Notwithstanding the divided and hostile state in which the New Zealanders live, travelling strangers, who come with no ill design, are well received and entertained during their stay; which, however, it is expected will be no longer than is requisite to transact the business they come upon. Thus it is that a trade for poenammoo, or green talc, is carried on throughout the whole northern island. For they tell us, that there is none of this stone to be found, but at a place which bears its name, somewhere about the head of Queen Charlotte's Sound, and not above one or two days' journey, at most, from the station of our ships. I regretted much that I could not spare time sufficient for paying a visit to the place; as we were told a hundred fabulous stories about this stone, not one of which carried with it the least probability of truth, though some of their most sensible men would have us believe them. One of these stories is, that this stone is originally a fish, which they strike with a gig in the water, tie a rope to it, and drag it to the shore, to which they fasten it, and it afterwards becomes store. As they all agree that it is fished out of a large lake, or collection of waters, the most probable conjecture is, that it is brought from the mountains, and deposited in the water, by the torrents*. This lake is called by the natives Tavai Poenammoo; that is, the Water of Green Talc; and it is only the adjoining part of the country, and not the whole southern island of New Zealand, that is known to them by the name which hath been given to it on my chart. Polygamy is allowed amongst these people; and it is not uncommon for a man to have two or three wives. The women are marriageable at a very early age; and it should seem, that one who is unmarried is but in a forlorn state. She can with difficulty get a subsistence; at least she is, in a great measure, without a protector, though in constant want of a powerful one. The New Zealanders seem to be a people perfectly satisfied with the little knowledge they are masters of, without attempting, in the least, to improve it; nor are they remarkably curious, either in their observations or their inquiries. New objects do not strike them with such a degree of surprise as one would naturally expect; nor do they even fix their attention for a moment. Omai, indeed, who was a great favourite with them, would sometimes attract a circle about him; but they seemed to listen to his speeches like persons who neither understood, nor wished to understand, what they heard. One day, on our inquiring of Taweiharooa how many ships, such as ours, had ever arrived in Queen Charlotte's Sound, or in any part of its neighbourhood? he began with giving an account of one absolutely unknown to us. This, he said, had put into a port on the northwest coast of Teerawitte, but a very few years before I arrived in the Sound in the Endeavour, which the New Zealanders distinguish by calling Tupia's ship. At first, I thought he might have been mistaken as to the time and place; and that the ship in question might be either Monsieur Surville's, who is said to have touched upon the north-east coast of Eaheinomauwe, the same year I was there in the Endeavour, or else Monsieur Marion du Fresne's, who was in the Bay of Islands, on the same coast, a few years after; but he assured us that he was not mistaken, either as to the time or as to the place of this ship's arrival, and that it was well known to everybody about Queen Charlotte's Sound and Teerawitte. He said, that the Captain of her, during his stay here, cohabited with a woman of the country; and that she had a son by him still living, and about the age of Kokoa; who, though not born then, seemed to be equally well acquainted with the story. We were also informed by Taweiharooa, that this ship first introduced the venereal disease amongst the New Zealanders. I wish that subsequent visiters from Europe may not have their share of guilt, in leaving so dreadful a remembrance of them amongst this unhappy race. The disorder now is but too common here, though they do not seem to regard it, saying, that its effects are not near so pernicious at present as they were at its first appearance. The only method, as far as I ever heard, that they make use of as a remedy, is by giving the patient the use of a sort of hot bath, which they produce by the steam of certain green plants laid over hot stones. • The situation of this lake is now understood to be in the southern part of the southern island, or New Munster, a site yet unexplored by Europeans, between two and three hundred miles from Queen Charlotte's Sound. The account given to Cook, whose care in procuring and ac curacy in reporting information has never been surpassed, may still be correct, as the lake laid down in the maps of the present day as Te-wai-poenamu, or the Water of Green Talc, may not be the only one where that substance is procurable.-ED. I regretted much that we did not hear of this ship while we were in the Sound; as, by means of Omai, we might have had full and correct information about her from eye-witnesses. For Taweiharooa's account was only from what he had been told, and therefore liable to many mistakes. I have not the least doubt, however, that his testimony may so far be depended upon, as to induce us to believe that a ship really had been at Terrawitte prior to my arrival in Endeavour, as it corresponds with what I had formerly heard. For in the latter end of 1773, the second time I visited New Zealand, during my last voyage, when we were continually making inquiries about the Adventure, after our separation, some of the natives informed us of a ship's having been in a port on the coast of Teerawitte. But, at that time, we thought we must have misunderstood them, and took no notice of the intelligence. The arrival of this unknown ship has been marked by the New Zealanders with more cause of remembrance than the unhappy one just mentioned. Taweiharooa told us their country was indebted to her people for the present of an animal, which they left behind them. But as he had not seen it himself, no sort of judgment could be formed, from his description, of what kind it was. We had another piece of intelligence from him, more correctly given, though not confirmed by our own observations, that there are snakes and lizards there of an enormous size. He described the latter as being eight feet in length, and as big round as man's body. He said, they sometimes seize and devour men; that they burrow in the ground; and that they are killed by making fires at the mouths of the holes. We could not be mistaken as to the animal; for with his own hand he drew a very good representation of a lizard on a piece of paper; as also of a snake, in order to show what he meant.* Though much has been said, in the narratives of my two former voyages, about this country and its inhabitants, Mr. Anderson's remarks, as serving either to confirm or to correct our former accounts, may not be superfluous. He had been three times with me in Queen Charlotte's Sound, during my last voyage; and, after this fourth visit, what he thought proper to record may be considered as the result of sufficient observation. The reader will find it in the next chapter; and I have nothing farther to add, before I quit New Zealand, but to give some account of the astronomical and nautical observations made during our stay there. The longitude of the Observatory in Ship Cove, by a mean of 103 sets of observations, each set consisting of six or more observed distances, was 174° 25′ 15" east. By the time-keeper, at Greenwich rate, it was 175 26 30 174 56 12 By ditto, at the Cape rate, it was Variation of the compass, being the mean of six needles, observed on board the ship By the same needles on shore, it was The dip of the south end, observed on shore, was * This man's story still wants confirmation, as neither snakes nor lizards, of the size he mentioned, have yet been met with. Perhaps the animal he mentions as left behind 12 40 0 east. 13 53 0 By a mean of the results of eleven days' observations, the time-keeper was too slow for mean time, on February 22, at noon, by 11h 50′ 37′′ .396; and she was found to be losing, on mean time, at the rate of 2" .913 per day. From this rate the longitude will be computed, till some other opportunity offers to ascertain her rate anew. The astronomical clock, with the same length of pendulum as at Greenwich, was found to be losing on sidereal time 40" .239 per day. It will not be amiss to mention, that the longitude, by lunar observations, as above, differs only 6' 45" from what Mr. Wales made it during my last voyage; his being so much more to the W., or 174° 18′ 30′′. The latitude of Ship Cove is 41o 6' 0", as found by Mr. Wales. by the strange ship, was the Norway rat, which has nearly exterminated the New Zealand rat, the only indigenous four-footed animal known in the country.-ED. CHAPTER VIII.—MR. ANDERSON'S REMARKS ON THE COUNTRY NEAR QUEEN CHARLOTTE'S SOUND. THE SOIL.-CLIMATE.-WEATHER.-WINDS.-TREES.-PLANTS.-BIRDS.-FISH. THE land everywhere about Queen Charlotte's Sound is uncommonly mountainous, rising it. The mould, or soil, which covers this, is also of a yellowish cast, not unlike marl; and is commonly from a foot to two, or more, in thickness. The quality of this soil is best indicated by the luxuriant growth of its productions. For the hills (except a few toward the sea, which are covered with smaller bushes) are one continued forest of lofty trees, flourishing with a vigour almost superior to anything that imagination can conceive, and affording an august prospect to those who are delighted with the grand and beautiful works of nature. The agreeable temperature of the climate, no doubt, contributes much to this uncommon strength in vegetation: for at this time, though answering to our month of August, the weather was never disagreeably warm; nor did it raise the thermometer higher than 66°. The winter, also, seems equally mild with respect to cold; for in June 1773, which corresponds to our December, the mercury never fell lower than 48°, and the trees, at that time, retained their verdure as if in the summer season; sɔ that, I believe, their foliage is never shed till pushed off by the succeeding leaves in spring. The weather in general is good, but sometimes windy, with heavy rain; which, however, never lasts above a day, nor does it appear that it is ever excessive. For there are no marks of torrents rushing down the hills, as in many countries; and the brooks, if we may judge from their channels, seem never to be greatly increased. I have observed, in the four different times of my being here, that the winds from the S. eastward are commonly moderate, but attended with cloudy weather or rain. The S.W. winds blow very strong, and are also attended with rain; but they seldom last long. The N.W. winds are the most prevailing; and though often pretty strong, are almost constantly connected with fine weather. In short, the only obstacle to this being one of the finest countries upon earth is its great hilliness, which, allowing the woods to be cleared away, would leave it less proper for pasturage than flat land, and still more improper for cultivation, which could never be effected here by the plough. The large trees which cover the hills are chiefly of two sorts. One of them, of the size of our largest firs, grows much after their manner; but the leaves and small berries on their points are much liker the yew. It was this which supplied the place of spruce in making beer; which we did with a strong decoction of its leaves, fermented with treacle or sugar. And this liquor, when well prepared, was acknowledged to be little inferior to the American spruce-beer, by those who had experience of both. The other sort of tree is not unlike a maple, and grows often to a great size; but it only served for fuel, as the wood, both of this and of the preceding, was found to be rather too heavy for masts, yards, and other similar repairs. There is a greater variety of trees on the small flat spots behind the beaches. Amongst these are two that bear a kind of plum of the size of prunes, the one yellow, called karraca; and the other black, called maitao; but neither of them of a very agreeable taste, though the natives ate both, and our people did the same. Those of the first sort grow on small trees, always facing the sea; but the others belong to larger trees that stand farther within the wood, and which we frequently cut down for fuel. A species of Philadelphus grows on the eminences which jut out into the sea; and also a tree bearing flowers almost like myrtle, with roundish-spotted leaves of a disagreeable smell. We drank the leaves of the Philadelphus as tea; and found that they had a pleasant taste and smell, and might make an excellent substitute for the Oriental sort. Among other plants that were useful to us, may be reckoned wild celery, which grows plentifully in almost every cove, especially if the natives have ever resided here before; and one that we used to call scurvy-grass, though entirely different from the plant to which we give that name. This, however, is far preferable to ours for common use; and may be known by its jagged leaves and small clusters of white flowers on the top. Both sorts were boiled every morning with wheat ground in a mill, and with portable soup for the people's breakfast, and also amongst their pease-soup for dinner. Sometimes they were used as salad, or dressed as greens. In all which ways they are good; and together with the fish, with which we were constantly supplied, they formed a sort of refreshment, perhaps little inferior to what is to be met with in places most noted by navigators for plentiful supplies of animal and vegetable food. Amongst the known kinds of plants met with here, are common and rough bindweed, nightshade, and nettles, both which grow to the size of small trees; a shrubby speedwell, found near all the beaches; sow-thistles, virgin's bower, vanelloe, French willow, euphorbia, and crane's-bill; also cudweed, rushes, bull-rushes, flax, all-heal, American nightshade, knot-grass, brambles, eye-bright, and groundsel; but the species of each are different from any we have in Europe. There is also polypody, spleenwort, and about twenty other different sorts of ferns, entirely peculiar to the place; with several sorts of mosses, either rare, or produced only here; besides a great number of other plants, whose uses are not yet known, and subjects fit only for botanical books. Of these, however, there is one which deserves particular notice here, as the natives make their garments of it; and it produces a fine silky flax, superior in appearance to anything we have, and, probably, at least as strong. It grows everywhere near the sea, and in some places a considerable way up the hills, in bunches or tufts, with sedge-like leaves, bearing, on a long staik, yellowish flowers, which are succeeded by a long roundish pod, filled with very thin shining black seeds *. A species of long pepper is found in great plenty; but it has little of the aromatic flavour that makes spices valuable; and a tree much like a palm at a distance is pretty frequent in the woods, though the deceit appears as you come near it. It is remarkable that, as the greatest part of the trees and plants had, at this time, lost their flowers, we perceived they were generally of the berry-bearing kind; of which, and other seeds, I brought away about thirty different sorts. Of these, one in particular, which bears a red berry, is much like the supple-jack, and grows about the trees, stretching from one to another, in such a manner as to render the woods almost wholly impassable. The birds, of which there is a tolerable stock, as well as the vegetable productions, are almost entirely peculiar to the place. And though it be difficult to follow them, on account of the quantity of underwood and the climbing plants, that render travelling, for pleasure alone, uncommonly fatiguing, yet a person, by remaining in one place, may shoot as many in a day as would serve six or eight others. The principal sorts are, large brown parrots, with white or greyish heads; green parroquets with red foreheads; large wood-pigeons, brown above, with white bellies, the rest green, and the bill and feet red. Two sorts of cuckoos, one as large as our common sort, of a brown colour, variegated with black; the other not larger than a sparrow, of a splendid green cast above, and elegantly varied with waves *The Phormium tenar, or New Zealand flax. Of this there are several species, and already it has been employed with considerable success as a substitute for hemp, but until a method of dressing it in a better manner than that practised by the natives, which at present is the only one found to answer, is pract it cannot become, what it is probably eventually destined to be, a large article of commerce, and even the staple of the country. The settlers at Port Nicholson offered a large reward to the inventor of a machine for dressing New Zealand flax; but we have not yet heard that the prize has been gained, although many attempts have been made to obtain it. See the Hon. H. W. Petre's "New Zealand ”— En of golden, green, brown, and white colours below. Both these are scarce; but several others are in greater plenty; one of which, of a black colour, with a greenish cast, is remarkable for having a tuft of white curled feathers hanging under the throat, and was called the poy bird by our people. Another sort, rather smaller, is black, with a brown back and wings, and two small gills under the root of the bill. This we called the small wattle-bird, to distinguish it from another, which we called the large one, of the size of a common pigeon, with two large yellow and purple membranes also at the root of the bill. It is black, or rather blue, and has no resemblance of the other but in name; for the bill is thick, short, and crooked, and has altogether an uncommon appearance. A gross-beak, about the size of a thrush, of a brown colour, with a reddish tail, is frequent; as is also a small greenish bird, which is almost the only musical one here, but is sufficient by itself to fill the woods with a melody that is not only sweet, but so varied, that one would imagine he was surrounded by a hundred different sorts of birds, when the little warbler is near. From this circumstance we named it the mocking-bird. There are likewise three or four sorts of smaller birds; one of which, in figure and tameness, exactly resembles our robin, but is black where that is brown, and white where that is red. Another differs but little from this, except in being smaller; and a third sort has a long tail, which it expands as a fan on coming near, and makes a chirping noise when it perches. King-fishers are seen, though rare, and are about the size of our English ones, but with an inferior plumage. About the rocks are seen black sea-pies with red bills; and crested shags of a leaden colour, with small black spots on the wings and shoulders, and the rest of the upper part of a velvet black tinged with green. We frequently shot both these, and also a more common sort of shags, black above and white underneath, that build their nests upon trees, on which sometimes a dozen or more sit at once. There are also, about the shore, a few sea-gulls; some blue herons; and sometimes, though very rarely, wild ducks; a small sandy-coloured plover, and some sand-larks; and small penguins, black above with a white belly, as well as numbers of little black divers, swim often about the Sound. We likewise killed two or three rails of a brown or yellowish colour, variegated with black, which feed about the small brooks, and are nearly as large as a common fowl. No other sort of game was seen, except a single snipe, which was shot, and differs but little from that of Europe. The principal fish we caught by the seine were mullets and elephant-fish, with a few soles and flounders; but those that the natives mostly supplied us with, were a sort of seabream of a silver colour with a black spot on the neck, large conger-eels, and a fish in shape much like the bream, but so large as to weigh five, six, or seven pounds. It is blackish with thick lips, and called mogge by the natives. With hook and line we caught chiefly a blackish fish of the size of a haddock, called cole-fish by the seamen, but differing much from that known by the same name in Europe; and another of the same size, of a reddish colour with a little beard, which we called night-walkers, from the greatest number being caught in the night. Sometimes we got a sort of small salmon, gurnards, skate, and nurses; and the natives, now and then, brought hake, paracutas, a small sort of mackerel, parrotfish, and leather-jackets; besides another fish which is very rare, shaped almost like a dolphin, of a black colour, with strong bony jaws, and the back-fin, as well as those opposite to it, much lengthened at the end. All these sorts, except the last, which we did not try, are excellent to eat; but the mogge, small salmon, and cole-fish, are superior to the rest. The rocks are abundantly furnished with great quantities of excellent muscles; one sort of which, that is not very common, measures above a foot in length. There are also cockles buried in the sand of the small beaches; and in some places oysters, which, though very small, are well tasted. Of other shell-fish, there are ten or twelve sorts, such as periwinkles, wilks, limpets, and some very beautiful sea-cars; also another sort which stick to the weeds; with some other things, as sea-eggs, star-fish, &c., several of which are peculiar to the place. The natives likewise sometimes brought us very fine cray-fish, equal to our largest lobsters, and cuttle-fish, which they eat themselves. Insects are very rare. Of these, we only saw two sorts of dragon-flies, some butterflies, |