off and followed us, but a light breeze
springing up, I did not chuse to wait for them. I kept standing to the
W.N.W. and N.W. till the next morning at ten o'clock, when I tacked and
stood in for the shore, from which we were about five leagues distant.
At noon, the westernmost land in sight bore W. by S. and was about four
leagues distant. In the afternoon, we had a gentle breeze to the west,
which in the evening came to the south, and continuing so all night, by
day-light brought us pretty well in with the land, seven leagues to the
westward of the Cavalles, where we found a deep bay running in S.W. by
W. and W.S.W. the bottom of which we could but just see, and there the
land appeared to be low and level. To this bay, which I called
_Doubtless Bay_, the entrance is formed by two points, which lie W.N.W.
and E.S.E. and are five miles distant from each other. The wind not
permitting us to look in here, we steered for the westermost land in
sight, which bore from us W.N.W. about three leagues, but before we got
the length of it it fell calm.
While we lay becalmed, several canoes came off to us, but the people
having heard of our guns, it was not without great difficulty that they
were persuaded to come under our stern: After having bought some of
their clothes, as well as their fish, we began to make enquiries
concerning their county, and learnt, by the help of Tupia, that, at the
distance of three days rowing in their canoes, at a place called
_Moore-wennua_, the land would take a short turn to the southward, and
from thence extend no more to the west. This place we concluded to be
the land discovered by Tasman, which he called _Cape Maria van Diemen_,
and finding these people so intelligent, we enquired farther, if they
knew of any country besides their own: They answered, that they never
had visited any other, but that their ancestors had told them, that to
the N.W. by N. or N.N.W. there was a country of great extent, called
_Ulimaroa_, to which some people had sailed in a very large canoe; that
only part of them returned, and reported, that after a passage of a
month they had seen a country where the people eat hogs. Tupia then
enquired whether these adventurers brought any hogs with them when they
returned? They said No: Then, replied Tupia, your story is certainly
false, for it cannot be believed that men who came back from an
expedition without hogs, had ever visited a country where hogs were to
be procured. It
|