A General History & Collection of Voyages and Travels ... - Nauticus

[4] "In the morning, the weather being clear again, Dr Sparrman, my father, and myself, went to theIndian Cove, which we found uninhabited. A path, made by the natives, led through the forest aconsiderable way up the steep mountain, which separates this cove from Shag Cove. The onlymotive which could induce the New Zealanders to make this path, appeared to be the abundance offerns towards the summit of the mountain, the roots of that plant being an article of their diet. Thesteepest part of the path was cut in steps, paved with shingle or slate, but beyond that the climbersimpeded our progress considerably. About half way up, the forest ended, and the rest was coveredwith various shrubs and ferns, though it appeared to be naked and barren from the ship. At thesummit we met with many plants which grow in the vallies, and by the sea-side, at Dusky Bay,owing to the difference of the climate, which is so much more vigorous in that southern extremity ofNew Zealand. The whole to the very top consists of the same talcous clay, which is universal allover the island, and of a talcous stone, which, when exposed to the sun and air, crumbles in pieces,and dissolves into lamellae. Its colour is whitish, greyish, and sometimes tinged with a dirtyyellowish-red, perhaps owing to irony particles. The south side of the mountain is clad in forests,almost to the summit. The view from hence was very extensive and pleasing: We looked into EastBay as into a fish-pond, and saw Cape Tera-wittee beyond the Strait. The mountains in the southarose to a vast height, and were capt with snow; and the whole prospect on that side was wild andchaotic."--G.F.On the 13th, clear and pleasant weather. Early in the morning the natives brought us a quantity of fish,which they exchanged as usual. But their greatest branch of trade was the green talc or stone, called bythem Poenammoo, a thing of no great value; nevertheless it was so much sought after by our people, thatthere was hardly a thing they would not give for a piece of it.[5][5] "Our sailors carried on their former amours with the women, amongst whom there was but onewho had tolerable features, and something soft and humane in her looks. She was regularly given inmarriage by her parents to one of our ship-mates, who was particularly beloved by this nation, fordevoting much of his time to them, and treating them with those marks of affection, which, evenamong a savage race, endear mankind to one another. Togheeree, for so the girl was called, provedas faithful to her husband as if he had been a New Zealander, and constantly rejected the addressesof other seamen, professing herself a married woman, (tirratane.) Whatever attachment theEnglishman had to his New Zealand wife, he never attempted to take her on board, foreseeing that itwould be highly inconvenient to lodge the numerous retinue which crowded in her garments, andweighed down the hair of her head. He, therefore, visited her on shore, and only day by day, treatingher with plenty of the rotten part of our biscuit, which we rejected, But which she and all hercountrymen eagerly devoured."--G.F.The 15th being a pleasant morning, a party of us went over to the East Bay, and climbed one of the hillswhich overlooked the eastern part of the Strait, in order to look for the Adventure. We had a fatiguing walkto little purpose; for when we came to the summit, we found the eastern horizon so foggy, that we couldnot see above two miles. Mr Forster, who was one of the party, profited by this excursion, in collectingsome new plants. I now began to despair of seeing the Adventure any more; but was totally at a loss toconceive what was become of her. Till now, I thought she had put into some port in the Strait, when thewind came to N.W., the day we anchored in the Cove, and waited to complete her water. This conjecturewas reasonable enough at first, but it was now hardly probable she could be twelve days in ourneighbourhood, without our either hearing or seeing something of her.The hill we now mounted is the same that I was upon in 1770, when I had the second view of the Strait:We then built a tower, with the stones we found there, which we now saw had been levelled to the ground;no doubt by the natives, with a view of finding something hid in it. When we returned from the hill, wefound a number of them collected round our boat. After some exchanges, and making them some presents,