Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

of the directors are wholly restricted to the transfer of the company's stock and the payment of the dividends on it, both of which operations are performed at the South Sea House, and not at the bank. The dividends of the old South Sea annuities are payable on the 5th of April and 10th of October; the dividends on the rest of the company's stock are payable on the 5th of January and 5th of July.

In 1727, three-fifths of the public debt of England was held by the South Sea Company-or about two hundred and seventeen millions, five hundred thousand dollars.

1

CHAPTER II.

ISLANDS

Call us not weeds, we are the flowers of the sea.

E. L. AVELINE.

IN

GALAPAGOS GROUP.

N making a journey through these garden spots of the Pacific, for geographical reasons, it is assumed that our voyage commences at the Galapagos Islands; and that all longitudes are taken from Greenwich, east or west, as the case may be.

The Galapagos, some fifteen in number, lie on both sides of the equator, being about 600 miles westerly from the coast of Ecuador, to which republic they belong. Their area is 3,000 square miles, with a population of 4,000. The principal islands in the group are Albemarle, James, Chatam, Indefatigable, Hood, Charles and Narboro. Their curious geological formation, and evident volcanic origin, has given rise to much speculation on the part of scientists. There are to be seen in the group nearly 2,000 craters of extinct volcanoes, leaving one with the impression, that a permanent residence here, with the fear of an eruption. continually before the mind, would not be pleasant. There is probably no place in the world, where turtles

are so abundant, as at these islands. In their laying season they literally swarm along the shores, and are hunted and slaughtered by thousands. An establishment or several of them, might be located here for catching and canning turtle, that would no doubt prove a great success, and is well worth the thought and enterprise of the commercial world.

THE MARQUESAS GROUP.

Leaving the Galapagos, we sail away west by south for the Marquesas Archipelago, discovered by Mendana in 1595. The islands in this group stand high above the level of the sea, some of the mountain peaks towering up in the clouds, while their steep and rugged sides, sweep down in many places to the waters edge.

They are thirty-five in number, situated between latitudes 7 deg. 53 min. and 10 deg. 30 min. south, and longitudes 138 deg. 43 min. and 140 deg. 44 min. west. The area of the whole group is something like 1200 square miles, with a population of 20,000 people.

We found the landings here very difficult, and were forced to lay off and on, quite a distance from shore. Nuka-Hiva, the principal island, is about eighteen miles long from east to west, and ten miles. wide. After several attempts we finally made a landing, and were very agreeably surprised at the great beauty and fertility of the lands back from the coast. Many of the valleys in the interior were one mass of tropical foliage, with the huts of the natives peeping here and there, from among the groves of cocoanut, bread fruit and orange trees. The natives, although kind and hospitable to our party to the last degree,

were in appearance anything but attractive. The men particularly, being tatooed in all the different fantastic styles of that art. At a short distance they had the appearance of being clad in chain armor, painted blue. The women are much fairer than the men, and only tatoo the face, with a few disfiguring spots on the lips. We saw several Polynesian Bibles in the huts of the natives, nearly all of whom claim to be Christians. Yet from all accounts we were among the decendants of veritable man eaters; people who practice all the heathenish and superstitious rites of their ancestors; and roast and eat their prisoners of war. Many of the islands of this group have well watered, beautiful valleys, well suited to the cultivation of coffee, sugar, cotton and other tropical products.

From the Marquesas we sail nearly due south, to that vast collection of coral islands known on maps and charts as the Low Archipelago or Paumotu Group. There are in all about seventy-eight islands and like the Marquesas and Society groups, are under a French protectorate. All except twenty of them are inhabited. The natives are a lawless and savage set, their greatest merit being the smallness of their numbers. However, some improvement has been noticeable among them lately, especially in their houses, clothing, and mode of living; the trade in pearls, pearl shell, and cocoanut oil, the principal products of this group, affording them the means for this desirable ad

vancement.

ISLAND OF JUAN FERNANDEZ.

Still further south and to the east, in latitude 34 deg. about 400 miles west from Valparaiso, lies Juan Fernandez, in size some thirteen miles long by four

miles wide, discovered in 1563 by the famous pilot and navigator, whose name it bears. It will always retain a marked prominence in island histories, being at one time the home of that celebrated, castaway Alexander Selkirk, whose life and adventures have been made so intensely interesting to youthful minds, and older ones too, for that matter, by Defoe in his wonderful book, Robinson Crusoe." Selkirk was sailing master of the war galley Cinque Porte, and through a quarrel with Captain Straddling, asked to be put ashore on the island, which request was granted, and such supplies furnished him, as might be most needed in his lonely hermitage.

[ocr errors]

THE HOME OF CRUSOE.

In 1868 the officers of H. M. S. Topaze erected a tablet at the mouth of a small valley that traversed the land, and which gave the only clear outlook to the ocean from the island. At the northern end of this gap may be seen the tablet, with inscription reading: "In memory of Alexander Selkirk, mariner, a native of Laigo, in the county of Fife, Scotland, who was on this island in complete solitude for four years and four months. He was landed from the Cinque Porte, galley, 96 tons, 16 guns, in 1704, A. D., and was taken off by the Duke, privateer (Captain Wood Rogers), 12th of February, 1709. He died lieutenant of the Weymouth, in 1723, A. D., aged forty-seven years. This tablet was erected near 'Selkirk's Lookout,' by Commodore Powell and officers of H. M. S. Topaze, 1868, A. D."

In justice to the author of Crusoe, I quote still further, from the journal of the officers of H. M. S.

« ZurückWeiter »