In a naval action fought off the mouth of the Demerara River, Guyana on 24 February 1813, between the sloop of war USS Hornet sank the Cruizer-class brig sloop HMS Peacock. After an exchange of broadsides, Hornet was able to rake Peacock, forcing her to strike. Peacock was so damaged that she sank shortly after surrendering.
On the 24th of Oct. in the morning, Captain Lawrence discovered a brig to leeward; to which he immediately. gave chase. Not having a pilot on board, he was obliged to haul off. The fort at the entrance of Demarara river bore southwest,.distant about two and a half leagues. Previous to giving up the chase, Captain Lawrence discovered a vessel at anchor without the bar, with English colours flying. She appeared to be a brig of war. In beating round Carobana bank, in order to get to her, at half past 3, P. M. he discovered another sail on his weather quarter edging down for him. At 20 minutes past 4, she hoisted English colours. She was now discovered to be a large man of war.
Captain Lawrence immediately ordered his men to quarters, and had the ship cleared for action. He kept close by the wind, in order, if possible, to get the weather gage of the approaching vessel. At 10 minutes past 5, finding he could weather the enemy, he hoisted American colours and tacked. iAbout a quarter. of an hour after this, the ships passed each other, and exchanged broadsides within half pistol shot. Captain Lawrence, observing the enemy in the act of wearing, bore up, received his starboard broadside, and ran him close on board on the starboard quarter. From that position he kept up a most severe and well directed fire. So great was its effect, that, in less than 15 minutes, the British vessel struck. She was almost cut to pieces, and hoisted an ensign, union down, from her fore rigging as a signal of distress. Shortly after, her mainmast went by the board.
Lieutenant Shubrick was dispatched on board. He soon returned with her first lieutenant, who reported her to be his Britannic majesty’: brig Peacock, commanded by Captain William Peaks, who fell in the action; that a number of her crew were killed and wounded; and that she was sinking very fast, having then six feet water in her hold. The boats of the Hornet were immediately dispatched for the wounded. Both vessels were brought to anchor. The shot holes in the Peacock, that could be got at, were then plugged, and her guns thrown overboard. Every exertion was used to keep her afloat, until the prisoners could. be removed, by pumping and bailing, but without effect.
She, unfortunately sunk in five and a half fathoms water, with thirteen of her own crew and three of the Hornet’s Lieutenant Connor, Midshipman Cooper, and the remainder of the men employed in removing the prisoners, with difficulty saved themselves by jumping into a boat that was lying on the booms, as the vessel went down. Four men, of the Peacock’s crew, who were on board when she went down, and were so fortunate as to gain the foretop, were afterwards taken by the Hornet’s boats. Previous to the Peacock’s sinking, four of her men took to her stern boat, which had been much damaged during the action. There was little or no prospect of their reaching the land. They, however, arrived safe at Demarara. Captain Lawrence could not ascertain from the officers of the Peacock, the exact number of killed. Captain Peake and four men were found dead on board. The master, one midshipman, carpenter, captain's clerk, and twenty-nine seamen of the Peacock, were wounded; most of them severely....three died after being removed....nine were drowned.
The Hornet had only one man killed, and two slightly wounded. Two men were also severely burnt by the explosion of a cartridge, one of whom died a few days after. The rigging and sails of the Hornet were much out. A shot passed through the foremast; the bowsprit was slightly injured; but her hull received very little injury.
At the time Captain Lawrence brought the Peacock to action, the Espiegle, the brig mentioned as being at anchor, lay within six miles of the Hornet, between her and the shore, and could plainly see the whole of the action. She mounted eighteen guns. Supposing that she would beat out to the assistance of her consort, great exertions were used by the officers and crew of the Hornet, to repair her damages. By 9 o’clock her boats were stowed, a new set of sails bent, and the ship completely ready for action.
At 2 o’clock, A. M. the Hornet got under way, and stood by the wind to the northward and westward, under easy sail. On mustering, next morning, 270 souls were found to be on board the Hornet. As the crew of the latter had been for some time on short allowance, Captain Lawrence resolved to make the best of his way to the United States.
The Peacock was deservedly styled one of the finest vessels of her class in the British navy. She was about the tonnage of the Hornet. Her beam was greater by five inches: but her extreme length not so great by four feet. She mounted sixteen 24 pound carronades, 2 long nines, a 12 pound carronade on her top gallant forecastle as a shifting gun, and a four or six pounder, grid two swivels aft. By her quarter-bill, her crew consisted of 134 men, four of whom were absent in a prize, besides four men and a boy, who were not on her quarter bill. Of the Hornet’s crew, the sailing-master and seven men were absent in a prize; and Lieut. Stewart and six men on the sick, list.
The conduct of Captain Lawrence towards his prisoners, was such as deserved the highest applause. So sensibly affected were the officers of the Peacock by the treatment they received, that on their arrival at New York, they made a grateful acknowledgment in the public papers. To use their own expressive phrase, “ they ceased to consider themselves prisoners.” Nor must we omit to mention a circumstance highly to the honor of the brave tars of the Hornet. Finding that the crew of the Peacock had lost all their clothing, by the sudden sinking of the vessel, they made a subscription, and from their own wardrobes supplied each man with two shirts and a blue jacket and trousers. Such may rough sailors be made, when they have before them the example of high-minded men. They are beings of but little reflection, open to the impulse and excitement of the moment; and it depends, in a great measure, upon their otficers, whether, under a Lawrence, they shall ennoble themselves by generous actions; or, under a Cockburn, be hurried away into scenes of unpremeditated atrocity.
On the return of Captain Lawrence to the United States, he was received with great distinction and applause; and various public bodies conferred on him peculiar tokens of approbation.
Captain Lawrence to the Secretary of the Navy.
To the Honourable United States Ship Hornet,
William Jones, Holmes' Hole, March 19th, 1813.
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.
Sir: I have the honour to inform you of the arrival, at this port, of the United States ship Hornet, under my command, from a cruise of 145 days, and to state to you, that after Commodore Bainbridge left the coast of Brazils, (on the 6th of January last,) the Hornet continued off the harbour of St. Salvador, blockading the Bonne Citoyenne until the 24th, when the Montagu 74 hove in sight, and chased me into the harbour; but night coming on, I wore and stood to the southward. Knowing that she had left Rio Janeiro for the express purpose of relieving the Bonne Citoyenne and the packet, (which I had also blockaded for fourteen days, and obliged her to send her mail to Rio in a Portuguese smack,) I judged it most prudent to change my cruising ground, and stood to the eastward, with the view of cruising off Pernambuco; and on the 4th day of February, captured the English brig Resolution, from Rio Janeiro, bound to Maranham, with coffee, jerked beef, flour, fustic and butter, and about 25,000 dollars in specie. As the brig sailed dull, and could ill spare hands to man her, I took out the money and set her on fire. I then ran down the coast for Maranham, and cruised there for a short time; from thence ran off Surinam.
After cruising off that coast from the 5th to the 226. of February, without meeting a vessel, I stood for Demarara, with an intention, should I not be fortunate on that station, to run through the West Indies, on my way to the United States. But on the morning of the 24th, I discovered a brig to leeward, to which I gave chase; ran into quarter less four, and not having a pilot, was obliged to haul off; the fort at the entrance of Demarara river at this time bearing south west, distance about 2*4 leagues. Previously to giving up the chase, I discovered a vessel at anchor without the bar, with English colours flying, apparently a brig of war. In beating round Corobano bank, in order to get at her, at half past 3 p. M. I discovered another sail on my weather quarter edging down for us. At 4.20 minutes she hoisted English colours, at which time we discovered her to be a large man-of-war brig; beat to quarters, and cleared ship for action; kept close by the wind, in order, if possible, to get to the weather gage. At 5.10 minutes, finding I could weather the enemy, I hoisted American colours, and tacked. At 5.20 minutes, in passing each other, exchanged broadsides within half pistol shot.
Observing the enemy in the act of wearing, I bore up, received his starboard broadside, ran him close on board on the starboard quarter, and kept up such a heavy and well directed fire, that in less than fifteen minutes he surrendered, being literally cut to pieces, and hoisted an ensign, union down, from his fore-rigging, as a signal of distress. Shortly after, his main-mast went by the board; dispatched Lieutenant Shubrick on board, who soon returned with her first lieutenant, who reported her to be His Britannic Majesty's late brig Peacock, commanded by Captain William Peake, who fell in the latter part of the action; that a number of her crew were killed and wounded, and that she was sinking fast, having then six feet of water in her hold; dispatched the boats immediately for the wounded, and brought both vessels to anchor. Such shot-holes as could be got at were then plugged, her guns thrown overboard, and every possible exertion used to keep her afloat, until the prisoners could be removed, by pumping and bailing, but without effect, and she unfortunately sunk in five and a half fathoms water, carrying down thirteen of her crew and three of my brave fellows, viz.: John Hart, Joseph Williams, and Hannibal Boyd. Lieutenant Conner, Midshipman Cooper, and the remainder of the Hornet's crew, employed in removing the prisoners, with difficulty saved themselves by jumping in a boat that was lying on her bows as she went down. Four men, of the thirteen mentioned, were so fortunate as to gain the foretop, and were afterwards taken off by the boats. Previous to her going down, four of her men took to her ster n boat, which had been much damaged during the action, which I hope reached the shore in safety; but from the heavy sea running at the time, the shattered state of the boat, and the difficulty of landing on the coast, I much fear they were lost. I have not been able to ascertain from her officers the exact number killed.
Captain Peake and four men were found dead on board. The master, one midshipman, carpenter, and captain's clerk, and twenty-nine seamen were wounded, most of them very severely; three of them died of their wounds after being removed, and nine drowned. Our loss was trifling in comparison. John Place, killed; Samuel Coulson and Joseph Dalrymple, slightly wounded; George Coffin and Lewis Todd, severely burnt by the explosion of a cartridge. Todd survived only a few days. Our rigging and sails were much cut; one shot through the foremast, and the bowsprit slightly injured. Our hull received little or no damage. At the time the Peacock was brought to action, the L'Espiègle (the brig mentioned above as being at anchor), mounting sixteen two-and-thirty pound carronades, and two long nines, lay at about six miles in shore, and could plainly see the whole of the action. Apprehensive that she would beat out to the assistance of her consort, such exertions were made by my officers and crew in repairing damages, &c, that by 9 o'clock the boats were stowed, a new set of sails bent, and the ship completely ready for action. At 2 A. M. got under weigh, and stood by the wind to the northward and westward, under easy sail.
On mustering next morning, found we had 277 souls on board, including the crew of the American brig Hunter, of Portland, taken a few days before by the Peacock. And, as we had been on two-thirds allowance of provisions for some time, and had but 3,400 gallons of water on board, I reduced the allowance to three pints a man, and determined to make the best of my way to the United States.
The Peacock was deservedly styled one of the finest vessels of her class in the British navy, probably about the tonnage of the Hornet. Her beam was greater by five inches, but her extreme length not so great by four feet. She mounted sixteen twenty-four pound carronades, two long nines, one twelve-pound carronade on her topgallant-forecastle, as a shifting gun, and one four or six-pounder, and two swivels mounted aft. I find, by her quarter-bill, that her crew consisted of 134 men, four of whom were absent in a prize.
The cool and determined conduct of my officers and crew during the action, and their almost unexampled exertions afterwards, entitled them to my warmest acknowledgments, and I beg leave most earnestly to recommend them to the notice of government.
By the indisposition of Lieutenant Stewart I was deprived of the services of an excellent officer; had he been able to stand the deck I am confident his exertions would not have been surpassed by any one on board. I should be doing injustice to the merits of Lieutenant Shubrick, and of acting-lieutenants Conner and Newton, were I not to recommend them particularly to your notice. Lieutenant Shubrick was in the actions with the Guerriere and Java. Captain Hull and Commodore Bainbridge can bear testimony to his coolness and good conduct on both occasions.
With the greatest respect, I remain, &c,
James Lawrence.
P. S. At the commencement of the action my sailing master and seven men were absent in a prize, and Lieutenant Stewart and six men on the sick list.
Resolution of Congress Voting Medals to Captain Lawrence, etc.
Resolved unanimously by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled: That the President of the United States be requested to present to the nearest male relative of Captain James Lawrence, a gold medal, and a silver medal to each of the commissioned officers who served under him in the sloop-of-war Hornet, in her conflict with the British vessel-of-war, the Peacock, in testimony of the high sense entertained by Congress of the gallantry and good conduct of the officers and crew in the capture of that vessel; and the President is also requested to communicate to the nearest male relative of Captain Lawrence the sense which Congress entertains of the loss which the naval service of the United States has since sustained in the death of that distinguished officer.
Approved January, 1814.
Captain Lawrence to the Secretary of the Navy.
To the Honourable United States Ship Hornet,
William Jones, Holmes' Hole, March 19th, 1813.
Secretary of the Navy, Washington, D. C.
Sir: I have the honour to inform you of the arrival, at this port, of the United States ship Hornet, under my command, from a cruise of 145 days, and to state to you, that after Commodore Bainbridge left the coast of Brazils, (on the 6th of January last,) the Hornet continued off the harbour of St. Salvador, blockading the Bonne Citoyenne until the 24th, when the Montagu 74 hove in sight, and chased me into the harbour; but night coming on, I wore and stood to the southward. Knowing that she had left Rio Janeiro for the express purpose of relieving the Bonne Citoyenne and the packet, (which I had also blockaded for fourteen days, and obliged her to send her mail to Rio in a Portuguese smack,) I judged it most prudent to change my cruising ground, and stood to the eastward, with the view of cruising off Pernambuco; and on the 4th day of February, captured the English brig Resolution, from Rio Janeiro, bound to Maranham, with coffee, jerked beef, flour, fustic and butter, and about 25,000 dollars in specie. As the brig sailed dull, and could ill spare hands to man her, I took out the money and set her on fire. I then ran down the coast for Maranham, and cruised there for a short time; from thence ran off Surinam.
After cruising off that coast from the 5th to the 226. of February, without meeting a vessel, I stood for Demarara, with an intention, should I not be fortunate on that station, to run through the West Indies, on my way to the United States. But on the morning of the 24th, I discovered a brig to leeward, to which I gave chase; ran into quarter less four, and not having a pilot, was obliged to haul off; the fort at the entrance of Demarara river at this time bearing south west, distance about 2*4 leagues. Previously to giving up the chase, I discovered a vessel at anchor without the bar, with English colours flying, apparently a brig of war. In beating round Corobano bank, in order to get at her, at half past 3 p. M. I discovered another sail on my weather quarter edging down for us. At 4.20 minutes she hoisted English colours, at which time we discovered her to be a large man-of-war brig; beat to quarters, and cleared ship for action; kept close by the wind, in order, if possible, to get to the weather gage. At 5.10 minutes, finding I could weather the enemy, I hoisted American colours, and tacked. At 5.20 minutes, in passing each other, exchanged broadsides within half pistol shot.
Observing the enemy in the act of wearing, I bore up, received his starboard broadside, ran him close on board on the starboard quarter, and kept up such a heavy and well directed fire, that in less than fifteen minutes he surrendered, being literally cut to pieces, and hoisted an ensign, union down, from his fore-rigging, as a signal of distress. Shortly after, his main-mast went by the board; dispatched Lieutenant Shubrick on board, who soon returned with her first lieutenant, who reported her to be His Britannic Majesty's late brig Peacock, commanded by Captain William Peake, who fell in the latter part of the action; that a number of her crew were killed and wounded, and that she was sinking fast, having then six feet of water in her hold; dispatched the boats immediately for the wounded, and brought both vessels to anchor. Such shot-holes as could be got at were then plugged, her guns thrown overboard, and every possible exertion used to keep her afloat, until the prisoners could be removed, by pumping and bailing, but without effect, and she unfortunately sunk in five and a half fathoms water, carrying down thirteen of her crew and three of my brave fellows, viz.: John Hart, Joseph Williams, and Hannibal Boyd. Lieutenant Conner, Midshipman Cooper, and the remainder of the Hornet's crew, employed in removing the prisoners, with difficulty saved themselves by jumping in a boat that was lying on her bows as she went down. Four men, of the thirteen mentioned, were so fortunate as to gain the foretop, and were afterwards taken off by the boats. Previous to her going down, four of her men took to her ster n boat, which had been much damaged during the action, which I hope reached the shore in safety; but from the heavy sea running at the time, the shattered state of the boat, and the difficulty of landing on the coast, I much fear they were lost. I have not been able to ascertain from her officers the exact number killed.
Captain Peake and four men were found dead on board. The master, one midshipman, carpenter, and captain's clerk, and twenty-nine seamen were wounded, most of them very severely; three of them died of their wounds after being removed, and nine drowned. Our loss was trifling in comparison. John Place, killed; Samuel Coulson and Joseph Dalrymple, slightly wounded; George Coffin and Lewis Todd, severely burnt by the explosion of a cartridge. Todd survived only a few days. Our rigging and sails were much cut; one shot through the foremast, and the bowsprit slightly injured. Our hull received little or no damage. At the time the Peacock was brought to action, the L'Espiègle (the brig mentioned above as being at anchor), mounting sixteen two-and-thirty pound carronades, and two long nines, lay at about six miles in shore, and could plainly see the whole of the action. Apprehensive that she would beat out to the assistance of her consort, such exertions were made by my officers and crew in repairing damages, &c, that by 9 o'clock the boats were stowed, a new set of sails bent, and the ship completely ready for action. At 2 A. M. got under weigh, and stood by the wind to the northward and westward, under easy sail.
On mustering next morning, found we had 277 souls on board, including the crew of the American brig Hunter, of Portland, taken a few days before by the Peacock. And, as we had been on two-thirds allowance of provisions for some time, and had but 3,400 gallons of water on board, I reduced the allowance to three pints a man, and determined to make the best of my way to the United States.
The Peacock was deservedly styled one of the finest vessels of her class in the British navy, probably about the tonnage of the Hornet. Her beam was greater by five inches, but her extreme length not so great by four feet. She mounted sixteen twenty-four pound carronades, two long nines, one twelve-pound carronade on her topgallant-forecastle, as a shifting gun, and one four or six-pounder, and two swivels mounted aft. I find, by her quarter-bill, that her crew consisted of 134 men, four of whom were absent in a prize.
The cool and determined conduct of my officers and crew during the action, and their almost unexampled exertions afterwards, entitled them to my warmest acknowledgments, and I beg leave most earnestly to recommend them to the notice of government.
By the indisposition of Lieutenant Stewart I was deprived of the services of an excellent officer; had he been able to stand the deck I am confident his exertions would not have been surpassed by any one on board. I should be doing injustice to the merits of Lieutenant Shubrick, and of acting-lieutenants Conner and Newton, were I not to recommend them particularly to your notice. Lieutenant Shubrick was in the actions with the Guerriere and Java. Captain Hull and Commodore Bainbridge can bear testimony to his coolness and good conduct on both occasions.
With the greatest respect, I remain, &c,
James Lawrence.
P. S. At the commencement of the action my sailing master and seven men were absent in a prize, and Lieutenant Stewart and six men on the sick list.
Cruise of the Essex in the Pacific
By John Frost
The naval events of this campaign on the ocean were not less brilliant than those with which the war had commenced. The cruise of Captain Porter in the frigate Essex, chiefly in the Pacific Ocean, had commenced in 1812. He had captured a large number of British vessels, and had succeeded in completely destroying the enemy's commerce within the range of his cruise. One of the captured vessels had been converted into a vessel of war mounting 20 guns, which he named the Essex Junior. The intelligence of Captain Porter's exploits in the Pacific had at length occasioned a force of the enemy to be sent in pursuit of him. While the Essex and Essex Junior were lying in the harbour of Valparaiso, the Phoebe, a British frigate of 38 guns, and a sloop of war, appeared off the port. Having entered the harbour and obtained provisions, they cruised off the port for six weeks. Their united force was much greater than Captain Porter's.
On the 25th of March, the Essex attempted to escape to sea, but in rounding the point she was struck by a squall which carried away her main top mast, and unable to regain the harbour, Captain Porter ran into a small bay and anchored within pistol shot of the shore. Here, in violation of the rights of neutrality, he was attacked in a most unfavourable position by a superior force, consisting of both the British ships above mentioned, and after gallantly maintaining the unequal contest for three hours, was compelled to surrender. The disregard of the British for the rules of warfare relating to an enemy under the protection of a neutral nation, was, subsequently referred to by the Americans in justification of General Jackson's retaliatory proceedings in Florida.
Cruise of the Essex: a United States Frigate, under the command of Captain David Porter, made to the Pacific Ocean, in the years 1812. 1813, and 1814, the period of the last war with Great Britain. - By Henry Howe
The three years' cruise of the United States Frigate Essex to the Pacific Ocean, in the last war with Great Britain, was one of the most remarkable enterprises in the history of the naval marine of this or any other nation. She was the first American man-of-war that ever weathered the storms of the Cape of Good Hope, the first that ever unfurled the star-spangled banner over the blue waters of the Pacific.
The journal of this cruise, by Captain Porter, the bold and skillful commander of the Essex, was published in two volumes in the year 1815, and is replete with novel and fascinating adventures. From it this narrative is mainly derived.
The Essex was a ship of considerable note in our navy. She was a small frigate of thirty-two guns, and was built in the year 1799. She was employed in the war with. Tripoli; and in that with Great Britain, had the first successful combat with the enemy. This event occurred in the summer of 1812^ when, after an engagement of eight minutes, off our Atlantic coast, his majesty's ship Alert struck her flag to the Essex, then under the command of Captain Porter. It is true that she was far inferior to the American; but so exaggerated had become the opinion of the British prowess, that impossibilities were sometimes looked for, and hence the feebleness of her resistance excited surprise.
In the succeeding autumn, the Essex, Constitution, and Hornet were assigned to the command of Commodore Bainbridge. The last two were lying in the port of Boston, and the Essex in the Delaware. On the 26th of October, the last two got to sea; orders having been sent previously to Captain Porter, to rendezvous at Port Praya, in the island of St. Jago; and secondly at Fernando Noronha. Other places were also pointed out to him, until a time mentioned, when, if he failed to fall in with the other vessels, he was at liberty to follow his own discretion. As he did fail in his attempts, his independent action resulted in the memorable cruise which we here outline.
In obedience to instructions, Captain Porter left the capes of Delaware on the 28th of October, 1812. He had a very full crew, 319 officers and men, and from the muster roll before us, it seems that they must nearly all have been natives of the United States, as is indicated by the names. Another fact is worthy of mentioning in this connection, as showing a custom of that day : out of the whole number, two hundred and eighty-eight had not any middle names, and of the thirty-one who had, eighteen were officers.
The vessel was well supplied with stores, and put in the best possible state for service. A double supply of clothing was provided, and fruit, vegetables, and lime juice, as anti-scorbutics. "We left the capes of the Delaware," says Porter, " with the wind from the northward, which gradually hauled around to the westward, blowing fresh, with thick weather, and it was with difficulty we were enabled to weather the dangerous shoals of Chincoteague. On the morning of the 29th, the wind hauled around to the westward, and increased to a gale. Got the ship under snug sail, and secured our masts by setting up the rigging, which, being new, had stretched considerably. The ship being very deep, we found her unusually laborsome and uncomfortable : her straining, occasioned by her deep rolling, opened her water-ways, and kept the berth-deck full of water, damaged a great deal of our provisions stowed on it, and wet all the bedding and clothes of the crew; found also the coal-hole full of water; found a leak somewhere between the cutwater and stem, but in other respects found the ship tight; for, after scuttling the birth-deck and bulkhead of the coal-hole, found we could easily keep her free by pumping a few minutes every two hours.
Previous to leaving the river, the crew had been put on allowance of half a gallon of water each man per day ; and being desirous of making our provisions hold out as long as possible, having views, at the same time, with regard to the health of the crew, I caused the allowance of the bread to be reduced one half, and issued in lieu of the remainder half a pound of potatoes, or the same quantity of apples. Every other article of provisions was reduced one third, excepting rum, of which the full allowance was served out raw to the cook of each mess (the crew being divided into messes of eight, and a cook being allowed to each), who were accountable for the faithful distribution of it. For the undrawn provisions the purser's steward was directed to issue due-bills, with assurances on my part that they should be paid the amount on our arrival in port. Orders were given to lose no opportunity of catching rain-water for the stock, of which we had a large quantity on board, every mess in the ship being supplied with pigs and poultry. The allowance of candles was reduced one half, and economy established respecting the consumption of wood and the expenditure of the ship's stores. Habits of cleanliness and care with respect to clothing were strongly recommended to the officers and crew. I now gave a general pardon for all offenses committed on board; recommended the strictest attention to the discipline of the ship; held out prospects of reward to those who should be vigilant in the performance of their duty ; and gave assurances that the first man I should feel myself under the necessity of punishing should receive three dozen lashes, expressing, however, a hope that punishment during the cruise would be altogether unnecessary. I directed, as a standing regulation, that the ship should be fumigated in every part each morning, by pouring vinegar on a red-hot shot, and confided to Lieutenant Finch the superintendence of the berth-deck, in order to preserve it in a cleanly and wholesome state. Lime being provided in tight casks, for the purpose of white-washing, and sand for dry-rubbing it, and orders given not to wet it if there should be a possibility of avoiding it, a comfortable place was fitted up for the accommodation of the sick on the berth-deck; cleats were put up for the slinging as many hammocks as possible on the gun deck; and orders given that no wet clothes or wet provisions should be permitted to remain on the berth-deck, or that the crew should be permitted to eat anywhere but on the gun-deck, except in bad weather. Having established the above and other regulations, as regarded the health and comfort of the crew, I exhorted the officers to keep them occupied constantly during working hours, in some useful employment, and directed that between the hours of four and six o'clock in the afternoon, should be allowed to them for amusement, when the duties of the ship would admit.
Prior to the pilot's leaving us, I caused him to deliver into my possession all letters which might have been given him by the crew, apprehensive that, from some accidental cause, they might have become possessed of a knowledge of our destination; they all however contained only conjectures, except one, the writer of which asserted, as he stated from good authority, that we were bound on the coast of Africa : as some of their conjectures were not far from being correct, I thought it best to destroy the whole of them, and forbid the pilot's taking any more without my consent. To the officers who were desirous of writing to their friends, I enjoined particularly not to mention the movements of the ship in any way."
On the 23d of November, the Essex crossed the equator. The ceremony of crossing the line was duly performed. " We were honored," says Porter, " by a visit from the gods of the ocean, accompanied by Amphitrite and a numerous retinue of imps, barbers, etc., in his usual style of visiting, and in the course of the afternoon all the novices of the ship's company were initiated into his mysteries. Neptune, however, and most of his suite, paid their devotions so frequently to Bacchus, that before the ceremony of christening was half gone through, their godships were unable to stand; the business was therefore intrusted to the subordinate agents, who performed both the shaving and washing with as little regard to tenderness as his majesty would have done. On the whole, however, they got through the business with less disorder and more good humor than I expected ; and although some were most unmercifully scraped, the only satisfaction sought was that of shaving others in their turn with new invented tortures."
On the 27th, the Essex entered the harbor of Port Praya, in the Portuguese island of St. Jago. The town contained about three thousand inhabitants, of whom not over thirty were whites, the rest being Negroes, slave and free. The soldiers numbered some 400 men; the officers were principally mulattoes, and their priest was an oily mannered gentleman of the negro race. The soldiers were generally naked from the waist upward, and in the whole place there were not five serviceable muskets. Most all of them were without any locks, their stocks broken off at the breech, their barrels tied into the stocks with a leather thong, or a cord made of the fibers of the cocoa-nut; and it was no uncommon thing to see a naked negro mounting guard shouldering a musket barrel only. Their cavalry were in a corresponding style, mounted on jackasses, and armed with broken swords.
The Essex remained several days getting on board refreshments and water. It is supposed that there had been collected on board not less thari one hundred thousand oranges, together with a large quantity of cocoa-nuts, plantains, lemons, limes, casada, etc. Every mess on board were also supplied with pigs, sheep, fowls, turkeys, goats, etc., which were purchased very cheap; fowls at three dollars per dozen, and fine turkeys at one dollar each; many of the seamen also furnished themselves with monkeys and young goats as pets, and when they sailed from thence, the ship bore no slight resemblance, as respected the different kind on board her, to Noah's ark.
On leaving the port they shaped their course to the southeast, with a view of deceiving the people of Praya, and impressing a belief that they were bound to the coast of Africa; when however they had got out of sight of the town, the ship's course was altered to a southwesterly direction.
" My chief care," says Porter, " was now the health of my people, and every means that could suggest themselves to my mind to effect this great object were adopted. The utmost cleanliness was required from every person on board, directions were given for mustering the crew every morning at their quarters, where they were strictly examined by their officers. It was recommended to them to bathe at least once a day, and the officers were requested to show them the example in so doing themselves; they were required, also, to use every means in their power to provide constant employment for the men. under their control during working hours, and amusement for them during the hours of recreation, and to be particularly careful not to harass them, by disturbing them unnecessarily during their watch below, and also to guard against any improper or unnecessary exposure to the weather; economy was recommended to the crew in the use of their supply of fruit, and permission was given to suspend it in the rigging and other airy parts of the ship, in nets made for the purpose, with a promise of the severest punishment to such as should be detected in stealing from others : with those precautions to procure exercise and cleanliness, with proper ventilation and fumigation, a young, active, healthy, and contented crew, a ship in good order for the service we were engaged in, well found with the best provisions, and the purest water, perfectly free from all bad taste and smell, I do not conceive why we should be in greater apprehension of disease originating on board now, than on the coast of North America. The clouds-high overhung the atmosphere during the day, and nearly obscured the sun, served greatly to ameliorate the effects of its rays; a pleasant and steady breeze from the east contributed greatly to refresh the air; and sailing could not be more pleasant than was our passage toward the line. The landsmen on board were delighted with it, and the seamen felicitated themselves that it was. not always the case at sea, ' or all the old women in the country—as they expressed themselves—would have been sailors"
On the 12th of December the Essex took her first prize. This was the British government packet Nocton, mounting ten guns, with a crew of thirty-one men. On board was found fifty-five thousand dollars in specie, Taking this out of her, Porter put a crew of seventeen men on beard, under Lieutenant Finch, and dispatched her for the United States; but she was re-captured on the route.
Two days after they made the island of Fernando de Noronha, where Captain Porter obtained a letter from Commodore Bainbridge, who had touched there, informing him that he would find the other vessels off Cape Frio, near the City of Rio Janeiro.
Fernando de Noronha was found to be well fortified, and its population consisted of a few miserable, naked Portuguese exiles, and as miserable a guard. No females were permitted to be on the island, as if to render this place of exile more horrible. Ten days later the Essex was off Cape Frio, on the Brazil coast; but no signs were seen of the Constitution or Hornet. Three days afterward, in fact, the Constitution gained her victory over the Java, off St. Sabrador, some nine hundred miles north of Cape Frio. On the morning of the 29th, the Essex made another prize—it was the Elizabeth, an English merchant-vessel. Captain Porter, after some farther cruising on this coast, decided to run into the island of St. Catherines for water. They came to anchor on the 20th of January, 1813. This island is near the South American coast, some five hundred miles southerly from Rio Janeiro, and belongs to Portugal. "When the ship was anchored, I went on shore to fix on the watering place. We, in two days and a half, completed watering our ship. The officers and men, in the meantime, provided themselves with hogs, fowls, plantains, yams, and onions, in considerable quantities, from the boats alongside ; but their anxiety to procure them, caused the Portuguese to take advantage of their necessities, and ask the most extravagant prices for everything, which some of our people had the folly to give, as if their stock of money was inexhaustible. This made my interference necessary, as those who were not disposed to squander their money were likely to go without refreshments. I first began by punishing a man for paying a dollar for a dozen of rotten eggs ; and next would not permit the boats to sell, after they had come alongside, until the price of every article was established as follows : three fowls one dollar; nine watermelons for the same sum; one dollar for a turkey ; and everything else in the same ratio. After this, I kept persons to observe and report to me such as paid improper prices; and by these means brought the market down to tolerably fair rates.
On the 21st, I dispatched Lieutenant Wilmer to the town of St. Catherines, in one of the ship's boats, accompanied by Lieutenant Gamble, Mr. Shaw, purser, Doctor Hoffman, and Midshipman Feltus. I directed Lieutenant Wilmer to wait on the governor, Don Luis Mauricio da Silvia, with my respects, and to thank him for the civilities I had met with, and gave him orders to return if possible the same day. I gave orders to Mr. Shaw to endeavor to procure a supply of beef, flour, bread, and rum ; to remain in town until it was ready, hire a vessel, and bring it down. The weather was squally, with heavy r*ains, when they started, as indeed was the case the whole time we lay here. I felt uneasy that the boat did not return in the evening, but hoped, as the weather had grown much worse, that they had determined on remaining that night; however, at two o'clock in the morning, Lieutenants Wilmer and Gamble came into my cabin almost naked, and shivering with the wet and cold, and informed me that the boat had been upset in a squall; but that all hands had saved themselves, after having been four hours on her bottom. They fortunately were to windward of an island standing in the middle of the bay, where they drifted on shore and righted the boat. They lost all their clothes, as well as everything they had purchased in town, to the amount of six or seven hundred dollars, but were so fortunate as to find next clay, among the rocks of the island, every article that would float. Lieutenant Wilmor informed me, that there would be great difficulties in procuring the articles required.
Next morning, Mr. Shaw came down with five puncheons of rum, fresh beef for two days, a quantity of onions, and a few bags of flour, which were all that could be procured. The beef was spoiled before it came on board, and we were obliged to throw it overboard; and shortly afterward, an enormous shark, at least twenty-five feet in length, rose alongside, with a quarter of a bullock in his mouth. It would be impossible to describe the horror that this voracious animal excited. Several of our seamen, and most of the officers, had been swimming alongside the evening previous. A man would scarcely have been a mouthful for him. When he first made his appearance, every one was impressed with a belief that it was a young whale.
During our stay here, we were constantly attended by an officer from the fort, who was indefatigable in his attentions toward us. His name was Sabine, and his rank was that of sergeant-major. I waited on the commander of the fort the day after I anchored. He was a very old man ; his name was Don Alexander Jose de Azedido. He received me with great civility, and, as has been generally the case with the Portuguese, expressed great desire that our cruise might be successful. The fort has been erected about seventy years; there are mounted on it fifteen or twenty honeycombed guns of different calibers. Vegetation has been so rapid, that the walls of the fortress are nearly hid by the trees that have shot up in every part. The gun-carriages are in a very rotten state, and the garrison consists of about twenty half-naked soldiers. There is a church within the fortress ; and, as a substitute for a bell, is suspended at the door, part of a broken crow-bar; and at the entrance of the commandant's apartments is the stocks (for the punishment of the soldiers), which, from their greasy, polished appearance, I have reason to believe are kept in constant use.
On the 25th of January, 1813, I got under weigh and proceeded to sea. We were clear of all the islands about four o'clock on the morning of the 26th. It was then necessary to decide promptly on my future proceedings, as our provisions were getting short; I called on the purser for a report of them, and found that we had but three months' bread at half allowance ; there was no port on this coast where we could procure a supply, without the certainty of capture, or blockade (which I considered as bad); to attempt to return to the United States, at a season of the year when our coast would be swarming with the enemy's cruisers, would be running too much risk, and would be going diametrically opposite to my instructions. I was perfectly at a loss now where to find the commodore, as he had departed from his original intentions, and had already disappointed me at three rendezvous f the state of my provisions would not admit of going off St. Helena's to intercept the returning Indiamen, nor would my force justify the proceeding; to remain, however, longer here, where I could get no supplies, would be a folly, and it became absolutely necessary to depart from the letter of my instructions ; I therefore determined to pursue that course which seemed to me best calculated to injure the enemy, and would enable me to prolong my cruise : this could only be done by going into a friendly port, where I could increase my supplies without the danger of blockade, and the first place that presented itself to my mind, was the port of Conception, on the coast of Chili. The season, to be sure, was far advanced for doubling Cape Horn; our stock of provisions was short, and the ship in other respects not well supplied with stores for so long a cruise; but there appeared no other choice left for me, except capture, starvation, or blockade; this course, of all others, appeared to me also the most justifiable, as it accorded with the views of the honorable secretary of the navy, as well as those of my immediate commander. Before the declaration of war, I wrote a letter to the former, containing a plan for annoying the enemy's commerce in the Pacific Ocean, which was approved of by him ; and prior to my sailing, Commodore Bainbridge requested my opinion, as to the best mode of annoying the enemy. I laid before him the same plan, and received his answer approving of the same, and signifying his intentions to pursue it, provided we could get supplies of provisions.
I calculated that it would not take me more than two months and a half to get round to Conception, where I was confident of procuring an abundant supply of jerked beef, fish, flour, and wine. I calculated, that the prizes we should make in the Pacific, would supply us with such articles of naval stores as we should require ; and although there was considerable responsibility attached to the proceeding, and the undertaking was greater than had yet been engaged in by any single ship on similar pursuits, time did not admit of delay, and, immediately on getting to sea, I directed my course to the southward.
Before I proceed farther, however, it is necessary that I should say something of St. Catharines.
This island has been settled by the Portuguese about seventy years : the town which appears to be in rather a thriving state, is situated on that point of the island nearest the continent, and may contain about ten thousand inhabitants ; here the captain-general resides. The houses are generally neatly built, and the country at the back of the town is in a state of considerable improvement. But nothing can exceed the beauty of the great bay to the north, formed by the island of St. Catharines and the South American Continent : there is every variety to give beauty to the scene ; handsome villages and houses built around, shores which gradually ascend in mountains, covered to their summit with trees, which remain in constant verdure ; a climate always temperate and healthy ; small islands scattered here and there, equally covered with verdure ; the soil extremely productive ; all combine to render it in appearance, the most delightful country in the world. The people of this place appear to be the most happy of those who live under the Portuguese government, probably because the more they are distant from it, the less they are subject to its impositions and oppressions; still, however, they complain. There are two regiments of troops at St. Catharines: if provisions are wanted for them, an officer goes to the houses of the peasantry, seizes on their cattle or grain, and gives them a bill on the government, for which they never receive payment. The peasantry are well clad, comfortable and cheerful in their appearance ; the women are handsome and graceful in their manners ; the men have the character of being extremely jealous of them, and I believe they have sufficient reason to be so.
As we proceeded southerly the cold began to be sensibly felt and woolen clothing to be more esteemed than it had been for some time past; the old jackets and trousers that had been lying about the ship were carefully collected as some suspicions of my doubling Cape Horn had got among the crew.
I determined to make the best of my way round Cape Horn, and apprehensive of some difficulties in going through the Straits of Le Maire, I determined to go to the eastward of Staten Land.
On the 13th February at noon, I calculated that Cape St. Johns, the eastern port of Staten Land, bore South half West distant thirty five miles; and although the thickness of the weather prevented our seeing more than a mile ahead, a confidence of being able to see the land in sufficient time to haul-off to clear it, induced me to continue my run; breakers were discovered, bearing E.S.E. and S.E., distant about three-fourths of a mile, and in a few minutes afterward, the land appeared in the same direction; wre consequently hauled on a wind to the eastward, and sounded in forty-five fathoms water. We had now approached so close to the breakers, with the hope of weathering them, that we had not room to wear; there was a tremendous sea running, the ship driving forecastle under; no chance of weathering the land, which could now be seen ahead, bearing E. by N., running out in small lumps, and surrounded with dreadful breakers. Our only hope of safety was in getting the ship in stays; the mainsail was set with the utmost expedition, and we were so fortunate as to succeed : after getting the ship about, the jib and spanker were set, and the top-gallantyards sent down; but, in a few moments, the jib was blown to pieces. My first impression was that we had. been set by the currents to the westward, into the bay formed by the Cape St. Vincent and the coast of Terra del Fuego; and, as the gale was increasing, and night fast approaching, the thick weather continuing, the wind directly on shore, with a tremendous sea, I saw no prospect of saving the ship, but by carrying a heavy press of sail to keep off the lee shore, until the wind changed.
We kept the lead constantly going, and found our soundings very regular at forty-five fathoms, rocky and coral bottom. After standing to the W.N.W. about an hour, the water began to grow very smooth, which could only be occasioned by a sudden change of the current; and whales appeared alongside the ship : this gave me hopes of being to the eastward of St. Vincent, and in the Straits of Le Maire ; a sharp look-out was kept for the land, and at half past seven, to our unspeakable joy, the land was discovered ahead, and on both bows, distant about a mile. No doubts now remained, as to our being in the straits; I therefore directed the helm to be put a-weather, and made all sail to the southward, keeping the coast of Terra del Fuego close aboard, and as we undoubtedly had the first of the tide, we were swept through with great rapidity, and at nine o'clock we were clear of the straits.
The land we first made and attempted to weather, was Cape San Diego, on the coast of Staten Land : the appearance was dreary beyond description ; perhaps, however, the critical situation of the ship, the foaming of the breakers, the violence of the wind, and the extreme haziness of the weather, may (all combined) have served to render the appearance more dreadful ; but from the impression made by its appearance then, and from the description given by others, I am induced to believe, that no part of the world presents a more horrible aspect than Staten Land. The breakers appeared to lie about half a mile from the shore; while we were standing off, the whole sea, from the violence of the current, appeared in a foam of breakers, and nothing but the apprehension of immediate destruction could have induced me to have ventured through it; but, thanks to the excellent qualities of the ship, we received no material injury, although we were pitching our forecastle under with a heavy press of sail, and the violence of the sea was such, that it was impossible for any man to stand without grasping something to support himself.
Those only can have an idea of our tormenting anxiety and dread, from the time we discovered the breakers, until we made the land of Terra del Fuego, who have, like us, supposed themselves in danger of shipwreck, on a dreary, inhospitable, and iron-bound coast, inhabited only by savages, where there was scarcely a hope, that one of the crew would survive the fury of the storm and waves, or, even if he succeeded in getting on shore alive, only to fall a victim to the merciless inhabitants of this gloomy region ; nor can he conceive the excess of our joy in discovering the land, unless he, in an instant, has been snatched from the danger of destruction which seemed pending over him. Our fears and subsequent joys may, however, be more easily imagined than described. Had we been, as we supposed, to the northward of Cape St. Vincent, it would have required our utmost exertions, under the heaviest press of canvas, to have kept the ship from going on shore ; and the loss of a single spar, or the splitting of a top-sail, would have sealed our destruction. Our making the breakers in the manner we did, proved most fortunate, for had we passed through the straits without discovering the land (which would have been the case, had we been one mile farther north), I should have supposed myself to the east of Staten Land, and after running the distance which I believed necessary to clear Cape St. Johns, I should have steered a course that would have entangled us in the night with the rocks and breakers about Cape Horn ; and had this happened, thick and hazy as the weather continued, our destruction would have been inevitable, as we could not have seen the danger one hundred yards from the ship, even should we have been apprehensive, and on the look-out for it, which would not have been the case.
At nine o'clock we were clear of the Straits of Le Maire, and in that part of the ocean so celebrated and dreaded for the violent gales and tremendous and irregular seas which prevail. On the meridian of the 14th, the horizon was somewhat clear; the wind moderate, from the westward ; the sun shining out bright; and, with the exception of some dark and lowering clouds to the northward, we had every prospect of pleasant weather. The cape was now in sight, bearing north; and Diego Ramiries bearing northwest; and the black clouds before mentioned, served well to give additional horror to their dreary and inhospitable aspect. But so different was the temperature of the air, the appearance of the heavens, and the smoothness of the sea, to everything we had expected, and pictured to ourselves, that we could not but smile at our own credulity and folly, in giving credit to (what we supposed) the exaggerated and miraculous accounts of former voyages. But, while we were indulging ourselves in these pleasing speculations, the black clouds, hanging over Cape Horn, burst upon us with a fury we little expected, and reduced us in a few minutes to aft-reefed fore-sail, and close reefed main-top-sail, and in a few hours afterward to our storm stay-sails. Nor was the violence of the winds the only danger we had to encounter; for it produced an irregular and dangerous sea, that threatened to jerk away our masts, at every roll of the ship. With this wind we steered to the southward, with a view of getting an offing from the land, in expectation of avoiding, in future, the sudden gusts, and the irregular seas, which we supposed were owing to violent currents, and confined to the neighborhood of the coast; but in this expectation we were much disappointed ; for, as we receded from the coast, the unpleasantness of the weather, and the freshness of the gale, increased ; and it was in vain that we hoped for that moderate and pleasant weather, which former navigators have generally experienced in the latitude of sixty degrees south, which we reached on the 18th. From the time we lost sight of the land, until this period, the gales blew hard from the northwest, accompanied with heavy rains, cold disagreeable weather, and a dangerous sea.
On the 24th, after experiencing a heavy gale from the N.W., I had the extreme satisfaction to find Ourselves as far to the westward as eighty degrees ; and as the wind shifted and blew from the S.W., I had no doubt of being able to effect our passage into the Pacific Ocean ; and I took an opportunity of thanking my crew for their good conduct, during our boisterous and unpleasant passage around the cape; encouraged them to a continuance of it, by holding out prospects of indulgence to those who should so distinguish themselves; and, as some thefts had been committed, for which the perpetrators were then under the punishment of wearing a yoke, I gave a general pardon, on condition that the first offender brought to the gangway should receive three dozen lashes.
It was with no little joy, we now saw ourselves fairly in the Pacific Ocean, and calculating on a speedy end to all our sufferings; every hour seemed to brighten our prospects and give us fresh spirits ; and on the last of February, being in the latitude of fifty degrees south, the wind became moderate and shifted to the northward, the sea smooth, and every prospect of mild and pleasant weather. I consequently determined to replace the guns, and get the spars on the spar-deck; but before we had effected, this, the wind had freshened up to a gale, and by noon had reduced us to our storm stay-sail and close-reefed main-top-sail; it, in the afternoon, hauled around to the westward, and blew with a fury far exceeding anything we had yet experienced, bringing with it such a tremendous sea, as to threaten us every moment with destruction, and appalled the stoutest heart on board. To attempt to convey an idea of the fury of this gale by description, would be fruitless ; let it suffice to say, that it was rarely equaled, and I am sure never was exceeded. From the excessive violence with which the wind blew, we had strong hopes that it would be of short continuance; until, worn out with fatigue and anxiety, greatly alarmed with the terrors of a lee-shore and in momentary expectation of the loss of our masts and bowsprit, we almost considered our situation hopeless ; and to add to our distress, our pumps had become choked by the shingle ballast, which, from the violent rolling of the ship, had got into them ; the ship made a great deal of water, and the sea had increased to such a height, as to threaten to swallow us at every instant ; the whole ocean was one continued foam of breakers, and the heaviest squall that I ever before experienced, had not equaled in violence the most moderate intervals of this tremendous hurricane.
The whole of the 1st and 2nd of March, we anxiously hoped for a change, but in vain; our fatigues had been constant and excessive; many had been severely bruised, by being thrown, by the violent jerks of the ship, down the hatchways, and I was particularly unfortunate, in receiving three severe falls, which at length disabled me from going on deck ; the oldest seaman in the ship had never experienced anything to equal the gale. We had done all in our power to save the ship (except throwing her guns overboard* which I reserved for the last extremity), and now patiently waited for the tempest to -lull. It had already blown three days without abating; the ship had resisted its violence to the astonishment of all, without having received any considerable injury ; and we began to hope, from her buoyancy, and other good qualities, we should be enabled to weather the gale. We had shipped several heavy seas, that would have proved destructive to almost any other ship ; but, to us, they were attended with no other inconveniences, than the momentary alarm they excited, and that arising from the immense quantity of water, which forced its way into every part of the ship, and kept everything afloat between decks. However, about three o'clock of the morning of the 3d, the watch only being on deck, an enormous sea broke over the ship, and for an instant destroyed every hope. Our gun-deck ports were burst in; both boats on the quarters stove; our spare spars washed from the chains ; our head-rails washed away, and hammock stanchions burst in ; and the ship perfectly deluged and water logged, immediately after this tremendous shock, which threw the crew into consternation. The gale began to abate, and in the morning we were enabled to set our reefed fore-sail. In the height of the gale, Lewis Price, a marine, who had long been confined with a pulmonary complaint, departed this life, and was this morning committed to the deep; but the violence of the sea was such, that the crew could not be permitted to come on deck, to attend the ceremony of his burial, as their weight would have strained and endangered the safety of the ship.
When this last sea broke on board us, one of the prisoners, the boatswain of the Nocton, through excess of alarm, exclaimed, that the ship's broadside was stove in, and that she was sinking; this alarm was greatly calculated to increase the fears of those below, who, from the immense torrent of water that was rushing down the hatchways, had reason to believe the truth of his assertion; many who were washed from the spar to the gun-deck, and from their hammocks, and did not know the extent of the injury, were also greatly alarmed; but the men at the wheel, and some others, who were enabled by a good grasp to keep their stations, distinguished themselves by their coolness and activity after the shock ; and I took this opportunity of advancing them one grade, by filling up the vacancies occasioned by those sent in prizes, and those who were left at St. Catharines; rebuking, at the same time, the others for their timidity.
On the 5th of the month, having passed the parallel of Chili, our sufferings appeared at an end, for we enjoyed pleasant and temperate weather, with fine breezes from the southward; and we had a distant view of part of the Andes, which appeared covered with snow."
They were all in high spirits and in momentary expectation of falling in with some of the enemy's ships. On the 6th she anchored at Mocha a small uninhabited land off the coast of Chili, where some wild horses were shot for fresh meat.
"I now considered myself in a good position to meet vessels plying between Conception and Valparaiso; and as the health of the crew, and state of my provisions, or the distresses of the ship, did not yet render my going into port absolutely necessary, I determined to keep the sea awhile longer, in hopes of. meeting some of the enemy's ships, and thereby obtain such supplies as would render it entirely unnecessary to make ourselves known on the coast, until we were about quitting it. From the 8th until the 11th, the weather continued foggy, and the winds light and baffling from the northward, which prevented us from making any headway, and during their continuation deprived us of all hope of discovering vessels. Nothing could now exceed our impatience. On the latter part of the 12th, light airs sprang up from the S.W., and the weather began to clear off slowly, and every eye was engaged in searching for a sail, as the fog moved to leeward. Nothing^ however, was to be seen but a wide expanse of ocean, bounded on the east by the dreary, barren, and iron-bound coast of Chili, at the back of which the eternally snow-capt mountains of the Andes reared their lofty heads, and altogether presented to us a scene of gloomy solitude, far exceeding anything I ever before experienced."
The wind freshening up enabled the Essex to make sail to the northward for Valparaiso. They were disappointed in the appearance of the coast which had a wild desolate aspect, with no signs of inhabitants. It was skirted with a black gloomy rock against the perpendicular sides of which the sea beat with fury. On the 13th the Essex rounded the point of Angels, when in an instant the whole town of Valparaiso, shipping with their colors flying, and the forts burst out as it were from behind the rocks. " The scene presented to us," says Porter, "was as animated and cheerful as it was sudden and unexpected ; and had I not hoisted English colors, I should have been tempted to run in and anchor. A moment's reflection induced me to believe, that, under existing circumstances, it would not be advisable to do so, as several large Spanish ships, with their sails bent, and in readiness for sea, were lying in the port; and as those vessels were, beyond doubt, bound to the northward, and in all probability to Lima, I concluded on keeping the sea a few days longer, to give them time to get out, in order that intelligence might not be given by them of an American frigate being in this part of the world."
The ship's head consequently was turned to the northward and she ran the town out of sight in an hour or so. Two days after she returned, went in and anchored. To the astonishment of Captain Porter, he now ascertained that Chili had declared herself independent of Spain. He also learned that the Viceroy of Peru, had sent out cruisers against American shipping, and that his appearance in the Pacific was of the greatest importance to the American trade, which lay at the mercy of the English letters of marque, and of these Peruvian corsairs. This was cheering intelligence after the fatigues and disappointments of so many months. Capt. Porter waited upon the governor, Don Francisco Lastre, who welcomed him in the most friendly reception, and returned his visit with a numerous suite of officers. Many of these had never before seen a frigate, it being the first that since their recollection had entered their port. They were much pleased and astonished that "Anglo-Americans" could build, equip and manage ships of so large a size.
Agreeably to invitation, the officers of the Essex attended a party given by the governor, "where we found," says Porter, "a much larger and more brilliant assemblage of ladies, than we could have expected in Valparaiso. We found much fancy and considerable taste displayed in their dress, and many of them, with the exception of teeth, very handsome, both in person and in face ; their complexion remarkably fine, and their manners modest and attracting. This was our first impression on entering a room, containing perhaps two hundred ladies, to whom we were perfect strangers. Minuets were introduced; country dances followed ; and the ladies had the complaisance and patience to attempt with my officers, what they had never before seen in the country, a cotillion. The intricacies of their country dance wrere too great for us to attempt; they were greatly delighted in by those who knew them, and admitted a display of much grace. With their grace, their beauty of person and complexion, and with their modesty, we were delighted, and could almost fancy we had gotten amongst our own fair country-women ; but in one moment the illusion vanished. The hallos de tierra, as they are all called, commenced : they consisted of the most graceless, and at the same time fatiguing movements of the body and limbs, accompanied by the most indelicate and lascivious motions, gradually increasing in energy and violence, until the fair one, apparently overcome with passion, and evidently exhausted with fatigue, was compelled to retire to her seat; her rosy cheeks and fair complexion disappeared in the large drops of sweat which ran trickling down her neck and breast, and were succeeded by the sallow tinge which nature had bountifully bestowed.
They daub themselves most lavishly with paint; but their features are agreeable, and their large dark eyes are remarkably brilliant and expressive ; and were it not for their bad teeth, occasioned by the too liberal use of the matti, would, notwithstanding the Chilean tinge, be thought handsome, particularly by those who had been so long as we out of the way of seeing many women.
The matti is a decoration of the herb of Paraguay, sweetened with sugar, and sucked hot through a long silver tube; to the use of this beverage the Chileans are perfect slaves. The taste is agreeable, but it occasions terrible havoc among the teeth. We returned on board our ship, pleased with the novelties of a Chilean ball, and much gratified by the solicitude shown by every one to make our stay among them agreeable.
The customs of the inhabitants of this place differ so materially from our own (and perhaps from those of every other people), that I cannot help noticing a few particulars that struck me as the most singular. At all their entertainments, the principal guest is placed at the head of the table, the host on one side of him, and the hostess on the other ; and their principal business appears to be to cram him with a part of everything before him. This duty they are apt to perform most effectually, if he happens, like me, to be a stranger, and not aware of the variety of changes that are to be brought on; each one more and more inviting in their appearance and taste.
There is another practice at their balls or evening parties, which at first gave me some embarrassment. A very large silver dish, filled with sweet jelly, was presented to me by a servant, as well as a silver plate and fork; believing that the whole dish could not be intended for me, I attempted to take the plate; this the servant objected to; I then attempted to take the dish, but to this she also objected; I felt, however, certain that it was intended for me to eat in some way or other, and was determined to do it in that way which appeared the most natural and convenient; I therefore took from her the plate and fork, and helped myself to as much as I thought I should want. The eyes of all the company, however, were on me, and I perceived that I had made some mistake, which I was soon convinced of, for the servant brought another plate with a fork, which was handed with the sweetmeats around to the company, and each one made use of the same fork to take a mouthful, holding their heads carefully over the dish in order that nothing might fall from their mouths to the floor; the fork was then laid on the plate, and passed to the next.
The matti is taken with as little regard to the delicacy or cleanliness. When the cup containing it is brought in, one of the company blows into it, through the silver tube, until a high froth is produced ; it is then considered properly prepared. The same matti and tube is then passed around the room, and each one takes in turn a suck of it, with much apparent relish and delight; but, considering the rotten teeth and unsavoury breaths of the Chileans, there could not be a dose offered more repulsive to a delicate stomach, than this same frothy matti, served up in their style. It is also a practice for one glass of water, one spoon, or one cigar, to be served to the whole company, and one would almost be led to believe that they had a particular relish for the taste of each other's dirty mouths. A Chilean lady would be ashamed to be seen walking arm and arm with a gentleman; and their refinement is so great, that it is thought indelicate even to accept his hand in any way, except in dancing, when, to be sure, everything like delicacy is laid aside. They are, however, extremely hospitable and attentive to strangers; and if they have their peculiar customs, which seem strange to us, we no doubt have our own, equally deserving their animadversion."
For more than a week the Essex was employed in victualing, and during this time an American whaler came in from the islands. According to the accounts of the master of this vessel, the American whalers, which had left home during a time of peace, lay entirely at the mercy of those of the enemy, several of which had sailed as regular letters of marque, and all of which were more or less armed. Many of the American vessels, as they often kept the sea six months at a time, were probably still ignorant of the war; and it was known that one of them, at least, had already fallen into the hands of the English. As soon as imperfectly victualed, the ship went to sea, to profit by this intelligence.
On the 25th, the Essex fell in with the American whale ship Charles, and learned that two other vessels, the Walker and Barclay, had been captured, a few days previously, off Coquimbo, by a Peruvian, with an English ship in company. Sail was made, in consequence, in the direction of Coquimbo, and, a few hours later, a stranger was seen to the northward. This vessel was soon ascertained to be a cruising ship, disguised as a whaler. She showed Spanish colors, when the Essex set an English ensign, fired a gun to leeward, and the Charles which remained in company, hoisted the American flag, beneath an English jack. The Spaniard now ran down, and, when about a mile distant, he fired a shot ahead of the Essex, which that ship answered by throwing a few shot over him, to bring him nearer. When close enough, the Spanish ship sent an armed boat to board the Essex, and it was directed to go back with an order for the cruiser to run under the frigate's lee, and to send an officer to apologize for the shots he had fired at an English man-of-war. This command was complied with, and the ship was ascertained to be the Peruvian privateer Nereyda, armed with fifteen guns, and with a full crew. The lieutenant, who now came on board, believing that he was on board of an English man-of-war informed Captain Porter that they were cruising for Americans; that they had already taken the Walker and Barclay; that the English letter of marque Nimrod had driven their prize-crew from on board the Walker ; that they were then cruising expressly to look for the Nimrod, with the intention of obtaining redress ; and that they had mistaken the Essex for the latter ship. It would seem that the Peruvians cruised against the Americans, under the impression that Spain, then so dependent on England for her existence, would declare war speedily against the United States, in consequence of the war declared by the latter against the King of Great Britain, which might legalize their captures.
An interview with the master of the Walker satisfied Captain Porter that the captured ships had been illegally seized ; and hoisting American colors, he fired two shots over the Nereyda, when that vessel struck. Her crew were all sent on board the Essex, and the three ships stood in-shore to look into Coquimbo, in the hope of finding the Nimrod and the prizes, but without success. The next morning the entire armament of the Nereyda, with all her ammunition, shot, small arms, and light sails, were thrown overboard, and she was otherwise put in a condition to do no harm, when she was released. It is worthy of remark, that the guns of this vessel were of iron, while her shot of all descriptions were of copper; the abundance of the latter in that part of the world, rendering it cheaper than the metal usually employed for such purposes.
From the master and crew of the Barclay, Captain Porter obtained a list of such of the whaling vessels as they knew to be in the Pacific. It contained the names of twenty-three Americans, and of ten English ships. The former was probably the most correct, as his informants added that quite twenty Englishmen were thought to be in that sea. The latter were, in general, fine vessels of near four hundred tuns burden, and, as has been said already, they were all more or less armed.
Captain Porter had now a double object; to protect his countrymen and to capture the enemy. The latter were known to resort to the Gallipagos Islands, but he hesitated about striking a blow in that quarter, until he could be assured that the Standard sixty-four, had left Lima for England ; and, as he thought the prizes of the Nimrod and Nereyda would endeavor to go into that port, he determined to make the best of his way thither, in order to cut them off, as well as to reconnoiter.
In the meanwhile Captain Porter disguised his ship, which was done in s'ich a manner as to conceal her real force and exhibiting in its stead the appearance of painted guns, etc., also by giving her the appearance of having a poop and otherwise so altering her, as to make her seem to be a Spanish merchant vessel.
"On the 28th of April, the ship was up with the island of San Gallan, when she hauled off to the northward and westward, with a view to cross the track of inward-bound vessels. The next day, three sail were made, standing for Callao. Everything was set to out the strangers off, particularly the one nearest in, who had the appearance of the Barclay. The chase, however, would have escaped, had she not been becalmed when she doubled the point of San Lorenzo. At this moment the frigate was near a league distant, but, fortunately, she kept the breeze until she had got within a hundred yards of the enemy, when she lowered her boats, and took possession. The prize proved to be the Barclay, as had been expected. There was now a good opportunity of looking into the harbor, and finding that nothing had arrived from Valparaiso to disclose his presence in the Pacific, Captain Porter showed English colors, while the Barclay hoisted the American under the enemy's ensign. In this manner both vessels went into the offing, where the Barclay was given up to her proper officers, though most of her crew having entered in the Essex, and declining to rejoin the ship, her master preferred keeping in company with the frigate, offering to act as a pilot in searching for the enemy. With this understanding, the two vessels stretched off the coast, to the northward and westward. From the end of March until the middle of April, the Essex, with the Barclay in company, was standing across from the main toward the islands, and on the 17th, she made Chatham Island ; but no ship was found there. From this place the frigate went to Charles' Island, where she had the same want of success.
Both of these islands belong to the Galapagos group. Lieutenant Downes went ashore at Charles' Island and returned with several papers taken from a box which he found nailed to a post, over which was a black sign on which was painted Eatliaiuaifs post-office. They contained the information already received of the practice of whaling vessels touching there and cruising among the other islands for whales. From these papers information was obtained that in the June previous, six English whale ships had put in there on their way to the island of Albermarle, where they generally cruised for a year at a time. There were also letters from the commanders of three American whalers, showing that they had touched in there. Lieutenant Downes found near the post-office on this island several articles for such persons as might be left there in distress, and, besides a suit of clothes, tinder-box. and a barrel of bread, was left a cask of water. " This island is mountainous (as are the whole group), and is covered with trees from fifteen to twenty feet in length, scattered with considerable regularity, as to distance and appearance, on the sides of the hills, which all have evident marks of volcanic origin ; but what seems remarkable is, that every tree on the island, at least all that could be approached by the boat's crew on shore, and such as we could perceive by means of our perspectives, were dead and withered. These islands are all evidently of volcanic production; every mountain and hill is the crater of an extinguished volcano; and thousands of smaller fissures, which have burst from their sides, give them the most dreary, desolate, and inhospitable appearance imaginable. The description of one island will answer for all I have yet seen; they appear unsuited for the residence of man, or any other animal that cannot, like the tortoise, live without food, or cannot draw its subsistence entirely from the sea.
On the east side of the island there is a landing called Pat's Landing • and this place will probably immortalize an Irishman, named Patrick Watkins, who some years since left an English ship, and took up his abode on this island, built-himself a miserable hut, about a mile from the landing called after hire in a valley containing about two acres of ground capable of cultivation, perhaps the only spot on the island which affords sufficient moisture for the purpose. Here he succeeded in raising potatoes and pumpkins in considerable quantities, which he generally exchanged for rum, or sold for cash. The appearance of this man, from the accounts I have received of'him, was the most dreadful that can be imagined ; ragged clothes, scarce sufficient to cover his nakedness, and covered with vermin; his red hair,,, and beard matted, his skin much burnt, from constant exposure to the sun, and so wild and savage in his manner and appearance, that he struck every one with horror. For several years this wretched being lived by himself on this desolate spot, without any apparent desire than that of procuring rum in sufficient quantities to keep himself intoxicated, and at such times, after an absence from his hut of several days, he would be found in a state of perfect insensibility, rolling among the rocks of the mountains. He appeared to be reduced to the lowest grade to which human nature is capable.
We were little prepared to meet our second disappointment, in not finding vessels at Charles' Island, but consoled ourselves with the reflection, that we should now soon arrive at Albermarle, and that in Banks' Bay, the general rendezvous, we should find an ample reward for all our loss of time, sufferings, and disappointments; and as we had a fine breeze from the east, I made all sail, steering west from Charles' Island, to make the south head of the island of Albermarle, which was distant from us about forty-five miles, and in the morning found ourselves nearly up with it. When we had arrived within eight or nine miles of a point, which I have named Point Essex, the wind died away, and I took my boat and proceeded for the aforesaid point, where I arrived in about two hours after leaving the ship, and found in a small bay, behind some rocks which terminate the point, very good landing, where we went on shore, and to our great surprise, and no little alarm, on entering the bushes, found myriads of guanas, of an enormous size and the most hideous appearance imaginable.
In some spots a half acre of ground would be so completely covered with them, as to appear as though it was impossible for another to get in the space; they would all keep their eyes fixed constantly on us, and we at first supposed them prepared to attack us. We soon however discovered them to be the most timid of animals, and in a few moments knocked down hundreds of them with our clubs, some of which we brought on board, and found to be excellent eating, and many preferred them greatly to the turtle.
We found on the beach a few seals, and one fine large green turtle. Several of the seals were killed by our men, and proved of that kind which do not produce the fur. Nothing can be more sluggish or more inactive than this animal while on the sand; it appears incapable of making any exertions whatever to escape those in pursuit of it, and quietly waits the blow which terminates its existence. . A small blow on the nose will kill them in an instant, but when they are in water, or even on the rocks, nothing can exceed their activity : they seem then to be a different animal altogether; shy, cunning, and very alert in pursuit of their prey, and in avoiding pursuit, they are then very difficult to take. After trying in vain to catch some fish, we left the cove, and proceeded along the shore to the northward, with the expectation of finding another landing-place, but were much disappointed; for, after rowing as far as Point Christopher, a distance of fifteen miles, we found the shore everywhere bound with craggy rocks, against which the sea broke with inconceivable violence. Multitudes of enormous sharks were swimming about us, and from time to time caused us no little uneasiness, from the ferocious manner in which they came at the boat and snapped at our oars; for she was of the lightest construction, with remarkably thin plank, and a gripe from one of these would have torn them from her timbers; but we guarded as much as lay in our power against the evil, by thrusting boarding pikes into them as they came up to us.
Perceiving a breeze springing up, I hastened on board where, on my arrival, I caused all sail to be made, and shaped my course for Narborough Island, which now began to show itself open with Point Christopher. I was in hopes that the breeze would carry us clear of the northern point of that, island before day-light, in order that we might have the whole of the next day for securing our prizes in Banks' Bay, which lies between Narborough and the south head of Albermarle. To Banks' Bay the fishermen resort every year, between March and July, to take the whale, which come in there in great numbers at that season."
My anxiety was such that I was induced to dispatch Lieutenant Downes to take a look around the point of Narborough and reconnoiter the bay; for the ship had been swept by the current during the night, into Elizabeth Bay.
At one o'clock in the morning, Lieutenant Downes returned to the ship, which he was enabled to find by means of flashes made from time to time by us, and reported that he did not arrive at the north point of Naborough or Turtle's Nose, until near sundown, and that he could perceive no vessels in the bay; but observed, at the same time,, that the weather was hazy, and as the bay is about thirty-five miles from side to side, and about the same depth, it was possible for vessels to have been there without his being able to observe them.
The winds continued light and a-head, and the current strong against us and it was not till the afternoon of 23rd that we were enabled to weather Narborough. On doubling the point of Narborough, our yards were completely manned by seamen and officers, whose anxiety had taken them aloft, all examining strictly every part of the bay, but could discover no vessels; at length the cry of sail ho I and shortly afterward another, seemed to electrify every man on board, and it seemed now as if all our hopes and expectations were to be realized ; but in a few minutes those illusory prospects vanished, and as sudden dejection, proceeding from disappointment, took place ; for the supposed sails proved to be only white appearances on the shore. Still, however, we did not despair. Lieutenant Downes was dispatched to reconnoiter, and returned to the ship at one o'clock in the morning ; and, to complete our disappointment, reported that he had seen no vessels.
Early the next morning I took a boat and explored the basin which I found of surpassing beauty, with everything that could be desired to afford perfect security for a ship of the largest size. From the basin we proceeded to the watering place about half a mile distant. On the side of a rock at this place we found the names of several English and American ships cut, whose crews had been there; and but a short distance from thence was erected a hut, built of loose stones, but destitute of a roof; and in the neighborhood of it were scattered in considerable quantities the bones and shells of land and sea tortoises. This I afterward understood was the work of a wretched English sailor, who had been landed there by his captain, destitute of everything, for having used some insulting language to him. Here ho existed near a year on land tortoises and guanas, and his sole dependence for water was on the precarious supply he could get from the drippings of the rocks; at length, finding that no one was likely to come to take him from thence, and fearful of perishing for the want of water, he formed a determination to attempt at all hazards getting into Banks' Bay, where the ships cruise for whales, and with this view provided himself with two seal skins, with which, blown up, he formed a float; and, after hazarding destruction from the sharks, which frequently attacked his vessel, and which he kept off with the stick that served him as a paddle, he succeeded at length in getting alongside an American ship early in the morning, where his unexpected arrival not only surprised but alarmed the crew; for his appearance was scarcely human; clothed in the skins of seals, his countenance haggard, thin, and emaciated, his beard and hair long and matted, they supposed him a being from another world. The commander of the vessel where he arrived felt a great sympathy for his sufferings, and determined for the moment to bring to punishment the villain who had, by thus cruelly exposing the life of a fellow-being, violated every principle of humanity; but from some cause or other he was prevented from carrying into effect his laudable intentions, and to this day the poor sailor has not had justice dona him."
The Essex continued passing from island to island, without meeting with anything, until her crew was aroused by the cheering cry of "sail ho !" on the morning of the 29th. A ship was made to the westward, and, soon after, two more a little further south. Chase was given to the first vessel, which was spoke under English colors, about nine A. M. She proved to be the British whale ship Montezuma, with one thousand four hundred barrels of oil on board. Throwing a crew into the prize, the Essex next made sail after the two other ships, which had taken the alarm, and endeavored to escape. At eleven A. M., when the frigate was about eight miles from the two strangers, it fell calm, and the boats were hoisted out and sent against the enemy, under Mr. Dowries, the first lieutenant. About two p. M., the party got within a mile of the nearest ship, when the two strangers, who were a quarter of a mile apart, hoisted English colors, and fired several guns. The boats now formed, and pulled for the largest ship, which kept training her guns on them as they approached, but struck without firing a shot, just as the boarders were closing. The second vessel imitated her example, when attacked in the same manner.
The prizes were the Georgiana and the Policy, both whalers; and the three ships, together, furnished the Essex with many important supplies. They had bread, beef, pork, cordage, water, and among other useful things, a great number of Galapagos tortoises. "Those extraordinary animals, the tortoises of the Galapagos, properly deserve the name of the elephant tortoise. Many of them were of a size to weigh upward of three hundred weight; and nothing, perhaps, can be more disagreeable or clumsy than they are1 in their external appearance. Their motion resembles strongly that of the elephant; their steps slow, regular, and heavy ; they carry their body about a foot from the ground, and their legs and feet bear no slight resemblance to the animal to which. I have likened them ; their neck is from eighteen inches to two feet in length, and very slender; their head is proportioned to it, and strongly resembles that of a serpent; but, hideous and disgusting as is their appearance, no animal can possibly afford a more wholesome, luscious, and delicate food than they do; the finest green turtle is no more to be compared to them, in point of excellence, than the coarsest beef is to the finest veal; and after once tasting the Galapagos tortoises, every other animal food fell greatly in our estimation. These animals are so fat as to require neither butter nor lard to cook them, and this fat does not possess that cloying quality, common to that of most other animals ; and when tried out, it furnishes an oil superior in taste to that of the olive.
The meat of this animal is the easiest of digestion, and a quantity of it, exceeding that of any other food, can be eaten without experiencing the slightest inconvenience. But what seems the most extraordinary in this animal, is the length of time that it can exist without food; for I have been well assured, that they have been piled away among the casks in the hold of a ship, where they have been kept eighteen months, and, when killed at the expiration of that time, were found to have suffered no diminution in fatness or excellence. They carry with them a constant supply of water, in a bag at the root of the neck, which contains about two gallons; and on tasting that found in those we killed on board, it proved perfectly fresh and- sweet. They are very restless when exposed to the light and heat of the sun, but will lie in the dark from one year's end to the other without moving ; in the day-time, they appear remarkably quicksighted and timid, drawing their head into their shell on the slightest motion of any object; but they are entirely destitute of hearing, as the loudest noise, even the firing of a gun, does not seem to alarm them in the slightest degree, and at night, or in the dark, they appear perfectly blind.
The Georgiana had been built for the service Si the English East India Company, and having the reputation of being a fast vessel, Captain Porter determined to equip her as a cruiser, with the double purpose of having an assistant in looking for the enemy, and possessing a consort to receive his own crew in the event of any accident occurring to the Essex. This ship was pierced for eighteen guns, and had six mounted when taken. The Policy was also pierced for the same number, and had ten guns mounted. The latter were now added to the armament of the Georgiana, which gave her sixteen light guns. All the small arms were collected from the prizes and put in her, her try-works were taken down, and other alterations made, when Mr. Downes was placed in command with a crew of forty-one men. By this arrangement, it was believed that the Georgiana would be fully able to capture any of the English letters of marque, known to be cruising among the islands. In consequence of these changes, and the manning the two other prizes, notwithstanding several enlistments, the crew of the Essex was reduced to two hundred and sixty-four souls, officers included. On the 8th of May, the Georgiana sixteen, Lieutenant Commandant Downes, hoisted the American pennant, and fired a salute of seventeen guns.
It being uncommonly fine weather, Captain Porter seized the opportunity of repairing his own ship, by means of the stores obtained from the enemy. The rigging, was overhauled and tarred down, many new spars were fitted, and the ship was painted in the middle of the Pacific, the enemy furnishing the means."
A few trials, as soon as the ships made sail, proved that the Georgiana could not hold way with the Essex, and that her reputation, as a fast vessel, was unmerited. Still, as she had been relieved from much of her lumber, she outsailed the other ships and hopes were entertained of her being made useful. Accordingly, on the 12th, she parted company, with orders to cruise against the enemy, and to rendezvous at different places on the coast, as well as at various islands, in a regular succession as to time. The separation was not long, however, the Georgiana looking into Charles' Island, in quest of English vessels, at a moment when the Essex happened to be there on the same errand.
The Georgiana was now sent to Albermarle Island, Captain Porter having reason to suppose that a particular ship of the enemy was in that quarter. The chaplain, having been allowed to make a short scientific excursion in boats, fell in with a strange sail on returning, and the Essex immediately went to sea in quest of her. But a cruise of several days was fruitless; and the ship continued passing among the islands, in the hope of falling in with something. An attempt to get across to the continent was defeated by the lightness of the winds and the strength of the westerly currents ; and on the 25th of May, the Essex was still in the neighborhood of Charles' Island.
On the afternoon of the 28th, however, a sail was made ahead, and a general chase was given, the Policy, Montezuma, and Barclay being all in company. At sunset, the stranger was visible from the frigate's deck. By distributing the vessels in a proper manner, the chase was in sight next morning; and after a good deal of maneuvering, the Essex, got alongside of her, and captured the British whaler Atlantic, of three hundred and fiftyfive tuns, twenty-four men, and eight eighteen-pound carronades. This ship, however, was pierced for twenty guns.
Another strange sail had been made while in chase of the Atlantic, and she was pursued and overtaken in the course of the night. This ship was the Greenwich, of three hundred and thirty-eight tuns, ten guns, and twentyfive men. Both the Atlantic and Greenwich had letters of marque, and being fast ships, were extremely dangerous to the American trade in the Pacific. When the Essex took these vessels, every officer but the captain, the chaplain, captain's clerk, and boat-swain,, were out of her, either in boats, or in prizes; the first having been lowered in a calm to chase, and left to be picked up by the Montezuma, when a breeze struck the frigate."
The captain of the Greenwich had taken a good stock of Dutch courage, and had made preparations to fire into the Essex, when a shot from the latter so intimidated him that he hove to and surrendered. The captain of the Atlantic was an American from Nantucket where he had a wife and family. " On his first coming on board the Essex, he expressed his extreme pleasure in finding as he supposed we were an English frigate in those seas. He informed me that he had sailed from England under convoy to the Java frigate, and had put into Port Praya a few days after the Essex, an American frigate, had left there ; and that the Java had sailed immediately in pursuit of her, and that it was the general belief the Essex had gone around the Cape of Good Hope. He parted with the Java after crossing the line, and on his arrival at Conception heard she had been sunk off Bahia by the American frigate Constitution. On inquiry respecting the American vessels in the South Seas, he informed me that about Conception was the best place to cruise it them, for he had left at that place nine of them in an unprotected and defenseless state, and entirely at a loss what to do with themselves ; that they were almost daily arriving there, and that he had no doubt, by going off there, we should be enabled to take the most of them. I asked him how he reconciled it to himself to sail from England under the British flag, and in an armed ship, after hostilities had taken place between the two countries. He said he found no difficulty in reconciling it to himself, for, although he was born in America, he was an Englishman at heart. This man appeared the polished gentleman in his manners, but evidently possessed a corrupt heart, and, like all other renegades, was desirous of doing his native country all the injury in his power, with the hope of thereby ingratiating himself with his new friends. I permitted him to remain in his error some time, but at length introduced to him the captains of the Montezuma and the Georgiana, who soon undeceived him with respect to our being an English frigate. I had felt great pity for the last two gentlemen, and had made the evils of war bear as light on them as possible, by purchasing of them, for the use of the crew, their private adventures, consisting of slop-clothing, tobacco, and spirits, for which they were sincerely grateful; but to this man I could not feel the same favorable disposition, nor could I conceal my indignation at his conduct: he endeavored to apologize away the impression his conduct had made, by artfully putting the case to myself; and, with a view of rendering him easy, as I did not wish to triumph over the wretch, I informed him that I was willing to make some allowances for his conduct.
After the capture of the Greenwich, I informed her commander, John Shuttleworth, as well as Obediah Wier, of the Atlantic, that I felt every disposition to act most generously toward them. Shuttleworth was however so much intoxicated, and his language so insulting, that it was with difficulty I could refrain from turning him out of my cabin. Wier was more reserved during my presence there; but, duty requiring me on deck, he, in the presence of some of the officers, used the most bitter incentives against the government of the United States; and he, as well as Shuttleworth, consoled themselves with the pleasing hope, that British frigates would soon "be sent to chastise us for our temerity in venturing so far from home.
The next day I let them feel that they were dependent entirely on my generosity, which was greater than they either deserved or expected, and this haughty Englishman, who would wish to have terrified us with the name of a Briton, and this renegade, who would have sacrificed the interests of his country, were now so humbled by a sense of their own conduct, and of what they merited, that they would have licked the dust from my feet had it been required of them to do so.
Our fleet now consisted of six sail of vessels, without including the Georgiana. On board of the last captured vessels I put a sufficient number of men to fight their guns, giving lieutenant M'Knight charge of the Atlantic, and, for want of sea-officers, I put lieutenant Gamble of the marines in charge of the Greenwich. Volunteers continued to offer from the captured vessels, and my whole effective force in those seas now consisted of the Essex, mounting forty-six guns, and two hundred and forty-five men; Georgiana, sixteen guns, and forty-two men; Atlantic, six guns, and twelve men; Greenwich ten guns, and fourteen men; Montezuma, two guns, and ten men; Policy, ten men—making in all, eighty guns, and three hundred and thirty-three men; together with one midshipman and six men on board the Barclay. My prisoners amounted in number to eighty; but as I had divided them among the different ships, giving them full allowance of provisions, on condition of their giving their assistance in working, we found them as useful as our own men in navigating the prizes; so that our whole number, including the prisoners, amounted to four hundred and twenty, and all in good health, with the exception of some of the prisoners, who were slightly affected with the scurvy.
It seems somewhat extraordinary, that British seamen should carry with them this propensity to desert even into merchant vessels, sailing under the flag of their nation, and under circumstances so terrifying; but yet I am informed, that their desertion while at Charles' Island has been very common, even when there was no prospect whatever of obtaining water but from the bowels of the tortoises. This can only be attributed to that tyranny, so prevalent on board their ships-of-war, which has crept into their merchant vessels, and is there aped by their commanders. Now, mark the difference. While the Essex lay at Charles' Island, one-fourth of her crew was every day on shore, and all the prisoners who chose to go; and I even lent the latter boats, whenever they wished it, to go for their amusement to the other side of the island. No one attempted to desert, or to make their escape ; whenever a gun was fired, every man repaired to the beach, and no one was ever missing when, the signal was made."
Captain Porter now shaped his course for the mouth of the Tumbez on the northern coast of Oliili where he anchored on the 19th of June.
" As soon as they had got within two leagues, the leading vessel hove to and sent in a boat, on board of which was Mr. Downes. By this arrival an account of the movement of the Georgiana was obtained.
While cruising near James' Island, Mr. Downes had captured the British whale ships, the Catharine, of two hundred and seventy tuns, eight guns and twenty-nine men, and the Rose, of two hundred and twenty tuns, eight guns, and twenty-one men. These two vessels were taken with no resistance, their masters having come on board the Georgiana, without suspecting her character. After manning his prizes, Mr. Downes had but twenty men and boys left in the Georgiana, when he chased and closed with a third whaler, called the Hector, a ship of two hundred and seventy tuns, twenty-five men, and eleven guns, though pierced for twenty. At this time, Mr. Downes had also fifty prisoners, most of whom he was compelled to put in irons, before he brought the Hector to action. When within hail, the latter ship was ordered to haul down her colors, but refused, and the Georgiana opened a fire upon her. A sharp combat followed, when the Hector struck, with the loss of her main-topmast, having had most of her standing and running-rigging shot away. She had also two men killed, and six wounded.
After manning the Hector, Mr. Downes had but ten men left in the Georgiana ; and, including the wounded, he had seventy-three prisoners. The Rose being a dull ship, he threw overboard her guns, and most of her cargo, and paroling his prisoners, he gave her up to them, on condition that they should sail direct for St. Helena. As soon as this arrangement was made, he made sail for Tumbez, to join the Essex.
The little fleet now amounted to nine sail, and there was an opportunity to make new arrangements. The Atlantic being nearly one hundred tuns larger than the Georgiana, as well as a much faster ship, besides possessing, in a greater degree, every material quality for a cruiser, Mr. Downes and his crew were transferred to her. Twenty guns were mounted in this new sloop-of-war; she was named the Essex Junior, and manned with sixty men. The Greenwich was also converted into a store-ship, and all the spare stores of the other vessels were sent on board her. She was also armed with twenty guns, though her crew was merely strong enough to work her.
On first anchoring at Tumbez the governor came aboard to pay his respects, Although their appearance was as wretched as can well be imagined, policy induced me to show them every attention; and, to impress them with a belief of my friendly disposition and respect, I gave them a salute of nine guns on their coming on board; and while they remained with me, which was until the next day, I paid every attention to them in my power, although their contemptible appearance, which frequently excited the risibility of my crew, made me sometimes blush for my guests. They left me with assurances of the most friendly disposition on their part, and the most pressing invitation for me to go to Tumbez, which I promised to do in the course of a day or two. The next day I visited the town or hamlet. It is situated about six miles from the river's mouth, on the left bank of the first rising ground you meet with; from thence to the mouth of the river the land is all low, similar to that of the Mississippi, covered with rushes reeds, and mangroves, and here and there, on the most elevated parts, are to be found the huts where the natives have settled themselves, for the purpose of cultivating the soil, which produces, in great abundance, cocoa, corn, plantains, melons, oranges, pumpkins, sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, etc. Their houses are formed of reeds, covered with rushes, open at all sides, and having the door elevated about four feet from the earth, to protect them from the alligators, which are here numerous and of enormous size. One of them fifteen feet in length, and of the most hideous appearance, I killed with a musket ball.
The inhabitants of Tumbez gave me the most friendly reception, every where invited me into their huts, where hogs, dogs, fowls, jackasses, men, women, and children, were grouped together, and from whence, in a few minutes, I was always glad to make my escape, from the innumerable swarms of fleas with which they were infested ; and the house of the governor was no more exempt from this plague than those of the plebeians, of which bis wife and naked children bore innumerable testimonies, in the large red blotches on their necks and bodies. The men of this place seem to be of the lowest class of those who call themselves civilized ; and the women, although of fine forms, animated, cheerful, and handsome countenances, are destitute of all that delicacy, the possession of which only can render the female lovely in our eyes.
On the 30th, the fleet sailed, the Essex and Essex Junior keeping in company, with all the carpenters at work at the latter. On the 4th of July, a general salute was fired, principally with the guns and ammunition of the enemy. On the 9th, the Essex Junior parted company, bound to Valparaiso, with the Hector, Catharine, Policy, and Montezuma, prizes, and the Barclay, recaptured ship, under convoy.
As soon as out of sight of the other ships, the Essex, Greenwich and Georgiana steered to the westward, with an intention of going among the Galapagos, On the 13th, three sail were made off Banks' Bay, all on a wind, and a good deal separated. The Essex gave chase to the one in the center, which led lier down to leeward, leaving the Greenwich and Georgiana a long distance astern and to windward. While the frigate was thus separated from her prizes, one of the strangers tacked, and endeavored to cut the latter off, but the Greenwich hove-to, got a portion of the people out of the Georgiana, and bore down boldly on her adversary ; while the Essex continued after the vessel she was chasing, which she soon captured. The ship was the English whaler Charlton, of two hundred and seventy-four tuns, ten guns, and twenty-one men. Throwing a crew into her, the frigate immediately hauled her wind.
It was now ascertained from the prisoners, that the largest of the strange ships was the Seringapatam, of three hundred and fifty-seven tuns, fourteen guns, and near forty men ; and the smallest, the New Zealander, of two hundred and fifty-nine tuns, eight guns, and twenty-three men. The Seringapatam had been built for a cruiser, and she was probably the most dangerous vessel to the American trade to the westward of Cape Horn. Captain Porter felt a corresponding desire to get possession of her, and was much gratified with the bold manner in which the Greenwich had borne down on her. This ship was under the command of a very young officer, but he had the advice of one of the sea-lieutenants, who was under suspension, and who behaved with great gallantry and spirit on this occasion. Closing with the Seringapatam, the Essex being a long distance to leeward, the Greenwich brought her to action, and after a few broad-sides, the English ship struck. Soon after, however, and before possession could be taken, she made an attempt to escape by passing to windward, in which she was frustrated by the perseverance of the Greenwich, which vessel kept close on the enemy's quarter, maintaining a spirited fire, for the number of men on board. As the Essex was coming up fast, the Seringapatam finally gave up the attempt, and running down to the frigate, again submitted.
In this affair, as in that of the boats, and in the capture of the Hector by the Georgiana, the officers and men engaged merited high encomiums for their intrepidity and coolness. The Greenwich, after obtaining the hands from the Georgiana, did not probably muster five-and-twenty men at quarters and the Seringapatam was much the better ship. The New Zealander was taken without any difficulty.
The Seringapatam had made one prize, her master having turned his attention more to cruising than to whaling. On inquiry, notwithstanding, it was found that he had adopted this course in anticipation of a commission, having actually sailed without one. When this fact was ascertained, Captain Porter put the master in irons, and he subsequently sent him to America to be tried. Finding himself embarrassed with his prisoners, Captain Porter gave them up the Charlton, and suffered them to proceed to Rio de Janeiro, under their parole. He then took the guns out of the New Zealander, and mounted them in the Seringapatam, by which means he gave the latter ship an armament of twenty-two guns, though, as in the case of the Greenwich, her people were barely sufficient to work her.
On the 25th of July, the Georgiana was dispatched to the United States, with a full cargo of oil. In making up a crew for her, an opportunity was found of sounding the feelings of the men whose times were nearly expired, and it was ascertained that few wished to profit by the circumstance. As soon as the vessels separated, the Essex, with the Greenwich, Seringapatam, and New Zealander in company, shaped her course for Albermarle Island. On the morning of the 28th, another strange sail was discovered; but as she had a fresh breeze, and the frigate was becalmed, she was soon out of sight. When the wind came, however, the Essex ran in a direction to intercept the stranger; and the next morning he was again seen, from the mast-head, standing across the Essex's bow, on a bowline. As the wind was light, recourse was now had to the drags, and the ship got within four miles of t,he chase, which was evidently an enemy's whaler. The stranger becoming alarmed, got his boats ahead to tow, when Captain Porter sent a gig and whale-boat, with a few good marksmen in them, under Acting Lieutenant M'Knight, with orders to take a position ahead of the chase, and to drive in her boats, but on no account to attempt to board. This duty was handsomely executed, though the boats had great difficulty in maintaining their position within musket-shot, as the enemy got two guns on the forecastle, and kept up a warm discharge of grape.
At 4 p. M., the ships were little more than a league apart, perfectly becalmed, and Captain Porter ordered tho boats into the water, to carry the stranger by boarding. As the party drew near, the enemy commenced firing, but intimidated by their steady and orderly approach, he soon lowered his ensign. The boats were about to take possession, when a breeze from the eastward suddenly striking the English ship, she hauled up close on a wind, hoisted her colors again, fired at the gig and whale-boat as she passed quite near them, and went off, at a rapid rate, to the northward. The party at* tempted to follow, but it was sunset before the Essex got the wind, and, disliking to leave her boats out in. the darkness, she was compelled to heave to, at nine, in order to hoist them in. The next morning the chase was out of sight.
This was the first instance, since her arrival in the Pacific, in which the Essex had failed in getting alongside of a chase that she did not voluntarily abandon. It produced much mortification, though the escape of the enemy was owing to one of those occurrences, so common in summer, that leave one ship without a breath of air, while another, quite near her, has a good breeze.
On the 4th of August, the ships went into James' Island and anchored. Here Captain Porter made the important discovery that a large portion of his powder had been damaged in doubling Cape Horn. Fortunately, the Seringapatam could supply the deficiency, though, in doing so, that ship was rendered nearly defenseless."
On this island Captain Porter lost a most promising young officer by a disgraceful practice. Without his knowledge two of his officers met on shore at daylight to engage in a duel and at the third fire Mr. Cowan fell dead. His remains were buried the same day in the spot where he fell, and the following inscription was placed over his tomb :
Sacred to the memory
OF LIEUT. JOHN S. COWAN,
Of the U. S. Frigate Essex,
Who died here anno 1813,
Aged 21 years.
His loss is ever to be regretted
By his country;
And mourned by his friends
And brother officers.
On the morning of the 20th August, got under way; but, prior to my leaving the place, I buried a letter for Lieutenant Downes, in a bottle at the head of Mr. Cowan's grave, and a duplicate of the same at the foot of a finger-post, erected by me, for the purpose of pointing out to such as may hereafter visit the island the grave of Mr. Cowan; and, with a design of misleading the enemy, I left in a bottle suspended at the finger-post, the following note :
The United States frigate Essex arrived here on the 21st July, 1813, her crew much afflicted with the scurvy and ship-fever, which attacked them suddenly, out of which she lost the first lieutenant, surgeon, sailing-master, two midshipmen, gunner, carpenter, and thirty-six seamen and marines.
She captured in this sea the following British ships, to-wit: Montezuma, Policy, Atlantic, Catharine, Rose, Hector, Charlton, Georgiana, Greenwich^ Seringapatara, and New Zealander; but, for want of officers and men to man them, the four last were burnt; the Rose and Charlton were given up to the prisoners.
The Essex leaves this in a leaky state, her foremast very rotten in the partners, and her mainmast sprung. Her crew have, however, received great benefit from the tortoises and other refreshments which the island affords. Should any American vessel, or indeed a vessel of any nation, put in here, and meet with this note, they would be doing an act of great humanity to transmit a copy of it to America, in order that our friends may know of our distressed and hopeless situation, and be prepared for worse tidings, if they should ever again hear from us," etc.
Two days later, the vessels reached Banks' Bay, where the prizes were moored and the Essex sailed in a short cruise alone on the 24th.
"
After passing among the islands, without meeting anything, a sail was discovered on the morning of 15th of September, apparently lying to, a long distance to the southward and to windward. The Essex was immediately disguised, by sending down some of the light yards, and the ship kept turning to windward, under easy sail. At meridian, the vessels were so near each other, that the stranger was ascertained to be a whaler, in the act of cutting in. He was evidently drifting down fast on the frigate. At 1 pm when the ships were about four miles apart, the stranger cast off from the whales, and made all sail to windward. As it was now evident that he had taken the alarm, the Essex threw aside all attempts at disguise, and pursued him, under everything that would draw. By 4 pm the frigate had the stranger within reach of her guns, and a few shot well thrown, brought him down under her lee. This ship was the Sir Andrew Hammond, of three hundred and one tuns, twelve guns, and thirty-one men ; and she proved to be the vessel that had escaped, in the manner previously related. Fortunately, the prize had a large supply of excellent beef, pork, bread, wood, and water, and the Essex got out of her an ample stock of those great necessaries.
On returning to Banks' Bay with her prize, the ship shortly after was joined by the Essex Junior, on her return from Valparaiso. By this arrival, Captain Porter discovered that several enemy's vessels of force had sailed in pursuit of him ; and having by this time captured nearly all the English whalers of which he could obtain intelligence, he determined to proceed to the Marquesas, in order to refit, and to make his preparations for returning to America. He was urged to adopt this resolution, also, by understanding from Mr. Downes, that the government of Chili no longer preserved the appearance of amity toward the United States, but was getting to be English in its predilections.
In summing up the important services rendered by the Essex in coming into the Pacific, Captain Porter says : " In the first place, by our captures, we have completely broken up that important branch of British navigation, the whale-fishery of the coast of Chili and Peru, as we have captured all their vessels engaged in that pursuit except the aforesaid ship Comet. By these captures we have deprived the enemy of property to the amount of two and a half millions of dollars, and of the services of three hundred and sixty seamen that I liberated on parole, not to serve against the United States until regularly exchanged. We have effectually prevented them from doing any injury to our own whale-ships, only two of which have been captured, and their captures took place before our arrival. Shortly after my appearance in those seas, our whale-ships, which had taken refuge at Conception and Yalparaiso, boldly ventured to sea in pursuit of whales, and on the arrival of the Essex Junior at Valparaiso, four of them had returned there with full cargoes. The expense also of employing the frigate Phoebe, the sloops of war Raccoon and Cherub, and their store-ship, should also be taken into the estimate of the injury we have done them ; for it is evident that they would not have been sent into the Pacific had it not been for the appearance of the Essex there, as for many years past they have employed no ships of war in this part of the world, nor were those sent until they had heard of our arrival at Valparaiso.
It appears by my estimate, that the balance against the British, occasioned by our coming into this sea, is five million one hundred and seventy dollars ; for there cannot be a doubt that all our whale-ships would have been captured, had we not effectually prevented it by the capture of all of theirs.
We have also taken ten prize-ships. Those now in company are as follows : Essex Junior, twenty guns; Greenwich, twenty guns ; Seringapatam, twenty-two guns; New Zealander, ten guns ; and Sir Andrew Hammond, ten guns. We have dispatched two ships for America to-wit: Georgiana and Policy, and have three, the Montezuma, Catharine, and Hector safely moored under the batteries of Valparaiso. All these vessels are copper sheeted and fastened and in a state to proceed to the most distant part of the world, some of the remarkably fast sailors and all superior ships.
On the 24th of October they discovered the island of Rooahooga, one of the Washington group of the Marquesas Islands. This group consists of three Islands, viz: Rooahooga, or Jefferson Island ; Rooapooah, or Adams' Island, and Novaheevah, or Madison Island.
" Its aspect, on first making it, was little better than the barren and desolate islands we had been so long among; but on our nearer approach the fertile valleys, whose beauties were heightened by the pleasant streams and clusters of houses, and intervened by groups of the natives on the hills inviting us to land, produced a contrast much to the advantage of the islands we were now about visiting—indeed the extreme fertility of the soil, as it appeared to us after rounding the southeast point of the island, produced sensations we had been little accustomed to, and made us long for the fruits with which the trees appeared everywhere loaded.
On rounding the southeast part of the island we saw a canoe coming off to the ship with eight of the natives, one of whom was seated in the bow with his head ornamented with some yellow leaves, which at a distance we supposed to be feathers. They approached us very cautiously, and would not venture alongside until we had run very close in. We had a native of the island of Otaheite on board, who enabled them, but with apparent difficulty, to comprehend our wishes, and who gave them repeated assurances of our friendly disposition. They frequently repeated to us the word taya, which signifies friend, and invited us to the shore. Their bodies were entirely naked, and their chief ornament consisted in the dark and fanciful lines formed by tattooing, which covered them. On their leaving us I bore away for several other canoes which were launched from the different coves with which the coast was indented, but nothing could induce them to come near the ship.
I was anxious to procure some refreshments, but mere, so to obtain a knowledge of a people with whom the world is so little acquainted. One of the canoes displayed a white flag: I caused a similar emblem of peace to be exhibited, and after waiting some time, perceiving that they were fearful of coming alongside, I caused two boats to be manned and armed, and proceeded toward them. I soon approached them, and directed the Ofcaheitan to inform them that we were friendly disposed, and were willing to purchase of them the articles they had to sell, which consisted of hogs, plantains, bread-fruit, cocoa-nuts, etc., and through the same medium informed them that I should proceed to the shore, and there remain as a hostage for their safety. Some of them went off to the ship, but the greater number followed me to the shore, where they were collected in groups, armed with their spears and war-clubs, to receive me, and collecting in considerable numbers from every quarter. I went close in with my boat, where I made an exchange of pieces of iron hoops and other articles for their ornaments and fruits. In a few minutes the spears and war-clubs were laid aside, and swarms of natives swam off to me loaded with the produce of the island: all seemed greatly to rejoice that we had so precious an article to offer them as pieces of old iron hoops, which were held in such high estimation that good sized pigs were purchased for a few inches.
Some, to express their joy, were seen dancing on the beach with the most extravagant gestures, while others expressed the pleasure they felt by shouting and clapping their hands. But notwithstanding this friendly intercourse, it wras very evident that they had strong suspicions of us. They always approached the boat with the greatest awe and agitation, and in every instance, where articles were presented to them, they shrunk back with terror, and retreated to the shore with the utmost precipitation. One among them, however, ventured to raise himself by the side of the boat, and perceiving a pistol lying in the stern sheets, showed an evident desire to possess it. It was with some difficulty I could make him let go his hold of the boat; and to intimidate him I presented the pistol at him ; but it produced no other effect than joy, as he immediately held out both his hands to receive it, from which I concluded that they were unacquainted with the use of fire-arms.
After leaving these friendly people I proceeded for the frigate, where I found the traffic with the canoes that had gone, off, had been conducted with much harmony. Some of them I passed very close to on their return, and the natives on board them expressed their extreme {satisfaction by expressions of the most extravagant joy. One of them in the fullness of heart, said he was so glad he longed to get on shore to dance. On rejoining the ship, I was informed by the officers that the natives who had been on board had expressed much surprise at the sight of the goats, sheep, dogs, and other animals, but what seemed most to astonish them, was one of the largo Galapagos tortoises : it seemed as though they could not sufficiently feast their eyes on it; and to view it more at their ease they stretched themselves at full length on the deck around it; and this appeared to be their general practice when they wished to view leisurely any object that excited their attention, a practice which seems to bespeak the natural indolence of this people.
The men of this island are remarkably handsome ; of large stature and well proportioned: they possess every variety of countenance and feature, and a great difference is observable in the color of the skin, which for the most part is that of a copper color: but some are as fair as the generality of working people much exposed to the sun of a warm climate. The old men (but particularly the chiefs) are entirely black ; but this is owing entirely to the practice of tattooing with which they are covered all over, and it requires a close inspection to perceive that the blackness of their skin is owing to this cause; and when the eye is once familiarized with men ornamented after this manner, we perceive a richness in the skin of an old man highly tattooed comparable to that which we perceive in a highly wrought piece of old mahogany: for, on a minute examination, may be discovered innumerable lines curved, straight, and irregular, drawn with the utmost correctness, taste and symmetry, and yet apparently without order or any determined plan.
The young men, the fairness of whose skin is contrasted by the ornaments of tattooing, certainly have, at first sight, a more handsome appearance than those entirely covered with it; and in a short time we are induced to think that tattooing is as necessary an ornament for a native of those islands as clothing is for a European. The neatness and beauty with which this species of ornament is finished, served greatly to surprise us, and we could not help believing that they had among them tat-tooers by profession, some of them no doubt, equal in celebrity to M'Alpin and other renowned tailors of America, for we afterward discovered that the most wealthy and high class was more fully and handsomely tattooed than those of an inferior station, which is a sufficient evidence that tattooing has its price.
The young girls, which we had an opportunity of seeing, were as I before observed, handsome and well formed ; their skins were remarkably soft and smooth, and their complexions no darker than many brunettes in America celebrated for their beauty. Their modesty was more evident than that of the women of any place we have visited since leaving our own country. Nakedness they cannot consider offensive to modesty ; they are accustomed to it from their infancy. I find no difficulty in believing, that an American lady, who exposes to view her face, her bosom, and her arms, is as modest and virtuous as the wife of a Turk, who is seen only by her husband ; or that a female of Washington's Group, who is seen in a state of nature, may be as modest and virtuous as either. That they have a high sense of shame and pride, I had afterward many opportunities of observing.
At daylight next morning they bore up for Noaheevah or Madison's Island, where they put into a beautiful bay'and came to an anchor. This harbor wras named by Captain Porter, Massachusetts Bay. Here be was soon joined by the Essex Junior, which vessel had parted company to cruise, when he believed himself sufficiently secure to commence a regular overhauling of the ships.
Cooper, in his Naval History, says, "the situation of the Essex was sufficiently remarkable, at this moment, to merit a brief notice. She had been the first American to carry the pennant of a man-of-war round the Cape of G-ood Hope, and now she had been the first to bring it into this distant ocean. More than ten thousand miles from home, without colonies, stations, or even a really friendly port to repair to, short of stores, without a consort, and otherwise in possession of none of the required means of subsistence and efficiency, she had boldly steered into this distant region, where she had found all that she required, through her own activity and having swept the seas of her enemies, she had now retired to those little-frequented islands to refit, with the security of a ship at home. It is due to the officer, who so promptly adopted', and so successfully executed this plan, to add, that his enterprize, self-reliance and skill, indicated a man of bold and masculine conception, of great resources, and of a high degree of moral courage ; qualities that are indispensable in forming a naval captain.
When the Essex stood into the land a boat come off from the shore with three white men in her, one of whom to Captain Porter's great astonishment proved to be John M. Maury an American midshipman, who had left the United States on furlough in a merchant ship. He had been left here by the master of the vessel to gather sandal wood while the ship was gone to China. As it was supposed the war would prevent the return of the ship, Mr. Maury and his party were received on board the frigate. Wilson, one of them, was an Englishman by birth. He had been many years in these islands and with the exception of a cloth around his loins was completely naked. His body was all over tattooed and in every respect except color he had become an Indian. He assisted Captain Porter as interpreter, and without his aid he would have succeeded badly on the island.
Captain Porter landed with a party of marines and sailors. " The drum appeared to give them much pleasure; and the regular movements of the marines occasioned much astonishment. They said they were spirits or beings of a class different from other men. I directed them to be put through their exercise; and the firing of the muskets occasioned but little terror, except among the women, who generally turned away their faces and covered their ears with their hands. The men and boys were all attention to the skipping of the balls in the water; but at every fire all habitually inclined their bodies, as if to avoid the shot, although behind the men who were firing. After remaining a short time with them, I distributed among them some knives, fish-hooks, etc., which they received with much apparent pleasure; but no one offered, like the natives of the other island, anything in return.
Observing the mountains surrounding the valleys to be covered with numerous groups of natives, I inquired the cause, and was informed that a warlike tribe residing beyond the mountains had been for several weeks at war with the natives of the valley, into which they had made several incursions, and had destroyed many houses and plantations, and had killed, by cutting around the bark, a great number of bread-fruit trees.
I inquired if it were possible to get a message to them; and was informed that notwithstanding they were at war and showed no quarter to each other, there were certain persons of both tribes, who were permitted to pass and repass freely and uninterrupted from one tribe to another: such for example as a man belonging to one tribe who had married a woman belonging to the other. I inquired if any such were present; and one being pointed out to me, I directed him to proceed to the Happahs and to tell them that I had come with a force sufficiently strong to drive them from the island : and if they presumed to enter into the valley while I remained there, I should send a body of men to chastise them ; to tell them to cease all hostilities so long as I remained among them ; that if they had hogs or fruit to dispose Of, they might come and trade freely with us, as I should not permit the natives of the valley to injure or molest them. To the natives of the valley—who listened attentively and with apparent pleasure to the message sent to the Happahs—I then addressed myself, and assured them that I had come with the most friendly disposition ; that I wanted nothing from them hut what I paid for : that they must look on us as brethren : and that I should protect them against the Happahs should they again venture to descend from the mountains. I directed them to leave at home their spears, slings, and clubs—their only weapons of war—in order that we might know them from the Happahs ; and told them that I should consider all as my enemies who should appear armed in my presence. All listened with much attention : their spears and clubs were thrown on one side. My attention was soon drawn to an object, which at the moment had presented itself. A handsome young woman, of about eighteen years of age, her complexion fairer than common, her carriage majestic, and her dress better and somewhat different from the other females, approached. Her glossy black hair, and her skin were highly anointed with the cocoa-nut oil, and her whole person and appearance neat, sleek, and comely; on inquiry who this dignified personage might be, I was informed that her name was Piteenee, a granddaughter to the chief, or greatest man in the valley, whose name was Qattanewa. This lady, on whose countenance was not to be perceived any of those playful smiles which enliven the countenances of the others, 1 was informed was held in great estimation, on account of her rank and beauty, and I felt that it would be necessary, from motives of policy, to pay some attentions to a personage so exalted. She received my advances with a coldness and hauteur which would have suited a princess, and repelled everything like familiarity with a sternness that astonished me.
Gattanewa, the chief of the Tayehs, the tribe who inhabited this valley I was informed at the time of my landing, was at a fortified village, which was pointed out to me, on the top of one of the highest mountains. The manner of fortifying those places, is to plant closely on end, the bodies of large trees, of forty feet in length, and securing them together by pieces of timber strongly lashed across, presenting on the brow of a hill, difficult of access, a breast-work of considerable extent, which would require European artillery to destroy. At the back of this a scaffolding is raised, on which is placed a platform for the warriors, who ascend by the means of ladders, and thence shower down on their assailants spears and stones.
When the ship was moored, the shore was lined with the natives of both sexes; but the females were most numerous, waving their white cloaks or cahoes for us to come on shore. The boats were got out, and proceeded to the shore, where on landing, they were taken complete possession of by the women, who insisted on going to the ship, and in a short time she was completely filled by them, of all ages and descriptions, from the age of sixty years to that of: ten; some as remarkable for their beauty, as others for their ugliness. The ship was a perfect Bedlam from the time of their arrival until their departure, which was not until morning, when they were put on shore, not only with whatever was given them, but with whatever they could lay their hands on.
The object of the greatest value at this as well as all the other islands of this group, is whales' teeth. No jewel, however valuable, is half so much esteemed in Europe or America, as is a whale's tooth here: I have seen them by fits laugh and cry for joy, at the possession of one of these darling treasures. Some idea may be formed of the value in which they are held by the natives, when it is known that a ship of three hundred tuns burden may be loaded with sandal-wood at this island, and the only object of trade necessary to procure it, is ten whales' teeth of a large size; and for these the natives will cut it, bring it from the distant mountains, and take it on board the ship; and this cargo in China, would be worth near a million of dollars. I have seen this sandal-wood, that is so highly esteemed by the Chinese;— indeed their infatuation for it, falls little short of that of the natives for whales' teeth—it does not appear capable of receiving a high polish, nor is its color agreeable; the odor arising from it is pleasant, and the principal uses to which the Chinese are said to apply it, is to burn it in their temples, and to extract from it an oil, which is said to be of great value.
In a short time Gattanewa, the chief, came on board of the Essex. Most of the warriors they had seen were highly ornamented with plumes and were attired in all the gew-gaws of savage splendor. They generally carried a black and highly polished spear or a club richly carved and their bodies were elegantly tattooed. " What was my astonishment then, " says Porter, "when Gattanewa presented himself; an infirm old man of seventy years of age, destitute of every covering or ornament except a clout about his loins, and a piece of palm leaf tied about his head : a long stick seemed to assist him in walking ; his face and body were as black as a negro's, from the quantity of tattooing, which entirely covered them, and his skin was rough, and appeared to be peeling off in scales, from the quantity of kava (an intoxicating root) with which he had indulged himself. Such was the figure that Gattanewa presented; and as he had drank freely of the kava before he made his visit, he appeared to be perfectly stupid. After he had "been a short time on deck, I endeavored to impress him with a high opinion of our force ; and for this purpose assembled all my crew: it scarcely seemed to excite his attention. I then caused a gun to be fired, which seemed to produce no other effect on him, than that of pain; he complained that it hurt his ears; I then invited him below, where nothing whatever excited his attentions, until I showed him some whales' teeth : this roused the old man from his lethargy, and he would not be satisfied, until I had permitted him to handle, to measure and count them over and over, which seemed to afford him infinite pleasure. After he had done this repeatedly, I put them away ; and shortly afterward asked him if he had seen anything in the ship that pleased him; if he did to name it and it should be his : he told me he had seen nothing which had pleased him so much as one of the small whales' teeth; which on his describing, I took out and gave to him : this he carefully wrapped up in one of the turns of his clout; begging me not to inform any person that he had about him an article of so much value : I assured him.I should not; and the old man threw himself on the settee and went to sleep. In a few minutes he awoke, somewhat recovered from his stupidity, and requested to be put on shore : he, however, previous to his departure, wished me to exchange names with him, and requested me to assist him in his war with the Happahs : to the first I immediately consented. He told me they had cursed the bones of his mother, who had died but a short time since : that as we had exchanged names, she was now my mother, and I was bound to espouse her cause. I told him I would think of the subject, and did not think it necessary to make any farther reply to the old man's sophistry.
Captain Porter now unbent the sails of the Essex and sent them on shore ; landed his water casks with which he formed a complete inclosure : the ship was hauled close within the beach and they began to make their repairs. A tent was erected and the whole placed under a guard of marines. In the meanwhile the Happahs descended in a large body into the valley and destroyed an immense number of the bread-fruit trees. They sent word that inasmuch as the Americans had not opposed them they believed they were cowards and that they should visit their camp and carry off their sails. Before proceeding to extremities, Captain Porter thought he could try and frighten them out of their hostile notions. As Gattenewa made daily applications for assistance, Captain Porter at length told him that if his people would carry a heavy gun, a six pounder up to the top of a high mountain which he pointed out to him he would send men up to work it and drive away the Happahs who still kept possession of the surrounding hills. This was unanimously agreed to by every man in the valley. On the gun being landed he caused a few shot to be fired over the water first with ball and then with grape shot, which last particularly so delighted those simple folks that they hugged and kissed the gun and lay ed down beside it and caressed it with the utmost fondness.
" While the natives were employed with their darling gun, I occupied myself in forwarding as much as possible the ship's duty. No work was exacted from any person after four o'clock in the afternoon ; the rest of the day was given to repose and amusement. One fourth of the crew being allowed after that hour to go on shore, there to remain until daylight next morning. Everything went on as well as I could have wished, and much better than I could possibly have expected. The day after the gun was moved for the mountains, the chief warrior of the Tayehs named Mouina, was introduced to me. He was a tall, well shaped man of about thirty-five years of age, remarkably active, of an intelligent and open countenance, and his whole appearance was prepossessing. He had just left the other warriors in the fortified village, and had come down to request me to cause a musket to be fired—which he called a bouhi—that he might witness its effects. Several individuals of the tribe of the Happahs were at that moment about the camp, and I was pleased at the opportunity which was afforded me to convince them of the folly of resisting our fire-arms with slings and spears. I fired several times myself at a mark to show them that I never failed of hitting an object the size of a man. I then directed the marines to fire by volleys at a cask, which was soon like a riddle.
Mouina appeared much pleased with the effect of our musketry; and frequently exclaimed, mattee, mattee! killed, killed ! The Happahs, who were present however, replied that nothing could persuade their tribe, that bouliies could do them the injury that we pretended : that they were determined to try the effects of a battle, and if they should be beaten, that they would be willing to make peace; but not before. I informed them that they would not find me so ready to make peace after beating them, as at present; and that I should insist on being paid for the trouble they might put me to. Seeing that these strange people were resolutely bent on trying the effect of their arms against ours, I thought that the sooner they were convinced of their folly the better. Indeed it became absolutely necessary to do something; for the Happahs present informed me that their tribe believed that we were afraid to attack them, as we had threatened so much, without attempting anything; and this idea, I found, began to prevail among those of our valley, which is called the valley of Tieuhoy, and the people Ilavouhs, Parques, Iloattas, etc., for the valley is subdivided into other valleys by the hills, and each small valley is inhabited by distinct tribes, governed by their own laws, and having their own chiefs and priests.
On the 28th October, Gattanewa, with several of the warriors, came to inform me that the gun was at the foot of the mountain, where I had directed it to be carried, and that it would have reached the summit by the time our people could get up there. I informed them that, on the next morning at daylight, forty men, with their muskets, would be on shore and in readiness to march ; and as I supposed it would be impossible for our people to scale the mountains, when incumbered with their arms, I desired them to send me forty Indians for the purpose of carrying their muskets, and an equal number to carry provisions as well as ammunition for the six pounder, which they promised me should be done, and every arrangement was made accordingly, and the command of the expedition given to Lieutenant Downes.
On the morning of the 29th the party being on shore, consisting chiefly of the crew of the Essex Junior and the detachment of marines, each man being furnished with an Indian to carry his arms, and spare Indians to carry provisions and other articles, I gave the order to march. About eleven o'clock I perceived that our people had gained the mountains and were driving the Happahs from height to height, who fought as they retreated, and daring our men to follow them with threatening gesticulations. A native, who bore the American flag, waved it in triumph as he skipped along the mountains—they were attended by a large concourse of friendly natives, armed as usual, who generally kept in the rear of our men. Mouina alone was seen in the advance of the whole, and was well known by his scarlet cloak and waving plumes. In about an hour we lost sight of the combatants and saw no more of them until about four o'clock, when they were discovered descending the mountains on their return, the natives bearing five dead bodies slung on poles.
Mr. Downes and his men soon afterward arrived at the camp, overcome with the fatigue of an exercise to which they had been so little accustomed. He informed me that on his arrival near the tops of the mountains, the Happahs, stationed on the summit, had assailed him and his men with stones and spears; that he had driven them from place to place until they had taken refuge in a fortress, erected in a manner before described, on the brow of a steep hill. Here they all made a stand, to the number of between three and four thousand. They dared our people to ascend this hill, at the foot of which they had made a halt to take breath. The word was given by Mr. Downes to rush up the hill; at that instant a stone struck him on th.e belly and laid him breathless on the ground, and at the same instant one of our people was pierced with a spear through his neck. This occasioned a halt, and they were about abandoning any farther attempt on the place : but Mr. Downes soon recovered, and finding himself able to walk gave orders for a charge. Hitherto our party had done nothing. Not one of the enemy had, to their knowledge, been wounded. They scoffed at our men, and exposed their posteriors to them, and treated them with the utmost contempt and derision. The friendly natives also began to think we were not so formidable as we pretended : it became, therefore, absolutely necessary that . the fort should be taken at all hazards. Our people gave three cheers, and rushed on through a shower of spears and stones, which the natives threw from behind their strong barrier, and it was not until our people entered the fort that they thought of retreating. Five were at this instant shot dead ; and one in particular, fought until the muzzle of the piece was presented to his forehead, when the top of his head .was entirely blown off. As soon as this place was taken all further resistance was at an end.
It was shocking to see the manner the friendly natives treated such as were knocked over with a shot; they rushed on them with their war clubs and soon dispatched them : then each seemed anxious to dip his spear into the blood, which nothing could induce them to wipe off—the spear, from that time, bore the name of the dead warrior, and its value, in consequence of that trophy, was greatly enhanced.
Gattanewa was astonished at our victory which, to him, seemed incredible ; and the number of dead which they had borne off as trophies had far exceeded that of any former battle within his recollection : as they fight for weeks, nay for months sometimes, without killing any on either side, though many are, in all their engagements, severely wounded. The Tayehs had, however, a short time before our arrival, lost one of their priests of the greatest note, who had been killed by an ambuscade of the Happahs; and this circumstance had occasioned a tabboo of the strictest nature to be established, which was now in full force and continued as long as we remained on the island.
I am not acquainted with the ceremony of laying on these tabbooes, which are so much respected by the natives. They are, however, laid by the priests, from some religious motive. Sometimes they are general, and affect a whole valley, as the present; sometimes they are confined to a single tribe ; at others to a family, and frequently to a single person. The word tabboo signifies an interdiction, an embargo, or restraint; and the restrictions during the period of their existence may be compared to the lent of Catholics. They have tabbooed places, where they feast and drink kava—tabbooed houses where dead bodies are deposited, and many of their trees, and even some of their walks are tabbooed.
But, to proceed in my narrative : the Tayehs had brought in the bodies of the five men killed in storming the fort. We met with no loss on our side or on that of our allies. We had two wounded, and one of the Indians had his jaw broke with a stone. The dead Happahs I was informed were lying in the public square, where the natives were rejoicing over them. I had been informed by the whites, on my arrival, and even by Wilson, that the natives of this island were cannibals : but, on the strictest inquiry, I could not learn that either of them had seen them in the act of eating human flesh. In conversing with Gattanewa on the subject, he did not hesitate to acknowledge that it was sometimes practiced. He said they sometimes eat their enemies. I found it difficult to reconcile this practice with the generosity and benevolence which were leading traits in their character. They are cleanly in their persons, washing three or four times a day: and also in their mode of cooking and manner of eating; and it was remarked, that no islander was known to taste of anything whatever, until he had first applied it to his nose, and if it was in the slightest degree tainted or offensive to the smell, it was always rejected. How then can it be possible that a people so delicate, living in a country abounding with hogs, fruit, and a considerable variety of vegetables, should prefer a loathsome putrid human carcass, to the numerous delicacies their valleys afford?
I proceeded to the house of Gattanewa, which I found filled with women making the most dreadful lamentations, and surrounded by a large concourse of male natives. On my appearance there was a general shout of terror; all fixed their eyes on me with looks of fear and apprehension. I approached the wife of Gattanewa, and'required to know the cause of this alarm. She said now that we had destroyed the Happahs they were fearful we should turn on them : she took hold of mj hand, which she kissed, and moistened with her tears : then placing it on her head, knelt to kiss my feet. She told me they were willing to be our slaves, to serve us, that their houses, their lands, their hogs, and everything belonging to them Avere ours ; but begged that I would have mercy on her, her children, and her family, and not put them to death. It seemed that they had worked themselves up to the highest pitch of fear, and on my appearance with a sentinel accompanying me, they could see in me nothing but the demon o£ destruction. I raised the poor old woman from her humble posture, and begged her to banish her groundless fears, that I had no intention of injuring any person residing in the valley of Tieuhoy: that if the Happahs had drawn on themselves our vengeance, and felt our resentment, they had none to blame but themselves. I had offered them peace ; but they had preferred war; I had proffered them my friendship, and they had spurned at it. That there was no alternative left. I had chastised them, and was appeased. I then exhorted the wife of Gattanewa to endeavor to impress on the minds of every person the necessity of living on friendly terms with us; that we were disposed to consider them as brothers; that we had come with no hostile intentions toward them, and so long as they treated us as friends we would protect them against all their enemies. The old woman was- all attention to my discourse as delivered through Wilson the interpreter; and I was about proceeding when she requested me to stop. She now rose and commanded silence among the multitude, which had considerably augmented since my arrival, and addressed them with much grace and energy in a speech of about half an hour; exhorting them, as I understood, to conduct themselves with propriety, and explaining to them the advantages likely to result from a good understanding with us. After she had finished, she took me affectionately by the hand, and reminded me that I was her husband.
All alarms now were subsided. I inquired for Gattanewa, and was informed that he was at the public square rejoicing over the bodies of the slain, but had been sent for. I proceeded for the place and met the old man hastening home. He had been out from the earliest dawn, and had not broken his fast. He held in one hand a cocoa-nut shell, containing a quantity of sour preparation of the bread-fruit, which is highly esteemed by the natives, and in the other a raw fish, which he occasionally dipped into it as he ate it. As soon however as Wilson gave him to understand that the practice of eating raw fish was disagreeable to me, he wrapped the remainder in a palm leaf, and handed it to a youth to keep for him until a more convenient opportunity offered for indulging himself. On my way to the square I observed several young warriors hastening along toward the place armed with their spears, at the ends of which were hung plantains bread-fruit, or cocoa-nuts, intended as offerings to their gods ; and on my approach to the square, I could hear them beating their drums and chanting their war-songs. I soon discovered five or six hundred of them assembled about the dead bodies, which were lying on the ground.
We had but little opportunity of gaining a knowledge of the language of these people while we remained among them ; but from the little we became acquainted with, we are satisfied that it is not copious ; few words serve to express all they wish to say; and one word has oftentimes many significations ; as for example, the word motee signifies I thank you, I have enough, I do not want it, I do not like it, keep it yourself, take it away, etc. Maitee expresses every degree of injury which can happen to a person or thing from the slightest harm to the most cruel death. Thus a prick of the finger is mattee, to have a pain in any part is matiee ; maitee is to be sick, to be badly wounded is mattee, and mattee is to kill or be killed, to be broke (when speaking of inanimate objects), to be injured in any way, even to be dirtied or soiled is expressed by the word mattee. Motakee, with slight variation of the voice, signifies every degree of good, from a thing merely tolerable, to an object of the greatest excellence ; thus it is, so, so good, very good, excellent: it signifies the qualities and disposition of persons ; thus they are tolerable, likely, handsome, or beautiful, good, kind, benevolent, generous, humane. KeJieva, which signifies bad, is as extensive in its use as motakee, and, by suitable modulations of the voice, has meanings directly opposite. This is the case with many other words in their language; indeed, with all we became acquainted with. Kie-kie signifies to eat, it also signifies a troublesome fellow.
The hogs of this island are generally of a small and inferior breed, but there are many as large and as fine as those of any part of the world. According to the traditions of the natives, many generations ago, a god named Haii visited all the islands of the group, and brought with him hogs and fowls, which he left among them. Haii was, no doubt, some navigator, who, near four centuries ago, by their reckoning left the aforesaid animals among the natives. Our accounts of voyages made into this sea do not extend so far back, and even if they did, we should be at a loss to know him from the name given to him by the natives. We found it impossible for them to pronounce our names distinctly, even after the utmost pains to teach them, and the most repeated trials on their part. They gave me the name of Opotee, which was the nearest they could come to Porter. Mr. Downes was called Onou; Lieutenant Wilmer, Wooreme; Lieutenant M'Knight, Mucheetie, and the name of every one else underwent an equal change. These names we were called by and answered to so long as we remained with them; and it 13 not improbable that we shall be so called in their traditional accounts. If there should be no other means of handing our names down to posterity it is likely we shall be as little known to future navigators as Eaii is to us. The natives call a hog bouarlca, or rather Pouarha; and it is likely that they still retain the name nearly by which they were first known to them. The Spaniards call a hog porca, giving it a sound very little different from that given by the natives of these islands ; and as the Spaniards were the earliest navigators in these seas, there is scarcely a doubt that they are indebted to one of that nation for so precious a gift.
The cocoa-nuts grow in great abundance in every valley of the island, and are cultivated with much care. This tree is too well known to need a description ; yet the mode used to propagate it may not be uninteresting. As the cocoa-nuts become ripe, they are carefully collected from the tree, which is ascended by means of a slip of strong bark, with which they make their feet fast a little above the ankles, leaving them about a foot asunder ; they then grasp the tree with their arms, feet, and knees, and the strip of bark resting on the rough projections of the bark of the tree, prevents them from slipping down : in this manner, by alternately shifting their feet and hands, they ascend with great apparent ease and rapidity the highest tree.
The tarra is a root much resembling a yam, of a pungent taste, and excellent when boiled or roasted. The sugar-cane grows to an uncommon size here. The only use they make of it is to chew and swallow the juice.
The Java is a root possessing an intoxicating quality, with which the chiefs are very fond of indulging themselves. They employ persons of a lower class to chew it for them and spit it into a wooden bowl; after which a small quantity of water is mixed with it, when the juice is strained into a neatly polished cup, made of a cocoa-nut shell, and passed round among them : it renders them-very stupid and averse to hearing any noise : it deprives them of their appetite, and reduces them almost to a state of torpor : it has the effect of making their skin fall off in white scales ; affects their nerves, and no doubt brings on a premature old age. They applied the word kava to everything we eat or drank of a heating or pungent nature as rum or wine ; pepper, mustard, and even salt.
The bread-fruit tree of this island grows with great luxuriance, in extensive groves, scattered through every valley. It is of the height of fifty or sixty feet, branching out in a large and spreading top, which affords a beautiful appearance and an extensive shade from the rays of the sun; the trunk is about six feet in circumference ; the lower branches about twelve feet from the ground ; the bark soft, and on being in the slightest degree wounded exudes a milky juice, not unpleasant to the taste, which, on being exposed to the sun, forms an excellent bird-lime, and is used by the natives as such, not only for catching birds, but a small kind of rat with which this island is much infested. The leaves of this tree are sixteen inches long and nine inches wide, deeply notched, somewhat like the fig leaf. 'The fruit, when ripe, is about the size of a child's head, green, and divided by slight traces into innumerable six sided figures. This fruit is somewhat eliptica-1 in its shape, has a thin and delicate skin, a large and tough core, with remarkably small seeds situated in a spongy substance between the core and the eatable part, which is next the rind. It is eaten baked, boiled or. roasted ; whole, quartered, or cut in slices, and cooked; either way was found exceedingly palatable, was greatly preferred by many to our soft bread, which it somewhat resembled in taste, but was much sweeter ; it was found also very fine, when cut into slices and fried in butter or lard. It keeps only three or four days, when gathered and hung up; but the natives have a method of preserving it for several years, by baking, wrapping it up in leaves, and burying it in the earth : in that state it becomes very sour, and is then more highly esteemed by them than any other food. The bread-fruit tree is everything to the natives of these islands. The fruit serves them and their hogs for food throughout the year, and affords large supplies to be laid up for a season of scarcity. The trees afford them an agreeable and refreshing shade ; the leaves are an excellent covering for their houses ; of the inner bark of the small branches they make cloth ; the juice, which exudes, enables them to destroy the rats which infest them ; and of the trunk of the tree they, form their canoes, many parts of their houses, and even their gods. Describe to one of the natives of Madison's Island a country abounding in everything that we consider desirable, and after you are done he will ask you if it produces bread-fruit. A country is nothing to them without that blessing, and the season for bread-fruit is the time of joy and festivity : the season commences in December, and lasts until September, when the greatest abundance reigns among them.
On the first of November, Moivattaeeh, a chief of the Ilappahs, and son-in-law to Gattanewa, came, accompanied by several others of his tribe with the white handkerchief which I had sent them, to treat with me for a peace. I received him with mildness, and gently expostulated with them on their imprudence, in having insisted on hostilities with me. They exjDressed the utmost regret for their past folly, and hoped that I would allow them in future to live on the same friendly terms with me as Gattanewa and his people, stating their willingness to comply with everything I should exact from them in reason. I informed them that as I had offered them peace, and they had rejected it, and had put me to the trouble of chastising them, it was proper that we should receive some compensation. We were in want of hogs and fruit, and they had an abundance of them, and I wished them to give me a supply, once a week, for my people, for which they should be compensated in iron and such other articles as would be most useful to them. Gattanewa and many of his tribe were present, and appeared charmed with the terms offered to the Happahs; said they would henceforth be brothers, and observing that I had not yet presented my hand, took it affectionately and placed in that of Mowattaeeii. After a short silence Mowattaeeh observed that we must suffer much from the rain in our tents, as they did not appear capable of securing us from the wet. Yes, said Gattanewa, and we are bound to make the Hekai—a title which they all gave me—and his people comfortable while they remain with us. Let every tribe at peace with him, build a house for their accommodation, and the people of the valley of Tieuhoy will show them the example by building one for the residence of Ojpotee—Porter. This proposal met with general applause, and the people were immediately dispatched to prepare materials for erecting the fabric next day, at which time the Happahs promised to bring in their supply, and the day after to construct their house. In the course of the day, the other chiefs of the Happahs came in with their flags and subscribed to the terms proposed, and in less than two days I received envoys from every tribe in the island, with the exception only of the warlike tribes of Typees, of the valley of Vieehee, and the HdtecaahcottwoJws, in the distant valley of Hannaliow; the first confiding in their strength, valor, and position; the others in their distance and numbers for their protection. The first had always been victorious in all their wars and the terror of their enemies ; the others were their firm allies ; neither had they ever been driven ; they had been taught by their priests to believe that they never would be, and it was their constant boast that they had ever kept their valley free from the incursions of an enemy.
All agreed to the terms proposed; supplies were brought in by the tribes in great abundance, and from this time for several weeks, we rioted in luxuries which the island afforded. To the principal persons of the tribes I always presented a harpoon, it being to them the most valuable article of iron, and to the rest scraps of iron hoops were thrown, in which they took much delight.
Agreeable to the request of the chiefs I laid down the plan of the village about to be built; the line on which the houses were to be placed was already traced by our barrier of water casks ; they were to take the form of a crescent, were to be built on the outside of the enclosure, and to be connected with each other by a wall twelve feet in length and four feet in height; the houses were to be fifty feet In length, built in the usual fashion of the country, and of a proportioned width and height.
On the 3d November, upward of four thousand natives, from the different tribes, assembled at the camp with materials for building, and before night they had completed a dwelling house for myself and another for the officers, a sail loft, a coopers' shop, and a place for our sick, a bake house, a guard house, and a'shed for the sentinel to walk under; the whole were connected by the walls as above described. We removed our barrier of water casks, and took possession of our delightful village, which had been built as if by enchantment.
It seems strange how a people living under no form of government that we could ever perceive, having no chiefs over them who appear to possess any authority, having neither rewards to stimulate them to exertion nor dread of punishment before them, should be capable of conceiving and executing, with the rapidity of lightning, works which astonished us; they appear to act with one mind, to have the same thought, and to be operated on by the same impulse ; they can be compared onty to the beaver, whose instinct teaches them to design and execute works which claim our admiration.
Some time after this I sent a messenger to the Typees to know if they wished to be at peace with us. In two days he returned and was desired by the Typees to tell Gattanewa and all the people of the valley of Tieukoy that they were cowards—that we had beat the Happahs because the Happahs were cowards ; that as to myself and my people, we were white wizards, mere dirt. We were, said they, incapable of standing fatigue, overcome b}r the slightest heat and want of water, and could not climb the mountains without Indians to assist us and carry our arms ; and yet we talked of chastising the Typees, a tribe which had never been driven by an enemy, and as their gods informed them were never to be driven.
I now inquired of Grattanewa the number of war canoes which he could equip and man; he informed me ten, and that each would carry about thirty men, and that the Happahs could equip an equal number of equal size; he told me it would be six days before they could be put together and got in readiness; but if I wished it his people should set about it immediately. I directed them to do so, and dispatched a messenger to the Happahs directing them to prepare their war canoes to be in readiness to go to war with the Typees, and await my further orders. I gave them as well as the Tayehs to understand that it was my intention to attack them both by sea and by land, and that I should send a large body of men in boats and a ship to protect the landing of them and the war canoes, and that the remainder of the warriors of both tribes must proceed hj land to attack them in the part where they were most assailable. I now conceived the design of constructing a fort, not only as a protection to our village and the harbor, but as a security to the Tayehs against further incursions. I had for some time past intended leaving my prizes here as the most suitable place to lay them up, and this fort would give them additional security.
Assisted by the Indians I began the construction of a fort which was completed on the 14th ; all worked with zeal, and as the friendly tribes were daily coming in with presents, all joined in the labor. The chiefs requested that they might be admitted on the same footing as the Tayehs, and everything promised harmony between us; they would frequently speak .if the war with the Typees, and I informed them I only waited for their war canoes to be put together and launched.
On the 19th November, the American flag was displayed in our fort, a . salute of seventeen guns was fired from the artillery mounted there, and returned by the shipping in the harbor. The island was taken possession of for the United States, and called Madison's Island, the fort, Fort Madison, the village, Madison's Vilie, and the bay, Massachusetts Bay.
A few days after this I took a party of sailors and marines in some boats and went some eight miles from our anchorage to examine a fine bay. We landed near a village at the mouth of a beautiful rivulet. On landing, many of the natives came to the beach, who seemed disposed to treat us in the most" friendly manner; but apprehensive of being troubled by their numbers I drew a line in the sand at some distance about the boats, and informed them they were tabbooed, and as an additional security to us, I caused all the arms to be loaded and ready for service on the first alarm, and sentinels placed over them. Shortly after this the chief came down to invite me to the public square, the general place in all their villages for the reception of strangers. Shortly after our arrival the women and girls assembled from all quarters of the town, dressed out in all their finery to meet us; they were here free from all the restraints imposed by the tabboos and were abundantly anointed with the oil of the cocoa-nut, and their skins well bedaubed with red and yellow paint, as was their clothing; some were also smeared with greenish paint, the object of which I found on inquiry, was to preserve the fairness and beauty of the skin, and indeed of this they seemed to take particular pains, every one of them being furnished with a kind of umbrella, formed of a bunch of palm leaves, to shield them from the effects of the sun : their care and attention in this particular had rendered them far superior in point of beauty to the females of our valley, and the difference was so striking as to make them appear a distinct people. Some of the girls, probably in compliment to us, or to render themselves more attractive in our eyes, cleansed themselves (by washing in the stream) of their oil and paint, threw aside their bedaubed clothing, and soon appeared neatly clad iu cloth of the purest white; and I can say, without exaggeration, that I never have seen women more perfectly beautiful in form, features, and complexion, or that had playful innocence more strongly marked on their countenances or in their manners; all seemed perfectly easy and even graceful, and all strove by their winning attentions, who should render themselves most pleasing to us. The girls formed a circle round us, and those of a more advanced age were seated outside of them ; the men showed us every kind attention, and strove to convince us of their friendship by bringing us cocoa-nuts, and cooking for us hogs and bread-fruit after their manner, which were found excellent.
A daughter of Grattanewa was among them; she was the wife of the chief who had met us on our arrival; she seemed no less friendly disposed than her husband, and embraced me as her father, reminding me frequently that from the exchange of names I had become such; from her filial affection she bestowed on me a bountiful supply of the red and yellow paint with which she was covered, and insisted on my sending away my boats and people and remaining with them until the next day, and no excuse that I could offer for my return to the ship would satisfy her; they all joined in her solicitations, and, as an inducement for me to remain, promised me the choicest mats to sleep on and the handsomest girls in the village to sing me to sleep. After our repast all the women joined in a song, which was accompanied by the clapping of hands; it lasted near half an hour, and was not unmusical. I inquired the subject of it, and was informed by Wilson that it was the history of the loves of a young man and a young woman of their valley : they sung their mutual attachment and the praises of their beauty;- described with raptures the handsome beads and whales' teeth ear rings with which she was bedecked, and the large whale's tooth which hung from his neck. They afterward joined in a short song which they appeared to compose as they sung, in which I could plainly distinguish the words Opotee, tie tiesipeepees, etc. (Porter presents beads, etc.), after which they strove in various ways who should most amuse us, the men in dancing, the girls in playing scratch cradle (an amusement well known in America), at which they are more dextrous than any other I ever met with.
Our time passed rapidly with these kind people, and the evening approached before we were aware of it. It became necessary to hasten to the ship, and we bade them farewell, with a promise that we should shortly return and bring with us a larger supply of peejpees and other tie ties, so much desired by them.
On the 27th November I informed the Tayehs and Happahs that I should next day go to war with the Typees, agreeable to my original plan. The Essex Junior sailed in the afternoon, and I proceeded next morning, at three o'clock, with five boats, accompanied by ten war canoes, blowing their conches as a signal by which they could keep together. We arrived at the Typee landing at sunrise, and were joined by ten war canoes from the Happahs ; the Essex Junior soon after arrived and anchored. The tops of all the neighboring mountains were covered with the Tayeh and Happah warriors, armed with their spears, clubs, and slings ; the beach was covered with the warriors who came with the canoes, and who joined us from the hills; our force did not amount to a less number than five thousand men. I had brought with me one of those whom I had intended to employ as ambassadors ; he had intermarried with the Typees and was privileged to go among them ; I furnished him with a white flag and sent him to inform the Typees that I had come to offer them peace, but was prepared for war; that I only required that they should submit to the same terms as those entered into by the other tribes, and that terms of friendship would be much more pleasing to me than any satisfaction which I expected to derive from chastising them. In a few minutes after the departure of my messenger he came running back, the picture of terror, and informed me he had met in the bushes an . ambuscade of Typees, who, regardless of his flag of truce, which he displayed to them, had driven him back with blows, and had threatened to put him to death if he again ventured among them; and in an instant afterward we had a confirmation of his statement in a shower of stones which came from the bushes. To remain still would have proved fatal to us; to have retreated would have convinced them of our fears and our incapacity to injure them; our only safety was in advancing and endeavoring to clear the thicket, which I had been informed was of no great extent.
We advanced a mile or more when we came to a small opening on the bank of a river, from the thicket on the opposite side of which we were assailed with a shower of stones, when Lieutenant Downes received a blow' which shattered the bone of his left leg, and he fell. We had left parties in ambush in our rear, which we had not been able to dislodge, and to trust him to the Indians alone to take back was hazarding too much. The Indians began to leave us ; all depended on our own exertions, and no time was to be lost in deliberation. I therefore directed Mr. Shaw with four men to escort Lieutenant Downes to the beach ; this with the party I had left for the protection of the boats reduced my number to twenty-four men. As we continued our march the number of our allies became reduced, and even the brave Mouina, the first to expose himself, began to hang back; while he kept in advance, he had, by the quickness of his sight, which was astonishing, put us on our guard as the stones and spears came, and enabled us to elude them, but now they came too thick even for him to withstand.
We soon came to the place for fording the river; in the thick bushes of the opposite banks of which the Typees, who were here very numerous, made a bold stand, and showered on us their spears and other missiles. We endeavored in vain to clear the bushes of the opposite banks with our musketry. The stones and spears flew with augmented numbers. Finding that we could not disloge them, I directed a volley to be fired, three cheers to be given, and to dash across the river. We soon gained the opposite bank and continued our march, rendered still more difficult by the underwood, which was here interlaced to that degree as to make it necessary sometimes to crawl on our hands and knees to get along. We were harassed as usual by the Typees for about a quarter of a mile through a thicket which, at almost any other time, I should have considered impassable. On emerging from the swamp we felt new life and spirits ; but this joy was of short duration, for on casting up our eyes, we perceived a strong and extensive wall of seven feet in height, raised on an eminence crossing our road, and flanked on each side by an impenetrable thicket, and in an instant afterward were assailed by a shower of stones, accompanied by the most horrid yells.
Finding we could not dislodge them, I gave orders for pushing on and endeavoring to take it by storm : but some of my men had by this time expended all their cartridges, and there were few who had more than three or four remaining. This discouraging news threw a damp on the spirits of the whole party ; without ammunition our muskets were rendered inferior to the weapons of the Typees, and if we could not advance, there could be no doubt we should be under the necessity of fighting our way back ; and to attempt this with our few remaining cartridges, would be hazarding too much. Our only safety now depended on holding our ground until we could procure a fresh supply of ammunition, and in reserving the few charges on hand until it could be brought to us. I mentioned my intentions to my people, exhorted them to save their ammunition as much as possible, and dispatched Lieutenant Gamble with a detachment of four men to the beach, there to make a boat and proceed to the Essex Junior for a fresh supply. My number was now reduced to nineteen men; there was no officer but myself; the Indians had all deserted me except Mouina; and to add to our critical and dangerous situation, three of the men remaining with me were knocked down with stones. Mouina begged me to retreat, crying mattee 1 mattee I The wounded entreated me to permit the others to carry them to the beach, but I had none to spare to accompany them, I saw no hopes of succeeding against the natives, so long as they kept their stronghold; and determined to endeavor to draw them out by a feint retreat, and by this means to gain some advantage. For to return without gaining some advantage would, I believed, have rendered an attack from the Happahs certain. I communicated my intentions ; directed the wounded to be taken care of; gave orders for all to run until we were concealed by the bushes, and then halt. We retreated for a few paces, and in an instant the Indians rushed on us with hideous yells. The first and second which advanced were killed at the distance of a few paces, and those who attempted to carry them off were wounded. This checked them, they abandoned their dead and precipitately retreated to their fort. Not a moment was now to be lost in gaining the opposite side of the river. Taking advantage of the terror they were thrown into, we marched off with our wounded. Scarcely had we crossed the river before we were attacked with stones ; but liere they halted, and we returned to the beach much fatigued and harassed with marching and fighting, and with no contemptible opinion of the enemy we had encountered or the difficulties we should have to surmount in conquering them.
On my arrival I found the boat which had been missing, together with a reinforcement of men from the Essex Junior, and a supply of ammunition. I was desirous of sounding the Typees before I proceeded to further extremities, as also to impress our allies with the idea that we could carry all before us. They told my messenger to tell me that they had killed my chief warrior—for such they supposed Mr. Downes to be—that they had wounded several of my people, and compelled us to retreat. They knew their strength and the numbers they could oppose ; and held our bounties in more contempt than ever, they frequently missed fire, rarely killed, and the wounds they occasioned were not as painful as those of a spear or stone ; and, they added, they knew they would prove perfectly useless to us should it come on to rain. They dared us to renew the contest; and assured us they would not retreat beyond where we had left them.
Overcome with fatigue and discouraged by the formidable appearance of their fortress, my men also fatigued and disheartened from the number of wounded, I determined to leave them for the present, but meditated a severe punishment for them. The Happahs had now descended the hills with their arms ; the Shouemes appeared on the other side, and " the Typees have driven the white men," was the constant topic of conversation. We were still but a handful and were surrounded by several thousand Indians ; and although they professed friendship, I did not feel safe. I therefore directed everybody to embark and proceed to the Essex Junior, anxious to know the state of Lieutenant Downes.
The next day I determined to proceed with a force which I believed they ~ could not resist, and selected two hundred men from the Essex, the Essex Junior, and from the prizes.
In the evening I caused the party to be sent on shore and determined to go by land. We had a fine moonlight night, and I hoped to be down in the Typee valley long before daylight, and to take them by surprise. I directed the party sent in advance to halt as soon as they had gained the top of the mountain until I came up with the main body. There I intended encamping for the night, should our men not be able to stand the fatigue of a longer march. Several gave out before we reached the summit, which wo did in about three hours, with great difficulty ; but after resting a short time, and finding ourselves refreshed, the moon shining out bright, and our guides informing us (though very incorrectly) that we were not more than six miles from the enemy, we again marched. Several Indians had joined us, but I had imposed silence on them, as we were under the necessity of passing a Happah village, and was fearful of their discovering us, and giving intelligence to the Typees. Not a whisper was heard from one end of the line to the other; our guides marched in front, and we followed in silence up and down the steep sides of rocks and mountains, through rivulets, thickets, and reed breaks, and by the sides of precipices which sometimes caused us to shudder. A.t twelve o'clock we could hear the drums beating in the Typee valley accompanied by loud singing, and the number of lights in different parts of it induced me to believe they were rejoicing. I inquired the cause, and was informed by the Indians they were celebrating the victory they had obtained over us, and calling on their gods to give them rain in order that it might render our bouhies useless. We soon arrived at the pathway leading from the top of the mountain into the valley; but the Indians told us that it would be impossible to descend it without day-light; that the mountain was almost perpendicular, and that in many places we should be under the necessity of lowering ourselves down with great caution, and that it would be even necessary for them to assist us in the day-time to enable us to get down with safety. I concluded that it would be most advisable to wait for day-light before we attempted to descend. We were in possession of the pathway to the valley, and could prevent the Happahs from giving them any intelligence of us; we were on a narrow ridge running between the valleys of the two tribes and well situated to guard against surprise and defend ourselves from an attack from either; and what added to the convenience of our situation, we had a stream of water not far distant.
After placing guards we laid down on our arms. I had fallen into a dose when an Indian came to inform me that it was coming on to rain very heavy, and as he expressed himself would mattee ! mattee ! bouhie. This appearance of rain caused loud shouts of joy in the Typee valley and drums were beating in every quarter. I cautioned my men about taking care of their arms and ammunition ; but from the violence of the rain, which soon poured down in torrents, I had little hopes that a musket would be kept dry or a cartridge saved. Never, in the course of my life, did I spend a more anxious or disagreeable night, and I believe there were few with me who had ever seen its equal. A cold and piercing wind accompanied the deluge, for I can call it nothing else, and chilled us to the very heart; without room to keep ourselves warm by moving about, fearful of stirring, lest we might be percipitated into eternity down the steep sides of the mountains, for the ridge had now become so slippery we could scarcely keep our feet—we all anxiously looked for morning, and the first dawn of day, although the wind and rain still continued, was a cheering sight to us, notwithstanding our apprehensions for the fate of the ammunition and the conditions of our muskets. We were all as perfectly wet as though we had been under water the whole time, and we scarcely entertained a hope that a single cartridge or musket had escaped. The Indians kept exclaiming that our muskets were spoilt, and anxiously wished us to retreat in time ; but notwithstanding my fears on the subject, I endeavored to impress them with a belief that water could do them no injury. As soon as it was light enough I went among my men and inquired into the state of their arms and ammunition. The first had escaped better than I had any reason to hope ; but of the latter more than one half was wet and unfit for service.
The Happah village lay on one side of the mountain, as I before observed, the Typee on the other, and when it was light enough to see down into the valley of the latter we were astonished at the greatness of the height we were elevated above them, and the steepness of the mountain by which we should have to descend to get to them. A narrow pathway pointed out the track, but it was soon lost among the cliffs. The Indians informed me that in the present slippery state of the mountain no one could descend, and as our men were much harassed with fatigue, overcome with hunger, shivering and uncomfortable, I determined to take up my quarters in the Happah valley until next day to enable us to refresh, and I hoped by that time the weather would prove more favorable. The chief soon arrived, and I communicated to him my intentions, directing him to send down and have houses provided for us, as also hogs and fruit, all of which he promised should be done. Before I left the hill I determined by firing a volley to show the natives that our muskets had not received as much injury as they had expected ; as I believed, under their impressions, at that moment, the Happahs would not have hesitated in making an attack on us, and to avoid any difficulties with them I thought it best to convince them we were still formidable. I had other motives also for firing, the Tayehs and Happahs, I knew, would accompany us into the Typee valley; and as I had put off our descent until the next day, I concluded that it would be best to give them timely notice of our approach, that they might be enabled to remove their women and children, their hogs, and most valuable effects ; for although I felt desirous of chastising them for their conduct, I wished to prevent the innocent from suffering, or the pillage and destruction of their-property by the Indians who accompanied us. I accordingly directed my men to assemble on the ridge and to fire a volley ; the Typees had not until then seen us, nor had they the least suspicion of our being there. As soon as they heard the report of our muskets, and discovered our numbers, which, with the multitude of Indians of both tribes who had now assembled, was very numerous, they shouted, beat their drums, and blew their war conches from one end of the valley to the other: and what with the squealing of the hogs, which they now began to catch, the screaming of the women and children, and the yelling of the men, the din was horrible.
After firing our volley, which went off better than I expected, we descended, with great difficulty, into the village of the Happahs, and were shown into the public square. Around this place were several vacant houses which had, in all appearance, been vacated on our account: in these I quartered my officers and men, assigning to each ship's crew their abode. The Happahs assembled about us, armed with their clubs and spears ; and the women, who had at first crowded round us, now began to abandon us. Everything bore the appearance of a hostile disposition on the'part of the Happahs : our friends the Tayehs cautioned us to be on our guard. I directed everyone to keep their arms in their hands, ready to assemble at a moment's warning. I now sent for their chief and required to know if they were hostilely disposed. I told him it was necessary we should have something to eat, and that I expected his people to bring us hogs and fruit, and if they did not do so I should be under the necessity of sending out parties to shoot them and cut down their fruit trees, as our people were too much fatigued to climb them. I also directed that they should lay by their spears and clubs. No notice being taken of these demands, I caused many of their spears and clubs to be taken from them and broken, and sent parties out to shoot hogs, while others were employed in cutting down cocoa-nut and banana trees until we had a sufficient supply.
The chiefs and the people of the Happah tribe now became intimidated and brought the baked hogs in greater abundance than were required ; friendship was re-established, and the women returned. When night approached, proper lookouts were placed, fires made before each house : those of the tribe of Tayehs remained with us, the Happahs retired. All not on guard devoted themselves to sleep, and at daylight, next morning, we equally divided our ammunition, and the line of march was formed. All had put their arms in a good state for service, and all were fresh and vigorous; each being supplied with a small quantity of provisions for the day.
On ascending the ridge, where we had passed such a disagreeable night, we halted to take breath, and view, for a few minutes, this delightful valley, which was soon to become a scene of desolation. From the hill we had a distant view of every part, and all appeared equally delightful. The valley was about nine miles in length and three or four in breadth, surrounded on every part, except the beach, where we formerly landed, by lofty mountains ; the upper part was bounded by a precipice of many hundred feet in height, from the top of which a handsome sheet of water was precipitated, and formed a beautiful river, which ran meandering through the valley and discharged itself at the beach. Villages were scattered here and there; the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees flourished luxuriantly and in abundance; plantations laid out in good order, inclosed with stone walls, were in a high state of cultivation, and everything bespoke industry, abundance, and happiness—never in my life did I witness a more delightful scene, or experience more repugnance than I now, felt for the necessity which compelled me to punish a happy and heroic people.
A large assemblage of Typee warriors were posted on the opposite banks of the river (which glided near the foot of the mountain) and dared us to descend. In their rear was a fortified village, secured by strong stone walls; drums were beating and war conches were sounding in several parts, and so soon found they were disposed to make every effort to oppose us. I gave orders to descend; Mouina offered himself as our guide, and I directed him to lead us to their principal village : but finding the fatigue of going down the mountain greater than I expected, I gave orders to halt before crossing the river, to give time for the rear to close, which had become much scattered, and that all might rest. As soon as we reached the foot of the mountain we were annoyed by a shower of stones from the bushes, and from behind the stone walls; but a«s we were also enabled to shelter ourselves behind others, and being short of ammunition I would not permit any person to fire.—After resting a few minutes I directed the scouting parties to gain the opposite bank of the river, and followed with the main body.
We were greatly annoyed with stones, and before all had crossed, the fortified village was taken without any loss on our side. Their chief warrior and another were killed, and several wounded—they retreated only to stone walls, situated on higher grounds^ where they continued to sling their stones and throw their spears. Three of my men were wounded, and many of the Typees killed before we dislodged them ; parties were sent out in different directions to scour the woods, and another fort was taken after some resistance; but the party, overpowered by numbers, were compelled to retreat to the main body after keeping possession of it half an hour. We were waiting in the fort first taken for the return of our scouting parties—a multitude of Tayehs and Happahs were with us, and many were on the outskirts of the village seeking for plunder:
Lieutenant M'Knight had driven a party from a strong wall on the high ground, and had possession of it, when a large party of Typees, which had been lying in ambush, rushed by his fire, and darted into the fort with their spears : the Tayehs and Happahs all raw, the Typees approached within pistol shot, but on the first fire retreated precipitately, crossing the fire of Mr. M'Knight's party, and although none fell, we had reason to believe that many were wounded/ The spears and stones were flying from the bushes in every direction, and although we killed and wounded in this place great numbers of them, we were satisfied, from the opposition made, that we should have to fight our whole way through the valley.
It became now necessary to guard against a useless consumption of ammunition the scouting parties had returned, and some had expended all their cartridges; I exhorted them to be more careful of them, and after having given them a fresh supply, forbid any firing from the main body, unless we should be attacked by great numbers. I now left a party in this place, posted in a house, with the wounded, and another party in ambush behind a wall, and directed Mouina to lead us to the next village ; but before marching I sent a messenger to inform the Typees that we should cease hostilities when they no longer made resistance, but so long as stones were thrown I should destroy their villages. No notice was taken of this message. We continued our march up the valley, and met in our way several beautiful villages, which were set on fire, and at length arrived at their capital, for it deserves the name of one. We had been compelled to fight every inch of ground, as we advanced, and here they made considerable opposition ; the place was however, soon carried, and I very reluctantly set fire to it.
The beauty and regularity of this place was such, as to strike every spectator with astonishment, and their grand site, or public square, was far superior to any other we had met with; numbers of their gods were here destroyed, several large and elegant new war canoes, which had never been used were burnt in the houses that sheltered them; many of their drums, which they had been compelled to abandon, were thrown into the flames, and our Indians loaded themselves with plunder, after destroying breadfruit and other trees, and all the young plants they could find; we had now arrived at the upper end of the valley, about nine miles from the beach, and at the foot of the water-fall above mentioned; the day was advancing; we had yet much to do, and it was necessary to hasten our return to the fort first taken, where we arrived after being about four hours absent, leaving behind us a scene of ruin and desolation. I had hoped that the Typees had now abandoned all further thoughts of resistance ; but on my return to the fort I found the parties left there had been annoyed the whole time of my absence ; but being sheltered from the stones and short of ammunition, they had not fired on the enemy.
This fort was situated exactly half-way up the valley; to return by the road we descended the hill would have been impossible, it became therefore necessary to go to the beach, where I was informed that the difficulty of ascending the mountains would not be so great; many were exhausted with fatigue, and began to feel the cravings of hunger, and I directed a halt, that all might rest and refresh themselves. After resting about half an hour I directed the Indians to take care of our wounded : we formed the line of march and proceeded down the valley, and in our route destroyed several other villages, at all of which we had some skirmishing with the enemy. At one of those places, situated at the foot of a steep hill, they rolled enormous stones down, with a view of crushing us to death, but they did us no injury. The number of villages destroyed amounted to ten, and the destruction of trees and plants and the plunder carried off by the Indians is almost incredible. The Typees fought us to the last, and even at first harassed our rear on our return; but parties left in ambush soon put a stop to any further annoyance. We at length came to the formidable fort which checked our career on our first day's enterprise, and although I had witnessed many instances of the great exertion and ingenuity of these islanders, I never had supposed them capable of contriving and erecting a work like this, so well calculated for strength and defense.
There are but three entrances into this valley, one on the west, which we descended, one on the east, and one from the beach. No force whatever had before dared to attack them on the west, on account of the impossibility of retreating, in case of a repulse, which they calculated on as certain. The passage on the east led from the valley of their friends, and that from' the beach was guarded by fortresses deemed impregnable, and justly so against any force which could be brought against them unassisted by artillery. On viewing the strength of this place I could not help felicitating myself on the kicky circumstance which had induced me to attack them by land, for I believed we should have failed in an attempt on this place.
On my arrival at the beach I met Tavee and many of his, the Shoueme tribe, together with the chiefs of the Happahs. Tavee was the bearer of a white flag and several of the same emblems of peace were flying on the different hills around his valley; he was desirous of knowing whether I intended going to their valley, and wished to be informed when he should again bring presents, and what articles he should bring : he inquired if I would still be his friend and reminded me that I was Temaa Typee, the chief of the valley of Shoueme, and that his was Tavee. I gave him assurances of my friendship, requested him to return and allay the fears of the women, who, he informed me, were in the utmost terror, apprehensive of an attack from me. The chiefs of the Happahs invited me to return to their valley, assuring me that an abundance of everything was already provided for us, and the girls, who had assembled in great numbers dressed out in their best attire welcomed our return with smiles, and notwithstanding our wet and dirty situation—for it had been raining the greater part of the day—convinced us by their looks and gestures that they were disposed to give us the most friendly reception.
Gattanewa met me on the side of the hill as I was ascending : the old man's heart was full, he could not speak; he placed both my hands on his head, rested his forehead on my knees, and after a short pause, raising himself, placed his hands on my breast, exclaiming, Gattanewa! and then on his own said, Apotee, to remind me we had exchanged names.
When I had reached the summit of the mountain, I stopped to contemplate that valley which, in the morning, we had viewed in all its beauty, the scene of abundance and happiness—a long line of smoking ruins now marked our traces from one end to the other; the opposite hills were covered with the unhappy fugitives, and the whole presented a scene of desolation and horror. Unhappy and heroic people! the victims,, of your own courage and mistaken pride, while the instruments of your own fate, shed the tears of pity over your misfortunes, thousands of your countrymen— nay, brethren of the same family—triumphed in your distresses!
I shall not fatigue myself or the reader by a longer account of this expedition ; we spent the night with the Happahs, who supplied us most abundantly, and next morning, at daylight, started for Madison's Yille, where we arrived about eight o'clock, after an absence of three nights and two days, during which time we marched upward of sixty miles, by paths which had never before been trodden but by the natives. Several of 'my stoutest men were for a long time laid up by sickness occasioned by their excessive fatigue, and one (Corporal Mahan oi the marines) died two days after his return.
The day of our return was devoted to rest; a messenger was, however, dispatched to the Typees informing them I was still willing to make peace, and that I should not allow them to return to their valley until they had come on terms of friendship with us. The messenger on his return informed me that the Typees on his arrival, were in the utmost consternation; but that my message had diffused the most lively joy among them : there was nothing they desired more than peace, and they.would be willing to purchase my friendship on any terms. He informed me that a flag of truce would be sent in next day to know my conditions.
On the arrival of the Typee flag, which was borne by a chief accompanied by a priest, I informed them that I still insisted on a compliance with the conditions formerly offered them, to-wit, an exchange of presents and peace: with myself and the tribes who had allied themselves to me. They readily consented to these terms, and requested to know the number of hogs I should require, stating that they had lost but few} and should be enabled to supply us abundantly; I told them I should expect from them four hundred, which they assured me should be delivered without delay. Flags were now sent to me again from all the tribes in the island, even the most remote and inconsiderable, with large presents of hogs and fruit, and we had never at any time since we had been on the island experienced such abundance.
Peace now being established throughout the island, and the utmost harmony reigning, not only between us and the Indians, but between the different tribes, they mixed with one another about our village in the most friendly manner, and the different chiefs with the priests came daily to visit me. They were all much delighted that a general peace had been brought about, that they might now all visit the different parts of the island in safety; and many of the oldest men assured me that they had never before been out of the valley in which they were born. They repeatedly expressed their astonishment and admiration that I should have been enabled to effect so much in so short a time, and that I should have been able to extend my influence so far as to give them such complete protection, not only in the valley of Tieuhoy, but among the tribes with which they had been at war from the earliest periods, and had heretofore been considered their natural enemies. I informed them that I should shortly leave them and should return again at the expiration of a year. I exhorted them to remain at peace with one another, and assured them that if they should be at war on my return, I should punish the tribes most in fault. They all gave me the strongest assurances of a disposition to remain on good terms, not only with me and my people, but with one another.
I now was enabled to make little excursions occasionally into different parts of the valley, and visit the natives at their houses, which was what I had not been enabled to do heretofore, as my various occupations had kept me much confined to our village. On these occasions I always met the most hospitable and friendly reception from the natives of both sexes. Cocoa-nuts and whatever else they had were offered me, and I rarely returned home without several little tie-ties as a token of their regard, I generally took with me seeds of different descriptions, with which I was provided, such as melons, pumpkins, peas, beans, oranges, limes, etc., together with peach stones, wheat and Indian corn, which were planted within the inclosures, in the most suitable places for them, the natives always assisting in pulling up the weeds and clearing the ground for planting them. The nature of the different kinds of vegetables and fruit that each kind of grain would produce was explained to them, and they all promised to take the utmost care of them and prevent the hogs from doing them any injury. I directed them not to pull any of the fruit until they had consulted Wilson to know if they were ripe. Among all the seeds that were sown there was none which gave them so much pleasure as the wheat, which they called maie, which is the name they gave the bread-fruit; they would not believe, however, at first that it was from this grain we made our bread (which they also called maie, but sometimes potato) until I had ground some of the grain between two stones, and showed them the flour, which produced from them the most joyous exclamations of maie ! maie ! maie ! and all began to clear away spots for sowing the grain, and bringing me leaves and cocoa-nut shells, begging that I would give them some to take home to plant.
I endeavored to impress them with an idea of the value of the seeds I was planting, and explained to them the different kinds of fruit they would produce, assuring them of their excellence, and as a farther inducement to them to attend their cultivation, I promised them that, on my return, I would give them a whale's tooth for every ripe pumpkin and melon they would bring me; and to the chiefs of the distant tribes, to whom I distributed the different kinds of seeds, I made the same promise. I also gave them several English hogs of a superior breed, which they were very anxious to procure. I left in charge of Wilson some male and female goats, and as I had a number of young Galapagos tortoises, I distributed several among the chiefs, and permitted a great many to escape into the bushes and among the grass.
In one of those excursions, I was led to the chief place of religious ceremony of the valley. It is situated high up the valley of the Havvous, in a fine grove, and I regret extremely that I had it not in my power to make a correct drawing of it on the spot, as it far exceeds in splendor everything of the kind described by Captain Cook, or represented in the plates which accompany his voyage.
Some time previous to this I had been tabbooed at my request by Grattanewa; this gave me the privilege of visiting and examining all their places of religious worship, and I now took advantage of my right in going into the grove among the gods, accompanied by the attendants on the place Wilson could not accompany me there, and I was not enabled to make inquiry on many subjects ; but observing that they treated all their gods with little respect, frequently catching them by their large ears, drawing my attention to their wide mouths, their flat noses, and large eyes, and pointing out to me, by signs, all their other deformities, I told "Wilson to inform them I thought they treated their gods very disrespectfully—they told me that those were like themselves, mere attendants on their divinity, as they were on the priest; that I had not yet seen their greatest of all gods, that he was in a small house, which they pointed out, situated at the corner of the grove ; and on my expressing a desire to see him, after a short consultation among themselves, they brought him out on the branch of a cocoa-nut tree, when I was surprised to find him only a parcel of paper cloth secured to a piece of a spear about four feet long; it in some measure.resembled a child in swaddling cloths, and the part intended to represent the head had a number of strips of cloth hanging from it about a foot in length ; I could not help laughing at the ridiculous appearance of the god they worshiped, in which they all joined me with a great deal of good humor, some of them dandling and nursing the god, as a child would her doll.
I endeavored to ascertain whether they had an idea of a future state, rewards and punishments, and the nature of their heaven. As respects the latter they believed it to be an island, somewhere in the sky, abounding with everything desirable ; that those killed in war and carried off by their friends go there, provided they are furnished with a canoe and provisions, but that those who are carried off by the enem}7, never reach it unless a sufficient number of the enemy can be obtained to paddle his canoe there, and for this reason they were so anxious to procure a crew for their priest, who was killed and carried off by the Happahs. They have neither rewards nor punishments in this world, and I could not learn that they expected any in the next—their religion, however, is like a plaything, an amusement to them, and I very much doubt whether they, at any moment, give it a serious thought; their priests and jugglers manage those matters for them ; what they tell them they believe, and do not put themselves to the trouble of considering whether it is right or wrong. They are very credulous, and will as readily believe in one religion as another. I have explained to them the nature of the Christian religion, in a manner to suit their ideas; they listened with much attention, appeared pleased with the novelty of it, and agreed that our God must be greater than theirs. Our chaplain Mr. Adams endeavored to collect from one o^ their priests some notions of his religion, and among other things inquired of him whether, according to their belief, the body was translated to the other world or only the spirit; the priest, after a considerable pause, at length replied, that the flesh and bones went to the earth, but that all within went to the sky': from his manner, however, the question seemed greatly to embarrass him, and it appeared as though a new field was opened to his view.
Besides the gods at the burying-place, or morai, for so it is called by them, they have their household gods, which are hung round their necks, generally made of human bones, and others, which are carved on the handles of their fans, on their stilts, their canes, and more particularly on their war clubs; but those gods are not held in any estimation, they are sold, exchanged, and given away with the same indifference as any other object, and indeed the most precious relics, the skulls and other bones of their relations, are disposed of with equal indifference.
When we were at war with the Typees, the Happahs and Tayehs made a strict search in the houses of the enemy for the skulls of their ancestors, who had been slain in battle (knowing where they were deposited); many were found, and the. possessors seemed rejoiced that they had recovered from the enemy so inestimable a relic. Dr. Hoffman seeing a man with three or four skulls strung round his waist, asked him for them, and they were given up immediately, although they had belonged to his father, brother, or some near relation. Next day several appeared at the village with the skulls to traffic for harpoons. A very old man came to the village as a representative from one of the tribes, and wishing to make me a present and having nothing else to give me, took from his neck a string of bones cut in the form of their gods, and assured me they were the bones of his grandmother.
In religion these people are mere children; their morais are their baby houses, and their gods are their dolls. I have seen Gattanewa with all his sons, and many others sitting for hours together clapping their hands and singing before a number of little wooden gods laid out in small houses erected for the occasion, and ornamented with strips of cloth; they were such houses as a child would have made, of about two feet long and eighteen inches high, and no less than ten or twelve of them in a cluster like a small village; by the side of this were several canoes, furnished with their jmldles, seines, harpoons, and other fishing apparatus, and round the whole a line was drawn to show that the place was tabooed \ within this line was Gattanewa and others, like overgrown babies, singing and clapping their hands, sometimes laughing and talking, and appeared to give their ceremony no attention; he asked me if the place was not very fine ; and it was on this occasion that he tabooed me, in order to give me an opportunity of approaching the gods and examining them more closely. The whole ceremony of tabooing me consisted in taking a piece of white cloth from the hole through his ear, and tying it around my hat as a band : I wore this badge for several days, and simple as it was, every one I passed would call taboo, and avoid touching, me. I inquired the cause of this ceremony of Gattanewa, and he told me he was going to catch tortoise for the gods, and that he should have to pray to them several days and nights for success during which time he should be tabooed and dare not enter a house frequented by women.
Tattooing among these people is performed by means of a machine made of bone something like a comb with the teeth only on one side; the points of the teeth are rubbed with a black paint made of burnt cocoa-nut shell ground to powder, and mixed with water; this is struck into the flesh by means of a heavy piece of wood which serves the purpose of a hammer; the operation is extremely painful and streams of blood follow every blow, yet pride induces them to bear this torture, and they even suffer themselves to be tied down while the operation is performing in order that their agony may not interrupt the operator. The men commence tattooing as soon as they are able to bear the pain ; they begin at the age of eighteen or nineteen and are rarely completely tattooed until they arrive at the age of thirtyfive. The women begin about the same age ; they have only their legs, aims, and hands tattooed—which is done with extraordinary neatness and delicacy—and some slight lines drawn across their lips. It is also the practice with some to have the inside of their lips tattooed, but the object of this ornament I could never find out, as it is never seen unless they turn out their lips to show it. Every tribe in the island, I observed, were tattooed after a different fashion, and I was informed that every line had its meaning, and gave to the bearer certain privileges at their feasts. This practice of tattooing sometimes occasions sores which fester and are several weeks before they heal; it however never produces any serious consequences, or leaves any scars behind.
On the 9th December I had all my provisions, wood, and water on board, my decks filled with hogs, and a most abundant supply of -cocoa-nuts and bananas, with which we had been furnished by the liberality of our jstooaheevan friends, who had reserved for us a stock of dried cocoa-nuts, suitable for taking to sea, and wore calculated for keeping three or four months.
I now found it necessary to stop the liberty I had heretofore given to my people, and directed that every person should remain on board and work late and early to hasten the departure of the ship ; but three of my crew determined on having a parting kiss, and to obtain it, swam on shore at night; they were caught on the beach and brought to me. I immediately caused them to be confined in irons, and determined to check any farther disobedience of my orders by the most exemplary punishment. I next morning caused them to be punished severely at the gangway, and set them to work in chains with my prisoners : this severity excited some discontent and murmurings among the crew, but it effectually prevented a recurrence.
Nooaheevah had many charms for a sailor, and had part of my crew felt disposed to remain there, I knew-they would not absent themselves until the moment before my departure. This affair had, however, like to have ended seriously; my crew did not see the same motives for restraint as myself, they had long been indulged, and they thought it now hard to be deprived of their usual liberty: one kiss now was worth a thousand at any other time; they were restless, discontented, and unhappy. The girls lined the beach from morning until night, and every moment importuned me to take the taboos off the men, and laughingly expressed their grief by dipping their fingers into the sea and touching their eyes, so as to let the salt water trickle down their cheeks. Others would seize a chip, and holding it in the manner of a shark's tooth, declared they would cut themselves to pieces in despair; some threatened to beat their brains out with a spear of grass, some to drown themselves, and all were determined to inflict on themselves some dreadful punishment if I did not permit their sweethearts to come on shore. The men did not bear it with so much good humor: their situation, they said, was worse than slavery."
On the 12th Commodore Porter, having the Essex and Essex Junior ready for sea, sailed for the coast of South America to cruise against the enemy. Previous to leaving he had the remainder of the prizes warped in under the guns of the fort. The command of the fort was given to Lieutenant Gamble, of the marines, who had under him Messers. Feltus and Clapp two of tha midshipmen, and twenty-one men. Captain Porter's object in leaving these vessels was to secure the means of future repairs to his ships, and to avoid an unnecessary detention, he gave Lieutenant Gamble orders to leave tho island in five and a half months if he should not hear from him in tho meantime.
The Essex had no sooner disappeared than the savages began to show a turbulent disposition. This was for the time quieted. Soon after one of the men was drowned and four deserted in a whaleboat. In April a part of the men mutinied and sailed away in the Seringapatam. In May the natives attacked them and killed midshipman Feltus and three of the men and severely wounded another. The whole party was now reduced to eight individuals of whom only four were fit for duty. With these Mr. Gamble got to sea in the Sir Andrew Hammond and went into the Sandwich islands where he was soon after captured by the Cherub. He there learned the fate of the Essex, which on the last of March, after a bloody and long sustained battle with the British ships Phoebe and Cherub, in the neutral harbor of Valparaiso, had surrendered. The action had been fought under great disadvantages with a far superior force of the enemy, and with a bravery that reflected great credit upon Captain Porter : indeed he refused to surrender until his principal officers, and more than one half of his crew, had been killed or wounded. Just before going into the action a squall of wind had carried away the main topmast of the Essex, so that Captain Porter could not maneuver his vessel. She therefore lay completely in the power of the enemy who could choose his own position and distance and with his guns of longer reach pour in the shot upon his crippled antagonist, without the latter having the shadow of a chance of a successful defense.
Thus terminated this enterprising and singular cruise. Its end was as disastrous as its commencement had been fortunate; and its whole history was romantic and highly creditable to the spirit, resources and self-reliance of the master mind who originated and carried it into execution.
Captain Porter was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, where he was born in 1780, so that at the time of starting on this eventful cruise he was but thirty-two years of age. On the termination of the war in 1815 he was appointed a naval commissioner, and performed the duties of that office until 1821. Subsequently, in relation to an insult offered the American flag at Forado, in Porto Eico, of which he was cognizant, he obliged the authorities of the place to make a due apology. He had no orders to do so ; and consequently was suspended for six mouths by a court-martial. He thereupon resigned his commission and joined the Mexican navy. In 1829, President Jackson appointed him minister to Constantinople, where he rendered his country most valuable aid, in the formation of treaties. He died in 1843, at the age of sixty-three years.
Captain Porter was the author of the celebrated motto, " Free Trade and Sailor's Kights." On his return from his celebrated cruise, he was everywhere received with the highest honors. Congress and the several States gave him a vote of thanks, and by universal acclamation he was called " the Hero of the Pacific."
1812
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1813
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1814
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1815
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1/8/1815
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1/15/1815
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2/20/1815
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3/23/1815
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6/30/1815
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