menu_book Chapter 34

Section 34 of Celebrated Travels and Travelers, Volume 3. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Richard Aroxar, Seattle. Celebrated Travels and Travelers, Volume 3.

The Great Explorers and Travelers of the 19th Century. By Jules Verne. Second Part, Chapter 2, Part 2, French Circumnavigators, 10 D'Urville made no pause in the hydrographical survey of the northern island of New Zealand, keeping up daily communication with the natives, who brought him supplies of pigs and potatoes.

According to their own statements, the tribes were perpetually at war with one another, and this was the true cause of the decrease in the population of these islands. Their constant demand was for firearms. Failing to obtain these, they were satisfied if they could get powder in exchange for their own commodities. On the 10th February, when not far from Cape Runaway,

the corvette was caught in a violent storm which lasted for 36 hours, and she was more than once on the point of foundering. After this, she made her way into the Bay of Plenty, at the bottom of which rises Mount Edgecombe. Then, keeping along the coast,

the islands of Hote and Major were sighted. But during this exploration of the bay, the weather was so severe that the chart of it then laid down cannot be considered very trustworthy.

After leaving this bay, the corvette reached the Bay of Mercury, surveyed Barrier Island, entered Churaki, or Hauraki Bay, identified the hen and chickens and the poor knight's islands,

finally arriving at the Bay of Islands. The native tribes met with Durville in this part of the island were busy with an expedition against those of Shu'araki and Waikato Bays. For the purpose of exploring the former bay, which had been imperfectly surveyed by Cook,

Durville sailed back to it and discovered that that part of the new zealand is indented with a number of harbors and gulfs of great depth each one being safer if possible than the other having been informed that by following the direction of the wai magoya a place would be reached distant only a very short journey from the large port of manukau he dispatched some of his officers by that route and they verified the correctness of the information he had received This discovery, observes Dumont d'Urville, may become of great value to future settlements of Shuraki Bay, and this value will be still farther increased, should the new surveys prove that the

port of Manukau is accessible to vessels of a certain size, for such a settlement would command two seas, one on the east and the other on the west. One of the Rangatiras, as the chiefs of that quarter of the island are called, Rangui by name, had again and again begged the commander to give him some lead to make bullets with, a request which was always refused. Just before setting sail, Durville was informed that the deep sea lead had been carried off, and he had once reproached

Rangui in severe terms, telling him that such petty larcenies were unworthy of a man in a respectable position. The chief appeared to be deeply moved by the reproach, and excused himself by saying that he had no knowledge of the theft which must have been committed by some stranger. Quote, a short time afterwards, end quote, the narrative goes on to say, quote, my attention was drawn to the side of the ship by the sound of blows given with great force and piteous cries

proceeding from the canoe of Rangui. There I saw Rangui and Tawiti striking blow after blow with their paddles upon an object resembling the figure of a man covered with a cloak. It was easy to perceive that the two wily chiefs were simply beating one of the benches of the canoe.

After this farce had been played for some little time, Rangui's paddle broke in his hands. The sham man was made to appear to fall down. when Rangui, addressing me, said that he had just killed the thief and wished to know whether that would satisfy me.

I assured him that it would, laughing to myself at the artifice of these savages, an artifice, for that matter, such as is often to be met with among people more advanced in civilization. End quote. Gervil next surveyed the lovely island of Waiheke

and thus terminated the survey of the Australabe Channel and Hauraki Bay. He then resumed his voyage in a northerly direction towards the Bay of Islands, sailing as far as Cape Maria van Diemen, the most northerly point of New Zealand, where, say the Waidonas, the souls of the departed gather from all parts of Ika-na-Mawi

to take their final flight to the realms of light. or to those of eternal darkness the bay of islands at the time when the coquille put in there was alive with a pretty considerable population with whom the visitors soon became on friendly terms Now, however, the animation of former days had given place to the silence of desolation. The Ipa, or rather the Pa of Kahu Vira, once the abode of an energetic tribe, was deserted. War had done its customary destructive work in the place.

The Songhui tribe had stolen the possessions and dispersed the members of the tribe of Paroa. The Bay of Islands was the place chosen for their field of effort by the English missionaries, who, notwithstanding their devotion to their work, had not made any progress among the natives. The unproductiveness of their labors was only too apparent. The survey of the eastern side of New Zealand, a hydrographical work of the utmost importance,

terminated at this point. Since the days of Cook, no exploration of anything like such a vast extent of the coast of this country had been conducted in so careful a manner in the face of so many perils. The sciences of geography and navigation were both signally benefited by the skillful and detailed work of Durville, who had to give proof of exceptional qualities in the midst of sudden and terrible dangers.

however on his return to france no notice was taken of the hardships he had undergone or the devotion to duty he had shown he was left without recognition and duties were assigned to him the performance of which could bring no distinction for they could have been equally well discharged by any ordinary ship's captain leaving new zealand on the 18th of march 1827 d'urville steered for Tonga Tabu, identified to begin with the islands Curtis, Macaulay, and Sunday,

endeavored, but without success, to find the island of Vasquez de Mausel, and arrived off Namuka on the 16th of April. Two days later he made out Eoa, but before reaching Tonga Tabu, he encountered a terrible storm, which all but proved fatal to the astrolabe. At Tonga Tabu he found some Europeans, who had been for many years settled on the island.

From them he received much help in getting to understand the character of the natives. The government was in the hands of three chiefs, called Ekis, who had shared all authority between them since the banishment of the Tonitonga, or spiritual chief, who had enjoyed immense influence. A Wesleyan mission was in existence at Tonga, but it could be seen at a glance that the Methodist

clergy had not succeeded in acquiring any influence over the natives. Such converts as had been made were held in general contempt for their apostasy. When the Australabe had reached the Anchorage, after her fortunate escape from the perils from contrary winds, currents, and rocks which had beset her course, she was at once positively overwhelmed with the offer of an incredible quantity of stores, fruits, vegetables, fowls, and pigs, which the natives were ready to dispose of

for next to nothing. For equally low prices, D'Urville was able to purchase, for the museum, specimens of the arms and native productions of the savages amongst them were some clubs most of them made of casuarina wood skillfully carved or embossed in an artistic manner with mother-of-pearl or with whalebone the custom of amputating a joint or two of the fingers or toes to propitiate the deity was still observed in the case of a near relative being dangerously ill from the twenty eighth of april the natives had manifested none but the most friendly feelings no single disturbance had occurred but on the ninth of may while d'urville with almost all his officers went to pay a visit to one of the leading chiefs named palou the reception accorded to them was marked with a most unusual reserve altogether inconsistent with the noisy and enthusiastic demonstrations of the preceding days the distrust evinced by the islanders aroused that of d'urville who remembering how few were the men left on board the astrolabe

felt considerable uneasiness. However, nothing unusual happened during his absence from the ship, but it was only the cowardice of Palu which had caused the failure of a conspiracy, aiming at nothing less than the massacre, at one blow, of the whole of the staff, after which there would have been no difficulty in prevailing over the crew, who were already more than half disposed to adopt the easy mode of life of the islanders. Such, at least,

was the conclusion the commander came to, and subsequent events showed that he was right. These apprehensions determined Durville to leave Tonga Tabu as quickly as possible, and on the 13th every preparation was made to set sail on the following day. The apprentice Dudamen was walking about on the large island, whilst the apprentice Farakwet, with nine men, was engaged on the small island, Pangae Modu, in getting fresh water,

or studying the tide when tahofa one of the chiefs with several other islanders then on board the astrolabe gave a signal the canoes pushed off at once and made for the shore on trying to discover the cause of the sudden retreat It was observed that the sailors on the island Pangai Modu were being forcibly dragged off by the natives. D'Urville was about to fire off a cannon when he decided that it would be safer to send a boat to shore. This boat took off the two sailors and the apprentice Dudaman, but was fired upon when dispatched shortly afterwards to set fire to the huts and to try to capture some natives as hostages.

One native was killed, and several others were wounded, whilst a corporal of the marines received such severe bayonet wounds that he died two hours later. D'Urville's anxiety about the fate of his sailors and of Farakwit, who was in command of them, knew no bounds. Nothing was left for him to do but to make an attack upon the sacred village of Mafanga,

containing the tombs of several of the principal families. But on the following day, a crowd of natives so skillfully surrounded the place with embankments and palisades, that it was impossible to hope to carry it by an attack. The corvette then drew nearer the shore, and began to cannonade the village, without, however, doing any other damage than killing one of the natives.

At length, the difficulty of obtaining provisions, the rain, and the continual alarm in which the firing of the Frenchmen kept them induced the islanders to offer terms of peace. They gave up the sailors, who had all been very well treated, made a present of pigs and bananas, and on the 24th of May the Astrolabe took her final departure from the friendly islands. It was quite time indeed that this was done, for Derville's situation was

and tenable, and in a conversation with his boatswain, he ascertained that not more than half a dozen of the sailors could be relied on. All the others were ready to go over to the sight of the savages. Tonga Tabu is of madriporic formation, with a thick covering of vegetable soil, favorable to an abundant growth of shrubs and trees. The cocoa tree, the stem of which is slenderer than elsewhere, and the banana tree here shoot up with wonderful rapidity and vigor.

The aspect of the land is flat and monotonous, so that a journey of one or two miles will give as fair an impression of the country as a complete tour of the island. The number of the population who have the true Polynesian caste of countenance may be put down at about 7,000. Durville says, quote, they combine the most opposite qualities. They are generous, courteous, and hospitable, yet avaricious, insolent, and always thoroughly insincere. The most profuse demonstration

of kindness and friendship may at any moment be interrupted by an act of outrage or robbery, should their cupidity or their self-respect be ever so slightly aroused, end quote. In intelligence, the natives of Tonga are clearly far superior to those of Otahete. The French travelers could not sufficiently admire the astonishing order in which the plantations of yams and bananas were kept,

the excessive neatness of their dwellings, and the beauty of the garden plots. They even knew something of the art of fortification, as Derville ascertained, by an inspection of the fortified village of Hifo, defended with stout palisades and surrounded by a trench between 15 and 20 feet wide and half filled with water. On the 25th of May, Durville began the exploration of the Viti or Fiji

Archipelago. At the outset, he was so fortunate as to fall in with a native of Tonga who was living on the Fiji Islands for purposes of trade and had previously visited Otahete, New Zealand and Australia. This man, as well as a Guam islander, proved most useful to the commander in furnishing him with the names of more than 200 islands belonging to this group, and in acquainting him beforehand with their position and that of the reefs in their neighborhood. At the same time,

Gressier, the hydrographer, collected all the materials requisite for preparing a chart of the Fiji Islands. At this station a sloop was put under orders to proceed to the island of Laguemba, where was an anchor which Durville would have been well pleased to obtain, as he had lost two of his own while at Tonga. On arrival at the island, Loten, who was in command of the sloop, observed on the shore none but women and children. Armed men, however, soon came running up,

made the women leave the place and were preparing to seize the sloop and make the sailors prisoners their intentions were too plain to leave room for any doubt on the subject so lotan at once gave orders to draw up the grapnel and got away into the open sea before there was time for an encounter to take place during eighteen consecutive days in the face of bad weather and a rough sea the australia cruised through the fiji archipelago surveyed the islands of Laguemba, Candabu, Vitilevu, Uembenga, Vatulele, Unonglebu, Malolo, and many others, giving special attention to the southern islands of the group, which up to that period had remained almost entirely unknown.

The population of this group, if we accept D'Irville's account, form a kind of transition between the copper-colored, or the Polynesian, and the black or Melanesian races. Their strength and vigor are in proportion to their tall figures, and they make no secret of their cannibal propensities.

On the 11th of June, the corvettes that sail for the harbor of Carteret surveyed one by one the islands of Aronan and Anatome, the Loyalty Islands, of which group d'Urville discovered the Chabrol and Halgan Islands, the little group of the Bopai Islands, the Astrolabe Reefs, all the more dangerous as they are 30 miles distant from the Bopai Islands and 60 from New Caledonia. The island of Huon and the

chain of reefs to the north of New Caledonia were subsequently surveyed. From this point, D'Urville reached the Louisiana Archipelago in six days, but the stormy weather there encountered determined him to abandon the course he had planned out and not to pass through Torres Straits. He thought that an early examination of the southern coast of New Britain and of the northern coast of New Guinea would be the most conducive to the interests of science.

Rossel Island and Cape Deliverance were next sighted, and the vessel was steered for New Ireland with a view to obtaining fresh supplies of wood and water. arriving there on the fifth of july in such gloomy rainy weather that it was with no small difficulty that the entrance of the harbour of carteret where d'antor castot made a stay of eight days was made out whilst there the trowlers received several visits from the score of natives who seemed to make up the total population of the place they were creatures possessed of scarcely any intelligence and quite destitute of curiosity about objects that they had not seen before neither did their appearance lead to the slightest prepossession in their favour they wore no vestige of clothing their skin was black and their hair woolly and the partition of the nostrils had a sharp bone thrust through by way of ornament

the only object that they showed any eagerness to possess was iron but they could not be made to understand that it was only to be given in exchange for fruits or pigs their expression was one of sullen defiance and they refused to guide any one whatever to their village during the unprofitable stay of the corvette in this harbor d'urville had a serious attack of enteritis from which he suffered much for several days On the 19th July, the Australide went to sea again and coasted the northern side of New Britain. The object of this cruise was frustrated by rainy and hazy weather. Continual squalls and heavy showers compelled the vessel to put off again as soon as it had succeeded in nearing the land.

His experience on this coast, D'Urville thus describes, Quote, and our observations could not possibly be other than uncertain when our own true position was doubtful. Altogether, the whole of our work upon New Britain, in spite of the unheard of hardships that fell to our lot and the risks which the astrolabe had to run, cannot be put in comparison for a moment

as respects accuracy with the other surveys of the expedition. End quote. As it was impracticable to fall back upon the route by the St. George's Channel, Durville had to pass through Dampierre Strait, the southern entrance to which is all but entirely closed by a chain of reefs,

which were grazed more than once by the astrolabe. The charming prospect of the western coast of New Britain excited intense admiration both in Dampierre and D'Entre-Castaud, an enthusiasm fully shared by Durville, a safe roadstead enclosed by land forming a semicircle, forests whose dark foliage contrasted with the golden color of the ripening fields,

the hull surmounted by the lofty peaks of Mount Cloucester, and this variety still further enhanced by the undulating outlines of Rook Island, by the chief features of the picture here presented by the coast of New Britain. On issuing from the strait, the mountains of New Guinea rose grandly in the distance, and on a nearer approach they were seen to form a sort of half-circle,

shutting in the arm of the sea, known as the Bay of Astrolabe. The Schutten Islands, the Creek of the Attack, parentheses, the place where Derville had to withstand an onset of savages, end parentheses, Humboldt Bay, Gilwink Bay, the Traitor Islands, Toby and Missouri, the Arfak Mountains, were one after another recognized and passed when the astrolabe, at length, came to an anchor in

Port Dore in order to connect her operations with those accomplished by the coquille. Friendly intercourse was at once established with the Papuans of that place, who brought on board a number of birds of paradise, but not much in the shape of provisions. These natives are of so gentle and timid a disposition that only with great reluctance will they risk going into the woods through fear of the Arfakis, who dwell on the mountains and are their sworn enemies.

One of the sailors engaged in getting fresh water was wounded with an arrow shot by one of these savages, whom it was impossible to punish for a dastardly outrage prompted by no motive whatever. The land here is everywhere so fertile that it requires no more than turning over and weeding in order to yield the most abundant harvests. Yet the Papuans are so lazy and understand so little of the art of agriculture that the growth of food plants is often allowed to be choked with

weeds. The inhabitants belong to several races. Gervil divides them into three principal varieties, the Papuans, a mixed breed, belonging more or less to the Malay or Polynesian race, and the Harfus, or Alphurus, who resemble the common type of Australians, New Caledonians, and the ordinary Black Oceanic populations. These latter would appear to be the true indigenous people of the country.

End of section 34 Recording by Richard Aroksar Seattle