A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13Kerr, Robert
History
A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 13
Kerr, Robert
Voyages and travels
water, and rise several times at a great distance beyond the canoes;
This struck them with terror, and they paddled away without once looking
behind them.
About two in the afternoon, we saw a pretty high island bearing west
from us; and at five, saw more islands and rocks to the westward of
that. We hauled our wind in order to go without them, but could not
weather them before it was dark. I therefore bore up, and ran between
them and the main. At seven, I was close under the first, from which a
large double canoe, or rather two canoes lashed together at the distance
of about a foot, and covered with boards so as to make a deck, put off,
and made sail for the ship: This was the first vessel of the kind that
we had seen since we left the South Sea islands. When she came near, the
people on board entered very freely into conversation with Tupia, and,
we thought, showed a friendly disposition; but when it was just dark,
they ran their canoe close to the ship's side, and threw in a volley of
stones, after which they paddled ashore.
We learnt from Tupia, that the people in the canoe called the island
which we were under Mowtohora; it is but of a small circuit, though
high, and lies six miles from the main; on the south side is anchorage
in fourteen fathom water. Upon the main land, S.W. by W. of this island,
and apparently at no great distance from the sea, is a high round
mountain, which I called Mount Edgecumbe: it stands in the middle of a
large plain, and is therefore the more conspicuous; latitude 37° 59',
longitude 183° 7'.
In standing westward, we suddenly shoaled our water from seventeen to
ten fathom; and knowing that we were not far from the small islands and
rocks which we had seen before dark, and which I intended to have passed
before I brought-to for the night, I thought it more prudent to tack,
and spend the night under Mowtohora, where I knew there was no danger.
It was indeed happy for us that we did so; for in the morning, after we
had made sail to the westward, we discovered a-head of us several rocks,
some of which were level with the surface of the water, and some below
it: They lay N.N.E. from Mount Edgecumbe, one league and a half distant
from the island Mowtohora, and about nine miles from the main. We passed
between these rocks and the main, having from ten to seven fathom
water.
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