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Article DISCOVERIES. ← Page 5 of 5
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Discoveries.
DISCOVERIES .
Q ) N the 26 th of February , 179 6 , the Snow Arthur , Captain Barber , ^^ returned to Madras , after a voyage to New South Wales , the north-tvest coast of America and China . On the 26 th of April , 1 794 , he fell in AA'ith a very extensive group of islands , counting thereby six in number . These islands agree in latitude with ArroAvsmith
' s general chart ; but are laid doAvn too far to the eastward . The longest island lays in the latitude of 17 . 30 . S longitude 176 . 15 . E . of Greentyich . Captain Barber anchored in a large bay , on the west side of this island , in ten fathom Avater ; and shortly after a canoe came off ] but approached with great caution ; and it . was some time before the natives si
, by gns of friendship , could be induced on board , They had no idea of barter , but were very willing to receive presents . The next day several canoes came off , but in lieu of bringino- provisions , as expected , they came all armed , ancl their boats loaded with spears , clubs , bows , and arrows . Captain Barber made all the boats go a stern ancl endeavoured to convince them that he meant not to hurt them ' At length they formed a plan for an attack , when they were shewn
some muskets ; but they not knowing what they were , took them for clubs . Several attempted to board on the quarters ; violence was necessary to keep them off , and some who had obtained fooling were pushed down . On this a few arrows Avere fired into the Arthur in different directions , and shortly after a general discharge from every _ canoe took place .. Captain Barber immediatel y cut bis cable btit found it necessary to fire upon them from two or three swivels and a
, few muskets , by-which some of them must have been killed , as the canoes were very near the ship . The report of the guns , ' and the effect they produced , occasioned the greatest consternation among the savages , who in an instant disappeared . Two of the crew were , wounded b y their arrows . There being a fine breeze at the time "' the Arthur soon got clear of them . '
Their cances appeared to be about 30 feet in length , but scarcely 3 feet broad . They had a stage erected in the middle of each , apparently for the purpose of standing on to heave their spears ; and there Avere from 8 to 14 men in each canoe . They are a very stout race of people ; n t a man amongst those that were seen appeared tobe less than six feet high : they are of a copper colour , with woolly heads . They saw no woman .
These islands require very great caution in approaching them from the westward , being almost surrounded Avith reefs , and interspersed with sunken rocks and shoals in every direction . The 28 th of May , on his passage to the nortliAvard , in the latitude of 3 . 45 . south , Captain ' Barber discovered a small sandy island , to Avhich he gave the name of-Druiflmond ' s Islandwhich appeared to have other inhabitants
, no than birds . This island is very IOAV , ' and cannot be seen from the deck of a vessel more than five or six miles off ! It Jays in latitude -- . 40 . south , and nearly in the longitude of 176 . 51 . west of Greenwichvariation 9 . east .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Discoveries.
DISCOVERIES .
Q ) N the 26 th of February , 179 6 , the Snow Arthur , Captain Barber , ^^ returned to Madras , after a voyage to New South Wales , the north-tvest coast of America and China . On the 26 th of April , 1 794 , he fell in AA'ith a very extensive group of islands , counting thereby six in number . These islands agree in latitude with ArroAvsmith
' s general chart ; but are laid doAvn too far to the eastward . The longest island lays in the latitude of 17 . 30 . S longitude 176 . 15 . E . of Greentyich . Captain Barber anchored in a large bay , on the west side of this island , in ten fathom Avater ; and shortly after a canoe came off ] but approached with great caution ; and it . was some time before the natives si
, by gns of friendship , could be induced on board , They had no idea of barter , but were very willing to receive presents . The next day several canoes came off , but in lieu of bringino- provisions , as expected , they came all armed , ancl their boats loaded with spears , clubs , bows , and arrows . Captain Barber made all the boats go a stern ancl endeavoured to convince them that he meant not to hurt them ' At length they formed a plan for an attack , when they were shewn
some muskets ; but they not knowing what they were , took them for clubs . Several attempted to board on the quarters ; violence was necessary to keep them off , and some who had obtained fooling were pushed down . On this a few arrows Avere fired into the Arthur in different directions , and shortly after a general discharge from every _ canoe took place .. Captain Barber immediatel y cut bis cable btit found it necessary to fire upon them from two or three swivels and a
, few muskets , by-which some of them must have been killed , as the canoes were very near the ship . The report of the guns , ' and the effect they produced , occasioned the greatest consternation among the savages , who in an instant disappeared . Two of the crew were , wounded b y their arrows . There being a fine breeze at the time "' the Arthur soon got clear of them . '
Their cances appeared to be about 30 feet in length , but scarcely 3 feet broad . They had a stage erected in the middle of each , apparently for the purpose of standing on to heave their spears ; and there Avere from 8 to 14 men in each canoe . They are a very stout race of people ; n t a man amongst those that were seen appeared tobe less than six feet high : they are of a copper colour , with woolly heads . They saw no woman .
These islands require very great caution in approaching them from the westward , being almost surrounded Avith reefs , and interspersed with sunken rocks and shoals in every direction . The 28 th of May , on his passage to the nortliAvard , in the latitude of 3 . 45 . south , Captain ' Barber discovered a small sandy island , to Avhich he gave the name of-Druiflmond ' s Islandwhich appeared to have other inhabitants
, no than birds . This island is very IOAV , ' and cannot be seen from the deck of a vessel more than five or six miles off ! It Jays in latitude -- . 40 . south , and nearly in the longitude of 176 . 51 . west of Greenwichvariation 9 . east .