Chapter II: Captain Cook's Predecessors (4)

The water in which this combat took place was called the Warrior River, and the island received the name of Choiseul, in honour of the French Minister of Marine.

On leaving this strait a new land was discovered--Bougainville Island, the southern extremity of which, called Laverdy Cape, appears to join Bouka Island. The latter, which Carteret had seen the preceding year, and which he named Winchelsea, appeared densely populated--if the cabins which abounded were any criterion.

The inhabitants, whom Bougainville classifies as Negroes, probably to distinguish them from the Polynesians and Malays, are Papuans, of the same race as the inhabitants of New Guinea. Their short curly hair was painted red, and the betel-nut, which they perpetually chewed, had communicated the same colour to their teeth. The coast with its cocoanut and other trees, promised plentiful refreshments, but contrary winds and currents quickly drew the ships away.

On the 6th of July Bougainville cast anchor on the southern coast of New Ireland, which had been discovered by Schouten, in Port Praslin, at the very point where Carteret had stopped.

"We sent our casks on shore," says the narrative, "and began to collect water and wood, and commence washing, all of which was most necessary. The disembarkation was splendid--upon fine sand, with neither rock nor wave.

"Four streams flowed into the harbour in a space measuring four hundred paces. We selected three, according to custom; one to supply water for _La Boudeuse_, one for the _Etoile_, and one for washing purposes. Wood was plentiful on the shore, and there were various kinds of it, all good for burning, and several first-rate for carpentery, joinery, and even toy-making.

"The two vessels were in hearing of each other and close to the shore. Again this part and its neighbourhood to a great distance were uninhabited--a fact which secured us precious peace and liberty. We could not have hoped for a surer anchorage, or a more convenient spot for water, wood, or the various repairs needed by the vessels. We were able to send the sufferers from scurvy to range the woods. But with all these advantages, the port had a few inconveniences. In spite of active search, neither cocoanut-trees nor bananas were to be found, nor any of the resources which either by consent or by force, could have been gained in an inhabited country. Fish was not abundant, and we could expect only safety and strictly necessary things. There was every fear that the sick would not re-establish their health. We had indeed no serious cases, but several were infected, and no improvement took place, and their malady could not have increased more rapidly."

They had been only a few days in port, when a sailor found a leaden plate upon which was an inscription in English. It was easy to guess that they had found the very spot where Carteret had made a stay the preceding year.

The resources offered by this country to sportsmen were mediocre in the extreme. They did indeed catch sight of a few boars or wild pigs, but it was impossible to hit them. To make up for this they shot most beautiful pigeons, the bodies and necks of grey-white, and of golden green plumage, turtle-doves, parroquets, crested birds, and a species of crow, whose cry was so like the baying of a dog, as to be mistaken for it. The trees were large and magnificent, amongst them the betel, the areca, and the pepper-tree. Malignant reptiles swarm in these marshy lands, and in the ancient forests, serpents, scorpions, and other venomous reptiles abounded. Unfortunately, they were not only to be found on land. A sailor in search of _marteaux_, a very rare kind of bivalve mussel, was stung by a serpent. The fearful suffering and violent convulsions which followed only subsided at the expiration of five or six hours, and at last, the theriac which was administered to him after the bite, effected a cure. This accident was a sad damper to conchological enthusiasm. Upon the 22nd, after a severe storm, the ships were sensible of several slight earthquakes, the sea rose and fell several times in succession, which greatly alarmed the sailors who were occupied in fishing.

In spite of the rain and ceaseless storms which continued daily, a detachment started to search the interior for Bourbon palms, palm-trees, and turtle-doves. They expected to find wonders, but returned oftenest empty-handed and with the one result of being wet to the skin. A natural curiosity at some distance from the anchorage, a thousand times more beautiful than the wonders invented for the ornament of kingly palaces, attracted numberless visitors, who could never tire of admiring it. It was a waterfall, too beautiful for description! To form any idea of its beauty, it would be necessary to reproduce by the brush the sparkling gleam of the spray lit up by the rays of the sun, the vaporous shade of the tropical trees which dipped their branches into the water, and the fantastic display of light over a magnificent country, not yet spoiled by the hand of man!

As soon as the weather changed, the ships left Port Praslin, to follow the coast of New Guinea, until the 3rd of August. The _Etoile_ was attacked by hundreds of pirogues, and forced to return the stones and arrows that assailed her by a few gunshots, which put the assailants to flight. On the 4th the islands named Matthias and Stormy by Dampier were sighted. Three days later Anchorite Island was recognized, so called because a number of pirogues occupied in fishing, took no notice of the _Etoile_ and _Boudeuse_, disdaining to enter into relations with the strangers. After passing a series of islets half under water, upon which the vessels nearly struck, and which were named the Echiquiers by Bougainville, the coast of New Guinea appeared. Steep and mountainous, it ran west-north-west. On the 12th a large bay was discovered, but the currents, which so far had been unfavourable, were equally so in carrying the boats far from it. It was visible at a distance of twenty leagues from two gigantic mountains, Cyclops and Bougainville.

The Arimoa Islands, the largest of which is only four miles in length, were next seen, but the bad weather and the currents forced the two vessels to remain in the open sea and relinquish all exploration. It was necessary, however, to maintain a close watch in order to avoid missing the outlet into the Indian Ocean. Mispulu and Waigiou, the last at the extreme north of New Guinea, were passed in succession.

The "Canal des Francais," the outlet for ships from this mass of little islands and rocks, was passed without mishap. From thence Bougainville penetrated to the Molucca Archipelago, where he reckoned upon finding the fresh provisions requisite for the forty-five sufferers from scurvy on board.

In absolute ignorance of the events which had occurred in Europe since he left it, Bougainville would not run the risk of visiting a colony in which he was not the strongest power. The small Dutch establishment, Boeton or Bourou Island, suited him perfectly, all the more that provisions were easily obtained there. The crew received orders to enter the Gulf of Cajeti with the greatest delight. No one on board had escaped scurvy, and half the crew, Bougainville says, were quite unfit for duty.

"The victuals remaining to us were so tainted and ill-smelling, that the worst moments of our sad days were those when we were obliged to partake of such disgusting and unwholesome viands.

"The charms of Boeton Island were enhanced by our wretched situation.

"About midnight a delicious odour, emanating from the aromatic plants with which the Molucca Islands are covered, had been wafted several leagues out to sea, and was hailed by us as a forerunner of the end of our woes.

"The appearance of the moderately sized town, situated below the gulf, with vessels at anchor, and cattle grazing in the pastures that surrounded it, caused pleasure in which I participated, but which I cannot describe."

Scarcely had the _Boudeuse_ and the _Etoile_ cast anchor, than the resident governor sent two soldiers to inquire of the French captain what reason he could assign for stopping at this place, when he must be aware that entrance was permitted to the ships of the India Company only. Bougainville immediately sent an officer to explain that hunger and sickness forced him to enter the first port which presented itself in his route. Also, that he would leave Boeton as soon as he had received the aid of which he had urgent need. The resident at once sent him the order of the Governor of Amboyna, which expressly forbade his receiving any strange ship in his harbour, and begged Bougainville to make a written declaration of the reason for his putting into port, in order that he might prove to his superior that he had not infringed his orders except under paramount necessity.

As soon as Bougainville had signed a certificate to this effect, cordiality was established with the Dutch. The resident entertained the officers at his own table, and a contract was concluded for provisions and fresh meat. Bread gave place to rice, the usual food of the Dutch, and fresh vegetables which are not usually cultivated in the island, were provided for the crews by the resident, who obtained them from the Company's gardens. It would have been desirable for the re-establishment of the health of the crew, that the stay at this port could have been prolonged, but the end of the monsoon warned Bougainville to set out for Batavia.

The captain left Boeton on the 7th of September, convinced that navigation in the Molucca Archipelago was not so difficult as it suited the Dutch to affirm. As for trusting to French charts, they were of no use, being more qualified to mislead vessels than to guide them.

Bougainville therefore directed his course through the Straits of Button and Saleyer; a route which, though commonly used by the Dutch, is but little known to other nations. The narrative therefore carefully describes, with mention of every cape, the course he took. We will not dwell upon this part of the voyage, although it is very instructive, and on that account interesting to seafaring men.

On the 28th of September, ten months and a half after leaving Montevideo, the _Etoile_ and the _Boudeuse_ arrived at Batavia, one of the finest colonies in the world. After touching at the Isle of France, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ascension Island, near which he met Carteret, Bougainville entered St. Malo on the 16th of February, 1769, having lost only seven men, in the two years and four months which had elapsed since he left Nantes.

The remaining particulars of the career of this fortunate navigator do not concern our purpose, and may be dismissed briefly.

He took part in the American war, and in 1781 participated in an honourable combat before Port Royal off Martinique. Made Chief of the fleet in 1780, he, ten years later, received a commission to re-establish order in the mutinous fleet of M. d'Albert de Rions. Created vice-admiral in 1792, he did not think it right to accept a high rank, which was, to use his own words, "a title without duties."

Nominated first to the Bureau of Longitudes, and then to the Institute, raised to the rank of senator, created a count by Napoleon I., Bougainville died full of years and honours, on the 31st of August, 1811.

Bougainville acquired popularity as the first Frenchman who accomplished a voyage round the world. Though the merit of discovering and reconnoitring, if not of exploring, many groups of islands little known and quite neglected before his time, has been ascribed to him, he owes his reputation rather to the charm and easy animation of his narrative, than to his labours. If he is better known than many other French naval officers, his competitors, it is not so much because he accomplished more than they, as because his style of narrating his adventures charmed his contemporaries.

As for Guyot Duclos, his secondary share in the enterprise, and his plebeian rank, excluded him from reward. He was afterwards given the cross of St. Louis, but he earned the title by his rescue of the _Belle Poule_. Although he was born in 1722, and had been in the navy since the year 1734, he was still only lieutenant in 1791. A succession of ministers of new views was needed to obtain the rank of ship-captain for him: a tardy recompense of long and signal services. Guyot Duclos died at St. Servan on the 10th March, 1794.