-papa a rock. Thefe procreated O-Heena the goddefs who created the moon, and prciides in the black cloud which appears in this luminary; Te-whettoo-ma-tarai the creator of the ftars; Oomarreeo the God and. creator of the Seas; and Orre-orre * who is the God of the Winds.. But the fea is under the direction of 13 Divinities, who all have fome peculiar employment, as their name often feems to imply: their names are the following; 1. Ooroo-h addoo, 2. Tamaooee, 3. TA-apee, 4. AtoO-AREEONO, 5. T A nee a, 6. TAIIOU-me- onna, 7. Ota-ma-ou-we, -j- 8. OwhAi, $ 9. O-whAtta,. lo. Ta-hooa, ii. Teoo-t-eIya, § 12. Oma-hooroo,. 13. O-whaddoo. The great God Taroa-t'eai-etoomoolives in the fun, and is reprefented as a man, who has fine hair, reaching down to the very ground; he is thought to be the caufe of the earthquakes, in which cafe the natives call him O-Maouwe, and he is likewife the creator of the fun; a rude reprefentation of this deity, under the attribute of O-Maouwe, was obferved by Captain Cook, in 1769, when he made the tour of Taheitee in a boat: it was * Orree fignifics wind. -j- Ma-du fignifics a ftiark. % 0.£r t>»$SgOtJ KOLi affVp$!i)lim$ ffV/J.^^i £,ri* nius is called Teehee ; the natives told us, that was the thing religion,-which fees, hears, fmells, taftes, and feels within us, which forms the thoughts, * and, after death, exifts feparately from the body* but lives near the burying places, and hovers about the corpfe or bones, depohtcd there, is likewife an object of their reverence; though addreffed only by hilling : they informed us farther, that thefe Teebees inhabit chiefly the wooden figures, which are erected near the marais; and arc, according to the fex of the perfon de-ceafed, either males or females : they are likewife dreaded ; for according to their belief, they creep, during night, into the houfes, and eat the heart and entrails of the people ileeping therein, and thus caufe their death. The inhabitants of Taheitee fhew their reverence to their divinities in various manners, Jirfi by the appropriation of certain places for religious worfhip, which they call Marai. Thefe places are commonly on points projecting into the fea, or near it, andconfiit of a very large pile of Hones, generally in the fhape of art x*X8i'T*t. Harmonia perfidt poteftates operatrices & diviner urn effifli'vas. Quarc Theurgici, cum fimc-tijfime colunt numcn aliquod, invoc.vit illudJibilis & foppy/wis^ fonifipte qui art'nuhitioncs (s* conjoints . non habent. * The Taheiteans have no expreflions for abftract. ideas. Thoughts certainly do not convey a corporeal idea, and required therefore a peculiar turn in order to be cxpreflcd by words { the Taheiteans have called them parou no tc bboo words of the belly. 5,44 ^REMARKS on the religion, an Egyptian pyramid, with large fteps; fometimes this pyramid makes one of the fides of an area, walled in with fquare ftones and -paved with flat ftones : the pyramid is not folid, but the infide is filled with fmallcr fragments of coral ftones. Sometimes there are one or more fheds ftanding at a little diftance from the marai, for the reception of fuch people as attend the marai on account of praying or performing the funeral rites of their relations-. Sometimes there are fpars fixed in the ground and joined by crofs beams in a firm frame at a final 1 diftance from the marai, and likewife fmall ftages raifed on pillars of various heights and dimcniions. The .ftages are called What t as y and are intended for the reception of the hogs, dogs, fowls and fruits, which the natives oifer to their gods. The large frame is fometimes thirty feet high, and about twenty or more wide, and often entirely covered with bananas hung up for the gods with many garlands of flowers, and ornamented with green branches. * Laftly, near the marais are twenty Or thirty fingle pieces of wood fixed into the ground, carved all over on one fide with figures about eighteen inches long, rudely reprefenting a man and a woman alternately, fo that often more than fifteen or twenty figures may be counted on one piece of wood, called * The plants employed for that purpofe are chiefly the Pcor&oo or E/>voa-tardorooor Crataeva, the Efnvtoo Melaftoma malabathrica, and the Awa-waidai or Piper latifolium. called by them Tcebce. To ornament the marais and to honour religion. by it the gods and the decayed buried there, the inhabitants plant feveral forts of trees, near them; above all the Cafuarina equifetifolia or ¥oa-tree is the moil common, not only in Taheitee and its neighbourhood, but even in the Friendly iilands; where exceeding large trees were obferved by us, near their A[fayetobcas or places of burial and worfhip. The Tamanoo or Calophyllum inophyllum, is likewife planted near the Marais, as is the E-mecro or Hibifcus populneus; with the Ewharra or Athro-dactylis; and laftly the Etee er Dracaena terminalis, of which there is one variety with red flowers, and red veins in the leaves, with many others. The fecond mark of reverence paid to their divinities, confifts in the appointment of certain days appropriated for their worfhip. Though I cannot with any preciiion point out any day which they peculiarly celebrated as an anniverfary feaft or holiday; it is nevertheldfs certain from the accounts I repeatedly heard, that they did obferve fome days as feafls. Another way of declaring their refpect for their divinities is the appointment of certain perfons for the peculiar performance of prayers, rites, and ceremonies. Each great chief or king of an ifland choofes from among the inferior chiefs an intelligent perfon, who is to be his Takbuwa or prieff; whofe bufmefs it is to pray 4 A *and religion, and offer up facrifices, and to perform the rites which are deemed requifite on each occafion. This dignity is hereditary and defcends to the fon. Each chief of a province has likewife a prieft, and the inferior ranks of people have in the fame manner peculiar priefts, who cannot perform rites and offer up prayers for men of a higher clafs: it is obferved by Hawkefworth,. vol. ii. p. 239. that even the priefts for the males cannot perform the fame office for the females; and that each fex has marais, to which the other fex is never admitted, though they have marais common to both. Thefe circumftances indeed we never heard, but it is not improbable that they have thefe Angularities in their mode of worshipping.. The acts of devotion, which thefe nations pay to their divinities are likewife of various kinds : the firft is the invocation or prayer addreffed to one of their deities. The prayers themfelves are either fpoken loud ©r offered tacitly by the prieft: for each peculiar ceremony they have fhort fentences, which they deliver on that occafion; the language feems to be more formal, fententious, and almoft totally different from that ufed in common life: for none of us were able to underftand the leaft fentence of their prayers, though we were poffeffed of large vocabularies, and had acquired a tolerable fhare of knowledge of their language. Befides the prayers which the priefts of each clafs deliver upon certain oc-cafions, the laymen themfelves are not excluded from faying their their own prayers, and performing many ceremonies of their relig1°n. worfhip: for when a young man at Taheitee, in 1773, chofe to fail with us to Huaheine, before he eat his fupper, he repeated a kind of prayer, and took a very fmall piece of the fifh, which was intended for his fupper, and laid it near him on the table, as an offering for the Eatoba. The natives told me when I enquired about their mode of worfhip, that the prieft. fometimes delivered his prayer fo low that nobody could hear any thing, yet he was heard by the Eatoba, who is then near the marai, and fpeaks to the prieft again, and though there were ever fo many people prefent they could not hear a fingle word fpoken by the Eatooas, whereas the prieft (Tahouwa) underftood it all. The inferior divinities according to our former obfervation are revered only by a hiffing found. A native of the Society-ifles no fooner comes within fight of a marai, than he ftrips his garment from his moulders, and pays it the fame refpecl: which he fhews his prince, by uncovering his fhoulders: which moft undoubtedly proves that a very peculiar reverence is fhewn to the place, and which they would not do, unlefs they were perfuaded, that a being of a fuperior rank lived there, and well deferved fuch a mark of reverence. Not contented with prayers and mere profeflions, delivered by words, the natives of thefe iflands endeavour likewife to add to 4 A 2 them. religion, them fome facrifices. of the animals and fruit of their country. I have frequently feen hogs, dogs, or fowls roafted, covered with a fine piece of cloth, and expofed on a kind of altar, built near the marai for that purpofc: I likewife faw great fcaffoldings in the neighbourhood of the marai, wholly covered witli bananas, and plantanes, as facrifices or offerings to their gods; but I never faw any thing elfe offered to their divinities, nor did I ever hear that they facrifice men. However, as Captain Cook feems to have inr veffigated the fubject. very carefully, * it is not improbable -f that they think it expedient fo punifh their criminals in this manner, by devoting them as.facrifices to their God : nay, as we have aU ready mentioned, J that in more remote times canibalifm was inr troduced among the Taheiteans, and the inhabitants of the Society Ifles, it is highly probable that thefe human facrifices, are the remains of the canibalifm of thefe iflanders; with this difference, that they now * See Cook's Voyage, vol. i. p.. 185. f Almoft all the antient nations facrificcd men ; the Egyptians excepted ; who never were addicted to this cruel and barbarous cuftom ; and .wherever it is mentioned in old writers that the Egyptians pra£tifed this method in order to appeafe the anger of their gods, it is to be underftood of the Arabian fhepherds, who undoubtedly were ufed to reconcile their divinities by human facrifices, and who once had over-run and conquered all Egypt. On the fubject of averting the anger of the gods, by the effuiion of human blood, among all nations, none has written with greater learning, than the ingenious Mr. Bryant, in hit Obfervations. ami Inquiries relating to various Parts of ancient Hijlory, p. 267—285. % Sec Cook's Voyage, p. 327, and likewife p. 358, 359, and 360* now flay and offer the criminals to the Gods, without eating them; religion. whereas they formerly added that inhumanity and barbarifm. Though the reftriction of killing only bad men, for the reconciliation of the favour of their Gods, feems very much to mitigate this cruel cuftom, and by all appearance fancfifies the impious rite into a legal neceflary action ; it is, however, again debafed in the moft deteftable manner, by leaving the choice of the perfon, who is to be devoted to the gods to the caprice of the High Prieft; who, on this occafion,. has an opportunity, not only of indulging his private revenge againft any. man, by whom he may think him— falf injured, but alfo of practicing at the fame time one of the moft abominable fcenes of prieft-craft that ever took place; for it is* faid, that on certain occafions, when the nation is folemnly affembled, the High.Prieft alone enters the houfe of God, or the marai, and after flaying there for fome time, he returns and informs the congregation, that having converfed with their great God, he was ordered to afk for a human facririce, and then mentions the perfon whom the deity de fired to have offered j this man is immediately feized and killed,, being beaten till he be dead. The circumftance, that fuch criminals only as had nothing wherewithal to, redeem themfelves,. are devoted to death, proves befides, that the. prieft has an opportunity of fatisfying his avarice. What has been, hitherto faid on this peculiar part of the religious worfhip practifed in religion in the Society ifles, confirms us more and more in that general truth, that the greater part of mankind, when left to themfelves, in their religious principles, and modes of worfhip, have always more or lefs deviated from that noble fimplicity, which the true adoration in the fpirit and truth requires, and which is fo fully held forth in the Chriftian difpenfation; wherein the ideas of the Deity are pure, and capable of filling the mind with humility, confidence, and adoration, and prompting every profeffor of that religion, to the practice of all moral and focial virtues, and laftly, excluding all prieft-craft from its true and genuine votaries. The human facrifices being left to the choice of the prieft, who pretends to converfe with the Deity, intimate, that thefe nations have fome idea of a communication of the will and pleafure of the Deity, by means of their priefts. I was told, that in dubious cafes of great confequence, the prieft did actually confult the divinity, and pretended to bring back the anfwer to the people , which feems to imply that their marais are looked upon as oracles, where the Deity may be confulted, and his anfwer is plainly heard by the prieft, and communicated to thofe who defire to be inftructed, and guided by it. This idea has likewife pervaded all mankind, for there is hardly a nation to be found, either antient or modern, which had it not inferted amongft its religious tenets, that the Deity had referved to himfelf the prerogative of inftructing man-5 kind kind on the moft important occafions, efpecially fuch as greatly in. rluence their happinefs. The Taheiteans relate, that the great god Taroa-t'eay-e-toomoo, having by his wife O-Te-papa, begotten many divinities of both fexes, who created the various parts of this world, and who now prefide over them; having likewife produced the various ifles, by dragging O-Te-papa through the feas, he at laft begot by her a fon called O-Tea, who was the firfl man : and according to their tradition, his limbs were all rolled up in a figure like a ball, but his mother carefully expanded them to the fhape in which men now appear. A daughter was likewife begotten by the fame parents, whofe name is O-Te-Torro, who became the wife of O-Tea, and from this couple they believe all mankind to have been defcended. This traditional hiflory of the origin of mankind, accounts at once for many points of their religion and philofophy : Jirjl, as they think man to have been born of their great gods it is plain that they muff think their deities fimilar to mankind, in their external appearance, and this is confirmed by the figure of Maouwe, which Capt. Cook met with in his firfl voyage. Secondly, though they always proteiled that God could not be feen,. they had, however, made a human figure to reprefent Maouwe, which feems to intimate that this reprefentation of a god, was rather reckoned to be a fymbolical figure, than a real reprefentation : religion, reprefentation. Thirdly, fince they believe that the being which is poifeffed of fenfation and of thinking, or as they call it, of forming the fpeech in the belly (paroit-no-tc-bboo) exifls after death in a feparate ftate, and is then even unfeen capable of actions iimilar to thofe it performed when combined with the body, viz. of feeing, hearing, receiving pleafure from the actions of their friends, and of lhewing its difpleafure by killing people ; it is -evident that they think of an invilible being, very diftinct from the body, and endowed with a free agency. This they call T e 'eh e e and reprefent it frequently under the rude figure of a man or woman, feldom exceeding eighteen inches in heighth; which again feems to indicate that this figure is not intended to be the real figure of the invilible foul, but only its emblem. Fourthly, as they think man to have defcended from their fupreme deity, it is evident they mult likewife imagine man to be in fome inferior degree homogeneous to their divinities, or vice verfi their divinities are according to their opinion analogous to man, and as they often told me the great Eatoba could not be feen, or in other words was invifible, this analogy cannot lie in the body the only vifible part of man, and muft therefore confift in the part capable of thinking and reafoning, which in fome meafure is analogous to the fcriptural phrafe of the image of God, after which man was ftrft made. Laftly, as they attribute to O-Tea the firft man but one wife, this circumftance feems to imply that they think monogamy my to be the lawful or moll: reafonable method for propagating mankind. The inhabitants of the South Sea have certainly ibme notions of a future ftate ; but I muft confefs, I am at a lofs how to conciliate their ideas on that head. They told us that the being, which had fcnfations and thoughts, did not decay with the body but was well fwouraj and exifting near its old habitation the body and the remains expofed on an elevated ftage, or even near the bones when buried, or the head preferved in a little cheft : it is for this being that they expofe various fruits and meat near the burying place; and the little wooden images or Teebees are, as we were told, the receptacles of the .invilible Teebees, or what we would call fouls, according to our way of thinking. And notwithftanding this moft pofitive affertion, they told us almoft in the fame breath, that after their death the departed met in the fun, and attended Mabuwe., and feafted there with this deity upon bread-fruit, and the meat of hogs or dogs, which needs no drerTing and fome even ventured to fay that they were to have a conftant fucceflion of liquor prepared from dwa (Piper methyfiicum). This ftate they call the meeting or aftembly of the heavens or iky (Touroba-t'trdij. * However the people of rank only, have hopes of being 4 B received * The word Tourooa fignifics the meeting or nfiembly of the ftates in Taheitee, wherein the king, the chiefs of provinces, priefts, inferior chiefs, and manahounes h?.vc a right to fitj but the boas, or king's attendants, though prefent, muft ftand. received in this aifembly of the heavens after their dernife; and perhaps this idea is formed from the Touroba or meeting of the ftates of the nation, where only the higher ranks of the nation have a right to lit. The toutous or lower fort of people meet after death at the taya-hoboo, which I am unable to explain.. We never heard that any of thefe places was to be confidered as a flate of punifhment. The Touroba-t'eral feems to be a place of enjoyment and happinefs, in fome meafure fimilar to the Valhalla of the Northern nations, where the heroes killed in battle met at Odin's palace, feafled upon the meat of the boar Serimner, * and drank ale or mead out of the fkulls of their enemies. The-actions of men do not feem to influence in the leaft their future ftate according to their doctrine : but I am fully perfuaded, that the people of thefe iflands were frequently awed from committing bad immoral actions by the fear of meriting the difpleafure and the anger of the Gods ,* for when I difcourfed with them upon various fubjects, and in order to try their way of thinking and principles, afked them why they did not kill their children or any other perfons, they always replied the Gods would be angry; when I continued to afk whether this anger or difpleafure would caufe * See the Edda, in various places, and likewife Jo. George Kejt/Itr*i Ant'quitatti Sthftaj ^puntrionaks, p. 149. fetj, caufe puniihments to be inflicted, they conltantly anfwered in the religion. affirmative: when I afked whether this anger would take place ■after death, they ftill affirmed it; but I never could obtain any information concerning the method, place and duration of the ■anger of their Gods for fuch crimes. Nay, having one day attempted to diffuade Teinamai from killing the child that (lie was ftiortly to bring forth, and feeing her obftinate in her defign, 1 reprefented upon this very ground to her, that the Eatoba would be angry (wbriddeeJ on that account againft her; but fhe very coolly replied, that this might perhaps be the cafe of the Eatoba no Pretdnee i. e. the Britiih God, bat the Eatoba of O-Kaiedea knew her to be with child by an Arreeoy, whole children muft not live, and would therefore not be angry. From the above account however I think we have reafon to conclude that they are not quite without fome notions of a future ftate attended with rewards and punifhments. Their religion therefore is not altogether difinterefted, but greatly influences their morals; and in my opinion feems well adapted to the weak and infant ftate of their reafon; and though they go through all the acts of reverence and adoration both by words and actions, they certainly perform them with a childifh fimplicity and humility, from the little knowledge they have early imbibed of the greatnefs, goodnefs, and excellence of the Supreme Being, and likewife becaufe they have been taught 4B 2 to 556 REMARKS- on the religion, to dread the anger, and difpleafure of a being whofe power is infinitely fuperior to that of any other they have an idea of. After the birth of a child, they do not obferve any ceremonies whatever, excepting that of depretfing in fome degree its nofe, and giving it a name from fome object or other which is neareft at hand, or which from fome circumftance becomes remarkable. The king of Taheitee was called O-Too, which is the name of a grey heron: the chief of the ille of St. Chriftina, one of the Marquefa-iflands, was called Ahhnoo, which fignifies a turtle > one of the chiefs at Taheitee related to O-Too was called Teehee the foul or a carved figure, which is the fymbol or emblem of the foul. The chief of the province of Tittahaw had the name of Toumata-rba a great hat, and many more of that nature, much too tedious to mention. However in this early period of life, the male children undergo a ceremony or operation on their genitals, for a piece of bamboo reed is thruft into the prepuce, and the membrane flit by means of another bamboo-reed, (to which a very lharp edge is given by tearing it) in order to prevent its contracting over and covering the glans. This operation is performed merely from principles of cleanlinefs, by the prieft, though there is not any religion or religious ceremony mixed with the cuftom; for which reafon it is not perfomed on a certain day after the birth of the child, nor at any certain age; but when the child is capable of attending to it, that the prepuce 3 may may not again join over the glans, then the operation is made, [religion which, from its nature cannot properly be called a circumcifion. Both fexes have many marks on their fkin, made by puncturing the part with a toothed inftrument of bone, dipt into lamp black and water, and by this method they imprint marks which are indelible for life. The men have fometimes not only a black part on-their buttocks, but fometimes on the arms and even their fides, and various other parts of the body marked in this manner. The toothed inftrument is called Eobwee-tatattabu, a fpatula of wood, with which they conflantly ftir the black colour, and on one end of which they have contrived a kind of fmall club of the thicknefs of a finger, is the fecond inftrument employed on this occafion; with the fmall club they give repeated gentle ftrokes on the toothed inftrument, in order to make it pierce the fkin. This fpatula is called Tatae, and the black colour arahoa-tattaou. The arches which they defign on the buttocks obtain the name of avdree; the parts which are one mafs of black on the buttocks are named toumarro> and the arches which are thus defigned on the buttocks of their females, and arc honourable marks of their puberty, are called toto-hobnoa: the priefts arc the only perfons entitled to perform thefe operations, and are paid for their trouble in cloth, fowls, fifh, and after the natives had obtained Euror-crn commodities, in nails and beads. In * xrl REMARKS on t ftte •religion. In their marriages fome .ceremonies are obferved, but the authorities we have for talking of them are of no great weight; becaufe the only people who were prefent, did not underfland enough of the language, to obtain information relative to the figniiication of feveral tranfactions and ceremonies they faw performed in their prefence. The young Borabora man Maheine was married to the daughter of Toper re chief of the diftrict of Matavai, during our fecond Hay at Taheitee. We were told that he had been fitting on the ground by the fide of his bride, holding her hand in his, being furrounded by ten or twelve perfons, chiefly women, who repeated fome words in a recitative or finging tone, to which Maheine and his bride gave fome fhort refponfes : fome food was prefented to them, and Maheine gave a part of it to his bride and flie to him, which action was likewife accompanied by certain words, and laftly they bathed in the river. This is the whole account of the ceremony, which has been obferved and recounted. Perfons of little curiofity with a very flender knowledge of the language, were certainly not the belt qualified for enquiring into the reafon and fignification of any tranfaction or ceremony, and we did not hear of thefe circumftances till we had quitted the ifle, orherwife we fhould have endeavoured to obtain fome information on that head. 6 The The ceremonies ufually performed on the demifc of perfons of religion.. rank in Taheitee are more curious than any other feen or defcribed, and contain briefly the following circumftances. As Toon as the perfon is known to be dead, the relations and friends refort to the houfe he occupied when.alive, and there join in lamentations and-other figns of grief over the lofs of their friend, which continue* all that day and night, till' the next morning j when the body rs wrapped in fome of their white cloth, and carried to the neighbourhood, of the marai, where the remains of the deceafed in future are to be depofited; if that place be diftant, the corpfe is carried in a boat and conveyed thither on a bier covered by a little thatch in the form of a fmall houfe. The corpfe is then carried near the Chore, attended during the whole time by the prieft, who repeats fome prayers before the corpfe is taken, and continues to repeat them till he reaches the marai. He then renews his prayers and fentences, and fprinkles fea-water towards the body, but not upon it; which is repeated, feveral times, the body having been taken away and carried back each time y till at lafl a fmall inclofure being made near the marai, and a kind of open fhed called Tupapoit, * raifed on pofts fix or feven feet from the ground, being finifhed, the * One of the T'upap'eus is rcprefented in Cook's Voyage, vol. i, p< 185. pl.xliv. and another in Hawkefworth, vol.ii. p. 234,. pi, N°* v, 5<$o REMARKS on t h e religion, the corpfe or bier is depofited under the fhed either on ports or on a flage made on purpofe, and left there till the flefh putrifies and feparates from the bones. Meat, fruit, and water are often brought to the Tupapbu and left at a fmall diftance from it; nor do the relations forget to ornament the Tupapbu with cloth and garlands of the ewharra-fruit ( AthrodaSlylis ) and coconut-leaves. And near it are generally to be feen one or more trees of the kind called Cafuarina equifetijblia. The female relations teflify their grief by tears and by cutting the crown of the head with a fhark's tooth : the blood flowing from the wound as well as the tears fhed on this folemn occafi>n are received on pieces of their cloth and then thrown under the bier, as well as the hair cut off by fome young people on this occafion. Some days after thefe ceremonies have been performed, one of the nearefl relations takes up the heva-drefs defcribed before p. 450, 453. and holding in one hand a clapper made of two large mother of pearl fliells j and in the other a flat cudgel fet with fhark's . teeth along its edge, he begins a folemn proceflion from the houfe of the deceafed by a long circuit to the Tupapbu, preceded by two or more people almofl naked and blackened by a mixture of charcoal and water, who are called Nineva i. e. infane or mad, fuppofing them to be tranfported by the phrenzy of grief, for if the chief mourner performing the heva, fhould happen to meet any perfon during his circuit circuit, he would run at them and ftrike them with the fhark's Religion. teeth fixed on his flick. For which reafon, no fooner is the noife of the two fliells heard, than every one leaves his habitation and endeavours to obtain fhelter at a diftance, and out of the reach of the fhark's teeth t near the corpfe, and the places where men \irct a kind of fentence or prayer is pronounced. This procelfion is performed for about five moons at certain intervals ; which become lefs frequent at the end of the interval than at the beginning; each relation takes this proceflion in his turn, and now and then the priefts in company, and at the defire of the relations repeat their prayers near the corpfe and offer to their deities fome offerings of fruit or meat. After the flefh is decayed, the bones are (craped, wafhed, and buried in the marai, if the perfon deceafed was a chief, but without if he belonged not to that clafs. The fkull of a chief is not buried with the bones, but wrapped in cloth and put in a long box * which the 'natives call Te-wharre-no te- 4 C erometua * The method of difppfing .of the cor.pfe of the dead at Taheitee, fceim to be at firft fight very ftrange, but upon more mature examination, the kmc practice is found ro obtain among many other nations, both antient and modern. When I was in Rutfia jn the fummer of the year 1765. I obferved in the great dc&rt to the Eaft of the Volga, feveral Khalmyks expofed in the fame manner for putrefaction. I faw one lying dead in a hut in his cloth ; I found round the hut feveral callico and (ilk vanes on, long fticks fixed in the ground, on which feveral lines in Tibetan characters were printed. I met with another 3 corpfo 562 Remarks own** religion, orometua, of which mention has been made before p. 542. After this burial of the bones the relations now and then renew fome funeral ceremonies with the prieft, who takes a bunch of the red feathers of a parroquet called olra>. and twilled together with coconut filaments, and fixes them on a fmall pointed flick in the ground; (thefe feathers are in high eflimation with thefe people and become the emblem of the divinity, and ferve to fix their attention during the ceremony) oppofte to this bunch of feathers a young plantane is placed, which is the emblem of friendfhip, peace, and expiation ^ the priefl flands with the relations over againfl corpfe in a little houfe of wood fix feet long and two feet wide,, and when 1 came near a fox efcaped out of it, who had been preying on the dead body : befides the vanes above mentioned, the khalmyks had fixed about this fcpulchre pieces of wood pierced in the middle by a hole, through which the flicks were thruft on which the wooden vanes almoft. conflantly moved by the leaft breath of wind ; thefe pieces of wood were on the two op-pofitC fides hollowed out like fpoons of about feven or eight inches long and five wide, and covered on the hollow part with Tibetan characters. The lamas or priefts of the khalmyks fiy thai as often as the vane or this wooden Lftrumcnt moves round,, the fubftance of the prayers for the repofc of the deccafed, is as it were offered up to God. In the Archaeologia of the Society of Antiquaries of London, vol. ii. p. 233.1s inferted a Memoir, written in 1767} wherein I have defcribed the fix modes of burial ufual among thofe who follow the religion of the Dalai-lama. According to the firft mode they burn the corpfe of their Lamas, Khans, Noions, and other people of rank, and preferve their allies mixed with frank-incenfe, and feud the whole to the Dalai-lama in Tibet. 2. They keep the bodies in a coffin and afterwards cover them with ftones. 3. Some are carried to the tops of mountains, and left there a prey to birds and beads. 4. Some are carried to an inclofurc full of dogs, and there tie burier feeds the dogs with the flefh fevered from the bones, and calls the , bones againft the bunch of red feathers and repeats his prayers, after which he depofits on the grave fome coconut-leaves twifted into various fhapes and knots during his prayer, and the relations likewife leave a few provifions. Inftead of a man, I faw at O-Taha a woman wear the heva^ drefs; a ceremonious dance was performed at the fame place, and the neareft relations appeared well dreffed with prefents of cloth for the drummers and muucians. From all the ceremonies of the burial it appears, that the people at Taheitee and its neighbourhood, have an idea of a feparate ftate, in which the Tcchce or foul 4 C 2 lives, bones into the water, and gives the fkull to the relations of the deceafed, who carry it refpectfully home, 5, Some corpfes are thrown into the water. C. Others arc buried underground. The mode of burial is fixed and determined upon by the prieft according to the hour in which a perfon dies, as each time requires a different way of burying, Thefe circumftances are confirmed by Dr. P. 8. Pallas, F. R. S. in his Travels through Jeveral Provinces of the Rufjutn Empire, vol, i, p. 362, 363. and partly by John Stewart, Efq. F, R- S* in his account of the Kingdom of Tibet, in the Philof. Tranf vol. Ixvii. pi. ii, p, 478. *n the ifland of Formofa or Tayovan the inhabitants keep the corpfes of their deceafed in their houfes on an elevated ftage, and put fire under them in order to dry them, after the ninth day they wrap the body in mats and cloth, and expofe them on a ftill higher ftage; after the body has been thus kept during three years the bones arc buryed. Relation tf the If a?id of Formofa by Candidius. The people in Corea do not bury the remains of their deceafed friends till after three years are clapfed. Du Halde's Hiji. of China. The 5ndians upon the tivcr Oronoko fuffer the corpfes of their chiefs to putrefy and when the flefti is decayed they drefs the fkeleton with jewels of gold and ornaments of feathers, and fufpend it in a hut. Sec the Voyage of Sir Walter Raleigh in Hakluyt's Voyages, vol, iii. p. 644. edit. 1598. Jppollonius Rhodins drgonaittic. lib. iii. p. 207. and likewife AZlian+ war* MJlori&j, lib. iv. ch, i- mention that the Colchi few the corpfe of their deceafed relations in raw RELIGION. religion, lives though not united with the body. I was not able to discover when they fuppofcd the foul removed or left the neighbourhood of the corpfe and the bones. For it has been already obferved, that they imagine that the chiefs and better fort of people go to Mdouwe into the fun and feaft on bread-fruit, and meat of dogs and hogs, which requires no dreffing, in the affembly of heavens-or Te-roba te-rai. The time when the deceafed are thought to go to this affembly remains therefore unfettled..* The Egyptian doctrine of the tranfmigration of the foul.has been, I believe often mentioned, hut feldom underflood. The Egyptians were . of opinion, that the foul of man was obliged after the Decay of the body to animate the bodies of animals, birds, and fifh, till after a revolution of three thoufand years the fame foul again refumed r;.w hides of oxen, and hang tlicm up by a chain in the air. The inhabitants of Chili put. their deceafed-in the attitude of a child in the mother's womb, and then they expofe them on a ii age fix feet high. Supplement to Anjbnt- Voyage, All thefe accounts evidently prove, that many nations obferve the famo cuftom with regard to the corpfes of their deceafed friends as at O-Taheitee, in expofing them to putrefaction and afterwards burying the bones only. And though fome of them differ fomewhat in their method of treating the remains of their relations, there are however others who do not bury them under ground, but fever the flefh from the bones,, and preferve the fkcleton drcflcd out and finely ornamented in. caves under ground, (fuch for inftance are the cuftoms of the Moluches,. Taluhcts, and. Divihets) or in fmall huts near the fea coaft, fometimes at 300 leagues from their habitations,, (which is done by the Tehuelhets) See Taikners Defcriptien of Patagonia, p. 118, 120. * We ftiall in the next chapter give an account of the doctrine of the foul as it is received among the inhabitants of the Caroline iflands, wliich can be employed for the ilJuftration of «ht doctrine of the Taheiteans. relumed the direction of a human body. * They embalmed the religion. body of the deceafed, in order to hinder its decay and putrefaction, and to prevent the tedious transmigration of the foul through fo many bodies of animals, and to facilitate its tranfition from one human body (after the interval of 3000 years) into another. -|-This doctrine has furniihed a hint for fixing with fome probabi-. lity, the time of the departure of the fouls of the Taheiteans for the Te-rooa-te-rai; it feems to me to take place when all the flefh is entirely decayed, and nothing but bones are left. The difference between the, doctrine of Egypt and that of Taheitee is evident and needs no comment, but it appears that they agreed in thinking the foul to remain about the body as long as any flefh continued unde-. ■* Herodot, lib. ii. NJ- -f- During all that time in which the body was not decayed the Egyptians imagined the foul to remain near it. At Memphis efpecially was a lake between the burying place and the city, and clofe to it. a fine green meadow, which was the Elysium: for fo Scrvius remarks ad yEncith vi. Vireta prope Memphin ktrrfcha funt, in quibus JF.gyptiorutn /(pulcra funt, hrtc Elyfos (ampos vacant. Pa/us prcpt eft, loto & calamis plena, IS gravtir del. Pet banc paludcn vetlantur tadavera; hinc dixit Orpheus, vehi per Achcrontem. Horn. 1. 4, Odyjfete, ubi i.quiiur Proteus: fed teEly/ium campum, IS ultima! terras Dit immortale 1 mltltnt; £s, and as if I believed they wanted the fifli to eat, I ordered it to be given to theni; but they fhewed the moft unequivocal figns-. e£ abhorrence, when, it was offered to them. 6 The 646 r R? E M A R K S "on the 1 preser- The fifhes eaten at Mallicollo, caufed in the evening violent of mari cachings, gripes and loofenefs, preceded by an uneafinefs fimilar ners. to that which I had felt; a violent head-ach and pain in the face, 'with a burning heat, followed immediately after this ; and extended to the hands and legs. The pulfe was by no means feverifh or ftrong, as might have been expected from the great heat wdiich every one felt, but was rather low and weak. About fixteen or eighteen perfons who had eaten of the fifh were all ill of this poifon, and •had more or lefs the fame fymptoms, to which wc mufl add the fame torpor in the extremities. The pains continued for feveral days in the ftomach and in all the limbs, with the heat and alio a giddinefs, which would not fuffer them to walk or hardly to Hand. All along the throat they felt a pain equal to that of an excoriation in that part. In fome few patients the falival glands were fwelled, and mtcharged an extraordinary quantity of faliva, fo that it run out of their mouths involuntarily. In a few a painful erection of the penis was obferved : and fome even found that their teeth were grown loofe. When they recovered it was but ilowly, and as often as they were expofed to cold, the pain and ftiffnefs of the limbs returned, and upon the whole every evening the fymptoms of reflleffnefs, pain and heavinefs were renewed, nay, after the expiration of a fortnight when they were quite free from pains and other fymptoms, they found themfelves chilly-, The The furgeon prefcribed the fame remedies, which we had preservation taken by his directions. A tame Taheitean parroquet, which had 0f mari-eaten a very fmall morfel of the fifth died in great agonies. ners... All the dogs, which had been fed with the bones, fins and entrails , of the fifh, fell violently fick and continued fo for a long while one that had retired into a boat and was lying in fome water became quite paralytic, and was ordered to be eaft over-board to fhorten his agonies : another dog equally fick, received from his rnafter an infufion of tobacco by way of emetic* but he fell a fa- crifice to the remedy. A hog which had eaten of the entrails, likewife died within 24 hours. The circumftances here related feem to intimate,, that the Sparus Pagrtis or Pargos is not a poifonous fifh, but only becomes noxious, when it has taken fome dangerous food. The fifti which? were caught at Port Sandwich, together with the Pagrus, proved, wholefome,. which proves that their food differs from that of the Pargos. The Tetrodon Sceleratus alone feems to be poifonous of it-felf, fince the natives of New Caledonia were acquainted with its noxious and. deleterious, quality j. but if we again confider, thati the Tetrodon caufed the fame fymptoms as the Pargos, (only in an inferior degree,, becaufe we ate fo very little of it) it is obvious,, that the Tetrodon likewife muft have received this deletorious-quality from the nature of its food, I. wifli to have had it in. my, powet power to examine the entrails of all thefe fifh, becaufe I do not in the leaft doubt, but the examination of them would have immediately fhewed the true caufe of thefe fymptoms; and as nothing occurs, which might have caufed thefe effects, I fufpect that thefe fifh live chiefly upon blubbers, (Medufce) fome of which we know to be of a very burning quality, when brought into contact with our fkin, and probably would be capable of producing all the abovementioned fymptoms if taken internally. It might be here objected, that if the blubbers are fo noxious, how happens it that the fifh. eat them without being afFe«£ted in the fame manner as we were : but if we confider, that fifh eat, without injury, even man-, chenil-apples (Hippomane Muncinella) which would kill a man; it becomes fo much the more probable that fifhes may live on a food, which to men is highly noxious. The natives, however, feem to be well acquainted with the poifonous quality of the fifh : it would be advifeable therefore to enquire of them whether it may be eaten with fafety, and they are every where good-natured enough to give fair warning when there is the leaft danger. This circumftance leads us to make the following remarks : the firft is, that mankind ought to be confidered as the members of one great family ; therefore let us not defpife any of them, though they be our inferiors in regard to many improvements and points of civilization ; none of them is fo defpicable that he fhould not, in fome one point or other, know know more than the wifeft man of the moft polifhed nation. This preser-knowledge may be eafily obtained from them by friendlinefs, qJ^uari-kindnefs, and gentlenefs and if fo bought it is cheaply obtained. NERS-The fecond obfcrvation points out the neceffity of fending^ out men verfed in fcience, and the knowledge of nature on all occar fions to remote parts of the world, in order to investigate the powers and qualities of natural objects; and it is not enough to fend them out, but they ought likewife to be encouraged in their laborious talk, liberally fupported and generouily enabled to make fuch enquiries as may prevent their fellow creatures in future times from becoming facrifices to their own ignorance. ^yibufdam & iis quidem non admodum indoclis, totum hoc dif-plicet, phiiofophari, Qyidam autem id non tarn reprehendunt,, ft remijjius agatur fed tantum Jiudium, tamque multam ope^ ram ponenctam in eo non arbitrantur. M. Tullius Cicero. De fmibus bon. 5c malor. lib. i, initio,. F I N I S, ERRATA. Journal, Page % linen, in rWand 13, /. pww/f a/kr 27//; add of July, Obfervations, p. 14, /. 16, Ifles, read /. 17, Immer, read Immer. p. 23, /. 10, befaltes, read bafaltes. i>. 30, /. 3. Kirguelen, read Kerguelen. p. So, note 1, read in the. p. 122, /. /*/?, £3/? read #gf, p. 125, /. 8, j. ready?. Jkj 285, A 6, behwj) fpontamus, read fpontaneous. p. 316, /. 1, 2, read W become the remote offspring of fuch happy tribes, p- 336> C*'tbe beginning) Chap. V. rwi Section VI. 3^7* J5» Potatoa read Potatou. p. 382, & beginning) CHAP. VI. read SECTION VII. p, 435, /. I, Se&ion VII, read Seclion VIII. p. 459, /. II, Eteehe read E-teehee. p. 498, /. />m//, Berger, read Bergius* I